tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88415217023928949962024-02-20T07:00:02.864-06:00The Missouri ExpatriateCommentary on Show-Me State affairs, with a smattering of UK & European headlinesK.Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934149500890859314noreply@blogger.comBlogger174125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8841521702392894996.post-27634447068300297002012-03-17T16:40:00.001-05:002012-03-17T16:40:59.917-05:00All This Chaos Just To Keep 26 Yet-To-Be-Committed Delegates?Less than 24 hours after the Show-Me State's Tiger faithful were shown the door by a coastal city's Spartans, the state has shown the world how lousy caucuses can get.<br />
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Dysfunction, confusion over the concept of parliamentary procedure, and a lack of decorum in some places (especially St. Charles County) have turned the Missouri Republican Party's attempt to play by the national party's rules into a potential PR disaster and once again diminished the state's potential in determining who appears on the ballot. Power struggles from the get go and motions to sway the county's support were all to claim (get this) zero Tampa-bound delegates today.<br />
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In some counties (including McDonald, whose caucus I observed this morning and recount below), the selected slates of delegates to the state and district conventions didn't express a preference or make a commitment, and under the state's rules were under no obligation to do so. No commitments for candidates are made until April 21 at the district conventions, and even then only 24 will be designated. 25 more will be committed at the state convention June 1-2 in Springfield, and three will be filled by statewide officials.<br />
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Of course, this wouldn't have happened had Missouri's elected officials agreed to move the primary date back a month, from February 7 to March 6. Unfortunately, in typical political fashion, the Republican-dominated General Assembly saddled it with provisions unpalatable to Democrat Governor Jay Nixon, Nixon didn't want to give up the right to fill vacancies in statewide offices (thus keeping the same power that Rod Blagojevich used only to find himself a new home in Colorado), and then the Republicans fractured over job-creation measures and as a result didn't bother to move the date back a month. By not doing so, Missouri risked losing half their delegates.<br />
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(I should note that I agree with by-elections for vacancies of any kind, and find it a bit odd that people would push for this while at the same time move to eliminate calendar dates & write-in opportunities in the interest of saving local election officials money. Electing state leaders in by-elections costs money to, as Nixon noted in his veto letter, but sticking to principles are worth the added cost.)<br />
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But in a twist that was bound to happen, Democrats blamed Republicans when they decided to waive the delegate penalty for Missouri, and their primary went on with Obama winning 88 percent of the vote. The RNC, recognizing the need for Missouri's bellwether to remain red, could have easily done the same. And in hindsight, the continued resurgence of Rick Santorum's campaign has proven Missouri's worth.<br />
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Even if the RNC hadn't waived the penalty, the 26-delegate penalty now looks like a small price to pay for this dragged out process that's only going to put a blemish on state Republican efforts to reclaim the governor's mansion, the Senate desk once occupied by John Ashcroft, and offices of secretary of state, treasurer, and attorney general, all while maintaining their near veto-proof majorities.<br />
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<H3>Observations From Pineville</H3>This morning I observed the caucuses in McDonald County, and compared to what's happening around the rest of the state, this went smoothly. 147 credentialed voters participated and within an hour elected their slates of eight county GOP leaders to the district and state conventions. No action was taken on the party platform, with the crowd informed that any suggestions they had were to be submitted in writing by Monday. The slate selected did not express a preference for a candidate and did not poll participants for one, though in last month's boutique primary, 45 percent of the 973 votes cast went to Rick Santorum, 25 percent to Mitt Romney and 22 percent favoring Ron Paul.<br />
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Proportionally, Paul's supporters were present at the caucus and ready to make their mark. However, their efforts did not come to fruition, as their slates and nominees for caucus leaders were voted down by a generally 11-to-3 margin. Twice representatives from the group addressed the crowd and attempted to read a prepared statement to the effect of saying that Paul best represented McDonald County's values. However, they were promptly cut off after one minute, as stipulated in the rules that were proposed by the state party and adopted without opposition by caucus goers. Although one Paul supporter called it rude to be cut off without allowing to finish, they could have easily organized an assertive tag team much like what fourth-graders at the nearby elementary school do when they popcorn read.<br />
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There were three hitches to note: first, the new community center was brimming full with participants and not enough places to park. The caucus had to recess briefly after a Pineville marshal entered and asked four participants to move their cars out of private driveways. Second, several people were having trouble hearing the sound system, and I would attribute that to the microphone used.<br />
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Third (and perhaps most critical) was a move to close off nomination of the slate before Paul's supporters could submit theirs. Firstly the parliamentarian determined that the woman seeking to name the slate didn't stand up quick enough to be recognized. Then there was a delay as to figure out whether two-thirds of the caucus voted to close the nomination, with 97 voting in support and 98 being the threshold. For a moment (perhaps by way of mental miscalculation rather than duplicity), the motion was set to pass after someone suggested that 94 was the threshold. After the chair declared the motion defeated, the Values slate was submitted and, like all their other proposals, defeated by the same 11-to-3 margin.<br />
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In the end, McDonald County's Republican leadership implored participants on several occasions to remember the one thing that they had in common: defeating Obama in November. However, even among some participants there was quiet disagreement as to whether the candidate chosen to carry the GOP banner would be any different than the current resident of the White House.K.Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934149500890859314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8841521702392894996.post-73567935692599309902012-03-11T16:09:00.004-05:002012-03-11T16:09:00.659-05:00CapitulationTwo years ago, while enduring sunsets at 4 p.m. along the Kentish Riviera and a <A HREF="http://www.missouriexpatriate.com/2009/12/raging-against-same-machine.html">successful grassroots efforts to make an anarchist's breakthrough track from 1992 the top song the week of Christmas</A>, I began work on a novel approach to connecting everyday Missourians with their already approachable state representatives and senators in Jefferson City. Over the course of 27 months, over 35 lawmakers submitted their weekly capitol reports and various news releases for publication in <I>Missives from Missouri</I>.<br />
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Unfortunately, as I am now in the second year of my full-time radio job (and by full-time, I mean 60+ hours of news writing, copy editing, Cool Editing (I'm not bothering to upgrade to Audition), driving to and from council meetings, running the board during high school ball games, even getting to call some ball games, touring battlefields and on and on), time has gravely diminished to the point where maintaining <I>Missives</I> has become impossible to keep current.<br />
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It is with grave reluctance and disappointment that I announce that I am discontinuing updates on <I>Missives</I>. While a novel concept and one I enjoyed performing for much the past two years, the time and incentive required to maintain it has proven insufficient to warrant its continuation. (And if such incentive or marketability were to come up, I am very much open to the idea.)<br />
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<I>Missives</I> helped pull me from a dark moment in my life. My return from England was far from ideal, and while I had the greatest support system in my family anyone could ever ask for (and a job interview a week later at a station in the Lead Belt), I was far from confident in myself and felt useless. Just by contributing those snippets to the political discussion in our state I began to regain that confidence. And while I was a sandwich delivery driver, I kept my skills and focus honed on this task.<br />
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I'm amazed by the effort that many in the state blogosphere continue to contribute: first and foremost John Combest, whose <A HREF="http://www.johncombest.com" target=_new>headline aggregations</A> are now in their second decade. Joplin's Eli Yokley has also been doing great work with <A HREF="http://www.politicmo.com/" target=_New>PoliticMO</A>. Indeed the list can go on and on with Randy Turner, Jason Rosenbaum, partisans on the left, partisans on the right, etc. etc. It takes a great devotion and stamina to stay focused on your craft, as does a willingness to risk one's investment of time and money, and most importantly, faith in yourself.<br />
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However, I can claim a minor victory: since starting this blog, increased interest has been paid to weekly columns. In this session, sign-up buttons have appeared on each state representative's page and state senators' columns now appear under their media section. Several other blogs have also taken to posting weekly reports, contributing these two cents to the political discussion. Of course, <I>Missives</I> took some of the legwork out.<br />
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I'll continue to read reports as they come in, and will likely weigh in on some from time to time in <I>The Missouri Expatriate</I>. And again, I'd love to bring this back up. But for now, it's time to dial things down and stick with making occasional comments from the sidelines of Missouri's 118th County.K.Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934149500890859314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8841521702392894996.post-85436173467141402602012-02-28T23:35:00.000-06:002012-02-28T23:35:53.051-06:00What's In A Number?<I>What's in a number? That which we count four<br />
By any other number's not a score.</I><br />
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Today marked the start of the filing period in Missouri, the culmination of a colossal fustercluck in preparing the maps for the 2012 election. A process which still isn't done, as the <A HREF="http://oa.mo.gov/bp/redistricting/pdf/2012/Statewide_tentative.pdf" target=_new>map for state senate</A> was only initially approved for public review Feb. 23.<br />
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Already one major concern has cropped up, the inexplicable renumbering of some districts, which has left Chesterfield Republican Jane Cunningham scrambling for a new constituency and Kansas City Democrat Jolie Justus representing six counties in the eastern half of the state. What makes the renumbering even more inexplicable is how clustered odds and evens are around our major metropolitan areas.<br />
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(Firstly, it needs clarified for those that require it that senators serve staggered terms; odd-numbered districts are elected in years when the governor is elected, even-numbered two years later.)<br />
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Starting with <A HREF="http://oa.mo.gov/bp/redistricting/pdf/2012/Statewide_tentative.pdf" target=_new>the Kansas City area</A>:<br />
Among the four counties which contain portions of the city, there are five odd-numbered districts, including the District formerly known as 10. If you count Ray and Lafayette counties to the east, there would be six districts being contested in the metropolitan out of eight. The only even districts present are eight in eastern Jackson and 12 in rural Clay, which is now appended to the rest of the Northwest.<br />
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Now to <A HREF="http://oa.mo.gov/bp/redistricting/pdf/2012/StLouis_tentative.pdf">St. Louis</A>:<br />
Of the districts depicted in St. Louis, St. Charles, Jefferson and Lincoln, seven are even numbered and six are odd-numbered. Luckily, this works out within St. Louis. However, among rural districts, four of the five northernmost are even-numbered (the entirety of the border with Iowa and Nebraska), and Arkansas is bordered exclusively by odd-numbered districts, as are Kentucky and Tennessee.<br />
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And then there's <A HREF="http://oa.mo.gov/bp/redistricting/pdf/2012/Springfield_tentative2012.pdf" target=_new>Springfield</A>:<br />
District 20 for the city, District 30 for the surrounding area. Might help stave off the persistent sideshow candidates, but again it's a lopsided approach.<br />
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We're left with this shortcoming in this map because the previous map ran roughshod over a provision in the state constitution which requires counties be kept whole unless a county can wholly contain another district. Unfortunately, this gives us wonky-looking districts which has Shannon County attached to the Bootheel, Sedalia and Lebanon in the same district anchored by Highway 65, and Boone County's Kurt Schaefer again switching his second county (now Cooper rather than Randolph or Howard). Compact and contiguous, which provides better proportional representation, is incompatible with this requirement.<br />
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The maps are marked tentative, and the commission is expected to meet March 9 to formally adopt the proposals. Although any changes would be just as chaotic as outright rejecting the map, at least switching 10 & 7 back would alleviate some headaches. After all, someone's going to have to move to Warrenton soon.<br />
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This situation also has me thinking outside the box, and I'm tempted to jabber about single transferable vote or party-list proportional representation. However, I'll save that rumination for a future post.K.Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934149500890859314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8841521702392894996.post-74759175426306507472012-02-25T23:42:00.001-06:002012-02-26T00:05:37.794-06:00End Of An Era… Or Is It?This is my obligatory "boo, we lost" entry. This afternoon was a spirited game that certainly proved the conventional thinking: KU's a tough team and Mizzou still resorts to shooting behind the arc more times than the sun rises in the east.<br />
