Marsh to propose waiver for school days missed

Rep. B. J. Marsh, R-Springfield, plans to file a bill which would allow school districts to waive making up days missed due to the ice storm that has closed nearly all southwest Missouri schools.
In today's Springfield News-Leader, Marsh said he would propose forgiving five days for schools in counties that have been declared federal disaster areas.
Springfield schools will be out until next Tuesday at the earliest, while Joplin schools have missed two days this week, in addition to three days missed during the last storm.

Sarcoxie native to run Romney campaign

Longtime GOP activist Tony Feather, formerly of Sarcoxie, has been tabbed to advise Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.
The announcement, made in the Washington Post's political blog, The Fix, refers to Feather as the "godfather of grass roots politics."

The blog notes:

Feather is one of the pillars of the Washington Republican political establishment. He served as political director of President Bush's 2000 campaign and four years later was intimately involved with the Progress for America Voter Fund, a Republican-backed 527 group that spent heavily on ads attacking Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.). Feather is a principal in Feather Larson & Syndhorst, a direct mail and voter contact firm used frequently by Republican candidates and party committees, and retains a close relationship with the Bush White House.

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Feather also headed Attorney General Bill Webster's campaign for governor in 1992, which featured a victory over Secretary of State Roy Blunt and State Treasurer Wendell Bailey in the GOP primary, and appeared headed toward a general election victory except for the legal problems that ended up sending Webster to prison.

Missourian profiles Blunt chief of staff

Edward Martin, who has been chief of staff for Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, was profiled in today's Columbia Missourian.
The profile is mostly a glowing portrait of Martin, but it does not shy away from the criticism that his job is a reward for the work Martin did as treasurer for the pro-voucher group All Children Matter:

All Children Matter advocates school vouchers and tuition tax credits that would create incentives for students to attend private schools. The group spent nearly $200,000 on radio ads during the 2004 Missouri gubernatorial race, supporting Blunt’s bid against Democrat Claire McCaskill. Some Blunt opponents say Martin's association with All Children Matter helped him land his new job. "Gov. Blunt was rewarding a pro-voucher interest group by hiring the former treasurer," says Missouri Democratic Party spokesman Jack Cardetti, arguing that Martin would never have been hired had he not helped pour so much money into Blunt’s campaign.

Loss of Precious Moments leads to Enesco bankruptcy

Enesco, which cut its ties with Precious Moments in 2005, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and has sold its assets to a private firm, Tinicum Capital Partners II LP, according to an article in the Chicago Sun-Times:

Its shareholders are due nothing. The shares were dropped from the New York Stock Exchange last June and closed Friday at 19 cents each on the Nasdaq over-the-counter market. About a year ago, the shares were at the $2 level. The company has suffered severe business setbacks, including the loss in 2005 of its affiliation with the Precious Moments line of figurines.

Leggett & Platt schedules conference call

The fourth quarter earnings call for Carthage-based Fortune 500 company Leggett & Platt will be held 8 a.m. Friday, Jan. 26, according to a company news release.
Fourth quarter results and the outlook for 2007 will be discussed, the release said.

Former Globe editor's farewell column proves embarrassing to his new employer

It was meant to be humorous, but apparently some people in Ohio took exception to the farewell column written by former Joplin Globe editor Edgar Simpson before he left that position to become chief of staff for newly-elected Attorney General Marc Dann.
In that farewell column, Simpson wrote:

"Going to the dark side is not an easy thing. I found it only mildly amusing when some newsroom wag immediately started a pool on when I would be indicted."

That portion of his column was printed in the Sunday edition of the Dayton Daily News.

Apparently, whoever is handling publicity for Dann also got off to a rocky start, according to the article, which notes "The first two press releases issued last week each contained errors — including the misspelling of the judge's name who swore Dann, a Democrat, into office."

Nodler Leadership PAC receives $22,200

The Nodler Leadership PAC received $22,200 during the final three months of 2006, according to the quarterly report filed Monday with the Missouri Ethics Commission.
The PAC spent $11,825 during the quarter, leaving it with $11,850.98.
The biggest contributor was the Hunte Corporation of Goodman, which made three contributions totaling $10,000. Eagle-Picher, Joplin contributed $7,500.
Others contributing included: St. John's Family PAC, Joplin, $1,000; Missouri Dental Hygienist PAC, $300; Missouri Assisted Living PAC, $650; Dwight and Bonnie Douglas, Joplin, $1,500; BSNF Railway, Fort Worth, Texas, $600; Rural Telecommunications PAC, $650.

The PAC contributed the maximum to the campaigns of the following incumbent representatives: Ron Richard, R-Joplin, Marilyn Ruestman, R-Joplin, Ed Emery, R-Lamar, Bryan Stevenson, R-Webb City; and Steve Hunter, R-Joplin. Ten thousand dollars was donated to the Senate Majority Fund.

Blog offers look at ice-ravaged Springfield

For once, I really have no opinions about how the local media handled its coverage of the ice storm that has virtually paralyzed southwest Missouri.
As I mentioned in the first post after my nature-forced four-day sabbatical, I spent most of that time with no electricity, no heat, and not much inclination to go out and see the devastation.
With no television, I turned to radio for information and found it on 1310 KRZG. The station's morning and afternoon programs kept me abreast of what was going on (plus providing me with the knowledge that I could sleep late this morning because Joplin R-8 schools had been canceled).
Otherwise, my first exposure to local media coverage of the ice storm and its aftermath came with today's 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts and I thought the stations acquitted themselves well.
Though I have no personal observations about the storm, except to note the hard work being done by emergency personnel and electrical workers, a much better description of what happened, albeit in Springfield, is featured in Ron Davis' Chatter blog.
Sometimes it is easy to forget because of his penchant for linking to wild and outlandish stories from across the Globe, but Davis is and always has been one of the most gifted reporters in this region. This post is a refreshing reminder of his undeniable way with words:

Because it had been warm -- 50s and 60s into Friday, just before the storm struck -- there was fog at night, and if you stood outside for more than a minute you could see through the shroud as ice-burdened trees gave way. You could hear them creaking and losing limbs with a sound like the rip of a well-worn flannel shirt, followed by a snap and the crystal sound of shattered ice. If you stayed outside long enough you could make yourself believe there was some sort of lumbering monster out there in the fog, stomping through the dark.

New O'Sullivan CEO schedules visit to Lamar

Comments on the Lamar Chat page of Lamarmo.com indicate workers were sprucing up the Lamar plant over the weekend in preparation for the first visit of newly-installed CEO Jim Malone.
The message board indicates Malone was scheduled to be in Lamar Monday. Malone was the founding managing partner of Qorval LLC, which provided "restructuring, turnaround, crisis and interim management services to underperforming companies," according to the April 2006 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission when Malone was named to the O'Sullivan board of directors.
No word yet about whether the visit went as scheduled or whether it was delayed due to the weather.

Senators not concerned about nepotism

The newly-empowered Democratic leadership appears ready to bypass its pledge to reform the way the U. S. Senate goes about its business.
An editorial in Monday's New York Times notes that senators blew off the chance to eliminate family members receiving government positions by saying it had nothing to do with lobbying reform:

Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, insisted that there’s no such problem in the Senate. Critics instantly noted that her fellow Californian, Senator Barbara Boxer, paid $130,000 from her campaign funds to her son’s political consultant firm. In the House, the campaign kitty of Representative John Doolittle, Republican of California, paid $200,000 to his wife as a designated campaign consultant working at home. Congress’s reputation cannot afford more such embarrassments.