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First tobacco free campus celebrates five years

July 31, 2008 By

Today marks five years since one Missouri Community College went completely smoke free and since then Ozarks Technical Community College has helped other schools across the state and country become completely tobacco free too.

OTC was the first campus ever to go completely smoke free. Getting all faculty, staff and employees to comply with the policy was a matter of changing the way officials treated violators, said The Center of Excellence for Tobacco-Free Campus Policy director, Ty Patterson.

"Part of the problem with the old approaches that have been taken is this enforcement idea of hammering people," he said. "Our approach has been do not demonize the tobacco user, ever. Do not approach them in a harsh way. Be understanding."

Patterson travels across the country advising campuses on how to become completely tobacco free. OTC also hosts an annual workshop for higher education officials interested in learning how to make their campus tobacco free.

download or listen to Aurora Meyer’s story here.

Filed Under: Human Interest

What do these people really stand for? Some have told us

July 31, 2008 By

Voters looking for the straight stuff on many of the candidates for office in next Tuesday’s primary have a place to look.

Project Vote Smart is a national non-profit organization that collects voting records, tracks campaign contributions, and assembles ratings on many candidates from various special interest groups. A printed "Voter’s Self Defense Manual" is just out. But Project Vote Smart’s web page contains even more information, including information from a Political Courage Test that probes candidates’ positions on numerous issues.

Vote Smart spokesman Brandon Horton says a lot of candidates, however, do a disservice to voters by refusing to reveal their positions.

He says some political parties are telling candidates not to reveal their positions—because information about what they stand for can be used against them.

If you want to see which Missouri candidates are willing to tell you what they stand for, check our Missourinet website for a link to the information on the Project Vote Smart website.

The Project Vote Smart home page is at http://www.votesmart.org/

Download Bob Priddy’s story (:61 mp3)

Filed Under: Politics & Government

Mizzou hoops gets Lee’s Summit recruit

July 31, 2008 By

Michael Dixon,  a 6-foot senior at Lee’s Summit West and the No. 17 rated point guard nationally in the Class of 2009, according to Rivals.com has called Mizzou coach Mike Anderson and said he plans on coming to Missouri. 

Two of Dixon’s AAU teammates, Marcus Denmon and Steve Moore will be freshmen this season at Mizzou.  I’m sure that had something to do with Dixon picking Mizzou over Arizona, Cal, and Purdue, other schools he was considering.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Springfield woman drowns in backyard pool

July 31, 2008 By

An early morning swim turned fatal for a Southwest Missouri woman. Emergency responders went to home in Springfield after a man found his wife in the backyard pool.

Police Lieutenant Jim McCullah said they do not suspect foul play, but an autopsy will be conducted sometime tomorrow to determine the actual cause of death.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous

Springfield police taze man twice

July 31, 2008 By

Springfield police said a man, likely on meth, fought with officers in a bar parking lot. Officer Grant Story said it all started when police pulled over two men for littering. 

Both of the men in the car had warrants. The driver cooperated with police, but the passenger tried to run away. Story said as the man fought with officers, they tased him. After the first tazing, the man told officers he’d play nice, but instead whipped around and yanked the tazer probes out.  That’s when officers tried to taze him a second time, but that taze missed and the man continued fighting. They eventually did gain control.

"However it was after a long struggle and led to a lot of bumps and scrapes on the part of our officers," Story said. "They eventually got him into handcuffs and got his feet shackled so he could no longer kick them and punch them which is what he was doing during the fight." 

Story said officers also found drugs with the men. They are testing it to see if it is meth.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts
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