Polls are open for Tuesday’s St. Joseph Municipal Primary Election.
The ballot includes five candidates for St. Joseph mayor, ten candidates for three at-large council seats, and three candidates each for city council in district one and district five.
Polls are open until 7 p.m.
For more information, click here or call the Buchanan County Clerk’s office at (816) 271-1412.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Pennsylvania man who owns a trophy-hunting company has pleaded guilty to illegally importing deer into Kansas.
The U.S. attorney’s office says 48-year-old Robert McConnell, pleaded guilty Monday to four counts. The Slippery Rock man owns Horseshoe Hill Outfitters, which advertises “big game hunting adventures” in Kansas, Pennsylvania, New Mexico and Ontario.
Prosecutors say he violated an act that regulates the trade of wildlife, fish and plants. In two counts, McConnell admitted to importing deer that weren’t from an accredited herd, weren’t officially identified and didn’t have a certificate of veterinary inspection. In two others, he admitted to importing domesticated deer.
Sentencing is set for May 21. Both sides are recommending a fine of at least $10,000 and five years of probation during which he couldn’t do business in Kansas.
Winter weather is expected to move into the area this afternoon, mainly north of the Missouri River. The system will arrive in two different waves, the first being just after noon north of the Missouri River, and the second being after sunset. The main bulk of accumulating snow will remain north of the Missouri River with the highest totals expected from St. Joseph to Kirksville. Interstate 35 could have significant impacts after noon with visibility dropping below 1 mile at times with periods of heavy snowfall and possible snow covered roads. The KC metro may see some light snow around noon briefly with the main chances being after 6-7 p.m. as the tail end of the system pushes through. Here’s the 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service:
Today: Snow, mainly after 2 p.m. High near 20. Wind chill values between -2 and 8. East northeast wind 3 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
Tonight: Snow likely, mainly before 11 p.m. Cloudy, then gradually becoming partly cloudy, with a low around 8. Wind chill values between -1 and 4. North northeast wind 5 to 9 mph becoming light and variable. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 27. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 16. Light and variable wind becoming south 5 to 8 mph after midnight.
Thursday: Partly sunny, with a high near 45. Southwest wind 7 to 11 mph.
Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 22.
Friday: A chance of snow after noon. Cloudy, with a high near 27. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Friday Night: A chance of snow. Cloudy, with a low around 17. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Saturday: A chance of snow. Cloudy, with a high near 27. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Saturday Night: A chance of snow before midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 14. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 28.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 14.
Monday: A chance of rain and snow. Partly sunny, with a high near 39. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A former Camden County, Mo., sheriff’s deputy has been indicted by a federal grand jury on child pornography charges, according to Timothy A. Garrison, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
Leonard Jerome Wilson, 39, formerly of Camdenton, Mo., was charged in a two-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Jefferson City, Mo., on Dec. 21, 2017. That indictment was unsealed and made public today upon Wilson’s arrest and initial court appearance in South Carolina. Wilson remains in federal custody and will be transported to the Western District of Missouri to face charges.
Wilson was employed as a Camden County sheriff’s deputy at the time of the alleged offenses.
The federal indictment alleges that Wilson received child pornography between April 26, 2015, and July 17, 2017. Wilson is also charged with possessing child pornography on July 17, 2017.
Garrison cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt.
JACKSON COUNTY —A Kansas woman was arrested on a District Court warrant Monday for 2nd-degree attempted murder and aggravated battery.
Nicole Leann Martinez, 31, Holton is alleged to have stabbed Cruz Ruiz, 28, of Holton in an apartment at the Red Roof Inn on November 26m in Holton, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.
The warrant was issued for Martinez as a result of a joint investigation conducted by the Holton Police Department and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.
Ruiz was treated at a local hospital following the stabbing.
Martinez is currently being held in the Jackson County Jail with bond being set at $50,000.00.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The newborn giraffe at the Kansas City Zoo already weighs around 105 pounds and stands around 5 feet tall.
The zoo announced in a news release Monday that the calf was born Friday. She has undergone a medical exam and appears to be in good health.
