November 07, 2009
Joe Blumberg - City Government Reporter
County agrees to city health services contract
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Buchanan County residents will continue to receive health care services at the Patee Market Health Center for another year. The County Commission had decided to opt out of its annual $135,000 contract with the city of St. Joseph for health services at the city/county health department. But the commission on Wednesday voted 2-1 to agree to a one-year, $63,339 contract for public health care services for county residents.
County goes for 21st century approachTuesday, June 23, 2009
Buchanan County made its first solid strides in its new “strategic planning” effort.
County officeholders on Monday formalized 10 short-term goals, with an emphasis on actually getting them done, instead of “as soon as possible.”
“Time frames of ASAP never get done,” said Buchanan County Prosecuting Attorney Dwight Scroggins.
Triumph seeks $1.25M from insurers over explosion
Monday, June 22, 2009
Triumph Foods is suing three insurance companies for refusing to cover $1.25 million in injury payments to victims of the 2005 gas explosion during the pork plant’s construction. Triumph agreed to pay $1.25 million of the $12.25 million settlement, with 20 workers injured or killed during the accident. Of the three other companies involved, gas-line installer IHP Industrial paid $7 million; general contractor Epstein and Sons paid $2.5 million; and gas utility Missouri Gas Energy paid $1.5 million.
The lawsuit, filed in Buchanan County Circuit Court, claims that Hartford Casualty Insurance Company refused to pay Triumph’s portion of the settlement.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Navigating controversial issues and maintaining public openness can be a difficult two-step for public officials.
Pipelines boost taxes, economyWednesday, June 17, 2009
The total tax value of two new gas and oil pipelines will come close to the values of the local electric and phone utilities in Buchanan County. One pipeline alone contributed about $425,000 to the St. Joseph School District last year, and a total of $732,983 to schools, fire districts and governments throughout the county. That’s the ongoing counterpart to the one-time boost in hotel rooms, meals, gas and supplies that businesses welcome with open arms.
Countywide sales still laggingSunday, June 14, 2009
Buchanan County’s June sales tax report marked an unfavorable halfway point for the year, with a big slide in a big month.
Shearin, Capell put a stamp on this council’s termSunday, June 7, 2009
Vince Capell started regrowing his mustache just in time.
YMCA thief gets probationFriday, June 5, 2009
A woman was sentenced to two years of probation for stealing $11,000 from the St. Joseph Family YMCA.
Buchanan Co. Recorder will not seek re-electionFriday, June 5, 2009
Buchanan County Recorder of Deeds Karen Higginbotham will not seek re-election in 2010.
Getaway driver sentencedThursday, May 28, 2009
A getaway driver will receive institutional drug treatment for her role in a near-fatal robbery.
Tax deadline passes quietlyWednesday, May 27, 2009
Property taxes will decrease by about 10 percent this year for people living in the St. Joseph School District. Tuesday marked the deadline to place a school tax levy on the August ballot. August is the latest a tax could be approved and still be included on fall tax bills, according to Buchanan County Clerk Pat Conway and the school district. The April vote against the permanent renewal of the 63-cent school levy has now, in effect, become a vote to cut school taxes.
Northwest’s next chapter about to begin
Saturday, May 23, 2009
MARYVILLE, Mo. — Dr. John Jasinski promises not to give preference to the students. He also promises not to give preference to faculty.
Instead, the new president of Northwest Missouri State University promises to be “people centered.”
Dr. Jasinski on Friday afternoon was formally introduced as Northwest’s 10th president.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Alan Schnitker crashed his BMW at over 100 mph in 2007, ending his life and leaving his family to sort out the wreckage of his estate, at one time valued at near $3 million.
Regional spelling champs off to bigger, better things
Friday, May 22, 2009
Morgan Brown heads to Washington, D.C., next week for a second crack at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
She need not feel the burden of blazing an uncharted path from Northwest Missouri, even as a repeat contestant. And history indicates she’ll do well in life, regardless of how she performs in the bee.
The News-Press tracked down most of Northwest Missouri’s Scripps representatives since 1992. They include high school valedictorians, college summa cum laudes, lawyers and a soon-to-be doctor. All before their early 30s.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Heartland Health has settled a lawsuit with three people who alleged unsavory collections practices by Midwestern Health Management and Northwest Financial Services.
Police not focused on gambling in investigation of poker game robberySaturday, May 16, 2009
St. Joseph police continue their investigation of an armed robbery of a poker game last month.
Highway projects float to surface
Friday, May 15, 2009
Some large and somewhat unexpected highway projects could be targeted by the Missouri Department of Transportation and Congressman Sam Graves in future federal legislation.
The most expensive project would relieve the complicated bottleneck at Interstate 29 and U.S. Highway 169 South.
Another potential project — an exit at I-29 and Faraon Street — has not been discussed much in public since being proposed in 2001. Others include a highway overpass in Faucett and a railroad overpass in southern Buchanan County.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Buchanan County will freeze property tax assessments this year, Assessor Scot Van Meter said Monday.
