A former Savannah
R3 School District employee has pleaded guilty to defrauding the school
district.

Anthony Moon of
Savannah has pleaded guilty to three federal charges, including wire fraud and
stealing from an employee benefit plan.

The United States
Attorney’s office for the Western District of Missouri accused Moon of going
into work afterhours to access blank checks. Federal attorneys say Moon wrote
several checks between January of 2023 to November of that year, stealing a total
of $63,000. Prosecutors say Moon also took money from the school checking
account to make nearly $30,000 in payments to his credit cards to pay for
Kansas City Chiefs tickets, food, gas, and retail purchases.

Moon worked as an
accountant for the Savannah R3 School District from 2018 to 2020, when he took
over Parker &amp; Associates in St. Joseph. Moon continued work for the Savannah
school district as a contractor.

Federal
prosecutors accuse Moon of embezzling a total of more than $92,000 from the
school district.

Moon is also
accused of withholding $21,000 from his employees’ Simple IRA Plan through
Parker &amp; Associates. He also failed to make $8,600 in employer-matching
contributions as required by law.

You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.

By BRENT MARTINSt. Joseph PostA former Savannah
R3 School District employee has pleaded guilty to defrauding the school
district.Anthony Moon of
Savannah has pleaded guilty to three federal charges, including wire fraud and
stealing from an employee benefit plan.The United States
Attorney’s office for the Western District of Missouri accused Moon of going
into work afterhours to access blank checks. Federal attorneys say Moon wrote
several checks between January of 2023 to November of that year, stealing a total
of $63,000. Prosecutors say Moon also took money from the school checking
account to make nearly $30,000 in payments to his credit cards to pay for
Kansas City Chiefs tickets, food, gas, and retail purchases.Moon worked as an
accountant for the Savannah R3 School District from 2018 to 2020, when he took
over Parker &amp; Associates in St. Joseph. Moon continued work for the Savannah
school district as a contractor.Federal
prosecutors accuse Moon of embezzling a total of more than $92,000 from the
school district.Moon is also
accused of withholding $21,000 from his employees’ Simple IRA Plan through
Parker &amp; Associates. He also failed to make $8,600 in employer-matching
contributions as required by law.Moon awaits
sentencing.You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.

Former Savannah school official pleas to defrauding school

Those wanting to get in on the action
during severe weather have an opportunity to learn more at a weather spotter
training class next month in St. Joseph.

Buchanan County Emergency Management
Director Bill Brinton says it’s important to get proper training to warn the
public during severe weather.

“And we do not encourage civilians to go
out and be storm spotters,” Brinton tells host Barry Birr on the KFEQ Hotline.

Buchanan County and St. Joseph city
officials learned that lesson the hard way a few years ago.

“Somebody who identified themself as a
trained storm spotter had called the com center and told them that there was a
tornado down by De Kalb. And so, all the sirens are going off,” Birr says. “There
was no issue; checked with the National Weather Service (which) said there was
absolutely, positively no issue. We just want to make sure that what the public
gets is great information.”

The training seminar had been scheduled
for this evening, but was postponed to early next month due to the winter
storm.

Brinton says the training seminar will be
led by meteorologists from the National Weather Service Office in Pleasant
Hill.

“They bring it down to a level where
everybody can understand. And they take questions. We’ll have people there to
help answer,” Brinton says. “My goal is to just have people come and learn a
little bit about the weather.”

Brinton says the instructors will let those
attending really know what to look for when severe weather rolls in.

“Can we go outside and look at a cloud
and say, hey, that’s a wall cloud or they’re called scud clouds or some kind of
scary cloud or whatever? Do we really know what it’s about? And do we really
know what’s causing this tornado or what’s causing rain and everything?”
Brinton says. “Our goal is to make sure people understand how weather affects
them.”

The 2025 Weather Spotter Training seminar
has been rescheduled for March 10th at Grace Calvary Chapel off FF
in St. Joseph.

It is sponsored by the National Weather
Service, Buchanan County Emergency Management, and the City of St. Joseph
Emergency Management.

By BRENT MARTINSt. Joseph PostThose wanting to get in on the action
during severe weather have an opportunity to learn more at a weather spotter
training class next month in St. Joseph.Buchanan County Emergency Management
Director Bill Brinton says it’s important to get proper training to warn the
public during severe weather.“And we do not encourage civilians to go
out and be storm spotters,” Brinton tells host Barry Birr on the KFEQ Hotline.Buchanan County and St. Joseph city
officials learned that lesson the hard way a few years ago.“Somebody who identified themself as a
trained storm spotter had called the com center and told them that there was a
tornado down by De Kalb. And so, all the sirens are going off,” Birr says. “There
was no issue; checked with the National Weather Service (which) said there was
absolutely, positively no issue. We just want to make sure that what the public
gets is great information.”The training seminar had been scheduled
for this evening, but was postponed to early next month due to the winter
storm.Brinton says the training seminar will be
led by meteorologists from the National Weather Service Office in Pleasant
Hill.“They bring it down to a level where
everybody can understand. And they take questions. We’ll have people there to
help answer,” Brinton says. “My goal is to just have people come and learn a
little bit about the weather.”Brinton says the instructors will let those
attending really know what to look for when severe weather rolls in.“Can we go outside and look at a cloud
and say, hey, that’s a wall cloud or they’re called scud clouds or some kind of
scary cloud or whatever? Do we really know what it’s about? And do we really
know what’s causing this tornado or what’s causing rain and everything?”
Brinton says. “Our goal is to make sure people understand how weather affects
them.”The 2025 Weather Spotter Training seminar
has been rescheduled for March 10th at Grace Calvary Chapel off FF
in St. Joseph.It is sponsored by the National Weather
Service, Buchanan County Emergency Management, and the City of St. Joseph
Emergency Management.You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.

Want to be a weather spotter? Buchanan County offers a training seminar

(Radio Iowa) - Iowa's U.S. Senators -- Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst -- are co-sponsoring a bill to make sure small business owners and farmers don't have to list land and equipment as assets on their child's Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA. 

Grassley says farmers are land and asset rich, but cash poor, with assets tht can't be easily sold to pay for college. After an update in the FAFSA forms, Biden Administration rules for the current school year required parents who owned farmland as an investment to list it as an asset -- but parents who own land they're farming on had to list their land as an asset, too and Ernst says it meant farm kids got less federal aid for college. 

The policy was reversed last year, for the financial aid applications for the 2025-26 school year. The bill Ernst and Grassley are co-sponsoring makes the policy permanent. Grassley says that way a regulation writer in the federal government can't change it back.

(Radio Iowa) - Iowa's U.S. Senators -- Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst -- are co-sponsoring a bill to make sure small business owners and farmers don't have to list land and equipment as assets on their child's Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA. Grassley says farmers are land and asset rich, but cash poor, with assets tht can't be easily sold to pay for college. After an update in the FAFSA forms, Biden Administration rules for the current school year required parents who owned farmland as an investment to list it as an asset -- but parents who own land they're farming on had to list their land as an asset, too and Ernst says it meant farm kids got less federal aid for college. The policy was reversed last year, for the financial aid applications for the 2025-26 school year. The bill Ernst and Grassley are co-sponsoring makes the policy permanent. Grassley says that way a regulation writer in the federal government can't change it back.

Grassley, Ernst push to make farmer-friendly policy in financial aid app permanent

The National Chicken Council urged the Department of Health and Human Services to reject recommendations from the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee emphasizing plant-based proteins over lean meats like chicken. 

Among the recommendations that the NCC took issue with was the emphasis on eating beans, peas, and lentils as optimal protein sources above chicken. There was no specific mention that lean meat, like chicken, can be part of a healthy dietary pattern.

 “We believe these recommendations and omissions are harmful to the human health of all Americans, especially those relying on federal feeding programs,” says Dr. Ashley Peterson, NCC senior vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs. “The committee also provided no scientific fact or justification to support why protein subgroups need to be reordered to deemphasize lean meats, like chicken.”

