Joplin Globe and David Humphreys' political contributions

In the July 22 Turner Report, I ripped into the Joplin Globe for a shoddy examination of the lieutenant governor's race in Missouri.

I noted that reporter Wally Kennedy's story spoke of Brad Lager receiving $250,000 from Joplin businessman David Humphreys (TAMKO) and $250,000 from Stanley Herzog of St. Joseph late last year.

Kennedy's story, I pointed out, did not mention that Lager had received an additional $450,000 from the Humphreys family this year, including $250,000 from David Humphreys, and $100,000 apiece from Humphreys' mother, Ethelmae Humphreys and his sister, Susan Atkins.

Lager also picked up $250,000 more from Herzog, which was not mentioned, and $385,000 from retired billionaire Rex Sinquefield, whose name was not even mentioned in the article.

Obviously, it is too late to do anything about the story's inaccuracies and the overlooked conributions in the print edition of the Globe, but as of this writing, Kennedy's article is still on the Globe's website with no corrections or clarifications.

That is not to say that the Globe has not provided more accurate information about Humphreys' contributions since the Kennedy article was printed.

In a Monday article promoting that night's Lincoln Ladies Ice Cream Social in Carthage, reporter Susan Redden addressed the local contributions to the lieutenant governor's race, though the subject was buried beneath details about the ice cream. The story, headlined "Ice cream, watermelon on campaign menu for Carthage event," includes this information about the lieutenant's governor race:

Lager has raised more than $2 million for the campaign, including just over $968,000 for the quarter that ended June 30. David Humphreys, president of Tamko Building Products, Joplin, has given Lager $500,000. He used to support Republican Peter Kinder, the incumbent. An additional $385,000 has come from Rex Sinquefield, who has been active in statewide campaigns in support of school vouchers and aimed at replacing the state income tax with a sales tax.
Kinder raised $246,000 for the quarter and has totaled just over $4 million for the campaign. That includes local support of $2,500 from Gene Schwartz, company president, and K&S Wire Products.

At least the Globe is getting closer to the complete information. Herzog's second quarter of a million dollar contribution still has not been mentioned, nor has the additional $200,000 that other members of the Humphreys family gave to the Lager campaign.

Perhaps at some point, our local newspaper will put all of the pieces together.