Sapulpa has been making headlines as the situation unfolds regarding the lawsuits and legal action taken against Paragon Industries and its owner, Derek Wachob.
As of this writing, lawsuits are working through the court system. The details and accusations in these lawsuits have already been covered extensively by other media outlets.
Paragon has already announced the layoff of 70 employees at its location in Stephenville, Texas, with another 15 layoffs announced by a related subsidiary named WIT Services.
There are reports that Paragon has announced a round of layoffs in Sapulpa, but Sapulpa Times has not been able to confirm that.
Thursday, Sapulpa Herald released a statement on their Facebook Page to clarify the relationship the paper has with Wachob and Paragon. That post has since been deleted.
There has been speculation online about whether Sapulpa Times is or was owned by Derek Wachob or the Sapulpa Herald. In the interest of transparency here is a timeline of our involvement with Wachob and the Sapulpa Herald:
- In 2022, Sapulpa Times owner Micah Choquette met with Derek Wachob and Sapulpa Herald owner Darren Sumner to discuss the idea of merging the Sapulpa Times and the Sapulpa Herald into a single newspaper.
- In October of 2022, The Sapulpa Herald building in downtown Sapulpa was demolished. The Herald eventually relocated to a building in Kiefer owned at that time by one of Derek Wachob’s entities.
- In December of 2022, we announced that the Herald and Times would merge. We began printing a single newspaper in early December. Sapulpa Times owner Micah Choquette became an employee of WIT Services Co., LLC as Sapulpa Herald’s Editor-in-Chief.
- In July of 2023, WIT Services Co., LLC fired Choquette from his role at the Sapulpa Herald, and he resumed producing content under the Sapulpa Times, returning the outlet to its roots as a digital-only news source.
Neither Derek Wachob nor the Sapulpa Herald ever acquired ownership of the Sapulpa Times. Sapulpa Times remains an independent news outlet solely owned and operated by Micah Choquette.
