Nevada looks to address litter issue

NEVADA, Mo. — Although nobody likes litter, one Southwest Missouri city is having a hard time with overwhelming amount of it. With large amounts of trash building up in the area, it leaves local residents like Dinah Smith searching for solutions.

Dinah Smith, Nevada Resident, said, “I think for Nevada to look better, it needs to have something done, and I don’t know the answer.”

For part of the year, as you can see, all the litter is usually hidden by the crops. But when the Harvest is complete, not only does the litter become more noticeable, but it causes for more concern. The answer they hope is a better eye on the situation.

Mark Mitchell, Nevada City Manager, said, “We’re wrapping up our code enforcement, will be hiring a code enforcement officer to make routes. And also we’re enforcing our code that’s already on the books with litter control and trash receptacles being closed.”

And if they’re not closed, you could find yourself in court.

“We notify the business owner who’s in violation by letter. We’ll send a first notice, and then we’ll send a second notice, and we’ll work with them. We want to make sure they come into compliance. And if they don’t come into compliance, then our next step is to go to municipal court.”

Punishments like this will hopefully mean Smith isn’t forced to go back and fix the situation on her own.

“When I first moved here I was trying to pick it up a lot, and my husband said you can’t be doing that,” said Smith.

City leaders are hoping residents will start to see improvements in the coming weeks.

Demand for warehouse employees growing in Joplin

SOUTHWEST MISSOURI — A growing demand for skilled warehouse workers in Southwest Missouri is leading to some unique opportunities.

Zechariah Coulston is optimistic about his chance at a new job.

Zechariah Coulston, Worker, said, “It’s definitely a great opportunity.”

He’s part of a 40 hour training session focusing on skills needed in a warehouse.

“I signed up for this to advance myself in the workplace environment. This is a great opportunity to get a forklift cert and also other cert that stick out to employers.”

The ATTC is hosting a series of free training sessions, a project underwritten by a $100,000 grant to fill a growing demand.

Pam Regan, One Stop Operator, Mo Job Centers, said, “We have a ton of employers looking or 42 individuals with these exact same skills.”

Familiar warehouse names like Amazon, Casey’s, and Don’s Cold Storage. They have more openings than qualified people applying for the job.

“These people will definitely be in demand.”

And these students are not just benefitting from the free training – they’ll also be the focus of a reverse job fair.

“All of these individuals that were in the classroom will be put on our website sectorready.org and those employers that are seeking warehouse positions, will be given access to those individuals.”

Making that important first connection.

“We hoping that each of the individuals will get several companies that are wanting to interview with them.”

Crowder nursing programs receive high marks

NEOSHO, Mo. — If you think a nursing program has to be in a big metropolitan area to be among the best in the state, think again. Southwest Missouri is the home to one.

According to the RegisteredNursing.Org, the Crowder College nursing program based in Cassville is ranked number two in the entire state of Missouri when it comes to graduates passing the state nursing board examination. Crowder’s program in Neosho is not far behind, ranked ninth in the show-me state.

Sandra Wilson is the director of the nursing program here at Crowder and she says this isn’t the first time they’ve been ranked highly. And she says there’s no secret to the program’s success, just a lot of hard work on the part of students and faculty.

Sandra Wilson RN, Crowder College Director of Nursing, said, “So overall, our entire statistics for Crowder College would be extremely high, but the Cassville Campus has multiple years in a row of 100% pass rates and you will find them as number two on the list in the state of Missouri.”

Wilson says the rankings are based on the percent of graduates that passed their state boards over the last five years. She says the McDonald County program, which is ranked at 25th, would be rated higher but has only been operating for a few years. And she’ll put her graduates up against any other’s in the show-me state.

“Well some of the metropolitan areas, Barnes-Jewish, I believe St. Louis University is on that list, we’re up against some pretty big competition.”

While many nursing programs have seen a major decline in the number of students going into a nursing program since the covid-19 pandemic started, she says the number going into Crowder programs has remained just about the same as in years past.

Missouri Community Service Commission launches new website

SOUTHWEST MISSOURI — If you’re looking for new ways to help others in Southwest Missouri, there’s an online project to connect with volunteering options.

The Missouri Community Service Commission has a new website listing both in-person and virtual volunteering posts. The goal is to increase hours dedicated to helping others in programs like pet therapy and hospice to volunteer fire fighting.

The project also allows local groups is register their own volunteer needs.

Spire Energy provides update on service restoration in Carl Junction

CARL JUNCTION, Mo. – Spire Energy officials released an update Saturday morning regarding service restoration to those living in Carl Junction.

You can read the full update below:

We’ve had a number of our field team members from other areas across western Missouri travel to Carl Junction to assist our local crews, and we are in process of restoring natural gas service to customers in the Carl Junction area.

A service technician will reconnect each impacted home and business. Someone 18 years or older will need to be present and we encourage customers to try to be available today when as our service technicians reach out.

We expect the process to take a number of hours and we appreciate the community’s patience.

For timely information as we work to restore service, customers are encouraged to visit spireenergy.com/outages.

Some Oklahoma residents traveling long distances for first vaccine dose

MIAMI, Okla -Oklahoma is getting ready to move into the next tier of administering the COVID-19 vaccine. But not everyone in the current tier has gotten their first dose. 

James Thompson from the Oklahoma state health department says that they won’t ever complete a phase before moving into the next phase of vaccination.  

“We had about 65% of Oklahomans in the 65+ category receive their vaccinations already. And based on statewide, looking at the number of appointments being filled for that age group, it was an appropriate time to move into that next phase and open it up,” Thompson says.

Because certain areas of the state have completed vaccine phases before others, the state is moving forward with the next phase. People who still need vaccines that meet the first phase requirements are traveling across the state to get an appointment.

“So as we post appointments for different locations, people willing to travel will find a place to travel to, to get those appointments.”

 The state is posting appointments as they become available.

“And so as we do that we can’t control, we can’t lock down to say only people–certain residents out of certain counties can have access to those appointments, it’s for Oklahomans,” says Thompson.

This is how Tulsa residents like Anthony Jones ended up in Miami for his first dose of the vaccine.

Jones works at a public school in Tulsa, because he has so much face-to-face contact with kids on a regular basis, it was his turn to get vaccinated. But he couldn’t do it back home. 

“That was where the struggle came in, when I couldn’t find an appointment, the closest one was about a hundred miles away here in Miami,” says Jones.

He says he doesn’t mind the distance because he’s able to get one step closer to beating the virus.

“I mean when people are getting sick it’s kind of important that you do whatever it takes to get what you need to help other people, help yourself you know stay healthy,” says Jones.

Thompson says that despite people traveling across Oklahoma, the state health department is doing their best to make sure that community residents get first priority.

“One of the benefits that we have here in Ottawa County specifically, is a lot of the tribal Indian healthcare also supports a lot of the residents here in Ottawa County, so they’re vaccinating as well based on their federal allotments,” Thompson says.

He adds that when signing up online, all one needs is Oklahoma residency, or to work within the state.