Category: knpn-local-news

Crystal Olney

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Rick Gehring, a St. Joseph School District Board of Education member, announced his resignation at Monday’s annual reorganization meeting.

Gehring mentioned having a “hard time” continuing his position on the board and is looking to “protect his peace.”

The BOE will seek out applications from community members to fill Gehring’s position. As of now, applications are not open and there is no set date for when the board will vote on gaining a new member.

Stay tuned to News-Press NOW for updates on this story.

Jess DeHaven

PLATTE COUNTY, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — A St. Joseph woman is dead following a one-vehicle crash on Sunday afternoon on Interstate 29 in northern Platte County.

The woman, 39, was a passenger in a van driven by a 52-year-old St. Joseph man. The driver was going north on I-29 at about 3:30 p.m. when he approached a slow-moving vehicle and overcorrected, traveling into the median and causing the van to overturn near the 27-mile marker, according to a Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report.

The driver suffered moderate injuries in the accident, and a 15-year-old passenger from Hopkins, Missouri, had minor injuries. Both were taken to Mosaic Life Care.

The woman who was killed and the two people taken to Mosaic were not wearing seat belts, according to the patrol report.

Leah Rainwater

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The St. Joseph School District Board of Education held its annual reorganization work session on Monday.

The Board honored Isaura Garcia and welcomed incumbent, Kim Miller and new Board member Jennifer Kerns.

After four rounds of voting, LaTonya Williams was re-elected as Board president.

Ronda Chesney was elected as Board vice president, taking over from Mike Moore.

“I’ve know Ronda for years and we already work together really, really well,” said Board president, LaTonya Williams. “In our jobs, outside of the School Board. So, I know that we will also work really well in the School Board.”

The board also saw the departure of member, Rick Gehring.

“As a member of the board, it is hard to take the beating every single day for years. It is exhausting and it’s easy to say, ‘It’s what you signed up for,” No. It is not what we signed up for, you know?” Williams said. “I don’t blame Rick at all, as a matter of fact, all of us do. It’s no anger or animosity. He was my friend prior to getting on the board, and he is still my friend.”

The board will move to appoint a replacement for Gehring’s position until the April 2026 election.

The work session also saw a wide demographic throughout the audience, with a majority of the audience being kids.

“There were lots of students in the audience, and there were not only angry students … As a matter of fact, there wasn’t any angry students, it was just interested students,” said Williams. “They were asking us (the board) lots of questions afterwards, and we encouraged that. I mean, I want the kids involved. It’s what we do it for.”

The next BOE meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, April 28 at the Troester Media Center, located at 3401 Renick St.

Kyle Schmidt

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — A new indoor pool is closer to reality at the YMCA, thanks to a fundraiser held Monday morning.

Volunteers started biking at 5:30 a.m. Monday with a goal of raising $5,000 for the pool. That milestone was crushed early on, with callers continuing to donate throughout the event, which wrapped up at 11 a.m., eventually raising $28,929.

“It’s a great day. The momentum is amazing, and it is just really awesome,” YMCA CEO Tammy Killin said. “Not about the money, but it’s about community support, community engagement and to really make this thing happen.”

One of the many riders, Erin Creedy had a 75 mile goal when she arrived early Monday morning. She said she is passionate about the pool because all of her kids were swimmers and she believes in the sport.

“It doesn’t discriminate, it doesn’t care if you’re nine months or your 90 years,” Creedy said. “Swimming is a lifetime activity.”

Joined alongside Creedy was Savannah summer rec swim coach Jenny Denney. She finished her morning after biking 65 miles. She hoped this event would put the word out for the pool and show that it is much needed for the community.

“We really need the facility we need the space for all the high school teams, Central and Savannah and then also the club team, bridging the gap,” Denney said. “Swim lessons, that’s the other thing. I know swim teams are big passion but if you don’t have the swim lessons you’re not going to have the swim teams.”

