The Houston Herald from Houston, Missouri • Page 4

A4 Thursday, May 7, 2009, HOUSTON HERALD Houston, www.houstonherald.com Member Missouri Press Association Publishing Staff Bradley G. Gentry, publisher Jeffrey S. McNiell, editor Deanna McKinney, assistant to the publisher; Leesa Smith, composition; Janice Wood, composition; Tanya Miller, ad and page composition special projects; Sharon Hayes, composition and bookkeeping; Kathy Richardson, feature writing and special projects; Bonnie Hayes, office assistant; Tyson Troutman, printing manager; Charlie Beavers, printing; Megan Kell and Michael Shea, photography and mailing. Robert L. Davis, publisher emeritus Subscribe online at www.houstonherald.com Published weekly by Houston Newspapers Inc.

Houston and Texas County since 1878 Periodicals Postage Paid at Houston, MO 65483 113 N. Grand P.O. Box 170 Houston, MO 65483 Phone 417-967-2000 FAX 417-967-2096 Web site: www.houstonherald.com POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Houston Herald, P.O. Box 170, Houston, MO 65483. Subscription Rates $29.95 in Texas County and $31.50 adjoining $45.55 Elsewhere in out-of-state Single Copies applicable sales taxes) Archival records of the Houston Herald appear at its Web site at www.houstonherald.com.

Click on Newspaper Publishers William L. and E.K. Lyles, 1889-1946 Lane E. Davis and Robert L. Davis, 1946-1995 Bradley G.

Gentry, 1995 HOUSTON HERALD (A252760) Online readers subscribe here: http://www.houstonherald.com/shared-content/perform/?domain_name=houstonherald.com&form_template=popup 1. Fire department helps retrieve missing items from local cave 2. Separate accidents injure two Monday in county 3. Man with ties to county arrested in 2002 homicide 4. More than $10,000 of stolen goods found in Cabool storage unit 5.

Three cited with DWI offenses 6. Houston accident injures three 7. Licking girl hurt in Phelps County mishap 8. Highway MM accident hurts Houston woman 9. Texas County places second in turkey kill numbers 10.

Swine flu case probable in state, Gov. Nixon reports Unique visitors 16,826 Page views for week 57,384 Last top stories www.houstonherald.com miss last most talked about stories on to www.houstonherald.com to catch up. Herald On The Go Sign up for free today to get news while you are on the go the latest weather, news, sports directly to your mobile device. Click the link at houstonherald. com.

SIGN UP: http://my.textcaster.com/ServePopup.aspx?id=1496 Send e-mail to: houstonherald.com Send FAX to: 417-967-2096 Contacting the Be our guest FORUM The Missouri Department of Revenue has redesigned its online vehicle registration system. It says Texas County residents will find the system more user-friendly. Improvements also will allow persons a longer period in which to renew their license plates. The site can be accessed directly at http://plates.mo.gov. The new system allows it to be used to renew a license plate up to the last day that a vehicle registration expires.

Previously, the cut-off date was 10 days before expiring. Users also can generate a receipt good until their arrive in the mail. The Community Crossroads Church at Raymondville will be open noon until midnight today (Thursday) for the National Day of Prayer. Anyone wanting to pray or needing prayer is welcome. The Animal Shelter of Texas County is holding its Caturdays from 11 a.m.

until 5 p.m. Saturdays through June 27. Persons can adopt a kitten or cat for the reduced price of $25. have several beautiful adult cats and very cute kittens said Beth Burch of the animal shelter. The shelter is on Highway 17 just east of Houston.

Those interested can go the Web site at www.tastc.com and select or to www.pathfinder. com to see pictures and descriptions of the animals. animals get very good care from the cat Burch said. are particular about their furry friends. They spend time with them, hold and play them and make sure they have everything they need to have a decent life at the shelter, but these animals need a home where they belong and have space to Around town: Associate Commissioner John Casey stopped by the Herald office Friday.

It was his first trip out of the house since being discharged following brain aneurysm surgery. Casey was upbeat and was anxious to catch up on the news in the county. He was en route to his office to pick up what he joked would be a mountain of mail to review. A Springfield band, Berch, which features lead singer Colin Elmore, right, will perform May 16 at Avenue Theatre in West Plains. Elmore, the son of Marty and Patti Elmore of West Plains, is the grandson of Wilburn and Imogene Elmore.

Doors open at 7 p.m. Berch will perform at 8 p.m. The first 50 people to arrive receive a free demo cd. Tickets are $5. Their music can be heard at www.myspace.com/berchofficial.

fitness program that is launching has questions at the Houston Herald Web site to gauge information about the needs of the area. The information will be tabulated and data used in future grant funding opportunities. Ten Years Ago The annual Emmett Kelly Clown Festival is set to receive national exposure. A PBS camera crew visited in Houston to film footage for a segment. Texas County Memorial Hospital says it is planning an expansion that will total about $3 million.

