Active shooter hoaxes put colleges across the country on edge

News-Press NOW on August 29, 2025

TaMya Bracy

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Several college campuses in the region and across the United States are off to a nerve-wracking start of the school year.

There has been a wave of active shooter hoaxes sweeping across college campuses in the country. According to The Associated Press, law enforcement responded to calls claiming there were active shooters at the University of Arkansas, Northern Arizona University, Iowa State, Kansas State, the University of Colorado-Boulder and the University of New Hampshire on Monday.

On Tuesday, law enforcement received even more calls for the University of Kentucky, West Virginia University and Central Georgia Technical College, according to AP.

These waves of threats can cause terror among students, given how common school shootings have become in the U.S.

Jill Voltmer, chief of police at MoWest, said that the university does have precautions in place if a shooter were to come on campus.

“We have a safety plan, an emergency management plan that we continually review and keep close at hand,” Voltmer said. “And we try to go through all of those points and continually update them.  Listen, watch and see everything, anything that looks out of place, she said.

Along with the emergency management plan, MoWest has an alert system that sends out messages. It’s called the Griffon Alert System.

“They are multifaceted and they come in several different ways,” Voltmer said. “They come in email, they come in text messages and they take over your computer screen. We also have annunciators, which are noises that come out of it with the basic information. So that is how correct current information is given by the university and in any type of situation like that,” she said.

Most students don’t think about a shooter coming on campus, even though it’s common. MoWest freshman, Summer Palmer, school should be a safe environment and you shouldn’t have to think about a shooter coming on campus.

“When you’re at school, you should have the mindset of like socializing, being a friend, going to hang out with your friends, focusing on schoolwork, building an education, going to school to, you know, have fun,” Palmer said.

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City announces mayor, city council and judge Election Days

News-Press NOW on August 29, 2025

News-Press NOW

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Elections for mayor, city council and judge will be held at the beginning of 2026.

The Primary Election will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 3 and the General Election will be on Tuesday, April 7, 2026.

Candidates for mayor and members of council are required to be qualified city voters and be St. Joseph residents for at least one year immediately prior to the election.

District councilmembers are required to be residents of their district for at least six months prior to the election.

The judge, mayor and four at-large councilmembers shall be elected to serve four-year terms, and the four district councilmembers shall be elected to an initial two-year term.

The judge should be at least 25 years of age, licensed to practice law in the State of Missouri and shall have been a resident of St. Joseph for one year immediately prior to the election.

The judge will hold office for a four-year term, during which he or she will not practice law. No person who is in arrears for any city shall be entitled to hold any office in the city government.

Any person interested in running for any of the aforementioned offices is asked to stop by the City Clerk’s office at Room 303 in City Hall, located at 1100 Frederick Ave, beginning Tuesday, Sept. 9, to pick up petitions.

Petitions for candidates for the district councilchamber shall be signed by no less than 75 qualified district voters.

All petitions shall be filed with the city clerk should be filed between Tuesday, Oct. 7 and Tuesday, Oct. 28.

The City Clerk’s office hours are typically 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, call 816-271-4731.

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Climax Springs man suffers serious injuries in motorcycle crash

KMIZ on August 29, 2025

Jazsmin Halliburton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Climax Springs man suffered serious injuries after a motorcycle crash in Camden County on Thursday afternoon.

According to an online crash report, a 42-year-old man on a Yamaha V Star motorcycle crossed the center line on Bollinger Creek Road north of Crainshaw and hit a minivan head-on.

The man on the motorcycle was flown to University Hospital. The minivan driver was not hurt.

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Clarios leadership makes key stop in St. Joseph as company plans $6 billion to boost manufacturing in U.S.

News-Press NOW on August 29, 2025

Cameron Montemayor

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — One of St. Joseph’s top employers and a global leader in battery production is engaging key cities and potential sites for development as it prepares to invest billions to advance energy manufacturing in the U.S.

Representatives with Clarios, the Chamber of Commerce and local media gathered for a meet and greet Thursday at the Chamber as an opportunity to strengthen ties with longstanding company cities and learn about its ambitious $6 billion U.S. energy manufacturing investment plan announced in March.

The long-term strategy is multifaceted — vastly expand the company’s footprint as a global leader and innovator in advanced battery production and other energy manufacturing, and strengthen the country’s manufacturing prowess and workforce.

