Twenty COVID-19 cases confirmed in Newton County

(From the Newton County Health Department)

Covid-19 Update
July 28, 2021:

 
20 New Cases
189 Active Cases
51 Daily Recovered Cases

Covid-19 tests conducted in Newton County for week of July 21 – July 27, 2021:

601 Total Tests
470 Negative Tests
131 Positive tests
21.80% Positivity Rate

Covid-19 Cumulative Tests for Newton County:

46,277 Total Tests
38,626 Negative Tests
7,651 Positive Tests
16.50% Positivity Rate

Newton County Vaccinations given:

20,818 Total Vaccinations
23.40% Percentage of population with one dose
19.70% Percentage of population with two doses
681 Number of doses administered in the last 7 days

Five COVID-19 deaths reported in Joplin

The Joplin Health Department reported five COVID-19 deaths Wednesday.

The fatalities were a 32-year-old woman, a 77-year-old woman, a 77-year-old man, a 67-year-old man and a 58-year-old man.

To date, the city of Joplin has recorded 143 deaths due to COVID-19.

Jasper County reports three COVID-19 deaths

The Jasper County Health Department reported three deaths due to COVID-19 today.

The victims were a man in his 40s, a man in his 50s and a man in his 60s. The fatalities bring the county's total to 175.

Joplin man who shot three people, two service dogs found not guilty by reason of insanity

A Joplin man who shot five people and two comfort dogs, including three people in an Immanuel Lutheran Church van August 13, 2016, was found not guilty by reason of insanity, according to a KOAM report.

The shootings committed by Tom Mourning were described in an August 2016 Joplin Police Department news release:

August 13, 2016, at 5:08 AM, Joplin Police responded to 1810 Connecticut Ave. in reference to a report of a subject shooting at that location.

There were four victims injured by gunshots and one victim struck by shrapnel. A suspect has been arrested.

Joplin Officers located a possible suspect vehicle southbound on Connecticut Ave. As they were preparing to engage in a vehicle stop, officers reported hearing shots being fired from the suspect vehicle.

The sole occupant and operator of the vehicle fired shots striking victims at 32nd St. and Connecticut Ave. The officers engaged in pursuit of the suspect during which the suspect fired additional shots at victims near 32nd St. and Texas Ave.

At 5:22 AM, the pursuit ended at 32nd St. and Pearl Ave. where the suspect submitted to arrest without further resistance.

At 32nd St. and Connecticut Ave. a van was stopped at a traffic signal. As the suspect traveled through the intersection he fired multiple rounds. Three adult victims were injured as a result of either direct gunfire and/or shrapnel. These victims were transported to a local hospital. (The van was an Immanuel Lutheran Church van. One victim is listed as critical but stable, one victim is listed as serious but stable and the third victim has been released.)

The suspect continued driving east onto Connecticut Ave. Near 32nd St. and Texas Ave., the suspect fired multiple rounds at an oncoming, westbound vehicle. One victim-driver was struck by rounds and the victim-passenger was struck by shrapnel.

The suspect turned around and continued fleeing westbound on 32nd St. At 32nd St. and Pearl Ave., the suspect turned north onto Pearl Ave. In the area of 30th St. and Pearl Ave. the suspect exited his slowly moving vehicle and submitted to arrest without further resistance.

The suspect vehicle continued in motion until it struck a parked vehicle. At 5:22, Tom S. Mourning II, 26, Joplin, Mo. was arrested The motivation for this event has yet to be determined. 

Police recovered a rifle and a handgun. There does not appear to be any relationship between the suspect and the victims. We are asking anyone with any information regarding this event to please contact the Joplin Police Department at 417-623-3131. 

The Joplin Police Department extends our appreciation to the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office, the Newton County Sheriff’s Office, Missouri State Highway Patrol, Duquesne Police Department, the Joplin Fire Department and Metro Emergency Response System (METS) Ambulance Service for their assistance during this event.

Mourning had been charged with five counts of first degree assault, five counts of armed criminal action and three counts of unlawful use of a weapon.

Neosho Daily News under local ownership again

Call the company Gannett, call it GateHouse Media, call it whatever you want. The good news for residents of Neosho is that it doesn't matter any more.

Jimmy Sexton, whose competitor, the Neosho Post, provided stiff competition to the Daily in the '90s, bought the Neosho Daily News and Aurora Advertiser from Gannett, according to a joint announcement issued issued today.

