Today A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 5pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 74. East southeast wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 10%.

Tonight Showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 10pm. Low around 55. East wind around 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Thursday Showers and thunderstorms likely. Cloudy, with a high near 62. East northeast wind 8 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Thursday Night A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 48. Northeast wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Friday A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 60. Northeast wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Friday Night Mostly cloudy, with a low around 43.

Saturday Partly sunny, with a high near 59.

Saturday Night Mostly cloudy, with a low around 46.

Sunday A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 62. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Sunday Night A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 49. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Columbus Day A chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 63. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Monday Night Mostly cloudy, with a low around 50.

Tuesday Partly sunny, with a high near 66.

Schütz Container Systems, Inc., a German-based packaging company with locations worldwide will locate in St. Joseph. It will be the company’s 10th facility in the United States.

“We are pleased to be able to locate our newest facility in St. Joseph, Mo.,” said Frederik Wenzel, President and Chief Executive Officer of Schütz Container Systems, Inc. USA. “The location will help us better serve existing and new customers and we look forward to a long-term relationship with the community.”

Schütz stands for sustainable packaging solutions. In its current nine locations, it has 1,000 employees that are active in the field of next generation packaging solutions. In St. Joseph, employees will be involved in making packages for the agriculture chemical and food-related industries.

“We are happy to welcome a world-class company like Schütz to our community,” said R. Patt Lilly, President and CEO of the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce. “Not only will they add to our strong manufacturing base of employment, but will bring significant investment and new jobs to St. Joseph.”

Schütz is purchasing the shell building and the 7 acres it sits on in Eastowne Business Park. It is also purchasing the 6.25 acres west of the building for future expansion. The company will invest about $20 million in building improvements and equipment. The company will eventually employ 50 people.

The City of St. Joseph, Buchanan County, the State of Missouri, the Missouri Partnership, St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce and the Kansas City Area Development Council worked to help this attraction project occur. Buchanan County provided an interest-free, forgivable loan. The City is expected to provide real and personal property tax abatement. KCP&L also assisted with incentives.

“This project would not have been possible without the continued support of the City and County and its partnership with the Chamber to create jobs in St. Joseph,” Mr. Lilly said.

Other states considered for this attraction project were Iowa, Oklahoma and Colorado. Matt Brown, of Brown & Company, represented Schütz in this project.

The Second Harvest Community Food Bank’s 2014 Corporate Food Fight Challenge surpasses its goal by more than 20,000 pounds.

11 area companies competed in the challenge to try and see who could raise the most food in donations and funds for the food bank.

This year’s goal was 60,000 pounds of food, which represented about 46,000 meals for families and individuals in Northwest Missouri served by Second Harvest. Competing companies ended up raising 81,609 pounds of food between food donations and funds. That’s 33-percent more than the agency’s goal.

Companies were divided into categories based on the number of employees at each business. Northwest Financial Service won the Spoon category with one to 25 employees raising 514 pounds of food.

Pepsi Beverage Company raised 3,169 pounds in the Ladle category which included companies with 26 to 100 employees.

The Soup category included companies with 101 to 200 employees and that winner was Apple Market raising 43,739 pounds.

American Family Insurance won the Stock Pot category which included companies with more than 201 employees. American Family raised 21,306 pounds of food.

An awards luncheon for the businesses that participated will take place at 11:30 on November 5, at Luna’s.

The Board of Governors at Missouri Western State University has voted to refund the 1.74 percent increase charged to in-state, main campus undergraduate students this fall.

“When the Board of Governors set tuition earlier this year, they did so with the understanding that in-state tuition would hold steady if additional state appropriations were made available,” said Dr. Cale Fessler, vice president for financial planning and administration. “After the veto session last month, Governor Nixon released higher education funding he had previously restricted, so the Board was able to refund the increase, continuing our commitment to keeping college education affordable.”

At the end of the legislative session this spring, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon instituted spending restrictions of nearly $850 million statewide, pending the results of the legislative veto session. Because of the uncertainty of state appropriations, the Board of Governors approved a tuition increase of 1.74 percent, or $3.35 per credit hour, for in-state undergraduate students and Griffon Rate students attending courses in person on the St. Joseph campus.

After several of Nixon’s tax cut vetoes were upheld last month, the governor released more than $140 million for education in the state, including approximately $650,000 for Missouri Western. The release of those funds allowed the Board of Governors to refund the tuition increase.

