Month: February 2011

Missouri Highway Patrol rolls out new criminal history website

Posted by mpoletti – February 20, 2011

Need to do a background check? The Missouri State Highway Patrol is making it a lot easier on you.

The state police last week launched a new criminal history information website, the Missouri Automated Criminal History Site.

The new site allows online access to name-based background checks involving all Missouri open records, records of convictions and sex offender registry data. (That doesn’t include warrant information, closed records, or criminal information from other state or federal agencies.) It appears to be similar to Case.net, but more comprehensive.

Private individuals, public and private businesses, state agencies and other entities can access the site for a fee of $10 per name-based inquiry, which requires a first and last name and either a date of birth or a social security number. You must create an account with the site for billing purposes; the account will allow you multiple searches and 30-day online storage of the results.

Go here to access the site. There’s also plenty of helpful information there about how it works.

“Hospitals can’t close”:
Team effort keeps Scotland County Hospital open in blizzard

Posted by mpoletti – February 15, 2011

Life in Northeast Missouri may have ground to a halt for the most part during the historic snowstorm earlier this month, but area hospitals had to remain open at any cost. In some cases, that took some fancy footwork.

Below is a neat account of blizzard business from the folks at Scotland County Hospital in Memphis. The story it tells speaks for itself, I think. (And I love the term “not just a blanket, but a mattress of snow.” A mattress!)

Although the U.S. Postal Service did not deliver mail during the blizzard, Scotland County Hospital’s dedicated doctors & nurses delivered babies during the Blizzard of ’11. Between Feb. 1-4, three babies were delivered at Scotland County Hospital in Memphis, and a number of inpatients were cared for as if it were business as usual.

Sarah Picolet, the mommy of one of the babies, recalls, “We left home at 5:30 a.m., and it was snowing pretty good. We got to the hospital at 7 a.m., and Cathy Farley greeted us at the door. By 1 p.m., Dr. Davis delivered our baby girl.”

Picolet and baby girl went home on Thursday to snow drifts on their gravel road near Bloomfield, as high as their vehicle.

Picolet said, “Cathy Farley stayed overnight, and so did some others. I was safe and comfortable, and they all did a great job.”

Haley Marie, by the way, is a healthy 5-pound, 15-ounce little girl and was oblivious to Old Man Winter. Picolet is the manager of the Casey’s General Store in Lancaster.

With food and supplies in stock and four-wheel-drive vehicles gassed up, the hospital’s Director of Nursing, Carla Cook, and Maintenance Supervisor Jamie Kice, with cooperation from a number of other employees, made sure that nurses and other essential healthcare staff could make it in for their shifts, while nearly 10 nurses, doctors and staff members opted to stay overnight or get a motel room in town to ensure adequate staffing. The Operating Room crew was on standby, as always, while other essential departments such as dietary, housekeeping, respiratory therapy, radiology, lab and admissions staffed their usual assignments and covered extra shifts.

Despite the effects of the powerful snowstorm that shut down many of the communities the hospital serves, the massive snowstorm did little to disrupt hospital operations.

“Hospitals can’t close,” said Kice. “It may seem obvious, but we are prepared for disasters like this and we all pitch in to lend a hand.”

Scotland County Hospital managed to operate as normal despite the blizzard that dumped not just a blanket, but a mattress of snow on the area. All inpatient units stayed fully staffed during the Blizzard of ’11. Many of the hospital’s essential staff members put the work of the hospital above their own lives and their own families.

Throughout the blizzard, robust drifts continued to block the door at the main North Entrance because of the half-wall on the sidewalk in the construction zone. Although maintenance staff shoveled snow and applied salt around the clock, Cook made arrangements with the Scotland County Care Center to use their entrance temporarily for hospital patrons.

“There’s a level of cooperation among the staff here,” said Cook. “At all levels, you could see the cooperation and how everybody was pitching in, including the cooperation of the Care Center.”

Cook took a call from the county road & bridge supervisor offering a snowplow escort for the ambulance or doctors if needed during the blizzard. During the first 48 hours of the blizzard, the EMS Department increased their staffing to three-man crews and had snowmobiles on standby, along with access to a Patient Evacuation Sled. Although staffing was increased, the calls decreased and the Ambulance crews made only one emergency run between Feb. 1-4 and three patient transfers. The Emergency Room reported a lower-than-normal number of patients during the same timeframe, with 18 patients compared to an average ER population of approximately 40 patients for a four-day period.

“The dedication of our staff to make sure the quality of care we offer to our patients went uninterrupted is to be commended,” said SCH CEO Marcia Dial. “Thanks to smart planning and dedicated employees, the hospital operated without incident during the Blizzard of ’11.”

Once the storm subsided, construction crews went back to work on the hospital’s renovation and expansion. One has to imagine it’s much easier work now that the extended forecast is full of at least 40-something temperatures (not to mention that beautiful 70 on Thursday!).

News items from Mark Twain Lake

Posted by mpoletti – February 14, 2011

Spring is beckoning, based on the warm spell forecast to run through this week (including a high darn near 70 on Thursday). That means Mark Twain Lake’s about to get a whole lot busier.

A few news items from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which administers the recreation haven in Monroe and Ralls counties, are below.

• On Saturday, the M.W. Boudreaux Memorial Visitor Center (on Mo. J next to the Clarence Cannon Dam) will host a wildlife photography workshop at 1 p.m. with E. “Mac” MacKay. MacKay, a Granite City, Ill.-based wildlife photographer, will impart best practices for bird and landscape photography, with an emphasis on digital photography. Cameras are not required but are encouraged, especially because it’s still bald eagle season in Northeast Missouri. (On a personal note, I’m planning on attending. Why not get formal instruction on a hobby I’ve enjoyed since junior high?)

