I missed the Rolla visit of the counterfeit messiah

Nope, I didn't go see the Missouri BO Townhall in Rolla. I won't vote for the Illinois senator, so I wouldn't bother going to see or hear him. If you're interested in the visit, then surely by now you've found the St. Louis Post-Dispatch report.

I was a little taken aback by the Rolla Daily News coverage of the preparations for the visit. After running nothing but a wire story about the announcement of the visit earlier in the week, the paper came back Tuesday night with egregious cheerleading. Here's the lead paragraph to the story: "Obama-mania has hit Rolla."
Oh, really?
The next few paragraphs are straight, but then we get this reporting: "The response to Obama’s visit has been phenomenal." Yep, the writer said "phenomenal."
That got him so wound up that he left me slack-jawed with this prose:

There were mothers with children in strollers.
There were young people.
There were people under umbrellas, seeking refuge from the July sun.
The elderly were there, too.
There were mothers. Fathers.
Grandparents.
Some had agendas, others just wanted to deliver a message...

The RDN writer should be forgiven for that silliness. It's an exciting time for most everybody else around here in Rolla, I guess.

I'm just a little uneasy about the future of the country, so if I forgive you for acting so goofy, will you please forgive my reluctance to join in the celebration?

Don't miss the Baker Creek Seeds Heirloom Garden Show

The ninth annual Heirloom Garden Show will take place at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds Sunday and Monday, Aug. 3-4, at the Gettles' historic farm near Mansfield.

Baker Creek Seed Company was founded by Jere Gettle back in the late Nineties when he was 17. It has grown into company with customers around the world, and Gettle has become a widely quoted authority on heirloom varieties of vegetables and fruits.

Here's a list of the speakers from the Baker Creek website:

Barbara Berst Adams is a well-respected garden writer (including contributions to our own Heirloom Gardener magazine), farm owner and author of the very popular Micro Eco-Farming, as well as her new book The New Agritourism: Hosting Community and Tourists on Your Farm. Barbara will be sharing her expertise about Micro Eco-Farming and Agritourism. Visit www.microecofarming.com.
Jim Veteto is the coordinator of the Southern Seed Legacy project, and is currently working on his PhD in Environmental Anthropology at The University of Georgia. He is an avid organic farmer, seed saver, writer, and holds a Masters Degree in Sustainable Development from Appalachian State University. Jim will share information about the Southern Seed Legacy conservation project, as well as some of his considerable knowledge about sustainable farming. www.uga.edu/ebl/ssl
Janet Bachmann is the owner of Riverbend Gardens, with 14 years of experience in marketing cut flowers, and a long-time vendor at the Fayetteville, Arkansas Farmers' Market. Janet will speak about growing field-grown cut flowers, and share successful strategies for marketing.
Merlyn Neidens --Heirloom seed grower and seed-saving expert who has developed some of the superb market varieties that we carry. He also writes articles for "The Heirloom Gardener". Always one of our most popular speakers. Presentations include 'Growing Great Garlic' and 'Growing Great Seed'.

The festival will include an heirloom produce contest with no cost to exhibit but a chance to win gift certificates in these divisions:

Come see many varieties of heirloom vegetables. This year we will again have the popular Heirloom Produce contests, and there is no cost to exhibit. Please bring any produce you have! We provide free display tables!
BRING YOUR BIGGEST!
$100 Gift Certificate for largest tomato
$50 Gift Certificate for 2nd largest tomato
BRING PRODUCE DISPLAYS!
$75 Gift Certificate for best display
$50 Gift Certificate for 2nd best display
$25 Gift Certificate for 3rd best display
BRING YOUR BEST!
$25 Gift Certificate for best tasting tomato
$25 Gift Certificate for best tasting melon
Costume Contest each day!
$50 Gift Certificate to best period dressed
$25 Gift Certificate to 2nd best dressed
We offer prizes in other categories too, so bring your harvest. All entries must be fresh (not frozen) and must be entered by 1 pm, Sunday.

And don't forget the music. Wayne Horseburge, Australia's "Country Performer of the Year," will be back again singing the kind of country music you don't hardly hear around here any longer.

We were happy to have our friend Wayne as a performer again at the "Heirloom Garden Show". Wayne has an amazing voice and 1950's country-western style that makes him very popular when he performs internationally at major events in the USA, Australia and the United Kingdom. This yodeling country singer has released 19 albums. He has been a favorite of ours at "Baker Creek" ever since we discovered him a couple years ago.

There will also be an Heirloom Music Contest Sunday.

Our festival has become a premier event for historic culture and music. You're going to love the Western, Folk, Country, Gospel, Americana, Irish, and Bluegrass music. At this festival the music abounds everywhere. Enjoy some of Branson, Missouri's finest talent, and you are invited to bring your traditional instruments and join the fun!