Sexton and his wife, Rhonda, Neosho residents, publish the Seneca News-Dispatch.

According to the statement, the transaction will close September 1.

While the Daily has not been a daily (it is published twice a week) for quite a while, it has allegedly been updated daily, often with the same identical stories.

At least two newspapers have been spared the death sentence GateHouse/Gannett gave the Carthage Press.

Judge dismisses lawsuit claiming former Barton County Sheriff ignored rape of female prisoner

A federal judge today ordered the dismissal of a lawsuit that claimed former Barton County Sheriff Mitchell Shaw didn't bother to read complaints that a jailer raped a female inmate and gave her chlamydia.

Judge Brian C. Wimes dismissed the case without prejudice, meaning it can be refiled at a later date. Each side will pay its own costs.

Shaw, Barton County and the former jailer, Antonio Azua, Jr. were the defendants in the case, which was filed in July 2020.

A pre-trial conference for Azua, who is charged with felony rape is scheduled for September 16 in Barton County Circuit Court.

The lawsuit alleged deplorable conditions for female prisoners, lax oversight and poor training of jailers by Shaw and claimed the former sheriff refused to provide documents and records to her lawyer, Joplin attorney Bill Fleischaker, even though all of the documents are open records under the Missouri Sunshine Law.

The allegations were included in the petition, which is printed below:

Plaintiff was first incarcerated in the Barton County Jail on or about September 10, 2018 on a charge of Tampering with a Motor Vehicle. The conditions inside the Barton County Jail for female inmates were deplorable. It was September and the outside temperate ranged from the low 80’s to the low 90’s Fahrenheit.

Female inmates were kept locked in the basement of the Barton County Jail. The basement of the Barton County Jail has no fresh air circulation, no air conditioning and no active heat, or, if there was any air conditioning it was non-functioning. The female inmates all shared one box fan that worked sporadically.

There were not enough beds in the basement for all of the female detainees and routinely they slept on a mat on the concrete floor. Often Plaintiff slept on the floor after giving up her bed so that an older inmate could have it.

The area of the basement of the jail where the females were locked had no running water, no running toilet and no sink. The Plaintiff and the other female inmates were told that they could only have access to a restroom with running water for one hour a day.

Each day, Plaintiff and the other female inmates were given ice water and tea in pitchers to drink.

(She) inmates shared the pitchers for this purpose. Sometimes they were given plastic bags for this purpose. With no air circulation in the basement the smell became unbearable and unsanitary and dangerous to the Plaintiff’s physical and mental health. This was the only breathable air available to (Plaintiff) and the others.

The inmates were often forced to clean the pitchers. The next day they would be given the same pitchers filled with drinking water after being told by jail staff that the pitchers had been “bleached”.

(Plaintiff) and other female inmates had rare access to showers. Only female jailers were supposed to escort female inmates for showers and “Mona”, the only female jailer, claimed she was too busy with other duties. The Plaintiff was allowed one shower in eleven days.

Toward the end of (her) first stay in the jail she began to learn from other inmate(s) that a specific male jailer, Defendant Azua, had created a bartering system with female inmates whereby Defendant Azua would offer things such as snacks, showers and other ways to escape the deplorable conditions in the basement in exchange for female inmates exposing their private body parts to him and/or doing other sexual favors.

On one occasion (Plaintiff) asked Defendant Azua for a pop tart. Defendant Azua instructed (her) female inmate “how I work.” (Plaintiff) was then told by the inmate that if she did sexual favors for Mr. Azua such as exposing herself to Mr. Azua she would get better privileges and the more she exposed the better the privileges would be.

On September 21, 2018 (Plaintiff) posted bond and was released from the Barton County Jail pending her return to court.

On October 30, 2018,(she) traveled to Barton County for her court appearance with her two young children. She was late for court and when she arrived she was advised that a warrant would be issued for her arrest. Although she was outside the courthouse for her appearance she did not want to be arrested with her children. (She) returned to Oklahoma.

On December 8, 2018 (She) was again incarcerated in the Barton County Jail after being arrested on the failure to appear warrant. She was incarcerated there until December 18, 2018. The conditions inside the jail were much the same as they had been in September 2018. However, the weather outside was now much colder with temperatures regularly under twenty degrees Fahrenheit.

