Category: knpn-local-news

Prajukta Ghosh

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) — The Midland Empire Ag and Rural Lifestyle Show is back at St. Joseph’s Civic Arena.

One of the vendors at this year’s show is Tony Lockwood, owner of Lockwood Engineering Services.  

He said he’ll be showcasing Grain Guard 360, a monitoring system designed to track temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide levels inside grain bins. 

“We also go after mold, mildew and fungus within the bin itself. So while everybody else can tell you when you get CO2 or when you have issues, we can tell you when the issue starts,” Lockwood said.  

Lockwood explained that while many companies charge subscription fees for similar systems, his company does not.  

He also said they help customers with setup and offer a different control strategy than competitors.  

“We offer energy savings. We offer several other layers on top of that and we can (be) cheaper, so we have a complete system that allows you to pick and choose what you want from your bin,” Lockwood said.  

He added that the first grain bin monitor he ever built dates back to 2007, and while it was a basic design, it worked.  

Lockwood said being part of the show isn’t just about showing off new technology, but also about building connections within the community.  

Amanda Craig, another vendor participating in the show, said she’ll be offering free batteries with select DeWalt and Milwaukee tools, along with a display featuring Highland cows. 

She said the show is a great place for kids and families, with plenty of attractions for younger visitors — especially the petting zoo.  

“We have just been doing this for several years to be a part of the community. We have a store here in town with a total of seven stores in general. We like to be close to home,” Craig said.  

Craig said this will be nearly her fourth year participating in the show. While she admitted she feels a little less prepared this year, she’s still excited to be there.  

“I feel a little less prepared than some of the years, but I am here, and we are going to make this work,” Craig added.  

The Midland Empire Ag and Rural Lifestyle Show runs from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 23, and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 24, at the St. Joseph Civic Arena. 

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Patrick Holleron

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — After releasing their first book “Voices of the Past: Mount Mora Cemetery” in 2024, St. Joseph locals Suzanne Lehr (author) and Megan Wyeth (photographer) have released a second book in the series.

Based on the history and lives of St. Joseph’s past residents who reside at Mount Mora Cemetery, their second book, “Voices of the Past ll: Mount Mora Cemetery,” continues to expand on the scripture and connections rooted within the historic cemetery built in 1851.

The tombstone of Purd B. Wright, the St. Joseph Public Library’s founder, is shown Thursday at Mount Mora Cemetery in St. Joseph.

One of those connections is Purd B. Wright, who founded the St. Joseph Public Library in 1890.

“It’s amazing how Wright was able establish the library,” Lehr said. “He was worried people were not able to get books and and learn. And he arranged for everyone to have the ability to do so.”

The idea to flesh out and discover more about people like Wright who made their marks in St. Joseph dates back to the early 2000’s, when Lehr first came to Northwest Missouri.

“I began research here (St. Joseph) in about 2001 and started recording some of the stories which were used in Voices of the Past a year later,” Lehr said. “Looking through the stories I wrote, Megan and myself decided a couple of years ago to publish some of these stories. We want the younger generation to know who these people were, where they came from and what they did. One of the founders of Mount Morah owned the stables where the Pony Express began. We have those kinds of connections. That’s why it’s important to keep carrying the history forward.”

Having Wyeth capture the physical elements of Mount Mora was equally important in broadening the reader’s perspective.

“Matching up the photographs to the stories is a challenge, but it was fun to bring the stories into reality, into real life,” Wyeth said. “Having photographed here over the years, I’ve always been intrigued by the way light falls on the trees and tombstones at Mount Mora. It’s kind of unusual, which I think is due to the hills. I want readers to be able to experience that unique phenomenon as they relive St. Joseph’s past when they open the book.”

Of the stories featured, a personal favorite for both Lehr and Wyeth is the Townsend Mausoleum, the structure pictured on the cover of the new book.

The Townsend Mausoleum at Mount Mora Cemetery is shown on Thursday in St. Joseph.

“I was always fascinated by the mausoleum. I start to wonder what my parents thought when they were both alive and the day the granite for the mausoleum was brought through town,” Wyeth said. “I’m sure everyone in the whole city knew the granite, which weighed at least 24 tons, was traveling from New York to here.”

Copies of “Voices of the Past ll: Mount Mora Cemetery” can be purchased at Nesting Goods, the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art and the St. Joseph Convention and Visitors Bureau.

A book signing event will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 21st at the Wyeth-Tootle Mansion located on 1100 Charles St.

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Leah Rainwater

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) — The St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce is urging local restaurants to sign up for the tastiest week of the year.

St. Joseph Restaurant Week will be held Feb. 23 through March 1. Restaurants are encouraged to sign up on the Chamber’s website, saintjoseph.com.

