Author: News-Press NOW

Jenna Wilson

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The Missouri State Highway Patrol is rolling out its new ‘ghost graphic’ vehicles, just in time for Memorial Day weekend, urging drivers to prioritize safety. 

These patrol cars feature low-visibility markings during the day that become reflective at night, allowing troopers to discreetly monitor for aggressive or reckless driving. 

“It’s an enforcement tool primarily for aggressive and dangerous driving,” said Sgt. Shane Hux with the Missouri State Highway Patrol. “That’s the importance of these vehicles and we want to remind the public that they are here for your safety.”

Missouri State Troopers want drivers to stay safe, even when it feels like no one’s watching. 

With Memorial Day weekend approaching, state troopers say they are preparing to be out in full force to ensure drivers stay safe. 

“All available troopers will be working Missouri’s highways as well as patrolling waterways, enforcing laws and assisting motorists,†said Hux. “We’re already expecting changes in traffic patterns, with more vehicles on the road during the holiday counting period.†

As people prepare to travel and enjoy outdoor activities over the holiday weekend, troopers are sharing a few key safety reminders: always wear your seat belt and monitor your alcohol consumption, on the road and on the water. 

“The number one safety device inside a motor vehicle is your seat belt, and out on the waterways, it’s your life jacket,†Hux said. “If your Memorial Day plans include alcohol, make sure you have a designated driver and a plan to get home safely. The same goes for the water; have a designated sober captain.â€

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News-Press NOW

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The Missouri State Highway Patrol announced it has set the Memorial Day weekend counting period and offers safety advice to holiday travelers.

In a press release, MSHP reminds everyone to include safety when planning the holiday weekend. People may see an increase in travelers on roadways and an increase in boating traffic on the state’s lakes and rivers.

The Memorial Day counting period will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 23, and will end at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, May 26. Every available trooper will be on the road or water, enforcing Missouri laws and assisting people.

Troopers on roadways will focus their attention on hazardous moving violations, speed violations and impaired drivers. MSHP will be participating in Operation C.A.R.E. (Crash Awareness Reduction Effort) during the holiday weekend.

Over the 2024 Memorial Day weekend, there were 1,046 vehicle crashes statewide, which injured 486 people and killed 10. Troopers worked 275 traffic crashes involving seven fatalities and 161 injuries.

Memorial Day weekend marks an unofficial start to boating season. During the 2024 Memorial Day weekend, there were seven boating crashes, which included no fatalities and seven injuries. No one drowned over last year’s Memorial Day weekend.

Troopers also made 128 driving while intoxicated and six boating while intoxicated arrests.

MSHP reminds drivers and boaters to always be courteous and pay attention. Motorists or boaters in need of assistance or who want to report a crime should use MSHP’s Emergency Assistance number at 1-800-525-5555 or *55 on a cellular phone.

MSHP said speed, inattention and impaired driving are the leading causes of traffic crashes. Drivers should obey all traffic laws and make sure everyone in the vehicle is properly restrained in a seat belt or car seat.

When on the water, boaters are encouraged to be courteous to others, wear a life jacket, obey the law regarding the safe operation of a boating vessel and always observe no-wake zones. Causing harm to another person or their property with an excessive boat wake may subject you to enforcement or civil liability.

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Leah Rainwater

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The Missouri Department of Transportation has announced scrub seal work and dates along different Northwest Missouri routes.

On Wednesday, May 21 and Thursday, May 22, Route 36 east of I-29 to the St. Joseph city limits (near Craig Parkway) will see scrub seal work during the daytime.

Crews will narrow the roadway to one lane with flaggers guiding motorists through the area.

MoDOT also announced other upcoming scrub seal projects, which will occur overnight.

May 27-29: Route 169 (Loop 29) in Buchanan County from Route FF to Interstate 29

May 30-31: Missouri Route 6 from I-29 to Route 169

June 1-3: Eastbound Route 36 from 12th Street in St. Joseph to I-29

June 4-5: Westbound Route 36 from I-29 to 12th Street in St. Joseph

All work is weather permitting and could be rescheduled.

Project schedule updates are also provided on MoDOT’s Traveler Information Map.

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News-Press NOW

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — A Pagan’s Motorcycle Club member pleaded guilty Tuesday before a U.S. district judge for his part in an armed assault and attempted armed assault against rival motorcycle clubs.

Jeremiah Z. Hahn, who also goes by “Pass Out,” 42, of Cameron, Missouri, pleaded guilty to one count of assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, one count of attempting to commit assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering and one count of felon in possession of a firearm.

