We would also caution the City Council not to use closed door sessions under the exemption of “personnel” if it intends to talk about the city’s financial woes. That’s illegal. The council met behind closed on Nov. 21 and emerged with the decision to investigate whether the council has been fully informed of the city’s financial condition in recent months. That does not sound a discussion exempted under the law.
As responsible people, most of us don’t litter. We don’t dump trash in public parks or fishing areas, much less think of dumping our construction waste there.
But there are some unscrupulous people out there who apparently don’t think anything of dumping not one, but maybe as many as four loads of roofing materials at the Allen Bridge public access. The area is used primarily for fishing and other water-related recreation.
Last week, it was discovered someone dumped a load of roofing material at Allen Bridge. Other loads followed a few days afterward.
The Missouri Department of Conservation controls the area, and is responsible for cleaning up the mess. Someone else’s mess.
Tax dollars which could be used in more productive ways are being spent on investigating the issue. Additionally, the DOC will have to rent a large trash container for the cleanup and use a bucket loader. They will then have to pay landfill tipping fees or haul the waste to a recycler. And after the cleanup, there will likely be nails left behind, which is a bad situation as the area is a public fishing access. People park in the area where the debris now is to fish in the creek.
All this because someone didn’t want to pay a tipping fee or take the material to be recycled. It’s a shame.
And it is a shame that this isn’t an isolated incident. According to Terry Cook, a resource technician for the department of conservation, other acts have occurred in public areas. Over at the nearby Lime Kiln public access, someone set a pile of kindling on fire, as well as destroyed an adopt-a-highway sign and scrawled graffiti on a picnic table. And in Tipton Ford, someone destroyed barricades the department had installed.
One might say “Big deal. What do I care about what condition public fishing accesses are in? I don’t fish.” But everyone pays taxes and that money should be used for improving programs, not fixing senseless acts of vandalism and thoughtless acts of littering.
Missouri's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for October fell, even as the nationwide rate rose during the month, according to the latest jobs data from then state's Department of Economic Development.
According to the October state jobs report, Missouri's unemployment rate dropped by two-tenths of a point to 9.3 percent in October on a seasonally adjusted basis, compared to an uptick of four-tenths of a point to 10.2 percent nationwide.
When jobs data is not seasonally adjusted, Missouri posts an October unemployment rate of 8.9 percent, compared to 9.5 nationally. October marks the eighth consecutive month that Missouri's unemployment rate has been lower than the national rate, according to a DED news release.
DED data shows that total nonfarm payroll employment increased by approximately 4,000 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis in October to more than $2.7 million. Job gains were concentrated in durable goods manufacturing, which rose by 2,200 with small gains in multiple industries and in private education and health services, which rose by 2,700.
Professional business services also showed an increase of 1,000, though the gains were partly offset by declines in other industries, such as trade, transportation and utilities, which posted a collective drop of 2,800, half of which were in retail trade. Government jobs also declined, by 1,300, mostly at the local level.
