LUTHORCORP
PLANT TO CLOSE
Lionel Luthor Destroys
Smallville's Economy In One Minute;
Blames Son

Luthor Makes Dire Announcement
By Christopher James Beppo

In a shocking surprise announcement, LuthorCorp CEO Lionel Luthor has permanently shut down LuthorCorp's Smallville base of operations, Fertilizer Plant No. 3, blaming plant president Lex Luthor for mismanagement and leaving approximately 2,500 employees out of work.
The company is closing the plant, despite the fact that it posted a profit this quarter after two years of steady growth, presumably to consolidate production with similar facilities in Edge City, Bludhaven and Grandville. It is impossible to predict the elder Luthor's intentions, given the brevity of his address, which lasted less than one minute.

According to employees, Lionel Luthor arrived at the plant in the corporate helicopter shortly before noon on Tuesday. The entire workforce had assembled, including Lex Luthor and several of his managers, expecting to hear an inspirational speech from their leader. Instead, Lionel strode to the podium and brusquely informed the team that, "Due to management failures beyond your control, the plant will be closing, effective immediately."
Stunned silence and tears followed the speech as workers milled about, wondering whether or not to return to their workstations. While most people hugged and consoled one another, some were overheard cursing Lex, who instantly fled the premises.

"I'm sad because everybody is like family. We've all been here for so long,'' said Rita Hoshi, who has worked at the plant for the past nine years. "I'm going to have to start at the bottom in Bludhaven or somewhere else, where I don't know anyone. I guess everyone was right about Lex after all."

Lex Luthor has made no effort to publicly refute his father's accusation, fueling speculation that his goal all along has been to bide his time in Smallville until he can return to LuthorCorp's Metropolis headquarters.

SPRING FORMAL AT
SMALLVILLE HIGH SCHOOL
A Night They'll Never Forget
By Kathy Romita

The annual rites of spring--flowers burst forth with blossoms, leaves emerge from trees, ducklings swim in ponds with their mothers and Smallville High School hosts a themed dance. But this year, the traditional Sadie Hawkins/Vice Versa event that we alumni so fondly remember has been changed. In a controversial move, the late principal James Kwan opted to host a Spring Formal instead. Since the seniors attend the annual prom, the underclassmen need a party to help celebrate the end of another school year. And this year it will be a formal occasion.

Bonnie's Bridal and Tuxedo Shop has been busily helping young ladies choose their elegant gowns. Bonnie ensures that no two girls will show up to any event wearing the same dress. She stated, "I'm so impressed with the fashion sense of these young women. Usually at this time of year, you'll only see soft pastels on the dance floor. But this spring will be different. I am selling some light hues, but I've also sold some deep vibrants in pinks and blues." Some of the attendees travel to Metropolis to choose their wear. And Smallville designer Sylvia Sestay has created a couple of original pieces for clients. "They tear a photo out of a fashion magazine, and I interpret it. It's Smallville's answer to haute couture," quipped Sestay.
Bonnie's husband, Ted White, notices that the guys are opting for nontraditional shades to complement their tuxes. Black is the color of choice for the actual tuxedo; however, several of the boys are matching cummerbunds, vests and ties or bowties to their dates' dresses. And Nell Potter from Nell's Boutique has been filling orders for boutonnieres and corsages. "It'crazy and exciting! I remember attending the high school dances with my beau. I had the greatest time at those events," Nell recalled.
The gym will be transformed into a fairy tale land complete with a castle and delicate twinkling lights draping the walls. And with the rock band Remy Zero performing, it sets the stage for a perfect evening. This will truly be a night these kids will never forget.

COMES THE EXECUTIONER

An Analysis by Business Editor John K. McGuiness

A crime was committed in Smallville on May 21, 2002. Or more precisely, a crime was committed against Smallville on that date. It's not something you'll read about in the police blotter. You won't see the perpetrator's face hanging in the post office. Sheriff Ethan won't be knocking on your door looking for witnesses.

No, what transpired in this town at 12:01 p.m. last Tuesday was a transgression that will be unpunished but never forgotten--and never forgiven. I give the exact time of day to emphasize the fact that it took less than a minute to permanently alter the course of thousands of lives.
One minute is all Lionel Luthor needed to announce that LuthorCorp Fertilizer Plant No. 3 will close immediately.

