Why Sharrock Dermott is right and thoughts about the Joplin Globe and the truth

Normally, I would have been on the front row at the Joplin R-8 Board of Education meeting Tuesday night, but as those who read the Turner Report are aware, I am in Newtonia recuperating from heart surgery for the next few weeks, so I was unable to make it.

Since this was a special meeting, it was not televised. I received some reports during the meeting from those in attendance (and no, that does not prove C. J. Huff's contention that board members are texting with me and others who are supposedly pulling their strings- my sources were in the audience).

However, I did not have the opportunity to hear what individual board members said and for that, I had to rely on the Joplin Globe's coverage.

That being said, at least one board member hit the nail right on the head when it came to the debate over whether the district should pay the salaries for two Bright Futures Joplin employees for the 2016-2017 school year.

Newly-elected Sharrock Dermott pointed out that the Bright Futures that began in 2010 was much different than what it is today:

Board member Sharrock Dermott noted that Bright Futures as an organization was launched in 2010, when it was dedicated to meeting students' immediate needs. In the year following the tornado, it morphed in Joplin into a group that took on numerous projects, such as sending students on field trips to colleges and universities through Operation College Bound.

"I think we're at a point where we can catch our breath and look at Bright Futures, and whether or not it can recapture that original purpose and whether or not we can help to get them there."

Maintaining the original purpose of Bright Futures, meeting the basic needs of children within 24 hours, is important. While it does not necessarily have to be done through Bright Futures, it is something that is important to this district.

Dermott's assessment of where Bright Futures strayed is right on the mark.

(Note: The Board made no decision on the Bright Futures Joplin Board's request to pay for the two salaries. A decision will likely be made at the Tuesday, May 24, board meeting.)

The Joplin Globe and the truth

One of the comments on the blog today came from a reader who in just a few sentences said everything that has been wrong with the Joplin Globe and how it has become a tool of the unelected elite of the city and not a symbol for truth:

I can tell you Carol Stark  (Globe Editor)told me she wouldn't write about the city manager's actions if it "put the city in a bad light" because "everyone needs to heal". She had Rohr's police report and the 911 call, and none of it made to the newspaper until the Loraine Report came out. Randy has not exaggerated anything, but unlike the Glob, he will print it.

Despite what Carol Stark and Jack Nicholson think, we can handle the truth, and we deserve to get it.

It is not scandalous news that puts the city in a bad light, but those who would seek to hide that news.

And on a side note- Why is it that accusations of domestic abuse against the city manager can't make the pages of the Globe while it is willing to do a full investigation on a city council member's police stop for driving with his dog on his lap?