New Missouri Prescription Drug Card is FREE

While visiting my Aunt and Uncle in Branson I saw a story about the new Missouri Drug Card Program on television.

The website states that as a resident of Missouri you have access to a FREE prescription drug card program.

If you go to www.missouridrugcard.com you can download your Prescription Card after putting in some simple information and supposedly have a savings of 75% at over 50,000 national and regional pharmacies.

The card is pre-activated and can be used immediately.

* I haven't personally tried this but thought it would be good information for anyone that needs assistance with prescription drug costs.

Missouri Sales Tax Free Holiday 2008

We're in the heat of the summer and I can remember as a kid HATING to go shopping for fall/winter clothes right before school starts!

CHA-CHING! Now as an adult with the Missouri Sales Tax Free Holiday coming up August 1,2,3,2008 I can see how parents can save $$$$ shopping during those days!

Some will read this and say, "What are you talking about Fran?"

Missouri has this great holiday which begins at 12:01 AM on the first Friday in August and it ends at midnight three days later.

It means that you get tax free purchases on certain back-to-school needs like clothing, school supplies, computers and computer software.

The sales tax exemption is limited to:



Clothing - Any article having a taxable value of $100 or less.
School Supplies - Not to exceed $50 per purchase
Computer Software - Taxable value of $350 or less
Personal Computers - Not to exceed $3,500
Computer Peripheral Devices - Not to exceed $3,500
Be sure and consult the Missouri Department of Revenuefor a complete listing of items that are Tax Exempt.

KEEP IN MIND..... that some cities and counties choose not to be a part of this holiday..

Beverly Hills, Missouri, North Kansas City, Oak Grove, Platte Woods, Platte City and Smithville I've been told are opting out for this year (2008). But for a complete list of areas not participating be sure to check the Department of Revenue website. They have non-participants listed as:

Sales Tax Holiday - Cities Opting Out

Below is the list of cities that will not participate in the 2008 sales tax holiday. City sales tax in these locations will still be collected on the sale of qualifying holiday items.

Alton
Ashland
Ash Grove
Aurora
Ballwin
Battlefield
Bellerive Acres
Berkeley
Beverly Hills
Black Jack
Blackwater
Bland
Bloomfield
Bolivar
Boonville
Branson
Brentwood
Bridgeton
Byrnes Mill
Cabool
Camdenton
Cameron
California
Canton
Carl Junction
Carthage
Cassville
Centertown
Chamois
Charlack
Chillicothe
Clayton
Clinton
Collins
Columbia
Cool Valley
Cottleville
Crystal City
Des Peres
DeSoto
Desloge
Doniphan
Edmundson
Eldon
Eldorado Springs
Ellisville
Ellsinore
Elsberry
Everton
Fair Grove
Farmington
Fayette
Fenton
Ferguson
Festus
Flint Hill
Freeman
Freemont Hills
Frontenac
Fulton
Garden City
Gerald
Glasgow
Granby
Grandin
Grant City
Green City
Greendale
Half Way
Hartville
Hawk Point
Hayti
Higginsville
Hollister
Holts Summit
Houston
Ironton
Jane
Jefferson City
Joplin
Kennett
Kingdom City
Kirkwood
Koshkonong
Ladue
Laurie
Leadington
Liberal
Licking
Loma Linda
Malden
Manchester
Maplewood
Marble Hill
Marceline
Marlborough Village
Marshfield
Marthasville
Merriam Woods Village
Meta
Moberly
Montgomery
Moscow Mills
Mountain Grove
Mountain View
Mount Vernon
Naylor
Neosho
New Haven
New Madrid
New Melle
Nixa
Noel
Norborne
North Kansas City
Northwoods
Oak Grove
Oakland
Osage Beach
Overland
Owensville
Ozark
Palmyra
Paris
Pattonsburg
Pevely
Platte City
Platte Woods
Poplar Bluff
Purdy
Qulin
Reeds Spring
Richmond
Richmond Heights
Riverside
Rockaway Beach
Rock Hill
Rolla
Savannah
Sedalia
Seligman
Shelbina
Shrewsbury
Skidmore
Smithton
Smithville
Springfield
St Ann
St Mary
St Peters
Ste Genevieve
Stockton
Sugar Creek
Taos
Thayer
Town & Country
Trenton
Twin Oaks
University City
Urich
Vandalia
Velda
Walnut Grove
Warson Wood
Washburn
Waynesville
Webster Grove
West Plains
Willard
Willow Springs

