ATCHISON COUNTY — Three teens were injured in an accident just before 12:30a.m. Thursday in Atchison County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2010 Chevy Camaro driven by Austin C. Hager, 19, Atchison, was northbound on Greeley Road.

The driver approached the T-intersection at 286th Road and failed to stop at the stop sign.

The Camaro left the roadway, struck the north embankment and then a tree.

Hager and a passenger Jacob W. Hamilton, 17, Muscotah, were transported to Mosaic Life Care in St. Joseph. Lifestar flew a third passenger Michael G. Baker, 17, Lancaster, to KU Medical Center.

They were not wearing seat belts, according to the KHP.

CAMERON, Mo. – A much-needed resurfacing project through Cameron is scheduled to begin after the Independence Day holiday.

According to a press release, the Missouri Department of Transportation has contracted with Herzog Contracting Corporation to complete the project which stretches from just west of Route 33 to just east of the Caldwell County line.

Beginning Monday, July 9, the contractor will close one lane of U.S. Route 36 to mill off the old surface and then add two lifts of new asphalt through this area. One lane of U.S. Route 36 in each direction will remain open at all times.

Ramps at both U.S. Route 69 and Interstate 35 are within the limits of this resurfacing project. For the safety of motorists and workers, these ramps will be closed when the ramp falls within the limits of the work zone, which will vary each day. Each ramp could be closed up to eight hours, but the contractor will not close the ramps at both U.S. Route 69 and I-35 at the same time.

Crews plan to work during daylight hours Monday through Saturday. Traffic control will be in place alerting motorists of the work. The project is expected continue until September. All work is weather permitting and could be rescheduled.

MoDOT encourages all travelers to slow down, especially in work zones, as there will be large equipment and workers near the driving lanes. As always, please buckle up, eliminate distractions, pay attention and drive safely so everyone is able to Arrive Alive.

For more information on this or other MoDOT projects, call 1-888-ASK-MODOT (888-275-6636) or visit modot.org/northwest. In addition, MoDOT provides updated information on Twitter @MoDOTNorthwest and Facebook at @MoDOTNWDistrict.

Two new collections of books about animals and pets are now available at the St. Joseph Public Library’s East Hills Library in memory of Laura Hutton.

Doug and Jody Hutton have dedicated the collections to the memory of their daughter, Laura, who had a lifelong love for libraries and animals. According to a library press release, Laura found countless lost animals and would go door-to-door and drive around until she had success in reuniting the pet with their owner. She also found many stray injured and sick animals and brought them home to have a family. At one point the Huttons had two dogs at home Laura rescued from the streets, who only had one eye between them. Laura had a passion for all neglected and endangered animals of the world and was a member of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, ASPCA.

According to a press release, the Huttons wish to express their deep gratitude to all those who contributed nearly $10,000 to the St. Joseph Public Library Foundation for the purpose of purchasing books. The hope is that people will continue to contribute to the St. Joseph Public Library Foundation, so that new animal and pet books can be added for education and enjoyment for years to come.

There will be a dedication event for the donated animal and pet collections at 11 a.m. on Thursday, July 12th at the East Hills Library. 

A collection of books related to animals and pets will also be located at the Downtown Library, 927 Felix St.

For more information contact Mary Beth Revels at mrevels@sjpl.lib.mo.us or (816) 232-4038.

Viewing locations for the City of St. Joseph fireworks show are available at the parking lots located at the Remington Nature Center and Heritage Park Complex.

The fireworks show begins 15 minutes after dark on July 4th on the riverfront.

According to a press release, due to construction on Waterworks Road between downtown and Highland Avenue, there will be a change in the way that traffic is routed out of the event after the fireworks show has concluded. Anyone parked in the Remington Nature Center parking lot will exit onto I-229 South and anyone parked at the Heritage Park complex will be routed either down Highland Avenue or I-229 North.

The fireworks will be shot from Wyeth Hill. As a result, Wyeth Hill will be closed to the public from July 3-5 so that the fireworks company may set up their show and then remove any debris after the show concludes.

Other fireworks displays around the area:

Cameron: Fireworks display begins at 10 p.m. For a full list of 4th of July activities in Cameron, click here.

Mozingo Lake in Maryville: Fireworks will begin around 9 p.m./dusk. For more information, click here.

Platte City: Patriotic music and fireworks beginning at 9:45 p.m. at Platte Ridge Park. For more information, click here.

(Missourinet) – The Missouri State Highway Patrol says all available officers will be patrolling roadways Tuesday night and during the Fourth of July, enforcing traffic laws and assisting motorists.

Patrol Captain John Hotz says the 2018 counting period for the holiday is 30 hours: from 6 p.m. Tuesday 6 until 11:59 Wednesday night.

“We will again be participating in Operation C.A.R.E., which is the crash awareness reduction effort to do whatever we can to reduce the number of crashes on the highways,” Hotz says.

According to Hotz, 26 people were killed and another 469 were injured in Missouri during the 2017 holiday counting period, which was 102 hours.

