Category: knpn-local-news

Cameron Montemayor

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Six of the eight sitting city councilmembers in St. Joseph have now signaled plans to seek reelection in 2026.

Councilmembers Andrew Trout (District 3), Jason Eslinger (District 2) and Michael Grimm (District 4) have formally requested petitions to run for reelection in 2026.

Trout and Grimm are both seeking a second term after voters elected them in 2022, while Eslinger is seeking his first full term after being appointed by the City Council in April 2024 following the resignation of former councilmember Taylor Crouse.

Petitions were also requested by Dana Stickley (District 3) and James W. Kindred (at-large), two newcomers to the race.

Stickley is currently a board member on the St. Joseph Human Rights Commission as well as an alternate member on the Zoning Board of Adjustment.

Petitions for district seats

Councilmember Madison Davis, seeking third term (District 1)

Councilmember Jason Eslinger, seeking first full term after appointment in April 2024 (District 2)

Councilmember Andrew Trout, seeking second term (District 3)

Dana Stickley, seeking first official term (District 3)

Councilmember Michael G. Grimm, seeking second term (District 4)

Petitions for at-large seats

James W Kindred, Sr., seeking first official term

Collin Clibon, seeking first official term

Councilmember Marty Novak, seeking third term

Councilmember Randy S. Schultz, seeking second term

St. Joseph Mayor John Josendale also confirmed plans on Tuesday to run for a second term.

Tuesday marked the official start of next year’s municipal election process with petitions becoming available for those interested in running for mayor, city council and judge. All petitions must be filed with the city clerk between Tuesday, Oct. 7 and Tuesday, Oct. 28.

A minimum of 250 qualified voters must sign petitions for at-large seats. Petitions for candidates for district councilmember seats must be signed by no less than 75 qualified voters of the district.

St. Joseph’s Primary Election will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 3, followed by the General Election on Tuesday, April 7.

The 2026 municipal election will feature races for mayor and all eight City Council seats. Four at-large councilmembers will be elected to four-year terms while four district councilmembers will be elected to an initial two-year term, with a subsequent district election to occur in 2028.

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TaMya Bracy

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — On Saturday, the St. Joseph Fire Department will be hosting its annual IAFF Local 77 retirees and award banquet.

The banquet will honor 150 firefighters for their outstanding acts in the community. While it is invitation-only, all retirees are welcome to attend.

Those who wish to make a reservation should call or text 816-261-4700 or leave a message at 816-558-6541.

Jamey McVicker, assistant fire chief, said it’s a fun event and it’s nice to give everyone recognition for their hard work.

“These men and women give everything they have to this community, and for us to be able to recognize them means the world to us,” McVicker said. “And for us to be able to recognize them means the world to us.  So we want them to make sure that they know that they’re appreciated by not just the employers of the city, but it’s community,” he said.

McVicker expressed the importance of honoring SJFD firefighters and retirees.

“Just the simple acknowledgment of, ‘You did a good job,’ means so much more than really any monetary value,” McVicker said.  “We all have that personal inner pride, and to be recognized, we want to make sure that we’re fulfilling that need of our firefighters,” he said.

McVicker said he looks forward to celebrating with the entire SJFD crew and hopes retirees make their reservation.

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Rebecca Evans

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — More than 700 kindergarten families in the St. Joseph School District will receive free one-year family memberships to InspireU thanks to local donors.

Lowell and Leslie Kruse, local donors, alongside Julie Gaddie, president of Mosaic Life Care Foundation, posing with an InspireU Sign which reads, “Complimentary Family Membership for all SJSD Kindergarten Families!”

Lowell Kruse said, “These kids in here, they’re going to be the teachers. They’re going to be the principals, the governors, the people that run the hospital, the nurses. We need the best we can get right? It only happens through education.”

The Mosaic Life Care Foundation, alongside donors Lowell and Leslie Kruse, announced the initiative on Friday morning at Lindbergh Elementary School. This benefit will be given to every kindergarten family within the school district. 

Kindergarten students at Lindbergh Elementary celebrating their new InspireU memberships by jumping up and down in confetti.

“Inspire U was really built to engage young families,” said Julie Gaddie, president of Mosaic Life Care Foundation. “We wanted a place where young families can come to learn together about how to be healthy as a family from the start.”

