The Bowling Alley in Seymour is trying to get a liqueur license to serve draft beer. After a heated debate at a Seymour City Council meeting the bowling alley staff is circulating a petition for those in favor of the serving of alcohol. Many people oppose the bowling alley's desire to serve alcohol; according to my sources the Nazarene church in Seymour; which is near the bowling alley; are some of the main opponents and apparently they are circulating their own petition against the serving of alcohol. Why is it in Seymour that so many people are vocal against any sort of alcohol. The Pricecutter Store and several gas stations in town sell beer and some sell alcohol, yet people don't boycott these places of business. This is America, why should a group of people be able to use the government to keep a business from doing as they please on their own property.
This isn't like the ethanol plant; the bowling alley wouldn't be steeling beer from their neighbors like the ethanol plant would be stealing water. The City of Seymour should not be able to tell a business whether or not they can sell a product that is legal. I could understand if the bowling alley would serve beer later in the evening after the "kids" should be home in bed. One of the major problems with Seymour is the parents of the town's kids. They don't seem to watch them like they should. Years ago when someone tried to start a pool hall on the square the only patrons were 12 to 16 year old kids playing pool in a smoke filled room; eventually the pool hall had to go out of business because of all the little kiddies that were hanging out in there and all the problems that caused. Seymour has a curfew for kids under 18 that aren't out with a legal guardian.
If parents don't want their kids in that sort of environment they need to take the responsibility to keep their kids at home or at least know where they are and what they are doing. Just because a bunch of do gooders don't want their kids around places where adults traditionally hang out don't mean these places should make accommodations so the kiddies can hang out there. The YMCA is a better place for teenagers to be hanging out, the bowling alley could serve beer but not serve it on Sunday, or in the afternoon, they could then say no one under 21 is allowed with out a parent after say, 8:00 pm.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Route 60, Seymour, MODot
So someone commented on here saying that the people of Seymour complained and didn't want an overpass; well that isn't true. I emailed MoDot and got a response. From this response you can see that MoDot just doesn't think our area is important enough to spend money on right now. They are even might put up a 5th stoplight in the area!
Here is MoDot's response, and I repeat it was not people in Seymour complaining that kept us from getting a stoplight.
Mr. Davis,
Thanks for your email asking about possible plans for interchanges along Route 60 at Rogersville and Seymour. I hope to provide information that will be useful to you.
We have developed a concept to make Route 60 a freeway with three interchanges and a series of outer roads between Route 65 in Springfield and Route B/VV at Rogersville. We had a public meeting in the Fall of 2007 in Rogersville to show people what approach we think should be taken. I have attached the informational brochure from that meeting. No money has been identified to design and build the project, with an estimated cost of $75 million to $100 million. Besides, other projects, particularly in Springfield, have been judged by transportation planners we work closely with in the Springfield metro area as having greater need. However, no one disputes the Springfield-to-Rogersville corridor needs improvement.
The situation between Rogersville and Seymour is a bit different. Traffic is lighter, although increasing. The need to make Route 60 a freeway, with limited access at interchanges, is much less. The logical sequence would be to build the Springfield-to-Rogersville freeway and continue looking eastward as population growth and traffic increase in that direction. We know the situation gets more serious with each passing year, but we cannot keep up with the growth and development that is occurring.
When existing Route 60 was planned and built in the late 1960s and early 1970s, MoDOT/Springfield bought property for an interchange in Seymour. However, funds we had available to use over the years had to be spent on other projects where the need was greater. The traffic signal and advance-warning flashers at Route C/K, though not the ideal solutiion, has helped improve safety for much less money than an interchange. We have begun studying whether to add a traffic signal at Clinton Road (where the McDonald's restaurant is located). Again, it's not an ideal fix, but it may be the best we can do.
Interchanges along Route 60 to the east in Wright County were built -- at state highway intersections in Mansfield, Macomb, Norwood and Mountain Grove -- in times in the 1970s when that area was part of the MoDOT/Willow Springs district and money was available to devote to the corridor. Yes, it looks incongruent, but ......
Many people ask why federal economic recovery funds (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) can't be used for projects like the ones you have brought up. That's a natural reaction. The reality is that MoDOT has charge of $525 million of the huge $787 billion "stimulus" package, and that doesn't go very far in meeting the $31.3 billion in needs we have identified across the state. We had to follow constraints contained in the economic recovery legislation and follow the normal project planning and selection process we use in cooperation with transportation planners across the state under rules described by the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission. The commission oversees MoDOToperations.
