Filing period ends for Joplin School Board race

JOPLIN, Mo. — The competition to be the next Joplin school board member is heating up with nine candidates officially in the race.

The filing period ended today for three open seats.

Candidates include Marda Schroeder, incumbent Derek Gander, Matthew Robertson, Frank Thompson, and Veronica Scheurich. There’s also Michelle Steverson, Nathan Keizer, incumbent Jeff Koch, and previous board member Michael Landis.

Current board member Brent Jordan did not file to run again.

The election will be held on Tuesday, April 4th, 2023.

Joplin Fire Department responds to house fire

JOPLIN, Mo. — The Joplin Fire Department is currently on the scene of a house fire.

Just after 5:00 p.m. this evening (12/27), Firefighters were dispatched to 2604 East 11th Street.

Several units responded to the scene of the fire and crews are still working to extinguish the flames.

No one word yet on how the fire started.

This is a developing story and we’ll bring you the latest information on Fourstateshomepage.com as it becomes available.

Summons pulled against man found vaping marijuana in hospital

HAYS, Kan. — The Hays, Kansas Police Department says they’ve resolved the case against a man who reportedly used a marijuana vape and THC paste in his hospital room.

According to an article in the Wichita Eagle, Police were called to Hays Medical Center on December 16th. A hospital worker called police about a patient, 69-year-old Greg Bretz who was allegedly using a marijuana vape.

The patient told the Wichita Eagle that he’s terminally ill from cancer and had been vaping and eating THC paste with bread to relieve symptoms of his condition.

State law requires medical facilities to report incidents, such as this one. The hospital was also concerned that the vaping was a fire hazard.

Responding officers issued Bretz a summons. However, after further review, Hays Police Chief, Don Scheibler pulled the summons and all issues are now resolved.

You’ll find the original story which was published online by the Wichita Eagle, HERE. The “opinion and commentary” article also appeared in the Kansas City Star.

One cool cave in Missouri you're not allowed to enter

(Image Courtesy: Graham Cave State Park – Danville, Missouri)

DANVILLE, Mo — Missouri has a lot of caves and many can be explored. One in particular is strikingly beautiful in all four seasons, not to mention it’s full of history. However, you’re not allowed to go inside.

Graham Cave State Park in Danville, Missouri (just west of the Saint Louis area) is an interesting place. The official Graham Cave State Park website, mentions that the area includes 386 scenic acres with dozens of trails. According to All Trails, the hikes in Graham Cave State Park are among the top 20 in the entire state. The Indian Glade Loop is the one that takes you to the front of Graham Cave.

Graham Cave is a dolomite sandstone cave where it’s believed humans lived thousands of years ago. That’s one of the reasons why you can hike up to it, but not inside it. The cave itself is fenced off to preserve the geology inside. Reported vandalism has occurred in other caves like it. Historic Native American art at Missouri’s Miller Cave was recently vandalized.

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Many who visit Graham Cave State Park say that the hike alone is worth the trip, as it goes by several waterfalls.

You’ll find more information on Graham Cave State Park in this article, published by “Only In Your State.”

These states are raising their minimum wages in 2023

(NEXSTAR) – Amid inflation, and no changes on the federal level, multiple states will be raising their minimum wages in 2023.

The federal minimum wage in the U.S. is $7.25, a rate that hasn’t changed since 2009. As of fall 2022, 15 states have minimum wage rates that match the federal minimum wage, down from 16 last year.

In the new year, 27 states will see an increase in their minimum wage. Most will take effect on January 1, but others will have to wait until further into 2023.

California will have the highest minimum wage rate at $15.50, up from the $15 it set in 2022. Only Washington, D.C. has a higher minimum wage of $16.10. D.C.’s wage will rise again in July, 2023 in proportion to the increase in the Consumer Price Index, according to its Department of Employment Services.

Oregon and Nevada won’t see their minimum wages increase until July, 2023. Then, Oregon’s rate will rise from the current $13.50 to a yet-to-be-determined number based on the Consumer Price Index, a figure released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In Nevada, the minimum wage will increase to $10.25 for employers providing qualifying health benefits and $11.25 for those that don’t.

Two states, Connecticut and Massachusetts, will satisfy their scheduled incremental increases to bring their minimum wages to $15. Six other states move one step closer to reaching that milestone in 2023:

Florida’s incremental minimum wage increase will take effect at the end of September.

Below is an interactive map that shows where minimum wages will – and won’t – be changing in 2023:

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Despite more than half of the U.S. preparing for a minimum wage hike in the new year, the minimum wage in 20 states remains the same as the federal rate of $7.25 an hour.

In the five states that haven’t adopted a minimum wage – Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee – the federal minimum wage is used.

