In a trial filled with unusual twists and turns, the most unusual might have been the final result. Circuit Judge Daniel Kellogg on Wednesday ruled that a nurse under contract at the Buchanan County Jail was not guilty of accusations of improper sexual contact with two female detainees.

The trial of Carlos Marte was originally planned to last about two hours, but very nearly filled two days.

It also very nearly ended in a mistrial, because of ongoing arguments between the prosecutor Kate Schaefer and the defense lawyer Joseph Morrey.

The case was tried before Judge Kellogg, instead of a jury. During the proceedings, the judge admonished the pair several times, pointing out that the two lawyers would never have argued directly with each other in a jury trial as they had during the bench trial. Kellogg told them he was angry, and was embarrassed for both of them, ordering them to direct all such comments to him.

During his defense presentation, Morrey called the defendant to the witness stand. Marte repeatedly denied touching the two victims inappropriately, insisting that both had come to him with urgent requests for medical attention, that both said they would prefer not to wait for a female nurse but needed attention right away. He said that based on the women’s complaints, a visual assessment required him to look at their private parts. But he said there was never any inappropriate touching as the women had testified.

The trial also elicited a number of curiosities. There was testimony that inmates medical records were frequently misplaced into the wrong detainee’s file. A lot of the standard documentation was missing, or erroneously compiled. There were questions about who signed some of the documents. There was evidence that one of the victims in the case was allowed to walk unaccompanied from a secure area in the jail to the medical office, a violation of standard procedure. There was conflicting evidence about exactly what the standards were for a male nurse examining a female inmate. The defendant testified that many of the problems that occurred under his watch had been fixed by his supervisor. There were different accounts of precisely what training was offered to Mr. Marte.

The judge referred to much of that in his announcement at the close of evidence. There were no closing arguments. Judge Kellogg said the real issue was one of sexual arousal, and said there was no evidence of that. He granted Morrey’s motion for a directed verdict of acquittal, and ordered the case records sealed, as is standard when a defendant is found not guilty.

Morrey said after the trial that he was gratified his client got his day in court, that the judge reached the same conclusion he had, and came to the right decision. “The system works,” Morrey said.

A mumps case has been reported in St. Joseph.

According to a news release Wednesday from the St. Joseph Health Department, it was notified by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services State Public Health Laboratory of a confirmation of a single case of mumps of a person in St. Joseph.

“A single case of mumps does not typically pose an imminent threat to the community at large,” the health department stated. “The City of St. Joseph Health Department continues to monitor the situation and share relevant information with health care providers.”

Connie Werner with the St. Joseph Health Department said they are just telling people to monitor themselves for symptoms of mumps.

“The symptoms at first, unfortunately are very common symptoms.  The fever, body aches, just generally not feeling well.  The swelling of the cheeks, which are actually the swelling of the salivary glands.  Those tend to be when people start thinking mumps,” Werner said. “Certainly if you see those symptoms stay home and call your doctor.”

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Missouri is one of three states experiencing between 100 and 299 cases of mumps this year.

“The vaccine is really the only preventable measure we can give people to offer protection.  On average it gives 88 percent protection,” Werner said. “Even if you have been fully vaccinated if you have symptoms that can be consistent with mumps… We would still want you to isolate yourself and contact your doctor.”

Mumps symptoms usually appear 16-18 days after infection, but this period can range anywhere from 12 to 25 days after infection.

It’s the first mumps case recently reported in St. Joseph. However, in the past year mumps cases have been reported at surrounding areas including at the University of Missouri, University of Kansas and Kansas State University. In January, the South Harrison School District also warned of a possible mumps exposure. Werner said the risk for flare-ups of mumps increases in crowded environments.

“Anytime you have a confined area there is an increased risk of having increased cases of mumps.  Not only in Missouri but throughout the country we have seen increased cases, typically in institutes of higher learning,” Werner said.

Since January, Werner said the CDC has reported an increase in the mumps virus throughout the state of Missouri.  She said in in the northwest part of the state it appears to be slightly lower then other regions.

The 2017 Trails West! line-up has been announced which includes a mix of country, funk rock, and blues-pop.

This year’s festival will take place August 18-21 in Civic Center Park in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Here Come the Mummies, takes the stage Friday night; country music stars Clare Dunn and Trace Adkins will play Saturday; and Sunday’s entertainment includes the Grand Funk Railroad.

Here Come the Mummies return this year after they were set to perform at the festival in 2016 and the show was cancelled due to dangerous weather. According to a news release, the band is an eight-piece rock band with a “terrifying funk from beyond the grave” sound. They have opened for P-Funk, Al Green and Cheap Trick, and they rocked Super Bowl Village 2012.

Clare Dunn is an energetic, guitar-playing country music singer and songwriter from a small farm-town, Two Buttes, Colorado. Dunn made her debut in 2015 and has shared the stage with Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Bob Seger and many more popular artists. She was named one of Rolling Stone’s “Best Things We Saw at CMA Music Fest 2015” and her hit “Tuxedo” is currently being played on country radio across the nation.

