The rainy weather on Wednesday did not dampen spirits at a house blessing. 

St. Joseph Habitat for Humanity held its 64th house blessing for a home on Olive Street. 

Tommy and his two daughters, ages 9 and 6, cut the ribbon on their new home Wednesday morning. A short ceremony was held including a candle lighting, house dedication, prayer and gifts. 

Melissa Koch is the Executive Director for St. Joseph Habitat for Humanity. She said Tommy, who works as a caregiver at Choices, completed the required 400 hours of sweat equity, 10 hours of homeowner classes and made his one-and-a-half percent down payment on the house within three months. Koch said usually it takes people around six months to a year to complete everything.

“I didn’t know how long it was going to take,” Tommy said. “All I knew was that I needed to do hours and I needed to volunteer and that I had been accepted and I just started working. When I get set on something I want to do, I work as hard as I can so I got everything done I needed and got it all accomplished and got in here faster than anticipated or expected and it’s been a big blessing. It’s been a fun journey and I’ve learned a lot and it feels good to know that all these people are here for help and I want to get involved and pay it back too.”

Tommy said he feels overwhelmed, relieved and excited to have a place for his family.

“Now we have a place we know is always ours, we always are here,” Tommy said. “We’ve had some rare, strange occurrences that have happened and we don’t have to go through any of those obstacles anymore, we can focus more now on the future and on other things to get further instead of always wondering where we’re going to live and what we’re going to do.”

Koch said the 65th and 66th house blessings are planned before the end of June.

“All the hardship, figuring out how to pay for it, how to get it done, getting volunteers, all that comes together on a day like this, you just know what you’ve done, you didn’t put a Band-Aid on something, you really changed somebody’s life permanently and I don’t know that that could ever get old.”

An Independence, Missouri man pleaded guilty on Monday to supplying at least five kilograms of methamphetamine for eventual sale in St. Joseph.

Federal prosecutors announced the conclusion of a case that originated with the Buchanan County Strike Force.

Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that Gregory Scott Huggins, II, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine from Jan. 1 to Sept. 10, 2015.

Co-defendants Russell Wayne Helton, 36, and Tisha Anne Woods, 32, both of St. Joseph, have also pleaded guilty to their roles in the drug-trafficking conspiracy. Woods was sentenced on Aug. 11, 2016, to four years and nine months in federal prison without parole. Helton, who also pleaded guilty to using firearms in furtherance of the drug-trafficking conspiracy, awaits sentencing.

By pleading guilty today, Huggins, 31, admitted that he supplied methamphetamine to Helton and Woods, who distributed in the St. Joseph area. Conspirators distributed a total of at least five kilograms of methamphetamine during the conspiracy.

The investigation began on Sept. 10, 2015, when law enforcement officers took Helton into custody on a parole violation warrant. Helton was in possession of a Raven Arms .25-caliber handgun. Investigators searched his vehicle and found plastic baggies that contained methamphetamine. Another baggie, containing approximately 40 grams of methamphetamine, was taken from the passenger in Helton’s vehicle, who received it from Helton and was supposed to sell it for $1,400.

Helton told investigators he had been purchasing multiple-ounce quantities of methamphetamine every day for the past three weeks. Helton said he paid $800 per ounce for the methamphetamine and that he purchased $3,000-$7,000 worth of methamphetamine (approximately 3.5 kilograms) at a time.

Woods told officers she had been making trips to Independence with Helton at least three times a week to pick up methamphetamine from Huggins. Woods made at least 16 trips with Helton and picked up an estimated total of over five kilograms methamphetamine from Huggins. She admitted that the distribution of more than 1.5 kilograms of methamphetamine could be associated with her.

Under federal statutes, Huggins is subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole. Helton is subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole for the drug-trafficking conspiracy, plus a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison without parole for the firearm, which must be served consecutively.

A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Rhoades. It was investigated by the Buchanan County Drug Strike Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Dock Installation near the Remington Nature Center. pic.twitter.com/BogNDChQgP

— stjoemoparks (@stjoemoparks) March 28, 2017

The City of St. Joseph installed a floating dock on the Missouri River near Remington Nature Center Tuesday.

Assistant Parks Dir. Jeff Atkins said they try to have the dock on the river as close April 1 as possible.  He said barring flooding the dock will remain there until around Oct. 30.

“Once the river reaches an elevation of about 17 feet we have to go down and restrict access to the dock,” Atkins said. “If the river is projected to reach a level of 21 foot or greater for an extended period of time we go down and remove the dock from the river to prevent damage to the dock.”

The city purchased the dock in 2009 with a grant from the Missouri Department of Conservation.

“It does get a lot of use.  We don’t allow overnight motoring to the dock, we don’t allow fishing from the dock, we don’t allow sunbathing on the dock.  It’s basically there for people to use when they are putting the boats in and out at the boat ramp.  It gives them some place to park their boat,” Atkins said. “For the entire season it does get used on a fairly regular basis.”

Atkins said a crane aids in the installation and removal process.  He said within three hours the dock can be placed or removed.

