Courthouse Bat Fights Back.

The County Commission met Thursday for the first time in the conference room at the Nationsbank building. Several issues were discussed including animal bites.

County employee Jason Schrier was in the basement of the courthouse when he employed a piece of paper to pick up what he perceived to be a dead bat and was bitten. Although he now has the nickname "Batman" the repercussions are serious. If the results of tests on the bat are positive, Schrier will undergo a series of Rabies shots. It is not known at this time how quickly the results will be returned.

Information from the Center For Disease Control (CDC) offers positive news. "No person in the United States has ever contracted rabies from a dog, cat or ferret held in quarantine for 10 days."

The issue involving County Collector Stephen Holt was resolved. According to a letter County Counselor James Spradling received from attorney Ron Mitchell of Joplin, the County is asked to reimburse back pay, 1/2 of out of pocket insurance premiums for the same period, and return more than $126,000 that Holt had collected before he was ousted.

In a 2-1 vote, a motion made by Western Commissioner Anna Ruth Crampton to accept the terms of the letter. Presiding Commissioner Danny Hensley voted against.

In other business, Southwestern Bell telephone representatives Karen Gilliam, Pat Headrick and Lyric Rentfro were present at the County Elected Officials Meeting to address the confusion surrounding the new long distance calling plan.

The new plan Local Plus replaces the COS plan which is being retired July 22 in Carthage and July 20 in Joplin. The monthly phone cost will increase from $1,634.21 to $1800.00 for 30 trunk lines. Additionally the new system will include all of 417 calling area.

Eastern Commissioner Ben Johnson questioned why the cost increased to $60 monthly per line when residents pay $30 per month.

Gilliam said that competition plus the fact that offices use phones more than residences caused the increase. Hensley asked for a multiple-line user discount. Gilliam said she didn’t think it was possible but that she would ask.

Hensley reported the courthouse had been struck by lightening during a recent storm. Consequently the exterior lights are not working. A lightening arrestor ($800) will be added during repairs.

Hensley discussed the dispersal of County computers that have been replaced by the State. County employees will have first choice and thereafter they will be offered to the public on a "first come, first serve basis as long as they last." A motion was made and approved 3-0 to sell the computers "as is, where is" for $100 each.

Archivist Seeks Jasper County Info

Jasper County Records Research Center Archivist Steve Weldon is seeking information about Jasper County and Southwest Missouri residents. He is specifically searching for documents that might have survived the Civil War, and information or identifiable photographs for years 1800-1950.

Weldon said the goal is to create a Genealogical Research Center where individuals can learn about their heritage through documents and photographs.

Welden says he was excited about electronic technology because the process of saving information today is safe and takes approximately 5 minutes per page to complete. Original items presented for documentation do not become the property of Jasper County but are returned to the owner. Weldon said he would welcome the gift of any significant information.

Currently the Research Center is staffed by volunteers who are sifting through fragile County records dated as early as 1841. In addition to records, the Resource Center also houses the Marvin Van Gilder Collection.

Weldon is seeking all types of documents and pictures-particularly rural school photographs. Information such as names, locations, dates and ages are necessary for identification purposes.

For more information on the project, contact Jasper County Research Center: 125 N. Lincoln. 359-1100

Commentary

Martin "Bubs" Hohulin

State Representative, District 126

Hopefully by now, most of you will gave gotten your State income tax refund check. If it was anything like mine, it was very, very late in coming. Many of you called to see what the problem was so I tried to do a little checking. Now understand, it is hard to get a straight answer from the bureaucracy. I was finally able to talk to a couple folks that didn’t want their name used and found out that a new computer system had been put in place to speed up the process! They said that the department was about a month behind last year.

Believe it or not, I don’t bring this up to run down the Department of Revenue, but to demonstrate the flaws we have in the budget system. It seems like every year we get requests from departments for new computers, software, support, or something else that is designed to do more or speed things up. A lot of times we get the budget request books from the departments the same day we are hearing from the departments. To make matters worse, we usually work from a booklet containing only the new requests and the old money, known as the core, is automatically approved.

Believe it or not, I’ve only started. The Constitution states that all spending originates in the House of Representatives. However, when we are doing the budget, we start with the Governor’s recommendations and go from there. The games really start now. Almost every day that we are working on the budget the Governor will send amendments to the Budget Committee and they are usually approved with little or no discussion. I could hardly contain myself when Governor Carnahan pointed out that the budget that was approved was bigger than what he originally submitted. Of course it was!

He was the one that kept sending down amendments for more spending. We are supposed to work from figures from the budget office as far as how much money there will be to spend. Just before the budget was to go to the full House for discussion, Governor Carnahan sent down an amendment calling for an additional 11 Million in spending. When we questioned where it came from, we were told that Governor Carnahan "found" it. I guess it was in his desk drawer!

It is safe to say that I asked more questions and offered more amendments than anyone else on the committee. It is also safe to say that I lost more votes than anyone else on the committee! It is hard to undo the way things have been done for more than 40 years of dominance by one party. Believe it or not, that is how long the democrats have been in power in the Missouri Legislature.

There is some hope though. After years of being one of the few people that consistently votes no on the budget, quite a few of the new members are questioning the process as well. It isn’t necessarily that we are opposed to the budget as much as we are opposed to 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.

Just Jake Talkin'
Mornin',

I don’t know how long shoe laces are supposed ta last. Ya don’t get a manual settin’ out a maintenance schedule for shoes like ya do an automobile. I pretty much replace ‘em when they break. I learned how to adjust for a broken lace as a kid. The lack of a full lace seldom leaves ya sittin’ on the side of the road waitin’ for the toe truck.

I took a small step toward organizin’ my affairs the other day, replaced a set of laces ‘fore they broke. And I did replace the set, not just the typical one lace that was ready for a blow out. I’m still debating whether to keep the one "good" lace for a back up. If I keep the shoes longer than a second set of laces, however, I doubt I’ll be concerned about the appearance of a short string.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

McCune Brooks Hospital

Health Notes

A WEIGHTY QUESTION: Almost everyone can lose weight if she or he really wants to. At least, that’s the common wisdom. The problem lies in keeping the weight off.

When Dr. Ulene did a month-long series on the subject for "The Today Show," over 70,000 viewers requested copies of the video that accompanied the subject.

"We have a weight regulating mechanism in the body," Dr. Ulene says. "And when it is functioning normally, you are more able to maintain a healthy weight. Some people, however, have a defect in that mechanism and find it difficult to keep their weight at a healthy level. They can lose weight, but soon regain it. However, that doesn’t mean they have to resign themselves to being overweight and subject to all the health risks that come with obesity such as cardiovascular problems and adult onset diabetes. Nor should these people feel as if they’re failures if they can’t keep the weight off. As I say in the book, obesity should be understood as a disease, not perceived as a human failing."

As Dr. Ulene notes, "You don’t rely on diets for successful weight loss. The pounds will come off, but if you have a malfunctioning weight regulator, once you start eating as you did before, those pounds will come back.