It's time again for another review of the stories that have broken in The Turner Report and which showed up later, if at all, in area newspapers or broadcast news reports. If I recall, the last time I did this was December, so here goes.
January 2005
-Former Sarcoxie minister Donald Peckham, who had pleaded guilty to sex charges, attempted to have his sentence set aside. The story was later carried by KOAM, but I can't recall it showing up in any other media.
-Rep. Steve Hunter, R-Joplin, received more gifts from lobbyists, especially from casino interests, than any other area legislator in 2004.
-A GAO report said that squabbles between federal agencies may be opening the door for terrorist attacks, as they delayed the installation of security at embassy compounds.
-Tom Basinger of Cable One said KODE and KSNF will never be on the cable systems in Vinita and Independence again.
-Ed Christian, CEO of Saga Communications, owner of KOAM, said his company would not go after KODE and KSNF advertisers and it supported Nexstar Broadcasting in its efforts to get the cable companies to pay to carry the stations.
-The details of former Newton County jail inmate Oscar Alvarez' lawsuit against Ron Doerge were revealed in The Turner Report.
-A trial date was set for former Southwest City Police Chief Ron Beaudry's lawsuit against city officials.
-A trial date was set for the Diamond R-4 School District's lawsuit against Edison Schools.
-An ethics complaint was filed against former area state representative and Enron lobbyist Roy Cagle.
-Information was printed on the complaint Cox Communications filed with the Federal Communications Commission against Nexstar Broadcasting.
-The Turner Report was the first (and so far only outlet) to mention that the Neosho R-5 Board of Education apparently acted illegally when it held a closed session to appoint a screening committee for its superintendent position. (The board later ignored the committee's recommendation anyway.)
-The Turner Report was the first to reveal that the Diamond School Board was planning to extend Superintendent Mark Mayo's contract for an additional year.
-Up to date information was provided on filings in the federal lawsuit filed by Marny Stanier against The Weather Channel.
-Liberty Group Publishing, owner of The Carthage Press, the Neosho Daily News, the Neosho Post, and the Big Nickel, was taken off the auction block and borrowed $330 million to refinance its debts. (This information was never printed in any of Liberty's newspapers in this area.)
-Former Freeman Neosho employee Kelli Whitehead filed a federal lawsuit against the hospital.
-More former Newell Rubbermaid officials are hired to run O'Sullivan Industries.
February 2005
- A study issued by a St. Louis University professor showed that proposed Medicaid cuts would cost Jasper County 288 jobs, 30 in Barton County, 18 in Dade County, 48 in McDonald County, and 84 in Newton County.
-Nexstar Broadcasting and two former KSN employees were targets of a racial discrimination lawsuit that was settled out of court.
-Newton County Sheriff Ron Doerge may have ignored evidence that would have cleared two jailers who eventually pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault charges in connection with the beating of prisoner Oscar Alvarez.
-Former State Representative Bubs Hohulin was named as the new license bureau operator for Lamar.
-While Nexstar officials continued their battle against cable companies, ripping them in one public statement after another, the company that owns Nexstar, ABRY, also owns the 13th largest cable company, WideOpenWest, and the 16th largest, Atlantic Broadband, in the U. S. As far as I can determine, The Turner Report has been the only media outlet to carry this information.
-Convicted child molester Martin Eck refused to answer questions from lawyers representing the Jasper County Commission during a scheduled deposition. Eck claims he did not receive proper dental care during his stay in the Jasper County Jail and is seeking $10 million.
-Nexstar Broadcasting paid CEO Perry Sook a bonus of $4,325,000 in 2004.
-Lawsuits against International Flavors and Fragrances were moved from circuit court to federal court.
-Former Seneca police officer and McDonald County sheriff candidate Randy Hance was held without bond on federal weapons charges after a judge found he was a threat to himself and others. The Turner Report printed the content of some of the letters which were used by U. S. attorneys to show why Hance should remain behind bars.
-The Missouri Democratic Party files an ethics complaint against Bubs Hohulin in connection with the awarding of the Lamar license office.
-O'Sullivan Industries announces it will close its Australian division.
-A Bell County, Texas, grand jury issued indictments against Fort Hood soldier and East Newton High School graduate Timothy Payne claiming he was involved in the murders of four people who worked at a Killeen, Texas, strip club.
-Diamond R-4 Superintendent Mark Mayo is the highest paid superintendent in the newly-formed Spring River Valley Conference.
-Alleged internet pervert Gary Blankenship had been e-mailing his former co-workers at O'Sullivan.
-Michael Orr, a former Newell Rubbermaid official, became the first of that company's transplants to resign from an O'Sullivan Industries position.
-Both sides in the federal lawsuit filed by former KODE personality Marny Stanier against The Weather Channel, indicated the case may be settled following discovery.
-Former Sarcoxie minister Donald Peckham dropped his appeal.
-Salaries of Leggett & Platt officials were given.
-Nexstar Broadcasting officials announced their next battle over retransmission fees would take place in Amarillo, Texas.
