Visitation for Lonnie Trotter will be 7 p.m. Thursday at Daniel Funeral Home in Lamar.. His funeral is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday. Mr. Trotter will be buried at Liberal City Cemetery. For more information about the life of Lonnie Trotter, who courageously battled ALS for the last few years and continued to contribute to the Barton County Ambulance Service, attending meetings almost right up until his death, see the earlier item in today's Turner Report.
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The preliminary hearing for Travis Wyrick has been rescheduled to April 13 in Jasper County Circuit Court.
Wyrick, 19, is charged with felony leaving the scene of an accident in connection with the January hit-and-run death of Joplin High School senior Jamison Alexander. The hearing had been scheduled for today, but was delayed after a short court appearance.
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It didn't take long for a trial date to be set in the newly renamed Alvarez vs. Copeland case. Documents filed today in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri set a Feb. 21, 2006, trial date.
A pretrial hearing will be held Feb. 10 in Springfield.
More information on the case can be found in an item filed earlier today on The Turner Report, as well as in past filings.
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Liberty Group Publishing redeemed in full all of its outstanding shares of the Company's Series A senior preferred stock Tuesday, according to a filing today with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.
As of Tuesday that stock will no longer accumulate, according to the filing, and the only remaining right of stockholders will be the payment of the redemption price of those shares.
Liberty Group Publishing owns The Carthage Press, the Neosho Daily News, the Neosho Post, and the Big Nickel.
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The November 2004 purchase of Northpark Mall in Joplin was part of a strategy of growth through regional acquisitions, according to an SEC filing today by the new owners CBL & Associates.
"We selectively acquire regional mall properties where we believe we can increase the value of the property through our development, leasing and management expertise," the filing said.
Northpark Mall and other properties purchased by CBL during 2004 played a key role in the company's $93.2 million increase in revenues, according to the filing.
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Ed Christian, CEO of Saga Communications, owner of the KOAM and KFJX television stations in the Joplin-Pittsburg area, is $462,000 richer thanks to a decision made March 10 by the company's Executive Compensation Committee. The decision was announced today in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Of that amount, $337,500 was awarded based on the company hitting net revenue, market revenue performance and operating margin performance goals for fiscal year 2004, according to the filing.
"An additional $125,000 was awarded by the Committee in its discretion despite the Company’s not achieving certain free cash flow and net revenue performance goals," the filing said.
"The Committee determined that unanticipated expenses, such as Sarbanes-Oxley compliance costs and higher external audit fees, contributed to the Company failing to meet the free cash flow and net revenue performance targets by 3.6% and 0.2%, respectively. The Committee concluded that because of the unanticipated expenses, which were not included in the 2004 budget on which the performance goals were based, as well as market conditions and a subjective evaluation of Mr. Christian’s performance, a portion of the potential bonus should be awarded under the Plan."
Christian's bonus will increase to $800,000 if he hits his goals during the 2005 fiscal year, according to the filing.
According to the annual report filed Tuesday, Christian owns 56 percent of Saga as of January 2005 and has general control of how the company's board of directors votes on all issues.
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Saga Communications' annual report, filed Tuesday with the SEC, indicates that the station remains number one in the Joplin/Pittsburg market. It was one of two Saga stations, KAVU in Victoria, Texas, was the other, to be the top station.
For the year ended December 31, 2004, net operating revenue for Saga was $134,644,000 compared with $121,297,000 for the year ended December 31, 2003, an increase of $13,347,000 or 11 percent, according to the filing.
Approximately $6,725,000 ($5,679,000 in Saga's radio segment and $1,046,000 in its television segment) or 50 percent of the increase was attributable to revenue generated by stations which we did not own or operate for the entire comparable period in 2003. The balance of the increase in net operating revenue of approximately $6,622,000 was attributable to stations we owned and operated for the entire comparable period (“same station”), representing a 6 percent increase in same station net operating revenue. The overall increase in same station revenue was primarily the result of an increase in local and political revenue at a majority of Saga's stations. Station operating expense increased by $8,831,000 or 10 percent to $94,914,000 for the year ended December 31, 2004, compared with $86,083,000 for the year ended December 31, 2003.
