St. Joseph, Mo. —March 31, 2015—The third annual conference on Child Abuse: Education, Prevention and Investigation will be held Wednesday and Thursday, April 15 and 16 at Missouri Western State University. A day-long Pre-Conference session on commercial sexual exploitation will be held on Tuesday, April 14. For a complete schedule and to register, visit griff.vn/child or call 816-271-5843.

The conference will feature two public presentations. Both are free and open to the public, but space is limited. Reserve a seat by calling 816-271-4117. The public presentations are:

6 p.m. Tuesday, April 14, Kemper Recital Hall inside Spratt Hall: “Very Young Girls” documentary screening and panel discussion

“Very Young Girls” is an exposé of the commercial sexual exploitation of girls in New York City as they are sold on the streets by pimps and treated as adult criminals by police. The film follows barely adolescent girls in real time, documenting their struggles and triumphs as they seek to exit the commercial sex industry. The film also uses startling footage shot by pimps themselves, giving a rare glimpse into how the cycle of exploitation begins for many women. After the showing, a discussion will be led by Deanna Green, training and technical assistance manager at Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS) in New York City. She conducts training and provides technical assistance for legal professionals, law enforcement and social service professionals on the issues of commercial sexual exploitation of children and domestic trafficking. In 2008, Deanna received her bachelor’s degree from Long Island University in chemistry. Deanna is committed to youth advocacy and urban affairs.

6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 15, Kemper Recital Hall: “Home Again”

Jaycee Dugard, Dr. Rebecca Bailey and Jane Dickel will speak in this session.

In 1991, Jaycee Dugard was kidnapped by two strangers from a bus stop in her hometown of Lake Tahoe. She survived years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her two assailants. She was finally reunited with her mother and family in 2009, 18 years after she was taken. Dugard has a vision of providing, supporting and ensuring the timely treatment of families that are recovering from abduction and the aftermath of other traumatic experiences. From that vision The JAYC Foundation was created.

Dr. Bailey is a clinical psychologist and forensic psychologist who specializes on complex case scenarios, including high conflict divorce and experiences of extreme trauma She is a nationally recognized expert in non-familial and familial abductions and the founder and director of Transitioning Families, an innovative and family-based program for therapeutic reunification and reintegration in California.

Jane F. Dickel is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has worked in Napa and Sonoma, CA for over forty-five years. In 2009, she helped Dr. Bailey in founding Transitioning Families and continues there as a senior clinician.  She is a clinical advisor to the Board of Directors of the JAYC Foundation, Inc. and has been instrumental in producing for them the program of Creating Protected Spaces for victims and families post trauma.

The session will offer a glimpse into the challenges facing a victim returning to family post-trauma; first-hand information regarding the numerous emotions faced by the survivor, family and community; and the importance of providing a short-term and long-term protected space. There will be an opportunity for questions and answers.

While the two evening sessions are more general, the conference will be of special interest for law enforcement officers and administrators, social workers, attorneys, educators, juvenile officers and those employed in healthcare, especially nurses. Registration fees include lunch. The cost of the conference is $125 for all three days, $90 for two days, $50 for one day, $10 per day for Missouri Western and field instructors and free for Missouri Western students (or $10 per day with lunch). CEUs, CLEs and POST credit will be available.

The conference is sponsored by the Missouri Western Law Enforcement Academy; the Western Institute; the Department of Criminal Justice, Legal Studies and Social Work; the Department of Nursing and Allied Health; and the Northwest Missouri Children’s Advocacy Center.

ST. JOSEPH, MO—The annual Arts Fund campaign has officially kicked off! Arts Fund co-chair Rich Crumley announced today “early solicitation has raised $66,421 towards our goal of $202,500. With this trend, we are very optimistic of reaching our goal.” This year’s funded non-profit agencies include Creative Arts Productions, Performing Arts Association, RiverSong, St. Joseph Community Chorus, Saint Joseph Symphony and the Allied Arts Council.

“The arts are good for every community,” said Chris Price, Hy-Vee Perishable Manager. “If children realize the importance of art and creativity from a young age, they can grow up to be more confident, more creative and definitely more mature. As an adult it is our duty to keep the arts alive for future generations to enjoy and to enjoy ourselves.”

