St. Joseph police are warning you to avoid the south junction of I-29 and I-229 because of an injury accident.

A semi jackknifed into a car at the 42.4 mile marker of southbound I-29 shortly after 4:30 am.

Police say traffic will be impacted “for an undetermined amount of time” according to a Nixle alert.

Witnesses say one lane of traffic is getting through, but officers on the scene worry that morning rush-hour traffic will be slowed down by the crash.

At least one person was transported to the hospital.

Refresh this post for more information as it becomes available.

A St. Joseph man has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a fatal shooting in his garage.

Lonald Ueligger Sr. pleaded guilty to one count of voluntary manslaughter, admitting he shot Perry Smith in the head on June 24. The shooting happened at Ueligger’s home in the 2900 block of Dover.

Judge Daniel Kellogg scheduled sentencing November 1 at 2pm. The charge carries a five-to-fifteen year prison term upon conviction.

An unusual photographic exhibition is coming to Missouri Western beginning Friday.

The exhibit features work from national and international artists working with the cyanotype photographic process.

“Shades of Blue: Contemporary Cyanotypes” will be exhibited at Missouri Western State University’s Potter Art Gallery from Sept. 23 to Oct. 24.

There will be an opening reception at 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23 that is free and open to the public.

“Shades of Blue” features national and international artists who work with the cyanotype photographic process. Featured artists include Isobel Davis, Nina Earley, Adam Finkelston, Hannah Skoonberg, Andy Julo, Tasha Lewis, Rochelle Martin, Anna Mavromatis, Heather Oelklas, Danielle Owensby, Veronica Siehl, Emmeline Solomon, Nicole White and Vanessa Wiggins.

The Potter Art Gallery is open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Admission is free.

A local organization offers training this weekend on the effects of trauma on children. 

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater St. Joseph, through a grant from Mosaic Life-Care, is presenting “Fostering Resilience: Preparing children and teens to THRIVE through both good and challenging times with a Trauma-Informed approach.” 

Tiffany Miller is the Program Manager for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater St. Joseph. She said they serve around 100 children a year in mentoring relationships and noticed a lot of children in the program and on the waiting list have had an experience with trauma. 

“We want to inform community members who have children or work with children on a little bit of trauma informed care as well as resiliency of children and how to thrive through good and challenging times,” Miller said. “Whether they’re working with children or teens in their own life or through a school, through neighbor kids, we want to inform the community about how to work with these children in the best way possible.” 

Miller said the event is for anyone who works with kids, has kids or is interested in learning about the effects of trauma. 

“I can’t imagine anyone who would not benefit from coming to this training,” Miller said. “I think it’s a misconception that trauma has to be some large event. You think of a child who’s gone through a tornado event who is certainly experiencing trauma, but it really doesn’t have to be something that catastrophic, it can be something very minor that most children have gone through. It’s really just teaching community members how to work best with the kids in our community.” 

Guest speakers include Jean West and Dr. Tim Crowley. West is a TLC Certified Trauma Consultant and Trainer, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and employee of the St. Joseph School District. Crowley is a nationally known motivational speaker and leadership and resilience expert. 

The training event will be held from 9:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday at Grace Evangelical Church, 5103 South 50th. 

To RSVP, click here. The event is for adults only and is open to the first 250 who RSVP.

Vehicle thefts increased within the past year, according to statistics from the St. Joseph Police Department. 

Commander Mike Wilson with the St. Joseph Police Department, said last year at this time, there were 289 vehicle thefts reported in the St. Joseph area and this year, the number is 376. 

“We do know that some people that are looking to steal a car, what they’ll do is maybe go to a convenience store and kind of look and see if somebody leaves their car running, to run in and grab a drink or something, that’s their opportunity to steal the car,” Wilson said. “Also they patrol the neighborhoods and watch when people go out in the mornings and start their cars, leave them running, things like that. Whether it’s a car they need to drive to get somewhere or it could be an opportunity for them to use that car to commit another crime or something like that, it just depends.” 

Commander Wilson said the main thing drivers should do is not leave their keys in the car or leave the car running. 

“Even if it’s just for a second and you’re going to run in somewhere, you need to turn your car off and take the keys with you.”

