Branson is in Taney County - But How was the County Named?


This tip came from William "Dub" Dustin who used this fact to creep out fellow students at his East Coast law school.

Lake Taneycomo is named after the county (Lake Taney COunty MissOri), but the county itself after Roger Taney who wrote the courts decision in the Dred Scott Case. Roger Taney, the 5th Supreme Court Justice held that slaves were property even when they were in states that slavery was outlawed.

Branson Missouri Criticized For Supporting Big Business

I walked into a newspaper a few months ago and while I was submitting editorial to the publisher a reporter pulls me to the side to quiz me on personal political views. I turned to her holding my palm three feet above the ground and told her, “My political affiliation is simply this - A little girl about this big and the kind of world I want her to live in”.

One of my motivations for starting this site was in response to politically skewed editorial that bordered on fraud. The writer, which I will refrain from naming was boasting about “the new leaf” of our timeshare industry. The cites she made were misleading and review of source data confirmed the statement was lacking in integrity. A phone call was made to this journalist’s office and I was given the motivation behind the document. This my friends is a story in itself. Politics plays a role in journalism as my friend at Rhetorica continues to remind me. My concern was that if we reward them to early and without cause this company will have no incentive to change for the better. We want them to be rewarded when they do, but, not before they do!

Recently, this Branson Missouri site was accused of supporting big business:

Branson, Missouri says the special interest who poured their money into Nodler's campaign coffers during the last quarter are on the right track and insists that a later school start will help small schools without air conditioning and help students learn responsibility while they are working for minimum wage for the big-money interests who contributed to Nodler and the man who proposed a bill in the 2006 legislative session mandating a later school start, Sen. Jack Goodman, R-Mount Vernon.

I walked into a newspaper a few months ago and while I was submitting editorial to the publisher a reporter pulls me to the side to quiz me on personal political views. I turned to her holding my palm three feet above the ground and told her, “My political affiliation is simply this - A little girl about this big and the kind of world I want her to live in”.


Recently, this Branson Missouri site was accused of supporting big business:

Branson, Missouri says the special interest who poured their money into Nodler's campaign coffers during the last quarter are on the right track and insists that a later school start will help small schools without air conditioning and help students learn responsibility while they are working for minimum wage for the big-money interests who contributed to Nodler and the man who proposed a bill in the 2006 legislative session mandating a later school start, Sen. Jack Goodman, R-Mount Vernon.

If you read the content of this site you’ll find nothing could be further from the truth. We support good business and criticize business actions that threaten the economy through unfair dealings. We don’t hate a business because they’re large, nor do we support the actions of small businesses if they threaten to harm the tourist economy through unfair or dishonest practices.

The irony here is that the same day the above article was posted a State Senator inquired about the integrity of Randy Turner. I told the Senator, as I believe, that Randy is a reliable source and tries to dedicate himself to sound principles in his investigative reporting.

Is Randy a reliable source? Yes! Is Randy well rounded in his political views…hardly, but, he’s no sheep in wolves clothing, he’s upfront and clear about his political affiliations and obvious in his slant - If a business is big, they're bad.

We get hit from both sides of the political coin at times. We've been threatened by large enterprises that our personal efforts will be blocked due to our failure to support them blindly. To us, it's not the size of the business but rather the size of the business's ethics and contribution to the community. More to come....

Branson, Missouri Fiddle Contest Final's Video Clips

If you wanna start a fight with these fella's just tell them ya like their violin. It was an interesting culture to observe. The group of musicians who showed up to Branson for the contest could be best described as a family. After the show they played through the night back at their hotel. (Pictured Below) The first clip is of Jr Marriot from Ava, Missouri vs Douglas Thompson of Gross Oklahoma. As you can see in the clip JR (seen first) plays rhythm guitar for his competitor 13 year old Douglas. Next to JR stands Monte Gaylord, Douglas's teacher.

Fiddle Finals


Ben Robinson The Fiddler from Louisiana


JR (I thought this was Uncle Dan but hearing it again...Uncle Dad?)


Brandon Cone of the Branson Daily News Interviews Douglas

Branson 19th Annual Old-Time Fiddle Contest

 
 
 
 
The student schooled the teacher this year at the the Downtown Branson 19th Annual Old Time Fiddle Contest. An article about the young man posted above will appear this week in the Branson Daily News. The Branson Edge filmed an interview with journalist Brandon Cone. The contest was somewhat of a sideshow to an excuse for fiddler's to get together for a two day jam session.
The 19th year of the festival is marked by the first year the contest was held at the Branson Landing stage. A full house attended the show which ended at 10:30 PM
After the contest ended the fiddlers jammed through the night in the lobby of the Landing Holiday Inn.
Video Footage of the Event will be posted midweek... Posted by Picasa

Arson in the Branson Area - Re-confirmed


On Sunday a picture was posted of a fire near in an unincorporated area of Hollister Missouri. A follow up on the story wasn’t posted on this site; however I did have the article published on the front page of the Branson Daily Independent.
After confirming through conversation with the State investigator that the fire was “set” I reported it to the newspaper.
The occupant had a different idea about what happened and attempted to verbally widen the sphincter of the editor. The editor sent me an e-mail asking me to back up my story. Today, I followed up with the state investigator who had also been contacted by the occupant. He stuck to his guns, “the fire was set and I can prove it”.
Being a public custodian of fact is an awesome responsibility. It’s not something I take lightly and have chosen to error on the side of safety when it comes to what’s reported. This incident was a reminder to me about the care that’s needed when handling these types of issues and the consequences that can ensue. That being said…

