Benjamin Nuzzi is a family man and former active duty United States Marine Corp. Sergeant marksmanship instructor. Nuzzi is no stranger to either weaponry or to having small children under foot. “Many individuals would argue that gun-safety precautions defeat the purpose of having a gun in the first place. Having to first remove, unlock, chamber and fire would take too long, costing precious seconds in a life-threatening situation. And to an extent, that is true. However, you must ask yourself, what is the greater threat to my children’s lives: a weapon present 100 percent of the time or a potential home invasion?”

Here are some of Nuzzi’s tips for gun safety:

• Any weapon not used for a potential home-defense situation should be locked away with ammunition locked away in a separate location. There is no excuse for someone being harmed with a range/sporting weapon.
• Weapons used for home defense, such as pistols, should always be kept out of sight of little eyes. Nuzzi keeps a “false book” hidden under non-descript papers.
• Always use trigger locks. Keep the key where you need it, i.e., in reach of your bed, but never next to the lock.
• Never keep the weapon with a round in the chamber. Pulling the slide on most pistols, thus chambering a round, is too difficult for most children to do. And always keep the weapon on safe.
• Take time to know your weapon. Practice with it and make time for the shooting range. This will reduce the time it takes to engage in a dangerous situation.

Talking to children and teaching them about gun safety is of paramount importance, says Stephanie Himel-Nelson, a navy spouse and the director of communications at Blue Star Families. “We’ve taught our children a bit about guns. If they ever see one, they know they shouldn’t touch it and must immediately find a parent or other adult,” she says. “In addition, we don’t allow toy guns in our home because we want our children to understand that weapons are not toys.”

Nuzzi agrees. “Don’t make gun use taboo,” he says. “Teach your family about firearms and firearm safety. Want to dissuade children from playing with guns? Take them to the range and let them hear one fire. They are loud! Once a child learns that guns are not fun toys, much temptation will be removed.” And so, hopefully, will many gun-related accidents.

Corey Whelan is a freelance writer in New York. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.

The department recently replaced nine pumper trucks, refurbished nine others, and added two new ladder trucks — for a total of five ladder trucks able to reach 125 feet high.

That’s high enough to reach the 8th floor of a high rise fire, Jenkerson said. How to fight a high rise fire has been the subject of ongoing training with other departments.

“We coordinated with Chicago and New York and looked for some of those issues,” Jenkerson said, “That’s been an ongoing discussion for a couple of years now, so I think we’re in a pretty good position for fighting a high rise fire.”

St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson. (KMOX/file photo)

What worries Jenkerson the most is firefighters getting hurt in abandoned building fires where crews have to go in to check for occupants.

“People say, ‘oh, it’s vacant why do you go in there?’ But we have quite a few homeless people at night they seek shelter in these buildings,” Jenkerson said, “We still have to go in and check these buildings. With some of the conditions of some of the older buildings that’s always a concern — somebody making a wrong turn, steps falling through, holes in the floors.”

The Chief says the department also added a 27-foot boat for water rescues, and plans to get a 47-foot fire boat capable of fighting fires on the river in September.

The fire department also manages the city’s ambulance fleet. Jenkerson says they have a dozen ambulances on the streets every day with eight back up ambulances. Most of the city’s ambulances are about for years old and will need to be replaced in a year or so, Jenkerson says.

Copyright KMOX.

Nicholas “Nick” Lunceford was captured after an “intensive manhunt”, according to detectives with the Kirkwood Police Department.

Lunceford and Keenan Miller were being sought in connection with Tuesday’s murder of Brandon Richards during a drug deal gone bad.

OUR EARLIER STORY:
While Kirkwood police continue to look for the man they say gunned down an 18 year old in a home on Pleasant Court, prosecutors have charged a second man in connection with that homicide.

Keenan Miller of Oakland Missouri is charged with Second Degree Murder in the death of Brandon Richards. Officials say Miller was delivering marijuana to the home on Pleasant Court. He is jailed on 100-thousand dollars cash only bond.

It was at that same home where police believe Richards was shot and killed by Nicholas Lunceford. Lunceford is still being sought and is considered armed and dangerous.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

Automobile manufacturers and our government are looking for ways to make the automobile more fuel efficient and less impactful to our environment.

