In testimony presented this morning, the woman said while she was in Florida earlier this summer, Johnston spoke with her via cell-phone. The woman said she was threatened that if she filed charges against Johnston, he would “do all he could to dig up dirt” against her and members of her family.
Monday, September 18, 2006
Witness: Johnston threatened to 'dig up dirt' on her and her family
Grandview Baptist Church North pastor George Otis Johnston threatened a young woman with repercussions if she filed a complaint against him for sexually abusing her, the girl said during a protection order hearing today in McDonald County Circuit Court. According to John Ford's article posted earlier today on the Neosho Daily News website:
AP offers coverage of Johnston preliminary hearing
Associated Press reporter Marcus Kabel's coverage of today's preliminary hearing for Grandview Baptist Church North pastor George Otis Johnston can be found at this link. The article includes this information:
The victim said her mother, stepfather, and four siblings joined Johnston's commune in 1997 when she was eight years old and the community was located in Newtonia in another part of Newton County.
She said the children, including others from two other families living with the church group, were told to call Johnston "grandpa" even though he was not related.
The children were repeatedly sent to Johnston's trailer for discipline and for discussions about church and family matters. Johnston had an office in the trailer and that was where he would touch the girl under her clothes while she sat on his lap, the victim said.
"His wife was in the kitchen," she told the court.
Graber does it again; Press ME captures two of three MPA photography awards
Serving as both general manager (essentially publisher) and managing editor of The Carthage Press would be more than most people can handle, but Ron Graber, a veteran of more than 14 years at The Press, remains the top newspaper photographer in the area and one of the best in the state (he also is an award-winning investigative reporter).
Graber captured two of the three top photograph awards for smaller daily newspapers in the annual Missouri Press Foundation Better Newspaper Contest.
Graber took first place for Best News Photo and Best Sports Photo. This is either the third or fourth time, if memory serves correctly, that Graber has won at least two of the three categories.
I was fortunate enough to work with Ron for nearly seven years, during which time his photos helped to dramatically increase the impact of my writing and that of other reporters on the Press staff.
The Press also took a third place award in the general excellence category in the medium sized newspaper category, finishing behind only the Columbia Missourian and the Branson Daily News.
Other area results compiled from the Better Newspaper Contest list posted on the Missouri Press Association website include:
General Excellence- Class 1- 1. Neosho Daily News, HM Nevada Daily Mail; Class 3- 3. Joplin Globe; Class 4- 3. Springfield News-Leader
Best Newspaper Design- Class 1- 2. Neosho; Class 2- 3. Springfield
Best Front Page- Class 1- 2. Neosho Daily News
Best News Story- CLass 1- 2. Neosho Daily News, Rick Rogers; Class 2- 2. Joplin Globe, Wally Kennedy; HM Joplin Globe, Jeff Lehr; Class 3- 1. Springfield News-Leader, Matt Wagner
Best Feature Story- Class 2. 1. Joplin Globe, Derek Spellman; HM Joplin Globe, Sadie Gurman
Best News or Feature Series- HM Nevada Daily Mail, Scott Moyers
Best Editorial- Class 1- 1. Neosho Daily News; 2. Neosho Daily News; 3. Neosho Daily News
Best Humorous Columnist- 3. Mike Pound, Joplin Globe
Best Feature Photo- Class 1- 3. Buzz Ball, Neosho Daily News; HM Buzz Ball, Neosho Daily News
Best Sports Photo- Class 2- HM T. Rob Brown, Joplin Globe
Best Photo Illustration- Class 2- 3. Dean Curtis, Springfield News-Leader; HM Dean Curtis, Springfield News-Leader
Best Photo Package- Class 1- 2. Rick Rogers, Neosho Daily News; Class 2- 3. Bob Linder, Springfield News-Leader; HM Roger Nomer, Joplin Globe
Best News Content- Class 1- 2. Neosho Daily News; Class 2- 3. Joplin Globe, HM Springfield News-Leader
Community Service- HM- Neosho Daily News
Best Editorial Page- Class 1- 1. Neosho Daily News, Class 2- 2. Springfield News-Leader, 3. Joplin Globe
Best Sports Page- Class 1- 3. Neosho Daily News; Class 2. 3. Springfield News-Leader
Best Sports News Story or Package- Class 1- 3. Cody Thorn, Neosho Daily News; Class 2- 2. Kyle Neddenriep, Springfield News-Leader
Best Sports Feature Story- Class 2- HM Karry Booher, Springfield News-Leader
Best Investigative Reporting- Class 1- 2. Neosho Daily News
Best Business Story- Class 2- 3. Springfield News-Leader
Best Coverage of Government- HM- Neosho Daily News
Best Story About Religion- 2. Linda Leicht, Springfield News-Leader
Best Story About Education- HM- Steve Koehler, Springfield News-Leader
Best Story About History- 2. Wally Kennedy, Joplin Globe
Best Online Newspaper- 2. Springfield News-Leader; HM Joplin Globe
Granby-area pastor bound over for trial
A 1:30 p.m. Sept. 28 arraignment will be held in Newton County Circuit Court for Granby-area pastor George Otis Johnston, on eight counts of felony statutory sodomy. Johnston was bound over for trial today after a preliminary hearing.
