A storm spotter training class is being held as the first day of spring nears and the chance for severe weather increases.
Wednesday, March 16 a Weather Spotter Training Class will be held at the Missouri Theatre in Downtown St. Joseph starting at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, registration is not required.
Buchanan County Emergency Management Dir., Bill Brinton is urging everyone to attend.
“We encourage people to come because if a tornado is coming in your neighborhood it’s going to effect everyone,” Brinton said. “It’s about informing people not to be the victim of a bad storm.”
He said the National Weather Service is going to teach the class.
“They make it on a level where you can understand what you’re looking at and how to keep your family safe,” Brinton said.
He said the yearly training brings in on average between 150 to 200 people.
The Easter Bunny is making his debut again this year at the East Hills Shopping Center this weekend.
The mall said he will be arriving at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 12. The Easter Bunny will be escorted to its garden by Little Mr. and Miss East Hills. Jim “Mr. Stinky Feet” Cosgrove will also be there performing live children’s music in Center Court at 11 a.m.
The Easter Bunny will be available for photos March 12th – 26th during regular center hours. The mall said visiting the Easter Bunny is always free, but no personal cameras are allowed. Each child will receive a small gift from the bunny.
Saturday, March 12th – 24th- Egg Hunt
Children are encouraged to go on an egg hunt through the shopping center March 12th – 24th They must find at least 5 of the 15 eggs hidden throughout the mall and mark their locations on an entry form. On March 25th four winners will be announced. Each winner will receive a $50 East Hills Gift Card. All participants will receive a small gift for completing the egg hunt. Monday, March 14th – Thursday, March 24th (or while supplies last) – Book Giveaway
Children who visit the Easter Bunny Mondays – Thursdays between 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. will
receive a free Peter Rabbit Golden Book courtesy of East Hills. This offer is while supplies last only.
East Hills Shopping Center Closed Easter Sunday
East Hills will be closed on March 27, 2016 in observance of Easter Sunday. The center will reopen with normal hours on Monday, March 28, 2016.
Lions Club Pancake Days continues in St. Joseph this weekend. Photo by Nadia Thacker
The 63rd Annual Lions Clubs’ Pancake Days continues this weekend in St. Joseph.
Pancake Days kicked off Friday and continues through Sunday at the Army National Guard Building located at Woodbine and Faraon. Doors will be open Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. All you can eat pancakes and sausages will be serve for $7 at the door with proceeds generated from the event going to benefit Lion’s club mission for sight research, area charities, and eye glasses for those in the St. Joseph Community in need of optical assistance.
As always, members of the East Side, South Side and Host Lions Clubs will be serving up hot pancakes, sausage and drinks. Volunteers from the Boy Scouts will also be contributing their time to the event.
Hillcrest graduates five adults and six children to self-sufficiency so far in 2016. Photo courtesy Hillcrest Transitional Housing
Hillcrest Transitional Housing is boasting about the success of its recent program graduates work in becoming self-sufficient.
Hillcrest focuses on the growth of individuals, reunification of families and ending generational poverty. In 2015, residents at Hillcrest paid off nearly $70,000 in debt and saved an astounding $10,095.60. Hillcrest graduated 22 adults and 33 children to self-sufficiency in 2015. In 2016, Hillcrest has already successfully graduated five adults and six children into self-sufficiency. So far in 2016 residents have paid off $6,015 in back debt and saved a total of $4,345.
“I am so proud of these residents,” said Shannen White, Affiliate Director of Hillcrest Transitional Housing of Buchanan County. “They have gone through difficult life changes and the end result is amazing. They have all regained self-sufficiency and continue to thrive and give back to our community.”
Tierra Nunn has overcome several barriers while in the program at Hillcrest. As a single mother of four, Tierra has struggled with a lack of transportation to get her son, who was born premature, to his doctor’s appointments. She managed to make it to her appointments with the help of her friends and her apartment sponsors at Frederick Boulevard Baptist Church.
“It is indescribable the help that I have gotten from everyone at Hillcrest,” Nunn said. “Not only physically and financially, but emotionally as well. The support is overwhelming.”
