Author: News-Press NOW

News-Press NOW

By Darren Doyle

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) — An Andrew County native said he expects his veterinary practice to open near the Shoppes at North Village early next year.

After growing up around the profession and getting educated in Veterinary Medicine, Austin Haeker is ready to take on a practice of his own.

Haeker attended Savannah High School and earned degrees from Kansas State University and the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine.

“I started as a kennel boy… worked my way up to assisting with surgeries and things, and seeing, helping with rooms. (Since college), I have been working for the past year or so at Taylor Animal Hospital in Parkville…Smithville. Now I’m ready to come back up and open up a practice,” said Dr. Haeker. 

Haeker intends to provide a regularly scheduled clinic for dogs, cats and other small animals. He also plans to offer 24-hour on-call emergency services to pet owners in the Northwest Missouri area. 

The clinic is located at 5423 North Pointe Drive in St. Joseph, behind the Shoppes at North Village. The clinic has been under construction since February.

“It seems to be the place that St. Joe’s is gravitating towards, right? All the new stuff’s going up there. We wanted to be somewhere convenient for people,” Haeker said. “Right off the interstate, people can find us pretty easily.”

Haeker said an open house is planned on Friday, Jan. 9. He said he expects to start taking new clients on Wednesday, Jan. 14. 

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Cameron Montemayor

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — One win stands between area teams like Mid-Buchanan, St. Joseph Christian and West Platte from a spot in the final four of the Missouri High School Football State Tournament.

Quarterfinal matchups are set to kick off across the state this Saturday at 1 p.m., including one in St. Joseph between 8-man District 5 champion St. Joseph Christian and undefeated District 6 champion Rock Port at St. Joseph Christian High School.

Mid-Buchanan, winners of back-to-back district titles, will take their undefeated record to Monroe City for a high-profile matchup with the Panthers, winners of 10 in a row.

The West Platte Blue Jays and Maryville Spoofhounds will hit the road for their quarterfinal games against Adrian and St. Michael the Archangel.

State championship games for all classes will be hosted in St. Joseph from Dec. 4 through Dec. 6 at Spratt Stadium.

8-Man State Quarterfinal Preview

Matchup: St. Joseph Christian (6-5) vs Rock Port (11-0)

Time: Nov. 22 at 1 p.m. at St. Joseph Christian High School, 5401 Gene Field Rd

Next: Winner faces Concordia (8-3) or Wellington-Napoleon (9-2)

Class 1 State Quarterfinal Preview

Matchup: West Platte (8-3) vs. Adrian (8-3)

Time: Nov. 22 at 1 p.m. at Adrian High School, 605 NE State Route 18

Next: Winner faces Thayer (10-1) or Tipton (10-1)

Class 2 State Quarterfinal Preview

Matchup: Mid-Buchanan (11-0) vs Monroe City (10-1)

Time: Nov. 22 at 1 p.m. at Monroe City High School, 401 Business Highway 36

Next: Winner faces St. Pius X (7-5) or Montgomery County (9-2)

Class 3 State Quarterfinal Preview

Matchup: Maryville (9-2) vs St. Michael the Archangel (9-3)

Time: Nov. 22 at 1 p.m. at Lee’s Summit North High School, 901 NE Douglas St.

Next: Winner faces Dexter (10-1) or Lift for Life (8-4)

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Patrick Holleron

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — As the days countdown to Thanksgiving, preparations are ramping up in support of those in need this holiday season.

United Way of Greater St. Joseph, with support from Mosaic Life Care, is entering Day 4 of its volunteer series titled “7 Days of Caring,” to help prepare meal kits prior to Thanksgiving.

Meal prep sessions have been ongoing this week and will continue with the goal of distributing 2,100 kits to families.

“The kits are going out the door right as we’re packing them. They will be delivered to agencies, schools, food pantries and to their clients before the Thanksgiving holiday,” United Way President Kylee Strough said. “We know once the holiday week hits, probably starting Wednesday and definitely by Thursday, it’s going to be hard to find the helpers. A lot of these places are going to be closed.”

“7 Days of Caring” will continue until Tuesday, Nov. 25 with three more volunteer opportunities. The large-scale effort was made possible thanks to a generous donation from Mosaic Life Care and the Mosaic Life Care Foundation.

Upcoming sessions:

Saturday, Nov. 22 from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Monday, Nov. 24 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Nov. 25 from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

While the nonprofit is boosting efforts to support the community in advance of Thanksgiving, volunteer events are already being planned out for the month of December and the Christmas season, a notable help for families adjusting to students being home for holiday break.

