CITY OF JACKSON'S WEB SITE IS NEARLY COMPLETE

JACKSON -- There are no beaches or waves, but a new city web site makes it easy to surf to Jackson on the Internet.

On Sunday, city officials will officially anounce the completon of the www.Jacksonmo.com web site.

The site has been in use since April 30 and is nearing 100 pages of information on the city from government to social organizations. In fact the site has already recorded more than 650 internet visitors.

"The web site has turned into a total package," said Jackson Mayor Paul Sander. "Many people who rely on a computer daily will use it daily."

Sander said the idea for a city web site was on the minds of city officials for six months before it actually became a reality. "We wanted a industrial development page; that was our initial idea," he said.

In January two industrious young computer entrepreneurs, Jon Mark Milde and Chris Dittmer, students at Washington University in St. Louis and owners of University Computers, approached the city with their web site proposal.

The two were asked to give a presentation to the mayor, Patty Reisenbichler of the Jackson Chamber of Commerce and Steve Wilson, Jackson city administrator. The three city officials liked the presentation and asked Milde and Dittmer to appear in front of the next city council meeting.

Dittmer and Milde started to work on the site in January, traveling back and forth between college in St. Louis and Jackson. A five-page prototype started the ball rolling.

The web site, which is currently 99 percent complete, includes information on:

-- Homes, schools, churches, and parks

-- City government

-- Clubs and organizations

-- Business and industry

-- History of Jackson

-- Information and events

-- Jackson chat