Conner Crooker Leads Bearcat Men Back from the Dead

Northwest's men looked for all the world like they were looking to find their way offensively following the loss of Dillon Starzl against Central. A loss would have dropped them further and further behind Central and back into the pack while a win would have kept Northeastern Oklahoma in the hunt for the MIAA title. However, Northwest came back from the dead after digging themselves into a 42-22 hole as they found some unlikely heroes in a 73-72 win. Conner Crooker, who rarely got more than five minutes of playing time this year, played 30 minutes and had 24 points. New point guard Bryston Williams had a season high 17 points. And Grant Cozad, who has been a sparkplug off the bench, turned into a reliable replacement at post for Starzl, getting 19 points.

Northeastern Oklahoma built up their lead by making an unbelievable amount of shots with hands in their face; everything they threw up was going in regardless of whether someone was guarding them or not. On the other end, Northwest was out of sync offensively early. But then Conner Crooker came off the bench with 14 minutes left and promptly exploded to the rim off fast breaks a couple of times. There was a parallel between Monique Stevens in the womens' game and Conner in the men's game; Conner had developed confidence in his game to the point where he could do what needed to be done.

Even as Northeastern Oklahoma was building up their lead, there were signs that it was not a safe lead. Both Conner Crooker and Bryston Williams were exploding to the rim for Northwest; it was only a matter of time before that opened up scoring for everyone else; Bryston showed tremendous upside potential at the point position. And it is very difficult to sustain the kind of shooting that the Riverhawks were doing and it was only a matter of time before they cooled down. Finally, Grant Cozad put on a nice spin move and Bryston Williams got a putback and followed with a steal to bring Northwest's deficit under double digits at 46-37 at the break.

Coach Ben McCollum made some changes at the start of the second half, starting Matt Wallace, Conner Crooker, Grant Cozad, Bryston Williams, and Alex Sullivan. Northeast Oklahoma went back in front by double digits, but then Grant Cozad scored a backdoor layup off a Crooker drive and then Kyle Schlake came off the bench to anchor the post and played some steady minutes for Northwest on both ends. He hit a couple of free throws and then Conner exploded to the rim twice, once for a 3-point play, before Schlake got a putback for Northwest to make it 55-50.

The constant slashing to the rim by Conner Crooker and Bryston Williams was finally taking effect on Northeastern Oklahoma as they were starting to get into foul trouble. Their two main players, Bryton Hobbs and Jermaine Bransford both went to the bench with three fouls early in the second half during Northwest's run. A lot of teams have the tendency to throw up quick 3-pointers when they are a long ways down; however, a manageable deficit can snowball into a 30-point deficit in a hurry that way. But going to the rim can be a very effective way of erasing a deficit; coaches frequently tell their players not to foul when their team has the lead as it stops the clock. And players will then become tentative on defense and allow a lot more driving opportunities to arise.

 Crooker hit a 3-pointer to make it 55-53 and then a three minute scoring drought ensued. Northeastern Oklahoma put in Hobbs and Bransford again, but they picked up their third and fourth fouls. For Northwest, Bryston Williams picked up his third. Finally, Matt Wallace hit two free throws to tie it and Conner Crooker's free throws put Northwest in front 59-57. But after Northwest turned it over and passed up a chance to go up four, Northeastern Oklahoma hit a 3-pointer to go back in front 60-59.

At that point, the officials started making all sorts of bad calls favoring the Riverhawks. There were three different times previous to this when one of the officials barely blew his whistle before calling a Bearcat foul. This is a good way to allow a game to get out of hand; this is the sort of thing that causes players and coaches to lose confidence in officials. Officials have to have enough confidence in a call to blow the whistle firmly and "stick" a player with a call. If they are not sure of themselves, then it is better not to make the call.

Among other bad calls by the officials during the next stretch, there was an obvious elbow by one of the Riverhawk players that was missed by the officials. There was another call where Grant Cozad was standing straight up with his hands in the air and the Northeast Oklahoma player tripped and fell, but Cozad was called for his fourth foul as Northeast Oklahoma built their lead up to 65-59. There was another call where one of the Riverhawk players was trying to seal Bryston Williams down low and was pushing off on him to do it, but the official called the foul on Bryston. That could have been a critical item as it was Bryston's fourth foul. And Cozad was a victim of another bad call as one of the Riverhawk players hooked him during a defensive rebounding situation and gave him a hard shove, but the official didn't call it.

Despite the bad officiating, Northwest played through it as Conner Crooker ended a three minute scoring drought with a pair of free throws with 3:16 left to make it 65-61. Despite Northeastern Oklahoma sending help defense in the driving lanes, Crooker and Williams were still getting to the rim. But it looked like a valiant effort would fall short with 52 seconds left as Ethan Anderson stepped to the line with his team up 69-64 and a chance to put the Riverhawks up by three possessions. But he missed both of his free throws and Bryston Williams converted a 3-point play on the other end with 45.5 seconds left after he rushed the ball up the floor to make it 69-67. Williams and Crooker were the two fastest players on the floor and it paid off in the end.

Northwest went to a five guard look on their press, but Bryton Hobbs threw a dangerous pass that Jermaine Bransford converted for a layup to make it 71-67 with 36 seconds left. Bryston Williams once again rushed it up the floor, but this time threw it away instead of going up for a shot and he had to foul, picking up his fifth and putting Bransford on the line. Bransford made one and missed one with 27 seconds left, and then Northwest rushed it up the floor and Matt Wallace kicked it out to Alex Sullivan with 19 seconds left. Sullivan, who had not scored all night, suddenly knocked down a 3-pointer to make it 72-70.

Northwest fouled Bryton Hobbs with 10.3 seconds left and all he had to do was hit both free throws and ice the game, but he missed both tries and Northwest was still in it. They were out of timeouts, but it didn't matter as they knew exactly what to do with it. Conner Crooker rushed the ball up the floor for Northwest and took on three defenders, somehow found a seam, and hit a layup and drew a foul with 4.4 seconds left. He hit the free throw to put Northwest up 73-72. Christian Mack rushed the ball up the floor for the Riverhawks, but his contested 3-pointer from 30 feet out hit the front of the rim and bounced out.

Monique Stevens Goes Off on Riverhawks

Northwest's women held off Northeastern Oklahoma 67-64 Thursday night as Monique Stevens went off on them for a career high 20 points and six 3-pointers. The Riverhawks are one of the most dangerous teams in the conference as they showed the ability to shoot from 25-30 feet away, which stretches out defenses so that they can open up driving lanes. They were one of the most patient teams as well, frequently running down the shot clock before making their move. But when Northwest was able to dictate the tempo and get out and run, that was when they were able to hurt Northeastern Oklahoma.

The visitors from Oklahoma jumped out to a 15-8 lead, working the clock, shooting from everywhere, and limiting Northwest to one shot down the court; Northwest did not get a single offensive board for the first 12 minutes of the game despite their size advantage. But then Meridee Scott hit a 3-pointer from the right side off a fast break to wake Northwest out of their stupor and then hit Ashley Thayer for another to get Northwest right back in the game. Meridee then hit a 3-pointer and Ashleigh Nelson then scored off a Thayer steal to put Northwest in front 19-15.

The Riverhawks jumped back in front 20-19, but then Monique hit a 3-pointer, prompting Northeast Oklahoma to burn a timeout. There are media timeouts every five minutes, so some coaches will burn timeouts right before the media timeout as it serves as a double timeout and breaks the other team's run. But it didn't work this time as Monique hit another shot just inside the arc and then hit another 3-pointer to make it 27-20. Northeastern Oklahoma dialed one of their 30-footers, but then Maggie Marnin scored from inside, Ashley Thayer hit a free throw, Monique pushed it up the floor to Maggie for a free throw, and then Tember Schechinger hit a 3-pointer to put Northwest up double digits at 34-23.

In the Central game, Northwest built up a 16 point lead on hot shooting, only to be undone by hacking and fouling. However, Thursday night was different as they only committed three fouls at the half and 10 for the game and nobody picked up more than three.

Tember hit her second straight 3-pointer to start the second half and then Ashleigh Nelson got behind the defense for two free throws and then got a steal to make it 41-23. The Riverhawks trimmed it to 41-27, but then Annie Matthews got behind the defense and got a pass from Monique to make it 43-27. Northeast Oklahoma made frantic efforts to get back in the game, but everything was going in for Northwest as two 3-pointers by Monique and a pair of inside shots from Maggie kept the margin at 18. For Monique, it was simply a matter of having confidence in her shot; it can mean the difference between shooting 1 for 10 or 6 for 8.