InspireU is an interactive learning center that connects children with real-world opportunities through exhibits and programs focused on career exploration and skill-building.

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Carter Ostermiller

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The Downtown St. Joseph Public Library building is undergoing renovations but not for the library, a new neighbor is set to move in.

Mary Beth Revels, director of the St. Joseph Public Library, discussed the changes happening in the building.

“(In) the summer of 2024, Northwest Health actually purchased this building, and the intent with them purchasing the building was to put their Downtown clinic in the lower level of the building,” Revels said.

Revels assures that the library is not going anywhere; the two will now share the building.

According to Revels, the library is leasing the space on a 100-year lease that costs them 10 dollars.

News-Press NOW reached out to Northwest Health Services to learn more about the renovations and have not heard back at this time.

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Praji Ghosh

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Missouri Western State University social work students are now one step closer to their careers, thanks to new legislation that opens the door for them to receive mentorship and sit for their licensing exam. 

In the past, students had to graduate from an accredited program before they could even take the exam. That created big hurdles, especially for those in Northwest and Northeast Kansas where the need for social workers in areas like mental health, substance use, and child welfare is critical  

“The rural population for substance use or mental health or child welfare need social services systems which desperately need our workforce so I wrote a letter to the licensing board saying would you all entertain the idea of addressing this stature,” Grey Endres, Associate professor of Social Work said.  

Working alongside colleagues in the department, Endres met with the board, researched how other states handled the issue, and found that Kansas and Iowa already had more flexible paths in place. That research helped push Missouri to act.  

Last spring, the team submitted a proposal, and by June, Missouri Western’s program was officially recognized as “in candidacy.” That means students don’t have to wait until full accreditation to gain the experience and mentorship they need. 

“The other states already had addressed this. Kansas says graduate from an accredited university or other university that has been approved by the licensing board,” Edres said.  

Senate Bill 150 carried the change through the legislature in 2024, passing with no opposition. Endres credits the success to a simple guiding principle: “Our goal was to do no harm.”  

“They looked at our policies and they looked at our procedures and they are developing assessment tools to collect data to see how effective are our students with the program,” Edres said.  

Already, students from the first two cohorts have contributed more than 32,000 hours of practicum work across the community — from hospice care and hospitals to child protection services, the Salvation Army, and Catholic Charities.  

“Our goal is to grow, this isn’t glass shattering legislation there are 30 other states that have already addressed this and there were only 20 states that had very specific barriers,” Eders said.  

With the new law in place, those students can now sit for the licensing exam, enter supervised practice, and begin working toward their clinical license. 

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Kyle Schmidt

NAPIER, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Purple Heart recipients will travel to a hunting club in Napier, Missouri, for an all-expenses-paid weekend.

The Wounded Warriors in Action foundation in the Missouri/Kansas chapter takes veterans hunting and trapping from Nov. 20 to 24.

“When these guys get together, they get the camaraderie, the brotherhood, sitting around the campfire telling stories about the day’s hunt,” Hunt Coordinator Kyle Evans said. “Just being in the outdoors, just getting to experience nature firsthand.”

The veterans will stay at the Napier Hunt Club and a majority will experience duck and deer hunting for the first time, along with trapping.

All of the funds are coming locally around northwest Missouri, many businesses donated checks. A fundraiser event is scheduled for Sept. 26 at the Eagles Lodge in St. Joseph, located at 2004 N Belt Highway.

Swift Kik will play at the fundraiser, which will have a $10 cover charge. Donations will help with the costs of flights, supplies, food and more for the event. HyVee is helping with supplying food for the weekend.

“Every day we ask them what they want to do, they want to go deer hunting, duck hunting, trap and we’ve got the people in our corner to make it happen,” Evans said. “We just show them a little bit about what we love and why we love it and a lot of them will take that back home and be able to experience the outdoors with their families.”

Anyone interested in donating to the event can email chsalumnibasketball@gmail.com.

“It’s a great organization, these heroes, it’s all about supporting them, thanking them for their services,” Evans said. “A lot of them don’t want any recognition, they don’t want anything special… This is just our way of giving back.”

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Praji Ghosh

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) —  St. Joseph celebrated Patriots’ Day with a special tribute at Wyatt Park Baptist Church. 

