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Missouri organist pumps up crowd at St. Louis Blues, Cardinals games

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Jeremy Boyer (Photo courtesy of his Twitter page)

For more than a decade, the upbeat music on the organ during the St. Louis Blues and St. Louis Cardinals home games has been played by a southeast Missouri man. Jeremy Boyer, a native of Potosi, pounds away at the keys to get hockey and baseball fans into the game.

He replaced legendary organist Ernie Hays, who died in 2012.

Boyer says his school teachers helped to plant the musical seed in him.

“I knew that I wanted to be in music,” he says. “Maybe I didn’t know it at the time that I wanted to play the organ professionally, but I knew I wanted to do something in music and that’s where it led to.”

Boyer is getting inducted this month into the Potosi High School Hall of Fame.

Story courtesy of Missourinet affiliate KREI in Farmington

Missouri’s Kennedy Holmes finishes 4th in ‘The Voice’

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An incredible season has come to a close for the youngest contestant on NBC’s “The Voice”. 14-year-old Kennedy Holmes, who hails from the St. Louis suburb of Florissant, placed fourth in the competition that ended Tuesday night. Holmes was the only finalist who is not a country music performer.

Photos courtesy of NBC

Many Missourians have been rooting for the rising star, who has dominated over and over this season in her performances with her enviable strong voice and dance moves. Holmes has showcased her skills by singing hits like Whitney Houston’s “The Greatest Love of All”, Pink’s “What About Us”, Meghan Trainor’s “Me Too”, “This is Me” from the musical “The Greatest Showman” and Beyonce’s “Halo”.

The Missouri singer has been coached this season by her idol – R&B singer Jennifer Hudson. During a duet Monday night between Holmes and Hudson, they floored the crowd by singing “Home” from the 1975 Broadway musical “The Wiz”.

The winner of the contest, Chevel Shepherd of New Mexico, walks away with a $100,000 grand prize and a record deal with Universal Music Group. Shepherd was coached by pop rock singer Kelly Clarkson.

Copyright © 2018 · Missourinet

Project beautifies Missouri Capitol murals showcasing state’s rich history

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Paintings lining the hallways of the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City look vibrant from a newly-completed repair project. Ohio-based nonprofit organization ICA Art Conservation led the restoration of about 55 murals dating back to the 1920s. Senior Paintings Conservator Andrea Chevalier tells Missourinet 76 murals were originally inspected for possible touch ups, but not all needed fixing.

from Thomas Hart Benton’s mural A Social History of the State of Missouri

Repairs included securing cracked and flaky paint, dusting and the removal of pen marks and soda stains.

Dana Rademan Miller, the chairperson of the Capitol Commission, tells Missourinet the restoration project has been going on for a couple of years.

“We knew it had been some time since it has been assessed and we were concerned about the condition of some of the murals,” she says. “We just wanted to ensure that they were in good shape and we that knew there were actually some issues with a few of them that needed to be addressed.”

Rademan Miller says the Commission was prepared for the worst, but happy to find out the artwork was in decent shape.

“This group’s (ICA) approach was less is more, which is a nice philosophy,” she says. “The more you work on an original painting, the more that you clean it and touch it, you risk compromising the paint and the pigment.”

Rademan Miller says a fundraiser paid for the $20,000 cost to assess what work needed to be done and an another $150,000 in state bonding funds was used to fix the murals.

Chevalier says the murals worked on include the massive painting in the House Lounge by Missouri-born artist Thomas Hart Benton.

His controversial 1936 mural “A Social History of the State of Missouri” is like a moving picture with figures leaping off the walls. It captures the state’s rich social history with different scenes that intertwine with the people who built Missouri, slavery, mythology, a political gathering, Huckleberry Finn and Jesse James robbing a bank.

“They are probably the most important considering the artist’s reputation in sort of art history,” says Chevalier.

Benton, who grew up in southwest Missouri’s Neosho, spent two years creating the work of art. The Missouri Legislature commissioned Benton for the $16,000 job.

Copyright © 2018 · Missourinet

One of best meteor showers of the year could be hindered by Missouri clouds tonight

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The annual Geminids meteor shower gets underway tonight. Parts of Missouri are expected to be cloudy tonight, which could impact your viewing.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Dai

Mizzou astronomer Angela Speck says the Geminids gets its name from the constellation called Gemini.

“Gemini is directly opposite where the sun is,” she says. “You can think of it as – it’s rising at sunset and setting at sunrise. That means it’s actually going to be really high and to the south around midnight, which is the time you really want to see.”

