The Great Bagnell Dam Duck Drop Saturday, August 15, 2009

Experience up to 7,500 rubber ducks falling from the sky on Saturday, August 15th as the largest duck race in the lake's history takes place on the Osage River below the Bagnell Dam. Make a day of it as we kick-off The Great Bagnell Dam Duck Drop with a 5K family fun run and waddle walk . The Family Fun Zone will open following the walk with clowns, duck ponds, duck painting, puppet shows, vendors, food and live entertainment. The official "Duck Drop" will take place at 2 PM as thousands of numbered rubber ducks float to the finish line on the Osage River. Cost: $5.00 per ticket/duck (duck adoptions) - Ducks available at Willmore Lodge and throughout the Lake area. Prizes: First Place - $5,000 Second and Third Place also awarded plus nine ducks will be selected for additional prizes including the lame duck prize SCHEDULE 8 AM - Family 5K Fun Run and Waddle Walk 9:30 AM - 3 PM - Family Fun Zone Opens - Clowns, Face Painting, Kids Games, Entertainment, Food, Duck Pond, Duck painting, puppet show and much more 2 PM - The Official Duck Drop WAYS YOU CAN GET INVOLVED... 1. Adopt a duck(s) - One or a whole flock 2. Volunteer on the committee to launch this inaugural event. 3. Invite your family, friends & coworkers out to enjoy the event.

Information: For event information and 5K registration contact the Lake Area Chamber of Commerce at 964-1008 or stop Willmore Lodge (across the Bagnell Dam - 1/4 mile northeast of the Bagnell Dam)

Floodplain Designations in Camden County--Nov 5, 2008 Meeting

Floodplain Designations in Camden County--Nov 5, 2008 Meeting

A meeting concerning the Floodplain Management Program will be held at 1:00 PM on Wednesday, November 5th in the 3rd floor hearing room of the courthouse. Mostly this meeting is for the review and discussion on the new DFIRM maps that are the first major improvement to our program in Camden County since we began the program in 1994. The meeting is a public hearing and if there are questions about the program itself we will try to answer them as well. The floodplain program does not directly relate to water quality at the lake but does effect development and where (& how) it can occur with regard to floodplains.

One thing people here at the lake should learn is that ALL lake front properties have some floodplain (up to elevation 664-foot) and when buying / selling / or refinancing this can have an effect because a lender may require flood insurance even though the residence is well above that elevation. (information provided by Chris Hall, Camden County Planning Director)

JEFFERSON CITY — Event organizers and Missouri Lt. Governor Peter Kinder announced the start and estimated finish times for each of the seven stages for the third Tour of Missouri professional cycling race, scheduled for Sept. 7-13.

The following cities will play host to a leg of the 2009 Tour: St. Louis, Ste. Genevieve, Cape Girardeau, Farmington, Rolla, St. James, Jefferson City, Sedalia, Chillicothe, St. Joseph, and Kansas City.

The race will be contested over seven days and seven stages. There will be two circuit races (St. Louis, Kansas City), one individual time trial (Sedalia) and four point-to-point road races (Ste. Genevieve to Cape Girardeau; Farmington to Rolla; St. James to Jefferson City; Chillicothe to St. Joseph).

The start times, with estimated finish times, are as follows:

Stage Start City Time Finish City Est. Time
Stage 1 St. Louis (circuit race) 2:30 PM Same 5:10 - 5:45 PM
Stage 2 Ste. Genevieve 11 AM Cape Girardeau 3:00 - 4:15 PM
Stage 3 Farmington 11 AM Rolla 3:10 - 4:15 PM
Stage 4 St. James 2 PM Jefferson City 5:45 - 7 PM
Stage 5 Sedalia (time trial) 2 PM Same 5 PM
Stage 6 Chillicothe 1 PM St. Joseph 5:00 - 6:10 PM
Stage 7 Kansas City TBD Same TBD

Stage by stage courses will be announced July 30 in Kansas City.


The overall course will take on a very different slant in 2009. For the first time, the race will route east to west, starting in St. Louis and finishing in Kansas City. The past two years, the race routed west to east, starting in Kansas City and finishing in St. Louis. The overall mileage for the course is expected to be more than 600 miles.