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And along with that comes the chatter about whether the rivalry, rooted in the Civil War and the border skirmishes years prior, should continue. Tiger fans overwhelmingly support it despite the overwhelming disadvantage in the wins and national championships columns, while Jayhawkers would rather find a new conference rival around the corner in the Octogon of Doom and from a far-flung, insulated state notorious for shaving down entire mountains. And while the end of the Border War (excuse me, Border Showdown) will hopefully decrease the vitriol between the two fan bases (and the cross-border job poaching too), the rivalry could easily be replaced from the same history book. While it won't have the same ingrained lore and appeal, it has the same roots from 150 years ago.<br />
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Enter March 8-10, 1862:<br />
<a HREF="http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3b52835/" target=_new><img SRC="http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/cph/3b50000/3b52000/3b52800/3b52835r.jpg" width=400 height=299></A><br />
<i>Image from Library of Congress</I><br />
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Just south of the Missouri border, outside the bustling town of Leetown, was the largest battle west of the Mississippi: <a HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Pea_Ridge" target=_new>The Battle of Pea Ridge</A>. Or Elkhorn Tavern, if you prefer the South's name (which might make more sense, as Pea Ridge was just a ridge at the time and not the current town four miles west of the <a HREF="http://www.nps.gov/peri/index.htm" target=_new>brilliantly preserved battle site</A>).<br />
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Eager to keep the southern-minded General Assembly and their Confederate backers out of Missouri permanently, a Union army led by Brigader General Samuel Curtis invaded Northern Arkansas and pushed Southern armies deep into the Boston Mountains. (Interestingly, the Union took positions that required Confederate Major General Earl Van Dorn to attack from the north.) While the Union armies were outnumbered, their positions around the tavern and superior artillery caused larger casualties among the Confederates, forcing their armies to scatter.<br />
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Although marauders and raiding parties would threaten the western half of the state the remainder of the war, the Confederates were never able to seriously threaten Union control of Missouri after Pea Ridge. And although militia were able to make a push up to Cane Hill & Prairie Grove later in 1862, the Union had free reign over Arkansas when the Confederate government opted to focus on protecting states that produced their precious cash crop cotton.<br />
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Union armies consisted of volunteers from Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Missouri (Too bad Jim Delaney wasn't paying attention), while Confederates relied on troops from Arkansas, Missouri and the Cherokee Braves from the neighboring Indian Territory. Today, areas of Southwest Missouri are practically Razorback territory; the principal newspaper in McDonald County is owned by Little Rock-based Stephens Media, whose <i>Morning News</I> is now grouped with the Northwest edition of the <i>Arkansas Democrat-Gazette</I>. Go driving through Seligman or Thayer on game day, and chances are they're watching Bobby Petrino's gridiron warriors instead of Gary Pinkel's.<br />
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But for anyone worried about Hogs and Tigers turning into fire and gasoline, Pea Ridge also provides some historical closure. The 25-year anniversary was marked not just with a reunion, but a unified remembrance, with both sides present for memorials to the dead on each side. A candlelight memorial planned for the <a HREF="http://www.pearidgefoundation.com/event_calendar.html" target=_new>150th anniversary of the battle</A> will not differentiate between Union and Confederate losses. And although Leetown was obliterated in the battle, the city of Pea Ridge was organized years later, and Union generals continue to cross their Confederate counterparts daily by way of the city's street names.<br />
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While the majority of critics will try and label an Arkansas/Missouri rivalry as the "Hillbilly Bowl" or anything involving a certain Sooner State transplant who attended both schools and from both states began his vast retail empire that turns 50 this July, the Battle of Pea Ridge can provide a good historical context for a sensible, spirited yet friendly rivalry between the Hogs and Tigers.<br />
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Sure the Hogs will join KU in reminding Mizzou that they're about as successful in the championship department as Arsenal (which happens to be majority-owned by a Mizzou alumnus), and Mizzou will look at their southern neighbor as their little sister (we did snip the bootheel out of their turf before becoming a state). And while keeping a 105-year tradition going would be nice, perhaps a new one with less rabidness and bitterness will be fruitful to everyone's sanity. It'd certainly reduce the need to rush after an AED.K.Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934149500890859314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8841521702392894996.post-75710762161476174122012-02-23T23:55:00.000-06:002012-02-23T23:55:56.451-06:00Les Québécois perdent-ils la capacité de conduire leurs voitures quand elles croisent le Mississippi?I'm still hoping that one of my 12 predictions will come true this Saturday, but given Mizzou's lackluster display on Tuesday, I suspect anyone hoping to visit Phoenix next month will have just added Frank Martin's number to their speed dial. Unfortunately, another prediction is set to come true (and it's still not Adele filming a music video in McDonald County.)<br />
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And it occurred to me on Mile Marker 123 of Interstate 70 this past weekend, when I passed a semi-truck with a license plate from Quebec. Were <A HREF="http://house.mo.gov/billsummary.aspx?bill=HB1186&year=2012&code=R" target=_new>House Bill 1186</A> to arrive on Governor Nixon's desk and receive his signature, this driver would likely not be able to get a license in Missouri.<br />
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Under the provisions of HB 1186, the state would only be allowed to administer driving tests in English. Currently the Department of Revenue provides tests in 11 other languages, having started in 1962. Supporters claim this would make roads safer by making sure everyone on Missouri's roads know English.<br />
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That doesn't stop Québécois, Latinos, or Patois-speaking Bahamians and Jamaicans from driving through the Show-Me State. And if someone can't get a driver's license in Missouri because they're still struggling to learn English, they could easily get one just by moving to Springdale, East St. Louis or KCK, and still drive through Missouri with ease. They'd still be the "safety hazard" the measure's supporters seek to deter. In the House committee that heard testimony on the bill, representatives from insurance companies within the state warned that not allowing foreign speakers to obtain drivers licenses could increase premiums, as those drivers would not be able to purchase insurance, let alone operate a car legally.<br />
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Frankly, this is what I'd have to classify as a boogeyman bill targeting illegal immigrants and thus baiting votes from people who recognize the problem (or are generally xenophobic). Unfortunately, the collateral damage of making it more difficult for legal immigrants and refugees to integrate into everyday Missouri life (where a century ago, a sizable population spoke only German!) will not prove fruitful in the long run and deter job creators when Missouri still hovers above eight percent unemployment.<br />
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And if the target is truly to keep illegal immigrants off the roads, this is just a symptom of the gross inaction of an unwilling, gridlocked federal government. Citizenship standards are suppose to be a national standard. Patchwork efforts to curb illegal immigration, even if pursued uniformly, fall apart if just one state remains a sanctuary. And even then, the manner in which Arizona enforces their crackdowns on illegal immigrants differs from Alabama and Oklahoma. In effect, you get 50+ different legal definitions of who is and isn't suppose to be in the United States, and states exporting their symptoms to their neighbors as such laws go into effect.<br />
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There are more effective ways to identify, publicize, and curtail the problem of illegal immigration and the issues that arise from it. Maligning all non-English speakers and essentially chasing them off to neighboring states is not the way to do it, especially if you're not going to set up checkpoints along every dirt road that crosses the state line to make sure everyone crossing can read and understand English.K.Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934149500890859314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8841521702392894996.post-74305592396338218532012-01-01T15:11:00.001-06:002012-01-01T15:14:40.339-06:00New Year's Predictions For 2012Some feasible, some wacky, some seemingly impossible predictions for 2012:<br />
<ol type=1><b>
<li>Despite a down year for Democrats nationwide, Jay Nixon coasts to re-election</B><br />
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Having a near veto-proof majority in the General Assembly is only useful if you can wield it, and Republicans fell apart from the word go during last fall's Extraordinary Session. What should have been a significant push for economic development, disaster recovery efforts, tax credit reform, local control of St. Louis City Police, and clean-up of measures that fell by the wayside last session turned into a two-month vegetable that wound up including a <a HREF="http://house.mo.gov/billsummary.aspx?bill=HR4466&year=2011&code=S1" target=_new>house resolution that inadvertently slammed a company with 15,000 employees in Missouri</A>, and a <a HREF="http://www.senate.mo.gov/11info/BTS_Web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=S1&BillPrefix=SB&BillSuffix=7" target=_new>bill which technically can't take effect</A> without a court order stripping the qualifying legislation.<br />
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Of course, Nixon would have been a prime target for a principled conservative, unilaterally "withholding" $170 million from the state budget to pay for disaster relief in Joplin, Birds Point, and the Platte Purchase when a half-billion dollar Rainy Day Fund has been set aside for the past 20 years for that very purpose. (Asking five of the state's 14 public four-year universities to lend that amount from their reserves doesn't bode well either.) But as his most likely challenger Tweeted his way into near-political oblivion, his only two Republican challengers are St. Louis plastics magnate Dave Spence and Kansas City lawyer Bill Randles, a native of Northwest Arkansas. Nixon was an easy winner over Kenny Hulshof in 2008 by picking up 61 percent of the vote in Southwest Missouri. His re-election prospects in the region are buoyed with his bringing about the Missouri Solution to counter the November 2010 passage of Proposition B, and his public presence around Joplin in the months following the tornado of 22 May. Unless Spence or Randles start a massive grassroots push in the outstate, it'll be the same story in '12 even if the GOP candidate for President turns out to be a shoe-in for Missouri's 10 electoral votes.<br />
</LI><BR><b>
<li>Despite the persistent "Oust The Incumbents" drumbeat, every member of Missouri's congressional delegation is re-elected. (Yes, that includes Claire.)</B><br />
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Any mention of Congress' disapproval rating should be taken with a grain of salt, at most. There are 435 voting members of Congress, and most respondents who say the place is dysfunctional still vote to retain their rep, because it's the other 434 who wreck the place. This mentality will prevail again in Missouri in 2012, particularly in the outstate. Graves, Emerson, Hartzler, Leutkemeyer, and Long will secure re-election. Cleaver will be in another dogfight with the addition of Ray, Lafayette, Saline, and southwestern Clay counties, but there will be just enough support in the urban core of Kansas City to keep him around. Clay will remain in St. Louis City, and will likely edge out Russ Carnahan should he run for the 1st. Were Carnahan to run for the 2nd, he would probably win depending on the GOP challenger.<br />
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Although I am very skeptical of Obama's chances of claiming Missouri's electoral votes, I see Claire McCaskill squeaking out another close victory. She will campaign heavy in the outstate and find a way to deflect the [damn] many [plane] criticisms [husband's $17m income] that [Obamacare] will [Super-PAC after Super-PAC zeroing in on her] be levied against her. Especially if illegal immigration were to become a campaign issue. The GOP will claim a slim majority in the Senate, but it will not be by way of Missouri.<br />
</LI><BR><b>
<li>Missouri GOP retain majorities in the General Assembly, but the margin will diminish</B><br />
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The House and Senate will not change hands in 2012. Even with several radical adjustments in the house boundaries, the gap is just too wide for Democrats to overcome in one election (particularly with the growth in the Southwest and sub-suburban St. Louis). However, given the bitter stagnation of the Extraordinary Session, and the prospects of not much more being accomplished this session, it would be surprising to see this many Republicans return in 2013.<br />
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Part of the reason that majority will diminish:</LI> <b>
<li>The greatest accomplishment of the 2012 General Assembly will involve a boogeyman conjured up for vote-mongering purposes.</B><br />
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Hopefully that boogeyman will be the chronic job poachers from a certain state to the west, but with candidates looking to shore up their credentials, expect bill discussed in detail that target any of these boogeymen:<br />
<ol type=a><li>Sharia law</LI>
<li>Ballot box stuffers</LI>
<li>Illegal immigrants</LI>
<li>CAFOs</LI>
<li>Tax credit junkies</LI>
<li>Online shopping</LI>
<li>Term limits</LI></OL></LI><BR><img SRC="http://kyle.scholarbowl.net/blog/Rex%20H%20Susa%20scaled.png" align=right> <b>
<li>Rex H Susa starts chowing down on medicinal hemp, but he'd rather buy it in Arkansas where sales tax would be a bargain nine percent.</B><br />
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He's back, and in full force. Petitions are circulating around the state on a multitude of issues, most notable an effort by Rex Sinquefield's <i>Let Voters Decide</I> to eliminate the income tax and replace it with a higher, broader sales tax to make up the difference. The Humane Society of the United States, bitter over their ag-jeopardizing Proposition B being substantially reworked with the blessing of Governor Nixon and the Humane Society of Missouri, are fronting <i>Your Vote Counts</I> and pushing a constitutional amendment that would require a 75 percent affirmative vote of the General Assembly to overturn any voter initiative, no matter how flawed the proposal is.<br />
