With the new year almost here, many may be considering making health changes.

Debra Hull, Diabetes Educator at SSM Health St. Francis in Maryville, said good health starts today.

“Don’t wait for January, don’t wait for a resolution, good health is a balanced lifestyle,” Hull said. “It can be frustrating to people who want to just fix things quickly and start a resolution, because resolutions usually mean an extreme change and a lot of people tend to fail at that. A lot of our activity is guided through habits, once the body gets used to doing something, you’re going to be drawn to continue to do that.”

Hull said to start out with new habits slowly and make small goals. Hull adds, when considering health, there are three big things to consider.

“The way we fuel our body or feed our body, it is the activity that we carry out and then it’s our stress level, the big three for good health in many avenues is making sure we’re staying on top of those three things,” Hull said. “Under that umbrella of stress, includes our time management. It is such a busy world today and we have to be very intentionally focused on what we want to get out of each day. So I encourage people to look at what you’re spending or wasting your time on everyday.”

Hull said it’s important to make health a priority.

“Do or do not, there is no failure. So you’re either going to choose to do it or not to do it. If you fail, that means you’ve chosen not to do it when it comes to eating healthy,” Hull said. “It’s a matter of making health a priority. It is possible, but you’ve got to be focused and make it a priority now, don’t wait until you have bad knees, don’t wait until you’re forced to because of a diagnosis.”

SSM Health St. Francis offers multiple health programs focused on community health. For more information, contact Debra Hull at (660) 562-7966.

Jefferson City, Mo. – Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley is warning consumers to check their bank and insurance statements for irregular activity. Recent disclosures indicate that Wells Fargo may have billed consumers unnecessarily for auto or home insurance.

Home loan lenders, and some auto loan lenders, may require consumers to have insurance policies to cover the property that was financed by the loan. If the consumer does not obtain the coverage on their own, the lender might purchase a policy on its own and bill it back to the consumer through a practice known as “force-placed insurance.”

According to recent news reports, however, Hawley says Wells Fargo might have been billing consumers for force-placed insurance, even though the consumer had purchased their own separate policy. In some cases, the amounts for this duplicative insurance may have been added to the consumer’s bill and automatically debited from their bank account. Consumers should check their records to be certain that they are not being billed for policies that they do not need.

“We will work to stop the illegal placement of unnecessary insurance,” Hawley says. “Consumers should check to see if they are being charged for duplicative insurance, whether on their home or vehicle. If one of those policies is not necessary or if the policy was placed without the consumer’s knowledge, my office wants to hear about it.”

If you find that you were wrongfully charged for force-placed insurance, call the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-392-8222.

With single digits and temperatures below zero in the forecast this weekend, there are some precautions to take to make sure you ring in the New Year safe and warm.

Ralph Dishong is the Disaster Program Specialist with the American Red Cross of Northwest Missouri.

If you have to venture outside this weekend, Dishong said to make sure you keep warm and avoid skin exposure to the cold.

“Your skin can freeze in a matter of seconds sometimes in the sub zero weather so make sure you wear gloves, facemask, keep covered,” Dishong said. “It’s important to wear light but layered outerwear… it’ll trap air and keep you warmer than one heavy coat.”

Dishong said if you are traveling, to make sure and have an emergency kit in your car which can include flares and extra blankets in case your car breaks down.

“Make sure your cell phone is charged, in the emergency kit you want to have things in there like flashers, something to draw attention,” Dishong said. “One of the best safety tips if you get stranded is to not leave your car. Stay in your car, keep warm, if you do need to start your car to run it for heat, you do need to leave a little bit of ventilation for air to come in. Let somebody know where you’re at if you can call out.”

Dishong said to also be careful with alternative heating sources in your house such as space heaters. It’s important to make sure nothing is near them that can catch fire.

For information on signs of frostbite and hypothermia and what to do, click here.

During cold weather, it’s also important to check on more vulnerable family and friends including the elderly and to not leave pets outdoors for long periods of time.

The number of dogs and cats that came through the St. Joseph Animal Shelter was up this year, but so were adoption rates.

According to Kappy Hodges with the Friends of the Animal Shelter, this year 1,300 dogs came through the shelter, compared to 900 last year. This year, 1,200 cats came through the shelter compared to 950 last year. Hodges said those numbers include pets brought in for cremation and deceased animals that were picked up by Animal Control. 

Hodges said of the adoptable dogs that came through the shelter this year, 100-percent were adopted. That means they were placed in a new home, went to a rescue or they were returned to their family if they were lost. The cat adoption rate went up this year to 95-percent, up from 82-percent last year.

Hodges said there are many programs that help in reaching the adoption rates each year.

“Some of the things that have been successful that the staff at Animal Control and also the volunteers with Friends of the Animal Shelter have done and are always continually working on are the Puppies for Parole program, we have the adoptions through PetSmart and Petco,” Hodges said. “We have volunteers that bring in foster mamas and help the babies… and then we have adoption promotions that we do, so all of these ways we want to keep doing.”

Hodges said this is the fourth year the shelter has had a 100-percent adoption rate for dogs.

