Governor Nixon

Jefferson City, Mo.—Gov. Jay Nixon today announced his nominations to three boards and commissions. The nominees will be subject to confirmation by the Missouri Senate. The nominees, along with their boards and hometowns, are:

Missouri Western State University Board of Governors (David G. Liechti – St. Joseph)

Missouri Ethics Commission (Gregory W. Weaver – Springfield)

Missouri Real Estate Appraisers Commission (Melba Curls – Kansas City)

Light rain may spread into portions of northeast Kansas and northern Missouri this evening, then potentially mixing with or changing over to snow late this evening into the overnight hours. Little to no snow accumulation is expected. Temperatures will be spring-like but variable over the next several days, topping out mainly in the 50s and 60s across the region.

Tonight A slight chance of rain before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 33. Breezy, with a northwest wind 11 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Wednesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 54. Breezy, with a west northwest wind 17 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph.
Wednesday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 31. West northwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming southwest after midnight.
Thursday Sunny, with a high near 67. South wind 6 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.
Thursday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 39.
Friday Mostly sunny, with a high near 60.

Northwest Health Services is making appointments now for an Affordable Care Act enrollment event this weekend. Certified Application Counselors will provide in-person help signing up for Obamacare.

It will be from 9 to 5 this Saturday at Northwest Family Dental, 3608 Faraon. Bring your 2012 tax information or current income documentation. For an appointment, call 816.901.1433.

Karen Fleak Hauser

Karen Fleak Hauser of St Joseph has been elected chair of the National Board of Certified Counselors Foundation.

The foundation offers grants and scholarships in an effort to increase counseling and mental health care availability in under-served and never-served areas.

Hauser recently retired from her longtime post as CEO of Catholic Charities of Northern Kansas.

She has served as vice chair of the foundation.  The board elected her to the top spot last week.

She’ll assume her new duties next month.

Hauser recently moved back to St Joe after about 20 years living in Salina, Kansas, where she served as CEO of Catholic Charities of Northern Kansas.

Andrea Gardner will talk about the impact MERIL has had on her life during the next Eggs & Issues Speaker Series event Thursday, March 20.

MWSU Media Release

Andrea Gardner, who survived a fiery car crash nine years ago, will speak at Missouri Western State University’s Eggs and Issues Speaker Series about the impact Midland Empire Resources for Independent Living, or MERIL, has had in her life. MERIL is celebrating its 20^th anniversary of striving toward a barrier-free northwest Missouri for people with disabilities. The breakfast begins at 7 a.m. Thursday, March 20 in the Fulkerson Center at Missouri Western. Breakfast is free, but reservations are required. Call 816-271-5670 by Monday, March 17.

Andrea Gardner suffered burns over 85 percent of her body in a car crash in 2005.

“I never thought I would be here to recount what happened,” Gardner said. “MERIL came to my aid at a point in my life when I needed the most assistance.”

MERIL is a community-based program designed to promote independent living and enhance the quality of life for persons with disabilities and persons who are aging by empowering them to control and direct their lives and thus participate actively and independently in society. MERIL serves a nine-county region in northwest Missouri. J.C. Dollar, MERIL’s CEO, will introduce Gardner.

Since 1988, the Eggs and Issues Speaker Series has provided a community educational forum that encourages the exchange of ideas on current topics. It is sponsored by the Missouri Western State University Foundation.

Approximate location of Wednesday accident in Doniphan County

Doniphan County, Kans.—-One man was injured in a Wednesday morning truck and tractor accident in rural Doniphan County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reports a John Deere farm tractor driven northbound on K-7 by Roger C. Ross, 54; Troy was turning left onto 225^th road at 9:22 a.m.

A northbound 2007 Peterbilt Semi-truck driven by Donald K. Shaw, 72, Wathena, struck the tractor.

Ross was transported to Heartland Hospital. A spokesperson reports he is in serious condition. Shaw was not injured.

