Today’s post features a few, end-of-season Brown-eyed Susan wildflowers. While recently hiking some woodland trails at Fiery Fork Conservation Area (in the Missouri Ozarks), a few Brown-eyed Susan wildflowers were hanging on for dear life. As readily seen in this image, the tips of the flower petals were losing their color as they began to fade:
Photographic Equipment Used:
Canon 5D Mark 3 camera body
Canon 28mm-135mm, f/4.5-f/5.6 IS lens, shot at 35mm
In August, a Missouri family’s dog, Parker, wandered away from the family home during a violent storm. When the neighbor who found the dog called the police for help, instead of returning Parker to his family, an officer shot him and threw his body in a ditch.
According to a lawsuit filed this week by Parker’s owners, Tylla and Bryan Pennington, Stoddard County, Missouri, police officer Rodger Seal arrived at Hillary Mayberry’s home after she called the sheriff’s office looking for assistance with Parker. Mayberry had posted earlier on Facebook about the found dog. However, instead of helping Mayberry find Parker’s owners, or even taking her to a nearby shelter, Seal took the dog to a nearby wooded area and shot him.
The lawsuit claims that Parker did not immediately die after being shot. Instead, Seal waited eight minutes before firing a second shot, which killed him. Seal then disposed of Parker’s body by throwing it in a ditch.
The suit argues that there was no legal justification for Seal to kill Parker. While Stoddard County has a written policy allowing officers to shoot a “dangerous, diseased, or incapacitated animal,” Parker was perfectly healthy and nonaggressive.
Instead, the complaint writes that Seal “committed the felony of Animal Abuse” when he shot the dog without provocation and allowed him to lay “suffering for 8 minutes after he was shot the first time before Defendant Seal shot Parker a second time killing him.”
“On information and belief,” the suit adds, “Defendant Stoddard County has an unwritten policy, pattern, and practice of regularly killing dogs and disposing of them” in rural areas.
Unfortunately, this incident is far from the first time that a police officer has killed an innocent family pet—it happens so often, there’s even a “puppycide” tag on Reason’s website.
In November 2021, a Michigan cop shot a dog multiple times. Footage from the incident shows that the pup in question was not aggressive but was actually wagging his tail when he was shot. Last September, Detroit cops killed a woman’s dog and dumped its body in a trash can. A 2016 Reason investigation showed that Detroit cops are particularly fond of killing dogs—they shot at least 25 in 2015 alone.
Last August, an Arkansas cop tried to shoot a Pomeranian—a breed that tends to weigh only 3 to 7 pounds—but missed and struck the dog’s owner. After the dog’s owner yelled out that she had been shot, the cop tried to tell her that her dog had actually scratched her instead.
“[Police] don’t need to be dog trainers,” Cynthia Bathurst, the executive director of the animal welfare group Safe Humane, toldReason in 2016. “They just need to know what to look for and defuse or control the situation with the resources available. It’s the compassionate and right thing to do. It’s better for community relations. And if that doesn’t move them, the huge lawsuits should.”
Georgia boasts top-tier status in both scoring offense and defense. Their offense yields 40.5 points per game, while their defense limits opponents to just 14.8 points on average.
Georgia’s rushing game is led by senior Daijun Edwards, who’s gained 556 yards and reached the end zone eight times. In the face of running back injuries, sophomore WR Dillon Bell has stepped up, gaining 124 yards with a 5.4-yard average and two touchdowns.
Quarterback Carson Beck, with a perfect 8-0 record, is on pace for a record-breaking 73.0 completion percentage, ranking seventh nationally. Additionally, he holds the seventh spot in passing yardage per game (307.8) and 12th in passing efficiency (166.2).
Away: Missouri Tigers
On the other side of the field, the Missouri Tigers are off to their best start since 2013 securing their highest ranking in the national polls since 2014, currently at No. 14.
Missouri’s offense is averaging 33.9 points per game, with a solid defensive record allowing just 23.3 points per game. In the Red Zone, they excel with a 34-out-of-35 conversion rate, 24 of which result in touchdowns.
RB Cody Schrader is the heart of their ground game, accumulating 807 yards and nine touchdowns. He averages 100.9 yards per game. QB Brady Cook shines with a remarkable 69.8 percent completion rate, passing for 2,259 yards, 15 touchdowns, and only 3 interceptions.
