St. Louis-area newspaper the Suburban Journals laid off 37 year-old reporter Todd Smith last week due to budget cuts. Despite the fact that Smith had taken a bullet in the line of journalism.

He was shot in the hand during a crazy guy's shooting rampage at a city council meeting last year. "He immediately pulled out his cell phone with his left hand to call the Journals. 'I said they'd need to send somebody else, because I'd been shot in the hand.'" Could you maybe make your situation a little more heartbreaking, Todd?

"I got called in Tuesday and told I needed to be at a meeting on Wednesday," Smith said. "I'd heard that the Post and [an unnamed] reporter won an award for the Kirkwood coverage, so at first I thought it might be about that."

Oh no, they just wanted to lay him off. Then again, they lay off award winners too. SAD.
[Riverfront Times]