A St. Joseph man is accused of shooting at a vehicle on 59 highway and then holding a resident at gunpoint for keys to a truck which eventually got stuck in a muddy field.

Zachary Bixby, 23 is charged in Buchanan County with a felony of unlawful use of a weapon.

According to court documents, around 10:30 a.m. on Saturday Bixby and another man were spotted near the Dollar General Store on King Hill Avenue in a stolen Volkswagen Beetle.  Capt. Shawn Collie with the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office said two people tried to confront the men, one of which knew the vehicle had been stolen earlier in the morning from a friend.  Bixby and the other man allegedly fled the area in the stolen vehicle and the witnesses followed.

They continued into the area of the 9000 block of S. 59 Highway where the stolen vehicle allegedly slowed down and pulled over onto the shoulder of the northbound lane.

“According to victim and witness statements, Bixby and Butts exited the Volkswagen Beetle and Bixby began firing a handgun at the vehicle,” Collie said.

One round hit the hood of the other vehicle.  The men allegedly split-up and went in separate directions.  Collie said Bixby ran into a home in the 8900 block of 59 HWY.

“Once inside, Bixby came into contact with the homeowner who advised Bixby pointed a handgun at him saying he wanted the keys to his vehicle,” Collie said. “He told Bixby the keys were in the vehicle and Bixby left the residence and entered (the victim’s) Ford F-150.”

Court documents said Bixby drove the stolen pickup a short distance into a field where he got stuck.  After running from the truck on foot he was taken into custody.

“A search of the route that Bixby used to flee from the pickup was conducted and investigators located a loaded SCCY 9 mm handgun,” Collie said.

The second man was taken into custody on 59 HWY just north of where the shooting took place.

Bixby is also wanted on a felony warrant out of Clay County for first-degree robbery. He is due in court Tuesday morning for an arraignment. Bixby is currently being held without bail in the Buchanan County Jail.

 

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The following is a listing of general highway maintenance and construction work in the Northwest Missouri region planned for the week of April 10 – 16 from the Missouri Department of Transportation. In addition to the work listed below, there may be pothole patching, bridge maintenance, striping, brush cutting, guardrail repairs and other road work conducted throughout the region. Many of these will be moving operations and could include lane closures with delays. All scheduled maintenance and construction projects are subject to change with weather conditions.

 

Andrew County

U.S. Route 71 – From Route B to Business U.S. 71 (Nodaway County) for pothole patching, April 10 – 14

Atchison County

Routes J and KK – Pothole patching, April 10 – 14

U.S. Route 136 – From Route O to Route M for resurfacing project, April 10 – 15

Buchanan County

Interstate 229 – Sweeping and flushing bridges, April 10 – 13

U.S. Route 36 – At the 10^th Street Overpass Bridge for maintenance, April 10 – 13

Route 116 – From Route 371 to U.S. Route 169 (Clinton County) for chip sealing, April 10 – 14. A pilot car will guide motorist through the work zone.

U.S. Route 36 – One mile east of Route AC for a bridge project, April 10 – 14

Caldwell County

U.S. Route 36 – From Route P to Route 13 for slide repair work, April 10 – 14

Carroll County

Route OO – From Route E to County Road 248 for drainage work, April 12 – 14

Chariton County

U.S. Route 24 – From Route 5 to the Randolph County line for a resurfacing project, April 10 – 15

Routes J and Z – Pothole patching, April 10 – 14

Route 139 – From the city limits of Sumner to the Linn County line for pothole patching, April 12 – 14

Clinton County

Route 116 – From U.S. Route 169 to Route 371 (Buchanan County) for chip sealing, April 10 – 14. A pilot car will guide motorist through the work zone.

Route Y – From Route 116 to the city limits of Plattsburg for chip sealing, April 12.

Route F – From U.S. Route 169 to Route W for chip sealing, April 13.

Daviess County

Route K – From Route 146 to Route B for drainage work, April 10 – 14

DeKalb County

Route J – CLOSED from Route 6 to U.S. Route 36 for a resurfacing project, April 10 – 15. The road will be closed in one to two mile segments at a time throughout the project.

Route O – CLOSED from Route 31 to Route N for a resurfacing project, April 10 – 15. The road will be closed in one to two miles segments at a time throughout the project.

Route N – CLOSED from Route 6 to U.S. Route 36 for a resurfacing project, April 10 – 15. The road will be closed in one to two miles segments at a time throughout the project.