• The USACE will hold its annual water control and dam safety meeting at 6 p.m. on March 7 in the visitor center’s Community Room. The meeting is open to the public. Representatives from the USACE’s District Water Control Office will give a presentation and answer questions.

• If you’re a college student looking for a summer job in natural resource management, parks and recreation, education, public affairs, marketing and/or customer service, the Mark Twain Lake might have a job for you. The USACE is currently seeking college students for summer employment at the lake. Interns at the lake may receive academic credit, depending on their institution’s policies. Park Ranger Mary Ann Heitmeyer said in a release that a prospective intern will experience “all aspects of public land stewardship.”

For more information about any of these news items, call the lake’s Project Office at (573) 735-4097 or e-mail marktwaininfo@usace.army.mil.

Listen for yourself: Is Jared Keim a future American Idol?

Posted by mpoletti – February 14, 2011

Jared Keim is at the center of a Facebook campaign urging him to try out for “American Idol.” (Click here to read about the campaign.)

The rural Hannibal teen is an accomplished singer and guitarist at his church, Tabernacle of Praise, but to date he has been reluctant to try out for the TV talent search. The popularity of the Facebook group “Vote Jared Keim Onto American Idol,” however, seems to dictate that he’ll be giving it a go during the next round of auditions this summer.

After hearing Keim sing, it’s very possible we’ll be discussing him on Idol Nation next season. You be the judge.

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Dancing the night away for Cornerstone

Posted by mpoletti – February 5, 2011

Friday night’s “Dancing with the Local Stars” was more fun than any grown man or woman should be allowed to have. My hat is off to the tireless advocates at Cornerstone: Foundation for Families, who arranged this night of fun and will benefit from the funds it raised.

Without further ado, I present to you the 19 fleet-footed, well-choreographed couples who hit the dance floor at the Holiday Inn Friday night.

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Where do you dump the snow after the snow dumps on you?

Posted by mpoletti – February 4, 2011

Where does all that snow go? It’s been a common question this week, including in Northeast Missouri.

In Canton, Culver-Stockton students mused that college snow-movers could always dump the school’s considerable amounts of white stuff down the steep hill on which the school is perched.

One student snorted at that idea. “Right. Dump the snow on the town.”

Well, dumping the snow downhill is one way to do it. But what about communities where the hills are populated — alive, if you will?

Some Hannibal residents hanging out at Java Jive Thursday were similarly curious about what the city might do with the snow. A few people wondered if the city might dump it in the river.

That’s probably not such a great idea.

The Boston Herald reports that three city workers in Lawrence, Mass. (on the New Hampshire border about 35 miles north of Boston) were suspended Tuesday for dumping snow into the Merrimack River running through that city. Lawrence’s mayor says he will move to fire the employees, who he says know better. A day earlier, he had busted a private contractor dumping snow into the river.

Turns out dumping snow in rivers is a violation of federal environmental laws. Snow is often full of salt, street chemicals and other delightful contaminants; sand, cinders and kitty litter all come to mind as some of the more benign ways cities try to keep streets “clean.” The river doesn’t need all of those chemicals.

Let’s hope no one in Northeast Missouri thought to dump snow in the river or any other body of water, or the long arm of the law could be reaching for them soon.

Hannibal snow notebook I: Digging out on Mo. 79

Posted by mpoletti – February 4, 2011

I spent much of Thursday cruising around Hannibal with ace photographer Phil Carlson, talking with residents about their efforts to get back to normalcy after Tuesday’s paralyzing snowstorm. We heard some interesting stories, which are never in short supply in Hannibal.

But the craziest thing we saw all day unfolded on the side of Mo. 79/Mark Twain Avenue as we headed toward the Hannibal Country Club’s sledding hill.

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So tell me, folks: How big was your dig this week?

Hannibal snow notebook II: Snow rumble!

Posted by mpoletti – February 4, 2011

In the course of our roamings around post-snowstorm Hannibal Thursday, ace photographer Phil Carlson and I received a tip from our copy editor/fitness blogger colleague Mary Lynne Richards that a few of her teenage son’s friends were planning a massive snowball fight on the lawn of Hannibal High School early that afternoon.

We’d been wondering how the children of Hannibal and their parents were holding up after three snow days (with a scheduled teacher in-service day greenlighted for Friday, so really, four snow days). This answered that question…

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Scenes from a snow day, Culver-Stockton 2011

Posted by mpoletti – February 4, 2011

Institutions of higher education are making history all over Missouri in the wake of Tuesday’s paralyzing snowstorm. Mizzou made history by canceling classes for three consecutive days for what’s believed to be the first time in the university’s collective memory. In Canton, Culver-Stockton College made history by … canceling classes.

It’s been either a century or a century and a half since C-SC last canceled classes, depending on whom you ask. Either way, it’s a point of pride at Harvard on the Hill. College Communications Director Kyle Trudell told me Tuesday that school had last been called off in 1918 for that year’s Spanish flu pandemic. When I ventured up to Canton Wednesday (in a four-wheel-drive pickup truck piloted by an expert winter driver, just FYI), several students told me it was their understanding C-SC hadn’t closed down since the Civil War, when it was used as a hospital.

What’s the missing common denominator in those historic events? A foot and a half of snow. Here’s how the campus dealt with it Wednesday:

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Enjoy it while you can, C-SC students. You’re experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime event.