Let's pretend you are the Mayor. What would you do in these cases? First you have you and your street super look at the rain water runoff North on 3rd from the new NEER apartments. You see that there are three large tubes coming down the hill from the apartments. CLICK HERE.  What size tube would you install farther down the hill? A larger tube? The same size tube? Or, a smaller one? 187 people are proud once more and just tickled to death with this decision. See what they put. CLICK HERE.

Now that the City and farmer Dan and farmer John bought this new $50,000.00 fire truck we don't need, are they going to park it here with the others? CLICK HERE. or will they ever use the NEW fire station that thousands of dollars was spent building.

Everyone should contact a Lions member and thank very much for providing parking for the policewoman. For some reason, she and another insist on using the property leased by the Lions club, depriving them of the full use of their property. This is even though she and another, who as a past mayor should know better, have two complete lots of their own property and 500 feet of street parking to park their stuff. CLICK HERE.

187 people should be tickled to death to see their Mayor allow not an employee, but a person who is not supposed to violate any laws, to do this. But, "pave my drive free" is running against his old buddy next time and he will let this happen too.

What is going on with the LRO "main street memorial" building? The canopy hasn't been put up. the lights in front haven't been installed. The weeds are getting taller than the past Mayor would ever had allowed. Is there any business going to pay the high rent to go there? When is the LRO going to publish a financial statement? Susan? Just like the NEER apartments. Where are al those renters? 

Well, maybe next year when the gambling boat gets here.

Well, Hizonner blew it again at the CofC meeting. He tried to blame the Gossip Page for him trying to get the boat builders from eating up town and eating at the weenie wagon. Sorry, Mayor, we all know what you tried to do. Why don't you just support the other businesses in town instead of sand bagging them?

Speaking of eating. Take a look at this.

This is just a sampling of the crop of food at neighbor Bob's.

I received an email about our school. Rumor has it that a "head cook" at the new elementary school made a La grange student pick up a piece of bread he threw in the trash and eat it, I suppose it was a learning experience for the kid.

Are you ready to vote for a Tax increase. The Lewis County Schools need another 70 cents. The Superintendent was on the radio the other day telling everyone about the deplorable conditions of the Ewing School. Wow, can you believe that? Not too long ago it was the best school in the district. Now, she stated it has so many faults and problems, she couldn't name them all. The La grange school had only one problem, well two if you count "pave my drive free" and "no prayer here". The one main problem that the Lewis County school board had was that it was in La Grange. "Pave my drive free" and "no prayer here" big problem was, it was going to interfere with the boat and they wanted their kids to go to Highland. So, they all pissed on La Grange. Now they want to increase your taxes by another 23%. It is time for the people of La Grange to VOTE NO again.   

I received a very scathing and accusing email the other day about the Mayor, so I asked some questions around town. The email suggested that the Mayor rumored that the restaurants in town did not want the boat builders food business and that the boat builders should eat at this weenie wagon CLICK HERE to see. Doesn't this just tickle you to death and make you absolutely hungry? Speaking of Hizonner, did you see the free ad he got in the Press news Journal? Doesn't that just tickle those 187? I asked all the restaurant people and no one has turned away any boat builder business and all welcome the added business, and not one of them has been asked whether they want the business or not.

There is a big sign up at Bob Carskadon's place. CLICK HERE. What does this mean? He won't say.

La Grange now has the largest, the best, the safest beach on the Mississippi river, THANKS to the Corps of Engineers and The La Grange Boat Club. CLICK HERE   and     CLICK HERE..

Rumor has it that Hizonner is now on his own. It seems that "pave my drive free" is now campaigning for himself. He has "no prayer here" as his backer. But, it seems that Hizonner's other base camps are also trying to find someone else to run for Mayor, anyone else.

Is the Street Super EVER, going to use that asphalt on any street? Or is he going to store it up in the way of people trying to get their gets to the bus forever?

Busy, Busy, Busy. Not enough time to keep everything up. Even the grass is getting ahead of me. But, I have more rumors to report today. The big one is Farmer Danny and Farmer Johnnie have sold out the rural farmers in their position on the fire association board. But, farmer Johnnie and family have been known to sell out everyone else in favor of the school at highland. Farmer Danny blames the City Council when he actually voted to spend all the associations money on "another fire truck". All he had to do was say "NO". But, you know how rich farmers are, spend the money. Now, the City is paying a trucking company thousands for dollars to truck this used fire truck to La Grange. The question going around town is if the truck won't drive to La Grange, how will it get to a fire? Will it be parked outside with the other equipment instead of the new building?

