The top legislative leaders in Missouri say its time that the federal government got its fiscal house in order - but the path to setting things in order includes passage of a balanced budget amendment.

Missouri Senate Leader Rob Mayer of Dexter, and with Senate Majority Floor Leader Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles, called on Congress this week to pass a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution by the end of this year.

Mayer says despite the agreement reached this week in Congress and the promise of substantial cuts in spending, the federal budget remains out of balance to the tune of trillions of dollars.

“It’s high time to bring our runaway debt under control.  Today, we call on Congress to move quickly and send the states a well-drafted balanced budget amendment,” said Mayer.  “We would like to make Missouri one of the very first states to ratify this important proposal.”

Unlike Missouri and many other states which cannot spend more than they take in — the federal government is not bound by any balanced budget provision.  This important safeguard, says Dempsey, forces the governor and lawmakers in Missouri to live within their means.  Dempsey says the solution to the problem of wasteful spending is to bring a healthy dose of common sense from the Show-Me State to Washington, D.C.

“I am convinced that voluntary budget cuts will not work over the long-term.  Real reform will only happen when the federal government is forced by a balanced budget amendment to control excess spending,” said Dempsey.  “Recently, I have written to the sponsors of the Balanced Budget Amendment in the U.S. Senate to let them know I will work to secure its ratification here in Missouri. When the Missouri Senate reconvenes in January, I will also ask my colleagues to approve an official resolution calling on Congress to send us a balanced budget amendment so that we can quickly ratify and put it into effect."

“The current levels of federal spending and borrowing cannot be sustained,” said Mayer.  “Rather than sit idly by as our children and grandchildren are saddled with mounting levels of debt, we must take action to give Washington a backbone when it comes to a balanced budget.”

Rob Mayer, R-Dexter, represents the 25th State Senatorial District in the Missouri State Senate and serves the state as the President Pro Tem of the State Senate.

The Missouri Highway Patrol announced this week it will conduct a sobriety checkpoint and saturation in the region during August.

Captain George E. Ridens, commanding officer of Troop E based in Poplar Bluff, announced this week that troopers will conduct a “driving while intoxicated saturation” during the month. A saturation is a mobile operation in which troopers saturate a specific area in an effort to arrest intoxicated drivers.

Ridens said the saturation will take place in Stoddard, as well as Dunklin, Pemiscot and New Madrid counties. Troopers will work in cooperation with other local law enforcement agencies in conducting this saturation.

In addition, a sobriety checkpoint will be held at some point in August in Cape Girardeau County. The checkpoint is an operation on a specific highway where law enforcement will check every driver to ensure they are sober.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol urges all citizens to report any vehicle they observe operating in a careless manner.  The public can contact the Highway Patrol toll-free at 1-800-525-5555.

It was so hot on Wednesday, you almost instinctively knew something had to happen.

The heat and humidity combined for virtually unbearable conditions on Wednesday, with at least one heat index reporting a “feels like” temperature in Dexter of 134 degrees.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) official report for Dexter reports a noonday temperature off 98.7 degrees, 102.1 at 1:40 p.m., and superhot 103.8 degrees at 3:20 p.m.

By late afternoon storm clouds were rolling, and some area photographers were snapping photos of unique cloud formations. Rain arrived with thunder and lightening, but the NOAA rain gauge only measured .27 of an inch.

The National Weather Service in Paducah has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for Stoddard County on Thursday. A Severe Thunderstorm watch means conditions are conducive to the development of severe thunderstorms in the area. The watch is in effect until 3 p.m. Thursday.

The forecast for Thursday calls for a bit of relief from the extreme heat and humidity. Today will we'll have sunny skies with a high in the low 90s. East/northeast breezes will be between 5 and 8 miles per hour. There's a 20 percent chance of showers or thunderstorms tonight. The low will be in the low 70s.

Heat that has its grip on the Missouri has contributed to the buckling of roads, the drying out of fields and several deaths. The National Weather Service in St. Louis said this past July was the fourth-warmest July and the hottest in more than 70 years in St. Louis. It was the sixth-hottest July recorded in Columbia.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said 11 heat-related deaths have been confirmed from May 1 through Monday. Nine of those deaths were in the St. Louis area, one was in Kansas City and one was elsewhere in Missouri. The state health agency said another 24 deaths were suspected to be heat-related. Health officials said there have been 1,362 heat-related visits to emergency rooms.

