Westboro Baptist Church plans to picket tonight at the funerals of two murdered Platte County sisters. The church says God caused the killings of 22 year old Ashley Key and 19 year old Britney Harrup to punish Missouri and specifically Platte County for allegedly mistreating church members. The church website claims a Platte County Sheriff’s vehicle tried to run church members off the road.

Picketing is planned for 6:45 tonight at the Zion Baptist Church in Edgerton. 31 year old Clifford Miller of Trimble has been charged with two counts of first degree murder in the killings.

 

The historic Calvinistic Methodist Church in Lebo, Kansas, has joined the National Register of Historic Places. The church served the Welsh community in Osage County until 1968. It’s one of four new listings from Kansas on the National Register. The others are the Arvonia School, also in Osage County, the Amos Gish building in El Dorado, and the David Gorden house in Abilene.

 

Farmers and businesspeople will meet in Saint Joseph to tell a newly-formed task force their concerns about unreasonable regulations. Attorney General candidate Ed Martin says some regulations are necessary, but over the last 20 years overregulation has become the biggest threat to farms and businesses. He says the Attorney General should challenge unreasonable regulations in court.

Martin’s Task Force For Protection From Government Overreach will meet in Saint Joseph next Tuesday to look for input. Martin is one of two Republicans vying in the August primary to take on incumbent Attorney General Chris Koster, a Democrat, in November.

The hot weather and drought has led to more burn bans in Northwest Missouri.

Andrew County announced a burn ban Thursday until further notice.

An open burn period that was supposed to start Wednesday in Maryville was called off because of the dry conditions. The next open burn period is slated to start in October for Maryville residents.

Savannah officials Wednesday announced a burn ban in the city limits until further notice.

Atchison County Missouri is also now under a burn ban. It was announced Tuesday.

Statewide burn bans for conservation area’s and state parks where issued last month. While not every are of Northwest Missouri is under a burn ban, open burning is not encouraged as fires can start and spread quickly during a drought.

 

 

 

 

More than $50,000 worth of grants were awarded to northwest Missouri roadway safety initiatives.

The grants, announced Thursday, come from the Northwest Region Coalition for Roadway Safety.

“Our goal as a safety coalition is to partner together to keep people safe on our roads,” says Jackie Spainhower, director of the coalition’s northwest region. “Through education, enforcement, engineering and emergency medical services efforts partnering together, we know we can make a difference to reduce roadway injuries and fatalities and these grants give us the opportunity to do that.”

Twelve applications were received this year, and the following nine were approved for funding:

MoDOT Safety and Education Programs (Battle of the Belt, child passenger safety, TEAM Spirit) – $25,000

St. Joseph I’m A Safe Driver – $5612

Daviess County Sheriff’s Dept/Two Speed Guns – $4343

NW Arrive Alive Transportation Fair – $3750

Cameron PD/MO Safe Streets – $3000

MEATF (SJPD)/Underage Alcohol Enforcement – $3000

Chillicothe PD/Speed Guns – $2595

NW MO Safe Kids Instructor Certification – $2350

University Police Transportation Fair (Maryville) – $1,577

Last year, in the first round of grant awards, more than $35,000 was awarded. Seventeen applications were received and 10 were approved for funding last year as well.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The company that runs the Suddenlink Communications cable provider has agreed to sell itself to its management and other investors who will invest about $2 billion in the company.

Investors BC Partners and the Canada pension plan’s CPP Investment Board are joining with Suddenlink managers including Chairman and CEO Jerry Kent in the deal to buy Cequel Communications Holdings L.L.C.

Cequel’s previous ownership group included Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Quadrangle and Oaktree Capital Management. The deal values the company at $6.6 billion, including debt.

Suddenlink is the seventh-largest cable system operator in the U.S. and mainly serves Texas, West Virginia, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. It has more than 1.4 million customers.

The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter and is subject to regulatory approval.

Verizon Wireless will officially launch its 4G LTE wireless data service in 33 new markets, including St. Joseph, on Thursday, July 19.

Verizon Wireless will also expand in 32 other markets where it is currently available.

 

To celebrate, two St Joe Verizon outlets will take a page out of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” They’ll hand out 25 chocolate bars to guests. One will contain a “golden ticket” good for a free Spectrum by LG smartphone.

“Golden Ticket” 4G LTE device giveaways are planned at Cellular Sales at 904 North Belt Highway, and at Worldwide Wireless at 2335 North Belt. The party starts Saturday at 10 a.m.

With Thursday’s market launches, the company says its 4G LTE network will grow to cover a total of 337 markets nationwide and continue to rank as the nation’s largest 4G LTE network, available to more than two-thirds of the U.S. population.

On Thursday, the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network will officially launch in:
· Savannah
· Amazonia
· Country Club
· St. Joseph
· Easton
· Stewartsville
· Cameron
· Amity
· Winston
· Gallatin
· Jamesport
· Bethany
· Ridgeway
· Eagleville
· Mt. Moriah
· Princeton
· Mercer

The launch will also cover areas along I-35 from Cameron to Eagleville, and along Highway 136 from Bethany to Princeton.

The annual Amelia Earhart Festival in Atchison, Kansas kicked off Wednesday with a flight of whimsy.

California-based artist John Cirney has donated a large installation that depicts Amelia Earhart, her navigator Fred Noonan, and their Lockheed Electra aircraft, as if they had just run out of fuel and landed. Earhart is smirking as she notes on her map that she has landed near her home town.

Cirney included a dedication of sorts to his father, who passed away earlier this year. An image of Frank Cirney appears on one of the gasoline cans at the characters’ feet.

From the highway it’s not entirely clear who is depicted, and the artist says that’s by design. He’s hoping to spur more interest in the piece that way.

The installation is located about two miles south of Atchison on US-73 highway.

It’s the end of the road for a Missouri National Guard program to deploy soldiers with agriculture experience to help Afghan farmers. For more than five years, Missouri Agribusiness Teams helped farmers in the Nangarhar Province create a sustainable agriculture program. As time went by the team’s focus changed. The teams completed several projects in Afghanistan as the mission evolved from military-led, to civilian-led, and ultimately ended being Afghan-led.

 

A high-tech device the Saint Joseph Police Department has wanted for years has suddenly on its way. Chief Chris Connally got word Tuesday that the Missouri Police Chiefs Association has approved a grant for an automated license plate reader. The reader will scan license plates on parked or moving vehicles and check them against a database of stolen plates or vehicles.

Connally says the reader should be installed within two weeks. The grant approval is well-timed. Connally says reports of stolen autos are up significantly in Saint Joseph.