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And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Petitions are in the works for updated renewable energy mandates, medical marijuana, an increase in Missouri's lowest-in-the-Western-world 17¢/pack cigarette tax, the prohibition of eminent domain for the benefit of private enterprise, allowing Missouri to vote early, elimination of property taxes, local control of St. Louis City's police force, reform measures for campaign finance, pay day loans, and an increase in the state's minimum wage by $1/hour. Not all of these will get enough signatures, but expect a lot of zombified soccer moms flooding the ballot box with affirmative votes for those that do after seeing carefully crafted TV ads in-between segments of <i>Extra!</I> and <i>Talk Soup</I>.<br />
</LI><BR><b>
<li>The Euro holds on, at least until Ireland defaults.</B><br />
It's the ticking time bomb that will define the 21st century: whether the sick man that is Europe will be able to recover from what's turned out to be a modern version of Articles of Confederacy. Greece and Italy have taken drastic steps to bring their debt crises under control, but three more Eurozone members are in trouble: Spain, Portugal and Ireland. Even with a centre-right coalition running the Irish Republic, they too will have to make serious changes to avoid defaulting after spending a decade as Europe's fastest-rising economic destination.<br />
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Spain and Portugal having to make drastic steps will not impact as much for this reason: the fate of the EU as we know it rests in London's Whitehall. Public opinion of the EU is trending lower and lower. Were Ireland required to make even more drastic steps, supporting the EU will be seen as toxic, particularly in a nation which wails every so often that, "Britons never never never shall be slaves." Seeing the impact of an economic calamity on their doorsteps, rather than in far-flung corners of the continent, will push the Cameron-led Coalition to hold a referendum on the fate of EU membership.<br />
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The Euro needs the stalwart financial sector of Canary Wharf to hold on. If they leave the picture, it will collapse and cause greater economic uncertainty that the American economy will have to weather, rather than risk its own solvency for a Marshall Plan 2.0.<br />
</LI><BR><b>Now, the more important picks:
<li>Adele makes a comeback from her throat surgery by recording a stunning rendition of "I'll Fly Away" as the bonus track on her <i>23</I> album.</B><br />
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And not just that: <b>She'll record a music video of it featuring the hometown of its songwriter, Albert Brumley</B><br />
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You can't deny the phenomenal vocal power of the Tottenham native. Even if her tracks "Someone Like You" and "Rolling In The Deep" wound up each being played six times a day on CHR and AAA stations, there's dang good reason. After being sidelined last fall with laryngitis that required surgery to preserve her cords, don't count her out. Adele certainly has another album or two up her sleeve, and hopefully someone at Walmart will capitalize on her return by snagging her to sing a bonus track on her next album (which, if the naming scheme continues, would be <i>23</I>).<br />
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Where does "I'll Fly Away" come in? Just 30 minutes away from the Walmart Home Office is the McDonald County hamlet of Powell, which still has a post office and a lot of community spirit anchored by the <a HREF="http://brumleymusic.com/Home/Home.html" target=_new>Albert E Brumley & Sons Publishing Company</A>. Just south of the hamlet is a 97-year-old <a HREF="http://powellbridge.blogspot.com/" target=_new>iron bridge</A> which is unlike any other, and as such was named to the National Registry of Historic Places last year:<br />
<br />
<img SRC="http://kyle.scholarbowl.net/blog/Powell%20Bridge%20Approach.jpg" align=right width=400 height=300><br />
The Powell Bridge crosses the scenic Big Sugar Creek, which becomes the oft-rafted Elk River in Pineville. And boy do I mean scenic. Come out here on a sunny spring day and it's the most ethereal blend of natural beauty surrounding a rustic, historic structure. Add in two gems just across the state line: <a HREF="http://maps.google.com/?ll=36.267711,-93.943665&spn=0.004377,0.009645&t=h&z=17&vpsrc=6&layer=c&cbll=36.267711,-93.943665&panoid=AC2_FiyydhV7nJUbgZ2RlQ&cbp=12,138.69,,0,10.31" target=_new>War Eagle Mill</A> east of Rogers and <a HREF="http://www.mcfadinphotography.com/Arkansas/Benton-County/Views-from-the-Past-and/10819950_6MC76f/2/754602438_Qxjdu#754602438_Qxjdu" target=_new>Fisher Ford Bridge</A> south of Siloam Springs, and you'll have the most beautiful music video of 2012. Just make sure the film crew has plenty of Catfish John's.<br />
</LI><BR><b>
<li>Mizzou men's basketball finally break through to the Final Four and win their last conference game at Allen Fieldhouse.</B><br />
<br />
Mizzou has the second-most number of appearances in the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament without ever reaching the Final Four, now at 24. Provided the Big 12 doesn't throttle the RPI and momentum of the black-and-gold, this team has all the pieces to persevere and at least make it to New Orleans. And claim a victory over their archrival Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse, carrying that all the way to the SEC. And speaking of the SEC:<br />
</LI><BR><b>
<li>KU reluctantly schedules Mizzou for football, but only after the Big East successfully holds West Virginia hostage the next two years.</B><br />
<br />
KU do not want to play Mizzou now that the Tigers are preparing to tussle with Gamecocks and Gators. And Mizzou still have three blank spots on their schedule. The only way the rivalry game will continue next season will be by way of the Big East holding West Virginia to the 27-month exit period, resulting in the Big 12 having only eight conference games. This would mean everyone left in the conference would be scrambling to schedule other games. And either they can remain scorned about being left behind and play a cupcake, or boost their strength of schedule by challenging a future SEC contender. This would have certainly helped Oklahoma State this season.<br />
</LI><BR><b>
<li>Mizzou's first season in the SEC will result in a respectable bowl bid, likely Chick-Fil-A</B><br />
<br />
Too bad <a HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymyZ9kpBqFw" target=_new>they don't have any in Columbia</A> (or any chicken places not named Lee's or KFC - insert plea for Zaxby's to finally open up in the Show-Me State), but either way Mizzou will appear in a bowl game and pull off a close win against Clemson. Or it might be the Music City Bowl with a solid win over Louisville. However it works out, Mizzou will make a serious push for the SEC East title and come up just short, though appearing in the Georgia Dome to get blown out by LSU/Bama/Arkansas in the title game will be more than enough to put the Big 12 behind them.<br />
</LI><BR><b>
<li>The Chiefs FINALLY draft a quarterback.</B><br />
<br />
They need one. They really need one, and this year's crop will be bountiful. Quite likely KC will end up with Aaron Murray, who will emulate fellow Georgia product Matthew Stafford in developing a quality offense. However, they'll only be as good as the offensive line, and if the Chiefs don't stock up, Scott Pioli will find himself curating an art museum back in New England.<br />
</LI><BR><b>
<li>The weather will be far less bizarre than 2011, New Madrid Fault notwithstanding</B><br />
For a state that took twisters to its 12th largest city and a major airport, flooding along its two major rivers, two epic snowstorms, and a heatwave that peaked at 42°C, we're finally going to get a break and have a not-so-harrowing season. Provided the fewer quakes along the New Madrid Fault in the past couple years doesn't mean it's building up for the big one this year.<br />
</LI> </OL>K.Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934149500890859314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8841521702392894996.post-63387941555576358632011-12-09T22:24:00.000-06:002011-12-09T22:24:26.150-06:00And Just Like That: A TweakingAfter the appellate panel realized that several of their Senate boundaries might have violated the state constitution concerning counties with more than one district, four of the six members <A Href="http://oa.mo.gov/bp/redistricting/pdf/120911/SenateApportionmentFiling.pdf" target=_new>agreed to a revised map</A> that tweaked several districts in the southwest and around St. Louis. So a couple tweaks in the KC area for my proposed names of each district, as follows:<br />
<br />
<b>Missouri Senate (<a HREF="http://oa.mo.gov/bp/redistricting/Senate_district_maps.htm" target=_new>Click for maps</A>)</B><br />
<ol type=1><li>St. Louis South</LI>
<li>St. Charles West</LI>
<li>Cape Girardeau-St. Genevieve-St. François</LI>
<li>St. Louis Forest Hills</LI>
<li>St. Louis Riverfront</LI>
<li>Lower Osage</LI>
<li>Lower North East</LI>
<li>Lee's Summit East-Blue Springs-Odessa</LI>
<li>Kansas City East</LI>
<li>Kansas City West & Lee's Summit West</LI>
<li>Independence & Raytown</LI>
<li>The North West</LI>
<li>St. Louis North</LI>
<li>Ferguson-University City-Clayton</LI>
<li>St. Louis Southwest</LI>
<li>Upper Gasconade</LI>
<li>Kansas City North</LI>
<li>Upper North East</LI>
<li>Boone & Howard</LI>
<li>Western Ozarks</LI>
<li>The Central West</LI>
<li>The Lead Belt</LI>
<li>St. Charles North</LI>
<li>St. Louis West</LI>
<li>The South East</LI>
<li>Lower Gasconade</LI>
<li>St. Louis Southwest</LI>
<li>Lower South West</LI>
<li>Upper South West</LI>
<li>Springfield</LI>
<li>Upper Osage</LI>
<li>Jasper & Newton</LI>
<li>Eastern Ozarks</LI>
<li>Platte & Buchanan</LI> </OL>K.Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934149500890859314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8841521702392894996.post-82318887667969241952011-12-09T06:45:00.001-06:002011-12-09T06:45:00.625-06:00Naming Missouri's New DistrictsSo now the 130th is the 160th, the 20th is now the 49th, and the 8th's split between the 5th, 6th, and 7th. A subdivision in Liberty that was once wholly in the 34th has part of a cul-de-sac in the 17th and the rest in the 38th. But at least the asynchronous 62nd is now in line with its neighboring districts as the 156th.<br />
<br />
Anyone else think these numbers are way out there and confusing? Sure brandishing our area codes are even seeping their way beyond their 'hood origins (660 Represent, Y'all?), but who walks around bragging "I'm from the 39th, don't be messing with me?" (And apologies to the newly elected Judy Morgan from the 39th District, who now gets drawn into the same district as a fellow Democrat, Minority Leader Mike Talboy.)<br />
<br />
It's simpler to just use numbers, as it's less time consuming to write down names, but what good is a number to describe your area if it's just going to change every ten years? And even if it's going to change every ten years, what difference does conveying "68" make whether it's along Skinker Boulevard or a stretch of the Butterfield Stagecoach Road?<br />
<br />
So let's start naming these districts. Be they after counties, county seats, or neighborhoods, names can be tweaked as need be, and the evolution of the districts can be easier to trace than throwing numbers around and watching a number dart from Rock Port to Athens to the Bootheel over the span of 30 years. So here's what I suggest for names of house districts.<br />
<br />
General guidelines:<br />
<ul><li>Limit of three proper nouns (similar to Canadian Ridings)</LI>
<li>Should be ordered by most population to least</LI>
<li>Emphasis on counties for rural districts, cities or neighborhoods if suburban or urban</LI>
<li>Cardinal direction should only be used if base location is used more than once</LI>
<li>Geographical feature or area if possible and patently unique</LI></UL>And now, the obnoxiously sized lists:<br />
<br />
<b>Missouri House (<a HREF="http://oa.mo.gov/bp/redistricting/House_district_maps.htm" target=_New>Click for maps</A>)</B><br />
<ol type=1><li>Nodaway & Holt</LI>
<li>Upper Grand River</LI>
<li>Kirksville & the Green Hills</LI>
<li>Canton-Memphis-Edina</LI>
<li>Hannibal North & Shelby</LI>
<li>Macon & Randolph North</LI>
<li>Lower Grand River</LI>
<li>Caldwell & Clinton</LI>
<li>Savannah & Buchanan East</LI>
<li>St. Joseph Center</LI>
<li>St. Joseph South-Buchanan West-Platte North</LI>
<li>Platte City-Smithville-Kearney</LI>
<li>Platte South</LI>
<li>Platte Southeast</LI>
<li>Gladstone</LI>
<li>Shoal Creek Valley</LI>
<li>Liberty South & Claycomo</LI>
<li>North Kansas City & Vivion Road</LI>
<li>Kansas City Northeast</LI>
<li>Independence North & Fort Osage</LI>
<li>Independence East</LI>
<li>[Kansas City] Blue Ridge</LI>
<li>Kansas City East</LI>
<li>Kansas City Downtown</LI>
<li>[Kansas City] Brookside</LI>
<li>Kansas City Troost</LI>
<li>[Kansas City] Swope Park</LI>
<li>Raytown</LI>
<li>Independence South & Kansas City Southeast</LI>
<li>Independence Southeast & Woods Chapel</LI>
<li>Blue Springs South & Tapawingo</LI>
<li>Blue Springs North & Jackson East</LI>
<li>Harrisonville-Pleasant Hill-Lone Jack</LI>
<li>Lee's Summit East & Greenwood</LI>
<li>Lee's Summit West & Longview</LI>
<li>Kansas City Red Bridge</LI>
<li>Grandview & Jackson Southwest</LI>
<li>Liberty North & Excelsior Springs</LI>
<li>Ray-Carroll-Chariton North</LI>
<li>Hannibal South-Paris-Bowling Green</LI>
<li>Lincoln & Troy</LI>
<li>Warren-Montgomery-St. Charles Southwest</LI>
<li>Audrain & Callaway East</LI>
<li>Columbia East & Centralia</LI>
<li>Columbia Columns</LI>
<li>Columbia Southwest</LI>
<li>Boone West-Randolph South-Howard East</LI>
<li>Boonville-Fayette-Chariton South</LI>
<li>Callaway South</LI>
<li>Boone South & Moniteau North</LI>
<li>Warrensburg East-Marshall-Pettis North</LI>
<li>Sedalia & Whiteman</LI>
<li>Lafayette</LI>
<li>Warrensburg West & Pettis South</LI>
<li>Raymore-Peculiar-Cass Central</LI>
<li>Belton & Cass West</LI>
<li>Cass South-Henry-Benton North</LI>
<li>Moniteau South & Morgan</LI>
<li>Cole South & Miller North</LI>
<li>Jefferson City</LI>
<li>Lower Gasconade & Osage</LI>
<li>Upper Gasconade & Osage</LI>
<li>Wentzville & Wright City</LI>
<li>St. Paul & Lincoln Southeast</LI>
<li>St. Charles East</LI>
<li>Bellefontaine Neighbors & St. Louis Chain Of Rocks</LI>
<li>Old Halls Ferry</LI>
<li>Florissant Central</LI>
<li>Florissant West</LI>
<li>Maryland Heights West & Chesterfield North</LI>
<li>Maryland Heights-Overland South</LI>
<li>Maryland Heights-Overland North</LI>
<li>Hazelwood-Lambert-Ferguson West</LI>
<li>Ferguson East & Jennings</LI>
<li>Dellwood & Castle Point</LI>
<li>St. Louis Kingsway</LI>
<li>St. Louis University & Fairgrounds</LI>
<li>St. Louis Gateway</LI>
<li>St. Louis Hyde Park & Lafayette Square</LI>
<li>St. Louis Tower Grove</LI>
<li>St. Louis Holly Hills</LI>
<li>St. Louis Southampton & Lindenwood</LI>
<li>Maplewood-Brentwood-Rock Hill</LI>
<li>St. Louis Forest Park</LI>
<li>Overland East, Bel-Ridge & Northwoods</LI>
<li>University City</LI>
<li>Clayton & Ladue South</LI>
<li>Creve Coeur & Ladue North</LI>
<li>Town & Country</LI>
<li>Kirkwood</LI>
<li>Webster Groves-Shrewsbury-Crestwood</LI>
<li>Affton & Concord</LI>
<li>Lemay</LI>
<li>Mehlville</LI>
<li>Oakville</LI>
<li>Fenton & Sunset Hills</LI>
<li>Arnold West & Murphy</LI>
<li>Ballwin Meramec</LI>
<li>Manchester & Valley Park</LI>
<li>Ballwin North & Chesterfield South</LI>
<li>Chesterfield West & Wildwood North</LI>
<li>Dardenne Prairie</LI>
<li>Cottleville</LI>
