St. Joseph Transit is trying out a new partnership to give Missouri Western State University students free rides.

Mary Gaston, St. Joseph Transit General Manager said a trial period to offer Western students free rides kicked off Wednesday.

“This kind of an arrangement between universities and community transit system is very common in college towns around the country,” Gaston said. “We wanted to give it a try for ourselves.”

Gaston said they are testing out the program to see the interest in students using the public transportation system.

“They can go anywhere our buses can go which is pretty much anywhere in St. Joseph,” Gaston said. “There are connections to the campus, if they want to go shopping or medical appointments or to come downtown or visit friends, whatever they want to do they can use the bus to get there.”

Students who show a valid MWSU ID card to the bus driver can ride all routes free all days and times. Also, for .50 cents students can request the bus deviate from the route to pick them up or drop them off at a more convenient location.

Gaston said it’s a way to give students an opportunity they may not otherwise have.

“This would make it more appealing to students to venture out into St. Joseph, go beyond the campus and see what there is to do and what all there is to offer in St. Joseph,” Gaston said.

She said right now the program is being analyzed to determine what the utilization is before a formal relationship with the university is established.

For more information about hours and routes CLICK HERE.

 

Around 50 officials met in St. Joseph Friday to take the next step in applying for federal funding after approval of a federal disaster declaration.

“The purpose behind our meeting today was to No. 1,  learn the process, and the most important thing is that all the applications have to be in by the end of next week,” said Bill Brinton, Buchanan County Emergency Management Director. “It was a matter of getting all the people who may have projects to get their applications filled out to make sure the State Emergency Management Agency has those applications.”

Officials from all over Northwest Missouri met at the Civic Arena for the Region H State Public Assistance (PA) Applicant Briefings on applying for FEMA assistance after flooding  caused damage earlier this year.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon approved 68 Missouri counties for public disaster assistance after flash flooding and severe storms from May 15 to July 27.

Brinton said in Buchanan County roads are one of the biggest concerns.

“We’re looking at roads out along the Platte River, we’re looking at Mitchell Road, at Saxton/Easton Road.  We’ve had lots of roads that have been damaged due to flooding,” Brinton said.  “The City of St. Joseph have approximately $2.5-million dollars worth of projects that they’ve identified.”

 

Today
A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 79. South wind 14 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Tonight
A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 63. West southwest wind 6 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Saturday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 80. Northwest wind around 7 mph.

Saturday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 63. North northeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight.

Sunday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 85. Southeast wind 3 to 7 mph.

Sunday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 65.

Monday
Sunny, with a high near 88.

Monday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 67.

Tuesday
Sunny, with a high near 89.

Tuesday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 68.

Wednesday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 88.

Wednesday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 68.

Thursday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 88.

A house fire Thursday afternoon in Country Club Village forced crews to shutdown 59 Highway.

According to Andrew County Sheriff Bryan Atkins a call came in at 12:41 p.m. after a home at 1 Country Lane caught on fire.  When crews arrived flames were shooting from the roof.

Atkins said an investigation is underway but a lightning strike is believed to have been the cause.

Savannah Rural Fire Department was on scene as well as aid from Cosby/Helena and Filmore fire departments for tanker support.  Atkins said the accessible fire hydrant was far away so around 10 tankers assisted with water.

Andrew County Ambulance, the American Red Cross of Northwest Missouri and the Missouri State Highway Patrol were also on scene.

59 Highway was shutdown around 1:15 p.m. from business 29 to Roma Lane while crews were on scene.  As of 3 p.m. the highway was still closed.

Atkins said no one was home at the time the fire started.  No injuries reported.

Careless smoking is blamed for a fire that destroyed a house in south St Joseph early Thursday morning,

St Joseph Fire Department crews were dispatched at about 4:30am Thursday to the house at 6501 King Hill Ave.   Fire gutted the house.  Two occupants suffered from smoke inhalation but were not transported to the hospital.

Fire Inspector Rob Blizzard says the cause of the fire will be listed as accidental, blamed on careless smoking.  The blaze caused $35,000 damage, which was the estimated value of the house.

Mr Blizzard says the two occupants refused help from the American Red Cross.  The house was not insured.

(UPDATE) Two people suffered smoke inhalation but refused hospitalization after fire destroyed their home in the 6500 block of King Hill.

That fire was reported around 4:30 Thursday morning. Fire apparatus blocked traffic on King Hill for about an hour and a half.

Two residents refused housing assistance from the American Red Cross

They made it out of the house by the time fire crews arrived. They were treated but not transported.

The small home was destroyed. Fire investigators were working to determine the cause.

A St. Joseph man has been charged in Nodaway County after allegedly breaking into a home nearly naked and assaulting two women.

34-year-old Bradley Vulgamott is charged with felonies for first degree assault, first degree burglary, and first degree property damage.

According to the Maryville Department of Public Safety officers received a report Wednesday around 1:15 a.m. of a break-in in progress at a home in the 500 block of East 3rd St. in Maryville.

Court documents state that Vulgamott used a lawn chair to break the front window.

“Mr. Vulgamott, who was naked with the exception of footwear, pushed down victim 1 to the floor,” said Kenneth Garner with MDPS in the probable cause document. “Mr. Vulgamott continued into the residence and physically attacked victim 2 and restrained her by holding her arms.  After a brief struggle Mr. Vulgamott fled the residence by the front door, which he broke in the process.”

The MDPS said there is no relationship between the victims and the suspect in this case.

Vulgamott is being held without bond pending his first court appearance.  An arraignment is set for Sept. 1.

The latest ACT scores or the St. Joseph School District shows a drop of more than a full point.

The composite score for district high school students full from 21.3 in 2014 to 20.1 in 2015.

The state composite score was 21.7 for 2015.

Students at Central High School averaged 20.7, Benton averaged 19.4 and Lafayette averaged 19.2.

“Anytime we see a dip in scores, it is cause for concern” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Robert Newhart. He says the district will evaluate all areas, see where we can improve, and what tools need to be used to increase the scores in the coming years. The ACT consists of curriculum-based tests of educational development in English, mathematics, reading, and science designed to measure the skills needed for success in first year college coursework.

The ACT is a curriculum-based achievement assessment that measures the skills taught in schools and deemed important for success in first-year college courses.

Mosaic Life Care dedicated its newly renovated Helipad Wednesday in honor of three who perished in the line of duty four years ago.

A ceremony was held in honor of Flight Nurse Randy Bever, Flight Paramedic Chris Frakes and Pilot James Fruedenberg. The three died in a LifeNet helicopter crash in Clay County in 2011.

Sarah Cassity spoke about the dedication and touched on her memories of the three.

“Chris also had a way of being the calm during the storm,” Cassity said. “He and Randy went almost hand-in-hand.  Where there was one there was almost always the other.”

“So many people knew Randy in the emergency care community,” said Jeff Coe with LifeNet. “Anybody in 200-square-miles of St. Joe Missouri that transported anybody to Heartland or ever called the helicopter or needed an ambulance in Andrew County, or Nodaway County or Buchanan County knew Randy Bever.”

“We have to remember James who served in the Army before he came to LifeNet,” Coe said. “He was a fine pilot.  He flew straight, he flew smooth.  Like every human-being, Randy, Chris, James all of us at times we’re human-beings and when humans meet machines things happen.”

A patient, Terry Tacoronte was also killed in the crash.

At the end of the dedication family members released balloons to honor the crew.

In 2013 the NTSB investigation found that lack of fuel and texting by the pilot contributed to the crash.