I-35 – At the U.S. Route 36 interchange for bridge painting, April 10 – 14

U.S. Route 36 – At the I-35 Overpass Bridge for painting, April 10 – 14

Route A – Sealing, April 10 – 14

Gentry County

U.S. Route 136 – From U.S. Route 169 to Route F for pothole patching, April 10 – 14

Route N – CLOSED from East 250^th Street to West 250^th Street for a culvert replacement, April 11, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Route M – CLOSED from U.S. Route 169 to County Road 452 for a culvert replacement, April 11, 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Grundy County

U.S. Route 65 and Route 6 – Pothole patching, April 10 – 14

Route U – CLOSED from Southwest 80^th Street to County Road 505 (Livingston County) for a culvert replacement, April 10, 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Route A – CLOSED from Northwest 90^th Street to Northwest 95^th Street for a culvert replacement, April 12, 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Route NN – CLOSED from Route O to Northeast 58^th Street for a culvert replacement, April 13, 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Harrison County

Route D – CLOSED from West 180^th Street to West 190^th Street for a culvert replacement, April 10, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Route 46 – From U.S. Route 69 to Route HH for pothole patching, April 10 – 14

Route A – Sealing, April 10 – 14

Route D – CLOSED from West 180^th Street to Route M for a culvert replacement, April 11, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Route D – CLOSED from West 140^th Place to West 150^th Place for a culvert replacement, April 12, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

I-35 – From the 93.04 mile marker near Bethany to the 105.3 mile marker near Eagleville for pavement repair, April 12 – 15

Holt County

I-29 – Passing lane closed at mile marker 75.6 near the Oregon Exit for pavement repair, April 10 at 7:30 a.m. to April 11 at 8 a.m.

Linn County

U.S. Route 36 – From Route 11 to Route 5 for pavement repair, April 10 – 13

Livingston County

Route U – CLOSED from Southwest 80^th Street (Grundy County) to County Road 505 for a culvert replacement, April 10, 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

U.S. Route 65 – At the Grand River Bridge for maintenance, April 10 – 14

Nodaway County

U.S. Route 71 – From Business U.S. 71 to Route B (Andrew County) for pothole patching, April 10 – 14

Route D – CLOSED from U.S. Route 71 to Dragonfly Road for a culvert replacement, April 10, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Putnam County

Route CC – CLOSED at the South Branch Shoal Creek Bridge for a bridge replacement project. The bridge will be closed through May 2017.

Route 149 – CLOSED from U.S. Route 136 to Elm Trail Drive for culvert replacements, April 11 – 12, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily

Route 149 – CLOSED from Elm Trail Drive to Orchid Drive for a culvert replacement, April 13, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Sullivan County

Route UU – CLOSED form Whitaker Road to Route O for a culvert replacement, April 11, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Route O – Entrance to Engle Road closed for a culvert replacement, April 12, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

A class on photography will be held next month at the Wyeth-Tootle Mansion

According to the St. Joseph Museum, professional St. Joseph photographer Megan Wyeth of Megan Wyeth Photography Design will lead a photography workshop at the Wyeth-Tootle Mansion, which is located at 1100 Charles Street, St. Joseph, Missouri. The workshop will be held on Saturday, May 13, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

For the workshop, students can bring any type of a camera they wish, including camera phones. St. Joseph Museums said Ms. Wyeth will show students how to see, experiment, work the lighting, and frame shots. The workshop is limited to 14 students and pre-paid reservations are required. The cost of the class is $20 for St. Joseph Museum members and $25 for non-members. Call 816-232-8471 to make reservations or for more information.

The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office is touting an upcoming training for law enforcement and public safety officials.

Sheriff Steve Cox said the sheriff’s office is teaming up with Blue Shield Tactical to offer a De-Escalation Instructor Course in August. The training will be held at Comfort Inn, 250 Business Highway 36 in Chillicothe Aug, 7 to 9.

“We hope to fill this course with law enforcement from all around the Midwest. The participants will leave the course as certified instructors and may then provide their respective agency with De-Escalation training,” Cox said. De-Escalation is a very important issue and tool for public safety. This is an outstanding course for every law enforcement agency and jail/prison staff.”

According to the course outline from Blue Shield, the strategies from this course will provide officers with an effective blueprint to solve potentially unreceptive situations before they erupt.

For more information CLICK HERE.

(The video is expected to be live-streamed starting at 8 a.m. The interview process begins at 9 a.m.)

Update: Larry Koch has been selected to fill the vacant spot on the board. He will be sworn in during the Special BOE Meeting on Monday, April 10 at 5:30 p.m.

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A Board of Education Meeting will be held Saturday morning for members to hear from the final four candidates in the running to fill the seat left vacant by the resignation of Chris Danford.

Last month after hearing three-minute presentations from seven candidates, the board voted for Margaret “Maggie” Elder, Larry Koch, Aaron Duncan and John Hickman to advance to the interview stage. The four finalists will meet individually with the board during a special meeting on Saturday, April 8 at 9 a.m. in the school district’s boardroom.

According to the St. Joseph School District, each candidate will be interviewed by the board in a public meeting.  Each board member will rank the four finalists on a scale of 1 (highest) to 4 (lowest) and points will be assigned.  The points will be totaled and the final candidate with the highest point total will be announced.

The new board member will be sworn in during the Special BOE Meeting on Monday, April 10 at 5:30 p.m.

A program featuring an eclipse-chaser will take place this weekend at the Andrew County Museum.

Museum Director Jan Glenn said the event is for anyone wanting to learn more about the upcoming total solar eclipse happening in the area in August.

Jackie Beucher of Kansas City will be speaking at the event on Saturday. 

