THE GOSSIP PAGE The City of La Grange

The City of La Grange's first Electronic News
Jerry Brandt jbrandt@gte.net editor Since "1999"
To go the Main Page CLICK HERE

Boy Scout Soup Supper
on Feb.21 at 4pm at the Lions Hall.
There will be chili, chicken noodle soup, a sandwich, pie and a drink for $5.00.
We hope people will come enjoy the meal and support the scouts.
Also if anyone happens to notice the window of the scout building has something new in it. Please
stop and take a look at the uniform and patch jackets in the window. It shows some of the merit
badges that can be earned as well as patches from various functions the scouts have been on.
The jackets belong to my husband and sons, the other scouts have merit badge sashes with just
as many badges on them.
Also I would like to thank everyone who has supported us in our first year in LaGrange, we just
added 2 more scouts and hope to add many more.
Connie Bronstine Committe Chairperson-LaGrange Troop 173

Cheap Long Distance Phone Service CLICK HERE
Tired of telemarketing calls goto: donotcall.gov or call 888-382-1222

BOOKS FOR SALE CLICK HERE
La Grange's largest bookstore
__________________________________________

2000 mhz computer with 40 gig hard drive - 256 meg ram - CDRW only $475.00
FREE DISH NETWORK SATELLITE SYSTEMS
CALL 573-655-2260 to order for Christmas delivery
CLICK HERE for inkjet printer cartridge prices
CLICK HERE for remanufactured inkjet printer cartridge prices
CLICK HERE for remanufactured toner cartridge prices

BEFORE YOU BUY THAT NEW PRINTER FOR A CHRISTMAS PRESENT
CLICK ON THE COST TO BUY INK FOR IT ABOVE.

La Grange Appreciation Day moved up to May 22nd.
WHO - WHAT - WHEN - WERE CLICK HERE and CLICK HERE
La Grange Fire Department Chicken Bar-B-Que July 3rd.
La Grange City wide yard sale August 14th
Council meetings are on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month

La Grange Christian Church
The La grange Christian Church will be having a two part class on personal finances c-taught by Judy Eaton from NECAC and Christian Penrod
The class "Budgeting for successful Living" is open to anybody who would like to attend.
Wednesday Evening February 18th and 25th from 7:00pm to 8:30pm.
Free childcare provided call Christian at 573-655-4571.

The Class of 1964 is in the process of planning a class reunion for July 2-3, 2004. Our tentative
plan is to host an "informal get-together" for the classes of 1962, 1963 & 1965 the night of the 3rd.

Kitchen table for sale $150.00 CLICK HERE
So, you think you want to fly in a plane, Think Again. CLICK HERE
What people in Iowa do to their rocks CLICK HERE

Can anyone tell me where the Bra went to at the dance at the bar a couple of weeks ago.
I believe that this one was hanging from a balloon.

DO NOT EVER SHIP AIRBORNE EXPRESS

Airborne Express has attempted for the past year to make deliveries to every address in town in a feeble attempt to deliver to me. They have the most stupid, inept, dumbest, people in the world working for them. Airborne Express should consider themselves lucky the driver can even find the town. From now on, on ever bid I win on EBAY, I tell the shipper that if they want me to get the package, they had better not ship AIRBORNE.

The David & Holly Platt residence caught fire today. The call came in around 10:40. Fire Departments from LaGrange, Lewistown, LaBelle, Canton, Monticello, Maywood & Ewing responded to the blaze. The house is a total loss.. David & Holly have three children ages:19-17 and 12.
A collection is already being taken at the USB Bank in Lewistown (Holly works at the bank and
David is a Fed Ex driver) David Lomax, the chief at Ewing will have more details about the fire...

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O'Fallon will accept orders for engraved bricks at T.R. Hughes Ballpark until Feb 21, 2004. The bricks will be installed in the walkway to the park's entrance. The cost for the brick is $50.00 or three for $100.00. The bricks can be used to honor a family member or celebrate a special occasion. To place an order call....

Now, let's see now, who do we know who took a whole lot of money from several people in town for just the very same thing? Oh, I remember, it was that lady, oh, you know, she was the President of the LRO. I can't remember if the VP of the Bank was involved in that scam or not. Funny, that the City never investigated the scam.

It really makes a person sick. The River Rats Boat club want to do something to make the riverfront useable and attractive to get people to use it and enjoy it. The formed a boat club, got up some members, pay some days and put on a Soup Luncheon. And what support do they get from the people of La Grange? CLICK HERE. Take a look at the supporters. A few more of the same La Grange supporters came in while I was leaving. Some real nice ladies did an excellent job of serving. CLICK HERE.

But, at the same time the La Grange Community Youth Center had cake and punch for their annual open house and fund raiser and guess who came. The same supporters. There were none of the families of the children who use the Youth Center. In fact, none of the kids showed up either.

I saw one Councilman, the City Administrator and the Mayor at the Boat Club Soup luncheon. I only saw the Mayor at the Youth Center open house. NOT ONE COUNCILMAN. It makes a sane person wonder why in the world these people run for Councilmen and refuse to support their town. The Friday before each Council meeting, all councilmen are given their packet with everything that will be discussed at the next Council meeting. You attend a Council meeting and they look at the packet for the first time and then decide to bring up something they just read. The Committee Chairmen don't have anything to report because the don't go see what is happening. Lannie Hents has no idea in the world what the street department is doing. Ron Powers was on vacation for two weeks and bragged he did not go see the Police Chief one time. And on and on. It just makes a person sick to see the lack of support for the community. If it were not for the Mayor and the City Administrator, nothing would be getting done.

