An outdoor movie series will kick-off Saturday night at the Wyeth-Tootle Mansion.

According to a news release from St. Joseph Museums, families are invited out to watch films on the grounds of the mansion located at 1100 Charles Street in St. Joseph. Four movies are planned throughout the summer. Guests are encouraged to bring their lawn chairs or a blanket. The first movie will be Night at the Museum, which will be shown at the Mansion at 8 p.m. Saturday, June 17.

The Movies at the Mansion series continues with an outdoor showing of The Croods on Saturday, June 24, at 8 p.m. The evening event will also feature a presentation about the Missouri River courtesy of the Missouri Department of Conservation.

The third movie in the series will be Mr. Peabody and Sherman, which will be shown on the grounds of the Mansion on Friday, June 30, at 8 p.m.

The last film in the Movies at the Mansion series will be Walking with Dinosaurs on Saturday, July 8, at
8 p.m. Guests for this event will also see a presentation on Mammoth fossils by Paleoartist Gary Staab.

Admission is free for each outdoor movie. Refreshments will be available for purchase. For more information, call 816-232-8471 or visit stjosephmuseum.org/events.

Kids will mount their bikes Saturday morning for the start of the 2017 Kids Tour of St. Joseph.

According to a news release, the City of St. Joseph Health Department is partnering with the Parks, Recreation and Civic Facilities Department and The Mark Reynolds Fund to promote the 2017 Kids Tour of St. Joseph Bicycle Ride Series.

The Kids Tour of St. Joseph is free of charge and consists of two non-competitive bicycle rides, open to children aged 3-14. The two events are scheduled for June 17th at Hyde Park and July 15th at Corby Pond. A parent or guardian must be
present to complete an event day registration and ride waiver, and children participating in the events are required to bring a bike and a helmet. Prizes and incentives include a free t-shirt, plus a box lunch provided by Chick-fil-A for each participant, door prizes and an awards ceremony.

The schedule of events is as follows:
• Registration begins at 9:00 a.m.
• Kids Tour rides begin at 10:00 a.m.
• Awards ceremony immediately following the ride
• Bike Rodeo Safety Course following the Hyde Park ride
• Mountain Bike Trail Tours following the Corby Pond ride

For more information, see the Facebook page Kids Tour of St. Joseph https://www.facebook.com/kidstourofstjoe/ or call 816-261-8656 or
816-236-1491.

The St. Joseph School District is replacing and increasing its special education bus fleet at a price officials said came in below budget.

Roy Lashbrook, purchasing manager with the district said the effort originally started out with the current budget allotment for the year of around $100,000.  He said the goal was to try to find a new or used bus, or a couple of used buses to try to replace some that were extremely old.

“This effort kind of blossomed into a little more creative purchasing route,” Lashbrook said. “We decided to purchase them on a capital lease purchase program. Basically, take our current budget year money and the next four years, actually five as it turned out to see if we could stretch that without spending any extra money moving forward year-to-year.”

The district ended up purchasing 10 new buses; nine of those arrived at the district Friday morning.

“Five years, six payments, because we had six years of budget money to work with. It was $594-thousand and change is what it came to. So we’re actually spending less than what we would normally have budgeted year-to-year for this outlay and we quintupled the number of buses that we were able to have access too immediately,” Lashbrook said.

While the district contracts with Apple Bus to transport most students in the district, Lashbrook said the new buses are part of the SpEd fleet which is used for preschool, special needs, and transportation for homeless students. He said, previously the fleet consisted of several buses as old as the late 90s with over 300,000 miles and some without air conditioning.

“We also, were able to make sure that through this deal that all of our on-board camera and monitoring systems were updated…Then we’re going to update the rest of the feet to that standard over the rest of the summer of the existing buses that we have in the fleet,” Lashbrook said.

The addition of the 10 new buses brings the district’s fleet up from 19 to 23 after trading in six of the old buses. Two of the new buses also came with wheelchair lifts, a feature Lashbrook said was only available on one bus prior.

He said the new buses will also save the district money on maintenance.

“One of the reasons we couldn’t trade in our sixth bus was because it was out at a third party service provider just getting back to where it would be roadworthy enough to trade in,” Lashbrook said.

The final new bus is expected to arrive next month.

A 17-year-old St. Joseph woman appeared by video conference in court Friday in connection with the death of her baby.

Kyla Watson is charged in Buchanan County with a felony of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child.

As we previously reported, Watson and co-defendant Franklin Skeen Jr., 17,  from St. Joseph are both accused in court documents of co-sleeping with their 3-month-old child on June 1.

