MIRANDA JAMISON When it comes to preventing youth drug misuse and accidental poisonings, small steps at home can make a big difference. That’s the message behind a new initiative distributing thousands of Medication Safety Toolkits for Families across the Northland.

MIRANDA JAMISON Excelsior Springs residents are being asked to dust off their lawn chairs, fire up their grills and meet the neighbors they may have waved at for years but never really got to know. To strengthen community ties, Mayor Mark Spohn has launched the Mayor’s Block Party Challenge, a citywide push to organize 50 neighborhood gatherings between Easter and Halloween.

A Wood Heights man who originally faced seven felony charges has pleaded guilty to just one and may serve no prison time if he successfully completes a 120-day Department of Corrections program. James Wayne Woodruff Sr., 66, recently entered a guilty plea before Eighth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Dennis A.