Putnam Standard Editorial - August 2008

(PutnamLIES.com editor’s note: This article ran in The Putnam Standard on August 19,2008. We present it here in its entirety.)


8/19/2008 7:28:00 PM
Some give the whole industry a black eye

The proprietor of one of our online news competitors was recently arrested at the county pool in Eleanor after making an ass out of himself in public.

Mark Hallburn, who runs the Web site www.PutnumLive.com, was arrested last week after he intimidated a pool manager, got into the pool, and refused to leave because he claimed the pool was supposed to be open until 6 p.m., about two hours later, according to a criminal complaint.

Hallburn claims he is being harassed by the city of Hurricane and Putnam County as a whole on his Web site.

Hallburn has reportedly frequently disrupted city council meetings and other functions with similar shenanigans, an overly-aggressive attitude, and the willingness to stretch any little thing as far as he can to make whatever point he is trying to make.

While Hallburn has every right to voice his opinion and battle whichever government agency he sees fit, we wish it wasn't being done under the guise of news.

Many people don't understand how news organizations work and may not understand that just because someone calls themselves a news agency does not necessarily mean they are credible.

In this case, the antics of Hallburn discredit his credibility as a news agency and gives the business as a whole a bad name.

When one starts a news site with the intentions of harassing public officials for personal gain, it becomes problematic. For example, his frequent complaints on his Web site about the noise near his home.

We applaud anyone who challenges the status quo when it is a wrong being committed against the community or the population as a whole. But when the wrong is one that only one person with a pen cares about, it hardly fits the bill as news or a good cause for an alleged news agency to tackle.

While finding true neutrality in news reporting is nearly impossible because reporters gather information, interpret it, and write about it, we feel that striving for such neutrality and forgetting about our own personal issues is a good start.

When a reporter enters a place where he or she was told not to go, it is wrong.

There are established channels to file complaints about pool closings, noisy construction, and other issues. Writing about it repeatedly, attacking public officials over it, and going to such lengths as allegedly assaulting pool managers is not among the channels.

We are at the crest of a wave of change in the news business.

More and more people go to the Internet for their news source.

Unfortunately, operations like this one, and some of the many blogs that are making noise, have very little in common with what we have seen in the print media since its inception.

More and more of our news are coming with opinion attached that is not clearly labeled as opinion. The thin line between opinion and fact is often hard to disseminate.

We just urge everyone to look at news critically and think about the sources used in news stories to determine how much of it you believe.

Reporting the proper source is everything.

When stories appear without sources, or with questionable sources, it is a safe bet that the facts being presented could be questionable themselves.

Our own industry needs to make sure it doesn't fall into the same traps that many on the Internet have.

Our credibility depends on it.

HURRICANE STILL HAS MOST SEX OFFENDERS

HURRICANE STILL HAS THE MOST SEX OFFENDERS

There are 25 registered sex offenders in Hurricane.

One could be behind you in the line at the bank. He could be the guy at local events taking pictures of your daughter, swimming laps at the community pool, buying a sandwich at Sheetz, picking up an order at the drugstore or even living next to Walmart.

That's over 8 times more than the three that live in Winfield.

Halburn implies that Mayor Scott Edwards is somehow remiss in his duties by not "taking action".
And by not "taking action" he has somehow made Hurricane a haven for perverts.

Well, we've got news for Halburn. There's nothing the Mayor or anyone else in city government can do.

The State law was never intended to be used to inflict retribution or additional punishment on an offender.

A city has no legal authority to direct where a sex offender may or may not live, and additionally, unless specifically ordered by the court, offenders are free to live wherever and with whomever they choose.

It may not be the best solution, but it is the law.

We see exactly what Halburn is doing here. He writes a story about sex offenders in Hurricane and places the mayor's picture at the top of that article. Insinuating that the Mayor is an offender.
Are we saying that Mark Halburn is a sex offender? No. We're saying nothing of the kind.

But you know what? Turnabout is fair play.

