FAMED MEDIA GURU: "Autopsies" Columbia Tribune

1)  CITY HALL:  Billing mess, legal violations widen

2)  ST. ROMAINE SHOCKER:  Raising rates better than cutting costs

3)  FAMED MEDIA GURU:  "Autopsies" Columbia Tribune 

4)  YULETIDE BUMMER:  Ashland City Hall to hold Christmas party -- out of town!

5)  MU RESEARCHERS:  Put AIDS on a "leash" 

6)  MISSOURI MATH:  Middle school scores improve  

7)  AMAZING ARCHIVE:  Missourian newspapers show Columbia's past 

8)  ONLINE PET GROUP:  Helps MidMo animals

9)  HOUSING NEWS:  With Bank of Missouri's Tom Stone

CITY HALL:  Billing mess, legal violations widen

Part 4 of a series

COLUMBIA, 11/5/09 (Beat Bytes) -- A decades-long practice of underbilling large sewer users may be part of wider failures to follow city law at City Hall.   

Columbia's Protective Inspection Department -- like the sewer utility, a branch of Public Works -- failed to collect sewer connection fees from a Boone Hospital-owned office building, in violation of section 27-52 of Columbia City ordinances.  The fees are assessed to connect newly-constructed buildings to the city sewer. 

"I asked [protective inspection director] John Sudduth how much in sewer connection charges were collected for the 28-unit medical office building across from Boone Hospital at 1605 E. Broadway,"  34-year City of Columbia employee and sewer maintenance superintendent Bill Weitkemper emailed his supervisor, sewer utility manager Terry Hennkens.  "Sudduth's records show that there were never any sewer connection charges collected." 

Weitkemper discovered in March 2006 that city utility accountants weren't billing thousands of sewer utility users, sparking a process that has yet to be resolved.  His alert about the uncollected sewer connection fees set off a similar chain of confusion. 

"Sewer connection fees have been in effect at least as far back as City Ordinance 15324-1, dated 9/2/97.  Connection fees are a significant source of revenue for the sewer utility," Hennkens informed public works operation manager Mary Ellen Lea in a followup email.  "I believe the building Bill Weitkemper is referencing is Plaza 2....Plaza 4 was recently completed this year (2007).  Wonder if a collection fee was collected for it?"

"Good grief," Lea replied.  "Another one for the list.  Only this one is a Protective Inspection issue, not Utility Accounts Billing." 

"The sewer connection fee collection procedure may need to be reviewed," Hennkens added.   

LACK OF INTEREST

In emails obtained by the Columbia Heart Beat under the Freedom of Information Act, Hennkens -- also a decades-long city employee -- supports fixing the problems Weitkemper identified.  And like Weitkemper, Hennkens expresses frustration with his superiors.

"This situation has been allowed to develop due to the lack of interest in the proper management of sewer utility billing methods since at least 1987," Hennkens told Mary Ellen Lea in a Dec. 20, 2007 email.  "It is something that needs to be addressed."  

Hennkens also seemed surprised about the terms of a University of Missouri/City of Columbia agreement to increase MU's long-underbilled sewer rates, orchestrated without city council approval by public works director John Glascock.

"Discussions have been held with the University about paying for their approximately 8,100 equivalent residential units," Hennkens emailed Weitkemper on July 17, 2008.  "Ironically, they agreed to begin paying more, but Glascock gave them ten years to ramp up to get where they should be."   

Weitkemper characterized the MU/City Hall agreement as illegal, unfair favoritism. 

"The University of Missouri should not be given ten years to 'ramp up' to what the City and the University both agree the University should be paying," he wrote in a formal report to City Manager Bill Watkins on Sept. 20, 2008.  "This is not supported by ordinance and the multi-family residential property owners were not given this option." 

WRONG JOB

Expressing concern that his department had been dragged into a problem best resolved elsewhere, Hennkens told Lea he wanted to "get out of the billing process.  It is not an operations and maintenance function.  It is not an engineering function, either.  I prefer to be in the position of pointing out billing questions, not trying to resolve them."

Weitkemper's involvement, Hennkens explained, was problematic too.  "I don't want Bill involved in billing concerns by making inquiries which may result in criticism of him for pointing out what he perceives to be shortcomings of others.  He should not be involved in billing matters at all."   

Blaming a failure to update procedures, Hennkens again referred to a legal and political minefield that recurs repeatedly in the many exchanges about the sewer flap:  City Hall department heads interpreting the law.

"Prior to 1987, when we had a separate Division Head (Sanitary Engineer) for the Sewer Utility, the rates and ordinance interpretations fell upon that person," Hennkens emailed Lea, dropping the problem at her doorstep.  "Since that is no longer the case, you are it." 

"My intention is to get our list of billing concerns to the City Manager, then get it moved to Finance," Lea responded.  "I plan to tell Bill [Watkins] that these things cannot be fixed through Operations, they are billing problems.  We can help with interpretation of ordinances, but we should not the ones trying to fix the problems."

RELATED:
http://columbiaheartbeat.blogspot.com/2009/10/sewer-stink-scandal-swamps-city-hall.html

http://columbiaheartbeat.blogspot.com/2009/10/shocking-mu-contract-settles-city-hall.html

http://columbiaheartbeat.blogspot.com/2009/10/mu-analyst-to-run-for-4th-ward-council.html

ST. ROMAINE SHOCKER:  Raising rates better than cutting costs

COLUMBIA, 11/5/09 (Beat Bytes) -- In a surprise peak at guiding philosophies behind City Hall decisions, assistant city manager Tony St. Romaine made an unusual admission to sewer maintenance supervisor Bill Weitkemper, who had inquired about the terms of an employee bonus program.

Getting more money from city residents, St. Romaine said, is better than lowering costs at City Hall. 

"Would making a suggestion that resulted in the City collecting significant additional utility revenue qualify an employee for an additional payment or award?" Weitkemper asked St. Romaine in a November 2007 email.

"Absolutely," St. Romaine (left) responded, citing Chapter 19 of the City's personnel rules, which include bonuses for exceptional performance; working beyond the normal schedule; assuming additional duties; and "providing suggestions which result in significant cost savings," a notation St. Romaine underlined -- then undermined!

"I think that ideas that result in increased revenue are just as critical, if not more so, than reducing costs," St. Romaine

concluded. 

FAMED MEDIA GURU:  "Autopsies" Columbia Tribune

COLUMBIA, 11/5/09 (Beat Bytes) -- In a colorful indictment of business as usual at the nation's newspapers, famed media guru and New York University professor Clay Shirky (below) performed an autopsy of sorts at Harvard University's Shorenstein Center -- on a copy of the Columbia Daily Tribune. 

His conclusion:  "Most of the substantive part of that day’s Trib wasn’t locally created, and most of it wasn’t news." 

Calling the Trib "my old hometown paper," Shirky -- a Columbia native -- "took two copies of the August 27, 2009 edition, slit them down the spine" and separated the content into two piles: "Created" by Tribune staff;  and "Acquired," from the Associated Press (AP) or other outside organizations. 

Like a pathologist weighing heart, lungs, liver, and other organs, Shirky weighed the paper piles in grams.  "The content created by Tribune staff made up less than a third of the total; over two-thirds was acquired from other sources," Shirky wrote.  "The paper was about one-third news and about two-thirds 'Other,'" while "news reported by the paper’s staff was less than a sixth of the total content of the paper." 

Even more surprising to Shirky:  "The number of local reporters who had a byline for hard news in that day’s paper: Six," he wrote.  "Janese Heavin, T.J. Greaney, Brennan David, Terry Ganey, Jonathan Braden, and Jodie Jackson Jr." 

At first blaming "August vacations or a slow news day" for so few local news stories, Shirky settled on "the most parsimonious explanation:  Only six reporters filed news stories that day because the Tribune only has six news reporters, out of a staff list of 59."  