<li>St. Peters West</LI>
<li>St. Peters East</LI>
<li>St. Charles West</LI>
<li>O'Fallon</LI>
<li>Lake St. Louis</LI>
<li>Franklin North</LI>
<li>Pacific-Eureka-Wildwood South</LI>
<li>Jefferson West</LI>
<li>Jefferson North</LI>
<li>Arnold East & Barnhart West</LI>
<li>Festus & Barnhart East</LI>
<li>Jefferson South & St. François North</LI>
<li>Ste. Genevieve-Farmington East-Perry North</LI>
<li>Farmington West & Park Hills</LI>
<li>Jefferson Southwest & Washington North</LI>
<li>Franklin South & Washington Northwest</LI>
<li>Steelville & St. James</LI>
<li>Rolla-Dixon-Richland</LI>
<li>Waynesville</LI>
<li>Laclede East & Camden South</LI>
<li>Miller South & Camden North</LI>
<li>St. Clair-Hickory-Benton South</LI>
<li>Bates & Vernon</LI>
<li>Barton-Dade-Jasper Outer</LI>
<li>Bolivar & Stockton</LI>
<li>Laclede West & Dallas</LI>
<li>Greene West</LI>
<li>Springfield North</LI>
<li>Springfield Center</LI>
<li>Springfield Southwest</LI>
<li>Springfield South</LI>
<li>Springfield East</LI>
<li>Springfield Southeast</LI>
<li>Greene East & Webster West</LI>
<li>Stone & Christian Northwest</LI>
<li>Christian West</LI>
<li>Christian East</LI>
<li>Webster East & Wright</LI>
<li>Houston-Big Piney-Edgar Springs</LI>
<li>Dent-Shannon-Oregon</LI>
<li>Washington South & the Arcadia Valley</LI>
<li>Madison-Bollinger-Perry South</LI>
<li>Cape Girardeau Outer</LI>
<li>Cape Girardeau Inner</LI>
<li>Scott East & Mississippi North</LI>
<li>New Madrid-Pemiscot North-Mississippi South</LI>
<li>Dunklin & Pemiscot South</LI>
<li>Stoddard & Scott West</LI>
<li>Butler South</LI>
<li>Butler North-Ripley-Carter</LI>
<li>West Plains & Caulfield</LI>
<li>Douglas-Ozark-Taney East</LI>
<li>Taney West</LI>
<li>Lawrence</LI>
<li>Barry</LI>
<li>McDonald & Newton South</LI>
<li>Newton North</LI>
<li>Joplin Hope</LI>
<li>Joplin North & Jasper Southwest</LI>
<li>Carthage & Oronogo</LI></OL><br />
<b>Missouri Senate (<a HREF="http://oa.mo.gov/bp/redistricting/Senate_district_maps.htm" target=_new>Click for maps</A>)</B><br />
<ol type=1><li>St. Louis South</LI>
<li>St. Charles West</LI>
<li>Cape Girardeau-St. Genevieve-St. François</LI>
<li>St. Louis Forest Hills</LI>
<li>St. Louis Riverfront</LI>
<li>Lower Osage</LI>
<li>Lower North East</LI>
<li>Lee's Summit & Blue Springs</LI>
<li>Kansas City East</LI>
<li>Kansas City West</LI>
<li>Independence & Raytown</LI>
<li>The North West</LI>
<li>St. Louis North</LI>
<li>Ferguson-University City-Clayton</LI>
<li>St. Louis Southwest</LI>
<li>Upper Gasconade</LI>
<li>Kansas City North</LI>
<li>Upper North East</LI>
<li>Boone & Howard</LI>
<li>Western Ozarks</LI>
<li>The Central West</LI>
<li>Lead Belt</LI>
<li>St. Charles North</LI>
<li>St. Louis West</LI>
<li>The South East</LI>
<li>Lower Gasconade</LI>
<li>St. Louis Southwest</LI>
<li>Lower South West</LI>
<li>Upper South West</LI>
<li>Springfield</LI>
<li>Upper Osage</LI>
<li>Jasper & Newton</LI>
<li>Eastern Ozarks</LI>
<li>Platte & Buchanan</LI> </OL>K.Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934149500890859314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8841521702392894996.post-21786304275755993712011-12-08T07:20:00.002-06:002011-12-08T07:20:01.628-06:00Lant To Pursue Vacant Seat In McDonald CountyIf it hasn't run already, portions of my interview with first-term Rep. Bill Lant will air later today, where Lant announces that he will pursue the new 159th District in McDonald County.<br />
<br />
Lant, who currently lives outside Joplin and operates a feed store north of Seneca, was drawn into the same district as another first-term Republican, Bill Reiboldt of Neosho. Reiboldt, currently the vice-chairman of the agriculture committee, lives on his family's farm just outside Neosho, and the 160th district is centered on Neosho. Lant says that he owns land in McDonald County and has been planning to build a home there for some time.<br />
<br />
The 159th will contain all of McDonald County as well as the Newton County communities of Seneca and Stella. (In fact, the new boundary between the two districts runs along Iris Road, just south of the feed store.) Previously, Neosho was grouped into the 130th district also containing Anderson, Goodman and South West City, wholly surrounded by the 131st district and the state boundary.<br />
<br />
Under Missouri law, a representative is allowed to run for office in another district if he or she is forced out by redistricting. If elected, the representative would have one year to relocate. Already Andrew Koenig (R-Wincester), Jason Holsman (D-Kansas City) and now Jamilah Nasheed (D-St. Louis) have announced plans to run for vacant districts as a result of being grouped into new districts with other incumbents.<br />
<br />
Additionally, Charlie Davis (R-Webb City) is said to be moving to a different part of Webb City as as a result of his placement in a district with Tom Loehner (R-Carthage). The line between the 162nd & 163rd districts is four blocks from Davis' house.K.Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934149500890859314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8841521702392894996.post-73263270869186398972011-11-30T23:06:00.001-06:002011-11-30T23:21:28.569-06:00Brian Williams Chill Pill NeededBrian Williams, who was once anchor at Joplin's KOAM-TV, displayed a most admirable sense of cool and collected composure when fire alarms blared during his live broadcast of <i>NBC Nightly News</I> this week, and likewise when he did spot reporting from his one-time home in the aftermath of last May's tornado.<br />
<br />
If only I had that amount of cool this evening when I saw the new maps of the Missouri House and Senate districts. Fortunately, the Senate maps (outside St. Louis) allowed me to regain some composure and stop my neighbors from asking what the heck I was screaming about. Well, when something odd happens close to home, you're inclined to freak out:<br />
<a HREF="http://kyle.scholarbowl.net/16-38Split.png" target=_new><img SRC="http://kyle.scholarbowl.net/16-38Split.png" width=348 height=216></A><br />
This is the House district line between districts 16 (south) and 38 (north & east). In the northwestern corner is District 12, which will stretch from Platte City to Kearney.<br />
<br />
You'd expect to see such sawtooth boundaries in urban districts, but we're not talking about two suburban districts. Because of the population distribution between the growing suburbs of Kansas City and the greying breadbasket of Northern Missouri, District 16 will consist of subdivisions ranging from Gashland and New Mark to Shoal Creek Valley and parts of North Brook, while District 38 will stretch from this area east to Excelsior Springs and Missouri City. However, the population of Liberty (the oldest municipality in the Kansas City area), is in for a shock.<br />
<br />
After I gave up on using the <a HREF="http://oa.mo.gov/bp/redistricting/new_state_legislative_districts.htm" target=_new>state administration office</A>'s GIS tool, I downloaded the KML files for display in Google Earth, and the results were damning through Liberty.<br />
<br />
<a HREF="http://kyle.scholarbowl.net/17-38SplitC.png" target=_new><img SRC="http://kyle.scholarbowl.net/17-38SplitC.png" width=347 height=235></A><br />
This is Exit 17, the junction between Interstate 35 and Highway 291. At this point (OK, a few yards away owing to pre-Interstate road alignments) is the confluence of districts 16 (southwest), 17 (southeast) and 38 (northeast). This is where the boundary for 38 really gets screwy. A small subdivision across from Lewis & Clark Elementary is split along its lone, winding street. It then follows Gallatin down toward Ridgeway Road, heads south toward Fairview and then onto the Junior High.<br />
<br />
<a HREF="http://kyle.scholarbowl.net/17-38SplitB.png" target=_new><img SRC="http://kyle.scholarbowl.net/17-38SplitB.png" width=347 height=225></A><br />
This is downtown Liberty and one of its historic neighborhoods to the west. The red line decides to jog around, going east a block on Kansas, then south on Moss until it hits Liberty Drive, then east onto Mill until it becomes Richfield Drive at William Jewell. The square and college are in District 38; the Junior High and Franklin Elementary, District 17. Again, William Jewell is in a rural district with Excelsior Springs and Franklin Elementary is in a suburban district with Claycomo and Pleasant Valley.<br />
<br />
From Richfield Road, the boundary goes south on Claywoods Parkway, the main north-south road through the Claywoods subdivisions. Until it hits this group of houses:<br />
<a HREF="http://kyle.scholarbowl.net/17-38SplitA.png" target=_new><img SRC="http://kyle.scholarbowl.net/17-38SplitA.png" width=348 height=224></A><br />
<br />
The district boundary breaks away to group the first two houses on Silverleaf Lane, then goes along the backyards of several houses until it reaches a home that has its back against the cul-de-sac on Crimson Lane. The boundary goes along the property lines, through the cul-de-sac, and then makes a due-south dash for the water treatment plant. Yes, that means two houses on Crimson Lane are in one suburban district, whilst the rest of the street is in the neighboring rural district.<br />
<br />
I'm hearing stories of how as many as three incumbents could be pitted against each other for one seat (the new District 5 between Shelby, Marion and northern Monroe counties is coming to mind), but this meticulous buzzsaw through Liberty really got my blood boiling. And this could have been prevented had nine Republicans and nine Democrats been able to actually agree to something workable rather than stick with their own political endeavours.<br />
<br />
Now, folks going door to door campaigning through Claywoods and Brooke Meadows will wind up cherry-picking doors as a result of oddly drawn lines.<br />
<br />
Get the sheers out, folks. Just don't use them when you're on chill pills soon to be named for Brian Williams.K.Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934149500890859314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8841521702392894996.post-77431223222107986272011-11-26T11:00:00.005-06:002011-11-26T13:17:11.948-06:00On Disparaging TweetsNovember doesn't seem like a good month to be a Tweeter in a certain state to the west.<br />
<br />
This week, regional media was abuzz over a <A HREF="https://twitter.com/#!/emmakate988/status/138653272490782721" target=_new>tweet sent by Emma Sullivan</A>, a senior at Shawnee Mission East High School, making a disparaging comment about Kansas Governor Sam Brownback as he was speaking to her school's Youth in Government during a field trip to the state capitol in Topeka. She and her supporters say the tweet (complete with "#heblowsalot") was a joke, but the Governor's office is certainly not laughing, as their complaint to administrators at East has resulted in the school requiring Sullivan to write a letter of apology to Brownback.<br />
<br />
While this certainly tests the lines on freedom of expression within the confines of our schools, especially when it comes to social media and politics, I'm only dumbstruck by the lack of decorum exhibited by both parties. While students should not "check their First Amendment rights at the door", as famously phrased in <I>Tinker vs. United States</I>, it was disrespectful of Sullivan to make that Tweet as the governor was speaking to her school group. She certainly had the right to make those comments, but the manner in which it was done lacked tact (and, if such a policy exists, likely goes against the school's code on mobile phone use during class or similar school function).<br />
<br />
The governor's office isn't looking any better on this. Sullivan's Twitter feed, prior to this week's row, only had fewer than 100 followers. It was public and open for anyone to find and search. Including Brownback's director of communications, who informed the school about the tweet. Plenty of Brownback detractors are calling the action and mere existence of saved searches scouring the web for anything mention the governor's name as akin to the thought police. While it's unclear whether the governor's office demanded the apology or school administrators suggested the idea, it's a blatant over-reaction.<br />
<br />
If Brownback (or more appropriately his staffers) are worried about a singular insult from an 18-year-old, self-identified Democrat who plans on going to college in a different state, how the heck are they going to handle proper criticism from a serious political challenger? And if the school's administration have taken it upon themselves to mandate this letter, complete with talking points, how exactly is this a student making a sincere apology for an act of disrespect and not administrators in Kansas' second-largest school district begging Brownback to not take out his disapproval (or disdain for dissenting opinions) on their funding?<br />
<br />
Then again, if Brownback would cut funding or demand apologies because of Tweets that lack all sense of decorum, KU's "<A HREF="https://twitter.com/#!/KUNews/status/133248792232333313">Missouri forfeits a century-old rivalry. We win.</A>" three weeks ago should bring about a similar action, especially if today's game results in Mizzou claiming a lop-sided win on their way to the SEC East.K.Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934149500890859314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8841521702392894996.post-62600526880747007252011-05-28T17:41:00.000-05:002011-05-28T17:41:00.511-05:00The Joplin Spirit<i>The following was submitted for publication in <a HREF="http://www.romneymarshtimes.com/" target=_new>The Romney Marsh Times</A>, an internet-based publication serving the Romney Marsh area of Kent.</I><br />
<br />
When I relocated to the Kentish Riviera two years ago, one of the first things I did was review the history of the area I was soon to call home. Although my time in Folkestone lasted far shorter than I had hoped, I left having a greater understanding and appreciation for many of the aspects that form common characteristics in our rechristened “essential relationship”.<br />
<br />
One of these common traits is the can-do attitude that a people who fervently believe in their way of life and fellow man, woman and child can overcome any oppressive, seemingly insurmountable obstacle. The Dunkirk Spirit—the rescue of thousands of British soldiers from the onslaught of the Third Reich’s Blitzkrieg—reverberates to this day in the many war memorials, community events, and appeals that bring together villages and towns across Britain. The challenge proved difficult with the arrival of the Blitz, especially in Hellfire Corner. But Britain persevered.<br />
<br />
Two years today marks the first time I walked through the garden on Sandgate Road, where Christ Church once stood. Its clock tower remained intact following persistent cross-Channel bombardment, a testament to the Dunkirk Spirit. In the past week, I’ve been reminded of that testament as Mother Nature unleashed her worst on my home state Missouri.<br />
<br />
It only took a matter of minutes for a tornado to descend on the south end of Joplin and carve a path of devastation six miles long and in some places a mile wide. The numbers and pictures from the area are jarring: 142 dead, at least 100 still unaccounted for, tens of thousands homeless, nearly $3 billion (£1.82 billion) in damage, and street corners unrecognisable. The cyclone has been described as the eighth-deadliest in the record books, the worst in almost sixty years. And storms causing flash flooding and more tornado scares have only added insult to injury.<br />
<br />
While it will take years for Joplin to physically recover, its spirit is far from broken.<br />
<br />
