by Jay Kerner

Well, it’s time to find another $100 car again. I started to say this was a relatively new phenomenon, but it’s really not. I started out with $100 cars. The first one was a 1964 Buick Special I bought at 16 with money I made working at Miller’s Grill. (Still the best tenderloin I ever had). It was a honey with custom plastic slip covers that left brand new upholstery when I cut them off. (Full story)

by Danny Phillips, Independent Writer

I first became aware of Jesse James, the outlaw, as a kid. Growing up in a small Missouri town a couple hours from St. Joe, it’s nearly impossible to escape the massive shadow cast by the legendary gunslinger.

I met Jesse James, the tattoo artist, at Inkslinger Tattoo where he was working as a visiting artist. Now James has ridden back into St. Joe, this time as an owner of his own tattoo shop, named The Candy Shop ( 722 Felix). (Full story)

by Wayne Jensen, Source Publications 

To a great degree we, or the culture we adopt, are the products of our past. In many cases not our past but the past of those that have gone before us either as parents or the forefathers of the community that we inhabit. As example look to your religious life, how many chose through careful examination and how many of you accepted the religion of your parents?

As for our State of Missouri it goes back to the pioneers that settled our territory and the confusion that was created during the Civil War or as many Missourians will still tell you, The War of Northern Aggression.  It is from that period it is believed that the moniker of Missouri as the Show Me State was derived. Because most of the Missourians that fought against the Federal Troops were irregulars who wore civilian clothes as were those that spied for the Federal Troops and even those who were non-combatants there was a constant fear of the bona-fides of someone you did not know when meeting them on the trail or in the bush. So either the person you approached or you yourself would inquire to the others loyalties in the parlance of the day by asking the other to prove it or “Show Me”. (Full story)

 By Dan Danford
Family Investment Center

“We live here by accident, not on purpose,” is how I often explain that we came to spend our lives in St. Joseph. True, we both grew up here and – more astonishingly – remained here as adults. We’ve raised three outstanding daughters here, and we’ve both enjoyed rewarding careers. But, the truth is, we never intended to stay.

I share this point only because it helps explain why St. Joseph is special and unique. Our life experience highlights some of the interesting qualities that render this town a worthy site for living. And investing.

There’s an old John Fogerty song where he sings (screams, really), “…put me in, Coach, I’m ready to play…”  If you follow sports at all, you hear this theme repeatedly. “I just want a chance to play,” prays every athlete who ever graced a proverbial bench. It’s the universal song of aspiring athletes.

But I think it applies to most of us. A fulfilling life requires opportunity. I think that’s what most of us want more than anything. It applies in our families, in our work, in our play. We just want a chance – a genuine opportunity – to do better tomorrow than we do today.

St. Joseph sports some frustrating quirks. The place is stodgy, and cliquey, and maddeningly slow to adopt anything resembling change. Stay here long enough and you’ll likely develop one of those love-hate things for this aging river town. There is stuff you’ll surely love, but – just as surely – other things you’ll come to loathe. It’s a complex relationship for most of us that live and work here.

But those exact frustrations create some terrific opportunities. And that’s what keeps us in St. Joseph. (Full story)