Romney Coming To The Show-Me State

Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney will be coming to Missouri on Tuesday to campaign ahead of Saturday's caucuses. He plans to make stops in St. Louis and Liberty. The Romney campaign has vowed to spend time and resources in Missouri in hopes of stopping Rick Santorum's Midwest momentum. Santorum won February's primary (which was merely a "beauty contest" due to technicalities in the state law), but the former Massachusetts governor believes he has a chance to win the caucus and the majority of delegates associated with it.

Romney's campaign visit to the Show-Me-State comes on the heels of Santorum and Paul holding rallies in the state yesterday.

Two Republican Candidates Visit Missouri

Republican Presidential candidates Ron Paul and Rick Santorum are campaigning in the Show-Me State today ahead of next Saturday's Republican caucus.

Rick Santorum will be in Springfield at Digital Monitoring Products at 2:30 p.m. before heading to Cape Girardeau where he will speak at a Lincoln Days celebration, followed by a rally at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport around 8 p.m. Both the Springfield event and the rally at the airport are open to the public.

Ron Paul will also be in Springfield. He will hold a rally at Hillcrest High School at 7:30 p.m.

Organizers for both candidates expect large crowds and ask those attending to arrive early to guarantee a spot in the venues. Neither Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney have scheduled visits to the Show-Me-State ahead of next week's caucus.

The Jefferson City Scoop: Right To Work A Good Idea

Introducing The Jefferson City Scoop, a series of blog posts written by someone who is busily at work in our state's capital. The blogger wishes to remain anonymous, but we are appreciative of their contributions. Their first article appears below:

As of 2011, our great state of Missouri is ranked 48th out of 50 states in overall economic growth when compared to the rest of the nation. 48th out of 50 is a poor standing in just about anything but it is especially poor when analyzing economic growth. The question that we must ask our State government is “how can Missouri overcome its’ shortfall in economic growth?”

There have been a few solutions proposed in our Missouri Government to help increase economic growth but out of all of the solutions, the most feasible idea is to make Missouri a Right-to-Work state. A Right-to-Work state is a state that prohibits labor unions from forcing a contractual on employers of that particular state. Right now in Missouri, unions force employees into membership even if they do not want to join a union. Making Missouri a Right-to-Work state would allow employees to work wherever they wanted and not be forced to sign a union contract.

How does making Missouri a Right-to-Work State cause economic growth? The intriguing numbers say it all. There are some remarkable facts about what has happened to manufacturing in the right-to-work states since World War II. In non-Right-to-Work states, manufacturing employment has stayed the same since 1947 while manufacturing employment has increased 150 percent in the Right-to-Work states. Of the 10 states with the highest manufacturing employment growth rates, 8 are Right-to-Work states. Of the 10 states with the lowest growth rates, none are right-to-work states. There are currently twenty-three Right-to-Work states and Missouri needs to be that 24th Right-to-Work State.

Unions can be very beneficial for Missouri workers but if forced union agreements are causing our state to be ranked 48th out of 50 in economic growth, the government has to step in and make a change for the citizens of Missouri. Sadly, many of our State legislators are not willing to make this change due to the fact that some of their largest campaign donors are union organizations. The Speaker of the House is a prime example of this.

As voters of the State of Missouri, it is our obligation to vote for what we believe is best for the people of this great state. I encourage everyone to invest their time, and research the policies that are affecting our state. We all have the ability to make a difference, and Right-to-Work is a great fundamental step to making Missouri one of the best states in our nation.

Missouri Primary Turnout Pitifully Low

Sure the race for the presidential primary was only a "beauty contest" and there were no binding delegates distributed as a result of the final tally yesterday. Sure some people stayed home protesting the decision by the state to "waste" millions of dollars on an election that "didn't matter." All in all, however, it was a dreadful day for democracy in the Show Me State as voter turnout was a mere 7.98%. It is even more paltry when you learn that voter turnout was expected to be around 23%. Ouch!

Southwest Missouri had the highest average rate of voter turnout in the state. Fueled by the 911 tax debate, Barry county had the highest rate in the state at 24.13%, followed by Cole county 17.85%, and Christian county at 14.83%. The lowest rate of voter turnout came in New Madrid county where only 3.27% of the registered voters in that area bothered to show up to the polls.

Regardless of who won or lost on the basis of what happened yesterday, the national media isn't focusing on the turnout rate. They are focusing on who won. And when only eight percent of the registered voters in your state can drive the conversation, there was a bigger loser in the state yesterday than Romney -- it was democracy.

Jerry Jacob returns to KYTV

KY3 Facebook photo

Jerry Jacob, who left the anchor desk at KYTV five years ago to serve in the U.S. Army, is returning to report for the station later this month.

Around The Show-Me State: February 5

Rock, Chalk, Not A Good Day To Be A Jayhawk

 

 

Wrongful Death Lawsuit To Be Filed Against Police Department

 

 

Gruesome Discovery in Hannibal

Despite Cold, Cape Girardeau Residents Take The Plunge For A Good Cause

Joplin Habitat Challenge Announced

Trial Date Set For Ferret Attack Case

Bush daughter to visit Marshfield for Cherry Blossom Festival in April

Photo by Timothy Horrigan

Jenna (Bush) Hager, daughter of President George W. and Laura Bush, confirmed yesterday that she will attend the 7th-annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Marshfield on April 27.

Hager is just one member of the many presidential families that will be present at this three-day festival in Webster County. She will speak at one of the event's many public forums.

"This is the first year that we have invited Jenna to attend," said festival chairperson Nicholas W. Inman. "However, members of her family have been represented at past festivals. Her grandparents sent a taped video message last year; it can be viewed on the festival website. Also, her grandfather's first cousin, Ambassador George Herbert Walker spoke last year."

Inman said that over 26 presidential families will be represented at Cherry Blossom Festival this year, along with appearances by bluegrass extraordinaire Rhonda Vincent, Gilligan's Island's Dawn Wells and Maggie Peterson Mancuso, who played Charlene Darling on The Andy Griffith Show.

"There will be vendors around the square, several dinners, presentations of the Ella Dickey Literacy Award, Missouri Walk of Fame stars and the Edwin P. Hubble Medal of Initiative, Marshfield's highest honor," Inman said. "The festival will also feature several free historic forums, panels, book signings, autograph sessions and talks."

Inman's vision for the event when he organized the first Cherry Blossom Festival seven years ago is still evident today.

"It is a weekend that promotes the preservation of Missouri and American history," Inman said. "There are many events for those who love typical festival events. ... However, our festival is like no other. It serves as a reunion spot for presidential descendants each year. It is the largest gathering of such relatives in the nation."

For a complete schedule of the 2012 Cherry Blossom Festival, visit www.cherryblossomfest.com.