Oh good, then some idiot will write a response in the Leader and he can work on his rebuttal skills more. 
I didn’t know we were from the same neck of the woods!
Check on the possibility of them publishing the original, longer piece. Many papers occasionally print ‘guest editorials’ or ‘opinion columns’ on their editorial pages, which are longer articles.
My local newspaper does this. They also have, during the school year, an 8-page insert M-F where all the articles (including the graphic jokes) are from students. They don’t publish author’s age or school, only the name. The articles vary widely in writing quality, as the author’s age is taken into account for selection (they want to provide a forum for kids of all ages, not only from the high school ones), but they’re checked and corrected following the same process as for the grown-ups.
Does Newsweek still publish the My Turn essays? That could be a shot.