Blog reports Nodler didn't pay to see movie

Tickets to see a new movie- $7
Hot, buttery popcorn $2
Soft drink $3
Disturbing a state senator watching a free movie- Priceless

Those three top prices are probably nowhere near correct since it has been a couple of years since I went to a theater, but according to Springfield blogger Ron Davis, once the ace investigative reporter for the Springfield News-Leader, Gary Nodler was taking advantage of a senatorial perk and watching "Fantastic Four" for free when his concentration on the comic book heroes was disturbed by the noise being made by a group of developmentally disabled adults.
Richard Sechrist, manager of Northstar 14 told Davis Nodler's name was on a free pass list for the day he had the run-in with a 20-year-old college student who was serving as a caregiver for the adults. Nodler alleges the young woman used the F word with him (no, not freebie, the other one), while others are alleging that Nodler is trying to do the same word to the girl's job. While ordinary taxpaying citizens like you and me pay full freight to see movies, Nodler has used his pass numerous times over the years, Sechrist told Davis.
State lawmakers are given the freebies and do not have to report them, because the theater owners are not lobbyists trying to influence legislation. Using that criteria, it would be interesting to see how many more gifts and freebies Missouri legislators have accepted because they do not have to report them under state ethics laws.
And since someone else is going to point this out, I might as well do it first. Nodler voted to deprive some of the poorest Missourians of desperately-needed medical care (and then bragged about it), while he was taking advantage of a gift that he received only because many of those same people elected him to office.
There is no truth, however, to the rumor that during another movie Nodler found Bambi's mother's death too intense and nearly asked for his freebie back. Nor is the other rumor true that Nodler after watching the famed Disney movie said, "They should not let that kind of deer in the forest if they don't know how to handle themselves."
You can find the link to Ron Davis' Chatter blog on the links section on the right-hand side of this page.