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Driver hospitalized in St. Jo after semi jackknifes in the snow

ATCHISON COUNTY, Mo — One person was injured in an accident just after 5:30a.m. Thursday in Atchison County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2013 Kenworth semi driven by Eric J. Starr, 39, Raytown, was northbound on Interstate 29 four miles north of Corning. The semi slid off the snow-covered road into the median and jackknifed.

Atchison-Holt County Ambulance transported Starr to Mosaic Life Care. He was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the MSHP.

Rep. Solon passes St. Joseph Land Bank Bill out of the House

State Representative Sheila Solon (R-St. Joseph) passes Land Bank Bill through the Missouri House of Representatives. Photo courtesy Tim Bommel, House Photographer.

Jefferson City, Mo. – State Representative Sheila Solon (R-St. Joseph) successfully passed HB 821 through the Missouri House of Representatives and moved it to the Senate on Thursday.

According to a news release from Solon’s office, this legislation will allow the city of St. Joseph to create a land bank with the ultimate goal of getting abandoned properties in the hands of responsible owners.

“I was asked to handle this legislation by the city of St. Joseph; it is a top priority for them. I am thankful that I was able to get it passed out of the House and moved to the Senate where Senator Tony Luetkemeyer (R-Parkville) has agreed to handle this legislation for me” said Solon.

According to the news release, the city of St. Joseph currently has approximately 450 vacant structures that are considered dangerous and are in violation of the Property Maintenance Code. This legislation will give an incentive for responsible borrowers to invest in these properties and either bring them up to safe standards or possibly tear them down and rebuild.

Missouri man dies after fire in home with no working alarms

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Authorities say a Springfield man has died after a house fire.

Crews on the scene of the fatal fire-photo courtesy KYTV

The fire department reported that crews were called to the home around 7:30 a.m. Thursday. Firefighters found the man while searching the home, but resuscitation attempts weren’t successful. The man’s name wasn’t immediately released, pending notification of relatives.

The post provided no details on the cause of the fire. It says no working smoke alarms were found in the home.

Obituaries March 7th

Marjorie Mary Minnis
1933 – 2019

Marjorie Mary (McGrath) Minnis, 85, of St. Joseph, Missouri passed away March 6, 2019.

Marjorie was born on July 27, 1933, in Waverly, Kansas to the late Harry and Effie (Fashing) McGrath.

Marjorie married D. Douglas Minnis on May 26, 1956. She was a member of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Altar Society, Funeral Luncheon Committee and MWSU Faculty Wives. Marjorie was a pillar of faith and a strong supporter of Catholic education. She demanded of her children to always do their best, and finish what they started. She committed herself to her family and to the many children who called her Nanny.

In addition to her parents, Marjorie is preceded in death by her brother James McGrath. Surviving family includes husband Doug Minnis; children, Catherine Maurin (Steve), Kansas City, Kansas, and her children Stephen Maurin, Anne Maurin and Elizabeth Maurin; Stephen Minnis (Amy), Atchison, Kansas, and his children Matthew Minnis (Mary Katherine), Michael Minnis and Molly Minnis; Mary Margaret Gray (Neal), St. Joseph, Missouri, and her children Michael Evans (Becky), Mary Catherine Caskey (Aaron), Jane Gray and Joseph Gray; John Patrick Minnis (Angela), Overland Park, Kansas, and his children Jack Minnis, Andrew Minnis, Maggie Minnis and Michael Minnis; five great-grandchildren, Lucy, Oliver & Augie Evans, Catherine Caskey, Joseph Minnis; siblings, Donald McGrath, Dean McGrath, Philip McGrath, Patrick McGrath and Edward McGrath; numerous nieces, nephews and friends.

Mass of Christian Burial: 10:00 AM Saturday, March 9, 2019 at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church. Interment Mt. Olivet Cemetery in St. Joseph, Missouri. Visitation: 9:00 AM Saturday; Parish Rosary: 9:40 AM Saturday, March 9, 2019, both at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church.

The family has requested that memorials be made to St. Francis Xavier School or Bishop LeBlond High School.

