Linda Overton Presents at Rotary Meeting

Linda Overton presented the program at the Thursday, Feb. 2 meeting of the Trenton Rotary Club, held at the BTC Bank community room. Michael Ormsby presided at the business meeting, Dan Wilford gave the prayer and Martha Groegel was the sergeant at arms and program chairman.

Mrs. Overton discussed the Missouri Department of Conservation's Wires Over Wildlife program, a partnership between the state's electric cooperative and their customers to improve native plants and habitat where powerlines pass through electric company easements and providing a valuable opportunity to improve conservation in Missouri. Mrs. Overton and her husband, the late Bob Overton, have been involved in various conservation practices for years and became involved in the WOW program as a way to continue their efforts in that area. She had contacted Scott Roy of the MDC about establishing a pollinator habitat on the family farm and was then told about the WOW program by Grundy Electric Cooperative manager Scott Wilson. The Overtons became the first persons in the state to participate in the program and their efforts were featured in the state cooperative's magazine. Mrs. Overton noted financial assistance is available to help with establishing the habitat area.

During this week in the legislature, I got to visit with teachers from around District 2 and see my friends at the Grundy Electric Cooperative. I always enjoy when I get to see my constituents here at the capitol! The House approved HJR 43 by a vote of 108-50. HJR 43 would raise the threshold to 60 percent voter approval for passage of Constitutional Amendments. Proponents also say the increased threshold will help minimize the influence of out-ofstate groups that have no ties to Missouri but spend millions of dollars to change the state constitution. Supporters of the measure say it will protect what they view as a sacred document that should only be amended when absolutely necessary. They point out the current version of the Missouri Constitution has changed more than 60 times since it was written in 1945. In comparison, the United States Constitution has been amended only 17 times since 1791. The measure now moves to