The charges stem from a May 30, 2022, incident in which Hahn and other Pagan’s members, their support club members assaulted a lone member of a rival motorcycle club at a business in Grain Valley, Missouri. Hahn used his fists and an axe handle during the assault, according to a U.S. District Court for Western District of Missouri press release.

In a later incident on Sept. 3, 2022, in Topeka, Kansas, Hahn and other members planned to carry out a revenge attack on another rival motorcycle club. A plan was in place to use an axe handle or a gun on one of the rival members.

A rival member was spotted in a hotel parking lot once arriving in Topeka. Hahn was armed with a gun and prepared to shoot the person, but a dispute happened among the members and they returned to the Kansas City area, according to a press release.

Hahn and other present members were awarded patches for participating in the events.

A trooper with the Missouri State Highway Patrol stopped Hahn for speeding on May, 3, 2023, on Highway 36 in DeKalb County, Missouri. Hahn tried to flee at first but later stopped.

After Hahn’s arrest, the trooper found a Smith and Wesson, model M&P Shield, .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun in his possession. Hahn, who had multiple felony convictions, stated that he had stolen the gun from a member of a rival St. Joseph motorcycle club.

Hahn is subject to a sentence of up to twenty years in prison without parole under federal statutes. The defendant’s sentencing will be based on advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentence hearing will be set after a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office, the press release stated.

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News-Press NOW

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The Landfill Task Force approved a recommendation Tuesday to increase St. Joseph Sanitary Landfill rates.

The group, made up of local trash haulers, citizens and a City Council member, approved on a recommendation developed by city staff to raise the landfill’s tipping fee from $40 a ton to $50 a ton, effective Jan. 1, 2026. The fee would increase to $60 a ton on Jan. 1, 2027, if it is adopted.

The recommendation will go to City Council for final approval, with an ordinance on the fee increase set for a first reading on June 9. The council could vote on the issue at its meeting on June 23.

The increase comes after tipping fees at the landfill remained mostly unchanged over the last two decades. The rate was set at $30 a ton in 2007, rising to $34 a ton in 2013, before being lowered to $32 a ton in 2018. The current $40 a ton rate was set in August 2024.

The landfill has seen a sharp increase in usage in the past decade, with the amount of trash received there doubling from almost 105,000 tons in 2015 to over 215,000 tons in 2024.

The City of St. Joseph operates one of the few municipal landfills in the region.

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Crystal Olney

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Messanie Street will close to traffic for several hours on Thursday and Friday for a water service line replacement.

A stretch of Messanie Street, from Noyes Boulevard to 31st Street, will be closed from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on both days, according to a press release from the City of St. Joseph.

Drivers are encouraged to use alternate routes and can expect to see the following detours in place:

Eastbound traffic will take Noyes Boulevard to Parkway A, then north on 31st Street and back to Messanie.

Westbound traffic will be diverted south on 31st Street to Parkway A and back to Noyes Boulevard and Messanie Street.

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Jenna Wilson

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Police agencies came together Tuesday for the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics.

The Law Enforcement Torch Run (LETR) is a fundraising and awareness initiative in support of the Special Olympics Movement.

Officers with the St. Joseph Police Department and Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office took part in the race. 

“We had a really great turnout today and everybody did a great job with the run,” SJPD Sgt. Jeremy Peters said. “We always enjoy doing this every year to get a lot of attention for Special Olympics, bring awareness to their cause and support a good thing.”

According to their website, the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics is the largest year-round public awareness and grass-roots fundraising campaign for the Special Olympics. 

SJPD says they hope this will encourage as many people as possible to support the Special Olympics and its mission.

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Cameron Montemayor

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — With nearly 40 years under his belt working in St. Joseph’s Street Maintenance Department, stalwart Steve Kendall has encountered nearly every street the city has to offer.

“As far as I can think,” he said with a grin. “Unless it’s a new street and it don’t need repairs yet.”

Kendall plays a key role for the department as a senior field supervisor, which includes overseeing and coordinating with pothole patchers who make their way across a city with 440 miles of streets with a nonstop schedule.

As summer-like temperatures continue to climb, so too does traffic volume and additional pressure on roadways, causing or worsening potholes.

“Right now they’re working on districts and potholes as they’re called in and as they come in on the website, we try to get them patched within 48 hours,” he said. “Send these guys out, and they’ll find them.”

As Midwest residents well know, potholes can range from small divots to larger openings as wide as a tire.

