A man was life-flighted to the hospital Monday morning in Atchison County after a one vehicle crash.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol said Anthony Bryan, 51 of Louisiana was driving northbound on I-29 around 11 a.m. in a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado about 5 miles south of Rock Port when his truck went off the east side of the road and began to skid.  It rolled over several times then came to stop on its wheels off of the east side of the road.

Bryan was transported by Life Net to Mosaic Life Care for treatment of what officials described as a serious injury.  He was reported to be wearing his safety belt.

An Amish minister will serve 25 years in prison in connection with his wife’s death nine years ago in northwest Missouri.

39-year-old Samuel Borntreger of Kentucky pleaded guilty to a felony for second-degree murder in Harrison County in June for the death of his wife 26-year-old Anna Borntreger.  Borntreger received his sentence to serve 25 years in the Department of Correction Monday.

As we previously reported, court records allege Borntreger went to Kentucky authorities in January and told them he put antifreeze in his wife’s drinks and battery acid in her rectum before her death in late 2006. No foul play was suspected when she died.  At that point in time the couple lived in an Amish community in Harrison County.

Police are looking into a second stolen vehicle that crashed in St. Joseph Monday morning.

Capt. Jeff Wilson said officers responded to 13th and Duncan around 10:30 a.m. after concerned citizens reported following a truck they knew to be stolen.

The vehicle ended up crashing and two individuals believed to be juveniles ran from the scene. Police allegedly caught one of the teens and are currently investigating a second person of interest believed to also be a juvenile.

The crash comes just hours after officers responded to the area of 22nd St. and Pear where police said two teens were also involved in a car crash with a stolen vehicle. One of the teens in that crash was taken to the hospital with injuries. Wilson said that teen sustained two broken legs. A second teen was at large after the initial crash.

As we previously reported, Wilson said the course of the investigation will have to determine if the two crashes are connected but that there is a possibility that the subject arrested at the second crash may have been involved in the earlier incident.

The annual Soles for Christ shoe distribution began Monday morning with people lining up outside the AFL-CIO Community Services building at 11 p.m. Sunday. 

The program has been helping students start off their school year with new shoes since 2003. 

Last year, Soles for Christ provided shoes for 1,179 children and about 1,200 are expected this year. By 10:30 a.m. Monday morning, over 100 shoes had been distributed and the line of people was still out the door and around the building.

One mother was waiting with her children for about two and a half hours before they were able to try on and receive shoes. She said the wait is worth it because receiving shoes helps take the burden off their family. 

“Otherwise when you can’t pay your bills, you have to take money from your bill money to pay for new shoes,” she said. “And they have pretty decent shoes (here), I mean, they have name-brand shoes and sometimes you can’t afford those in the store.” 

Shoe distribution takes place until 4 p.m. on Monday and from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. Tuesday at the AFL-CIO Community Services building at 1203 North 6th Street. For more information, call (816) 364-1131.

A man accused of intentionally setting fire to his ex-girlfriend’s home in Midtown will serve 4 years behind bars.

As part of a plea bargain Khayree Darton, 36 was sentenced Monday to serve 4 years for second-degree arson.  The state will dismiss charges of first-degree arson, tamper or attempt to tamper with a victim in a felony prosecution, and third-degree domestic assault.  The upgraded charges were filed after court documents said Darton repeatedly tried to call the victim to get her to change her statement.

As we reported previously, on April 7 shortly after midnight in the 1600 block of S 17th St Darton is accused of intentionally setting fire to his girlfriend’s home displacing a family of four.

“Told Darton she did not want to be in a relationship with him and started to leave the residence when Darton wanted her to stay,” said Officer Eric Powell with the St. Joseph Police Dept. “As (she) was leaving Darton said ‘that’s why I caught your house on fire.’”

Powell said the woman left the residence and returned about seven minutes later to find the house engulfed in flames.

The family was found safely evacuated.

A program providing students with new shoes for the school year takes place this week. 

The Soles for Christ Shoe Program has been taking in shoe donations from the community for some time and distribution starts Monday. 