If we get a school here in La Grange, it won't because of the La Grange City Council. It may be in spite of.

While the La Grange Community Youth Center is trying to get people to come and visit and hopefully make a donation, the President of the Youth Center has his police force out stopping everyone in sight. Oh, you didn't know that the new president of the Youth center is Police Lieutenant Dennis Boden??

Hopefully, some people will be able to make it through the radar traps to make it to the Boat Club's soup luncheon today.

There have been a whole lot of positive comments about the Mayor talking about a new school in La Grange. Even some people who I thought would vote against any tax have said that they would support this.

The Casino revenue shows an improvement over last month, but that was one bad month. So, it looks like the revenues are at a bottom and looking up.

From reading the Canton PNJ it looks like Ted and Margarett went to see daughter Linda again. From what it looks like from here, Ted and the Mrs. are being able to see a lot of the United State visiting Linda as she moves around a lot. Maybe Linda will make it back for the class reunion.

The LAPD is giving away FREE gun locks and as you leave they mark down your name and how many guns you have and what type. It is a good idea though.

The Lutheran K-8 School idea is getting some legs. $1,000 has been donated to incorporate the new school. Of course Baptist minister Jim Reynolds had to voice "concern", much like voicing his "concern" of being a part of a community betterment committee as it would disperse "GAMBLING" funds as the money would be donated by the casino. With so much "concern" it makes you want to go to that church in a hurry. I'll bet there is "concern" over Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion" too.

But, Charlie Snider had better get away from the term Lutheran School to something more acceptable to ALL denominations. Let's start using the WWJD - Walking with Jesus Daily from now on.

I have so many people complain by email and on the street about the street department. I agree that yes they do get out and do plow snow, BUT, BUT, they wait too late to get out, they don't sand, even though the sand is FREE, they don't do all the streets, it looks like a big hit and miss. 5th and Knox is still an Ice pack where an elderly woman lives. There is no concern as to whether a fire truck or ambulance needs to go on the City Streets. The Cemetery looks like some one got stuck in it. Instead of getting people to move their cars, some of them junk, off the street when they plow, they plow around and narrow the street. The NEW Public Works Director, Administrator or whatever, is not keeping on top of his charges and they are running around having fun. I think I got everyone's complaint in that sentence.

Tonight the Mayor (Tim Rossiter) of La Grange along with the City Administrator and City Attorney attend the Lewis County C-1 Board Meeting. The Mayor presented the school with a proposal that the City of La Grange would build a new school (in La Grange) for the school district at no cost for the people and taxpayers of Lewis County. He asked that the School board decide how many grades 4 - 6 - 8 grades and also the design. Once he was done with his proposal, the Mayor asked if there were any questions as he said he had the City attorney for any legal questions and the City Administrator if there were any financial questions.

Here is a picture of the School board and the Mayor getting ready to talk. CLICK HERE

Here is a picture of one of the school board looks after the Mayors proposal. CLICK HERE

La Grange has a great chance to get a Christian based school and a good chance for a regular grade school. The City of La Grange has offered a free school. Now, if the school board refuses to go along, how will they go to the outer county taxpayers and tell them that the School Board turned down a free school and now wants you to raise your taxes and pay for one.

What happens if Lewis County turns down the offer and La Grange builds a christian based school. And let's say 50 kids go to this new school from C-1. Take away the Federal and State Funding for 50 kids from C-1 and C-1 is next to closing.

I attended the La Grange City Council meeting last evening. The visitor at the meeting was Ken Shuets of the La Grange Farmers and Merchants Bank. He said he was representing the La Grange Chamber of Commerce. He came to the Council meeting to give to the City the La Grange Ball Park. He offered the City the La Grange Ball park with a 25 year lease to the City. He said "The city can have the lease as long as it wants, it's theirs". When asked about a 5 year renewal, Ken Stated "I won't be around here, who cares". He also gave the City first option to PURCHASE the ball park.

Ken Shutz also suggested that they could get Shirley Derringer to DONATE extra property for a soccer field. They also discussed taking out the chicken barbcue area.

The Council then discussed buying the property South of the Sewer plant BACK from the Casino.

The council also discussed buying storm warning sirens from about $18,000 to $50,000+-.

The Council voted to hire Connie Tasco on full time, well except Mike Lowe, he voted no.

The Council also oked putting up street work for bids, one was for fifth from Route C to the City park for Around $530,000 and another for $320,000.

Boy, did I get into hot water because of the La Grange Police Department. The other day I loaned my coat to an officer at Dickerson's fire. Well, "she" stopped by yesterday to return the coat. Then my wife saw how cute she was and found out she was single, and how long it took me to accept my coat back and then I was in hot water. That brought up about me spending too much time helping the FedEx driver unload and load packages at the garage. She found out she was a blond, divorcee, too. Then comes out the patter about, if I was elected Mayor I would have been the first one impeached for sex harassment and I take after my dad and on and on. But, I lived through it. I took her out to a great supper and all is well, well, only if I don't get any more visits from the police department. She really is a cute one though. You have to do something to get her to stop you. Just don't do it when the big cop with Illinois plates is around.

We planted four boxes of tomato seeds today. To warm them up, we put them on top of the baby chickens which is kept at about 80 to 90 degrees. Works very well. I have got to beat my neighbor with the first tomato this year.

For all of who think that the La Grange City Council is a little off base, let's take a look around the County.