Spot The Halburn

Reader Submitted Photos

From time to time our loyal readers send PutnamLIES.com pictures of Halburn as he waddles up and down the valley making trouble for the good folks who live here.
And now, since he can't afford internet in his filthy, rodent infested, one bedroom garage apartment, he's been forced to go around and leech off of open wifi connections at area businesses so he can write his shitty little attack blog. McDonald's is one of his favorite "hotspots". He's also a big fan of Buffalo Wild Wings, One Stop Convenience Stores, Best Buy and Sheetz. He doesn't even buy anything. He could be anywhere there's free wifi. He just goes in and camps out. Maybe he even has a menial job somewhere.

So we're starting a feature we call "Spot The Halburn".

If you see Halburn out in public, whether it's shopping for groceries, shoving food into his gaping maw, harassing a public employee, typing away at one of his favorite hotspots or the rarest of all Halburn sightings, him actually working at a job, snap a picture, tell us when and where it was taken, what Halburn was doing and any other comments, send it to us and we'll feature it here on "Spot The Halburn". Send your pictures to putnamlies.com@gmail.com.

Maybe we'll have a prize or some silly shit like that. Maybe we'll present you with a laurel and hearty handshake. Maybe all you'll get is the satisfaction of helping making him look like the pompous assclown he is.

C’mon all you South Carolina readers! We know you see this dildo douching it up down there. Send us some pics!

Let's get started with our reader submitted photos.

11/29/2017. Halburn is arrested for contempt of court and spends 13 days in jail. Courtesy Western Regional Jail.

Sun’s out, guns out. It’s 45 degrees and raining and this assclown is running around in shorts and flip flops taking pictures at Putnam Market so he can pump out another kiss-ass article about the Meeks family.. 11/1/2017

There’s a hippo and a zebra on the field at Winfield tonight. He’s looking forward to more of those cheerleader upskirts. Probably gonna go get meatballs afterwards!!!  9/15/2017

Halburn scoops up some free food at Krogers. Looks like he’s in the wine section. Has he started drinking again? 9/2/2017

Lardass in the frozen food aisle at the Nitro Walmart. No doubt it’s a diet soda in that cup. And he’s always ready for some quick telephone harassment or a hot news tip with his ginormous bluetooth headset.  7/29/2017

Halburn and his new "girlfriend" sugar mama Barbara at the Church @The Depot. Takes a lot of nerve to bring her to church after a weekend of depravity shacked up at his apartment. Apparently she's one of those an assholes who feels the need to use her phone in church too. 5/7/2017

Healthy Kids Day at the Tri County YMCA. And of course, Fats is signing up for all the giveaways and getting all the free stuff he can while his kid wanders around with no shoes. 4/29/2017

Mark Vance Halburn gets a new mugshot courtesy of the South Central Regional Jail.  This time it's for violating a personal protection order issues against him for stalking Charleston pediatrician Joseph Matusic and his family.  It's been a few years, time for an update. 3/17/2017

Teays Valley Krogers. Standing tall and important with his headset on. House slippers. He can't even pick his feet up when he walks. The only thing he bought was Kroger brand Dr Pepper in 2 liters. But a bunch of them . Probably paid with an EBT card. 2/7/2017

Halburn gets nailed on an out of bounds play at a high school football game. His camera and headset went flying and his fat ass went down. 11/4/2016

Mister E-normous Headset goes shopping at Walmart on Tuesday evening.
Same shirt, different pants.
Good fashion choice when your legs look 12 inches long. I didn't figure voices in his head required a headset. He probably needs it to stay in contact with all of his fan. 6/1/2016

The Putnam Cryer was spotted today in Winfield disrupting the Homecoming parade traffic with his crack "journalism" skills. Probably a hard hitting expose on young girls' panties. He had a bag and was getting candy. All parade participants were instructed to not throw any sweets in his vicinity. 9/11/2016

Nothing says professional journalist at work like a giant bluetooth headset.
Or maybe he's playing Call of Foody. 5/26/2016

At the Hurricane Walmart. Nothing says professional journalist like a t-shirt, shorts that droop past your knees and flip flops. And he's too lazy to even stand up, he has to lay all over the cart..  3/17/2016

He kept sitting in the aisle at church and wouldn't move. Finally they made him move so he went to the back and played with his phone. 3/10/2016

Sleeping in church.
He always sits in the back and plays with his phone, unless there's an event where he can get up, walk around, and take pictures. That’s not distracting at all.  2/7/2016

