Joplin city manager offers weekly update

(City Manager Sam Anselm sent the following update to Joplin City Council members Friday.)

Good afternoon, everyone. Please see below for this week’s update.

Key Meetings

-On Tuesday, I attended a lunch meeting hosted by Innovative Objects, discussing the Fuel the Four States regional recruiting initiative.

-On Thursday, I met with facilitators of the One Joplin Transportation Team, which is one of the Wave Two issues that the collaborative is working on (in addition to the health team, human services team, and poverty teams that I’ve spoken about here before). Through many of the conversations between the original three teams, one issue that popped up repeatedly focused on the ease of access to various transportation methods in our community.

Miscellaneous

-Please follow this link for the latest public works update regarding their projects and activities.

-Earlier this week our human resources director provided an update to staff on the status of our worker’s compensation claims. Comparing July 2016 with July 2015, total claims are down 29%, while the severity of those claims is down 184% over last year. In addition, the average cost per claim is down 120%.

-As part of Third Thursday this month, Downtown Joplin experimented with what is known as a “parklet”, or an outdoor seating area that usually takes up the space of one or two on-street parking spots, as a way to provide an inexpensive, temporary gathering space for pedestrians. The group has asked to consider placing another one in Joplin next month as part of Parking Day, an event that takes place in cities around the country to promote outdoor spaces in urban settings. I have asked staff from police, planning and public works to explore the idea further with representatives from Downtown Joplin. Our ordinances are silent on allowing these temporary structures on public rights-of-way, so using this temporary event as a test case to determine whether we need to formally adopt a policy or program, will be a worthwhile endeavor in my opinion. As the discussion progresses, I will keep you posted.

In the Pipeline

-The opening of Mercy Park will take place on Saturday, August 27th, at 10:00 a.m.

-The dedication for the butterfly mural at Mercy Park has been rescheduled for Wednesday, August 31st, at 2:00 p.m. Representatives from State Farm Insurance, Walmart, and the Joplin Proud Committee will be on hand for the celebration, and you are invited to attend.

Joplin R-8 official: Our student records are a mess

During the last years of the C. J. Huff Administration, the Joplin R-8 School District had a director of communications, an event coordinator and even at one point used Bright Futures workers to nominate Huff and collect endorsement letters for the various awards he now cites in advertisements for his speaking engagement.
In one of the last acts before Huff began his retirement, he made sure his Chief Operations Officer Tina Smith had three new clerical workers to lighten her heavy workload.

While everything surrounding Huff was designed to boost public relations, there was one area that apparently did not receive much attention at all- ensuring that student records were complete, up to date, and easy to locate.

The Joplin R-8 Board of Education learned tonight that student records are in such bad shape, that the district needs to hire a part-time clerk go get them up to date.

That hiring took place only after Executive Director of Student Services Mark Barlass explained how desperately the position was needed.

"(Our records) are in quite a disarray," Barlass said."The issue we have with our records really wasn't addressed the way it needed to be. We're trying to clean up a long-sustained problem with our student records." He indicated the problem dated back several years.

"We just need to get it cleaned up."

"You have been trying to clean this up for years and you've never been successful?" board member Chris Sloan asked.

"We've never had the resources," Barlass said, adding that the records had to be relocated three times, including to the MODOT building following the tornado.

A clerical worker was hired to begin the process last year, Barlass said, but that person was needed to help with the recently created enrollment center.

Now, though, Barlass said, "We have realized it was an essential part we could not do without."

The haphazard student record organization has caused problems for Joplin High School graduates, Barlass said.

"On several occasions, signing letters for young men and women wanting to get employment or go to college and we were unable to find their student records.

"That's inexcusable,"

Board President Jeff Koch asked if the district was keeping up with current records. Barlass said that is being done. "There was a gap in addressing it after the tornado."

The reason for the gap?

"We haven't dedicated resources to it."

The board approved the hiring of the part-time clerical worker by a 6-1 margin with Koch casting the dissenting vote.

Joplin R-8 Board caps graphic designer costs at $12,000

How important is a graphic designer to the Joplin R-8 School District?

Director of Communications Kelli Price told the board tonight that for the lack of a graphic designer, a high school student handbook has been delayed.

That did not sit well with board member Chris Sloan, who noted that an e-mail had been sent out that indicated the handbooks were not ready "as a result of staffing changes," a direct reference to the board's decision to remove the graphic designer position from this year's budget.

"You had all summer long to get that going. That ball falls in your court."

Price defended by herself, not only by citing not having a graphic designer, but also said the high school did not get changes to her on time.

The showdown over student handbooks came as Price brought the scaled down version of the request to hire a graphic designer that was narrowly rejected by the board at its August 9 meeting.

The original proposal was $50 an hour with a cap of $18,000, the amount the district budgeted for graphic design work. The graphic designer who submitted that bid was Christina Williams, the same designer whose position was eliminated during the budget cut.

Board members asked Price to return with a new proposal. Williams agreed to cut her cost per hour to $45, with the cost capped at $16,200.

During discussion, some of the same points from two weeks ago were raised, including board membe Debbie Fort's displeasure with paying a graphic designer more than twice what a classroom teacher makes per hour.

"We're not employing a teacher; we're employing a graphic design artist," board member Sharrock Dermott countered. "This appears to be the going rate."

Fort also noted she had heard from graphic designers who never heard the job was being bid and would have liked to have had the opportunity to bid on it.

Board member Lori Musser had a different problem. "I need to address the elephant in the room.This is a person whose position we have eliminated and now we're trying to bring this person back."

Price explained the bidding process, saying she had contacted three different advertising agencies and had asked the Joplin Advertising Federation.

CFO Paul Barr gave an impassioned defense of the way Price had handled the situation, saying she did things according to policy. It was noted that the only reason the matter was being brought to the board was because it has to make the decision on purchases and contracts totaling more than $15,000.

If the cost had been below that amount, since the money was already in the budget, Price could have hired Williams without having to go through the board.

Price said, "We know we need this service so we can be effective in our communication." The $63,000 a year communications director repeated her assessment from August 9 that she did not have the skill set to do what a professional graphic designer does.

Dermott said, "I congratulate her on her transparency."

Sloan amended Lynda Banwart's motion to accept the latest Price proposal to further reduce the cap on the graphic designer's services from $16,200 TO $12,000.

The amendment passed by a 4-3 vote, with Sloan, Musser, Board President Jeff Koch, and Jennifer Martucci voting in favor and Dermott, Banwart, and Fort casting "no" votes.

Greitens campaign kickoff tour to hit Joplin Friday

(From the Greitens for Governor campaign)

We're hitting the road this weekend to launch our general election campaign. Eric will be discussing his plan to take Missouri in a new direction and exposing Chris Koster as the big-spending liberal career politician he is.


THURSDAY, AUGUST 25TH, 2016
5:30 PM – Springfield
Campaign Office
2740 South Glenstone Avenue Suite 202, Springfield, 65804
RSVP to Springfield

7:00 PM – Branson
Campaign Office
100 Pat Nash Drive, Branson, 65616
RSVP to Branson

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26TH, 2016
9:00 AM – Joplin
Campaign Office
2640 32nd Street, Joplin, 64804
RSVP to Joplin

12:00 PM – Lee’s Summit
Campaign Office
706 SE 3rd Street, Lee’s Summit, 64063
RSVP to Lee's Summit

2:00 PM – St. Joseph
Campaign Office
702 Felix Street, Saint Joseph, 64501
RSVP to St. Joseph

5:30 PM – Kirksville
Campaign Office
212 North Franklin Street, Kirksville, 63501
RSVP to Kirksville

SATURDAY, AUGUST 27TH, 2016
9:00 AM – Crestwood
Campaign Office
9815 Watson Road, Suite 409, St. Louis, 65804
RSVP to Crestwood

10:15 AM – St. Charles
Campaign Office
2301 Elm Street, St. Charles, 63301
RSVP to St. Charles

12:45 PM – Columbia
Campaign Office
913 East Ash Street, Columbia, 65201
RSVP to Columbia

3:15 PM – Rolla
Campaign Office
406 North Main Street, Rolla, 65401
RSVP to Rolla

7:00 PM – Cape Girardeau
Campaign Office
1606 North Kingshighway, Cape Girardeau, 63701
RSVP to Cape Girardeau

Watch Joplin R-8 Board of Education live at 7 p.m.

Government files suit against Newton County man for $2.6 million in unpaid taxes

A civil action filed last week in U. S. District Court claims that a Newton County man failed to pay his taxes for five years and fraudulently transferred his residential and business properties to keep them out of the government's hands.

In the lawsuit, the federal government claims William Phillip "Phil" Jackson, of Stark City, owes $2,663,312.30, including penalties and interest for taxes that should have been paid between 1998 and 2002.

The suit asks the judge to okay the sale of four pieces of property it says are owned by Jackson, including the property on which Jackson Tire in Granby is located, two other Granby properties, and Phil and Sharon Jackson's home in Stark City.

The lawsuit claims that after the government began pursuing Jackson for the unpaid taxes, he transferred titles to the four properties to four entities, Trinity Consulting, Rock Foundation, Gateway Properties, and Prosperity Leasing, without receiving equivalent value in return.

The trustee for each of those entities, according to the lawsuit, was Jerry Lahr, Fort Worth, Texas, but the government claims each was under the control of Phil Jackson.

The lawsuit notes that Lahr has an "established history of using fictitious and/or nominee entries to hold property and evade payment of his own federal income taxes."

On December 8, 2008, Lahr pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to defraud the United States, by transferring his assets to various entities to avoid paying taxes.

Scars from the Tornado e-book on sale for two days for $1.99

Scars from the Tornado: One Year at Joplin East Middle School, a book that tells teachers' and students' stories about the May 22, 2011, tornado and their first year having school in a warehouse on the outskirts of the district is on sale until 10 a.m. Wednesday.

The book, which is normally priced at $9.99 is on sale now for $1.99.

From the book's reviews:

The book is a record of the history of the F-5 tornado that wrecked havoc and destruction on our community. The book contains many essays and poems by our young people. It reflects the horror of the tornado and the devastation hailed upon lives and property. But more importantly the feelings and emotions expressed through the children and their teacher reflects the same feelings and emotions the entire community felt. They expressed the initial shock of the loss, the healing, and the moving forward with the hope. I call it the hurt, the horror, and the hope. After the initial hurt and horror we have moved forward with hope. So thankful that our children have taken the time to remind us that we have survived and have much to be thankful for.
I love the stories in the book and still pray for the families that have lost so much!

Randy Turner has a unique look of the year following the devastating tornado that killed 160 people in May of 2011. He saw it along with his students. Living in this area we can't afford the physical damage that it caused, but this goes much deeper. He does that there is a human element that cannot be shown in the photos that are taken

I really enjoyed Mr. Turner's newest book sharing stories from the students at East Middle school. My daughter was also one of Mr Turner's students and we lost our home in the tornado as well. All of us share similar stories, but here he has brought those stories together and shown the true spirit of our hometown:

***

Links provided for top Turner Report/Inside Joplin posts for this week

The manhunt for a 19-year-old Neosho man following an armed robbery at Downstream Casino Friday provided two of the top three Turner Report posts for this week, while the fastest rising post, coming in at number two is about the attempt to get a graphic designer hired for the Joplin R-8 School District.

The top Inside Joplin post involved a fire at Freeman Hospital, while Granby hairdresser Nan Hines' (pictured) obituary received more visitors than the others than ran this week.

