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WHEN YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN, WE ARE THERE WITH YOU
W
hatever happens, whenever it happens, your newspaper will be there for you. We’ll be there to let you know how our community is managing through this crisis — from business to government to the health care system and schools to the drastic impact on individuals and families. And we’ll be there to let you know about the good and extraordinary things happening in the midst of this crisis — the health workers putting themselves in harm’s way to care for the sick, the individuals who continue to report to work for jobs deemed too essential to society, the volunteers bringing food to elderly people who cannot leave their homes, and the
school districts working to ensure their students don’t go hungry even if they don’t go to the classroom. Amidst the sadness and anxiety, there are uplifting moments that remind us of the resilience of the human spirit, and we’ll be there to document those too. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said the timeline for the future of coronavirus in Missouri will be measured in months, not days or weeks, and it will put a strain on the state’s people and economy. “We’ve got a lot of days we gotta go through,” the governor said recently. “This is just the beginning. We’re two or three months, at a bare minimum, that we’re going to have to deal
with this issue.” But we will be here to help you make sense of this pandemic and its effect on our community. Having fact-based, reliable reporting that provides public scrutiny and oversight is more important than ever. Together, across the decades, this newspaper and its readers have navigated horrific events — natural disasters, terrorism, financial downturns, periods of extreme political and societal division. This challenge is greater than any of those, but, rest assured, we’ll be here for you. Missouri is a resilient state where people come together to build and rebuild. Let’s stick together, and we will come through this, too.
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
R EPUBLICAN-TIMES TRENTON
Trenton, MO 64683 COVID-19
75¢
per copy heck out the Republican-Times on the Internet: www.republican-times.com ©W.B. Rogers Printing Co., Inc.
Ten Pages & 2 Inserts
Established Sept. 4, 1864 - 156th Year - No. 60
CIRCUIT COURT May 12 Is New Date
Still No Reported Positive Cases In Grundy County
Trenton R-9 Announces School Remains Closed Until April 27 There will be no classes in the Trenton R-9 School District until at least Monday, April 27. Superintendent Mike Stegman announced on Monday that concerns about COVID-19 have resulted in a decision to extend the closure for another four weeks. In a letter to staff, students and parents, Stegman said he is concerned this will not be the last extension, but that the district will continue monitoring the situation and will provide updates as soon as any additional information is known. Grundy County superintendents were scheduled to meet on Monday afternoon with health department officials to discuss the situation and make any additional plans that may be needed. Stegman said the district will continue to provide enhancement materials and ask that students and patrons continue to email teachers with questions and needs regarding the materials available. At the high school level, where credits are attached to classes, Stegman said the district will be working with individual students to assure they have the appropriate opportunities to receive the academics needed to move to the next level. High school students who are taking dual credit classes will continue with those classes online in accordance with the college with which the course is attached. “We will continue with the protocols we established at the beginning of this pandemic,” Stegman said.
All school buildings will remain closed, all extracurricular events, practices and use of Trenton R9 property for social gatherings have been cancelled or postponed. Buildings will remain locked down during this time period as well as no one is to enter the facilities without prior authorization from Stegman or administrators Kasey Bailey, high school; Daniel Gott, middle school; Tiffany Otto, elementary school; and Tara Hoffman, director of special services. Staff and patrons needing to pick up items from the facilities must first contact their building administrator to make arrangements to enter the building. Office hours for administrators will vary in each building, but administrators can always be reached by email. The district office will remain open from 8 a.m. to noon each day. Meals for youth up to 18 years of age living in the school district will continue to be provided during this time, Monday through Friday. Orders can be called into the district at 359-4643 between the hours of 8 to 9:30 a.m., with pickup between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Stegman recognized the cooks and administrators for their efforts in providing meals to students as well as the custodians who came in last week to disinfect the school facilities. He also thanked teachers and counselors who are developing the enhancement materials for students, which he said have “truly been amazing in their efforts to get us through this very
Court Cases Pushed Back
unique time.” Stegman also addressed students who are missing out on activities that usually occur at this time, in particular those events involving seniors. “Over my 36 years in public education, I have always appreciated the variety of activities that come year in and year out,” he said. “Losing out on any of those must be devastating to you. I will promise you that we will consider this when the pandemic passes. I cannot promise we can replace all of them, but we will do what we can to substitute the events we can. Hang in there; you are our future and you will learn many lessons from this time of unrest.” Other Grundy County school districts have not announced if they plan to extend their closing date. Livingston County school districts on Friday announced they would remain out of classes until April 27, including the Chillicothe R-2 and Tri-County R-7 at Jamesport schools. Meanwhile, Grundy County continues to have no reported positive COVID-19 cases. Cases were reported over the weekend in both Livingston and Harrison counties, with both individuals affected currently being self-quarantined in their homes. Beginning, March 31, the health department will no longer be open for walk-in services. Birth and death certificates, children’s immunizations nd WIC See Covid-19, Page 4
