St Joseph School district officials have confirmed eight cases of chicken pox at Bode Middle School, which qualifies this as an outbreak, and thus parents of Bode students are being informed of requirements from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Letters have been sent home to parents.

More information is available here from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

RN Eileen Duty is the Coordinator of Health Services for the St Joseph School District. Duty says students who have had two doses of the vaccine, or who have had the disease can remain at school. Students who have received just one dose must get the second dose immediately. Students who have not been innoculated, should get their first dose immediately, then get a second dose within four weeks of the first.

Duty points out that if your child has a medical condition that would be complicated by taking the vaccine, you should get a note from your physician, and the child will be allowed to return to class.

Duty tells us they’re most concerned about roughly 300-students whose records don’t indicate they’ve had that second dose of the vaccine. But, she says it’s possible their doctors simply haven’t reported those vaccinations.

The district has made special arrangements with local health care providers to get those kids vaccinated quickly. The school has notified parents of the outbreak and what the law requires.

For more information about chicken pox, click here.

JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri (AP) – Missouri’s basic aid for public schools will remain flat but decline for colleges under a budget plan given final approval by lawmakers.

The $23 billion operating budget passed Thursday also would continue subsidizing the prescription drug costs of seniors and the disabled — though that still depends on passage of a separate bill allowing the program to continue past Aug. 28.

Budget negotiators opted against a Senate plan to cut child-care subsidies for thousands of low-income parents while extending them for several hundred others.

The budget for the 2012 fiscal year now goes to Gov. Jay Nixon, who can veto or reduce the spending but cannot add to it. The budget includes wording that would bar Nixon from billing most state agencies for his travel and staff costs.

SENECA, Mo. (AP) – A lawsuit filed by two southwest Missouri high school cheerleaders who were removed from the squad has been dismissed.

The two Seneca High School cheerleaders sued the school district and several school officials last December after being kicked off the squad for alleged cyber-bullying.

The Joplin Globe reports that the cheerleaders voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit. Court documents filed Tuesday indicate the lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled. The cheerleaders were not compensated.

District officials say they are pleased with the dismissal, but declined further comment.

The cheerleaders, who are not identified in the lawsuit, alleged their constitutional rights were violated when they were taken off the squad. The Newton County Sheriff’s Department investigated the allegations of cyber-bullying and no charges were filed.

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Information from: The Joplin Globe, http://www.joplinglobe.com

JEFFERSON CITY, MO. (AP) – The Missouri House has approved legislation to change the state’s presidential primary date and require presidential candidates to produce copies of their birth certificate.

The bill moves the presidential primary from February to March. An earlier Senate version of the legislation had put Missouri’s primary date one week after the New Hampshire primaries.

The measure would also require presidential candidates to submit birth certificates to the Missouri Secretary of State to prove that they’re natural-born U.S. citizens.

House Republican Lyle Rowland, of Cedar Creek, said Missouri must verify that presidential candidates comply with the U.S. Constitution.

The legislation now returns to the Senate for consideration of the changes made by the House.

By Steve Moody
It’s the type of ambulance call that causes every medic to groan as they are awakened from a dreamy sleep. A “Life Alert Alarm” that comes in at three o’clock – in the morning.

By and large the “three o’clock call” involves an elderly male who has gotten out of bed to go pee. And, as he stumbles to the toilet, he accidentally sets off his life alert alarm.

So, I’m doing the groan routine as I quickly get dressed and scurry towards the fire station slide pole with my partner (a female) closely behind. It doesn’t take long before we arrive on the scene of a small cottage home – typical choice of retired people.

We are met on the front porch by a female officer who says the gentleman of the home is okay. He just accidentally set off his alarm. I tell my partner, “Go ahead and take the emergency jump bag on in and I’ll go grab the clipboard out of the ambulance.”

I grabbed the clipboard and was returning to the house when out came my partner and the police officer. Both of them have a strange look on their face – large eyes and facial tone that’s just a bit on the blushed side.

My partner tells me, “The patient is okay. You go ahead and get a transport refusal signature.” I thought it was rather odd that both she and the police officer had vacated the home. And, usually the treating medic takes care of the refusal signature. But, I did as told.

As I walked into the home, there in the living room stood our patient. His name was Herman.
Herman was dressed in a white wife-beater t-shirt and a set of baby blue mid-length boxer shorts, and knee high black socks – holding a box of Ritz Bitz Crackers.

Then, I see the source of my fellow responder’s quick exit. Protruding below Herman’s mid-length boxers was his freakishly long fifth appendage. I don’t know if he was aware that his coverage was a bit lacking. To this day I wish I would’ve asked.

I got Herman’s refusal signature and made my way back out to my two awaiting co-workers. It was apparent they weren’t going to address their discovery with me. I know this because they tried to avoid my stare, indicating they knew I too had made the same discovery.

Not breaking stride, or eye contact, I asked them if they knew who this gentleman was. They both indicated “no” with the side-to-side movement of their head. I said to them, “Herman is my uncle!”

