June 28

I received an email with an ad to sell a farm with a picture. I noticed that Jules De Coster is involved. After what Isabel has gone through, I feel sorry for the persons kids.

MESSAGE TO MAYOR LAGOON

In 1940 David Lloyd George, a Conservative and former Prime Minister of Great Britain, stood up in the House of Commons and told Neville Chamberlain, his party leader, then Prime Minister, and the arch-appeaser of Hitler to "go, be gone, we have no use for you anymore". Chamberlain had the good sense and good grace to resign. Winston Churchill replaced him.
Take note Mayor Lagoon, and your council groupies, and other hangers-on. Your arch-appeasement of the casino has ruined La Grange. Soon all that will be left are empty homes, vacant lots, "For Sale" signs, closed businesses, and ruined lives.
Mayor Lagoon...soon your kingdom will have no subjects and your legacy will be a bankrupt casino and a stinking hole in the ground...your sewer pit. So go, be gone, La Grange has no use for you anymore.

ANOTHER ONE

Can anyone on that council walk and chew gum at the same time? Here you have a councilman that is assaulted by a dimwit of a mayor and he's still mayor, now you have a business that just got through spending how much , 12 million 15 million who knows, but do you think they would build and spend that much with out having every thing in order, they know and you should know that the sewer is a very good one or they would never have built, now about klingner, why wouldn't they say La GRANGE NEEDS ONE, how do they make their money, certainly not by gambling, they need to get the ball rolling or move on, duh, wake - up - call to councilmen and woman

A citizen was complaining that they received a letter from the City to clean up brush along the road or they would be in trouble. Yet, it wasn't too long ago the City told the people who had trees damaged by the storm to put the brush in the street and the City would come by with the new $20,000 chipper and take care of it. The funny part of this was that the letter the City sent was a week after the property owner already burned the brush.

Darn the luck. Here a City employee thought he was doing an excellent job of cleaning the riverfront when his luck ran out. It wasn't bad enough about burying the red tractor in the sand near the water, his bad luck came when the guys at the gas station called me to take these pictures. Thankfully, the street super was at City Hall on break, so the employee didn't have to walk far. The pictures should grow to full size if you click on them.

And then there is this rumor about the Casino. I haven't been able to check it out yet, but the rumor in town is that you have to have a players card to sign up for the raffle. The talk around town is that some people doesn't think the rules of the State of Missouri agree with that. BUT, as I said, it is a rumor now. Someone will actually try to sign up to the raffle without a players card and let us know.

Another rumor is that Mayor Lagoon and the new one are doing a serious amount of traveling lately. Will Mayor Lagoon get paid for his time traveling around the State?? We will see with the next check register.

I received many emails from readers wanting to know how the Casino had any business discussing the sewer plant with the gaming commission. Some were really upset about the DNR at that meeting. There were many who say that the DNR was called in by the Mayor and the engineering was tainted. There is a whole lot of doubt by concerned citizens about the SMELL of the Mayors Lagoon.

Bravo for whoever wrote that email to you Jerry, very well put! I lost my job in April due to the casino. A person that I worked with husband had a bad gambling problem and she was only part time, I had seniority over her, but she complained that she had to get full time hours because he blew both their checks at the casino, since management couldn't afford us both and she was close friends with the boss well she kept her job to support the casino and I lost mine that supported my kids.
You are a very intelligent man, thanks for keeping us informed. Without your website we would all be in the dark and not knowing how we, the tax payers are getting "screwed" over. As I said before the Casino has made La Grange practically a ghost town. Go down the streets and see how many houses are for sale on each block, we don't have a school, a grocery store, not even a car wash so why on earth do we need a sewage lagoon? I think someone is getting a kick back if it's built, because according to the reports, the casino revenue is down, as you said all toilets are not being used at the same time. If the casino closes its doors it will be the best thing that ever happened for La Grange. I have never seen so much deceit since it was built and we got all these police from God knows where, and the mayor thinks he's KING instead of mayor, I think it's all gone to his head.
Has anyone ever lived by a sewer lagoon? I have and it is down right nasty! It's full of disease and you think mosquitoes are bad now just wait and see if this gets built. The smell is wonderful too. The Casino needs to fund their own shit pond!
We are all nuts if we don't vote against this. The mayor is not thinking of the well being of the town he's thinking of #1 himself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. It's the taxpayers that will be replacing the wrecked police car too.

In regards to the last line, Mark Bross, the engineer will say no, it will not be taxpayers money used to replace the car, it will be the Casino's money. Like, according to the owner of the Casino, it is the Casino's money paying for the police, Casino money paying for the fire department upgrade, it is all the casino's money, NOT the taxpayers money.