We had Kevin Butt, general manager and chief environment officer of Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America (TEMA), on the show today and he spoke about some of the ways Toyota has improved their operations in relation to the environment. During our conversation, Butt said something that really caught my attention: “The Toyota plant in Kentucky produces zero waste to the landfills.” The plant feeds 7,000 people a day and produces more than 500,000 vehicles a year and through recylcing/reuse programs within the facility, they have found a way reuse all of their waste.

Toyota has long been known for producing energy efficient vehicles, namely the Prius, but this added effort to preserve the environment deserves notice. For more information about Toyota’s environmental efforts, visit Toyota’s website.

We had more than a few enthusiastic listeners call to express their theories about our country’s dependency on traditional fuel sources. 

During the second half of the show we spoke about some of the tax advantages to investing in some of the alternate fuel vehicles and I’ve listed two links below to assist in your research:

• Federal Laws and Incentives
• Toyota Green Innovation

Part 1:

Part 2:

Tune into WAOK 1380′s Daryl Killian Saturdays 10 a.m. to noon on CBS Atlanta’s Listen LIVE. Follow Daryl on Twitter @AutoNSider.

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – It looks like Toyota may have finally figured out a way to make the Avalon, well, cool.

In previous incarnations of Toyota’s take on the big American family car, Toyota put in a lot of functionality, a lot of value and a lot of reliability — and that’s all well and good — but you gotta bring style and soul to the table if you want to go up against the Chrysler 300s and Ford Taurus sedans of the world.

At first drive, Toyota seems to have done a nice job of taking what the Avalon already had and making a much more appealing package out of it, both looks and driving-wise. And I say that motoring around in a hybrid edition of the car.

Outside a more aggressive nose and better designed headlamps, Toyota gave the Av a more muscled up look. A higher rear deck and roofline suggest sports sedan just a bit.

Inside, the Avalon is surprisingly roomy with soft leather seats that give nice support. The interior design is striking with a very nice sweeping line across the dash and nice use of three different colors in the interior. It looks more Lexus than Toyota.

So far it has been both quick and unexpectedly agile, henceforth the driving soul. It seems like a car you want to drive as opposed to one you have to drive.

The model I am driving, the Hybrid XLE Touring model, stickers at $38,270 pretty loaded.

So far the Avalon has been very impressive both inside and on the road.

Get more reviews, news about cars and the people who drive them, interviews and tips on how to get more out of your driving experience all on Drivetime with Vinnie Richichi and Rob Pratte Saturday mornings 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. on NewsRadio 1020 KDKA. Also listen to Vinnie on The Vinnie and Cook Show Monday-Friday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sportsradio 93-7 The Fan.

Connect with Drivetime at Facebook.com/DriveTimeRadioandTV and @dttweet. Follow Vinnie @nyvinnie.

The world’s largest automaker rolled out the 2014 version of America’s top-selling compact Thursday night at a splashy event in Santa Monica, Calif., hoping to shed the old version’s no-frills image and attract new, younger buyers.

The 2014 model, which goes on sale in September, is longer and sits lower, with an athletic look that’s much closer to a sports car than the econobox it replaces. It also gets a new transmission, suspension and interior that Toyota says will make the car quieter and more luxurious, with better handling than the current version. It’s the 11th generation of a car that Toyota has been selling worldwide since 1966.

“It’s a huge car for us. It helped really identify the company and the brand and what we’re all about,” says Bill Fay, group vice president of the Toyota Division in the U.S. “We should appeal to a little younger buyer and broaden out the appeal of the car to more than what it is today.”

The car’s bold design is unusual for Toyota, which in the past made few changes to its cars with each update. But the new version is badly needed. The Corolla, with a reputation for sterling dependability, is still America’s No. 1 compact. But dealers have had to cut its selling price and offer big discounts to compete against sleek new versions of the Honda Civic, Ford Focus, Hyundai Elantra and Chevrolet Cruze.

“They clearly here are saying ‘we’ve got to give the Corolla more personality and more life,’ given the way the competition is,” says Tim Calkins, a marketing professor at Northwestern University. “I certainly understand why they are pushing it here.”

