Joplin Globe hacked again

I am receiving reports that the Joplin Globe website was hacked again Sunday, the second time in recent weeks this has happened.

Readers report checking out stories and finding anti-Israeli messages, the same as the last time the newspaper website was hacked. Reportedly one story that was damaged, at least temporarily, was reporter Susan Redden's latest installment in the investigation of former Jasper County Public Administrator Rita Hunter.

Gannett stock drops $1.13

The stock of Gannett, owner of the Springfield News-Leader, took a hit Friday, dropping $1.13 to $5.77 per share.

Nodlers rack up $3,252.56 in lobbyists' gifts during 2008

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Gary Nodler and his wife, Joncee, received $3,252.56 in lobbyists' gifts during 2008, according to Missouri Ethics Commission documents.

Nodler picked up $1,913.27 of that amount, according to a report posted earlier this morning on the Ethics Commission website. Commission filings indicate Mrs. Nodler has received $1,339.29 in gifts.

In the Dec. 31 Turner Report, I detailed gifts the Nodlers received from lobbyist Travis Brown, representing billionaire Rex Sinquefield

Nodler, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and his wife Joncee, received $1,135.98 in meals and lodging from Sinquefield's lobbyist Nov. 7 and Nov. 8, according to the documents. On Nov. 7, each of the Nodlers received $162.13 for meals, with the total increasing to $286.21 apiece for meals the following day.

Nodler received lodging totaling $239.30 on Nov. 7.

The rest of Mrs. Nodler's gifts were detailed in the Nov. 1 Turner Report.

Hunter expected to register as lobbyist

Though he has not officially registered with the Missouri Ethics Commission, The Turner Report has heard that former 127th District State Representative Steve Hunter, R-Joplin, is going to join the growing list of those making the leap from legislator to lobbyist.

it should not be much of a leap for Hunter, who worked for lobbying organization Associated Industries of Missouri during much of his tenure in the House.

You may recall that Hunter broke ties with AIM in June, blaming the media for creating the impression that he could actually be swayed in his vote just because he was being paid by a lobbying group. I wrote this in the June 15, 2007 Turner Report:

After four years of double dealing as a state representative and an employee of a lobbying group, Rep. Steve Hunter, R-Joplin, has done the right thing and severed his ties with Associated Industries of Missouri.

Unfortunately the problem, according to Hunter, has never been with his conflict-ridden extra source of income, but with the media who have questioned his integrity, according to this passage, which a reader sent me from the Kansas City Star's pay-for-view Prime Time Buzz:

"I got tired of reading about it in the damn newspaper," Hunter said when asked why he resigned his post, effective May 1. "I’d been accused by the labor unions and the state chamber (of commerce) of having a conflict."

Hunter, a Joplin Republican who heads a House committee that examines worker's compensation issues, took the job in 2003. Associated Industries of Missouri, which describes itself as a "pro-business lobbying team," was closely involved in passage of legislation tightening worker's compensation laws in 2005.


Contrary to Hunter's opinion, his second job, definitely was a conflict of interest, as has been noted numerous times over the past few years in The Turner Report. To recount, consider this passage from the July 15, 2005, post:

Hunter has done a 360-degree turnaround in the type of bills he has sponsored since his first term in the House.
During his first three years as a representative, Hunter did not sponsor any business legislation. Then three weeks after the end of the 2003 General Assembly, he found a new job as a membership recruiter for Associated Industries of Missouri, a powerful pro-business lobbying organization. And that is not just my term for it. As Susan Redden's Globe article noted, AIM spells out exactly what it does on its website. It represents the "interests of Missouri employers before the General Assembly, state agencies, the courts, and the public."
Financial disclosure forms filed by Hunter with the Missouri Ethics Commission indicate that he was employed by Associated Industries of Missouri in 2003 and 2004 and received at least $1,000 from it in both years. Unfortunately, all officeholders are required to state on these forms is if they received $1,000, they do not have to be specific.
It would be safe to speculate that if Steve Hunter was not the chairman of the House Workforce Development and Workplace Safety Committee he would not have been the first person AIM would have thought about hiring. That committee, of course, deals with the workers compensation legislation that AIM and Missouri businesses have been pushing and finally succeeded in passing.
Perhaps Hunter wrote every word of that bill himself. He is certainly an intelligent man. But it would not be a stretch of the imagination to believe that AIM staff could have been very helpful in constructing the pro-business legislation.
Hunter sponsored that bill as a representative for this area, then put on his other hat after the end of the legislative session and spoke at eight "Lunch and Learn" presentations put on by Associated Industries across the state, speaking as an AIM employee to explain what he had done for the organization as a legislator.
Hunter sponsored three other bills designed to cripple labor unions in the state, which did not get anywhere.


