A woman charged with a fatal shooting on Ohio Street two months ago appeared in court Tuesday.

As we previously reported, Angela Mason, 47, was charged May 10 in Buchanan County with a class-C felony of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of her husband, 50-year-old Jeffery Mason March 3. According to court documents, the couple had a fight, and “…the suspect said the weapon discharged and struck the victim.”

When police arrived, they found the victim and the defendant in the couple’s bedroom and a handgun on the dresser, according to a court affidavit. The victim suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the chest.

She appeared in court Tuesday before Associate Circuit Judge Keith Marquart. Mason waived formal reading of the complaint. Mason is free after posting $25,000 surety bond and is due back in court June 1.

A man and a woman are facing felony charges after allegedly trying to flee from a deputies in Andrew County.

Austin Briner of Rosendale is charged in Andrew County with felonies of possession, resisting arrest, and tampering with physical evidence.   He’s also charged with several misdemeanors for traffic violations and property damage.  Alyssa Denney of Oregon is charged in Andrew County with a felony of possession and misdemeanors for resisting and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to court documents, Saturday, Investigator Grant Gillett with the Andrew County Sheriff’s Department chased a vehicle driven by Briner through Andrew And Nodaway Counties after he failed to stop for traffic violations.  Gillett said the pursuit went from Country Road 140 to U.S. Highway 71, northbound into Nodaway County with speed reaching 130 MPH.  Gillett said the pursuit came back into Andrew County and ended in a corn field in Rosendale off of County Road 133.

“The suspect vehicle caused damage to the field and crop that was planted,” Gillett said. “They both fled on foot to the east into another field.  Both were arrested in the field, Austin Briner was found to be the driver and advised officers on scene that while fleeing on foot he swallowed approximately 5 to 6 grams of methamphetamine.”

Gillett said Briner was transported to Mosaic Life Care for medical issued from ingesting the narcotics.

“I asked Austin why he swallowed the drugs and he stated, so we wouldn’t find them,” Gillett said.

Gillett said once in the field Alyssa slowed down and stopped and put her hands up.

“I arrested Alyssa and asked her why she ran, Alyssa stated that Austin told her to run so she did,” Gillett said.

Gillett said when he asked Alyssa if she had also swallowed meth, she said no, but claimed to have a meth pipe in her underwear.

Both are due in court Tuesday for an arraignment.

 

 

 

An Amazonia woman has been charged after allegedly threatening to shoot her husband over the weekend.

Angela Taylor is charged in Andrew County with felonies of first-degree domestic assault, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon.

According to court documents, Saturday the Andrew County Sheriff’s Department responded shortly before 5 p.m. to a home in the 14000 block of County Road 401 after a man called 911 to report his wife allegedly tried to shoot him in the head with a handgun.

“Stated that Angela and him were in a verbal argument, and that Angela came out onto the deck where he was getting ready to grill food. When she came out of the door she had a black semi automatic 9mm highpoint handgun,” said Investigator Grant Gillett with the sheriff’s department. “Stated that they were yelling at each other, and she pulled the gun up and placed it in his mouth.”

The man allegedly grabbed the gun and pushed it away and said the gun discharged, just missing his head.

A court date is not yet listed on online documents.

(Update 12:43 p.m.) – The cause of a fire that destroyed a vacant house near downtown St. Joseph is being ruled as undetermined.

Mike Neylon, Chief Training Officer with the St. Joseph Fire Department said it’s believed the fire at 1310 S. 9th St. began around 3:15 a.m.  The first fire unit arrived at 3:43 a.m. and crews found heavy fire and smoke throughout the building.

“Shortly after the first unit arrived, part of let’s say a third of the building collapsed.  So there was no attempt at going inside to fight the fire.  It was all done from a defensive position,” Neylon said.

He said currently, the fire is undetermined and there is not much left to investigate. No utilities were hooked up to the house at the time of the incident. No injuries were reported. The property loss is estimated at around $25,000. Neylon said a nearby structure at the corner of 9th and Mitchell sustained some damage to the roof but did not appear to be extensive.

The scene was cleared shortly before 9 a.m.

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The St. Joseph Fire Department is investigating after a large fire destroyed a vacant house early Monday morning on Mitchell.

A fire engulfed a building located near Mitchell and 9th St. The St. Joseph Police Department issued an advisory around 4 a.m. warning people to avoid the area.  Sgt. Brett Kelley said the house was vacant at the time.  Nearby resident, Matt Rivera said around 9 a.m. fire crews appeared to be back at the scene.  He said the home has been boarded up and vacant for at least a year.

We are currently waiting to hear back from fire inspectors for an update on the cause and circumstances surrounding the fire.  We will update this post as we learn more.

The “Women Build Week” program at Habitat for Humanity entered its 10th year in the week ended Sunday, and a handful of St. Joseph women took part.

Volunteer Coordinator Rita Boyer says they used to hold the clinics and put women to work helping build houses the day before Mother’s Day. But she says in the seven years she’s been organizing the event they’ve gone from one day a year to two Saturdays and four weekdays. During the events they see a total of 75 to 100 women taking part.

We caught up with one of them putting up siding on a new home on Locust Street. Judy Jacobs of St. Joseph says she still works full time, but began volunteering for Habitat for Humanity as something to share with her husband when his health took a turn for the worse.