To use the federal economic recovery money, the law required the highway and bridge projects to be virtually ready to build. That means the design had to be completed, most or all of the right-of-way in hand, all environmental and other federal and state construction requirements met and plans ready to put out for bid. That also means the projects had to have gone through MoDOT's planning and selection process to have gotten to that point. The term you probably heard was "shovel ready." Needless to say, nothing is shovel ready as far as freeway and interchange construction along Route 60 east of Springfield.
We are aware of the highway needs in the Rogersville, Fordland, Diggins and Seymour areas, but other areas we are responsible for in this fast-growing region have greater needs and we can't meet all of those. And unless something changes, our funding projections beyond 2011 put us in a position where we will be able to undertake very few major improvements to the system statewide.
I have used a broad brush stroke to try to explain what's happening where Route 60 is concerned. If you wish to discuss it, feel free to call me at 417-895-7600 and I can go over this in greater detail. Also, please voice your concerns to the Southwest Missouri Council of Governments, the transportation planning agency for your area (417-836-6900), or Webster County Clerk Stan Whitehurst, who is the county's representative on that council. Those folks need to know what their constituents want in the way of road improvements.
Sincerely,
Andy Mueller
Assistant District Engineer
MoDOT, Springfield
Here is MoDot's response, and I repeat it was not people in Seymour complaining that kept us from getting a stoplight.
Mr. Davis,
Thanks for your email asking about possible plans for interchanges along Route 60 at Rogersville and Seymour. I hope to provide information that will be useful to you.
We have developed a concept to make Route 60 a freeway with three interchanges and a series of outer roads between Route 65 in Springfield and Route B/VV at Rogersville. We had a public meeting in the Fall of 2007 in Rogersville to show people what approach we think should be taken. I have attached the informational brochure from that meeting. No money has been identified to design and build the project, with an estimated cost of $75 million to $100 million. Besides, other projects, particularly in Springfield, have been judged by transportation planners we work closely with in the Springfield metro area as having greater need. However, no one disputes the Springfield-to-Rogersville corridor needs improvement.
The situation between Rogersville and Seymour is a bit different. Traffic is lighter, although increasing. The need to make Route 60 a freeway, with limited access at interchanges, is much less. The logical sequence would be to build the Springfield-to-Rogersville freeway and continue looking eastward as population growth and traffic increase in that direction. We know the situation gets more serious with each passing year, but we cannot keep up with the growth and development that is occurring.
When existing Route 60 was planned and built in the late 1960s and early 1970s, MoDOT/Springfield bought property for an interchange in Seymour. However, funds we had available to use over the years had to be spent on other projects where the need was greater. The traffic signal and advance-warning flashers at Route C/K, though not the ideal solutiion, has helped improve safety for much less money than an interchange. We have begun studying whether to add a traffic signal at Clinton Road (where the McDonald's restaurant is located). Again, it's not an ideal fix, but it may be the best we can do.
Interchanges along Route 60 to the east in Wright County were built -- at state highway intersections in Mansfield, Macomb, Norwood and Mountain Grove -- in times in the 1970s when that area was part of the MoDOT/Willow Springs district and money was available to devote to the corridor. Yes, it looks incongruent, but ......
Many people ask why federal economic recovery funds (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) can't be used for projects like the ones you have brought up. That's a natural reaction. The reality is that MoDOT has charge of $525 million of the huge $787 billion "stimulus" package, and that doesn't go very far in meeting the $31.3 billion in needs we have identified across the state. We had to follow constraints contained in the economic recovery legislation and follow the normal project planning and selection process we use in cooperation with transportation planners across the state under rules described by the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission. The commission oversees MoDOToperations.
To use the federal economic recovery money, the law required the highway and bridge projects to be virtually ready to build. That means the design had to be completed, most or all of the right-of-way in hand, all environmental and other federal and state construction requirements met and plans ready to put out for bid. That also means the projects had to have gone through MoDOT's planning and selection process to have gotten to that point. The term you probably heard was "shovel ready." Needless to say, nothing is shovel ready as far as freeway and interchange construction along Route 60 east of Springfield.
We are aware of the highway needs in the Rogersville, Fordland, Diggins and Seymour areas, but other areas we are responsible for in this fast-growing region have greater needs and we can't meet all of those. And unless something changes, our funding projections beyond 2011 put us in a position where we will be able to undertake very few major improvements to the system statewide.
I have used a broad brush stroke to try to explain what's happening where Route 60 is concerned. If you wish to discuss it, feel free to call me at 417-895-7600 and I can go over this in greater detail. Also, please voice your concerns to the Southwest Missouri Council of Governments, the transportation planning agency for your area (417-836-6900), or Webster County Clerk Stan Whitehurst, who is the county's representative on that council. Those folks need to know what their constituents want in the way of road improvements.
