In a first for Buchanan County and perhaps in the State of Missouri, a St Joseph man was convicted of sex crimes Thursday in part based on evidence that would not have been admissible last year.

Thanks to the voter-approved constitutional amendment, Missouri prosecutors may now present evidence of prior criminal acts, whether charged or uncharged, in order to demonstrate the defendant’s propensity to commit a sex crime against a victim under 18 years old.

That fact did not help Terry Matson, the 54-year-old St Joseph man charged with having sex with his girlfriend’s five-year-old granddaughter.

After deliberating for about three hours Thursday, a Buchanan County Circuit Court jury found Mr. Matson guilty on two counts of 1st Degree Statutory Sodomy and one count of 1st Degree Statutory Rape. Both crimes are unclassified felonies and carry no maximum limits on the possible prison terms allowed. Judge Daniel Kellogg scheduled sentencing January 11th.

The jury heard testimony from the five-year-old victim, as well as two other women who testified that the defendant sexually abused them when they were children. Both were daughters of different women Mr Matson was then married to. No charges were ever filed in either case.

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kate Schaefer says that before the amendment passed, their testimony would never be allowed. Ms Schaefer says this is the first time such evidence has been heard by a jury in Buchanan County, and she says it’s the first case she could find anywhere in Missouri.

The defendant cried when the verdicts were read and then laid his head on the defense table.

Judge Kellogg raised Mr. Matson’s bail to $50,000 cash pending sentencing.

Mark Twain Elementary school kids got a chance to learn about Native Americans Thursday as part of Native American Heritage Month.

“Our theme for this has kind of been ‘We’re still here’,” said LuAnn Cadden, Mark Twain Elementary School Librarian. “We learned so much about Indians in the past but not today.  I think it’s important for them to know their culture in the past but definitely to know they’re still around today and still sharing their culture.”

Students from every class at Mark Twain got a chance Thursday to see real Indian artifacts, see the inside of a real Tipi, and hear stories from a real Native American.

“We’re still here and we’re still going strong,” said Donnie Deerpath, Kiowa Native .

“The kids are enjoying it and I’m enjoying it,” he said about his presentations and stories he recounted for Native American Heritage Month.

According to the National Weather Service temperatures will continue their slow downward trend as we head through the tail end of the work week and into the weekend. The cooler temperatures will arrive with a chance for rain late Friday; with the rain chance changing to a snow chance early Saturday morning. Accumulating snow of an inch or less is possible in areas near the Iowa border and north by sunrise Saturday. Otherwise, expect cold temperatures through the weekend with windy conditions Saturday resulting in Wind Chill values in the teens and 20s.

This Afternoon
Sunny, with a high near 48. West wind 13 to 18 mph decreasing to 7 to 12 mph. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph.

Tonight
Increasing clouds, with a low around 32. West southwest wind 5 to 7 mph becoming light and variable.

Friday
A chance of showers after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 49. South southeast wind 6 to 11 mph increasing to 12 to 17 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Friday Night
A chance of rain before midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 29. Blustery, with a south southeast wind 10 to 15 mph becoming north northwest 19 to 24 mph in the evening. Winds could gust as high as 36 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Saturday
Sunny, with a high near 35. Breezy, with a north northwest wind 14 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 34 mph.

Saturday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 20.

Sunday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 40.

Sunday Night
Clear, with a low around 25.

Monday
Sunny, with a high near 51.

Monday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 32.

Tuesday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 52.

Tuesday Night
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 37.

Wednesday
A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 55. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

A Benedictine College freshman has been charged for allegedly posting a threatening message Tuesday night on social media.

According to Atchison Police Chief Mike Wilson, 18-year-old Colleen A. Carey from, Colorado is charged with a felony for aggravated criminal threat.

As we previously reported, Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, was placed on alert Tuesday night after receiving word of a threat to the college community.

In a posting on Facebook, college officials said they became aware of the threat on the anonymous social media Web site Yik Yak. That’s the same site used for recent campus threats at Mizzou and Northwest Missouri State.

Officials say additional posts indicated that the original threat against Benedictine was a hoax.

Wilson decline to confirm what was actual posted but said it was serious and both the college and authorities took action.

They locked the dormitories, added security personnel, increased campus patrols, and remained on alert status overnight. Classes were expected to resume as scheduled on Wednesday.

Wilson said Carey is scheduled to make her first court appearance this afternoon.

HIAWATHA, Kan. (AP) — A school bus carrying about 20 students has rolled over in northeast Kansas, injuring students onboard.

The Brown County Sheriff’s Department said the accident involving the school bus from the Hiawatha school district occurred early Wednesday in Hiawatha.

Brown County Sheriff John Merchant says about 20 students were on the bus, and all were taken to a hospital for assessment. Merchant says the students’ injuries don’t appear to be life-threatening. He says the students range in age from elementary school to high school.

