St Jo Frontier Casino is flooded out. Administrative duties continue though, and to that end the gaming company has taken up occupancy in the Geiger Mansion, 2501 Frederick.
Public Information Officer Mary Robertson says the casino has signed a month-to-month lease and is paying $1,500 per month rent.
The facility, which was given to St Joe by its former owners, UMB Bank, was the center of much controversy over the last year. The city ultimately decided to sell the historic building. It’s still on the market, and the casino operators have agreed to relocate if a bid is approved. They’ve also agreed to make the property available to show to prospective buyers in the meantime.
Officials say there is no gambling taking place at the facility.
The city is accepting qualified bids for the building through August 18th at 4 p.m. If an appropriate bid is submitted, it would go first to the Financial Services Department for scrutiny, and then before a citizens committee formed to respond to public criticism.
St Joe Frontier Casino is paying $1,500 per month for use of the Geiger Mansion
Sam Steelman, poses with his mother, Sarah Steelman after joining KFEQ on the Hotline Thursday. Sam is helping on the campaign trail for U.S. Senate
Sarah Steelman will join the Northwest Missouri Republicans club Friday morning.
She’s campaigning in St Joseph this week in the Republican Primary to challenge Senator Claire McCaskill in 2012.
Steelman will join the club at 9:00 a.m. Friday morning in the Kimberly Room of the Stoney Creek Inn for a continental breakfast.
Steelman is from Rolla. She’s a graduate if the University of Missouri in Columbia. She served as State Treasurer of Missouri from 2004 until 2008.
“People are just really worried about what’s going on in this country, and for good reason,” Steelman said. “We need to put in place what I call pro-growth economic policies.”
Steelman holds a masters degree in economics.
“What they’re doing is not working,” she said. “I think we need to eliminate all of the loopholes and flatten the tax rate for people.”
Steelman will face U.S. Rep. Todd Akin of St Louis in the republican primary. In May, Steelman called U.S. House republicans, including her opponent Akin, “toothless dragons.”
“A lot of people like to take different little shots in politics and maybe one of the things to do just to get to the bottom of it; you want to talk about different issues? Let’s just have a debate,” Akin responded to the comments while campaigning in St Joseph on May 19th.
Asked about the comments from Akin, Steelman agreed.
“We could do it right here in St Joe,” Steelman said.
Nearly 200 people turned out for an informational meeting in South St Joseph Wednesday, as city and county officials released details of the emergency evacuation plan for the area. The meeting at St. James Church featured a number of city and county officials fielding questions from members of the public.
Many turned out to criticize the Army Corps of Engineers or to question their methods and numbers.
Senior Master Sergeant Eric Hopkins of the 139th Airlift Wing told the gathering that levee patrols on four-wheeled “gators” would soon be expanded. That made one participant angry.
“Stay off our levee,” she said.
Hopkins explained that a pair of guardsmen on one of the John Deere style buggies is better than a lot of people on foot tramping up and down the levee.
Currently patrols are limited to the daylight hours, looking for sloughs, slides, breaches, boils and trespassers. Hopkins says by early next week they would be expanded to 24 hours a day.
Questions covered subjects ranging from what areas would be flooded to what to do if you are separated from loved ones or pets during a flood emergency.
Officials recommended that residents of the area have their medications and their pets ready just in case, to “hope for the best and prepare for the worst.” They also recommended you keep some kind of proof of residency handy, because it will be required to re-enter the flood zone once that’s allowed.
Buchanan County Sheriff Mike Strong said the county’s evacuation plan for people in the area was essentially to “find your best way to U-highway,” from which transportation would be available.
Officials say there will be buses available to Benton High School, for those who don’t have transportation. Bus stops will be at 5200 Lake Ave, 5800 Lake Ave., Alabama Street and Diagonal Road; and Alabama Street and Ingersoll Road.
Investigators are not yet sure of the cause of a mobile home fire south of Agency that happened overnight.
The fire was originally reported as an explosion, Buchanan County Sheriff Mike Strong confirmed that Wednesday but fire officials say otherwise.
A Sergeant with the Sheriff’s Department called to notify the Sheriff of the explosion overnight. A fire inspector is said to be on the scene today, he said.
The north end of the structure was on fire when fire crews arrived, South Central Buchanan County Fire Chief Dennis Johnson said.
“Were talking about a double wide mobile home that had a gable roof on top of it of so you had literally two roofs and fire being in-between made it challenging to put out,” He said
It was reported just after 6:30 Tuesday evening at 6447 South East Tillery Road.
