(News release)- ​Platte County’s Director of Facilities has allegedly spent nearly 15 months using the county’s credit card and business account at a local home improvement store to build a beer garden at his home and purchase other personal items, including alcohol.  Kenneth M. Bozenhardt, 54, of Platte City was charged with stealing after allegedly admitting to investigators that he had purchased several items—including a lawn mower, welder, tool cabinet, sun shade, and flower pots—with county funds.

 

Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd said his office filed the stealing charge on August 6 after an investigation by the Platte County Sheriff’s Department.

 

According to court records, in May 2015, Bozenhardt allegedly purchased a welder using Platte County’s business account at the Home Depot.  However, county facilities employees indicated that the facilities department inventory does not include a welder, as they used the one at the public works department.

 

Also in 2015, Bozenhardt allegedly purchased a tool cabinet on the same county account at Home Depot.  Yet facilities employees indicated that no tool cabinets had been purchased for over two years.

 

The 2015 purchases were allegedly followed up with multiple, individual purchases this year.  The purchases included things such as a Toro lawn mower, 10-foot cedar posts, 12-foot cedar boards, potting planters, potting pebbles, a watering can, flags, flag holders, and sun screen material.  At least some of the items were purchased on a Sunday, which county facilities employees said would be outside normal business practices.

 

In July 2016, Bozenhardt allegedly purchased Sailor Jerry Rum at a local gas station using the county’s credit card. 

 

Court documents also state that Bozenhardt admitted taking $200 in 2016 after scrapping materials from maintenance jobs around county facilities.

 

Bozenhardt allegedly told investigators he had used the items for the construction and decoration of his beer garden at his home.  County employees told investigators Bozenhardt had bragged that he used the sun shade purchased with county funds for that beer garden.

 

Invoices for all of the items had been paid by County Commissioners.  County procedures require signatures of at least two commissioners before any payment requisition is paid.

 

Zahnd said his office charged Bozenhardt after Bozenhardt was placed on a 24-hour investigative hold by the Sheriff’s Department.  However, Zahnd said he would ask the court to appoint a special prosecutor to handle the case.  Zahnd has sought a special prosecutor in previous cases involving high-ranking county employees with whom he has had regular contact.

 

Judge James Van Amburg set bond in the case at $2,000, which could be posted by 10% paid to the Court or by surety.  If convicted of stealing, Bozenhardt faces up to seven years in prison.

Pickett Elementary is setting up a display case this weekend and asking the public for any memorabilia connected to the school or its history.

John Davison, Pickett’s Principal  said when he and his wife were antique shopping they thought it would be a neat idea to collect items from students who attended Pickett in the past and display the items at the school.

“I feel like Pickett Elementary is rooted in tradition in this community and we would love to honor and display its history and help our students feel like they are part of something very special,” Davison said.

Items he’s searching for include things like banners, pictures, pins, report cards, etc.

“Anything they have kept in boxes that they would like displayed.” Davison said. “We’re taking all of these whether they want to donate them to us or I will simply display them and if they want to come back and get them at any time they are perfectly welcome to do it.  We just really want to display the rich history that we have here.”

Donations have already been coming in.  This weekend Davison said he plans to start putting some of the items up on display.

“I’m just going to continue to add pieces together until December and then I want to have a dedication in January,” Davison said.

Pickett has a lot of history behind it. The St. Joseph School District said the original Pickett School was located at 3923 Pickett road, across the street and to the south of the current school. This school housed first through twelfth grade, and burned down in 1953. Despite Pickett belonging to the county, students were temporarily housed in the old Hosea school building, which was set to be demolished, and high school students were bussed to Central High School.

Today’s Pickett Elementary School was built in 1955 as part of the county school system, and was enlarged in 1958. At one point, enrollment was as high as 680 students. When the county school organization was dissolved in 1965, the St. Joseph School District took over Pickett and began building Skaith to handle overcrowding in the school and prepare for rapid growth in the Deer Park area.

Memorabilia is being accepted through December. Davison said anyone wanting to donate can contact the school at (816) 671-4330 or e-mail him at john.davison@sjsd.k12.mo.us. Donors can also bring items to the school.

Today is the last day to help Stuff the Bus with donations of school supplies for area students. 

The United Way of Greater St. Joseph will be collecting donations from 8 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. today. School busses will be parked outside both St. Joseph Walmart locations. 

