Category: knpn-local-news

News-Press NOW

ST. JOSEPH. Mo. (News-Press NOW) — News-Press NOW’s Stormtracker Weather Team is your Weather Ready Nation Ambassador!

The Weather Ready Nation Ambassador program is designed by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to strengthen partnerships with external organizations toward building community resilience in the face of increasing vulnerability to extreme weather, climate, and water events.

Johnathan Kurtz, the warning coordination meteorologist at the NWS in Kansas City, explains that this program helps bridge the communication gap between broadcast meteorologist, the National Weather Service and vulnerable populations in our community.

Over the last few years, News-Press NOW has stayed committed to keeping Northwest Missouri and Northeast Kansas “Weather Ready” through weekly Weather Wise segments, annual Severe Weather Preparedness Week specials as well as community outreach aimed at severe weather and safety education through local programs like Safety Town and Safety Acres.

We also use the value of our daily forecasts in tracking threats for severe or impactful weather across Northwest Missouri and Northeast Kansas.

Through this program, News-Press NOW aims to help make the community ready, responsive and resilient to extreme events.

We also aim to inform and empower communities, businesses and people to be better informed and make life-saving decisions that may also prevent or limit devastating economic losses.

To learn more about the Weather Ready Nation program, go to www.weather.gov/wrn/.

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Cameron Montemayor

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Kansas City Chiefs fans received a much-anticipated announcement on the official start of Chiefs Training Camp in St. Joseph.

The Kansas City Chiefs will officially kick off the 2025 Training Camp schedule on Monday, July 21, at Missouri Western State University, with rookies and veterans both set to report.

Practice dates, times and a full schedule will be announced at a later date. Training camp typically runs over a four-week period from late July until mid-August.

This summer will mark the 15th year of Chiefs Training Camp at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, an event that brings out tens of thousands of Chiefs fans from across the country.

The Chiefs are currently in the midst of a three-day mandatory minicamp in Kansas City that wraps up Thursday. The team is scheduled to face off against the Los Angeles Chargers for their Week 1 showdown on Friday, Sept. 9 on YouTube.

Stay with us as we continue to update this story.

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News-Press NOW

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — One local jeweler is now a partner with the St. Joseph Goats and will host a special promotion to kick off the celebration.

Kristen’s Coin and Jewelry is named the “Official Jeweler” of the St. Joseph Goats.

During the Saturday, June 28 game, one lucky fan in attendance will take home a 2.00-carat created marquise diamond, custom-cut in the shape of a football.

The diamond is certified E in color and VVS2 in clarity, with an estimated retail value of $2,500.

Kristen’s Coin and Jewelry will also be designing the team’s official championship rings, if they win their division.

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Patrick Holleron

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW). — Throughout the weekdays in the summer, Second Harvest will have cafe sites available for kids in need to receive nutritious lunches.

The lunches are provided to all kids 18 and under.

“I believe this is our third or fourth summer that not only (Nodaway) Valley Bank has sponsored a day for our employees to come help, but also volunteer to hand these (lunches) out,” Vice President of Nodaway Valley Bank and volunteer Brett Steiner said. “Today was kind of a slower day. But with summer school still in, it’ll pick up by the end of the year.”

The list of the cafe sites that will be providing meals and the times they are operating can be found on Second Harvest’s website.

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News-Press NOW

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Cole County judge awarded Ryan Ferguson nearly $44 million in his lawsuit against an insurer that hasn’t yet paid out his settlement with several Columbia police detectives.

Judge Cotton Walker on Monday awarded Ferguson $43.8 million. A Cole County jury sided with Ferguson in November when he sued Travelers Insurance to collect the rest of his nearly $11 million settlement with the detectives who helped convict him of the 2001 murder of Kent Heitholt.

Walker’s decision added several million dollars of interest to the amount the jury ordered in November. Walker ordered Travelers to pay $41.6 million for claims of bad faith and another $2.14 million for vexatious refusal — an insurer’s unreasonable denial or delay in paying a valid claim. Ferguson’s attorneys will collect $305,250 in attorneys’ fees through the judgment.

Ferguson’s attorney, Kathleen Zellner, told ABC 17 News that she and Ferguson were pleased with the decision. Zellner says she delivered the news to Ferguson on Monday.

“He was thrilled.  It was close, not entirely comparable to when I got to tell him that, the appellate court overturned his conviction and he was going to be released. But this is a close second, Zellner said. “I’m thrilled for him and his family. I’ve represented him since 200,9 so this has been a long, long journey.†

Combined with the money Ferguson collected from the 2017 settlement, Zellner said the case is the largest individual award for a wrongful conviction in U.S. history.

“For me personally, it’s confirmation that our legal system does work. Sometimes, it takes a long time, but if you persevere and if you’re on the right side of the case and the evidence does work,  and this case is an example of that because we had to push through setbacks along the way,†Zellner said.  “We never gave up hope in exonerating him and then in getting compensation for the wrongdoing and then  holding the insurance company liable.†

The six police detectives will also get a percentage of the final award, Zellner said. The group of former police officers became plaintiffs in Ferguson’s lawsuit to show the stress caused by Travelers’ refusal to cover the city and its workers in the case. The insurance provider covered the city’s law enforcement liability from 2006-11, a period in which Ferguson was in prison for the killing.

“We have we have an agreement with them [six former police officers]  and so they’ll get a percentage of it,†Zellner said. “That was based on us having their cooperation and then we basically represented them in the sense that we presented their case to the jury, that they were deprived of coverage.  And we had an excellent officer testify about the type of strain that it took on her life. So it was definitely a collaboration because  the officers had been put in a difficult position when the coverage was denied.†

An appeals court vacated Ferguson’s conviction in 2013 after Zellner found that prosecutors failed to disclose some witness statements to the defense.