Senate candidate Jason Kander says he has plans for the economy and for small business people if elected.

He says it doesn’t have to involve a lot of argument.

The Democratic Party candidate and Secretary of State visited St. Joseph on Tuesday for a round-table discussion with local business people. He heard from the operators of an art gallery, a dance academy, a boutique, a bed and breakfast and a funeral home, among others.

Afterward, he told reporters he would do two things to empower the middle class if elected to the Senate. The candidate says we need to cut taxes on the middle class.

“I absolutely think we need a middle-class tax cut,” Kander said. “When you have that, you’re going to have folks in a better position to not only be able to start businesses, but to patronize the businesses in their area. And a lot of small-business owners and entrepreneurs are in the middle class.”

Kander was among the first candidates to come out against the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He says bad trade deals, and bad tax breaks, are causing real problems in our area.

“We also should stop doing bad trade deals that ship American jobs overseas,” he said. “It’s been devastating to Northwest Missouri, and it effects the business community here. And, we should stop rewarding companies that send American jobs overseas with tax breaks.”

Kander heard about some people’s rising health care expenses under Obamacare. He says we need people in Congress who will focus on fixing what’s been put in place, rather than spend all their time arguing over it, which he says seems to be what happens now.

“We need a cheaper, more affordable plan, for Missourians, which should be offered.” he said. “We need to make sure, for instance, that we fully fund the FDA’s Office of Generic Drugs, which would bring some of the costs down.”

“There are things that can be done, but it requires having people who are really interested in improving things, as opposed to just continuing to argue about it all the time.”

Kander faces incumbent Republican Senator Roy Blunt in the general election this November.

Two St. Joseph residents are in custody early Wednesday morning in connection with a stolen vehicle. 

According to Sgt. Brett Kelly with the St. Joseph Police Department, at 2:52 a.m., officers saw what was believed to be a recently stolen vehicle at the Speedy’s Convenience Store at 1525 St. Joseph Avenue.

When officers went to make contact with the two subjects there was a short struggle before they were taken into custody. Correction: Two males, ages 32 and 37 were taken into custody, not a male and a female as originally reported.

Livingston County Sheriff Steve Cox says his department has taken a variety of reports of scams lately. In all of these circumstances, Cox advises you simply do not respond or engage in conversation with these people. If you have been scammed out of money you need to report that to your local law enforcement agency.

A person calling claims to be an Investigator with Livingston County and needing to talk about a check fraud case. The “Investigator” provides a toll free number to call back and even gives a docket number as a reference. The rest of the scam attempts to scare the citizen with threat of arrest and prosecution unless a specific amount of money is transferred immediately.

Various scenarios of IRS scammers are continuing to call area citizens in attempt to obtain quick transfer of money to avoid being arrested and/or charged with a tax crime.

A scammer calls claiming to be a grandchild and having been in an accident, in the hospital, or arrested by the police and needing emergency money.

Citizens being contacted through various means claiming you have won a lottery or give-a-way of some type and convincing you that a small fee needs to be sent first in order to get this process started.

Lonely person scam. This is where someone you meet on line gets you to fall for them but are in need of money to fly here or for other reasons.

The one common issue with these scammers, Cox says, is they get you to believe in something and then start working to get money from you. Often times the victim believes it is worth the small asking price for the reward being promised. Actually once money is paid the scammers continue to milk that cash cow until the victim learns they have been ripped off.

Many scammers now take it one step further and have a different person follow-up with you. Let’s say you are out $10,000 dollars to the scammers and they realize you know you are a crime victim. A new person will contact you and claims to be with an attorney’s office (or other official) and for a small fee can get most or all of your money back. This person convinces you into sending additional money to get this started. When this person actually is part of the scam operation and only further victimizes you.

Nearly all of these criminals are overseas or in Canada. Sometimes they will spoof their phone numbers to appear as if calling from within the United States or even in your own community. Sometimes these people will have actual toll free or other numbers from within the U.S. and the federal agencies get these numbers shut down and within hours the scammers have another number and are up and running.

The criminals located outside the United States have great success and a very slim chance of being identified. Cox says the best thing you can do is ignore them and hang up the phone.

“Keep your own money, you earned it.” Cox says.