RUST COMMENTARY: INCLUDE CHURCHES IN CAPE GIRARDEAU'S GROWTH BOOM

When discussing the building growth in Cape Girardeau, I was reminded that the explosion of new and enlarged CHURCHES should not be overlooked. Also their increased attendance.

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State Sen. PETER KINDER had a rare week of legislative accomplishments for a member of the minority party (minority members historically do not get bills passed that they handle).

The 28-3 vote to make partial-birth abortion illegal (two more yes votes were not in the chamber) and the expected veto-proof vote in the House indicate just how repugnant are partial-birth abortions.

The Senate also supported Kinder's limited concealed weapons bill (a first but achievable step) and voted do pass.

Although Kinder attempted to get voters the opportunity to vote on it ... the lake bill is dead for at least this session and probably until a new site or Bollinger County request a lake in their area.

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GOV. MEL CARNAHAN and the state's economic development director, JOE DRISKILL, were very helpful behind the scenes in helping Procter & Gamble in its decision to locate a new plant in Cape Girardeau.

Carnahan has also been involved in encouraging realistic rather than unobtainable new restrictions and over-reaching interpretations of its responsibilities by the state's Department of Natural Resources.

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The recent Regional Science Fair sponsored by Southeast Missouri State University and the Southeast Missourian was a great success.

The Southeast Missourian has sponsored the event since 1956 (over 40 years).

The students who participate are bright, creative and resourceful (thanks in no small part to their teachers). They know how to think. Some of them don't get much recognition from their peers except through the science fair, and on awards night the winners light up ... as they are among others who appreciate their talents.

KIM McDOWELL handles the logistics for our newspaper's participation in a caring and professional manner.

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The other day one of the local radio stations reported a copyrighted local news story from our newspaper by prefacing their remarks with the phrase, "A PUBLISHED REPORT states that ...". All we've asked is attribution such as to state, "... as reported by the SOUTHEAST MISSOURIAN today" (or something similar). Our news department incurs annual expenses of over $800,000 covering events and researching news (over $1.5 million for our SEMO news networking group). Can you say "SOUTHEAST MISSOURIAN"?

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According to a report in Jack Stapleton's Political Newsletter: BRADLEY IS BACK: "Former Missourian BILL BRADLEY (Cape Dr. David Crowe's cousin) will soon enjoy a higher profile as he joins CBS News as a special commentator, a post designed to give the retired New Jersey senator a chance to discuss social, economic and political views. Also a chance to launch an expected White House bid."

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Gingrich Pays

Newt's announcement that he will pay his $300,000 "ethics assessment" with a $300,000 personal loan from Bob Dole has all of Washington scrambling to put a "spin" on the story. Many Republicans are breathing a sigh of relief, while the Democrats are scrambling to find a new line of attack.

* Newt's allies say this proves the speaker has taken full personal responsibility. They are comparing his decision to pay personally to Clinton's decision to set up a legal defense fund to bail him out.

* Democrats lost no time in raising questions. They are trying to make a story out of the fact that Bob Dole is working for a big D.C. law firm that has the tobacco industry as a major client. Under this formulation, Newt Gingrich is now "in hock" to the tobacco industry.

What a joke! Just a few days ago a story broke here about how much tobacco money went to the Democrats in 1996. They arranged for the money to be sent to state Democratic parties rather than to the national party in order to hide it from the media. Moreover, Dole's law firm is larded with leading Democrats like former Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen.

This maneuvering for the "high ground" between the two parties will continue over the next few days. But don't miss the real story. Newt's decision to use borrowed personal funds means he now believes he has a chance to survive the ethics flap without giving up the speakership or resigning from Congress.

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Assisted Suicide Ban Clears Senate

It was a vote on funding, but nonetheless it sends a powerful message to the Supreme Court this spring as it considers the constitutional issues at stake in the debate over assisted suicide: the U.S. Senate voted 99-0 today to bar federal funding of assisted suicide. The Senate vote follows last week's House vote of 396-18 against this practice. One after another, U.S. medical groups, religious leaders, pro-life and pro-family groups, disability groups and many others have spoken out against this assault on the sanctity of human life. Now both houses of Congress have spoken in a powerful way. The Supreme Court remains likely to return the issue of assisted suicide to state legislative control, but these votes, and the popular convictions they represent, would buttress a much more significant ruling: that assisted suicide occurs only in a context where a person's fundamental right to life is being diminished or denied. -- Washington Update.

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Reno Pays for Keeping Her Job

Once again, Attorney General Janet Reno has decided that plunging into a pool of dubious ethics is more refreshing than doing her job as our nation's chief law enforcement officer. Miss Reno's latest bow to the White House concerns her handling of an "investigation" of an admitted taping of a phone call between House Speaker Newt Gingrich and House Republican colleagues.

Miss Reno's conduct is laughable. Handed a smoking gun, her reaction seems to be: "Is this really a gun? And what is this stuff other people call smoke?" President Clinton left her twisting slowly in the wind earlier this year when cabinet officers were being reappointed or quietly leaving town. It was surmised that Clinton didn't want an attorney general who might approve the appointment of any more special counsels to look into the many scandals that threaten him. In the end, Clinton told Miss Reno she could keep her office.

Whether she sacrificed her integrity to keep her job is something that we'll leave to the historians. But an episode in the first days of April suggests that her feet are planted firmly in concrete when it comes to launching an investigation embarrassing to the Democrats even though the evidence has been handed to her on the proverbial silver platter.

We refer to the incident in December in which a Florida couple, John and Alice Martin, claimed to have intercepted a mobile phone conversation in which House Speaker Newt Gingrich supposedly discussed his personal defense strategy with some Republican colleagues in Congress. We've read the transcript, and we don't agree with charges that Gingrich violated an agreement not to attack the House Ethics Committee. But that isn't the real issue.

The issue is who violated the law. The Martins said on national television that they gave the tape to Rep. Jim McDermott, who was using his position on the House Ethics Committee to further a get-Newt campaign. A day or so after the Martins gave their tape to McDermott, a report about the speaker's conversation surfaced on the front pages of The New York Times, The Atlanta Constitution and Roll Call, a Capitol Hill weekly.

A Reno deputy, Robert S. Litt, politely asked the newspapers that received the tapes, and printed transcripts from them, to turn them over to investigators. Predictably, the newspapers rebuffed Litt's request, hiding behind the First Amendment and their freedom-of-the press defense.

We have a suggestion for the Justice Department. The federal law against disclosure of illegally taped conversations says that "any person" who shares them with others violates the law. So why not name The New York Times and the other papers as defendants and send FBI agents to their offices and seize the tapes? Why is Janet Reno's Justice Department forgiving the media for violating the wiretap laws? -- Accuracy in Media

~Gary Rust is president of Rust Communications, which owns the Southeast Missourian and other newspapers.