Cape Girardeau, Missouri - Stacy Shore will be presenting an informational lecture on Common Core and what it will mean to our students.  It will be held at the Rose Theater on the Southeast Missouri State campus at 2 pm on Sunday, March 30th.  

The Rose Theater is located in the H.O. Graul Language Arts building on the campus and the address is 408 North Pacific St in Cape Girardeau MO.

Time is of the essence on this matter.  Our state legislators have bills before them now to deal with this, but too many of them are in favor of this including Donna Litchennegger from Jackson (Donna personally told me that she would Vote to SUPPORT HB1490 "The Kill Common Core Bill" but now is doing something different).  Also Kathy Swan from Cape Girardeau has always been supportive of Common Core and I don't believe she will support HB1490 although she's not personally told me that.

With many school board positions up for election in the beginning of April, it is also very important to support those candidates that are anti-common core so the timing of this presentation is very good.  Please find out which candidates best reflect your values and get the vote out!

Thank you,

Alan Pendergrass

The views and statements expressed in the blog may or may not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or positions of the ShowMe Times.  We offer a blog for people to submit information to the public.

If you know of a speaker or lecturer of an event we would like to hear about it.  Submit the information to our email address at [email=news@showmetimes.com.

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Age Spots - By Ruth Dockins

Missouri Property Tax Credit

This is the time of year when most of us think bad thoughts about taxes.  However, for some folks this time of year can bring some smiles because of tax credits.  One of the tax credits I don’t want you to forget is the Missouri Property Tax Credit (MoPTC) also known as “Circuit Breaker.”

The MoPTC claim gives credit to certain senior citizens and 100% disabled individuals for a portion of the real estate taxes or rent they have paid for the year. The credit is for a maximum of $750 for renters and $1,100 for owners who owned and occupied their home. The actual credit is based on the amount of real estate taxes or rent paid and total household income (taxable and nontaxable).

If you are 65 or older as of Dec. 31, 2013 or 100% disabled with total household income of $30,000 as a single person or $34,000 as a married couple and have owned and occupied your home in the state of MO the entire filing year you should apply for the rebate.  Also, if you are a 100% service connected disabled veteran you do not even have to include your VA payments in the income calculation.

If you are 65 or older as of Dec. 31, 2013 or 100% disabled with total household income of $27,500 as a single person or $29,500 as a married couple and have owned your home for part of the filing year, or rented in the state of MO you should apply for the rebate.  Again, if you are a 100% service connected disabled veteran you do not even have to include your VA payments in the income calculation.

One other group of people that should file are those that are 60 or older as of December 31, 2013 and received surviving spouse social security benefits, and fall into the appropriate guidelines listed above.

If you have questions regarding this information you may call me at 335-3331 or 1-800-392-8771, or go to www.dor.mo.gov

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Sikeston, Missouri - Capitol Records recording artist Matthew West will kick off his spring tour on Friday, March 14 at First United Methodist Church in Sikeston, Missouri.

The US tour will be title, “Hello, My Name Is.” Matthew West is an American Music Award Winner, and Dove Award Winner, an ASCAP Christian Music Songwriter/Artist of the Year winner and lauded by The New York Times as "a vivid and compelling songwriter with impressive approaches to the familiar," four-time GRAMMY nominee Matthew West’s discography includes acclaimed releases: Happy (2003), History (2005), Something to Say (2008), The Story of Your Life (2010) and Into The Light (2012). His 2010 studio album, The Story of Your Life, was inspired by 10,000 stories from every state in the U.S. and 20 countries.

The album garnered attention from CNN Online, Fox News, Billboard, Country Weekly, American Songwriter and more. The Story of Your Life gave West the largest street week debut of his career, selling over 10,000 units the first week landing at No. 3 on Christian Soundscan, and No. 41 on the Billboard Top 200.

A multiple ASCAP “Song of the Year” winner, West has had five No. 1 radio hits including his latest, “Hello, My Name Is.” His songwriting credits include cuts by Rascal Flatts, Billy Ray Cyrus, Diamond Rio and more. Recently nominated for a Primetime Emmy® Award for Original Music & Lyrics for "The Heart of Christmas" from the film of the same name, West's fifth studio album, Into The Light, was released in 2012 and was nominated for Best Contemporary Christian Album for the 55th Annual GRAMMY® Awards. The new album features his most recent hit singles “Forgiveness” and “Hello My Name Is,” along with 10 other tracks inspired by 10,000 new letters submitted after West invited people to, once again, send him their stories. West spent much of late 2012 and early 2013 on a headlining stint of the No. 1 Tour in the World, the Winter Jam Tour Spectacular.

