Haunted season in Atchison begins this weekend.

President of the Atchison Area Chamber of Commerce Jacque Pregont said the city acquired the title, ‘haunted season,’ from authors of books on haunted topics, saying Atchison is the most haunted town in Kansas. Pregont said there are many activities planned each year for haunted season.

“We do fun things like haunted trolley tours, we do Ghost Hunting 101, we do history mystery tours, we do murder mystery dinners, we do paranormal investigations… we do cemetery walking tours, Meal with a Medium, there’s just so much stuff that we do every year,” Pregont said.

There are a few new things added to the schedule this year including the Traveling Museum of the Paranormal and performances by magician and illusionist Aiden Sinclair.

Pregont suggests that if you’re new to haunted season, the haunted trolley tours are a good place to start. Trolley tours start running on Saturday, Sept. 1.

“Come and have a fun weekend ghost hunting or ghost learning or whatever it is you want to do,” Pregont said.

For more information and tickets for events click here.

 

An upcoming event in Maryville with “heart and sole” will benefit the American Heart Association and raise awareness of heart health.

Rita Miller is the Community Relations and Development Manager at SSM Health St. Francis Hospital in Maryville. Miller is part of organizing the 7th Annual Heart and Sole 5K and said the event started as a way to honor the memory of two community members.

“Scott Bostwick was one of the football coaches out at Northwest. He had just been promoted to the head coach position when he had a significant heart event. Dale Kisker was a teacher and a coach at Maryville High School and, he too, had a heart attack and passed away,” Miller said. “It really got people involved in thinking about their heart health more and, ever since those two passed, we have decided to make our own local heart walk. The American Heart Association has some big events throughout the country, but we wanted to keep this one local because we wanted to identify with the local victims and survivors of heart disease.”

The 5K also serves as an event to raise awareness of heart attack and stroke, and encourage healthy eating and physical activity to improve heart health.

Miller said, like the rest of the country, Nodaway County has a significant mortality rate due to heart disease with it ranking number one as a cause of death in the county.

SSM Health St. Francis Hospital has been holding Second Saturday Screenings as part of the Maryville Farmers Market.

“We decided to have our heart walk be part of our Second Saturday screenings,” Miller said. “We do blood pressure screenings, we’ve done cholesterol checks, we’ve taught people how to do hands-only CPR and this works right into that goal of raising awareness of heart disease and what people can do to improve their heart health.”

Registration forms for the Heart and Sole 5K are available at the front desk at SSM Health St. Francis Hospital in Maryville or click here. Registration will also be available the day of the race starting at 7 a.m. The walk begins at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 8th at the Farmers Market at 4th and Buchanan Streets in Maryville.

For more information, contact the Community Relations and Development office at (660) 562-7933.

An event on Friday is being put on to raise awareness of overdose deaths in the St. Joseph community.

International Overdose Awareness Day is a global event held on August 31st each year.

According to the City of St. Joseph Health Department, in recent months, representatives from a broad range of businesses, agencies, and organizations have been working together to create better ways the community can serve anyone struggling with addiction. The group, informally referred to as the “opioid task force,” is gathering data sets, pooling resources, planning outreach activities for the public and in youth settings, and sharing information in order to build capacity.

The task force has planned a remembrance event for International Overdose Awareness Day.

St. Joseph Youth Alliance Executive Director Robin Hammond said the event will be held Friday to bring awareness in the community of those that have lost their lives due to an overdose.

“Those that have lost a loved one due to overdose are invited to attend and bring a memento of their loved one that can be set aside in honor of that person,” Hammond said. “We’re looking at approximately 40 deaths over the last five years here in our community due to overdose so we want to bring awareness to the issue in our community and to take a moment to remember those loved ones that have lost their life.”

The event will be held at 6 p.m. on Friday at Civic Center Park.

For more information about International Overdose Awareness Day, click here.

It’s been a year of “Uncommon Character” in St. Joseph.

The new brand for St. Joseph, Missouri, “Made With Uncommon Character,” debuted last year after being formed by a group of 12 St. Joseph creative residents in June of 2016.

St. Joseph Community Branding, LLC, is celebrating with a week full of activities to honor the accomplishment.

St. Joseph Community Branding member Joey Austin says the “Made With Uncommon Character” campaign features people, places and things in St. Joseph that make it uncommon.

“From our architecture to our residents and to the things that we have here… (the) parkway system, Parties on the Parkway, our kids in the school district, our teachers in the school district, our caregivers at Mosaic, people at Missouri Western, there are so many things that we get to feature here,” Austin said. “We’re on social media, we have a print campaign, we have a TV campaign so I think you’ll see it a lot. What we want is for people to share it, we want people to share the good things that we have going on. Drown out the negative because there’s a lot more positive than you think.”

Also, as part of the week, St. Joseph Mayor Bill McMurray will proclaim Made With Uncommon Character Day at the City Council meeting at 7 p.m. Monday. Also Monday, new Facebook frames will be launched for residents to display their Uncommon Character trait of choice on their Facebook profile pictures. On Tuesday, social media followers are encouraged to share their favorite business that they believe has Uncommon Character.

For more information visit uncommoncharacter.com or click here to find out more about the week’s activities.

Hellos, goodbyes and a lot of boxes were all a part of Move-In Day for about 1,000 new students on the Missouri Western State University campus Wednesday. 

“It’s really exciting, it’s like a whole range of emotions for Move-In Day,” said Dixie Williams, Missouri Western Associate Director of Admissions. “You’ve got the students who are a little bit nervous and really excited and they’re just kind of unsure of everything, but learning it as they go. Then you have the parents who are a little tired and a little sad and all those kinds of things… I’ve already seen some tears.”

