Tentative April 2009 trial set for O'Sullivan lawsuit

A lawsuit filed by the shell of a company that used to be O'Sullivan Industries against Structured Equity Advisors will likely have an April 2009 trial date set, with a five-day trial, according to a schedule filed today in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

The scheduled was hammered out during a June 11 meeting, and requires that each side complete discovery by Jan. 8, 2009. O'Sullivan cannot amend the complaint or add any additional parties after July 15, while Structured Equity Advisors has until Aug. 1. All motions must be filed by Jan. 22.

Both sides of the lawsuit are detailed in the March 14 Turner Report and the April 15 Turner Report.

City of Monett, fired public works superintendent reach settlement

A settlement between the city of Monett and fired Public Works Superintendent Mark Blackwell awaits court approval.
According to documents filed today in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, the city has agreed to pay $32,635.40 into Blackwell's LAGERS retirement account, covering the time between his Oct. 3, 2004, dismissal and March 31, 2009, and then place $7,364.58 into a restricted account to paid into the retirement fund until Blackwell is eligible for retirement. Blackwell will have to contribute $40,000, the amount that would have been his share, into the account, the proposed settlement said.
The settlement, if approved, will end an acrimonious lawsuit which included allegations of corruption against Monett officials. The following account of the lawsuit comes from the Aug. 10, 2005, Turner Report:

A lawsuit filed Tuesday in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri alleges that Monett City Councilman Jerry Dierker has misused his position to pad his pocketbook.
The action was filed by Mark Blackwell, who was fired from his position as public works superintendent in October 2004 after eight years, a dismissal he attributes to his attempts to blow the whistle on Dierker. In addition to Dierker, Councilman Don Roberson and Mayor Jim Orr are listed as defendants.
In his petition, Blackwell says Dierker:
-"used city funds and employees to further his own private construction and development projects, including the use of stormwater pipe purchased by the city, in Dierker's private construction projects, using employees paid by the city
-"used his position to improperly prevent or discourage construction and development projects which competed with his private projects
-"improperly utilized his position to coerce private developers and contractors to utilize the services of specific providers who were Dierker's friends or business associates.
Blackwell says that on or about June 1, 2004, "in response to Plaintiff's efforts to discover whether budgeting and accounting problems existed with respect to city projects, City Council member Jerry Dierker ordered the reassignment" of Blackwell's administrative assistant and failed to replace the assistant. After that time, Blackwell was not given access to accounting records to determine whether "proper budgeting and accounting procedures were being followed," according to the lawsuit.
On June 18, Blackwell met with Mayor Orr to discuss those concerns, as well as his concerns about what he considered to be improper activities by Dierker. The same concerns were discussed during a July 20, 2004, meeting with Orr and Dierker, the petition said.
On Aug. 17, 2004, Blackwell met with Roberson, going over the same concerns. He also took those concerns to others, including "retired public officials, leaders of the business community," and with other city employees," according to the lawsuit.
The situation came to a head at a meeting called by the mayor on Oct. 5, 2004. Others attending the meeting, the petition said, were Roberson, Dierker, and City Clerk Janie Knight. "At the personnel meeting on Oct. 5, 2004, Commissioner Roberson claimed that he was unable to reach (me) by phone on Sept. 15, 2004, and that therefore the commissioners and mayor determined that (I) had taken off work without reporting the absence."
At that point, Blackwell was given the option of signing his name to a resignation letter that was typed and ready for him. Blackwell refused. The mayor handed Blackwell another pre-arranged letter telling him he was fired.
Blackwell says those actions were not allowed under city policies, since he had never received any written reprimands or any other type of formal discipline and besides, the petition said, the "purported justification for terminating Plaintiff's employment was a pretext" and had nothing to do with the reason he was fired.
Blackwell says the firing was retaliation and violated his First Amendment right to freedom of speech.

Smith trial postponed in Isle of Capri case

In Tuesday's Turner Report, we noted that a new trial date, July 3, has been set for Rep. Joe Aull's trial in the Isle of Capri case. That trial was originally scheduled to begin next week.
Case.net records for Cooper County Circuit Court indicate that the trial date for Sen. Jeff Smith, D-St. Louis, has also been changed. No new date has been scheduled for the trial, which had originally been set for July 10. The next hearing for Smith will be held 2:30 p.m. Sept. 30.

Authorities allege that Smith, at the behest of Isle of Capri lobbyist Lynne Schlosser, illegally used Aull's identification to gamble.

Neosho Forums returns

Neosho Forums, absent from the world wide web for about a month, is back on line and judging from a quick glance, already has had a number of comments posted.

Trial delayed in Isle of Capri case

The trial of Rep. Joe Aull, D-Marshall, in the Isle of Capri case, originally scheduled for June 19, has been pushed back to July 3, according to Pettis County court records. The trial is being held in Pettis County on a change of venue from Cooper County.

Authorities alleged Aull, 60, at the behest of lobbyist Lynne Schlosser, provided his identification to Sen. Jeff Smith, D-St. Louis, allowing Smith to gamble at the Isle of Capri casino in Boonville on July 31. The charge is a misdemeanor.

