Rumors continue to swirl around O'Sullivan Industries, the top employer in Lamar for the past four decades.
The company's first million-dollar a year CEO, Bob Parker, reportedly has removed two-long time officials, Tom O'Sullivan Jr., son and namesake of the company's founder, and Tom Riegel, who has been with O'Sullivan since 1971.
Reportedly, layoffs are in the offing for O'Sullivan.
While people who are making far less will have to wonder how they are going to make their next car payments and put food on the table, the most-recently hired O'Sullivan officials will be doing just fine.
As mentioned earlier, Parker, who was hired May 17 after previously working for Newell Rubbermaid, is receiving $1 million annually. His contract also insures that he will receive a bonus of at least an additional half-million dollars. The previous CEO, Richard Davidson, received an annual salary of $530,000 in 2002, according to company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
As a condition of his hiring, Parker received 291,905 shares of Series B Junior Preferred Stock, 40,000 shares of Series C Preferred Stock, and 467,614 shares of Class B Common Stock in O'Sullivan.
His health insurance is 100 percent paid with a $250 deductible. He receives an auto allowance of $1,200 a month or $14,400 a year (Executives have to have this. You know how easy it is to go through a million dollars nowadays.) The company also provides him with $800,000 in life insurance, a 401K plan, an 80-20 dental plan and, of course, a sizable golden parachute of a full year's salary, one million dollars, if the board of directors decides to give him the ax.
Parker has already begun the process of bringing his buddies from Rubbermaid to O'Sullivan. During the past few weeks, the company has hired Rick Allan Walters, formerly of Rubbermaid, as chief financial officer with an annual salary of $250,000 and a guaranteed bonus of $200,000. Walters also is receiving all of the other fringe benefits that the board of directors used to lure Parker.
Also hired from Rubbermaid was Michael Orr at a salary of $230,000 and a guaranteed bonus of $184,000, plus the other fringe benefits.
The hirings of the Rubbermaid Trio are the latest maneuvers in the gradual phasing out of the original O'Sullivan family. Daniel O'Sullivan, oldest son of founder Tom O'Sullivan, retired March 31,2000, at age 60. In exchange for his early retirement as CEO, O'Sullivan was paid $42,160 a month for 36 months. He will continue to receive $11,458 a month until he reaches his 65th birthday. The total buyout will amount to approximately $2.2 million. He also continues to be covered under the company's health and life insurance plans.
Terry Riegel, who accepted an early retirement from his position as executive vice president, received a lump sum payment of $335,336.54 on Jan. 2, 2004. Since May 15, he has been receiving $5,000 a month. This will continue for 30 months. Riegel and his family's health insurance costs will continue to be footed by the company through Nov. 15, 2007. He will also continue to serve as a company consultant until that time and will not go into competition against O'Sullivan. Daniel O'Sullivan has a similar no-compete clause in his contract.
Though nothing is going to take away the sting of pushed out of a company that your family put on the map, Federal Securities and Exchange documents indicate Tom O'Sullivan Jr will not be left destitute.
The very top officials at O'Sullivan Industries, including Tom O'Sullivan Jr. receive the following severance package:
1. A cash payment equal to their current base salary and the highest bonus received during the past three years. O'Sullivan's base salary in 2003 was $179,531. He received a $76,300 bonus the previous year.
2. A cash payment equal to the bonus earned by the employee in the year of termination, calculated on a pro-rated basis.
3. A cash payment for accrued and unpaid vacation pay.
4. A cash payment for a 12-month automobile allowance.
5. Continued life and health insurance for the next 12 months.
6. A lump payment, adjusted for taxes, for an amount equal to their profit sharing money.
7. A cash payment based on the amount he was scheduled to receive in deferred compensation if he had worked until age 65. According to SEC records. O'Sullivan is 49 years old.
8. All outstanding stock options vest and become immediately exercisable.
9. O'Sullivan will be required to pay cash for any shares of unrestricted common stock and options for stocks at fair market value.
10. One year of outplacement services is guaranteed.
11. If O'Sullivan moves more than 20 miles from his house to take another job within the next 36 month, the company has to buy his property.
More to come
***
Today's Joplin Globe featured an article about the middle school situation in the city. No one has asked me, but I would prefer to see three middle schools, maintained as neighborhood schools, with a new school being built for South. I hate to see the continued evaporation of the neighborhood schools.
***
Teachers report for duty tomorrow (Thursday). I'm ready to get started. I just wish teachers had the same kind of fringe benefits that million-dollar CEOS have (whether their companies make money or not).i
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
The move has been completed. I am now officially a Joplin resident. The distance I live from South Middle School has decreased from seventeen miles to two and a half miles.
I am thankful that everything was moved and I was settled in before school starts. I don't want to have any distractions once the school year begins.
I found out today that my class sizes are going to be reasonable with 27 the largest I will have for one class and most of the others having less than 20 students.
Teachers officially report 7:30 a.m. Thursday at the Joplin High School auditorium. We are all supposed to be wearing the new blue South Middle School t-shirts. Unfortunately, all of the large and extra large shirts were already gone by the time I went through the box today so I will be wearing one of the old gray South shirts. (Who says I can't write a spellbinding blog?)
It appears that I will have six of the seven eighth grade communication arts classes, while Angela Mense will add one eighth grade class to go with her seventh grade classes.
The biggest change for Joplin middle school communication arts classes will be the move from two-hour blocks to 50-minute classes. Last year, we had the students for two consecutive periods and were supposed to divide the time nearly equally between reading and writing (mixing in such old favorites as grammar, vocabulary, and spelling). This year, the students will have separate reading classes. Some teachers will do writing/communication arts, while the others will teach reading. I will miss the block classes. They gave me a chance to get to know my students better and to accomplish more things. On the other hand, with the new system I will have the opportunity to work with more students.
***
Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the resignation of Richard Nixon as president of the United States.
Those who didn't live through this era would find it hard to believe that at one point before Nixon resigned, people wondered if he was seriouly considering declaring martial law so he could remain in power.
During the summer of 1973, I was spellbound by the Senate Watergate hearings, featuring the folksy, homespun humor of Senator Sam Ervin and the famous question by Senator Howard Baker of Tennessee. "What did the president know and when did he know it?"
The most electrifying moment of the hearings came when a little known White House aide named Alexander Butterfield testified that President Nixon had all of his conversations taped. After that revelation, it was only a matter of time before Nixon had to resign.
***
The Diamond R-4 School District's lawsuit against Edison Schools has been moved from Newton County Circuit Court to the Western District U. S. Court for the state of Missouri.
The head of Newton Learning, the division of Edison Schools that runs summer schools has responded to the allegations made by Diamond Superintendent Mark Mayo in the lawsuit, which was filed last month.
In the suit, Mayo claims that the district does not owe Edison nearly $90,000 that the company claims it should receive for its operation of the Diamond summer school in 2002. I will have more information on this, both on this site and on www.wildcatcentral.com when the Internet service to my new apartment is installed.
***
The Diamond School District is being sued by Earlene Sharon as a result of injuries received by her daughter in the Marlin Pinnell Gymnasium. That suit was filed in Newton County Circuit Court.
***
The controversy over the resignation of former Lamar High School football coach Tim Casper continues to swirl in the postings on www.lamarmo.com Those posting on that site claim that Casper was fired because of an illicit relationship with a student.
The sad things about the postings is that many of them blame the girl. Now let me understand the logic...a 35-year-old man in a position of authority is alleged to have misused that authority and taken advantage of his position and the girl is at fault?
I don't care how she behaves in school. I don't care if she wrote passionate love letters, threw herself at him, and sang, "Come to me, my melancholy baby." If he did what he is accused of doing (and his sudden resignation just before school starts would indicate a serious problem), he is the one at fault. This is not a question of how much blame should be assessed to each participant. He is the adult. He is the one who had the responsibility. He is the one who should have slammed on the brakes before this thing went out of control.
I am thankful that everything was moved and I was settled in before school starts. I don't want to have any distractions once the school year begins.
I found out today that my class sizes are going to be reasonable with 27 the largest I will have for one class and most of the others having less than 20 students.
Teachers officially report 7:30 a.m. Thursday at the Joplin High School auditorium. We are all supposed to be wearing the new blue South Middle School t-shirts. Unfortunately, all of the large and extra large shirts were already gone by the time I went through the box today so I will be wearing one of the old gray South shirts. (Who says I can't write a spellbinding blog?)
It appears that I will have six of the seven eighth grade communication arts classes, while Angela Mense will add one eighth grade class to go with her seventh grade classes.
The biggest change for Joplin middle school communication arts classes will be the move from two-hour blocks to 50-minute classes. Last year, we had the students for two consecutive periods and were supposed to divide the time nearly equally between reading and writing (mixing in such old favorites as grammar, vocabulary, and spelling). This year, the students will have separate reading classes. Some teachers will do writing/communication arts, while the others will teach reading. I will miss the block classes. They gave me a chance to get to know my students better and to accomplish more things. On the other hand, with the new system I will have the opportunity to work with more students.
***
Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the resignation of Richard Nixon as president of the United States.
Those who didn't live through this era would find it hard to believe that at one point before Nixon resigned, people wondered if he was seriouly considering declaring martial law so he could remain in power.
During the summer of 1973, I was spellbound by the Senate Watergate hearings, featuring the folksy, homespun humor of Senator Sam Ervin and the famous question by Senator Howard Baker of Tennessee. "What did the president know and when did he know it?"
The most electrifying moment of the hearings came when a little known White House aide named Alexander Butterfield testified that President Nixon had all of his conversations taped. After that revelation, it was only a matter of time before Nixon had to resign.
***
The Diamond R-4 School District's lawsuit against Edison Schools has been moved from Newton County Circuit Court to the Western District U. S. Court for the state of Missouri.
The head of Newton Learning, the division of Edison Schools that runs summer schools has responded to the allegations made by Diamond Superintendent Mark Mayo in the lawsuit, which was filed last month.
In the suit, Mayo claims that the district does not owe Edison nearly $90,000 that the company claims it should receive for its operation of the Diamond summer school in 2002. I will have more information on this, both on this site and on www.wildcatcentral.com when the Internet service to my new apartment is installed.
***
The Diamond School District is being sued by Earlene Sharon as a result of injuries received by her daughter in the Marlin Pinnell Gymnasium. That suit was filed in Newton County Circuit Court.
***
The controversy over the resignation of former Lamar High School football coach Tim Casper continues to swirl in the postings on www.lamarmo.com Those posting on that site claim that Casper was fired because of an illicit relationship with a student.
The sad things about the postings is that many of them blame the girl. Now let me understand the logic...a 35-year-old man in a position of authority is alleged to have misused that authority and taken advantage of his position and the girl is at fault?
