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FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, 2021
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Established Sept. 4, 1864 - 157th Year - No. 98
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BRIEFS
Blood Drive Is Monday
The Community Blood Center will hold a blood drive in Trenton on Monday, Aug. 16. The blood drive will be held from noon to 6 p.m. at the North 65 Center, 2901 Hoover Dr., with the RSVP and the Trenton Lions Club sponsoring the event. Appointments are not required but are preferred and can be made online at savealifenow.org/group, Group Code: TN. Donors will receive a Royals t-shirt or hat (the gift will be redeemed online after the drive). For additional details about the drive, contact Edna Foster at 660-359-3836 or at grundycorsvpusinmo@gmail.com. Masks are required for all donors and a full list of COVID-19 safety protocols can be found at savealifenow.org/coronavirus.
GHAS Plans Saturday Event
The Green Hills Animal Shelter will be hosting a free event this Saturday at the shelter. The “Dogs Days of Summer Celebration” is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will include tours of the shelter as well as a bounce house and free snow cones for the kids. A pulled pork sandwich meal will also be offered for sale as well as the sale of pulled pork by the pound and beans by the pint. All proceeds from the meal will benefit the shelter.
Spickard, Laredo Set Levies
The Spickard and Laredo boards of aldermen met this week, setting their tax levies for 2021. According to information provided by City Clerk Amy Chapman, the board set the levy at .9917 on the $100 assessed valuation. Board members also discussed hang tags and shut off notices and tabled a water user agreement until the September meeting. It was noted that the city is still having problems with customers flushing wipes into the sewer system and clogging the pump. A water loss report for July showed a loss of 9.32 percent. Under public comment it was announced that a tent revival will be held at the city park on Friday, Aug. 27, with social distancing encouraged. In addition, the Spickard Fall Festival Committee will host a fun day at the park on Saturday, Sept. 11, with Mayor Alan Tharp and the city council being asked to carry flags in the parade. The next regular meeting is Monday, Sept. 13. Laredo aldermen met Tuesday and set their levy at .9976 on the $100 assessed valuation, the same as last year. Of that amount, .6983 is for the general revenue fund and .2993 is for the special street fund. Laredo aldermen will also meet again on Sept. 13 at 5:30 p.m.
Grundy R-5 Board Agenda
The Grundy R-5 Board of Education will meet in regular session at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 18 to set its 2021 tax levy, followed by the regular meeting at 6:15. The agenda for the regular meeting includes the audit report, COVID-19 report, a maintenance update and walk-through of the elementary and high school buildings, approval of eligibility criteria for Free and Reduced Lunches, approval of the Special Education Compliance Model, review and approval of preliminary bus routes, review and approval of the Annual Secretary of the Board report, principal reports, approval of transfer of funds, a financial report and a closed session to discuss personnel and student discipline.
No Masks To Start School Year Hostetler Sworn In As Newest R-9 Board Member At Meeting Students in the Trenton R-9 School District will not be required to wear masks as they begin the 2021-22 school year on Aug. 24. With several patrons in attendance at Tuesday night’s meeting, the Trenton R-9 Board of Education discussed its “Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan”, one that had been developed back in June and included the optional wearing of masks for all staff, students and visitors. The protocols handed out during the meeting state that while masks are optional, they are “highly recommended” for unvaccinated staff and students inside the facilities. By federal order, masks will be required on all school buses. It also included information that all students will take part in in-person learning and no remote learning will be offered with the exception of emergency situations. That’s how the year will begin - however it was noted in June and again at Tuesday’s meeting that the plan, which is required for the
R-T Photo/Ronda Lickteig
Rural Trenton resident Jason Hostetler was given the oath of office by Trenton R-9 Board of Education Secretary Susan Leeper Tuesday evening after being officially appointed to fill an unexpired term on the board.
district to receive its ESSER III Funding, is a living document that could be altered based on changes in the area’s COVID-19 case data. With the mask issue basically already decided, board members expressed their concern about “blanket quarantines” and what they consider
to be mistakes made last fall when the district grappled with how to safely re-open. Board member Melissa King expressed her concern about the blanket quarantines and pointed out the fact that different districts handle that issue in various ways. The Centers for [See R-9, Page 3]
City Council Approves Rate Hike Electric Base Rate Moves From $14 To $18 For the second meeting in a row, the Trenton City Council discussed increasing the electric service base rate. This time, the issue passed on a 7-1 vote. At the July 26 meeting, a motion had been made to raise the base electric rate by $7, from $14 to $21. The $7 increase would have not only helped pay back a $785,000 loan the city had to take out following the February polar vortex event, but would have kept the elecric department fund balance from continuing to lose money. In the past year, that fund has gone from about $4.8 million to about $4 million. The July 26 motion failed 3-4, with Third Ward
Why The $4 Increase?
