Jeremiah Moorhead Helps the Homeless
As you drive down Commercial Street, it’s hard to miss the Missouri Hotel, long known as a shelter for the homeless. But it’s the little white virtually unmarked building next door where Jeremiah Moorhead works, and what goes on inside is anything but boring.
“I help run Bill’s Place, which is a drop in center for the homeless, where…just a place to get out of the weather, and drink coffee, do their laundry, take showers,” said our own Jeremiah Moorhead in a March 20 interview on KSMU. He is an outreach specialist with Burrell Homeless Services who works out of Bill’s Place, next to the Missouri Hotel on Commercial St. Bill’s Place offers temporary shelter to the homeless.
Read more about Jeremiah at
http://ksmu.org/article/one-mans-dream-becoming-social-worker#.T2n4nUHO5yo.email
Buck Advocates for the Regal Fritillary to Become a State Monarch of Sorts
Master Naturalist Buck Keagy testified in February before the Missouri House of Representatives to designate the Regal Fritillary butterfly the state butterfly. The Regal Fritillary is a relatively rare prairie butterfly. Rep. Charlie Dennison, shown with Buck, has attached the proposal to a veterans-related bill he is sponsoring, the idea being that the House and eventually the Senate would be likely to support anything for veterans. 
While the designation of a state butterfly won’t be front-page news, we can take pride that our own champion of butterflies started the process.
Snowy Owls Invade Missouri
Charley Burwick and Janice Greene were quoted recently in a national news story about the Audubon Christmas Bird Count and this season’s snowy owl invasion. The story ran in several newspapers across the country. Here’s a link: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/01/04/134820/audubon-watchers-find-snowy-owls.html. And here’s Charley’s photo of an owl at Smithville Lake north of Kansas City. 
Ten Master Naturalists participated in the Taney County bird count and others in the Greene County count, both in December. Numbers of birds and numbers of species were both down, probably the consequence of weather and drought.
The bird counts are an excellent opportunity to view and learn about birds from local experts and to pick up some service hours at the same time. Talk to Charley about participating next December.
Good Fires on the Prairie
Read the Springfield News-Leader’s article on the importance of fire for a healthy prairie. You’ll find our own Linda Ellis present at a recent prescribed burn on Woods Prairie in Lawrence County, identifying rattlesnake master, black-eyed susan, spurge and more plants. Our own super blog also has a synopsis. 