LEO returns to the Yarmuths. By the way, LEO needs a beer column again, eh?

In a probable triumph of localism against the dull conformity of media chains, LEO will again have Louisville ownership.

This qualifies as good news, I believe, and of course, I can't help reliving the villainous time of my shit-canning as beer columnist, back when telling the truth about wretched mass-market swill led directly to my principled departure -- and then another principled departure by the ax-wielder herself, some years hence. As Grandpa Jones always said, "Truth is stranger than fact."

Just go here and read about it:

Coming around again: Matters of principle at LEO.

Best of luck to the new ownership group. Some times a freshening is needed.

LEO Weekly Bought By Group Led By John Yarmuth's Son, by Joseph Lord (WFPL)

Long before he was a congressman, John Yarmuth was the founder of Louisville's alternative weekly, LEO.

And now his son is its principal owner.

The Nashville-based media company SouthComm Communications has sold LEO to a group of local investors led by Yarmuth's son Aaron, LEO staff writer Joe Sonka reported in a blog post Tuesday.

But will the Bar Belle continue?

We took a backwards glance at LEO tidings on August 17.

Coming around again: Matters of principle at LEO.

I think it is highly instructive that LEO's Sarah Kelley has chosen to "take a bullet" rather than acquiesce to a directive she cannot abide. Good for her. I recall a similar story back in 2010.

Sara Havens has been a pal for a long while, and I wish her the best as she swaps hats, s explained below.

Editor's Note: Wheel in the sky, by Sara Havens

One of my first jobs at LEO was copy editing John Yarmuth’s Editor’s Note, and now I sit here writing one of my own. That was 14 years ago, and, truth be told, I never really had to do much to his copy other than add a comma here or delete a comma there.

Throughout these past 14 years, I’ve swabbed the decks for Louisville’s first and only alternative newsweekly, learning from the best — Yarmuth, Cary Stemle, Stephen George and Sarah Kelley — and slowly progressing through the ranks. I have at least six boxes of business cards with assorted titles, from Associate Editor to Arts & Entertainment Editor to Managing Editor. And although it’s not under the best of circumstances, I’m taking on the role as Editor this week, at least for the interim.

Coming around again: Matters of principle at LEO.

I think it is highly instructive that LEO's Sarah Kelley has chosen to "take a bullet" rather than acquiesce to a directive she cannot abide. Good for her. I recall a similar story back in 2010.

It had to do with my column for LEO, and Sarah Kelley's protectionist view of Budweiser's place therein,as documented at the time in A Tale of Two Columns, followed shortly thereafter by This round goes to the Liteweights, as Mr. Mug Shot is no more.

Recently I was approached by a pleasant LEO advertising sales person and her boss. They pitched the idea of an ongoing, half-page ad/column to be sponsored by NABC, on the topic of cooking with beer and food-beer pairings.

The rate? Reasonable by the standards of the genre.

I asked who'd be providing the actual content, and clarified that it would be NABC (read: me) and not a LEO staffer. After all, isn't the fact that I once wrote a column for LEO sufficient proof that I'm a writer?

Having established that as a writing ad buyer, I'd have control over the content, I told them the story about my experience as a LEO columnist, the tiff over ever-sensitive megabuck monoliths like AB-InBev not abiding insults, and the fact that I encouraged the door to hit me in the ass while exiting.

So, as advertising purchaser, would I still be censored as to anti-Budweiser polemics in the same way as before?

They said they'd get back to me. It's been a few weeks now, and I've heard nothing.

Now it strikes me as ironic. Sarah Kelley's principled departure from LEO, and the uncertainty surrounding the alt weekly's future, perhaps offer an even better reason to be wary of advertising there ... but it wasn't clear that truth-telling would have been allowed even if I paid to place it.

Matters of principle. Funny damned things, indeed.

WFPL: LEO Editor Sarah Kelley leaves rather than cut staffers, by Staff (Insider Louisville)

In late July we told you SouthComm CEO Chris Ferrell was in Louisville to meet with LEO Weekly staffers.

At that time, we asked Ferrell both in phone conversations and in emails about information we had from LEO insiders about pending cuts. He declined to discuss the changes on the record, and, as we say, off the record is off the record.

We also contacted LEO staffers about the cuts, but no one would go on the record.

Today, WFPL’s Gabe Bullard reported LEO Editor Sarah Kelley has chosen to take a bullet rather than to layoff colleagues.

This round goes to the Liteweights, as Mr. Mug Shot is no more.

This just in: LEO's editor, Sarah Kelley, has fired intrepid "Mug Shot" columnist Roger A. Baylor for myriad offenses against taste and decency.

Which is why I thought the "independent" "alt"-weekly hired me in the first place, but verily, times and people change. There'll be time later to discuss. Until then:

Under-employed former LEO beer columnist with pompous proclivities and a large, loyal fan base desires biweekly forum for fermentable truth-telling. Pay is negotiable. Note that the columnist is allergic to censorship and poor taste. You know where I am. Have beer -- will write/right.