Joplin Mayor Jon Tupper made a statement to the public on TV, saying the problem with the downed power lines was not with Empire, but with the homeowners’ failure to properly prune trees on their property. The problem occurred because Empire’s management failed to act on the problem of trees under its power lines.
Empire’s upper management failed to act even after the storm in January. It failed to act by not bringing in the necessary repairmen before the storm hit. They need an area-wide emergency declared, once this is declared, money will be distributed to cover the cost of repairs to, Empire, for one and the city of Joplin for another.
Had Empire and the other utility distributors taken preventive measures to clean the trees under their lines they would not have had the power failure that occurred. Granted this was a severe ice storm of which we will all suffer for months and years to come because of the tree damage.
I take my hat off to the linemen who worked day and night to restore power. We lost power from Sunday to Sunday and some lost power longer. Had preventive maintenance been done and the city and Empire done their jobs to police these lines, this would not have occurred. Mayor Tupper, an apology from you for you statement blaming homeowners should be on its way.
Empire’s upper management needs to focus on prevention, rather than fixing the problem after it occurs. Upper management needs to listen to middle management and the linemen. They are the people who solve the problems. I am not any employee, nor am I associated with Empire or the city of Joplin. I’m just an ordinary citizen.
Bob Heitz
Joplin
Opinion
Voices: Public owed an apology
- Opinion
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Our View: Victims should come first
Millions of dollars in donations have poured in from around the world since the May 22, 2011, tornado. Those donations represent money from lemonade stands, charity auctions, corporate gifts and celebrity checks, just to name a few. In fact, one year later donations continue to come to Joplin.
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Beth Meeker, guest columnist: Same-sex marriage battle a quest for equal rights
I would like to take a moment to reply to guest columnist Anson Burlingame’s, “The Marriage Debate” (Globe, May 13).
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Sunday Forum: 2012 graduation speakers key on tornado, mall school and president’s visit
Editor’s note: In addition to speeches by President Barack Obama and Gov. Jay Nixon, Joplin High School’s top students addressed graduates, faculty, parents and other guests packed into the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center on the Missouri Southern State University campus. Following are the text of those speeches.
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Geoff Caldwell, guest columnist: Pack mentality takes truth as a casualty
President Obama’s Joplin graduation speech Monday showed that while there’s the political “right,” there’s also a very active “rabid” political right.
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Your View: ‘Study’ can mean anything
A few evenings ago, I watched a television program on the science of marriage.
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Our View: Support for museum
How can you tell the story of Joplin without the accounts of its mining history?
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Our View: Finding middle ground
The G-8 summit held last week in Camp David ended as expected.
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Anson Burlingame, guest columnist: Class of 2012 upholds character, hope
My oldest granddaughter was part of the class of 2012 from Joplin High School, and I attended the ceremony on Monday night.
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Scott Charton, guest columnist: 'Deadline in Disaster' film a story about storytellers
Local newspapers are at their best when they help their communities confront, understand, endure and overcome shared challenges.
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Our View: Make voting easiser
This year’s ballot will not include a proposed constitutional amendment that photo identification be required at the polls in Missouri. Good.
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