This article implies that Representative Joe Barton (R-Tex.) benefited from the lay-offs at Dallas Morning News, which included editorial writers Timothy O'Leary and Jim Frisinger. O'Leary and Frisinger accused Barton of using his position and political power to protect companies that pollute North Texas with their cement plants. Local advocates for clean air drew comfort from these editorials. They felt that the paper was on their side in the fight against Barton. But now, says Wendi Hammond, executive director of Blue Skies Alliance in Dallas, there are a lot of people in the environmental community who are not happy with the lay-offs of O'Leary and Frisinger, fearing that this had something to do with political pressure. Of course, the newspaper denies this but a meeting between Barton and James J. Moroney III, published of Dallas Morning News, casts doubt on this assertion. Also present at meeting was Robert W. Mong Jr., top editor for the newspaper. After that, O'Leary's editorials concerning Barton never appeared in the newspaper. And since that meeting, the few references to Barton on the editorial page have been much more respectful in tone. Readers active in air quality issues have complained, in letters to the editor and on their Web sites, about the perceived change.