Music legend Barry Manilow delivered $300,000 worth of musical instruments to the Joplin High School band Thursday.  The May 22nd tornado destroyed the school and all its instruments.  Manilow told the students he hopes the ability to make music again will help them bear the pain caused by the devastating tornado.  The twister killed 162 people and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses.

 

Saint Joseph rolls out the red carpet Saturday for the world premiere of a feature-length film called “1861: Spirit of the Pony Express.”

Director CJ Longhammer says the documentary tells the story of the short-lived mail service from Saint Joseph to Sacramento, California. He says it also celebrates the people all along the trail today who keep alive the spirit that created and sustained the Pony Express under difficult circumstances.

The documentary will premiere at 4 pm and 6:30 pm Saturday in the Kemper Recital Hall at Missouri Western. Seating is limited. Check 816.233.6688 for availability.  

“While zombie management is largely left to the police, military and health agencies, conservation plays a role in protecting Missouri’s fish, forest and wildlife resources–and Missourians–from this invasive species.”

That’s the word from the Missouri Department of Conservation with the invasive species alert on zombies posted on its web site.  Click here to view, or go to http://mdc.mo.gov and search for “zombies.”

 

Missouri Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler has introduced a bill to overturn the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s order to have four thousand structures removed from the Lake of the Ozarks. The bill would strip FERC of power over land owners, and it’s received 100-percent support from the Missouri delegation.

In the Senate Claire McCaskill and Roy Blunt have offered similar legislation. While reviewing land leases for power plants, the federal agency decided that the structures including 12-hundred family homes were inappropriate for the resort community. Hartzler says this is regulatory overreach and must be stopped.

 

A helicopter is scheduled to swoop down on Mid Buchanan High School this morning. The visit from the Missouri National Guard Counter-Drug Task Force will help students and communities make a drug-free pledge. This is Red Ribbon week across the country with a focus on staying drug-free. The OH-58 Kiowa helicopter is scheduled to land at Mid Buchanan at 9 this morning.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Hunters heading out for Missouri’s 11-day firearm deer season next month will be able to buy permits online.

The state Conservation Department says this is the first year that hunting permits can be bought online, printed out and used immediately.

Buyers will notice another change – the permits will also serve as tags, meaning no separate tag is needed.

Firearm deer season starts Nov. 12.

Permits will still be sold at Conservation Department regional offices, nature centers and hundreds of vendors throughout Missouri. Those permits will still be printed on yellow plastic material, but they won’t include a separate tag.

The Conservation Department is also offering online sales of turkey permits.

Levee repairs are getting underway in Northwest Missouri and nearby Southwest Iowa, according to the Army Corps of Engineers.

The Corps announced a $9.6 million contract with a Pennsylvania firm to repair two breaches on Missouri River Levee L-550 near Watson, Missouri. According to a news release, Weston Solutions of West Chester, Pa. will begin work within the next ten days to close the breaches and rebuild them to a 25-year flood elevation.

The Corps expects to award another contract soon to close and repair three breaches on the nearby Levee L-575 near Hamburg, Iowa. They hope to complete work on both projects by next March.