(UPDATE) All roads have been cleared after a tractor-trailer overturned on U.S. 36 in Cameron Thursday morning and hogs were out on the road.

According to Cameron police, the roads were cleared and open to traffic around 10:30 a.m. and the driver of the tractor-trailer and a passenger were transported to a local hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

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A tractor-trailer overturned in Cameron and traffic is being diverted due to hogs being in the road.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, U.S. 36 westbound at U.S 69 in Cameron is blocked due to the tractor-trailer overturning around 6:15 a.m. Thursday.

Traffic is being diverted to Bob F Griffin Road and westbound access to I-35 is not affected.

Dr. Robert Newhart attended his last high school graduations over the weekend as St. Joseph School District superintendent.

Newhart announced in August 2017, that this would be his last year with the district. The SJSD began a search for a new superintendent and announced earlier this year that Dr. Doug Van Zyl was named as the next superintendent. Van Zyl will begin his new role as superintendent with the SJSD on July 1st.

Newhart said he plans to take some time off to spend with his family after June.

“In 34 years, I’ve never been on a trip with just my wife. We’re actually taking that trip this summer,” Newhart said. “You put so much energy into your job and into your focus and other people’s lives. My family has been great supporters of me professionally.. I’m just going to step back and see what, from family and personally, would be the best situation for taking me to my next stage in life.”

Newhart said while there are many negatives talked about regarding the public school systems, he’s seen many positives far outweigh the negatives during his time with the District.

“We’ve increased our graduation requirements, we’ve upped those standards, we’ve gone to the Latin system of recognition at our graduations, you’re seeing that transition at this recent graduation,” Newhart said. “We had over $10 million combined total between our three high schools in scholarship dollars awarded. We’ve set a higher standard that these kids are now reaching and this has all been done in basically three years and those standards need to continue to increase so you do have a great school system.”

Newhart added that attendance increased in the District with Lafayette increasing its attendance by almost 10 percent this year and about 60 percent of SJSD high school students enroll in two or four year college, in a military function or job related training.

Newhart said he did reach some of his goals that he set at the beginning of his time here, including putting checks and balances in place. He said one of his regrets is not passing the tax levy issue in November.

“I do not regret going for it like we did,” Newhart said. “Throughout this time frame, I’ve prided myself in being transparent, being open, being honest. We had to find out what the community would support or not support.”

Newhart said through everything needing to be done and discussed moving forward between the new superintendent, the school board and the community, the important thing is to keep the focus on students and their success.

“That’s why we’re all in this business, that’s why the community supports the school system, (it’s) for student success.”

A Trenton man was seriously injured in a crash with a semi Tuesday evening.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, shortly after 6 p.m., a Peterbilt driven by Jackie L. Peacock, 61, of Lamar had slowed down to make a right turn into a parking lot off of MO 6 about one mile east of Trenton. Jordin M. Curtis, 24, was driving a GMC 1500 pickup and did not notice the semi slowing down. His vehicle crashed into the back of the loaded trailer.

Grundy County firefighters arrived on scene to extricate Curtis from his vehicle before he was transported by Grundy County Ambulance to Wright Memorial in Trenton for treatment of serious injuries. He was then transported by Lifeflight to Truman Medical Center in Independence.

According to the crash report, Curtis was not wearing a seatbelt.

Several fishing and nature programs will be offered at Krug Park this summer to help residents “Discover Nature.”

The free Discover Nature programs are offered through a partnership between the Missouri Department of Conservation and the City of St. Joseph.

The nature program part of the series starts at 7 p.m. on Thursday with an MDC agent presenting about his job and what he does to preserve natural resources.

MDC Angler Education Assistant Tori McNutt will be leading monthly programs on fishing starting June 7th. McNutt said the June program begins at 7 p.m. and will feature an introduction to summer fishing clinics.

“People can come out, we’ll have fishing poles and bait and they can just spend an hour fishing at Krug Park,” McNutt said. “Come July, this is a pretty big event, last year we had, I think, 75 people show up (for) our Kids Fishing Derby.”

Check-in for the Kids Fishing Derby begins at 5:30 p.m. on July 5th. In August, McNutt said they will host a fish cleaning demonstration and in September there will be a session on fly fishing.

McNutt said the fishing program is designed to engage St. Joseph residents.

“I’ve put on some other fishing events and they just don’t quite get the numbers that Krug Park does,” McNutt said. “Krug Park is a local commodity that people love to go there and, especially since we stocked it, we have much more public engagement. My job is to help people learn, people enjoy fishing, reconnect the older generations who perhaps have stopped fishing. So basically through this agreement with the city, we just want to engage the public and hopefully create future fisherpeople.”

