In a written report by the CW&EP Board and Staff, the possibility of rate adjustments may take place in the near future. Although the upcoming budget to be presented to the City Council Budget/Ways and Means Committee Thursday evening will not include any rate increases, residential electrical and overall wastewater charges are under pressure.

According to the document, a preliminary report from a electric rate study indicate that "the margin between industrial rates and cost of service related to industrial load is higher than it should be. On the other hand, it indicates that the margin between residential rates and residential cost of service is negative. Simply put, industrial revenue is subsidizing the residential rates.. . The Board feels that rate adjustments by customer class must be considered, not to raise total revenue but in order to establish equitable and competitive rates for each class."

The budget for FY2000/2001 does include a rate study for wastewater use. Current rates will not cover the expected cost for upcoming needed capital improvements to the underground sewer collection system.

Commentary

Martin "Bubs" Hohulin
State Representative, District 126

I will be using this column over the next few weeks to talk about legislation that did or did not pass during the final days of the Session.

The last few days of most Sessions are usually the busiest of the year in terms of the number of votes taken. When I was first elected, it wasn’t unusual to take upwards of 125 votes on the last day. There would be a 100 page bill dropped on our desk and we would be expected to vote on it less than an hour later. That was back when the democrats held a 40 seat majority and pretty much ran things the way they wanted. Now they hold an 11 seat majority and they can’t run roughshod over the process as much as they used to. An example of that is the fact that this year we only took 59 votes on the last day.

Some of you may be thinking that taking more votes would be better since that would mean that we were doing more. Keep in mind that with the way the House currently operates, the only legislation that the Speaker allows to the Floor for debate is of a very liberal nature.

That means most everything we take up is legislation that is either going to reduce your liberties or your wallet size. We are forced into a role of either playing defense or trying to change the legislation by offering amendments from the floor.

The point I am trying to make is that in the current situation, usually the less legislation considered, the better.

A lot of that could change next Session. At minimum, there will be at least 33 members leaving, including the Speaker and several key committee chairmen. They are either retiring or running for another office. Throw in the fact that there are usually some incumbents that get beat and we could easily be looking at 40 new members next Session. If republicans pick up another 6 seats, the House will switch to republican control and the agenda will change dramatically. That hasn’t happened since the early 1950s so things would really change direction.

I guess I have about used up all my space for this week. There really isn’t room to write about the legislation I was going to write about, so I will save it for next week. Think of this week as laying the groundwork for the next several weeks.

Since we are now out of Session, I will be home most of the time. I will continue to go back to my Jefferson City office every few weeks and my secretary will be there Monday through Friday and we are in contact every day. We will both still be available to handle your calls, emails and letters the same as always.

To that extent, 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.

It should come as little surprise that some of the sewer lines in the downtown area are needin’ some attention. A good portion of ‘em prob’ly were put in around the time the Courthouse was built. Most likely some of the first indoor plumbin’ in Carthage.

‘Course there are those that speculate that some folks just poked a hole in the top of the underground cavern we’ve heard so much about and dumped sewage into that.

What’s really amazin’ is the fact that those original underground pipes are still usable at all. A friend a mine was found a sayin’ "in a hunderd years, nobody will no the difference anyway." Guess he wasn’t around when they planted the Carthage sewer system.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

McCune Brooks Hospital

Health Notes

Health & Nutrition by Judith Sheldon

KEEP KIDS SAFE: Summer is the favorite time for most youngsters. It’s a chance to get out into the open air and indulge in one’s favorite sport and that means hospital emergency rooms are primed to accept more young people with injuries sustained during these expanded play periods.

Orthopedists are especially concerned about injuries to young people because their bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments are still growing, making any injury potentially more serious than they would be in an adult.

For example, growth plates - the areas of developing cartilage where bone growth occurs in youngsters - are weaker than the nearby ligaments and tendons. What may be just a bruise or a sprain in an adult can be a potentially serious growth plate injury in a young person.

Overuse injuries are also being found in young athletes. One example is called "Little League Elbow," a term that describes a group of common overuse injuries in various sports, not just baseball. Other overuse injuries affect the heels and the knees with tears in the tissue where tendons attach to the leg bone or the heel bone.

Parents need to be aware that no child should be asked to play through pain. Any coach who insists on sending the injured child back into the game needs to be advised that this is not acceptable.