Fire broke out at Purina Mills in St Joseph this afternoon.
The fire at the location on US 169 Highway in south St Joseph plumed thick smoke. Emergency crews were able to put the fire out, which started in a cooler on the facility.
Purina employees told reporter to stay off the property of the facility and would not comment, however fire officials confirmed the only injury was minor burns to a firefighters hand.
There is no word on the cause of the blaze.
Civic Center Park was a bustle of activity Friday morning as crews wrapped up the final preparations for Trails West! 2012.
It was a busy scene, with city workers, vendors and contractors loading in and setting up trailers, tables, tents, stages and port-a-potties.
Inmates from the Western Reception, Diagnostic and Detention Center were on hand to assist setting up the main stage.
Department of Corrections Case Manager Darcy Cress says there will ten offenders on hand each day for cleaning up, setting up, and whatever else the city requests.
“We assist by helping set up the sound system and the stage, cleanup on the weekends in the morning, and then we assist tearing the system down for them,” Cress said.
The festival runs through Sunday next to City Hall in downtown St Joseph.
While drought conditions eased slightly in parts of the Midwest, it tightened its grip in Missouri according to the last drought monitor map. It shows the drought is now considered “exceptional,” the worse category, in nearly 36 percent of the state. That’s nearly triple the area rated “exceptional” a week ago. Altogether, 100 percent of the state is in drought that is either severe, extreme, or exceptional.
Sedalia, MO – Brayde Adam, daughter of Scott and Tammy Adam from Plattsburg, Mo is the exhibitor of the 2012 Grand Champion Pen of Rabbits at the Missouri State Fair. Her rabbits weighed 4.43, 4.40, and 4.44 pounds. She is a member of the Plattsburg Hustlers 4-H Club.
The Reserve Grand Champion Pen of Rabbits honor went to Kelby Moore, son of Jeff and Dori Moore of Wellsville. His rabbits weighed 4.55, 4.55, and 4.39 pounds. He is a member of the Montgomery County Coon Creek Cronies 4-H Club.
On Aug. 18, Brayde’s and Kelby’s rabbits will be two of 12 lots offered in the Youth in Agriculture Sale of Champions. Proceeds from the annual sale benefit both the winning exhibitors and the Missouri State Fair Youth in Agriculture Scholarship Program.
Sedalia, MO – The Missouri State Fair will celebrate Youth in Agriculture Day Saturday, Aug. 18. The annual Sale of Champions is a highlight of the day, with money raised benefiting Missouri youth involved in agriculture.
Wayne Yokley, Chairman of the Missouri State Fair Youth in Agriculture Committee, and Superintendent of the Sale of Champions, said the Sale’s success is credited due to the support from our Youth in Agriculture sponsors. Proceeds from the Sale go to the exhibitors and to Youth in Agriculture scholarships. Since 1992, the Youth in Agriculture Committee has awarded scholarships totaling close to $300,000.
This year the Sale will begin at 3 p.m. in the Lowell Mohler Assembly Hall, and will be broadcast via the internet by Live Auctions TV.
Two new reports reinforce the findings of a recent analysis by University of Illinois economists. Analyses released by Iowa State University and Purdue University conclude that waiving the Renewable Fuel Standard would not result in meaningfully lower corn prices. According to the Purdue University analysis – the flexibility built into the RFS serves to reduce the corn price without need for a waiver. If the EPA did waive the RFS – the Purdue economists found corn prices might decrease further by approximately 5.6-percent in 2013. Iowa State’s analysis – which updates an earlier report – found that fully waiving the RFS would result in just a 7.4-percent reduction in corn price in the 2012-13 marketing year. The flexibility enabled by surplus RIN credits was a significant factor in both analyses.
