A tuition and room and board increase is coming for students at Missouri Western State University.

Western’s Board of Governors approved tuition and room and board rates for the 2017-2018 school year.

For undergraduate, in-state students, tuition will rise 2.4 percent, or $4.77 per credit hour, to $204.14 per credit hour. The increase is in line with limits set by state statute. All other rates, including out-of-state undergraduate and all graduate, online and KC Northland campus tuition rates, will rise between .5 and 2.5 percent.

Room rates will increase between 2.5 percent and 3 percent, or $68 to $96 per semester, depending on the hall chosen. Board rates will increase between 2 and 4 percent, or $37 to $66 per semester, depending on the meal plan chosen. The 21 meal plan will now include all-access meals, keeping the dining hall in Blum Student Union open 12 hours per, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Currently, the dining hall is open a total of 7.5 hours per day.

An undergraduate student taking 15 in-state credit hours living in the least expensive residence hall with the least expensive meal plan would see an increase of $205 per semester, or 2.8 percent.

Also Thursday, the Board of Governors accepted a bid from Allegiant and Avaya Cloud Services of Overland Park, Kansas for a fully hosted Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, phone system to replace Missouri Western’s current AT&T Plexar telephone service. The five-year cost of the Allegiant Avaya system will be $816,547.

As part of the VoIP bid service, Missouri Western audited its phone line usage among departments on campus and will eliminate 140 phone lines, from 973 to 833. The cost per line of the VoIP system is 4.2 percent lower than the current landline, resulting in a total annual savings of approximately $40,000.

Two judges issued arrest warrants Thursday for a St. Joseph woman who failed to show up for hearings in two separate burglary cases.

Shannon Schremser faces felony second-degree burglary charges in two separate cases filed in February. As we reported earlier, police and prosecutors accuse Schremser and co-defendant Jeff Pendleton of breaking into a home in the 2300 block of Mansfield Road on February 7.

A court document asserts the pair took numerous items from the home including a 2000 Lexus parked outside. Police said they recovered the property and arrested the pair at their residence.

Just a day after posting bail in that case, Schremser was charged with burglary again. In that case, authorities said she was found in possession of financial documents belonging to a man’s deceased wife which were reported missing in a home burglary Feb. 17 at a home on S.E. Horn Road. (click here)

On Thursday morning, Schremser was due in court for a trial-setting before Judge Daniel Kellogg. When she didn’t appear, Judge Kellogg revoked her $1,000 cash bail, issued a warrant for her arrest and set a new bond at $50,000 cash or surety. Thursday afternoon, she was due in court for a preliminary hearing before Judge Keith Marquart. Judge Marquart revoked her $10,000 bond, which required a $1,000 cash deposit.

Last month, Marquart removed a requirement that Schremser wear a GPS location device when she posted bail. When she failed to appear Thursday, Marquart set bail at $100,000 cash, and added the GPS device back to the bond requirements.

Pendleton is scheduled for a preliminary hearing May 23 on charges stemming from that first burglary. He also faces charges of first-degree burglary, 2nd degree property damage and 1st degree trespass in Andrew County. Pendleton is scheduled to for a trial setting in Andrew county May 22.

The Buchanan County Prosecutor’s Office announced Thursday that it will not be filing charges in an officer involved shooting which resulted in the death of Jason Fanning earlier this year.

As we previously reported, Fanning, 27 of St. Joseph was fatally wounded in the shooting incident that took place Feb. 20 at the intersection of 20th and Charles St.

According to a news release, the prosecutor’s office conducted an extensive investigation into the incident. Prosecuting Attorney Dwight Scroggins said a law enforcement officer is allowed to use deadly force if that officer has a reasonable belief that the use of such force is necessary to protect another from serious physical injury or death.  Therefore, no criminal charges are being pursued.

Scroggins said on Feb. 20 an officer with the St. Joseph Police Department and an unarmed Sheriff’s Department Reserve Officer passenger were on routine patrol around 2:30 in the morning when their attention was drawn to the vehicle driven by Fanning.  After checking the license plates it was discovered that the registered owner, Fanning had an oustanding warrant.

