The St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce will be hosting Missouri Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe this week to discuss an upcoming ballot measure.

Chamber Director of Communications and Marketing Kristi Bailey said at the Cocktails and Politics event, Kehoe will be answering questions about Proposition D, which will be on the ballot in November.

“If this issue is approved, it will phase in a 2.5 cent annual increase to Missouri’s motor fuel tax over a period of four years… the funds will go to improve our state’s roads and bridges and some of the funding will go to local communities,” Bailey said. “So this is an important issue for Missouri voters and we’re happy that he’s going to be here to talk it out with us and get feedback from our residents.”

The event is free and open to the public. It will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. on Wednesday at Gallery on Sixth located at 107 S. Sixth St. in downtown St. Joseph. 

ATCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — Atchison County authorities say a Missouri teenager has died and another teenager from Texas is in critical condition after a car they were in went into a creek in northeast Kansas during the weekend. Three other teens were able to escape without serious injury.

Undersheriff Toby Smith said 16-year-old Zachary Armontrout, of Rushville, Missouri, died Monday at a Kansas City hospital. Sixteen-year-old Regan Moger, of Houston, Texas, remains in critical condition.

The vehicle they were in hit an object on a bridge and went into Independence Creek two miles north of Atchison Sunday afternoon. Investigators believe the car was submerged for about 30 minutes before first responders extracted it.

The five teenagers are all students at Maur Hill-Mount Academy, a Catholic boarding school in Atchison.

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ATCHISON COUNTY — Five people were injured in an accident just before 2:30p.m. Sunday in Atchison County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2009 Honda SUV driven by Zachary Armontrout, 16, Rushville, MO., was westbound on River Road just west of Levy Road in Atchison.

The SUV left the roadway to the right, struck the guardrail and landed in the creek.

Armontrout and passenger Regan Moger, 16, Houston, TX., were transported to KU Medical Center.

Passengers Hamilton Snyder, 14, Whittier, CA.; Philip Saragusa, 16, Atchison; Aurora L. Dericotte, 14, Stilwell, were transported to Atchison Hospital. All five were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

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 Sept. 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.

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.

Atchison County

Interstate 29 – Resurfacing project from the Iowa state line to Route 111, Sept. 17 – 21.

Buchanan County

U.S. Route 59 – Bridge maintenance at the Bankers Crossing Bridge, Sept. 17

U.S. Route 169 (Belt Highway) – Pothole patching from Karnes Road to Loop 29 (Pear Street), Sept. 17 – 20

U.S. Route 169 (Belt Highway) – Pedestrian crossing improvement project at U.S. Route 36 and South Belt Wal-Mart intersections, Sept. 17 – 21

Route AC (Riverside Road) – Bridge maintenance at the U.S. Route 36 Bridge, Sept. 17 – 21. This will include overnight lane closures and a reduced speed limit of 45 mph.

Route 759 – Concrete replacement southbound at the Burlington Northern Railroad crossing, Sept. 18 – 21. This will include overnight lane closures.

Route 752 – Resurfacing project from Route 371 (22nd Street) to I-229, Sept. 19 – 21

I-229 – Resurfacing project from Route 371 (22nd Street) to I-29, Sept. 21

Caldwell County                                               

U.S. Route 36 – Guardrail work from just east of the DeKalb County line to Route 33 (DeKalb County), Sept. 17 – 21, daylight hours.

Carroll County

Route 10 – Guardrail work from Route FF to U.S. Business Route 65 in Carrollton, Sept. 17 – 21

Daviess County

U.S. Route 69 – Resurfacing project from I-35 to Route 6, Sept. 17 – 22. A pilot car will direct traffic through the work zone.

U.S. Route 69 – Resurfacing project from Route C to Route AA (Harrison County), Sept. 17 – 22. A pilot car will direct traffic through the work zone.

Route 13 – Shoulder work at the Honey Creek Bridge near Gallatin, Sept. 17 – 21

Route J – CLOSED for a culvert replacement from Titan Road to the city limits of Kidder, Sept. 17 – 21, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

DeKalb County

Route D – Pothole patching from Route W to Route E, Sept. 17 – 18

U.S. Route 36 – Guardrail work from just east of the Caldwell County line to Route 33, Sept. 17 – 21, daylight hours

Route H – Pothole patching from Route 6 to Ridgeline Road, Sept. 19 – 20

Route F – Pothole patching from U.S. Route 169 to Gospel Road, Sept. 20 – 21

Gentry County

U.S. Route 136 – Bridge maintenance at the West Fork Grand River Bridge, Sept. 17 – 18

Route A – Pothole patching, Sep. 19 – 21

Grundy County

Route NN – Pothole patching, Sept. 17

Harrison County

U.S. Route 69 – Resurfacing project from Route AA to Route C (Daviess County), Sept. 17 – 22. A pilot car will direct traffic through the work zone.

Holt County

U.S. Route 59 – CLOSED for bridge maintenance at the I-29 Bridge, Sept. 17 – 19, 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily

Linn County

U.S. Route 36 – Bridge maintenance at Higgins Ditch, west of Laclede, Sept. 17 – 21. This includes a 14-foot width restriction.

Route 5 – Pothole patching from Route O to U.S. Route 36, Sept. 17 – 21

Mercer County

Route W – Pothole patching, Sept. 17 – 21

Nodaway County

Route M – Pothole patching from U.S. Route 71 to Route AH, Sept. 18 – 19

Route V – Pothole patching from Icon Road to Route ZZ, Sept. 20 – 21

Putnam County

U.S. Route 136 – CLOSED for a bridge replacement project at the West Locust Creek Bridge. The road will be closed through September. A signed detour is in place.

U.S. Route 136 – CLOSED for a bridge replacement project at the Elm Branch Bridge. The road will be closed through September. A signed detour is in place.

Sullivan County

Route T – Pothole patching, Sept. 17 – 18

Worth County

Route K – Pothole patching, Sept. 18 – 19

Route H – Shoulder work at 115th Trail, Sept. 20

Route YY – CLOSED at the Middle Fork of the Grand River after a regularly scheduled inspection revealed critical deterioration to the structure. At a minimum, the bridge will remain closed through November. The closure could be extended if further assessment warrants.

Apple pie, apple fritters, apple cider and more can be found at the AppleJack Festival next weekend in Nebraska City.

Tammy Partsch with the Festival said while there is photographic evidence of festivities and celebrations at Nebraska City orchards that goes back over 100 years, this year will mark the 50th official year of the annual AppleJack Festival.

“Nebraska City is at a perfect area, harvest-wise, the land is just really great for growing apples and there was one point where it had the most apples growing in a certain area west of the Mississippi, except for the state of Washington, it had more orchards per capita,” Partsch said. “There was always kind of a fall harvest festival happening (and) 50 years ago some local business people said let’s capitalize on this and let’s make this an event, let’s get people here.”

Partsch said about 80,000 people attend the Festival over the weekend each year. With it being the 50th year of the festival, this year’s theme is a flashback.

“We’ve been asking (people) for over a year, ‘What are the things that you remember about AppleJack when you were a kid?’ and one of the big things was a water barrel fight,” Partsch said. “The fire department used to do it and it’s like a reverse tug-of-war. They would have an empty barrel strung from a wire, you have fire hose on either side and then you aim your hose at the barrel and whoever pushes the barrel across, that team wins.”

A water barrel fight will be held this year as a fundraiser for the NC Museum of Firefighting. Teams of four can register online and the event will be held right after the parade.

The parade this year will feature over 100 entries and about 30 high school and middle school bands from the area will be there for the marching band competition.

The parade starts at 1 p.m. Saturday, but there are many other events that day and all weekend including an apple pie eating contest, apple peeling contest, a classic car show, a fun run and a carnival.

The Applejack Festival in Nebraska City takes place Sept 21-23.

For a full list of all the things happening at the festival that weekend, click here.

MARYVILLE, Mo. – A Northwest Missouri State University student brought home another national title in June by winning the Miss United States Agriculture crown in Birmingham, Alabama.

Holly Hatfield, a junior agriculture education, horticulture and agronomy major from Kirksville, Missouri, plans to use her title as Miss United States Agriculture to advocate for micro-industries and sustainability. She will spend a year learning about agriculture in other states, attending events and speaking to youth about the importance of the agriculture industry.

“A lot of people have misconceptions about the Miss United States organization,” Hatfield said. “The goal is to inspire young women to become passionate about advocating for the industry to make sure it stays alive.”

So far, Hatfield has traveled to nine state fairs. Hatfield will travel to the East and West coasts, and she will travel to Alaska. Hatfield also will travel to Savannah, Missouri, to read books to elementary school students for National Read a Book Day while representing the National Farm Bureau.

“I get to stay with the National Cover Miss in Alaska, and she is going to take me on an agriculture tour,” Hatfield said. “We are going to watch wheat physically grow and it’s going to be a blast.”