 

Janet M. Wiedmer
1950 – 2019

WATHENA,KANSAS – Janet M. Wiedmer, 68, of Wathena, Kansas passed away Tuesday, March 5, 2019 at Mosaic Life Care, surrounded by her family.

Janet was born on June 7, 1950 in St. Joseph, Missouri to Raymond and Marie Roseberry. She graduated from Central High School in 1968, attended and graduated from Platt Business School. Janet married Wayne Wiedmer on June 14, 1975. They had one son, Brent Wiedmer and spent their married life in Wathena, Kansas. She worked at the Northwest Missouri Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center as a Data Entry Operator before retiring in 2000.

She was preceded in death by her father, Raymond and her brother, David Roseberry. Janet is survived by her husband, Wayne of the home; their son, Brent (Heather) and grandsons; Brody and Blakely of Maysville, Missouri; her mother, Marie Roseberry of St. Joseph, Missouri; sisters; Gayle Roe, Judy (AJ) Wiedmaier and Lori Supple all of St. Joseph, Missouri; brothers; Roger (Anne) Roseberry of St. Joseph, Missouri; Rick (Judy) Roseberry of El Paso, Texas; sisters-in-law; Dawn Sellars of Stewartsville, Missouri; Sherrel (Billy) Coats of St. Joseph, Missouri; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

Funeral Service: Friday, March 8, 2019 – 10:30 A.M.
At: First Baptist Church in Wathena
Visitation: family will receive friends Thursday evening 6-8 pm at the Harman Rohde Funeral Home in Wathena. Friends may call after 12 noon Thursday at the funeral home.
Burial: Bellemont Cemetery in Wathena, Kansas

Memorials: God’s Mountain, 14771 So. West Old Hwy, Rushville, MO. 64484.

 

Eugene Trace Heggestad
March 2, 2019

Eugene Trace Heggestad, 73, passed away March 2, 2019.

Survivors: wife Claudia; children, Hooker Heggestad and Christine Heggestad; grandchildren, Hank Heggestad and Lauren Salyer; many other relatives and friends.

Eugene has been cremated under the direction of Heaton-Bowman-Smith & Sidenfaden Chapel. Celebration of Life at a later date.

Thursday’s Closing Grain Bids

March 7th, 2019

 

St Joseph

 

Yellow Corn

3.50

White Corn

no bid

Soybeans

8.42 – 8.54

LifeLine Foods

3.58

 

 

Atchison

Yellow Corn

 3.59 – 3.63

Soybeans

 8.42

Hard Wheat

 3.89

Soft Wheat

 3.88

 

 

Kansas City Truck Bids

Yellow Corn

3.50 – 3.65

White Corn

3.71 – 3.77

Soybeans

8.50 – 8.76

Hard Wheat

4.13 – 4.58

Soft Wheat

 4.08 – 4.18

Sorghum

5.81 – 5.90


USDA Cash Grain Prices

For more information, contact the 680 KFEQ Farm Department.
816-233-8881.

Trade Gap with China Reaches All-time High

As the Trump administration works towards an agreement with China to end the tit-for-tat trade war put in place by the Trump administration, the federal government Wednesday reported the trade deficit in goods with China set a record in 2018. The trade gap rose to $419.2 billion in 2018, from the previous record of $375.5 billion in 2017, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.

Trump imposed billions of dollars of tariffs on China in the last year to pressure the nation to enter trade talks with the United States. Those trade talks could reach an agreement at the end of this month, but the damage from the trade war remains. China imposed tariffs on U.S. agriculture products, causing further market harm to U.S. producers.

Meanwhile, the report shows the U.S. exported a record $147.4 billion worth of food, feeds and beverages in 2018. The U.S. also set record export levels to more than 50 countries, including Mexico and Japan.

Farmer patience on tariffs comes with caution flag for Trump

WASHINGTON (AP) —Hog farmer Howard Hill is feeling the pinch from President Donald Trump’s get-tough trade policies — his pigs are selling for less than it costs to raise them. It’s a hit that Hill is willing to take for now, but his understanding also comes with a caution flag for the president.

Former Kansas congressman and current U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addressed farmers this week in Iowa- photo courtesy U.S. Office of Secretary of State

“We have patience, but we don’t have unlimited patience,” says Hill, who raises about 7,000 hogs a year near the central Iowa town of Cambridge.

