Several weeks ago we had a story about an undercover operation run by the Kennett Police Department which resulted in the arrest of several individuals for soliciting sex from minors.

Just last week there was a news story about a decline in the number of solicitations of minors on the Internet. The report cited in that story came from a survey done by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

That's good news.

Efforts by KPD show that such unthinkable things can occur right here in our little corner of the world. The good news in that story is no doubt the result of increased awareness of the dangers, parental vigilance and good, hard police work.

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It's not working

If this were a child the courts would take it away from the parents. If it were a spouse a divorce would be imminent for lack of support.

I'm talking about the new parking and landscaping associated with the Sheryl Crow Aquatic Center.

It was only slightly more than a year ago the pool opened to much fanfare. At that time the parking lots had been completed, the park was still a long ways off, but we could all see the possibilities. I know that the park's development was slowed while the city looked at plans. There was some communication issues which developed when everyone wasn't looking at the same plans, but those have been resolved and the park should begin moving forward again.

The park department has begun putting the playground equipment together and is moving that part of the project forward.

However, that's not what I'm talking about.

Three new parking lots were created, two existing parking lots were expanded and re-paved. At the time that work was done several trees were planted in between the parking area and sidewalks.

Since that time no one from the city has paid any attention to the site.

Bob Byrd planted several trees - he actually had several more for the park, but when construction was delayed he couldn't (and shouldn't have been expected to) keep them in inventory. No one has taken on the responsibility for caring for those trees. Bob has been watering them because he doesn't want to see them die.

After the grass got to knee-high it was finally cut and has been maintained since.

I don't pretend to know which city department is responsible for those areas. Whether it's the street department for those areas adjacent to the parking lots and the park department for the areas adjacent to the pool. All I am confident of is that no one in city government seems to want to be take care of it and see the project through to completion.

And just to be clear. This is not a problem of the city employees turning out to the work. We all know they will "turn to" and get the job done when they're directed to accomplish a task. They're not getting any direction.

The city administration has seen fit to take something that was donated and is an asset and largely ignore it. That's disgraceful.

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Mailbag

Danny Sturkie from Paragould sent along a couple of copies of the Twice-A-Week Dunklin Democrat, one of which was dated July 15, 1947.

A couple of interesting items in that particular paper.

"42 Telephones Are Installed In City" was the lead story that day. All 42 subscribers were listed along with their phone numbers. Among those subscribers, addresses and their phone numbers were:

Parmenter's Garage, 913 St. Francis, 70;

Locke Distributing Company, 1014 St. Francis, 564;

Westgate Service Station, St. Francis, 443;

Pronto Pup Shop, East Side Square, 794;

Lee Lemonds Grocery, Friendship, 2923, and one individual name I recognized;

Roy H. Bush, 204 S. Jackson, Apartment 2, 438-W.

The DDD's unofficial historian, Vivian Helton has also been busy.

She sent along several items of interest, one of which was from the supplement to the weekend edition of April 23-24, 1966. In that supplement called Missouri Weekly, the Dairy Freeze was advertising several specials. Among them were 16-ounce milk shakes, floats and malts (when was the last time you had a malt?) for 15 cents. And if you were hungry, 12 hamburgers could be bought for the princely sum of $1.00

The ad also touted "Something New Has Been Added at DAIRY FREEZE --- Try the New 'Flavor Mate' Now Get Either Vanilla or Chocolate Custard or Both MIXED."

Times has surely progressed since 1947 and the city was growing. Dairy Freeze, located at 713 First Street (the building is still there and was last home to a locksmith), accepted phone-in order at TU 8-4415.

I think that's an individual's number now, so don't call it thinking Dairy Queen will answer.

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End on a high note

Driving back and forth between here and Dexter several times a week provides me with an opportunity to learn a few things from the signs along the way. I thought it might be interesting to share a few of them with you from time to time.

"Don't Give Up: Moses Was Once A 'Basket Case.'" posted on the sign of Lynn Oak General Baptist Church's relatively new facility alongside Highway 25 in Clarkton.