The concert in Sikeston will begin at 7pm. Doors will open at 6:30pm. All seats are $20 and general admission. There are 400 tickets available to the public. First United Methodist is located at 1307 North Main. “This is a great opportunity to see one of the most inspiring Christian artists of our time in an intimate, personal setting. Matthew will tell the story behind every song he sings,” says co-organizer Brad Aycock. Tickets can be purchased at any of the six southeast Missouri locations – First United Methodist Sikeston, First United Methodist Kennett, Lynwood Baptist in Cape Girardeau, First Baptist in Poplar Bluff, First Baptist in Dexter, and New McKendree in Jackson. For more info visit thefunchurch.org, or call 573.421.1824. 

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Global - Tuesday, February 4th is World Cancer Day.  Cancer effects everyone on every continent.  You may know someone fighting cancer.  You may have had a loved one die from cancer.  There is not a day that goes by this terrible disease does not reach out and strike someone somewhere near or far.

The World Cancer Day 2014 will build on the success of last year's campaign, by again focusing on Target 5 of the World Cancer Declaration: Reduce stigma and dispel myths about cancer, under the tagline “Debunk the myths”.

World Cancer Day is a chance to raise our collective voices in the name of improving general knowledge around cancer and dismissing misconceptions about the disease. From a global level, we are focusing our messaging on the four myths above. In addition to being in-line with our global advocacy goals, these overarching myths leave a lot of flexibility for members, partners and supporters to adapt and expand on for their own needs.

What is cancer?

Cancer is a disease which occurs when changes in a group of normal cells within the body lead to uncontrolled growth causing a lump called a tumor; this is true of all cancers except leukemia (cancer of the blood). If left untreated, tumors can grow and spread into the surrounding normal tissue, or to other parts of the body via the bloodstream and lymphatic systems, and can affect the digestive, nervous and circulatory systems. 

Tumors (lumps) can be benign or malignant.

*  Benign tumors are not cancerous and rarely threaten life. They tend to grow quite slowly, do not spread to other parts of the body and are usually made up of cells quite similar to normal / healthy cells. They will only cause a problem if they grow very large, becoming uncomfortable or press on other organs for example a brain tumor inside the skull.

* Malignant tumors are faster growing than benign tumors and have the ability to spread and destroy neighboring tissue. Cells of malignant tumors can break off from the main (primary) tumor and spread to other parts of the body through a process known as metastasis. Upon invading healthy tissue at the new site they continue to divide and grow. These secondary sites are known as metastases and the condition is referred to as metastatic cancer.

The World Cancer Day organization not only celebrates those who have survived, but educates caregivers and people on what to look for, what not to eat and how to live a wonderful life with or after cancer.

Join millions across the globe as they celebrate, educate, and help eradicate cancer!  Change your Facebook page to purple!  For more information on how you can help, go to www.worldcancerday.org or click HERE.

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Age Spots - By Ruth Dockins

South Central Pension Rights Project

The South Central Pension Rights Project is one of the most helpful, and sometimes the most overlooked, programs around.  They provide pension counseling assistance to anyone with a pension question or problem, regardless of age, income or value of the claim.

This program serves people in Missouri, as well as some other states, free of charge.  Pension help is hard to find because the plans and laws are complex and difficult to navigate without knowledgeable assistance.  The people who work for the South Central Pension Rights Project are trained to answer your questions about complicated pension laws.  Among other things, they are trained to obtain hard-to-find retirement plan publications, and forms, they help with corrections to pension miscalculations and help with claiming retirement benefits that have been previously denied. 

For instance a widow knows that her husband worked for a company many years ago and believes that he had contributed to a pension plan.  If she ever had any papers on the pension fund she doesn’t know where they are now.  Unfortunately the company has closed and she doesn’t know anyone who worked there.  This could be a very daunting scenario for anyone, especially a senior citizen who hasn’t been in the workforce for awhile. The pension counselors can assist with situations like this and they are happy to help free of charge.

“I had been receiving a monthly benefit from my late husband’s pension for 23 years.  Then the pension plan suddenly decided I was no longer eligible for it.  The pension counseling project helped me get my pension back,” stated  one very satisfied client.

Pension counseling projects like this are run by local nonprofit organizations and are funded under the Older Americans Act through a grant program of the U.S. Administration on Aging.  Legal training and support are provided by the National Pension Assistance Resource Center, an initiative of the Pension Rights Center in Washington, D.C.

To contact these very helpful people you can call toll free:  800-443-2528 or go online to www.southcentralpension.org