LOCAL

FUTURES TRADING - CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE Local Farmer Awarded Grant

Open High Low Last Chg Aug. 2 WHEAT 5,000 bu minimum; cents per bushel Sep 704 728¾ 704 723 +19¼ Dec 713 738 713 732¼ +19¼ Mar 722¼ 745 722 739½ +19 May 723½ 742¾ 722 738½ +18¾ Jul 700 719 700 716¼ +15¼ Sep 700½ 718½ 700½ 717½ +14½ Dec 709½ 723¾ 708¾ 720¾ +12½ Mar 713¼ 725¾ 713¼ 722¼ +11 May 712 712 712 712 +10¼ Jul 680 691¼ 680 691¼ +13½ Est. sales 58,256. Fri.'s sales 100,386 Fri.'s open int 359,960,up 7,013 CORN 5,000 bu minimum; cents per bushel Sep 547¼ 553½ 540¼ 549½ +2½ Dec 545 553¾ 540¾ 549 +3¾ Mar 553 561½ 548¾ 557 +3¾ May 557½ 566 553½ 562 +4 Jul 558 566½ 554¼ 562 +3¾ Sep 511¾ 517 507¾ 513½ +4 Dec 495 502¾ 494 500¼ +5¼ Mar 504 508¼ 503½ 507¾ +5½ May 510½ 510½ 510½ 510½ +4 Jul 511 511 511 511 +2¼ Dec 464 465¼ 463½ 464¼ —½ Dec 426¼ 426¼ 426¼ 426¼ +¾ Est. sales 110,731. Fri.'s sales 184,862 Fri.'s open int 1,475,658,up 1,602 OATS 5,000 bu minimum; cents per bushel Sep 442¾ 445¾ 441 442¾ —4 Dec 448 449¾ 442 445½ —2¼ Mar 442½ 443½ 442½ 443½ —2¾ May 447447 447 447 Est. sales 179.Fri.'s sales 743 Fri.'s open int 4,577

SOYBEANS 5,000 bu minimum; cents per bushel Aug 1419¼ 1420¼ 1404 1408 —6¾ Sep 1355 1361¼ 1342 1346½ —9 Nov 1349 1355½ 1336½ 1341½ —7¾ Jan 1354 1359¾ 1341¼ 1346¾ —7½ Mar 1347½ 1351½ 1335¾ 1340¾ —7 May 1346 1346 1333½ 1338½ —6¾ Jul 1345¼ 1348 1332 1337 —7 Aug 1320 1323½ 1315¾ 1323½ —3 Sep 1276¾ 1276¾ 1276¾ 1276¾ —4½ Nov 1255 1257½ 1245¾ 1254 +¼ Jan 1252½ 1252½ 1252½ 1252½ —1 Est. sales 50,191. Fri.'s sales 120,788 Fri.'s open int 658,605,up 661 July 30 Trenton MFA

Soybeans, 13.39 (July 21),12.89 (Aug. 21) 12.79 (Oct. 21).

Corn, 5.17 (July 21), 5.15 (Aug. 21) 5.00 (Oct. 21). Laredo MFA Soybeans, 13.39 (July 21),12.89 (Aug. 21) 12.79 (Oct. 21).

Corn, 5.17 (July 21), 5.15 (Aug. 21) 5.00 (Oct. 21).

Ray-Carroll County Grain Growers/Carrollton (1-800-722-4407)

Corn, 6.47; soybeans, 14.09; wheat, 6.88.

New Crop - Corn, 5.25; soybeans, 13.19; wheat, 6.71.

Fallout Continues Over Alleged Slurs Aimed At Health Chief

Berkeley, Mo. (AP) — Civil rights advocates, religious leaders and others on Friday said they were outraged by St. Louis County Health Director Faisal Khan's claims that he was assaulted and bombarded with racial slurs after defending a new mask mandate. But a county councilman questioned whether Khan was telling the truth.

