The Missouri State Highway Patrol encourages everyone to make good decisions regarding their New Year’s celebration.

According to a news release from the patrol, last year, over the New Year’s holiday counting period, eight people died and 302 people were injured in 539 traffic crashes. That means one person was killed or injured every 15.1 minutes during that time frame.

New Year’s is an opportunity to spend time with friends and family and many Missourians will plan special gatherings to welcome 2018. If your plans include alcohol, remember that nothing ruins a party like a DWI arrest or a drinking-related traffic crash on your way home. Designate a sober driver before the party starts. If you cause a traffic crash, your New Year might begin with being arrested, facing legal fees and medical bills, and perhaps jail time. You could lose your license and will have to face your family and friends. If you kill or injure someone, you’ll pay the price for the rest of your life. Designate a sober driver or take a taxi.

As you drive to your New Year’s gathering, remember to buckle up and obey all traffic laws. Be a courteous driver: When in doubt, yield the right-of-way. Pay attention and use your turn signal to communicate your intentions to other drivers. The posted speed limit reflects the roadway’s classification and is not a suggestion. There’s no reason to speed—the party starts after you arrive safely.

If inclement weather is expected, allow extra time for traveling or be flexible with your plans. The Road Condition Report number is 1-888-275-6636. Depending on the weather, staying home might be your best option. Remember: Missouri law states if you’re using your windshield wipers, your headlights must be turned on. It takes only a second to turn on your vehicle’s headlights. That second could make you more visible to other drivers and prevent a traffic crash.

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University, in conjunction with the Maryville Chamber of Commerce, invites students and employees, as well as the public, to a series of learning opportunities.

According to a news release, sessions will feature presenters discussing workplace topics from engaging in difficult conversations to generational differences.

Eight presentations are scheduled this spring for area professionals. Each presentation costs $25 for Maryville Chamber of Commerce members or $40 for non-members.

The presentations are free to Northwest students and employees as part of the University’s Career Pathing program, which provides professional development opportunities to students interested in advancing to new levels of pay and responsibility.

Registration is available online at nwmissouri.edu/hr/trainingopps.htm.

Most presentations are 60 minutes long and are offered in the J.W. Jones Student Union Ballroom. The schedule also includes a day-long training session Feb. 17 in The Station. More information about each session appears below.

For more information, contact Northwest’s Office of Human Resources at (660) 562-1140 or email Paula McLain, coordinator of student employment at Northwest, at pmclain@nwmissouri.edu.

“Define Your Vision and Mission: Keys to Collaboration”

Dr. Julie Connor

Wednesday, Jan. 17, in the Student Union Ballroom; 11 a.m., 1 p.m. or 3 p.m. (60 minutes)

Clear mission and vision statements reflect your beliefs and core values. They guide the words you speak, decisions you make, goals you create, and events you plan. Create a powerful vision and mission aligned with your personal principles. For more information, visit www.drjulieconnor.com.

“Build to Compete and Win!”

Marvin Carolina Jr., Team Carolina

Thursday, January 25, in the Student Union Ballroom; 11 a.m., 1 p.m. or 3:30 p.m. (75 minutes)

Build to Compete and Win! is a workshop to provide a roadmap for the transition from college to pursuing employment in corporate America. Upon completion of this workshop, participants will understand their workplace competition, understand skills needed to best compete in corporate America, understand what corporate America is looking for in employees, and possess skills to successfully transition into internships or full-time employment. For more information, visit www.marvincarolina.com.

“Goal-Based Networking: How to Turn your Social Life into Profitable Relationships”

Jeff Beals, speaker, sales strategist and executive consultant

Tuesday, Feb. 6, in the Student Union Ballroom; 9:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. or 2 p.m. (60 minutes)

This session will introduce “goal-based networking,” a technique that sharply focuses communication efforts. Attendees will learn what to say, when to say it and to whom you should say it. Learn how to synthesize social media with traditional networking. Once you master goal-based networking, your colleagues will be left wondering just how you became so well connected both locally and within your profession. For more information, visit www.jeffbeals.com.

