Someone had a fun Friday night at the expense of the former publisher of The Garden Island newspaper on Kauai.

The paper, which Star-Advertiser’s parent company Oahu Publications Inc. just bought, was apparently hacked tonight. 

Casey Quel, TGI’s former publisher and ad director, was let go today. Her departure came on the heels of former human resources director Tamra Wedemeyer, who left the company earlier this year after being demoted when OPI took over.

For some time this evening, TGI’s website ran the breaking news headline “Ding dong, the witch is dead!” It was accompanied by a long story detailing reasons why Quel and Wedemeyer leaving the company has allegedly benefitted the community.

The story sarcastically discussed the benefits of OPI buying TGI, which resulted in the loss of numerous jobs. “Another ‘positive’ for readers and advertisers alike is that we are now being printed at OPI’s $80 million press facility at Kapolei. Nevermind the many jobs that were eliminated — removing nearly half a million dollars in salaries from Kauai’s economy — to achieve this change.”

The story was later removed from the site, but no statement from TGI or OPI about the presumed hack has been made yet. 

Read past Civil Beat reporting on the sale of TGI to OPI here.

— Nathan Eagle