“I didn’t want to plan it too far in advance, because we wanted to make sure the agencies and schools felt it was useful to the households they work with,” Strough said. “The sense we’re getting is ‘Yes’ it’s helpful and appreciated. We especially are trying to ramp up efforts before we get into the big Christmas – New Year break, when kids are out of school for a couple weeks there’s extra mouths to feed in the homes.”

United Way is also scheduling a volunteer session to focus on assembling hygiene kits. The event is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 6 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the United Way Center located at 118 S 5th St.

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Patrick Holleron

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The quest for an NCAA Division ll championship will have to wait another year for Missouri Western soccer.

The No. 5 seed Griffons (12-2-7) fell to the No. 4 seed Washburn Ichabods (11-3-5) 2-0 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday in Mankato, Minnesota.

The Griffons were able to stifle the Ichabods until the 32-minute mark when freshman forward Kate Hinck scored off an assist from teammates Leah Henke and Grace Peterson, staking Washburn to a 1-0 lead.

The score would remain 1-0 until the 64th minute in the 2nd half, with Henke making it 2-0 on an assist from sophomore Sam Searcey.

The Griffons were unable to get in the scoring column despite multiple shots on goal, including two attempts from Rosemary Pujado, Kendall Knisley and Rachyl Benavides.

The loss ends an impressive season for the Griffons, who made their second consecutive NCAA Tournament and won their first MIAA Tournament Championship last Saturday against Central Oklahoma.

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Cameron Montemayor

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The Griffon’s run in the MIAA Volleyball Tournament ended with a heartbreaking loss in the opening round to Pittsburg State on Thursday.

No. 2-seed Griffons (21-7, 13-3 MIAA) were upset by No. 7-seed Pittsburg State (14-14, 6-10 MIAA) in a five-set thriller on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the MIAA Volleyball Tournament at Civic Arena.

Despite battling back to take a 2-1 set lead, and with a chance to advance in front of their home crowd, the Griffons were unable to put the Gorillas away in sets four and five as they roared back to advance to the semifinal round.

The Gorillas came out strong by winning a back-and-forth first set by a score 29-27, setting the tone for the entire match.

The Griffons were able to regain momentum by winning sets two and three comfortably by seven (25-18) and eight points (25-17) respectively.

A highly-competitive fourth set saw multiple lead changes. With both teams tied at 20 with an opportunity to pull away, the Gorillas would take four of the next five points to win 25-21.

The Griffons found themselves down 4-0 to begin the fifth and deciding set. After rattling off three straight points to cut the deficit to 6-3, the Gorillas took a commanding 14-8 lead and did not look back.

Thursday’s loss snapped a six-game winning streak against Pittsburg State, who now advances to the semifinal round against No. 3 Washburn on Friday at 5 p.m. at Civic Arena.

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Patrick Holleron

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — In the aftermath of Wednesday’s public hearing and special meeting on long-term consolidation plans for the school district, Plan 4BR will move one step closer to being solidified next Monday.

The plan will see Benton and Central remain in place as part of a two high school model. The plan would also create a four middle school model and possibly retire some of the elementary schools and learning centers.

The proposed middle school plan would include Spring Garden, Truman and Bode, while a fourth — Lafayette — will be converted into a middle school.

After considerable discussions and public input for multiple options, it’s a decision that board President LaTonya Williams said needed to be made.

“It’s an answer. Even if it’s an answer that you don’t like, it’s better than not having an answer at all,” Williams said. “I know it’s going to give a portion of the town relief and upset another portion of the town. At least everyone knows a path going forward. I cannot imagine our board changing its mind after this. It’s been coming for a while.”

Eugene Field, Pershing and Webster are are also being considered for retirements.

Throughout the night, supporters from both Benton and Lafayette made passionate pleas with school board members to keep their schools. This included students from both schools asking for a path to make Plan E — a three high school model — feasible in order to halt any school being retired.

“(When) I was thinking about how my school is going to be affected, it made me realize that every school and every person is going to be affected,” Gabryel Cunningham, a student at Benton, said. “Everyone is going to be affected by the changing of schools and accepting new people. It made me think of a natural disaster, like a tsunami, and we are all pebbles being moved around by waves.”

Despite many parents favoring a particular school, many understood the wide-ranging impacts either decision would have on a particular group of students.

One of those parents is Gabryel’s mother Lacey, who is experiencing this from multiple perspectives as a parent, resident and former teacher with the district.

