Mission Statement:
To endeavor to bring to all residents of the Five States the most current and important news from across the entire Five States region. Never yellow, the Five States Herald vows to serve only the people of the Five States, from New Austin to Lemoyne, free of charge now and forever.
Massive corruption exposed in BHTC bounty hunting program
By Frederick Vannesse
Following weeks of reports including outlaws working as bounty hunters and BHTC members using the system for personal revenge, an official investigation as begun. The United States Congress has established an ad hoc committee to look into the claims against the BHTC and analyze evidence that has been obtained. While the BHTC claims that all allegations are false and any evidence is a fabrication, several members of the board have resigned. This includes one Rutherford McConas, who was the unidentified representative who ran into Nathaniel Cross in Valentine weeks ago. Another man implicated in wrong doing in this very paper was Lambert Rink, who also resigned from the BHTC this week.
It is unclear how deep or how long this corruption has gone on. The Congressional Committee on Corruption has not announced how it plans to investigate this matter. However, one member of the committee said that if the claims are true, “resignations will not save these villains from the law.” Several witnesses have traveled to Washington DC this week to attend the first round of hearings. While it cannot be confirmed, it is believed that Nathaniel Cross is one bounty hunter attending the hearings with a bone to pick with the BHTC.
New Austin; champion of states rights until they need federal funding
By Wylie Frey
The legislature of New Austin is requesting federal government aid. The request is to deal with multiple issues. First, the aid is being asked for to better help the town of Armadillo. For years now the town has suffered of cholera and despite several doctors attempting to help the town, no progress has been made. “It comes down to resources and we don’t have them,” admitted a state legislator’s aid. The state of New Austin is also seeking aid in dealing with the growth of criminals in the region.
New Austin is considered one of the most lawless states in the union and as such, attracts many outlaws. “This drives out honest folks and their tax dollars,” so claim the state legislature in their please to the federal government. Thus, the state legislature has admitted they cannot secure the state for their people. It was not long ago that New Austin was among several others states pleading states rights over federal intervention. Looks like things have changed.
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Kidnapping Gone Wrong Over Bacchus Bridge
By Sofia Kathleen Fairfax (Lead Correspondent)
This week, a dramatic kidnapping in New Hanover ended with tragic results for everyone involved. In the middle of the day, a man grabbed a woman from Emerald Ranch. The cowpoke and the victim are as of yet unknown. The cowpoke savagely beat up the woman, tied her with rope, and threw her onto his horse.
Lawmen were on the scene in minutes, they exchanged gunfire, but the cowpoke managed to escape, for a while anyway. We do not know where he was taking the woman, but the route took him over Bacchus Bridge. At the end of the bridge, lawmen were waiting, having been tipped off by a postman near Emerald Ranch.
The cowpoke’s horse took a bullet to the neck and collapsed, but the man continued onward, picking up the woman. As he fired off shots from what appears to be a Schofield revolver, the cowpoke’s victim was plotting something. As he neared the middle of the bridge, and with the law closing in, disaster struck.
The woman managed to kick the cowpoke in the face, but something else transpired instead of getting free. The cowpoke lost his balance and tumbled over the edge of Bacchus Bridge. The woman, still tied up, fell alongside him. Lawmen reported hearing both individuals scream all the way down.
Local law is disheartened at the tragic outcome, but remain intent on discovering who that cowpoke was, and why he tried to kidnap a seemingly innocent woman.
Bison stampede kills outlaws
By Nick McCrary
A traveler was caught off guard this week when they tried to help a woman in need. “She was hurt, so she said, and needed a ride into Blackwater, where I was headed,” the man said. As he got off his horse he noticed the woman reach behind her back and grab a gun. He pushed the woman just as others came from behind some rocks and then he jumped on his horse and fled. “I knew they were right behind me but I had no choice, I had to try and get away,” he said.
He veered off the road and into the Great Plains, where he noticed dozens of bison. With his pursuers closing in, the man lit a stick of dynamite and tossed it to the far end of the pack. The explosion startled the herd and turned it into a stampede, right into the direction of the outlaws. “I never looked back but heard their horses and them scream. I’m still alive, it worked.” Sometimes survival in the Five States requires creative solutions.
