Missouri Master Naturalist class offered in St. Joseph

The Loess Hills Chapter for the Missouri Master Naturalist program will offer training sessions for those interested in volunteer service to conservation.

Master Naturalists assist with wildlife and fisheries habitat improvements, guided hikes, special events and educational presentations. The program is a partnership between participants, the Missouri Department of Conservation and the University of Missouri Extension Service.

An informational meeting about becoming a Master Naturalist will be held at 6 p.m. on Jan. 31 at the MDC Northwest Regional Office, 701 James McCarthy Drive on the Missouri Western State University campus in St. Joseph.

To become a certified Master Naturalist, a participant must attend classes, donate 40 hours of approved volunteer service and take eight hours of advanced training within one year. Initial training includes classes in subjects such as ecology, native plants and wildlife.

The Loess Hills Chapter training will be held from 5:30 to 9 p.m. each Tuesday evening starting on Feb. 28 and ending on May 22. The training also includes field trips as well as classroom sessions. There is an initial $100 fee for chapter membership to cover the costs of books and activities.

For more information or to request an application, contact T.J. Peacher at 816-271-3100 or Thomas.peacher@mdc.mo.gov.

Make 2012 Your Year to Save Money

It’s hard to believe another holiday season has come and gone; and a new year begun. According to Dr. Rebecca J. Travnichek, Family Financial Education Specialist with University of Missouri Extension, a new year often brings new resolutions to improve your health and your wealth. The new year also tends to highlight diminished bank accounts and larger than anticipated credit card statements. Are you determined to take care of your finances and save money in 2012? Not sure how to go about changing your financial situation? The website, Publications.USA.gov, has numerous publications to help you KEEP your hard-earned money and become more financially stable is 2012.
Here are four such resources to get you started:
Whether you’re just starting out, or considering retirement, “Money Tips for all Ages” provides great guidance. It is designed to meet you where you currently are in life, be it a teenager learning about income; running your own household in your 30s, 40s, and 50s; or wondering how to best manage your golden years.
Regardless of your age or how much money you have, it’s important to know about your credit report–how to access it, and what it means. “Credit Reporting 101” will guide you through obtaining your free credit report, and making changes, should you find any errors.
Normally, you choose a bank to help keep your money safe and to build savings faster. But make sure you’re alert for hidden fees and penalties, as “Bank Accounts are Changing.” A good place to start looking for costs you can avoid is to find out if there is a limit on the number of checks you may write each month or on debit card transactions.
There are lots of ways to save when using your credit card or getting a bank loan. “51 Ways to Save Hundreds on Loans and Credit Cards” encourages you to set up automatic payments from your checking account to help avoid accidental late fees on a credit card, or to consolidate multiple student loans into one with a lower interest rate.
University of Missouri Extension also has numerous resources and workshops to help you manage your money, save for retirement, recognize scams, identify predatory lending practices, protect your identity, and much more. For more information, contact your local University of Missouri Extension office or email me at TravnichekR@missouri.edu.

Fundraiser Raffle for Lauren Buholt

Quest to Walk, also known as Project Walk, is doing a fundraiser raffle to cover expenses for Lauren Buholt in her quest to walk. First prize is an 8 day 7 night condominium stay in your choice of Florida, Colorado, Las Vegas, Myrtle Beach (SC), Gatlinburn (TN), or Branson (MO). 2nd prize is a Nikon Digital Camera while 3rd prize is a $50 Visa Gift Card. Cost to enter is $10 per ticket with the drawing to be held January 14th, 2012. You need not be present to win. For more information, call Rick Buholt at (660) 937-4135.

Project Walk is a Kansas City-based program which specializes in spinal cord injury recovery. For the past 50 years, everything related to SCI's were based on the principals of coping and living with injuries. However, today, recovery is an option for those wishing to improve the quality of their lives. They guide patients from the time they are released from hospital care until the patient has achieved their goals.

For more information about Project Walk, please visit Project Walk online at http://www.projectwalk-kansascity.org/contact.

