Southwest Missouri News

Branson

Improvements on drawing board

Design work is under way for two major street projects to improve traffic flow, according to a press release from the city of Branson.

One project will extend Epps Road, which now ends at Roark Valley Road, southward to intersect with Fall Creek Road at Highway 76.

The other project will reduce steep grades and align Forsythe Street with Green Mountain Drive and add a traffic signal at the intersection. The tentative completion dates for the projects are August 2003.

Construction will begin in early 2002 to straighten the hairpin curves on Roark Valley Road between Gretna and Shep-herd of the Hills Expressway. In an additional road improvement project, right-turn lanes will be added at the intersections of Roark Valley and Gretna, and Roark Valley and Shepherd of the Hills.

Landing could lure thousands

A convention center feasibility study conducted by Conventions, Sports and Leisure of Minneapolis indicates that a Branson convention center would attract thousands of conventioneers each year, drawing between 87 and 100 events an-nually utilizing more than 360 days.

Total spending as a result of a convention center would be $115 million annually.

Salomon Smith Barney, the nation's largest backer of municipal bonds, has committed to underwrite the bonds to fund the public portion of the Branson Landing project the convention and exhibition center, town square, boardwalk, parking areas and street improvements.

The Missouri Development Finance Board of the Department of Economic Development has voted to serve as issuing agent for the bonds, and Landing developers and city officials are still aiming for a June 2002 ground breaking for the project.

Firemen pursue certification

Several city firefighters are being trained in the Fire Inspector I certification course, according to a release from the city of Branson. Skills learned will enable firemen to inspect for Fire Code violations and general fire safety practices in businesses, allowing the city to utilize fire personnel in a multi-mission role.

Meanwhile, the city's Police Depart-ment is changing its look with the purchase of new patrol cars. The new service vehicles will be solid black with white lettering, the opposite of the current white with black lettering.

Jasper County

Unemployment down in October

Unemployment in Jasper County and the surrounding area fell in October.

According to the most recent Missouri unemployment figures, the rate in Jasper County decreased from 3.6 percent in September to 3.4 percent in October.

Other southwest Missouri counties also experienced a drop, including New-ton County, where unemployment de-creased from 6.1 percent in September to 5 percent in October.

McDonald County decreased from 6.1 percent to 5.3 percent; Barton County from 2.9 percent to 2.7 percent; Barry County from 3.9 percent to 3.5 percent; and Lawrence County remained the same at 4.3 percent.

Joplin

Freeman marketing receive honors

Freeman Health System marketing department recently earned three honors presented at the 2001 Show-Me Excel-lence Awards.

"Your Blood Counts," an internal blood drive campaign, received first place in the Employee Communications category.

The Freeman Screen Team concept received first place in the Special Mar-keting category. The Freeman Screen Team is a group of Freeman employees that brings prevention and detection to the community through free screenings in-cluding EKG, blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose.

The "Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Media Relations Project," a special news series that ran on KOAM-TV 7, received second place in the Media Relations Activity or Program category.

The Show-Me Excellence Awards are presented by the Missouri Association for Healthcare Public Re-lations and Marketing to recognize quality performance in the profession of health care public relations and marketing.

Clinic receives accreditation

Mercy Clinics Family Practice, which is located in the St. John's Family Care Center, has met all of the criteria for Laboratory Accreditation by COLA, a nationwide accreditation organization.

Mercy Clinics serves patients with a focus on preventative medicine, disease management and the coordination of care to promote the appropriate use of medical resources and services.

"We are proud to receive this approval of our laboratory," said Dr. David Dug-ger, laboratory director of Mercy Clinics. "It is only given to those facilities that voluntarily commit to provide the best treatment and to undergo a rigorous evaluation process and a review of performance."

COLA is a nonprofit, physician-directed organization promoting quality and excellence

Neosho

Big Spring wins top honors

The Best Western Big Spring Lodge in Neosho was named "Best of the Best" at Best Western International's annual convention in Phoenix, Ariz.

The Big Spring Lodge is one of only 36 Best Westerns to receive this honor.

The "Best of the Best" Awards formally recognize Best Western hoteliers that demonstrate and best exemplify levels of quality, service and value. Recipients are chosen based on strict criteria including two quality assurance reviews conducted during the year in which they must score 1,000 out of 1,000 on one review and at least 975 out of 1,000 on the additional review.

Best Western International is the world's largest lodging chain with more than 4,000 hotels in 82 countries and territories.