“The arts are vital to St. Joseph. They add to the quality of life and ongoing education of all of our residents. They help us attract businesses, college students and new residents to St. Joseph. They are also vital to our families and help us raise well rounded children who have been exposed to a world even larger than St. Joseph, said Mallory Murray, Director of Public Relations and Marketing, Missouri Western State University.

The arts in St. Joseph are a $10.9 million industry in St. Joseph- one that attracts audiences, spurs business development, supports jobs and generates government revenue. Over 133,000 adults and 25,000 children attend Arts Fund sponsored events, which provide over 43,200 hours of volunteer services for 2,600 volunteers. Agencies rely on Arts Fund money for roughly 25% of the dollars necessary to provide top quality arts programming in the St. Joseph area.

“Everyone we contacted said yes to being a part of this campaign. We have a full slate of awesome members on our cabinet. We plan to have fun along this journey, and reach our goal,” according to Arts Fund co-chair Barb Crumley.

This year’s cabinet includes: Byron Myers, Chris Schmitter, James Fisher, Larry Stobbs, Pat Dillon, Denise Meyer, Shanda Parrish, Ron Auxier, Dr. Gordon Mapley, Kevin Griffin, Laura Donaldson, Marcy George, Cathy McKim, and Dr. Scott Wade.

To contribute to the Arts Fund or for additional information visit www.stjoearts.org, call the Allied Arts Council office at 816-233-0231, or visit the office at 118 South Eighth Street in St. Joseph.

Voters in Buchanan County who plan to cast their ballots absentee in the April 7th election will be allowed to submit their votes starting Saturday.

Buchanan County Clerk Mary Baack-Garvey said the courthouse will be open Saturday, April 4th from 8 a.m. to noon for Absentee Voting. The deadline to submit ballots absentee is Monday April 6th. Baack-Garvey said the office will be open until 5 p.m. on April 6th.

The last day to request an Absentee Ballot to be mailed is April 1.

The only question on the ballot for the April 7th election is a vote on wither or not to allow the City of St. Joseph to impose a use tax for out-of-state purchases.

It reads as such, “Shall the City of St. Joseph, Missouri, impose a local use tax on out-of-state purchases for a period of 10 years at the same rate as the local sales tax rate, currently Two and Eight Hundred Seventy-Five One Hundredths of One Percent (2.875%), in order to preserve existing general fund revenues and provide revenues for streets maintenance activities and to eliminate an inequity between in-state and out-ofstate businesses due to a recent Missouri Supreme Court decision, provided that if any local sales tax is reduced or raised by voter approval, the respective local use tax rate shall also be reduced or raised by the same action? A use tax return shall not be required to be filed by persons whose purchases from out-of-state vendors do
not in total exceed Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) in any calendar year.”

Election Day is Tuesday, April 7th. Polls will be open from 6:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M.

Monthly car seat inspections in St. Joseph will give parents the chance to make sure their children are safely restrained, just in case.

Troop H will be conducting car seat inspections at Troop H Headquarters, 3525 North Belt, St. Joseph, Missouri. The inspections will be conducted the first Tuesday of every month by appointment only from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Interested parties may contact Troop H Headquarters at (816)387-2345, to make their appointment and are reminded to bring their car seat owner’s manual and the owner’s manual for their vehicle.

“Making sure children are properly secured in their child restraint when traveling in vehicles is crucial for their safety”, Captain James E McDonald, commanding officer Troop H, said. “The Highway Patrol maintains a zero tolerance policy on child restraint violations, so make sure your children are properly restrained in the appropriate child restraint for their height and weight.”

The Nodaway County Sheriff’s Department is searching for any information in the abduction of a child from her bed in Burlington Junction last week.

“The parents just heard her scratching at the door,” said Nodaway County Sheriff Darren White.

An 8-year-old girl was reported to have been taken from her bed either late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning through a window.  White said her parents reported that they found her scratching at the front door to get back into the house.

However, police have little information to go on.  The only identification of the suspect given was that it was a man.

“The little girl’s got an appointment to be interviewed at the Children’s Advocacy Center in St. Joseph and we’re hoping that sheds some light on it,” said White. “It occurred in a house where there were many people home when this took place.”

White said the girl told police her abductor dropped her on the ground several times in her attempt to escape.

“It was the day after it rained and there was no mud on her or marks on the ground,” said White.  “This is a home where these people at the time had lived in for less than two weeks and it’s a dead end road so no one would randomly be driving down it.  It’s all pretty strange.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Nodaway County Sherriff’s Department at (660) 582-7451.

