The Springfield News-Leader from Springfield, Missouri • A2

2A EWS -L EADER When Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon left office Monday, have a new place to go spend some time away from it all. Anew state park named for the outgoing governor. The Jay Nixon State Parkin eastern Missouri appeared on the Missouri State Parks web- site recently, and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources made the announcement official with a news release Thursday. Missouri State Parks is one of many programs managed by the Department of Natural Resources.

Jay Nixon State Park is the fourth new Missouri state park announced in the past 30 days. located in the St. Francois mountains in Reynolds County, about 100 miles southeast of St. Louis and 200 miles east of Springfield. With its opening, Missouri now has 92 state parks and historic sites in its system.

According to DNR, Jay Nixon State Park currently has no amenities or public facilities like campsites, drinking water or restrooms, though those might be added in the future. The park is only accessible by way of the Ozark Trail, which traverses much of southeast Missouri. The trail also links Jay Nixon State Park with nearby Taum Sauk Mountain State Park and the popular Johnson Shut- Ins State Park. The park features rugged terrain and unmarked trails, which might appeal to backpackers and hikers who are skilled with back country travel. According to DNR, the park also includes a rare mountaintop lake, which is home to bluegill and largemouth bass.

The property was purchased in 2015 with funds received from a Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration settlement with the American Smelting and Refining Co.LLC (ASARCO). The Missouri Trustee Council, which includes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Missouri DNR, reviewed the proposed purchase at a public meeting on Dec. 18, 2014 at Shut-Ins State Park. The park is named for 55th governor, who made the expansion of state parks a key goal during his eight years in office.

Most recently, Nixon announced the addition of three new state parks and helped dedicate the new 410-acre Echo Bluff State Park near Eminence in July. The three newest parks the just-announced Jay Nixon State are: Ozark Mountain State Park, with 1,011 acres, features an open, grassy, flower-filled landscape of ridges and hills, known locally as knobs. The property is located in Taney County, northwest of Branson along Highway 465. Bryant Creek State Park, with 2,917 acres, consists of thick oak and pine forests and nearly two miles of river hills and bluffs along Bryant Creek. The property is located in Douglas County, near the Ozark County line approximately 22 miles southeast of Ava.

Eleven Point State Park, with 4,167 acres, includes six miles of direct river frontage on the Eleven Point River, a nationally protected river corridor. The property is located in Oregon County approximately 45 miles east of West Plains, near Alton In 2016, Missouri state parks set an attendance record, topping the 20 million mark for the first time. Some lawmakers have questioned whether the state can afford to maintain all the new parks that are coming on line, as well as existing ones. But in November, Missouri voters overwhelming renewed one- tenth of one percent Parks, Soils and Water sales tax by its highest margin ever, with 80 percent approval. The tax typically generates about $90 million a year half for state parks and half for soil and water conservation efforts.

New state park named for Nixon WES JOHNSON MISSOURI STATE PARKS Aview of the new Jay Nixon State Park in Reynolds County. Have you made New resolutions for 2017? The Christian County Library has resources and classes you can use to help you achieve them. If you want to lose weight or get fit, the library is pleased to be partnering with the O.C. in Ozark again to offer a library-sponsored Zumba class Saturdays at 10 a.m. Jan.

14-Feb. 25. Participation is free and does not require an O.C. membership. The library also offers CCL Cooking School each month, where library staff or a local chef teach a new dish or technique, often featuring healthy food.

This Cooking School will demonstrate how to grow and use your own sprouts. The library also has hundreds of cookbooks for every type of diet, fitness DVDs to kick- start your exercise routine, and Playaways, pocket-sized digital audiobooks perfect for keeping you entertained while you work out, or even guide you through your yoga practice or walking workout. If looking to gain control of your finances, the library is an easy first step to save money and learn how to improve your financial situation. Learn how to get out of debt, manage money and invest wisely by using the free e-books, au- diobooks and online resources on personal finance. Take home books from money gurus like Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman, or use our Morningstar Investment Research Center online to help manage and understand your investments.

Plus, save money by using the coupon exchange, borrowing movies from the library instead of purchasing, using our free meeting room for your next get-together, or bringing the family to our monthly movie showings with free refreshments provided. Do you want to spend more time with family and friends this year, learn a new skill, or take up a new hobby? Every month the library offers dozens of events for all ages, story- times, and classes, all fun and interesting opportunities to help you achieve your goals. Try the make-and-take craft table and frequent arts and crafts classes, like Drawing with Richard on Jan. 21 at noon. In addition, the library hosts technology courses and one-on- one computer lessons, book clubs for both teens and adults, and a variety of unique classes each month.

Pick up a newsletter at the Christian County Library for the full listing of events, or visit christian- countylibrary.org to see what is happening this week. Whatever your goals for 2017, the Christian County Library can help. Call 417-581-2432 or visit the website for more information. Library offers resources for keeping those New resolutions on track Katy PATTISON An Ozark man shot a Saint Bernard on Dec. 18 because it was defecating on his property, according to court documents.