Hurricane High Football. 10/18/2015

Nothing says professional journalist like showing up to cover an event in shorts and flip flops. 10/14/2015

Halburn shouts questions at the Governor at Rt 35 groundbreaking. 10/14/2015 

 Jump Kraze at the Putnam Village. 8/29/2015

Hard to tell if he's looking at the little girls or the pizza sign. 8/8/2015

At the Wave pool. Hello ladies. 8/8/2015

Look who is at the supreme court again... no word on his filing yet.  4/17/2015

Halburn loses his kid at Camden Park while he searches through the trash. 9/20/2014

Plot twist - Mr Halburn takes on McDonald's. 9/15/2014

At a McDonald's, Halburn tells an ex-student of his, "You have a pretty smile." #complimentsfromcriminals 8/16/2014

Domestic abuser Mark Vance Halburn gets a new mugshot. 7/7/2014

Halburn views his lessers with contempt.

"I walked up to the cop when we got here and said, "Hey, Hallburn is walking up behind us. Wanna go ahead and arrest him and save yourself the trouble?" He smiled and said, "Thanks for the heads up."
Now he's over there complaining to the cop about all the troubles in his life." 7/4/2014

Chillin with the boyz July 2014

At the Putnam County courthouse 5/13/2014

Leeching wifi at the Rock Branch Sheetz 4/22/2014

With my nigga Mr. Halburn in the westside McDonald's. 1/5/2014

Just Saw Mr Halburn at One Stop in South Charleston. 10/7/2013

A handcuffed Halburn is escorted to a holding cell in the Kanawha County Courthouse after an incident in Family Court. 11/15/2013

In between feeding his kid fast food meals, Halburn takes the boy to the Buffalo Octoberfest on Saturday. Which gives him the opportunity to take pictures of all the kids jumping around. Looks like he found a pair of pants with pockets. Nice hair flap too. 10/19/2013

What a specimen. You can smell him from here

So today, The Hog With A Blog, PsychoPublisher Mark Halburn takes his kid to the Wave Pool.
While he was there, he decided to go off by himself, leaving the 6 year old boy unsupervised, to dig through the trash cans. Halburn is fond of Coke points and aluminum cans. We hope he also finds a case of hepatitis.
Nothing in this one. 8/24/2013

How about this one? Nope, nothing here.
All these Coke umbrellas and nothing. I need some points.
8/24/2013

Here's another one. I think I see something something down in there. 8/24/2013

Eureka! Now maybe I can get that Dodgers scoreboard clock I've been saving for. And a hot dog too! We're eating tonight! I wonder where the boy is? Did I tell you what a wonderful father I am? 8/24/2013

A bird's eye view of the shithead's bald head as he departs after his latest hearing for the criminal charges against him in Putnam County.

Halburn takes the kid to Camden Park on Saturday in another pathetic attempt to buy his love.
Looks like the unhappy clown is having a great time.
Check out the wad of loyalty cards on the keychain he's clutching in his pudgy hand. Guess those cut off sweat pants he's wearing have no pockets. 8/10/2013

Hey, my eyes are up here, you creepy old fuck.
Sneaking a little peek at the Park. 8/10/2013

Halburn shows up for yet another court appearance. Paying for  a lawyer has got to be cutting into his $1650 a month expenses. Must be tough for someone that only takes home $10,000 a year. 8/7/2013

Recycling or dumpster diving? 
The state's most successful publisher came to the Wave Pool today and sorted through the garbage cans. He took the caps off the Coke bottles, along with gathering aluminum cans. I guess that part time job at Target isn't paying the bills. He'll be pissed that the pool was closed too. He went to the door to check the hours right away. Guess his car wasn't totaled either. 8/3/2013

It's out of jail and douching it up at the Putnam County Circuit Clerk's office. Wearing his "state of the art" full headset bluetooth and pontificating loudly about his 2nd ex-wife saying, "she doesn't need money for food, she works in the food industry, she can get food for free." Glad you don't care if your kid eats, father of the year. Does this bastard ever get off the phone? What a fucking slob. 7/31/2013

