4th Celebration Deliberations.

The Budget/Ways and Means Committee will recommend that the July 4th Celebration be scaled down from the three day affair proposed by Killer Marketing of Joplin. The recommendation was agreed upon during the Committee’s regular monthly meeting last Tuesday evening in City Hall.

"We are still looking for someone who will organize it," stated Committee Chair Jackie Boyer. " Whether or not it’s going to be the Park Department, the City Administrator, or volunteers (is still undecided). The promotion that we were considering previously has fallen through, and we’re looking into other organizations that can put it together."

City Administrator Tom Short told the Committee that he had contacted another promoter and the Committee will meet again next week to discuss the project.

"I think the plan of action presented last time is pretty ambitious," said Boyer. "I think we need to scale it back to about half those events."

"This being our first year," said Short, "we want to make sure we go through it and get it done correct the first time."

Boyer added, "And even though maybe next year we’re not planning on a big extravaganza, I think anytime we have something of this nature at the park we just need to do more than just the fireworks."

The Committee also discussed budget goals for the upcoming year. One of the items suggested by City Administrator Short was a Council retreat.

"The retreat would allow us to start looking at some strategic type thinking as opposed to just worrying about day-to-day," said Short. "To look out to the long term to see what we can come up with where we want the City to head.

"And we have talked a couple of times about trying to set a community visioning process so that we get input from the community on where they want to see the community go. .make sure we are all kind of heading in the same direction. And hopefully, when things are finalized over at the Chamber, we can work with the Chamber to get a community vision process going."

Council member Trish Burgi-Brewer is not on the Committee but attended the meeting. She suggested that the Council develop a mission statement before the budget process. "Then go forward with the budget," said Brewer, "and the budget should be in support of your mission statement."

The Committee took no action on the discussion.

Letter to the Editor
Opinions expressed reflect those of the writer and not necessarily those of the Mornin' Mail.

Dear H.J. Johnson:

My mother, Anna Ruth Crampton, suggested I inform you of my intent to run for the position of Jasper County Public Administrator.

I’m excited about the possibility of becoming Public Administrator as I have the ability and desire to do a good job.

My family has been involved in community service for a long time. My father was Mayor of Duquesne many years ago and family discussions at the dinner table often were, "what can we do to make a difference or a change." So I’ve been interested and involved since an early age. Now my husband Bob and I enjoy helping organizations with their fund-raising efforts.

Through my insurance and real estate backgrounds, I’ve obtained extensive experience in communicating, negotiating and managing difficult situations for my clients. I always truly care about the outcome for those involved in a transaction. I have knowledge of resources available to assist those who might need my help.

Jake, I look forward to meeting you. Thank you for your consideration.

Cordially,
Denise Anderson

Local Main Street Manager
to Attend State Training.

news release

Cape Girardeau will host the Main Street Program Managers’ workshop Thursday, February 17. Diane Sharits, Main Street Carthage Program Manager will participate in the state seminar. "In order to continue enhancing our Downtown, it is important to stay abreast of new trends, resources and incentives that may improve our efforts," says Sharits.

Downtown managers will be attending from Washington, Warrensburg, Sedalia, Nevada, Mountain Grove, Lee’s Summit, Joplin, Clinton, Clarksville, Carthage and Branson. Attendance is open only to Official Main Street Towns. The Missouri Main Street Program, part of the Missouri Department of Economic Development (DED) sponsors the workshop.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for local main street managers to learn new downtown revitalization techniques and share information about their individual projects," states Randy Gray, Missouri Main Street Coordinator. A synopsis of the Downtown Mountain Grove market analysis project and subsequent business recruitment efforts will be provided by Jean Ann Matthews, Director of the Downtown Mountain Grove Association. Main Street Managers will also have an opportunity to tour Downtown Cape Girardeau.

The workshop will coincide with "Bringing Life Back to Downtown: Historic Tax Credits" on Friday, February 18. Nationally recognized speaker Donovan Rypkema will address the economics of historic preservation at the keynote luncheon presentation. The conference, sponsored by the Missouri Downtown Association and the Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation, will focus on successful downtown commercial development projects. Special emphasis will be given to utilizing historic preservation tax credits to ensure the appropriate renovation of older commercial buildings with examples from New Haven and Hannibal.

Established by DED in 1989 the Main Street Program is the state’s first and only comprehensive downtown revitalization program. Since the state program’s inception, participating statewide downtown organizations have witnessed the creation of over 650 new businesses and 1,900 new jobs with over 650 building renovations and $66,800,000 reinvested. Downtown Carthage has seen nearly $6 million reinvested and a vacancy rate of 11 per cent compared to 60% in 1988.

The process of gettin’ your driver’s license has been streamlined compared with years past.

The most time spent is from decidin’ on whether or not ya want your social security number on your license, whether or not ya wanna be an organ donor, do ya want your vital statistics sold to some mail order house, stuff like that. I was totally unprepared to have ta think durin’ the renewal process so it caught me a little off guard.

The upside to all the time savin’ gadgets they use to get you in the system is ya walk out with a pretty nifty lookin’ license (if you except the subject matter of the photo in my case) and the routine only takes a few minutes. I was given a second chance at the photo. Didn’t take it, but later wondered why it was offered.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Metcalf
Auto
Supply

Dear Tom and Ray:

I have a brand-new baby and I’m looking for a new car. Trucks are cheap, and I’ve always wanted one, like maybe a Ford Ranger. The trouble is, I can’t find any info on kids and trucks.

Are they safe? Can you put an infant car seat in them? Should I forget the idea and go with a car? In other words, would I be "sporty new ‘90s-style mom" or "killer mom risking child’s life in deathtrap on wheels"?—Susan

TOM: Unfortunately, the latter, Susan. Pickup trucks are not safe for little kids.

RAY: The bottom line is that kids, and especially kids in child seats, should always be in the back seat. There are two reasons for this. One is that there’s no air bag in the back seat that can blow up in an accident and snap the little kid’s neck (and yes, we know that some trucks now have on-off switches for the passenger air bags — if you remember to use them).

TOM: But as important, if you’re in the back seat, in an accident, you’ll hit...the front seat! If you’re in the front seat, you’re closer to the windshield, the dashboard, the engine compartment and whatever you’ve crashed into. So the backseat is intrinsically a safer place than the front seat.

RAY: And since pickup trucks don’t have back seats (and the cargo space behind the seats in the "extended cab pickups" doesn’t count), they’re not really safe vehicles for kids. So go with a car, Susan. Or at the very least, a truck with a real back seat, like a Ford Explorer.