Bates County Sheriff's Office Weather Update

 

BATES COUNTY…Winter weather advisory for light snow in effect from Wednesday afternoon through Wednesday night. A fast moving winter system will move through the area on Wednesday bringing a period of light to moderate snow. Gusty north winds will combine with the falling snow to create visibility problems during the period of heaviest falling snow. By late Wednesday night into early Thursday mor...ning widespread 2 to 4 inch snow amounts can be expected. North winds between 5 and 15 mph in combination with very cold temperatures will bring the wind chills on Thursday morning down to 10 to 20 degrees below zero. ...winter weather advisory in effect from 3 pm this afternoon to 6 am cst Thursday... The national weather service in Kansas City/Pleasant Hill has issued a winter weather advisory for light to moderate snow... Which is in effect from 3 pm this afternoon to 6 am cst Thursday. * timing...light snow is expected to start falling by 3 pm or shortly thereafter on Wednesday. The heaviest snow will likely fall between 4 pm and midnight Wednesday night. By 6 am Thursday morning expect widespread snow to come to an end.
- Snow accumulations...widespread 2 to 4 inches

- Impacts... Winds will be out of the north at 15 mph gusting up to 30 mph through the day. This will cause visibility issues as well as drifting of snow.

- Temperatures...overnight lows on Wednesday night into Thursday morning will be in the single digits. North winds between 5 and 15 mph will cause wind chill values on Thursday morning to be between 5 and 15 degrees below zero.

Vernon County Sheriff's Office Press Release: Awards given at first annual VCSO Christmas Dinner‏

The first annual Vernon County Sheriff's Office Christmas Dinner was held this month in Nevada. This was a dinner for the employees of the Sheriff's Office and their families. We handed out some awards and commendations at this dinner as well. The total number of people that attended was 57.

 

 

Statement by Sheriff' Mosher:" We have accomplished a lot over this last year and it's only because of the hard work and dedication of the employee's serving Vernon County that we have been able to do this. I look forward to the upcoming year and am excided to see what we can accomplish in 2014. I am very grateful for the staff I have to work with and would like to congratulate those who were recognized at the dinner."

 

Bates County Sheriff's Press Release: Storage Building Bought

 

The Bates County Sheriff’s Office has entered into a lease agreement with the property owner located at 905 N Orange, Butler Mo 64730.  The decision to lease the property came after the County had researched constructing a 40 x 60 storage building on a piece of property the County owns in Butler.  Preliminary prices ranged from $60,000 and up.  This caused the County to weigh the option of a pre-existing building.  The lease is a four year lease with the County taking ownership at the end of the lease term.  The lease will be paid for out of the Sheriff’s Office yearly budget.  Careful budget considerations were given when making the decision to enter into the lease.  Since 2009, the Sheriff’s Office has been able to expand its services to the community while consistently ending each year under budget by at least $250,000.00. 

 

The purpose of constructing a building was for storage of Sheriff’s Office equipment along with a place to process seized motor vehicles during investigations and records storage. The Sheriff’s Office has had to rent storage buildings due to storage needs changed since the building was constructed in 2004. 

 

The leased building, located at 905 N Orange was originally the Coca-Cola building and later Kelly’s Trucking before becoming storage for Prospect Rentals.  The building will see a new life with multiple purposes to include storage facility, vehicle processing facility and storage, along with records storage and K9 training facility. 

 

The building is large enough to support the Sheriff’s Office inmate work programs that were started this summer.  Currently the Sheriff’s Office utilizes volunteer inmates to perform community service projects like replacing the bleacher seats at the fairgrounds, picking up trash and mowing yards to name a few.  There are plans to expand the inmate work program giving inmates trade skills before being released back into the community.  The pilot program will start out with volunteers in each industry teaching inmates carpentry skills with future plans to add metal fabrication. 

 

Sheriff Anderson says, “This building will allow for us to combine our storage buildings into one, saving the county money in the long run.  The other benefit is that we are able to expand inmate programs, hopefully teaching them a skilled trade that they can use later to become a productive member of society.  Reducing recidivism of inmates will minimize the financial drain on the jail system.  Helping people become productive members of society will also make Bates County a better place to live”.  

 

House Fire This Morning In Clinton

 

A residential fire brought the Clinton Fire Department to 310 North 3rd Street Tuesday morning. When firefighters arrived just after 8:15 a.m. they found the structure heavily involved. With little to no wind they also had to contend with thick smoke that hung over the otherwise quiet neighborhood. 

 According to Fire Chief Leo Huff, the lone occupant, a female, said she was sleeping on a mattress inside the house with a candle burning. Also reported was a propane heater inside the home. She was awakened by the fire and escaped unharmed. 