Best Music Act-$300 Cash Prize!
2nd Best Act-$100 Gift Certificate
Bring your voice and or instrument for this contest! (Some rules apply)

The annual Heirloom Garden Show will be held at the farm near Mansfield. The farm is 45 miles east of Springfield, Missouri. From Springfield, take Highway 60 east to Mansfield, and then at the 2nd exit turn north on Hwy 5. Go 1-1/2 miles and follow signs.

We offer free tent and RV camping; no need to register. There are also hotels in the local area. Some food is available at the festival.
Admission: $2.00 per person, pay at the event. Children 14 and under are free.

Moody's says GateHouse in danger of defaulting

GateHouse Media, the New York-based newspaper chain that owns the once "local" newspapers in Rolla, St. James, St. Robert, Camdenton and other Missouri towns, been downgraded by Moody's Investor Service.


Editor & Publisher reports:

GateHouse Media is likely to default under its credit agreement unless it can negotiate an amendment to its covenants or get a cash injection from its largest stakeholder, Fortress Investment Group, says Moody's Investor Service in a report downgrading the community newspaper publisher's credit and probability of default ratings.

Moody's downgraded GateHouse's Corporate Family rating to Caa1 from B2. Under Moody's definition, the new rating signifies a "substantial risk" of default.

Moody's also downgraded its Probability of Default rating to Caa2 from B3.

"The downgrade reflects Moody's heightened concern that GateHouse could face a near-term default under the financial covenants of its loan agreement, absent an amendment or another equity cure from its largest owner, Fortress Investment Group LLC," Moody's Senior Analyst John Page wrote.

Moody's also kept GateHouse on a negative outlook, suggesting another downgrade is likely.

Forbes reports:

The negative outlook reflects GateHouse's tight liquidity profile, reliance on proposed asset sales, probability of softening of sales further and that current market valuations may prove insufficient to provide full recovery to lenders in a distress scenario.

The negative outlook also incorporates concern that GateHouse's management will continue its pace of acquisition activity in the face of recessionary-like market conditions, Moody's added.

AXcess News reports:

The dismal news coming out of Moody's Investor Service really came as no surprise, but in reading into the rating agency's comments on Gatehouse Media's debt, the analyst covering the Company had to bite his lip to keep him from commenting about the dividend Gatehouse paid out in the last quarter.

Moody's questioned management's thinking in noting that Gatehouse Media was relying "upon proposed asset sales to provide financial flexibility." The rating agency pointed out that the newspaper publisher had but $25 million in its pocket and all but $11 million of that was the remaining balance on a revolver line of credit that Moody's says is doubtful its lender would permit Gatehouse to use.

"At the end of March 2008, GateHouse's credit agreement-defined results provided the company with a modest 3% cushion within its total leverage financial ratio tests," the Rating agency noted. "Moody's considers it highly questionable whether GateHouse will be able to comply with this covenant test over the near term without the benefit of proceeds from asset sales or another equity cure from its largest shareholder."

While Gatehouse had gone on an acquisition binge when it bought nine newspapers in Ohio and Illinois from Copley Press, Inc., what it didn't buy was the Copley News Service, a 53-year-old wire service that distributes news, political cartoons and opinion columns. Instead, Gatehouse looked to set up its own newswire in Illinois, whose focus over the last year has been Gatehouse's community websites. That division, headed in New York by a newspaper photographer with some experience in managing websites (aka 'Sailor' Bill), has done little to develop news syndication clients - both online and in print. Why Gatehouse didn't buy an already established newswire for that purpose raises questions over management's capabilities that Moody's was more than polite in citing. It ranks in testimony of Gatehouse Media's inability to compete - both online and in print.

Perhaps Motely Fool put it best in late May when it listed Gatehouse Media as a "Deathbed Stock".

Monday's rating cut could be Gatehouse Media's funeral march.

GateHouse closed at 72 cents per share today, up six cents from yesterday's 66-cent closing price.

A few more details about Obama visit

The Rolla Daily News website today gave a few more details about the Obama visit to Rolla. The Rolla Daily News is notoriously unreliable so I'm not vouching for this information, but here it is:

The presumed Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama will make a brief townhall meeting in Rolla at 3 p.m. Wednesday at the Student Recreation Center, 705 W. 10th St.
The Student Recreation Center is adjacent — just west — to the Gale Bullman Multi-Purpose Building on the campus of Missouri University of Science & Technology.
The announcement of Obama’s visit was made at 1:18 p.m. Monday at the Rolla Democratic Headquarters at 905 Pine St., which was opened Saturday.
Tickets for the townhall meeting will be available from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. today at the headquarters.
Any leftover tickets also will be available 9 a.m. Wednesday. All remaining tickets will be passed out at the function.
.........
Obama plans at least three stops Wednesday while touring rural areas of Missouri.
In Springfield, the Illinois senator will hold a townhall meeting at 10 a.m. at Glendale High School.
After the 3 p.m. townhall meeting at S&T, Obama will then head northeastward for a 6 p.m. barbecue at a park in the Washington County town of Union.
Sen. Claire McCaskill will join Obama on the campaign swing. The Missouri Democrat has urged Obama to campaign in smaller cities where Democratic presidential hopefuls are a rare sight.

