This Is Just A Little Hatin' Place And You're Hillmomba Ally Masker-Aides

It is no secret that Mrs. HM does not like to wear a mask. Breathing back her own mouth and sinus bacteria give her a headache. So she eschews businesses that require a mask, choosing to spend her fortune elsewhere. The exception being the casino, since there is no no-mask casino choice.

Two weeks ago, the Hillmomba county health center passed a mask mandate, to run from September 14 to October 22. More on that in a minute.

Let the record show that Hillmomba County is home to two state prisons, each of which totals about 3000 inmates and staff. There is also a juvenile detention center for wayward youth, and a state mental hospital. The state of Missouri requires all inhabitants and staff at state facilities to be tested for the VIRUS. This is mass mandatory testing. Once initial testing is done, 10 percent of the facility's population will be randomly tested, weekly. As you might imagine, when the results came in from such large-scale testing, the "case numbers" exploded. The positive cases at the prison I pass by daily on the way to town were ALL asymptomatic upon the first round of tests. Yet the facility quarantined all positives (which were about 10 percent of the population, according to the Department of Corrections spokesperson).

Anyhoo... the state body in charge of old people requires mass mandatory testing of all residents and employees of nursing homes. So there's another big chunk of numbers coming in at once. The nursing homes segregate any symptomatic residents, and put the asymptomatic positives back in their regular places. Makes sense to me. Except that the nursing homes are testing TWICE A WEEK, all residents and employees, regardless of symptoms. This seems a bit excessive to me, like asking for false positives, or perhaps spreading it by getting so close to the oldsters and poking long sticks up their noses needlessly.

Anyhoo... from all this testing in such a short time frame, the "cases" increased dramatically. Meaning positive test results, not necessarily illnesses.

So... the county health center asked the general public to send opinions to their email account, concerning their desire for a county-wide mask mandate. According to the CHC (county health center), the results were about 50-50. They had a meeting which was supposed to be streamed, but the connection failed. People who attended the meeting alleged that most of the public present were against the mask mandate.

Because of the outcry concerning the meeting, saying something was fishy because we couldn't watch the video [this IS Missouri, after all, and you have to SHOW US to make us believe something], the CHC scheduled a SECOND meeting, at a larger facility, the following week. Unfortunately, it was at 4:00 p.m., same as the first meeting, a time most people are working or picking up children from the schools, which ARE open. There were more complaints.

The greatest complaint was that people were only allowed 30 minutes to speak before the vote, with a limit of 2 minutes each. Even reporters agreed that over 90 percent of the meeting attendees spoke AGAINST the mask mandate.

The CHC commissioners voted 3-1 to mandate masks in public, for any person 9 years old and up, when social distancing can't be maintained. The one declining vote was a local physician. The votes in favor came from a retired teacher, a current school superintendent, and a nurse practitioner who works at the CHC. All were publicly elected to be CHC commissioners.

Well! Such a can of worms has not been opened since the first day of trout season! People went ballistic. The main complaints, aside from being REQUIRED to wear a mask, were the penalty of a $1000 fine if you didn't, and the wording that absolved the CHC and commissioners of any legal responsibility if lawsuits resulted from their mandate. A local lawyer pointed out that the CHC did not have the power to enforce a fine, and could not hold themselves above legal action.

ANOTHER meeting was scheduled for the following Monday, which got a bit rowdy, with heckling from the anti-maskers. The CHC commissioners altered their mandate, after a discussion with their attorney and the opposing one, to take off the fine, and the freedom from legal action. Mainly because the County Commissioners said they would not uphold the mandate, and the local law enforcement entities said they would not enforce it.

 

There's also a rumor that the CHC got a lot of money to pass the mask mandate. I don't know the facts on this. The fact I DO know is that the CHC got over $500,000 of the CARES money (which totaled over $7 million for the county). That was applied for and approved, and will be documented as with their other expenditures, them being a public entity. So the rabid people are barking up the wrong tree with this money.

 

However, a County Commissioner (nothing to do with the CHC) said that there's another organization that was giving out health monies in Southeast Missouri, which could have been involved in such an act, which could explain the rapid passing of the mask mandate. Supposedly the city of Springfield got a lot of money for passing a mask mandate. They are in SouthWEST MO, so maybe there are regional organizations that have money to dole out for such things. Again, those are rumors. I haven't looked into them.

So... on paper, there's a mask mandate. In the community, not so much. The schools are not requiring students to wear a mask, but they must have one on them, to be put on if instructed. 

 

I take my mask in my pocket, and if requested to wear it (hasn't happened yet), I will put it on. All businesses have posted the mandate on the door. The CHC says they will inspect any business that is reported for noncompliance, and will make surprise visits to see for themselves. I do not want to cause any business to be shut down. However, if the employees aren't wearing a mask, I won't be, either.

 

Mainly this has just turned neighbor against neighbor. Some folks are calling for the recall of the CHC commissioners. Some want to march down their streets in protest. Others comment daily on the CHC website how much they revere the commissioners for their decision, and profess that anti-maskers are psychopathic killers who should be locked up. It seems the maskers dominate the comments, but the anti-maskers dominated the public meetings. I don't know what that says about society...

 

Two stories coming up on specific incidents.

In the meantime, STAY AWAY FROM ME, and KEEP YOUR FILTHY MASK TO YOURSELF! I'm pretty sure most Hillmombans are not washing their mask each day, or changing the disposable ones every few hours.