Calling these local reporters "expensive lures put on the outside of a product that included none of their work," Shirky expressed surprise at the long list of staff on the Trib's masthead -- few reporters but plenty of editors, and "lots and lots of columnists, writing columns like Granny’s Notes." 

"There's nothing wrong with reading your horoscope or being reminded by Granny that May really is one of the nicest months of the year," Shirky wrote.  "But it’s not news, it’s not hard to do, and it’s not hard to replace." 

What is hard to replace are good reporters, Shirky argued.   But reporters -- paid for their work (unlike many columnists) -- come and go in this city like the seasons:  Kat Hughes, Matt LeBlanc, Sara Semelka, Jason Rosenbaum, Megan Means, Joe Meyer, and several more at the Trib in the last three years alone.   

"What matters in the Tribune, and what’s at risk," Shirky wrote,  "is Terry Ganey’s work on a state cover up of elevated levels of E. Coli in Ozark lakes; Jonathan Braden on anti-gay protesters from Kansas picketing in Columbia; Jodie Jackson’s reporting of on a child molestation case against a local politician."

The MinnPost (http://www.minnpost.com) -- a Minneapolis-based version of the Columbia Heart Beat -- covered Shirky's Columbia Tribune dissection, which they termed a "news biopsy."   

"If you're not hip to media savant Clay Shirky, he's a media futurist and NYU adjunct professor that all the cool kids swoon over," wrote MinnPost editor David Brauer.   "Shirky is unsparing about newspapers, viewing them as inefficient creators of original news content touted as a bulwark of democracy."

About newspapers here Shirky concluded, "There are a dozen or so reporters and editors in Columbia, Missouri, whose daily and public work is critical to the orderly functioning of that town, and those people are trapped inside a burning business model."

READ ALL ABOUT IT!

http://www.shirky.com/weblog/2009/10/rescuing-the-reporters/

http://www.minnpost.com/braublog/2009/10/07/12267/weighing_the_star_tribunes_local_news_--_literally

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_Shirky

 

YULETIDE BUMMER:  Ashland City Hall to hold Christmas party -- out of town!

ASHLAND, 11/5/09 (Beat Bytes) -- A decision by City of Ashland officials to hold City Hall's annual Christmas party out of town has residents of our neighbor 15 miles to the south feeling Scrooged!

"This is a good example of why so many Ashland businesses are struggling to survive," writes a poster on the message board of that town's newspaper of record, the Boone County Journal.  "A lack of support from the community -- and in this particular instance, City Hall itself!  Whose decision was it?  Mr. Heard's?  I know for a fact that at least two local businesses were not even given the opportunity to 'bid' on this year's dinner."

"Mr. Heard" refers to city administrator Chris Heard, Ashland's equivalent of Bill Watkins.   Similar responses followed. 

"Poor decision, I think, by not supporting a local business," writes "Tony Johnson."

"Are you kidding?  With all the restaurants, banquet/meeting facilities and catering options IN town, the city has chosen to have it's holiday party OUT of town?" writes "Taxpayer."   "I also ask, who's decision was this, our illustrious city administrator?  It is ridiculous, and more than a little sad, that city hall is choosing to not support local business." 

READ ALL ABOUT IT!

http://www.bocojo.com/guestbook/

 

MU RESEARCHERS:  Put AIDS on a "leash"

COLUMBIA, 11/5/09 (Beat Bytes) -- An naturally-occurring antiviral protein aptly called "tetherin" literally puts AIDS-causing HIV on a leash to prevent its escape from infected cells, claims a national research team that includes Devon Gregory and Marc Johnson from the University of Missouri School of Medicine in Columbia. 

Reported in the October 30th issue of the journal Cell, the discovery helped the researchers design an artificial version of tetherin that also keeps the AIDS virus in check.

"Tetherin is essentially a rod with anchors at either end that are critical for its function," said team member Paul Bieniasz of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.  "One anchor gets into the virus and the other in the cell membrane to form a tether.

The team designed "a completely different protein with the same configuration -- a rod with anchors at either end -- and it worked very well," Bieniasz explained.

Tetherin may exist in different forms, some more effective than others, and the AIDS virus produces proteins that can counteract it, which helps explain why HIV progresses differently in different people.   One goal is to enhance the power of the artificial version through closer examinations of naturally-occurring tetherin's gene sequence. 

RELATED:

http://www.cell.com/abstract/S0092-8674%2809%2901113-1

http://mmi.missouri.edu/johnson/mj.php

AMAZING ARCHIVE:  Missourian newspapers show Columbia's past

COLUMBIA, 11/5/09 (Beat Bytes) -- Want to know what really happened, to the day, in Columbia history?  Check out the amazing online collection of Missourian newspapers dating back eighty years, to the Great Depression.

Maintained at the Missouri Digital Heritage Archive, the collection offers a search feature I've used several times to uncover what really happened when the city last activated a Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority and used eminent domain,

mostly against the black community. 

The Missouri Digital Heritage Archive has 18 separate collections, all available for viewing online.

The Missourian newspaper collection

http://cdm.sos.mo.gov/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=%2Fcolmo1 

Search the Missourian collection

http://cdm.sos.mo.gov/cdm4/search.php

The Missouri Digital Heritage Archive

http://www.sos.mo.gov/mdh/collections.asp

MISSOURI MATH:  Middle school scores improve 

COLUMBIA, 11/5/09 (Beat Bytes) --  Missouri was among 15 states that showed notable improvement in eighth-grade math performance, says a report released last month.  

The National Assessment of Educational Progress -- aka the "Nation’s Report Card" -- shows that Missouri gained on Kansas, where scores stayed flat.  The math test samples students nationwide every two years in the fourth and eighth grades.  Missouri experienced smaller gains at the fourth grade level, again beating Kansas, although both states show scores well above the national average. 

Missouri did not make any significant progress on narrowing the so-called "achievement gap" between white and black students.   Scores for other academic areas haven't been released yet. 

RELATED: 

http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/states/profile.asp
 

ONLINE PET GROUP:  Helps MidMo animals

COLUMBIA, 11/5/09 (Beat Bytes) --  An online group dedicated to helping place adoptable animals is now one of mid-Missouri's largest animal welfare confabs, at 324 members.

Started in response to a pet ban on the giant Columbia Freecycle group, Pet Help for Central Mo offers to "help pet owners find a new home for their pets, find a new pet, or ask for help looking for a lost pet.  Or if you have a dog dish, leash, kennel or even extra pet food you no longer need, you are welcome to post that here also." 

The group does not accept posts "for breeding purposes." 

Check them out at: 

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/PetHELPforCentralMO/

HOUSING NEWS:  From Bank of Missouri's Tom Stone

Highlights:

GDP rose by 3.5% for the first gain in a year and the strongest reading in two years.

$8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit set to expire at the end of this month.

Possible addition of $6,500 tax credit for other primary home purchasers, meaning the tax credit would no longer be limited only to first-time homebuyers.

Possibility that qualifying income limits could increase from $75,000 to $125,000 for singles, and from $150,000 to $250,000 for joint tax filers.

READ ALL ABOUT IT! 

http://www.mmgweekly.com/w/index.html?SID=dbec0010cebb295ffb1d96b0af9d77f8

Tom Stone
The Bank of Missouri
Asst. Vice President
3610 Buttonwood Dr, Suite 100
Columbia, MO  65201
573-874-4700

Mike Martin
Blogitor in Chief
The Columbia Heart Beat
http://columbiaheartbeat.blogspot.com

CIRCULATION:  5,216

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Shocking MU contract settles City Hall debt-- 10/30/09

1)  SHOCKING MU CONTRACT:  Settles City Hall debt

2)  NEW NON-PROFIT:  Seeks city money to hire director

3)  CITY COMMISSION:  Questions water quality

4)  "TIGER" JOHN CLEEK:  National advocate for scholarships

5)  STAN KROENKE:  At City Hall hog trough Monday night

6)  FINAL NUMBERS IN:  For Roots and Blues Fest

7)  HEAR YE!  HEAR YE!  Local Announcements

8)  HOUSING NEWS:  From Bank of Missouri's Tom Stone

 

 

SHOCKING MU CONTRACT:  Settles City Hall debt

Part 3 of an investigative series

 

COLUMBIA, 10/30/09 (Beat Bytes) -- On September 24, 2009, with neither the advise nor consent of the Columbia City Council, public works director John Glascock entered into a formal agreement with University of Missouri facilities director Gary Ward, following a meeting between city and campus officials on July 14, 2008 -- one month before Glascock would submit a $1.1 million sewer rate hike for approval to the city council. 

