News-Press NOW
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The southbound off ramp from Interstate 229 to Atchison and Sixth streets is closed due to a water main break.
Missouri American Water is working with the Missouri Department of Transportation to make necessary repairs.
Motorists can still use the ramp to access U.S. Route 59.
Missouri American Water expects to complete repairs and reopen the roadway on the evening of Friday, May 16.
Patrick Holleron
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — In recognition of National Police Week, law enforcement agencies held a memorial service to honor and pay respect to personnel who made the ultimate sacrifice.
The service was held at the Northwest Missouri Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Civic Center Park.
Members from the St. Joseph Police Department, Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office, Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop H and other Northwest Missouri legal departments were in attendance. Families, friends and civilians came to show their support for those who have fallen.
“It’s a great time to not only remember the good times and the bad times, but just to reconnect with everyone,” Buchannan County Sheriffs Office captain Michael Hess said. “But more importantly, just to remember that these gentlemen lost their lives in the line of duty and to pay tribute to them, to their families.”
Lexi Dekraai Ussary, the daughter of St. Joseph police officer Dan Dekraai, who died following a training exercise in 2010, spoke at the service.
The memorial will be again next year to honor law enforcement personnel.
Leah Rainwater
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — To honor May as Mental Health Awareness Month, Family Guidance Center is inviting the community to two events.
A “Community Listening Session” will be open for community attendance at 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 15 at the Pony Express Event Center, located at 1220 South 10th St.
This event is a community conversation focused on the challenges between mental health and disparities across housing, employment and other human rights issues impacting individuals in the community.
Resources to help promote fair treatment in regard to mental health or disability status will be shared and guests will be encouraged to share their experiences.
The second event is a Mental Health Night from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 16 at Ricky Dean’s, located at 3620 N. Village Dr.
The event aims to highlight the wealth of mental health resources available in St. Joseph, while fostering community awareness.
The event is open to all ages and activities include: free pickleball, bracelet making, the Pony Express Therapy Dogs, a Glore Psychiatric Museum make-and-take activity, face painting, a free session with Evolve Yoga Studio, as well as informative resources and mental health information from several community organizations.
For more information, contact Family Guidance Center at (816) 364-1501 or visit www.fgcnow.org.
Chris Fortune
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The St. Joseph School District Board of Education selected Tom Richmond to fill an empty seat on the board during a special meeting Wednesday night.
Board members evaluated seven candidates to fill the position left by Rick Gehring, after he resigned last month.Â
“It’s an incredible honor,” Richmond said. “I’m in this to serve and to help things be better. The most important thing in our community is the school district and what we do for our children.”
The candidates included: Dr. William (Bill) Couldry, Tom Richmond, Cassandra Veale, Jacob McMillian, Katherine Seufert, James Young and Kenneth Reeder.
School board members made the final decision by using a scoring rubric that judged each candidate’s answer to all 10 questions they were asked during their evaluation.
“There were good candidates here tonight,” Richmond said. “I was able to hear several of them, and I’m honored to be the one that was chosen.”
During his evaluation, Richmond told school board members that one of the biggest strengths of the school district is the positive experience kids have going to school.
“I think that our teachers do a tremendous job, and staff as well,” he said. “And then interacting with the students and making them feel important and successful. (With) my own personal children, that’s been the case.”
Richmond retired from Altec three years ago and has spent years in the St. Joseph community.
“I think there’s a general feeling in our community that we want the best for our kids, and we want the best for our schools, and I think we need to highlight that and figure out how we pull together and make that happen,” he said.
The meeting took place at SJSD’s Administration building, formerly known as Noyes Elementary, located at 1415 N. 26th St.
Leah Rainwater
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art announced the return of its Annual Art Fair, taking place in June.
The all-day, family-friendly celebration of creativity will take place from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 7 at AKMA, located at 2818 Frederick Ave.
Admission is free and all are welcome to attend.
The event will feature different art pieces, like paintings, ceramics, jewelry and more, from artists across the region.
In addition to artist booths, live musical performances will be offered throughout the day, delicious food vendors and a cash bar will be available, as well as interactive craft activities for all ages.
Cameron Montemayor
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — As he stood at the podium to deliver his closing remarks, Mayor John Josendale ended his address with a call to action, challenging those in the audience to continue rallying for St. Joseph.
In his eyes, success … and challenges, will be accomplished and overcome with the help of community partners, from each resident and employee to the abundance of businesses and organizations that support it.