Hillcrest provides a disciplined 90-day program for homeless families and individuals seeking self-sufficiency in the St. Joseph community. Each resident has their own unique situation and barriers to overcome during the transition. Some are furthering their education and working while providing a stable environment for their children. Others have changed jobs to bring in money to pay off back debt that keep them from getting their own place they call home. Some residents have fallen on hard times or made poor financial decisions that have kept them down. White said all the families at Hillcrest have a common goal when they come through the doors of Hillcrest and that is to turn their lives around and make tremendous progress towards the future.
Blunt presented with key to St. Joseph. Courtesy Photo
U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) accepted a key to the City of St. Joseph Friday morning from Mayor Bill Falkner at the 12th annual Farm City Breakfast.
Mayor Falkner noted that Blunt has been to St. Joseph 45 times since 2011 and thanked him for his service and friendship to the city.
“I am surprised and honored to receive the key to the City of St. Joseph from Mayor Falkner,” Blunt said. “I have thoroughly enjoyed all forty-five visits to St. Joseph and I plan to keep coming back as long as the city will have me. Although now that I have the key, I can just let myself in anytime.”
At the breakfast, Blunt discussed critical steps to advance Missouri’s agriculture leadership in the 21st Century, including reining in excessive regulations, investing in agriculture research and technology, and harnessing American energy to drive economic growth.
Sen. Roy Blunt
“Whether it’s providing good-paying jobs, putting healthy food on our tables, educating our children, or developing the next generation of technology, agriculture is at the heart of who we are as Missourians, and will continue playing a critical role in our communities,” Blunt said. “As the son of dairy farmers, I have a profound respect for the hard work our farmers and producers do, and I could not be more honored to receive a key to the City of St. Joseph, one of the nation’s leading agriculture communities. I will continue working to advance solutions that will allow our agriculture industry to grow and thrive for decades to come.”
Terry Hager
A defense lawyer has filed a motion to set bail for an accused bank robber just days after a judge denied bail, calling him a danger to the community.
Public Defender Susan Rinne entered her appearance for Terry Hager on Friday. Hager is charged with first-degree robbery, a Class-A felony in connection with a stickup at the UMB Bank at 1211 North Belt March 5.
Judge Keith Marquart denied bail in the case during Hager’s first appearance, and scheduled a preliminary hearing March 25. In a court affidavit, St Joseph Police Detective Quentin Abbott described a lengthy criminal history that includes a prior felony conviction for a bank robbery in which a teller was shot. Mr Hager is currently on federal parole of that offense after serving a lengthy prison term.
“Due to the serious nature of the crime it is not unreasonable to believe the defendant will not appear in court,” according to the affidavit.
He also has prior convictions for stealing, stealing a vehicle, burglary, forgery and felony domestic assault, according to the court document.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled later this month for a St Joseph man accused of grabbing cash out of the register at a Buchanan County convenience store and then fleeing.
Prosecutors charged Michael Draik Ruddock with a class-C felony count described in Missouri statutes as “Physically Take Property Appropriated From Victim.” Authorities say the incident happened at the Fast Gas convenience store at U.S. highway 36 and S.E. 85th Road on Sunday March 6.
Ruddock was arrested two days later after surveillance photography of the suspect was released by the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office.
During his first appearance Friday morning before before Judge Rebecca Spencer a preliminary hearing was scheduled March 29. Online court records do not yet reflect Mr Ruddock’s legal representation.
The defendant is currently behind bars in the Buchanan County Jail. Bail is set at $5,000.
Northwest Administration Building. Photo courtesy Darren Whitley/Northwest Missouri State University
MARYVILLE, Mo. – Tuition will remain the same for the upcoming year at Northwest Missouri State University.
Northwest’s Board of Regents, during its regular meeting Monday, unanimously approved a zero percent increase of the University’s tuition for the 2016-2017 academic year while also approving a package of fees to enhance the campus’ infrastructure and cultural climate.
