From Mike Heins: Thank You.

I wanted to thank everyone for their kind words and especially for providing me with a wealth of information. I couldn't do this without you. If you sent me something and I haven't gotten around to posting about it, please be patient. The community is not used to getting the straight scoop and too much information can be overwhelming. Thanks for the compliments also. They mean a lot. I often get asked by people: How can I help? That's easy, please share this BLOG with others.

There's so much to write about. The fire department's witch-hunt is in full swing. Staff members are being suspended without pay with rumors flying that 10 will be fired. Why? They had the nerve to oppose the Rex Rangers/Mike Becker slate for the Mehlville School Board. This is getting to be habit forming with our area boards' of directors. Don't they realize we have laws against this kind of thing. Look for lawsuits to be flying this summer. Speaking of lawsuits, it looks like Mr. Milligan and the Call Newspapers are in court again. It looks like Bruiser Bill doesn't want to pay his bill. Pelarious, Inc. says Milligan and the Call won't pay the $5,600 he owes them. Pelarious will win and the Call's advertisers will lose as they pay for his debts and his legal fees!

How Others See the Call

From the Crestwood Independent

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Well folks, I wondered how long Mike Anthony could stay out of Crestwood politics, and now we know!
Mr. Mike Anthony, editor, and erstwhile resident of Jefferson County (not Crestwood,) has once again pontificated on "what's right for Crestwood!"This guy is the one in the same that promised "no more slams against the Crestwood leadership!" Well, I guess he forgot that part of his diatribe because here he is in the "paper" low rating Crestwood again!Mike, find something your qualified to report on and leave us alone, because we are all stocked up with liberal idiots who have no stake in Crestwood, and we sure don't need a person who doesn't live here to tell us what to, or how to do it!
Tom Ford

Follow the Money in Mehlville II

Citizens for Accountability in Education is the Political Action Committee formed by Michael Becker to purchase the election for Chris Brown, David Bertelsen and Linda Mooy. A review of their contributors finds the following:

Friends of Chris Brown 72% Reside out of the district

These contributors all live outside of our school district:

Cunningham Campaign Committee Chesterfied, MO
Committee to Elect Mike Leara Sunset Hills, MO
MNEA PAC Heartland *
MNEA PAC South *
MNEA PAC Northwest *
MNEA Statewide *
MNEA Southwest *
MNEA Southeast *
MNEA West *

*This MNEA is not related to any teachers association. It's an acronym designed to confuse people and stands for Missourians Needing Educational Alternatives. These PACs are funded solely by anti-public school and voucher proponent Rex Sinquefield.

South County has a Medical Problem Part II

These are the diversion rates for St. Anthony's Medical Center Emergency Room for the past four months. In April, they were on diversion 32% of the time due to a critical shortage of ER physicians. This means the MFPD crews are not available to respond to emergencies in our district because they have had to travel out of the area to deliver patients.

St. Anthony's Medical Center

Hours of Diversion

Nov. 2007 --April 2008

November 56.13 or 7.8 %

December 78.17 or 10.5 %

January 197.93 or 26.6 %

February 126.22 or 18.1 %

March 102.37 or 13.8 %

April 236.2 or 32 %

Looking at the metropolitan area's 24 hospitals, St. Anthony's leads by far in diverting ambulances away from their emergency room. The next highest rate for a hospital in April was SSM St Mary's which was on diversion 98.1 hours or 13.6 %.

Friends of Our Schools?

Below are the contributors, as of 4/1/8 to the Friends of Chris Brown Committee in his attempt to win a seat a seat on the Mehlville School Board:

Janet Renner Baldwin, MO
Donovan Lewis Providence, RI
Bruce Buwalda Maryland Heights, MO
Joseph Weikert Arcadia, MO
Kent Bettale Oakville
Carol Keich Creve Coeur, MO
Jim Bodenstein Mehlville
Mike Spence West Covina, CA
Lembke for Senate Mehlville
Joanne Chambers, Florissant, MO
James Noland Osage Beach, MO
Mike Becker, Schrewsbury, MO
Shawn Mitchell Valaparaiso, FL
Phyllis Schlafly, Chesterfield, MO
Thomas Klein St. Louis, MO
Carl Hendrickson Mehlville
Mae Duggan St. Louis, MO
Leroy Judd Oakville
Kurt Witzel Oakville
Julia McNamara Austin, TX
Joeylynn Hough Brunswick, MD
Eleanor Stampfer Mehlville

Notice only six of the 22 contributors live in our school district.

South County has a Medical Problem

My concerns about the quality of the staff at the Mehlville Fire Department continue to grow with each and every experienced member we lose to another district. When you add this to the problems they are experiencing with the staffing in the emergency room at St. Anthony's Hospital, we have a crisis. As reported by the local media several months ago, emergency room physicians were told they were no longer going to be employed by the hospital. They are now employed by an outside contractor. Most physicians refused to accept this arrangement and moved on to positions elsewhere in the St. Louis area. This has left the emergency department understaffed and unable to service our community. Ambulances are now being diverted away from St. Anthony's on a regular basis. We now have inexperienced emergency personnel, unfamiliar with our community, transporting patients to the only hospital we have, which doesn't have enough doctors to treat the them. This doesn't bode well for anyone who needs emergency treatment.

Vacation Over

I'm back. I needed some time to work on a golf tourney. Although I wasn't working the BLOG, I've heard of others who've spread their gossip about me. Shame on them. I also waited, but didn't get any mail, challenging any of my comments or assertions. I gave everyone a chance. It was a nice break. For those who've advised me to tone it down, I've listened. That doesn't mean I'll change my direction, only my tone. I recognize that I can be more respectful in my dissent. I pledge to give it a try.