Halburn poses for his new mugshot at the South Central Regional Jail.
"Am I too late for lunch?" 7/24/2013

Halburn's latest loaner after his so-called hit and run accident in Kentucky. He slinks away from the courthouse after his latest trial, this time for disrupting a government office. 6/4/2013

Na na na na na na na na Na na na na na na na FATMAAAN!
Is this motherfucker ever NOT on the phone? 5/14/2013

"Sunday morning laundry... Fun stuff!!!"
Halburn prepares to waddle up the stairs at his HUD apartment. 4/21/2013

Check out that headset. What is that? From 1990? Could it be any bigger? Why doesn't he just tie a coconut and a string to his head? 4/20/2013

Look Out! The Halburn is coming in!
Hide the Ding Dongs. 4/20/2013

Waddling into the Scott Depot Sheetz. Probably going to leech some wifi. 4/20/2013

Halburn dejectedly leaves the courthouse after his divorce appeal. 4/17/2013

Halburn works at the new offices of Putnumlive.com at McDonalds on Sunday.  His new motto is "We are everywhere .... As long as they have free Wi-Fi!!!"
What the hell is up with that enormous headset?  4/7/2013

Service me! I'd like a million Reward Zone Points for my trouble. 3/19/2013

Scamming the Best Buy in Barboursville for a new phone. 3/19/2013

He dug into the trash to get out a Pepsi can.
And check out that wad of loyalty cards on his key ring.  3/12/2013

Back At The Courthouse, filing his divorce appeal. Someone that is his own lawyer has a fool for a client. It's a Marshall jacket this week. He's an equal opportunity asshole. Still no inspection sticker or WV tags on his car. 2/20/2013

Back in his shitty Korean sub-compact. No inspection sticker. He only had 30 days to change his license after he moved back to WV in November. He is still sporting South Carolina plates.  2/13/2013

Caught dumpster diving for Coke points and cans at Advance Auto Parts in Dunbar. 2/10/2013

Squeezing into his loaner car. Look at his flabby lower lip hanging out. 2/7/2013

Another day of harassment comes to an end. Pudgy hands clutch a stack of legal papers. No wonder this guy can't keep a job. He's at the Courthouse every day. 2/7/2013

Harassing the folks at the Putnam Courthouse in his "new wheels." Actually it's a loaner. He claims his car's bumper was damaged by a "defective tire stop." Whatever that is.
As always, it's someone else's fault. 2/6/2013

Halburn at the One Stop in South Charleston.
"This guy smells really bad" 1/26/2013

Near the mall in Charleston. 12/21/2012

Picking up change someone else dropped at a McDonald's drive through.
He got out of his car and picked it up.

"Hey, baby. Can I buy you a McChicken from the Dollar Menu and show you my garage apartment? You're hot. Why don't you come out to my car and let me take your picture with my new camera?"

We're almost impressed at the full pants and real shoes. 12-18-2012

Annoying the new landlord. 11/10/2012

Honoring Our Veterans.
Seriously? Shorts and sandals in November? 11/4/2012

Halburn and Judge Robert Leslie before his election defeat. 9/18/2012

Shorts & sandals in the 30° snow. 3/5/2012

Packing 50 years of belongings into a van.
Halburn's soon to be second ex-wife throws him out. 3/4/2012

Professional journalist at work. 11/27/2011

The Doctor Incident 9/14/2011

Hello Walmart HQ? Your service desk was rather rude to me. 8/25/2011

Service me! Service me! 8/25/2011

At the fair, probably waiting to take some upskirts of little girls on the tilt-a-whirl. 7/13/2011

"I thought he would have a full shopping cart, just as a snack, but he just bought a few things." What's actually in the hypocrite's cart? Looks like 12 rolls of toilet paper. 11/3/2010

Well? I'm waiting. 11/3/2010

The sign said enter through the side gate. 9/12/2010

Please let me in. 5/19/2010

Arrgh! My eyes! 3/24/2010

One for the ladies! 3/24/2010

Hydrate! 3/24/2010

Mark Vance Halburn's mugshot. 
Courtesy of the West Virginia Regional Jail Authority. 1/11/2007

The all seeing eye never blinks.

Keep 'em coming, folks!