Within hours of the storm’s damage airing on local and national television, donation drives and volunteer efforts began sprouting up. The next morning, Americans from every walk of life offered their change, blood veins, and labour to help. Over 65,000 people joined a Facebook group expressing support for Joplin's recovery, also giving survivors a chance to reconnect with loved ones. Church congregations and businesses from Springfield, Tulsa, Northwest Arkansas, Kansas City and beyond sent lorry after lorry containing much-needed essentials. Donation appeals emerged in bank parking lots, hotel lobbies, and even a furniture outlet store collecting stuffed toys. Major sport clubs are in the effort, with the owner of Kansas City’s NFL franchise taking a hands-on role in packing bottled water.<br />
<br />
Amid the damage, the rebuilding has already begun. Flags fly full-mast at Joplin’s damaged school buildings, including the high school that must be razed and rebuilt. The St John’s Regional Medical Center, whose nine-storey shell has become the icon of this disaster, is already crafting plans for a new facility to continue their 126-year ministry. While these are critical pillars of any community, it falls on the people who call Joplin home to revive and sustain their wounded hometown.<br />
<br />
One would only need dial into any of Joplin’s radio stations to hear their spirit endure. Since 4 p.m. Sunday Joplin’s main ownership cluster has provided continuous coverage, allowing residents to call and tell the world they’re OK, find out information about shelters, and look for loved ones who have gone missing. Several staff members remain at the studios with nothing but what they brought in that weekend, and they remain committed to getting their community back on their feet. I can barely imagine how I would be able to endure were I to find myself in a similar situation, prioritising the needs of my community over the pain of personal loss.<br />
<br />
While it is expected of any licensed broadcaster, canine search and rescue team, or national guardsman to provide their public service during a crisis, it takes community spirit to overcome the personal grief and dismay from living in the midst of a nightmare and pull together for the greater good.<br />
<br />
The history books will look at the tornado of 22nd May 2011 not as the single twister that destroyed one-third of Missouri’s thirteenth-largest city, but as the calamity that cultivated the Joplin Spirit. An EF-5 cyclone may have uprooted the lives of tens of thousands, but millions of hearts, bound and beating together with prayer, charity for an afflicted neighbour, and sense of duty to restore some semblance of normalcy, will remain firmly entrenched in all who call Joplin and surrounding communities home.<br />
<br />
Joplin will persevere. Its streets may resemble a war zone, but its people are resilient and their fellow Missourians stand in solidarity for their recovery. <br />
<br />
The Joplin Spirit will prevail.K.Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934149500890859314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8841521702392894996.post-83703010068926793812011-03-31T21:27:00.004-05:002011-04-01T00:26:56.341-05:00Fayetteville Finger, Meet Nolte's NotchBeing situated in Missouri's unofficial 118th County, naturally I've been keeping an eye on the redistricting efforts in the Natural State. Today, Arkansas's House approved a measure that would draw Fayetteville and southeastern Washington County into the Democrat-leaning Fourth Congressional District and out of the third, which currently is centered on the I-540 corridor. The vote went 52-46, with only one of Fayetteville's reps voting for the proposal.<br />
<br />
So the talk of gerrymandering down here has giving me a sharpened set of eyes to review the proposed map that Missouri's House Redistricting Committee has <a HREF="http://www.house.mo.gov/largemap.aspx">placed on its Web site</A> and discussed in earnest today. Naturally, the presumed "odd man out" Russ Carnahan joined with likely primary opponent William Clay in opposing the proposal to split St. Louis City and County among two districts. And with Missouri having to redraw to account for one less district, there will be plenty of fighting in the six weeks remaining in the General Assembly's session.<br />
<br />
And while most of the state's focus will be on St. Louis (again, because a member of the Carnahan dynasty is pretty much the "odd man out"), lines have shifted considerably in the Western half of the state.<br />
<br />
Consider the current setup of Kansas City and, by extension, the Athenian corridor better known as Highway 63: (derived from <a HREF="http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/pdf/congdist/pagecgd112_mo.pdf">The National Atlas' map of Missouri's current delegations</A>)<br />
<a href="http://www.scobo.net/hill/kyle/WCMO_2000Dist.png"><img SRC="http://www.scobo.net/hill/kyle/WCMO_2000Dist.png" width=400 height=177></A><br />
After the 2000 Census, Jackson County was split between three congressional districts, the bulk containing Kansas City in the Democrat-leaning fifth, a sliver in the stalwart fourth, and an increasingly conservative suburban region added to the expansive sixth. Columbia anchored the ninth district that covered Northeast Missouri and added counties along the northernmost reaches of the Ozarks.<br />
<br />
Now, under the House's initial plan, we have this:<br />
<a HREF="http://www.scobo.net/hill/kyle/WCMO_HB193.png"><img src="http://www.scobo.net/hill/kyle/WCMO_HB193.png" width=400 height=246></A><br />
Lafayette, Ray, and Saline counties would be added to the fifth, and in exchange for losing Ike Skelton's stomping grounds, the fourth would receive Howard and Cooper counties from the sixth, plus Columbia in Boone County and the southern half of Randolph County, including all of Moberly. The remainder of the ninth would go to the sixth in the north and a new third district in the south. Miller County, which was originally at the edge of the district and jutting between the fourth and sixth, now becomes a critical retention point as the home county of incumbent Blaine Leuktemeyer. To that effect, Cole and most of Camden are added to this re-designated district.<br />
<br />
The wonkiest drawings here, though, take place along the major byways of Kansas City's suburbs. With Jackson County's overall population showing little growth, adding Ike's core counties (traditionally Democrat) didn't do enough to bring the district's population up to snuff. Especially after the current portion in Cass County was moved to the fourth, as to ensure that incumbent Vicky Hartzler had the entirety of her home county. And with Eastern Jackson County solidly leaning Republican, placing them in the fifth would cause displeasure in their ranks, despite Sam Graves having to cross through the fifth to get there by car. So enter Clay County, a decent mix of suburbs to the south and west, farmland points north and east:<br />
<br />
<a HREF="http://www.scobo.net/hill/kyle/Clay_HB193.png" target=_new><img SRC="http://www.scobo.net/hill/kyle/Clay_HB193.png" width=400 height=452></A><br />
The line in red denotes the county line not marking the boundary between the two districts. Note that with Jackson to the south and Ray to the east, the fifth district would claim two significant population areas: Excelsior Springs and Lawson in the northeast corner, and several gentrified suburbs in the southwest. While these areas have historically leaned Democratic, this (as well as every other district being redrawn or not being redrawn for lack of enough population to warrant multiple districts in a state) guarantees nothing come November 2012.<br />
<br />
Hence, labeling this convenient drawing of the line meandering through Jackson and Clay counties "Nolte's Notch", so named for State Representative and former Gladstone mayor Jerry Nolte. Nolte has generated plenty of attention with proposed this legislation this year, particularly his bills <a HREF="http://house.mo.gov/billsummary.aspx?bill=HB61&year=2011">pegging the state's minimum wage to the federal minimum wage</A>, <a HREF="http://house.mo.gov/billsummary.aspx?bill=HB167&year=2011" target=_new>requiring drivers tests to be administered in English</A>, and <a HREF="http://house.mo.gov/billsummary.aspx?bill=HB76&year=2011" target=_new>eliminating the franchise tax over the next five years</A>. Nolte, who is term-limited from the House after 2012, piqued the pundits' attention when he created an exploratory committee to look at a run for Congress when Graves was flirting at the prospect of challenging Claire McCaskill for the Senate.<br />
<br />
Less than 24 hours after Nolte filed exploratory paperwork, Graves announced he would prefer staying in the House as chairman of the Committee on Small Businesses. When <a HREF="http://www.rollcall.com/news/-203126-1.html">interviewed by <i>Roll Call</I>'s Tricia Miller later that week</A>, Nolte indicated that he would still consider a run for Congress if he happened to be going up against Emmanuel Cleaver, current representative from the fifth.<br />
<br />
Cleaver, the AME preacher who was mayor of Kansas City from 1991 to 1999, received a scare from perennial Republican challenger Jacob Turk in 2010. Cleaver won re-election with only 53 percent of the vote, and now serves as chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.<br />
<br />
So lo and behold: Nolte's Notch, encompassing North Kansas City, Gladstone, Claycomo, Gracemor and Birmingham. A chance for him or any Republican who didn't want to challenge Graves or Hartzler to take their aim on Cleaver, and by extension anything remotely to the left of them.<br />
<br />
Of course, the Senate has yet to release their proposal, and both are subject to changes large and small as the next six weeks play out. And it's not yet known how the Blue Dog counties of Ray, Lafayette, and Saline would react to being represented by either a minority Democrat from the urban core or a suburbanite Republican from a county that backed Proposition B by a two-to-one margin. But if the House's plan were to hold firm, Missouri could end up with one Democrat out of eight in their House delegation. Presuming, rather prematurely, the chips fall the same way in 2012 the way they did in 2010.K.Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934149500890859314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8841521702392894996.post-81477397466412037762011-03-23T20:24:00.001-05:002011-03-24T00:07:24.334-05:00A Refresher Course For Mike<i>A Primer From Someone Who Pretty Much Did The Same Thing Mike's Doing:<br />
Left Missouri To Return To An Old Job Just Outside The State</I><br />
<br />
Things have changed rapidly in Northwest Arkansas since the last time Mike Anderson held a job here. Heck, even some things changed since I was last employed south of the border some 22 months ago. But now, since I've been here the last five weeks re-acquainting myself with the turf that formed my initial status as <i>The Missouri Expatriate</I>, I'm going to relay some refreshers to the newest escapee from The Shear-Me State.<br />
<br />
<ol type=1><li><b>There are a lot more people here than there were when Nolan was chased out of town with pitchforks.</B><br />
Yep, Northwest Arkansas remains one of the fastest growing places in the nation. Two of the fastest growing counties in the 2010 Census were Washington and Benton counties, the two that make up the core of the region. In fact, Benton's rapid growth allowed them to surpass Washington (whose county seat is Fayetteville) as the second-most populous county in the Natural State, with Pulaski still in the top spot. With that in mind…<br />
</LI>
<li><b>Ojala que haya aprendido español, laosiano o aún marshalesa.</B><br />
The rapid growth of population and commerce in the area also includes a large influx of migrant workers from Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Marshall Islands. Most of them are employed by the poultry behemoth Tyson and their competitors George's, Cargill and Cobb-Vantress. This influx has added a unique character to their places of residence. Be ready to translate to English several signs, especially along 8th Street in Rogers and the east end of Springdale.<br />
</LI>
<li><b>Forget Hy-Vee, QuikTrip, and Shakespeare's. They're still not here.</B><br />
Although the area has a plethora of independent pizza joints (Jim's Razorback, Eureka, Tim's), there's nothing like the unique feel of Shakespeare's. Also, it's going to be hit-or-miss finding Boulevard on tap (though I confess I don't know if Mike's the kind of guy who'll down a pint) or toasted ravioli.<br />
<br />
Despite Iowa-based Kum and Go making an aggressive push into the market (and fellow Hawkeye chain Casey's building its first store in Arkansas at Bella Vista's Highland Crossing) Hyvee still hasn't set designs on the area, with Walmart and Harps remaining the main game. (Yes, that means no Schnuks either!) And although QuikTrip is headquartered 90 miles to the west in Tulsa, they haven't touched the area either.<br />
</LI>
<li><b>There's still no Bella Vista bypass, either.</B><br />
Get used to stopping at lights in Jane and stop-and-go traffic between Lancashire Drive and Lowe's, because the Bella Vista Bypass remains nowhere near completion. It's the critical cog that's keeping MoDOT from having US-71 south of Joplin labelled I-49. And if we're lucky, a two-lane bypass will open in four years that'll just provide a shortcut to Hiwasse. Worse, MoDOT's had the funding ready for years, but now as Arkansas's getting their act together to bypass what is now the state's ninth-largest city, MoDOT sits at risk of a massive budget shortfall.<br />
</LI>
<li><b>Get ready to elect a congressman from Texarkana. Or Helena-West Helena.</B><br />
In spite of civic leaders and members of both parties saying how flagrant a gerrymander it is, members of Arkansas' re-districting committees are seriously considering a plan that would gerrymander Fayetteville out of the Third District (which reaches to Harrison, Fort Smith and Russellville) and into the last-remaining Democrat district, the fourth district in the southern half of the state. Supporters contend that Fayetteville's majority-Democrat population believe their votes are being wasted in a district that's been reliably Republican for 30-plus years. However, this gerrymander would be achieved by a "pig tail" through the Ozark National Forest in eastern Sebastian County, entirely surrounded by the Third District. And really, what does a college town surrounded by Walmart, Tyson, and J.B. Hunt have in common with the likes of DeQueen, Crossett and Lake Village?<br />
<br />
And yes, Helena consolidated with West Helena, and the city is in fact called "Helena-West Helena".<br />
</LI>
<li><b>Didn't like paying to see the <i>Columbia Tribune</i> online? It's worse with the <i>Arkansas Democrat-Gazette</I>.</b><br />
While the <i>Columbia Tribune</I> allows you to view ten articles online before making you pay (and you can get around it by reading the <i>Missourian</I> or any other paper in Missouri), you only get an abstract with the <i>Arkansas Democrat-Gazette</I> before they insist you pay to view. Good luck finding any other daily to get freebie views; the closest is Neosho and Joplin, and they're owned by the same people who run the <i>Kirksville Daily Express</I>. Yeah.<br />
</LI>
<li><b>Politics and planes aren't a problem here.</B><br />
No need to worry about fans from either side of the aisle taking "damn planes" to see the Hogs play. Democrat Mike Beebe's well liked here despite Arkansas becoming increasingly red, and he rarely leaves the Little Rock area.<br />
</LI>
<li><b>Unfortunately, fluoridated water is.</B><br />