Williams could be seen driving around campus Wednesday on a golf cart, helping with traffic or lifting boxes. Williams said there are many people involved with Move-in Day and making sure students feel welcome, including Griffon Greeters, upperclassmen, staff and faculty and student organizations.

“(There’s) lots of excitement, especially with Missouri Western staff and faculty. We’re excited to have our new students come and we’re excited for current students to come back,” Williams said. “It’s really important that they engage today, especially the new students, because they meet a lot of different students, get to know some people, make their first friends in college.”

Griffon Edge, which is Missouri Western’s extended orientation program, begins Thursday. The program, which has about 1,000 students enrolled, helps prepare them for the beginning of classes on Monday and includes a welcome rally, social activities and more.

An opportunity to get an inside look at the Missouri State Highway Patrol will be offered starting in September.

Highway Patrol Troop H will be holding a Community Alliance Program at the Troop H Headquarters in St. Joseph.

“A lot of people see the Highway Patrol and they think we’re just that vehicle they see out on the roadway that pulls you over for speeding and writes you a ticket,” Sgt. Jake Angle with Troop H said. “We’re a lot more than that, we’re a multi-faceted agency, we’re involved in a lot of things and we’re a full service agency to the citizens of the state of Missouri. We hold these programs for an opportunity for people to be able to see exactly what we do and show them really what the Highway Patrol is all about.”

Angle said the hands-on program will include the Patrol K9, the Marine Division, simulated traffic stops and more.

“It’s a fun time, it’s a really informative time, people get an opportunity to get questions answered,” Angle said.

The classes will meet from 6 to 9:30 p.m. on Tuesdays starting September 18th. The program will conclude with an awards banquet on Tuesday, October 16th. The Highway Patrol is accepting applications for the free Community Alliance Program through August 31st. Twenty participants will be selected based on a first-come, first-serve basis. Selection includes an evaluation of an application and a criminal record check.

The program is geared toward citizens ages 21 and older. The Highway Patrol offers a similar program for students every other year.

For more information, contact Highway Patrol Troop H at (816) 387-2345.

Students headed back to school Thursday morning in St. Joseph and some Edison Elementary students traveled to class via the “walking school bus.”

“It’s like a normal school bus, but we walk around a designated area and we pick up kids on the corner or if it happens to be right in front of their house we’ll stop and pick them up as well,” Sam Donahoo, Walking School Bus Volunteer Coordinator said. “We do this because we have a different capacity, I think Edison only runs two school buses because you have to be outside of a mile of the school to be able to get to school on a bus and we have a ton of kids who live within that mile radius. So you’re young and you’re walking to school and we have fast streets like Faraon, Jules, 22nd… so this was designed to help get them to school safely.”

Donahoo said this year there are 21 regular volunteers which is up from 10 volunteers the first year. The goal is to soon have enough volunteers for another route on the west side of 22nd Street.

“It’s 7:45 until 8:30 in the morning, because after we get the kids here, we go downstairs and eat breakfast with them just to continue to build a relationship so they have an adult who is checking in on them, how are things going,” Donahoo said.

Anyone interested in volunteering can fill out an application by clicking here.

Thursday also marked the start of new Superintendent Dr. Doug Van Zyl’s first school year with the St. Joseph School District. Van Zyl joined the group of volunteers and students Thursday morning on the walking school bus route.

“Seems like there’s a lot of excitement in the air and kids are maybe a little sluggish trying to get off of their summer vacation but… once we get them in school and they see the excitement from the adults, we should be good to go,” Van Zyl said. “(I’m) probably just as excited as the kids, the first day of school is always an exciting thing for educators to be able to have that first opportunity to work with families and the kids and start off our school year the very best that we can.”

Dr. Van Zyl was named superintendent in February and his first day was July 2nd.

With many schools back in session this week, the Missouri State Highway Patrol is reminding motorists and students to be alert on the road and around buses.

Highway Patrol Troop H Public Information Officer Sgt. Jake Angle said everyone needs to get back into “school mode.”

“Kids, parents, people out there driving on the roadways, because, obviously we’re going to have newer, younger drivers out there again going back and forth to school, we’re going to have kids on bicycles riding to school, walking near the roadway, things like that,” Angle said. “Everybody just needs to be aware of their surroundings… and if everybody takes their time, slows down, pays attention, you’re going to have a safe school year.”

With school being back, buses will also be on the roads. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, in 2017, five people were killed and 401 people were injured in 869 traffic crashes involving school buses. Angle said when motorists see the bus lights come on, it is required by state law to stop while the bus is letting off or taking on students.

“When those lights come on, that stop arm comes out and that stop sign comes out, you are required to stop. It’s not slow down and move over, it’s stop. We have to give those kids and bus drivers plenty of room to get those kids on and off the bus,” Angle said. “Parents need to maybe… talk to the kids about the safe way to get on and off that bus, making eye contact with the bus driver, don’t just go running out into the street, we wait until it’s clear or that bus driver gives them the nod.”

The St. Joseph School District begins classes on Thursday.

A 50-year-old man died Tuesday after becoming pinned between two vehicles.

According to Capt. Jeff Wilson with the St. Joseph Police Department, at 5:44 p.m. Tuesday, officers responded to the 2200 block of Oscar Street in reference to a private property incident involving a man pinned between two vehicles. Wilson said the officers discovered the man had become pinned while attempting to pull one of the vehicles out of the mud.

David Welter Jr. was taken to the hospital and was later pronounced deceased as a result of his injuries.