Talent begins advertising in Springfield market

I haven't seen anything on Joplin television (though it may have been there), but Associated Press reports Jim Talent has begun advertising on Springfield TV stations. The AP article suggests two reasons for the early ad blitz:
1. Talent has enough money to spend some now and still have plenty for closer to the general election.
2. The senator has taken a hit this week with his vote against broadened stem cell research and the subsequent veto by President Bush. Polls indicate two-thirds of Missourians support stem cell research.

Leggett reports record sales and earnings

Carthage-based Fortune 500 company Leggett & Platt reported record sales and earnings today. This link will take you to the press release issued today and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Former KOAM morning anchor subject of Star column

Toby Cook, who along with Andy Carson, was the host of the first local morning news show in this area back in the early 1990s, is the subject of a column by Jeff Flanagan in the Kansas City Star.
Flanagan explores why Cook, who had been a morning anchor at WDAF-TV, left television news to take a position with the Kansas City Royals.

SW Missouri Congressmen vote for Pledge Protection Act

The GOP plan to get the Democrats on the "wrong" side of a number of hot-button social issues continued today when the House passed the Pledge Protection Act by a 260 to 167 margin.
The act would prevent judges from removing the words "Under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance, something which one federal court did recently, but the U. S. Supreme Court overturned the decision on a technicality saying that Michael Newdow, the California atheist who sued to have the phrase removed, had no standing to sue.
Both Southwest Missouri Congressmen, Roy Blunt, R-Strafford, and Ike Skelton, D-Lexington, voted for the act.
In a fit of hyperbole, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said, "We are making an all-out assault on the Constitution of the United States which, thank God, will fail,"
What world is Ms. Pelosi living in? I still am resentful that our elected officials are debating and voting on issues that are not pressing while we are paying nearly $3 a gallon for gasoline, struggling with the effects of illegal immigration, watching as jobs are shipped overseas, spending money at the fastest rate in history, and above all, bogged down in an unnecessary war in Iraq, but it seems to be an effective plan for Republicans.
Though many of them took a step backward with their vote against the broadening of stem cell research today, they regained ground with the Pledge Protection Act. The First Amendment does not guarantee that Michael Newdow or anyone else will not run into God in their public lives. The "under God" has been more of a tradition than a religious invocation for the past 52 years, something that each person who says the pledge interprets in his or her way.
And did you notice that it was God that Ms. Pelosi thanked when she talked about the certain failure of the "assault on the Constitution of the United States?"

Harpool announces support for Missouri stem cell initiative

30th District State Senator candidate Doug Harpool, D-Springfield, announced his support for Missouri's Stem Cell Initiative program today and challenged his opponent, incumbent Norma Champion, R-Springfield, to make her views known.
In his news release, Harpool said:

"Stem cells are the building blocks of our bodies and medical researchers believe that they could provide cures for debilitating and life-threatening diseases that afflict hundreds of thousands of Missouri children and adults. Missouri is blessed to have the intelligence, the resources and the will to tackle the medical problems humans face. Stem Cell research is an opportunity to increase the value of life for all citizens. Each and every day we waste in discussion is another day we have lost progress in the advancements the research will yield."

In the news release, Harpool's campaign said his opposition "even when asked by her constituents, has avoided taking a position on this issue. Norma Champion has a reputation for waiting to take a position until after her special interest groups and political leaders and advisors in Jefferson City have instructed her to do so."

Harpool concluded the release by saying:

"The senator who voted to eliminate Medicaid funding in our state must come forward today and tell all of those in wheelchairs, those with damaged hearts, babies who are diabetic, those who suffer from sickle cell anemia, spinal cord injuries, and other debilitating diseases – she must tell them if she will support this initiative to preserve and improve the value of life. Too many politicians in Jefferson City are fighting to criminalize the research that can help us all in exchange for the financial support of a radical few and that’s just not right."

