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Neosho, Mo. —
Controversy surrounding the Newton County Sheriff’s Department dominated headlines in 2004.
Leading the news was the primary election for sheriff and the ensuing “talk show controversy.”
Other stories included an ethics complaint filed against then-Sheriff Ron Doerge and the dismissal of two corrections officers from the sheriff’s department.
After a 16-year stint as sheriff, Doerge elected not to seek re-election to the office. Five Republican candidates filed for the position and appeared on a local radio talk show, “The McCormack Files,” shortly before the Aug. 3, 2004, primary.
One of the candidates, Mike Langland, revealed he had prior knowledge of some of the questions and apologized to the other four. Langland said he had no idea what the questions were for and just prepared for them as if he would any other questions. It also was revealed that many of the questions were written by Sheriff Ron Doerge, who had previously announced his support for candidate Ken Copeland. Following the election, which was won by Copeland, Langland was reassigned to work in the jail as a jailer.
An ethics complaint was filed by a former Newton County Sheriff’s Department employee with the Missouri Ethics Commission. The complaint charged that Doerge used county funds for the purpose of campaigning in the Newton County sheriff’s race. After hearing the complaint, the Missouri Ethics Commission closed the case and sent a letter of admonition to Doerge.
However, Doerge said the letter addressed the former employee using the department computer for campaigning rather than him. But because he was the sheriff, he has to assume responsibility for anything that happens in his department.
Two Newton County jailers were fired from their jobs in the wake of an internal investigation conducted by the Newton County Sheriff’s Department. Adam Brandon Babbitt and Shane Stephen Smith, both 22 and of Neosho, were charged with a Class D felony charge of acceding to corruption.
The charges stemmed from an incident earlier in the year where the jailers were accused of conspiring with two inmates to unlock cell doors and turn off a video surveillance camera. The two inmates then walked out of their cell to another cell, the doors of which were also unlocked. While one inmate reportedly stood watch, the other inmate allegedly entered the cell and attacked one of the two inmates inside. When the other man came to his cell-mate’s aid, he allegedly also was assaulted.
Controversy surrounding the Newton County Sheriff’s Department dominated headlines in 2004.
Leading the news was the primary election for sheriff and the ensuing “talk show controversy.”
Other stories included an ethics complaint filed against then-Sheriff Ron Doerge and the dismissal of two corrections officers from the sheriff’s department.
After a 16-year stint as sheriff, Doerge elected not to seek re-election to the office. Five Republican candidates filed for the position and appeared on a local radio talk show, “The McCormack Files,” shortly before the Aug. 3, 2004, primary.
One of the candidates, Mike Langland, revealed he had prior knowledge of some of the questions and apologized to the other four. Langland said he had no idea what the questions were for and just prepared for them as if he would any other questions. It also was revealed that many of the questions were written by Sheriff Ron Doerge, who had previously announced his support for candidate Ken Copeland. Following the election, which was won by Copeland, Langland was reassigned to work in the jail as a jailer.
An ethics complaint was filed by a former Newton County Sheriff’s Department employee with the Missouri Ethics Commission. The complaint charged that Doerge used county funds for the purpose of campaigning in the Newton County sheriff’s race. After hearing the complaint, the Missouri Ethics Commission closed the case and sent a letter of admonition to Doerge.
However, Doerge said the letter addressed the former employee using the department computer for campaigning rather than him. But because he was the sheriff, he has to assume responsibility for anything that happens in his department.
Two Newton County jailers were fired from their jobs in the wake of an internal investigation conducted by the Newton County Sheriff’s Department. Adam Brandon Babbitt and Shane Stephen Smith, both 22 and of Neosho, were charged with a Class D felony charge of acceding to corruption.
The charges stemmed from an incident earlier in the year where the jailers were accused of conspiring with two inmates to unlock cell doors and turn off a video surveillance camera. The two inmates then walked out of their cell to another cell, the doors of which were also unlocked. While one inmate reportedly stood watch, the other inmate allegedly entered the cell and attacked one of the two inmates inside. When the other man came to his cell-mate’s aid, he allegedly also was assaulted.
The two dismissed jailers then filed civil suits against Doerge, but those were dismissed.
Other stories made headlines in 2004.
Mission to Mars
A Neosho native played a role in the NASA probe missions to the Red Planet in 2003, the Daily News reported in 2004 as the rovers touched down on Mars’ surface.
Rusty Woodall, a 1976 graduate of Neosho High School, was the mission operations assurance manager for the Spirit rover, one of two Mars Exploration Rovers (MERs) created by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the National Aeronautic and Space Admin-istration located in Pasadena, Calif.
Woodall was the person who, six months previously, uttered the phrase “we are go for launch,” then watched as a spacecraft lifted off the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Fla., for Mars.
In early January, Woodall and a roomful of NASA and JPL officials watched as the first of the rovers touched down and began sending back photos from the Red Planet.
“When we got those first pictures in, everybody was jumping up and down,” he said. “One engineer was crying, he was so elated.”
