A 21-year-old student at Southeast Missouri State University is being held without bond after being caught up in a sting operation in which he allegedly tried to blow up the Federal Reserve building in New York City Wednesday.

A university spokeswoman confirms that that Quazi Nafis was enrolled during the spring semester from January to May.

Spokeswoman Ann Hayes says the Bangladeshi man was pursuing a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity.

New York authorities said Nafis came to the U.S. on a student visa.

Hayes said Nafis requested a transfer of his records in July. She said the university followed Homeland Security protocol in transferring those records, though she couldn’t say where they were transferred.

His family has appealed to the government of Bangladesh to intervene to get their son back home. They say the suspect is a gentle man, and is incapable of such actions.

The death of a 4-year-old boy in Northwest Missouri is being investigated as a homicide. The Missouri Highway Patrol announced the investigation Wednesday, one day after an autopsy showed the boy died of blunt-force trauma.

Authorities say a Clinton County ambulance was sent to a home in the town of Holt on Monday on a report of an unresponsive child. The little boy was pronounced dead at a hospital. His name has not been released.

The regional major case squad is handling the investigation.

Officials have not yet released the name of the victim. There has been no official word on suspects or arrests in the homicide.

Tiny Tot Town is back in Saint Joseph Thursday night after a three-year absence. Debbie Kunz says Parents as Teachers had to drop the popular program when funding was cut. But thanks to Leadership Saint Joseph, Tiny Tot Town is back. A leadership team took on restoring the program as its project because of the growing importance of early childhood education.

Admission is free. Tiny Tot Town runs from 6 to 8 Thursday night at the Keatley Center, 1202 South 28th Street. Food will be provided by Chic-fil-A.

A robber got away with an undisclosed amount of cash at a payday loan store on the Belt Highway Wednesday evening. Witnesses told police a Hispanic male entered Advance America in the 14-hundred block of the North Belt shortly after 5:30 pm and demanded money. He did not display a weapon and nobody was injured.

The robber wore black shorts, black shoes, a black ball cap, and a dark jacket. The robbery is still under investigation.

Jim Fly, the co-owner of “A to Z’s Fresh Air Fare,” remembers the fire at the Missouri Theatre complex that shut down his business on February 19, 2011.

“It quickly became an all-consuming blaze, a four-alarm fire,” Fly says.  “They had all the fire trucks in the city here basically.”

 

“In order to save the Missouri Theatre, which is an absolute architectural treasure in this city, they poured thousands of gallons of water on top of that fire, and it all came cascading down into our space. It was a complete loss.”

Last weekend, as part of the “Better Block Party” at Felix Street Square, A to Z’s Fresh Air Fare reopened, 86 weeks after the fire. It was the last of about half a dozen businesses and arts-related offices to reopen.

The fire started in a costume-storage area used by the Robidoux Resident Theatre. RRT’s president Andy Bramlage says they lost all of their costumes in the fire, and have for the most part built new costumes for each of their performances since. The storage area was located directly above Fly’s business.

“Except for the RRT costume storage area, we probably suffered more damage than any other business on the block,” Fly said. “Because of that, it’s taken a long time to renovate the space and get back into business.”

Fly tells us City Hall has been a big help in that nearly two-year effort.

“Very cooperative. Absolutely. The city bent over backwards, they’re very happy to have us here, and they’ve met every one of our requests.”

At his Web site, Fly describes the business as a “Natural Market.”

 

Located at 112 South 8th Street, A to Z’s Fresh Air Fare offers organic baked goods and free-range organic ground beef as well as other healthy foods and health supplements. Their Web site is located at http://www.azfreshairfare.com.

The East Hills Shopping Center has announced a new tenant.

Family Christian is a specialty retailer of Christian books, music, gifts and more.

According to an announcement from East Hills’ management company, Family Christian will open a new store between the Penney’s and Gordmans entrance plazas in mid-November. The new store will take up five thousand square feet.

The mall has other tenants in the process of building new outlets, including Justice, Five Guys, Great Clips and Golden Corral. All are expected to open this winter. Victoria’s Secret will open an outlet at East Hills next summer. Officials say newmerchants at East Hills have created more than 200 new jobs this year.

For more information about Family Christian or for job opportunities, please visit their Web site at www.familychristian.com. You can also apply in person on October 24th at the East Hills Sunporch Café.

Second Harvest Community Food bank received a four star rating form America’s largest independent evaluator of charities.

Second Harvest announced Wednesday the four-star rating from Charity Navigator.

It’s the highest rating by Charity Navigator, which is given to nonprofit organizations practicing exceptional fiscal responsibility and governance.

Second Harvest received a score of 67.5 out a 70 and was named number 3 on the organizations top 10 list of Nonprofits Expanding in a Hurry.

PLATTE CITY, Mo. (AP) – The former president of a northwestern Missouri ambulance district has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor stemming from a profitable sale of land.

The Platte County prosecutor’s office says 40-year-old Kevin Rawlings, of Dearborn, entered the plea Tuesday to a charge of misusing official information.

Rawlings served on the board of the Northland Regional Ambulance District.

He admitted buying 34 acres of Platte County land near Interstate 29 in April 2010, knowing the district was considering the area for a new station.

Rawlings bought the land for $130,000, and later sold less than two acres of the property to the ambulance district for $175,000.

Authorities said an appraiser later put the value of the land sold by Rawlings at just $30,000.

Rawlings faces up to a month in jail at his sentencing Nov. 1.

A head-on collision Monday night claimed the life of a Smithville woman. The Platte County Sheriff’s Office says Ashley Miller, 25, was killed in the accident on Route 92 at Second Creek Road west of Smithville.

The county’s public information officer, Captain Erik Holland, said in a news release that 17-year-old Logan Pope of Gladstone had pulled out to pass another vehicle when his car hit Miller’s car in oncoming traffic.

Pope was injured in the crash and remains hospitalized.

An investigation continues. The photographs below were provided by the Platte County Sheriff’s Office.