Salvation Army Works All Year.

The Salvation Army is continuing to expand its service to Carthage according to Captains Bryan and Nancy Crampton.

The organization has recently begun serving as a voting/polling location as well as serving as a Severe Weather Shelter. Food Preparation and Sanitation classes are scheduled to begin in September 2001.

Other groups are also using the facility located at Grand and Fairview. The Carthage Amateur Radio Society, Legal Aid of Western Missouri, and the Jasper County Support Services all depend on the Salvation Army location as a base for their services.

The Salvation Army provides Welfare-To-Work Computer/Job Training classes, Senior Citizen Computer Training Classes and continue the Red Shield Cafe feeding program serving free lunches Monday through Thursday.

Since the first of the year, the organization has extended a "hand up" to 4,196 individuals in the Carthage area through material assistance and the feeding program.

For information about donations or volunteering, call 358-2262.

Commentary

Martin Bubs Hohulin

State Representative District 126

Sorry I missed last week.

As you probably know by now, Session ended on May 18 and we won’t be going back until the Veto Session in September. In the midst of trying to get caught up on work here at home and going to several speeches, I didn’t get a column written last week.

As has been the case with every Session that I have been involved with, much stuff was put off until the last week. I have always thought this was by design and still think so now. We have a set of rules we operate under, but in the last week, there are always motions to waive one rule or the other so that we can do something we wouldn’t normally do. One rule that is much abused in this manner is the rule that says a piece of legislation has to be on our desk at least 25 hours before we take it up. This is so that we actually have a chance to look something over before we vote on it. During the last few days of Session this concept goes right out the window. This rule is constantly being suspended in the last days of each Session. The vote is always a straight party line vote, with democrats voting to suspend and republicans voting to keep the rule. When we don’t have time to look at legislation, it is easier for something to slip by. Often we are given a bill of over a hundred pages and asked to vote on it within the hour..

We are in Session from Jan. until mid May. There would be plenty of time to get to bills in a timely fashion, but we don’t start holding afternoon sessions until sometime in March. If we used the extra time to do it right, they wouldn’t be able to claim the sense of urgency and slam things through without full and fair debate.

Would we operate things differently if we were in charge? I would like to think that we would. The democrats have been in control of the House for 50 years. When you are in control that long, I guess you get to thinking you can do what you want with no regard for the citizens.

In the coming weeks, I will be writing about legislation that did or didn’t make it through the process. Some things passed that shouldn’t have and others didn’t pass that should have. Again, par for the process.

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.

I grew up hearin’ ya gota jump in and start swimmin’. The idea bein’ that ya can’t sit around waitin’ for somethin’ ta happen.

‘Course, as water safety folks will explain, its not such a good idea to jump in head first if ya aren’t familiar with the swimmin’ hole.

I’m guessin’ that most folks have felt they got in a little deeper than they anticipated ever’ now and then. That’s when the rest of the lesson comes in. "Learn from your mistakes and go on."

I suppose that havin’ an attitude that gettin’ your feet a little wet now and then is a good thing. I’d hate ta think that ever’thing has been tried that’s worth tryin.’ It’d be a shame ta not have anything left ta learn.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

McCune Brooks Hospital

Health Notes

SOBERING FACTS ABOUT ALCOHOL: The next time someone tells you that it’s safer to substitute alcohol for a controlled substance, here are some facts you can use to shake up that mistaken notion:

1. There are 18 million alcoholics and six million drug addicts in the United States. (At least, those are the numbers we can be sure of; there may well be many more unreported cases.)

2. Alcoholism, which the American Medical Association classified as a disease back in 1956, is considered potentially fatal if left untreated.

3. Active alcoholics have a life expectancy 25 years less than the average American. Women are especially vulnerable since their bodies are damaged more quickly from alcoholic abuse, which can lead to cirhossis, circulatory disorders, and other illnesses.

4. Alcoholics who drive cause more fatal accidents than any other group.

5. Alcohol and drugs are the third leading cause of death in America.

6. Most of the inmates in federal prisons are there because of crimes committed while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

7. Children of alcoholics can be born with severe congenital problems, including mental retardation.