Good 4th of July Reading

Here’s a story worth checking out on this 4th of July: “The Best In Us.“  Wes Johnson of the News-Leader sat down with John Playter, a Bataan Death March survivor.

Bolivar is dedicating a park in his honor today.

What’s amazing about the story is that Playter has forgiven the Japanese soldiers who inflicted such horrific suffering upon himself and his fellow soldiers.  That’s the mark of a truly strong and great man.

Please, take the time to read the News-Leader story.

(The photo is of John Playter from the N-L story.)

Happy Independence Day!

Thank you to the men and women who have served and are serving in our armed forces for keeping America free to celebrate another Independence Day.

I hope you can enjoy the day with friends and family.  If you’re going to the 4th of July event at the Springfield Underground enjoy sitting in traffic for hours!  (ha ha)

One of the things about today I think is really cool is that recent American citizen Craig Ferguson (the host of the Late Late Show) is hosting CBS’s 4th of July celebration.  I wonder how many folks are going to get up in arms after hearing his accent and wonder why CBS let a “non-American” host the show without realizing the guy became a citizen in February.

Now, this is only speculation, but I would bet Ferguson could tell you more about American history right now than many natural born Americans!

Happy 4th of July to all American citizens!

City’s Lawsuit Against Cell Providers Upheld

Click here to download a copy of the decision (PDF)

The eighth circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis today upheld the city’s lawsuit against cell providers seeking back taxes.  The city is seeking five years in back taxes from Alltel and AT&T…Verizon and Sprint have already settled with the city.

According to a city press release, all companies are now paying taxes but since Alltel and AT&T are doing it under protest those funds have to be held back.  So if this get all cleared off the board, we could see a nice influx of cash into the general fund that could help with things like the police/fire pension and wastewater system repairs.

The defendants could file for a re-hearing or go on to the Supreme Court.  Let’s hope they just lick their wounds and settle with the city.

Because You Asked For It Regarding The Skatepark Lawsuit!

In the comments regarding my post of the lawsuit by the city against the Skatepark Association, we had two comments that I put to City Attorney Dan Wichmer.  Here’s what he had to say (along with the comments.)

Walter posted: “With all the money we pay the city attorney and his staff, why do they farm out so much work to high-priced private firms? Why can’t the city attorney file his own lawsuit? There may be a legal reason, seeing as how the city is a party to the suit. But it would be a good question to ask.”

It WAS a good question, Walter…so I asked it!

City Attorney Wichmer:  “Two of my attorneys are claimed to be witnesses by the other side because they spoke to Annette Weatherman before the mediation so I have a conflict.”

Taylor posted: “If the city hires a private attorney, communication between the parties is exempt from Missouri sunshine laws. A small price to pay for secrecy.”

Now, I thought it was likely what Mr. Wichmer answered…

City Attorney Wichmer said that all his communications within the city that fall under attorney-client privilege are not subject to the Sunshine Law.  Any of his communications with Council members or other city staff that is not under attorney-client privilege IS subject to the Sunshine Law.

Thank you to Mr. Wichmer for taking the time to answer these comments.  I’ll say this about Dan Wichmer…I like talking to him because I have yet to get an answer from him that’s not direct and to the point!

Arrests In Springfield Arsons

The Springfield Fire Department has made arrests and the Greene County prosecutor has filed charges in three recent arson fires.

Duke Kelly, 19, and Roger Wright, Jr., 23, have been arrested and charged with second degree arson for a fire that occurred on June 10, 2008, at 723 Mt. Vernon St. Second-degree arson is a Class C felony. The pair was also charged with “knowingly burning” for setting a fire at 623 W. Walnut St. on the same night. “Knowingly burning” is a Class D felony.

Michelle Snyder, 34, was charged with first degree arson in an unrelated fire on the same night at a duplex at 2507 S. Ingram Mill Road. The first degree arson charge is a Class B felony.

Thank You To All My Readers

This afternoon, I passed 100,000 visitors to this blog since August 31, 2007. I thank you all for taking the time to visit and read some of the posts on this blog.

I normally don’t talk about the totals or things like my ranking at BlogNetNews because while it’s nice to get recognition like that it’s not really things of interest to people who’ve been reading this blog.  Still, I felt like I needed to at least celebrate this milestone because it’s going to be quite a while (most likely) before my number of visitors to the blog goes from six digits to seven digits.

I couldn’t have done it without all of you…both those who like what they’ve seen and those who’ve expressed your less than like for it…and I hope that perhaps something posted here has helped make your life better in some way.

So again, thank you so much for taking the time to read what has been posted here.  Thank you also to the Springfield city government staff (especially Louise @ Public information) and the City Council for being so open to dealing with me.  Thank you also the private citizens who’ve provided me tips and information.  Also to everyone who’s taken the time to leave a comment to something that has been posted here.  I appreciate it.

