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Shelley Powers just let me know about a page of photos on the Johnson's Shut-Ins site. Maybe we will find out what is happening after all.

Just Ask

Ameren posted a 61 page document that was submitted to FERC about the $5 million and recommended projects. They only spent a page and a half on the 80 letters they received about the process and the outcome. So if you disagree with things, now is the time to email FERC, because you letter wasn't part of the package.

Lost Month

Remember in February when we were told that there was little time for discussion because the panel had to make its decision so Ameren could send the requests to FERC by Feb 28. So on Feb 28th Ameren did post the panels recommendations and the panel letter on the Ameren web site. Then Ameren said they would receive public comment until March 12. So what has happened since Feb 28, well I don't know. Last night I talked to the head of an organization that the panel recommended receive some of the funding. He said that not only did he not know anything about the status of the panels recommendations, but that he had never received a call or letter from Ameren about his status. He only knew that his organizations name was on the Ameren web site as one of the panels recommendations. I also heard last night that the Attorney General's office sent a letter to FERC requesting that FERC extend the December 31 deadline for completion of the projects.

So here is what I don't know.

Has Ameren sent the panels recommendations to FERC?

Did Ameren receive any public comment and are those comments going to be on the public record?

Is FERC going to make a quick decision about funding as required in the agreement?

Here is what I do know.

The usual suspects are still yelling in Jefferson City.

Shut-Ins News

This "news" is almost five months old, but I just dug it out. DNR sure didn't make it easy to find.

Get Ready!

Normally the hummingbirds show up at Peola Valley on April 15. If you look at this map sure looks like they will be here early this year. I know it is supposed to cool off by next weekend, but that is only April 1. So if you feed hummers put a feeder out with a little sugar water early and you should have visitors all summer.

View From Illinois

Here is a Chicago Tribune article on Ameren.

Unrest in the Woods

I wonder if Ameren is going to post all the letters that they received about the "project enhancements" and the panels work? FERC has posted a long letter from a person that is not happy with the panels work. Go to the FERC web site and click on "project correspondence" and the open the letter from James Hawley. Do you think that the public is going to derail this process?

Broadband Again

In an article about Blunt signing the cable-competition bill I ran across this statement.

Telecommunications companies entering into the TV business would have to pay the same local fees that cable companies currently pay. But lawmakers rejected efforts to start charging satellite TV providers a comparable fee, which would have been used to fund the expansion of broadband Internet service in rural Missouri.

So we got shafted again and I didn't even know about it. What a state.

Tee Shirt Day!

For the first day of spring today is really great. Temps in the upper 70's and lots of sunshine. I had to go to the Post Office after lunch and I saw a couple of cars pulled into Riveredge and folks just sitting on the beach. Some of the flowering trees are starting to bloom and there is a little touch of green in the forest. Best time of the year.

There was a photo in todays Mt. Echo of work going on at the Shut-Ins. Looked like lots of heavy equipment working where the boulder field was last summer. So I went to the DNR site to see if they had updated any of the information or posted any new photos. The short answer is no, the information is what was posted last spring for the summer of 2006. Wish Mr. Childers would be more interested in the PR game with the public that uses the park, instead of getting all the headlines with his dispute with AG Nixon. But what do you expect.

The Childers Show v 3.2

Doesn't Blunt have someone else to do this type of work. I had a local ask why Blunt didn't fire Nixon and appoint a new Attorney General. Not sure what type of Missouri government they teach in Lesterville, but Nixon was elected to the job, Childers was appointed by Blunt. I think Lesterville should sue the state for another $5 million for all the damage that is being done to the area by press releases from DNR.

FERC $$$

Shelley Powers has written a wonderful post about the "project enhancements" process and the need for local funds.

Enough Already!

Our state senator, Kevin Engler (R) Farmington, says he has had it with the Taum Sauk situation.
Since Doyle Childers is originally from Ironton it should be simple to explain the problem to him.

Unrest in the Woods

The following is from a letter that the Reynolds County Emergency Management Director sent to FERC. You can read the entire letter on FERC's web site by clicking on the e Library link.