Sincerely,
Andy Mueller
Assistant District Engineer
MoDOT, Springfield
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Chickens, Mushrooms and Cedar Gap
We got a new chicken house even though it wasn't the one mom wanted to be built. We got 100 baby chicks that will grow up there and then make their transition to the freezer and then to a bbq grill. Yum chicken liver.
The morel mushroom season may be coming to an early end, today the temperature was very high and the next two days it is suppose to be in the 80s and this can spell the end for this year's crop; I was really hoping to get more than I did. I got a total of 12 with about 4 hunts. Most hunts were shorter than I would have liked, it seems like I just haven't had the time to look for them. I need to spend less time sleeping in the mornings. We went to Cedar Gap CA and found only 3 morels in about an hour; I hear of people finding buckets full and I just don't know where to go I guess. It seems like the folks who find that many have been hunting for years and KNOW where to go. I think without help it could take a person years to find the right spots. Not all morels come up in the same area when others are. I've read that the bottoms and south facing slopes come up first; you could be in an area and say that they don't grow there and come back in one or two days and find mushrooms.
I also noticed a fallen down old building at Cedar Gap I had never seen before.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Miss America
My wife told me I had to write this blog.
I was watching FOX News today and saw the story about how some gay celebrity guy was a judge on the Miss America pageant and asked Miss California, (not my favorite state but she was hot) how she felt about gay marriage. She said: “We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite. And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised.”
So this judge supposedly gave her low scores and caused her to come in second. Now they show him on the tv yelling and screaming and calling her an ignorant bitch. Just saying you don't think gays should get married doesn't mean you are ignorant. What the hell has happened to this country? We have Obama going around saying we are going to be friends with the Muslim world who decides that it is ok to stone or hang a girl to death if she is under age and rapped and the same goes for gays in Muslim countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia, and those liberal hollywood idiots who don't live in the real world voted for Obama who wants to be friends with these Muslum countries who do that kind of stuff; that doesn't make since, just like the Iranian president speaking at the UN Racism Conference.
Intolerance goes both ways, just like the litter girl who wore a McCain shirt during the election, she got called all kinds of names and threatened, but when she wore an Obama shirt to school none of the conservative kids threatened her. Go around and say something against being gay and you get death threats. The people preaching the tolerance views are the most intolerant people in the world.
I have no more rights than a gay person, I can't marry a guy either! I repeat, I have NO MORE RIGHTS THAN A GAY PERSON.
And why the hell is a gay person deciding who is the hottest girl in America anyway, that is BS; if you're gay you don't know if a girl is hot or not!
I was watching FOX News today and saw the story about how some gay celebrity guy was a judge on the Miss America pageant and asked Miss California, (not my favorite state but she was hot) how she felt about gay marriage. She said: “We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite. And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised.”
So this judge supposedly gave her low scores and caused her to come in second. Now they show him on the tv yelling and screaming and calling her an ignorant bitch. Just saying you don't think gays should get married doesn't mean you are ignorant. What the hell has happened to this country? We have Obama going around saying we are going to be friends with the Muslim world who decides that it is ok to stone or hang a girl to death if she is under age and rapped and the same goes for gays in Muslim countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia, and those liberal hollywood idiots who don't live in the real world voted for Obama who wants to be friends with these Muslum countries who do that kind of stuff; that doesn't make since, just like the Iranian president speaking at the UN Racism Conference.
Intolerance goes both ways, just like the litter girl who wore a McCain shirt during the election, she got called all kinds of names and threatened, but when she wore an Obama shirt to school none of the conservative kids threatened her. Go around and say something against being gay and you get death threats. The people preaching the tolerance views are the most intolerant people in the world.
I have no more rights than a gay person, I can't marry a guy either! I repeat, I have NO MORE RIGHTS THAN A GAY PERSON.
And why the hell is a gay person deciding who is the hottest girl in America anyway, that is BS; if you're gay you don't know if a girl is hot or not!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Morels
Spring is here and a couple of cold snaps have killed some of the mushrooms, but later ones are popping up; last nights rain will hopefully cause more of them to grow. Most people find morels under ash trees and elms. Of course you should consult guides or other reliable sources to properly identify any mushrooms you plan on eating.
After going into the woods and finding some morels, which I usually have a hard time finding more than just a couple, you can take them in the house, slice them longways in two and soak them in salt water over night in the refrigerator. I like to roll them in flower, salt them and fry them in oil in the skillet. You can also beat some eggs and a drop of milk and dip the mushrooms in this batter and fry them also; these are some of the best tasting things in the world; nothing else has the wonderful flavor and texture of a fried morel mushroom.