AFL-CIO Community Services Executive Director Penny Adams said the program started in 2003 because teachers noticed students starting school without a good pair of shoes. 

“I can remember as a child having new tennis shoes and a new notebook and I was all excited to go back to school,” Adams said. “When you don’t have the basics to start school it’s kind of hard to even want to go back so we hope this will encourage them and lighten their spirits and get them ready to learn again.” 

The program serves children entering preschool up to 12th grade in Andrew and Buchanan Counties in Missouri and Doniphan County in Kansas. This includes public and parochial children.

There are no income guidelines but proof of residency and child’s age are required. Parents or guardians should also bring a pair of socks for the child to try on shoes. 

Last year, Soles for Christ provided shoes for 1,179 children and about 1,200 are expected this year. 

Shoe distribution takes place from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday and from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. Tuesday at the AFL-CIO Community Services building at 1203 North 6th Street. For more information, call (816) 364-1131.

Mitchell Avenue at the Belt intersection in St. Joseph will close to traffic starting Monday.

Contractors from Mega Industries Corporation, working with the Missouri Department of Transportation, will remove the old pavement at the intersection and lay new pavement Monday through Thursday and August 15-18.

Route YY (Mitchell Avenue) at U.S. Route 169 (Belt Highway) will be closed around-the-clock and traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction on the Belt.

The first closure will begin at approximately 7 a.m. on Monday. Contractors plan to reopen access across the Belt Highway at Mitchell by 5 p.m. Thursday, August 11. They will close the road again on Monday, August 15 through Thursday, August 18, during the same hours.

During the closure, all business entrances on Mitchell Avenue will be accessible, traffic will only be restricted from crossing or accessing the Belt Highway from Mitchell Avenue. Motorists traveling north and south on the Belt Highway may notice delays and will not be able to turn onto Mitchell Avenue from the Belt Highway.

Planning is underway in northwest Missouri for efforts to make one state highway a life-line for the Monarch butterfly population.

The Missouri Department of Transportation is working as part of a recent multi-state agreement to establish the I-35 corridor as the Monarch Highway.  Marty Liles if the District Maintenance & Traffic Engineers for MoDOT’s northwest district.  Liles said MoDOT is looking into getting volunteer groups to help increase pollination plants and awareness for Monarchs and honey bees.

“We have land and some of the land would be very good for establishing milkweeds and wildflowers and things that would allow some pollination,” Liles said. “We’re looking at seeing if we can get groups to go out and identify locations, kind of like adopt-a-highway.”

David Laderoute with Missouri for Monarchs Naturalists & Gardeners NW Missouri said there are many factors that have contributed to a huge decrease in the Monarch population.

“In the United States the biggest problems are loss of habitat.  Every time a subdivision is built it takes away some fields that were an area where milkweed might be growing then there’s loss of habitat,” Laderoute said.

He said there are also issues with farmers using certain weed killers and pesticides and how close together fields are being planted nowadays.  He said there are also issues with illegal logging in Mexico that have contributed to a huge drop in the butterfly population.  Missourian’s for Monarchs has been working to increase habitats around the area.  Laderoute said they are excited about the possibility of working with MoDOT.

“Our group assists to the extent we can MoDOT and that would basically be planting and maintenance,” Laderoute said. “Coming up with an initial demonstration plot.  If we do that we can draw attention to it and then we can go from there.”

Even though I-35 is the area being deemed the Monarch Highway, Laderoute said habitat efforts can extend for many miles away from it.

“I-35 is about 40 miles east of St. Joe but because anything you do is considered within the Monarch highway is within that 200 mile band we could actually do something closer to St. Joe,” Laderoute said.

A meeting to talk about habitat efforts along the state highway will be held Aug. 18 at the Missouri Department of Conservation located at 701 James McCarthy Dr. in St. Joseph at 6:30 p.m.  Mary Liles will present information on Monarch Highway efforts.  Laderoute said the meeting is open to the public.

CLICK HERE for more on Missourians for Monarchs – Naturalists & Gardeners – NW Region.