Rumor has it that another police car was wrecked today down by the CASINO. Pictures will be up later.

I found that the car was immediately taken to Canton to the body shop. When I went there, it was up on a hoist and I couldn't get a good picture of it. It looks like the whole front bumper assembly is knocked down and the driver side fender is damaged. What? about $3000.

I got a call from a DNR lady that said the City Sewer plant has been out of compliance several times and needs to be replaced as it is overused.

Let's see now, we started to get a Casino with a vote in 1993. According to the DNR lady, all this time and until the Casino wanted the sewer plant moved, the plant was working flawlessly. Now, all of a sudden, the plant that now processes 50% less than it did 10 years ago has problems and is seriously overused. GIVE ME A BREAK!

Let's see now, 10 years or so ago we had a foundry that used 3 times the water it does today. 3 times the number of employees, a meat locker that used water cooling, a laundramat, a school of 500 kids. 4 restaurants, 3 bars and 10 percent more people plus many other businesses. AND Now, all that is gone and the 35 toilets at the casino is causing the sewer plat to be overused. GIVE ME A BREAK.

Then, the Casino says that if the City doesn't move the sewer plant that the gaming commission will close the Casino. First off, who cares? But, for those that do. Listen to this. The State of Missouri is in deep debt. It can't even give back tax refunds to the people it owes, and the Gaming Commission says that they will close a cash cow. GIVE ME A BREAK.

You never heard so much bull crap coming out at the Council meeting last night and what I was told today.

.............................................................................................................................................................

La Grange Citizens had better beware of the coziness of the Mayor, the engineers, the casino and the department of natural resources. It will cost you dearly.

Well, you were full of information today. If there was anyway to turn back time, I sure would do it for La Grange, Mo. If only they would have listened to other people that were telling them, what happens to small towns with casinos. However, the mistake has been made, and two wrongs have never made a right, so the town will have to pull together and face the firing squad. It is very simple, the town can't afford the new lagoon, so if the casino needs it they will have to put up the money, or close their doors. I realize many people will be out of jobs again, but that is a problem for many of the La Grange people. Talk to any of the 39 that lost their jobs yesterday at the La Grange Foundry. It has been proven over the past year, that promises that were made about how the casino was going to help La Grange, isn't happening or going to happen. Please councilmen, don't put La Grange into dept. If any other business in town, asked for a new water line, side walk etc, you would say NO. Okay, the casino is a business that is draining the town of all its assets. They should be given the same answer. We have enjoyed the entertainment that the casino has given, but not at the expense of the town and the citizens. Again, there was life in La Grange before the casino, there will be after the casino is gone. PLEASE, councilmen, think this through. You were elected by the citizens of La Grange. If you expect people to live in this town take care of it. Very glad that the auditors are in. You have hired a city manager which is a plus. Only one thing that seems to be missing folks. So much that has happened to La Grange, doesn't make common sense. I would suggest to that group of people in town that brought in the auditors to think about bringing a private detective to do a little investigating into the background of certain items. It can be done without anyone knowing it. Think about it. Remember citizens of La Grange you are in the prayers of many people. Churches in the area have had you in their special attentions. Maybe someone above it telling you the answers, but are you listening??? Good Luck!!

Promises made, promises broken. Remember when Mrs 45 years got on TV and said how great the Casino was going to be for La Grange? Remember how she and Grace told about ALL THAT money the City would be getting? Remember those figures tossed out? 1.5 million, 1.8 million, 2 million ect. per year?? Remember how they said How much the Casino was going to do for La Grange?? Do you remember all that?

First off, Mayor Lagoon held back telling the people of La Grange that a third of the money the people were to receive was going to pa for police protection for the Casino. Now, that looks closer to a little less than half of the peoples money will go to protection of the Casino.

Now, the Casino wants the City to move the sewer plant. They don't like it where it is. The owner can look out his office window and see it when he is here. The new manager can see it. Even some employees can see it when they go out for a smoke break. So, the people of La Grange are going to have to take ALL the money it will receive over the next two years to pay to move the sewer plant for the Casino.

The City Council people are now SCARED TO DEATH. First the Casino and Mayor Lagoon and the Engineers tried to quietly slip the lagoon in. Then, the Engineers and Mayor Lagoon tried to "use" problems with the sewer plant as a ruse to get the Council to back a new lagoon. Now, the Casino is using threats that the DNR will FINE the CITY THOUSANDS of dollars a day if the Council doesn't move the sewer plant. And, the people of La Grange PAY FOR IT.

IF THE CASINO DOESN'T LIKE THE SEWER LAGOON WHERE IT IS AT? IF DNR DOESN'T LIKE IT AND WILL CLOSE THE CASINO IF IT ISN'T MOVED, THEN THE CASINO CAN PAY FOR IT.

