With more than two months to go before voters cast ballots in November, candidates in Missouri’s 4th Congressional District are stepping up their campaign aggression.

Republican challenger Vicky Hartzler seeks to unseat U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton (D), who has served for more than 23 years.
Hartlzer accuses Skelton of avoiding debates with her and consistently links the congressman’s voting record to that of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California). In a press release, she took up the issues of economics and unemployment.

In defense, Skelton tied his involvement as chairman of the House Armed Services Committee to job growth.

A third-party candidate from Lebanon hopes to mix it up with Skelton and Hartzler. Greg Cowan runs under the Constitution Party banner.
Cowan explained his decision to run outside of the Republican and Democratic parties in a letter to voters. He weighed out his stances on both mainstream parties.

Some residents on Horseshoe Bend and Shawnee Bend will see an increase in their water and sewer bills by the end of September.

Late last week, the Missouri Public Service Commission signed off on an agreement authorizing a rate increase for the Lake Region Water & Sewer Company (Lake Region) to cover the increased cost of providing water and sewer service to its customers. Under the Commission’s decision, Lake Region has been granted a rate increase totaling approximately $191,294. The Commission’s vote was 3-2.

A ruling by three judges in the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District against a state government commission leaves some Lake Ozark and Osage Beach residents with feelings of vindication.

The appellate court ruled against the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Land Reclamation Commission and Magruder Limestone Company in the case of a piece of property on Woodriver Road that has been disputed for more than three years.

Magruder Limestone initially sought a permit to open a rock quarry on its Woodriver Road property, but the Lake Ozark/Osage Beach Joint Sewer Board and a concerned citizens’ group raised a legal challenge to stop the quarry from opening. A quarry, they say, will threaten the sewage treatment plant near the proposed blasting site and the two force main sewer lines that pass through Magruder’s property.

(AP) — Missouri's environmental director announced Monday that he was resigning to take a job to help oversee a $20 billion fund for people harmed by the Gulf oil spill.
Mark Templeton, the director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources since 2009, said he was resigning effective Wednesday to become the executive director of the Office of the Independent Trustees of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Trust. The fund was established by BP PLC and is administered by two trustees — John Martin, a former federal judge in New York; and Kent Syverd, the dean of the Washington University law school in St. Louis.

Instead of a discussion with a moderator, residents who have questions for elected officials in Laurie will have to request to address the mayor and the board during Board of Aldermen meetings, and the deadline for getting on the upcoming meeting agenda is ticking.

A group calling themselves “concerned citizens” will meet Tuesday, Sept. 7, but the board will not be attending.

Although the Board of Aldermen and mayor had requested to attend and answer questions through a moderator, the board has now flip-flopped and decided not to attend. The change in plans is based on the advice of city attorney Tom Loraine.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has referred several cases to the Missouri Attorney General’s Office for allegations of violating the state’s Clean Water Law.

There are changes ahead for property owners and developers within the lakeside planning and zoning district in Camden County. The final draft of the revamped master plan will be turned over to the Camden County Commission for review and public comment this fall.

The plan could go to the Camden County Planning and Zoning Commission as early as September.
Planning Director Chris Hall said the schedule is to have the new master plan in place by the end of the year. That means the draft must be reviewed and approved by the planning commission before being sent on to the county commission.

Here's a brief recap of the Lake Ozark Board of Aldermen meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 24.

• An ordinance outlining a Code of Ethics for city officials was approved after little discussion.

• Lake Ozark is cleaning house.

• It may not cure the city's financial woes, but the Board of Aldermen is proposing a cut to their own pockets in order to save a few extra dollars.

Farmers in the Lake of the Ozarks area became eligible for federal emergency loans after a designation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The USDA initially designated 55 Missouri counties as natural disaster areas because of heavy rains, flooding, flash flooding and damaging winds that occurred between Feb. 1 and July 15.
Laclede, Moniteau, Benton, Maries and Cooper counties are included in the initial grouping of 55. Farmers and ranchers in Camden, Morgan, Miller and Pulaski counties are also eligible for emergency loans because their counties are adjacent to the disaster area.

