Here in the Ozarks we are blessed with wonderful scenery, some great people, weather that others would kill for and a quality of life that is unrivaled. Unfortunately, many of us are also saddled with the worse cable company in the nation.

Suddenlink (or as I prefer to called it, suddenly I have a link) has received the lowest rating possible by several organizations based on its inability to provide services paid for, poor customer service and its ongoing efforts to gouge the public.

Now, before I list all of the complaints that others have made about this company which seems to enjoy raping its customers, I am going to share a few horror stories of my own.

One Month Left in the Regular Session

With the clock ticking on the end of the regular session for the 96^th General Assembly, it will be interesting to see if anything significant emerges when the dust finally settles. Right now is the time for legislators to put both feet in the stirrups and hang on for a wild ride!

This past week the House did pass the following bills of significance:

HB 1274, aka; The Abortion-Inducing Drug Safety Act, provides stronger safeguards for a woman’s health when facing pregnancy decisions and puts restrictions on abortion-inducing drugs like RU 486.

HB 1534 is a bill that will prohibit the implementation of the Federal Patient and Protection Affordable Care Act, commonly called “Obama Care.” By reasserting our sovereignty as a state, we are saying that the federal government doesn’t have the authority to impose this law on our citizens.

HB 1342 allows for protections for businesses from greedy trial lawyers filing frivolous lawsuits.

It’s been a long run for current Stone County Sheriff, Richard Hill, but it’s past time for that run to end.
When one serves in a position for an extended length of time comfort sets in and along with that comes complacency and sloppy management – both hallmarks of Hill’s mannerism of late.
While such statements may be made by anyone who supports his opponent, there is a requirement to back them up with established facts and with Hill there are plenty.

Let’s begin with one of the more recent examples of the sheriff “strutting and posturing.”
Last week his opponent, Doug Rader, scheduled a Meet and Greet on Y Highway. Not to be outdone, Hill decided (after the fact) to hold one of his own, on the same highway. Now, on the surface that’s not a bad idea (a little slimy and not very “honorable” for a sheriff, but a decidedly political move nonetheless). That would have been okay except for the sheriff’s “people” who decided it would be a great idea to block, physically block the road and turn every car toward his event.
Now, before those of you who support Hill say that’s not true – let me explain. I was there. In fact, I turned around and confronted the Hill supporter who had blocked the road when I approached and discovered two things. One, he was a blatant liar, and two, he was an attorney! Wow, an attorney who failed to know that blocking a road and acting as an agent of the sheriff, when there was no legal requirement to block said road, IS ILLEGAL! That single event says more about how unethical Hill can be than a thousand words.
To be sure, I wasn’t the only one this happened to; in fact, we spoke with numerous people who had encountered the same issue, and all were angry.

Now, let’s talk a little more about ethics.
Under Hill’s watch, or lack thereof, the state auditor has continually found missing checks – well, found isn’t the right word because they’re still missing. Has the situation been corrected by the Sheriff? No.
During the campaign, so far, he has tried to hold meetings of employees, in a public building, to “suggest” they support him. I suspect the same attorney who was blocking a road told him it was fine – it isn’t; it’s illegal.
The prison food system: Wow, where do I begin? Allegations of illegal bid taking have been revolving around the sheriff for a few years now, but he has yet to address the issue. At the base of this issue is his very own employee who continually seems to win the bid (although we could find no record that the bid was actually “put out for bid” in a legal manner, and no, running a press release in a small paper is not the legal manner, and the sheriff should know that – isn’t he the one supposedly upholding the law)?

Our taxpayers are losing appetite for subsidizing expensive green power that doesn’t work. “The mini-bubble resulting from the rush to cash in on solar subsidies in European and U.S. markets is ending, as feed-in tariffs drop in Europe while loan guarantee and tax credit programs tighten up in the U.S.,” says a new report from Bank of America Merrill Lynch according to CNBC.com. Germany is dialing back subsidies for solar this month by 29 percent with subsequent decreases each month, according to Bloomberg.com. Rasmussen has recently released a survey of US voters showing a diminishing number support subsidizing the Chevy Volt; only 29 percent of likely voters agree with Obama’s latest proposal to include a $10,000 subsidy in the federal budget to support the purchase of every electric vehicle. The survey found that 58 percent oppose the plan. 13 percent remain undecided.