Kevin Maxey, Jr./Kansas Dept. of Corrections photo
A man accused of shooting and wounding a 42-year-old near a festival in Atchison, Kansas early Sunday morning remains at large.
Atchison Police Chief Michael Wilson says the department’s Special Response Team executed a search warrant on Kevin Maxey’s residence Sunday evening, but he wasn’t home.
Maxey, who is 31, is the suspect in the 3am shooting Sunday that left a man wounded from two gun shots. Emergency crews rushed him to a St. Joseph hospital, where he remains. He has not been identified by Atchison police. His wounds are considered life-threatening.
Wilson says detectives have been gathering evidence and interviewing witnesses. They got an arrest warrant for Maxey Sunday afternoon, but he has yet to be located.
If anyone has seen him or knows where he can be found, please call the Atchison Communication Center at 913-367-4323. The department says callers do not have to give their names.
More highways in northwest Missouri have reopened after floodwaters receded.
Many more remain closed due to high water.
The Missouri Department of Transportation reports road crews were able to reopen U.S. Route 24 and Route 5 east of Brunswick this morning after floodwaters from the Grand River receded and the roadways were cleared. Part of U.S. Route 24 west of Brunswick between Routes 22 and 41 remains closed.
Route 41 to Miami and U.S. Route 65 south of Carrollton remain closed due to flooding.
Also, MoDOT reports the Third Fork Platte River Bridge on U.S. Route 169 east of Union Star is open. The old bridge, built in 1931, was replaced by Boone Construction Company along with MoDOT. MoDOT closed the bridge April first.
MoDOT reports approximately 185 roads remain closed throughout the state, due to flooding. Some of those roadways are closed in more than one place.
Click here for special MoDOT website on roads affected by flooding in northwest Missouri.
Bill McKinney, speaking at the opening of the Remington Nature Center/Photo courtesy of the St. Joseph Parks & Recreation Dept.
Bill McKinney, longtime St. Joseph Parks Director, known for his love of the city and passion for softball, has died at the age of 82.
McKinney guided the city Parks and Recreation Department for nearly 30 years. He retired in 2015 and shortly after his retirement, the city named the Heritage Park Softball Complex after him. The honor was appropriate for a man recognized as one of the premier fast-pitch softball pitchers in the nation. McKinney was a member of the Amateur Softball Association Hall of Fame.
Current Parks Director, Chuck Kempf, worked for McKinney for 10 years and took over the department after McKinney retired.
“Bill was an extremely resourceful and creative person who was able to get the most out of physical, financial and human resources to create facilities and programs for the benefit of the citizens of St. Joseph. People enjoyed working with Bill due to his infectious personality and his passion and commitment to make St. Joseph a better place to live,” Kempf told St. Joseph Post in an email statement.
During his tenure, McKinney became a driving force in creation of the Remington Nature Center as well as the St. Joseph Aquatic Park and St. Joseph REC Center.
McKinney’s presence was well known in St. Joseph for his great love of the community, his projects and the great legacy he’s left behind.
A graduate of Lafayette High School, McKinney earned both a bachelors and a masters degree in education from the University of Missouri, where he played football on a scholarship.
Farewell Services are scheduled at 1pm Tuesday at McCarthy Baptist Church with interment at Memorial Park Cemetery. Visitation will be held at Meierhoffer Funeral Home & Crematory this evening, beginning at 5pm. The family requests donations be made to the St. Joseph Parks & Recreation Department – Special Park Projects fund, the mission fund at McCarthy Baptist Church or to Samaritan’s Purse – Operation Christmas Child.
Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer speaks on the Missouri Senate floor./Photo courtesy of the Missouri Senate
A state senator says Missouri took a step in the right direction this legislative session to improve its roads and bridges and increase economic development opportunities.
Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer of Parkville says the $351 million project, a top priority of Gov. Mike Parson, will help Missouri take advantage of its prime location.
“We’re in the center of the country, meaning that we should be a hub for manufacturing and shipping just because we have a strategic advantage of where we are put on the map, but we rank near the bottom of states in terms of funding for infrastructure,” Luetkemeyer tells St. Joseph Post.
The legislature approved 7-year bonds totaling $350 million to upgrade 250 of the state’s worst bridges. Lawmakers appropriated another $100 million in General Revenue with $50 million going to roads and bridges and the remaining $50 million providing matching funds to local governments for road repairs.
Luetkemeyer says the General Assembly took a big step toward helping public education in Missouri with passage of a $30 billion state budget. Legislators fully funded the Foundation Formula, the formula Missouri uses to pay for public schools.
Lawmakers also approved providing each four-year college and university $1 million in additional funds for their core budgets. Luetkemeyer says it is important Missouri begin to play catch-up with higher education funding.
“We don’t want to get ourselves in a situation where tuition has to increase at such a rate where there is no distinction between what’s charged at a private university and what is charged at a public university, because then it undermines the ability of a lot of people to be able to go out and get an education,” according to Luetkemeyer.
The legislature also approved Gov. Parson’s $10 million “fast track” proposal, which will fund scholarships for non-traditional students to get vocational training.
Luetkemeyer says workforce development is vital for Missouri’s economic growth.
“One of the things that I learned about whenever I was campaigning for this office in St. Joe in particular is that people will say, ‘Look, we have good quality jobs in our community.’ And people talk about there not being enough employment, but when you talk to employers, different small business owners, they say, no we’ve got the jobs here, we just need to make sure that we have a well-trained workforce with the types of skills that we need in order to fill the existing jobs,” Luetkemeyer says.