Northwest led 53-35 at the 13:34 mark, but the lead was not safe against a team that can shoot anywhere from 30 feet in. You have to play nearly perfect defense against teams like that and sometimes, that is still not enough. Also, Northeastern Oklahoma was not in any kind of foul trouble; they only had two team fouls by the five minute mark of the second half; that meant that they could afford to be very aggressive and gamble a lot more on defense. It was only a matter of time before their run came and Northeastern rattled off the next 13 points to cut it to 53-48.

Northwest's survival depended on whether or not they could play through it and they did as Monique hit from the baseline to break the run and make it 56-48. But then Northeastern Oklahoma started going to Taylor Lewis, a great clutch player, and she brought them back to within 59-57 by the final media timeout with a 30-footer from the top of the key. Northwest was playing their trapping zone all night against Northeastern Oklahoma, but one of the reasons the Riverhawks came back was because they were able to work the ball into the middle of the floor and get good looks from the high post or else draw the lower defenders forward and slip someone in behind the defense for easy layups. But then Northwest switched to a man to man for the last five minutes. This threw the Riverhawks out of their rhythm just long enough to give Northwest some badly needed cushion.

Northeast Oklahoma had two chances to tie, but were called for a pushoff away from the ball and then Tosha Tyler missed a runner right underneath the basket. Tyler tried to make up for the miss and gambled on defense, trying to steal the outlet. But she took herself right out of the play and Northwest had numbers down court for a wide open transition 3-pointer for Ashleigh Nelson to make it 62-57; that was a five point turnaround for the Bearcats. Lewis finally missed one and Annie Matthews kicked it out to Monique at the top of the key for another 3-pointer to make it 65-57.

But then Northeast Oklahoma solved the Northwest man as they used Taylor Lewis to slash to the rim and she hit an 18-foot runner with a hand in her face. Monique Stevens finally missed a 3-pointer and Lewis slashed to the rim again. Northwest helped perfectly on defense, but Lewis hit it anyway to make it 65-61 with 46.7 seconds left. Tember Schechinger hit two free throws to make it 67-61 with 43.2 seconds left, but then the Riverhawks got the ball to Sarah Green, a role player who usually distributes the ball to the rest of the team. But this time, Green pulled the trigger and banked home a 3-pointer to make it 67-64.

Northwest got the ball to one of their best free throw shooters in Meridee Scott, but she missed a one and one, giving Northeast Oklahoma a chance to tie at the end. But Northwest played perfect perimeter defense, forcing them out near the halfcourt line at one point. Finally, with time running out, Fontana Tate got the ball on the left baseline with two defenders on her tightly. She was off balance, but she somehow got off a great look even though her defenders were playing her perfectly. But the ball went in and out and Maggie Marnin was there for the defensive board and the Riverhawks could not get her fouled in time before time expired.

Two Minor Injuries, Several Slideoffs from Snowstorm

Missouri Highway Patrol Troop H reported only two minor injuries in two different accidents during the snowstorm Wednesday morning. In one, the Patrol reports that a 2007 International Semi driven by Eddie Phillips (66) of Wheatland, MO was northbound on I-35 at around 5:30 am when he slid off the west side of the roadway into the median five miles north of Bethany. The vehicle came to rest upright facing southwest in the median. Phillips received minor injuries in the accident.

In the other accident, the Patrol reports that a 2009 Ford E-350 driven by Paul Goss (61) of Raytown, MO was northbound in the driving lane of Interstate 29 and a 2006 Volvo Tractor Trailer driven by Nadim Mamedov (23) of Portland, OR was northbound in the passing lane at around 8:47 am three miles north of Savannah. Goss lost control of his vehicle on the ice covered roadway and slid across the center line, striking the Volvo. Both vehicles came to rest on their wheels off of the roadway. Goss received minor injuries.

Worth County Sheriff Terry Sheddrick said that he had no reports of slideoffs that morning and that everyone had been driving very carefully in the snow-covered conditions. The snowstorm was at its height between 4 and 7 am before tapering off during the morning hours. There were at least two slideoffs on 136 that morning, one tractor trailer slideoff on northbound I-35 that closed the right lane of traffic briefly near the Gallatin exit, and at least one on Route 6 near Gallatin; tow trucks were active that morning. By around 10, roads were starting to clear although treacherous conditions persisted on 46 between Ravenwood and Parnell into the afternoon, causing a tire truck to slide off at around 1:30 that afternoon just east of the Hatfield McCoy road..

The snowstorm had been preceded by near-record high temperatures the day before at around 72 degrees, followed by rains through much of the evening. In Sheridan, the rains stopped at around 11 pm before turning over to snow during the nights. Sustained winds were as high as 20-30 miles per hour for most of the morning.

Neither Worth County nor Northeast Nodaway had school Wednesday morning. Both schools will make up the snow day at a later time.

The storm will likely be beneficial to the Sheridan Water System. Mayor Leland Wake said Wednesday that the water system had been holding up well despite the dry conditions.

Debbie Roach Named Sheridan Postmaster

Debbie Roach has been named Sheridan Postmaster, replacing Peggy Young, who has retired. Roach had served as the Officer in Charge for the last few months. The change was effective Tuesday, January 29th.

Japan Eases Beef Import Rules

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill released the following statement after the Japanese government announced this week that it would relax its current restrictions on U.S. beef imports:

“This is a big win for Missouri’s ranchers, who for too long have had to comply with restrictions that were simply unnecessary. I’m glad that the pressure applied has made Japan rethink a position that never made much sense.”

This week’s action follows years of pressure from McCaskill urging a change in Japan’s beef import policy prior to the Obama Administration negotiating any future bilateral trade agreements with Japan.  

Japan was the largest foreign consumer of U.S. beef before 2003, when Japan sharply restricted imports of U.S. beef after a single case of ‘mad cow’ disease in a Washington dairy cow. Under the new agreement, Japan will accept imports of U.S. beef from cattle less than 30 months of age, compared to the previous limit of 20 months.  The changes go into effect February 1, and are expected to result in hundreds of millions of dollars in exports of U.S. beef to Japan in the coming years, creating jobs in Missouri and across the United States.

Faith is Reality

How would I know I was happy if I never felt sad?
How would I know what was good if I'd never known bad?
It's because of hate we seek love;
This is the way life's supposed to be, this is faith; faith is reality.

How would I know what was right if I'd never been wrong?
We learn from mistakes; was that God's plan all along?
And how on this earth would anyone grow if there wasn't an opposite word for no?
Never look back to the way it should be; today is the only reality.

Accept life, my friends, and banish your fear,
Faith is not knowing our purpose here.
Give all that you can and what you can't, let go.
That's all we can do, we're humans you know!

It's not about Scripture, it's not about laws;
It's about keeping faith, knowing all of our flaws.
Wisdom -- is the means to the end and cannot be attained without loss, without pain.
This is the way life's supposed to be, this is faith; faith is reality.

--Kathleen Goerlitz
--Submitted by Jerry Drake
--

Jack Remembers -- Lesson in Fraternization

Some time ago, I wrote a column of how the Army was like a Caste System and I initially did not get any response from the article. I since have received several including the following from Don Wilson, Hartville, MO.

Mr. Hackley, It’s easy for me to understand why you failed to get any response from military people because career military people probably don’t spend their lives resenting the authority of others. However, it seems this country is beginning to be controlled by people who spend too much time envying and resenting the success of others. I spent 3 years in the army from 1962-1965 in Korea and had no difficulty understanding why the military operates like it does. I understood then and I still do. Perhaps you don’t realize that while the officers limit their associations with enlisted men they also limit their association with officers that are junior to them. In a nutshell, when the military is functioning in a war-time situation each person in authority has the responsibility to direct his junior officers, NCO ’s and enlisted men into the face of death. For this reason he can’t allow himself to be influenced by friendship. Failure to do his job could cause the death or injury of numerous people totally unrelated to the “ friendship”. 