“Officers had not yet attempted a vehicle stop when the Fanning vehicle turned south on 20th Street.  The officers also turned south,” Scroggins said. “One block south at 20th and Charles Street, the subject vehicle made a belated turn into a private driver.  The SJPD officer stated he believed the individual was going to attempt to exit the vehicle and either go into the house or attempt to flee.”

Scroggins said the officer did not turn on his emergency lights at that time and therefore the dash camera in the vehicle was not activated.

“The Officer also pulled into the driveway, quickly got out of his vehicle and approached the Fanning vehicle.  He identified himself as a law enforcement officer,” Scroggins said. “Fanning did not exit the vehicle has instructed by the officer.  He again pulled forward and appeared to put the vehicle in park.  Mr. Fanning still did not exit the vehicle as the officer continued to instruct him to do.”

Scroggins said Fanning then appeared to place the vehicle in reverse and began to attempt to back around the patrol vehicle to leave.

“The reserve officer ride-a-long, whose presence was likely unknown to Mr. Fanning, had also exited the police vehicle and was standing toward the front of the police vehicle.  This officer was standing in the area toward which Mr. Fanning was moving,” Scroggins said. “There is no evidence to indicate Mr. Fanning was attempting to injure the officer or even that Mr. Fanning was aware of the second officer’s presense.  However, the SJPD Officer was aware of the second officer’s presence, that she was outside the police vehicle and he stated he determined the moving vehicle was an immediate threat to the ride-a-long officer.”

When the vehicle began moving backward, Scroggins said the St. Joseph Police Officer fired a total of eight shots, one bullet fatally hitting Fanning and three grazing gunshot wounds identified.

Capt. Jeff Wilson Thursday confirmed the officer referred to in the release as St. Joseph Police Officer Justin Bever.

The St. Joseph Post is posting the release in its entirety.  See the images below:

In a trial filled with unusual twists and turns, the most unusual might have been the final result. Circuit Judge Daniel Kellogg on Wednesday ruled that a nurse under contract at the Buchanan County Jail was not guilty of accusations of improper sexual contact with two female detainees.

The trial of Carlos Marte was originally planned to last about two hours, but very nearly filled two days.

It also very nearly ended in a mistrial, because of ongoing arguments between the prosecutor Kate Schaefer and the defense lawyer Joseph Morrey.

The case was tried before Judge Kellogg, instead of a jury. During the proceedings, the judge admonished the pair several times, pointing out that the two lawyers would never have argued directly with each other in a jury trial as they had during the bench trial. Kellogg told them he was angry, and was embarrassed for both of them, ordering them to direct all such comments to him.

During his defense presentation, Morrey called the defendant to the witness stand. Marte repeatedly denied touching the two victims inappropriately, insisting that both had come to him with urgent requests for medical attention, that both said they would prefer not to wait for a female nurse but needed attention right away. He said that based on the women’s complaints, a visual assessment required him to look at their private parts. But he said there was never any inappropriate touching as the women had testified.

The trial also elicited a number of curiosities. There was testimony that inmates medical records were frequently misplaced into the wrong detainee’s file. A lot of the standard documentation was missing, or erroneously compiled. There were questions about who signed some of the documents. There was evidence that one of the victims in the case was allowed to walk unaccompanied from a secure area in the jail to the medical office, a violation of standard procedure. There was conflicting evidence about exactly what the standards were for a male nurse examining a female inmate. The defendant testified that many of the problems that occurred under his watch had been fixed by his supervisor. There were different accounts of precisely what training was offered to Mr. Marte.

The judge referred to much of that in his announcement at the close of evidence. There were no closing arguments. Judge Kellogg said the real issue was one of sexual arousal, and said there was no evidence of that. He granted Morrey’s motion for a directed verdict of acquittal, and ordered the case records sealed, as is standard when a defendant is found not guilty.

Morrey said after the trial that he was gratified his client got his day in court, that the judge reached the same conclusion he had, and came to the right decision. “The system works,” Morrey said.