Troop H announced the results of Monday’s St Patrick’s day sobriety checkpoint involving state troopers, St Joseph police, Savannah police, and deputies from Buchanan, Andrew and Nodaway counties.

Captain Duane Robinson, the commanding officer of Troop H, says the officers contacted 794 vehicles and arrested one motorist for DWI.

Captain Robinson said, “the objective of DWI enforcement projects is to deter drinking and driving and to make citizens aware that drinking and driving will not be tolerated.”

Here’s the breakdown:
Driving While Intoxicated Arrest — 1
Seat Belt Violation — 1
Child Restraint Violation — 1
Non-Moving Violation — 1
No Valid Driver’s License Violations — 12
Driving While Suspended or Revoked — 7
Uninsured Motorist — 1
Misdemeanor Drug Arrests — 2
Misdemeanor Warrant Arrests — 6
Felony Drug Arrests — 1
Felony Warrant Arrest — 1
Warnings — 10

There are at least three things viewed as sure signs of spring.

We’ve already spotted several robins hereabouts and the snow geese have arrived at Squaw Creek. So consider this video triple corroboration!

4:30pm A man and woman from Tennessee who were arrested in a stolen vehicle have been charged in Livingston County Circuit Court.

Sheriff Steve Cox says the vehicle matched the description of one that left a business without paying for fuel in Grundy County. By Wednesday evening, no charges had been filed in Grundy County against the pair.

Kyle Wayne Keymon, 26, was charged with Class-C felony counts of tampering and possession of a controlled substance.

Sarah Denise Morris, 29, was charged with misdemeanor tampering, and a Class-C felony drug conspiracy charge.

A judge set bond at $75,000 for Keymon, and $26,000 for Morris.

Sheriff Cox says they were alerted by authorities in Grundy County after two people fled without paying for gasoline at a business there. A deputy stopped a vehicle matching the description provided by Grundy County. Cox says the 2004 Chevrolet was stolen in New Madrid County, Missouri.

5:30am More charges could be coming against a couple from Tennessee after authorities search the stolen vehicle they were driving when they were arrested.

Kyle Keymon, 26, and Sarah Morris, 29, are in custody in Livingston County.

Sheriff Steve Cox says one of his deputies pulled the pair over Monday morning.

The vehicle matched the description of one that left a Grundy County business without paying for fuel.

As it turns out, that 2004 Chevy was stolen in New Madrid County.

Cox says their investigation continues, as they search the contents of the vehicle.

Members of the Buchanan County Drug Strike Force searched a home in St Joseph Wednesday looking for several suspects with outstanding arrest warrants. They found six wanted suspects, and arrested three more on drug charges.

In a news release, officials said they executed a search warrant at 128 Park Lane, Apartment 4, at about 12:45pm Wednesday.

The Special Response Team comprised of members from the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department and the Saint Joseph Police Department planned and served the search warrant. Nine people were arrested, including three people arrested for possession of methamphetamine and prescription pills.

Three men and three woman were taken into custody on warrants. The drug strike force identified them:
David Phinney 34
David Mitchell 34
Kevin Gray 32
Nancy Briggs 50
Karen Hudson 53
Tracy Kurtz 40

Spring weather will return just in time for the Spring equinox on Thursday! However, these warm temperatures will be short-lived, with much cooler temperatures expected for the weekend and much of next week.

Tonight Mostly clear, with a low around 32. West northwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming southwest after midnight.
Thursday Sunny, with a high near 69. South southwest wind 6 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Thursday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 39. Southwest wind 6 to 9 mph.
Friday Mostly sunny, with a high near 59. Southwest wind 7 to 14 mph becoming north northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph.
Friday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 32.
Saturday Partly sunny, with a high near 46.

Trails West! organizers announced a diverse lineup of entertainers for this year’s festival.

