A woman has been arrested in Atchison Kan. after a shooting sent a man to the hospital early Sunday morning.

Atchison County Sheriff Jack Laurie said deputies responded around 2:30 a.m. to a shooting at 3997 206th Road in rural Atchison County near Valley Falls.

“The reporting person had advised that the victim of the gunshot wound had left the scene in a vehicle,” Sheriff Laurie said in a news release. “Deputies located the vehicle at Hwy 116 and Cheyenne Road.”

There they found 30-year-old Bradley Schlicker with a gunshot wound to his chest. Schlicker was flown by Lifenet to Saint Lukes Hospital in Kansas City. Also in the vehicle when deputies arrived was 35-year-old Nicole Fox. Laurie said Schlicker and Fox have been living in the home for the last few months where the altercation took place and that Fox is believed to be the alleged shooter.

Fox was reported to be cooperative with law enforcement officials and was taken into custody for criminal possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of methamphetamine, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Fox was released to the Atchison County Jail.

Sunday afternoon Schlicker was listed in serious condition however, Laurie said Monday that his condition seems to be improving.

The shooting remains under investigation.

Buchanan County EMS broke ground Monday morning on the future home for its new headquarters.

“It’s for our new EMS facility for housing our ambulances, and our staff, educational space, administrative space, dispatch,” said Wally Patrick, EMS Dir.

Around 40 people were in attendances Monday morning for the ground breaking on the new facility that will be located at 5010 Frederick Ave. directly across from Meierhoffer Funeral Home.

“We needed something that was out on the east edge of town due to our population and growth in St. Joseph,” Patrick said. “We also needed access to the major thoroughfares such as 29 Highway and 36.”

Patrick said the facility will cost around $1.6 million and is estimated to be complete sometime in the beginning part of 2017.

“It started several years ago with the formation of (REMSA) Regional Emergency Medical Services Authority, when it split from Heartland/Mosaic,” Patrick said. “When this went out to the public voters as an initiative so we could have county based EMS services at that time Mosaic let it be known that the facility where the ambulances were currently housed and the administrative staff for the ambulances were currently housed would be on their plan for demolition in the near future.”

The new facility will have space to house ambulances when not in service, a dispatch center, a FEMA storm shelter, crew quarters and an educational room.

Racial disparity data for 2015 released Wednesday by the Missouri Attorney General shows a decrease in the disparity index for African-American drivers across the state, St. Joseph also saw a decrease in its rate.

The St. Joseph Police Department recorded 13,323 stops in 2015.  11,370 were listed as White, 1232 Black, 544 Hispanic, 81 Asian, 12 American Indian, and 84 were others.  Even though the department stopped more White drivers than Black drivers the disparity rate (1.58/.98) shows Black drivers were 61 percent more likely to be stopped.  That’s down from 73 percent in 2014.  Police Chief Chris Connally said in order to get a disparity index the stops are compared to the 2010 Census population for St. Joseph.

“You’ve got the Census data.  What this does not show us, it doesn’t show us repeat offenders, people we pull over numerous time during the year, it doesn’t show us people that are from other communities whether they come up from Kansas City or out in the county that travel through that get pulled over and it’s not compared to folks that are from outside the area that live on campus at Missouri Western,” Connally said. “Those are some of the areas when you look at these statistics they’re not 100 percent accurate.  But what it does do is it provides a baseline, a consistent baseline over the years to look at so you can make sure you’re addressing any potential issues.”

Connally said the data is used by the St. Joseph Police Department for training on implicit and explicit biases.

“Implicit biases are those biases that are subconscious and if you train and look at things you want to make sure that decisions are being made for the right reasons.  Our mission is to enforce the law and enforce the law based on behavior not based on any biases,” Connally said. “If we’re doing things based on behavior you’re going to see some groups go up and you’re going to see some groups go down.  Where I pay the most attention to are those areas where we have discretionary decision making.”

The annual report is completed pursuant to a state law requiring each law enforcement agency in the state to collect and report specific information relating to vehicle stops, including the race of the stopped vehicle’s driver.