Women represent each state in the Miss United States Agriculture competition, which evaluates how each woman can portray her state while learning about other states. Hatfield competed against 27 women in her 17 to 21-year-old division.

“On the first night of the competition we did a meet and greet,” Hatfield said. “I sat down and met the all women I was competing against. I thought it was going to be very tense and no one would like each other. We started talking about the different agriculture in our states and we all bonded.”

Hatfield used the competition not only to learn about agriculture but to build connections.

“I saw this experience more as a networking opportunity rather than a pageant,” Hatfield said. “One of the judges gave me a job offer after the competition, which was awesome. You have to go in prepared for what could happen in the end.”

Hatfield says Northwest prepared her for the competition and related experiences through her coursework. She came to Northwest because Maryville’s small town atmosphere and Northwest’s agriculture program – which provides students with a multitude of profession-based experiences – appealed to her.

“I believe that the classes I took helped me prepare for this experience, especially the interview part,” Hatfield said. “I got asked a question about soils, and learning about soils was one of my favorite classes. The judge asked me a question and I immediately thought back to my class at Northwest.”

She added, “I get to do what I love every day. I came to Northwest wanting to be an agriculture education major because I want to spread positivity.”

At Northwest, Hatfield also is president of Sigma Society and a choreographer for Northwest Dance Company.

– Northwest Press Release –

The Allied Arts Council and the City of St. Joseph are inviting artists to apply for the seventh traffic box project in Downtown St. Joseph.

According to a press release, the goal of Allied Arts Council’s Traffic Box Project is to create and paint art on traffic signal boxes in the Downtown area and turn street corners into pieces of art. The seventh traffic box is located on the northeast corner of 4th and Edmond Street.

Teresa Fankhauser, executive director of the Allied Arts Council, said she hopes to see a variety of submissions for this traffic box.

“This traffic box is larger than the others we have done,” Fankhauser said. “Artists have a lot more space to create and bring their design to life.”

The traffic box project launched in 2012. The average life of the Traffic Box Art is 10 years.

Click here for the application.

Artists need to send in a resume, references, a template for each submitted design (if more than one), and an artist statement for each design, postmarked by October 5th to the Allied Arts Council office. The selected artist will receive an honorarium of $1,500.

For more information visit the Allied Arts Council’s website, stjoearts.org, or contact Teresa Fankhauser at teresa.fankhauser@stjoearts.org, or (816) 233-0231.

The South Side Fall Festival in St. Joseph celebrates 30 years this weekend.

The Festival takes place at Hyde Park Friday through Sunday. The parade begins at 10 a.m. Saturday and runs north on King Hill Avenue from the King Hill Plaza to Missouri Avenue.

For more information about entertainment, the Baby Show and more visit the South Side Fall Festival Facebook page.

A treasure hunt in Kansas is going on this weekend.

The 13th annual Highway 36 Treasure Hunt takes place Friday, Saturday and Sunday, spans 400 miles and includes antique, estate and garage sales all along Highway 36.

For Treasure Hunt maps and more, go to ushwy36.com.

A pilot was uninjured after a plane crash in Livingston County Thursday.

According to the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office, shortly before 4 p.m. on Thursday, dispatch received a call from the F.A.A. reporting a possible aircraft down seven to 10 miles southwest of Chillicothe in Livingston County with the pilot possibly injured.

The LCSO, Missouri State Highway Patrol and Chillicothe Department of Emergency Services responded with a variety of emergency equipment and UTV. The Chillicothe PD sent an officer and a drone, Dawn First Responders assisted, Missouri Department of Conservation Agent from Caldwell County Bill Kieffer used his plane to help search as did Life Flight Eagle, and several citizens assisted in the search.

A while later the F.A.A. advised, according to the mapping, the plane was south of the railroad tracks in Ludlow and east of the first house south of the railroad tracks. LCSO Captain Sindy Thomas was finally able to make contact with the pilot by phone. The pilot reported he was in a field, could see a home about a quarter of a mile away, and was able to walk to that house and checked the mail in the mailbox for an address. At 5:02 p.m., the pilot was soon located a few miles south east of Dawn and reported being uninjured. The pilot is from the state of Wisconsin.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol is investigating the crash and the F.A.A. reportedly will also be investigating.

The LCSO said they appreciate the help from the public through social media as the sheriff posted information in an attempt to get visual help from anyone in the area to aide in locating the pilot. The post was quickly shared 178 times and was viewed by over 6,700 people.