Georgia Bulldogs Home Feed:
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Channel 962 on the SiriusXM App
Missouri Tigers Away Feed:
SiriusXM channel 192 in your vehicle
Channel 963 on the SiriusXM App
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Today’s post features a woodland wildflower that I found recently at Fiery Fork Conservation Area (in the Missouri Ozarks) … the Tall Bellflower. I don’t ever recall seeing these wildflowers this late in the season, but they give a nice touch to the fall colors:
Today’s post features a wildflower I found blooming last week while hiking and photographing fall colors in the woodlands at Fiery Fork Conservation Area (in the Missouri Ozarks) … the White Heath Aster:
A few more fall color images will be featured in a subsequent post.
More than three dozen Shiba Inus were rescued from a Missouri breeder in “one of the worst cases of animal neglect,” according to the Humane Society of Missouri (HSMO).
Acting on a request from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department last week, HSMO’s Animal Cruelty Task Force, one of the nation’s largest animal rescue and disaster-response teams, conducted a rescue of 43 “starving” dogs from the property of a former commercial breeder in Douglas County, Missouri, HSMO said in a statement on October 19.
“The living animals were severely emaciated and suffering from various injuries and health conditions, and the remains of nine deceased dogs were also found on the property and recovered,” the humane society said.
The Humane Society of Missouri rescued 43 “starving” Shiba Inu dogs and found nine dead canines at a former commercial breeder’s property in the Ozarks. Humane Society of Missouri
The rescued dogs are all Shiba Inus of various ages and conditions and are receiving emergency veterinary treatment and health evaluations, HSMO said.
HSMO President Kathy Warnick referred to the case as “a horrific and heart-wrenching rescue.”
“The conditions at this property amount to one of the worst cases of animal neglect we’ve seen this year,” Warnick said in an online statement. “The caring citizen who tipped off the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department undoubtedly saved the lives of many of these innocent dogs and gave them a second chance at life.”
The rescue took place after a warrant was served by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department to seize the dogs and place the canines in the temporary care of HSMO. A disposition hearing to determine legal custody will take place on November 9 at the Douglas County Court in Ava, Missouri, the humane society said. Details about the dog breeder were not available, and it was unclear at the time of publication whether the breeder or property owner where the dogs were found will face charges.
Newsweek reached out via email and Facebook on Sunday to the HSMO and Douglas County Sheriff’s Department for comment.
After receiving the tip about dogs living in horrific conditions from the “caring citizen,” who sent photos of “sick and extremely emaciated dogs,” HSMO worked quickly to round up and remove all the animals from the property.
At least one of the dogs photographed in the concerned citizen’s tip died by the time authorities arrived to rescue the Shiba Inus, according to the humane society.
Veterinarians from the Missouri Department of Agriculture joined the Animal Cruelty Task Force to assist with the rescue and examine the condition of the dogs prior to transporting them to HSMO headquarters for specialized medical care.
HSMO posted a video on Facebook showing some of the rescued Shiba Inus getting some much-needed cuddles.
“These 43 Shiba Inus are receiving the veterinary care and love that they deserve,” the shelter said in the post.
In another post, HSMO said the dogs still have a long road to recovery but are continuing to receive the love and care that they need.
“We’ll do everything in our power to ensure these sweet animals receive the care they need to fully recover and find loving forever homes,” Warnick said.
The dogs, which vary in price but can cost more than $3,000 for a purebred puppy, are also known to be inquisitive and playful, according to the AKC.
To care for the 43 Shiba Inus until they’re ready for adoption, HSMO is also asking the public for assistance through donations of blankets, newspapers, dog toys, dog beds, or “anything else that can make these animals’ recovery more comfortable.”
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Today’s post features a couple of fall colors images I have captured over the past few days. Although the peak of the Ozarks’ fall colors has not yet been reached, there are obvious signs of the transition that can be seen.
The two images featured today were captured at Fiery Fork Conservation Area, located in the Missouri Ozarks and not far from where I live. Here are a couple of images that show the impending color transition:
Virginia Creeper growing up a tree:
An unidentified groundcover along the woodland trail:
Over the next few posts, I will feature some more color changes as they appear.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard, who suffered years of abuse by a mother who foisted numerous fake illnesses upon her, will be released from prison early after serving eight years of a decade-long murder sentence.
