Sheriff’s View #31 for July 26 to 30, 2010 Welcome aboard one more time for a very hot trip around Pulaski County with the deputies of the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office, or at least, a report from the deputies that are still here to do our work. We are down on our deputy numbers at this time. We recently had a deputy resign and we have not yet hired his replacement, then we had Uncle Sam grab one of our deputies for an extended 12-week trip to another country with his National Guard unit. As a result, we are down to only ten deputies at this time. The good news is that our reserves are reporting in to work and help us cover the slack time. Our reserve deputies have put in a lot of hours lately and more hours are planned for the future. While the deputy count is down, our inmate county is up, with the usual summer jump in our jail numbers. As you may recall for the longest time this spring we were down in the mid-40 numbers on the daily inmate count. On Saturday, July 24, our inmate roster had 70 names. That means roughly 28 here in Waynesville and 42 held elsewhere. Those 42 inmates cost us $1,470 just for today. We need to be thankful for the lower totals this spring because if we had those same numbers all year the inmate board bill would have been $536,550 for the year. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... Sheriff J.B. King
Ambulance Director Gary Carmack
Paramedic’s Corner: Teaching what to do while waiting for ambulances PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (July 20, 2010) — This last Saturday, EMT Christy Saylor and I presented a Summer Emergencies program at the Westside Baptist church. We had a good time; the people were involved in the discussions and very nice. They certainly had a lot of excellent input into snakes, spiders, heat and other subjects. Let me tell you, if you ever have the opportunity to spend time and learn from a room full of people who have all been on this planet for more than 50 years — well, just what a pleasure. I am not sure who taught who the most. I believe Christy and I learned more from those wonderful folks than we taught them. Our goals here at the ambulance district include doing more public education in hopes of preventing tragedies, followed by helping people to know what to do when a crisis does occur, and often more importantly, what not to do until the paramedics arrive. We will present various programs, tailored to each request, including CPR and first aid. If any group or organization is interested, contact the ambulance at the phone number or email listed below. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... Ambulance Director Gary Carmack
County Collector Terri Mitchell
Summer Collector’s Report Greetings from the collector’s office! I hope everyone is staying cool during these hot summer days. We are staying cool but gearing up for the 2010 land tax sale in August and preparing to add the city taxes for Waynesville and St. Robert to our 2010 county collections. The addition of the 2009 Crocker city taxes to the 2009 Pulaski County statements went smoothly, and we are looking forward to the addition of St. Robert and Waynesville city collections to this year’s tax season. The beginning of summer always brings inquiries about the annual land tax sale. The annual sale is held the fourth Monday of August in every county in the state, as mandated by Missouri state statutes; the fourth Monday this year falls on Aug. 23 and the sale will be held at 10 a.m. in the lobby of the courthouse. Delinquent real estate accounts for which taxes have not been paid for three years (2007, 2008, and 2009) are mandated by Missouri state statutes to be sold for the tax amount due plus fees. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... County Collector Terri Mitchell
Sheriff J.B. King
Sheriff’s View #30 for July 19 to 23, 2010 The recent blitz of media articles about our work efforts has produced a humorous side note. A friend told me that someone had commented to her that I must be up for election this year considering all the news releases that I had sent out to the media. The answer is no, I am not up for election; I am just trying to do a better job of telling the world just how busy we are and what kinds of job stress we face due to our limited manpower base. The next election for sheriff will be in 2012. However, we do stay busy. As I recall last year, we arrested 613 people on felony violations and another 813 for significant misdemeanor offenses. When you add those numbers together and start working on the news releases behind those numbers, that equals a lot of news releases. It is my belief that if the citizens of Pulaski County fully understand how busy and how swamped we are, if they ever get a chance to vote on the law enforcement sales tax, the tax issue will pass on the first ballot attempt. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... Sheriff J.B. King
Ambulance Director Gary Carmack
Paramedic’s Corner: Seatbelts prevent death and disability during crashes PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (July 12, 2010) — A young woman had just fixed her husband and son a nice dinner. She was distraught, though, because she noticed she was out of bread. She decided to jump in her vehicle and just run up to the store and buy some bread for the meal. It was her final act on this earth. Over the last holiday season, the July 4 weekend, there were 12 fatalities in our state. Nearly all of those were a result of the person not wearing seatbelts and being ejected out of the vehicle. That is an interesting and scary statistic, if you really think about it. That was an actual crash I worked. The young woman just wanted to run to the store and grab a loaf of bread for dinner. According to her husband, she usually wore her seatbelt. Apparently, she did what many of us do and thought, “I’m just driving a short distance away, no need for seatbelt.” However, her right steering tire drooped off the road and when she tried to correct it, she flipped over. Her head ejected out the side of the truck just as the vehicle rolled, and the impact crushed her head. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... Ambulance Director Gary Carmack
Sheriff J.B. King
