SJCS announces girl’s soccer for next spring

News-Press NOW on June 18, 2025

Jacob Meikel

ST. JOSEPH, MO (News-Press NOW) — On Tuesday, St. Joseph Christian announced the start of a new girl’s soccer program set to begin its inaugural season in the spring of 2026.

Current wrestling coach and former soccer coach at Lafayette Josh Walters was named the head coach of the new program as part of Tuesday’s announcement that took place in the school’s gymnasium. Walters had his ties to St. Joe Christian before taking this opportunity, as he has three children who attend the school. When asked about why the time felt right for him to take on this new challenge at a new school, he also cited the current uncertainty regarding the public schools in St. Joseph.

“With the way things are going with the community and the public schools, I really wanted this school, where all three of my kids go, to continue to grow and do well,” Walters said.

Walters was accompanied by SJCS superintendent and athletic director Nicki Carlson for Tuesday night’s announcement. After being introduced, Walters said at the podium “the Lord has opened many doors for me” over the last 10 years and “I know He has a plan for me here at St. Joe Christian.”

Even though Walters is set to coach the Lions girls soccer team in their first year as a program, Walters is still slated to be the head coach for the Lafayette boys and girls wrestling program for the 2025-26 season.

News-Press NOW will continue to update this story.

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Power restores in Auxvasse after Tuesday evening outage

KMIZ on June 17, 2025

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Power has been restored in Auxvasse after an outage left 559 customers without electricity on Tuesday evening.

An outage was reported on Ameren’s outage map. The cause of the outage has not been determined yet.

An Ameren spokesman wrote in an email that the outage occurred after a piece of equipment malfunctioned.

Check back for updates.

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ABC-7 AT 4: June is Elder Abuse Prevention Month, time to check on elderly friends and neighbors

KVIA on June 17, 2025

Nichole Gomez

El Paso, TX (KVIA-TV)—Adult Protective Services will host the “It Pays to Partner with APS” conference on Thursday, June 26th, from 8 a.m. to 12 noon at the El Paso Community College Administrative Services Center (Building A Board Room) 9050 Viscount. The session will explore topics such as elder exploitation, common scams targeting seniors, responding to dementia-related behaviors, and an introduction to APS.

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Coachella Valley Water District announces completion of clean water project

KESQ on June 17, 2025

City News Service

COACHELLA VALLEY, Calif. (KESQ) – A pipeline project designed to provide clean, accessible water to residents living in eastern Coachella Valley has been completed, Coachella Valley Water District officials announced today.   

The Avenue 66 Transmission project, also known as the Saint Anthony Mobile Home Park Water Consolidation project, involved the installation of more than 26,000 linear feet of water pipes along Avenue 66. The project connects to three mobile home parks — Saint Anthony, Seferino Huerta and Manuela Garcia — and will supply water to the communities of Mecca and North Shore.

“Access to safe, affordable water and sewer services brings additional benefits, including new housing opportunities and economic growth,” CVWD Board Vice President Castulo Estrada said in a statement.

Numerous eastern Coachella Valley residents previously received water from failing or at-risk private water systems and unreliable sanitation systems, district officials said.

“The work of CVWD and its Disadvantaged Communities Infrastructure Task Force on the Avenue 66 project is a model on how to build the partnership necessary to bring safe drinking water to the 2% of Californians who still don’t have it,” Board Chair Joaquin Equivel said.

The project is a multi-year effort aimed at improving water quality for residents in the Valley. Funding for the work includes a $23.4 million grant from the State Water Resources Board and a $7 million grant from the Department of Water Resources.

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Santa Maria Air Tanker Base ramping up operations for peak fire season

KEYT on June 17, 2025

Dave Alley

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – With peak fire season now here, the Santa Maria Air Tanker Base is ramping its operations in order to be fully prepared and ready to respond when the need arrives.

“May 15th was our actual opening date,” said Miguel Quiz, Santa Maria Air Tanker Base Manager. “We’ve been open, ready to fight fire since then. We’ve had a few fires here and there locally, mostly supporting fires on the Sequoia and we have a few aircraft here at the base now.”

There is currently a small fleet of aircraft stationed at the tanker base that is located at the Santa Maria Jet Center, on the south end of the Santa Maria Public Airport.

“We have four aircraft on base,” said Quiz. “We have the lead plane. We have an air attack. We have tanker four zero used for dropping retardant and we have a hell of tanker type one helicopter.”

Quiz added staffing at the base has also doubled since mid-May, including personnel who operated and maintain the stationed aircraft.

“We are ready to go,” said tanker pilot David Dicky. “Bags are packed. Plane is uncorked for the most part. It’ll take us two minutes to get those engine covers off and then clearance to take off.”

While Tuesday was a quiet day at the air tanker base, staffing was still hard at work all day long planning and preparing for when the next fire needs the support the base provides.

“When the call comes in, when the call comes in for initial attack, we’re ready to move,” said Quiz. “We’ve trained so much the when the moment comes, everybody has a duty to do. Everybody has a role to play. The folks really take a pride initiative in what they’re doing around here to make things happen. We understand that what we’re doing here at the base and the readiness that we have at the base impacts the firefighters out there on the ground because they’re the ones out there waiting for retardant, so the faster we are, the more ready we are, the more training we do, we’re able to respond in a safe way.”