The collected school supplies will be distributed through United Way Partner Agencies and Programs to area children who may otherwise start the school year without the supplies they need. The Salvation Army will be distributing the supplies at their Back to School Fair on August 11th. 

To learn more, visit United Way online.

​(News release) – A St. Joseph, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

 

Michael Robinson, 35, of St. Joseph, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to nine years in federal prison without parole.

 

On May 22, 2014, Robinson pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and to possessing a firearm during and in relation to a drug-trafficking crime. Robinson is among 20 co-defendants who have pleaded guilty in this case and the 16^thco-defendant to be sentenced.

 

Robinson was arrested by St. Joseph, Mo., police detectives on May 8, 2013, in reference to a shooting investigation. Robinson was in possession of approximately eight grams of methamphetamine, which was recovered from his vehicle. Detectives also found images of what appeared to be large chunks of methamphetamine on Robinson’s cell phone.

 

According to court documents, detectives interviewed several confidential sources, who stated they had accompanied Robinson to the Argosy Casino in Riverside, Mo., the Legends shopping center and residences in the Kansas City area to pick up multiple-ounce or pound quantities of methamphetamine, which he brought back to St. Joseph for distribution. Some of the sources stated those trips were made on a daily basis.

 

One confidential source told investigators that Robinson would meet co-defendant Charles Blazer, 46, of St. Joseph, on a daily basis during the summer of 2013; Robinson collected $1,900 for the ounce of methamphetamine previously sold “on front” and provided Blazer with an additional ounce for sale. Blazer was sentenced to six years in federal prison without parole after pleading guilty to his role in the conspiracy.

 

Also among those to whom Robinson provided methamphetamine for distribution was his brother, Roy Owens, 45, of St. Joseph. Owens was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison without parole after pleading guilty to his role in the conspiracy.

 

One confidential source told investigators that Robinson had been in a fight with a man over money. The source saw Robinson with a handgun and knew that the man Robinson had been fighting with had been shot.

 

On July 29, 2013, investigators executed a search warrant at Robinson’s residence and seized digital scales covered in a residue of methamphetamine, multiple plastic bags that contained the same residue, two handguns and ammunition and surveillance cameras that had been installed on the house.

An embattled educator in Northwest Missouri is in trouble with the law again.

Tarkio Police Chief Tyson Gibbons says in a news release that Tarkio School Superintendent Dr. Patrick Martin was pulled over in a traffic stop August 4 shortly after 3pm. Gibbons says Martin was driving on the wrong side of the roadway in the 1100 block and 1200 block of Pine Street in Tarkio.

Gibbons says they were on the lookout after receiving information about a careless driver in Fairfax, Missouri, which is about eight miles south of Tarkio. The vehicle license plate information given by the reporting party matched that of Martin’s vehicle.

Chief Gibbons says Martin was booked into jail on three counts, DWI, driving with an open container, and failing to drive on the right half of the roadway.

He’s scheduled to make an traffic appearance in Tarkio Municipal Court August 29th.

Martin is the former principal at Platte County High School who resigned after he was charged with soliciting a prostitute back in 2012. Prosecutors later dropped the charges but Martin resigned from his job in Platte County.

The American Red Cross of Northwest Missouri is looking for volunteers willing to respond to disasters in the community.

The Red Cross will be hosting trainings to teach volunteers how to respond to disasters. The class, Disaster Action Team Fundamentals, will provide participants with the tools and knowledge needed to respond to residential house fires. Members of the Disaster Action Team respond in teams of 2 anywhere throughout Northwest Missouri when families suffer a disaster. A member is on call for one week every 6 – 8 weeks.

“Unfortunately, house fires happen throughout our area. We never know when or where but it’s important that the American Red Cross be ready to respond – to help families impacted with basic emergency items, ” said Karla Long, Disaster Program Manager. “Being a part of a Disaster Action Team is a great way to serve our communities and those suffering from a disaster.”

This free training will be held on August 16, 2016, from 1 pm – 4 pm at 401 N 12th Street in St. Joseph, MO. Registration is required by calling Karla Long at 816-232-8439 or by e-mail to karla.long@redcross.org

After public input on the design for a breastfeeding lounge set to debut Saturday at the East Hills Shopping Center, plans have been changed.

East Hills Shopping Center released a mock-up photo to the St. Joseph Post Thursday afternoon depicting an example of what the lounge may look like. The photo included both a child and regular size toilet in the room which could be locked for privacy.

