State Representative Galen Higdon of Saint Joseph says veterans homes in Missouri need more funding. Higdon has introduced a bill that would use money or tokens found on casino floors and send it to a special fund.
Higdon says over the years money that used to go to veterans homes has been funneled in other directions. Bills sponsored by the Saint Joseph Republican and Democrat Chris Kelly of Columbia would generate from $6 to $8-million a year for veterans homes.
For the second time in three years Northwest Missouri State cheerleading was named the 2012 Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA) National Champion. The community greeted the cheerleading squad back to the Maryville campus Monday afternoon, after they won the competition on Saturday.
Head Coach Jason Sack and his squad earned their second UCA National Championship since he took over the program in 2006. Northwest claimed its first championship in 2010.
Northwest competed against other NCAA Division II schools to take home the title over defending National Champion West Georgia which was followed by third place Columbus State.
Here’s a video of the competition.
In its monthly short-term outlook, the Energy Department expects U.S. benchmark crude oil prices to average over 100-hundred dollars a barrel in 2012 and touch an all-time high amid rising demand as global economies grow. This report signals continuing high energy costs for farmers already squeezed by increasingly expensive fuel. West Texas Intermediate crude is forecast to average $100.25 a barrel this year, up 5.7 percent from the level of 2011. The 2012 estimate was revised up by 2.3 percent from the department’s projection a month ago, and would be a record high not adjusting for inflation.
Retail diesel will average about $3.85 a gallon in 2012, up 1 cent from 2011 and a record high. The American Farm Bureau Federation says it will cost a farmer nearly 1,040-dollars to fill the 270-gallon tank on a Case IH 9370 tractor with diesel. That’s up 43 percent from 2010 and up 77 percent from 2009.
The U.S. Energy Department expects China and the Middle East to lead growth in global petroleum consumption over the next two years. Additionally, any supply disruptions in key producing regions could spike oil prices higher. The Energy Department projected global oil consumption at a record 89.38 million barrels a day in 2012.
Courtesy: NAFB News
During their annual meeting in Honolulu, delegates to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 93rd Annual Meeting approved its policy for the coming year. In doing so, delegates said national farm policy should be rewritten this year. The farmers and ranchers endorsed a multi-pronged policy proposal, including a provision for catastrophic revenue loss protection that works with a flexible range of crop insurance products, as well as amending the current farm bill’s marketing loan provisions to better reflect market values.
The adopted policy calls for a farm bill that – provides strong and effective safety net and risk management programs that do not guarantee a profit and minimizes the potential for farm programs affecting production decisions. Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman says – our delegates approved a program to help farmers manage the many different types and levels of risk they face today, in particular catastrophic revenue losses that can threaten the viability of a farm or ranch.
The delegates defeated a proposal to retain the current farm bill’s direct payments and a second proposal that would have allowed a patchwork of support through multiple programs for different commodities and regions.
Bob Stallman was re-elected for another 2-year term. Also, Barry Bushue, the President of the Oregon Farm Bureau, was re-elected to a third two-year term as AFBF vice president.
Courtesy: NAFB News
The Renewable Fuels Association points out the saber-rattling of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz has had an impact on fuel prices. But many are erroneously blaming ethanol because of the end of the tax incentive for ethanol use known as VEETC. RFA says it is true that Congress raised taxes on gasoline blended with ethanol when VEETC expired. But that only translates to about 4.5 cents per gallon of E10 ethanol blends.
But that tax increase doesn’t mean ethanol blends are now somehow more expensive than pure gasoline. In fact, as RFA Vice President of Research Geoff Cooper notes, the wholesale price of ethanol has been around 60-cents cheaper than that of gasoline in recent weeks and has traded at a discount to gasoline for much of the past few years.
Additionally, with ethanol representing 10 percent of the nation’s gasoline supply, it is helping to put downward pressure on oil and gasoline prices by extending supplies. An Iowa State University/University of Wisconsin study pegged that savings as 25 cents per gallon on average over the past 10 years and 89 cents per gallon in 2010 alone.
Courtesy: NAFB News
A research consortium has found a way to more accurately compare how efficiently plants and photovoltaic, or solar, cells convert sunlight into energy. The researchers found that the annual averaged efficiency of solar-cell-driven electrolysis is about 10 percent. But, solar energy conversion efficiencies for crop plants are about 1 percent, which illustrates the significant potential to improve the efficiency of the natural system.
Although both processes harvest energy from sunlight, they use that energy in different ways. Plants convert the sun’s energy into chemical energy, whereas solar cells produce electricity. This energy-efficiency analysis between plant photosynthesis and solar cells will lay the groundwork for improving the efficiency of plant photosynthesis in agriculture for improved yield.
Courtesy: NAFB News Service
State Senator Rob Schaaf says one of the best things Missouri could do for economic development would be to allow more competition in healthcare.
That’s one reason the Saint Joseph Republican says he’ll try again to eliminate the Certificate of Need process, which requires healthcare providers to prove a need for additional services before competing with an existing provider.
The Missouri Hospital Association says the Certificate of Need process holds down healthcare costs by preventing unnecessary duplication of expensive services. Schaaf says the exact opposite occurs: costs go up because competition is prevented.
Three public meetings are scheduled this week in northwest Missouri regarding the redevelopment of Big Lake State Park.
The meetings are to discuss with the public the options under consideration for the park from Missouri State Parks.
The park was once again damaged by flooding last year.
The first of three meetings starts at 7:00 Wednesday night at the Middle School in Mound City. The second meeting starts at 1:00 Thursday afternoon at Northwest Missouri State’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. And the final meeting starts at 4:30 Thursday afternoon at the Remington Nature Center in St Joseph.
A man suspected of killing a woman in Mount Ayr, Iowa was found dead in his truck near Hamburg on I-29.
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation says a man authorities believe is Robert Taylor died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Authorities believe it is Taylor and it is his truck.
Taylor was wanted in the shooting death of 45-year-old Lori Yeager. She was found dead inside a house in Mount Ayr early Friday.
Mount Ayr is about 20 miles north of Grant City, Missouri in Ringgold County, Iowa.
Authorities throughout the region were looking for Taylor after an apparent domestic dispute at the family’s home.
Shortly after 2 a.m. Friday a juvenile inside the home called and reported a domestic altercation between Taylor and Yeager. The responding deputies found Yeager dead inside the home, the victim of an apparent homicide. The child was not harmed.
A Bethany man is behind bars Friday after being charged with three felonies, including murder.
Tony Ray King, 28, of Bethany, was arrested Friday afternoon on charges of First Degree Murder (Class A Felony), Class C Felony Arson (2nd Degree) and Class C Felony Child Abuse.
The charges stem from a mobile home fire early Wednesday morning. Seven year-old Jeremiah Lamm’s body was recovered from the home. Lamm is King’s son.
The Harrison County Sheriff’s Office, State Fire Marshal’s Office and Highway Patrol investigated the fire.
King is being held in the Harrison County Jail on a $250,000 cash-only bond.
