Weather Update: Warmer by the weekend

Sick of this early cold snap? We have some good news for you! Temperatures will return to around or slightly ABOVE normal by this weekend, possibly reaching the mid 50's in portions of central Missouri by Saturday afternoon.

Got your buck yet? Opening day rifle season numbers are in

Predicted snow didn't seem to hamper hunters on opening day last Saturday. Here's a look at how it went around the area:

Bates – 608 

Cass – 655 

Henry – 1,036 

St. Chair – 1,400 

Vernon – 904

Missouri corn crop averages more than 200 bushels per acre

COLUMBIA, Mo. – With more than 90 percent of the state’s corn crop harvested, the University of Missouri Variety Testing Program reports yields far exceeding national averages.

MU Extension specialist Bill Wiebold said Missouri averaged more than 200 bushels per acre. “Those are amazing yields,” he said.

Wiebold said this is the best yield he has seen since he began working with the program in 2000. Yields in northern Missouri, where fields are not irrigated, topped 200 bushels per acre this year. Yields in 2013 were 150 bushels per acre.

“When you see yields averaging over 200 bushels across the state, it’s an indication of good weather,” Wiebold said. He also credited improvements made in hybrid yields by seed corn companies.

USDA predicts record-high average yields of 173.4 bushels per acre nationally. High yields may help offset low prices of $3.01 to $3.32 per bushel across mid-Missouri Monday.

Koehn's Bakery encourages you to Order Early for Thanksgiving

Signup deadline approaching for Toys For Tykes in Bates County

The deadline to sign up for the annual Toys For Tykes sponsored by the Butler Optimist Club is Nov. 20th. You must sign up in person at 804 W. Fort Scott in Butler between 9 am and 6 pm on the 20th.To sign up, you'll need a a photo ID; social security card or a birth certificate for each child along with proof of income (a recent pay stub will work).

If anyone would like to adopt a family or child please call Kristi at 816-738-0581 or Dillon at 816-394-0102.

Rich Hill Police Activity Weekly Report

November 10, 2014 to November 16, 2014

November 10, 2014
AMBULANCE REQUEST

ANIMAL AT LARGE
AMBULANCE REQUEST

November 11, 2014
CONTROLLED BURN
AMBULANCE REQUEST

November 12, 2014
CONTROLLED BURN
CONTROLLED BURN

Bates County Sheriff’s Office Weekly Activity Report

November 10, 2014 to November 16, 2014

November 10, 2014

WRONG NUMBER – DREXEL
MVA (NO INJURIES) – BUTLER
MVA (INJURIES) – ADRIAN
ANIMAL AT LARGE – ADRIAN
THEFT – ADRIAN
AMBULANCE REQUEST – RICH HILL
THEFT – ADRIAN
ANIMAL NEGLECT/ABUSE – HUME
CARELESS & IMPRUDENT DRIVER – ADRIAN
AGENCY ASSIST – ADRIAN
SUICIDAL THREATS/ATTEMPTS – ADRIAN
TRAFFIC HAZARD – BUTLER
DOMESTIC – AMORET

Snow Doesn't Stop Steinway Supporters

Blair Penney of Schmitt Music in Overland Park

 tickles the ivories with everything from ragtime 

to the classics at the Butler Presbyterian

Church yesterday

Music lovers gathered yesterday afternoon at Butler Presbyterian Church for a SOS: Save Our Steinway event hosted by the Bates County Museum. Although snow kept the crowd smaller than expected, the warmth and enthusiasm of those in attendance was undeniable.

Peggy Buhr, Museum Director, welcomed everyone and gave an update on the progress of the fundraising campaign. $17,235 had been raised thus far and donations received at the event brought the total to over $18,000. Buhr delivered a personal commentary on the recent passing of C. A. Moore, who was a member of Butler Presbyterian Church, and stated she knew C. A. would be thrilled with the day’s program. The church and the 1877 Steinway have strong connections. Miss Eunice Pyle donated the piano to the museum in 1979 and she was a member of Butler Presbyterian Church her whole life.

Buhr also announced that an article in “Rural Missouri,” the electric co-op’s state wide publication, will be forthcoming and is scheduled to be published in December. The article is a direct result of the earlier article in the Kansas City Star that ran in October. “It seems people everywhere are excited and supportive of this enormous endeavor,” Buhr stated. She believes people are eager to be a part of something big, something that can be beautiful and enrich the lives of all involved.

Progress is being made to raise funds
necessary to refurbish the museum's
historic Steinway piano

Mr. Blair Penney of Schmitt Music in Overland Park, Kansas presented a program that included music and a PowerPoint presentation. Playing on the church’s beautiful Steinway, he opened with a Billy Joel’s Root Beer Rag and proceeded to include works of Clair de lune by Dubussy, Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag, and George Gershwin’s ‘S Wonderful, I’ve Got Rhythm and ended with Rhapsody in Blue. The visual presentation was incorporated throughout the program as Blair told the history of Steinway & Sons followed by raising awareness of how special the museum’s 1877 Steinway Model B Grand Piano truly is. According to Penney, the effort to raise the funds necessary to restore the old piano are more than justifiable and would provide Bates County with an extraordinary instrument to be enjoyed by citizens for many decades to come. The $50,000 investment will result in a piano valued at approximately $100,000.

The afternoon program concluded with a drawing for an award winning DVD, “Note by Note,” that follows the year-long journey in the creation of a new Steinway. Elizabeth Ogg, Bates County Economic Development Director and concert pianist, was the lucky winner.

Following the program, guests mingled and enjoyed an elegant dessert buffet provided by Sally Hatten, Donna Talbott and Dotty Esher. On display was a unique piano keyboard graph poster that can now be used to track the progress of fundraising efforts. Kenna Bartz, Bartz Photography, designed the poster and donated it to the cause. Many thanks are extended to Butler Presbyterian Church for their hospitality and use of their lovely church and piano. Future fundraising events are now being planned and several people volunteered their service at Sunday’s program. If you are interested in becoming involved in this project you may contact Peggy Buhr at the Museum by calling 660-679-0134.