Capt. Guy Gruters was the event’s keynote speaker- A former Air Force pilot who was shot down during the Vietnam War and spent more than five years as a prisoner of war. 

“We took the opportunity to have Guy Gruters come here to St. Joe to give a talk and do a book signing all at once. We were working the event and it felt like a good time on Patriots’ Day to have him here,” said Terry Beasley, an adjutant.

The committee chose Patriots’ Day for the event as a special way to honor Gruters and so he could share his incredible journey with the community.  

Gruters said life in the communist prison camp was brutal, but prayer was what kept him going through those dark times.  

“You’re not able to do anything in the coffin, and there’s no television or radio or magazines or books of anything. All there is just a bucket for your bathroom and no get no chance to write to your family,” Gruters said.  

Gruters also noted the event is special to him because it’s not just about sharing his own story — it’s a chance to meet other veterans, hear about their experiences and connect with what they went through.  

This is the first time the committee has ever hosted an event like this, and they wanted Gruters’ presentation to leave a lasting impact on the community.  

“This is a chance to talk to a number of people about the experience, and a lot of these are Vietnam Veterans, so it’s good that we get to talk about the code of conduct and things that governed our behavior in the prison camp,” Gruters said.  

Gruters said he’s given his presentation hundreds of times, but this is the first time he’s doing one of this multitude in St. Joseph.  

Organizers said their main goal was simple — get as many people from the community to come out to hear Gruters’ story and celebrate his journey.  

“We had Guy Gruters here like three years ago, and it wasn’t a special day, so he’s been here before to do his talk, and this was another opportunity to get his back and it was also on Patriots’ Day,” Beasley said.  

The committee plans to keep this event going each year and shine a spotlight on the veterans who have served, and those who continue to serve, our community through every challenge. 

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Ryan Eslinger

ST. JOSEPH, Mo (News-Press NOW) — Online sports betting has exploded in popularity recently, having been legalized in 34 of the 50 states, with the newest state being Missouri.

Before the legalization of Missouri sports legislation, residents living on the border of Kansas, Arkansas, Iowa or Illinois could drive over state lines to place their bets.

Such methods won’t be necessary come Dec. 1, 2025.

On Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, the Missouri Sports Legislation was approved by voters, legalizing sports betting within the state; however, markets won’t go live until Dec. 1, 2025.

In December of 2024, just after the November election, the official vote total for Missouri sports betting was announced. The totals showed a 3,000-vote difference separating Missouians in favor from those against.

Despite the negativity sports betting has received over the past few years, it’s proven beneficial to the states that participate.

According to the American Gaming Association (AGA), in Kansas alone, sports betting generates over 13,000 jobs for the state and has a total economic impact of almost $2.4 billion.

According to the AGA’s Kansas economic fact sheet, “Gaming tax revenue funds critical infrastructure projects in the state. State gaming taxes are also used to reduce the state’s debt and property taxes paid by Kansas residents.”

The gaming tax placed on online sports betting also decreases the property taxes for Kansas residents.

Some Missouri residents are ecstatic about the implementation of online sports betting.

“I’m beyond excited, I’ve been waiting for years,” said Jason Keough, a Missouri resident. “I’m excited for the state. All the money these other states are making from taxing it is great. I can’t believe it’s taken Missouri this long to tap into that revenue stream.”

Keough said he’s been gambling for years, but with the illegality of online sports betting in Missouri, he’s had to take routes he might not have taken otherwise.

“I have friends that live in other states, I’ve done overseas betting through companies overseas,” Keough said. “Going around ways I don’t want to or shouldn’t have to, now it’s going to be easier for me.”

Come Dec. 1, Missouri will have nine confirmed online sports betting apps, including DraftKings Sportsbook, Bet MGM, Bally Sports, Underdog Sports, Bet365, ESPN Bet, Circa Sports, Hard Rock Bet and Caesars Sportsbook.

In Missouri, there proves to be no shortage of teams to bet on once the markets go live.

Daniel McIntosh, a professor of sports business at Arizona State University, said another benefit of online sports betting is an increased experience for fans and tourists.

In a statement to News-Press NOW, McIntosh gave an example of this increased experience, which describes a fan watching a blowout baseball game.