Obama coming to the Ozarks this week

Over at the MotoMart just a few minutes ago, I passed by the newspaper rack. The Rolla paper's lead headline said, "Obama to visit Rolla" and the Springfield paper's headline said "Obama to visit Springfield."

So I guess Obama is coming to southern Missouri.

When I got home, I checked the 'net to see what I could find. The Rolla GateHouse paper's website had the same story that this morning's print version had, a wire story out of Washington. You'd think an important story like this would at least have a sidebar with a local angle to it; some quotes from local Democrats or something. Well, maybe tomorrow.

Here's an excerpt from the wire story used in the New York-owned Rolla paper:

“This is a microcosm of his strategy on a national basis,” U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said Sunday on a conference call with reporters. McCaskill, who will join Obama for the trip, has been a key adviser in Obama’s campaign and has pushed him to travel to areas that are not usually considered friendly Democratic territory.

“It’s very important for people in traditional Republican strongholds to have a sense of how humble he is, how patriotic he is, that he is a good Christian man who understands Missouri,” McCaskill said.

Obama’s visit follows a weekend in which his campaign opened 24 offices around the state, including many in rural areas and smaller cities like Arnold, Belton and Pike County.

McCaskill calls Obama’s effort to reach out to rural voters “unprecedented” for a Democratic White House hopeful.

Obama canvassers in Missouri are “knocking on doors they’ve never knocked on before,” McCaskill said.

Missouri Republican Party spokeswoman Tina Hervey said Sunday that Obama “is out of touch with mainstream Missouri values.”

His solution to every problem is bigger government and higher taxes,” Hervey said. “It won’t matter how many offices he opens or how many times he visits Missouri, his liberal agenda won’t resonate with rural Missourians. Missourians know enough about Barack Obama to understand that he is not ready to lead America.”

Another GateHouse publisher gone?

In the first part of last week, the Rolla Daily News reported a new publisher would be taking over in early August for Joel Goodridge, whose absence was not explained. Then on Thursday, a website called Lake Expo reported the following about the publisher of the Camdenton paper:

Thursday, July 24, 2008 12:26 AM CDT
CAMDENTON, Mo. -- The publisher of Lake Sun Publications has left the building. Jules Molinda parted ways with the newspaper and parent company Gatehouse Media on Tuesday.

Gatehouse Media (GHS) owns Lake Sun Publications, the WestSide Star, the Lake Focus, Lake Lifestyles magazine, Vacation News and an assortment of other publications in the lake area.

GHS publishes about 100 daily newspapers, as well as weeklies and shoppers, that reach about 10 million readers in 20 states. It also operates about 250 websites.

No explanation, no more information, nothing. I couldn't find confirmation of this story, so it's possible it isn't true. The Lake Expo got the man's name wrong; it's Molenda, and his name is still on the paper's website as publisher. It could be the Lake Expo is wrong.

Molenda's columns appear to have been removed from the website's opinion page, though, so maybe there's something to it.

Very likely the paper doesn't think this is news.

The paper probably doesn't think this is news either: The New York Stock Exchange closed today with GateHouse shares selling for 66 cents apiece. Earlier in the day, some GateHouse shares had sold for 65 cents.

Editor & Publisher magazine reported three other newspaper companies also hit new all-time lows.

Am I reading this right?

If I'm reading this right, the new publisher of the Rolla Daily News, Floyd Jernigan, isn't coming from another GateHouse Newspaper; he's coming from the Duncan, Okla., newspaper, a Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. property.

Don't you find that odd? Why is a successful CNHI publisher wanting to get tied to GateHouse Media? Well, one chain of papers is as bad as the next, so I guess it doesn't matter.

GateHouse makes a switch at the local paper

I never buy the New York-owned Rolla Daily News and rarely check the website, so I missed the announcement Tuesday that the GateHouse Media newspaper has a new publisher coming in to run the place in August.

A couple of friends told me there was an announcement on the paper's website, so I took a look at it this evening. Here are some excerpts:

Floyd Jernigan was introduced Tuesday as publisher of the Rolla Daily News, the Waynesville Daily Guide and the St. James Leader-Journal.
Jernigan, 52, comes to Rolla from the Duncan Banner of Duncan, Okla., a daily newspaper in Stephens County of about 8,000 circulation where he also served as publisher. Duncan is about three hours north of Dallas.

Jernigan brings to Rolla a wealth of experience, having served as publisher at the East Oregonian, in Pendleton, Ore., and the News-Record in Miami, Okla. The Duncan Banner has been recognized four straight years with “General Excellence” awards.

