We have a brand new updated website! Click here to check it out!

Category: Local News

Investigation into stolen packages leads to arrest

Posted on

A woman has been arrested in relation to an investigation into packages being stolen off porches in St. Joseph.

According to Capt. Jeff Wilson with the St. Joseph Police Department, around 1:30 Thursday afternoon, officers responded to the 4300 block of Hidden Valley Dr. in reference to multiple reports of packages being stolen from porches. After several hours of investigation, officers were able to gather a description of the suspect vehicle and later arrested a 52-year-old woman in the 900 block of N. 12th. As a result of the investigation, officers recovered a large amount of stolen packages.

The case is being further investigated by the Detective Division. At this time, all packages recovered remain in Police Evidence.

Capt. Wilson said if anyone thinks they may be missing a package, they can contact the police department to make a report at (816) 271-4777.

Bowl Bonanza

Posted on

You could be a big winner by picking the winner of the college football bowls! The National Grand Prize is a Weber Q200LP Gas Grill and the Local Grand Prize is $100, 2nd place $50, and 3rd place $25 – Good Luck!

Temperatures in the 40s and 50s over the weekend

Posted on

Above normal temperatures and rain chances are forecast over the next 5 days. Today and tomorrow will be great days to enjoy some outdoor activities. Then, we’ve got a chance for some much needed rain Sunday morning with scattered light rain possible Monday. Here’s the 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service:

Today: Sunny, with a high near 47. West northwest wind 6 to 13 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon.

Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 34. South southwest wind 8 to 11 mph.

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 58. South southwest wind 9 to 13 mph.

Saturday Night: Increasing clouds, with a low around 37. South wind 6 to 9 mph.

Sunday: A chance of showers before noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 48. South wind around 6 mph becoming north northwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 31.

Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 51.

Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 33.

Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 52.

Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 30.

Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 56.

Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 36.

Thursday: Partly sunny, with a high near 46.

 

Open Door Food Kitchen breaks ground on new location

Posted on

Open Door Food Kitchen held a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday afternoon for its new location.

The food kitchen has been serving hungry people in St. Joseph at its location at 510 Edmond St. for over 30 years.

President of the Board for Open Door Food Kitchen LeeAnn Smiley said relocating has been an idea in the works for awhile.   

“This is a collaborative project of getting this underway. It’s not something that we had as an initiative, but when we were approached and looked at the concept, we were very excited about the idea,” Smiley said. “Our current facility is not as energy efficient as it should be, it’s not one level, it’s not (easily) accessible for some of our patrons, but the new building’s going to be all of that for us and more. So we want to thank everybody that has participated, that has helped, that has volunteered, that has donated, that has made this possible at this time that we can have a groundbreaking.”

The new facility will be at 619 S. Eighth Street in St. Joseph. Smiley said, weather permitting, construction will start in March and the goal is to have the new facility open in the fall.

Missouri governor picks Maryville attorney for higher education board

Posted on

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens has appointed a former St. Louis-area Husch Blackwell lawyer to the state’s Coordinating Board for Higher Education.

Greitens on Wednesday announced that he picked Maryville resident Joe Cornelison to serve on the board, which oversees public colleges and universities throughout the state. Cornelison is a retired Army colonel.

Cornelison replaces Republican Dalton Wright, who was appointed by former Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon. Wright was serving an expired term on the board.

Cornelison’s appointment gives Greitens’ appointees a majority on the seven-member board, although the governor’s four new appointees still need confirmation by the state Senate.

Cornelison served as general counsel for the Higher Education Department from 2010 to 2011. He was an attorney for Northwest Missouri State University from 2005 to 2009.

Safety tips to keep in mind when turning up the heat this winter

Posted on

With colder temperatures on the way, there are some safety measures to follow to prevent fires due to heating sources.

Steve Henrichson is a Fire Inspector with the St. Joseph Fire Department. Henrichson said, nationally, fires related to space heaters are a major issue but locally, it has not been a problem in the past few years with about one or two reported per year. However, a fire about five years ago caused by a space heater too close to a curtain resulted in the deaths of four residents.

Henrichson said the most important thing to do with any heating source is to give it three feet of space.

“Space heater, water heater, things like that, just because of the radiant heat over time… it can cause problems,” Henrichson said. “Fireplaces… say, somebody has a rocking chair or something that’s in the same area, been there for years and years and all of a sudden it bursts into flames, it’s what we call pyrolysis. It’s just a slow decay of a piece of wood getting heated up over time, it just slowly deteriorates to the point where one day it decides to actually start on fire.”

Henrichson said it’s also important to plug things like space heaters directly into the wall and to check lights when putting up holiday decorations.

“The biggest thing with Christmas lights is making sure they’re in good repair,” Henrichson said. “Live (Christmas) trees, be really careful, make sure they’ve got plenty of water because a live tree, once it dries out will go up quick.”