Blockton Birthdays & Anniversaries

Birthdays
1 Zachary Hanson
1 Hunter Walters
3 Nina Poore
4 Donald Weaver
7 Kevin Cavin
8 Jimmy Lawrence
8 Ken Smith
9 Maynard Walsh
10 Kenneth Bentley
10 Clancy Brown
12 Mary Schuster
13 Colton Hibbs
14 Marietta Cobb
14 Tyler Henson
16 Anna Laura Brashear Bradfield
16 Yvonne Hilton Hickenlooper
16 Alice Ridge
16 Beth Simmons
18 Troy Dukes
18 Brett Henson
18 Mary Kay Loutzenhiser
18 Lee Pearce
19 David Qualls
22 Callie Cavin
22 Dan King
23 Paulette Clem
23 Jina Jackson
24 Doyle Saville
24 Rick Smith
25 Sandra Loutzenhiser
27 Edgar Meek
29 Donna Melvin
29 April Reid
30 Rhonda Quick

Anniversaries
20 Paul & Francis Smith
24 Donald & Janet Brown
26 David & Judy Henry

Brad Lager's Capitol Report -- Making Missouri Business Friendly

Since the summer of 2008, Missouri has lost more than 80,000 jobs. One of the main reasons many employers have given for cutting Missouri based jobs is the inequities found in Missouri's business climate. The impacts from these erroneous rules, regulations and laws are driving up the cost of doing business in Missouri, and as a result, businesses are closing their Missouri doors and moving to other states.

Unfortunately, our state is not competitive when it comes to job creation. Over the past decade, Missouri’s economy has grown at the third slowest rate in our nation. In 2010, Missouri ranked 48^th out of 50 in job creation. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Missouri’s net growth in employment (month to month) currently ranks 49^th out of the 50 states. This is unacceptable and this trend must change.

The agenda for the upcoming session is comprehensive but clear. We will work to grow our economy and foster good paying jobs in our state. We will work to reduce the excessive regulatory burdens placed upon our small business owners, and we will address the unfair rules and laws that are driving employers out of our state. By reducing the regulatory burdens, increasing the entrepreneurial opportunities, and demanding a fiscally responsible government, we will create an environment that fosters job creation and job expansion.

If Missouri is going to recover from these difficult times, we must stop driving jobs out of our state. We must have a business climate that embraces innovators and entrepreneurs. By growing jobs, we will grow our economy. By growing our economy, we will generate more tax revenue. By generating more revenue we will be able to support our state government’s fundamental responsibilities of educating Missouri’s children, building roads, providing public safety and taking care of our most vulnerable. As elected officials, we must find solutions to these problems, so we can expand Missouri’s business community, create more jobs, and put the Missouri economy on the road to recovery.

As always, please feel free to call, email, or write with your ideas or concerns. The Capitol number is (573) 751-1415, my email is brad.lager@senate.mo.gov and my mailing address is Room 422, State Capitol Building, Jefferson City, MO 65101.

General's 15 First Half Points Lead Bluejay Boys Past Stewartsville

Aaron Patton, aka The General, scored 15 points in the first half to lead Northeast Nodaway's boys past Stewartsville 50-42 to claim the consolation of the boys side of the Platte Valley Conference tournament Thursday. Steve Schulte had a career night with 7 points and there were strong performances from several different people as Northeast held off several Stewartsville charges to win the consolation prize.

Snakebit in the first round, the Bluejay boys shook off the rust enough to hold off Union Star in the consolation semifinals to face Stewartsville in the consolation round. In the first quarter, Patton was the one player on either team to get untracked as he got a 3-pointer, a coast to coast drive, and a free throw; Steve Schulte added a baseline shot as Northeast led 8-4 after one quarter.

Northeast had a problem with hacking and fouling in the first half and it came to roost by the start of the second quarter as some of their people sat on the bench with foul trouble and Stewartsville fought back to tie in the first minute of the second quarter and had a chance to take the lead. But then Aaron Patton got a steal and drive and Northeast went ahead for good, although Stewartsville was never far behind. Patton hit another 3-pointer as Northeast led 14-8 at the 4:46 mark of the second quarter. Patton continued to score as he scored off a fast break and then slipped in for another score and Steve Schulte added a steal as Northeast went back up 20-11.

But the hacking and fouling on defense continued and Tyler Schmitz went to the bench with his third foul as Stewartsville used the line to stay within four at 20-16 at the break. The Bluejays were much more effective with him on the floor even though he was not one of the main scorers; he got several rebounds and made a lot of hustle plays while he was in there.

A bizarre play put Northeast up 27-20 as Stewartsville scored in their own basket instead of Northeast's; it was the second straight night that a Northeast opponent scored in the wrong basket. But then Stewartsville banked consecutive 3-pointers to get back to within two at 30-28 before Jason Henggeler hit from the high post to make it 36-30 at the third quarter buzzer.

