A pre-trial hearing for former Neosho kindergarten teacher Debra Scott, who is charged with six counts of endangering the welfare of a minor will be held Wednesday, Nov. 5, in Newton County Circuit Court.
More information about the charge can be found in the Oct. 14 Turner Report.
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Dec. 3 trial set for former Collins mayor
The trial for former Collins Mayor Allen Kauffman is scheduled for Dec. 3 in Newton County Circuit Court. Kauffman is charged with three counts of enticement of a child after being snared in one of Diamond police officer Jim Murray's internet sex stings.
Kauffman, who is also a minister, is being represented by southwest Missouri's most prominent criminal attorney, Dee Wampler of Springfield.
Kauffman pleaded guilty to a Cole County charge of sexual misconduct with a minor earlier this year, was given a suspended sentence and ordered not to use the internet.
Kauffman, who is also a minister, is being represented by southwest Missouri's most prominent criminal attorney, Dee Wampler of Springfield.
Kauffman pleaded guilty to a Cole County charge of sexual misconduct with a minor earlier this year, was given a suspended sentence and ordered not to use the internet.
Hentoff describes another problem with No Child Left Behind
The original purpose of public schools was not to provide a feeding system for business, but to enable Americans to participate in the governmental process.
That noble purpose has been lost with No Child Left Behind, A Nation At Risk, and the other duplicitous attempts to make the American people believe that our educational system is a miserable failure, by comparing our system, which attempts to educate everyone, with other countries, which select which students should go on to advance learning and steer everyone else in other directions.
Part of it has been the desire of some to cash in on the business of education, whether it be through operating schools, selling materials for testing (and for succeeding on those tests), or by steering money from the public school system into private schools.
While no one has questioned the slogan "No Child Left Behind," and it has always been the American way to assume that all people can succeed, it is the definition of success, a definition that makes it impossible for any public schools, including the best ones, to succeed that makes No Child Left Behind so reprehensible.
Consider this: No Child Left Behind requires that all students with IQs of 60 be proficient in math and reading by 2014. When these people talk about proficiency, for the most part they are talking about students having to have a B average. This flies in the face of common sense. Some students are going to fail, whether it be from their own lack of purpose, their home lives or a simple inability to deal with subject matter. If a student with an extremely low IQ works hard, a good teacher can bring that student up to a D or C level, and that should be considered a success. Under No Child Left Behind, it is not. Essentially, every student has to be a B student.
If students do not care, if they receive no support from their parents or guardians, if they have problems that some of us cannot even imagine, the only people to blame are those who teach at the public schools, if you listen to the nonsense being spewed by those who favor educational vouchers and every other attempt that is being made to weaken public schools.
In his latest offering, syndicated columnist Nat Hentoff notes another danger in the unhealthy emphasis being placed on standardized tests in today's education- We are further developing a class system where those in public schools are not being taught how to participate in our society. Schools are being forced to drill over and over again on math and reading, and because of the high stakes involved, everything else including the courses referred to in the past as civics, citizenship, government, current issues, is being pushed to the side. This will ensure that our next generations of leaders are more likely to come from the type of private schools that the whole idea of No Child Left Behind favors, schools that will be able to take the dollars, and siphon the top students from the allegedly-failing public schools, and teach them without having the government requirements to take the standardized tests that are destroying public schools.
Consider this sampling from the Hentoff column:
***
What too many youngsters are discovering now is that standardized tests are the only thing that matter in public schools. If your grades slip, even the slightest bit, on these all-important tests, you have to scrap nearly everything you have been doing and show a drastic attempt to bring scores up.
And one of the first victims of this insane effort to reach an impossible goal has been the elimination of the very classes our young people need to succeed as citizens. From that aspect, all children are being left behind.
:
That noble purpose has been lost with No Child Left Behind, A Nation At Risk, and the other duplicitous attempts to make the American people believe that our educational system is a miserable failure, by comparing our system, which attempts to educate everyone, with other countries, which select which students should go on to advance learning and steer everyone else in other directions.
