Early numbers show a high turnout at the polls in Buchanan County.

As of 11 a.m. 29.3 percent of registered voters had cast a ballot or 15,230 people out of the 52,918 registered. County Clerk Mary Baack-Garvey said she is still predicting a turnout of around 80-percent.

By 3 p.m. 45.4 percent of registered voters had cast ballots, or 23,587 voters.

We spoke to voters at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish Tuesday morning.  Diane Ford said she actually expected to see more people at the polls.

“I expected more today but there’s more places to vote than I expected.  Usually there’s only like a dozen and they can accommodate way more people today,” Ford said. “How could you not come out to vote today? We want this to come to an end.”

Larry Edwards said he also expected a little more turnout when he came out to cast his ballot shortly before 10 a.m.

“There is a lot of things at stake here and this is very very important,” Edwards said. “The country is divided and to determine which direction we go from where on out everyone has a stake in this because we all live here.”

By 11 a.m. Our Lady of Guadalupe saw 1,993 ballots cast. Ernie Frye  is a supervisor for the precinct. He said he has been involved with elections in Buchanan County for more than 20 years.

“This morning before we opened there were two lines the came in from outside the door there all the way in, waiting for us to open the door,” Frye said.  “It’s been steady all day.”

Election officials were seen assisting voters with mobility issues.

“We bring all the paperwork and everything out so they can do it,” Frye  said. “We want to make sure everybody votes.”

Polls close at 7 p.m.

 

(Update 11:21 a.m.) – An investigation into a potential arson fire at an apartment complex is underway in St. Joseph.

Sgt. Roy Hoskins with the St. Joseph Police Department said a maintenance man let authorities know there was black smoke coming from a unit in the Brookside Apartments located at 1602 Brookside shortly after 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. Hoskins said everyone was evacuated from the building and that a woman said the man who started the fire was causing a disturbance in the parking lot.

Hoskins said the man took off from officers and a foot chase ensued but he was shortly taken into custody.

Hoskins said a 31-year-old St. Joseph man is in custody as a person of interest and that the case is currently being investigated as a potential arson.

The St. Joseph Fire Department and the St. Joseph Police Department were on scene investigating the fire Tuesday morning.

 

Who is going to be the next president?

— St Joseph Post (@StJosephPost) November 8, 2016

Four Apple Market grocery stores in St. Joseph will close in less than two weeks.

In a news release, the operators of the store offered their thanks to employees and customers and was signed by Todd and Michele Euler and Mike and Kathy Decker.

“We want to thank the great employees and customers we have had the honor to work with over the last 8 years. We have worked hard to be a partner with the community and to support the great people and organizations of St. Joseph, MO.,” they said in the news release.

The four stores are located at 903 N. 36th Street, 3734 Pear, 2300 Mitchell, and 402 E. Price in Savannah. According to the news release, the last day of operation for all four stores will be Nov. 19.

(Missourinet and Post) – A record-breaking more than three million votes are projected to be cast in Missouri for Tuesday’s general election. Secretary of State Spokeswoman Stephanie Fleming said the prediction is based on data from local election authorities.

“Those can be based on factors such as historical turnout. They send those to our office and we just average all of those for a statewide picture,” says Fleming. “As we all know, the turnout that really matters is on Election Day.”

Turnout for the 2012 general election was about 66 percent in Missouri. The 2008 general election was called a record voter turnout at the time, with about 70 percent of Missourians casting votes.

Buchanan County Clerk Mary Baack-Garvey is anticipating a turnout of around 80 percent.

According to the Center for Public Integrity, Missouri leads the nation in political ad spending for the governor’s, lieutenant governor’s, attorney general’s and state treasurer’s races. More than $33 million has been spent on ads for the governor’s race and the attorney general’s race includes about $14.3 million in ad spending. In Missouri’s lieutenant governor’s race, candidates have purchased about $2.9 million in political ads. The state treasurer’s race includes about $1.1 million in such advertising.

Polls will be open statewide Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

An early-morning house fire destroyed a vacant house at 18th and Angelique Monday morning.

“The alarm came in for a vacant home on fire,” said Capt. Jamey McVicker of the St. Joseph Fire Depaertment, “and upon arrival the entire home was engulfed in flames, so it became an exposure protection, making sure nothing else happened.”

“Damage is very extensive,” Capt. McVicker said. “Building maintenance is here. We did have a basement wall collapse.”

McVicker says they put a rush on it, because it is so close to a day care and community center. The Bartlett Center is across the street. A fire inspector was dispatched to the scene to determine what caused the fire.

There were no injuries.