“Imagine watching an 8-0 game. It’s boring and you know who is going to win. But, place a bet on whether the D-backs score in the 7th inning and things get interesting. That’s the pitch at least.”

The example provides a sentiment confirmed by both Keough and another Missouri resident, Jason Mahnke, as placing a bet on a game they normally wouldn’t watch can make it more exciting.

“It definitely makes it more exciting, even though I like watching sports already,” Keough said. “It just adds to it.”

“I think it gives you a reason to watch,” Mahnke said. “It’s one of those things, like on a Thursday night when it’s a garbage game between two 1-6 teams, it’s gonna give me that insight to watch the game a little bit more.”

According to the AGA, surrounding states like Kansas and Iowa use the money coming in from taxing sports betting to decrease property taxes and fund projects like repairing roads and the state’s education system.

Keough and Mahnke touched on where they would like to see the money go in Missouri once the markets go live.

“Where I’m at in Joplin, there’s not a lot of super centers or anything for kids to really get into, and I’d like to see some of that built up in our different communities to be able to have more things for kids to do,” Mahnke said. “Anything to help the kids.”

“Missouri can do so many things,” Keough said. “They can pay our teachers better, firefighters, cops, just everything, fix the roads even.”

According to the Missouri Amendment 2 Sports Betting Initiative, the revenue gained from taxing online sports betting will go toward higher education and public schools.

Revenue will also go toward funding research for compulsive gambling, including treatment and recovery programs, along with services related to compulsive gambling.

With the sports betting initiatives being implemented on Dec. 1, Missouri residents will get the full effect of the betting atmosphere, especially around the time of the National Football League playoffs.

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Abigail McCluskey

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Each fall, the St. Joseph Health and Safety Council hosts its annual farm safety event, Safety Acres, designed to educate local youth on the importance of rural safety.

Safety Acres is taking place from 9:45 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 11, through Friday, Sept. 12, at the Frederick Boulevard Baptist Church, located at 5502 Frederick Ave.

Safety Acres welcomes third through fifth-grade students from area schools to learn about a wide range of safety topics. Different stations at the event cover grain bin safety, large equipment safety, ATV safety, seatbelt safety, fire safety and weather preparedness.

The News-Press NOW Storm Tracker Weather Team will be on site both days, helping students better understand severe weather and how to stay safe during storms.

The team will lead interactive demonstrations and provide educational materials to help make weather awareness fun and memorable.

While registration for this year’s event is now closed, those interested in future Safety Acres events can visit the St. Joseph Health and Safety Council’s website at www.stjoesafetycouncil.org/safety-acres-1.

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TaMya Bracy

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The Savannah Pool exceeded its $50,000 goal at its Saturday’s Splash Bash.

The community raised around $65,000 to help fund a new pool.

Diane Gould, the Savannah pool manager, said that the Splash Bash was a success and the event was a chance to let the kids have a voice.

“They felt like there was nothing that they could do,” Gould said. “But this was a way for them to feel like that they were making a difference in helping, so and that part of the event was really cool, “she said.

The Andrew County Aquatic Initiative plans to have a meeting on Sept. 18th at 7 p.m. in the commons at Savannah High School. Gould said the purpose of this meeting is to expand the mission to people in the community who want to play an active role in what we’re doing.

“So we look forward to having anybody who’s interested in becoming a part of the drive the campaign to get this done is invited to attend there,” she said.

In addition, the Andrew County Aquatics Initiative will hold Community Collaboration Sessions at 7 p.m. on Sept. 28 and Sept. 30 at the Space Between on the square in Savanah, Missouri.

The sessions will be used to obtain public input from the community. Those in attendance will have the opportunity to share their opinions, concerns and ideas regarding the initiative.

Gould said having community input is vital to its initiative.

“I think bringing together community members with all different gifts and talents and opinions is so vital so that we focus correctly on this,” Gould said. “The solution that’s going to serve the most of the people in the community,” she said.

The Andrew County aquatic initiative is confident it will achieve its goal for the matching grant in November.

“We have had a lot of people in the community with the means to help in various ways already come forward and say, hey, you know, I want to I want to get into the ring with this and participate,” she said.

For more information on where to donate, visit the Aquatic Initiative website.

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