Erik Winston, the husband of Bright Futures Joplin Coordinator Melissa Winston, verbally bullied a 25-year-old wife and mother who dared to "like" one of my Facebook posts promoting the Bright Futures Joplin articles I posted Wednesday on the Turner Report.
Winston, who is not a Facebook friend of the young woman, messaged her, beginning in this fashion:
Curious how you reconcile reading and liking smut like Randy Turner when likes to throw stones at Christians like my wife.
The woman responded, "Actually, I just witnessed stone throwing from yourself. So no comment back. Don't message people randomly and judge their walk with Christ based off of what articles they like on Facebook. That puts you in the boat you're trying to place me in. Not okay. but anyway- be blessed. I don't think you have looked in the mirror yet and for that I am sorry. Learn to spread love, not hate.
That man has caused more damage to our community and to my wife than I care to discuss.
"Love is the father's heart, not hate. Okay, good night!"
But Winston was not yet finished.
All he does is spread hate. You think that man loves anyone other than himself?
And as for looking in the mirror, I know exactly who I am. I'm just older and more honest about it.
Btw (By the way), my frustration's coming from people who support Turner and his "mission" cussing me out today in the school parking lot in front of my kids. So pardon my anger at a man who does nothing but spew lies and apparently you agree with.
If there is anyone else who is receiving this type of bullying, please contact the Turner Report.
26 comments:
The Winstons should just pray to their nonexistent God. He'll make it all better in their simple minds.
What people who don't have first-hand experience with a creeping-jesus uriah heep critter like Randy Turner fail to understand on their first or second experience with Randy Turner is what an oily slick snivelling psychopath Randy Turner is.
From what I gather Turner enraged the husband of this woman running the local Bright Futures franchise to where in defending his wife Turner made him look enraged and angry -- which he was. Now Turner got some screen shots from this morally wounded husband.
Turner knows these tricks as a former editor and reporter and a back-biting teacher. Eventually Turner made a lot of enemies who found common cause to get rid of Turner as an editor and a teacher, and they did so. And there was much rejoicing.
But now all Turner has is his blogs. There is no appealing to Turner's non-existent sense of fair play or honor or good sense. There is no threatening Turner as Turner has nothing to take away and you can't fire Turner.
The secret to dealing with Turner is to have your own blog or web page or newspaper and you make fun of or ridicule Turner and give Turner some of Turner's own medicine. Then Turner will squeal and whine, but not change for the better in any case.
Fighting with Turner on social media is like trying to out-piss a skunk. Don't bother. Turner is shrill and vindictive and a bad sport and unless you are able to laugh it off or respond in kind, don't even bother, husband of the aggrieved woman Turner is picking on. Let Turner be Turner. Maybe Turner will hide in his apartment, scared that you are waiting for Turner in the parking lot.
This is troubling in many ways. Before my retirement I was just an employee at an educational institution. If I or any member of my family were to engage in a social media war with a member of the public, I would have been fired. It baffles me that people in leadership/management positions feel justified (as long as they first announce that they are Christian) in any type of childish behavior and it's okay. It's not. If an employee shouldn't be engaged in this type of behavior, it should be doubly true for the leadership. I agree negative comments can be hurtful, but as a leader you have to be able to handle it with maturity. If you're not, it's time to seek another career path.
Slight change of topic: Did Charlie Davis, R-Webb City, decide after a conversation with BF that there were no problems with their operation? Is he now supporting the funding?
I used to work with Melissa, she is truly vile human being.
I am so tired of these people who hide behind Christianity and accuse Mr. Turner of tearing the community apart. Several years ago, when a janitor at a Joplin school had cancer and could not cover his medical expenses, it was Mr. Turner who worked with the janitors at South Middle School to organize a benefit show that raised more than $1,000 for the man and his family. After that year, he organized benefits at South and East Middle Schools for various causes every year he was in the school district. When the district put East in a warehouse, one of the few good things that came out of that was Mr. Turner's Scars from the Tornado book, which included student stories and poems. The book was an important part of the healing process for those at East and should have been celebrated. Since he was wrongfully fired by CJ Huff, Mr. Turner has not torn apart the community, but in many ways has brought it together. Think of the wonderful service he provides with his obituaries website, the news he brings us every day in the Turner Report and Inside Joplin, and last, but certainly not least, the gift he provided to this community with his Silver Lining in a Funnel Cloud book. I am angered every time these people attack Mr. Turner. He has put together a record of community service that far surpasses those who criticize him. It is time for those who support Mr. Turner to let him and the community know it. As an aside, it is also time that our interim superintendent Norm Ridder and the board of education righted the wrong that CJ Huff did two years ago and put Mr. Turner back where he belongs, teaching 8th Grade comm arts at East Middle School.
