County Clerk Takes Oath.

Bonnie Earl was officially sworn in as Jasper County Clerk yesterday morning in the Carthage Courthouse. Earl was appointed to the post by Governor Holden following the death of former Clerk Jim Lobby. Earl was selected as one of the three names submitted by the Democratic Party for consideration. The Republican Committee also submitted three names for consideration.

Earl told the group assembled for the ceremony that the Jasper County Clerks Office staff, and her own twenty years experience in County government, totaled over 150 years of service. Earl served three terms as Circuit Clerk in Cass County.

After Earl was sworn in, she swore in the staff and presented them with tokens of appreciation which included a yellow rose.

Earl says she was originally from Jasper County, graduating from Jasper High School, and she and her husband, George, moved back to this area about a year ago. George is a vice president of Hometown Bank.

The County Clerk is one of several County positions that are scheduled for election in November.

Commentary

Martin "Bubs" Hohulin
State Representative, District 126

The budget continues to dominate activity in the Missouri Legislature. As you may remember, the state budget has been increasing by $1 BILLION per year for more than the last decade. My first year in office, we passed a budget of about $7 billion. This year it will be over $19 billion. In spite of that, we are constantly being told we are in a budget crisis and that we are practically broke. We are actually going to have about the same amount of money to spend as we did last year. Only in government is that thought of as a crisis.

The problem is that during years when money was flush and pouring in, we were starting and expanding programs as fast as we could. Programs tied to the federal government were started and now some of that federal money has run out while the programs continue.

Gov. Bob Holden is pushing to use $135 million from the Rainy Day Fund to help balance the budget. This is being very short sighted. The Fund was set up to draw from in cases of emergencies. We took from it to make repairs after the floods in the 90s. That is what it was intended for; paying for one-time emergencies. Using it to fund ongoing programs is just asking for trouble. The money has to be repaid into the Fund within three years and the programs being paid for with it this year will still continue on at the same time. What if at the same time we actually have a real emergency?

The bottom line is that we need to have the discipline to actually look at the budget and bring spending under control. The problem is that everyone is a conservative until it affects their favorite program. I see this not only here but in the calls, letters, and emails that come into my office. They pretty much read the same. "I have heard that program XYZ is going to be cut.

Please do all you can to maintain and even increase this program. For every $1 we invest in this program, we get back (or save) $7. Cut out the fat instead of program XYZ".

First of all, if we really saved or earned that much on our programs, we would have more money than we knew what to do with. We would have to use the restrooms to stockpile all the money. The problem is that what one person considers fat, someone else considers to be essential. We are at the point where we need to really look at what government should and should not be funding. Everyone has a good idea for improving someone’s life. It is just a question of whether or not it is something we should be asking the taxpayers to foot the bill for. It is very easy to think that all money comes from the government and forget that it all comes from the taxpayers. I realize this may not be the most popular of the columns I have written, but sometimes the truth of a situation is not always popular.

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.

Tried to keep up with the college basketball teams a little over the weekend. As with most sports, I don’t typically see much through the regular season, but tend to get in on the major showdowns.

Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma were still in the runnin’ last time I checked. I’m also interested in Texas ‘cause the coach is the one that got booted from Indiana for allegedly chokin’ a player.

I mainly keep up ‘cause I’ve got friends in those areas that will be talkin’ ‘bout the turnout. I get embarrassed if they don’t think I care about their passion.

I haven’t made it through an entire game yet, but will prob’ly make it as it gets closer to the final four. After all, what’s a couple of hours between friends.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

McCune- Brooks Hospital

Health Notes

by Judith Sheldon

MORE ON TOMATOES AND CANCER: Several weeks ago I noted the encouraging news from cancer researchers on the role tomatoes might play in helping to prevent prostate cancer.

Tomatoes fit into a group of foods that contain carotenoids, which help enhance the immune system and fight free radicals which may cause various types of cancers, as well as premature aging.

There are various types of carotenoids. In tomatoes, the carotenoid lycopoene (which gives them their red color) was found to reduce the risk of prostate cancer by some 45 percent in men who ate at least 10 servings of tomato-based foods a week.

Men who ate these foods less frequently (four to seven servings a week) had only a 20 percent risk reduction in developing prostate cancer.

As I cautioned last time, since saturated fats have been cited as risk factors for various cancers, including prostate, men should be careful about where they get their tomato-based foods. If you order pizza, for example, get it with little or no cheese. Also watch the pepperoni. You’d be better off with mushrooms. And try stuffing peppers with ground turkey instead of ground beef before you bake them in a tomato sauce.