JULY
July 3 – The Platte County Commission postponed its decision on a pass-through measure aimed at getting a county-wide children’s mental health fund on the November election ballot; Former Park Hill Trojan Chris Nilsen, class of 2016, was headed to his second Olympics in Paris, France as a pole vaulter; A request from the Platte County Sheriff’s Office led to a discussion on the proposed law enforcement sales tax and inmate medical services at a county commission meeting; A man was found dead in Houston Lake in an apparent accidental drowning; Platte Countians prepared for Independence Day celebrations.
July 10 – A disagreement between office holders had accusations flying at the Platte County Administration Building when Recorder Christopher Wright accused Treasurer Rob Willard of wrongdoing; Downtown Platte City was packed on the Fourth of July for the first-ever Fetterman’s Hot Dog Eating Contest; Platte County Auditor Kevin Robinson found fault with the commission’s jail sales tax numbers; Melissa Steele Moran announced her run for the second district commission seat, running in the Republican primary in opposition to seated commissioner Joe Vanover.
July 17 – Kyle Anthony Waymon Mendez was charged with killing three people while allegedly driving the wrong way on Interstate 29 near Dearborn; The Platte County R-3 School District’s board of education pondered adding boys volleyball as a sanctioned sport; The City of Parkville completed grant-funded work at the Sullivan Nature Sanctuary; Platte County Commissioners responded to recent criticism and questions about their plan to expand the Platte County Detention Center.
July 24 – Platte City hired its new city administrator – Tom Cole – after about 45 minutes of closed-door deliberation; Platte City Mayor Steve Hoeger announced the resignation of alderman Troy Miller, who had served the city for more than four years; The history and impact of TWA on Platte County was celebrated by the North Platte Historical Museum in Dearborn with a special program and exhibition.
July 31 – Trinity Wrightfield was named Platte County Fair Queen; Two questions on the Aug. 6 election ballot would address the future of the aging and overcrowded Platte County Detention Center, with commissioners hoping for approval of a bond initiative supported by a new sales tax; Platte County Assessor David Cox chose not to run for re-election, leaving the post open for heated competition between current commissioner Dagmar Wood and long-time assessor’s office worker Marcus Farr; In the race for the second district commission seat, incumbent Joe Vanover faced Melissa Moran; The 161st annual Platte County Fair featured celebrity poultry judge Brian Caraker, star of The Chicken People on CMT.
AUGUST
Aug. 7 – Platte County voters rejected both the bond issuance and sales tax proposals made by commissioners to fund expansion and renovation of the Platte County Detention Center; Marcus Farr won the assessor’s office race, paving the way to his November victory with no Democrats on the ballot in November; Joe Vanover fended off his primary challenge, also heading into the November general election unopposed; Dozens of “racers” got together in Weston to circle a building in the Out the Front to the Back race benefiting The Farmers House.
Aug. 14 – Many children and their parents got to see how everyday life in the Midwest once was at the annual Platte County Steam Engine Show; Commissioner went back to the drawing board on the jail expansion plan; Christopher Fry was arrested and charged after a high-speed chase reaching 14 miles per hour and a crash; The City of Parkville moved forward with plans to seek funding for wayside train horns in downtown Parkville.
Aug. 21 – On a cool summer morning with rain in the forecast, a small group gathered at the Platte City Cemetery to honor a fallen hero – Sheriff John Henry Dillingham, who was shot and killed in the line of duty in 1900; Local country music star Matt Snook passed away at the age of 51; The Platte County Commission added its support to a new state program to evaluate pre-trial prisoners to determine if they can be safely released during adjudication; The county was working on an ‘extensive’ Sunshine request made by Jason Maki, famous for filing such requests in Parkville.
Aug. 28 – The petition ballot initiative proposed by the Platte County 4 Kids Coalition will appear on the November election ballot after a court order was filed; Taquiza Johnson was charged with murder for shooting another man in the Platte County Walmart parking lot; Eighteen members and associates of the Pagan’s Motorcycle Club – including a man from Platte City – were indicted by a federal grand jury for a series of armed assaults; Platte County R-3 School District teacher and coach Tyrone Seymour decided to take on a third job as a bus driver to help students get around.
SEPTEMBER
Sept. 4 – It was announced that Platte City’s iconic orange water tower would be cleaned and repainted in its traditional color; The Missouri Department of Transportation planned to close several roadways over the course of weeks to complete culvert work near Dearborn; Platte County Middle School student Ian Lundholm took first place in the Mizzou Creating Original Music Project; Two victims in the wrong-way crash on Interstate 29 in July hired a private attorney to investigate the incident.
Sept. 11 – The Park Hill School District was once again dealing with a racially-charged incident, this time at Park Hill High School when a Black student who was called a racial slur was suspended while the other party faced no penalties for his language; The owners of a bitcoin farm operating south of Platte City were seeking court review of a decision made against their operation at a recent Platte County Planning and Zoning Commission meeting; Tax freeze applications became available for Platte County seniors.
Sept. 18 – The FBI worked with Parkville police to investigate damage that occurred to the unopened new Chase Bank in Parkville when a molotov cocktail was thrown at the ATM; Platte County Commissioners approved two cooperative agreements with Platte City and Parkville to help fund infrastructure improvements; St. Matthew’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Riverside celebrated its 180th anniversary; The bitcoin farm operating south of Platte City agreed to end operations and vacate the premises.
