Authorities are looking for a driver involved in a Wednesday night rollover crash in Platte County.
According to the Missouri Highway Patrol a 2005 Hyundai was traveling north on 635, south of I-29 about 10:30 p.m.
The vehicle travelled off the left side of the road and overturned. The driver fled the scene. A passenger in the vehicle 29 year old Shannon P. Miller of Leavenworth was transported to North Kansas City Hospital. She was not wearing a seat belt.
A Thursday morning high-speed chase left a Kansas City man against a tree and ultimately in the hospital.
According to the Kansas Highway Patrol 33 year old Calvin Cortez Jones of Kansas City was driving a 2004 Chevy Trailblazer northbound on 59th Street, in Wyandotte County, at a high rate of speed fleeing from Kansas City, KS Police Department.
Cortez failed to negotiate the curve of the road and lost control. The vehicle then went sideways up through a driveway and into a tree. Cortez was transported to KU Medical Center. He was not wearing a seat belt.
Playtex is recalling 1.4 million pacifier holders because of concern that a small child could choke if a part of the clip broke off.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Wednesday that the clips — used to connect a pacifier to clothing, diaper bags or strollers — can crack and a small part can break off. Playtex has received 99 reports of the holder cracking or breaking. No injuries have been reported.
Playtex is recalling 1.25 million clips in the U.S. and 150,000 in Canada. They were sold from 2010 through October 2013 for about $3 at major retailers including Target, Walmart and online at Amazon.com.
Consumers should stop using the pacifier holder and contact Playtex Products Inc. for a refund at (888) 220-2075 or online at www.playtexproducts.com.
PLANNING COMMISSION AGENDA
January 23, 2014, 7:00 p.m. Regular Meeting
Council Chamber, 3rd Floor of City Hall 1100 Frederick Ave., St. Joseph, Missouri
PUBLIC HEARINGS ON REQUESTS FOR REZONING, CONDITIONAL USE PERMITS, & SUBDIVISIONS
MINUTES DECEMBER 19, 2013 PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING
OLD BUSINESS
NEW BUSINESS
Item #1 ZONING DISTRICT CHANGE – A request for a change of zoning from M-2, Heavy Manufacturing to C-3, Commercial for the property at 6701 Memorial Highway, as requested by Cynthia Hamilton. Zoning District Changes move on to City Council, Staff recommendation: Forthcoming
Item #2 SITE PLAN – A request for approval of a site plan for the property located at 2403 N. 3rd Street regarding an addition to the Field House at Lafayette High School, presently zoned R-1B, Detached Single-Family Residential District, as requested by St. Joseph School District, agent Tad Hopkins. Site Plans are approved or denied by the Planning, Commission Staff recommendation: Forthcoming
Item #3 AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 31 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO PARKING OF OVERSIZED AND COMMERCIAL VEHICLES IN RESIDENTIAL AREAS – Amendments to Sections 31-010, 31-028, 31-029, 31-030 and 31-050 and any and all other sections of Chapter 31 necessary to change and/or clarify the types of vehicles that are allowed to be parked in residential areas.Ordinance Amendments move on to City Council Staff recommendation: Forthcoming
Item #4 Election of Officers
(AP) – Missouri is looking for other sources of money for education and health care after experiencing shortfalls in gambling and tobacco revenues.
State budget director Linda Luebbering says revenues from casinos, cigarettes sales and the Missouri Lottery all are coming in lower than budgeted this year. Those revenues all are earmarked for education.
Gov. Jay Nixon is proposing to transfer $44 million from general revenues to make up for the lost education funding.
Missouri also is losing about $70 million of expected revenues from a legal settlement with tobacco companies, because an arbitration panel ruled the state failed to diligently enforce tobacco laws a decade ago.
Nixon is proposing to use general revenues to finance the health care programs that were supposed to get tobacco funds.
(AP) Legislation revising Missouri’s school transfer law for unaccredited school districts received a public airing Wednesday as the Senate Education Committee during a public hearing started work on what could prove to be the marquee education issue confronting state lawmakers.
The 1993 transfer law requires districts without state accreditation to pay tuition and provide transportation for students who want to attend an accredited school within the same county or a bordering one. It has prompted concerns about schools’ ability to control incoming students and is creating financial problems for unaccredited districts.
The Senate Education Committee focused Wednesday on measures each filed by several St. Louis-area lawmakers.
“This is the year for us to come together and recognize that we need to do things that we can get done,” said Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt, of St. Louis County.
The St. Louis-area lawmakers said the legislation is a starting point. Under their proposal, districts receiving transfer students would set policies for class sizes and student-teacher ratios. The State Board of Education would assess individual school buildings within unaccredited districts, and the first option for students in unaccredited districts would be going to an accredited school within their home district.