BUT, you have 5 chickens on the Council and a Mayor who isn't afraid to bully them. Hasn't the Council noticed that when they voted to ask the Mayor to resign, the City Attorney suspiciously didn't show up? Didn't the Council notice that at a very important meeting last night with Bill and his LAWYER, that the City Attorney conveniently didn't show up?

Remember this, THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS! By the time Bill Grace and the Casino and Mayor Lagoon gets done, the people of La Grange will be lucky to see a dime. The people will be equally as lucky to not have to PAY for the Casino to be in La Grange. Just look at all the vacant homes and gone businesses now to see what the Casino has cost the people of La Grange. And the Costs keep mounting.

At the City Council meeting tonight, Attorney Larry Seckington for Mark Twain Casino warned the City Council that the Casino met with the Missouri Department of Resources about the City sewer plant. Mr. Seckington stated that the Gaming Commission said the Casino license was in jeopardy because of the City sewer plant. This reeks of the same warnings the City Council received about having 10 police officers to guard the Casino.

I asked at the Council meeting if the Casino would share some of the cost of the new sewer plant if one was built. Attorney Larry Seckington and later outside Owner Bill Grace both stated that the Casino gives enough to La Grange. Because of the Casino "maybe" not getting its license renewed next year, the people of La Grange, along with the cost of a Half a Million dollar a year police protection for the Casino, will now have to come up with another 1.5 to 2 MILLION dollars more for a new sewer plant.

Engineers from Klinger Engineering refused to tell me how a town that has lost many businesses, school, and half of the employees at the Foundry and now more employees can add more sewerage to make the sewer plant be overloaded.

Well folks, as Pave my drive free said. The Casino will take care of La Grange. Mrs. 45 years and more said that La Grange will benefit as no other town ever had because of the Casino. Do you fell like you are benefiting now?

In other council news, the police department was allowed to trade two old guns for two 22 rifles. Mosquito spraying will start tonight. the Council is looking at a huge set of play ground equipment for the little ones, about $4,000 plus. And the sewer plant will get a new $4,000 blower. The police will also get new decals on the police cars so people can see that they are actually police cars instead of ???. We now have a new fireman which brings it up to 17 and the fire department is going to rearrange some of the Rural Fire association by-laws.

It still is mind boggling that the Casino which is raking in 1/2 MILLION dollars a week asking the people of La Grange to foot the bill for a new sewer plant for them.

Not much happened over the weekend. So far. I have had several emails regarding the new City Administrator. Here are the answers. His name is Drew Bontrager. Age 26. Married with a 5 month old daughter. Moved into Charlie and Mille Rossiters house. Originally from Knoxville, Iowa.

Jeff LaGarce the City Administrator from Wentzville Mo, will take the position of City Administrator in Knoxville Iowa. Knoxville, Iowa is about 35 Miles South East of Des Moines with a population of 7500.

There has been no communication from the former Casino Manager or from the present Casino Manager.

Ed Dickerson is still in town. Leroy Brandt and his mother Ethyl was in town over the weekend.

Rumor has it the ladys man at the Casino Restaurant in the mornings has been spending a lot of time in Illinois. Rumor has it that there is a peculiar smell, something like sheep, that the girls keep talking about. Then there is the rumor about buckets of sheep stuff around Senior Housing.

Dean really took care of LaGrange all right. He and his outfit bought 2 city blocks and ever how much land there was on the east side of the railroad tracks for 30,000.00 dollars from the city under ludwig's reign. Ludwig with the motions by martin and weasel sold all that for a mere sum while someone else got that much for 1 lot, seems fair to me. I never was much on wondering if something was rank, but god this stunk to high heaven

Monday Apx. 30% of the jobs will be cut, that is about 40 to 45 people put out of work. The news is now good at all. If the foundry is not sold to either a investor group or Mr. Freese, we will be closed up eventually. Atchison is in deep trouble, it has been de-listed from the NYSE and the stock is at $0.34 a share.

One emailer wanted to know about the Chamber chicken and here it is. I received a phone call from one of the Auditors at City Hall and went down to visit yesterday. Got to see Mayor Lagoon in action. The email I received and shown below is not what the auditor and I talked about, but it is timely.

I wonder if the city clerk is still drawing a check from the city each week for 44hours and one from the county for court day, seems two checks for the same work might be something the auditors should look at. I have always believed in paying someone for a days work but them drawing pay twice is kind of out of the ordinary don't you think, no place but LaGrange,

I love what you say about lagrange,mo. it is all true what you say about them! you just dig up the dirt what they try to hide. it makes my day reading this page! at least you tell the truth about it and not trying to cover it up! keep up the good work jerry! at least we know the truth when it comes from you! waiting for the truth in mo.