Photo Above: Storm clouds rolled through the region Wednesday evening. SMT Reader April Isbell took this shot of the unique clouds near One Mile Road and Fannetta. Photo Below: Thanks to SMT Reader Brian Crawford, for this exceptional shot, taken on Saddle Spur Road in town.

By Annabeth Miiler,
ShowMe Times Editor

The work on the addition at the Dexter Police Department’s expansion and upgrade project is making progress this summer.

Police Chief Sammy Stone reported at this week’s meeting of the Dexter aldermanic meeting that the project is nearly 40 percent completed and that the “building is really taking shape.”

The expansion project at police headquarters will bring about a number of changes. The project will provide better records storage, a cyber crime lab, and new tools for the Dexter police force. The old portion of the facility will be remodeled to house new administrative offices, new communications department, and workspace for officers, new booking room, as well as a new entrance facing Cooper Street.

A pair of public hearings was held at the Monday aldermanic meeting dealing the two annexations of private property on McCormick Street in Dexter. The adjacent properties are owned by Robin Hopkins and W. A. Stogaugh on McCormick Street, who have both requested to be annexed into the city. No public comment was made concerning the requested annexation.

City Attorney Bud Lawrence reported that at the next aldermanic meeting on Aug. 15 an annexation ordinance would be submitted for the board’s approval.

Homeowner Robin Hopkins was on hand for the public hearing.

“I want to thank you for the consideration,” Hopkins said to the board.

Goodbye To Summer

Summer’s fun is about to come to a close with the start of a new school year, and the programs with the Parks and Recreation Department are winding down after a successful season.

Parks Director Lawson Metcalf reported that the summer recreation programs have come to an end.

“Everything seemed to go extremely well. There didn’t seem to be as much controversy this year,” Metcalf said.

The summer season at the Dexter Aquatic Center will end a little earlier than is traditional, Metcalf reported to the board. He explained not because of lack of popularity, but because of a problem in staffing the center.

“The last day for the pool will be Aug. 21,” he said. The Aquatic Center will also be closed Aug. 18 and 19, since students in Dexter return to the classroom those two days. “We’re closing not because of attendance by lack of staff. We just cannot get lifeguards to staff it (the center).”

Metcalf also reported to aldermen the lifeguards did a commendable job on Monday, when unidentified women went down one of the large slides and hit her head on the bottom of the pool.

Metcalf said the lifeguards “did what they were trained to do” and were able to bring the woman to poolside, and kept her isolated and safe until an ambulance arrive.

“It was the only incident we’ve had all season except for a couple of bee stings,” he commented.

In other business, the board

• Ratified the Mayor Joe Weber’s appointment of Angie Williamson as a fulltime city employee, with duties with City Court and the Visitor Center at the Depot.

• Discussed Geocaching – a worldwide treasure hunting game where you use a GPS to hide and seek containers with other participants in the activity.

• Received the monthly financial report from City Auditor Eddie Cato.

Photo Above: City Auditor Eddie Cato delivers his monthly report to the Board of Aldermen. In the background are Fire Chief Al Banken (left) and Ward II Alderman Tim Aslin.

A portion of a major north-south thoroughfare in Dexter will be closed to traffic for a time on Wednesday, Aug. 3.

Dexter City Administration Mark Stidham announced today that a portion of One Mile Road would be closed for roadwork on Wednesday, Aug. 3. The roadway will be closed beginning at 11 a.m., from the Union Pacific railroad tracks north to Business Highway 60.

The closure will affect the intersections on the section of roadway, including Market, W. St. Francis, Arvin, Westport, and Specialty.

“We are going to resurface One Mile Road,” Stidham said. “We are sorry for the inconvenience, but we are trying to get this work done between school starts.”

Stidham noted that the work would not begin until late in the morning after most have traveled to work, and the project is expected to be complete and the road reopened by the end of the workday.

“We are asking everyone to plan ahead and find alternate routes during the day,” he said.