The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra is coming to St. Joseph from New Zealand this February.
The Orchestra will take place at the Historic Missouri Theatre on Saturday, Feb. 20th at 7:30 p.m.
Earlier this fall the Orchestra sent 30 ukuleles to Saint Joseph to be distributed through the Performing Arts Association. PAA teamed up with Hosea Elementary’s music teacher Joshua Lock who has been working with the students. Hosea students will also have a chance to play with the Orchestra on stage at the theatre.
The group, features eleven ukuleles anchored by a double bass and was co-founded in 2005 in Willington, New Zealand. The song selections include a mix of modern and traditional tunes.
The PAA said tickets are on sale now and range from $12-$42.
For more information call the PAA at (816) 279-1225.
The Missouri Department of Conservation is inviting area waterfowl hunters to attend an upcoming workshop where staff with gather hunter input about duck season dates and zone boundary locations for the 2017-2020 hunting season.
The workshop will be held in St. Joseph on Feb. 3 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the MDC Northwest Regional Office located at 701 James McCarthy Drive.
Participants will have the opportunity to review long-term data about weather, migration, habitat use, harvest, and hunter opinions, and to discuss season date and zone preferences with other hunters and MDC staff. MDC will use the hunter input gathered through the workshops, along with results of hunter-opinion surveys, to help establish Missouri’s 2017-2020 duck season dates and zones.
Before attending a workshop, MDC encourages hunters to review information compiled by Department biologists on migration, harvest, weather, and hunter preferences for each region of the state. This information will be posted on the MDC website by the end of January at http://on.mo.gov/1giLHme.
“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gives states the opportunity to change the number and location of duck zones every five years,” explained MDC Resources Scientist Andy Raedeke. “At these times, states can also select a continuous season or split season, which refers to a season that is open for a period of time, closes, and then reopens for a second period of time.”
Raedeke added that once selections are made, Missouri then keeps the same season-date formulas for multiple years, with the next ones being 2017 to 2020.
“Conservation makes Missouri a great place to hunt waterfowl. As hunters know, hunting conditions can vary tremendously from one year to the next,” he said. “During some years, the best hunting can occur early in the season. During other years, it can occur late. Limiting changes to every four or five years helps the Department of Conservation evaluate the effectiveness of zone boundaries and season dates over a range of conditions.”
Raedeke noted that recommended changes for a given period depend primarily upon hunter input.
“If most hunters from a particular region prefer a different season structure or season dates, we will likely recommend a change,” Raedeke said. “Hunter input from the last series of workshops prompted MDC to make two changes to the boundary of the south hunting zone.”
He added that given the range of hunter preferences, not all hunters will be completely satisfied with season dates and zone boundaries.
“Our aim is to accommodate at least a portion of most hunters’ desires. We listen to what waterfowl hunters want and sincerely appreciate their time, effort, and input.”
Other workshops will be held around the state as well.
The body of a Savannah man has been found across state lines after he was reported missing more than a week prior.
Michael Steeby was found in Doniphan County, Kan. Friday afternoon after an extensive search.
The Savannah Police Department said Steeby was originally reported missing to the Savannah Police Department on Wednesday Jan. 6. Steeby had left his residence on Monday Jan. 4th and family members had reported they had not been in contact with him since then.
Friday a plane from the Missouri State Highway Patrol searching the area along the Missouri River looking for Steeby found his vehicle on a levee in Doniphan County, Kan. His body was found shortly after by investigators with the Missouri Division of Drug and Crime Control.
The Doniphan County Sheriff’s Office conducted an investigation at the scene and the Doniphan County Coroner has requested an autopsy be performed to try and determine the cause of death.
The Savannah Police Department said there were no obvious signs of foul play but are awaiting autopsy results.
St. Joseph, Mo. —The Board of Governors at Missouri Western State University has selected Lawhon Construction Company of St. Joseph to do some renovations to Potter Hall, funded by House Bill 19 capital improvement money.
By a unanimous vote in a board poll on Jan. 16, the board accepted a bid of $328,500 from Lawhon, the lowest of seven bids received. The board also approved a contingency budget of $32,850.
The work includes renovation and replacement of flooring, ceiling tile systems, wall coverings and painting throughout all common areas in the building.
The Potter work is part of $4.8 million in deferred maintenance projects funded by House Bill 19, which was approved by the legislature and signed into law by Gov. Jay Nixon last year.
A third suspect is in custody in connection with an incident last month on Parkway A that left a shooting victim in serious condition.
Brandon Scott Parker, 28, is charged with a class B felony count of robbery in the second degree. According to a court affidavit, Mr Parker has been identified as the driver of the vehicle used to flee the scene of the shooting December 15 at 3000 Parkway A, in which Trevor Keith was seriously hurt.
He is charged with robbery, unlike co-defendants Gerald Johnson and Adrian Taylor, who are charged with 2nd degree assault and armed criminal action. According to an affidavit from St. Joseph Police Detective Frank Till, the robbery attempt was drug-related, and Mr Parker had an “active role” in the incident. Detective Till says Mr Parker might not appear in court because he is on probation for the distribution of drugs, and the robbery was drug related. Till says the defendant faces a seven-year prison sentence on the probation violation alone.
