As temperatures take a turn for the worse the American Red Cross of Northwest Missouri is stressing weather safety.

“Heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fire deaths, and the risk of home fires increase in colder weather,” said Angie Springs, Ex. Dir. “With the onset of winter across the country it’s more important than ever to be vigilant when it comes to person safety and staying warm this winter.”

The Red Cross has six tips to stay safe this winter:

1. Install smoke alarms on every level of your home, inside bedrooms and outside sleeping areas.
2. Test the batteries in your smoke alarms once a month, and change them if they’re not working.
3. Create an escape plan that includes two exits from each room and practice it until everyone in your household can get out in less than two minutes.
4. Follow the “three feet” rule and keep children, pets and flammable items at least three feet from heating equipment.  Turn off portable space heaters when you leave the room and when you go to sleep.
5. Use gas wisely and never use a cooking range or oven to heat your home.  Four percent of Americans admit to having used a gas stove to heat their home.
6. Use flashlights, not candles because battery-operated flashlights or lanterns are safer than candles during power outages.

The Missouri Department of Conservation is inviting area waterfowl hunters to attend an upcoming workshop where staff with gather hunter input about duck season dates and zone boundary locations for the 2017-2020 hunting season.

The workshop will be held in St. Joseph on Feb. 3 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the MDC Northwest Regional Office located at 701 James McCarthy Drive.

Participants will have the opportunity to review long-term data about weather, migration, habitat use, harvest, and hunter opinions, and to discuss season date and zone preferences with other hunters and MDC staff. MDC will use the hunter input gathered through the workshops, along with results of hunter-opinion surveys, to help establish Missouri’s 2017-2020 duck season dates and zones.

Before attending a workshop, MDC encourages hunters to review information compiled by Department biologists on migration, harvest, weather, and hunter preferences for each region of the state. This information will be posted on the MDC website by the end of January at http://on.mo.gov/1giLHme.

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gives states the opportunity to change the number and location of duck zones every five years,” explained MDC Resources Scientist Andy Raedeke. “At these times, states can also select a continuous season or split season, which refers to a season that is open for a period of time, closes, and then reopens for a second period of time.”

Raedeke added that once selections are made, Missouri then keeps the same season-date formulas for multiple years, with the next ones being 2017 to 2020.

“Conservation makes Missouri a great place to hunt waterfowl. As hunters know, hunting conditions can vary tremendously from one year to the next,” he said. “During some years, the best hunting can occur early in the season. During other years, it can occur late. Limiting changes to every four or five years helps the Department of Conservation evaluate the effectiveness of zone boundaries and season dates over a range of conditions.”

Raedeke noted that recommended changes for a given period depend primarily upon hunter input.

“If most hunters from a particular region prefer a different season structure or season dates, we will likely recommend a change,” Raedeke said. “Hunter input from the last series of workshops prompted MDC to make two changes to the boundary of the south hunting zone.”

He added that given the range of hunter preferences, not all hunters will be completely satisfied with season dates and zone boundaries.

“Our aim is to accommodate at least a portion of most hunters’ desires. We listen to what waterfowl hunters want and sincerely appreciate their time, effort, and input.”

Other workshops will be held around the state as well.

St. Joseph, Mo. —The Board of Governors at Missouri Western State University has selected Lawhon Construction Company of St. Joseph to do some renovations to Potter Hall, funded by House Bill 19 capital improvement money.

By a unanimous vote in a board poll on Jan. 16, the board accepted a bid of $328,500 from Lawhon, the lowest of seven bids received. The board also approved a contingency budget of $32,850.

The work includes renovation and replacement of flooring, ceiling tile systems, wall coverings and painting throughout all common areas in the building.

The Potter work is part of $4.8 million in deferred maintenance projects funded by House Bill 19, which was approved by the legislature and signed into law by Gov. Jay Nixon last year.

A third suspect is in custody in connection with an incident last month on Parkway A that left a shooting victim in serious condition.

Brandon Scott Parker, 28, is charged with a class B felony count of robbery in the second degree. According to a court affidavit, Mr Parker has been identified as the driver of the vehicle used to flee the scene of the shooting December 15 at 3000 Parkway A, in which Trevor Keith was seriously hurt.

He is charged with robbery, unlike co-defendants Gerald Johnson and Adrian Taylor, who are charged with 2nd degree assault and armed criminal action. According to an affidavit from St. Joseph Police Detective Frank Till, the robbery attempt was drug-related, and Mr Parker had an “active role” in the incident. Detective Till says Mr Parker might not appear in court because he is on probation for the distribution of drugs, and the robbery was drug related. Till says the defendant faces a seven-year prison sentence on the probation violation alone.

Taylor and Johnson are both accused of shooting Mr Keith as he sat in a vehicle and then fleeing the scene. (click here for more) Mr. Parker is charged with driving the vehicle in which the shooting suspects fled.

Johnson, 29, is being held without bail pending his formal arraignment January 28. He waived his preliminary hearing in the case. Co-defendant Taylor, 27, also waived his preliminary hearing. Taylor is scheduled for arraignment February 8. He remains in custody, unable to post $150,000 bail.

Mr Parker’s first court appearance was scheduled Friday. He is being held in the Buchanan County Jail, unable to post $25,000 bail.