An emailer brought up a rumor they heard around town. One question was, is the Neer apartments for battered women? Another was about the dredge boat in which they were informed that the La Grange Boat Club went to the Dredge and asked that all the beach area be covered with new sand. The question was, Why didn't the Mayor try to get the beach area improved? I say, ask the 187 voters. 

What really should happen is the Mayor and City Council APPOINT this group to take care of the riverfront and provide funding and equipment support and let these dedicated people take over. Which brings up another question. What did the Mayor do with the GRANT MONEY received for the riverfront? 

And in relation to the riverfront, most people do not know that Robert Farr, on his own, went down to the riverfront and mowed it for the viewers wanting to see the Vice President and others and for them to see a clean area. Another reason why we need a Mayor and Council who can think of something else besides the gambling boat. 

The "OLD SCHOOL" parking lot was a mess today, the first day of school. People had a hard time finding a place to park to get out of the way of the school buses as the City has piles of asphalt and other stuff all over the place. To compound the problem, the bus drivers tried to drive in and then turn around and drive back out in the mix of all these cars parked every which way. It seems that a more orderly way would have been for the buses to go around the back of the old school and then line up to go out. but, I guess that would be too simple.

The PBS station did a study on gambling last night. Some of the things the study found were, that when gambling comes to a community, suicides, bankruptcies and divorces increase. One in five families becomes a compulsive gambler. Theft, robberies, drugs and prostitution increase. The main thing is the study found that outside money doesn't come in to the community, but local money goes out.  I guess La Grange will find out. 

There are new pictures up showing the progress of the Gambling Boat. I changed the format as it was taking too long to load up all those picture. I made it so that you have to click on which picture you want to see, so the pictures you have already seen will not come up. There is also one extra interesting photo of a power pole.

I received several emails about the Chief, but I have to check out some of this first. Well, one was about the Chief visiting an indian for a couple of hours after 4am the other nite.

On the lighter side. The Green Chapel Church has a real nice fish fry today and that fish was cooked to perfection. 

I seems there is a little restaurant war going on in town. One raised its prices on biscuits and gravy and the other started selling it every day now.

How many of you read the Press news Journal this week regarding the City Council? I have a question for you. If the street super is doing nothing but riding around town, then WHY? I ask WHY? can't he grade any alley that needs to be graded? Why did Sherwood and Griesebaum vote against working on alleys? What's their big problem? They get paid good money for doing nothing, so they think the street super should get paid for doing nothing. Why did the 187 peoples mayor say the City doesn't maintain alleys? Are they not city roads? Why not maintain them? They don't maintain or asphalt all the City streets, so why not maintain the few alleys that are used? Why doesn't the City fix the road back to Hartley's? It would take the city backhoe ten minutes. Why not?

I guess you all saw where the City sold Oyster park to the gambling boat. So much for anyone else donating any property for park purposes only. I don't think any one else will ever donate their land only to later have the heirs see it sold away. Well, I guess if you are the type of person to violate the City Charter, Violate the City ordinances, or State laws, then why not violate the trust of the people too? Way to go ice cream man, pave my drive free, and no prayer here, just treat everyone the same.

I told you several days ago that he fire chief was circling the town like a vulture. I told you he was going to want MORE MONEY. In the PNJ, he not only asked for MORE bunker gear, we must have enough bunker gear to furnish St. Louis, but NOW he wants a new $50,000 fire truck. Can't he wait until at least the boat has a chance to dock before he drains the city coffers?

I see the people that the Mayor treated so shabbily, and hauled into court several times, fought with them over one inch of height on a trailer set, trespassed on their property and hauled off their bricks, forced them to mow, and all else, showed him and the Council that they are still the better people and let the Mayor put his wieny wagon on their TRAILER PARK. WOW! First, they let the LRO off a BIG hook when the LO built their building on part of their property and now let the ice cream man put his trailer on their property.

Let's see now, a construction worker, all hot and sweaty, wanting to cool off for a bit, has to choose to go to the wieny wagon and get something to eat in the hot sun, OR, go a couple of blocks more and sit in an air conditioned restaurant and have someone wait on them. 