Despite the EPA advising polities to hold off on increasing the amount of fluoride in their drinking water, Beebe already signed legislation essentially overriding local standards and setting a statewide minimum. So once locating a dentist that's either in the Third or Fourth District that's going to charge a wee bit extra so the office staff can read entire articles online, check to make sure that iconic smile isn't getting scarred by streaks of fluoride.<br />
</LI>
<li><b>On the bright side, once the euphoric homecoming passes and Arkansas is still languishing in the just-as-lousy SEC West, XNA has plenty of flights to choose from to escape the throngs of fans that still have Houston Nutt's scalp on the end of their pitchforks.</B><br />
The only thing missing is Southwest, but sooner or later they'll come here. Heck, Southwest already has an in at Branson's airport once the acquisition of AirTran is complete.<br />
</LI> </OL>So there's my refresher course. Good luck Mike, because we're both going to need it.K.Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934149500890859314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8841521702392894996.post-91643539070819352972011-02-21T21:39:00.001-06:002011-02-21T21:39:00.238-06:00Full CircleLast week, I once again became an expatriate of the Show-Me State. I accepted an offer from my once-previous employers, KURM, and again am a member of their programming staff in Northwest Arkansas' Rogers. (And again I must note that views expressed here, past present and future, do not reflect the view of any of my employers, past present or future.)<br />
<br />
This could easily be the inevitable death knell of this blog. With <i>Missives from Missouri</I> averaging 25 hits a day on weekly reports from nearly one-fifth the General Assembly, it has simply become the crux of what I publish online. If you haven't already, please start following Missives from Missouri on <a HREF="http://www.twitter.com/MissivesFromMO/">Twitter</A> as well as <a HREF="http://missivesfrommo.blogspot.com">the site itself</A>.<br />
<br />
However, I'm still that stubborn Missouri mule. I'll probably have something to post here from time to time. Good chance this will become a clip site featuring interviews I've done for them (seeing as the most riveting content on the station's Web site are the rules for Dial-A-Trade; were that not the case this blog would be on indefinite hiatus!)<br />
<br />
As it has taken awhile for me to get situated in my flat in Missouri's 118th county, I have only now just gotten around to posting this, and a backlog of missives from the weekend are finally getting uploaded.<br />
<br />
So here we go again: yours truly, <I>The Missouri Expatriate</I>K.Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934149500890859314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8841521702392894996.post-17192478510958735232011-02-08T20:43:00.001-06:002011-02-08T20:45:44.971-06:00A Setting Everyone in Lohman Needs to SetFour Missouri lawmakers and a staffer have had their Facebook profiles hacked into over the past month. According to the <a href="http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_b6e40444-1414-563a-bf25-d28869ca4f0a.html" target=_new><i>St. Louis Post-Dispatch</A></I>, the victimized profiles logged onto Facebook via the House's public WiFi network shortly before being targeted.<br />
<br />
Amid suggestions that the House should tighten access to their network, Facebook <a HREF="http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=486790652130">has introduced an option where users can log on and and surf with a secure connection</A>. All users need to is go to their account settings and set up HTTPS browsing under "Account Security". Using an HTTPS connection, while resulting in longer waits for pages to load, would result in more information being encrypted when sent to and from the site.<br />
<br />
Facebook's new security options includes e-mail and text alerts when a computer or mobile device access a user's account for the first time. They're also experimenting with social authentication, using pictures of the user's friends to verify that the person logging on is not a random hacker.<br />
<br />
The change comes as an effort to prevent hackers from gaining access via public wireless networks, like those the House and Senate have in place at the State Capitol in Jefferson City. Since the session started last month, Democrat Stacey Newman of St. Louis, three Republicans (among them freshmen Donna Lichtenegger of Jackson and Dave Schatz of Sullivan) and a legislative aide to another Republican were victimized by hackers.K.Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934149500890859314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8841521702392894996.post-85830940204645349252011-01-07T17:29:00.000-06:002011-01-07T17:29:07.326-06:00MoDOT Lets Peyton Manning Decide When Road Work StartsRoadwork on Interstate 70 in Jackson County comes down to whether Peyton Manning has a bad day against the Jets tomorrow.<br />
<br />
And if Ray Lewis can replicate Oakland's shredding of the Chiefs' offensive line.<br />
<br />
The Missouri Department of Transportation are <A HREF="http://www.modot.org/kansascity/major_projects/Blue_Ridge_Cutoff.htm">rebuilding the George Brett Bridge this winter</A>, and <A HREF="http://www.modot.mo.gov/kansascity/newrelease/District4News.shtml?action=displaySSI&newsId=63919">its start date is contingent on how well the Kansas City Chiefs do in the postseason</A>. The Chiefs host the Baltimore Ravens at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday.<br />
<br />
As the fourth seed, the Chiefs have a slim prospect of hosting the AFC Championship. For that to happen, the Jets must win tomorrow at Indianapolis. Were the Chiefs to win, they would then have to defeat Pittsburgh at Heinz Field, and the Jets would have to overcome their division rivals at New England. So long as a chance exists, MoDOT will delay construction of the bridge carrying the Blue Ridge Cutoff.<br />
<br />
However, if Manning plays as he normally does at Lucas Oil Field, the bridge comes down Monday morning, even if the Chiefs win. Either way, crews will have until 30 March to complete construction of the new bridge, in time for the Royals home opener at Kauffman Stadium.<br />
<br />
The new Blue Ridge Cutoff/George Brett Bridge is part of a widening of I-70 through the area. The project so far has brought a new bridge carrying U.S. Highway 40 over I-435. By 2012, ramps in the area will be reconfigured to better handle traffic and accommodate a third lane for I-70. This includes eliminating the junction with Manchester Avenue and adding ramps from Southbound I-435 to US-40. Sport fans from the north will have to use this new ramp to access the stadia, as traffic from north I-435 will no longer be able to access Blue Ridge Cutoff via I-70 east.K.Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934149500890859314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8841521702392894996.post-45533186164023622192011-01-03T16:07:00.006-06:002011-01-03T16:07:00.087-06:00Missouri's County Seats Might As Well Be Musical ChairsAs a buff of Missouri history and geography, I naturally take pride in much of what Missouri has to offer. From the scenery of the rustic Ozarks and verdant Green Hills to our many attractions in cities large and small, we have a wonderful state.<br />
<br />
And quirky one when it comes to county seats.<br />
<br />
Indeed, our first five counties (Cape Girardeau, New Madrid, St. Charles, St. Louis and Ste. Genevieve) all have cities with the same name. And were it not for St. Louis City splitting from the county in 1876, all five would be in their namesake counties. From there, though, it gets confusing. Of those five cities, only three are the county seat. Cape Girardeau County's seat isn't Cape Girardeau, but Jackson.<br />
<br />
And yet Jackson County's five hours away from the city of Jackson.<br />
<br />
Travel north and west from Jackson and dissociations begin to crop up. At first they're not prevalent; starting with Perryville in Perry County and then Ste. Genevieve. But arrive in Jefferson County and find out that Jefferson City is two hours west, in Cole County. From there things start to get shuffled.<br />
<br />
There is no Cole City, but instead a Cole Camp. That's in the north of Benton County. Next to Cole Camp is Lincoln. But Lincoln County's just north of St. Charles County, and their county seat is Troy. At least there's no Troy County, so it's safe to venture west into Washington County.<br />
<br />
Washington, though, is in neighboring Franklin County. And right on the border with Franklin County is Sullivan, a solid three hours southeast of Sullivan County in the heart of the north central Green Hills. Go west from Sullivan and arrive in the town of Linn, the county seat of Osage County. But Linn County is immediately south of Sullivan County. And the only Missouri city with Osage in its name is Osage Beach, nestled against the Lake of the Ozarks in Camden County.<br />
<br />
Next to Camden County is Miller County, whose county seat of Tuscumbia doesn't sound a thing like Miller. The city of Miller, it turns out, is further southwest, about 25 miles west of Springfield in the northern part of Lawrence County. In the midst of the confusion along Missouri's Rhineland, a dose of sanity goes unnoticed. The town of Gasconade marks the spot where the Gasconade empties into the Missouri River. It happens in Gasconade County, a few miles upstream from county seat Hermann. Just past St. Charles County, where the city of St. Charles has stood as the county seat for nearly two centuries, is Warren County, where Warrenton serves as county sear. And just west of Warren is Montgomery, where Montgomery City helms its namesake county. Certainly, sanity has returned to the state, right?<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, just before Warrenton was the city of Wright City, and Wright County is well to the south, 25 miles east of Springfield. With heads hurting, up ahead lies the Kingdom of Callaway, with no city to its name, nor any Fulton County to require an extra two Tylenol from the truck stop across from Ozarkland. Trickle west into Boone County and then find out that Boonville is opposite Boone County in Cooper County.<br />
<br />
Best get the extra two Tylenol now, and have more handy when looking north to Randolph County. Just past the line from Boone County is Clark, the hometown of General Omar Bradley. Quiet, picturesque, and only two hours south of Clark County in the northeasternmost corner of the state. Just outside Randolph County in Monroe is the town of Madison. Sure enough, go back to the southeast to find Madison County, tapering the southern edge of the Lead Belt. Fortunately, the detour north nets Monroe City split between Monroe and Marion counties, and Macon as the county seat of Macon County. Further north leaves Knox City just east of Knox County's seat Edina and Lewistown in Lewis County. And tucked in the northeastern corner of Adair County is the hamlet of Adair.<br />
<br />
Then the headache returns when finding north of Monroe City, in the county of Marion, a town called Warren. And finding a town called Marionville just east of Aurora in Lawrence County. Lawrence County also claims another two towns with similar-named counties, with Phelps in the opposite corner of the county, but Phelps County two hours northeast on I-44. And Mount Vernon, the county seat, is 90 minutes south-southeast of Vernon County. It's fitting perhaps that no city in Missouri is named Lawrence, but instead a city in Kansas that happens to be the home of the Jayhawks.<br />
<br />
And along I-44 is Waynesville in Pulaski County, with Wayne County back in the southeast. Wayne County's seat Greenburg brings back memories of Springfield, the seat of Greene County, and Dade County's seat of Greenfield. Not to mention Lebanon, the county seat of Laclede County, with Morgan just to the southeast in spite of Morgan County being the next county north.<br />
<br />
Laclede happens to be the hometown of General John J. Pershing. In Linn County, between Brookfield and county seat Linneus.<br />
<br />
Kansas City can't come quick enough, even if it's the largest city in Missouri. And wholly surrounds a speed-trap village called Randolph in Clay County.<br />
<br />
Continuing west on I-70, a welcome reprieve from the confusion. No cross-matching names, and north of Marshall in Saline County: a city called Carrollton, in Carroll County no less. Ray County to the west of that, with a town called Rayville northwest of its county seat Richmond. (Never mind the river town of Camden, not to be confused with Camden County's seat of Camdenton.)<br />
<br />
Just before Jackson County is another collection of truck stops in Bates City. Have more Tylenol on hand when finding out that Bates City lies an hour south of Kansas City and that its county seat is Butler. Butler County is back toward the bootheel, with seat at Poplar Bluff. Arrive in Jackson County, and the home county of Harry Truman, and the confusion seems to take a back seat for a moment as the sights of the downtown skyline, sports complex, and strong aroma of barbecue overcome the weary traveller.<br />
<br />
Intrigued by the patriotism of finding Independence in Jackson County and Liberty across the river in Clay, it's time to travel north (past Claycomo) to find another crop of dissociations. At the border between Clay and Clinton counties is Holt. But Holt County is in the northwest, and Clinton's the county seat of Henry County, two hours south. Holt's county seat is Oregon, and while Oregon County is back down in the thick of the Ozarks, neighboring Nodaway County looks south find the town of Nodaway in Holt County. DeKalb County harbors the same sentiment toward Buchanan, where west of Faucett sits the town of DeKalb.<br />
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All the while to the east of Nodaway County, Worth and Gentry sit as friendly neighbors. Both towns in their respective counties, and their county seats Grant City and Albany lie a further ten miles apart from each of them. On the other side of Harrison County is Mercer County, where just north of Princeton is Mercer. It didn't bleed off on Harrison County, where nary a town named Harrison is to be found.<br />
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Instead it's Bethany as the capital seat, and Harrisonville sits in the center of Cass County. Further down the chain it's Cassville in Barry County. And Barry? Just a memory, with the short-lived hamlet now part of Kansas City's vast suburbs along its namesake road in Clay and Platte counties. (At least Platte's doing it right with their seat in Platte City.)<br />
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At least a trip down Highway 71 toward Joplin will ease the hurting mind (after passing through Harrisonville but not Harrison County and Butler but not Butler County) when arriving at the setting of the classic Patrick Swayze film "Roadhouse". A sleepy town at the north of Jasper County. Called Jasper. Take it easy for a moment, because after the county seat of Carthage and before Joplin is Carterville.<br />
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Carter County's at least three hours east, northwest of Butler County. And that will require crossing through Christian County's seat of Ozark before passing through Ozark County. At least Taney has Taneyville and Reynolds is in Reynolds, next to its county seat in Centerville. Next to Reynolds is Iron County, with county seat at Ironton.<br />
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Certainly back in Southeast Missouri this perpetual game of musical chairs doesn't continue, confusing newcomers to the Show-Me State?<br />
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Not quite. Just to the south of Cape Girardeau is Scott County. Its county seat? Benton. And Scott City, sure enough, isn't in Scott County, but close.<br />
