A few weeks ago I pointed out that former Bragg City resident now St. Louis attorney Don Downing had filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Democratic Party challenging a law passed in the last session of the General Assembly. That law would have required voters to show a photo identification whenever they appeared at the polling place. Downing was successful in the initial court ruling, but the verdict has since been appealed to the state Supreme Court.

The law came about, in part, because of voting irregularities in St. Louis, particularly after the 2000 election. It has been reported that the identification of dead people was stolen and used to cast votes during the election.

As the case is waiting before the high court a story came out of St. Louis just last week where the St. Louis Election Board "discovered at least 1,492 'potentially fraudulent' voter registration cards - including three from dead people and one from a 16-year-old - among the thousands pouring in before today's [Tuesday, Oct. 10] voter registration deadline for the Nov. 7 election."

No surprise that the election board said it expects to find even more fraudulent cards. According to the Post-Dispatch story, all the questionable cards were turned in by the community action group Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, also known as ACORN.

The story goes on to say that ACORN turned in some 40,000 cards statewide and about 15,000 in St. Louis city and another 5,00 in St. Louis County. The rest were primarily in the Kansas City area. Consider that in 2000 Sen. John Ashcroft lost his race against deceased governor Mel Carnahan for a seat ultimately filled by Roger Wilson's appointment of the governor's widow by about 20,000 votes and ACORN's actions are seen in a different light.

It's nice to know the dear-departed can rest comfortably knowing they've got a what everyone agrees is a very fine Bootheel lawyer looking after their interests. For those of us who cast votes legally we probably need to be concerned about how to protect our right to vote and having it canceled out by fraud.

There is also a story breaking now about ACORN, which received funds for a get-out-the-vote effort for the minimum wage ballot issue, actually campaigning for Claire McCaskill. That would be illegal.

College update

College classes have been in session now for about two months, so things are starting to settle down just a bit. At least for some folks.

Katelyn Geary is home this weekend. I think it's the first time since she left for Columbia Katelyn's been back. Then again, the family has been up to Columbia several weekends to see her so it's not like she had a lot of time to get homesick. And yes, there is a direct connection between the Tigers football team's winning record and Geary family trips to see them play. Someone, who shall remain nameless to protect the guilty, suggested her parents, Lanny and Lynne, might want to let Katelyn know they're going to stay here this weekend. Otherwise they might pass each other on the interstate coming and going.

We're glad to report that Keith and Lisa Privett, recently made empty nesters when their college freshmen, Kristen and Tyson went off to Fayetteville, are surviving in that big ol' house all by themselves. And even though I haven't caught up with them yet, I suspect the McVeys are handling their quieter abode as well.

U.S. record

Did you know that a relay team from Kennett once held the U.S. Interscholastic record for the 440-yard relay? Neither did I until the DDD's unofficial, but much appreciated historian, Vivian Helton, uncovered that tidbit in an edition of the newspaper dated April 27, 1926.

Competing in the "Annual High School Athletic Meet for Southeast Missouri," the team of Walls, Gwyn, Goodman and Rice broke the high school record with a time of 45 4/5ths seconds. However, that was not without a little discussion and the boys may have been even faster.

"When the time in the race was announced, and the spectators, judges and coaches examined their score sheets and found that the interscholastic record had been broken, immediately there went up the cry that there was something wrong with the watches, or the timers or the distance. The three timers in this event, as well as the other races in the meet, were Victor Drumm and J.C. Morgan of Cape Girardeau and L.R. Curry, principal of the high school in Hornersville."

"Two of the timers ... had timed the race 43 3-5 but Drumm snapped it at 45 4-5, the slow time was selected. The distance was verified." Apparently there was also some discussion about the boys getting help from the wind, but since they circled the track it was decided the wind hurt as much as it helped.

The only participant identified in the story with a first name was Bryant Rice who also scored 17 1/2 points and won the Individual Cup given to the meet's high scorer. Overall, KHS finished second in the 15-school meet.

I wonder if the record has been broken? The 440-yard relay is no longer run, having been replaced with the 400-meter relay. The race in 1926 was probably run on a cinder track as opposed to asphalt, so if anyone cares to do a little research they might need to keep that in mind as well.

Several years ago the Booster Club started a Hall of Fame to recognize athletes, coaches and others who have made a significant contribution to the school's athletic programs. I would suggest these four young men might merit inclusion. With a little research we can come up with their first names and maybe even a photo.

Bud Hunt is publisher of the Daily Dunklin Democrat