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Fire crews help with vegetation fire near Gaviota coast Tuesday afternoon

KEYT on June 17, 2025

Caleb Nguyen

GAVIOTA, Calif. – Fire crews helped with a one-acre vegetation fire near the Gaviota Coast on Freeway 101 at Vista Point and Tajiguas Landfill Road just before 3:00 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.

Strong winds pushed the fire toward the ocean and the SBCFD advised those in the area to drive carefully on Highway 101, which remained open during the fire response.

The railroad in the area was closed due to the incident and firefighters worked up steep terrain with hoses and crews to put the fire out, according to the SBCFD.

Both the SBCFD and CAL FIRE SLO crews helped with the fire and the cause of the incident is under investigation.

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Your vote does count: More than 25 Oregon May primary election races have gone to automatic recounts by hand

KTVZ on June 17, 2025

Barney Lerten

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) — Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read is reminding Oregonians that their votes can decide elections. As of Tuesday, the Secretary of State’s office has received notification that more than 25 races from the May 20th special district election are close enough to trigger an automatic hand recount. 

“I hear from a lot of people that they think their vote doesn’t matter, and here we have the undeniable proof that it does. These elections will have a major impact on Oregonians’ lives, from deciding how we manage our water to how we run schools and fight wildfires – and they’ll be decided by just a few votes,” said Secretary Read. 

“Thank you to our local elections officials and their teams who are working so hard to make sure every vote is counted accurately.” 

To find out more about recounts in your county, contact your local elections offices. 

Automatic vote recounts in the state of Oregon are required for the nomination or election of a person or to decide the outcome of a ballot measure when:  

There is a tie between candidates.

The vote margin is very close. Specifically, when the difference between the apparent winning candidate and the next is not more than 1/5th of one percent (i.e. 0.2%) or less, of the total votes for both of the candidates. 

The same margin rule (0.2% or less) also applies to ballot measures, such as initiatives or referendums, unless a ballot measure requires 50% voter turnout to be passed and turnout does not meet that threshold.

For example: If an initiative requires 50% voter turnout and only 48% of registered voters voted on it, there will not be an automatic recount, even if there is a small margin (such as 0.1%). 

All recounts in the state of Oregon must be done by a counting board, by hand. The counting board consists of a minimum of two county electors, and the electors must be registered with different political parties.  

The counting board:  

Determines the voter’s intent on each ballot.

Separates ballots into different stacks, based on the option selected on each ballot.

Counts the number of ballots in each stack. 

Both members of the counting board must count each stack individually, and both must agree on the number in each stack.  

Official observers are permitted to be present to observe the preliminary preparation and to observe the recount process but must not impede or interfere with the recount preparation or procedure. Official observers can include:  

Any and all affected candidates.

Any elector authorized in writing by an affected candidate.

An elector authorized in writing by each major or minor party.

An authorized observer designated by an official measure organization. 

“Oregon elections officials are committed to running honest, fair, and accurate elections. Controls like automatic recounts, regular audits, and the near-constant testing of elections equipment help us show the public that their votes count,” added Secretary Read. 

To date, the following counties have notified the Secretary of State’s office about recounts: 

Baker County will conduct an automatic recount for the West Eagle Valley Water Control District, At Large position on June 17, 2025. 

In Clatsop County, two recounts will be conducted on June 23, 2025 for the Seaside Rural Fire Protection district, Director, Position 2 and Arch Cape Domestic Water Supply District, Commissioner, Position 2. 

Coos County started an automatic recount for two races on June 16, 2025: 

Bunker Hill Rural Fire Protection District, Position 3 

Shelley Rd-Crest Acres Water District, Position 3 

In Crook County, the automatic recount for the Juniper Canyon Water Control District, Position 4 started on June 16, 2025.  

Deschutes County plans to complete an automatic recount for Laidlaw Water District, Director, Position 3 by June 20, 2025. 

In Grant County, there is an automatic recount on June 18, 2025 for the following districts: 

Grant County Transportation District 

John Day Rural Fire District 

Monument Cemetery District 

Long Creek School District, Position 5 

In Gilliam County, automatic recounts were triggered in Rock Creek Water Control District Director Zone 2 and Rock Creek Water Control District Zone 3. That recount was already held and completed on June 11, 2025. 

Klamath County plans to complete a recount for two director positions in the Modoc Point Sanitary District by June 18, 2025. 

Lake County started recounts on June 11, 2025 for Christmas Valley Rural Fire Protection District, Director, Position 3 and Christmas Valley Park and Recreation District, Director, Position 5. 

