Author: News-Press NOW

Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs appear to be mere days away from taking a big step toward a move across the state line, and eventually leaving their longtime home at Arrowhead Stadium in Missouri for a new and likely covered stadium in Kansas.

With a year-end deadline approaching, the Legislative Coordinating Council is scheduled to meet Monday in Topeka, Kansas, where it will consider approving STAR bonds that would fund up to 70% of a stadium project to help lure the NFL franchise to the state.

The Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals have played for more than 50 years in side-by-side stadiums in Jackson County, Missouri. But those leases are due to expire in January 2031, and the two franchises have been working for years on their future plans.

Voters in Jackson County soundly defeated a local sales tax extension last year that would have helped to finance an $800 million renovation of Arrowhead and a $2 billion ballpark district for the Royals in downtown Kansas City. Since then, the Chiefs and Royals have pursued separate plans, though momentum appears to be growing behind both of them moving to Kansas.

The likely destination for the Chiefs is The Legends, a regional shopping mall and commercial area in Kansas City, Kansas. There is plenty of land available for a stadium and mixed-use commercial district, but it also has anchors in place, such as Kansas Speedway, the Hollywood Casino and Children’s Mercy Park, the home of Major League Soccer club Sporting Kansas City.

The location is also ideal because it stands at the crossroads of Interstates 70 and 435, allowing for relatively easy traffic flow.

“The state of Kansas is in active discussions with the Kansas City Chiefs about the prospects of building a new stadium and other facilities in Kansas,” the Kansas Department of Commerce said in a statement. “No final agreement has been reached, but this would be a massive economic win for Kansas and benefit Kansans for generations to come. We are aggressively pursuing this opportunity.”

It would also be a massive loss for Missouri, which lost the St. Louis Rams to Los Angeles a decade ago, and Gov. Mike Kehoe. He had backed a special legislative session in June to authorize bonds covering up to 50% of the cost of new or renovated stadiums, plus up to $50 million of tax credits for each stadium and unspecified aid from local governments.

Missouri’s move came after Kansas lawmakers had approved their own bond package in an attempt to land the two franchises.

Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt has long said that his preference would be to renovated Arrowhead Stadium, which was beloved by his father and team founder, the late Lamar Hunt. But by building an enclosed facility, the Chiefs would have access to revenue streams not available at Arrowhead Stadium, such as new luxury seating and the ability to host year-round sporting events.

That could mean fulfilling another dream of Lamar Hunt: hosting a Super Bowl.

While the Royals will not be discussed during the LCC meeting Monday, that doesn’t mean they couldn’t be moving across the state line as well. There is a groundswell of support for the team to move to the suburb of Overland Park, Kansas, and a tract of land known as the Aspiria Campus that once served as the headquarters for Sprint and now houses the offices of several companies.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, who has been working to keep both of the professional sports franchises on the Missouri side of the state line, issued a statement Thursday night saying that the city doesn’t negotiate in public.

“As the city and our Missouri partners continue discussions with our long-term partners at the Chiefs and the Royals,” the statement read, “we remain steadfast in working toward an arrangement in the best interest of our community and the greatest success of our teams on and off the field.”

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Patrick Holleron

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — A partnership with Santa Claus, Christmas elves and the Grinch resulted in a massive success for local families and law enforcement.

Spreading the Christmas cheer, the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department featured deputies and staff dressed as classic holiday characters on Thursday singing carols as they delivered gifts for the annual AFL-CIO Adopt-A-Family Program. Four families and three seniors were adopted and selected by the department to receive gifts such as kids toys and household essentials.

One lucky family who was selected was St. Joseph resident Crystal Smith, who expressed gratitude and appreciation for members of the community, organizations and law enforcement who helped her family.

Deputies and staff with the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department hand out presents as part of AFL-CIO’s Adopt-A-Family program on Thursday in St. Joseph.

“It is the biggest blessing we could ask for. When it comes to Christmas this year, with my health conditions, my husband being the only one working and having two kids, we wouldn’t have applied much of anything,” Smith said. “Maybe we would have enough to spend $50 each between my two children. I hoped my kids could each get maybe three or four gifts, that would have been perfect for us. This is more than I could have dreamed of. Even little things like laundry soap is big because we don’t have it to wash laundry. I don’t know how else to put it, I’m just very thankful.”

The Adopt-A-Family program has long been a significant tradition for the department and its community outreach efforts. Officers come during their off days to deliver gifts, dress up in holiday clothing and hold gatherings with community members, including events like hot dog eating competitions.

“We love going out and helping folks that need help at Christmas,” Sheriff Bill Puett said. “The hot dog eating contest, paying for your jeans on Friday, it’s different things throughout the year to help people in need. You can see today all the kids and families we’re so excited to interact with the Grinch and Santa. The members of the Sheriff’s Office love doing this.”

Anyone still interested in participating in the Adopt-A-Family program before Christmas can contact the organization at 816-364-1131 or find more information on their Facebook page.

