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The Snoop 5.7.2015

Jacob Luebbering is now home after spending two weeks in hospitals in Springfield and St. Louis, but the Ava High School sophomore is far from well. We are told he will continue to make monthly trips to St. Louis to receive treatment for illnesses associated with lupus.
With that in mind, friends at the Ava United Methodist Church are planning a fundraising event on Friday, May 22, beginning at 6 p.m. Organizers are planning a one-mile walk and a longer run that folks can participate in. Registration will begin at $10 per person as soon as the details are worked out.
The community is being asked to come and either walk or run for Jacob, then enjoy a cookout afterwards.
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A report released last week by Heartland Institute, a policy research group, says Missouri ranks last in the country when it comes to welfare reform.
This week the Missouri legislature overruled Gov. Jay Nixon in an effort to do something about the bad report.
Following is a news release addressing the issue.

Missouri House Overrides Governor’s Veto of SB 24 to Put Common Sense Welfare Reform Measure into Law
JEFFERSON CITY – House Speaker John J. Diehl, Jr. and members of the Missouri House took action Tuesday morning to put a common sense welfare reform measure into law despite the objections of the governor. By a vote of 113-42 the House overrode the governor’s veto of SB 24. The Senate approved a similar override motion Monday by a vote of 25-9.
“The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program is meant to be a short-term bridge back to self-sufficiency rather than a system that condemns Missouri families to a lifetime of poverty and dependence on government assistance,” said Diehl, R-Town and Country. “This Republican-led legislature has put much-needed, common sense reforms in place that will move the program back toward its intended purpose to help Missourians in need to get back on their feet and back into the workforce.”
Diehl said the bill takes some much-needed steps to transition folks out of a lifetime of poverty and dependence, and help them toward true independence. He noted that a study performed by the Heartland Institute found Missouri’s system of welfare to be the worst in the nation in regard to moving recipients back into the workforce. He said data provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services indicates only 14.4 percent of welfare recipients in Missouri are engaged in work activities.
The bill that is now set to become law will address these issues by adding Missouri to the list of 37 other states that require welfare recipients to take immediate steps to seek employment in order to receive benefits. It also will lower the lifetime benefits for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families recipients to 45 months from the current limit of 60 months. It will then take the savings generated by these reforms and invest them in child care, education, transportation and job training assistance for participants in the program.
“I want to thank my colleagues in the House and Senate for standing together to override the governor’s veto and put these much-needed reforms into law so that we can empower Missourians to be self-sufficient,” said Diehl.
SB 24 is now set to become law. The primary provisions of the bill will take effect Jan. 1, 2016.