Day: July 11, 2022

The Cass County and Johnson County Soil & Water Conservation Districts, in coordination with the University of Missouri Outreach & Extension and USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, is holding a Regional Grazing School in Archie, Missouri.  The school is open to all interested livestock producers.  The event, scheduled for August 2-4, 2022, will be held at the Archie Community Center in Archie, MO.  The address is 34800 S Butcher Rd, Archie, MO 64725.  Cost for the school is $150 per person ($100 for each additional person), which covers meals, facility rental and material costs. 

Topics covered by the grazing school include Inventorying Farm Resources, Soils, Plant Growth and Species, Grazing Basics, Livestock Water, Fencing, Forage Quality, Extending the Grazing Season, Layout and Design of Grazing Systems, Pasture Fertility, Economics of Grazing and others.  This school will meet the requirement of grazing school attendance through some SWCD cost-share programs and will include both classroom and in-the-field discussion.  There will be farm visits to view existing rotational grazing systems two days during the school. 

For additional information or to register for the school, please contact Paul King at the Cass County Soil & Water Conservation District office at 816-884-3391, x3 or James Watterson at 660-747-8200, x3. 

Connection Prompted Career Change to Oncology for Heather Dains, FNP-BC   

Heather Dains, FNP-BC, was a few years into her practice as a family nurse practitioner in a rural health clinic when an opportunity was presented to work with cancer patients. 

“When I was introduced to hematology/oncology, I immediately felt a connection to the patients in this specialty and knew I had found where I was always meant to be in my career,” she said.

Heather is a board-certified family nurse practitioner with MidAmerica Cancer Care seeing patients at Bates County Memorial Hospital on Mondays and Fridays, providing Hematology/Oncology care in collaboration with Dr. Jaswinder Singh, Oncologist. They treat a multitude of conditions from cancers to blood disorders, such as anemia.

“I chose to pursue oncology because this field is continuously evolving, and it’s rewarding to see the advances in cancer treatments lead to positive outcomes for patients,” Heather said. “I have the opportunity to work with the same patients continually, truly getting to know each one and establishing the rapport that is necessary throughout each cancer journey.”

Heather oversees treatment when patients come in for chemotherapy or immunotherapy infusions, which are offered at BCMH Outpatient Specialty Clinics. She provides education and support to patients, prior to and throughout treatment.  She monitors their labs and other diagnostic tests, manages symptoms, and coordinates patient care.

“It is my goal to develop a trusting relationship with each one of my patients, and to advocate for them during a particularly vulnerable and challenging time in their lives,” Heather said.

The Immanuel Baptist Church of Butler is organizing a fundraising event for the children of Butler. The church will be sponsoring 50 children so they will be able to enjoy the Butler Aquatic Center for the remainder of the summer. To sponsor 50 children the cost will be $350.00. Admission to the Butler Pool is $6.00 per day.  

To date 92.1 is not aware of any other organizations trying to raise funds to get our children out of the heat for the remainder of the summer.

A donation location is being opened today and we will have more information by tomorrow as to where the public can make donations.

In the past, the Butler Youth Advocacy Organization has taken this challenge and raised close to $6000.00 yearly for approximately 91 children to have access to the pool each summer.

This year the Immanuel Baptist Church will take this responsibility and challenge other churches, organizations, and individuals to dip into their funds to help send these children in need to the Butler Aquatic Center.

92.1 will have more information by Tuesday or Wednesday. We thank you in advance, as temps reach triple digits over the next few days, The  Immanuel Baptist Church of Butler hopes, with the help of the community, to have the funds to pay for children to use the Butler Pool.

Missourians Can Track Use of Federal Funds on State’s ARPA Website

Dear Citizens– The state operating budget approved by the Missouri General Assembly was recently signed into law and now Missourians can track the use of federal funds allocated under the plan. Gov. Mike Parson announced the State’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) website now includes information on several new grant programs that were signed into law, as well as a detailed overview of all planned uses of ARPA State Fiscal Recovery Funds as provided for in HB 3020.

The website first launched in May with limited information about water, wastewater, stormwater, and lead service line inventory grant programs. Several more grant programs will begin accepting applications in the coming weeks. New grant programs include those for agriculture innovation and workforce development, private MoExcels projects, workforce training, and broadband infrastructure. The remaining grant programs will begin accepting applications over the next couple of months.  

The General Assembly also added five new grant programs with the passage of HB 3020. The new programs includegrants to port authorities ($25M), grants to local county law enforcement and county prosecutors ($1M), grants to innovative projects to promote agriculture in urban/suburban communities ($50k), Missouri Agricultural and Small Business Development Authority biofuel grants ($4M), and county jail improvement grants ($10M). Additional information on these grant programs, including application timeframes, will be added to the website in the coming weeks as program details are developed.

ARPA and associated federal regulations outline specific categories of allowable spending for the ARPA State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. The eligible categories of spending include projects or programs that support public health expenditures; address negative economic impacts caused by COVID-19; replace lost public sector revenue; or invest in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure.  The state’s website for ARPA funding information and opportunities can be viewed at the following link:https://moarpa.mo.gov/.

Missourians Urged to Check for Unclaimed Property – Missourians are once again being encouraged to check for any unclaimed property. The Missouri State Treasurer has launched his annual effort to return unclaimed property to more than 129,400 individuals, small businesses, and non-profit organizations.

The State Treasurer listed the names of Missourians with unclaimed property in more than 100 publications across the state. Missourians can also also search and view the lists by county on ShowMeMoney.com.

County lists are accessible at the following link: https://treasurer.mo.gov/UCP/2022-New-Unclaimed-Property-Account-Owner-Lists-by-County.aspx. St. Louis County has the largest list of names with 28,449 names while Worth County has the shortest list with only 30 names.

Most Unclaimed Property consists of cash from bank accounts, stocks, bonds, and contents of safe deposit boxes that have been abandoned. It can also include uncollected insurance policy proceeds, government refunds, utility deposits, and wages from past jobs.  The State Treasurer currently manages over $1 billion in unclaimed assets in more than five million owner accounts. One in ten Missourians has Unclaimed Property, and the average return is nearly $300.

Missourians Warned About Messaging Scams – The Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations is warning individuals about potential messaging scams involving Missouri’s unemployment program. The department is advising Missourians to be wary of suspicious email or text messages, as well as any links they contain. Text messages from the department will never include links.

The scams often involve email or text messages attempting to acquire personal information from individuals to gain access to funds or commit identity theft. Phishing messages often ask for personal information such as social security number, birthdate, PIN number, or other data. These messages may appear to have been sent by the Missouri Department of Labor, the Division of Employment Security, a banking institution or other entity.

Anyone unsure if a message about Missouri’s unemployment program is legitimate is encouraged to contact the department for verification. Individuals may speak to a representative by calling 800-320-2519. They can also submit a request online at https://laboranswers.mo.gov/hc/en-us/requests/new.

 For more information, contact Representative Patricia Pike at Patricia.Pike@house.mo.gov or call 573-751-5388.