Johnston, 63, pastor of the Grandview Baptist Church North, allegedly had sex with an underage girl on numerous occasions .
In a hearing in McDonald County Circuit Court today, Judge John LePage granted a full protection order to Johnston's alleged victim, a 17-year-old who is currently living in Anderson.
***
Note: I just heard KODE's report indicating that conditions of Johnston's bond in both Newton and McDonald counties now prohibit his being near children.
Qualifications of teachers with lifetime certificates challenged
Officials in the Joplin R-8 School District, as well as those in districts across Missouri, are having to prove that teachers who have lifetime certificates are "highly qualified" under the "No Child Left Behind" law.
The refusal of the federal government to accept these people as highly qualified put Missouri at the bottom of the list for qualified teachers. Missouri stopped issuing lifetime certificates in 1988. (Note: I have a lifetime certificate to teach social studies in grades 7-12, which would not meet the NCLB requirements on its own, but I have tested for and received certification to teach communication arts to students in grades 5-9 in Missouri).
I find it amazing that the federal government is doing its best to push for lowering barriers to allow people with no training to step in front of a classroom, but wants people who have spent decades in the classroom to have to prove they belong.
What a wonderful boon No Child Left Behind has been to American education.
The refusal of the federal government to accept these people as highly qualified put Missouri at the bottom of the list for qualified teachers. Missouri stopped issuing lifetime certificates in 1988. (Note: I have a lifetime certificate to teach social studies in grades 7-12, which would not meet the NCLB requirements on its own, but I have tested for and received certification to teach communication arts to students in grades 5-9 in Missouri).
I find it amazing that the federal government is doing its best to push for lowering barriers to allow people with no training to step in front of a classroom, but wants people who have spent decades in the classroom to have to prove they belong.
What a wonderful boon No Child Left Behind has been to American education.
Kansas town widens scope of student drug testing
Regular readers know that I am adamantly opposed to drug testing of students, though I do not question the sincerity of those who favor them.
Too many times in this country we have seen elected officials forsake the very freedoms that make our country unique in order to solve the current social or political problem.
The movement toward student drug testing is one such instance. It started with testing students who participate in extracurricular activities, such as sports, band, and clubs. Since these activities were not rights guaranteed under a public education, but privileges, courts have ruled, the tests were permissible.
Now El Dorado, Kan. High School has gone a step further, according to Associated Press:
Perhaps the high percentage of those who so readily agree to having their rights violated indicates that our educational system is not doing a proper job of teaching students the importance of their freedoms.
Each time we sacrifice one freedom, it makes it that much easier to sacrifice the next.
Too many times in this country we have seen elected officials forsake the very freedoms that make our country unique in order to solve the current social or political problem.
The movement toward student drug testing is one such instance. It started with testing students who participate in extracurricular activities, such as sports, band, and clubs. Since these activities were not rights guaranteed under a public education, but privileges, courts have ruled, the tests were permissible.
Now El Dorado, Kan. High School has gone a step further, according to Associated Press:
Random drug testing of student athletes has become as routine as study hall and lunch at many high schools across the country. But this factory town outside Wichita is taking testing to the extreme.
It is instituting random drug screening for all middle and high school students participating in _ or even just attending _ any extracurricular activity. That includes sports, clubs, field trips, driver's education, even school plays.
Those who don't sign consent forms cannot attend games, go to school dances, join a club or so much as park their car on school property.