Who in their right mind would endure eternity spent in Heaven with a bunch of Christians?
You're all right. Randy has nothing but the best interest of the community at heart and would never do or say anything that would be considered out of line or mean spirited. He would never become fixated on a person or organization and only write about the negative things he perceives. He only cares about the children and wanting to see them have a better future. That is why he has worked tirelessly to clear his name and get back to teaching in the classroom. He is constantly contacting attorney after attorney to take on the R8 concerning his wrongful termination.
Correcting some misconcepts- While I did organize the benefit show at East in November 2008 and the shows in 2009-2012, there were many teachers, staff members, and students, who were involved in those shows or they would not have been successful. As for Anon 11:27, that flip remark about the "negative things he perceives," is misleading. What I wrote was backed by multiple sources every time and considering that C. J. Huff is no longer superintendent and the board has had a complete change I would say that more people agree with me. As for talking with lawyers, I have never denied talking to lawyers. I talked to lawyers shortly after my firing and then I talked to a couple of other lawyers a few months ago. It would be an uphill battle and I don't have any interest in spending two or three years dealing with legal maneuvering and most likely being required to stop reporting about the people who have done so much damage to the school district. "Attorney after attorney" is a bit of a stretch. If by that you mean, that I talked to a lawyer and then I talked to another lawyer, and then I did so again a couple of years later, then that is an accurate statement. As for "working tirelessly to clear my name," as much as I would like to have it officially cleared, as far as the people of this area are concerned, my name never needed to be cleared (and if anyone had any lingering doubts, the transcript of my hearing removed them) Even the people who hate me the most never believed the charges against me. The last thing I would like to address are the comments about Christianity. I have noticed that some of those who have been written about in the Turner Report hide behind Christianity and make it appear that any criticism of C. J. Huff or Bright Futures is being done by satanic forces whose only aim is to hurt the community. Those people are not representative of the Christians I know. They may not give me a free pass on the things I write, but they also believe that any programs designed to help children such as Bright Futures need to be watched closely to make sure they are not straying from their purpose or misusing taxpayer money. This is not battle of Christians against the Turner Report; it's a case of people hiding behind Christianity in an effort to keep people from hearing legitimate criticism.
Don't judge Christians by this joker
I believe 11:27 was being slightly sarcastic in the post. But I think for you to say that you post on your blog negative things as you perceive them is not entirely misleading. Anyone can post something and say it was "backed by multiple sources" especially when you never have to reveal those sources. But I am and will always be perplexed as to why someone who was wrongfully terminated, with tenure, with as many years as you had in the MO system, and as good as teacher retirement is in MO, that you wouldn't spend the time to get that money back. I would think their would be tons of attorneys who would love to grab your case and get into the pockets of the R8 and their insurance company. I'm guessing blogger.com doesn't have a healthy retirement plan. But...your blog, your reality, your world.
How long until this ignorant cow of a woman is fired? Social media arguments from her, posts from her husband, is Dr. Ridder going to do something about this?
If you will check back over the things I have written about the Joplin R-8 School District over the past two and a half years, you will discover that 90 to 95 percent of them, and perhaps more, do not include information from unnamed sources. Most of them come from documents, public meetings, videos, and other easily verifiable sources. The idea that I only print one side of the story also does not hold up. Many of the stories that have been most damaging to R-8 officials have come from their own attempts to explain what they have done, which I have always printed word for word, with no editing. As someone whose work is going to be seen as a person with an ax to grind, I have to be more diligent about making sure my work is accurate. If it were not, my blogs would not be continuing to grow.