Blanchard, 32, has been granted parole and is scheduled for release on Dec. 28, a spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Corrections confirmed Friday. Local Missouri outlet Ozarks First was the first to report the news Thursday.
Blanchard, whose story was portrayed in the 2019 scripted Hulu series “The Act,” has been in custody since 2015 for her involvement in the murder of her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard, who is suspected to have had an undiagnosed case of Munchausen syndrome by proxy.
That mental disease, experts said during the trial, caused her to fabricate what she claimed were her daughter’s various illnesses, including leukemia, muscular dystrophy and brain damage from a premature birth. She also unnecessarily made her child use a wheelchair, shaved her head to mimic the side effects of chemotherapy, and gave her medication that led to severe tooth decay, all while collecting gifts and donations from the Make-A-Wish Foundation and other charities for sick children.
After Dee Dee Blanchard was found stabbed to death in her Springfield, Missouri, home, her daughter admitted to conspiring with her boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, to carry out the murder while she hid elsewhere in the house as he ended the older woman’s life.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, while a jury found Godejohn guilty of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In an interview with ABC News’ “20/20” in 2018, Blanchard said prison was more liberating than life with her mother, who she eventually discovered was fabricating her various illnesses.
“The prison that I was living in before, with my mom, it’s, like, I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t have friends. I couldn’t go outside, you know, and play with friends or anything,” Blanchard said. “Over here, I feel like I’m freer in prison than with living with my mom. Because now, I’m allowed to … just live like a normal woman.”
Today’s post features a few images I captured over the weekend while working in the church butterfly garden. Once you see Monarchs arriving in numbers, you know summer is coming to an end!
An adult Monarch collecting nectar from a Mexican Sunflower:
A Monarch laying an egg on a milkweed leaf:
A Monarch laying an egg on a whorled milkweed plant:
A couple of Monarch caterpillars checking each other out:
A Missouri judge ruled Thursday that the 84-year-old White homeowner who shot a Black teenager after he mistakenly went to the man’s house must stand trial.
Ralph Yarl, a high school student, went to pick up his siblings on April 13 but went to the wrong Kansas City, Missouri, house.
His aunt said the teen was supposed to pick up his younger twin brothers from a friend’s house on 115th Terrace but went to 115th Street by mistake. Lester, a retired aircraft mechanic, is charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action.
Lester previously pleaded not guilty in a shooting that shocked the country and renewed national debates about gun policies and race in America.
Kansas City Officer Larry Dunaway described Lester as “an elderly guy who was scared” after the shooting. Another officer, James Gale, said Lester was clearly worried.
“He said he hoped he didn’t kill anybody,” Gale testified.
A handful of people wearing shirts that said “Justice for Ralph” were seen entering the courthouse. Others wore shirts that read: “Ringing a doorbell is not a crime.”
Yarl is able to walk a few miles every day, and in May he joined a walk for brain injury awareness in Kansas City, Missouri. He completed an engineering internship this summer and just started his senior year in high school. The 17-year-old is planning to major in engineering when he graduates, with several college visits planned for the fall.
Ralph Yarl, center, at walk for brain injury awareness on Memorial Day, May 29, 2023 in Kansas City, Mo.
KCTV
Lester told authorities that he shot Yarl through the door without warning because he was “scared to death” he was about to be robbed. No words were exchanged before the shooting, but as Yarl got up to run, he heard Lester yell, “Don’t come around here,” the probable cause statement said.
Initially turned away while seeking help at neighboring homes, Yarl stumbled to the street. Neighbor Carol Conrad testified that she was offering words of comfort through her window – a dispatcher had warned that neighbors should stay inside. At one point, he yelled, “I’ve been shot.”
When Yarl crumpled to the ground, three neighbors rushed to help. Jodi Dovel testified that there was a trail of blood, which pooled under his head. But Yarl was able to talk, telling her he went to ring the doorbell and was shot.
“I thought. ‘Oh no, he went to the wrong house,’” Dovel said.
Lester also called 911. On the recording played in court, he could be heard telling a dispatcher, “I shot him. He was at my door trying to get in and I shot him.”
