The Red Cross is seeking volunteers to help with upcoming flu shot clinics.

The Red Cross will be holding flu shot clinics around the community for businesses and groups.

To volunteer, you must attend a training session at the Red Cross. The next training for nurses is at 5:30 pm next Tuesday. Training for hosts volunteers will start at 10:30 next Wednesday morning. Both trainings will be held at the American Red Cross building at 401 North 12thStreet in St. Joseph.

To sign up for the training or register as a volunteer, please call the Red Cross at 816-232-8439.

If you have 15 or more employee and are interest in holding a flu shot clinic for your business or church, please contact the American Red Cross.  Red Cross officials say  most health insurance companies will pay for the $30 cost of the flu shot.

Red Cross accepts payment from Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Tri-Care, Humana, Coventry, UMR, Medicare Part B, Railroad Insurance and Medicare Supplements.  With those insurances there will be no cost to your organization or the individual for the Red Cross to conduct a clinic at your location.

 

 

USDA September Production Forecast for Missouri.

COLUMBIA, MO – Rains from the remnants of Hurricane Isaac brought rains across much of  the state August 31—September 1. Those rains, and subsequent rains have helped ease  drought conditions statewide.

Though offering some benefit to later maturing soybeans, the  corn crop, 84 percent mature and 44 percent harvested as of September 2, was too far along  for yields to be helped. The September 1 estimated yields for both crops remain low.

Missouri corn yield forecast remains at 75 bushels per acre, the lowest since 51 bushels per  acre in 1983. Corn planted and harvested for grain acres are estimated at 3.6 and 3.35 million  acres respectively, unchanged from the August 1 estimate. The resulting production forecast is  251 million bushels. If realized, this production would be the lowest since 1999 when 247 million bushels were harvested off of 2.65 million planted acres.

 

Soybean yield in Missouri is estimated at 28 bushels per acre, a decrease of two bushels from  last month and the lowest since 27.5 bushels per acre in 1999. Planted and harvested acres  are unchanged from the August 1 forecast at 5.3 and 5.15 million acres respectively. Production is forecast at 144 million bushels, the smallest since 133 million bushels in 1995 and 7 percent below last month.

 

U.S. Highlights:

Corn production is forecast at 10.7 billion bushels, down less than 1 percent from the August forecast and down 13 percent from 2011. This represents the lowest production in the United States since 2006. Based on conditions as of September 1, yields are expected to average 122.8 bushels per acre, down 0.6 bushel from the August forecast and 24.4  bushels below the 2011 average. If realized, this will be the lowest average yield since 1995.  Area harvested for grain is forecast at 87.4 million acres, unchanged from the August forecast  but up 4 percent from 2011.

Soybean production is forecast at 2.63 billion bushels, down 2 percent from August and down  14 percent from last year. Based on September 1 conditions, yields are expected to average  35.3 bushels per acre, down 0.8 bushel from last month and down 6.2 bushels from last year.  Compared with last month, yield forecasts are lower or unchanged across the Great Plains and  most of the Corn Belt as lingering drought conditions continued to hamper yield expectations. Area for harvest in the United States is forecast at 74.6 million acres, unchanged from August  but up 1 percent from last year.

 

 

 

 

Missouri utility regulators want to hear from you today on KCP&L’s 14% rate increase request for the St Joseph service area.

A public hearing is scheduled at St Joseph City Hall, in the City Council chambers, starting at noon.

 

On February 27 the utility filed a rate case with the Missouri Public Service Commission seeking to increase annual electric revenues by approximately by $25.2 million (14.6%) in the former St Joe Light and Power service area, and by $58.3 million (10.9%) elsewhere.

A Hamilton, Missouri man was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for killing his father.

Robert Hobbs pleaded guilty in July to charges of second-degree murder and armed criminal action. George Hobbs, 71, was found shot to death in his rural Hamilton home in February of 2010.

The case was moved to Livingston County in a change of venue.

Circuit Judge Thoman N. Chapman ordered Hobbs to serve a life prison term on the murder charge, plus an additional five years for armed criminal action. Chapman ordered the terms be served consecutively.

A St Joseph woman escaped with minor injuries after falling asleep at the wheel last night.

The Missouri Highway Patrol says 28-year-old Amber Walker fell asleep while driving south on US-169 near Union Star around 8:30 pm.  It happened at the intersection of US-169 and Route M two miles south of Union Star.

Her 2003 Ford Escape ran off the road and struck a fence, then went back onto the roadway and off into a ditch on the other side of the road where the vehicle caught fire.

Walker was taken to Heartland for treatment.

 

 

As our nation marks the 11th anniversary of the devastating terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, here are officials news releases from the offices of our two Missouri Senators.

U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, a member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following statement in remembrance of that tragic day:

 

“As we mark the anniversary of 9/11, we honor those who lost their lives in the most horrific terrorist attack on American soil in a generation. Today and every day, we owe a great debt of gratitude to our intelligence professionals and to the men and women in uniform who work to keep us safe from another attack.

“The federal government’s number one responsibility is to protect our country, and I remain committed to strengthening our intelligence capabilities and responsibly funding our defense in order to protect America from those who wish us harm.”

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today released the following statement on the eleventh anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States:

“In the hours after the attacks eleven years ago today, Americans were united, and we met tragedy with resolve. On this day, we remember the remarkable courage of the first responders who ran toward, not away from, the fires, and the heroic service of our troops who stood up and sacrificed to protect our freedoms and bring Osama bin Laden to justice.

“The ultimate legacy of September 11 is the resilience of the American people. Today, my prayers are with the families of the thousands of Americans who died that day, the thousands of men and women in our armed forces who’ve given their lives fighting the wars that followed, and with the tens of thousands of American troops, in Afghanistan and around the world, still making daily sacrifices for our country far from their homes and families.”

St Joseph Police are seeking your help following the attempted abduction this morning of a ten-year-old School Safety Patrol Officer in St Joseph.

Commander Jim Connors says the youngster was patrolling at 29th and Duncan when a newer model, brown, quad-cab pickup truck, possibly a Chevrolet, approached the area and an occupant told him to get in the truck. Connors says the truck had Missouri license plates with the first two characters of “A9—-.”

Connors says there were three people in the truck. The driver was described as a white female in her 30s with straight, black, shoulder-length hair. The front-seat passenger was described as a white male in his 40s with gray hair worn in a buzz cut, wearing sunglasses and a goatee. A third passenger in the truck was described as a white male with short black hair and wearing sunglasses.

Connors says the front seat passenger told the crossing guard to “get in the truck,” and then he was heard to laugh.

As the incident occurred the crossing guard grabbed another student so he wouldn’t be alone and walked toward Parkway School to tell a teacher.

A female crossing guard reports seeing the same truck driving around the school at about 4:30 yesterday afternoon. There are no reports that the truck’s occupants stopped or said anything to any children at that time. Anyone with any information about this incident is asked to call the TIPs Hotline at 238-TIPS (8477)