Khan spoke at the St. Louis County Council meeting on Tuesday, when the council voted 5-2 to end a mask mandate imposed by Democratic County Executive Sam Page. St. Louis city and county simultaneously began requiring masks last week to combat the fastspreading delta variant of COVID-19. The resurgent virus began its summer assault in under-vaccinated rural areas of Missouri, but has increasingly led to new cases and hospitalizations in St. Louis.

The county meeting was long and boisterous, with several in the crowd opposing the mandate requiring masks in public indoor places. Page has said the mandate stands despite the council's vote. Republican Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed suit to try to stop the mandate.

Khan, a U.S. citizen since 2013 and originally from Pakistan, wrote to a member of the County Council on Wednesday that he was surrounded by an angry mob as he left the meeting. He said he was shoulder-bumped, threatened and called a racial slur, and that his accent was mocked. He also acknowledged that he responded by giving protesters the middle finger.

Speaking at a news conference outside the St. Louis County Health Department, Caroline Fan, president of the Missouri Asian American Youth Foundation, said the slurs aimed at Khan “felt like being stabbed.”

“We're in a pandemic,” Fan said. “He's trying to do his job.”

Dr. Ghazala Hayat, a physician and a representative of the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis, said the comments directed at Khan were heartbreaking.

“Hearing all those racist remarks and everything reflects poorly on our community, our state,” Hayat said.

Republican County Councilman Tim Fitch said the council was launching an investigation into what happened, but he questioned whether Kahn was telling the truth.

“We already know from available video — because I have it in my hands —- he was never assaulted,” Fitch told The Associated Press by phone on Friday. “He was never shoved. He was never shouldered. That was all in his letter. If he would be untruthful about that, which is easily provable — and he still hasn't made a police report that he was assaulted — what else is untruthful in what he is saying?”

It was Fitch whom Khan, in his letter to County Council Chairwoman Rita Heard Days, accused of helping to incite the angry crowd when he asked what Khan referred to as a “dog whistle” question: “Can you tell us why you're called Dr. Khan? Are you a physician in the United States?”

Khan said he wasn’t a practicing licensed physician in the U.S.

Fitch said the question was meant to familiarize the crowd with Khan’s background.

“I was trying to establish what he told us were his credentials,” he told the AP.

Page, in a statement, called the alleged actions against Khan “troubling” and said his office was launching its own investigation.

A Brimson woman has been awarded a Farmer Veteran Coalition grant.

Christine Chaney of Brimson, received the award for her business, C&P Farms. C&P Farms is a 95-acre veteran owned farm providing fresh fruits and vegetables to the surrounding community. Christine served 33 years in the Army, with two of those years deployed in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

“As the country recently celebrated Independence Day, Tractor Supply is honored to celebrate our service members who work vigorously to defend and protect our freedoms,” said Colin Yankee, Executive Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer at Tractor Supply and former U.S. Army Captain. “The Farmer Veteran Coalition does amazing work assisting veterans embarking on careers in agriculture. It is our privilege to honor these individuals with these grants so that they may continue to share their unique talents and products with their communities. We thank them, and all of the men and women in the Armed Forces, for their service.” The FVC is a national nonprofit organization that assists active duty and veteran members of our Armed Forces embarking on careers in agriculture by providing them with education, resources and small grants to launch their own farming operation or find employment in farming. The group serves more than 30,000 members nationwide.

July Busy Bees Meeting Held

The Busy Bees 4-H Club met on July 21 at 2:30 p.m. at the Laredo Community Center.

There were nine members, three guests and two leaders present. Rebecca Urich presided over the meeting. Kaleb Bower led the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag and Jackson Huber-Bethards led the 4-H Pledge.

The roll call question was, “Have you been to any shows yet?” Project reports presented were Jackson and Jesse Huber-Bethards in swine. Beef project reports were given by Kaleb, Adalynn and Kenzie Bower and Rebecca Urich. A photography project report was given by Bailey Williams. Food project reports were given by Haley Kidd and Bailey Williams.

The snacks were provided by the Huber-Bethards family. Demonstrations were given by Adalynn Bower, who demonstrated on how to make Chex mix. Kaleb Bowers demonstrated the parts of a compound bow and Kenzie Bower demonstrated how to prep a show calf. The activity was “sugar shock activity”. The meeting was adjourned and the next meeting is Aug. 15.