Speck says the shooting stars will continue Thursday night, but tonight is the peak show.

“Over the course of an hour, I would expect something like 60 to 100. They’re not coming in like fireworks, and I think that’s something that people often expect. It’s one or two a minute, but it’s going to be clearly visible at one or two a minute,” she says.

Speck suggests getting away from the city lights.

“If you’re going to be going out around midnight and you want to be looking south, then you want to be south of the city that is giving off lots of light so that it’s behind you. That’s somewhat dark, but so you’re not facing towards light – you’re facing away from them,” she says.

No fancy equipment is needed to view the show.

Copyright © 2018 · Missourinet

Popular Missouri destination named one of best fall foliage spots in America

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A USA Today readers poll ranks Lake of the Ozarks second in destinations for fall foliage. Central Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks finished in the polling behind Michigan’s Upper Peninsula but topped eight other destinations, including the Pocono Mountains, Door County in Wisconsin, the White Mountains in New Hampshire, among others.

A scenic overlook at Ha Ha Tonka State Park near Camdenton, MO at the Lake of the Ozarks (PHOTO COURTESY OF LAKE OF THE OZARKS TRI-COUNTY LODGING ASSOCIATION & CONVENTION AND VISITOR BUREAU)

“Every autumn, we have many visitors return to the Lake of the Ozarks area for the changing of the seasons,” says Tim Jacobsen, executive director of the Lake of the Ozarks Convention and Visitor Bureau. “The majority of our fall visitors come from Missouri, but we get a lot from all over the Midwest and the west coast, as well, because they don’t get to experience fall like we do here in Central Missouri. They plan their entire vacations around it. Perhaps with this recognition, we’ll see more visitors from around the country traveling to our beautiful destination to enjoy our stunning scenery.”

The peak of the fall color at the Lake of the Ozarks typically occurs in mid- to late-October, when the trees are at the height of their fall display. The peak season varies from year to year, depending on the weather and can span until early November.

The Lake of the Ozarks has more than 1,100 miles of shoreline, with forests stretching along most of it with vibrant shades of red, orange and yellow in the fall.

Copyright © 2018 · Missourinet

Lieutenant Governor’s program showcases Missouri-made items to buy

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During this first annual Buy Missouri Week underway, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe wants the public to “support our own backyard folks” and purchase Missouri-made goods the state has to offer. He says the Buy Missouri program, which includes about 150 companies both large and small, aims to boost the state’s economy and businesses. They are promoted for free on the website Kehoe’s office runs – BuyMissouri.net – with the hope of getting many more.

Buy Missouri Week is underway

“It’s very exciting. All across Missouri, there’s somebody down some road that nobody even knew about maybe in the community that says ‘Hey did you know they make whatever down that road? They make pontoon boats, they make sausage.’ It’s fascinating to find all those places out,” Kehoe says. “When you buy Missouri-made products, you’re likely helping somebody that you go to church with, that’s on the soccer field with you or the parents of somebody that your kids go to school with.”

It’s not even Halloween yet, but some Missourians are already thinking about the holidays. Kehoe, a Republican from Jefferson City, says the website is a good place to go shopping and find gifts.

“If you want a consumable, outdoor equipment, building supplies, or whatever it is you’re looking for, you can look and find a company that manufactures one of those products and then you might want to consider that as you go out and shop,” Kehoe says.

The list of goods goes on and on. BuyMissouri.net promotes all sorts of items, like automobiles, clothing, tool boxes, food and beauty products, agriculture goods, adult beverages, windows, and various candies.

“Missouri products are everything from GM cars and trucks built in Wentzville, Ford cars and trucks in Kansas City, Quaker windows in Freeburg, which is one of the nation’s largest window manufacturers, all the way down to someone who manufactures charcoal,” he says.

Kehoe says the most unique product he’s encountered is Cherry Mash – a popular sweet treat made for the past 100 years in northwest Missouri’s St. Joseph.

“Most people are familiar with it, have seen it on the shelves, have eaten it, have bought it,” Kehoe chuckles.

Gov. Mike Parson, R, pioneered the Buy Missouri Initiative as lieutenant governor. Kehoe sponsored Senate Bill 891 establishing Buy Missouri Week. It was signed into law having received overwhelming bi-partisan support in both legislative chambers.

To sign up for the program or browse the different products, click here.

Copyright © 2018 · Missourinet

Missouri emergency responders urge hunters to use boating app

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As boats quickly turn to bows for hunting season, Missouri 911 dispatchers want outdoorsman to keep a summertime mobile app installed on their smartphone. Fire Chief Jeff Dorhauer of mid-Missouri’s Osage Beach tells Springfield television KOLR the software called “Raft Up” will help emergency responders find people on land and water.

