Only one Northwest Missouri route remains closed due to water over the road, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation. MoDOT encourages travelers to check the Traveler Information Map at www.modot.org/northwest for all road closures before heading out.

The following route remains closed for travel until further notice:

Livingston County

Route C north of Dawn (Shoal Creek)

The following routes are now open after flooding:

Caldwell County

Route A two and one-half miles south of U.S. Hwy 36 (Shoal Creek)
Carroll County

Route 10 two miles west of Carrollton (Moss Creek)
Route E west of Carrollton between Routes D & PP (Turkey Creek)
Chariton County

Route E at Rothville (West Yellow Creek)
Daviess County

Route M north of Breckenridge (Lick Fork Creek)
Livingston County

Route D at Ludlow (Shoal Creek)
Route DD west of Dawn (Shoal Creek)

TARKIO, Mo – Route AA in Atchison County is scheduled to close, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation. Local maintenance crews will close Route AA from U.S. Hwy 59 to O Avenue for a culvert replacement on Thursday, October 16, 2014, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., weather permitting. During this closure, motorists will need to use an alternate route.

Around 40 emergency leaders from St. Joseph and the surrounding community met this morning at the Remington Nature Center to address an emergency response plan in the event that a potential case of Ebola were to present itself in the community.

The St. Joseph Health Department held the meeting this morning with members in attendance from local health care providers, educators, law enforcement, ambulance and emergency medical response and related representatives to review plans and discuss specific response measures to the threat of Ebola.

St. Joseph Health Department Epidemiologist Ron Tolen said it’s important to make sure everyone who would respond to this situation know what their roles would be and how to follow procedures.

“The likelihood of an Ebola patient coming here is pretty slim,” said Tolen. “We want to take it seriously but not be overly fearful.”

Tolen said emergency leaders work together to respond to a number of different situations.  He said there have been other viruses that leaders have had to plan to respond to in the past including scenarios like H1N1, and the threat of Smallpox.

“All of the outbreaks up to this year have not had near the duration nor the number of cases that this current outbreak does,” said Tolen. “We’re just making sure we know what our role is in the event of a case in the community.”

Because the Health Department does not treat patients Tolen said he does not expect to treat an individual directly, but that the Health Department’s role would include monitoring and checking in on individuals who may have come in contact with a confirmed case of the virus.

“We may be dealing with follow up trying to locate contacts,” said Tolen. “If someone was possibly exposed we would be following up.”

According to a Press Release from the St. Joseph Health Department this morning’s closed meeting included an explanation of the history of the Ebola Virus and how it is transmitted through blood and bodily fluids.  The Health Department said it will continue to work with all public health emergency coordination to make sure planning stays current and is in accordance with State and federal emergency management planning to ensure the community is prepared.

JEFFERSON CITY – We see it on our roadways every day – experienced and older drivers who have become complacent in their daily commute or weekly travel, zipping in and out of traffic and not thinking about the rules of sharing the road with big rigs. At up to 20 times the weight of a passenger vehicle, these big rigs can cause serious and often fatal injuries when involved in a crash.

With so many large trucks on our roadways it’s imperative that drivers of passenger vehicles use extreme caution when maneuvering around those big rigs. Motorists are urged to share the road, respect each other, pay attention and avoid unsafe behavior that could result in a crash.

“Research indicates that drivers of passenger cars are responsible for 70 percent of the fatal crashes involving large trucks,” said Dr. Leanna Depue, executive chair of the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety. “In fact, the actions of the automobile driver are more than three times likely to contribute to a fatal crash than the actions of the truck driver.”

During the Commercial Vehicles Safety Alliance (CVSA) Operation Safe Driver Week, October 19-25, Missouri law enforcement agencies will pay special attention to commercial vehicle drivers’ compliance with safety regulations. They will also watch for unsafe and aggressive driving behaviors by both passenger and commercial drivers on highways and local roads.

“The intent of Operation Safe Driver Week is to improve driver behavior and performance through effective enforcement, education and awareness,” said Colonel Ron Replogle, superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Missouri statistics reveal that it’s our older driver population that most often encounter collisions by underestimating size, distance and speed of big trucks. All motorists, even those who have been driving for years, need to always remember the following safety tips when driving near a big truck:

• Stay out of the No Zone. Don’t linger alongside a truck or bus – you could be driving the No-Zone.

• Stay visible! Never underestimate the size and speed of an approaching tractor-trailer.

• Don’t tailgate a truck. The farther you are from a truck the less likely you will be involved in a collision.

• Don’t speed. Obey all speed limits.

• Allow plenty of room. Large trucks need more room to make turns and maneuver in traffic.

• Use your headlights in inclement weather. Lights make cars more visible to truck drivers. A gray car against a gray highway on a gray, rainy day is hard to see.

• Buckle Up. Wearing your safety belt is the single most important thing you can do to save your life in a crash.

Protect yourself and your passengers by learning how to share the road safely with large vehicles and avoid distracted driving.

Today Sunny, with a high near 68. Northwest wind 8 to 10 mph.

Tonight Clear, with a low around 43. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph after midnight.

Thursday Sunny, with a high near 71. South southeast wind 7 to 10 mph becoming west southwest in the afternoon.

Thursday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 45. Northwest wind 6 to 8 mph.

Friday Sunny, with a high near 66. Northwest wind 7 to 11 mph.