The St. Joseph Police Department sent a Nixle alert at 6:46 a.m. Monday urging motorists to avoid the area of Angelique from North 18th to North 19th Street and North 18th from Messanie to Sylvanie due to street closures. The road closures were not expected to last long.

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 Nov. 7 – 13 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.

 

Andrew County

Route 48 – CLOSED at the Platte River Bridge near Whitesville for a bridge replacement project. The road will be closed through November.

Business U.S. 71 – From County Road 363 to County Road 365 for shoulder work, Nov. 8 – 10

Buchanan County

Route 116 – CLOSED from Route B to SE 115^th Road for a culvert replacement, Nov. 7, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Route 116 – At the Platte River Bridge for sealing, Nov. 7 – 9

U.S. Route 36 – One mile east of Route AC for a bridge project, Nov. 7 – 10

Route DD – From I-29 to Route 371 for drainage work, Nov. 7 – 10

Caldwell County

Route 13 – CLOSED at the Log Creek Bridge near Kingston for a bridge deck replacement project. The bridge may open this week.

Route A – From Route 116 to the Ray County line for shoulder work, Nov. 7 – 9

Route Z – CLOSED from Austin Drive to Ore Road for a culvert replacement, Nov. 10, 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Chariton County

Route J – From Namrash Road to Cutoff Road for drainage work, Nov. 7 – 11

Daviess County

I-35 – Southbound from mile marker 75.8 (Route C) to mile marker 74.2 (Route N) for pavement repair, Nov. 7 – 10

DeKalb County

U.S. Route 36 – Traffic will be head-to-head at the overpass over I-35 for a bridge replacement project. During this project, no left turns from U.S. Route 36 onto I-35 will be permitted, as the medians between east and westbound U.S. Route 36 will be closed. Please follow the signed detour route. This project will continue through mid-November.

I-35 – One lane may be closed under the U.S. Route 36 overpass for a bridge deck replacement project. During this project, traffic exiting I-35 will not be permitted to turn left onto U.S. Route 36, as the medians between east and westbound U.S. Route 36 will be closed. Please follow the signed detour route. This project will continue through mid-November.

U.S. Route 169 – Shoulder work, Nov. 7 – 10

Route O – CLOSED from Route J to Route N for a culvert replacement, Nov. 7 – 10, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily

Gentry County

Route U – From Route O to 250^th Street for culvert repairs, Nov. 7

U.S. Route 169 – Shoulder work, Nov. 7 – 10

Route A – From Route Z to 440^th Street for culvert repairs, Nov. 9

Grundy County

U.S. Route 65 – Pothole patching, Nov. 7 – 10

Route 6 – At the Little Medicine Creek Bridge and the Little Medicine Creek Overflow Bridge for sealing, Nov. 9

Harrison County

Route NN – CLOSED from Route 46 to W 160^th Street for a culvert replacement, Nov. 7, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

I-35 – Southbound from the Iowa state line to mile marker 84 (Routes H/AA) for pavement repair, Nov. 7 – 10

U.S. Route 69 – From the Iowa state line to Route M for a resurfacing project, Nov. 7 – 10. A pilot car will guide traffic through the work zone.

Route 13 – At the Pole Cat Creek Bridge for maintenance, Nov. 7 – 10. A temporary traffic signal is in place to direct traffic.

Linn County

Route C – From Route M to Route 11 for drainage work, Nov. 7 – 9

Livingston County

U.S. Route 36 – From Route CC to the Grand River Bridge for sealing, Nov. 7 – 9

U.S. Route 36 – At the Coon Creek Bridge for sealing, Nov. 10

Mercer County

Route A – CLOSED from Route D to Icon Place Road for a culvert replacement, Nov. 8, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Nodaway County

Route M – Pothole patching, Nov. 7

U.S. Route 71 – Northbound from 340^th Road to 370^th Road for pavement repair, Nov. 7 – 10

Route C – Two miles west of Clearmont at the Nodaway River Bridge for a stream bank stabilization project, Nov. 7 – 10

Putnam County

U.S. Route 136 – Shoulder repair, Nov. 7 – 10

Route E – CLOSED from U.S. Route 136 to Dahlia Trail for a culvert replacement, Nov. 8, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Route EE – CLOSED from U.S. Route 136 to 190^th Street for a culvert replacement, Nov. 9, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Sullivan County

Route 139 – Pothole patching, Nov. 7 – 11

Route 5 – From Route E to River Road for core drilling, Nov. 8 – 10

Worth County

Route 46 – From Route Y to U.S. Route 169 for shoulder work, Nov. 9 – 10