Four people are in the hospital after a two-vehicle severe injury crash Sunday night in St. Joseph.

According to St. Joseph Police, at 9:40 p.m. the driver of a car failed to stop at a stop sign at 12th and Pacific Streets and hit another car with three occupants. The fire department was called out to help as people were trapped due to the extent of the damage.

Everyone involved in the crash was taken to the hospital.

The driver that ran the stop sign is in police custody for investigative charges.

The crash is still under investigation.

The theme and Main Stage artists for this year’s Trails West! Festival were announced Tuesday night.

Trails West! takes place August 17-19, 2018.

Robert Randolph and the Family Band will perform Friday and Chase Rice will take the stage on Saturday.

“Our Main Stage acts are two really dynamite acts,” Colleen Kowich, Chair of the Trails West! Festival said. “Robert Randolph and the Family Band is a blues act, multi-Grammy nominated act, really appeals to cross-generational, cross-cultural. I think a lot of our jazz followers here in St. Joe (are) really really going to like him.”

Faren Rachels, an up-and-coming country artist, will be the opening act for Chase Rice Saturday.

The theme of the 2018 festival will take after the St. Joseph brand, ‘Made with Uncommon Character.’

“The Trails West steering committee decided that they loved the Uncommon Character brand so much,” Natalie Redmond, Trails West! Entertainment Co-Chair said. “You’ve probably seen it in different stores, different ads, different t-shirts. It’s just going to be a lot of fun this year to really piggyback on this community brand that St. Joseph has really taken as their own and been able to have a lot of fun with. Now we’ll be able to do the same thing with Trails West and give the brand a little more exposure.”  

More information about City and Family Stage artists, vendors and other Trails West! activities will be announced as the event draws closer and updates can be found on the Trails West! Facebook page.

The Maryville Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with the Maryville Public Arts Committee will offer two nights of outdoor events downtown this week.

According to Maryville Chamber Executive Director Lily White, one of the downtown streets in Maryville will be closed off to offer a free event for kids in the area to celebrate summer break being right around the corner. Local businesses and organizations provide kids activities including a petting zoo, bounce house and more.

The Kid’s Block Party begins at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 17th, at 4th and Buchanan Street. For more information, click here.

 

On Friday, an event featuring music, art and food will take place.

White said ‘Art, Rhythm and Brews’ will be held on the downtown square with indoor areas set up in case of rain.

“There will be outdoor concerts and artist’s showings and tastings of different local restaurants and wineries and breweries from around the area,” White said.

Art, Rhythm and Brews begins at 7 p.m. on Friday. For more information or to purchase tickets, click here.

May is designated as Stroke Month in an effort to bring awareness of the warning signs and risk factors of a stroke.

A stroke occurs when blood flow to the brain is disrupted due to a blocked or ruptured blood vessel.

Dr. Sally Bomar is a family practice physician at SSM Health St. Francis Hospital in Maryville. Dr. Bomar said most of the risk factors of a stroke are controllable.

“The number one risk factor for having a stroke is elevated blood pressure, so controlling your blood pressure is probably the most important thing you can do. Then the things that go on and help control your blood pressure also are going to reduce your risk,” Bomar said. “Smoking is a huge risk, any tobacco use, actually. By itself, it’s a risk factor because it causes nasal constriction of the arteries which limits blood flow, but it also dramatically increases your blood pressure.”

Bomar said a healthy lifestyle goes a long way to help reduce the risk of having a stroke.

“Controlling your weight, eating healthy, controlling cholesterol and… they’ll help also control your blood pressure so it all kind of works together,” Bomar said. “So a healthy diet with lean meat and fruits and vegetables and limiting the processed carbohydrates, exercising regularly and not smoking are the things that are most controllable. Taking blood pressure medications regularly if the lifestyle things do not control your blood pressure and being aware so you can act if needed.”

The warning signs of a stroke can be remembered through the acronym FAST.

Face – Facial droop, uneven smile

Arm – Arm numbness, arm weakness

Speech – Slurred speech, difficult to understand

Time – Time to call 911 and get to the hospital immediately

 

For more information about Stroke Month, click here.

According to Dr. Bomar, St. Francis Hospital in Maryville is working to become a stroke center. Bomar said there are different levels of stroke centers throughout the state and they’re working to get their certification.

