The State Senate moves to fight highway smut. A trip of any difference on an Interstate or on a major highway cannot avoid the growing number of bill boards with a simple message: “Sex for sale … next exit … movies … toys … live shows.” Senator Matt Bartle of Lee’s Summit wants to ban those billboards from the roadsides. They’d have to be at leat a mile away from the road. And, the businesses they advertise could have only a couple of little signs that only give the name of the business, the phone number, and other generally inoccuous information. Bartle has given other Senators pictures of some of the signs, including one he thinks is the worst. Bartle says a lobbyist for the porn industry has told him pornography is one of Missouri’s fastest-growing industries. But he says an uprising has started among Missourians who say they are stick and tired of what he calls “garbage” along Missouri’shighways. Frankly, he says, he’d like to see all billboards gone, but he knows he’ll never get that through the Legislature. The Senate can send his bill to the House with one more round of voting.
