Submitted
Dear Editor,
One of the biggest victories from Missouri’s 2023 legislative session came not from what did pass, but from what didn’t. This year, the MO Republicans came into session with an agenda: taking away your power and your voices, and putting it back in their own hands. But when they banged the gavel on Friday evening, they hadn’t passed a single bill to restrict the initiative petition process and end majority rule. Democracy lives to see another day in Missouri. But in a rare showing of bipartisanship, the Missouri Senate came together to expand postpartum Medicaid, allowing new moms access to healthcare for up to a year after they give birth.
Remember way back in the first week of the session when State Rep. Ann Kelley (R), while wearing a sequined short-sleeved shirt, made it her first priority to make women wear jackets? That was a foretelling on how the session would go. The continual Republican in-fighting slowed governing effectiveness to a snail’s pace. They were so busy attacking LGBTQ rights to life-saving healthcare and culture war issues, bills to increase teacher pay, fully fund schools, mandate five-day school weeks, and address foreign ownership of our farmland fell by the wayside. When the Democrats tried to get legislation back on track, the Republicans, who have the majority, ignored them.
Republicans griped about not getting anything done in Missouri because they were blocked by other Republicans. NOW they’ve asked Gov. Parson to call a special session – on Missourians dime – to address the issues they fought about. They’ve created their own storms and now they’re mad that it rains, leaving Missourians without an umbrella.
Jacqueline Farr
Chair
Benton County
Democratic Party
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Dear Editor,
The hardest thing any parent can go through is to bury one of their children.
I spent many days at Shawnee Bend Cemetery after my son was laid to rest there. You would think, after a while, you would start getting some peace.
We always took a lot of decorations out there only to find them gone the next day. Pretty SAD!
One particular day I was there watching a man walking his dog through there; might not of been too bad except the dog was urinating on some of the stones. Then of course, doing his other business once in a while! Very DISRESPECTFUL, to say the least. By the time the guy made it over to where I was, he didn't have time to say much. I'm sure he had wished he had never encountered me that day. I wasn't very pleasant!
Then recently my daughter called and said my son's stone was moved a few inches. I went out to see, and it appears the mower caught the edge and slid it forward. Maybe he had a few extra snorts that morning! By the way it gets mowed, that might be an ongoing situation.
I called the funeral home April 10, 2023 at 8:39 AM. They took a message, I'll call you back. Called again May 2, 2023 at 9:54 AM. Took a message, I'll call you back. On May14, 2023, I went out to do my usual weed eating around the stones, everything was the same. There is no care or respect in the world anymore!
Some people might think this doesn't amount to anything. It means everything to me, a part of my heart is out there! Very, very frustrating to have to deal with this, especially in a cemetery.
This could have been so much easier if they had just fixed the problem they created. I hate being ignored!
Thank You Benton County Enterprise for a place to vent!
Patricia Hodges
