The St. Joseph School District has made several changes in leadership following resignations this week, leaving a number of administrative roles available.

According to a press release, the Board of Education accepted resignations from the following during Monday’s closed session:

• Chris Early, Lafayette High School principal
• Terri Deayon, Edison Elementary School principal
• Heather Beaulieu, Parkway Elementary principal

Early, Deayon and Beaulieu have all been offered administrative positions at other schools in Missouri.

The Board approved these appointments to fill the open principal positions:

• Dr. Ashly McGinnis, an assistant principal at Lafayette, has been selected to fill the principal role at Lafayette
• Dlo Duvall, who was recently named assistant principal at Lindbergh for the 2018‐19 school year, will now join Edison Elementary as principal
• Dr. Solon Haynes, Director of Student Services/Technology and Data Management, will fill the principal position at Parkway Elementary

These reassignments, along with other recent administrative resignations and retirements, leave the following positions open at this time:

• Lafayette High School, assistant principal
• Central High School, assistant principal (Paul Woolard recently resigned for a position at a school in the KC area)
• Bode Middle School, assistant principal (Janice Wing recently announced her retirement)
• Lindbergh Elementary School, assistant principal
• SJSD Director of Student Services/Technology and Data Management
• SJSD Director of Finance (Wes Metz recently accepted the CFO job in Lee’s Summit)

Visit the district’s website at sjsd.k12.mo.us to read more about these and other employment opportunities.

The City of St. Joseph Health Department Animal Control and Rescue has set the dates for this year’s citywide, low-cost rabies vaccination clinics.

According to a press release, the rabies clinics are held during the first two weeks of May at locations across St. Joseph in an effort to make the clinics easily accessible to the community. Local veterinarians volunteer their time to administer vaccines to pets. Animal Control and Rescue will issue city registration tags, administer microchips, and provide dog park registrations.

Clinics are sponsored and made possible by the City of St. Joseph Health Department, Friends of the Animal Shelter, Boehringer Ingelheim and local participating veterinarians.

The following clinics are scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m.:

Tuesday, May 1, 2018 at Lindbergh Elementary School, 2812 St. Joseph Ave.

Thursday, May 3, 2018 at First Church of the Nazarene, 2102 South 22nd St.

Monday, May 7, 2018 at Hosea Elementary School, 6401 Gordon St.

Tuesday, May 8, 2018 at Skaith Elementary School, 4701 Schoolside Lane

Thursday, May 10, 2018 at Mark Twain Elementary School, 801 South 31st St.

Rabies vaccines are offered at the clinics for $5 each. Combination vaccines are offered for an additional $10 fee, paid separately to the participating veterinarian. PetLink microchips are offered for a nominal fee of $10 each. These microchips are effective in reuniting pets with their owners in case of accidental separation. Pet owners can purchase an annual city license following the vaccination of their pets. Licenses cost $15 for a pet that is not altered or $5 for a spayed/neutered pet (pet owners are required to bring proof that their dog or cat has been spayed or neutered to the clinic). This year, Animal Control and Rescue will also sell tags for the Corby Off-Leash Dog Park. Tags are $5 per altered/vaccinated dog over four months of age. Unaltered animals are not allowed in the park.

Animal Control and Rescue is adding activities to the rabies clinics for 2018. Pawsitively Pet Parlor will offer free nail trimming to animals in attendance. Staff will also be adding a craft activity to engage local youth at the clinic.

In 2017, a total of 841 animals were vaccinated against the rabies virus and many also took advantage of the combination vaccine offered by local veterinarians.  

In case of inclement weather, visit the Friends of the Animal Shelter of St. Joseph Facebook page or contact the shelter at (816) 271-4877 to verify the status of the clinic.

Lafayette High School is grieving the loss of a student killed in a car crash over the weekend.

Darius Harris, a senior at Lafayette, was killed in the crash early Sunday morning on I-229. Evan Steele, also a senior at Lafayette, was transported to the hospital after the crash and was in critical condition. According to Lafayette Principal Chris Early, as of Monday afternoon, Steele was in the Intensive Care Unit on life support.

Early said staff at Lafayette are doing everything they can to take care of students.

“The staff here really is a family… our teachers are just absolutely exceptional, not just our teachers for that matter, all of staff members – secretaries, counselors, teachers – are exceptional at understanding what our students need and kind of reading the mood of our building,” Early said. “First period was kind of quiet when the bell first rang and then you could just slowly see a trickle of kids heading to the counseling center… and that’s what we’ve done all morning long, we’ve just had our counseling center open and kids have been able to come in as needed and visit with people and, I think, in that sense, things are going as smoothly as one could expect.”