Luetkemeyer says previously it was assumed that high school graduates should go to college. He says, now, those graduates can get high-pay jobs through vocational training.
Luetkemeyer is disappointing the legislature failed, once again, to approve a prescription drug monitoring program. He says it is important to monitor prescriptions of pain relief to combat the growing opioid epidemic. Missouri is the only state that does not have some form of drug monitoring program.
Congressman Sam Graves says the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to allow E-15 gas to be sold year-round will give commodity prices a boost.
E-15 is a higher blend of ethanol gasoline, which previously could not be sold during the summer months.
Graves says the EPA decision is a needed shot in the arm for the agricultural economy.
“That’s fantastic,” Graves tells St. Joseph Post. “This just helps when it comes to opening up markets. In this particular case, it’s a domestic market, right here within the United States. It’s going to be a huge help for all of our corn growers out there. I applaud the decision. It’s something we’ve been pushing for, something I’ve supported for a long time. It’s great news for farmers, it really is.”
Typical ethanol-based gas consists of 10% ethanol. The ethanol industry has been pushing for years to be allowed to sell the 15% blend year-round.
Graves says it shouldn’t have taken the EPA this long to take this action.
“Finally, we’ve got an administration, a president that supports this and is pushing for it,” Graves says. “It’s great for the environment. It’s good for farmers. It’s good for our community. It’s a win, win, win.”
Graves says the oil industry has fought to prevent the sale of E-15 year-round, because it could give ethanol a greater share of the energy market.
Three roads in eastern Buchanan County have closed.
Emergency Management Director Bill Brinton says Rock Creek Road near SE 80 Road is still closed due to flooding. SE 112 Road is closed north of US 36 Highway.
Hurligen Road east of P Highway will be closed for three days beginning Monday so workers can install a tube.
A dermatology clinic in St. Joseph is offering free skin cancer screenings Saturday.
Advanced Dermatology and Skin Cancer Center will offer the free screenings from 8am to 1pm Saturday at their location, 1419 Village Drive.
The free screenings come just after Skin Awareness Month in May. Advanced Dermatology reports about one in five people will contract skin cancer in their lifetime and one person dies in the United States each day from melanoma.
A St. Joseph city councilmember remains unhappy with the performance of City Manager Bruce Woody, but has failed in an effort to suspend him without pay for one week.
Councilmember Brian Myers got only three votes on his motion to suspend Woody during a closed session with five voting against the measure. Myers says he’s prohibited from going in-depth about the discussion during the closed-door meeting.
“The only thing I can legally say is that I made a motion to suspend our city manager, Bruce Woody, for one week without pay and that motion did not pass,” Myers tells Barry Birr, host of the KFEQ Hotline.
Myers has been displeased with the city manager for some time. He and another city councilmember couldn’t get any support for their efforts to fire Woody last August.
As for his reasons, Myers only says there are gaps in leadership at city hall. Myers says state law prohibits him from disclosing what was discussed behind closed doors.
“What I can say is my own personal opinion that we do have some leadership issues that start from the top and trickle all the way down, that there are certain issues with the budget that have not been addressed in a proper fashion,” according to Myers. “I believe it’s time for some course action in making some changes so that we can, all of us, move forward together as a city.”
Myers says he’s following the lead of the voters, who signaled their displeasure with the direction of the city by electing five new members to the council.
Missouri Department of Transportation photo of flooded Highway 36 near Chillicothe on May 30th.
U.S. Route 36 near Chillicothe, closed due to Grand River flooding, has reopened between Hamilton and Brookfield.
The Missouri Department of Transportation says floodwaters receded enough to allow the re-opening of Highway 36, allowing traffic again to travel across the state from St. Joseph to Hannibal.
U.S. Route 65 south of Chillicothe, near Carrollton, remains closed as does Highway 59 in southern Buchanan County.
At one point, Missouri and Mississippi River flooding shut down nearly 400 roads across the state, mostly in northern Missouri.
Interstate 29 remains closed in southwest Iowa, which has prompted MoDOT to close through traffic on I-29 at U.S. 71 north of St. Joseph.
Click here for MoDOT’s website on northwest Missouri flood conditions.
St. Jo Frontier Casino will reopen this afternoon, the second reopening after floodwaters forced it to close.
The casino closed for 31 days from late on March the 19th to April 20th after the Missouri River flooded the complex just off downtown St. Joseph on the bank of the river. Floodwaters rose once again and forced the casino to close. The casino didn’t open on May 29th, due to flooding. No water got into the casino during the second flooding.
St. Jo Frontier Casino officials had hoped to reopen earlier this week, but had to delay the reopening when repair and cleanup took longer than expected. Reopening is set for four o’clock this afternoon.
The land-based portion of the casino remains under repair. It houses the bar, buffet, and ballroom and was badly damaged by the initial flood. Reconstruction continues.
The casino, slots and tables, opens for regular business this afternoon. Food and drink will be available through the bar and grill in the casino portion of the complex. The casino actually floats on a moat of Missouri River water and has been able to avoid the damage done to the land-based building. A new entrance for the casino had to be constructed so patrons could enter the casino directly.
The St. Jo Frontier Casino celebrates its 25th anniversary later this month. The casino, though now at a different location, opened June 24th of 1994, one of the first four casinos to operate in Missouri.
