Savannah, MO. – Andrew County Museum will have free admission on Saturday March 12th, 2016, as part of Smithsonian magazine’s Museum Day Live! On this date, participating museums across the United States offer free admission.

Stories of African American women will be presented by LaDawndra Robb at 2pm in the Duncan Gallery. Experience an engaging hour as LaDawndra brings alive the voices of women from the past; through their personal journeys from slavery to freedom. Andrew County Museum strives to create positive experiences that enrich and fulfill visitor needs through new experiences and education. Ms. Robb’s enthusiasm and passion captivates, and educates the audience to the lesser known history of women.

Join us for this free presentation as we gather round to travel back in time through the stories of Missouri’s women of color.

Andrew County Museum is a Blue Star museum that preserves the history and culture of Northwest Missouri, its agricultural roots, and specializes in Andrew County genealogy research services. Open Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-4pm. The museum is fully ADA accessible.

Contact the museum at 816-324-4720 for further program information. For driving directions, visit our website www.andrewcountymuseum.org or call 816-324-4720. Museum location: 202 E. Duncan Drive, Savannah, Missouri, 64485.

Hillcrest has announced that they are changing the date for the Third Annual Gala Fall Ball.

The event will take place on Thursday, October 27, 2016 at the St. Joseph Civic Arena.

Hillcrest Affiliate Director Shannen White and the Hillcrest Board of Directors felt it was best to move the date as it would directly conflict with the Annual United Way Victory Dinner. Hillcrest wants to encourage the members of the community to attend both events and felt the change of date was necessary so that both events could be successful.

“We are so excited about this year’s Fall Ball and decided to move the date up so the entire community can be a part of both events,” says Shannen White, Affiliate Director of Hillcrest Transitional Housing of Buchanan County. “We were happy to change the date so that others can attend both events. We believe it is important to work directly with other organizations to help better our community.”

The Hillcrest Fall Ball celebrates the success of the graduates and the program. The night will include fine dining, live and silent auction, cupcake raffle, presentation of graduates, and special guest speakers. Sponsorship Levels are now available for this event. If interested, contact Shannen White at 816-351-5774 or email her at swhite@hillcrestkc.org.

Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art has announced its 2016 Regional High School Exhibition Winners

Category I: PAINTING
1st Place (tie); Grace McKinney, Vacation, Pleasant Ridge High School
1st Place (tie); Joslynn Warner, Self-Portrait, North Andrew R-VI High School
2nd Place; Maryn Burns, Memory #4, Park Hill South High School
3rd Place(tie); Lauren Menold, Self-Portrait, Sabetha High School
3rd Place(tie); April Phan, The Queen of Arts, Maur Hill Mount Academy
Honorable Mention; Bree Saur, Untitled, Lathrop High School
Honorable Mention; Grace Thompson, Untitled, Central High School

Category II: DRAWING MONOCHROMATIC
1st Place; Nina Wagner, Define Yourself, Plattsburg High School
2nd Place(tie); Kaylee Thompson, A Touch of Elegance, Lathrop High School
2nd Place (tie); Derek Zule, Johnny Cash, Pleasant Ridge High School
3rd Place; Skylar Schafer, Angel Eyes, Ozark High School
Honorable Mention; Courtney Atwell, Bicycle, Park Hill High School

Category III: DRAWING MULTI-COLOR
1st Place; Jasmine Ye, Bayley, Park Hill High School
2nd Place(tie); Cienna Newett, High in the Sky, Park Hill South High School
2nd Place(tie); Kallen Mazeitis, Breckenridge, Park Hill South High School
3rd Place(tie); Caitlyn Close, Crazy Hair, Plattsburg High School
3rd Place(tie); Jillian Beauford, Cookie Jar, Central High School
Honorable Mention; Macy Ricklefs, Vivacious, Riverside High School

Category IV: PRINTMAKING
1st Place; Stephen Waldon, PTSD, Park Hill High School
2nd Place; Spencer Simmons, Lost In His Sauce, Park Hill High School
3rd Place; Tristan Hinton, Sharks IV, Riverside High School
Honorable Mention; Luke Kunkel, Cheetah, Lutheran High School of KC

Category V: PHOTOGRAPHY
1st Place; Savannah Goat, Stationary, Lafayette High School
2nd Place; Connor McElwee, Peafowl-Crowning the Morning, Central High School
3rd Place; Connor McElwee, Flamingo Noodles, Central High School
Honorable Mention; Lilly Incho, A Tranquil Moment, Lafayette High School
Honorable Mention; Adam Le, Publicly Funded, Central High School

Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art
2016 Regional High School Exhibition Winners (cont’d.)

Category VI: 2-D MIXED MEDIA
1st Place; Grace Thompson, Time Passages, Central High School
2nd Place(tie); Kaitlyn Schmille, There’s a Method To Her Madness, Riverside High School
2nd Place(tie); Lindsay Westover, Secrets of the Ocean, Penney High School, Hamilton R-II
3rd Place (tie); Savannah Beck, Liberty Memorial, Park Hill South High School
3rd Place(tie); Kensey Edwards, Untitled, North Andrew R-VI High School
Honorable Mention; Korbin Koch, Notan Design, West Nodaway High School

Category VII: CERAMICS
1st Place; Olivia Streett, Medusa, Benton High School
2nd Place; Madeleine Green, Blue Green Vessel, Park Hill South High School
3rd Place (tie); Madolaine Myers, At the Beach, Benton High School
3rd Place(tie); Madi Clabaugh, Unknown, Lafayette High School
Honorable Mention; Jenna Engle, Buddha Bust, Park Hill South High School