 Huff said when fire trucks arrived on scene they discovered, “a pretty bad fire” and moved into position to quickly bring the blaze under control. From that point crews remained on scene through much of Tuesday morning “cleaning up” and looking for potential hot spots within the debris.
No dollar value has yet been given to the level of damage but it would appear the structure is a total loss.

 

 

Courtesy of The Clinton Daily Democrat

Flu Season Could Be Rough

Flu season has arrived with a vengeance and the head of the infectious disease department at one Kansas City-area hospital expects it to be a bad one. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Kansas is already experiencing a widespread influenza outbreak, and Missouri isn't far behind. Wards at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City are full. Doctors said a third of the patients there are suffering from the flu.

The most prevalent strain of flu this year is H1N1, the same strain that was widespread throughout the nation in 2009. Officials at Children's Mercy Hospital said this outbreak is hitting about a month earlier than typical years, and it's already showing its might in all age groups, especially in otherwise healthy adults in their 20s, 30s and 40s. "This year, what I've noticed is that the peak is very steep and I do not think it's gotten to the top yet," said Dr. Mary Anne Jackson, the infectious disease director of Children's Mercy Hospital. "It might actually spike, plateau off, and then we'll slowly come back down. My estimate is that our peak will come in mid-January, and so we still have a lot of patients to take care of and time to intervene with vaccines."

Experts said most people have not yet been vaccinated for the flu. Only about 40 percent of children and adults have received vaccinations this year. Jeff Hershberger of the Kansas City Health Department said it's important not to put it off any longer. "We actually so far this flu season have had over 1,000 cases of flu reported to us already," he said. "We only have reports through the 22nd of December, but even in that week, we had over 400 cases reported to us, so the flu is out there. It's really important to get the flu vaccine before they get exposed." He said there is still plenty of vaccine available at doctor's offices and local health departments.

Is Missouri Next to Legalize Marijuana?

On Wednesday, people in Colorado may ring in the New Year in a whole new way. Recreational marijuana will be legal there January 1. Some believe Missouri could be the next state to legalize the drug. Show Me Cannibis, a group that has been working for years to legalize marijuana in Missouri, said since Colorado is so close, the movement in Missouri is sure to gain momentum. According to Show Me Cannibis, 50 percent of those polled in 2013 either "strongly favor" or "lean towards" legalizing the drug in Missouri.

In that same survey, more men than women favored legalizing pot, more Democrats (69%) than Republicans (33%). Leawood attorney Brain Leininger and Show Me Cannibis supporter said full legalization could happen at the ballot box during the 2014 mid-term elections or in 2016, where a broader group of people show up to bit during the presidential election. "I think people will see California is working, Colorado is working, Washington is working, that the sky is not falling, the states aren't going down the tube and that will convince a lot more people," Leininger said.

Missouri is about to have a record five or six marijuana legalization bills before lawmakers in 2014. One of them, Leininger said, looks very much like Colorado's law, "Legalize it, regulate it and tax it to the same extent."But if someone decides he can't wait until it is passed and heads out to Colorado, Leininger offers a word of warning: federal law in Kansas and Missouri that prohibits marijuana use still applies.

"You're legal while you're in Colorado, but if you come back to Kansas or Missouri and your employer wants to do a drug test, they don't care you smoked it where it was legal."
There are still many opponents to legalizing pot, like many narcotics officers who are on the front lines of the drug war. They warn drug use will only get worse because more of the drug will be available, competition will lower the price and there will be less perception of risk.

Weather Update: Light Snow Wednesday Night

We're tracking in some light snow to begin your 2014. Expect widespread 1-2 inches, with perhaps some localized areas reaching between 2-3 inches. Snow likely begins Wednesday afternoon along and north of Interstate 70 and Wednesday evening along and south of Interstate 70. Expect it to come to an end by early Thursday morning.

Bates County Sheriff's Office Press Release: Man Accidentally Shoots Himself While Cleaning Gun

On 12/30/13, at approximately 12:30 a.m. the Butler Police Department received a call from a resident of rural Adrian in reference to a subject being shot.   The caller stated that the male subject had been cleaning his gun and the gun discharged striking him in the side.  At the time of the call the caller had advised dispatch that they were in their vehicle and headed to Adrian.  Dispatch advised that they would have fire and police meet them at Casey’s in Adrian so they could give the subject aid.

 

The driver of the vehicle failed to stop at Casey’s and drove past the First Responders and traveled north on I49.  A short time later the Sheriff’s Office received a call from Harrisonville Police Department advising that they had a male in the Emergency Room that had been shot.  We were advised that the male was in stable condition and was being transferred to a hospital in Kansas City.  The Harrisonville Police Officers interviewed the subjects and victim and advised that they also reported that the gunshot was a self-inflicted while cleaning the gun.  

 

Deputies cleared the scene at approximately 2:30 AM.