“Part of that is making sure that we have CAT scans and done and the report read within a short time, laboratory studies done within a short time and then administering the tPA if needed in a short time so that we can break up the clot if need be,” Bomar said. “We’ve done an excellent job in reducing our numbers and how quickly we’ve turned things over.”

Dr. Bomar said they submitted their application and a survey will take place June 19th as part of the certification process.  

A man was taken into custody early Wednesday morning after a standoff that lasted over four hours.

According to Sgt. Brett Kelley with the St. Joseph Police Department, a man in his 30s barricaded himself in a basement with a handgun in the 2500 block of Lafayette Street around 9:30 Tuesday night. Kelley said the incident began due to an attempt to arrest the man on investigative charges.

The Special Response Team and negotiators were called in to assist and the man surrendered peacefully around 1:40 a.m. Wednesday.

A St. Joseph man is in custody after a standoff early Tuesday morning.

According to Buchanan County Sheriff Bill Puett, deputies responded at 2:30 a.m. to a report of a disturbance in the 3900 block of East Hills Drive in St. Joseph.

Puett said a man had barricaded himself in a vehicle and had a handgun. The St. Joseph Police Department and the Special Response Team also were called in to assist.

Negotiators eventually were successful in getting the man to surrender peacefully. He was taken into custody at approximately 5:45 a.m. Tuesday.

No details are available yet on charges.

The Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art will be offering two different weeks of Kids Summer Art Camp for the first time this year.

Molly Ring is the Kids Summer Art Camp Coordinator. Ring said this year’s theme is linked to an exhibition that will be at the museum

“It’s based on abstract art so our camp this year is called, ‘Awesomely Abstract,’” Ring said. “I like to, each day, link what we’re doing with a new technique and skill for the kids but also a little bit of art history, so we’ll be learning about some different abstract artists through history over the course of the week.”

Ring said the camp offers a way to keep kids active over the summer and each day will include a lot of new and different experiences for the campers.

“We’ll throw them into a whole bunch of new experiences, including collage, painting, different sculptural work. We’re going to do a project based on Alexander Calder, so we’ll be working with mobiles, which are sculptures that hang,” Ring said. “So I really try to give them experiences maybe that are messy or use materials that aren’t as readily available in the home so they’re really coming and experiencing something new in camp.”

There are two sessions offered this year. There will be a morning session for ages 5-7 that runs from 9 a.m. – noon and an afternoon session for ages 8-11 from 2-5 p.m.

The camp sessions are Tuesday through Friday, June 19 – 22 or Tuesday through Friday, June 26 – 29. The cost is $75 per student for AKMA Members and $90 for non-members.

For more information on the camp or to sign up, contact the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art at (816) 233- 7003 or click here.

Apple Blossom festivities kick off Friday in St. Joseph.

The “Made With Uncommon Character” campaign is putting on the Apple Blossom BBQ this year. This is the 12th year of the BBQ, but the first year that the Uncommon Character campaign is putting on the event and adding more activities to the weekend.

According to Campaign Director Kristi Bailey, the festivities begin at 5 p.m. Friday at Civic Center Park with the People’s Choice Tasting & Pulled Pork BBQ Meal. The evening will include music by Blue Oyster Culture Club, carriage rides by Duncan Carriages and more.

“At the Apple Blossom BBQ Contest this year, we’re really excited that we’ve been able to grow the event into much more than a BBQ contest, but also a community event that adults and kids will want to attend,” Bailey said.

According to a press release, GreatLIFE has provided frisbees for the first 2,000 meals purchased to support those plates of BBQ and to play with in the park. GreatLIFE also will have a chipping contest so adults and kids can brush up on their golf game.

The Apple Blossom parade begins at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday and runs from Noyes & Frederick to 4th & Felix Downtown. After the parade, there will be family friendly activities going on in Civic Center Park. There will be games and activities by Renovation Church including photo opportunities with representatives dressed like Batman, Supergirl and Joy from Inside Out.

“When we started talking about taking on the BBQ contest, one of the things we had heard was that the community wished there was more to do besides the BBQ contest. So we decided to try to grow it by adding more activities in the park,” Bailey said. “Because while it’s cool to be able to walk around and see teams compete like you would on Food Network, it’s really nice to be able to do that plus have a meal yourself, plus let your kids play in the park, so we’re really trying to grow into more of a festival with the contest.”

Find more details at uncommoncharacter.com.