And the same anti-union bills were sponsored by Hunter during the 2006 and 2007 legislative sessions. And in one of the biggest examples of political hypocrisy in recent years (and that is saying a lot), Hunter had the nerve to go public with accusations that State Auditor Susan Montee had a conflict of interest when she issued an audit of the state's Second Injury Fund, as shown in this excerpt from a Missourinet article:

Rep. Steve Hunter (R-Joplin) chairs the House Workforce Development Committee. Hunter says State Auditor Susan Montee failed to consider the sharp increase in awards from the fund and focused only on business contributions to it. Hunter also notes Montee's husband represents workers seeking payments from the fund. He claims that should be considered a conflict-of-interest and she should have stepped aside and allowed an independent firm to audit the fund.


Hunter complains about the media's badgering him about his "perceived" conflict of interest, but the media, especially the local media, has done a poor job of letting readers know about his conflict of interest. Any story involving Hunter's work as head of the House Workplace Safety Committee should have included a reference to his AIM job, as well as any story about his legislation in that area. Most of the time, that did not happen.

The Joplin Globe made a big splash with a story concerning Hunter's conflict three years ago, but then dropped it, never following up on the implications of Hunter's side job. And as far as I can remember, the Globe was the only area traditional media source to mention the conflict.

Cooper makes the switch from legislator to lobbyist

Add one more legislator to the list of those who cash in on their experience in the General Assembly by becoming a lobbyist immediately after their term expires.

Shannon Cooper, R-Clinton, who led all Missouri legislators by accepting $6,683.14 in lobbyists' gifts during 2008, as of Jan. 8, is a registered lobbyist.

A skeptical observer might think Cooper spent most of his final year in the legislature paving the way for his new job, rather than representing his constituents.

Cooper apparently has joined the Giddens Group lobbying firm, since he is now registered to lobby for all of that firm's clients and the firm itself.

Missouri Ethics Commission records show lobbyist Nancy Giddens bought 25 meals for Cooper in 2008, totaling $756.25, with most of that coming on the dime of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, one of Cooper's new clients.

Cooper's other new clients include: AHIP, American Express, City of Grandview, Hallmark Cards, Lilly USA, Metropolitan Community College, Kansas City; Midwest Behavioral Health Management, Missouri Forest Products Association, MIC, Missouri Fuel, Sikeston; Railway Supply Institute, Inc., Washington, D. C.: and Sprint Nextel.

Cooper's final two-year term saw him collecting lobbyists' freebies right and left, including tickets to just about any concert that took place. The final concert Cooper attended thanks to a lobbyist's generosity took place Nov. 8 when Branson lobbyist Jerry Burch, who made the quick jump from the legislature to lobbying after he was beaten by Bubs Hohulin 18 years ago, gave Cooper four tickets to see Daniel O'Donnell in Branson.

In the past couple of years, Cooper has received tickets for Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson, Kenny Chesney, and George Jones, among others. Previous Turner Report posts involving Cooper can be found at this link.

CNHI head honcho leading PR effort to promote value of newspapers

Donna Barnett, president and CEO of CNHI, the company that owns the Joplin Globe, is among those spearheading an effort to show that newspapers are not dying, but are more popular than ever.

They’ve created a Web site – www.newspaperproject.org – that will feature stories and commentary about the value of newspapers, and share tips on how they can cope with the tough times.

Monday, the group will launch a series of print and online ads telling, among other facts, the story of how American newspapers and their Web sites daily reach 100 million people, more than watched Sunday’s Super Bowl.

The ads will appear in major newspapers, including the New York Times and the Washington Post, and also in scores of community dailies, including the 89 owned by Community Newspaper Holdings Inc.

“The roar of misinformation swirling around newspapers is deafening,” said Donna Barrett, CNHI’s president and CEO. “We must cut through the noise to set the record straight.”

