Park Department Hosts Seminar.

Over thirty people have registered to attend the workshop devoted to tree care this Thursday, March 11th at the Carthage Municipal Park. The daylong event is held in conjunction with the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Parks Administrator Alan Bull says that participants include personnel from municipalities and other tree trimming professionals. Topics will include Hazardous Tree Identification, Right Tree in the Right Place, Roots, Chain Saw Safety, Chain Saw Cutting Techniques, Tree Pruning Techniques and a "Hands On" Demonstration of Proper Chain Saw Use.

Tax Counseling for the Elderly.

The Missouri Property tax credit is available to Missouri residents over the age of 65 who have income less than $25,000 for single and $27,000 for a married couple. Individuals over 60 who receive surviving spouse benefits also qualify. Persons age 18-64 who 100% disabled are also eligible. The credit allows you to receive a refund of all or part of your real estate taxes paid on your home. Residents of nursing homes and renters are also eligible for a refund based on room and board or rent paid during the year.

Volunteers with the Tax Counseling for the Elderly program are available to assist those wishing to file for this credit every Tuesday through March at the Carthage Over Sixty Center.

Before you get an appointment to see a counselor, gather your income verifications (Social Security 1099 for W-2, dividend and interest statements, veterans and other pensions), paid tax, rent or room and board receipts.

For more information call the Over Sixty Center at 358-4741. The Center is located at 404 E. Third.

Commentary

Martin "Bubs" Hohulin

State Representative District 126

This week found us getting into the nuts and bolts of the budget. Up until now we have been listening to presentations and testimony. Now we are actually into the process of adding, deleting or moving money around.

Some interesting trends are starting to develop. A couple times we were asked to appropriate more money based on the chance of legislation that has been introduced and might pass.

We argued back that it was irresponsible to spend money on an item that didn’t even exist yet. Like any time that we try to rein in spending, we were looked at like some kind of awful people. To illustrate the double standard that was going on, we found a bill that would save money and reduce spending if it passed. We then argued that we should reduce the amount in the budget in that area. Immediately, we were shouted down that we couldn’t make a decision based on a bill that might or might not pass. Say what?!

Apparently it is okay to SPEND millions of taxpayer dollars based on something that might pass, but it is NOT okay to REDUCE spending based on potential legislation.

At one point during a meeting, it was brought up that there was some money in a program that had went unspent and was still there. Now, my first thought was ‘ great, some money we can save either in the rainy day fund or return to taxpayers’. Boy, was I in the minority! Immediately, several hands go up and they all have an idea on how to SPEND the money.

We are also wrestling with the Governor’s proposal to move the Division of Professional Registration into the Department of Labor (DOLIR) from the Department of Economic Development (DED). Last week I wrote about Gov. Carnahan playing up to the labor unions by pushing the unionization of state employees.

This latest move is just a continuation of that. Almost all of the groups that are regulated by Professional Registration are happy in DED but if they move into DOLIR that will give labor unions even more control, directly or indirectly. This will move hundreds of employees into DOLIR.

The worst thing about this is that Gov. Carnahan did this on his own with an executive order. There was no input from the Legislature, but to undo it will take passage of legislation.

We will continue working on the budget for at least the next two weeks and it looks like it will be contentious the whole way. Contrary to what is often portrayed, this is not bad.

If we all agreed on everything, spending would go even higher than it has. The process is working, it would just be nice to win a few battles.

As usual, I can be reached at House Post Office, State Capitol, Jefferson City, MO, or 1-800-878-7126, or mhohulin@services.state.mo.us for your questions, comments, or advice.

Just Jake Talkin'
Mornin',

When folks would be complainin' about the excessive amount or the excessive lack of rain, my dad would always say that it all evens out.

"Couldn't do it better if I had my hand on the "spicket" myself," he'd always say.

I'd have ta suppose that was his way of sayin' there is a greater plan that what any individual might be aware of at any particular time. 'Course that wasn't much help when a big game at the baseball field was rained out. And with the coach I had, they were all big games.

More likely conversations about the weather were with farmers who had more ridin' on the outcome that gettin' a double to impress the girls. I don't know if Dad's advice was much comfort to 'em, but most of 'em understood, 'specially in this part a the country. Make hay while the sun is shinnin'.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin'.

by

McCune Brooks Hospital

Health Notes

BLOWIN’ SMOKE: There is a misconception about cigars and pipes vis-a-vis cigarettes and other forms of nicotine. While statistics have shown a correlation between certain types of cancer and cigarettes, snuff or chewing tobacco, that doesn’t mean cigar smokers get off scot free. As a matter of fact, there is evidence that cigars and pipes are very closely related to certain cancers. Some pipe smokers develop cancers of the lip. And cigar smokers, who like to say they don’t inhale, so what’s the problem, are getting nicotine into their blood streams through any open cut or wound in the mouth.

FOOD MYSTERIES: There is a mystery scientists have been trying to solve for years: how minerals in our diets work in our bodies.

There is a myth that children who eat dirt, and pregnant women who crave clay (a once-common practice mostly in the South) have dietary deficiencies. And, apparently, there is some truth to that. Certain minerals exist in the soil that are later taken up by plant foods. If we don’t get enough of those foods, nature seems to tell us to go directly to the source of those much-needed nutrients. Most of us know the common minerals we need: copper, iron, zinc, iodine, etc. But we’re still a long way away from learning what these nutrients actually do in the body, and what they don’t do.

ARCHIVES Index