 

Years of underbilling for sewer service at MU was costing the city nearly $1.2 million annually by estimates of sewer maintenance superintendent Bill Weitkemper, a career city employee who uncovered city-wide underbilling in March 2006.  The MU contract gradually ramps up payments, starting at $60,000/year ($5,000/month) and increasing by that same amount for 10 years, finally reaching $600,000/year.   The contract is unclear about how the past underbilling is collected, if ever, and never approaches $1.2 million yearly. 

 

A letter confirming the deal reveals the true nature of the astonishing oversight, raising the University's sewer rate over 1,000 times!   "Dear John [Glascock]," writes Ward.  "The University of Missouri...agreed to increase the sanitary sewer basic monthly service charge from $4.35 to $5,000.00 per month."

 

That's right:  From $4.35 to $5,000 per month! 

 

The flabbergasting MU/Glascock contract also departed substantially from protocol in which the City Council reviews and approves virtually every city-related deal or project, as one look at any given council agenda attests:  http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/cfforms/agenda/agendadetail.cfm?&UID=264

 

At this Monday's meeting, for instance, council members will be considering just such an agreement with MU, this one related to solid waste: 

http://gocolumbiamo.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=2&event_id=2&meta_id=9827

 

Why Glascock and city manager Bill Watkins chose to withhold the MU sewer agreement from public scrutiny speaks volumes about how it came to be in the first place.  It also raises questions about why Glascock and Watkins have prodded the council to raise sewer rates while pushing the public to vote for multi-million dollar sewer bond issues absent knowledge about this critical and ongoing shortfall. 

 

Business as usual?

 

In a November 2007 report entitled "City of Columbia Sewer Utility Billing Irregularities and Recommendations," Weitkemper referenced a play from the good ol' boys handbook.  Identifying the University of Missouri as the "single largest source" of uncollected sewer revenue, Weitkemper wrote, "Apparently many years ago, someone with the City made some type of unwritten agreement with someone at the University, and the University has only ever been charged a single basic sewage service rate."

 

The unwritten agreement violated city law and cost ratepayers a fortune.  "It is my understanding that recently the University has agreed to pay the City an additional $1.2 million per year in sewer revenue," Weitkemper continued. 

 

That was in November 2007.  It wasn't until September 2009 that Glascock revealed the real deal, which is nowhere near an additional $1.2 million annually. 

 

Gross underestimates, "special" agreements

 

In a detailed September 2008 email to city manager Watkins, Weitkemper complained that in an employee award citation, his supervisor Terry Hennkens lopped nearly 4,000 underbilled premises from 6,000 identified in an internal audit. 

"My bonus recommendation stated that my suggestion resulted in an additional 2,328 units being billed [for sewer]," Weitkemper wrote.  "That is not even close.  I told Terry that this number was not correct before it was published in the City Insider [an employee newsletter].  Apparently he feels he can do whatever he chooses."

 

Then, citing his largest find, Weitkemper dropped the MU bombshell.

 

"I had indicated in March 2006 that the University of Missouri, Columbia (UMC) was not being billed properly.  I was told then that there was a 'special' agreement with UMC that allowed them to only pay a single base sewer charge.  I asked for a copy of this 'special' agreement.  Apparently, it never existed." 

 

That was on September 2.  On September 16, 2008 the Columbia City Council approved the $1.1 million sewer rate hike, with no knowledge of the ongoing billing problems; no knowledge of the unwritten agreements; and under the false impression that they'd heard everything during commentary from a public equally in the dark.

 

(See item E under Public Hearings: http://archive.columbiatribune.com/2008/sep/20080916fort003.asp)

 

PARTS 1 and 2:
http://columbiaheartbeat.blogspot.com/2009/10/sewer-stink-scandal-swamps-city-hall.html

http://columbiaheartbeat.blogspot.com/2009/10/mu-analyst-to-run-for-4th-ward-council.html

 

 

NEW NON-PROFIT:  Seeks city money to hire director

 

COLUMBIA, 10/30/09 (Beat Bytes) -- Cynics, start your engines. 

 

In this era of budgets so tight city employees are shouldering cuts and city services aren't happening, supporters of a new

"community foundation" will seek $40,000.00 from the Columbia City Council this Monday night to hire an "Executive

Director."   City Hall would employ the as-yet-unnamed foundation's director, and in a miraculous move, city staff "have identified funding which could be used to hire a person for the balance of 2010," according to a city council report on the issue.

 

Community foundations are non-profit organizations that accept donations to better the community.  But with a surfeit of non-profit groups clamoring for a pie city officials claim is shrinking, support for this latest group seems untimely.  "With city support, an Executive Director should be hired quickly," the staff report for Monday's council meeting reads.  "Funding for operating expenses are needed.  A board of directors will need to be identified...of 12 to 18 persons, all prominent in the community."

 

Backed by local VIPs like accountant Bob Gerding and Columbia Tribune managing editor Jim Robertson, the community foundation's proposal reads like so many other non-profits, with talk of marketing brochures, leading citizens, directors, staffers, and money, money, money.

 

Too bad all that money, time, and effort can't go directly to the people -- or existing non-profits -- who need it now.  How about a group of leading citizens going through our more impoverished neighborhoods, fixing, cleaning, and doing, rather than planning, meeting, and marketing?   

 

DETAILS HERE:

http://gocolumbiamo.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=2&event_id=2&meta_id=9795

 

 

CITY COMMISSION:  Questions water quality

COLUMBIA, 10/30/09 (Beat Bytes) -- City Hall's top voice on environmental issues, the Energy and Environment Commission, is raising questions about a plan to drill a new water well in the McBaine bottoms, a wetlands area that may be collecting trace contaminants: herbicides, pesticides, and other harmful materials that could leach into the groundwater.  

 

"Based on many years of data from the US Geological Survey; Missouri Department of Natural Resources; and the City of Columbia, the proposed location for alluvial well 16 is questionable from a water quality standpoint," board members explained in a letter to the Columbia City Council for its Monday, Nov. 2 meeting. 

 

Citing numerous unanswered questions, commission members are recommending city staff review different locations for the well and wait for the results of a new water treatment study. 

 

DETAILS HERE:

http://gocolumbiamo.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=2&event_id=2&meta_id=9797

 

"TIGER" JOHN CLEEK:  National advocate for college scholarships

 

COLUMBIA, 10/30/09 (Beat Bytes) -- Supporting the loyal customers who helped make his rent-to-own furniture chain a household name in mid-Missouri, John Cleek recently spoke up for college scholarships as president of the Association of Progressive Rental Organizations, a national trade organization that has spent seven years building a trust fund to award scholarships nationwide. 

 

"The rent to own industry's commitment to education and scholarship funds is a testament to the industry's growth and establishment as a vital industry and contributor to the economy," said Cleek, best known in Columbia as a major University of Missouri booster.  "The rent to own industry is here to help our future with the most powerful contribution to our children through education scholarships."

 

Cleek became a franchisee of Aaron's, a nationwide rent-to-own chain, in 2008. 

 

RELATED:

http://www.rtohq.org/01810apro-cleeks-makes-aarons-conversion.html

http://pr-usa.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=275472&Itemid=29

 

 

STAN KROENKE:  At City Hall hog trough Monday night

 

COLUMBIA, 10/30/09 (Beat Bytes) -- Billionaire developer Stan Kroenke -- who enjoys some of the region's lowest taxes on some of its most expensive properties and projects -- will be visiting the City Hall trough Monday night to accept two payments totalling nearly $200,000.