Trenton

Republican-Times 122 E. 8th St. PO Box 548 Trenton, MO 64683 660-359-2212

rtimes@lyn.net

www.republican-times.com

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

A public hearing will be held at 6:30 pm, August 9, 2021, in the Conference Room-1st floor of the Grundy County Courthouse, 700 Main, Trenton, Missouri, at which time citizens may be heard on the property tax rates proposed to be set by the Families and Friends of the Developmentally Disabled-Senate Bill 40 in Grundy County- Board of Directors. The tax rate is determined by dividing the amount of revenue required by the current assessed valuation. The result is multiplied by 100 so the tax rate will be expressed in cents per $100 valuation. Each tax rate is determined by the computation on forms supplied by the State Auditor’s Office.

ASSESSED VALUATION CURRENT TAX PRIOR TAX (By Categories) YEAR 2021 YEAR 2020 Real Estate $95,871,322 $93,389,259 Personal 39,586,018 36,451,368 TOTAL $135,457,340 $129,840,627 THE FOLLOWING TAX RATES ARE PROPOSED: Amount of Property Proposed Tax Tax Revenues rates for 2021 Fund Budgeted for 2021 (per $100) General Revenue $135,453.00 0.1000 TOTAL $135,453.00 0.1000

NATIONAL

Families Urge Using New DNA Tech To ID Pearl Harbor Unknowns

HONOLULU (AP) — William Edward Mann enlisted in the Navy after graduating from high school in rural Washington state. A guitar player, he picked up the ukulele while stationed in Hawaii.

He's been presumed dead since Dec. 7, 1941, when Japanese planes bombed Pearl Harbor and set off a massive explosion that sank his battleship, the USS Arizona, launching the U.S. into World War II.

Now, his niece is among some families of crew members who are demanding the U.S. military take advantage of advances in DNA technology to identify 85 sailors and Marines from the Arizona who were buried as unknowns. They say the military has disinterred and identified remains from other Pearl Harbor battleships and should do the same for their loved ones.

“These men matter and they served. They gave their lives for our country. And they deserve the same honor and respect as any other service member past, present and future,” Teri Mann Whyatt said.

The Arizona suffered more loss of life than any other ship at Pearl Harbor, with 1,177 dead. More than 900 went down with the ship and have remained entombed there ever since.

As with remains on other sunken ships, the Navy considers those aboard the Arizona to be in their final resting place. The families are not advocating for them to be removed and identified.

The issue is what to do with the 85 Arizona unknowns buried in a Hawaii cemetery. It emerged in February when the director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, which is tasked with finding and identifying the remains of U.S. service members from past conflicts, was asked during a Facebook Live meeting when the agency would disinter them.

Kelly McKeague said his agency had spoken to the Navy about exhuming the Arizona unknowns and moving them to the ship without identifying them first. McKeague said it didn't make “pragmatic sense” to identify them.

That outraged some families who feared the 85 remains would be placed on the sunken battleship without ever being identified.

The agency has since said it doesn’t plan to move the cemetery remains onto the ship. Rear Adm. Darius Banaji, the agency’s deputy director, said that was just a possibility discussed informally a few years ago.

Banaji also said the agency doesn't plan to disinter the remains and try to identify them because it lacks sufficient documentation.

The military has files on just half of those missing from the Arizona, he said. Of those, it has medical records — listing age, height and other information — for just half. It has dental records for only 130 men. Some documents are believed to have been destroyed with the battleship. Others may have been lost in a 1973 fire at a military personnel records office.

And the military only has DNA samples from relatives of just 1% of the missing Arizona crew members.

McKeague told The Associated Press that what he said about identifications not being pragmatic referred to the lack of documentation, not the cost.

“We must apply our limited resources in a manner that is equitable to all families and to do so as efficiently and effectively as possible,” he said in a statement.

The agency, which aims to find more than 80,000 service members missing from World War II and on, has successfully identified unknowns from the USS Oklahoma, another battleship that capsized during the Pearl Harbor bombing.

