Les and Donna Weatherford (Photo links to his email)
04-07-2011 PERSONAL: DONNA WEATHERFORD ENTERS HOSPICE Les Weatherford was the newspaper copy editor who made sure reporters had verified their facts correctly before their story was printed. Every newspaper has at least one copy editor like Les. He was the one who edited stories for years at the Kansas City Star. He did verification training for reporters. He made many reporters/columnists look better after cleaning up mistakes in their copy. A few years ago Weatherford was unceremoniously dumped by the Star after nearly 22 years. As the Pitch reported, maybe that was why errors at the Star increased. Sadly, he first learned of his fate at the Star on this site. When he called his superiors to confirm if the Bottom Line report was true they flatly denied it. When he went to work they promptly let him go. (It should be noted that Bottom Line would never knowingly print the name of any journalist being let go before he/she was notified. We knew the Star was letting go its gossip journalist before he was told, but held off printing the information until he was formally notified.) At the time of his Star termination, Les was stunned. His wife had serious health problems with cancer that required extensive help. She had undergone radical chemotherapy and a stem-cell transplant. The good news he was able to help his wife during her grueling and expensive treatments. The bad news he was unemployed and fearful of losing his health benefits. After two years of job hunting and sending an estimated 500 resumes, Les landed a new job last December as an editor at the Army Training and Doctrine Command Analysis Center at Fort Leavenworth, KS. The good news did not last long. This week Les posted on his Facebook site this sad message: "I put Donna in a hospice center Tuesday night. The doctor predicts from three days to three weeks." Please keep both of them in your prayers.
04-07-2011
THANKS "Thanks for posting the info on Les and Donna. I got in touch with them when Les lost his job--as you know, I did what I could to help him get a new job. I am saddened to hear that Donna is in a hospice. I am praying hard for both of them, and I have alerted my prayer group to pray for them. Thanks again." ---Sincerely, Respectfully and In Christ, Ernest Evans
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