Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
(Little Rock) (AP) – State police have identified a man accused of scaling a fence at the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion and entering the grounds.
State police spokesman Bill Sadler says 32-year-old Ramon Taylor of Little Rock climbed the fence at about 5:30 a.m. Thursday and broke into a civilian vehicle. Troopers on Gov. Mike Beebe’s security detail quickly arrested Taylor.
Sadler says Taylor is charged with criminal trespass and breaking and entering a vehicle.
Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample says Taylor did not have a weapon when he was arrested or try to enter the mansion itself.
(West Plains) – A favorite annual fund raising event for the West Plains Cross Country team will be taking place next week.
Assistant track and field coach Alicia Gunter talks about the annual ‘Dog Jog’:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Gunter says runners will be getting an early start:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Again, proceeds from the event will benefit the West Plains Zizzers Cross Country teams. For more information or a registration form, call Talburt Animal Health Center at 417-256-2838.
(Jefferson City) (AP) – Missouri conservation officials have added 40 elk to the state’s population as part of a project to restore the animals to the state.
Conservation Department officials had expected to bring only 39 elk from Kentucky this week, but a male calf was born on the way.
The elk are being held at the Peck Ranch Conservation area in southeastern Missouri until they get accustomed to the state’s climate.
In 2011, the Conservation Department began bringing elk to a restoration zone covering 221,000 acres in Shannon, Carter, and Reynolds counties.
Officials estimated Wednesday there are roughly 110 elk living in Missouri, including those that arrived this week.
(West Plains) – In special commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the campus, Missouri State University-West Plains Chancellor Drew Bennett has announced that a community give-back program will be put into place.
The program, called “Operation 50K”, seeks to contribute 50,000 hours of volunteer service in a one-year period—from Commencement 2013 to Commencement 2014, or May 20, 2013 through May 16, 2014.
Bennett says the Faculty Senate, Staff Senate, Student Government Association, and Administrative Council have been briefed on Operation 50K and are supportive of the initiative. Participants will include all students, faculty, and staff, both full-time and part-time, and immediate family members of the previously mentioned groups. Eligible participants also will include alumni/former students, University retirees and members of major boards including Chancellor’s Advisory Board, Development Board, Friends of the Garnett Library, Grizzly Booster Club Executive Board of Directors, among others.
Participants will individually report service hours, but,groups may elect to report collectively. It is important to monitor group reporting to avoid duplicate entries that could occur if individual group members should also report. Participants may report volunteer hours at any time throughout the campaign period and are encouraged to report volunteer hours each month by visiting blogs.wp.missouristate.edu/volunteer. You can also find a listing of volunteer opportunities at the website.
Bennett thanks people for embracing the project, saying that it will demonstrate the college’s value for volunteer service and express appreciation for the generous support given to Missouri State University-West Plains for the past 50 years by community members who dreamed that one day the residence center established in 1963 would thrive.
Left to right: Nathan & Lisa Cropper, West Plains Greenhouse; Jay Hale, FFA Instructor; Chance Barnes and Keegan Wilson, FFA Officers. (Photo provided)
(West Plains) – The West Plains High School received $2,500 from the West Plains Greenhouse to contribute to the High Schools FFA “Raise the Bar” campaign.
A fundraising campaign was started by FFA students and their supporters to build a new agriculture science facility that will give over 200 high school student’s real hands-on-experience when taking agricultural science classes.
The proposed facility is set to be built on a vacant lot owned by the West Plains School District on Olden Street. This new facility will offer a 10,500 square space that will support current trends in agriculture and will provide a place for future growth.
This increased space will also make room for addition instruction staff, classrooms, lab space, expanded course offerings, and the potential to implement an agriculture program for middle school grades.
Anyone wishing to make a pledge is asked to make their check payable to the West Plains Schools and send it to 305 Valley View Drive, West Plains, MO.
(Mountain Home) – A 2 ½ year old child from the Culp area in southern Baxter County who was reported missing to the sheriff’s office Wednesday morning was found about an hour later.
The call came in to the sheriff’s office office around 10 AM Wednesday of a child who went missing from a home in the 5700 block of Baxter County Road 73. Deputies responded and preparations were made to bring in the dog tracking team from the Arkansas Department of Corrections unit in Calico Rock and the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office helicopter, but the child was found shortly after initial search parties arrived in the area. A neighbor had spotted the child on the county roadway approximately ½ mile from the residence.
The child was safe and uninjured.
(West Plains) – The next prequalification for the Ozarks Food Harvest Mobile Food Pantry will be from 4-5:45 PM Wednesday, June 5, at the West Plains Public Library Community Room, 750 W. Broadway.
Those eligible to apply for assistance include area families with children ages birth through 18 who live within Howell County. Students enrolled at Missouri State University-West Plains and the South Central Career Center also are eligible, provided they meet income guidelines. Missouri State students must present their student identification cards in person, as well as a current class schedule; they may not send them with a family member. Families will receive only one voucher per family.
Those who apply should bring a photo ID, proof of income, proof of Howell County residency, names and ages of children, and a telephone number to the prequalification. Proof of Howell County residency does not apply to Missouri State-West Plains or South Central Career Center students.
For more information about the Ozarks Food Harvest Mobile Food Pantry project, or if you are interested in volunteering or donating, contact officials at the American Red Cross at 417-257-0018.
(Little Rock) (AP) – Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe said he hopes to name a replacement in the next several days for the state treasurer, who resigned over accusations she took cash bribes from a bond broker.
Beebe told reporters Wednesday he’s already talked with some candidates to fill the unexpired term of Treasurer Martha Shoffner, who resigned on Tuesday. Shoffner, a Democrat, stepped down amid federal charges that she accepted at least $36,000 in cash in exchange for steering state business to a bond broker.
The governor would not say who he’s considering for the post.
Beebe said he wants to find someone “relatively apolitical” who has a firm understanding of fiscal matters and the way the treasurer’s office is run. Whoever Beebe appoints to the post can’t run for it next year.
(Mountain Home) – Two Baxter County residents were injured Tuesday morning after a two-vehicle accident in Baxter County.
The accident happened at 11:10 AM at the intersection of Highway 62 and Buzzard Roost Road, when the westbound vehicle driven by 69-year-old Janet Mullins of Mountain Home was rear-ended by the vehicle driven by 46-year-old Mark Parkus of Cotter.
Mullins and Parkus were both taken from the scene of the accident to Baxter Regional Medical Center.
(Alton) – During the school year, students are given the opportunity to get nutritious meals at school. But when summer breaks rolls around, kids are just as active and just as hungry as they are during the school year. Because of this, the Alton School District will be providing free breakfast and lunch meals to area children during summer school.
During the weekdays from May 28 through June 21, breakfast will be available from 7:40-8 AM and lunch will be available from 11:30AM to 12 PM in the Alton Elementary School Cafeteria.
Breakfast will be served to students free of charge, and lunch will be open to all children, up to age 18, in the area.
This is made possible through the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), which helps kids get the vital nutrition they need when school is out.