Instrument donations are being sought for students participating in music classes in the St. Joseph School District who may not be able to afford one of their own.

“We have a growing group of students that come from backgrounds where their socioeconomic status prohibits them from either being able to rent or buy an instrument to be in their school band or orchestra, said Kevin Griffin, Secondary Fine Arts Coordinator. “Eight years ago we started a program called ‘Music In Our Schools’ to help meet that need and we went to the community and asked community members that had instruments that weren’t being used to donate them to the school district for that purpose.”

Griffin said several businesses in the community have also stepped up to help with the program. Lanham Music donated a Cello to the district Thursday morning. Griffin said string instruments are especially needed.

“The biggest need is for string instruments for 6th grade students. 30-40 students might not be able to participate in the strings program because there are no instruments available to them,” said Griffin. “At this point, our biggest need is to supply beginning band and string students with instruments.”

He said studies have shown that learning to play music can boost academic and social skills and help to keep kids in school.

“There’s a lot of history involved in music, there’s a lot of science involved in the sound of music so it’s very related to all of their core academic areas and there is a lot of data that shows that students that perform in instrumental ensembles do find greater success in the other core academic areas,” said Griffin.

Individuals wanting to donate to the program can drop off instruments at Troester Media Center at 3401 Renick.   Anyone with any questions can call (816) 671-4390.

MARYVILLE, Mo. – State-funded deferred maintenance projects have been approved for Northwest Missouri State University.

The Board of regents approved a scheduled Thursday for projects that the university will be reimbursed for by the state’s Board of Public Building Bond Proceeds.

Passed by the General Assembly in May and approved by Gov. Jay Nixon in June, House Bill 19 awarded Northwest about $6.9 million in appropriations to plan and carry out capital improvements.

“We’re so thankful for Gov. Nixon and the General Assembly in terms of their support,” Jasinski said. “This will be a significant upgrade of derferred maintenance projects at Northwest. From an economic impact and job creation perspective, it’s a great package.”

Northwest’s two focal points for the funds are life safety and energy efficiency upgrades. The University will invest the funds in electrical system repairs at the B.D. Owens Library, Everett Brown Education Hall, Martindale Hall, the Olive DeLuce Fine Arts Building and the Jon T. Rickman Electronic Campus Support Center as well as energy efficiency upgrades to its chillers and plant controls.

Northwest also will replace all windows in the Administration Building (280), Brown Hall (150), Colden Hall (340) and the Thomas Gaunt House (40). The Administration Building, opened in 1910, and the Thomas Gaunt House, completed in 1870, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the University will follow requirements of the U.S. Department of the Interior and Missouri Department of Natural Resources during the upgrades to those buildings.

The upgrades are scheduled to begin during fiscal year 2016 and end in fiscal year 2019.

The St. Joseph School District is inviting community members to participate in town hall meeting to talk about the district.

Two meetings have been scheduled in October.

Thursday, October 8, 2015, 7 pm at Oak Grove Elementary School, 4901 Cook Road and/or Tuesday, October 13, 2015, 7 pm at Carden Park Elementary School, 1510 Duncan

Citizens are invited by the district to attend either day and provide input.  Joey Austin, SJSD Dir. of Communications said the meetings are initial brainstorming and organizational meetings.

“This is an opportunity for community members to share in the draft process of the Community School Improvement Plan and the rebuilding future of the St. Joseph School District,” Austin said.

Dr. Robert Newhart, Superintendent, will facilitate the meeting with community members.

More meetings are expected to be scheduled at a later date.

An iconic destination in Kansas City for more than 90 years is up for sale. Owner Highwoods Properties has listed Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza shopping center for sale.

According to the company’s news release, the company hopes to use the proceeds of the sale of the Plaza to finance the purchase of commercial sites in Atlanta and Tampa.

Highwoods took over the ownership of the Country Club Plaza in 1998.

According to the news release, the Plaza has lived the longest life of any planned shopping center in the U.S. The company calls the Plaza the first master-planned suburban shopping center in the country, and the world’s first shopping center designed to accommodate customers arrive by car.

According to Highwoods Properties, the 776,000 square feet of retail space is 94% occupied. The Plaza also boasts 617,000 square feet of office space, which the owner says is 99% occupied.

These photographs were part of the company’s  presentation highlighting the transactions.  You can view that presentation here.

 

While gas prices have fallen the average remains higher in St. Joseph than other metros in the state.

According to AAA the average for a gallon of regular unleaded gas in St. Joseph was $2.10 as of 3:45 a.m. Wednesday.  That’s .10 more than it would take you to fuel up in Kansas City, Mo. that posted an average of $2.06.  The lowest average was $1.98 in Springfield.

St. Joseph came in lower than the national average of $2.28 and tied the state average.

However, gas prices haven’t changed much in a week in most locations.  AAA reports prices have stalled due to refinery maintenance.  Both the National Average and Missouri’s Average remain unchanged from last week.  St. Joseph’s $2.10 is actually a drop of .6 in a week.

The agency reports the stall comes after a 37 consecutive day decline driven by relatively low crude oil prices, declining demand for gas following the end of the summer driving season and a switch to cheaper-to-produce winter-blend gasoline on Sept. 16 in many parts of the country.

