Neighbors react to arrest of former Webb City principal for double murder

A report from KOLR's Nick Thompson

Charlie Davis: This is the year we will reduce taxes in Missouri

In a portion of his latest newsletter, Rep. Charlie Davis, R-Webb City, talks about legislation passed by the House to lower taxes for Missourians and Missouri businesses.

Last year saw the legislature engage in a public battle with the governor as he fought to deny a tax cut your legislature wanted to provide to hard- working Missourians. His reasoning at the time was based on economic fallacies including a false assertion that cutting the tax rate would jeopardize funding for education. The governor also employed other illogical arguments as he wasted taxpayer dollars in the new taxpayer funded plane he purchased to campaign all over the state against lowering your tax burden. The end result was a veto of the tax cut we passed and a decision made by those of us here in the legislature to revisit the issue this year.

This week we made good on our promise to renew our effort to reduce your tax burden as we approved two bills to lower that burden for both Missouri families and businesses. The first bill (HB 1253) would implement a 50 percent deduction for business income. It also would cut corporate income tax from 6.25 percent to 3.125 percent over a period of five years. For these tax savings to be phased in, state revenues would have to remain above the level they were in 2012 (the largest budget in state history at that time). The bill would reduce the tax burden on Missouri businesses by nearly $350 million per year.

The second bill (HB 1295) implements a reduction of the individual income tax rate from 6 percent to 5.3 percent over a period of seven years. It also increases the current deduction for individuals who earn less than $20,000 annually from $2,100 to $3,100. The bill also includes the business income tax deduction. To protect education funding, the legislation also requires revenues to increase by $150 million annually. In addition, the bill specifies that of the revenue increase, $60 million would go to public schools and $30 million to higher education in each year. The bill is estimated to produce a tax savings for Missourians of more than $700 million annually.

I am excited that we have moved these bills to the Senate so early in the process, and equally thrilled that our Senate counterparts are hard at work on their own versions of a tax cut. This week we also saw Missouri Attorney General Koster publicly support lowering the tax burden here in Missouri because he believes that will create a better business climate. Even more encouraging is that our governor is starting to understand that the public desires a reduction in our tax burdens and so even he is now indicating he will support lowering your tax burden.

It seems like this will be the year that we will reduce taxes in Missouri and open the door for growth and opportunity for families and businesses. We have seen in states like Oklahoma, Kansas and Tennessee where a lowered tax burden actually causes revenues to go up rather than down. As we look to position Missouri for long-term economic prosperity it is imperative that we allow our citizens and businesses to keep more of their hard-earned dollars so they can reinvest in their communities. After all, you know far better how to spend your money than does the government.

Free downloads of Best of Sports Talk available for one more day

One of the most enjoyable aspects of my 22 years as a newspaper reporter and editor, primarily at the Carthage Press and Lamar Democrat, was the chance to cover sports and meet some incredible people along the way.

For about 14 years of that time, I augmented my game coverage with a series of feature columns, Sports Talk, that focused more on the athletes than the games and on storytelling about those athletes.

Thirty-five of those columns have been collected in book form for the first time and for one more day, that e-book, The Best of Sports Talk, is available as a free Amazon Kindle download.

The book's Amazon page includes this description of some of the features that are included in the book:

-A football coach meets an eight-year-old girl who is permanently in a wheelchair because of a drunk driver 
-A cheerleader talks about her aunt, Nancy Cruzan, and the right-to-die case that went to the U. S. Supreme Court 
-A mother watches her daughter play her final high school volleyball match 
-The high school coach who murdered his wife and then committed suicide 
-A football legend returns to his home town after 25 years to be honored 
-The baseball great who fanned five Hall-of-Famers in a row 
-The high school girl who received her first kiss in front of 1,500 fans 
-A high school basketball player teaches Haitian children how to play the sport 
-A town tries to cope with the suicide of a football player 
-He played in one of the greatest Cotton Bowl games of all time, but this legend is stirred more by a high school rivalry 
-Family and friends help a basketball player whose house burns to the ground 
-On the day she was expected to lead her team to the state volleyball championship, funeral services are held for a star athlete 
-After an ACLU threat bans a pre-game prayer over the public address system, a community gathers in the end zone to pray 
-A football player overcomes a near-fatal accident to receive a college scholarship. 

The Best of Sports Talk relives the joys and sorrows of sports and of the people who participate in them.

Remembering Michelle Edwards

Right now, I'm feeling ok about it. Although, I am FREEZING all the time now. I am cold natured anyway...shave my head and I'm chilled to the bone! I've discovered a few moles (or as my mother always said: beauty marks) on my head that I never knew about. I've been wearing some of my new hats and playing with my scarves...and there is always the wig that I bought to wear too. Keegan took a few days to warm up to the idea of his 'bald' mom...but now we are making bald jokes and moving right along.

At first, Logan was a little scared, and even though we had talked to him about losing my hair, I don't think he fully understood...but like most kids, he bounced right back and told me he would use his magic to help me grow my hair back...I believe him too.

Michelle Edwards wrote those words in 2012 during her second battle with cancer.

With those words, Michelle showed she did not intend to let her enemy take her easily. She fought her disease every step of the way, with every weapon she had- grace, faith,courage, and the writing skills that enabled her to share her battle with her followers around the world.

Michelle Edwards moved to the Webb City area in 2004, starting her business Sweet Something Designs, and rapidly making a name for herself with her knowledge and taste in fashion, furniture, and decorating. Her abilities took her far beyond the Joplin area. Michelle's blog, also called Sweet Something Designs earned her a wide following and her writing was also featured in national magazines, including Better Homes and Gardens.

But it was over these last two years that Michelle Edwards expanded the scope of her blog and opened herself up to her readers in a way she had not done previously.

At first, writing about her cancer concerned her, but it turned out that she drew strength from her readers in the same way they drew strength from her.

For two years, her roller coaster battle was detailed in her blog, the small victories and the many times that she received bad news from her doctors or learned that treatment was not working.

She continued to share her design ideas with her readers through September and had the strength for one last blog entry dated October 18:

Fittingly the entry was titled "Strong and Courageous" and included this passage:

The news is not good. CT scans revealed the tumors are larger...which means the trial drug isn't working. So it's over. Just like that.

I'm upset.

I'm very disappointed and quite devastated. I thought this was going to be IT!! I realize there is no cure for my cancer, but the drug promised to stop the growth so I can live with the cancer and it didn't.

I am still working on emotionally dealing with the let down and physically...well, it's a work in progress too. The part of my lungs that the cancer is pretty big is constricting my airways, so I get winded walking from one end of the house to the other...reading books to Logan aloud has become difficult too. I'm just going to have to take it slow(er) and start coping with what I can do now, not what I can't do any more.

So what are we doing next? I start chemotherapy again, next week, with a new drug. It's just one day a week for 3 hours (that includes, fluids, nausea meds, etc.). We will see what this drug does, it's got a laundry list of side effects that I'm not looking forward to, but gonna do it anyway.

So while God works on my broken heart and body, I appreciate your prayers. So many of you have emailed me and reached out on FB, thank you!

The emotions were raw. She never held anything back in her writing. Those were the last words she wrote.

Michelle's battle ended Thursday. She is survived by her husband Justin, and two sons, Keegan and Logan,

Michelle Edwards also left behind two lasting legacies- both of which can be seen in the words on her blog. She showed her readers how to improve their surroundings through her extensive knowledge of interior design and how to make their lives richer by living them to the fullest.

***
Obituary information can be found at this link.