A Kearney woman has been charged with breaking into several parked vehicles throughout several Platte City neighborhoods. Stephanie McKinzie, 19, was charged with the class C felony stealing for the vehicle larcenies.
Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd said charges were filed August 14 following an investigation by the Platte County Sheriff’s Office.
Platte County Sheriff Mark Owen urged citizens to take precautions against this type of theft by removing valuables from their vehicles and locking them. Sheriff Owen thanked the community for their assistance in the investigation.
According to court documents, between July 20 and August 7, several vehicles were broken into in subdivisions along Running Horse Road and in the Seven Bridges neighborhood.
On August 7, one of the victim’s credit cards was used at a local gas station. Video from the gas station allegedly shows a white female get out of a white Chevrolet Impala with no front plate. The woman allegedly went into the store and used the victim’s credit card to pre-pay for gas.
That same morning, a white Chevrolet Impala was captured on private residence surveillance video in the Seven Bridges subdivision. A person with clothing matching that seen from the gas station video is seen getting out of the vehicle.
McKinzie was arrested on August 9 by Excelsior Springs Police Department in a 2007 white Chevrolet Impala. The vehicle was searched pursuant to a search warrant. Several items that had been reported stolen from residents of Platte City neighborhoods were found in the vehicle.
McKinzie is being held in the Platte County jail in lieu of $25,000 cash only bond. She is charged with one count of felony stealing. If convicted, she faces up to seven years in prison.
The St. Joseph School District is seeing a drop in total students this year for the first time in several years.
In a news release Tuesday the district announced enrollment is down by 166 students for the 2015-16 school year. Total students enrolled as of Aug. 25 was 11,370.
There are 87 fewer students at the high school level, with a total attendance of 3,238. Benton reported 776 students, Lafayette 779. Central was the only high school that saw an increase in students up 14 from last year to 1,683.
Middle school enrollment was up 31 from a year ago to 1,707. Bode Middle School saw the largest enrollment at 518 students.
Alternative school enrollment is 127, that’s down 16.
It said the average class size in the elementary grades is 21.27.
Classes started Aug. 17. The district said the seventh day enrollment number is used, essentially, to fine-tune staffing levels in the schools. The decision regarding teacher moves and additional para-professionals is based according to the district on Missouri School Improvement Program guidelines. Those are:
K-2: 25 students
3-4: 27 students
5-6: 30 students.
In order to qualify for an over-sized classroom para-professional the district said the class average must be over those guidelines.
This was the first year the St. Joseph School District has seen a decrease in student population in several years.
Last year the district had six additional students than 2013 for a total of 11,536. In 2012 it was 11,473.
A man was been taken into police custody after a motorcycle accident on Lovers Lane Tuesday morning sent another man to the hospital with serious injuries.
According to Traffic Sgt. Chris McBane officers responded to the 2200 block of Lovers Lane around 7:18 a.m.
“Motorcycle was westbound on Lovers Lane, lost control went down and ejected both the driver and the passenger,” McBane said. “The passenger was transported to Mosaic with serious injuries.”
The passenger, a 27-year-old St. Joseph man was transported with a serious head injury according to police. McBane said the 25-year-old driver, also a St. Joseph man was taken into police custody for investigation of assault and to determine wither or not alcohol played a factor in the crash.
Both men were wearing helmets at the time of the crash.
Ashland was closed to traffic from around 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
File Photo Students on campus – Photo courtesy Darren Whitley/Northwest Missouri State University
MARYVILLE, Mo. –More than 1,400 freshman and nearly 300 transfer students will make their way onto the Northwest Missouri State University Campus this week.
As the official start of its 2015-2016 academic year nears, Northwest will welcome freshmen and transfer students to its campus Thursday, Aug. 27.
The day also marks the kickoff of Advantage, an annual orientation program designed to help first-year students get acquainted with other Northwest students, learn about the campus and enjoy some entertainment before fall classes begin, Monday, Aug. 31.
Northwest projects a total headcount of more than 6,600 students this fall. All enrollment numbers are preliminary until the University’s official censu
s occurs Monday, Sept. 28.
