Rural electric cooperative utilities in 10 states will receive a total of 334-million dollars in USDA loans to install smart grid technologies and improve generation and transmission facilities. U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says a 21st Century electric grid is essential to the country’s ability to create jobs in the clean energy economy of the future. He says these investments enable consumers and businesses to better manage their use of electricity and help maintain affordable rates. Building transmission infrastructure that employs smart grid technologies – Vilsack continues – will make it easier to add renewable sources of electricity into the grid and improve reliability.
With support for nearly 20-million dollars in Smart Grid technologies included as part of the funding announced Friday – USDA Rural Development moves closer to the Secretary’s goal of funding more than 250-million dollars for Smart Grid technologies.
USDA is accepting applications for grants to provide broadband service to residents of remote, rural communities. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says ensuring all Americans have access to reliable broadband is an important part of the Obama Administration’s effort to help create jobs and expand economic opportunities in rural areas. He says the Community Connect Broadband grants are critical for businesses and residents – but also help first responders, educators and health care professionals by providing access to broadband service. These grants are made available to the most rural, underserved and economically challenged areas. Funds are used to build broadband infrastructure and the awardees must establish community centers that offer free public broadband access.
For more information on Community Connect grants and the application guide – visit the USDA Rural Develoment website.
As long as enough signatures are validated – California voters are likely going to see a ballot initiative to require labeling of genetically modified foods in November.
The California Right to Know campaign says it gathered more than 971-thousand signatures – nearly double the 555,236 required to qualify for the ballot. Biotechnology Industry Organization spokesperson Karen Batra says it’s unfortunate consumers are being dragged into the debate. She says it’s not about food labeling – but is part of a political agenda to disparage mainstream agriculture. A coalition called Stop the Costly Food Labeling Proposition is in place to oppose the initiative.
There’s more than one way to attract people downtown. “A Better Block” is described by organizers as a way to improve the downtown area one block at a time.
This weekend volunteers, vendors and businesses teamed up to clean up a number of vacant buildings along Felix Street between 4th and 6th for a block party.
There was food and drink, art and music, and a lot of folks.
Bayer CropScience has taken possession of land in Goehner, Nebraska and will develop the site as a focal point for its wheat breeding program in North America.
Bayer’s Global Wheat Breeding Manager Edward Souza says it’s expected that the work done at this site will result in exciting advances in wheat productivity and sustainability that will benefit farmers in the region and ultimately the grain trade worldwide. Bayer CropScience AG and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln signed a non-exclusive agreement to improve wheat breeding and generate new wheat varieties in 2010. Bayer has since been working to identify a suitable site in the state for its North American Regional Wheat Breeding Station. The station in Goehner will be part of Bayer’s global network of wheat breeding stations situated in the heart of key wheat production regions. Additional centers are planned in Europe and other regions over the coming years.
The Insect Forecast Tool that farmers across the Corn Belt have participated in for the past two seasons has been enhanced to track the corn rootworm and to offer expanded online and mobile access for 2012. This early warning system tool is used to monitor above ground pests that could threaten corn yields. Monsanto Corn Traits Marketing Manager Matt Kirkpatrick says farmers can now go to www dot insectforecast dot com (www.insectforecast.com) to learn when corn rootworm larvae are hatching in their area. He says this will allow for better timing to scout fields for potential root damage. The tool will also continue to track the migration of corn earworm and western bean cutworm.
According to Kirkpatrick – greater awareness about the corn rootworm hatch and migration patterns of corn earworm and western bean cutworm moths can help farmers minimize their impact. The tool can help farmers make decisions about pesticide application timing and traited corn hybrids.
Developed by climatologist and meteorologist Mike Sandstrom – this tool analyzes moth trapping data and weather patterns to issue one, two and three-to-five day forecasts for corn earworm and western bean cutworm. The corn rootworm hatch is updated weekly. To receive email alerts from May through September – farmers in the Corn Belt can sign up at www dot insectforecast dot com (www.insectforecast.com).
The Department of Public Safety will honor Trooper Fred Guthrie.
Guthrie and his K-9 Reed were killed floodwater’s while on Patrol in Holt County last August.
A total of nine will be included from various law enforcement agencies across the state. A Candlelight Vigil is planned for Friday night at the capitol. Guthrie’s name and the name of others will be placed on the Law Enforcement Memorial Wall north of the capitol Saturday.
Those included in the memorial are listed below.
