All positions on the St. Joseph City Council are up for election next year and within just days of opening up petitions people have already started picking them up to make a run for office.

City Manager Bruce Woody said a total of nine positions on city council are open: St. Joseph’s Mayor and eight council seats. Incumbents and new candidates could start picking up petitions Monday. As we reported, Mayor Bill Falkner announced on Tuesday that he does not plan to run for re-election. Woody said by Wednesday, 21 people had picked up petitions and he knows of two incumbents who are planning to run for re-election.

“If they are running for mayor or an at-large position their petitions have to have 250 signatures of registered voters within the city limits of St. Joseph,” Woody said. “If they’re running for a council district position, and there’s five district positions, those candidates will need to have 75 signatures of registered voters in that district.”

He said petitions need to be turned in by November 21 but can be turned in as early as October 17.

“Once our city clerk has those petitions they’ll work with our county clerk to verify that there’s an adequate number of signatures of registered voters and that will allow them to be certified to be put on the ballot,” Woody said.

The primary election will be held in February and the general election will be held in April.

“At that February primary they will whittle it down to just two positions per opening, and six total for the at-large positions,” Woody said.

Free admission is being offered this Saturday at museums in St. Joseph taking part in the annual Museum Day Live! created by Smithsonian Magazine.

According to a news release from the Museums Association of St. Joseph, more than 40,000 institutions across the country are expected to participate.

The participating Museum Association of St. Joseph members, their location, and their hours for Museum Day are: Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art, 2818 Frederick, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Pony Express National Museum, 914 Penn, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Remington Nature Center, 1502 MacArthur Drive, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Robidoux Row Museum, 3rd and Poulin, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; St. Joseph Museum, Black Archives Museum, Doll Museum, and the Glore Psychiatric Museum, 3406 Frederick Ave., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and the Wyeth-Tootle Mansion, 11th and Charles, will be open from10 a.m. to 4 p.m. At the Walter Cronkite

Memorial on the MWSU campus, 4525 Downs Drive, the public invited to visit between 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Andrew County Museum, 202 E. Duncan Drive in Savannah, Missouri, will also participate and they will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information about museum day in St. Joseph CLICK HERE.

The Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department said a man was pulled from the Missouri River in Buchanan County Wednesday afternoon.

Cpl. Sarah Hardin said the St. Joseph Fire Department responded after a witnesses reported hearing a man in the water calling for help. Hardin said it’s believed the 28-year-old may have been in the river near Jentell Brees Access conservation area for around 45 minutes before he was rescued. He was transported to Mosaic Life Care for evaluation.

The St. Joseph Police Department has released surveillance photos from an armed robbery on St. Joseph Avenue that took place over the weekend.

Officers responded to the Boost Mobile at 1915 St. Joseph Avenue shortly before 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Capt. Jeff Wilson said two suspects described as two black men wearing hoodies held-up the store at gun point. During the robbery, one round was fired from a weapon. No one was injured. The suspects made off with cash and a couple of cell phones. Wilson said the pair left the scene on foot.

As of Wednesday afternoon no arrests had been made. Officers released photos to the public taken from surveillance during the robbery. Anyone with information is asked to call police or the TIPS Hotline at (816) 238-TIPS.

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University is included on U.S. News and World Report’s list of “2018 Best Colleges,” which again ranks the institution as the top moderately selective regional university in Missouri.

U.S. News ranked Northwest at No. 21 on its list of “Top Public Schools” among regional universities in the Midwest and No. 87 overall, in a tie with five other schools, on its list of “Best Regional Universities” in the Midwest, which includes all public and private universities in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin as well as Missouri.

Northwest is ranked second among Missouri universities on both lists, trailing only Truman State University, which is classified as a highly selective university. U.S. News also ranked Northwest as the state’s top moderately selective regional university in 2015 and 2016.

“Choosing the right university is important, and these rankings help put a spotlight on the quality education and experiences Northwest Missouri State students receive,” Northwest President Dr. John Jasinski said.

To develop its rankings, U.S. News analyzes data such as freshman retention, graduation rates, class sizes, ACT and SAT scores, financial resources and alumni giving. Each indicator is assigned a weight and institutions are ranked based on their overall scores.

To view U.S. News’ “2018 Best Colleges,” visit www.usnews.com/education.

Mayor Bill Falkner has announced he will not run for another term as the city of St. Joseph’s mayor and is considering a bid for the Missouri House of Representatives.

In a post on Facebook Tuesday, Mayor Falkner announced he will not be seeking re-election.

“I’ve had the privilege of serving the city of St. Joseph for nearly 12 years, including the past eight years as Mayor,” he said. “During that time we’ve seen new businesses come to town, the growth and revitalization of our downtown and new educational opportunities for youth in our community.”

He said it’s not the end of his plans to serve the public.

“I’m excited to announce that after much consideration, I am exploring a run for Missouri House of Representatives District 10. While serving as Mayor, I saw firsthand how our elected officials in Jefferson City shape policies that directly affect our community. I hope to bring common sense principles to Jefferson City and support things like local control and oppose harmful unfunded government mandates,” Mayor Falkner said.

Falkner said he plans to make a formal announcement in early 2018.

Representative Pat Conway currently holds the district 10 seat.  His term is set to expire in 2019.