The St. Joseph Police Department was recognized recently as a Missouri certified law enforcement agency.

Sgt. Todd Derr is the Policy Compliance and Certification Manager for the St. Joseph Police Department. Derr said there are over 200 standards for law enforcement agencies to meet to be certified.

“Some of the standards cover internal affairs, use of force, fiscal management, things of that nature, and there’s specific criteria under all of those, of course that’s just a few,” Derr said.

St. Joseph Police Chief Chris Connally said the three-year accreditation process culminated with an on-site inspection with five assessors who spent a day and a half going through proofs of compliance, riding along with officers and more.

“Just taking a thorough from top to bottom look at the department partly to make sure that we do what we’re saying that we’re doing,” Connally said. “It’s a statement of the professionalism of the men and women of the St. Joseph Police Department. I hope that it demonstrates to our community that we’re always striving to reach the highest standards and to put the most professional services together and have our personnel perform at the highest standards that we can.”

The St. Joseph Police Department was recognized in Jefferson City on Thursday, Dec. 7.

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 Dec. 11 – 17 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 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.

Atchison County

U.S. Route 59 – Shoulder work from the Holt County line to U.S. Route 136, Dec. 11 – 15

Buchanan County

U.S. Route 36 – CLOSED for sign installation at the ramp from westbound U.S. Route 36 to northbound Interstate 229, Dec. 11, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

U.S. Route 36 – Sign installation on westbound U.S. Route 36 at the I-229 interchange, Dec. 12, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The driving and passing lane will be closed and traffic will be directed through the intersection using the turn lane.

Caldwell County

Route 13 – Milling from Route F to SW Longhorn Drive, Dec. 11

Dekalb County

Route J – Drainage work from U.S. Route 36 to Rogers Road, Dec. 11

Route N – Culvert repair from Route 6 to Patton Road, Dec. 13

Gentry County

Route H – CLOSED for a culvert replacement from Isaac Miller Trail to 445^th Street, Dec. 11, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

U.S. Routes 136 and 169 – Shoulder work, Dec. 11 – 14

Linn County

Route WW – Pothole patching from the city limits of Marceline to the Macon County line, Dec. 11

U.S. Route 36 – Pavement repair westbound from Route F to Route 11, Dec. 11 – 12. This includes an overnight lane closure.

Route B – Pothole patching from Route 139 to Route 5, Dec. 12

Route V – Pothole patching from Route M to Route C, Dec. 13 – 15

Livingston County

Route 190 – Shoulder work from U.S. Route 65 to the Daviess County line, Dec. 11 – 15

Route KK – CLOSED from County Road 216 to the end of state maintenance, Dec. 14, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Mercer County

U.S. Route 136 − CLOSED for a bridge replacement project at the Muddy Creek Bridge. The road will be closed through February 2018.

Nodaway County

Route C – Shoulder and drainage work, Dec. 11

U.S. Route 71 – CLOSED for culvert repair at 268^th Street, Dec. 11 – 13, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. Access to 268^th Street will be closed during this time.

U.S. Route 71 – Pothole patching from Route B (Andrew County) to Route U, Dec. 11 – 15

Route KK – Shoulder and drainage work, Dec. 12 – 13

Worth County

Route 46 – Shoulder work and bridge maintenance one mile west of Grant City, Dec. 12 – 13

Missouri Western State University will be presenting awards next month to recognize people in the community who are committed to social justice and multicultural education service.

The Center for Multicultural Education at Missouri Western is accepting nominations for the 2018 Drum Major for Justice Awards.

The awards are presented at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major for Justice Banquet on January 17, 2018.

Missouri Western Multicultural Education Director Latoya Fitzpatrick said the Drum Major for Justice Awards are given out to citizens who live ordinary lives but do extraordinary acts of service.