You might ask the auditors to look into how the Mayor sold the new windows to the City?

ALL MILITARY RESERVISTS ARE AT RISK OF LOSING THEIR CIVILIAN EMPLOYMENT!!!!
PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW AND CONTACT YOUR REPRESENATIVES, CONGRESSMEN, AND SENATORS.

I am writing this letter to request that you do whatever you are able to protect the military reservists who are currently serving active duty to protect our country. My brother in law, Tommy Thompson, who is currently and active duty Air Force reservist stationed at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma City was fired from his civilian job as Chief of Police in Canton Missouri last Friday. The reason's for his termination were based on the fact that he is currently serving as a reservist who has been mobilized.

Tommy was in the Air Force full time active duty from 1979 to 1989, and enlisted in the reserves after his discharge. He has served in the reserves ever since, and has been mobilized four times prior to this. He was called to active duty on October 22, 2001. Approximately a week ago Tommy received a certified letter from the mayor of canton requesting that he take leave from his duties at Tinker AFB and return to Canton for a meeting with mayor and city attorney. I would also like to make the point that when the city did send correspondence to Tommy it was always sent to his Canton address even though they knew that he was in Oklahoma, and had the appropriate information to contact him there.

The meeting requested by the mayor took place on June 14th (Flag Day) here in Canton and Tommy was fired on the spot after refusing to resign his position as Chief of Police. The City did not offer him alternative employment or any other option. Based on the documents given to Tommy and signed by the mayor at that meeting the basis of this action was that he "did not contact me in reference to the operations of the Police Department."and "has had no contact with the Police Department or any city employee". This is totally false and can be proven by telephone records and witnesses who observed Tommy speaking with the officers here while on leave. Also Tommy stayed in regular contact with the police department by phone and visited while in town on leave....at least he did until he was told not to by the mayor and the city attorney. The issue is moot anyway as Tommy had no legal obligation to perform any duties for the police department while on military leave.

I would also like to make note of the fact that not once did the city attempt to make contact with Tommy until after they had begun proceedings to explore the possibility of his termination while serving active duty. We have called everyone we can think of including our represenatives, congressmen, senators, governor and even the president. It seems that no one is sure of how to handle this situation and we are all just involved in a big game of ring around the rosie...ending exactly where it begins. The problem is that we are just one voice...there needs to be others calling and complaining and rabble rousing to get the attention to this issue that our military reservists deserve.

In times like these this country depends on the reservists. These men and women already make great personal sacrifices in their civilian lives to serve this country. Is this to be their reward? Something must be done and it must be done NOW to protect those who are protecting us. Please take every measure at your disposal to assist these valiant soldiers and sailors as the very integrety of our nation depends on it. If our reservists have no legal protection and no assistance from our nation's leaders soon we won't have anyone who is willing to serve. My brother in law is a man of great loyalty and integrety who has devoted 22 years of his life to protecting this country in both the military and civilian capacity. He has carried himself through this with more grace and dignity than most men possess. No one who has ever worked with him or knows him has a bad word to say of him. Please attend to this issue with urgency and purpose, LET NOT ONE MORE OF OUR RESERVISTS COME HOME TO FACE THE FIRING SQUAD!!!

If this can happen to one reservist it can happen to many of the thousands who were called to serve this nation. According to the congressmen and representatives that we have spoken with here in Missouri this is an unprecedented incident. The outcome of this will impact every reservist who is ever called to serve this country. Please do what you can to let your government officials know how you feel about this action.

If you have internet access you can locate any of the information for your state government by going to www.stateinformation.com just click on your state and there is all the information that you could ever want. As for federal government go to www.firstgov.gov there are links on that page to all government agencies. You can also e-mail the president at president@whitehouse.gov . You can send a letter to the city of Canton at 126 N 5th Street, Canton Missouri 63435. If you would like to send a letter to Tommy offering support you can e-mail him at abner63435@yahoo.com , if you need any other information or have any suggestions my e-mail is tijynx@socket.net . Also try contacting your local veteran's associations ...American Legion..VFW...etc. Any help at all will be truly appreciated.

Thank You,
Jeannie Thompson

Well, the rumor today is that a pool has been started. For $10 you can pick what day of a month from 1 to 31 that City Hall will do something and the new City Administrator will quit. Rumor already has it that the new one has been apprised of who to and who not to talk to.

The employees are all shaping up to show their best. Rumor has it that all the police officers are out showing how well they can stop people driving around. Well, all except one employee, rumor has it he was caught sitting down at the water plant when the new one showed up. Ed, you should know that first impressions are the ones that last, take it from the police department.

An emailer wanted to know if the auditors found the place where a certain employee was making out more than one check for them self and another.

