Things I'm Thinking About, January 7

My Favorite Mayor- I have always had a great deal of respect for Joplin Mayor Melodee Colbert-Kean, but she ranks right up at the top of my list after her statement at tonight's City Council meeting. "I never read the Globe," she said after someone mentioned a Joplin Globe article. Of course, I don't jknow if she is a Turner Report reader, but you would think someone with that much intelligence would have to be.

Minor League Baseball- The idea of a low cost, family-friendly activity, which is exactly what minor league baseball is, coming to Joplin is an appealing one. After listening to the presentations at tonight's hearing on the proposal to bring the El Paso Diablos to Joplin and checking on the team owner's background, I would say this is a good thing for Joplin. But the $4 million investment the city will have to make on Joe Becker Stadium is a concern. I would like to know more about that. While this certainly seems more promising, it is hard to forget the minor league hockey fiasco of a few years back.

Don't Take the Business Community For Granted- Concern about some of the actions taken by the Joplin R-8 Board of Education, primarily out-of-control spending, appears to be having an effect on some Joplin business leaders when it comes to this year's board race. I will be writing more about it tomorrow, but I have talked to a few business leaders who said C. J. Huff and the incumbents on the ballot should not take them for granted. One said, "A lot of the things you are writing about are things that were already known by some of us. We support the school district, but that does not mean we are going to go along with everything that the current leaders want."

Debby Woodin and Downton Abbey- People are still commenting to me about how strange it is for the Joplin Globe to have one of its top reporters, one of the few left who have established solid reputations as journalists write a page one story about Joplin area fans preparing for the return of the PBS series Downton Abbey. Wake up, Globe. It brings credence to that old saying- If it happened in Joplin, it's news to the Globe.