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Just cross into Cape Girardeau County, also the home of Bollinger Mill. Bollinger County will wait a few miles to the west.K.Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934149500890859314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8841521702392894996.post-36198576399514238732010-12-31T16:26:00.000-06:002010-12-31T16:26:31.889-06:00Assessor Warns Of Higher Taxes On Used Cars, Wants Resident Action<I>Personal Prefaces:<OL type=1><LI>I extend my condolences to those affected by this morning's violent storms that have killed at least three people in Washington County, Ark., and at least three more in Dent and Phelps counties in Missouri. My thoughts and prayers are with friends who are in the impacted areas.</LI>
<LI>I relay the following report with full disclosure of my status as a tax-paying resident of Clay County, Missouri, and owner of a used car which may be impacted.</LI>
</OL></I><br />
<HR>Clay County residents have received a letter along with their personal property statements, warning them of higher taxes if they don't petition Jefferson City.<br />
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In a call-to-action (transcribed below), assessor Cathy Rinehart warns that many will see the value of their used car increase when their tax bills arrive in April. She writes that it's because <A HREF="http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/c100-199/1370000115.htm">state statute</A> requires her and the state's assessors to use values from the <A HREF="http://www.dealer-magazine.com/fixed-operations/research/single-article/nada-used-car-guide-industry-update-october-2010/9ab8dc2f18.html">October issue of the NADA's Used Car Guide</A>.<br />
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The rise, she adds, is from fewer new cars being manufactures, thus increasing the resale value of used cars.<br />
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Rinehart suggests that residents write to lawmakers in Jefferson City, asking that assessments instead come from the <A HREF="http://www.kbb.com/">Kelley Blue Book</A> or be based on the vehicle's weight.<br />
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Missouri residents have until March 1 to submit their updated personal property lists or incur a late penalty.<br />
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The entirety of her letter (formatting & misspellings inclusive) is transcribed below:<br />
<hr><A NAME="RinehartLetter"></A><br />
Jan 1, 2011<br />
<br />
Dear Citizens of Clay County,<br />
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There is an issue I would like to bring to your attention. All assessors of Missouri are required to use the October NADA to place values on vehicles. [Statue137.115 (9.) <U>The assessor of each county and each city not within a county <B>shall</B> use the trade-in value published in the October issue of the National Automobile Dealers' Official Used Car Guide,]</U><br />
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In 2011, NADA has increased the value of sevewral vehicle models. In April some of you will be receiving an increase value change notice on your vehicle. This is because fewer new cars were manufactured, and used cars are now worth more.<br />
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Because I <B>must</B> use NADA trade-in value I believe the taxpayers are entitled to advanced notification. I believe it is my sworn duty to you, as your assessor, to provide a means to correct this situation for everyone in Missouri. There are two solutions, both involving your help:<br />
<OL type=1><LI>Change the law to read that the assessor "<B>may</B>" use the Kelly Blue Book for true market value. (Kelly Blue Book is used by car dealers through out the State. Kelly Blue Book <B><U>historically represents a lower value than NADA</B></U>.)<br />
</LI>
<LI>Change the Constitution of Missouri to have the DMV charge you by the weight of the vehicle. Thus eliminating personal property being valued by the assessment department. You would still pay personal property taxes but it would be based on weight vs. value</LI>
</OL>Your help is requested by contacting your newly elected State Representatives and Senator. Please, call, write, e-mail, snail mail, or talk to your State Representative. <U>The law needs to be changed</U>. Just like <B>you</B> got the law changed to waive penalties for a county error. (Thank you again for your help with that.)<br />
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For your convenience on the back of this letter, I have included State Representatives' contact information. <B>Please</B>, help me, help you. The only way we can get a different value guide is with <B><I>your voice</I></B>.<br />
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Also, to avoid any assessment penalties <B>please fill out the 2011 assessment list and return it to the assessment department before March 1, 2011</B>.<br />
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As always, it is an honor to be your assessor.<br />
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Sincerely:<br />
<br />
Cathy Rinehart<br />
<CENTER>My Motto: “I know who I work for, <B>You,</B> the citizens of Clay County.”</CENTER></HR>K.Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934149500890859314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8841521702392894996.post-85724009998008390632010-12-20T10:33:00.106-06:002010-12-20T10:33:00.609-06:00Relegate The Closed-Shop LeaguesTwo bits of sporting news yesterday have got me concerned about the way professional leagues run in the U.S.<br />
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Yesterday morning, ace pitcher Zack Greinke jumped the perpetually sinking ship known as the Kansas City Royals, <A HREF="http://www.kansascity.com/2010/12/19/2531689/royals-trade-greinke-to-brewers.html">taking cash and Yuniesky Betancourt with him to Milwaukee in exchange</A> for pitching prospect Jake Odorozzi, outfielder Lorenzo Cain, shortstop Alcides Escobar, and Jeremy Jeffress, a pitcher <A HREF="http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100826&content_id=13953132¬ebook_id=13954308&vkey=notebook_mil&fext=.jsp&c_id=mil">who's one doobie away from being banned for life</A>. While it might prove beneficial for the Royals' youth movement, fans are naturally demure at the news, watching yet another bright star leave the bastion of malaise that's become Kauffman Stadium. Fortunately, those Royals fans were wearing red and more focused on their Chief neighbors, who defeated cross-state rivals St. Louis 27-13.<br />
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St. Louis fall to 6-8, assuring them of not having a winning season. And yet, because of losses by Seattle, San Francisco and Arizona today, they remain atop the NFC West division. It's very likely that the winner of this division, who could very well host the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints in the first round of the playoffs, will finish the season with a 7-9 record. Meanwhile, as many as two NFC teams could go 10-6 and not make the playoffs, because of the lopsided strength of the other three divisions in the NFC.<br />
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And next year (barring a much-hyped players' lockout) the same 16 teams will compete again in arbitrarily defined divisions to determine who gets to play the AFC winners in the Super Bowl. It's lop-sided competition that only rewards the 32 owners who keep the closed-shop system in operation, usually at the expense of football's fans. It's a closed system that, frankly, runs contrary to the free market principles that many in America tout as being our paramount ideal.<br />
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How ironic that a better structure for organizing professional sporting teams be found commonplace in "socialist" nations.<br />
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It's time for American sport to embrace and incorporate promotion and relegation.<br />
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In baseball, the extensive farm system and independent, semi-pro leagues can serve as a launching pad for a successful multi-tiered system. And the inequity in the payroll and fortunes between baseball's current 30 teams provides a merciful reason to implement such a system.<br />
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As for football, it's a perfect tempest to explore the idea. 32 teams, none of which call Los Angeles, Portland, San Antonio, Las Vegas, Tulsa, Orlando, Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, or Guadalajara home. None of which could be playing next season as the gaggle of 32 owners push for an expanded schedule without granting many concessions to their players, all the while pursuing generous tax breaks from state and local governments and charging $8 for a tray of stale nachos. Even if an owner's team goes 0-16, that owner can still sit comfy if the ink remains in the black, especially if the franchise is buoyed by, say, franchises in other sport or a multinational corporation that's their bread and butter. So what if half their roster winds up with permanent brain damage from repeated hits to the head, or they become the most hated entity in their metropolitan?<br />
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The current system doesn't put the owner at real risk. So long as they bring in the money and abide by league rules, they're practically safe in their luxury suite on the 50-yard line. On top of that, federal law explicitly grants the NFL, Major League Baseball, and other major sporting leagues exemptions from anti-trust laws in place to prevent monopolies from strangling the free market.<br />
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Promotion and relegation will force these owners to the front lines. If their teams don't regularly perform well, their investment is at risk. Americans like to cheer for winners, and if their team's not winning in the top league, their revenue goes down. Owners that regularly let their teams stagnate could easily wind up in bankruptcy court or with a mutiny on their hands, as fans and players flock to teams that will actually give a damn about playing competitively.<br />
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Future posts will detail how such a system can come into play for sporting leagues across the nation, from pro football and baseball to the collegiate and even high school.K.Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934149500890859314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8841521702392894996.post-37367031038113031422010-11-10T13:12:00.000-06:002010-11-10T13:12:27.921-06:00Kander endorses Sly James for KCMO MayorAnother Jackson County Democrat has weighed in on the upcoming elections for Kansas City, this time endorsing a close friend for mayor.<br />
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Democrat Jason Kander of the 44th House District issued support for Sly James' bid to become mayor of Kansas City. In an e-mail to supporters, Kander wrote that although James has long been a family friend of his and mentor during his legal career, the endorsement is more than personal friendship.<br />
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"Sly’s been a go-to leader in our city’s non-profit sector helping to steer organizations like United Way and Operation Breakthrough. His volunteer service has always been about improving life in Kansas City," Kander wrote. "Moreover, Sly is a small business owner and a professional mediator, experienced in bringing people together and building consensus in tough settings.<br />
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"A husband, a father, and a great friend, Sly is one of the best people I know."<br />
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Kander added that although he has worked personally with nearly every other candidate that has announced their candidacy for mayor of Missouri's largest city, he believes James is best fit to generate consensus at City Hall.<br />
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"In Sly, Kansas City has a rare opportunity to elect a gifted leader who can end the gridlock, produce results and get us back on track," Kander wrote.<br />
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The representative, recently elected to his second term in the Missouri House, will appear on behalf of James at a reception in Waldo on Dec. 7.<br />
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James is one of at least six candidates who will challenge incumbent Mark Funkhouser for the four-year position. Filing began yesterday and will continue until Jan. 25 in Kansas City as well as in Platte and Clay counties, whose election boards serve the city north of the river.<br />
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The primaries for mayor and all 12 city council seats will take place on Feb. 22. The top two vote-getters from each race, regardless of whether one candidate has an outright majority, will advance to the general election on March 22. The March 22 ballot is also expected to ask voters to renew the one percent earnings tax, as promulgated by the passage of Proposition A last week.K.Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934149500890859314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8841521702392894996.post-42909671779625738622010-11-09T18:58:00.003-06:002010-11-10T12:53:09.577-06:00Holsman decides against Kansas City council bidThe depleted ranks of Democrats in the Missouri Legislature will not take another hit.<br />
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Jason Holsman, who won re-election to Kansas City's 45th House District last week by a 3-to-2 margin, announced that he will remain in Jefferson City rather than run for Kansas City's city council. In an e-mail to supporters, Holsman admitted that he had seriously considered running for the council seat being vacated by Cathy Jolly.<br />
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"I made a pledge to the voters of the 45<sup>th</SUP> district that I would continue to represent them in Jefferson City and that is exactly what I intend to do," Holsman wrote. "I look forward to returning to the General Assembly and working on legislation that benefits the residents of the 45th district and moves Missouri forward."<br />
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In commenting about the decision to not run for Kansas City's 6th district at-large, Holsman added that a need for common-sense leadership was needed at the city level.<br />
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Holsman's accomplishments in the last session of the General Assembly include House Bill 1848, <a HREF="http://www.missouriexpatriate.com/2010/02/task-force-proposal-could-put.html">establishing a task force that will look into the feasibility of building vertical urban farms</A>, and inserting language into <a HREF="http://www.house.mo.gov/content.aspx?info=/bills101/bills/HB2178.htm" target=_new>House Bill 2178</A> that allows cities to establish programs encouraging homeowners to make improvements to their homes that increase energy efficiency or generate energy.<br />
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Jolly announced in September that she would not seek a second four-year term to the city council. She spent three terms in the Missouri House representing the district that Holsman now represents.<br />