“RESPOND”

Rachel Mayfield, counselor, Northwest Wellness Services

Saturday, Feb. 17, The Station center meeting room; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (lunch provided)

“RESPOND” is designed to assist the campus community in identifying students with mental health concerns. Content includes a brief overview of mental health problems on college campuses, discussion about stigma and culture, an overview of signs associated with mental health problems. The remainder of the course is focused on how to effectively respond with basic listening and empathy, risk assessment at the lay level, support, referral, and taking care of self, including appropriate boundaries based on role or personal preference. The interactive training will address issues such as how FERPA works when mental health concerns exist, HIPAA where appropriate, and Title IX and confidential sources.

“Character Counts … Doesn’t it?”

Karel Murray, Our Branch Inc.

Monday, Feb. 19, Student Union Ballroom; 11 a.m., 2 p.m., 4 p.m. (60 minutes)

This session is an intense examination of personal values and the practical application of principles that ultimately define what we know as “ethics.” Participants will actively explore ethical dilemmas and apply various decision-making models to arrive at a conclusion that fits their value system.

“HIRT: Hostile Intruder Response Training – Owning your Survival”

Michael Ceperley, emergency management coordinator, Northwest Environmental Health and Safety

Tuesday, March 13, Student Union Ballroom; 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m. (60 minutes)

This course will provide you with a general understanding of a hostile intruder’s mindset and why these types of events happen. Pre-incident indicators will be identified and discussed, as well as valuable response options which will allow you the opportunity to take a more active role in your safety. Strategies for disrupting an intruder’s plans and techniques for preparing defenses will be identified and the importance of putting response actions into motion as quickly as possible will be reinforced. If you are ever faced with a hostile intruder event, how you will respond will be determined by how you prepare now.

“Working on a team, what does that really mean?”

Rachel Brooks, coordinator of equity, Northwest Office of Equity and Accessibility

Thursday, March 29, Student Union Ballroom; 9:30 a.m., 2 p.m., 4 p.m. (60 minutes)

Teams are complex in nature. When we ask for people to work in teams, do we ever ask ourselves what that really means? This session focuses on how we can better prepare ourselves to be contributors and function at a high level within team dynamics.

“The Job Offer … It’s More Than Just a $alary!”

Northwest Career Services

Thursday, April 9, Student Union Ballroom; 10 a.m., noon, 4 p.m. (60 minutes)

After all of your hard work, you have received a job offer. The salary offered is attractive but before accepting, there are a few things to consider. Those “things” are bundled together in what is referred to as a benefits package. The contents of the benefits package can make two seemingly similar job offers vastly different in value. Career Services will share pointers on how to better understand and evaluate employment offers. Informed employees are more engaged and satisfied in their careers.

With the new year almost here, many may be considering making health changes.

Debra Hull, Diabetes Educator at SSM Health St. Francis in Maryville, said good health starts today.

“Don’t wait for January, don’t wait for a resolution, good health is a balanced lifestyle,” Hull said. “It can be frustrating to people who want to just fix things quickly and start a resolution, because resolutions usually mean an extreme change and a lot of people tend to fail at that. A lot of our activity is guided through habits, once the body gets used to doing something, you’re going to be drawn to continue to do that.”

Hull said to start out with new habits slowly and make small goals. Hull adds, when considering health, there are three big things to consider.

“The way we fuel our body or feed our body, it is the activity that we carry out and then it’s our stress level, the big three for good health in many avenues is making sure we’re staying on top of those three things,” Hull said. “Under that umbrella of stress, includes our time management. It is such a busy world today and we have to be very intentionally focused on what we want to get out of each day. So I encourage people to look at what you’re spending or wasting your time on everyday.”

Hull said it’s important to make health a priority.