Other emailers are wondering if the Chamber of (citizens) oops, Commerce is going to have a Chicken Bar-B-Que this year for the fourth. Others are wondering if there will be a parade? Maybe we will find out on the 4th.

NEW VIRUS::: Frethem worm wants to give you a password
An e-mail promising to reveal a password is nothing more than a pesky worm. Frethem, technically known as Frethem.e (w32.frethem.e@mm, also known as Frethem.d and Frethem.f by some vendors), uses its own SMTP engine to send e-mail using addresses obtained from infected systems. Mac and Linux users are not affected. Because Frethem spreads only by e-mail and does not cause any data damage.

June 17, 2002

Day one is done and I haven't received any rumor that the new City Administrator has quit yet. Everyone is wondering how things are going down at City Hall with a new boss around.

Well, I guess that the Canton City Mothers are trying to best La Grange's. I told you a few days ago that something was going to happen. Canton rumor's are like La Grange's, they all get around.

I met a nice couple Saturday that came to visit with a cute grand daughter. I was hoping I would get an email from them.

There seems to be a lot of grumbling about the $750 worth of rock on the beach that is now under mud. And then, some are questioning about the expense of downing a tree in the City park that should have been done by the City crew. But, some say that after looking at the hedge at the memorial cemetery, maybe it is best to hire someone else. Maybe the Council will make the people who mow the Cemetery trim the hedge. They did use to do that you know.

The Canton betterment committee is having another huge flea market in the park this Saturday. Hope it doesn't rain them out.

I see I made the gossip page of your web site ! Didn’t know I was so new worthy. LOL Just so you keep your facts correct. The business we have is called NEMO Manufacturing Inc. We build circuit boards for many companies, including some for the FA-18E fighters. Our customer base is from across the entire country. We have customer from New York to CA. We won’t be at 40 employees for some time, but we will need a few employees right away. We expect to grow our business over the next several years. Just to let you know the facts. Bob Havermale. Bob, is putting the factory in the old grocery store.

Here is an email regarding the State just patching the manhole cover at main and Route C.

Could be that the Missouri Highway Department is responsible for patching all holes around waterworks and the City is responsible for the rest. This isn't uncommon in N. America. Please pass on these tips for proper asphalt patching to La Grange city employees. 1. Blow pothole and surrounding area free of dust and debris using a hand-held air blower. 2. Mark area to be patched, extending beyond hole, with asphalt sticker compound. 3. Brush-coat area to be patched with sticker. 4. Lay in asphalt from a hot box and rake over area marked and into pothole. Raking should follow the grade from the crown of the road to the curb to ensure proper drainage to the nearest catch basins otherwise the road and driveways will flood. 5. Hand tamp edges of patched area. 6. Roll with a heavy-duty power roller employing water ejection onto the new asphalt surface. 7. Do not leave lips or depressions...they cause annoying traffic noise and interfere with drainage. Small holes can be filled with asphalt and hand-tamped. Use of an asphalt sticker is still recommended. Without it the asphalt won't bind to the old surface and will crumble and certainly be removed by the first pass of a snowplow in winter. Again the surface must be level with the road. Hole filling priorities are certainly a hand-wringing, brow-knitting, problem for Mayor Lagoon and the boys. Seems to me that if you have a bloody great hole in the road then bloody well fill it asap. Am I being too practical?

I received another email regarding the Canton Police Department. Rumor has it that there is a big shake up happening. Watch for more info later.

According to the Gaming Commission the gamblers are still losing a half a million dollars a week. Good for City Hall, it has received a total of $1,400,000+ so far and counting. But, the people of La Grange are still suffering along. The Casino has a new General Manager, a Mr. Robert Thursby. So far, it seems he has stayed close to the Casino as no one has seen him around town anywhere.

According to the Canton paper, mark Bross of Klingners in Quincy wanted feed back from the Council regarding his and the Mayors and the Attorneys new lagoon. The Council gave him the best answer. Don't call us, we'll call you. He sure was trying to put pressure on the Council to give Klingners some of that million dollars. He'll be back, he needs the money.

Several times we have discussed around town where the street department learned to patch holes in the street. Well, today we found out. We watched the Missouri Highway Department truck come down the town hill. They then went down towards the river and turned around and came back to the stop light. They drove across the street and started up the hill and stopped. They got and put patching around the man hole, tamped it and got in and left. Five guys watched this and wondered why the state boys didn't take two more steps and fill the big hole next to the tavern side of the street. What makes one pot hole more important that another? How do they pick and choose which ones to fill and which ones to pass on?