Northwest’s tuition will remain $180.61 per credit hour for in-state undergraduate students and $391.29 for out-of-state undergraduate students. For graduate students, tuition is $252.86 for in-state students and $505.72 for out-of-state students.
“One of the things that we continue to be proud of is that we’ve had the lowest tuition increase in the nation over the last six years,” Northwest Vice President of Finance Stacy Carrick told the Board. “Many of these factors play into our decisions as we move forward with tuition and fees and room and board rates.”
In addition to approving the University’s recommendation to hold tuition for undergraduate and graduate in-state and out-of-state residents, Regents approved the University’s proposed and Student Senate-approved fees to support implementation of a campus master plan ($20 per credit hour), technology upgrades ($2 per credit hour) and enhancing the campus climate ($2 per credit hour).
Additionally, the Board voted to hold room rates and increase meal plans by an average of 2.2 percent, depending on the range of meal plans students may select.
Among the curriculum changes approved by the Board, Northwest will replace the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) requirement for English graduate programs with a writing sample and a statement of intent to more accurately evaluate potential students’ readiness for graduate work. The Board also voted to eliminate the wait period to supersede a course.
Sen. Roy Blunt
Missouri Senator Roy Blunt spent some time in St Joseph on Friday to attend the annual Farm City Breakfast. We spoke with the senator in an exclusive interview before his speech.
The title of his presentation at the breakfast was “Advancing Missouri’s Agriculture Leadership in the 21st Century.”
Blunt tells us Missouri in general and St Joe and Northwest Missouri in particular are uniquely poised to take advantage of a spike in food demand in the next several decades. Blunt says in the next 35 to 40 years, worldwide food demand is expected to double.
“Nobody is better positioned to take full advantage of that than we are,” Blunt said. “We have the best Ag research institutions in the world. St Joseph is part of the all-important animal-health corridor.”
“St Joseph is one of the communities that’s continued to have a big food-processing footprint, a big understanding of what it means to live in the biggest continguous piece of agricultural land in the word, the Mississippi River Valley, which also, by the way, helps create a way we get to the world. Our highway system, our railroad system and our river system, all important and all have benefits for Missouri, and I think particularly beneficial to St Joseph and Northwest Missouri.”
We also asked about replacing the late Justice Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court. Blunt says he agrees with his party and Senate leaders who say they will not entertain any nomination that might be coming from the White House. The Missouri Republican said the U.S. has “not filled a vacancy that occurred in a presidential election in nearly 100 years.”
We checked out this assertion and found it to be inaccurate, depending upon how you define “nearly 100 years.” On February 15, 1932, President Herbert Hoover nominated Benjamin Cardozo to succeed Oliver Wendell Holmes, who retired on January 12, 1932. The Senate confirmed Cardozo by a unanimous voice vote on February 24, 1932. On January 4, 1940, President Franklin Roosevelt nominated Frank Murphy to replace Pierce Butler, who died on November 16, 1939; Murphy was confirmed by a voice vote.
But Sen. Blunt stuck to his guns.
“This is so important, I think we have time to let the American people be part of this decision,” he said, “and the part of the decision they’ll make is who they elect President and who will make that nomination.”
“The Senate will not fill this position in the last few months of a presidency, and I think that’s the right thing to do. Whether it’s the politically right thing to do or not is not nearly as important as whether it’s the right thing to do.”
Weather experts are increasing the likelihood of rain this weekend, but not the predicted accumulations. Here’s the new 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service.
Today: Sunny, with a high near 69. Light east southeast wind becoming southeast 6 to 11 mph in the morning.
Tonight: Showers likely, mainly after 4am. Increasing clouds, with a low around 50. East southeast wind around 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Saturday: Showers likely, mainly before 9am. Cloudy, with a high near 65. Southeast wind 6 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Saturday Night: A chance of showers. Cloudy, with a low around 53. East wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Sunday: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 71. East wind 6 to 14 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Sunday Night: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 50. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 74.
Monday Night: A chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 51. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Tuesday: A chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 67. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 42.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 60.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 36.
A storm spotter training class is being held as the first day of spring nears and the chance for severe weather increases.
