UPDATE 11:22 a.m. – The St. Joseph School District said Friday morning that extra police presence is being implemented near Eugene Field Elementary after a report of a half naked man coming out of a wooded area near the school.

Joey Austin, Dir. of Communications said police received a report from a staff member at Gene Field this morning of a man coming out of a wooded area near the school not wearing any pants.

“The police investigated and did not find anything,” Austin said. “However, they are taking a proactive approach and will have extra police presence near the school. We do take every situation seriously when we receive a report such as this near our schools.”

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8:38 a.m. – St Joseph police didn’t have much luck finding a man reportedly wearing no pants walking around a local elementary school.

Shortly after 7 a.m. police were dispatched to the 2600 block of Gene Field Road. Witness accounts varied.

One indicated the man was wearing no clothes. Another suggested he was wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt. Another account indicated he was wearing two t-shirts but no pants.

According to police radio traffic, the man emerged from a wooded area between Eugene Field Elementary School and the parkway nearby.

Authorities searched the area but were unable to find the man, or anything out of the ordinary.

A woman was seriously injured in a one-vehicle crash in Caldwell County early this morning.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol around 2:25 this morning, 22-year-old Aushelique Wilson of Hannibal was driving a 2004 Mitsubishi Galant westbound on US 36 4 miles east of Cameron. The vehicle traveled off the north side of the roadway, hit some small trees, and an embankment.

Her passenger, 29-year-old Ashley Ashby of Hannibal was initially transported by ambulance to Cameron Regional Medical Center with serious injuries then later flow by Life Flight Eagle to Truman Medical Center in Kansas City.

Wilson was taken by ambulance to Cameron Regional Medical Center with moderate injuries.

MARYVILLE, Mo. – State-funded deferred maintenance projects have been approved for Northwest Missouri State University.

The Board of regents approved a scheduled Thursday for projects that the university will be reimbursed for by the state’s Board of Public Building Bond Proceeds.

Passed by the General Assembly in May and approved by Gov. Jay Nixon in June, House Bill 19 awarded Northwest about $6.9 million in appropriations to plan and carry out capital improvements.

“We’re so thankful for Gov. Nixon and the General Assembly in terms of their support,” Jasinski said. “This will be a significant upgrade of derferred maintenance projects at Northwest. From an economic impact and job creation perspective, it’s a great package.”

Northwest’s two focal points for the funds are life safety and energy efficiency upgrades. The University will invest the funds in electrical system repairs at the B.D. Owens Library, Everett Brown Education Hall, Martindale Hall, the Olive DeLuce Fine Arts Building and the Jon T. Rickman Electronic Campus Support Center as well as energy efficiency upgrades to its chillers and plant controls.

Northwest also will replace all windows in the Administration Building (280), Brown Hall (150), Colden Hall (340) and the Thomas Gaunt House (40). The Administration Building, opened in 1910, and the Thomas Gaunt House, completed in 1870, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the University will follow requirements of the U.S. Department of the Interior and Missouri Department of Natural Resources during the upgrades to those buildings.

The upgrades are scheduled to begin during fiscal year 2016 and end in fiscal year 2019.

The St. Joseph School District is inviting community members to participate in town hall meeting to talk about the district.

Two meetings have been scheduled in October.

Thursday, October 8, 2015, 7 pm at Oak Grove Elementary School, 4901 Cook Road and/or Tuesday, October 13, 2015, 7 pm at Carden Park Elementary School, 1510 Duncan

Citizens are invited by the district to attend either day and provide input.  Joey Austin, SJSD Dir. of Communications said the meetings are initial brainstorming and organizational meetings.

“This is an opportunity for community members to share in the draft process of the Community School Improvement Plan and the rebuilding future of the St. Joseph School District,” Austin said.

Dr. Robert Newhart, Superintendent, will facilitate the meeting with community members.

More meetings are expected to be scheduled at a later date.

An iconic destination in Kansas City for more than 90 years is up for sale. Owner Highwoods Properties has listed Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza shopping center for sale.

According to the company’s news release, the company hopes to use the proceeds of the sale of the Plaza to finance the purchase of commercial sites in Atlanta and Tampa.

Highwoods took over the ownership of the Country Club Plaza in 1998.

According to the news release, the Plaza has lived the longest life of any planned shopping center in the U.S. The company calls the Plaza the first master-planned suburban shopping center in the country, and the world’s first shopping center designed to accommodate customers arrive by car.

According to Highwoods Properties, the 776,000 square feet of retail space is 94% occupied. The Plaza also boasts 617,000 square feet of office space, which the owner says is 99% occupied.

These photographs were part of the company’s  presentation highlighting the transactions.  You can view that presentation here.

 

A Saint Joseph police officer was injured when a suspect in a disturbance call resisted arrest Tuesday night.

Sergeant Brett Kelly says officers initially responded to a disturbance at the Countryside Lane mobile home park between Pear and Easton Road shortly before 7:30. They caught up with the suspect at 22nd and Garfield.

Sergeant Kelly says the suspect became uncooperative and struggled with the officers.  One officer received a leg injury.  She was taken to Mosaic Life Care where she was treated and released.

Capt. Jeff Wilson said there are procedures in place to handle situations when an officer is injured.

“Our procedure is when an officer is injured they report their injury to their supervisor and if necessary in some cases the officer may be transported to the hospital,” Wilson said. “If there’s a suspect involved and it’s a case where for instance resisting arrest or some other altercation takes place and during the course of that the officer is injured it’s very likely that the case will be submitted to the prosecutor for review of some sort of charges.”

Police said in this case the suspect was taken into custody for investigation of resisting arrest and possible other charges.  The investigation continues.