St. Joseph Police are urging people to use caution when driving Monday morning as there have been reports of black ice in the area.
According to Sgt. Brett Kelley with the police department, there have been several reports of cars sliding off the road including Mason Road, Stockyards Expressway and I-229.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) – Authorities have identified a man found shot to death in a pickup truck before a high-speed chase that ended with a police officer shooting and wounding a suspect.
Police said Sunday that the victim was 56-year-old Gerald Walsh, of Kansas City, Kansas, who died early Thursday. Several hours later, police arrested 28-year-old Jeremy Comstock after a chase that started near Smithville, Missouri. It ended with Comstock’s vehicle spinning out of control on Interstate 35 in northern Kansas City, Missouri.
Police say officer then shot Comstock, but his injuries are not life-threatening. Comstock is charged with first-degree murder and three counts of kidnapping. His bond has been set at $250,000.
A woman who was in Comstock’s van surrendered.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Missouri are honoring former Gov. Jay Nixon with an official portrait at the Capitol.
The News Tribune reports that Nixon was at the state Senate Lounge on Thursday as bipartisan lawmakers first presented his portrait to the public.
Lawmakers say Nixon’s efforts positively impacted parks, factories and schools. They also say he and his wife traveled across Missouri to get to know the state’s residents.
Nixon identifies as a Democrat but says he never used the terms “Democrat or Republican” while governor.
The former governor says his current role is to “help advise when asked and to support the folks who now hold the responsibilities I once had.”
He served as governor from 2009 to 2017 and in statewide elected office for about 24 years.
MARYVILLE, Mo. – A Northwest Missouri State University student died early Sunday as a result of injuries suffered after a vehicle crashed into a Maryville bar.
According to a news release from Northwest, Morgan McCoy, a sophomore elementary education major from Liberty, Missouri, died as a result of injuries she suffered when a vehicle crashed into The Palms at 422 N. Buchanan, around 12:40 a.m. McCoy, who was inside the building, was transported to St. Francis Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The driver of the vehicle was taken into custody, and the incident is under investigation by the Maryville Public Safety and the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Maryville Fire and Rescue, the Nodaway County Sheriff’s Department and the University Police Department assisted at the scene.
McCoy was a member of the Sigma Kappa sorority, and she was a student employee with the School of Education in Everett Brown Hall.
The St. Joseph Museums and Friends of the Rolling Hills Library are teaming up to offer a trip in March to explore the arts in the Ozarks.
The first stop will be Sandstone Gardens in Joplin for shopping and dining. The majority of the trip will be spent in Bentonville, Arkansas, where travelers will stay at the 21c Museum Hotel. Kathy Reno with the St. Joseph Museums said the hotel is one of only a few like it in the country.
“It’s an art museum of contemporary art with a hotel, with a chef,” Reno said. “It is beyond beautiful and the art constantly rotates.”
The trip also includes dining at The Preacher’s Son, seeing the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and touring a Frank Lloyd Wright home.
“Crystal Bridges Museum of Art was designed by the same man that designed the Center for Performing Arts in Kansas City,” Reno said. “He’s created a unique pavilion that surrounds a huge body of water and it’s in tune with its environment. What I fell in love with the first time was the nature trails. So even if… you don’t think you’re an art person, it’s not just about art, it’s charming if you are a nature person, if you’re an architecture person.”
The Arts in the Ozarks trip will leave at 8 a.m. on March 15th, from the St. Joseph Museums and will return to St. Joseph at 9 p.m. on March 16th.
The trip includes meals, transportation and accommodations. For more information and pricing, click here, call (816) 232-8471 ext. 13 or kathy@stjosephmuseum.org.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) – Police in southwest Missouri have identified a man killed by officers during a confrontation.
Springfield police say in a written statement that 46-year-old William Oleson, of Springfield, died after being shot by an officer responding to a report of a break-in.
Police say the shooting happened Friday afternoon as an officer responded to the report of two armed people trying to break into a shed. Police say the officer saw a man later identified as Oleson in the front of the home and chased him to the backyard. Police say the officer shot Oleson after he displayed a handgun. The officer was not hurt.
Oleson was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he died.
Police have not released the name of the officer who shot Oleson.
SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating the events surrounding a 16-hour standoff at a Topeka townhouse.
On Friday, Police Lt. Colleen Stuart confirmed the identity of one of two people found dead inside the residence as 33-year-old Juan Lucio of Topeka. Police have not yet released the name of the woman found dead.
Lucio barricaded himself inside the home and fired at first responders throughout the standoff, which began about 10 p.m. Thursday. The standoff ended around 1:30 p.m. Friday. No officers were injured.
Officers found the bodies when they entered the home after firing tear gas inside.
Police rescued another woman spotted waving at officers from a second floor window.
Officers fired no shots during the standoff, according to Stuart.
Lucio had previous convictions for drugs, aggravated assault on law enforcement, aggravated robbery and obstruction, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.
A Craig man was seriously injured in a crash Friday near Mound City.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, at 3:15 p.m. Friday, 60-year-old Dennis R. MacCarthy was driving a 1991 Chevrolet 2500 west on State Route C about five miles north of Mound City when his vehicle went off the north side of the road. The vehicle traveled down an embankment, overturned and came to rest on the passenger’s side in a creek bed. MacCarthy was taken by ambulance to Mosaic Life Care in St. Joseph for treatment of serious injuries.
According to the crash report, he was not wearing a seat belt.
A proposal for temporary gates in the area of Felix Street Square was brought before the St. Joseph City Council.
St. Joseph Mayor Bill Falkner said the proposal is by a group of downtown business and property owners and citizens who are wanting the gates as a safety precaution.
Falkner said the four gates would be a way to close off the streets from traffic around Coleman Hawkins Park during events.
“I think in the long run, what we’re trying to do downtown and bring in the music festivals that they bring in, it’s getting larger and larger,” Falkner said. “So we’ve got to have a way to protect the people that are down there because it spills out into the streets and when you’re walking from the businesses or walking just around, sometimes you don’t pay attention to the streets when there’s so many people there.”
Falkner says funding for the gates would be through a hotel motel tax coming from the portion from the downtown motel.
According to City Manager Bruce Woody, the estimated cost of the project is around $200,000.
The first reading of the proposal took place at the city council meeting January 2nd. The vote to approve funding will take place at the next meeting.
BRANSON, Mo. (AP) – Prosecutors say two southwest Missouri men pleaded guilty to animal abuse after dragging a cat behind a vehicle and then posting the act on Facebook.
Eighteen-year-old Kyle Williams and 19-year-old Jordan Hall, both of Branson, pleaded guilty Friday to felony animal abuse. Williams also pleaded guilty to armed criminal action but that charge was dropped against Hall.
Taney County prosecutors say the crimes were recorded around June 1, 2017. The kitten was not dead after it was dragged, so Williams killed it.
Prosecutors say Williams posted the cat’s death on Facebook in an effort to get his audience to buy him pizza.
Williams remains in custody pending sentencing, while Hall is free on bond.