Helping crews is one the most proven pothole patching machines on the market, the FP5 Flameless Pothole Patcher, a massive machine with an electric heating system that helps mix and heat asphalt to 300 degrees without the use of propane.

“We can keep (asphalt) in there for like seven days. It’s got the heating coils .. it’s pretty much self-contained. It’s got rollers. Everything you’d need to do asphalt,” he said. “This is one of our newer trucks.”

Kendall, a St. Joseph native, has come a long way from his early years in the department when he first started off as a temp before earning his stripes at each stop along the way.

“I got hired on as a custodian. I did that for about month and then I become a laborer. And then, you know, I did every position all the way up,” he said. “Operator one, two, three, work leader, senior work leader and then supervisor.”

Kendall said patching is one of several keys step in the process, which begins with a supervisor taking a thorough inventory of every street in town — preferably twice — and then creating a list, which is sure to grow as residents file more reports.

Once patching is complete, a series of more extensive repairs are later carried out on area.

“Once you get caught up, it kind of smooths out a little bit. And then we start cutting the holes out and making it more of a permanent repair,” he said. “Right now, we’re just trying to keep our heads above water.”

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News-Press NOW

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Nominations are now open for the 34th Annual Mayor’s Awards for the Arts, presented by Major John Josendale and the Allied Arts Council.

The Mayor’s Awards for the Arts are designed to honor and celebrate people and organizations that contribute to the arts in different ways.

The Allied Arts Council is seeking nominations for artists, arts organizations, advocates, educators and corporate citizens who contribute to the arts. A panel of leaders from across the state will select the award recipients.

“St. Joseph is known for its outstanding programs of visual and performing arts, arts education and advocacy,” Mayor Josendale said in a press release. “And as a mayor, I am pleased to continue the Mayor’s Awards for the Arts, which recognize arts leaders in our community who work to bring arts and people together.”

The categories include:

Artist of the Year — which recognizes an established individual artist in any discipline for artistic excellence.

Arts Educator of the Year — recognizes outstanding contribution to arts education in St. Joseph, Missouri, by an instructor at the K-12 or post-secondary level.

Youth Artist — award for artists 19 years of age or under who demonstrate talent and achievement in one or more artistic disciplines.

Organizational Achievement in the Arts — recognizes an organization or business that excels in supporting and/or enhancing the arts through contributions of time, talent or funding.

Individual Leadership — recognizes an individual, business or civic leader who has greatly contributed to one or more arts or cultural organizations.

Outstanding Volunteer — recognizes contributions to one or more arts associations within the past year.

Nominations forms can be found on the Arts Council’s website and are due to the Allied Arts Council office by 5 p.m. on Friday, June 13.

Applications can be emailed to jessica.agnew@stjoearts.org or mailed to the Allied Arts Council, located at 118 South Eighth St., St. Joseph, Missouri, 64501.

The awards will be presented at the Allied Arts Council’s Annual Meeting on Tuesday, June 17.

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Jenna Wilson

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Construction is nearly complete on the new Buchanan County EMS facility in Downtown St. Joseph. 

The facility, which broke ground last year at 701 S. Seventh Street, was built to meet the area’s growing demand for emergency medical services. 

“We envisioned having a facility that would accommodate three ambulances, should our volumes increase,” said Wally Patrick, the executive director of Buchanan County EMS. 

Buchanan County EMS has reported a rise in emergency calls within the Downtown area. To meet this growing demand, the new facility will be staffed with three ambulances on-site at all times. 

“Since this is our busiest area, when a truck responds to a call from here, a unit from another post backfills,” Patrick said. “That way, there are always one to two ambulances moving through this area 24 hours a day.”

Local residents say the facility is long overdue, especially amid growing concerns about crime in the area. 

“I’m glad a new facility is coming Downtown,” resident James Studli said. “It seems like there’s always shootings, drive-bys, homeless people dying — just all kinds of things like that. It’s sad for our city.”

In response to safety concerns for both residents and first responders, EMS crews are taking extra precautions as the facility nears completion. 

“In the wake of that very unfortunate incident in Kansas City several weeks ago, the safety of our crews is paramount,” Patrick said. “That’s why the new facility includes rapid-closing doors and gates, storm rooms and even ballistic vests available for staff, if needed.”

Nationally, the average EMS response time is around nine minutes. Buchanan County EMS currently averages about six minutes and hopes the new facility will further reduce that time. 

The Downtown EMS facility is expected to open before July 4. 

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