A Maryville, Mo., man who is a registered sex offender pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to charges related to child pornography.
Edward Grimes, 58, of Maryville, pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief District Judge Greg Kays to the charges contained in a Sept. 19, 2014, federal indictment. Grimes, a registered sex offender, has prior felony convictions for sexual abuse and a criminal sexual act in New York.
By pleading guilty, Grimes admitted that he attempted to distribute child pornography over the Internet on March 29, 2013; that he attempted to receive child pornography over the Internet on Dec. 31, 2013; and that he possessed child pornography on Feb. 12, 2014. Grimes must forfeit to the government two desktop computers, a laptop computer, four hard drives and a thumb drive that were used to commit the offenses.
The government also filed notice Wednesday of intent to rely on Grimes’s prior felony sex offenses for purposes of sentencing, which would subject Grimes to a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison without parole for each of the counts of attempting to distribute and to receive child pornography over the Internet, and to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison without parole for possessing child pornography. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
A former employee of Summers Motors in St. Joseph is accused of appropriating thousands of dollars.
Cynthia Carson, 40 is charged in Buchanan County with a class C felony of stealing.
According to court documents, in April, David Summers the owner of Summers Motors reported to police that former employee Carson appropriated $42,076.65 from his business by issuing false receipts to customers, using the credit cards of customers to pay on accounts to cover the taking of funds, and issuing false/forged lien releases on sold vehicles belonging to Summers Motors.
Detective Richard Shelton with the St. Joseph Police Department said in court documents that Carson appropriated $3,420 from a customer by intercepting the cash payments and made false statements in the computer saying that customer was sick and unable to pay for her vehicle payments.
“Summers was made to believe by Carson that (the customer) was sick and unable to pay for her vehicle payments and wrote the account off when (the customer) was making the payments to Summers Motors,” Shelton said.
Shelton said on June 16 Summers Motors provided an audit of accounts showing 31 customers accounts had been used by Carson so she could appropriate funds from the business.
“Cynthia Carson, aka Cynthia Baker has moved out of Buchanan County and is now employed at another vehicle car dealer’s business in Liberty,” Shelton said.
Carson is being held in the Buchanan County Jail on $10,000 cash bail. An arraignment is set for Friday.
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for southeastern Doniphan County in northeastern Kansas, southeastern Andrew County and northern Buchanan County until 11:15 a.m. Wednesday.
The St. Joseph Police Department issued a Nixle alert at 8:16 a.m. alerting residents to avoid the Belt Highway from Frederick to Mitchell due to high waters from flash flooding.
Also, 700 North Noyes Boulevard is impassable due to flooding.
According to KCP&L, multiple power outages have been reported in the area. To see the outage map and find out about reporting an outage, click here.
A heat advisory is in effect today from noon until 8 p.m. Here’s the 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service.
Today: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 9 a.m. Partly sunny, with a high near 92. Heat index values as high as 103. South wind 6 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight: A chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1 a.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. South southeast wind 7 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 93. Heat index values as high as 105. South wind 11 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Thursday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 70. South wind 8 to 10 mph becoming northwest after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 89.
Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 67.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 86.
Saturday Night:A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 69. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Sunday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 88. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Sunday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Monday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 88. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Monday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Tuesday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 89. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
A house fire near 20th and Jones streets Monday night caused an estimated $35,000 to the structure and its contents. Investigators believe the fire was caused by some kids playing with fireworks.
St Joseph Fire Department Inspector Steve Henrichson says that by late Monday night the police had not spoken with the kids involved.
Henrichson says two adults and four kids were able to make it out of the burning house safely. Two dogs were rescued by firefighters, and Henrichson says fire crews gave the animals oxygen before they were taken to a local veterinarian for treatment.
The fire caused extensive interior fire and smoke damage.
Click the image to go to the US Drought Monitor page
The weather in June in Missouri was hot and dry. The University of Missouri Extension notes that it will be in the top ten hottest months on record in more than 100 years. State climatologist Pat Guinan says the preliminary data indicate the monthly average will be eighth- or ninth-hottest on record since 1895. Temperature will average slightly above 77 degrees, about 4 degrees above normal.
Columbia broke records with temperatures above 90 degrees for 19 days in a row, ending June 27.
Hot weather was joined with lack of rain. June was dry, but not in the top 10 driest. Preliminary data show a state average of 2.5 inches of rain, above half of normal. But, it being Missouri, weather varies across the state. Averages don’t mean much locally, with rainfall more variable than heat.
Gallatin in Daviess County in northwestern Missouri had 7.49 inches of rain. Just over a trace, at eight-hundredths of an inch, fell in Monticello in Lewis County in the northeastern corner of the state. That dryness extends from Iowa to the St. Louis area.
By the last day of June more than half the state rated abnormally dry to moderate drought on the U.S. Drought Monitor map, Guinan says.
Large dry areas covered northeastern, central and southeastern Missouri. Pockets of extreme dry were around Kansas City, St. Louis and Cape Girardeau. The lack of precipitation has farming interests concerned about the growing season. In weekly updates to MU Extension field agronomists, Guinan reported a string of dry months from January to June. Lack of spring rain cut subsoil moisture as the growing season progressed.
Weather can be highly variable by location. Farmer responses to drought can’t be one-size-fits-all.
“Any supplemental moisture for growing crops must come from the sky,” he says.
The corn crop is most vulnerable in late June and early July as the tassels and silks emerge for pollination. Weather determines if cobs will fill with corn kernels. Early dry weather allowed corn planting to start ahead of normal. Cob development and even pollination came early in hot, dry conditions.
Livestock producers see varied forage growth in pastures. Rob Kallenbach, MU Extension forage specialist, says growth varies from 10 pounds to 45 pounds of dry matter per day per acre. Cool-season grasses were hit hardest by heat and dry, going into their summer slump.
