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Established Sept. 4, 1864 - 158th Year - No. 35
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Redistricting Proposal Released Joint Map Ready To Go Before House, Senate The respective chairs of the Missouri House Special Committee on Redistricting and Senate Select Committee on Redistricting jointly released their proposed changes to Missouri’s congressional district map on Friday. The map, which is treated as a legislative bill, was filed Friday as HB 2117 by Rep. Dan Shaul, RImperial. The proposed congressional map balances several required criteria including compliance with the Missouri and U.S. Constitutions as well as the Voting Rights Act. The map’s districts are compact, contiguous, and equal in population. The districts adhere to the doctrine of “one person, one vote” and have preserved the cores of each existing congressional district to the greatest extent possible. “This is a fair and constitutional map with common-sense boundaries that everyday Missourians can recognize,” said Senator Mike Bernskoetter, R-Jefferson City, chair of the Senate Select Committee on Redis-
Vaccine Became Readily Available For Everyone
Proposed Missouri Congressional Redistricting Map
tricting. “This map, which must be passed by both the House and Senate, is also drawn to achieve the greatest amount of consensus possible. My House counterpart and I chose to make this joint announcement to emphasize the great care that went into drawing a map we were confident could survive legislative, judicial, and public scrutiny,” Bernskoetter added.
Proposed New Boundaries Of Missouri’s Sixth District
“The task of creating this congressional district map required balancing the legislative process while maintaining compactness, contiguity, equal population, and preserving the existing districts’ core identities. I look forward to working with my House and Senate colleagues to deliver HB 2117 to Governor Parson for his signature without delay,” said Representative Shaul, chair of the House Special Committee on Redistricting. Both congressional and state legislative districts are redrawn every ten years upon the completion of the census. Missouri’s congressional districts are drawn by state legislators and state legislative districts are drawn by independent, bipartisan, citizen commissions. The 2021 redistricting process has been compressed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and technical delays by the U.S. Census Bureau.
No Vaccine Mandate For Head Start Judge Rules Biden Can’t Require
Teacher Vaccines
MONROE, La. (AP) — A ruling in federal court on Saturday should have an effect on the Green Hills Head Start Program. A Louisiana federal judge ruled Saturday that President Joe Biden cannot require teachers in the Head Start early education program to be vaccinated against COVID-19, handing a victory to 24 states that had sued the federal government. U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty wrote that the Biden administration unlawfully bypassed Congress when ordering that workers in Head Start programs be vaccinated by Jan. 31 and that students 2 years or older be masked when indoors or when in
2021 Saw COVID Take 30 More Lives In Grundy County
close contact outdoors. The ruling affects Missouri, including the Green Hills Head Start program. At a Dec. 21 meeting of trustees at North Central Missouri College, which administers the program locally, GHHS Directors Janet Gott and Sue Ewigman had told trustees that the mandate would certainly affect their program and in fact, had already resulted in a couple of resignations. In addition, they were certain it would affect the number of students that would be served as parents who didn’t want their very young children wearing masks all day would opt to pull them from the program. Head Start is a federally funded program that promotes education for children under the age of 6 who are from low-income families. Doughty, an appointee of
then-President Donald Trump, wrote that the separation of powers is crucial to the country's founding and quoted former President Ronald Reagan, who said “the nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’” “If the Executive branch is allowed to usurp the power of the Legislative branch to make laws, then this country is no longer a democracy — it is a monarchy,” Doughty wrote. Republican attorneys general who were among the 24 states involved in the lawsuit praised Doughty's decision. “This victory will help ensure that numerous Head Start programs will continue to operate rather than have to fire teachers and cut back services to children,” Alabama Attorney General Marshall said in a
news release. “And this win will forestall the nonsensical and damaging practice of forcing masks on two-year-olds.” It was not immediately clear whether the federal government would appeal the decision to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. Doughty’s ruling is similar to a Friday ruling in which a federal judge also blocked the Head Start mandate in Texas. In addition to Missouri, Saturday's ruling affects Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Wyoming and West Virginia.