Toyota sold 132,514 Corollas this year through May, beating the No. 2 Civic by 3,500. But the Corolla’s average selling price of $18,464 is the lowest of the five top-selling compacts. It sells for almost $1,600 less than a Civic, according to the TrueCar.com auto pricing site. And Toyota is second only to Ford’s Focus in discounts per car at $2,072.

The Corolla’s looks really haven’t changed much in the past decade, even with an update five years ago. Meanwhile, competitors spent money on leather interiors, touch-screen systems, new transmissions and powerful yet efficient engines for their compacts.

Those rivals now pose a challenge in a segment long ignored by Detroit and dominated by Honda and Toyota. In the past, all it took was a decent, reliable car to gain buyers. But industry analysts say reliability is now easy to come by. Companies have to set themselves apart with style, fuel economy or performance.

Toyota didn’t disclose the new Corolla’s price, or its fuel economy numbers, although it did say an Eco version should get over 40 miles per gallon on the highway. The current version starts around $18,000 with an automatic transmission. Fay says Toyota’s goal is to keep the new version close to that price.

As customers see the value of the updated version, Toyota expects transaction prices to rise, with an uptick in sales predicted for early next year, Fay says.

The new version will certainly get better gas mileage. The current car falls near the back of the class with an estimated 34 mpg on the highway, due in part to an outdated four-speed automatic transmission. The Civic, Corolla’s closest competitor, gets an estimated 39 mpg on the highway with its five-speed transmission. With more gears, engines generally don’t have to work as hard at freeway speeds.

Toyota is offering two engines in the latest version, a 1.8-liter, 132 horsepower four-cylinder that carries over from the current model, and the same engine with new valve technology that adds eight horsepower to reach 140. The newer engine comes only on the Eco version.

The base engine is less powerful than the Corolla’s main competitors. The Civic has 140 horsepower, while the Focus has 160 and the Elantra is rated at 148.

Toyota is giving the new version a continuously variable transmission that has seven “shift points” that mimic a conventional automatic. CVTs don’t usually shift gears, instead allowing the engine to operate efficiently at most speeds.

The new Corolla also is nearly four inches longer than the current version. That gives passengers more room in both the front and back, Toyota says.

“Not only will the interior be a lot more comfortable and have more of a premium feel, it’s going to be quieter,” Fay says. “It’s going to have a lot different feel.”

The average age of a Corolla buyer is 53, about the average for the whole compact segment, Fay says. The new car’s sporty look and digitial technology should help lower that figure. “We’re going to be able to get on (more) people’s shopping lists,” Fay says.

Northwestern’s Calkins says the radical styling runs the risk of turning off longtime buyers who are used to a more conservative look. But Tom Libby, lead North American analyst for the Polk automotive research firm, says traditional Toyota buyers are extremely loyal.

“The propensity of a Toyota owner to stay with the Toyota brand is pretty high relative to other makes,” Libby says.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Ford says it will soon start adding old fashioned buttons and knobs to its audio systems. This comes as the company takes a closer look at some of the customer complaints involving “MyFord Touch.” The word comes out just a few days before we’re likely to hear more criticism of the system, as J.D. Power releases its annual Initial Quality Study of new cars and trucks.

“We are committed to listening to our customers and improving MyFord Touch to keep drawing in new customers and increasing satisfaction with even higher quality,” says Raj Nair, Ford’s group vice president, global product development.

Ford has already mixed traditional buttons and knobs with computer screens in its F-series pickups. It plans to phase that systems in to other models as they are redesigned.

Nair stands by MyFord Touch as a system that gives buyers a reason to choose Ford products. Ford says 79 percent of buyers opt for the system, double the rate of Honda and Toyota buyers.

Ford cites an internal study that says more than half of Escape buyers cite MyFord Touch as a reason they purchased that particular vehicle.

“Ford has launched 60 new technologies the past few years and they are helping attract many new customers in important markets such as the coasts,” says Nair. “SYNC and MyFord Touch are key parts of our innovation strategy, and not only bring more new customers to our brand, but help deliver higher satisfaction with overall vehicle quality.”

Most major car companies now have systems that connect customers’ smart phones with their vehicles. The industry has been struggling with ways to make the systems simple to use, and to minimize distractions in vehicles, instead of adding new ones.

