Forum: In-depth local journalism matters, even if the truth is ugly
Published 1:30 am Friday, May 22, 2026
It was no surprise to read in the 125th Anniversary edition how important The Herald has been to so many people. Three specific things nudged me to write this: the wonderful recollections of Bill Rucker; being flooded with memories of several of the people pictured; and a profound sense of sadness seeing the front page announcing my arrest being one of the ten selected among 40,000+ editions.
I was arrested one month after turning 27. I’m 60. I have read the Herald all my life. Despite shall we say “strained relations”, I have made sure my subscription is current thanks to the magnanimity of others. Paging through the commemorative, I thought boy, I wish my community knew my heart, knew what actually transpired during that horrific five months from mid-August 1992 to early January 1993.
I remember Dad taking me down to watch the press run when I was little. LOUD. I remember Dad’s great Judd and Black double trucks and the success of the Long family business. I remember my career in PR / advertising with Dad, handing clients’ newspaper stuff among other things. Although my own family history goes back 100+ years in Snohomish County, I remember being intimidated when first meeting heavy hitters Bill Rucker and Dwayne Lane. I remember going downstairs to pick up veloxes and taking them to the weeklies. Larry Lark was my primary Herald guy, and a gem. When I went off the deep end, there were a few times I was egregiously discourteous toward Larry – to the degree that the ad manager at the time summoned me to the inner sanctum for a clarifying session. As a founding member of the South Everett / Mukilteo Rotary Club (that roster has probably LONG since been purged) at the invitation of Barb McCarthy of Frontier Bank, I had multiple unique opportunities to chew the fat with Larry Hanson, who was our guest from the downtown crew a few times, and even to drive Bob Overstreet to a couple meetings when he was running, etc.
As a kid I eagerly awaited the paperboy. As a young married man, and even thereafter, up to the day of my arrest, and all these years since, the Herald has represented home to me. The good aspects of my life ran in The Herald. Clients ran ads and inserts in The Herald. The Herald chronicled my crimes, arrest, and sentencing.
I remain ashamed and sorrowful for the havoc my actions wrought. But I am thankful for the goodwill, despite the endless headlines, reruns, and online detritus, such that most people from those days knew there had to be more to the story.
A brief word about Scott North. Owing not to any deception from me, but to the untoward influence of some on the task force and my own conduct, he was not favorably predisposed toward me. Yet, evidencing his integrity and investigative skills, he remains the only regional reporter to look into anything I said. And he got an earful for doing so.
I could’ve spent the past 33+ years of the Herald’s 125-year history chasing after every little (or big) idiotic notion put forth. But I’d rather simply say THANK YOU to all who’ve offered kind words, outreaches, etc. Though I’ve been concerned about the liberal capitulation of The Herald over the span of my imprisonment, I’m also concerned, as the old-timers expressed in the commemorative, about its long-term survival. It must. In-depth local journalism matters, even if the truth is ugly. Congratulations to The Herald.
Paul Keller, Inmate
Stafford Creek Corrections Center, Aberdeen
Formerly of Snohomish County