“It’s almost a generational opportunity that we have here. There’s a combination of demand in the marketplace for advanced batteries that we produce and then this resurgence in U.S. manufacturing and bringing manufacturing back to the United States,” Clarios Chief Communications Officer Tom Downie told News-Press NOW.

The company has more than 900 employees in St. Joseph across its assembly plant and distribution center on Pear Street and Lower Lake Avenue, producing advanced batteries that are found in one out of every three cars worldwide.

Thursday’s meet and greet included discussions about the city and the key role its facilities play in Clarios’ domestic and global operation.

“St. Joe’s a huge part of it. St. Joe is one of our larger facilities and probably one of the top three sites in the U.S.,” Downie said. “That’s the key part of this … to better understand what their needs are and how we might be able to work together in the future.”

A vital component of Clarios’ investment plan includes a new state-of-the-art Manufacturing Technology & Training Center, designed as a hub for workforce development and the next generation of manufacturing research and development, including critical technologies like robotics, AI-augmented vision systems, autonomous material handling and manufacturing software.

Clarios views those technologies as key to improving its battery production network and energy storage capabilities for the years ahead.

“As vehicle technology advances, vehicles are becoming software dependent … those vehicles require more input from the low voltage network,” Downie said. “Part of the $6 billion, there’s $1 billion we’ve set aside to come up with new types of batteries to be able to serve those vehicles.”

The company is actively working to identify a location for the manufacturing and training facility and hopes to make a decision by the of the year.

Clarios is eyeing locations that may include public-private partnerships, incentives and existing workforce development initiatives, particularly in states where it has a presence today like St. Joseph.

The facility is one part of Clarios’ $6 billion plan, which includes a massive $1 billion critical minerals processing and recovery plant, which is likely to be located in either Indiana, Texas and Utah, the company’s first in the U.S.

“Keeping the battery components and the critical minerals that are in those batteries in the U.S. in our supply chain is very important,” he said.

The processing plant will utilize advanced technologies to extract antimony and other minerals from recycled materials for use in defense and military production, boosting the country’s supply of critical minerals and reducing its dependence on foreign sources.

Antimony is central to the production of advanced technologies like night vision goggles, infrared sensors, precision optics and even ammunition.

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SJFD awarded grant for new fire training facility

News-Press NOW on August 29, 2025

News-Press NOW

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The St. Joseph Fire Department received a Military Community Reinvestment Grant aimed at assisting communities that provide support to military programs and bases.

The $117,000 grant was awarded by the Missouri Department of Economic Development.

The grant funds, along with matching funding from the city, will be used to build a live fire training facility near Rosecrans Memorial Airport. The starter facility is expected to be complete by May 2026, according to a City of St. Joseph press release.

Firefighters with SJFD currently have to use other facilities for this type of training, which makes it difficult for all of them to earn the desired three hours of live fire training a year.

“The St. Joseph Fire Department, City of St Joseph as well as the 139th are very excited about this opportunity to build a live burn training facility here in St Joseph,” St. Joseph Fire Chief Ivan Klippenstein said. “This is a tool our fire departments have always been in need to have an accessible facility. We are not only excited about the opportunity to train, but to create relationships with old and new partners in the emergency services.”

SJFD is advocating for the future facility to be made the regional training facility that can be used by other area entities such as the 139th Airlift Wing and Missouri Western State University, according to a press release.

SJFD working with 139th Airlift Wing to develop new joint training facility

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City of St. Joseph provides Labor Day holiday schedule

News-Press NOW on August 29, 2025

News-Press NOW

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The City of St. Joseph has shared its holiday hours in observance of Labor Day on Monday, Sept. 1.

City Office, the Recycling Center, Landfill and the REC Center will be closed.

The Remington Nature Center will be open during its normal hours.

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Welding setup leak and extension cord led to storage container explosion in NE Bend, severely damaging two businesses, impacting four others, and rattling residents across Central Oregon

KTVZ on August 29, 2025

KTVZ – News Team

(UPDATE: Interview with Deputy Fire Marshal, business owner)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Around 5:30 a.m. on Friday, residents from around Central Oregon reported hearing a loud explosion. After numerous 911 calls, officials were attempting to locate the area of the incident when they received another call, reporting debris was being struck by vehicles on the Bend Parkway. 

When officials arrived on the scene at the Parkway, they discovered the debris was likely from the reported explosion. They were able to follow the materials strewn about to the location where the explosion occurred. 

The debris and explosion was found to be from Kercher Electric on NE Yale Ave in Bend, off of Division St., just before the Business 97 intersection. 

