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Volume 104 • Number 69 • Thursday, April 10, 2014 • PO Box 188 • 111 E. Jenkins • Maryville, MO
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Tree planting event recognizes victims of crime By STEVE HARTMAN Staff writer
The 30th anniversary of the passage of the Victims of Crime Act was celebrated Wednesday during an annual tree planting ceremony organize by area law enforcement and criminal justice professionals at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park. The event is held each year in conjunction with National Crime Victim Rights Week, which runs through April 12. The ceremony, which has been held locally since 1997, was once again coordinated by Tom Seipel, district probation and parole administrator for the Maryville Treatment Center Parole Office. The event included a performance by the Maryville High School Spectrum show choir, an invocation and benediction by Abbott Gregory Polan of Conception Abbey, and a proclamation read and presented by Maryville Mayor Jim Fall. Additional activities included a moment of silence during which ribbons were placed on the newly planted tree by Maryville Treatment Center Warden Sonny Collins and Gateway Program Director Jerry Peters. Michelle Kasak, regional administrator of the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole, delivered the keynote speech, and veterans from American Legion Post 464 of Conception Junction served as the color guard. “Prior to the 1984 passage of the Victims of Crime Act, there were no resources available for the families of victims of crime,” Kasak said. “With the resources now available, we try to restore the balance to the lives of victims and their families. “Thanks to the passage of the Victims of Crime Act, victims and their families are now kept
informed during every step of the legal process and are even allowed to witness executions.” Kasak went on to say that implementation of the Victim of Crime Act is fully funded by fines levied against those who commit crimes. No tax dollars are used. “In 2012, a record $2.795 billion was deposited into the crime victim’s fund,” Kasak said. Maryville Mayor Jim Fall read a proclamation declaring the week of April 6-12 as Crime Victim Rights Week locally, and presented the proclamation to Seipel following the reading. “We once again planted a tree here at Mozingo to remember those who have been victims of crime,” Seipel said. “We believe this is a good way to remember and continue to raise awareness.” Other Crime Victim Rights week events on Wednesday were to include an evening presentation at Northwest Missouri State University by Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker. Baker, who was named special prosecutor in the Daisy Coleman sexual assault case, was to give a talk titled “Break the Silence” focusing on the prevention of sexual violence. She has served as Jackson County prosecutor since 2011 and has an extensive background in the prosecution of sex crimes and other major offenses. In 2012, Baker led the successful prosecution Bishop Robert W. Finn, head of the Archdiocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, who is the highest-ranking Catholic official to be convicted during the church’s long sexual abuse scandal. Finn, who served no time behind bars, received two years’ probation for failure to report suspected child abuse.
Recognizing crime victims
STEVE HARTMAN/DAILY FORUM
Keynote speaker Michelle Kasak, Northwest Missouri State University Police Lt. Ray Ottman and event coordinator Tom Seipel plant a tree at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park to honor crime victims during Wednesday morning’s annual Crime Victims Rights Week Ceremony.
Awareness proclamation
STEVE HARTMAN/DAILY FORUM
Tom Seipel, coordinator of the Crime Victim’s Awareness Ceremony, which was held Wednesday at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park, accepts a proclamation from Maryville Mayor Jim Fall. The proclamation recognized April 6-12 as Crime Victim Rights Week.
Chromebook tech comes to elementary By KEVIN BIRDSELL Staff writer
KEVIN BIRDSELL/DAILY FORUM
New Chromebooks for fourth-graders
District Technology Specialist Joe Alley introduces Pat New’s fourth-grade class to their new Google Chromebooks. The Chromebooks, which utilize web-based programs rather than an internal hard drive, will allow students to complete homework and other projects by logging onto the Internet from their homes.
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Technology has an ever-growing presence in elementary classrooms these days, and the Spoofhounds at Eugene Field Elementary School aren’t going to be left behind. Eugene Field fourth-graders received new Google Chromebooks Wednesday, laptops that sync up with the Google Cloud so that students can access homework and other projects from home, or anywhere else they have access to an open Internet connection. “We chose Google because it not only offers the online storage, but it offers the ability to create and edit documents,” District Technology Specialist Joe Alley said. “It wasn’t just a bucket to dump things in. It
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has actually everything a student would need, assuming they have Internet access at home. Now, they have everything they need to do their work.” Alley said the R-II School District has a couple of different technology committees, but that all of the educators concerned have similar goals when it comes to getting the latest tech into students’ hands. “We wanted students to be able to have access to their work from home,” he said. “As of now, they have a local network drive they store their work to, but they only have access to that at school.” Another big draw for the district was the price tag. “Google apps for education are free,” Alley said. “Google provides See CHROMEBOOKS, Page 6
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