(News release) Buchanan County, MO- Today at approximately 1:21 PM, Investigators with the Drug Strike Force observed a suspicious vehicle pull onto the lot of the Casey’s at 401 E. Hyde Park. The vehicle was identified as a stolen vehicle reported in the county. Investigators attempted to make contact with the driver and sole occupant in the vehicle. The suspect vehicle went forward hitting the strike force vehicle before fleeing from the gas station. Law Enforcement responded to the area of Alabama and King Hill and began searching for the vehicle. With assistance from other community law enforcement agencies, we were able to later locate the stolen vehicle in the area of Main and East Dolman. Strike Force investigators located the suspect walking in the area, and after a foot chase the subject was taken into custody at 7th and Moss.
A 35 year old white male was taken into custody pending investigation.
Strike Force was assisted by the St. Joseph Police Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol
Apple Market is closing another location in St. Joseph.
Owners Todd Euler and Mike Decker announced Tuesday morning that in the coming weeks the Apple Market at 903 N. 36th St. will be closing.
“We understand the convenience this store offered to many here in St. Joseph, but with the current market conditions and incoming competition we see no alternative but to cease operations,” the company said in a news release.
Recently, Natural Grocers (correction) opened its doors on the Belt Highway and Price Chopper at the site of the old Plaza 8 theater on N. Belt will open Wednesday.
The 36th St. Apple Market location is the second grocery store Euler and Decker have closed so far this year. As we previously reported, in August the Cash Saver in midtown was shutdown.
The closures brings Apple Market locations down to three in St. Joseph and one in Savannah.
Euler and Decker said customers should watch the store for additional details in the coming weeks.
The Buchanan County Jail is overflowing and the high number of inmates is creating shortages of supplies and could cause some employees to have to put in longer hours.
Last week, the sheriff’s office issued a press release stating that the jail population was at 248 inmates. The average population is between 170 and 200. Col. Bill Puett with the sheriff’s office said they are keeping some inmates two or three to a cell in order to deal with the overcrowding. He said the max capacity is 224.
“Unfortunately if people commit crimes then they’re going to be committed to jail,” Puett said. “The courts are going to deal with them as they need to deal with them in an appropriate manner and sometimes that means that they are housed and we have to deal with the numbers that we have.”
He said the sheriff’s office wants to try to keep inmates in the Buchanan County Jail rather than moving them to another jail that may or may not have space.
“If we move prisoners out we have to pay for that. Also, we have issues where we move inmates further away from the courts, we move inmates further away from their families, their attorneys, all of those things make it a lot more difficult. If we house people an hour away we have time and cost and moving the inmate whenever there’s a court hearing, attorneys would have to travel an hour to see their client, families would have to travel,” Puett said. “If we can, we try to keep them here and look for solutions and sometimes that’s providing them space with pallets on the floor. Doing that type of stuff to keep them here and keep them more accessible for their families, the courts and their attorneys’.”
He said the jail started seeing a spike in it’s population about a month ago.
“It’s been gradually going up but it’s been more noticeable in the last month or so,” Puett said. “We have a lot of violent criminals in jail right now, we’ve seen a lot of drug arrests. We’ve had everything from property crimes all the way up to murder and sexual assault, those types of things. We have it all.”
The high number of inmates can cause issues with the additional cost for food, bedding and clothing.
“We have to provide basic supplies for inmates whether they have the funds to buy them or not,” Puett said. “It’s always a drain on resources. Right now we’re managing. We have had to order in some more supplies.”
The sheriff’s office is currently extending visiting hours.
“The jail staff is going to start earlier and go later on visitation days to assist families to make sure they are able to get in and visit,” Puett said. “Currently they have been able to get everybody in up to this point but obviously with an increase population we want to make sure we have enough spots for that. With attorney visitation we are going to extend the hours that they can get in to see their clients.”
Puett said the extended hours will start immediately. He said general visitation hours will be extended starting Saturday and attorney visitation will be extended at the beginning of this week. However, that also means staff members will be working longer hours.