Operating income for the year ended December 31, 2004 was $31,387,000 compared to $28,565,000 for the year ended December 31, 2003, an increase of $2,822,000 or 10 percent, according to the filing.
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The potential sale of Cox Communications franchises in Lamar and Carthage comes as an effort by Cox to "reduce debt and accelerate growth" according to information included in the company's annual report filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Cox announced March 7 that most of its mid-America franchises were for sale.
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Nexstar Broadcasting has filed a response to Cox Communications' complaint to the FCC over the lack of negotiation over retransmission rights, according to a section in Nexstar's annual report, filed Tuesday with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.
Cox officials said Nexstar did not negotiate in good faith before cutting off Cox franchises from carrying Nexstar stations earlier this year. Cox managed to stave off removal of KSNF and KODE from franchises in Lamar, Carthage, Aurora, and Monett by moving them from the Arkansas office, which had contracts that expired in January to the Kansas office, which has one more year under its contracts.
The filing also indicated that either Cox or Cable One has filed a response to the Nexstar response, but it did not say which one had done so. The matter is still pending.
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The most interesting part of Nexstar's annual report, at least as far as those who have been following the retransmission battle between the company, Cable One, and Cox Communications, is the statement concerning that ongoing situation.
"If new agreements with Cox or Cable One are not reached, we and Mission could lose audience share which would affect our revenue," the filing said, referring to Mission Broadcasting, Nexstar's partner, which allegedly owns KODE. "We are currently unable to determine the ultimate outcome of these matters, but do not believe they will have a material effect on our consolidated financial condition or results of operations."
In the portion of the report in which companies are required to give forward-looking statements on matters that could adversely affect stockholders, Nexstar officials noted that their company and Mission Broadcasting do have a serious debt situation.
"Nexstar and Mission have a history of net losses and a substantial accumulated deficit," the report said.
"Nexstar and Mission had consolidated net losses of $20.5 million, $71.8 million and $99.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2004, 2003 and 2002, respectively, primarily as a result of amortization of intangible assets and debt service obligations. In addition, as of December 31, 2004, Nexstar and Mission had a combined accumulated deficit of $410.0 million. Nexstar and Mission may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability," the report said.
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Today's Los Angeles Times featured a lengthy article on the coroner's report on the Dec. 9 suicide of investigative journalist Gary Webb.
Webb came to Carthage in August 1998 as part of Terry Reed's controversial American Heritage Festival and spoke at the Precious Moments complex. Webb was part of a San Jose Mercury News team that won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the 1989 earthquake. He later became a focal point of controversy after his series "Dark Alliance," which later was published as a book, alleged that the CIA was behind the crack cocaine epidemic in black areas of southern California.
Times writer Tina Daunt began her article:
"Gary Webb planned his death with polite precision. He typed out four lengthy suicide notes and put them in the mail to family members. He placed his prearranged cremation certificate and Social Security card on the kitchen counter of his suburban Sacramento home. He put the keys to his cars and motorcycles in an envelope addressed to his oldest son.
"All his belongings — among them numerous awards from his years as an investigative reporter — were packed and neatly stacked in boxes in a corner of his living room. He left a note on the door. "Please do not enter. Call 911 for assistance. Thank you."
Later that night, he shot himself twice with the second shot finishing the job. Webb was 49.
Because of the nature of his writing, other writers in the so-called blogosphere had speculated that Webb might have been murdered.
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Enesco is expected to announce losses of between $43 million and $47 million when it releases its fourth-quarter and annual report Thursday March 31. The company specializes in collectibles, including the Precious Moments creations of artist Sam Butcher.
Enesco's revenues increased from $256.4 million in 2003 to $268.9 million last year. The net loss came from two non-cash charges totaling $36 million, according to a Business Wire article.