A suspect has been arrested in connection with a shooting in midtown Saint Joseph Tuesday night. Police say a man was shot in the leg outside a home near 19th and Charles shortly after 7 pm. The victim was taken to Heartland for treatment.
The shooting is still under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the Tips Hotline at 238-TIPS.
The city is offering several opportunities for half-price admission at the Aquatic Park for the remainder of the 2014 season. Half-price admission will be honored on Mondays after 4pm, and from 11am – 1pm on Thursdays.
City officials, last week, announced that, due to a shortage of lifeguards, both Hyde and Krug pools would remain closed for the season. It’s an effort to provide water recreation for swimmers at those two pools.
The City Council will hold a work session later this month, followed by a series of public meetings, to discuss the long-term viability of the pools and possible alternatives prior to the next pool season.
Residents who enter the park after 4pm on Mondays and between the hours of 11am – 1pm on Thursdays will pay half-price admission. If you arrive after 1pm on Thursdays, you will pay full price. Feel free to stay and swim the remainder of the day on Thursdays. (Normal admission is $6 for ages nine and up, and $5 for those eight and under)
Half-price days will begin this Thursday, July 10, and will remain in effect through August 17, when the park closes for the season. The park is open daily from 11am – 7pm (News Release)
Platte County investigators are hoping you can help them identify and arrest an armed robbery suspect.
Deputies responded to the Wood Oil Convenience store at 25615 NW 92 Highway In Beverly at about 5:30am Monday, July 7.
A man entered the store just a few minutes earlier and pointed a handgun at the clerk, demanding money. The clerk says he reached into the cash register and took approximately $850 in cash.
The suspect fled west from the store on foot. Surveillance photography was blurred and out of focus, but authorities are hoping you can pick out an identifying detail.
The man is described as dark-complected, dressed in dark pants (possibly blue jeans), a light colored long sleeve button-up shirt (possibly with a checkered pattern), light colored ball cap (possibly with the Chicago Bulls logo on the front) and a bandanna that covered most of his face.
He is believed to be in his 30’s. There is no suspect-vehicle information known at this time.
If you can help, contact Detective Gary Davis with the Platte County Sheriff’s Office at (816) 858-3521, or the TIPS Hotline at (816) 474-TIPS.
The St Joseph School District announces the replacements for Jaime and Mike Dial, who are leaving the district.
Sandy Steggall has been hired as Director of Secondary Curriculum and Instruction. Steggal has served as principal and assistant principal at Truman Middle School and taught Business at Central High School before that. Steggall’s salary will be $108,334. She replaces Dr. Jaime Dial, who has accepted a position with the Park Hill School District.
Her husband Mike Dial also announced his departure, to take a job with the North Kansas City School District. Mike Dial will be replaced by Ashly Bliss as assistant principal for Truman Middle School. Bliss has taught special eduation and 8th grade math at Truman. Bliss’ salary will be $73,980.
“Sandy Steggall has a proven record of excellence with the St. Joseph School District. She brings a wealth of knowledge to this position and is well respected in the district and community,” said Dr. Fred Czerwonka, Superintendent of Schools. “She has extensive experience in a variety of areas which will serve our students, administrative team, and teaching and support staff in a great way.”
Steggal weighed in on the promotion of Bliss to assistant principal.
“We are thrilled for the Truman students and staff that Ashly Bliss will be able to work in this new administrative capacity. To hire from within the school is a win-win for everyone,” she said.
The St. Joseph School District will post the Truman Middle School Principal position this week.
Another dispute over parking near the downtown post office has prompted another possible change to the parking rules. The City Council has already changed the parking from all-day to two-hour near Barbosa’s Castillo restaurant after management complained the post office employees were taking up all the spaces near their facility.
Now the owners of the Edmond Office Plaza at 902 Edmond are hoping the city will place two-hour time limits on parking in the immediate vicinity of the plaza.
In a meeting of the St Joseph Traffic Commission last month, the St Joseph Postmaster Tara Janett said the Post Office has 127 employees downtown. She says they have been fighting parking issues for a long time, with no place for employees to park. Janett is hoping the city will allow all-day parking along 8th Street and on Charles that would alleviate the problem somewhat.
Postal officials point out that the Edmond Office Plaza has a large parking lot, with 120 spaces. They’re hoping for a trade-off, by allowing all-day parking around the perimeter of the downtown post office in return for the restrictions around the office plaza.
The City Council will take up the matter at its regular meeting Monday night, at 7pm, at City Hall.
A 16 year old Saint Joseph youth was stabbed during an altercation in front of a residence in the Deer Park area early Monday morning. A 17 year old suspect was taken into custody in connection with the assault.
Police Sergeant Keith Dudley says Heartland Regional Medical Center reported the stabbing at 12:18 am, after the victim had been taken to Heartland by private vehicle. The stabbing is still under investigation.
The restructuring of personnel at the top of the St Joseph School District continues, as the district seeks to fill the opening left by Steve Huff, the now-retired assistant to the superintendent. A help-wanted ad was posted on the district’s Web site last week to fill the newly created position of communications director.
That was a large part of Mr Huff’s job and may be one of the most difficult tasks in St Joseph in the year ahead.
The district and many of its top staff face a whistle-blower lawsuit, filed by former Chief Financial Office Beau Musser. Musser claims in the lawsuit that on his second day of work he received some surprising news.
In the lawsuit, Musser says an internal audit report outlined some very controversial and possibly illegal financial dealings within the district. He says he was fired for bringing those dealings to light.
