Fantastic news today – Tony Messenger of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary for his series on Missouri’s debtor’s prison scheme. He’s done an incredible job covering this corrupt and unjust system of incarceration of the poor in Missouri, so much so that some of the laws are starting to be changed.

The only thing better than him winning this prestigious prize is his promise to keep fighting:

I’ve recently reached out to Tony to thank him for his coverage of critically important issues surrounding our local rivers and water resources. I highly recommend reading his most recent article if you haven’t yet:

Messenger: The Missouri River is a ‘mad elephant’ that won’t be tamed by ‘bigger and better’ levees

The article encapsulates much of what I’ve come to learn and know about the state of the Missouri River. Every day, I pass through Chesterfield Valley, the massive strip mall, retail and entertainment development built foolishly in the Missouri River floodplain. In the wake of the recent spring flooding, some state politicians have called for bigger and better levees to protect current and future floodplain development. It’s been proven countless times in 150+ years how bad of an idea this is and how this stance will continue to put people and property at risk.

It is my sincere hope that Tony continues coverage of river-related issues. If he is half as impactful as he was covering the debtor’s prison issues as he is covering the river, then we should expect to see positive change in how we manage our rivers and water resources. I’ll fight with you, Tony.

mf