Taylor and Johnson are both accused of shooting Mr Keith as he sat in a vehicle and then fleeing the scene. (click here for more) Mr. Parker is charged with driving the vehicle in which the shooting suspects fled.
Johnson, 29, is being held without bail pending his formal arraignment January 28. He waived his preliminary hearing in the case. Co-defendant Taylor, 27, also waived his preliminary hearing. Taylor is scheduled for arraignment February 8. He remains in custody, unable to post $150,000 bail.
Mr Parker’s first court appearance was scheduled Friday. He is being held in the Buchanan County Jail, unable to post $25,000 bail.
The St. Joseph Police Department has released its annual crime summary that shows a spike in violent crime in 2015.
Total crime reported to the department was up for 2015. There were 11,123 crimes reported in 2015 compared to 10,582 in 2014.
There were 7 murders in 2015, that’s the highest number the department said St. Joseph has seen since 2010 when there were also 7 homicides reported.
“That’s one of the areas of crime where there’s no real solution out there for preventing murders, it’s a really difficult thing,” said Chief Chris Connally with the St. Joseph Police Department.
All violent crime was up for 2015 with simple assaults leading the way with an increase of 295 reported.
Motor vehicle theft increased by 137 over 2014 with 484 reported last year.
“More than half of auto theft is preventable. Most of our auto thefts quite frequently seems to be cars left running,” Chief Connally said.
“We review these numbers on a daily, monthly, it’s something that we continue to do all the time,” Chief Connally said. “To really bring crime down we need the help of the community. It’s something that extends far beyond everything the police can do. We need people to report things. Obviously the increased workload and with the dramatic increase in simple assaults as much as possible we need to get there before the assaults occur.”
A St. Joseph man has been charged in Andrew County for weapon violations after he allegedly said his brother called and told him that people were coming to harm him.
Thomas Richard Broce, 56 is charged with a felony for unlawful possession of a firearm and a felony for unlawful use of a weapon – loaded weapon while intoxicated.
According to court documents on Tuesday Andrew County deputies were dispatched to 9001 County Road 375 around 8 p.m. in reference to a man calling 911 stating that someone was on the way to hurt him and that he had no idea why.
“I saw 2 W/M in the front yard one was walking around with a knife in each hand and another was walking towards a trash barrel,” said K-9 Deputy Daniel Glidden with the Andrew County Sheriff’s Dept. “We gave commands for both subjects to put their hands up and to stop where they were.”
Glidden said one of the men listened and dropped his knives and went to the ground after several commands but Thomas did not and authorities assisted the man to the ground.
“Trooper Selsor then inspected the area where Thomas had placed something behind the trash barrel. A visual inspection behind the trash barrel revealed a black in color revolver with a wooden handle. The revolver was a Smith and Wesson 22 long rifle caliber 6 shot revolver, all 6 chambers of the pistol was loaded,” Glidden said. “The subject stated that the hand gun was his but that it was an heirloom from his father. Thomas admitted to us that he tossed the gun behind the barrel to not cause any more problems.”
“Thomas stated that he brought the gun down to his brother’s residence because his brother also called and told him that people were coming to harm him,” Glidden said. “While we were talking to Thomas he had watery blood shot eyes, mumbled his words and also had problems walking and standing. He stated that he was very intoxicated.”
Court documents said Broce blew above a .08. Also, after running his records it showed that Broce had a convicted felony for D.U.I. He was arrested for felon in possession of a firearm and taken to the Andrew County Jail.
At least three winning tickets were sold for Wednesday’s world record Powerball jackpot. One of the winners was sold at a 7-Eleven in Chino Hills, California. Another was sold in Munford, Tennessee, near Memphis. The third was sold in Florida.
The winners will share in the world record $1.5 billion jackpot.
The winning numbers were 4-8-19-27-34 and Powerball 10. Anyone with just a matching Powerball number gets four dollars. More matching numbers make you eligible for prizes of $7, $100, $50,000 or $1 million.
Officials of the Multi-State Lottery Association, which runs the Powerball game, said they expected more than 85 percent of the possible number combinations would have been bought for the drawing. The odds of winning were 1 in 292.2 million. Powerball players have spent an estimated $2.6 billion on tickets since the last jackpot was claimed in November.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Admitting it found NCAA violations in its men’s basketball program dating to 2011, Missouri on Wednesday banned itself from the postseason this year and said it is vacating all 23 wins from the 2013-14 season.
The NCAA is still investigating and Missouri said it was working with the organization in hopes of limiting the punishment to its self-imposed sanctions.
Missouri was 23-12 in 2013-14, Frank Haith’s final season before leaving for Tulsa. The Tigers won just nine games last season under new coach Kim Anderson, who did not immediately comment on the findings.
Besides the postseason ban, the school has stripped itself of one scholarship this season and a second scholarship no later than the 2017-18 season, plus has restricted recruiting through 2016-17.