Missouri emergency responders urge hunters to use boating app (photo/Mo. Dept. of Conservation)

“We expect our Uber to be able to find us quickly and efficiently, we expect pizza delivery to find us quickly and efficiently, but nobody stepped up and said we want our emergency services to find us quickly and efficiently,” he says.

RaftUp was an app originally developed in Arkansas but has already seen widespread use around Lake of the Ozarks.

“It has been a long time coming,” says Linda Clemons, who adopted the tech this past summer in Camden county.

“We have elderly, we have the tourists, and they are used to dealing with their large cities but this is a totally different area,” says Clemons, Assistant 911 Director for Camden County. You can’t just tell us that you are at the Lake of the Ozarks because that doesn’t tell us where you are at.”

The large ring buoy in the program would indicate the app is only for use on the water, but that’s not the case. Camden County Dispatch is urging hunters to keep it installed on their phones year round.

“It can be used if you are traveling and especially on the highways that don’t have intersecting roads or when you are way between mile markers. You can use it anywhere,” explains Clemons.

Camden, Morgan, Miller Counties, and Osage Beach all currently have the technology up and running.

Clemons also says that Camden County now has the ability for text-to-911. While text-to-911 might be great for certain situations, they always prefer voice communications like a phone call.

By Missourinet television partner station KOLR in Springfield

Southwest Missouri college to honor Beetle Bailey cartoonist

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A popular comic strip has its roots in southwest Missouri’s Neosho. Cindy Brown with Crowder College says the creator of Beetle Bailey, Mort Walker, has a connection to Crowder College, which sits on the former Camp Crowder Army base.

Photos courtesy of Beetle Bailey.com

“Mort Walker was actually stationed at Camp Crowder. Camp Swampy was actually named for Camp Crowder. Beetle Bailey evolved from Mort’s time in the Army here,” Brown says.

Walker, who died in January, references the Camp Swampy Army base in the comic strip.

Crowder College will mark the 76th anniversary of Camp Crowder during a free event on Thursday. Brown tells Missourinet affiliate KZRG in Joplin there will be speakers and displays about Walker.

“We found that when we have historical things like this, it’s neat to share them with students in kind of an informal gathering because they get to go around and ask questions and find out thing that they didn’t realize are part of the history of the college,” says Brown.

The event begins at noon at Wright Conference Center at Crowder’s Neosho campus.

Joe Lancello of Missourinet affiliate KZRG in Joplin contributed to this story.

St. Louis divorce attorney says January is known as “Divorce Month”

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The holiday decorations are barely down but many Missourians and others will be getting one more special delivery in the weeks ahead. CEO of Cordell & Cordell Law Firm and St. Louis divorce attorney Scott Trout says January is known worldwide as “Divorce Month”.

Scott Trout (Photo courtesy of Cordell & Cordell Law Firm)

“They get caught up before January and the holidays, pretty light merriment and they believe they can actually make the relationship work. Once the clock strikes midnight on January 1, the real-life problems start piling up again and reality kicks in. They realize it’s not going to work,” says Trout.

He also says fewer people are tying the knot these days.

“We have single people really thinking about whether or not this is something they really want to do, considering the divorce rate is over 51%. It is an effort to make sure you make it through because divorce is something you never want,” says Trout.

January is also known to have a drastic climb in the number of people signing up for dating websites. Many of those registering are married and planning a divorce. Trout recommends to his clients that they lay off social media because posts could turn out to cost them on the witness stand.

“There’s all kinds of material in there. About 52% of divorce attorneys are utilizing social media in their cases in trials. Whether it be posts about bashing your ex, bragging about a job that you claim you don’t have or vacations. There is a treasure trove of information on social media,” he says.

Trout says divorce filings kick in after the holidays and peak in March.

By Karla James of Nebraska Radio Network

MU Chancellor in daily talks on conference realignment

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The Big 12 board of directors is hoping Missouri stays in the conference. Last Friday, the Board of Curators gave MU Chancellor Brady Deaton the power to make decisions regarding conference alignment. Mizzou is considering a move to the SEC. The Chancellor says a lot of work is being done behind the scenes regarding the decision. He says he has had meetings every day on the issue.

Monday’s Big 12 meeting included all 10 current members along with Texas Christian University, which will join next season. The board reportedly discussed television rights during the meeting.

David Gaines at affiliate KFRU contributed to this report.