 

Represented by his usual phalanx of lawyers, TDDs, and pseudonyms, Kroenke's Conley Road Transportation Development District and Broadway Crossings II, LLC will be convincing us all that the $180,000.00 we'll be spending on Trimble Road utility improvements -- adjacent to one of Kroenke's tracts -- is for our own good. 

 

The words "City will reimburse TDD for the costs incurred by the TDD" which appear in the contract seem absurd, as the TDD is really John and Jane Q. Shopper, paying a higher tax on any retail goods they purchase at said TDD-funded retail establishments.   

 

"TDD shall complete the improvements on Trimble Road," should therefore read, "Future shoppers shall complete...."

 

In other Kroenke related business, the council will pay Kroenke's THF Grindstone Plaza Development $20,190.00 for an easement to repair a pump station.  THF, for those who don't know, stands for "To Have Fun" -- with your money in many cases.   Too bad Mr. Kroenke can't simply donate the easement, given everything he takes out of here. 

 

Ahh, where to have fun with all that taxpayer money?  The soccer field, of course!  Mr. Kroenke just increased his stake in the UK soccer team Arsenal, taking him to the verge of a complete takeover and knocking out a rival Russian billionaire:   

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/feature?id=690116&sec=england&cc=5901

 

 

RELATED:

http://gocolumbiamo.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=2&event_id=2&meta_id=9491

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/media/multimedia/2009/05/01/media/Archive__/boards.html

 

FINAL NUMBERS IN:  For Roots and Blues Fest

 

COLUMBIA, 10/30/09 (Beat Bytes) -- Presenting a check to City Hall for services rendered during this year's Roots and Blues Fest, Thumper Entertainment has released a full accounting of ticket sales which includes a list of "Festival VIPs" topped by noted dermatologist and HSBM (husband of school board member) Dr. John Despain. 

 

This year's festival grossed $168,170.00 through the sale of 11,523 tickets.   Promoters also comped another 2,243 tickets, for a total of 13,766 ticketed attendees, according to a statement on file with the city. 

 

DETAILS HERE:

http://gocolumbiamo.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=2&event_id=2&meta_id=9793

 

HEAR YE!  HEAR YE!  Local Announcements

 

The Columbia planning and zoning commission will meet November 5, 2009– 7:00 P.M. DANIEL BOONE BUILDING, CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 4TH FLOOR.  On the agenda is a request to rezone by Grindstone Investments to rezone agricultural land to commercial land of property located on the southwest corner of Heller and Rogers Roads, containing approximately 116 acres. 

 

4th Ward councilman and mayoral candidate Jerry Wade will hold coffeehouse office hours this Saturday, October 31.  The 3:00p – 5:00p Oct. 31 at the Rendezvous Coffeehouse, 3304 Broadway Business Park Ct., on the south side of West Broadway, west of HyVee.

 

3rd Ward councilman Karl Skala has kicked off his re-election campaign.  "I want to continue to help make our neighborhoods safer, improve our roads and city services, develop more thoughtful city planning, and create a more responsive city government," Skala says.  Skala will not hold office hours tomorrow as previously scheduled, but will resume his regular Sven's Kafe office hours NOVEMBER 21, 2009.   For more information, contact: 

Karl Skala

Columbia Third Ward City Councilman

573-474-2195

SkalaforCouncil@yahoo.com

 

Columbia Missourian columnist David Rosman invites readers to check out his new commentary blog, devoted to a different set of issues than his long-running Missourian column:

www.inkandvoice.wordpress.com

 

The City of Columbia's meeting calendar for the week ending November 6 is now available on the City's website at
http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/Neighborhoods/Neighborhood_Associations/documents/CityCalendar_2009_11-06.pdf

 

 

HOUSING NEWS:  From Bank of Missouri's Tom Stone

 

"THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS..." Or so the famous saying goes. And when it comes to really understanding the various reports and events unfolding in the economy, it's important to take a look at the details - not just the headlines. Here's what you need to know.

 

On the inflation front, the Producer Price Index, which measures wholesale inflation, unexpectedly fell due to a drop in energy prices. While that seems like good news on the surface, keep in mind that next month's number could climb higher again, as oil and natural gas have both been on a tear higher lately.

 

In housing news, Housing Starts and Building Permits both came in a bit below expectations, but this may be a sign that builders are exercising some caution - particularly in the face of the $8,000 tax credit for first time homebuyers that is presently set to expire on November 30th. 

 

Existing Home Sales came in better than expected - and a whopping 45% of those homes were sold to first time homebuyers - rushing to move in on that credit. Recent studies have shown that many who qualify for this tax credit aren't even aware of it...so please let me know if you or someone you know needs more information - the clock is ticking!

 

Additionally, the level of existing homes inventory shrunk to a 7.8 month supply, down from a recent high of 10.1 months in April.

 

Tom Stone
The Bank of Missouri
Asst. Vice President

Office:  573-874-4700
Cell:  573-489-4059
www.bankofmissouri.com
tstone@bankofmissouri.com

 

Mike Martin
Blogitor in Chief
The Columbia Heart Beat
http://columbiaheartbeat.blogspot.com

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BEAT BYTE: Bizarre cell phone sale offers MU athletic dept. secrets

BEAT BYTES -- 9/23/09
News and Notes from the Columbia Heart Beat

1) CONVERSATION WITH: The City Manager
2) BIZARRE CELL PHONE SALE: Offers MU Athletic Dept. Secrets
3) TRAFFIC SAFETY: Grant School, four years after an accident
4) MU SCIENTIST: Studies Fall foliage
5) SANS PEPPER AND MOUSER: Advertisers drop KOMU
6) MORTGAGE AND HOUSING NEWS: From Tom Stone
7) GET ALL THE LOCAL HEADLINES: At www.Columbia360.com

Listening Whilst Writing: A Fistful of Dollars, Ennio Morricone




CONVERSATION WITH: The Columbia City Manager

It's not everyday a schlep like me gets to chat it up with Columbia City Manager Bill Watkins. Depending on your perspective, our conversation either went well...or not.

Our convo started with an email from a constituent to the City Council about the unfolding sewer billing scandal, cc'd to me:

----- Original Message -----
From: A Constituent
To: Jerry Wade; Karl Skala; Barbara Hoppe; Paul Sturtz
Sent: Monday, September 21, 2009 2:48 PM
Subject: tonight's Council vote on sewer rate increase

Council Members,

I'm hoping you will look into this before you vote to increase the rates. From what I can tell, this should be a "no" vote.
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/sep/21/sewer-billing-trouble-costly

Today: "As the Columbia City Council votes tonight on a 2010 budget with a proposed increase in basic service rates for each city sewer user, there is a source of money that some in the Public Works Department believe is being ignored...According to multiple e-mails by Weitkemper, he believes the city is enforcing the sanitary sewer billing ordinance haphazardly and is giving certain users preferential treatment."

Talbert said the rate increase is necessary to cover debt incurred for the $69 million wastewater treatment plant upgrade voters approved in 2008. "We have to have enough cash to cover our debt. That's what the bulk of that is," she said.
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2008/04/08/sewer-bonds-passed-overwhelmingly

April 8, 2008: "voters were told the rise would be steeper--and come sooner--without the bonds."
http://gocolumbiamo.com/Public_Comm/Public_Information/Press_Releases/documents/April08.pdf

Regards,

A Constituent


I added my two cents:

----- Original Message -----
From: Mike Martin
To: Paul Sturtz; Barbara Hoppe; Karl Skala; Jerry Wade; A Constituent
Sent: Monday, September 21, 2009 3:35 PM
Subject: Re: tonight's Council vote on sewer rate increase

I've heard about this sewer fiasco at length already -- glad somebody else did the heavy lifting on putting a story together on it.

What a bunch of the same old crap this is, eh? Favoritism for the few at the expense of the many -- and right here, in good ol' progressive Columbia!


