(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.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Republican Gov. Mike Parson has appointed Judge Tom Chapman to the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District.

Parson on Thursday announced he picked the Republican judge from Chillicothe for the appeals court. Chapman replaces Judge James Welsh, who retired in March.

Parson in a statement said Chapman’s “rural perspective” will provide balance to the court.

Chapman has served as a circuit judge in Livingston County in northwest Missouri since 2011. Before that, he practiced law for 19 years in Chillicothe. He graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law.

An 18-year-old has died and another person was injured after a shooting Wednesday night in St. Joseph.

According to the St. Joseph Police Department, the incident is being investigated as a homicide. A call came in at 11:12 p.m. Wednesday about a shooting which originated in the 2500 block of Duncan St. Capt. Jeff Wilson said an 18-year-old man was pronounced deceased at Mosaic Life Care as a result of his injuries. A 20-year-old man was treated for a non-life threatening gunshot wound.

Wilson said the investigation is ongoing and there are currently no suspects in custody.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call the TIPS Hotline at (816) 238-TIPS.