A DWI saturation in Nodaway County over the weekend lead to tickets and warnings for many drivers.

Captain James McDonald, commanding officer of Troop H in St. Joseph said  a saturation was held from 7:00 p.m. on March 14, 2015, to 3:00 a.m. on March 15, 2015 in Nodaway County. During this enforcement operation six officers patrolled specific areas with a goal of detecting impaired drivers and other traffic violations that contribute to traffic crashes. As a result of the operation, officers issued eight citations for traffic violations and 61 warnings.

“Impaired driving poses a significant threat to motorists on Missouri’s roadways,” Captain McDonald said. “One of the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s highest priorities is removing the impaired driver from our roadways. If drinking is part of your plans, choose a sober designated driver.”

MARYVILLE, Mo. – The Northwest Missouri State University’s Board of Regents during its regular meeting Friday approved tuition and fees for the 2015-2016 academic year in addition to approving a series of curriculum and policy updates.

The Board unanimously approved a tuition increase of 0.8 percent for undergraduate students, which matches the consumer price index and is the maximum allowed by Missouri Senate Bill 389 for undergraduate in-state resident tuition and fees. Graduate tuition and fees for fall 2015 will increase by 1.5 percent.

Northwest President Dr. John Jasinski noted the University’s tuition and fee increases are the lowest in the nation during the last five years, while the satisfaction of students and level of education remains high, as evidenced by Northwest placement rates of about 98 percent for undergraduate degree earners and 99 percent for graduate degree earners.

“We’ve done a great job of being responsible stewards of taxpayer money, focusing on affordability and access with quality,” Jasinski told the Board.

Northwest’s 2015-2016 tuition and fees will be $281.96 per credit hour for in-state undergraduate students and $492.64 for out-of-state undergraduate students. For graduate students, tuition and fees will increase to $358.96 for in-state students and $611.82 for out-of-state students.

The Board also approved a series of per-student-credit-hour fee increases, as approved by Northwest’s Student Senate, including a minimum wage increase of 30 cents per credit hour for student employees and a capital improvement fee increase of $4.35 to support facility improvements and repairs.

The Board also approved the Student Senate’s recommendation to eliminate Northwest’s 50-cent readership fee, which provided print editions of regional and national newspapers in some campus buildings. In requesting the fee’s removal, the Student Senate cited students’ migration to reading online-based news articles.

Vice President of Finance Stacy Carrick commended the Student Senate’s diligence to study and discuss the impacts of the fees, particularly the capital improvement fee.

“The students have continued to reach out to us and help us fund much-needed improvements across campus,” Carrick said. “I’m very proud of our students and their approach. They had very good conversations and took a pay-it-forward approach to approve that fee.”

Room and board rates will increase by an average of 3 percent based on Northwest’s apartment, suite or residence-hall style of housing. Meal plans will increase an average of 3.3 percent, based on the range of meal plans offered, including residential and block meal plans.

Among the curriculum changes, the Board approved the deletion of two undergraduate majors, psychology/sociology and public administration, and the creation of two majors in their place. The new human services major will replace psychology/sociology to better prepare undergraduate students for graduate programs in that field as well as students wanting to transition directly into social and human services careers. Similarly, a new political science major will replace the comprehensive public administration major and offer three emphasis areas – public administration, criminal justice and global affairs.

In other business, the Board approved the University’s 2017-2018 academic calendar and the renewal of a three-year contract with Educational Benchmarking Incorporated to administer service satisfaction surveys. The Board also approved updates to the University’s nondiscrimination and equal employment opportunity statement and to its tuition and fees policy for uniformed services veterans and qualified dependents.

The Board of Regents is responsible for sound resource management of the University and determining general, educational and financial policies.

A grass fire on the city’s north side yesterday has forced the temporary closure of the Remington Nature Center. While no damage occurred to the nature center, the facility will remain closed for the next two days to prevent any residual smoke from entering the building through the HVAC system.

City staff wants to do everything possible to ensure the artifacts and exhibits inside the center are preserved and kept safe from smoke damage. Keeping the center closed and the air intake systems off will help ensure no residual smoke gets into the building.

St. Joseph Fire Department crews fought the grass fire for much of the afternoon and evening yesterday, and were instrumental in protecting the nature center from fire and damage. Off-duty crews also responded and assisted with fire suppression. Personnel from the public works department and police department assisted with operations at the scene.

Crews from the airport fire department responded with a tanker and pumper to assist with operations. Those crews stayed late into the night providing assistance and ensuring the fire did not spark back up again. The Andrew County Fire Protection District sent both crews and vehicles to assist with operations as well as provide coverage to the rest of the city as needed.