Conservation officials are asking anglers to carefully dispose of used fishing line after an owl was injured in Platte County when it became entangled.

According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, Saturday a barred owl was found with fishing line wrapped around its wing, hanging helplessly from a tree limb at a private fishing lake.

Daniel and Debbie Haus of Kansas City are Missouri Master Naturalists and volunteers at the Lakeside Nature Center in Swope Park, which does wildlife rehabilitation. According to a news release, the volunteers answered the call for help and rescued the barred owl. Officials are hopeful that the owl escaped serious injury and can soon be released back to the wild.

“Not all wildlife is as lucky, though. Birds, mammals and reptiles that frequent lakes and streams can become entangled in fishing line and suffer severe injuries or death. Anglers are urged to dispose of used fishing line carefully, and any littering is a disservice to people and wildlife. Some fishing spots have bins to collect old fishing line so it can be recycled,” the MDC said.

For more information on fishing line recycling programs in Missouri, visit http://www.mostreamteam.org/mrrp.asp

(Update) – St. Joseph’s RadioShack has displayed a store closing sign several weeks after the chain announced it plans to close around 200 stores.

Previously we reported an employee at the St. Joseph location did not believe the store would be part of the latest round of closures.  However, Tuesday a store closing sign was displayed out front.  We are currently awaiting a call back from a spokesman for further information.  Signs in the window show a discount of up to 50% off.

According to a news release, General Wireless Operations Inc. doing business as RadioShack announced at the beginning of March that the Company has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.

The Company said RadioShack.com, stores and dealer locations across the country are still currently open for business and serving customers. According to the company, it and it’s advisors are currently exploring all available strategic alternatives to maximize value for creditors, including the possibility of keeping stores open on an ongoing basis.

Hanging up on a wall at the St. Joseph Animal Shelter are renderings drawn up by a local architect of a potential future shelter.

St. Joseph Animal Shelter Humane Educator Jenna Keyes said the Friends of the St. Joseph Animal Shelter have started on their fundraising campaign to buy land and build a new animal shelter in St. Joseph. 

“The Friends have been working very hard on the development stages, knowing what they want, developing fundraising plans, timelines, things like that,” Keyes said. “So now that all of that has already been established, we are in the promotion phase in trying to raise money to go toward the new shelter.”

Keyes said the current estimate is around $5 million in order to build an entirely new shelter in a new location up to industry standards as well as state and federal regulations.

“The reason why that’s so expensive is you’re looking at hospital type quality for these animals,” Keyes said. “Something that’s very sterile, healthy, and also an enriching environment that will benefit the animals during their stay, so that not only will they be physically active, their minds will be well stimulated, and make it a wonderful environment for the community whenever they come to visit as well.”

Keyes said they are also looking to build the new shelter in a different location that is in a more visible area. 

“I am very excited to see it become much larger, be a very inviting environment,” Keyes said. “There’s plans for lots of outdoor play yards for the dogs to get to go and play in… I’m excited for those group housing rooms for the cats as well. It will just be a lot better environment for the animals, for the staff and for the community too whenever they come and visit. What the Friends are trying to do is make a new animal shelter that the community can really be proud of and along with the city’s help we are definitely prepared to do that and working hard to try and raise all those funds.”

The Friends of the St. Joseph Animal Shelter is holding their 3rd Annual Run/Walk for the Paws 5K fundraiser. Participants are encouraged to bring their pets to the race which begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday, April 8th, in the parking lot across the street from Bode Ice Arena. 

For more information about the 5K click here and to make a donation to the shelter fundraising campaign, visit the gofundme page.

A man accused of shooting a woman over the weekend made his first court appearance Tuesday.

Dion Clark, 37 of Kansas City, Mo. is charged in Buchanan County with a class-a felony of first-degree domestic assault.

As we previously reported, Capt. Jeff Wilson with the St. Joseph Police Department said officers responded to Mosaic Life Care shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday after a 30-year-old Kansas City, Mo. woman was admitted for a serious injury from a single gunshot wound.  The victim remains hospitalized in critical condition.

According to charging documents, Clark is accused of shooting the woman in her torso with a 9mm handgun at 210 N. Belt Highway, the location of the Belt Sports Complex.  Witnesses allege in documents that the incident happened Sunday between 12:30 a.m. and 1 a.m.

Clark is scheduled to return to court next month, after Associate Judge Rebecca Spencer scheduled a preliminary hearing for April 11.

Clark is being held without bail in the Buchanan County Jail.  If convicted he faces a prison term of 10-to-30 years or life.

A second suspect has pleaded guilty in the murder of Kaytlin Root at Krug Park last fall.

Sebastian Dowell, 18, admitted stabbing Root, but denied strangling Root, as asserted by co-defendant Amanda Bennett. Dowell said Bennett knocked the victim on the ground and began strangling her.

Bennett pleaded guilty in February. She told a judge that the killing was part of what she described as a demonic sacrifice.

Root was found by a runner near one of the trails at Krug Park on Oct. 16, 2016.

Dowell is scheduled for sentencing on May 4. Bennett’s sentencing is scheduled May 9.