 NCC also says plant proteins are not nutritionally equivalent at all to animal proteins from a protein quality and quantity standpoint.

The National Chicken Council urged the Department of Health and Human Services to reject recommendations from the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee emphasizing plant-based proteins over lean meats like chicken. Among the recommendations that the NCC took issue with was the emphasis on eating beans, peas, and lentils as optimal protein sources above chicken. There was no specific mention that lean meat, like chicken, can be part of a healthy dietary pattern. “We believe these recommendations and omissions are harmful to the human health of all Americans, especially those relying on federal feeding programs,” says Dr. Ashley Peterson, NCC senior vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs. “The committee also provided no scientific fact or justification to support why protein subgroups need to be reordered to deemphasize lean meats, like chicken.” NCC also says plant proteins are not nutritionally equivalent at all to animal proteins from a protein quality and quantity standpoint.-NAFB

Another agriculture group takes issue with dietary guidelines report

Bitter cold this morning has prompted the cancelation of in-class
school in many districts.

The St. Joseph School District has announced it will hold an AMI day
today, virtual learning, and has canceled in-person classes. The district
advises staff to refer to the Scenario A for their work schedule.

That will do it for the week for the St. Joseph School District. No school
was scheduled for Friday and students are off Monday for President’s
Day. Classes in the St. Joseph School District resume on Tuesday, February 18th.

The St. Joseph Catholic Academy and St. Joseph Christian School have
canceled classes today.

Savannah R3 School officials have scheduled an AMI day today; virtual
learning. All Savannah R3 Schools will be closed Thursday and will follow the
AMI Day schedule. Preschool and elementary students should finish Snow Day
Packet #4. Middle and High School students should access their assignments via
Canvas.

Click <a href="https://www.680kfeq.com/closing/#!/">HERE</a> for a full list of area cancelations.

By BRENT MARTINSt. Joseph PostBitter cold this morning has prompted the cancelation of in-class
school in many districts.The St. Joseph School District has announced it will hold an AMI day
today, virtual learning, and has canceled in-person classes. The district
advises staff to refer to the Scenario A for their work schedule.That will do it for the week for the St. Joseph School District. No school
was scheduled for Friday and students are off Monday for President’s
Day. Classes in the St. Joseph School District resume on Tuesday, February 18th.The St. Joseph Catholic Academy and St. Joseph Christian School have
canceled classes today.Savannah R3 School officials have scheduled an AMI day today; virtual
learning. All Savannah R3 Schools will be closed Thursday and will follow the
AMI Day schedule. Preschool and elementary students should finish Snow Day
Packet #4. Middle and High School students should access their assignments via
Canvas.Click <a href="https://www.680kfeq.com/closing/#!/">HERE</a> for a full list of area cancelations.

Bitter cold prompts area school closings, including St. Joseph public, private schools

IRAQ—&nbsp;Iraqi Security Forces enabled by U.S. forces, conducted precision airstrikes in the vicinity of Kirkuk, Iraq, killing two ISIS operatives on Monday, according to a statement from the U.S. Central Command.

An initial post-strike clearance found the dead ISIS operatives, an explosive suicide belt, explosive material, and components of weapons destroyed in the strike.

"The Iraqi Security Forces-led operation is part of the ongoing Defeat-ISIS campaign to disrupt and degrade ISIS' capabilities, dismantle their attack networks, and ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS. Coalition Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve (CTF-OIR) enabled ISF during the operation by providing technical support and intelligence."

IRAQ—&nbsp;Iraqi Security Forces enabled by U.S. forces, conducted precision airstrikes in the vicinity of Kirkuk, Iraq, killing two ISIS operatives on Monday, according to a statement from the U.S. Central Command.An initial post-strike clearance found the dead ISIS operatives, an explosive suicide belt, explosive material, and components of weapons destroyed in the strike."The Iraqi Security Forces-led operation is part of the ongoing Defeat-ISIS campaign to disrupt and degrade ISIS' capabilities, dismantle their attack networks, and ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS. Coalition Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve (CTF-OIR) enabled ISF during the operation by providing technical support and intelligence."

U.S. forces help with deadly attack on ISIS operatives

KANSAS CITY —The Missouri State Highway Patrol on Wednesday night&nbsp; issued an Amber Alert following an active Amber Alert from Wisconsin.

 Sophia Franklin, 16,&nbsp; was last seen at her residence at 9:00p.m. February 2, according to the Alert.

She is believed to be with Gary F. Day. He was last seen at her residence just before 8a.m. February 3. There is a no contact order for Gary and Sophia. Sophia is 3 months pregnant.

 ﻿ Officials say they believe she is traveling south to Arkansas. ﻿ ﻿ If you see them call police.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1739412488707.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY —The Missouri State Highway Patrol on Wednesday night&nbsp; issued an Amber Alert following an active Amber Alert from Wisconsin. Sophia Franklin, 16,&nbsp; was last seen at her residence at 9:00p.m. February 2, according to the Alert.She is believed to be with Gary F. Day. He was last seen at her residence just before 8a.m. February 3. There is a no contact order for Gary and Sophia. Sophia is 3 months pregnant. ﻿ Officials say they believe she is traveling south to Arkansas. ﻿ ﻿ If you see them call police.

 Amber Alert: Abducted pregnant teen may be traveling through KC

WASHINGTON —The Philadelphia Eagles spoiled the Kansas City Chiefs bid for a three-peat, winning the Super Bowl on Sunday.&nbsp; Now Kansas elected officials who made friendly wagers with colleagues are paying up.

On Sunday, Kansas U.S. Senator Roger Marshall used his social media account to share his wager.&nbsp; "The bet is on - If the Chiefs win, Senator McCormick of Pennsylvania will bring me a Yuengling beer, and Senator Fetterman&nbsp;will have to wear Chiefs gear. 

If the Eagles win, I’ll bring KC BBQ and wear Eagles gear. "

Wednesday morning, Marshall removed his suit jacket on the Senate floor to show he was wearing an Eagles football jersey.&nbsp; The Junior Senator from Kansas did not indicate what Kansas City BBQ he is going to bring to Washington.&nbsp; Marshall is the first taking action to pay up following the championship game.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1739377603921.png" alt="Senator Roger Marshall on the Senate floor Wednesday morning during the vote count&nbsp; to confirm Tulsi Gabbard&nbsp; as director of National Intelligence-image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Senator Roger Marshall on the Senate floor Wednesday morning during the vote count&nbsp; to confirm Tulsi Gabbard&nbsp; as director of National Intelligence-image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON —The Philadelphia Eagles spoiled the Kansas City Chiefs bid for a three-peat, winning the Super Bowl on Sunday.&nbsp; Now Kansas elected officials who made friendly wagers with colleagues are paying up.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">Kansas City Chiefs fan Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) loses bet to Pennsylvania Senators -- shows up on Senate floor wearing Philadelphia Eagles jersey ... <a href="https://t.co/b8u8rK72gH">pic.twitter.com/b8u8rK72gH</a>&mdash; Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) <a href="https://twitter.com/HowardMortman/status/1889734003743191543?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>On Sunday, Kansas U.S. Senator Roger Marshall used his social media account to share his wager.&nbsp; "The bet is on - If the Chiefs win, Senator McCormick of Pennsylvania will bring me a Yuengling beer, and Senator Fetterman&nbsp;will have to wear Chiefs gear. 

If the Eagles win, I’ll bring KC BBQ and wear Eagles gear. "<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">A bet is a bet. <a href="https://twitter.com/SenFettermanPA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenFettermanPA</a> <a href="https://t.co/Zexv7lGkPI">pic.twitter.com/Zexv7lGkPI</a>&mdash; Dr. Roger Marshall (@RogerMarshallMD) <a href="https://twitter.com/RogerMarshallMD/status/1889720550840217915?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Wednesday morning, Marshall removed his suit jacket on the Senate floor to show he was wearing an Eagles football jersey.&nbsp; The Junior Senator from Kansas did not indicate what Kansas City BBQ he is going to bring to Washington.&nbsp; Marshall is the first taking action to pay up following the championship game.

