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59. Billy Baxter Responds
- University of Wisconsin Press
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229 Billy Baxter Responds 59 Billy Baxter waited to act on the Stony Field situation—he wanted to see a confirming story in the Los Angeles Journal, which syndicated the Field column each week, before he would include a story in his paper. Meanwhile he traveled to Link Lake and to the Increase Joseph Community Park to gather updated information about the Alstage Sand Mining Company’s recent activities. He heard a new drilling machine had been delivered, along with armed guards. He knew his readers would appreciate an updated story on the mining company’s plans and present operations, especially since other counties in Wisconsin such as Crawford and Trempealeau had been examining their procedures for permitting the development of sand mines. He stopped his car in the parking place near the Trail Marker Oak, got out, and was immediately confronted by an armed guard holding an assault rifle. “Please climb back in your car and move along, sir,” the guard said in a gruff voice. He held his rifle in front of him, his finger on the trigger guard, ready to use it at the slightest provocation; at least it looked that way to Billy Baxter. Baxter pulled out his identification that indicated he was a journalist and held it up for the guard to see. “I’d like to talk with someone who can update me on mining operations,” Baxter said quietly but firmly. “I have my orders,” the guard said. He was tall, well over six feet, with a camouflage mask covering the lower part of his face. “I am to let no one pass.” “But don’t you understand? I am the editor of the Ames County Argus,” said Baxter. 230 Billy Baxter Responds “Sorry. I don’t care if you’re the king of England, nobody gets by me.” “You’re sure about that?” asked Baxter, stuffing his credentials back in his pocket and fishing out a camera. Before the guard could react, Baxter had taken his picture. “Give me that camera,” the guard ordered. “Over my dead body,” said Baxter, who ran to his car, roared the engine, and sped down the road. I’ve got a different story than I thought I’d get, but it will surely get people’s attention when I run it with the picture of this armed guard. Back at his office, before he began writing the mining story, he checked the AP Exchange website and saw the story he was waiting for. Lucas Drake had it right about Stony Field. This would certainly be first-page news in the Argus, and that’s where the story would appear, along with the story about armed guards at the mining site and his inability to talk with anyone about mining plans. He read the story published in the Los Angeles Journal, but rather than using it as it was written, he decided to write a separate story, using the facts he had at hand, but also writing about Ambrose Adler as a farmer who had a pet raccoon, a vegetable stand, and a way of life that did not include such taken-for-granted conveniences as electricity, automobiles, tractors, and even telephones. He would mention that Stony Field columns were often controversial, but they were always well researched and well argued—and well written. He decided to quote from several recent columns, especially those that took the Village of Link Lake’s officials to task for being taken in by promises of jobs without taking into account the importance of historical artifacts like the Trail Marker Oak and the potential harm to people and to the environment once the mine began full operations. In addition to the front-page story, Baxter also decided to write an editorial about the Stony Field situation. He had not forgotten Lucas Drake’s threat to cancel his subscription to the paper and Drake’s encouragement that everyone else should do so unless the paper quit publishing the Field column. [54.205.116.187] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 09:50 GMT) 231 Billy Baxter Responds editorial Stony Field in Link Lake By Billy Baxter, editor The Ames County Argus recently learned that our very own Ames County resident Ambrose Adler, a farmer living near Link Lake, is really the famed environmental writer Stony Field. For several decades, the Stony Field column has been a weekly feature in several hundred newspapers, both dailies and weeklies across the country, including the Ames County Argus...