(AP) — A northeast Kansas woman who spent the year after her 40th birthday performing 40 acts of goodness to honor people who made a mark in her life is inspiring others.
Tami Greenberg of Prairie Village called her project “A Year of Being 40 and Grateful.”
The story about her moved Danny O’Neill to tears. The founder of the Roasterie, a Kansas City coffee roaster, announced a similar goal and encouraged others to do the same in his annual Christmas letter, sent to nearly 14,000 people.
Others also were inspired. A work colleague sent a letter of thanks to an old teacher/coach from high school. Another woman started her own project for her 40th birthday.
Two northeast Kansas have been convicted in a $28 million drug trafficking conspiracy.
The U.S. attorney’s office said Marvin Lee Ellis, 36, of Kansas City, Kansas, was convicted Friday on one count of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine, three counts of distributing crack cocaine, one count of possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, one count of maintaining a residence in furtherance of drug trafficking one count of unlawful possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm after a felony conviction.
Vernon Brown, 36, also of Kansas City, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine.
Robert Vasquez of Socorro, Texas, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of money laundering. A fourth defendant was acquitted.
During trial, prosecutors presented evidence that the defendants were part of a drug trafficking organization that in October 2010 became the target of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The investigation yielded the seizure and forfeiture of more than $2 million in cash, 194 firearms, 29 vehicles, 26 kilograms of cocaine and three kilograms of crack.
Prosecutors presented evidence that the traffickers employed a group of couriers who would transport cocaine and marijuana from Mexico to Kansas City, and U.S. currency from the Kansas City area south to be smuggled into Mexico. Robert Vazquez was one of those couriers.
On Jan. 13, 2012, investigators were watching when Vasquez met other conspirators at the Swift commercial trucking center in Edwardsville, Kan., and placed a bag inside his semitrailer truck. Investigators followed him to the area of Pratt, where troopers stopped him and seized a black duffel bag containing about $550,000 in cash.
During trial, prosecutors also presented evidence that members of the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department’s narcotics unit working undercover were able to buy crack cocaine several times in February and March 2012 from Marvin Ellis at 921 Haskell and at other locations in Kansas City.
Ellis, Vasquez and Brown will be set for sentencing at a later date.
(AP) Gov. Jay Nixon says the incentive package Missouri offered Boeing showed the state is “ready to compete” in the global economy.
His statement came early Saturday morning, just after Boeing announced its new 777X airplane will be built in the Puget Sound region of Washington state. Boeing production workers agreed to concede some benefits in order for that to happen.
Nixon thanked the General Assembly, community colleges and local business and labor partners for the “nationally-recognized proposal,” which had authorized up to $1.7 billion in tax incentives over two decades.
He also said that Boeing’s decision last month to shift some research positions to Missouri is “proof positive” that the state is a “top destination for high-tech jobs and investment.”
A close vote by machinists union members approved contract concessions that mean Boeing will build the new 777X Dreamliner in the Seattle area. Missouri and about a dozen other states had hoped to attract the huge project.
The Missouri Legislature met in special session last fall to approve an incentive package specifically designed to encourage Boeing to build the Dreamliner assembly plant in Saint Louis County.
But after Friday’s vote, Boeing CEO Ray Conner said the union concessions mean the Dreamliner and its composite wing will be built in Washington. Missouri officials are still hopeful the state can play some role in the giant project.
Approximate location of the Saturday morning crash
Two teenagers were injured in a Saturday morning crash in Gentry County.
According to the Missouri Highway Patrol seventeen year old Riley D. Jones of Grant City was driving a 2008 Chevy Pickup north on 558th Road six miles north of Albany.
The truck was approaching a 90-degree turn and began sliding on the snow-covered road and went over the side of a bridge, down an embankment, and hit the ground. The truck came to rest on its wheels facing south at the bottom of a ravine.
Jones and a passenger in the truck, Jacob M. Caddenhead of Grand City, were transported to the hospital in Albany. They were not wearing seat belts.
The number of states reporting widespread seasonal flu activity jumped from 10 to 25 last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.
Widespread activity was reported in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington state and Wyoming, according to the CDC’s weekly flu advisory report, covering the week ending December 28.
“Widespread” means that more than 50% of geographic regions in a state — counties, for example — are reporting flu activity. It addresses the spread of the flu, not its severity.
Two new pediatric flu deaths were reported to the CDC last week, according to the report. One was associated with the H1N1 virus; another was associated with an influenza A strain. Six pediatric flu deaths have been reported since September 29, according to the CDC.
(AP) — President Barack Obama is urging Congress to reinstate jobless benefits for more than a million Americans.
In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama says the unemployment insurance is a “vital economic lifeline” for many people. And he says failure to reinstate the benefits will cause the economy to slow for all Americans.
A bipartisan proposal in the Senate would restore the benefits for three months. Obama says if lawmakers pass the measure, he will sign it.
Obama is due to return from vacation in Hawaii on Sunday.
Mississippi Congressman Gregg Harper delivered the Republican weekly address. He calls on the Senate to pass the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act. It seeks to boost funding for pediatric research at the National Institutes of Health.
Light snow will spreads southeast this evening through early Sunday. Anticipated snow totals range from less than an inch in far NW MO to greater than 4 inches in central MO, with higher amounts possible to our south and east. Behind this system, very cold temperatures will begin spreading into the area, allowing wind chills to drop as low as -25 to -35 degrees F. Dangerously cold wind chills are expected from Sunday evening through early Tuesday morning.
Saturday night A chance of snow, mainly before 1am. Cloudy, with a low around 7. Wind chill values between -7 and 3. North wind 15 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Sunday Partly sunny and cold, with a high near 8. Wind chill values between -9 and -14. North northwest wind 16 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Sunday Night Scattered flurries. Mostly cloudy, with a low around -10. Wind chill values between -21 and -31. Northwest wind 15 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph. Monday Mostly sunny and cold, with a high near 1. West northwest wind 13 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph. Monday Night Mostly clear, with a low around -7.
(AP) — The Agriculture Department says it’s making permanent rules that allow schools to serve larger portions of lean meat and whole grains in school lunches and other meals.
Guidelines restricting portion size were originally intended to combat childhood obesity, but many parents complained their kids weren’t getting enough to eat. School administrators say that rules establishing maximums on grains and meats are too limiting and make it difficult to plan daily meals.
The department eliminated limits and on meats and grains on a temporary basis more than a year ago. On Thursday officials made the rule change permanent.
The change was announced by Kevin Concannon, an undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services.
He says the department has delivered on its promise to give school nutritionists more flexibility in meal planning.
(AP) — Susan G. Komen for the Cure saw a drop of 22 percent in contributions in the year following the controversy over its decision, quickly reversed, to stop giving grants to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screenings.
Citing audited financial statements posted on its website this week, a spokeswoman for the Dallas-based breast cancer charity said contributions — including donations and corporate sponsorships — dropped from about $164 million from the fiscal year ending in March 2012 to $128 million in the year ending March 2013.
After news of the Planned Parenthood controversy broke in January 2012, several executives left and numbers fell at its fundraising Races for the Cure across the country.
