We have a brand new updated website! Click here to check it out!

Amtrak Ridership At It’s Peak for 2012

Missouri River Runner

Amtrak ridership continues its peak during this years Thanksgiving weekend with trains across the county and some Missouri sold out.

Traditionally, the day before Thanksgiving is the busiest day.  That trend is shifting though to the Tuesday before and the Sunday after.

This year is the first time e-tickets are available, which people can use on their smart phones, scanning them to board the train.

Amtrak is adding extra cars on some routes and adding more back-and-forth trips in some areas to accommodate the extra travelers. He says the week will be one of sold-out trips for Amtrak.

Those on overnight trips will see a few special menu items on the dining car — turkey, cranberry sauce and pecan pie with maple sauce.

Although gas prices are low right now, Amtrak ticket prices are more predictable year round. He says passengers can purchase tickets nearly a year in advance, locking in the set price for the trip so there are no surprises.

And he says a lot of passengers are happy to avoid the congested roadways during the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Ethanol Saving Thanksgiving Drivers Money

According to AAA – more than 39-million Americans will travel an average distance of 588 miles on the road for the Thanksgiving holiday. Thanks to ethanol – the cost of that trip will be a little lower. In fact – assuming an average mileage of 22 miles per gallon – it’s estimated the average American family that travels by automobile this Thanksgiving will save more than 29-dollars on gasoline purchases because of ethanol. This estimate is based on a Center for Agricultural and Rural Development study that found ethanol reduced wholesale gasoline prices by $1.09 per gallon nationally. Looking at the bigger picture – ethanol reduced the average American household’s spending on gasoline by more than 12-hundred dollars last year – and has helped save 39.8-billion dollars annually in excess gasoline costs since 2000. That’s roughly 340-dollars per household per year.

In addition to these savings – Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen says ethanol and the Renewable Fuel Standard are helping to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil – thus creating a stronger country and stronger economy. And despite what RFS and ethanol opponents say – Dinneen says turkey prices are lower this year than the last two years. What’s more – he says ethanol production has nothing to do with the price of Thanksgiving dinner. He notes food costs are driven by energy costs.

More on Thanksgiving turkey prices and the driving forces behind food costs is available in RFA’s white paper “This Thanksgiving, Avoid Big Meat’s Baloney.” Visit www dot ethanolrfa dot org (www.ethanolrfa.org).

Two From Southwest Iowa Charged with Voter Fraud

Three are charged with election fraud in Iowa, including two of Shenandoah in Southwest Iowa.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation says it issued a citation to appear in court for 28-year-old Tehvedin Murgic of Clive. The DCI says he is a citizen of Bosnia and registered and voted on November 2nd, 2010.

Murgic’s attorney did not immediately return a call.

Arrest warrants were issued for 66-year-old Laurie McCarroll and 53-year-old Leonard Blower, both of Shenandoah. The DCI says they are Canadian citizens who registered and voted in a school election in September 2011. The DCI says it believes they are no longer living in the United States.

 

Missouri Hunters Bagged Nearly 205,000 Deer

Missouri’s Department of Conservation says hunters took nearly 205,000 deer during November’s 11-day firearms season. That’s the highest number in four years and 7.7 percent higher than last year.

Not the case in Northern Missouri though as the numbers are on a decline.  The decline in north Missouri’s deer harvest mirrors a decline in deer populations there in the past 10 years. Meanwhile, deer numbers have increased slowly across southern Missouri.

County-by-County Totals for Northwest Missouri 

Andrew 1107

Atchison 649

Buchanan 690

Clinton 773

DeKalb 1029

Gentry 1367

Holt 935

Nodaway 1839

Worth 772

Eight of the 10 highest-performing counties were south of the Missouri River, led by Howell County with 4,037 deer bagged. Texas and Benton counties were next.

Wednesday’s report says the figures bear out earlier predictions for a big hunt in southern Missouri. Scientists had said a poor acorn crop was forcing deer to concentrate in places where acorns were plentiful.

Firearms season began November 10th and ended Tuesday. The department says does (dohz) accounted for roughly 44 percent all deer bagged. The number of antlered bucks taken was up by more than 6 percent.

Three In Custody After Armed Robbery in Maryvlle

Three are in custody after a reported armed robbery in Maryville Wednesday afternoon.

Three men attempted to rob an apartment at the Show-me Inn Apartments on south Main Street just before 4:00 yesterday afternoon.

One suspect had a small black handgun, according to authorities.   They allegedly took money from the victim and fled the scene.

Around 5:00 p.m. A deputy in Atchison County spotted their vehicle east of Rockport.

A woman and two men were taken into custody.

Authorities believe the other man involved in the robbery was possibly dropped off in Maryville. That suspect remains at large.

US drought worsens after weeks of improvement

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A new report shows that the nation’s worst drought in decades is getting worse again, ending an encouraging five-week run of improving conditions.

The weekly U.S. Drought Monitor report shows that 60.1 percent of the continental U.S. was in some form of drought as of Tuesday. That’s up from 58.8 percent the previous week.

The portion of the lower 48 states in extreme or exceptional drought — the two worst classifications — also rose, to 19.04 percent from last week’s 18.3 percent.