“They went to both Horton and Hiawatha hospitals,” Merchant said. “I think one student possibly had a broken arm.”

Merchant also says several people arrived at the scene to help the students.

“We had many helpful individuals that stopped by to render assistance and we had emergency responders there just almost instantly,” Merchant said. “We really want to thank everybody.”

Details of what caused the accident are still under investigation.

The Kansas State Highway Patrol was called in to assist in the investigation.

(AP and POST)

A Northwest Missouri State University Student charged with making terrorist threats appeared in court Tuesday.

Conner Stottlemyre, 19 of Blue Springs was granted bond in Nodaway County Court Tuesday morning.  According to the prosecutor’s office Stottlemyre’s bond was set at $10,000.  Conditions of the bond also included that Stottlemyre not be allowed on Northwest property or within Nodaway County unless in court or with his attorney.  He will also be required to wear a GPS tracking device.  The prosecutor’s office said if he were to cut off the device a separate felony for that would also be filed.

Stottlemyre is accused of making threats on Yik Yak that read, “I’m gonna shoot any black people tomorrow, so be ready.” He was arrested Wednesday in his dormitory.  Yik Yak is the same social media application a Missouri S & T student is accused of using to make threats.

Stottlemyre’s next court date is set for Dec. 22nd.

680 KFEQ’s Barry Birr is closing the book on a full-time career in radio after more than 50 years, 31 of which in St. Joseph.

“When I first came here I brought a manual typewriter along that I had used at KMOX and I still used it once in awhile when we had a problem,” Birr said. “We had turntables here when I first started that played records, you know those flat vinyl things.  Then we went from that to cassettes, then from cassettes to CDs.  Now everything is digital and it’s on the computer.”

Birr is officially retiring as KFEQ’s News Director effective Dec. 31, 2015.

“Time to spend more time with my wife and be a little less tired because I won’t be getting up so early in the morning,” he said.

But he hopes to continue to host his morning talk show, The Hotline which he started on KFEQ in 1992.

“The program is really a news driven program.  We talk about what’s going on in the news, wither it’s local or state or national.  Everyone’s opinion is welcome.  It’s a community forum.  It’s an opportunity for people to call in voice their opinions, share their ideas and even if they don’t find others who really agree with them to have a say and not be ridiculed for it,” Birr said. “We’re looking at continuing with the Hotline and having me continue with the Hotline.”

He has covered many major events that have taken place in the community over the years and said the flood of 93′ is one that really sticks out in his mind.

“Coming a year after the start of the Hotline it was kind of the perfect test of the Hotline,” Birr said. “It gave people a chance to talk with each other about what was happening to them. It was such a big flood, such a big deal that it was on everybody’s minds even if they were not directly impacted by the flood.”

Birr was also there for the Ice Storm of 2007.

“We had people who didn’t have power in their homes for about five days afterwords and it knocked out all of the radio stations except for ours, KFEQ,” Birr said. “On the Hotline and elsewhere on our air we opened it up and took calls from people.  We brought in power company officials and others to answer questions…What was really kind of neat was people would call in and say they knew where to get this or that, things people needed.  They also gave us updates on ‘I got my power back, I got my power back,’ and we could almost plot it on a map.  In some cases it was being restored house by house.”

He said as much as technology has changed how news is delivered, the basic concepts have stayed the same.

“Everything has changed but the real important things haven’t,” Birr said. “The important things are letting people know what’s going on, telling them the truth and leaving it at that so that they can make up their own minds about what to do.”

The St. Joseph School District Board of Education has officially hired Dr Robert Newhart as the district’s Superintendent.

Newhart started his first official day with the district as interim July 6.

The St. Joseph School District Board of Education voted in executive session on Monday, November 16, 2015, to extend a two-year contract to interim superintendent Dr. Robert Newhart. The board also voted to delete the “interim” title as well, effective immediately. The vote was 6-1; Brad Haggard, Martin Rucker, Dennis Snethen, Eric Bruder, Kappy Hodges and Chris Danford voted yes; Lori Prussman voted no.

“Dr. Newhart has proven he can make tough decisions and has tackled extremely difficult projects since July,” stated board president Brad Haggard. “He continues to work through the 22- point board priority checklist, streamline the district finances, align the business office and human resources office with updated policies and procedures, all while getting to know our students and staff. It hasn’t been easy and we recognize our district needs his strong leadership at this critical time,” said Haggard.

Dr. Newhart’s current salary of $174,500 will remain the same through June 30, 2017. For the 2017-18 school year, the superintendent’s salary will be no less than $174,500 and no more than $181,480. The salary will be determined by the board based upon its evaluation of the
superintendent’s performance, which will be held no later than February 1, 2017.

Click here to see Newhart’s contract in full