Archives for January 2011

Governor Jay Nixon has declared a state of emergency in Missouri and activated the Missouri National Guard ahead of the winter storm that is moving into the region.
Nixon and state emergency officials have been monitoring the weather since the weekend, when the Governor ordered that emergency generators be deployed to staging locations across the state. Then yesterday, Nixon signed an executive order declaring the state of emergency. That means that state agencies can help out local governments with their emergency plans. His executive order activated the National Guard, who will deploy throughout the state to help with the emergency.

..A CRIPPLING SNOW STORM EXPECTED TO HIT THE REGION…

.A POWERFUL AND POTENTIALLY LIFE-THREATENING STORM WILL IMPACT
OUR REGION EARLY THIS WEEK…BRINGING A VARIETY OF WINTER WEATHER
ALONG WITH IT. FREEZING DRIZZLE OR LIGHT FREEZING RAIN WILL CONTINUE
THROUGH THE DAY TODAY…PRODUCING A LIGHT GLAZING OF ICE THAT COULD
LEAD TO DANGEROUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS REGION WIDE. SOME LIGHT SNOW OR
SLEET MAY ALSO MIX IN ACROSS FAR NORTHERN MISSOURI BY LATE IN THE DAY
MONDAY. THE PRECIPITATION MAY TAPER OFF SOMEWHAT LATE THIS AFTERNOON
AND EVENING. HOWEVER THE PRIMARY STORM SYSTEM WILL BEGIN TO IMPACT
THE REGION BY EARLY TUESDAY AND CONTINUE THROUGH EARLY WEDNESDAY
MORNING.

WIDESPREAD HEAVY SNOW IS EXPECTED ACROSS MUCH OF THE REGION
TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT…WITH THE GREATEST IMPACTS EXPECTED FROM
CENTRAL INTO NORTHEAST MISSOURI EXTENDING BACK INTO THE KANSAS CITY
AREA. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF A FOOT OR MORE ARE EXPECTED FOR MOST
LOCATIONS EXCEPT FOR FAR NORTHWEST MISSOURI WHERE A STILL SIGNIFICANT
7 TO 10 INCHES ARE EXPECTED. IN ADDITION TO THE SNOWFALL…NORTH
WINDS WILL INCREASE TO BETWEEN 25 AND 35 MPH…WHICH WILL LEAD TO
CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW AND NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS
IN PORTIONS OF MISSOURI AND KANSAS. THIS MAY ALSO LEAD TO WIDESPREAD
POWER OUTAGES…WITH ADDITIONAL POTENTIAL STORM IMPACTS AS
TEMPERATURES PLUMMET TO BELOW ZERO BY WEDNESDAY MORNING. THIS STORM
WILL PRODUCE SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS ACROSS A LARGE PORTION OF THE
CENTRAL UNITED STATES…INTERESTED PARTIES SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR
FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THIS STORM.

MOZ005>008-014>017-022>025-312215-
/O.CON.KEAX.WS.W.0003.000000T0000Z-110202T1800Z/
HARRISON-MERCER-PUTNAM-SCHUYLER-DAVIESS-GRUNDY-SULLIVAN-ADAIR-
CALDWELL-LIVINGSTON-LINN MO-MACON-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF…BETHANY…PRINCETON…UNIONVILLE…
LANCASTER…GALLATIN…JAMESPORT…TRENTON…MILAN…GREEN CITY…
KIRKSVILLE…HAMILTON…POLO…CHILLICOTHE…BROOKFIELD…MACON…
LA PLATA
612 AM CST MON JAN 31 2011

…WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CST
WEDNESDAY…

A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR FREEZING PRECIPITATION AND HEAVY SNOW
REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CST WEDNESDAY.

* LOCATIONS…NORTHERN AND NORTHEAST MISSOURI INCLUDING
BETHANY…PRINCETON…TRENTON…CHILLICOTHE…AND MACON.

* TIMING…FREEZING DRIZZLE WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THIS EVENING ACROSS
NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST MISSOURI. HEAVY SNOW WILL THEN IMPACT
THE REGION TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING.

* SNOW AND ICE ACCUMULATIONS…A LIGHT GLAZE OF ICE UP TO A TENTH OF
AN INCH IS EXPECTED FROM NOW THROUGH THIS EVENING. SNOW
ACCUMULATIONS BETWEEN 12 AND 15 INCHES MAY BE POSSIBLE THROUGH
WEDNESDAY MORNING WITH THE HEAVIEST ACCUMULATIONS OVER EASTERN
MISSOURI.

* IMPACTS…POORLY OR UNTREATED ROADWAYS AND SIDEWALKS WILL BECOME
SLICK TODAY WITH THE FREEZING DRIZZLE. ONCE SNOW ARRIVES BY TUESDAY
MORNING…ROADS WILL RAPIDLY BECOME SNOW COVERED AND TRAVEL WILL BE
DANGEROUS IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE. THIS STORM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BRING
TRAVEL TO A HALT OVER MUCH OF KANSAS AND MISSOURI TUESDAY THROUGH
EARLY WEDNESDAY.

