St. Joseph Post’s Sarah Thomack talks to Humane Educator Jenna Keyes with the St. Joseph Animal Shelter in the “Catio”.

St. Joseph Animal Shelter in need of donations of kitty litter, dog and cat food and treats for the animals.

Missouri Western State University will host Día de Los Muertos, or “Day of the Dead,” at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 1 in the Hoff Conference Rooms, Blum Student Union rooms 218-219.

Day of the Dead is an annual Hispanic holiday similar to Halloween, but with an emphasis on remembering friends and family who have died. The Missouri Western celebration will include food, fun activities and some informational presentations

The celebration is free and open to the public.

Voters in Buchanan County will have to decide between three candidates in the race for sheriff.

In order shown on the ballot, Ron Fisher is running as a Democrat, Bill Puett as a Republican and Pat Grove is running as an Independent.

Fisher is a former law officer and court marshal.

“I want to implement more patrol officers out there,” Fisher said. “We need an emphasis on the county. We’ll let the city and the highway patrol take care of the highways and let the deputy officers take care of the county roads.”

Puett is the current Undersheriff for the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office.

“We also have to look at problems that are facing our community like the influx of drugs and violence that we’ve seen throughout our community in northwest Missouri,” Puett said.

Grove is a former Kansas City Police Commander and St. Joseph Police Department Sgt.

“I think that looking towards a workers agreement is something that is primary on my list and is a focal point of my campaign,” Grove said. “I think that’s something that these guys need, some type of protection from management to look towards a more positive type influence.”

Grove filed as an Independent after issues with his certification after filing as a Republican in February. As we previously reported, Grove withdrew from the August Primary in May after a civil complaint questioning Grove’s qualification at the time of filing due to an expired peace officers certificate.  The complaint was brought against him by Puett.  Grove said he has since corrected the issue by retaking and passing his test.

Each of the candidates talked about turnover in the sheriff’s office as an issue.

“We’re losing a lot of our good officers to bigger departments and we need to figure out a way to hang onto them,” Fisher said. “I’ll be more of a personnel officer trying to talk to the men and try to encourage them to stay and if I can implement something to change it.”

“We have a lot of discussion about salaries right now.  There’s other law enforcement agencies in the area that make significantly more than our deputies make,” Puett said.

“I’d like to get control of the spending so at some point they could possibly look forward to better pay and better benefits,” Grove said.

Current Sheriff Mike Strong plans to retire.  Voters will decide who will fill his position Nov. 8 during the general election.

Jury selection gets underway on Tuesday for a St. Joseph man charged with five felonies after an armed standoff at the Motel Six.

Roderick Ellis is charged with kidnapping, domestic assault, assault of a law officer, and two counts of armed criminal action in connection with the standoff at the motel just over a year ago.

The panel will be selected from a jury pool in Clay County, after the courts granted a change of venue. The trial will be held in Division 3 of the Buchanan County Circuit Court before Judge Patrick Robb.

Ellis is accused of kidnapping a St Joseph woman, forcing her at gunpoint to drive her to the motel, and then, when she cried for help, shooting her in the arm. Investigators said he then forced the woman into a room at the motel for more than 11 hours. The standoff prompted evacuations and lockdowns, as well as business and highway closures.

Ellis is being held without bail in the Buchanan County Jail.

Sentencing is scheduled in December for an Amazonia man who made threatening video threats with a firearm outside a school in Andrew County.

Tyler Thompson, 18, pleaded guilty Friday to a reduced charge of making a terrorist threat, a class-d felony. Two other charges of unlawful use of a firearm were dismissed in a plea agreement. A juvenile was also charged in the case.

As we reported earlier, Sheriff Bryan Atkins said the video showed the two suspects with a semi automatic pistol while sitting in their vehicle. During the videotaping, comments of threats toward the school were made to include shooting up this school, according to a news release. The video was then allegedly uploaded to Snap Chat and the internet for others to view.

On Friday, September 16, this video was reported to Andrew County Sheriff officials. Upon notifying school officials, it was found that neither of the suspects were students of the school. The school area was checked and found to be safe and secure.

Thompson is scheduled for sentencing December 16 before Circuit Judge Daniel Kellogg.