Links are provided below:


Turner Report

1. Manhunt on for Neosho teen following armed robbery at Downstream Casino

2. New Joplin R-8 proposal calls for $45 an hour graphic designer

3. Downstream Casino armed robbery suspect arrested at Mercy Hospital

4. Joplin man sentenced to 15 years in meth conspiracy

5. Teaching positions open at Joplin R-8

6. Joplin High School football seniors attend retreat at Christian-based facility

7/ Trial in 1984 Joplin murder case to begin Wednesday

8. Former Carthage businessman sentenced for failure to pay $1.3 million in payroll taxes

9. Gov. Nixon pardons seven, including Joplin man

10. P1 lawyers to depose Paul Barr, Debbie Fort, Kimbrough

Inside Joplin

1. Freeman Hospital personnel evacuate patients, put out fire

2. Joplin teen suffers seizure, injured in one-vehicle accident

3. Jasper County Dissolution of Marriage Petitions

4. Joplin woman injured in accident on Table Rock Lake

5. Joplin Police Department Arrests August 16-17

6. Joplin Police Department Arrests August 15-16

7. Joplin Police Department Arrests August 17-18

8. Highway Patrol DWI Arrests August 15-16

9/ Police search for suspect in shooting at Dollar General

10. Newton County Dissolution of Marriage Petitions

Inside Joplin Obituaries

1. Nan Hines

2. Mary Phipps

3. Judy Swarens

4. Rosalie Burt

5. Jimmie Huffman

6. Lee Dockery

7. Corky George

8. Marty Scheurich

9. Deborah Linder

10. Nancy Stanton

Big changes ahead for my blogs; new book focuses spotlight on John Hacker

After a delay of several months due to health reasons, I am finally implementing some of the changes I have planned for the Turner Report and the Inside Joplin blogs.

In addition, work is progressing nicely, after the long delay, on the new book I am doing with Carthage Press Managing Editor John Hacker.

The book was well on its way and the plans for the blogs were already taking shape when I had a heart attack in April, followed by triple bypass surgery. After a relatively smooth recovery process for the first few weeks, I suffered through a few weeks when I was unable to get my blood pressure under control.

Thankfully, the doctors have reached the right combination to keep my blood pressure under control, so over the past couple of weeks I have been working to get caught up to where I want to be.

Following is a brief summary of the latest developments with my blogs and with the book.

Inside Joplin expansion

 Since Inside Joplin was launched three years ago, it has expanded to the point where it now covers a four-county area- Jasper, Newton, Barton, and McDonald. While DWI arrests and Highway Patrol accident reports have covered the entire area, much of the rest of the coverage has been limited to items about the city of Joplin (road closures, city meeting agendas, JPD arrests, fire calls etc.) Over the next several days, you will see an increase in coverage of other communities in the four-county area, including heightened coverage of city and school news. At the same time this is being done, coverage of Joplin will continue to increase.

Though I had planned on doing this much earlier, the timing now with the Joplin Globe's continuing problems and continually smaller staffs at the other newspapers in the area, there is a need for more coverage and I plan to provide it.

Inside Joplin Obituaries

Inside Joplin Obituaries was originally conceived to be just that, obituaries that were of Joplin residents or where the deceased either had a connection to Joplin, or survivors from Joplin.

From that time, it has grown to cover the same four-county area and as of this writing, has featured 3,723 obituaries.

Turner Resports

My sports blog has been close to inactive for a few months, but with the coming of football season, it is back in swing.

As in the past, I will post as much live streaming video of high school football and other events as possible, as well as coverage of state and regional teams, including the Cardinals, Royals, Chiefs, Missouri Southern, and Mizzou.

Turner Report

The Turner Report will continue to offer news and commentary about Joplin, the surrounding area, the state of Missouri, education, and politics, including more investigative reporting than you will find from any other area news source.

Extensive coverage of courts, including civil suits and criminal cases, will continue.

I hope to offer more commentary from others in the future and anyone who has a column or letter to the editor to submit, should feel free to do so.

Inside Springfield

This blog, originally started three years ago as Inside the Ozarks, returned Saturday will offer much of the same type of coverage that is offered on the Inside Joplin blog, concentrating on Springfield and Greene County.

5:41: Five Years Later

John Hacker and I originally planned to have this book published to coincide with the five-year anniversary of the Joplin Tornado.

Though I would have preferred to have had a different reason for delaying the publication, the added time has given us an opportunity to improve the book.

Despite the headline for this blog post, the spotlight will be on those who tell their stories or those who lost their lives in the tornado.

And no one is better at telling those stories than John Hacker.