Administrators insist the district does not have a drug problem, and say the new policy _ one of the toughest in the nation _ is aimed at keeping it that way.
Already signed up:
425 of 600 high schoolers
215 of 315 middle-schoolers
Perhaps the high percentage of those who so readily agree to having their rights violated indicates that our educational system is not doing a proper job of teaching students the importance of their freedoms.
Each time we sacrifice one freedom, it makes it that much easier to sacrifice the next.
New Missouri Bar Association head wants to improve youth knowledge of civics
Springfield attorney Ron Baird, the president of the Missouri Bar Association and a former Neosho resident, is seeking to improve young Missourians' knowledge of civics, according to an article in today's News-Leader.
I remember taking a citizenship class under Mr. Burney Johnston during my ninth grade year at East Newton High School. It was a year-long class and I still have the textbook, which was, and is, a great reference, though some of the items in it are now outdated.
With the push from our elected leaders to improve math and reading skills, civics education, the type of education which was the reason for the creation of American public schools, has been somewhat neglected.
The idea that young people are not interested in anything of substance in their education is ridiculous. It has been my experience that they are extremely interested, especially when they can be shown how it directly affects them.
Hopefully, the Missouri Bar's initiative will be one of many designed to foster young people's interest in the world around them.
I remember taking a citizenship class under Mr. Burney Johnston during my ninth grade year at East Newton High School. It was a year-long class and I still have the textbook, which was, and is, a great reference, though some of the items in it are now outdated.
With the push from our elected leaders to improve math and reading skills, civics education, the type of education which was the reason for the creation of American public schools, has been somewhat neglected.
The idea that young people are not interested in anything of substance in their education is ridiculous. It has been my experience that they are extremely interested, especially when they can be shown how it directly affects them.
Hopefully, the Missouri Bar's initiative will be one of many designed to foster young people's interest in the world around them.
Globe, Daily big winners in MPA Better Newspaper Contest
The Joplin Globe finally publicized the efforts of its reporters Sunday after the newspaper received 13 awards in the annual Better Newspaper Contest, sponsored by the Missouri Press Foundation. The winners were announced at a Missouri Press Association banquet Saturday.
The Neosho Daily News was also a big winner, and I am sure there were other winners from this area, but the results have not been posted on the MPA website and newspapers across the state naturally have touted their own achievements rather than running long lists of winners from newspapers outside of their reading areas.
I have often criticized the Globe for failing to recognize the solid work being done by its reporters, so I do appreciate the fact that they have at last done so. Of course, the Globe's top brass has left itself open to the charge of only printing these results when some of the wins can be directly credited to them.
Among the honors earned by the Globe were third place awards for local news content, best editorial page, and general excellence.
The only first place award went to Derek Spellman in the feature story category for his season-long coverage of the football team at my alma mater East Newton High School.
Wally Kennedy earned second place for Best History Story for a story about lynchings and another second place for Best Local News Story for an article on the Picher, Okla. buyout.
Mike Pound picked up a third place for humor columnist, while Jeff Lehr received an honorable mention for his account of confessions made by alleged serial killer Jeremy Jones.
***
The Neosho Daily News continued its revival in the Rick Rogers era by garnering 18 awards, including a first place award for general excellence.
And according to the article in the Sunday Daily:
***
The Joplin Globe article indicated The Carthage Press received third place for general excellence. I will fill in with more information about other area newspapers when the results are posted.
The Neosho Daily News was also a big winner, and I am sure there were other winners from this area, but the results have not been posted on the MPA website and newspapers across the state naturally have touted their own achievements rather than running long lists of winners from newspapers outside of their reading areas.
I have often criticized the Globe for failing to recognize the solid work being done by its reporters, so I do appreciate the fact that they have at last done so. Of course, the Globe's top brass has left itself open to the charge of only printing these results when some of the wins can be directly credited to them.
Among the honors earned by the Globe were third place awards for local news content, best editorial page, and general excellence.
The only first place award went to Derek Spellman in the feature story category for his season-long coverage of the football team at my alma mater East Newton High School.
Wally Kennedy earned second place for Best History Story for a story about lynchings and another second place for Best Local News Story for an article on the Picher, Okla. buyout.
Mike Pound picked up a third place for humor columnist, while Jeff Lehr received an honorable mention for his account of confessions made by alleged serial killer Jeremy Jones.
