Latest news with #BenBaker
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Missouri gears up for 2026 state representative primaries
SOUTHWEST MISSOURI — It's an election that's still more than a year away – but there are already a few southwest Missouri candidates throwing their hats in the ring. Primaries for local State Representative seats won't take place until August of 2026. But three politicians have filed the paperwork saying they'll run for office. In Joplin's 161st district, Thomas Ross says he'll run as a Republican… his third time seeking the seat. It is currently held by Lane Roberts who will be term limited. MO State Rep from Neosho accepts Trump appointment Meanwhile, there are two names in the race for the 160th district in Newton County, which is vacant following the resignation of Ben Baker in May. Both Jonathan Russell and Chris Wright have indicated they will run as Republicans. While the governor had the option to name a special election to choose a replacement, experts agree that's unlikely given the amount of time required for filing and the election preparation process. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Associated Press
09-07-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
Focus on first responders' mental health grows as death toll rises in flood-ravaged Texas
INGRAM, Texas (AP) — Riding on horseback through brush and over numerous dead turkeys, Margo Mellon spent Tuesday scanning the flood-ravaged ground of Texas' Hill Country for dead bodies. As she and her rescue mates trudged through the muddy terrain, state officials announced that more than 160 people are still believed to be missing. With countless miles swamped by the floods, nobody knows when the searches will end. The triumphs of finding people alive ended days ago, while the mission of recovering bodies that might include even more children is far from over. The grim undertaking has prompted questions about how first responders and rescue teams are able to mentally reckon with the work ahead. Mellon, a 24-year-old volunteer with search and recovery organization Texas EquuSearch that is a working with local fire departments, said for now she feels emotionally detached as she focuses on the task. But she knows the experience will be difficult to process once she returns home to Corpus Christi. 'I'll try not to think about it too much,' she said. 'I'll just think about the fact that at least the families have closure.' The flash floods deluged homes, campgrounds and an all-girls summer camp over Fourth of July weekend. More than 100 people have been killed, including 30 children. 'We process it the best we can,' Lt. Colonel Ben Baker of the Texas Game Wardens said Tuesday at a news conference after taking a deep breath. 'We're making sure they have the support,' Baker said of the search teams, adding that 'to see a child in that loss of life is extremely tragic.' Working on autopilot The discussion about first responders' mental health likely wouldn't have occurred a generation ago, experts say. And while first responders have higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychological health conditions, most are able to process the heavy realities of the job. Nick Culotta, who was a paramedic in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, said people in the profession are able to compartmentalize and work on autopilot. Despite the challenges of recovering bodies, he said the work is crucial. 'It's definitely not the goal that you are hoping for,' he said. 'But just being able to give someone closure that their loved one was found can give us a sense of accomplishment. There are still people unaccounted for from Katrina.' Mental health challenges may follow, he said, which is why learning how to rest and get support is important. 'People will still continue to call for police. People will still get sick. Things will still catch fire,' he said. 'What's really important is understanding your limitations. And having resources available to use, whether it be an anonymous help line or a sit-down with a mental health counselor.' The importance of a strong support system The stresses of the job affect everyone differently, said Robin Jacobowitz, interim director at the Institute for Disaster Mental Health at SUNY New Paltz. A lot of it depends on what the first responder experienced previously, both on the job and off, she said. 'For these responders who are working in Texas, it's probably not their first incident,' said Jacobowitz, who co-authored a report on the mental health needs of New York's first responders. 'So what they're dealing with now is probably layered on top of what they have dealt with in the past. And those things add up.' Stress from the job can show up through sleeplessness, flashbacks or introversion, Jacobowitz said, as well as feelings of 'Could I have done more? Did I do enough?' Most will lean on friends and family as well as clergy or spiritual advisers. But because many don't want to burden them with what they've seen, they also lean on each other and mental health professionals. One of the biggest predictors of recovering from a traumatic event is the degree of social support a person has. 'Not every traumatic incident turns into full-blown PTSD,' Jacobowitz said. 'You may struggle with PTSD-like symptoms and then be able to work through them.' A growing emphasis on first responders' mental health There's been a marked shift toward acknowledging the mental health challenges of the job, said Ian Stanley, a University of Colorado emergency medicine professor. Much of the change has occurred in the last decade, pushed along by the growing focus on PTSD among veterans coupled with the stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic on first responders, Stanley said. But there's still a long way to go because the issue 'hasn't been talked about for so long,' he said. Challenges include serving first responders who work for volunteer organizations or in rural areas where there are fewer mental health resources. The issue also hasn't been studied as extensively as it has among veterans and service members. Stanley stressed that most first responders are 'resilient to these challenges and live happy, healthy, productive, resilient lives.' But he noted that many of those recovering flood victims in Texas are in small communities. 'They might be recovering bodies of people they know or their neighbors,' he said. 'And that's really challenging.' ___ Finley reported from Norfolk, Virginia.