After graduating from Neosho High School, Woodall earned a degree in industrial technology from then-Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield. He then worked at Rockwell International as a quality engineer on the B-1 Stealth bomber project before going to work for Rocketdyne’s Canoga Part, Calif., location as a quality engineer for the space shuttle program. While there, he earned a master’s of science in program management from West Coast University in Los Angeles. He then took a job at TRW’s Space and Electronics Division before going to work on the rover project at JPL three years later.
Drug charges filed against hospital employees
Following a year-long investigation, drug charges were filed against two Neosho physicians and a former pharmacy employee. Dr. Jeffrey Wool, 43, and Dr. William Bentz, 38, both of Neosho, and Neidra C. Depuy, 36, of Neosho, were all charged with one count each of fraudulently obtaining a controlled substance – a Class D felony. Wool and Bentz both pled guilty to the charge. Wool received a suspended imposition of sentence, four years supervised probation and an assessment for enrollment into Newton County Adult Drug Court. Bentz received five years supervised probation and 100 hours of community service at 10 hours per month. Depuy entered an Alford plea and received four years supervised probation and 80 hours of community service.
All three have been dismissed from employment at Freeman Neosho Hospital.
203rd returns
After 14 months in Iraq, members of the local National Guard 203rd Engineer Battalion returned, much to the delight of their friends and family members. The soldiers returned to Ft. Leonard Wood then returned to Neosho and Anderson. Welcome home ceremonies were held on July 22 and July 23, 2004.
Morse Park expansion
After many years of buying property in the flood plain along North College Street, the city of Neosho completed the expansion of Morse Park that has been in the works for numerous years. Frantically trying to meet the deadline set to use grants given for the project, city crews installed playground equipment, planted trees, put in paths to make the expansion useful and appealing.
Mac County opens new school
After four ballot issues and slightly over a year of waiting for construction, students at Rocky Comfort Elementary got a new school to replace a 110-year-old structure.
Tours of the new school, located south of Longview, were given first to students and teachers, then to parents and McDonald County R-1 patrons, at the end of December 2004. On Jan. 4, 2005, students started their first day of class in the new school. “I know we did the right thing,” said boardmember Dianna Kissire, an alumnus of Rocky Comfort Elementary. “I know that this school was built not only for the kids that are inside here today, but also for these kids’ kids, and their grandkids.”
Candidate’s name left off ballot
State Senate candidate Thomas J. Capelli carried 1,104 votes in the Aug. 3 Democratic primary in McDonald County. But election officials inadvertently left off the name of another Democratic contender, that of Randall Vaught. The mistake was caught on election night as an assistant county clerk was phoning in election results to the Missouri Secretary of State’s office. Vaught petitioned the court for a new election, which was held Sept. 14, 2004. Vaught won the special election, but lost the 29th Senate race to Larry Gene Taylor, the Republican.
Sneller inducted into Hall of Fame
After receiving a countless number of awards and accolades, former Crowder College men’s basket-ball coach Bob Sneller was inducted into the National Junior College Athletics Association’s Hall of Fame during March 15, 2004, ceremonies in Hutchison, Kan.
“I am just thrilled beyond words,” Sneller said. “I really can’t believe it.”
Sneller was most known in Neosho for his 16-year tenure as men’s basketball coach. But in 1963, during his final year at Independence Community College, Sneller led his team to the national championship and was named the NJCAA Coach of the Year. In that championship game, Sneller’s Red Ravens defeated Moberly 73-68 in overtime behind a 39-point performance by All-American Rick Park. Moberly was coached by future NBA coach Cotton Fitzsimmons.
Sneller left the following year to head the men’s program at Crowder, averaging 20 wins a season. He also served as the school’s athletic director until retiring in 1980.
Sneller amassed a record of 467-216 during his 23 years as a head coach, and helped the women’s program at Crowder for a number of years. In 2006, the gymnasium at Crowder was named after Sneller.
Sneller passed away in 2009.
Boy, 6, fatally injured when hit by bus
Six-year-old Jacob Wright, a Neosho Public School student, was fatally injured when he fell under the wheels of a Neosho R-5 School bus on Dec. 16, 2004. The incident happened at the corner of Morrow and Summit streets. The late Bill Hoover, a 25-year veteran bus driver with the Neosho school district with a spotless driving record and more than 50 years experience as a bus and semi driver, was driving the bus at the time.
The incident has been ruled as accidental by the Neosho Police Department, but a wrongful death suit was filed against Neosho R-5 and the bus driver by Jacob’s parents, John and Terri Wright. In 2006, the Wrights received a $500,000 settlement in the case.
Firefighter killed battling blaze
A mid-day fire at the Bronc Busters Restaurant and Lounge in Diamond in February 2004 claimed the life of a veteran area firefighter. Steve Fierro, 40, a firefighter with the Carthage Fire Department died of smoke inhalation, Newton County Coroner Mark Bridges tentatively ruled. Fierro worked for the Neosho Fire Department for 2 ½ years as an engineer before taking a position in Carthage. He was also an EMT for the Newton County and Carthage ambulance districts.
