Bird Point Levee Controversy.

PoliticMo - Missouri leaders at nearly every level announced Wednesday their adamant opposition to the Army Corps of Engineers considering blowing the Bird Point levee as a remedy to ease flooding in Illinois.

The levee in question is located near New Madrad, Missouri. Governor Jay Nixon, speaking in Kansas City, said blowing the levee could cause significant damage to farm land in the southeastern part of the state.

"We’re a long way from wanting to see a levee blown up, flooding 135,000 acres and a couple of towns being washed out," Nixon said. He said his administration was considering what other options they had, but "more than tussle with the Corps, we need to make sure Missourians are safe, out of harms’ way and prevent as little damage as possible."

Nixon isn’t alone in his call. In a letter to President Barack Obama, Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, who represents the area in question, and Senators Roy Blunt and Claire McCaskill called on the Corps of Engineers to consider other options.

Letter to the Editor.

Opinions expressed are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the Mornin’ Mail.

Hi There, Jake,

I live in central Oklahoma...and I’m an Oklahoman, not an Okie. We are very proud of our "Okies" who bravely started out to California to find a better life after the winds had taken away most of Okklahoma’s red dirt and sent it on to Arkansas. My people stayed put on their Oklahoma farms and grieved to see their families and friends go west. We can’t begin to claim to be as courageous as those who piled their belongings on top of the ol’ Ford and took their first steps to the ‘promised land", Californey. Sooooo, I’m an Oklahoman, thank you very much.

How-some-never, this Oklahoman and this Oklahoman’s Yankee husband (he’s from Kansas, but I’ve forgiven him for that long past) are pickin’ up roots and moving to Missouri. We are going to put down new roots in Carytown and just thrilled.

Your part of the country is just the best. Y’all are southern friendly and we can’t wait to get to know y’all better. I hope all of you there can stop and look around you at some of the prettiest country around. Reach out and touch your neighbor and let him know you are there. Smile, sing, dance and just enjoy bein’ alive.

I’m thrilled to have found "Mornin’ Mail" online and enjoy it every day. Keep it up!

Well, y’all...nice chatting with you...Have a nice day...Patsy

I was walkin’ the other day and a car was waitin’ to pull out of the parkin’ lot. I aimed to the rear of the car to let the driver know I was clear and the car went ahead and pulled out. No since in a car havin’ to wait on my pace.

I was drivin’ and a teenager stopped in the middle of a cross walk and just stood there as if to dare me to hit him. He and his buddy seemed to get a big kick outa makin’ the vehicle slow to a stop.

Now I’m not sayin’ that I didn’t have a right to my piece of the sidewalk when I was walkin’, or the kid didn’t have a right to be safe in the cross walk. It just appears to me that sometimes folks get to thinkin’ just because they have a right, they want to flaunt it to the world.

Even though ya got a right, sometimes it’s better to just do what’s right.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’

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Weekly Column

artCentral

ART NOTES from Hyde House

by Sally Armstrong, Director of artCentral

Once more we begin to look forward to our May organizational meeting here at artCentral. This is when new members join our board, and sometimes older members step off having completed their terms. It is with a sad heart that we "release" Don Knost next month, as Don had been on the artCentral board from nearly the beginning! I am afraid he can’t remember when he wasn’t responsible for some aspect of artCentral as its Board President, be it financial or work related. We will be sending him "off" with a bang, but he won’t be far, as he has promised to be available as he might be needed in the future. Additionally in May we will welcome several new folks to our board, and I will introduce them later. Our next show is on the horizon, that being "Missouri Colored Pencil Artists", a group exhibition. I am excited to see what Cheryl Church of Carthage brings to this show, along with Michele DeSutter of Monett, Dustin Miller of Diamond, and Lora Waring of Carthage and junior Natasha Petersen and Fredy Garibay from Carthage. We welcome them all to our galleries and hope for a lot of beautiful drawings, some realistic, some impressionistic, but all colorful! The public will be invited to attend the opening and artists’ reception on May 20th at 6:00pm here at Hyde House, 1110 E. 13th in Carthage, and this exhibition will remain in the galleries through June 5th. Next week I will begin telling you a bit about each artist and their work. We are mailing this week the artCamp informational fliers and cards to all former students, members of artCentral, and all those who had signed up either at the artWalk or here in the gallery, that they had kids who might be interested. Be sure and look these over and get them back so as not to be disappointed if a special class fills up. I think we are offering a wonderful array of classes this year, with 8 top art teachers teaching! Come by for a flier or visit the children’s library in Carthage for one.