Life Of Jason

I received the sad news today that Larry Norman, the “father of Christian contemporary music” passed away yesterday at the age of 60. He had been in fading health for quite some time. Norman wrote many great Christian rock songs like “Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music?” and “I Wish We’d All Been Ready.” What’s funny about Larry being considered a “father” of Christian contemporary music is that Larry spent much of his life separated from the institutional church because he felt (as I do) that the church isn’t fulfilling it’s calling by not reaching out to the most needy in our community and it’s exclusion of those not seen as “part of the Christian community.”

As Larry once said: “”The churches weren’t going to accept me looking like a street person with long hair and faded jeans. They did not like the music I was recording. And I had no desire to preach the gospel to the converted.” While I can’t say I’ve never looked like a “street person” as Larry is speaking I’ve experienced a little of what he felt because I go to church as I am. I’m a jeans and T-shirts person and that’s what I wear to church. If you can’t accept someone by what they wear to a church then there is no way you can accept what is inside that person if it doesn’t fit your preconceived mold for a Christian. There have been times in my life when I’ve had pastors tell me I couldn’t minister on a worship team if I wore a T-shirt and jeans. I’ve had churches where I was told openly that they had an “expectation for attire” at their church. Jesus never did any of that. Larry knew that and wasn’t shy about sharing that. We need more people like Larry Norman.

Anyway, sorry to preach a bit on that but it’s a hot-button issue with me and many churches. I shudder to think of the high number of churches that if a homeless person walked into their offices and said they were hungry that church would call a shelter to pick the person up instead of giving that person their lunch as Jesus would command you because you know there’s a meal waiting for you when you get home that night in your home with heat and running water. (And before I get the inevitable “you’re making assumptions” comeback from someone offended by my comment I’ll admit I can’t prove it. I’m just basing that opinion on the many things I saw over a decade of working in Christian radio at various places. There are good and bad in everything but I’ve seen a lot of bad. If someone took the time to really research that you’ll likely find if I’m not right I’m not too far off.)

As Larry lay dying, he composed a final message to his fans and supporters that was posted on his website today:

I feel like a prize in a box of cracker jacks with God’s hand reaching down to pick me up. I have been under medical care for months. My wounds are getting bigger. I have trouble breathing. I am ready to fly home.

My brother Charles is right, I won’t be here much longer. I can’t do anything about it. My heart is too weak. I want to say goodbye to everyone. In the past you have generously supported me with prayer and finance and we will probably still need financial help.

My plan is to be buried in a simple pine box with some flowers inside. But still it will be costly because of funeral arrangement, transportation to the gravesite, entombment, coordination, legal papers etc. However money is not really what I need, I want to say I love you.

I’d like to push back the darkness with my bravest effort. There will be a funeral posted here on the website, in case some of you want to attend. We are not sure of the date when I will die. Goodbye, farewell, we will meet again.

Goodbye, farewell, we’ll meet again
Somewhere beyond the sky.
I pray that you will stay with God
Goodbye, my friends, goodbye.

LarryRest in peace, Larry.

Due to a work emergency, I will not be able to liveblog Monday night’s council meeting.  I will post the recap from the city after I receive it.

A certain local blogger was asked by his beloved to post on his blog about her Tastefully Simple Open House this afternoon from 2-4:30 at a home in Republic.  Said local blogger slept between the request and the next time they were on the blog and realized today they had forgotten.

So now said blogger is making amends by posting now.

If you’re in the Republic area or if you feel like coming out, just e-mail me and I’ll give you directions.

Springfield City Council Member Dan Chiles gave a very powerful and excellent talk this morning at the Ozarks New Energy conference. I would say that this speech will likely be viewed as the best one at the conference.

But before I get to the meat of Councilman Chiles’ talk…which was substantial…I have to share something that happened to me during the conference. I debated not including this because there is a risk that certain folks reading this post will see only this section and ignore the rest of what’s posted and I don’t want that to happen. However, I’ve posted on here before about my feelings in situations and my views on situations and I thought it would be unfair not to include it here. I’m posting it first with the hope most of you consider it and then read the rest of the post. I feared if I posted it at the end all the comments would be were responses to that and the rest of Councilman Chiles’ excellent talk would be forgotten.