Once again (Plaintiff) was placed in the basement with no heat other than a single space heater. The inmates were given one blanket which was insufficient for the cold temperature of the basement. There were often not enough beds to accommodate the inmates. There was no running water and no restroom
facilities available to them most of the time. She and other female inmates were forced to defecate and urinate in their drinking pitchers throughout her stay there. Mr. Azua continued to be employed as well.

During her December 2018 stay in the Barton County Jail Defendant Azua began offering to let (Plaintiff) and another female inmate take showers more regularly. The area where the single shower was located was near the laundry room. Defendant Azua would lead (her)and the other inmate to the shower stall.

The shower had only a small curtain that did not extend over the entire shower area. While (she) was showering the Defendant Azua would watch her. (She) was forced to choose between taking a shower this way or not bathing.

In September 2018 (she) was allowed to shower once in eleven days. Because of the unsanitary conditions of the basement described above it was important to (her) to be able to clean herself. In December her shower usage increased under Mr. Azua’s supervision to approximately every other day but only as long as Defendant Azua could watch her.

On December 18, 2018 (Plaintiff) pled guilty to the charges and was placed on probation. She was released from the Barton County Jail the same day.

(She) was instructed that even though she was an Oklahoma resident and had no connections to Missouri and no family there, she was not allowed to leave the State of Missouri until cleared to do so by her probation officer. (She) has young children. She had nowhere to stay in Missouri and could not afford to sleep in motels. She tried to find living space in shelters but had no identification and was ultimately unable to remain in Missouri without housing and she returned to Oklahoma.

On January 26, 2019 (Plaintiff) was again incarcerated in the Barton County Jail for an alleged probation violation, in part for leaving the State of Missouri. Defendant Azua was still employed as a jailer. (She) was confined there until March 28, 2019.

The conditions of the jail for female inmates such as (Plaintiff) remained deplorable and unconscionable and lacked effective heat sources. Low temperatures at night routinely were less than freezing, sometimes less than ten degrees Fahrenheit.

Defendant Azua became much more aggressive in bargaining with (her) for “favors” of a sexual nature in exchange for improved conditions in the jail. Defendant Azua began requiring (her) and at least one other female inmate to expose their breasts in exchange for things like snacks and cigarettes.

Defendant Azua would regularly take (Plaintiff) to get a shower although only female jailers were allowed to escort females to the shower. Routinely (she) was required to shower with Defendant Azua watching her. After the shower she would be required to get dressed in front of him.

On one occasion while she was showering Defendant Azua reached into the shower and began rubbing (her) back with a rag. (She) told him to stop but instead of stopping he pushed her against the shower wall and continued rubbing down her back to her buttocks area. (She) pushed his hand away.

Defendant Azua responded, “I’m the guard, you’re the inmate. I don’t know why you won’t just
bend over.”

On several occasions Defendant Azua would converse with (Plaintiff) about his sex life with his wife. He insisted that they had an open marriage and that his wife had given him chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease.

Defendant Azua told (Plaintiff) that he discussed her with his wife. He stated that when (she) got out of jail she would not be able to return to Oklahoma for a while. He stated that she should come live with him and his wife and the only requirement was that they would have group sex.

(Plaintiff) played along with Defendant Azua’s statements out of fear of what would happen if he suspected that she told anyone about his actions. She felt that she had to convince him that she was open to his advances to protect herself. She believed that eventually he would try to rape her.

On another occasion Defendant Azua took (Plaintiff) and two other female inmates to the shower area. While one inmate showered Defendant Azua took (her) to another area away from the two inmates. He began trying to kiss (her). (She) was afraid to totally refuse him but was able to convince him that it was too risky with the other inmates so close.

Defendant Azua instructed the inmate taking a shower to show her genitals to the other female inmate and the inmate complied. He then instructed her to insert a finger in her vagina in front of the other inmate and she complied.

On another occasion Defendant Azua took (Plaintiff) and another female inmate to the shower area. While the other inmate was showering, Azua took (her) to an area out of view of the shower. He turned her around and began rubbing against her and kissing the back of her neck. When she did not respond to his actions he pushed her until her face was up against the wall. He continued rubbing and put his hands down the back of her jail uniform. (She) turned around to stop him.

Defendant Azua started kissing her and put his hand down the front of her jail uniform. He inserted his finger into her vagina. (Plaintiff), in order to safely get him to stop, pulled his hand away and told him it was too risky with the other inmates around.

Mr. Azua then stated, “You’re right. We’ll do it later. You know you like it.”