The $4 increase to the base electric rate is designed to cover the $12,000 monthly payment the city has to make on a no-interest loan it took out following last February’s polar vortex event. The loan, which was for $785,000, has meant that, without considering any other costs, the electric department reserve fund is losing $12,000 a month. With nearly 3,000 meters in town, the $4 per month increase will make that payment and keep the reserves in better shape. As has been noted at the past several city council meetings, the reserve fund has shrunk from $4.8 million to around $4 million in a year. The fund represents all cash for the electric department and is the fund where all expenses, including payroll, are paid from. Councilmembers said they are in favor of this small increase because in the past, councils have not made small increases as necessary and were then forced to approve double-digit increases to keep the electric fund solvent. Councilman Robert Romesburg and Fourth Ward Councilmen Duane Urich and John Dolan voting yes; First Ward Councilman Lance Otto, Second Ward
Councilmen Marvin Humphreys and Danny Brewer, Third Ward Councilman David Mlika voting no; and First Ward Councilman Kevin Klinginsmith being
Commission To Set Levy
absent. At Monday’s meeting, it was Otto who made the motion to increase the base rate by $4, with Romesburg seconding the motion. The motion passed with Mlika voting no. With the $4 increase, the base rate will now be $18 per month to have electric service, but the increase does not affect usage rates. The payment on the city’s loan is $12,000 per month and with just under 3,000 meters, the $4 should cover the cost of the loan. The increase will go into effect with the October bill, according to Trenton Municipal Utilities Comptroller Rosetta Marsh. In other business, the council passed an ordinance that modifies the municipal court costs, reducing the costs from $41.50 to $38.50. The ac[See COUNCIL, Page 5]
The Grundy County Commission will meet Tuesday, with the setting of the 2021 tax levy on the agenda. The proposed levy is .1967 on the $100 assessed valuation and the item has been placed on the agenda for a 9 a.m. discussion. At 9:30 a.m., the commission plans to meet with Chad Crawford to discuss the possible abatement of back taxes on a property located within the county.
Republican-Times
COVID Cases Rising
Day: High/Low Rain Monday 95/74 — Tuesday 87/72 — Wednesday 96/77 —
The Grundy County Health Department is reporting 73 active cases of the COVID-19 virus as of Thursday morning. Grundy County Health Department Administrator Elizabeth Gibson said that brings the total number of cases since the pandemic began in March 2020 to 1,432. A total of 42 county residents have died from COVID. Mrs. Gibson said she is seeing infections in people of all ages and noted that only 1.5 percent (41) of the cases are breakthrough cases among those who were fully vaccinated. A total of 27 percent of Grundy County residents have been fully vaccinated. Ms. Gibson stressed that those who don’t wish to be vaccinated can use non-pharmaceutical “common sense” guidelines such as wearing a mask, social distancing and frequently washing hands to minimize their risk of contracting the virus. “The more we resist the common sense guidelines, the longer it will last,” she said. For those who do wish to receive a vaccine, a Moderna vaccine clinic is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 16 from 2 to 4 p.m. Appointments can be made by calling the health department at 660-359-4196.
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WEATHER ALMANAC
Barton Campus Wednesday 93/75 —
WHAT’S INSIDE
R-T Photo/Wendell Lenhart
Cain Pester and his mother, Megan, were among those who enjoyed an ice cream social at the Rock Barn Tuesday evening to celebrate Missouri’s Bicentennial. The event was hosted by the Trenton Area Chamber of Commerce and Main Street Trenton, and brought in $614 in donations for the Trenton Police Department’s “Shop With a Cop” program. Pictured passing out the treats, provided by Allen and Linda Berry, Kendall Foster Crop Insurance, State Farm Insurance-Dillon Harp Agency and Tolson Grain and Livestock, are Venna Hicks, left, and Kathi Brewer.
SPORTS................PAGE 2 OP/ED................PAGE 4 CALENDAR..........PAGE 5 AGRICULTURE....PAGE 6 FAIR EXTRA........PAGE 8 COMICS..............PAGE 14 CROSSWORDS...PAGE 15 CLASSIFIEDS.....PAGE 16 AREA.................PAGE 18