Of course, Mr. Wilson is correct. However, to be drafted into the Infantry during the Korean era, we thought, gave us the right to complain, and complain we did. One time we were on maneuvers on a mountain range in northern Hokkaido near Siberia. It was frigid cold with snow on the ground. Our Company went into reserve and the First Sergeant ordered two of us to pitch a tent for the Officers. It was dark, but the supply truck that had thrown off our sleeping bags with no tents also had cots and blankets for the Officers, along with a Yukon stove. It operated from a gas can with a hose dropping gas in to a small metal stove. When we got through, the officers ordered me to have the Mess Sergeant fix them a hot meal. He had not had time to set up a Mess Tent in this base camp and had passed out cans of cold sea rations to the troops. Someone asked how could you respect these officers. It was easy, to not respect them would cost six months in a stockade and 2/3rd of my $30 a month salary.

Jack can be reached at PO Box 40, Oak Grove, MO 64075.

McCaskill Renews Effort to Ensure Women Get Equal Pay for Equal Work

On the 4th anniversary of the landmark Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which protected the legal rights of women who faced pay discrimination, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill is renewing her effort to ensure working women earn the same pay as their male counterparts, joining in the reintroduction of the Paycheck Fairness Act – legislation to help close the pay gap between men and women. “I’ll keep waging this fight until women are no longer expected to accept this inexcusable pay gap as a fact of life,” McCaskill said. “As a single working mom, I found out firsthand the challenges women in the workforce, and I’m determined not to leave this fight for my daughters to finish, but to solve it now.” McCaskill supported the same legislation last year, but the bill failed to garner the 60 votes necessary to advance. Women make up nearly half of Missouri’s workforce, but earn only 74 cents for every dollar paid to men in the state.

MCA Backs Blunt's Quest for Agriculture Disaster Relief

Senator Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee of Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, along with Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) introduced legislation that would extend agriculture disaster assistance programs.

"Agriculture supports 16 million jobs across America, and Missouri has the second highest number of farms nationwide. This drought has taken a devastating toll on farm families in Missouri and nationwide, and I won't stop fighting for this critical disaster relief until we get farmers and ranchers back on their feet again," said Blunt

This program expired at the end of the 2011 Fiscal Year and were not part of the nine month Farm Bill extension. The bill would backfill the programs for 2012 and extend them through 2013 while Congress works to pass a long-term Farm Bill. Without an extension many ranchers and farmers will be left with no support to recover from severe fires and drought that swept the country last year.

The Missouri Cattlemen's Association (MCA) and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association worked close with Sen. Blunt to stress the need for this legislation. Additionally, MCA and several statewide agricultural organizations sent a letter to Missouri's congressional delegation on Jan. 8, 2013, to request that the members of Congress and their colleagues look for opportunities to provide relief to farm and ranch families in Missouri and throughout the country.

McCaskill Aims to Repeal Problematic Provision of Health Reform Law

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today made good on a pledge to make reasonable improvements to the Affordable Care Act, joining Republican Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) to introduce bipartisan legislation to strike a problematic provision of the law.

McCaskill’s legislation would repeal a provision of the law that is causing states, including Missouri, to subsidize high wages at hospitals through Medicare reimbursements.

“This provision unfairly benefits some states to the disadvantage of others, like Missouri—it’s inefficient, and I’m happy to work in a bipartisan way to improve the health care reform law by repealing the provision,” McCaskill said. “I’ve consistently said that, whether you supported or opposed the Affordable Care Act, we can work together to keep improving and strengthening it as it’s implemented.”

As reported in the Boston Globe, Medicare rules stipulate that a state’s urban hospitals must be reimbursed for wages paid to doctors and staff at least as much as rural hospitals. A provision in the health reform law required that Medicare reimbursements for hospital wages come from a national pool of money, instead of from each state’s allocation. As a result, any increase for one particular state means a decrease for other states. This new provision has proved problematic.

Massachusetts has only one rural hospital—Nantucket Cottage—which therefore sets the floor for wage reimbursements in the state. While rural hospitals typically have lower wages than urban ones, wages at Nantucket Cottage are high because of the hospital’s remote location and high cost of living. Therefore, the rural wage floor established on Nantucket has become a boon for hospitals in the rest of Massachusetts. Nantucket Cottage’s rural designation has allowed the state’s 81 other hospitals to collectively reap hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicare reimbursements—at the expense of other states, like Missouri. Missouri alone stands to lose $15 million this year.

Only nine states come out ahead under the current system, while the remaining 41 states—including Missouri—are losing out on Medicare reimbursement funds.

The McCaskill-Coburn legislation will eliminate that provision in the Affordable Care Act, meaning states like Massachusetts will be responsible for bearing the burden of their own increased rural wage floor costs, instead of draining reimbursements meant for other states.

As a strong supporter of the Affordable Care Act, McCaskill has consistently supported efforts to improve and strengthen the legislation. In 2011, McCaskill successfully helped pass legislation to repeal a burdensome tax reporting requirement included in the health care law.

Missouri Farmers Support local schools through Second Annual America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education

For the second consecutive year, America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education ^SM, sponsored by the Monsanto Fund, will give Missouri farmers the opportunity to enhance math and science programs in their communities. Now until April 15, 2013, farmers can nominate a local public school district to compete for a merit-based grant of up to $25,000. Administrators of nominated school districts may then submit grant applications through April 30, 2013. This year, the program expands to 26 new counties, for a total of 1,271 eligible counties across 39 states.   

The America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education program is part of a broad commitment by the Monsanto Fund to highlight the important contributions farmers make every day to society.  Following a successful pilot in Minnesota and Illinois, America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education debuted nationally last year, awarding $2.3 million to school districts coast to coast.

“We believe engaging rural youth in their math and science studies lays the foundation for a bright future,” said Deborah Patterson, Monsanto Fund president. “This generation is the future of agriculture, and funding from the Grow Rural Education program helps ensure they are ready to be the next great leaders.”

Eligible farmers can nominate their favorite public school district by visiting www.GrowRuralEducation.com and following the “Nominate Now” link on the top, left-hand corner of the page. Farmers may also nominate a school district by calling 1-877-267-3332.

In 2012, the following Missouri school districts received a total of $155,000 to enhance math and science curriculums:

·         Community R-VI , $10,000

·         Johnson County R-VII, $25,000

·         Liberal R-II, $10,000

·         Lone Jack C-6, $10,000

·         Miami R-I, $10,000

·         Monroe City R-I, $25,000

·         Northeast Nodaway County R-V, $10,000

·         Oak Ridge R-VI, $10,000

·         Orrick, $25,000

·         Pleasant View R-VI, $10,000

·         Strain-Japan R-XVI, $10,000

Thanks to Grow Rural Education, 2012 winner Community R-VI School District was able purchase grow carts, probes and sensors for its advanced science classes.

 “This was a great opportunity for us to do some things we couldn't do before the grant,” said Cheryl Mack, Community R-VI superintendent. “We appreciate the support we received from local farmers. I am overwhelmed with how much they help the school and our students' education.” 

Grants will be awarded by the Monsanto Fund based on merit, need and community support. The America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education Advisory Council, a group of 30 farmer leaders from across the country, will select the winning grant applications.  Advisory Council members were selected based on their passion for agriculture and education, as well as experience in rural school districts.

America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education is part of the Monsanto Fund’s overall effort to strengthen America’s farming communities. Another program that is part of this effort is America’s Farmers Grow Communities, which gives winning farmers the opportunity to direct a $2,500 donation to a community nonprofit organization in their county.
                For more information about the America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education program and to view the official rules, visit www.GrowRuralEducation.com. To read more about the 2013 Grow Rural Education launch, and to view the 2013 launch video, please visit http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/1/prweb10308518.htm.

Bluejay Girls Drop Another Close One

Northeast Nodaway's Girls dropped another close one as they fell 47-46 to West Nodaway in overtime Tuesday. Their last two losses were by a combined total of three points. The Bluejays had most of the rest of the week off since they did not have another game and then came back Monday and worked a lot on their offense. The result was a season high in points scored, but they could not buy a stop when they had to and West Nodaway got their first win of the year. The girls were once again shorthanded, playing without Claudia Wiederholt. They did get Holly Redden and Talina Nelson back, giving them more bodies to practice with Monday. Taryn Farnan continued to play strongly for Northeast, getting a career high of 18 points and shutting down Rocket leading scorer Marissa Perkins, holding her to six.