Monthly nature programs offered June through September will feature topics such as mountain lions in Missouri, insects and bat watching.

Registration is required for all of the fishing events except for the fishing clinic in June. For more information or to register visit MDC’s website or call the MDC Northwest Regional Office at (816) 271-3100.

All events will be held at the parks amphitheater and Krug Park Lagoon at 3500 St. Joseph Avenue.

An opportunity to bring a pet home for a special price is being offered this week.

Due to overcrowding at the St. Joseph Animal Shelter, a half-off special will be offered for dogs and cats adopted Wednesday through Saturday.

According to a press release, to adopt a shelter dog or cat, an online application must be completed. The adoption application must be submitted online, which can be done from a kiosk at the shelter if someone finds a pet they would like to adopt. The fees associated with adopting a pet vary, depending upon the size of the animal and whether it is spayed or neutered.

The Friends of the Animal Shelter of St. Joseph’s Facebook page has photos of available animals, as does the animal shelter web page. The shelter is located at 701 Lower Lake Road.

Hours this week are:
Wednesday, 1-6:30 p.m.
Thursday, 1-5:30 p.m.
Friday, 1-4:30 p.m.
Saturday, 1-4:30 p.m.

Charges have been filed after a driver ran a stop sign and hit another vehicle, sending three occupants to the hospital.

As previously reported, St. Joseph Police said Sunday night, 38-year-old Phillip S. Johnson of St. Joseph ran a stop sign at 12th and Pacific Streets and hit another car.

According to charging documents, Johnson was observed driving a Ford Focus north on 12th St. well above the posted speed limit where he drove through a stop sign and hit the passenger side of a Grand Marquis with three occupants. After the crash, Johnson remained in the vehicle while waiting for officer’s arrival. Johnson admitted to drinking alcohol and later, at the emergency room, Johnson provided a preliminary breath sample of .173% BrAC (Breath Alcohol Concentration).

Everyone involved in the crash was taken to the hospital for treatment of injuries. The passenger in the front seat was in critical condition.

Johnson was treated and released. He has been charged with felony Driving While Intoxicated – Serious Physical Injury.

An arraignment is scheduled for Friday. Bond is denied.

The St. Joseph School District has selected Corey Gilpin to fill an open leadership position at Lafayette High School.

According to a press release from the District, Gilpin will assume the role of Activities Director at Lafayette High School for the 2018-19 school year. He currently teaches special education for the District.

He has a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Northwest Missouri State University and a bachelor’s degree in Physical Education from Northwest. He is currently an NCAA basketball and baseball official and has worked with the Missouri State High School Activities Association as a regional observer.

Gilpin is replacing Lafayette’s current AD Jason Simpson. Simpson was recently selected as an assistant principal for Central High School.

The Board of Education approved the hire during Monday’s meeting.

Missouri Care made a donation Monday to help students at Truman Middle School and Bode Middle School.

Missouri Care’s donation of two washer and dryer sets to the St. Joseph School District will meet the simple need of helping students have clean clothes, which can then help boost attendance and student’s self-esteem.

The washer and dryer program offers at-risk students the opportunity to bring dirty clothes with them to school to be cleaned while they attend their classes.

School Social Worker Kelly Bristol said the biggest impact of having a washer and dryer available at the school is decreasing barriers for students.

“There are a lot of students, who, quite possibly, utilities are shut off or maybe they don’t have the ability to get to a laundry mat to be able to wash their clothes frequently enough and so they’re coming to school in clothes that are dingy or dirty or that smell sometimes,” Bristol said. “When we had our Knock and Talk officers first start going out for attendance for kids that weren’t showing up, one of the themes that came up in that was students either didn’t have clothes or didn’t have clean clothes to be able to get to school because they didn’t want to be ridiculed.”

Bristol said she got in touch with a regional contact for Missouri Care about their need and put together a proposal.

“We’ve been washing clothes for some kiddos, but obviously with the used appliances it’s a little less opportunity than what we have with brand new ones,” Bristol said. “So we’ve had the need, we just haven’t been able to fulfill it as much as we wanted to and so, when this opportunity came about, we just realized we could be making such a bigger impact.”

Monetary funds were provided for the washer and dryer and Bristol said the extra funds will be used to provide bags for students and purchase laundry detergent and dryer sheets. The washer and dryer also are used for Life Skills students to learn practical skills.