You should avoid the area of the Belt Highway at US-36 Highway because of an injury accident blocking the northbound lanes on the Belt.

St Joseph police sent out a Nixle alert at 4:31 p.m. Monday:

“Avoid the area of Belt Hwy and 36 highway due to an injury accident until further notice.   The St Joseph Police Department is asking citizens to avoid the area of Belt highway and 36 highway due to an injury accident blocking the northbound lanes of traffic.”

Refresh this post for additional information as it becomes available.

Firefighters from five volunteer agencies responded to the report of a house fire near Route-MM and Laudermilk Road.

Assistant Chief Brad Johnson of the Dearborn Area Fire Protection District says the family evacuated safely and met firefighters in the driveway. Johnson says the fire cause minor damage to the deck and some siding on the house.

 

The first was reported at 4:30 a.m. Monday and Johnson says they put it out by about 5:00 a.m. There were no injuries.

Crews from Dearborn were joined by firefighters from Edgerton, Camden Point, South Central Buchanan County and Central Platte County.

A first appearance is scheduled Tuesday in Nodaway County court for a 26-year-old Maryville man charged in connection with the death of a ten-month-old baby.

Nicholas Bradshaw is charged with two counts of Abuse or Neglect of a Child Resulting in Death (a Class-A felony).

Investigators say Bradshaw was caring for the infant last December  when the child was injured.  The youngster died in a hospital two days later.   (more here)

Bradshaw’s lawyer has filed a motion to reduce his bail bond, which a judge set at $50,000.  A hearing is scheduled April 14 on that motion.

 

 

St Joseph police are hoping you can help them in their investigation into the shooting of two women early Saturday morning.

Officers were dispatched to the 1600 block of Buchanan Ave. shortly before 1:30 a.m. There they found two women in their thirties who had been shot, one who was inside her vehicle and another outside.  Their injuries were not believed to be life threatening, and officials expect both women to survive.

Investigators do not believe the women knew each other.

If you have information that could help you should call authorities.

A reception is planned Friday night at the Cafe Pony Espresso for Robin Lorenson, a nationally known freelance weather photographer. Ms Lorenson will greet customers and offer framed photos for sale, with ten percent of each purchase being donated to the St Joe YWCA’s Shelfter for Abused and Homeless Women and Children.

Robin has strongly-held beliefs about domestic violence, and about the weather, that date back to the death of her father when she was a young girl.

“My way of coping with everything was the weather,” she says. “I grew up in Salina, Kansas. In Central Kansas you’ve got severe storm season.”

“You’ve got everything: sitting under the porch, wind, hail, rain. Experiencing all of that was my way of connecting back with my dad.”

On Thursday, Robin mounted the exhibit of nearly a dozen vivid photographs. They range from depictions of serene blue skies with vivid but harmless clouds, to some dramatic depictions of a series of severe weather phenomena. The photos remind us that the severe weather season is upon us.

One photograph, which she says is her most popular, depicts a red barn in front of a wall cloud. The barn seems to come to life, with an expression that reminded her of a young character in a popular movie.

“My first thing went to this barn. It kind of has this look on its face, like ‘oh my goodness.’ It kind of reminded me of McCauley Caulkin’s face, when he put that after shave on, when he was like ‘aagh!'”

“That’s kind of what it reminded me of, and then having the wall cloud behind it, and the way that it was rotating, and how dark it was with the lighter foreground, with the sun and the process and setting…to me it just said I need to get this shot.”

You can meet Robin tonight at a reception from 6pm to 9pm Friday night at Cafe Pony Espresso, 114 S. Eighth St. in downtown St Joseph. The exhibition will remain on display through the end of April.

The City of Maryville this week approved $25.5 million in bond financing for the expansion of the city’s Kawasaki plant.

Under terms of the deal the city will take ownership of the plant, and lease it back to the company.  The city will abate 100% of the property taxes and 50% of the personal property taxes for the ten-year lifetime of the bonds.

Kawasaki hopes to finish construction of the plant by December 1st. They hope to add 30 new jobs. Until the bonds are repaid, the company agreed to keep at least 775 workers, which includes the 30 new jobs, or face default.

To cover at least some of the local school district’s tax-revenue stream, Kawasaki has agreed to make payments in lieu of taxes amounting to about a quarter million dollars per year.

The City Council in Maryville unanimously approved the bond package on Monday.

A local branch is forming out of a worldwide online book club started by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Dan Danford of Family Investment Center in Saint Joseph is calling the local club “You, Me, and Zuck.”  Members will read from a list of books provided by Zuckerberg in what he calls “A Year of Books.”  They’ll tackle a new book every two weeks, then meet to talk about it.

The first meeting in Saint Joseph will be at 7 pm May 28 in the East Hills Library Community Room.  Meetings will also be held at the Barnes and Noble bookstore in Zona Rosa.  For more information call Dan Danford at 816.233.4100.