She chose to attend Lafayette High School through open-enrollment and ended up finishing high school at Mid-Buchanan. She explained her ties to either school don’t outweigh wanting what’s best for her family.

“I try to look at it from multiple perspectives. From being a teacher, I understand the district (side). But also being a community member and a mom, what’s heavy on my heart is how it’s impacting my son,” Lacey said. “I also have two younger kids that will follow a feeder pattern to Central. Currently he’s (Gabryel) the one that’s going through the fight. I try to look at what’s important from all perspectives, but my mom heart is the heaviest. What is important to him and how it is impacting his life.”

The changing of schools will also impact the landscape of athletics. Despite more students coming into either Benton or Central, the number of roster spots is likely to remain the same.

“They might be in a larger school and have a larger variety of activities, but access to those activities for students is going to prove challenging,” said Jeff Leake, a parent of a Lafayette student. “If one of these plans goes through, my son will go from a school of close to 700 to a school of 1900. Before we change things for our children, we need to make sure that we have all our affairs in order.”

The board is expected to vote on a consolidation plan after discussing Plan 4BR at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 24 in the Troester Media Center located at 3401 Renick St.

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News-Press NOW

By Chris Roush News Director

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) — While Central High School is already in the highest Missouri State High School Activities Association classification for most sports, the move to a two high-school model will drastically change Benton’s classification.

If the St. Joseph School District’s Board of Education moves forward to vote and approve Plan 4BR—Benton and Central—on Monday, the sports and activities classifications will be significantly different.

District officials estimate that Central will house 1,914 students and Benton will have 1,070 students in the Plan 4BR plan. 

It’s very early in the enrollment process, but by taking 75% of each projected high school population, a rough estimate can be provided for 9th-11th-grade enrollment. 

For Benton, the rough estimate is 803 students in 9th-11th grades. As for Central, the projected 9th-11th enrollment is 1,436.

When it comes to Benton, here are the projected classifications for each sport using 2025-2026 fall enrollment breaks and 2024-2025 spring and winter breaks from MSHSAA:

Benton:

Football- Large Class 4

Cross Country- Mid-sized Class 4

Girls Golf- Mid-sized Class 3

Boys Soccer- Mid-sized Class 3

Softball- Large Class 4

Girls Tennis- Large Class 1

Volleyball- Large Class 4

Basketball- Mid-sized Class 5

Boys Wrestling- Mid-sized Class 3

Girls Wrestling- Large Class 1

Baseball- Mid-sized Class 5

Boys Golf- Mid-sized Class 4

Girls Soccer- Small Class 3

Boys Tennis- Small Class 2

Track and Field- Large Class 4

Boys Volleyball- Class 1

Music Activities- Large Class 4

Scholar Bowl- Large Class 5

Speech & Debate- Large Class 1

Theatre- Large Class 1

At Central, the Indians are already in the majority of the largest classes across high school sports and activities. With this projection of 1,436 students in 9th-11th grade, Central will definitely be one of the largest schools in each class.

Central:

Football- Large Class 6

Cross Country- Large Class 5

Girls Golf- Large Class 4

Boys Soccer- Large Class 4

Softball- Large Class 5

Swimming- Mid-Sized Class 2

Girls Tennis- Large Class 3

Volleyball- Large Class 5

Basketball- Large Class 6

Boys Wrestling- Large Class 4

Girls Wrestling- Large Class 2

Baseball- Large Class 6

Boys Golf- Large Class 5

Girls Soccer- Large Class 4

Boys Tennis- Large Class 3

Track and Field- Large Class 5

Boys Volleyball- Large Class 1

Music Activities- Large Class 5

Scholar Bowl- Large Class 6

Speech and Debate- Large Class 2

Theatre- Large Class 1

The SJSD School Board is scheduled to vote on Monday, Nov. 24, during its regular board meeting at 5:30 p.m.

At Wednesday night’s meeting, four board members said they plan to vote for Plan 4BR. Those members include Ronda Chesney, Jennifer Kerns, Kim Miller and Tom Richmond.

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News-Press NOW

By: Darren Doyle

ANDREW COUNTY, Mo. (KQTV) — With food scarcity on the rise for low-income families amid the effects of the Government shutdown, community pride is beaming as groups in the Andrew County area provide support for their citizens. 

A small building on the outskirts of Savannah serves as a home for a place that receives help from multiple area churches and is often a lifeline for those in need in the Andrew County Community. When the Government began its last shutdown, Pantry Director Earlene Deaton said their services saw 15 new clients sign up in October.

