LEFT: Sen Jim Barnett chats with (from left) Larry Paine, Jared Jost and Mayor Delores Dalke following the presentation.
MIDDLE: Rep. Don Dahl came equipped with a sizeable graph to illustrate the state’s sizeable financial challenges.
BOTTOM: Sen. Barnett makes his point about the need for coal-fired energy plants to meet the short-term need for affordable electricity.
With this year’s legislative session at the halfway point, Rep. Don Dahl of Hillsboro says the battle to put together a fiscally responsible state budget is “as challenging as ever.”
Dahl and Sen. Jim Barnett made stops at Hillsboro and Marion Saturday morning for their traditional mid-session forum with constituents.
About 15 people turned out for the meeting at city hall in Hillsboro.
Two weeks ago, Kosova, an impoverished territory in Europe with a population of mainly ethnic Albanians, unilaterally declared independence from Serbia.
David Kohl (seated) responds to questions from seminar participants during a break. The economict from Virgina Tech described several “megatrends” in agriculture.
David Kohl, agricultural economist from Virginia Tech, advised about 110 farm producers and businessmen Feb. 26 at Hillsboro Mennonite Brethern Church to keep their cash reserves up and stay flexible in the coming economic world.
Congressman Jerry Moran stopped at the Peabody Senior Center Monday
afternoon for his annual “Big First” tour stop in Marion County. About
17 people gathered to listen to Moran’s summary of political
developments in Washington, D.C., and to ask questions. Moran listed a
national energy policy, health-care reforms and a review of “No Child
Left Behind” as key issues needing to be addressed. He said the country
needs an energy plan that will reduce its dependence on foreign oil and
changes in health care to make delivery affordable to more people. He
also said No Child Left Behind is unattainable and needs to be revised,
if not scrapped. Moran said he voted against President’s Bush’s
economic stimulus package. “I don’t think $600 will change the
economy,” he said of the checks heading to taxpayers. “And, we have to
borrow the money to do it.” During the question-and-answer time,
listeners asked about a variety of issues, including a proposal to
bring passenger-train service to Peabody and other Kansas communities,
the Air Force’s decision to buy planes from France instead of Boeing, a
federal bailout of home-mortage lenders and the debate in Kansas about
constructing coal-fired energy plants near Holcomb.
This bridge south of Lincolnville is one of the 300-plus structures the Marion County Road and Bridge Department is responsible to maintain. The age of many of the bridges are making them candidates for replacement, but limited funds are making that a challenging prospect.
The 300-plus bridges of Marion County on dirt and gravel roads are a continuing challenge for county officials trying to maintain them with the low budget funds of a rural county.
“The highest percentage of them were built in the early 1900s,” Acting Road and Bridge Director John Summerville said. “We’ve patched and repaired them over the years, but sometimes more is needed.”
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