The connectivity systems continue to grow in popularity. Ford’s updated Fiesta small car now has MyFord Touch available, as well as other options like navigation systems and leather seats, things that had previously been unheard of in subcompacts.

Written by Jeff Gilbert. Connect with Jeff at jdgilbert@cbs.com, facebook.com/carchronicles and @jefferygilbert.

Nobody wants to be remembered for choking? Just ask Bill Buckner.

Last night, the San Antonio Spurs possibly choked away a championship. They led the Miami Heat by 5 points with 20 seconds to play and lost in OT. That’s a choke. You don’t blow 5 point leads with 20 seconds to play. You just can’t do that. Not with a title on the line!

I’ll argue that the Spurs’ choke job last night might be the 2nd biggest choke in the history of sports. Why? Because of what they potentially lost.

It rivals the biggest choke ever which was the Mets/Red Sox World Series in 1986. The Red Sox blew a 5-3 10th inning lead in Game 6 thanks to Bill Buckner’s infamous error. The Mets went on to win Game 7 to steal the 1986 World Series. If the Heat win Game 7 tomorrow night they will steal an NBA Championship thanks to the Spurs.

If the Spurs win Game 7 this all goes away. It will be forgotten. If not, the Spurs have ended a great run in the most disastrous way.

Jennifer Kerr of Lee’s Summit alleged that she was misled when she enrolled in the school’s medical assistant’s degree program in 2009. She says after being at the school for 60 weeks she was told she was enrolled in a different program and would have to spend another $10,000 and more time to achieve her goal.

A Jackson County jury on Friday found Missouri-based Vatterott Educational Centers Inc. had violated the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act.

The Kansas City Star reports the decision is certain to be appealed, and the punitive amount the jury awarded far exceeds the maximum allowed under state law.

© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

Dr. Adrian Bisceglie, chairman of the internal medicine department at Saint Louis University, says they used a new technology known as “ultra-deep sequencing” to examine blood samples.

“With this you find little short fragments of RNA and DNA,” he explained. “Then we compare those short fragments, hundreds of thousands of them, to known sequences of other viruses or bacteria or even the human genome.”

Anything left over is, by definition, a previously unidentified virus.

Bisceglie says practical applications could include identifying emerging viruses such as the SARS-like illness currently spreading through Saudi Arabia.

He adds the new method developed at SLU could also be used to counteract terrorism by quickly detecting existing bio-threats.

Private equity manager Bruce Rauner is in the midst of a cross-state campaign trek.

Rauner was criticized by fellow candidate Dan Rutherford, the state treasurer, for not facing citizens and the press when he announced his candidacy.

After Rutherford did a 13-city tour of political rallies, with public and press welcome at each, Rauner announced via a video on his website.

Rauner says this method was intended to reach more supporters.

“We’re trying to maximize my exposure,” he said. “Launching a video that could be spread throughout the state digitally was hugely powerful. When we launched our two-minute video, we thought we would get 2-3,000 views that first day. We got 40,000.”

Among other discussions, he said the accusations by State Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale) that he “employed” fraudster Stuart Levine are inaccurate.

“He’s bringing up some guy named Levine who I’ve never had any interaction with and didn’t even know he was there,” Rauner said. “Somehow my old investment firm is involved in corruption and has something to do with him? It’s pure baloney.”

The announcement was made at the weekly Board of Police Commissioners meeting.

St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson and St. Louis County Police Chief Tim Fitch have both cited fiscal reasons for the merger.

The merger will go into effect July 1 and the merged squads will operate out of St. Louis Police Headquarters downtown.

Tuesday night, discussion between County Council members and residents became heated as residents warned of a slow but deliberate merger between St. Louis City and St. Louis County.

“It appears to be another step in the process and Mr. Dooley and Mr. Slay have both publicly stated their interest in the merger,” one woman said, referring to St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley.

“You using that for political purposes down the road doesn’t have nothing to do with it,” councilman Mike O’Mara replied as the two spoke over each other.

“No, it’s practical purposes, it’s not partisan, but thank you,” the resident replied. The measure passed 5-2.

The Bosnian Chamber of Commerce is holding a crime prevention meeting Wednesday night in the wake of two deadly shootings of immigrants by alleged robbers.

