Main Street Morning Coffee.

Main Street Carthage will sponsor a series of educational Morning Coffees beginning Thursday, April 20 at 8:00 a.m. in the Main Street Office on the Square. The first topic covers "Emergency Preparedness" - what would your employees and customers do if the storm sirens sounded? This and other questions will be discussed by Carthage Fire Department Chief John Cooper and Battalion Chief Allen Duckett.

Coffee, juice and donuts will be provided. There is no charge for the session which will last approximately one hour.

Future topics include: Making Your Business a Destination, Fraud Costs You, The Hispanic Influence on Business, Business Budgeting, and Taxes. For reservations or additional information call 358-4974.

CW&EP Board Meeting.

The CW&EP Board will meet for its regular monthly meeting this Thursday at 4 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers. The agenda includes the election of officers, consideration of SCADA bids, purchasing policy, SWPA amendatory agreement and a resolution honoring Ben Johnson.

Commentary

Martin "Bubs" Hohulin

State Representative District 126

The slow pace of the Legislature continued this week. We continued working until 7 o’clock each evening, but the night Sessions were cancelled. The Majority Floor Leader said they were becoming counter productive. I certainly agreed with him about that. During the last few night sessions, the equivalent of a school yard brawl had broken out. I have not seen the House run in such a bitter, partisan fashion since the days of Bob Griffin. Starting with the day that we were cut off from any input into the tobacco settlement, Speaker Steve Gaw, a democrat from Moberly has attempted to preclude any republicans from having any say in the process. While that obviously is irritating to those of us that are here, the real insult is to you, the citizens.

House republicans represent 47% of Missouri’s citizens. By blocking any republican ideas in the House, Speaker Gaw is blocking the wishes of those 47% of Missourians. That isn’t a very good idea for someone that wants to be a statewide official. Gaw is running for Secretary of State, the office charged with being the chief elections official. I wonder if he is only going to recognized 47% of Missourians from that office. Kind of a scary thought.

The bottom line is that a slow pace in the Legislature isn’t a bad thing. The system was set up to move slowly and for good reason. Look at what has happened in the last seven years since Mel Carnahan has been governor.

Your taxes have went up more than any state in the nation, regulations have increased, multiple murderers have been taken off death row, and state spending has more than doubled. What would have happened if the process worked faster? I shudder to think of the consequences.

I have never understood when I hear people ask why we can’t just all get along and work together. The fact is that we all have different ideas. I happen to think that you should have lower taxes because you know better how to spend your money than we do up here. I actually heard another member of the Budget Committee say during a debate this year that we had to pass a certain bill because he didn’t trust the citizens to spend their money correctly, we had to do it for you.

For those of you that think we should all get along, would you rather that I wholeheartedly agree with him and try to remove more money from your pocket? I didn’t think so. For the one or two of you that think we can spend your money better than you can, you probably need to vote for someone else other than me.

I expect the slow pace to continue until the end of this Session. As I said before that isn’t a bad thing. In light of the current leadership of the state, if we aren’t passing a lot of bills, that means we are staying out of your pocket and away from your liberties.

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.

Land Transactions

John D. Cuaderes and Leigh Ann Brown, husband and wife sold the property commonly known as 2151 Laura St. Carthage, MO 64836 to Mark Alan Westhoff and Nanette Louise Westhoff, husband and wife. The transaction was handled by Carolyn K. Cole and Donal M. Myers with Donal M. Myers Realty.

William R. Dieckman and Marian H. Dieckman, Trustees of the William R. Dieckman Trust dated August 9, 1996 and Marian H. Dieckman and William R. Dieckman, Trustees of the Marian H. Dieckman Trust dated August 9, 1996 sold the property commonly known as 2227 Alison, Carthage, MO 64836. The transaction was handled by Carolyn Cole with Donal Myers Realty and Connie Hoover with RE/MAX of Carthage.

If ya want to see what the Mornin’ Mail looks like in Spanish or French or several other languages, take a look at our website morninmail.com. A new feature we’ve added lets ya translate the Mail into a language of your choice.

The feature works for the three years of archives also. Every issue since April of 1997.

We have also added a search feature to our archives page so you can find that reference to your favorite politician or your great aunt in the 1899 column.

We may not have the fanciest site on the web, but there is nowhere you can find more information about the goin’s on in Carthage all in one place.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

McCune Brooks Hospital

A CHILD’S CHECKLIST: Do you know if your child is growing and developing normally? The American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc., has provided a handy checklist for parents to use as a way of spotting problems that could interfere with their children’s growth and development. The AOTA says that although each youngster is unique, there are certain milestones that help you look at your child’s development. They include the following:

At 1 month - children will often hold their hands in fists, and kick their feet when placed on their backs. They will also look at their parents.

At 2 months - babies lift their heads briefly when placed on their tummies.

At 3 months - babies will reach toward objects and faces. They will turn their eyes or heads toward sounds, and begin exploring objects with their hands and mouths.

At 5 months - youngsters respond when their names are called.

At 6 months - children will move their toys from one hand to another; they will sit without support, and repeat sounds, such as ma-ma or da-da.

At 9 months - children crawl on their hands and knees and participate in games such as Patty Cake. They will also poke at things with their index fingers.