A page-one story in today's Joplin Globe indicates that the case of Edward Meerwald, who is charged with two counts of manslaughter in connection with the July 31 deaths of a Neosho man and his granddaughter, will be heard in Jasper County on a change of venue.
Meerwald is charged with driving drunk when he hit James Dodson, 69, and Dodson's granddaughter, Jessica Mann, 7. The two were standing in Dodson's driveway went Meerwald's car veered off the road and hit them, according to police reports.
The Globe still hasn't reported that the survivors have filed a lawsuit against Meerwald and the Pub Bar in Jasper County Circuit Court.
Apparently, they either need to add The Turner Report to their daily reading or try covering what goes on in Jasper County courts.
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A sad anniversary passed a few days ago. It has been 10 years since the car accident that took the life of Heather Brandell, 20, of Lamar. Miss Brandell left a young son, Spencer Matty. She was the Lamar Fair Queen in 1992 and is the only one of the queens crowned since 1958 when the pageant began who is no longer with us.
I remember a touching ceremony a couple of years later in front of the high school when a tree was planted in Heather's honor and Kenya Marti read a poem she had written for Heather.
Though I remember the night Heather was crowned fair queen, my favorite memory of her was at a later fair when she entered Spencer in the baby show. The judges opted to pick other babies for the prizes, but that didn't faze Heather. She knew she had a winner in her arms.
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Time for another plug for tomorrow's Natural Disaster performance beginning at 4 p.m. at the annual Newtonia Fall Festival. We had our final practice before the event last night at drummer John Scott's home in Neosho. I won't say everything sounded great, but it wasn't bad. I hope to see some of you there. It's free and food is available in the Newtonia Community Building.
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It must be "Be Kind to Lame Duck Governors Week" since the Missouri General Assembly didn't even try to override any of Governor Bob Holden's vetoes during the just completed veto session. Apparently, most of it was spent saying goodbye to legislators who can no longer run for re-election due to term limits.
The quality of the General Assembly has decreased dramatically since Missouri voters put term limits on the House and Senate. The law sounds like a good one, but it has done four things:
1. It keeps voters from returning to office people who are doing a good job and who have gained valuable experience.
2. It has created a laughable jockeying for position as term-limited officials attempt to move on to higher office, often at the expense of their constituents.
3. It says that people don't have the common sense to decide who should represent them in the General Assembly.
4. It has increased the power the lobbyists hold in Jefferson City. When legislators do not know what they are doing because of inexperience, they have a tendency to listen to anyone who does know and who knows better than the lobbyists who have been helping their clients milk the system for years?