The Gadfly is a series of letters offering commentary on local issues and published in the Warrensburg Gazette.

Dear Editor

We seem to be getting into the silly season with news. Maybe it’s the result of the long drought, which appears to at least be on temporary hiatus. Here’s a few instances:

A while back, I read that the City of Warrensburg was going to put up some informational signs to help people find downtown. Haven’t seen anything yet. Neither have many of the out-of-town people we deal with, since Maguire Street is about the only business area they can find on their own. Main Street needs to really push the signage issue; they’ll get a lot more local support if they help market downtown businesses rather than tell them what their façade needs to look like.

State Rep. Shannon Cooper (R-120) pushed for a “No Spam” law and got it – after a fashion. While the original bill was going to be difficult to enforce, what benefits it might have had were completed emasculated by the State Senate. Does anyone really think that people or businesses who get 50-300 daily spams have the time to request the senders remove them from the list? Get real!

One wonders why the ISCi board got so upset about an article that reported how they plan to distribute their assets when they dissolve. Apparently, objective reporting that isn’t slanted their way is “one sided.” Once their plan was in the hands of the government, it became public knowledge. Their books and non-personnel records ought to be totally open, anway, as a “quasi-public governmental body” under the Sunshine Law.

Lowe’s is supposedly going to build a new store here. Since I’ve been here, we’ve gone from 4 local lumber companies to one, and I imagine that the remaining one will find it hard to compete with a fancy “big box” store. People will shop the new store because it’s fancier and can afford to sponsor a NASCAR driver; it’ll probably have lower prices, too. One bit of advice for the people who live downhill from the proposed 3 acres of roof and who knows how much parking: get in there early and fight to keep all that rain run-off out of your yards.