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MU professor co-authors book to help choose elder care

September 29, 2009 By

A book co-authored by a University of Missouri professor helps when people need to make quick calls in finding long term care for their loved ones.

Marylin Rantz is a professor at the University of Misssouri school of nursing who began her research more than 15 years ago. The newest edition of her book, “How to Find the Best Eldercare,” focuses on telling people the best ways to find long-term care, and in a short amount of time. She says the book covers common sense topics.

Rantz says other topics tackle tough decisions that might not be so common sense, others might take people by surprise.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Whither road funding increase proposals?

September 29, 2009 By

Another year is winding down without a solution being put before the public to Missouri’s road-funding problem. Discussions have been going on for several years—the financial boost for increased road and bridge-building approved by voters five years ago is about to end, leaving the transportation department with enough money to maintain but not improve roads and bridges.

Funding was a non-issue in this year’s legislative session but Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Stouffer of Napton says plenty was going on away from the Capitol. Lawmakers and the transportation department have held a number of meetings to explain the situation to the public and to ask what projects the public would support.

He knows firsthand that information at those meetings can change minds. He recalls one meeting he attended when only one person raised his hand when asked if he’d support increased transportation funding. But after the presentation, he says, 65-75% of the audience indicated support.

Stouffer says construction interests and the transportation department will be compiling a list of projects they hope will convince voters to support some kind of funding increase for the various kinds of transportation Missourians use.

Audio :60 mp3

Filed Under: Transportation

Pujols doesn’t want rest and the Cards need him

September 29, 2009 By

Albert Pujols doesn’t want any rest.  Manager Tony LaRussa will keep it that way.  Even though the division is clinched, the Cardinals are three games behind Los Angeles for the best record in the National League and need Pujols in the lineup, plus he wants to stay sharp and work on his swing before the playoffs.

Pujols said that after a day off he feels like he loses something and says he doesn’t quite feel right at the plate.  In his last 10 games, Pujols is 11 of 38 for a .289 average with just six RBIs.  Three of those came on Sunday.

Rest will not be an issue for Pujols.  He is relatively healthy and the Cardinals have had a favorable schedule with four days off over a span of 19 days in September.  The Cardinals will now play six straight days with most likely one day off before the playoffs open on Tuesday, October 6 th .

Not sitting is nothing new to Pujols.  When the Cardinals lost the World Series to Boston in 2004, Pujols played in seven of the teams final eight games when they ran away with the Central Division with their lead well in the double digits.

I wouldn’t fret.  I’d let Pujols play.  I’d continue to keep the starters sharp.  The Dodgers will most likely clinch the best record in the NL, as they are up three games in the loss column on St. Louis and Philly with five games to play while the Cards and Phillies play six.  However, the key for the Cardinals down the stretch is to finish ahead of Philadelphia.

While the Cardinals played the Dodgers well, I’d rather have St. Louis play Colorado in the first round, (assuming Colorado holds off Atlanta who is just two games behind in the Wild Card) and host a series instead of traveling to LA.  The playoff picture is still up for grabs, but here are the likely possible scenarios.

If LA clinches best record and Colorado wins wild card, St. Louis will host Colorado if Cardinals finish ahead of Philadelphia.

If LA clinches best record and Colorado wins wild card, St. Louis would travel to LA if Cardinals finish  behind  Philadelphia.

If LA clinches best record and Atlanta wins wild card, St. Louis would open with Philadelphia with home field advantage going to the team with the better record.

The Cardinals play at Cincinnati for three, than come home to play Milwaukee for three.  Philadelphia plays Houston and Florida.  The schedule is a toss-up with both teams holding an advantage over weaker opponents,  Milwaukee always plays the Cardinals tough, and Florida will not be a push over.  I won’t even begin to think of the scenarios should LA stumble and not finish with the best record.  They play San Diego twice, then finish with a tough series against Colorado who will be fighting for their playoff lives.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Haley working on establishing Chiefs identity during tough stretch

September 29, 2009 By

The good news.  Two of the Chiefs first three loses this season came against teams that played in the conference championship games on their home field…Baltimore and Philadelphia.  The bad news.  Things don’t get much for the 0-3 Chiefs in the coming weeks.

Head coach Todd Haley is very much aware of his team chances of getting a win in the next couple of weeks.  "It’s pretty clear our margin of error is not real great right at this time, so we must as a team and as a coaching staff really do everything right, all the little things included: technique, mentally, decision-making. All of those things we have to pretty much be on point, especially against a team like Philadelphia."

The one positive to take from the next four games before the bye week is three of those game are at home starting Sunday with the Giants.  Then Dallas, before going on the road to Washington and back home for San Diego.  If I had to guess the Redskins record right now, I would put them down for one or two wins.  The first came against St. Louis, the second is a toss up with the Chiefs.

Don’t think for a moment that Haley is giving up on this team or that he even gave up on Sunday.  Down 24-3 at the half, the Chiefs ran seven straight running plays and 18 of their 28 plays in the second half were runs.  This came after the team gained just three yards on the ground in the first half.  Haley explained, they were not giving up.

"I just felt in my gut yesterday. What we did in the second half all it took was two plays, an interception for a touchdown or a blocked punt. You don’t know what that play is going to be. One of those runs could have broken out. We had some opportunities for big play.  I got to halftime and I thought to myself, what are we doing? We need to make some progress in this game. I just felt like our best chance offensively to make progress was to figure out what we wanted to do.  We ran a fake punt, we ran an end-around; we had two other calls that we had to check out of. In no way was it a wave the white flag."

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Rams have three key injuries

September 29, 2009 By

On top of starting the season 0-3 and holding the NFL’s current longest losing streak at 13 games, the news got worse Monday afternoon at Rams Park in Earth City, MO.  Three injuries to top players is making the uphill climb that much more difficult.

Starting quarterback Marc Bulger has what is being called a rotator cuff bruise.  It is not a tear, although he could not raise his arm about his head.  Bulger is expected to be out a minimum one to two weeks.  He is leaning toward getting a second opinion to make sure he doesn’t have a tear.

Safety James Butler could be out anywhere from two to four weeks after he strained some knee ligaments.  The biggest blow comes with the news that wide receiver Laurent Robinson is most likely out for the year with not only a high ankle sprain, but a fractured fibula in his right leg.

Robinson was leading the team with 13 catches for 167 yards in the first three games.  The good news to come out of Sunday was that receiver Donnie Avery has sore ribs, but isn’t expected to miss any time.  As for Bulger who has spent the majority of this season injured and trying to learn a new offensive system, he will give way to Kyle Boller who provided a spark for the offense when Bulger was injured.

Butler will be replaced by Craig Dahl who ended up finishing as the team’s leading tackler on Sunday.  Before that, Dahl hadn’t played in a game in almost two years.  He was brought in by Spagnuolo after he spent two years with Spagnuolo’s defense in New York.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,
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