The community is encouraged to come together to enjoy special menus, creative dishes and exclusive offers, while also supporting local businesses.

Restaurants can choose a menu item at the $10, $15 or $30 price point to be a signature dish or dishes for the week.

“It’s always fun when the dish is something that’s not regularly on the menu,” said Natalie Hawn, the president and CEO of the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce. “This is a great way to test a dish that could be a regular on the menu later on.”

The fee for restaurants to participate is $50 for Chamber members and $75 for non-members. All restaurants must also provide a $25 gift card to be used in a giveaway to help promote the week.

Participation fees help cover the cost of promotional materials used throughout the program, like posters, brochures, buttons, tabletop signs and Restaurant Week advertising.

The deadline for restaurants to register is Feb. 16. The website stjrestaurantweek.com will be published with participating restaurants and their menus after the registration deadline.

“Please encourage your favorite restaurants to participate,” Hawn said. “We do this as a way to encourage local spending in what can be a slow time of year for restaurants.”

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Cameron Montemayor

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Federal regulators are investigating a complaint filed by a local airport group alleging the City of St. Joseph violated federal grant regulations and bidding processes by improperly awarding an airport lease to one company last September. 

Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration on Jan. 13 notified and requested the City respond to allegations in a complaint filed by local entrepreneur Lute Atieh, alleging the city violated as many as five federal grant assurances by improperly awarding a Rosecrans airport lease to Pan-Am Flight Services last September. 

FAA grant assurances are legally binding, long-term obligations that airport sponsors like the City must agree to when accepting federal funds to support operations. 

Atieh, who is representing his bidding group St. Joseph Air Center and company FlyTech Pilot Academy, as well as several concerned airport tenants, claims the city failed on multiple occasions to properly evaluate airport bid proposals — among a wide range of allegations — and let internal pressure campaigns by bidders and city officials heavily sway the selection of an alleged inferior bid, this coming despite internal documents showing his proposal rated the highest on at least one full round of scoring. 

“If the FAA finds merit to my complaint, the city may be required to correct the process and address any compliance issues to protect future FAA funding,” Atieh told News-Press NOW. “This is a city airport, but federal dollars come with federal obligations, and those obligations are not optional.”

The city has until Feb. 12 to provide a response to the allegations according to the FAA’s notification letter, including the status of any attempts to resolve it, after which the FAA will review and either facilitate a resolution or move forward with a full investigation to determine potential noncompliance or dismissal. 

A spokesperson for the city declined to comment on the FAA’s request or allegations in the complaint, citing a pending legal matter. 

The FAA’s decision to move forward comes after an initial review of Atieh’s complaint to identify allegations requiring further investigation, including requests to the city to disclose administrative records related to the matter.    

Atieh was one of four entities who submitted bid proposals for a Fixed Based Operator lease at Rosecrans Memorial Airport last year, including Pan-Am Flight Services, the current awardee, and Apex Aero Center of Kansas City, the company initially awarded the bid. FBOs are entities authorized to provide specialized aircraft services for general, commercial and private aviation, including maintenance, refueling and providing hangar space. 

“This is not retail real estate. Running an airport operation requires regulatory compliance, specialized training, and deep industry experience,” Atieh said. “When proposals are evaluated using objective aviation criteria and expert input, the outcome should favor the most qualified operator, not the best connected. FAA oversight exists to keep the playing field level.” Atieh said his plan emphasized preserving existing facilities, with nearly $3.8 million in investments, rather than demolishing city structures to consolidate space for one tenant and displace more than a dozen tenants and operators.

The complaint alleges the bidding process and current plan with Pan-Am violates multiple grant regulations, including excessive consolidation of property and reducing or eliminating multiple independent aeronautical businesses — including his — without a workable transition plan, threatening fair prices and the continuity of key aviation services and opportunities for other business users. 

He said he’s not interested in being pushed out, instead he’s hoping to stand up for other concerned tenants and future entrepreneurs looking to make St. Joseph home.

Internal documents paint telling picture of bid process

Details on the FBO bid process spilled into public view last August when bidding groups, including Steve Craig on behalf of Pan-Am, raised concerns publicly to City Council about allegations of do-overs on scoring proposals following Apex Aero Center’s selection, raising doubts about which proposal was truly scored the highest. 

Of the four companies who bid for the FBO, documents show SJAC received the highest score among four of the five scoring panelists on at least one round of voting, an average score of 87 out of 100, except for one Aviation Board member, Chad Welch, who rated SJAC with a “0”, a drastically lower score compared with other evaluations.  

This document shows the second round of scoring for the Fixed Base Operator Lease at Rosecrans Memorial Airport.

On the other hand, Welch also gave Pan-Am a perfect “100” rating — something the complaint takes issue with. The “0” score reportedly resulted in the panelists’ removal from the selection process due to claims of bias. 