Early said this is the second car accident in about a year that has taken the life of a student.

Early said, through it all, he’s appreciative of the Northside community.

“We’ve had a lot of people reaching out to us (Monday). There’s been a lot of food delivered, we had a local church bring in Kleenexes and waters and it’s just nice to know that we have such a tight-knit community that has our back and will support us when we need it,” Early said.

There is no information yet on the cause of the crash, but police say speed was a contributing factor.

(UPDATE 10:30 a.m.) Police have identified the two people involved in a crash on I-229 Sunday.

According to the St. Joseph Police Department, Darius Harris was killed in the crash. Evan Steele is in the hospital and was last known to be in critical condition.

This post will be updated as we learn more details.

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One person is dead and another was seriously injured this weekend after an early morning crash.

According to the St. Joseph Police Department, the crash occurred on I-229 just south of East Lake Boulevard. Another motorist reported the single vehicle crash shortly after midnight on Sunday.

The vehicle rolled and both occupants were reportedly thrown out of the vehicle. One of the occupants was pronounced dead at the scene and the other was transported to the hospital in critical condition.

This post will be updated as we learn more information.

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 April 23 – 29 from the Missouri Department of Transportation. In addition to the work listed below, there may be pothole patching, shoulder work, bridge maintenance, striping, brush cutting, guardrail repairs, litter pick up and other road work conducted throughout the region. Many of these will be moving operations and could include lane closures with delays. All scheduled maintenance and construction projects are subject to change.

MoDOT reminds the public to stay alert, watch for road work, buckle up, slow down, and drive with extreme caution through work zones and in changing weather conditions.

For more information about a project, please contact MoDOT at 1-888-ASK-MoDOT (888-275-6636) or visit modot.org/northwest. You can also follow MoDOT’s Northwest Missouri District on Twitter @ModotNorthwest and on Facebook.

Andrew County

• Interstate 29 – Bridge deck replacement project at the Nodaway River Bridge. Traffic is head to head in the northbound lanes. This traffic pattern will be in place through August and includes a 13-foot width restriction.
• U.S. Route 71 – Resurfacing project from Route A (Nodaway County) to Route 48, April 23 – 27

Atchison County

• I-29 – Flushing bridges, April 23 – 27

Buchanan County

• I-229 and U.S. Route 36 – Sweeping and flushing bridges, April 23 – 26
• Route 759 – Pavement repair from Oak Street to the end of state maintenance, April 23 – 25. This will include overnight lane closures.
• Route 752 – Pavement repair from 9th Street to 14th Street, April 23 – 25. This will include overnight lane closures.

Caldwell County

• U.S. Route 36 – Pothole patching from Route A to Route 139 (Linn County), April 23 – 24
• U.S. Route 36 – Bridge maintenance at the Long Branch Bridge, April 23 – 26

Carroll County

• Route J – Drainage work from County Road 11 to the city limits of Hale, April 24
• Route J – Pavement marking from U.S. Route 65 to Route J, April 24 – 25. This includes a 10-foot width restriction.

Chariton County

• Route JJ – Pothole patching from Jarrow Road to Route E, April 23
• Route 5 – CLOSED for a culvert replacement from Route E to Route D, April 24, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Route E – Pothole patching from Route 5 to Route 11, April 24 – 27
• Route KK – CLOSED for a culvert replacement from Flat Road to Slough Road, April 26 – 27, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily
• Route F – Pothole patching from Route E to Route D, April 26 – 27

DeKalb County

• U.S. Route 36 – Pavement resurfacing and realignment project at the Route 33 north/Route M junction. Traffic is head to head in the eastbound lanes. This traffic pattern will be in place through July 3 and includes a 14-foot width restriction.
• U.S. Route 36 – Guardrail improvements from the Buchanan County line to 1.4 miles west of Route N near Stewartsville, April 23 – 27
• Route O – CLOSED for a culvert replacement 1.8 miles west of Route N, April 27, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Gentry County

• U.S. Route 136 – Pothole patching from U.S. Route 169 to the north city limits of Stanberry, April 24 – 26

