ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The following is a listing of general highway maintenance and construction work in the Northwest Missouri region planned for the week of Sept. 3 – 9 from the Missouri Department of Transportation.

MoDOT will halt temporary lanes closures throughout the state to accommodate an increase in traffic due to the Labor Day holiday. Most temporary lane closures will stop at noon on Friday, Aug. 31 and resume Tuesday morning, Sept. 4. Some long-term closures, ramp closures and head-to-head traffic may remain in place.

In addition to the work listed below, there may be other road work conducted throughout the region. Many of these will be moving operations and could include lane closures with delays. All scheduled maintenance and construction projects are subject to change.

MoDOT reminds the public to stay alert, watch for road work, buckle up, slow down, and drive with extreme caution through work zones and in changing weather conditions.

For more information about a project, please contact MoDOT at 1-888-ASK-MoDOT (888-275-6636) or visit modot.org/northwest. You can also follow MoDOT’s Northwest Missouri District on Twitter @ModotNorthwest and on Facebook.

Andrew County

• Route D – Resurfacing project from Route 46 to U.S. Route 169, Sept. 4 – 8
• Route Z – Culvert replacement at County Road 296, Sept. 5. Motorists will not have access to or from County Road 296 from Route Z

Atchison County

• U.S. Route 59 – Concrete replacement at Route C, Sept. 4 – 5. Motorists will not be able to access the turn lane from U.S. Route 59 to Route C.
• I-29 – Resurfacing project from the Iowa state line to Route 111, Sept. 4 – 8
• U.S. Route 59 – Concrete replacement at the Iowa state line, Sept. 6

Buchanan County

• Route M – CLOSED for pothole patching from Nichols Road to 66th Road, Sept. 4 – 5, 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily
• U.S. Route 36 – Bridge maintenance at the 33rd Street bridge overpass, Sept. 4 – 6
• U.S. Route 169 (Belt Highway) – Pedestrian crossing improvement project at U.S. Route 36, Sept. 4 – 9

Caldwell County                                               

• U.S. Route 36 – Guardrail work from just east of the DeKalb County line to just east of U.S. Route 69 (DeKalb County), Sept. 4 – 8

Clinton County

• Route PP – CLOSED for shoulder work from SE Watkins Road to SE Troxler Road, Sept. 3 – 4, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• I-35 – Pavement repair southbound from mile marker 50 south of Cameron to mile marker 48 near Route 121, Sept 4 – 7.  This will include overnight lane closures.
• Route C – Object marker installation from Route 116 to Route CC, Sept. 4 – 8

Chariton County

• Route 129 – Pavement repair from Route P to Route W, Sept. 4 – 7

Daviess County

• Route 13 – Bridge maintenance at the Honey Creek Bridge, Sept. 4 – 8
• U.S. Route 69 – Resurfacing project from I-35 to Route 6, Sept. 4 – 8. This includes a 10-foot width restriction. Flaggers and a pilot car will direct traffic through the work zone.

DeKalb County

• U.S. Route 36 – Guardrail work just east of U.S. Route 69 to just east of the Caldwell County line during daylight hours. Nighttime paving will begin from Route 69 to the Caldwell County Line from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. This will include nighttime closures of the I-35 ramps as needed, Sept. 4 – 9.

Gentry County

• Route A – Milling and pothole patching, Sept. 4 – 7

Grundy County

• Route C – Pothole patching, Sept. 4 – 5

Harrison County

• Route U – Pothole patching from Route 246 to the Iowa state line, Sept. 6 – 7

Holt County

• Route P – CLOSED for a chip seal from Route 118 to U.S. Route 159, Sept. 4, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Route E – Chip seal from the city limits of Mound City to U.S. Route 159, Sept. 5
• Route F – CLOSED for a chip seal from U.S. Route 159 to Route E, Sept. 5, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Linn County

• U.S. Route 36 – Bridge maintenance at Higgins Ditch west of Laclede, Aug. 3 – 7. This includes a 14-foot width restriction.
• Route M – Pothole patching, Sept. 4 – 7

Nodaway County

• Route 246 – Pothole patching from Route H (Worth) to Route E, Sept. 4 – 5
• Route A – Pothole patching, Sept. 4 – 7

Putnam County

• U.S. Route 136 – CLOSED for a bridge replacement project at the West Locust Creek Bridge. The road will be closed through September. A signed detour is in place.
• U.S. Route 136 – CLOSED for a bridge replacement project at the Elm Branch Bridge. The road will be closed through September. A signed detour is in place.