Issues like renewable energy and environmentalism have been painted as “liberal” issues. While I would disagree…there’s no way you can say the idea of being self-sustaining and not counting on the government to subsidize our food is not a conservative value…it seems a majority of the most vocal activists are openly liberal on most political issues. It’s unfair to paint environmentalism with the big brush but when you go into an event such as this someone who’s conservative unfortunately has a level of uneasiness that events will turn into a conservative bashing session. In the middle of Councilman Chiles’ talk when he spoke of Iraq and governmental policies with some less than flattering pictures of President Bush on the screen it drew the loudest applause of the event (outside of the standing ovation at the end.) To that point, Councilman Chiles had brought up many vital pieces of information including our consumption rates and the importance of fixing problems before the future is overwhelming but the loudest shouts were for shots at President Bush and Republican actions.

Long time readers of this blog know I think President Bush is the Millard Fillmore of our generation and that I don’t support the Republican party but I get really tired of the continual bashing. Some will argue with me on it, but those people weren’t applauding Councilman Chiles’ statements as much as bashing Bush and the administration. It made me as a conservative feel really unwelcome in that room. If it wasn’t for the fact I was there to cover the talk for the blog I would have left despite the great information I had heard to that point. The saddest part of that is I agreed with Councilman Chiles’ main contention that we need a balance between “guns and butter” and that it’s absurd to spend $120 billion on the Iraq War and less than $1 billion on renewable energy research. Why can’t those issues be discussed without making fun of President Bush or the administration? Why can’t we just discuss the actual issues?

Now…for Councilman Chiles’ talk which was brilliant. I’m going to just post some of my notes from the session.

- 20 Tons of CO2 is produced every year by a human being. 75% of those CO2 emissions happen at work, transportation and home. All of those could be greatly and immediately reduced through conservation methods. “When you’re at the bottom you don’t have to wait for Washington DC to do it.”

- Coal prices have tripled in the last year and governments are cutting back on allowing new coal plants. That means natural gas is going to be the next wave of electricity production. Currently, the majority of natural gas comes from the US and Canada but those supplies are predicted to be in an almost free fall over the next twenty years. The untapped sources of natural gas? Dubai…and they love us after that ports deal situation…Iran and Russia. Not exactly our buddies even when we have a President other than this one. Councilman Chiles said that we need to get back to a point where “we grow it and then we consume it.” In other words, be self sustaining energy-wise.

- From initiation of energy (like mining) to actual energy coal is 3% efficient. Solar power is 20% efficient.

- A 92×92 grid of solar panels in the Nevada desert could provide enough power for the entire United States on average. If a way could be found to control surges in use the system could be put into place.

- “America’s energy strategy is not secure.”

- The cost ratio of military to domestic needs is out of balance. At one point, Councilman Chiles quipped “that’s where the waterboarding budget is” when referencing a slide on the big screen. There’s no reason a part of the military budget couldn’t be reduced and put back into domestic economic and energy development when you look at the cost ratios involved between the two. Councilman Chiles built the case that right now we’re using the military to gain our energy resources and that when you build up the military in the manner that’s been done “everyone looks like the enemy.” Our energy policy is one of two things: 1. If they’re a weaker country, beat them up and take the oil. 2. If they’re stronger, kiss up to them. (He had a picture of President Bush kissing a Saudi leader.) There was a joke about them being on a “man-date” which was mildly amusing in light of the photo. “War is our energy policy.”

- “I’m not against the military but I’m saying we need a balance.” (Note: balance was a recurring theme throughout most of the talk.)

- He quoted President Dwight D. Eisenhower: ” In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.” I would agree with Councilman Chiles that right now there is a misplacement of power and a lack of balance.

- If communities produced more of their food it would reduce overall energy costs and food costs. Growing your own garden or shopping at community or farmer’s markets can help conserve energy and resources and also keep dollars in the local community that would be leaving to food producers and transporters and not coming back. At one point, Councilman Chiles said there is $11 billion dollars a year leaving the greater Springfield area in this manner that is not coming back to us. He asked us to consider what we could do if those dollars stayed in our local economy.

- In our older generation, they survived through cooperation. Co-ops for food, oil, gas and other items were standard in many communities. Neighbors came together to help neighbors and it reduced the need to go outside the community. In many cases, it was the only way to live. Councilman Chiles believes we need to return to a similar style of living in our communities.