The roundabout politics at Lake Ozark City Hall hasn’t discouraged a few faithful city residents who now, more than ever, are willing to step up to the dais and lend a helping hand.
The most recent came in the form of a $500 donation to the city through the Lake Ozark Police Benevolent Association. The money will be used to purchase a wireless microphone system to be used during council meetings.
The donors, a couple living in Lake Ozark, asked to remain anonymous.

Officials with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources have already ruled Sunday evening's 1,000-gallon sewer line break had little environmental impact and no lasting concern, according to Lake Ozark Public Works Director Matt Michalik.
Investigators assessed the scene Monday after the city reported the release to DNR.

The Lake Ozark Board of Aldermen will meet in regular session on Tuesday, Aug. 24.

Months of waiting for an answer over who will pay the bill and how much it is going to cost to move sewer lines may soon be over.
Camden County commissioners, Stan Schulz, the project engineer, and  a representative of Sterling Excavation, the company that built the Camelot wastewater treatment plant, are making a site visit  to determine just how much it is going to cost to move hundreds of feet of sewer lines that ended up on Mike and Mickey McDuffey's property. The county hopes to have it resolved by sometime next week.
The McDuffey’s dilemma has been stalled at the county level while the commissioners worked on a solution.

The 2010 budget in Lake Ozark is being slashed after July’s sales tax revenues came in and showed there’s few shoppers in the city. Officials will attempt to meet a 38 percent deficit in sales tax revenues by cutting spending in all areas of the budget. Anything considered not “mission critical” to the city’s day-to-day operation has been or will be cut.

So far, reductions in staff positions and furlough days have remained off the table.

The city is also looking at other sources of income including delinquent business license fees, past due property taxes and cashing in a bank CD when it matures next month. The $27,000 CD will help Lake Ozark’s budget get through the rest of the year.

If things continue down the same path for the rest of the year, Treasurer Linda Gardner-Goos estimates the city will have a little under $43,000 left in general revenue accounts to use as next year’s reserves.

Both candidates vying for the office of state representative of the 155th district attended Attorney General Chris Koster’s symposium on Lake of the Ozarks water quality this week at Tan Tar-A.

Rep. Wayne Cooper (R-Camdenton) held the seat representing Camden County for the past eight years, but has exhausted his term limits. Republican Diane Franklin and Democrat John Page agreed to interviews after watching the symposium from the gallery.

The superintendent of the Missouri Highway Patrol heading up the transition to merge the agency with the Water Patrol says other than a change in uniforms, the consolidation is likely to draw little notice from the public.

The Water Patrol’s presence on Lake of the Ozarks will not change. Their mission will not change. If anything, enforcement efforts may increase as the pool of officers increases.

Colonel Ronald Replogle is heading up the transition and will be the commander of the highway and water patrol once the transition is complete. Replogle was appointed to the Highway Patrol’s superintendent position in March of this year.

The Missouri attorney general’s symposium on Lake of the Ozarks water quality concluded with tourism officials requesting further pursuit of science and information and Attorney General Chris Koster asking for more comments from the public.

Attorney General Koster’s Office invites you to submit written comments until Sept. 18. The comments on the symposium will be up for consideration until the office issues its formal summary of information in November. Comments can be submitted by email to attorney.general@ago.mo.gov or by mail to Kathy Abner, Missouri Attorney General’s Office, P.O. Box 899, Jefferson City, MO 65102.

The first day of the Missouri Attorney General’s symposium on Lake of the Ozarks included discussion of bacteriological science, public opinion and illness. Attorney General Chris Koster organized the two-day event at Tan-Tar-A in Osage Beach to explore the future of caring for water quality.

“The present focus of public attention on lake water problems and not on lake water solutions has the potential, over time, of eroding confidence in what is unquestionably one of the Midwest’s finest recreational destinations. To allow such a drift in public opinion to occur, hurts all of us,” Koster said.

Dave Van Dee has his job back after the city of Lake Ozark reversed it's decision to terminate his contract as administrator. The 5 to 0 vote was announced by Mayor Johnnie Franzeskos after the Board of Aldermen met behind closed doors for nearly two hours Tuesday night. The motion was to rescind the Aug. 10 decision to fire Van Dee.