Part of it has been the desire of some to cash in on the business of education, whether it be through operating schools, selling materials for testing (and for succeeding on those tests), or by steering money from the public school system into private schools.
While no one has questioned the slogan "No Child Left Behind," and it has always been the American way to assume that all people can succeed, it is the definition of success, a definition that makes it impossible for any public schools, including the best ones, to succeed that makes No Child Left Behind so reprehensible.
Consider this: No Child Left Behind requires that all students with IQs of 60 be proficient in math and reading by 2014. When these people talk about proficiency, for the most part they are talking about students having to have a B average. This flies in the face of common sense. Some students are going to fail, whether it be from their own lack of purpose, their home lives or a simple inability to deal with subject matter. If a student with an extremely low IQ works hard, a good teacher can bring that student up to a D or C level, and that should be considered a success. Under No Child Left Behind, it is not. Essentially, every student has to be a B student.
If students do not care, if they receive no support from their parents or guardians, if they have problems that some of us cannot even imagine, the only people to blame are those who teach at the public schools, if you listen to the nonsense being spewed by those who favor educational vouchers and every other attempt that is being made to weaken public schools.
In his latest offering, syndicated columnist Nat Hentoff notes another danger in the unhealthy emphasis being placed on standardized tests in today's education- We are further developing a class system where those in public schools are not being taught how to participate in our society. Schools are being forced to drill over and over again on math and reading, and because of the high stakes involved, everything else including the courses referred to in the past as civics, citizenship, government, current issues, is being pushed to the side. This will ensure that our next generations of leaders are more likely to come from the type of private schools that the whole idea of No Child Left Behind favors, schools that will be able to take the dollars, and siphon the top students from the allegedly-failing public schools, and teach them without having the government requirements to take the standardized tests that are destroying public schools.
Consider this sampling from the Hentoff column:
When I was a kid in school long ago, there were civics classes showing us — through vivid examples in our history — how voters can help determine much of what happens in our daily lives, and especially in times of national crisis, by who they choose to represent them.
That's how many of us back then gained a very personal interest both in our history and the battlefields of current events.
Now, a lamentable effect of the No Child Left Behind Act is that civics classes are absent in many schools that feel bound to keep testing and retesting on subjects whose students' scores determine the school's status, or even its continued existence.
...
Research shows that schools can boost young people's participation by providing ... social studies classes, service opportunities, discussions of current events and other activities." But, a Circle report adds, school systems around the nation provide more opportunities to learn about, and then participate, in our constitutional system of self-government "to higher income students, white students and academically successful students." Once, in Miami, I was asked to speak to a large number of high school students in connection with my book "Living the Bill of Rights." Before I went on stage, two teachers told me not to be disappointed at the youngsters' lack of interest because "all they care about are music and clothes." After an hour of telling them stories about how we Americans won and then fought to preserve our First Amendment rights and the right of blacks and women to vote, as well as the essential checks and balances in our government to keep us free citizens, I got a standing ovation. Not because I was so eloquent but because these youngsters had discovered America.
***
What too many youngsters are discovering now is that standardized tests are the only thing that matter in public schools. If your grades slip, even the slightest bit, on these all-important tests, you have to scrap nearly everything you have been doing and show a drastic attempt to bring scores up.
And one of the first victims of this insane effort to reach an impossible goal has been the elimination of the very classes our young people need to succeed as citizens. From that aspect, all children are being left behind.
:
Hulshof in Neosho: Let's not turn the clock back four years
Making a final campaign swing through Neosho Saturday, Congressman Kenny Hulshof urged those attending a Republican bean feed not to turn back the clock to the days of Democratic leadership in Missouri:
Hulshof claimed that, as state attorney general, Nixon has supported abortion on demand, tougher gun control laws such as waiting periods and bans on semi-automatic weapons, has fought conceal and carry legislation and supports eminent domain.