Bosnian Chamber head Sadik Kukic has been in the United States for 20 years and says it is a scary time in the city.

“It started happening maybe a year ago, when I started seeing different things, that people are selling drugs in the neighborhood,” Kukic says.

He says immigrant residents and business owners are telling him they don’t feel safe and some are even talking about moving out of the city into St. Louis County.

“They are really upset and scared, to be honest with you,” Kukic says.

Kukic hopes the meeting and rally will encourage more involvement by neighbors to reduce crime and increase safety. He says seven years ago residents were able to cut crime in half by banding together and watching out for each other. He believes that’s the way to increase safety now, for good people to get involved.

The meeting is at 6 p.m. at the Bosnian Chamber headquarters at 5030 Gravois.

St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann says the running tab to the county from responding to tornado damage and flooding is $2.4 million.

“It’s turned into a much bigger cleanup than we thought,” he said. “We are anticipating collecting about 50,000 tons of tree and limb debris.”

Ehlmann says if the county is unable to receive federal disaster reimbursement, it won’t have enough money to cover the costs of storm preparation and cleanup.

“We do save for a rainy day or, in this case, a windy day and we have $1.8 million in an emergency fund and we’ll have to do what it takes to balance our budget,” he said.

St. Charles County had enough costs to qualify for federal disaster help but only if the state as a whole reaches a threshold of $8 million in costs. Ehlmann says he doesn’t know yet whether that will happen.

The discussion became tense last night as councilman Mike O’Mara sought to reassure a female resident who was concerned about a potential merger.

“It appears to be another step in the process and Mr. Dooley and Mr. Slay have both publicly stated their interest in the merger,” the woman said, referring to St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley.

“You using that for political purposes down the road doesn’t have nothing to do with it,” O’Mara replied as the two spoke over each other.

“No, it’s practical purposes, it’s not partisan, but thank you,” the resident replied.

The measure passed 5-2 Tuesday night but similar concerns over a possible merger led Republican councilman Greg Quinn and councilwoman Colleen Wasinger  to vote against it.

Resident Tony Sosa said slowly easing into a merger is the worst manner in which it could be done.

“Any time there is government bodies that have quiet talks, there is a recipe for deception and possible corruption,” he said.

Dooley says the only way the city and county could join is by a vote of the people.

Nitrous oxide, better known as laughing gas, is one of the oldest and most widely used anesthesia drugs in the world. Some, however, thought it might be dangerous to use in patients at high risk for heart attack because it causes levels of an amino acid called homocysteine to rise in the blood.

Nitrous oxide inactivates vitamin B12 and by doing so increases blood levels of the amino acid homocysteine, which some thought raised heart attack risk.

So Washington University anesthesiologist Peter Nagele, who led the Washington University School of Medicine study, gave some surgery patients intravenous B vitamins along with their laughing gas to see it would make a difference

“The patients who did get B vitamins did not have any difference in outcomes compared to patients who did not get B vitamins,” Nagele says.

He says it appears that when it comes to heart attack risk, elevated homocysteine is more of a bystander than a cause and that laughing gas can be ruled out as a contributor to heart attack risk.

Political Reporter Niall Stanage from TheHill.com joins us each week to talk about American Politics.

Before 20,250 fans at Rio Tinto Stadium, the Americans remained atop the six-team CONCACAF group. The United States (4-1-1) won three straight games this month, all since a 0-0 draw at Mexico gave it a boost toward the top.

It has also shut out its last two opponents, Panama and Honduras.

Honduras (2-3-1) was the last team to win at the United States in a World Cup qualifying match, back in 2001. The Americans have won or drawn 25 straight at home since then.

The visitors made it difficult on the Americans for much of the game by slowing the pace before Altidore broke through.

After several second-half near misses, the U.S. got its goal in the 73rd minute. Altidore took a cross from Fabian Johnson from near the end line and put it past goalkeeper Noel Valladares across the goalmouth inside the right post.

It was Altidore’s ninth goal in a qualifier as he finally develops into the scoring threat the United States has hoped for.

Both teams played physical soccer in the first half, leading to an emphasis on defense and a limited number of scoring chances on either side of the field. Just before the first period ended, though, Tim Howard was forced to make a difficult save when Andy Najar launched a running right footer from the right side of the box. Howard met the ball in the center of the box and deflected it outside the right post.