Nobody could take control for the first quarter as Northeast promptly erased a 6-2 deficit and the game was within one possession for the rest of the quarter, with Northeast leading 10-9. Taryn Farnan and Jill Spire had four each. Farnan hit a pair of free throws and got a pass from Kristan Judd while Spire hit from the right side off an inbounds play and scored off a drive. Kristan Judd scored the other two points, getting a baseline shot off a Farnan kickout. Coach Vance Proffitt said that the team played unselfish ball for the most part. "We did a lot of good things tonight despite the loss; we're going to go out and compete with what we've got," he said.

Dallis Coffelt led the scoring with five in the second quarter while Brianna Riley added three and Kerrigan Adwell one. Dallis got a layup and three-point play off a pass from Farnan and a putback while Riley hit from the right side and added a free throw. But once again, Northeast let down defensively in the closing seconds of a quarter, this time leaving Madison Hagey wide open for a three pointer at the buzzer to turn what had been a 19-15 Northeast lead into a 19-18 score at halftime. Once again, the human tendency to relax in the closing seconds of a quarter cost Northeast.

Thanks to the letdown, all the momentum was with West Nodaway and they threatened to take control, outscoring Northeast 11-4 in the third. Taryn Farnan scored the only four points for Northeast in the period as everything the Rockets threw up in the period was going in. They led 29-23 after three quarters.

But Northeast took advantage of being in the bonus early in the fourth and got back to their strengths, feeding Taryn inside as well as they had all year as Farnan had six points in the period to lead Northeast. Holly Redden added 5 and Kerrigan Adwell two free throws for Northeast. The Bluejays led by as much as 34-31 before West Nodaway fought back to tie with 2:29 left. After both teams missed chances to go ahead, Emily Cordell hit two free throws with 15.3 seconds left to put West Nodaway up 36-34. But Holly Redden hit from the top of the key just inside the 3-point line to send it into overtime.

The game was tied at 38 and 40 in overtime as Taryn had four in the extra period to lead Northeast. Jill Spire, Kerrigan Adwell, and Dallis Coffelt had two each. But Northeast could not buy a stop on defense. The critical moment came when Taryn Farnan was wrestling for an offensive board with a Rocket and the possession arrow pointing towards Northeast with the team trailing 42-40. One official signaled jump ball, but the other one signaled a foul on Taryn and West Nodaway made it three points with 1:42 left. West Nodaway led by as much as 47-42 but then Kerrigan Adwell hit two free throws off a drive with 17.6 seconds left and Northeast got the ball back as Dallis Coffelt knocked it out of bounds off a Rocket with 14 seconds left. But Northeast could not get a 3-pointer off to tie it and Dallis' runner with 4 seconds left that made it 47-46 was too late -- Northeast was out of timeouts and all West Nodaway had to do was hold it since the clock keeps going after a made basket. In college ball, the clock stops in the last two minutes of the game after a made basket.

Parnell Draws Up Plans for New City Hall

Parnell has been in the process of drawing up plans for the new City Hall that will be built after the old one is torn down. It will be built on the site of the old one and will be a similar color to the Fire Department building. It will house 41 people and will be used for meetings and to store records. All of the old records have been removed from the old building. The city received some good news when the DNR inspected the building and found no asbestos. The building had been cleaned of asbestos before the Post Office moved in there many years ago. The city is hoping to have the building demolished by April and is in the process of looking for a contractor who will demolish the old building. The city had sought to do so through grant money before, but the bids to do it came in well over the estimates.

Parnell Boy Scouts Study 1st Aid, Prepare for Spaghetti Supper

Parnell Boy Scout Troop 131 members are studying First Aid, citizenship, and are getting ready for their annual spaghetti supper that will be held in March. It will be held March 16th from 5-8 pm at the Parnell American Legion for a free will donation. Proceeds will go to raise money for camp this year. There were 16 scouts and helpers present at Monday's meeting.

The troop will observe Scout Sunday at the Grant City Baptist Church this Sunday, February 10th, from 10:30. They will have breakfast at the Legion Hall and then travel to Grant City. They will eat a dinner afterwards.

Scouts learned about the difference between rescue breathing and CPR as well as the Heimlich Maneuver. They shared experiences with first aid and described three types of burns. They talked about choking.

Parnell Mayor Virginia Burns shared her duties as Mayor of Parnell and covered her obligations and covered the history of the town briefly. Scouts were given sales kits for ads that they are selling for their fundraising suppers this year. The scouts will not meet this week as they will be having Scout Sunday. They will resume their regular meetings next week.

NEN Junior High Academic Bowl Splits Two Meets

The Northeast Nodaway Junior Academic Bowl team split two meets Monday evening, January 28th. They beat King City while they lost to North Andrew. They are now 4-4 for the year. Members are Vanessa Riley, Dalton Auffert, Andrew Freemyer, Tomas Coalson, Brayden Welch, Zach Nielson, and Amanda Standiford.

Missouri Milk Board Shuts Down Morningland Dairy

On Friday, January 25th, members of the Missouri Milk Board went to Morningland Dairy, based in the Ozarks, and destroyed 36,000 pounds of cheese that they say was not fit for human consumption. On Morningland’s website, owner Joseph Dixon protested the seizure like they have protested government actions throughout the case. The Missouri Milk Board alleges that samples from a lab in California tested positive for both staphylococcus aureus and listeria monocytogenes. The CDC states that Listeriosis is a serious infection usually caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium listeria monocytogenes. Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, diarrhea, and other gastrointestinal symptoms. Infections to pregnant women can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or life-threatening infections of the newborn. Information on the FDA website states that staphylococcal food poisoning is usually rapid and in many cases acute. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, retching, abdominal cramping, and prostration. Recovery can take two days but can be three or more in severe cases. Even a dose of less than 1.0 micrograms in contaminated food can trigger symptoms.
The Missouri Milk Board’s position is that they do not want to take the slightest chance in having such contaminants hit the food supply. However, Morningland Foods says that the government is simply trying to destroy the livelihood of small producers.
Dixon maintains on his website that the cheese that was destroyed was never properly tested and that no contamination was found in either the plant or the milk barn by the FDA. He quoted Executive Secretary Mike Wiseman of the Missouri Milk Board as saying that their cheese was not even fit for dogs to eat. However, contrary to their claims, Dixon said that when Missouri Milk Board representatives came on January 25th to seize the cheese, they used bare hands or cloth gloves to load the cheese and that they did not prevent members of the public who attended from picking up loose samples. “The Missouri Milk Board has finally succeeded in destroying our valuable cheese,” Dixon concluded. “In their haste to do so, the Milk Board has also succeeded in revealing to anyone with intelligence that the cheese posed no real danger. The real danger to the people of Missouri and our nation is the complete lack of integrity of the Missouri Milk Board.”
The seizure was the result of a 2½ year legal battle between Morningland and the Missouri Milk Board. It was appealed through the Howell County Circuit Court and then the Missouri Court of Appeals. In his order siding with the Missouri Milk Board upheld by the Missouri Court of Appeals, Judge David Dunlap provided a summary of legal and situational facts in his order. On and between January and October 2010, Morningland was engaged in the production and sale of artisanal cheeses made from raw cow and goat milk. Defendant’s products were sold in over 100 retail stores throughout the US as well as by direct order to individual customers. As such, Morningland was licensed by the Missouri Milk Board and was covered by its rules. Missouri law states that the board or its agent may condemn any offending product which is offered, exposed for sale, or sold for human food purposes. The board may order the destruction of condemned products.
On August 26th, 2010, the board learned from the State of California that two samples of defendant’s cow milk cheese had tested positive for the bacteria listeria monocytogenes and staphylococcus aureus. The board’s agents then promptly occupied defendant’s facility and condemned all current inventory by installing a placard on the door of its storage room. Soon thereafter, all cheese manufactured by the defendant was recalled.
In an effort to absolve its product and resume business, defendant selected for commercial laboratory testing seven samples each of mature cow and goat cheese awaiting shipment to customers. Unhappily, testing reported six of the seven cow cheese samples positive for l. Monocytogenes and all 14 tested positive for staph aureus. Subsequently, the Milk Board ordered that all cheese in defendant’s inventory be destroyed.
However, Dixon, on his website, says that there were problems with both the tests in question. He said that the 2nd test was cross-contaminated and that the California test involved cheese that was in California for over four months, out of which nobody could account for how it was handled for seven weeks. He said that the California sample was placed in an un-iced cooler and that the State of California had violated its own statutes by not testing the food promptly.
Morningland had been in production for 30 years before the complaint from the State of California. “In our 30 years of Morningland Dairy Production, there have been no complaints or reports of illnesses connected with eating our raw milk cheeses,” said Dixon on his website. “Yet in August of 2010, the FDA and Missouri authorities, using improperly handled and very questionable test results from California, made us recall all cheese sold in 2010, embargoed all our remaining cheese, refused to properly test our cheese, denied us a jury trial, and judged us – without any proof – to have an unsanitary plant and sick animals and ordered us to make unaffordable changes to our plant that are not required according to regulation as well as to do expensive testing of our cheese that is also not required according to regulation and have since badgered us with false accusations and demands for information from our new private membership association, insisting specifically that we include our members’ private information and threatening us with a $100/day fine until we acquiesce to their demands.”