Sept. 25 – The Platte City Police Department and Central Platte Fire Protection District engaged in a competitive blood drive, with firefighters coming out on top; A man was dead in Dearborn after a homeowner defended herself from an apparent daytime home invasion; Angela Hagenbach, founder of the Black Ancestors Awareness Campaign in Weston was named to the Kansas Musical Hall of Fame; The Platte County Sheriff’s Office invested in a 3D scanner to bring crash and investigations into the present; The Platte County DWI Court held its graduation ceremony.
OCTOBER
Oct. 2 – A crew of six linemen from Platte-Clay Electric Cooperative deployed from Kearney in three trucks to assist with Hurricane Helene recovery efforts in Georgia; The Platte County Commission reduced property taxes to one cent at a special administrative session; Local veteran David Knorr made an Honor Flight trip to Washington D.C.; The Park Hill School District set open houses for its redistricting process.
Oct. 9 – Weston held its 6th annual Applefest Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 5-6; Platte City resident Timothy Lowery was sentenced to 19 years in prison for creating and possessing child pornography and molesting a child; Platte County High School announced its homecoming candidates; Paradise Locker Meats in Trimble earned national recognition from the American Association of Meat Processors; The city of Riverside was moving forward with plans to build a 15,000-seat amphitheater.
Oct. 16 – The City of Parkville adopted a calendar of lesser-known or celebrated holidays or recognitions; The Platte County Health Department entered into a service contract with Swope Health for primary care services; Riverside’s Carved Experience expanded to two spooky nights featuring the haunted trail; The Missouri Department of Transportation closed Highway Z over the Platte River until May of 2025.
Oct. 23 – The Little Theatre of Weston took over the haunted trail at Ghost Story Night at the Parkville Nature Sanctuary; The Platte County Health Department’s deputy director Dan Leubbert was honored with a state award; Republican Allyson Berberich, a Parkville alderman, ran against Democrat Charles McDonald in the November general election.
Oct. 30 – More than 2,000 people attended the Parkville Nature Sanctuary’s haunted trail event; An infant under the age of one year died and several other people were injured in a four-vehicle crash involving two semis near Camden Point; 81-year-old Felix Cruz of Wichita, Kan. was recovered dead inside a vehicle submerged in the Missouri River at Parkville; A quarter-cent sales tax to benefit mental health services for at-risk youth was on the November ballot; Platte County R-3 voters were asked to attach the district to the Metropolitan Community College District; Platte City hoped voters would approve a measure on the ballot asking to issue up to $24 million in bonds to update the city’s wastewater treatment plant.
NOVEMBER
Nov. 6 – The holiday lights were hung along Main Street in Platte City; the quarter-cent children’s mental health care tax was approved by voters; R-3 voters again turned down attachment to the community college district; Allyson Berberich won the election for the first district commission seat; Platte City’s sewer bond issue easily passed; Joe Vanover was re-elected.
Nov. 1 – The Northland Career Center benefited from some recent donations to its program to establish the Northland Workforce Development Center; Dean Katerndahl announced he would run for a second term as mayor of Parkville; The fatal shooting of a man who entered a home in rural Platte County in September was ruled as a justified use of force.
Nov. 20 – The South Platte Memorial Post of the VFW in Parkville purchased the old Park College Power Plant as its new headquarters; Residents in Ferrelview got organized against a planned industrial development just feet from their front doors; The Park Hill School District issued its final redistricting maps, with approval slated for December; The Parkville Symphonic Band celebrated 30 years; The new Buck O’Neil Bridge opened to traffic after nearly two years of construction.
Nov. 27 – The Black Ancestors Awareness Campaign and Weston residents worked to get the Halfway House Cellar nominated to the National Register of Historic Places; A new event kicked off in Weston, featuring wassailing to apple trees and a European style Christmas market; Lt. Zachary Kelly, of Parkville, returned to the Kansas City area for 2024 Navy Week; The City of Platte City prepared for its annual lighting ceremony, this year billed as the Miracle on Main Street.
DECEMBER
Dec. 4 – Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd gave commissioners his annual update on crime in Platte County, stating the county wasn’t immune to big-city crime; Platte City held its annual lighting ceremony and honored one of its biggest supporters – Bill Collins; Parkville’s Christmas on the River was set for the weekend, featuring the annual fireworks show; The City pf Parkville was searching for a new alderman to replace Allyson Berberich; A Platte County man died during the execution of a federal search warrant.
Dec. 11 – The Platte County Pirates football team won the Missouri Class 5 Championship; Central Power Systems and Services announced it would open a facility in Platte City, bringing more than 200 new jobs; The Park Hill School District announced some last-minute revisions to its redistricting plan, based on public and board feedback; Platte County High School announced its Aspiring Entrepreneurs program award winners.
Dec. 18 – The Riverside Police Department held its annual Shop with a Cop; Commissioners refused to implement the new children’s mental health tax approved by voters in November, citing a loophole in state law; Platte Purchase Middle School teacher Daria Opanasenko-Davydova led a group of Platte County graduates on a tour of Italy; The Park Hill School District’s revised redistricting plan was approved.
Dec. 25 – The Missouri Sheriff’s Association training academy class graduated at Platte County High School, with four of its eight graduates finding work as new Platte County deputies; The YMCA ended the long-running Blue Wave swim team at its Platte County Community Center North; The orange Platte City water tower will be repainted, after the color came out not as orange as hoped.