Canton for instance. The City of Council is proposing an Ordinance regarding mobile homes. Here is the question that was proposed the Mayor and Council of the City of Canton. How many homes make up a community? 20? 10? 5? 2?.. Well, the Mayor of Canton said (1) one. One mobile is now a community. Dictionary: Association, colony, hamlet, nation, neighborhood. SO, how could all these people on the Canton City Council define ONE mobile home a community? Being a Mayor or Councilman does not require rational intelligence.

Want another? Canton built a million dollar water system and now they want to BUY water from Clark County. If the Mayor and Council think they have problems now, just wait.

Want another? How about what constitutes a back flow prevention system. You should hear what the public works director has for that definition. I hear the main problem is that there is some confusion as to was is incoming water and outgoing sewerage. This will be as interesting to watch as the mobile home community.

Now, let's go out in the County. Monticello. The new E911 center. I am getting rumors that our tax dollars are not being used to the best. Rumor has it that there is some grumbling among employees. Questions as to why people are being hired from out of the County when a lot of qualified people in the County needing work. Rumor has it that employees don't stick around long that are hired. And one rumor has to do with the books and another about a board member. From all the rumors I have been receiving, there are a whole lot of problems out there.

The La Grange Police Force would like to thank the La Grange Lions Club pancake and sausage day
for all the new TARGETS. No since picking on the casino patrons alone.

The Lewis County Sheriff's Department reports that for 2003 they made 359 traffic stops for the WHOLE YEAR. La Grange Police Force reports that they made 972 stops in ONE MONTH. Hello? Is anyone home at the City Council??

When Tom Dickerson's home caught fire, I was standing near the lady cop. She had came to the fire and didn't have a coat and was really cold. I had seen enough of the fantastic fire fighting techniques of the La Grange Fire Department and was going to leave, assured that the home would burn to the ground. But, before I left, I offered my big heavy coat to the lady cop since she needed something to keep from freezing and I left. It has been several days now, and since she didn't see fit to bring it back, I stopped today to see if she left it at the police station. But, even though the police were in there, the door was locked and I couldn't get in. I asked myself why a police officer, with a gun, would need to lock himself in the police station? What would happen if someone really needed help and couldn't get in? Is there that much fear in the police officers that they need to lock themselves in the public police station from the public?

In regards to Tom Dickerson's fire, it hasn't been too long ago that the La Grange Fire Department purchased a $17,000.00 air compressor. $12,000.00 for bunker gear. And I could go on and on of the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on the fire department, council meeting after council meeting requesting more money for everything under the sun and, a home burns to the ground four blocks away from the fire station. If I were the fire chief for the City of La Grange, I would be hanging my head, but all we see in the newspaper is excuses and blame on feeling ill.

There was a fire call tonight at 7:30pm to Tom Dickerson home. This was the first time in a long time that I actually went to a fire, And, for a fire department with all the money that has been spent on it, it looked like a Chinese fire drill. The persons who called in the fire said it took what seemed like an hour for the truck to get there and then they walked around the building several times before a fire hose was taken off the truck. Another person said that the truck came with no water in it. They had to run a hose two blocks away to the old Christian Church. We watched the firemen for over an hour and never saw more than one hose putting water on the fire. At one time, there was a small hose like a garden hose spraying water. Within the next hour, Canton was there and so was Lewistown. It just seemed like there was a lot of two way radio chatter and no one putting water on the fire.

The only good part of this fire was the performance of the La Grange Police Department. They secured the area and had a car to direct the other fire departments to the fire. If only the fire department could have performed as well as the police department.

When Arnold Tiemann was fire chief and there was a fire, as soon as the truck stopped, there were fire hoses putting water somewhere in a matter of minutes. But, Arnold didn't have a $100,000.00 a year budget and the firemen didn't spend hours training to fight a fire politically correct and no one went all over the State to training seminars. The old firemen of La Grange went to a fire to put it out, not analyze it. For the lack of someone popping a hose in the kitchen window as soon as they got there, Tom Dickerson lost his home. If I were Mayor, I would be outraged at the way this fire was fought. For a fire department that has the money and equipment like La Grange, this fire was a disaster.

Well, spring is on its way. Just around the corner. How do I know? Well, my baby chickens arrived today. I had some clear plastic file cabinets I got from Staples and they work real well in there. Two light bulbs keep the temperature at a constant 82 degrees and being plastic, they are easy to clean up and being clear plastic, we can watch them run around. CLICK HERE, Here is another view CLICK HERE. When I got them from the Post Office today, out of the 25 chicks, one was a DOA and one was in critical condition. In getting the DOA out of the box and trying to corral the others, it fell on the floor and became an instant drive through fast food chicken dinner for the cat.

Also, just to show you that Spring is close, we received all our garden seed this weekend and already planted the tomato seeds. Are you ready for spring?

One final item. An editor for the magazine "This Old House" from Time Magazine Inc., in New York, called the other day and they are planning on doing story/makeover of the old Ford House here in La Grange and use it in their magazine and TV show. They asked for pictures and history on the building and property. Since it was owned most of the time by the Kiraly family, I put him in touch with Isabel Reaves.

It looks like La Grange will finally get a new school. Come the next school board meeting, the Lewis County School Board will have to make a decision on having a new kindergarten through 8th grade public school in La Grange,

There will be a Church based school in La Grange. If the Lewis County School Board makes an intelligent decision to have a school here in La Grange, it will be a win-win situation for all. The People of La Grange, the children and the school district.

