Classes for the St. Joseph School District have been canceled for Friday, March 3, 2017 due to a boil advisory impacting a large area of the city.

The boil advisory went into effect Thursday following a water main break. It is unclear when the advisory will be lifted.

Because the advisory area impacts more than half of the schools in the district, the district said it is unable to supply enough drinking water to each building in a timely manner. The advisory could also impact food services in buildings. 

“We decided it would be in the best interest and for the safety of our students to cancel classes for the day,” said Dr. Robert Newhart, Superintendent. “All twelve month employees should report as scheduled.”

The St. Joseph Police Department is trying to increase awareness of neighborhood watch groups and said participation is up.

Sgt Roy Hoskins took over the Crime Prevention Unit in January.  He said he has tried to increase the number of people involved in neighborhood watch groups and has already seen a positive response.

“We’re slowly increasing the numbers of how many we have and the attendance in just the past two months,” Hoskins said. “Safety is not always crime numbers, it’s a perception of safety. If people feel like they have a strong sense of community and they’re actively participating in crime prevention with the police it makes you feel safer.”

The department is also trying to increase the number of groups in St. Joseph.

“We have nine active groups right now and we have several that have become inactive over time,” Hoskins said. “I actually have one on Wilshire Drive that we’re getting ready to start up for the first time so they’ll have a brand new group which will put us up to 10.”

Hoskins said over the past several months the department has increased awareness of groups by using social media, Nixle Alerts, and  NextDoor, a private social media network for neighborhoods.

“I post for the neighborhood watch groups, I post where they’re having them and the time. Then the next day I post a follow up,” Hoskins said. “I get a lot more responses on the social media sites asking about things.”

With the weather warming up Hoskins said he expects attendance to increase even more.  He said there are many reasons to take part in a watch group.

“So they can learn who their neighbors are and if they have any concerns about thefts or prowlers or anything like that that they can share with each other.  It’s also a way to get information directly to me,” Hoskins said. “It’s not only an exchange of information between the residents in the neighborhood but also a direct link to me and the police department.”

He said anyone interested in getting involved in a watch group can contact him directly, (816) 236-1473.

Several northeast Kansas community members have rallied behind an idea inspired by a Doniphan West fourth-grader to give students a place to shop for items they may need.

“There’s another student in school and I saw she had really ripped up clothes and it was a spirit week.  It was a pajama day actually, and her nightgown was really ripped up,” said Noah Denton, a fourth-grader at D-West. “I just felt so bad for her and I thought, ‘I know I can do something about this, or try.’  So I went home and I asked my mom if I could write something down on paper and she said, ‘Yeah, you can try.’  So I wrote something down on paper and I presented it to PTO.”

Denton said his idea was a clothing closet for any student to use.

“If they don’t have any clothes or if their clothes are dirty or something, the teachers wash the clothes sometimes, but they can get new clothes.  They can check them out for the day and return them or they can take them,” Denton said. “It makes me feel really good, I’m glad I get to help all the kids that need it.”

Crystal Tracy said she jumped on board to help organize the project.

“Once this idea was brought up, the fourth-grade class wanted to do something with it right then but of course it takes a little bit of time to get things built up and get things started and that’s how Tiffany Rhodd and myself got involved,” Tracy said. “The teachers and staff reached out they wanted somebody to kind of be in charge and get the project going.  What we did was we sent out flyers and put stuff in the paper.”

Tracy said the closet is being used daily by D-West students.

“For example, if they’ve left a coat at home they are more then welcome to come check out a coat from the closet.  On the flip-side of that they are more than welcome to keep the coat forever.  So if a child doesn’t have a warm winter coat and they need that coat they can keep it,” Tracy said.

She said they set up different drop off locations and community members responded donating numerous items.

“We have all different ages using it because Doniphan West has preschool through sixth-grade at the elementary school so we’re accepting all sizes of clothing from preschool on up,” Tracy said. “We’re having to get more specific items.”

Tracy said right now there’s a need for socks, hygiene items and shoes.

“It’s not just for kids that necessarily need that item, it’s for kids that want to come in and maybe want a Doniphan West shirt to wear for the next day.  Maybe it’s a Spirit Day and they would like a Doniphan West shirt,” Tracy said. “We have people that have volunteered graciously to wash all of the items and bring them to the school.”

She said the kids in the fourth-grade fold the clothes, hang them and keep track of what’s being taken out and brought in.

“It’s really a great tool for the fourth-graders to learn how to run a small business,” Tracy said.

Since the cold weather is nearing an end the closet is asking for dress-up items for Easter like dresses, ties etc., summer wear, shoes size four and up, socks, and personal hygiene items.  She said donations can be sent to school with the children or dropped off at the school. Casey’s in Highland and the Walter Wellness Center are also listed as drop-off locations.

 

More women then previous years are dealing drugs in Buchanan County according to the Drug Strike Force.

Capt. Shawn Collie, Drug Strike Force Unit Commander said over the past several years officers have seen an uptick in the number of women involved in drug cases.

“When you look at the last few major investigations that we’ve done, there has been more females involved in the actual distribution of illegal narcotics. When you look at the round-ups we’ve done you’ll see there’s more women were actually involved with the arrest warrants,” Collie said. “Even the increase in the drug use in females from our standpoints has kind of been an increase over the last few years.”