“It makes me proud to see individuals, groups and organizations stepping up to lead the charge,” Josendale said. “If you want to make St. Joseph great, each of us has to be a part of that … working together, we’ll continue to accomplish great things.”
Over the course of Wednesday’s State of the City address at the InspireU Children’s Discovery Museum — a cornerstone of years of Downtown re-development — Josendale highlighted a variety of community gains and progress achieved over the past year, while also laying out new objectives for growth and improvement moving forward.
The speech was organized as part of the Chamber of Commerce’s latest Public Affairs Coffee event.
Strengthening the city’s core services and building stronger connections with the community are two of the top priorities within its strategic vision. This past year saw the continuation of needed upgrades to both police and fire department equipment to enhance operations and improve the community’s access to public safety, including the new southside Fire Station 10.
A recently-launched community survey of St. Joseph residents on those core city services will play a vital role in the direction the city takes moving forward.
“St. Joseph is a great place. How do we make it better?” he said. “The survey is very important to this. We want that input. We want to have a roadmap on what to look at and how to move forward with it.”
Josendale said a continued focus on sustainability and long-term planning is key to ensure positive development continues, highlighting the creation of hundreds of jobs, development of new facilities like the now-open Missouri Western CTAC building or a planned UMKC School of Medicine on Riverside Road this year, as well as significant investments to key assets like the park system, new-and-improved Civic Arena and Rosecrans Memorial Airport, among others.
A new animal shelter, hotels and conference center, aquatic facilities at Hyde Park and Northside Complex (formerly Krug Pool) and renovations to Krug Park are next in line.
“Many elements are coming together to enhance our reputation as a destination for history, arts, entertainment, sports, recreation, business and technology,” Josendale said during his address.
Josendale applauded the work of volunteers, organizations and neighborhood groups in growing efforts to beautify and clean up St. Joseph, including groups like Beautify St. Joseph, Friends of Krug Park and Missouri Western’s Center for Service.
Housing gap improvements and reducing blight have and will remain one of the top priorities for the city as it works to boost population and meet the needs of residents and a growing workforce. Close to $95 million in capital investments were secured in the last year, including the recently-announced expansion at Daily’s Premium Meats and a Nortian Foodtech protein manufacturing facility on Alabama Street.
“In the last month alone, we’ve announced about 250 new jobs coming this way. We need to have housing for that. And we need all levels of housing,” Josendale said. “If you look at the new UMKC building, we’re looking at putting apartments around that location. We’re also looking at putting some new condos and homes out north.”
Josendale touted the addition of the St. Joseph Goats arena football team and accomplishments by the St. Joseph Sports Commission and Convention and Visitors Bureau to secure a wide variety of premiere athletic, entertainment and trade show events at the Civic Arena.
Jenna Wilson
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — A historic structure at 303 East Hyde Park Avenue in the south end of St. Joseph, long valued by community members, will soon be relocated.
City officials confirmed earlier this week that the new South Side fire station will be placed at this location for efficient response times.
However, community members say other areas within the city could have been explored without interfering with a South Side artifact – The Chief White Cloud statue.
“It doesn’t make sense, there’s plenty of other land they could be using,” said resident Joyce Clark.
According to SJFD Interim Fire Chief Jamey McVicker, the current station was placed on the east side of the railroad tracks to leave room for a second station on the other side, if one is needed in the future.
“We chose 303 East Hyde Park over 212 Alabama because it’s farther east,” McVicker said. “That way, if we ever need to build another firehouse on the west side of the tracks, they won’t end up too close together.”
Jeff Atkins, director of Parks and Recreation, explained the history behind the White Cloud statue and said he understands why some South Side residents are frustrated.
“The statue and the teepee behind it were both placed in 2004,” Atkins said. “When you think about it, that’s a long time, and for some people, it’s been there their entire life. But there’s nothing historically significant about the ground where it stands.”
The St. Joseph Fire Department and Parks & Recreation are in early discussions with the Iowa Tribe about relocating the statue, with plans for it to remain along the King Hill stretch.
“The tribe doesn’t have any strong attachment to that site, and they’re okay with us relocating it,” Atkins said. “Since it’s tied to the King Hill Overlook, we want to make sure it stays nearby, close to the overlook.”
Still, longtime residents who grew up with the statue argue there’s no need to move it or build anything new in such a busy area.
“There are plenty of other places they could put that fire station,” said resident Lyle Hays. “Down the street or anywhere near 59, there’s a lot of open land there. Putting it here will just clutter things and make traffic worse. It’s already bad in the mornings when people are heading to school. It makes no sense.”
