The St. Joseph Public Library is encouraging residents to get a library card during library card sign up month. 

Director of the St. Joseph Public Library Mary Beth Revels said the American Library Association promotes the nationwide campaign in September for all libraries in the country. 

“With a library card, it just opens up the world to people, not only can you check out books on a myriad of subjects for all ages, you can also access the internet with a library card, you can sign in from home and log into one of our databases,” Revels said. “Our databases that we provide, online resources is another way to say them, we’ve got all kinds of different things, we have legal forms, we have genealogy help, we have car repair, we have resume help… and more, just all kinds of different things that you can do with your library card.” 

According to Revels, during the month, anyone who uses their library card can be entered in drawings for different ages at each of the different branches.

Revels said anyone can stop by any of the branches to find out what events are going on during the month or to get a library card.

For more information, contact the St. Joseph Public Library at (816) 232-7729 or visit their website.

A St. Joseph non-profit organization plans to present at an upcoming city council work session on the importance of implementing a city seat belt ordinance.

St. Joseph Youth Alliance Executive Director Robin Hammond said Missouri does not have a primary seat belt law. 

“Basically, it’s a secondary. What that means is that officers can’t pull you over just for the fact that you’re not wearing a seat belt. They have to pull you over for something else and then if they determine you were not wearing a seat belt, then that would be a secondary ticket that you would be issued,” Hammond said. “What we really are interested in is making sure that our young people are buckled up in their vehicles. We know from statistics that seat belts save lives. We want to encourage all youth to make sure every time they get in the car, that they put their seat belt on and if they choose not to, then that could be something that they could get a ticket for.”

Hammond said their hope is to create a primary seat belt ordinance for the city and mirror what the county already has set up. 

“We really want to educate our city council members on the importance of having a primary seat belt ordinance. We want them to realize how not wearing your seat belt costs all of us, how it costs us with our insurance rates, but most importantly, how it costs us with people’s lives,” Hammond said. “We’re not talking about whether it’s legal or not legal to wear a seat belt, that’s already been decided. We want them to know that this is going to make a difference in our community, it is going to help save lives and hopefully during the work session, they will come out of there feeling a little bit more educated and prepared about why we believe it’s important.” 

The Youth Alliance will present at a St. Joseph City Council work session at 4:15 p.m. on Sept. 20, at the Kit Bond Science and Technology Incubator.

For more information, contact the St. Joseph Youth Alliance at (816) 232-0050.

A Wild West themed event for dogs and their owners will take place in September.

St. Joseph Animal Control and Rescue will be putting on Howl-a-palooza at the Corby Dog Park with vendors, games and the opportunity to meet pets from the shelter.

Humane Educator with the Animal Shelter Jenna Keyes said this year’s theme is Woofin’ Wild West.

“We’re going to have all kind of activities and games related to that Wild West theme, of course throwing in some Pony Express stuff to go with it,” Keyes said. “We’re going to have some great vendors out there this year along with our regular contests that we do.”

Keyes said there will be contests for the best western costume, best trick and a pet owner look-alike contest. 

Keyes said the event will be held at Corby Dog Park in the parking lot so even if you don’t have a membership or even a dog, it’s open to everyone. 

A rescue trailer will be at the event with the opportunity for on-site pet adoptions. Also Keyes said microchipping will be available along with Corby Dog Park memberships.

Howl-a-palooza takes place from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, September 9th. For information, visit the event Facebook page.

Some Friends of the St. Joseph Animal Shelter fundraising events taking place the same weekend include the Shopping Extravaganza from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on September 9th at East Hills Mall and the Puttin’ “Fore” Paws Charity Golf Tournament beginning at 12:30 p.m. on Monday, September 11th.

 

With thousands of visitors predicted to be in St. Joseph for the total solar eclipse on the 21st, the St. Joseph Animal Shelter advises pet owners to use the same safety precautions they would during a holiday.

Animal Shelter Humane Educator Jenna Keyes said they cannot predict for sure how pets may act during the total solar eclipse.

“I’ve been doing a lot of research lately and… a lot of people out there are saying as far as your domestic pets like your dogs and your cats, some things to watch out for: a lot times they think it’s night so they go to sleep, they may calm down,” Keyes said. “Other people say it’s the opposite. They get really hyperactive, it causes them to be more excited during that short time period of the eclipse. Usually once it’s over, they go right back to doing their normal thing.”

Keyes said the eclipse may have more of an effect on birds, fish and wildlife.