March 2005
Joplin High School became the first area school to have its own television station, Jet 14. The news was covered by KOAM, but not by KODE and KSNF, apparently because the station can only be seen on Cable One.
-A state audit indicates that law enforcement agencies are not sending the state the information that is required when officers are dismissed, enabling these officers to keep moving from one job to another.
-A federal judge decided to keep former Seneca police officer and McDonald County sheriff Randy Hance behind bars while Hance awaits trial on federal weapons charges.
-La-Z-Boy Neosho employees will not receive their annual pay increases. (The Turner Report was also the first to report when La-Z-Boy officials relented and gave the increases two months later.)
-Monett High School band director Craig Smith, formerly band director at Lamar, was placed on a leave of absence after defying a school administrator. Smith later resigned.
-Nexstar officials said the company is losing $100,000 a month due to the battle over retransmission rights.
-Rep. Bryan Stevenson, R-Webb City, has received more gifts from lobbyists than any other area legislator during the first three months of the 2005 session.
-Carrie Shafer, Oronogo, under federal investigation for allegedly performing fraudulent income tax returns, was still preparing tax returns for 2004.
-Nexstar filed its response to Cox Communications' FCC complaint.
-Ed Christian, CEO of Saga Communications, owner of KOAM, received a $462,000 bonus.
-A warrant was issued for the arrest of Southwest City Police Chief Toi Cannada. Charges were later dropped.
-A Missouri Appeals Court ruled that parents who allow teenagers to drink on their property cannot be held liable for any deaths that occur as a result. The Missouri Legislature passed a law to make it a crime.
-A hearing was scheduled for former Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker's appeal of his Whitewater conviction.
-A ruling by the state Administrative Hearing Commission authorized the Division of Public Safety to punish Southwest City Police Chief Toi Cannada for a DWI conviction.
-So far only The Turner Report has published information from a study by the Missouri State Teachers Association which indicated that school districts across the state have been hoarding excess funds, even while the debate over the Foundation Formula continued. Area school districts accused of hoarding excess funds in the study were McDonald County, Diamond, and Sarcoxie. Diamond had more than a $1 million in excess funds during a time when it let Middle School Principal Denise Mounts go, dismissed several teachers, and eliminated the vocal music and middle school reading and writing programs, all for budgetary reasons.
-Nielsen results from the February sweeps which showed KOAM clobbering the competition were printed in The Turner Report.
-The Tetra-Pak plant in Joplin was sold to York, Pa.- based Graham Packaging.
-Alternate Fuels lost an appellate court decision and has to pay $40,000 for environmental violations in Barton County.
-Details of the severance package for former O'Sullivan Industries official Stuart Schotte were revealed.
-A federal grand jury indicted Yovani Diaz-Cruz for transporting 12 illegal aliens for profit. Diaz-Cruz and the aliens were picked up in Joplin.
-Two Jasper County residents were indicted by a federal grand jury on counterfeiting charges.
-A state audit, which has inexplicably been ignored by other media, showed that amusement parks, carnival, and fair rides are being properly inspected and Missouri standards lag way behind the standards in other states.
April 2005
-Information about Jarden Corporation CEO Martin Franklin's salary and benefits was printed.
-A state audit said MODOT was guilty of poor planning, resulting in highways that are in ill repair.
-The Turner Report was the first to print the contents of the First Amendment lawsuit filed by Webb City High School sophomore LaStaysha Myers against school officials.
-Sexual predator Joseph Johnson will stay behind bars, thanks to an appellate court ruling.
-Million-dollar CEO Bob Parker now owns 10 percent of O'Sullivan Industries.
-Sen. Gary Nodler, R-Joplin, received more gifts from lobbyists in April than any other area legislator.
-Four state representatives, Marilyn Ruestman, R-Joplin, Ron Richard, R-Joplin, Steve Hunter, R-Joplin, and Bryan Stevenson, R-Webb City, all of whom voted to cut Medicaid payments for poor Missourians, voted against an amendment which would have reduced legislators' health insurance benefits. The only two area representatives who voted for the amendment, which failed by a slight margin, were Kevin Wilson, R-Neosho, and Ed Emery, R-Lamar.
-A federal bankruptcy judge's ruling will allow EaglePicher to continue paying employees while it goes through Chapter 11 proceedings.
-Just 10 years after a state audit revealed that a Barton County deputy had embezzled funds, county procedures have made a repeat theft possible, according to the latest county audit.
-A federal appellate court panel will hear the appeal of a former Nexstar Broadcasting employee's racial discrimination lawsuit against the company.
-The Barton County state audit showed the county had no credit card policy with 40 cards issued, and that bids had not been taken on some items.
-American Civil Liberties Union gay and lesbian issues attorney Kenneth Choe, who has been involved in major cases across the country, has joined the team representing Webb City High School sophomore LaStaysha Myers in her First Amendment lawsuit against school officials.
-Joplin Globe reporters won six awards, including three first-place awards in the Associated Press Managing Editors Contest. As far as I can tell, the Globe still has not told its readers about the sterling work being done by its reporters.
