Category: knpn-local-news

Praji Ghosh

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Lindbergh Elementary is “turning the page” with encouraging good attendance from students.

The school’s PTA purchased a book vending machine to reward students who show up at least 95% of the time with a new book.

The vending machine will also be used for various other purposes throughout the school year.  

“This is a way to help promote literacy and get more books into their hands every month. They get called down and are given a token so they can use it,” said Ryleigh Nurski, a reading interventionist.

Students can also earn a token on their birthdays, giving them another chance to pick out a brand-new book while helping boost attendance in classrooms.  

“This is the first month that we’ve done it, so we haven’t seen a huge change yet, but we have noticed the kids talking about it, so we are hoping we see a boost in attendance,” Nurski said.  

She added, the program is a win for everyone — families don’t have to spend extra money, and every student still gets the chance to take home a new book.  

“They are all super excited to get to use it. We have lots of kids that haven’t ever used a vending machine before, so they are always excited to use it and get a brand new book,” Nurski said.   

Principal Gary Murphy said the idea behind the machine came from conversations with parents about keeping students more engaged and motivated.  

He said he hopes the vending machine helps students build a love for reading — something he believes is key to being ready for college and future careers.  

“Students and adults both will stop to watch the machine work, and they will be like ‘How does it go? What do you push?’ And students get excited when they walk away with a book which came out of the machine,” Murphy said.  

Murphy said every student at Lindbergh will have a chance to use the machine, whether it’s for their birthday or perfect attendance and credited the PTA for making it all possible through funds raised outside the school budget. 

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Kyle Schmidt

ST. JOSEPH, Mo (News-Press NOW) — Over a week before Missouri Western State University football squared off against Pittsburg State, Ju’Lius Byers was in the middle of his physical therapy when he was met with a surprise.

Byers, who affectionately goes by “JuJu,” was made the honorary captain for the Griffons and signed a national letter of intent during a pregame press conference.

“I feel pretty good,” JuJu said. “Being honorary captain, it’s going to be cool.”

Welcomed by MoWest President Elizabeth Kennedy, Athletic Director Andy Carter and Head Football Coach Tyler Fenwick, Byers had a special Saturday planned as a Griffon.

His family watched as he signed the letter of intent and answered questions in a press conference.

“Feels great, I love my family, they all support me,” Byers said. “They have been praying and they were with me in the hospital.”

One family member, his grandma, Carolyn Winters, shared her reaction to the injury and how she feels now.

“My heart was broken,” Winters said. “My heart is still broken in different ways now that I see his progress. It’s a good hurt.”

Byers walked around Ability KC with a neck brace the first time News-Press NOW saw him. Just over a week later, he walked around MoWest without the brace.

“Feeling good, just some stiffness or moving,” Byers said. “I got a soft one for temporary reasons.”

Outside of signing his letter of intent and his own press conference, Byers got a tour of the locker room and the athletic facilities.

On the field, Byers walked out as a captain and was handed the coin to flip for the teams. Pittsburg State, as the visiting team, called tails.

Byers’ flip landed heads, to which Grant Finley, defensive end for the Griffons, turned to Byers and said, “Great toss.”

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Payton Counts

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The month of October is nearing an end, meaning Halloween is approaching and carved pumpkins are starting to glow in the night.

Pumpkins have become a true symbol of fall and Halloween, often seen with eyes, noses and crooked smiles on them. 

Designs have come a long way over the years; pumpkin-carvers can now use pamphlets filled with pages of creative and complex patterns.

How did the tradition of carving pumpkins begin?

Halloween’s inception dates back over 2,000 years to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which later merged with Christian observances.

The carving tradition, however, started in Ireland with the folklore of Stingy Jack — a man who tricked the Devil and was doomed to roam the earth with only a burning coal inside a carved-out turnip.

To keep Jack and other wandering spirits away, the Irish began carving scary faces into turnips.

When Irish immigrants came to the United States, they brought the tradition with them. Pumpkins, native to North America, were easier to carve and soon replaced turnips as the face of Halloween.

St. Joseph has its own tradition celebrating pumpkins, known as Pumpkinfest.

For nearly three decades, the festival has brought joy to the community, with volunteers providing more than 1,000 pumpkins to light up two nights in October.

Cindy Daffron, executive director of the Pony Express Museum, said the tradition has grown across generations.

“For some people, this is a second generation deep, so people used to bring their children and now their children come home with the grandchildren. So now we have a carved pumpkin that we have to put out every year,” said Daffron.

Carving spooky faces into pumpkins has become a cherished Halloween tradition, not only across the U.S., but in St. Joseph. 

Families in St. Joseph like to keep the spirit alive each year. “We pumpkin carve and we paint our pumpkins,” said Bailey Thornberry, a St. Joseph resident.

If you want to submit photos of your carved pumpkin, you can email them to share@newspressnow.com or our website.

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TaMya Bracy

SAVANNAH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The Savannah High School Meats Science Team is going to the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The team consists of four girls, Mackenzie Schmutzler, Reagan Rodgers, Addison Neiderhouse and Kaylea Farrell.

