Onaga—The Onaga Police Department is asking for assistance locating Melvin Robert Potter.

He  is 67 years old from Onaga, Pottawatomie, KS.

Melvin has onset of dementia,  suffers from high blood pressure and does not have his medication with him.

He was last seen on Friday, March 14, 2014 at approximately 10:00 A.M. when he drove for a short errand. Melvin was wearing blue jeans and a red flannel shirt that has brown patches on the sleeves. Melvin wears brown boots and a brown leather belt with a belt buckle that says “Oklahoma” on it. Melvin walks with a noticeable limp due to a previous injury.

He was last seen driving a red and silver two tone 1996 Dodge truck bearing a Kansas license plate of 385DPQ.

Please call the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office dispatch center with any information at (785) 457-3353.

JOPLIN (AP) – Weather forecasters say prolonged cold temperatures over the winter could cause this year’s spring storm season to get off to a late start as it takes longer for water in the Gulf of Mexico to warm up.

The Joplin Globe reports

reports University of Missouri professor Tony Lupo says spring is expected to be cooler than normal, followed by a mild summer with plenty of rain.

National Weather Service meteorologist John Gagan says there’s also a better chance for hail with storms in the spring because mid-level temperatures in the atmosphere will still be cool.

The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., says there have been about 50 tornadoes so far this year, compared with a typical average of about 130 nationwide by now.

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – A measure making it easier for inmates to get married is moving through the Missouri Legislature.

The legislation would create an inmate exception to a Missouri law that requires people seeking a marriage license to appear in person before the local recorder of deeds.

Some recorders have gone into prisons in the past in order to get signatures on marriage licenses.

But over the past year, three federal judges have ruled in separate cases that Missouri’s in-person license requirement is unconstitutional for prisoners wanting to get married.

A bill that passed the Senate last week and is now pending in the House would allow inmates to apply for marriage licenses using an affidavit.

SPRINGFIELD (AP) – The Greene County Sheriff’s Office is asking for help in identifying a man who was found unresponsive in a southwest Missouri field and later died.

Deputies were called Sunday morning to check on a man in a field near Halltown. Emergency responders performed CPR but the man was pronounced dead in a hospital emergency room.

The Sheriff’s Office says there were no signs of physical trauma or foul play, and that an autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday.

The man is described as being white, in his late 30s or 40s and about 6 feet tall. He weighs 175 to 190 pounds and has brown hair and brown eyes.

Investigators say the man was carrying a lighter, a pack of Cheyenne cigarettes and a pocket knife.

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – Missouri lawmakers are putting more money into the budget to try to speed up the results of newborn blood screenings.

A budget plan pending in the House would add about $150,000 for the state public health laboratory to conduct newborn screenings on Saturdays and have a courier service on Sundays.

The money was inserted into the budget last week by House Budget Committee Chairman Rick Stream, of Kirkwood. It’s supported by House member Sheila Solon, of Blue Springs.

Solon cited research showing that Missouri ranks poorly in how quickly the newborn blood samples reach labs for testing. She told The Kansas City Star that she hopes the additional money can help speed up the process and potentially save lives.

Missouri screens babies for 79 different health conditions.

JIM SALTER, Associated Press

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The windy plains of Kansas could be a treasure trove in the nation’s effort to harness clean energy. But a major proposal to move wind-generated electricity east from Kansas is meeting opposition from farmers who don’t want high-power transmission lines on their land.

Houston-based Clean Line Energy Partners wants to build a 750-mile-long high-voltage overhead transmission line. Hundreds of tall towers would carry a power line moving wind-generated energy from Kansas to Indiana.

The company says it will be an economic boon, especially for Kansas. Environmental groups say it could be a step forward for clean energy. But landowners worry about property rights and the possibility that values will plummet, if the towers will impede farming, and whether the wires could create health issues.

The project still requires regulatory approval.  County commissioners in Caldwell County, Missouri have come out firmly against the proposal crossing their county, bowing to public dissent. (Find more here)

(AP) — Chocolate lovers might perk up at word that researchers will study the potential health benefits of the yummy treat, but it’s not about eating candy bars.

A study of 18,000 men and women is being launched to see if pills containing the nutrients in dark chocolate can help prevent heart attacks and strokes.

The pills are so packed with nutrients that a person couldn’t eat enough candy bars to get the same dose — and the pills won’t have the sugar or the fat.

In smaller studies, cocoa flavanols improved blood pressure, cholesterol, the body’s use of insulin, artery health and other heart-related factors.

The study will be sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and Mars Inc., maker of M&M’s and Snickers candy bars. The candy company has patented a way to extract flavanols from cocoa in high concentration and put them in capsules.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s Capitol will be quieter this week as state lawmakers take a weeklong spring break.
The House and Senate finished their work Thursday and won’t return to consider legislation until March 24.
The one-week break is the traditional halfway point of the Legislature’s annual session, which ends this year on May 16.
The Republican-led Legislature has already some measures to Gov. Jay Nixon. They include bills on utilities and legislation barring insurance companies from charging significantly more for oral chemotherapy pills.
Nixon has already signed one bill into law this year. It allows people with disabilities or on active military duty who are seeking elective office to appoint a proxy to stand in line during candidate filing.

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – Missouri Treasurer Clint Zweifel is urging high school students to participate in a competition designed to teach them about personal finances.

Four-member teams have until Friday to take an online test dealing with protecting income, using credit, saving and investing. The top two teams from four regions within Missouri then compete at a statewide competition in Warrensburg next month.

The winning team will compete against those from 20 other states in St. Louis on May 2.

High school teachers must register and then they can sign up students.

JOHN HANNA, AP Political Writer

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — As Kansas lawmakers fashion a plan to meet a court mandate to increase aid to the state’s poor school districts, the concerns of the state’s most populous county complicate the debate.

Legislators and Gov. Sam Brownback can’t ignore the Kansas City suburbs and farther-out communities in Johnson County.

Nearly 22 percent of the state’s voters live there, and no other county provides more sales or income tax revenues to the state’s coffers to help pay for public schools.

Some Johnson County legislators are uneasy with preliminary discussions following the Kansas Supreme Court’s ruling March 7 in an education funding lawsuit. It ordered more aid for poor districts.

Johnson County lawmakers worry that as their colleagues help poor districts, schools in relatively affluent Johnson County will be the losers.