In Lane County, four recounts will begin on June 18, 2025 in the following districts: 

Dexter Sanitary District, Director, Position 3

Dexter Sanitary District, Director, Position 5

River Road Water Control, Directors, Positions 1 – 5

South Lane School District, Director, Position 7

Linn County started recounts for the following districts on June 16, 2025: 

Denver-Conner Water Control District Position 6 

Little Muddy Creek Water Control District Position 3 

Little Muddy Creek Water Control District Position 5 

In Tillamook County, a recount for Ballot Measure 29 – 183 was started on June 11, 2025 and recounts for the following districts began the next day on June 12, 2025:  

Nedonna Rural Fire Protection District – Director, Position 4 

Beaver Water District – Commissioner, Position 4 

Twin Rocks Water District – Commissioner, Position 4 

Cloverdale Sanitary District – Director, Position 3 

All recounts in Tillamook County are now complete. 

Umatilla County will be conducting a recount on Tuesday, June 17, 2025 for two tied write-in races: 

McKay Dam Fire, Position 5 

Milton-Freewater Valley Ambulance District, Position 5 

Wasco County started a recount for the Tygh Valley Rural Fire Protection District, Position 1 on June 16, 2025. 

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City of Pocatello addresses complaints of dry grass

KIFI on June 17, 2025

Sam Ross

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI)– Pocatello Parks and Rec is addressing online complaints of dry grass around the city and in the Mountain View Cemetery.

According to Parks and Rec and a post on the City of Pocatello Facebook page on Sunday, June 15, the city is aware of the dry grass and has repaired leaking sprinkler lines and timers causing dry grass in the area. People can expect to see greener grass in the next week.

The Mountain View Cemetery is currently undergoing a major waterline replacement project, which is affecting some sprinkler systems and could last through the summer.

For more information and updates, click HERE.

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St. Joseph breaks ground on long-awaited new animal shelter on South Belt Highway

News-Press NOW on June 17, 2025

Cameron Montemayor

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Crowds of eager residents gathered Tuesday to witness the start of a much-anticipated project to bring a new animal shelter to St. Joseph.

Shovels officially broke ground Tuesday on the first day of construction for the new $5 million shelter at 3405 S. Belt Highway, next to the St. Joseph Recycling Center, a project 10 years in the making.

St. Joseph Animal Services Manager Holly Bowie called it a surreal day for her, residents and countless animal supporters who have worked tirelessly to advocate and make the project a reality.

“It feels like this isn’t real because we’ve wanted it and needed it for so long. That’s kind of the first emotion is like, ‘This is actually happening,” Bowie said. “We’re just ecstatic.”

With construction now officially a go, Bowie said the goal is to have animal shelter staff move into the new facility in late June of 2026. She praised the nonprofit Friends of the Animal Shelter as being one of the catalysts for the project due to their unwavering support and tireless fundraising efforts over the last 10 years.

FOTAS raised nearly $1.7 million to pair with $3.3 million in Capital Improvements Program funding to finance design and construction.

“I think it was really important that we never gave up and I give a lot of credit to friends of the shelter for that because they drove the train for so long. They pushed for the capital campaign. I’m just really excited to have such a great group to work with,” said Bowie.

E.L. Crawford Construction of St. Joseph is now tasked with building the 13,000-square-foot facility, a significant upgrade of 5,000 additional square feet compared to the aging and outdated facility at 701 S.W. Lower Lake Road.

One request that shelter architect Ellison-Auxier was able to fulfill in its design work was adequate space to house dogs and cats separately to avoid stressing the felines. The new building will also have more areas to visit with adoptable animals.

“Having a new facility that’s got bigger spaces for our animals and being able to separate the animals that are maybe not as well versus the healthy, adoptable animals … versus the animals that have just come in and need monitoring,” said Meghan Casias, a longtime Animal Services volunteer and new board member. “Really, just improving the safety for our animals is a huge thing, not to mention just being more welcoming for our community.”

The proposed shelter is also being designed with a vet clinic as well, a smaller suite capable of providing surgeries and other services carried out by shelter staff, a much-needed addition for the community.

News-Press NOW will update this story.

Animal services volunteers, staff and other community members participate in a groundbreaking ceremony for a new $5 million animal shelter on Tuesday at 3405 S. Belt Highway. Cameron Montemayor | News-Press NOW

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Rexburg Police host annual special needs lunch, building community connections

KIFI on June 17, 2025

Ariel Jensen

REXBURG, Idaho (KIFI)– Dozens joined the special needs lunch at Potter Park in Rexburg, hosted by the Rexburg Police Department. Those who came out got to eat hot dogs with cops, ride in golf carts, and a fan favorite was getting to drive a Segway.

Juan Leyva of Rexburg attended the event with a group. When asked what he thought of the event, he said, “I think hanging out with them, talking to them, getting to know them.” That was the goal of the Rexburg police department; they wanted to get to know the people in the area with special needs.

The Rexburg police department says they host this every year, and it’s a great way to serve the community. 

“The biggest thing, I think, is just that they know us. They know that we’re here for them. We’re willing to help them. We interact with them. I think just having that connection, knowing that they have the support from us and that we understand, and what needs they have. So it’s it’s not only for them, but it’s also for us as officers,” said Chief Joshua Rhodes.

A lot of the attendees told local news 8 they had so much fun at this event that they plan to do it again in the years to come. 

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