Good morning all. Another day in the heat wave! Make sure you all take care in the heat and stay hydrated. This heat spell is said to be with us into mid next week! Welcome to high energy bills!

I am sad to report that there still is no announced investigation by any County or State agency on the petition harvesting scandal. Let me know if that scandal concerns you or whether or not it needs investigated. Just comment below and I will follow up.

Also let me know what issues concern you this election year. Can be at any level-- County, City, State or National.

It was a rough weekend as we said goodbye to a dear friend who passed away last week and I had to install a new water heater. I am so grateful my son was here to help me with that. He has a good eye at solving problems. I did the plumbing and he reengineered the new flue we had to install when we found the old flue had simply disintegrated. Got to expect that from galvanized metal that's been in use for over 50 years! The water heater was 14 years old. It was due. Sometimes home ownership isn't so grand!

We are coming together next Saturday to tribute Jack Birdsell who passed away on August 24th. He was 79 and one of the smartest men you'd ever meet. It will be good to congregate at Al's Bar & Grill at noon and remember Jack. Friends and family are said to be gathering. I am looking forward to it.

Let me hear from you on those issues and in the meantime, have a great weekend and enjoy the long Labor Day holiday! Always signals summer coming to an end though you'd never know it with this weather! Hope we get some rain soon!

Good afternoon folks.

I did not attend this morning's Commission Administrative meeting but watched it live on YouTube. I believe this is a great service the County does for our Platte County citizens. Though I noticed less than 10 actually joined the livestream! And it was a small crowd in attendance. This is rather sad to see so few take part or take in local government. On the other hand, I have always believed these meetings should take place at 6 or 7pm on Monday evenings to allow more interested citizens to attend after their day of work.

The Commission did vote to keep the County Property Tax levy at 1¢. This is a good thing for all of us. I will be watching closely how tax levies are handled in 2027 after the Assessor rockets our residential and business property assessments through the stratosphere. I expect the schools to resist reducing their tax levies or pull accounting tricks to keep levies high and rob citizens of their hard earned money.

So that brings us to the Homestead Act. And the Senior Tax Credit. The Senior Tax credit is already in place but the refund the Commission ordered has not been implemented. The Homestead Act is being slow walked as well and is now, again, said to be implemented in 2027, not 2026 as passed by the voters in April of 2026.

It is time for new leadership at the courthouse. New, never before served elected, to bring new ideas and proper execution of the offices. That means implementing the laws and ordinances approved by the Commission. This is not being accomplished now. November's election is very important this year. I am interested in installing good conservatives! Not Republicans In Name Only. And returning Missouri to a pro-life state by passing Amendment 3!

Another great factoid from Rachel Kautz -

On this day, August 27th, 1776, C The Battle of Long Island (or the Battle of Brooklyn)

There are six more events that happened during 1776 all the way through December.

Let's continue to celebrate our nation's 250th year! Celebrate proudly! Be thankful we are still in a free society due to the efforts of the Colonial men and women and the generations of veterans and patriots over the last 250 years. They risked and lost their lives for the cause of Freedom! Let's honor them by keeping this Republic and our Freedom!

This post is intended solely for you, the voters, to decide if these folks are worthy of your vote or should be thrown off the ballot for what I consider to be quite unethical behavior. I am praying that the agencies contacted will open investigations into this scandal and hand down appropriate punishments.


Please read the info at this link and decide for yourselves. Terrible this happened in Platte County!

https://platte-research.com/

Happy Hump Day Wednesday Platte County!

A few ramblings here today as we move on with life, get reorganized, plan overdue recreational trips and return to working on the bazillion projects I have going on!

The "Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act in Massachusetts" news story I posted about last Wednesday has garnered the ire of many Democrats across the country and especially in Massachusetts as going too far, crossing a line of morality and ethics and being just plain wrong and criminal. I say Democrats because that is who passed and signed the bill in Massachusetts. Doctors, OBGYNs are speaking out. Pro-Life Democrats are coming to the foreground. The super leftist Democrats who will go to the ends of the earth to save animals over people, rally against the death penalty and favor letting felons who committed heinous crimes walk free also have no problem ending innocent life or favoring euthanizing us Seniors once we reach a certain age so we don't "burden" the healthcare system. They have finally crossed a line and have brought attention to whom are really the extremists in our society and nation. Keep watch on this story as it progresses and the backlash on elections it might render.
Speaking of elections - what a wild year its been and continues to be - locally and nationally. The Democrat Socialists of America (DSA) continue to defeat establishment Democrats all over the country. And the Democratic National Committee is not happy but they are afraid to combat them too much. Republicans must see this as an opening to retaining power and picking up seats in Congress. There was a time in this country when we expelled card carrying communists or they were shunned to the back burner. Now they are openly attempting nothing short of a coup to burn the Constitution, do away with the Senate, Judiciary and Executive Branch and put all the power into the House of Representatives, likely renaming it, and picking a President or Premier. Just be aware how you vote. What you wish for. Nothing is free. And when those who are paying for all your free food, housing and transportation either leave, run out of money or die, then where will your funding come from? Socialism is factually documented being responsible for killing more people than any other tyrannical despot regime - including the NAZIs in WW2 and the Holocaust. Think about it. Walk into your local Price Chopper or Hy-Vee or the newly announced Dillions in the Northland once its built and admire all the choices of foods you have. Then travel to Europe and look at their choices. Won't take long for folks here to start revolting against government run businesses when it all breaks down and life gets even harder. Remember, Mayor Q tried the City run grocery store and had to abandon the project when it completely failed. New York City is now trying the same thing by ignoring previous failed attempts around the country.