The stubbornly dry conditions intensified in Kansas, the top U.S. producer of winter wheat. The latest update shows that while 77.5 percent of that state remains in extreme or exceptional drought, the amount of land in the most-dire classification rose nearly 4 percentage points to 34.5 percent.

November 21, 2012

Margaret Waller Paulick
1944-2012

Margaret Waller Paulick, 68, Parker, Colorado, passed away on September 10, 2012.
She was born on June 28, 1944 in St. Joseph, Missouri to Merle and Dorothy (Schleicher) Waller, who preceded her in death. Margaret was a 1962 graduate of Bishop LeBlond High School and a 1966 graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia with a degree in interior design.
On November 24, 1973, she married Ronald Paulick of Albuquerque, New Mexico. They were married for thirty-eight years when he preceded her in death on January 27, 2012.
As a member of the American Society of Interior Designers, Margaret spent her professional career designing interiors of commercial and public buildings in New Mexico and Colorado, including a horserace track in Sante Fe, New Mexico and numerous buildings within the University of New Mexico system. Upon moving to the Denver area, she worked as a design consultant for Haworth, Inc., a company that designs and manufactures office furniture and systems. While at Haworth, she consulted with many corporations on the designs of their office spaces.
She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1984, and went through many treatments, including a stem cell transplant in 1993. She remained in remission following her transplant but her later years suffered from the long-term effects of multiple treatments with aggressive chemotherapy. She kept an extraordinarily positive outlook throughout her many encounters with medical care.
She was preceded in death by her step-son Stephen Paulick.
Her survivors: two step-children: Ken Paulick (Tina Gelinas), Aurora, Colorado; Heidi Dotson (Robert) and twin grandsons, Jadon and Zachary Dotson, Cave Creek, Arizona; her brother, Lloyd F. Waller (Carol), St. Joseph, Missouri; and sister, Elaine S. Waller, Seattle, Washington.
Memorial Service in St. Joseph is planned for 11:00 A.M. November 24, 2012 Meierhoffer Funeral Home & Crematory. The family suggests memorial gifts to the charity of the donor’s choice that supports both cancer research, and patients and their families in the treatment of cancer.

US 36 Interchange Planned for Ag Expo Center

A new highway interchange will be built on US Highway 36 for the new Agri-Business Expo Center and nearby businesses.

The MoDOT Cost Share/Economic Development Committee awarded up to $4.9 million to the Agri-Business Expo Center to design and construct a diamond interchange.

The exit will be located approximately one mile east of the Riverside Road/Route AC interchange on U.S. Highway 36.

The interchange will serve a private road that will lead south to Pickett Road, through the Agri-Business Expo Center’s 150-acre campus. To the north, the road is expected to eventually connect to the Mitchell Woods Business Park.

“We are so excited to have this incredible opportunity to partner on the Agri-Business Expo,” said Don Wichern, MoDOT Northwest District Engineer. “Not only will this project help deliver a better transportation system for the St. Joseph area, but it will help advance economic development for the region and provide for a more prosperous Missouri.”

the Agri-Business Expo Center will include a Life Science Park for research and education; an Exhibit Park with an expo hall and agriculture arena; and Commercial Park offering hotel and retail development.

A number of public and private entities worked together to bring the project to Northwest Missouri.

Man Pleads Guilty for Jamesport Bank Robbery

A Trenton man pleaded guilty to robbing a Jamesport bank in August.

39-year-old William Wade Hutchison pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday of robbing the Home Exchange Bank in Jamesport on August 8th.

Hutchison entered the bank wearing a motocross helmet and trench coat holding an object that resembled a handgun. He told the teller “I want your cash box, big bills first,” according to court documents.

Hutchison stole more-than $2,600 from the bank.

A couple days later, he was recognized in a Trenton store based off surveillance photos. The store clerk and a bank employee recognized Hutchison as the robber from a photo spread.

He could be sentenced up to 20 years in federal prison and faces a fine up to $250,000. Sentencing has not been scheduled.

Pens Don’t Feel Right to Pork Producers

Pork producers have constantly looked for better ways to manage their sows. From the early 1980s when many sows were first moved inside – until right before the turn of the century – Swine Vet Center Veterinarian Tim Loula says producers have upgraded their sow facilities. Now – though – Loula says producers face the challenge of some wanting them to move away from gestation stally. He says producers don’t want to give up managing sows individually because the injuries that can occur when sows are grouped hurt the animals – and U.S. producers don’t have the approved pain medications for those injuries. Another concern is the loss of pregnancies the first 30 days, smaller litters and increased sow death losses that can come from group housing. If a move to pen gestation becomes mandatory – Loula says producers believe new facilities would be better than remodeling.

Loula says there are certain things that aren’t negotiable for producers when considering sow housing alternatives. Those include the importance of individual sow feeding, sows in pregnancy stalls for 40-days, high farrowing rates, rethinking workforce allocation, slat quality importance and computer literacy. He says gestation housing is as big of an issue as he has ever seen for pork producers – and they don’t know where to go or what to do because they want to keep moving forward instead of moving backward.

Copyright Eagle Radio | FCC Public Files | EEO Public File