Clay County prosecuting attorney Zachary Thompson has said there was a “racial component” to the case but has not elaborated.
Lester’s attorney, Steven Brett Salmon, suggested in earlier court filings that he planned to argue that Lester acted in self-defense, citing Missouri’s “stand your ground” law. Missouri is one of about 30 states with laws that say people can respond with physical force when they are threatened.
Salmon has said that Lester’s home was egged and spray-painted after the shooting. He said Lester has sought law enforcement assistance when traveling, and his wife had to be moved from her nursing home.
Support for Yarl and his family poured in over the past few months. A GoFundMe set up on the family’s behalf raised nearly $3.5 million.
Sixteen people were injured in a boat explosion at a marina in the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, authorities said.
The explosion, which took place at the Millstone Marina, was set off by a spark and gas fumes that “built up in the engine area,” the Missouri State Highway Patrol said in an online post on Friday.
Photos posted online by authorities showed shattered glass on the boat and other damage that appears to have been caused by the explosion.
Most of those injured were on the boat, authorities said.
In an incident information report, the highway patrol said the vessel was fueling at the marina’s gas docks, and when its operator started the boat, it caused “an explosion in the engine compartment.”
At least three passengers were ejected from the boat, the report said.
The injuries range from minor to moderate, the highway patrol said in its post.
Eleven people, including a 6-year-old girl, were treated on the scene and released, according to the report, while five others were taken to a hospital.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Lake of the Ozarks, a popular summer vacation spot in the Midwest, boasts more than 1,100 miles of shoreline.
Today’s post features a focus-stacked photograph (using 6 images stacked together) of a clump of Spring Beauty wildflowers that I captured late this spring in some Missouri Ozark woodlands.
For those who read this blog on a regular basis, please note that I will be absent from posting next week. I will be at church camp all next week, working with high school students … my goal right now is to survive the week and make it back! LOL
At 14 he was accused and later convicted of murdering his mother. But he claims he knows who the real killer is and he’s still out there. “48 Hours” correspondent Erin Moriarty reports.
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A woman died Saturday in St. Louis when a tree fell on her car during severe weather, according to police.
St. Louis Police Sgt. Charles Wall told CNN in an email the woman had been “parked and seated inside of the vehicle when a tree fell on top of it during severe weather.” The 33-year-old woman was “pronounced deceased,” Wall wrote.
There were at least eight reports of hail in Missouri on Saturday, including some reports house windows were broken by the frozen pellets, according to the National Weather Service. There were also several reports of severe wind, including in St. Louis, where large trees were uprooted, the NWS said.
Severe weather is expected to continue affecting several parts of the United States ahead of the Fourth of July. One hundred million people are under severe weather threats from the eastern Rockies through the Ohio and Tennessee River Valleys and into the mid-Atlantic region.
There is a Level 3 of 5 risk for much of Kentucky and northern Tennessee, impacting five million people in cities like Louisville, Lexington, Nashville, where damaging wind, large hail and a few tornadoes are likely.
On Sunday morning, storms already began appearing in Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois and Iowa. The storms are expected to continue into the afternoon and evening.
A flash flood warning was put into place for nearly five million people in Illinois, including residents of Chicago, due to thunderstorms and heavy rain. The rain caused delays and cancellations for some sporting events scheduled for Sunday in the Windy City: The Chicago Cubs had to push their game against the Cleveland Guardians back by several hours, and NASCAR had to alter its racing slate and truncate one of its scheduled races.
And 63 million people are under a combination of heat advisories and excessive heat warnings, with severe heat spreading from the Southwest to the Southeast. Around 70% of the country’s population, about 225 million people, will experience high temperatures above 90 degrees. And around 8% of the population, or 26 million people, will see highs above 100 degrees.
Three people were killed and five others wounded when gunfire rang out in Kansas City, Missouri, early Sunday, police said.
The violence erupted in a parking lot around 4:30 a.m. local time, CBS affiliate KCTV reported.
Police found the bodies of two adult men and an adult woman in the parking lot and in the street just south of a nearby intersection, the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department said in a statement. All three were declared dead at the scene.