Kan. U.S. Senator lost bet, forced to wear Eagles jersey at work

The World Ag Expo is underway today and runs through Thursday in Tulare, California. 

The World Ag Expo, established in 1968, had more than 100,000 visitors come from 49 states and 81 countries to attend last year’s show. The show is produced by the International Agri-Center, an education-based non-profit organization. New for 2025, there will be a lot of movement on the grounds this year with expanded live demonstrations.

 That movement includes the Western State Beefmasters Breeders Association Live Cattle Auction. World Ag Expo has over 2.6 million square feet of exhibit space, which is the equivalent of 45 football fields. The International Agri-Center owns nearly 700 acres.

 Outside of the show grounds and parking lots, the remaining 400-plus acres get farmed, with crops including cotton and almonds. The World Ag Expo also gives back by providing the opportunity to fundraise by managing more than 30 food booths at the show.

The World Ag Expo is underway today and runs through Thursday in Tulare, California. The World Ag Expo, established in 1968, had more than 100,000 visitors come from 49 states and 81 countries to attend last year’s show. The show is produced by the International Agri-Center, an education-based non-profit organization. New for 2025, there will be a lot of movement on the grounds this year with expanded live demonstrations. That movement includes the Western State Beefmasters Breeders Association Live Cattle Auction. World Ag Expo has over 2.6 million square feet of exhibit space, which is the equivalent of 45 football fields. The International Agri-Center owns nearly 700 acres. Outside of the show grounds and parking lots, the remaining 400-plus acres get farmed, with crops including cotton and almonds. The World Ag Expo also gives back by providing the opportunity to fundraise by managing more than 30 food booths at the show.-NAFB

World Ag Expo underway in California

The USDA’s February World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report says the 2024-2025 U.S. corn supply and use outlook is unchanged from last month.

 The biggest change took place in global corn production, which is forecast to drop 1.8 million tons to 1.492 billion. Foreign corn production is forecast down due to production declines in Brazil and Argentina. The projected season-average farm price is up 10 cents to $4.35 a bushel. 

U.S. soybean supply and use forecasts are also unchanged. Global numbers also took center stage in soybeans, with the global supply forecast to drop because of reduced production in Argentina and Paraguay because of persistent heat and dryness in January. 

The season-average soybean price is projected at $10.10 a bushel, down ten cents. The U.S. wheat supply and demand outlook is for slightly higher domestic use and lower ending stocks. The season-average wheat price is unchanged at $5.55 a bushel.

The USDA’s February World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report says the 2024-2025 U.S. corn supply and use outlook is unchanged from last month. The biggest change took place in global corn production, which is forecast to drop 1.8 million tons to 1.492 billion. Foreign corn production is forecast down due to production declines in Brazil and Argentina. The projected season-average farm price is up 10 cents to $4.35 a bushel. U.S. soybean supply and use forecasts are also unchanged. Global numbers also took center stage in soybeans, with the global supply forecast to drop because of reduced production in Argentina and Paraguay because of persistent heat and dryness in January. The season-average soybean price is projected at $10.10 a bushel, down ten cents. The U.S. wheat supply and demand outlook is for slightly higher domestic use and lower ending stocks. The season-average wheat price is unchanged at $5.55 a bushel.-NAFB

February WASDE neutral for U.S. corn, beans, and wheat

GOP Senator and Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley of Iowa has gotten a deluge of calls on President Trump’s government overhaul effort and insists Trump can’t go around the courts.

“A lot of calls, maybe four or five hundred on this whole process.” 

That’s Senator Grassley on farmers’ concerns over spending freezes and ‘deferred resignation’ buyouts paused by federal judges, but that could still hit farm payments, contracts, and services.

Is President Trump mounting a ‘wholesale’ remaking of the federal government?

“You can’t use that word now. Maybe when this is all done, you can use that word. But remember, for instance, if you want to do away with the Department of Education, you can’t do that without Congress doing it. You can restructure, maybe, within the Department of Education, but you aren’t going to do away with this.”

The Judiciary Chairman says the president can’t ignore the courts, either, despite hints by Vice President Vance that Trump could do so in some instances.  Grassley on one president’s tangle with a Supreme Court Chief Justice.

“Only one other president has said one time. Andrew Jackson said Marshall made a decision, so let Marshall enforce it. I don’t think this president would go that far, and if he did, I would disagree with his going that far.”

But President Trump has in the past and could be expected again to appeal lower court decisions to the Supreme Court.

GOP Senator and Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley of Iowa has gotten a deluge of calls on President Trump’s government overhaul effort and insists Trump can’t go around the courts.“A lot of calls, maybe four or five hundred on this whole process.” That’s Senator Grassley on farmers’ concerns over spending freezes and ‘deferred resignation’ buyouts paused by federal judges, but that could still hit farm payments, contracts, and services.Is President Trump mounting a ‘wholesale’ remaking of the federal government?“You can’t use that word now. Maybe when this is all done, you can use that word. But remember, for instance, if you want to do away with the Department of Education, you can’t do that without Congress doing it. You can restructure, maybe, within the Department of Education, but you aren’t going to do away with this.”The Judiciary Chairman says the president can’t ignore the courts, either, despite hints by Vice President Vance that Trump could do so in some instances. Grassley on one president’s tangle with a Supreme Court Chief Justice.“Only one other president has said one time. Andrew Jackson said Marshall made a decision, so let Marshall enforce it. I don’t think this president would go that far, and if he did, I would disagree with his going that far.”But President Trump has in the past and could be expected again to appeal lower court decisions to the Supreme Court.

 Grassley gets deluge of calls on Trump Government overhaul, insists Trump can’t go around judges

(Radio Iowa) - A subcommittee in the Iowa House has advanced a bill called the "Combating Terrorist Sympathizers Act." 

It calls for suspending, expelling or firing students and employees at Iowa colleges and universities who are here on a student or work visa and express support for terrorist activities or a terrorist organization. They'd likely have to leave the country. 

Representative John Wills, a Republican from Spirit Lake, says it's a response to campus protests against Israel. Last month President Trump said he would cancel visas and deport foreign students who are Hamas sympathizers.

(Radio Iowa) - A subcommittee in the Iowa House has advanced a bill called the "Combating Terrorist Sympathizers Act." It calls for suspending, expelling or firing students and employees at Iowa colleges and universities who are here on a student or work visa and express support for terrorist activities or a terrorist organization. They'd likely have to leave the country. Representative John Wills, a Republican from Spirit Lake, says it's a response to campus protests against Israel. Last month President Trump said he would cancel visas and deport foreign students who are Hamas sympathizers.

Bill targets 'terrorist sympathizers' on Iowa campuses who are visa holders

North Central
Missouri College Savannah Campus Dean, Clarence Green, has been named
Northwest Missouri Citizen of the Year.

Green was
recognized during the Great Northwest Day at the Missouri Capitol earlier this
month.

The special day at
the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City provides leaders from 19 northwest
Missouri counties an opportunity to discuss regional needs with state
lawmakers.

Green, the second
recipient of the honor, was recognized at the Great Northwest Evening Reception
sponsored by Touchstone Energy Cooperative.

Green served
nearly 30 years at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville as police
chief and public safety officer before stepping into the role of interim
university president. After retirement from Northwest, Green began work for
North Central Missouri College.

Green has an
extensive list of honors, including Minority Access National Role Model,
Ingram’s Magazine’s “Top 50 Missourians You Should Know,” Savannah, Mo.,
Chamber Volunteer of the Year, Maryville Missouri Key to the City, Maryville
Missouri Chamber Fred Von Barren Citizen of the Year, Elks Lodge #760 Citizen
of the Year, Phi Beta Sigma Inc. George Washington Carver Humanitarian of the
Year, the Kansas City Northland Chamber Excellence in Higher Education, and the
University of Missouri Extension Leaders Honor Roll.

