A virtual neighborhood watch is providing another way to keep the St. Joseph community safe. 

Commander Mike Wilson with the St. Joseph Police Department said the virtual groups were started in the area about a year ago through the website Next Door. 

“What it provides is in your neighborhood you can start your own virtual neighborhood watch group,” Wilson said. “You can put information out (such as), ‘Hey I need a babysitter’ or I have this or that, but also it’s used to communicate with your neighbors about things going on in your neighborhood that could be related to crime. Also we use it to put out general crime information in different neighborhoods, if there’s increased activity, maybe suspects prowling the neighborhoods or cars or things like that.” 

Wilson said there are nine traditional watch groups in the area which often meet once a month. As of last week, there were 71 virtual groups in the area. Wilson said the virtual option is often more convenient and easier to be involved with than the traditional watch groups. 

“I think a lot of people’s lives are busy so sometimes they don’t have time to maybe take a couple hours in the evening to make it to the traditional group,” Wilson said. “With this virtual group, it’s kind of like Facebook, you can sign on and look and see who’s posted what and things like that at your convenience, so it gives more opportunity, more of a day-to-day communication resource to use.” 

This week, representatives from Next Door are in St. Joseph training district officers on on how to get engaged with the network. Wilson said while this changes the way neighborhood watch can work, he said he doesn’t think it will completely replace the traditional groups. 

“It’s also still good for us to meet face-to-face,” Wilson said. “It’s one thing to know somebody’s profile, but who is that person? It’s always important to have that connection face-to-face with people. Sometimes we’re always so busy and we don’t take time to time to do that, to just sit and meet and talk to people, but there’s a lot of really good people who are in our neighborhoods, there’s a lot of good people where we work and I think that connection is really important.” 

Wilson said, so far, the virtual groups seem to be helping get information out to neighborhoods and officers that they might not otherwise receive. 

“Anything that you see in your neighborhoods and pass it on to us, it really helps us out,” Wilson said. “The community, the citizens, they’re our eyes and ears. We can look at our statistics and we can take reports, but sometimes people see things that sometimes they might not realize that it’s connected to something. So this takes us closer to (making) our community a safer place for everyone. With the watch groups and with the virtual groups, people that maybe see something or somebody suspicious in their neighborhood they can pass that information on. I think the big picture is hopefully that we’ll be able to connect more of these dots together before something becomes, like a major burglary spree, maybe we can stop it at the earlier stages.” 

For more information about the virtual watch group or to sign up, go to nextdoor.com.

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 Sept. 26 – Oct. 2 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.

MoDOT reminds the public to stay alert, watch for road work, buckle up, slow down, and drive with extreme caution through work zones and in changing weather conditions.

For more information about a project, please contact MoDOT at 1-888-ASK-MoDOT (888) 275-6636 or visit modot.org/northwest.

Andrew County

• Route 48 – CLOSED at the Platte River Bridge near Whitesville for a bridge replacement project. The road will be closed through mid-November.
• U.S. Route 169 and Route 48 – Striping, Sept. 26 – 30

Atchison County

• Route N – CLOSED from 290^th Street to 310^th Street for a culvert replacement, Sept. 26 – 27, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily
• U.S. Route 136 – At the Rock Creek Bridge for maintenance, Sept. 26 – 27 Includes a 12-foot width restriction.
• Interstate 29 – At the Nishnabotna River Bridge for maintenance, Sept. 28 – 30

Buchanan County

• Route AC – At the U.S. Route 36 Overpass Bridge for maintenance,Sept. 26 – 27
• I-229 – Sweeping and flushing bridges, Sept. 26 – 29
• U.S. Route 36 – One mile east of Route AC for a bridge project, Sept. 26 – 30
• U.S. Route 36 and U.S. Route 169 – Striping, Sept. 26 – 30
• Route 116 – From Route 371 to Route Y for shoulder work, Sept. 26 – 30
• Route DD – At the I-29 Bridge for maintenance, Sept. 26 – 30
• Route H – From the city limits of Gower to Route E for pothole patching,Sept. 27
• Route DD – At the East Fork of Bee Creek Bridge for maintenance, Sept. 28 – 30