The decision will reduce the tuition for an in-state undergraduate student taking 12 credit hours this semester in person on the St. Joseph campus by a total of $40.20. Dr. Fessler said his staff is working now to adjust student accounts and financial aid awards to accommodate this reduction. Students will be able to view adjustments online by the close of business on Oct. 20. If the reduction results in a credit balance, refunds will be issued on Oct. 24.

Tuition for the spring semester will also be billed at the lower rate.

Even before refunding the increase, Missouri Western’s tuition for in-state undergraduate students was the third-lowest among public four-year universities in the state, Dr. Fessler noted.

Only a handful of participants turned out for the latest high school equivalency orientation class held by the St. Joseph Adult Education and Literacy program Tuesday.

“We had a small group, about five is all that showed up today,” said Betty Wymore, AEL director. “We really are needing people to come out.”

The four day orientation began Tuesday at Webster Learning Center.  The required four day sessions was only recently implemented this summer.  Wymore said attendance, punctuality and progress has shown improvement with the new orientation requirement.

“We have had three different groups that have gone through it,” said Wymore. “We’re finding great success with those people.  If they put in that first 40 hours and they work towards their lowest error we’re getting them to progress one whole State level.”

The HSE replaced the GED in the State of Missouri for participants 20-years or older looking to earn their high school equivalency certificate.

“It’s a basic education and it gets you in the doors with employers,” said Wymore. “If you want a job that’s sustainable, able to make a living and have a life that you really want then you need to have an education that gets you into a job that gets you into a career path.”

Wymore said around 300 students graduate with their High School Equivalency certificate from the St. Joseph Adult Education and Literacy program every year.

The length of time it takes to complete a certificate depends on the skill level of the students.

The next enrollment/orientation begin October 21, 22, 23, and 27 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Wymore said she expects to see a larger enrollment during that session because of the evening hours.

For more information contact the St. Joseph Adult Education and Literacy program at (816) 671-4020

An artist will grace Downtown St. Joseph Wednesday morning to bring life to the Allied Arts Council’s third traffic box art installment.

Artist Grace McCammond will be at the corner of 10th and Felix Wednesday, October 8 painting the traffic box. It’s the first themed project selected by the Allied Arts Council with a literacy theme due to the box’s proximity to the Downtown library.

McCammond is from St. Louis, Mo and was selected at the artist by a committee after multiple submissions were reviewed.

She said she created her artwork based around the continuity of literacy through the ages and its connection between past and present.

“The imagery of the open book, parchment, quill and ink, and hurricane lamp interwoven with books on shelves- the bright colors and bold lines linked in a style reminiscent of stained glass- is meant to convey a sense of the past and the present literacy as both a continuum and interconnected. Using St. and Joseph as book titles is a way of grounding that concept to a sense of place and indicating St. Joseph exists as part of and within that continuum of past and present,” said McCammond.

McCammond began in the mid 80’s as a photo retoucher and B/W lab technician, and returned to school in 1993 completing her BA from the University of Montana. In 1997, hoping to pursue art full time she moved in St. Louis, and purchased and rehabbed a building with friends opening Signature Arts. McCammond has a long list of professional artwork ranging from beer labels, several traffic signal boxes, murals and much more.

“Some artists create great art that make people think, make a statement or comments on important issues of the day and I think that is a wonderful use of art. But, for me, I view my work as acting on a much more modest scale… public art becomes part of our daily lives and engages us as we move through our day… public art can be like a friend seen on the street, we may not have time to stop and visit long but we can wave, say hi and move on with a smile. And that’s what I try to do with public artwork that I create,” said McCammond.

The box may still be in progress Thursday and Friday depending on weather, and progress on the piece.

The Board of Governors at Missouri Western State University has reschedule a telephone poll for Wednesday to consider reimbursing a percentage of tuition to undergraduate students for the fall semester.

The board had planned to vote on the issue two weeks ago but that vote was postponed.

Western said the Board of Governors will now be polled at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8 to consider an administration recommendation to refund a 1.74% ($3.35 per credit hour) tuition increase charged to resident undergraduate students this fall.

The Board Secretary will call members individually to record their votes. The polling will take place in Popplewell Hall, room 218. At no time will board members be on the line at the same time, and no discussion among board members will take place. We will issue a press release once enough votes to render a decision are counted.

