Some local students spent the week with officers from the St. Joseph Police Department practicing basketball skills, learning bike safety and more. 

The St. Joseph Police Department Cops Care Youth Camp was held this week for students ages nine to 12. 

St. Joseph Police Department School Resources Officer Joe Herrera said the camp includes basketball, volleyball, kickball and more.

“We also have our department come out with the K9, bike patrol, doing safety things for the kids,” Herrera said. “A lot of kids ride their bike and a lot of them don’t know the safety points when they’re out there on the street, so our bike patrol… helps out with that, teaching the kids about bike safety.” 

Kade is going into 7th grade at Truman Middle School and said it was his first year attending the camp. 

“This camp is really really fun and they teach you stuff like basketball and they’re teaching you how to ride a bike and doing obstacles with a bike,” Kade said. “It’s cool.” 

Remi will start 6th grade this school year and Jordan will be going into 7th grade. Both attended the camp last year and said they enjoy playing basketball all week and learning from the officers. 

“I like it because it’s not like a normal coach, it’s kind of like they’re learning while you’re learning too,” Remi said. 

“It’s really fun because they’re like cops and coaches so it’s just really cool,” Jordan said. 

Herrera said he enjoys seeing the students make new friends, gain confidence through playing sports and getting to interact with officers during the week. 

“I think a lot of kids see us in a different light just because of social media, you know they see the police in a negative way,” Herrera said. “But they get to see us here, out of uniform, that we’re just like them… here, everybody’s in the same clothes, same shirts and they don’t see us just as police officers, they see us as one of them.”

Buchanan County has seen a huge decrease in the number of people applying and renewing concealed carry permits.

New legislation went into effect January 1, making concealed carry permits unnecessary for Missourians in many places. Last year, lawmakers passed constitutional carry legislation which allows Missourians 21 and older who can legally own guns carry them concealed anywhere they can openly carry and do so without a permit. In Buchanan County, Sheriff Bill Puett said, applications went from an average of around 180 a month to less than 20.

“People have gone away from getting the concealed carry permits,” Puett said. “We’re also seeing some folks who aren’t renewing.”

Even though both Missouri and Kansas have similar legislation regarding concealed carry, Puett said a permit is required if you’re not a state resident.

“The constitutional carry only applies to Missouri residents,” Puett said. “If you go to Kansas and you’re carrying a concealed weapon you’re in violation because you’re not a Kansas resident.”

Puett said individuals carrying still need to follow gun laws.

“At least with a permit class you get to discuss all the legal requirements, use of force, all the places you can go and can’t go and what happens if you violate the law,” Puett said. “The requirement of going to class to get the permit is really good because it gives the person carrying a weapon a little more information.”

Puett said even if someone isn’t applying for a concealed permit it’s still a good idea to get training on how to safely handle a weapon, gun laws, and how to act if a firearm were needed to be used for defense.

“If you put a gun on you need to know what you’re getting into when you do that,” Puett said.

A Cameron teen has died after a one vehicle crash Wednesday afternoon in DeKalb County.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, 16-year-old Matthew A. Eberhart was driving a 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix west on Southeast Gridley Road four miles northwest of Cameron around 5 p.m. Wednesday. Eberhart lost control of the vehicle, which then went off the north side of the road, into a creek bed and overturned, coming to rest on its top. According to the crash report, Eberhart was not wearing a seat belt.

He was taken by ambulance to Mosaic Life Care in St. Joseph were he was pronounced deceased at 9:56 p.m.

Officers with the St. Joseph Police Department have seized another stolen vehicle they believe was used in a recent string of armed robberies.

Capt. Jeff Wilson said officers seized a vehicle Monday they believe was used in one of the robberies.  As we previously reported, the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office recovered another vehicle believed to have been used in a robbery July 30 on fire at 10500 SE 32nd Rd. Wilson said at this point, at least four of the recent robberies are believed to be tied together.

Friday shortly after 7 p.m. the Road Star gas station at 3215 S. 22nd was robbed when a suspect described as a white man with a skinny build wearing a bandanna displayed a pistol and took off with an undisclosed amount of money in a white two-door vehicle.

August 2, the Quick Stop located at 6739 Memorial Highway was robbed at gun point.

July 30, the Hawkins 66 at 6401 Memorial Highway was robbed at gun point.

July 28, the Cenex located at 1029 Garfield was robbed at gunpoint.

Wilson said it’s unclear if the robbery of the K-2 Smokes and Gifts located at 1602 St. Joseph Avenue on July 25 is connected.

CLICK HERE to view surveillance photos released by police from several of the robberies. Anyone with information is asked to call authorities at (816) 271-4777 or the Tips Hotline (816) 238-TIPS.

The St. Joseph School District has been recognized for five of its elementary schools as being some of the healthiest schools in America.

Carden Park, Ellison, Field, Oak Grove, and Pickett were among 300 schools to make it onto the 2017 America’s Healthiest Schools list. The list is compiled by Alliance for a Healthier Generation, which touts itself as a catalyst for children’s health. According to the organization’s website, it works with schools, companies, community organizations, healthcare professionals and families to transform the conditions and systems that lead to healthier kids.

The St. Joseph School District said schools were measured on the criteria that included serving healthier meals and snacks, getting students moving more, offering high-quality physical and health education and empowering school leaders to become healthy role models.

To view the full 2017 list of America’s Healthiest Schools CLICK HERE.

