A preliminary hearing is scheduled next month for Catherine Wells, the St Joseph woman accused of trying to bite a store’s loss-prevention officer during an alleged shoplifting incident last week.

Wells is charged with 2nd Degree Robbery, a Class-B felony. She appeared in court Tuesday via video conference from the Buchanan County Jail. Judge Rebecca Spencer scheduled the case for a preliminary hearing September 13 at 1:30 pm.

According to court documents, on August 24 Wells was confronted outside the JC Penney’s Store at East Hills Shopping Center. She allegedly “concealed upaid items of clothing.” The affidavit asserts that she tried to bite the loss-prevention officer and flee the scene.

Bail was set at $10,000. The defendant remains in custody in the Buchanan County Jail. Online court records do not reflect an attorney representing Ms Wells.

Community volunteers were recognized on the final day of the No Hunger Summer Initiative lunch program held at the Brown County Sheriff’s Office on August 12th. 

The recognition came from Sheriff John Merchant in the form of Certificates of Appreciation. The three volunteers recognized were Bill Holland, Corrine Weldon, and Samantha Shamburg. The certificates state, “Your spirit of ‘Volunteerism’ is inspiring to all residents of Brown County. Because of your dedicated efforts in the “No Hunger Summer Initiative” no children in Brown County had to go hungry this summer. You serve as an example to all of us and should be very proud of your accomplishments.” 

The Hiawatha ACES, (Allied Community Enrichment Society) hosted the “No Hunger Summer Initiative” lunch Program at the Brown County Sheriff’s Office this summer. The program’s goal was to help ensure all children in Brown County had the opportunity to receive a nutritional, well balanced meal available for the lunch meal Monday through Friday throughout the summer free of charge. Meals were also available for parents and older siblings for a modest charge. 

According to Brown County Sheriff John Merchant, Ian Schuetz, president of the Hiawatha ACE’s organization, approached him regarding the use of the basement in the Sheriff’s Office for the Summer Lunch Program in the winter of 2015.  According to Schuetz, the program has been running since 2013 and was originally held at the Fisher Community Center on east Iowa street in Hiawatha. Schuetz wanted a more centrally located, safe location to conduct the program.  He was concerned about children needing to cross First Street/U.S. 73 to get to their location. 

Schuetz said the Hiawatha ACES saw the need in Brown County for a program such as the “No Hunger Summer Initiative.” 

“We could see there were a large number of children in this county who had no reliable meal plan during the summer months,” Schuetz said.  “We were also very short on storage space at the Fisher Center (and) the Sheriff’s Office basement was the perfect place to hold our program.” 

The current Sheriff’s Office was constructed with a large basement designed for use as a community storm shelter.  The Brown County Commissioners were approached by Sheriff Merchant concerning the use of the basement for the ACE’s Summer Lunch Program.  The Commission approved and endorsed the request. 

The ACEs partnered with the Second Harvest Food Bank in St. Joseph, Missouri, as well as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to coordinate the initiative.  The USDA provides a per meal, per child, amount of revenue, the Second Harvest Food Bank takes care of purchasing the needed food as well as record keeping, local Hiawatha area volunteers (Hiawatha ACES) provide the manpower to prepare the meals. 

According to Schuetz, the change in location has resulted in a doubling of output compared to past years. 

“I think the accessibility of the new location, the positive attitude of the volunteers and the comfortable, safe environment of the Sheriff’s Office is responsible for our increased numbers this year,” Schuetz said. “We had an average of 84 meals served per day that the service was offered.” 

Additional funding for this endeavor was provided by the United Methodist Healthy Ministry fund, Hutchinson Kansas.

UNION STAR, Mo – The closing of Route 31 in Dekalb County is rescheduled for Tuesday.

A wind farm project is bringing windmill towers to locations throughout the west and central parts of Dekalb County. As part of this project, large cranes used by the contractor will be moving across Routes 31, 6, J, and N at various times during the upcoming weeks. When the cranes are moved, it will require a full closure of the roadway. Most of these closures should take four hours or less.

A weather delay postponed the original date, requiring the contractor to reschedule the first closure on Route 31 north of Glenwood Road, southeast of Union Star. The closure is now planned for Tuesday at 9 p.m. and is expected to take no longer than four hours. The closure will be 0.3 miles north of Glenwood Road on Route 31.

All scheduled closures will be posted on the Traveler Information Map. During the closure, motorists should seek an alternate route.

Each of the towers will require multiple, slow-moving, oversized loads with police escorts navigating to each tower location. This may cause local travelers some delays.

Northwest Missouri State University begins its 2016-17 academic year with an increase in students.

According to preliminary enrollment totals released by the Office of Enrollment Management, there are 1,367 students in the freshman class and an increase of students coming from Missouri and surrounding states.

Sixty-six percent of the University’s freshmen come from within the state, which is up four percent compared to last year’s class. Additionally, Northwest recorded a six percent increase in freshmen coming from Iowa and a two percent increase coming from Nebraska. Twenty percent of the class represents underrepresented populations, of which four percent are international students.   

The class represents 22 states and 10 countries. The students also are academically strong, entering Northwest with an average ACT score of 21.21, which exceeds state and national averages, and an average high school grade-point average of 3.36.

“Our freshman class is representative of the high-achieving and diverse community we have at Northwest,” University President Dr. John Jasinski said. “I commend our enrollment team and so many partners across the institution who have taken intentional and strategic steps to maintain our institutional growth.”

Additionally, Northwest enrolled 306 transfer students, which is an increase of about 20 percent. The number of students transferring from Missouri institutions is up 12 percent and out-of-state transfers are up 17 percent.

Northwest also continues to lead its peers in freshman retention rates. The fall 2015 freshman class has returned to Northwest for their sophomore year at a rate of 71 percent.

Northwest’s total headcount stands at 6,434, which is a slight increase from last fall.

These enrollment numbers are preliminary and the University’s official census occurs Monday, Sept. 26.

The Troy, Kansas City Council has passed an ordinance that allows retail sales of cereal malt beverages in their original package within the city on any Sunday except Easter between the hours of noon and 8 p.m.

Residents can challenge the ordinance by filing a petition within 60 days requesting the proposition be submitted for approval by the voters.

Otherwise, the ordinance becomes effective sixty days following the date of its publication. The council passed the measure on August 16.

The preamble of the ordinance suggests that banning Sunday sales is “economically injurious” to the city, and to businesses licensed to sell beer in the city.

A 52-year-old St. Joseph woman is charged with robbery after allegedly trying to bite her way out of a shoplifting charge.

Catherine Wells is due in court Tuesday morning to face one count of Second Degree Robbery.  In court documents, police say Wells was confronted outside the JC Penney Store in the East Hills Shopping Center last Wednesday, after allegedly concealing unpaid items of clothing.

The woman allegedly tried to bite the store’s loss-prevention officer and flee the scene, according to court documents.

Police said in a court affidavit that Wells has multiple arrests for failure to appear. Online court records show she was placed on probation on theft and drug charges dating back to 2012. A judge set bail in the biting case at $10,000 ($1,000 cash plus a $9,000 surety bond).

Second degree robbery is a Class-B felony.  Upon conviction it carries a range of possible prison sentences from five to fifteen years.

A first appearance is scheduled Tuesday morning before Buchanan County Associate Judge Rebecca Spencer.