Whether it’s researching family history or learning about how St. Joseph got started, the St. Joseph Public Library offers multiple research tools.

Local History Librarian Jennifer Sanders-Tutt said whether you are just starting out with your research or need some new ideas, they can help.

“We’re here all the time for people to stop in and get help with genealogy, and not just genealogy, if they have a question about local history, St. Joseph, or the area, we’re here to answer all of those questions… we love research, that’s why we’re librarians,” Sanders-Tutt said. “But I don’t know how many people know that that’s something that we’re here for all the time, so I thought maybe setting a specific time and date would maybe help get that out there.”

Sanders-Tutt said 2 to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays at the Downtown Library is set aside for a Genealogy Drop-In for anyone wanting to come in for help with their research. The library features census information, local history and record books from the 1880s and earlier.

“One of my favorite items in the collection are some of the “who’s who” in St. Joseph or Men (Who) Make St. Joseph “The City Worth While,”” Sanders-Tutt said. “Those are really interesting because they’re biographical information. They compiled books and books of biographical information on business owners and important business people in general so you can go in and you can find information about their family going way back, which is really exciting. There’s usually also some sort of image, photograph or drawing of them in there too which is really cool to find that far back.”

Sanders-Tutt said, twice a year, the library offers a genealogy workshop called “Where Do We Begin.” That will be held sometime in April and is for all levels of people into genealogy research.

For more information, contact the Downtown Library Reference Department at (816) 232-8151 or click here.

The St. Joseph Police Department is asking for help locating a man who is a person of interest in a homicide investigation.

According to police, 19-year-old Khaury E. El-Amin also known as Khaury Hawkins is wanted on a felony drug warrant and is also a person of interest in connection with a homicide investigation. Capt. Jeff Wilson with the police department said El-Amin should be considered armed and dangerous. El-Amin is 5’11” and 190 lbs. with brown hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at (816) 238-TIPS.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released its Annual Performance Report (APR) this week, highlighting a 2.5% increase in the overall score for the St. Joseph School District.

According to a press release, the report offers a comprehensive overview of school districts statewide through the Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP 5). The St. Joseph School District earned a total of 121 out of 140 points, or 86.4% of the points available.

The APR evaluates school districts on academic achievement, subgroup achievement, college and career readiness, attendance and graduation rate.

An overview of the data in the APR shows:

• An increase in the percentage of students scoring proficient or advanced in Science (+2.1%).
• An increase in the percentage of students scoring proficient or advanced in Social Studies (+5%).
• An increase in the percentage of students in Subgroup Achievement scoring proficient or advanced.
• An increase in APR points in Subgroup Achievement in ELA and Math compared to 2016.
• An increase of 2 APR points in College and Career Readiness.
• A decrease in the percentage of students meeting the attendance benchmark (‐0.4%).
• Decreases in the percentage of students scoring proficient or advanced in English Language Arts (‐1.4%) and Math (‐2.7%).

“I was particularly pleased with the growth in grades 3‐8 English Language Arts; the APR growth model is one that is inclusive of state data and the SJSD’s rating was exceeding,” said Dr. Kendra Lau, Director of Assessment. “Growth is the engine for increased proficiency and this indicates we are making significant gains.”

Dr. Lau added that in terms of college and career readiness, the metrics are very encouraging.

“I’m pleased with the increase we have seen in our APR results, but recognize that we still have the need for additional improvement,” said Dr. Marlie Williams, Assistant Superintendent. “The work of our teachers and schools has led to the increases we’ve seen, and we will continue to support the goals that are in place to positively impact student learning.”

The attendance benchmark is just one area of improvement that remains a priority for the district.

“Scoring 6 of 10 points on attendance highlights the importance of the Strive for 5 initiative.  Students benefit when they are in school and working with their teachers and peers, so improving attendance has benefit far beyond points on this section of the APR, it contributes to academic outcomes and is also a workforce readiness trait,” added Dr. Williams.

November is National Diabetes Awareness month and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the last 20 years, the number of adults diagnosed with diabetes has more than tripled.

Carolyn Gronniger is a Registered Nurse and Certified Diabetes Educator at Mosaic Life Care in St. Joseph. Gronniger said one of the misconceptions about diabetes is that eating sugar causes diabetes.

“There’s a misconception… people feel that persons with diabetes are not supposed to eat any carbohydrates or are not supposed to eat sugar, when in fact, carbohydrates are a main nutrient that is important in our diet,” Gronniger said. “The thing of it is, with a person with diabetes is their body is having trouble utilizing, processing, metabolizing that sugar or glucose for energy, so therein lies the problem. Their body still needs some carbohydrates, their body still needs some sugar but it’s more in moderation and it’s not necessarily evil.”

According to Gronniger, early on, diabetes doesn’t necessarily cause noticeable symptoms.