A group called ACAP offers a reward of up to $5,ooo for information leading to an arrest
Arson Hotline 1-800-39-ARSON

1937 Dodge "Woody" for sale at the 25th Annual Branson Collector Car Auction



One of the rarest of all Dodges ever produced, this fully restored 1937 Dodge "Westchester Suburban" will be offered for sale at the 25th Annual Branson Collector Car Auction October 20/21 2006 held at Celebration City ion Branson.
For additional information contact Jim Cox at 800-335-3063.

1947 Ford Covertible For Sale at the Branson Car Auction October 21st



The 1947 Ford Seen above will be one of the car's auctioned off in the semi-annual Branson Collector Car auction at Celebration City. Next year the Auction will be moving to the new Branson Convention center near the Branson Landing.

Fire Consumes Hollister Home

 
By the time the Western Taney County Fire Department arrived the Hollister home was completely consumed in flames. Posted by Picasa

How did Branson Landing Management Calculate 1,000,000 People?

The Branson Landing reported recently that a million people have visited the .... well, can we call it an outdoor mall yet? T

he number was based off the following assumptions:
1. 1/3 of the parking is in the parking garage
2. Average Elevator Ridership of 3 passengers

The elevator moving from the parking garage to the groundfloor of the landing occured over 333,000 times thus the number over 1 million tourists.

It's been reported from Branson Landing management that MODOT calculates roundabout traffic at 20,000 cars daily - which is the same average number of cars on the Branson Strip.

Taney County Election - Rare Photo of Judges & A day in the Life of an Election Judge



Branson
Hometown Radio Reported, "Commissioners Chuck Pennel and Ron Herschend were surprised when Hometown Radio told them Neeley was not allowing media anywhere near her office.
Also, reporter Vonda Sheets of the Branson Daily Independent was ordered off a public sidewalk in front of the clerk's office and Neeley told her she was not allowed to take photos of election judges. This has never happened before ... back in the April election Hometown Daily News.com took photos of election judges without a problem".


The Branson Edge took this exclusive photo of the election judges.

You may be wondering at this point why the woman to the left hand side is holding up one finger. Allow me to explain... An election judge must arrive in Taney County at 4:30 in the morning, the photo above was taken at 10 PM or on their 17th hour of community service.
The judges were asked on a scale of 1 to 5, by show of fingers, how enjoyable the experience was. Only one person voted and as you can see she wasn't too happy.
Commissioner Ron Hershend prepared food and pleaded vigorously with the County Clerk for an early release of the tired, hungry and irritated judges, a nice gesture particulary for a politician with a seat secured for another 2 years.

Taney County Election Results are in!

Taney County Election Scorecard

The Taney County courthouse lawn was packed with spectators watching results as precinct after precinct results were reported from the County Clerk's office. Canditates and concerned citizens were lined up in rows watching the board above as if it was an afternoon thriller and in some cases it was. Closest Race.... Taney County Presiding Commissioner Incumbent Chuck Pennel wins by 0.72% ...here's the breakdown:
Candidate Votes %
Linn Windle 1735 27.08%
Bob Schanz 242 3.78%
Ron Houseman 2192 34.21%
Chuck Pennel 2238 34.93%

The picture below is of Ron Houseman recieving the final "unofficial tally." First notion from the Houseman camp...recount.
Ron Houseman



The race for State Representitive 62nd District was another close race leaving Cy Murray victor with a margin just shy of 1%.

Cy Murray 1008 50.99%
Dennis F. Wood 969 49.01%

Other Victors:
Taney County Voters For State Positions:
Senate
Jim Talent 83.12% R
Claire McCaskill 83.81% D

State Auditor
Sandra Thomas 23.67% R
Susan Montee 73.99% D

United States Rep. District 7
Roy Blunt 81.77%
Jack Truman 49.39%

State Rep District 143
Maynard Wallace 76.08%

State Rep District 142
Ray Weter 73.65%

Local
County Clerk Donna Neeley 36.71%
Collector of Revenue Sheila L. Wyatt 75.21%
Prosecuting Attorney Jeff Merrell 45.57%


Election judges stayed as late as 10:PM which amounted to a full 15 hour day of ensuring democracy. Here's the crew on hour 14...(see below)



Favorite Campaign Strategy - The "Dub" Duston ... "Hot Chicks Vote For Dub" T-shirts. Really, this aspect of the campaign was undercapitalized.



The Prosecution Attorney's race was somethin the Branson Edge followed closely. It was a clean race and each of the candidates showed an amazing amount of respect for each other. All of these guys were winners in this respect by making democracy a positive experience.. (can ya feel the love)

Taney County Prosecuter Interviews
Jeff Merrell


William "Dub" Duston



Ron Gross


Bob Paulson


Bottom line...this was an amazing experience to watch. Yo! Elections, Democracy, Choice of officials - this is what keeps us free. So, all the candidates that participated...Thank You.