Caldwell County

• Route 13 – CLOSED at the Log Creek Bridge near Kingston for a bridge deck replacement project. The bridge will be closed through November.
• Route 13 – From Route U to Route 116 for pothole patching, Sept. 26 – 27
• Route 116 – From Route D to Braymer for pothole patching, Sept. 28 – 29

Carroll County

• Route UU – Pothole patching, Sept. 26
• Route OO – Pothole patching, Sept. 27
• Route EE – Pothole patching, Sept. 28 – 29

Clinton County

• Route PP – From SE Haynesville Road to SE Moore Road for pothole patching, Sept. 26
• Route DD – In the city limits of Gower for pothole patching, Sept. 28
• Route F – CLOSED from U.S. Route 169 to 214^th Street for pothole patching, Sept. 29, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Daviess County

• U.S. Route 69 – From just north of Cameron to the Winston exit for drainage work, Sept. 27 – 30

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-December.
• 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-December.

Gentry County

• Route Z – CLOSED from Old Havana Trail to Route D for a culvert replacement, Sept. 27, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Grundy County

• Route J and Z – Pothole patching, Sept. 28 – 29

Harrison County

• U.S. Route 69 – From Eagleville to the Iowa state line for pothole patching, Sept. 26 – 27
• Route 13 – At the Little Pole Cat Creek Bridge for maintenance, Sept. 26 – 29
• Route M – CLOSED from Route EE to 210^th Place for a culvert replacement, Sept. 28, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Holt County

• Route 111 – CLOSED from Route 118 to U.S. Route 159 for a chip sealing operation, Sept. 19 – 20, 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily
• Route E – CLOSED from U.S. Route 59 to U.S. Route 159 for a chip sealing operation, Sept, 20, 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Linn County

• Route TT – From Iguana Road to Grand Road for drainage work, Sept. 26
• U.S. Route 36 – From U.S. Route 65 (Livingston County) to Route 139 for pothole patching, Sept. 26 – 30
• Route C – From Route M to Route 11 for drainage work, Sept. 27 – 28
• Route U – At Kayak Road for drainage work, Sept. 29
• U.S. Route 36 – From Route 139 to the Macon County line for pothole patching, Sept. 29 – 30

Livingston County

• U.S. Route 65 – From County Road 226 to the Grundy County line for pavement repair, Sept. 26 – 30
• U.S. Route 36 – From U.S. Route 65 to Route 139 (Linn County) for pothole patching, Sept. 26 – 30

Mercer County

• U.S. Route 65 – From U.S. Route 136 to the Iowa state line for shoulder work, Sept. 26 – 30

Nodaway County

• Route U – CLOSED at the One Hundred and Two River Bridge for a bridge deck replacement project. The bridge will be closed through mid-October.
• Route J – From 340^th Street to Route M for pothole patching, Sept. 27
• Route T – Pothole patching, Sept. 28
• Route ZZ – Pothole patching, Sept. 28 – 30

Putnam County

• Route 139 – Pothole patching, Sept. 26
• Route UU – Pothole patching, Sept. 27 – 28

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – As the season changes from summer to fall, the most successful baseball team on the field in the MINK League is turning its attention to helping students in the classroom.

The St. Joseph Mustangs are gearing up for the eighth year of their annual reading program for elementary students.

The free program, open to all elementary age students, has grown each year. In 2015, the Mustangs’ visited more than 20 schools, and reached over 3,000 children throughout northwest Missouri with the book totals exceeding 50,000.

“It’s great to see so many kids get excited about reading and learning,” Mustangs general manager Ky Turner said. “We love being an outlet for family fun at Phil Welch Stadium throughout the summer, and this is an extension of the organization with this program. We have great schools and teachers here in St. Joe and the surrounding communities, and we’re excited to partner with them.”