And the Mayor and Council keeps on doing for the Dentist. The question on everyones mind is, why?

What did I say? August 11th, I said the fire chief wanted something as he was circling the town like an old buzzard. Well, at last nites Council meeting he asked for a new $50,000 fire truck. While the Council was thinking about how to borrow the money from future gambling boat revenue, they argued about the price of fire plugs. Twice the council went in to secret session, one time to give away more property and another to talk about personnel. More to come on the meeting last nite.

I wonder if the rest of the city Council know that the ice cream man, no prayer here, and pave my drive free nixed the Missouri Municipal League and the Lewis County Industrial Development coming to the council to help prepare the city for the gambling boat. Rumor is, pave my drive free and no prayer here stated they didn't need any guidance or help. What were the 6 P's I wrote before?

Isn't this about the time for the Council to vote in H U G E pay raised for themselves and the Mayor? Let's see now, with over $1 million plus coming in, the Mayor should get a car, at least $50,000 per year, maybe more, each Councilman should get a car each and at least $20,000 per year. What's a trifle couple hundred thou when you got millions coming in. Yet, the 6 P's show that now action has been taken on infrastructure or a City manager/planner or anything. Here the boat is actually being built and the Mayor and Council are arguing over the price of a fire plug. 

The last good Mayor not only was planning ahead but had already put into place a steering committee that would have had this planned for. Too bad for the 187 people. By the time this Mayor and Council get around to it the boat will have come and gone.

New pictures for the gambling boat are up. Click on MARKTWAINCASINO.COM above. Now, if you are tired of waiting for the Casino to open and want to gamble now. Click on LAGRANGECASINO.COM and join up to gamble.

Well folks, get ready for something. The fire chief is running around town talking to all the councilmen before Monday nites council meeting. You know what that means. More money please? And, rumor is about that there is a problem with a police car. More money please?

The mayor of the chamber of commerce will be excited and happy and jumping for joy to know that Al Gore and his partner will be in Hannibal. Now, how is he going to outdo Bo? Who were those guys in the locker room at highland?

It seems that the boat people and the city cannot figure out where the city streets are. They can't even figure out their own new map they paid thousands for. Am I the only one who happens to have a perfected map of the area. Rumor has it there was a complaint by city official about a garage being built a little in the street. WHO CARE? There are garages, houses, sheds all over town in streets and alleys. Legal descriptions of the streets are 66 feet wide. Have you ever seen any street in town that you can drive on that is paved 66 feet wide? There is less than one street is half that wide. Most are only 20 feet wide. The new thousands of dollars paver can't even pave 16 feet correctly. So, who cares?    

Well, yesterday after the rains, it looked like the moat for the boat was already built, but today it s gone. The main man was in town yesterday to see how things were going. Already the g-boat is starting to affect traffic. people driving down and turning around to see the work being done is starting to hamper people trying to get into and out of town. Can you just imagine what another 2000 cars a day will do?

Other things are happening in town too. Bunge is getting some work done, here is a picture of that work from the river.

And while down at the unpromoted river front by the city it is nice to see some travelers using the nice sandy beach that the City continually ignores as an asset. take a look at this picture.

Too bad the Chamber of Commerce and the City continues to ignore this valuable asset. Even the Lions held their "carp rodeo" at the State Park instead of here in town. 

Same ole, same ole.

It seems that the Police Chief can't get enough company. A woman whose husband is a life long Lions member and a brother-in-law who has been a life long businessman in La Grange keeps getting stopped by the chief for going 35 miles an hour. Last evening while she was delivering Avon and on her way home out of town, the Chief stopped her again. What does this lady do to attract this much attention from the chief? Will he keep on harassing her for going 35 miles an hour? Surely by now he would recognize her and her vehicle. Is he looking for some Avon products for someone? Maybe he is just checking to see if the Church is providing alcohol to its members. 

Speaking of the Chief. It is rumored that a person employed as a police officer is supposed to not only enforce the laws of the land but also obey the laws too. If so, then why does a certain police officer continuously park her car on another's property. With over two full lots plus hundreds of feet of street park parking available, she just cannot get her car to park anywhere else than on someone else's property. By the way, rumor is, there is an unusual amount of police officers, chief included, who spend an awful lot of time at that mobile home. Sometimes for hours, sometimes during the day, sometimes during the night. Even highway patrolmen are rumored to stop by for awhile.

