Rural Missouri - March 2012 - (Page 4)

C O M M E NT S From the grassroots “Devoted to the rural way of life” March 2012 Volume 64 / Number 3 Jim McCarty, editor jmccarty@ruralmissouri.coop Jason Jenkins, managing editor jjenkins@ruralmissouri.coop Heather Berry, associate editor hberry@ruralmissouri.coop Kyle Spradley, field editor kspradley@ruralmissouri.coop Megan Schibi, editorial assistant mschibi@ruralmissouri.coop Mary Davis, production manager mdavis@ruralmissouri.coop Angie Jones Dusty Weter Co-op page designers L Electric co-op leaders show the flag in state Capitol Internet to rural Miseaders from souri. electric “One issue that cooperatives came up was pole across Misattachments,” Stewsouri descended on art said. “This bill the state capital Jan. will deal with that 30-31 for the 6th problem.” annual State LegislaThe group heard tive Conference. The from Missouri Attorgrassroots event offers ney General Chris an opportunity for Koster, who had a lot Missouri’s electric of praise for the way cooperatives to share electric cooperatives important issues with operate. “Your work elected officials. in Jefferson City More than 200 is a great example members of the of your dedication grassroots team coorphoto by Jason Jenkins to the people you dinated by the AssoRep. Jeanie Riddle was honored with the AMEC Legislative Leadership Award. serve,” he said. ciation of Missouri She is shown here with leaders from Callaway Electric Cooperative. From The group Electric Cooperatives left is Clint Smith, Linus Rothermich, Riddle, Randy Gastineau, Tom Howard, received an update took part in the event, Charles Schmid and Wesley Zerr. on federal legislation which included visits from AMEC CEO Barry Hart. He said that while electric with state senators and representatives. Many of the co-op co-ops were successful in fighting off cap-and-trade legislaleaders also called on urban legislators in an effort to edution that would have caused rates to skyrocket, they could cate them on rural issues. In addition, 150 legislators, state expect similar battles to return. agency heads and members of various state commissions “You will hear a lot in the coming months on how we attended an evening reception where they learned about need to rededicate ourselves to representing the member at contributions the electric cooperatives have made to the the end of the line and make sure they can always afford state. electricity,” Hart said. Chief on the agenda was pointing out why electric He pointed out that some groups in Washington, D.C., cooperatives support passage of House Bill 1361, which want to force consumers to use less electricity by making addresses issues important to bringing high-speed Internet it more and more expensive. “Their agenda is not to find service to unserved rural areas. The bill, which is sponsored new sources of clean energy. Their agenda is to raise rates.” by Rep. Darrell Pollock of Lebanon, will clarify state law Those taking part in the conference also heard from regarding pole attachments. At the same time, it strengthleadership in the state House and Senate. This offered an ens the rights of landowners who have provided easements opportunity to learn priorities elected officials have for this for these lines. legislative session. Brent Stewart, AMEC’s legislative and regulatory counVeterans of rural electrification know that the program sel, pointed out that the bill is the result of a report comwas born in politics, and eternal vigilance is vital to the missioned by the state to identify barriers that were standprogram’s continued success. ing in the way or slowing down deployment of high-speed USPS 473-000 ISSN 0164-8578 Copyright 2012, Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives. Call for reprint rights. Rural Missouri is published monthly by the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives. Barry Hart, executive vice president. Individual subscription rate: $9 per year or $21 for three years, taxes and postage included. Group rate for members of participating RECs $3.99, taxes and postage included. Delivery as specified by subscriber. If not specified, delivery will be by periodical class mail at subscriber’s expense. Periodical Class postage paid at Jefferson City, MO, and additional mailing offices. www.ruralmissouri.coop Find us on www.facebook.com/ruralmissouri P.O. Box 1645 Jefferson City, MO 65102 573-659-3423 info@ruralmissouri.coop Rural Missouri Vanslyke takes helm at SEMO Electric ean Vanslyke is the new manager for SEMO Electric Cooperative, the cooperative’s board of directors recently announced. He takes over for retiring Manager Reuben Jeane, who left SEMO Electric on Jan. 31. Vanslyke and his family are returning to Missouri after living in Illinois for the past 13 years, where he held numerous positions with Ameren Illinois. He had experience in field operations, customer service and, most recently, oversaw internal and external communication, storm response, community affairs, marketing and crisis management. The new manager grew up in Webb City, spending part of his youth on his grandparents’ dairy farm. After graduating from Webb City High School, he attended Missouri Southern State University, where he met his wife, Debbie. The couple has two children, Amanda and Parker. Vanslyke has been heavily involved in the community in which he has lived. He has coached junior football and soccer. He also serves on a not-for-profit board for the Center for Prevention of Abuse. During his time in Illinois, he was elected to the Litchfield school board, where he served six years as president. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Sean and his wife led two trips to Mississippi to help victims of the disaster. Missouri’s electric cooperatives welcome Vanslyke to his new position, and wish Jeane all the best in his retirement. S Postmasters: Send address changes to Rural Missouri, P.O. Box 1645, Jefferson City, MO 65102. Subscribers: Report change of address to your local cooperative. Do not send change of address to Rural Missouri. Advertising standards: Advertising published in Rural Missouri is accepted on the premise that the merchandise and services offered are accurately described and sold to customers at the advertised price. Rural Missouri and Missouri’s electric cooperatives do not endorse any products or services advertised herein. Advertising that does not conform to these standards or that is deceptive or misleading is never knowingly accepted by this publication. Advertising information: mdavis@ruralmissouri.coop 573-659-3400 National Advertising Representative: National Country Market; 611 S. Congress St., Suite 504; Austin, TX 78704 573-659-3400 Member, Missouri Association of Publications and Missouri Press Association Sean Vanslyke 4 WWW.RURALMISSOURI.COOP http://www.ruralmissouri.coop http://www.facebook.com/ruralmissouri http://www.facebook.com/ruralmissouri http://WWW.RURALMISSOURI.COOP

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rural Missouri - March 2012

Rural Missouri - March 2012
Contents
Comments
Columns
Stickin’ to it
Outdoors
Out of the Way Eats
Spending to save
Just vault
Guarding the honeybee
Hearth and Home
Callaway’s kingdom dinner
News Briefs
Around Missouri
Marketplace
The comical curator
Neighbors
Just4Kids

Rural Missouri - March 2012