Sheriff’s View #29 for July 12 to 16, 2010 I make many references to the fact that the budget controls what we can do in many ways. Our low deputy count, when contrasted with our high crime count means that the two to three deputies on duty at any given time are always rushing to a new case. They may leave a case they have just started working on to rush to another. It seems that very frequently we are working a burglary case, just got on scene and barely started, when suddenly we get an assault in progress. We will respond to the assault as a priority call and leave the property crime for follow up later. I realize that if the burglary was at your home then it is the most important crime scene in Pulaski County and needs to be solved PDQ. The guy who just got his head bashed in on the other side of the county might well disagree with you. As the sheriff, I believe we should have sufficient manpower to take on both cases at once, but that is not the way it works around these parts. Law enforcement on the county level has a very low priority. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... Sheriff J.B. King
Ambulance Director Gary Carmack
Paramedic’s Corner: Helping prevent drowning deaths and near-drownings PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (July 7, 2010) — How many readers have ever experienced a near-drowning event? Medically defined, drowning is death by asphyxiation resulting from submersion in a liquid. A near-drowning indicates that death either did not occur or occurred more than 24 hours after submersion. About 4,500 people die each year in the United States from drowning. Drowning is the second highest cause of death in the 1-14-year-old age group; only motor vehicle crashes kill more of our kids. World-wide drowning is the fourth-highest cause in the 5-14-year-old group and tenth in the 15-44-year-old age group. Drownings occur in a variety of places and settings, including oceans, lakes, reservoirs, bays, Jacuzzis, bathtubs, swimming pools, and buckets. Yes, even buckets. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... Ambulance Director Gary Carmack
Sheriff J.B. King
Sheriff’s View #28 for July 5 to 9, 2010 Last week Thursday, we had an on-site visit by the federal monitor from Washington, D.C., in reference to our two largest grants. Cynthia Simmons has served as our state policy advisor since the start of the grant awards and she made the trip to Pulaski County to audit our two grants and one for the Crocker Police Department. She spent a little over two hours in my office as we went over everything related to the grants. She got down into some very small details, and in the end, she was very happy with the documentation that the sheriff’s office was saving. I then escorted her over to the Pulaski County Clerk’s Office and after a review of the documents there, she told me that Pulaski County would receive a favorable report from her on our grant documents. I had high hopes that we were doing what we were supposed to be doing and tracking the performance numbers that we needed to track, but I would be lying if I said I was completely confidant that I thought we were on the right path. I am greatly relieved to know that we are doing it correctly with only a few very minor corrections to make. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... Sheriff J.B. King
Ambulance Director Gary Carmack
Paramedic’s Corner: Spider sightings and bites seem to be increasing PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (June 30, 2010) — Spiders, Yuk! Most of us think about those horror movies with awful tarantulas crawling all over our bodies. A lot of people have been telling me they are seeing numerous brown recluse spiders this year. I don’t know if all the spiders they are seeing are brown recluse or not, but almost all of the 30,000 species of spiders are venomous. However, the fangs of most species are too short or too fragile to penetrate the humans’ skin. Only a few spider venoms have been studied in detail. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... Ambulance Director Gary Carmack
Sheriff J.B. King
Sheriff’s View #27 for June 28 to July 2, 2010 We have an upcoming on-site audit of our use of two federal grants that supply us with eight of our employees. As you may recall, the jail grant will pay us $288,000 for jail staff and the dispatch/evidence room grant will pay us another $170,000-something to cover the cost of those employees. Both grants are completely paid for by the feds. We do not have a matching financial amount associated with these grants and we are not required to continue the employment of the people after the grant is over. It would be a very stupid decision on our part to wave goodbye to eight well-trained people when the grants are over, but unless the Pulaski County Commission goes after new revenue for the county, that is exactly what we will do next year. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... Sheriff J.B. King
Ambulance Director Gary Carmack
Paramedic’s Corner: Reporting May calls and handling summer heat PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (June 21, 2010) — Please consider the following safety precautions for heat: Drink plenty of water and natural fruit juices, even if you're not thirsty. Wear loose-fitting, lightweight, light-colored clothing. Use a buddy system between co-workers in high heat stress jobs. Inside during the day, keep shades drawn and blinds closed. Use air conditioning whenever available. Fans should only be used in a ventilated room. Take cool (not icy cold) baths or showers. Eat frequent, small meals. Do not leave children or pets in a closed vehicle with the windows up. Provide extra water for pets. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... Ambulance Director Gary Carmack
Congressman Ike Skelton
New Predator mission will bring more jobs to Whiteman Air Force Base WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 21, 2010) — Today, Congressman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) announced that a new mission will bring 280 military and civilian personnel to Whiteman Air Force Base. The new MQ-1 Remote Split Operation squadron and ground control station at Whiteman Air Force Base, from which pilots will control MQ-1 Predator drone aircraft, is expected to be operational by February 2011.
Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton
Congressman Ike Skelton
Skelton calls on Senate to pass biodiesel tax credit extension WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 21, 2010) — Today, Congressman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) called on the U.S. Senate to stop delaying passage of a multitude of tax credit extensions for rural businesses, families, and farmers, especially the biodiesel tax credit extension. Echoing a letter he sent to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Friday, Skelton stated during a Missouri Soybean Association press conference: “It is critical that Congress work to preserve American homegrown energy by extending the biodiesel tax credit ... Allowing this tax credit to expire would not only be a blow to the rural Missouri economy, but it would be a set back for American national security since our nation is so dependent on foreign energy sources. Growing all aspects of the clean, domestic energy industry continues to be important to me.” On Dec. 9, 2009, and again on May 28, 2010, the House of Representatives passed extensions of many tax credits, including the biodiesel tax credit. As of June 21, 2010, however, the Senate has not been able to approve a House-passed bill and send it to the President for his signature. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton
Congressman Ike Skelton
Skelton helps defeat 21 percent cut of TRICARE, Medicare doctor payments WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 24, 2010) — Today, Congressman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) released the following statement after the House of Representatives voted 417 to 1 to prevent a 21 percent cut in Medicare and TRICARE reimbursements to doctors serving senior citizens and military families: “When doctors don’t know how much they should expect to get paid by Medicare and TRICARE, it makes it harder for them to continue seeing seniors and military families ... While I am disappointed that this is just another short-term fix to an issue that is in need of a permanent solution, the cuts that took effect on June 1 were already making it more difficult for some Medicare and TRICARE beneficiaries to get care.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton
Congressman Ike Skelton
Skelton receives Corps of Engineers briefing on Missouri flooding problems WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 23, 2010) — Today, Congressman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) received a detailed briefing from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on their efforts to manage flooding in Missouri and throughout the Midwest. Following the conversation, Skelton released the following statement: “This afternoon, I spoke with General John R. McMahon and Colonel Roger Wilson of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about dangerously high water levels on the Missouri River and about water stages in other parts of the Fourth District, such as Truman Lake, the Lake of the Ozarks, and along the Osage River ... As this situation unfolds, I will remain in close contact with the Corps of Engineers.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton
Congressman Ike Skelton
Skelton says bill passed last week will make government more efficient WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 21, 2010) — As I travel throughout the Fourth District, I often hear from folks who are rightly concerned about the lack of efficiency in the federal government. While most Americans agree that federal programs are needed, there is growing concern about the wasteful and inefficient practices of some federal agencies. That is why the House of Representatives, in a continuing effort to make each tax dollar go farther, last week passed legislation that would force federal agencies and programs to operate in a more accountable manner. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton
Sheriff J.B. King
Sheriff’s View #26 for June 21 to 25, 2010 I have had a number of comments about my new aggressive media news release campaign. I can say that several members of the media love the flood of releases that I have sent out of late. However, this is a double edged sword. Yes, I have done it this year, but we had the same kind of news action last year, so I get asked why did I fail to put out the news last year? About all I can say in my defense is that this job has a lot of directions we need to move in, all at once. Sometimes we fail, and sometimes we cannot decide what the most pressing direction to move toward should be at that exact minute. In those cases, we usually try several directions at once and end up doing about half the job we should on each job direction. We simply run out of time to do the job. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... Sheriff J.B. King
Congressman Ike Skelton
Skelton says Congress keeps fighting for rural jobs, veterans, and seniors WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 14, 2010) — Promoting job growth and economic development in our small towns and rural communities remains a top priority for me. In the Fourth District, this means strengthening the agricultural marketplace and small businesses that anchor our economy. To that end, the House of Representatives recently passed H.R. 4213, a bill that would help Missouri farmers, small businesses, and veterans and has been endorsed by organizations like the American Farm Bureau, the AARP, and the Military Officer’s Association of America. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton
Sheriff J.B. King
Sheriff’s View #25 for June 14 to 18, 2010 We had been in line to receive two deputy positions to replace the ones we lost in the 2009 budget year under a federal COPS grant. The grant would have paid us $191,204 to fully fund two deputy positions for three years. In year four, Pulaski County would have been responsible for the payment of around $64,000 to finish off the salary for the fourth year. The Pulaski County Commission’s approval was required in order to update our application and the commissioners turned down the chance to add the two deputies. The addition of two replacement deputy positions would have increased our road positions by sixteen percent. We are in desperate need of more deputies to handle the 10,000 calls we expect this year. The lack of manpower affects every phase of our department’s activity and our ability to lock up the herds of drug pushers and burglars that infest our fine county. Never fear, we do a good job with our 1980 budget level resources. It is unfortunate that this is the year 2010 and we have had major growth over the past 20 years. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... Sheriff J.B. King