The president’s willingness to pick trade fights with multiple trading partners at once has set off volleys of retaliatory tariffs, driving down the price of pork, corn and soybeans in political bellwether Iowa and elsewhere, and contributing to a 12 percent drop in net farm income nationally last year.

At issue are trade talks with China over intellectual property theft and a new U.S. deal with Canada and Mexico to replace NAFTA that is awaiting congressional approval. Those efforts could take months to complete. So scores of farm and business groups are pressing for quicker relief, a stopgap step to help them out until the more comprehensive trade agreements are resolved. They’re urging the administration to remove Canada and Mexico from the list of nations hit with a 25 percent tariff on steel shipped to the U.S. and a 10 percent tariff placed on aluminum. Their hope is that action would give the U.S. neighbors cause to remove retaliatory tariffs they placed on U.S. goods, such as a 20 percent levy Mexico placed on U.S.-produced hams.

So far, the administration hasn’t bit on that idea, but it dispatched Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Iowa this week to assure farmers that help is on the way.

For now, Trump is walking a political tightrope: Going to bat for steel and aluminum makers has endeared him to many voters in Ohio and Pennsylvania, where steel production is a matter of economic pride and legacy, but it could end up hurting him in ag-heavy states like Iowa and Wisconsin that backed him in 2016.

In Iowa, which casts the first votes of the presidential campaign season, state Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kauffmann said he’s surprised by how patient farmers have been with Trump. The Trump Agriculture Department did approve up to $12 billion in assistance to help compensate farmers caught up in the tariff battle.

“They all say it’s hurting,” Kauffman said of the trade disputes. “They’re all saying the stopgap relief was definitely not a cure-all, but they all understand what the president is trying to accomplish. It’s quite an interesting phenomenon.”

But the defeat of two Republican House lawmakers in last year’s midterm elections hints at some of the anxiety in farm country.

State Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price said the political climate in the state has changed since Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton by 9 percentage points in 2016, in part because of trade.

“These tariffs are kind of a slow burn. People are getting more and more frustrated,” Price said. “It’s one of the reasons Donald Trump is going to lose Iowa in 2020.”

Some of the Democratic candidates for president are starting to differentiate themselves from Trump on trade when talking to Iowa voters. Sen. Kamala Harris of California has criticized the president’s “go it alone” attitude. Former Rep. John Delaney of Maryland says “we’re not going to succeed in the global economy by enacting protectionist policies.”

Still, some Democrats could have trouble seizing on the issue. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont spent much of the 2016 campaign railing against the very trade deals that Trump denigrated, calling them “disastrous” for blue-collar workers.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is among the lawmakers urging the Trump administration to lift the steel and aluminum tariffs on products brought in from Canada and Mexico. He said it’s a first step to getting the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement through Congress. He also said it would improve the financial picture for farmers.

“Unfortunately we’re starting to see more and more warning signs that farmers are running out of leeway with their bankers and landlords,” Grassley said.

Pompeo sought to calm some of those nerves Monday even as he warned that Chinese theft of technology affects agriculture, too.

“The good news is this — help is on the way,” Pompeo said. “American producers and Chinese consumers will both be better off. The outcome of President Trump’s trade negotiations currently under way will pay dividends for people in each of our two countries.”

Hill said he was encouraged by Pompeo’s remarks.

“I think people recognize, particularly with China, they have not been playing by the rules for a long time,” Hill said. “I think producers are supportive of trying to correct these issues. On the other hand, we don’t want it to go on forever.”

The American Farm Bureau Federation reports that Chapter 12 farm bankruptcies in the U.S. went down in 2018 compared with prior-year levels. But it also noted that farm debt is at a record high, and that lending standards are tighter and the cost of credit is rising.

“Certainly many farmers have liquidated assets to discharge debt. How much longer can many others endure remains a question,” the farm group said.

2 members married to backers of Missouri bill to strengthen panel

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Two members of a Missouri commission that would gain authority to review sex-based discrimination complaints in higher education have ties to backers of the legislative change.