St. Joseph, Mo. – The Community Development Division of the City of St. Joseph will be holding a public meeting to obtain information from the citizens, public service providers, housing providers and other service agencies of St. Joseph in order to prepare our next 5-Year Consolidated Plan.

The Community Partnership Strategy and Consolidated Plan is a 5-year plan that tells the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) what the City of St. Joseph is going to be doing with the federal monies it receives over the next 5-year period.

An Ad Hoc Committee (made up of citizens of St. Joseph) will be assisting in the development of priorities and strategies for use of the federal funding received from the Department of HUD. To develop this plan the City is asking citizens and the stakeholders in the Community Development Block Grant and HOME Investment Partnership Programs of St. Joseph to share with them what their priorities relating to housing and non-housing needs.

This Consolidated Plan meeting will be held in the City Council Chambers, 3rd Floor of City Hall, 1100 Frederick Avenue, on March 23, 2015 from 3:00 until 5:00 PM.

For more information on this meeting or on the Consolidated Plan process you may contact the Community Development staff at 816-271-4646 or 271-4643.

The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office is investigating after a home and several vehicles caught fire over the weekend.

The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office, Wheeling firefighters, Chula fire and the Chillicothe Department of emergency services responsed to a fire in the 11000 block of Liv 259 west of Wheeling Sunday around 3 a.m. to find a home and several unoccupied vehicles on fire.

Deputy Leadbetter reported seeing several unoccupied vehicles outside the home and said he was very concerned that someone may be inside the burning house. The attempt from the deputy to gain entry to the home was unsuccessful due to the state of the fire and extreme heat.

Firefighters were able to move one vehicle from close proximity to the burning house and saved it from further damage.

“Our top priority was in locating the people who may have been home or owned vehicles there,” said Livingston County Sheriff Steve Cox. “After a few hours we were able to locate and speak with everyone and minimize any concerns of any person being inside the residence.”

Cox said a deputy located one person of interest and we have made one custodial arrest. We are still actively involved with this investigation and there potentially may be additional charge(s) and/or arrest(s).

“Fortunately we know of no injuries to anyone resulting from this incident,” he said.

The Missouri State Fire Marshall’s Office and the mentioned Fire Department agencies are assisting the LCSO with this investigation.

Anyone with information on this incident is asked to call the LCSO at 660-646-0515 or Dispatch at 660-646-2121.

The mandatory evacuation order issued Sunday afternoon was officially lifted Monday at 9:36 a.m.

According to a nixle message sent out this morning the St. Joseph Emergency Manager has lifted the evacuation order for Elwood Street that was put into place Sunday at 5 p.m. due to fire.

St Joseph Police say persistent smoke in the area is coming from the Elwood side of the Missouri River.

A controlled burn in Elwood burned out of control Sunday, and with the help of the wind, jumped the river.

Police on Sunday ordered the evacuations of a least three houses on Elwood Street in St Joe, and a little later, the St Jo Frontier Casino was evacuated. Roads were closed between Wyeth Hill and Riverfront Park in downtown St Joseph.

A “red-flag” warning goes back into effect starting Monday at noon, as low humidity and gusty winds combine to bring “extreme fire growth potential” to the area. This latest warning was set to expire at 8pm Monday.

 

 

The Salvation Army plans to re-open its thrift store in St. Joseph at a new location.

The store, located at 519 S. 5th Street, will open to the public on Wednesday, March 18th with a formal ribbon cutting at 11 am. The Grand Opening event is set for Saturday, March 21st from 10 am to 5 pm, featuring door prizes, special discounts and complimentary hot dogs and drinks for the public.

The new store is located next to The Salvation Army Corps community center and Booth Center Shelter for the homeless. It replaces The Salvation Army’s thrift store that existed at 810 N. 22nd Street, which closed in late January. With the opening of this new store, all Salvation Army services in St. Joseph are now all conveniently located on the same grounds.

The new Salvation Army thrift store will sell quality new and gently used clothing, appliances, furniture, household goods, toys and electronics, all at affordable prices.
Donations of items in good useable condition are welcome and may be dropped off at the store during regular business hours, Monday through Friday from 10 am to 5 pm and on Saturdays from 10 am to 3 pm.

The store is an important source of income for the funding of programs and services provided by The Salvation Army in St. Joseph, including feeding programs, emergency assistance, youth and senior programs and more.

“Our thrift store offers the opportunity for people to donate quality items they no longer need to help support important programs in our community,” said Captain Chuck Cook with The Salvation Army in St. Joseph. “It will be a great place for shoppers to find all the things they need at affordable prices or for that person who’s looking for a unique or vintage item for a special occasion.”