Trace Adkins’ trademark baritone has powered countless hits to the top of the charts and sold over 10 million albums, cumulatively. He recently released a new hit album, “Something’s Going On,” in March 2017. His hit list includes “You’re Gonna Miss This,” “Ladies Love Country Boys,” “Songs About Me,” “Every Light In The House,” “Hillbilly Bone (Blake Shelton & Trace Adkins),” and “Just Fishin’,” to name a few.

The festival’s entertainment concludes Sunday evening with Grand Funk Railroad, a classic American pop rock band. According to the Allied Arts Council, Rolling Stone magazine once said “You cannot talk about rock in the 1970s without talking about Grand Funk Railroad!”

Admission to the festival is by souvenir button or 2017 Trails West! ® T-shirt. All festival guests over the age of 10 will need a button for admission. Trails West! ® T-shirts must be purchased in advance and can be worn to the festival as an alternative option to purchasing an admission button. Buttons will go on sale July 1. They will be available for sale online and at various locations across St. Joseph. Buttons locations will be announced at a later date.

The St. Joseph Police Department has taken four kids to juvenile detention after a crash involving a stolen vehicle Tuesday in front of Hyde Park.

Officer Joe Herrera said Tuesday morning, police attempted to pull over a black Mitsubishi Outlander for a traffic violation prior to knowing it had been reported stolen. The driver of the vehicle eluded officers and got away. Later in the day, Hererra said another officer was driving in the area of 28th and Olive and saw the vehicle operated at a high rate of speed, 60 miles per hour in a 25 mile an hour zone. Herrerra said the vehicle again, got away before the officer could make a traffic stop.

“Later on in the day we got several phone calls from witnesses about this black vehicle driving…careless and imprudent all over the roadway,” Herrerra said. “We started driving around the area and then we heard over the radio that a witness said the vehicle crashed in the area of Hyde Park on the west side.”

Herrera said when officers arrived on scene they saw the vehicle had wrecked in some bushes and several kids ran from the car.

“All juveniles were recovered after a search of the area and taken into custody and transported to juvenile detention,” Herrera said.

The suspects ranged in age from 12 to 16 years. Herrera said three boys and one girl were taken into custody. No injuries were reported.

Herrera said the vehicle was stolen earlier this week.

A homicide investigation is underway in Atchison, Kan. into the death of a 49-year-old man.

Atchison Police Chief Mike Wilson said shortly before 7 p.m. Monday police responded to a home in the 1100 block of Parallel. Michael Moeck of Atchison, Kan. was found deceased.

“An investigation, now considered a homicide, has been on-going since Monday evening,” Wilson said.

Wilson said he requested the assistance of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the agency has been working with the police department since Monday evening.

(News release) — The St. Joseph School District has selected Mindi Richardson as the next assistant principal for Oak Grove Elementary School.

Richardson is currently working as a Title Instructor at Amazonia Elementary School in the Savannah R‐3 School District.

Before joining the team in Amazonia, Richardson spent more 13 years in the Maysville R‐1 School District where she held various positions including Title reading and math instructor, classroom instruction and homebound instruction.

Richardson earned a master’s degree in Elementary Administration from William Woods University. She also has a bachelor’s degree from Missouri Western State University in Elementary Education with a reading emphasis.

She was hired to replace Leah Richardson, Oak Grove’s current assistant principal, who is taking over the role of principal at Humboldt for the 2017‐18 school year.

Oak Grove also recently announced the school’s new principal for the 2017‐18 school year when the
Board of Education approved the hiring of Natalie Arnold. Arnold is replacing the retiring Mike Otto.
The Board of Education approved Mindi Richardson’s employment during executive session on April 24, 2017.

(Tuesday 9:30 a.m.) – Two men have been charged after a large Meth bust Monday on I-29 in Andrew County.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the driver, Jeff E. Hart, 31, of Las Vegas, Nevada, and passenger Omar M. Chapman, 39, of Las Vegas, Nevada, were arrested for trafficking of a controlled substance. Each are charged in Andrew County with felonies of trafficking drugs, delivery of controlled substance, two counts of possession of controlled substance and a misdemeanor for unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.

As we previously reported, the Patrol said one pound of methamphetamine was seized during a traffic stop around 9:25 a.m. Monday on southbound I-29 at the 57-mile marker.

Hart and Chapman are currently being held on $100,000 bail in the Andrew County Jail.

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(Monday) – The Missouri State Highway Patrol said one pound of methamphetamine was seized during a traffic stop Monday in Andrew County.

Around 9:25 a.m. Monday, a the patrol said a state trooper stopped a southbound 2003 Chevrolet pickup on Interstate 29 at the 57-mile marker in Andrew County. According to a news release, circumstances led to the trooper conducting a probable cause search of the vehicle after a Missouri State Highway Patrol K-9 sniff of the vehicle. The search revealed one pound of methamphetamine located in the vehicle.

Two people from Nevada were arrested for investigation of trafficking a controlled substance and taken to the Andrew County Sheriff’s Department. As of 4 p.m. charges were not yet listed on online court documents.