Members of the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department pose for a group photo before handing out gifts from AFL-CIO’s Adopt-A-Family program on Thursday in St. Joseph.

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Carter Ostermiller

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) — A St. Joseph resident was able to bring home $10K shortly after the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce announced its winning Shop St. Joe numbers.

The shopping program began on Nov. 12 and had a grand prize worth of $10,000 as well as a $2,500 prize, with other small business prizes given out from select merchants.

Almost immediately after the numbers were announced, participants called to claim their prizes.

Grand Prize Winner Jackie Miller got the winning ticket from Narrative Home & Boutique while shopping on a Sunday. 

Miller found out in her living room that she had the winning ticket number: 1956933, and couldn’t believe she won.

“Oh, all-out happy dance in my living room. And just very excited. I couldn’t believe it,” said Miller.

Miller felt really sentimental about the program due to her parents owning a small business.

The longtime resident plans to give back to a local charity and to her kids for Christmas with the money she won.

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Prajukta Ghosh

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV)– The St. Joseph School District recently came together with committee members to review the mid-year data report, using the opportunity not only to examine student progress but also to celebrate the dedication and hard work of educators. 

Assistant Superintendent of Academics and Education Services, Stacia Studer, said, while the data reflects positive progress, it also highlights several areas where growth opportunities remain.

“It is important to have coaching conversations at the next level for both our students and teachers here in the district,” Studer added.  

Studer said having meaningful coaching conversations at the next level is essential for supporting both students and teachers across the district. 

“I am so proud of the work they are doing in their classes. The student agency piece is such an important key piece, including student conversations so they know how they are doing in these assessments,” Studer said.  

The committee met on Thursday, Dec. 18, to take a deeper and more comprehensive look at student outcome data, particularly from predictive assessments from across the district.

These assessments play a critical role in helping educators gauge progress and determine whether classroom proficiency goals are being met. 

Studer said empowering students to take ownership of their learning allows them to set personal academic goals and hold themselves to high standards.  

She emphasized the district’s commitment to reaching the 45% goal and said the team is prepared to work harder than ever to achieve it. 

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Patrick Holleron

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — A local robotics program is giving kids the chance to explore their creativity and develop valuable skills in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The St. Joe Circuit Breakers are bringing robotics and engineering to the forefront with hands-on experience designing, building and programming advanced technology.

The club is made up of kids who are both homeschooled and those attending public schools in the St. Joseph area. Younger students up to 6th grade can participate in Lego-based challenges while older participants in grades 7 through 12 participate in FIRST Robotics Competitions.

Robotics club member Kendrick Conrad takes a wheel off the robot during a class on Tuesday in St. Joseph.

“With competitions, they’re a bit stressful because we have to make sure our robot is working properly,” club member Kendrick Conard said. “During competitions, if something breaks we usually have a back part ready and if we don’t, we find a way to get around it.”

Students are often tasked with building highly-sophisticated robots capable of autonomously carrying out tasks like launching a ball, picking up an object or moving an item to another location.

The tasks require students to develop unique and valuable roles as they strengthen teamwork and learn how to problem solve in real-time, particularly if something on the robot must be changed or altered. The St. Joe Circuit Breakers first got their start in 2017, back when few if any robotics clubs existed in the city.

Jeff Cox, a local parent and systems architect, opted to start the club after noticing a growing interest in robotics from his son and other kids in the area.

Over time, Cox discovered how rewarding it was to help younger generations find their passion in robotics and engineering-based activities, highly-coveted skills that can help them in their long-term futures.

A high-tech robot created by members of the St. Joseph Circuit Breakers is shown on Tuesday in St. Joseph.

“The club started out as an activity. I was doing it for my kids. I’ve discovered it’s a lot of fun to watch the moments when kids maybe have an interest, but they don’t really understand it,” Cox said. “One of the things FIRST Robotics works hard at is helping kids take basic engineering principles, design principles, electrical principles and understand them. Not just in an academic sense, but how it plays out in a real world scenario. These kids are going to go on to college someday with a step up on their peers because they will have not only learned about this in the classroom, but in real life.”

The club has grown considerably since its founding, with the program now seeing its second iteration of kids coming through successfully.

One of the current members of the club is Jeff’s daughter Naomi, a junior in high school. She credits her interest in robotics to watching her dad and brother compete in competitions in her youth.

“I was actually too young to participate when the club initially started. For one year I would just watch everything they (brother and dad) did,” Naomi said. “There were even showcases where they would present on stage and I would stay behind to work the robot and tell people about it. Now being able to be in competitions with my dad is really cool because we’ll go home after practices and talk about the problems and what we can do to make the club better.”

Members of the St. Joe Circuit Breakers practicing with the robot built for FIRST Robotics Competitions.