Below is the recommendation that will be voted on:

The Administration recommends the University’s Board of Governors approve the refunding of the 1.74% ($3.35/cr hr) tuition increase charged to resident undergraduate students in the fall of 2014, and not charge the tuition increase in spring of 2015.

Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 75. Northwest wind 8 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 47. Northwest wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 75. Calm wind becoming east southeast around 6 mph in the afternoon.
Wednesday Night: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 55. East wind around 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Thursday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 69. East northeast wind around 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Thursday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a low around 50. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Friday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 59.
Friday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 44.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 59.
Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 46.
Sunday: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 64. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Sunday Night: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 51. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Columbus Day: A chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 68. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

The bridge on Route 13 over Log Creek, just south of Kingston, is now closed, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation. The bridge was closed following a regularly scheduled inspection that revealed critical deterioration to the structure. The closure is anticipated to last at least two weeks. The bridge will reopen once temporary support structures are built and inspectors determine the bridge is safe for motorists. A detour is in place over Routes HH, D and 116.

“The safety of the traveling public and our workers remains our number one priority at MoDOT,” said Northwest District Engineer Don Wichern. “The closure of the bridge while the temporary supports are installed, ensures that motorists are not at risk.”

The Log Creek Bridge was built in 1930 and carries approximately 2,500 vehicles a day. The bridge is currently scheduled to be replaced in 2017. All bridges throughout the United States are federally required to be inspected at least every two years. MoDOT’s Northwest District has more than 1,300 bridges among its 20 counties.

Gov. Jay Nixon joined legislative leaders and Boeing officials today to announce the creation of up to 700 jobs in St. Louis to build parts for the 777X, Boeing’s next generation commercial aircraft. Today’s announcement marks the first time Boeing has brought commercial aircraft production to St. Louis and strengthens the State of Missouri’s long-standing partnership with Boeing to position its St. Louis operations to compete for future commercial and defense opportunities.

“Boeing’s decision to in-source commercial work to St. Louis for the very first time marks a historic moment and a huge win for Missouri, for Boeing’s workers, and for Boeing’s more than 600 suppliers and vendors around the state,” Gov. Nixon said. “Thanks to our highly-skilled workforce and the bi-partisan work of the General Assembly during last year’s special session, Missouri is ready to compete for new commercial and defense opportunities like the 777X today and in the years to come.”

Boeing plans to create 700 jobs in St. Louis to produce parts for the 777X, work that is currently being outsourced or performed overseas. To accommodate this production work, Boeing will expand its current St. Louis composites facility and begin producing parts for the 777X program in 2017. Boeing’s St. Louis campus has traditionally manufactured military, rather than commercial, aircraft. As a result, bringing on production for the 777X will not only create jobs and investment, it will also diversify Boeing’s St. Louis campus and better position Missouri to compete for additional defense and commercial projects in the future.

In addition, the State of Missouri and Boeing are strengthening their long-standing partnership to position St. Louis to compete for new commercial and defense work, create new jobs and ensure workers have the skills necessary for next-generation aerospace manufacturing.

“As a result of our partnership with the State of Missouri, the St. Louis site is well-positioned to compete for new business and job opportunities,” said Chris Chadwick, President and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security. “As we move forward, the additional 777X and F-22 work coming to St. Louis allows us to build on our 75-year legacy of success and create the right environment for potential long-term growth.”

The 777X jobs announced today and this long-term commitment to St. Louis by Boeing is a direct result of the bipartisan legislation passed during last year’s special session. Gov. Nixon called a special session of the General Assembly to pass legislation that would allow Missouri to compete for work on the commercial aircraft. Competing for a project of this magnitude brought together a broad coalition of stakeholders from government, education, labor and business.

With today’s announcement of new 777X jobs, over the past eighteen months Boeing has announced plans to bring up to 2,000 new jobs to Missouri. Last year, Boeing announced the creation of an information technology center, resulting in at least 400 new information technology jobs. Boeing also announced that it would bring up to 400 research and technology jobs to St. Louis. Last week, Boeing revealed plans to bring an additional 500 jobs to St. Louis for service and support of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor aircraft.

Boeing, Missouri’s largest manufacturer, is among the largest global aircraft manufacturers and the second-largest aerospace and defense contractor in the world. Home to Boeing Defense, Space & Security division, St. Louis County campus produces military aircraft and weapons systems, employs more than 14,500 workers in the area, and is supported by more than 600 suppliers and vendors throughout the state.