Monthly Archives: September 2022

News To Know: hospital shooting, escaped inmate back in custody

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A shooting at a hospital near Little Rock takes the life of one person, and authorities take a suspect into custody. The hospital CHI St. Vincent north in Sherwood, Arkansas went on lockdown as authorities responded. Police say the victim was visiting a patient and was shot by a person he knew. Authorities later arrested a suspect at a gas station. Click here to read more about this story.

NEWTON COUNTY, Mo. — An escaped inmate finds himself back in the custody of Newton County. Michael Durison escaped from police custody on the 18th while being treated at Freeman Hospital in Neosho. On Tuesday police found Durison in a travel trailer in Joplin. He is facing several new charges in newton county including assault, robbery, and armed criminal action. Authorities also arrested a woman at the scene. If you’d like to read more about this story, click here.

FORT SCOTT, Kan. – Fort Scott Community College held an awareness walk for suicide prevention. Linda Her has been organizing these awareness walks in the Southeast Kansas area for seven years in honor of her husband and brother-in-law. Even though national suicide prevention week was three weeks ago, spreading awareness is a year-long effort.

OKLAHOMA – Some folks in Oklahoma got out and ran to show support for first responders and the military. It’s part of the Great American Relay. The relay starts in Santa Monica, California and finishes at the site of the World Trade center in New York. One of the legs of the relay starts at the Afton, Oklahoma fire barn where people run to the fire station in Fairland.

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Thursday blog: Still warm and dry, but watching rain chances next week -Chris

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Good Thursday morning everyone! We are in desperate need of rain across the area and unfortunately, we don’t have any on the way in the next several days, but we’re keeping an eye on some rain chances next week.

Today, we’re looking at another gorgeous day, still above normal for this time of year, but pleasant. 78° under mostly sunny skies.

The clear trend continues into the overnight and we’ll drop off on temps quickly to an overnight low of 48°.

 

Heading into the weekend, we remain dry and we get a bit warmer. We’re looking at mostly cloudy skies on Saturday with an afternoon high around 83° and partly cloudy skies with 85° on Sunday.

 

 

Next week, Starting Tuesday, we’re watching some low-end rain chances. The probabilities are a bit low, but they’re there and any rain we can get will certainly help. Later down the road, by next weekend, we’ve got slightly better rain chances we’re keeping an eye on as well.

The drought situation remains extreme in the area and there won’t be any improvements in the near-term.

Your long range forecast is below.

-Chris

 

 

LONG RANGE FORECAST

Wednesday-Saturday: Rain chances on Wednesday with nice temperatures.  We heat up a bit on Thursday and another cold front by Friday with rain chances and cooler temps.

October 10th-16th:  Mainly a mild week and some rain chances.  Rain chances on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.  Then again as we head into the weekend.

October 17th-23rd:  A mild week with rain chances on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  Mild and mainly dry the rest of the week.

Lions aim to stay hot in rivalry game against #10 Pitt State

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JOPLIN, Mo. – This week is rivalry week for Pittsburg State and Missouri Southern football.

The Gorillas are 4-0 this season and have climbed the national rankings up to #10, while Missouri Southern is 3-1 and has won three straight games for the first time since 2013.

Missouri Southern has been one of the best in the MIAA this season at getting after opposing team’s quarterbacks. The Lions have 10 sacks so far in four games, which is the second most in the MIAA.

They’ll try to continue that trend on Saturday against PSU quarterback Chad Dodson, Jr. and a tough Gorilla offensive line.

“We’re going to have to run around them a little bit. They are big. They’re big guys and they move their feet well,” says MSSU head coach Atiba Bradley on the Pitt State offensive line, “If we can just do a nice job of moving him off his spot while keeping him in the pocket, that will pay dividends. It just comes from not just rushing with speed, but also understanding where you are in relationship to the quarterback and maintaining passing lanes.”

“They play really hard and they make a lot of big plays,” says MSSU linebacker Colton Winder on the Pitt State offense, “If we can limit those big plays and we play hard as a defense, I think we can be pretty successful.”

On the other side, the Missouri Southern offense has also been hot in the last few weeks, scoring 31 points per game in the last three games.

Pitt state is allowing just 16 points per contest, and will be a good test for the Lions offense.

“Their defense flies. I’ve commented on how fast their defense is. Typically when you see a defense with this kind of speed, you say ok we’re going to run right at them and run right over them. That ain’t the case with Zeke Wall and the boys up front,” Bradley says, “They’re a stout group that plays really fast.”

“Their defensive line is pretty big. They have quick feet. Their edge rushers are pretty good,” says MSSU offensive lineman Kenneth Fehrman, “It’s going to be a challenge, but I really do believe our offensive line can step up and move the line of scrimmage.”

Saturday’s game will begin at 2 PM at Carnie Smith Stadium in Pittsburg.

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Cherokee County Sheriff endorses Attorney General Derek Schmidt

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PITTSBURG, Kan. – Cherokee County Sheriff David Groves today endorsed Republican General Attorney Derek Schmidt in his bid to run for governor in November.

