Work begins on shared use trail project along Murphy Boulevard

(From the City of Joplin)

Travelers along Murphy Boulevard will soon have another option to go between 20th Street and 4th Street as work begins on a shared use trail project along this route. Completion of the trail is estimated for June 2014.

Citizens suggested increased trail development for pedestrians and cyclists during past City Envisioning Sessions, and more recently during redevelopment discussions following the May 2011 disaster. The Citizens Advisory Recovery Team (CART) included additional walking and biking trails in the city in the action plan for redevelopment in Joplin.

This two-mile trail will consist of a ten-foot concrete path that walkers and bikers may use. It will intersect with existing trails at Campbell Parkway and Landreth Park.

Murphy Boulevard will remain open for the majority of the project. Temporary lane closures will occur to facilitate in the construction of the new trail.

The project costs approximately $399,000 and is partially funded by Community Development Block Grant Disaster Relief fund and partially by the Parks and Stormwater Sales Tax that Joplin voters renewed in August 2011. Emery Sapp & Sons, Inc. is the contractor for the project.

For questions about this project, contact David Hertzberg PE, Project Manager, at 417-624-0820, ext. 506, or the Engineering Department at 417-624-0820 Ext. 530

Drivers are urged to use extreme caution in these areas and are encouraged to utilize alternate routes during this period if possible.

Lane closures at 7th and Maiden Lane beginning Wednesday

(From the City of Joplin)

Beginning Wednesday, March 19, 2014, from 8:30 am until Wednesday, March 26 2014, at 6:00 p.m., there will be various lane closures on Maiden Ln. at the intersection of 7th St. and Maiden Ln. Crews will be working on the City’s overlay project. Drivers are urged to use extreme caution in these areas and will need to utilize alternate routes during this period if possible.

If you have any questions, please call the Engineering Department at 624-0820, ext. 530.

Joplin city council, school board candidate forums to air on KGCS

(From Southern News Service)

KGCS-TV, in cooperation with the Joplin Globe, will present two special programs focusing on candidates in the upcoming April election. “Candidate Connection” will air live on the station and be replayed prior to the election. 

The first program, at 7 p.m. Monday, March 24, will feature candidates for the Joplin Schools Board of Education. Eight candidates are seeking three board seats that are up for election. 

The second program, at 7 p.m. Monday, March 31, will feature candidates for the Joplin City Council. Nine candidates are in that race. Six are seeking the three general seats up for election, two are seeking the zone four position, and zone one is unopposed.

Both programs will be televised live from Corley Auditorium on the campus of Missouri Southern State University. Candidates will face questions from area media professionals and questions submitted by area residents. Judy Stiles, general manager of KGCS, will serve as moderator. The media panel will be made up of reporters and editors from the Joplin Globe and a reporter from KOAM-TV. 

Area residents may submit questions for the candidates at www.facebook.com/joplinglobe or tocstark@joplinglobe.com. They may also be dropped off in writing at the Joplin Globe, attention “Candidate Connection.”

The candidate forums will be produced by KGCS-TV.

“This offers a unique opportunity for our students to gain hands-on experience with live productions,” said Stiles.

KGCS has a long history of covering local government, with live coverage and replays of Joplin City Council meetings and replays of Joplin School Board meetings.

KGCS programming may be seen over the air on digital channel 22 and on regional cable television systems including Cable One, Mediacom and Suddenlink. The station operates as a service of the Department of Communication at Missouri Southern State University.

Agenda for tonight's Joplin City Council meeting

Call to Order

            Invocation

            Pledge of Allegiance                    

2.                  Roll Call

3.                  Presentations

            1. The Joplin First Response Tornado Fund Committee report presented by Chairman Phil             Stinnett          

            2. A proclamation recognizing the second annual Mayors Day of Recognition for National             Service. Shelly Goerz, RSVP Director at The Independent Living Center will accept the             proclamation.  VISTA Director Dale Peterson, with Bright Futures USA and current Joplin             VISTA members may also be present.

Joplin Police Department weekend DWI arrests

The Joplin Police Department arrested the following people over the weekend for driving while intoxicated:

Jimmy Dean Baker, 34, Carl Junction
David Allen Jones, 30, Saginaw
Mark Anthony Krueger, 23, Neosho
Juan Manuel Guzman, 62, Joplin
Kimberly Arnold, 55, Carl Junction
Brian Wayne Mart, 26, Nevada
Kyla Raelene Walnofer, 23, Jasper
Gerald Bruce Freberg, 26, Joplin

25th annual Regional Science Fair set for March 25 at MSSU

(From Southern News Service)

The 25^th annual Missouri Southern Regional Science Fair will be held Tuesday, March 25, in the third floor ballroom of Billingsly Student Center at Missouri Southern State University.

The competition for high school and middle school students is affiliated with the Society for Science and the Public. Individual (not team) projects are accepted from students in the following counties: Vernon, Barton, Jasper, Newton, McDonald, Barry, Lawrence, Cedar and Dade in Missouri; Neosho, Crawford, Montgomery, Labette, Bourbon and Cherokee in Kansas.          

This year’s fair will include entries from 103 students in the junior category (grades 5-8) and 37 in the senior category (grades 9-12) from Bronaugh, Liberal, Seneca, Joplin, Carthage, Carl Junction and Aurora. Categories include behavioral science; cell, molecular and microbiology; chemistry and biochemistry; computer science, engineering and math; Earth and environmental science; human and animal science; physics and astronomy; and plant science.

Closed judging will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with public viewing from 1 to 5 p.m.

Science activities – including sessions on static and current electricity, extraction of DNA from strawberries, performing EMGs and liquid nitrogen ice cream – will be offered from 1 to 3:45 p.m. in Reynolds Hall. Students who attend three activities will have their name placed in a drawing for iTunes gift cards.

An awards ceremony will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. in Webster Hall’s Corley Auditorium.

First-place winners will receive a scholarship to Missouri Southern (graduating high-school seniors in the senior division), or a cash prize (for the junior division and all others in the senior division). Grand prize winners (two senior division and two junior) will also receive cash prizes. The two senior grand prize winners will also receive an all-expense paid trip to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, to be held May 11-16 in Los Angeles, Calif.

Man shot Friday night in central Joplin

A KSN report