Prevailing Wage Hurts.

Missouri Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder on Monday said he will ask the Missouri Housing and Development Commission to suspend a rule that prevailing wage be paid for construction of low-income residential housing in Joplin in the wake of the devastating tornado there in May.

Lt. Governor Kinder and a delegation of lawmakers representing the Joplin area discussed the proposal at the Joplin Senior Center. The lawmakers included Reps. Charlie Davis of Webb City, Tom Flanigan of Carthage, Bill Lant and Bill White of Joplin and Bill Reiboldt of Neosho.

Kinder said high wages could reduce the number of homes the MHDC can afford to finance. A member of the MHDC, Kinder will offer a motion at the commission’s Dec. 16 meeting to remove the recently imposed mandate that prevailing wage rates be paid on MHDC projects in Joplin’s tornado zone.

A recent revision of federal wage rules significantly increased the prevailing wage, which had not been changed for many years. One example cited by local contractors was the prevailing wage for a carpenter in the Joplin area, which increased from $7.98 an hour to $21.47 an hour, plus $12.65 in fringe benefits.

"Our priority in Joplin must be to replace the homes that families lost in May, particularly homes for low-income families," Kinder said. "Because of the higher costs, contractors will be forced to cut back on the scale of projects for low-income housing in Joplin."

More than 4,000 Joplin homes were destroyed by the May 22 tornado. City officials have said 3,100 housing units are needed, including about 560 for low-income residents.

"Either you will lose numbers, or you will lose quality," Kinder said. "Joplin needs the numbers, but we also don’t want to lose quality in the rebuilding."

Jasper County Jail Count

? November 14, 2011

Total Including Placed out of County

I saw a while back that a guy servin’ a few months in jail out west was given a bag of M&M’s for doin’ some extra chores. At the time it was reported that the guy had won the million dollar prize offered by the M&M folks. What a story.

Then yesterday I see that after checkin’ with the candy company, the million bucks had already been given away. The Jail bird had actually won a 16oz. bag of M&M’s. Almost as good as a million bucks.

The guy is supposed ta get out of jail by late summer. I’m guessin’ he’ll always have ta wonder "what if?".

I was pretty disappointed to hear the bad news, but I’m bettin’ not near as bad as he does.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Weekly Column

To Your Good Health

By Paul G. Donohue, M.D.

Arteries Make Better Grafts Than Veins

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I had a triple coronary artery bypass in April 1998. The vessel used for the grafts was taken from my leg.

A cardiologist tells me that the leg vessel graft needs replacement in eight years. It is not as good as grafts taken from arteries in the arm or the chest wall. I feel fine. It has been 10 years since my operation. Am I living on borrowed time? Why isn’t the leg vessel as good as the others? -- W.P.

ANSWER: Hold on a minute. Predictions about the longevity of grafts for clogged arteries are hazardous. The source of the graft is not the sole factor in its life span. The general health of the person getting the graft is most important. Diabetes, for example, has a negative effect on all blood vessels, including grafts. If graft recipients make major changes in how they live -- watch their weight, keep their cholesterol low, get exercise, pay attention to blood pressure and don’t smoke -- then their grafts are bound to stay healthy for a long time.

The leg vessel you speak of is a long and large leg vein. Veins are not the same as arteries. Arteries have to stand up to pressure that is much higher than it is in veins, so arteries are tougher. At five years, 75 percent of vein grafts are functioning well, and at 15 years, 50 percent are still in good shape. Some last much longer.

The "chest wall" graft isn’t from the chest wall. These grafts come from arteries within in the chest. They are directly hooked up to heart arteries, so they have long lives -- as long as arteries have. Most of these grafts stay open for 20 or more years.

Many heart surgeons use an arm artery as the source of their grafts. The arm does quite well with only one major artery. These grafts are better than vein grafts. They’re arteries. They have a life span between that of a vein graft and that of the inner chest artery graft.