He said a Nixon governorship would return Missouri to the days of Democratic governor Bob Holden, when the state’s job loss numbers were the highest they have ever been in history, according to Hulshof. In contrast, he said Missouri has led the nation in job growth in recent months under Republican governor Matt Blunt.
“Tonight we’ll turn our clocks back one hour — let’s not turn the calendar back four years in our state — because that’s where Jay Nixon wants to take us back to,” Hulshof declared over loud applause.
KY3 Political Notebook: Huckabee to be in Joplin Monday
KY3 Political Notebook reports former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee will speak at a rally 3:30 p.m. Monday at the Joplin Regional Airport for John McCain and Sarah Palin.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
It must be a slow business week in Joplin: Pac-Man Mania still top business story for Globe.
Judging from the business section on the Joplin Globe's website, not much is going on in the Joplin business community.
The lead story is still Wally Kennedy's riveting expose of a new business that offers the opportunity for its customers to play vintage video games such as Pac-Man.
Many of the articles on the business page of the website were written by veteran reporter Mike Surbrugg, who was unceremoniously given the boot and escorted off the premises, as were at least 14 of his colleagues, nine days ago. Not one word has been printed in the Globe about the firings. Yet not only did the Globe run an entire farm page created through Surbrugg's hard work three days after his dismissal, but its webpage is still promoting his work, including a picture of him smiling as if everything is warmth and sunshine at the newspaper.
I had hoped that Editor Carol Stark would finally address the issue in her column for the Sunday edition. But that column, which was posted earlier this afternoon, totally ignores the situation. Apparently, the Joplin Globe believes it is only news when someone else is getting rid of longtime employees.
The lead story is still Wally Kennedy's riveting expose of a new business that offers the opportunity for its customers to play vintage video games such as Pac-Man.
Many of the articles on the business page of the website were written by veteran reporter Mike Surbrugg, who was unceremoniously given the boot and escorted off the premises, as were at least 14 of his colleagues, nine days ago. Not one word has been printed in the Globe about the firings. Yet not only did the Globe run an entire farm page created through Surbrugg's hard work three days after his dismissal, but its webpage is still promoting his work, including a picture of him smiling as if everything is warmth and sunshine at the newspaper.
I had hoped that Editor Carol Stark would finally address the issue in her column for the Sunday edition. But that column, which was posted earlier this afternoon, totally ignores the situation. Apparently, the Joplin Globe believes it is only news when someone else is getting rid of longtime employees.
Hamman reportedly returning to Florida, Topeka reporter tabbed as new KODE anchor
Nexstar Broadcasting sources indicate Brian Hammon, who has been 5, 6 and 10 p.m. anchor at KODE for the past three years will return to his native Florida later this month.
Hamman, like many reporters and anchors in the Joplin market do, has been shopping his resume for the past several months, which now can be done a lot easier, thanks to YouTube and other video services.
Reportedly, Hamman's replacement alongside Lauren Hieger will be Brian Dorman, weekend anchor and reporter, and fill-in on weekday anchor at WIBW, the CBS affiliate in Topeka, Kan., since August 2007. He was previously a reporter, anchor and talk show host in Alpena, Mich.
A nine minute, 46 second video of Brian Dorman in action can be found at this link.
Westboro Church of God extends protest plans
On Friday, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that members of the far-out Westboro Church of God in Topeka can continue to protest at military funerals in Missouri.
Apparently, the group plans to do more than just protest at military funerals. The Omaha World-Herald reports Rev. Fred Phelps' church will picket at the funerals of three Omaha high school students who were killed in a car accident:
Apparently, the group plans to do more than just protest at military funerals. The Omaha World-Herald reports Rev. Fred Phelps' church will picket at the funerals of three Omaha high school students who were killed in a car accident:
Members of the Topeka church have picketed the funerals of gay people who died of AIDS and have said the deaths of U.S. troops are a divine judgment on Americans for tolerating homosexuality.
Cass County Sheriff's Lt. Larry Burke said he was stumped as to why Westboro members would protest at the teens' funerals. Church leaders could not be reached for comment Thursday night.