The Mustangs’ Reading Program comes with many incentives that include tickets to the 2017 opening night at Phil Welch Stadium, as well as prizes from East Hills Shopping Center, Aspen Leaf Frozen Yogurt, Cici’s Pizza, Worlds of Fun, Legoland Discovery Center and much more. The class that reads the most books at each school will also win a pizza party courtesy of Little Caesars Pizza.

The program is up to each teacher and school if they would like to participate, and the Mustangs are currently offering an assembly for schools that feature the team’s mascot, Rally, and a custom book written by the Mustangs’ staff.

All teacher sheets must be turned in to the Mustangs by March 10, 2017.

For more information, click here.

The Friends of the St. Joseph Animal Shelter is considering plans for a new animal shelter. 

They recently kicked off a new campaign to start raising funds for a new and modern shelter. 

Kappy Hodges with the Friends of the Animal Shelter said some of the reasons they began the campaign include the current location being prone to flooding, it not being in a visible or easily accessible area and the need for an updated facility. Hodges said they would like to build a new facility that would move away from the older barracks type style and she has taken notes from other modern facilities she’s visited. 

“They want pets to have more of the kind of environment they’ll have when they’re living out at someone’s home or in the world,” Hodges said. “Their kennels typically have glass or plexiglass of some kind, so there’s not that cacophony of super loud barking and stuff like that. That keeps the pet calmer and less stressed. You can see the pet better when you don’t have to look through chain link. I’ve been to a couple of these modern shelters and they are just amazing.” 

Hodges said the first step is to find a piece of land that is five acres or more. The exact cost of the project won’t be known until after the land is acquired, but Hodges said it will most likely cost a couple million dollars. They hope to have a new shelter finished or close to finished within five years. 

For more information about Friends of the St. Joseph Animal Shelter or to make a donation, go to petforu.com.

Northwest Missouri State University is hosting its fourth annual disaster response field training exercise and is looking for volunteers.

The Missouri Hope 2016 Disaster Response Field Training Exercise is an intensive three-day domestic disaster relief training exercise that is required for students studying majors or minors in emergency disaster management (EDM). It takes place Oct. 7-9 at Mozingo Outdoor Education Recreation Area (MOERA) and the Mozingo Youth Camp.

According to a press release, volunteers of all ages are needed to play the roles of disaster victims and spontaneous volunteer community members as well as apply moulage and assist behind-the-scenes. Individuals interested in volunteering should register online.

Missouri Hope is a full immersion field training exercise sponsored each fall by Northwest’s Consortium for Humanitarian Service and Education. Partner agencies include Maryville Public Safety, Nodaway and Buchanan County Emergency Management, Nodaway County Ambulance District, LifeFlight and LifeNet Air Ambulances, SEMA Region H Marine Hazmat Team, the 1-129th Field Artillery Battalion Missouri Army National Guard and the 139th Airlift Wing of the Missouri National Guard. The exercise also attracts students from colleges and universities throughout the country.

Participation in the hands-on disaster response training is available to all Northwest students, regardless of major or minor. Students do not need to receive academic credit to participate, but credit may be earned by any student who desires it.

The domestic disaster response exercise challenges students to overcome fears and hone skills as emergency responders. Students work together with teams in mass casualty situations, high-angle rescues and water rescue operations.

Participants are expected to attend the entire exercise. Participants are assigned to disaster response teams and will rotate leader and follower roles.

For more information about Missouri Hope 2016 and volunteering as a role player, contact Dr. Peter Adam at padam@nwmissouri.edu. For more information about Northwest’s emergency and disaster management program, contact John Carr at jcarr@nwmissouri.edu or click here.

Missouri Western State University will hold its 20th annual Reading of Challenged and Banned Books on Wednesday.

The event, in recognition of the American Library Association’s Banned Book Week, is free and open to the public.

