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Missing boy found in Current River

July 6, 2009 By

The Missouri Water Patrol reports three people died on Missouri waterways over the holiday weekend.

Ashley Gustafson, age 16, of Hollister, died early this morning after being pulled out of four feet of water at Table Rock Lake Sunday. Gustafson was reportedly swimming with her family when it was discovered she was missing. Her brother, Cody Underwood, found her on the bottom of the lake. She was taken to Skaggs medical center in Branson before being transferred to St. John’s in Springfield. Sources close to the family say Gustafson had a history of suffering from seizures.

Sgt. Jerry Callahan with the Missouri Water Patrol says one man and a juvenile were killed on the Current River in a separate incident when two boats collided.

Josh Burson, 25, and Jerry Mote, 11, both of Poplar Bluff, were killed in that collision, which threw them both overboard. Mote’s body was just found this afternoon about a half mile from where the crash happened. Callahan says his body was found caught in a root wad.

Callahan says alcohol is being considered a contributing factor in the crash.

Callahan says fatalities and accident numbers this year are close to those reported last year. But he says 33 people were arrested for boating while intoxicated, a big drop from the 54 arrested in 2008.

For more details, visit the Missouri Water Patrol’s Web site, where incident reports are listed: www.mswp.dps.mo.gov

Sgt. Jerry Callahan talks about weekend accidents [Download/listen Mp3 - 3 minutes]

Filed Under: Transportation Tagged With: , ,

Seven die in traffic wrecks this Independence Day weekend

July 6, 2009 By

Seven people died over the Independence Day holiday weekend.

That number is the same as last year, but this year the counting period stretched out longer. Since the 4th fell on a Saturday, many businesses gave employees the day off on Friday. The counting period began on Thursday evening and ended at midnight.

State Highway Patrol Captain Tim Hull says troopers worked four of the fatalities, investigating a total of 317 crashes which left 134 people injured. Troopers arrested 149 people for drunk driving offenses. The other fatal crashes were worked by local law enforcement.

Two of those killed in traffic accidents were riding motorcycles. 15-year-old Tyler Wilson of Stewartsville died when he hit a car nearly head-on on a road near Gower in northwest Missouri. 42-year-old Kyle Myers of Liberty died when he ran into a car that turned into his path.

An elderly man riding a motorized wheelchair was killed Sunday. 75-year-old Hayes Walker of Lee’s Summit died when another vehicle ran into his wheelchair.

Pedestrian Ben Schwab, a 42-year-old from St. Robert, was struck and killed by a pickup Sunday while trying to cross Missouri Avenue North in St. Robert.

Three drivers died in traffic wrecks. 30-year-old Melvin Harris of St. Louis died when he lost control of his car. 24-year-old Christopher Harrington of Bismark died when he lost control of his car on a curve. 25-year-old Carl Rick of Wellington died when he lost control of his car. It ran off the right side of the road, drove through the grass median, struck an embankment, drove across the southern outer road, struck another embankment, and overturned, flipping over on its wheels.

 

Filed Under: Transportation Tagged With: ,

Residential fires, fire deaths, on the rise

June 8, 2009 By

The number of residential fires in Missouri is on the rise … a trend that concerns the State Fire Marshal. Fire-related fatalities are also happening more frequently in Missouri than in previous years.

State Fire Marshal Randy Cole says people need to take responsibility for implementing safety precautions in their homes.

“We want to make sure homeowners have safety features in place, make sure they are in working order,” he says. ”We want to make sure they have smoke detectors, that they test them every month and make sure they replace the batteries at least every six months.”

He says next, get a safety plan in place. Families need to agree on a place where everyone can meet outside in the event of a fire, and “once you’re all there, make sure everyone’s accounted for.”

During the winter, house fires can result from people using alternative heating sources, such as fireplaces, especially during times of economic hardship. However, Cole says he sees no indication that the number of fires points to a poor economy right now.

The Department of Public Safety/Fire Marshal’s Office reports there were more than 60 fire fatalities investigated last year; already this year, more than 50 have died in structure fires.


Jessica Machetta reports [Download/listen MP3]

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: ,

Inspections bill expected to ease burden on State Fire Marshal’s Office

June 1, 2009 By

When a fire at the Anderson Guest House killed 11 people in 2006, legislation sought to strengthen fire safety inspection laws for health-care facilities. Follow-upAnderson Guest House.jpg  legislation this year should help ease the burden on two state agencies charged with heading up inspections.

State Fire Marshal Randy Cole says care facilities needed more oversight. He says while the protections in place were good, strengthened inspection rules on sprinkler systems and other protections are a good idea.

However, the mandate added about 1,200 properties to the Fire Marshal’s list of annual inspections. With some extra funding and about seven additional inspectors, Cole says his department was able to take on about half of those.

A formal agreement was drawn up with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services to oversee the other 600 – nursing facilities that have federal oversight by the Center for Medicaid Services.

A bill passed this year codifies that agreement.

The bill still needs Governor Nixon’s signature to become law.

Jessica Machetta reports [Download/listen MP3]

Filed Under: Legislature Tagged With: ,

Common trait shared in fatal traffic crashes

May 27, 2009 By

A common characteristic was shared by most of those who lost their lives in traffic accidents this Memorial Day weekend holiday. They weren’t wearing their safety belts.

Lt. John Hotz with the State Highway Patrol headquarters in Jefferson City says that of the six fatalities state troopers worked, five of those killed weren’t wearing seat belts. Hotz says simply that seat belts save lives, even in a roll-over.

"Several of these crashes involved vehicles that overturned and several of the occupants were ejected from the vehicle," Holtz says, "And we know that once you’re ejected from that vehicle your chances of surviving that crash are not very good."

Seven people died during the Memorial Day holiday weekend, down from the 11 fatalities last year. That continues a trend the highway patrol would like to keep going, a drop in overall traffic fatalities this year.

Troopers were out in force this past weekend, participating in the "Ten Mile Trooper" program, which stations troopers roughly ten miles apart on the interstates and major highways. Trooper visibility, according to Hotz, seems to slow motorists down and focus their attention.

"The increased presence, the increased enforcement, the increased awareness as well as the individual motorist doing the right thing can help continue this downward spiral that we’re seeing in traffic fatalities," Hotz says.

In total, state troopers investigated 348 traffic wrecks during the weekend, which resulted in 157 injuries.

Download/listen Brent Martin reports (1:20 MP3)

Filed Under: Transportation Tagged With: ,
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