“It’s a complete different skill set from what I normally do,” Jacobs said. “I enjoy picking up skills that I can use at home, and I can tackle some home-improvement projects now that I wouldn’t have been able to tackle earlier.”

“Today we are putting up siding,” she said. “Some of the other guys on the other side of the house are finishing up the blue board so we can put the siding up. So, we’ve got a couple of different projects going, but I’ve been helping with the siding.”

Paul Davidson has been working as a construction supervisor for Habitat for about seven years, but began volunteering for them in 2006. Davidson is among those who host the clinics to teach the skills needed for the work they will be doing. That can include framing, siding, roofing, installing sheet rock and a lot more. The house they’re constructing on Locust Street should be done in two or three months, weather permitting, then they’ll present the keys to the new owners.

National Women Build Week was May 6-14. It was launched by Lowe’s in 2008 to empower women to advocate for affordable housing and spotlight the homeownership challenges faced by many people. Women are invited to devote at least one day to help families build decent and affordable housing in their local communities. This year, more than 17,000 women including Lowe’s Heroes volunteers from across the country were expected to volunteer at construction sites.

Lowe’s donated $2 million to Habitat’s 2017 National Women Build Week. St. Joseph Habitat for Humanity receives $5,000, which Boyer says is spent on building materials, supplies, tools. Whirlpool donates the major applicances and other donors provide cash and other materials for home construction.

A Kansas woman cycling 10,000 miles from Mexico to Canada will stop in northwest Missouri this week.

According to a news release, 32-year-old Sara Dykman is accompanying the monarch butterflies this spring as they leave the mountains of Central Mexico, where they survived their winter to begin their annual migration north.

“Butterbiking with the butterflies,” Dykman said.

She will be making a stop Monday, at Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge to share her trip with a local school in the morning and present to the public in the evening. People are invited to come see her gear and learn how biking 10,000 miles with butterflies is possible during her 7 p.m. presentation at the Refuge Headquarters, Monday, May 15, 2017. The evening event is free to the public; for more information call the Refuge office at 660/442-3187 or visit the Refuge Facebook event page.

“It is so rewarding to connect my adventures to students,” Dykman said. “I want to show people how incredible the world is and be an example of what it means to follow your dreams and take care of the planet.”

The eastern monarch populations have been in steady decline since counting began in the 1990s. In 1996 monarchs covered 21 hectares of the Mexican Oyamel Fir Forest. By 2014, monarchs covered only 0.67 hectares. This 80% decline can be attributed to habitat loss and climate change.

Local skaters to present “Mary Poppins, Across the Frozen Pond” next weekend at Bode Ice Arena.

According to a news release, “Spoonful of Sugar”, “”Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” and other classic songs will be brought to the ice in the St. Joseph Figure Skating Club’s annual spring show.

The St. Joseph Figure Skating Club will present “Mary Poppins, Across the Frozen Pond” on May 19, 20 and 21. Show times are 7 p.m. on May 19 and 20, and 2 p.m. on the 21st.

More than 70 skaters from the Figure Skating Club and Bode’s Learn to Skate USA Program will perform in a production based on the musical. The show features the magical nanny character as well as George Banks and his children.

Show Director Debbie Cole Gerber said “Mary Poppins, Across the Frozen Pond” includes some elements that weren’t in the well-known film, such as statues that come to life.

“There are a lot of underlying lessons to learn about how you deal with people and friends while growing up,” she said. “And the skating is better and better.”

Tickets are $10 for adults, with children 12 and under admitted for free, if accompanied by an adult with a ticket. The performances are at the Bode Ice Arena, 2500 Southwest Parkway. For tickets, call Bode Ice Arena at 271-5506 or send an email to [email protected].

The Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department is looking at restructuring personnel in an effort to fill positions.

Commander Mike Donaldson oversees administration for the sheriff’s department. He said hiring and staffing for law enforcement officers is difficult in the county.

“We’re looking to hire Detention Officers. These will be people that will initially start in the jail and the goal is to get the jail fully staffed so we can make some other moves within the department,” Donaldson said. “That will enable us to move some of our sworn commissioned deputies from the jail out to the road.  That will then, enable us to move some of our more experienced deputies that have been working for awhile into investigations or Drug Strike Force.”

Donaldson said even with restructuring there will continue to be a certain number of commissioned officers in the jail.  He said they are still about nine employees short.

“Even then we’re already still behind.  So we’re going to have to start another hiring cycle soon,” Donaldson said.

He attributes the shortfall to a number of factors, the anti-law enforcement rhetoric around the country and low pay in the county.

“There’s a lot of factors that are combined to create this shortage,” Donaldson said. “Our deputies are paid lower than other law enforcement professionals in the area… The truth is everyone knows getting into this job you’re not going to get rich but we’re always kind of behind the curve compared to non-law enforcement jobs.”

Donaldson said part of the issue is the starting pay is lower then other agencies, another part is the longevity pay is lacking.

“Currently, an officer with one year on our department makes the same as an officer at 30 years on,” Donaldson said. “The incentive for staying long-term isn’t there as it is in other departments.”

Donaldson said Sheriff Bill Puett is working to try to increase pay and getting longevity pay for deputies.