“Everybody needs to have a primary care provider. I don’t care how old you are, how young you are, everybody needs to have a primary care provider and see them on a regular basis,” Gronniger said. “Get some of those routine maintenance checks done because that’s where it’s picked up early on, subtle increases in blood sugar levels that may not cause you any symptoms at all.”

Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator with Mosaic Susan Alderson said anyone 45 and older, especially if they have a family history of diabetes, should get tested. Alderson adds some preventative measures people can take include keeping a healthy weight and exercise.

Some services offered at Mosaic Life Care include individual and group diabetes classes and a diabetes self-management education program.

“Within the structure of the classes some of the things that we discuss and talk about are monitoring your blood sugar, what do those numbers mean, figuring out a meal plan for the patient, encouraging activity, going over medications and also getting support,” said Karen Wedlock, RN, CDE.

For more information on diabetes and classes, contact Diabetes Care at Mosaic Life Care by calling (816) 271-6700 or click here.

A week after voters rejected a proposed $1.15 levy increase, the St. Joseph School District is listening to feedback and considering the next step.

Superintendent Dr. Robert Newhart said voters made a statement by rejecting the proposed levy increase by a 72 to 28 percent margin.

“If there’s anything that is positive that comes out of that election, in my opinion, is… the large voter turnout. It was one of the largest for a school issue in recent history and it should be that way. The voters should have the ultimate decision on the direction of the school district,” Newhart said. “So from that aspect, it definitely gives us a direction and that statement that we have to basically do a better job, earn their trust, become more efficient, regroup, find out even further on what exactly did they not like or did we not present or what we have to do going forward.”

Newhart said he believes trust is still an issue after the FBI investigations and all the events over the past few years. According to Newhart, the Board of Education Monday night named three board members to work with the community to discuss last week’s election and what can be done differently going forward.

“You cannot be critical of the plan, but yet unwilling to be part of the planning process and we encourage and welcome all stakeholders to help us with this,” Newhart said. “If that even takes some mediation between opposing sides, it’s going to take that type of hard discussion to get the elephants out of the room and actually get the district back on course.”

Newhart said based on some feedback and discussion with parents within the last week, they did not understand the plan or the opposition’s plan leading up to the special election.

“It was this segment in the middle that… (is) still concerned about the 40 million that was unaccounted for and we’ve tried to explain that numerous times,” Newhart said. “Right, wrong or indifferent, it was an estimated number by the state auditor, it was over the course of a decade, it was for work performed legitimately, it just was not board approved that should have been board approved and the board retroactively approved those.”

“Today, all contracts, all agreements are board approved, they’re tagged to those agenda items that is publicly placed on our website and… that is something that has changed,” Newhart said. “Going forward we’ve got to do a better job somehow to get this all communicated.”

Newhart said it is unknown at this point if there will be another issue on the April ballot. He said the needs of the district, however, will not be going away and, going forward, the district will be focused on becoming more efficient in certain areas and listening to community and parent feedback.

A worldwide event taking place this weekend aims to offer hope and community to people dealing with loss.

The International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day takes place Saturday in over 350 locations and offers support, information and empowerment.

Cheri Dedman with Project Hope in St. Joseph said it’s a day for people who have lost a loved one to suicide.

“It’s a very different kind of grief and a lot of people feel that they are all alone,” Dedman said. “The reasons to attend are to share stories of their loss or find a supportive environment.”

The event will include the showing of a documentary produced by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. “The Journey: A Story of Healing and Hope,” tells the stories of a diverse group of suicide loss survivors and how their healing journey evolves over time.

Dedman said this is Project Hope’s first outreach event.

“I’m excited that it’s a place where people can find hope and so I hope to see many people on Saturday that maybe are in a place where they need to find hope and that’s what we’re all about,” Dedman said.

The International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day event will be from 8:30 to 10 a.m. on Saturday in the Meierhoffer Community Room located at 5005 Frederick Boulevard in St. Joseph.

Project Hope meetings are also held at 5:30 p.m. on the first Monday of each month at the same location. For more information, click here or visit Project Hope’s website.

An evening featuring music from the Big Band era will be presented at the Historic Missouri Theatre this weekend. 

Beth Sharp with the Performing Arts Association said Steve Lippia will be performing his show, “Simply Sinatra.” 

“He just loves the Big Band sound and he sings in the same style as Sinatra, but he does not refer to himself as an impersonator. But just because of that same style that he sings in, he often sounds just like him,” Sharp said. “He said he’d also probably be doing some songs from Tony Bennett and some of those other great crooner type singers that were famous. I think everybody is just going to know all the songs and they’re going to love singing along with it and have a good time on Saturday.” 

The show takes place at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 18, at the Missouri Theatre in St. Joseph.

For tickets or more information, contact the Performing Arts Association at (816) 279-1225 or click here.