Dardenne Prairie

So, Dardenne Prairie has been a hot bed of activity in St. Charles County. Is it still or is Cottleville the new hot bed of activity? Thoughts? Seems like Cottleville is leveraging their assets well.

We heard about the downtown In downtown, but other than Cardinal Ritter, will there be anymore activity. Let's hope the downtown moves forward.

Jobs

Lately it has been interesting to listen to the various municipalities complain about tax dollars being down. When really, what we need is to look at what the real issue is.

We need to create & retain jobs. But we are focusing on the symptom, when the economy is down, and people are struggling to pay bills. They just do not have the income to buy a bunch of furniture & junk when gas is $4 a gallon.

The county needs to focus on building a conglomerate of entities, and finding a spokesperson to drive jobs in St. Charles County and the whole region. Nothing is going to improve the region and spur workforce housing than growth.

Hancock Family

I can't help but be irritated when a sports celebrity that is paid lots of money makes a mistake and tragedly dies - but now they are sueing the tow truck operator that was helping another accident victim. From the Post:

Besides the restaurant and its manager, Patricia Shannon Van Matre, the defendants named in the suit are Eddie's Towing and its driver, Jacob E. Hargrove, and the driver of the car Hargrove stopped to help, Justin Tolar, of Collinsville. Tolar's car had struck a median wall shortly before Hancock came along.

Unbelievable! The Hancock family should be ashamed of themselves - the TOW TRUCK DRIVER helping another motorist.

No wonder small businesses struggle in this country. Josh made a bad decision and his family needs to accept that - no matter how hard that is. The tow truck operator is performing a dangerous job and some attorney is going to make his or her family hell.

Viginia Tech - 32 Victims Not 33

It is hard to unerstand this tragedy - and I would love for the families and friends of the victims to have answers - but the repeated presentations of the lunatic that ruined 32 peoples lives and their familes and friends - the media should not be showing his lunatic pictures. This is a nice tribute that VT has done - I hope this page lives forever on the web - referencing 32 not 33 people.

http://www.vt.edu/tragedy/list.php

The system is going to have to find another way to deal with wacked out kids. The 32 kids should be honored.

Thank You Virginia Tech - webmaster for creating this webpage.

Spring is Here

Well - mowed my lawn last night - You know spring is here when the mower can barely get through the grass. It is so nice in the morning - that I actually want to wake up in the morning and sit outside with a cup of coffee.

That being said - mowing by lawn with the 21" cut Cub Cadet is getting a bit tedious. I have been looking at Toro - Zero Turn Mowers. My neighbor has had one for 3 years and loves it. He said he would drive it to work if he could.

So - looking at everything. This should cut me lawn mowing from 2 hours to 30 minutes. I am debating on parting with the cash. But - I just have a hard time getting the yard done - especially in the fall. Although my other neighbor pays $25 a week to have his mowed. That would take a lot of mowings to pay for that zero turn mower. But - hey the mower makes things fun. Plus - I don't like the idea of hiring - most likely illegals to mow my grass.

Elections

Well - in O'Fallon another changing of the guard. Peter Cantwell lost - which surprised me - but the voter turnout was terrible. From what it sounds like less than 10%. No matter what side of the fence you are on this is a bad thing.

Remember you get the government you deserve. If you are unhappy with the results - go out and vote next time.

Good luck O'Fallon. I hope you guys can't learn to work together a bit more. The region needs it.

Spotlight

Well it seems some folks in St. Charles County always want to be in the spotlight. While being in the spotlight is not a bad thing. The think people have to remember is to give credit to those who helped get you into the spotlight.