ARMA, KS – An annual event in Southeast Kansas has received special state recognition.

Governor Laura Kelly has issued a proclamation, recognizing August 14th as the 75th Arma VJ Homecoming.

VJ Day, or Victory over Japan Day, honors the return of Arma residents who fought in WWII.

It’s been celebrated every August in Arma since 1946, a year after the end of the war.

Next week’s festivities begin Friday evening and run through Saturday night.

JOPLIN, MO – The state of Missouri officially turns 200 years old on Tuesday.

And the city of Joplin is using the milestone as a teaching tool about its past, for both residents and visitors.

“It’s totally free, so it’s not going to cost you any money, and you get to see all these neat locations.” Says Kerstin Landwer, Visit Joplin Mo.Com.

Landwer is talking about the Missouri Explorer’s Program, which is part of the state’s bicentennial celebration.

It promotes a community’s local history by encouraging participants to visit a community’s most historic attractions.

“These challenges are a great introduction to our state and the wonderful places in our state for people who have never been to Missouri before, or been to Joplin, it will give you a good overview of what Joplin is about, it’s also really cool for our locals, our locals are really encouraged to do this too because you’ve never a tourist in your own town.” Landwer says.

Joplin is one of many show-me state cities participating in the Missouri Explorer’s Program with out own challenge to visit 1 of 9 different locations.

“You go to these places and you take a selfie in the place that they as the picture location and then you email that selfie to the historical society, and when you’ve completed the challenge with your five or eight or ten locations you’re supposed to get for that particular area, then you receive and explores badge.” Landwer says.

Our entry in the program is called “Dig Into Joplin” because it highlights our history of mining.

“One of our locations where you take a selfie is in the circus room in the Joplin Museum Complex, another one is at Mercy Park in front of the big butterfly mural, so stand in front of that and take a picture, right here in city hall, photograph yourself in front of the Thomas Hart Benton mural.” Landwer says.

WEBB CITY, Mo. — A Webb City officer and a suspect are both recovering in a local hospital following a call to investigate illegal dumping Thursday night.

Shortly after 9 PM Thursday, officers with WPD responded to the 800 block of East Fountain in reference to trespassing and illegal dumpingtaking place.

At the scene officers found several people in a truck with a trailer that had driven around a chain strung between two T-posts.

When confronting the individuals, two WPD officers were assaulted with one of the suspects gaining control of an officer’s taser. The suspect would begin to tase one officer while they were on the ground. The suspect also attempted to gain control of the officer’s service pistol forcing the officer to fire once into the suspect.

After getting the situation under control the officer’s began rendering medical attention to the person shot. EMS arrived at the scene later and transported this individual to a local hospital as well as one officer with non-life threatening injuries. The other officer was treated and released at the scene.

A total of five people were detained at the scene.

WPD has contacted the Missouri State Highway Patrol – Division of Drug and Crime Control to investigate this incident.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tickets are still available for Saturday night’s Garth Brooks concert at Arrowhead, despite Brooks’ website saying the concert is sold out.

Ticketmaster shows seats start at $88, plus taxes and fees. All of the tickets are in the upper level.

The realization comes as other fans try to sell extra, or unwanted, tickets to friends or through social media.

On Twitter, fans are citing the surge in coronavirus cases brought on by the Delta variant as the major reason they’re trying to get rid of tickets. Others said they don’t want to wear masks in 90-degree temperatures.

Wednesday, Arrowhead Events updated its mask policy for Saturday’s concert.

All guests attending the concert are required to wear a mask when entering or spending time inside enclosed public areas of the stadium, unless actively eating or drinking.

That includes the CommunityAmerica Club Level, the Ford Founder’s Club, the Foolish Lounge, the Broadcast Lounge, the Signature Suite Lounge, the Locker Room Club and the Chiefs Pro Shop.

Masks will be provided to people who do not have one as they walk into enclosed spaces of the stadium.

Brooks himself is asking fans who come to the concert to wear masks.

“You can’t be safe enough. You can’t be cautious enough. Keep your space. Keep your distance. Please feel free to wear the masks at the concert. Nobody is going to look at you strange, I promise,” Brooks said on Facebook on Monday.

There will be a vaccination clinic held before Saturday’s concert at Arrowhead. Everyone who gets vaccinated at the clinic at Arrowhead will have their names put into a raffle to win a seat upgrade for the concert.

The concert starts at 7 p.m.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Missouri is tripling the number of mutual aid ambulances in order to provide long-haul patient transfers in order to help reduce COVID caseloads at hospitals across the state.

Governor Mike Parson said 30 ambulances and more than 60 trained personnel will start arriving throughout five state regions Friday, August 6. They are expected to start transporting patients by Saturday, and they will operate until September 5.

“The ambulance strike teams we positioned in Springfield have been extremely effective in helping save lives and ease the pressure on local hospitals,” Parson said.

These new ambulance strike teams are in response to a request made to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The 30 teams include 20 advanced life-support ambulances, five basic life-support ambulances, and five specialty care ambulances.