An autopsy report said the baby’s death was caused by overlay. Investigators said the couple tested positive for marijuana and benzodiazepines.

During Watson’s arraignment, Judge Rebecca Spencer refused to reduce Watson’s $15,000 cash bail. The defendant has applied for a public defender, and remains in custody awaiting a preliminary hearing scheduled June 27 at 1:30 pm.

At the end of the video hearing, a man who identified himself as Watson’s father stood and demanded to speak with the judge. He was escorted out of the courtroom by a deputy.

“My job is court security,” said Deputy Pam Sappington, the marshall for Judge Spencer. “I’m not going to let anyone disrespect the judge.”

Several deputies converged on the man outside the courtroom and he was escorted out of the building. He was heard shouting accusations in reference to authorities.

Co-defendant Skeen who is charged with a felony of possession in connection with the case appeared in a separate courtroom Friday morning, in front of Judge Keith Marquart.  Judge Marquart denied bail in that case.

The 2017 St. Joe Pride Fest will kick-off two days of activities starting Friday in downtown.

It’s the second year the Midland Empire Equality Coalition has hosted the event, which coalition president Daniel Ramming said actually started five years ago in St. Joseph. Ramming said the purpose is to bring awareness of the LGBT community.

“It’s family-friendly. We have some events for the kids,” Ramming said. “We’re just your neighbors and co-workers and family and friends.”

Felix Street Square will be the site of live music, a drag show, vendors, and various entertainment acts. Friday, the event will start at 6 p.m. with several drag performers, followed by a theater performance and live music as well as vendors, food and drink.  Then Saturday, a parade will start at noon at 3rd and Felix and follow a route downtown to end at Coleman Hawkins Park.

Ramming said the MEEC received official non-profit status last year and is serving people in northeast Kansas and Northwest Missouri. According to its website, MEEC is dedicated to the education, outreach and edification of all members of the LGBQT community and their allies.

“I’ve had lots of people ask, ‘Why does it have to be so public? Why don’t you just keep quiet about it?’ That’s like asking Rosa Parks to sit in the back of the bus. If people don’t know you exist you don’t get rights,” Ramming said.

He said, recently, a lot of the political climate seems to be sort of a backlash against some of the progress the LGBT community has made.

“We’re trying to make sure the community knows we’re not going to back down and we’re still going to be there to support them,” Ramming said. “There are people who seem to be having a rougher time at work. A lot of people don’t understand that even though we have marriage equality…People in Missouri except for some of the bigger cities don’t have a non-discrimination ordinance so they can be fired just because their boss thinks they’re gay or lesbian or bi-sexual or transgender.”

He said anyone in the region who needs assistance or wants to get involved with MEEC should come out to the Pride event or check out the coalition’s Facebook Page.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Five men from Excelsior Springs pleaded guilty this week to their roles in a $4.3 million conspiracy to distribute large quantities of methamphetamine in five northwest Missouri counties.

Federal prosecutors say the men distributed the drugs through Jackson, Clay, Ray, Clinton and Buchanan counties.

Those who pleaded guilty this week are 53-year-old Marion Eugene Brammer; 44-year-old Jason Lee Kirtley; 60-year-old Jackie Love; 36-year-old William Dean Campbell, and 32-year-old Steven Lee Schreier Jr.

They are the last of 26 defendants indicted in the case who pleaded guilty.

In 2010, law enforcement investigated a drug-trafficking organization distributing methamphetamine in northwest Missouri and northeast Kansas. Some co-conspirators distributed the methamphetamine throughout the five Missouri counties.

Court documents indicate conspirators sold $4.3 million of methamphetamine and heroin from 2010 to 2015.

(Update) – The case of a teenager who went missing nearly 13-years-ago from St. Joseph remains open after authorities conclude a search of several properties on the north end.

As we previously reported, on Tuesday The St. Joseph Police Department in connection with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children began conducting an operation related to the ongoing missing person’s investigation of Ashley Martinez. The operation originally began in the area of Huntoon Road and West Highland Avenue and later moved to several acres of private land. Capt. Jeff Wilson with the St. Joseph Police Department said the operation was based on historical information related to the case.

“Investigators with the assistance of search experts from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children conducted a ground search of several properties utilizing specialized equipment and cadaver dogs,” Wilson said. “The search was of value to investigators, but at this time the case remains open with investigators continuing to conduct follow up related to the investigation.”

According to past reports in the case, Martinez was last seen on July 6, 2004 when she was dropped off at a public pool in St. Joseph. The Center for Missing and Exploited Children said Martinez was 15-years-old when she went missing, she would now be 28-years-old.