The Advantage schedule includes times for new students to pick up their Northwest laptops, textbooks and Bearcat Cards as well as attend University Seminar classes, library tours and presentations geared toward helping them understand what they can expect during their first year at Northwest.
The weekend culminates Sunday, Aug. 30, when the first-year students gather at 2:45 p.m. in Bearcat Arena for the annual Convocation, which is followed by the March to the Tower and a tree dedication. At 8:30 p.m. the University hosts its annual back-to-school fireworks display at College Park.
A view of the fire, still burning, from downtown St Joseph.
A cloud of smoke continued to drift over a large area of St Joseph from the fire at the decades-old Schreiber grain mill facility near Eighth and Mitchell Monday morning. The investigation into the cause of the blaze has not yet begun, because the fire is still burning.
Fire crews responded to one call on the north end of the city at about 7am, after a resident smelled smoke inside her home. There was also a lot of smoke outside her home, all of it coming from the fire on Eighth Street, nearly five miles away. Smoke from the fire was visible in the neighborhoods around I-29 and Frederick, which is about four miles away.
There were no injuries reported. Fire crews were dispatched to the area at around 1am. They quickly made the decision to let the fire burn itself out.
“There really isn’t anything to put out,” said Mike Neylon, the St Joseph Fire Department’s Chief Training Officer. “Plus, it’s fallen in on itself, and it would require a lot of man work, to expose it, to pull all the old stuff off, to get to the center of the fire.”
“There’s nothing of value being lost other than some 75-year-old lumber.”
Fire crews at the scene worried about the possibility of hazardous materials within the burning structure.
“There was a possibility,” Chief Neylon said. “I’ve never heard it confirmed or denied, or a name put on any hazardous material. There’s much more concern about the surrounding structures than the structure itself, which was a pile of lumber.”
Crews deployed water canon and large hose to protect adjacent structures
So an aerial truck and a heavy fire hose were deployed to pour water on the neighboring buildings.
Just over a year ago, the owners made their first effort to tear down the building, but some of the refuse from the demolition wound up in the middle of Eighth Street. It was later determined that the owner had not put up the proper fencing, so that project was put on hold.
Fire inspectors will wait until the fire is out before attempting to determine the cause. Meanwhile, an engine company remained at the scene by 10 a.m. Monday to make sure the fire didn’t spread.
St Joseph police and fire officials warned motorists away from the area of 8th and Mitchell early Monday morning as crews put out a fire that was visible for miles.
Officials say the Schreiber Mill, a grain storage facility, was recently torn down, but caught around 1am Monday. There were no injuries.
By 3am, crews were also dousing neighboring buildings to prevent the fire from spreading.
Troopers are asking drivers to use caution ahead of Labor Day travel after traffic fatalities jumped up 13 percent last weekend in Missouri.
As of August 17 519 people had died in traffic crashes so far this year in Missouri. That was up 13 percent from the same time last year.
As the Missouri State Highway Patrol prepares for the upcoming Labor Day holiday it’s reminding drivers to use caution.
In 2014, six people were killed and 369 injured in Missouri over the Labor Day holiday in 901 traffic crashes. Of that total, troopers worked 274 traffic crashes, which included 120 injuries and three of the fatalities over the 2014 Labor Day holiday. Troopers arrested 94 people for driving while intoxicated during last year’s holiday weekend.
The 2015 counting period for the Labor Day holiday will be from 6 p.m., Friday, September 4, through 11:59 p.m., Monday, September 7, 2015.
“The important theme here is: Drivers made errors resulting in traffic crashes. Traffic crashes can be prevented. Fatalities don’t have to happen,” said Colonel J. Bret Johnson. “If your vehicle leaves the right side of the roadway, please follow these important steps: 1) Don’t panic and don’t overcorrect! 2) Ease off the gas pedal and stay off the brake pedal. 3) Turn your wheel about 1/8th of a turn to the left to get back on the road. When the tires hit pavement again, turn the wheel 1/4th of a turn to the right.”