The Independent
09-07-2025
- General
- The Independent
Focus on first responders' mental health grows as death toll rises in flood-ravaged Texas
Riding on horseback through brush and over numerous dead turkeys, Margo Mellon spent Tuesday scanning the flood-ravaged ground of Texas' Hill Country for dead bodies. As she and her rescue mates trudged through the muddy terrain, state officials announced that more than 160 people are still believed to be missing. With countless miles swamped by the floods, nobody knows when the searches will end. The triumphs of finding people alive ended days ago, while the mission of recovering bodies that might include even more children is far from over. The grim undertaking has prompted questions about how first responders and rescue teams are able to mentally reckon with the work ahead. Mellon, a 24-year-old volunteer with search and recovery organization Texas EquuSearch that is a working with local fire departments, said for now she feels emotionally detached as she focuses on the task. But she knows the experience will be difficult to process once she returns home to Corpus Christi. 'I'll try not to think about it too much,' she said. 'I'll just think about the fact that at least the families have closure.' The flash floods deluged homes, campgrounds and an all-girls summer camp over Fourth of July weekend. More than 100 people have been killed, including 30 children. 'We process it the best we can,' Lt. Colonel Ben Baker of the Texas Game Wardens said Tuesday at a news conference after taking a deep breath. 'We're making sure they have the support,' Baker said of the search teams, adding that 'to see a child in that loss of life is extremely tragic.' Working on autopilot The discussion about first responders' mental health likely wouldn't have occurred a generation ago, experts say. And while first responders have higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychological health conditions, most are able to process the heavy realities of the job. Nick Culotta, who was a paramedic in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, said people in the profession are able to compartmentalize and work on autopilot. Despite the challenges of recovering bodies, he said the work is crucial. 'It's definitely not the goal that you are hoping for," he said. "But just being able to give someone closure that their loved one was found can give us a sense of accomplishment. There are still people unaccounted for from Katrina.' Mental health challenges may follow, he said, which is why learning how to rest and get support is important. ' People will still continue to call for police. People will still get sick. Things will still catch fire,' he said. 'What's really important is understanding your limitations. And having resources available to use, whether it be an anonymous help line or a sit-down with a mental health counselor.' The importance of a strong support system The stresses of the job affect everyone differently, said Robin Jacobowitz, interim director at the Institute for Disaster Mental Health at SUNY New Paltz. A lot of it depends on what the first responder experienced previously, both on the job and off, she said. 'For these responders who are working in Texas, it's probably not their first incident,' said Jacobowitz, who co-authored a report on the mental health needs of New York's first responders. 'So what they're dealing with now is probably layered on top of what they have dealt with in the past. And those things add up.' Stress from the job can show up through sleeplessness, flashbacks or introversion, Jacobowitz said, as well as feelings of 'Could I have done more? Did I do enough?' Most will lean on friends and family as well as clergy or spiritual advisers. But because many don't want to burden them with what they've seen, they also lean on each other and mental health professionals. One of the biggest predictors of recovering from a traumatic event is the degree of social support a person has. 'Not every traumatic incident turns into full-blown PTSD,' Jacobowitz said. 'You may struggle with PTSD-like symptoms and then be able to work through them." A growing emphasis on first responders' mental health There's been a marked shift toward acknowledging the mental health challenges of the job, said Ian Stanley, a University of Colorado emergency medicine professor. Much of the change has occurred in the last decade, pushed along by the growing focus on PTSD among veterans coupled with the stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic on first responders, Stanley said. But there's still a long way to go because the issue "hasn't been talked about for so long,' he said. Challenges include serving first responders who work for volunteer organizations or in rural areas where there are fewer mental health resources. The issue also hasn't been studied as extensively as it has among veterans and service members. Stanley stressed that most first responders are 'resilient to these challenges and live happy, healthy, productive, resilient lives.' But he noted that many of those recovering flood victims in Texas are in small communities. 'They might be recovering bodies of people they know or their neighbors,' he said. "And that's really challenging." ___ Finley reported from Norfolk, Virginia.