* OTHER IMPACTS…STRONG WINDS BETWEEN 25 AND 35 MPH TUESDAY
AFTERNOON WILL CREATE SIGNIFICANT BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW ALONG
WITH NEAR WHITEOUT CONDITIONS THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING. NEAR
BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE ON ALL MAJOR ROADWAYS
INCLUDING INTERSTATE 35 AND HIGHWAYS 65 AND 36. THE STRONG WINDS
MAY ALSO LEAD TO POWER OUTAGES…WHICH WOULD PRODUCE IMPACTS LONG
AFTER THE SNOW HAS ENDED AS TEMPERATURES FALL TO BELOW ZERO BY
WEDNESDAY MORNING.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

PRACTICE YOUR WINTER SAFETY RULES…KEEP A FLASHLIGHT…SHOVEL…
FOOD AND WATER IN YOUR CAR IN CASE OF EMERGENCY. TRAVEL ON
TUESDAY SHOULD BE AVOIDED AS PERSONS COULD BECOME STRANDED
RESULTING IN A POTENTIALLY LIFE-THREATENING SITUATION.

IN CASE OF POSSIBLE POWER OUTAGES…PERSONS ARE URGED TO ENSURE
AN AMPLE SUPPLY OF FOOD AND MEDICATION…AS WELL AS HAVING AN
ALTERNATIVE HEAT SUPPLY READY. DO NOT RUN GENERATORS INDOORS TO
PREVENT CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING. PROTECT YOUR WATER SUPPLY FROM
FROZEN PIPES.

CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS DURING THIS STILL
DEVELOPING WINTER STORM. TRAVEL SHOULD BE COMPLETED BEFORE ICY
CONDITIONS DEVELOP ON MONDAY AND AVOIDED THROUGH EARLY WEDNESDAY.

There’s a planning meeting tonight for that middle school trip to Washington DC. The meeting’s at 6:30 p.m. at Kirksville Middle School. So if you’re interested in going to DC this spring, you and your parents should go to the meeting. The plan is to see the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Memorial, the Capitol, the Museum of American History and the AIr and Space Museum. So, again, tonight, 6:30 at Kirksville Middle School.

The Missouri Labor Department says it recovered millions from people who were not entitled to unemployment compensation. The total was nearly six and a half million dollars. The department of labor said that more than a million of that money was collected from people charged with deceit and their cases went to local prosecutors. Department Director Larry Rebman said his men and women are protecting funds that need to go to honestly unemployed people, not those who are collecting a paycheck and an unemployment check. He said people need to be honest when they’re filling out weekly claims paperwork to get unemployment benefits because they can face felony charges and be imprisoned if the information is inaccurate. Rebman said local prosecutions were up about seven percent in 2010 over those in 2009.

Truman State officials are breathing a sigh of relief that they have to cut their budget by 7%. That’s because they’d been anticipating the need to cut much more money, on the order of 10- to 20-percent. Gov. Jay Nixon’s budget cuts higher education by 7 percent cut next school year, or about $3-million dollars in the case of Truman State.

Sill, President Troy Paino says, students probably will face tuition increases. They’ll be somewhat less than predicted. Budget Director Dave Rector tells the Truman Review deciding tuition costs for the next school year, which probably will not be finalized until April, will be a balancing act between making tuition affordable and covering the school’s costs.

Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill spent months encouraging her colleagues to join her in stopping senators from being able to anonymously hold legislation and nominees without public explanation.

Now, it appears, the US Senate will be a glass house of transparency.

She said the fellow members on the floor of the Senate, “If something’s not moving and no one knows why, and we figure out that one person has just decided to own the holds, that isn’t going to work. Because we’ll come right back and we’ll point out to the American public ‘believe it or not, they’re trying to get around this rule’. A warning to everyone: if we’re going to amend this rule, be prepared to live by it,”

McCaskill said today that her bill would find out those who would hold up legislation and hold them out to the American electorate. The measure passed the Senate 92 to 4.

A Moberly man is facing a federal indictment. The US Attorney’s office in St. Louis said yesterday that a federal grand jury indicted 36 year old Fredrick Murray on a felony count of receiving and possessing child pornography. If he’s convicted, he faces from five to 20 years in prison and up to a quarter of a million dollars in fines. The case was investigated by five different departments including Moberly and the FBI in Kirksville.

Police say a fugitive they’re looking for, may be armed. Law enforcement said it has received unconfirmed information that fugitive Frank Salsberry is in possession of a firearm. Law enforcement believes Salsberry should be considered armed and dangerous. As with most other crime related incidents, police ask that citizens only witness and pass along their observations to law enforcement, and not try to play hero and apprehend a suspect. Police urge the public not to put themselves in any danger.

“You’ve touched three people’s lives in some way, shape or form, and to me, that’s the biggest reward.”

That’s what Sara Rex, or anybody with the Red Cross will tell you happens when you give blood. But right now, they’re just telling you they need you, and its because of the winter weather.

“Across the nation, we have had to cancel numerous blood drives. We had actually lost 14 thousand pints of blood and platelets due to the cancellations since January first.”

Rex said people were canceling their donations because they couldn’t get out to give. That’s why Rex said they need you to come out and give, and they’re probably looking for your type.

“The call has been put out for O negative, O positive and also B negative type blood. Those are the types that we are low on at this time and that’s why we’re putting a request out for those donors to come in if at all possible.”

So, as long as you’re 16 years old, have your parents permission and you’re in good health, you can donate blood and help three people at once.

Officials say a water main repair yesterday has left some customers needing to boil water until tomorrow afternoon. According to a release from the Adair County Water Supply District, customers who live in an area bounded by Highway CC, Simler Trail, Millay Trail, Jersey Trail and Highway K south of Salisbury school need to boil water used for drinking.