As for local elections - keep watch as scandals are breaking out. Next week I will join others in publishing a Platte County scandal that thus far the mainstream media and local papers refuse to address, investigate or recognize as nothing more than dirty politics. I will put forth the evidence and simply let you, the voter, decide if it is concerning, crooked, unethical and if those candidates participating are folks you wish to have leading Platte County. Personally I find their actions despicable, egregious and felonious. Authorities have been sent requests to investigate and I hope to update on the status of those investigations as well. And no, this scandal has really nothing to do with the Clerk's race I lost, though one candidate is tied to those involved. But this scandal had no bearing on the Clerk's race and will not going forward.

Woke up to reports of wide spread damage across our metro this morning and my rain gauge had 3 and 4/10ths inches collected. Wow. No need to water my plants the neighborhood deer have enjoyed feasting on this year! What I get for not having a fenced yard, I suppose! Mr. Groundhog is back after several years lodging elsewhere. And the hummingbirds are fighting over territory of my 2 feeders. What fun to watch them. I will miss them as they migrate in a few weeks.

Its good getting back to a normal life. Being a political candidate is not normal. Is not fun. It is not really all that rewarding. If you lose, you lost and life picks up where you left off. If you win, you likely have another contest to campaign for and win that you swear in to dealing with all the troubles of County government and dealing with an unhappy electorate who mostly will complain about how high their taxes are! So, yes, I can be relieved I won't have to deal with those issues. But I was prepared and had a solid plan to do so. To at least attempt to make life better and more affordable.
Frankly, I do not possess confidence that will happen any time soon with a some of the candidates who are in the general. I wish them well and good luck, but we all need to hold whomever gets elected accountable and call out when any promises are unfulfilled, official duties are not duly performed and the citizen's concerns ignored. Come nearer election time I will publish my recommendations of candidates I wish folks to cast a vote for.

Until then, we should all be watchdogs!

And know that your vote really does count! Please vote on November 3rd!!

Voter ID… SAVE America Act

It’s time Congress passed the SAVE America Act.

Why do political elites and Washington Democrats keep fighting against mandating photo voter ID and proof of citizenship to vote in American elections?

Why?

Because they want the ability to manipulate the system. And guess what, folks? Too many establishment Republicans are also quietly against mandating strict safeguards for free, fair, and secure elections.

BECAUSE THOSE IN POWER WANT TO DETERMINE ELECTION OUTCOMES AGAINST THE VOTER’S WILL.

That is the bottom line. Nothing else makes sense. We call it the “Uni-party” for a reason. Entrenched politicians in both parties want to control the results to keep themselves in power, raking in campaign money, controlling legislation, and dictating our everyday lives.

We need new blood in politics. We need firebrands willing to fight the greed and power brokers who stand in the way of progress and conservative principles. The political left is united in pushing policies that make it increasingly difficult for hard-working Americans to work their way up the socio-economic ladder—from poor to middle class to self-sustaining.

Self-sustaining folks scare the hell out of leftists and machine politicians. Why? Because they are original thinkers. They think for themselves. And the powers-that-be cannot stand for citizens to know the facts, vote with their hearts and minds, and pick the best candidate over party labels.

Write your congressman today and urge full passage of the SAVE America Act to ensure our elections are fair and strictly limited to legal U.S. citizens!

Real Reform Starts Locally

Let’s put election integrity FIRST:

• Hand-counted paper ballots observed and verified by all parties equally.
• Transparent counting: Count the votes at a local gym or civic center where the public can attend and watch in the open. Livestream the count. What is there to hide? Hiding only fuels distrust and suspicion. The ballot box is private, but the count must be completely public!
• Prohibit ballot harvesting and restrict unchecked mail-in voting. Bring back Election Day instead of a "voting season."

Folks, even within our state, committee insiders aren't pushing hard enough for true ballot transparency. Contact state leadership soon to push for fair, unbiased, and open election procedures.

Elections are often decided by thin margins. Your vote DOES count—let's make sure it’s protected!

Happy Monday y'all!

Ol' Russ is moving on with life to an extent and devoting time getting back to projects put on the back burner during the campaign. One thing is clear, there are issues evolving that will need exposed to the voters and great citizens of Platte County. The utter greed, power hungry at all cost factions that are taking over Platte County must have spotlights shined on them.

I fear some of our elected will wind up being beholden to these factions and suffer greatly if and when the elected try to do the right thing which may be in contrast to the agenda these political factions are promoting.

I will not be so vague in the coming days and weeks as the political chess game plays out, news hits and people are stymied at what the heck is going on in Platte County.

Yes, I am aware I take a risk, not sure how great a risk, to expose and name names. But I will when I am certain of the facts, the players involved and if able, highlight their motivations. I do not think they will be in the best interest of Platte County.

In the meantime, watch for a new app I have developed for the tourism industry that has been literally years in the making while technology caught up to allow one of my pet projects to see the light of day.

I now look forward to a Fall season of travel, Fall gardening, remodeling projects reignited and attending my 50th class reunion.

Living life is important. Also promoting the cause of keeping this Republic free and intact is also important. I won't make promises, predictions or veiled threats. I will prove by actions. As Lee Iacocca said: "Lead, Follow, or get out of the way!" I have come to appreciate that quote over the years.

Stay safe in this heat. Stay hydrated. And smile! Wave to that neighbor.