Jernigan, who replaces Joel Goodridge, said the secret for success is people.

He will begin work on Monday, Aug. 4.

The paper gives no information about where Joel Goodridge is going or has gone. Joel has been associated with the company in its various incarnations for a long time. He was working for TV7, the low-power TV station run by the Sowers family, which also owned the newspaper, back in 1984. When that station closed, he was moved to the ad sales staff of the Rolla Daily News. When American Publishing Company bought the RDN and a bunch of other papers in Missouri, Joel became publisher of the St. James Leader-Journal. He later went to Farmington as publisher and then to the St. Robert Daily Guide. He became publisher of the Rolla, St. James and St. Robert papers, in November 2006, succeeding Stephen E. Sowers, who retired but stayed on as a daily columnist.

Joel was a true believer in American Publishing Company, Liberty Group Publishing and GateHouse Media and was a staunch defender of corporate journalism in conversations with me. Joel chided me a couple of times for calling Liberty Group corporate officials a bunch of piss ants. It's mystifying why there's no mention of what GateHouse has got Joel doing; I can't imagine the New Yorkers just booting out someone who has been so loyal all these years. Maybe there'll be a big announcement later.

Lots of turmoil at the RDN: Three publishers in less than two years. Five managing editors in less than four years. Changes in the positions of ad manager, business manager and circulation manager.

The Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation published in October 2006 showed the paper with only a little over 4,000 paid circulation, as I recall. I didn't check the numbers in October 2007.

Why is a publisher of a paper with circulation double that figure coming here? Well, good luck to him. He's going to have his hands full.

Footnote: GateHouse Media has crawled back up above $1 per share, according to Google Finance.

On that Google Finance page, there's a link to an interesting story in Editor & Publisher about Fortress Investment Group, GateHouse's biggest investor. FIG isn't doing so well, either.

Sarah Steelman for Missouri governor

Well, sir, the Wall Street Journal has helped me make up my mind about who to vote for in the August Republican primary for governor. I'll be casting my vote for Sarah Steelman. Read the article and see if you don't agree with me.

It may be high here, but ...

Here I've been griping about the price of gas and now it turns out we've got it better in Missouri than anywhere else, according to CNN.

Best states to buy gas? Missouri comes out top at $3.862 for a gallon of regular, followed by Oklahoma at $3.866, South Carolina, Mississippi and Arkansas. Iowa, Kansas and Alabama are next in line.

Michael Right, vice president of public affairs for AAA Missouri, said his state is usually among the top three in terms of low gas prices. A contributing factor, he said, is that the state's per-gallon tax rate is the lowest in the nation.

He said that most, if not all, states impose a tax on gasoline but few are as low as the 17 cents a gallon Missouri levies. And Missouri, unlike most other states, doesn't impose a sales tax on top of that.

The state also benefits from good distribution via a crisscrossing network of pipelines which can, unusually, result in cheaper gas in rural areas than in major cities.

The reason for this is the three types of gas used in the state. St Louis primarily uses reformulated gasoline. Conventional gas is sold in rural areas, and Kansas City uses low RVP (or low-emission) gasoline. Reformulated costs more than conventional gas, hence the higher cost in cities.

"In Illinois, it's not unusual to save 15 cents a gallon by crossing the river," Right said.

State looking for a new source of revenue

Chances are good that you'll be prohibited from talking on your handheld cell phone in Missouri, thanks to a truck driver who caused an 11-car pile up that killed two and injured 16 in St. Louis earlier this week. Afterwards, a St. Louis television station said state Rep.Talibdin El-Amin said he planned to launch a new effort to pass a ban.

Though past efforts went nowhere in the legislature, several other lawmakers contacted by FOX 2 News said it was now time to take a serious look at the issue.

"We're going to make it a bill that actually has some teeth in terms of deterring people from using a cell phone while they're driving…it'd be like reckless homicide," El-Amin, a North St. Louis Democrat, said. "If you kill someone, not necessarily with the intent, but you kill someone because of your negligence."

"Just like with drunk driving," El-Amin said. "It's almost getting to that point. Everybody has a cell phone, not everyone drinks. So potentially you have more people at risk from cell phone users than from drunk drivers…it's time. We're going to do something about it."

A Missouri ban would probably look a lot like one in California, with small fines for offenders not involved in crashes: $20 for a first offense, $50 thereafter.

Hands free devices like speaker phones and "blue tooth" headsets, would likely be allowed.

Well, I think there are already laws in place that would allow prosecution of drivers involved in fatal accidents, so what the real motive of the ban is this: More money for the state through fines on people caught talking on cell phones even if they're not involved in crashes.

Should we save or should we spend or should we cut taxes?