On Friday, festival-goers will enjoy rock bands Sponge and Live. Saturday, it’s country music stars Dustin Lynch and Eric Pasley. On Sunday, it’s contemporary Christian band Big Daddy Weave in the morning, and blues-pop singer/songwriter ZZ Ward. The festival is August 15-17 in Civic Center Park in St. Joseph.

“We are thrilled to announce such a fantastic lineup for the 2014 festival,” says Teresa Fankhauser, executive director, Allied Arts Council of St. Joseph. “Trails West!® offers a great weekend full of exceptional entertainment at a very affordable price. We are proud to continue with the tradition of bringing up-and-coming artists to St. Joseph.”

Admission to the festival is by souvenir button or 2014 Trails West! ® T-shirt. The buttons, good for admission to all three days of the festival, are $8 in advance and $10 at the festival gates. All festival guests over the age of 10 will need a button for admission. Trails West! ® T-shirts must be purchased in advance and can be worn to the festival as an alternative option to purchasing an admission button.

Here’s the latest booking report from the St Joseph Police Department.

This information is provided by the St Joseph Police Department and is not criminal history.

All persons included in this post are innocent of crimes until proven guilty in a court of law.  

The St Joseph Post assumes no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, or completeness, of this information.

There is a two-day delay in the release of these reports.

CHRISTOPHER ALLEN SANDS 31 ST JOSEPH MO
FAILURE TO APPEAR COURT APPEARANCE Z-Released

DONOVAHN T WILLIAMS 24 ST JOSEPH MO
DRIVE WHILE SUSPENDED/REVOKED Z-Released Pending

GEORGE D BAUBLIT III 22 ST JOSEPH MO
FAILURE TO APPEAR COURT APPEARANCE Z-Released

JONATHAN B QUICK 27 ST JOSEPH MO
FAILURE TO APPEAR COURT APPEARANCE Z-Released

Janie Elizabeth Simmons 38 ST JOSEPH MO
POSS DRUG PARAPHERNALIA
FAILURE TO APPEAR-FELONY Z-Transferred

GERTRUDE MAY JENNINGS 72 ST JOSEPH MO
FAILURE TO APPEAR COURT APPEARANCE Z-Released

JEFFREY D BARNTHSON 50 TROY KS
DWI Z-Released

MARILYN MICHELLE GILPATRICK 37 ST JOSEPH MO
FAILURE TO APPEAR COURT APPEARANCE Z-Released

HAWA MABIOR AKUR 17 ST JOSEPH MO
DC/FIGHTING OR RIOTOUS CONDUCT TO ENDANGER ANOTHER Z-Released

JUSTIN KIRK MILNE 26 ST JOSEPH MO
STEALING-SHOPLIFTING Z-Released

MARJORIE DIANE KENT 17 ST JOSEPH MO
STEALING-SHOPLIFTING
STEALING-SHOPLIFTING Z-Released

TRICIA KAY CAMARENA 35 ST JOSEPH MO
STEALING-SHOPLIFTING
STEALING-SHOPLIFTING Z-Released

JACOB DUANE EKONIAK 31 ST JOSEPH MO
FAILURE TO APPEAR COURT APPEARANCE

JONATHAN CALDERON CASTILLO 20 ST JOSEPH MO
FAILURE TO APPEAR COURT APPEARANCE Z-Released

ERIN D KLINE 23 ST JOSEPH MO
FAILURE TO APPEAR COURT APPEARANCE
FAILURE TO APPEAR COURT APPEARANCE Z-Released

Prosecuting Attorney Dwight Scroggins

Buchanan County Prosecutor Dwight Scroggins says he’ll make a decision next Tuesday in the case of a man shot to death by a Saint Joseph police officer. Scroggins received the investigation reports and videos Thursday, and they’ll take hours to review.

47 year old John Weipert of Saint Joseph was shot by officer Patrick Zeamer during a domestic disturbance March 10. Investigators say Weipert had a firearm and was threatening suicide. Police say he was shot when he made threatening acts toward officers.

