WASHINGTON – This week, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill served California Senator Dianne Feinstein Kansas City’s legendary Arthur Bryant’s BBQ and beer from Kansas City’s Boulevard Brewing Company to settle a wager on the 2014 World Series between the Kansas City Royals and the San Francisco Giants. After attending their first World Series in 29 years and making baseball history by going 8-0 in the playoffs, the Royals ultimately lost to the Giants 3-4 in the Series. [flickr_set id="72157649323110606"]

WASHINGTON - Affordable energy options for Missourians may be a thing of the past if President Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) place additional burdensome regulations on coal-fired power plants.  Coal is an effective, affordable means of energy that keeps Missouri’s utility rates low.  Right now, EPA officials are attempting to wage war on coal by eliminating or restricting its use in energy production.  This is not only a war on coal; it is an attack on our way of life in rural America. For too long, EPA regulations have unduly burdened all of us who rely on coal-powered energy to competitively operate businesses or farms.  Some experts believe the EPA’s proposed carbon rule will be the most expensive

It's a new look for SEMO.net. Some will love it...others will not. But we will all get used to it and when that happens...we'll probably change it again! <grin> Don't forget to "Like" our new Facebook page.  

PALM BEACH, FL — Robert J. Whelan, a financial services professional in Poplar Bluff recently attended the Elite Retreat conference hosted their broker/dealer, HD Vest Investment ServicesSM. HD Vest is a leading independent broker/dealer, empowering holistic tax and wealth management-based financial advice through a network of independent Advisors across the country. As a top Advisor, Robert Whelan qualified to attend the conference in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida with over 200 Advisors, November 4-7. HD Vest Elite Retreat is a networking and learning event for premium Advisors focused on peer-to-peer idea sharing. Attendees participated in interactive share shops, heard informative sessions led by the HD Vest executive leadership team and keynote speakers. The goal of Elite Retreat is to explore ways to create

PHOTO: From left, lifelong friends Melanie Walton, Sgt. Tara Shepard, Maria Stevenson   A few members of our extended family responded to our country's call to service. My father served in the United States Air Force during the Korean Conflict. He gave the country four years of his life. The country repaid him with a college education at the University of Missouri, a first for our family; a home bought with a loan backed by the federal government; a successful, rewarding career as an electronic engineer for the Federal Aviation Administration that allowed him to work at headquarters in Washington, D.C.; and a retirement plan that he was able to pay toward and afford. He's retired now. But probably busier

POPLAR BLUFF - Those of us in Poplar Bluff tend to take its towering stare for granted, but there was a time the John J. Pershing Veterans Hospital was only an idea. With this week’s observance of Veterans Day, Angela Smith, Public Affairs Officer at the VA Medical Center, recounts that the hospital has a fascinating past and an equally exciting future. The Veterans Health Administration had its birth during the Civil War, when the first federal hospitals sprung up in order to service the young nation’s volunteer forces. Just a month before the Civil War ended, on March 3, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln authorized the first national soldiers’ and sailors’ asylum to provide medical and convalescent care for discharged