Clarence received
his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northwest Missouri State University
and his doctoral degree from the University of Missouri. 

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1739377539366.jpeg" alt="Clarence Green (middle) receives the Northwest Missouri Citizen of the Year award at Great Northwest Day at the Missouri Capitol/Photo courtesy of the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce" />
 <figcaption>Clarence Green (middle) receives the Northwest Missouri Citizen of the Year award at Great Northwest Day at the Missouri Capitol/Photo courtesy of the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce</figcaption>
 </figure>By BRENT MARTINSt. Joseph PostNorth Central
Missouri College Savannah Campus Dean, Clarence Green, has been named
Northwest Missouri Citizen of the Year.Green was
recognized during the Great Northwest Day at the Missouri Capitol earlier this
month.The special day at
the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City provides leaders from 19 northwest
Missouri counties an opportunity to discuss regional needs with state
lawmakers.Green, the second
recipient of the honor, was recognized at the Great Northwest Evening Reception
sponsored by Touchstone Energy Cooperative.Green served
nearly 30 years at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville as police
chief and public safety officer before stepping into the role of interim
university president. After retirement from Northwest, Green began work for
North Central Missouri College.Green has an
extensive list of honors, including Minority Access National Role Model,
Ingram’s Magazine’s “Top 50 Missourians You Should Know,” Savannah, Mo.,
Chamber Volunteer of the Year, Maryville Missouri Key to the City, Maryville
Missouri Chamber Fred Von Barren Citizen of the Year, Elks Lodge #760 Citizen
of the Year, Phi Beta Sigma Inc. George Washington Carver Humanitarian of the
Year, the Kansas City Northland Chamber Excellence in Higher Education, and the
University of Missouri Extension Leaders Honor Roll.Clarence received
his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northwest Missouri State University
and his doctoral degree from the University of Missouri. You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.

Green named Northwest Missouri Citizen of the Year

Buck Wehrbein, a Nebraska cattleman, took over the role of NCBA president during CattleCon 2025 in San Antonio, Texas. 

Wehrbein has a 45-year career in the cattle feeding sector, so he brings decades of dedication to the industry and leadership experience to NCBA’s top post. He sees both challenges and opportunities ahead, but he’s confident that NCBA’s unifying presence will remain critical to addressing key issues facing farmers and ranchers. 

He’s particularly passionate about fostering opportunity for the next generation of producers, recognizing their ability to drive innovation and industry progress. 

“They’re ahead of where we were in my time,” he noted. “They understand the issues and are ready to make a difference.”

 Wehrbein’s focus during his time as president is to advocate for profit opportunities while strengthening the freedom to operate. 

“The overarching principle and aim of NCBA is to make things better for our members,” he said.

Buck Wehrbein, a Nebraska cattleman, took over the role of NCBA president during CattleCon 2025 in San Antonio, Texas. Wehrbein has a 45-year career in the cattle feeding sector, so he brings decades of dedication to the industry and leadership experience to NCBA’s top post. He sees both challenges and opportunities ahead, but he’s confident that NCBA’s unifying presence will remain critical to addressing key issues facing farmers and ranchers. He’s particularly passionate about fostering opportunity for the next generation of producers, recognizing their ability to drive innovation and industry progress. “They’re ahead of where we were in my time,” he noted. “They understand the issues and are ready to make a difference.” Wehrbein’s focus during his time as president is to advocate for profit opportunities while strengthening the freedom to operate. “The overarching principle and aim of NCBA is to make things better for our members,” he said.-NAFB

Nebraska cattlemen becomes new NCBA President

At the core of the argument, judges will have to decide whether a transgender boy can be considered male under the state’s human rights act

BY:&nbsp;ANNELISE HANSHAW <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/09/21/missouri-judge-once-again-delays-decision-on-closing-agape-boarding-school/">Missouri Independent</a>

Missouri’s highest court heard arguments Tuesday over whether a school district’s denial of multi-stall bathrooms and locker rooms to a transgender student is a form of sex discrimination.

The case may decide if the Missouri Human Rights Act covers legal sex, such as when a birth certificate is amended after gender transition, or is limited to sex as assigned at birth. The MHRA makes it illegal to deny public accommodations on the basis of sex, among other restrictions.

The case was brought by a former student of the Blue Springs School District, referred to as his initials R.M.A. in court proceedings, who was barred from boys’ bathrooms and locker rooms at his high school.&nbsp;

R.M.A. is transgender and has gotten his birth certificate amended to reflect his identity as a man.

The case has an extensive history, dating back to an original complaint to the Missouri Human Rights Commission in 2014.

The parties have already visited the&nbsp;<a href="https://casetext.com/case/v-blue-springs-r-iv-sch-dist-blue-springs-sch-dist-bd-of-educ-1" target="_blank">Missouri Supreme Court</a>&nbsp;once before, arguing over a trial court’s dismissal of R.M.A.’s petition. The judges ruled that he had a right to a jury trial, and in 2021, a jury in Jackson County Circuit Court awarded R.M.A. over $4 million in damages.

Circuit Court Judge Cory Atkins threw out the jury’s decision after the school district asked for him to overrule it. Atkins found “the verdict to be against the weight of the evidence in that the sole and uncontradicted evidence at trial was the school district made its decisions based on genitalia, not sex.”

R.M.A. is appealing that decision, asking to revert to the jury’s decision. He&nbsp;<a href="https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=55996" target="_blank">argues</a>&nbsp;that being a man with female genitalia is covered under court precedent protecting sex characteristics, citing&nbsp;<a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/490/228/" target="_blank">a 1989 case</a>&nbsp;where a woman was denied a promotion because she was “macho.”

The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=47051" target="_blank">school district sees it differently</a>, saying this argument would mean the MHRA protects transgender status. The Missouri Supreme Court ruling in 2019 acknowledged that R.M.A alleged discrimination on the basis of sex, not transgender status.

Another key difference between the two sides is understanding of R.M.A.’s sex. His doctor testified in prior proceedings that he is a male, as his amended birth certificate reflects. But the school district’s attorney, Mark Katz, said definitions of sex, which look at reproductive organs and chromosomes, would label R.M.A. a female — regardless of his male gender identity.

Missouri Supreme Court Judge Zel Fischer, who wrote the dissenting opinion on the court’s prior ruling favoring R.M.A., asked Tuesday about the distinction.

“Is the element that he is a male, is that a question of fact or question of law?” Fischer asked R.M.A.’s attorney, Alexander Edelman. “What evidence is there that your client is a male?”

Edelman said the only expert testimony in trial court was R.M.A.’s doctor, who said he was a male.

In Edelman’s brief filed before oral arguments, he argues that the MHRA does not explicitly define sex as “biological sex.”

“Even after (the district) was provided with an amended birth certificate stating that (R.M.A.) is male, it failed to stop discriminating against him,” he wrote.

Edelman said the school discriminated against him because he wasn’t a stereotypical boy.

“It’s very clear that the plaintiff’s sex was the reason for this discrimination,” he said to the court. “In that he was a male who was assigned female at birth and so he differed from other males.”

Katz told the court that there has to be a basis for determining who belongs in sex-designated spaces, like bathrooms.

“We have decided as a society that we will not allow girls in the boys’ room and boys in the girls’ room. That’s why you have to prove that you belong in the room,” he said. “In order to be in the boys’ room, you have to be a boy.”

Judge Paul Wilson asked Katz about the sex stereotyping argument.

“His theory is that you have to be a boy but that you don’t have to be the kind of boy (the district) likes,” Wilson said. “It can be a different kind of boy, right?”

Katz said the definition of boy was misconstrued by the other side.

“When it comes to sex, it is our belief that you turn to the dictionary,” he said. “The dictionary refers to biological and reproductive characteristics and traits, and those biological characteristics and traits are what makes a person a particular sex.”

