ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Weather permitting, a resurfacing project on Interstate 29 in Andrew and Buchanan counties is set to restart Sunday evening, May 15, 2016.

Crews from Herzog Contracting Corporation, working with the Missouri Department of Transportation, will begin work to resurface the southbound lanes. All work is planned for Sunday through Thursday nights between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., after peak travel times. Work may also be conducted on Saturday nights, if needed.

The project will resurface I-29 from Business U.S. Route 71 north of St. Joseph to 1.5 miles south of Route O, near Pigeon Creek. One lane will remain open throughout the project.

The on and off ramps will also be resurfaced, which may require closing the ramps to ensure the safety of both motorists and workers. If a ramp closure is planned, advance notice will be provided.

The contractor anticipates that all paving will be completed by July 4, 2016. Then crews will work on striping and guardrail, hoping to be fully completed by mid-August. If delays arise, notice will be given.

All work is weather permitting and schedules are subject to change. Motorists should be alert and follow all construction signs and message boards. MoDOT encourages all motorists to slow down, buckle up, eliminate distractions and drive safely through work zones to ensure everyone is able to Arrive Alive.

The Brown County Sheriff’s Department has arrested a man wanted by police in Leavenworth in connection with two pipe bombings.

The sheriff’s dept. said Simon Pohl, 32 of St. Joseph was located by a deputy on patrol Thursday around 10:45 p.m.

“He noticed the vehicle had turned its lights out on the roadway,” said Sheriff John Merchant. “Stopped the vehicle and ran that tag which came back stolen.”

Merchant said both the VIN and the license plate had been reported stolen out of Leavenworth and were unrelated to each other.

As we previously reported, Pohl was wanted out of Leavenworth. Police said one resident said his truck was destroyed May 3 by a pipe bomb loaded with nuts, washers and bolts. Another lost his vehicle to fire on April 18. The police in Leavenworth said they do not believe the vehicles were chosen randomly, but were targeted.

Sheriff Merchant said when the deputy made contact with the male driver and female occupant Thursday night, both gave false names.

Pohl was arrested on charges of Possession of Stolen Property X 2 and Felony Obstruction.  He also had felony warrants out of Leavenworth County for Possession of Meth and Criminal Use of Explosives–each Warrant was for $100,000.

Jessica Mottin, 27 of Atchison was arrested on charges of Possession of Stolen Property X 2, Felony Obstruction, Possession of Meth, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Traffic Contraband into a Correctional Facility. Motin also had a $2,500 Warrant out of Shawnee County for Trafficking Contraband in to a Correctional Facility.

The investigation continues.

School nurses are being recognized for their work in the St. Joseph School District as part of National School Nurse Day.

Nurse Coordinator, Maria Burnham said this year nurses with the district saw 150,853 students come through their clinics and were able to send most of them back to class.

“That’s the ability of these nurses to assess the situation, see what’s going on with the kids, evaluate, talk to parents, talk to physicians if needed,” Burnham said. “Really we’ve only sent home a little over 6,000 kids which means we’re keeping a big percentage of kids in school ready to learn.”

She said kids come in to see a nurse for many different reasons.

“They may be coming in for their medicine, they may be coming in for a playground injury, we have about 30 diabetics so students may be coming in to check their blood sugar to plan their lunch,” Burnham said. “We have a lot of needs in the buildings.”

Currently every school has a nurse in the building, Central High School has two which Burnham said is due to the school’s large population.

“For a lot of our kiddos they are the actual first health professional that they will see,” Burnham said. “A lot of our kids will wait all weekend and then they’ll go see the nurse for a situation. So it’s our job to keep them healthy and keep them ready to learn.”

This year nurses have also screened more than 5,000 kids for vision and hearing and nearly 5,000 kids for dental.

“We do a lot of screenings,” Burnham said. “We check immunization status of all of our kiddos.”

Wednesday is National School Nurse Day, Burnham said due to the end of the school year on Thursday many nurses were honored last week.

“Normally nurse week kind of coincides with staff appreciation week. That was last week. So a lot of our nurses got honored by their buildings last week along with their other staff members,” Burnham said. “I will honor them, we will get together Friday for our end of the year staff meeting.”

The man accused of shooting and killing a Kansas City, Kan. detective earlier this week is facing nine counts including capital murder.

Wyandotte County District Attorney Jerome Gorman announced Wednesday morning that 28-year-old Curtis Ayers of Tonganoxie has been charged in connection with the May 9, shooting death of KCK Police Det. Brad Lancaster.

Lancaster had ties to St. Joseph. As we previously reported, he graduated from the law enforcement academy at Missouri Western State University in 1998 then went to work at the Platte County Sheriff’s Office and then later went to KCKPD.

Ayers is charged with capital murder, two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of aggravated burglary, aggravated battery, two counts of kidnapping, and criminal possession of a firearm.

Ayers is currently in custody in Jackson County, Mo.

Police said Lancaster died at a hospital Monday about three hours after being shot near a racetrack in Kansas City, Kansas.

Detective Brad Lancaster who was shot and killed Monday in Kansas City, Kan. got his start in law enforcement in St. Joseph.

Buchanan County Undersheriff Col. Bill Puett said the 39-year-old graduated from the law enforcement academy at Missouri Western State University in 1998.

“He went through the academy, did an outstanding job, then went to the Platte County Sheriff’s Office and then later went to Kansas City Kansas Police Department,” Puett said.  “That’s how I originally met Brad was by teaching him in the academy.”

Puett said several individuals that work in local law enforcement positions were classmates with Lancaster.

Police said Lancaster died at a hospital Monday about three hours after being shot near a racetrack in Kansas City, Kansas.

A suspect, 28-year-old Curtis Ayers, has been arrested. Ayers was shot by police during an attempted carjacking. He is in stable condition Tuesday at a hospital.

Ayers was charged Tuesday in Jackson County in connection with shooting a woman during an attempted carjacking in south Kansas City. He is charged with first-degree assault, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon, resisting arrest and three counts of armed criminal action.

According to court records, Kansas City police were dispatched to the area of Bannister Road and Highway 71 on a vehicle that matched the description of a suspect vehicle involved in the shooting of a police officer in Kansas City, Kan. According to victims and witnesses there, Ayers fled that vehicle on foot and displayed a long gun. He confronted a woman travelling in her vehicle on Highway 71. He pointed a gun at her and told her to get out of her car. He shot two rounds at her vehicle.

The woman who was wounded was reported to have suffered non-life threatening injuries.

Prosecutors have requested Ayers be held on $250,000 cash bond.

The Fraternal Order of Police said a candlelight vigil in Lancaster’s memory is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall in Kansas City, Kansas.

(POST and AP Contributions)