Harrison County

• Route EE – CLOSED for a bridge replacement project at the Muddy Creek Bridge. The road will be closed through May.
• Route N – Bridge maintenance at the I-35 overpass, April 23 – 27
• U.S. Route 136 – Striping at the 38th and 39th Street intersections eastbound only in Bethany, April 24 – 26
• Route AA – CLOSED for a culvert replacement from West 200th Avenue to West 209th Avenue, April 24, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Route NN – CLOSED for a culvert replacement one mile north of Route M, April 24, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Holt County

• U.S. Route 59 – CLOSED for a bridge replacement project at the Davis Creek Bridge. The road will be closed through June.
• I-29 – Bridge deck replacement at the Nodaway River Bridge. Traffic is head to head in the northbound lanes. This traffic pattern will be in place through August and includes a 13-foot width restriction.
• Route 113 – Resurfacing project from U.S. Route 136 in Burlington Junction (Nodaway County) south to U.S. Route 59, April 23 – 27. A pilot car and flaggers will direct traffic through the work zone.

Linn County

• Route M – CLOSED for a culvert replacement from Halley Road to Hahn Road, April 23, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• U.S. Route 36 – Pothole patching from Route A (Caldwell County) to Route 139, April 23 – 24
• Route 11 – Bridge maintenance at the U.S. Route 36 overpass, April 23 – 26
• Route M – CLOSED for a culvert replacement from Route O (Sullivan County) to Ivory Road, April 24, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Route B – Pothole patching from U.S. Route 36 (Livingston County) to Route 139, April 24 – 27
• Route M – CLOSED for a culvert replacement from Ivory Road to Indy Road, April 26, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Route M – CLOSED for a culvert replacement from Indy Road to Iron Road, April 27, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Livingston County

• Route H – Pavement marking from U.S. Route 65 to Route 139, April 24 – 25. This includes a 10-foot width restriction.
• Route B – Pothole patching from U.S. Route 36 to Route 139 (Linn County), April 24 – 27

Nodaway County

• Route 46 – CLOSED for a culvert replacement from Oak Street to Hawk Street in the city limits of Ravenwood, April 23, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Route NN – Pothole patching from Route 46 to Route E, April 23 – 24
• U.S. Route 71 – Resurfacing project from Route A to just north of Route 48 (Andrew County), April 23 – 27
• Route 113 – Resurfacing project from U.S. Route 136 in Burlington Junction south to U.S. Route 59 (Holt County), April 23 – 27. A pilot car and flaggers will direct traffic through the work zone.
• Route 46 – Shoulder and drainage work, April 23 – 27
• Route F – Drainage work from 295th Street to Route N, April 24
• Route N – Culvert repair from Route VV to 350th Street, April 25
• Route N – Pothole patching from Route E to Route 148, April 25
• Route ZZ – Drainage work and culvert repair from Route V to 315th Street, April 26
• Route ZZ – Drainage work and culvert repair from 353rd Street to 340th Street, April 26 – 27
• U.S. Route 71 – Signal and lighting work at the intersection of U.S. Route 71/Main Street and 282nd Street, April 27

Putnam County

• U.S. Route 136 – Shoulder work, April 23 – 27

Sullivan County

• Route W – CLOSED for a culvert replacement from Parkway Road to Providence Road, April 24, 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• Route M – CLOSED for a culvert replacement from Route O to Ivory Road (Linn County), April 24, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Route W – CLOSED for a culvert replacement from Rainbow Road to Robin Road, April 25, 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The annual Train Festival is coming up next weekend in Atchison.

Atchison Area Chamber of Commerce President Jacque Pregont said this will be the third year of the festival.

“We have so much rail history in this town. A lot of the way our town grew was because of the railroads going through town,” Pregont said. “So we started, a few years ago, a railroad festival. It’s a wonderful day for the family, we try to focus on a lot of fun things for kids to do. The little train will be running out here and… we’ll have tours of our museum and we’ve got model trains on display.”

Admission for adults is $5 and children 10 and under are free with an adult.

The festival takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 28th, at the Santa Fe Depot in Atchison.

For more information, click here.

The Maysville Chamber of Commerce recently launched a project that has been in the works for awhile.

Chamber President Larry Zieber said the Maysville Chamber website is now available and includes links to local business websites, a calendar of events and more.

“What really got this going for us, we had an individual that graduated from Maysville High School, him and his wife have a company called Cornerstone Marketing Strategies and they helped design and implement the website for us,” Zieber said.

The Chamber’s website is maysvillemochamber.com.