This lingering question — Would property appraisals increase despite a bad real estate market? — likely provides a measure of relief until 2011 for most homeowners and business owners.
And combined with the failure of the St. Joseph School District’s levy, the assessment freeze guarantees that property taxes will actually decline in St. Joseph unless the district receives approval for a levy increase later this year.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Saving money requires either making more or spending less. All statistics indicate people are not making more money.
The other shoe continues to drop, hard.
Figures released this week show that taxable sales in Buchanan County decreased by 10 percent in February, compared to February 2008. That makes four straight months of declining sales here.
It’s an indication of the obvious — the result of decade-high unemployment, dwindling stock portfolios and a general financial concern. But these figures are unexpected for local and state governments that rely on sales taxes instead of property taxes alone.
Friday, May 8, 2009
The regional director of OATS Inc. is charged with statutory sodomy for acts that allegedly occurred more than 10 years ago.
Buchanan County out of ag/expo boardFriday, May 8, 2009
Buchanan County stepped back from the Buchanan County Agribusiness Expo Center board, attempting to let the effort evolve in private hands.
“By design we want to be viewed as a grass-roots effort to separate ourselves from the county, only because we want to deliver what we think the community wants to see,” said chairman Marty Grey.
Buchanan County Eastern District Commissioner Dan Hausman will be a full voting member of the 10-person board, “in his private capacity.”
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
A path into the future seems clearer for the Buchanan County Drug Strike Force. A large Strike Force grant appears to be going down drastically in the short term, but stimulus money should supplement the reduced grant this year, according to Sheriff Mike Strong and the Missouri Department of Public Safety. And for 2010, the U.S. Congress has restored that grant funding to normal levels. The Strike Force had suffered years of federal cutbacks through the federal Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant.
Lawson Deal Will Benefit S.S. Victims
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Social Security to pay back clients who are owed money.
Lawson deal will benefit victimsSunday, May 3, 2009
A complicated and slow restitution process in the Bonnie Sue Lawson case just became much simpler.
Also, a second person is being investigated by the FBI for fraud in the case, according to four people who attended a meeting this week between the FBI and Buchanan County officials. That second possible theft could total about $14,000, sources said.
The Social Security Administration confirmed Friday that it will directly repay Ms. Lawson’s victims rather than repay them slowly as Ms. Lawson’s restitution trickles in.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
The St. Joseph School District needed 173 additional “yes” votes to win permanent approval for its 63-cent levy, and a margin that thin allows many plausible explanations for defeat.
But in a margin so thin, a glaring discrepancy stands out: Younger people — parents of school-aged children — stayed home twice as often as older voters on April 7.
Of registered voters ages 18 to 44, turnout was 24 percent. Of voters 45 and older, turnout was 51 percent, according to figures released this week by Buchanan County Clerk Pat Conway.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
The St. Joseph/Buchanan County Health Department has no county control and no county staff, and now it’ll have no county funding.
Blinde charged with sexual assaultWednesday, April 29, 2009
Joshua Blinde successfully fought a charge against him last year, and again he has that opportunity.
Speaker wants to share pain of sister’s murderSunday, April 26, 2009
Linda Patton doesn’t try to hide from the pain of her sister’s murder. She says there’s no point in trying to forget what happened almost 19 years ago.
Float away slowlySaturday, April 25, 2009
A yellow school bus skidded around a switchback mountain road in Colorado, giving its passengers a feel for the white-water ride awaiting them in the canyon below.
Driver faces involuntary manslaughter chargeTuesday, April 21, 2009
A man accused of a hit-and-run death of a motorcyclist on the Belt Highway is now charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Socialism, or social values?
Sunday, April 19, 2009
The federal government is in the business of redistributing the wealth. Or of providing services its citizens value, depending on who’s running your presidential campaign.
“Redistributing the wealth” became an October rallying cry to link President Obama with socialism. People who work for a living would give more money to more people who do not work for a living.
Indeed, the largest federal program does go to people who don’t work. And the program is sure to grow.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
A new board will meet for the first time next week to begin the heavy lifting for the Buchanan County Agri-Business Expo Center.
The project that began with an idea for a fairgrounds is under the wing of Dan Hausman, Eastern District commissioner.
Mr. Hausman on Friday announced the board had been formed and would be introduced to the public sometime after next week’s meeting. He also said the meeting would not be open to the public, so the board members can meet each other before being “thrown to the wolves.”
A prosecutor for ‘the worst thing’
Thursday, April 16, 2009
The defendant is on the witness stand, drawing on a map to show where police arrested him. He tries to show that he wasn’t trying to meet the 13-year-old girl from the Internet — that it was a misunderstanding.
Prosecutor Pam Blevins objects to showing the drawing to the jury.
The lawyers approach the judge’s bench to argue the objection. The defense lawyer is holding the drawing at his side. The drawing faces the jury, perhaps absentmindedly.
Ms. Blevins, in heels, is several inches taller than the defense lawyer. She walks around to the lawyer’s side.
