Politics and Government

Letter from Langdon: The High (and Hidden) Price of Rural 911

editor — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:40:24 -0700

Near Langdon, Missouri, local emergency volunteers aid the victims of a road accident, calling in a helicopter to airlift one of the injured to a hospital in Omaha.
Photo: Richard Oswald

When lives hang by a thread in rural Northwest Missouri, a small but dedicated group of volunteers can make all the difference.

Here in the American countryside we attach great value to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We regard each human life as precious and priceless. Noble deeds are sometimes easier to talk about than to accomplish, though, when small communities must bear the expense of preserving life on shoestring budgets.

Not long ago, just outside of Langdon an accident occurred at exit 107, off Interstate 29. It was, unfortunately, like a lot of motor vehicle mishaps that occur along the 4-lane highway crossing Atchison County. (In fact, accidents are fairly common on most heavily traveled rural highways, especially Interstates.)

A group of motorcyclists was out for a weekend drive when they made the mistake of taking the wrong off-ramp. Realizing their error, they began to turn around, and two of them collided.

The collision set loose a series of events. First, someone dialed 911 on a cell phone. After obtaining a description of conditions at the scene, the 911 dispatcher notified the Atchison County Sheriff's department, the Atchison/Holt Ambulance District, and the Rock Port Fire Department.

Flipped Switch Grounds Congressional Air Tour of Coal Strip Mining

editor — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:20:19 -0700

Plans to mine Coal River Mountain in West Virginia will cut the region's wind-power capacity
Image: Matthew Wasson

Congressmen Ben Chandler (D-KY) and Norm Dicks (D-WA) were scheduled to tour the coalfields of Central Appalachia by air Saturday, to view the effects of mountain top removal coal mining. The two congressmen were to take a plane from outside Washington, D.C., to Hazard, Kentucky, where they would meet Saturday with local residents.

The trip never got in the air. Somebody left a switch on in the plane overnight, running down the aircraft’s battery. The plane wouldn’t crank up Saturday morning and Chandler and Dicks were left grounded in Washington.

Some at the rally were not surprised, and suspected that the federal Office of Surface Mining intentionally bolluxed the trip. Members of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, who helped organize a rally in Hazard that was to meet Chandler and Dicks, felt the trip could have been sabotaged. KFTC has long battled the Office of Surface Mining, the federal agency that organized the trip for the two congressmen and is charged with regulating coal mining.

Highest Rates of Military Service Found In Home of Menominee Tribe

editor — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 07:20:53 -0700

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has done a great story on the rates of military service from county to county.

Letter from Langdon: Devil in the Details

editor — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:53:19 -0700

The loudest constituent
Drawing: Mike Cressy

They say the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. (I’m sure it’s purely coincidental that big government is in charge of road surfacing.)

Two years ago, the state representative's seat in my part of northwest Missouri was open. I filed as a Democrat and ran unsuccessfully, but with the best of intentions.

I learned a few things. For instance, I found that most people don’t like to hear politicians talk about money, especially when the politician seems to be holding out his hand for a campaign contribution. That’s the part I hated most. I don’t like to ask for money (having been raised by people who believed that the way to get money was to work for it).

When you talk to people about political advertising, most feel the same way I do: that it’s all pretty pointless. But elections have proven time and again that the well-financed campaign has a better chance than one with bare bones/no bones spending. Even so, that money has roots.

Betwixt Rural and Urban, Linn County Will Vote Anew

editor — Sun, 1 Jun 2008 12:53:04 -0700