And, I’ve eaten Ritz Bitz Crackers ever since.

 

Steve Moody is the former Fire Chief in Leavenworth.

JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri – Missouri’s ban on sending and reading text messages while driving would be expanded to all drivers under legislation moving to the Missouri Senate with one week left in the legislative session.

The measure has become part of a larger public safety bill that passed the House last month and is pending before a Senate committee this week.

A Missouri law passed in 2009 currently bans anyone 21 and younger from texting while driving.

Rep. Don Wells, the sponsor of the pending anti-texting legislation, said he voted for the 2009 law, but later regretted doing so because of the law’s age restriction.

According to the Governor’s Highway Safety Association, 31 states have laws banning all drivers from sending text messages behind the wheel. An additional nine states have laws that limit texting while driving based on the driver’s age or license status. Missouri’s age limit is the highest among states with such a law.

“Missouri was the laughingstock of the country for passing that law,” said Wells, R-Cabool.

While outlawing traditional texting while driving, Wells’ legislation still would allow drivers to send messages with hands-free devices, such as a Bluetooth earpiece. He said that would minimize distractions while driving.

One hurdle Wells’ anti-texting legislation faces is the clock, which is ticking toward the end of the legislative session at 6 p.m. Friday.

The larger public safety bill is to go before a Senate judiciary committee Monday night. If the committee approves the bill, it could be debated by the full Senate. If the Senate does not modify to the bill, that chamber can vote to give the bill final passage and send it to Gov. Jay Nixon.

But the Senate could make changes to the bill, sending it back to the House for another vote. That could take time, as many other bills are also jockeying for position on each chamber’s legislative calendar.

Another potential roadblock is skepticism that extending the ban to all drivers would make the state’s streets any safer.

Rep. Nick Marshall, R-Platte City, who spoke against the anti-texting measure when it was before a House public safety committee, said the law would be too difficult to enforce. He also said it might cause people to think that government is intruding into more aspects of their lives.

“This law won’t change people’s behavior in the future,” he said. “I think we do a disservice to the rule of law when we pass a law that people won’t obey.”

Missouri State Highway Patrol Cpt. Tim Hull said officers wrote 81 tickets for texting while driving between August 2009, when the law took effect, and the end of 2010.

He said the law is difficult to enforce because the officer must determine if a driver is sending a text message and then whether the driver is younger than 22. But he said officers could suspect people of texting while driving if drivers appear to be typing on a keyboard or looking down instead of at the road.

Proposals to ban texting while driving also have seen support from cell phone companies. Industry groups have created public service announcements aimed at discouraging teens from texting while driving, and lobbyists for Verizon and AT&T have spoken in support of the bills at legislative hearings in Missouri.

Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Hill said people can pull over to the side of the road if they have to send a text message.

“We want people to focus on driving while they’re driving,” she said.

Researchers have been examining how texting affects a driver’s concentration. One 2009 study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute gained national attention with its conclusion that drivers are 23 times more likely to crash if they are texting while behind the wheel.

Wells said he thinks findings like that will generate more support in the Senate for a full ban than there might have been in 2009, when the law was limited to young drivers.

“Since then, I think they’ve realized that it doesn’t matter what your age is, it’s still so dangerous,” Wells said. “It’s not just a safety issue for you, but for everyone who is on the highway.”

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (AP) – Former President Bill Clinton challenged University of Central Missouri graduates Friday night to join his efforts to reduce energy production and consumption to prevent further global warming.

The two-term Democratic president also received an honorary doctorate degree during the school’s commencement ceremony for graduate students.

The Warrensburg university honored Clinton for his commitment to education and philanthropy as well as his service to the country. That includes his work through the William J. Clinton Foundation to promote worldwide health and economic development initiatives.

Clinton lauded the school’s $36 million effort to make campus buildings more energy efficient. He also praised the school’s planned National Energy Retrofit Institute, which plans to retrain displaced construction workers.

He spoke only briefly about the U.S. military operation that led to Osama bin Laden’s death.

The all clear has been given and students are back to finals at Missouri Western State University.

Missouri Western students were evacuated Friday morning after a bomb threat was received by telephone.

Emergency officials checked all buildings on the campus and the parking lots were full of students that were evacuated out of the buildings.

Missouri Western officials say they were notified just after 9:00 this morning.  According to a news release from the university, people were allowed back into most of the buildings by 10:15 a.m.  Residents at Leaverton Hall were kept out of the building after an unattended cell phone was found there.

A bomb-sniffing dog from the Kansas City International Airport Police responded to Leaverton and did not detect any explosive materials. Residents were allowed back in to Leaverton at about 11 a.m.

No final exam sessions were canceled or rescheduled because of the evacuation. The final exam period that began at 8:30 a.m. had been scheduled to end at 10:30, but was extended to 11:30 a.m., when the next final exam period was scheduled to begin.