DOT Crews to Begin Brush Cutting in Worth County

The following is a listing of general highway maintenance and construction work in the Northwest Missouri region for the week of Jan. 28 - Feb. 1, from the Missouri Department of Transportation. Weather conditions may cause postponements in planned work schedules. Other construction or maintenance work may occur on other roadways throughout the area. Many projects will include lane closures, and delays can be expected. MoDOT reminds the public to buckle up, slow down, and drive with extreme caution through work zones. For more information about a project, please contact MoDOT at 1-888-ASK-MoDOT (888-275-6636) or visit www.modot.org/northwest/. You can also follow MoDOT's Northwest Missouri District on Twitter @ModotNorthwest and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MoDOTNWDistrict. Gentry County Route CC - Cutting brush, Jan. 28 - Feb. 1 Various routes - Pothole patching, Jan. 28 - Feb. 1 Harrison County Route K - Cutting brush, Jan. 28 - Feb. 1 Route DD - Cutting brush, Jan. 28 - Feb. 1 Various routes - Pothole patching, Jan. 28 - Feb. 1 Nodaway County Various routes - Pothole patching, Jan. 28 - Feb. 1 Worth County Route C - From Route 46 to Route M; cutting brush, Jan. 28 - 29 Route 46 - From U.S. Hwy 169 to Route Z; cutting brush, Jan. 30 - Jan. 31 Various routes - Pothole patching, Jan. 28 - Feb. 1

MoDOT pushes for sales tax increase to rebuild highways

Missouri's Transportation Commission chair has proposed Missouri shoppers pay an additional one cent in their sales taxes for 10 years to fund state highway maintenance and construction.

Rudolph Farber, chair of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, called for more transportation funding Thursday, Jan. 24, during a conference of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce.

The 10-year tax increase would generate an estimated $7.9 billion. Ten percent of that revenue would be used for local transportation needs in cities and counties.

Earlier the same day, Missouri Department of Transportation Director Kevin Keith told senators that interstate updates were vital for Missouri's economy.

"If we're going to win, it's not just tax policy, but it's growth of the economy," Keith said, while testifying on a bill in front of the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

That bill, sponsored by Sen. John Lamping, R-St. Louis County, would increase the state's sales tax by one half percent and dedicate the new revenue for construction and maintenance of Interstate 70.

Missouri Senator proposes stronger laws for parental responsibility with firearms

(MDN News) -- At the same time that Pres. Barack Obama's administration is pushing for tighter restrictions on gun sales, a St. Louis area Democratic Senator is taking another approach -- stronger laws for parental responsibility over firearm access.

Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, D-University City, has proposed a bill that would create an offense for failing to prevent an illegal firearm possession or for the failure to safely store a firearm. The bill would also require a parent or guardian with a child enrolled in a school to notify the school district -- or the governing body of a private or charter school -- that the parent or guardian owns a firearm.

"This bill is very important to me because in urban cities across the nation, we experience gun violence every single day and usually our type of gun violence deals with people who live in high poverty areas (and) areas where there aren't enough resources," Chappelle-Nadal said.

Under the bill, an offense would be a Class A misdemeanor unless death or injury results, making the offense a Class D felony.

Sen. Brian Munzlinger R-Williamstown, who proposed a bill last week that would declare certain federal firearm laws unenforceable, said he believes Chappelle-Nadal's bill is a step above and beyond what would make anyone safer.

Munzlinger, however, believes programs such as the NRA's Eddie Eagle Program should be instituted in schools.

Senate panel looks at slashing of business taxes

(MDN News) -- Republicans in the Missouri Senate are looking to dramatically lower the tax bills of business owners in the state, saying that the actions of surrounding state legislatures could leave Missouri's economy in the dust if lawmakers don't act quickly.

Sens. Eric Schmitt, R-St. Louis County, and Will Kraus, R-Lee's Summit, have each put forth proposals that would cut the state's corporate income tax rates and also allow business owners to deduct part of their business income on their individual tax returns.

Both senators told a Senate tax committee this week that the changes are necessary if Missouri wants to compete with states like Kansas. As of Jan. 1, some business income in Kansas is now exempt from the state's income tax and conservative lawmakers there are now pushing to eliminate the individual income tax altogether.

"The fact of the matter is, we are in a competition among other states," Schmitt said. "We don't operate in a vacuum. We're part of a larger decision-making process for business owners."

Schmitt's measure would cut the corporate tax rate from the current 6.25 percent to 3.125 percent by 2017 and would allow business owners to deduct half of their business income. The proposal from Kraus would allow a 25 percent deduction and would reduce the corporate rate to 3.25 percent by 2017.

A fiscal estimate attached to Schmitt's bill said it could cost the state as much as $200 million in revenue by 2016, while the cost of Kraus' bill was pegged at more than $924 million per year within three years.

Sen. Paul LeVota, D-Independence, said he is worried that taking that much revenue from Missouri's tenuously balanced budget could put vital state services, such as education or road construction, on the chopping block.

"We've seen the Kansas cut and now they can't fund their schools," LeVota said. "We see that we have cut and we've given away a lot of tax credits and now we can't fund our foundation formula. If we dig into tax policy that helps create jobs, which we all want to do, let's make sure that we're still paying for the basic obligations of the state."

Worth County Announces Courtwarming Dressup Days

Worth County is having dress-up days in the days leading up to Courtwarming against Princeton Friday. The following are the days:

Monday -- Crazy Day.
Tuesday -- Stereotype Day.
Wednesday -- Stereotype Day; Seniors -- Nerds, Juniors -- Jocks, Sophomores -- Cowboys and cowgirls, Freshmen -- Rock Stars, 8th Grade -- Hillbillies, 7th Grade -- Hobos.
Thursday -- Dress as your favorite character from any game.
Friday -- Black & Gold Day.

Green stink bug emerging as primary pest

The green stink bug may emerge as a primary rather than secondary pest in the coming growing season, said Wayne Bailey, University of Missouri Extension entomologist.

 

Bailey said increased numbers of green stink bugs might be due to buildup of Bt proteins in corn crops, as well as no-till practices, which allow fields to go undisturbed for long periods, giving insects the opportunity to reproduce in larger numbers.

 

Green stink bugs cause damage in crop fields, orchards, vegetable and flower gardens, and woodlands. The pod-feeding bugs use their piercing mouthparts to draw juices from plants from May until frost. The bug can cause grains of corn to shrivel, but the most damage is done to soybean crops. Generally, damaged plants will be on the edge of a field.

 

The bright green bug is about a half-inch long and has an elongated, shield-shaped body. Adults and nymphs have large stink glands on the underside of the thorax, which they use to discharge large amounts of foul-smelling liquid. Groups of bugs will simultaneously discharge the smelly substance when even one insect is disturbed.

 

Green stink bugs have been found in coastal areas of the eastern United States and recently some have made their way to St. Louis.

 

Another smelly pest, the exotic brown marmorated stink bug, is appearing in in Missouri for the first time, though in low numbers. Dead specimens were found in Columbia in a stored travel trailer from the East Coast.

 

Native to China, the brown marmorated stink bug appeared in the U.S. in 1998 in Allentown, Pa., and is now found in 33 states. It grows to a length of about three-fourths of an inch. The shield-shaped body has alternating black and white triangles on the back edge of its wings. White bands appear on the long antennae and the hind legs. The distinguishing feature is a white underbelly.

 

All stink bugs are difficult to control because they overwinter in homes. Bailey says that if stink bugs discharge their smell indoors, residents may find it necessary to leave their home for several hours.

 

The best way to rid a house of the bugs is to vacuum them and release them outside, although the smell may remain with the vacuum cleaner. Squashing the bugs is not a good idea because that will release their odor.

