Post-Dispatch owners announce hefty bonuses for officials same time as layoffs

It is almost reaching the point where this is not news anymore.

Stop me if you have heard this before. A newspaper publishing company awards its top officials hefty bonuses at the same time it is sending long-time, loyal employees packing.

Recently, The Turner Report noted that Gannett, owner of the Springfield News-Leader, awarded bonuses at the same time it was requiring its employees to take week-long unpaid furloughs.

GateHouse Media awarded more than $1.3 million at the same time that it is trumpeting new centralized design and copy editing stations for The Carthage Press, Neosho Daily News, Pittsburg Morning Sun and its other newspapers that will eliminate workers in its more than 300 newspapers.

The latest news comes from Lee Enterprises, owner of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. At almost exactly the same time the troubled company was laying off workers in Montana, it awarded three quarters of a million in bonuses to its two top officials.

The following is taken from the company's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission:

On March 21, 2012, the Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (the “Company”) Board of Directors’ Executive Compensation Committee (“ECC”) approved  discretionary bonuses for Mary E. Junck, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, and  Carl G. Schmidt, Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, in the amounts of $500,000 and $250,000, respectively, related to the Company’s successful completion of its refinancing initiative.

 Apparently, Lee has a different way of measuring success than the rest of us.

Joplin Globe publisher shuts down Mississippi newspaper

After publishing for slightly more than a century, the Laurel Leader-Call, Laurel, Miss., will publish its last edition tomorrow.

The Leader-Call is published by Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. (CNHI), the same company that publishes the Joplin Globe.

Readers did not get much advance notice; the story ran in Tuesday's edition. CNHI also provided no information on why the newspaper was going out of business, just six short paragraphs.

Publisher Mitchell D. Lynch advised the paper’s 18 employees of the decision Monday afternoon. He said subscribers who had paid for the paper in advance would be reimbursed.

“The paper has been privileged to serve the community for many years,” said Lynch.

The paper was founded Aug. 11, 1911, as the Laurel Daily Argus, and later changed its name to the Laurel Daily Leader, and then in 1930 to the Laurel Leader-Call. It was purchased by a subsidiary of Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., an Alabama-based media company, in 1999.

The Leader-Call had been a seven-day a week paper until six months ago when it reduced publication to four days: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday.

Lynch praised the “dedicated people” working at the paper, and thanked the community for its support over the years.

Demolition progresses at St. John's

Jane Cunningham anti-tenure bill put on hold

It may come up later in the session, but Sen. Jane Cunningham's anti-teacher tenure bill, SB 806, was put on hold this week by the Senate.

The bill may be brought up again later in the session.

Sen. Cunningham's bill would totally eliminate teacher tenure, replacing it with a complicated series of one to four-year contracts, require most of teacher evaluation to be based on standardized test scores, and eliminate the role of seniority in hiring decisions.

Rules Committee may take up Dieckhaus voucher bill this week

The word "voucher" never comes up in HB 1740, Education Committee Chairman Scott Dieckhaus omnibus education bill, but the so-called passport scholarships he calls for come down to the same thing- using taxpayer dollars to send students to private schools.

The bill, according to House Majority Leader Tim Jones and Dieckhaus, is likely to get through the Rules Committee this week.

The bill also includes a scaled-back version of Dieckhaus' teacher tenure elimination plan. Instead of eliminating tenure for all teachers, the Education Committee changed the proposal to allow tenure to stay in place for all teachers who are in place by July 2013, but no tenure opportunities for teachers hired after that date.

The bill also eliminates the use of seniority as a basis for hiring teachers. No longer would school boards be able to make cuts by eliminating those who were hired last. That would also not be allowed for non-certificated employees in the St. Louis school district. In other words, it is clearly an effort to reduce the power of teacher organizations, which generally rely on teachers with more experience.

Minimum salaries for teachers with master's degrees would also be eliminated.under the Dieckhaus bill.