However, if the Lewis County School District makes a totally dumb decision, it will cost the County thousands of dollars. Yes, even if kids change from going to Lewis County to a church based school ere in La Grange, the tax dollars will still stay with Lewis County. But, Lewis County will lose much more money from the State and Federal Government subsidies that is desperately needed to keep the Lewis County School afloat. And, if enough kids change to the church based school, there may not be enough money to keep Lewis County from having to reorganize with Canton. Only time will tell whether the Lewis County School Board is dumb enough to not take the offer put forward by the City of La Grange.

The people of La Grange have to be proud of their Mayor for all the things he has been able to get done despite of some Council People. I can just imagine how much more he could get done with help from the City Council. I do have to applaud the City Council on taking this stand to get a school here in La Grange. That has been and should be the biggest priority the Council needs to take care of.

The Mayor is also working on securing land for an industrial site and a building for incubator type businesses and manufacturing companies. I am hopeful that the Council backs this idea as good as the school house idea.

There is rumor of a meeting of a lot of people in La Grange to form a new not-for-profit organization, much like Canton's Betterment Committee, that will be from what I hear another fabulous idea of the Mayor. If what I have heard so far comes true, it will also be something the City Council can be proud of doing for years to come.

I am here to say, that this Mayor has his heart for the people of La Grange. He asks questions of what the people want and even though the people never thought it would ever be possible to see a school in La Grange, he is working hard to make it a reality, with or without the Lewis County C-1 School Board. The only thing the Lewis County C-1 School board do now is shoot themselves in the foot. or their head.

I received an email today from a person who used a microsoft.com address. He sent this email:

Dear User!
At 4 : 55 est on Thursday-January 29, 2004,
Microsoft launched investigating reports of a variant of a new
worm named "Mydoom", known as Mydoom.A.
This virus reportedly terminates access to all websites,
including any Microsoft.com websites. The virus makes an
attempt to entice EMAIL recipients into opening a message that
has a file attachment. If the file that attached is opened,
worm installs malicious software on the computer user's system
and sends itself to all contacts in the user's address book.

Please download the latest patch available from Microsoft.com
website or download this digitally signed attachment.

HERE IS THE FILE HE WANTED ME TO OPEN: Saved attachment: Windows-KB823989-x86-ENU.exe (47 kb)

But, by looking at his headers which show where and when the email was sent, I saw that his email was from mindspring.com. Now why would an employee of microsoft have to use a mindspring address. But, also when I clicked on the email, my virus detector alerted me that the file was a virus and needed to be deleted.

BE CAREFUL, look for the following BEFORE opening an email, even from someone you know.

From: (any of the following)
Spoofed email address taken from list of harvested and generated addresses
Random characters
Blank
Subject: (any of the following)
<blank>
<random characters>
Error
Status
Server Report
Mail Transaction Failed
Mail Delivery System
hello
hi
test
Message Body: (any of the following)
<blank>
<garbage data>
The message contains Unicode characters and has been sent as a binary attachment.
The message cannot be represented in 7-bit ASCII encoding and has been sent as a binary
attachment.
Mail transaction failed. Partial message is available.
test

Liberals claim President Bush shouldn't have started this war. They complain about his prosecution of it. One liberal recently claimed Bush was the worst president in U.S. history. Let's clear up one point: We didn't start the war on terror. Try to remember, it was started by terrorists on 9/11. Let's look at the "worst" president and mismanagement claims. FDR led us into World War II. Germany never attacked us; Japan did. From 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost, an average of 112,500 per year. Truman finished that war and started one in Korea. North Korea never attacked us. From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were lost, an average of 18,333 per year. John F. Kennedy started the Vietnam conflict in 1962. Vietnam never attacked us. Johnson turned Vietnam into a quagmire. From 1965-1975, 58,000 lives were lost, an average of 5,800
per year. Clinton went to war in Bosnia without UN or French consent. Bosnia never attacked us. He was offered Osama bin Laden's head on a platter three times by Sudan and did nothing. Osama has attacked us on multiple occasions. In the two years since terrorists attacked us, President Bush has liberated two countries, crushed the Taliban, crippled al-Qaida, put nuclear inspectors in Lybia, Iran and North Korea without firing a shot, and captured a terrorist who slaughtered 300,000
of his own people. We lost 600 soldiers, an average of 300 a year. Bush did all this abroad while not allowing another terrorist attack at home. Worst president in history? Come on! Give me a break.

If you are out driving around town, well after the snow is gone, take a slow drive by the new police station. A local resident sent me an email drawing my attention to take a closer look. In the first picture CLICK HERE, you will see the back of the new police station. I was asked to notice the new sidewalk coming out from the back door. The concerned citizen said the they thought the reason for the new station was because water was coming in the back door like the old city hall, but they piled dirt out back, built a sidewalk the same level of the back door and then expect that a hard rain won't wash mud down the hill and into the new police station.

Then, he went on to say, take a look at the sidewalk at the rear emergency door. In an emergency the person runs out the door, down the sidewalk and right into and over the gas meter. He wants to know WHO, the dummy was that put a gas main and gas meter in the middle of the sidewalk.

Oh well, he says, take a look at the front door CLICK HERE, and tell everyone why they city put in a wheel chair ramp. The ramp is nice and wide, a little steep, but, what size wheel chair is needed to go into the narrow door? The concerned citizen just wants to know...

The Class of 1964 is in the process of planning a class reunion for July 2-3, 2004. Our tentative
plan is to host an "informal get-together" for the classes of 1962, 1963 & 1965 the night of the 3rd.

