Author: News-Press NOW

News-Press NOW

Two people were injured in a two-car Daviess County crash Wednesday.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports the crash occurred around 12:21 p.m. on Missouri Route 6, just east of Missouri Route 190 and north of Jamesport.

A 45-year-old Trenton, Missouri man rear-ended a 62-year-old Gallatin, Missouri woman stopped in traffic attempting to turn.

An ambulance took the Trenton man to Mosaic Life Care for serious injuries.

The Gallatin woman was taken by ambulance to Cameron Regional Medical Center for moderate injuries.

Both drivers had seat belts on, according to the crash report.

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News-Press NOW

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The Missouri State Highway Patrol released preliminary reports from the 2025 Memorial Day weekend counting period.

The counting period began from 6 p.m. on Friday, May 23 and went through 11:59 p.m. on Monday, May 26.

Three people died in traffic crashes during the counting period. Two of the fatalities occurred on Saturday, May 24 and the third one occurred on Monday, May 26.

MSHP also recorded 182 traffic crashes, 83 injuries and 78 driving while intoxicated arrests- on top of the three fatalities.

In terms of boating statistics, MSHP only recorded three crashes and no injuries, fatalities, drownings or boating while intoxicated arrests.

During the 2024 counting period, the Patrol investigated 275 traffic crashes involving seven fatalities and 161 injuries. Also over the 2024 counting period, Marine Operations troopers investigated seven boating crashes, which included no fatalities and seven injuries. Troopers made 128 DWI arrests and six BWI arrests. No one drowned during the 2024 Memorial Day holiday.

MSHP said statistics in these reports are still subject to change if late deaths occur, other departments report crashes or incidents, a fatality is determined to be a drowning or if a fatality is determined to be a medical condition following the release of the preliminary report.

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Chris Fortune

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Local officials are working to tackle blight in St. Joseph by addressing abandoned and condemned homes.

City of St. Joseph leaders met with the Buchanan County Commission in late April to discuss derelict homes and have explored ideas to handle the issue. A special tax bill is still in the works but would go further to penalize property owners who don’t adhere to code enforcement.

“If we come out as a city and have to notice you for that violation, and you failed to react to that notice and don’t cure the violation, then the city will come out and perform an abatement on your property,” Planning & Community Development Director Clint Thompson said.

Property maintenance inspectors enforce code violations on private property in categories such as weed growth, trash and dangerous buildings.

“We will then bill you after that abatement is performed, and then if you do not pay that fee for that service, then we place what we call a special assessment on your property,” Thompson said.

The City of St. Joseph is working with Buchanan County to have the special tax bill certified to the county at the end of August each year.

“That will give the county enough time to be able to place that special tax assessment on the individual property,” Thompson said. “And then when you pay your property taxes, that amount will be due at such time.”

Thompson said the county and city are working together to improve the community appearance of St. Joseph. The city recently finished a community survey, and officials found that residents felt they could do a better job at code enforcement.

“This is one way, I think, that we can improve the effectiveness of our code enforcement department and see the area and some blighted areas improve because of this compliance mechanism,” he said.

Both the county and city will work to identify and certify the costs for each individual property with the code violations.

“The city and county partner on a lot of different efforts,” Thompson said. “This was a way that we thought we could move the needle and ensure that the two entities are working together.”

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News-Press NOW

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — A St. Joseph man accused of rape had his charges upgraded by the Buchanan County Prosecuting Attorney.

Aaron Dowis was charged with second-degree rape earlier this year. In December, 2024, Dowis allegedly took a job interview candidate to an unoccupied office at Mosaic Regional Medical Center and sexually assaulted her.

Dowis was charged with the second-degree rape or attempted rape. He was released on a $25,000 cash bond.

After a series of preliminary hearings were delayed and rescheduled, the charges were upgraded to first-degree rape due to the use of forcible compulsion.

No arraignment or hearings have been scheduled on the upgraded charges.

With the enhanced charges and under RSMo Section 566.030, Dowis now faces felony charges of life imprisonment or over five years in prison.

Before the upgraded charges, Dowis had a preliminary hearing scheduled at 11 a.m. on Friday, May 30.

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News-Press NOW

One person is dead, and two are seriously injured after a crash in Country Club, Missouri Tuesday.

According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report, the crash occurred around 3:36 p.m. on Business Loop 29, or U.S. 59 Highway, at John Glenn Road in Country Club.

A 37-year-old St. Joseph woman driving south with a six-year-old passenger from the same town hit a northbound vehicle driven by a 35-year-old St. Joseph man head-on.

The northbound driver wasn’t wearing a seat belt and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The southbound driver and passenger had seat belts on and were taken to Mosaic Life Care by ambulance for serious injuries, according to the crash report.

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Chris Fortune

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Governor Mike Kehoe announced a special session for next week with goals to help families affected by recent severe weather and encourage economic development.