A shipping container located outside the Kercher Electric building had exploded, causing severe damage to two businesses in the area. In addition, four other businesses nearby sustained broken windows and experienced interior damage. 

Kercher Electric and Arbor Builders were tagged “Do Not Occupy” by City of Bend Building Department due to their structural damage. 

Fortunately, none of the businesses were occupied at the time of the explosion. 

Lindsay Cloud, owner of Velocity Property Management — located in the area — spoke with KTVZ News on the scene. 

“This morning I woke up to a bunch of texts and calls from people concerned. And then J.R. from Arbor called me and said we have a problem. And I rushed down. It’s very scary because we have people coming and going there all the time. And to think that our car or a person could have been right here. It’s very scary,” said Cloud. 

After investigating, officials released the cause of the explosion — an oxygen-acetylene welding setup inside a shipping container had leaked, causing the container to fill with extremely flammable vapors. A freezer was also inside the container and being powered by an extension cord. The electrical cord acted as an ignition source, leading to the explosion. 

Though many are grateful no one was hurt by the explosion, some are asking how this could happen. 

“Why wasn’t that monitored? I don’t know. It’s very scary,” stressed Cloud. 

KTVZ spoke with Deputy Fire Marshal with Bend Fire and Rescue, Cindy Kettering, on the scene. 

“This is not a criminal matter at all. There are no citations or charges being contemplated. This will be resolved between the insurance companies and the owners,” said Kettering. 

Kettering said part of the cause was due to the extension cord — meant to be used for temporary and small amounts of electricity — to power a large appliance. 

“You never want to have a power source or an ignition source in close proximity to a welding set up, any sort of flammable or combusted material needs clearance around it with flammable gases. They need clearance. They need to be stored away from direct sunlight, away from heat, away from ignition sources and the valves maintained in the off position,” warned Kettering. 

Kettering also described the explosion and shared her gratitude that no one was injured. 

“This was a large explosion. It took the box, which is a very sturdy structure, and sent portions of it over 30 yards away. There are sides and large pieces of metal that were shot over to neighboring buildings. It was a tremendous amount of force. It was very fortunate that it was an early hour where there were not people in the area,” said Kettering. 

Earlier story — BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Bend Fire and Rescue says a leaking oxygen-acetylene welding setup inside a shipping container sparked the powerful explosion that significantly damaged two Bend businesses and caused damage to four others.

Full release from Bend Fire and Rescue below:

Early in the morning of Friday, August 29, 2025, multiple 911 callers across Bend reported hearing a loud explosion, but there was no identified location or source for the explosion.  A few minutes later, at 5:34 am, a 911 caller reported multiple cars striking debris on the Bend Parkway, with one of the vehicles sustaining a punctured fuel tank. 

Fire crews arrived on scene and were able to mitigate the fuel leak.  The source of the debris was found to be a large explosion that occurred at Kercher Electric, 132 NE Yale Avenue.  A shipping container located outside the business had exploded, resulting in several businesses in the area sustaining damage to windows, doors, and walls.  Two businesses, Kercher Electric and the neighboring Arbor Builders, sustained significant structural damage and were tagged “Do Not Occupy” by the City of Bend Building Department. 

A total of six businesses received some degree of damage as a result of the explosion.  All the businesses were unoccupied at the time of the explosion due to the early hour.  

Upon investigation, it was found that an oxygen-acetylene welding setup inside the shipping container leaked, causing the closed shipping container to fill with the highly flammable mixture of oxygen and acetylene.  There was also an upright freezer in use, powered by an extension cord running into the shipping container.  This energized equipment provided an ignition source for the flammable vapors, causing the subsequent explosion.  

Bend Fire & Rescue would like to remind the community to store flammable gases safely.  Gas cylinders should be stored in well-ventilated areas away from direct sunlight and high temperatures, clear of any ignition sources, and secured upright to prevent tipping over. Always store cylinders with the valve in the “off” position.  For more safety information regarding compressed gases, visit the OSHA website at https://osha.oregon.gov/oshapubs/factsheets/fs09.pdf

Earlier Reporting:

An explosion early Friday morning was caused by a shipping container filled with welding equipment that leaked, resulting in a highly flammable mixture of oxygen and acetylene filling the container.

A shipping container filled Bend Fire and Rescue says a large shipping container exploded at 5:34AM this morning

According to Bend Fire and Rescue, major damage has been confirmed for two buildings and minor damage to a third. An official investigation is underway by Bend Fire and Rescue and the Bend Police Department.