Northeast played much smarter basketball in the third quarter as Schmitz avoided his fourth foul and they kept Stewartsville off the line for the most part until late in the game. Schmitz was a big factor at the start of the fourth quarter as he hit from the high post and Henggeler added a free throw to make it 41-33 with 4:35 left. But then Stewartsville went to the half court trap, which succeeded in speeding up Northeast into making some bad decisions on offense and they threw the ball away; on the other end, Stewartsville began lobbing the ball into Justin Burris as they cut the lead to 41-37 with 2:36 left. The Cardinals had a chance to cut it to one possession, but Northeast got the stop and Steve Schulte, left open from the left wing, had nothing but net with 1:30 left to put Northeast back up by seven. Coach Chaim Jenkins said that Steve was a very smart basketball player and that he had the green light to take those shots in that situation.

Justin Saunders converted a 3-point play to make it 44-40 and Tyler Schmitz missed from the right wing for Northeast. There was a heartstopping moment that followed as Northeast got the stop on defense, only to have Kevin Stoll tip the ball into the wrong basket as he was trying to grab the ensuing board to make it 44-42. But then he atoned for his miscue on the other end as he hit two free throws with 33 seconds left to make it a two possession game again. Tyler Schmitz then jumped a pass at the half court line perfectly and got a steal and then Steve Schulte came up big on the other end as he knocked the ball out of the hands of a Stewartsville player into the hands of Stoll following a pair of missed free throws by Northeast and Stoll hit two free throws with 16.7 seconds left to make it 48-42. Stewartsville missed on the other end and then Aaron Patton hit two free throws with 3 seconds left to ice it.

"We cut down on our fouls and we kept the guys out on the floor that we needed to keep," said Coach Jenkins after the game. "We're pretty rusty right now, but we have guys who are smart enough that they can beat everything the other teams throw at us."

Bluejay Girls Use Balanced Attack to Claim Consolation

Northeast Nodaway's girls used a balanced attack to beat Stewartsville 36-23 and claim the consolation trophy of the Platte Valley Conference Tournament Thursday night. Rachel Runde led the scoring with 12 points, followed by Michelle Schulte with 11 and Claudia Wiederholt with 8. Coach Vance Proffitt said that he was pleased with the effort except for the start of the third quarter, when he said that they lowered themselves to the other team's level. However, Northeast recovered from that bad stretch and raised their lead into double digits once again as they pulled away for the win in the fourth quarter.

Northeast shut out an opponent for the second straight game as they led Stewartsville 9-0 after one quarter. Rachel Runde connected from the right baseline to start out with, followed by a 3-pointer from Michelle Schulte. Michelle followed with a putback as the tiny but deadly Schulte girl rebounded well for the night -- six offensive rebounds as she used her tiny frame to her advantage as Stewartsville routinely lost track of her on the boards. Claudia Wiederholt followed with a shot to make it 9-0 after one.

There was a scare at the start of the second quarter as Michelle hurt her knee as she got tangled up with a Stewartsville player and came out of the game. Claudia hit another shot, but then Stewartsville began to came back as they started to lob the ball at will into Ashley Schultz, their big post player. She scored consecutive shots to make it 11-4, but then Michelle came back in and scored off a Claudia steal. Kerrigan Adwell followed with a shot from the right wing off a pass from Michelle and then Claudia Wiederholt got a putback following a steal to make it 17-4 before Schultz scored again to make it 17-6 at the break.

But the difference between Thursday night's game and the DeKalb loss was the fact that Rachel Runde was on the floor for most of the game Thursday night as she avoided the foul trouble that forced her to sit down for long stretches in Monday's loss. Stewartsville rebounded at will and lobbed the ball into the paint at will for the first six minutes of the third quarter as they got to within 21-15. But then Rachel sparked Northeast as she hit a shot from the right wing and then followed with a pair of free throws and a score off a steal and Northeast was never ahead by less than double digits for the rest of the game. Michelle Schulte followed with a steal as Northeast led 29-15 after three quarters. Northeast led by as much as 36-17 in the fourth as Michelle scored off another steal for Northeast.

"We're not going to score 70 points every night, but our defense stepped up and played real well," said Proffitt. "It was fun to watch and we made some great plays when we had to."