In addition, accredited school systems could operate charter schools in unaccredited districts, and unaccredited school districts could approve longer school days and academic years.
The Senate Education Committee plans to consider other proposals dealing with the transfer law, among them a bill filed by the committee’s chairman, Sen. David Pearce. His bill would include the creation of a “statewide achievement district” to oversee struggling schools.
The most active questioner during Wednesday’s hearing was Democratic Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, who also has filed an education bill that addresses student transfers. Chappelle-Nadal, of University City, raised questions about several issues, including finances and charter schools.
Missouri’s three school districts currently unaccredited are Normandy, Riverview Gardens and Kansas City public schools. Another 11 districts have provisional accreditation.
Gov. Jay Nixon has suggested a $5 million supplement for the current year’s budget to prevent Normandy from running out of money this spring. If the school system becomes insolvent, it would cease to exist and the State Board of Education would assign students to other districts, deputy education commissioner Ron Lankford said. He said the most likely scenario would be to keep the students in their current buildings but shift the management to new districts.
Several members of the Senate Appropriations Committee raised concerns in a separate hearing Wednesday that a $5 million bailout could set a poor precedent for how the state deals with unaccredited districts.
Kansas City Superintendent R. Stephen Green told the Senate Education Committee the transfer law could thrust his school system into financial distress.
Kate Casas, state director of the Children’s Education Council of Missouri, said any changes to the transfer law also should include creation of additional education options. She has pointed to options such as charters, virtual education and private school choice.
Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey has made addressing the transfer law and unaccredited schools a priority for the session.
(AP) – A Senate panel has halted one of Governor Jay Nixon’s appointments to the Missouri Human Rights Commission.
The Democratic governor appointed former Democratic state House member Sara Lampe of Springfield, to the board.
The Republican-led committee stopped the nomination today because of concerns that there would be too many Democrats on the commission.
(AP) – A St. Joseph man says he needed a car, but he didn’t expect one to turn up in his garage overnight.
Rudy Phelps says he woke up around 9 a.m. Tuesday, looked out the window and saw a 2005 Dodge Stratus parked in his garage. The 72 year old says the car had some damage and he figured it probably had been stolen.
Phelps called police, who believed the car might have been connected to an incident Monday night. Its owner came to Phelps’ house and picked it up, saying he had left the keys in the vehicle Monday night and someone just took off with it.
Police Capt. Jonathan Beaver says there are no suspects, but at least the owner got his car back.
(AP) — Attorney General Derek Schmidt is proposing legislators expand the Kansas no-call registry to cover mobile devices to protect consumers from unwanted calls.
Schmidt announced the plan Wednesday with legislators, telecommunication providers and Kansas AARP.
The registry currently allows residents to list their numbers with the attorney general’ office if they wish not to be bothered by telemarketing calls. Federal law allows for any telephone number to be listed on a national database, but Schmidt and others aren’t certain if the Kansas law specifically allows for mobile numbers to be added to protect privacy.
The proposed bill would be narrowly drafted to clarify that mobile devices are covered by the act.
Violations of the act are enforced by the attorney general’s office.
A wind chill advisory in effect for much of the region through 11 a.m. tomorrow morning. The National Weather Service predicts wind chill values to bottom out in the -15F to -22F range.
That’s too cold to leave Fido outdoors.
Here are cold weather tips for your pets:
1. Antifreeze, even in tiny qualities, can be fatal. Better yet use antifreeze made with propylene glycol rather than ethylene glycol.
2. Bang on your car hood before you start your car. Cats and other small animals may curl up under the hood for warmth.
3. Don’t use metal bowls outside. Most of us found out when we were children that we shouldn’t put our tongues on cold metal.
4. Outdoors, use heated bowls and birdbath warmers to keep water unfrozen.
5. A doghouse should be off the ground, facing away from north with a protective flap on the door, furnished with hay or some other warm material and large enough for the dog to turn around in, but small enough for it to retain body heat.
6. When the temperature falls below freezing bring your pets inside. Cats should be brought inside for the winter. Garages aren’t warm enough for them. They may fuss to go outside, but don’t give in.
7. Small dogs should be outfitted with little sweaters before going outside. Booties are also a good idea.
8. Ice melt and salt can irritate paws, so wipe the paws if it has snowed.
9. Animals who go outside may need more food in the winter. Inside animals may want it, but they don’t need it.
10. Animals may lose their sense of direction in the snow and be unable to find their way home.
11. Outdoor animals need more food when it’s cold.
12. When the weather moderates, take your dog for a walk. It will be good for both of you!