In these last few months I have learned a great deal about human nature and politics. Unfortunately both infected the project selection process that took place. The panel that was selected by The Forester Group, who was hired by Ameren, consisted of individuals that were so politically influenced that they could not make a fare decision. Some of the individuals that were selected were directly tied to organizations that swayed their opinion, some were against emergency services all together and some were so uneducated that they couldn't read the applictions before them disabling them from making an educated decision.

Jeff City Noise

Here is a St Louis Post article about all the noise out of Jeff City. A thought occurred to me about the trial being moved to Centerville. Where are all the lawyers and expert witnesses going to stay, especially if the trial occurs after Memorial Day. I know that Jay Nixon and his family have stayed at Wilderness Lodge is the past, so that might be an option if they have room. Guess they could all rent fancy RVs and stay at one of the campgrounds. Then you have the problem of where are they all going to eat. Guess the panel should have approved a new refrigerator for the courthouse.

Bar-B-Q for Everyone?

Here is another story (and it is a good one) about the Katy Trail and Ameren. Maybe if the Kansas City folks would load up a truck with ribs and come down to Lesterville, we might care a little if their trail is finished. Somehow the "quality of life" of those living in KC doesn't seem real important.

PS. I like mine with a dry rub.

FERC Meeting

The meeting last night was very well attended. There were four representatives from FERC, three from DC and one from Chicago at the meeting. The meeting started with a powerpoint presentation by Paul Rizzo on the design of the new upper reservoir. Mr. Rizzo's firm has designed and built some of the largest Roller Compacted Concrete dams in the world. They also had a video of the "pouring" of the test pad at Taum Sauk to see if concrete made from the existing dam rock would be up to required strength. I talked to Mr. Rizzo after the meeting and was told me that once they are given permission to start work that the concrete work will go on with two 10 hour sifts a day for six days and the seventh day will be used for equipment repair. They hope to be able to place 6000 cubic yards of RCC per day.

The public comment part of the meeting consisted of about a dozen local citizens. For the most part is was an Ameren love fest, with everyone imploring FERC of approve the dam rebuild because the Ameren taxes were so important to the Lesteville area. One person did make a lot of comments about the problems in the East Fork and problems with past decisions that were made by Ameren. Another speaker asked FERC to ignore the "environmental wackos and urban intellectuals" and only listen to the real local people. The meeting only lasted half the allowed time.

I found it interesting that no one from Ironton, Ellington, Annapolis, or Bunker was present to speak. That's what happens when you don't have any money to give out. When there was money they wanted to be considered in the "we were injured also" group. But now that we are into the "should be rebuilt" phase we're back to it only matters to Lesterville.

FERC will be receiving comments by mail until April 12.

One final thing, did any of you out there find any news coverage about this meeting or the one earlier in the day in Jefferson City. Looks like the media have forgotten about this story.

Time for a Trial?

AG Nixon has issued a statement about the Ameren Taum Sauk trial in Reynolds County.

There's A Meeting Here Tonight

FERC is holding a meeting on the Taum Sauk rebuild in Lesterville tonight.

Signs of Spring

Beside the wonder weather here are two signs of spring. On my way to the Post Office I saw the BRL staff painting all the benches from the lodge. And a few days ago Wilderness Lodge had their new horse drawn wagon out for a test ride. The wagon was being pulled by two Percherons which reminded me of the old days of Steve Apted and his beautiful pair of Percheons named Jo and Jody. So folks are getting ready for the start of another season on the Black River (which is still running green).

Tough Talk

The News-Leader, the newspaper for the governor's home town, Springfield, had a very tough editorial about the goings on in Jefferson City. What I wonder is if a newspaper in the most Republican corner of Missouri feels this way, will it make the governor want to try and get the Ameren/Taum Sauk settlement solved, or will it make Blunt and Childers think that they need to act tough and win one for the team. You know what I think needs to be done.

The Word

In case you don't take the time to read the comments that are posted to this blog, here is a comment that Ameren posted about the public comment process.

