Apology for plagiarized letter to the Editor

Chris Davis, Editor, Pincher Creek Voice - Last Sunday I published a letter to the Editor by Dianne Gray, former candidate for the position of Mayor of Pincher Creek. In her email to me Ms. Gray said "I have had time to think about 'things' during and after the election. I wrote down 10 reasons rural community development is hard to do..."  Several hours later a reader directed my attention to this article published on an established website in 2007. That article was word for word the same as that submitted by Ms. Gray.  I therefore immediately removed the letter and expressed my concern to Ms. Gray via return email.  We have not been able to contact Ms. Gray for comment at this time.*  Similarly, we have not been able to contact the author of the original piece, as his email address has apparently changed in the 10 years since his article was first published.

I personally apologize to our readers and the original author, Michael Holton.  My thanks to the reader who brought the matter to our attention in such a quick manner.  It is the first time, to my knowledge and recollection, that we have published plagiarized content, and I will do my best to insure it is the last.  All other letters to the editor by Ms. Gray have also been deleted from this site.

*Correction: At the time I wrote this I had attempted to contact Ms. Gray via email, and had not received a reply.  I have since corresponded with her via email about this issue.