Category VIII: THREE-DIMENSIONAL
1st Place (tie); Abbey Chauvin, Music Box Dancer, East Buchanan High School
1st Place(tie); Samantha Whitten, Eshe (Immortal), Riverside High School
2nd Place; Perla Castro-Sanchez, Nature’s Splendor, Lafayette High School
3rd Place(tie); Kasey Turner, Deepest Restraint, East Buchanan High School
3rd Place (tie); Sloane Weinkein, Treehouse Homes & Student Loans, Park Hill High School
Honorable Mention; Miranda Armes, Reaching, Central High School
Honorable Mention; Samantha Matthews, Cultural Appropriation, Central High School

Category IX: ALTERNATIVE
1st Place; Carrington McRoberts, Silk Scarf, Park Hill South High School
2nd Place; April Phan, Adam called him Elephant, Maur Hill Mount Academy
3rd Place; Raegan Moran, Floating Islands, Lutheran High School of KC
Honorable Mention; Kamryn Smith, Sanguine, Riverside High School

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University will host a series of events this month to recognize the achievements of women and commemorate Women’s History Month.

Under the theme “Working to Form a More Perfect Union: Honoring Women in Public Service and Government,” activities will include an interactive presentation with Maryville Mayor Renee Riedel, a lecture by women’s equality activist Lilly Ledbetter, and a screening of the women’s suffrage movement film “Iron Jawed Angels.”

All events are free and open to the public.

“Even though it has been almost 100 years since women got the right to vote and 50 years since the feminist movement of the 1960s and 70s, womenare still severely underrepresented in government,” Dr. Elyssa Ford, assistant professor of history at Northwest, said. “This year’s theme and the events at Northwest help bring attention to women’s involvement in government and public service, how hard they have worked to get where they are today, and to understand how much work is left to be done.”

Question & answer session: Maryville Mayor Renee Riedel

Women’s History Month events at Northwest begin with an informal question and answer session with Riedel from 5 to 6 p.m. Monday, March 14, in Meeting Room A, located on the third floor of the J.W. Jones Student Union. The discussion will highlight her role as mayor, her advancement to the position, the challenges she has encountered, and what it is like to be a woman in government.

Riedel was elected mayor in 2014 and was appointed to the Maryville City Council in 2012. She and her husband moved in 2006 to Maryville from Denver, Colorado, to own and operate a downtown business, Carson’s Sports Grille.

Riedel’s presentation will inform interested students about the responsibilities and challenges of local government and public service work.

“This also is a really great opportunity for education majors,” Ford said. “Many people in primary and secondary education teach their students about local government and about women’s history. This session will allow education majors to get some firsthand experience talking with a mayor and learning more about that position.”

Distinguished Lecture Series: Lilly Ledbetter

Northwest will host women’s equality activist Lilly Ledbetter as part of its Distinguished Lecture Series at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 8, in the Charles Johnson Theater located in the Olive DeLuce Fine Arts Building. Ledbetter also will talk with students and faculty at 3:30 p.m. Room 40 of the Valk Center.

Ledbetter landed her dream job in 1979 at the Goodyear tire company and was one of the first females to be hired at the management level. After nearly two decades at the company, however, she discovered she was receiving thousands of dollars less than her male peers.

Ledbetter fought the injustice, taking her case to the Supreme Court and eventually becoming the namesake of President Barack Obama’s first official piece of legislation in 2009, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act.

In 2012, Ledbetter authored “Grace and Grit: My Fight for Equal Pay and Fairness at Goodyear and Beyond,” which she reveals the trials she has faced in her life and how she overcame them. Ledbetter continues to fight for equal rights by encouraging other women and minorities to join the pursuit for equality.

Film screening: “Iron Jawed Angels”

The Northwest community is invited to a screening of the film “Iron Jawed Angels” from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, March 31, in the Student Union Living Room.

The documentary directed by Katja von Garnier tells the remarkable and little-known story of a group of passionate and dynamic young women, led by Alice Paul (Hilary Swank) and her friend Lucy Burns (Frances O’Connor). The women put their lives on the line in the 1900s to fight for American women’s right to vote.

In addition, students in Northwest women’s history course, “The American Woman,” designed cards featuring women throughout government and public service. The cards will be displayed in the Student Union to educate students about the achievements of women past and present.

National Women’s History Month was founded in 1987 when the U.S. Congress declared that it be celebrated during March in perpetuity. A presidential proclamation is issued annually to honor the achievements of American women.

Smithville, Mo. – The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) welcomes volunteers who would like to help install brush piles in Smithville Lake to enhance fish habitat. MDC and partners will hold the 5th Annual FISH Day starting at 9 a.m. on Thursday, March 24. FISH stands for Friends Involved with Smithville Habitat.

This program utilizes heavy equipment to cut and haul large trees onto barges. Crews lash weights onto the trees and sink them at strategic locations in the lake. The brush piles provide spawning areas, places for young fish to escape predators and congregating areas for bait fish. They also attract sport fish such as crappie and can improve fishing success for anglers.

FISH is a partnership between MDC, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Clay County Parks and Recreation and volunteers. Volunteers get a first-hand look at new fishing hotspots.

Registration for volunteers and staff will be at the lake’s Access 7 located at the end of McColloch Road. A free lunch will be provided. For more information, contact Eric Dennis, MDC fisheries management biologist, at 816-271-3100.

Doniphan County, Kansas has issued another burn ban, to coincide with the Red Flag (windy weather) warning from the National Weather Service, from noon to 6pm today.

This, another in a series of burn bans issued in Doniphan County over the last week or so.

No outdoor burning will be allowed this afternoon in Doniphan County