“Sometimes the work can get very very weary… so just giving folks that are within the fight and are trying to make things better, just a little encouragement to keep continuing on with the fight in hopes that at the end of it, yes, we all want to see equality, but I just know that a lot of times in this work, people get weary and want to give up,” Fitzpatrick said. “So we’re going to recognize you here and we’re going to give you that extra boost to make sure that you continue to fight and that you know you have the support of your community.”

The award is presented to one student, one member of the St. Joseph community and a Missouri Western employee.

Nominations can be submitted online. The nomination deadline is January 10th.

A space dedicated to the academic success of student-athletes at Northwest Missouri State University will soon bear the name of a family that instills a legacy of education, service and leadership at the institution and beyond.

According to a press release, with the approval of Northwest’s Board of Regents, the Student-Athlete Academic Center, located on the lower level of the Lamkin Activity Center, will be renamed the Harr Athletic Success Center.

A dedication ceremony is planned for 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 13, in the center, and the public is invited to attend.

“We talk about being forever green and there is no better personification than Dr. Harr,” Northwest President Dr. John Jasinski said. “His family’s impact on the University and our region is decades long, and Doc has helped so many people and supports our student-athletes in a matter-of-fact manner. His devotion to lifelong learning, scholarship and positive impacts is modeled by his wife, Teri, and his family – modeled after his mom and dad. The Board of Regents is thrilled to honor Doc in this way, and we are all so much better for having Doc and the Harr family as part of our heritage.”

The naming honors Dr. Patrick Harr’s decades of service as a volunteer physician for Northwest athletic teams, setting lasting examples for the Maryville community and its student-athletes. Harr also has served as a member of the Board of Regents since 2013 and served as chair of the Board since 2015. Born and raised in Maryville, Harr attended Northwest’s Horace Mann Laboratory School as a child and began his college coursework at Northwest in the 1960s before transferring to the University of Missouri-Columbia for medical school. He returned to Maryville in 1974 to begin his career as a family physician.

Additionally, Harr’s father, the late Dr. John L. Harr, was a member of the Northwest faculty from 1944 until 1979. During that time, he served as chair of the history department and, as the Homecoming faculty chairman for 20 years, helped develop many of the Homecoming traditions that continue at Northwest today. Patrick Harr’s mother, the late Helen Harr, also was a trained teacher.

Northwest opened the Student-Athlete Academic Center, which formerly was the University’s fitness center, after the 2015 opening of the Robert and Virginia Foster Fitness Center. A leisure lounge for student-athletes with couches, tables, chairs and TVs, the space provides an area to students-athletes for study and socialization.

-Press release-

A holiday arts and crafts event will provide an opportunity to find Christmas gifts and support local families in need.

Executive Director of The Crossing Outreach Ministry Danny Gach says the ministry started about five years ago and they have a campus of building where they care for the homeless in the area.

Gach said they’re helping put on a Christkindl Market this Saturday and next Saturday. This is the first year for the Market, which will be held in the Guenther Building at 8th and Charles Streets.   

“The owners of the building decided to make use of a building they owned for quite awhile,” Gach said. “Their family’s owned the building since, like, 1918, and used to be a number of different things in there, it was the Montgomery Ward Farm Store for a number of years.”

Gach said the market will include a variety of antiques, hand crafted items and more.

“At The Crossing we make rag rugs and purses on 100-year-old rag rug looms… that helps people that come through our building and they get paid a percentage of the profits of the rugs, so that helps us a lot,” Gach said.

There will also be music, Christmas caroling and food vendors at the event.

Gach said funds raised at the ChristKindl Market will support outreach programs for St. Joseph families in need.

“We’re developing an upscale food pantry, it’s actually going to be a nutrition center and it’ll be right here on the campus,” Gach said. “The pantry will actually include dairy products, fresh fruits and vegetables and we’re working with Second Harvest and they’ll help us supply the nutrition center. The Missouri Extension will have people on site there that will help people with food budgeting… and also nutrition value of different foods and how to prepare meals.”  