Some rumors circulated that it may be drug related. The Drug Strike Task Force is aware of the explosion but knew no other details as of Wednesday afternoon, officials there said.
More than 60 speeding tickets were handed out over the Independence Day weekend in Northwest Missouri.
Troop H of the Highway Patrol in Northwest Missouri announced results of 20 Mile Trooper operations.
The 12 hour enforcement operations were held on Interstate 35 and US highways 36, 65 and 71 from July first through July fourth. In all, 67 speeding tickets were issued, four seat-belt tickets, five improper child restraint tickets, one stop sign violation, 17 non-moving violations, nine motorist were caught without insurance, two arrest due to warrants and one misdemeanor arrest.
Southside residents can receive and talk about the city’s plans for emergency evacuations in the event of flash flooding there at a meeting Wednesday night.
The meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at St. James Church, 5814 King Hill Avenue.
As promised, Senator Claire McCaskill is taking the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to task for letters sent to flood victims offering to buy their property.
The Corps defends those letters, saying they’ve been sending them since 1986, but McCaskill says now is not the time. During her visit to St Joseph over the Fourth of July weekend, we asked McCaskill what she thought about it.
On Tuesday, McCaskill sent a letter of her own to Brigadier General John McMahon, Commander and Division Engineer of the Northwestern Division of the Army Corps of Engineers.
In the letter, McCaskill calls for the Corps to stop issuing letters to landowners during this extraordinary event.
Senator Claire McCaskill arrives for a flood meeting with local officials
McCaskill further stressed that this is a trying time for many communities and residents along the river’s reach, and it’s improper for the Corps to issue such letters when those affected continue to work around the clock trying to prevent the loss of their livelihoods.
The Corps is trying to acquire land along the river for the purpose of fish and wildlife habitat restoration
Here’s the full-text of the letter.
Dear General McMahon,
Thank you again for visiting me recently to discuss the flooding along the Missouri River and the flood-fighting measures being taken by the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). I appreciate your time and look forward to meeting again in the near future to continue this discussion.
I write today to bring your attention to what I, and many of my constituents, find to be a poorly-timed, ill-considered Corps decision to issue letters to landowners along the Missouri River gauging their interest in selling all or part of their land to the United States for the purposes of fish and wildlife habitat restoration. For reference, I have attached such a letter, dated June 6.
In light of the potentially devastating floods along the river, I respectfully request that your division cease issuance of these letters until the flooding has subsided.
I am aware that the federal government, through the Corps, is authorized to acquire land along the river to restore habitat losses that have resulted from the construction, operation and maintenance activities associated with the Missouri River Bank Stabilization and Navigation Project. However, I share my constituents’ conviction that all efforts and attention, on the part of the Corps, landowners, and others associated with the Missouri River, be directed toward flood control and mitigation.
During this trying time, where communities and residents along the entire river’s reach are experiencing or trying to prevent the loss of their livelihoods, it is improper for the Corps to be issuing such solicitations. I know that you share my sincere hope that everyone associated with this great river can successfully work together to address this flood and prevent future flood events.
In service of this goal, I reiterate my request that the Corps discontinue sending these solicitations. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
After tying the game in the ninth, the Royals coughed up a chance at victory after Aaron Crow balked allowing Juan Pierre to score a walkoff victory of the White Sox, 5-4.
Adam Dunn drilled a two-run homer for Chicago to hand them a 4-3 lead in the eighth but Eric Hosmer hit a solo shot in the ninth to tie things up at four.
Then with a man on third, Crow toed, and then stepped off the pitcher’s rubber, and the home plate ump waved in the winning run.
Police responded to overnight rollover accidents in St Joseph.
The first happened at roughly 10:39 Sunday night when a truck rolled at 3316 North Third Street.
The driver was thrown out of the truck and ran from the scene. St Joseph Police say he was chased by some people in the area who gave police information on his location. He was later arrested and treated Heartland. He remains in custody and the accident is still under investigation.
The second accident happened at 2:17 Monday morning when an SUV crashed into the yellow barrels between 36 highway and an off-ramp at 10th street. The SUV rolled over and one person was treated for injuries. Police say both the driver and passenger were sober.
America is getting a jump on Independence Day celebrations. Nightworks were fired off at Phil Welch Stadium after Saturday night’s game, and were planned Sunday night as well.
The City of St Joseph relocated its annual celebration to the North Side Complex on Monday night, saying it should be visible all over the northern half of the city. Originally planned for the Wyatt Hill area, the display was moved because floodwaters closed several of the usual viewing locations.