I pulled down the stats on the lagrangemo.com website. The number of people who visited the web site in May were over 41,500. The average times the gossip page was looked at ran from an average of 80 an hour to 398 an hour. That is a lot of people looking at the gossip page. 28000 came from local Internet services. but over 10,000 came from other Internet services. 500+ came from a school or college, 400+ came from a US Government computer. 200+ came from a State of Missouri Computer. Over 1000 came from a Quincy Internet Service and over 600 came from marktwain.net which is in the outer county. 159 came from a military computer and 241 from a non-profit Organization and 289 came from Canada. Then there are the foreign ones. France, Netherlands, Finland, Austria, Chili, Singapore, Australia (89) times, Who goes to Australia??, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Denmark, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Niue, and Sweden. Others came from Stateline casinos, bluebird.state.mo.us, and canary.state.mo.us and 2598 other places.

It is kind of surprising that the gossip page is so interesting to so many people everywhere. I guess they want to know how the pretty green shrubbery located on Route C at the memorial cemetery got hacked up. I was going to take a picture of it, but, it was too bad for that. Just to give you a preview, what was green is mostly chopped up brown limbs. AND, you all thought that AMERENUE was the only plant butchers in the area. Rumor has it that it was done with a dull ax. I can't say exactly who did the excellent butcher job on these plants because I know his daddy is a councilman and would be pissed about it.

Can the people of La Grange impeach the mayor? We the people voted for the council and mayor why won't the council get rid of him or are they scared of him? If a citizen threatened the mayor at a council meeting I am sure that person would have been arrested without incident. So does this mean that our mayor is exempt from the law? Or does this mean you can just apologize and then it's forgiven? WHAT has he done for the city of La Grange since he's been in office I would like to know? I had a lady and her daughter come to my house last week she had lived in La Grange for 20 plus years. and now lives out of town the first thing she said was, what happened to La Grange? I said what do you mean? She said everything is closed down, practically all the homes are for sale. She said she couldn't believe it. I told her I know it's sad, it seems like the mayor only supports the "casino" and the hell with everybody and everything else. What personal gain is it to him about the Lagoon? Is he getting a "kick" back if it is built? The movie "Field of Dreams" is based on "Build it and it will come" The story of La Grange is "build it, and everything else goes away."

The picture of the mayor in the QHWhig was a lovely one wasn't it? which eye is on you?? You put it on your web page it's hilarious, he looks pretty nervous and sneaky if you ask me.

The picture of your mayor looks like a bewildered shallow beaten man instead of the smart defiant go-getter he tries to portray himself as, wonder how he got to feel that way, was it a much smarter city clerk who has led him by the nose to be sacrificed if things don't work out, I think so. The man is so out of his depth that its really sad,

You make reference to the Mayor as Mayor Lagoon, maybe we can go a little farther and name him Mayor Magoon. I won't make any more references. Sorry, it was mean.

One last thing, If you read the Canton Press news journal, did you ever in your life hear such crap coming out of a Mayors mouth.

Well, the word is out all over. Mayor lagoon is talked about at Blessing Hospital. I was there Tuesday and several people were asking questions about the Mayor. And when I went to Home Depot, Two other people talked to me about him and when I went to KHQA to see how Scott was doing installing a VSAT system and two more people stopped me to ask questions.

What do you think the number one question was? Why doesn't he resign? It must be the money.

If the email about all this is any indication, the people of La Grange are very dissatisfied not only with the Mayor's outrageous actions, but with the attitude of the City Council regarding what to do about it.

Why in the world isn't someone smart enough on that council to ask the mayor if he or the city clerk on his behalf contacted the city attorney. The lawyer is hired by the people of LaGrange for the city of same, it is not at the disposal of any one individual in the city to use for personal gain, which holding your job is just that. That in its self is enough to suspend him without pay while it is under investigation. Then let it drag on forever.

How can the city attorney represent the mayor? If he can, then he should represent Tim also. It can't be done, because of conflict. I am still very disappointed in Steve Griesbaum. Why didn't he vote? What reason did he have for not? This whole thing is getting more interesting all the time. There is only one reason for not voting and taking action last night. He only had 184 votes, and over 200 people have said in the audit that they want him out. There is still some question on the outcome of the last election. The spoiled votes, were they spoiled? The present mayor has actuarially won one election without some kind of problem.

I would think that it would be very hard to be mayor or city clerk and know that people don't appreciate you. Wait now until the audit is over. There is no way that either should want to stay in there then. Boy that bothers me about Steve

There are several people very very concerned about the new City Administrator. Not about him but about the Mayor and City Clerk. They say that they heard that the Mayor and Clerk are going to try everything they can to sabotage him and cause him to quit. He needs to know that there are "citizens" in town willing to help him with any problems he may have or information he might want or need to know. He needs to know that he is not alone. All he needs to do is ask and several people will be at his side.

