Leah Rainwater
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Heaton-Bowman-Smith Chapel is offering different ways to honor the death of Pope Francis.
Those who are mourning the death of the pope are invited to visit the memorial room in the St. Joseph Chapel.
There will be a guest registry book for signing, along with prayer cards.
The services will be offered until the pope’s official funeral service on Saturday, April 26.
Leah Rainwater
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The Center of JOY is hosting it’s second annual St. Joe Seed Swap.
The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday, April 26 at the Center for JOY, located at 1202 Felix St.
Different seeds will be available at no cost. Participants are allowed to bring their own seeds to swap, but should make sure the seeds are relatively fresh and labeled.
“We had a huge turnout last year and are happy to host this event that gets people growing and connected with others in the community doing the same,” said Matt Todd, the event organizer.
Various gardening and plant groups will also be on-site to share more information on certain plants and how to grow them.
Vendors will also be at the vent selling plants.
Leah Rainwater
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The Saint Joseph Symphony has announced the dates for it’s 2025-2026 season.
Masterworks at the Missouri Theater
FRANKENSTEIN…It’s Live! will open the season on October 18, 2025. The Symphony will perform a new score by Michael Shapiro to the 1931 film Frankenstein, starring Boris Karloff.
The Symphony’s traditional Holiday Cheer concert returns to the theater on Dec. 20, 2025 with soprano Anna Mandina joining the orchestra for popular and classical favorites of the season.
SJS will highlight Women’s History Month with a concert titles ‘Women’s March’ on March, 28, 2026. The Symphony will perform musical compositions written by women who lived from the 18th century up to present day.
The finale will feature one of St. Joseph’s favorite “musical sons”. Internationally acclaimed classical guitarist, Anthony Glise will take the stage on April 25, 2026 to perform his concerto for Guitar and Orchestra, The Globe Room in a program entitles Tour de France.
These performances will take place in the Missouri Theater beginning at 7 p.m.
POPS goes the Chamber
The Chamber Concert Series moves from Sunday afternoons to Friday evening and takes on a new sound and venues.
On Sept. 26, 2025 at the Missouri Theater, smaller ensembles of musicians from the Saint Joseph Symphony, alongside local musicians and singers, will perform a concert titled, “Animated Adventures and Family Favorites”. The concert will be made up of musical selections from favorite animated features, play and family films. This program will also have a special free afternoon concert for children in the Catholic educational community.
To celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the United States’ independence, members of the Symphony will play, “Star-Spangled Chamber” on Jan. 16, 2026. Venues are still being negotiated for this concert.
On Feb. 20, 2026 various jazz selections will be played in the Symphony’s “Red, White and Blue Notes” show. Venues are still being negotiated for this concert.
In addition to ticketed concerts, the Symphony will also be presenting it’s two music education events.
On Nov. 13, 2025, students from the St. Joseph School District, other surrounding districts, as well as private and homeschool students, will; be treated to the annual Young at Art Youth Day concert and workshop in the Missouri Theater.
The Symphony will also partner with Missouri Western State University in January 2026 for Instrumental Infusion. Fifth graders from the area will have a chance to try out various musical instruments before deciding on a future musical path.
Season tickets for all seven concerts will go on sale in the coming weeks with single ticket sales beginning later in the summer.
Patrick Holleron
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Mosaic Life Care received a promising update regarding its new facility being built on a street to be named Mosaic Court, or a plot of land named University Hills.
The new building is set to cost $12,522,359 to construct. An ordinance has been authorized to accept payment from Lehr Construction and enact an amendment to the General Fund Planning and Community Development Departments budget.
“The ordinance the council recently approved allows the ability to redirect the fees associated with the permitting and plan review portion of this project,” Planning & Community Development Director, Clint Thompson said. “The fees are redirected to the outside third party the city is using to engage on plan review for the project. This allows the project to move forward from the permitting standpoint.”
The facility will primarily be used as a specialty care clinic for Mosaic.
“This will house some of our specialty care, clinics,” Mosaic Life Care Construction VP, Ryan Rush said. “It’s all outpatient ambulatory care, specialty clinics, primary care, clinics, pediatrics and total med family.”
The new bill will see $15,889 provided by Lehr Construction, to cover part of the costs the City needs to work with GBA and architectural product and service company.
GBA will oversee certain services related to the project, such as a building plan review.
The project is expected to be completed late in the summer of 2026.
Jenna Wilson
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department is set to launch a new app designed to improve communication and keep the public informed with crime alerts and other essential services.Â
The Sheriff’s department is collaborating with the Sheriff App brand to develop the key features of the app, which will include: scam alerts, press releases, weather information and educational content.Â
“Our goal is to stay as engaged with our citizens as possible,†Buchanan County Sheriff Bill Puett said. “This application will even include a way to perform inmate look up. Everybody has a phone in their hands and it makes more sense that the quicker we put out important information to our citizens, the better off our community is.â€Â
According to Puett, the application will cost $10,000 to establish its first year and will cost $10,000 maintenance each consecutive year. Â
The department is currently exploring funding options to help get the application running and it is expected to be released in a few months.
For the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department, the primary purpose of the application is to educate the public monthly about dangers circulating in the community—whether it’s a new form of opioids or emerging social media trends.Â
“The educational notification pieces will also be a primary focus for us when this application rolls out,†Puett said. “Once a month we’d like to do something to update the community on cyber scams and even threatening social media trends.
