(AP) — A National Guardsman from southwest Missouri is suing Stone County because his job was given to someone else while he was deployed.
In a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, Ryan Joy says when he was deployed in May 2012, he was a mechanic working as shop manager for the Stone County. When he returned in 2013, the county told him he would no longer be the manager. He was given a lesser position and eventually left because of what he calls a hostile workplace.
Joy says he contacted the Department of Labor, which told county officials that they were violating a federal law by not reinstating Joy to his previous position.
The Springfield News-Leader reports the county filed court documents denying many of Joy’s claims.
Douglas Brinkley, professor of history at Rice University and prolific biographer, will be the featured speaker at the 21st R. Dan Boulware Convocation on Critical Issues at Missouri Western State University at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4 in the M.O. Looney Complex on the Missouri Western campus. The Convocation is free and open to the public. Brinkley’s most recent book is “Cronkite,” a New York Times bestselling biography of St. Joseph native son Walter Cronkite. He will speak on what would have been the legendary newsman’s 98thbirthday.
“Last Nov. 4, we dedicated the Walter Cronkite Memorial to honor the most influential journalist of the 20th century,” said Dr. Robert Vartabedian,
Dr. Douglas Brinkley, featured speaker for the 21st R. Dan Boulware Convocation on Critical Issues on Nov. 4, 2014.
Missouri Western’s president. “It’s appropriate that we mark Cronkite’s birthday this year with his biographer, one of the most prolific biographers living today. This man is a scholar on many fascinating subjects, and I know that he will be an excellent speaker at Convocation.”
In addition to the Convocation, Dr. Brinkley will be the guest of honor at the annual Convocation Luncheon at noon Nov. 4 in the Fulkerson Center. Ticket and sponsorship information for the luncheon will be announced at a later date. He will also speak the preceding day at the inaugural Walter Cronkite Conference on Media Ethics and Integrity, cosponsored by Missouri Western and the Media Ethics Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Dr. Brinkley’s appearance is sponsored by the Missouri Western State University Foundation.
Douglas Brinkley currently is a professor of history at Rice University. His most recent book is “Cronkite,” a New York Times bestseller, in which he brings the American icon into focus as never before by drawing on unprecedented access to his private papers as well as interviews with the anchorman’s family and friends. He is a sought-after commentator on U.S. presidential history and has written books on Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan as well as presidential candidate John Kerry.
Six of Dr. Brinkley’s books have been selected as New York Times “Notable Books of the Year.” “The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast” (2006) was the recipient of the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award. “The Great Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America” (2009) was the recipient of the National Outdoor Book Award.
Before coming to Rice, Dr. Brinkley served as professor of history and director of the Roosevelt Center at Tulane University in New Orleans. From 1994 to 2005, he was Stephen E. Ambrose Professor of History and Director of the Eisenhower Center for American Studies at the University of New Orleans, co-writing two books with Dr. Ambrose. On the literary front, Dr. Brinkley has edited Jack Kerouac’s diaries, Hunter S. Thompson’s letters and Theodore Dreiser’s travelogue. He has also written books on Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks and Cold Warrior Dean Acheson.
He won the Benjamin Franklin Award for “The American Heritage History of the United States” (1998) and the Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt Naval History Prize for “Driven Patriot: The Life and Times of James Forrestal” (1992). He was awarded the BusinessWeek Book of the Year Award for “Wheels for the World: Henry Ford, His Company and a Century of Progress” (2003).
Dr. Brinkley is a contributing editor for “Vanity Fair,” “The Los Angeles Times Book Review” and “American Heritage.”
Dr. Brinkley completed his bachelor’s degree at Ohio State University and received his doctorate in U.S. Diplomatic History from Georgetown University in 1989. He lives in Austin and Houston, Texas with his wife and three children.
Missouri Western inaugurated the R. Dan Boulware Convocation on Critical Issues program in 1993. The program was started as part of an overall commitment to offer enriching experiences to students while bringing together the college and community. The Convocation is held in honor of R. Dan Boulware, former president of the Board of Regents. Previous Convocation speakers include: Bill Bradley, James Carville & Mary Matalin, Sam Donaldson, Steve Forbes, Thomas Friedman, David Gergen, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Newt Gingrich, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Jeane Kirkpatrick, Jerry Linenger, David McCullough, Joseph Nye, T. Boone Pickens, Colin Powell, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Daniel Schorr, Patricia Schroeder, J. C. Watts and Bob Woodward.
