By Annabeth Miller, ShowMe Times Editor

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The clock may be ticking, but leaders in the Missouri Senate say they will continue work on crafting a “fair and equitable” congressional redistricting map.”

Senate leaders on Friday said that developing a new redistricting map was a “priority” and that they would meet the May 13 deadline.

Crafting a map that is fair and equitable to Missouri citizens when it comes to their representation in the United States Congress is a priority, said Missouri Senate leaders today in Jefferson City.

In the wee morning hours Friday, negotiations between leaders of the Missouri Senate and House of Representatives came to an end. The issue will stand "as is" at least until Tuesday when members return to Jefferson City after the Easter weekend. Members from both chambers worked for more than seven hours Friday night in closed-door negotiations.

The General Assembly is constitutionally charged to redraw Missouri’s Congressional Districts based on the most recent U.S. Census data.

According to U.S. Census date, Missouri must lose a congressional seat – shifting from nine representatives in the U.S. House of Repsentatives to just eight.

“It is especially difficult this year, but the process is extremely important as it will likely be the basis for Missouri’s congressional district make-up for the next 30 years,” said Senate Leader Rob Mayer, R-Dexter.

Mayer said he believes that senators can develop a congressional map that can be approved by both the Missouri Senate and House of Representatives by the May 13 deadline.

“It is imperative we complete our Constitutional duty and adopt a map both members of the Senate and House of Representatives agree is the best in representing the interests of Missourians,” Mayer said.

Senators noted they had hoped to finish by a self-imposed deadline of Friday, April 22. Differences in the House and Senate map versions are currently before a conference committee.

Sen. Scott T. Rupp, R-Wentzville, is chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Redistricting and said the map should reflect the best interests of Missourians and not currently elected members of Congress.

“A member of Congress’ opinion has no more weight than that of any Missourian,” said Rupp. “We must remember we are elected to represent the people of Missouri and not their Congressmen and women.”

"At some point I think the Senate will get serious about negotiating the map and trying to resolve the differences between the two maps," said Rep. John Diehl, R-St. Louis, who chairs the House redistricting committee. Rupp noted negotiations will resume next week.

The House and Senate versions of the map are similar in several issues, but differ in a few key areas, Shifting the state down in the congressional representation has brought about conflict in rural areas and the state’s urban areas – particularily the Kansas City area as well as St. Charles, St. Louis and Jefferson County.

The Constitution provides lawmakers until the end of the legislative session (6 p.m., May 13) to adopt a new map. The House Friday amended Senate Bill 68 by attaching a House compromise map. That bill would next return to the Senate for consideration. If the Legislature does not complete the task, the issue would move to the courts to be decided.

By Annabeth Miller, ShowMe Times Editor

As a young girl, Michelle Kinsey Mahler was as nimble with a needle and thread as some girls are with cheer stunts or dance steps or piano keys. And when she left Southeast Missouri to go to college, her sewing kit and design ideas were prominent on her packing lists.

Many young women dream of wearing “the” wedding dress.

But Michelle Mahler dreams of designing “the” wedding dress that every young bride wants to wear on her wedding day. She is taking those design and sewing skills to creating dreams.

Mahler is a senior at Missouri State University, just weeks away from receiving a degree in design from the university’s department of fashion and interior design. She recently was awarded first place and a scholarship for her original bridal gown at an international fashion career day in Dallas.

Mahler is the daughter of Linda and Carl Hill of Dexter. She attended elementary school in Dexter and graduated from Ellington High School before heading to Missouri State.

Her gown was presented as part of the fully staged runway show at Fashion Group International’s (FGI) 2011 Dallas Career Day. She walked the runway with her design, as a representative of the university.

Mahler’s design, which she named the “Unrefined Diamond,” features a removable top skirt for the reception.

“I entered it specifically because I had made my bridal collection,” Mahler said. Her bridal collection now includes nine pieces, including the dress she made for her own wedding. Marler and husband Brandon were married in July 2010.

“I made seven dresses from January through March,” she said of her expanding bridal collection. “The other two dresses I made before, including one I wore at my wedding and a second one I wore for my wedding rehearsal.”

She takes much of inspiration for her designs from her faith. The dress “Darling Dove”, for instance, she said was inspired by the Song of Solomon.

Mahler will graduate in May from MSU, and she and husband Brandon will remain in the Springfield area. Both plan to work as interns for Campus Crusade for Christ to “give back to the students on campus.”

In the long term, the young Southeast Missouri woman wants to build up her line of bridal wear. But for now, she settles on spreading word of her work through friends and family, and through the website, etsy.com.

“I have three brides now who want me to design their dress,” she said. “I am hoping to open an online store sometime this next year. The dress I won for (in Dallas) has been the most popular with everyone so far.”

This was the first year the bridal gown category, sponsored by Mon Cheri Bridal, was part of the student design competition. More than 1,000 design and merchandising students attended the 43rd annual event on April 1, which was held by FGI of Dallas at the Dallas Market Center.



Photos Above:Top Photo: Michelle Mahler on the runway during the FGI 2011 Dallas Career Day Fashion Show. Collage: Michelle and two of her dresses in her Bridal Collection.

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. – U.S. Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson toured Three Rivers College’s “unbelievable” new Nursing and Allied Health Center on Tuesday, April 19.

“This is fantastic,” commented Emerson, during a tour of the new labs, classrooms, and high-fidelity simulated patient rooms. “I’m overwhelmed. If I were a nursing student, I’d hope to study in a facility like this.”

Renovations to the 25,000-square-foot facility are complete; the nursing and medical laboratory technology programs began classes on location in January. Surgical Technology and Emergency Medical Services curriculum will follow in August.