Congressman Ike Skelton
Skelton applaudes anti-Iran sanctions, will investigate Arlington grave issue WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 10, 2010) — On Wednesday, Congressman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) released a statement following passage of sanctions against Iran by the United Nations Security Council: “Today, the UN Security Council has wisely moved to place new sanctions on the Iranian regime. Congress must now follow suit and quickly pass the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act of 2009, which I fully support.” On Thursday, Skelton released the following statement on the Department of the Army Inspector General’s report of errors and misconduct at Arlington National Cemetery: “Arlington National Cemetery is a sacred shrine and it breaks my heart to learn about mismarked gravesites, mishandling of remains, missing documentation, and failures to notify next-of-kin. This conduct is disgraceful and cannot be tolerated.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... Press Office of U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton
Congressman Ike Skelton
Skelton says American economy still needs safe domestic oil production WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 7, 2010) — While most Americans acknowledge we must diminish our appetite for oil and gasoline, transitioning to alternative energy sources will not happen overnight. However, the recent sinking of an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico and the subsequent oil spill catastrophe have highlighted the need for significant reexamination of the oil drilling regulations in place and how those regulations are enforced by the federal government. Also, the government must continue to contain and clean up the escaping oil and limit the scope of this horrendous disaster as much as possible. Just last week I spoke with Coast Guard Rear Admiral Peter Neffenger about ongoing cleanup operations in the Gulf. I am confident that our uniformed personnel are doing everything within their power to protect the coasts and economies of Gulf states. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton
Congressman Ike Skelton
Skelton upset that Senate killed effort against EPA greenhouse gas regulation WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 10, 2010) — Today, Congressman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) released a statement following the defeat of S.J.Res. 26 in the U.S. Senate. “I am sorely disappointed that the Senate has voted to kill a bipartisan, bicameral effort in Congress to gain better control over the EPA. By choosing to kill S.J.Res. 26, the Senate has given the EPA the green light to enact costly greenhouse gas rules under the Clean Air Act, even though Congress has never given the Agency permission to write such regulations.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... Press Office of U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton
County Collector Terri Mitchell
March Collector’s Report The 2009 tax collection season was the smoothest yet with the collection percentage again reaching an excellent rate of 92 percent. The Pulaski County Collector’s Office web site was used more frequently for electronic payments, and we opened the last Saturday of December again, which was a tremendous help to taxpayers and this office in staying current on receipting mail and making daily deposits. New this year is an installment plan for the 2010 real estate taxes; 113 taxpayers with approximately 150 accounts are taking advantage of this opportunity to pay their taxes in equal increments throughout the year. With the program, installments will be automatically withdrawn every month with the final payment in November 2010. On the other hand, if you received a delinquent statement but have an escrow account with your mortgage company, you need to call their customer service number on the mortgage statement and let them know the taxes are unpaid. Although our returned mail decreased considerably each year, we still have some returned mail with no known address. Address changes/corrections are extremely important to us, and we offer different notification options when changes need to be made. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... County Collector Terri Mitchell
St. Robert Police Department report for Sept. 14 to 20, 2009 SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Sept. 22, 2009) — St. Robert Police Chief Curtis Curenton has released the following activity report for his department for the week of Sept. 14 to 20, 2009. During this period, officers responded to 210 calls for service resulting in 36 incident reports and nine accident reports being generated and nine subjects being arrested. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... St. Robert Police Chief Curtis Curenton
State Senator Frank Barnitz
Barnitz named to newly created post on Missouri Veterans Commission JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Sept. 1, 2009) — Sen. Frank Barnitz, D-Lake Spring, has been appointed to serve on the Missouri Veterans Commission. Legislation passed and signed into law this year adds legislators to the Missouri Veterans Commission, which works to provide services to Missouri’s veterans. The 16th Senate District includes Fort Leonard Wood, giving Barnitz the opportunity to represent a large concentration of soldiers and veterans. He also serves on the Missouri Military Preparedness and Enhancement Commission. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... State Sen. Frank Barnitz
State Senator Frank Barnitz
Barnitz says state budgeting is broken JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (May 14, 2009) — Last week, we worked on the budget, 13 core spending bills as well as additional capital improvement bills that make up the state’s spending plan. I serve on the Senate Appropriations Committee, which puts me in a unique position to closely observe the budget process. This year has been a very challenging year for the budget with declining revenue, increased unemployment, and new federal stimulus and stabilization dollars adding to the confusion, and unfortunately, it has also been a destructive one to the budget process. Much of the obstructive attitude that prevailed in the Senate originated from undue influence from the House of Representatives. I don’t think people really had a chance to offer their input on these bills when they were in committee, but you can tell by reading them that the special interest groups that roam the hallways had a hand in writing these bills. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... State Sen. Frank Barnitz
