The State Journal-Register’s newsroom is being hit with two departures as longtime metro columnist Dave Bakke is scheduled to retire (with May 13 – a Friday, no less – reportedly being pegged as his last day) and Springfi eld city hall reporter Jamie Munks set to take over the city hall beat at the Las Vegas Review Journal, a publication stung by scandal last year when it was acquired at an inexplicably infl ated price by casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who tried to hide his ownership. The Vegas paper, previously owned by GateHouse Media, parent company of the SJ-R, is still managed by GateHouse Media. Munks started with the SJ-R in 2014 and has covered such sagas as Springfi eld’s never-ending quest to fi x roads and sewers and the saga of the Salvation Army trying to fi nd a home for the homeless, a quest that dates back more than a decade. Bakke is nothing short of an institution. He was writing for the SJ-R when Reagan was in the White House and has a list of scoops and infamous columns that brought both outrage and tears. Among other things, he’s the guy who broke the story in 2013 that the state was spending zillions of dollars on fancy doors for the Capitol. Informed sources say that Bakke’s future plans include plenty of time at Lake of the Ozarks. No word on when, or if, either journalist will be replaced. They both will be missed.