Another Look at "Safe Passage".

The Public Works Committee is scheduled to hear from Carthage resident Jim Lucas about his proposed "Safe Passage" technology during the regular Committee meeting this afternoon at 5:15 in City Hall.

The Public Safety Committee asked that the system be discussed by the Public Works Committee to get input from the Engineering and Street Department. The radio controlled device, to be manufactured for Lucas Technologies, LLC of Carthage, would allow emergency vehicles to control traffic signals. A transmitter is mounted in the vehicle and a receiver is located at the intersection. As the vehicle approaches with emergency lights on, the traffic signals would receive the radio signal and switch all lights at the intersection to yellow and then red. A strobe type beacon would alert the emergency vehicle that the receiver was operational. In return for information and evaluation of the system, Lucas would discount the $2,275 price of the start up unit by $1,000. The City would pay for installation of the equipment. Some Council members have shown support for the concept, but want to reduce the initial cost for testing.

Automated Callout System for County.

news release

The unique Partnership between Jasper County 9-1-1 and leaders in area private industry reached its first goal with the initial installation of the system hardware and software last week. Center Director, Bill Cade reports that staff training for both public and private entities will begin next week. The system will be capable of making up to 500 telephone calls within 12 minutes; potential alerting scenarios could include: an emergency situations nearby, a missing child alert, a crime prevention warning or even a boil water order etc.

The system will print reports of successful calls, answer machine messages and can be interactive so a resident can respond to the message as needed. In addition the private industry partners may use the system for local management purposes. The Partnership is still seeking additional Partners who share with others that timely, accurate information should be provided to neighbors of any potential hazard site, as a matter of both corporate responsibility and good citizenship.

Motor Vehicle Accident in Webb City Loads All 9-1-1 Trunks.

news release

A mid day motor vehicle accident on Madison Avenue in Webb City on Thursday, 3-16-00 loaded the 9-1-1 trunks for the County during the early minutes of the event. According to an initial review of the event, Center Director Bill Cade said that the three on duty 9-1-1 Team members handled the initial call at 1:36 p.m. and the first dispatch to the EMS Supervisor was 33 seconds later. Another dozen or more telephone calls followed in rapid succession during the next 3 minutes, some were answered at the County Center and some "rolled over" as designed to the City of Joplin Center.

In reviewing the tapes, it is clear that a few callers did not get answered on their first try and hung up. This creates an "abandoned calls" in 9-1-1 jargon. Cade said that these above average event volumes are to be expected in emergency communications centers, it is part of the frustration when balancing resources and demand. He went on to say that he was pleased that the original design of the county wide system included the roll over functionality and that when volumes exceed even that level, some calls will either be abandoned or be answered in succession by the next available 9-1-1 staff person.

One of the considerations pending at the County Center is a recording that is activated after 3-4 rings and reports to callers that all 9-1-1 staff are busy and please stay on the line. In addition, the County Center is considering the reassignment of cellular calls to another trunk group, which will allow Center Support Staff to assist during such brief, yet critical periods.

Commentary
Martin "Bubs" Hohulin
State Representative, District 126

Thanks to a Wednesday session that went from 9:30 am until 2:30 am Thursday, we finished work on the budget and sent it to the Senate.

Actually, it wasn’t as bad as it sounds, we had a break from 6:00 to 7:30 pm for dinner. Strangely enough, I was more tired at 6:00 than I was at 2:30 when we quit.

There were some fairly bitter fights, most of which we lost. When I write about what happens up here, I am really in a no win situation.

I have made a promise to you that I will tell you what goes on up here that you don’t read anywhere else, but when I tell the truth about what goes on up here, I am accused of being partisan. Oh well, I made a promise to tell you what goes on up here and I am going to stick to it.

A couple of the biggest fights involved education funding and the bureaucracy. We had offered an amendment to add 30 million dollars into what is known as the education categoricals. These are the areas of special education, gifted programs, transportation, and vocational education. There was a big fight over where we would get the money for this item.

Although we were able to identify several sources of money, our main point was that every year since Gov. Carnahan took office he has always waited until the budget has been all but completed and then announced that he has "found" some extra money, usually to the tune of millions and millions of dollars and wants to spend it on some pet project of his.

The way we are supposed to do the budget is that the House, Senate, and Governor are all supposed to work from the same revenue estimate. That way we are supposed to be closer to the constitutional mandate of a balanced budget. When the governor announces at the last minute that he has "found " millions of dollars that weren’t part of the equation, the whole representative process is skewed.

Our proposal to add 30 million where it is really needed in our schools was defeated right down party lines, with republicans voting for the additional money and democrats voting against it. The other thing I need to point out, is that this 30 million wasn’t really additional money, it actually represented the amount of money that Gov. Carnahan has cut from schools the past several years and put into welfare. If we are going to spend that much money, it should be spent on education, not on someone that won’t work.

The worst was yet to come. We had discovered that the Dept of Natural Resources has 5 lobbyists on staff. These are the folks that come to the Capitol to lobby against our proposals to make the department more responsive to the public they are supposed to serve. The costs of these lobbyists amounts to about $250,000 per year. Do the math, that is $50,000 each per year. Rep Mark Elliott, a Webb City republican, offered an amendment to cut that amount and again, it was defeated right along party lines. The republicans voted to cut it and the democrats voted to keep it.

What a shame! The democrats, for all their rhetoric about education, won’t vote to spend money on school kids, but they will vote to keep spending a quarter million dollars on bureaucrats that work against your best interests.

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.

I hate shoppin’ for bacon. For some time I thought I was the only one who tried to get a little meat on the slice. Since they started puttin’ the little flap on the package so you could get some idea of what you were gettin’ a few years ago, I’ve don’t think I’ve picked up a package of bacon where the flap wasn’t pulled up.

Seems that by the time I get to pickin’ out a package, they’ve all been picked through. All that’s left are the packs that nobody else wanted. I’m always left wonderin’ if someone else got that one decent package they throw in ever now and then.

Prob’ly, like me, they figure out there ain’t no difference anyway, close their eyes and grab a pack and live with it.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

McCune Brooks Hospital

I’ve written about this before, but I still get letters from readers who are curious about the commercials touting the calcium benefits of a particular antacid for women worried about osteoporosis.

According to Remedy Magazine, it’s not the calcium in the product that is as important as the potassium bicarbonate, the active ingredient in antacids.

A normal diet, especially if it contains meat, is likely to leave the blood slightly acidic. The body neutralizes the acid by "borrowing" calcium salts from its bones. The potassium bicarbonate, however, seems to eliminate the "borrowing" process.

But before you bring in a year’s supply of antacids with bicarbonate potassium, do your body and your wallet a favor and eat less meat and more fruits and vegetables which are high in potassium bicarbonate.

Worried about fluorescent lights? According to a piece in the University of Texas Lifetime Health Letter the bad news is these lights emit a tiny amount of ultraviolet radiation. The good news is, you can block the rays with a plastic cover over the bulbs.

In any event, don’t mistake standard fluorescent bulbs for those used in tanning salons which, the Lifetime Health Letter notes, do produce a significant amount of ultraviolet radiation.