(AP) — A former Kansas City church pastor pleaded guilty to child molestation and sexual misconduct involving a 13-year-old girl.
Fifty-nine-year-old George L. Spencer on Thursday was sentenced to a total of seven years in prison for groping and sodomizing the girl in February 2012.
Spencer was an associate pastor at Greater Works CME Church in south Kansas City. Court documents indicate he committed the crimes in his office while the girl’s mother and grandmother were attending Bible study at the church.
The Kansas City Star reports the church’s pastor told Spencer the next day to turn in his keys and not return.
Spencer was arrested in March 2013 in New Orleans and extradited to Missouri.
(AP) — Toy maker Infantino is recalling 191,000 teething toys sold exclusively at Target because a child could potentially choke on one of its parts.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday that consumers should stop using the Go Gaga Squeeze & Teethe CoCo the Monkey toys. The toy is made of soft orange rubber, is shaped like a monkey and squeaks.
Infantino has received seven reports of infants choking or gagging on the monkey’s tail. No injuries have been reported.
The toys were sold at Target stores from late 2012 through early 2014 for about $13.
Consumers were advised to keep the products away from infants and contact Infantino for a replacement toy.
More information can be found online at infantino.com or by calling the company by phone at 1-888-808-3111.
(AP) — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon will be presiding over a discussion about the National Guard and emergency preparations during a national gathering of governors.
Nixon is heading to Washington, D.C., this weekend for the winter meeting of the National Governors Association.
Missouri’s Democratic governor is chairman of the association’s Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee.
The panel is to discuss the future of the National Guard during a Saturday meeting featuring Gen. Frank Grass, who is chief of the National Guard Bureau. Officials from the American Red Cross also are to discuss disaster response efforts with the governors’ group.
Two people were injured in a DeKalb County crash Thursday night
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports that the accident occurred as a 1996 Chevy truck driven by 21-year-old Tyler S. Daniel of Cameron was traveling north on Ketchem Road, 3 miles south of Maysville.
The truck traveled off the east side of the road, struck a ditch, a fence, a phone box and an embankment. The truck came to rest on the east side of Ketchem Road on its wheels. Daniel and a 21-year-old Garrett R. Utt of Cameron were transported to Cameron Regional Medical Center.
The Highway Patrol said they were both wearing seat belts.
Two teenagers were injured in a rollover crash in Wyandotte County Thursday night.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reports a 2006 Ford Ranger driven by 19 year old Christopher Lee Johnson of Leavenworth was on the I-435 ramp from Leavenworth Road. The driver realized he was going off the right side of the roadway, overcorrected and rolled the vehicle.
Johnson and a passenger 19 year old Tifany Nicole Flye of Leavenworth were transported to Overland Park Regional Medical Center.
The KHP reported they were both wearing seat belts.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An economist says a survey of bankers in 10 Midwest and Plains states suggests the regional economy is losing steam.
The Rural Mainstreet Index dropped below growth neutral in the February survey, hitting 48.4, compared with 50.8 in January and 56.1 in December.
The survey indexes range from 0 to 100, with 50 representing growth neutral. A score above 50 suggests growth in that factor in the months ahead.
Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says the overall index’s decline shows that “areas of the nation highly dependent on agriculture and energy are losing economic steam.”
Bankers from Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming were surveyed.
ATLANTA (AP) — As the flu season winds down, health officials say it wasn’t as bad as last year and the vaccine worked better. But younger adults were hit harder because of a surge of swine flu.
Overall, hospitalization rates for the flu are only about half what they were last winter. It has been a fairly mild season for the elderly — usually the most vulnerable group to flu and its complications.
But it’s been a different story for younger adults. The government said Thursday that nearly two-thirds of the hospital stays this winter were in adults ages 18-64. Most flu seasons, it’s only one-third.
Swine flu was the dominant strain this winter and it hits young adults harder.
One person was injured in a Thursday afternoon crash on a snowy road in Holt County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports that a 2001 Ford Explorer driven by 30-year-old Tequitha L. Griffin of Mound City was westbound on CR 223, 5 miles south of Mound City and skidded out of control in the snow.
The vehicle spun counterclockwise, went off the left side of the road, struck a tree and came to rest on its wheels facing southwest. Griffin was transported to Heartland Regional Medical Center with serious injuries. The MSHP said she was wearing a seat belt. A passenger in the vehicle was not injured.
(AP) — A National Guardsman from southwest Missouri is suing Stone County because his job was given to someone else while he was deployed.