Eddie Johnson had a chance in the 17th minute when he latched onto a cross from Fabian Johnson. His left-footed shot from the center of the box was knocked away by Valladares.

When the U.S. stepped up the offensive pressure early in the second half, it put Honduras on its heels. Altidore had the finishing touch.

He even appeared to score earlier in the half. Moments after Graham Zusi sent a free kick into a crowd of players just outside the 6-yard box in the 56th minute, only to see Brad Evans’ header go right into Valladares’ gloves, Altidore got behind the defense. Clint Dempsey sent a through ball ahead to Altidore, who was ruled offside and his score was negated.

Valladares came up with another clutch save in the 69th minute. Zusi, who was particularly active all night after sitting out the win over Panama because of yellow card accumulation, sent a ball into Dempsey in the center of the box and he leaned into a point-blank header. The ball bounced off of Valladares’ hands and Michael Bradley sent a follow-up shot too high.

MSD Spokesman Lance LeComb says a valve on a pump at the Lemay Treatment Plant failed causing a discharge at another pump near Fannie Avenue and River City Boulevard.

The pump was fixed but LeComb estimates about a million gallons of a mix of waste water and flood water has gone downstream.

People are being advised not to make contact with the water in the southern most-section of the River des Peres near the Mississippi.

St. Louis has a long and distinguished place in professional indoor soccer history. Record-setting crowds watching the Steamers at the old Arena on Oakland Avenue. Ambush teams of the 1990’s packed with talented names like Moser, Reiniger, Doran, Kuntz, Swanner, Hundelt and more. The more recent incarnation of the Steamers that came within a hair of capturing the 2005-06 MISL Championship.

Throughout the storied history of indoor soccer in St. Louis, only one team has captured a league championship. That team was the 1994-95 St. Louis Ambush. “One of our goals from day one is to put a quality product on the field and bring a championship to the great fans in St. Louis. Reviving the champion Ambush name fits perfectly with that goal,” said Haines. Although winning the league title is a goal, Haines remains focused on giving fans the most for their entertainment dollar. “I like to win, but at the same time I’m interested in the overall experience,” he said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun. As the team owner, I’m focused on fans having a good experience at the games.”

Daryl Doran, a St. Louis legend will be focused on putting a winning team on the Family Arena carpet. The name Daryl Doran is synonymous with soccer in St. Louis. He is the only player to play for every St. Louis pro indoor soccer team: the original Steamers, the Storm, the Ambush and the revived Steamers. He holds the record for most professional indoor soccer games played at 827. He has coached both the Ambush and Steamers. In fact, it was Doran who was at the helm of the 94-95 Ambush championship squad and he earned the Coach of the Year honor for his outstanding efforts. Throughout his career, Doran has maintained a commitment to the dignity of the sport and has passed that on to his players. He has earned the respect of fans, players and opponents alike.

Doran returns this fall as Head Coach of the Ambush. Team owner Haines said, “Daryl was our first choice to take the reigns of the new Ambush. I’m thrilled we were able to get him and I’m sure fans will be as well.” “Indoor soccer is in my blood,” Doran said. “I’m excited to return and encouraged by the commitment made by the new ownership. I think fans will like what they see from us. We have a lot of work to do and I’m ready to get started.”

The Family Arena in St. Charles will be home to the new St. Louis Ambush franchise. The venue sits just west of the Missouri River, midway between Highways 70 and 364 (Page), and is easily accessible to a wide portion of the populace in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

St. Charles County, owner of the arena, invested over $800,000 in improvements and upgrades earlier this year. “We were impressed by the commitment made by St. Charles County and it was among the reasons we chose this facility as the home of the Ambush and the Monsters,” Haines said. The improvements include new dasher boards and two 30’X25’ high-definition video and scoring displays, and ribbon boards running around the middle deck of the arena.

For more information about the St. Louis Ambush visit http://www.stlouisambush.com or call the team office at 636-395-0896.

“This week we’re trying to stay ahead of what we hope will not be a blistering hot and deadly summer,” says Reverend Earl Nance Jr. “Our social service partners are going to work like the dickens to try to help as many seniors and the disable as much as possible.”