I received a concern from another citizen that was wondering what all those people are thinking now, who were told by Mrs 45 years and Susie Q, that their "donations" will be for a "community" building. Now that they "sold" it like they "sold" Oyster Park. Also, the figures given to the Quincy Herald Whig were not the correct figures.

The City voted overwhelming on a Council resolution requesting Mayor Lagoon to resign. Mayor Lagoon challenged the Council with his opinion that they couldn't do that and they should talk to "HIS" City Attorney first. Although, earlier in the meeting the Mayor again apologized for his recent actions and swore never to be bad again. BUT, he said he would NOT resign. I guess the pay of $3.00 a day is sorely needed.

KLINGNER Engineering sent their puppet again to the Council meeting trying to badger the Council into spending more money to them. He brought up old problems with the present treatment plant trying to sway the Council, but they didn't bite on his bull shit. I tried to ask him about the meetings he had with a land owner and the City Attorney and see if the City Attorney was given full powers of the City by the Mayor when the Council wasn't looking. I did ask him if every other new sewer plant being built in Missouri was a mechanical one like ours rather than a lagoon that he wants the City to spend money on, but, he didn't want to see his name on the Gossip Page. Klingner Engineering is trying every way possible to get a million or two of that Gambling Boat Money. Look for them to be back again with more options.

Back to the Council meeting. The Kennedys wanted their part of an alley closed as it dead ended there and they own on both sides. So who cares. Well, the Mayor put the whole meeting into a 15 minute wait for nothing, just in case someone came in late to protest. That was so dumb. He didn't wait that long to screw Andy Ayers over on closing that alley.

The Council rightly passed overwhelmingly to go along with the E911 people. Mayor Lagoon didn't look happy about that one either.

It looks like the City crew will be painting a lot in the next few weeks. Everyone will want to watch them paint those flag poles. Do you think they can get Ed Weathers up that high? They will also be painting the shelter houses on the river front and the one at the old fire station for the fire department.

They discussed having the mosquito spraying done every night for a week and then taper off.

They also discussed renting the City roller and the Street Super to Canton for a couple of days.

Then the discussion came to the 2 hour hand painted over to 1 hour sign at Wilma's. After much discussion, they decided to put two professional one hour signs up and paint the curbing yellow.

Rumor has it that if the Mayor doesn't resign at the Monday evening Council meeting, he will be ousted by the end of the month.

My dog had a cough and the vet west of Canton said it was heart worms. With the dog being about 9 years old, I was concerned about treating the dog for them. The vet west of Canton said not to worry, he had a new way of treating for heart worms that was not so stressful as before and better. After spending over $375.00, Saturday I buried the dog.

Minnesota Governor Jessie Ventura will be traveling down the Mississippi River soon. Do you think the City, The Mayor, The Chamber, the Casino, The La Grange Revitalization Organization, or Project Brighter Future will do anything to promote La Grange and get him to stop for MAYBE a FREE dinner at the Casino?????

It will take "some" planning to get La Grange listed on his agenda "BEFORE" his boat hits the water. Think NATIONAL NEWS people.

Rumor has it that there was about $5,000 left in some money from the Casino that was supposed to be used to pay for concrete for the basketball court in the City park. More rumors say that the concrete was instead paid for out of the building fund for the fire station and the other $5000 isn't mentioned anywhere in accounting. Maybe the State Auditor might look for that money. Let's see, wasn't about that time a Burb was in charge of that??? Wasn't pave my drive free and no prayer here in on that deal? Another concerned citizen was wondering what happened to all that Gazebo money? Rumor has it that when it was voted never to bring it up again, no one knows where the money went. Did you donate? This is like the Project Brighter Future money, no one who knows will tell what happened to all that money either. Aren't you glad you donated to their cause to get rid of your school? And then there is still the LRO money, but, principals are packing up and leaving town.

Rumor also has it that there has been a lot of finger pointing at City hall lately. Rumor has it that words have become a little sharper. Will the police lieutenant still be here in the next few months? Concerned citizens are wanting to know why Mayor Lagoon and the ex-chief are having so many visits.

I received a call from Mr. Robert Havermale. He is the one who is taking over the use of the old grocery store. The PNJ shows that the store was sold to the Lewis County Industrial Development. Mr. Havermale says that he is setting up a small circuit board manufacturing plant there. The building is being remodeled for the plant. He says that he will employ only 7 to 10 people at the start and "maybe" in a few years work up to 40.

The QHW reported that a company was interested in the foundry. But, foundry workers were notified that no one has tendered any offers.

The La Grange Police Chief and Lieutenant should be looking over their shoulders. Rumor has it that Mayor lagoon and the ex-chief are meeting secretly. The above names were overheard in a conversation. Rumor has it the Mayor is looking for a way to get rid of two and replace with one of his own kind.