It snowed today, Sunday, about an inch and guess what? The City crew was out in force cleaning the streets. I haven't been down town to see the sidewalks though.

I got an email saying the class of 1964 of the Original La Grange High School is planning a class reunion and is wanting to get the classes of 1962, 1963, and 1965 to do theirs too. Great Idea.. We haven't been able to get one of our own going for years. SO, everyone should send an email to:

THE LA GRANGE COMMUNITY YOUTH CENTER WILL HAVE AN
OPEN HOUSE AND FUNDRAISER
Sunday February 15th from 1:00 pm to 3:00pm
for more info call 573-655-4176

There was a meeting the the La Grange Lutheran Church last evening with Charles Snider from Palmyra discussing the possibility of a "NEW" school in La Grange. The proposal was for a Lutheran run school of which any child from any denomination can attend. He discussed a Kindergarten, grades 1 and 2 together, 3 -4, 5-6 and 7-8. He discussed including children from all over the County and Marion County attending the school. He discussed how the school could be funded, a place in town to start out in and then get a place of their own for the school. There will another meeting in Palmyra.

The workers are in the City Park that hasn't been given to the Casino and are putting in electrical wiring for lights and outlets.

I am really impressed on the La Grange Appreciation Day celebration.
Large cities can't keep a 3 day event going. We tried a 2 day
several years ago, and it didn't work. See how much the casino has
helped the town. The encouragement. Didn't see your name listed anywhere.
It would be great to have a school in La Grange again. I would
imagine that there will be a tuition fee, like most private schools.
But with all the money that La Grange is pulling in they should help
with that also. The average income for the citizens living there
isn't very high. I think that the city employees are the best paid
since the foundry is gone. Planners need to keep this in mind.
I wish that the people would support Penny, Grandma's Cupboard
better. I don' think that she is doing very well. There is a
business, where are the people? Her prices are low. It's too bad.

You have been warning the Mayor and Council for a long time now. You have got to think that by now you are talking to dead heads. The dumb police can't see that they are arresting themselves out of a job. Once the income from the Casino gets below a certain amount per month, the Mayor will have to let someone go as the money to pay his salary won't be there. Once the police arrest enough people so that the casino can't be profitable to stay open, then there won't be a need for 10 cops, or 8 cops, or even two cops. I go to the casino a lot and even I can see the declining attendance. It is too bad you live in a town with so many stupid people on the Council and a stupid Mayor.

THERE WILL BE A MEETING THURSDAY EVENING AT THE ST. PETERS LUTHERAN CHURCH IN La GRANGE AT 7PM TO DISCUSS A NON DENOMINATION SCHOOL HERE IN La GRANGE.

The Canton Press news came out today. The noticeable articles about La Grange were about the Casino and the police. Now, I don't know about the City Council or the Police Chief or the police Lieutenant, but the figures stated in the Canton paper has to be a blatant wake-up call. Headlines - Patronage and Revenue DOWN at La grange Casino. This is the NINTH straight month of declining attendance at the Casino. Granted, the payouts are less than before and granted there hasn't been any shows or promotions as before but. LOOK AT THE LA GRANGE POLICE REPORT.

The police department is PROUD to announce that the officers did 972 traffic stops last month. Nine Hundred and Seventy Two people were stopped in one month. That is over thirty people a day stopped by the La Grange police department. That is almost equal to the total population of every man, woman, and child in La Grange.

Every where I go, people ask why the City Council and the Casino allow this continuous harassment of the customers of the Casino. Of the 972 traffic stops, and the 128 summons, and the 209 written warnings and the 311 verbal warnings, the question the Casino and the City Council need to ask is, HOW MANY OF THOSE WERE CUSTOMERS WHO WILL NEVER COME BACK. DUH! How dumb, absolutely dumb are the Councilmen to allow the police FORCE destroy the place that pays the bills. They have to be the most STUPID people on earth not to see the correlation. STUPID.

Now, we go on to the upcoming City election. Those running for Councilman in the North Ward are Ronnie Powers who is already the Councilman and Steve Greisbaum, who used to be a North Ward Councilman. In the Middle ward, there is Appointed councilman Lannie Hentz and challenger Roger Renfro. In the South ward there is Elaine White again and Brett Gipson. How would like to be Lannie or Elaine and get beat. It very well can happen.

The City of La Grange Appreciation Day will be held May 20th, 21st, and 22nd. And it looks like it will be a big, big Appreciation Day.

I went to Mrs. Cottrell's visitation tonight and the place was packed. There many people there from all over.

With my big satellite system, I am able to scan over 20 satellites to see the news feeds and one of the feeds had a precinct in Iowa doing a caucus vote session. The vote at that one came out with Dean 2 delegates, Edwards 3 delegates and Kerry 6 delegates.

Rumor has that there was an ambulance call to a place in La Grange this afternoon. The second in command of the fire department asked the dispatcher several times where the location was, even though the address was a couple of blocks from where he used to live. Then the ambulance was directed to turn off of Route B to go up a street that wasn't a street.

You would think that before anyone could be hired as a 911 dispatcher, they would have to tour the whole County and especially the towns to see how they are laid out and an accurate map of the town showing the streets that are actually streets that are paved. But, for a first responder that lived in La Grange to not know the streets is inexcusable. A police officer that didn't live here found it first.

Ramona Cottrell Jan 19, 1929 - Jan 16, 2004
Visitation 4-8pm Monday at Davis Funeral Home - Services 10am Tuesday

There was an accident early this morning around 4 am and it sounded like a bad one. The chopper ambulance came over our house after I heard all the sirens. Will find out more later.

