Two men will make their first court appearance next week in Nodaway County on charges stemming from a Monday morning police chase.

Steven Stains, 39 of Maryville and Jerry Gilpatrick, 32 of St. Joseph were each charged Tuesday with felonies for resisting arrest, unlawful possession of a firearm, tampering with physical evidence in felony prosecution, receiving stolen property, possession of marijuana and a misdemeanor for unlawful use of drug paraphernalia. Gilpatrick was also charged with a misdemeanor for driving while revoked and willfully failing or refusing to obey or resist or oppose a sheriff/deputy sheriff in the proper discharge of their duties. (Stains was originally reported to be a St. Joseph resident but court documents indicate otherwise.)

According to court documents on Monday, Deputy Travis Cochenour was dispatched to the area of 187th street, north of Burlington Junction for a suspicious vehicle.  As he was trying to stop the vehicle that he later identified as being driven by Gilpatrick with Stains in the passenger seat it left the area at a high rate of speed.  As we previously reported, authorities said the chase began around 11 a.m.

“A vehicle pursuit ensued with the suspect vehicle traveling at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour.  The pursuit lasted approximately 25 miles with the suspect vehicle driving in a manner that placed people in grave risk of death or great bodily harm; by excess speed, traveling on the shoulder of the road to pass other vehicles, and disobeying a variety of traffic laws.  Once the vehicle was disabled and finally stopped the driver and passenger fled on foot and were taken into custody after a foot pursuit,” Cochenour said.

During the course of the pursuit of the vehicle Cochenour said the passenger door of the vehicle was observed to open and Capt. Glidden reported seeing Stains drop items out of the car.

“Later, at the first of these two locations a loaded Smith and Wesson 380 caliber semi-automatic handgun was recovered.  Further investigation revealed the handgun is stolen.  At the second location a black eye glass case with two syringes and a bent silver spoon were recovered,” Cochenour said. “Gilpatrick stated he fled from Law Enforcement as he knew he had a warrant. He said he handed the eyeglass case, with syringes and spoon to Mr. Stain to get it out of the car.  Mr. Gilpatrick stated he knew nothing about Mr. Stain dropping a gun out of the car.  Mr. Gilpatrick admitted the syringes and spoon was his and that he used them to ingest meth.”

The license plates on the vehicle were not assigned to it.

“Mr. Gilpatrick stated that the vehicle belonged to his deceased father.  Mr. Gilpatrick went on to state he had attached improper plates to it,” Cochenour said.

After Stains was arrested authorities said they found a substance concealed in his shoe which field tested positive for meth.

Gilpatrick and Stains are being held without bond in the Nodaway County Jail pending their first court appearance.  An arraignment is set for both of them for Tuesday, Feb. 9 at 9 a.m.

St Joseph police are investigating after a lone bandit with a firearm robbed the Woods Mini Mart at  1334 Frederick Ave. around 7 a.m. Tuesday.

According to two-way radio traffic, a man with a skinny build entered the convenience store and brandished a weapon.  The suspect and the clerk reportedly argued and fought, and the clerk was taken to Mosaic Life Care for treatment.

There has been no word on the clerk’s condition, and, so far, there have been no arrests.

Two St. Joseph men have been arrested after multiple spike strips, a crash into a median and a foot chase in Nodaway County.

According to the Nodaway County Sheriff’s Office Monday around 11 a.m. the office received a call regarding a suspicious vehicle in Burlington Jct. When deputies arrived in the area they saw a green Lincoln Town Car.

