At the capitol: Reflections from Ruestman

With the House now recessed for the past hour and the Senate grumbling about it, I have a chance to catch my breath, cool down from the euphoria of watching the House in action and also upload my sit-down interview with Rep. Marilyn Ruestman of Joplin. For this session, Rep. Ruestman has been the representative I called most when I was reporting on the Missouri General Assembly for KURM.

Yesterday was, to quote Rogers, Ark. Mayor Steve Womack, "a red-letter day" for Rep. Ruestman, as three of her bills cleared the Senate and are on their way to Governor Nixon's desk (from which his aides are probably watching my type this post.) Those include two of the bills she prefiled this session: HB152, which mandates law enforcements to collect a DNA sample via mouth swab from persons charged with a violent crime, and HB154, which gives grandparents first opportunity to become the guardians of their grandchildren should the parents be out of the picture. Below is that interview:

Ruestman recaps the session (with 24½ hours to go as of this post)

On a personal note, this is my fourth trip inside the State Capitol Building. All three previous times I went on field trips organized by Mr. Charles Coakley, my junior high social studies teacher. They happened to be on weekends or well after the General Assembly was done with session. I think I've caught a bug, and hopefully Michael Howard or Gwyn Prosser will have a sufficient remedy for this imminent expatriate of the Show-Me State.

Or I can get away with second-home expense reimbursements in the form of trips back here every 2-3 months. :P