(Plaintiff) saw female inmates using a cell phone in the basement. She was told that someone slid it under the door to them. (Plaintiff) and other inmates suspected Defendant Azua was responsible for the phone. The battery eventually died on the phone.

(Plaintiff) had two young children in Oklahoma and had been unable to communicate with them while in jail. One of (her) children’s birthday had recently occurred. (She) was upset that she had not been able to be with her daughter.

Azua knew (Plaintiff) was emotional about missing her daughter’s birthday. Defendant Azua told (her) that he had a charger for the phone and she could have it if Azua could molest her breasts and other parts of her body on the outside of her clothing. Reluctantly, (she) agreed so that she could talk to her daughter.

Later Azua demanded that (she) use the phone to record herself dancing nude and send it to him.

Defendant Azua had become more aggressive in his demands for sexual favors.

On a morning in mid-February 2019, Defendant Azua took (Plaintiff) from the basement under the guise of her helping prepare breakfast. He shackled her at her feet and hands with her hands connected to a belly chain around her waist.

Azua took (her) to a dark room in another part of the basement that she was unfamiliar with. As soon as they entered the room Azua was on her and began pulling at her clothing.

Azua repeated “You want this.” Azua unzipped his pants and forced (her) pants down while she was saying “No, please stop” repeatedly.

Azua did not stop despite repeated pleas from (her). Azua vaginally raped (her) in the dark basement room while she was shackled.

Approximately one day later other jail staff discovered the phone in the basement and an investigation began.

(Plaintiff) disclosed to Sheriff Shaw that she had been raped by Azua. She requested that she be taken to a doctor to have a rape exam and to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases. The Sheriff replied that a rape exam would not be useful.

Days later (Plaintiff) began experiencing symptoms consistent with a sexually transmitted disease. After repeated requests to jail staff, including the Sheriff, to get a rape test and a physical examination (she) was finally taken to a local hospital where she tested positive for chlamydia.

At all times a female jailer named Raymona Wright, known as “Mona” was employed in the jail. On several occasions (Plaintiff) and other female inmates told “Mona” and another jailer named “Travis” that Defendant Azua was taking them to shower.

In response to these complaints “Mona” replied that she wasn’t surprised, that she knew Azua was wrongfully taking certain female inmates for showers. “Mona” knew Azua should not be doing that.

Nothing changed and Defendant Azua continued to take (Plaintiff) and other female inmates for showers.

(Plaintiff) made written various complaints about the conditions in the jail in December 2018. She also made complaints about Azua taking female inmates to showers. No jail staff ever came to (her) to discuss the complaints and no changes in the conditions occurred.

(Plaintiff) also made written complaints to jail staff in January or February 2019 regarding the conditions in the jail. In some of the complaints she asked to speak to the Sheriff or a supervisor for Azua.

(She) eventually was told that Azua reads all the complaints and determines what to do about them and it was futile to make a written complaint.

(Plaintiff) later learned from the Sheriff that he had received the complaints but never read them. No changes in any of the conditions or circumstances described herein ever occurred as a result of the Plaintiff’s written complaints.

After (she) disclosed that she had been raped by Azua she was put in an isolation cell for approximately one week with little to no contact with other inmates or jail personnel.

Upon her release from Barton County Jail on March 28, 2019 (Plaintiff) was assessed a fee in the amount of $1,851.56 for the “cost of incarceration” by Barton County.

On February 18, 2019 Defendant Azua was charged in the 28th Judicial Circuit sitting in Barton County in case number 19B4-CR00026 with one count of Sexual Contact with a Prisoner/Offender, a Class E Felony, in violation of 566.145 RSMo against the victim, for some of the conduct described herein.

On October 31, 2019 the charge against Defendant Azua was amended to Rape in the First Degree in violation of 566.030 RSMo alleging that he had sexual intercourse with (the plaintiff) “by the use of forcible compulsion.”

On December 17, 2019 a preliminary hearing was held in the case against Defendant Azua wherein (Plaintiff) gave sworn testimony.

The Honorable Judge James Nichols found “probable cause to believe that the Defendant committed the felony charged” and Azua was bound over for trial. A trial date has not yet been set.

On or about April 7, 2020 the Plaintiff, through counsel, made various written requests for public records relevant to these matters to Defendant Sheriff Shaw pursuant to the terms and procedures as found in the “Missouri Sunshine Law” 221.300 et. seq. RSMo.

