ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The northbound Interstate 229 Bridge in St. Joseph will be narrowed to one lane Monday, April 18 and Tuesday, April 19 from approximately 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Crews from the Missouri Department of Transportation will close the driving lane of northbound I-229 to make repairs to a barrier wall. The work is scheduled to take only two days to complete.
During the barrier wall repair work, the ramp from westbound U.S. Route 36 to northbound I-229 will also be closed.
On Wednesday, April 20 and Thursday April 21, crews will close the passing lane of northbound I-229 from approximately 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. for additional barrier wall repair work.
The deadline to pre-pay to reserve a seat at a Progressive Dinner to Benefit the Wyeth-Tootle Mansion next week is Sunday.
The St. Joseph Museum board and staff said it’s an opportunity to participate in a unique evening of dining at some of the most beautifully restored homes and buildings in the Museum Hill Neighborhood in St. Joseph, Missouri. The St. Joseph Museum Progressive Dinner, which is a benefit for the Wyeth-Tootle Mansion, will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 21. The evening will start with guests enjoying hors d’oeuvres at one of two homes in the Museum Hill District. After hors d’oeuvres, all participants will gather together for the next three courses. The salad course will be served at the The Dome, 1201 Felix Street, formerly known as the Church of Christian Science. Guests will have their choice for the main course, which will be served at the Wyeth-Tootle Mansion, 1100 Charles Street. The entrée options are filet of beef with hunter sauce or salmon with pistachio basil butter. The evening will end on a sweet note with dessert at Twin Spires, 510 South 10th Street.
Guests will receive notification prior to the event with the address of their host for hors d’oeuvres. The event will benefit the Wyeth-Tootle Mansion.
Space is limited to 60 guests. Reservations are $50 per person and can be made at the St. Joseph Museum admission desk or by calling 816-232-8471. Pre-paid reservations are due by April 17. For more information, e-mail sjm@stjosephmuseum.org or visit stjosephmuseum.org/events.
Educational boards have been donated to Hillcrest Transitional Housing for the Life Skills meeting space and playground area in St. Joseph.
The St. Joseph School District McKinney-Vento Program was awarded a sub-grant that allows them to provide for the needs of children at local shelters. The grant allows them to support shelters by providing them with recreational books or educational materials. Kristin Glick & Kim Siela contacted community shelters that provide for the needs of children, to find out the needs of each shelter.
They found that Hillcrest was in need of a large white board for Life Skills classes for residents and for their children to use in the meeting space. They provided the white board and also decided to purchase a new chalkboard for the
Photo courtesy Shannen White
playground area for children to be able to draw.
“We are so thankful for the white board and chalk board that the McKinney- Vento Program chose to purchase for us.” says Shannen White, Affiliate Director of Hillcrest Transitional Housing of Buchanan County. “This is going to improve the ability for our residents to learn in our life skills classes and allow the children of Hillcrest to be creative. Our children will now have a place to learn both inside in the meeting space and outside in the playground area.”
United Way of Greater St. Joseph and St. Joseph School District Parents as Teachers will host United Way Family Fun Time on Saturday, April 16 from 10:00 a.m. to noon at Keatley Center, 1202 South 28 Street. The theme for April’s United Way Family Fun Time is “Music Music Music”.
United Way Family Fun Time is a monthly series of fun events for families with children under the age of 6 to play together and learn about early development.
There will be several play activities for children ages 6 and under and their parents that will include musical instrument crafts, singing, dancing, and an introduction to orchestral instruments by the St. Joseph Symphony. Activities will be structured to allow parent and children to play together and will equip parents with ideas of how to play at home.
Every child attending will choose a free book to take home. Donuts and juice will be provided. Participants are welcome to drop in anytime during the free session.
The St. Joseph Health Department is offering a free testing day this week as it works to highlight the impacts of sexually transmitted diseases during STI awareness month in April.
The City of St. Joseph Health Department Community Health division is offering a free clinic on Tuesday, April 19th to test for the STI’s chlamydia and gonorrhea. No appointment will be necessary. The free testing will be available from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at Patee Market Health Center, 904 South 10th Street.
The Department said in 2015, the 16 county-region in Northwest Missouri diagnosed over 1,000 new cases of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), also known as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), not including HIV, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services data.
A report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that half of all new STIs in the country occur among young men and women aged 15 to 24.
The department said year’s awareness theme, “Talk, Test, Treat”, emphasizes a comprehensive approach to prevention of new infections.
It said there are effective ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat ST16Is.
Early screening and diagnosis are essential in preventing transmission and the long-term sexual and reproductive health consequences of STIs. The City of St. Joseph Health Department, located at 904 S. 10th Street, offers STI testing for chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, HIV, and Hepatitis C, Monday through Friday, by appointment only, from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. There is a $10.00 charge for the visit but treatment for curable STIs is free of charge.
Pickett Elementary staff will participate in Walk MS Saturday to honor their principal John Davison.
They chose Walk MS because it is a cause near and dear to Davison’s heart, as his wife Faith was diagnosed with MS in 2012.
Walk MS is a charity walk series that takes place in over 550 locations with more than 330,000 people participating annually. The walk began in 1988 and has raised more than $920 million so far to drive research, provide programming and build a supportive community for those affected by MS. Registration for the St. Joseph walk is at 9 a.m, and the walk will begin at 10 a.m. at Heritage Park.
Davison came to Pickett as principal for the 2015 – 2016 school year, after serving as assistant principal at the Colgan Alternative Resource Center.
“We are blessed to have Mr. Davison as principal,” said second grade teacher Mary Sanders, “He is such a supportive principal and family member at Pickett.”