He repeated an argument from the school district’s brief that the school discriminated based on genitalia.

“The school district was going based on anatomy because that was its understanding of what was appropriate and best for its students and protection of students,” Katz said.

Edelman said no one has checked R.M.A. or other students to verify their anatomy. The birth certificate was the distinction, and Blue Springs School District had received a female birth certificate for R.M.A. prior.

If the court rules in R.M.A.’s favor and upholds the jury’s verdict, he would be due the $4 million in punitive damages and $175,000 in compensatory damages. It could also set a precedent for other cases involving transgender students’ use of school facilities.

<h2>At the core of the argument, judges will have to decide whether a transgender boy can be considered male under the state’s human rights act</h2>BY:&nbsp;ANNELISE HANSHAW <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/09/21/missouri-judge-once-again-delays-decision-on-closing-agape-boarding-school/">Missouri Independent</a>Missouri’s highest court heard arguments Tuesday over whether a school district’s denial of multi-stall bathrooms and locker rooms to a transgender student is a form of sex discrimination.The case may decide if the Missouri Human Rights Act covers legal sex, such as when a birth certificate is amended after gender transition, or is limited to sex as assigned at birth. The MHRA makes it illegal to deny public accommodations on the basis of sex, among other restrictions.The case was brought by a former student of the Blue Springs School District, referred to as his initials R.M.A. in court proceedings, who was barred from boys’ bathrooms and locker rooms at his high school.&nbsp;R.M.A. is transgender and has gotten his birth certificate amended to reflect his identity as a man.The case has an extensive history, dating back to an original complaint to the Missouri Human Rights Commission in 2014.The parties have already visited the&nbsp;<a href="https://casetext.com/case/v-blue-springs-r-iv-sch-dist-blue-springs-sch-dist-bd-of-educ-1" target="_blank">Missouri Supreme Court</a>&nbsp;once before, arguing over a trial court’s dismissal of R.M.A.’s petition. The judges ruled that he had a right to a jury trial, and in 2021, a jury in Jackson County Circuit Court awarded R.M.A. over $4 million in damages.Circuit Court Judge Cory Atkins threw out the jury’s decision after the school district asked for him to overrule it. Atkins found “the verdict to be against the weight of the evidence in that the sole and uncontradicted evidence at trial was the school district made its decisions based on genitalia, not sex.”R.M.A. is appealing that decision, asking to revert to the jury’s decision. He&nbsp;<a href="https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=55996" target="_blank">argues</a>&nbsp;that being a man with female genitalia is covered under court precedent protecting sex characteristics, citing&nbsp;<a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/490/228/" target="_blank">a 1989 case</a>&nbsp;where a woman was denied a promotion because she was “macho.”The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=47051" target="_blank">school district sees it differently</a>, saying this argument would mean the MHRA protects transgender status. The Missouri Supreme Court ruling in 2019 acknowledged that R.M.A alleged discrimination on the basis of sex, not transgender status.Another key difference between the two sides is understanding of R.M.A.’s sex. His doctor testified in prior proceedings that he is a male, as his amended birth certificate reflects. But the school district’s attorney, Mark Katz, said definitions of sex, which look at reproductive organs and chromosomes, would label R.M.A. a female — regardless of his male gender identity.Missouri Supreme Court Judge Zel Fischer, who wrote the dissenting opinion on the court’s prior ruling favoring R.M.A., asked Tuesday about the distinction.“Is the element that he is a male, is that a question of fact or question of law?” Fischer asked R.M.A.’s attorney, Alexander Edelman. “What evidence is there that your client is a male?”Edelman said the only expert testimony in trial court was R.M.A.’s doctor, who said he was a male.In Edelman’s brief filed before oral arguments, he argues that the MHRA does not explicitly define sex as “biological sex.”“Even after (the district) was provided with an amended birth certificate stating that (R.M.A.) is male, it failed to stop discriminating against him,” he wrote.Edelman said the school discriminated against him because he wasn’t a stereotypical boy.“It’s very clear that the plaintiff’s sex was the reason for this discrimination,” he said to the court. “In that he was a male who was assigned female at birth and so he differed from other males.”Katz told the court that there has to be a basis for determining who belongs in sex-designated spaces, like bathrooms.“We have decided as a society that we will not allow girls in the boys’ room and boys in the girls’ room. That’s why you have to prove that you belong in the room,” he said. “In order to be in the boys’ room, you have to be a boy.”Judge Paul Wilson asked Katz about the sex stereotyping argument.“His theory is that you have to be a boy but that you don’t have to be the kind of boy (the district) likes,” Wilson said. “It can be a different kind of boy, right?”Katz said the definition of boy was misconstrued by the other side.“When it comes to sex, it is our belief that you turn to the dictionary,” he said. “The dictionary refers to biological and reproductive characteristics and traits, and those biological characteristics and traits are what makes a person a particular sex.”He repeated an argument from the school district’s brief that the school discriminated based on genitalia.“The school district was going based on anatomy because that was its understanding of what was appropriate and best for its students and protection of students,” Katz said.Edelman said no one has checked R.M.A. or other students to verify their anatomy. The birth certificate was the distinction, and Blue Springs School District had received a female birth certificate for R.M.A. prior.If the court rules in R.M.A.’s favor and upholds the jury’s verdict, he would be due the $4 million in punitive damages and $175,000 in compensatory damages. It could also set a precedent for other cases involving transgender students’ use of school facilities.

Mo. Supreme Court hears case on transgender student’s use of school bathrooms

(Radio Iowa) - A Winter Weather Advisory goes into effect at midnight from southwest Iowa into north-central and a Winter Weather Warning for southern and southeast Iowa. 

National Weather Service meterologist Andrew Ansorge says things are setting up for a big snow dump. He says we will see widespread snowfall, and the highest snowfall amounts will be across southern Iowa and northern Missouri where snow amounts of six to eight maybe even nine inches. 

Parts of northern Iowa got snow in the first round last night. Ansorge says round three will come at the end of the week.

(Radio Iowa) - A Winter Weather Advisory goes into effect at midnight from southwest Iowa into north-central and a Winter Weather Warning for southern and southeast Iowa. National Weather Service meterologist Andrew Ansorge says things are setting up for a big snow dump. He says we will see widespread snowfall, and the highest snowfall amounts will be across southern Iowa and northern Missouri where snow amounts of six to eight maybe even nine inches. Parts of northern Iowa got snow in the first round last night. Ansorge says round three will come at the end of the week.

More Snowfall Expected Tonight

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/bramsablesmith/">BRAM SABLE-SMITH</a>&nbsp;AND&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/peggylowe/">PEGGY LOWE</a>&nbsp;

Emily Tavis was on a first date in December when she looked up and realized they were driving past the downtown Kansas City, Missouri, intersection where a bullet ripped through her leg at last year’s Super Bowl victory parade.

“Oh f—,” Tavis said, bewildering her date.

She lives 35 miles away in Leavenworth, Kansas, and hadn’t yet returned to Union Station, where the mass shooting happened. She felt like crying. Or maybe it was a panic attack. She held up a finger signaling to her date that she needed a moment. That’s when it hit him, too.

“Oh crap, I didn’t even realize,” he said, and kept driving in silence.

Tavis sucked in her tears until the station was out of view.

“So anyway,” she said aloud, while thinking to herself, “way to go. Panic attack, first date.”

A year after the Feb. 14 shooting that killed one and injured at least 24 people, the survivors and their families are still reeling. Relationships have strained. Parents are anxious about their children. The generous financial support and well wishes that poured through in early days have now dried up. And they’re ambivalent about the team they all root for; as the Chiefs moved on to another Super Bowl, many wondered why their beloved team hasn’t acknowledged what they have all been going through.

“I can’t believe the Chiefs didn’t do anything for us,” said Jacob Gooch Sr., who was shot in the foot. The team, the owner family’s foundation, and the National Football League gave a combined $200,000 to a fund for survivors, but Gooch said no one from the organization reached out to his family, three members of whom were shot.