“We’re looking at probably some overtime hours to accommodate some of these issues,” Puett said. “That’s just what we have to do to make sure stuff is accomplished.”
Another power outage impacted hundreds in St. Joseph Monday afternoon.
According to the KCP&L Power Outage Map around 1:26 p.m. 1,735 customers were without power. The Outage started shortly before 1 p.m., but by 1:36 p.m. power was restored to all but 58 customers.
KCP&L said crews are currently working to restore power to the remaining customers and that a cause is currently unknown. It comes a day after a substation malfunction in St. Joseph caused an outage for more than 17,000 customers.
For information on the latest outage CLICK HERE to view current outages.
File Photo: Krug Park closed due to police activity Sunday morning
A 17-year-old has been charged in connection with the stabbing death of 17-year-old Kaytlin Root.
The Buchanan County Juvenile Court said the girl remains detained after being charged with a class A felony of murder in the second degree. Due to the girl’s age at the time of the offense the charge was filed in juvenile court. A hearing has been set for Tuesday at 1 p.m. in Div. 3.
“Because this is a juvenile case, I am unable to release any identifying information including the name or picture of the person who has been charged,” said Linda Meyer, Chief Juvenile Officer with the 5th Judicial Circuit.
As we previously reported, Sebastian Dowell, 18 was also charged in connection with Root’s death. Dowell is charged with second-degree murder in Buchanan County. Court documents said he and a second person lured Root to meet them at a location in St. Joseph and urged Root not to tell anyone who she was meeting.
“The defendant, second party, and the victim rode around for awhile and eventually went to Krug Park,” Det. Greg Ogdahl said. “Once there, the three people walked to a secluded area where the victim was rendered unconscious.”
Sebastian Dowell Charged with 2nd Degree Murder
Ogdahl said Root was stabbed or cut more then twice and died from the injuries. Authorities started investigating Root’s death after her body was found by a runner off of a bike trail at Krug Park Sunday, Oct. 16 around 9:20 a.m.
Dowell is being held without Bond. He’s scheduled for an arraignment Tuesday at 9 a.m.
A St. Joseph man is accused of stabbing and killing 17-year-old Kaytlin Root whose body was found last week in Krug Park.
Sebastian Dowell, 18 is charged in Buchanan County with a felony for second-degree murder. The charge carries a penalty of 10-30 years or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole until after 85% of any sentence ordered has been served.
According to court documents, on Sunday, Oct. 16, Dowell and a second person lured Root to meet them at a location in St. Joseph and urged Root not to tell anyone who she was meeting.
“The defendant, second party, and the victim rode around for awhile and eventually went to Krug Park,” Det. Greg Ogdahl said. “Once there, the three people walked to a secluded area where the victim was rendered unconscious.”
Ogdahl said Root was stabbed or cut more then twice and died from the injuries.
Probable Cause Statement
Authorities started investigating Root’s death as a homicide after her body was found by a runner off of a bike trail at Krug Park Sunday, Oct. 16 around 9:20 a.m.
Bond for Dowell has been denied. He’s scheduled for an arraignment Tuesday at 9 a.m. in front of Judge Keith Marquart.
A 17-year-old girl has also been charged in connection with Root’s death in Juvenile Court with a class A felony of murder in the second degree. She is scheduled to appear in juvenile court Tuesday at 1 p.m. for a hearing.
Ballots for the Nov. 8 election in Buchanan County. Photo courtesy Mary Baack-Garvey
The Buchanan County Clerk’s office has all of its ballots in and is getting ready to test its machines ahead of the November election.
Buchanan County Clerk Mary Baack-Garvey said the ballots came in more than a week ago but with the big push to get people registered to vote they got put on hold.
“Now we are back above water and can start working on other things,” Baack-Garvey said. “We have to stuff all the supplies for the election judges.”
Baack-Garvey said she ordered enough ballots for 105-percent turnout. She is anticipating around an 80-percent turnout but said it could be more.
