Kansas City, Mo. ? The Kansas City Star has dismissed columnist Steve Penn for representing the work of others as his own in his columns.

The 53-year-old Penn has worked at the newspaper since July 1980 and became a metro columnist in 2000.

The newspaper said Tuesday that normal editing and follow-up reviews found that Penn had used material from press releases verbatim. It also said Penn sometimes presented others peoples’ conclusions and opinions as his own and without attribution.

The Star said editors found more than a dozen examples in Penn’s columns dating back to 2008.

Mike Fannin, editor and vice president of the newspaper, said Penn made serious errors in judgment over an extended period of time, violating the paper’s ethics policy.