I don't care how she behaves in school. I don't care if she wrote passionate love letters, threw herself at him, and sang, "Come to me, my melancholy baby." If he did what he is accused of doing (and his sudden resignation just before school starts would indicate a serious problem), he is the one at fault. This is not a question of how much blame should be assessed to each participant. He is the adult. He is the one who had the responsibility. He is the one who should have slammed on the brakes before this thing went out of control.
Sunday, August 08, 2004
My apologies for not writing as much the past few days. I have spent most of my time driving back and forth between Carthage and Joplin as I complete the move to my new apartment. Unfortunately, I still have a day or two of moving left.
I have been ready to move for quite some time. After being a big part of the Carthage community for over nine years as first a reporter then editor at The Carthage Press, it wasn't easy adjusting to "civilian life" after May 17, 1999. I've felt a little like a ghost in Carthage these past five years so this marks a new start.
I was already prepared to stay in Carthage for a few more months while I waited for an apartment that met my specifications. I needed to have a furnished place since I really haven't had furniture since I lived in Lamar from 1982 to 1990.
I received a call Thursday night that such an apartment was available. I looked it over Friday morning, then signed a lease Friday afternoon and began the moving process. My rent goes up from $350 a month to $495 a month, but I will actually be saving money.
My Carthage landlord had paid for cable the first five years I had the apartment. One day, I was unable to get anything on my television so I checked with the people at Cox Cable and discovered that my landlord had shut me off. If he had called and told me he was going to do that, I could have had the account transferred without a problem, I was told. Since the cutoff had already taken place, I had to pay a $40 hookup fee. That's also about what I am paying per month to Cox. I wasn't surprised that my cable is paid for at my new apartment, what surprised me is that the apartment already has two almost-new TVs, one in the living room and one in the bedroom, both of which are hooked up to cable. The bedroom TV is also a combination TV/VCR.
So stay with me now for the math. Add up the $350 and the $40 I have been paying for cable and you have $390. Plus my electric bill is paid at the new apartment, which it wasn't at Carthage. I was averaging $100 a month in Carthage because of the high ceilings. Add the $100 and I am up to $490 or almost my new rent. Then add about $40 per month in gas I will be saving by living close to South Middle School and I am actually making money with this deal.
A number of other factors combine to make the new apartment much more preferable. Instead of having to park in a municipal parking lot nearly two blocks from my apartment (since you're only allowed to park on the square or in parking spaces around the square for two hours), I can park in a parking lot, which is about 10 feet from the apartment.
For the past six and a half years I have made do with a mini-refrigerator. Now for the first time since 1993 I have a full-sized one and, for the first time, I won't have to defrost it (which I did annually whether it needed it or not). My old microwave oven was about to give out after serving me well for two decades. This place has a brand-new microwave oven.
I finally get Turner Classic Movies and the only station Joplin doesn't have on its basic service that I had in Carthage is the Hallmark Channel. I believe I will do just fine without Matlock reruns, though I will miss The Virginian.
The toughest part is I don't have the storage space in Joplin that I have had for the past six years. So the last two days I have been going through boxes of old newspaper clippings, old writings, letters I received from everyone from students to former girlfriends. I tossed my old journalism magazines, any duplicate copies of news clippings I had and many original news clippings. It's hard to part with something you played a role in creating, but since I estimate that I have written more than 20,000 newspaper articles, there is no way I can keep all of them.
The task of moving my music collection has also been daunting. My 400 albums are still in my bedroom at Carthage. After years of believing that I had a collection of about 800 or 900 45s, I discovered last night that I have nearly 2,100. I can trim the newspaper collection, but I will not mess with my music.
I took a pile of old clothes to the Salvation Army store in Carthage yesterday, along with some books and videotapes. I had left some other books and videotapes at the Carthage Library Annex Friday night for the monthly used book sale, which was held Saturday.
Despite that, I still have plenty of books and plenty of videos. It is amazing how many things a person collects even during the span of six years. So far, I have filled 10 trash bags and I would guess I will fill two or three more. The sanitation pickup crew is going to have quite a surprise when it comes by Thursday morning.
I am hoping I can get this completed by the end of the day Wednesday since teachers report back to work Thursday in the Joplin R-8 School District. It sure would have been easier if the apartment had become available a few days earlier, but I am not going to complain.
***
While going painstakingly through every document I own, I came across a few surprises.
I found my final issue as editor of The Newton County News from February 1982. The picture on page one featured a young student at Granby Elementary, Neidra Robbins, as she is working. These days she is Neidra DePuy, and unfortunately, is one of those charged in connection with the drug scandal at Freeman Neosho.
I saw plenty of final issues, including my last one at The Carthage Press, the last issues of three weekly newspapers where I worked, the Jasper County News (not the earlier newspaper, but one put out by The Lamar Democrat), the Lamar Press, and the Lockwood Luminary-Golden City Herald.
I had a chance to relive a few of the stories., the investigative pieces, the features, all of the high school scholars and athletes I covered over the years. It was an enjoyable experience, until it came time to decide which memories were going to be relegated to the landfill. I'm ready to be in my new apartment, but I hate moving.
***
I continue to follow with interest the situation with Newton County Sheriff Ron Doerge and the questions he prepared for KBTN Radio host John McCormack's sheriff candidates' forum. Doerge refuses to explain what action he took in connection with the alleged theft of questions from his computer, using the umbrella "personnel matter" excuse.
He continues to dodge the questions of whether it was proper for an incumbent sheriff, who has already anointed a candidate to be his successor, to supply a list of questions for this forum without coming right out and saying he was the one who did it. He also has failed to show how this is the kind of item that should be on a county computer. I don't have a major problem with it, everyone has an item or two of personal business on a work computer and as long as it does not interfere with the job, it's not a big deal.
But in this case, we have the spectacle of the Newton County sheriff conducting a full-scale in-house investigation to determine who swiped a personal item from his computer. This is a waste of taxpayer money. This situation did not play a major role in the sheriff's race. All it did was totally destroy any credibility John McCormack had and served to shine a light on Doerge's character or lack thereof.
As usual, I am disappointed in the area media for not leaping on this story and asking the questions that need to be asked. This is not the time for the media to base their stories entirely on what Doerge spoonfeeds them. As a matter of fact, they should never base their stories entirely on what one person says, no matter who the person is.
***
Another item I came across during the packing. I found a letter to the editor written shortly after I was fired at The Carthage Press in the summer of 1999. The writer of the letter ripped me, at first talking about how much better the Press was with Rick Rogers as managing editor then describing me as the chicken "playing the same tune on a toy piano over and over." And that was one of the kinder things that was said about me. At the time, I was surprised by the letter because I was not familiar with the writer and could not find his name in the phone book. I figured he probably had an unlisted number, but I called the Press and asked about the letter writer. I was assured that they had checked out the man who wrote the letter. I was told that Rick Rogers checked it out personally, though I have no way of knowing if that is true. What I do know is that it was not checked out. A few months ago, a big stir was created in Carthage by a man writing under a fictitious name who criticized something about the school tax levy proposal, taking a few below-the-belt shots at school officials. As you have probably already guessed, the name used by the man who wrote the letter was the same as the one used by the man who ripped me apart.
Those things are going to happen every once in a while at any newspaper. I don't blame anyone for that. I do have a problem with being told that the letter writer's identity had been checked out and that it was legitimate. The truth is the only thing that newspapers have going for them. Once it is compromised, they have nothing.
I have been ready to move for quite some time. After being a big part of the Carthage community for over nine years as first a reporter then editor at The Carthage Press, it wasn't easy adjusting to "civilian life" after May 17, 1999. I've felt a little like a ghost in Carthage these past five years so this marks a new start.
I was already prepared to stay in Carthage for a few more months while I waited for an apartment that met my specifications. I needed to have a furnished place since I really haven't had furniture since I lived in Lamar from 1982 to 1990.
I received a call Thursday night that such an apartment was available. I looked it over Friday morning, then signed a lease Friday afternoon and began the moving process. My rent goes up from $350 a month to $495 a month, but I will actually be saving money.
My Carthage landlord had paid for cable the first five years I had the apartment. One day, I was unable to get anything on my television so I checked with the people at Cox Cable and discovered that my landlord had shut me off. If he had called and told me he was going to do that, I could have had the account transferred without a problem, I was told. Since the cutoff had already taken place, I had to pay a $40 hookup fee. That's also about what I am paying per month to Cox. I wasn't surprised that my cable is paid for at my new apartment, what surprised me is that the apartment already has two almost-new TVs, one in the living room and one in the bedroom, both of which are hooked up to cable. The bedroom TV is also a combination TV/VCR.
So stay with me now for the math. Add up the $350 and the $40 I have been paying for cable and you have $390. Plus my electric bill is paid at the new apartment, which it wasn't at Carthage. I was averaging $100 a month in Carthage because of the high ceilings. Add the $100 and I am up to $490 or almost my new rent. Then add about $40 per month in gas I will be saving by living close to South Middle School and I am actually making money with this deal.
A number of other factors combine to make the new apartment much more preferable. Instead of having to park in a municipal parking lot nearly two blocks from my apartment (since you're only allowed to park on the square or in parking spaces around the square for two hours), I can park in a parking lot, which is about 10 feet from the apartment.
For the past six and a half years I have made do with a mini-refrigerator. Now for the first time since 1993 I have a full-sized one and, for the first time, I won't have to defrost it (which I did annually whether it needed it or not). My old microwave oven was about to give out after serving me well for two decades. This place has a brand-new microwave oven.
I finally get Turner Classic Movies and the only station Joplin doesn't have on its basic service that I had in Carthage is the Hallmark Channel. I believe I will do just fine without Matlock reruns, though I will miss The Virginian.
The toughest part is I don't have the storage space in Joplin that I have had for the past six years. So the last two days I have been going through boxes of old newspaper clippings, old writings, letters I received from everyone from students to former girlfriends. I tossed my old journalism magazines, any duplicate copies of news clippings I had and many original news clippings. It's hard to part with something you played a role in creating, but since I estimate that I have written more than 20,000 newspaper articles, there is no way I can keep all of them.
The task of moving my music collection has also been daunting. My 400 albums are still in my bedroom at Carthage. After years of believing that I had a collection of about 800 or 900 45s, I discovered last night that I have nearly 2,100. I can trim the newspaper collection, but I will not mess with my music.
I took a pile of old clothes to the Salvation Army store in Carthage yesterday, along with some books and videotapes. I had left some other books and videotapes at the Carthage Library Annex Friday night for the monthly used book sale, which was held Saturday.
Despite that, I still have plenty of books and plenty of videos. It is amazing how many things a person collects even during the span of six years. So far, I have filled 10 trash bags and I would guess I will fill two or three more. The sanitation pickup crew is going to have quite a surprise when it comes by Thursday morning.
I am hoping I can get this completed by the end of the day Wednesday since teachers report back to work Thursday in the Joplin R-8 School District. It sure would have been easier if the apartment had become available a few days earlier, but I am not going to complain.
***
While going painstakingly through every document I own, I came across a few surprises.