The interactive map below shows what each state’s minimum wage will be after their increases in 2023:

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These states are raising their minimum wages by at least $1 in 2023:

  • Arizona ($12.80 to $13.85)
  • Colorado ($12.56 to $13.65)
  • Connecticut ($14 to $15)
  • Delaware ($10.50 to $11.75)
  • Florida ($10 to $12)
  • Illinois ($12 to $13)
  • Maine ($12.75 to $13.80)
  • Nebraska ($9 to $10.50)
  • New Jersey ($13 to $14)
  • New York ($13.20 to $14.20)
  • Virginia ($11 to $12)

Other states raising their minimum wages include Alaska, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, and Washington.

Crawford County inmate escapee captured in Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA (KNWA/KFTA) — A man serving a ten-year sentence on theft and weapons charges escaped from the Crawford County Jail in Van Buren on November 30 and was captured and arrested in Oklahoma on Dec. 24.

A post from Crawford County Sheriff’s Office states that Jeromy Call, 38, is being detained in LeFlore County Sheriff’s Office. This is the second time he has escaped custody. He escaped from LeFlore on Oct. 29, 2021.

Call had escaped from Crawford County Jail around 2:30 a.m. through a duct vent. The U.S. Marshals were leading the search on Dec. 8.

Man hit & killed by train north of Joplin

JOPLIN, Mo. — A Sarcoxie man was identified as the victim in a train versus pedestrian crash on Christmas Day.

According to Missouri State Highway Patrol, 26-year-old Ranon Chiles was walking along the railroad tracks west of Missouri 43 just a mile north of Joplin where he was struck by a KC Southern train.

The southbound train struck Chiles around 9:45 PM and he was declared deceased two hours later by the Jasper County coroner.

This is Troop D’s 134th fatality for 2022.

Fireworks superstore ready for the holiday season

JOPLIN, Mo. — If you think fireworks are only for the 4th of July, think again. They can be purchased during one other time of year.

The 4th of July isn’t the only time of year that David Talbott celebrates with a bang.

“We get the ones like the mushroom ones like you put in a can and blow up and shoot up, ya, we like those,” said Talbott.

He also likes to ring in the new year with them.

“Oh yeah at midnight, yep, New Year’s, shoot in the New Year,” said Talbot.

While out-of-state residents can buy fireworks here all year round, Missouri residents can only do so around the 4th of July and New Year’s.

Aaron Colson is the owner of Black Market Fireworks. His superstore is open all year round, while two other locations — North Main Street, just south of the city of Airport Drive… and West 7th Street, near Tri-State Road — will be open the day after Christmas through January first. And he says mother nature generally determines how sales go during the holiday season.

“It’s always weather dependent, if we have 50 degrees on New Year’s Eve or a couple of days before New Year’s, we have a good selling season. If it’s bad weather predicted or there’s a lot of wind or we’ve had a drought and obviously everything is dormant, then it’s really not so good, it’s never really even close to the season we get for the 4th of July,” said Colson.

Police raid hospital room of terminally ill patient

(Image Courtesy: Getty Images)

HAYS, Kan. (KSNF/KODE) — A terminally-ill Kansas man’s hospital room was raided by police because he used a weed vape and THC paste to ease the symptoms of the cancer that will kill him within weeks.

On December 16th, Hays, Kansas police raided the hospital room of 69-year-old Greg Bretz, who is suffering from terminal cancer, after a hospital worker at Hays Medical Center caught him vaping marijuana. Bretz said he has been vaping, as well as eating THC paste with bread, to relieve symptoms of his condition, since being hospitalized roughly three weeks ago. 

Bretz is in the final stages of terminal, inoperable cancer and told The Wichita Eagle that he most often lies ‘flat on his back’ in his hospital bed and can’t stand up without being assisted. Bretz told the Kansas City Star that his doctor told him to use whatever was necessary to relieve his pain, including products containing THC — the active ingredient in cannabis.

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Police told Bretz that his vaping device could potentially be a fire hazard, due to the presence of oxygen in the room. In many vaping devices, puffing activates the battery-powered heating device, which vaporizes the liquid in the cartridge or reservoir for inhalation. However, Bretz said he’s not on oxygen.

Bretz was cited for drug possession and is set to appear in court after the new year on January 2nd, 2023.

Medicinal cannabis is illegal Kansas, despite 68% of state residents support state-sanctioned medical marijuana access, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). Idaho and Nebraska also ban the practice.

Two people killed after shooting in east Wichita

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A shooting in east Wichita has killed two people.

Sedgwick County Dispatch confirms a shooting in the 900 block of S. Mission Rd. in Wichita. The call came in around 9:45 p.m. Friday.

According to a spokesperson with the Wichita Police Department, a man and a woman died. They were found inside an apartment where police say there had been a house party.

Police also say two men, ages 22 and 42, suffered gunshot wounds and were taken to the hospital with serious injuries, but they are expected to survive. Investigators say they were found outside of the apartment and are not cooperating with police.

No arrests have been made in the case.

KSN will continue to follow updates on this developing story.