Ameren has confidence in the panel and its recommendations. However, because the intent of this process was to identify projects that would benefit the community, we felt it appropriate that the community should have the opportunity to comment before Ameren submits its final recommendation to FERC.

So take a look at the recommendations and if you have any comment get it in before March 12.

Education Odds and Ends

Anyone following the Taum Sauk event knows that a lot of ink has been spent on talking about how important the Ameren property taxes are to the Lesterville school. And if you have checked the panel recommendations you will have seen that the Lesterville school is going to receive $900,000 for a new roof. With that in mind here are three recent articles that caught my eye.

State Rep. Ed Robb wants school districts to reimburse students for tuition if they have to take remedial classes in college. Interesting idea that will not pass, even though the students did. I know that years ago my son and the boy who was class valedictorian both had to take remedial courses. It was one of my observations that in a small rural school that the worst thing that could happen to a student was to graduate 3rd, 4th, or 5th in their class. These students almost always flunked out of college. Their high school grades were based on the standing of their parents in the community, not their academic ability.

A related story concerns the fact that the State Department of Education is going to require a standardized final exam at all schools in the state. At the present time rural schools have to offer all sorts of bribes (field trips) to get some students to take the MAP tests seriously, because they don't count toward their grade. I think the prospect of having their students take a required test that counts towards their grade is probably sending waves of fear through many a rural school. In the past many a "good" student did quite poorly on the ACT.

Final education story concerns the Arts. A few years ago Lesterville had a great art teacher, in fact she was probably one of the finest art teachers in the state. While she was here she received a Fulbright scholarship to go to Japan for three weeks and study the education system in that country. The point of this story is after teaching at Lesterville for five years she quit because she was tired of the lack of support she received from parents and staff. She didn't want to leave her home here, so she now commutes to Rolla (160 mile round trip) to teach in that cities school system.

When you come down to float the river stop by and see our new roof.

Blunt, Ferrell, Steelman, Nixon

The following is from an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

At the Wednesday news conference, Blunt denied that he planned to keep the settlement secret. If it had been approved, the agreement would have been public, he said.

The governor also denied that the state skirted any laws by issuing a $70,000 settlement check, which the employee, Heather Elder, returned. State Treasurer Sarah Steelman has questioned why the state drew the money from an agriculture equipment account instead of the legal expense fund, which normally pays such claims.

Blunt, a Republican, said the agriculture account was used because Attorney General Jay Nixon, a Democrat, refused to handle the case during settlement negotiations.

Nixon's spokesman said the attorney general does not get involved in personnel matters during the "pre-litigation" state. Nixon's office began representing Ferrell on Tuesday in the sexual harassment case, which was filed last week in Cole County Circuit Court.

Great atmosphere for people to get together on the Taum Sauk event! Wonder if Doyle has a position on this.

Confused

We have had some strong storms just south of Lesterville so I'm just getting online. While I was trying to find some storm information on the radio I heard an interview with Susan Gallagher from Ameren about the $5 million proposals. I think she was saying that FERC wanted to have public comment on the projects before they were submitted to Washington. Here are come statements from an Ameren press release.

Today, the company also announced that those who wish to provide feedback on the selected project recommendations should email or fax their comments to AmerenUE by 8 a.m. on Monday , March 12. Emails should go to eNews@ameren.com. Faxes should go to 314-554-2888, attention Brianne Lindemann. All comments must include a return email or U.S. postal address so that the company can acknowledge receipt of those comments.

AmerenUE’s final proposal will be submitted to FERC after consideration of comments resulting from this notice.

Earlier we were told that Ameren would submit the proposals that were recommended by the panel without any editing. Does this statement mean that if enough people object to a project that it won't be submitted. Will all the public comments that are sent to Ameren be sent on to FERC as part of the process. I know that a number of people from Ameren read this blog each day, so could you please offer a little more guidance on what the process will be like over the next two weeks.

As a citizen you should know that you also have the right to submit your comments directly to FERC.