Take a look out your front door.

Amidst all the bellyaching going on in the last month about the second Wal-Mart proposed to move into Lee’s Summit, we’ve seemed to now launch into a new discussion – that of offering up alternative businesses that the “city council” should try to “get” instead of another Wally World.

There’s a story told about a young soldier who was buying was newspaper from one of those machines where you put your money in, open the door and take out a paper from a stack of papers. The customer before the soldier had cheated, putting his money in for one paper and taking the whole stack out of the machine. He didn’t take the extra copies with him however. Instead he placed the whole stack on top of the machine for any passerby to take.

As a college student, anything that connects me back home is worth its weight in gold.

Those constituents and friends who have been reading my Capitol Reports for several years know that reforming Missouri’s tax credits is one of my highest priorities. This year, I sit on the Jobs, Economic Development and Local Government Committee which directly hears many of the potential tax credit reforms and additions to tax credit programs. One of the measures we considered and voted out of committee received debate this week, going late into the night and into the very early morning hours.

I cannot even listen to the 9-1-1 tapes any longer. It just gets worse and worse each time I do.

One way the leadership of Lee’s Summit obtains information about the expectations of residents is through Citizen Advisory groups. I am a member of one such group, called the Livable Streets Advisory Board.

Some resident of Lee’s Summit sure have a black helicopter, conspiracy thing going on lately.

School accountability (HB 388)

After all these years and a stint working in Iowa, you would think I would be a little better behind the wheel during the winter months.

February is National Children’s Dental Health Month. As parents and grandparents we generally pay close attention to our child’s general health. The school district requires us to get certain vaccinations before our children can attend school. They don’t require dental checkups. Unfortunately, many parents neglect their own oral care and forget about their children’s as well. February is the month to change that concept.

I think it was last Saturday when the first bit of noticeable panic (or joy, as it were) started to creep across faces of our local meteorologists.

As a District 1 resident, I am disappointed with the decision to delay the Wal-Mart development in an area of town that is starving for it. I recognize that Wal-Mart is not exactly the type of development this community should focus on attracting — but retail is a necessary service for the community — particularly in that part of town.

Some days I just don’t know what my daughter is thinking about.

Sitting through another round of the State of the Union, I am reminded how far removed from national politics I have taken myself since the presidential election last November.