(AP) A southwest Missouri orthopedic surgeon who was spending a day being introduced to family physicians in the Joplin area made a good first impression after rushing to the aid of crash victims whose car had just overturned.
Dr. Andrew Collette, who has been working for Freeman Health System in Joplin for about six months, was with a hospital administrator last Tuesday when they came upon the overturned vehicle on Missouri Highway 43 near Seneca.
The car’s engine was still running and the vehicle was spewing gasoline. A teenage boy who had been in the car was trying to pull others from the wreckage.
Collette and the teenager were able to pull the injured driver and another teenager out of the car. The driver suffered moderate injuries.
(AP) – An angry Twitter post about classes being held during a snowstorm brought detectives to a Missouri State University student’s dorm room after one of his followers replied with a tweet that was interpreted as a shooting threat.
The student tweeted in early February that he was upset classes were not canceled because of bad weather. A student at Lincoln University in Jefferson City responded with a tweet saying that the MSU student was about “to shoot up his school #MSU BEWARE.”
Police who interviewed the Missouri State student determined he did not mean to threaten the school. They found no guns in his dorm room. No charges were filed.
The incident happened Feb. 4. The newspaper obtained the police investigation report late last week.
(AP) – A state Senate panel is scheduled to hear testimony from a Missouri man who spent 15 years of his life behind bars for a wrongful conviction.
The judiciary committee is planning to consider legislation Monday that would alter how eyewitness statements are used in court.
Senators will hear from Josh Kezer, who was released in 2009 after being convicted in the murder of a southeast Missouri college student. He was freed after a Cole County judge found that prosecutors withheld key evidence from defense attorneys.
Bill Ferguson, whose son Ryan’s conviction was recently vacated, is also scheduled to appear
The legislation would also require most suspect interrogations to be videotaped. It is sponsored by Democratic Sen. Joe Keaveny, of St. Louis.
Four people were injured in a Sunday crash in Jackson County.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the crash occurred as a 2013 Toyota, driven by Gregory K. Puckett of Norwalk, Ohio, failed to stop at the intersection of Route FF and Route H in Jackson County and drove into the path of 2002 Dodge Neon driven by 41-year-old Michael A. Ladd of Buckner, Missouri.
Puckett, his wife, Valerie A. Puckett age 53, and their daughter 14 year old Gabrielle Puckett and 33 year old Tara D. Ladd, a passenger in the Neon, were transported to Centerpoint Medical Center. The Highway Patrol reports that all drivers and passengers were wearing seat belts.
(AP) – President Barack Obama is praising University of Missouri football player Michael Sam for announcing he is gay before the NFL draft.
Obama says Sam’s attitude is that he knows he can play great football and that he should be judged only on those facts.
Sam could become the NFL’s first openly gay player. The defensive end is scheduled to participate in the league’s scouting camp in Indianapolis later this month. He’s projected to be a mid-round draft pick in May.
First lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden sent Sam messages of encouragement over Twitter last week after his announcement. A spokesman had said Obama shared their sentiments.
Obama commented in a taped interview with Charles Barkley that aired during TNT’s pregame coverage of Sunday’s NBA All-Star game.
(AP) — It’s barely 2014. Candidates haven’t even officially begun filing for this year’s elections. Yet, Missouri’s 2016 gubernatorial campaign is in full swing.
Democratic Attorney General Chris Koster has been building a gubernatorial campaign for nearly a year. And this past week, Republican Catherine Hanaway declared her candidacy for governor. More Republicans could be positioning themselves to run.
Quick starts to campaigns are becoming increasingly common both nationally and especially in Missouri. That’s because of the mounting pressure to raise money, line up supporters and lock down professional campaign consultants.
Political scientist Peverill Squire, of the University of Missouri-Columbia, says candidates who start early often are either heavyweights trying to clear the field of challengers or are facing an uphill battle and need extra time to build a campaign network.
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO
341 PM CST SUN FEB 16 2014
...ICE AND SNOW ACCUMULATIONS EXPECTED LATE TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY
MORNING OVER NORTHERN MISSOURI ...
.AREAS OF FREEZING DRIZZLE AND LIGHT FREEZING RAIN WILL OVERSPREAD
THE AREA BEGINNING SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT AND CONTINUE INTO MONDAY
MORNING. THE FREEZING RAIN WILL MIX WITH SLEET AND SNOW TOWARDS
SUNRISE ALONG AND JUST SOUTH OF THE MISSOURI AND IOWA BORDER WITH
AROUND AN INCH OF SNOW ACCUMULATING BEFORE THE PRECIPITATION ENDS.
TEMPERATURES WILL INITIALLY BE IN THE MIDDLE AND UPPER 20S AND WILL
ALLOW ICE TO QUICKLY ACCUMULATE ON EXPOSED SURFACES. ONE TO TWO
TENTHS OF AN INCH OF ICE ARE POSSIBLE. TEMPERATURES WILL GRADUALLY
RISE ABOVE FREEZING FROM SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST MONDAY MORNING.