Mr. Watkins admonished me about an hour later:

----- Original Message -----
From: William Watkins
To: Mike Martin: CityMan; Darwin Mayor; Paul Ward1; Jason Ward2; Karl Ward3; Jerry Ward4; Laura Ward5; Barbara Ward6; Sent: Monday, September 21, 2009 4:23 PM
Subject: Re: Fw: tonight's Council vote on sewer rate increase

It would be very nice if you would consider all the facts before rushing to a decision.


I replied:

----- Original Message -----
From: Mike Martin
To: CityMan; William Watkins
Cc: Barbara Ward6; Laura Ward5; Jerry Ward4; Karl Ward3; Jason Ward2; Paul Ward1; Darwin Mayor
Sent: Monday, September 21, 2009 4:36 PM
Subject: Re: Fw: tonight's Council vote on sewer rate increase

Bill:

With all due respect, that's part of the problem in this community. Only a select few have "all the facts," doling them out as need be. The rest of us schleps just have to get by. As one of those schleps, I do the best with what I have, and everything I write or say is as carefully considered as it can be, given my intrinsically limited circumstances.

Mike


Councilman Skala jumped in:

----- Original Message -----
From: Karl Skala
To: Jason Thornhill; Paul Sturtz; Karl Skala; Jerry Wade; Laura Nauser; Barbara Hoppe; Darwin Hindman; William Watkins; Mike Martin; A Constituent
Sent: Monday, September 21, 2009 4:33 PM
Subject: Re: Fw: tonight's Council vote on sewer rate increase

A Constituent, et al.,

Tonight, I will ask Bill Watkins for his explanation regarding this information.

Best Regards,

Karl


Feeling naughty, I dashed off some satire:

----- Original Message -----
From: Mike Martin
To: Karl Skala;
Cc: Jason Thornhill; Paul Sturtz; Jerry Wade; Laura Nauser; Barbara Hoppe; Darwin Hindman; William Watkins;
A Constituent
Sent: Monday, September 21, 2009 4:58 PM
Subject: Re: Fw: tonight's Council vote on sewer rate increase

Karl:

You know darned well you can't ask Bill to explain anything. It's a violation of the City Charter, Chapter 205-A, Section 6B, Subchapter 7D.5, Paragraph 3A:

"No council member shall ever ask the city manager or any assistant city manager to explain anything, at any time, whatsoever, ad infinitum. Doing so will result in immediate removal from the council."

[City Attorney] Mr. Boeckmann sent me the relevant passage. It's right below the passage about how council members can't be paid.

See you out here in Schlep Land.

-- Mike


Mr. Watkins was not in a satirical mood:

----- Original Message -----
From: William Watkins
To: Mike Martin
Sent: Monday, September 21, 2009 4:55 PM
Subject: Re: Fw: tonight's Council vote on sewer rate increase

Mike -- I think your attempt at humor is way out of line.


Ever conscientious, Councilman Skala hunted for the ordinance I had cited:

----- Original Message -----
From: Karl Skala
To: Mike Martin
Sent: Tuesday, September 22, 2009 9:21 AM
Subject: The Sewer Thing

Mike,

....I am not sure what you meant by "City Charter, Chapter 205-A, Section 6B, Subchapter 7D.5, Paragraph 3A" as a reference; perhaps you would clarify this reference for me (I was unable to locate a City Charter, Chapter 205-A).

Best Regards.

Karl


I replied:

----- Original Message -----
From: Mike Martin
To: Karl Skala
Sent: Tuesday, September 22, 2009 10:07 AM
Subject: Re: The Sewer Thing

...no, there's no such thing as those charter citations. I was kidding...Many old-line senior staffers disdain answering council's questions, and I'm sure they wish there was such a charter citation....


BIZARRE CELL PHONE SALE: Offers MU Athletic Dept. Secrets

COLUMBIA, 9/23/09 (Beat Byte) -- In one of the weirdest stories to cross our desk in a while, a Craigslister is offering nearly 30 cell and smart phones for sale as "unique souvenirs." Why unique? They used to belong to the MU Athletic Department and still contain information from their former owners. The seller claims he purchased the old phones at a university disposal sale.

He says he offered to sell them back, but that the Athletic Department turned him down.

"Ever wanted to know how those sports dignitaries use their electronic stuff?" the seller writes. "What do they say in a chat? Who do they get tweets from? Now you can get a little bit of UNFILTERED insight. The price is reflective of the rarity and ensures only SERIOUS offers."

The smart phones, cell phones, and flip phones allegedly contain "conversations, text messages, email, memos, calendar entries and address books from all over the MU Athletic Department. Coaches and Directors of Volleyball, Soccer all the way up to Football and Basketball. In some cases there are conversations FROM the people as well. One seems to be from a sports doctor or pharmacist. Some seem to be from players and interns."

CHECK IT OUT AT:
http://columbiamo.craigslist.org/mob/1384339670.html
http://web.me.com/mikebellman/MU_Souvenirs/MUCellPhones.html


TRAFFIC SAFETY CHECK: Grant School, four years after an accident

COLUMBIA, 9/23/09 (Beat Byte) -- "One parent who witnessed Monday's accident said she didn't think she'd ever be able to forget the horrid sound of a child's body bouncing off a car's fender. A playground teeming with schoolmates and families witnessed the accident and it's aftermath. This should not happen again. The accident at Grant Elementary on Monday afternoon has to be a wake-up call to all drivers in Columbia."

That was the conclusion of an April 2005 Columbia Missourian guest column about a first grade girl at Grant Elementary struck by a car on Garth Avenue a month earlier.

In May 2005, Jacque Cowherd, then a Columbia Public Schools assistant superintendent, coordinated a meeting about traffic safety at Grant, a still-dangerous affair. Sandwiched between both the library and the elementary, Garth Avenue simply can't handle a traffic burden that has only grown in the past 4 years.

Attended by representatives from City Hall, Columbia Police Department, First Student Bus Service, assistant superintendent Jack Jensen, then-Grant principal Crystal Church, and school district safety coordinator Preston Bass, Cowherd's meeting addressed two goals, wrote Julie Davis in the Grant PTA newsletter:

1) To effect better enforcement of parking and speed
2) To request extension or maintenance of the yellow curb zone on Garth

Back then, Davis noted that among 360 total students, 100 rode the bus to and from school, while another 40 students attended Adventure Club, a popular after-school program held in the Grant auditorium.

"That leaves 220 students either walking home or picked up by car," Davis noted. She then provided what today could be used as a followup checklist: Was this done? Was that done? Crosswalks, crossing flags, and better rules have all been instituted.

But basic road and traffic issues remain largely unchanged.

"We have zero parking spaces at Grant and currently have no good safe spot for a drive-up student pickup area," Davis wrote.
She then noted that police will be "enforcing and ticketing speeders and vehicles parked, stopped or standing along Garth. The school district specifically asked the police department to help us in this way."

A number of other approaches were discussed, including traffic-calming devices, such as speed humps, on Garth; and developing a "drop-off/pick-up plan" Davis said would be "enforced very consistently by both our school and the Columbia Police Department" and having the library add another entrance/exit on Crestmere Ave., as the old library had.

Taking a serious look at this checklist today is like reviewing compliance with a series of expert recommendations. Writing to 4th Ward councilman Jerry Wade last year, Davis said she had been "heavily involved over the last 3-7 years working to address traffic safety issues at Grant. I worked with parents, school personnel and a city traffic engineer named Richard Stone during and after the library construction project. Stone was extremely knowledgable and worked very hard to help us. He probably still has a very deep file of Grant-related notes."

Davis concluded with a call to action in her 2005 PTA story, addressing a situation that continues to plague Grant school at least twice daily.

"As long as I've had children at this school, folks have been concerned about the traffic safety issues. The unfortunate accident last month has people paying attention. Please join me in doing your part to keep Garth Avenue safe by driving the speed limit, staying off the yellow curb, and crossing only in the crosswalk. Thanks for your help and cooperation!"


