U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt said today federal funding in the final 2007 appropriations measure will ensure construction on an expanded Neosho National Fish Hatchery Visitors' Center can begin this summer.
"This project is a go," Blunt said after learning that $2.88 million has been assigned by the National Fish and Wildlife Service for fiscal year 2007 to the Neosho project. Blunt, working with Senator Christopher Bond, had secured $1 million for the project in 2005.
"The new visitors' center at the nation's oldest active national fish hatchery is the result of the work of a host of local residents and hatchery supporters," Blunt said. "The new building will accommodate more students and tourism and will enhance the experience of visitors to the Neosho-Diamond area. This funding is a major commitment to educating visitors about the history of the Neosho Hatchery and the natural resources that make it unique in the nation."
Neosho Fish Hatchery Manager David Hendrix said, "This project will benefit the kids, groups and tourism in the four-state area. Right now we do not have the space for tour buses. We have 40,000 visitors a year, most of them children. The new facility, with its added space for exhibits and history of the 119-year-old hatchery, could accommodate 100,000 visitors." The existing visitor center is approximately 400 square feet. The new visitors' center would cover nearly 9,500 square feet.
Founded in 1888, the fish hatchery specializes in breeding endangered species like the blind Ozarks cave fish, and recovery of the pallid sturgeon to the lower Missouri river. The hatchery also produces rainbow trout and walleye in its Neosho spring waters.
Blunt had worked to put the funding for the hatchery expansion into the 2007 appropriation process, but the 109th Congress ended in December without final approval. The added funding was kept in the final 2007 funding bill approved by Congress in February.
Wed, 21 Mar 2007 19:10:00 CDT
Freshman first baseman Ben Carlson went 4-for-4 with two home runs and four runs batted in today, leading Missouri State to a 12-4 baseball victory over Arkansas State in Jonesboro, Ark.
Carlson homered in the first and sixth innings and had a double in the seventh, accounting for three of the Bears' seven extra-base hits. Missouri State (11-8) has won three straight and six of its last seven games.
Jeff Sargent (1-0) pitched 3 1/3 innings of one-run relief to earn the victory.
Missouri State opens Missouri Valley Conference play at 7 p.m. Friday when Northern Iowa visits Hammons Field.
Wed, 21 Mar 2007 19:08:00 CDT
BRANSON - Where To Retire magazine based in Houston, Texas, has profiled Branson as a top retirement spot in its March/April issue on newsstands nationwide March 27.
Editor Mary Lu Abbott said Branson has many features attractive to today's retirees including Ozarks' scenery, a laid-back atmosphere, quality entertainment including nearby lakes and a low cost of living.
There are four seasons, opportunities for volunteering or for a new career, college classes available, shopping malls and hundreds of churches, Abbott said.
The 700,000 retirees who annually move to new towns to retire are generally healthier, better educated and more affluent than retirees who stay put, and relocation brings significant economic benefits to their new locales, she said.
Where To Retire was launched in 1992. The magazine is sold at Barnes and Noble stores or go to www.wheretoretire.com.
Wed, 21 Mar 2007 17:59:00 CDT
TEMPE, Ariz. ? The Arizona Cardinals named Dedric Ward their offensive quality control coach and promoted Mike Miller to wide receivers coach on Wednesday.
Ward, 32, spent last year as the wide receivers coach at Missouri State under Terry Allen. He played receiver for eight seasons with the New York Jets, Miami, Baltimore, New England and Dallas, retiring after the 2004 season.
The 36-year-old Miller replaces Richie Anderson, who was fired March 12, four days after his arrest in a police prostitution sting operation.
Miller, a seven-year NFL assistant, served on new coach Ken Whisenhunt's staff in Pittsburgh from 1999-2003.
Wed, 21 Mar 2007 17:22:00 CDT
A 3-year-old started a fire in his closet with a lighter at 9:15 this morning at a duplex in the 2100 block of West Wall Street, said David Hall, public information officer for the Springfield Fire Department.
Hall said the fire activated the smoke alarm in the building, which alerted the residents to get out. No one was injured.
The structural damage was estimated at $35,000, he said.
Wed, 21 Mar 2007 17:21:00 CDT
A Mexican national pleaded guilty in federal court in Springfield today to transporting illegal immigrants, said Bradley J. Schlozman, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
Jose Tomas Cuautle-Robles, 37, was a passenger in a van stopped by a Missouri Highway Patrol officer on Feb. 11 on Interstate 44 in Lawrence County, Schlozman said. The driver of the van fled the vehicle and escaped on foot, leaving behind 16 passengers, including Cuautle-Robles.
There were four seats in the vehicle with seat belts. The remaining 13 passengers were required to ride while sitting on the floor. Officers also found a urine-filled bottle, food wrappers, trash and empty beverage containers.
Cuautle-Robles told officers that he crossed the border with 14 of the passengers in the vehicle. Several passengers told law enforcement officers that they had paid between $700 and $2,000 to be transported from Arizona to New York, St. Louis and Indianapolis.
Under federal statutes, Cuautle-Robles could be sentenced to a maximum of five years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000, for each of the illegal aliens being transported.
A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.
Wed, 21 Mar 2007 16:57:00 CDT
