ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The following is a listing of general highway maintenance and construction work in the Northwest Missouri region planned for the week of Dec. 11 – 17 from the Missouri Department of Transportation. In addition to the work listed below, there may be pothole patching, shoulder work, bridge maintenance, striping, brush cutting, guardrail repairs and other road work conducted throughout the region. Many of these will be moving operations and could include lane closures with delays. All scheduled maintenance and construction projects are subject to change.

MoDOT reminds the public to stay alert, watch for road work, buckle up, slow down, and drive with extreme caution through work zones and in changing weather conditions.

For more information about a project, please contact MoDOT at 1-888-ASK-MoDOT (888-275-6636) or visit modot.org/northwest. You can also follow MoDOT’s Northwest Missouri District on Twitter @ModotNorthwest and on Facebook.

Atchison County

U.S. Route 59 – Shoulder work from the Holt County line to U.S. Route 136, Dec. 11 – 15

Buchanan County

U.S. Route 36 – CLOSED for sign installation at the ramp from westbound U.S. Route 36 to northbound Interstate 229, Dec. 11, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

U.S. Route 36 – Sign installation on westbound U.S. Route 36 at the I-229 interchange, Dec. 12, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The driving and passing lane will be closed and traffic will be directed through the intersection using the turn lane.

Caldwell County

Route 13 – Milling from Route F to SW Longhorn Drive, Dec. 11

Dekalb County

Route J – Drainage work from U.S. Route 36 to Rogers Road, Dec. 11

Route N – Culvert repair from Route 6 to Patton Road, Dec. 13

Gentry County

Route H – CLOSED for a culvert replacement from Isaac Miller Trail to 445^th Street, Dec. 11, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

U.S. Routes 136 and 169 – Shoulder work, Dec. 11 – 14

Linn County

Route WW – Pothole patching from the city limits of Marceline to the Macon County line, Dec. 11

U.S. Route 36 – Pavement repair westbound from Route F to Route 11, Dec. 11 – 12. This includes an overnight lane closure.

Route B – Pothole patching from Route 139 to Route 5, Dec. 12

Route V – Pothole patching from Route M to Route C, Dec. 13 – 15

Livingston County

Route 190 – Shoulder work from U.S. Route 65 to the Daviess County line, Dec. 11 – 15

Route KK – CLOSED from County Road 216 to the end of state maintenance, Dec. 14, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Mercer County

U.S. Route 136 − CLOSED for a bridge replacement project at the Muddy Creek Bridge. The road will be closed through February 2018.

Nodaway County

Route C – Shoulder and drainage work, Dec. 11

U.S. Route 71 – CLOSED for culvert repair at 268^th Street, Dec. 11 – 13, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. Access to 268^th Street will be closed during this time.

U.S. Route 71 – Pothole patching from Route B (Andrew County) to Route U, Dec. 11 – 15

Route KK – Shoulder and drainage work, Dec. 12 – 13

Worth County

Route 46 – Shoulder work and bridge maintenance one mile west of Grant City, Dec. 12 – 13

Missouri Western State University will be presenting awards next month to recognize people in the community who are committed to social justice and multicultural education service.

The Center for Multicultural Education at Missouri Western is accepting nominations for the 2018 Drum Major for Justice Awards.

The awards are presented at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major for Justice Banquet on January 17, 2018.

Missouri Western Multicultural Education Director Latoya Fitzpatrick said the Drum Major for Justice Awards are given out to citizens who live ordinary lives but do extraordinary acts of service.

“Sometimes the work can get very very weary… so just giving folks that are within the fight and are trying to make things better, just a little encouragement to keep continuing on with the fight in hopes that at the end of it, yes, we all want to see equality, but I just know that a lot of times in this work, people get weary and want to give up,” Fitzpatrick said. “So we’re going to recognize you here and we’re going to give you that extra boost to make sure that you continue to fight and that you know you have the support of your community.”

The award is presented to one student, one member of the St. Joseph community and a Missouri Western employee.

Nominations can be submitted online. The nomination deadline is January 10th.

A space dedicated to the academic success of student-athletes at Northwest Missouri State University will soon bear the name of a family that instills a legacy of education, service and leadership at the institution and beyond.

According to a press release, with the approval of Northwest’s Board of Regents, the Student-Athlete Academic Center, located on the lower level of the Lamkin Activity Center, will be renamed the Harr Athletic Success Center.

A dedication ceremony is planned for 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 13, in the center, and the public is invited to attend.

“We talk about being forever green and there is no better personification than Dr. Harr,” Northwest President Dr. John Jasinski said. “His family’s impact on the University and our region is decades long, and Doc has helped so many people and supports our student-athletes in a matter-of-fact manner. His devotion to lifelong learning, scholarship and positive impacts is modeled by his wife, Teri, and his family – modeled after his mom and dad. The Board of Regents is thrilled to honor Doc in this way, and we are all so much better for having Doc and the Harr family as part of our heritage.”

The naming honors Dr. Patrick Harr’s decades of service as a volunteer physician for Northwest athletic teams, setting lasting examples for the Maryville community and its student-athletes. Harr also has served as a member of the Board of Regents since 2013 and served as chair of the Board since 2015. Born and raised in Maryville, Harr attended Northwest’s Horace Mann Laboratory School as a child and began his college coursework at Northwest in the 1960s before transferring to the University of Missouri-Columbia for medical school. He returned to Maryville in 1974 to begin his career as a family physician.

Additionally, Harr’s father, the late Dr. John L. Harr, was a member of the Northwest faculty from 1944 until 1979. During that time, he served as chair of the history department and, as the Homecoming faculty chairman for 20 years, helped develop many of the Homecoming traditions that continue at Northwest today. Patrick Harr’s mother, the late Helen Harr, also was a trained teacher.

Northwest opened the Student-Athlete Academic Center, which formerly was the University’s fitness center, after the 2015 opening of the Robert and Virginia Foster Fitness Center. A leisure lounge for student-athletes with couches, tables, chairs and TVs, the space provides an area to students-athletes for study and socialization.

-Press release-

A holiday arts and crafts event will provide an opportunity to find Christmas gifts and support local families in need.

Executive Director of The Crossing Outreach Ministry Danny Gach says the ministry started about five years ago and they have a campus of building where they care for the homeless in the area.

Gach said they’re helping put on a Christkindl Market this Saturday and next Saturday. This is the first year for the Market, which will be held in the Guenther Building at 8th and Charles Streets.   

“The owners of the building decided to make use of a building they owned for quite awhile,” Gach said. “Their family’s owned the building since, like, 1918, and used to be a number of different things in there, it was the Montgomery Ward Farm Store for a number of years.”

Gach said the market will include a variety of antiques, hand crafted items and more.

“At The Crossing we make rag rugs and purses on 100-year-old rag rug looms… that helps people that come through our building and they get paid a percentage of the profits of the rugs, so that helps us a lot,” Gach said.

There will also be music, Christmas caroling and food vendors at the event.

Gach said funds raised at the ChristKindl Market will support outreach programs for St. Joseph families in need.

“We’re developing an upscale food pantry, it’s actually going to be a nutrition center and it’ll be right here on the campus,” Gach said. “The pantry will actually include dairy products, fresh fruits and vegetables and we’re working with Second Harvest and they’ll help us supply the nutrition center. The Missouri Extension will have people on site there that will help people with food budgeting… and also nutrition value of different foods and how to prepare meals.”  

The Christkindl Market will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday the 9th and Saturday the 16th at the Guenther Building at 224 South 8th St. in St. Joseph.

For more information about The Crossing Outreach Ministry, click here.