What’s happening to these families is far from unusual. Many survivors emotionally freeze as a coping mechanism to avoid fully feeling the trauma they suffered. But with time, survivors experience what therapists call “thawing,” and the intensity of what happened can suddenly overpower them like it did Tavis.

“Trauma pulls us into the past,” said&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-behrman-20322b7/" target="_blank">Gary Behrman</a>, a therapist who published a&nbsp;<a href="https://cretscmhd.psych.ucla.edu/nola/volunteer/EmpiricalStudies/Post-trauma%20intervention%20-%20basic%20tasks.pdf" target="_blank">model of crisis intervention</a>&nbsp;based on his work with witnesses of the 9/11 attacks in New York.

Sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and touches can all trigger flashbacks that shut down the brain like an overloaded circuit breaker. It’s a survival response, Behrman said; the brain is a friend.

The key to recovery is to help survivors find healthy ways to manage those triggers — when they are ready.

Survivors thaw at their own pace. Regaining control after a life-threatening event is a process that can take weeks, months, or years.

It can be hard not to feel forgotten when life carries on around them. As fans rallied around the Chiefs this season, survivors found it hard to watch the games. The Chiefs lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in Sunday’s Super Bowl. Philadelphia will hold its own parade on Friday, exactly one year after the shooting.

“It sucks because everybody else went on,” Jason Barton said. He performed CPR on a man he now thinks was one of the alleged shooters, his wife found a bullet slug in her backpack, and his stepdaughter was burned by sparks from a ricocheted bullet.

“If we were on the other side of that place, we would too,” he said. “It wouldn’t have affected us.”

Tavis isn’t the only survivor to have found herself unintentionally back at Union Station in the year since the shooting. Kids had field trips to Science City, located inside the station. Follow-up doctor visits were often on nearby Hospital Hill. An October dinner organized for survivors by a local faith-based group was less than a mile away, prompting one young survivor to decline the invitation.

Tavis had planned to return to Union Station as part of her healing process. She thought she would go on the one-year mark to have a moment alone to feel whatever emotions swept over her there.

Maybe God was showing her she was ready by placing her back there unexpectedly, her therapist told her. Maybe. But she didn’t feel ready in that moment.

Tavis wanted to see a therapist right after the shooting. But she didn’t seek one out until July, after the local United Way&nbsp;<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/kcstrong-fund-gunshot-victims-2-million-dollars/" target="_blank">distributed financial assistance</a>&nbsp;to survivors and relieved the months-long financial strain of lost work and medical bills incurred by many. Tavis and her partner at the time had&nbsp;<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/super-bowl-parade-shooting-survivors-donations-bills-wait-kansas-city/" target="_blank">taken out</a>&nbsp;an extra credit card to cover expenses while they waited for the promised help.

After two months of visits, her therapist started prepping Tavis for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, a technique to help trauma survivors. She now spends every other session making her way through a spreadsheet of memories from the parade, visualizing and reprocessing them one by one.

She’s nervous as the one-year mark approaches. It’s on Valentine’s Day, and she worries it’ll be depressing.

She decided to invite Gooch, her former partner, to come to Union Station with her that day. Despite everything, he’s the one who understands. They were at the parade together with their son and Jacob’s two older kids. Both Gooch Sr. and his older son, Jacob Gooch Jr., were also shot.

Gooch Sr. hasn’t worked since the parade. His job required standing for 10-hour shifts four days a week, but he couldn’t walk for months after a bullet shattered a bone in his foot and it slowly fused back together. He hoped to go back to work in July. But his foot didn’t heal correctly and he had surgery in August, followed by weeks of recovery.

His short-term disability ran out, as did his health insurance through work. His employer held his job for a while before releasing him in August. He’s applied for other jobs in and around Leavenworth: production, staffing agencies, auto repair. Nothing’s come through.

“We’ve all gone through problems, not just me,” Gooch Sr. said. “I got shot in my foot and haven’t worked for a year. There are people that have been through much worse stuff over the past year.”

He feels good walking now and can run short distances without pain. But he doesn’t know if he’ll ever play football again, a mainstay of his life since he can remember. He played safety for the semiprofessional&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kcreapersfootball.com/" target="_blank">Kansas City Reapers</a>&nbsp;and, before the parade, the 38-year-old was considering making the 2024 season his last as a player.

“A lot more than football has been stolen from me in this last year. Like my whole life has been stolen from me,” Gooch Sr. said. “I really hate that part of it.”

And those emotions are painfully real. Trauma threatens our beliefs about ourselves, said Behrman, the therapist. Every person brings their own history to a traumatic event, a different identity that risks being shattered. The healing work that comes later often involves letting go and building something new.

Recently Gooch Sr. started going to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.faithwalkersoutreach.com/" target="_blank">new church</a>, led by the husband of someone he sang with in a children’s choir growing up. At a Sunday service this month, the pastor spoke about finding a path when you’re lost.

“I’m looking for the path. I’m in the grass right now,” Gooch Sr. said at his home later that evening.

“I’m obviously on a path, but I don’t know where I’m headed.”

Every day before Jason Barton goes to work, he asks his wife, Bridget, if he should stay home with her.

She’s said yes enough that he’s out of paid time off. Jason, who’s survived cancer and a heart attack, had to take unpaid leave in January when a bad case of the flu put him in the hospital. That’s real love, Bridget said with tearful eyes, sitting with Jason and her 14-year-old daughter, Gabriella, in their home in Osawatomie, Kansas.

Bridget has connected with the mother of another girl injured in the shooting. They’ve exchanged texts and voicemails throughout the year. It’s nice to have someone to talk to who gets it, Bridget said. They’re hoping to get the girls together to build a connection as well.

Except for a trip to therapy once a week, Bridget doesn’t leave the house much anymore. It can feel like a prison, she said, but she’s too scared to leave. “It’s my own internal hell,” she said. She keeps thinking about that bullet slug that lodged in her backpack. What if she’d been standing differently? What if they’d left 10 seconds earlier? Would things be different?

A Post-it note in her kitchen reminds her: “I’m safe. Gabriella is safe. I did the best I could.”

She carries a lot of guilt. About Jason staying home. About not leaving the house, even to see her grandkids. About wanting the family to go to the parade in the first place. At the same time, she knows she kind of thrived in the chaos after the shooting, taking charge of her daughter, talking to the police. It’s confusing.

The family has carried the trauma differently. In the six months after the parade, Jason watched reality TV shows that kept him out of his head — 23 seasons of “Deadliest Catch” and 21 seasons of “Gold Rush,” including spinoffs, he estimated. Lately he’s kept his mind occupied with a new hobby: building model cars and planes. He just finished a black 1968 Shelby Mustang, and next is an F4U-4 Corsair plane that Bridget got him.

Gabriella was unfazed about returning to Union Station for a class field trip to Science City, but she was startled when she saw a group of police officers inside the station. Her mom watched her location on her phone and texted her all day.

Gabriella took up boxing after the parade, then switched to wrestling. It had been going well, even felt empowering. But she’s stopped going, and Bridget thinks it’s partly due to the emotion of the anniversary — the first is always the hardest, her therapist said. Gabriella insisted that wrestling was just exhausting her.

Because they weren’t shot, the family didn’t benefit from resources available to other survivors. They understand that other families are recovering from bullet wounds or even mourning a death.

Still, it would be nice to have some acknowledgment of their emotional trauma. Their names have been in the news. You’d think the Chiefs would have at least sent a letter saying, “We’re sorry this happened to you,” Jason said.

Jason proposed to Bridget at a Chiefs game. Now watching games on TV triggers flashbacks.

“I want to be a part of Chiefs Kingdom again,” Bridget said, “but I just can’t. And that is a huge, really lonely feeling.”

‘There is a word called “resilience”’

One evening last October, survivors gathered with their families at a Mexican restaurant in downtown Kansas City.