While the book will feature some articles from 5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado, Spirit of Hope, and Scars from the Tornado, and a reprinting of the obituaries of those who lost their lives May 22, 2011, and in the days thereafter, the book, which right now is looking to come in at slightly over 300 pages, will be mostly filled with material that has not been in our previous books.

This includes the following:

-At least 16 pages of never before published tornado photos by Hacker.

-Hacker's coverage of the tornado, both hard news and feature.

-New survivor stories

-Updates from some people whose stories were featured in 5:41 and Spirit of Hope

-Photos from the tornado recovery period over the past five years

-Hacker's extensive coverage of the affect the tornado had on the medical community, including Mercy, Freeman, and McCune-Brooks.

-Emphasis on churches that were affected by the tornado

-Documents on the Joplin Tornado that were not included in the earlier books, from a diverse group of people, including Joe Biden, Travis Tritt, Janet Napolitano, Arne Duncan, Barbara Boxer, and Billy Long,

-Donald Trump standing up for the City of Joplin

-Roy Blunt tells the world how wonderful Mike Woolston is

-Much, much more

We are hoping to have the book in Joplin by mid-October.

Turner Report/Inside Joplin contributions

Thanks to those of you who have continued to support this new type of community journalism. Thanks to you I have been able to expand coverage and keep up with the news despite my setbacks over the past few months.

Unfortunately, while the Turner Report and Inside Joplin are reaching an average of 5,000 unique visitors per day and Inside Joplin Obituaries' readership has increased to about 2,500 per day, only a small portion of the readership is paying the freight.

While the Joplin Globe's price for a one-year subscription hovers around the $200 mark, a subscription to the Turner Report/Inside Joplin is $30 a year, $3 a month, or $1 a week.

You can also contribute any amount from $1 to $10,000 (I haven't had anyone take me up on that one) depending on how much you can afford and how much you believe in the service these blogs are offering.

This can be done at the PayPal buttons below or the one on the upper right hand side of this page.

Those who prefer not to use PayPal or a credit card, can send their subscriptions or contributions to 2306 E. 8th, Apt. G, Joplin, MO 64801

Current subscribers and those who subscribe or contribute prior to the publication date of 5:41: Five Years Later, will receive a special e-book preview of the book before it reaches the Joplin area. If you send your contribution or subscription through the mail, please be sure to include your e-mail address.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Payment options

Option 1 : $30.00 USD - yearly Option 2 : $3.00 USD - monthly Option 3 : $1.00 USD - weekly

Joplin R-8 Board to make decision on latest miracle consulting firm

A proposal to bring in a consulting firm to teach "Cognitive Coaching" to teachers will again be considered when the Joplin R-8 Board of Education meets 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Memorial Education building.

The proposal, which would cost $69,000, was discussed at the July board meeting, but no decision was made. It was submitted by Jennifer Doshier, executive director of curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Doshier did not attend the July meeting, so the presentation was made by Assistant Director of Special Services Sandra Cantwell and Executive Director of Special Services Mark Barlass.

That discussion was covered in this passage from the July 27 Turner Report:

It was only a year ago that the board members listened to a breathless Director of Curriculum, Assessment, and Instruction Sarah Stevens as she spoke on (and on and on) about the wonders of the $100,000 a year consulting firm Core Collaborative.

The principals wanted it. The teachers wanted it. The students wanted it.

All God's children wanted Core Collaborative.

The only problem is none of it was true.

Sure, Stevens produced some administrators and teachers who talked about how Core Collaborative had improved their classrooms, lifted the students' spirits and completely eliminated unsightly acne, but those were carefully selected proponents.

Teachers at all levels told the Turner Report, Core Collaborative, like many of the outside consulting firms that were formed to cash in after the passage of No Child Left Behind, took basic ideas that were already being employed in the classrooms of veteran teachers, added a few educational buzzwords and then the district started pulling dozens of teachers out of classes for training several days during the year.

When newly elected board members Jeff Koch and Jennifer Martucci, holdover Debbie Fort and Jasper County Commission appointee Gary Nodler voted not to renew the district's contract with Core Collaborative, Sarah Stevens stamped her foot and left the board room in a huff.