I noticed in the Press News Journal the high number of DWI and DUI arrests this past few months. They have been really needed as the arrests in the past have not made enough for payroll. Ralph (pave my drive free) and Fred (no prayer here) like all those arrests. They need the money, (for the City, of course). A lot of local people will be glad to see the Gambling Boat get into operation so the police will have more of a selection to make arrests. Especially those who were drinking while they were gambling. I would hate to have a business in town where the dispatcher could watch my customers leave and have the police knock them off one by one. Maybe we can get the Mayor to move the police department down by the gambling boat so they can watch those customers instead of the local people.

A good Mayor would have put a stop to this harassment of the local citizens a long time ago, but Ralph (pave my drive free) Martin and Fred (no prayer here) Wiewel didn't want a good Mayor, they wanted what they got. And 187 people (well except those being arrested) are happy. Stop by and have another ice cream cone. You can get a free pass there.

New pictures have been added to the MARKTWAINCASINO.COM site. Click on it to see the pictures. It looks like they are lowering the ground level to the street level in these pictures. I thought the lot shown in front of the White's house was FEMA property, but I guess that was last year. You can see that the old 61 lunch is gone and that they are taking up the street going up the hill. Do you remember how high the water was in 93 at the White's place? And now they are lowering the ground? The construction is actually creating some business for the Mayor. People come down off the hill to see what is happening with the boat and stop at the Mayors for an ice cream cone. Rumor has it that the Mayor's lunch wagon is about to roll. Sure doesn't look like it will hold 200 workers though.

There was another picture in the Quincy Herald Whig Saturday about the boat. 

Despite the talk from the ones who don't like the Gossip Page, it is doing some good. The street super is not taking as many days off as before. The streets are starting to be done more professionally. The police radar traps are not being seen very much. But, we still have some work to do on the trapping of people leaving the bar. Last months court cases show a lot of money taken in by the dwi traps.

In Saturdays paper there was an article about Web-Erectors providing people with SATELLITE internet access. Wow, we have been doing that for over a year now. And at half their price. But, it is only high speed down, you still need nemonet to get your stuff up. But, Scott will be going to school next week to learn about installing and setting up a full UP and DOWN from the satellite, NO NEMONET needed, and at 10 times faster than what Web-Erectors is offering. Now, that is worth waiting for.

School is getting ready to start again, people are starting to buy a lot of computers now and upgrading the ones they already have.

La Grange is growing, or is it not. New buildings are going up, yet more people are moving out of town than ever before. Just on the City North 4 blocks there are now 7 vacant houses. Compared to houses with occupants that comes to 36% vacancy rate. And, it is becoming more so all over town. This doesn't make sense, the gambling boat people touted more people will want to move to La Grange, not move out. A speculator (he he) has built a new apartment house, this small building is supposed to hold 4 apartments. See picture below.

The speculator has also built a couple of storage rental buildings. Rumor is that the Mayor has stored some important City papers here. If so, Why?

Now, for all you people who have been harassed by the Fire Chief about open burning and fire unattended, here is a picture of an unattended fire that was ok'd by the Chief. This fire has been burning off and on for days now with no one attending the fire at night.

You might to clip this out for future reference when you need to burn some brush.

Today, I noticed the Mayor coming from the gambling boat area. He had just left some gas company guys. They were to relocate some gas lines to prepare for the boat. When they asked the Mayor where the edge of 3rd street was, the Mayor said 33 feet from the center of the road and quickly left. When these guys were telling me this, they had already started placing flags in some yards. As anyone in town knows, and any other total idiot knows, the center of any paved street in La Grange is not anywhere near the center of the plotted street. Luckily, they had a good citizen who knows what is going on stop by and show them some survey points to go by.

Here again is where the saying come into play. Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. 

This City administration has absolutely no idea which end is up. Every block should have been completely surveyed and a complete accurate mapping of the area should have been presented to all contractors and utility companies, BEFORE anything was started. With the description of the street center given by the Mayor, the alley behind White's would have been in their garage. Of course, now the question is, who owns the alley? Does the boat own all of the alley to Whites or does Whites now own half the alley.

Now, you do know that the boat will be building a new street right over the street the super has just paved for his son. P P P P P P.