WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM CST THURSDAY... A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM CST THURSDAY. * SHORT TERM TRENDS...THE LEADING EDGE OF A BAND OF LIGHT SNOW HAS REACHED AN AREA FROM FORT SCOTT KANSAS TO SEDALIA LINE. THE VISIBILITY HAS DROPPED TO BETWEEN 1 AND 2 MILES IN SOME AREAS WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE LOWER AND MIDDLE 20S. SNOW ACCUMULATION ON ROADS WILL LIKELY MAKE ROADS INCREASINGLY SLICK OVER THE NEXT HOUR FROM SOUTHEAST KANSAS INTO PARTS OF WEST CENTRAL MISSOURI AS THE SNOW CONTINUES TO MOVE EAST. THE SNOW IS EXPECTED TO REACH THE JOPLIN AREA BY 8 PM AND THE SPRINGFIELD AREA BY 9 TO 930 PM. * TIMING AND AREAS AFFECTED...FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT PERIOD ALONG AND NORTH OF A NEOSHO...TO AVA...TO SALEM LINE. * SNOW ACCUMULATION...2 TO 4 INCHES ALONG AND NORTH OF A PITTSBURG KANSAS TO BOLIVAR TO ROLLA MISSOURI LINE. 1 TO 2 INCHES IS EXPECTED IN THE ADVISORY AREA SOUTH OF THIS LINE. * WINDS AND VISIBILITY...BRISK NORTH WINDS OF 15 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS AROUND 30 MPH MAY RESULT IN SOME BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW ALONG WITH LOCALIZED REDUCTIONS IN VISIBILITY. WIND CHILL VALUES WILL FALL INTO THE FIVE BELOW TO FIVE ABOVE ZERO RANGE LATE TONIGHT. * IMPACTS...TRAVEL CONDITIONS WILL DETERIORATE FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST FROM THIS EVENING INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS INCLUDING STATE HIGHWAYS 54...13...65...AND 63...AND ALONG INTERSTATES 49 AND 44. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW MEANS THAT PERIODS OF SNOW WILL CAUSE PRIMARILY TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR SNOW COVERED ROADS AND LIMITED VISIBILITIES...AND USE CAUTION WHILE DRIVING.
Wednesday, January 01, 2014
Winter weather advisory for snow in effect for Joplin area until 6 a.m.
(From the National Weather Service)
Saturday services scheduled for Arkansas sisters killed in accident
Services will be held Saturday for two Arkansas sisters killed in a three-vehicle accident December 26 in Pineville. Information about the accident can be found at this link. The obituary is provided by Rollins Funeral Home. In the photo, Katelyn Box is a the far left and Bethany Boxx is upper right.
Bethany was born Nov. 2, 1993, in Kansas City, Mo., and Katie was born Oct. 19, 1997, in Overland Park, Kan., both to David and Janet Boxx.
Bethany was a 2011 graduate of the International Bacheloriate Program through Bentonville High School, and was a sophomore at the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) where she was a biology major, with a minor in gender studies. She worked at the Dairy Queen in Bella Vista during high school and, while at UCA, she worked in campus food service. She enjoyed spending time with her friends, and especially her long-term boyfriend, Alex Nilsson.
Katie was a sophomore at Bentonville High School. She enjoyed writing and telling stories, and will be remembered for her joyful nature and her ever-present smile. She suffered from a rare neurological disorder called ARSACS - and upon learning of her condition, her response was "It just makes me special." She was always the optimist and woke up with a smile each day.
Bethany and Katie were both members of First Baptist Church in Rogers.
Survivors include their parents, David and Janet Boxx, and a sister, Gracen Victoria Boxx, all of the home. They are also survived by their paternal grandparents, Richard and Donna Boxx of Lee's Summit, Mo.; maternal grandfather, Dwight Coon of Kansas City, Mo.; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.
They were preceded in death by a brother, Bradley Cole Boxx; and their maternal grandmother, Ardis Coon.
Visitation will be 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014, at First Baptist Church, 3364 W. Pleasant Grove Road, in Rogers, with the funeral service beginning at 11:00 a.m. Burial will follow in Pinnacle Memorial Gardens.