Five other shooting victims went to various hospitals in ambulances and private vehicles, officials said. Police said their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
Investigators said there was a “large gathering” in the parking lot at the time of the shooting. It was not immediately clear what the gathering was for, but Kansas City’s mayor indicated it may have been a local business acting as an unlicensed club.
“If the business knew persons would be present, without security, selling alcohol, and thwarting our laws, that business should be closed,” Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas wrote on Facebook. “Similarly situated businesses operating as unlicensed clubs where we have seen countless shootings and murders should expect the same enforcement action.”
At least three people were killed – two men and one woman – and five others were injured after a Sunday morning shooting in Kansas City, Missouri, police said.
Around 4:30 a.m. local time, police responded to the scene on 57th St. and Prospect Ave., where preliminary information indicated there was a large gathering of people in a parking lot.
Officers found three people dead, and they later determined five other people had arrived at various hospitals by ambulance or private vehicle with “non-life threatening injuries,” police said in a news release.
No suspects have been apprehended, but police said they are “confident that there are many witnesses to this incident that would have valuable information.”
“If anyone was in or around the area at this time and saw or heard anything they are asked to contact Homicide detectives directly at 816-234-5043 or the TIPS Hotline anonymously at 816-474-TIPS,” the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department said in a statement.
Police are offering a reward of “up to $25,000 for information submitted anonymously to the TIPS hotline.”
Police said they are working with Partners for Peace “to monitor risks for retaliation and provide social services to affected residents.”
Today’s post features some images I captured this week from my front patio.
Earlier in spring, I purchased a really nice hanging fuschia plant and located it just outside my front door. Within a few days, I noticed a lot of “debris” in the planter. Setting up a ladder, I went to remove the debris. Surprise!!! What I found was a Carolina Wren nest, complete with 4 small eggs!
Being a nature lover, I left the nest in place. Since that time, I have been watching the nest and both parents are very busy bringing in insects for the young ones. But my poor fuschia plant is really suffering … the blooms have nearly stopped, and the dense foliage is really growing thin … I’m in a race against time. I need the little birds to fledge so that I can properly take care of my plant!
Here are a few images of the parents as they bring insects back to the nest:
By the way, in case you have been wondering why it’s been a while since I last posted, I have been extremely busy with the church garden work I have been involved with. I currently have 5 gardens there and they’ve been taking a substantial amount of time to maintain. And on top of that, I am working on adding a moss-covered topiary and this is very tedious work! So, if I’m a bit slow at posting, please know it’s because of my backlog of work in the church gardens!
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) attempted a little revisionist history on social media on Monday.
Christianity is not the religion of the United States, which guarantees the separation of church and state. The Christian faith was used repeatedly to justify slavery, especially within the United States. And the practice of slavery thrived in America long after it was outlawed by many other Western nations.
Police are investigating a mass shooting that left one person dead and nine others injured in St. Louis, Missouri, early Sunday morning, officials said. All 10 people targeted in the attack were juveniles between the ages of 15 and 19 years old, according to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
The shooting happened at around 1 a.m. on Sunday at the intersection of 14th Street and Washington Avenue in the city’s downtown area, St. Louis Police Chief Robert Tracy said at a news conference. Officers stationed in the area initially saw a large group of people running from a building near the intersection. Shortly afterward, the officers received several calls about a shooting on the fifth floor of the building.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department is investigating a mass shooting that left one person dead and nine others wounded at an intersection in the city’s downtown area early Sunday morning. All of the victims were younger than 18.
KKTV
A preliminary investigation indicated that a group of young people was attending a party on the building’s fifth floor, which is meant to be an office space, when the shooting occurred. Officers found 10 young people with apparent gunshot wounds when they arrived at the scene.
A 17-year-old male was pronounced dead, according to the police chief, who said the other nine victims, identified as male and female teenagers as young as 15, had each been struck at least once by gunfire. Tracy said another 17-year-old female suffered “serious injuries” to her spine after she was possibly trampled while running down stairs to exit the building during the shooting. The conditions of the wounded have not been made public as of Sunday night.
Police found numerous shell casings at the scene and recovered multiple firearms, including AR-style pistols and a handgun, which were in the possession of a person of interest who authorities took into custody in connection with the crime. The suspect is also a juvenile, the police chief said.
Authorities have not shared a potential motive for the attack.
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