Cable One viewers in Joplin have been exposed to numerous stations in the spots formerly held by KODE and KSNF. Since Jan. 1, we have seen HBO Family, Fox Movie Channel, Boomerang, Discovery for Kids, Soapnet, the Golf Channel, and the Hallmark Channel, among others.
Cox Communications is also showcasing some of its upper-tier channels in Abilene, Texas, as Nexstar Broadcasting has pulled KRBC, the NBC affiliate, from Cox's lineup.
Temporary channels, according to an article in the Feb. 17 Abilene Reporter News are the Do It Yourself Network, National Geographic Channel, Gospel Music Channel and HBO Family.
Morris Wilkes, Cox vice president for public affairs, told the Reporter News that losing KRBC permanently would be a "grave disservice" and he hopes Cox and Nexstar can come to an agreement.
Perry Sook, Nexstar CEO, told the newspaper, "It could be a permanent situation from our perspective. We don't expect the cable companies to necessarily change their position, and we don't plan to change ours."
None of the Cox franchises in Missouri, including Lamar and Carthage, lost Nexstar stations KSNF and KODE, thanks to a last-minute maneuver in which the company transferred the stations from its Arkansas unit, which had a deadline of Feb. 1 to its Kansas unit, which has a contract that lasts until next year.
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The Diamond R-4 School District's teachers rank somewhere in the middle of the new Spring River Valley Conference as far as pay is concerned, but the district ranks number one in another area.
The raise the Board of Education gave to Superintendent Mark Mayo at its most recent meeting made Mayo the highest paid superintendent in the conference, at least going by figures from last year. Not one superintendent in the Spring River Valley Conference schools is making as much this year as Mayo will make during the 2005-2006 school year and that total will increase to $72,100 for the 2006-2007 school year.
Of course, undeniably the R-4 Board of Education must have wanted to sew up Mayo before he jumped ship and took his talents to another school district. They were so afraid of losing him that they locked him up for two years after this one. Despite having a contract for next year, reports from sources in the East Newton R-6 School District indicate that Mayo submitted an application for that district's superintendent position when it was vacant. He was not called in for an interview, according to the same sources. It is not known whether he submitted an application for the Neosho R-5 superintendent position.
Now that the district has the highest paid superintendent in the conference and a finely-tuned high school barbecue team the sky is the limit.