Man arrested for eating garbage in Valentine
By Emery Cosberry
Despite being unable to cite the law, the Valentine sheriff arrested a man accused of eating garbage. Justifying this action, Sheriff Malloy said, “The man was a nuisance. Eating garbage ain’t right but he’s being arrested for being a nuisance. Going through people’s trash to eat it doesn’t sit well with honest folks who want to be left alone.” The man seemed to be confused by the whole ordeal. According to the sheriff, he did not say a word and seemed to not understand that he was upsetting people. “Odd thing is, we put him in the cell and he gets on the floor and curls up under the bed… just odd.” Witnesses saw the man east of the Dakota River, south of Caliban’s Seat. They claimed at the time he seemed normal though they noted a strange smell and saw that he was burning herbs they did not recognized. After a day passed, the man seemed to come to his senses and was released. However, he never explained what happened.
Another week and another false arrest in the hunt for the Smoking Gun
By Aloysius Levron
An underground poker game ended in bloodshed this week. According to witnesses, a man was caught with a card up his sleeve after a series of big wins. A “dapper gentleman” did not take kindly to this and immediately shot the cheater in the head. As the victim was known to be heavily in debt, speculation began that this man was killed by the Smoking Gun. The man was arrested, however, he was confirmed to not be the Smoking Gun. He was charged with murder and playing an illegal poker game, but will not be charged for the Smoking Gun’s crimes. Many law enforcement officers across the Five States are eager to catch the Smoking Gun to make a name for themselves. However, each arrest has turned out to be in error. With each passing week it seems more and more likely that the Smoking Gun has fled the Five States and may never return.
Mass Murdering Nurse Captured!
By Sofia Kathleen Fairfax (Lead Correspondent)
Today, a nurse with auburn hair was caught killing a patient in Saint-Denis. This woman is not Myra Rose Hart, however, although there are similarities. This is a woman named Honora Kelley, an Irish woman born in Minnesota. She was caught trying to jam a syringe filled with unknown substances into a Greek patient.
Kelley, originally from Minneapolis, seemed to drift from town to town not unlike Miss Hart. Always working as a nurse, but never for more than a few months. People who knew her thought she was quite eccentric. Often speaking fast with a sharp accent, some even called her Jolly Jane. Prior to arriving in the Five States, Kelley spent a lot of time in Kansas City.
She arrived in Saint-Denis roughly six months ago. Doctors were suspicious of her almost from the start. Drugs would go missing, she would work more hours than needed, and patient deaths notably became more common. It wasn’t until today, however, did they learn how bad the situation was.
Kelley, for lord knows what reason, enjoyed drugging patients and watching them spasm until death. Sometimes she would even hold them as they died. What was her motivation? Kelley simply claimed she wanted to kill more people then anyone had in history. She currently has confessed to 34 murders, with the number still possibly being higher.
A court trial is expected in the following months. Will she end up being the first woman publicly executed in Saint-Denis? The citizens certainly hope so.
Calvin Fairbank, abolotionist and minister, has died
By Adam Parvey
Calvin Fairbank was credited as personally rescuing 47 slaves. His abolitionist work led to him being arrested for violating the Fugitive Slave Act. While imprisoned, Mr. Fairbank reportedly received over 35,000 lashes as punishment before finally being pardoned by Governor Richard T. Jacob in the middle of the Civil War. Mr. Fairbank spent his last several years in poverty and suffering from poor health conditions that were the result of his imprisonment. The effect of Mr. Fairbank’s actions will continue to be felt for generations to come, even if his name is forgotten.
U.S. flag raised over Puerto Rico
By Ivy Seager
Centuries of Spanish colonization has come to an end. With the ending of the Spanish-American war came the beginning for of a new world for many Caribbean nations. The raising fo the U.S. flag is not meant to show allegiance to the U.S. so much as it is designed to enthusiastically embrace that which the flag stands for: freedom. Puerto Ricans cheered the U.S. forces on and seem eager to embrace their new found freedom.
The Five States Herald 