Randolph Resigns as Coroner.

Coroner elect Mike Randolph submitted his official resignation as Coroner to County Clerk Jim Lobbey yesterday morning. Randolph was scheduled to be sworn in last Thursday, but did not show up.

Randolph's employment as a bail bondsman is at the center of the situation. County Counselor James Spradling has repeatedly referred to the State of Missouri Rules of Criminal Procedure that disqualifies elected or appointed officials from being accepted as surety on any bail bond. There was nothing to keep Randolph from becoming the Coroner, but taking the position would have compromised his employment as a bondsman. At this time the Jasper County Coroner position is generally considered part time and pays $16,600 per year.

"I'm just trying to make a living," Randolph told the Mornin' Mail in an exclusive interview early in December.

Ron Mosbaugh, appointed by the Governor after Rob Knell resigned last year, was defeated by Randolph in November 1998. Randolph, running on the Republican ticket, received just over 55% of the vote with very little campaign effort. Mosbaugh, on the Democrat ticket, conducted a more active campaign and picked up 9,732 votes, but fell well short of a victory.

According to County Clerk Lobbey, a letter is being sent to Governor Carnahan as notification of the vacancy. Mosbaugh has continued to serve as Coroner over the weekend and, according to Spradling, can continue to serve until he, or someone else is appointed by Carnahan. Speculation at the Courthouse is that Mosbaugh will be appointed for the second time within one year.

Apparently Randalph was waiting to see if a power of attorney for him to represent Sharp Bonding would be approved by Presiding Circuit Judge Dermott before taking the oath of office. Dermott received the document, which is routinely then circulated to other Circuit Judges. Dermott held the memo, waiting to see if in fact Randolph would take office.

Although there was no official ruling issued, Dermott told the Mornin' Mail yesterday that the Court did have some reservations about approving Randolph as a bondsman if he was the Coroner in light of the Rules of Criminal Procedure referred to above.

Randolph's resignation resolved the question.

"I'm sorry things didn't work out," Randolph told the Mornin' Mail yesterday. "I'd like to thank everybody who voted for me."

Jasper County 9-1-1 Busy Time.

For 9-1-1 Center Team members, the holiday weekend served up a large number of calls as well as requests for non-emergency services. According to 9-1-1 Center Executive Director Bill Cade, the Team did an exceptional job of handling true emergencies as well as trying to assist citizens who were complaining about their power being out. Of course, calls that presented true life threatening emergencies were promptly reported to the approximate agency as well as the serving electric company. In one 24 hour period over the long weekend, 123 calls about power lines down were received. For a while, the Team stopped counting such calls as the response to may callers was that the outage in their area had already been reported.

During the same 24 hour period, 146 calls were received via 9-1-1- lines from throughout the County with another 65 calls from cell phones. At one point on New Years Day, the Center had five Team Members assigned. During this period, 298 events were created, well above the normal level.

The County 9-1-1 Board also acknowledges the cooperation from its fire, medical and police customers during the busy hours, as usual, everyone worked hard at working together to resolve the problems, Cade said. He also thanked the agencies and the citizens of Jasper County who understood the extent of the weather created emergency and used 9-1-1 wisely.

Commentary

Martin "Bubs" Hohulin

State Representative District 126

Time really does fly, we are only one week away from the start of the 1999 Session. I’m not sure if this is good or bad, but this will be the ninth opening day I have participated in. I thank you for the honor of being there and can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.

We are starting to see the first bills that have been filed for the upcoming session. I plan on filing two myself, one regarding nursing homes and one regarding health care workers, but I will write about them at a later date. I want to use this week’s column to show how people can look at something from two completely different angles.

One of the bills that was filed would give anyone that voted in an election during the year a ten dollar credit on their state income tax return. Now, I am totally opposed to that idea because I view voting as a right and, more importantly a privilege.

Every year we hear politicians deplore the low turnout and how we have to get more people to the polls. Voting in this state is very simple. Most of the county clerks I know go out of their way to make sure people that want to get registered can do so. Voting is just a matter of getting out and doing it. The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Many politicians, including myself, offer rides to the polls and absentee voting is available. What I am trying to say is that if someone wants to vote, they can. While I do think it is a right and a duty to vote, I am not interested in going out of our way to try to get more people to vote if they don’t care enough about it to do it on their own.

Anyway, back to the ten dollar credit for voting. The only good thing about the bill is that it is a way to let people keep more of what they earn. I am always in favor of lower taxes but surely we can find a better way of keeping more of your money in your pockets. However, that is the very reason the state democratic party is opposed to the bill. They said it would cost the taxpayers of the state over $20 million dollars.

Is there anyone that can explain that? How can letting people keep more of what they earn cost them money? That is verifying the notion that all money belongs to the government and if they let the people keep any, they are just being generous. That is just wrong! The money belongs to the people and it always should. I doubt if the bill has much of a chance with so many people being opposed to it, but I think it serves as a perfect illustration of the difference between the conservative and liberal philosophies. If anyone says there is no difference between the two parties, tell them this story; there is a difference.

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.

Just Jake Talkin'
Mornin',

If you're like most, ya had some time durin' the weekend without any electricity. Considerin' the amount of tree limbs that were crashin' down 'cause of the ice, Carthage weathered pretty well. What amazes me is the power was kept on in such a large part a town, 'specially considerin' that CW&EP has only two line crews. Some of the solution was the loop that surrounds the community allowin' power to be rerouted if one avenue of supply is knocked out. But, most of the credit for keepin' things goin' goes to those out on the poles actually puttin' things back together. The Street Department was also out gettin' fallin' trees outa the streets and tryin' to keep the main roads drivable.

Mayor Johnson said yesterday that the CW&EP and City crews and support personnel deserve a pat on the back for their efforts. I was feelin' proud just bein' able ta get my car door chipped open.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin'.

by

McCune Brooks Hospital

Health Notes

"C" YOUR WAY THROUGH THE WINTER: One of the best things you can do for yourself during the winter is indulge in citrus fruits. Not only are you getting vitamin C which, as an antioxidant, helps maintain your immune system so you can fight off colds and other winter woes, the fruits also provide fiber.

Folate, which is found in oranges and other citrus fruits, is a B vitamin that helps prevent anemia, and is also important for normal cell multiplication.

Folate is also vital in the diet of pregnant women since it appears to help prevent certain birth defects. (You may be more familiar with it by the name folic acid or folacin.)

To store citrus fruits properly, keep them in the crisper of your refrigerator up to three weeks.

Store orange or grapefruit juice in tightly covered containers. Do not allow them to be exposed to the air since this can lead to loss of vitamin C.

I suggest offering children the whole fruit, whether it’s grapefruit, or any of the tasty orange varieties which are also fun to eat, such as navel oranges, tangerines, clementines, etc. In this way, they get all the benefits of the fruit.

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