“That’s (26) been the highest number that I can remember in the almost 29 years that I’ve been here,” says Hotz. “So last year was a particularly deadly year, it was a longer period but still 26 people killed during that timeframe is just a very high number.”

Captain Hotz says one crash during last year’s holiday killed four people, while another was a triple fatality accident.

Troopers also made 172 arrests for driving while intoxicated during the 2017 holiday.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol says there’s never a good reason to drive over the speed limit. They also remind motorists to use their seat belts.

Meantime, Missouri state troopers will also be visible on the state’s waterways Tuesday and on the Fourth, enforcing boating laws and helping where needed.

Hotz says the Fourth of July is one of the busiest boating holidays of the year.

“We always encourage people if alcohol is going to be part of their celebration, to make sure and designate a sober operator of that boat,” Hotz says.

Hotz says there were nine boating crashes in Missouri during the 2017 holiday, which included one fatality.

One person also drowned last year.

Hotz also said it’s illegal to discharge fireworks from a boat. He also notes Wednesday night’s fireworks displays will attract many more boaters at night.

Boaters are encouraged to wear life jackets.

Monday marked Dr. Doug Van Zyl’s first official day as St. Joseph School District Superintendent.

He met with local media Monday afternoon before taking a tour of Hillyard Technical Center.

“It’s been a great first day so far,” Van Zyl said. “A little overwhelming anytime, I think, that you transition into a new job, but my impression is we’ve got a lot of great folks that I’ve dealt with so far in the short time that I’ve been here and people that really want to do what’s right for the community and for our kids and that’s really what our focus needs to be.”

Dr. Van Zyl comes to St. Joseph from Fort Dodge, Iowa, where he was superintendent for eight years of the school district there of approximately 4,000 students. Van Zyl said it will take some time to get to know the St. Joseph School District and set priorities.

“We started out having a meeting with the board a couple weeks ago and had some conversations about what they, as a board, see as the priorities,” Van Zyl said. “But the number one priority is always going to be taking care of kids and doing what’s best for them. We’re going to have to continue to take a look at finances, of course, there’s some challenges that have been there in the past and will continue to be a challenge. We’ll probably have to put a workshop in place in the next couple months to talk about what finances look like so that we can do some planning for what happens with the revenue… so it’ll take us a little bit of time to dig through it.”

Van Zyl said another priority is communication.

“I think the best thing you can do is communicate, just be open and transparent about what’s going on and what’s there on the plate and then be able to communicate in detail about what the plans are and then follow through on it,” Van Zyl said. “Most people really want… a well established plan and then for us as school district leaders to follow through on it because they don’t want to be told one thing and then find out, oops, it changed or we didn’t tell them what we wanted upfront. So just to be transparent and up front with everything that we’re going to do… is the best approach.”

Van Zyl, along with his family, made the move to St. Joseph last week. Van Zyl and his wife have a son and a daughter who are both in college and another daughter getting ready to attend college in the fall.

“(St. Joseph is a) great community, it’s a little bit bigger than where I was the last eight years but… seems like it’s a community that’s got a lot of positive things going,” Van Zyl said.

For more information about Dr. Doug Van Zyl, click here.

Captain James E. McDonald, commanding officer Troop H, announced the assignment of four new troopers to Northwest Missouri.

According to a news release, the new troopers were members of the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s 105th Recruit Class that graduated from the Patrol Academy on June 29, 2018. The new troopers will report for duty on July 16, 2018.

Trooper Caleb J. Blue, of Monett, Missouri, has been assigned to Zone 1, which serves the citizens of Atchison and Holt counties. Trooper Blue is a graduate from Monett High School, and attended Missouri Southern State University majoring in criminal justice. Trooper Blue’s training officer will be Trooper Keaton Ebersold.

Trooper Vince P. Wiley, of Cameron, Missouri, has been assigned to Zone 1, which serves the citizens of Atchison and Holt counties. Trooper Wiley is a graduate from Gallatin High School, and attended Missouri Western State University. Trooper Wiley is married to Rebecca (Mott) Wiley. Trooper Wiley’s training officer will be Trooper Tyler Shupe.

Trooper Cedric D. O’Hara, of Pierce City, Missouri, has been assigned to Zones 4 and 9, which serves the citizens of Grundy, Mercer, and Livingston counties. Trooper O’Hara is a graduate from Pierce City High School, and attended Missouri Valley College majoring in criminal justice. Trooper O’Hara’s training officer will be Corporal Matt Wright.

Trooper Christopher S. Riley, of Warsaw, Missouri, has been assigned to Zones 4 and 9, which serves the citizens of Grundy, Mercer, and Livingston counties. Trooper Riley is a graduate from Warsaw High School and attended State Fair Community College majoring in criminal justice. Trooper Riley’s training officer will be Corporal John Gilliland.

Police investigated a bomb threat at a St. Joseph business Sunday night.

According to police, a Kmart employee notified police around 8:30 p.m. that the store had received a call saying there was a bomb in the building.

Police responded to the business at 2901 North Belt and evacuated the building. According to police, no devices were located and they did not find anything suspicious.

Business resumed as normal shortly after 9:30 p.m.