Missouri state government started the new fiscal year July 1 sitting pretty, financially speaking, but don't expect that to continue. As soon as the General Assembly convenes in January, it will change.
"Although the economy remains shaky, Missouri is beginning its new budget year with its largest surplus in at least two decades," the Associated Press reported. "The surplus is due largely to savings that have built up over recent years, as tax revenues came in higher than expected and state agencies spent less than anticipated."

Missouri began its 2009 fiscal year July 1 with an operating fund balance of $833 million — the largest amount on record dating back to 1988, according to figures provided Tuesday to The Associated Press by the state Office of Administration.

That’s on top of $557 million Missouri has set aside in its constitutionally required budget reserve fund.

The sum of the equation is that Missouri should be well-positioned to weather an economic crisis, should one occur in coming months, the state’s Republican administration and legislative leaders said.

A survey of the National Association of State Budget Officers released last month listed Missouri as one of 15 states projecting higher revenues than originally anticipated in 2008.

“While other states are struggling with budgets that cannot keep pace with spending, our responsible budgeting decisions and solid financial planning are ensuring that Missouri is on solid financial ground,” Gov. Matt Blunt said in a written statement.

Don't look for such "fiscal restraint" and "prudent budgeting" to continue, though. Democrats say the lack of spending is evidence the state is failing to help Missourians with health care and education. For the Democrats, good financial stewardship means spending.

“When you deny services just to hold back money, I don’t think that’s good stewardship of the taxpayer dollars,” said Sen. Joan Bray, of St. Louis, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“A large part of the ($833 million) balance is because we refuse to spend money on health care and education,” said Rep. Margaret Donnelly, of St. Louis, the ranking minority member on the House Budget Committee and one of several Democratic candidates for attorney general.

Lawmakers are planning to tap into some of the surplus this year. The 2009 budget includes a larger percentage increase in spending than in projected revenues.

As a result, Blunt’s Office of Administration estimates the revenue surplus will be whittled down to around $487 million when the current fiscal year ends June 30, 2009.

So should we save, should we spend--or should we cut taxes if we've got a surplus?

GateHouse back down under $1

At the market closing today, GateHouse Media was back down to 97 cents per share.

I never worked for GateHouse Media but I worked for its predecessors, Liberty Group Publishing and American Publishing Co.

I don't know what this news means for the Rolla Daily News, the St. James Leader-Journal or the St. Robert Daily Guide. As far as I know, none of them have published anything about the stock price slide. I guess it's what they call a "non-story."

NYSE halts floor trading of GateHouse

Editor & Publisher just a couple of hours ago reported, "The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has halted floor trading of GateHouse Media Inc. because its shares have sold for less than $1.05, a spokesman for the Big Board's enforcement authority confirmed Thursday. "

Shares of GateHouse (NYSE: GHS) continue to be traded on electronic markets, including the Big Board's sibling NYSE Arca. GateHouse closed at 4 p.m. EDT at $1.00, up 3 cents, or 3.09%.

NYSE Regulation spokesman Scott Peterson said trading of GateHouse (NYSE: GHS) was put under an "operational trading halt" on Tuesday morning. To return to floor trading, a stock must trade above $1.10 a share for an entire trading day.

If the stock continues to close below $1 a share on average over a consecutive 30 trading day period, it is notified that it could be de-listed unless it is able to bring its share price above $1 within six months.

GateHouse shares, which in the past 52 weeks have traded as high as $19.00, have been driven down steeply in recent months as Wall Street began to doubt the Fairport, N.Y.-based publisher's strategy of funding aggressive expansion with big debt while paying out a substantial dividend.

Editor & Publisher went on to say:

GateHouse is the third newspaper company that has been barred from Big Board floor trading this year.

In February, the exchange halted floor trading for Sun-Times Media Group, and in March it took the same action against Journal Register Co.

Both were later de-listed and now trade in the Over-The-Counter Markets.

GateHouse closes two papers; could it happen here?

GateHouse Media rebounded by three cents per share, closing at $1 today.

The Boston Herald reported today that GateHouse has closed two of its small weeklies in Massachusetts:

This week, GateHouse announced it was no longer publishing the Avon Messenger and Taunton Call, weekly publications that are small compared to the company’s other Massachusetts holdings.

The papers’ publisher, Mark Olivieri, said in a note to readers that the company plans to focus “our energies on our daily publications and through the most dynamic local Web sites possible.”

GateHouse spokesman Mark Maring did not respond to a request for comment.

Many of GateHouse’s Massachusetts papers, which had job cuts earlier this year, were once part of the Community Newspaper Co. chain. Boston Herald publisher Patrick Purcell and business partners bought CNC from Fidelity Investments in 2001, then sold the chain five years later for a reported $225 million to the company that became GateHouse.

GateHouse went public in October 2006. On its first day of trading, shares sold for $20. This week its stock dipped below $1, putting it in danger of delisting from the New York Stock Exchange.

