ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Several additional routes across Northwest Missouri have closed due to flooding and some have reopened as waters receded. The Missouri Department of Transportation provides a Traveler Information Map atwww.modot.org/northwest which lists all road closures and planned roadwork. Motorists are advised to check the map before heading out to plan alternate routes, as needed. MoDOT encourages everyone to pay attention to barricades and Turn Around! Don’t Drown!

NOW CLOSED:

Andrew County:

• Route 48 on the east and west sides of Rosendale (One Hundred and Two River)
• Route C at the junction with Route 48 (One Hundred and Two River)
• Route C between Sylvan Street and County Road 177 (One Hundred and Two River)
• Route B west of Bolckow between County Road 141 and Railroad Street (One Hundred and Two River)

Buchanan County:

• Route H between the city limits of Agency and Johnson Road (Platte River)

Gentry County

• Route H between U.S. Route 136 and Route E (Grand River)
• Route H three miles north of Route Z (Grand River)
• Route A between Route T and Route Z (Grand River)

Nodaway County

• Route U from Arkoe to Keystone Road (One Hundred and Two River)
• Route DD between Route 113 and Catalina Road (Nodaway River)

Putnam County

• Route 129 three miles north of Route Y (Shoal Creek)
• Route Y between 163^rd and 330^th (North Blackbird Creek)

The city of St. Joseph will receive a grant from the Missouri Department of Conservation to trim up parts of town.

On Monday the MDC will present the check for a tree grant during the City Council Meeting.  It’s the seventh time the city has been awarded the Tree Resource Improvement & Maintenance grant AKA, T.R.I.M.

The city said the grant amount of $7,985.79 will be used to inventory street trees in the area of the city bordered by County Line Road on the north, Highland Avenue on the south, I-29 on the east and I-229 on the west.

 

…EXCESSIVE HEAT AND HUMIDITY RETURN FOR FRIDAY AND SATURDAY…

.A STEADY SOUTHERLY BREEZE OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS WILL DRAW MORE
MOISTURE AND HEAT NORTHWARD RESULTING IN DANGEROUS AFTERNOON HEAT
INDICES BETWEEN 103 AND 108 ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. A COLD FRONT
MOVING THROUGH THE REGION ON SUNDAY WILL ALLOW SLIGHTLY COOLER AND
DRIER AIR TO PUSH INTO THE REGION.

…HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM FRIDAY TO 9 PM CDT
SATURDAY…

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL HAS
ISSUED A HEAT ADVISORY…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM FRIDAY TO
9 PM CDT SATURDAY.

* TEMPERATURE…HIGH TEMPERATURES IN THE LOWER TO MIDDLE 90S COMBINED
WITH HIGH HUMIDITY LEVELS WILL RESULT IN AFTERNOON HEAT INDICES
TOPPING OUT BETWEEN 103 AND 108 DEGREES.

* IMPACTS…THE OPPRESSIVE HEAT AND HUMIDITY OVER THE NEXT TWO DAYS
WILL RESULT IN AN INCREASED RISK OF HEAT RELATED ILLNESSES SUCH AS
HEAT EXHAUSTION.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

TAKE EXTRA PRECAUTIONS…IF YOU WORK OR SPEND TIME OUTSIDE. WHEN
POSSIBLE…RESCHEDULE STRENUOUS ACTIVITIES TO EARLY MORNING OR
EVENING. KNOW THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF HEAT EXHAUSTION AND HEAT
STROKE. WEAR LIGHT WEIGHT AND LOOSE FITTING CLOTHING WHEN
POSSIBLE AND DRINK PLENTY OF WATER.

TO REDUCE RISK DURING OUTDOOR WORK…THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY
AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION RECOMMENDS SCHEDULING FREQUENT REST
BREAKS IN SHADED OR AIR CONDITIONED ENVIRONMENTS. ANYONE OVERCOME
BY HEAT SHOULD BE MOVED TO A COOL AND SHADED LOCATION. HEAT
STROKE IS AN EMERGENCY…CALL 9 1 1.

A HEAT ADVISORY MEANS THAT A PERIOD OF HOT TEMPERATURES IS
EXPECTED. THE COMBINATION OF HOT TEMPERATURES AND HIGH HUMIDITY
WILL COMBINE TO CREATE A SITUATION IN WHICH HEAT ILLNESSES ARE
POSSIBLE. DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS…STAY IN AN AIR-CONDITIONED
ROOM…STAY OUT OF THE SUN…AND CHECK UP ON RELATIVES AND
NEIGHBORS.

The National Weather Service has confirmed that an EF-1 Tornado caused damage in a northwest Missouri town.

The weather service said the tornado touched down in Graham, Mo. located in Nodaway County Thursday at 1:18 a.m.  The agency said it had a max wind speed of 90 MPH and its width ranged 25 yards and .25 mi in length. It was on the ground for about a minute and traveled a quarter mile southeast of Graham.

There were no fatalities and no one was injured.

A seed building was leveled on the southeast part of town.

 

Atchison Kansas could see its population triple overnight as people flock to take part in the 19th annual Amelia Earhart Festival.

Activities will kick-off Friday night with LakeFest.  Jacque Pregont with the Atchison Chamber of Commerce said the concert is held in the natural amphitheater on the shores of Warnock Lake. Gates open at 4 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m. with the national anthem and the opening act.

“I would anticipate that we’ll be about where we were last year with probably 8 or 9,000 people down at the lake,” Pregont said.

The Eli Young Band, Easton Corbin,  Cassadee Pope, and Atchison County native Erik Dylan will take the stage.

Tickets are $25 until Friday when they go up to $30 the day of the concert.  CLICK HERE for tickets.

Then Saturday afternoon Pregont said the festival will draw around 5 to 7,000 people into downtown.

“We have things going on all day long.  We start at 9 o’clock in the morning and we won’t be done until dark with the fireworks show,” she said.

Everything from a 2K/8K run-walk to a craft show and Aerobatic Performances.  CLICK HERE to view the brochure.

But Saturday night the town with a 2010 Census of only 11,021 could see 30-thousand people line the riverfront to view the city’s firework display.

“When people ask me how many people are on the riverfront I always tell them however many can fit,” Pergont said. “The music is simulcast over speakers up and down the river.  So it truly is a concert in the sky.”

 

 

The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office is asking for help in an alleged Arson that destroyed a home, vehicle and trailer.

The Department said one person has already been charged in connection with the alleged arson that took place during the early morning hours of March 15 in the 11000 block of Liv 259 in the eastern part of the county.

Within minutes of the fire being called in firefighters and a deputy sheriff were on scene. A firefighter and deputy detected the propane odor and the excellent job by the firefighter in quickly shutting off the valve, which greatly reduced the risk of additional firefighting problems and/or a tank bleve.

The Missouri State Fire Marshall’s Office and Livingston County Sheriff’s Office said leads on this investigation have been exhausted.

“We are seeking any additional tips and information which may not yet have been provided to investigators,” said Sheriff Steve Cox with LCSO. “If you have any information about this incident even that which may have been obtained before or after the alleged incident, please call us.”

Tips can be made to the LCSO at 660-646-0515, email a tip through our website at www.livcoso.org, email sheriffcox@gmail.com, or call the Missouri State Fire Marshall’s Tip Hotline at 1-800-39-ARSON (800-392-7766).

The office said a significant concern with this case stems from the elevated potential of serious injury or death to the responding Emergency Fire and Law Enforcement members.  As a propane tank located just north of the fire engulfed home was leaking propane due to the line possibly having been cut or broken near the valve at the time of the fire.

 

(Missourinet) – Governor Jay Nixon wants Missouri to sue the U.S. Department of Agriculture because he wants Missouri farmers to have more time to report acreage or lose eligibility for crop insurance. Nixon requested on Tuesday a 30-day extension from USDA for farmers to report that acreage to the Risk Management Agency, which oversees the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, but that request was denied.

For producers in northwest Missouri that deadline is today. Nixon says about 60-percent of Missouri farmers have not been able to report their acreage because of severe weather and flooding. An estimated 1.5-million acres of soybeans have not been planted.

“These numbers indicate that many farmers in Missouri are still making planting decisions and thus have not completed their reporting,” a statement from Nixon’s office says.

“The heavy rainfall and flooding recently experienced in Missouri makes it impossible for the majority of Missouri producers to meet the current deadlines,” wrote Nixon. “A simple extension is a reasonable request, and its denial by the USDA makes no sense. That’s why I’ve asked [Attorney General Chris Koster] to take action to prevent the federal government from enforcing this unreasonable deadline that would hurt the majority of Missouri’s farmers and our number one industry.”

“These unprecedented weather conditions will leave our farmers with drastically reduced yields during a time when commodity prices are already severely depressed,” said Nixon. “A deadline extension is critical to ensuring that farmers have proper and accurate insurance coverage so that Missouri farm families can endure these extreme conditions.”

Nixon encourages producers to keep submitting reports while litigation is pursued.

The St. Joseph Fire Department got the go ahead from City Council Tuesday to look into building two new fire stations.

“We have proposed to the council some general areas where we feel the locations would best serve the community,” said Paris Jenkins, a Battalion Chief with the Fire Department.

He said station 9 at 22nd and Frederick and Station 11 at 18th and Walnut need to be replaced.

“The station at 22nd and Frederick while the location is not bad to service the community the station was built in 1899, designed for horses,” Jenkins said. “It is single bay and it does not meet the needs of modern fire apparatus.  The same is true for station 11, it was built just after 1900.”

Jenkins said the Council’s response was very positive, accepting the department’s study on the station locations.

“They were not in favor of hiring a consultant to come in and do the same study again,” he said. “They have asked us to proceed with the negotiations for land acquisitions.”

The department is looking at purchasing land for two new stations.

“We have a general area of town where we would like to set those stations but we don’t have anything that’s like ‘oh it has to be right here’,” Jenkins said.

The area of 22nd street somewhere between Mitchell Avenue and Garfield was recommended for station 11.  Station 9 was recommended to be moved to Frederick between 24th and 29th.

The city has budgeted around $6.75 million for the project. Jenkins said some funds are already there from fire department allocations like money from the sale of the Geiger Mansion originally donated to the city for use as a fire department.  Some funding will also come from the city’s Capital Improvements Program (CIP).

He said the next step in the project is the appraisal process.

“To make sure that the city is in a position so that we know the fair market value when we do our negotiations,” Jenkins said.

UPDATE: Two people were taken into custody Tuesday afternoon in St. Joseph at a local book store.

32-year-old Linda Sue Pennell, who also goes by the last name Helton was arrested along with 33-year-old Jason Claycomb at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Hastings Entertainment located at 605 N. Belt Highway.

Commander Eric Protzman with the St. Joseph Police Department said Pennell was arrested in connection with outstanding warrants and as the subject of interest in several thefts. Claycomb was arrested on a Parole Violation.

He said information from the public was helpful in locating the individuals.

Police released surveillance photos last week of a woman asking the public for help identifying who she was. Protzman said Pennell was identified by help from the public.  However, as of Monday her whereabouts were still unknown.  That’s when the department went to the public for help once again asking for anyone who knew her whereabouts to contact authorities.

“We wish to thank the media and citizens for their assistance,” Protzman said.

Charges are currently pending against Pennell.