Smith, Aull, Aull's wife Candee, and four other Democratic legislators, Rep. Judy Baker, D-Columbia, Sen. Chuck Graham, D-Columbia, Sen. Jolie Justus, D-Kansas City, and Sen. Wes Shoemyer, D-Clarence, were at the casino as part of a junket financed by Isle of Capri lobbyist Chris Liese, who spent $910 for meals and drinks for the contingent.

Smith and Ms. Schlosser are scheduled to go to trial July 10 in Cooper County Circuit Court.

Feltner hearing postponed

The arraignment for Eric Feltner, former chief of staff for Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, originally scheduled for June 27, has been postponed, according to Cole County Circuit Court records. Feltner faces two charges of attempting to furnish pornographic materials to a minor.

Court records indicate Judge Thomas Lloyd Sodergren has been disqualified and the case has been sent to the presiding judge to be reassigned.

Among the duties of Feltner, who was fired after word of his arrest became public, was to go through the resumes of students who wanted internships in the lieutenant governor's office, as first noted in the June 6 Turner Report.

Feltner was arrested after falling prey to a sex sting involving an undercover Jefferson City police officer:

A Jefferson City police officer's probable cause statement reported Feltner was caught through an Internet sting involving an undercover police officer.

However, the officer wrote, “The suspect knew that I was only thirteen years old because of prior chat conversations on Yahoo Messenger.”

The officer reported contacts on May 25, 2007, and July 5, 2007, from Feltner, who used the screen name “thebestinmo.”

In both cases, the statement said, Feltner discussed masturbation, sexual stimulation and having the “girl” remove some of her clothing.

GateHouse Media websites to require registration

Those wishing to comment on stories on all GateHouse Media websites will be required to register. This is being done to improve civility in the comments.

According to an article in the Peoria Journal-Star:

It's a relatively simple and quick process. The registration feature is being introduced at all GateHouse Media Web sites. Registration is designed to help promote a higher degree of civility in the community discussions that regularly occur on Websites like pjstar.com. Comments are not edited, but occasionally they are deleted if the tone strays from the general posting guidelines.

Under the new system, readers will be required to provide a valid e-mail address and name before they are allowed to post a comment. It is a one-time procedure. During the e-mail validation process, readers will be allowed to choose an online username to use in place of their real name online, if they so desire. It should take less than one minute to complete registration

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Leggett & Platt innovations recognized in national survey

Carthage's Fortune 500 company Leggett & Platt has been named one of the top 35 innovative companies by the Patent Board's Consumer Products Scorecard, in conjunction with the Wall Street Journal:

According to the Consumer Products Patent Scorecard published in The Wall Street Journal’s Money & Investing section on May 6, Leggett & Platt ranks among the Top 35 Innovative Companies in the Consumer Products industry sector. Other companies listed alongside Leggett in the Top 35 for consumer products are Black & Decker, LG Electronics and Procter & Gamble Co.

“It is an honor to be listed among such distinguished company by The Wall Street Journal,” said Mark Quinn, group executive vice president of sales and marketing for Leggett & Platt’s bedding division.

The Consumer Products Patent Scorecard is primarily ranked by Technology Strength, a measure to indicate overall strength of the company’s patent portfolio holdings with a combined measure of quality and quantity. Of the 115 companies tracked in this sector, Leggett & Platt ranks in the top third of its industry, rating higher than 70 percent of its competitors.

In addition to Technology Strength, each company’s portfolio is judged on the number of U.S. patents granted in a given year.

Neosho Forums to return

Administrator Jack Dickens left a message on the Neosho Forums website that it will be back up sometime today or tomorrow.
The Forums, which has offered the first mention of many important stories in Neosho over the past few years, has been offline for about a month.

Blog: Ethan's Law was misguided

Blogger Justin Hauke of Show Me Daily, a product of Rex Sinquefield's Show-Me Institute, questions the need for the recently enacted Ethan's Law, which requires water parks to carry at least $1 million in liability insurance.

The bill was offered by Rep. Marilyn Ruestman, R-Joplin, following the drowning death last summer of Ethan Cory of Joplin at The Swimmin' Hole:

Water parks have existed for more than 100 years in Missouri, so why wait until 2008 to pass this legislation if it’s so integral to their patrons’ safety? I certainly sympathize with the Cory family, but the state’s reaction is once again inappropriate. If the water park was negligent, the Cory family is entitled to a huge settlement. But bringing in the government to punish every other water park is not the answer.

Which is the greater incentive to carry liability insurance: a government mandate, or the risk of losing your entire business in a lawsuit in the event that negligence or faulty equipment results in an accident? Legislators forget the law of unintended consequences. Why set the liability level at $1 million? Why not $10 million? Or why not let the individual businesses decide what level of insurance they need? If we set it too high, do we needlessly destroy small businesses and neighborhood pools, and put people out of work?

This type of legislation is well-intentioned, but ultimately irresponsible.