THE STATE 

EDITOR OF PAPER QUITS AFTER
APARTMENT FIRE 

Published on: 01/03/2006 
Section: METRO/REGION 
Edition: FINAL 
Page: B1 
JOY L. WOODSON, Staff Writer 

The editor of an alternative weekly in the city has resigned after a
fire in his apartment he believes was set by an unhappy reader or
source.

After returning from holiday travel early Saturday morning, Corey
Hutchins, editor of the Columbia City Paper, said he walked into his
Columbia apartment, saw the remnants of a fire and contacted
police.

A police report confirmed the fire at the duplex, where Hutchins lived
with two other roommates. There was mostly smoke damage, but
clothing, bedding and books totaling $320 were destroyed in the fire,
the report stated.

Police said Monday they have no suspects in the case.

"A lot of people have gotten upset about things we have written
about, and I have gotten calls and e-mails anonymously . . . but I
never thought that anything like this would happen," Hutchins said. "I
never thought that someone would be personally offended and want
to burn my house down or harm me individually."

The phone calls and letters included people who threatened to sue
and irate readers who bad-mouthed the weekly, Hutchins said.

Columbia City Paper publisher Paul Blake points to several reasons
why Hutchins could have been a target. The newspaper, which
began publishing in August, has drawn resistance from several bars
and restaurants in Columbia, he said.

Not only was Hutchins a crime reporter, but he also wrote about a
sexual discrimination lawsuit at the University of South Carolina and
published Gov. Mark Sanford's personal telephone numbers in an
editorial about the death penalty and the execution of the 1,001st
person in the state, Blake noted.

"I do think it's a larger censorship problem," he said. "Here we have
to battle just to be in locations. We've been banned from several of
the businesses in town."

Reach Woodson at (803) 771-8692 or jwoodson@thestate.com. 



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