Looting Suspects.

On Wednesday, May 25, at approximately 2:00 p.m., Deputies were dispatched to the Central City Storage Unit, located at 20th and Central City Road in Jasper County. A concerned citizen noticed 2 male subjects loading copper wire and scrap metal into their pickup truck from a storage unit.

Upon arrival, Deputies questioned Scott A. Foreman, 22 of Centralia, MO, and Cory A. Smith, 19 of Pratt, KS., as to where they had got the metal.

It seems the 2 had come from Columbia, MO yesterday, rented a storage unit for one day, went last night and stole the wire and metal from several of the homes in Joplin that had been destroyed by the tornado.

Foreman and Smith were arrested and taken to the Jasper County Detention Center and are awaiting charges to be filed.

On Wednesday, May 25, 2011, at approximately 11:00 a.m., a Deputy made contact with Gary Earl Wright, 34 of Rogers, Arkansas. Wright was near the East Middle School on East 20th in Duquesne. He did not appear to have any legitimate reason for being in the area. In Wright’s backpack were various tools; pliers, wrenches, binoculars, flashlight and screwdrivers. He had a 2-way walkie-talkie on his person. There was a message on his cell phone he had sent saying "I am in the corner house with the orange car. We need to go. I got everything we will ever need. Please come be a look out so I can get out of here."

Deputies gave out the description of the vehicle of Wright’s friend to other law enforcement officer’s in the area. Another Deputy stopped the suspect vehicle near the intersection of 7th and Duquesne and made contact with Lynette Curry, 25 of Rogers, Arkansas. Curry admitted to driving around, waiting to pick up Wright. A search of her vehicle was conducted. Inside, Deputies found a gray duffle bag containing hundreds of pieces of jewelry, a laptop computer, which appeared to have debris on it from the storm. Also in the vehicle was a baggy with a white powder substance in it. It field tested positive for methamphetamine. A walkie-talkie, matching Wright’s, was located. Curry had the message from Wright on her cell phone.

Just a short while later, the victim called dispatch to report his burglary, which occurred at 4129 E. 24th in Duquesne. The victim positively identified the laptop computer and all the jewelry as being his and his wife’s. All stolen property was returned to the victim.

Curry and Wright were arrested and transported to the Jasper County Detention Center awaiting the filing of their charges.

Curry – Burglary 2nd, Possession of Burglary Tools, Receiving Stolen Property and Possession of a Controlled Substance.

Wright – Burglary 2nd and Possession of Burglary Tools.

The charges for which the above were arrested are mere accusations and are not evidence of guilt. Evidence in support of the charges must be presented before a court of competent jurisdiction whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

Jasper County Jail Count

182 May 26, 2011

Total Including Placed out of County

Ever now and then I like to drive on a hot, steamy day with all the windows down and the air conditioner off. Just ta see if it’s near as bad as folks think.

I can remember how amazed folks were when they heard a neighbor buyin’ a convertible with an air conditioner. Guess they didn’t think of drivin’ with the top up on occasion.

My grandparents had one a those water evaporator cans they hooked to the passenger’s side window. The main problem bein’ it just made ya think it was gonna cool down eventually.

I haven’t yet figured out why air is only conditioned when it is cooled. Looks ta me like heated air is also conditioned. Guess heat is a necessity while cool deserves a more sophisticated nomenclature.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

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Weekly Column

SENIOR NEWS LINE

by Matilda Charles

Finding a Good Nursing Home

Researchers at University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health took a close look at the citations for 16,000 nursing homes from the years 2000 to 2007. They discovered that 15 percent of the facilities had been cited for a deficiency in infection control. This is important because nearly 400,000 people die each year from infections.

More than 400 infection-related citations were in facilities that had low staffing of registered nurses, nurse aides and licensed practical nurses. From the study results, it appears that understaffing can be a big reason for the lack of infection control. Could it be as simple as nurses being too busy to wash their hands? It also was learned that those facilities cited for lack of infection control had a poor rating of care in general.

If you have Medicare, there are places online you can look for ratings information as part of your search for a good nursing home. Medicare-eligible facilities are rated on the www.Medicare.gov site. Called Nursing Home Compare, the website uses the five-star system to rate nursing homes in areas such as fire safety, health inspection, nursing staff levels and others. Do a search by ZIP code or city/state of the area you’re interested in.

To be eligible for Medicare, these facilities must have an annual inspection and be recertified.

As always, know what Medicare will and won’t pay for. Generally, nursing homes (skilled nursing facilities and nursing facilities) are for short stays. If you need long-term care, perhaps for assistance with daily living, investigate at-home services.

On the Medicare.gov website you’ll also find information such as the "Nursing Home Checklist" and "Guide to Choosing a Nursing Home."