Friday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 41.

Saturday Sunny, with a high near 59.

Saturday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 41.

Sunday Partly sunny, with a high near 62.

Sunday Night A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 47. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Monday Mostly sunny, with a high near 65.

Monday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 46.

Tuesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 65.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph says it has agreed a $9.95 million agreement to settle all outstanding claims alleging sexual abuse by priests decades ago.

Diocese spokesman Jack Smith said in a statement Tuesday that the agreement settles 30 claims filed between 2010 and earlier this year.

Smith says a large portion of the settlement will be covered by insurers with the balance paid by the diocese. He does not provide a breakdown of payments.

The announcement comes a day before jury deliberations are set to begin in a case filed by a former altar boy who sued the diocese in 2011. The man says he was sexually abused by a priest in the 1980s when he was a student at the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary School.

Lafayette High School was put into lock down for a short time this morning after a report of shots fired in the area.

According to the St. Joseph School District it was a false alarm.  The district said there is a shooting range behind the school and police were practicing at the range.

The St Joseph Police Department sent out a Nixle message at 9:35 a.m. letting the public know the school was released and there was no emergency situation.

Eighteen Central High School students have received the “Artistic Excellence” award at the third annual Missouri Western Visual Arts Day.

Nearly 900 students were in attendance at the even from schools all across Missouri and Kansas. The top 10% received recognition for their artworks exhibited in the competition.

“The teachers and faculty of Central High School are proud of these students,” said Eric Simmons, Central High School visual arts teacher. “They deserve this recognition for their hard work and dedication to the visual arts.”

Central High Schools Student Award Winners:

Kaylee Duvall
Hayley Hinde
Emily Mikesch
Alexis Adkins
Paige Ford
Madeline Norcross
Elena Fox
Anna Depastino
SanSan Salle
Ramsey Younger
Hannah Monger
Kara Beemer
Alisha Speer
Erin Dunn
Nicole Ruppe
Miranda Armes
Kaitlyn Collins
Hannah Gann

Heartland Health is preparing to deal with Ebola.

“It’s a big concern because of the number of cases that continue to evolve in West Africa.  It’s also a concern because the mortality rate is so high and there’s no really well proven therapy at this point,” said Heartland Director of Infectious Diseases Dr. Scott Folk.

Officials with the University of Kansas Hospital announced Tuesday afternoon that preliminary tests on a patient who arrived Monday with Ebola-like symptoms does not have the deadly disease.  However, doctors in St. Joseph are still preparing for the disease as its spreads in West Africa.

“We are informing our caregivers on a daily basis with updates and also reaffirming to them what the process is when someone comes in with infectious disease type symptoms,” said Heartland Acting Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Davin Turner. “We’ve ramped up our precautions in making sure our caregivers are aware.  We started over a week ago.”

Dr. Folk said as the virus increases in West Africa the likelihood of it appearing in the United States and our area locally also increase.

“Over time the chances of people from Africa bringing Ebola virus in the U.S. will continue to increase and as that happens we here in the U.S. need to remain vigilant for any patients who might potentially have infection,” said Dr. Folk.

Folk said Ebola is transmitted through blood and body fluids and that Heartland has the protective gear on hand to deal with a case of Ebola if necessary.

“When you are dealing with a patient that has Ebola virus you need to pay close attention to the way you take off your  personal protective equipment so that you don’t accident contaminate or infect yourself,” said Dr. Folk.

Heartland said it also has isolation rooms ready if needed.

“We have multiple isolation rooms throughout the facility,” said Dr. Turner. “These isolation rooms are closed ventilation rooms that contain that air that’s in that room that’s self-ventilated so that any type of air or articulates cannot escape that room.”

Dr. Folk said symptoms of the Ebola virus are fever, headache, achy muscles, and a lot of intestinal issues like nausea or vomiting, and many patients bleed from their intestinal tract.

 

Amy Kotwani, director of International Student Services at Missouri Western State University, has been selected as a rising star by an organization of student affairs professionals. Kotwani will receive her Missouri New Professional Rising Star Award at the NASPA IV-West Regional Conference in Albuquerque, N.M.

“As an office of one, Amy creates and oversees a number of exciting cultural events and programs, serving students, staff and the St. Joseph community,” said Shana Meyer, vice president for student affairs, in nominating Kotwani. “Amy’s goal is to create a supportive environment to assist international students in overcoming cultural barriers and assist with any problems.”

The New Professional Rising Star Award is presented to one new professional in each of the 10 states in the NASPA IV-West region who has been in the profession for less than three years and has made a significant contribution to his or her campus.

Kotwani joined Missouri Western in 2012, when there were only 52 international students. That number has more than doubled to 129 this fall. Kotwani has overseen or participated in a number of activities for international students, including:

• Participation in Homecoming and other campus events.
• The International Fair, which featured booths set up by international students, visited by nearly 400 attendees last November.
• The One World Soccer Tournament, with 115 students participating.
• The Krikor Partamian Ping Pong Tournament in March, which raised $4,000 for International Student Services.
• The International Graduation and Awards Banquet.
• The International Lecture Series, with students talking to campus and community about their home countries.

In addition, Kotwani was part of a community committee that planned St. Joseph’s first cultural festival in May.

Kotwani earned bachelor’s degrees in journalism and political science from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a law degree and Master of Business Administration from Drake University.