The YMCA currently sits slightly over $14.1 million and needs to reach $15 million before the end of the month.

Ashley Luthans

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — A local man has proven himself a force to be reckoned with in the professional cornhole world.

Ryker Wells has been playing cornhole for five years, spending the last four competing at a professional level. Cornhole is a type of lawn game where contestants toss small bean bags at an inclined board with a hole cut in it.

Wells won his singles bracket at the first American Cornhole League signature competition in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, earlier this month. He placed third overall in the competition.

Wells credits his uncle for encouraging him to start playing.

“My uncle, he called me one day and he was like ‘Hey, come down to the bar, they’re having a cornhole tournament,’ and I was like ‘What’s that?'” Wells said. “So I went down there and I played and I sucked, but I was like ‘Man, this game can be pretty fun.’ So then I just practiced a lot, and then here I am.”

Wells said he has fun playing and feels it’s something others would enjoy as well.

“I’m just here to grow the game and just have a good time and make sure other people also have fun,” Wells said.

There are five more signature ACL competitions this spring and summer, and the 2025 ACL World Championships will take place from July 28 to Aug. 3 in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

Kendra Simpson

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — St. Joseph’s top bowlers competed for a hefty prize Sunday afternoon in the Six-Gamer Handicap Tournament at Revolutions Lanes.

As part of the bowling alley’s weekly sweeper series, players competed, practiced and warmed up for state and national bowling competitions.

First place at Sunday’s competition won a $300 prize, as well as points added to their score for the end-of-year Points Tournament.

Jacqueline Menini, one of Sunday’s competitors, discovered her love of bowling after being asked to sub for another player.

“I’ve been bowling for 21 years,” Menini said. “I was asked to be a sub and I was hooked ever since.”

Her decades of bowling experience paid off since she will compete at a tournament in Savannah, Missouri, next weekend and at Nationals in Kansas City at the end of April.

She encourages more St. Joseph residents to try bowling due to the sport’s reflective nature.

“There’s a lot of accountability,” she said. “It’s a lot about being honest with yourself and looking at the bigger picture while trying to zero in on what it is you’re trying to accomplish.”

Along with the alley’s weekly sweepers, Revolutions Lanes will host a Missouri Masters tournament May 30 through June 1. To register for the tournament, visit the website btbowlingsupply.com or revolutionslanes.com.

Patrick Holleron

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Egg prices continue to soar in consumer grocery stores across the country, even as wholesale prices decline and bird flu cases are not being found.

The decline in bird flu cases is a positive development, but farms have needed time to sanitize barns and repopulate their flocks.

“The raw product is increased, but then also you’ve got the just a general increase,” Northwest Missouri State agriculture economy professor Billy Brooks said. “It very well could be that stores are looking at this like ‘okay not only has the raw ingredient cost went up, but then we’ve also got to increase the cost of getting those eggs from the facility all the way to the grocery store.'”

The Associated Press reported wholesale prices for eggs didn’t start seeing a decrease until mid-March, leaving little time for the average prices to reset. Additionally grocery stores may not have had the chance to adjust their prices.

In the last month, egg sale records reached new highs, with an average cost of eggs being about $6.23 per dozen, according to Federal Reserve Economic Data.

Local businesses, like the Seventh Street Cafe Downtown, have had to adjust to the new prices by making changes in the way the shop.

“I do some of my shopping at Sam’s (Club) for produce just so that I can pick it,” Seventh Street Cafe Owner Brennon Calvin said. “I noticed that a lot of the times I’d be there, the eggs were gone. You could buy the smaller (cartons), but if you were trying to get the bulk, you couldn’t get the five dozen packs. Because of that, I’ve been buying them in bulk to make sure that I don’t run out when I do need them.”

The average cost of eggs per dozen is currently $4.24 in Missouri and $4.41 in Kansas.

Any relief from the lower batches of bird flu will likely be halted until after Easter on April 20.

