BENTON, MO (KFVS) - On September 29 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the Scott County Sheriff’s Office, working with the Drug Enforcement Administration, will give the public another opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs.

Bring your medications for disposal to the Scott County Sheriff’s Office located at 131 S. New Madrid Street in Benton. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Last April, Americans turned in 552,161 pounds—276 tons—of prescription drugs at over 5,600 sites operated by the DEA and nearly 4,300 state and local law enforcement partners.  In its four previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners took in over 1.5 million pounds—nearly 775 tons—of pills. 

BENTON, MO (KFVS) - The Missouri Department of Natural Resources hosted an event in Benton Saturday to help people rid their homes and farms of unwanted pesticides and related chemicals.

The event ran from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Scott County Maintenance Shed, 497 Charleston St., Benton.

People could safely and legally dispose of pesticides, fungicides, insecticides, rodenticides, de-wormers, fly tags and fertilizers containing herbicides or pesticides.

The event was part of the Missouri Pesticide Collection Program and is one of nine scheduled throughout the summer as long as funding remains.

"If you have those in your house, they are in your airspace," Kathy Flippin, with DNR. "They could leak. They could inadvertently spill, you could knock them over. It's just a good thing to have them out of there where you live."

It is open to all residents of Missouri.

(KFVS) - The United Way's "Messy Morning" event will be the Show Me Center on Saturday, April 21 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The free event is for families with young children. Attendees are asked to bring canned food items to give to the Southeast Missouri Food Bank.

The United Way says the event will include over 30 activities for families to participate in, each one contributing to the overall development. They say child care professionals will show caregivers how children learn from play activities and how easy it is to replicate the activities at home. Families are encouraged to bring an extra change of clothes and have their children wear easy on/off shoes because the activities are designed to encourage messy play.

The highlight of the event will be the "Mud Run" starting at 12:30, where children will have the chance to slide through mounds of shaving cream.