I found my final issue as editor of The Newton County News from February 1982. The picture on page one featured a young student at Granby Elementary, Neidra Robbins, as she is working. These days she is Neidra DePuy, and unfortunately, is one of those charged in connection with the drug scandal at Freeman Neosho.
I saw plenty of final issues, including my last one at The Carthage Press, the last issues of three weekly newspapers where I worked, the Jasper County News (not the earlier newspaper, but one put out by The Lamar Democrat), the Lamar Press, and the Lockwood Luminary-Golden City Herald.
I had a chance to relive a few of the stories., the investigative pieces, the features, all of the high school scholars and athletes I covered over the years. It was an enjoyable experience, until it came time to decide which memories were going to be relegated to the landfill. I'm ready to be in my new apartment, but I hate moving.
***
I continue to follow with interest the situation with Newton County Sheriff Ron Doerge and the questions he prepared for KBTN Radio host John McCormack's sheriff candidates' forum. Doerge refuses to explain what action he took in connection with the alleged theft of questions from his computer, using the umbrella "personnel matter" excuse.
He continues to dodge the questions of whether it was proper for an incumbent sheriff, who has already anointed a candidate to be his successor, to supply a list of questions for this forum without coming right out and saying he was the one who did it. He also has failed to show how this is the kind of item that should be on a county computer. I don't have a major problem with it, everyone has an item or two of personal business on a work computer and as long as it does not interfere with the job, it's not a big deal.
But in this case, we have the spectacle of the Newton County sheriff conducting a full-scale in-house investigation to determine who swiped a personal item from his computer. This is a waste of taxpayer money. This situation did not play a major role in the sheriff's race. All it did was totally destroy any credibility John McCormack had and served to shine a light on Doerge's character or lack thereof.
As usual, I am disappointed in the area media for not leaping on this story and asking the questions that need to be asked. This is not the time for the media to base their stories entirely on what Doerge spoonfeeds them. As a matter of fact, they should never base their stories entirely on what one person says, no matter who the person is.
***
Another item I came across during the packing. I found a letter to the editor written shortly after I was fired at The Carthage Press in the summer of 1999. The writer of the letter ripped me, at first talking about how much better the Press was with Rick Rogers as managing editor then describing me as the chicken "playing the same tune on a toy piano over and over." And that was one of the kinder things that was said about me. At the time, I was surprised by the letter because I was not familiar with the writer and could not find his name in the phone book. I figured he probably had an unlisted number, but I called the Press and asked about the letter writer. I was assured that they had checked out the man who wrote the letter. I was told that Rick Rogers checked it out personally, though I have no way of knowing if that is true. What I do know is that it was not checked out. A few months ago, a big stir was created in Carthage by a man writing under a fictitious name who criticized something about the school tax levy proposal, taking a few below-the-belt shots at school officials. As you have probably already guessed, the name used by the man who wrote the letter was the same as the one used by the man who ripped me apart.
Those things are going to happen every once in a while at any newspaper. I don't blame anyone for that. I do have a problem with being told that the letter writer's identity had been checked out and that it was legitimate. The truth is the only thing that newspapers have going for them. Once it is compromised, they have nothing.
Thursday, August 05, 2004
If I understood the report on Channel 16 correctly last night, the investigation into the theft of candidate forum questions from a computer in the Newton County Sheriff's Department has been completed. Of course, no information will be given to the public about the results because, Sheriff Ron Doerge notes, it is a "personnel matter."
For those of you who are not familiar with the situation, Neosho radio station KBTN held a candidate forum last week for those running for the Newton County sheriff position. Doerge, who has served 16 years in that position, is not seeking reelection. After the forum, candidate Mike Langland, a longtime department deputy said he had been given a list of the questions which were asked during the forum. This caused an uproar, in which the information finally surfaced that program host John McCormack had asked Doerge, who had already come out in support of candidate Mike Copeland, the eventual winner, to help hiim come up with questions.
Surprisingly the media focused on the alleged theft of questions from a Sheriff's Department computer. The ethics of Doerge writing these questions was never questioned. Even more to the point, the ethics of program host McCormack, who essentially offered the candidates a fair and balanced forum, but offered them a list of loaded questions, was also not questioned.
The investigaiton has been closed, and it probably should remain so, but not before mentioning a couple of other items wh ich Sheriff Doerge has also conveniently failed to mention. Since these questions were obviously not Sheriff's Department work, what the heck were they doing on a taxpayer-financed computer? Why is it not mentioned that whoever took the questions from the computer, if anyone did so, was simply taking material which had nothing to do with the work that the taxpayers are paying Doerge and his departmetnt for.
Finally, why is Newton County tax money being used to investigate something which has nothing to do with a crime or with the operation of the sheriff's department. And how can Doerge have the nerve to discipline an employee who didn't really do anything wrong?
The whole thing is an embarrassment to the county and to KBTN. The Sheriff's Department needs to let this drop this. As for KBTN, a brief suspension for McCormack, followed by an apology, is probably what needs to be done. Don't be surprised if nothing happens.
***
The Joplin Globe reports this morning that accused drunk driver Edward Meerwald Jr., 50, Noel, will probably not have his charges upgraded to second degree murder in connection with the July 31 deaths of a Neosho man and the man's granddaughter. The article says that so far officials have been unable to discover enough previous DWI arrests to be able to charge Meerwald with anything more than involuntary manslaughter. The Globe did finally take the time to check the state's Case.net system and found Meerwald's Jasper County careless and imprudent driving conviction. The Globe needs to thoroughly examine this particular conviction. If it came as a result of a plea bargain agreement, then that type of agreement needs to be examined. This is the kind of problem that newspapers can do more than any other medium to bring to the attention of the public and to the attention of legislators who can do something to close these loopholes.
***
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For those of you who are not familiar with the situation, Neosho radio station KBTN held a candidate forum last week for those running for the Newton County sheriff position. Doerge, who has served 16 years in that position, is not seeking reelection. After the forum, candidate Mike Langland, a longtime department deputy said he had been given a list of the questions which were asked during the forum. This caused an uproar, in which the information finally surfaced that program host John McCormack had asked Doerge, who had already come out in support of candidate Mike Copeland, the eventual winner, to help hiim come up with questions.
Surprisingly the media focused on the alleged theft of questions from a Sheriff's Department computer. The ethics of Doerge writing these questions was never questioned. Even more to the point, the ethics of program host McCormack, who essentially offered the candidates a fair and balanced forum, but offered them a list of loaded questions, was also not questioned.
The investigaiton has been closed, and it probably should remain so, but not before mentioning a couple of other items wh ich Sheriff Doerge has also conveniently failed to mention. Since these questions were obviously not Sheriff's Department work, what the heck were they doing on a taxpayer-financed computer? Why is it not mentioned that whoever took the questions from the computer, if anyone did so, was simply taking material which had nothing to do with the work that the taxpayers are paying Doerge and his departmetnt for.
Finally, why is Newton County tax money being used to investigate something which has nothing to do with a crime or with the operation of the sheriff's department. And how can Doerge have the nerve to discipline an employee who didn't really do anything wrong?
The whole thing is an embarrassment to the county and to KBTN. The Sheriff's Department needs to let this drop this. As for KBTN, a brief suspension for McCormack, followed by an apology, is probably what needs to be done. Don't be surprised if nothing happens.
***
The Joplin Globe reports this morning that accused drunk driver Edward Meerwald Jr., 50, Noel, will probably not have his charges upgraded to second degree murder in connection with the July 31 deaths of a Neosho man and the man's granddaughter. The article says that so far officials have been unable to discover enough previous DWI arrests to be able to charge Meerwald with anything more than involuntary manslaughter. The Globe did finally take the time to check the state's Case.net system and found Meerwald's Jasper County careless and imprudent driving conviction. The Globe needs to thoroughly examine this particular conviction. If it came as a result of a plea bargain agreement, then that type of agreement needs to be examined. This is the kind of problem that newspapers can do more than any other medium to bring to the attention of the public and to the attention of legislators who can do something to close these loopholes.
***
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Wednesday, August 04, 2004
The decision by the Webb City R-7 Board of Education last fall to adopt a policy forbidding relatives of school board members to be hired was made without much fanfare. It was simple, common sense. When you hire the relative of a board member, it creates the appearance of favortism. It doesn't matter if that person is the most qualified applicant. It doesn't matter if that person is the most qualified person in the United States. It simply gives the appearance that the person got the job because his or her board member relative pulled strings.
It also smacks of the old-time rural stereotype seen on old episodes of "Green Acres," particularly the one where Oliver Douglas took Mister Haney to court and everywhere he went he ran into a judge or a lawman who was related to Haney.
A school district that doesn't use set such a policy in its hiring is not only sowing the seeds of suspicion, it is sowing the seeds for resentment among staff members who are not related to someone on the board.
What has happened in the Diamond R-4 School District is exactly the type of situation Webb City R-7 officials were stopping before it could ever happen.
I received an e-mail yesterday pointing out how Diamond staff and board members are related.
The board president's sister is the district's Parents as Teachers person. His brother-in-law was recently hired as a keyboarding teacher. He served part-time as the district's technology coordinator during the 2003-2004 school year.
Another board member's wife is the school librarian.
A third board member's wife was recently promoted to middle school secretary after having served as an assistant librarian.
A fourth board member's husband served year before last as assistant high school girls basketball coach, even though he did not accept payment for that job.
A fifth board member had a niece who taught in the school district last year. She resigned and went to another school this year. The niece's husband is still employed as a teacher in the school system.
A sixth board member, who recently resigned due to job conflicts, had a wife who had been employed as a teacher's aide, though she resigned that position at the end of the last school year to take a higher-paying job.
Only one member of the Diamond R-4 Board of Education does not have relatives who have been employed during his time on the board.
That is not to say these people are not qualified for the positions they hold or held. It doesn't matter. The perception is still there and there are other qualified people who could be hired for those positions.
It should be stressed that nothing illegal is going on here. Board members do not vote on anything that directly affects their relatives (though many of their votes do indirectly affect them). But even taking that step does not change the perception. It is going to be hard for any board member to vote on another board member's relative since they have to serve together until the next election at least.
( It should be noted that I, too, have a conflict when it comes to writing about this situation. Last summer, the board voted to put me on an unpaid leave of absence despite my having signed a contract to teach in Diamond for the 2003-2004 school year. It then, apparently out of spite, took the unprecedented and unnecessary step of not renewing my contract for the 2004-2005 school year, even though I was employed by another school district and had no attention of returning to Diamond. I say out of spite because I received two letters telling me my contract was not being renewed, one from Superintendent Mark Mayo and the other from Board President Dr. Wayne Webb. If you are interested in reading more about that, you can find the information on my Diamond school website www.wildcatcentral.com )
***
The reputation of former Missouri governor Joe Teasdale has been upgraded. Teasdale, if you recall, was elected governor in 1976 when state Republicans punished incumbent governor Kit Bond for supporting Gerald Ford for president instead of the man they wanted, former California governor Ronald Reagan. Teasdale was incompetent and after four excruciating years in office, he was replaced by the man he beat in 1976, Kit Bond.