By all accounts, the rash action caught plant president Lex Luthor completely by surprise, along with his shocked employees and managers. Lex had poured his heart and soul into his first major venture, and the results had begun to pay off handsomely for LuthorCorp. But it wasn't enough for his father. It wasn't enough, apparently, to overcome a petty vendetta fueled by some kind of sick father/son rivalry that we may never be fully privy to.

No one will ever know what prompted Lionel Luthor to torpedo a perfectly viable enterprise that was clearly on the rise. But walking down Main Street from now on, we will be hard-pressed to avoid seeing the effects of his decision on the citizenry of Smallville.

It's a very safe bet that the vast majority of the Ledger's readership either worked at Fertilizer Plant No. 3 or knew a friend or loved one who worked there. So I will spare my readers the gory details of the crime scene. What I'd rather do in my allotted space is to put a human face on this atrocity.

It is my hope that this issue of the Ledger finds its way to Mr. Luthor's shadowy office in Metropolis and gives him a brief pause in the course of the corporate barbarism that goes by such polite euphemisms as corporate downsizing.

A lot of folderol has been written in this paper recently about "monsters" in our midst. Well folks, I'm here to confirm that there is in fact a monster among us. The difference is this monster hides behind a human face, and there are no superheroes around to stop him from perpetrating his evil.
Read on, Lionel Luthor, and behold what you have wrought.

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Since spring vacation, Jimmy McAuley had his eye on the Predator trail bike in the window of Fordman's Department Store. It was metallic mint green, it had rear lineal pull braking and it was everything an 11-year-old boy could want in life. Jimmy's father, James "Mac" McAuley, had manned the giant compressors in Plant No. 3 for seven years. It was hard work, and it frayed Mac's nerves every single day, but it put dinner on the table, and it paid for a few days' camping each year with Rosemary and the kids. But little Jimmy won't be churning up dirt on that Predator this year, because his dad can't afford luxuries like kids' bikes anymore. And Rosemary won't be setting the old dented coffee pot over the campfire at dawn in Rolling Hills, because Mac will be right here in Smallville all summer long, looking for work.
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Bonnie Hart ought to be at home with her feet up, waiting for the happy arrival in two months of her and Corey's first child. Instead, she's on those swollen feet nine hours a day in front of the checkout counter at the Bag-N-Go on Route 5. Sure, the Harts could have squeezed by on Corey's salary as a swing-shift foreman in the tank room at Plant No. 3. But they had bigger plans for Carl or Carlene, whichever the case may be. He or she wasn't going to grow up to work in some dreary market or factory just to get by. Bonnie and Corey's offspring was going to attend a prestigious college and far exceed their achievements. Now that may not happen.
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Susan Aparo gets a kick out of the little things in life. Even after Lex promoted her to vice president of marketing and research at the fertilizer plant, she took the time
to keep in touch with each of LuthorCorp's distributors around the state and every one of the 2,500-plus people who labored on the grimy factory floor beneath her big office window and in the rest of the sprawling complex. Bucking the conventional wisdom that, like a fish, a corporation rots from the head down, Susan ignored Lionel's mercenary example and made a family out of the people in her corner of LuthorCorp. Maybe Lionel knew how close-knit the members of this community of devoted workers truly were, maybe he didn't. It doesn't much matter anymore, because he has scattered them to the Kansas wind like so many discarded husks in the cornfield.
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These are only a few of the human lives devastated by Lionel's brash and heartless business move. Multiply those three stories until you reach 2,500, and you'll start to get an idea of what has happened here. Now go further and take into account the peripheral effects of the plant closure.
The Beanery coffeehouse was already struggling with the new competition of The Talon. What will happen when the stream of caffeine-hungry factory workers suddenly dries up? As lunch counters, newsstands and other small businesses surrounding the plant start to fall like dominoes, the ripple will spread throughout Smallville. Will anyone be able to spare the cash for a bouquet from Nell's Boutique? Will anyone be willing to spend a little extra--no matter how wonderful they may be--for Martha Kent's organic pies? The jobs lost in the fertilizer plant itself will be only the beginning of the downslide.

