Archives for May 2017

Fake bomb threats were sent to at least 4 lcoations in the state yesterday, including in Kirksville and Edina.

The Kirksville Area Technical Center was closed for the day after a bomb threat was found at the school yesterday morning. The superintendent says a letter with a bomb threat was found by a teacher. The building was immediately evacuated and local law enforcement searched the building and found no explosives. As a precaution, the district’s other buildings were also evacuated and searched.

In Edina, a bomb threat found at the Blessing Center. It indicated bombs were inside and around the facility. The letter had an order to send a sum of money via Western Union to an individual in Chicago, Illinois.

The bomb threat scam cases have been turned over to the Missouri State Highway Patrol Division of Crime Control, which could then be turned over to the FBI.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported that the vehicle-tractor collision happened on Highway 36 , 1 mile west of Lentner in Shelby County at around 5PM last night. They say 39-year-old Misty Peart, of Clarence failed to see a John Deere Tractor in front of her driven by 54-year-old Richard Chinn, of Clarence, and rear ended the towed unit. Peart, who was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident, suffered moderate injuries and was life-flighted by Air Evac to University Hospital in Columbia for treatment.

A blood drive in memory of David Hall will be held from noon to 6 p.m. today inside the multipurpose building at the NEMO Fairgrounds. David lost his battle with acute myeloid leukemia in April of 2013. A press release says Hall was an extraordinary husband, father, brother and friend to many. He was very actively involved in the Kirksville community and was always willing to lend a hand to anyone in need. The blood drive is being sponsored by the Kirksville Lodge and city of Kirksville. Food and drinks will also be provided during the drive. To schedule an appointment for the event, contact Sonya at (660) 627-1272 or go online at redcrossblood.org.

Doing away with a torture chamber for animals in Missouri. Karen Johnson has the full story.

A recent move by animal shelter officials in central Missouri to destroy a gas chamber for animals has increased calls to shut down other such facilities across the state. The city of Moberly received a $3,000 grant from the Humane Society for dismantling and discarding the chamber. Humane Society State Director Amanda Good says since that time the group’s social media accounts have been flooded with tips. The use of gas chambers has long been treated as unnecessarily cruel since injection takes a matter of seconds, while death by gas chamber can take minutes. Only four states in the country still allow animal gas chambers to be used – Missouri, Ohio, Wyoming and Utah. I’m Karen Johnson.

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley is headed to court for political reasons. Karen Johnson explains.

Hawley says he’s appealing a federal judge’s ruling to block a new state ban on contributions between political action committees. Hawley has appealed the decision saying it’s his duty to defend the state’s constitution. About 70 percent of voters in November approved a state constitutional amendment on campaign finance limits and caps on political giving. I’m Karen Johnson.

Missouri’s Governor is announcing he will sign legislation to ban local governments from mandating union working conditions for construction projects. Karen Johnson reports.

It’s a move Governor Greitens touts as a way to lower costs of public construction but has met pushback from Democrats and unions. He says Project Labor Agreements drive up the cost of construction and kill jobs. He adds the top priority is more jobs for the people. We’re eliminating this sweetheart deal for special interests, protecting taxpayers, and creating more opportunity for all workers in Missouri. Governments that violate the law would lose state funding and tax credits for two years. I’m Karen Johnson.

A firefighter was killed in a single-vehicle crash in Scotland County last night.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol has identified the deceased as Jesse Ketchum of Downing, Missouri. The Scotland County Coronor said the 33-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene just before 7 p.m. The crash occurred three miles north of Memphis, on Highway 15 at about 6:15 p.m., and the firefighters were on a fire call when it happened. One of the trucks was going northand failed to negotiate a curve. The truck ran off the road and overturned a couple times and ejected both occupants. The other firefighter, John Chancellor of Downing, Missouri, was seriously injured and life-flighted to University of Missouri Hospital in Columbia.

Other area agencies are reacting to the news. The Schuyler County Missouri Sheriff’s Office says their thoughts and prayers are with the Memphis community and families of the firefighters!

A Huntsville woman is recovering from a crash in Macon County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports that the crash happened Thursday morning on Missouri 3 around a mile north of Kaseyville. The driver of a 2016 Ford Escape was reportedly attempting to pass a tractor that was making a left turn. The vehicle swerved to avoid the tractor, traveled off the left side of the road and struck a ditch. 53-year-old Cindy J. Latimer was taken by Macon County ambulance to Samaritan Memorial Hospital. The driver of the tractor was not injured. Macon County Fire and Rescue assisted the Highway Patrol at the scene of the crash.

A month after severe floods ravaged several parks and campsites across Missouri, most of them are open again in time for summer visitors. Karen Johnson reports.

Reports indicate that cleanup and repair is mostly complete at several parks and tourist sites along rivers in Missouri damaged in late April and early May when torrential rains caused creeks and rivers to rise suddenly, according to the St. Louis Post Dispatch. At Meramec State Park, where the Meramec River reached a record height on May 1, water took out valuable infrastructure and crews replaced 155 electrical boxes, three water heaters, four transformers, 19 campsite posts and several lanterns. Branches, mud and sand had to be removed from roads and facilities. For the most part park authorities say come on down, we’ll take care of you the water’s perfect. I’m Karen Johnson.

A class-action lawsuit is filed on behalf of about 80 inmates serving life sentences in Missouri for crimes they committed as minors. Karen Johnson has details.

The suit alleges the state’s parole process fails to give them a fair chance to be released. The MacArthur Justice Center at St. Louis filed the case this month in the U.S. District Court’s western district of Missouri. It alleges that the Missouri Department of Corrections and the state Parole Board are disregarding the inmates’ constitutional rights as youthful offenders. At issue is the state’s compliance with a 2012 high court decision banning mandatory life without parole prison terms for minors. Missouri was one of several states that had been sentencing teens to life sentences without any individualized consideration of their youth or ability to be rehabilitated. I’m Karen Johnson.