Area congressmen split on stem cell override vote

The House of Representatives today failed to override President Bush's veto of a bill that would have expanded stem cell research in the United States. The vote was 235 to 193 in favor with five absent. A two-thirds majority was needed to override the veto.
The congressmen who represent this area split with Fourth District Congressman Ike Skelton voting to override the president and Seventh District Congressman Roy Blunt voting to sustain the veto.
During a speech earlier today in the East Room at the White House, President Bush explained the veto, which was his first in six years of office:

Like all Americans, I believe our nation must vigorously pursue the tremendous possibility that science offers to cure disease and improve the lives of millions. We have opportunities to discover cures and treatments that were unthinkable generations ago. Some scientists believe that one source of these cures might be embryonic stem cell research. Embryonic stem cells have the ability to grow into specialized adult tissues, and this may give them the potential to replace damaged or defective cells or body parts and treat a variety of diseases. Yet we must also remember that embryonic stem cells come from human embryos that are destroyed for their cells. Each of these human embryos is a unique human life with inherent dignity and matchless value.

The president's veto and the votes cast against the legislation by Sen. Jim Talent could play a big role in this year's election, as noted in a Washington Post article:

Democrats said voters will penalize GOP candidates for the demise of a popular measure, and predicted the issue could trigger the defeat of Bush allies such as Sen. James M. Talent, who faces a tough reelection battle in Missouri.

Undoubtedly, State Auditor Claire McCaskill will use this vote, as well as what appeared to be shifting statements by Talent on stem cell research, as campaign issues.

Carson hosts morning show in Portland

After my post about Toby Cook's new job with the Kansas City Royals, a reader asked where Toby's old co-host on the first KOAM Morning Show back in the early 1990s, Andy Carson, was.
Andy is host of Good Day Oregon on Fox 12, KPTV, where he has been since 1996. Toby and Andy left KOAM for jobs at Lynchburg, Va., after bringing the most unusual (and never duplicated) style to the morning show in the early 1990s.
Judging from the information on the magazine cover that accompanies this post, Andy, who interned on David Letterman's old NBC late night show, has continued the same sober, serious approach to his profession that endeared him to four-state viewers.

Former KOAM morning personality joins Royals

Toby Cook is finally leaving the world of morning television.
Cook, who teamed with Andy Carson at KOAM for the first morning show in the Joplin/Pittsburg area, is leaving WDAF-TV, Kansas City, where he has been since 1998, to join the Kansas City Royals as vice president of public relations. Cook has been the morning show anchor at WDAF. His new job will start Aug. 7, according to a Royals' news release.

Globe at least a day late on sex offender story

Apparently, it takes two days for a news release from Attorney General Jay Nixon to reach the Joplin Globe editors.
The one to which I am referring was sent out Tuesday afternoon and concerned Newton County Circuit Court Judge Tim Perigo's decision to keep convicted sex offender Joseph Johnson away from society.
The timing, of course, made it too late to put in Tuesday's edition, but the Globe has a Wednesday paper and an on-line presence, as well. According to the "tomorrow's headlines" the Globe sends out, the story will be in the Thursday edition.
It has already run in the Neosho Daily News, The Turner Report, and who knows where else. Instead of advertising it as "Tomorrow's news now," perhaps Globe editors should consider a more accurate title, such as "Last Week's News Warmed Over."

Times: All schools are failing

The New York Times has a different take on last week's release of an educational study that indicates there is little difference in performance between public schools and private schools: All schools are failing.
Though obviously there are problems in schools, maybe the drop in educational success by our students can be at least partially attributed to some other factors:
-Cable, satellite TV, computer games, and Internet. While these things all have educational value, they are generally not used that way.
-The increasing number of children who come from families where drug abuse or physical or sexual abuse takes place.
-The ever-increasing number of broken families
-Children who are shuttled from one school to another sometimes three or four times in a single year, losing ground at each stop.
-Lack of parental involvement in their children's education. Every teacher has horror stories of dealing with parents who have no interest whatsoever in their children's school performance. Check the low turnout at parent-teacher conferences, especially at the middle school and high school levels.
Public schools have problems, no doubt about it, but any proposed solutions that ignore societal problems are doomed to fail.