In March, the team traveled around the state to practice, which helped the team work on their knowledge base and skills. Traveling opportunities have brought the girls to five university meat labs.

The Meats Science Team won first place at the State FFA CDE.

Schmutzler, a senior at Savannah High School, said she was really happy when their team won first place at state.

“We put in a lot of effort and put a lot into it. We went the extra mile to say, outside of school and stuff. So just to see all that like come to fruition was really nice,” Schmutzler said.

FFA Advisor and Savannah High School Teacher, Jeff Baumann, said it makes him extremely proud to be the girls’ advisor.

“We’re proud of their representing their school and their chapter at the national CDE. I’m very proud of their work and their commitment to their team,” he said. “I mean, they are a team in every sense of the word. They help each other. It’s never about them. It’s about the it’s about the team.”

Rodgers, a sophomore at Savannah High School, said she is excited to go to Nationals.

“We had high goals for State, so to accomplish those was really exciting and to do it on a national level as well,” Rodgers said

Although competing at Nationals next week might stir up nerves, the girls said they’re prepared.

“It’s definitely nerve-wracking. Just the competition of it all, but we’ve definitely put in the work and are prepared, I think,” Rodgers said

“We’re going to keep working all the way up till time we compete. So we’re, we’re hoping we’ll have good results,” Schmutzler said.

Making the large step to Nationals means the world for the team, and despite the outcome, both Rodgers and Schmutzler said they’ll be happy with the results.

“I think knowing that we’ve done everything possible that we can and the help of our coaches, is definitely going to be rewarding. We have high goals, but we also know the level of competition that comes with it,” Rodgers said.

“We’ve already reached, like, our goal was to win State and of course we raised those goals, but we have already met high goals that we have set for ourselves, so we’ll still be proud of us even though if we don’t meet those national goals,” Schmutzler said.

The Meats Science Team will be leaving for Nationals on Monday, Oct. 27. They will compete on Thursday, Oct. 30.

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News-Press NOW

CALDWELL COUNTY, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — A 58-year-old man is dead after striking a truck and a Combine in Caldwell County, just four miles east of Cameron, Missouri.

The crash occurred as a 2011 Ford F-150, a 2005 Dodge Ram 3500 and a 2009 Case IH Combine were traveling west on U.S. Highway 36 just after 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18.

The Ford contained the 58-year-old male driver and an eight-year-old male passenger, both from Smithville, Missouri.

The Dodge contained a 50-year-old male driver and the Combine contained a 53-year-old male driver.

The Ford failed to change lanes, according to a Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report, and it struck the Dodge Ram. The Dodge traveled off the north side of Highway 36.

The Ford continued west in the driving lane and struck the Combine on the driver’s side rear wheel and then overturned, slid on its side and overturned again onto its wheels, ejecting the driver.

The Ford came to rest facing north on its wheels. The Dodge and the Combine came to rest facing west on their wheels on the north shoulder of Highway 36.

The 58-year-old driver was pronounced dead at the scene around 2:12 p.m. His body was taken by the Caldwell County Coroner to Bram Funeral Home in Hamilton, Missouri.

The eight-year-old was transported by Caldwell County Ambulance to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri.

Neither the 58-year-old nor the eight-year-old was wearing a seatbelt.

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News-Press NOW

HOLT COUNTY, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — An Independence, Missouri, man is dead after a single-vehicle crash in Holt County just before 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

The crash occurred when a 45-year-old man was driving a 2008 Nissan Pathfinder north on Interstate 29.

The vehicle then traveled off the west side of the roadway and overturned, ejecting the driver. The vehicle came to rest facing southwest on its wheels off the west side of the roadway, according to a Missouri State Highway Patrol Crash Report.

The driver, who was not wearing a safety device, was pronounced dead at the scene by the Holt County Coroner at 9:47 a.m. The man was then transported by Rupp Funeral Home to Rupp Funeral Home.

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News-Press NOW

ANDREW COUNTY, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The Andrew County Health and Safety Coalition is holding a Prescription Drug Take Back event at the Savannah Fall Festival.

The event takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25, in the Savannah Square, under the Gazebo.

Community members will be able to turn in unneeded medication for safe disposal.

If community members are unable to drop their unneeded medication at the Fall Festival, they are welcome to drop medications off at the Andrew County Sheriff’s Office or the Savannah Family Pharmacy.

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News-Press NOW

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — An intersection along Mitchell Avenue will be closed starting next week for a signal upgrade project.

Starting at 8 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 27, Mitchell Avenue will be closed on both sides of 22nd Street, as the entire outdated signal system is being replaced with mast-arm poles.

Traffic on Mitchell Avenue will be rerouted along the following detours:

Westbound through traffic will detour from Mitchell north onto 26th Street to Messanie Street and then west along Messanie to 20th Street and south back to Mitchell. Drivers will be able to access 22nd Street at Messanie.

Eastbound traffic will detour from Mitchell north onto 20th Street and then east to Olive Street to 26th Street and south back to Mitchell. Drivers will be able to access 22nd Street at Olive.