Missouri Western students and faculty will be joined by members of the community to read selections from books that have been either banned or challenged in U.S. schools in recent years. Refreshments will be served following the reading.

The event is sponsored by the Department of English and Modern Languages, the Department of Education, the Missouri Western State University Library, Prairie Lands Writing Project and SNCTE.

The event takes place at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in the Hoff Conference Room, Blum Student Union, room 218.

For more information, contact Dr. Michael Cadden, EML at (816) 271-4576, Dr. Michael Smith, education at (816) 271-4514, or Sally Gibson, library director at (816) 271-4369.

 

 

While it still feels like summer, the first official day of autumn was Thursday and Hunts Orchard begins offering fall activities this weekend. 

The orchard, located off I-29 in Amazonia, will begin offering hayrides and more beginning Saturday morning and continuing every Saturday and Sunday through October. 

As previously reported, Hunts Orchard opened under a new family in June. Jeff Miller took over April 1st and Keith, Jeff’s father, who helps out at the orchard said they will kick off fall activities on Saturday. 

“Our busy time is just starting,” Miller said. “We’re starting our pumpkin fest (Saturday). We’ll have hayrides for the kids, a petting zoo, a hay maze, face painting, just all sorts of things for the kids to do. A trip to the pumpkin patch and we’ll have, of course, some special things on sale.” 

For five dollars, children can enjoy the hayride, petting zoo and the hay maze. Miller said they will continue to offer the same items and some new ones at the store. 

“Of course, our main seller is apples this time of year, we also have our own homemade cider, it’s made here on the premises,” Miller said. “We have candied apples that we make here and then we have fall fruits, squash, we have a sizable selection of Amish jams and jellies, Chase candy. We just got a contract with a maker of jerky so we’re trying to expand in some areas, so we’ve got a pretty good range of things here.” 

Miller said his favorite things about fall are the fall evenings and apples. 

“I brought my family here when my kids were small and now we’ve brought the grandkids here and it’s something we did all along,” Miller said. “So when it came up available we were really excited about being able to make it work some more.” 

Hunts Orchard is open from 9 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. on Sunday. Hayrides will be offered until 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

For more information, visit Hunts Orchard Facebook page.

Spectators and football players at Savannah’s game against Cameron tonight will honor local children in both school districts who have or had cancer. 

One of the children honored during the game will be 5th grader Will Walker of Savannah.

Aimee Kennedy, a friend of Will’s family said Will is a huge inspiration to a lot of people. 

“He found out that he had sarcoma when he was in 3rd grade and went through intensive radiation treatment,” Kennedy said. “This year, just about a month ago, they came back with some tests and found out that it had returned. So they told the parents that he needed to have his arm amputated. So last Wednesday he had his arm amputated.” 

Kennedy said the whole community has rallied around him. 

“Will is a huge inspiration to all of us. It’s hard for me to even talk about it without getting teary eyed. He is incredible,” Kennedy said. “The night he came home from the hospital after having his arm amputated, we went to visit him and the smile on his face is always there. He’s a rock star. I think it’s given all the kids, especially high school kids, a lot of them were friends with Bradon Krull that had just passed away with cancer a couple months ago, so, for a lot of these boys, they look up to him. And I think when they’re having a bad day, they think of him and it makes them appreciate life so much more.” 

Kennedy said Will plans to lead the team onto the field tonight. Kennedy adds they will be selling shirts at the game with all proceeds going to Camp Quality, a week-long summer camp for children diagnosed with cancer. Kennedy said there will be a short presentation during halftime at the game to honor six children battling cancer. 

“We will be honoring three kids from Cameron and three kids from Savannah,” Kennedy said. “A couple kids are in remission, a couple kids are still battling. At the end of the little ceremony, we will also release two balloons in remembrance of the two kids that we’ve lost, one from Savannah and also one from Cameron, from childhood cancer.” 

The game starts at 7 p.m. in Savannah.