Fair ~ 60°F   River stage: 36.64 Falling Saturday, November 7, 2009

Columnists Brian Blackwell Your Business >> Gary Rust Gary's Commentary >> Bob and Callie Clark Miller His and Hers >> Jon K. Rust >> Joe Sullivan River City Journal >> Sam Blackwell Letters From Home >>

Columns Joe Sullivan Animal control When I was growing up on the farm on Killough Valley in the Ozarks over yonder, my life was organized by animals. Lulu, the milk cow, had to be milked every morning and every evening. In winter, hay had to be delivered to hungry cattle. Horses had to be tended... Chris Harris Art and charity go together Handmade pottery can be expensive. Or, it can cost only $12 and come with Sunday lunch. The annual Empty Bowls Banquet will be from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Salvation Army, with a variety of soups, bread and a dessert on the menu. Diners get this modest meal to remind them that food can sometimes be hard to come by and many people only get a small amount -- sometimes not even daily. Diners also get a handmade bowl of their choosing to take home to remind them of the need every day... Sam Blackwell Finding your art Nov. 5, 2009 Dear Julie, When the writer Annie Dillard asked a painter she knew how he came to be a painter, he answered, "I liked the smell of the paint." Maybe it's as simple as that, what we become. We are drawn to it, like salmon to their river, like clouds to a mountain pass. Other ways offer resistance. Going our own way feels more like rowing a boat gently down a stream, maybe even for salmon... Support for the Local Radio Freedom Act My broadcasting friends who run and own radio stations in this country are struggling right now. It's all about legislation called the Performance Rights Act (HR 4789). This bill would levy yet another tax, this time on local radio. The government wants to tax local radio for the music stations play for free on the public airwaves. Then they want to take the revenue generated from that tax and send it to the record companies... Frankly speaking I realize it's a tad bit premature for Thanksgiving, but I am working on my list of items for which I am thankful. Doesn't hurt to get a head start. And speaking of Thanksgiving, when did retailers start displaying their Thanksgiving wares in August? Probably had to clear out the Halloween gear that went on display in July. Oh, well, I digress... Susan McClanahan Southern goodness: Family recipes from the country I was recently loaned a cookbook to read and learn about "White Trash Cooking." Yes, the name says it all, and just about anything you can imagine made it into "White Trash Cooking." A friend loaned me the book but was a little shy about giving it to me in public and did not want her name to appear in the newspaper. ... Jeff Long A broader definition of sainthood "Keep a good grip on it." That's one of my favorite lines from the 1966 film "A Man for All Seasons." Here's the prelude to that climactic phrase:Sir Thomas More: Why have I been summoned to this court? Lord High Judge: To answer to a charge of high treason... Joshua Kezer praises pro bono work by lawyers The day Josh Kezer was turned over to the Missouri Department of Corrections, four men bet cigarettes on how long it would be before he was raped or murdered. He survived, but lived in a violent environment while serving 15 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit... Polenta hits the mainstream When I was a child, nobody I knew had ever heard of polenta. Nobody outside of my northern Italian family, anyway. Essentially, it's cornmeal mush served with some kind of meat with a sauce. Then the world seemed to discover northern Italian cuisine, and polenta was suddenly on the fanciest menus, commanding astronomical prices. For home cooks, the dish took on a "this is a really big deal" quality, as it was rumored that polenta took hours of stirring over a hot pot... Use what you already have Whether it's diluting dish soap to get the last drops or using free samples, I use up items I have on hand before purchasing something new. This is a way of life in our household. With prices climbing, I'm happy to share a few reader-submitted tips for using what you already have or are doing without... How safe is your airline? By Rudy Maxa The Daily Beast Almost 11 years ago, somewhere over Canada, a small fire began in the ceiling of Swissair Flight 111 near the cockpit's rear wall. Seventeen minutes after the crew determined the fire was a serious problem and radioed a distress message, the plane plummeted into the ocean, disintegrating and immediately killing all 229 on board... Good decisions require geographic awareness Examples of the lack of geographic awareness displayed by politicians, business leaders and even beauty queens are legion. Who can forget presidential candidate John McCain's 2008 gaffe on "Good Morning America" when he referred to the Iraq-Pakistan border. He meant the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, of course. Yet it's likely that most Americans following the campaigns would not have known that McCain's statement was geographically inaccurate... Joe Sullivan The sage cat What I am about the tell you will come as no surprise to cat owners. Right off