"There is no connection between this group and the kids," Burke said. "They seem to target anything that will gain them notoriety."
The three Elmwood-Murdock students died in a Sunday evening accident when the Pontiac Grand Prix driven by Eggert went out of control and turned into the path of a Chevy pickup. Authorities do not suspect any wrongdoing.
Mrs. Nodler receives $888.95 in lobbyists' gifts
Out of Missouri's 34 state senators, 13 have received less in lobbyists' gifts than Nodler.
That does not seem so bad since it would place the Joplin Republican almost squarely in the middle. The only problem is the Nodler in question is not Gary Nodler, but his wife, Joncee.
Missouri Ethics Commission documents indicate lobbyists seeking sway with Gary Nodler have given him $1,035 worth of gifts through the first nine months of 2008...while Joncee Nodler has received $888.95 worth, including everything from $534.28 in meals on one day, July 30, from four lobbyists whose client list includes Ameristar Casinos, to a dinner paid for by a Pfizer lobbyist to tickets to University of Missouri football and Springfield Cardinals and St. Louis Cardinals baseball games.
Mrs. Nodler's husband, of course, was present during all of these occasions.
Mrs. Nodler's gifts are listed below:
January
-$30 meal from Integrity Health Care
February
-Feb. 27, $21.50 meal, Missouri Flagship Council
March
-March 12, $9.80 meal from Larry Cole, Cornerstone Health
-March 31, $21.78, meal, AT&T
June
-June 2, $26,39, Springfield Cardinals ticket, Sandy Howard, Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce
-June 19, $40, St. Louis Cardinals ticket, Calvin Call, Missouri Insurance Coalition
July
-$23,73, meal, Gary Forsee, University of Missouri
-$534.28 for meals, food, and beverage from lobbyists William Gamble, Jorgen Schlemeier, Sarah Topp, and Betsy Morgan of Gamble & Schlemeier, whose clients include Ameristar Casinos and the Missouri Health Care Association.
August
-$79.34 meal from Drue Duncan, Pfizer
-$42.40 meal, Gary Forsee, University of Missouri
-$44, MU football tickets, Martin Oetting, University of Missouri
Gary Nodler is chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.
That does not seem so bad since it would place the Joplin Republican almost squarely in the middle. The only problem is the Nodler in question is not Gary Nodler, but his wife, Joncee.
Missouri Ethics Commission documents indicate lobbyists seeking sway with Gary Nodler have given him $1,035 worth of gifts through the first nine months of 2008...while Joncee Nodler has received $888.95 worth, including everything from $534.28 in meals on one day, July 30, from four lobbyists whose client list includes Ameristar Casinos, to a dinner paid for by a Pfizer lobbyist to tickets to University of Missouri football and Springfield Cardinals and St. Louis Cardinals baseball games.
Mrs. Nodler's husband, of course, was present during all of these occasions.
Mrs. Nodler's gifts are listed below:
January
-$30 meal from Integrity Health Care
February
-Feb. 27, $21.50 meal, Missouri Flagship Council
March
-March 12, $9.80 meal from Larry Cole, Cornerstone Health
-March 31, $21.78, meal, AT&T
June
-June 2, $26,39, Springfield Cardinals ticket, Sandy Howard, Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce
-June 19, $40, St. Louis Cardinals ticket, Calvin Call, Missouri Insurance Coalition
July
-$23,73, meal, Gary Forsee, University of Missouri
-$534.28 for meals, food, and beverage from lobbyists William Gamble, Jorgen Schlemeier, Sarah Topp, and Betsy Morgan of Gamble & Schlemeier, whose clients include Ameristar Casinos and the Missouri Health Care Association.
August
-$79.34 meal from Drue Duncan, Pfizer
-$42.40 meal, Gary Forsee, University of Missouri
-$44, MU football tickets, Martin Oetting, University of Missouri
Gary Nodler is chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.
Obama rally set tonight in Springfield
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will be in Springfield tonight, speaking at a rally at the Parkview High School football stadium.
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