When it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021 brought good news and bad news to Grundy County. The good news, of course, was the availability of vaccines that could prevent or at least lessen the severity of the virus. The bad news was that 30 additional Grundy County residents died from the virus and its effects. In the Jan. 5, 2021 Trenton Republican-Times, it was reported there were 79 active cases of COVID-19, with 28 deaths having been reported up to that date. In all, Grundy County had seen 890 total cases, including 671 confirmed cases and 219 probable cases. Students in the Trenton R-9 School District were wearing masks to school and quarantines were commonplace - the word “quarantine” itself finding its way into the vocabularies of even the youngest students. Compare that situation with Jan. 3, 2022. There are 19 active cases, with 2,028 total cases and 59 deaths reported. Grundy County residents can get vaccines and boosters and many residents traveled to the monoclonal antibody facility in Cameron for treatment prior to its closure at the end of the year after providing 821 courses of treatment. Masks are still seen here and there, but students in the Trenton R-9 and surrounding districts are no longer mandated to wear them. In addition, quarantines and isolations are no longer mandated as a Cole County judge ruled that local public health agencies do not have that power. The CDC recently lowered the optimal isolation period for a person exposed to the virus. The R-9 School District no longer conducts contact tracing and the Grundy County Health Department has changed how it operates in relation to notifying residents of possible exposure. Grundy County Health Department Administrator Elizabeth Gibson said the
year has definitely brought changes - and sadness as well - as the deaths attributed to the virus have more than doubled. But she does see some hope. “This time last year we were just getting started with vaccinations,” she explained. “We were vaccinating only health care workers and couldn’t vaccinate widely until April and May.” Last year, the health department was notifying those who not only tested positive but those who were close contacts to those people. That has changed as well. “We’re calling people who test positive but we’re not reaching out to close contacts. We’re telling those who are positive to do that. The thing people need to remember is that when you’ve been exposed you can develop the disease and be infectious before you show any symptoms.” The Cole County ruling has had an effect on what the health department is allowed to do and what other entities can do to try to contain the virus in schools and workplaces. “That ruling has had a chilling effect on what we do, on how schools handle it and how workplaces handle it,” she said. “People who maybe should quarantine are out and about. I think those who are sick are staying home, but those who don’t have symptoms but have been exposed are out. So that means the rest of us need to be aware of that and take more personal responsibility.” A year later, the best defense against COVID-19 is to receive one of the three vaccines that are available. While only 36.9 percent of eligible Grundy County residents are fully vaccinated, Ms. Gibson said the number continues to rise. “We do all three and we’re busy every day we offer it. We still have incentive money available for those who are getting their first or second shot. It creeps up slowly, but we’re busy giving vaccines.” The next clinic is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 6. Appointments can be made by calling the health department at 660-359-4196.
BRIEFS Park Board To Meet
WEATHER ALMANAC Day: High/Low Rain Snow Thursday 28/20 — — Friday 42/28 — — Saturday 30/6 .21 3.6 Sunday 14/-3 — — Barton Campus Sunday 21/-5 — —
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TONIGHT
The Trenton Park Board will hold a meeting at the Upper Moberly Park shelter house on Wednesday, Jan. 5 at 5:15 p.m. Items on the announced agenda include discussions of the 2022 park budget and pool staffing. Committee reports and the superintendent’s report will also be heard.
Ambulance Director Position
The position of director of the Grundy County Ambulance remains unfilled as of press time Monday morning. According to Grundy County Presiding Commissioner Phil Ray, a candidate has been offered the position but has not yet accepted. He said he expects a decision to be made today (Tuesday). In the meantime, Steve Tracy, who has filled the position on a part-time basis for the past several years, remains the director in addition to his parademic duties. He was invited to apply for the full-time position.