- According to a local contractor who spoke to Council, over 12,000 homes have been built in the Springfield area since 2002 that have illegal levels of insulation. “Apparently the inspectors aren’t checking it.” If it’s true (and I have no way to know for sure it’s not) then there needs to be an answer for this. Why aren’t new home inspectors making sure the insulation codes are met?

- The homes of the future need to be designed for efficiency and architects that can make designs for those kinds of homes will be in large demand in the future.

- Large public transit systems to help shuttle people, reduce traffic and emissions have a 66% voter approval nationwide. (Somehow, I think it would be a really tough sell in the Ozarks.)

- If you throw trash away, you create one job. If you recycle, you create eight.

- The biggest way to get people to use renewable resources and environmentally friendly methods is not informing them of cost savings, guilt them into saving the planet or being socially responsible. It was seeing their neighbors taking the steps and then joining in. Councilman Chiles believes if people in the Ozarks begin to be more environmentally friendly in their lives their friends and neighbors will join them.

- “The Green Horizon” is energy security, economic development and a sustainable environment.

Now, I missed some points I’m sure as I scribbled notes but as you can see there was a lot of meat on the bones today. Councilman Chiles made a VERY solid case for his argument and I don’t find much that I disagree with in terms of the content of the talk. I really believe that if we were able to implement what Councilman Chiles is advocating it would be the best course for our community in the long term…I just wonder if we can get enough people on board and enough financial support to make it a viable possibility. However, I know I’m working on making my life more environmentally friendly (less driving, etc.) and if we all start there the ball can get rolling.

Senator Claire McCaskill spoke to the Ozarks New Energy Conference this afternoon.

She answered some questions from our local reporters on both the environment and the topics of the conference but also the Presidential race.  (Which, at one point, led a local Greene County official to say “that’s not why we’re here.”  To be fair, she wasn’t there to talk Presidential politics but given it’s an election year it’s understandable.)

Among the things McCaskill said…

In reference to jobs lost because of environmentally friendly measures McCaskill said we need to make sure we replace any lost jobs with “green jobs” and that it has to start at the local level “because if we try to go from the top down it will be way too expensive.”

Consumers need to be educated on ways to conserve in their homes “like being shown the right light bulbs to use” and that we need to “make sure” that neighborhood associations “don’t stop people from putting solar panels on their roofs.”

She said that we need to subsidize biomass and soy the way that ethanol has been subsidized to help continue to grow biofuels but also find ways to fund more research into wind and solar energy.

When asked about studies that say we cause more greenhouse gases creating biofuels like ethanol than we do creating other oil based products McCaskill responded by saying that we need to work to improve the technologies to make it cleaner to produce and that we need to work to “get out from under foreign oil.”   She said that nuclear power should be considered as well but that we need to find a way to deal with the waste.

Then David Catanese from KY3 steered things to the Presidential race.  When asked about Obama, McCaskill apologized that her answer wouldn’t be a soundbite and several reporters chuckled.   McCaskill then made what I thought was a rather bold statement for a first term Senator.  She asked a rhetorical question…if Senator Clinton had won ten primaries in a row and had a league in delegates and all the momentum wouldn’t we be seeing stories in the press calling for the party to unite behind the candidate, Senator Clinton?   She asked why we weren’t seeing those stories right now about Senator Obama.

Then she responded to a question by saying that after the primaries in Ohio and Texas that if Senator Clinton doesn’t win big it’s time for the party to come together.  She said that she wouldn’t call for Senator Clinton to drop out of the race but kept repeating the party needed to “unite behind Senator Obama” if Senator Clinton doesn’t win big.  No one followed up with what I thought was the logical question but rather someone asked the Senator about the governor’s race.  She said that the party was united behind Jay Nixon but that he had a lot of work ahead of him.

When asked about Chris Koster’s party switch from Republican to Democrat, McCaskill responded she “was always happy when someone sees the light and becomes a Democrat.”

After the conference was over and McCaskill was being ushered toward the auditorium, I slid up to ask the question that Catanese should have asked her.  I asked “if Senator Clinton doesn’t drop out and it goes to a nasty floor fight at the convention, could that be damaging for the party in November?”   McCaskill first asked who I was with and then after I said I wrote a local blog covering Springfield she smiled and gave me a very in-depth answer.   She said that when the convention rolls around the superdelegates need to come behind whoever is the majority choice of the voters.   She was adamant the nomination “shouldn’t be changed by the superdelegates to override the will of the people.”   True, she really didn’t answer my question about whether a floor fight would harm the party in the general election but I think she believes it won’t get to that point.  We’ll see at convention time!

