A FOXNews story out of Connecticut says that some 8,558 dead people are still on the voter rolls in that state. Further, the story says "more than 300 of them appeared to have cast ballots after they died."

The news came out of a project conducted by the University of Connecticut and is denied by the state's Secretary of State, Susan Bysiewicz, maintaining those votes were only clerical errors. If that's the case, the UConn professor Marcel Dufresne uncovered one clerical error that has occurred 17 times for the same individual.

When you consider, as the story does, that the state of Washington elected its governor by only 133 votes in 2004 the dead voters take on a new meaning. If that same percentage were to hold, and I'll bet a statistician would love to debate this one, dead people could have elected the governor.

Given the history of St. Louis and the Democrats fierce opposition to any sort of a voter ID and photograph this should be a wakeup call to the Show Me State. One could even make the case that photo IDs would also cut down on "clerical errors" if that is indeed how 300-plus dead people voted in Connecticut.

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If a tree falls…

Last week a second construction crane fell in New York City. There were two fatalities associated with that accident.

Last week a second crane collapsed in Wyoming. The particular crane was the world's largest and three people were injured, two of the critically.

My point is that the major media outlets in this country, most of which just happen to be located in NYC, gave very little coverage to the Wyoming accident, even though it involved the world's largest crane. And I know this is the second crane collapse in NYC in three months, but even the first collapse was cause for those same media to inundate the rest of us with what is basically local news.

Every thing that happens in New York is not a national news story. We see the same thing when it comes to weather events, be that snow, rain or heat, which is happens to be this weekend. We've been dealing with 90-degree heat all week and that same heat made it to New York so guess what the topic of the day is?

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Sorry for the rants, but I just needed to get that off my chest.

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First newspaper

At the end of last month I attended the SEMO Press Association meeting. Newspaper associates from southeast Missouri gather annually for some training sessions, speechifying and camaraderie. At the meeting a replica of the very first newspaper printed in the state was handed out.

Joseph Charless in St. Louis, Louisiana published the Missouri Gazette on July 26, 1808. History teachers will immediately recognize this as being four years before Missouri joined the Union.

A couple of blurbs from this four-page newspaper caught my attention.

"It is with heart felt pleasure we announce the patriotism displayed by the St. Charles troop of horse, a few days ago; they offered their services to accompany Gen. Clark up the Missouri, in order to protect and assist in the building of the intended Fort, at or near the Osage river."

This was some four years after Meriwether Lewis and William Clark made their famous expedition so presumably Clark was functioning in his role as Indian agent and brigadier general of the territory's militia at this point.

The country had recently celebrated its independence and the newspaper publisher reported on some of the festivities, including several toasts delivered at at gathering in "Harrison, in the Indiana Territory."

"The day we celebrate.--May if ever be held sacred by Americans.

"The people of the United States. Sovereignty and strength are theirs & usurpation shall bow before them.

"The constitution of the United States.--Our great entrenchment; but useless if we defend it not.

"The everlasting memory of those departed heroes, who fought and bled in freedom's cause.

"The Liberty of the Press -- May if never be violated by Americans.

"May American bravery, ever be opposed to British knavery.

"Success to those who follow the plough, and earn the living by the sweat of their brow."

Subscription price of the newspaper was "Three Dollars paid in advance," but it does not say how long a term the subscription lasted. And advertising was charged at the rate of one dollar an inch for one week and discounted to fifty cents for each additional insertion.

Adjusted for inflation over the last two hundred years, I'd say we're priced about right for the Bootheel.

Bud Hunt is the publisher of the Daily Dunklin Democrat.