Rockaway Beach News

Erica Dixon volunteered to help during a street count of homeless people in Taney County last summer.

Friday, June 12, 2009 Nixon Halts Rockaway Beach Police Funding

Gov. Jay Nixon has directed Attorney General Chris Koster to cut off state funding for the Rockaway Beach Police Department.

Rockaway Beach was one of 12 law enforcement entities listed as "non-compliant" in the annual Missouri Vehicle Stop report issued on June 1st. Gov. Nixon has ordered that funding be stopped for all those who did not comply.

Rockaway Beach was the only Ozarks-area department that was non-compliant.

"Missouri has been at the forefront of collecting and reporting data about traffic stops, and these reports have served as the basis for constructive communications between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve," Gov. Nixon said in a statement. "The vast majority of law enforcement agencies in Missouri have complied with the reporting requirements of the law since it took effect. This is a law we take seriously, and the consequences for not complying are clear."

Missouri's racial profiling report began in 2000.

By TERESA BREWER

According to Don Hearon, CEO of Hearon Media, from Las Vegas NV, artists from all over the country are expected to attend and perform the first annual Red, White and Blues Festival June 20th in Lebanon TN, in order to support the national effort to help Michele Seidman, founder of National Women in Blues Festival in Willmington North Carolina, which has

By TERESSA "BLUESBABE" BREWER

The world of blues/roots music will never be quite the same without it's Queen, KoKo Taylor, who passed away Wednesday June 3rd, at the age of 80 from complication from surgery.

She opened the doors for the rest of us Women in Blues, to say the very least.

When I first met her backstage at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas in the early 90's, I was in awe and wanted to be just like her. I knew....

Car junkies will be able to take a trip down memory lane, side-by-side with vintage vehicles like a '58 Ford Retractable Top, a '36 Chevy street rod or a '53 custom Mercury.

Former Rockaway Beach resident, and blues artist Teressa "BluesBabe" Brewer, will be performing at the RED WHITE AND BLUES FESTIVAL, (just outside Nashville) during the All Star Jam and assisting the performers, recording artists, star and blues award winner, songwriter and guitarist Ms. BB Queen and Hearon Media Inc., and it's CEO Kattman with this event for the benefit of their mutual friend and fellow Blues Woman, Michele Seidman, Founder of National Women in Blues Festival in Willmingon N.C., (which has been held off this year due to Michele's illness and the economy), in Lebanon TN, on June 20th, 2009.

Brewer challenges all other blues artists to do the same and asks friends and fans to buy tickets and attend the festival to show their support for Michele, who has given so much of herself without pay for the past four years. This challenge is in the spirit of unity and to assist the needs of Seidman's medical bills and living expenses.

Hearon Media Inc presents the 1st Red White and Blues Festival, June 20th 2009 in Lebanon Tennessee (Just outside Nashville), with a portion of this years proceeds going to support the founder of the National Women in Blues Festival who has been hit hard with no insurance...and major medical needs like so many in our country today. Hearon Media Inc. President and CEO Kattman says, "he is very happy to be part of this mission to support the woman behind Women in Blues."

With the Memorial Day weekend kicking off the beginning of summer, residents in Rockaway Beach are anxious to get their season off to a start with events the first two weekends in June.

A Hollister man was seriously injured this morning in Taney County when he was thrown from his motorcycle, the Missouri Highway Patrol said.

Motorcycle riders will take a Cruisin' Against Bruisin' next month to benefit the Family Violence Center.

An 11-year-old Rockaway Beach boy was taken to the hospital Saturday after nearly downing in the Beaver Creek on Bull Shoals.

The golf course and Clubhouse have undergone a $4.5 million re-do that even included remodeling the sand traps with zosia grass linings and new sand.

A JUDGE IN FORSYTH GIVES 41-YEAR-OLD JASON OSBORN OF ROCKAWAY BEACH A TOTAL OF 55 YEARS IN PRISON FRIDAY IN CONNECTION WITH A 2003 CAR CRASH THAT KILLED TWO 14-YEAR-OLD BOYS.

A man from Rockaway Beach received two consecutive 15-year sentences on Friday for the deaths of two teenagers more than five years ago.

A house fire near Rockaway Beach sent one firefighter to the hospital when a portion of the burning roof fell on top of him.

By TERESA BREWER

At 56 years old he had never been in trouble with the law, until he allowed (in my experience and opinion), a very evil woman into his life.

His honor had been stolen from him repeatedly.

He was a man who valued his honor deeply. I've found that most men with a military back ground are just that way, which is as it should be.

He was broken and deeply depressed. All my attempts to get him into treatment were met with lack of funds to pay for psychological services.

So I was there for him and I helped in anyway that I could. I listened, consoled and comforted him while he wept and told me all he had done for her and all the abuse and betrayal he recieved in return. When he was out of work, had no money, food or a ride, I provided. That's what real friends do for each other.

After months of encouragement, hours and hours of talking together, playing the blues together, writing songs together, he started healing and becoming his old philosophical and happy self again. Brilliant! That's what he truly was. I saw him as a beautiful mess, who was a world class artist, song writer, and blues man.

When I called to tell him some very good news, just before Christmas, SHE answered his cell phone. SHE was back and just as filthy mouthed on the phone as usual. She blatantly and with venon refused to call him to the phone and told me not to call again after calling me filty names. Typical.

I was shocked that he would let this abusive person back into his life again. I could see him falling into the same pattern that abused women fall into.

He never did get the good news I had to tell him, which pertained to both of our careers as blues artists. It was business and it was looking up. And it was VERY good news indeed.

Those plans are now just as dead as he is. Artists as good as Doc, are very very rare. Their level of sensitivity and brilliance is so intense that if mistreated, it can kill them. It did him.

The news of his death absolutely devastated me.

He detailed his reasons for giving up on life in his writings and suicide letter quoted in the entended entry of this story below:

By: TERESA BREWER

The People's Press

Stealing from a dead man immediately after his death and before his only surviving child and other family members have been notified of his death, is the ultimate betrayal!

That is what happened on the evening of January 1st, shortly after a resident walked by and witnessed artist and blues man, Steven "Doc" Betts, shoot himself, while he sat in his chair on his front porch at 3030 Hwy. 176, in Rockaway Beach on the evening of January 1st.

Later that night, witnesses saw a suspect rummaging through his house who they claim, was run off by law enforcement officials.

Doc's black Fender Telecaster guitar was stolen from his house immediately after his death and long before his family was ever notified. A police report has been filed with RBPD. Calls regarding this matter, have not been returned to the survivors.

I am hereby, offering a reward to whom ever offers information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for stealing “Doc's” guitar. It rightfully belongs to his daughter Brooke and no one else.

I am asking for your help to get it back to his daughter and to make whomever committed this crime accountable. If you report your knowledge to the police and they do not respond please contact me by email at Teressa.Brewer@gmail.com or by posting your tip to The People's Press blog at www.BrewerTheReviewer.com.

You do not have to give your name in order post your tip. To receive your reward email me with your information and the tip you gave which resulted in the guitar's recovery, word for word. Your private information will be kept in the strictest confidence.

Dorcas and Glen Noble, on their wedding day. Nobles look back on double wedding, and nearly 60 years of marriage.

My Neighbors Food Pantry in Forsyth is looking for a new home. The outreach to the needy in west Taney County has lost its home in the former Catholic church.

A head-on collision Friday night between a car and a tractor-trailer rig near Ava claimed the life of a Rockaway Beach man, the Missouri Highway Patrol said.