Today's Feature

Special License Plates.

News release

The Missouri Department of Revenue (Department) announced today that personalized and specialty license plates will be reissued with a new plate design beginning January 1, 2009. Because they deviate from a uniform design, the new personalized and specialty plates will differ from the new "Bluebird" plate and will undergo either slight or substantial revisions, depending on the type of plate. Personalized plates will, in many respects, be consistent with the new "Bluebird" standard plate. Specialty plates will continue to conform to their approved designs. The tab location of specialty and personalized plates will differ from the centralized location on the new "Bluebird" standard plate, and the month of expiration will now be printed on the plate instead of the tab. With the exception of motorcycles and certain heavy trucks, beginning in 2009, all specialty and personalized license plates will expire in the month of July.

Beginning this month, customers with personalized and specialty plates will receive a notice well in advance of their plate expiration, asking if they wish to keep their current personalized or specialty plate. Each customer will have the option of responding using the electronic or standard mail notification procedures provided on the notice. This process will allow Missourians to reserve their plates online or by mailing their response to the Central Office in Jefferson City. It is important that customers respond to the notice to ensure that their personalized or specialty plate is made in advance and that the license plates will be available during the time periods indicated in the notices.

New applications for personalized and specialty plates submitted on or after November 14 will receive the new design license plate. The Department offers many options to personalize the license plates on vehicles. Personalized plates allow customers to select up to six characters (depending on the type of plate and vehicle) to appear on the plate. Specialty plates offer the same license plate character options, but offer plates with even more individuality, including options for colleges and universities, military, organizations and charitable groups.

For additional information on personalized and specialty plates, customers may go to the Department’s web site: http://dor.mo.gov/mvdl/motorv/plates/ to view costs, how to apply, and the different categories and organizations that are available.

Mornin'

Happened to catch a portion of a series on the history of firearms. As is the case with a lot a things I suppose, the machines needed to make precision parts for guns were modified from time to time to produce other product. Bicycles, sewing machines, typewriters and the such were usually manufactured near firearms facilities.

Followin’ the story made me think of current times and the development of all sorts of products that came from the space race. A lot of discoveries led to ever’day products that we now take for granted. Tang for one. ‘Course a lot of the computer technology was driven by the needs of things ta be small and affordable. I’ll prob’ly never ride a space craft, or for that matter ever taken another swig of that fake orange drink.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

artCentral

by Sally Armstrong, Director of artCentral

I am sorry to report that the Workshop scheduled for this past Tuesday here at Hyde House had to be cancelled. Michael Bell was to have spoken on the subject "ART ESTATE PLANNING" for artists and art collectors, but Michael suffered a heart attack last week and was unable to be with us. We wish Michael a speedy recovery, and hope to include this topic along with his final topic, "PRICING YOUR WORK" on December 2nd, the last in his series of 4 lecture workshops this year. These have been very instructive for those of us who have been lucky enough to hear them. I thank Michael for his willingness to bring these workshops to us, and look forward to offering additional art-instructive workshops next season as well. As we continue with the fine exhibition of art currently here in the gallery, I invite others of you to visit us this weekend if you have not already. This is a really nice showing. Please notice too the display of our Membership artwork currently displayed at our Atrium Gallery in the Sirloin Stockade Restaurant on Central Ave. Our Board of Directors met for their regular meeting today, and discussed the remainder of our year, making additional suggestions for next year. In addition to the offering of a few instructional workshops, we hope to begin a regular artist "work day" on Wednesdays or Thursdays for artists to come and work together on current projects. A current project of ours is a new parking lot that is planned and for which we are currently hoping to begin this fall if the funding is in place. Thanks to the generosity of several of our patrons and businesses we have been able to go forward with a number of our projects here at artCentral, but this lot will be costly and so we have our fingers crossed! All this to make us more available to serve our community and allow us to be more functional to larger groups. Little by little.