WHO QUALIFIES FOR A HABITAT HOME? LAKE OF THE OZARKS

DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO QUALIFIES FOR A HABITAT HOME?
One might think it would be a simple process to select a family for a Habitat home. However, sometimes a deserving
family is too proud or too humble to seek help. It's difficult to contact families in need as they may not receive the
local newspaper or are too stressed to check out community bulletin boards, government agencies, or they miss the
time periods when applications are being taken. Their need for shelter may be too critical to wait for a year until a
home is constructed. Criteria for qualifying for a Habitat Home:

*Applicants income should fall between O to 50% of Camden County Median Income, $42,623, which would be no
more than $21,311.
*Applicant's total debt ratio should not exceed 40% (debts & house payment & utilities).
*Applicant should have satisfactory credit. Negative factors should be able to be explained and/or corrected.
*Applicant must show the ability to make house payment.
*Applicant must be able to make a downpayment of approximately $500. (They are given a year to save for this and
the money is then applied towards their first year of home owners insurance.)
*Applicant's current housing situation is unsatisfactory.
*Applicant is willing to partner with Habitat by providing "sweat equity."
If you know of a family who might qualify, please contact Habitat Family Selection Chair, Debbie Bunkowski at: 573-
374-2565

Faced with a need to find every dime he can to help balance next year’s state budget, Gov. Jay Nixon has come up with a cool million-and-a-half earmarked to help underwrite the Tour of Missouri bike race across the state.

The timing is awkward. Tour promoters say they have lined up substantial private donations for the event, now barely 60 days hence. Without the state subsidy, they will have to cancel the race, and “Without question it would be the end of the Tour of Missouri. It would not return,” says Chris Aronhalt, working for race organizer Medalist Sports LLC of Tyrone, Ga.

How big a loss would that be? In 2007 Columbia was designated a finish stage location, but the local budget item was generally regarded as a poor investment. The riders flashed through town in a wink, and local business gained no benefit. In 2008 we decided to pass, but this year we tried for a tour stop location, presumably a more promising deal. No luck.

As a general proposition the Tour of Missouri is more of a fleeting show than a substantial economic boon. It’s nice to have Lance Armstrong pedaling Missouri highways, but he and his fellow spandex-bedecked crowd sprinkle precious few greenbacks along the way. The Tour of Georgia has been canceled for lack of a key sponsor. If Nixon jerks funding, the not-for-profit promotional organization would have to pick up contracted expenses planned for underwriting with the state money and, it says, the tour would be threatened.

If you are in charge of the state budget, it’s hard to justify the tour spending for any reason other than to fulfill the state’s promise and bail out the promoters. In such parlous economic times, spending taxpayer money on this basis is a chancy deal. Even in better times it was questionable, but reneging on such late notice is not a good deal either. We should understand whichever way Nixon decides to go.

Lake of the Ozarks Watershed Alliance

THE ISSUE People are concerned about the health of Lake of the Ozarks

OUR VIEW There is no reason to panic over E.coli

The headline says everything one needs to know about Lake of the Ozarks.

The lake, overall, is a healthy, vibrant flowing body of water, just as any dammed river should be.
Water comes in from Truman Lake, the Niangua River system and other streams, creeks and watercourses that flow through woodland, farmland and neighborhoods.

Water leaves through Bagnell Dam and makes its way downstream in the Osage River to the Missouri, Mississippi and eventually, the Gulf of Mexico.

What goes into our water here can have a tremendous impact both here and downstream.

The Lake of the Ozarks Watershed Alliance formed a few years ago to act as as both an independent watchdog and monitor of the tremendous natural resource that is the lake.

This week they held an educational forum and, perhaps most importantly, brought people together to raise an understanding of the challenges we all face in maintaining the environmental quality of the lake that brings so much to us.

LOWA’s educational forum on the lake’s health and the impact people and nature can have on it is a good idea that ought to be expanded.

More residents need to be actively aware of how their septic system may be impacting people downhill and downstream from them. As previously noted, the environment downstream stretches for thousands of miles. It also directly impacts every resident of the lake area, whether they live on the water or not.

2009 Hawkeye Poker Run is now on sale. Get it at the LAKE TV 32 store page. Get your copy for only $20, including shipping and handling. It includes over 100 hundred boats tearing up the Mississippi River for the 2009 Hawkeye Poker Run.

Thunder Run 2009 LAKE OF THE OZARKS

Join Us this year for the 2009 Thunder Poker Run,
Held at the Lake of the Ozarks. For more information
on this event go to www.LAKERACER.COM ...

LAKE TV 32 will be filming this event from
the air and on the water. It is sure to be a
great event to get coverage of your boat.

Shawn Kober
LAKE TV 32