It was a rare show of bipartisanship Thursday at the 139th Airlift Wing based at Rosecrans Airport, as Senators Claire McCaskill and Roy Blunt held a joint roundtable discussion with local military, business and government leaders.

Missouri Adjutant General Stephen Danner noted that it may have been the first time in history that two members of the Senate Armed Services Committee visited the same Air National Guard base at the same time.

There were many areas of agreement between the two, as they traded questions and answers with the assembled guests on subjects ranging from the Wing’s priorities, to the rising cost of Missouri River levee repairs, to the problems currently raging between Russia and Ukraine.

As to the Airlift Wing, top brass outlined their priorities for the coming couple of years, some of which appear to be the subject of quite a tug-of-war in the Senate. Wing commanders are hoping they can get their hands on a C130-J, the so-called “Super Hercules” air-transport plane.

“There is not a Senator that is not looking out after their aircraft right now, so if we get one from someone else, we’ve got to arm wrestle one of their colleagues,” McCaskill said. “But, that doesn’t mean that we’re not capable of doing that.”

“I think the point is, to be the best training facility in the country on C130s, you have to have at least one copy of the best equipment, and that’s what the J now is,” Blunt said. “And then the other equipment that we’ve been working together for a couple of years now is to get a simulator.”

Both Senators agree that funding for the Wing is not at risk under upcoming sequester budget cuts, at least for now.

“We passed a bipartisan budget, and we passed the appropriations, so we’ve got budget lines set for this year and next,” McCaskill said.

Blunt added that next year appears safe as well.

“The year that begins October 1, that number’s decided on too,” Blunt said.

“The concern there, is that (Defense Secretary Chuck) Hagel has really painted two different pictures of cuts. One is the cuts you have if you have sequestration, and one’s the cuts you have if you don’t. And that worry would begin in October of 2016, when that spending year begins. And I think there’s a good solution here for the number-one priority of the federal government, and that’s to defend the country.”

St Joseph police conducted a sobriety checkpoint Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

The checkpoint was conducted between 10pm Wednesday and 1:30am Thursday in the 4400 block of Faraon.

Officials say officers check 142 cars. They made four arrests for DWI. There were three arrests for outstanding warrants.

Traffic Division Officer Wayne Byrom says there was one citation issued for possession of a controlled substance and thirty other citations for other violations.

Temperatures should be followed by one more spring-like day on Friday before the big cool-down for the weekend.

Tonight Mostly clear, with a low around 39. Southwest wind 7 to 11 mph.
Friday Mostly sunny, with a high near 61. Breezy, with a south southwest wind 8 to 13 mph becoming northwest 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 29 mph.
Friday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 31. North northwest wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.
Saturday Partly sunny, with a high near 43. North wind 10 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.
Saturday Night Mostly cloudy, with a low around 24.
Sunday Sunny, with a high near 41.

Here’s the latest booking report from the St Joseph Police Department.

This information is provided by the St Joseph Police Department and is not criminal history.

All persons included in this post are innocent of crimes until proven guilty in a court of law.  

The St Joseph Post assumes no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, or completeness, of this information.

There is a two-day delay in the release of these reports.

