Mayor Landwehr's Blog

Solve This Yearbook Mystery — Case No. 09-114

This series invites readers to guess the identity of Jefferson City personalities. We post pictures and information from their high school yearbooks. Log your guess, or a candid anecdote about the subject, by selecting "Comments" below.

Hint:  He attacked wide receivers in the 60's. 

Now he's attacking the facades on the South Side with the same energy.

Sarah & Mildred Have Bonded

My Mom is 94. Lives at home. Bakes bread every Saturday and goes to the Healthplex for strength training. She's halfway through Sarah Palin's new book and she's buying copies for family members. She says "You wouldn't believe what that girl went through, and how she's managed to overcome obstacles."

Mildred and Frank were Cole County dairy farmers, raised five kids and overcame a few obstacles themselves. They were loyal Democrats. These days if you drop by the house Mildred will tell you what she thinks about where this country is heading. Then she'll give you a half loaf of bread and say some prayers for you after you leave - regardless of your party affiliation.

November JCHS Character Trait is "Ethical"

Webster says it means "conforming to accepted, especially professional, standards of conduct." The root word, ethics, means "a set of moral principles or values."

Unlike most other character traits, we have government agencies to enforce ethical standards -- like campaign finance laws and lobbying, e.g. The Missouri Ethics Commission. Every professional can lose his or her certification or license for ethics violations even if their behavior is not illegal. 

Interesting that high school students (who are not yet in any professions) would pick "ethical" as one of eight traits to highlight this year. Maybe they're sending a message to adults. 

Can I Come If I Wear A Dress?

Hadn't seen Lucia Kincheloe for a few years. She was a judge at the St. Mary's Dancing With The Stars event last week. I forgot that Lucia does really look at the world in a way that is very different from the way most of us look at the world.

When I saw Lucia was going to be a featured comedian at the Dreams To Reality Fundraiser this Saturday night at Capitol Plaza - titled "Girls' Night Out," I thought about trying to sneak in to catch her routine. Maybe I could wear something long and unrevealing.

Lots of fun. A psychic, belly dancers, dozens of booths. The cause is very practical - providing interview-ready clothing to low income women seeking to re-enter the job market or make advancement. Tickets are reasonable - $15.00. Call 681-9675 or hit the website.

Jefferson City -- "City of Volunteers"

Cities have various nicknames. There are several floating around for Jefferson City. Lately I started noting the dozens of volunteer programs and the thousands of volunteers devoting tens of thousands of hours every year for local causes. I guess every city has this going on, but it sure seems like our city is blessed abundantly with volunteers -- so why not give ourselves the right title? 

Here are just two examples. Charles Redel and Roman Patton are part of the "Dream Team" -- volunteers helping Immaculate Conception Church and School with all sorts of maintenance and upkeep chores. 

 

Sidewalk Issue Leads to Council Scrum -- in Florida

Emotions over sidewalks erupted at last month's City Council meeting --  not here, of course, but in St. Petersburg. They were arguing about what to do with the Baywalk streetscape. The photographer is a candidate in the upcoming council elections. One of the idiots is the brother of a council persons. They made a serious mistake when they voted on the issue BEFORE the public hearing. Details are in the newspaper article.

Here in Jefferson City, we hold the hearing before we vote, and if forced to engage in physical competition, we'd rather decide the issue with a game of Bocce.

"It was worth $5.00 to watch the coach."

That's what my friend said after watching Lincoln University's exciting two point victory over Langston this afternoon. This is Coach John Redmon's first year as head coach. 

Basketball & Brews Saturday Afternoon

We've combined two essential components of a great Fall Saturday. Watch Lincoln University's young Division II basketball team host Langston at the home opener exhibition game Saturday at 3:00 at Jason Gymnasium.

Take your ticket stub to Prison Brews and enjoy a buck off your post-game beverages at the post-game rally.

Veterans' Day Lite - And Very Cool

You don't have to be a pet owner to appreciate this.

To Tweet, or Not To Tweet

Our office is 100' from the Governor Hotel, site of the possible hostage event that looked very real this morning, but later turned out to be a non-event. The SWAT team was getting dressed out and armed right outside our window. Very tempting to Twitter a photo of all the armament. Good idea? What if the bad guy is on the Internet and sees what the good guys are up to? I decided to upload just a bland shot of a police car blocking traffic, and not the shot shown below.

Here in "Mayberry," it was a mini-lesson in how, and how fast, news is getting pushed out. It's also a time to consider thniking twice about what, and when, we post information for the world to see.