To Lionel, these people are numbers on a spreadsheet...pawns in a corporate chess game...unfortunate collateral damage in a familial battle that, to all appearances, his son Lex would just as soon not be a part of. Since bursting upon Smallville as the new head of Fertilizer Plant No. 3, Lex has admirably remained above the skullduggery that many assumed would be his legacy as a Luthor. He overcame tremendous negative expectations and carried himself with pride and professionalism in all of his endeavors, even to the extent of fraternizing with the youths of Smallville--like SHS student and Talon assistant manager Lana Lang--and guiding them to meaningful and productive futures.

Lex Luthor's plant managers and employees were beginning to become as aware of those altruistic qualities as we impartial observers were. One can only imagine what Lex would have done for Smallville had he been allowed to operate unfettered by his father.

Unless Lex and his right-hand man, loyal plant manager Gabe Sullivan, can pull off some kind of brilliant maneuver and mount a defensive response mighty enough to combat even Lionel's shrewd acumen, Lex might just return to Metropolis and live out his days as a drone in the fetid beehive that is LuthorCorp headquarters. Only time will tell if Lex can uphold his principles in such close proximity to the Prince of Darkness himself.
Harsh editorializing, you say? Yes, assuredly it is. I've spoken my mind in a most shameless manner, and I must thank my editors for indulging me in this, my swan song at the Ledger. For the current issue not only marks the most tragic event in Smallville since the meteor shower so many years ago, but it also serves as the humble last gasp of an aging business editor who's seen one too many injustices.

Trust me, I don't flatter myself by claiming that I'm retiring "in protest" of the plant closing. Far be it for me to think that my departure from the paper will have any significance in the face of such an event. No, this decision has been a long time in coming. My wife, Gena, will ably carry on the McGuiness name in the Ledger, while I just might join old Waid up at the reservoir when the bluegills come around again.
Besides, there isn't going to be a whole hell of a lot of business in Smallville to report on anymore, is there?

To Lex Luthor, although we've never met, I leave an optimistic wish. Smallville knows your potential, Lex. We know what you're capable of, and we'll be watching to see what your return volley is. To paraphrase John Donne, although your father seems to have come out ahead in this latest ruthless gambit, he may have just become his own executioner. One can only hope.

SMALLVILLE BRACES
FOR SEVERE STORM
Storm Chasers on Alert

Is This What's In Store For Smallville?

Special Report by Angie Perez and Christopher James Beppo

Kansas State University's meteorologists, along with the National Weather Service, have issued a tornado warning for Lowell County. Professor Thomas Bolide commented that his team has been tracking three separate fronts using Doppler radar and satellite image loops. "We have found the necessary temperature conditions and wind flow patterns to produce these storms. Additionally, we find that there's an extremely slight possibility that they will converge over the county. I repeat this is very unlikely. However, if they were to collide, the resulting devastation would be incomprehensible. It would truly be the storm of the century," warned Bolide.

Just in case, residents of Smallville are urged to prepare for an imminent and quite possibly tremendous tempest. Last year, countless families were forced to seek shelter at Bludhaven High School as an F3 twister ripped through the town, damaging and destroying numerous structures and injuring dozens. Farmer Zeke Hickory recalls the hours leading up to the violent twister. "The air was alive with electricity. Even though the sun was shining, I could feel something big was coming. Then out of nowhere, huge hailstones rained down."

Housewife Dorothy Twittle had this warning for the people of Smallville: "Don't be caught off-guard like I was. These things come up real quick. Lordy, it sounded like a freight train ramming through my living room."
As everyone who lives in Tornado Alley knows, it is recommended to have safety measures in place, including a radio, flashlights, water and nonperishable food. Locals should tune in to KROW 97.3 for weather updates and be prepared to take cover in their storm cellars or basements. If you're in your vehicle, drive out of the path of the tornado and if possible get out and seek shelter inside a building--away from windows.
In conclusion, Professor Bolide advises, "Stay calm and do not panic..." [The rest of his statement was inaudible as the brilliant but nervous-looking educator had briskly exited the building and was last seen heading towards his well-stocked SUV.]