Bonus Hint BIG JIM LEESER
Under Get to know your City
Did you notice that every Councilman patted themselves on the back?

If you have been keeping with area news, you probably read that the Lutheran Church in Palmyra is closing their school. Well, the rumor now is that the Lutherans will open a new school in La Grange. Rumor has it that this is a suggestion of La Grange's past City Attorney Russell Kruse.

Why is it illegal here in Missouri to burn hippies? What would happen if I set one on fire and what charges would I face?

It's illegal for the same reasons it's illegal to burn leaves without a permit; setting fire to a hippy if not done properly could be a hazard. You'd be charged with endangering non-hippies and their property, and face a hefty fine that could go into the hundreds of dollars.

Dr. Yale is originally from LaGrange, Missouri. She and her husband, Scott, relocated to the Lake from Elkhorn, Wisconsin. They have two children, Samantha and Caleb.

A Lover's Leap which had been located near LaGrange, Missouri, no longer exists; it was located on Wakonda Creek, which enters into the Mississippi at LaGrange. The legend, somewhat vague, is that an Indian maiden and an Indian man were in love and, could not marry because of their parents' objections. Because they could never be happy together as husband and wife they leaped to their deaths.

Although Mark Twain may have been exaggerating in his "Life on the Mississippi" (1883) when he wrote that there were at least fifty Lovers' Leaps on the great river, nevertheless one still finds a number of ledges with their lovers' legends.

DC2Net Best Government Sites
... between the two. LA GRANGE, MISSOURI - All about the City of La Grange
Missouri, located in Lewis County Missouri. National Archives ...
www.dc2net.com/gov.htm - 19k - Cached - Similar pages

I would have to applaud the La Grange Citizens Advisory Committee for their time and effort to prepare the Assessment survey. If I didn't know better, I would have thought that it was taken from the Missouri Community Assessment program Handbook handed out by the Missouri Department of Economic Development, as it looks like some of the questions were verbatim. But, what do I know?

I. Public Services - You were asked to pick the 5 most needed. Dumb me, I would have had the citizen number each in importance from 1 being the most important to 20 least important.

II. Rating the City and Associations. What happened to satisfied? And how did the Lewis County Family Services get into La Grange?

4. Rating the services and facilities. Here again, there wasn't a way to say you were satisfied or no opinion.

1. New Programs. Here again, I would have let the people number them in importance to them.

7. Elementary School. Yes, it would be very nice and beneficial for an elementary school. But, what a fight that would be.

8. This was a question to feel out people about re-instituting the franchise tax. NO.

But there was no question as to if the public wanted the property taxes REMOVED.

II Economic Development. "Tax money should be budgeted for economic development by the City Council" should be number one on the City Council's mind.

3. Shopping out of town. A lot of Citizens shop out of town for various reasons. It takes a person that is willing to take the time to do business in town. But with a City Council that buys products and services out of town rather than from a merchant, what can you expect from the citizens? Especially when the City Council goes out of its way and pays twice as much to do business out of town.

5. Contribute financially to support to revitalize the historic downtown area.?????

A lot of people did and the officer of the La Grange Revitalization Organization did something else with the money and the City refuses to try to get it back for the donors. So why donate money again only to see it either stolen or lost.

VI. Religious Institutions. For too long now the Churches of the City of La Grange as had their heads stuck in their own church. The Ministerial Alliance is slowly bringing their heads out, but some churches have not and will not support the children of La Grange by being involved in the Youth Center which has a religious agenda. Until the Deacons of the churches change their attitude, we will lose Christianity in the youth of America. The Communist manifesto is " Give us two generations without God in Americas Schools and America will fall". The Churches of La Grange should be seriously involved in the Youth Center.

Finally, there was not one word about the river front. The City needs to do whatever needs to be done to secure all the riverfront property. A new boat ramp properly located needs to be built. Docks need to be built. And the Lions Club needs to bring their Carp Rodeo to the City. The people of La Grange support the Lions Club, yet the Lions club supports the State Park. Why?

Jerry,
I am just curious what kind of feed back are you getting on this survey sheet. It looks like one of those that you copy out of a example
book. Are they still talking about La Grange, Missouri, population 1000 people? La Grange has had so much of what they are talking about wanting, but didn't support it when it was here. How do they plan to accomplish these things?
I know first hand how hard it is to do something in this small town and get support. Sad part is many of the good supporters are deceased
now, and no one took their place. Many supporters have moved out of town over the past 10 years. Who is going to make these changes, which would be great, but attending a monthly meeting, or even a weekly meeting and saying , "We want, We want," isn't going to make it happen. Making the right contacts, knowing the right people to make it happen, and 24-7 hard work is what they will need. The list of those on the committee are great people, I have worked with them all on different projects over the years, but none are leaders. Great helpers, but not leaders. They are all great people, but what has their living experience been. How many have been business owners
to know what it takes? How many of these people have support the businesses that have and are in town now? How does the Chamber plan to help bring in businesses?

It would be great to have our own school. However, back during the SOS days, I worked on the committee that spent hours in
Monticello, and hours in La Grange going over books, figures, etc. to see if we could support our own school. It wasn't possible then, and I don't see how it would be possible now starting from ground zero.