The Ozarks New Energy Conference is underway with around 300 in attendance. The morning was opened by Greene County Commissioner Dave Coonrod and the U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt.

(Not the best picture, I know…my phone was acting funny this morning and not in a “ha ha” funny way.)

Coonrod gave some opening remarks that were pretty uneventful.  He talked about the restoration of the Gillioz theatre and his part in it.  (I have to say the place is impressive…I had never been in the Gillioz before today.  I’m looking forward to the day I can see a concert or play inside that venue.)  Mr. Coonrod also talked of the reasons for everyone in attendance to be concerned for the future and said in terms of working for energy sustainability in the future “if it was easy we wouldn’t be here.”

Rep. Blunt made some good remarks overall but nothing earth shattering.  He said that the US “produces more food than we can consume and we consume more energy than we can produce” and that it would be great if that situation could help the other by developing biodiesel and ethanol.   He spoke of how we’re in a situation of being so dependent on oil that we have to buy it from people that hate us and would like to see us destroyed.  He said he would like to see us reach the point we could choose who we purchase from instead of having no choice like the current situation.

Rep. Blunt also told those in attendance it was going to take a while to get where they wanted to go because things in Washington don’t happen overnight.  He said that politicians in DC when faced with a dynamic situation do more to hold it back than to help it along and help it develop.

He also talked about making tax incentives permanent for making homes more energy efficient and environmentally friendly.  He said that in the next year he’ll be focusing on “incentives that make sense.”  One example was a tax incentive when building new homes and putting in energy efficient windows while those refurbishing existing structures can’t get the same credit.

Another issue was that in the US, it’s very hard for someone to recoup their costs in starting a renewable energy business.  In the US after five years a business owner involved in enviromentally friendly industries can expect to recoup 35% of their costs.   In Canada, the rate is 80%.  He said that we need to find ways to get American investors to realize more rapid return on their investments.

He also said taxing oil companies won’t help “because they’ll just take their jobs overseas.”

I’ll try to talk to Senator Claire McCaskill later today.  Her office called and told me that she would be available to media later today.  I’ll report more from the conference tonight.

The Springfield News-Leader is reporting that charges have been filed in the death of Greene County Deputy Gary McCormack. Twenty-five year old Josh Douglas was arraigned on a misdemeanor charge of careless and imprudent driving that could carry a potential sentence of a year in jail.

According to the report: “”This collision occurred as a direct result of (Douglas) not stopping or slowing for the stop sign…  Had (Douglas) slowed his vehicle adequately for the conditions at the intersection, he could have seen (McCormack) approaching the intersection…”

As you might expect on such a passion inflaming issue, the comments on the News-Leader message board have been hot and heavy on both sides of the debate.  You have some who are glad to see the charges filed and were critical of the fact Mr. Douglas plead not guilty.  You have others who are critical of the prosecutor for filing charges in the case.

There was an interesting exchange:

“Bea Feroney” said: “He should man up and plead guilty, pay his fine and move on.”

“paintedpine” responds:  “That’s big talk, Bea. This is real life catastrophic my dear-one doesn’t just “move on”. Besides the demons he will carry for the rest of his life there’s a good chance after he is deemed guilty as charged he will be presented with a wrongful death civil suit filed by the attorney for the survivors.”

I have to say I agree with Bea Feroney.  According to all reports that have been made on the incident, Mr. Douglas ran the stop sign and was at fault for the accident.  He is, according to the evidence we’ve seen, guilty.  However, I think it’s likely the “not guilty” plea is likely a legal move designed to get a plea bargain conversation moving along and eventually Mr. Douglas will plead guilty and accept responsibility for his actions.   Yes, it would be better if he just did it now before a bargain was on the table but I can certainly understand going in this direction and waiting until a plea agreement is in place.  No matter how reasonable a judge can be in his or her track record you just never know what would happen if a straight guilty plea would have been entered today.

“pine” needs to realize a civil suit could happen with or without charges.  Even if Mr. Douglas goes to trial and is found not guilty there could still be a civil suit and I would venture it would be more likely if he is found not guilty because the burden of proof is different in a civil suit.

We’ll see how the charges play out in the court system.  I’m sure regardless of the legal outcome, Mr. Douglas is going to have this with him for the rest of his life.  That, some might rightly argue, could be punishment enough.