The Sheriff’s department will keep the community informed about the application’s progress and announce when it is ready for use on social media platforms and news outlets.Â
Cameron Montemayor
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Riders are wasting no time putting St. Joseph’s new state-of-the-art skatepark to the test.
Developers with skatepark specialist Spohn Ranch have all but finished construction of the $450,000 Maple Leaf Skatepark, located at 1942 Mapleleaf Boulevard, with some of the first skateboarders and bike riders already taking to the much-anticipated facility in the last week.
“I was pretty excited. I had fun riding it for the first time,” local resident and avid skateboarder Travis Chapman said. “We never really had a park like this.”
Growing up, Chapman says he would often make do in various spots across Downtown, now he’s relishing the chance to teach his kids on St. Joseph’s first true skatepark, a long-awaited upgrade from current and smaller skatepark features located at Bode Sports Complex and Hyde Park.
“It’s pretty cool that the kids have something better to ride than we had,” he said. “For us all to come to one spot, it’s pretty cool .. teaching each other new tricks that we wouldn’t have learned by ourself.”
From young kids and teenagers to adults, Maple Leaf Skatepark has seen riders of all ages honing their skills and testing out a variety of tricks amid a week of beautiful weather.
22-year-old skateboarder Jonathan Lara hasn’t missed a day since the park opened.
“I was pretty hyped,” he said. “Seeing how smooth it is and how it flows … you can really learn some new things.”
The park sports a modern concrete layout with terrain that accommodates all skill levels and riding styles. It features a below-grade bowl, a mini half-pipe section and several street elements including rails, ledges and pads.
St. Joseph parks officials told News-Press NOW an official ribbon cutting ceremony will be held at a later date, potentially in May, once some of the last secondary construction items are complete, including replanting grass around the park.
Recent Lafayette High School graduate Garrick Lake had been closely watching the park’s construction over the last few months and jumped at the chance when he saw it was open.
“Honestly at first I kind of thought it was just going to be another little, weak track. But it turned out really well … way better than I expected.” Lake said. ” … Now we don’t have to go to Kansas City for something nice.”
The park was designed and developed over several years with a considerable amount of public engagement with the local skateboarding community.
Funding for the project comes from the 2019 Capital Improvements sales tax. Maple Leaf Skatepark also includes spectator seating, a quarter-pipe ramp in the southwest corner and a pathway connecting the sidewalk to the new park for ADA access.
If the crowds of people already gathering each afternoon are any indication of the community’s excitement for the facility, participation isn’t likely to slow down anytime soon.
Chris Fortune
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Stock markets enjoyed another good day, rising over two percent Wednesday morning on the heels of a volatile month affecting 401(k) plans.
A wealth advisor with Gertsema Wealth Advisors said, paying attention to a 401(k) balance is important, but it may not be beneficial to react immediately to the latest developments during volatile times in the stock market.
“Money is emotional, you’ve worked hard for it, you put it into that account, you’re expecting it to grow,” CEO Nick Gertsema said. “But part of the natural market cycle is its ups and downs.”
The latest rise in the S&P comes after President Donald Trump said he had no intention of firing Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell, following recent criticisms for not cutting interest rates.Â
Interest rates also influence 401(k) plans. Gertsema said as interest rates go up bond values typically go down and when interest rates go down, bond values tend to go up.
“That’s why it’s important to have a diversified portfolio of both stocks and bonds,†he said. “That moves with what your risk appetite is as you get closer to retirement.â€
Gertsema said when you have a 401(k), it’s in the market in one form or another, through investments like stocks or bonds.Â
“The S&P 500 has been volatile, but volatility is the price you pay for the long-term returns,†he said.
Gertsema recommends paying attention to long-term changes in 401(k) plans versus day-to-day changes if the funds will not be touched for more than five years.
“If you are within five years from retirement or even right about in that window, it’s time to put together a plan so that when one of these events happens, because they do happen, volatility happens—it’s natural, it’s normal—your plan is insulated from that so you don’t have to change your plan based on what the markets do,†he said.
Leah Rainwater
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The St. Joseph Downtown Library is hosting a program to share the beauty of central Mexico ahead of Cinco de Mayo.
The program will be shared by Master Gardener, Tracy Svec, who will take the audience on a virtual journey of her once in a lifetime trip.
It will feature pictures and videos of hibernating monarch butterflies, tropical plants and local architecture.
The program will start at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 3 at the Downtown Library, located at 927 Felix St.
This program is free and open to the public. Persons with disabilities who wish to participate, should call the ADA coordinator at (816) 232-4038.
Those interested can also learn more by going to sjpl.lib.mo.us.
Ashley Luthans
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The Noyes Home for Children, in collaboration with the Saint Joseph Woodworkers Guild, is hosting a special fundraiser on May 10, just in time for Mother’s Day.
The Saturday morning woodworking class will culminate in the creation of a wooden planter, along with the addition of soil and flowers.
The event will take place from 10 a.m. to noon at 801 N. Noyes Blvd.
It is $30 per planter, with other materials and flowers included. In order to reserve a spot, visit noyeshome.org/donate (include the word “planter” in the description) or call 816-232-5650.
Leah Rainwater
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The Northwest Missouri Master Gardeners will hold their annual plant sale, where shoppers can choose from a huge selections of different plants.
The sale will go from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, April 25 and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 26 at the University of Missouri Extension office at 4125 Mitchell Ave.
All plants will be sold for $3 and shoppers can choose from a variety of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, herbs and more.
A full list of plants for sale can be found on the NWMO Master Gardeners Facebook page.