Update: St. Joseph Public Library levy passes by 87.82 percent.

Voters approved the continuance of a .15 levy for the St. Joseph Public Library system with 3,054 votes: 2,682 yes and 372 no. Voter turnout came in at 8.54 percent

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(12 p.m.) Fewer voters than anticipated were hitting the polls Tuesday morning to vote on the St. Joseph Public Library levy renewal.

Buchanan County Clerk Mary Baack-Garvey reported that as of 11 a.m. only 2.3 percent of voters had cast a ballot. Originally, she had anticipated a turnout of around 10 percent for the election. However, with a slow start Tuesday she said 10 percent could be too high.

Tuesday’s special election will decide if a portion of the St. Joseph Public Library system’s .15 levy is renewed for another 20 years for the library to operate and maintain facilities. If approved, the levy would continue in 2020. As we previously reported, Library Director, Mary-Beth Revels said the levy was initially approved by voters in 1999.

The total library levy is .42 cents, of that .27 cents is permanent. Revels said it generates about $3.2 million a year. She said the library realizes the community appreciates the inclusion of a sunset clause so the .15 cents is up for renewal every 20 years.

Polls are open until 7 p.m. CLICK HERE for ballots and polling locations.

(News release) – The husband of a former St. Joseph, Mo., business owner pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday on a charge related to a nearly $1.5 million tax fraud scheme.

Thad Weaver, 46, of St. Joseph, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips to making false statements on a tax return.

Weaver’s wife, Dinorah Lynn Stoll-Weaver, 49, of St. Joseph, pleaded guilty on July 28, 2017, to failing to pay over employee payroll taxes to the IRS for her home health provider business located in St. Joseph.

Co-defendants Dawn Langlais (Stoll-Weaver’s sister), 60, and Langlais’s daughter, Jennifer Sturgis, 38, both of St. Joseph, have also pleaded guilty. Langlais pleaded guilty to failing to pay over employee payroll taxes to the IRS. Sturgis pleaded guilty to making false statements on a tax return.

All four co-defendants admitted that they failed to report their income on their personal federal income tax returns.

From 2001 through early 2010, Stoll-Weaver owned and, with the assistance of Langlais, operated Homeward Bound Health Services, Inc., a home health provider located in St. Joseph. In 2010, Homeward Bound’s name was changed to Silver Linings, Inc., and nominee owners were put in place who signed the checks but made no business decisions. Stoll-Weaver and Langlais continued to operate Silver Linings until it closed in 2013.

Stoll-Weaver employed her husband, Weaver, and Langlais employed her daughter, Sturgis, at Homeward Bound and Silver Linings. They also employed other relatives at the business.

Homeward Bound and Silver Linings withheld and collected federal income taxes, Social Security taxes, and Medicare taxes from employees and then kept those withheld taxes instead of paying them over to the IRS. The total criminal tax loss attributed to Homeward Bound and Silver Linings for failure to pay employment taxes due and owing from 2001 to 2012 is $1,459,727.

Homeward Bound and Silver Linings also withheld from employee paychecks and kept child support payments, employee IRA contributions, and medical and dental insurance payments. The theft of these payments had negative collateral consequences for their employees.

Weaver, Stoll-Weaver, Langlais and Sturgis admitted they received income from Homeward Bound and Silver Linings, which they failed to report on their individual federal income tax forms, and as a result, underpaid their federal income taxes.

Weaver and Stoll-Weaver were married and filed individual income tax returns for 2010 – 2012; Stoll-Weaver filed a separate return in 2009. Their combined unreported income was at least $257,827. Weaver’s total personal tax loss was at least $27,488. Stoll-Weaver’s personal tax loss was $34,264.

Langlais willfully failed to make an income tax return or pay personal income taxes from 2010 to 2012, for a total personal tax loss of $56,860. Sturgis willfully failed to make an income tax return or pay personal income taxes from 2007 to 2012, for a total personal tax loss of $148,347, including relevant conduct.

Additionally, from 2009 to 2012, Weaver, Stoll-Weaver and Sturgis each claimed personal federal income tax refunds, knowing that Homeward Bound and Silver Linings had not paid any income taxes to the IRS.

Under federal statutes, Weaver and Sturgis are each subject to a sentence of up to three years in federal prison without parole. Stoll-Weaver and Langlais are each subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. Sentencing hearings will be scheduled after the completion of presentence investigations by the United States Probation Office.

Classes begin soon and bus drivers around the area participated in training this week in St. Joseph.

According to Apple Bus Area Regional Manager Kim Green, 120 bus drivers from around the area participated in the back-to-school training Monday and Tuesday at Hillyard Technical Center. 

Linda McDowell with Apple Bus Company said the training covered a variety of everyday and emergency situations. 

“(We) make sure they’re doing their backing right, their back tail swings, we’re doing emergency evacuations, we’re doing the school bus stops,” McDowell said. “It’s to make the drivers aware of the oncoming year, just a little bit of what we’re working with on an everyday basis.” 

McDowell said the training drills cover situations such as emergency evacuations.

“We show them emergency exits, we show them exits on top, we show them the radio, how to use it, all the emergency windows, just show them how to get on and off so we know how to do it so we can tell our students,” McDowell said.

McDowell said classroom training over the two days included new driver orientation, refresher courses, information on insurance and more.

According to Green, drivers must complete eight hours of safety training per year to keep their Commercial Driver’s License (CDL).

Classes for the St. Joseph School District begin August 16th.