Worth County

• Route 246 – Pothole patching from Route H to Route E (Nodaway County), Sept. 4 – 5

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University music faculty will kick off a season of performances with their annual Labor Day trumpet recital.

According to a news release, Professor of Music Dr. William Richardson and accompanist Dr. Jiwon Choi will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 3, in the Charles Johnson Theater at the Olive DeLuce Fine Arts Building on the Northwest campus. The recital is free and open to the public.

A group of Northwest trumpeters and select high school musicians will share the stage with Richardson and Choi.

“We are really excited for this performance,” Richardson said. “This concert features a wide variety of styles and musical moods. We have a substantial number of university and high school trumpeters who will perform two trumpet ensemble pieces, and I am confident that audiences will enjoy the concert experience.”

Richardson and Choi will perform two pieces, “Maza balade” by Maija Einfelde and “Sesas Latviesu Tautas Dziesme Apdares Trompetei” by Romualds Kalsons, in honor of the Republic of Latvia’s centenary this year. Richardson and his family spent the spring 2010 semester in Riga, Latvia, where he taught trumpet as visiting professor and Fulbright Scholar at the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music.

In addition, Kaila Stigler, a Northwest senior dietetics major from Kansas City, Missouri, and Richardson will perform “Concerto for Two Trumpets” by Vivaldi.

A member of the St. Joseph Symphony and the St. Joseph Big Band, Dr. Richardson serves as professor of music and assistant chair in Northwest’s Department of Fine and Performing Arts, where he teaches trumpet and various music courses in addition to directing the jazz ensembles.

Choi joined the Northwest music faculty in 2016 after completing a graduate teaching assistantship at the University of Kansas. She consistently garners high marks in international competitions, and her performances as a soloist and a collaborative pianist have spanned venues throughout the world.

(Missourinet) – IRS officials are calling on Missouri taxpayers to check if the right amount of money is being withheld.

Spokesman Christopher Miller says the paycheck checkup is easy to use and basic paystub information is needed.

“It’ll ask you for your earnings for the year, whether or not you take tax credits, whether or not you have dependents. Things like that,” he says.

Miller says taking that checkup sooner rather than later is a good idea.

“Doing a paycheck checkup now will help taxpayers avoid a potential unwelcome surprise at tax time,” he says.

New tax laws have changed how much some Missourians are paying in taxes, and Miller says changing withholdings now can help spread out extra payments over several pay cycles, instead of all at once.

You might also be paying too much to the government.

“If people have a really large refund that’s expected, they may want to change their withholding to keep that money in their paycheck,” says Miller.

The checkup is available by clicking here.

Haunted season in Atchison begins this weekend.

President of the Atchison Area Chamber of Commerce Jacque Pregont said the city acquired the title, ‘haunted season,’ from authors of books on haunted topics, saying Atchison is the most haunted town in Kansas. Pregont said there are many activities planned each year for haunted season.

“We do fun things like haunted trolley tours, we do Ghost Hunting 101, we do history mystery tours, we do murder mystery dinners, we do paranormal investigations… we do cemetery walking tours, Meal with a Medium, there’s just so much stuff that we do every year,” Pregont said.

There are a few new things added to the schedule this year including the Traveling Museum of the Paranormal and performances by magician and illusionist Aiden Sinclair.

Pregont suggests that if you’re new to haunted season, the haunted trolley tours are a good place to start. Trolley tours start running on Saturday, Sept. 1.