Oscar-winning "Footloose" screenwriter contributes $5,000 to Kander campaign

Dean Pitchford, an Oscar-winning songwriter and screenwriter contributed $5,000 to Democrat Jason Kander's secretary of state campaign Monday, according to a 48-hour report filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Pitchford won his Oscar for writing "Fame," the title song from the movie of the same name. He also was the screenwriter for the Kevin Bacon film "Footloose."

Joplin woman gives $100,000 to Lager

EthelMae Humphreys of TAMKO contributed $100,000 to Republican Sen. Brad Lager's campaign for lieutenant governor, according to a 48-hour report filed Monday with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Montee: It's time to reaffirm our commitment to organized labor

In the accompanying video, former State Auditor Susan Montee, a candidate for lieutenant governor, speaks at the AFL-CIO Conference in Jefferson City.

Blunt: Federal government does not have ability to force people to buy health insurance

Tilley to speak at anti-federal health care program rally

(From Americans for Prosperity)

Missouri (AFP-MO) today announces that Steve Tilley, Speaker of the Missouri House, will join the March 27^th “Hands off my Health Care” rally at 11:30 AM at the Missouri Capitol. Other speakers will include Dr. Milton Wolf, practicing physician and President Obama’s cousin, Lt. Governor Kinder, and other members of the state legislature.

“We are very happy that Representative Tilley is joining our rally and making clear his support for health care freedom” said Patrick Werner, State Director for AFP.   “We hope his presence will encourage the rest of the Missouri House to quickly pass SB 464 and help prevent Obama's health care takeover from coming to Missouri.”  
 
The Missouri House will hold a hearing at 12 PM on SB 464, legislation which would require statutory authorization and submit for voter approval any proposal to implement a health insurance exchange in Missouri.

“Now, as the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on the constitutionality of Obamacare, Missourians will gather one more time to let their voices be heard,” Werner explained.

The Missouri Hands off My Health Care rally is being held in conjunction with a rally at the U.S. Capitol, organized by Americans for Prosperity. The rally at the U.S. Capitol will be simulcast at the Missouri rally. After the rally AFP-MO will lead attendees to the capitol to lobby their legislators in support of SB 464, legislation which would prevent Missouri from implementing a health care exchange without statutory authorization and submitting the legislation for voter approval.

Missouri was the first state in the nation to publicly reject Obamacare when the state legislature in August, 2010, overwhelmingly voted to exempt Missouri from the insurance mandate in the new health care law.   While Missouri was first in its opposition, it has not been alone. Thousands of waivers have been applied for, and awarded by the Department of Health, exempting unions and corporations from the new health care law.  

What:            Hands off My Health Care Rally
When:          11:30 AM, Tuesday, March 27th
Where:         Capitol Plaza Hotel, 
                     415 West. McCarty St. Jefferson City, MO
Who:          

• Dr. Milton Wolf, physician, medical director, and President Obama’s cousin
• Lt. Governor Peter Kinder 
• Senator Shane Schoeller, Speaker Pro Tem       
• Representative Steve Tilley, Speaker of the House
• Senator Scott Rupp, sponsor of SB 464 (prevents health care exchange in Missouri)
• Representative Keith Fredrick, orthopedic surgeon and only physician in Missouri House
• Ed Martin, candidate for Attorney General and former Governor Blunt’s Chief of Staff
• Bill Randels, candidate for governor, lawyer, and law school classmate of President Obama
• Dave Spence, candidate for governor, entrepreneur, and businessman
• John Brunner, candidate for U.S. Senate
• William Federer, historian, author and nationally-known speaker
• Elise Kostial, founder of Concerned Young Women for America of Missouri

The event is open to the public and media are invited.

Rally Cosponsors:

• The Capitol Tea Party (Jefferson City)
• Cape County Tea Party
• Concerned Woman of America – Missouri
• Cornerstone Conservative Coalition
• Franklin Countywide Republican Club
• K & N Patriots – Charles County
• Missouri Conservative Coalition
• Missouri Faith and Freedom Coalition
• Missouri Young Republicans
• Mizzou College Republicans
• Organized Republican Conservatives of America (ORCA)
• SW Missouri Conservative Network - Joplin
• United For Missouri