Defendant Shaw has unreasonably and wrongfully refused to produce any of the requested materials in an effort to prohibit Plaintiff from obtaining materials that would support her claims.

Person of interest in death of former Carthage resident extradited from Guatemala to face federal kidnapping charge

Thursday will mark the two-year anniversary of a bicyclist's discovery of the body of a former Carthage woman, which had been left in a suitcase in a hilly area by MO 59 between Noel and Lanagan.

A man who McDonald County authorities termed a "person of interest" in connection with the murder of Jessica McCormack, 25, was recently arrested in Guatemala and returned to the United States to face federal kidnapping charges, according to a news release issued today by the U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

Mahamud Tooxoow Mahamed, 39, was indicted August 20, 2019, for kidnapping Carpenter's four-year-old daughter and taking her to Des Moines, Iowa. His arraignment and detention hearing are scheduled for 10 a.m. August 2 in Springfield.

The kidnapping charge against Mahamed was detailed in the probable cause affidavit filed in 2019.

On July 29, 2019, the McDonald County, Missouri Sheriff's Office received a report of a deceased body that was located off Missouri Highway 59 between Lanagan, Missouri and Noel, Missouri8.

The deceased female was located in a partially unclothed state within a suitcase.

A subsequent investigation conducted by the McDonald County Sheriff's Office led to the identification of the deceased as Jessica McCormack.

Through the course of the investigation, MCSO discovered that McCormack's last known address was 229 Main Street, Noel, Missouri. This was confirmed by MCSO through prior law enforcement contact and calls for service.

A review of calls for service reports obtained from the McDonald County 9-1-1 Dispatch Center conducted by the MCSO showed that on July 16, 2019, law enforcement officers with the Noel, Missouri's Marshal's Office made contact with McCormack and her three children at McCormack's residence, 229 Main Street, Noel, Missouri.

McCormack's three children are identified as Jane Doe 1 (four years old), Jane Doe 2 (two years old) and Jane Doe 3 (six months old).

The report indicated that Mahamud Tooxoow Mahamed, identified as McCormack's paramour, was also at the residence at the time and law enforcement officers checked Mahamed for active warrants while on the scene.

Dispatch also received a call from an individual on July 17, 2019, reporting that he/she had been unable to locate McCormack.

Mahamed is the biological father of of the two-year-old female child Jane Doe 2. Jane Doe 1's biological father is Miguel Angel Casillas, who resides in Oklahoma. The biological father of Jane Doe 3 cannot be postively identified at this time.

On August 8, 2019, after making positive identification of McCormack's body, the MCSO issued an Amber Alert for McCormack's three biological children, who could not be located at McCormack's residence.

On August 8, 2019, Jane Does 1, 2 and 3 were subsequently located in Des Moines, Iowa and were taken into state custody.

On August 12, 2019, your affiant spoke with Detective Jake Lancaster with the Des Moines Iowa Police Department. Detective Lancaster informed your affiant that the Jane Does were located at 6011 Creston Avenue, Unit 1, Des Moines, Iowa.

Malyun Koliso, the resident at 6011 Creston Avenue Unit 1, informed Detective Lancaster that on August 5, 2019, Mahamed arrived at her residence with the Jane Does between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Koliso knew Mahamed from having previously worked with him at the Tyson plant in Noel, Missouri. Koliso reported that on August 8, 2019, at approxiately 4 p.m. she awoke to the children crying. When she got out of bed, she discovered that Mahamed was not in the residence. Koliso stated that she found a note from Mahamed informing her that he could not care for the children and had left.

On August 12, 2019, your affiant spoke with Dianne Cooper of the Missouri Department of Social Services Children's Division in McDonald County, Missouri. Cooper informed your affiant that an investigation conducted by the Children's Division indicated that the father of McCormack's oldest child was Casillas.

On August 8, 2019, MCSO Lieutenant Brandon Barrett interviewed Casillas, who confirmed that Jane Doe 1 is his daughter and that Mahamed did not his consent to take Jane Doe i outside the state of Missouri, specifically to Iowa.

Your affiant received information from Lt. Barrett that he also interviewed Ibraham Akfeen on August 12, 2019.Affiant reported that he used to live at 229 Main Street with McCormack and the Jane Does.

Akfeen stated he moved out on July 15, 2019, to move to St. Louis, Missouri.

