An event in March will offer a new challenge for area runners and walkers.

The Outlaw Adventure Run/Walk in St. Joseph will incorporate unimproved trails and sections of the improved areas of Krug Park along with a variety of obstacles along the way.

Recreation Programs and Athletic Facilities Supervisor David Cavin with the St. Joseph Parks and Recreation Dept. is the organizer of the Outlaw Adventure Run.

“The idea… is to offer St. Joseph and the surrounding area a outdoor race or activity different than what we’ve ever done before or even any other group in St. Joe has done before,” Cavin said.

The 5K run takes place at 9:30 a.m. on March 24.

For more information or to sign up, visit the Outlaw Adventure Run Facebook page or click here.  

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A St. Joseph man was sentenced in federal court Friday for his second federal bank robbery conviction.

According to a news release from Timothy A. Garrison, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, 50-year-old Terry L. Hager of St. Joseph, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan, Jr., to 11 years and one month in federal prison without parole.

The sentence includes a 33-month term of incarceration upon the revocation of Hager’s supervised release in an earlier bank robbery sentence in a separate case.

Hager, who pleaded guilty on Jan. 3, 2017, admitted that he stole $13,957 from UMB Bank, 1211 N. Belt Hwy., St. Joseph, on March 5, 2016.

According to court documents, Hager was wearing a baseball cap, a bandana over his face, sunglasses and clear plastic gloves when he entered the bank. Hager approached a teller and motioned for her to be quiet by placing his finger to his lips then demanded that she give him all the money. After the teller emptied the contents of her drawer, Hager demanded the money from her second drawer, but she was unable to comply because she did not have a key for the drawer. Hager told the teller to get on the floor and called a second teller, who did have the key, over to the teller counter. (As this occurred, a third teller was able to push a panic button to alert law enforcement of the robbery). As the second teller was interacting with Hager, she attempted to press an emergency button, but he placed his hand over the button preventing her from doing so.

After he received cash from both tellers, Hager exited the bank. He later led law enforcement officers on a high-speed pursuit, traveling approximately 80 miles per hour through a densely populated residential neighborhood with groups of children playing near the street. Officers were forced to terminate the pursuit due to the significant danger to the public.

The next day, Hager was located at a local Walmart store and placed under arrest without incident as he left the store.

This case represents Hager’s second federal bank robbery conviction. Hager, who was incarcerated for more than 22 years on his first bank robbery conviction, was released from federal prison and placed on supervised release on Dec. 2, 2013. He was still on supervised release for his first federal bank robbery offense when he committed the second.

On March 26, 2015, while on supervised release for his first federal bank robbery, Hager was arrested in Buchanan County for second-degree domestic assault after a report that he threatened and physically assaulted a woman with whom he shared a domestic relationship. He was convicted of the offense on July 6, 2015, and sentenced to eight months’ incarceration. On Feb. 11, 2016, Hager appeared in federal court for a supervised release revocation hearing. After making a statement on his own behalf, Hager’s supervised release was continued with further instruction that his supervised release would be reviewed in 90 days. Hager committed the bank robbery approximately 23 days later.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alison D. Dunning. It was investigated by the St. Joseph, Mo., Police Department and the FBI.

Northwest Missouri State University will honor civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. with a series of events next week.

The seventh annual peace brunch is from 11 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Jan. 15 in the J.W. Jones Student Union Ballroom. A free hot breakfast buffet will be served, and the brunch will feature Carleane Hawkins, who is founder and principal consultant of The Camdy Group as well as a 1997 Northwest alumna, as its keynote speaker.

The week continues with presentations and activities centered on civil rights and social justice issues. All events are free and open to the public.

From 5 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 16, on the first floor of the Administration Building, the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion will host an art exhibit, “Theory of Resistance,” in collaboration with Assistant Professor of Art Dr. Michael Faris. The exhibit will feature various art pieces representing the civil rights movement, and Faris will discuss his work.

At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 17, in the Student Union Boardroom, the Northwest community is invited to a screening and discussion of “Selma.” The film chronicles Martin Luther King’s campaign to secure equal voting rights with an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965.

The week’s activities conclude at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 18, in the Charles Johnson Theater with a presentation by Sheyann Webb-Christburg, the youngest participant to take part in the “Bloody Sunday” event at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. Nicknamed “The Smallest Freedom Fighter” by Martin Luther King Jr., Webb-Christburg will share her story of marching alongside Martin Luther King Jr. at age eight. She will share her experiences of transitioning from a segregated school to an integrated school as well as her experiences during the Civil Rights Movement.  

Although Martin Luther King Jr. was born Jan. 15, 1929, his birthday has been observed as a national holiday, Martin Luther King Day, on the third Monday of each January since 1986.

In observance of the holiday, Northwest will not have classes Monday, Jan, 15, and all University offices are closed.

Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Week events at Northwest are sponsored by Northwest’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. For more information, contact Dr. Justin Mallett, Northwest’s director of diversity and inclusion, at jmallett@nwmissouri.edu or (660) 562-1317.

The Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office will be starting a new program in an effort to address the backlog of arrest warrants.

According to Sheriff Bill Puett, there has been relocation of staff and some realigned duties in an effort to get a warrant service program started.  

“We already have some folks working on felony warrants and those type of things,” Puett said. “However, we’re going to utilize some of our staff that works in Civil Process and transportation and some of those and pair them up and utilize them to start looking into executing arrest warrants on a lot of the stuff that we get, misdemeanors and things that just kind of languish there.”

Puett said part of the realigning of duties will include some staff members now making calls to people with outstanding warrants.

“Giving them information… you have a warrant, you need to get it taken care of, if not, we’re going to put you on the list to be sought after,” Puett said.

Puett said if anyone thinks they may have a misdemeanor warrant, to get in contact with the court.

“If you go and make arrangements with the court and all those things, you don’t have to be arrested, you don’t have to necessarily post that bond and do all those things,” Puett said. “Unfortunately, I know when people get tickets and some of these misdemeanor things, they kind of put them off, but we want to make sure we’re serving the community in every possible way that we can and so that means making people be held accountable for that.”

Puett said once the project is underway, it’s important to note that anyone calling from the Sheriff’s Office regarding a warrant, will never ask for money or credit card information.

“We will not ask anybody for credit card information, for money, for checks, nothing. We will not be in the money business,” Puett said. “All we’re going to be is (saying) here’s information, you have a warrant, you need to get that taken care of.”

According to Sheriff Puett, they plan to begin the warrant service program in the next couple of weeks.