Organizers of the Parties on the Parkway have announced the musical lineup for this year’s “Rockin’ the River” encore to the concert series.

Rockin’ on the River ends the summer with a bang, with fireworks, two bands and food and drink vendors. That event will be held on Labor Day weekend this year, from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 3. This year’s entertainment will feature Under the Big Oak Tree and Tequila Mockingbird.

Parties on the Parkway, an annual concert series presented by the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce and the City of St. Joseph, and is presented by Nodaway Valley Bank. The series continues with its final installment on Thursday, Aug. 11 from 5 to 8pm at Corby Pond. The rain date is Aug. 18. Money for Nothin’ will perform alternative country music.

The Parties on the Parkway concert series gives St. Joseph residents a chance to network with friends and co-workers after the workdays ends, all while enjoying the sounds of local bands and the beautiful, natural scenery of the Parkway system. The series starts in St. Joseph’s South Side in May and works its way up the 26-mile Parkway system through August.

“Parties on the Parkway is a great way to get to know a little of our city with friends, family and colleagues,” said Natalie Redmond, Vice President of Membership with the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce. “Come out and enjoy the Parkway, hear live music from local musicians, and eat and drink with your friends.”

All parties are from 5 to 8 p.m., and are free and open to the public. This is a very family-friendly event, with one or more food and drink vendors available and a balloon artist for the kids.

St. Joseph police say a cement-truck driver may have fallen asleep at the wheel Monday morning, sending the vehicle careening off 36-highway, down an embankment and into some trees near the S.W. Parkway.

Captain Jeff Wilson says the driver was ejected and was seriously hurt. The victim was transported to Mosaic Life Care for treatment. Capt. Wilson says it appears that inattention led to the crash, and that the driver may have fallen asleep. Wilson did not release the man’s name.

Witnesses at the scene said the man was moving quite a bit when he was loaded into an ambulance.

The vehicle was empty, which witnesses said was a good thing. A full load of cement would have greatly complicated the accident, and the cleanup.

Multiple wreckers were deployed for the painstakingly slow process of pulling the vehicle along its original path and up the embankment without tipping it over. That required officials to close one westbound lane of U.S. Highway 36 near the 28th Street exit. The crash happened near a bridge over S.W. Parkway. The Parkway was closed near Duncan Street.

The accident happened shortly shortly after 11:15 am, according to a Trail Patrol volunteer in the area who heard the crash from about a block away. By 2:45pm the cleanup was still underway and the roads were still closed.

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration is investigating after a man was injured by a forklift in St. Joseph.

According to OSHA on July 29th around 6 p.m. a 69-year-old man was reported to have sustained injuries including a broken hip after being struck by a forklift at I & M Machine & Fabrication located at 401 S. 3rd St.

OSHA Spokeswoman, Rhonda Burke said OSHA opened up an investigation into the incident Aug. 4th.

She said the injured employee was reported to be a janitor working for a temp service but has been working at I & M since July of 2005.

According to the report, the man was picking up trash and had exited his cart when he was then hit by the forklift operator who did not see him.  OSHA said it has six months to complete the investigation.

“If there was a violation the company could be issued a citation and a proposed penalty,” Burke said.

A St. Joseph woman is facing two misdemeanor charges after a three vehicle crash on King Hill Ave.

Rebecca Roberts, 48 is charged in Buchanan County with misdemeanors for driving while intoxicated and endangering the welfare of a child.

According to court documents on Thursday shortly before 3 p.m. Roberts allegedly drove into the rear of moving traffic in the 4100 block of King Hill Ave. pushing one vehicle forward into another.  The driver of the first vehicle was transported with an injury.

“Roberts had her four year old grandson in the front passenger seat of her car with no child safety or booster seat and no seat belt on the child during the crash,” said Officer Brian McClintick with the St. Joseph Police Department. “The child was thrown forward during the crash into the airbag that deployed on impact saving the child from being thrown out of the front windshield.”

McClintick said Roberts was operating the vehicle while impaired on prescription drugs.

“Roberts was unable to stand/walk without falling over,” McClintick said. “Roberts showed impairment on sobriety testing with poor balance, unable to follow instructions.”

Bail was set at $5,000 cash only, an arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday.