Independence Party gubernatorial candidate Tom Horner seemed to disappear before your very eyes from the website of his former company on Monday.

At 10 a.m., Horner announced he was severing ties with Himle Horner Inc., the public-relations firm he cofounded 21 years ago.

(Political rivals have criticized Horner for refusing to divulge the company's clients, a couple of which inc

lude area hospitals locked in a bitter contract dispute with nurses and the Minnesota Vikings, who are seeking a publicly-funded stadium.)

Horner said the decision had no connection to the political dust-up and had been in the works for two years.

At about 2:30 p.m., co-founder John Himle sent out a news release announcing the departure and that the company would be changing its name sometime later this year.

By about 6 p.m., Horner's name and signature had been removed from Himle Horner's homepage and scrubbed from the staff bios.

For those feeling nostalgic, Horner's bio was still available for users of the Foxfire browser.