RNZ News
08-07-2025
- Climate
- RNZ News
Rescue teams find three more bodies after central Texas floods
By Rich McKay and Jonathan Allen Flood waters left debris including vehicles and equipment scattered in Louise Hays Park on 5 July 2025 in Kerrville, Texas. Photo: Eric Vryn / Getty Images / AFP The death toll in Kerr County crept up to 87 on Tuesday (US time) as search and rescue teams recovered three more bodies in the flood-ravaged hills of central Texas, according to officials in the county worst hit by the disaster. Rescue teams from federal agencies, neighboring states and Mexico have joined local efforts to search for survivors, which have been hindered by thunderstorms and downpours. As they work through lists of people reported missing, the teams have not found a living survivor in Kerr County since Friday. The floods have killed at least 109 people including dozens of children . "The work is extremely treacherous, time-consuming," Lieutenant Colonel Ben Baker of the Texas Game Wardens said at the press conference. "It's dirty work. The water is still there." Flooding caused by a flash flood at the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas. Photo: RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP Torrential rains before dawn on Friday deluged the Guadalupe River, which burst its banks and killed dozens of people, leaving behind mangled piles of debris, trees and cars. Local and federal emergency officials have faced days of angry questions about whether they could have warned people in flood-prone Texas Hill Country sooner. At least 56 adults and 30 children have been killed in Kerr County, Sheriff Larry Leitha said at a press conference in Kerrville, the county seat, with more than two dozen victims yet to be identified. Authorities have not determined if the 87th victim was an adult or child. Some of the flood victims were sleeping at Camp Mystic, a riverside Christian girls' summer camp near the town of Hunt; five children and one camp counsellor were still unaccounted for on Tuesday. The sheriff rebuffed several questions about the county's emergency management operations and preparedness, and declined to say who in the county was ultimately in charge of monitoring weather alerts and issuing a flood warning or evacuation order. He said his office first started getting 911 emergency calls between 4am and 5am on Friday, several hours after the local National Weather Service station issued a flash-flood alert. "We're in the process of trying to put (together) a timeline," Leitha said. The floods killed at least another 22 people outside Kerr County, according to local sheriffs' and media reports, with seven dead in Travis County, seven dead in Kendall County, five dead in Burnett County, two in Williamson County and one in Tom Green County. US President Donald Trump, a Republican, plans to visit the devastated region this week, a spokesperson said. Democrats in Washington have called for an official investigation into whether the Trump administration's job cuts at the National Weather Service affected the agency's response to the floods. -Reuters
Straits Times
08-07-2025
- Straits Times
Rescue teams find three more bodies after central Texas floods
Search teams continue searching for flood victims near Camp Mystic, in the aftermath of deadly flooding in Kerr County, Texas, U.S., July 7, 2025. REUTERS/Sergio Flores TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY The death toll in Kerr County crept up to 87 on Tuesday as search and rescue teams recovered three more bodies in the flood-ravaged hills of central Texas, according to officials in the county worst hit by the disaster. Rescue teams from federal agencies, neighboring states and Mexico have joined local efforts to search for survivors, which have been hindered by thunderstorms and downpours. As they work through lists of people reported missing, the teams have not found a living survivor in Kerr County since Friday. The floods have killed at least 109 people including dozens of children. "The work is extremely treacherous, time-consuming," Lieutenant Colonel Ben Baker of the Texas Game Wardens said at the press conference. "It's dirty work. The water is still there." Torrential rains before dawn on Friday deluged the Guadalupe River, which burst its banks and killed dozens of people, leaving behind mangled piles of debris, trees and cars. Local and federal emergency officials have faced days of angry questions about whether they could have warned people in flood-prone Texas Hill Country sooner. At least 56 adults and 30 children have been killed in Kerr County, Sheriff Larry Leitha said at a press conference in Kerrville, the county seat, with more than two dozen victims yet to be identified. Authorities have not determined if the 87th victim was an adult or child. Some of the flood victims were sleeping at Camp Mystic, a riverside Christian girls' summer camp near the town of Hunt; five children and one camp counsellor were still unaccounted for on Tuesday. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore NDP celebrations to be held at 5 heartland sites, including Bishan and Punggol, on Aug 10 Singapore Keep citizens at the centre of public service, Chan Chun Sing tells civil servants Singapore Man arrested for allegedly throwing bottle at SMRT bus, injuring passenger Asia As Trump plays tariffs hard ball, Asean has little choice but to play on Asia PM Anwar called out by his own lawmakers as Malaysia's judicial crisis heats up Singapore SIA flight from Brisbane to Singapore diverted to Perth due to technical issue Sport Speeding likely cause of Diogo Jota car crash: Police Business Great Eastern could resume trading after delisting vote fails to pass; OCBC's exit offer lapses The sheriff rebuffed several questions about the county's emergency management operations and preparedness, and declined to say who in the county was ultimately in charge of monitoring weather alerts and issuing a flood warning or evacuation order. He said his office first started getting 911 emergency calls between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. on Friday, several hours after the local National Weather Service station issued a flash-flood alert. "We're in the process of trying to put (together) a timeline," Leitha said. The floods killed at least another 22 people outside Kerr County, according to local sheriffs' and media reports, with seven dead in Travis County, seven dead in Kendall County, five dead in Burnett County, two in Williamson County and one in Tom Green County. U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican, plans to visit the devastated region this week, a spokesperson said. Democrats in Washington have called for an official investigation into whether the Trump administration's job cuts at the National Weather Service affected the agency's response to the floods. REUTERS