A press event was held at the Crawford County G.O.P office in Pittsburg with Schmidt in attendance.

“A commitment towards keeping Kansas families safe,” said Groves. “Although I’m a registered Democrat, I am proud to endorse Eric Schmidt to serve as Kansas’s next governor and cast my vote for him this November.”

Groves joined 30 current and former county sheriff’s across Kansas to endorse Schmidt.

Schmidt hopes to unseat Democratic incumbent Governor Laura Kelly.

Unions endorsing governor kelly include the Kansas state council of firefighters.

 

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Cross-country race runs through Afton for 8 mile stint

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AFTON, Okla. – Oklahoma residents and race participants today showed their support for First Responders and the Military during the Great American Relay.

The relay starts in Santa Monica, California, and those participating race all the way to the World Trade Center in New York.

One of the relay legs starts in Afton at the Fire Barn where people then run to the fire station in Fairland, Oklahoma.

This particular leg is only 8.3 miles long, however, those in the race have a ways to go.

Watch KOAM or Fox14 Evening news to see the whole story or check back later for more.

COPYRIGHT 2022 BY KOAM NEWS NOW. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.

Disaster planners help 4-Staters with emergency response readiness

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JOPLIN, Mo. – Representatives from the Joplin Community and the State of Missouri today learned about Pediatric Disaster Response and Emergency Preparedness in Joplin.

The 16-hour training course provided by Texas A&M Trainers discusses the gaps the state may have in preparing for the pediatric side of disasters.

The course discussed everything from the initial response to a disaster to the aftercare involved.

Officials say the Joplin Tornado is an example of how a major unexpected event can affect the City.

“There were children that were displaced from their families, and there were people, children that were probably orphaned during the tornado in 2011,” said Glenn Miller with Texas A&M. “There were incidents in where children ended up in shelters or they ended up in hospitals that weren’t children’s hospitals.”

Watch KOAM & Fox 14 evening news or stick around for the full story later on the web.

 

COPYRIGHT 2022 BY KOAM NEWS NOW. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.

Kansas offers new technology to make childcare improvements

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TOPEKA, Kan. – The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), in collaboration with the Department for Children and Families (DCF), is now offering digital fingerprinting to child care workers to accelerate the licensing approval process to enable these critical workers to begin work as soon as possible.

“We are working to make it easier to join the workforce in every sector, but especially child care,” said Governor Kelly. “Child care improves the long-term well-being of our children, helps attract and retain a highly skilled workforce, and brings business to the state. Anything we do to streamline the process of joining the child care workforce is a significant win for our state.”

The Federal Office of Child Care requires a comprehensive background check for all people living, working, or volunteering in child care facilities who meet certain criteria, including working unsupervised. A background check includes fingerprinting.

Since December 2018, KDHE has been implementing fingerprint-based background checks using paper/card ink prints. The process can be lengthy and can cause delays due to the paper process and mailings between facilities, fingerprinting sites, KDHE, and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI).

“By using digital fingerprinting, the wait time on the background check process is greatly reduced,” said KDHE Secretary Janet Stanek. “This efficiency will ultimately help thousands of childcare provider applicants obtain their licenses more expeditiously, allowing them to make an immediate impact on the child care needs in their communities.”

Click here to learn more.

 

 

COPYRIGHT 2022 BY KOAM NEWS NOW. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.

Tractor trailer burns on I-44 at Mount Vernon, Mo.

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MOUNT VERNON, Mo. — About 4:30 p.m. reports in Lawrence County along I-44 at 47 mile marker west a tractor trailer was fully engulfed.

Mount Vernon Fire and EMS crews responded emergency. We followed the developing story, sharing live video as first responders became visible on the MoDOT Traffic Camera 47MM. 

Traffic began passing in one lane, past the fire, however the backup of vehicles is miles long.

The driver was out safely.

Biellier’s Towing removed the tractor trailer and debris from the scene.

Watch live! video on the MoDOT Travelers App. Free to download.

MODOT TRAVELERS APP

💻 You can view the MoDOT TRAVELERS map on your computer by clicking here.

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Local panel brainstorms to improve local child care

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JOPLIN, Mo. – KOAM’s Ty Parks today spoke with local child care experts to see how the 4-States have adapted to child care shortages in the region.

Experts are locating and addressing child care problems comes in the form of a panel organized by the Alliance of Southwest Missouri.

One of the panel’s first plans of action was to identify the problems parents face when trying to find adequate child care.

“If families don’t have reliable childcare, then they can’t join the workforce,” said Amy Kaufman, Director of Workforce and Business Expansion for McCann Partnership. “Having safe and reliable childcare ensures that we have a consistent and productive workforce.”

Kaufman says the ultimate outcome of the panel is to increase the labor force and shrink the unemployment rate from its current rate of 3%.

The panel says they will begin brainstorming during October sessions and build from there.

Watch the full story on KOAM and Fox 14 Evening news, or come back later to watch it here.

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