Category: knpn-local-news

Kyle Schmidt

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — 24 years ago, tragedy struck New York City and the United States of America as a whole.

To this day, the terror attack on the World Trade Centers is not forgotten, and the heroes who risked their lives saving others are forever recognized.

“It is truly a brotherhood, sisterhood,” Emergency Manager Bill Lamar said. “If one of us anywhere throughout the country gets hurt or killed, it’s impactful for us just because we know pretty much exactly what they are going through.”

Lamar remembers 24 years ago, getting ready to work ambulance in Savannah on his day off, receiving texts from other firefighters to turn the television on and to watch what was transpiring.

Like Lamar, Captain of Rescue 1, Shane Southard, remembers working in St. Joseph during the attack.

“I was in the back doing something and the guys in the front kind of started screaming because the first plane hit the building,” Southard said. “I came in the room and there was a lot of confusion.”

Southard said it’s important to remember the day and the people who made the ultimate sacrifice for others, they didn’t even know.

“For us, we have about 130 personnel on our department, and to think that 343 firefighters passed away all in basically one instance, that’s just hard to wrap your head around,” Lamar said. “To realize all of the other police and responders that were killed and then so many of the innocent citizens that were killed… It makes you want to somehow remember these folks for the impact that it caused everybody.”

A total of 2,977 victims were killed in the four orchestrated terror attacks.

To remember and honor the victims, MoWest held an event early Thursday morning.

Participants climbed the equivalent of 110 flights of stairs inside Spratt Stadium, representing the 110 flights of stairs inside the World Trade Center.

“It’s important to come out here just to remember what happened back in 2001 on this day,” participant Kari Hayes said. “To remember the sacrifices the other people ahead of us have made.”

Assistant Police Chief at MoWest’s police department, Trenny Wilson, watched on as participants climbed the stairs. She said it is incredibly important for everyone to always remember the day.

“The ultimate sacrifice that so many people made; firefighters, police officers, civilians, anybody that was there that day and around the world,” Wilson said. “Just that ultimate sacrifice, and its unity, it brought our country together at that time and still collectively comes together now.”

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Carter Ostermiller

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — St. Joseph Reads is launching its second annual community read, “WE READ 2025,” at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13th at The Story Collective.

The program works on projects to help promote the importance of literacy and reading in St. Joseph.

“We Read 2025 is all about The Midnight Library,” said Mary Beth Revels, the director of SJPL. “This was a book that was, first of all, readable and would be of interest to a lot of people, and we would be able to have a lot of conversations around the book.”

This year’s community read is The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. The group will have related events from Oct. 6 to Oct. 10, expanding on the book’s themes.

The novel is a fiction book that was chosen to appeal to a wide range of people with its themes like mental health, new beginnings and the road not taken.

If interested in the program, visit the St. Joseph or Rolling Hills public libraries. There, you can get a free copy of The Midnight Library while supplies last.

You can also visit the St. Joseph Reads website for more information.

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Rebecca Evans

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Missouri Western State University will welcome students and their families to campus this weekend for its annual Family Day celebration.

Check-in for the events is at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13, in Blum Union.

Families can take part in a legacy coffee social, tour the newly renovated library or join Griffs Give Back.

The Center for Service partners with Sleep in Heavenly Peace for Bunks Across America to build beds for local children in need.

Registration is required for the service event and those interested can register here.

Other activities throughout the day include a campus walking tour, monarch butterfly tagging on the John Rushin Teaching and Research Prairie and a Scanlon Hall open house.

The celebration concludes with Griffon football at 6 p.m. in Spratt Memorial Stadium.

For a full schedule and registration details, visit MoWest’s website at missouriwestern.edu.

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Kyle Schmidt

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — A $420,500 project featuring a new Westnet alerting system, implemented to speed up the dispatching of emergency calls, is now in use, according to a City of St. Joseph press release.

The internet-based system was installed in August at the city’s communications center and allows automated dispatching of fire personnel while an operator remains on the line to gather more information.

Fire teams originally had to wait for the operator to break away from a call to be dispatched; now, citizens calling will have the operator on the line at all times.

The computer-automated voice uses “heart-safe tones” to lower responders’ stress levels.

The implementation is expected to have a positive impact on the city’s Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating, which is used in setting homeowner and business premiums.

The project was paid for using funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.

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Rebecca Evans

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — One minor, three young adults and one adult were sent to the hospital on Thursday morning due to a two-vehicle rollover crash on Meadow Lane and Messanie streets.

The crash happened at approximately 5:30 a.m., and the five people involved sustained injuries ranging from moderate to severe, according to Sergeant Zeamer with the St. Joseph Police Department.

Two of the individuals remain in critical condition, as of Thursday afternoon, according to an SJPD press release.

Zeamer said the crash occurred as the black Toyota Solara attempted to turn left onto Messanie Street from Meadow Lane, when it collided with a white Chevrolet Camaro traveling west down Messanie, toward Kansas.

The names have not been released for those involved in the crash and the incident remains under investigation.

News-Press NOW will update this article.

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Rebecca Evans

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — This weekend is packed with music, culture, and celebration all over the city. Mark your calendars because it’s time to See St. Joseph.

First up, the Ancient Order of Hibernians is hosting the 9th Annual Celtic Street Faire Saturday at Coleman Hawkins Park. The festival runs from 3:30 to 9:30 p.m. and celebrates Irish heritage while supporting Catholic education and Second Harvest.