The General Assembly will meet at noon on Monday, June 2 to review Governor Kehoe’s agenda. These plans include expanding access to emergency aid and legislation to help retain major sports teams in Missouri.

“We are asking the General Assembly to consider legislation establishing the income tax deduction for the insurance policy deductible incurred by homeowners and renters,” Kehoe said in a Tuesday press conference.

Kehoe said the financial relief would be capped at $5,000 per disaster, per household, each calendar year.

St. Joseph resident Mark Crabill says it’s important to have more access to disaster aid. He remembers working as an insurance agent when nearby Elwood, Kansas, flooded in the early 1990s.

“When something like that hits, we definitely need something above and beyond the normal insurance policy,” he said. “We need as much assistance as we can (for) something of that magnitude.”

In the special session, Kehoe is also requesting the General Assembly take steps to retain the Royals and Chiefs in Missouri.

Jackson County voters rejected the stadium sales tax for the Royals and Chiefs in April 2024, allowing the state of Kansas to develop its own incentives to entice both teams to cross the state line.

“I hope that we retain the Chiefs and we retain the Royals, and hopefully they can expand the stadium—do what they need to do to keep it here in Missouri,” St. Joseph resident Sheila Murray said.

Kehoe is asking the General Assembly to consider legislation aimed at providing economic development incentives for each team.

“The Chiefs (and Royals) moving out of Missouri would be disastrous,” Murray said. “We all know they are a Missouri team, both of them, and we want them to stay here.”

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Crystal Olney

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The St. Joseph City Council is contemplating a plan that would keep increases to sewer rates at a modest level for the next several years.

This move comes as state and federal regulations force upgrades to an aging system. At a work session on Tuesday, councilmembers were presented with the findings of a sewer rate study conducted by Burns & McDonnell.

The two-year plan proposal being weighed by officials would see the city’s sewer bills go up by 3% annually, mid-year, in 2025 and 2026. Under the proposal, residents would see an average bill increase of $1.85 monthly in 2025 and $1.94 in 2026.

The proposed plan is designed to let customers know what future costs to expect as St. Joseph continues the process of keeping its combined sewer system, 60% of which was installed before 1920, in compliance with modern regulations. Sewer rates increased by 4% in 2024, which was the first hike since 2017.

The city council will hold a sewer rate hearing on Monday, June 9, at its meeting. A vote on the new rate structure could come on Monday, June 23. If approved by the council, the 3% sewer rate increase would go into effect on July 1 bills.

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News-Press NOW

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The St. Joseph Police Department responded to a reported shooting at 11:15 p.m. on Saturday, May 24 at Dollar General, located at 3323 St. Joseph Ave.

Officers had later determined the shooting had occurred just north of 3207 Normandy St. upon arrival.

A female victim was located inside a vehicle at the intersection of Randolph Street and St. Joseph Avenue, suffering from a gunshot wound to her left foot. She was transported to Mosaic Life Care for treatment.

Surveillance footage obtained from a nearby residence showed a white SUV departing the area northbound.

As the SUV traveled north, a separate passenger vehicle was observed traveling south from Randolph Street. When the two vehicles passed each other, an occupant of the southbound vehicle discharged a firearm, striking then occupants of the SUV.

This incident remains under investigation by the SJPD. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Tips Hotline at (816) 238-TIPS.

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Jenna Wilson

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) – The Rolling Hills Library is giving residents the opportunity to add their signatures to a steel beam that will be part of the new building set to open next spring.

“It’s a 17-foot steel beam, and it is our last support beam that’s going to go into place,” said Kelly Morris, Rolling Hills Belt Branch Manager. “We have it out here in the parking lot today where patrons can come and sign it.”

Unable to hold an official groundbreaking ceremony, the library came up with an alternative way to involve the community in the progress of the new building.

“We weren’t able to have any type of official groundbreaking ceremony because the street was new and overall it was difficult to access the site,” Morris said. “So we thought instead of that, this would be a way to have the community take part in our construction in a more accessible way.”

Staff said they are especially looking forward to having an entire library located on a single floor, surrounded by green space.

“It’s going to be fantastic,” Morris added.

Residents have the rest of the day Tuesday, May 27, to sign the support beam before it is moved on-site and lowered into place tomorrow.

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News-Press NOW

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Mosaic Life Care’s Cancer Care will celebrate life with cancer survivors and their loved ones during two different Cancer Survivor Day events.

The first event will take place in St. Joseph, where various members of the community can lace up for a 5K run/walk to honor survivors. All paces, ages and furry friends are welcome.

The 5K will take place at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 31 at Mosaic Cancer Care, located at 902 N. Riverside Rd.

The second event will take place in Maryville, where attendees will visit the Mosaic Medical Center’s Healing Garden for refreshments, fellowship and to share inspirational messages in a special journal to be shared with other cancer survivors. Support groups will also be on hand.

Cancer Survivor Day will start at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, June 2 at Mosaic’s Medical Center’s Healing Garden in Maryville, located at 2016 S. Main St.

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