Memorials, in lieu of flowers, should be made to the ARSACS Foundation, online at www.arsacs.com.
Arrangements are by Rollins Funeral Home of Rogers. Online condolences may be made at www.rollinsfuneral.com.
Globe Editorial: We support all of C. J. Huff and Mark Rohr's decisions
Whatever the chief administrators for the city of Joplin and the Joplin R-8 School District decide to do is the approach that is right, no matter what the consequences.
The Globe has every right to express that opinion on its editorial pages; that is what the First Amendment is all about.
But when you use your news pages to back up your editorial page views, you are doing a disservice to your readers and to the truth.
Anson Burlingame is an idiot; the Joplin School Board race is not about me
I don't make a habit of calling people idiots, even when their behavior would certainly seem to indicate the label applies.
That being said, Anson Burlingame is an idiot.
One sign of how far the Joplin Globe has fallen over the past few years has been its eagerness to make this man out to be some sort of wise thinker whose columns should appear in the newspaper's pages. The Globe tried a failed experiment a few years back of setting up certain people in the area as bloggers. At first glance, it seemed like the blogs were a success; they were filled with reader comments.
Unfortunately for the Globe, most of the comments were from their own bloggers, bickering with each other.
How much they were paying these people for their wisdom I have no idea, but the experiment came to a screeching halt a couple of years ago.
Since then, the Globe has propped up the two "conservative" bloggers, Burlingame and Geoff Caldwell, by providing them with regular space on the editorial pages as "guest columnists." Both of them were featured on today's opinion page.
Burlingame's column shows just how little the man knows about what is going on in Joplin.
That being said, Anson Burlingame is an idiot.
One sign of how far the Joplin Globe has fallen over the past few years has been its eagerness to make this man out to be some sort of wise thinker whose columns should appear in the newspaper's pages. The Globe tried a failed experiment a few years back of setting up certain people in the area as bloggers. At first glance, it seemed like the blogs were a success; they were filled with reader comments.
Unfortunately for the Globe, most of the comments were from their own bloggers, bickering with each other.
How much they were paying these people for their wisdom I have no idea, but the experiment came to a screeching halt a couple of years ago.
Since then, the Globe has propped up the two "conservative" bloggers, Burlingame and Geoff Caldwell, by providing them with regular space on the editorial pages as "guest columnists." Both of them were featured on today's opinion page.
Burlingame's column shows just how little the man knows about what is going on in Joplin.
Joplin teachers told to lie about cost of new buildings
As the walls continue to fall around the Joplin R-8 Administration, the next problem C. J. Huff and company have to deal with is a public backlash over the cost of the buildings that are scheduled to open in five days.
No expense has been spared in the construction of East Middle School, Soaring Heights Elementary School, and Irving Elementary School, and administration officials are preparing for the questions.
The media is not going to be a big problem. As can be noted from the article in this morning's Joplin Globe, publicity will be centered around the opening of the schools with, of course, the reminder that the original schools were destroyed in the May 22, 2011, tornado.
While C. J. Huff appears to have local media well in hand, the public is a different matter, and often when the public wants to know what is going on in the schools, it asks the people with whom it has direct contact- the teachers.
So the teachers have been told to lie.
Sources at the schools have told the Turner Report that they have been told to lie if parents ask questions about the cost of some of the frills that the buildings have, including the eye-catching graphics.
The word "lie" was never used; the teachers were provided with information that was not true.
Simply telling the parents that they did not know how much these items cost was not a workable plan, officials apparently decided, since this would almost be an admission that money was wasted, so teachers were told to tell parents that the expensive items "did not cost much."
Of course, that might not be a lie, depending on your definition of what "expensive" is.
The Turner Report has been told by an administration source that the cost of graphics and "special touches" for the new buildings is well into seven figures.
Even worse for students, the rush to get the buildings ready for next Monday that is described in this morning's Globe will be a problem as far as their education is concerned. Contractors have confided that it should be a matter of weeks, perhaps a month or two, and not five days before these buildings are opened.
The buildings not only are not going to be finished by Monday, but there are reportedly safety concerns that have not been addressed, not the kind that will cause problems during a regular school day, but ones that could create serious problems if something out of the ordinary happens.
Some areas of at least one school do not have a safe place for children to go in the case of a lockdown, the Turner Report was told.
