| Today's Features Travel
Rally Day at Boots Motel.
To mark this year’s
National Travel and Tourism Week, the Carthage
Convention & Visitor’s Bureau are
joining dozens of travel supporters throughout
the country in a rally on Tuesday, May 8 to
highlight travel’s significant contributions
to the local and national economy and to
illustrate why travel matters in a vocal and
visible way.
According to the
organization’s director, Wendy Douglas, the
goal of Travel Rally Day and National Travel and
Tourism Week is to create a greater appreciation
of travel and tourism’s impact on the local
economy and the more than 14 million workers
nationwide whose jobs depend on travel.
"Let’s shine a
spotlight on this vital industry and its benefits
to our community. We need your help to accomplish
this goal," said Douglas in a request for
support of the day.
"As a travel industry
stakeholder, I am inviting you to participate in
Travel Rally Day on Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at the
historic Boots Motel at 9:00 a.m.", Douglas
continues. "Please help lead our efforts and
ask your employees to attend. Travel workers who
wear uniforms are encouraged to come dressed for
work. Those not in uniform are encouraged to wear
red to create a bold, visual image that
illustrates unity among travel workers and
supporters.
"Let’s make some
noise, have some fun, and spread the word that
travel matters to the local and national
economy."
Those with questions or for
more information can call Douglas at 417-359-8181
or wdouglas@ecarthage.com.
MO Tourism
Battles for Funding.
Carthage Convention and
Visitor’s Bureau Director Wendy Douglass has
alerted local business people that the Missouri
Division of Tourism (MDT) may suffer a drastic
budget cut this year. She provided the following:
"As you know our CVB
office is small and has a very small budget
therefore we depend upon the research and several
of the programs that MDT successfully provides us
as a model. The services provided by the MDT are
utilized at no cost to our CVB and at times, we
have even received significant grant funding from
them for marketing Carthage.
A few facts regarding the
importance of travel in the state of Missouri
(and Carthage).
• Tourism had a $11.4
billion industry wide economic impact on the Show
Me State with less than a $13.5 million
investment from the state.
• For every dollar
invested in the Division of Tourism’s
budget, the state of Missouri received $3.00 in
state tax revenue
• $53.00 is returned to
Missouri businesses in traveler expenditures for
every $1 the Missouri Division of Tourism invests
in marketing tourism.
• Travelers spend $168.97
per person per trip in FY 10
• Each motor coach is
estimated to bring $22,000 in visitor spending to
the state of Missouri
Additionally, tourism brings
4,862 jobs to our area (jobs which can never be
outsourced; they can only go away) and nearly
$166 million to Jasper County."
Source MO Dept of Tourism 2010
Annual Report
From the Missouri Travel
Council and their legislative committee sent to
local CVBs.
"As many of you know,
the Senate this week passed a budget that
includes a $3.2 million cut from the Division of
Tourism. Leaders of the House and Senate will
name a conference committee early next week to
develop a compromise between the House and Senate
versions of the budget. The Legislative Committee
believes that chances of having the $3.2 million
restored in conference are very good, but it will
require an industry-wide effort to convince
conference committee members (and then members of
each chamber of the legislature) that restoring
the tourism funding is necessary to avoid the
disastrous impact the cuts would have. When
Conference Committee members are officially
named, the Legislative Committee will send out an
email with instructions and some useful
information to include when calling legislators.
The Conference Committee
should be named Monday, and we (Missouri Travel
Council Legislative Committee) will send out some
marching orders for Monday and Tuesday phone
calls."
State Rep. Tom
Flanigan Named to Conference Committee.
State Rep. Tom Flanigan, R-
Carthage, was appointed to the House and Senate
Conference Committee for the FY 2013 State
Budget. Flanigan was named by House Speaker
Steven Tilley, R-Perryville, because of his
expertise of the budget process and chairmanship
of the House Appropriations committee on Health,
Mental Health, and Social Services.
"I look forward to working
with my colleagues to pass a $24 billion budget
we all can agree on and is best for the Missouri
citizens," said Flanigan. "More than
one-third of the state’s budget is contained
in these two House Bills. As Chairman, I continue
my steadfast commitment to vital Missouri Health,
Mental Health, and Social Service programs."
Church Census.
By David Briggs
The 2010 U.S. Religion Census,
released Tuesday on the Association of Religion
Data Archives, found that The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints gained the most
regular members in the last 10 years, growing by
nearly 2 million to a total of 6.14 million
adherents in 13,600 congregations.
But the denomination is not the
only one growing in a time of increasing
religious diversity, the census shows.
Taken together,
nondenominational and independent churches may
now be considered the third largest religious
group in the country, with 12.2 million adherents
in 35,500 congregations. Only the Catholic Church
and the Southern Baptist Convention are larger.
The U.S. was home to 2,106
mosques nationwide in 2010. Buddhist
congregations were reported in all 50 states, and
Hindu houses of worship in 49 states.
Mainline Protestant churches
lost an average of 12.8 percent of adherents in
the first decade of the 21st century; 5 percent
fewer active members were found in Catholic
churches.
Jasper
County Jail Count
167 May 2, 2011
Total
Including Placed out of County
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