New Staley High School Built GREEN

New Kansas City North High School Goes Green - Staley High School To Open For 08-09 School Year (edit/delete)
Yes... GREEN is one of Staley High Schools colors along with black and silver.

But that's not what I was talking about when I said Staley High School was going GREEN... I meant Staley High School is the only school in the four-state region to adopt the green concept, and was one of the first in the country to register the school as a LEED-registered project.

The high school is the fourth high school in the North Kansas City School District located in the northern portion of the district.

All the classrooms have an occupancy sensor system. Which means the lights come on when someone enters and go off when everyone is gone. (What my mother wouldn't have given to have something like that when I was a kid.)

A good percentage of the from of the school is glass. But not any kind of glass, it's the kind that draws heat in.

The geo-thermal heating system is designed to store heat in the summer and use it in the winter.

Low-flow water system that reduces water usage by about 50% were installed in all the restrooms and elsewhere.

There's approximately eighty-nine million dollard of steel in the structure and most of it is recycled.

The large collections pond outside collects the rainwater and it will be used to water the landscaping.

There have been many families moving into the Staley High School boundaries, I myself have had requests for houses in the Staley area.

Here are other tid-bits that are listed on the Staley High School Website:

314,000 square-foot, 2-story building on 80 acres
48-acre "green space" surrounds the school with 3 ponds and 2 streams
1,500-student capacity with a potential for 2,000 with Phase II expansion
2 competitive gymnasiums
750-seat auditorium and a "flex" theater
District Activity Complex on 64 acres includes District Varsity Soccer Stadium
District Football Stadium to seat 6,000 spectators
Built according to U.S. Green Building Council certification standards

Day Trip From Kansas City to The Bridges of Madison County

The www.madisoncounty.com website says: "The Bridges of Madison County" was made on location in Madison County, Iowa. A reconstructed farm house provided the key set, with additional sequences shot in the towns of Winterset and Adel, along with the actual Roseman and Holliwell covered bridges. Locations were coordinated with the full cooperation of the Iowa Film Commission, Winterset and Adel Chambers of Commerce, and the Madison County Covered Bridge Preservation Society. You've seen the movie "The Bridges of Madison County" where Robert Kindaid (Clint Eastwood) comes to Madison County, Iowa to take pictures of the covered bridges because he is a professional photographer on assignment with National Geographic magazine. He asks directions from Francesca Johnson (Meryle Streep) who's at home, alone because her husband and two children have left for four days for the Illinois state fair....... well the rest is in the movie but I had fun taking pictures in Madison County today!

How To Find Out What Crime Is Happening In Your Neighborhood

I've just learned of www.crimereports.com .... a great website that no matter where you are in the U.S. you can put in an address or a zip code and see what kind of crime is happening in your neighborhood.

It appeared that there was a place to also search for sex offenders.

They give you the option of signing up for e-mail notifications of crimes in a certain area. Of course I had to sign up and see how it worked!

How To Stay Safe This 4th At The Lake Of The Ozarks

It's a common known fact that many people go to the Lake of the Ozarks for the holiday weekend.

This year if you want to stay safe be extra careful not to consume any of the water while swimming.

Recent testing has found levels of e. coli bacteria that are above the state's acceptable limits.

The samples that showing the highest levels were found at Horseshoe Bend.

The http://www.lakesunleader.com that serves the Ozarks has the full story.