(Missourinet) – Running into a burning building or home to save lives is just another day at the office for about 24,000 Missouri men and women.

The state’s firefighters put on their roughly 100-pound gear and answer the call for help regardless of what level of danger lies ahead. Meanwhile, their loved ones are stuck waiting and hoping they return home safely.

During a ceremony Wednesday at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City, State Fire Marshall Tim Bean said it takes special people to sacrifice their safety to help others.

“Fire service isn’t a career, it’s a calling that attracts selfless men and women willing to run towards danger as others flee,” Bean said.

About 200 firefighters from around the state gathered for the event in the Capitol rotunda.

Missouri Public Safety Director Drew Juden urged firefighters to take care of their health and fire gear.

“Take care of your brothers and sisters. Make sure you’re cleaning it (gear) after every call because that is the silent killer. That is what will kill us down the road and we need to work towards correcting that,” Juden said.

According to Juden, 34 people have died this year in a fire – all but one was killed in a home that did not have a working smoke detector. He said there is no reason people should be dying from lack of smoke detectors.

“It’s alarming to me that we are still losing individuals in house fires because of no smoke detectors,” he said. “We really need to fight towards zero. We really need to fight so that we don’t have any fire deaths because of lack of smoke detectors.”

Missouri’s Division of Fire Safety and the Red Cross have launched a program -called Sound the Alarm – that gives away free smoke detectors and also installs them for Missouri residents. For more information, click here.

Governor Eric Greitens said he has great hope in a program launched this year that aims to link military veterans and active service members to fire service careers. An April 28th stop in Cassville will include skills demonstrations and networking opportunities for prospective firefighters.

(Missourinet) – A Blue Springs police officer is fighting the rain and the blisters on his feet – all in the name of honoring Missouri fallen police officers and firefighters.

Keegan Hughes said his 260-mile run across the state in uniform is worth every blister.

“I’ve never had a blister problem. I ran a lot to train for this and never got a single blister. I got like five on day one,” he chuckles. “It was raining and my feet got wet. Even though I changed shoes, it didn’t stop.”

Along the way, Hughes is meeting with the families of officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty to present them with flags as a show of support. On day six, Hughes and other first responders will honor fallen Clinton police officers Gary Michael and Ryan Morton. Morton was shot to death earlier this month while responding to a disturbance call. Michael was killed exactly seven months earlier during a routine traffic stop.

“It’s going to be a special day. This is our way of showing our respect,” he says.

During his travels, other first responders have joined Hughes for a workout. Governor Eric Greitens has also dropped in for a six-mile run – one of Hughes’ greatest memories thus far.

“He really felt about the cause and the mission,” Hughes says. “It meant a lot.”

Hughes began his foot race last week in eastern Missouri’s St. Charles and he hopes to make it to Kansas City by Saturday to see Independence police officer Tom Wagstaff throw out the first pitch at the Royals game. Wagstaff survived a bullet to the head while responding to a burglary call one year ago.

“We needed closure for the Tom Wagstaff incident, if you will. I think it’ll be a good thing and it’s going to provide healing to a lot of people,” he says. “For those around Kansas City, Tom Wagstaff is a hero. He is a celebrity. To have him throw out that pitch – that stadium is going to go crazy.”

Part of Hughes’ efforts also includes raising money for Kansas City-based Answering the Call – an organization that helps first responders and their families during their time of need.

(Missourinet) – There’s a new initiative for Missouri’s small business community and farmers.

On Thursday, State Treasurer Eric Schmitt, R, joined business and finance leaders at the St. Louis Regional Chamber of Commerce to launch the Missouri FIRST (Financing Investment in our Rural, Small Business and Technology communities) program, which revamps the state’s program providing low-interest loans to small businesses and agriculture operations.

For one, the single-use restriction for borrowers has been lifted, allowing them to apply for another loan after their five-year term is up.

“Small businesses and farms are the backbone of our state’s economy, but many that were set back by the recession have been struggling to grow ever since,” Schmitt said. “Missouri FIRST will create jobs for hardworking Missourians and revitalize Main Street by encouraging investment in our state’s economy. This program is about expanding opportunity and reaching our fullest economic potential as a state.”

Other changes through the Missouri FIRST initiative are:

• Unnecessary yearly certifications have been eliminated to reduce the amount of paperwork needed from borrowers.
• The eligibility criteria have been expanded for agricultural loans to increase accessibility.
• The linked deposit application process has been streamlined and made more efficient.
• The internal process for linked deposits is being moved to a digital interface, which will speed up the approvals for borrowers and save money for Missouri taxpayers

Hart Nelson, Vice-President of Public Policy for the St. Louis Regional Chamber of Commerce, says this will benefit Missouri’s economy.