In 2015, the agency dug up the remains of 388 Oklahoma sailors and Marines from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, the same graveyard where the Arizona unknowns are buried.

It acted after the military drafted a new policy allowing the disinterment of groups of unknown servicemen if it expected to identify at least 60% of the group.

The agency had dental records, age and height information for the vast majority of the Oklahoma unknowns. The military also had family DNA samples for more than 80%.

The agency predicted it would identify 80% of the Oklahoma remains, which were buried comingled in 61 caskets. As of this month, it has identified 344, or 88%, and anticipates naming more.

A group of families led by Randy Stratton, whose father, Donald Stratton, suffered severe burns as a sailor on the Arizona but lived to be 97, has drafted a petition demanding that the agency identify the 85 Arizona unknowns.

He's vowed to help families submit DNA samples. He’s also been pushing for the agency to use genetic genealogy techniques like those used by law enforcement to solve cold cases.

Stratton said about 30 to 40 families of Arizona unknowns have joined him.

From a scientific perspective, there isn't much stopping the military from identifying the Arizona remains, said Michael Coble, associate director of the Center for Human Identification at the University of North Texas.

“It’s definitely going to be a huge undertaking. But I think the technology has evolved that this kind of work could be done,” said Coble, who was chief of research at the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory from 2006 to 2010.

The lab, which dates to 1991, has long used DNA to identify remains for the military.

One newer method uses so-called SNPs, which are unique to an individual — except for identical twins — and provide a kind of fingerprint. The lab hasn't been able to make much use of this technique because it's been unable to obtain adequate SNP profiles from degraded remains. Last month, however, it completed a project to get those samples.

This technique would help the lab distinguish between individuals even when it's only able to extract tiny fragments of DNA. SNPs are the same type of DNA sample that services like Ancestry.com and 23andMe use to help match people with longlost relatives or learn their propensity for certain diseases.

DNA profiles from this technique could theoretically be used for the kind of investigative genetic genealogy work that Stratton advocates.

Tim McMahon, head of DNA operations for the Defense Department, said researchers could take samples that failed to find matches in the lab's in-house database and upload those to publicly available, private-sector DNA databases to look for potential cousins or other relatives. Genealogists could then study marriage licenses, birth records and other documents to make closer potential matches, which would then have to be confirmed with additional DNA tests.

Using such databases raises privacy concerns because relatives of the missing may not want their family's genetic information shared. The military would need to develop policies to protect privacy — for example, by potentially allowing researchers to upload an anonymous DNA profile of an unidentified serviceman.

But first, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency would have to decide that it wants to identify the Arizona unknowns.

For Stratton, it would be worth it.

“Why wouldn’t you want to find out who these guys are?” Stratton said.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The release of about 3,000 pages of documents delving into the deadliest submarine disaster in U.S. history has not yielded any sinister effort to hide the truth, a retired Navy skipper says.

Instead, documents show the Navy’s policies and procedures failed to keep pace with fast-moving technological advances during the Cold War, allowing a series of failures that led to the sinking of the USS Thresher on April 10, 1963, said retired Capt. James Bryant, who sued for release of the documents under the Freedom of Information Act. "There’s no coverup. No smoking gun," he said.

That doesn't make it any less tragic, though.

The loss of the nuclear-powered submarine and all 129 sailors and civilians aboard during a test dive in the Atlantic Ocean was both a tragedy for the families and a blow to national pride during the Cold War.

The Thresher was the first of a new class of attack submarines that could travel farther and dive deeper than any previous sub.

But the documents suggest the nuclear-powered submarine's capabilities outstripped the Navy's best practices based on older-generation subs.

For example, the ballast system used to surface in an emergency was a legacy system that was never tested at greater depths, and proved to be inadequate, the documents show. There were known problems with the silver-brazed joints in pipes throughout the sub. And training was inadequate for a nuclear reactor shutdown at depth.

The Navy believes the Thresher's sinking was likely caused by a burst pipe and electrical problems that led to a nuclear reactor shutdown.

