An upcoming outdoor St. Joseph event gives residents the opportunities to find deals and see what’s new downtown. 

Brittany Smith is the Event Coordinator and a First Saturdays Downtown St. Joseph Board Member. Smith said several businesses are participating in the annual Sidewalk Sale event. 

“Everything will be set out on the sidewalks,” Smith said. “It’s not a First Saturday event but (people) can expect art and maybe some facial products and things like that from the different businesses in downtown.” 

Smith said the Sidewalk Sale is a great way to support local businesses. 

“It’s also a great way to explore downtown and maybe see some businesses you didn’t know were down there,” Smith said. “(It) gives people an opportunity to see some new things that have been going on downtown, there’s new construction going on, there’s the Mosaic building center moving into downtown, there’s been some new different structures that were built – there’s a concession stand now that’s there for events that are held at the square.” 

Smith said any downtown residents are also invited to be involved in the sidewalk sale if they would like to sell their items. 

The Sidewalk Sale takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 23rd in Downtown St. Joseph. 

For more information, go to the First Saturdays Downtown St. Joseph Facebook page.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Intersection improvement work has already begun at U.S. Route 169 (Belt Highway) and Route YY (Mitchell Avenue) in St. Joseph, but an upcoming phase of the project will require some motorists to seek an alternate route across the Belt Highway.

Contractors from Mega Industries Corporation, working with the Missouri Department of Transportation, will remove the old pavement at the intersection and lay new pavement August 8-11 and August 15-18.

This work will necessitate two four-day around-the-clock closures of Mitchell Avenue at the Belt Highway and the narrowing of traffic on the Belt to one lane in each direction. The first closure will begin at approximately 7 a.m. on Monday, August 8. Contractors plan to reopen access across the Belt Highway at Mitchell by 5 p.m. Thursday, August 11. They will then 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.

All work is weather permitting and could be rescheduled.

Thousands are anticipated to turn out in Atchison, Kan. Saturday for the city’s annual Amelia Earhart Festival.

Festivities kicked off Friday at Warnock Lake with Lakefest. Activities continue all day Saturday with the Concert in the Sky fireworks finale to wrap up the annual event drawing crowds to the banks of the Missouri River.

Saturday’s Schedule of Events according to the Atchison Chamber of Commerce is as follows:
July 16th 2016

Breakfast with the Books 9am

Benedictine College, 1020 N. 2nd

Authors discuss Amelia and her impact.

Speakers Symposium 11am

Benedictine College O’Malley McAllister Auditorium, 1020 N. 2nd

This years Speaker’s Symposium will feature returning Pioneering Achievement Award winners as we celebrate our 20thyear!

Pioneering Achievement Award Luncheon 12:30pm

Benedictine College, 1020 N. 2nd

Luncheon honoring 2016 Pioneering Achievement Award recipient Julie Krone. Reservations requested. Cost of lunch is $17.50.

 

DOWNTOWN ACTIVITIES

Children’s Activities 9am-5pm

The kids will have plenty to keep them busy in the 600 block of the Commercial Street Mall, from street performers to interactive activities.

10:00 am – Mad Science

11:00 am – Stone Lion Puppets

12:00 pm – Reptiles Up Close

1:00 pm – BJ Talley-Illusions

2:00 pm – Stone Lion Puppets

3:00 pm – Amelia Look Alike Contest

4:00 pm – Reptiles Up Close

Happy Birthday Amelia 11am-noon

500 Block of Commercial

Visitors are invited to sign a birthday card and eat cake on Amelia’s 119th birthday.

Food, Crafts & Music 9am-5pm

Browse the 500, 600, & 700 blocks of Commercial, a delight for the senses. Music schedule:

9am-11am: Turpin’ Tyme Ragsters

11am-1pm: Bill Robinson

1pm-3pm: Red Bridge Bluegrass

3pm-5pm: Boomerz

Music on the Riverfront 4:30pm-11:30pm

4:30pm-7:30pm: Jeff Lux

8pm-11:30pm: Phil Vandel

Evening Aerobatic Performances 7:55pm

Two aerobatic performance over the Missouri River with Younkin Airshows.

“Concert in the Sky” Fireworks Show

For more information on the festival CLICK HERE.

A woman is accused of prostitution after a year-long investigation into a massage parlor in Maryville.

Wei Shi, 54 of Kansas City, Mo. has been charged in Nodaway County with a misdemeanor for prostitution.

According to court documents, in June of 2015 Maryville Public Safety began investigating after a report of a massage parlor located at 1306 S. Main offering sexual contact with clients for money.

Officer Adam James with MPS said in July of 2015 he found ads online for “Sunny Massage” at that address that included pictures of women in different states of nudity along with animated characters performing sexual acts.

“I ran license plates of individuals whom appeared to be working for and living at the business,” James said. “(3) females that were able to be fully identified had prior arrests for prostitution.”

James said towards the end of 2015 through March of 2016 activity appeared to have stopped or at least slowed.

“In April of 2016, I noticed the building was back to being occupied,” James said. “The signs in the windows were updated and traffic picked back up.”

James said on June 15 he made contact with a man in a motel parking lot after watching him leave the business.

“On condition of anonymity, the adult male confirmed he went into the building and agreed to pay $60.00 for a massage,” James said. “and was sexually gratified. The male admitted to being at the business toward the end of 2015 and having the same encounter.”

Earlier this week James said he made contact with a man leaving the business who claimed to have paid $40 for a 30 minute massage.

“Once she reached the area of his penis, she stated she would continue for a tip,” James said. “He asked her how much and she stated $50.00. After negotiation, they agreed on $30.00.”

James said the man claimed to have received the same treatment on two other occasions at the same business.