MU SCIENTIST: Studies Fall foliage

COLUMBIA, 9/23/09 (Mizzouwire) -- Meet John Walker, Plant Detective. His mission: To investigate one of the most common occurrences in nature -- abscission -- something that happens in plain sight billions and billions of times every year, every time a leaf falls from a tree or an apple drops to the ground.

Walker, a biologist who has been at the University of Missouri since 1987, and his MU colleagues in the University's Interdisciplinary Plant Group have been attracting international press for discovering links in the chain of genetic events that control abscission. With funding from the National Science Foundation, they tracked the process in a small flowering weed that grows in Europe, Asia and Africa.

"John is a pioneer," said Frans Tax, a plant biologist at the University of Arizona. "His research is an elegant combination of genetics and biochemistry. Because these genes are found in all plants, manipulation in crops to regulate abscission could be fairly straightforward."

Before following Walker on his path to discovery, let's review for a moment the case file on plant abscission: The autumn turning of leaves has always been part of the human experience, an activity has attracted at least as much interest from poets as from scientists.

When Walker does a PowerPoint presentation of his work he includes a citation from Emily Bronte:

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;
Lengthen night and shorten day;
Every leaf speaks bliss to me
Fluttering from the autumn tree.

"That just about says it all," Walker says.

READ ALL ABOUT IT


SANS PEPPER AND MOUSER: Advertisers drop KOMU

COLUMBIA, 9/23/09 (Beat Byte) -- Now that Pepper and Friends has departed from the airwaves, local businesses are following through with threats to pull their advertising from Pepper's former home, television station KOMU.

The businesses include Affordable Cruises and Travel, LLC; Appletree Quilting Center; Children's Orchard; Dancearts of Columbia; Hazel Kinder's Lighthouse Theater; Hearing Solutions; The MacXprts Network; Missouri River Monuments; World Harvest International and Gourmet Foods; and Columbia Catering Company.

In August, Mac Xperts owner and former congressional candidate Duane Burghard wrote MU Chancellor Brady Deaton, Vice-Chancellor Jacquelyn Jones and KOMU General Manager Marty Siddall. "Unhappily, if the University insists on this course of action (cancellation), my business will be included in a group" of advertisers who've pulled their business.

Longtime MU associate professor of consumer and family economics Mel Zelenak, who owns Affordable Cruises and Travel, said that, "In total, Affordable Cruises and Travel has been responsible for approximately $5,000 in revenue sales for KOMU-TV through the first nine months of 2009. Once our contractual obligations end in September; I will terminate our five year relationship with the station. My decision is solely because of the management team's decision to eliminate Pepper and Friends programming."

Public relations executive Barbara Carman of Creative Concepts called Pepper and Friends a "front-porch" outlet.

"In the past, I have always considered 'Pepper and Friends' as the absolute best advertising resource to reach the Mid-Missouri people. If the show goes, KOMU-TV has nothing for me to recommend that has that wide local appeal."


MORTGAGE AND HOUSING NEWS: From Tom Stone

"I'M ON MY WAY...JUST SET ME FREE...HOME SWEET HOME." The lyrics from Motley Crue's Home Sweet Home sound a lot like something the housing industry might have sang last week, after the Commerce Department reported that the number of Housing Starts in August came in better than expected.

As you can see in the chart below, Housing Starts have fallen significantly since June 2008, but in last week's report, they broke free to come in at their highest level since last November. Building Permits were a bit lower than expectations, but the overall report suggests that while we're not entirely out of the woods yet, the worst in the housing market may have passed and that the industry may be on its way to stabilizing.

READ THE FULL REPORT


Tom Stone
The Bank of Missouri
Asst. Vice President
Columbia, MO
Office: 573-874-4700



Mike Martin
Blogitor in Chief
The Columbia Heart Beat
http://columbiaheartbeat.blogspot.com

WORLD'S LARGEST SCIENCE SOCIETY: Bestows Highest Honor on MU Chemist

M. Frederick Hawthorne, who directs the International Institute of Nano & Molecular Medicine at the University of Missouri, Columbia, has been awarded the 2009 Priestley Medal, the highest honor from the world's largest scientific society, the American Chemical Society and often the high-point of careers that include even the Nobel Prize.

In receiving the annual award, which recognizes distinguished service to the field of chemistry, Hawthorne joins the pantheon of the world's top chemists, including numerous Nobel laureates such as Linus Pauling, Roald Hoffmann, George Olah, and Peter Debye -- many of whom won the Priestley Medal only after they won the Nobel Prize.

"I'm tickled to death to receive this recognition," Hawthorne, 79, told the Chemical and Engineering News. "I am very lucky to have been at the right place at the right time to begin work on clarifying the chemistry of boron, one of the most versatile elements."

The medal is named for the British chemist Joseph Priestley, who discovered oxygen in 1774 and, according to the American Chemistry Society, "answered the age-old questions of why and how things burn. An Englishman by birth, Priestley was deeply involved in politics and religion, as well as science. He emigrated to America when his vocal support for the American and French revolutions made remaining in his homeland untenable."

Hawthorne is considered a giant in the field of "inorganic chemistry," or the chemistry of substances that do not contain carbon.

"Fred has expressed his creativity over and over again in chemistry," J. Fraser Stoddart, a former UCLA colleague who is now at Northwestern University, told Chemical and Engineering News. "To many scientists the world over, he has become Mr. Inorganic Chemistry, a legend in his own lifetime."

RELATED:
http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/86/i25/8625notw1.html
http://nanomed.missouri.edu/

The Columbia Heart Beat--Have a Merry!

The Columbia Heart Beat--Happy Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, et. al.!
Paperless News for Columbia's Blogs and Listservs

people
GOT BUDGET WOES? Try a "Hail Gary" Pass
ASSESSOR ERROR? Schauwecker Boosts "$739 Duplex"
COLUMBIA'S QUIET: Sustainability Team
PROPERTY TAXES: Too High? Read This!

places
STREET SQUAWK: Wade's Rendezvous #1;
Main Squeeze First on Google; For Sale: CrossCreek

the change gang
LETTER URGES: MU Vet School/Humane Society Partnership
GUEST OP-ED: Columbia's "Other" Criminals
DARKOW'S TAKE: Eminent Domain; Pinkel Bucks

things
READERS RITE: Phyllis Chase and her "1818 Elves"
HEAR YE! HEAR YE! Blue Note Inaugural
HOLIDAY LIGHTS: Season's Greetings
GOINGS ON: Visit http://www.iheartcolumbia.com
____________________________________________________

GOT BUDGET WOES? Try a "Hail Gary" Pass
by Mike Martin for the Columbia Business Times
http://www.columbiabusinesstimes.com

When MU approved Coach Gary Pinkel's new $2.5 million/year contract,
it was one exciting game!

"Perfect reception from the legal department on the 40-yard line.
And Coach is off! Dodges the hiring freeze! Sidesteps those budget
woes."

"Yeah, Mike—with a Hail Gary pass like that, the old wall of worry
play is no problem today."

"Look at the academics coach down there, John. His team looks pretty
beleaguered. Here's Spence. Let's listen in."

ON THE FIELD

"Your team's looking at what—25 percent budget cuts?"

"That's right, Spence. Makes it hard to build a winning program, but
we keep on keepin' on."

"If you would, coach, give us an example."

"We may ask the academic team to reduce hours, consolidate programs,
forego raises—you know, some minor sacrifices. For the good of the
team."

"What do you say to people who think Coach Pinkel should sacrifice
too?"

"Our own newspaper baron Hank Waters probably said it best. Don't
complain. It's unbecoming. Just come back in the next life as a
coach!"

"That's kind of like the old Steve Martin line: To become a
millionaire, first—get a million dollars!"

"Well, not exactly. To become a millionaire, first—get a college
coaching job."

AT THE ANNOUNCER'S BOOTH

"Touchdown Coach Pinkel!"

BOOM!

