Desperation must have hit the Springfield chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. The chapter is playing host for the Region 7 Conference April 1 and 2 at the University Plaza in Springfield.
A number of panel discussions will be held 9 a.m. Saturday, April 2, including one on "The Blogging Boom," moderated by Andrew Tangel and featuring Greg Matthews, online editor of the Springfield News-Leader, Andrew Cline, assistant professor of journalism at Southwest Missouri State University and some guy named Randy Turner, editor and reporter for something called The Turner Report (see what I mean about desperation).The program indicates the discussion will "explore the background (of blogging), how to blog and how media outlets are using blogging to connect with readers." Other than the claustrophobia problem I suffer from when I am driving in the city, I am looking forward to the panel discussion.
I won't be the only person from Joplin participating in the 9 a.m. session, according to the program. Chad Stebbins, executive director of the International Society of Student newspapers and former advisor to the Chart,Missouri Southern State University's newspaper will participate in a panel discussion on improving college newspapers.
Thanks to Robert Leger, the editorial page editor of the Springfield News-Leader, for the invitation.
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The word "productive" was out in full force on the opinion page of Tuesday's Neosho Daily News as State Senator Gary Nodler, R-Joplin, and state representatives Marilyn Ruestman, R-Joplin, and Kevin Wilson, R-Neosho, were effusive in their estimation of how the state legislature has been doing during the 2005 session.
I will go into more detail later about some of the things being proposed and actively moving through the legislature which stand as particular threats to the public, but let's mention two that have passed through the Senate and are expected to be approved by the House:
-The Senate approved an agriculture bill that would eliminate the need for the public to be notified or to have any say about agricultural expansion. It would also prevent counties and cities from being able to enact laws and ordinances that are any more stringent than those the state has in effect. This is a "productive" measure?
-Also, the House is likely to pass a bill that sailed through the Senate that would allow utilities companies (namely Empire District Electric) to pass along their fuel and environmental costs to their customers (namely higher utility bills). This is a "productive" measure?
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The U. S. House of Representatives appears to be heading toward the same sort of show hearings that made the state of Oklahoma look bad a few years back.
KOAM reported today and the Tulsa World had a page-one article Tuesday about Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, R-California's plan to convene a new round of hearings on the Oklahoma City bombing as we are now less than a month away from the 10-year anniversary of that horrific event.
Rohrabacher believes that other people beside Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols may have been involved. Apparently, according to the World article, he is relying at least partially on a book written by former Oklahoma City television reporter Jayna Davis, which claims that a number of Middle Eastern men, including some Iraqis, were involved.
The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah building killed 168 people.
For those who had the misfortune of attending author Terry Reed's so-called "American Heritage Festival" in Carthage in the summer of 1998, one of the speakers was Oklahoma State Representative Charles Key, who claimed that the bombing was part of a much-larger conspiracy. (Everyone at that get-together claimed everything that was going on in the U. S. at that time was part of a much-larger conspiracy.) Key received quite a bit of publicity for his efforts, but never uncovered any information that would indicate the bombing was actually a conspiracy, did not impress his constituents with his obsession with the topic, and eventually lost his bid for re-election.
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The former financial advisor for the Sunbeam Corporation, the Morgan Stanley investment firm, suffered a strong setback in the ongoing lawsuit filed against it by financier Richard Perelman, first mentioned in the Feb. 20 Turner Report.
The Wall Street Journal reported today that the judge in that trial, Elizabeth Maass ruled that the jurors, who are being selected this week, will be told that Morgan Stanley had a role in helping Sunbeam conceal accounting problems that reduced the value of Perelman's investment in the firm. The ruling increases the probability that a jury will find in Perelman's favor, the article indicated. The trial is scheduled to begin April 14.
Perelman sold his 82 percent stake in the Coleman company to Sunbeam in exchange for $1.5 billion worth of Sunbeam stock. Shortly after the transaction was completed, Sunbeam collapsed due to the accounting scandal that led to the company's bankruptcy declaration in 2001. Perelman is seeking $2.7 billion in damages. Morgan Stanley claims that it, too, was a victim of Sunbeam, and lost more than $300 million.
An article in the Monday Journal indicated that Morgan Stanley faces other problems besides the Perelman lawsuit. The Securities and Exchange Commission is asking for more information on what Morgan Stanley knew or should have known about Sunbeam's problems.
The Sunbeam Company, now owned by Jarden Corporation, has a plant in Neosho.