Author: News-Press NOW

Abigail McCluskey

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — This week marks the beginning of Camp Invention, hosted by the Mosaic Life Care Foundation at emPowerU.

Children from Kindergarten through 6th grade have come together to explore exciting STEM-based curriculum in a fun and engaging environment.

The National Inventors Hall of Fame partners with organizations across the United States to bring programs like Camp Invention to local communities.

With over 1,500 camps held nationwide, the organization is dedicated to honoring great inventors, promoting creativity and advancing a spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Camp Invention provides students with the opportunity to imagine, experiment and build through a variety of hands-on projects and collaborative activities.

Devron Brower, the director of emPowerU programs, said, “This camp will highlight the ability to be creative, and for students to dream and create things they never thought.”

Each day is filled with dynamic STEM adventures that keep kids active, engaged and inspired to explore the world of science and technology.

Joel, a future third grader, expressed excitement about learning how to build a claw for a vending machine.

“I love it- I’m going to go to the purple room…,” said Joel.

Each colored room at emPowerU is broken up into different hands-on activities.

Joel expressed excitement for returning to camp next year.

The Mosaic Life Care Foundation and emPowerU plan on holding this event again next year. Even though it is too late to sign up for this week’s camp, emPowerU is hosting another STEM-based camp in the weeks ahead.

To register for future camps visit https://www.mlcfoundation.com/steamcamps/

Click here to follow the original article.

Patrick Holleron

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — A longtime establishment in St. Joseph celebrated its 10-year anniversary on Tuesday.

The Den, a modern speakeasy specializing in hand-crafted cocktails and mocktails, marked its anniversary with a ribbon cutting. It started out as “the Tiger Den” before being rebranded.

“We took what was already a really great concept and a business that had already been built,” Owner Adrienne Waggoner said. “It had a core following and group, we just kind of kept expanding on it.”

The Den is located at 519 Felix Street

Click here to follow the original article.

News-Press NOW

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The City of St. Joseph announced on its social media that the Noyes Complex Building will be closed temporarily for two weeks, starting Tuesday.

The closure is due to the installation of the new LED lighting at the tennis horseshoe courts, where electrical service to the building will need to be disconnected and realigned for the upgrade project.

Once the service is restored, the building will be available for public use.

However, the tennis courts can still be used during daylight hours while construction is being done.

Click here to follow the original article.

News-Press NOW

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — St. Joseph Firefighters battled a large structure fire that engulfed part of an apartment complex early Tuesday morning on South Leonard Road.

A large force of firefighters were seen combating a fire at the Meadows Apartments at 2216 S. Leonard Road, off Pickett Road. A large group of St. Joseph Police Officers were also on scene to assist.

News-Press NOW observed a large number of residents evacuating from the fire, which engulfed a significant part of the building and completely destroyed a roof and several apartments despite early morning storms.

At one point, flames were high enough to be seen from U.S. Highway 36. Multiple surrounding apartments were also damaged due to the flames.

Acting Battalion Chief Skyler White says no one was injured or trapped, but that about six apartments are out of commission and the Red Cross responded to take care of about 20 people.

He added that firefighters got the fire under control in just under three hours, by about 6 a.m. Tuesday.

News-Press NOW will provide more updates as they become available.

Click here to follow the original article.

News-Press NOW

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The traffic lights at the intersection of King Hill and Lake Avenues are not working, according to a Nixle alert.

The St. Joseph Police Department says to treat the intersection as a four-way stop until the lights are fixed.

News-Press NOW will monitor the situation for updates.

Click here to follow the original article.

Kirsten Stokes

ST. JOSEPH, MO (News-Press NOW) — A native of St. Joseph and alumnus of Central High School, has emerged as a rising force behind the lens, recently serving as director of photography on the new music video “YODA” by Tech N9ne featuring Lil Wayne.

Jackson Montemayor, who is related to News-Press NOW’s Cameron Montemayor, shares his experience working on set with the two famed rappers.

“It was a great experience and a great reminder that I’m doing the right thing,” said Montemayor.

His cinematography journey started when he was young, shooting videos with his family through VHS. He would then graduate from Central High School, where he filmed video announcements and found a passion for editing videos as well.

“I just noticed that I really enjoyed doing it, but quite honestly, I didn’t think of it as like a viable career choice at the time. Hollywood and filmmaking just seemed so far away,” Montemayor said.