 

Daily’s Premium Meats, a meat processing company specializing in “sliced-to-order”

naturally smoked bacon, announced it will build a new, 100,000 square-foot facility in St. Joseph, Mo.

Daily’s expects to hire 212 employees during the first five years of operation, with an average annual

salary of $32,154, plus benefits. The initial capital investment is approximately $41.5 million.

The company expects to begin construction this summer and anticipates commencing production in May

2016. This will be Daily’s third U.S. facility, with the other two in Missoula, Mont., and Salt Lake City. The facility

will be built on vacant lands across from Triumph Foods’ St. Joseph plant, 5501 Stockyards Expressway.

“We are thrilled that Daily’s chose St. Joseph to build its new plant,” said R. Patt Lilly, president and CEO

of the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce. “As a hub for the animal and animal health industries, St. Joseph is a

perfect fit for Daily’s.”

Daily’s had initially worked with the Kansas City Area Development Council (KCADC) in search for an

existing building in the Kansas City region. Greenfield sites in Gardner, Kan., and St. Joseph were evaluated for

new construction.

“We selected St. Joseph as the site for our new plant for several reasons” said Kelly Hattan, Daily’s

president. “Since Triumph Foods’ pork processing plant is here, we have easy access to the raw materials we

need to run our operation. Also, St. Joseph has a talented workforce, which will be important to us as we begin

hiring employees, and it also strengthens our position with our customers as part of a food system focused on

quality and product consistency.”

The company coming to St. Joseph is thanks in part to eight months of work on the Chamber’s behalf,

and partnership and incentives provided by the City of St. Joseph, Buchanan County, Missouri Department of

Economic Development, Missouri Finance Board, KCP&L, Missouri American Water and Missouri Gas Energy.

Daily’s® Premium Meats, owned jointly by Triumph Foods and Seaboard Foods, sells a variety of

processed pork items from signature honey cured bacon to applewood smoked bacon to naturally smoked

hams to breakfast sausages. The company produces ‘naturally’ wood-smoked bacon and uses only freshtrimmed

pork bellies, supplied by Triumph and Seaboard Foods, to improve bacon quality and consistency.

Seaboard Foods is an integrated food company, with farm operations and pork processing, controlling

the entire process every step of the way from before the farm to the plate. Together, Seaboard Foods and

Triumph Foods, owned by pork producers who are member-owners, have aligned their farm operations and pork

processing, including genetics, pig nutrition, animal care, food safety and product quality, to ensure consistent,

wholesome premium pork products to its customers.

Daily’s was founded in 1893 in Missoula as a retail meat market. In the 1980s the company built its

reputation as “the bacon specialists,” and opened a second plant in Salt Lake City in 1992. In 2005, Seaboard

Foods acquired Daily’s, and Triumph Foods purchased a 50 percent interest in Daily’s Premium Meats in 2014.

…Elevated Fire Danger This Afternoon…
Temperatures Today Will Rise Into The 70s While Relative Humidity Values Will Drop To Or Slightly Below 25 Percent. This Warm And Very Dry Air Will Combine With Northeast Winds Of 10 To 12 Mph To Yield A Slightly Increased Risk For Wildfires This Afternoon. Interested Parties Should Monitor Conditions This Afternoon.

Today
Sunny, with a high near 75. East wind around 6 mph.
Tonight
Mostly clear, with a low around 49. Southeast wind around 6 mph.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 81. Breezy, with a south wind 8 to 13 mph increasing to 17 to 22 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 31 mph.
Wednesday Night
Showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1am. Low around 54. Breezy, with a south wind 15 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between three quarters and one inch possible.
Thursday
A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1pm. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 65. Breezy, with a north northwest wind 10 to 15 mph increasing to 16 to 21 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Thursday Night
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 41.
Friday
Partly sunny, with a high near 53.
Friday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 33.
Saturday
Sunny, with a high near 64.
Saturday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 43.
Sunday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 65.
Sunday Night
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 47.
Monday
Partly sunny, with a high near 72.

GALT, Mo – Route J in Grundy County will close north of Galt tomorrow for a culvert replacement, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation.

On Wednesday, April 1, 2015, crews will close Route J from Route BB to County Road NE 76th between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Motorists will need to use an alternate route during the closure.

All work is weather permitting and schedules are subject to change.