***
The Neosho Daily News continued its revival in the Rick Rogers era by garnering 18 awards, including a first place award for general excellence.
And according to the article in the Sunday Daily:
Other first place awards went to best editorial and best editorial page. The Daily swept the awards for best editorial winning first, second and third.
Second place awards were for the following:
€ Best Editorial;
€ Best Front Page;
€ Best Investigative Reporting;
€ Best News Content;
€ Best Newspaper Design;
€ Best News Story - Rick Rogers;
€ Best Photo Package - Rick Rogers.
Third place awards were for the following:
€ Best Editorial;
€ Best Feature Photograph - Buzz Ball;
€ Best Sports News Story or Package - Cody Thorn;
€ Best Sports Page - Cody Thorn;
€ Best Special Section.
Honorable mention awards were for the following:
€ Best Feature Photograph - Buzz Ball;
€ Best Coverage of Government;
€ Community Service Award.
***
The Joplin Globe article indicated The Carthage Press received third place for general excellence. I will fill in with more information about other area newspapers when the results are posted.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Ruestman bill not necessary
Rep. Marilyn Ruestman, R-Joplin, pushed her bill to eliminate the prevailing wage law during a McDonald County Board of Education meeting last week. The wage law, which requires that construction workers on taxpayer-financed projects be paid the prevailing wage in their county, has for years been the whipping boy for runaway costs on these projects.
No doubt it is unfair for Joplin-area construction projects to pay workers the same rate they would receive if the projects were being done in the Kansas City or St. Louis areas, but the Ruestman law is not the way to handle the problem.
The reason there is not a lower rate in rural areas, as you might expect, is because the bureaucrats in charge of determining the wage have not done their job. I recall an interview I did in the late 1980s with the person in charge of determining the rates for this area. He said all companies were sent surveys asking them what the prevailing wage was for various jobs. No one from this area ever returned the surveys so the state set the wage based on information provided by unions in the larger cities.
"Why don't you just pick up the phone and call the companies and see what the prevailing wage is," I naively asked, believing that this little bit of extra work might actually provide a more realistic prevailing wage.
"That is not my job," he replied angrily. "I don't have the time to do that."
My guess is none of those who followed this man in that position have ever done it either.
That has allowed people with anti-union agendas to continue to push for revocation of this bill and allowed them to make the unions appear to be the enemies of public education.
Wilson: Most landfill opponents are not from Minden area
In an interview with the Pittsburg Morning Sun, Barton County Commissioner Dennis Wilson says the proposed Mindenmines area landfill, in which he is an investor, is mostly opposed by people from outside the immediate area, including interlopers from Joplin:
In another section of the interview, Wilson grows extremely irritated with the reporter:
Wilson: "Not really, I guess, because we had all the stuff there to answer them. Those who were really hot weren't asking questions. They were just making remarks. Which is different. I tried to get them to look at the information. That was disheartening there in that a lot of them didn't wish to look at it. If they asked a question, we had an answer there. They didn't want an answer. Jim Coleman, one of the city councilmen is 70-years old and he was born and raised in Minden. And when it was over, he said, 'I do not know 80 percent of those people.'"
Flaherty: "Why do you think that was?"
Wilson: "Some of them, I understand were from Joplin (Mo.), but I don't know. I don't have any idea."
In another section of the interview, Wilson grows extremely irritated with the reporter:
Wilson: "Let's go into the interview. We're doing this over the phone, and you're coming at me with this. Now why would I want to go into this phase when I've got 12 years of answering questions, and five or six people got really hot, two of them really loud and would not look at the information of the studies? All they wanted to do was yell. Most of those guys have moved into the area the last four or five years or less. Now this has been going on for 12 years. I've met with the city periodically, it's been in the papers. I've got articles here that go back to, well, the big one was in 1996. Now you're bringing this up. I don't understand why. Are you trying to incite a riot? Am I going to go out there and find stuff destroyed on my paper? You're trying to bait a crowd is what it sounds like ... You're trying to bait a crowd. Don't bait me, I've got 12 years of study into this. This is not a fly-by-night deal. I'm not just making this up. This is an investment based on federal and state regulations. These state regulations are three or four times tighter than the state of Kansas. We're talking about Missouri. I could probably put a landfill in Kansas up in a matter of years. But I want to you realize that."
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