DONIPHAN-HOLT-ANDREW-DE KALB-BUCHANAN-CLINTON-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...TROY...MOUND CITY...OREGON...SAVANNAH...
CAMERON...ST. JOSEPH...PLATTSBURG
341 PM CST SUN FEB 16 2014
...FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 9 AM
CST MONDAY...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL HAS
ISSUED A FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM
MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 9 AM CST MONDAY.
* LOCATION...NORTHWEST MISSOURI AND EXTREME NORTHEAST KANSAS.
* TIMING...PATCHY FREEZING DRIZZLE AND LIGHT FREEZING RAIN WILL
DEVELOP AFTER MIDNIGHT AND END BY MID MONDAY MORNING. TEMPERATURES
WILL RISE ABOVE FREEZING MID TO LATE MONDAY MORNING.
* ICE ACCUMULATIONS...LESS THAN A TENTH OF AN INCH.
* IMPACTS...MINOR ICE ACCUMULATIONS WILL CREATE VERY HAZARDOUS TRAVEL
CONDITIONS PARTICULARLY ON UNTREATED SURFACES. WINDS GUSTING TO 20
MPH MONDAY MORNING MAY CAUSE MINOR DAMAGE TO ICE- COATED TREES...
PARTICULARLY SMALL BRANCHES. HEAVY DAMAGE TO TREES AND POWER LINES
IS NOT EXPECTED.
* OTHER IMPACTS...FREEZING RAIN MAY MIX WITH SLEET OR SNOW AT
TIMES MONDAY MORNING. ANY SLEET AND SNOW ACCUMULATION SHOULD
BE A FEW TENTHS OF AN INCH OR LESS.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY MEANS THAT PERIODS OF FREEZING RAIN OR
FREEZING DRIZZLE WILL CAUSE TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR
SLIPPERY ROADS. SLOW DOWN AND USE CAUTION WHILE DRIVING.
(AP) – A group of Kansas City Roman Catholics has joined a request to Pope Francis to discipline Bishop Robert Finn for the way he handled complaints against a priest who admitted taking pornographic photographs of young parishioners.
Milwaukee priest and canon lawyer James Connell initiated the effort to punish Finn, of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. Finn pleaded guilty in 2012 to a misdemeanor count of failing to report suspected child abuse to the state.
Along with Connell’s request to the pope, an online petition signed by more than 113,000 people worldwide seeking Finn’s removal also was forwarded to the Vatican.
Finn’s conviction was related to his handling of the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, who has pleading guilty to state and federal child pornography counts.
A truck and a horse drawn wagon crash sent two men to the hospital on Saturday night in Grundy County.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, 37-year-old Robert W. Skipper of Chillicothe was driving a 2004 Chevy 1500 truck east on Route F, four miles east of Jamesport at 6:30 p.m.
It was dark and Skipper did not see the unlighted horse drawn wagon operated by 37-year-old John H. Troyer of Jamesport also traveling east on Route F. The truck attempted to swerve to avoid a collision but struck the left rear of the wagon.
The truck slid off the north side of the road coming to rest on its wheels. The wagon overturned, ejecting the driver and came to rest in the eastbound lane. Skipper and Troyer were transported to Wright Memorial Hospital in Trenton.
The Northwest Missouri State University Chamber Orchestra, featuring Dr. Ernest Kramer, professor of music at the University, will perform Franz Joseph Haydn’s Harpsichord Concerto in G Major at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 18, at the Charles Johnson Theater.
Haydn was an Austrian composer from the Classical period who is known for his contribution to the development of the piano trio and the evolution of the sonata form. He is often called the “Father of the Symphony,” and was one of the most celebrated composers in Europe at the time of his death.
Kramer, who studied music in Vienna and teaches harpsichord at Northwest, has always had a personal connection with Haydn and his works. Additionally, a harpsichord at Northwest helps piano students gain an edge and become more well-rounded musicians.
“Northwest and the music department are proud owners of a Richard Kingston late Flemish two manual harpsichord, for which we are extremely thankful,” Kramer said. “It’s a rarity for even larger schools to have such a fine classical instrument like this one in-house, and even rarer for an audience to hear this particular instrument live.”
The Northwest Chamber Orchestra is conducted by artist-in-residence and adjunct instructor John Bell. In addition to the Haydn concerto, Bell will be conducting works by Lully, Dittersdorf and Tchaikowsky.
“We are fortunate to have student performers from a wide variety of majors on campus, in addition to our students in the Department of Fine and Performing Arts who are pursuing degrees in music or music education,” Bell said. “It is vital for our music students to experience a variety of ensemble performance options.”
