An Atchison, Kansas grain elevator will soon be back in business, nearly a year after an explosion killed six people. The City of Atchison has issued a new certificate of occupancy for the Bartlett Grain Company.

Investigators determined that the October, 2011 grain-dust explosion was an accident, but OSHA cited the company for safety violations.

The families of four workers killed in the blast have filed wrongful death lawsuits against the company.

7:37 pm Officials have now cleared the accident scene and traffic is moving again on I-229

6:32 pm 9/26/2012
Authorities urge you to avoid the northbound lanes of I-229 near downtown St Joseph because of a traffic accident.

St Joseph police say the accident is on I-229 between the Edmond and US-36 exits.

St Joseph Police and the FBI are investigating the robbery of a credit union near downtown St Joe Tuesday morning.

They released this video from a surveillance camera at the Stationery Credit Union at 1402 South 10th Street.

The suspect walked in at about 9:26 a.m. and offered the teller a note saying he had a gun.

Commander Jim Connors says the man never displayed a weapon.

Connors says the man left the facility northbound on foot in the alley. The suspect is described as a black male wearing a black ball cap and a red flannel shirt with a white shirt under it. He was wearing blue jeans with tan tennis shoes.

Connors says the man had a small, off-white canvas bank bag that had “big shot” in red writing on it.

It is believed that a white truck of unknown make and model left the area at about the same time the suspect exited the credit union.

If you have information on this robbery, call the Detective Division at 816 271-5336 or call the TIPs Hotline at 816- 238-TIPS(8477).

A U.S. Attorney announced five more people were indicted today involving the identity fraud case revolving around the St. Joseph licence office.

Four St Joseph residents and a Minnesota man were named in the indictment released today by U.S. Attorney David Ketchmark.

They allegedly participated in a more than $5 million scheme which included the licsense office in St Joseph to provide more than 3,500 fraudulent I.D. documents to illegals aliens in the U.S.

Christopher B. Escobar, 22, Shayna R. Vanvacter, 26, Melissa L. Scallions, 26, Jon L. Grippando, 24, all of St. Joseph, and Rafael Hernandez-Ortiz, 31, a citizen of Mexico who resides in Owatonna, Minn., were charged in the 45-count indictment unsealed today.

Seven co-defendants in the original indictment are charged with the same offenses in the superseding indictment.

The federal indictment alleges that all of the defendants participated in a conspiracy from November 2009 to Jan. 10, 2012, to transport illegal aliens, to unlawfully produce identification documents, to unlawfully transfer another person’s identification and to commit Social Security fraud.

The indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation, which would require the defendants to forfeit to the government any property obtained from the proceeds of the alleged offenses, including a money judgment of $5,250,000.

 

 

The City of St Joseph Health Department is following a possible case of tuberculosis.

Chief Administrative Officer Patt Lilly of Triumph Foods said in a news release that they were notified by the health department that a Triumph employee had been diagnosed with a possible case of TB.

Lilly says the employee worked for the company for about three weeks, and has been off work for the last several weeks.

“The company’s priority at this time is the health, safety and welfare of its employees, ” Lilly said.  “As a public health matter Triumph Foods is working closely with the City of St. Joseph,  Health Department.  Officials with the City’s Health Department have advised us that it will only be necessary for them to conduct testing of a small group of employees as a precaution.”

Lilly says there’s no reason to be alarmed about infection from foods processed by the company.

“It should be understood that given the nature of how TB is spread it precludes any risk of exposure from food products.  Thus there is no food safety issue associated with product produced at Triumph Foods,” he said.

Lilly would not comment beyond the prepared statement and referred questions to the health department.

The department routinely offers screening, testing, and treatment of TB for individuals interested in being tested or needing testing for employment, education, or otherwise.

The department works in conjunction with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

Officials say the department adheres to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s protocol when following active disease cases and conducting contact investigations.

Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is spread by air droplets from a cough or sneeze of an infected person. TB usually attacks the lungs but can attack any part of the body. People with active TB most often spread it to people they spend time with every day. This may include family members, friends, and co-workers or schoolmates. Tuberculosis is treatable and curable with the appropriate treatment regimen. In the United States, most people will recover from primary TB infection without further evidence of the disease.

Tuberculosis was an extensive problem in the United States and Europe in the early 1900s, and in the 1940s the first of several medications were discovered to treat TB. Trends in tuberculosis increase and decrease, fluctuating over time, but due to increased funding and attention to the TB problem, there has been a steady decline in the number of persons with TB since 1993.

The Tuberculosis Information Management System (TIMS) is a database developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and used by individual states to maintain a variety of demographic and case information on all tuberculosis disease cases that occur within each state.

On Saturday, September 29, the whole family can enjoy a St. Joseph “day-cation.”