Commissioner Renee Slusher courtesy photo

At issue is a bill moving through the Missouri Legislature that would give the five-member Administrative Hearing Commission the authority to review Title IX cases. Those cases deal with sexual assault, harassment and other sex-based discrimination in colleges and universities.

Commissioner Renee Slusher is married to Columbia defense attorney Chris Slusher, who testified in favor of the measure during a Tuesday legislative hearing and told lawmakers he has represented people facing Title IX allegations. Presiding and Managing Commissioner Audrey Hanson McIntosh is married to lobbyist Richard McIntosh, who is pushing the measure.

Richard McIntosh said his wife could simply step back from cases if any were impacted by his work. He also said laws aren’t passed based on “who’s currently in a position (or) who’s not in a position.”

“The law will exist long after Richard McIntosh is no longer lobbying and Audrey McIntosh is no longer an administrative law judge,” he said. “It doesn’t matter whether Audrey was there or not.”

Measures pending in the House and Senate would enact additional rights to people accused sex-based discrimination, such as sexual harassment or assault. The legislation includes the option to appeal a university decision or directly bring a claim to the Administrative Hearing Commission.

The legislation also would require that students be guaranteed the right to be represented by an attorney and either cross-examine witnesses “or present questions for the purpose of cross-examination.”

The bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Dean Dohrman, told members of the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that his bill would “help bring back the basic tenet of due process.”

Other provisions in the bill include ensuring that students’ have the right to “reject any decision maker who has a bias or conflict of interest or who is a friend of any witness through any interaction, including any online interaction.”

The bill requires that colleges “refrain from using the term ‘survivor’ or any other term that presumes guilt” before a finding of guilt. University staffers charged with making formal decisions on complaints would be required to sign an affidavit listing prejudicial beliefs or “previous experiences that would provide actual or perceived bias.”

Some committee members raised concerns about whether the provisions could have a chilling effect and dissuade victims from coming forward.

But Chris Slusher told committee members that fairness throughout the process is necessary.

“If you deny someone the ability to defend themselves so fundamentally to reach a policy goal or to avoid the problem of maybe creating more reluctance of people to report these things, then I think that’s something that our system has to live with,” Slusher said.

USDA Announces Additional Steps to Stop African Swine Fever from Entering U.S.

The Department of Agriculture has announced additional steps to keep African swine fever from entering the United States, even as the disease spreads internationally. The steps strengthen the protections announced last fall after the deadly swine disease reached China. USDA says the goal remains to protect our nation’s swine industry from the disease.

The new measures include training additional beagle teams with Customs and Border Patrol to identify pork products, expand screening of arriving products into the United States, increase inspection of garage feeding facilities, develop reliable testing procedures for the virus in grains and feeds, and heighten producer awareness. USDA says the steps are in continued cooperation with Canada and Mexico on a North American coordinated approach to ASF defense and response.

ASF is a highly contagious and deadly viral disease affecting both domestic and wild pigs in all age groups. It is spread by contact with the body fluids of infected animals. It can also be spread by ticks that feed on infected animals.

Jury: Russian woman guilty of international parental kidnapping in Kansas

WICHITA, KAN. – A jury returned guilty verdicts Wednesday in the federal trial of a Russian-born woman accused of unlawfully taking her child out of the United States and keeping the child away from the child’s father in Kansas, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.

Mobley is being held in Harvey Co.

Bogdana Alexandrovna Mobley, 38, was found guilty on one count of international parental kidnapping and two counts of attempting to extort money from the child’s father.

During trial, the prosecutor presented evidence that in April 2014 Mobley took a child of hers (identified as S.M. in court records) to Russia despite the fact the biological father, Brian Mobley, had been awarded joint custody in Sedgwick County District Court. At the time, the Mobleys had a pending divorce case before the court. The defendant did not obtain the permission of the court or Brian Mobley before going to Russia with the child. The child still has not returned to the United States.

Between April 2014 and November 2016, the defendant only permitted Brian Mobley to communicate with S.M. via cell phones and Skype applications. She told Brian Mobley that he needed to send her money in order to see the child.

Sentencing is set for May 20. She faces up to three years in federal prison on the kidnapping charge and up to 20 years on the extortion counts.

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