“The Navy continues to stand by and remain transparent with the families and the public on the conclusions of the 1963 Court of Inquiry and the likely scenarios that caused the loss of Thresher,” said Lt. Katherine Diener, a Navy spokesperson. Another 4,000 pages of Thresher-related documents are due to be released, she said.

Bryant, himself the skipper of a Thresher-class submarine, agreed that a series of events led to the sinking: The sub descended far too quickly without stopping to assess for leaks from previous shock testing months earlier; there were training concerns because the location of valves had changed while in dock; and ice buildup prevented the crew from effectively blowing the ballast tanks to resurface.

The main cooling pumps eventually stopped, followed by the nuclear reactor, robbing the submarine of the ability to stop its fatal descent, he said.

No one will know for sure exactly how the disaster played out. But it’s clear that precious minutes went by as the crew became aware of their dire situation. At one point, a message from the submarine to a rescue ship referred to “900 north” suggesting the sub was 900 feet beyond its test depth, according to the documents.

The test depth was redacted but previously declassified documents indicated it was 1,300 feet, said Norman Friedman, a naval analyst and author of more than 30 books on naval topics.

The documents reveal many of the submarine’s safety systems were based on operations in shallower depths from previous-generation submarines, and were inadequate in the unlikely scenario of a loss of nuclear propulsion while deep underwater, Bryant said.

That World War II mindset during the nuclear age proved fatal for the Thresher crew, he said.

At the time, the Navy's resources and personnel were strained as it pushed to get ballistic missile-equipped submarines deployed quickly to counter the Soviet missile threat, Friedman said.

That contributed to veteran crew members being reassigned and new officers and sailors coming aboard who were less familiar with the Thresher's complicated system of pipes and valves before the fatal dive, he said.

“It’s almost a wartime situation and you might consider them casualties of the Cold War,” he said of the Thresher’s crew.

The sub's destruction caused the Navy to accelerate safety improvements and to create a program called SUBSAFE, an extensive series of design modifications, training and other improvements.

One submarine has sunk since then, the USS Scorpion in 1968, and it was not SUBSAFE-certified, the Navy said.

Tim Noonis, whose father, a radio operator, perished on the Thresher, said the loss remains painful for families like his, but he finds comfort that the Navy corrected mistakes for the sake of future sailors. "No one wants to lose a family member, but if other families have benefited, well, there’s some solace in that,” Noonis said.

Noonis was born at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, where the Thresher was built. The sub was based in Groton, Connecticut.

Its final dive took place beyond the continental shelf, about 220 miles off Massachusetts’ Cape Cod.

Thresher currently rests at a depth of 8,500 feet. The wreckage is spread over a mile on the ocean floor.

www.republican-times.com www.republican-times.com

Nestlé Professional, Trenton, Missouri has opportunities for FULL-TIME SALARIED & HOURLY POSITIONS

For more information, go to www.nestleusacareers.com to apply online

The Nestlé Companies are equal employment and affirmative action employers and looking for diversity in qualified candidates for employment.

COX FAMILY DENTISTRY, P.C.

1011 Cedar St., Trenton Office: 359-6889 • 359-6993

Page Tree Service

•60 ft. Bucket Truck •Chipper & Stump Grinder

• All Tree • All Tree & Concrete Work & Concrete Work • Yard Cleanup • Yard Cleanup FREE Estimates 660-654-1817

IMMEDIATELY HIRING!

Serve Link Home Care is Immediately Hiring! Part-time - could become full-time with the potential for insurance. Home Care Aides needed in Grundy, Mercer, Livingston and Linn Counties. Up to $500 sign up bonus available for committed, caring and dependable candidates. Help your neighbors and join our team! Flexible scheduling, mileage and travel time paid. Call 660-359-4218 Ext. 20 or apply online at servelinkhomecare.com. EOE

Willing Workers LLP

Do you need your siding or roof replaced?

Give Willing Workers a call today for a FREE estimate... 660-973-5694

See me for quotes on •Life Insurance •Annuities •Medicare Supplements RON DOUGAN

903 Main St., Trenton, MO 660 359-0100