After repeatedly being turned down for financial assistance, Newton County officials learned on Wednesday that the county would receive a $1.3 million grant to repair and replace houses damaged by the May 2008 tornado.
Presiding Commissioner Jerry Carter told the Globe’s editorial staff he considered it a victory, despite the fact that the county received no federal assistance for the public-sector cleanup.
“We haven’t given up on getting that help,” he said. “We believe it’s never too late, so we’re going to keep on trying.”
Newton County, in our view, is paying the price for a slipshod assessment job performed by federal emergency workers.
The county was unable to obtain a public-sector disaster declaration from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. That declaration would have provided funds to remove and dispose of debris. Federal authorities denied the declaration on the grounds that the three Missouri counties hit on May 8 — Newton, Jasper and Barry — would have needed to sustain about $6.94 million in cleanup costs and damage in the public sector to qualify, based on their populations. The assessment fell just short of the needed amount. To this day, piles of debris can be seen in fields and along the roads. There is no money available to clean it up and haul it to the landfill in Lamar.
The good news this week is that the grant will help 45 families whose homes are not habitable. It will also help the 23 families whose homes still need to be replaced.
We have full faith that local officials will eventually clean up Newton County and repair roads and bridges damaged when the EF-4 tornado, in some areas, left a mile-wide path of destruction in its dust.
We don’t offer up that same type of confidence in FEMA. But, as Carter says, it’s never too late to right this wrong.
Opinion
In our view: 'It's never too late'
- 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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Our View: Victims should come first
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