As we read the results of this publicity campaign in the Joplin Globe and other newspapers, one question obviously needs to be asked:

Isn't it a bit hypocritical for newspapers, most of which have healthy profit margins, to fire people right and left and then try to overcome the negative publicity, by launching a costly PR campaign?

Of course, CNHI and the Joplin Globe have not contributed as much to the negative perception of newspapers, since they are willing to report on other companies' firing employees, but fail to mention a word when they do it themselves.

Senate kills pay raise

Only one Missouri senator, Joan Bray, D-University City,, voted for a pay raise for Senate members Thursday, though Sen. Gary Nodler, R-Joplin, says the pay raise issue may come up again:

Appropriations Committee Chairman Gary Nodler, R-Joplin, said yesterday that some or all of the recommendations could still come into effect through the normal budget process.

If that happens, let's hope there is just as much publicity. It is easy to bury such things in the middle of a budget.

Globe: Hunter made unnecessary payments from wards' accounts

The Joplin Globe's Susan Redden continued her outstanding coverage of the controversy surrounding former Jasper County Public Administrator Rita Hunter this morning.

Ms. Redden reports Mrs. Hunter wrote checks from her wards' accounts to health care agencies sending out money which was not even due:

Probate court records show Hunter paid more than $60,000 from the accounts of five wards — with nearly $35,000 sent to the Oklahoma Health Care Authority from the estate of one ward, and more than $26,000 to the Missouri Medicaid program from the accounts of four other wards.

During the same period, nearly $21,000 was spent in pre-need burial plans for the five wards.

At year’s end, three of the five wards were handed over to the new public administrator with no money in their estates; one had $229 and another, $200.

Hunter did not return calls to Globe messages left questioning the state payments.

Once again, it is time to empanel a grand jury and the county should rethink its decision to have a Joplin accounting firm going over the records of Mrs. Hunter's four-year term. While there is no reason to question the integrity of the company, this case cries out to have someone brought in from the outside to ensure the public has confidence in the results.

As for the most recent revelations, it certainly appears that a part of Mrs. Hunter's actions, in addition to the series of lawsuits against her, may be attributed to a desire to make things as difficult as possible for the woman who beat her in the Republican primary in August, Angie Casavecchia.

Morrison opponent says boxer passed a physical in Joplin

Northeast Oklahoma boxer Tommy Morrison, whose career was derailed after he was found to be HIV positive, reportedly passed a physical in Joplin before his one-round knockout of opponent Corey Williams in Wyoming Saturday night:

Mr. Williams showed documentation of medical records proving Morrison’s clean status in regard to HIV and Hepatitis C. Mr. Williams added that he personally witnessed a medical test done in Joplin, Missouri, which again Morrison passed.

HIV positive boxer continues comeback

Northeast Oklahoma's Tommy Morrison, whose once promising boxing career was derailed by the discovery that he is HIV positive, continued on the comeback trail Saturday knocking out a hapless opponent in the first round of a match in Wyoming:

Tommy Morrison was victorious over his opponent, local Wyoming journeyman Corey Williams ending the bout 1:57 seconds into the 1st round. One ringside observer thought that the spectacular KO may have required a coroner rather than a ringside physician. Morrison told OnTheGrind Radio that he plans to be consistent in 2009, fighting more often, and positioning himself for a run at the heavyweight championship.

Morrison's match was opposed by the AAPRP (American Association of Professional Ringside Physicians), which issued the following statement, given to fightnews.com:

As referenced in multiple reports over the past twelve years, Mr. Morrison has not been able to document negative HIV status thereby not meeting the minimum medical requirements to insure the safety and protection of himself, his opponent or ring officials. As such, the AAPRP is concerned about the potential of transmission of infectious diseases should bleeding occur. Currently, the State of Wyoming does not have a boxing commission. Thus, we recommend that this fight be canceled until such time as an appropriate supervisory commission is appointed to oversee the medical aspects of this contest and blood test are performed by an AAPRP approved physician to document the health status of each competitor. Should this contest take place without proper regulatory oversight and experienced medical personnel, we believe there is a possibility that the health and safety of the competitors and ring officials may be compromised; an unnecessary risk which should not be permitted."