On July 16, 2019 in the early morning hours while he was in St. Louis, Akfeen received a phone call from McCormack asking him to come pick her and Jane Does up from from her residence at 229 Main Street, Noel Missouri.

McCormack also texted Akfeen to come pick her up. Akfeen did not do so because he was in St. Louis. This was the last time Akfeen heard from McCormack.

Based upon the investigation, July 16, 2019, was the last time any individual observed McCormack to be alive. Furthermore, the last time the Jane Does were observed to be in the state of Missouri before they were located in Iowa was on July 16, 2019, at 229 Main Street, Noel, Missouri, by Noel Marshal's officers.

Today's news release from the U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri is printed below:

A Noel, Missouri, man has been arrested in the Republic of Guatemala and returned to the United States to face a federal indictment for kidnapping the 4-year-old daughter of a woman whose body was discovered in a suitcase last year.

Mahamud Tooxoow Mahamed, 39, a Somali national, was charged in an indictment returned on Aug. 20, 2019. The indictment alleges that Mahamed kidnapped a minor victim (identified in court documents as Jane Doe 1) and transported her from Missouri to Iowa.

Mahamed, who has been a fugitive from justice since the indictment, was recently arrested in Guatemala, expelled from that country, and returned to the United States. His initial court appearance was held today in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo. He remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing on Aug. 2, 2021.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the original federal criminal complaint, the body of Jessica McCormack, of Noel, was discovered on July 29, 2019, near Missouri Highway 59 between Lanagan, Mo., and Noel. The last time McCormack was seen alive, the affidavit says, was when law enforcement officers responded to a call at her home on July 16, 2019. Also present in the residence were Mahamed, who was identified as McCormack’s paramour, and McCormack’s three daughters, identified in court documents as Jane Doe 1 (four years old), Jane Doe 2 (two years old), and Jane Doe 3 (six months old).

McCormack’s children could not be located after her body was discovered and identified. An Amber Alert was issued for McCormack’s three children, who were located at a residence in Des Moines, Iowa, and taken into state custody on Aug. 8, 2019. According to the affidavit, a woman who formerly worked with Mahamed at the Tyson plant in Noel told law enforcement officers that Mahamed arrived at her Des Moines residence with the children on Aug. 5, 2019. She discovered he had left on Aug. 8, 2019, the affidavit says, when she found a note from Mahamed informing her that he could not care for the children.

Investigators confirmed with the father of McCormack’s oldest child that Mahamed did not have his consent to take Jane Doe 1 outside the state of Missouri.

The charge contained in this indictment is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by the FBI, the McDonald County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, and the Des Moines, Iowa, Police Department.

Nancy Hughes: I thought I had forgiven her

“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

Mark 11:25 (NIV)

It’s hard to describe the surge of intense anger I instantly felt when I heard the voice behind me say “I bet you don’t remember me . . .” I forced a smile on my face as I turned to greet her but on the inside, I was raging. 

Surely she could see my shirt jumping from the pounding of my heart! My hands clenched and unclenched as I battled a deep desire to grab her and scream “How dare you come up to me after everything you did?”

But instead I replied “Yes, I do remember you. It’s been a long time,” as she squeezed my hand and smiled in return. I had not forgotten her or how she had treated me many years before as we rode the school bus together day after day but evidently she had. 

She was 5 years older than me and never bothered to glance my way when she was by herself. But when her best friend was with her, she suddenly became bold in her comments and they bruised my heart much worse than if she had physically hit me and left a mark on my skin.

She would always sit in the seat behind me and speak to her friend in a stage whisper. “Nancy is so skinny. I bet she has some terrible disease and is going to die!” she would tell her friend. Or “Do you know what I heard about Nancy’s mother?” she would whisper loudly and then make up a horrible story that, while I knew it wasn’t true, hurt me terribly. And if I began to cry at what she said, she would immediately make fun of me for the tears. I cannot describe the relief that I felt on the day she graduated because I knew that I would not be hurt by her anymore.

Until the exact moment that I heard her voice, I thought I had forgiven her. I had read Scriptures on forgiving someone who has hurt you. I had given countless talks at women’s groups on forgiveness. I had encouraged members in my Sunday school class to forgive. But I had not.