The Boston Herald also noted, "Fairport, N.Y.-based GateHouse is one of the largest publishers of community newspapers in the United States. It owns 98 daily newspapers and 400 other publications in 21 states."

Could we see that happen in Missouri? Could GateHouse merge the St. James Leader-Journal into the Rolla Daily News? The company that preceded GateHouse tried to merge the Rolla Daily News and the St. Robert Daily Guide once a week, putting out a combined Sunday edition. That didn't go over well with readers. Neither paper puts out a Sunday edition now.

Editor & Publisher also had an interesting article on its website this week noting that GateHouse's stock may be low but it isn't the lowest.

"Two events on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday seemed to sum up the woeful state of publicly traded newspaper companies," wrote Mark Fitzgerald. "First, shares of E.W. Scripps, newly minted as a newspaper and local broadcast company, began trading with a three-to-one reverse stock split. To what lofty level did this price-enhancing maneuver raise Scripps (NYSE: SSP) shares? At the end of the day, just $9.31.

"Then shares of GateHouse Media Inc. (NYSE: GHS) traded below $1, entering the dreaded penny-stock territory. By the 4 p.m. EDT end of trading, GateHouse was priced at 97 cents -- which could get the stock barred from floor trading and even de-listing if it continues to close below a buck."

Fitzgerald added the Journal Register Co. closed at 14 cents; American Community Newspapers ended at 20 cents; and Sun-Times Media Group would set you back a whopping 35 cents.

It isn't just these exiles from the Big Board who have anorexic stock prices, though. Of the 13 publicly traded newspaper companies that E&P tracks, just four sell for more than $10 a share, and that's including the self-described "diversified education and media company" Washington Post Co., whose stock has long traded in the high $500s range. (Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) closed at $578.50 Wednesday.)

It isn't even certain that the prices of The New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) -- which closed at $12.59 Wednesday -- or Media General Inc. (NYSE: MEG) -- going for $11.31 at the end of trading -- will remain in double digits after they report second-quarter earnings in the coming days.

The newspaper industry's strategy of shrinking newsroom and newshole seems not to be helping their shrunken stock prices.

Mighty fine watermelons in Missouri this summer

Just finished eating a slice of watermelon we bought at the local farmers market Saturday, and it was very flavorful. Some mighty fine eating, I'd say. The key to a good watermelon, as we Ozarkers know, is to avoid seedless varieties.

You sophisticated urban dwellers prefer the seedless varities, and I suspect you're hoping a horticulturist will develop a rindless watermelon, too.

We simple country folk are content to put up with the seeds. It isn't a big deal to pick them out with the point of a knife or with a spoon. The payoff is a much sweeter watermelon.

The watermelons and cantaloupe we bought were grown right here in Missouri. Unfortunately, we couldn't find any Ozarks melons, so we bought from an old boy who had gone down to southeast Missouri and brought back a trailer load.

How low can it go?

GateHouse Media, owner of newspapers in Rolla, St. James, St. Robert and Camdenton in this section of the Ozarks, fell to 97 cents per share today after closing at $1.04 yesterday. How long can this company remain viable and what is this news doing to the local newspapers? What have you heard in your communities "served" by GateHouse Media newspapers?

GateHouse Media: Bigger, not better, maybe worthless, says analyst

If you own shares in GateHouse Media, the New York-based corporation that owns many newspapers in the Ozarks and throughout Missouri, they may not be worth the paper they're printed on.

"Because of the company's exposure to a challenging advertising environment, a debt-heavy balance sheet, and declining cash flows, we think the equity shares could be worthless," stock analyst Tom Corbett wrote in a report for Morningstar and reported today by Editor & Publisher.

The stock traded for 98 cents per share briefly today and closed at $1.04 per share, a record all-time low for GateHouse.

According to Editor & Publisher magazine:

Morningstar reduced its fair value estimate for GateHouse shares to zero from $3 in its report in May.

Morningstar also said GateHouse is close to violating one or more of the covenants on its huge deb. "Should that happen, its debt could become due immediately, resulting in a possible liquidation scenario," Corbett wrote.

With the collapse of its stock price, GateHouse's market capitalization has sunk to $61 million.

Morningstar noted that in 2007, GateHouse doubled its debt to more than $1.2 billion to fund the acquisition of about 70 papers and a phone directory publisher. "They made GateHouse bigger, but we don't think they made it better," the report said.

Big names coming to Rolla

We like to listen to Garrison Keillor's program, A Prairie Home Companion, on KMST Saturday nights at 5 or Sundays at noon, so we were pleased to find out that Mr. Keillor will be speaking in Rolla in September, according to a news release from Missouri S&T.

The news release notes:

The 2008-2009 season of the Missouri University of Science and Technology Campus Performing Arts Series will feature seven professional productions. All performances in the series will be held in Leach Theatre of Castleman Hall.