Deaton shared, the increase is a 200% jump from the usual month-to-month sign-ups. Currently, their ministries assist around 162 families, which can equal 454 individuals. 

Deaton said needs, such as certain meats, peanut butter and other items, are important now more than ever. Along with food, the ministries also provide clothes and other household items to Andrew County residents who qualify. 

“(Many don’t know Andrew County has a food pantry), maybe that’s the flip side of the bad in this snap situation and the government shut down, people have become more aware of our situation,” said Deaton. “We have gotten quite a few more donations than from people we have never heard of before, and there are some very, very generous people in the community.” 

One act of kindness came from a Savannah business, the Bunker Club. According to Andrew County Ministries, the popular golf bar and club spot on the square became a drop-off point for donations.

Deaton said Kodi Moore, a Bunker Club co-owner, dropped off around 330 pounds of food at the Ministerie’s pantry Thursday.

“The community that we do live in, which is a very giving community, has been very obvious the last few months,” Deaton shared. “We wouldn’t have enough to give out if we didn’t have those people and those churches. “

For Moore, a longtime Savannah resident, the Bunker Club is about giving back to the community that’s already given so much to them.

“That’s always been the drive of the Bunker Club, or the vision. Born and raised in Savannah, that was always kind of our hope to give back to our community,” Moore said. “(It’s) always been our dream as our wish for our legacy, to leave it better than the way we found it, and just in little ways like this, is just to leave our mark.”

The Andrew County Ministries Food Pantry is open from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Mondays, 10:00 a.m. to noon and 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Tuesdays, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Wednesdays, and 10:00 a.m. to noon on Fridays. 

The pantry can be found at 14375 County Road 367 in Savannah, Missouri, and can be reached at 816-432-8245 for donation opportunities or assistance. 

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Patrick Holleron

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — A local nonprofit will be sharing the stories of its Revolutionary War ancestors in tandem with a new PBS documentary series on the American Revolution.

The history of the Revolutionary War will be on full display as part of a 6-part, 12-hour documentary series on PBS directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt, titled “The American Revolution.”

The series tells the story of the thirteen American colonies uniting in rebellion to win an eight-year war to secure their independence, following dozens of Revolutionary War era figures from a wide variety of backgrounds along the way.

DAR members of the St. Joseph Chapter descend from Revolutionary War Patriots like those highlighted in the documentary. To be a member of DAR, a person must be able to trace their lineage back to a man or woman who contributed to securing American independence.

In celebration of the series, local DAR members are sharing stories of their Revolutionary War ancestors at monthly chapter meetings moving forward. Members hope the documentary will inspire those in St. Joseph and surrounding communities to find their own personal connection to a patriot of the American Revolution.

The series is set to conclude Friday, Nov. 21, however, all episodes are now available to stream for free on PBS.

Founded in 1890, The Daughters of the American Revolution remains one of the largest and well-established patriotic women’s service organizations in the country, with more than 190,000 members in nearly 3,000 chapters, including 100-plus members in St. Joseph.

Local DAR members promote historic preservation, education and patriotism via commemorative events, while also offering scholarships, educational initiatives, and service to veterans, among other community service-based efforts.

To learn more about uncovering a genealogical connection to a Revolutionary War Patriot, reach out to the St. Joseph DAR Chapter by email at cadgynger@gmail.com.

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News-Press NOW

By: Darren Doyle

ANDREW COUNTY, Mo. (KQTV) — When it comes to the Holidays, those in need are not just in the bigger communities, but also in the smaller ones.

The Andrew County Ministries group is back again with their Adopt-a-Family program. Currently, around 54 families and seniors in need have signed up for assistance. 

The organization said 40 families have been adopted, leaving 14 opportunities for the community to provide a better holiday for those in need.

Individuals looking to help the Andrew County Ministries can donate items such as food for holiday dinners, household items, clothes or toys for children. 

For one of the leaders of this program, Pastor Terry Weaver, helping provide a better holiday is more than just giving back.

“I think that time when they come in to register is just a safe moment for them to tell their story. Especially right now, with the need for food and the question of “am I going to pay my bills or am I going to buy food?” said Weaver. “‘I don’t have anything to give my children this year,’ to hear those stories. I’m a pastor, so there’s a lot of praying when they want it. Sharing that moment with them and knowing that they’ve come to a place where they can be safe and get help. “

Anyone wishing to adopt a family or a senior in need is encouraged to call 816-408-0450.

Registration is open until Dec. 5 for families and seniors in Andrew County who need assistance.

More information on the Andrew County Ministries can be found by visiting their website www.andrewcountyministries.com.

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