As previously reported, East Hills Marketing Manager Regan Lyons said they’ve been working with La’Sherrie Tyes at the Department of Health to become a Gold Level Breastfeeding Friendly Worksite. Lyons said the lounge, located near the restrooms by the food court, includes a comfortable bench, an end table, plugs for breast pumps, a diaper changing station and a sink and a toilet.

However, after input from the public, East Hills has decided to change its original plans.

In a statement, East Hills said after several complaints it has decided to remove both the adult and children’s size toilets from the new breastfeeding lounge.

“This space will solely be used for the purpose of breastfeeding and not a restroom facility. The photo shown was a preview of the space, which has yet to be finalized. The room will also feature an activity table for children, a diaper changing station and breastfeeding pamphlets. As stated in the article, the final project will be unveiled on Saturday. East Hills Shopping Center would like to specify that we support all breastfeeding mothers.  Due to requests from our customers and employees, we decided to offer a private space for mothers who might be more comfortable in a lockable space away from the public instead of in their cars or in a restroom stall. It is still a mother’s right to breastfeed in public anytime, anywhere. That is why we have hosted the Big Latch in our shopping center for several years. We are hoping this new space is a step in the right direction of normalizing breastfeeding and supporting our local breastfeeding mothers.”

Workers at one St. Joseph business got a surprise visit from a Python Wednesday afternoon.

Employees from First American Title located at 3723 Beck Rd. said the large snake was found just outside their office around 4 p.m.  That’s when a phone call was placed to St. Joseph Animal Control & Rescue.

Stephen Norman is the Senior Officer with St. Joseph Animal Control & Rescue.  He said the constrictor was very docile and was easily caught.

“It’s obviously somebody’s pet we just don’t know who,” Norman said. “If somebody was missing it and they came down and could prove it was theirs we basically would redeem it back to them.”

Norman said constrictors are not illegal pets to have in St. Joseph because they are not venomous.

“I’m really surprised nobody has called missing it,” he said. “If they could come down and provide proof that it’s theirs we would let them have it back.  If nobody claims it we will adopt it out.”

The Python was described as around 5 feet long and about as round as a can of biscuits.  Norman said it’s not completely out of the norm for Animal Control to catch pet snakes.

“We get one or two a year.  Sometimes people will take them out to the yard and they crawl away,” Norman said. “Or they’re cleaning out their cage and put them in a temporary cage and they crawl away.”

He said Pythons make good pets, if you like snakes.

(Update 4:40 p.m.) – Since this article ran East Hills Shopping Center has updated its plans for the future of the breastfeeding lounge due to public input and issued this statement:

“After several complaints, East Hills Shopping Center has decided to remove both the adult and children’s size toilets from the new breastfeeding lounge. This space will solely be used for the purpose of breastfeeding and not a restroom facility. The photo shown was a preview of the space, which has yet to be finalized. The room will also feature an activity table for children, a diaper changing station and breastfeeding pamphlets. As stated in the article, the final project will be unveiled on Saturday. East Hills Shopping Center would like to specify that we support all breastfeeding mothers.  Due to requests from our customers and employees, we decided to offer a private space for mothers who might be more comfortable in a lockable space away from the public instead of in their cars or in a restroom stall. It is still a mother’s right to breastfeed in public anytime, anywhere. That is why we have hosted the Big Latch in our shopping center for several years. We are hoping this new space is a step in the right direction of normalizing breastfeeding and supporting our local breastfeeding mothers.”

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(11:39 a.m.) – East Hills Shopping Center announces a new feature for breastfeeding moms who work or shop at the St. Joseph location. 

A new breastfeeding lounge will be unveiled at East Hills this weekend as a part of World Breastfeeding Week. 

East Hills Marketing Manager Regan Lyons said they’ve been working with La’Sherrie Tyes at the Department of Health to become a Gold Level Breastfeeding Friendly Worksite. 

“We saw the need and we’d been talking about it for quite awhile,” Lyons said. “I know two of us in the office were breastfeeding mothers for over a year and we saw different employees of our stores needing a place and we had several shoppers asking for it. So that’s why we decided to meet that need.” 

Lyons said the lounge, located near the restrooms by the food court, includes a comfortable bench, an end table, plugs for breast pumps, a diaper changing station and a sink and a toilet. 

East Hills will unveil the new lounge after the St. Joe Latch from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday.