Sources have confirmed to the St. Joseph Post that both St. Joseph School District Superintendent Dr. Fred Czerwonka and Operating Officer Rick Hartigan have been placed on administrative leave.
An official with the St. Joseph School District confirmed that a vote was taken by the Board of Education Tuesday to place Czerwonka and Hartigan on leave.
The vote was originally intended to be made public Friday but leaks to media have made the information come to light sooner then anticipated by the St. Joseph School Board.
“Have 72 hours to make it public,” an unnamed official said. “It’s designed so if you vote on something that has to do with an employee you can go tell them first so they don’t find out by newspaper.”
Czerwonka started with the district in 2013 and Hartigan has been with the school district for more than 25 years.
The FBI started investigating the school district last year and the district has received several subpoenas for personnel records.
A source told the St. Joseph Post the board has 30 days from last Friday to respond to Audit findings and it is anticipated that the board will respond to the findings line by line.
When the Audit will be made public is still unknown, however it’s believed the findings are tied to information the public has already been made aware of.
Dr. Jake Long Student Services Director of Transportation and Safety has been named acting Superintendent.
As more information becomes available we will update.
St. Joseph, Mo. —Jan. 20, 2015—Yvonne Meyer, currently Chief of Public Safety at Cape Cod Community College in Massachusetts, has been named Chief of Police for the Missouri Western State University Police Department. Meyer will begin her duties Feb. 17.
“Chief Meyer has the right combination of skills and experience to successfully lead the Missouri Western State University Police Department,” said Dr. Cale Fessler, vice president for financial planning and administration. “She has more than 20 years of emergency management experience, including 12 years in higher education law enforcement with increasing levels of responsibility. I’m pleased to welcome her to Missouri Western.”
As Missouri Western’s police chief, Meyer will supervise University Police personnel and manage all law enforcement, security, traffic and parking functions on campus.
Meyer has been Cape Cod Community College’s Chief of Public Safety since October, 2013, leading the department to police certification through the Massachusetts State Police. Prior to her current position, Meyer served with the Parkland College Police Department for 10 years as police officer, college relations officer and police sergeant. That followed five years as a police services representative with the City of Champaign (Illinois) Police.
Meyer has a Bachelor of Science in Public Safety Management/Human Resource Management and a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in Criminal Justice from Franklin University in Columbus, Ohio. She also graduated from the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command in Champaign, Illinois.
Photo Courtesy Maryville Daily Forum. Officers escort suspect Eric Glidewell, third from left, toward the Nodaway County Jail Tuesday.
A St. Joseph man was arrested in southern Nodaway County Tuesday morning after engaging in a high-speed chase with law enforcement officers from two counties and multiple agencies.
According to the Maryville Daily Forum Eric Glidewell of St. Joseph failed to yield to a Maryville Public Safety patrol car and exited Maryville on westbound highway 46 where his Pontiac Grand Prix got up to speeds close to 100 mph before turning onto south Fairway Road and onto several gravel and dirt roads just short of the Andrew County Line. Glidewell was captured after he abandoned his vehicle and tried to run through a field. Officers, however followed by car and Glidewell surrendered without incident.
The Maryville Daily Forum reported that Maryville police acted as the lead agency throughout the chase, which also involved deputies from Andrew and Nodaway counties, Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers and, briefly, a civilian aircraft dispatched from Northwest Missouri Regional Airport. Charges pending.
The Friends of the St. Joseph Public Library is forming a monthly book club at the Washington Park Library.
Ann Thorne will lead the book discussions for the club, at the first get-together on Tuesday, February 3 at 2:00 p.m.
The first book the club will discuss in March is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.
The Friends of the St. Joseph Public Library now support book clubs that meet at three different library branches by providing books for the members to read.Active clubs also meet at the Downtown and East Hills Library.
Each club chooses the books they will discuss. These are provided by the Friends in kits which contains a handy tote bag with nine to twelve copies of one book and a discussion guide to assist book club leaders. The kits are also available for check out by other book clubs. A list of the Book Club Kits is available on the library website and at any St. Joseph Public Library branch.
Contact Karen Schultz, manager, at the Washington Park Library, 232-2052 for questions about the book club.
You can hear the live broadcast at 7 p.m. on KFEQ 680 AM or watch it online at St. Joseph Post.
January 21, 2015 by Mike Lear Missourinet
Governor Jay Nixon (D) will deliver tonight the penultimate State of the State Address of his two terms. In it he’ll present his policy and spending priorities for the legislative session and the year, and today legislators will get his proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. There are many things the governor is likely to talk about, such as the staples of education, job creation, and economic development. Here, we offer some background on some of the other things one might listen for during the speech:
Governor Jay Nixon is greeted by legislators as he leaves the Missouri House Chamber after delivering a previous year’s State of the State address at the State Capitol in Jefferson City. Photo Courtesy Missourinet
1) How the Governor addresses Ferguson
The Governor must address the single biggest issue in Missouri of the past year. Nixon has received criticism from multiple fronts for his, and his administration’s, response to unrest after the shooting of Michael Brown, Junior, by former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. A joint state legislative committee is investigating the state response on the night the grand jury decision not to indict Wilson was announced.
Nixon stands by how he and his administration have responded, but his critics–some within his own party–remain vocal. One thing he might do is reiterate the call he and others have made for the U.S. Justice Department to release the results of its investigations into the Michael Brown shooting, which some see as necessary for the community of Ferguson to at last move on.
Nixon has often talked in past State of the State addresses about how Missouri and her citizens have responded to adversity, but the sensitivity of the issue and its relation to his office means great delicacy is required. There is also a great deal of legislation stemming from Ferguson he could speak about, such as a bill to require the appointment of a special prosecutor in all officer-involved shootings or one that would abolish the grand jury system.
It’s also possible that protestors will seek to make their voices heard during the State of the State Address, much as they did the opening day of the legislative session two weeks ago.
2) Whether he will propose a transportation infrastructure funding plan
Nixon asked for, and received, a report from the state Transportation Department on whether making I-70 a toll road is feasible. He hasn’t said whether he will call for that, or any other, transportation funding plan, leaving some believing that he’ll lay one out during the State of the State.
Members and leaders of the Republican supermajorities in the House and Senate maintain that a tolling proposal won’t clear the legislature. Some of them also blame the governor for the sound defeat of a transportation tax proposal in 2014, saying it failed because he opted to put it on the August primary ballot. They say, then, that he needs to step up with a plan of his own.
3) Can Missouri keep the Rams in St. Louis?
Signs point to “no,” with many believing that Rams’ owner Stan Kroenke is well on the path toward taking the team to Los Angeles, assuming NFL owners don’t interfere.
A task force appointed by Nixon has laid out its plan for a new stadium in St. Louis, and Nixon has said, “there is a value to being an NFL City.” Still, state lawmakers have expressed resistance to involving taxpayer dollars in that effort.
Nixon might use the opportunity presented by the Address to push for some effort to keep the team in the Gateway city.
4) Tone toward Republicans
In his 2014 State of the State Address Nixon included some tough language regarding the positions of a Republican supermajority on Medicaid expansion; teacher pay, benefits and tenure; and tax reform. After November’s elections he faces even larger Republican supermajorities in both state legislative chambers.
The President of the Senate, Tom Dempsey (R-St. Charles), has said he’s encouraged by a tone of greater cooperation and communication from Nixon leading into this session. That could be, or not be, reflected in Nixon’s address tonight. 5) Medicaid expansion
Republicans in the state Senate, like those in the House, continue to oppose Medicaid expansion, with one of their newest members saying he will, “do everything,” he can to prevent it.
That doesn’t mean Governor Nixon has given up on the idea, however, recently telling reporters that it isn’t a lost cause and that a “cavalcade of states” with Republican governors and legislatures have moved forward on Medicaid, which he calls a significant change from last year.
He’s not alone in supporting expansion of Medicaid eligibility either, with the latest proposal being targeted at veterans, though the opponents seem to far outnumber the proponents.
A St. Joseph, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court Tuesday for distributing crack cocaine and illegally possessing a firearm.
23-year-old Brian K. Brewer of St. Joseph, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner to 10 years in federal prison without parole.
On Aug. 5, 2014, Brewer pleaded guilty to distributing crack cocaine and carrying a firearm in relation to a drug-trafficking crime. Brewer admitted that he sold approximately one ounce of crack cocaine for $1,000 on April 14, 2011. Brewer also admitted that on that day he was in possession of a Glock .40-caliber handgun, which he sold for $500.
Press Release issued Monday by Nodaway County Sheriff’s Office
The death of a northwest Missouri infant who was shot and killed by his 5-year-old brother Monday is set for review by a Child Fatality Review Board.
“We’re required by state law to impanel the child fatality review board,” Nodaway County Sheriff Darren White said.
The board made up of local residents will meet Wednesday afternoon to review the infant’s death.
The 9-month-old was shot at his home in Elmo, Mo. Monday morning.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, the child’s mother Alexis Wiederholt called 911 at 8:58 a.m. asking for an ambulance to respond to her home located at 101 S. Scott.
Wiederholt allegedly told dispatch her 5-year-old son had shot her 9-month-old son in the head with a paintball gun. However, when law enforcement and medical personnel arrived it was determined that the infant had been shot in the head with a .22 magnum revolver.
The child was flown from the scene to Children’s Mercy Hospital by Life Net Air Ambulance but did not survive.
White said the Sheriff’s office is still compiling reports and processing evidence which will then be turned over to the prosecuting attorney
Listen to President Obama talk about what it is like to give the State of the Union Address as well as his preview for what he will talk about in the speech. We will live stream the President’s speech tonight at 8 p.m. Central here at www.stjosephpost.com
The St. Joseph School District announced it will hold a closed session Tuesday morning to address State Audit findings.
The meeting was scheduled to take place at 9 a.m. and according to officials with the school district the session was still underway as of 12:30 p.m.
April 10, 2014 Missouri State Auditor Thomas Schweich announced his office had started an audit of the St. Joseph School District.
State law gives the auditor the authority to audit public and charter schools in Missouri.
The school district received audit findings from a private audit conducted by Westbrook & Associates last month regarding the financial health of the district.
As soon as information on the State Audit becomes available we will update with the information.