Area Residents Using Sewing Skills by Diane Lowrey R-T Editor With the COVID-19 virus keeping residents homebound and away from family and friends, many have been looking for productive ways to use the time they would normally be spending elsewhere. The recent call by health care providers for medical masks has prompted two area women to put their sewing skills to work. Chris Ropp and her mother, Lena Cooksey have spent much of the past weekend making the masks that are being used by health care providers both locally and in the Kansas City area. The project began with a request from former Laredo resident Dr. Amy Sawyer Brose, a family practitioner at a Liberty clinic who Mrs. Ropp also babysat as a child. “We’ve (my mother and I) been wanting to do something and I saw Amy’s post on Facebook, saying that her clinic was in need of medical supplies, including masks,” Mrs. Ropp said. “I called Amy’s mother (Patty Sawyer) and she told me that Amy’s clinic was down to one homemade and one bought mask, so we knew this is what we needed to do.” Both women do a lot of sewing, so material for the mask was not an issue. It was coming up with the other parts of the mask that proved more challeng-
ing, especially with others making them as well. The women were able to make 45 masks on Friday for Dr. Brose’s clinic, using elastic for the earpieces as well as standard wiring for the nosepieces. But when it came time to make the second batch for Sunnyview Nursing Home, some of those materials were nowhere to be found. “We had to get very resourceful,” Mrs. Ropp said. That resourcefulness came in the form of rubber bands, which replaced the elastic earpieces and “worked quite well,” she said. Speaker wiring replaced the regular wiring around the nosepiece. “We also looked at doing something different with the filter pieces,” she said, noting coffee filters that were being used also became hard to come by. The women replaced the filter with a fabric that would normally be used in between the panels of a potholder. Mrs. Ropp said she and her mother completed 50 masks on Sunday that were to be taken to Sunnyview on Monday. And, if supplies are available, the women plan to continue making more for other health care providers in need. Other individuals are using their time and sewing skills to make masks as well. Janet White, a resident of Lake Wittona, has been busy putting masks
Photo Courtesy of Chris Ropp
Lena Cooksey works on one of the face masks she and her daughter, Chris Ropp, have been making for medical providers experiencing a shortag of equipment due to the COVID-19 virus.
together for personnel at Wright Memorial Hospital. Former Trenton resident Avery Jennings McCauslin, who now resides in Chillicothe, has been
National Weather Service
Sunny skies on Wednesday with a high of 64 before clouds and a chance of rain move in for the rest of the week. Lows will be as low as 45. The high at Trenton on Thursday, March 26 was 57, Friday’s high was 55 before the temperature rose to 76 on Saturday. The high on Sunday was 64, with a low of 43. The high temperature on Sunday at the Government Weather Station near Spickard was 61, the low was 34.
putting together pre-cut, ready-to-make mask kits for those willing to do the sewing as well as sewing masks herself.
What’s Inside... The 2019-20 softball season may be over for the NCMC Pirates, but that hasn’t stopped Coach Steve Richman from continuing his recruiting efforts. See page 2 of today’s Republican-Times for who’s coming on board next year.
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Those who have cases pending in the Associate Division of Grundy County Court will have their cases continued due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, but some defendants may choose to plead guilty and/or pay their fines without going to court. The Missouri Supreme Court has suspended all unnecessary in-person court due to the outbreak and those who were scheduled to be in the Associate Division court at the Grundy County Courthouse on Tuesday, April 14 have had their cases continued to Tuesday, May 12. Those who have previously entered a guilty plea and entered into a court ordered-agreement to pay but are on the docket for payment due may pay that balance prior to May 12. If that occurs, the defendant would not need to appear in court May 12. The defendant can pay by calling 877-2224668 and providing their name, case number, credit/debit card and total fine/cost amount. Use the code 1142. Amother option is to mail a check or money order payable to Gundy County Courthouse, Associate Division, 700 Main St., Suite 6, Trenton, MO 64683. Grundy County Prosecuting Attorney Kelly Puckett has mailed out correspondence to all defendants who are eligible to dispose of their case without making a court appearance. Those who wish to enter a plea of guilty and pay the ticket WITHOUT making a court appearance can pay by calling the number listed above and providing that information OR by using the form included in the letter that asks the defendant to mark “Guilty Plea to the original charge” or “Guilty Plea to amended charge.” Payment will need to be enclosed and the defendant must sign the form before mailing it to the courthouse at the above address. Anyone with questions can contact the associate court at 660-359-4040 ext. 2260.
What’s Inside
Sports.............................page 2 Local News.........page 3, 4 & 6 Across Missouri ............page 5 Calendars ......................page 5 Comics ...........................page 7 Crosswords....................page 8 Dear Annie ....................page 8 Classifieds .....................page 9 Area News ...................page 10