Debra K. Collins
End of Watch: March 4, 2011
Rank: District Administrator
Department: Missouri Department of Corrections
Cause: Vehicular crash
Age: 55
Years of Service: 25
District Administrator Debra Collins was killed in an automobile crash near Fredericktown while driving to Poplar Bluff for a meeting related to her position with the Department of Corrections. Her vehicle ran off the road and overturned in a ditch, and the injuries she sustained were fatal.
John B. Perry
End of Watch: March 8, 2011
Rank: Deputy Marshal
Department: United States Marshals Service
Cause: Gunshot
Age: 48
Years of Service: 10
On March 8, Deputy Marshal Perry and approximately 10 other U.S. Marshals and St. Louis Metropolitan Police officers went to a residence to serve a suspect with a felony warrant for assault on a law enforcement officer and drug possession. The officers removed several children from the home and then began the search for the suspect. As the officers searched, the suspect opened fire, striking a St. Louis Police officer, Deputy Marshal Perry and another deputy marshal. During an exchange of gunfire, the suspect was shot and killed. Deputy Marshal Perry died at the hospital later that day.
Daryl A. Hall
End of Watch: April 24, 2011
Rank: Police Officer
Department: St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department
Cause: Gunshot
Age: 34
Years of Service: 6
Early in the morning on April 24, Officer Hall was off duty at a nightclub when he heard gunshots outside. Officer Hall went to investigate, and witnessed the suspect shooting a handgun. Officer Hall announced that he was a police officer and ordered the suspect to drop his weapon. The suspect refused and gunfire was exchanged between Officer Hall, the suspect, and a security guard. Officer Hall suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was transported to St. Louis University Hospital where he died later that day.
Jefferson G. Taylor
End of Watch: June 3, 2011
Rank: Master Patrolman
Department: Riverside Police Department
Cause: Weather/natural disaster
Age: 31
Years of Service: 6
On May 23, Master Patrolman Taylor was assisting with disaster response efforts in Joplin following the devastating EF-5 tornado that had struck Jasper and Newton counties the day before. Patrolman Taylor had just returned to a command post on a department ATV to drop off another first responder when a bolt of lightning struck close to where he was standing. Other officers on the scene immediately began CPR and Patrolman Taylor was transported to St. John’s Hospital in Springfield where he remained until he succumbed to his injuries on June 3.
Frederick “Fred” F. Guthrie Jr.
End of Watch: Aug. 1, 2011
Rank: Trooper
Department: Missouri State Highway Patrol
Cause: Drowned
Age: 46
Years of Service: 17
Trooper Guthrie and his canine, Reed, were swept into flood waters in Holt County while on river flooding patrol duty. Another patrol unit discovered Trooper Guthrie’s Patrol truck idling on the road with his Patrol boat still on its trailer. A massive search was initiated, and K9 Reed’s body was recovered the next day. The search for Trooper Guthrie continued and, on Jan. 12, 2012, his body was recovered.
Evan D. Burns
End of Watch: Aug. 16, 2011
Rank: Patrolman
Department: Caruthersville Police Department
Cause: Vehicular assault
Age: 28
Years of Service: 2
Patrolman Burns and another officer were setting up spike strips on a roadway in order to assist deputies from the Pemiscot County Sheriff’s Office who were pursuing a stolen SUV being driven by a suspect wanted in an assault case. When the stolen vehicle approached, it struck the first police car, injuring the other police officer. The suspect then rammed the SUV into Patrolman Burns’ vehicle, killing Patrolman Burns.
Jerry E. Hicks, Sr.
End of Watch: Dec. 4, 2011
Rank: Chief of Police
Department: Leadwood Police Department
Cause: Vehicular crash
Age: 69
Years of Service: 25
Chief Hicks was driving to the Potosi Correctional Center to pick up an inmate work crew when the vehicle he was driving slid on a patch of ice on a highway bridge, causing it to leave the roadway. The vehicle hit a tree on the passenger side. Chief Hicks was flown to a hospital in Creve Coeur, where he died six days later.
George F. Ross
End of Watch: April 8, 2010
Rank: Sergeant
Department: Maplewood Police Department
Cause: Heart attack
Age: 62
Years of Service: 32
On March 30, 2010 Sergeant Ross, while on duty, participated in the funeral detail/procession for a fallen officer. As Sergeant Ross returned from the funeral detail, he suffered a massive heart attack and his vehicle left the road way. Sergeant Ross was transported to a local hospital and died on April 8, due to his medical condition.
