Trails West! is still accepting applications for participants in this year’s Trails West festival but time is running short.

Applications for Fine Artists are due in the Allied Arts Council office by 5:00 p.m. on April 11, 2012.  Applications for Fine Crafters are due by 5:00 p.m. on April 18, and Food Vendors are due April 25 by 5:00 p.m.

Applications and guidelines are available online at www.trailswest.org or by calling the AAC office at 816-233-0231.

This year’s festival is August 17-19 at Civic Center Park in downtown St Joseph.

Leaders of the newly-formed Missouri Gateway Chapter of the 101st Airborne Division Association are “barnstorming” Missouri cities and towns in search of former members to develop an ongoing, statewide “deployment” to honor and serve all military veterans from border-to-border.

Veterans and active duty soldiers who have served in any war or any way with the 101st Airborne, are welcome to join. Their family members and “friends” of the division are also welcome to join as associate members.

The charter members of this chapter have grown from five to 50 since formation September 3, 2011. The search for “Screaming Eagles” continues, through military sources, participation in veteran events, press coverage and word-of-mouth. Many are veterans of Vietnam and a growing number are veterans just returned from foreign duty.

Leaders continue to reach out to veterans throughout Missouri, and Southern Ilinois, as part of the Metropolitan St. Louis area. There are four ranks in this chapter: veteran, associate veteran, family member, friend. Vietnam veterans are prominent.

Two members, veterans of WWII at 86 and 90 years of age, are the oldest in the chapter. Both live in a Missouri Veterans Home. They provide inspiration ­ and participate actively. Each has been honored for valorous service on D-Day, June 6, 1944. One parachuted into France, one arrived by glider. Both are decorated heroes of the Battle of the Bulge. One was honored with the French Legion of Merit, and one helped capture Adolph Hitler’s “Eagle’s Nest” in Southern Germany as a member of the “Band of Brothers.”

Those who have interest in participating and want more information on how to join are invited to visit the chapter website.

The vision and mission of the chapter is to honor and support U.S. military veterans — through community events & activities, veteran education, speaker’s bureau, individual and corporate sponsor fundraising, service projects, and advocacy for state and federal government support. This includes individual veterans, Missouri Veterans Homes, veteran service providers, disabled veterans, homeless veterans, and cooperation with other local and state veteran organizations.

Two people were killed and one suffered serious injuries after their Ford Explorer left the road in the 2900 block of Gene Field Road shortly before 3am today. Police say the vehicle careened into a wooded ravine and hit a tree at a high rate of speed.

Police say they cannot confirm it at this time, but they believe the vehicle was the same one that fled an attempted car stop a short time earlier on the Belt Highway.

A police supervisor reported attempting to stop a dark-colored SUV for speeding northbound on the Belt south of Beck Road at around 2:34 this morning. He was unable to catch up to the vehicle to obtain a license number or other vehicle descriptions. He reported that the vehicle turned onto Gene Field from the Belt, and was last seen traveling at very high rate of speed westbound, causing him to notify dispatch that he was shutting down his efforts to catch up to the vehicle.

Captain Kevin Castle of the St Joseph Police Department says someone called 911 after hearing cries for help. The caller could not tell where the cries were coming from.

Michael J. Hadden, 24,  was severely injured and trapped in the wreckage. After a St Joseph Fire Department rescue team extricated him, Hadden was taken to Heartland Regional Medical Center for treatment.

Two others within the vehicle, Robert O. DeGrote, 34, and the driver, William L. Williams, 33, died in the crash.

Castle says the vehicle was not visible from the road, but says tracks left by the vehicle indicate it was traveling west bound on Gene Field at an extremely high speed.

The site of the impact was littered with debris after sunup Monday, as a tow-truck crew returned to remove the large pieces of debris left behind after the SUV was removed.

Open burning for spring 2012 has been approved for Monday, April 9 through Sunday, April 29 by the Chief of Enforcement Section of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Open burning is permitted on these days within the City of St. Joseph under the following guidelines:

Burning of yard waste of residential properties only – ONLY dry yard waste such as leaves, brush and logs grown on the property can be burned. NO trash, paper, lumber or building debris may be burned.

Burning is allowed between 10:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

All fires must be in an upright cylindrical metal container with a volume equal to no more than 55 gallons. Containers must be located at least fifteen (15) feet away from any building. Only one burn container per residence.

 

All fires shall be monitored from a point on the property where the fire is located, by a person capable of containing a fire, should containment become
necessary.

Fire-fighting material, including but not limited to, a garden hose or a container of water sufficient to contain any fire started shall be at the site of the fire.

If weather conditions such as high winds indicate the safety of the community or the public may be endangered or if open burning may create a health hazard, the Fire Chief or Health Director may invoke a temporary burning ban.

Any violation of the open burning restrictions may result in a summons to appear in court for a misdemeanor violation.

Residents are encouraged to explore alternatives to open burning.

Many options for disposing of yard waste are easy, do not contribute to air pollution, are not dependent on time restrictions or the weather, and provide the healthy benefit of physical activity while doing yard work instead of breathing acrid smoke from a waste fire.

Such activities include mowing leaves into fine particles and leaving them lay to fertilize the lawn, or incorporating leaves into a mulch container to decompose into humus for use in vegetable and flower gardens or for use on lawns as a soil amendment.

Larger wood brush that can be chipped makes excellent mulch around trees and shrubs. Family and friends with gardens may want additional yard waste to use as mulch.

If you choose to burn, please do so within the days provided, as open burning session will not be extended due to weather blackout dates.