“Several panelists scored my proposal near the top, but one evaluator gave it a zero, which dramatically changed the outcome,” Atieh said. “When one outlier score can override the rest of the panel, it raises serious questions about fairness and whether the process is protected from bias.”

After appointing a new voting member, scoring documents for the second round of voting ended with SJAC scoring first. The scoring committee submitted a written recommendation to City Council for SJAC until the bid process was withdrawn and improperly re-initiated later according to the complaint, with Apex ultimately being selected.  

Less than a week after the City Council meeting, Apex Aero Center, a leading entity with multiple FBOs in the Midwest, withdrew from the planned agreement, a decision the complaint attributes to a campaign of pressure, citing multiple witnesses who heard the interactions. Not long after, Kansas City announced an agreement with Apex to develop a new $55 million FBO complex. 

Following Apex’s decision, the city pivoted to an agreement with Pan-Am Flight Services after City Councilmember Kenton Randolph sponsored a resolution directing city staff to negotiate a lease and operation agreement, which at this time is a non-binding agreement with plans for a 30,000-square-foot hangar and other aircraft facilities. 

Atieh contends his proposal would have generated more revenue for the city — particularly through a higher fuel tax — and helped preserve existing facilities as opposed to the current proposal, the details are which are likely to come to the forefront as the review unfolds and a full investigation potentially awaits. 

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Leah Rainwater

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) — One Downtown Candy shop is giving a “bittersweet” goodbye to its patrons and customers, citing low sales as a reason for its closure.

A Facebook post detailed the closure of Schweetz Candy Co Thursday morning.

The business opened its doors just over three years ago, with goals to create a nostalgic, sweet experience for the St. Joseph community and visitors, transporting customers back to the 90s.

“While we’ve loved every moment of serving you and sharing the throwback experience, low sales have made it impossible to continue,” the post said.

The business thanked the dedicated customers and visitors who stopped by. It also shared a reminder of the fragility of small, locally-owned businesses.

“We’re losing these unique spaces one by one, and once they’re gone, they’re gone for good. Our Downtown has so much to offer, but many don’t even know what’s here,” the post said.

The post ended with encouragement to the community to explore, discover and support small businesses in St. Joseph.

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Cameron Montemayor

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — A lifelong St. Joseph resident and political newcomer is making a push for the mayor’s office with the goal of uplifting community voices into meaningful change.

In two weeks, St. Joseph residents will head to the polls to vote for one of four candidates to advance in the mayoral primary election, including candidate Larry Miller, an active local community member seeking to strengthen communication and transparency between local government and residents.

“If it’s something I can sort. I’ll try to fix it. People pay the taxes and you know, they need a voice, they do,” Miller said. “I love Saint Joe. A lot of times I don’t understand what they’re doing and why they’re doing it.”

Miller, a former HS athlete and 1966 Central High School graduate known for his welcoming interactions each day with community members, isn’t shying away from the challenges facing the city and the task of overseeing the position.

For the last two or three years, Miller has contemplated throwing his hat into the ring, a decision he partially credits to encourage from residents in the community, a key area he hopes to further amid a gradual population decline in the city.

“I’m going to start every month, going to meetings with every district to meet the people in there and talk to them and see what some of their problems are,” Miller said, part of his vision that includes an open door policy. “Maybe I can get trust back into the people. And I think the way I’m going to do this with the open door policy.”

A former 35-year-employee at Johnson Controls, Miller hopes to continue working closely with the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce to prioritize job growth, attracting businesses and luring housing developers to improve inventory.

“I think the Chamber of Commerce, I’m gonna try to work with them. I want to go out and be aggressive to find people to come in here and build,” he said. “Get people that want to work to turn this situation around. So when they get out of college, we’ve got good jobs here and they can make money here.” 

He is determined to find ways to boost amenities for residents and families in the hopes of increasing community engagement and population, including exploring the return of a Trail West-like event and improving aquatic opportunities.

Two key areas he hopes to bring attention to are street conditions and costs for services like sewer, concerns he often hears from residents.

“You’ve got to listen to the people that work here, listen to them and what they have to say. And I’m going to talk to a bunch of them,” he said. “I would like to see more of our people on the job. Whether it’s fire and police too.”

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Danielle Bailey

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for Buchanan County. The warning will be in effect from 6 p.m. Friday, January 23 to 6 p.m. Sunday, January 25.

Snow accumulations of 4 to 6 inches are possible locally, according to the NWS.

Areas north of St. Joseph are under a winter weather advisory and could see 2 to 4 inches of snow. Accumulations of 5 inches or greater are possible south of the city.

The NWS advises travelers to prepare for slick road conditions. If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency. The latest road conditions in Kansas can be obtained by calling 511 and by visiting traveler.modot.org in Missouri.