In the latest Strike Force Operation, Collie said seven out of a total of 12 people arrested on warrants in a drug round-up were women. In a round-up in Oct., 2016 Collie said nine out of 24 people arrested on warrants were females.

“Everybody always has theories on the difference on why this is going up or why it’s not.  It seems like today’s society that’s just something that’s happening now. Whether it’s because of the social impact on a bad economy or jobs not being readily available, who knows,” Collie said. “When you’re looking at the case you may be looking at a single mother with kids or somebody who is a family person with children.  Even as a person that hits home to you; that it’s gotten so bad.”

Collie said the increase in female involvement in crime isn’t just being seen in drug use.

“A lot of the crimes we’re seeing more females involved. Whether it’s as an active participant or… whether their role is maybe driving a vehicle, or involving some type of information that may lead to the crime, knowing the victim or having some type of association to the victim,” Collie said. “Even when you look at some of our more violent crimes we’ve had in Buchanan County over the past year or so we’ve seen females directly involved in those crimes.

The number of females incarcerated in the Buchanan County Jail has seen an increase over the past three years.

In 2014 there were a total of 993 women, in 2015 that number increased to 1,029.  Buchanan County Sheriff Bill Puett said in 2016 a total of 1,202 females were booked in the Buchanan County Jail.  Puett said, sometimes when the jail sees an increase in the number of female inmates they may have to reorganize the inmate population to make room.  He said that could mean doubling or tripling female inmates to a room or if the jail has fewer male inmates reallocating the space to fit the population needs.

While the number of females allegedly involved in drug crimes is increasing, Collie said there doesn’t appear to be a specific age or area of town impacted more.

“This last round-up was a pretty good example.  We had females from their early 20s up to their late 40s or 50s….  With the drug problem that we’re seeing it’s that drugs have no boundaries,” Collie said. “As far as how much money they have or what part of town they live in we’ve worked cases in all parts of town.  Whether it’s the part that would be considered the wealthy part of town or the poor part of town.”

 

 

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The following is a listing of general highway maintenance and construction work in the Northwest Missouri region planned for the week of Feb. 20 – 26 from the Missouri Department of Transportation. In addition to the work listed below, there may be pothole patching, bridge maintenance, striping, brush cutting, guardrail repairs and other road work conducted throughout the region. Many of these will be moving operations and could include lane closures with delays. With the possibility of winter weather, scheduled maintenance and construction projects may be postponed.

 

Atchison County

Route B – Pothole patching, Feb. 21 – 22

Route KK – Pothole patching, Feb. 23

Route Z – Pothole patching, Feb. 24

Buchanan County

Route 6 – Pothole patching, Feb. 21 – 24

Route 116 – From Route M to Route V for sealing, Feb. 21 – 24

Caldwell County

U.S. Route 36 – CLOSED at the Route 13 overpass for bridge maintenance, Feb. 21 – 24, 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. Traffic will be directed up and over the ramps at Hamilton during the closure.

Carroll County

Route D – From U.S. Route 36 (Livingston County) to Route C for pothole patching, Feb. 23 – 24

Clinton County

Route 33 – From Isley Drive to SE 209^th Street for drainage work, Feb. 21 – 24

DeKalb County

Route J – CLOSED from U.S. Route 36 to Route 6 for a culvert replacements, Feb. 21 – 24, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily

Route A – For sealing, Feb. 22 – 24

Gentry County

Route H – From Route Z to Route V for drainage work, Feb. 21

U.S. Route 136 – From Route W to the Nodaway County line for pothole patching, Feb. 21 – 24

Grundy County

U.S. Route 65 – North of the city limits of Trenton for drainage work, Feb. 21 – 24

Route WW – CLOSED from Route 6 to SW 62^nd Avenue for a culvert replacement, Feb. 21, 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Route WW – CLOSED from SW 62^nd Avenue to SW 58^th Avenue for a culvert replacement, Feb. 22, 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Route WW – CLOSED from Route W to SW 58^th Avenue for a culvert replacement, Feb. 23, 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Harrison County

U.S. Route 136 – At the I-35 overpass for maintenance, Feb. 22 – 23

Route DD – CLOSED from Route T to 270^th Avenue for a culvert replacement, Feb. 22 – 23, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

Interstate 35 – Northbound from mile marker 97 to Route A near mile marker 99 for sealing, Feb. 23 – 24

Route DD – CLOSED from 280^th Street to East 290^th Avenue for a culvert replacement, Feb. 24, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Holt County

U.S. Route 59 – From the city limits of Mound City to the city limits of Oregon for shoulder work and pothole patching, Feb. 21 – 24

Linn County

Route DD – For culvert repair, Feb. 22

Livingston County

U.S. Route 65 – From the Carroll County line to the Grundy County line for pothole patching, Feb. 21 – 22

Route D – From U.S. Route 36 to Route C (Carroll County) for pothole patching, Feb. 23 – 24

Mercer County

Route P – CLOSED at the Brushy Creek Bridge for a bridge replacement. The road will be closed through February 2017.

U.S. Routes 65 and 136 – For shoulder work, Feb. 21 – 24

Nodaway County

U.S. Route 71 – Pothole patching, Feb. 21 – 24

Putnam County

Route 149 – CLOSED from Route AA to 245^th Street for a culvert replacement, Feb. 22 – 23, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

Route 149 – CLOSED from 245^th Street to Route O for a culvert replacement, Feb. 24, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.