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Make a call in support of the Tour of Missouri - leave your feedback here

Fri, 03/19/2010 - 4:32pm
Make a call in support of the Tour of Missouri to two key officials:
  • Governor Jay Nixon: (573) 751-3222
  • Tourism Director Katie Steele Danner: 573-751-305
  • Suggested message:
    I support the Tour of Missouri because it brings economic development to large and small cities, because it is one of the very top international sporting events in the world, because millions of fans like me love it, and because it will take only a small amount of state support to continue the Tour in 2010.
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Driver who struck Springfield student in crosswalk was going 55MPH

Tue, 12/01/2009 - 7:22pm
Police have laid charges against a driver who struck and very seriously injured student Kimberly Armstrong as she crossed a crosswalk at Broadway and Kearney on her way to school in September.

The injury is one of a string of Springfield students injured walking or bicycling to school this year.

The Springfield News-Leader reports:
The man who hit a Hillcrest High student with his car Sept. 22 was speeding and has been charged with careless and imprudent driving, according to the Greene County Prosecutor's office.

If convicted, Scott Harper, 28, faces up to a year in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.

Harper's vehicle struck Kimberly Armstrong, who was age 15 at the time, as she crossed the intersection of Kearney Street and Broadway Avenue.

An accident investigator found that Harper was going 55 mph and concluded the accident "would have been avoided entirely" if he had been driving the speed limit.
Very often charges against drivers in cases like this are completely justified--but rarely are they brought by prosecutors, as in this case.

Springfield police are to be congratulated for thoroughly investigating this situation to find the ultimate cause:
Officer James Hinkle concluded Harper was traveling 15 miles above the 40 mph speed limit, and that was a key factor in the collision.

"It is my opinion that this crash is the result of inattention and excessive speed of Mr. Harper," Hinkle wrote in his report.

"If Mr. Harper had seen Ms. Armstrong in the crosswalk when he crested the hill, he would have had time to react to either avoid the accident or reduce his speed substantially.

"Had he been going the speed limit, this collision would have been avoided entirely."
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MoBikeFed membership drive--278/500 and moving!

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 6:03pm
Many, many thanks to the many of you who have joined, renewed, or made a donation towards MoBikeFed's Fall Membership Drive.

As you know, members like you are the power behind better, safer bicycling and walking in Missouri.

And together we are making a real difference in building more, better, safer places to walk and bicycle and to promote more healthy bicycling and walking across Missouri.

Our goal is 500 new or renewing MoBikeFed members by November 10th, and today we reached an important milestone--we're more than halfway there!

The official tally is 278 new/renewing members.

The good news is, our treasurer Fred Schmidt is working his way through a very large pile of new mail right now.

(Large enough that it took us two hours just to open, unfold, and sort--and Fred has received another batch of mail since then.)

So "officially" we are at 278 new/renewing members entered into our membership database, but I believe that we are at or very close to 400 new/renewing members based on the mail we have received (but not processed yet).

Regardless, we are very, very close to reaching our membership goal of 500--which means we will be able to end 2009 on a strong note and be well positioned to work on several important initiatives as the 2010 legislative session gets started.

So to all of you who have sent in a membership or donation recently--THANK YOU!

And if you have been thinking about sending in your membership or donation--NOW IS THE TIME!
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St. Louis Bicycle Friendly Community award--the details

Fri, 10/23/2009 - 3:34am
St. Louis held a news conference yesterday to celebrate the awarding of Bronze Level Bicycle Friendly Community status to the city by the League of American Bicyclists.

The full Bicycle Friendly Community application submitted to the League of American Bicyclists (PDF file) details real progress the city has made over the past several years.

The press release issued by Mayor Slay's office summarizes the highlights:
St. Louis has been designated as a Bicycle Friendly Community (Bronze Level) by the League of American Bicyclists. The designation recognizes work done over the past several years by Bike St. Louis, a community partnership managed by Great Rivers Greenway (GRG). The other partners include the City of St. Louis, St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation, Trailnet, and Grace Hill Settlement House. The national announcement recognized the City of St. Louis as one of 15 new Bicycle Friendly Communities (BFC) across the United States.

"The League is proud to present this award the City of St. Louis for its work to promote bicycle safety and education while encouraging bicycling in the community. We congratulates the City of St. Louis and its partnering organizations, as well as all of our BFC winners for implementing successful, long-term bicycle plans that provide quality of life improvements for their citizens, " said League President Andy Clarke. . . .

The League recognized the City of St. Louis as a stand-out community for its initiative and progress to become more bicycle-friendly. The BFC’s reviewers were impressed with the city’s accomplishments. These included more than 70 miles of on-street designated bicycle lanes throughout the city created by Bike St. Louis and the new McKinley Bridge Bikeway & Trestle, a 3,000 ft. long cantilevered bicycle lane spanning the Mississippi River from Missouri to Illinois that was developed by GRG. The City of St. Louis was a partner on both projects.

"This is a great recognition for four years of hard work by the City and our partners," said St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay. . . .

"St. Louis' designation as a Bicycle Friendly Community is very exciting. This award demonstrates the City’s commitment to making improvements in the bicycling environment and to providing an ever better quality of life for our people," said Patty Vinyard, Executive Director of the St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation. "At the St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation we work every day to make the entire St. Louis region a better place to ride a bike. We would like to congratulate the City of St. Louis as a leader in the region and we look forward to working together toward more improvements in our transportation network that benefit everyone."

Bike St. Louis, initiated by Lewis Reed, President of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, and U.S. Congressman Russ Carnahan, is managed by GRG. GRG is the public organization leading the development of a region-wide system of approximately 640-miles of interconnected greenways, parks and trails, known as "The River Ring." More information is available at bikestlouis.org and www.greatrivers.info.
MoBikeFed's Vision is to see many more Missouri communities join Columbia and St. Louis in becoming officially designated Bicycle Friendly Communities--and we would like to see Missouri become a Platinum Level Bicycle Friendly State as well.

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