The St. Joseph Post found gas going for slightly below the average at several locations in St. Joseph for $1.07.  CLICK HERE to view some of the latest prices found around town.

 

A Saint Joseph police officer was injured when a suspect in a disturbance call resisted arrest Tuesday night.

Sergeant Brett Kelly says officers initially responded to a disturbance at the Countryside Lane mobile home park between Pear and Easton Road shortly before 7:30. They caught up with the suspect at 22nd and Garfield.

Sergeant Kelly says the suspect became uncooperative and struggled with the officers.  One officer received a leg injury.  She was taken to Mosaic Life Care where she was treated and released.

Capt. Jeff Wilson said there are procedures in place to handle situations when an officer is injured.

“Our procedure is when an officer is injured they report their injury to their supervisor and if necessary in some cases the officer may be transported to the hospital,” Wilson said. “If there’s a suspect involved and it’s a case where for instance resisting arrest or some other altercation takes place and during the course of that the officer is injured it’s very likely that the case will be submitted to the prosecutor for review of some sort of charges.”

Police said in this case the suspect was taken into custody for investigation of resisting arrest and possible other charges.  The investigation continues.

The Platte County Sheriff’s Department held two checkpoints during the month of September and said more could be held throughout the month of October.

“We’re getting into the holiday season,” said Sgt. Jeffrey Shanks with the Platte County Sheriff’s Office. “We don’t want to see an increase in DWI related accidents.”

Both checkpoints in Sept. were held on 92 Highway. The first was held Sept. 5 at M-92 and Prairie View Road in Central Platte County.  During that operation 732 vehicles were checked from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. leading to a total of twelve arrests. Five DWI arrests and seven other arrests.

217 cars were checked during the second checkpoint held Sept. 25th at M-92 and North Creek Road in Eastern Platte County. Two DWI arrests and three other arrests were made during that operation that ran from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Shanks said the department is trying to concentrate on areas in the county as well as city limits.

More checkpoints could be coming during the Month of October.  Shanks said by law they are required to inform the public of the possibility but that the exact location and dates are not released.

He said the office has been working with the Missouri Department of Transportation to aid in funding for the operations.

Platte County Sheriff Mark Owen said delays at checkpoints will be brief for most drivers.

“We appreciate the cooperation from the public as we conduct DWI Checkpoints and take drunk drivers off our roads,” said Sheriff Owen.

Mosaic Life Care said it’s trying to help patients with outstanding medical debts with a new campaign.

The hospital said it’s creating a person-friendly approach to medical debt by giving all patients with outstanding debt an opportunity for their accounts to be reviewed under the new policy during Mosaic Life Care’s Debt Forgiveness Campaign.

“We listened to the community and we believed we could be more innovative and proactive in helping our patients address medical debt,” said Mark Laney, MD, Mosaic Life Care CEO. “To raise awareness and allow people a fresh start, we are changing our processes and rolling out this campaign. Together, we can help find answers to unpaid medical bills.”

From now until December 31, 2015, any patient with outstanding debt is eligible to apply for financial assistance under the new updated policy and have all their outstanding accounts, current and past, including those within collections and/or under legal action.

Mosaic said after December 31, 2015, patients may still apply for financial assistance under the new policy for current debt which has not reached legal action.

Financial assistance policy and process improvements are a result of the task force teams formed earlier in 2015 by the Mosaic Life Care Board of Trustees to address concerns surrounding medical debt.

“Many improvements have been made and countless hours have been poured into this effort by caregivers and community members,” said Laney. “We aren’t done yet in improving the billing experience.”

To learn more, visit MyMosaicLifeCare.org/myFinancialOptions or make an appointment with a Mosaic Life Care financial counselor by calling 816.271.7524 or 800.447.1095.

A St. Joseph teen accused of making threats which lead to the lockdown of Lafayette High School made his first court appearance during an arraignment Tuesday.

18-year-old Tri Tran is charged in Buchanan County with a misdemeanor for making terrorist threats.

According to court documents, Tran’s Attorney, Latia Hubbard entered a motion to reduce bond.  Tran is currently being held on $10,000 bond.

Lafayette was placed under lockdown Friday after police began investigating threats of possible violence against the school.

“According to witness statements and police reports, the suspect Tri Trans sent several messages to students at Lafayette High School making them believe that he was in the school,” Det. Greg Ogdahl with the St. Joseph Police Department said in court documents. “He has made threats to other students in the past and was believed by school personnel and Law Enforcement that the suspect had access to guns by social media photos.”

School officials said everyone in the building was directed to shelter because of the threat of a weapon inside.

The school was placed under lockdown for nearly two hours.

 

Today
A chance of showers, mainly before 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 67. North northeast wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Tonight
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 49. Northeast wind 6 to 11 mph.

Wednesday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 67. East northeast wind 6 to 10 mph.

Wednesday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 45. East northeast wind 3 to 7 mph.

Thursday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 67. East northeast wind 5 to 10 mph.

Thursday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 47.

Friday
Partly sunny, with a high near 62.

Friday Night
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 47.

Saturday
Mostly cloudy, with a high near 60.

Saturday Night
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 46.

Sunday
Partly sunny, with a high near 64.

Sunday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 44.

Monday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 68.