“While statistical disproportion does not prove that law enforcement officers are making vehicle stops based on the perceived race or ethnicity of the driver,” said Attorney General Chris Koster in a news release, “this compilation and analysis of data provides law enforcement, legislators, and the public a starting point as they consider improvements to process and changes to policy to address these issues.”

To view the full 2015 report CLICK HERE.

The results of a Missouri State Highway Patrol enforcement operation over the Memorial Day weekend have been released showing 158 tickets issued by Troop H.

The project encompassed two days–May 27, 2016, and May 30, 2016–designated as the peak travel days for the holiday period. Interstate 29 was the roadway designated for this project and troopers were assigned a 20-mile stretch of the interstate from the Buchanan County line to the Iowa state line.  Troopers also were assigned to saturate high crash locations on U.S. highways within Troop H.  In addition to the citations issued officers also gave 219 warnings.  They made one arrest for driving while intoxicated and one felony drug arrest.

“Troopers were out in force over the Memorial Day weekend and their vigorous enforcement efforts along with increased visibility helped keep Missouri motorists safe while traveling through Troop H,” said Capt. James McDonald, commanding officer Troop H, St. Joseph.

A St. Joseph man has been charged after a more than 5-hour long standoff Monday night.

Dustin Ray Dean Venneman, 20 is charged in Buchanan County with a felony for resisting an arrest.

According to court documents, Monday officers with the St. Joseph Police Department were dispatched to the area of 6500 Lake Ave in reference to a subject in a Toyota speeding in the area and displaying a firearm.

“The officer determined the vehicle had been reported stolen. The vehicle fled the area in a careless manner. A short time later, the officer observed the defendant on foot in the area of 200 W. Valley,” said Det. Chase Cotter with the St. Joseph Police Department in court documents. “The subject ran after observing the marked police car and uniformed officer, who chased him on foot and gave verbal commands to stop.”

Venneman is then accused of running into a detached garage on West Hyde Park Ave.

“The defendant refused to exit the garage for approx. 5 hours, requiring the utilization of the Special Reponse Team, additional police officers and resources,” Cotter said.

Police said Venneman had an active felony warrant for stealing a different vehicle at the time of his arrest and at least 10 prior arrests for failure to appear in court.

“He is a suspect in another recent stolen auto and robbery case. He has prior convictions for stealing of a motor vehicle, domestic assault and non support,” Cotter said. “The defendant wasted approx. 100 hours of police manpower to attempt to avoid being arrested.”

Venneman is being held on $20,000 cash only bail.  An arraignment is set for June 3.

(News release) – On Friday, May 27, 2016 the Nodaway County Sheriff’s Office arrested Calvin Cowan of Elmo, MO. Mr. Cowan has been charged with Child Molestation 1st Degree, Statutory Sodomy 1st Degree and Statutory Rape 2nd Degree. An investigation by the Sheriff’s Office has at this time identified two victims both of whom either are or were minors at the time of the alleged crime. Mr. Cowan is currently being held in the Nodaway County Jail and bond has been set at $250,000.00

Registration will begin mid-June for the first ever Royal Contest this year as part of the Southside Fall Festival.

Della Spain is the SSFF Royalty Contest Co-Chair.  She said registration for the new event will take place June 15th through July 25th.  The event is free and kids ages 5-16 can participate.

“That way we can see how many contestants we have and get everything together,” Spain said. “It’s not a beauty pageant but it’s going to be held like one.”

The contest will be divided into three age groups; Mini Mr. & Miss SSFF, Little Mr. & Miss SSFF, and Mr. & Miss SSFF.  The contest will be held Sept. 10 at the Historic Green Acres Banquet Hall.

“We want to keep it free because our parade and festival has always been free,” Spain said. “There will be winners in subcategories but there will also be overall winners and they will be introduced in the opening ceremonies on Friday night at the festival and they will also ride in the royalty float.”

She said registration forms will be able to be picked up at four locations:

KING HILL PIZZA HUT- 6942 KING HILL AVE

IMAGE SALON AND DAY SPA- 1504 N 36TH STREET

LATONYA WILLIAMS PHOTOGRAPHY -620 FRANCIS SUITE 214

CARNEGIE LIBRARY- 316 MASSACHUSETTS

Or they can request one from the South Side Fall Festival Royalty Contest’s Facebook page.