The Christkindl Market will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday the 9th and Saturday the 16th at the Guenther Building at 224 South 8th St. in St. Joseph.

For more information about The Crossing Outreach Ministry, click here.

(UPDATE 1:58 p.m. Friday) Missouri American Water has announced that the boil water advisory has been lifted.

The precautionary boil water advisory, issued Thursday afternoon, was due to a malfunctioning valve in a water storage tank caused water pressure to drop below a certain level.

The approximate impacted area was south of St. Joseph to the Buchanan and Platte County line.

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A precautionary boil water advisory has been issued after a malfunctioning valve in a water storage tank caused water pressure to drop below a certain level.

According to Missouri American Water, this is strictly a precautionary measure and there is no evidence of contamination.

Residents in the affected area will be under a precautionary boil water advisory until further notice. 

The boil water advisory impacts the following area:

•         Starting at the NW boundary of impacted area – State Highway 59 forms the western boundary North to the intersection of W. Parker Rd.
•         The area south of W. Parker Rd. going east to King Hill Ave. Rd. North (also known as State Rt. V).
•         The area south of Hwy 752  (also known as Alabama, East Hyde, and Mason Rd.) going east to I-229.
•         The area south of I-229 to I-29
•         The area west of I-29 as it runs south from I-229 to county rd. O
•         The area south of county rd. O as it runs east to 50th Rd. SE
•         The area west of west off 50th Rd. SE as it runs south from county rd. O, including Pigeon Hill Rd. going south
•         South on FF to South on H (all areas south of this)
•         South on H to MM to DD (all areas south of this)
•         Including the village of Faucett

Customers in the precautionary boil water advisory area listed above should bring their water to a rolling boil for 3 minutes before using for drinking or cooking. Tap water is safe for bathing and washing clothes. The precautionary advisory will be in effect until water quality samples confirm that the water is safe for consumption. Customers who have provided contact information to Missouri American Water will be notified via the company’s emergency notification system. Customers can also check the Missouri American Water Facebook Page for updates.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Next week will bring a ramp closure and lane closures at the intersection of westbound U.S. Route 36 and Interstate 229.

Work on signs at that location was postponed due to weather, but next Monday and Tuesday, local crews from the Missouri Department of Transportation plan to complete the delayed work.

Between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 11, the ramp from westbound U.S. Route 36 to northbound I-229 and the driving lane on westbound U.S. Route 36 at the same location will be closed. Motorists wishing to travel from westbound U.S. Route 36 to northbound I-229 will need to seek an alternate route. Motorists traveling westbound through the intersection should expect delays.

Between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 12, both the driving and passing lanes of westbound U.S. Route 36 at the Interstate 229 interchange will be closed. Crews will direct motorists through the intersection via the turn lane. Motorists will experience delays and may want to seek an alternate route.

MoDOT encourages all motorists to slow down, buckle up, eliminate distractions and drive safely to ensure everyone is able to Arrive Alive.

For more information about this and other MoDOT projects, call 1-888-ASK-MODOT (888-275-6636) or visit modot.org/northwest and view the online Traveler Information Map. In addition, MoDOT provides updated information on Twitter @MoDOTNorthwest and Facebook.

The St. Joseph Salvation Army is behind on donations for its Red Kettle drive this year.

According to Major Abe Tamayo with the Salvation Army, they have raised approximately $45,428 so far this year, compared to $185,785 at the same time last year.

Tamayo said the goal is to raise $350,000.

“We need every cent of that money to do what we do,” Tamayo said. “We provide the Booth Center for Homeless People where we feed them three meals a day and a snack, provide for them while they’re there, help them finds jobs and get their lives back together and get them back on their feet and back out into the community. We need financial means to continue doing what we’ve done for the last 132 years right here in St. Joseph.”

The Annual Christmas Red Kettle Campaign is the single largest fund drive for the Salvation Army. Funds are raised in the kettles, through the mail or online giving.

For more information, contact the Salvation Army at (816) 232-5824 or click here.