Texas County Technical Institute has received a grant that will allow it to construct a new facility on South U.S. 63. Violet Kell is the new owner of a house constructed by the building trades class at Houston High School. Twenty Years Ago Texas jobless rate stands at 10.2 percent. Class rings are advertised at Casebeer Jewelry for $74.95.

Musk thistle weevils have been released in the county to help rid the area of the pesky weed. For the sixth consecutive year, Texas County finished second in the state in the annual turkey harvest. Thirty Years Ago Work has begun on a new road on north edge. Spruce Street is under construction. and the is showing at Sunset Drive-In.

A Houston business, Romines Motor Co. has sold 100 trucks to the state highway department. Pineymo queen and king are Tammy Gunter and Roger Martin. Earlier this week, a Missouri Senate Committee reviewed House Joint Resolution 36, which would eliminate the income tax and would expand the Missouri sales tax to apply to all consumer spending while increasing the sales tax rate by an unspecified amount. The bill also would introduce a tax to offset some of the sales tax increase on Missourians.

The bill is designed to be meaning that it should leave total Missouri tax collections unchanged. But two new analyses from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and the Missouri Budget Project (MBP) find that HJR 36, entitled the Tax would impose huge tax hikes on most Missouri families, with some of the largest tax hikes reserved for middle-income families. The ITEP report, the Impact of also finds that because of the huge costs of the proposed income tax repeal and the sales tax rebate, the combined sales tax rate on every purchase would have to increase to about 12.5 percent for HJR 36 to be revenue-neutral overall. The text of the legislation specifies a basic state tax rate of 5.11 percent but allows extra state and local sales taxes and also allows lawmakers to adjust the 5.11 percent rate for shortfalls. (Some media reports have incorrectly reported that the 5.11 percent rate would be the total statewide sales tax rate under HJR 36.) analysis also shows that the poorest 95 percent of the Missouri income spectrum would pay more taxes, under HJR 36.

The 20 percent of Missourians in the middle of the income distribution would see tax hikes averaging more than $2,000, or 5.5 percent of their income. Yet the wealthiest 1 percent of Missourians, with incomes averaging over $1 million, would see tax cuts averaging more than $22,000. ITEP Director Matt Gardner said, 36 would dramatically shift the cost of funding public services away from the current shared responsibility between corporations, high, middle and low income families in Missouri to put these costs squarely on the backs of middle-income Missourians. When you look at the numbers honestly, hard to see how anyone can describe this proposal as report, of HJR 36: Proposal to Dramatically Alter Tax Structure Would Burden Missouri Families and found that the additional sales taxes levied under HJR 36 would especially harm Missourians living on fixed incomes because the sales tax would apply to all services including utilities, rent, medical care, food, prescription drugs and child care. MBP also found that consumer purchasing would decrease, particularly in border areas of the state, MBP Executive Director Amy Blouin said, this already difficult fiscal climate, HJR 36 places Missouri at enormous risk for a significant reduction in state revenue and cuts to state Read report here: http://www.itepnet.org/mo_hjr36report.pdf Read report here: http://www.mobudget.org/ Is the proposed fair? By Secretary of State Robin Carnahan Just one year ago, in April 2008, there were almost 3,000 reports of domestic violence in Missouri alone.

Survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, rape and stalking have enough to face, they have to worry about their assailant finding their address on a government document or piece of mail. Through the Safe at Home program, my office has helped more than 350 men, women and children find some sense of security as they continue to live their lives. The Safe at Home program provides participants a designated address to use when creating new records with state and local government agencies and the courts. In addition, it allows them to have their first class, legal and certified mail from these entities forwarded to them confidentially. These services limit an ability to access public information that could reveal the new location of a survivor who is in the program.

It might surprise some of you to find that those interested in becoming part of the Safe at Home program come from all walks of life. They can be women or men, company executives or factory workers. They can be anyone any age, any race and any social status. because domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking are not problems that discriminate, and we want to help all those who are affected. This week is Crime Victims Rights Week.

I encourage everyone to not only learn about this important topic but to share this knowledge. Unfortunately, each of us has probably known someone that needed help getting out of a bad situation. When my office hears stories about the persistent abuse and harassment that program participants have received in the past, it becomes obvious that this program makes a real difference in lives. In some cases, survivors of domestic violence have had their abusers track them down in several different locations and even follow them across state lines. Safe at Home helps deter this from happening in Missouri.

One Safe at Home program participant recently told us, been hiding out for years and your program will help me just live my The Safe at Home program has more than 400 application assistants across the state and that number continues to grow. Several law enforcement agencies now carry information about the program and many shelters, schools and hospitals also provide information. All of us need to do our part to combat domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. If you or someone you know could benefit from this program, please visit our Web site to find an application assistant in your area. Too many Missourians have become victims of continued abuse, and this is one way we can put a stop to it and maybe even help save lives.

To learn more about Safe at Home Address Confidentiality Program, visit www.MoSafeAtHome.com. State program aims to help victims.