(The following is the release from the university) For the past nineteen months, the University of Missouri has worked collaboratively with the NCAA enforcement staff to review potential violations in its men’s basketball program. In December 2013, the NCAA enforcement staff received information regarding potential violations involving a then men’s basketball student-athlete. A verbal notice of inquiry was provided to the institution on April 14, 2014.
Through the collaborative investigation, it has become evident violations of NCAA bylaws occurred dating back to 2011. There are four levels of violations in the NCAA enforcement process, ranging from Level I and Level II, considered major infractions, to Level III and Level IV, which are secondary in nature. The violations based on supporting evidence which both the university and the NCAA agree occurred, include:
Level I – A donor (Representative #1) to MU Athletics provided impermissible benefits to three men’s basketball student-athletes and one prospective men’s basketball student-athlete from 2013-2014. The impermissible benefits included compensating student-athletes for work-not-performed at a business through a summer internship program. Through the internship program, the donor also provided other impermissible inducements and extra benefits including housing, cash in the amount of $520, local transportation, iPads, meals and arranged for the use of a local gym for the student-athletes, all in violation of NCAA bylaws.
Level II – A second donor (Representative #2) was discovered to have provided impermissible benefits to 11 student-athletes and three members of one student-athlete’s family from 2011-2014. The benefits included providing student-athletes with a “friends & family” reduced rate at a hotel as well as meals and a ride on a recreational boat. A Missouri men’s basketball student-manager also provided transportation for multiple student-athletes to the hotel from the Missouri campus, all in violation of NCAA bylaws.
Level II – Because the University of Missouri did not fully vet the summer internship employment opportunity and follow-up to request documentation at the conclusion of the 2013 and 2014 internships with Representative #1, the institution was cited with a failure to adequately monitor the internship program.
Level III – A former associate head men’s basketball coach assisted in the relocation of a prospective student-athlete by providing the phone number of the prospect’s mother to a donor (Representative #2) to arrange for rental housing. The family paid a market rate for the rental. However, the actions of the former associate head coach are in violation of NCAA bylaws.
Level III – Representative #1 had multiple impermissible recruiting contacts with a prospective student-athlete and paid for a meal for a non-scholastic coach, in violation of NCAA bylaws.
Once NCAA violations were substantiated in this process, the university took action to hold student-athletes, staff and donors who were involved accountable. Those actions are:
Restitution and withholding from competition for impermissible benefits received by student-athletes was imposed as necessary.
The former associate head men’s basketball coach was prohibited from off-campus recruiting for a period of three months while the review process was underway.
The university permanently disassociated Representative #1, prohibiting him from receiving tickets, making donations or otherwise representing the university.
The university disassociated Representative #2 for a period of two years, prohibiting him from receiving tickets, making donations or otherwise representing the university.
The university vacated all wins from the 2013-14 season.
The university will pay the NCAA a fine in the prescribed amount of $5,000.
The university self-imposed the loss of one men’s basketball scholarship in 2015-16 and an additional scholarship loss to be incurred no later than the 2017-18 season.
The university placed restrictions on the recruiting activities of the men’s basketball staff during the years of 2014-15 through 2016-17.
The university imposed a one-year postseason ban for the 2015-16 men’s basketball season, which prohibits the team from participating in the 2016 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament, and any other postseason competition sanctioned by the NCAA. As such, the university will not receive any revenues from the 2016 SEC or NCAA men’s basketball tournaments.
The university retained the services of Mike Glazier of Bond, Schoeneck & King Attorneys to assist with the matter and is now working with the NCAA enforcement staff to process this case through Summary Disposition. The Summary Disposition process does not involve a formal in-person hearing. For an institution to avail itself of the process, it must qualify by: (1) reaching agreement with the enforcement staff on the material facts and the violations, and (2) the staff must stipulate to the Committee on Infractions that the University fully cooperated. Once the collaborative Summary Disposition Report has been prepared, it will be submitted to the Committee on Infractions for review. The Committee then will consider the facts and the violations agreed upon by the enforcement staff and the University. If the facts and the violations are accepted, the Committee then will consider self-imposed penalties submitted by the University. The Committee may accept those penalties or may determine additional penalties are warranted. If the Committee proposes additional penalties, the University may request a hearing on penalties only, or may elect to accept the additional penalties. The timeline for these steps will be determined by the Committee.
A warming trend continues today and Thursday with highs in the 40s and 50s each day respectively. A few light rain showers are possible Friday, followed by much cooler temperatures for the weekend.
Today
Sunny, with a high near 45. Southwest wind 7 to 10 mph.
Tonight
Mostly clear, with a low around 30. South southwest wind 7 to 9 mph.
Thursday
Sunny, with a high near 52. South southwest wind 9 to 13 mph.
Thursday Night
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 29. South wind 6 to 13 mph becoming northwest after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 18 mph.
Friday
Mostly cloudy, with a high near 34. North northwest wind 15 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph.
Friday Night
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 18.
Saturday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 27.
Saturday Night
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 8.