Henrichson said to also test your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to make sure they’re working properly.

“Almost 20 years I’ve been an investigator and I’ve never gone into a house that had a working smoke detector that had a fatality in it,” Henrichson said. “You should have just changed your batteries with ‘Change your clock, change your batteries,’ but after 10 years smoke detectors need to be taken and replaced just because they are a mechanical device that after 10 years of running 24/7 they lose their effectiveness and efficiency.”

For more winter heating safety tips, visit the National Fire Protection Association website.

City water protection dept. employees vote to join union

Posted on

Employees from the City of St. Joseph’s Water Protection department voted Wednesday to join Laborers Local Union 579.

According to a news release, the election was set after employees reached out to union representatives to ask for help in joining. The final tally was 22 votes to join the union and eight against.

Workers voted in two shifts Wednesday in the conference room at the Water Protection Facility. Representatives of the State Board of Mediation administered the election. The positive vote comes despite the city’s efforts to discourage the workers from voting to join the union.

The union will represent the workers in future contract negotiations with the City of St. Joseph.

The employees contacted Local 579 shortly after voting to decertify their representation by another union in 2015. Federal labor regulations required the workers to go one year without representation before they could vote to join another union.

Local 579 is based in St. Joseph and represents workers in 16 northwest Missouri counties.

Temps in the 40s with a slight chance of snow showers later

Posted on

A cloudy and cooler day is expected today, with a chance for a sprinkle/flurry mix this afternoon and evening in eastern KS and northwestern MO. Impacts are not anticipated, as very little, if any, accumulation is expected. More widespread rain is expected and welcomed for most of the day Sunday. Here’s the 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service:

Today: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 41. North northwest wind 5 to 9 mph.

Tonight: A slight chance of rain and snow showers before 7 p.m., then a slight chance of snow showers between 7 p.m. and midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 26. West northwest wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Friday: Sunny, with a high near 47. West northwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon.

Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 32. South southwest wind around 9 mph.

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 57. South southwest wind 8 to 10 mph.

Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 34.

Sunday: A chance of showers before noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 47. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 29.

Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 50.

Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 31.

Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 51.

Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 29.

Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 54.

 

Animal Shelter in need of cat litter donations

Posted on

The St. Joseph Animal Shelter is in need of an early Christmas present for cats at the shelter.

Animal Shelter Humane Educator Jenna Keyes said non-clumping cat litter is at the top of their Christmas list.

“As boring as it is, we’ve been completely out… so, donations of non-clumping cat litter,” Keyes said. “As always, toys, bones, dog food, cat food, any of those goodies that you feel like purchasing for our pets is definitely welcome.”

The shelter currently has several animals available for adoption and Keyes said anyone thinking of getting someone a pet for Christmas should make sure everyone involved is ready for the responsibility.  

“Make sure… all family members are on board for getting it or make sure that if you’re gifting and going to give that (pet), make sure that person is truly interested in receiving that animal, they have the ability and the time to take care of it,” Keyes said. “We would just love to see our shelter clear out for the holidays… we’re definitely hoping to get a lot of these animals adopted out soon so they can be in their forever homes over the holidays.”

For more information and to see available pets, visit the Friends of the St. Joseph Animal Shelter Facebook page. Anyone wanting to donate non-clumping cat litter or other items can drop them off at the St. Joseph Animal Shelter at 701 SW Lower Lake Road or contact Jenna Keyes at (816) 271-5363 for more information.

Missouri Western to hold winter commencement ceremony this weekend

Posted on

St. Joseph, Mo. – The winter commencement ceremony for approximately 320 graduates of Missouri Western State University will be held this weekend.

The ceremony begins at 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 16, in the arena of the M.O. Looney Complex.

The commencement speaker will be Dr. Mark Mills, associate professor of biology.

The MWSU Alumni Association will host a free reception for graduates and their families after the ceremony in the Looney Small Gym.

The ceremony is free and open to the public. For those unable to attend, it will be streamed live online at http://griff.vn/wngrad17.
Other commencement-related activities include:

International Student Farewell & Sash Ceremony, 2 p.m. Friday, Dec. 15, Enright Community Room, Spratt 214-216

Graduating international students will be presented with a sash from their country of citizenship as a gift from Missouri Western.

 

Graduate Hooding Ceremony, 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 15, Fulkerson Center

Students receiving their master’s degrees will receive their academic hoods in a special ceremony. The hooding ceremony will be broadcast live at http://griff.vn/wnmaster17.

 

Nursing Pinning Ceremony, 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 16, Fulkerson Center

Nursing graduates will receive pins symbolic of their chosen profession. The pinning ceremony will be broadcast live at http://griff.vn/wnpin17.

Missouri Western anticipates 285 undergraduates and 35 graduate students to earn their degree this semester.

Copyright Eagle Radio | FCC Public Files | EEO Public File