Columnist George Kennedy
Columbia Missourian
April 7, 2011
The Columbia Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval Jan. 20
for a 632-bed apartment complex at Rock Quarry Road and Grindstone Parkway.
Columbia Heart Beat blogger Mike Martin and later the Columbia Daily Tribune reported that
the development company, North Carolina-based Campus Crest Communities, has had
lawsuits filed against it alleging racism and sexual discrimination and liens
from contractors who said they weren’t paid on time for work they
performed.
Columbia Business Times
February 4, 2011
February 4, 2011
Mike Martin, a local blogger, heard about the e-mail campaign and on
Dec. 13, 2009, wrote a piece about Main Squeeze on his blog, The Columbia Heart Beat. “The
next three days after his article came out, we were slammed,” Lockhart
says. “His article was pretty much: ‘Hey, the little guy is trying to
make it; go help her out.’ People just really rallied and that’s … It
makes me cry when I think about it … If it really hadn’t been for all
that, then who knows what would have happened?
Vox Magazine
Vox Magazine
Nov. 11, 2010
You might call Mike Martin the anti-Hank Waters. As you may know, Hank
presides over the Columbia Daily Tribune, filling the hole in the upper
left-hand corner of the editorial page every day and sitting comfortably at the
heart of Columbia’s establishment. He writes often and usually approvingly of
the actions of our rulers in city and county governments. Mike, a freelance
science journalist, makes his living fixing up and renting out houses in the
First Ward. His avocation is his weekly online publication, the Columbia Heart
Beat. His particular delight is skewering city and county officials. Favorite
targets are County Assessor Tom Schauwecker and, these days, City Manager Bill
Watkins.
Columnist George Kennedy
September 2, 2010
Then there is the issue of “The e-mail.” As some of you read in Mike Martin’s Columbia Heart Beat or my InkandVoice.com
columns, a Columbia Police Department detective, on his or her own
time, sent an e-mail to friends, who sent it to friends and eventually
it made its way to an MU listserv. There were allegations that the National Biker Roundup represented
the worst of the worst of motorcycle clubs. The e-mail insinuated that
Columbia would experience an untold number of motorcycle and car thefts,
raging gang fights, pillaging … OK, it was not that bad, but the e-mail
caused much ado about nothing among our more genteel citizens. Martin’s
columns, four in total, concerning this issue can be found here.
Columnist David Rosman
September 1, 2010
The
nearly 90-minute discussion opened with Watkins addressing an
allegation by local blogger Mike Martin that the city has a nearly $500
million “cash stash that sits in a quiet corner.” Watkins said,
“Would we not be filling positions? Would we be laying people off and
asking for utility rate increases if this were so?” Watkins said
the city has various funds, such as enterprise, fiduciary and special
revenue, in which the city holds its finances. “If you add all that up
it’s $166,404,198.”
August 17, 2010
If the list of REDI prospects Mike Martin posted last week on The Columbia
Heart Beat blog is even close to accurate, there’ll be another deal before long.
Next time, council members should be in on the negotiations. All the important
questions should be answered before we celebrate.
An
e-mail newsletter sent yesterday accused Fourth Ward Columbia City
Council candidate Daryl Dudley of being “in bed” with developers because
his campaign post office box is the same as the box used by local
businessmen Tom Atkins and Scott Atkins. The report, however — in
the Columbia Heart Beat newsletter by Mike Martin — did not mention
that P.O. Box 756 also is the business address of Dudley’s campaign
treasurer, Pat Wilson, who works for the developers.
March 25, 2010
Mayoral candidate Sid Sullivan did something highly unusual last week. He
declined an invitation to an interview with Columbia Daily Tribune Editor and
Publisher Hank Waters. You may have learned about that, as I did, on the Columbia Heart Beat, Mike
Martin’s feisty online publication, which he describes as our “alternative news
source.” In this case, as in others, the news seems to have struck a nerve with
Mike’s progressive/liberal/activist readership.
Columnist George Kennedy
February 18, 2010
There
is no one more aware and involved in the heart of what is going on in
Columbia than Mike Martin. He is the “blogitor in chief” of the
Columbia Heart Beat, where he fearlessly takes on the issues of the day
without worry of being politically correct or bumping up against the
powers that be.
Dec. 4, 2009
Columbia Missourian
August 28, 2009
Great news that you've provided the resources for investigative journalism
and that you and David are working together on the project. I cannot help but
think that Mike Martin has made a huge contribution to making this possible
through the investigative work he does. Whether one agrees or disagrees with his
findings, unpaid community journalists are gaining more and more recognition in
communities across the nation.
Joy Piazza, Columbia Missourian reader, May 1, 2009
Joy Piazza, Columbia Missourian reader, May 1, 2009
The Columbia Heart Beat hasn't been free of controversy. Mayor Darwin Hindman, for example, denied one report in the Heart Beat that he had participated in a discussion of strategies for removing "activist" members of the City Council.
Columbia Missourian
July 3, 2009
In November 2005, Martin started the Columbia Heart Beat. Today, the Columbia Heart Beat claims more than 5,200 subscribers.
November 12, 2009
His dual roles in the site search are revealed in a set of e-mails
disclosed under the state Sunshine Law at the request of community gadfly Traci
Wilson-Kleekamp and published this week in Mike Martin’s online newsletter,
Columbia Heart Beat. You can read Mike’s report for yourself at
columbiaheartbeat.blogspot.com. The e-mails show Hank as urging City Manager Bill Watkins to support the
use of eminent domain to buy a privately owned block just west of the eventual
site. He also advised fellow trustees on how to handle negotiations with
university and city leaders. At the same time, he editorialized in favor of the
positions he was pushing as a society trustee.
Mike
Martin's Columbia Heart Beat and the West Seattle Blog, run by a
husband-and-wife team, are both making waves and leading to tremendous
interest among their respective communities. Audiences are invited to contribute to the reporting - through
an email newsgroup in Martin's case - and they appreciate and respond
to it.
April 29, 2009
Thus, the Columbia Heart Beat was born. It's a beat about the heart of the City of Columbia.
Martin
turned what he called “over-the-fence talk” into The Columbia Heart
Beat...Martin’s insider’s take on the area has attracted the attention
of community members and officials across Columbia, including the City
Council.
May 7, 2007