Participating museums from the Museum Association of St. Joseph join in the 8th annual Museum Day, created by Smithsonian Magazine.

 

The members of the Museum Association of St. Joseph will join cultural institutions nationwide and open their doors free of charge. The event was created as a way to celebrate America’s dynamic heritage and cultural life. Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day reflects the spirit of the magazine and the free admission policy of the Smithsonian Institution’s Washington, D.C.-based museums.

Each museum in the Museum Association of St. Joseph features exhibits and programs on different topics and the hours that they are open to the public vary. The participating Museum Association of St. Joseph members, their location, and their hours are:

Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art, 2818 Frederick, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.;
Fire Museum, 11th and Penn, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.;
National Military Heritage Museum, 701 Messanie, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.;
Pony Express National Museum, 914 Penn, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.;
Robidoux Row Museum, 3rd and Poulin, 10 to 4 p.m.;
St. Joseph Museum, Black Archives Museum, Glore Psychiatric Museum, 3406 Frederick Ave., special hours 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.;
Wyeth-Tootle Mansion, 11th and Charles, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Andrew County Museum, 202 E. Duncan Drive in Savannah,  10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Agency Ford Museum, 11351 Route FF, Agency, Missouri, will also be open and free of charge from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Many of the participating museums will feature special activities during the Museum Day. At the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art, a nature inspired art activity will allow the entire family to create a work of art to take home with them.

At 2 p.m., the Andrew County Museum will present “A Curator’s Tour & How to Care for your Personal Collections,” which is your chance to learn how to care for documents, photos, and family heirlooms.

Joseph Robidoux’s sister “Pelagie” will be on hand to welcome guests with refreshments and stories of life in St. Joseph during the 1840s at the Robidoux Row Museum.

The “Treasures, Trash, and Tunes” Fresh Air Flea Market will be the featured event at the Glore Psychiatric Museum. The market, which will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., will include all types of vendors on the grounds and inside the Museum.

Meet a “School Marm” for some “readin’ writin’ & rithmetic” from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the School-house on the grounds of the Pony Express Museum.

Visitors can experience sitting inside a 1960s era Vietnam helicopter at the National Military Heritage Museum, where guided tours will be provided throughout the day.

The St. Joseph School board on Tuesday approved a land swap with the City of St. Joseph for construction of a new school at Carden Park, and approved an annexation agreement with the city for construction of a new school a Cook and Bishop Roads.

Under current plans, the district would create entrances off of Cook Road for the east side school project. Road work under the plan would cost between $700 thousand and $800 thousand. An earlier plan, to extend Bishop Road north of Cook Road for the entrances, would have cost roughly double that amount.

But the Cook Road exits would require the approval of variances in current city planning documents. The City Council is expected to get its first look at that plan at its meeting October 1.

At Carden Park, near 16th and Duncan Streets, the district would buy the land from the city for ten dollars. The district would then be responsible for the widening of both 16th and Duncan for access to the new school. The City Council is expected to take up the matter at its October 1 meeting, and possibly place an ordinance on first reading at that time. Under that timetable, the matter would be formally approved on second reading at the council’s meeting October 15.

The school board approved both measures unanimously.

Police are hoping you can help find the man who robbed a credit union south of downtown St Joe Tuesday morning.

Commander Jim Connors says the man walked into the Stationery Credit Union at 1402 South 10th Street at about 9:26 a.m.

He displayed a note saying he had a gun, although he never displayed one.

Connors says the man left the facility northbound on foot in the alley.

The suspect is described as a black male wearing a black ball cap and a red flannel shirt with a white shirt under it. He was wearing blue jeans with tan tennis shoes. He had a small canvas, off white, bank bag that had “big shot” in red writing on it.

It is believed that a white truck of unknown make and model left the area at about the same time the suspect exited the credit union.

If you have information on this robbery, call the Detective Division at 816 271-5336 or call the TIPs Hotline at 816- 238-TIPS(8477).

The Health Department in St Joe is shutting down a lot of services during specific hours for the next several days.

Officials say this will allow staff to take part in Employee Appreciation Week activities and to conduct the annual flu vaccination clinic.

The City of St. Joseph Health Department, at 904 S 10th Street, will be suspending all services on the following dates and times:

 

September 25th: 8:00 – 9:30 a.m. and 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
September 26th: 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
September 27th: 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
September 28th: 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
October 2nd: all services, EXCEPT WIC will be closed from 11:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
October 3rd: 8:00 – 10:00 a.m.

Services affected include WIC, pregnancy testing and case management, TB services, immunization services, HIV/STD testing and case management, vital statistics (including issuance of Missouri birth and death certificates) , and environmental services.

These closures will affect Health Department services only. All other agencies at the Patee Market Health Center will be open as normal. For more information, please contact 271-4636.