(Former Superintendent C. J.) Huff wasn't too happy about it either)

Stevens was later removed from her position and resigned from the district...and moved seamlessly to a job with Core Collaborative.

Though Core Collaborative is gone, there is always another patent medicine consulting firm ready to step into the breach.

The first inkling that history was repeating itself came when Interim Superintendent Norm Ridder said, "We're going to have Sarah come up here and discuss with you where we're at. We have a very excited staff who want it immediately. Sarah can explain what is going on." Ridder was referring to the female administrator who was going to present information on the consulting firm, L. B. Williams, which has been working with district officials and teachers spreading the joys of "Cognitive Coaching."

Only it wasn't Sarah Stevens who stepped up to the board table.

The administrator who gave the rapturous sales pitch for Cognitive Coaching was Assistant Director of Special Services Sandra Cantwell.

Instead of telling teachers what to do, Cantwell said, with Cognitive Coaching "you take them to a deeper level of thinking."

It not only takes teachers to a deeper level of thinking, she added, but "you coach the teachers on their thinking."

In the old days, Cantwell said, principals "went in and observed (teachers) and we wrote down everything that we saw.. We told them what they did well and what they need to improve on, which is really a judgmental statement. Cognitive Coaching takes the focus off of those judgmental statements."

With Cognitive Coaching, principals won't have to worry about doing any of that.

And it also focuses on the student, Cantwell said, making the teacher think about "what would success look like for this little guy in your school, rather than I think you need to do this, this, and this?'

"It's powerful," she said. "I even tried it on my husband." She did not mention if she was teaching him how to think.

Cognitive Coaching helps teachers become "reflective practitioners," Cantwell said, sprinkling some educational jargon in for the seasoning.

"You're not telling them what to do; you're teaching them how to think."

No one questioned that Orwellian concept.

The biggest difference between Core Collaborative and Cognitive Coaching- Ridder is the one pushing the latest miracle cure. But don't worry, he said. "It's basically going to those who want it."

Judging from Ridder's endorsement of Cognitive Coaching, everyone wants it. When he made his rounds at the schools, "People were saying, 'I want this!' "

See what I mean.

The cost for Cognitive Coaching is $69,000, which would bring in trainers to handle three cohorts, with 40 teachers in each cohort.

The best thing about the program, Executive Director of Student Services Mark Barlass said, is that the money comes from federal Title 2A funds.

"It's no cost to the district, except for the substitutes."

Perhaps it's no cost to the district, but every taxpayer in the district (and elsewhere in the United States) will pay for it.

And substitute teachers make $80 per day, meaning that each day just one training day for the three cohorts costs $9,600.

Each cohort will have eight days, which adds up to $76,800 for substitute teachers, or a total of $145,800 for the training.

Board member Debbie Fort, who has always been critical of pulling teachers out of the classroom, questioned the need for that. "That's taking 120 teachers out of the classroom. Can't we do summer training?" She also suggested training on district professional development days or on weekends.

Without addressing the professional development days or weekends, Ridder said, "The real issue is they have to be with kids to practice," indicating that if the teachers were trained in the summer, it would be completely forgotten by the beginning of school. "That's why it's during the year."

Fort persisted, continuing to note the time that teachers would be away from students.

"This is responding to the demand from teachers," Ridder said. "Teachers want this. For us to slow down, it's kind of smacking them in the face and saying, 'Hey, you're not that important. I'm concerned about that a little bit.' "

"How do you know teachers want this?" Musser asked.

"Oh, my!" Ridder exclaimed. "Just walk in the building and ask them,"

Board member Lori Musser questioned why the training could not be done locally at the Southwest Center in Webb City, where 67 R-8 teachers and administrators trained last year. Fort noted that the district pays a fee to belong to the Southwest Center.

"Southwest Center was having people in, but they weren't having people in," Ridder said.

Thanks for clarifying that.

Ridder also noted that if it would help the board, "We can bring teachers here to testify." Hmm, that sounds familiar.

Fort indicated she wanted evidence that the teachers actually want the training and evidence that the training that has already taken place has been effective.

"Do we have 120 teachers who are interested in this training?" Fort asked.

No one seemed to know.