A Triumph Foods worker who reported he didn’t feel  well was later found dead in a van parked at the company. Police Sergeant Keith Dudley says the 39 year old Kansas City man told co-workers he felt ill. He went out to rest in the van in which he rode to work. His body was found there shortly after midnight this morning. An autopsy has been ordered. Foul play is not suspected.

St Joseph police say a woman was seriously hurt after she accidentally set her bed sheet on fire.   The woman and her boyfriend were hospitalized after trying to put out the fire in their mobile home.

According to Captain Dave Hart of the St Joseph Police Department, Barbara Walker and her boyfriend said they “were trying to put it out when the fire got out of control.”

Reports from the scene indicated Walker, 55, was found unconscious on the bathroom floor of her mobile home at Countryside Estates, at 152 Countryside Lane Sunday afternoon.

Both Walker and 47-year-old Rusty Kerns were transported to Heartland Regional Medical Center.  Hospital officials say by noon Monday both had been treated and released.

Fire investigators say the cause of the destructive blaze remains undetermined. Fire inspector Steve Henrichson says investigators are waiting to speak with Kerns about what happened.

11:30am (UPDATE) – St Joseph police now report via Nixle that the missing man, Richard C. Martin, has been located.

St Joseph Police are concerned for the well being of an elderly gentleman who is not where he is supposed to be. Authorities say Richard C. Martin left his downtown apartment at about 2:30 Monday morning and has not returned.

Captain Dave Hart says police are not certain the 72-year-old is in any danger, but they are hoping you can put them in touch with Martin.

He’s a six-foot-tall white male, weighs about 140 pounds, and has gray/black hair.  He lived in an apartment at 515 North Fifth Street in downtown St Joseph.

Officials believe he may be wearing a black ball cap, a white t-shirt and tennis shoes, and either blue jeans or shorts.

If you can help police locate Mr Martin, call police dispatchers at (816)871-4777.

The St Joseph School District has hired a new principal for Truman Middle School and a new Director of Communications.

Jason Callaway has been hired  to replace Sandy Steggall as Truman principal. Steggall is now the Director of Secondary Curriculum and Instruction for the district.

“Jason has a great rapport with students and staff,” said Dr. Fred Czerwonka, Superintendent of Schools. “He knows what it takes to make students successful at the secondary level.

“We’re excited for him to bring that drive to Truman Middle School.”

 

Callaway was hired in 2005 as Assistant Principal at Central High School. Before that, he was an assistant principal at Spring Garden Middle School, and in 2001-2003 he served as a lead teacher in an alternative classroom for the St. Joseph School District. Callaway’s salary will be $97,908. The St. Joseph School District will post the Assistant Principal position at Central High School next week.

Joey Austin has been hired as Director of Communications. She assumed the communications duties from Steve Huff, who retired in June as Assistant to the Superintendent. Her duties will include establishing workable, prioritized, and strategic work plans for the marketing and communications of the SJSD and crisis communications. She will also serve as the press officer for the district and will oversee audio/visual content. Austin’s salary will be $69,230.

A new artwork now graces Spratt Hall at Missouri Western State University’s Walter Cronkite Memorial.

This bronze bust of the legendary newsman was created by Eric Fuson, a 1988 graduate and current instructor at Missouri Western.

The work was installed by Van Vickle Monuments of St. Joseph as part of Phase 2 of the memorial to Cronkite, who was born in St. Joseph in 1916.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled August 1 for two St Joe residents charged with giving methamphetamine to a teenager.

Reyna Lynch and Lonnie Larabee appeared in court Tuesday on Class-C felony charges of Endangering the Welfare of a Child.

Court records indicate the pair gave meth to a girl under the age of 17 at a local residence and at a motel on the Belt Highway.

Both are being held in the Buchanan County Jail under $10,000 bond awaiting their next court appearance.

Area real estate sales were down last month. According to the latest numbers from the St Joseph Regional Association of Realtors, there were 122 residential units sold last month, or 568 so far this year, down just over 3.57% from last year’s June total.

But realtors closed on $14.3 million dollars in residential real estate last month, up from $13.3 million last month. Year to date residential real estate sales total just over $64.3 million, down from $67.2 million a year ago.

Two Kansas City-area hospitals are among the best in the nation according to the annual list from U.S. News & World Report.

The University of Kansas Hospital ranks among the top 50 hospitals nationwide in 12 medical and surgical specialties. St. Luke’s Hospital is nationally ranked in three specialties.

KU Hospital is listed as the best hospital both in Kansas City and in Kansas. St. Luke’s was #2 both in Kansas City and in Missouri.

Heartland Regional Medical Center ranked #14 in Missouri, but performed nearly at the level of nationally ranked hospitals in Pulmonology, the medical specialty dealing with disease involving the respiratory tract.

Heartland was rated “better than expected” in the area of survival, was rated “highest” for the number of high-risk Medicare inpatients treated, and scored “high” in advanced technologies and patient services.

The magazine says the rankings are based on patient safety and outcomes data, as well as the hospital’s reputation in each specialty.