A crash Friday morning that sent two people to the hospital on I-29 in Buchanan County is being blamed on winter weather.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol 53-year-old Rosa Campus of Kansas City, Mo. was driving a 2000 Cherolet Suburan northbound on I-29 two miles north of Faucett when she lost control on an Icy Overpass around 8:50 a.m. Rosa’s vehicle hit the concrete bridge and went off the left side of the road traveled back across the roadway and off the east side coming to rest on its wheels.

Rosa and her passenger, 30-year-old Maria Campos of St. Joseph were taken by Ambulance to Mosaic Life Care for treatment of minor injuries.

The number of deer harvest during the first portion of fall firearms deer season is up in Missouri by more than 23,000 over last year.

Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) shows that deer hunters in Missouri harvested 189,938 deer during the November portion of fall firearms deer season, Nov. 14-24. Of the 189,938 deer harvested, 92,020 were antlered bucks, 21,256 were button bucks, and 76,662 were does. Top harvest counties were Texas with 4,544 deer checked, Howell with 4,046, and Franklin with 3,707.

Last year, hunters checked 166,383 deer during the 2014 November portion of firearms deer season with 78,556 being antlered bucks, 19,300 being button bucks, and 68,527 being does.

“Good weather and plenty of deer activity likely are the reasons why there was an increase in deer harvest during the November portion of the firearms deer season this year,” MDC Deer Biologist Jason Sumners said.

In Buchanan County 525 deer were harvested and in Andrew County 740 were harvest during November firearm season.

MDC reported five firearms-related hunting incidents during the fall firearms November portion. The five incidents involved self-inflicted firearm wounds and occurred in Butler (2),Franklin, Newton, and Howard counties.

Deer hunting in Missouri continues with archery deer hunting from Nov. 25 through Jan. 15, firearms antlerless portion Nov. 25 through Dec. 6, firearms alternative methods portion Dec. 19-29, and firearms late youth portion Jan. 2-3.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Leadership from the 139th Airlift Wing announced Wednesday the appointment of two new commanders at Rosecrans Air National Guard Base.

Lt. Col. John Cluck will be the commander of the 139th Operations Group. The group includes the 180th Airlift Squadron, 241st Air Traffic Control Squadron, and other support squadrons and units.

Lt. Col. Byron Newell will be the commander of the 139th Maintenance Group. He will be responsible for overseeing maintenance of C-130 aircraft assigned to the wing.

Newell is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and served in the Navy for nearly 10 years. He joined the Missouri Air National Guard in 2004.

Cluck is from Wathena, Kan., and joined the 139th Airlift Wing in 1986.

The appointments come with promotions to colonel for both commanders. Promotion and change of command ceremonies for each commander will be held at a later date.

The American Red Cross of Northwest Missouri is offering up cold weather safety tips as temperatures take a dive.

“Extreme cold is something we face here every winter,” said Angie Springs, Ex. Dir. of the Northwest Chapter of the Red Cross. “Even though it can be dangerous, just following a handful of safety tips can keep us safe.”

Cold Weather Tips

1. Wear layers of lightweight clothing to stay warm.  Gloves and hat will help prevent loss of body heat.
2. Know the signs of hypothermia – confusion, dizziness, exhaustion and severe shivering. If people have these symptoms, they should get immediate medical attention.
3. Watch for symptoms of frostbite, including numbness, flushed gray, white, blue or yellow skin discoloration, numbness or waxy-feeling skin.
4. Bring pets indoors. If that’s not possible, make sure they have enough shelter to stay warm and that they can get to unfrozen water.
5. Avoid frozen pipes – run water, even at a trickle, to help prevent them from freezing.
6.  Do not use a stove or oven to heat the home.
7. Space heaters should sit on a level, hard surface, and anything flammable should be kept at least three feet away.
8. If you heat with a fireplace, use a glass or metal fire screen large enough to catch sparks and rolling logs.
9. Turn off space heaters and make sure fireplace embers are out before leaving the room or going to bed.

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University will celebrate the life and legacy of Civil Rights activist Rosa Parks and the 60th anniversary of her refusal to give up her bus seat, launching the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

The University’s Office of Multicultural Student Success is sponsoring a program at noon Tuesday, Dec. 1, in the Student Engagement Center at the J.W. Jones Student Union. The event will include a short presentation involving student leaders portraying messages of equity. The presentation will be followed by soup and a social.