 

More pesticides are becoming available for use against stink bugs, Bailey said.

 

For more information, see the MU Extension publication “Soybean Pest Management: Stink Bugs” (G7151), available for free download at extension.missouri.edu/g7151.

Tiger Girls Win Streak First Since 2008

Worth County's girls won consecutive games for the first time since 2008 and beat Albany 57-46 despite being shorthanded, playing without Rebecca Moore (bruised hip) and Rikki Hunt (concussion). Albany showed a lot of improvement and did a lot of things that they didn't do in the first meeting between the two teams, but Worth County was able to play through it and get the win. It was also the first time in many years the Tigers scored back to back 50 point efforts.
Worth County scored the first six points of the game off their press. But then Albany began running up and down the floor and breaking the press at will, keeping right up with Worth County. The teams traded buckets for the rest of the quarter, with neither team able to take control. Sydney Thummel scored seven points in the quarter for Worth County as she was able to drive to the basket at will. Kaitlyn Davidson added a putback and an inside shot off an inbounds play while Claire Andrews added a baseline shot and Kristen Andrews got a steal off the press.
The Tigers tried different looks at Albany, but the Warriors continued to get up and down the floor at will, fighting back to tie it at 21 as their outside shots started to fall. Finally, Worth County got some offensive boards to pull away and take control late in the first half, taking a 29-22 lead. They made an adjustment in the second quarter, switching back to the 1-3-1 that they played much of the first part of the year; they were able to bother Albany with that look. Kacey Smyser had six in the period for Worth County and Kaitlyn Davidson had four as the Tigers were able to work their post game as Albany was playing without rebounding machine Morgan Combs. Haven Schottel added three and Claire Andrews one.
The third quarter has been a problem for the Tiger girls this year, but this time they were able to outscore Albany and get it into double digits. Albany began whittling away, cutting the deficit to six off a Kristie Sorenson free throw to make it 33-27. But then Kristen Andrews hit Haven Schottel for a 3-pointer to spark an 8-0 run for the Tigers to make it 41-27. Haven had six points in the quarter; Albany was playing zone and doubling Worth County's post players hard, but that left Worth County's guards open for much of the night. Claire Andrews scored five in the quarter off two backdoor layups and a free throw, Kristen Andrews scored a driving layup, and Kacey Smyser added a free throw.
Frustration began to show for Albany as they picked up an intentional foul as one of their players pushed Sydney Thummel in the back and she made one out of two free throws. The Tigers took full advantage of their free possession as Danielle Funk hit Kaitlyn Davidson backdoor and then Haven Schottel hit a free throw to make it 47-31.
Albany got some new life as Destiny Wilmes got the hot hand for them as they fought back to within 47-36 with 5:38 left. They continued to chip away as Kelsey Sorenson scored off a steal to get it under double digits with five minutes left. But Worth County kept their composure and hit some free throws down the stretch and Albany was not able to get any closer than 9. Haven Schottel had six points in the period, mostly off free throws. Sidney Thummel had four and Kaitlyn Davidson and Kacey Smyser had two each.
Without Rebecca Moore, Worth County had to stay out of foul trouble and they did for the most part and everyone else picked up their offensive production. Haven Schottel led the scoring with 15, a career high for her. Sydney Thummel added 11 and Kaitlyn Davidson had 10; Worth County had three in double figures. Kacey Smyser had 9, Claire Andrews had 8, and Kristen Andrews had 4. The Tigers play their Courtwarming game Friday against Princeton.

Tiger Girls Gain Surprise Win Over Trojans

Worth County's girls gained a surprise 53-35 win over the Nodaway-Holt Trojans last Monday night as they were playing without Megan Rosenbohm (shoulder). The Trojans are still a solid team even without Rosenbohm, but they did not match up well with Worth County as they had trouble all night long breaking their press. Worth County's press worked as well as it has all year, forcing a lot of backcourt turnovers that led to many extra possessions for the Tigers.

The game was tied at 2 and 5, but then Worth County made their run late in the first quarter. Kacey Smyser cut inside, Kristen Andrews got a steal off the press, and then Haven Schottel threw a long outlet to Sydney Thummel, who got it to Rebecca Moore for a layup. Then, Sydney scored off another Kristen steal off the press and Kristen then went coast to coast for a layup as Worth County led 15-5 after one quarter.

Nodaway-Holt finally beat the press and Amanda O'Riley's layup made it 17-8, but then Worth County scored the next eight points. Kacey Smyser got a putback, Haven got a steal off the press, and then Kacey Smyser hit Claire Andrews on the right side for a basket. Haven then hit Claire on the left baseline to put Worth County up 25-8. Krysta Beattie's free throw broke the run and then Kaitlyn Davidson and Kristen Andrews both picked up their second foul as the Trojans cut it to 25-11. But then Rebecca Moore scored off a backdoor cut, Sydney Thummel scored off a Haven Schottel steal, and Haven and Claire hit free throws to push Worth County's lead to 32-11. Claire Andrews' putback with 1:25 left gave Worth County its biggest lead at 35-13 before Darcie Gallagher's banked 3-pointer made it 35-16 and gave Nodaway-Holt some momentum going into the second half.

It was only a matter of time before Nodaway-Holt's run came, and the Trojans made an adjustment by doing a much better job of jumping passes. That threw Worth County's offense out of sync and the Trojans started chipping away, getting back to within 36-25 with 40 seconds left. But Worth County was able to use some long possessions in the period to break the run and Kristen Andrews hit Claire late in the quarter to put Worth County back in front 39-25.

Kristen Andrews scored off a drive to make it 41-25, but then Nodaway-Holt began pushing it up the floor and beating Worth County's press and they got it back down to 11 at 46-35 with 3:34 left. But then Kaitlyn Davidson scored on a fast break as she trailed the break perfectly and Claire got her a pass for a layup to break the Trojans' backs. Sydney Thummel added a free throw and a driving layup and Kristen Andrews scored off a steal to put the game away.

Claire Andrews led the scoring with 12 points for Worth County. Kristen Andrews followed with 9, Rebecca Moore with 8, Sydney Thummel with 7, Haven Schottel and Kacey Smyser with 6, and Kaitlyn Davidson with 5. Haven Schottel had 7 steals, followed by Kristen Andrews with 5.

Bearcat Men Split with Baptist, Central

The Northwest Missouri State men rounded out their long road stretch in January with a split with Southwest Baptist and Central. They beat the purple Bearcats 70-51, but went ice cold from the field and fell to conference leader Central Missouri State 60-50 Saturday afternoon. They are now two games back of Central and must fight their way back if they are to have any chance of making up ground. On the other hand, everyone is capable of beating everyone else in the league and Northwest finishes with six of its last nine regular season games at home.
Against Baptist, they shot 50% as they put together one of their most solid road wins of the year. Grant Cozad’s layup with 14:59 left put Northwest ahead 11-4. Dillon Starzl’s layup and 3-point play with 8:46 left got Northwest into double digits at 23-12. Baptist could not get any closer than 7 for the rest of the half and Matt Wallace’s layup with 16 seconds left gave Northwest its biggest lead of the game so far at 36-24.
Northwest had outscored Baptist 18-6 in the paint, making full use of their front line. They also outscored them 11-0 off turnovers and 17-3 in bench points.
The lead grew to 19 at 46-27 on Kyle Schlake’s jumper off a pass from DeAngelo Hailey. Rasha Brown-Peterson’s 3-pointer cut it to 46-33, but then Northwest went on a 10-1 run to go up 57-34 with 12:03 left as Alex Sullivan’s 3-pointer capped the run.
Baptist got back to within 67-51 with 5:07 left and had a chance to make it closer, but Northwest got a turnover and Bryston Williams’ 3-pointer made it 70-51 with 4:04 left and Northwest ran out the clock from there.
Dillon Starzl led the scoring with 16 points for Northwest. Alex Sullivan had 12 points, Bryston Williams had a season high 11, Grant Cozad came off the bench with 9, DeAngelo Hailey had 7, Kyle Schlake and Conner Crooker had 4 each, Lyle Harris had a 3-pointer, and Tyler Funk and Matt Wallace had 2. Ten different players for Northwest scored in the game. Should they continue that kind of balance, they will be very difficult to guard down the stretch.
But against Central, the Bearcats lost Dillon Starzl (knee) early in the game; whenever any player goes down, it changes the chemistry of the team and it takes time for the players to get back on the same page. Northwest’s post depth was hurt and they were outrebounded by Central in the game.
Nobody led by more than 4 the whole way until Grant Cozad’s layup with 17:11 left in the second half put Northwest up 33-28. But then Central came back and went on a 19-4 run over the next 10 minutes to make it 47-37.
Alex Sullivan hit Grant Cozad inside for a shot and hit a 3-pointer and DeAngelo Hailey hit another to bring Northwest back to within four at 49-45 with 6:22 left. The game stayed around four until 4:23 left, when Northwest could not buy a defensive board and Central took advantage with a 3-pointer that made it 54-47. Northwest missed two layup tries and then Central went up 56-47.