“He paid for a massage up front, but was offered sexual gratification for additional money,” James said.

A search warrant was executed at the business on Wednesday.

“Among other things, a black record book was located. The book offered what appeared to be a column for the date of a massage, a column for the message time requested 30 or 60 minutes, and a column for additional money paid,” James said. “This appears to substantiate his claim of 30 minute massages for $40.00, 60 minutes massages for $60.00, and then extra money paid during the massage for sexual gratification.”

Shi is set for an initial arraignment in Nodaway County Court on Monday.  Shi is currently out on $1,000 cash bond.

A St. Joseph man has been charged after authorities began investigating a garage fire believed to have been intentionally set Thursday in midtown.

Joshuwa M. Lawrence, 29 is charged in Buchanan County with a felony for knowingly burning.

According to court documents, on Thursday Lawrence was seen on the sidewalk at the bottom of the stairs that lead to the back of 1305 S. 20th where a garage was fully engulfed in flames.

“According to the witness the defendant said that someone put out a cigarette and then took off in a hurry,” said Det. Richard Woodley with the St. Joseph Police Department. “The fire caused a total loss of the garage.”

Court documents said Lawrence has been arrested 22 times for failure to appear in municipal court, two times on a misdemeanor failure to appear in state court and one felony arrest for failure to appear.  He also has a criminal history that includes three convictions for domestic assault and violation of an adult order of protection.

“The defendant set the victims garage on fire,” Det. Woodley said. “The defendant is a suspect in another open arson investigation unrelated.”

Lawrence is set for an arraignment for Tuesday.  Bail has been denied.

More than two hundred people converged on Missouri Western’s Fulkerson Center for the Chamber of Commerce Chairman’s Breakfast, featuring a speech by General Frank J. Grass, the outgoing Chief of the National Guard Bureau.

General Grass regaled the crowd with some startling statistics on the current state and deployments of the National Guard, around the country and around the world.

He says the 139th Airlift Wing’s future looks bright, and despite their age, the C-130-H aircraft are still an essential element to the United States Armed Forces.

“They’re still the workhorse,” General Grass told the Chamber crowd. “They just picked me up yesterday and flew me in one, and I was thinking, wow, this thing is still the workhorse on tactical airlift of the world, really, and many other countries fly them.”

“So we’re going to have those H models for a number of years yet. One number I’ve seen is we’ll be flying H models, in really, probably the 2040 time frame, so we’ve got to modernize them.”

On the Wing’s wish list is the newer C-130-J aircraft. The Guard already has a few of them, but Grass said it would cost billions of dollars to upgrade the entire fleet, which he says is something we cannot afford right now. But the older aircraft, even given pending safety upgrades, will continue to be the work horse he described.

“There’s a huge expectation, whether it’s first responders or National Guard, that we’re going to be their when crisis occurs, probably quicker than we ever have before,” he said. “You know our overseas mission and our homeland are going to drive more use of the National Guard.

“And for the C-130s, I guarantee you the Air Force cannot go to war without the National Guard, flat out cannot do it, because the bulk of the C-130 (fleet) is in the Reserve component.”

General Grass offered up some strong numbers on the current status of the National Guard. He noted there are currently more than 8,000 members deployed today in support of combat missions. Since 9-11, some 780-thousand members have been deployed. Guard units are currently supporting relief efforts in four different flood zones, including one in Missouri.

He stressed several times the importance of community support for local National Guard units, and says St Joe does a great job of that.

“Where I live in Washington DC, it’s a great city to live in, and it’s the hub of so much activity, but it’s not really reality,” he said. “You’ve got to get away from that place and get down and see the American people, and the American communities, which are so vibrant and so powerful.

“And that’s what I see in St. Joe.”

General Grass is the 27th Chief of the National Guard Bureau and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but said Friday he expects to retire soon.

A jury has decided the fate of a Cameron man accused of killing his wife.

Adam Baker was found guilty by a jury Thursday of second-degree murder and armed criminal action in connection with the fatal shooting of his wife Holly Baker. Investigators said the pair argued in their home on February 25, 2015.

According to court documents, Baker told police he took a gun away from his wife and later shot her.

The case was transferred to Clay County on a change of venue. The trial began earlier this week in Liberty, Mo.

A sentencing date has been set for Sept. 8.  Sentencing recommendations include 13 years for second-degree murder and three years for armed criminal action.

LATHROP, Mo. (AP) — Some small Missouri and Kansas towns that’ll offer a view next year’s total solar eclipse are trying to prepare for the event.

The Kansas City Star reports that the total solar eclipse will occur Aug. 21, 2017. Small towns like Lathrop, Missouri, are on what is known as the path of totality, a narrow line across Missouri and a corner of Kansas that offers the best and longest views of the eclipse.

Lathrop has formed a 150th anniversary and eclipse planning committee.

Committee chairwoman Cindy Weers says she envisions the town’s fields filled with eclipse chasers and tourists. Weers says she’s been told to expect anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 people.

James Schmieder, assistant city administrator for Union, Missouri, is organizing his town’s plans for the eclipse and says any headaches about preparing for the event will be worth it.

Police have a man in custody for allegedly setting fire to a garage in midtown.

Sgt. Roy Hoskins with the St. Joseph Police Department said a garage was set on fire in the 1300 block of S. 20th around 8:23 Thursday morning.

“The suspected arsonist told a guy at Dave’s Garage right in the area he had set the garage on fire and then took off walking,” Hoskins said. “He had allegedly been in a disturbance with a female earlier in that area.”

Officers took a 28-year-old man into custody for investigation of arson near 22nd and Charles.

The suspect is also believed by police to be tied to another fire investigation.