The Highway Patrol will be participating in Operation C.A.R.E. (Combined Accident Reduction Effort) over the Labor Day holiday weekend. All available officers will be patrolling Missouri’s roadways enforcing Missouri’s speed limit, seat belt, and alcohol laws, in addition to being available to assist motorists.
Troopers throughout the state will participate in a special enforcement operation on September 4 and again on September 7. This operation will include Interstates 29, 44, 55, and 70, and U.S. Highways 60 and 61. Troopers will be targeting all traffic violations, and be especially vigilant of aggressive driving violations.
“The Patrol encourages everyone to have a safe Labor Day holiday,” said Colonel Johnson. “Please buckle up in your vehicle and wear a life jacket on or near water. If you witness criminal activity or experience an emergency—whether you’re on a highway or on the water— call the Patrol’s Emergency Report Line at 1 (800) 525-5555 or *55 on a cellular phone. If your celebration includes alcohol, designate someone else to drive, whether you are in your boat or your car. Please don’t become a statistic.”
A Community Worship Service is being held as part of the finale to the 2015 Trails West!® festival.
The festival opens on Sunday, at 11 a.m. for just a $2 wristband, which can be purchased at the gates, or from local churches. If you already have a Trails West!® button or t-shirt that will also get you in.
Shannen White, Trails West!® co-chair, feels “Trails West!® is one of the many reason why we love St. Joseph. Let’s band together and make St. Joseph an even stronger community. We are a city with passion, talent and heart. We all have a heart for the city.”
Scott Hawkins, Teaching Pastor at the Edge, opens the main stage Sunday at 1 p.m., followed by the Mid City Excellence Praise Dancers and the Word of Faith Community Praise Christian Fellowship. The Praise Dancers will be front and center and invite you to participate and worship with them.
Following the dancers, Reverend Bryan Gregory, Senior Pastor at Brookdale Presbyterian Church, will speak on “Seeking the good of the City” going along with the Trails West!® festival theme, “heART for the City.”
Sanctus Real Photo courtesy Allied Arts Council
After the community worship service, Christian band Sanctus Real takes the main stage. Sanctus Real is a multiple Grammy-nominated Christian rock band who has topped the Christian Billboard charts for almost 20 years. Festival attendees will recognize songs like “Beautiful Day,” “Everything About You,” “The Fight Song,” “Forgiven,” “We Need Each Other” and “Lead Me.”
Voices of the Past. Photo courtesy St. Joseph Museum
The 2015 Voices of the Past program will tackle passion, love and heartbreak.
This year’s scheduled for the interpretive tours of Mount Mora Cemetery were announced earlier this week. They are set to take place on October 22 and 23.
Participants will stroll along the list Mausoleum Row while reconnecting with the past. They will get a chance to meet with legendary former citizens who step out of the shadows to share stories. This year’s characters will talk about their stories of love, passion and heartbreak.
The St. Joseph Museum said a tombstone ballad, with the original composition accompanied by guitar, will play for the audience. Among the stories include a long-time mystery – perhaps a love story known to only two – will be shared. A World War II era doctor will introduce royalty and share a tender story, as will a Civil War wife whose love for her husband is unmatched. A once prominent theologian will bring his little-known story to life and two love stories with shocking, tragic endings will be woven into the mix.
Participants will start their tour at the 1879 Wyeth-Tootle Mansion, 1100 Charles Street. Their visit to the Mansion will include traditional fall treats and the premier of the production Tombstones Tell Stories, which shows the way that tombstones give clues about the life of the deceased in some unusual and creative ways. Guests will then be swept away to Mount Mora Cemetery to meander along fire-lit Mausoleum Row, stopping at the cemetery’s most unique monuments. Visitors will hear from “residents” of the cemetery as well as “guests” as they take a walk along a lane in the “prettiest City of the Dead.”
