If there’s a puppy or kitten on someone’s Christmas list, future pet owners and their families are encouraged to have a plan in place.

St. Joseph Animal Control and Rescue Humane Educator Jennifer Lockwood said pets as gifts can be a good idea, as long as it’s well-thought-out ahead of time.

“I think it’s just something that should (have) been on the radar prior to Christmas, something that the family has talked about, make sure that everybody’s on the same page as far as the care and commitment that is required, by puppies, especially,” Lockwood said.

For those who already have pets, Lockwood said, during any holiday gatherings, it’s also important to have a plan so pets have a holiday free from stress or sickness.

“Keeping them in a nice, safe place and making sure that they’re not eating inappropriate things and making sure everybody knows that, too, so that they’re not feeding them something they shouldn’t be,” Lockwood said. “(Also) make sure that your pet has identification on them in the event that they may get out. If they’re identified with a tag or microchip, that really speeds up the process in getting the pet back to you safely.”

The St. Joseph Animal Shelter will be open regular hours this week and closed Monday and Tuesday next week. Hours are from 1 to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, 1 to 5:30 p.m. on Thursday and 1 to 4:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Lockwood said some items on the shelter’s Christmas list this year are non-clumping cat litter, jars of peanut butter and dry cat and dog food.

For more information, contact the shelter at (816) 271-4877.

AFL-CIO Community Services Director Penny Adams talks about the Adopt-A-Family Christmas program and losing a long term donor this year.

An Atchison, Kansas, man was seriously injured in a crash Tuesday morning on US Highway 59 south of State Hwy KK.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, around 5:45 a.m. Tuesday, 34-year-old Christopher M. Lurquin was driving a Chevrolet S10 north on US-59. The vehicle went off the east side of the road into a drainage culvert and hit an embankment.

Lurquin was life-flighted to the University of Kansas Medical Center for treatment of serious injuries.

According to the crash report, Lurquin was wearing a seatbelt.

Second Harvest Community Food Bank has a new address… online.

The organization launched its new website on Friday. The new web address is shcfb.org, the first letters in the name Second Harvest Community Food Bank.

Second Harvest Communications Coordinator Blake Haynes said one of the reasons for the website change was to make it more mobile-friendly.

“It wasn’t responsive when it came to mobile devices and, obviously, if you know anything about technology and the way trends are going, everything is done (by) mobile now,” Haynes said. “So, seeing that the need was there to revamp and get that fixed along with making things easier to access, (the changes) make it a little more user friendly.”

Haynes said another change was made to the online donation forms and volunteer forms.

“On the old website.. When it came to partner agencies and things like that, (they) had to print off a PDF, since we didn’t have fillable forms, (and) fill it out, fax it, scan it, basically find a way to get it back to us and that’s frustrating,” Haynes said. “Another awesome thing with the new website is being able to have more control over fillable forms, creation process, things like that. In my opinion it’s very user friendly, clean cut and to-the-point which is exactly what we wanted.”

Haynes said they worked with Firespring out of Lincoln, Nebraska, for their new website.

Haynes added that the old website, ourcommunityfoodbank.org, is still active and eventually will automatically redirect visitors to their new website.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The following is a listing of general highway maintenance and construction work in the Northwest Missouri region planned for the week of Dec. 17 – 23 from the Missouri Department of Transportation.

In addition to the work listed below, there may be other road work conducted throughout the region. Many of these will be moving operations and could include lane closures with delays. All scheduled maintenance and construction projects are subject to change, and may be postponed during inclement weather.

MoDOT reminds the public to stay alert, watch for road work, buckle up, slow down, and drive with extreme caution through work zones and in changing weather conditions.

For more information about a project, please contact MoDOT at 1-888-ASK-MoDOT (888-275-6636) or visit modot.org/northwest. You can also follow MoDOT’s Northwest Missouri District on Twitter @ModotNorthwest and on Facebook.

Buchanan County

U.S. Route 169 (Belt Highway) – Signal work at South Belt Wal-Mart, Dec. 17 – 22

Carroll County

Route T – CLOSED for a culvert replacement from Route Z to County Road 225, Dec. 17, 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Gentry County

Route N – CLOSED for a culvert replacement from 280th Street to 300th Street, Dec. 19, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Route N – CLOSED for a culvert replacement from 245th Street to 240th Street, Dec. 20, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Linn County

U.S. Route 36 – Pothole patching from Route 139 (Meadville Junction) to the Macon County line, Dec. 17 – 18

U.S. Route 36 – Sealing from Route C (Livingston County) to Route 139, Dec. 17 – 21

Livingston County

U.S. Route 36 – Sealing from Route C to Route 139 (Linn County), Dec. 17 – 21

Nodaway County

Route M – Shoulder work from Mint Road to Route AH, Dec. 17

Route N – Shoulder work from Route U to Route VV, Dec. 17

Route A – Milling in the city limits of Maitland, Dec. 18

Route H – Shoulder work from 320th Street to 330th Street, Dec. 18

Route H – Shoulder work just west of 350th Street and Hallmark Road, Dec. 19

U.S. Route 71 – Milling from the Andrew County line to the city limits of Maryville, Dec. 19 – 20

U.S. Route 136 – Milling from the city limits of Maryville to the city limits of Ravenwood, Dec. 20

Sullivan County

Route PP – CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE at the East Medicine Creek Bridge after a regularly scheduled inspection revealed critical deterioration to the structure. For more information, click here.

Worth County

Route YY – CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE at the Middle Fork of the Grand River after a regularly scheduled inspection revealed critical deterioration to the structure. For more information, visit the project’s web page.

The Downtown St. Joseph Host Lions Club annual fruit sale fundraiser began Friday.

Navel oranges, several varieties of apples and Texas red grapefruit are available by the case or mixed cases. 

Roger Unruh with the Lions Club says all proceeds from the fundraiser return to the community.

“We do a lot for the community when it comes down to supporting the youth in the area on different things that they may do,” Unruh said. “But we also do a lot for eyesight here in St. Joe and that’s what Lions are all about. We’ve been challenged to be the knights for the blind and that challenge was made by Helen Keller in 1925.”

Frank Still with the Lions Club said the club donates $4,000 a year to help provide eyeglasses for local residents who may not be able to afford them.

The doors are open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily until Dec. 23rd. The Host Lions trailer is set up on the south side of the East Hills Mall parking lot along Woodbine Road next to the St. Joseph Public Library.

For more information, contact Karen Harden at (816) 248-3837 or Brad Campbell at (816) 262-9998.

(Missourinet) – A former Grundy County deputy in northwest Missouri has been featured on an Investigation Discovery network program called “Body Cam.”

Christian Goode says the show is about a 2017 Oklahoma incident in which he was stabbed by a sex offender who failed to register and had several felony warrants.

“That’s kind of the one thing that I’ll never forget is hearing that knife open,” Goode tells Missourinet affiliate KTTN in Trenton. “As soon as he opens the knife, he runs forward at me and I had to drop my baton to get my firearm. He hits me in my left abdomen.”

The suspect stabbed the deputy between two of Goode’s ribs, left shoulder and chest.

“The vest stopped the one in the right chest,” Goode says. “At the same time, he’s attacking me and I was firing my weapon.”

Goode says he did not have to have any surgery. The suspect died at the scene.

Goode was able to go home that night and went back to “light” work after six weeks of recovery. He calls himself “blessed” and “thankful” to be alive.

Over the summer, crews with Investigation Discovery interviewed Goode, his wife, and three other officers on the scene of the incident.

“It does show what kind of goes on a little bit behind the scene with kind of the emotions and what we feel to show that we are human,” he says.

The program is available online at the Investigation Discovery website.