The sheriff’s office said the car immediately fled east on Hwy 136 from downtown Burlington Jct. then continued south on Hwy 71 with deputies in pursuit. Spike strips were deployed by a Maryville Public Safety Officer in the vicinity of Gray’s Truck Stop and the two drivers side tires were deflated. The pursuit continued south on Hwy 71 and officers again attempted to deploy spikes at Hwy 71 and First St. and again at Hwy 71 and South Ave but the Lincoln was able to avoid those. The car attempted to exit at south Main St. near Kawasaki Motors where a Trooper from the Missouri State Highway Patrol deployed spikes. In an attempt to avoid those the driver lost control and the car spun out of control before sliding into the median. The driver regained control and continued south on Hwy 71. Approximately 6 miles south of Maryville the driver attempted to turn onto State Rt U but lost control of the car. The car went into the median spinning several times before sliding out of control and crossing the northbound lanes of Hwy 71 and ultimately coming to rest off the road on the east side.

Both a driver and passenger exited the car and a short foot pursuit followed before both men were taken into custody.

The sheriff’s office said Jerry Joe Gilpatrick, 32 and Steven Wesley Stains, 39 were both arrested in connection with the investigation. Both men are being held in the Nodaway County Jail pending criminal charges.

The man charged after an 11-hour standoff at the Motel Six in St. Joseph last year will have to wait until November to have his case heard before a jury.

Roderick Ellis, 44 of St. Joseph is charged with felonies for kidnapping, domestic assault, two counts of armed criminal action and assault or attempted assault on a law enforcement officer. The charges stem from an incident that took place in October. He’s accused of kidnapping a St Joseph woman, forcing her at gunpoint to drive her to the motel, and then, when she cried for help, shooting her in the arm.

Investigators said he then forced the woman into a room at the motel for more than 11 hours. The standoff prompted evacuations and lockdowns, as well as business and highway closures.

A Jury Trial was scheduled Monday in front of Judge Patrick Robb for Nov. 1 at 9 a.m.  Until then Ellis remains behind bars without bond.

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University will host Dr. Bob Zellner, a prominent Civil Rights activist and Freedom Rider, as the next guest of its Distinguished Lecture Series at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 3, in the Charles Johnson Theater at the Olive DeLuce Fine Arts Building.

As a natural leader and speaker, Zellner excites his audiences through stories of his travels and a continual pursuit of civil rights. He continues to travel to share his experiences and inspire others on the pursuit of civil rights.

Zellner was the first white southerner to serve as field secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). When SNCC became an all-black organization in 1967, Zellner and his wife, Dottie, joined the Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF) to organize an anti-racism project for black and white workers, called Grass Roots Organizing Work (GROW), or Get Rid of Wallace.

Arrested 18 times in seven states, he organized in cities across the country. Zellner was charged with everything from criminal anarchy in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to “inciting the black population to acts of war and violence against the white population” in Danville, Virginia.

In the early 1990s, Zellner began studying at Tulane University for a Ph.D. in history. As he wrote a dissertation about the southern civil rights movement, he taught the history of activism at several universities.

Zellner was a featured Civil Rights luminary in the award-winning documentary to “Come Walk in My Shoes” in 2005. The Annual Faith and Politics Congressional Pilgrimage to Selma, Alabama, and other sites of the freedom struggle was led by the Honorable John Lewis and filmed by Robin Smith, the award-winning documentary director and producer and president and founder of VideoAction.

In 2008, Zellner’s memoir, “The Wrong Side of Murder Creek, A White Southerner in the Freedom Movement,” was published. He received a Red Star Review from the Library Journal.

Zellner was born and raised in south Alabama. He received his bachelor’s degree from Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1961 with highest honors in sociology and psychology. From 1963 to 1965, he studied race relations in the graduate school of sociology at Brandeis University.

The Platte County Sheriff’s Office says it could be holding sobriety and/or safety checkpoints throughout the month of February.

Sheriff Mark Owen said if a driver encounters a DWI Checkpoint the delay will be brief. If a driver is suspected of being intoxicated, he/she will be asked to complete the Standard Field Sobriety Tests. Any driver found to be impaired will be arrested and transported to the Platte County Detention Center. He said motorists should also keep in mind that if they encounter a safety checkpoint, the safety check will also only be for a brief time.