Season tickets are $180 for adults and $140 for students age 18 and younger. Tickets for individual performances go on sale Sept. 1. For more information about the 2008-2009 Missouri S&T Campus Performing Arts Series, call the Leach Theatre Box Office at 573-341-4219.

The series begins with two performances by humorist Garrison Keillor at 4 p.m. and at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 21. Keillor, acclaimed author, storyteller, poet, musician and radio personality, is well known for his unique delivery and presence. He hosts the National Public Radio programs “A Prairie Home Companion” and “The Writer’s Almanac.”

Other performances to be featured during the 2008-2009 Missouri S&T Campus Performing Arts Series include:

• Shakespeare’s “Comedy of Errors” by the Aquila Theatre Company, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21. The Aquila Theatre Company’s imaginative and exuberant production of Shakespeare’s classic comedy will be of interest for newcomers to Shakespeare and Bard enthusiasts alike
• An Evening with Rita Coolidge, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5. The two-time Grammy winner has shared the stage with such greats as Joe Cocker, Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Leon Russell. Her hits include ““Higher & Higher,” “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” and “We're All Alone.” Coolidge, who was dubbed “Delta Lady” early in her career, recently released “And So Is Love,” a collection of well-loved pop/jazz standards. This event is sponsored in part by Andrew Garrett Inc.
• Formosa String Quartet, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2009. Winner of the First Prize and the Amadeus Prize at the 10th London International String Quartet Competition in 2006, the group gives performances filled with excitement, skill and creativity.
• Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009. Nationally renowned as an eclectic, innovative dance company with a solid foundation in classical ballet, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet has made a lasting impression with a company of 10 versatile, energetic dancers performing a sophisticated repertoire featuring some of the world’s foremost choreographers.
• Glenn Miller Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., Monday, March 16, 2009. The legendary Glenn Miller was one of the most successful dance bandleaders in the Swing era of the 1930s and 1940s. The Miller Estate authorized the formation of the present 19-member orchestra that plays many of the original Miller arrangements.
• Ain’t Misbehavin’ with Ruben Studdard, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 5, 2009. Ruben Studdard, the 2003 American Idol winner, joins a top-notch cast including his American Idol cast mate Frenchie Davis and a sassy all-star band live onstage. The outrageously prodigious comic and musical soul of 1930s Harlem lives on in this rollicking, swinging, finger-snapping revue. Still considered one of Broadway’s best well-crafted revues, Ain’t Misbehavin’ is sometimes sassy, sometimes sultry, with moments of devastating beauty.

Leach Theatre has several special events for the fall 2008 season. Campus Performing Arts Series season ticket holders may purchase tickets at reduced prices for the following events:

• Cherryholmes, 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 12. Admission is $30 for adults and $25 for students. Before 1999, the dynamic family band known as Cherryholmes did not exist, and half of its youthful members hadn't even picked up an instrument. In 2005, the high-energy Nashville-based band was named 2005 International Bluegrass Music Associations Entertainers of the Year. Cherryholmes is presented in sponsorship with Arts Rolla!
• Jacques Thibaud Trio, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15. Admission is $28 for adults and $18 for students. Prizewinners in the prestigious 1999 Bonn Chamber Music Competition, the ensemble has performed throughout Europe and Japan and in more than 40 states in the United States, receiving tremendous acclaim from audiences and critics alike. Calling their playing “spontaneous and commanding,” a New York Times reviewer said this could be the first string trio in some time to have a major career. The Jacques Thibaud Trio performance is co-sponsored with Brewer Science.
• Reduced Shakespeare Company, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14. Admission is $28 for adults, $18 for youth and $8 for Missouri S&T students. This show is a high-speed roller coaster-type condensation of the complete works of William Shakespeare. According to The Today Show, “If you like Shakespeare, you’ll like this show. If you hate Shakespeare, you’ll LOVE this show!” The performance is co-sponsored with the Missouri S&T Student Union Board and Bob and Susan Hooper.

Additional funding for the Missouri S&T Campus Performing Arts Series is provided by the Missouri S&T Endowment for the Performing Arts, the Missouri Arts Council, the Mid-America Arts Alliance, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Maxwell C. Weiner Endowment for the Performing Arts, and the James and Vera Olson Fund.

Brokeback Mountain, story of a predator

Brokeback Mountain was on cable TV recently, and my wife and I watched it. My wife's analysis of the movie is this: It's the story of a homesexual predator who seduces a vulnerable young man, vulnerable because of the lack of a strong father figure in his childhood. The victim of the predator leads a normal family man's life but the predator continues stalking him. The victim loses his marriage. The predator eventually loses his life.

My wife's analysis is on the money, I think. It was an unpleasant, sad movie. I don't understand why homosexuals say it is a beautiful love story. It's a movie filled with despair, I think.

