As expected and forewarned, the City came up with a new tactic today to delay the jury trial set for April 4th. We agreed to appear before the judge on April 4th and set a new date for jury trial. To top it all off, after months of attempting to schedule depositions...we had a deposition of a city employee scheduled for today. But this morning we were told that the city employee called in sick and the deposition was canceled.
This time last year we all heard rumblings of Poplar Bluff city leadership voting to deny access for private Internet providers to the citizen-owned cable system… there would be no more open access. And soon we’d all be forced to use Poplar Bluff City Cable for Internet services. At first, I was sure this wouldn’t happen. Why would our own city government take customers away from local Internet businesses? [Read Full Letter]
Poplar Bluff businessman Doug Libla filed yesterday to run for the 25th State Senatorial District as a Republican. As a result of term limits, the seat will not have an incumbent on the ballot in August. The 25th State Senate District as proposed in the most recent apportionment consists of Butler, Carter, Dunklin, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Shannon and Stoddard counties. Libla, 59, is a rural conservative who is 100% Pro-Life, Pro-Second Amendment, Pro-Agriculture, and is a steadfast believer in limited government. He is not a professional politician; this is the first time he has run for elected office.
I was at Cyd's last week getting my monthly haircut, they asked about the article in the paper a couple of weeks back. They were concerned by the way the article read that we had lost another decision. I laughed and informed them that though the paper didn't report it as such, we actually won that hearing.
It is with great sadness that I write to the people of Poplar Bluff informing you that the Federal Courts have handed down a decision opposing our petition. I believe that Open Access is the single most powerful impetus to true growth for our city, but at every turn this belief has been thwarted, ridiculed and fought by our city officials. I congratulate Doug Bagby and the City Council. As you enjoy your victory and pat each other on the back for a job well done, I hope that you recognize you silenced your citizens, you deafened yourselves to the point of harm, and spent city funds to defeat the desires of the citizens who put you in office. My