Iowa State Professor Bruce Babcock says the desire by livestock groups to see additional flexibility on ethanol mandates may not result in as large a drop in feed costs as they hope. He says the flexibility built into the RFS allowing obligated parties to carry over blending credits from previous years significantly lowers the economic impacts of a short crop because it introduces flexibility into the mandate. The authors of the Purdue study made similar comments – stating that a partial waiver is not a stroke of the pen solution to record high corn prices. According to a Purdue University press release – corn prices pushed higher by the worst U.S. drought in half a century would not necessarily moderate if the federal government’s corn ethanol mandate were temporarily suspended.
Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen says the EPA will likely rely on the type of information contained in these studies when considering the recent waiver request from the governors of North Carolina and Arkansas. He says the analyses compellingly show that waiving the RFS is unnecessary and would be ineffective in meaningfully reducing corn prices. Dinneen also notes that an EPA analysis in response to a 2008 RFS waiver request found that a five-percent reduction in corn price – similar to impacts found in the Purdue and Iowa State studies – resulted in just a .28-percent change in food prices.
The 2012 version of Trails West opens this evening. This is the 20th edition of the big festival. Mainstage entertainment begins tonight with Tower of Power, an Urban Soul band that tours around the world. Tomorrow night country music takes center stage with Hunter Hayes and Uncle Kracker. On Sunday it’ll be Head East and former Bad Company lead singer Brian Howe.
The festival also includes ongoing entertainment on the city and family stages, art and craft displays, and lots of food vendors, all at Civic Center Park.
Sedalia, MO –The Missouri 4-H and FFA organizations will share the $10,000 earned from a guitar auction held Wednesday night during the Country Gold Tour at the Missouri State Fair. Four Sedalia business owners made the generous contribution.
Ron Ditzfeld, owner of Ditzfeld Transfer, Inc., and Don Weaver, owner of Don’s Towing won the autographed guitar with a bid of $5,000. They donated the guitar back for a second round of bidding, which closed with Mike Brown, owner of B&P Excavating, and Gary McMullin, owner of W & M Welding, claiming the guitar with a $5,000 donation. Last year’s guitar brought $12,000, contributed by these same business owners. The youth organizations will use the money from the auction to finance statewide programs.
The Country Gold Tour is managed by Leroy Van Dyke and his wife Gladys, who are members of the Sedalia community. The guitar was signed by Van Dyke and the other artists appearing in the Aug. 15 concert.
The Air National Guard National Softball Tournament got into full swing Thursday at the Heritage Park Softball Complex in St Joseph. The 139th Airlfit Wing and the City of St. Joseph are hosting annual event, which boasts more than 500 players from 40 teams from 12 states. In all, they will play in more than 150 games. Organizers expected at least another 500 visitors from out of town to see the tournament.
We spoke with Master Sergeant Dane Glisan of the 175th Wing in Baltimore, Md. This is his 29th consecutive ANG Softball Tournament. Glisan returned from his latest deployement to Afghanistan last month.
“We wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Glisan said. “We love it, we live it, we breathe it, we eat it, it’s just the greatest thing in the world.”
“You would be surprised how many times I’ve deployed, and seen guys there or met guys there that I didn’t know were there, that I’ve played softball against for the last 29 years. They just showed up, walked over to me and said ‘hey Dave, what are you doing here, this is great.'”
Other activities include a silent auction of such items as an autographed Mickey Mantle baseball card, and a bat signed by Todd Helton.
The tournament concludes Sunday. Find more information on the tournament at their web site here.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Melky Cabrera was suspended 50 games Wednesday following a positive test for testosterone, putting an abrupt end to what had been an MVP-caliber regular season and throwing the San Francisco Giants’ playoff hopes into doubt.
The suspension would extend into the playoffs if the Giants advance.
Cabrera leads the National League with 159 hits, and is second in batting average behind Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen. Cabrera’s penalty was the first for a high-profile player since last year’s NL MVP, Ryan Braun, had his suspension overturned by an arbitrator last winter.
In a statement, Cabrera says he accepts his suspension and now “will try to move on with my life.”
Cabrera is batting .346 with 11 home runs and 60 RBIs in his first season with San Francisco.
