Springfield coverage of tornadoes; earthquake in China
Posted Tuesday, May 13, 2008 @ 12:10 am

Hey everyone.
Just wanted to let you know why I haven't updated the blog in a few days -- I've been out of town, on vacation in the Smokeys for the last few days. Now I'm in Vegas, but it's for work.
I may post more from the hotel here. Intern Tristram Thomas and I are here learning a bit about interactive media, staying at the Rio. Maybe I'll learn something here that will make for a good blog post.
Given that I've been out of town, I'm not real plugged in to any local news, though I did read about Barack Obama's coming appearance. The big news that's been on my mind is the storms in southwest Missouri.
You'll get your best coverage of these killer storms at the Springfield News-Leader site.
And you've probably heard of the massive 7.9-magnitude quake that's killed thousands in rural China. The New York Times has comprehensive coverage of the devastating quake in Sechuan Province.

I had lunch today with an interesting fellow — Jack Bridges.
For those who don't recognize the name, Jack a local man, is the father of Shawn Bridges, a man we first wrote about back in 2006. Shawn was a meth addict.

I'm in the midst of a two-day seminar for Rust Communications on enhancing Internet products. So this got me thinking: We haven't asked you in a while what you think of the new site. So, what do you think? Any kind of feedback is good -- likes, dislikes, suggestions about things that would make you spend more time here.

We've had some calls come in about some strange lights seen over Cape Girardeau Saturday night, probably around 9 to 10 p.m.
Did anyone out there see the lights? If so, what did they look like?

In the aftermath of the Missouri General Assembly's exploration of eliminating the 10 percent ethanol mandate, I received a call from Mike Geske, a Matthews, Mo., farmer and president of the Missouri Corn Growers Association.
Geske is concerned about the desire by some to repeal the mandate, and to seemingly eliminate ethanol from our energy policy.

So after the big earthquake hubbub on Friday, a reader asked for some material from the Southeast Missourian in response to my blog about the 1990 quake and Iben Browning.
I dug up a few articles you might find interesting.

A lot of people have reported they're getting a lot lower gas mileage since Missouri switched to a 10 percent ethanol blend across the board this year.

The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps wants to give a message to illegals this spring by overwhelming them with red, white and blue.

The group of volunteer border watchers is posting 6,000 donated U.S. flags at the Mexico border in what it's calling Read more >> | Browse comments

Remember the great quake of 1990 centered at New Hamburg?
I do. I was a student at Lee Hunter Elementary in Sikeston, and I vividly recall ducking under the desk in classic school emergency fashion while the world shook all around.

The state auditor will conduct an audit of the city government in Hayti Heights, Mo., according to a news release sent out by Gov. Matt Blunt.
The release says the audit was requested by State Sen. Rob Mayer.

The governor's race is in full swing, so the candidates are touting the programs they'd implement if elected.
Current Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon, a Democrat, has an idea that local counties, strapped by the costs of housing prisoners, might like. Nixon wants to expand a Read more >> | Browse comments