A St Joseph Woman has pleaded guilty for her part of a false identification scheme for illegal aliens.

23 year-old Christina Michelle Gonzales pleaded guilty in federal court Monday.

The charge stems from a January federal indictment. Gonzales has admitted her part in the scheme that provided more than 3,500 fraudulent identity documents to illegal aliens.

Between November 2009 and January 2012 thousands of illegal aliens traveled to St Joseph to obtain a license from the St Joseph License office. Gonzales assisted the illegal aliens who did not live in Missouri by providing them with a Missouri address to obtain the state issued license.

Gonzales could face five years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000. Sentencing has not been scheduled.

 

 

 

The Pony Express Community Bank is closing its downtown St Joseph facility at 624 Felix Street.

President and CEO Bob Means tells us they have notified customers and published their intentions in the “Daily Courier” to close the facility at the close of business on Friday, June 22.

Means says there are a lot of factors that contributed to the decision to close the facility. Among them are the new regulations brought on by the recent downturn in the financial sector.

“There are many additional regulations that have come about in the last couple of years, with many more to come,” Means said.

“Folks, might know of the Dodd-Frank bill, that does contain much of it. The Dick Durbin amendment has impacted us. So I do believe many community banks will be closing some of their less efficient facilities in the near term. I think this is a trend that we’re going to see more of.”

Means also listed some problems specific to the Felix Street location, but he was quick to point out that those problems are specific to banks and do not reflect badly on the building itself. The former American National Bank building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Means says that listing makes it difficult to dramatically change the building to better facilitate use by the elderly and the handicapped. He also says it’s not feasible to add a drive-through banking facility in the structure.

He says they will shut down the facility June 22, but they will not move out right away. The bank’s other branches in Elwood, Horton, Paxton, and on the Belt Highway in St Joseph will remain open.

Means says the closure does not mean the bank is in a bad way financially.

“We believe that good bankers have to make tough decisions,” he said.

He also says they still have a good relationship with the building’s ownership group, which still have offices there.

A riot at the Livingston County Jail over the weekend prompted Sheriff Steve Cox to shut down the facility’s cell block three and move nine detainees to facilities in other counties.

In a news release, Cox said problems from detainees had been taking place for several days, but escalated on Saturday.  On Saturday night the area was placed on lockdown.

“The majority (if not all) of the men in area 3 began to trash the jail and be even more disruptive,” Cox said.

“Specifically many or all were yelling and screaming profanity, threatening assault upon staff, threatening to throw feces and urine on staff or anyone who came around, beating on their bunks, plugging drains and plumbing, flooding cell pods and the cell area.  Several threw wads of wet toilet paper in attempt to cover the cameras.  The detainees were being so loud it was easily heard in the front lobby of the sheriff’s office.”

Water to the area was shut off to eliminate the attempts being made to flood the jail and sewer system.  Cox says staff members attempted to speak with the detainees but it was evident they were not going to comply or calm down.

Cox says on Sunday morning the inmates were fed dry cereal and toast due to the expectation the food was going to be thrown at staff and/or trustees. 

According to Cox, most if not all of the detainees in the affected area 3 returned to yelling, screaming, and making threats to staff while throwing their cereal.  

“Some of the detainees even made it known they were going to physically assault the sheriff and urinate on him at the first opportunity,” he said.

He spoke with some of the detainees on Sunday.  At least one claimed the staff had tried to torture them by making them smell sewer gas and that they were tired of water backing up in the shower for weeks with nothing being done.  The sheriff did note a slight sewer gas odor in the north east corner of the jail.  He says they have regular, frequent visits from a plumber.

The Livingston County Jail had 41 people in custody over the weekend.  The jail has 48 beds.  Cox says they had several detainees who either had common enemies or were under Court order not to make contact with specific detainees in the jail and therefore could not be placed in cell areas 1 and 2.  Cox says they had no alternative but to move nine detainees to other facilities on Sunday.

They then cleaned up the area and called in a plumber.

Cox says video recordings and other evidence will be part of a detailed report to Prosecuting Attorney Adam Warren.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Hundreds of tiny tacos, ballerinas and other costumed dogs fell short of a world record Saturday morning in Kansas City, but organizers said they were encouraged by the turnout for the inaugural Cinco de Mayo Chihuahua parade.

Mark Valentine, the president of the group that organized the parade, said 500 dogs showed up.

That’s about 200 fewer than what was needed to break the Guinness Book world record. The event, organized by United Entertainment to benefit a local animal shelter, was open to any breed.

Valentine said he was told Chihuahuas were among the most common breeds in animal shelters. Saturday’s event raised about $2,500 for The Pet Connection, a local no-kill shelter.

Anne Fisher, a food stylist from Stilwell, Kansas about a half-hour south of Kansas City, said her male Chihuahua, Willie, seemed relieved when she slipped off his ballerina outfit after the parade.

SIKESTON, Mo. (AP) — Crews will be working for several days to clean up hydrochloric acid that spilled when a trailer exploded at a Sikeston power plant.

Sikeston police say in a news release that no injuries were reported when a trailer exploded Sunday morning at the Sikeston Board of Municipal Utilities power plant. About 7,500 gallons of the acid spilled after the accident.

Police say residents living near the plant were never in any danger.

Investigators are trying to determine what caused the pressurized container to fail.

Cleanup of the spill is expected to take several days.

Union Pacific is celebrating its 150th Anniversary in a fun way. The legendary steam locomotive No. 844 is traveling from El Reno, Oklahoma to Council Bluffs, Iowa to share the company’s history with the communities it serves.

On Sunday, the old engine huffed from El Reno to Wichita, Kansas. Monday’s itinerary takes the train to Topeka, and on Tuesday it will roll from there to Concil Bluffs.

The third leg from Kansas City to Omaha roughly follows the Missouri River on the Nebraska side, so the train will not be passing through St Joseph or Northwest Missouri.

A Global Positioning Satellite transmitter was installed on one of the railcars that travel with No. 844. The GPS system has been integrated with a map on UP’s Web site at www.up.com. Enter “Steam” in the search box on the homepage for a shortcut to the map. The route maps are updated every five minutes.

No. 844 is the last steam engine built for Union Pacific still in operation. According to the company, it was delivered in 1944. A high-speed passenger engine, it pulled such widely known trains as the Overland Limited, Los Angeles Limited, Portland Rose and Challenger.

Many people know the engine as the No. 8444, since an extra ‘4’ was added to its number in 1962 to distinguish it from a diesel numbered in the 800 series. The steam engine regained its rightful number in June 1989, after the diesel was retired.

Thousands thronged to Rosecrans Memorial Airport for the Sound of Speed, International Edition air show. These photographs were taken by Will Corlett of Will C Photography. (Click to enlarge)