Opinion

In April 2018, voters passed a 1% sales tax to be used for the funding of 911. The Board of Directors at the time pushed for a tax that would provide a secure, long-term source of income, which would be able to sustain Ray County 911 services, both now and in the future. This funding is used to meet payroll needs, maintain and update equipment, pay utilities, provide and maintain a building to house 911, and cover other expenses necessary for the operation of a 911 dispatch center. Each year, the Board of Directors is obligated by state statute to review and adjust the tax rate if income surpasses needs.

The Mssouri General Assembly should pass a 12.5-cent increase in the motor fuel tax, without the opt-out plan, and Gov. Mike Parson should sign the bill into law.

Oats Transit is closely watching proposed state legislation that, if passed, would allow concealed-carry permit holders to lawfully bring firearms on public transportation. It raises serious concerns not only for the safety on our buses but also our funding as a private, non-profit transportation provider.

Gov. Mike Parson tweeted that Missouri COVID cases and hospitalizations are down, which definitely is worth celebrating, but the rest of his message establishes a false equivalency.

This can be the year we scale up solutions that embrace a culture of health and expand family prosperity. Access to a good job, education, health and whole-family well-being are the foundations of family prosperity – as is an inclusive and expansive definition of family that honors the multitude of ways in which we live and care for one another.

To the Editor: For the last decade, it has been frustrating to see how our congressional vote no longer matters and we lack representation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Nursing homes across the nation, and here in Ray and Clay counties, have endured the COVID-19 pandemic with varying degrees of success. Without a doubt, success would have been far greater if nursing home leaders had been warned early on by those in the know – as revealed in tapes from the Washington Post’s Bob Woodward – about the threat to life the virus represented.