Instead, I had planted my anger and resentment and hurt deep into the soil of my heart and I had allowed it to take root and grow – for years. Then I read Mark 11:25 and I came face to face with my Father and His Word. He is direct and to the point: He will not forgive me for sinning against Him if I have not done the same: forgiven those who have sinned against me. There is no addendum attached that says “this Scripture only applies if the offender is truly sorry and asks you for forgiveness.” Nope. It says “forgive.” Period.

Hard to do? At times, oh yes, but so much easier if you ask the Lord for help. And that is exactly what I did. I asked Him to pull the anger and hurt and resentment out of my heart and replace them with mercy and grace and forgiveness. His answer was “yes.” And one more point – just because you have forgiven does not mean that you will forever forget what happened. But instead of continually allowing yourself to become angry and bitter, use your memory as an opportunity to remind yourself how badly you felt and resolve to never ever treat someone as you were treated. Then thank the Lord for His mercy and forgiveness toward you. Have you been hurt or wronged or sinned against? Jesus understands completely. His example? Forgive so that we may be forgiven.

Father, please reveal to me any instance when I have not forgiven someone who has hurt or wronged me. I want to forgive as you do. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

R.A.P. it up . . .

Reflect

Is there someone in your life, past or present, that hurt you deeply?

Have you truly forgiven that person or do you feel anger and resentment every time you think about them?

Apply

Journal the initials of people that you know or have known who have hurt you or sinned against you.

Beside each one, write “I forgive you as my Father has forgiven me.” And lift each one up to the Lord.

Power

Mark 11:25 (NIV) “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

Colossians 3:13 (NIV) “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV) “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

(For more of Nancy Hughes' writing, check out her blog, Encouragement from the War Room.) 

Paul Richardson: This isn't Route 66 any more, Toto

There is a piece of road, a not so little piece as it stretches for about one hundred and sixty-six miles, from Exit 18 to Exit 184. What started out to be four lanes of loneliness has evolved into four lanes of almost bumper to bumper congestion.

I began traveling this road near fifty years ago, well not quite fifty, it was only 47 ½ years ago when myself and a couple of other students from our high school went to take some test that would determine what classes that we would be required to take upon entering the university. 

This was a real adventure, at least for me, to travel along with Pete Babb and Randy Armstrong and then to top it off, a snow event occurred, delaying our departure for home.

 

It wasn’t long before Randy and I were beginning our new educational journey and that road became the main thoroughfare connecting us to home and family. While my final destinations always have been a few miles to several miles beyond the interchange where the journey exits the interstate, that one hundred and sixty-six miles is the bulk of the journey.

After the initial years and then returning a few years later to the university, I somehow managed to marry the girl who is now the good wife. Her hometown is about thirty-two miles beyond Exit 184, so that segment of highway continues to be a part of my life to this day.

I have spun rod bearings in motors on this route. I have been stranded in weather so cold that icicles formed from my beard and all the while I was trying to get a ride to the truck stop at the next exit. I have picked up other wandering souls on this route and hauled them in excess of one hundred miles, all the time just being happy for the company. I have driven this in the dark, the pouring rain, snowstorms, on ice covered roads, in the heat, and every imaginable weather condition.

I stood in a park on a hilltop and watched the storms in 1975 that were ravaging Neosho and then traveled that route a couple days later to begin the summer as an intern with Southwestern Bell Telephone. It was on that return I discovered that my task was going to be moving phone equipment for people that had been forced to find new housing due to the storm.

The good wife and I just returned home from once again making the journey along this very route. I am just amazed at how it has changed over the years. I recall waiting at least five minutes to get a ride when I was stranded in 1974. Now the traffic is constant and congested. 

I have seen the road moved from old pavement that was a part of the Historic Route 66 to entirely new areas that are not nearly as scenic. Through all of these years and changes, the last few journeys along this toad have really hit home. This isn’t the same road of all those years ago. This isn’t Route 66 anymore, Toto!

Jasper County reports three COVID-19 deaths, 61 new cases

The Jasper County Health Department reported three deaths due to COVID-19 Monday.

The victims were a man in his 50s, a woman in her 60s and a woman in her 90s. The deaths bring the county's total to 172.

The department reported 61 new cases, according to a post this evening on its Facebook page.

COVID Update 7-27-2021

61 new positive cases

0-6 months 1
1-11 yrs 7
12-19yrs 5
20-29yrs 7
30-39yrs 15
40-49yrs 12
50-59yrs 7
60-69yrs 7
70-79yrs 0
80-89yrs 0
90+yrs 0
Vaccinated - 2 = 97% unvaccinated