Things I'm Thinking About, January 19

Some things that have crossed my mind:

Score One for the Joplin Globe- Today's Joplin Globe features a page one story about a feud between the Wallace-Bajjali firm that is serving as Joplin's master developer for the tornado-stricken area of the city and the owners of the El Paso Diablos, the minor league baseball team that appears to be headed here. The article, written by veteran reporters Andy Ostmeyer and Debby Woodin, is comprehensive and shows some real reporting, something that has been in short supply at the newspaper of record as of late.

It also features a mention of one of the bankruptcies in which Wallace-Bajjali has been involved, something that has not ever been mentioned in the Globe to this point.

I have contended for the past few years that the Globe has excellent veteran reporters, including such people as Ostmeyer, Woodin, Susan Redden, and Wally Kennedy, who have been pushed to the side while investigative reporting has been neglected and the newspaper has been dominated by fluffy feature stories, snarky "entertainment" reporters and columnists whose sole purpose seems to be to prove how much more sophisticated their tastes are than the tastes of their readers.

I seriously doubt that today's report marks a turnaround for the Globe, but I would certainly like to see that happen. I am sure there are some who will read this and not believe that I am sincere about that comment, but it is crucial that we have as many media sources as possible striving to shine a light on things that affect our community.

On The Other Hand, Where is the Coverage of This?-  Just because something is not illegal, does not mean it is not newsworthy and one such occurrence, mentioned only in the Turner Report up to now was the infamous slumber party at the Joplin R-8 Administration Building the night before filing began for three seats on the Joplin R-8 Board of Education.

Using a key provided only because of his status as an incumbent, Board President Jeff Flowers, along with fellow incumbent Randy Steele, and two newcomers Shawn McGrew and Linda Banwart, were invited in to wait out the evening and thus gain the top four spots on the ballot.. Was it illegal? It does not appear so. Was it ethical? Not a chance. If Flowers, Steele, and the other two wanted to wait the opening of the filing period indoors, in comfort, then they should have had it advertised beforehand that the opportunity was there for anyone who intended to file. The only reason these people were there was because of access afforded them either by their position or because they had been anointed as "suitable replacements" for Phil Willcoxon, who chose not to seek re-election.

If you consider this to be a minor point, and there are some who do, consider this. During the past week, one board member whose seat is not up for election this year, has been "educating" teachers at one elementary school (one that I know of) on who they should vote for in April. "Any of the first four candidates on the ballot are all right," the board member has said. This is a board member who appeared with Jeff Flowers at a meeting of principals last year and nodded approvingly as Flowers told principals not to bring their complaints to the school board, but only to C. J. Huff and if Huff was not available, Angie Besendorfer.

Apparently, this board member wants his fellow board members to join him and Flowers in keeping the principals and teachers (and judging from the lawsuits I wrote about yesterday, the support personnel) from creating an uprising on the plantation.

The ethics of this school board election should be a major concern for the media- so far, not one word has been written in the Globe, not one word has been uttered on our local television and radio stations.