Every year former St. Joseph, Mo. citizens come back to life during the Voices from the Past ghost tours. Vistors are guided down Mausoleum Row at Mount Mora Cemetery as they learn about the life and journey’s of the “residents”. (Photo courtesy St. Joseph Museum)
“The tours are meant to educate about the fascinating history of St. Joseph and the people who built the city and saw so much change in their lifetimes. What some of them experienced was so long ago, and yet is still so easy to relate to,” said Suzanne Lehr, Research Associate of the St. Joseph Museums. “Mount Mora Cemetery is truly a historical and architectural treasure everyone can appreciate.”
Proceeds from “Voices of the Past” benefit the Mount Mora Restoration and Preservation Association and the education programming at the St. Joseph Museum.
“Voices of the Past” will be held Thursday, October 22 and Friday, October 23. Participants must be 14 years of age or older. Tours begin at the Wyeth-Tootle Mansion, 1100 Charles Street, St. Joseph, Missouri, at 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 ($18 for Members of the St. Joseph Museum and Mount Mora Cemetery Association.) Space is limited. Tickets must be purchased in advance and are available at the St. Joseph Museum, 3406 Frederick Avenue, or by calling 800-530-8866.
Weekend lineup for the 2015 Trails West!® Festival.
Trails West!® is held Aug. 21-23 at Civic Center Park in St. Joseph, Missouri. Entertainment on the City Stage and Family Stage ends before the Main Stage entertainment. Main Stage entertainment opens at 8 p.m. emerging country star Kelsea Ballerini followed by the legendary Charlie Daniels Band, on Saturday, Aug. 22; and a community worship service followed by Christian artists Sanctus Real at 1 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 23.
City Stage
Saturday, Aug. 22
10:30 a.m. –Dance Arts Center (dance): For thirty years the Dance Arts Center has taught students the art, discipline and joy of dance. The studio was founded in 1985 by Ms. Lynn Fankhauser. In 2005, former student and professional dancer Marla Heeler returned home from Chicago to carry on the tradition Ms. Lynn instilled in many students during her twenty-year career. The Dance Arts Center offers a wide variety of dance, including ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, musical theater, contemporary, hip-hop and tumbling. Students at the Dance Arts Center not only learn grace, poise and confidence, but they also gain a lifelong appreciation of dance, and develop skills such as team work, time management and problem solving.
11:30 a.m. – RiverSong (choral): RiverSong, of Sweet Adelines International, is a fellowship of women singers committed to personal and musical growth through ongoing education and performance. RiverSong (formerly the St. Joseph Show Chorus) has a long tradition of participating in competitions and winning top honors. As the chorus grew in numbers and knowledge, their success continued, including 13 regional championships. The chorus traveled to compete in such exciting cities as London, England; Portland, Oregon; Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and Honolulu, Hawaii, and placed as high as 2nd place at the international contest.
12:45 p.m. – Mary Beth Rosenauer (vocal/piano): Mary Beth Rosenauer is the winner of this year’s St. Joe’s Got Talent. She graduates from Missouri Western this spring with hopes of becoming a band director. Mary Beth enjoys singing, piano, clarinet, saxophone and trombone. She is also a member of the local band Foxlin and works at the recently opened Tiger’s Den in downtown St. Joseph.
1:30 p.m. – Dance Arts Center
2:30 p.m. – The Barbecutioners (rock)
4 p.m. – Grindstone Creek (country): Grindstone Creek is a good-time alternative/country rock band with pop sensibilities. They are a group of friends that like to have fun and play music together, performing original music as well as covering an assortment of today’s country music hits and a few classics that everybody really enjoys. They’ve branded themselves as “Redneck Bonfire Music,” best explained as good-time tunes you can sit around and enjoy listening to with your friends.
6 p.m. – One Headlight High (pop punk): Hailing from the small town of Tarkio, Missouri is a group of five early-twenties pop/punk friends: Tyler McIntosh, Danny Hogue, Tim Miller, Ethan Piveral, and Duston Noland, known collectively as One Headlight High. The band got their start in February 2010 when four high school friends decided to start creating music together. Ethan, Tyler and Duston are the current founding members of the band. One Headlight High is a pop/punk rock band with an alternative rock feel and very catchy melodies, influenced by bands such as All Time Low, Yellowcard, Blink 182, A Day To Remember and The Wonder Years.