Wednesday, Oct. 26 the clerk’s office plans to test the machines so they are up and running election night.
While voter registration is finished in Buchanan County, Baack-Garvey said it’s important that people realize they can still change their name or addresses if needed.
For sample ballots or more information on voting in Buchanan County CLICK HERE.
The St. Joseph Police Department is currently investigating after a call reporting shots fired from moving vehicles Thursday night in midtown.
Capt. Jeff Wilson said officers responded shortly after 9 p.m. to 10th and Charles on a report of people shooting at each other from moving vehicles.
He said after arriving on scene officers got a report of a victim at another location a couple of blocks away. When officers arrived the victim had already been transported by private vehicle to the hospital.
Wilson said a 21-year-old St. Joseph man was treated for a gunshot wound to his shoulder at Mosaic Life Care.
Detectives are currently investigating and are looking into a person of interest.
ATCHISON, Kan. (AP) — More than 50 people sought medical attention after a chemical spill at a distilling plant that released a noxious cloud in northeast Kansas.
The Kansas Department of Emergency Management says the cloud occurred Friday morning when two chemicals were mistakenly combined at the MGP Ingredients plant in Atchison. The department says people were allowed back into their homes after the cloud dissipated a few hours later.
Atchison Hospital spokeswoman T.C. Roberts says 52 people sought care at the hospital’s emergency room for upper respiratory discomfort. Roberts says one person remained in intensive care Friday afternoon. She says some were treated and released but did not know how many. Mosaic Life Care is reporting it treated 18 people Friday for respiratory issues due to the plume. It said patients ranged from children to older adults.
MGP produces premium distilled spirits. It employs about 300 people at the Atchison plant, about 50 miles from Kansas City.
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11:50 a.m.
Authorities say it’s safe for residents to return home and for students to go back to school now that a noxious cloud that formed over their northeast Kansas community has dissipated.
The Kansas Department of Emergency Management says the cloud occurred Friday morning when sulfuric acid and sodium hypochlorite were mistakenly combined at the MGP Ingredients plant in Atchison.
Emergency officials ordered the evacuation of schools and homes near the plant earlier Friday, but lifted the evacuation order when the chemical cloud cleared later in the morning.
MGP produces premium distilled spirits and employs about 300 people at the plant in Atchison, 50 miles northwest of Kansas City.
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(Post Staff) – The City of Atchison, Kan has been given the all-clear after a chemical spill Friday morning at MGP Ingredients.
The all clear was issued shortly before 11 a.m. This came after a chemical plume was caused around 8 a.m. when two chemicals were inadvertently mixed together during delivery at MGP near the sewer plant.
“One chemical was delivering and was inadvertently put into the wrong holding tank which caused the reaction,” Cocking said.
Cocking said MGP employees are heading back to work.
“We are working with the company and toxicology officials,” said City Manager Trey Cocking. “They have advised us that people can go ahead and return at this time. It’s just a matter of it dissipating at this time. Since we’ve had no injuries it’s just a matter of it dissipating.”
Cocking said around 18 people including five city workers are being treated for respiratory discomfort and the injuries appear to be minor. He said those people are being kept for observation.
“The plume covered good portions of the city. As the wind shifted downtown was affected early this morning and then the wind shifted more to the west,” Cocking said.
MPG is a distillery which supplies distilled spirits and specialty wheat proteins and starches.
Cocking said the plume is moving northwest out of the city and that it does not seem to be a threat. While the plume was over the city residents were urged to shelter indoors, keeping their windows closed and AC or furnace off. Shelter locations were set up at Walmart and the Atchison Event Center. Children have since been returned to schools however some schools were evacuated and others sheltered inside for a while.
The Atchison Fire Department is asking people returning to their homes or businesses after evacuation to call 911 if they notice a strong smell of bleach or visible fog so that the fire department can assist with ventilating homes or businesses.
Roads closed off in Atchison. Photo by John P. Tretbar
