The news all week was about the Paris and Mali attacks and the refuge situation. I continue to receive messages and phone calls asking us to block refugees from Missouri.
There has been so much call for this statewide that Senate Leader Ron Richard and House Leader Todd Richardson have called for a special hearing to look into the problem. There are a lot of questions surrounding the process of admitting people into our country.
We have all seen the heartbreaking pictures of women and little children standing in lines waiting to leave Syria. By the same token, there are numerous pictures of hundreds of young men climbing over barricades and running past guards.
Without more information, we are expected to form our opinions based on the news report de jour. I do agree that there is little to no information available on the individual refugees. Any database or paperwork on these people has been lost long ago and besides, who are we going to ask to supply us with that information?
Most of them have no valid form of ID and any process of determining if they pose a danger to us is relegated to an interview.
Some of the richest nations on earth are located within a few hundred miles of Syria, yet they refuse to even consider letting them relocate in their country. We absolutely cannot be assured that men and women who are bent on destroying us will be weeded out by a process of interviews.
If we really want to help them to escape the horrors that confront them in Syria, we should endeavor to find a place in their part of the world to relocate them and supply them with financial help and protection.
The majority of states have refused to accept the refugees but there are questions of whether we could be forced by the federal government to take them anyway. This isn't going to go away any time soon and unless the president and Congress can come up with a working plan, there is going to be finger pointing and politicizing going on for months.
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Crowder's Annual Festival of Wreathes was Nov 17. They had a wonderful meal and there were many beautiful Christmas decorations and about everything else one could imagine in the silent auction room. A lot of people were doing their Christmas shopping right there.
The live auction was conducted by Bob Laswell and, as always, he did a great job. There was everything in the live auction from a John Deere Gator to vacation trips. The purpose of the event is to raise money for scholarships -- and, boy, did they ever accomplish that.
A new record of $121,000 was set. There will now be an opportunity for a college education for a lot of kids that might not have been able to afford one. It sure makes me proud to live in Southwest Missouri!
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Golden Living Center in Anderson had its Thanksgiving dinner on Nov. 19. I was happy to join them for a great meal in a festive setting. They go all out to provide a fun time for the residents and their families. I was seated next to a gentleman whose wife was a resident there for several years.
Sadly, she passed on a couple of years ago -- but he volunteers his time three days a week to visit with residents. He was telling me that many of the folks there don't have any visitors. They either don't have any family left or there is just no one who cares enough to take the time to come.
For many of them, the high point of their month is when they receive a visit from the Anderson second graders. That is a great idea. If you are retired and have some free time on your hands, drop by a nursing home close to you and spend some quality time with some people that will really appreciate having you visit.
Oh, did I mention that Susan Wood, the administrator, was awarded the Missouri Administrator of the Year? She's really shy about bragging about it, so, if you see her, congratulate her for a great job.
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We held a Town Hall Meeting at Seneca the evening of Nov. 19. Seneca has some great ideas for growth and I shared some ideas for funding infrastructure improvements. With the growth projections, there may be a need for a future well addition and it's never too early to start planning.
The intersection of Highways 43 and 60 will soon be outfitted with a roundabout. The crossing has been hazardous for years and now, with the additional traffic to the casino, it has become really dangerous. Seneca's City Council, Police Department and Chamber of Commerce are all working together to make it a better place in the future.
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Sunday afternoon we went to a surprise retirement party for Junior Landers of Pineville. Junior has owned and operated the same business at Pineville for the last 61 years. He started working for his dad in a filling station and garage when he was 16 and they moved it to the present location on old 71 at Pineville shortly after. He has been in the filling station and tire business ever since.
There were at least a dozen men in the group that had worked for Junior when they were in high school. One of them, Gary Sherman, bought the place and is converting it to a barbecue restaurant. He plans to give Junior a key to the place so he and his buddies can drink coffee in the mornings! The party was attended by more than 100 people and a lot of stories were told!
-- State Rep. Bill Lant may be reached by calling 417-437-8223 or 573-751-9801, or emailing [email protected].
Editorial on 11/26/2015