“Do or do not, there is no failure. So you’re either going to choose to do it or not to do it. If you fail, that means you’ve chosen not to do it when it comes to eating healthy,” Hull said. “It’s a matter of making health a priority. It is possible, but you’ve got to be focused and make it a priority now, don’t wait until you have bad knees, don’t wait until you’re forced to because of a diagnosis.”

SSM Health St. Francis offers multiple health programs focused on community health. For more information, contact Debra Hull at (660) 562-7966.

Jefferson City, Mo. – Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley is warning consumers to check their bank and insurance statements for irregular activity. Recent disclosures indicate that Wells Fargo may have billed consumers unnecessarily for auto or home insurance.

Home loan lenders, and some auto loan lenders, may require consumers to have insurance policies to cover the property that was financed by the loan. If the consumer does not obtain the coverage on their own, the lender might purchase a policy on its own and bill it back to the consumer through a practice known as “force-placed insurance.”

According to recent news reports, however, Hawley says Wells Fargo might have been billing consumers for force-placed insurance, even though the consumer had purchased their own separate policy. In some cases, the amounts for this duplicative insurance may have been added to the consumer’s bill and automatically debited from their bank account. Consumers should check their records to be certain that they are not being billed for policies that they do not need.

“We will work to stop the illegal placement of unnecessary insurance,” Hawley says. “Consumers should check to see if they are being charged for duplicative insurance, whether on their home or vehicle. If one of those policies is not necessary or if the policy was placed without the consumer’s knowledge, my office wants to hear about it.”

If you find that you were wrongfully charged for force-placed insurance, call the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-392-8222.

With single digits and temperatures below zero in the forecast this weekend, there are some precautions to take to make sure you ring in the New Year safe and warm.

Ralph Dishong is the Disaster Program Specialist with the American Red Cross of Northwest Missouri.

If you have to venture outside this weekend, Dishong said to make sure you keep warm and avoid skin exposure to the cold.

“Your skin can freeze in a matter of seconds sometimes in the sub zero weather so make sure you wear gloves, facemask, keep covered,” Dishong said. “It’s important to wear light but layered outerwear… it’ll trap air and keep you warmer than one heavy coat.”

Dishong said if you are traveling, to make sure and have an emergency kit in your car which can include flares and extra blankets in case your car breaks down.

“Make sure your cell phone is charged, in the emergency kit you want to have things in there like flashers, something to draw attention,” Dishong said. “One of the best safety tips if you get stranded is to not leave your car. Stay in your car, keep warm, if you do need to start your car to run it for heat, you do need to leave a little bit of ventilation for air to come in. Let somebody know where you’re at if you can call out.”

Dishong said to also be careful with alternative heating sources in your house such as space heaters. It’s important to make sure nothing is near them that can catch fire.

For information on signs of frostbite and hypothermia and what to do, click here.

During cold weather, it’s also important to check on more vulnerable family and friends including the elderly and to not leave pets outdoors for long periods of time.

The number of dogs and cats that came through the St. Joseph Animal Shelter was up this year, but so were adoption rates.

According to Kappy Hodges with the Friends of the Animal Shelter, this year 1,300 dogs came through the shelter, compared to 900 last year. This year, 1,200 cats came through the shelter compared to 950 last year. Hodges said those numbers include pets brought in for cremation and deceased animals that were picked up by Animal Control. 

Hodges said of the adoptable dogs that came through the shelter this year, 100-percent were adopted. That means they were placed in a new home, went to a rescue or they were returned to their family if they were lost. The cat adoption rate went up this year to 95-percent, up from 82-percent last year.

Hodges said there are many programs that help in reaching the adoption rates each year.

“Some of the things that have been successful that the staff at Animal Control and also the volunteers with Friends of the Animal Shelter have done and are always continually working on are the Puppies for Parole program, we have the adoptions through PetSmart and Petco,” Hodges said. “We have volunteers that bring in foster mamas and help the babies… and then we have adoption promotions that we do, so all of these ways we want to keep doing.”

Hodges said this is the fourth year the shelter has had a 100-percent adoption rate for dogs.