William M. “Mick” Mudd
End of Watch: Dec. 16, 2010
Rank: Police Officer
Department: Vinita Park Police Department
Cause: Heart attack
Age: 38
Years of Service: 14
Officer Mudd assisted emergency medical personnel during a call in Vinita Park by spreading salt on an icy street and sidewalk. He also assisted in carrying a resident to an ambulance after working his night shift. Shortly after, Officer Mudd arrived home, suffered a heart attack and died in his sleep.
Warm, dry weather during March and April resulted in below normal runoff into the Missouri River mainstem reservoir system, according to officials with the Army Corps of Engineers.
That’s good news, coming just a year after record runoff and snowpack led to record reservoir releases and record flooding.
Runoff above Sioux City, Iowa in April was 63 percent of normal, bringing in 1.8 million acre feet (MAF) of runoff compared to a normal amount of 2.9 MAF. When coupled with the long-term forecasts for summer precipitation in the upper basin, the result is a below normal runoff forecast for calendar year 2012.
“Conditions have changed dramatically from last year, especially in regards to mountain snowpack,” said Jody Farhat, Chief of the Water Management Division. “While the risk of flooding due to mountain snowpack runoff is low, the risk of localized flooding from rainfall-driven events is normal.”
T. Boone Pickens
The legendary oil and gas entrepreneur T. Boone Pickens will be the speaker at Missouri Western State University’s Convocation on Critical Issues at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 4, 2012 in the Looney Complex. The Convocation is free and open to the public. Pickens will also participate in a question-and-answer session at a special Convocation Luncheon following the speech. Ticket information for the luncheon will be announced at a later date.
“Pickens is outspoken on the United States’ energy policies, energy options for the future and leadership,” said Dan Nicoson, vice president for university advancement and executive director of the MWSU Foundation.
“The Missouri Western Foundation is proud to bring nationally prominent speakers to Missouri Western and the St. Joseph area,” Nicoson said in a news release. “It is uncommon for a university and community of this size to regularly hear from leading experts of national fame.”
Pickens will be the 19th speaker in the annual Convocation on Critical Issues series funded and hosted by the MWSU Foundation that began in 1993. The convocation exposes students at the university, as well as area high school students and members of the community, to some of the leading thinkers in the nation.
Dr. Robert Vartabedian, Missouri Western’s president, has some personal knowledge of Pickens and enthusiastically endorsed his selection as the next convocation speaker.
“Mr. Pickens was the chair of the Board when I was hired at West Texas A&M University nearly 25 years ago, so I have seen him in action ‘up close’ and from afar,” Dr. Vartabedian said. “I know that he will be an interesting, informative, and colorful addition to our prestigious annual Convocation on Critical Issues.”
A folk hero in global business for his tenacity in the rough-and-tumble world of mergers and acquisitions, Pickens’ career has staggering breadth. He first build and led one of the largest independent natural gas and oil companies. Then, at a time in his life when many of his peers retired to the golf course, he reinvented himself by establishing one of the nation’s most successful energy-related investment funds.
He chronicled the lessons he learned during his journey in his best selling 2008 autobiography titled “The First Billion is the Hardest: Reflections on a Life of Comebacks and America’s Energy Future.”
His speech at Missouri Western will be titled “Leadership and Getting Things Done: Reflections on a Lifetime of Comebacks and America’s Energy Future.”
Ranked by Forbes as one of the world’s richest people, Pickens serves as the chairman of BP Capital Management. He is a noted energy activist who is also an innovative, committed philanthropist who has donated nearly $1 billion to charity. His impact on American culture reflects his many interests and passions, including an unyielding belief in the entrepreneurial spirit, leadership and corporate fitness, the need for alternative fuel development, and prudent stewardship of American lands.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Some plaintiffs and allegations have been dismissed from three civil lawsuits filed against priests and the Kansas City-St. Joseph Catholic diocese.
Each ruling this week was a victory for the diocese or an accused priest.
In federal court Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Gary Fenner dismissed parents from two lawsuits filed against the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, who allegedly took lewd photographs of their daughters.
Fenner ruled that only the alleged child victims could collect damages.
Jackson County Circuit Judge Peggy Stevens McGraw on Monday threw out all allegations against the diocese in a suit filed last year against the Rev. Michael Tierney. The judge also dismissed eight counts against Tierney, who still faces civil allegations of childhood sexual abuse and battery.
