SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Southwest Honkeys gang member was sentenced to 25 years in prison this week for operating a methamphetamine conspiracy from his prison cell.
Eisenhour-photo Greene Co.
Nathaniel R. Eisenhour, 30, of Springfield, Mo., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 25 years in federal prison without parole. Eisenhour was sentenced for participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine from Dec. 15, 2016, to April 20, 2017. Eisenhour was incarcerated in the custody of either the Greene County jail or the Missouri Department of Corrections for almost the entire period of the conspiracy.
Eisenhour, a member of the Southwest Honkeys prison gang, admitted that he communicated with associates while he was incarcerated to sell methamphetamine and to collect money for past drug debts.
Eisenhour was arrested on Dec. 21, 2015, on an outstanding parole violation warrant. Eisenhour, while incarcerated, instructed one of his associates to take the money from drug sales to a family member. On Jan. 30, 2017, federal agents seized $31,800 from the family member who was holding the money for Eisenhour. In a jail call, Eisenhour had previously authorized another family member to obtain $200 from that same stash. The total of $32,000, including the seized amount and the $200 that was removed before the seizure, represented approximately 2.2 kilograms in methamphetamine sales, based on the price Eisenhour discussed with one of the associates who distributed for him after his arrest.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Department of Agriculture hopes to start issuing licenses for farmers to grow industrial hemp in time for next year’s spring planting season.
Agency spokeswoman Heather Lansdowne said on Friday that proposed rules and regulations were submitted earlier in the week to the Department of Administration. That’s the first step in a long process required to establish an industrial hemp program in Kansas.
The program will initially allow growing hemp only for research. But officials said in an economic impact statement that a successful research-based pilot program may lead to the eventual legalization of commercial industrial hemp.
Kansas lawmakers in April authorized the agriculture department to issue licenses allowing industrial hemp for research, and for other businesses to research potential commercial uses of the crop.
WARSAW, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri school district has adopted a four-day school week schedule.
Warsaw R-IX School District students now attend class Tuesday through Friday, the Sedalia Democrat reported . The Board of Education voted in March to switch to the new schedule.
The district hopes to increase instructional time and student attendance, said Superintendent Dr. Shawn Poyser.
“We have 83 percent of our students here 90 percent of the time,” Poyser said in March. “It’s a concern for us obviously.”
Warsaw will have 153 school days with the new schedule. A total of 30 minutes have been added to each school day to meet the state’s requirement for total minutes of instructional time.
Parents are encouraged to schedule doctor appointments and dentist visits for their children on Mondays. Parent-teacher conferences will also be held on Mondays. Some Mondays will be used as inclement weather days in case classes need to be cancelled.
Warsaw senior Heather Weaver said the new schedule gives students extra time to work on homework and projects.
“It’s definitely been a big change, but I think most of the students like it better,” she said.
Warsaw students who attend State Fair Community College’s Career and Technical Center still have Monday classes, said Eric Rehmer, the center’s director.
“There are no negatives from our end,” he said. “The school has been very supportive, and the kids have just been great. There is nothing that we are concerned with at this point.”
There are 25 schools in Missouri operating under the four-day schedule.
Northwest student Holly Hatfield wins Miss United States Agriculture 2018. Photo courtesy Northwest Missouri State University.
MARYVILLE, Mo. – A Northwest Missouri State University student brought home another national title in June by winning the Miss United States Agriculture crown in Birmingham, Alabama.
Holly Hatfield, a junior agriculture education, horticulture and agronomy major from Kirksville, Missouri, plans to use her title as Miss United States Agriculture to advocate for micro-industries and sustainability. She will spend a year learning about agriculture in other states, attending events and speaking to youth about the importance of the agriculture industry.
“A lot of people have misconceptions about the Miss United States organization,” Hatfield said. “The goal is to inspire young women to become passionate about advocating for the industry to make sure it stays alive.”
So far, Hatfield has traveled to nine state fairs. Hatfield will travel to the East and West coasts, and she will travel to Alaska. Hatfield also will travel to Savannah, Missouri, to read books to elementary school students for National Read a Book Day while representing the National Farm Bureau.
“I get to stay with the National Cover Miss in Alaska, and she is going to take me on an agriculture tour,” Hatfield said. “We are going to watch wheat physically grow and it’s going to be a blast.”
Women represent each state in the Miss United States Agriculture competition, which evaluates how each woman can portray her state while learning about other states. Hatfield competed against 27 women in her 17 to 21-year-old division.
“On the first night of the competition we did a meet and greet,” Hatfield said. “I sat down and met the all women I was competing against. I thought it was going to be very tense and no one would like each other. We started talking about the different agriculture in our states and we all bonded.”
Hatfield used the competition not only to learn about agriculture but to build connections.
“I saw this experience more as a networking opportunity rather than a pageant,” Hatfield said. “One of the judges gave me a job offer after the competition, which was awesome. You have to go in prepared for what could happen in the end.”
Hatfield says Northwest prepared her for the competition and related experiences through her coursework. She came to Northwest because Maryville’s small town atmosphere and Northwest’s agriculture program – which provides students with a multitude of profession-based experiences – appealed to her.
“I believe that the classes I took helped me prepare for this experience, especially the interview part,” Hatfield said. “I got asked a question about soils, and learning about soils was one of my favorite classes. The judge asked me a question and I immediately thought back to my class at Northwest.”
She added, “I get to do what I love every day. I came to Northwest wanting to be an agriculture education major because I want to spread positivity.”
At Northwest, Hatfield also is president of Sigma Society and a choreographer for Northwest Dance Company.
DENVER (AP) — A U.S. meatpacker has agreed to pay $1.5 million to 138 Somali-American Muslim workers who were fired from their jobs at a Colorado plant after they were refused prayer breaks.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Friday that Wichita, Kansas-based Cargill Meat Solutions also pledged to accommodate Somali-American workers’ prayer breaks at its Fort Morgan plant.
The EEOC says Cargill denies wrongdoing but agreed to settle to avoid further litigation.
Last year, the EEOC found that the workers were fired in 2016 after protesting a decision by plant management to stop permitting Muslim employees to take short breaks for prayer.
Hundreds of Somali-Americans work at the plant in Fort Morgan, located 75 miles (115 kilometers) northeast of Denver.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Two juveniles at Lawrence High School were arrested this week after a parent reported hearing that a student tried to sell a gun to another student.
Lawrence High -Google image
Principal Matt Brungardt said in an email to parents that police and school officials discovered the weapon had been taken from a parent’s home. Lawrence police recovered the firearm off the school campus.
District spokeswoman Julie Boyle said the gun was found Thursday. She says the parents of the students were notified and disciplinary action had been taken in accordance with district policy.
Lawrence officer Derrick Smith said Friday that two juveniles were arrested Monday morning on the school grounds.
The Douglas County District Attorney’s Office didn’t immediately respond to a question about whether charges would be filed.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — President Donald Trump is coming to Missouri as he pushes for Republican Josh Hawley to unseat Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill in a critical Senate race.
Trump’s campaign on Friday announced the planned Sept. 21 rally in Springfield, Missouri.
McCaskill is a top target for Republicans seeking to expand the party’s slim 51-49 edge in the Senate. She is among 10 Senate Democrats up for re-election this year in states that Trump won. She’s considered among the most vulnerable incumbents as she faces Hawley, the state’s attorney general.
Trump won Missouri by 18 percentage points in 2016.
Trump plans a heavy schedule of campaigning and fundraising through the Nov. 6 midterm elections. He cancelled a planned Thursday trip to Missouri in light of Hurricane Florence.
The Allied Arts Council and the City of St. Joseph are inviting artists to apply for the seventh traffic box project in Downtown St. Joseph.
According to a press release, the goal of Allied Arts Council’s Traffic Box Project is to create and paint art on traffic signal boxes in the Downtown area and turn street corners into pieces of art. The seventh traffic box is located on the northeast corner of 4th and Edmond Street.
Teresa Fankhauser, executive director of the Allied Arts Council, said she hopes to see a variety of submissions for this traffic box.
“This traffic box is larger than the others we have done,” Fankhauser said. “Artists have a lot more space to create and bring their design to life.”
The traffic box project launched in 2012. The average life of the Traffic Box Art is 10 years.
Artists need to send in a resume, references, a template for each submitted design (if more than one), and an artist statement for each design, postmarked by October 5th to the Allied Arts Council office. The selected artist will receive an honorarium of $1,500.
For more information visit the Allied Arts Council’s website, stjoearts.org, or contact Teresa Fankhauser at teresa.fankhauser@stjoearts.org, or (816) 233-0231.
MONITEAU COUNTY — One person died in an accident just before 6p.m. Friday in Moniteau County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 1986 Honda TRX 250 driven by Chester E. York, 78, Tipton, was northbound in the 72000 Block of Seed House Road. The vehicle began sliding on the gravel driveway and overturned. Mid-Mo. EMS transported York to St. Mary’s Hospital where he died.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The University of Missouri System plans to spend about $260 million in the next five years for scholarships and research as it tries to lure more students to the four state campuses.
System President Mun Choi made the announcement Friday while addressing campuses in Kansas City, Columbia, Rolla and St. Louis.
The Kansas City Star reports the money will come from investments expected to generate about $50 million a year, and from funds saved from cuts the system made last year.
Choi acknowledged the cuts in response to budget shortfalls were painful. But he says re-allocation of funds made the universities more affordable, which has led to increased enrollment and more spending on research.
The four university campuses are expected to make proposals to receive some of the $260 million.