"You know, John. We gripe about overpaid CEO's. But college
coaches—everybody loves 'em—and their players aren't paid a dime!"

"Good point. Coach Pinkel is up to $2.5 million! Isn't that ten
times what Obama calls rich?"

"No doubt—Coach is one rich coach!"

"So if Coach makes $2.5 million and his players make zero, how much
more than the lowest paid player does Coach make?"

"John—you're blowin' my mind."

POST-GAME INTERVIEW

"You're the third highest-paid coach in the Big 12. How's it feel?"

"It's all about building a program. I love building programs."

"Look at the program with us a minute, Coach. What do you see?"

"Education. Learning. When my guys graduate, they'll work really hard
and make a tiny fraction of what the top guy makes. That's life. My
guys are learning life lessons. It's a great feeling."

"I hear they're planning a stimulus package for coaches."

"News flash—I turned down an offer to coach Congress through this
financial mess."

"Really?"

"Yeah. They offered two mil, but people who don't understand what it
takes to build a great program got up in arms."

"Politics! But you don't have to worry about that here! Speaking of
being here, Coach—tell us you're happy and you're not planning to
leave."

"Plans are for tomorrow. This is for today. And today is a great
day for this program."
___________________________________________________________

ASSESSOR ERROR? Schauwecker Boosts "$739 Duplex"

Without much sunshine or fanfare, Boone County Assessor Tom
Schauwecker has quietly increased the ridiculously low appraised
value of a 1999, 4 bedroom, 4 bath, 2,373 sq. ft. duplex at 1605-07
Glenover Court owned by real estate baron Jeffrey Smith -- from
$739.00 to $33,479.

(We reported Schauwecker's original $739 appraisal on October 2.
Google "17-209-00-06-002.00 01" for a comparison).

So as not to increase Mr. Smith's property taxes, Schauwecker lowered
the value of the 4.5 acre parcel the duplex sits on -- from
$44,560.00 to $11,820.

All seven duplexes in Smith's Glenover/Hanover subdivision are
appraised at the same price: $45,299.00, despite that 1605-07
Glenover Court sits on a lot many times larger than its neighbors.
Four more duplexes, on nearby Cocoa Ct., come in at between $38,710
to $45,299.00, values lower than most 90-year-old central city 2-
bedroom, 1-bath homes command.

And the school district needs a property tax increase? Guess it's
easier to get from us than the real estate barons. (And many
thanks to the readers who alerted us).

RELATED:

http://columbiaheartbeat.blogspot.com/2008/10/739-duplex-bail-out-or-bailing-out-on.html
http://board.columbiatribune.com/index.php?showtopic=6456&st=40&p=75155&#entry75155
___________________________________________________________

COLUMBIA'S QUIET: Sustainability Team
by Mike Martin for the Columbia Business Times
http://www.columbiabusinesstimes.com

Okay, class – raise your hand if you know what "absolute zero"
means. If you said, "zero degrees Kelvin," or the temperature at
which there is absolutely no heat left in the air, you're right.

At a shockingly cold −273 degrees Celsius (−460 degrees
Fahrenheit) absolute zero means there's simply not one degree of heat left in the
air. Everything – even the tiniest atom – freezes to a halt.

Now raise your hand if you know how the concept of absolute zero can
be used to heat your home in the winter and cool it in the summer.
No idea?

What about how the Sun can charge a solar battery? Or how hydrogen
can power a car? Or how wind can spin a turbine and electrify a
town? Bet you've heard of all those things. And bet you use not
a one.

Surprisingly, using the power of absolute zero to heat and cool your
home is much less exotic than solar, wind, or hydrogen. People are
doing it every day, right here in Columbia and Boone County. I'm
doing it as we speak, because I got smart and got help – from
Columbia's quiet sustainability team.

MORE AT:
http://columbiaheartbeat.blogspot.com/2008/12/columbias-quiet-sustainability-team.html
___________________________________________________________

IS YOUR PROPERTY TAX BILL: Too High?
by Tom Stone, Bank of Missouri

Income tax, sales tax, estate tax, excise tax, alternative minimum
tax...and just when you thought you'd paid them all...along comes
your property tax bill as a homeowner. But did you know that the
National Taxpayers Union estimates that as many as 60% of homes are
assessed too high, resulting in an incorrectly larger property tax
bill?

First, contact your local tax assessor's office. Find out the process
for submitting a property tax appeal. Additionally, ask for a copy
of your property tax report. Review and confirm that the basic
information about your property is correct. Is the square footage and
number of rooms for your home accurate?

If everything on the property report is correct but the assessed
value still seems too high, gather documentation to support an
appeal. Don't be surprised if the assessed value is lower than what
you think the market value for your home is -- many counties use a
formula which uses a percentage of market value to determine assessed
value.

Ask what the formula is, because an assessment which is less than
market value still might be too high.

If you have a current appraisal that supports the value being lower
using recent market-value information, many counties will accept a
copy of the appraisal with the appeal. If the appraisal is outdated,
you can order a new one -- just call me for a referral to a great
appraiser. You can also visit the local assessor's office or search
online, and look through the public records for other homes that have
similar features to yours, but have lower assessments.

Additionally, contact me to get in touch with a great Realtor who
knows your area. They will be able to give you current market
information for your neighborhood, and help you see how your market
value and assessed value stacks up against your neighbors'.

Submitting an appeal is generally a simple process, but make sure to
take the time to fill out all forms in advance and be prepared with
your documentation if there is an in-person hearing that needs to
take place.

More good news - according to the National Taxpayers Union, about 33%
of property tax appeals succeed! Taking the time to review the
accuracy of a tax bill could easily save you hundreds of dollars per
year, adding up to thousands of dollars during the time you own your
home.

Please feel free to contact me for more information on this money-
saving tip!

Tom Stone
573-874-4700
tstone@...
___________________________________________________________

GUEST OP ED: Columbia's "Other" Criminals
by M. C. Dampier, Forever Life Ministry, Columbia

When we speak about crime, it's not just about crime on the street.

It's a crime to take money while lying to people about what it's
for. Studies have shown that 70 percent of all Federal grant
recipients SAY they will do computer classes, victim classes,
parenting classes, and other things to help society, but pocket the
funds instead.

80% of our community depends on growing handouts because no one has a
workable plan. We are content to let able-bodied human beings not
work and stay in low income housing. For instance, how many times
has the Columbia Housing Authority actually lifted its residents out
of their circumstances?

We have police forces who not only abuse their authority, but claim
they can't help. Instead, they tell people it's better to move if
they want lower crime, while in the same breath asking for more money
to put more officers on the street. If those who protect and serve
really did so, some might be inclined to protect and serve them.

We say we don't want "street justice." But so often, the only
justice is street justice. Why? Because the same people are out of
jail in 24 hours doing the same crimes all over again.

Finally, let's stop targeting one neighborhood over another. It is
not okay to say that crime happens only in low income parts of town.
Some of the deadliest crimes happen right smack in the middle of the
so-called good parts of town.

We as concerned citizens must do more than just talk about change.
I urge men of the cloth to stand up and do as you were called to do!
Men of faith -- stand up and be more than a father FIGURE to your
own! Women of faith -- be that example, and not JUST for your
daughters. If we want to reclaim the village, we must first be an
example to ALL of it.

And last but not least, to my people in our communities -- remember,
a society that feeds off itself is bound for extinction. If we want
change, we have to stop the genocide against each other.

We have to be a community striving for unity.
___________________________________________________________

STREET SQUAWK: Wade's Rendezvous #1; Main Squeeze Google Favorite

Acknowleding what 4th Ward councilman Jerry Wade already knows,
nationally-known Missouri Life magazine has named Columbia's
Rendezvous Coffee Shop Missouri's Favorite Java Joint. Wade holds bi-
monthly office hours at the west-side coffee shop. From the article:

"Rendezvous Coffeehouse enthusiasts love the friendly personalities
of owners Lori Sander and Stacey Slaughter.