“They say if you’re looking at your agricultural-type animals, your farm animals, that they tend to do their nighttime routine so they tend to get in their herds and fall asleep or cows will go to the barn, some interesting things like that,” Keyes said. “So it can really effect them all differently and depending on the animal itself too.”

Keyes recommends, as far as pets are concerned, to use the same safety precautions on August 21st as you would on a holiday such as the 4th of July.

“More worrisome than the eclipse itself is going to be the crowds that are a potential here in St. Joseph,” Keyes said. “Crowds can really stress out dogs who aren’t normally stressed out, so that’s something to consider if you’re planning on taking your dog outside with you, you may want to think about leaving it at home this time.”

Keyes said to talk with your veterinarian for any other safety tips for your pet during the day of the total solar eclipse including whether or not your pet should wear protective eyewear.

“You can put the glasses on them but pets don’t normally stare at the sun anyways, on a regular basis, so it’s likely that during the eclipse, they’re not going to be looking directly at the sun.”

Keyes said the animal shelter will still be open on Monday but to keep in mind that they may have slower response times trying to get through traffic.

The first day of classes began for the St. Joseph School District Wednesday morning. 

At Lafayette High School, the halls were mostly empty around 8 a.m., which Principal Chris Early said is a good sign. 

“That means kids are getting where they need to be,” Early said. “This is actually really promising because usually on the first day you’ll see kids everywhere and it’s not because they’re skipping or anything on the first day it’s just there’s a little confusion, there might be a mistake on their schedule, so when I walk in the hall like this and see that it’s empty I’m thinking, ‘We’re doing great. We’re firing on all cylinders this morning.’” 

This is Early’s first school year as Lafayette’s principal. Early had been serving as Lafayette’s assistant principal since 2013. He replaced Dr. Tyran Sumy who announced her retirement earlier this year after more than 20 years with the district. 

Early said one of the changes this year is their attendance policy which is an effort to raise attendance. 

“The gist of it… is that basically if you miss more than eight class periods, and this is outlined in the handbook, you don’t get credit for that class,” Early said. “We’re trying to teach kids accountability and I support the attendance initiative because my biggest concern is that we send kids out into the real world… I think sometimes we send these bright, academically prepared kids, but they don’t understand you’ve got to show up… So we’re trying to just instill good habits in them from the get go.” 

Early said he’s excited for this school year, especially since it’s Lafayette’s 100th year. Celebrations are planned throughout the year including a parade in the middle of the year and an all-school project. 

“(There’s) a lot to celebrate, a lot of involvement with our community and our alumni,” Early said. “It’s going to be a really fun year.”

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The St. Joseph Police Department is investigating after multiple reports of shots fired overnight.

According to Sgt. Brett Kelley, they received a report around midnight of shots fired in the area of 12th and Sacramento. Officers found a vehicle had been hit. Shortly before 1 a.m., officers responded to another report of shots fired in the 1100 block of South 12th Street. Officers located two vehicles on the street and a residence that had been hit. No one was injured.

Sgt. Kelley said there are no suspects at this time and anyone with information is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at (816) 238-TIPS.

Some local students spent the week with officers from the St. Joseph Police Department practicing basketball skills, learning bike safety and more. 

The St. Joseph Police Department Cops Care Youth Camp was held this week for students ages nine to 12. 

St. Joseph Police Department School Resources Officer Joe Herrera said the camp includes basketball, volleyball, kickball and more.

“We also have our department come out with the K9, bike patrol, doing safety things for the kids,” Herrera said. “A lot of kids ride their bike and a lot of them don’t know the safety points when they’re out there on the street, so our bike patrol… helps out with that, teaching the kids about bike safety.” 

Kade is going into 7th grade at Truman Middle School and said it was his first year attending the camp. 

“This camp is really really fun and they teach you stuff like basketball and they’re teaching you how to ride a bike and doing obstacles with a bike,” Kade said. “It’s cool.” 

Remi will start 6th grade this school year and Jordan will be going into 7th grade. Both attended the camp last year and said they enjoy playing basketball all week and learning from the officers. 

“I like it because it’s not like a normal coach, it’s kind of like they’re learning while you’re learning too,” Remi said. 

“It’s really fun because they’re like cops and coaches so it’s just really cool,” Jordan said. 

Herrera said he enjoys seeing the students make new friends, gain confidence through playing sports and getting to interact with officers during the week. 

“I think a lot of kids see us in a different light just because of social media, you know they see the police in a negative way,” Herrera said. “But they get to see us here, out of uniform, that we’re just like them… here, everybody’s in the same clothes, same shirts and they don’t see us just as police officers, they see us as one of them.”