Rodney Kirk, 75, told a Christian County deputy he shot at the dog seven or eight times, hitting it once as it ran off his property on the 200 block of Douglas Fir Road, court documents show. The incident is described in a probable cause statement, which goes on to say that Kirk was annoyed by the after it went to lie in a nearby ditch, so he went over and shot the dog in the head. According to the statement, wife said the Saint Bernard had tried to attack her dog the night before, but the deputy said paw prints in the snow contradicted her statement. did not locate any of the Saint paw prints near or around where wife) stated she was at, or headed in the direction of where she was the deputy wrote in his probable cause statement. The woman reportedly told the deputy this is an ongoing issue with dogs always crapping in my Neighbors told the deputy that Kirk has a history of shooting at animals and toward the roadway, the statement said.

Kirk has been charged with two counts of animal abuse and one count of unlawful use of a weapon, court records show. Deputy: Ozark man shot, killed dog for pooping on property GIACOMO BOLOGNA Vicky Hartzler supported the controversial attempt to weaken independent ethics panel during a closed-door meeting of House Republicans last Monday night. By the following Tuesday morning, Hartzler, R- Harrisonville, and other GOP lawmakers had reversed course and moved to delay the ethics changes after an outcry from good-government groups and criticism from President-elect Donald Trump. Aspokeswoman for Rep. Billy Long, R-Springfield, said he did not attend last Monday closed-door GOP session meeting because of a scheduling conflict.

But the spokeswoman, Hannah Smith, said he did not agree with the proposal to the Office of Congressional Ethics. important that Congress be held accountable, and limiting that power would do a disservice to the American Long said in a statement. are many pressing issues facing our country, and spending time on petty issues like this is not one of In its meeting, the House Republican confer- ence approved a proposal that would have: Barred the ethics panel from investigating anonymous tips from whistleblowers; Subjected the independent body to directives from the House Ethics Committee which is controlled and staffed by House members and their aides; Prevented the ethics agency from reviewing potential criminal acts by members of Congress, instead requiring such complaints be turned over to the House Ethics Committee or law enforcement. That prompted a harsh reaction from Democrats and good-government groups, who said the Office of Congressional Ethics served as a much-needed check on lawmakers. one voter went to the polls in November hoping Congress would gut ethics said David Donnelly, president and CEO of Every Voice watchdog group said last Tuesday.

Even Trump weighed in with a tweet saying the ethics changes should not have been the House top priority. all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it may be, their number one act and priori- the incoming president tweeted last Tuesday morning. In a hastily arranged meeting last Tuesday morning, House Republicans nixed the proposal. Hartzler defended the ethics measure, but she said understood concerns that the changes should have been made with more debate. are some problems with the structure of the OCE and some changes need to be made to both ensure that allegations are followed through with but also that due process is ensured for those that are Hartlzer said.

going to re-look at this and come up with a package that accomplishes those goals, to be revealed later in the USA TODAY reporter Fredreka Schouten contributed to this story. Hartzler supported gutting Congressional ethics panel Rep. Billy Long did not attend the meeting: Aide DEIRDRE SHESGREEN DEIRDRE SHESGREEN, USA TODAY Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, voted in favor of a proposal to strip the independent Office of Congressional Ethics of much of its power. Republicans ended up dropping the idea on Tuesday.

The unemployment rate for the five-county Springfield metropolitan statistical area hit a 16- year low in November. The local workforce was made up of 236,248 people that month, with 7,756 unemployed, according to preliminary figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's an unemployment rate of 3.3 percent the lowest since November 2000, when the rate was 3.1 percent. The November unemployment rate, which is not seasonally adjusted, was 0.2 percentage points lower than the same month a year ago.

The metropolitan area includes Greene, Christian, Webster, Dallas and Polk counties. The November unemployment rate for the Springfield area tied for the 66th-lowest rate out of 387 metropolitan areas in the country. Ames, Iowa, led the nation with a 1.7 percent unemployment rate, while El Centro, California, had an unemployment rate of 20.3 percent. Unemployment rate hit 16-year low in November in the Springfield area THOMAS GOUNLEY metro unemployment rates in November Columbia: 2.6 percent Jefferson City: 3.0 percent Springfield: 3.3 percent St. Joseph: 3.6 percent Joplin: 3.7 percent Kansas City: 3.8 percent St.

Louis: 3.8 percent Cape Girardeau: 3.9 percent The Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks received a $500,000 donation from Charlie and Mary Beth The gift will be used as a 100 percent match to allow other donors to create designated funds at Community Foundation of the Ozarks to benefit BCFO in the years ahead, a news release said. Charlie and Mary Beth have pledged to contribute a dollar-for- dollar match for the first $500,000 pledged through CFO to the BCFO endowment. The donation was announced last Tuesday at Community Foundation of the Ozarks. hope this gift will inspire others to help bring BCFO to a position of sustainability for future Charlie who serves as alongstanding trustee of BCFO, said in the release. Mary Beth founded BCFO 17 years ago to make a real difference in the lives of local families impacted by breast cancer.

She now serves as chair. have lived and worked in the region for many years and wanted to give back to a community we love in a way that best helps mission well into the Mary Beth said in the release. To learn more or to make a tax-deductible donation to the BCFO Legacy of Hope endowment, contact Crystal Webster at 417-862-3838 or crys- About BCFO BCFO is a not-for-profit organization of people reaching out to those who have been affected by breast cancer. Since 2000, BCFO has helped over 2,400 families impacted by breast cancer by providing practical financial assistance. This assistance comes in the form of payments for utilities, car repairs, gas cards, and car payments, to name a few.

Visit bcfo.org. family gives $500k grant JACKIE REHWALD.