For more information on mushrooms go to www.mdc.mo.gov or http://missourimorels.blogspot.com/
Friday, April 3, 2009
Seymour R2 School Board Race
Well there is going to be an election come April 7th; I think that the only thing I will be voting on is 2 positions for the Seymour R2 School board and something about the Southern Webster County Fire Protection District. For school board I will be endorsing Kim Wilkins and Kevin Rudolph. I would like to say that Travis Sturdefant and David Coutchie are great candidates, their answers of the questions in this week's Webster County Citizen were wonderful; I just feel that in this time of uncertainty that I will be voting for two experienced incumbents. I have no idea who the fifth person is running for school board is so I won't comment on that candidate.
I know that Travis Sturdefant can throw a dodge ball really hard, I had gym class with him; he's a great guy, if he does win a seat on the school board he will be a good fit.
I had David's mom as my gifted education teacher since I was in 4th grade, I never had a class with David and don't know him personally.
I don't know if anyone from Seymour actually reads this blog, and I wish if you are from Seymour that you would contact me and let me know that someone is actually reading this stuff. I just hope you all get out and actually vote this April 7.
I know that Travis Sturdefant can throw a dodge ball really hard, I had gym class with him; he's a great guy, if he does win a seat on the school board he will be a good fit.
I had David's mom as my gifted education teacher since I was in 4th grade, I never had a class with David and don't know him personally.
I don't know if anyone from Seymour actually reads this blog, and I wish if you are from Seymour that you would contact me and let me know that someone is actually reading this stuff. I just hope you all get out and actually vote this April 7.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Time for White Bass
This morning on my Natural Events Calendar from the Missouri Department of Conservation it says "White Bass begin spawning, Flying squirrels bear young through early April." On Thursday my brother, wife and I went down to Bull Shoals Lake and it was the first time I ever caught a fish on the first cast. A green swimmin' minnow (minner for us hillbillies) caught fish after fish like it was magic or something. It was only my wife's third time fishing and was the first time she ever caught a fish. She pulled in a few good white bass, small males, she caught a lineside and brown bass but they were too small so we threw them back. I ended up catching about 15 fish and throwing 5 back leaving me with ten bass to take home, my brother took home his limit of 15 white bass.
So the next day Friday we got in the truck and headed out earlier and showed up around 10:30 am, I fished and fished and only caught two linesides that were two small, one was about 9 inches, about 12:30 my dad's cousin showed up, I ran up and started yelling "hey this is our fishing spot, we claimed it, get the hell out of here." He started yelling, "what the hell are you doing in my spot!" We were joking around of course but I don't know if the guys in the boat out in the lake knew that or not, they probably thought they were going to see a fight; I guess some people do get a little crazy about white bass fishing and there have been more than one fight on the banks of a lake when the fish are running, I've never seen one but it sounds like it could be a good show.
We fished for a while, everyone caught more fish than me and my wife, we only caught one a piece, my brother caught two big females. One of my dad's cousin's kids caught a big crappie, he threatened to whack me with his fishing pole when I pretended I was going to steal it. While fishing near a bluff I felt a wet thing hit me in the head, I knew it wasn't raining and no one was close enough to fling water on me, I felt on my cap and there was crap on it, I looked up and saw a turkey vulture flying over head. At the end of the day my brother asked how I did, "I caught one fish and got shit on." I said. I guess I was too busy fishing to take any pictures.
So the next day Friday we got in the truck and headed out earlier and showed up around 10:30 am, I fished and fished and only caught two linesides that were two small, one was about 9 inches, about 12:30 my dad's cousin showed up, I ran up and started yelling "hey this is our fishing spot, we claimed it, get the hell out of here." He started yelling, "what the hell are you doing in my spot!" We were joking around of course but I don't know if the guys in the boat out in the lake knew that or not, they probably thought they were going to see a fight; I guess some people do get a little crazy about white bass fishing and there have been more than one fight on the banks of a lake when the fish are running, I've never seen one but it sounds like it could be a good show.
We fished for a while, everyone caught more fish than me and my wife, we only caught one a piece, my brother caught two big females. One of my dad's cousin's kids caught a big crappie, he threatened to whack me with his fishing pole when I pretended I was going to steal it. While fishing near a bluff I felt a wet thing hit me in the head, I knew it wasn't raining and no one was close enough to fling water on me, I felt on my cap and there was crap on it, I looked up and saw a turkey vulture flying over head. At the end of the day my brother asked how I did, "I caught one fish and got shit on." I said. I guess I was too busy fishing to take any pictures.
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