Some came dressed in their Sunday best, some in red football jerseys. All ages, toddlers to 70-somethings, some from Missouri, some from Kansas. Some spoke only Spanish, some only English. Most of the two dozen people had never met before. But as they talked, they discovered the shooting that binds them also gave them a common language.

Two young boys realized they’d tossed a football during the jubilation before the violence erupted. A woman in her early 70s named Sarai Holguin remembered watching them play on that warm February day. After a blessing and dinner, Holguin, who was shot in the knee and has had four surgeries, stood to address the room.

“I was the first victim taken to the medical tent,” she said in Spanish, her words translated by a relative of another survivor. She saw everything, she explained, as, one by one, more survivors were brought to the tent for treatment, including Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a 43-year-old mother who was killed that day.

Yet in that tragedy, Holguin saw the beauty of people helping one another.

“This showed us that humanity is still alive, that love is still alive. There is a word called ‘resilience,’” Holguin said, the translator stumbling to understand the last word, as people in the audience caught it and shouted it out. “Resilience.”

“This word helps us overcome the problems we face,” Holguin said. “To try to put the tragic moment we all lived behind us and move on, we must remember the beautiful moments.”

This&nbsp;<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/the-injured-kansas-city-chiefs-parade-shooting-survivors-one-year-anniversary-trauma/" target="_blank">article</a>&nbsp;first appeared on&nbsp;<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/" target="_blank">KFF Health News</a>&nbsp;and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us" target="_blank">KFF Health News</a>&nbsp;is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us" target="_blank">KFF</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1739298705005.png" alt="Emily Tavis in Leavenworth, Kansas, on Feb. 2. Tavis has been rebuilding her sense of safety and stability in the year since she was shot in the leg at last year’s Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl celebration (Christopher Smith for KFF Health News)." />
 <figcaption>Emily Tavis in Leavenworth, Kansas, on Feb. 2. Tavis has been rebuilding her sense of safety and stability in the year since she was shot in the leg at last year’s Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl celebration (Christopher Smith for KFF Health News).</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/bramsablesmith/">BRAM SABLE-SMITH</a>&nbsp;AND&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/peggylowe/">PEGGY LOWE</a>&nbsp;Emily Tavis was on a first date in December when she looked up and realized they were driving past the downtown Kansas City, Missouri, intersection where a bullet ripped through her leg at last year’s Super Bowl victory parade.“Oh f—,” Tavis said, bewildering her date.She lives 35 miles away in Leavenworth, Kansas, and hadn’t yet returned to Union Station, where the mass shooting happened. She felt like crying. Or maybe it was a panic attack. She held up a finger signaling to her date that she needed a moment. That’s when it hit him, too.“Oh crap, I didn’t even realize,” he said, and kept driving in silence.Tavis sucked in her tears until the station was out of view.“So anyway,” she said aloud, while thinking to herself, “way to go. Panic attack, first date.”A year after the Feb. 14 shooting that killed one and injured at least 24 people, the survivors and their families are still reeling. Relationships have strained. Parents are anxious about their children. The generous financial support and well wishes that poured through in early days have now dried up. And they’re ambivalent about the team they all root for; as the Chiefs moved on to another Super Bowl, many wondered why their beloved team hasn’t acknowledged what they have all been going through.“I can’t believe the Chiefs didn’t do anything for us,” said Jacob Gooch Sr., who was shot in the foot. The team, the owner family’s foundation, and the National Football League gave a combined $200,000 to a fund for survivors, but Gooch said no one from the organization reached out to his family, three members of whom were shot.What’s happening to these families is far from unusual. Many survivors emotionally freeze as a coping mechanism to avoid fully feeling the trauma they suffered. But with time, survivors experience what therapists call “thawing,” and the intensity of what happened can suddenly overpower them like it did Tavis.“Trauma pulls us into the past,” said&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-behrman-20322b7/" target="_blank">Gary Behrman</a>, a therapist who published a&nbsp;<a href="https://cretscmhd.psych.ucla.edu/nola/volunteer/EmpiricalStudies/Post-trauma%20intervention%20-%20basic%20tasks.pdf" target="_blank">model of crisis intervention</a>&nbsp;based on his work with witnesses of the 9/11 attacks in New York.Sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and touches can all trigger flashbacks that shut down the brain like an overloaded circuit breaker. It’s a survival response, Behrman said; the brain is a friend.The key to recovery is to help survivors find healthy ways to manage those triggers — when they are ready.Survivors thaw at their own pace. Regaining control after a life-threatening event is a process that can take weeks, months, or years.It can be hard not to feel forgotten when life carries on around them. As fans rallied around the Chiefs this season, survivors found it hard to watch the games. The Chiefs lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in Sunday’s Super Bowl. Philadelphia will hold its own parade on Friday, exactly one year after the shooting.“It sucks because everybody else went on,” Jason Barton said. He performed CPR on a man he now thinks was one of the alleged shooters, his wife found a bullet slug in her backpack, and his stepdaughter was burned by sparks from a ricocheted bullet.“If we were on the other side of that place, we would too,” he said. “It wouldn’t have affected us.”<h2>A trip back to Union Station</h2>Tavis isn’t the only survivor to have found herself unintentionally back at Union Station in the year since the shooting. Kids had field trips to Science City, located inside the station. Follow-up doctor visits were often on nearby Hospital Hill. An October dinner organized for survivors by a local faith-based group was less than a mile away, prompting one young survivor to decline the invitation.Tavis had planned to return to Union Station as part of her healing process. She thought she would go on the one-year mark to have a moment alone to feel whatever emotions swept over her there.Maybe God was showing her she was ready by placing her back there unexpectedly, her therapist told her. Maybe. But she didn’t feel ready in that moment.Tavis wanted to see a therapist right after the shooting. But she didn’t seek one out until July, after the local United Way&nbsp;<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/kcstrong-fund-gunshot-victims-2-million-dollars/" target="_blank">distributed financial assistance</a>&nbsp;to survivors and relieved the months-long financial strain of lost work and medical bills incurred by many. Tavis and her partner at the time had&nbsp;<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/super-bowl-parade-shooting-survivors-donations-bills-wait-kansas-city/" target="_blank">taken out</a>&nbsp;an extra credit card to cover expenses while they waited for the promised help.After two months of visits, her therapist started prepping Tavis for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, a technique to help trauma survivors. She now spends every other session making her way through a spreadsheet of memories from the parade, visualizing and reprocessing them one by one.She’s nervous as the one-year mark approaches. It’s on Valentine’s Day, and she worries it’ll be depressing.She decided to invite Gooch, her former partner, to come to Union Station with her that day. Despite everything, he’s the one who understands. They were at the parade together with their son and Jacob’s two older kids. Both Gooch Sr. and his older son, Jacob Gooch Jr., were also shot.<h2>Trauma changes who we are</h2>Gooch Sr. hasn’t worked since the parade. His job required standing for 10-hour shifts four days a week, but he couldn’t walk for months after a bullet shattered a bone in his foot and it slowly fused back together. He hoped to go back to work in July. But his foot didn’t heal correctly and he had surgery in August, followed by weeks of recovery.His short-term disability ran out, as did his health insurance through work. His employer held his job for a while before releasing him in August. He’s applied for other jobs in and around Leavenworth: production, staffing agencies, auto repair. Nothing’s come through.“We’ve all gone through problems, not just me,” Gooch Sr. said. “I got shot in my foot and haven’t worked for a year. There are people that have been through much worse stuff over the past year.”He feels good walking now and can run short distances without pain. But he doesn’t know if he’ll ever play football again, a mainstay of his life since he can remember. He played safety for the semiprofessional&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kcreapersfootball.com/" target="_blank">Kansas City Reapers</a>&nbsp;and, before the parade, the 38-year-old was considering making the 2024 season his last as a player.“A lot more than football has been stolen from me in this last year. Like my whole life has been stolen from me,” Gooch Sr. said. “I really hate that part of it.”And those emotions are painfully real. Trauma threatens our beliefs about ourselves, said Behrman, the therapist. Every person brings their own history to a traumatic event, a different identity that risks being shattered. The healing work that comes later often involves letting go and building something new.Recently Gooch Sr. started going to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.faithwalkersoutreach.com/" target="_blank">new church</a>, led by the husband of someone he sang with in a children’s choir growing up. At a Sunday service this month, the pastor spoke about finding a path when you’re lost.“I’m looking for the path. I’m in the grass right now,” Gooch Sr. said at his home later that evening.“I’m obviously on a path, but I don’t know where I’m headed.”<h2>‘I did the best I could’</h2>Every day before Jason Barton goes to work, he asks his wife, Bridget, if he should stay home with her.She’s said yes enough that he’s out of paid time off. Jason, who’s survived cancer and a heart attack, had to take unpaid leave in January when a bad case of the flu put him in the hospital. That’s real love, Bridget said with tearful eyes, sitting with Jason and her 14-year-old daughter, Gabriella, in their home in Osawatomie, Kansas.Bridget has connected with the mother of another girl injured in the shooting. They’ve exchanged texts and voicemails throughout the year. It’s nice to have someone to talk to who gets it, Bridget said. They’re hoping to get the girls together to build a connection as well.Except for a trip to therapy once a week, Bridget doesn’t leave the house much anymore. It can feel like a prison, she said, but she’s too scared to leave. “It’s my own internal hell,” she said. She keeps thinking about that bullet slug that lodged in her backpack. What if she’d been standing differently? What if they’d left 10 seconds earlier? Would things be different?A Post-it note in her kitchen reminds her: “I’m safe. Gabriella is safe. I did the best I could.”She carries a lot of guilt. About Jason staying home. About not leaving the house, even to see her grandkids. About wanting the family to go to the parade in the first place. At the same time, she knows she kind of thrived in the chaos after the shooting, taking charge of her daughter, talking to the police. It’s confusing.The family has carried the trauma differently. In the six months after the parade, Jason watched reality TV shows that kept him out of his head — 23 seasons of “Deadliest Catch” and 21 seasons of “Gold Rush,” including spinoffs, he estimated. Lately he’s kept his mind occupied with a new hobby: building model cars and planes. He just finished a black 1968 Shelby Mustang, and next is an F4U-4 Corsair plane that Bridget got him.Gabriella was unfazed about returning to Union Station for a class field trip to Science City, but she was startled when she saw a group of police officers inside the station. Her mom watched her location on her phone and texted her all day.Gabriella took up boxing after the parade, then switched to wrestling. It had been going well, even felt empowering. But she’s stopped going, and Bridget thinks it’s partly due to the emotion of the anniversary — the first is always the hardest, her therapist said. Gabriella insisted that wrestling was just exhausting her.Because they weren’t shot, the family didn’t benefit from resources available to other survivors. They understand that other families are recovering from bullet wounds or even mourning a death.Still, it would be nice to have some acknowledgment of their emotional trauma. Their names have been in the news. You’d think the Chiefs would have at least sent a letter saying, “We’re sorry this happened to you,” Jason said.Jason proposed to Bridget at a Chiefs game. Now watching games on TV triggers flashbacks.“I want to be a part of Chiefs Kingdom again,” Bridget said, “but I just can’t. And that is a huge, really lonely feeling.”<h2>‘There is a word called “resilience”’</h2>One evening last October, survivors gathered with their families at a Mexican restaurant in downtown Kansas City.Some came dressed in their Sunday best, some in red football jerseys. All ages, toddlers to 70-somethings, some from Missouri, some from Kansas. Some spoke only Spanish, some only English. Most of the two dozen people had never met before. But as they talked, they discovered the shooting that binds them also gave them a common language.Two young boys realized they’d tossed a football during the jubilation before the violence erupted. A woman in her early 70s named Sarai Holguin remembered watching them play on that warm February day. After a blessing and dinner, Holguin, who was shot in the knee and has had four surgeries, stood to address the room.“I was the first victim taken to the medical tent,” she said in Spanish, her words translated by a relative of another survivor. She saw everything, she explained, as, one by one, more survivors were brought to the tent for treatment, including Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a 43-year-old mother who was killed that day.Yet in that tragedy, Holguin saw the beauty of people helping one another.“This showed us that humanity is still alive, that love is still alive. There is a word called ‘resilience,’” Holguin said, the translator stumbling to understand the last word, as people in the audience caught it and shouted it out. “Resilience.”“This word helps us overcome the problems we face,” Holguin said. “To try to put the tragic moment we all lived behind us and move on, we must remember the beautiful moments.”This&nbsp;<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/the-injured-kansas-city-chiefs-parade-shooting-survivors-one-year-anniversary-trauma/" target="_blank">article</a>&nbsp;first appeared on&nbsp;<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/" target="_blank">KFF Health News</a>&nbsp;and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us" target="_blank">KFF Health News</a>&nbsp;is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us" target="_blank">KFF</a>.