Ambulance teams from Arkansas were in southwest Missouri. They are heading home now. The 10 Arkansas ambulances logged more than 53,000 miles on 223 patient transports.

“Delta is the most aggressive and transmissible variant of COVID-19, and it is more important than ever to take advantage of the highly effective vaccines,” Governor Parson said. “Vaccination is the best way to prevent serious illness from COVID-19. Vaccinations are free and available across the state, often with no appointment necessary, and vaccinated Missourians will have their shot at $10,000 cash or $10,000 toward an education saving account. Enter at mostopscovid.com/win.”

(StudyFinds.org) – A new study reveals the annual influenza vaccine may provide significant protection against some of the most serious complications from a coronavirus infection.

Researchers from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine say the largest study of its kind to date has discovered that the basic flu shot lowers the risk of stroke, sepsis, and blood clots in patients with COVID-19. Moreover, COVID patients who have been vaccinated against the flu are also less likely to need hospitalization or enter the intensive care unit.

Study authors note their findings are particularly important since much of the world is still waiting to receive their COVID vaccinations. Hesitancy due to distrust of vaccines or unfounded claims about side-effects have also kept countries from reaching their goals for herd immunity.

“Only a small fraction of the world has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to date, and with all the devastation that has occurred due to the pandemic, the global community still needs to find solutions to reduce morbidity and mortality,” says senior study author Devinder Singh, M.D., chief of plastic surgery and professor of clinical surgery at the Miller School, in a university release.

“Having access to the real-time data of millions of patients is an incredibly powerful research tool,” adds Dr. Singh. “Together with asking important questions, my team has been able to observe an association between the flu vaccine and reduced morbidity in COVID-19 patients.”

A flu shot may keep COVID patients out of the hospital

Researchers examined the electronic health records from a database of more than 70 million anonymous patients in the U.S., United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Israel, and Singapore. From that pool, the team selected nearly 75,000 patients, which they split into two equal groups.

The first group of 37,377 COVID patients received a flu shot between two weeks and six months prior to their diagnosis. The second group tested positive for the virus but did not receive an annual flu vaccine. The team compared these groups, looking at rates of 15 severe complications due to coronavirus within 30, 60, 90, and 120 days of infection.

Those conditions included sepsis, strokes, deep vein thrombosis or DVT blood clots, pulmonary embolism (a blood clot in the lungs), acute respiratory failure, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), joint pain, kidney failure, anorexia, heart attack, pneumonia, emergency room visits, hospital admission, ICU admission, and death.

In comparison to patients getting their flu shots, unvaccinated COVID patients were up to 20 percent more likely to enter a hospital ICU due to coronavirus. People who did not get a flu shot were nearly 60 percent more likely to need hospitalization and 45 percent more likely to develop sepsis. They were also 58 percent more likely to suffer a stroke and up to 40 percent more likely to develop DVT blood clots while dealing with COVID-19.

Study authors note the risk of death did not noticeably decrease among patients getting their annual flu vaccine.

A flu shot is not a substitute for the COVID vaccine

The Miami team says it’s unclear what exactly makes a flu shot so protective for COVID patients. However, the team theorizes that the influenza vaccine boosts the body’s innate immune system — strengthening the defenses that protect against all forms of illness.

Despite these findings, researchers say opting for a flu shot this fall is no substitute for the coronavirus vaccine. They urge people to receive both shots in order to avoid both the coronavirus and a potential resurgence of the flu after public safety measures end.

“Continued promotion of the influenza vaccine also has the potential help the global population avoid a possible ‘twindemic’ — a simultaneous outbreak of both influenza and coronavirus,” concludes lead author and medical student Susan Taghioff. “Regardless of the degree of protection afforded by the influenza vaccine against adverse outcomes associated with COVID-19, simply being able to conserve global health care resources by keeping the number of influenza cases under control is reason enough to champion continued efforts to promote influenza vaccination worldwide.”

The findings appear in the journal PLOS ONE.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. –The Kansas City Parks Department says a 400-pound bronze statue stolen from a Kansas City fountain earlier this week has been recovered.

The statue is damaged, but we don’t yet now the extent of that damage.

KC Parks said the statue depicting an Osage woman was stolen from the Francois Chouteau and Native American Heritage Fountain sometime from Aug. 2-4. Parks crews noticed the statue was missing Wednesday morning.

The statue cost $80,000 and weighs 400 pounds. It sat on a 12-foot high bluff, so the city speculates someone had to climb the bluff or use a ladder to reach the statue.

“It’s not something that you can just grab and carry away,” Mark McHenry, member of the Chouteau Fountain Founders Organization, said. “It would take a piece of equipment. If they got it down off of the bluff, which they must have, they would have had to have a truck or something to transport.”

Editor’s note: A KC Parks representative said suspects were in custody in this case, but a KCPD spokesperson could not immediately confirm that information. FOX4 has updated this story.