Deputy Fire Marshall Sidney Kettering told KTVZ News the Oregon State Police Explosives Unit has been contacted and will arrive on scene today.

The explosion occurred near 2524 NE Division Street, across the street from Riverview Park.

This is a developing story and KTVZ will provide updates as they become available.

Update 7:30 a.m.

According to Pulse Point, an explosion occurred on NE Divison Street in Bend. KTVZ is on scene and working to learn if this is connected to a loud boom heard across town around 5:20 a.m. Friday.

Officials on scene told KTVZ News the cause is still under investigation but they believe the explosion occurred from a shipping container box. No injuries have been reported.

Original report:

The large boom was heard and felt during KTVZ News at Sunrise’s 5 a.m. broadcast. Our team is working to find out more information.

It is not yet confirmed if the two incidents are connected.

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Sneak Peak: FIND Food Bank’s Food Security Campus opening in September

KESQ on August 29, 2025

Allie Anthony

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – FIND Food Bank has officially completed construction on its new Food Security Campus, designed to expand its capacity and improve operations. Distributing over 20 million pounds of food each year, FIND’s original campus is over capacity.

The new facility offers relief, allowing for faster, more efficient food distribution and increased storage. This will be especially crucial during emergencies like natural disasters when food donations surge.

While the grand opening is set for September 26th, News Channel 3 is giving you an exclusive first look inside.

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Replacing, relocating railroad crossing part of $12.7 million Twin Bridges project starting soon in Colorado Springs

KRDO on August 29, 2025

Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — An unusually designed but frequently used train crossing just south of downtown will close during the next year and be replaced by a new crossing a mile farther east.

The crossing is located at the intersection of Las Vegas and Royer Streets, situated atop a small but steep hill that can cause low-profile vehicles to become stuck, thereby interrupting train schedules and posing a traffic safety risk.

A study by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) determined that the crossing has a nonstandard design and has had 25 non-fatal vehicle/train collisions since 1975.

Officials said that the project, called the Twin Bridges Project, begins next month.

The first step is building an access road along Las Vegas, a mile east of the existing crossing and under the MLK Bypass on US 24, that will connect to nearby Hancock Avenue and be the location for a new crossing.

The existing crossing will be closed after that construction; Royer north of the tracks will become a cul-de-sac.

Officials said that the affected segment of Las Vegas will close for two weeks at the end of the project.

One lane of traffic in each direction will remain during most of the project, except during the first phase, when there will be one lane closed and another with alternating traffic.

“We’re going to be doing a new at-grade railroad crossing, with a lot of safety features for pedestrians and bikes to be able to make that traverse over the railroad,” said Gail Sturdivant, the city’s deputy public works director.

Drivers told KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior that the existing crossing has existed for as long as they can remember, but no one seems to know when it was actually built.

The crossing is a popular shortcut for drivers traveling between neighborhoods east of downtown, heading to Interstate 25, Security-Widefield, and Fountain.

Sales tax revenue from the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority is financing the $12.7 million project.

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Overturned semi on I-10 in Banning blocks eastbound lanes, causes traffic delays

KESQ on August 29, 2025

Isaiah Mora

UPDATE 8/29/2025: Traffic was delayed on the eastbound I-10 in Banning near the 8th Street exit on Friday morning after a semi truck overturned and caught fire.

The California Highway Patrol reports the crash happened just before 2:30 a.m. and a SIG Alert was issued for the temporary shut down of all eastbound lanes. Traffic was diverted off the freeway at 8th Street for a couple of hours until emergency personnel were able to open up the #3 and #4 lanes. As of 11:00 a.m., all eastbound lanes were open.

CHP say they are investigating what caused the truck in the solo crash to be overturned and become disabled across all lanes. They add that while the truck partially burned, investigators determined the scene was not a hazmat.

The driver of the truck, a 36-year-old San Bernardino man, was not injured. Authorities do not believe alcohol or drugs to have been a factor in the crash.

BANNING, Calif. (KESQ) – A SIG Alert is in place on interstate 10 for an overturned semi truck that caught fire in Banning. According to California Highway Patrol’s incident page, the accident happened around 2:30 Friday morning.

The alert was issued on the freeway near 8th Street and Lincoln Street. All eastbound traffic is being diverted off 8th Street and residents can expect heavy delays through the pass. Crews are working to get the road back open by 7 in the morning.

News Channel 3 has reached out to authorities for more information. Stay with us for the latest.

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