A SUNDAY OF MEMORIAL AND FINE MUSIC

On Sunday, Cape Girardeau County's prosecuting attorney, Morley Swingle, delivered an emotional tribute to former Southeast Missourian editor John Blue. When he was about 9 years old, Swingle's father passed away. Soon after, Morley, his widowed mother, and his 6-year-old sister began eating dinner weekly with John and Mary Blue, who lived up the street. John Blue would pepper the young boy with questions about school and books. And, unwitting to Morley at that age but so clear to him now, an important void in his life was partly filled.

It was this kind of unspoken generosity and active empathy that made Blue so special.

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After the memorial service, which was a celebration of a remarkable life, I slipped away to Old St. Vincent's Church for a performance by a master guitarist from Brazil. If you saw Monday's newspaper, you couldn't miss the beautiful photograph of Paulo Bellinati with the glow of stained-glass windows behind and around him. Although the photo by Stephan Frazier was inspirational, the music was better.

Here's how Southeast Missourian reporter Chris Howard described it in Monday's paper:

"Brazilian guitarist Paulo Bellinati breathes guitar notes. It is his life.

"This is evident in the way he holds the instrument and the ease with which his fingers, spider-like, find their place on the neck to form chords. ...

"Particularly memorable were the liquid, jovial notes of Antigua,' and the melancholy Valsa do Porto das Caixas,' whose plucky, ascending melody was reminiscent of a Vivaldi largo."

Bellinati's guitar playing was playful and serious, dramatic and exotic, sad and full of energy. And it was, in all of these things, world-class. Special credit goes to Southeast Missouri State University professor of music Jeffrey Noonan, who was responsible for bringing Bellinati here.

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Is anyone else getting tired of seeing Peter Kinder on the front page of the Southeast Missourian? Two days in a row over the weekend. It makes a person think this man is, indeed, busy at work about his Senate duties. First, meeting with the governor at the Royal N'Orleans in Cape, then delivering the keynote speech before hundreds at a political rally in the area.

The casual gathering with the governor was an important one for both, who appear to be feeling their way with each other at the moment. To their benefit, both have an air of collegial respect about the other and an open style of communication. And both seem to be men of their word. This bodes well for the state.

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Talking about honest words, there was one starkly disappointing exchange with Gov. Bob Holden in this newspaper's editorial board meeting with him on Friday. It had to do with the miscalculation of the cost of senior citizen prescription drug reimbursements last year. The plan, pushed by former Gov. Carnahan, was projected to cost $20 million. In the end, it cost $82 million, and the spiraling costs are putting the state under pressure.

The question to Holden was, since he was state treasurer at the time, and the checks went out to senior citizens under his signature, when did he learn the program was vastly over projections and going to put such pressure on the state budget?

He said he found out about a month before a public announcement the first week in January when he was being inaugurated. He simply added: "A lot of people didn't want to discuss the issue in the climate we were in."

After a follow-up question about what he meant by "climate," he responded: "We were in an election year, and the perception was we were in a rosy economy. It wasn't a high priority in any campaign across the country" to talk about economic challenges. "Missouri is not alone in facing budget pressure."

From there, he nimbly switched the topic.

My cautionary note to the governor is that leaders confront the hard facts and don't hide from difficulties because it might reflect poorly on them in an election cycle. This note applies to transportation issues, as well. Devising a strategy to pass a transportation plan around the term-limited retirement of state representatives will only lead to more public skepticism about the process in Jefferson City.

If transportation is one of the state's highest priority issues, as described, then a leader will find ways to implement a solution even if it means having to make the tough decisions about cutting elsewhere in the budget.

Jon K. Rust is co-president of Rust Communications. He can be reached by e-mail at jrust@semissourian.com.