“She travels abroad, she’s been to 11 different total solar eclipses all over,” Glenn said. “She’s even led tours… to Greece and Tahiti and all kinds of places to see the total solar eclipses. She says if anybody thinks they’ve seen one, they really haven’t unless they have made a special trip somewhere to do it.” 

According to a press release from the museum, Jackie has been an astronomy enthusiast all of her life thanks to her father, a TWA pilot. She joined the Astronomical Society of Kansas City in 1984, where she has served as treasurer, secretary and president and currently serves as vice-president. For 13 years she was a national officer of the Astronomical League, an international group of astronomical societies, and currently serves as the Mid-States Regional Secretary-Treasurer for the League. Jackie has also been a team leader for the Astronomical Society of KC, which owns the Powell Observatory in Louisburg, Kansas. 

Jackie serves on the national Eclipse Committee of the American Astronomical Society and will have all the most current information regarding the August 21 eclipse from their latest meeting.  

Glenn said they wanted to hold the event in Andrew County so people can learn what to expect in August. 

“What we thought, early on, was that people don’t really know what’s coming and what a big event it is,” Glenn said. “So this is kind of an attempt to make it available to people to learn about the eclipse to understand how it is really a once-in-a-lifetime and that they need to attend, so we wanted to get that information out.” 

The program at the Andrew County Museum featuring Jackie Beucher takes place at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 8th. The museum is located at 202 E. Duncan Drive in Savannah.

The Open Door Food Kitchen is getting some help to purchase a new location to expand access in St. Joseph.

According to a news release from the City of St. Joseph, as part of the City Council’s strategic plan, an objective was established to help support a local effort to find the most appropriate location for the Open Door Food Kitchen.

Partnering with the Open Door Food Kitchen, the Downtown Community Improvement District and anonymous donors, the city of St. Joseph will be entering into a real estate purchase agreement to secure property located at 8th and Messanie. A new facility will then be built at that location using a combination of donated funds and proceeds from the sale of the existing building to the city of St. Joseph.

The City said the new purchase will allow the food kitchen to move into a newly constructed facility with off-street parking and possible room for future growth.

The news release said construction of the new facility will occur this construction season. Services provided to the community through the Open Door Food Kitchen will not be interrupted as they change locations as the transition plan will allow for continuous service.

“This is an exciting opportunity to continue the mission we started in June 1984,” said Lee Ann Smiley, Open Door Food Kitchen board president. “That mission is ‘To build a better community by feeding all that come to the Open Door Food Kitchen, no questions asked.’ We thank our very dedicated volunteers and loyal supporters.”

As part of the City Council’s goal of downtown Revitalization the city said it will work to convey the property currently occupied by the Open Door Food Kitchen at 510 Edmond to a third-party purchaser with the intent to further enhance economic development along the main corridor into downtown.

(Friday update) ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Several changes to the list of roads closed and reopened across northwest Missouri have occurred since the last update. Please see the list below for all roads closed due to flooding. All closed roads can also be found on the Traveler Information Map at www.modot.org.

Situations can change quickly, especially during flooding. More roads could flood without warning. Motorists are reminded to stay alert and to not drive through any water over the roadway. It only takes six inches of water (or less!) to lose control of your vehicle and possibly be swept into rising floodwaters. Any time there is water over the roadway, there may be unseen damage to the road surface below. Do not drive through water over a roadway or around construction barricades. MoDOT encourages all motorists to Turn Around! Don’t Drown!

NOW CLOSED:

Buchanan County

Route H in Agency at Route FF (Platte River)
Route MM east of Faucett from Old Frame Road to Loutermilch Road (Platte River)
Route C east of St. Joseph from U.S. Route 36 to Saxton Easton Road (Platte River)
Caldwell County

Route A north of Braymer from Applewood Drive to Wishbone Drive (Panther and Shoal Creeks)
Chariton County

Route E from just east of Rothville to Route JJ (West Yellow Creek)
Route D southeast of Marceline from Mussel Fork Avenue to Route DD (Mussel Fork)

Linn County

Route B west of Linneus (Locust Creek)

Livingston County

Route C west of Dawn from County Road 420 to Route DD (Shoal Creek)
Route CC southeast of Chillicothe from U.S. Route 36 to County Road 244 (Grand River)
Route D south of Ludlow from County Road 430 to one-half mile south of Ludlow (Shoal Creek)
Route DD east of Ludlow from one-half mile east of Route D to one-half mile east of Route C (Shoal Creek)

The Missouri State Highway Patrol announced Friday that sometime during the month of April a DWI checkpoing will be held in Livingston County.

According to the patrol, the areas selected for enforcement are based on a high number of drinking-related crashes, high number of contacts with drivers who have been drinking, and officers’ input as to probable contact with DWI violators.

“Removing impaired drivers from Missouri roadways is one of the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s top priorities,” said Captain James McDonald, commanding officer of Troop H. “If you choose to drink and drive, you will be arrested and you will go to jail. If your plans include alcohol, always have a sober designated driver.”