Contracts To Be Considered.

The City Council will consider the first reading of several appropriation bills and the budget for fiscal year 2001/2001 at this evening’s regular meeting in City Hall at 7:30.

Contracts under consideration include:

Marketing services with the Chamber of Commerce for $59,447 from Lodging Tax.

Marketing services with Carthage Historic Preservation for $4,500 from Lodging Tax.

Marketing services with Victorian Carthage for $19,000 from Lodging Tax.

Promotional services with Main Street Carthage for $19,700 from Lodging Tax.

Promotional services with Main Street Carthage for $8,800 from General Revenue.

Construction of new traffic signals at Centennial and Garrison by Sprouls Construction for $154,276.50.

Street/storm water drainage improvements to extend George Phelps Boulevard to the center of Myers Park Development for $322,366 with Alumbaugh Construction.

Construction of water/sewer improvements in Myers Park Development for $219,823.90 with Polston Construction.

Commentary

Martin "Bubs" Hohulin

State Representative District 126

One of the issues that did not pass to completion this year was the transportation dilemma we find ourselves in. As expected, Gov. Holden has blamed the republicans for his failure to accomplish anything in this area.

In true liberal democrat fashion, his solution was to offer up the biggest tax increase in Missouri’s history. If you will remember, that was the solution the late Gov. Mel Carnahan offered up to deal with the education problems in Missouri. That proposal passed and we still have dismal test scores, discipline problems are rampant, and I would be shocked to find any school district that would say they have all the money they need.

Anyway, back to transportation. It is no secret that we are in a mess. In the early nineties, the gas tax was raised to pay for specific projects that were never done. The Highway Dept. claimed lack of money and that inflation was not figured into the process. When they were finally forced to open their financial books, it was clear that more money had come in than what was projected. The problem was that the money didn’t go to roads and bridges. Much of what was supposed to go to construction went to administration.

One of the problems we encounter is that the Highway Commission is not answerable to the Legislature. The reason for this is there was a fear that veteran, more powerful members of the Legislature would use their political muscle to get an unfairly large share of construction in their district. This is probably not an unfounded fear. The down side is that when you have a group of nine people, plus the director, that have hundreds of millions of taxpayer money at their disposal, while not being directly accountable to the public, you have great potential for unwise spending.

Before we go throwing good money after bad, we can, and should, make some fundamental changes, even if they are small.

First, we need to do away with the prevailing wage law. This was pushed through years ago by the labor unions as a way to artificially increase wages paid on publicly funded projects. This law alone routinely adds anywhere from ten to forty percent to

the labor cost of a project. Another provision that should be axed is the requirement of certain subcontractors from projects.

It would make more sense to put the project out for bid and let the lowest responsible bidder have the job. No, that would be too easy. There are requirements that a certain amount of the work go to women and minority businesses. If there is a shortage of these firms, (which is the case in much of the state), they can raise their bids to unreasonable levels since there is virtually no competition. Just because someone’s chromosomes and DNA is different that someone else’s, why should they get preference on public projects?

There is nothing noble or fair about treating someone different. It is discrimination and it cuts both ways. When it is state sanctioned, it is even worse.

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.

The pickers are comin’.

If ya missed the gatherin’ of bluegrass and old time music folks on the Square earlier in the year, another batch is comin’ in this Saturday.

The free event is sponsored by Main Street Mercantile and takes place mainly in the Woodshed in the back of the store.

The music starts about 1 p.m. and goes until around 9:30 that evenin’. Spectators and musicians come and go throughout the day with eight groups performin’ in all.

With the warm weather, I’m guessin’ there will be some of the pickin’ spillin’ out onto the Square from time to time. Donations will be accepted to help pay the costs.

Should be another good day of activity for the downtown area.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

McCune Brooks Hospital

Helath Notes

C IT TWICE: Although vitamin C is also an antioxidant, and has been shown effective in helping to strengthen the immune system, it was not included in this particular study. However, another study on vitamin C supplementation suggests people take the nutrient twice a day. Apparently, if you take your vitamin C mostly in the morning, the body will have flushed out what it doesn’t use in 12 hours. To maintain the benefits of vitamin C for 24 hours, take half your dosage in the morning and the other half before going to bed.

CALCIUM UPDATE: I recently spoke with a dairy industry representative who insisted that the only good source of calcium is milk and milk products. She admitted that in the past, they had problems persuading people to use their foods to help prevent osteoporosis, because the saturated fat content of most milk products could lead to cardiovascular problems as well as overweight. Today, she said, milk, yogurt, and many cheeses are offered either fat free or fat reduced. While that’s certainly true, I still don’t recommend that you consider milk and milk products as your primary calcium source. Other foods also provide this important mineral, including cauliflower, broccoli, white beans, rutabaga, Chinese cabbage, turnip greens, and tofu (bean curd).