ABC 17 News reached out to CPD for comment but was told the department does not comment on litigation. ABC 17 News has also reached out to Travelers Insurance and the City of Columbia for comment.

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Cameron Montemayor

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — A popular Indian restaurant in St. Joseph will be temporarily closed for the next few days due to minor damage from a fire sprinkler that went off Tuesday.

A manager for Clay Oven Indian Cuisine said the restaurant plans to reopen in two or three days once the interior has been full cleaned and inspected. The restaurant is located at 1209 North Belt Highway next to Anytime Fitness.

The restaurant’s sprinkler system was activated due to a minor fire/smoke that occurred Tuesday evening, however, little to no damage was caused by the fire.

Restaurant staff are thankful water damage was limited and won’t lead to any extended closures. The restaurant serves a wide range of authentic Indian cuisines for the community.

Customers are encouraged to follow Clay Oven’s Facebook page for the latest info.

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Jenna Wilson

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Missouri State Troopers are preparing to roll out additional “ghost graphic†vehicles just in time for the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

As News-Press NOW reported last month, the reflective graphics on these patrol cars allow troopers to discreetly monitor aggressive or reckless driving on the roadways.

Officers have deployed these vehicles on a rolling basis ahead of major holidays in the past.

“Low-profile vehicles, that’s exactly what these are, and they’re a necessary enforcement tool for us,” said Sgt. Shane Hux of the Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop H.

Across Missouri, 10 vehicles with ghost graphics were deployed and put into service ahead of the Memorial Day weekend.

According to MSHP, 10 additional vehicles will go into service before the Fourth of July weekend. Nine have already been deployed to the nine patrol troops across the state, and the remaining vehicles will be assigned to areas experiencing high numbers of complaints about reckless driving and crashes.

“We have one assigned for Troop H, to Andrew and Buchanan counties,” said Sgt. Shane Hux. “That’s where we’re seeing a high influx of traffic as well as an increase in traffic crashes.”

State troopers say they frequently witness drivers speeding past while distracted by their phones. The low-visibility vehicles have been helping troopers catch violators more effectively.

“It gives an officer the opportunity to witness other violations because the public becomes accustomed to our standard patrol vehicles,” Hux said. “For example, when our first Dodge Chargers came out, they had very distinctive rear tail lights. So at night, people quickly learned to recognize them. It’s beneficial for us to mix things up for the motoring public.”

While some residents have mixed opinions about the addition of these vehicles, MSHP emphasizes that the goal is to protect public safety.

“More than 1,000 people lose their lives every year in Missouri due to motor vehicle crashes,” Hux said. “If these vehicles can reduce that number even slightly, that’s a good sign.”

MSHP Troop H expects to have another ‘ghost graphic’ vehicle added to the area by the Fourth of July.

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Kyle Schmidt

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Whimsical Walk with the Arts is the title of this year’s Sculpture Walk.

Executive director of the St. Joseph Allied Arts Council, Jessica Agnew, said sculpture walks typically don’t always have a title or theme attached.

“We wanted to do a loose theme to celebrate the new discovery center coming Downtown,” Agnew said. “For inspire U being here, that is a great activity for families to go to, so why not incorporate a sculpture walk with that?”

The Sculpture Walk starts at 6:30 p.m., where the walk will begin outside of inspire U, located at 521 Felix St.

Throughout the walk, 12 new sculptures are on display, as well as two others from years prior.

“The People’s Choice Award, ‘When the Clouds Break” is going to stay with us for one more year,” Agnew said. “Then we have a cute one called Sunrise Serenade, it’s been with us for a couple of years, we just love it so much, so we have that coming back.

The People’s Choice Award goes to the most voted on sculpture in the walk. Brochures for voting can be found on the Allied Arts Council’s website at: stjoearts.org/our-impact/public-art/sculpture-walk/overview.html.

One of the artists this year made two sculptures for the walk.

Gedion Nyanhongo is originally from Zimbabwe and brings stones from his home country and transforms them into art for the walk.

“The inspiration came out of the stone,” Nyanhongo said. “Normally, I use the natural form of this stone to see what’s beyond just being a stone. It has a hint by its natural form to show or tell what it wants to be.”

The sculpture “Watch Out” is handcrafted from cobalt stone and resembles the spirit of wisdom.”I left this stone very natural to respect the nature itself without totally dictating what it should be,” Nyanhongo said.

The sculptures are for sale and can be purchased by contacting the Allied Arts Council at 816-233-0231.

“What I love about the sculptures downtown is that no matter if you consider yourself an artist or not, you’re going to have a thought about it,” Agnew said. “Might be a positive, might be funny, might be whatever, it cultivates some sort of emotional path for you and it sparks conversation.”

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News-Press NOW

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — In participating in the National effort to “Dump the Pump” on Thursday, June 19, the St. Joseph Transit is encouraging residents to utilize its services.

National “Dump the Pump” day is the third Thursday in June, and not only encourages people to ride public transportation, but also to save money- highlighting the resource when gas prices may be high, or money may be tight.

Residents are able to ride free on all routes, all day, as often as they like.

Information about routes and schedules can be found at www.stjosephmo.gov/310/St-Joseph-Transit-Go-St-Joe.

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News-Press NOW

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The St. Joseph Downtown Library is partnering with the Community Blood Center and the Kansas City Royals to save lives, offering incentives along the way.

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday, June 23, St. Joseph residents can make an appointment or stop by the Downtown Library, located at 927 Felix St., to donate.

Those who donate can also get a t-shirt and two tickets to a home game, while supplies last.

To set up an appointment, go to savealifenow.org/group and enter the Group Code: EI3N.

Those interested are encouraged to eat, drink and bring a photo ID to be able to donate.

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