Monday, February 28, 2005

Leggett & Platt Chairman of the Board and CEO Felix E. Wright, 69, received nearly $1.3 million in compensation from the company during the past year, according to the company's annual report, filed today with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.
Wright received $816,000 in salary and a $474,096 bonus for a total of $1,290,096. Other top officials of Leggett and their compensations for last year were:
-David S. Haffner, 52, president, chief operating officer, $652,000 salary, $325,094 bonus, $977,094 total.
-Karl G. Glassman, 46, executive vice president, president, residential furnishings segment, $489,000 salary, $203,184 bonus, $692,184 total.
-Robert A. Jefferies, Jr., 63, senior vice president, strategic planning, $278,615 salary, $115,626 bonus, $394,241 total.
-Jack D. Crusa, 50, senior vice president, president specialized products segment, $250,000 salary, $99,138 bonus, $349,138 total.
The report noted that Leggett pays the non-employee members of its board of directors $24,000 annually and an additional $4,500 for attending each meeting. Non-employee advisory directors receive $3,000 annually and $4,500 for attending meetings. The directors are paid $500 for each telephone meeting and $1,200 for each committee meeting they attend. The chairman of the company's Audit Committee receives $6,000 annually, while the chairman of the compensation committee receives $3,500, the chairman of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee $3,500, and the presiding director receives an additional $6,000 annually.
Directors may elect to defer their cash compensation into the company's deferred compensation plan, according to the report.
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The attorney for former Newton County Sheriff Ron Doerge filed suggestions to support the dismissal of a lawsuit brought against Doerge by a former jail inmate.
Donald R. Allen claims that Doerge, Bob Sullivan, and C. O. Topper of the Sheriff's Department failed to make sure he was provided with proper medical treatment while he was in the county jail.
Attorney Peter Lee of Springfield claims that Allen did not go through the proper channels at the jail. "(Allen) was quite familiar with the request/grievance process at the Newton County Jail, and easily could have filed grievances regarding his medication by marking the form as a grievance and stating his complaint. The evidence shows he failed to do so."
Lee also said that Allen has not provided any medical evidence to back his claims. "plaintiff himself admits he could not discern a difference in his physical condition due to the alleged failure to provide him with medication."
Finally, Lee said Allen had not produced any evidence that Doerge, Sullivan, and Tupper knew of the risk to Allen's safety and disregarded that risk.
This is the third time, the former sheriff's lawyer has asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed.
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Former Sarcoxie minister Donald Peckham's appeal of two sodomy convictions was dismissed with prejudice today by the Missouri Southern District Court of Appeals, meaning he cannot refile his motion.
Peckham filed a motion Feb. 18 asking that his appeal be dismissed.
He pleaded guilty in October to two counts of sodomy with underage boys. He was sentenced to seven years on one count and 15 years on the other.
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The scheduled trial for former O'Sullivan Industries official Gary Reed Blankenship was put on hold today.
The trial, which was scheduled for April 4, was postponed, according to Newton County Circuit Court documents.
Blankenship is awaiting trial after being arrested last month as a result of another of Diamond Police officer Jim Murray's Internet stings. Blankenship allegedly set up a meeting over the Internet with someone whom he believed was a 13-year-old girl. When he arrived at the meeting, he was arrested by a Newton County officer and charged with eight counts of possession of child pornography, one count of enticing a child, and one count of promoting obscene material to a minor.
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It seems like it has been a long time since KHST, 101.7 on your radio dial, was Lamar's radio station (the HST, of course, stands for Harry S Truman). In its latest incarnation, started this month, KHST is now Joplin's Classic Rock- 101.7.
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Radio and Television Business Report says EchoStar's Dish Network and DirecTV are making a killing off Nexstar Broadcasting's battle with Cox Communications and Cable One. The magazine offers no figures, but does quote the latest Echostar advertisements in the Abilene-Sweetwater Texas area, where Echostar just last week added the local Nexstar NBC affiliate, as well as other local stations.
"Television viewers in the Abilene-Sweetwater area who want to watch NBC now have two choices - - rabbit ears or the crystal clear, all-digital quality of Dish Network at a price still lower than cable."

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