No, Teasdale's accomplishments don't look better with the passage of time. He may have been a Democrat and from Missouri, but he was no Harry Truman. What makes him look better has been the horrible record of current governor Bob Holden, who thankfully didn't even make it to the general election this time around. Missouri Democrats voted for State Auditor Claire McCaskill Tuesday and put Holden on the sidelines.
Holden started his only term by infuriating the Republicans in the legislature and kept pouring it on for four years.He continually tried to push through a major tax package that he knew wasn't going to fly. He tried to make it appear that he was the only one who cared about education. He quite frankly misled the public about the size of the state's financial problem and illegally, in my opinion, held back money that should have gone toward education. Then, after allowing state school districts to vote on levy issues and bond proposals, all of a sudden he discovered that we had money after all. The Republicans weren't the only ones who weren't buying the act. Now, hopefully Democrats will unite behind Claire McCaskill and stop this burgeoning Blunt dynasty before it gets started.
***
Congratulations also to Missourians who didn't buy the nonsense that riverboat casinos at Rockaway Beach were going to help education. That was a no-brainer. I feel bad for the people of Rockaway Beach, who would like to regain their past prosperity, but they need to do it another way. Casino gambling may be the most regressive tax of all.
***
It was old home week for me yesterday, as I had a chance to talk with three young reporters with whom I worked at The Carthage Press. I received a phone call Tuesday morning from Michelle Reagan, a reporter for the Jefferson City News-Tribune, who updated me on what was going on in her highly successful career. When I reteurned home from some shopping in the afternoon, I ran into current Carthage Press managing editor Ron Graber, who tells me it probably will be another couple of months before he and the rest of the Press staff move in to their new building on Central Avenue.
As Ron and I were talking a car pulled up next to us. In the passenger seat was Stacy Rector, who was a high schooler when she worked for me at the Press. As I noted in an earlier posting, Stacy won first place in the featue writing category in the Missouri Press Association Better Newspaper Contest for an article she wrote a month before her 18th birthday. She also was responsible for editing and doing nearly all of the writing for Teen Tuesday, the Press' weekly section for young readers. Teen Tuesday was honored by the MPA with its prestigious Community Service Award. Stacy is a reporter for a weekly newspaper in the Dallas area. She was back in Carthage for a one-week vacation.
***
Passing the trash.
That's the term used when a school district fires a teacher (or forces that teacher to resign), but doesn't take steps to make sure that teacher never gets a chance to do the same thing again.
I don't know if that is the situation in the Lamar R-1 School District where the football coach, Tim Casper, submitted his resignation late last week. Postings on www.lamarmo.com indicate that the dismissal came as a result of an alleged affair with a student. One posting indicated that the girl had turned 18, so no legal action could be taken.
I don't know for sure what happened in this case, but this is not the first time a Lamar football coach has come under fire for skirting the bounds of decency. I am not going into names on this, but one coach who was both hired and fired during my tenure at The Lamar Democrat had already had difficulties at other schools before he was hired here, but he was a favorite of Wayne Cook, the man who was superintendent at that time (and who, coincidentally left his position at Lamar a couple of months before this coach started). The other schools did nothing to keep this man from preying on young females in Lamar, and unfortunately Lamar did nothing to prevent it from happening at his next stop.
The state of Missouri put a new law into effect in the late 1990s to keep people with criminal records from teaching in our classrooms. At that time, this teacher has no record. He later was convicted on a felony armed robbery charge unrelated to any teaching duties. When this law went into effect, I decided to localize the story (I was at The Carthage Press by this time) by seeing when a hearing would be held to take away this man's teaching license. The state of Missouri makes it tough for parents to find out about teachers. You can find out if they have a teaching license or what they are certified to teach through a link on the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website. Unfortunately, you cannot just type in your child's teacher's name and find out about him or her. You can only get the information if you have the teacher's Social Security number. I was able to con someone into getting me this teacher's Social Security number. I discovered that, even though he was in prison at the time, he was still certified to teach in Missouri. So I called the education department and asked if a hearing had been scheduled to revoke his license. When I asked, I was greeted with silence. "I'll hvae to get back to you on that," the woman who took my call said.
Ten minutes later, a higher-up at the education department called back and asked me for particulars. A few weeks later, when I plugged in his Social Security number, I discovered that he no longer had a teaching license.
It makes you wonder who else may be out there preying on children because of bureaucratic snafus or administrators and board members who don't mind passing the trash to someone else.
(In the interest of full disclosure, if you punched in my Social Security number, which I am not going to give you, you would find I am certified to teach English/communication arts to students in grades 5-9 and that certification is for 98 years. I also have a lifetime certification to teach social studies in grades 7-12.)
***
If you have anything you would like to see mentioned in The Turner Report or have comments on any item, e-mail me at rturner229@hotmail.com or leave the comments at the space provided at the bottom of each post.
It also smacks of the old-time rural stereotype seen on old episodes of "Green Acres," particularly the one where Oliver Douglas took Mister Haney to court and everywhere he went he ran into a judge or a lawman who was related to Haney.
A school district that doesn't use set such a policy in its hiring is not only sowing the seeds of suspicion, it is sowing the seeds for resentment among staff members who are not related to someone on the board.
What has happened in the Diamond R-4 School District is exactly the type of situation Webb City R-7 officials were stopping before it could ever happen.
I received an e-mail yesterday pointing out how Diamond staff and board members are related.
The board president's sister is the district's Parents as Teachers person. His brother-in-law was recently hired as a keyboarding teacher. He served part-time as the district's technology coordinator during the 2003-2004 school year.
Another board member's wife is the school librarian.
A third board member's wife was recently promoted to middle school secretary after having served as an assistant librarian.
A fourth board member's husband served year before last as assistant high school girls basketball coach, even though he did not accept payment for that job.
A fifth board member had a niece who taught in the school district last year. She resigned and went to another school this year. The niece's husband is still employed as a teacher in the school system.
A sixth board member, who recently resigned due to job conflicts, had a wife who had been employed as a teacher's aide, though she resigned that position at the end of the last school year to take a higher-paying job.
Only one member of the Diamond R-4 Board of Education does not have relatives who have been employed during his time on the board.
That is not to say these people are not qualified for the positions they hold or held. It doesn't matter. The perception is still there and there are other qualified people who could be hired for those positions.
It should be stressed that nothing illegal is going on here. Board members do not vote on anything that directly affects their relatives (though many of their votes do indirectly affect them). But even taking that step does not change the perception. It is going to be hard for any board member to vote on another board member's relative since they have to serve together until the next election at least.
( It should be noted that I, too, have a conflict when it comes to writing about this situation. Last summer, the board voted to put me on an unpaid leave of absence despite my having signed a contract to teach in Diamond for the 2003-2004 school year. It then, apparently out of spite, took the unprecedented and unnecessary step of not renewing my contract for the 2004-2005 school year, even though I was employed by another school district and had no attention of returning to Diamond. I say out of spite because I received two letters telling me my contract was not being renewed, one from Superintendent Mark Mayo and the other from Board President Dr. Wayne Webb. If you are interested in reading more about that, you can find the information on my Diamond school website www.wildcatcentral.com )
***
The reputation of former Missouri governor Joe Teasdale has been upgraded. Teasdale, if you recall, was elected governor in 1976 when state Republicans punished incumbent governor Kit Bond for supporting Gerald Ford for president instead of the man they wanted, former California governor Ronald Reagan. Teasdale was incompetent and after four excruciating years in office, he was replaced by the man he beat in 1976, Kit Bond.
No, Teasdale's accomplishments don't look better with the passage of time. He may have been a Democrat and from Missouri, but he was no Harry Truman. What makes him look better has been the horrible record of current governor Bob Holden, who thankfully didn't even make it to the general election this time around. Missouri Democrats voted for State Auditor Claire McCaskill Tuesday and put Holden on the sidelines.
Holden started his only term by infuriating the Republicans in the legislature and kept pouring it on for four years.He continually tried to push through a major tax package that he knew wasn't going to fly. He tried to make it appear that he was the only one who cared about education. He quite frankly misled the public about the size of the state's financial problem and illegally, in my opinion, held back money that should have gone toward education. Then, after allowing state school districts to vote on levy issues and bond proposals, all of a sudden he discovered that we had money after all. The Republicans weren't the only ones who weren't buying the act. Now, hopefully Democrats will unite behind Claire McCaskill and stop this burgeoning Blunt dynasty before it gets started.
***
Congratulations also to Missourians who didn't buy the nonsense that riverboat casinos at Rockaway Beach were going to help education. That was a no-brainer. I feel bad for the people of Rockaway Beach, who would like to regain their past prosperity, but they need to do it another way. Casino gambling may be the most regressive tax of all.
***
It was old home week for me yesterday, as I had a chance to talk with three young reporters with whom I worked at The Carthage Press. I received a phone call Tuesday morning from Michelle Reagan, a reporter for the Jefferson City News-Tribune, who updated me on what was going on in her highly successful career. When I reteurned home from some shopping in the afternoon, I ran into current Carthage Press managing editor Ron Graber, who tells me it probably will be another couple of months before he and the rest of the Press staff move in to their new building on Central Avenue.
As Ron and I were talking a car pulled up next to us. In the passenger seat was Stacy Rector, who was a high schooler when she worked for me at the Press. As I noted in an earlier posting, Stacy won first place in the featue writing category in the Missouri Press Association Better Newspaper Contest for an article she wrote a month before her 18th birthday. She also was responsible for editing and doing nearly all of the writing for Teen Tuesday, the Press' weekly section for young readers. Teen Tuesday was honored by the MPA with its prestigious Community Service Award. Stacy is a reporter for a weekly newspaper in the Dallas area. She was back in Carthage for a one-week vacation.
***
Passing the trash.
That's the term used when a school district fires a teacher (or forces that teacher to resign), but doesn't take steps to make sure that teacher never gets a chance to do the same thing again.
I don't know if that is the situation in the Lamar R-1 School District where the football coach, Tim Casper, submitted his resignation late last week. Postings on www.lamarmo.com indicate that the dismissal came as a result of an alleged affair with a student. One posting indicated that the girl had turned 18, so no legal action could be taken.
I don't know for sure what happened in this case, but this is not the first time a Lamar football coach has come under fire for skirting the bounds of decency. I am not going into names on this, but one coach who was both hired and fired during my tenure at The Lamar Democrat had already had difficulties at other schools before he was hired here, but he was a favorite of Wayne Cook, the man who was superintendent at that time (and who, coincidentally left his position at Lamar a couple of months before this coach started). The other schools did nothing to keep this man from preying on young females in Lamar, and unfortunately Lamar did nothing to prevent it from happening at his next stop.