"They're very personable. They know you by name when you walk in the
door, and they know what you want," says frequent customer Jenna
Sheffield of Midway. "We both like to take care of people, and our
first jobs were customer service, in retail," Lori says.

"I have spent all day there several times, studying and working,
because my internet goes out when it storms," Jenna says. "I'll go
down and get breakfast, lunch, and sometimes dinner."

Located at 3304 Business Park Court near HyVee, Rendezvous, which
opened in 2004, has a large coffee menu and a small meal menu that
includes sandwiches, plus biscuits and gravy on Saturday and Sunday
mornings.

RELATED:
http://www.missourilife.com/articles/show/488-Java_Joints


For the Heart Beat's newswire cousin—Beat Byte—I wrote a brief take
on an email campaign to save downtown's Main Squeeze Cafe, Tough
Economy Squeezes Main Squeeze.

To include a website I Googled "main squeeze," hoping to find
Columbia's version buried in hundreds of thousands of hits on the
popular phrase. But our Main Squeeze Natural Foods Café is number
one among 264,000 Google hits!

A map, a menu, and the café's website sit atop songs by Lenny Kravitz
and Teena Marie; a New York City-based all-girl accordion band;
businesses, Facebooks, Myspaces, book titles, news stories, and love
notes by the tens of thousands.

Talk about the power of a brand.

RELATED:
http://columbiatribune.com/2008/nov/20081115busi002.asp


CrossCreek, the much-debated development along Stadium Blvd. and
Highway 63, is For Sale -- at least over half of it. Comprising
about 37.5 acres, lots 101, 102, 103, 105, 107, 108, 111,
and 113 are listed for $12,331,400. What this means for the future
of the development, if anything, isn't clear. Listing agent is
Plaza Real Estate of Columbia.

(PS Assessor Schauwecker has all these lots appraised at ZERO.
That's right -- ZERO!, e.g.
http://www.showmeboone.com/ASSESSOR/RealEstateSummary.Asp?PARCEL=1740400050010001

CrossCreek Map (Lot numbers circled):
http://www.shepard.missouri.org/files/crosscreek/CP_OverallLandscaping_052008.pdf
_____________________________________________________________

LETTER URGES: MU Vet School/Humane Society Partnership

11/26/08

To Columbia City Council, Columbia Tribune:

There is a rumor floating around that the City is looking to contract
with a local vet for pet shelter and euthanasia services. I would
find it difficult to believe that a city like Columbia would do such
a thing rather than rally around the development of a comprehensive
animal welfare shelter.

I watch MU pay Gary Pinkel $2.3 million a year when the City is
suffering from lack of resources for basic services and wonder - why
can't MU's Vet School join with the City in developing this animal
welfare resource and use it to train its students?

Most vet students do only 1 -3 spay or neuter procedures before
graduating vet school and this type of a joint partnership would
greatly improve their skill set and benefit the community at large.
MU gets a significant tax break on property taxes in the City and
this should not go unnoticed. The City should nudge the University
into doing something good for the community's pets and their own vet
school to create and sustain a terrific animal welfare program and
shelter.

MU's donors could be tapped to help start the drive. The Vet School
has a lot of development staff who could be tagged to get this done -
and it would the School's own goal of starting an area wide low cost
spay/neuter program (mobile) and a pet trust program.

K-State has a large pet trust program where owners pay a Vet
Student's tuition and fees in return for the student adopting their
pet when they are no longer able to care for the pet or the pet has
outlived the owner. MU wants to do this but it has been on the back
burner for 4 years now. Same for the MU Vet School low cost
spay/neuter mobile van initiative.

There are options that the City is not considering, if the only
option on the table now is to use a local vet to put pets to sleep.
That is an awful solution to a community problem. Given the City's
visioning efforts (and significant chunk of change used to fund this
process) isn't envisioning a better shelter for abandoned and injured
pets a critical part of the City vision?

Sarah A. Grim, MSPH, CHE
Columbia, MO 65203
_____________________________________________________________

DARKOW'S TAKE: Eminent Domain; Pinkel Bucks

Eminent Domain
http://columbiatribune.com/2008/dec/20081217comm051.asp

Pinkel Bucks
http://columbiatribune.com/2008/dec/20081213busi051.asp
_____________________________________________________________

READERS RITE: Letters to the Blogitor

Hi -- I thought this was pretty funny!
Phyllis Chase and her 1818 "Elves"
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/L2ObeOaZPaK9cPxvVzeo
-- An Elf from W. Worley

THANKS for persevering about the county assessor's activities. I am
so glad to hear the city is going to ask questions. What about the
school board? Seems to me that they have would have a lot to gain
with the appropriate changes. -- M.K. Doyle, Columbia
[Ed. Note: Couldn't agree more about the school board. But -- see no
evil, hear no evil, speak no evil...and pass a levy onto the rest of
us.]

Mike, I wanted to thank you for your blog about what is going on in
Columbia. As always, you have and share great information that is
balanced and informative.
-- Chris Lunn, Columbia
V.P., Habitat for Humanity
Co-Chair, Emerging Professionals in Columbia (EPIC)

Mike: Schauwecker raised the value of that cheap duplex. Guess
you were right! -- C. Montague, Columbia

Mike: I'm not voting for any more tax increases until this garbage
with the assessor is worked out. Shame on the system for letting it
happen all these years! Please sign this: -- Angry CPS Employee

Hi Mike: I LOVE your blog--it rocks! Thank you for adding me to your
subscription list. You're my new hero.
-- Peggy Gray, Columbia

Mike, Were you not aware of all the mistaken and erroneous addresses
in the Tribune arrest column? It is a big mess. I'd like your help
on correcting this problem. Good people suffer from bad information
like this. Bad information leads to bad judgments. Please call me
and I'll show you more of the problem regarding getting accurate
addresses from criminals.
-- Mark Stevenson, Columbia, on arrest reports linked to crime houses

Mike, Can't thank you enough for the assistance on our Stonecrest
Neighborhood Yahoo group. We had set a goal of 50 residents being
listed by Dec. 31. We're are 30 already and will keep at it.
-- Mike Haggas
Director of Development
Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business
University of Missouri

Wow. Thanks for the story SAYING GOODBYE: To Bernie Martin,
Columbia's Beloved Postman. I have interacted with Bernie the
Postman since I moved to Columbia in 1989. One of my favorite people
to do business with. He will be greatly missed.
-- F. Dettler, Columbia

Mike, See: Web Sites That Dig for News Rise as Watchdogs
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/18/business/media/18voice.html?_r=1&hp
You're ahead of the curve! Excellent work.
--Tracy Greever-Rice, Columbia

Gaslight GMAC Realty closing its doors! Chalk up another one for the
economy. -- Jason Thornhill, First Tier Realtors, Columbia

Enjoy your blog/newsletter. Keep writing. You write stuff the
papers don't cover or else don't cover adequately. I do read the
paper and listen a little to radio, but locally you fill in the
chinks. -- Betsy Phillips, Columbia

BEAT BYTE: Love it! Appreciate the contribution you make to the
community. -- Mary Ann Groves, Columbia
________________________________________________________________

HEAR YE, HEAR YE: Local Announcements

TATTERS TO TUXEDOS -- COLUMBIA'S INAUGURAL BALL
TUESDAY, JANUARY 20TH, 6:00-11:00 P.M. AT The BLUE NOTE
Downtown Columbia, 17 North 9th Street
Cash Bar (Bring your own appetizers or snacks)
Music, Great Company, Video feeds from D.C.
Come As Formal, or Informally, As You Like
Sponsored by: Democracy for Missouri and Boone County Democrats
Come enjoy this FREE EVENT
________________________________________________________________

HOLIDAY LIGHTS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2TPMoP01Sc
http://magic-tree.org/index.php
________________________________________________________________

Mike Martin
Blogitor-in-Chief
Member: National Press Club

The Columbia Heart Beat
http://columbiaheartbeat.blogspot.com
Circulation: Roughly 4,800
ARCHIVE: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nccna/messages