Sunday, Aug. 22
11:30 a.m. – Maria the Mexican (soul/Mexicana): Influenced by traditional mariachi music, Maria the Mexican is a hybrid of Mexican folklore and rock. For ten years, Teresa and Maria Elena Cuevas performed with Marachi Estrella founded by their grandmother Teresa Cuevas in 1970. As one of the first all-female mariachi bands in the country, Maria Teresa Alonzo Cuevas is a pioneer in the Hispanic musical community. Her band flourished in the 80s but was struck by tragedy when four of the seven members were killed in the Hyatt Skywalk collapse in 1981. Once Teresa recovered she began teaching her grandchildren mariachi music. In 2000, Teresa and Maria began exploring other genres of music while simultaneously co-directing Mariachi Estrella. Today the fusion of Maria the Mexican is mixed with a touch of blues, soul, funk and rock n’ roll enhanced by the musical knowledge and sounds of Garrett Nordstrom. With a southwestern flair and melancholy motifs, Maria the Mexican rocks it out in Spanish and English with a host of emotion.
Family Stage
Saturday, Aug. 22
10:30 a.m. – Parasol Puppets: Peter Allen has performed as a puppeteer and actor for 50 years. Born in England, he began doing puppet shows at the tender age of eight. Peter has performed puppet shows in England, Scotland, Germany, Canada and the USA. Peter moved to Hawaii when he married puppeteer Debbie Lutzky in 1986. Debbie Lutzky Allen has a master’s degree in theatre and puppetry and has been a working puppeteer since 1979. She taught in numerous schools, conducting residencies to emphasize language arts through puppetry. As a company of solo puppeteers, Peter and Debbie successfully performed and taught puppetry from their Hawaii base for 10 years. In 1997, Peter, Debbie and Parasol Puppets moved to a farm outside of Jamesport, Missouri. From this central location, they continue to tour with their puppet performances to the East Coast, West Coast, Hawaii, Canada and many points in between.
11:30 a.m. – Inspirations Dance Interactive Dance: Bring your children Saturday morning for a children’s interactive dance session led by Inspirations Dance Studio. This is the perfect opportunity to let your kids run off energy, while learning some new dance moves.
12:15 p.m. – Inspirations Dance Center (dance): Inspirations Dance Center has taught technique and appreciation, inspiring students to love dancing for a lifetime, since it opened in Savannah, Missouri in 2008. With a move to a larger facility in 2014, Inspirations continues to share the art of dance. Inspirations dancers perform often at community events for the United Way, Special Olympics, Royal Family Kids Camp, Moila Shriners, St. Joe Mustangs and East Hills Mall.
1:15 p.m. – Tunes of Fun (children): Tunes of Fun Music Class involves music and movement for children. Children sing, dance, march, jump, skip, play instruments and have fun. Children at a very young age can learn early music skills such as keeping a steady beat, matching pitch and repeating rhythms.
2 p.m. – The Wires (cello and violin duo): The Wires are an alternative exploration in string sound. Hailing from Kansas City, Missouri, the Wires compose and perform original music for violin and cello. Inspired by a myriad of genres and eclectic sounds, the Wires are not your typical strings group. The project encompasses a blend of wide-ranging styles, from tango to gypsy, jazz to rock and infused with the precision of classical form, created, composed and performed by Laurel Morgan (violin) and Sascha Groschang (cello).
3 p.m. – Mary Beth Rosenauer
4 p.m. – Zale Bledsoe singer/songwriter
6 p.m. – Foxlin (indie/pop/folk): Foxlin is an Indie/Folk band from Saint Joseph, Missouri. Starting as a solo passion project for songwriter Ryan Johnson, Foxlin is developing into a full band with catchy, throwback melodies and cautionary tales of love and loss.
7 p.m.- Best Family Dance Party: Bring your whole family with your dancing clothes on, because we are having a family dance party.