The calf is behind the scenes for now with her mother, Lizzie. She won’t be on exhibit until the temperatures warm up.
LAFAYETTE COUNTY, MO. — One person died in an accident just before 4p.m. Monday in Lafayette County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 1999 Dodge passenger vehicle driven by Alfredo G. Capote, 57, Miami, FL., was eastbound on Interstate 70 just west of Higginsville.
The driver lost control of the vehicle. It traveled off the right side of the road, overturned and ejected the driver.
Capote and a passenger David R. Velasquez, 58, Grand Island, NE, were transported to Centerpointe Hospital where Capote died. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the MSHP.
Charges have been filed after a stabbing over the weekend that injured a man and resulted in the death of a woman.
As previously reported, according to the St. Joseph Police Department, at 1:16 a.m. Saturday at Legends Bar at 210 North Belt, two employees were stabbed by a customer at the bar.
According to a probable cause statement, 26-year-old Eliseo Hernandez-Sebastian started a disturbance at the bar and when asked to leave, he stabbed an employee, 48-year-old James B. Cleveland. Another employee, 38-year-old Terra M. Reents, also attempted to get Sebastian to leave the property. Sebastian stabbed Reents and he then fled the area on foot. Sebastian was located later Saturday morning and taken into custody.
Cleveland and Reents were transported to Mosaic Life Care for treatment. Police say Reents later died from her injuries.
According to online court documents, Sebastian is charged with first degree assault and second degree murder. An arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The man whose then-wife had an affair with Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens has been subpoenaed to testify before a St. Louis grand jury, the man’s attorney said Monday.
“It’s been stepped up a notch,” attorney Al Watkins said. “It means a grand jury is seated and is hearing evidence about the investigation against Gov. Greitens.”
He declined to say when his client will testify.
Greitens, a Republican, admitted on Jan. 10 to a monthslong affair with his St. Louis hairdresser in 2015, before he was governor. The woman’s ex-husband secretly recorded a conversation with her in which she claimed that Greitens took a compromising photo as potential blackmail if she spoke about the relationship.
Greitens has repeatedly denied threatening to blackmail the woman. He has not answered directly when asked if he took a photo.
A spokeswoman for the St. Louis circuit attorney’s office declined to confirm or deny if a grand jury is investigating.
Greitens’ attorney, Jim Bennett, said in a statement that neither he nor Greitens has been contacted by law enforcement seeking information on the governor. He noted that while Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner has previously announced an investigation, he is confident there is no federal investigation.
“In any event, any inquiry would result in the same conclusion, which is that this is a private issue of no legal or public interest from three years ago,” Bennett said.
It wasn’t clear if the woman with whom the governor had the affair has been called to testify. A message left with her attorney was not immediately returned.
Jack Sharman, the lawyer who headed the Alabama House Judiciary Committee’s impeachment investigation of then-Gov. Robert Bentley, said that in a grand jury case, prosecutors present evidence in complete secrecy. The decision to file charges is made by a panel of regular citizens, not the prosecutor.
“In general, it’s safe to say being associated with a grand jury as its subject or target is not a good thing and at best will cause considerable distraction and difficulty in the coming weeks and months,” Sharman said.
Several lawmakers, including five fellow Republicans, have called on Greitens, a 43-year-old former Navy SEAL officer, to resign. He has said he will not, characterizing the affair as a “personal mistake” that he and his wife have worked through.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – A Missouri nonprofit has helped seven puppies rescued along the side of a road go from an abandoned crate to a yoga class.
The Columbia Daily Tribune reports that Unchained Melodies Inc. picked up the puppies and their mother when a woman notified them after driving by the crate in December. The Columbia-based nonprofit is dedicated to rescuing dogs and fighting against animal abuse.
The abandoned dogs took part in a Charity Puppy Yoga event at University of Missouri’s Human Performance Institute on Sunday. Attendees were invited to submit an online application to adopt any of the puppies at the event or other dogs at Unchained Melodies’ foster homes.
Volunteer Whitney Wright says the dogs were “free to roam, jump on people, lick toes – do puppy things.”
