Healthcare officials urge the use of common health safety tips with the outbreak of Enterovirus D68

“What parents should remember is that any virus can cause somebody to be sick,” said Heartland Dr. Cynthia Brownfield. “It’s important to really teach kids to wash their hands frequently, not touch their face or their eyes or their nose, and cough and or sneeze into their sleeve because prevention is the key.”

According to the latest data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention 153 people from 18 states were confirmed to have respiratory illness caused by EV-D68. Those states include: Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

Children’s Mercy in Kansas City is reporting that cases of Enterovirus 68 are dropping. The hospital reported Monday that it is back to a normal number of patients in the hospital.

“This is a relatively rare virus, it does have clusters around the world here and there but this is the first time it’s been here in quite some time,” said Dr. Brownfield. “I’ve seen several cases where I could completely suspect that the child was suffering from D68 however, it’s not recommended to test any child that walks into the clinic.”

Dr. Brownfield said only patients who are severely ill are tested, which is why all of the statistics on the illness come from Children’s Mercy.

“It’s simply a virus, just like the common cold and most kids or most adults who are healthy will do just fine” said Dr. Brownfield. “However, it can present with pretty significant respiratory symptoms.”

The CDC expects to see an increase in confirmed cases of D68 because of delayed lab results. According to the CDCs website, it can take awhile to test specimens and obtain results due to a complex and slow testing process. As the backlog is processed the number of states with confirmed cases will likely increase.

ST. JOSEPH- A St. Joseph man was injured in an accident just after 6 a.m. on Thursday in Andrew County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse driven by Ryan E. Geiler, 37, was northbound on I-229 two miles north of St. Joseph when the vehicle hit a deer.

Geiler was transported to Heartland Regional Medical Center.

The MSHP reported he was properly restrained at the time of the accident.

Blue Sun has received BQ-9000 Producer status from the National Biodiesel Accreditation Commission and National Biodiesel Board. There are fewer than 50 companies that have achieved this milestone recognition.

“We have always been focused on producing the very highest quality fuel. This recognition of Blue Sun as a BQ-9000 Producer validates the focus and attention to quality fuel that our team gives every day,” said Leigh Freeman, CEO of Blue Sun.

The NBAC’s National Biodiesel Accreditation Program, BQ-9000®, is a cooperative and voluntary program for the accreditation of producers and marketers of biodiesel fuel. The program is a unique combination of the ASTM standard for biodiesel, ASTM D6751, and a quality systems program that includes storage, sampling, testing, blending, shipping, distribution, and fuel management practices.

The Blue Sun process includes a biodiesel distillation step, which further elevates the quality of the fuel. Blue Sun fuel exceeds ASTM D6751, particularly in low contaminants including very low monoglycerides (below 0.1%) and excellent cold soak performance.

“Blue Sun consistently demonstrated for BQ-9000 accreditation high quality in all samples received and tested by Gorge Analytical,” said Jeff Fetkenhour, President of Gorge Analytical, LLC.

The Blue Sun St. Joe Refinery is a 30 million gallon per year facility centrally located in Saint Joseph, Missouri.

“From the first day of production, the St. Joe plant has followed the principles of the BQ-9000 program. Quality is important because quality leads to outstanding fuel performance, which leads to a comfort level for our customers with Blue Sun biodiesel,” said Sean Lafferty, Vice President Technology and New Business.

BQ-9000 status represents yet another achievement for Blue Sun, the company that established the first high-quality biodiesel specification and in 2004 introduced the most advanced biodiesel under the brand Fusion™.

The refinery completed their first-of-a-kind enzymatic transesterification process in late 2013. Blue Sun specializes in identifying promising technologies in renewable fuels and taking them to commercial reality.

The Kansas state highway system is ranked the nation’s fifth best in overall highway performance and efficiency in a report released today by the Reason Foundation.

The 21^st Annual Highway Report, which is based on 2012 data, ranked Kansas number one in the category of rural interstate pavement condition, third in urban interstate congestion and fifth in rural arterial pavement condition.

The state-controlled highway system, which is the 27^th largest system in the country, has consistently placed in the top tier of Reason reports. Kansas’ overall rankings in recent reports are third in 2011, second in 2009, third in both 2008 and 2007, fifth in 2006, and third in 2005. There is no report for 2010.

“Kansans and their leaders should be proud of the highway system they have supported through long-term funding programs since 1989,” said Transportation Secretary Mike King.

“We’ve built a system that effectively and efficiently serves Kansas families and businesses. And we continue to make improvements that strengthen the state’s freight networks, boosting the Kansas economy.”

The Kansas Department of Transportation is currently in the fourth year of the 10-year T-WORKS transportation program. In 2010, Kansas highways were ranked the nation’s best in a report published in Reader’s Digest magazine.

Reason Foundation’s most recent top 10 rankings based on overall performance and cost- effectiveness:

1. Wyoming
2. Nebraska
3. South Dakota
4. South Carolina
5. Kansas
6. North Dakota
7. New Mexico
8. Mississippi
9. Montana
10. Kentucky

The full report is posted on the Reason Foundation website.

A growth in the School to Business Partnership Program with the St. Joseph School District has the district looking at a higher level of community participation.

“it’s just a positive thing,” said SJSD Partnership Coordinator Mike Buckler. “That way you get people from the community actually in our doors and they see what’s going on.”

The Business Partnership Program has been a part of the school district for around 15 years. Partnerships include many activities from employees taking part as volunteer mentors, internship opportunities for students, financial assistance for field trips, and student rewards. Currently the district has 157 business partners which Buckler said is an increase of 16 from last year, nine of which signed up in the past three weeks.

“The very first thing that I never do is go out and ask for money,” said Buckler. “We want businesses to be involved with our students and our staff by their time with mentors, their efforts in coming by and reading to our kids over lunch or doing field trips out to their businesses.”

Buckler said there’s many opportunities for businesses to become a business partner with the district. Buckler said he’s always looking for business partners.

“The nice thing about our business community is they step up and help out any way that we ask,” he said.