She snatches the drawing from his hand.
She loses the objection, and the jury gets to see the drawing. Later, the jury convicts the man of enticement and attempted statutory sodomy.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Former Buchanan County Public Administrator Bonnie Sue Lawson was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison for embezzling $174,405 in Social Security funds. Also Tuesday, current Public Administrator Bill McMurray said he’s been informed that the FBI’s investigation of Ms. Lawson’s office is not complete. “(The FBI) told me the investigation is continuing into Bonnie Lawson’s office and some additional information is being turned over to the U.S. Attorney,” Mr. McMurray said.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
County officials’ appointees to the TIF Commission will be ... themselves.
Hawks circling overheadSaturday, April 11, 2009
Something is very, very wrong with “The Soloist.”
Driver pleads guiltySaturday, April 11, 2009
An Atchison, Kan., woman pleaded guilty Friday to hindering prosecution for her role in a man’s attempt to cover up a vicious convenience store robbery.
Man found innocent of molesting girlThursday, April 9, 2009
David Buckler remains in prison, but not as a child molester.
Voter turnout projected at 30 percentTuesday, April 7, 2009
Opposition argues that the permanent school tax levy on today’s ballot would “give up the right” to vote on it ever again. Argument aside, however, most people will likely forgo their right to vote when given the chance today.
92 dogs missing from puppy mill rescuedSaturday, April 4, 2009
Ninety-two dogs from an alleged Daviess County puppy and primate mill were handed over to authorities Friday, but perhaps 100 dogs and several primates remain in unknown locations.
Probation, short jail terms given in salvia caseWednesday, April 1, 2009
Two brothers received probation and short jail terms for selling the drug “salvia” at a St. Joseph shop.
St. Joseph man gets prison for fraudWednesday, April 1, 2009
A would-be St. Joseph developer failed to pay any restitution in a fraud case and now will serve at least 120 days in prison.
St. Joseph man sentenced for Internet enticementTuesday, March 31, 2009
A St. Joseph man was sentenced to 15 years in prison Monday for Internet enticement and attempted statutory sodomy of authorities posing as a 13-year-old girl.
Shoppes' future appears secure
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Ruth Nesbitt and her late husband, Tom, have done quite well for their community of Mesa, Ariz. An engineer, Mr. Nesbitt ran a construction company. Mrs. Nesbitt’s family donated the land for a local hospital, and she has served on local bank and hospital boards. The couple made a large donation to the hospital, which last year gave them the annual community service award. The Nesbitts also took a portion of their real estate earnings in 2006 and bought a share of The Shoppes at North Village, in St. Joseph.
Boudreaux’s loses judgmentFriday, March 27, 2009
A St. Joseph restaurant’s foray into Kansas City has ended with a $900,000 judgment against the owner for breaking the lease.
Boudreaux’s Louisiana Seafood and Steaks opened a second location on Mission Road in Leawood, Kan., nearly two years ago, but it closed in late 2008. The Leawood landlord, Saddle Properties LLC, received a judgment in Johnson County, Kan., against restaurant owner Robert Boudreau, of St. Joseph, and his company, No X Cajun Heritage Inc.
Courthouse plans to go smoke-free
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Cigarette smokers do their business in the former Courthouse Café, where coffee was cheap and gossip was cheaper.
Tax assessments in limbo
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Here’s some icing on the bad-economy cake: 2009 is supposed to be a reassessment year for property taxes in Missouri. Because this year’s reassessment would be based on home sales in 2006-07, it could reflect the housing market at its peak. In other words, tax assessments would swell, despite the bubble having popped. Numbers from 2006 to 2007 do “say we need a slight increase or to stay even,” said Buchanan County Assessor Scot Van Meter. “But after going through ’08 and seeing the values come down ... I’m trying to go by common sense this year.”
‘It was a good organization with the right thoughts’
Friday, March 20, 2009
One story line for Neighborhood Housing Services Inc. follows the things it didn’t do. It didn’t produce proper accountings. It didn’t give an inch to then-Mayor Larry Stobbs. It didn’t cannibalize its visionary director, the late David Denman.
Buchanan County eyes trash cleanups
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
The only treasure in this trash is the small fortune it costs to haul away. Buchanan County road crews are cleaning up about a half dozen illegal dump sites, mostly south of St. Joseph. Western District Commissioner Ron Hook said the less-than-legal haulers prefer drain ditches and creek beds for all manner of refuse, from animal carcasses to mattresses. “They just don’t want to pay the dumping fees, and it’s just laziness,” Mr. Hook said. “They don’t want to have to drive to the landfill.”
Charges dismissed in spat over repairs
Friday, March 13, 2009
Mark Weber doesn’t get his day in court.
The former pizza shop owner doesn’t have to prepare evidence, cross-examine witnesses or make a closing argument. Mr. Weber had planned to represent himself in a jury trial next Tuesday.
But Buchanan County Prosecutor Dwight Scroggins’
office dismissed the case against Mr. Weber.
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