Just like Randy Steele allegations of threats. Did he feel threatened enough to report this to anyone? I dont see any Turner readers or anyone else that would confront this man who claims to be with his kids. Never Happened.
4:33---If you are going to launch such outrageous allegations against Turner, why dont you at least have the courage to say who you are? Only a coward would state such awful things about someone anonymously.
Please.....No more funding for this moronic organization.
Winston, Quinn, and Huff......I heard Meals on Wheels needs help.
Go do some real good.
I'm surprised that you haven't just moved away, Randy. I bet there are other school districts in other (i.e., less backwards and ignorant) areas that need good teachers and that would hire you. Maybe some of them are close to Joplin. I do feel that you are providing a public service with your blog, of course. And I thank you. But then again, I think maybe you're just beating your head against a wall here. Those in power aren't going to acknowledge the truth in what you report, and those tasked with reporting the news aren't going to stop covering up less flattering stories about that city. And if things ever do change with the school district or the city or whatever, no one is going to thank you or recognize that you played a role in that. You work hard and you're a good investigator, but I don't think you're ever going to get your due there in Joplin. I would be surprised if people ever stopped demonizing you. It's wrong and unfair and unwarranted, but they do, and I admire you, but I don't know why you are still putting up with it. Maybe you would be treated better somewhere else, in a better place.
That's not bullying and the person was not a random stranger. Mr. Winston and the girl in question used to attend church together.
Matthew 18 says you go directly to your brothers and sisters. Looks like he was attempting to honor the Bible. However, her sending their private conversation to you was nothing more than a stab in the back to the unity that's supposed to be present within the church.
Personally, they're both jokes and need to go back to Bible and handle this the way His Word says so!
4:37 - Turner could stop fishing for bullcrap headlines. There was as much bullying here as Turner does quality writing. Randy, you continue to fish to make headlines out of non-stories. Sooner or later it will catch up to you!
And yet you follow his blog and squander your precious time screaming into the abyss.
You're nothing more than a pathetic old man wasting the last of his days in a shitty apartment in Joplin. You will go to sleep alone for the rest of your life until one night, to the blessing of us all, you'll die! Your legacy will be coaxing information and lies from Debbie Fort, Jennifer Martucci, Rykee Hartwell, and other weak-minded cowards who soak up your bitterness and resentment. It must suck waking up every morning with no one to share life with. No woman wants you, you'll die a lonely coward hiding behind his keyboard. Scared to death of facing those you've angered for fear of retaliation and rightly so!
2306 E 8th St Apt G
Joplin, MO 64801-5380
Geez Randy I think you struck a nerve lol. Apparently someone feels threatened, keep digging!
@11:30
Go get some therapy. You need some help, and badly. Your comment reveals far more about you than it does Turner.
Good grief. I hope you don't own weapons. People like you are the type to go off and hurt someone rather than admit they have a problem.
I've seen Turner's apartment. It's as fine as anyone can afford who retired from R8. What a hateful person 11:30 is. I hope she/he prays for herself/himself this morning. I will do so, also. Pitiful wretch.
As for this post and the commentary, what no one has specified is how unprofessional this whole event was, from Ms. Winston's lack of social media etiquette to her HUSBAND'S interference. I would die of embarrassment if my husband felt he had to stand up for me or save me on my job. Her lack of professionalism rivals her inability to manage finances. That made her perfect for CJ Huff's administration, but I don't believe she's a good fit now. It's time for a new level of professionalism in R8 schools. We will hope we start seeing that change soon. Very soon. We cannot go forward as long as we are mired in the mud.
Is 11:30 one of the "Christian" group backing Winston and Huff? This is why so many of us have no respect for organized religion or its professed followers. Spiteful and mean. Wishing death on someone? Man, Turner must have revealed something pretty bad about you. Or, should you be pointing that comment toward someone who revealed something about you in the commentary? Then you need to redirect your vitriolic spew. I agree with the commenter above. You need to get yourself some counseling.
11:30's attack is testament to Turner's willingness to allow all voices to be heard. It appears some underestimated the power of investigative reporting and Turner's journalism experience.
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