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Had Holsman opted instead to run for city council, his departure would have been the second among Democrats from Kansas City. Yvonne Wilson, senator from the 9th District that covers the historic Northeast, announced last week <a HREF="http://www.kansascity.com/2010/11/01/2380657/yvonne-wilson-a-missouri-state.html">her plans to step down with two years remaining in her final term</A>. Governor Jay Nixon has yet to set a date for a special election to fill the seat. Wilson, 81, said she plans to spend more time with her husband of 58 years, among others in her family.<br />
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Following last week's election, Republicans have a 26-8 majority in the Senate and 106-57 in the House, three shy of veto-proof majorities.K.Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934149500890859314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8841521702392894996.post-58183581704497739312010-10-28T23:30:00.000-05:002010-10-29T00:59:55.653-05:00Cornered in the Electoral PaddockFor the first time ever, I might find myself voting no on every statewide issue, all to stay seemingly consistent with my objections to two entities spending roughly $7 per voter coming out to the polls Tuesday.<br />
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Already I've expressed issue with Propositions A and B, owing largely to the overwhelming onslaught of campaign material funded largely (in each issue) by a singular interest who would not be directly impacted by its passage. However, there is another singular interest pushing a ballot issue – a change to the state's constitution at that – that hasn't received as much publicity.<br />
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<A HREF="http://sos.mo.gov/elections/2010petitions/2010-046.asp">Constitutional Amendment Three</A> was engineered largely by the Missouri Association of Realtors to prevent the state from introducing a transfer tax on the sale of homes and property within the state. Missouri, however, is currently one of 13 states that does not have such a tax in place. Proponents frame this as preventing lawmakers from imposing a tax on Missouri homeowners when selling property on which they already pay annual taxes.<br />
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Opposition is few and far between, but the majority of the rhetoric against it has emerged from a gaggle of conservative lawmakers who see this as a wrench about to be lodged in their efforts to introduce a "fair tax" in the state. Passing a law prohibiting the imposition of a sales tax on homes would run very much contrary to the desire of these lawmakers to make consumption-based taxed (for all intents and purposed) the only form of tax implemented in the state.<br />
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Another concern raised by this statewide group of Realtors muscling this proposed amendment to the state constitution onto the ballot is the glaring ability for narrowly-tailored interest groups to do the same. Already, with the overwhelming support of the General Assembly in 2009, voters can allow two narrow exceptions to become part of our state constitution.<br />
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<A HREF="http://www.senate.mo.gov/09info/pdf-bill/tat/SJR5.pdf">Constitutional Amendment One</A> would require all counties who have a charter form of government to elect their assessor, except those whose population is between 600,000 and 699,999. Right now, the only county that would be in that population donut hole is Jackson County. In Missouri, counties can either operate under a state-prescribed structure (which calls for the election of three commissioners and all county offices, including the assessor, prosecutor, sheriff, county clerk, recorder of deeds, auditor, and even the coroner) or petition the General Assembly to establish a customized, home-rule charter. These charters are crafted by a panel of citizens within the county, with input from other citizens, and then put to a vote of the voters.<br />
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When the General Assembly passed SJR5 last year, only St. Louis County would have been affected by the passage of this law. This was as a result of concerns raised about an appointed official in Missouri's largest county determining some of the highest assessments in the state, and thus, higher taxes. However, residents there passed a change to their charter by a 3-1 margin making the assessor elected. So were Amendment One to pass, it would have no immediate effect until either Jackson County exits this population donut hole or another county attempts to pursue a home-rule charter.<br />
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While I like the idea of holding all my county-wide officials accountable, this is a terrible way of doing it, and worse that this donut hole is intentionally written into the state constitution to shield certain entities at the expense of others. The state constitution must be a bedrock of proper and stable governance at the state, county, and municipal/township levels. For lawmakers to put through a narrow yet glaring donut hole, and asking voters to also divest their ability to determine for themselves whether they should allow their elected county leaders to appoint other officials as oppose to make them elected, only serves to make this bedrock a twisted knot of special exceptions and conflicting directives.<br />
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It is this reason that makes the next amendment challenging to support, yet heart-breaking to oppose. Voters have the opportunity to grant, via <A HREF="http://www.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills091/billpdf/truly/HJR0015T.pdf">Constitutional Amendment 2</A> an exemption from property taxes for military veterans who, during their service to country, became a prisoner of war and totally disabled. While our military veterans deserve all the accolade they can get, sadly this method is similarly dangerous in its specificity. We do not have an exact number of how many veterans would qualify, and even if we did, the manner in which the exemption is granted is potentially dangerous for the sanctity of the state constitution.<br />
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The exemption is to be added into the first clause of Article 6, Section X of the state constitution, grouping this unknown amount of total-disabled veterans alongside the state, counties, municipalities, townships, and non-profit cemeteries. To group a subset of Missourians, no matter how selfless their sacrifice to their country and the price they paid, in with government entities is like grouping a sparrow with a brood of chickens. It's not the intent of the constitution to group specific citizens with these exemptions, even if we're perpetually indebted to them for their service. Further, the fear of those who are daring enough to speak against this amendment is that were voters to overwhelmingly support granting this exception, less-deserving groups could potentially have precedent to push for their own inclusion.<br />
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In the General Assembly, all but seven lawmakers voted for HJR15 placing this on the ballot. All seven happened to be absent on the days the measure came up for a final vote in both chambers.<br />
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So here we are, in the electoral paddock, staring at the shears that seek to skew the votes we put into the ballot box Tuesday. However you vote, be sure to hold onto all the wool, and keep it out from over your eyes in the process, by researching the facts and arguments, and surveying the long-term impact your vote could have on all Missourians, from Grant City to Granby to Gray Summit.K.Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934149500890859314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8841521702392894996.post-33955462888596069562010-10-21T21:47:00.001-05:002010-10-27T20:15:37.253-05:00Missouri: The Shear-Me StateWith just under a fortnight to go until the biennial madness known as US General Election Season subsides, coverage from around the world increases along with the robo-calls and mud-slinging 30-second adverts. Recently, the BBC's Kevin Connolly <a HREF="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11556044">breezed through Missouri and commented on our election mood, as well as his affinity for our nickname</A>. Unfortunately, he only touched on the sentiment toward Washington and barely touched on state issues that also face Missouri voters.<br />
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Had Mr. Connolly done this, he might wind up coming up with a different nickname for the Show-Me State. Were he to comment on all the ads from Robin & Roy and Ike & Vicky, a more appropriate moniker would have been the Smear-Me State. Or, had he wanted to speak in detail on at least two of the five proposed ballot measures, he just might have developed a different, perhaps fitting nickname:<br />
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The Shear-Me State.<br />
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The two ballot measures in particular are <a HREF="http://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/2010petitions/2010-077.asp">Proposition A</A>, which would effectively eliminate taxes on earnings, and <a HREF="http://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/2010petitions/2010-085.asp">Proposition B</A>, which would establish additional laws covering the treatment and breeding of dogs. Both are changes to Missouri's revised statutes, meaning that lawmakers could, at any point in the future, pass a bill through the General Assembly to countermand their passage.<br />
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To explain why these two measures could turn Missouri into The Shear-Me State, I now introduce Rex H. Susa:<center><a HREF="http://www.scobo.net/hill/kyle/blog/Rex%20H%20Susa%20clear.png"><img SRC="http://www.scobo.net/hill/kyle/blog/Rex%20H%20Susa%20scaled.png" border=0></A></CENTER>Rex H. Susa is not a happy sheep. You see, he's been told repeatedly by singular interests, wooing him by way of millions of dollars of second-rate adverts, to vote yes on Propositions A and B, believing that they're going to help him out, when their backers are instead treating him like the sheep he is so that their agenda can come to fruition at his expense.<br />
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Come to think of it, you could write the argument for the opposition of both measures this way:<br />
"Proposition [A/B] is funded singularly by one [outstate arch-conservative billionaire/out-of-state activist organization] driven to single-handedly wreck Missouri's largest [cities' fiscal viability/industry—agriculture—] in the name of [free enterprise/animal rights]. However, it's clear to us that [Rex Sinquefield/the Humane Society of the United States] has no vested interest in [the public safety and infrastructure of/dogs living with loving owners in] Kansas City and St. Louis, and doesn't even put much of [his/their] money toward [developing property/rescuing and caring for dogs] in either city.<br />
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"Instead, [he intends/they intend] on duping us to vote to help [him/them] turn Missouri into [an experiment in free enterprise/a vegan paradise] where [cities receive revenue exclusively from a 23% sales tax/stepping on an anthill results in you being arrested for attempted genocide] but they won't have a way to [replace the lost revenue completely/make Missouri meat-free] because we'll travel to neighboring states to [shop/eat Arthur Bryant's Barbecue]. Therefore, we must vote no on Proposition [A/B]."<br />
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It may be a dubious argument, were it not for the reality that several opponents of Proposition B, <a HREF="http://www.thealliancefortruth.com/component/content/article/66-who-is-trying-to-buy-missouris-prop-b-election">hedging their bets on that argument</A>, also happen to be supporters of Proposition A and chiding Proposition A's opponents <a HREF="http://www.kansascity.com/2010/10/08/2300820/perfect-storm-threatens-kcs-earnings.html">who are using the same argument</A>. One proponent of Prop A told <i>The Kansas City Star</I> that opponents relying on that argument were "blowing smoke".<br />
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Why must it take two entities, outside Missouri's two largest cities, at least $13 million to convince Missouri voters to vote something in that can easily be overruled, much like how in 2008 <a HREF="http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2008/07/11/missouri-campagin-contribution-limits-repealed/">the Missouri General Assembly repealed campaign contribution limits</A> voted in by 74 percent of Missourians in 1994? Further, contributions from those two entities amount to only a large amount of cash, with few ideas to back them up. Already a spokeswoman for Sinquefield <a HREF="http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/the-platform/article_e8732bbc-bacf-11df-87a3-0017a4a78c22.html">admitted Sinquefield has no ideas</A> to replace the revenue St. Louis and Kansas City will lose if voters dump the earnings tax in a subsequent vote. And despite many Missourians lining up behind Proposition B, including former Senator Jack Danforth and Cardinals skipper Tony La Russa, Missourians only accounted for $282,000 of contributions to Missourians for the Protection of Dogs, the group campaigning for Proposition B.<br />
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I don't take too kindly to Missouri voters like me being treated as sheep by Sinquefield and HSUS, with 30-second adverts trying to pull the wool over my eyes with selective language, pejorative words that start with the letter P, and imagery that makes a deliberate attempt to evoke an emotional knee-jerk reaction. I may come off as a Demon Sheep when I explain my objections to both measures this weekend, but I'm not about to let them turn our bellwether state into the nation's petri dish for their political gambits.K.Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934149500890859314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8841521702392894996.post-33371488263889239362010-10-20T21:06:00.001-05:002010-10-20T23:55:41.404-05:00Estão conspirando com o Qataris?On the same day the two FIFA executives compromised by a sting reporting job by <i>The Sunday Times</I> were suspended pending a review, another British newspaper has named who they say are the two parties under investigation for vote-trading.<br />
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<i>The Telegraph</i> will report Thursday morning that <a HREF="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/news/8076958/Spains-2018-World-Cup-bid-on-shaky-ground-as-Fifa-investigate-allegations-of-block-voting.html">the Qatari committee bidding to host the 2022 World Cup are under investigation for possibly conspiring with the 2018 combined bid of Spain and Portugal</A>, in violation of FIFA's bidding rules. If this proves to be the case, then FIFA could disqualify both bids.<br />
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While Qatar remains a longshot for 2022 against the US, Australia, Japan and South Korea, the Iberian bid is considered a rival to England's quest to upend current front-runners Russia. Were the Spanish/Portuguese bid dismissed, England could focus exclusively on the Russians, with the Benelux bid still lurking in the distance.<br />
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Fortunately, the date remains 2 December on when we find out whether Egyptian and Peruvian soccer fans will blare their vuvuzelas inbetween bites of Gates' barbecued beef brisket at Arrowhead Stadium in 2022.K.Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934149500890859314noreply@blogger.com0