The Ozarks New Energy Conference is scheduled to begin tomorrow even with the potential bad weather.  I was able to snag a press pass (thank you Jennifer Ailor and Dan Chiles) and I’ll try to hit as many sessions as I can and give you an idea of what’s happening at the conference.  Congressman Roy Blunt is scheduled to speak at 8:45 am Friday and Senator Claire McCaskill is scheduled for 4:15 pm.  Blunt’s staff rather curtly told me he wouldn’t be available to media and McCaskill’s people didn’t bother to return my e-mails but if I can speak to either I’m going to try.

Also on tap tomorrow is Greene County commissioner Dave Coonrod is welcoming everyone at 8:30.  On Saturday, Councilman Dan Chiles will speak on “The Green Horizon” starting at 8:30 am.

If the conference is cancelled or postponed due to weather I’ll post it here.

Seven Springfield residents are going to be honored by the Springfield police department for their actions.  Here’s the information released by the department today:

In the early morning hours of March 3^rd, 2007, 62 year old Ronald Webster was walking in the area of 835 S. Fort, on his way to a laundromat.  A subject demanding money suddenly approached him.  Although Ronald was cooperative, the suspect began striking him in the head, knocking Ronald to the ground.  The suspect then picked up a nearby tree limb and began hitting Ronald with the limb.  Unbeknownst to the suspect, Stoney Simmons and Deanna Moore happened to be driving by and noticed Ronald on the ground. They immediately got out of their vehicle and challenged the suspect, who quickly ran away.

Soon after, Barbara Lamoureaux drove up to assist.  Stoney and Deanna told Barbara what had happened and the direction the suspect had ran towards.  Barbara decided to search the neighborhood for the suspect and soon located him at the intersection of Madison and Douglas. The suspect apparently noticed Barbara was following him and began running. Barbara followed the suspect to a nearby building and watched him enter an apartment.  She then called 911 and waited for police. 

Police soon arrived at the scene of the assault and spoke with Stoney and Deanna.  At about the same time, Barbara’s phone call regarding the suspect was being dispatched to officers.  Police met Barbara at the apartment and arrested the suspect for Robbery. 

In addition to placing themselves in harm’s way to assist Ronald and the Springfield Police, all three citizens have re-arranged their schedules to appear as requested for all court appearances.  As recognition of their efforts, Stoney will be receiving a Certificate of Commendation, while Deanna and Barbara will be receiving Letters of Commendation.

In a separate incident, another group of citizens helped a Police Officer apprehend a violent suspect. On July 13^th, 2007, Springfield Police were sent to an assault at a Missouri State University parking garage.  A suspect description was broadcast over the police radio and Springfield PD Officer Anthony Gomez soon located a subject matching that description.  After a short amount of time, it was determined that the subject detained by Officer Gomez was, in fact, the suspect in the assault.  When Gomez told the suspect he was under arrest and handcuffed him, the suspect began to violently fight the officer.  During the struggle, the Officer’s handgun became unsecured and the suspect obtained a strong grip on the firearm.  MSU Public Safety Supervisor Bruce Kelley was the first to arrive and he immediately took action to break the suspect’s grip on the gun.  Soon after, MSU Public Safety Officers John Canella, Richard Wollard and Josh Elliott arrived.  Combining their efforts, they were able to further restrain the suspect until additional officers arrived to take him into custody. As recognition of their efforts to assist Officer Gomez, Kelley will be receiving the Meritorious Service Award while Canella, Wollard and Elliott will be receiving Letters of Commendation.

A big salute to those seven folks for stepping up and being an example of the kind of folks we have in Springfield and the Ozarks.

More red light cameras are online at National and Sunshine to issue tickets starting tomorrow (Friday February 22nd.)  The cameras have been operating since January and sending off warnings to drivers but tomorrow the money starts to roll into the city.

This is red-light camera number four.  The first three are southbound National at Battlefield, southbound Campbell at Battlefield and eastbound Battlefield at Campbell.

If you don’t know what sets off the camera, it’s basically having your car cross the big white line at the intersection after the signal has turned red.  So if you’re zipping along and cross the line when it’s yellow you’re going to be fine.  (Not that drivers in Springfield speed up when they see yellow…)

If you get busted, the fine’s $100 but there’s no points on your record.