A year after KC Super Bowl parade shooting, trauma freeze gives way to turmoil for survivors

The Missouri Department Transportation is preparing for another winter storm.  

Northwest District Maintenace and Traffic Engineer Greg Bolon says before the storm crews have been out treating the roads with a salt brine 

"All that is is basically liquid salt if you will, the water evaporates and it leaves residual salt crystals on the roadway that way whenever the snow starts falling it will actually react with that salt that's left there and create more brine," Bolon tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post.  "And hopefully it will keep the precip that's falling from bonding to the pavement and that makes it an easier job for cleaning up." 

Bolon says despite last month's major storm; the department is still well prepared with materials.  

However, Bolon points out the difficult part of having storms like this, with another high chance of snow this weekend, it taxes their resources. 

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1739305585310.jpeg" alt="File photo" />
 <figcaption>File photo</figcaption>
 </figure>By MATT PIKE St. Joseph Post The Missouri Department Transportation is preparing for another winter storm. Northwest District Maintenace and Traffic Engineer Greg Bolon says before the storm crews have been out treating the roads with a salt brine "All that is is basically liquid salt if you will, the water evaporates and it leaves residual salt crystals on the roadway that way whenever the snow starts falling it will actually react with that salt that's left there and create more brine," Bolon tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. "And hopefully it will keep the precip that's falling from bonding to the pavement and that makes it an easier job for cleaning up." Bolon says despite last month's major storm; the department is still well prepared with materials. However, Bolon points out the difficult part of having storms like this, with another high chance of snow this weekend, it taxes their resources. "You're working 12 hour shifts back-to-back to back and so that's tough, and it's also hard on the equipment because the employees are working 12-hour days, but the equipment is working 24/7 non-stop," Bolon explains. "And so, you tend to have more minor issues with stuff, windshield wipers need replaced, snowplow blades need replaced, and just when you're running equipment that hard for that long, it takes a toll." Bolon says though unlike last month's this storm seems like it will be more gradual rather than the blinding snow that made for difficult driving conditions. Bolon says after fighting that, some of MoDOT's newer snowplow drivers are geared up for this storm. "I think we kind of got some of our drivers baptized under fire if you will with that last storm, but I think they are trained up and ready to go," Bolon says. "And I would rather see us in the snowplowing than having to fight with sleet, freezing rain, and ice, because those are harder conditions to deal with." Bolon advises drivers to stay inside during the winter storm if they don't have to get out. "But if you are out and you see a MoDOT truck, understand that we're not plowing at 50, 60, 70 miles per hour, that truck is going slow, so you're going to come upon it quicker," Bolon points out. "They're going to be salting behind it or they may be pushing snow, so your visibility probably going to be less around a MoDOT truck that is plowing snow, because wind you may see this snow cloud around it, just give us room." The National Weather Service is projecting five to eight inches of snow to fall tomorrow. A Winter Storm Warning is in effect until 9pm tomorrow night. You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

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