An opportunity to meet and talk with the mayor of St. Joseph and councilmembers takes place next week.
The City Talk is an open forum for comments and questions to St. Joseph Mayor Bill McMurray, councilmember Kent O’Dell and other councilmembers.
The June City Talk meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, June 25, at The Downtown Abbey, located at 1202 Felix Street.
For more information, contact the public information and communications division at (816) 271-4610.
PLATTE CITY, Mo. (AP) – A Shawnee man has been charged in the shooting death of Jacob Stowers in Houston Lake.
The Platte County prosecutor’s office said in a news release Friday that 26-year-old Coty Borst has been charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the June 21 death. He is also charged with misdemeanor assault on a police animal.
Court records do not show a defense attorney yet.
Prosecutors allege Borst shot Stowers at a house in Houston Lake. He fled after a shooting and was found in a creek bed 100 yards from the house. A Kansas City police dog found him and latched onto his arm. Borst allegedly forced a handgun to the dog’s head, but dropped it into the creek after officers commanded him not to shoot the dog.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A 30-year-old inmate was charged Friday with capital murder in the shooting deaths of two Kansas sheriff’s deputies who were overpowered by him while they were trying to move him between a courthouse and jail.
Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree announced that his office charged Antoine Fielder with two counts of capital murder in the deputies’ deaths. In Kansas, the intentional, premeditated killing of a single law enforcement officer is eligible for the death penalty.
“We will do our best to bring justice,” Dupree said during a news conference.
Wyandotte County deputies Patrick Rohrer and Theresa King were killed June 15 when, according to police, they were apparently overpowered by Fielder in a gated area behind the courthouse in Kansas City, Kansas, possibly with one of their own guns. He was being transported between the jail and courthouse for a hearing in another case.
“He then overpowered one of the deputies and caused the incident that ultimately caused us to charge these crimes,” Dupree said.
Rohrer, 35, died shortly after the shooting and King, 44, died the next day at a hospital. A joint funeral service was Thursday.
Fielder was shot but survived. He has an extensive criminal history.
Fielder was tried twice for the June 2015 killing of 22-year-old Kelsey Ewonus, a single mother of a 1-year-old son whose body was found in a parked car in Kansas City, Kansas. But the murder charge was dropped in September after a second trial ended in a hung jury.
Authorities allege that Fielder then fatally shot 55-year-old Rosemarie Harmon in December in Kansas City, Missouri, and wounded her friend. Ballistics testing on a gun stolen during a carjacking in Kansas City, Kansas, earlier in December tied him to Harmon’s slaying.
At the time that the deputies were shot, Fielder already was facing a first-degree murder charge in Jackson County, Missouri, in Harmon’s death as well as multiple charges in Wyandotte County in the carjacking.
Online court records don’t list an attorney for Fielder.
He could face charges for additional crimes.
According to court records filed in Harmon’s killing, Fielder bragged to a woman whom he allegedly held at gunpoint that he had killed four people. The court records don’t provide details about those alleged crimes, but Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker has said the claims are “under investigation.”
Mark Dupree, the Wyandotte County district attorney, has said that prosecutors did “everything we could to prove to a jury that he was guilty” of killing Ewonus. The charges against Fielder in Ewonus’ killing were dropped in such a way that they could be refiled if new evidence arises.
Ewonus’ father, Kent Ewonus, told WDAF-TV in an interview that he “knew without any doubt” when Fielder was freed that he would kill again.
“I think I am disgusted with a system that would allow such an evil individual to be out on the streets,” he said.
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KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A 30-year-old inmate was charged Friday in the shooting deaths of two Kansas sheriff’s deputies who were transporting him between a courthouse and jail.
The Wyandotte County District Attorney’s office on Friday announced charges against Antoine Fielder, 30, but didn’t immediately specify what he is charged with. A news conference was scheduled for later Friday afternoon.
Wyandotte County deputies Patrick Rohrer and Theresa King were killed June 15 when they were apparently overpowered by Fielder in a gated area behind the courthouse in Kansas City, Kansas, possibly with one of their own guns.
Rohrer, 35, died shortly after the shooting and King, 44, died the next day at a hospital. A joint funeral service was Thursday.