“YODA,” a standout from Tech N9ne’s latest album 5816 Forest, dropped June 26, featuring Lil Wayne, and quickly gained attention online for its “intergalactic” shots.

Montemayor recalls the experience working with Lil Wayne and Tech N9ne as “collaborative and unique”.

The video’s sci‑fi theme is complete with the song’s playful lyricism as Tech N9ne raps in Yoda‑styled structure and Lil Wayne delivers a signature hook about being “green like Yoda.” 

“They’re both incredible artists,” Montemayor said. “They both work very differently, but in really impressive ways. Tech N9ne really focuses on his lyricism. He really takes time to write all of his lyrics, and it comes through in the way that his writings come about. Whereas, Lil Wayne really just works on an instinct and he has such a knack for that and I really got to see that on set.”

In an interview, Montemayor broke down each intergalactic shot and his reason behind every choice.

“They crash land and so the idea is that they’re trying to get this ship back working again,” Montemayor said. “The way that they get this ship working again is they have to work out their lyrics properly.”

With 2.3 million views in 10 days on YouTube, Montemayor is eager to tell more young cinematographers in the community to get in where they can, hoping to inspire a new wave of storytellers from his hometown.

“The big thing is just getting involved in the community, finding where the filmmaking is happening,” Montemayor said. “There are different filmmaking Facebook groups to get involved with and learning and picking people’s brains.”

As he prepares for his next projects, Montemayor said the biggest takeaway is working with each artist individually and allowing their craft to shine through in the cinematography.

“As long as you can convey that to people who you want to work with, that you’re hardworking and that you’re passionate, they’re going to give you an opportunity and they’re going to teach you and you’re going to learn a lot that way.”

Montemayor’s journey can be followed on his Instagram @jack.the.dp or online at jmontemayor.com.

Click here to follow the original article.

NPG Content Share

var cachebuster = Math.round(new Date().getTime() / 1000); var player = new Playerjs({id:”player_kyma”, file:”https://abc17news.b-cdn.net/abc17news.com/2023/08/MOTF1-photo-2-scaled.jpg”, poster:”https://abc17news.b-cdn.net/abc17news.com/2023/08/MOTF1-photo-2-scaled.jpg”, label:”Missouri Task Force 1 to head to Texas to assist with water rescues” , vast_replace:{“[wpcategory]”:”spanish”,”[wprand]”:””+cachebuster+””}});

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Missouri Task Force 1 has been activated by FEMA to assist in rescue efforts in Texas, according to a press release from the Boone County Fire Protection District.

At least 95 people have been killed after catastrophic flooding has occurred in Texas’ Guadalupe River, according to reporting from CNN. Task Force 1 will focus on water rescue operations and human remains detection, the release says.

A 52-person team will leave BCFPD’s headquarters in Columbia at 6:30 p.m. Monday and will head to Kerr County, Texas, the release says.

“While the final destination has not yet been confirmed, the team will support search and rescue operations in response to the historic flooding affecting the region,” the release says.

Colorado Task Force 1 will join Missouri’s task force on Tuesday. The deployment is expected to last up to 14 days.

Check back for updates.

Click here to follow the original article.

Click here to follow the original article.

News-Press NOW

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Westbound Route U to U.S. Route 59 in St. Joseph will be closed beginning Tuesday, July 8, for watermain repairs.

The road will be closed starting at 7 a.m. Tuesday and the repairs are expected to be completed by midday on Wednesday, July 9.

Sprague Excavating, working with the Missouri Department of Transportation, will be detouring traffic north onto Packers Avenue and then east on Illinois Avenue, back to U.S. Route 59. Westbound traffic will be unaffected.

To get more information about the project and work zone areas, call 888-ASK-MODOT or visit www.modot.org/northwest.

Click here to follow the original article.

News-Press NOW

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Buchanan County will celebrate the opening of its new Downtown EMS facility with a ribbon-cutting at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, July 11, at its new site.

The site, located at 701 S. 7th St., features enhanced safety measures, including rapid closing doors, secure surveillance, and storm rooms. It can also house three ambulances, instead of two, which is designed to meet growing in-city demand.

The facility also provides space for EMS staff training and collaboration with first responders nearby.

Construction began in late 2024 for the $1.5 million station designed to reduce response times and improve crew readiness Downtown.

Click here to follow the original article.