City officials will visit tribal leaders in person to get input on relocating the statue.
Leah Rainwater
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The Ales West Beer Festival is returning to celebrate craft beverages and community spirit at Coleman Hawkins Park for it’s seventh year in a row.
The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 7 and will showcase various samples from breweries, distilleries and more from across the region.
The festival will feature live music, which will be showcased in partnership with the St. Joseph Downtown Association, featuring area artist Casey Brett.
With the event being held at Coleman Hawkins Park, the festival provides an open-air setting for an afternoon of tasting, music and connection.
Guests can expect a laid back, welcoming atmosphere with food vendors, live entertainment and space to relax and explore.
Ales West is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit event, where all proceeds are donated to local charities and initiatives. Funds raised in past years have gone toward neighborhood improvement projects, food security programs, youth services and more.
Jenna Wilson
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) –Â Truth-in-Sentencing laws require people to serve a certain percentage of their sentence behind bars.Â
In the past few years, Missouri has seen several bills related to Truth-in-Sentencing, some aiming to strengthen these laws and others focusing on reducing incarceration periods.Â
Despite stalled bills and mixed opinions on whether longer sentences improve public safety, the Buchanan County Sheriff says they still support keeping the policy in place locally to keep criminals off the streets.
“When a judge says, ‘I’m giving you X sentence,’ then that’s what should be served—not just a fraction of it,†said Buchanan County Sheriff Bill Puett. “It’s just not fair to the victims.â€
Opponents argue that Truth-in-Sentencing laws could increase prison populations and limit opportunities for rehabilitation or early release based on good behavior, while Missouri HB 728 seeks to establish programs that allow offenders to earn 50 or more days of good time credit.Â
Additionally, some also argue that longer jail and prison sentences fail to deter crime or enhance public safety.
“It’s important to consider circumstances from all angles,†said Puett. “Simply put, when criminals are incarcerated, they can’t commit crimes. While others may still be committing crimes, those in jail or prison are held accountable and no longer able to offend.â€
Puett also emphasized the importance of criminals serving their full sentence, particularly in cases involving violent or abusive partners.
Missouri HB 862, which focuses on Truth-in-Sentencing, would require offenders with one or two prior felony convictions to serve 50% of their sentence, and those with three or more to serve 80%, keeping them incarcerated much longer.Â
While these bills show little promise in the legislature, Puett says the Buchanan County jail will continue housing criminals as long as possible.
Historically, when someone’s sentenced to county jail, they serve most of their time,†Puett said. “It’s usually the full sentence or around 75%. Compared to prison, people in county jail tend to serve more of what the judge actually gave them and again, the importance in this is holding them accountable.â€
News-Press NOW
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The St. Joseph School District Board of Education will hold a Special Board of Education meeting to review and possibly select a candidate to fill Rick Gehring’s spot on the Board.
The Special Meeting agenda came in right after filings closed at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 13, where seven candidates have shown interest in the position.
The Special Meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 14, at the SJSD Administration Building, formerly known at Noyes Elementary, located at 1415 N. 26th St.
Dr. William (Bill) Couldry is a retired educator and has experience in the teaching field as an educator and administrator.
Tom Richmond works at Altec and has served on various boards throughout St. Joseph.
Cassandra Veale, who also ran for the Board’s two open positions in April, is a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner at the Samaritan Counseling Center.
Jacob McMillian, who has previously run for the Board of Education, serves in many positions throughout the community. McMillian has been a PTA Board Member at Pickett Elementary, and has served on the Vision Forward Committee for SJSD. He is also a Lead Pastor at Journey Baptist Church and has a Doctor of Philosophy in Christian Preaching.
Katherine Seufert was a former employee at SJSD, and is currently an actor for the Performing Arts Association. Seufert taught at all four middle schools in the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Department.
James Young served in the United States Army and Air National Guard and has obtained a degree in History and Political Science from Missouri Western State University, as well as a Master of Divinity from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Young has worked as an educator in both the Platte City School District and SJSD.
Kenneth Reeder has previously served on the Board of Education and currently owns different rental, Airbnb and VRBO properties in the area. Reeder has attended, taught and lived in the SJSD his entire life.
Wednesday’s agenda notes the “Review and Possible Selection” as well as the “Possible Swearing in of New Board Member”.
News-Press NOW will provide more updates when they become available.