-Nexstar Broadcasting CEO Perry Sook made an insulting joke at the city of Joplin's expense during his presentation at the Wachtavia investors' conference.
-LaStaysha Myers' lawsuit against Webb City R-7 officials will be submitted to an outside mediator.
-Perennial candidate Martin Lindstedt's frivolous lawsuit against Missouri Governor Matt Blunt was dismissed.
-A $10 million plus lawsuit was filed against Freeman Neosho.
-Bankruptcy records for Webb City businessman Keith McBride, who faces federal arson charges for allegedly burning his business, Coin-Op, were cited in The Turner Report.
-Nexstar Broadcasting completed a $450 million refinancing.
-Salary increases for Leggett & Platt officials were printed.
-Alleged internet pervert Gary Reed Blankenship e-mailed his former O'Sullivan co-workers to tell them nine of 10 sex charges he faces will be dropped. That has not happened, at least yet.
-Contents of the probable cause document filed in the Keith McBride federal arson case were revealed, including the information that he said he would have committed suicide if his gun had not jammed.
-A protective order was issued, preventing personnel details from being revealed in the lawsuit filed by former KODE weather personality Marny Stanier against The Weather Channel.
-SEC filings indicate J. C. Penney will downsize one or two employees from each of its stores, including the ones in Joplin and Pittsburg.
-Joplin radio station WMBH, 1560 on the dial, was sold for $1 to Hardman Broadcasting.
-Former O'Sullivan and Newell Rubbermaid official Michael Orr took the reins at S. P. Richards, but did not list O'Sullivan on his resume.
-The ethics complaint against Bubs Hohulin in connection with the awarding of the Lamar license office was dismissed.
-A federal judge ordered Carrie Shafer, Oronogo, to stop preparing tax returns. U. S. Attorneys claim she had been preparing fraudulent returns.
-Webb City R-7 officials, in court filings, indicate they will end their restrictions against Gay Pride t-shirts when the 2005-2006 school year begins.
-Missouri Governor Matt Blunt will be hobnobbing with various celebs when he attends a $1,200 a person party in Louisville prior to the Kentucky Derby.
-Webb City businessman Keith McBride, facing federal arson charges, will undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
-Jasper County Circuit Court Judge Richard Copeland has a long history of restoring driving privileges on technicalities to people whose licenses have been taken away for alcohol-related offenses.
May 2005
-Dr. Karl Jobst, a Grove dentist who faces involuntary manslaughter charges in connection with a DWI-related death, has hired a St. Louis attorney with a long track record of getting drunk drivers off scot-free. Jobst is formerly from Lamar.
-More former Newell Rubbermaid officials have been added to the ranks at O'Sullivan Industries.
-The families of James Dodson, Neosho, and his granddaughter Jessica Mann, Joplin, who were killed by drunk driver Edward Meerwald, testified before a legislative committee on legislation (which did pass) which would increase the penalties for drunk drivers who kill.
-Newtonia businessman Tim Darch bought a portion of artist Lowell Davis' Red Oak II.
-Fortress Investment bought Liberty Group Publishing, owners of the Neosho Daily News and Carthage Press, for $550 million.
-State officials announce that Marilyn Hohulin, wife of former Rep. Bubs Hohulin, R-Lamar, will operate the Lamar license bureau. (Wait, there's more coming later.)
-Eight malpractice lawsuits have been filed against former Freeman Neosho doctor Jeffrey Wool, including one that has been settled out of court. Wool, was dismissed and pleaded guilty to drug charges in Newton County Circuit Court.
-Carrie Shafer, Oronogo, said she has not been preparing income tax returns since January and she has lost all of her records.
-Convicted swindler Patrick Graham was rejected in his latest effort to get his 15-year sentence dropped. Graham was CEO of Conquest Labs, a company which sold shares in a non-existent AIDS vaccine. Among those buying shares were singer Pat Boone, the Herschend family, owners of Silver Dollar City, and the Presley family, Branson entertainers. Graham sold $5 million worth of stock in Conquest.
-Lobbyist Andrew Blunt has several new clients since his brother became governor.
-O'Sullivan's quarterly report did not look good.
-Marilyn Hohulin will not run the Lamar license fee office. (See what I mean?)
-Enesco will no longer market Precious Moments figurines.
-Joplin Police Chief Kevin Lindsey, who is being roundly criticized for not revealing the punishments two officers received for taking an elementary student out of school in handcuffs for an incident off school property involving the son of one of the officers, handled a similar situation differently at his former job in Madison, Wisc.
-Gary Nodler received a ton of PAC money since January of this year.
-Nodler and area representatives spent their campaign committee money for some interesting items.
Get the word out
I'd like to ask a favor my regular readers. Tell everyone you think might be interested about The Turner Report. We already are reaching hundreds on a daily basis. I would like to see that number increase. Tell them they will read about things in this blog that they will never see or hear from other news media. They will also be able to read about many of the big stories hours, days, or sometimes even weeks before they appear in other media. Plus, they will get a little perspective from someone who has been writing about this area for nearly three decades. Thanks.