The City Council Public Works Committee will consider adjustments to individual line items within the current Capital Improvement budget recommended by City Administrator Tom Short this afternoon. The adjustments are necessary to pay for intersection improvements and new traffic signals at the intersection of Garrison and Chestnut. Bids for the project came in approximately $35,000 more than the $100,000 budgeted.

Short recommends that $6,600 be taken from the $30,000 budgeted for bridge and overpass repairs; $10,000 used of the $25,000 budgeted for engineering costs for another signal at Centennial and Garrison; $11,800 transferred from the $55,600 budgeted for connecting the City fiber optic system, and $6,600 applied from the $30,000 for a proposed City development plan.

Other options would be to take the total amount from Council Contingencies, or from the $361,986 of General Fund reserves.

The Committee agenda also includes a discussion of the new storm water drain at the Steadley Sports Complex.

The Committee meets on the first and third Tuesday at 4 p.m. in City Hall.

Commentary

Martin "Bubs" Hohulin
State Representative, District 126

Last week I was in Jefferson City for some meetings and one was a real eye opener. The meeting was between gas station owners and the Department of Agriculture which has quite a bit of regulatory authority over them.

The tone of the meeting was kind of contentious from the start stemming from several new rules and regulations the Department had recently imposed on the station owners. Quite simply, the new rules were costing the owners quite a bit of money to comply with. The rules were dealing with safety, as the environmental rules are implemented by the Department of Natural Resources.

I will admit, that most of the rules did seem unduly burdensome and costly, while not providing much in the way of benefit to the public.

Also, keep in mind that all of the new costs involved are passed along to us, the paying consumer. The price of gasoline is high enough without other unnecessary costs to deal with. At one point the man putting on the meeting said that the reason they needed all the regulations was because the stations had gotten so much larger the last few years. I pointed out to him that the reason was because of all the new regulations they had implemented the last few years. I told him the large, corporate stations could afford the extra costs, but the mom and pop stations couldn’t absorb the costs and were forced to close. I’ve always maintained that is the case in any sector of business. That is why I have always opposed many of the new rules and regulations. All most of them do is drive small businesses out of business, drive up costs to consumers and provide little or no benefit to the public.

Later in the meeting he showed a slide of a stream and stated, "We have to protect our environment no matter what the dollar cost". I couldn’t believe my ears. I asked him to repeat what he had said. When the statement was the same, I asked him if that was the position of the Carnahan administration.

I asked this because as director, he is an appointed bureaucrat of Gov. Carnahan’s administration. He immediately started backpedaling and said that was his opinion and not an official position. I told him this was supposed to be a policy meeting and that we really weren’t interested in his personal opinions. I further told him I found it reprehensible that he was using his position to demand a blank check from the station owners to pay for his personal agenda. If he wanted to crack open his own billfold to pay for his ideas, I told him to hop right to it, but there was nothing generous or honorable in him demanding someone else pay for it.

As I’ve said before, no one, including myself, wants to be put at safety risk or breathe or drink dirty air or water. However, there should be reasonable limits. No matter what we do, we are never going to be able to protect everyone from everything, nor should we even try. There has to be a balance. Our world is not sterile now and it never has been. The real outrage is that this guy was only supposed to be dealing with safety regulations and not environmental regulations. As is all too common, he was using the veil of the bureaucracy to advance a personal agenda. When that happens the citizens suffer.

As usual, I can be reached at House Post Office, State Capitol, Jefferson City, MO 65101, or 1-800-878-7126, or mhohulin@services.state.mo.us for your questions, comments, or advice.

Back ta school season always gets me ta thinkin’ ‘bout various implements that were part of the tool kit necessary for each particular grade.

I don’t know what grade it was that allowed pointed scissors rather than requirin’ rounded ends. I just know when they were legal, ya had ta have a pair. Usin’ the rounded tipped weren’t "grown up" enough.

‘Course ball point pens were another object of necessity at some level. Ya still had to have your supply of No. 2 pencils however. They never seemed to go away.

Some tried to use the "erasable" ball points, but the teach would usually frown on that big smeared spot in the middle of the page. It’s good ta see pencils still have erasers. At least makin’ a mistake ever now and then is still part of the learnin’ process.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

McCune Brooks Hospital

Health & Nutrition by Judith Sheldon

We know that being overweight taxes the cardiovascular system. But now there’s evidence that carrying excess poundage can also impair lung function.

To assure a longer, healthier lifetime, lose extra weight and don’t smoke.

To help you lose weight, and thereby help you reduce the risk of developing lung impairment, heart trouble, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, Type II diabetes, and certain cancers, the following tips may make reducing easier:

1. Talk to your doctor about what your ideal weight should be and discuss a diet that will help take off the pounds safely and consistently.

2. Plan on a slow weight reduction. Losing weight quickly can cause depression, irritability, obsession with thoughts of food, muscle loss, and the decreasing ability to burn calories.

3. Learn to appreciate your food without its usual (for you) drenching of high-calorie, fat-full dressings and sauces.

4. Add 30 minutes of activity to your day. During TV commercials, get up and move around (but not to the refrigerator).

5. Walk at least partway to work every day. Getting off before your scheduled bus or train stop can help.