Two people were seriously injured in a crash in which a car caught fire Saturday night in Andrew County.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, 38-year-old Jeremy M. Otto of St. Joseph was driving northbound in a Jeep Cherokee in the passing lane of southbound I-29 near mile marker 63 shortly after 11 p.m.

Otto’s vehicle hit a Suburu Outback head on in the southbound passing lane. The driver of the Outback was 29-year-old Jennifer A. Britt of Independence. After the impact, Britt’s vehicle caught on fire. Andrew County Fire and EMS responded to the scene.

Both Otto and Britt were transported to Mosaic Life Care with serious injuries. According to the crash report, both drivers were wearing seat belts. 

According to a MSHP arrest report, Otto faces possible charges of DWI and driving the wrong direction on a highway resulting in an accident.

A St. Joseph church is delivering supplies to Houston to help with hurricane relief efforts. 

A staff member at Renovation Church in St. Joseph was in contact with Houston’s First Baptist Church and found out they needed help. Pastor at Renovation Church Kyle Kormeier said within the members of First Baptist, 140 houses were underwater and those families have lost everything. 

“What we’ve been doing for the last two weeks has been trying to get a lot of the, not just churches, but businesses, individuals, to really come together as a city and make an impact down in Houston. We’re far away but we feel like we can really do something,” Kormeier said. “We’ve had a lot of really amazing business partners, school districts, churches all come together and drop stuff off.” 

Donations were collected at the church through Sunday and Kormeier and others will be driving the supplies down to Houston this week. Kormeier said not only will they be delivering supplies, but they will be learning more on how to help Houston long term. 

“We’re going to be going down to First Baptist in Houston, delivering all of that stuff there and then doing some meetings, sitting through some orientations and trainings and really learning how, not just our church, but our city can partner with Houston for the long haul… the clean up that’s going to happen over the next several months, possibly even years,” Kormeier said. 

To learn more about how Renovation Church is helping in Houston click here. To donate, click on the “Give” button and then the “Missions Giving” tab on their giving site. Kormeier said all donations through there will go directly to hurricane victims in Houston.

The St. Joseph Police Department is investigating after a midtown home was shot at early Wednesday morning.

Capt. Jeff Wilson said officers responded around 1:35 a.m. to the 1100 block of S. 17th in reference to a call of shots fired.

“Witnesses observed a dark colored SUV in the area that pulled directly in front of the residence and fired multiple gunshots at the residence,” Wilson said.

None of the occupants, including a child inside of the home were injured.  Wilson said a window was shot out and the home was hit multiple times.  Police recovered some evidence, including shell casings at the scene.  Wilson said the shooting is not believed to be random.

“If anybody has any information as to who might have done this, who has a vehicle like that,” Wilson said. “There’s no information that’s not important.  We’ll definitely look into it.”

The shooting comes less than 24 hours after the St. Joseph Police Department held a press conference to address an increase in shots fired calls around St. Joseph.  Police said most of the incidents have not been random, but rather people who are known to one another.

As of 11:30 a.m. police said they do not have anyone in custody in connection with the 17th street incident. Anyone with information into this or other incidents is asked to call police at (816) 271-4777 or the TIPS Hotline at (816) 238-TIPS.

Volunteers from United Way, MWSU Gold Coat Members and Griffon Athletes will be at different locations around St. Joseph Wednesday raising funds for the upcoming 2017 United Way Campaign.

According to a news release, volunteers are trying to generate excitement for the 2017 MWSU Fall Sports Season, while raising funds for the 2017 United Way Campaign.

Volunteers can be found until 7 p.m. at 22nd & Garfield and Noyes & Mitchell.
Volunteers can also be found at HyVee between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. (they will helping sack groceries and accepting donations).

All donors will receive a PAINT IT GOLD newspaper highlighting the upcoming fall sports season and 2017 United Way Campaign.

The 2017 United Way Campaign will officially kick off Thursday with a breakfast at St. Joseph Country Club.

The annual campaign supports programs and services offered by United Way of Greater St. Joseph’s 17 Partner Agencies and 7 Initiatives.