For more information about the Salvation Army in St. Joseph or the new thrift store, contact Captain Chuck Cook, 816-232-5824.

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University’s Emergency and Disaster Management (EDM) Program invites Northwest students, employees and community members to participate in its free Campus Community Emergency Response Team (C-CERT) training in April.

Training will be conducted in Room 1150 of the Garrett-Strong Science Building as well as other University facilities.

Training dates are as follows:

• Thursday, April 16, 6-10 p.m.
• Friday, April 17, 6-10 p.m.
• Saturday, April 18, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Sunday, April 19, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

The C-CERT program is a 24-hour Federal Emergency Management Agency course designed to educate citizens about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their communities. The program trains participants in basic disaster response skills, including fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization and disaster medical operations.

Using training learned in the classroom and during exercises, C-CERT participants can assist others in their neighborhood, campus or workplace when professional responders are not immediately available to help.

C-CERT trainers include Dr. Mark Corson, professor of geography, and Matthew Johnson, instructor of history, at Northwest. In addition to teaching courses within the EDM program, Corson and Johnson are founding members of Northwest’s EDM program and have extensive experience in conducting disaster response training in locations including Florida and The Republic of Macedonia.

EDM students are encouraged to take C-CERT training to fulfill their requirement of 36-491 Field Experience and can register for academic credit by contacting Johnson. To register for Northwest’s spring 2015 CERT training click here.

The Emergency and Disaster Management major uses a multi-disciplinary approach to study crisis, drawing from courses and faculty in Geography, Psychology, Social Sciences and Communications. While half the class work involves a crisis management core, electives provide flexibility so that students can tailor the major to their individual and specific academic and professional needs.

For more information, contact Corson at mcorson@nwmissouri.edu or Johnson at mjohnso@nwmissouri.edu. For more information about C-CERT training, visit www.citizencorps.gov/cert.

The public is invited to lend a hand in an effort to preserve the St. Joseph Riverfront Park.

A clean-up event held by Riverfront Rescue will be held Saturday, March 21 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Riverfront Park.  Participants are asked to bring gloves, rakes, shovels, trimmers, and other items to help spruce up the park and surrounding area.

Riverfront Rescue coordinator Madison Davis said he started the Facebook page Riverfront Rescue in March of 2014 in an effort to invited citizens who want to help maintain the park.

“I don’t know if you’ve been to Riverfront park in the last three to five years but right now unfortunately it’s basically a place for people to go and not just be there for a positive purpose,” said Davis. “We’re trying to bring light to the area and clean it back up in a positive light.”

Last year Riverfront Rescue held four clean-up activities between March and September.

“There’s a lot of brush on the bank areas, tree limbs, stuff like that that needs picked up and removed,” said Davis. “A lot of it is just people on the interstate up above just throwing trash out and not thinking about it.”

Since Davis started the clean-up event last week on Facebook he said the Riverfront Rescue page has jumped up to more than 300 likes, 100 of which in the last 24 hours.

“I created the event to try and get the word out,” said he said. “It’s been fun to see people that are interested in trying to improve it.”

Davis said he doesn’t know of very many organization utilizing the area but said his church Restoration Church which is just a couple of blocks away held several events there last year.

 

St. Joseph, Mo. -After many years of exploration, information gathering and prayer, The InterServ Foundation, in support of Interfaith Community Services, Inc., has announced a goal of $5 million to build a new health and wellness center in south St. Joseph.

The “Building InterServ” capital campaign was approved by both the InterServ Board of Directors and The InterServ Foundation Board of Directors during the summer of 2014 and a capital campaign committee was formed. This committee is chaired by Mr. Joseph K. Houts, Jr. and co-chaired by Mrs. Joyce Edwards. The focus of the five-year plan is to secure funding to erect a new community center in support of InterServ’s faithful commitment to our community that began in 1909. All campaign funding will support new construction at the corner of Cherokee and King Hill Avenue that will replace the Wesley Center and allow InterServ to continue operations in St. Joseph for another 100 years.

Through the combined efforts of leadership at both InterServ and The InterServ Foundation, $1,694,745 of the $5 million goal has been raised with total commitment by both InterServ boards, its administration and staff. Ellison-Auxier Architects, Inc. will be the design firm for the project. Preliminary work on the design has been started and will continue over the next year, providing for a new gymnasium, commons area, fitness/weight room, kitchen and food pantry.

For more information concerning “Building InterServ” contact The InterServ Foundation at (816) 238-4511, ext. 222 or at www.theinterservfoundation.org.