“Come and have a fun weekend ghost hunting or ghost learning or whatever it is you want to do,” Pregont said.

For more information and tickets for events click here.

 

An upcoming event in Maryville with “heart and sole” will benefit the American Heart Association and raise awareness of heart health.

Rita Miller is the Community Relations and Development Manager at SSM Health St. Francis Hospital in Maryville. Miller is part of organizing the 7th Annual Heart and Sole 5K and said the event started as a way to honor the memory of two community members.

“Scott Bostwick was one of the football coaches out at Northwest. He had just been promoted to the head coach position when he had a significant heart event. Dale Kisker was a teacher and a coach at Maryville High School and, he too, had a heart attack and passed away,” Miller said. “It really got people involved in thinking about their heart health more and, ever since those two passed, we have decided to make our own local heart walk. The American Heart Association has some big events throughout the country, but we wanted to keep this one local because we wanted to identify with the local victims and survivors of heart disease.”

The 5K also serves as an event to raise awareness of heart attack and stroke, and encourage healthy eating and physical activity to improve heart health.

Miller said, like the rest of the country, Nodaway County has a significant mortality rate due to heart disease with it ranking number one as a cause of death in the county.

SSM Health St. Francis Hospital has been holding Second Saturday Screenings as part of the Maryville Farmers Market.

“We decided to have our heart walk be part of our Second Saturday screenings,” Miller said. “We do blood pressure screenings, we’ve done cholesterol checks, we’ve taught people how to do hands-only CPR and this works right into that goal of raising awareness of heart disease and what people can do to improve their heart health.”

Registration forms for the Heart and Sole 5K are available at the front desk at SSM Health St. Francis Hospital in Maryville or click here. Registration will also be available the day of the race starting at 7 a.m. The walk begins at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 8th at the Farmers Market at 4th and Buchanan Streets in Maryville.

For more information, contact the Community Relations and Development office at (660) 562-7933.

(Missourinet) – Motorists will notice extra Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers on the road and water during this Labor Day holiday weekend.

Troopers are participating in Operation C.A.R.E., which stands for crash awareness and reduction effort.

Highway Patrol Captain John Hotz is encouraging motorists to drive and boat responsibly.

“This is kind of the last big weekend of the year, kind of the unofficial end of summer, and so we know there’s going to be a lot of additional traffic out there,” Hotz says.

Captain Hotz says 11 people were killed and another 265 were injured in Missouri during the 2017 Labor Day holiday.

“Well you look at that (statistic) and basically there was a person killed or injured every 12.4 minutes, so we know again there’s going to be a lot of additional traffic out there and we’re just asking people to take a little extra time,” says Hotz.

This year’s holiday counting period begins at 6 p.m. Friday and ends at 11:59 Monday night, which is Labor Day.

Hotz says troopers are being stationed at 20-mile intervals on Friday on several interstates across Missouri, as part of Operation C.A.R.E.

It’s traditionally one of the busiest travel days of the summer.

“You’ll see troopers out there patrolling Missouri roadways, all available troopers will be out there, not only enforcing Missouri’s speed limit, seat belt laws as well as impaired driving laws,” Hotz says.

There are also extra troopers on the water this weekend, including the Lake of the Ozarks.

Troopers are urging anyone on the water to wear a life jacket.

Hotz says troopers made 12 arrests for boating while intoxicated during Missouri’s 2017 holiday counting period.

Two people died after a head-on crash Thursday in Livingston County.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, shortly before 7 p.m. Thursday, 23-year-old Nicolas R. Lawson of Chillicothe was driving a Chevrolet Silverado north on US 65 about four miles south of Chillicothe. Lawson’s vehicle crossed the center line and hit a 1990 Lexus LS 400 head-on. The Lexus was driven by 49-year-old Orville C. Cooper of Bosworth.  

Lawson was pronounced deceased at Hedrick Medical Center at 7:57 p.m. Cooper was pronounced dead at the scene. 

According to the crash report, Cooper was wearing a seatbelt and Lawson was not.