“It has the potential to revitalize small business and the entrepreneurial community here in Missouri and enable them to succeed.” Nelson said.

There are about 115 qualified lenders for this program in the state available to small businesses and agricultural operations.

(Missourinet) – An 11-year-old boy from south-central Missouri’s Dixon has set a state and world record in the sport of fishing.

Maverick Yoakum became the state’s most recent record-breaking angler by hooking a river redhorse on Tavern Creek using a rod and reel.  Paperwork is being done to finalize the world record through the International Game Fish Association, but Yoakum’s 10-pound, 3-ounce catch set a new standard for the fish.

The previous 9-pound, 13 ounces world record catch for a river redhorse was also fished out of the same Tavern Creek near the town of St. Elizabeth by an adult in 2016.

Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) Fisheries Programs Specialist Andrew Branson says Yoakum holds a special place among the few world record holders in the state.

“Missouri does have a handful,” said Branson. “I think we’ve got five or so current world records. But none of them are from a youth.  So, this is kind of a special deal, having a youth do it.”

The state recognizes record fish catches in two categories: pole-and-line and alternative methods.

The overall record capture of a river redhorse in Missouri is about 17 pounds, which was done through the alternative method known as gigging.  Branson describes gigging as being done with a long pole that has forked multi-prongs on the end that are used to impale the fish.

While the river redhorse does get much larger than the catch obtained by Yoakum, the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) only recognizes fish taken by pole and line method he used.

Yoakum was using worms when he caught the fish. The Conservation Department staff verified the record-weight fish using a certified scale in south-central Missouri’s Brinktown.

Yoakum said he knew after battling hard that the fish he caught was special.

“I fought the fish for about two to three minutes before I got it to the bank,” said Yoakum. “I thought I caught a pretty big fish, but I didn’t know it was a state record until my dad told me to look it up online. I’m super excited to hold a state record! I want to thank my dad for always taking me fishing because if it wasn’t for him taking me fishing I wouldn’t have caught a fish like I did.”

More information on state-record fish is available on the Conservation Department’s website.

(Missourinet) – State Rep. Mike Henderson, R-Bonne Terre, is proposing to ban texting while driving in Missouri’s school zones.

“School dismisses and those kids are excited. They come running out of there and they’re looking a lot of times for either a bus or for mom or dad’s car,” he says. “They’re going for it as fast as they can and we have a lot of distracted drivers in that zone.”

Exceptions of his bill include texting to report illegal activity or a medical problem.

Henderson considers his proposal to be a happy medium, compared to an all-out statewide texting while driving ban.

“I think if this is a small thing we could do to protect them, that would be great. If we protect one child, it’s worth it,” Henderson says.

Missouri is one of three states that has not passed a statewide prohibition against texting while driving.

Under Henderson’s bill, he says law breakers would face a moving violation.

At this halfway point in the legislative session, Henderson’s legislation has not been assigned to a committee yet. The proposal is one of several life-saving measures that have been slow to move this session.

Other safety measures include a statewide texting while driving ban, a primary seatbelt law, a prohibition against domestic violence criminals from having guns and changes to dock regulations to prevent electrical shock drownings at Missouri lakes.

(Missourinet) – The nation’s largest online retailer will open its first Missouri fulfillment center in fast-growing St. Peters.

Executives with Seattle-based Amazon made that announcement Wednesday morning, saying it will create more than 1,500 new jobs with benefits and opportunities to engage with Amazon Robotics in a highly technological workplace. The new facility will be built in Duke Realty’s Premier 370 business park.

Amazon currently operates a sortation center in the north St. Louis County suburb of Hazelwood, where it employs hundreds of associates.

“All of us in St. Peters are excited to welcome Amazon to ‘My Hometown’ and we’re looking forward to them joining the St. Peters family with 1,500 jobs for our region’s well-trained workforce,” says St. Peters Mayor Len Pagano. “With Amazon’s tremendous investment in our region and our commitment to facilitating quality economic development projects with our ‘FasTrac’ process we believe this will be one of their most successful projects – ever.”

Amazon will pack products and ship from the St. Peters facility.

“We are pleased that Amazon has chosen the City of St. Peters as the site for its new fulfillment center,” says County Executive Steve Ehlmann. “This is a major investment that reflects the growing shift to e-commerce and will add more than 1,500 new, full-time jobs in St. Charles County. Amazon’s decision is just one more indication that St. Charles County is being recognized as an exceptional place to live, work and do business.”

Construction is scheduled to begin on March 19, with an anticipated opening of May 1, 2019.

Ehlmann notes the massive 800,000 square-foot facility will be a two-minute drive from the Missouri River bridge, and just 15 miles from St. Louis Lambert International Airport.

More than 50,000 residents live in St. Peters, which is ranked by “Money Magazine” as number 15 in the top 100 best places to live in the United States.