The northeastern counties hit by early drought conditions have the state’s largest claypan soil deposits. The tight clays have low water-holding capacity to sustain crops in dry summers. In that area, many counties averaged less than an inch of rain in June, Guinan says.
The swath of hot, dry weather extends from Oklahoma, across Missouri to northeastern Iowa. Once again Missouri is the bull’s-eye for dryness in Corn Belt states.
In June, MU Extension state specialists formed a Drought Task Force to monitor developing conditions. Guinan’s June report shows that while Alton in Oregon County received just over 7 inches of rain, nearby Bloomfield had less than a half-inch of rain.
A heat advisory is in effect today from noon until 8 p.m. Here’s the 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service.
Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 95. Heat index values as high as 107. Light and variable wind becoming south 6 to 11 mph in the morning.
Tonight: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 1am. Increasing clouds, with a low around 74. South wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light and variable after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Wednesday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 90. Heat index values as high as 99. Calm wind becoming south southeast 5 to 8 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Wednesday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74. Southeast wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Thursday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 92. South wind 8 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Thursday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 70. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 88.
Friday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 68. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Saturday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 87. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Saturday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 69. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Sunday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 89. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 72.
Building process of Lettuce Dream in Maryville. Photo courtesy Jackie Allenbrand.
Growing lettuce and helping people with disabilities grow job skills are goals of a new non-profit in Maryville.
Lettuce Dream is the name of the new project and Jackie Allenbrand is the Director. She said the idea for the project started about three years ago in an effort to give opportunities and local employment to people with disabilities. The project is based around growing hydroponic lettuce and the first phase of the project is building two greenhouses and an operations building at the location near Pizza Ranch and MFA off of U.S. 71 in Maryville. She said building should be completed soon with a test crop put in sometime in August and training beginning in the fall.
According to Allenbrand, they’ve been consulting with Wendie Blanchard who began a similar project in New Jersey. Blanchard started Arthur and Friends for her nephew with Down’s Syndrome.
“She found that this was a very beneficial program there,” Allenbrand said. “We knew that there was nothing like that here in Northwest Missouri and thought it would be a unique alternative to do some training programs for persons with disabilities. We’re in a good central location and we thought let’s try something unique and give persons with disabilities a chance to learn some training skills.”
Building process of Lettuce Dream in Maryville. Photo courtesy of Jackie Allenbrand.
Allenbrand said when it’s available they plan to have their lettuce for sale at various stores in Maryville, Stanberry and Albany.
Allenbrand was named the director last month, but she said she’s been involved since the beginning.
“I had been working with a program with farmers with disabilities and was invited to the (first) meeting,” said Allenbrand. “I’m excited about the potential for the trainees, the persons with disabilities, that we’re working with – they don’t have a whole lot of opportunities once they transition out of high school and this is going to give them some training and hopefully some meaningful employment back in their community.”
For more information about Lettuce Dream and how to donate or get involved visit their website.
The Fourth of July can often be a stressful holiday for pets and their owners.
With all the festivities and especially fireworks, many pets can get scared by the sudden and frequent loud noises. According to Kappy Hodges with the Friends of the St. Joseph Animal Shelter, Fourth of July means it’s time for fireworks which can be a prime time for pets to escape.
“They get very frightened, they don’t know what that is,” Hodges said. “They may be doing just fine and then suddenly there’s a loud noise they weren’t expecting and it startles them and then they run off.”
Hodges said one of the things to do before the holiday, is to get an ID tag for your pet which includes your pet’s name and your phone number.
“There’s all kind of places that you can get these,” Hodges said. “Get some kind of ID on your pet, so if someone finds your pet, they can get them returned to you quickly and there won’t be any animal shelter involved and fees and things that way.”
Hodges said another important measure you can take to ensure your pet stays safe during the Fourth of July holiday and throughout the year, is to get a microchip.
“Because if your dog slips out of its collar, this is a way they can still find you,” Hodges said. “The animal shelter does do microchipping for just $10 and they keep your information on record there so that you don’t have to pay the additional fee to the tracking agency.”
According to St. Joseph Animal Shelter Humane Educator Jenna Keyes, another safety measure to take with your pets the day of is to keep your pets inside or in a kennel.
“When it comes to Fourth of July, especially the evening time, if you have a lot of guests over at your house and you plan on shooting off fireworks, find a safe environment for that animal to stay in,” Keyes said. “Maybe a bedroom where they can stay calm and relax or a crate or a kennel if it’s a dog. This will also prevent them from maybe escaping out a door or a gate. (It seems like) every year our numbers of dog intake always go up on the Fourth of July and a lot of it’s due to the fireworks scaring the dogs or maybe a guest lets the dog out by accident. A lot of individuals lose their cats under porches or they go into hiding for a few days. So it’s very important to try and make it a comfortable and safe environment.”
For more information on keeping pets safe and less stressed during the Fourth of July, contact your veterinarian or St. Joseph Animal Shelter Humane Educator Jenna Keyes at (816) 271-4877.
Want to watch some fireworks this weekend? Here you go!
-In Saint Joseph, head to Heritage Park. Gates open at 7:30 July 4th. Admission is free.
-St. Jo Mustangs will have their firework display after their games Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
-Mozingo Lake in Maryville is having the “biggest display in the parks history” Monday and it’s free.
-KC Riverfest is this weekend at Berkeley Riverfront Park with Fireworks Monday night, cost of admission is $5 CASH at the gate
-Parkville has a full day of celebration at English Landing Park and it’s free.
-At Smithville Lake the place to be is the marina, no charge
-Platte City’s show takes place at Platte Ridge Park.