Topping the list of irregularities was a quarter million dollars in stipends paid to top administrators without school-board approval. After the details of the stipends went public, administration officials brought a number of them to the board’s attention for approval. Superintendent Dr. Fred Czerwonka has said he withheld details of the stipends from the full board at the urging of school board member Dr. Dan Colgan, himself a former superintendent in St Joseph, and former president of the school board.
In their response to the lawsuit, the school district and four individual defendants denied that Musser was placed on administrative leave because of his investigation into the stipends. In court documents, they deny that Musser was threatened with sexual-harassment charges if he didn’t accept a separation agreement, as he claims in the lawsuit. But the filing does go on to make sexual harassment allegations against Musser. It also asserts that the exchange over the separation agreement was part of a privileged settlement conversation, and thus was confidential.
There is also a possible Sunshine Law investigation pending. And an ongoing investigation by the Missouri State Auditor’s Office. Auditors have been going through the district’s operations with a fine-toothed comb for months.
There are also ongoing criminal investigations by the FBI and a U.S. grand jury. The school district announced the grand-jury subpoena in May.
There are lingering complaints about insider-treatment for some outside contractors, and special treatment for special people, namely the relatives of staff and school-board members.
They must also plan the campaign for renewal of the district’s 63-cent operating levy, which will be presented to voters next spring.
The other half of Mr Huff’s job will be filled by Dr. Jake Long, who has been designated deputy superintendent. Long will oversee human resources, the business and finance office, and the district’s continuous-improvement effort. He will also oversee the new communications manager.
Superintendent Dr. Fred Czerwonka reorganized top staff last spring. In March, Dr. Czerwonka proposed reducing the number of people reporting directly to him from eight to four. At the time of the announcement, those four were Dr Long, Chief Operating Officer Rick Hartigan, and two chief academic officers, Brian Shindorf and Dr. Jaime Dial. Dr. Dial and her husband Mike Dial have since resigned their positions in the school district.
As you can see, the person eventually hired as communications director will have a full plate from day one. If you’d like to apply, click here.
Darrell W. Brooks, 56, died March 11. In a news release, Mr Zahnd said Brooks threatened to kill a man.
“Then, while he was very intoxicated, Mr. Brooks started an altercation with that man,” Zahnd said. “While the man was restraining Mr. Brooks and waiting for law enforcement to arrive, Mr. Brooks died from a heart attack.”
Deputies from the Platte County Sheriff’s Department were dispatched to 18360 Interurban Road. When the first deputy arrived, Brooks was on the ground, restrained by another man who had his arm around Brooks’ neck.
The deputy ordered the man to let Brooks go, which the man immediately did. Brooks died at the scene.
Brooks’ autopsy revealed that he died of a heart attack and that he had a serious underlying heart condition that had never been diagnosed. The autopsy also revealed no injury to Brooks’ neck and no evidence of strangulation. Other wounds found on Brooks’ body were superficial and would not have been life-threatening.
Brooks’ blood alcohol content was .268, more than three times the legal limit for driving.
The medical examiner opined that, given his underlying cardiovascular disease, Brooks could have died from a heart attack regardless of any altercation that day.
Deputies had gone to the scene earlier in the day, after receiving information that Brooks was drunk and had threatened to kill a man who lived on his property. They left after being assured that everyone was okay. Later investigation revealed that Brooks had left a voice mail for his wife, threatening, “I may kill him, I may kill that (expletive) prick. Tonight may be his last night to be alive. I may kill him.”
The man who Brooks threatened cooperated with investigators. He told them that he was aware of the Brooks’ threat against his life, that Brooks had assaulted him, and that he held Brooks down to restrain him until law enforcement officers arrived. He also said that Brooks had threatened him with a knife on a prior occasion.
Zahnd says Brooks had a long history of assaultive behavior, having been convicted of domestic assault in 2011. Brooks had also allegedly pointed a gun at someone, later saying he wished he had pulled the trigger. In another incident, Brooks allegedly stabbed a knife into a cabinet during an argument.
Zahnd said, “An excellent investigation by the Platte County Sheriff’s Department uncovered the truth in this incident. While a man died on May 11, his death was not a crime. He threatened to kill another man and then got into a confrontation with him. Under Missouri law, a person can use reasonable force to protect himself while waiting for police to arrive, and that’s exactly what happened in this case.”
Fire broke out Friday morning at Rolling Hills Honda in St Joseph.
Dispatchers say the fire was reported at 8:58am. A full team response from the St Joseph Fire Department responded to the scene.
The fire was contained to an upstairs office and caused minor damage with no injuries.
“We were not open, so there was nobody here today. We will be open for business as usual on Saturday,” General Manager Chris Smith said.
An inspector from the St Joseph Fire Department was investigating the cause of the fire.
A five-year-old St Joseph boy says a man stole the family’s pit bull at gunpoint Wednesday.
Sergeant Chris McBane says the youngster was playing in his front yard in the 800 block of West Valley Street at approximately 1:30pm Wednesday when he was approached by a man. According to the boy, the man pointed a gun at his head and took the family’s dog.
The man then took off with the dog in a blue pickup truck. The boy told his babysitter, who told the child’s mother when she got home at about 6pm Wednesday. The mother then called police.
Sergeant McBane says they were unable to get a description of the dognapper. If you can help police track down the dog-napper you should call the TIPS hotline at 238-TIPS.