Fielder was shot but survived. He has an extensive criminal history.
Fielder was tried twice for the June 2015 killing of 22-year-old Kelsey Ewonus, a single mother of a 1-year-old son whose body was found in a parked car in Kansas City, Kansas. But the murder charge was dropped in September after a second trial ended in a hung jury.
Authorities allege that Fielder then fatally shot 55-year-old Rosemarie Harmon in December in Kansas City, Missouri, and wounded her friend. Ballistics testing on a gun stolen during a carjacking in Kansas City, Kansas, earlier in December tied him to Harmon’s slaying.
At the time that the deputies were shot, Fielder already was facing a first-degree murder charge in Jackson County, Missouri, in Harmon’s death as well as multiple charges in Wyandotte County in the carjacking.
Online court records don’t list an attorney for Fielder.
He could face charges for additional crimes.
According to court records filed in Harmon’s killing, Fielder bragged to a woman whom he allegedly held at gunpoint that he had killed four people. The court records don’t provide details about those alleged crimes, but Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker has said the claims are “under investigation.”
Mark Dupree, the Wyandotte County district attorney, has said that prosecutors did “everything we could to prove to a jury that he was guilty” of killing Ewonus. The charges against Fielder in Ewonus’ killing were dropped in such a way that they could be refiled if new evidence arises.
Ewonus’ father, Kent Ewonus, told WDAF-TV in an interview that he “knew without any doubt” when Fielder was freed that he would kill again.
“I think I am disgusted with a system that would allow such an evil individual to be out on the streets,” he said.
A Georgia woman was seriously injured in a semi-truck crash in DeKalb County Friday morning.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, shortly after 7 a.m., 48-year-old Sabrina Hyman of Macon, Georgia, was driving a Peterbilt west on U.S. 36, three miles east of Stewartsville, when the vehicle traveled off the north side of the road. The semi hit an embankment and a tree and came to rest upright off the north side of the road.
Hyman was transported to Mosaic Life Care in St. Joseph for treatment of serious injuries. According to the crash report, she was wearing a seatbelt.
By MADELINE FOX
So far this month, Kansas foster care contractor KVC Kansas hasn’t had any kids sleep in its offices. St. Francis, the contractor for the rest of the state, has had four kids overnight, according to the latest update from the state child welfare agency.
In recent months, each of those contractors logged dozens of overnight stays per month.
Kids end up in offices when there aren’t placement options for them in the community. Many of those children fall into categories that can make them hard to place — like being older, or having behavioral issues or mental health needs that available foster homes might not be equipped to handle.
Both state foster care contractors are opening youth residential centers — group homes that will provide mental health services to meet the needs of some of those hard-to-place kids — in the coming months. KVC will open one in Kansas City, Kansas, while St. Francis hopes to get a space in Wichita operational by early next year.
The number of kids sleeping in offices for both contractors peaked for the year in April.
In an email, KVC Kansas President Chad Anderson credited the decrease this month to “our communities stepp(ing) up in many different ways.”
He said more kids are getting into kinship placements, meaning they’re either with family or with known adults like coaches or neighbors. Subcontractors who help KVC place kids and the communities where they work are also getting a clearer picture of the kids’ needs, he said, allowing KVC to find homes that can meet those needs.
St. Francis is also adding beds for different levels of need. St. Francis spokeswoman Janis Friesen said the contractor added 46 new beds in residential facilities or emergency shelters between Feb. 28 and the end of May. With more than 80 families currently enrolled in classes to become licensed foster homes for St. Francis, more beds will follow.
“The goal is to have zero children sleeping in offices,” Friesen said in an email. “We won’t rest until we achieve it.”
Madeline Fox is a reporter for the Kansas News Service. You can reach her on Twitter @maddycfox.
The St. Joseph Mustangs annual “We Love St. Joe” night raised thousands of dollars for the Noyes Home for Children.
According to a press release, originally, the Mustangs scheduled Tuesday, June 19th, to offer free General Admission to the public, with any size donation made to the Noyes Home for Children at the ticket booth. Due to weather during the day on Tuesday, the Mustangs decided to extend the offer to the following game, on Wednesday, June 20th.