Ameren Missouri is donating 240 air conditioners.

Cool Down hopes to raise $200,000 in donations in order to get through the summer. Donations can be made at any Missouri or Illinois UMB bank.

St. Louisian David Clohessy, with the Survivors Network of Those Abused By Priests, claims the Vatican has violated a 1990 treaty pledging to put the rights of children first in all of its decision-making.

“We are presenting evidence to this committee that shows that the Vatican is basically breaking those promises and breaking that treaty,” he says.

While Clohessy says the UN does not really have much power in this case, it does have a bully pulpit to alert the world what SNAP sees as the church’s condoning of cover ups and enabling of more offenses against children.

“Really for the first time ever an international secular body will be essentially calling Vatican officials to account and to report on how they are keeping or not keep their promises around children’s well-being and safety,” Clohessy says.”

The Vatican will go before the committee next January.

“Robert fits everything that we are looking for as a scouting department,” said Cardinals Scouting Director Dan Kantrovitz. “He has outstanding stuff. He has plus fastball velocity, excellent command and an out-pitch in his curveball that was one of the best in the country this year. In addition to his stuff, he is a tremendous kid and a tireless worker. Although only 18-years old, we think he is mature enough mentally and advanced enough physically to hit the ground running.”

Today’s signees also include pitcher Andrew Pierce (8th round, Southern Mississippi), infielder Richy Pedroza (17th round, Cal-State Fullerton), infielder J.J. Altobelli (18th round, Oregon), pitcher Michael Holback (25th round, Cal Poly-SLO), pitcher Will Anderson (26th round, Fresno State) and Justin Ringo (28th round, Stanford). The team also signed two non-drafted free agents in St. Louis native infielder Kyle Grieshaber (Central Missouri State) and Frankie Rodriguez, a 17-year old catcher from Puerto Rico.

Around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday a male voice called 911 and whispered that a device was going to explode within an hour and a half at Kerry Inc. ( 8021 New Hampshire Ave.) according to St. Louis County Police spokesman Randy Vaughn.

The facility was evacuated and arson, fire, and bomb units were called in. As of 4:35 p.m. they were still on the scene.

Vaughn says nothing has been found so far.

Chrysler today finally agreed to a recall of 2.7 million older model Jeeps in danger of catching fire. WWJ’s Jeff Gilbert has the latest.

There’s a renewed search for the body of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa. Federal agents continue to dig up a field in rural Oakland Township near Detroit. WWJ reporter Kathryn Larson has the latest.

KQTV reports (http://bit.ly/17WqxnO ) 29-year-old Tony King, of Bethany, was charged Tuesday with second-degree murder in the death of 25-year-old Michael Bozarth. They shared a cell at the Buchanan County Jail, where Bozarth was found strangled the morning of June 11.

King was awaiting sentencing for the January 2012 death of 7-year-old Jeremiah Lamm, whose body was found in their burned-out mobile home in Harrison County. King was found guilty last month of first-degree murder, arson and felony child abuse.

Bozarth, a registered sex offender from St. Joseph, was sentenced in January to 90 days in jail after pleading guilty to third-degree assault and remained in custody on other pending charges.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The Pioneer Woman statue was discovered missing from the museum on Monday.

Independence officials say the statue likely weighed more than 1,000 pounds.

The Independence Examiner reports a $5,000 reward is being offered for the return of the statue intact. Another $1,000 is being offered for information leading to an arrest in the case.

The statue was dedicated in March 1990. City Manager Robert Heacock said it cost the city $30,000 to $40,000.

“Pioneer Woman” carries a large bucket in her right hand and cradles an infant in her left arm. Most of the statue is in blue tint, with the bucket and the faces bronze.

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Maplewood’s City Council earlier this month officially came out against the proposal and Great Rivers Greenway last week expressed expensive concerns about what’s now being branded as a “boulevard.”

David Wrone, spokesman for the St. Louis County Department of Highways and Traffic says the county is undeterred.

“We are looking at this as a regional benefit. Maplewood is looking at it on more of a micro level,” he told KMOX News. “If we required a hundred percent support nothing would get built, ever. We would be a grassy series of hills and plains.”