Jenna Wilson

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Plans are moving forward for a new fire station on the South Side of St. Joseph. 

Earlier this year, the St. Joseph City Council approved an agreement with Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc., to begin design planning on the new location for Fire Station No. 10, which will cost $4.29 million. 

The St. Joseph Fire Department has narrowed down its choices to three locations for the new station. 

“The architect’s going to help us look at different plots of the identified locations to see what the firehouse would look like and fit and what we could get in that plot,†said Jamey McVicker, SJFD interim fire chief. “That will help us determine where we want to go.†

Officials aren’t disclosing the specific locations under consideration, but they’ve indicated that they’re narrowing in on a particular site, with response time being a key factor influencing where the new station will be placed. 

“Past administration has set us on a good path of our goal of being within every house in our district within four to five minutes,†McVicker said.  

The current Fire Station 10, located at 101 Illinois Ave, is more than a century old and showing significant signs of deterioration, with plaster peeling from both the walls and ceilings. 

While staffing will remain the same, some upgrades with the new fire station include many amenities crews are looking forward to, including a climate-controlled workout facility, sauna for detoxification after fires and larger apparatus bays. 

“It’ll be a huge relief for the city in helping utility bills go down,†firefighter Justin Roarty said. “The way these stations were built, they’re hard to do, hard to control climate-wise wise so they get really hot in the summer and really cold in the winter.†

Mollie Botts said she’s looking forward to the benefits of more privacy as a female firefighter, which can be challenging with how the current station was built. 

“I think all of us will notice the big difference, especially knowing the new station is being designed for engines and not horses like this one was,†Botts said. “Having to share an open bedroom can be a challenge for someone who’s never had to deal with that before, so we’re all anticipating it.†

The department has discussed repurposing the current Fire Station 10, but a final decision on its future use has not yet been made.

Kirsten Stokes

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) â€” The Shakespeare Chateau Guild is highlighting six historic locations for an up-close look at some of St. Joseph’s finest examples of stained glass.

The locations will be featured on a tour, St. Joseph’s Architectural Jewelry: a tour of extraordinary stained glass, from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 27. According to Isobel McGowan, owner and innkeeper of the Shakespeare Chateau Inn Bed & Breakfast, the event invites participants to experience the city’s rich architectural legacy through its vibrant stained-glass windows. 

“Pardon the pun, but it’s to enlighten people on how beautiful and exquisite stained glass, especially historic stained glass, truly is,†McGowan said. “Much of it dates back to the 1880s and 1890s, and it’s really extraordinary.†

The self-guided tour will begin at the Shakespeare Chateau. Participants will receive a booklet with brief histories and highlights of each location.  

The chateau itself boasts the largest number of original stained-glass windows in a Gilded Age mansion anywhere in North America. In recent years, McGowan has worked closely with the Guild to support its nonprofit mission and help preserve the architectural and cultural heritage of St. Joseph. 

The tour will feature six locations — three historic churches and three Gilded Age mansions — each showcasing unique examples of stained glass. Stops include the Robidoux House, the Nunning House, First Presbyterian Church, Christ Episcopal Church and Zion United Church of Christ. 

Robin Goodwin, a coordinator of the event, said the process has been a rewarding effort rooted in community collaboration. 

“We’ve received a lot of help, especially from the Historic Foundation who heads the Jewels home tour in the fall,†Goodwin said. “Those have been wildly successful, and we expect this to be successful as well.  

Advance tickets are $20 and available on the Shakespeare Guild website at shakespearechateauguild.org. In addition, each location will have replicas of the featured stained-glass windows, which can be purchased at $20 each. For more information, call (816) 388-0070.  

Proceeds from the tour will benefit ongoing preservation efforts and future Guild projects that celebrate the architectural gems of St. Joseph. 

“We have a bunch of local sponsors who are helping us out, which is awesome,” Goodwin said. “If anybody would like to help out, we are looking for more volunteers. If you want to be a part of the tour, we would love to have you.”

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