While 22nd Street will remain open, the speed limit within the construction zone will be reduced to 15 miles per hour.

Work will include new bases, poles, mast arms and signal heads on all four corners. ADA curb corners will also be constructed.

A large cottonwood tree will also be removed, and the sidewalk it has damaged will be repaired.

The project, expected to be completed by mid-December, weather permitting, will cost approximately $350,000.

This project is the last of five signal upgrade projects the city has undertaken to replace old wire-hanging devices. Replacements have been completed at the intersections of Cook Road and Walmart Drive, 22nd Street and Frederick Avenue and Middleton Street and St. Joseph Avenue.

Work is wrapping up on the fourth project at St. Joseph and Grand Avenues.

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Praji Ghosh

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Community members were invited to give input and be front and center as the St. Joseph School District reviews topics discussed at an Oct. 13 public hearing.

SJSD held a Town Hall meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 21, at Lafayette High School.  

District leaders went over what was discussed in the Oct. 13 public hearing — including an impact analysis that followed board policy.  

Leaders also revisited topics from the board’s recent work session, like a proposal to move Edison Elementary School to the north side as part of SJSD’s Plan 2. 

Plan 2 pointed to a Lafayette and Central High School model.

Another major point of discussion was boundary adjustments — giving students a chance to attend schools closer to home, ideally within a mile of where they live. 

Feeder maps Download

Plan 2 Feeder System and numbersDownload

SJSD also discussed Plan 7, which supports a Central High School and Benton/Hyde model, and Plan E, which keeps all three high schools open and proposes the “least amount of cost and disruption to implement, while achieving necessary cuts.

Plan 7 feeder systemDownload

Plan E feeder systemDownload

As with previous hearings, community members had the opportunity to speak for up to three minutes after providing their name and address. 

The focus centered on facilities and the district’s ongoing reorganization plans. 

Lafayette High School teacher Jeff Leake, who spoke at the hearing, said this could be one of the biggest decisions the district has ever faced.  

“The two plans that they were debating were just two schools and they had a lot of disruption with staff movement and I wanted to investigate a different path which is plan E, keeping three schools,” Leake said.  

He said he’s a strong believer in smaller schools and that keeping a sense of community is what matters most to him.  

He said this plan would benefit students the most and cause the least amount of disruption, even though the other options have some positives, they also come with more challenges.  

Another community member — a parent with two high school graduates and a current Lafayette sophomore — spoke in support of Plan B.  

She said the best way to restore the district’s financial health is by choosing Option Two, which would affect about 427 staff members and 3,878 students — saving roughly $31.6 million in staffing costs. In comparison, the alternative plan would impact 535 staff and 4,257 students, saving only $2.3 million.  

“The financial benefits of option two are higher reserve recovery by 19.89% by 2030 versus 16% lower disruption, 118 fewer staff and 379 fewer students impacted,” community member said.    

Another Lafayette student said she’s worried about the impact these changes could have on students’ mental health.  

She said many students feel overwhelmed by these decisions because they directly impact their lives, especially as seniors looking ahead to new opportunities.  

“I do feel like Lafayette is a better decision because its more cost effective since you can hold way more people in Lafayette Versus Benton and Hyde and you have to change Hyde from an elementary school to fit into a high school,” Erica Spiker said.  

Spiker said she hopes the board makes a decision that leaves everyone as satisfied as possible.  

The board is set to make its final decision at the next meeting on Monday, Oct. 27 — that’s when the community will find out which plan they choose.  

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News-Press NOW

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — As November approaches, City officials are reminding residents to follow guidelines for open burning.

Open burning of dry yard waste is allowed within the city limits twice a year, during April and November.

Throughout those months, fires are only allowed between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., and must be in an upright container with a volume equal to no more than 55 gallons. A drum-sized container constructed of wire mesh is permissible.

No fire can be 15 feet from any building, and only one burn per container per residence is allowed.

All fires should contain yard-waste only, such as leaves, brush, sticks and logs, and must be monitored closely by a person capable of containing the fire.

Firefighting material, including a garden hose or a container of water, should be at the site of the fire.

As some households prepare for open burning, the St. Joseph Health Department shared that any Fire Department response to open burning calls will be treated as “non-emergency”, meaning no lights or sirens, unless the fire is threatening a structure.

Any violation of open burning restrictions may result in a summons to appear in court for a misdemeanor violation, according to the Health Department.

If weather conditions, such as high winds, indicate the safety of the community is endangered or may create a health hazard, the Fire Chief or Health Director may invoke a temporary burning ban.

The Health Department encourages residents to explore alternatives to open burning that don’t contribute to air pollution, are not dependent on time restrictions or the weather and provide a healthy benefit for physical activity while doing yard work.

Such activities include: mowing leaves into fine particles to fertilize the lawn or incorporating leaves into a mulch container to decompose into humus for use in vegetable and flower gardens or for use on lawns as soil amendment.

A larger wood brush that can be chipped can also be used as mulch around trees and shrubs.

If residents choose to burn, the Health Department suggests doing so within the open burning period, as the open burning session will not be extended due to weather blackout dates.

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