A blast of arctic air will also affect the region, with wind chills as low as 24 below zero expected locally. The NWS recommends taking cold weather precautions and dressing in layers if you must go out.

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Leah Rainwater

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) — The City of St. Joseph launched a program aimed to support individuals experiencing homelessness who are charged with nonviolent offenses.

“Community Cares Court” is a municipal court program that brings together law enforcement, local health and mental health providers and social service agencies to connect participants with housing, medical care and other essential services to help them build a more stable life.

The court is designed to provide support instead of relying solely on fines or jail.

Eligible individuals are connected with services such as mental health care, case management, employment assistance and housing resources.

A City news release said the goal is to reduce the repeated demands on police, court and social service agencies caused by low-level offenses committed by individuals who primarily need help and stability.

Participants facing minor, nonviolent municipal charges, including theft, trespassing and nuisance complaints, are paired with a dedicated case manager, where they work together to secure employment, stable housing and essential documents.

The program also helps participants obtain items such as birth certificates, medical insurance and access to health care and medications.

Court cases may be dismissed for those who demonstrate progress and actively engage in the program.

“All of us working together have a greater impact in getting individuals out of the cycle they are currently finding themselves in,” City Manager Mike Schumacher said in a news release. “Our aim is to connect people with housing, health care and services that help them improve their lives, rather than just punishing them.”

Community Care Court is a collaborative effort involving the St. Joseph Municipal Court judge and prosecutor, the St. Joseph Police Department, Community Missions, Mosaic Life Care and other community partners.

The pilot phase will include two to five individuals with active Municipal Court cases and a history of interaction with law enforcement, mental health providers and social service agencies. Officials are currently identifying participants, with the program expected to begin in the coming weeks.

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Carter Ostermiller

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) — A new business aiming to bring the St. Joseph community together is set to open in just a few short months.

Polished Porch Antique & Boutique Mall, owned by Ashton Burton and her cousin Erika Frieden, is slated to open on March 4th with a grand opening with food trucks on March 21st.

The shop has two large spaces and a basement area that vendors will call home.

Located at 3603 Frederick Ave., the small business will provide a new shopping space for local entrepreneurs and vendors looking to sell their antique and boutique products.

“It’s basically a bunch of small businesses under one roof. So some people make handmade crafts, and some people have antiques. Some people have, like boutique items, they do, and basically, if they don’t have a storefront or they’re just wanting to get it started. They rent space here, so they will have a bunch of booths in that’s their business under one roof,” said Burton.

The announcement of the duo’s new business has gained a lot of traction. Since they posted looking for vendors about a month ago, interest has flooded in.

“Yes, daily, hourly. We were getting messages, I bet we have sent over probably 100 applications to people that have been interested,” said Frieden.

Tara McPherson is one of those vendors who runs her small business, ‘Sassin Sue’s Fashion and Nena’s Thrifty Finds’ with her mother.

“My mother and I opened our shop a couple years ago, and it just a lot of overhead to run a shop on your own. and we just thought this was a perfect opportunity to get a booth somewhere and grow with the community,” said McPherson.

Vendor space in the shop is going fast, but Burton and Freeden said if local vendors are interested, they can contact the business’s Facebook or call the phone numbers listed on their ad: 816-294-3794 and 816-262-1043.

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TaMya Bracy

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) — City fire officials said house fires occur more in winter compared to other seasons throughout the year.

According to the U.S. Fire Administration, half of all home heating fires occur in December, Januaryand February.

The St. Joseph Fire Department has, so far, been dispatched to 33 fires since Jan. 1.

SJFD Assistant Fire Chief Jamey McVicker said during the winter, there is an increase in fires because people are looking for alternative heating sources.

“Number one is when you do have to use an alternative heat, talking about space heaters. Please make sure there’s no combustibles on or within three feet around it. That way, they don’t catch fire and make sure we’re not overloading circuits. Please don’t use extension cords,” he said.

McVicker said smoking and cooking are also common causes of winter fires.

“We try to deter smoking with oxygen, especially that’s not a good combination. If you’re tired, please don’t light up a cigarette,” he said. “Cooking fires that kind of all year round, not necessarily holding on to winter.”

McVicker said checking furnace filters, making sure HVAC systems are working properly and not overloading electrical circuits helps prevent fires.

Additionally, when it comes to alternative heating sources like space heaters, McVicker said to not have any combustibles within three feet of the source, or even on top of it.

McVicker also urged having a working smoke detector inside each room of your home.

“That’s our main thing, life safety. If that smoke detector can alert you to get out of the house that’s on fire. That’s our priority,” he said.

Over the last 30 days, McVicker said SJFD responded to a total of 40 structure fires.

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