The 2010 census will have a few more jobs to count in St. Joseph, thanks to itself.

The U.S. Census Bureau opened a local office in St. Joseph at 4900 Frederick Blvd., last month for the upcoming census, and brought with it seven full-time, though temporary, jobs. The bureau also will hire as many as 50 part-time workers during its peak operations.

William Lona, a partnership specialist with the census bureau, met with the Buchanan County Commission last week to drum up support for the census and raise awareness for the activity’s importance. Mr. Lona stressed that $400 billion in federal allocations are based on the census, and also mentioned speculation that Missouri could lose one of its seats in the U.S. House of Representatives if other states outpace its population growth.

The temporary full-time jobs pay between $9.25 and $22.25 an hour, while the part-time positions will pay between $7.75 and $13.25 an hour. Most of the full-time positions won’t run past Sept. 30, 2010, and the bureau has yet to fill one of those jobs — an administrative assistant position.

The census bureau also will assign up to 1,000 census takers, who will work in 43 surrounding counties, to the St. Joseph bureau, according to Sherri Norris, an area manager for the Kansas City Regional Census Center.

Town hall

meeting tonight

The Buchanan County Commission will host a town hall meeting tonight at 7 at the Maxwell Heights Presbyterian Church in the Western District.

The church sits on Maxwell Road, just off St. Joseph Avenue, between Karnes and Cook roads.

Rushville to host free dump day

Buchanan County, in conjunction with the Rushville Lions Club, is sponsoring a free dump day in Rushville for town residents from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday at Valley and Market streets. The dump excludes hazardous wastes such as paints, varnishes or similar chemicals. Tires are fine.

R.J. Cooper can be reached

at rjcooper@npgco.com.