Another big rumor is that a lady's man was seen walking into the Casino restaurant this evening and was immediately swarmed by the waitresses and hostess. You would have thought Elvis came back from the dead. It looked like Joy was welcoming back a long lost friend she hadn't seen for years and years. I am not sure who this lady's man is, but he drives a little black truck and hangs around with Wayne Maples and Jack Childress a lot. In fact, even Jack looked a little stunned. If these waitresses and especially the hostess greeted everyone else who came in like that, the place would fill up with guys. Of course, the rest of us guys in there were left out.

An emailer was wondering if the auditors will find the missing money in the building fund. Rumor has it that at one time there was about a $25,000 discrepancy at one time.

There was a fire down town La Grange this evening. The old Driftwood Cafe caught fire. It is reported that the fire supposedly started in the basement. It is rumored that the LAPD noticed the smoke and turned in the alarm. The La Grange Fire Department responded so quickly that the fire did very little damage. The only problem the police and fire department people had was getting an elderly lady out of her third floor apartment. The last I saw was she was really giving everyone in the LAPD office a hard time.

I believe that someone should inspect this building for its safety before the elderly lady is let back in her apartment. It was just luck that the found her and got her out safely. This could have been a disaster.

I attended a very serious council meeting tonight. Mayor Lagoon was on the hot seat and taking heat from all sides. Even his sidekick held his head down. It seems that items that were put on the agenda to be brought before the council were not put on the agenda. Yet, the City clerk stated it was on the computer. It was beginning to look like the assistant city clerk who was not there was the fall guy this time.

Councilmen were also complaining about voting to do things and what they voted for the Mayor to do was being done. Just forgot about. It was decided that anything talked about in any previous Council was OLD BUSINESS and did not have to be on the agenda. Councilman Henderson said that Roberts Rules of Order says that the Mayor should ask the Council if there was anything else they wish to discuss before asking for a motion to adjourn. The mayor says that he cannot stop anyone from making a motion to adjourn, but fails to state that he can ask the motion to be set aside until all business is taken care of. The City Clerk came up with the statement that a Special Charter City doesn't have to go by Roberts Rules of Order. Chuckle chuckle.

Then came Councilman Rossiter with bringing up the assault the Mayor performed on him last week. With witnesses and two police reports, the Mayor can be removed if charged and convicted. Other Council people also spoke up about the actions of the Mayor and they were not happy at all. I believe that if a motion to impeach was brought up, the Mayor would be gone. BUT, the Mayor did apologize and state he would change his ways. That helped a little. The Council can vote to censure or to impeach or Tim can press charges, or the Mayor can resign. A motion was made to wait till next Council meeting to give the Mayor time to reflect and Rossiter time to decide whether to file charges. There is also another person with two witnesses waiting to decide whether he will press charges of assault against the Mayor.

The Mayor came back with the statement that he felt that he wasn't out of line with the previous Mayor, a citizen, and the president of the bank and Chamber. He then started to berate the Council that it was their fault that he had to get tough with these people.

I believe that the Mayor has taken too much on himself and his own. He should be more open, push the decisions where they should be, on the Council. let any citizen have time to speak to the Council without being "On the Agenda". This is La Grange, not New York City. Anyone should be able to attend any public City meeting and be allowed to speak. If the Mayor feels he doesn't have the time to hear from any Citizen then he SHOULD RESIGN.

Looks like by the Quincy paper that the La Grange Foundry may be sold. No company names yet. So stay tuned. The La Grange Lions Club is sponsoring the CARP RODEO again on Saturday June 22, 2002.

Since the La Grange Ball Park association and the Chamber of Commerce brought up the City donating to a soccer field at the Ball Park on Route C, their have been many comments and questions regarding Oyster Park down town. You do remember Oyster Park? The property DONATED by the Oyster family for Park Purposes Only.

It seems that EVERYONE, including Mayor Lagoon and the Chamber can vividly recall that Gardner Denver donated the property on Route C for park purposes. But, Mayor Lagoon, "pave my drive free", "no prayer here" and "Over 45 years" simply cannot recall that one. They SOLD the property "Oyster Park" to the Casino.

WHO????? Being a good citizen of La Grange promptly kicked off the children and their soccer field. The Casino sited the small increase in their insurance premium. One emailer suggested that the Casino just give the damn property back. There has been a lot of comments regarding the legality of the sale and also the attitude of the Casino kicking the kids out. One comment was that if the Casino wants to be a good citizen, the Casino should make the Park into a great soccer field for the kids. But, we all know how far that will go. The day of the Casino being a good citizen is gone now, only profits matter. Kind of like the bank.