Student Honored With Resolution
On April 28, 2010, Kansas City area high school senior Abena Adutwum made the trip to Jefferson City, MO to receive a Missouri Service-Learning Advisory Council Inspire by Example Award at a ceremony held at the State Capitol.
In addition to receiving the Inspire by Example Award, Abena was presented with a House Courtesy Resolution by Representatives Jason Holsman and Michael Brown.
Abena won the Inspire by Example Award based on her involvement in multiple service-learning projects. One of the first, and most notable, projects in which Abena participated, was spearheading the district's first annual "Peace Fair." The goal was to draw members of the community together to educate themselves about diversity.
The second project was developing the "Dr. Seuss Read & Ride" project. Abena helped write a grant that received funding from Learn & Serve America, which enabled her and her classmates to develop "Read & Ride" packets which would allow preschoolers to engage in literacy activities while riding in a car. In addition to developing the packet, Abena helped create and put on a skit using Dr. Seuss characters, which was performed at various area childcare centers and preschools in conjunction with the packets.
Abena was also among a select group of students that were chosen as the first teens in Missouri to be trained as Hospice volunteers. Abena adopted and visited several Hospice patients during her Freshman and Sophomore years in High Schools.
DNR Offers Renewable Energy Project Grants
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources is offering grants for renewable energy resource assessments and project feasibility studies by Missouri residents, businesses, corporations, not-for-profit organizations, universities and research institutions, and county or city governments. The department will accept applications for funding through June 2.The department has allocated a total of $900,000 statewide for this funding opportunity. On a competitive basis, a maximum grant of $50,000 will be awarded to each recipient based on project evaluation criteria. Cash match, or cost-share, is preferred, but not required. Eligible applicants include Missouri businesses, corporations, not-for-profit organizations, universities and research institutions, county or city governments and individuals. Collaboration or partnerships among eligible entities is encouraged. Partnerships with non-eligible entities are allowed, but the grant must be made to an eligible entity.
Renewable Energy Resources Assessments should focus on the investigation and evaluation of local or regional renewable energy resources or commercial and industrial waste streams that could potentially be used in renewable energy projects. Renewable energy resources include biomass, biogas, solar, wind, geothermal, low head hydro, commercial and industrial waste/byproduct streams, and other renewable or alternative energy resources approved by the department.
Feasibility Studies of Renewable Energy Projects should, by using renewable energy resources and various site-specific waste streams, focus on the application and evaluation of existing or near-term opportunities and energy needs of businesses or corporations. The department will place emphasis on proposals that demonstrate strong technical merit and near-term implementation viability to enhance the performance of Missouri's renewable energy industry. Proposals are expected to produce measurable outcomes in regard to energy, the environment and the economy.
The department will accept applications for funding through June 2. A Request for Proposals, which includes application forms, may be found on the department's website.
The grant program is funded under the U.S. Department of Energy's State Energy Program, or SEP, made possible by funds from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The Recovery Act's purposes are to stimulate the economy and to create and retain jobs. The further purposes of energy-related Recovery Act funds are to increase energy efficiency, reduce reliance on imported energy, improve the reliability of energy resources and services, and reduce the impacts of energy production and use on the environment.
The department's Division of Energy is a non-regulatory state office that works to protect the environment and stimulate the economy through energy efficiency and renewable energy resources and technologies.
Rep. Holsman Meets With WWII Veterans
At right:
Jason Holsman with three Honor Flight veterans.Jefferson City, MO - Several members of Missouri's General Assembly, including South Kansas City Representative Jason Holsman, met with World War II Veterans in the Missouri State Capitol. The purpose of the visit was, in part, to raise awareness of the Honor Flight Network. Honor Flight is a non-profit organization that provides free flights to the National World War II Memorial to WWII veterans. The program also serves terminally ill veterans from the Korean and Vietnam wars.
While at the Capitol, the veterans were given the opportunity to see the House Chamber and were permitted to go onto the floor and sit in the chairs generally reserved for State Representatives. At a luncheon with legislators, the veterans talked about their service records, including when and where they fought, as well as what they experienced during and shortly after the war. The group consisted of servicemen with a wide variety of backgrounds, with good representation from both the European and Pacific Theaters.
At left: Jason Holsman enjoys lunch with a WWII Veteran"We were all very grateful for these remarkable men taking the time to come visit us and share their stories," said Holsman, "they truly appreciated the ability to sit in House Chambers and many of them commented on the warm welcome they were given."
Honor Flight started in May 2005 in Springfield, Ohio. Conceived by Captain Earl Morse, USAF (ret.), the first Honor Flight carried twelve veterans in six small planes. Since that first flight, the program has carried over 36,000 veterans to the Nation's Capital. The Honor Flight Network accepts donations through their website at http://www.honorflight.org/index.cfm and sells logoed merchandise.