I am afraid there is lots of dreaming going on. But I may be wrong, because before a survey like this is sent out to the people, the citizens
of La Grange, the decision in how to deliver the outcome of the peoples choices should already be planned and decided. Sometimes we are like
children in a toy store, we want everything that looks pretty and sounds great. But you don't tell the child to pick what toys he wants, and them tell him I am sorry, but those are in out budget. Maybe in a couple of years.
However, I hope all goes well. Wish I could be here to help make some of this happen.

I just got the chance to read what you had written about the junkyard at the Kiraly-Kriedler home. I
recently went past there and I literally cried as I told my husband how beautiful the place used to be
and how I spent time talking to Miss Myrabelle about history and things she remembered as a girl. I
have lots of memories of that place. My uncle and Sherwood Kiraly were boyhood friends.
It really upsets me to see a house with so much history be reduced to nothing but a trash heap.
But it seems like so many of the homes in that neighborhood are becoming just as bad.
I know there are people on the city council who remember the way that house looked. It seems that
lots of things these days are going from a beautiful past into a lousy future. And I'm not talking about
just houses.
I had to put my two cents in. Just sign me as a former citizen who remembers her past fondly.

Bert Richard and Patricia Cottrell got their picture in the Quincy rag. The were celebrating their 45th Wedding Anniversary. They were married January 11, 1959. The number one song in 1959 was Make the Knife and second was Kansas City and the Battle of New Orleans. And Alaska became the 49th State. How long ago that was. It is hard to imagine people old enough who can remember that.

By tomorrow, everybody, every household, in town should get a copy of a survey. This survey is the result of many long hours by a lot of concerned citizens of La Grange. They are the City Advisory Committee. I know that there has been some surveys put out by the City in previous years and not much was shown to have happened, BUT, this time, there are citizens of La Grange who actually are interested in what will happen to the results. AND, we now have Mayor that is serious about making a difference. Even though a Council woman keeps stabbing him in the back while he is doing so.

I would like, or it would be great that everyone fill out the survey and answers the questions honestly so that we can get this town the way we want it and not like a few councilmen want it. If you don't make your voice heard, just a couple of councilmen will make decisions for you and I guarantee you, you won't like their plans.

On the other hand, I again and again am getting rumors about the PW foreman running to momma Rita. Rumor has it that momma Rita runs the Public Works department from her bar office behind the Mayor's back.

Did you hear the joke about the cop making three arrests before 7 am?? It wasn't a joke.

Did you hear the joke about the gamblers who said they weren't coming back to this blank blank town at a restaurant? That wasn't a joke either. They were stopped.

Hello Jerry,

On reading the latest on the snow/sanding shenanigans in town, I am shaking my head here, I
just don't get it. Why did Mr. Ensor procrastinate so much about doing his job and getting the City
crews out there when the roads were slippery and needed sanding/salting for public safety reasons?
I mean that kind of winter road and sidewalk maintenance is routine surely. Why did he run to Ms.
Farr-Cox whining about doing the job he's paid to do? What's her problem with making La Grange
streets safe to drive on? Not sanding/salting--is this some lunatic money-saving scheme, a naa-
diddee-da-da power-play against the Mayor, or simply an extremely blonde moment? As for going
against direct orders from the Mayor to act in the public interest and safety--no other municipality in
N. America would stand for that. Instant dismissal of ANY employee would be automatic. Good job
Mr. Ensor and the La Grange crews don't work here in Ontario. Unwarranted refusal of a City
employee in winter to expeditiously take all measures to make highways as safe as possible as
part of their job could result in more than dismissal. Such workers, under public hazard
circumstances, are classed as "emergency workers" and subject to Provincial (aka State) statute
to fully discharge their duties or face criminal proceedings brought by the Provincial government.

In my kicking around about the streets not being sanded, I picked on the Mayor for not getting it done before people had to get out and around town. Now, I want every one to know that the Mayor is not responsible for the sad and dangerous condition of the city Streets.

The blame and cause of the streets not being cleaned lays solely on the Public Works Foreman, Ed Ensor. But, more so, the main blame lies at the feet of Rita Farr-Cox. Those two people alone are responsible for allowing the streets to be in this dangerous condition. Any accidents or injury lies on their decision not to sand the streets.

The Mayor can tell Ed to do anything and he runs to momma Rita crying like a baby. Rita and her buddies stop the mayor from picking on her little boy.

The people of La Grange need to let momma Rita know that they elected Tim to be Mayor and she should back the Mayor or quit. There is no excuse for a Councilman to put the people of La Grange at risk, just to throw her "weight" around.

There is no excuse for any City Employee to refuse to do anything that the Mayor tells them to do. No Employee has the right to run to a Councilman and cry like a baby to keep out of work. The Mayor has the right to give any City employee a direct order and if any employee refuses to accept it, the Mayor has the right to fire that employee on the spot. READ THE CHARTER EMPLOYEES.

Well, if you got up this morning and wanted to go anywhere, you were sorely disappointed. The city crew got out yesterday and scraped all the snow off the ice and quit. Every street in town were nothing but ice. The good part of it is that with the ice filling up the potholes, the streets were smooth.

Rumor has that one car was sliding down Monroe street hill and the cops saw that he was sliding too fast and chased him down with the four wheel drive pickup and gave him a ticket for speeding and one for making a turn around in the middle of the street and another for stopping in a ditch without a permit.

It is snowing today. It has been snowing since about 3 am. At 6:30 am, there were no snow plows out. I drove to Canton to get my paper and the Canton street crews were halfway done cleaning streets. At 7:30 am when I got back, there were no snow plows out in La Grange. There were several hills around town where several cars had spun their tires trying to get up them. One in particular, just outside the bedroom of the new Public Works Director.

