A 33-year-old woman from Agency, Missouri was killed over the weekend in a hit-and-run crash in Clinton County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol says Haley Triggs was driving along U.S. Highway 169 early Saturday morning when her vehicle crossed the center line and hit a tractor-trailer.

The accident was reported at 1:35 a.m. two miles south of Grayson, Missouri according to a corrected crash report from the patrol.

The driver of the semi left the scene of the accident and has not been identified by the MSHP.

The Soles for Christ Shoe Program distribution will be Monday, August 8 from 8 am to 4 pm and Tuesday, August 9, 8 am to 6 pm.

The distribution will be held at AFL-CIO Community Services, the agency sponsoring the program, at 1203 North 6th Street. There is no pre-registration needed. No appointment is necessary.

The program will serve children entering preschool through 12th grade in Andrew and Buchanan Counties in Missouri and Doniphan County in Kansas. This includes public and parochial children. 

Parents or guardians must bring children with them to the distribution. The parents will be required to provide two different pieces of information. They will be required to provide one form of identification for each child to show proof of age; school ID, report card, birth certificate or any document that proves the child’s birth date. Parents will be required to provide proof of residency; a utility bill, rent/mortgage receipt or a school document showing their address. Preschoolers must have proof of enrollment in a preschool. Parents also need to furnish clean socks for trying on the shoes.
 
The goal of the program is to provide a new pair of shoes for each child to start school in and in turn boost the child’s self-esteem and enthusiasm for the coming school year. 

The agency will continue to accept donations of new shoes or money for the annual program all this week. The agency shops for any missing sizes of shoes needed. Any children not receiving shoes either Monday or Tuesday will be invited back later in the week to receive their shoes. When purchasing your donations please keep in mind that athletic (tennis) shoes are best, as some schools do not allow flip-flop or slip-on styles. Toddler’s size 5 to 10, youth sizes 11 to 6 and all adult sizes are recommended (no infant sizes please).  

You are welcome to dropped off your donations at the agency, 1203 North 6th Street. Hours for drop off are 8 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday. The agency estimated a need of at least 1,500 shoes.
 
Since its inception in 2003, the program has distributed over 10,000 pairs of shoes. Last year, 1,179 pairs of shoes with a value of $29,475 were distributed. For more information, call 816.364.1131.

(Missourinet) – Polling shows incumbent Missouri Senator Roy Blunt in a tight race to retain his seat. The recently released St Louis Dispatch survey shows the Republican leading Democratic challenger Jason Kander by a 47-to-43 percent margin, slightly within the margin of error.
Brad Coker of Mason-Dixon, which conducted the poll, says there are some troubling signs for Blunt. “Blunt’s favorable-unfavorable rating is 33-31, which is about a one-to-one rating. Jason Kander’s favorable-unfavorable rating is 26-13, which is two-to-one favorable.”

Coker says those margins mean there’s tremendous growth potential for Kander. Blunt’s favorable-to-unfavorable rating has been close 45-to-30 in previous years when he was reelected.

The poll also show that even though he’s the current Secretary of State, Kander is still unknown to almost one-in-four Missouri voters.

Coker thinks the numbers should send a strong signal to Blunt. He said “At this stage of the game, against a Democrat, in a presidential year, it’s a warning sign. It’s sort of an anti-establishment, might be an anti-incumbent year. It makes this race…a little interesting”.

The poll shows Blunt, who live is Springfield, doing well with older people in the rural part of the state, while Kander, a resident of Columbia, leads in the population centers of Kansas City and St. Louis, and is popular with younger voters.

As far as the state’s voting pattern is concerned, Coker calls Missouri a light red state. Even though the state legislature has Republican super-majorities in both houses, he notes Democrats still get elected to statewide offices.

Claire McCaskill is a two-term Democratic Senator. The governor’s post as well as those of secretary of state and attorney general are also held by Democrats, although they’re all up for reelection in November.

(Missourinet) – A poll shows a tight race among four Republican governor candidates heading into Tuesday’s state primaries.

A survey commissioned by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reveals all of them within five percentage points of each other.

Businessman John Brunner leads the pack with 23 percent support, followed by former Navy SEAL Eric Greitens and one-time state House Speaker Catherine Hanaway, who are tied at 21 percent. Lt. Governor Peter Kinder has 18 percent.

Brad Coker with Mason-Dixon, which conducted the poll, thinks Democrats could try to rig the contest by voting in the Republican primary, a tactic thought to have been used in a previous Senate race.

“It was said some Democrats got together, and in order to help Claire McCaskill, took Republican ballots and voted for Todd Aiken” said Coker. “On paper, he was by far the weakest Republican that she could’ve faced. He kind of came from third place to first place in the final week of the campaign.”

Missouri has “open” primaries where anyone can vote in each party’s election. Voters in the state do not register with any party.

Coker says the Republican contest is one of the tightest he’s ever seen. “This is the first time I’ve seen it where you have four candidates. I’ve seen it with three-way races before, where three candidates will all get clumped together within four or five points of one another.”

The poll also shows Democratic front-runner Chris Koster leading all the GOP candidates in a head-to-head battle.

Koster, who’s expected to easily win his party’s nomination, is ahead of Kinder by one point, Brunner by six points, Hanaway by 16 and Greitens by 18 points.

Coker thinks if either Brunner or Kinder can survive the primary, the general election will tie-up almost immediately, with Kinder possibly being favored after already having winning at the statewide level.

He says Kinder is hampered in the primary because he’s seen as the establishment candidate in a year it’s not desirable to be part of the Republican establishment, based on what’s happened in the presidential primary.

Bridge construction is slated to begin on Route 36 in Cameron.

Starting Monday, August 8, 2016, bridge construction will begin at the U.S. Route 36 and Interstate 35 interchange, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation. Traffic will be head-to-head as contractors from Emery Sapp and Sons, Inc. replace the eastbound bridge deck. After the eastbound bridge is complete, traffic will crossover to the new bridge while the westbound bridge is replaced.

The medians between the eastbound and westbound bridges will be closed during construction, preventing all left turns in all four directions at the interchange. Traffic will be rerouted through Cameron until construction is complete and left turns resume. There is also a 14-foot width restriction placed on the project.

Hours of operation will be 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and occasional weekend work in case of bad weather. Crews anticipate project completion by December 15, 2016, weather permitting. Motorists should expect lane closures and possible delays for the duration of the project.