More than three and a half months have passed since Rep. Kevin Wilson, R-Neosho, has accepted a gift from a lobbyist, according to Missouri Ethics Commission records. Wilson, one of two area legislators to vote to cut their own health insurance (Lamar Republican Ed Emery was the other) has accepted only $145 worth of gifts from lobbyists since the first of the year.
Wilson, Emery, Marilyn Ruestman, R-Joplin, and Bryan Stevenson, R-Webb City, were not listed as receiving anything from lobbyists in April, though there may be reports yet to be filed. Lobbyists' April reports have not yet been placed on the Ethics Commission website.
Rep. Steve Hunter, R-Joplin, tops the list for April with $246.16 for the month, all coming from Jeffrey Kipping, who is listed as a lobbyist for Cingular Wireless, as well as a number of health and insurance interests. Hunter received $85 in entertainment from Kipping on April 2, and $39.75 for meal, food, and beverage the same day. He then received another $85 in entertainment on April 4, with $16.41 for meal, food, and beverage, according to the Ethics Commission report.
The gifts Hunter received from Kipping in April were more than the lobbyist reported for the first three months of 2005 combined. Kipping reported giving no gifts in January and March, and only a couple of minor ones in February, according to Ethics Commission records. Both of those were handed out while he was promoting Cingular Wireless.
Hunter is second on the list for area legislators' receiving gifts from lobbyists this year with gifts worth $1,081.85, trailing only Stevenson, who had already collected $1,199.30 by the end of March.
The only other area legislator to file a report listing gifts for April thus far has been Ron Richard, R-Joplin, with $63.30 including $28 in meal, food, and beverage from Empire District Electric lobbyist David E. Martin on April 6, and $35.30 from Richard Brownlee, a lobbyist for the health and insurance industries, as well as the city of Branson, and Missouri Cable Telecommunications.
Richard has received $1,002.79, third among area legislators through the first four months of this year.
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The East Newton R-6 School District is looking forward to another successful year with Newton Learning, the summer school arm of Edison Schools, according to Todd Higdon's article in today's Neosho Daily News.
Hmm, if memory serves me correctly, East Newton, Sarcoxie, McDonald County, and Carthage schools have all spoken highly of Newton Learning's program, which appears to be a money-making machine for area schools.
Yet the Diamond R-4 School District is suing Edison and Newton Learning. That reminds me of an old saying: If you're going to get a lawyer, get a good one, and believe me, that is not a reference to the law firm the school district hired to handle this case.
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Two area residents have been appointed to government positions by Governor Matt Blunt, according to news releases issued by his office today.
Former Joplin R-8 teacher Joncee Nodler, wife of Sen. Gary Nodler, R-Joplin, was tabbed for the Public School Retirement System of Missouri Board of Trustees for a term that will end Aug. 28, 2006, according to the news release. She received a bachelor's degree in physical education from SMSU and a master's degree in physical education from Western Illinois University.
Richard D. Schooler, D. O., Seneca, medical director of Freeman Health System in Joplin, was named to the State Board of Registration for the Healing Arts for a term ending Sept. 3, 2007, the news release said.
Both appointments are subject to Senate confirmation.
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One of the best salutes to graduating high school seniors is run annually in The Carthage Press and I see from the Press website that the Senior Spotlight is running again this year.
Each year, a Press reporter interviews each of the top 10 students in the graduating class, then a separate feature story runs on each student.
This offers an opportunity for students to be recognized who may not have been star athletes or actors or student government leaders, but who invariably turned out to be fascinating young men and women during the several years during the several years that I conducted the interviews.
That is the kind of series that should be a staple in small-town daily newspapers, but for some reason isn't. Is it any wonder that newspapers across the U. S. are losing more and more readers year after year?