Their sign read “Todd Akin is a legitimate jackass.”  Four protesters gathered outside the Eagle Radio studios Friday morning to greet embattled Congressman and Senate candidate, Republican Todd Akin.

During a live interview with Barry Birr, on 680 KFEQ’s “Hotline,” Akin said he doesn’t place a lot of stock in polls, most of which show him trailing Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill.

“The basic rule on polls is ‘the one that counts is the one on election day’,” Akin said.

“We were way, way back in the polls two weeks out in the primary, way back in third place, and we finished six points up.  So, pretty much, the voters are going to do what the voters are going to do, and the polling data is not always reliable.”

Listen to the entire broadcast here.

The protesters showered Akin with obscenities as station officials escorted him into the building.

Playing on recent comments that thrust Akin into the national spotlight, Nick Brothers of St Joseph was among the protesters outside.

“Todd Akin is a legitimate jackass.  His comments were not a mistake,” Brothers said.

“He and his Republican allies support rape culture, which is any words, actions that support an environment that makes victims of sexual assault feel unsafe to come forward, unsafe to talk about their experiences, and unsafe in general.”

Akin continued a campaign swing through northwest Missouri Friday with an appearance in Savannah.  On Thursday night, he took part in a parade as part of the Northwest Missouri State Fair in Bethany.

RUSHVILLE, Mo. (AP) – Campsites at a western Missouri state park are being reopened after extensive repairs from last year’s flooding.

Lewis and Clark State Park is located about 20 miles southwest of St. Joseph, on the shore of Lewis and Clark Lake, an oxbow lake, near the Missouri River.

The park was swamped during the massive flooding in 2011.

The playground, boat ramp and picnic area reopened in April, and officials say more than 30 campsites are now open as well.

More campsites will be available as repairs are completed.

Premium Standard Farms and attorneys for nearly 300 Missourians who sued the company because of hog odors announced a confidential, joint settlement Thursday. The settlement resolves legal cases that in some instances have been pending for more than a decade.

The company based in Princeton has been the target of lawsuits that company officials warned could push them out of Missouri.

PSF has spent tens of millions of dollars to develop new technology to handle the odor from hundreds of thousands of closely confined hogs. Attorneys for many of the plaintiffs said the settlement was made possible by Premium Standard’s implementation of odor control systems.

“This agreement effectively brings the Missouri nuisance litigation to a close,” said co counsel Jean Paul Bradshaw , “and allows PSF to focus its entire efforts on what it does best: providing families with wholesome, nutritious food and creating jobs in Northern Missouri.”

“The settlement announced today represents the culmination of a long battle,” said Stephen A. Weiss, co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs. “After four grueling trials over the past six years alone, we were prepared to litigate each claim, but this agreement hammered out between the parties is a fair and just resolution of what not long ago seemed to be an irresolvable dispute.”

The terms of the agreement are confidential. You can read the entire statement here.

 

Gary Clapp is moving on after seven years as President and CEO of the Institute for Industrial and Applied Life Sciences at Missouri Western. Clapp says he has accepted an offer to help in the start-up of a pharmaceutical company in Kansas.

He calls the decision to leave “bittersweet.” Clapp says, “I leave knowing that my children are going to graduate from of one of the best school districts in the state, I have worked for the best regional University anywhere, and I lived in a community that is looking forward.” His resignation is effective October 31st.

East Hills Mall announced Thursday Five Guys Burgers and French Fries and  Great Clips will open at the former Ground Round location.

A new 6,000 square foot multi-tenant building will be constructed at the location and house the two businesses.

This will be the first St Joseph location for Five Guys Burgers and Fries which is based in Lawrence.   It will feature a 2,800 square foot restaurant once it opens in St Joseph.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries has locations in 47 states and in Canada.

The new Great Clips Salon will occupy a 1,000 square foot space and the company features an online check-in service.

 

Senate candidate Todd Akin will Appear Friday on the 680-KFEQ Hotline.

The Republican Senate candidate will answer questions about his campaign during an in-studio interview Friday morning.

Akin will be on-air from 8:05 to 8:30 prior to a planned campaign stop in Savannah. News director and KFEQ Hotline host Barry Birr said,

“We’re delighted to give our listeners the opportunity to hear for themselves what Akin has to say about his campaign.”

Akin received nationwide attention for comments he made about rape. He has since apologized and refused to bow to pressure from national Republican leaders to withdraw from the race.

Listen Friday morning to 680-KFEQ-AM or online at 680kfeq.com

The St Joseph School District will release students early on Thursday because of the heat.

Officials say the SJSD will release students two hours early.

Temperatures were expected to rise to the upper nineties, according to the National Weather Service.

Albino ruby-throated hummingbirds are extremely rare, so Dorothy Usher of Cameron grabbed her camera on Tuesday for a great photograph of this one and a normal-colored hummingbird fluttering nearby. The albino first appeared in her yard over the weekend, about the same time an albino hummingbird disappeared from a backyard in Lake Waukomis.

Are there two albino hummingbirds in northwest Missouri, or did the same bird ride a breeze north? Nature photographers who saw the first reported bird say there are similarities in the scattered blackish down feathers, but they can’t tell for sure. A hummingbird expert said the pink bill, legs and eyes separate true albino phases from similar hummingbirds that are white but have black bills, legs and eyes.