Boone Elementary Visits Capitol
About forty students, teachers, and parent-chaperones from Boone Elementary in South Kansas City made the trek to Jefferson City to visit the Missouri State Capitol, Missouri Supreme Court, and Missouri State Highway Patrol Museum. The students were given a tour of the Missouri State Capitol Building where they met and had their picture taken with State Representative Jason R. Holsman.The group saw the Grand Stairway, the Capitol Rotunda, the Third Floor Rotunda, and the Governor's Door. One of the highlights of the Capitol for the students was the Hall of Famous Missourians, which contained busts of well-known Missourians, many of whom the students had studied in school.
From the Capitol, the school group walked across the street to the Supreme Court Building. The tour of the Supreme Court included the Court Chambers and the Law Library. After touring the Supreme Court Building, the group walked a few blocks to the nearby Lohman Building and Union Hotel, two of the oldest buildings in Jefferson City which make up part of the Jefferson Landing State Historic Site. The Lohman Building, built in 1839, had a museum inside and featured a brief video on the history of Jefferson City and the various buildings that have served as the Missouri Capitol. The Union Hotel, built in 1855, hosts the Elizabeth Rozier Gallery and the current Jefferson City Amtrak station.
Following the stop at Jefferson Landing, the Boone students enjoyed lunch outside in the sunshine in what turned out to be a beautiful spring day. Before heading back to Kansas City the students stopped by the Missouri Highway Patrol Headquarters Museum.
Representative Jason R. Holsman with a group of students from Boone Elementary.
Holsman Enjoys Time On The Missouri River
Everyone likes to relax and unwind at the end of a hectic workday and Missouri's elected officials are no different. Recently, after a day full of committee hearings, meetings, reading bills, and participating in floor debate, Representative Jason Holsman (D - Kansas City) took some time to canoe down a sixteen mile stretch of the Missouri River.Holsman and Patrick Lynn, the Chief of the Office of Governmental Policy and Legislation with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, floated from a launch point near Hartsburg, Missouri to the Noren Access in Jefferson City. The route was the same one that will be taken by participants in the "Race to the Dome" canoe/kayak race on July 3, 2010. The three hour trip, which ended after sundown, provided a brief respite from the hectic and stressful days which are increasingly common in the last few weeks of the legislative session. As both an environmentalist and a historian, Holsman commented on the beauty of the Missouri River and the heritage that surrounds it.
"Sometimes we take for granted the natural resources and outdoor attractions that Missouri has to offer," said Holsman, "as we floated down the river, I was amazed at the natural beauty of the bluffs and the dense foliage along the riverbank. I couldn't help but think that the same waters we were canoeing down had been used by everyone from Native American hunters to 19th century steamboat pilots."
Motorcycle Deaths Down Dramatically: Watch for Hogs this Summer
Jefferson City, MO - Motorcycle fatalities declined dramatically in 2009 in Missouri and nationwide on the heels of 11 straight years of dramatic increases in motorcyclist deaths. In 2009, Missouri saw a 21.5 percent decrease in motorcycle fatalities while nationwide fatalities have declined by at least 10 percent.In an effort to continue this decrease, the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety has joined with federal, state and local highway safety, law enforcement, and motorcycle organizations in proclaiming May 2010 as Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month.
"Because of the increase in motorcyclist deaths in the last decade, motorcycle safety has been a priority for Missouri," said Leanna Depue, MoDOT Director of Highway Safety. "We are happy to see that those efforts are paying off with lives saved."
In 2009, 85 people were killed in motorcycle crashes. Ten percent of Missouri's 2009 fatalities involved a motorcycle, and 99 percent of the people who died in crashes involving a motorcycle on Missouri roads were the motorcyclist.
"As the weather improves, more and more motorcyclists are hitting the roads," Depue said. "Drivers of all vehicles need to be extra attentive and make sure you share the road and everyone Arrives Alive."
From May to August, paid advertising will remind motorists to "Share the Road" while also reminding motorcyclists to do their part by wearing a helmet and protective clothing.
Posters, brochures and billboards featuring Gary Pinkel, Mizzou football coach and motorcycle enthusiast, will also help drive home the message.
For more information about motorcycle safety, visit www.saveMOlives.com.
P.A.C.E. Legislation Passes Senate Committee
House Bill 1871, the energy omnibus bill sponsored by Rep. Shane Schoeller (R-Willard), contains the Property Assessed Clean Energy (P.A.C.E.) legislation originally introduced by Jason Holsman (D- Kansas City) earlier this year passed out of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy & The Environment.PACE would allow municipalities to establish a program where citizens could make improvements to their properties to conserve energy or generate their own electricity. These improvements would be paid up front by the municipality and the homeowner would pay for them over a set period of time when they pay their annual property taxes. PACE would reduce consumers' energy bills, would help the environment, and would put unemployed laborers back to work installing the clean-energy improvements funded by the program.
Quote Of The Day
"The soil of the Missouri is the most fertile in the Universe."–President Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to Meriwether Lewis, 1803
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