Welcome to the city of St Joseph's weekly digital newsletter. City Link is your source for timely and relevant information from your local government. |
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Household Hazardous Waste & Electronics Collection
Mark your calendars for the upcoming Household Hazardous Waste & Electronics event Saturday, April 24, from 9am-3pm, at the MacArthur Drive parking lot (Remington Nature Center). During this event, there is a requirement for residents to remain in their vehicles. Staff will unload all materials. If you have any questions, please contact the landfill at 253-1120.
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Oh No, There's a Hole in the Street!
Unfortunately, it happens. One of the jobs of the street maintenance division (SIMR) is dealing with voids under the street. There are many causes including deteriorated sewer lines, storm lines and water lines as the list goes on and on.
Recently, the division’s drainage crew started a project on Harmon Street. It started with a hole in the street next to the curb. Upon inspection, it was found a large void had formed, caused by a stormwater pipe which had severely deteriorated. Further inspection found more than 300’ of the line beyond repair, necessitating replacement. The line runs between two storm inlets so both inlets will need some work in order to mate the new pipe to the inlet box.
The current pipe lays just on the backside of the curb and gutter, but still within right-of-way. This means property owners along the affected stretch will have their yards disturbed. As always, before the crews pull out of the area, the yards will all be smoothed down with new grass planted and any disturbed mailboxes will be reset.
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Prescription Drug Take Back
Have unused or expired medications? Bring them to the Prescription Drug Take Back event on Saturday, April 24, from 10am-2pm, in the East Hills parking lot off Woodbine for safe disposal. You may bring controlled, non-controlled, over the counter substances and sharps. This event is sponsored by the Drug Free Community Coalition, St. Joseph Youth Alliance, Buchanan County Sheriff's Department and the St. Joseph Police Department. For more information, call 232-0050.
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Pandemic Impact on Law Enforcement
While many will agree wearing masks helps reduce the spread of disease, it has created some problems for law enforcement agencies when it comes to identification of suspects. The old days when someone entered a business, especially a bank, with a mask covering their face and everyone dropped to the ground, it was because they believed it was a robbery. Now it has been accepted as a normal practice and only some don't wear them.
When most have masks covering over half their faces, identifying them has become extremely difficult as this was why most thieves and robbers wore masks in the past. Add a hat or a hoodie and the only thing left are eyes peering out which makes a positive identification difficult. Now, as the majority of people are wearing masks, just think of the times you spoke to someone and they had to pull their mask down for you to recognize exactly who it was.
As the pandemic progressed, it was also not uncommon for people to wear rubber gloves to protect themselves and stay safe. This has created another dilemma for law enforcement as fingerprints became harder to obtain and DNA evidence virtually impossible to collect.
Many believe video evidence is powerful, but a lot of the video captured seldom provides an accurate picture of who committed the crime and these issues coupled with masks make it more challenging to accurately identify a suspect. Most video is taken from up high or across a building, parking lot or yard. It is usually of lower quality and distorted and rarely can you determine who an individual is just from the parking lot video.
While these safety protocols had been put in place for everyone’s safety, they also created some serious difficulties for law enforcement and the ability to solve crimes.
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Chance 2 Dance
Area dance studios will come together on Saturday, April 17, at 7pm, at the historic Missouri Theater for the Chance 2 Dance benefit. This will be the 15th annual benefit performance for the Voices of Courage Child Advocacy Center. To date, this event has raised over $100,000 for Voices of Courage. This event will also include a silent auction, bake sale and a raffle. If you can not make the live event, the performance will also be live-streamed and donations will be accepted. For more information, please call 233-5442 or 232-1744. Tickets for the live event are $13 in advance or $18 at the door.
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