Tough Road Stretch Ends for Bearcat Women

A tough road stretch in which they played nearly every one of their games away from home finally game to an end for the Northwest Missouri State women, who dropped a 76-74 decision at Southwest Baptist and then dropped a 60-52 decision at ranked Central Missouri. They will now play most of their remaining games at home, where they will have a chance to make their move in the conference race.
Against Baptist, Northwest could not complete a comeback from a 13 point deficit. The two teams played evenly during the first half until the purple Bearcats hit four straight 3-pointers midway through the frame to give themselves a lead that they would not relinquish.
By the 11 minute mark of the second half, Northwest had it down to one possession, only to have Baptist answer every bucket that Northwest made as the green Bearcats could not buy a stop when they needed it.
Finally, Northwest got the ball back with 29 seconds left with a chance to tie down 73-71; however, Maggie Marnin turned it over with 11 seconds left and Northwest had to start fouling. Ashleigh Nelson hit a 3-pointer with three seconds left to make it 75-74, but Baptist was able to get it inbounds and hit a free throw with one second left and Northwest did not have time to get it back up the floor to shoot another shot.
Ashleigh Nelson led the scoring with 18 points, followed by Monique Stevens with 14, a career high. Candace Boeh had 12 points, a season high for her as she continued to show life on the offensive end. Annie Matthews had 10 points and five for five from the field. Maggie Marnin and Meridee Scott had 8 and Tember Schechinger had 4. Marnin and Stevens led in rebounding with 5 each. Monique Stevens led with six assists, followed by 4 from Ashleigh Nelson. Annie Matthews, Maggie Marnin, and Meridee Scott each had 3 assists. Ashleigh Nelson and Monique Stevens each had four steals.
Both Northwest and Baptist put up identical shooting numbers, going over 50% from the field at 56.6%. But Baptist made three more 3-pointers, which was the difference in the game. Sometimes, you do all you can to win the game, only to have the other team make everything they throw up.
Against Central, Northwest got off to a hot shooting start, making nearly everything that they threw up in building up a 24-8 lead in the first 12 minutes of the game. But a lead that is built up on hot shooting is not necessarily a safe one; it is only a matter of time before a team cools down. A lead that is built up on defense and rebounding is much safer.
It was only a matter of time before Central’s run came, and they were able to erase most of their deficit by the half, trailing 28-26. The Mules rode the momentum of their strong first half finish into the second half, building a lead of as much as 37-31 before Northwest started chipping away at it and coming back to take the lead at 48-46 on Maggie Marnin’s shot with 10:41 left. The game was tied at 48 and 50 before Northwest missed four chances to either tie or take the lead down two; BreAnna Lewis’ free throws with 2:43 left made it a two possession game for Central and Northwest went scoreless over the last 5:25 in the loss.
The game plan for Northwest coming in was to establish the paint since they are a post-oriented team and Central is a perimeter team. They succeeded in their goal, as they had 30 points in the paint and outscored the Mules 16-6 in the paint in the second half. Unfortunately, they hacked and fouled way too much on defense, fouling 27 times to Central’s 17 times. Consequently, Central outscored Northwest 19-12 at the free throw line.
Both of Northwest’s post players led the scoring for the Bearcats. Maggie Marnin had 14 points for Northwest to lead the scoring. Annie Matthews followed with 10. Ashley Thayer had one of her best games of the year and followed with 8. Monique Stevens and Tember Schechinger had 6 each and Meridee Scott had 5. Ashleigh Nelson had 3.
Northwest outrebounded Central 37-31 for the game. Annie Matthews led the team with 13 boards, followed by Maggie Marnin with 7 and Ashleigh Nelson with 5. Monique Stevens had 8 assists and Ashleigh Nelson had 4. Maggie Marnin had three blocks while Annie Matthews had 3 steals for the Bearcats.
Six out of their next nine games will be at home for Northwest. They will host Northeastern Oklahoma on Thursday, January 31st at 5:30 and then host Emporia State on February 2nd at 1:30. Other home dates are Fort Hayes on February 13th at 5:30, Washburn on February 16th at 1:30, archrival Missouri Western at 5:30 on February 20th, and Truman State on March 2nd at 1:30 for Senior Day.

Worth County's Boys Take Two Losses Tough to Swallow

The two losses that the Worth County boys were tough to swallow in different ways. They played like state champions in building up a double digit lead against 275 title contender Nodaway-Holt, only to see it slip away and fall 68-61 Tuesday. Then, they came out ready to play against GRC contender Albany and gave them everything they could handle in the first quarter in the rivalry game. But then everything fell apart and they were on the short end of a 73-46 running clock loss Friday.

Behind the back to back 30+ point nights from Bryce Ross, Worth County had nothing to be ashamed of against Nodaway-Holt as they gave them everything they could handle before losing. Bryce Ross scored 12 points in the first period against the Trojans as he picked up right where he left off against Braymer, where he had 38 points. He scored off a baseline shot, a fast break and pass from Brevyn, a pair of free throws, a pair of pullups, and a layup off a Cole Parman steal and pass to Brevyn. Cole Parman added six points off two 3-pointers and Brevyn Ross and Truman Moore had two each as Worth County jumped out to a 22-17 lead after one quarter.

Bryce Ross had five more, getting a 3-point play off a backdoor layup and a left wing pullup. Truman Moore added a backdoor layup off a Chris Alarcon offensive board and Cole Parman hit his third 3-pointer of the half. Little-used Ben Badell came off the bench and showed some spark. The highlight of the quarter came late in the period when Bryce and Brevyn were both on the bench and the Tigers continued to put the ball in the basket; Ben Badell hit from the top of the key and Andrew Mullock scored off a couple of steals as Worth County led by as much as 39-26 late in the half.

But it is only a matter of time before a good team like Nodaway-Holt gets untracked and they had a big run, scoring 20 points in the third as they took the lead after three quarters 48-45. They were using their athleticism to get up and down the court and get easy looks. Bryce Ross had all six points in the period for Worth County, cleaning up on a couple of steals and scoring a pullup from the high post.

Back to back shots from Brevyn Ross and a putback from Bryce put Worth County back in front 52-48, but then consecutive baskets from Devin Albertson tied it back up at 52 with 4:23 left. The game was tied at 54, 56, and 58 before Derek Lemon's 3-pointer put Nodaway-Holt in front for good with 1:58 left. Bryce Ross countered with his 31st point from the right side with 1:44 left and Lemon made one out of two free throws with 1:36 left. Grant Parman got an offensive board and drew a foul with 1:17, but only made one out of two free throws. Nodaway-Holt went six for six down the stretch from the line and Worth County had two consecutive bad passes to quash their chances to respond.

Worth County looked like they were ready to go against Albany as they gave them all they could handle in the first quarter. Cole Parman scored 8 points in the period and took a charge on defense; Bryce Ross added a pullup and Brevyn Ross added a putback as Worth County played evenly with Albany after one quarter, 12-12.

Albany scored the first nine points of the second quarter to go up 21-12. Basketball is a game of runs and the object of the game is to weather the other team's runs and play through it. Worth County then played evenly for most of the remainder of the quarter. Brevyn Ross and Truman Moore had 4 each in the period and Bryce Ross scored off a backdoor pass from Brevyn. Cole Parman went into double digits by getting behind the Albany press for a layup. But a missed boxout at the end of the second quarter and a Tyler Lupfer putback for Albany at the buzzer turned out to be a major momentum changer at Albany led 36-24 at the half. The tendency of the human mind is to relax when one's job is almost done and that habit cost Worth County.

