News-Leader
Clean air won out over living free Tuesday in an election battle that had been defined as a showdown between public health and business rights. Springfield voters approved a sweeping indoor smoking ban by a margin of 53 percent to 47 percent, setting the stage for all businesses in Springfield to be smoke-free by June 6.
The Missouri Farm Family Agriculture Alliance is urging citizens against signing a ballot initiative for the so-called “Puppy Mill Cruelty Protection Act.” In a news release, the alliance of agricultural interests says The Humane Society of the United States is targeting “targeting Missouri dog breeders in a veiled attempt to regulate animal agriculture in Missouri.”
The ballot initiative that would require dog-breeding facilities to provide dogs with basic necessities such as food, water, protection from extreme temperatures, and room to stand up and turn around is well within reason and long overdue (“Ballot initiative would force better living conditions for dogs in Missouri kennels,” Dec. 20).
The Christian County Library board voted Friday to send a proposed property tax increase back to voters in April. The ballot measure, which failed by 52 percent in November, would once again ask voters to increase the library’s collected tax levy from 8.7 cents to 25 cents per $100 assess valuation.
Missourians for the Protection of Dogs, a new political action committee, has launched a statewide signature-gathering campaign to get a constitution amendment on the ballot to protect the lives of man’s best friend.
A contentious political battle that ended in Greene County voters approving the non-partisan selection of judges in November could be ramping up again. The group Better Courts for Missouri, a long-time opponent of the Missouri nonpartisan court plan, recently gained approval to circulate a petition that could lead to the plan being scrapped throughout the state.
Patients who want to choose their physician without restrictions by an insurance company are a step closer to their goal. Missourians United for Choice in Healthcare , a Springfield-based group, has the go-ahead to begin collecting signatures to put the measure on the November 2010 ballot. Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan approved the group’s ballot language for the issue, Carnahan’s Web site confirms.