Lawmakers to speak at First Friday Coffee

The monthly First Friday Coffee sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce will feature a discussion of statewide transportation funding with two lawmakers, state Sen. Bill Stouffer, R-Napton, and state Rep. Neal St. Onge, R-Ellisville. They are the chairmen, respectively, of the Senate and House transportation committees. State transportation officials are predicting a funding shortage beginning in fiscal 2010 as federal funding dries up and state money sources are increasingly used to pay bond debt related to recent highway improvements. The coffee this month is sponsored by the Delta Companies, a highway contracting company, and begins at 7 a.m. Friday at the Show Me Center.