“The day Rosa Parks stood up for what she believed changed the life of her generation and the generations after her,” Edward Gibson, Northwest’s coordinator of multicultural student success, said. “It is important that people notice where we have come from in order for us to get to where we need to be.”

The bus Parks was riding on Dec. 1, 1955, is on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. To read more about her action and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, click here.

The Northwest event is free and open to the public.

An overall performance rating of “fair” was given by Missouri State Auditor Nichole Galloway in an audit of Harrison County citing several areas of improvements needed including the tracking of e-cigarette sells to inmates.

The report found the sheriff began selling electronic cigarettes to inmates in 2014, but has not properly tracked inventory. The office spent more than $7,200 on cigarettes in 2014, which are purchased for about $3 a piece and sold to inmates for $6, but records are not kept to account for the number purchased and sold, or remaining inventory. The report also noted the sheriff’s office collects a $2.50 fee from inmates at booking to cover the cost of personal hygiene items, which is not allowed under state law.

The auditor’s office said as noted in two prior audits, the county commission has failed to address the poor financial condition of the 911 Fund. The financial condition of the Law Enforcement Sales Tax Fund has also deteriorated. The amount of General Revenue Fund money used to support these funds has increased significantly over the past several years and, as a result, the financial condition of the General Revenue Fund has also declined.

Also, multiple county offices do not have password controls to reduce the risk of unauthorized access to computers. Several do not require password changes on a periodic basis, and officials and employees in some offices share user IDs and passwords for some computers. Security controls are not in place for most county offices to lock a computer after a certain period of inactivity.

Benedictine College has announced that the college will add an Architecture major to its catalog in Fall 2016.

The move was approved by both the college faculty and the board of directors in October, and a search is underway for instructors.

Benedictine College Architecture’s pre-professional Bachelor program will prepare students for graduate school studies elsewhere to gain the accredited two-year Master of Architecture degree for jobs in private practice.

“Adding Architecture is a great development for us,” said President Stephen D. Minnis. “We are unique among our peer institutions in that we have both an Engineering Department and an Art Department. Architecture takes us another step forward.”

The development will make Benedictine College the only NAIA school with Engineering and Architecture. The combination will give the college’s degree a strong technical dimension.

To accommodate the program, the school will dedicate a beautiful historic loft space to the program and an innovative, fully restored classroom space in the school’s oldest building, Bishop Fink Hall. Plans also include an expanded computer lab for architecture students.

The program is being designed to give students a studio-based learning experience which prepares them for a professional graduate school program or an opportunity to work under architects in intern or junior designer positions.

The architecture curriculum will explore various formal, conceptual and technical considerations and how they interrelate in design. The ideas and experience students gain in the design studio will be reinforced and amplified by support courses.

“Connections to engineering, math, philosophy, theology, psychology, history and art will make our architecture students excellent models of the significance of a liberal arts education and how it can impact beyond the classroom,” said Christa Kagin, chair of the Art Department, where the program will be housed.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol is kicking off its Thanksgiving holiday travel enforcement this evening.

The counting period for the 2015 Thanksgiving holiday weekend is from 6 p.m. Wednesday, November 25, until 11:59 p.m. Sunday, November 29, 2015.

Throughout the holiday weekend, troopers within Troop H and throughout the state will be participating in Operation C.A.R.E. (Combined Accident Reduction Effort). In addition to Operation C.A.R.E., Troop H will also be participating in a statewide special enforcement operation during the peak travel periods on Wednesday and Sunday. During this operation, troopers will be assigned to 20-mile stretches of Interstate 35. Enforcement efforts on secondary roads will be conducted during the same timeframe within Troop H. Over the entire holiday weekend troopers will be vigorously enforcing all traffic laws and helping motorists in need of assistance.

“We expect traffic patterns to be affected by the upcoming holiday as people make their way home for Thanksgiving,” said Colonel J. Bret Johnson, superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol. “It’s important that everyone obey all traffic laws, be courteous drivers, and wear a seat belt. Pay attention when you’re driving and put the cell phone down. That text or phone call can wait until you’re off the roadway. If alcohol is part of your holiday celebration, plan to have a designated driver. On behalf of the employees of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, I wish you a safe and happy Thanksgiving.”

During the 2014 Thanksgiving holiday weekend, 18 people were killed and another 469 were injured in 1,151 traffic crashes. That means traffic crashes killed or injured one person every 12.6 minutes in Missouri over last year’s Thanksgiving holiday weekend.