With several club members set to graduate high school next year, many have great appreciation for the opportunities the St. Joe Circuit Breakers have provided as they prepare to embark on their college careers.

“A lot of the tasks involve identifying what the problem is, because nine times out of ten, it’s easy to look at a problem and think, ‘Oh we’re just missing X, Y, and Z,'” club member and 12th grade student Mary Rose said. “But a lot of the time it’s either we have it and we’re just misidentifying the problem or we have something very similar that we can adjust very slightly. These are skills I will carry with me as I had to college next Fall. I’m probably going into a related field where they will apply.”

The St. Joe Circuit Breakers meet every Tuesday and Friday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. More information on the club can be found by visiting their Facebook page.

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Carter Ostermiller

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) — St. Joseph community members were able to shop for Christmas gifts for their families during the Salvation Army’s Toy Shop Distribution Days.

The distribution days took place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Dec. 17 and Dec. 18 at 602 Messanie St. The program gives back to the local St. Joseph community with unwrapped gifts for Christmas.

Inside the Salvation Army’s gymnasium was a room filled with toys and clothes.

Social Services Director Emily Bravo has been a part of the program for three years and said Distribution Day is one of her favorite programs to be involved in. 

“We love seeing, you know, families come in and get to choose what they want for their children, and get excited about seeing certain toys or, you know, different clothes or shoes they want to get,” said Bravo.

According to Bravo, around 200 to 250 toys have been given out through the program in 2025, which have helped 40 families this Christmas season.

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Danielle Bailey

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — United Way Success By 6 is inviting educators and early care providers to a training session focused on supporting and understanding autistic learners.

The program, “Seeing Strength, Shaping Supports: Autism-Informed Teaching for Every Learner,” held from 8 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 24, at Wyatt Park Christian Church Fellowship Hall, is intended for early care and education providers, but is open to any interested community members.

A United Way banner hangs on a wall inside the United Way of Greater St. Joseph’s office.

For more information and to register, visit stjosephunitedway.org/earlyeducators or call United Way of Greater St. Joseph at 816-364-2381. Community Action Partnership Head Start and Wyatt Park Christian Church helped make the event possible.

United Way Success By 6 is a community-based movement of public and private partners includingbusiness, government, labor, education, child care and parents working together to prepare childrento be successful learners when they begin kindergarten.

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TaMya Bracy

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) — Second Harvest provided food to the community for the Holidays through its annual Holiday Express program Thursday morning.

The food provided chicken, squash, onions, eggs, potatoes and pork loin, and will serve approximately 400 people through the program.

Samantha Davis, a St. Joseph School District college and career readiness and family services coordinator, said the event is a great opportunity to give back to the community.

“So all families ensure that they have proper nutrition and all their services over break,” Davis said.

Davis said there’s a lot of uncertainty with families now about where their next meal will come from.

“Just a lot of people needing that extra assistance, especially during the holidays with lots of things going on,” she said. “It just feels really good that we could partner with Second Harvest to kinda help some of those people who are just uncertain where their next meal will come from.”

Davis said she looks forward to this event every year.

“Just an opportunity to give back to St. Joseph and just help those families who are maybe having those food insecurities, and to help them provide a happy holiday,” she said. “I’m just so thankful for Second Harvest, their continued partnership with the community.”

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Cameron Montemayor

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Evergy crews worked throughout the afternoon Thursday to restore power for thousands of residents impacted by outages, likely a result of strong wind gusts impacting the region.

At one point Thursday afternoon, a little more than 2,700 customers in the St. Joseph area were without power according to an outage map from Evergy.

Four outages were initially listed around 1:30 p.m. Thursday, cutting power for approximately 2,767 customers across large areas near Downtown, Frederick Avenue, U.S. 59 Highway and U.S. 36 Highway, among others areas.

By 2 p.m., around 750 customers were without power. The number would eventually fall to less than 25 by 2:30 p.m. and fewer than five by 6 p.m. that evening.

Outages were likely the result of strong wind gusts impacting the area and large parts of the United States. In states like Colorado and Washington, hurricane force wind gusts around 120 mph were reported according to national media outlets.

A wind advisory was in effect until 9 p.m. Thursday for St. Joseph and portions of east central and northeast Kansas and north, central, northwest and west central Missouri, bringing wind gusts up to 50 mph.

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Danielle Bailey

OSBORN, Mo. — The Shatto family is bringing the North Pole to Missouri as part of an old-fashioned Holiday Bash this Saturday.

Guests can enjoy intimate farm tours, music and entertainment, ice cream drinks, egg nogs and holiday activities for all ages this weekend.

The event is free and open to the public. It will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Shatto Farm, 9406 North Highway 33 in Osborn, Missouri.

Photo opportunities with calves or a vintage truck will be available as well. Guests also have the chance to shop for unique gifts from local makers and farms.

Visitors can earn free gifts with qualifying purchases (while supplies last), as well as door prize entries. One day only pricing will also apply to products.

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