Cooking Can Be Interesting

Last year when I changed my diet to a mostly organic diet, I discovered that I really enjoyed cooking.  I’ve always made myself meals but never actually tried to “cook” in the way a chef would do it.  Since then, I’ve done a few things that I found from recipes online and I’ve been amazed at how food tastes.  We get into such a rush that we don’t just sit and enjoy meals and the different flavors that can be combined to make a great meal.

If you had asked me a year ago to sit down and watch a show hosted by Gordon Ramsay, I would have just laughed at you.  Even though he’s mildly entertaining when he’s giving chefs the Simon Cowell treatment it was still a show about cooking.  Now, I actually find myself watching Hell’s Kitchen and being more interested in the meals they were cooking and the presentation of the food.

I sit there and wonder what that food would taste like and wonder whether or not I could make something like that myself in the kitchen.

Then I found myself watching Ramsay’s other show on BBC America, Kitchen Nightmares.  I look at the mistakes that are being made by these restaurants and think to myself that I would have likely done the same thing when it comes to cooking in a restaurant.

What I really find interesting is that while Ramsay can be quite ascerbic, he also seems to genuinely care about the people he’s trying to help and the advice he shares is certainly invaluable and likely things people would pay thousands to get in school.

Of course, I have to wonder how much is done for television and how much is just acting up for the television.  If, for example, I was able to be a fly on the wall in the kitchen at Clary’s watching James Clary work his magic would I see him jumping on his chefs and people flying around like they were in a bee hive?  Would I instead just see people working in a quiet efficiency turning out one delicious meal after another?  Perhaps if there’s someone out there familiar with the finer dining restaurants in Springfield could share with me if what we see on TV is anything like working in the real kitchen of a restuarant like Clary’s or the Tower Club.

I actually thought of taking a part time job in one of these restaurants just so I could watch how they do what they do and see what I could learn from them.  Of course, you need actual training which I don’t have and likely can’t afford so that’s off the menu (so to speak.)

Dances With John L. Morris

He’s not dancing with wolves but I guess he could post for a picture with one.  (They have a stuffed wolf at Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, right?)

Kevin Costner is coming to Springfield on Sunday to premiere his new film Swing Vote.  The film’s premise is that somehow (for once) one man’s vote actually matters for the outcome of the election.  Costner will be having a reception at the White River Banquet Room at Bass Pro.

The $250 a person event benefits Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks and the Upper White River Basin Foundation.  Call 1-800-646-3474 for tickets.

I know that Costner takes a lot of crud from Hollywood critics and reviewers but I’ve enjoyed a lot of his films and he’s the star of one my top five films of all time…Field of Dreams.  (I’d just like to shake the guy’s hand and thank him for making that film.)  I’m kind of interested to see the new film based on the description I saw at IMDB.

So…if you happen to be at Bass Pro and someone in the bait section looks a lot like “that guy from Dances with Wolves” it just might be him…

City of Springfield vs. Springfield Skatepark Association Lawsuit Filed

Here’s some images of the lawsuit filed by Springfield law firm Turner Reid today on behalf of the City of Springfield versus the Skatepark Association.  (PDF courtesy of the News-Leader.)

MSU To Buy Additional Land Next To JVIC

According to Wes at the News-Leader, Missouri State University is going to be buying four vacant plots of land and two plots with old buildings next to the Jordan Valley Innovation Center.  MSU wants to create what it calls the “IDEA Commons” with IDEA meaning Innovation Design Entrepreneurship Art.

Interesting things in the story is the note that the businesses currently using JVIC are out of space and a five story addition to the south of the current building is in the development stages.  Also, MSU realizes that they won’t be able to buy this space for $1 like they did the JVIC location.

From the N-L story:

“Nietzel said he didn’t expect to pay $1 for the six additional city-owned properties, but would offer a “reasonable price” for the four vacant tracts and two tracts with old buildings on them.

City economic development director Mary Lilly Smith said city staff is researching how much money the city has invested in the six properties.

Whether the city would try to recover all its costs would be up to the city council, perhaps after weighing the potential new jobs and construction investment the IDEA Commons would generate.”

With our current budget situation, we do need an influx of cash into the city but we also can’t just give this away for nothing even if it is Missouri State and even if JVIC has brought some high paying jobs into the city.  (I asked Allen Kunkel of MSU how many of those jobs were filled by Springfield or Greene County residents and how many were move-ins.  He said that all of the MSU staff were southwest Missouri residents and that the businesses in JVIC were a mix but that they all lived here now and “the spending impact to Springfield/Greene County is significant.”  So at least some of our local residents were able to land a few of those high paying jobs.)

I’m also curious to see what this price is going to be.  After all, if JVIC is as successful as it has been then it should have boosted the property values of these surrounding properties, right?

Look, I’m sure the city will take a little less than market value because such an expansion would bring additional revenue over time that will outgrow whatever we would get from an increased purchase price.  (At least MSU can’t pull a Robocop and scream “I’d buy that for a dollar!” this time around, though…)  I just hope that we end up getting what is a fair deal to the city and I hope we all pay close attention to what is done with the money from that sale.