Hometown Matters

By Pauline Masson –  A crowd of over 200 packed the Pacific Government Center council chamber and lobby for the 10:30 a.m. Jan. 7 weekday/workday meeting to discuss a proposed data center on the Phelan Road farm owned and operated by Bill and Linda McLaren. In a last minute change, Beltline Energy, project developer was added to the meeting agenda to explain the data center they want to build on the 500-acre farm, which is currently outside the city limits. … Continue reading “Data Center Meeting Draws Crowd, Reveals Disconnect Between Mayor and Aldermen “

  By Alison Quennoz-Felts I’ve spent the last few days listening, reading, and trying to understand the many perspectives around the proposed data center. Our community is clearly expressing both support and concern, and I respect that people come to this issue with different hopes and priorities. I wrote this to help re-center the conversation around transparency, process, and public trust, regardless of where you personally land on the project. Emotional truth is valid, but procedural action is powerful. Much … Continue reading “Resident Says Hard Questions and Transparency Would Bring Powerful Answer To Data Center Talks”

By Pauline Masson –  The agenda for the Tuesday Jan. 27 meeting to discuss documents relating to a proposed data center has been amended. Under agenda item 4 Presentations, Beltline Energy has been added. It appears that Beltline Energy represents the developer / builder of a much debated (proposed) data center on Crooked Creek Beef Farm south of Pacific Beltline Energy, based in Atlanta, Georgia is an unfunded (no investors) company that specializes in the building, construction, and management of … Continue reading “Tuesday BOA Meeting Agenda Amended / Data Center Developer To Speak”

By Pauline Masson –  Rumors that a data center will be constructed in Pacific has sent an explosion of worry on local Facebook pages and word of mouth conversations. Artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, the backbone of the internet, are being constructed at a rapid pace all across the U.S. Tech companies have spent billions of dollars to build new ones, with promises of economic boons to cities where they locate.  They have also poured billions of dollars into local … Continue reading “Data Center Rumors Light Up Local Facebook Pages / City Wrestles with Non Disclosure”

  By Pauline Masson –  A colorful mayor who brought a public water system and volunteer fire department to the frontier town of Pacific while he still kept hogs in his backyard was among former leaders featured in a 2015 history program put together by former Mayor Jeff Titter and history author Sue Reed.  The material on past mayors was part of an exhibit showed during a dessert and coffee evening meeting at the Tri-County Senior Center, 800 W. Union, … Continue reading “Stories of Former Leaders Show How Past Politicians Shaped Pacific”

By Pauline Masson – The board of aldermen (BOA) approved a contract last Tuesday with Primary Concrete to build the much anticipated Jeffrey White Memorial Skate Park at a cost of $366,000 with certain contingencies in the contract. If the city cannot build the park with the available funds, the contingency says the city can back out of the approved contract. Based on a total cost of $481,144, the City of Pacific received a federal Land and Water Conservation Fund … Continue reading “Skate Park Construction Approved: Contingent on Final Plan. If Costs Run Over, City Can Back Out”

  By Pauline Masson –  Eighteen candidates have filed to be on the ballot for seven open seats in the April 7 municipal election, leading County Clerk Tim Baker to suggest that a big ballot could trigger big voter turnout. One candidate, Ward Three incumbent Scott Lesh filed for two seats. On Dec. 9, the first day of filing, Mr. Lesh filed to retain his Ward Three seat. On Dec. 30 the final day he filed for the office of … Continue reading “Voters Face Fullest Ballot in Recent Memory in the April 2026 Election. Scott Lesh Is seeking Two Seats”

  By Pauline Masson –  The late Carl Zitzman was 85 in the year 2000 when he told me a story of something that happened when he was a boy in downtown Pacific. He thought the event of his story took place in 1923 when he was eight years old, “But don’t hold me to that,” he said. Carl’s dad August Zitzman was the town barber. His barbershop was at the corner of St. Louis and Second Street, where Brown … Continue reading “Mystery of a Wind Up Christmas Train That Lingered for 77 Years”

By Pauline Masson –  After 73 years of alternating caretakers, Pacific’s Christmas tradition, the Nativity Scene in the Bluff face, is unveiled each December. The painted statues that make up a scene depicting Christ’s birth in a stable in Bethlehem are still the most familiar symbol of Christmas in the community. It was one of the city’s first tourist attractions, luring motorists out from St. Louis to see Christ’s birth re-enacted in a sand cave. It was also one of … Continue reading “Through 73 Years of Delight, Decay and Rotating Caretakers, a Community Tradition Lives On”