The future of the Turner Report and Inside Joplin

Tomorrow will mark the seven-month anniversary of the day Joplin R-8 Human Services Director Tina Smith, conducted her four-and-a-half minute interrogation of me and then had me escorted to my car by a police officer moments after the school day had ended and in full view of my students and colleagues.

Since that time, it has mostly been a downward spiral for me. I had decided not to have a hearing and to simply resign and find employment somewhere else. I was in the process of doing that, having applied for teaching positions in three area school districts, when C. J. Huff released the information that there were 28 pages of charges against me (nearly all of it excerpts from No Child Left Alive) and somehow the Joplin Globe, supposedly without any information from Huff, which I find impossible to believe, magically connected my problems to my novel No Child Left Alive, which the Globe described as having "graphic sexual content," something that has never been included in any description of the book.

Two days before the Joplin Globe article was published, I heard from the three people whom I listed as references on my resume that they had been contacted by an area school district and had spoken of my teaching abilities and character in glowing terms.

After the Globe article, I never even received a call for an interview, nor did I hear from either of the other schools.

At that point, I broke my silence on the charges against me, laid them out on the Turner Report, as well as revealing that I had recorded my "interrogation" by Tina Smith. I also defended myself against the charges.

On May 23, during a 10-hour hearing at the administration building at 32nd and Duquesne, one administration witness after another tore apart my character, making insinuations that not only were totally divorced from reality, but also were not even remotely connected to the charges at hand.

Each time, an administration witness attacked my character, my lawyer objected and Board President Jeff Flowers "noted" the objections and then let them continue to say whatever they wanted to about me.

There was never any doubt in my mind that the board was going to vote against me and that the vote would be 7-0. That is the tally of all of the Joplin R-8 Board of Education's votes.

I did not appeal the decision because I had been told that the appeal would be completely about whether proper procedure had been followed during the hearing. The evidence is not considered, (just like at the hearing itself).

I kept trying to land teaching positions. There were nearly half a dozen that I was qualified for, probably in most cases, considering my experience, the best qualified. I was never even contacted for an interview. One of those openings was at the school where one of my references is now in charge.

After a while, I applied for unemployment benefits. Those were denied because, according to Tina Smith, I had "shared confidential student information." That would be the student writing that was featured in Scars from the Tornado.

I didn't appeal that decision either.

As all of this continued, I began working with Jessica Nugent on the Inside Joplin project. At the beginning of August, the blog version of the site was launched, with the idea being that we planned a website that would be top of the line. Inside Joplin would not only focus on the things that I have always done with the Turner Report, including stories about government and education, but it would also emphasize music, literature, and the arts.

Last week, for personal reasons, Jessica had to withdraw from the project. She was the key to the improved website and also to the arts coverage. It left me with some decisions to make about my future and the future of Inside Joplin and the Turner Report.

If any of you are reading this hoping that I am going to announce that I am dropping the whole idea, sorry to disappoint you.

Inside Joplin and the Turner Report will continue, but in a different fashion than I originally intended.

For a brief time, I considered pursuing newspaper work again, or even public relations work, then after some research, I decided on an approach I never thought I would have to consider. Barring any unforeseen problems, I am planning to submit my retirement papers and begin drawing my pension and throw myself into being a writer and journalist.

I have abandoned the idea, for the time being, of making Inside Joplin into a regular website and instead, I have kept the blog format, moving the host to Blogger, the same one I use for the Turner Report. At the same time, I created blogs based on some of the sections Jessica and I had considered while planning the website.

-Inside the Ozarks will concentrate on stories outside Joplin, but in Southwest Missouri, including stories from some of the places I have lived or worked before, like Lamar, Carthage, Lockwood, Granby, and Newtonia, as well as stories about the Springfield and Branson areas.

-Inside Joplin Obituaries will focus on deaths throughout the Joplin area and providing the obituaries for free.

Turner Resports will feature news and opinions about the St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, Kansas City Chiefs, St. Louis Rams, and University of Missouri football and basketball teams and more. The name was Jessica's idea.

Though I am no longer teaching and no longer doing a third quarter civil rights research project, I also plan on regularly updating the site I established for that project, Room 210 Civil Rights.

I have placed Google advertising on all of the blogs and am hoping to be able to set up a Barnes & Noble affiliate store in the near future- the application has been sent in.

With these moves, plus my decision to begin holding more signings and promoting my books, I will not be seeking any advertising money from local businesses, which wil enable me to continue my reporting without having to deal with any of the conflicts that such relationships invariably create.

I do plan on having a PayPal button, where people can, if they choose, contribute whatever they feel the blogs are worth to them. I will also have an address where people can send checks if they are not comfortable with using PayPal or their credit cards.

I don't plan on pushing this. The websites are free and are going to continue whether I receive contributions or not.

One major change I will promise in the future and it is one that my former readers at the Carthage Press and Lamar Democrat will attest that I can deliver, is that I will eventually begin major coverage of what students and teachers are accomplishing in the schools in the Joplin R-8 School District.

For that to happen, though, the people who are in charge of the district- people like C. J. Huff, Angie Besendorfer, Tina Smith, and the members of the Board of Education need to be replaced.

I plan to have something to do with that, not by using the same tactics they used and twisting the truth or completely ignoring it, by hitting them where it hurts- with the truth.

Thank you for your continued support of my projects. I will not let you down. *** Note: This morning (Friday, November 8), I added a subscription button in the top right hand corner of this page. Subscriptions are completely voluntary, but you can subscribe on either the Turner Report or Inside Joplin site. The cost is $10 for three months. You also have the option of mailing your subscription to Randy Turner, 2306 E. 8th, Apt. G, Joplin, MO 64801. Again, thank you for your support.