Author Archives: Harry Styron

Stimulus or business as usual?

Posted on April 11, 2010 by Harry Styron

It’s hard to argue with a new bridge.

The view of the existing bridge between Branson and Hollister is now a historical relic. A new bridge is being constructed now, as you can see below. Once the new bridge is completed, the old bridge (built in 1931) will be closed for major repairs before reopening in a couple of years.

The $7.4 million new bridge project is being paid for largely by so-called stimulus funding, appropriated under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The rehabilitation of the old bridge is is financed from an $4.8 million earmark arranged by Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted in Branson, Branson-Missouri, economic development, Missouri economy, Ozarks economy. Bookmark the permalink.

Happy belated April Fools Day

Posted on April 6, 2010 by Harry Styron

Due to my involvement in a trial last week, I didn’t get around to posting a spoof that’s been rattling around in my head for many years. I’ve posted it in the Diversions section of Ozarks Law  & Economy and will be anxious to see how it’s received. Here’s the link: Unexpected discovery challenges Intelligent Design at Ozarks college

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City of Sullivan must charge everyone the same tap fee

Posted on April 3, 2010 by Harry Styron

This post has been removed because the Missouri Supreme Court’s opinion in City of Sullivan v. Sites overruled the Court of Appeals’ opinion in  City of Sullivan v. Sites and affirmed the trial court’s decision upholding different tap fees for different parts of town.

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Missouri law in federal court: how does it work?

Posted on March 29, 2010 by Harry Styron

Federal courts apply state law, but not state procedural rules. The long but clearly written opinion by the U. S. Court of Appeals in Cole v. Homier Distributing  Company provides good examples of how federal courts apply state law, but use federal procedural rules to do so. Read the rest of this entry →

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Branson lakefront deal goes from good to bad. Not what you’re thinking, though.

Posted on March 21, 2010 by Harry Styron

You know the story. The City of Branson gives a great deal to a private business to create an attraction on the Taneycomo lakefront. A few years later, the City doesn’t think the deal is working well for the City. The political winds have changed. Now there’s a lawsuit. Here’s how it went down, more than a half-century ago.

Jim Owen–not to be confused with the singer–played a major role in putting Branson on the tourism map. A consummate promoter of float fishing on the James and White rivers and tourism and commerce in the Branson area, he was unstoppable. Born in Webster County, Missouri (east of Springfield), he came to Branson in 1933, already experienced with public relations.

Soon Jim had built a movie theatre and started a float fishing business that got national attention and was also a banker and farmer. Some fine person posted this promotional silent film of one of his trips (11 minutes long) Read the rest of this entry →

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Missouri judge rewrites non-compete agreement, but won’t enforce what’s left

Posted on March 16, 2010 by Harry Styron

You pay a lawyer to write a bulletproof contract.  Then you have to pay a lawyer to go to court to make it stick. Then the judge rewrites it to the point that it doesn’t do what the parties agreed. Look at Paradise v. Midwest Asphalt Coatings, issued March 16, 2010 by the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District of Missouri.

Bob Paradise signed an employment contract with a “non-compete clause,” promising that Read the rest of this entry →

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Reformation, or when may a court change a deed?

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Harry Styron

When Rocky Lawrence saw the rig move onto his property to drill a gas well, he checked his deed. Sure enough, nothing on the deed indicated that the seller of the property reserved the mineral rights.

Patsy Barnes saw the same drilling rig and went to Conway Title Company to make sure that she had reserved the mineral rights when she signed the deed conveying that property to Lawrence.   She was certain that the contract for sale stated that the mineral rights would not be conveyed to Lawrence.

Sarah at Conway Title had one of those awful moments, realizing that the reservation of mineral rights was not in the deed that Patsy signed, though the purchase contract stated that the mineral rights would be reserved to the seller. Sarah asked Lawrence to sign a correction deed, but he refused. Then Lawrence filed a quiet title suit, hoping to affirm that he and his wife owned the mineral rights and would receive royalties from natural gas produced from the well on their land.

People ought to be bound by what they sign, especially when it comes to real estate. Otherwise, what would be the point of putting the contract or deed in writing or reading a contract before signing it?

Mistakes are inevitable, and it would be unfair to allow someone to benefit from a mistake at the expense of another. Courts have developed the equitable remedy of reformation for the correction of mistakes and have also developed some strict rules for determining whether to reform a contract or a deed. Though the exact rules vary a bit from state to state, the basic rules are these: Read the rest of this entry →

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Why get a lawyer to help you sell a business?

Posted on March 8, 2010 by Harry Styron

In this interview for the New York Times’ online “You’re the Boss” feature, I give some of the reasons. Here’s the link: http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/08/how-a-lawyer-can-help-you-sell-your-business/

Bentonville business broker Barbara Taylor interviewed me a couple of weeks ago.

Barbara is one of a dozen or so business people whose blogs appear in the Small Business Section of the online version of the New York Times. Jack Stack, of Springfield, Missouri, is the other Ozarks representative on the Times’ blogging roster.

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KIDSCOUNT Map: Ozarks not looking good by these measures

Posted on March 5, 2010 by Harry Styron

I like living in Southern Missouri, but I don’t like everything about it. In particular, children have a noticeably difficult time with basic needs.

This map allows you to see how each Missouri county’s children rank according to:

  • % on free and reduced school lunches
  • births to mothers without high school diplomas
  • infant mortality
  • child death rates
  • child abuse and neglect rates
  • out-of-home placement
  • high school dropout rates
  • births to teen mothers
  • teen violence

This map is prepared by a non-partisan, non-profit advocacy group, Citizens for Missouri’s Children, with the financial support of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, compiles and maps statistics which tell us something about the children of Missouri.

The counties which look worst by these measures are scattered around the state, with St. Louis City being at the bottom. But the counties of the Ozarks and, especially, the Bootheel, don’t look well.

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Missouri Supreme Court calls “foul!” on Springfield’s red-light traffic camera

Posted on March 2, 2010 by Harry Styron

This is a $100 case. But sometimes, it’s not the money–it’s the principle.

Those are the surprising words of the Missouri Supreme Court.

The City of Springfield’s camera caught Adolph Belt’s car moving through a red light. Three months later, the City sent Belt a ticket for running a red light, and notified him that he could pay a $100 fine or request a court date. If he chose to appear in court, he faced a penalty of at least $100.

Belt requested a court date and received written confirmation that he would have a “contested hearing” to be held under the provisions of Chapter 536 of the Missouri Revised Statutes, also known as the Administrative Procedures Act.

Belt appeared at the hearing and contested the camera’s finding. A 30-veteran of the Missouri Highway Patrol with five years experience as a Kansas City traffic officer, Belt sensed that the yellow caution light cycle was too quick. He measured it with a stopwatch and presented his findings at the hearing to Todd Thornhill, a municipal judge who was acting as an “administrative hearing officer.” Thornhill didn’t accept the validity Read the rest of this entry →

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