(UPDATE 11:38 a.m. Wednesday) A precautionary boil water advisory issued Tuesday has been lifted.

According to Missouri American Water, the advisory was issued after a malfunctioning valve in a water storage tank caused water pressure to drop below a certain level.

It is no longer necessary to boil water before drinking and/or cooking. Customers who have provided contact information to Missouri American Water are being notified via the company’s emergency notification system. This information can also be found on the Missouri American Water Facebook page.

======

A precautionary boil water advisory has been issued after a malfunctioning valve in a water storage tank caused water pressure to drop below a certain level.

According to Missouri American Water, this is strictly a precautionary measure and there is no evidence of contamination. Persons living within the city limits of St. Joseph are NOT affected.

The area affected is south of the city limits and is described below.

• Starting at the NW boundary of impacted area – State Highway 59 forms the western boundary North to the intersection of W. Parker Rd.
• The area south of W. Parker Rd. going east to King Hill Ave. Rd. North (also known as
  State Rt. V).
• The area south of Hwy 752 (also known as Alabama, East Hyde, and Mason Rd.) going
  east to I-229.
• The area south of I-229 to I-29
• The area west of I-29 as it runs south from I-229 to county rd. O  The area south of county rd. O as it runs east to 50th Rd. SE
• The area west of west off 50th Rd. SE as it runs south from county rd. O, including Pigeon Hill Rd. going south
• South on FF to South on H (all areas south of this)
• South on H to MM to DD (all areas south of this)
• Including the village of Faucett

Residents in the affected area will be under a precautionary boil water advisory until further notice. Customers in the precautionary boil water advisory area listed above should bring their water to a rolling boil for 3 minutes before using for drinking or cooking. Tap water is safe for bathing and washing clothes. The precautionary advisory will be in effect until water quality samples confirm that the water is safe for consumption. Customers who have provided contact information to Missouri American Water will be notified via the company’s emergency notification system. Customers can also check the Missouri American Water Facebook Page for updates.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports five people died in traffic crashes over the Christmas holiday counting period.

The counting period ran from 6 p.m. on Friday, December 22, 2017 to 11:59 p.m. on Monday, December 25, 2017.

According to a news release, the Patrol investigated 491 traffic crashes, which included 125 injuries and four of the five fatalities. Officers from the Springfield Police Department investigated one of the fatalities. Troopers also arrested 91 people for driving while impaired and made 49 drug arrests over the Christmas holiday. There were no boating crashes. No one drowned over the 2017 Christmas counting period.

During last year’s Christmas holiday counting period, the Patrol investigated 260 traffic crashes, which included 86 injuries and five fatalities. In addition, troopers arrested 68 people for driving while impaired and made 40 drug arrests over the 2016 Christmas holiday. (During the 2016 Christmas holiday counting period, there were 885 traffic crashes statewide, which included five fatalities and 314 injuries.) There were no boating crashes or drownings over the 2016 counting period.

Two of the fatalities occurred in each of the Troop A, Lee’s Summit, and Troop D, Springfield, areas; and one fatality occurred in the Troop C, Weldon Spring, area.

No fatalities occurred as a result of traffic crashes on Friday, December 22, 2017.

Three fatalities occurred as a result of a traffic crash on Saturday, December 23, 2017. Teagan E. Birdno, 19, of Carrollton and Matthew D. Landi, 21, of Carrollton both died when the vehicle in which they were passengers ran off the roadway, struck an embankment, struck a tree, and then overturned. The crash occurred in Carroll County on Missouri Highway CC east of County Road 261. Neither Birdno nor Landi were wearing seat belts; they were both ejected from the vehicle. Carroll County Coroner Jeff Cohler pronounced both subjects deceased at the scene. The driver of the vehicle and a third passenger sustained serious and minor injuries, respectively. Neither were wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash.

Charles Terbrock, 85, of Foristell died when the vehicle he was driving slid on the icy roadway of a bridge, struck the concrete bridge rail (passenger side of vehicle), returned to the roadway before striking the guardrail (passenger side) on the opposite side of the roadway, then overturned onto its passenger side. The crash occurred in Lincoln County on U.S. Highway 61 northbound, north of the Lincoln County and St. Charles County line. Terbrock was not wearing a seat belt. Emergency personnel pronounced Terbrock dead at the scene of the crash.

Two fatalities occurred as a result of traffic crashes on December 24, 2017. Steven A. Mayer, 26, of Fair Grove died after he was struck by a vehicle. Mayer was a pedestrian at the time of the crash, which occurred in Greene County at the intersection of Kansas Expressway and Mount Vernon in Springfield. The driver of the vehicle was not injured in the crash. The Springfield Police Department investigated the crash.

Christopher M. Loch, 38, of Springfield died after the vehicle he was driving, which had been in a traffic crash and was disabled, was struck by another vehicle. The crash occurred in Lawrence County on Interstate 44 west of Mount Vernon. Loch was wearing his seat belt at the time of the crash. Lawrence County Deputy Coroner Larry Eden pronounced Loch dead at the scene of the crash.

No fatalities occurred as a result of a traffic crash on December 25, 2017.