the bat I've misled you. There is no such thing as a "cat owner." Some folks who claim to have cats as pets also claim to "own" their cats. This, of course, is a lie perpetuated by humans with brains the size of grapefruits. Cats, with brains the size of plums, know better. Big-headed humans hate to admit that a small animal can be so much smarter than they are... Chris Harris A blog to read by There's a new blog in town -- one that has print repercussions. Some literary friends have started a blog called "Read It and Reap" focusing on books, how they relate to life, how people talk about them and why people should (or perhaps shouldn't) read them. These are people involved in the University Press at Southeast Missouri State University, which options and publishes books by authors from here and far... America's currency crisis The dollar crisis began several months ago. Since then it has slowly worsened because of our ever-growing balance of payments and our government running enormous deficits of unprecedented proportions. Among the most recent headlines is a piece last week that the Gulf States, along with China, Russia, Japan and France, are considering replacing the dollar as the currency for oil deals. ... Sam Blackwell Food for the soul Oct. 29, 2009 Dear Julie, Every culture has its own version of soul food. In Latin America everything begins and ends with rice and beans. In India, yogurt and lentils and flat bread are basic. A winery nearby serves Swedish soul food, delicious meatballs and the like... Dean: America can't wait We're in the final stretch in our campaign for health care reform including a public option. The good news is we're winning. I know that sometimes it is hard to tell. After all August was a brutal month filled with right-wing fear-mongering and misinformation. Whether led by Glenn Beck, FOX News or Rep. Joe Wilson, too many Americans were told to disrupt town halls rather than participate in them. And of course the media covered every moment of it... Gingrich: Plan will bankrupt states It's one thing for Congress to spill red ink with no regard for the federal deficit, to print and spend money with no restraint. Unfortunately, there is no law requiring the federal government to balance its budget the way you and I must balance a checkbook... Things that go thug in the night A dear friend pulled me aside this week and said, "Write something about how Halloween has changed since we were kids." She pointed out some unwanted changes in the annual holiday routine, and I immediately knew I had heard it before. She was not the first to mention the growing incivility that has come to mark the holiday tradition. The societal rudeness is all too prevalent as "kids" make their rounds for holiday candy... Susan McClanahan Recipe Swap: Neighbors and friends trade favorite recipes Recipe collectors and area cooks have been busy sending in recipes this week to be included in this column. It is so nice to get mail and see what other cooks are making. This week we have several readers who have shared favorites and these will give you something new to try. Enjoy and remember to send in your favorite recipes... Tom Harte A Harte Appetite: Caramel apples with bourbon make for a grown-up confection Do you have some gold jewelry that needs polishing? Try using beer. Is your hair frizzy and in need of conditioning? Try using olive oil. Have some plants that need fertilizing? Try using coffee grounds. These are just a few examples of the proven alternative uses of some common food items... Frank Nickell Patton, Mo., native spread his wings Southeast Missouri is defined by its special people and special places. A person who is clearly deserving of special recognition is Ira Oris Biffle from Patton, Mo. On Dec. 1, 1927, the first commercial airplane landed at Chicago Air Park, which was dedicated as Chicago Municipal Airport the following week, and Midway Airport in 1949. ... Chris Harris Costuming pop culture We in the news industry are a scrappy bunch, some more so than others. It's a creative, high-energy environment and the stress sometimes gets to us, hence the fight that almost broke out between a page designer and a photographer Tuesday. We were brainstorming and the creative juices were flowing, and both of them wanted to be Octomom for Halloween. To clarify, only one's a girl, but I think the other could pull it off, too... Joe Sullivan Take my advice The last time I had the flu was late winter in 1995. During my siege of illness -- this was a doozie case of flu -- friends of ours were married in our living room. Attending were out-of-town family members related to the bride and groom, of course, but I had never met most of these family members before. ... Sam Blackwell Nashville online Oct. 22, 2009 Dear Leslie, The Lovin' Spoonful's John Sebastian estimated the number of guitar players in Nashville at 1,352. "And anyone that unpacks his guitar could play twice as better than I will," he sang. Sebastian low-balled the right number by a considerable amount but captured the insecurity of striving to survive in a place awash in talent. In these parts most everybody knows a musician who made it, is trying to make it or doesn't hope to make it in Nashville anymore...