COMMENTARY

By Kevin M. Smith

To quote John Mellencamp:

“Well I was born in a small town

And I live in a small town

Probably die in a small town

Oh, those small communities.”

So here I am in my third week in Kearney. So far, so good. Coming from a larger community, there are some adjustments I have to make in Kearney.

Before Kearney, I was working for the Killeen Daily Herald in Texas. No, not everything is bigger in Texas, but some things are. Like Texas “small towns,” for example. Killeen’s population is about 115,000. That’s a small town, apparently, in Texas.

Me? I grew up in a small town. Born in Coffeyville, Kan., I actually did most of my growing up in Augusta, Kan., which has a population about 8,000 just outside of Wichita (population 350,000) — much like Kearney, about 8,000, just outside the Kansas City metro area (population 1.4 million-plus). Prior to Killeen, the largest town I had lived in was Pittsburg, Kan., with a population of about 20,000.

One of the biggest adjustments for me has been getting around. In Killeen I would leave to go somewhere at least 15 minutes before I had to be there — sometimes earlier depending on the time of day and traffic. And my first couple of months I allowed for a few extra minutes to get lost.

In Kearney I have tried to leave 15 minutes early to be somewhere. I do that here and I end up there 12 minutes before I need to be. And I can’t seem to get lost in Kearney, even if I try. I know the temptation is often to tell the newspaper editor to get lost. I just can’t do it, but I’ll try if it will make you feel better.

I am pleased with City Hall, downtown and the police station being within a block of the newspaper office. It cuts down on my driving, and it’s nice to be able to walk to those places.

Another adjustment is the people. People seem a lot more comfortable coming into the newspaper office to tell you how they feel about stories or things in town (good and bad) and story ideas (big and small). All of these are welcome.

A comment I’ve already heard around town is there’s nothing for them in The Kearney Courier. I would like to change that if I could. Please, be one of those people who stops by, calls or e-mails about what you think or with story ideas.

I can’t promise to fix every problem. I can’t promise to write about every story idea. But I can promise to listen and take it into consideration.

Another adjustment is the diversity of the town. Killeen, smack dab in the middle of Texas, is home to Fort Hood. The population is dynamic. It’s large, it’s diverse and it’s constantly changing. Think about how hard it is to please those readers and find topics that affect or interest a majority.

I hope with your suggestions and my experience, we — the residents of Kearney and the staff at The Kearney Courier — can do great things.

A little more about me

I graduated from Pittsburg State University (Go Gorillas!), so I hope you Northwest Missouri State Bearcats don’t hold it against me. I’ll see you at Arrowhead for the big game.

I’m not one-dimensional. While most of my experience is in newspaper, I did have stints as a radio DJ and news director at KKOW in Pittsburg.

I like to run — a lot. I’ve completed four marathons and look forward to more if I can get back into the routine.

While I’m not from western Missouri, remember I am like you. “I was born in a small town and I can breathe in a small town.”

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