(News release) —The Board of Governors at Missouri Western State University has approved construction of a pavilion on the west end of Craig Field at Spratt Memorial Stadium. The pavilion will be built and donated by Steve Craig, the benefactor for whom Craig Field and the Craig School of Business are named.

“The pavilion will provide the finishing piece to the recent improvements to Spratt Stadium, adding to the aesthetics of the stadium, providing symmetry to create a bowl effect and, for some fans, providing a unique game-day experience,” Craig said.

The pavilion will be built into the hillside that housed the original Spratt Stadium scoreboard before the new 2,500 square-foot video scoreboard was installed on the east end of the field last year, which was made possible by Craig. Among other features, the pavilion will include an 80-foot tall flagpole, a barbecue area, two covered pavilions, and a large gathering area for groups and organizations.

Craig will lease the construction site from Missouri Western for up to one year. He will hire a contractor and pay all of the costs of construction. When construction is finished, Craig will donate all of the improvements back to the university through the Missouri Western State University Foundation. The contractor hired by Craig will be required to pay prevailing wage and be properly bonded and insured.

“Once again, we have an opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to Steve Craig for his continued support of Missouri Western,” said Dr. Robert Vartabedian, Missouri Western’s president. “Thanks to his generosity and that of some other private donors, Spratt Stadium will offer a phenomenal game-day experience. The proposed project will greatly enhance our great atmosphere.”

The lease also gives Craig the right to name the pavilion for the person of his choice, subject to approval by the Board of Governors. It is Craig’s intention to identify a past or present resident of St. Joseph to honor with the pavilion’s name.

“The university has raised the bar, realized significant accomplishments, and truly transformed itself over the past decade,” Craig said. “It’s been an honor and a rewarding time for me to have been involved with those efforts through my volunteer activities with the University’s administration. I predict that when people reflect ten years from now on the progress of the University, the past decade will come to be known as the University’s renaissance period.”

Spratt Memorial Stadium was built in 1979, and underwent extensive reconstruction in 2015-2016. The first football game was played on the field Sept. 8, 1979, a 44-0 victory over Dana College. Lights were added six years later, and the Griffons won the first night game over Missouri-Rolla 24-15 on Sept. 4, 1985. Griffon soccer played its first match at Spratt Stadium on Sept. 3, 2006, a 3-2 win over Concordia-St. Paul.

In addition to Griffon football and soccer, Spratt Stadium hosts the St. Joseph High School Football Jamboree and the Missouri Western Department of Music’s annual Tournament of Champions High School Marching Band Competition, and was previously home of the Missouri State High School Eight-Man Football Championship Game. It hosted Missouri Western’s Spring Commencement ceremonies from 1979 to 1981, a tradition that was revived in May 2014.

The St. Joseph Police Department is investigating after an incident Wednesday night in midtown resulted in two shooting victims.

Capt. Jeff Wilson said officers responded to a shooting call shortly after 10 p.m. to the area of 17th and Sacramento streets.

Wilson said officers found two men who claimed they were walking home from the Speedy’s on Mitchell and somebody unknown to them drove by in a dark colored passenger vehicle and shot at them.

One victim was a 40-year-old St. Joseph resident, the other was a 20-year-old St. Joseph resident. One of the men was shot in his foot and has been treated and released from the hospital.  The other received a gunshot to his leg, however, Wilson said the bullet was deflected by something in his pocket and the man was not injured.  Police said the men reported hearing three to four shots fired. No suspect description was provided.

“The investigation is open there have been no suspects arrested at this time,” Wilson said. “Currently, detectives have indicated that this is not a random act.”

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

Six people were injured in a four vehicle crash Wednesday in Buchanan County. 

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, shortly before noon, 32-year-old Andrea R. Popejoy of Falls City, Nebraska, was driving a Chevy Impala south on I-29 and took the south exit to US 169. Popejoy’s vehicle swerved to avoid a Buick Lacrosse stopped at the light. The Impala went off the road then back onto the road, hitting the Lacrosse. The impact caused the Lacrosse to hit a third vehicle in front of it which then pushed the third vehicle into the back of a fourth vehicle.

Popejoy was transported to Mosaic Life Care for treatment of serious injuries. A five-year-old passenger in the Impala was seriously injured and a one-year-old passenger had minor injuries. Both were transported to Mosaic for treatment. According to the crash report, no one in the Impala was wearing a safety device. 

The drivers and passengers in the second and third vehicles involved in the crash were transported to Mosaic Life Care for treatment of minor injuries. All were wearing seat belts.

The St. Joseph School District has launched a new online incident reporting system with the hope that it helps in bullying prevention.

Dr. Solon Haynes, Dir. of Student Services with the district said at the beginning of this school year the district began using Sprigeo. He said the online reporting system will allow people to report not only bullying, but any type of harassment or threat to the school.

“Students, parents they can go online and they can either report it anonymously or they can leave their name so we can get back in touch with them to gather more information if we need it,” Dr. Haynes said. “It’s another avenue for our parents and our students to report things.”

Haynes said anyone with access to the web can use the reporting form.

“Maybe they don’t want to be seen going into the office because they’re afraid of maybe somebody retaliating against them for reporting,” Dr. Haynes said. “They can go online, it can be anonymous and in the safety of their own home.”

He said the ultimate goal is to reduce bullying incidents and harassment.

“With this online program we know exactly when a report was made because it will be time stamped through the system. So it will help us also keep track of the time frame that we need to adhere to when addressing bullying issues,” Dr. Haynes said.

He said a Sprigeo logo has been placed on each school’s individual web page for access to the reporting form. To view the form directly, CLICK HERE.

Students are moving onto campus this week at Missouri Western State University and Northwest Missouri State University.

Move-in day at Missouri Western in St. Joseph is Wednesday for first-year students living on campus.

In Maryville, Northwest is preparing to welcome around 1,300 first-time freshmen and more than 200 transfer students to its campus for the 2017-18 school year. Northwest said although select students will move onto campus Wednesday night, the official move-in begins at 7 a.m. Thursday and continues through Friday.

Both university will begin classes on Monday.

A St. Joseph woman is facing a felony charge after the death of her child.

Doris Koon, 21 is charged in Buchanan County with a first-degree felony of endangering the welfare of a child.

According to court documents, Koon is accused of drinking alcohol Sunday night leading into Monday morning. Detective Dustin Robinson with the St. Joseph Police Department said Koon fell asleep with the child on a couch at a home in the 2100 block of S. 10th street.

“According to witness statements, when Koon was woke up, (the child) was found laying directly underneath Koon on the couch. It is unknown how long the child was there,” Robinson said. “According to witness statements when the child was moved from underneath Koon, (the child) appeared to be deceased.”

Robinson said Koon took the child to Mosaic Life Care but did not seek medical attention for the child until security made contact with her around three hours after the original discovery of the deceased child.  The child was confirmed deceased at Mosaic.

As we previously reported, police began investigating the death of an infant related to a missing person alert for Koon issued Monday morning.

Koon is scheduled for an arraignment on Friday.