The state of Missouri put a new law into effect in the late 1990s to keep people with criminal records from teaching in our classrooms. At that time, this teacher has no record. He later was convicted on a felony armed robbery charge unrelated to any teaching duties. When this law went into effect, I decided to localize the story (I was at The Carthage Press by this time) by seeing when a hearing would be held to take away this man's teaching license. The state of Missouri makes it tough for parents to find out about teachers. You can find out if they have a teaching license or what they are certified to teach through a link on the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website. Unfortunately, you cannot just type in your child's teacher's name and find out about him or her. You can only get the information if you have the teacher's Social Security number. I was able to con someone into getting me this teacher's Social Security number. I discovered that, even though he was in prison at the time, he was still certified to teach in Missouri. So I called the education department and asked if a hearing had been scheduled to revoke his license. When I asked, I was greeted with silence. "I'll hvae to get back to you on that," the woman who took my call said.
Ten minutes later, a higher-up at the education department called back and asked me for particulars. A few weeks later, when I plugged in his Social Security number, I discovered that he no longer had a teaching license.
It makes you wonder who else may be out there preying on children because of bureaucratic snafus or administrators and board members who don't mind passing the trash to someone else.
(In the interest of full disclosure, if you punched in my Social Security number, which I am not going to give you, you would find I am certified to teach English/communication arts to students in grades 5-9 and that certification is for 98 years. I also have a lifetime certification to teach social studies in grades 7-12.)
***
If you have anything you would like to see mentioned in The Turner Report or have comments on any item, e-mail me at rturner229@hotmail.com or leave the comments at the space provided at the bottom of each post.
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
Witnesses indicate that he drove off Highway 86 at a high rate of speed July 31 and killed two people, but super-sensitive Edward Meerwald Jr., told Newton County Circuit Court officials today that he didn't want cameras in the courtroom.
Court records indicate Meerwald was not represeented by a lawyer at his arraignment earlier today. He was given an application for a public defender. Meerwald entered a not guilty plea. His bond was increased Monday from $100,000 to $250,000. He is charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the deaths of James Dodson, 69, and Dodson's granddaughter, seven-year-old Jessica Mann of Joplin.
Those charges could be upgraded if it turns out Meerwald has at least three DWI charges within the past 10 years, Mothers Against Drunk Drivers President Jim Murray told Neosho Daily News reporter Michelle Pippin Monday.
***
Newspapers and television stations are not always good at following up on stories. One of those concerns the rape and incest charges that were filed in 2003 against former Carthage police officer Michael Wells, who was serving on the Carthage R-9 Board of Education at the time. Those charges were dropped earlier this year, except for a charge of violating a restraining order.
The Jasper County Prosecuting Attorney's office refiled the charges against Wells last month, according to court records. Wells, 51, waived formal arraignment July 15 and entered a not guilty plea. The next hearing in the case has been set for 9 a.m. Thursday, but will probably not take place since Wells's attorney, Ross Rhoades of Neosho, has asked for a continuance.
Wells is charged with committing forcible rape on Sept. 1, 1993, incest on the same date, sexual assault in the first degree on April 1, 2001, and incest on that same date.
Wells was working as a Carthage police officer when he allegedly had sex with an 11-year-old female relative on Sept. 1, 1993. According to the probable cause affidavit filed by an investigator with the Jasper County Sheriff's Department, the woman, now a young adult, claims Wells got into her bed and had sexual intercourse with her.
The last story filed by The Joplin Globe on this case came in April and involved a judge's decision to permit information obtained from a computer at Wells's home to be used even though the search warrant was defective. Wells's former wife, Kathy, who had legal possession of the computer, turned it over to the deputies, which made the search warrant claim moot, the judge said.
Court records indicate Meerwald was not represeented by a lawyer at his arraignment earlier today. He was given an application for a public defender. Meerwald entered a not guilty plea. His bond was increased Monday from $100,000 to $250,000. He is charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the deaths of James Dodson, 69, and Dodson's granddaughter, seven-year-old Jessica Mann of Joplin.
Those charges could be upgraded if it turns out Meerwald has at least three DWI charges within the past 10 years, Mothers Against Drunk Drivers President Jim Murray told Neosho Daily News reporter Michelle Pippin Monday.
***
Newspapers and television stations are not always good at following up on stories. One of those concerns the rape and incest charges that were filed in 2003 against former Carthage police officer Michael Wells, who was serving on the Carthage R-9 Board of Education at the time. Those charges were dropped earlier this year, except for a charge of violating a restraining order.
The Jasper County Prosecuting Attorney's office refiled the charges against Wells last month, according to court records. Wells, 51, waived formal arraignment July 15 and entered a not guilty plea. The next hearing in the case has been set for 9 a.m. Thursday, but will probably not take place since Wells's attorney, Ross Rhoades of Neosho, has asked for a continuance.
Wells is charged with committing forcible rape on Sept. 1, 1993, incest on the same date, sexual assault in the first degree on April 1, 2001, and incest on that same date.
Wells was working as a Carthage police officer when he allegedly had sex with an 11-year-old female relative on Sept. 1, 1993. According to the probable cause affidavit filed by an investigator with the Jasper County Sheriff's Department, the woman, now a young adult, claims Wells got into her bed and had sexual intercourse with her.
The last story filed by The Joplin Globe on this case came in April and involved a judge's decision to permit information obtained from a computer at Wells's home to be used even though the search warrant was defective. Wells's former wife, Kathy, who had legal possession of the computer, turned it over to the deputies, which made the search warrant claim moot, the judge said.
A few local media watch items:
-Congratulations to Michelle Pippin of the Neosho Daily News, who broke the news that accused drunk driver Edward Meerwald Jr. had admitted to having drunk driving arrests in the past. Anytime innocent people are killed by drunk drivers, it makes sense to check with the local chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. In this area, that is especially important since the head of the organization is former Diamond Police Chief Jim Murray and he takes his responsibilities seriously. Today's Globe still did not have any information on any previous arrests and did not even have the information I put in The Turner Report last night about his previous guilty plea in a Jasper County case. (As far as I can tell, that one was exclusive to this blog, which is a bit embarrassing since it is a public record that is easily obtainable. Unfortunately, many area reporters do not make these simple checks and rely entirely on what officials tell them.)
-Ms. Pippin also has been the only reporter for an area newspaper to write about the Diamond R-4 School District's bizarre decision to sue Edison Schools. (It was reported at www.wildcatcentral.com .) It hasn't been mentioned in the Globe, which is surprising since the Globe had covered the growing dispute earlier
-Saturday's Lamar Democrat came in the mail this morning and featured three big local news stories. The biggest was that Lamar National Guard Armory personnel have been moved out of the city and are preparing to be deployed. Another big story was the sudden resignation of Lamar High School football coach Tim Casper, while the third story concerned the resignation of Middle School Principal Don Tuck, a Lamar native and longtime R-1 employee, to take a high school principal position at Willard. With this boatload of strong local stories, the biggest decision should have been which one to place in the most prominent spot on page one. Unfortunately for the Democrat, none of the three stories were the lead story. Editor Rayma Bekebrock Davis wrote a story on an emergency room physician at Barton County Memorial Hospital who teams with his wife to write fiction under the name of Hannah Alexander. The story was certainly worthy of space in the paper, but you're not going to sell any papers at the rack with the story and two photos covering the entire top half of the page. Another story, "Dade County voters asked to consider sales tax to support the ambulance district" also received more prominent play than the top three stories. In this particuilar issue, it won't affect newsstand sales since the Back-to-School section and the Lamar Fair section are included, but the way page one stories are positioned gives the readers the idea of what the editor thinks is important.
-Regarding the coverage of the two Lamar school stories, Tim Casper's resignation is apparently the result of a scandal involving a female student. Understandably, it is going to be hard to get information on that for the local newspaper. The information also came in at press time, but it appears Superintendent Mike Resa was either not asked direct questions or the paper didn't reflect his responses. If he can't tell you the reason why Casper resigned, then directly quote him saying something like, "We don't comment on personnel matters," or even "no comment." Do not make it look as if the questions weren't even asked, even though they may not have been. The resignation of Don Tuck also was undercovered. In this case, time was not a factor. The paper indicates his resignation was accepted at a special meeting last Tuesday. That should have given the Democrat time to interview him. After all, he is from the community, he is well known here and well respected. The story did not say how long he had been principal, what jobs he held prior to that time or even mention that he was originally from Lamar. This could not have been an easy decision for Don. It would have been nice to have read that in the local newspaper.
***
It was a pleasure recently to read that the Neosho R-5 School District had hired Chuck Blaney to be the new high school principal. I first met Blaney when he coached the Lamar High School football team and I was sports editor of the Lamar Daily Democrat in 1978. Blaney later served as LHS principal for 10 years. He returned to his native Pennsylvania for several years before taking the Neosho position. When my position was eliminated at the Democrat in December 1978, Blaney was the one who convinced me I should return to college (I still had one year left) and get my teaching degree. I didn't do that immediately because two months later, Democrat Publisher Dennis Garrison asked me to be the editor of the weekly newspaper Boone Newspapers owned, the Lockwood Luminary-Golden City Herald. I did that for about a year until that newspaper went out of business. After that, I returned to college, got my teaching degree and immediately went into teaching...18 years later.If it hadn't been for Chuck Blaney, I would not be entering my sixth year of doing something that I really love doing.
***
Speaking of good hires by area school districts, special credit should go to the Carthage R-9 School District, which hired the multi-talented Ronna Patterson to serve as an assistant principal at Steadley Elementary School. Ronna, who was a freshman at East Newton High School, when I was a senior (but she's far better preserved than I am) has been in the East Newton School District.
-
-Congratulations to Michelle Pippin of the Neosho Daily News, who broke the news that accused drunk driver Edward Meerwald Jr. had admitted to having drunk driving arrests in the past. Anytime innocent people are killed by drunk drivers, it makes sense to check with the local chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. In this area, that is especially important since the head of the organization is former Diamond Police Chief Jim Murray and he takes his responsibilities seriously. Today's Globe still did not have any information on any previous arrests and did not even have the information I put in The Turner Report last night about his previous guilty plea in a Jasper County case. (As far as I can tell, that one was exclusive to this blog, which is a bit embarrassing since it is a public record that is easily obtainable. Unfortunately, many area reporters do not make these simple checks and rely entirely on what officials tell them.)