Sanders, along with Amy Baber, Pickett’s other second grade teacher, organized the event. At a recent staff meeting, Sanders thanked Davison and enumerated many of the positive things he has done for the school, the school families and the community. Then she told him that the staff would be making a donation to the MS society in honor of him and his family.
Sanders and Baber said that Davison does good things every day, such as visiting students’ family in the hospital, helping to push a car off of the Belt Highway when it stalled, and helped a Pickett family find a refrigerator.
“He does good things every day,” said Baber. “Most of which we never hear about. Anyone who steps in and loves our kids and family the way that he stepped in is part of our family.”
“It was a surprise,” said Davison, “Most people know how wonderful my staff members are. It’s truly a blessing to be here, and to be able to do the MS Walk, and my wife is just incredible.”
Faith Davison was diagnosed in April 2013. Her father also had MS, so she had already witnessed the disease first-hand. MS occurs when the immune system begins attacking the nervous system, affecting the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. Faith has tears in her spinal cord and parts of her neck, where the immune system has attacked her nerves. The medication she takes is an immune suppressant, so if she gets sick, it takes a lot longer for her to get over it. With good medication, she is currently doing okay.
To donate to the Pickett team page CLICK HERE. The Davison family and church community will also be joining them in the walk.
Leslie Lotspeich was honored as Volunteer of the Year for the St. Joseph School District during a surprise assembly Friday afternoon at Pershing Elementary.
The district said Lotspeich was nominated for her efforts at Pershing.
“The countless hours Leslie spends at our school clearly illustrate her passion for service at her kids’ school. Not only is Leslie’s involvement at school in a formal capacity (PTA officer, volunteer coordinator) but she is also continuously involved in informal ways-such as every single morning she stops in to see if we need any extra help throughout the building.” the nomination form said.
Several teachers and staff members also commented on Lotspeich’s involvement at Pershing.
“Leslie dedicates her time and talent to support all school and PTA activities,” said Lindsay Phillips, Kindergarten Teacher.
“She shows the children kindness, understanding, and love, while always asking them to do their best,” said Shelia McCullough, Kindergarten Teacher. “She’s here at school pretty much everyday helping students and staff in so many situations.”
The Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department has launched an inmate look up on its website.
Corp. Sarah Hardin with the dept. said the new feature allows citizens to see every inmate that is currently incarcerated in the Buchanan County jail. It also allows them to see the inmates charges, bond amount, docket number, and other public information about the inmate.
“This new program will provide inmate information faster to our citizens in the community and help alleviate the backed up calls to the booking desk,” said Corrections Captain Jody Hovey.
The Livingston County Sheriff’s said it’s submitting a report to the Missouri Attorney General’s Office after investigating a potential scam regarding the sale of Chillicothe basketball ads.
The office said Friday it has followed up on an investigation regarding a local business receiving “private number” calls attempting to sell ads and claiming to be representing Chillicothe School programs of basketball and also baseball. It said Chillicothe Schools knew nothing of this and had not endorsed any such activity.
In a news release the sheriff’s office said it received several calls from people and found a 309 area code number the group was calling from.
“Finally the LCSO was able to speak with a human being at that number and received information that company is representing Benton school with selling ads,” the office said. “The sheriff recently spoke with a Benton School representative who confirmed they do utilize this company. The ad company did admit to Sheriff Cox they have multiple calling centers with most showing blocked or private numbers. The business denied any misleading communication to our citizens and businesses and admitted that Chillicothe Schools know nothing about their efforts to sell ads for Benton School.”
LCSO said it plans to submit a report to the Missouri Attorney General’s Office for their review.
(Photo by Jacob Hubbert/Northwest Missouri State University)
MARYVILLE, Mo. – Three commencement ceremonies will he held this spring at Northwest Missouri State University to award nearly 900 degrees.
Two Northwest alumni will address graduates and their families when the University hosts its spring commencement ceremonies, Friday, April 29, and Saturday, April 30.
For the first time in its history, Northwest will offer three commencement ceremonies, beginning with the conferral of master’s, education specialist and doctoral degrees at 7 p.m. Friday in the Ron Houston Center for the Performing Arts.
The University will honor bachelor’s degree candidates during its traditional Saturday ceremonies in Bearcat Arena at 9 a.m. for graduates of the Booth College of Business and Professional Studies and at 2 p.m. for the graduates of the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Education and Human Services.
David Edwards, a 1991 Northwest alumnus with an extensive and distinguished background in software development, will deliver the commencement address at the Friday evening ceremony. Rodney Edge, a 1984 alumnus and military veteran with extensive operations management experience, will address graduates and their families at the Saturday ceremonies.
“Our spring commencement ceremonies are a celebration of our students’ achievements, and we are so pleased to have two distinguished Bearcats – in David and Rodney – joining us to share their experiences and wisdom,” Northwest President Dr. John Jasinski said. “David knows innovation and creativity and understands the need for continued evolution to meet changing times. Rodney is an expert in strategy execution, leadership and followership, having built a career out of achieving mission goals and leading diverse groups of people in varied environments.”
Northwest expects 879 students to receive degrees this spring. The University reports 223 students will receive master’s or specialist degrees through the University’s graduate school, and 656 undergraduate students from Northwest’s three academic colleges are expected to receive bachelor’s degrees.
No tickets are necessary to attend either ceremony. To accommodate guests who cannot attend, Northwest will offer a live online stream of the ceremonies at www.nwmissouri.edu/live.
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The northbound Interstate 229 Bridge in St. Joseph will be narrowed to one lane Monday, April 18 and Tuesday, April 19 from approximately 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Crews from the Missouri Department of Transportation will close the driving lane of northbound I-229 to make repairs to a barrier wall. The work is scheduled to take only two days to complete.
