JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – Missouri voters will decide next month whether they want six days to vote early without needing an excuse for why they won’t show up on Election Day.
Proposed Constitutional Amendment 6 would allow early voting for six business days ending the Wednesday before a general election. The measure would take effect during the next general election, but only if lawmakers provide funding for local election offices to support the program.
Republican backers say approving the initiative would give residents more flexibility for when they can vote.
Democratic opponents and the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri say the proposed early voting period is too short and should include weekends, when residents who can’t take time off work or who struggle with transportation could more easily vote.
LYNDON- One person was injured in an accident just after 12-Midnight on Saturday in Osage County
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported Osage County Sheriff Deputies were in pursuit of Volvo station wagon southbound on U.S. 75 in Lyndon.
The driver, whose name has not been released, drove up on the curb to pass a 2009 GMC Acadia driven by Brentt L. Moon, 32, Lyndon.
The Volvo struck the rear right quarter panel of the GMC.
The Volvo continued southbound, striking a road sign, crossing 15th Street and striking another road sign. Both vehicles came to rest south of 15th Street on U.S. 75.
The driver of the Volvo was transported to Stormont Vail in Topeka.
Moon and a passenger in the GMC were not injured.
The KHP reported the driver of the Volvo was not wearing a seat belt.
Authorities reported the name of the suspect will be released pending an investigation.
HOPKINS- A semi driver was injured in an accident just after 4:30 p.m. on Friday in Nodaway County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2014 Kenworth driven by Levi P. McClellan, 21, Burlington Junction, was eastbound on Route JJ just west of Hopkins. The driver lost control of the truck. It traveled off the south side of the road and overturned.
McClellan was transported to St. Francis hospital in Maryville. The MSHP reported he was properly restrained at the time of the accident.
KINGSTON- A Missouri man was injured in an accident just after 4 p.m. on Friday in Caldwell.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2001 Ford Taurus driven by Bobby L. McElwee, 64, Meadville, was eastbound on Route F four miles east of Kingston. The driver failed to negotiate a curve. The vehicle went off the south side of the road, down an embankment and overturned.
McElwee was transported to Liberty Hospital. The MSHP reported he was not wearing a seat belt.
The Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan., is unveiling this master plan for the development of a “healthy campus” west of downtown Kansas City, Kan.- courtesy United Government of Wyandotte Co.
By Mike Sherry
Hale Center for Journalism
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Kansas City, Kan., Mayor Mark Holland on Thursday evening unveiled an initiative to ensure that all residents can use a proposed new community center regardless of their financial circumstances.
Holland announced the initiative as part of a community forum at City Hall for the “healthy campus” proposed for an urban site just west of downtown Kansas City, Kan.
A proposal championed by Holland, the healthy campus would be a mixed-use development that would revolve around Big Eleven Lake, which is bounded by 10th and 11th streets between State Avenue and Washington Boulevard.
Holland unveiled the healthy campus idea in his State of the Government address earlier this year.
At the forum, the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan., also expects to unveil a master plan for the development.
As part of the implementation process, the Unified Government is considering adopting a formal Downtown Central Parkway Implementation Plan, which government officials expect will be drafted by Oct. 28.
Under the timeline for enactment, the planning commission would hold a public hearing on the plan Nov. 10, followed by a hearing by the board of commissioners on Dec. 4.
In an interview Thursday, Holland said he expects to announce the establishment of a technical team that will develop a community center access plan. He said the team would include representatives from the Unified Government, along with school officials and appointees from the YMCA of Greater Kansas City.
In meetings with neighborhood groups and other interested parties, Holland said, access to the community center has been the No. 1 concern that has emerged.
“Access to healthy living should not be something that is income-driven,” he said. “It should be something that is available to everyone.”
Holland has discussed the idea of operating the community center in partnership with the YMCA. He expressed confidence that the team would devise a solution, given the Y’s experience in serving diverse communities across the country.
In addition to access to exercise facilities, Holland said he wanted the community center to host classes for the community on topics like healthy cooking.
Thursday’s event is a follow-up to a community forum the Unified Government hosted in the spring, when some participants expressed doubts that the project would happen in a part of town where residents have felt let down by City Hall in the past. That forum drew about 270 participants.
Holland said the skepticism was warranted given the dearth of economic development downtown for several years.
“Empty promises don’t pay the bills,” he said.
His vision for the campus, he said, is to make it the biggest thing to happen in downtown for generations.
The vision includes construction of a grocery store along with the community center. Those two projects alone, Holland has said, would represent a roughly $30 million investment in that part of town.
Elected officials from the Unified Government have committed $6 million in casino proceeds to the community center.
The Wyandotte Health Foundation also has pledged $1 million to the healthy campus.
Farms and ranches offer children a unique environment in which to live, play, work and grow up.
With all the excitement and whirlwind of activities, potential hazards lurk around every machine shed, tractor, silo and grain bin.
Like a moth to a flame, belching diesel smoke, the roar of engines and rubber wheels on tractors, combines or silage cutters draw children to them. And like fire, they can be dangerous.
Such equipment can cut, crush, trap or kill children. It can harm the ones we want to protect the most – our children.
Childhood farm injuries and fatalities most often occur while children play where farm activities are going on, or the youngsters are innocent bystanders.
Each year, hundreds of children are killed, and thousands more are injured in farm-related incidents, according to National Safety Council statistics.
Children younger than 10 years old experience one of the highest rates of pediatric farm-related injuries, says Holly Higgins, Kansas Farm Bureau safety director.
“In an ideal world, parents should keep children away from farming activities and environmental hazards associated with farming and ranching,” Higgins says. “Never invite children to ride in the tractor. Stress that your youngsters stay away from machinery. Don’t let them play or hide under or around machinery like tractors.”
Education and awareness are the key ingredients to help make the farm a safer place for children to play, Higgins says. Brushing up on some of the potential hazards can also make it safer for parents.
While barns, grain handling facilities and big buildings can be fun to play in, children can fall or be exposed to harmful substances like chemicals and electricity.
Explain the dangers associated with stored grain. Stress that grain can entrap a person almost immediately. Children should never play around, or in grain that is stored in bins, trucks or wagons. Emphasize that it is difficult, or can be impossible, to pull a child out of grain if he/she becomes trapped.
Discuss with your children the potential dangers involved with farm animals. Remind them that while animals are fun to be around they can also bite, trample and stomp.
Tell your youngsters the signs that show an animal may be dangerous. Some of them include pawing the ground, snorting, raised hair and ears laid back.
“Animals – even friendly ones – can be unpredictable,” Higgins says. “Have children stay away from large ones. Emphasize they stay away from animals with newborn or young. Tell them to remain calm, speak quietly and move slowly when around animals.”
Wide-open spaces can provide children with ideal playgrounds. However, this isolation may also lead to difficulty finding help in the event of an emergency.
Remember, it is important youngsters have a safe place to play. Ask them to identify safe play areas. Talk about areas away from farm machinery, animals, manure pits and silos.
Carefully define safe boundaries. Let children know where they can and cannot play.
Safe play areas remain the best alternative to bringing children into the worksite. This is especially important when off-farm child care is not available.
Keep your youngsters safe while they play on the farm.
John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster says an upcoming forum will provide a second opportunity to gather people’s thoughts about challenges facing urban police forces.
Koster is billing Tuesday’s event in Kansas City as a “round-table discussion” on solutions to low minority participation in city law enforcement agencies.
He held a similar event earlier this month in St. Louis.
The racial composition of police forces has come under scrutiny following the Aug. 9 shooting of a black 18-year-old by a white police officer in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson. The police force there has three black members among its 53 officers, though two-thirds of the town’s residents are black.
At the St. Louis event, some people said black residents often have strained relationships with police from a young age.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health officials have approved a daily pill that can cure the most common form of hepatitis C without the grueling pill-and-injection cocktail long used to treat the virus.
It was not immediately clear how much the drug from Gilead Sciences would cost. But the $1,000-per-pill price tag for the company’s previous hepatitis drug has recently drawn scorn from patient groups, insurers and politicians worldwide.
The Food and Drug Administration said Friday that it cleared the new combination pill, Harvoni, for patients with genotype 1 of hepatitis C, a form of the liver-destroying virus that accounts for roughly 70 percent of U.S. cases. For the first time these patients will not have to take a combination of antiviral pills and shots that causes flu-like side effects.
Gilead Sciences Inc. is based in Forest City, California.
BETHANY- An Iowa man is recovering from injuries and facing charges after an accident on Friday afternoon in Harrison County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 1995 Buick Regal driven by Luke J. Tucker, Winterset, IA., was eastbound on U.S. 69 at 41st in Bethany.
The vehicle failed to yield to a Harrison County deputy’s emergency vehicle. The Buick also failed to stop at a stop sign, crossed 41st street, ran off the road, struck an embankment, became airborne and overturned.
Tucker was transported to Harrison Community Hospital.
The MSHP reported he was properly restrained at the time of the accident.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority says Oklahoma motorists heading into Kansas will soon be able to use their Pikepass on Kansas toll roads, and Kansas drivers will be able to use K-Tags on Oklahoma’s turnpikes.
The OTA said Friday that it’s finalized an agreement with the Kansas Turnpike Authority that will go into effect Nov. 1.
The Kansas Turnpike Authority operates a toll road on Interstate 35 from the Kansas-Oklahoma border into the Kansas City, Kansas area.
In addition to Oklahoma motorists using Pikepass, Kansas Turnpike Authority customers will be able to use their K-Tag on all Oklahoma turnpikes.