Expect traditional food, Irish dance and a powerhouse music lineup featuring Eddie Delahunt, the O’Riada Manning Academy of Irish Dance and The Elders. There will also be a whiskey, beer and wine tasting for those 21 and older.

Also happening on Saturday night is the 2025 Take a Seat: Light the Way fundraiser. This is the biggest fundraiser of the year for Noyes Home for Children.

The event kicks off at 6 p.m. with live and silent auctions, food, drinks and one-of-a-kind experiences all up for grabs. This will support children and families in need.

If that’s not enough, St. Joe Pride is expanding this year, moving to Civic Center Park with even more space for celebration. Festivities begin Friday at 6 p.m. and will continue Saturday starting at 2 p.m.

Look for live music, drag shows, vendors, family activities and the big Pride Parade. This event is free and open to everyone.

Three huge celebrations, one incredible weekend. However you spend it, there’s no shortage of ways to have fun in St. Joseph this weekend.

Make sure to tune in to News-Press NOW every Thursday for more ways to See St. Joseph.

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Carter Ostermiller

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The AFL-CIO’s is highlighting its Diaper Depot program to connect families in need with services, programs and resources.

Donetta Berry, a program volunteer, shared how the program works.

“They have to have the child’s birth certificate, and then they have to have a photo ID, and so they’ll sign up and get all the information. We’ll put it in a computer. And then from that time on, they come in once a month for diapers,” said Berry.

The program is supplied by the Kansas City Happy Bottoms Diaper non-profit organization, and local donations are also accepted, according to Program Coordinator Ashley Luthans.

“We always accept financial donations for our programs, especially for Diaper Depot. The easiest way is to go online to our website, and go to the Diaper Depot page on helpmenow.org,” said Luthans.

This year, the program is expected to donate about 125,000 diapers to the Northwest Missouri and Northeast Kansas area.

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Ryan Eslinger

ST. JOSEPH, Mo (News-Press NOW) — Here are the final scores for the teams in the St. Joseph area.

Benton Cardinals win against Lafayette Fighting Irish 21-15

Central Indians win against Grandview Bulldogs 28-0

St Joseph Christian Lions win against Stanberry Bulldogs 58-32

Bishop LeBlond loses against Wellington Napoleon 26-63

Savannah Savages win against Kirksville Tigers 28-0

Mid-Buchanan Dragons win against Centralia Panthers 49-13

East Buchanan Bulldogs lose against Lawson Cardinals 17-65

DeKalb Tigers lose against South Nodaway Longhorns 16-44

Riverside Cyclones win against Atchison County Tigers 26-7

North Platte Panthers lose against Lathrop Mules 22-26

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TaMya Bracy

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — On Wednesday afternoon, the Missouri Air National Guard’s 139th Airlift Wing honored a former active-duty Air Force captain.

Guy Gruters was a prisoner of war (POW) for five years during the Vietnam War. He shared multiple stories, including ways he would communicate with the Vietnamese soldiers, the torture he and other American soldiers endured and staying connected to his faith.

Gruters said, even though his time in the prison camp was horrible, he has learned forgiveness.

“So I learned to forgive the people that were hurting me and torturing me,” Gruters said. “And I learned forgiveness in prison camp. I learned terrible hatred in prison camp. But at the same time, I learned forgiveness. So it was a wonderful thing for me to learn that,” he said.

Gruters said being a POW was probably the best thing that happened to him because it knocked down his pride.

“You know, you have real troubles and torture with pride and you have real trouble in a communist prison camp with pride, Gruters said. “And you know, the worst thing you can do? You got the love and you got pride,” he said.

Towards the end of the cermony, John Josendale, St. Joseph, mayor, issued a special proclamation recognizing Gruters.

Gruters said he wants the soldiers to take away two things from his story: doing the right thing and trusting God.

“I just hope they take apart, take out the two things that everything in life depends on doing the right thing and praying and trusting in God to make the big picture happen because we don’t have control over the big picture, you know,” Gruters said. So what you really want to do is just set up the circumstances where he makes good things happen, he said.

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Jazsmin Halliburton

(Editor’s note, 9/10: The story corrects the day of the week that the state senate will begin taking up legislation in the special session.)

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Missouri Democrats will hold a rally and press conference on Wednesday in response to state Republicans taking one step closer to officially redrawing Missouri’s congressional maps.

This comes after the House of Representatives approved Gov. Mike Kehoe’s “Missouri First” map Tuesday in a 90 to 65 vote. The approved map would change Congressman Emanuel Cleaver’s fifth district in Kansas City by cutting the city into three districts.

Several groups, including Missouri Jobs with Justice, Indivisible and the Missouri Democratic Party, plan to rally on the south steps of the Capitol.

According to a press release from the Missouri Democrats, this decision came despite bipartisan opposition and ignored the testimony of thousands of Missourians who voiced concern over the maps.

The “Missouri First” initiative by Gov. Kehoe arose after the White House suggested that Missouri should redraw its map — a process that typically occurs only after the census. Republicans are aiming to protect their narrow majority in the U.S. House with mid-term elections coming up next year.

The Missouri House of Representatives also voted Tuesday to send initiative petition reform, along with redistricting bills, to the Senate in a 98 to 58 vote. Joint House Resolution three would require all initiative petitions to get approval from a majority of voters across the state and from each district.

The state Senate will be taking up both the redistricting and initiative petition reform bills at noon Wednesday.

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