Through the two nights, nearly $2,000 in donations was raised for the Noyes Home. The Noyes Home has been serving the St. Joseph area for over 120 years as a safe haven for families and children.
“Thanks to the community’s support we were able to raise money for such a wonderful organization,” Mustangs Owner and CEO Dan Gerson said. “The Mustangs will continue to be committed to giving back to the community that has given us so much.”
For more information on the Noyes Home and how you can continue to support their mission, visit noyeshome.org.
A celebration of American-Irish heritage takes place Friday night in St. Joseph.
The Ancient Order of Hibernians, along with the Sounds of Summer and the Downtown Association will present the 2nd Annual Celtic Street Faire.
Gerald McCullagh with the Ancient Order of Hibernians said the event is open to everyone.
“You don’t have to be Irish to attend this festival,” McCullagh said. “You can go down there and have a wonderful time, support the community. We do a lot of charitable things with the money that we receive from this Irish festival, so I would encourage anyone to come along and enjoy themselves an evening and listen to the music.”
The event gives back funds raised to local organizations such as the Second Harvest Community Food Bank and the Open Door Food Kitchen.
The event will feature a beer, wine and whiskey tasting, music from Flannigan’s Right Hook, an Irish band and more.
The Celtic Street Faire begins at 5 p.m. Friday at Coleman Hawkins Park at the Felix Street Square. For more information, visit the St. Joseph, MO Ancient Order of Hibernians on Facebook.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A rape suspect says he was burned with scalding water at a jail in Kansas City and later mistakenly released.
Shawn Schneider discussed his concerns about the Jackson County jail in an interview with WDAF-TV . He says he plans to file a lawsuit over his injuries.
Schneider is awaiting trial on a rape charge. He told the TV station that in March, another inmate poured scalding water on the back of his neck in a recreation area of the jail. Schneider says he was hospitalized for weeks with second-degree burns.
Schneider was mistakenly released Tuesday, but returned to jail on his own a day later.
Jackson County Corrections Department director Diana Turner says in a statement that the jail will review policies and procedures.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Mike Parson has signed his first five bills into law as Missouri’s governor, including one that exempts small farms from parts of the state’s clean water law.
That bill, whose signing was announced in a press release Friday, also restricts when the Department of Natural Resources can regulate toxic coal ash in some landfills.
Proponents say the changes remove needless regulation. Critics say the coal ash provision could endanger Missouri’s groundwater.
Today, we signed into law HB 1831, HB 2101, SB 593, SB 594, and SB 782. Our top objective is to move Missouri forward and we are headed the right direction. The legislature should be proud of the work that was done this year. #MissouriForward #MoLeg pic.twitter.com/aKNfbVEPFA
— Governor Mike Parson (@GovParsonMO) June 22, 2018
Another bill signed into law makes disposable diapers part of the Back to School Sales Tax Holiday that occurs every August.
The Legislature passed 143 bills this year, and just over half were signed into law by former Gov. Eric Greitens hours before he resigned June 1. Dozens of proposals are still in limbo, including the state budget.
Beginning next week, SSM Health St. Francis Hospital in Maryville will be temporarily diverting patients and visitors from the hospital’s main entrance for a two-phase construction project.
Beginning at 7 a.m. on Monday, June 25, the inside walls of the front lobby will be torn down in preparation for a new roof. Patients and visitors will be redirected to the old front entrance just south of the emergency department or the north entrance of the north wing depending on service needed. Additional hospital staff and volunteers as well as extra signage will be available to assist.
The initial phase of the project is in preparation for a new roof over the lobby area. The current fiberglass covering has been deteriorating over the years, causing mold and odor issues. The new gable roof will be constructed of glass and metal.
The roof replacement phase of the project will begin on July 30 and take four weeks to complete, through August 24. During this time, patients and visitors will again be diverted to the alternate entrances. Large equipment operation will be used during this portion of the project and extra caution will be taken to assure safe access to the hospital.
Cancer care and infusion services patients will be directed to the old front entrance of the hospital while patients that need to register for any service other than the cancer clinic or infusion services will be asked to use the north wing entrance. All emergency patients are to use the ambulance bay entrance to the department.
Should there be any questions or concerns regarding this two-phased project, please contact the hospital’s community relations and development office at (660) 562-7933.
