Things I'm Thinking About, Monday, December 30

A few brief items and thoughts-

-No More Fox Sports Radio in Joplin- When 1450 AM suddenly junked its programming and began playing Christmas music 24 hours a day a few weeks back, I figured the days of the station being a Fox Sports affiliate were numbered. When I tuned in to the station today it was something called "The Dove" and was playing all gospel music. I enjoyed the Fox Sports programming on occasion, though I never did understand why anyone would think that the Texas Rangers, Oklahoma City Thunder, and University of Oklahoma would draw huge audiences. Those interested in Fox Sports Radio can catch it on KSEK-AM, 1340 from Pittsburg.

-Problems With East Middle School and Soaring Heights- The story I am hearing from the Joplin R-8 School District is that there are already problems with the new East Middle School and Soaring Heights Elementary School. Teachers did not receive keys to get into the building when they were supposed to (and they are scheduled to move in next week), construction is not done, and leaks have developed.

-Ronny Justin Myers in Illinois Prison- The man at the center of what should have been the scandal story of the year (except the Joplin Globe and other area media ignored it) will be spending the next 17 years at a Pekin, Illinois, prison. Ronny Justin Myers, who was pulling down $67,000 a year from the Joplin R-8 School District for his job in the technology department, has settled into the medium security prison. Myers, if you remember, is the one who was arrested when he showed up at Northpark Mall to have sex with an underage girl was was greeted by the police. He later admitted that he had pornographic photos on his laptop of 10 Joplin High School students, information that was never told to parents, students, or the Board of Education, leaving questions unanswered about whether anyone should still be concerned about student and teacher privacy.

First Copies of Let Teachers Teach Arrive- The UPS truck arrived Friday with the first shipment of copies of my book of education essays Let Teachers Teach. I am not planning on having any official signing for the book until February or March and I only ordered a few copies, but I am planning on leaving some at Always Buying Books and Changing Hands Book  Shoppe in Joplin.