| Today's Feature
Golf Course Hearing
Tonight.
Golfers will have the
opportunity this evening to literally influence
the course of their future. The City Council
Public Services Committee will hold a public
hearing this evening in City Hall at 7 p.m. to
give the public an opportunity to comment on the
proposed improvements to the Municipal Golf
Course.
According to City Administrator
Tom Short, detailed plans have arrived from
Architect Tom Clark and a representative of his
firm will be on hand to answer questions about
the design.
Funding for the project will
come from a $1.8 million grant from the Steadley
Trust and an increase in fees charged by the
course. At this time, there are no plans for any
funding to come from the City’s General Fund
for this particular project.
The focus of the renovation
will be on what is called the "back
nine" and is scheduled to be completed in
the spring of 2003. Other less involved
renovation of the front nine will take place this
spring to allow that portion of the course to
remain open during construction on the back nine.
Bids for the project should be let soon.
Land Transactions
Mary L.
Spradley and Roy E. Mayes Jr. sold the property
in the Mayes Addition to the City of Carthage,
MO. The transaction was handled by Carolyn Cole
on Donal M. Myers Realty.
Christopher T. Johnson bought
property on Regan St., Carthage, MO. Donal M.
Myers handled the sale in cooperation with
Charles Elting, both of Donal M. Myers Realty.
Commentary
Martin "Bubs" Hohulin
State Representative, District 126
This isn’t really about
anything that happened in the Capitol this week,
but when I saw an article come across my desk
this week, it just screamed to be written about.
The potential analogies just jumped out.
It seems that free loading
geese are causing a problem in Forest Park in St.
Louis. It is the way they are getting rid of them
that I find bemusing.
Being from the country, I guess
I would get rid of those geese the same way I get
rid of geese that land on my wheat fields. I
would just shoot them. Usually if they are dead,
they don’t continue to cause any problems.
Even though everyone seems to agree that the St.
Louis geese are a problem, it seems that killing
them is unacceptable. The accepted method is to
train volunteers to coat the eggs with vegetable
oil.
From what I gathered in the
article, this blocks the flow of oxygen and
destroys the egg. Breaking the egg into a bucket
would also destroy the egg. The part that really
jumped out at me is that first they test the egg
by putting it in water. If the egg sinks, that
means that there has been no development in the
egg. It is then coated with the oil. If it
floats, that means development has started. That
egg will be returned to the nest to hatch. I just
couldn’t help but think about how warped it
is that it is fine, even encouraged, to rip a
living baby from its mother, but it is considered
cruel and inhumane to coat a developing egg with
vegetable oil. Where have we lost sight of our
priorities?
Another thing is the fact that
apparently visitors are feeding the geese and as
such are encouraging them to stay and continue
freeloading.
The manager of the park is
quoted as saying, "We try to discourage the
public from feeding the geese because it creates
a dependency. They really become prisoners of
human kindness". Even if you aren’t a
right wing extremist, you can surely see where
this is headed! Just substitute the words
‘welfare recipients’ for the word geese
and it is an even more appropriate statement.
The article goes on to say that
if these geese stay there, the next generation of
geese will nest there too, that the unnatural
cycle dulls the natural instincts. It further
suggests that less food from the public should
prompt the geese to leave the park for areas
where they can make it on their own. Surely by
now I don’t have to explain that one!
Where did we lose sight of the
fact that humans, both young and old, are more
important than geese? Surely if we can demand
responsibility from geese, it is not too much to
demand the same thing from humans.
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
Medicinal Black
Cohosh Research.
news release University
Outreach
A horticultural study on black
cohosh is being conducted at a research center
near Mt. Vernon, Mo., in cooperation with the
Center for Phytonutrient and Phytochemical
Studies.
"Our experiments are being
conducted at two geographically different sites
in Missouri: the Southwest Research Center, near
Mt. Vernon, and the Shaw Nature Reserve of the
Missouri Botanical Garden, near Gray
Summit," said Andrew Thomas, horticulture
research associate, University of Missouri.
A shade house, built of cedar
poles, steel cabling and woven shade cloth, was
erected at each site for the study in order to
mimic the forest setting where black cohosh is
typically found.
According to Thomas, black
cohosh is a perennial herb native to the Midwest.
The species occurs naturally in 30 Missouri
counties, all south of the Missouri River.
Black cohosh has become a
popular and costly medicinal herb in recent
years, with consumer demand increasing in North
America and Europe.
"The root has been used
historically to treat a variety of ailments
including sore throat, rheumatism and as a
diuretic, anti-diarrheal and cough
suppressant," Thomas said. "The herb is
now commonly used in hormone replacement therapy
to treat menopausal symptoms."
Much of the black cohosh being
marketed is wild-harvested. While the plant is
not considered rare, it is not abundant. Natural
populations of the species do not appear to be
threatened, but over-harvesting of wild plants
and poaching in parks and nature reserves may
soon become an important issue. This entire
scenario underscores the need to study the
cultivation and propagation of black cohosh.
"The plant appears to be
fairly easy to cultivate and may be well-suited
as a horticultural crop for Missouri farmers
wishing to diversify their operations. But very
little information is available for those
interested in growing it," said Thomas.
"That is why we initiated two experiments in
2001 to study and document the horticultural
requirements of black cohosh in Missouri."
The first experiment is
designed to answer questions about when and under
what conditions certain chemicals are produced in
black cohosh. This experiment was planted July
2001, and the first harvest will be in autumn
2002. The second experiment, planted in October
2001, but with a harvest anticipated in the fall
of 2003 or 2004, is a more of a general
horticultural study.
"We hope to learn which
shading method and plant spacing produces the
healthiest plants, the largest and most desirable
roots and maximum yields of desirable
chemicals," said Thomas. "We also plan
to gather data about insect and disease
prevalence and seed production. From that
information we can make recommendations for
Missouri farmers to grow black cohosh."
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