DAVID JOSEPH BRAVO 33 DeKalb MO DWI
Z-Released Pending

LEONARD THEODORE BARR 22 ST JOSEPH MO
FAILURE TO APPEAR-FELONY
DOMESTIC ASSAULT 3RD DEGREE Z-Transferred

SHATARIA M BUSHROD 26 ST JOSEPH MO
FAILURE TO APPEAR COURT APPEARANCE Z-Released

JOHANNA LYNN BLOSS 37 ST JOSEPH MO
FAILURE TO APPEAR COURT APPEARANCE Z-Released

GERALD BENJAMIN COLE 36 ST JOSEPH MO
FAILURE TO APPEAR COURT APPEARANCE
OBSTRUCTS BY ACTION/INACTION DUTIES OF POLICE

LANCE ANTHONEY WOLVERTON 43 WATHENA KS
FAILURE TO APPEAR COURT APPEARANCE Z-Released

SKYLER GRANT HARRISON 18 ST JOSEPH MO
FAILURE TO APPEAR COURT APPEARANCE Z-Transferred

TIMOTHY MAURICE BANKS Jr. 33 COLUMBIA MO
FAILURE TO APPEAR COURT APPEARANCE Z-Released

Kylie Sue Shuman 20 ST JOSEPH MO
STEALING-SHOPLIFTING Z-Released

HAYLEY RIAN SHARP 20 ST JOSEPH MO
FAILURE TO APPEAR COURT APPEARANCE
STEALING-SHOPLIFTING

UNIQUE DASHEA HIGGINS 21 ST JOSEPH MO
FAILURE TO APPEAR COURT APPEARANCE
FAILURE TO APPEAR COURT APPEARANCE Z-Released

ASHLEY NICOLE BROWN 24 EASTON MO
STEALING-SHOPLIFTING Z-Released

DAVID ANDREW WOODWORTH 25 WICHITA KS
STALKING 1ST OFFENSE Z-Released

Tabatha J Barnes 27 ST JOSEPH MO
STEALING-ALL OTHER Z-Released

JAMES WESLEY HENDERSON 41 ST JOSEPH MO
FAILURE TO APPEAR COURT APPEARANCE
FAILURE TO APPEAR COURT APPEARANCE
STEALING-SHOPLIFTING

COTY R OCONNELL 28 ST. JOSEPH MO
FAILURE TO APPEAR COURT APPEARANCE Z-Released

IRA RUSSELL NEWLON 43 ST JOSEPH MO
FAILURE TO APPEAR COURT APPEARANCE Z-Transferred

IRA RUSSELL NEWLON 43 ST JOSEPH MO
STEALING (F) SHOPLIFTING Z-Transferred

SABRINA LEANN GRAY 38 ST. JOSPEH MO
FAILURE TO APPEAR COURT APPEARANCE

KEITH EUGENE BRIDGES Jr. 38 St. Joseph MO
FAILURE TO APPEAR COURT APPEARANCE Z-Released

CONNIE JEAN BRUSHWOOD 63 ST JOSEPH MO
DWI/DUI Z-Released

SHANIN K DONAHUE 40 ST JOSEPH MO
FAILURE TO APPEAR COURT APPEARANCE Z-Released

Platte County authorities are hoping you can help them find two men who robbed the Wood Oil Convenience Store on near Beverly, Missouri last week.

Sergeant Jerin Almond says at about 10:00pm on Monday, March 10th the two men brandished a semi-automatic handgun and demanded money. Almond says they made off with $775 in cash, possibly in a white early 90′s Mercury Sable or Ford Taurus.

One suspect was described as a white male in his early twenties, about 5’8″ with a thin build, light brown or blond hair and no facial hair. He wore a green military style winter stocking cap and held a light-colored garment over the lower portion of his face. This suspect pointed the weapon at the cashier.

The second is a white male in his early twenties, 5’06″ – 5’08″,with dark-colored hair. He wore a purple shirt, dark-colored jeans, black shoes with white around the bottom, and he held a white t-shirt over his mouth.

Anyone with information regarding this crime is urged to call the Platte County Sheriff’s Office at (816) 858-3521 and ask to speak with Detective Gary Davis, or call the TIPS Hotline at (816) 474-TIPS.

Police are looking for an assailant who stabbed a man and woman outside a bar in Saint Joseph Friday morning. Sergeant Keith Dudley says a 34 year old male and 24 year old female left AJ&R’s at 17th and Messanie at about midnight and  were attacked outside.

The suspect stabbed the male victim in the chest. Dudley says the female victim had multiple stab wounds. Both were taken to Heartland by private vehicles with injuries that were considered serious but not life-threatening.

The investigation continues. Anyone with information is asked to call the Tips Hotline at 238.TIPS.