State officials are taking input from the public on the future of Big Lake State Park in Holt County.

Three meetings held this week in Northwest Missouri outlined two proposals presented by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and Missouri State Park officials.

One of the proposals include demolishing the motel, cabins and dining lodge to replace them with a day-use area including a walking trail.

The second proposal would keep space for 25 patrons in cabins. The motel, dining lodge and restaurant would all be replaced with a multipurpose building. That building would include a restaurant, conference room, welcome center and a convenience store.

The state park is currently closed after flooding once again damaged the park last year. The meetings were held in Mound City, Maryville and St. Joseph this week.

 

 

 

 

Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman says President Obama should have used a little common sense before he made a controversial decision to reject the Keystone pipeline project. Obama blamed Republicans for not giving him enough time to weigh the decision.

Heineman says the decision could create legal problems for Nebraska. State agency officials are examining what a State Department ruling could mean for a Nebraska-based environmental review of the project.

Pipeline developer TransCanada agreed to the review last year, and company officials said they would voluntarily reroute the line following concerns about running it through Nebraska’s sensitive Sandhills.

Heineman says moving the line a few miles east will solve the problem. He says Obama should have issued a “conditional yes,” to give Nebraska the time to complete its review, and says the President could have used a little common sense.

The Platte County Sheriff’s Department is investigating after a skull was found along the Missouri River Thursday.

The skull, apparently human, was found north of Waldron.

In a statement, the Sheriff’s Office said it’s unclear if the skull was deposited there by the flood from this summer or by other means.

Additional details were not available.

Missouri Western’s search for a new Vice President for University Advancement accelerates Friday with the first finalist interview.

You are invited as the university’s current director of development Jerry Pickman, makes a presentation on the role of development at the school.

It’s scheduled at 2pm, Friday at the Kemper Recital Hall inside Leah Spratt Hall.

Dan Nicoson, Western’s current vice president for university advancement, will retire in June after eight years in the position.

A second candidate, Dr. Jonathan Yordy, will make his case on Tuesday. Yordy is the executive director of major gifts at Lewis University in Romeoville, Ill. His presentation is scheduled at two pm Tuesday.

A Mexican national was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy to grow thousands of marijuana plants in two large plots near Gower, Mo.

Serafin Rodriguez Gonzalez, 25, of Kansas City, Kan., was sentenced to seven years and three months in federal prison without parole. Gonzalez pleaded guilty on June 2, 2011.

On July 26, 2010, more than 80 officers from 14 agencies raided the growing sites.

There were approximately 4,000 growing marijuana plants at a Buchanan County location and another 3,000 growing marijuana plants at the Clinton County location.

Co-defendant Juan Francisco Garcia Palomares, 45, a citizen of Mexico residing in Kansas City, Mo., purchased equipment and supplies for the operation and delivered them to the two camps.

Palomares pleaded guilty to his role in the marijuana-growing conspiracy on June 24, 2011 and is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 2, 2012.

Law enforcement officers arrested Palomares when they executed a search warrant at a trailer at Airy Acres Mobile Home Park in Gower on July 26, 2010. Inside the trailer, officers seized a number of items associated with the manufacture of marijuana. At the same time, two additional teams of officers executed search warrants at the two marijuana fields and camps.

Another team of officers was simultaneously conducting surveillance at Gonzalez’s residence. When agents knocked on the door of Gonzalez’s residence, an unknown Hispanic man ran out the back door and scaled a fence. Some of the agents attempted to follow him, while others searched the residence and found Gonzalez in an upstairs bedroom. Agents saw marijuana and other items associated with the manufacture of marijuana in plain view inside the residence and Gonzalez was arrested.

After obtaining a Kansas state search warrant, agents found a number of related items in the residence, including approximately 10 pounds of marijuana seeds, approximately 40 pounds of marijuana in three large black trash bags, approximately five pounds of marijuana in multiple heat-sealed plastic bags, a loaded assault rifle, a 9 mm handgun, ammunition and approximately $3,000 in cash.

The Traffic lights at Belt Highway and Frederick Street are back in working order Wednesday afternoon.

The traffic lights starting malfunctioning Tuesday and Wednesday forcing law enforcement and MoDOT to control traffic at the intersection.

Crews found the signal’s internal wiring at the main box had corroded due to moisture. This caused the lights to go into default mode and flash red.

The intersection was treated as a four way stop for motorist while the lights were out of service.  The temporary traffic control backed-up traffic at what is one of the busiest intersection in St. Joseph.

MoDOT’s Northwest District office announced  Wednesday afternoon the light’s had been restored to working order.  Some time will be taken to verify the timing is set right on the traffic signals.