The double-decker bus on its way out in Carthage.
The bus, which has been a staple of Carthage tourism for a little over a decade, has been sold, according to this morning's Joplin Globe.
The decision to sell it was a wise one. Though it was an interesting novelty, it had absolutely nothing to do with Carthage's rich history and spent more time in repairs than it did on the road.
This was another case in which someone had a bright idea and kept pushing until finally the people gave in. Occasionally, those ideas work brilliantly. This one never did.
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State Auditor Claire McCaskill, the Democratic nominee for governor, has some intelligent proposals for education in her platform.
Wednesday's Kansas City Star detailed her ideas, which include an audit of each school district in Missouri, held once every three years, to cut down on waste.
This is an idea that is long overdue. Currently, school districts have annual audits, but these are conducted by accounting firms which, honest as they may be, still want to make sure they are able to get the contract to do next year's audit.
With impartial state auditors, perhaps we can cut down on poor accounting practices, misuse of taxpayers' money, instances in which money is being used improperly or unwisely in certain areas, or instances in which nepotism has become a way of life. I would guess bureaucratic problems would be the biggest obstacle in urban schools, while rural schools would have problems with incestuous relationships between elected officials and employees (I'm talking about hiring relatives) and both sides would be plagued with an overload of unnecessary administrators, who continue to earn big bucks while teachers have more than 30 students in their classrooms.
Ms. McCaskill had some other good ideas. Naturally, John Hancock,(the Missouri Republican spokesman, not the guy who signed the Declaration of Independence) says they won't work.
My guess is that if Matt Blunt had suggested the same ideas Hancock would be hailing him as a genius.