THE FOLLOWING IS REPRINTED FROM EARLIER LAST YEAR.
Since then, I have been attacked by former Sparta Mayor Jenni Davis, who ran to her buddies on the police force and convinced the city prosecutor, J. Randal Howell, II (sounds like a pompous attorney) to file FOUR harassment charges against me for trying to communicate good will with her after she ignored my questions about how she spent federal monies for the city.
NOTE: The trial is set for 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, January 9 at the Courts Facility in Ozark, MO. Judge Steven E. Ward, presiding. I will represent myself against the tyranny of local government. But, I’m also representing all of us. Please plan to attend, if possible.
Dear Taxpayers and Voters of Christian County, Missouri:
I want to explain the purpose of the Christian County Trumpet so there is no confusion.
I owe that to you.
THE CHRISTIAN COUNTY TRUMPET EXISTS TO INFORM AND ENTERTAIN CHRISTIAN COUNTY TAXPAYERS AND VOTERS with a mixture of TRUTH and SATIRE, covering topics that other news sources won’t.
The publication started as a way to communicate situations in our county involving public officials that were being overlooked by the mainstream press.
I didn’t come up with the content for topics; rather, I observed what people were talking about and interested in. That quickly sucked me into a vortex of information regarding abuses of power and bullying by Ozark School administrators towards staff members.
In addition, concerns about the content of library books at Nixa schools were also brought up.
Then an illegal act by a school board member running for a county office that had been swept under the rug came my way.
Again, I’m not trying to conjure up any “pet topics” for my pleasure and satisfaction. I’m dismayed at the level of deceit and lies propagated by public officials in our county, and can only wonder how many more have not come to my attention.
I am a “real journalist” with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Art and Broadcasting from Evangel College (now University) in 1988. I was a newspaper reporter at the Ozark Headliner in 1988 and then at the Buffalo Reflex in Buffalo, MO from 1989 until 1990. I moved to Chillicothe, MO and was a news reporter and later promoted to news editor at the Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune until I moved to K.C. in 1995.
Later, I moved back home to Christian County in 1997. I was the news editor at the Headliner News in Ozark from 1999 through the end of 2000, when the papers were sold to a conglomerate in Bentonville, AR (Community Publishers Inc.) which sucked all the uniqueness out of the paper and made it a prop for local advertisers to feel good about. That’s when local news got BORING.
I got a job announcing for a talk show on KWTO for a while, then was a staff writer for the Pentecostal Evangel, a news magazine from the Assemblies of God that sent 400,000 copies across the world each week in 2000 and 2001. I also wrote for the Springfield News-Leader special publications.
In 2007 I was a reporter for the Branson Daily News. From 2020 through 2021, I was a talk show host on Johnny Rooster Live at Acts Media Group in Springfield, MO. That’s where I got my nickname “Rooster” because my last name is COCKroft, get it?
My Johnny Rooster Live 40-minute show is still available on YouTube through AMG Broadcasting or Acts media group if you wanna check it out! It was focused on interviews with local business owners and artists, as well as my own zany brand of humor!
I am a creative person. I have a wonderful wife and four incredible sons. One is a musician, one is in the U.S. Navy, and the other two are younger.
I love 80s rock, especially Def Leppard and Journey, and I attend Schweitzer Church in Springfield, MO where I am on the photography team and the congregational care team.
I don’t have pets; I prefer to not feed and water anything beyond my wife and kids.
For money, I deliver for DoorDash. I also market for Papa John’s, so if you want some amazing deals, such as 50 percent off any order of 10 or more large single topping pizzas for an event, hit me up!
I don’t have money and I’m broke and in debt. My car has 280,000 miles (one an only vehicle). My wife works at a preschool.
I don’t get paid to do this. I appreciate anyone helping me with research; I have ADHD type symptoms and don’t like sitting in meetings. I like doing creative stuff.
I have done public speaking, stand-up comedy, cartooning, and stage and movie acting for decades. I have directed children’s and youth camps, been a youth pastor and an assistant pastor of a Free Methodist Church in Chillicothe, MO.
“I’m here to stand up for mistreated individuals abused by local authorities and officials. I am here to expose corruption and tyranny in Christian County, in a light-hearted, satirical way that gets people talking and reading over and over.“
—Johnny Rooster, Christian County Trumpet publisher
I see it as if someone were beating a dog and no one was there to help intervene. I’m not just going to walk away and say “it’s none of my business.”
Corruption and tyranny affects ALL of us. I am here for ALL of us, regardless of whether you like me or not. I’m not here to win friends. I’m here to help hurting and oppressed people. I’m here to hold local government accountable.
Read ALL of my articles. Don’t go with hearsay. Listen to what the abused teachers and community professionals are saying about corruption.
It’s more than mold in schools. It’s about abuse of power and tyranny. It’s about bullying and lying and intimidation.
I don’t live in the Ozark School District. I have never had a child in that school. I’m not supposed to care.
But I do.
One county government official told me that I was “creating enemies” with my “toxic” articles.
What distressed me the most is that if exposing corruption in local government is toxic and creates enemies, we have to start looking at our local government differently.
Please don’t fall for the lies. Go to the public meetings. See it for yourself.
And, as always, I WILL print what you bring me, no matter what “side” you are on. You think schools are doing great, with the present administration, fine. Bring me evidence! You think county government is stellar; wonderful… bring me your firsthand proof.
I want to be a cheerleader, rather than a watchdog. But the cheerleaders aren’t protecting the public, so… grrrrr...woof woof!
YOUR COMMENTS WELCOME.
YouTube Johnny Rooster comedy channel
Christian County Trumpet – YouTube
John Cockroft (aka Johnny Rooster)
ChristianCountyTrumpet@gmail.com
ChristianCountyTrumpet.com
👏👏👏👏👏 appreciate you bro! Few people have balls or a sense of patriotism these days.
The board is holding a TownHall Forum on Tuesday, 10/25 at 6pm where citizens can ask question of the board. See the rules here: https://www.ozarktigers.org/townhall