No expense has been spared in the construction of East Middle School, Soaring Heights Elementary School, and Irving Elementary School, and administration officials are preparing for the questions.
The media is not going to be a big problem. As can be noted from the article in this morning's Joplin Globe, publicity will be centered around the opening of the schools with, of course, the reminder that the original schools were destroyed in the May 22, 2011, tornado.
While C. J. Huff appears to have local media well in hand, the public is a different matter, and often when the public wants to know what is going on in the schools, it asks the people with whom it has direct contact- the teachers.
So the teachers have been told to lie.
Sources at the schools have told the Turner Report that they have been told to lie if parents ask questions about the cost of some of the frills that the buildings have, including the eye-catching graphics.
The word "lie" was never used; the teachers were provided with information that was not true.
Simply telling the parents that they did not know how much these items cost was not a workable plan, officials apparently decided, since this would almost be an admission that money was wasted, so teachers were told to tell parents that the expensive items "did not cost much."
Of course, that might not be a lie, depending on your definition of what "expensive" is.
The Turner Report has been told by an administration source that the cost of graphics and "special touches" for the new buildings is well into seven figures.
Even worse for students, the rush to get the buildings ready for next Monday that is described in this morning's Globe will be a problem as far as their education is concerned. Contractors have confided that it should be a matter of weeks, perhaps a month or two, and not five days before these buildings are opened.
The buildings not only are not going to be finished by Monday, but there are reportedly safety concerns that have not been addressed, not the kind that will cause problems during a regular school day, but ones that could create serious problems if something out of the ordinary happens.
Some areas of at least one school do not have a safe place for children to go in the case of a lockdown, the Turner Report was told.
Los Angeles school IPads expensive and already outdated
It is no wonder that Bill Gates and the people who run technology companies are so interested in education- it is a continuing cash cow, especially when you consider the tried-and-true practice of tech companies to make their products obsolete after a short time.
L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy said it was important to buy a computer-based curriculum that fully incorporates learning standards recently adopted by California and 44 other states. And he wanted each student to take upcoming tests, linked to those standards, on a tablet that is permanently assigned to them.
"Our youth deserve the best we can afford," Deasy said.
The tablet chosen by L.A. Unified — the iPad 4 with 32 gigabytes of storage — has since been discontinued as a retail product, but the price under L.A. Unified's contract with Apple Inc. was locked in.
The Los Angeles Times continued its investigation into the L.A. School District's purchases of iPads for high school students:
"Our youth deserve the best we can afford," Deasy said.
The tablet chosen by L.A. Unified — the iPad 4 with 32 gigabytes of storage — has since been discontinued as a retail product, but the price under L.A. Unified's contract with Apple Inc. was locked in.
What is worse is that in Los Angeles, the money used to buy the iPads came from construction bonds.
California teacher's predictions for 2014- Education will move away from IPads
California teacher Larry Ferlazzo, who blogs for Education Week, has a list of predictions for 2014 that, if they come true, could spell a good year for those who are concerned about the efforts to "reform" and privatize public education.
One of his predictions, however, if it comes true, is not good news for the Joplin R-8 School District.
The district, which spent more than $300,000 to give IPads to all eighth graders this year and has plans to give them to sixth and seventh graders at some point, has not had the problems the Los Angeles School District has had with IPads (though it would not matter if it had since the Joplin Globe would never write anything about it), but LA's problems have education officials re-examining the push toward putting IPads or laptops in the hands of every student. Ferlazzo's prediction:
Thanks to the continuing iPad fiasco in Los Angeles schools, more and more districts will not only move much more slowly to integrate tablets/laptops into the classroom (no more large-scale roll-outs; instead, very small pilots followed by gradual expansion), but Dell’s and Google’s low-cost Chromebooks will dramatically increase in popularity and begin to overtake iPad use in public schools.
I question whether that move toward Google Chromebooks or any Dell product will take place. The words "low cost" cannot be found in Joplin R-8 Administration vocabulary.
One of his predictions, however, if it comes true, is not good news for the Joplin R-8 School District.
The district, which spent more than $300,000 to give IPads to all eighth graders this year and has plans to give them to sixth and seventh graders at some point, has not had the problems the Los Angeles School District has had with IPads (though it would not matter if it had since the Joplin Globe would never write anything about it), but LA's problems have education officials re-examining the push toward putting IPads or laptops in the hands of every student. Ferlazzo's prediction:
Thanks to the continuing iPad fiasco in Los Angeles schools, more and more districts will not only move much more slowly to integrate tablets/laptops into the classroom (no more large-scale roll-outs; instead, very small pilots followed by gradual expansion), but Dell’s and Google’s low-cost Chromebooks will dramatically increase in popularity and begin to overtake iPad use in public schools.
I question whether that move toward Google Chromebooks or any Dell product will take place. The words "low cost" cannot be found in Joplin R-8 Administration vocabulary.
Report: Arne Duncan lobbies against appointment of New York education official
It would not happen in Missouri, where Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro is in lockstep with Arne Duncan and the so-called reform movement in education, but an article in today's Washington Post provides evidence of the steps the federal government is taking to impose its will on local education.
The article indicates officials, including Duncan, in the U. S. Department of Education lobbied New York's new mayor Bill de Blasio in an effort to keep de Blasio from appointing Joshua P. Starr, an opponent of standardized testing excesses, as chancellor of schools. The appontment was given to veteran educator Carmen Farina:
The article indicates officials, including Duncan, in the U. S. Department of Education lobbied New York's new mayor Bill de Blasio in an effort to keep de Blasio from appointing Joshua P. Starr, an opponent of standardized testing excesses, as chancellor of schools. The appontment was given to veteran educator Carmen Farina:
Ravitch: "Reformers" want to dismantle public education, teaching profession
However, she opens her post with this spot-on assessment of what has been occurring across the United States:
More and more parents and teachers are awakening to the realization that the word “reform” has been hijacked by people who want to dismantle public education and the teaching profession. Those who have boldly named themselves the “reformers” are all too often working on behalf of turning public dollars over to private interests and to strip teachers of any due process, any collective-bargaining rights, any salary increment linked to their experience or their education. These so-called “reformers” reify test scores, making them the be-all and end-all of education and are eager to fire teachers and principals whose students don’t get the test scores that the computer says they should, and equally eager to close public schools with low scores and replace them with privately managed schools that all too often escape the same scrutiny as the public schools they replaced. The “reformers” care not at all about class size, indeed, they say they would prefer larger classes with “better teachers,” even though teachers say they can be better teachers with smaller classes, especially given the diversity of students in most public schools today, some of whom have disabilities, some of whom are learning English.
Our educators and schools now live under a Sword of Damocles fashioned by No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top. Those who cannot produce higher scores are doomed. This is madness. This is a game rigged to harm public schools, which is a fundamental institution of our democracy.
Check out her post to find out the successes people are starting to have fighting against the "reformers."
Snow, near zero wind chill on tap for Joplin area tonight
(From the National Weather Service)
LIGHT SNOW WILL OVERSPREAD THE OUTLOOK AREA LATE THIS AFTERNOON
INTO TONIGHT. TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF ONE TO THREE INCHES ARE
EXPECTED GENERALLY ALONG AND NORTH OF HIGHWAY 60...WITH
LOCALIZED HIGHER ACCUMULATIONS NEAR 4 INCHES ACROSS CENTRAL
MISSOURI. SEE THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR MORE
DETAILS.
INTO TONIGHT. TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF ONE TO THREE INCHES ARE
EXPECTED GENERALLY ALONG AND NORTH OF HIGHWAY 60...WITH
LOCALIZED HIGHER ACCUMULATIONS NEAR 4 INCHES ACROSS CENTRAL
MISSOURI. SEE THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR MORE
DETAILS.
IN ADDITION TO THE FALLING SNOW...GUSTY NORTH WINDS OF 15 TO 30
MPH WILL RESULT IN SOME BLOWING SNOW TONIGHT. WIND CHILLS WILL
FALL INTO SINGLE DIGITS TO NEAR ZERO LATE TONIGHT.
MPH WILL RESULT IN SOME BLOWING SNOW TONIGHT. WIND CHILLS WILL
FALL INTO SINGLE DIGITS TO NEAR ZERO LATE TONIGHT.
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