Seemingly demoralized by Lupfer's putback at the end of the first half, Worth County put up little resistance as all hell broke loose and Albany hung 26 points on Worth County in the third quarter to build up a 62-36 lead. Worth County reverted to their bad habits of earlier in the year, making crazy passes, not boxing people out, taking wild shots instead of running their offense, and not guarding Albany's shooters. Bryce Ross was one of the few bright spots in the quarter for the Tigers, getting seven in the period. Brevyn Ross and Ben Badell added two each and Grant Parman added one.

More bad shots and crazy passes allowed Albany to continue the layup drill into the fourth quarter and trigger the running clock, building up their lead to as much as 69-36. Worth County got scoring from five different people, but it was not enough. Bryce Ross, Lane Craven, Jared Simmons, Ben Badell, and Will Rennells had two each.

Worth County Fence Law Ambiguities Discussed

The Missouri Fence Law is still generating ambiguities and is still a matter of interpretation. Worth County landowners along with landowners of a few other counties met Thursday to discuss the Fence Law via remote teleconference with Joe Koenen, Ag Business Specialist with University Extension, who is a specialist in the law. But even Koenen would not promise a quick fix given the fact that it is a law that is open to interpretation.

Most of the state, including Nodaway County, is under the New General Fence Law passed last decade. It states that only if  alandowner owns livestock can he or she be required to build a boundary fence. But in Worth and Gentry counties, along with 16 other counties, are under the Local Option Law. This states that if one landowner has a "need" for a boundary fence, then both lanowners are required to contribute 1/2 to the fence. However, even that is subject to interpretation as "need" is a subjective term that can mean different things to different people.

Under the New General Law, if both landowners have livestock, they are to meet and within a "reasonable" time build or repair the boundary fence. There is no specific recourse if one landowner refuses to build their portion of the fence. There is a specific remedy for a landowner who puts livestock against a neighbor's fence later. How well it's working is subject to interpretation, along what "reasonable time" means. The Local Option law has more legal recourse, but there are still a lot of ambiguities. The landowner can give 90 days notice to other neighbors as to their need for a boundary fence and the other landowner is expected to "do this" or face legal action. A specific legal recourse is in place if one landowner refuses to cooperate; however, enforcement depends in large part on the judge. Judges have the authority to have the plaintiff build the fence and assess costs to the defendant if the plaintiff wins their case. However, given the vagueness of the fence laws, Koenen noted that there was no set way for judges to handle such fence cases.

The definition of a legal fence under the New General Law is now "wire or wood at least 4 feet high with posts no more than 12 feet apart." Other fences must be approved by a judge; Koenen noted that what was acceptable varied from judge to judge. If more than a legal fence is required, you are still required to pay for half of a legal fence. The part of the fence to build/maintain is the right half as you face each other at the midpoint of your boundary fence. Under the Local Option Law, "a legal fence is 4 barbed wire or the equivalent with posts no farther than 12 feet apart with no stays and 15 feet apart with one stay." The part of the fence to build or maintain is usually the right half as you face each other; however, as Koenen notes, that is only a tradition in the state. He pointed out that in one county in Missouri, it was the left side. Under the New General Law, it is stated that it is the right half. Landowners only have to pay half the cost of a legal fence; if one landowner wants more than a legal fence, they have to pay the extra costs.

Under both laws, you have the legal right to go onto your neighbor's property to repair your or his portion of the fence. However, you do not have the legal right to remove a fence without your neighbor's permission. You can remove brush or trees that are obstructing the fence. However, you cannot remove trees that are not physically obstructing the fence that are on the neighbor's side of the boundary without their consent. Many lands have adverse possession issues; adverse possession laws state that if a fence has been in a location for more than 10 years, a new owner may not be able to move it if the neighbor refuses. A survey alone does not overturn adverse possession in court; affected owners must use photographic evidence, witnesses, and other evidence to overcome it. Koenen said that one way around this problem would be both landowners agreeing on a clause stating that the fence does not constitute the boundary between the two properties. Another problem that has come up involves dead zones, in which there is a small portion of property that neither neighbor owns. There are other situations in which the neighbors move their fences back so much from their property lines and agree to create a no-man's land between their properties that nobody owns.

Animal trespass issues continue to be a major area of concern in fence laws. Under the New General Law, if livestock get out through your portion of the fence, you can collect actual damages or nothing depending on the condition of the fence. However, under the Local Option Law, if livestock get out through your portion of the fence, you have no legal right to collect damages of any kind. This forces absentee landowners to pay for the upkeep of their side of the fence. Under the New General Law, if livestock get out through the other side of the fence, you can collect actual damages depending on the condition of the fence. However, under the Local Option Law, if the livestock get out through the neighbor's portion of the fence, you can legally repair his part and be reimbursed for your costs of that only. More and more, Koenen noted that insurance companies are looking at the condition of the fence when evaluating insurance claims. Fewer and fewer are paying if the livestock got out on your side in Option counties.

The law is different if livestock get out through a non-boundary fence such as a road (including county dirt roads) or a creek. Under both laws, if they get out through a non-boundary fence, then you can receive double damages and distrain livestock after the first trespass. A creek has to be a navagable stream. One question that came up was if the second case of animal trespass were to happen, say, five years down the road from the first case.

Missouri first passed fence laws in 1867 following the Civil War, and it stood for nearly 100 years. However, in 1963, legislators wanted to increase livestock owner's rights and passed the Local Option. Worth County passed the Local Option last decade. In 2001, Missouri updated the General Law so that it would cover situations that did not exist back in the 1800's. However, there is still a lot that is open to interpretation. One problem, for instance, is the definition of a livestock owner; Koenen noted that he came across a misperception that horse owners are not livestock owners, which they are.

One situation that came up not covered in either fence law was a situation where there were water gaps that were all on one side of the fence. In that case, agreements have to be worked out between the two landowners about a fair division of labor. Fence agreements other than the one that is in force can be done; there is a form that must be filled in order for it to be legal; people can contact Koenen through their local extension office for it.

With no clear solutions that covered every problem, Koenen said that the first step for any landowner should be to talk to the neighbor in order to try and resolve problems. He said that he got calls from out of state landowners all the time confused about the Local Option Law. He said that it was important for affected landowners to talk to neighbors about the law; in the event of land being rented or leased; he said that it was important for renters and lesees to be made aware of the law.

Creston Man Faces Felony Bad Check Charges

A Creston man faces felony bad check charges in Worth County circuit court. Information filed by Prosecuting Attorney David Baird on January 7th alleges that Brian Atteberry of Creston passed three bad checks between November 10th and 11st. The checks that Atteberry allegedly passed were $166.50 to Hy-Vee, $195.19 to Country Corners, and $198.86 to Country Corners all drawn on Wells-Fargo Bank. All three were returned due to insufficient funds. Passing bad checks in Missouri of over $500 is deemed a Class C Felony.

Northwest Medical Center CEO Jon Doolittle Elected as Missouri Health Association’s Northwest District Council President

Northwest Medical Center CEO Jon Doolittle was recently elected as President of the Missouri Hospital Association’s Northwest District Council.  The Missouri Health Association (MHA) is a non-profit membership association that represents all acute care hospitals in Missouri, as well as, most federal and state hospitals, rehabilitation facilities and psychiatric care centers. 

Currently, there are six MHA districts that meet to discuss healthcare policies, activities, and programs.  As president of the northwest district, Mr. Doolittle’s primary responsibilities include presiding over council meetings, as well as, directing input from council members on national, state, and regional health care policies to the MHA Board of Trustees.  He will also help select recipients of MHA’s Excellence in Governance awards, which recognizes hospital board members throughout the state for exceptional health care leadership.      

"I am honored to serve as President of the MHA Northwest District Council.  In that role, I get to work with representatives from other provider organizations to advocate for policies and programs that will allow Missouri communities access to quality healthcare.  Most importantly, I believe that MHA leadership helps generate new ideas and opportunities for continual growth of the already robust care we provide to the people we are privileged to serve.”  --Jon Doolittle, Northwest Medical Center CEO

“We are pleased to have someone with Jon’s experience assume this important leadership role.”Herb B. Kuhn, MHA President and CEO

Doolittle’s one-year term as MHA Northwest District Council President began January 1^st of this year.

To learn more about Northwest Medical Center CEO Jon Doolittle Elected as Missouri Health Association’s Northwest District Council President contact Trisha Kellogg at 660-726-3941 or 970-903-0574 or trisha.kellogg@northwestmedicalcenter.net