It would cut through Maplewood and Shrewsbury the most.

AUDIO: Maplewood Assistant City Manager Anthony Traxler joins KMOX’s Mark Reardon:

I

THE CONCERN

Maplewood’s letter to St. Louis County claimed that as many as 36 businesses in the Deer Creek Shopping Center and Big Bend Industrial Court would be displaced because of the South County Connector. The road would also wipe out a railroad bridge used by Union Pacific.

The lanes of traffic would ‘fly over’ the shopping center’s parking lot, which Maplewood says “would void all remaining leases which would kill the center,” which was just revitalized with a $37 million investment, including tax increment financing.

Maplewood believes the county’s cost estimate of $110 million is “woefully underestimated.”

Both Maplewood and Great Rivers Greenway are concerned with the road’s pedestrian and bike accommodations. Maplewood says the construction would “cripple” its 2009 Walkable/Bikeable Community Plan and foil efforts to win a Bike Friendly Community Award.

The letter: “We do not believe that the No Build option was properly vetted as an alternative and should be reconsidered on the basis that the same amount of funding put into bike a pedestrian improvements in the same footprint would accomplish the same goals of reducing traffic, promoting mass transit use, and improve safety.”

Great Rivers sent a note of its own to the highway department, saying the Connector could neutralize $27 million in investments the organization has made to pedestrian and bike infrastructure on the River Des Peres Greenway and the Deer Creek Greenway.

“We would really like to see a connection that incorporates pedestrians, bicycles and motor vehicle use,” Susan Trautman, executive director of Great Rivers Greenway told KMOX. “The South County Connector could be a really great example of multimodal transportation where people can walk, ride their bikes, use their cars.”

But Wrone pours cold water on her comment.

“We want to provide a much need boulevard for cars and trucks,” he said, while also stressing that “bike ridership is important to us.

“But I want to say we are in the business of providing safe and efficient necessary motor vehicle driving pavement. We’re a highway department, not a bicycle department.”

THE DEMAND

St. Louis County, according to the pair of letters, is using traffic data from 2005 and 2006 to justify building the road, while also acknowledging that it would cause bottlenecks on Hanley Rd. which don’t currently exist.

Great Rivers suggests using more recent figures from the East-West Gateway Council of Governments, which demonstrates that St. Louisans are driving less. From 2007 through 2011, the data shows a 4.5 percent decrease in miles driven in St. Louis County.

Wrone responded that the roadway has been on the county’s drawing board for at least two decades, and for good reason.

“Anybody who is not vested in this who has to drive from Clayton to south city on a daily basis would tell you that it is not a convenient or not an even remotely pleasant drive,” he said.

Wrone said the South County Connector is a completely separate project than an I-170 southern extension, and would not alleviate reasons for extending the interstate.

County Executive Charlie Dooley, meantime, told KMOX News that the “highway” is necessary, for the same reasons.

“We know we can’t use the 170 anymore, because that goes right into a parking lot, so that won’t happen,” he explained. “We still need alternative routes from Clayton to south county and this is the best we have to do.”

The Connector would parallel the recently-completed, billion-dollar MetroLink light rail cross-county line.

“Just because you have one doesn’t mean you don’t need the other,” Dooley said on that. “We need both. We need better highways, we need more light rail transportation. We need to do all the things.”

During public comment periods, Maplewood notes that none of the proposed alternatives for routes garnered more than 10 percent support, which city leaders say is an indication of lack of popular support. Wrone said that interactions with citizens at hearings was overwhelmingly positive.

There is no funding secured and the plan is not yet final.

Programming Note: St. Louis City alderman Scott Ogilve will join KMOX’s Mark Reardon on Wednesday to discuss traffic impacts for residents along the River Des Peres and also how the roadway would pave over a portion of a St. Louis City park.

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KFVS-TV reports that heavy rain on Monday caused flash flooding in Scott City, Mo. Among buildings that took on water was an apartment building, where more than 2 feet of water flooded the basement.

A woman went to the basement and saw a cat struggling in the water. She got the cat to safety but was shocked from an electrical current as she unplugged cords from an outlet that was under water.

She was taken to a hospital for evaluation. The woman’s name was not released.

The cat was uninjured.

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