Until La Grange elects a Mayor that cares enough to get out of bed and see that the streets are sanded and salted for the people to get around without risking wrecking their vehicles, the streets will not be taken care of and dangerous to drive on. And, until the City Council hires a City Administrator that will be in town when the snows hit and hires a Public Works Foreman that will get out of bed and see that the streets are taken care of, the same ole, same ole, who gives a care about the people of La Grange will continue.

Which brings up the last snow we had. Councilman Steve Griesbaum last year made an emergency run to Quincy on a Sunday morning to buy, without any approval or bids from anyone, the highest priced, electric start, self propelled, snow blower Sears sold. This was reckless and unwarranted spending with total disregard for the people of La Grange. Now, we had a large snowfall and the city crew were at City Hall with snow shovels cleaning the sidewalk. The police had to use show shovels to clean their walkway. There was and is no sign of the very expensive snow blower.

But, Steve Griesbaum, Ron Powers, Sam Henderson and others voted overwhelmingly to stop Francis Ellison from cleaning the sidewalks downtown. During the last snowfall, everyone was complaining about not being able to walk from the Bank to the Clinic, from the Clinic to the Post Office, from City Hall to anywhere. But, this Mayor and City Council are going to make sure that if you want to walk anywhere in La Grange, you will be a miserable as possible. If you want to drive anywhere safely around town when it snows, you will have to wait until they get out of bed or back in town. Or buy a four wheel drive truck.

There are some people who want to move to La Grange. About like the businesses the City Council have turned away from La Grange, these people want to buy an old historical house and restore it. The only problems that lie in the way is the fact that the City has condemned the house and there is a junk yard next door.

The house is located on the South East corner of the River View Cemetery. Some people who bought the old Kiraly - Kriedler home just North of the old house have turned a fine historical home into a junk yard. Old junk cars and trucks and plain old junk are strewn all over the property. Any normal person would easily see that this is a animal attractive place.

You wonder how some people can be so dirty. There has got to be some way the City can get these people to clean up the property. As most of you know, I am not one for the City to be intrusive in anyone's property. I am and always will be against the City spending the people's money to barricade Paul Tasco for the Casino. Paul Tasco was there first and if the Casino didn't like it then the Casino could buy him out. The Casino has more money than the City, and I feel that if the Casino didn't like to se Paul Tasco, then the Casino should put up their money.

But, in the case where the junk yard is. It was not there first. It was a fine historical home by the river View Cemetery. I am sure that these people could find a better location to put their junk instead of the front yard.

Today is the first day of the New Year 2004, and is also the first day of the rest of your life. Everything on New Years eve went well across the country. The Stock market is up, local manufacturing plants around Quincy are going very well with a lot of workers putting in a lot of overtime. La Grange is looking good. What more can one ask?

I took my wife to breakfast at the Casino this morning. The food was excellent and prepared to expectation and I also noted the small things. The plates were warmed. The syrup was warmed and the waitress did well in keeping the coffee cup full. There were also a lot of La Grange people there eating. Here is hoping that everyone has a Happy New Year.

"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and sup with him, and he with me." --Revelation 3:20

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Verlinda (Bringer) Prior	601 Mulberry St., PO Box 92, Columbus Junction, IA 52738	319-728-2568	mvprior@louisacomm.net
Jim Bradshaw	3603 Chapel Square, Spring TX 77373	281-355-0006
Betty (Cox) Langford	833 Freedman, Jacksonville IL 62650	217-243-8144
Jerry Downs	3603 Millcreek Valley Rd, Quincy IL 62301	217-224-4665
Mardell (Frieden) Ridge	518 Stanton Hall Drive NW, Calabash, NC 28467	910 575 4614	mardell_ridge@acordia.com
James Ridge	518 Stanton Hall Drive NW, Calabash NC 28467	910 575 4614	ridge3@mindspring.com
Gary Durst	1521 Maple St, Quincy IL 62301	217-224-2150	gkdurst@adams.net
Kaye (Zimmerman) Durst	1521 Maple St, Quincy IL 62301	217-224-2150	gkdurst@adams.net
Ronnie Gaus	17153 North Lake Dr., Prairieville LA 70759	225-673-9689	rdgaus@cox.net
Wanda (Jones) Henry	2515 Downs St, Bossier City LA 71111-5115	318-742-7983
John Henry	2515 Downs St, Bossier City LA 71111-5115	318-742-7983
Gary Hilbert	12212 Janice Dr, Riverton UT 84065-7271	801-254-5617
Peggy (Jeffers) Kroencke	813 W Main Cross, Palmyra MO 63411-1308	573-769-3584	kronke@socket.net
Charlene (Smith) Kreeger	11525 Coleman Rd, Gulfport MS 39503	228-832-1492	kreeger@peoplepc.com
Billy Stephens	806 W Whippoorwill Cir, Columbia MO 65203-9534	573-443-5533
Mary (Lillard) Evans	30026 Old Hwy V, LaGrange MO 63448	573-655-4226	maryellaevans@excite.com
Glenn Morton	4517 Birch Hollow Dr, Lincoln NE 68516-5106	402-423-4525	gmorton@neb.rr.com
Elizabeth (Weathers) James	1008 20th Ave., Rock Island IL 61201	309 786-6322
Jerry Tallman	3135 Hwy P, Durham MO 63438-2008	573-439-5150
Billy Waterman	1823 Pleasant Grove Rd, Jonesboro AK 72401-7870	870-802-2104	bandl@bscn.com