Gasoline prices down in Rolla

Gasoline prices are under $3.90 a gallon in Rolla now that the Independence Day holiday weekend is over.

For people with short memories, the gas crunch is over. "Gas is cheaper now!" you can hear people saying, relief in their voices. They are easily conditioned. Throughout the rest of July and all of August, the price will hover between $3.83 and $3.98, then towards the end of August it will go back to $3.999 and on past $4 per gallon.

Then look out for the Labor Day holiday when it will reach $4.499 per gallon. By then, though, most people will be conditioned to accept it.

Rolla leads the way in gas prices

Rolla likes to be known as a leading community in Missouri. In the case of gasoline prices, Rolla and nearby communities in Phelps County are certainly doing that--unfortunately. Check out the Missouri Gas Prices website which shows Rolla stations as leading the drive upwards.

My wife drove up to Columbia to see a doctor last week and discovered the price of gasoline was a nickel cheaper from Vienna on north.

It's tough out here in the Heartland to afford to travel to work when the price of gasoline is so high. Outsiders are starting to find out what we're going through.

The New York Times had this to say:

People are giving up meat so they can buy fuel. Gasoline theft is rising. And drivers are running out of gas more often, leaving their cars by the side of the road until they can scrape together gas money.

The disparity between rural America and the rest of the country is a matter of simple home economics. Nationwide, Americans are now spending about 4 percent of their take-home income on gasoline. By contrast, in some counties in the Mississippi Delta, that figure has surpassed 13 percent.

As a result, gasoline expenses are rivaling what families spend on food and housing.

The Guardian, a British newspaper, had this to say:

Don Campbell's daily commute to Kansas City - about 100 miles (160 kilometres) each way - costs him roughly $866 (£433) a month at $3.90 per gallon. But he's a union iron worker and says he can make the math work.

Most of his neighbours can't. For them and thousands of other small-town residents across the US who drive long distances to jobs that pay little more than minimum wage, the high cost of petrol is making that daily commute cost-prohibitive.

So much so that economists predict that over the next few years, the country could see a migration that would greatly reduce the population of small town America - resulting in a painful shift away from lifestyle, family roots, traditions and school ties.

"This town's the only place I know," said Louie Rector, who drives 35 miles to his job at a window factory from his home in tiny Dixon.

"I grew up here ... raised my kids here. I got my family and friends all here. I don't want to pack up and leave. But it's getting to the point where a fella can't afford to drive to work, and that don't seem right to me."

God has blessed the United States

We hope you are having a happy Independence Day weekend. While barbecuing, boating, burning fireworks, think a little about the freedom we have and the sacrifice of people throughout our history.

What a wonderful nation we have. God has blessed this nation because we have honored Him. If we want to continue to receive His blessings, we must continue to honor Him.

The way to honor Him is to get to know Him so you can worship Him correctly. There's only one way to know God, and that is by knowing His Son Jesus Christ, who said, "I am THE Way, THE Truth and THE Life, and NO man comes to the Father except by Me."

That's pretty clear. If you want to go to Heaven when you die, you'd better get to know Jesus now.

Unfortunately, I was right

Just about an hour ago I filled up the tank in my wife's car. I paid $3.999 per gallon.

Back in April, I made the following suggestion and prediction:

Fellow Ozarkers, I suggest you plant a huge garden this summer. I also suggest you freeze, can or dry as much as you can for the winter. I also think it would be a good idea to go to the farmers' markets and buy as much as you can handle to put up for the winter.

I'm not being an alarmist. At least, I don't think I am. I'm just looking at things realistically. Gasoline in Rolla today is $3.299 per gallon. It isn't going to go back down to stay. We may see it go down for a time, but it will always increase again. I look for gasoline to be up to $3.499 by Memorial Day and $3.999 by the Fourth of July because of summer travel demand.

Today is July 1. Folks, I'm one of those annoying kind of "I told you so" people. I'll accept apologies from all of you who pooh-poohed me as a goofball Ozarks Nostradamus.

Let me refresh your memory some more by quoting myself from early April:

Moreover, I think it will be $4.999 by Election Day ... (and) ... $5.999 per gallon by New Year's Day 2009.

Some environmentalist morons are thrilled that gasoline is trending upwards because they think that is good for the planet. They are Democrats and claim to be sympathetic to poor people.

Think about this for a minute: If you're a working person, making $8 per hour and it costs you $48 to fill up your gas tank, you'll have to work 6 hours to pay for that. That's 15 percent of your work-week just for gasoline. Moreover, the price of everything is going to rise. Next time you fill your tank, notice the price of diesel fuel. That's the stuff used in trucks to deliver groceries to supermarkets and other goods to other stores.

We need to find a way to lower the price of gasoline. We can do that by increasing the supply of oil. The way to do that is to approve drilling.

You'll do yourself and your family a favor by voting for whoever speaks out in favor of drilling for oil.