“This is one of the greatest ideas you’ve ever had,” Emerson remarked to college president Dr. Devin Stephenson, referencing the partnership between Three Rivers and Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center that made the new center possible.

PBRMC rents the previously-unused space to the college for approximately one dollar a year. Nursing and allied health students are given the opportunity to study in a functioning hospital setting, and PBRMC recruits heavily from the graduating classes of nurses.

“We’ve maintained a 100 percent post-graduation hiring rate,” said Kim Shackleford, Director of Nursing and Division Chair for Health and Human Services. “Our last class of graduates has a 96 percent first-attempt pass rate for the NCLEX (National Council Licensure Exam for nursing). We anticipate a 100 percent overall pass rate.”

The nursing program at Three Rivers has once again been ranked by Ingram’s Magazine as a top-20 program within Missouri and Kansas, based on enrollment. Three Rivers Nursing is ranked among the University of Missouri, Pittsburg State, the Godfarb School at Barnes Jewish College in St. Louis, and others. Healthcare curriculum is currently being written so that students studying a variety of healthcare disciplines will be required to work with each other in this interactive setting, just as they would is an actual hospital.

“For example,” said Shackleford, “Our EMS students will bring in a ‘patient’ on a stretcher, having already performed their required first-response duties. The ‘patient’ is then checked in and cared for by nursing students, who then have to work with the Medical Lab Technology students to ‘draw blood’ and have it tested.”

“This is a student-focused learning environment,” said nursing instructor Paulette Alexander in conversation with the congresswoman. “Students have to take the lead, and we’re here to help facilitate that interactive experience, which is so crucial to the quality of patient care once they’re working in a true clinical setting.”

“We’re developing some of the first concept-based curriculum in Missouri,” added Shackleford. “We are writing our own textbooks based on our interdisciplinary approach to health science education. We are leaps and bounds ahead of other institutions, and we’re very proud of that.”

“I’ve never seen anything quite as sophisticated as this in my life,” said Emerson. “You have unlimited options here. Three Rivers’ ability to attract some of the best students because of the quality of this facility is unparalleled. I think this is going to succeed beyond anyone’s wildest expectations. Poplar Bluff is the place to be right now.”

Also present for the tour was Poplar Bluff businessman Jerry Murphy, CEO of Gamma Laboratories.

Murphy announced that Gamma Labs would sponsor a scholarship for a Med Lab Tech student starting Fall 2011.

Three Rivers’ MLT program is lead by Dionne Thompson, a former employee of Gamma Labs.

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (above) tests out "Hal". a simulation mannequin at the new Nursing and Allied Health Center at Three Rivers College (Teresa Johnson, TRC photo)

BREAKING WEATHER NEWS

A SMT News Report

Southeast Missouri is in the path for another dose of severe weather Friday night and Saturday.

The National Weather Service has issued a Tornado Watch for Stoddard County and much of Southeast Missouri at 5:50 p.m. Friday. The Tornado Watch is in effect until 1 a.m. Saturday.

Counties included in the Tornado Watch include: Bollinger, Butler, Cape Girardeau, Carter, Iron, Madison, Mississippi, Perry, Reynolds, Ripley, Scott, St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve, Stoddard and Wayne counties.

A Tornado Watch means that conditions are favorable for severe thunderstorms capable of producing 1" or larger hail, winds of 58 mph or higher and even tornadoes. Dangerous lightning and heavy downpours are also possible.

In addition, at 4 p.m. Friday the NWS issues a Hazardous Weather Outlook for the region.

The advisory warns of a moderate risk of severe weather in Southeast Missouri for portions of the region north and west of a line from Doniphan to Dexter to Perryville.

“As a cold front approaches this evening, numerous severe thunderstorms are expected to move in the Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois,” NWS reports. Supercells may be possible in the area with large hail, damaging winds and heavy rainfall the primary concerns. A few tornadoes may be possible as well.

A good chance of thunderstorms continues Saturday through Wednesday along and behind the stalled out frontal boundary. A few periods of severe weather will be possible and flooding will only become more intense with each successive round of thunderstorms.

A SMT News Report

PARMA, Mo. - Tuesday's storms brought some unwelcome consequences in one small New Madrid community.

In the height of Tuesday evening’s storms – at 9:55 p.m. – an unconfirmed twister swept through Parma, leaving behind damage to the City Hall and Community Building.

Parma Chief of Police Trish Cullen reported that a funnel cloud was spotted a few minutes before 10 p.m. on the south end of the community.

“Tree are down and power lines down,” Cullen said Wednesday morning. “Part of the roof at the Community Center and City Hall was damaged.”

The Community Building was not only home for city offices and the place for community gatherings, but was the depository for much of the community’s history. The collection includes photographs from the old Parma school – priceless photos of the community’s past.


But Cullen said that the photos had a crew of “guardians” the night of the storm.

“The police officer on duty got volunteers to come in last night and remove and save all the old high school pictures in the community hall,” saving that piece of community heritage, she said.

Parma residents and officials are assessing the damage to City Hall and other buildings from Tuesday's storms. The high winds blew off part of the roof on the at the Community Building’/City Hall. In addition, a vacant brick building at the corner of Main and Broadway was among the buildings damaged in the storm.

Photo 1 Above: The old pool hall in downtown Parma was just one of the buildings that suffered damage as a result of the storms in the region Tuesday night.

Photo 2 Above: The Old Shaw Place in Parma suffered damage as the strong winds toss the carport against the house. (Pictures supplied by Daryl Ramsey).