The election season in Ellis County is turning into a soap opera. Joey Dauben, editor with The Ellis County Press, had a story yesterday about registered sex offender James Brian Sliter, who may get enough votes on May 10 to become the next mayor of Wilmer -- even though he withdrew from the contest several weeks ago, after his story became national news. Says Crystol Birdwell, the city secretary, “It’s very possible, very possible he could still win.” Which, really, should come as no surprise, as name recognition is, indeed, everything.

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That story's almost as good as this one from the same paper, involving an "illegal meeting" between the mayor and a council member in the small town of Bardwell (population 631). And, oddly, it also includes the mention of a registered sex offender -- only this one was spotted hanging out with the mayor, who "left the area and could not again be located" after the reporter "summoned a patrolling Ellis County Sheriff’s Office deputy who had been patrolling the area and filed an incident report alleging an illegal Open Meetings Act violation." The future of journalism is now. --Glenna Whitley