“We appreciate the cooperation from the public as we conduct DWI Checkpoints and take drunk drivers off our roads. We also appreciate the public’s patience when they enter a safety checkpoint, knowing that the overall goal of any checkpoint is to keep innocent motorists safe. Providing a safe and secure environment for the citizens of Platte County is one of the reasons we conduct both of these checkpoints,” Sheriff Owen said.

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2016 Women of Excellence awards.

The fifteenth annual YWCA Women of Excellence Awards Luncheon will be held on Thursday, June 16, 2016 at the Civic Arena. At last year’s luncheon, over 1,000 guests were in attendance.

This year’s keynote speaker will be St. Joseph native Lauren Larscheid. For the past 15 years, Lauren has been one of Cisco’s top sales executives, running a $125 million franchise.

There are several categories in which community members may nominate a woman including Workplace, Volunteerism, Support Services, and Emerging Leader. In addition, they may nominate an organization as an Employer of Excellence.

YWCA Women of Excellence nomination forms are in the mail and are available on the YWCA website and by calling the YWCA at 816.232.4481 or emailing efattig@ywcasj.org.

An effort to try and prevent traffic fatalities among teens led to a little driving safety education Friday as students at Bishop LeBlond High School got a chance to get hands-on with ER equipment.

Shannon Hutcherson works in the Trauma Department at Mosaic Life Care and said she was on hand Friday to talk to students about being safe behind the wheel.

“We’re providing education to the students regarding wearing their safety belts, distracted driving, driving under the influence and what could happen to them in the instance they choose to do that,” Hutchersons said. “We’ve brought some different education pieces, some equipment we would use in the ER in order to help save their life if something horrible was to happen. Let them get hands-on and see that equipment and ask questions.”

The event was part of an ongoing campaign called “It Only Takes One.” Save Mo Lives said that Traffic Crashes are the leading cause of death for youth age 15 to 20 in Missouri, accounting for nearly 13.2 percent of traffic fatalities during the last three years.

Stephanie Malita is with the St. Joseph Health Department and says for the first time every high school in St. Joseph is taking part in the “It Only Takes One” campaign.

“It used to be known as Battle of the Belt. The focus then was really just on seat belt use and it was a great program but we wanted to expand it in a couple of ways,” Malita said. “We wanted to address more than just seat belt issues and we wanted to make it a longer program. When it was Battle of the Belt it was just a 6 to 8 week long program in the fall. Now that it’s been expanded to ‘It Only Takes One’ it’s throughout the whole school year there are different programs that go on.”

Malita said there are different parts to the program.

“Schools have to sign up through the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety and through MoDOT and part of the program is twice a year. They do a baseline seatbelt check and then after some education has been done go back and do a seatbelt check again,” Malita said. “But in-between you need to do some education and that’s what we’re doing here today.”

Hutcherson said she sees first-hand that the results of individuals who buckle-up and get in a crash are very different then one’s who don’t.

“It is a safety mechanism and it is required to be worn to help save a life,” Hutcherson said. “Make smart decisions, wear your seat belt, don’t text and drive, don’t drink and drive, be smart about it. Driving is a very huge responsibility.”

The Sound of Speed Air Show is returning to Rosecrans Memorial Airport this August.

The Missouri Air National Guard’s 139th Airlift Wing, in coordination with the City of St. Joseph and Buchanan County have announced the Sound of Speed Air Show and Open House will return to Rosecrans Memorial Airport on August 27 and 28, 2016.

As in the past, this event includes military, warbird, and civilian flying acts, static displays, parachute jump teams, and much more.

The 139th Airlift Wing said the event is meant to showcase the presence and capabilities of the Missouri Air and Army National Guard, as well as the local community.

At this time, there is no official announcement of the featured performances.

Follow the Sound of Speed Airshow on Facebook www.facebook.com/SoundofSpeed