-Ms. Pippin also has been the only reporter for an area newspaper to write about the Diamond R-4 School District's bizarre decision to sue Edison Schools. (It was reported at www.wildcatcentral.com .) It hasn't been mentioned in the Globe, which is surprising since the Globe had covered the growing dispute earlier
-Saturday's Lamar Democrat came in the mail this morning and featured three big local news stories. The biggest was that Lamar National Guard Armory personnel have been moved out of the city and are preparing to be deployed. Another big story was the sudden resignation of Lamar High School football coach Tim Casper, while the third story concerned the resignation of Middle School Principal Don Tuck, a Lamar native and longtime R-1 employee, to take a high school principal position at Willard. With this boatload of strong local stories, the biggest decision should have been which one to place in the most prominent spot on page one. Unfortunately for the Democrat, none of the three stories were the lead story. Editor Rayma Bekebrock Davis wrote a story on an emergency room physician at Barton County Memorial Hospital who teams with his wife to write fiction under the name of Hannah Alexander. The story was certainly worthy of space in the paper, but you're not going to sell any papers at the rack with the story and two photos covering the entire top half of the page. Another story, "Dade County voters asked to consider sales tax to support the ambulance district" also received more prominent play than the top three stories. In this particuilar issue, it won't affect newsstand sales since the Back-to-School section and the Lamar Fair section are included, but the way page one stories are positioned gives the readers the idea of what the editor thinks is important.
-Regarding the coverage of the two Lamar school stories, Tim Casper's resignation is apparently the result of a scandal involving a female student. Understandably, it is going to be hard to get information on that for the local newspaper. The information also came in at press time, but it appears Superintendent Mike Resa was either not asked direct questions or the paper didn't reflect his responses. If he can't tell you the reason why Casper resigned, then directly quote him saying something like, "We don't comment on personnel matters," or even "no comment." Do not make it look as if the questions weren't even asked, even though they may not have been. The resignation of Don Tuck also was undercovered. In this case, time was not a factor. The paper indicates his resignation was accepted at a special meeting last Tuesday. That should have given the Democrat time to interview him. After all, he is from the community, he is well known here and well respected. The story did not say how long he had been principal, what jobs he held prior to that time or even mention that he was originally from Lamar. This could not have been an easy decision for Don. It would have been nice to have read that in the local newspaper.
***
It was a pleasure recently to read that the Neosho R-5 School District had hired Chuck Blaney to be the new high school principal. I first met Blaney when he coached the Lamar High School football team and I was sports editor of the Lamar Daily Democrat in 1978. Blaney later served as LHS principal for 10 years. He returned to his native Pennsylvania for several years before taking the Neosho position. When my position was eliminated at the Democrat in December 1978, Blaney was the one who convinced me I should return to college (I still had one year left) and get my teaching degree. I didn't do that immediately because two months later, Democrat Publisher Dennis Garrison asked me to be the editor of the weekly newspaper Boone Newspapers owned, the Lockwood Luminary-Golden City Herald. I did that for about a year until that newspaper went out of business. After that, I returned to college, got my teaching degree and immediately went into teaching...18 years later.If it hadn't been for Chuck Blaney, I would not be entering my sixth year of doing something that I really love doing.
***
Speaking of good hires by area school districts, special credit should go to the Carthage R-9 School District, which hired the multi-talented Ronna Patterson to serve as an assistant principal at Steadley Elementary School. Ronna, who was a freshman at East Newton High School, when I was a senior (but she's far better preserved than I am) has been in the East Newton School District.
-
Monday, August 02, 2004
The Neosho Daily News reports that Edwin J. Meerwald, Jr. 49, Noel, the man charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the July 31 deaths of James Dodson, 69, of Neosho, and Dodson's granddaughter, Jessica Mann, 7, Joplin, has a history of drunk driving.
Quoting Jim Murray head of the local Mothers Against Drunk Driving chapter and former Diamond police chief, the Daily says Meerwald told officers he had previously been arrested on DWI charges in Missouri, Oklahoma, New Jersey, and Virginia. If those claims pan out, the misdemeanor charge against Meerwald will be upgraded to a felony charge and the involuntary manslaughter charges will likely be upgraded to second degree murder.
Jasper County Circuit Court records on Case.net indicate that Meerwald pleaded guilty on Oct. 10, 2000, in Carthage to a charge of operating a motor vehicle in a careless and imprudent fashion. The charge is listed as criminal and C&I in an instance like this is generally shorthand for a plea agreement. His first hearing on the case was scheduled for Aug. 10, 2000. He failed to show. His second hearing was scheduled for Aug. 21. Court records indicate Meerwald again was a no-show. The third time wasn't the charm either as Meerwald didn't attend a hearing on Sept. 5. A warrant was issued for his arrest. He finally showed up for the fourth hearing. He wasn't sentenced to any jail time by Judge Joseph Schoeberl, according to Case.net. He was fined $43.50.
If the charge in that case was initially drunk driving and at least one of the other charges in Missouri or one of the other states can be pinpointed, Meerwald could be looking at a long stint behind bars.
Since he is still being held in the Newton County Jail in lieu of $100,000, it appears that the Noel man will celebrate his 50th birthday in jail on Saturday.
***
Too many people are killed by drunk drivers in this country and it's amazing how many times the deaths can be traced to a judicial system that keeps on letting these people slip through the cracks. How in the world can an Edwin Meerwald be driving in Neosho if he has a history of drunk driving?
When I hear of a drunk driving case, I think back to a Friday afternoon in September 1998. I was standing outside Lamar Elementary School when a van pulled up, the side panel opened and a mother helped her wheelchair-bound little girl to the street.
Abby Phipps, 8 at the time, was outfitted in her prettiest dress that day and a football-shaped balloon was tied to the arm of the wheelchair. Three years earlier, Abby had lost any chance for a semblance of a normal life when a man named Neley Milner, thoroughly intoxicated rammed his car into the back of the Phipps vehicle near Carterville. Investigating officers determined that Milner was driving in excess of 100 miles per hour. Abby's older sister was killed, her father was permanently injured and suffered brain damage and so did Abby. Abby's mother was also injured, but to a lesser extent.
Milner eventually pleaded guilty but investigations conducted by both The Carthage Press and The Joplin Globe indicated that he had a long history of drunk-driving violations and just kept on driving after each conviction. He later appealed his conviction, saying he had ineffective counsel, that he hadn't been theone behind the wheel and that his friends from Alcoholics Anonymous could vouch for him. The appellate court judges didn't buy it. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison and hopefully, is still there.
Abby Phipps' mother, Connie, held a card shower for her in 1996 since she loved receiving cards and a Sunday school teacher from Seneca, Alvin Elbert, wrote a card to her and had the members of the class write, also. From that point, Elbert continued to correspond with the family and his cards brought a smile to Abby's face, her mother said.
That afternoon in September 1998 was the first time Alvin Elbert and Abby Phipps had met face to face. Elbert, a teacher and coach at Seneca High School, came to Lamar to prepare for a Big Eight football game But the first order of business for him was to finally meet Abby. I'll never forget him bending down and hugging her or the look of excitement on her face.
"Did you see that smile?" he asked me when I talked to him about it. I definitely did. But I also could see the tears welling up in that big man's eyes. That poor little girl would most likely never leave that wheelchair. Her father's life will never be the same. Connie Phipps has to take care of both of them. And Abby's sister, Julie, had her life end at age eight.
All of this could have been prevented if someone somewhere along the line had put an end to Neley Milner's game of Russian roulette. Unfortunately, in this case and in several others I could cite, the gun was pointed and fired at innocent people.
***
This blog entry is being written well after midnight, but the days of doing that are rapidly coming to an end. Teachers in the Joplin R-8 School District return to work Thursday, Aug. 12 and I made my first stop by my classroom Monday afternoon.
I didn't do much. I popped by about three o'clock (You're not going to get me anywhere in the morning until Aug. 12.) The first thing I noticed was that the green frog that Sarah McDonough drew for my Writers" Wall of Fame was still on the bulletin board. The hardwood floors were sparkling and hallelujah, my computer works and all of my lesson plans are still on file (they're backed up, but I can't remember where I put the disk). I may not be ready to start getting up at 5 a.m. again, but I am ready for my second year at South.
I also stopped by the Supercenter and picked up some school supplies, went to the Mall and got a haircut (trimming what little remains) and bought some shirts and pants at Sears. (And they say those Hollywood people have exciting lives.)
***
For those of you from Lamar who are checking in on this blog and wonder just what the big controversy is over Lamar native Mark Mayo's tenure as Diamond R-4 superintendent, check out the Diamond Daily and Archives pages on my Diamond school website, www.wildcatcentral.com If Rod Serling were alive, he could use those stories for inspiration.
***
Today is election day. Anyone who used to read my columns at Carthage and Lamar knows I am not in favor of using gambling as a means of increasing state revenue, so I will be casting my ballot against the Rockaway Beach proposal. The people who want to establish casino gambling are making it sound like this will be a boon for education. Number one, the revenue will be earmarked for the worst schools (and none of those are in this area). Number two, let's remember how well past promises to put money into education from gambling sources have succeeded. Many people incorrectly believe that the state lottery proceeds were always supposed to go to education. That was never the case. That mistaken belief was fueled by misleading advertisements that showed an old yellow school bus crossing a rickety old bridge. Lottery money would help education, but in the fine print, it was only because that money was going into general revenue and some general revenue money goes to education.
Relying on gambling to balance the budget is a lose-lose proposition. Where you have casino gambling, you have increased crime, which means you have to pay more taxes for law enforcement. You have a rapidly increasing number of bankruptcies in areas in which gambling thrives.
And even if the coffers swell initially, and the money does go into education, once we educate our children, surely they will become too smart to consider throwing away all of their money gambling, then how are we going to pay for education?
***
Hopefully, by the time today ends, Bob Holden will become a lame duck governor. Yes, many of his problems were caused by the Republican legislature, but he was too stubborn to work with its members and made one wrong move after another, especially with his ill-advised withholding of education money, then all of a sudden discovering things were better and giving money to the schools, only a few days after many of them had approved either unnecessary tax increases or larger increases than were actually needed. If Matt Blunt is going to be beaten in November, it will have to be Claire McCaskill who does it. Blunt will rip Holden to shreds.
***
On a lighter note, today is also the 16th birthday of one of my former students, Alyssa Simpson. The first year that I was co-sponsor of the Diamond Middle School Student Council, Alyssa, a sixth grader, was on the council. She and her older sister, Sarah, the council president, worked hard and helped make that year a successful one for the council.
Our big project was the book drive for the new middle school library. Thanks to the hard work put in by Alyssa, Sarah, and the other council members, we eventually collected nearly 2,000 books for the library. Of course, many of them never made the shelves (that's another story entirely), but hundreds of them are there, excellent fiction and non-fiction works.
A wooden plaque is in the library that has the names of Alyssa Simpson and the other Student Council members who worked on that project. Alyssa was a special sixth grader. It's hard to believe she's 16 already.Happy Birthday, Alyssa!
Quoting Jim Murray head of the local Mothers Against Drunk Driving chapter and former Diamond police chief, the Daily says Meerwald told officers he had previously been arrested on DWI charges in Missouri, Oklahoma, New Jersey, and Virginia. If those claims pan out, the misdemeanor charge against Meerwald will be upgraded to a felony charge and the involuntary manslaughter charges will likely be upgraded to second degree murder.
Jasper County Circuit Court records on Case.net indicate that Meerwald pleaded guilty on Oct. 10, 2000, in Carthage to a charge of operating a motor vehicle in a careless and imprudent fashion. The charge is listed as criminal and C&I in an instance like this is generally shorthand for a plea agreement. His first hearing on the case was scheduled for Aug. 10, 2000. He failed to show. His second hearing was scheduled for Aug. 21. Court records indicate Meerwald again was a no-show. The third time wasn't the charm either as Meerwald didn't attend a hearing on Sept. 5. A warrant was issued for his arrest. He finally showed up for the fourth hearing. He wasn't sentenced to any jail time by Judge Joseph Schoeberl, according to Case.net. He was fined $43.50.
If the charge in that case was initially drunk driving and at least one of the other charges in Missouri or one of the other states can be pinpointed, Meerwald could be looking at a long stint behind bars.
Since he is still being held in the Newton County Jail in lieu of $100,000, it appears that the Noel man will celebrate his 50th birthday in jail on Saturday.
***
Too many people are killed by drunk drivers in this country and it's amazing how many times the deaths can be traced to a judicial system that keeps on letting these people slip through the cracks. How in the world can an Edwin Meerwald be driving in Neosho if he has a history of drunk driving?
When I hear of a drunk driving case, I think back to a Friday afternoon in September 1998. I was standing outside Lamar Elementary School when a van pulled up, the side panel opened and a mother helped her wheelchair-bound little girl to the street.
Abby Phipps, 8 at the time, was outfitted in her prettiest dress that day and a football-shaped balloon was tied to the arm of the wheelchair. Three years earlier, Abby had lost any chance for a semblance of a normal life when a man named Neley Milner, thoroughly intoxicated rammed his car into the back of the Phipps vehicle near Carterville. Investigating officers determined that Milner was driving in excess of 100 miles per hour. Abby's older sister was killed, her father was permanently injured and suffered brain damage and so did Abby. Abby's mother was also injured, but to a lesser extent.
Milner eventually pleaded guilty but investigations conducted by both The Carthage Press and The Joplin Globe indicated that he had a long history of drunk-driving violations and just kept on driving after each conviction. He later appealed his conviction, saying he had ineffective counsel, that he hadn't been theone behind the wheel and that his friends from Alcoholics Anonymous could vouch for him. The appellate court judges didn't buy it. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison and hopefully, is still there.
Abby Phipps' mother, Connie, held a card shower for her in 1996 since she loved receiving cards and a Sunday school teacher from Seneca, Alvin Elbert, wrote a card to her and had the members of the class write, also. From that point, Elbert continued to correspond with the family and his cards brought a smile to Abby's face, her mother said.
That afternoon in September 1998 was the first time Alvin Elbert and Abby Phipps had met face to face. Elbert, a teacher and coach at Seneca High School, came to Lamar to prepare for a Big Eight football game But the first order of business for him was to finally meet Abby. I'll never forget him bending down and hugging her or the look of excitement on her face.
"Did you see that smile?" he asked me when I talked to him about it. I definitely did. But I also could see the tears welling up in that big man's eyes. That poor little girl would most likely never leave that wheelchair. Her father's life will never be the same. Connie Phipps has to take care of both of them. And Abby's sister, Julie, had her life end at age eight.
All of this could have been prevented if someone somewhere along the line had put an end to Neley Milner's game of Russian roulette. Unfortunately, in this case and in several others I could cite, the gun was pointed and fired at innocent people.
***
This blog entry is being written well after midnight, but the days of doing that are rapidly coming to an end. Teachers in the Joplin R-8 School District return to work Thursday, Aug. 12 and I made my first stop by my classroom Monday afternoon.
I didn't do much. I popped by about three o'clock (You're not going to get me anywhere in the morning until Aug. 12.) The first thing I noticed was that the green frog that Sarah McDonough drew for my Writers" Wall of Fame was still on the bulletin board. The hardwood floors were sparkling and hallelujah, my computer works and all of my lesson plans are still on file (they're backed up, but I can't remember where I put the disk). I may not be ready to start getting up at 5 a.m. again, but I am ready for my second year at South.
I also stopped by the Supercenter and picked up some school supplies, went to the Mall and got a haircut (trimming what little remains) and bought some shirts and pants at Sears. (And they say those Hollywood people have exciting lives.)
***
For those of you from Lamar who are checking in on this blog and wonder just what the big controversy is over Lamar native Mark Mayo's tenure as Diamond R-4 superintendent, check out the Diamond Daily and Archives pages on my Diamond school website, www.wildcatcentral.com If Rod Serling were alive, he could use those stories for inspiration.
***
Today is election day. Anyone who used to read my columns at Carthage and Lamar knows I am not in favor of using gambling as a means of increasing state revenue, so I will be casting my ballot against the Rockaway Beach proposal. The people who want to establish casino gambling are making it sound like this will be a boon for education. Number one, the revenue will be earmarked for the worst schools (and none of those are in this area). Number two, let's remember how well past promises to put money into education from gambling sources have succeeded. Many people incorrectly believe that the state lottery proceeds were always supposed to go to education. That was never the case. That mistaken belief was fueled by misleading advertisements that showed an old yellow school bus crossing a rickety old bridge. Lottery money would help education, but in the fine print, it was only because that money was going into general revenue and some general revenue money goes to education.
Relying on gambling to balance the budget is a lose-lose proposition. Where you have casino gambling, you have increased crime, which means you have to pay more taxes for law enforcement. You have a rapidly increasing number of bankruptcies in areas in which gambling thrives.
And even if the coffers swell initially, and the money does go into education, once we educate our children, surely they will become too smart to consider throwing away all of their money gambling, then how are we going to pay for education?
***
Hopefully, by the time today ends, Bob Holden will become a lame duck governor. Yes, many of his problems were caused by the Republican legislature, but he was too stubborn to work with its members and made one wrong move after another, especially with his ill-advised withholding of education money, then all of a sudden discovering things were better and giving money to the schools, only a few days after many of them had approved either unnecessary tax increases or larger increases than were actually needed. If Matt Blunt is going to be beaten in November, it will have to be Claire McCaskill who does it. Blunt will rip Holden to shreds.
***
On a lighter note, today is also the 16th birthday of one of my former students, Alyssa Simpson. The first year that I was co-sponsor of the Diamond Middle School Student Council, Alyssa, a sixth grader, was on the council. She and her older sister, Sarah, the council president, worked hard and helped make that year a successful one for the council.
Our big project was the book drive for the new middle school library. Thanks to the hard work put in by Alyssa, Sarah, and the other council members, we eventually collected nearly 2,000 books for the library. Of course, many of them never made the shelves (that's another story entirely), but hundreds of them are there, excellent fiction and non-fiction works.
A wooden plaque is in the library that has the names of Alyssa Simpson and the other Student Council members who worked on that project. Alyssa was a special sixth grader. It's hard to believe she's 16 already.Happy Birthday, Alyssa!
Sunday, August 01, 2004
Mark Mayo will be around at least through June 30, 2006.
Late last month, the Diamond R-4 Board of Education voted to extend his contract for another year. I received the information through some posts on Wildcat Central, then had it confirmed. I had heard for the past several weeks that Mayo was pushing for an extension. Apparently, the board felt it had to give it to him or risk that he would go elsewhere. (I'll let the readers supply their own jokes at this point.)
The vote to give Mayo an extension was 5-2 with only Mike Holland and Janice Stirewalt casting dissenting votes. Shortly after that, Holland submitted his resignation. Apparently that vote was not the official reason. I have been told that he resigned due to conflicts with his work schedule.
R-4 voters have not elected an incumbent to office in the last three elections, if memory serves me correctly. They have spoken loud and clear that they want change. Apparently only two of those they elected understood why they were put in office. The voters will have an opportunity to change three board positions next year, maybe four. Unfortunately, the current board has made certain that if the new board wants to make a change in administration, it will have to either wait a year or use taxpayer money for a costly buyout.
***
Neosho Forums (www.neoshoforums.com) has many interesting threads, but the one that has intrigued me the most for the past couple of days concerns the heated Newton County Sheriff's race. Last week, John McCormick, who is host of a morning talk show on Neosho's radio station, KBTN, had a sheriff's candidate forum. According to local media accounts and the posts on Neosho Forums, McClintock asked Sheriff Ron Doerge, who is not seeking re-election, to supply him with questions for the candidates.
This is a problem for numerous reasons. Think about it.
1. The election appears to be a referendum on how Doerge ran the sheriff's department for the last two decades. Therefore, obviously any questions he provides will be suspect.
2. Doerge has already voiced his support for one of the candidates. How can a radio station accept questions from such a biased source and maintain any thread of impartiality.
3. Now that the word is out that Doerge and McCormick may have fixed the debate, will it ever be possible to convince any Newton County candidate to participate in a forum again, especially for KBTN?
The latest post on Neosho Forums indicates that McCormick is scheduled to talk about the issue on his show Monday morning.
***
I am still going over the lists of Matt Blunt's contributors for his gubernatorial race. When I have the information sorted out, I will put something on this blog.
***
I keep thinking about Kevin Checkett's well-written letter in the Saturday, July 24, Carthage Press. Checkett, a prominent attorney, wrote about the article in which Press officials announced they will be moving from their downtown location to a site on Central Avenue, where they will be surrounded by fast food restaurants.
Checkett hinted at hypocrisy since The Press constantly writes articles and editorials declaring the need to rebuild the downtown area.
While I am saddened to see The Press leaving that building, a place that holds many happy memories for me, it is just amazing that it took this long for it to happen. Officials at Liberty Group Publishing have been working toward this for the past seven years since they bought The Press. The Press is currently in a three-story building, which in 1997 was quite adequate for its needs.
At that time, The Press has a working press that printed, in addition to The Press, the Webb City Sentinel, The Webb City Wise Buyer, and high school newspapers from Joplin, Webb City, Carl Junction, and Lamar. Liberty officials decided they could save money by having these papers printed at Neosho. A new press was purchased and located in Neosho. The old press in Carthage was sold for parts. This immediately affected The Carthage Press. Obviously the pressman and his assistant were let go, deadlines had to be moved forward to accommodate the Neosho Daily News publishing schedule, and morale at The Press dropped rapidly.
I found out in May that the composing room work has now been shifted to Neosho. So much can be done by computer these days. Unfortunately, that means more jobs lost to Carthage and with those two departments shut down, the Press no longer needs such a large building.
At the time the decisions began being made, the Press was the stronger of the two daily newspapers. It had more advertising, a stronger editorial department, and I believe, it played a much stronger, positive role in the community. (You have to remember that at that time, the Daily was mired in the Valerie Praytor era.)
I wish The Press well in its move to Central Avenue. Though only three people remain there out of more than 20 who were working there when I was fired in May 1999, I still have a soft spot in my heart for that newspaper, what it once was and who knows, what it may become again someday.
Late last month, the Diamond R-4 Board of Education voted to extend his contract for another year. I received the information through some posts on Wildcat Central, then had it confirmed. I had heard for the past several weeks that Mayo was pushing for an extension. Apparently, the board felt it had to give it to him or risk that he would go elsewhere. (I'll let the readers supply their own jokes at this point.)
The vote to give Mayo an extension was 5-2 with only Mike Holland and Janice Stirewalt casting dissenting votes. Shortly after that, Holland submitted his resignation. Apparently that vote was not the official reason. I have been told that he resigned due to conflicts with his work schedule.
R-4 voters have not elected an incumbent to office in the last three elections, if memory serves me correctly. They have spoken loud and clear that they want change. Apparently only two of those they elected understood why they were put in office. The voters will have an opportunity to change three board positions next year, maybe four. Unfortunately, the current board has made certain that if the new board wants to make a change in administration, it will have to either wait a year or use taxpayer money for a costly buyout.
***
Neosho Forums (www.neoshoforums.com) has many interesting threads, but the one that has intrigued me the most for the past couple of days concerns the heated Newton County Sheriff's race. Last week, John McCormick, who is host of a morning talk show on Neosho's radio station, KBTN, had a sheriff's candidate forum. According to local media accounts and the posts on Neosho Forums, McClintock asked Sheriff Ron Doerge, who is not seeking re-election, to supply him with questions for the candidates.
This is a problem for numerous reasons. Think about it.
1. The election appears to be a referendum on how Doerge ran the sheriff's department for the last two decades. Therefore, obviously any questions he provides will be suspect.
2. Doerge has already voiced his support for one of the candidates. How can a radio station accept questions from such a biased source and maintain any thread of impartiality.
3. Now that the word is out that Doerge and McCormick may have fixed the debate, will it ever be possible to convince any Newton County candidate to participate in a forum again, especially for KBTN?
The latest post on Neosho Forums indicates that McCormick is scheduled to talk about the issue on his show Monday morning.
***
I am still going over the lists of Matt Blunt's contributors for his gubernatorial race. When I have the information sorted out, I will put something on this blog.
***
I keep thinking about Kevin Checkett's well-written letter in the Saturday, July 24, Carthage Press. Checkett, a prominent attorney, wrote about the article in which Press officials announced they will be moving from their downtown location to a site on Central Avenue, where they will be surrounded by fast food restaurants.
Checkett hinted at hypocrisy since The Press constantly writes articles and editorials declaring the need to rebuild the downtown area.
While I am saddened to see The Press leaving that building, a place that holds many happy memories for me, it is just amazing that it took this long for it to happen. Officials at Liberty Group Publishing have been working toward this for the past seven years since they bought The Press. The Press is currently in a three-story building, which in 1997 was quite adequate for its needs.
At that time, The Press has a working press that printed, in addition to The Press, the Webb City Sentinel, The Webb City Wise Buyer, and high school newspapers from Joplin, Webb City, Carl Junction, and Lamar. Liberty officials decided they could save money by having these papers printed at Neosho. A new press was purchased and located in Neosho. The old press in Carthage was sold for parts. This immediately affected The Carthage Press. Obviously the pressman and his assistant were let go, deadlines had to be moved forward to accommodate the Neosho Daily News publishing schedule, and morale at The Press dropped rapidly.
I found out in May that the composing room work has now been shifted to Neosho. So much can be done by computer these days. Unfortunately, that means more jobs lost to Carthage and with those two departments shut down, the Press no longer needs such a large building.
At the time the decisions began being made, the Press was the stronger of the two daily newspapers. It had more advertising, a stronger editorial department, and I believe, it played a much stronger, positive role in the community. (You have to remember that at that time, the Daily was mired in the Valerie Praytor era.)
I wish The Press well in its move to Central Avenue. Though only three people remain there out of more than 20 who were working there when I was fired in May 1999, I still have a soft spot in my heart for that newspaper, what it once was and who knows, what it may become again someday.
Friday, July 30, 2004
Southwest Missouri's Seventh District Congressman Roy Blunt received a bit of unwanted national attention this week from the investigative reporting magazine Mother Jones.
In its annual awards for legislators who misuse or abuse their positions, Blunt was a nominee in the category of "The Heidi Fleiss Medal for Congressional Pandering."
Quoting from the magazine, "Rep. Roy Blunt became House majority whip in November 2002; hours later he secretly slipped into the 475-page bill creating the Homeland Security Department a provision benefiting Phillip Morris USA. Blunt's language would have restricted low-cost cigarette sales on the Internet and prosecuted contraband sales. The congressman receives massive donations from Phillip Morris; his son works for Phillip Morris; and he recently married the Washington lobbyist for Phillip Morris. After the outrage was discovered (so outrageous that ethics purist Tom DeLay had the measure stripped), Blunt wailed that cigarette sales are connected to homeland security because Hezbollah has made money by selling discount smokes."
Knowing that Mother Jones has a liberal bent (and there is nothing wrong with that) I decided to research this a bit more. Apparently, this all came out due to a Washington Post investigation in June 2003. After that, I understood why I hadn't heard anything about it. I normally try to keep up on the news, but that was during a time when I was more worried about if I was going to keep my job and if I didn't (which I didn't) was I going to be able to find another job.
Apparently, Blunt's connections with these powerful Washington interests are being used extensively in the state of Missouri...to benefit the blossoming political career of Blunt's son, Secretary of State Matt Blunt, who is running for governor.
"The Hill," a Washington-based newspaper, used Missouri state records to show just how the senior Blunt has been using his position to benefit his son. According to The Hill, "Missouri state records show contributions to Matt Blunt's campaign (for secretary of state in 2002) came from firms and individuals with business pending before Roy Blunt's subcommittees. Although some of the companies have significant interests in the state, others do not.
"Top executives at Freddie Mac, for example, contributed $4,000 to his campaign. On Nov. 6, 2000, Vice President Gary Lanzara and Vice President Leland Brendsel gave $1,000 each. Two weeks later, Freddie Mac lobbyist David Glenn and his wife, Cherie, also contributed $1,000 apiece. (Note: It should be pointed out that $1,000 is the most individuals can contribute under Missouri state law.) Cherie is listed as a homemaker; the couple reside in Great Falls, VA.
"Contributions from telecommunications-related entities accounted for over $10,000. Railway transportation companies also contributed more than $6,000 to Matt Blunt's campaign. John Scruggs, a top lobbyist for Altria, formerly Phillip Morris, contributed $1,000. Other contributions came from companies and executives in- or representatives for- such heavily regulated industries as healthcare, insurance, chemicals and defense technology."
The article continued, "By far, the biggest outside contributors to Matt Blunt's campaign, however, were colleagues of Roy Blunt. Campaign finance documents show 84 House lawmakers made 95 contributions to the secretary of state campaign, totaling more than $65,000.
In the article, Larry Noble of the Center for Responsive Politics, suggests logically that the donations were made, not by a desire to help Matt Blunt, but by a desire to curry favor with his father.
Political experts cited in the article said the out-of-state money that poured into Matt Blunt's campaign coffers was the deciding point in a close race. Without it, the younger Blunt would have lost.
It also appears that Blunt has helped his son, Andy, by helping him land an important post at Phillip Morris.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch carried stories about this. I don't know about the Kansas City Star. Why didn't we read about any of this in The Joplin Globe?
I'll do a little research into the contributors to Matt Blunt in his campaign for governor and I will post the information when I have it.
In its annual awards for legislators who misuse or abuse their positions, Blunt was a nominee in the category of "The Heidi Fleiss Medal for Congressional Pandering."
Quoting from the magazine, "Rep. Roy Blunt became House majority whip in November 2002; hours later he secretly slipped into the 475-page bill creating the Homeland Security Department a provision benefiting Phillip Morris USA. Blunt's language would have restricted low-cost cigarette sales on the Internet and prosecuted contraband sales. The congressman receives massive donations from Phillip Morris; his son works for Phillip Morris; and he recently married the Washington lobbyist for Phillip Morris. After the outrage was discovered (so outrageous that ethics purist Tom DeLay had the measure stripped), Blunt wailed that cigarette sales are connected to homeland security because Hezbollah has made money by selling discount smokes."
Knowing that Mother Jones has a liberal bent (and there is nothing wrong with that) I decided to research this a bit more. Apparently, this all came out due to a Washington Post investigation in June 2003. After that, I understood why I hadn't heard anything about it. I normally try to keep up on the news, but that was during a time when I was more worried about if I was going to keep my job and if I didn't (which I didn't) was I going to be able to find another job.
Apparently, Blunt's connections with these powerful Washington interests are being used extensively in the state of Missouri...to benefit the blossoming political career of Blunt's son, Secretary of State Matt Blunt, who is running for governor.
"The Hill," a Washington-based newspaper, used Missouri state records to show just how the senior Blunt has been using his position to benefit his son. According to The Hill, "Missouri state records show contributions to Matt Blunt's campaign (for secretary of state in 2002) came from firms and individuals with business pending before Roy Blunt's subcommittees. Although some of the companies have significant interests in the state, others do not.
"Top executives at Freddie Mac, for example, contributed $4,000 to his campaign. On Nov. 6, 2000, Vice President Gary Lanzara and Vice President Leland Brendsel gave $1,000 each. Two weeks later, Freddie Mac lobbyist David Glenn and his wife, Cherie, also contributed $1,000 apiece. (Note: It should be pointed out that $1,000 is the most individuals can contribute under Missouri state law.) Cherie is listed as a homemaker; the couple reside in Great Falls, VA.
"Contributions from telecommunications-related entities accounted for over $10,000. Railway transportation companies also contributed more than $6,000 to Matt Blunt's campaign. John Scruggs, a top lobbyist for Altria, formerly Phillip Morris, contributed $1,000. Other contributions came from companies and executives in- or representatives for- such heavily regulated industries as healthcare, insurance, chemicals and defense technology."
The article continued, "By far, the biggest outside contributors to Matt Blunt's campaign, however, were colleagues of Roy Blunt. Campaign finance documents show 84 House lawmakers made 95 contributions to the secretary of state campaign, totaling more than $65,000.
In the article, Larry Noble of the Center for Responsive Politics, suggests logically that the donations were made, not by a desire to help Matt Blunt, but by a desire to curry favor with his father.
Political experts cited in the article said the out-of-state money that poured into Matt Blunt's campaign coffers was the deciding point in a close race. Without it, the younger Blunt would have lost.
It also appears that Blunt has helped his son, Andy, by helping him land an important post at Phillip Morris.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch carried stories about this. I don't know about the Kansas City Star. Why didn't we read about any of this in The Joplin Globe?
I'll do a little research into the contributors to Matt Blunt in his campaign for governor and I will post the information when I have it.
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