Afghan farmers are learning how to be better farmers from members of the Missouri National Guard. Agribusiness Development Teams from the Guard have been working there since 2007 to teach and help implement sustainable farming practices.

Major General Steven Danner says ADT Team Six, which just deployed, will share their expertise. Danner says it’s like the adage that when you give a man a fish, he eats for a day … when you teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime. The Missouri program has been so successful that National Guard units from a dozen other states are copying it.

Four court cases of the Missouri court of Appeals Western district will be heard at Northwest Missouri State later this month.

Northwest announced the planes Monday. A three judge panel of Judge James Smart, James Welsh and Supreme Court Judge Zel Fischer will hear oral arguments in the four cases.

The court sessions March 26^th gives the courts a chance to allow the public to observe the judicial system. The session starts at 1:00 pm, Monday, March 26h at the J.W. Jones Student Union at Northwest.

Besides Maryville, in the past 20 years the court has held session in Chillicothe, St Joseph, Savannah, Platte City and other western Missouri locations.

 

 

 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has denied a request from Gov. Jay Nixon for a federal major disaster declaration for 18 Missouri counties.

FEMA also denied a request for neighboring Illinois, where seven people died and significant damage was reported in seven counties.

An outraged Illinois Senator Dick Durbin says he plans to appeal FEMA’s denial of disaster status for southern Illinois.

Senator Claire McCaskill is disappointed with the Missouri decision, but a senior spokesman says she is waiting to see if Governor Nixon will appeal. Spokesman John LaBombard says McCasill will continue working with folks on the ground and federal agencies to make sure Missouri has all necessary resources.

The Governor declared a state of emergency on Feb. 29, and requested the declaration for counties impacted by the tornadoes, hail, high winds and heavy rain on Feb. 28-29.

The severe weather caused three deaths, numerous injuries and widespread destruction.

“A major disaster declaration would have made additional assistance available to Missourians as they recover and move forward from this round of severe weather,” Gov. Nixon said. “I went to southern Missouri and saw the serious property damage to homes and businesses, and the places where Missourians lost their lives. While this decision is disappointing, we’ll continue at the state level to provide the critical resources, assets and personnel that are necessary to help these affected communities recover and rebuild.”

Gov. Nixon’s request was for the following counties: Adair, Barry, Barton, Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Cedar, Dallas, Daviess, Laclede, Linn, Madison, Phelps, Polk, Pulaski, Scott, Stoddard, Stone and Taney.

Statewide tornado drills are planned in Missouri and Kansas Tuesday, starting at 1:30 p.m., as part of Severe Weather Awareness Week.

Not everyone is taking part.

In the St Joseph School District, each school will have such a drill sometime this spring, but it is up to each school to schedule them. Officials say they have at least two tornado drills each year, generally one in the fall and another in the spring.  Northwest Missouri State University will be taking part.  Missouri Western students are on Spring Break, and thus will not participate  in the statewide drill.

In 2011, the National Weather Service reported 80 tornadoes in Missouri, while in Kansas there 68 tornadoes statewide. The statistics for tornado deaths and injuries in Missouri were dramatically higher, owing largely to the large number of casualties caused by the tornado in Joplin last May. The weather service office in St Louis published statewide statistics available here.

Officials say that when severe weather strikes you often have only a few minutes to respond and seek shelter. Robert Moser, M.D., the State Health Officer in Kansas, says they recommend everyone become familiar with the type of weather they may encounter at different times of the year, prepare an emergency disaster kit and practice their emergency plan frequently.

The states of Oklahoma and Texas had similar observances last month.

Northwest Missouri State University will be taking part. Missouri Western students are on Spring Break, and thus will not take part in the statewide drill.

Missouri’s State Emergency Management Agency launched the videos posted above demonstrating tornado sheltering in schools, houses and mobile homes in preparation for severe weather season.

School Board candidates will meet the public at a public forum Tomorrow in St Joseph.

The forum will include all candidates for School Board in the April third election.

It is sponsored by the St Joseph Education Coalition, a group of representatives for teachers, principals and administrators. Coalition members will serve as panelist in the forum. It starts at 4:30 Tuesday at the Troester Media Center on Renick Street.

It will also be broadcast on cable channel 41 several times before the election.

 

 

Park Hill eighth-grader Grant Pace won a second-straight trip to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington in May.

On Saturday Pace won the Northwest Missouri Regional Spelling Bee at St Francis Xavier School.

The event was sponsored by the St Joseph News Press.

Grant Pace ensured that Platte County still reigns supreme when it comes to producing regional champion spellers.

Grant retained his title from last year by correctly spelling “nadir” — the point of the celestial sphere that is directly opposite the zenith.

It marked the sixth straight year that a student from Platte County has won the regional bee.

“Studying is really important,” Grant told the newspaper. “Another important thing is to slow down and take your time.”

He competed at the nationals last year, but misspelled “cataclysmic” in the third round. This time, he will compete as speller number 140 among 256 other students. This year’s bee week is set to begin May 27 in the nation’s capital.

 

Republicans in Kansas heavily favored former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum in the presidential caucuses Saturday, giving Santorum 51 percent of the vote.

That’s the best result Santorum has posted so far during this campaign.

Mitt Romney had 21 percent, Newt Gingrich 14 percent and Ron Paul 13 percent.

Santorum called his Kansas showing a “comfortable win.”

He appeared to have locked up all four Kansas congressional districts and, with them, 33 of the state’s 40 Republican convention delegates.

Romney appeared to have won seven delegates.

The final apportionment of delegates will occur after the results are certified by the party’s executive committee. The delegates will be chosen later at party conventions.

Romney won weekend contests in Wyoming and Guam.