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Tuesday, May 19, 2020
REPUBLICAN-TIMES TRENTON
Trenton, MO 64683
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Ten Pages
Established Sept. 4, 1864 - 156th Year - No. 74
AREA SCHOOL BOARDS
Briefs.
Grundy R-5
as Ty Stillwell as the head boys and girls varsity basketball coach. Resignations were accepted from William Dow, high school principal; Danessa Stout, third grade teacher; and Jenny Gann, head cook. Approval was given to the district’s cooperative athletic agreement with NewtownHarris for the 2020-21 school year as well as contracts with Terwilleger Therapy Team to provide occupational and physical therapy services at a cost of $70 per hour. The board approved the purchase of a reading curriculum for the elementary school at a cost of $17,189. Also approved was the renovation of the girls’ restroom near the cafeteria with a budget of $3,000. Several bids were approved, including diesel from MFA at a cost of 4 cents per gallon less than the pump price; propane from MFA for 89 cents a gallon; milk from Prairie Farms; and bread items from Galt Hometown Grocery. The board heard several re-
TRENTON R-9 SCHOOL DISTRICT
STATE LEGISLATURE Final Day Action
Mail-In Voting Gets OK
Utilitty Commiittee Me eeting
Graduation Ceremonies Scheduled For June 27 Graduation and personnel topped the agenda of the Grundy R-5 Board of Education meeting held on Thursday night, May 14 at the school in Galt. According to Superintendent Phil Fox, the board set high school and elementary school graduation ceremonies for Saturday, June 27, with elementary ceremonies in the morning and the high school ceremony in the afternoon. Details will be announced closer to the time of the events. The board reviewed recommendations for salary increases and approved a 2 percent raise for all certified and non-certified staff along with awarding steps on the salary schedule for education and experience. The base salary for a first-year teacher in the Grundy R-5 School District is now $30,500. Following a closed session, the board voted to hire Leetta Fordyce and Alesia Campbell as half-time instructors in the fifth grade classroom as well
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ports. Over 60 students have been taking advantage of lunch meals being served by the district during the school shutdown with May 13 being the last day meals were offered. It was reported all student grades have been determined and completed, with 21 high school and 45 elementary school students qualifying for a reward trip in the fall for completing their instructional requirements. The board reviewed electric use in the building and directed administration to gather more information for a report at the next meeting. It was reported the district has received $41,000 in CARES Act money to deal with the COVID-19 virus and improvements in technology. No action was taken. Elementary and secondary principal reports were reviewed and approved. The next meeting of the board will be held at 5 p.m. on Thursday, June 11 at the high school building in Galt.
The Utility Committee of the Trenton City Council will meet at 6 o’clock tonight (Tuesday) at Trenton City Hall. Because of COVID-19 health guidelines, the public will not be physically allowed to attend the meeting, which can be viewed via Zoom at https://us02wbe.zoom.us/j/86455516231. Items on the announced agenda include department reports, the director’s update and a review of monthly financial reports.
C OVID-19 Te e stting Re esullts Wright Memorial Hospital and Hedrick Medical Center have tested 758 persons for the COVID-19 virus as of Monday, May 18. A total of 239 persons have been tested at WMH, including 171 from Grundy County, 38 from Mercer County and 30 from other counties. Hedrick has tested 519, including 326 from Livingston County, 62 from Grundy County, 11 from Mercer County and 120 from other counties. All patients admitted to a Saint Luke's Health System hospital, including WMH and HMC, are being tested for COVID-19. The two hospitals had previously expanded their drive-through testing to all residents in the region who met testing criteria and who were referred by a health care provider prior to arriving at the testing site. The drivethrough location is set up at the former Washington Street Food and Drink site at 1100 Washington St. in Chillicothe. As of Monday morning, Grundy County had reported no confirmed cases of COVID-19. Mercer and Putnam counties were also listed at 0 cases. Other area county totals include Daviess, 3; Livingston, 3; Linn, 5; Harrison, 6; and Sullivan, 36. Statewide, there have been 10,789 cases of COVID-19 reported with 594 deaths. The majority of cases and deaths are in the St. Louis County/St. Louis City area.
Preschool, Kindergarten
2020-21 Student Screenings Planned The dates for the Trenton R-9 School District preschool and kindergarten developmental screenings have been announced. The screenings are being held Tuesday, May 26 and Wednesday, May 27. Due to construction work under way at district buildings, the screenings will be held at Trenton Middle School, with participants asked to park in the TMS front parking lot and enter through the sixth grade wing doorway. Signs will be placed on the entrance door. Children in the R-9 School District who will be three, four or five by Aug. 1 are eligible for the
screenings. Those students who were previously involved in the Trenton R-9 Preschool Program when classes were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic have already been screened and will not need to be screened again. Children will be screened in the areas of concepts, language, motor, vision and hearing. Screenings are anticipated to to last 60 to 90 minutes. The child’s legal birth certificate, immunization record and proof of residency should be brought to the screening. Social distancing guidelines as provided by the Grundy County Health Department will be imple-
mented. Only the child being screened and one parent are to come to the screening and participants are encouraged to wear a mask. School staff will be following CDC recommendations. Screening registration forms can be found on the Trenton R-9 District website and Facebook page and have also been sent through text message to those who receive districtwide text messages. For more information, persons can email Tara Hoffman, director of special services, at thoffman@trentonr9.k12.mo.us or call 660-359-3994 and leave a message.
Photo Courtesy of Kris Ockenfels
Work on the new concession stand at C.F. Russell Stadium is near completion, with a few finishing touches remaining. The building, located at the southwest corner of the infield, will include two full-service food windows, a baked potato window, two storage rooms and heated restrooms.The concession stand is one of four major projects under way in the Trenton R-9 School District, which also include renovation of the middle school/high school library and Rissler Elementary School entry way as well as construction of a new performing arts center that also helps connect the music and ag buildings to the rest of the middle school/high school campus.
National Weather Service
Mostly cloudy and cool this week with a high on Wednesday of 72, Thursday’s high will be around 76 with a low of 59. The high at Trenton on Thursday, May 14 was 83, Friday’s high was 75 and Saturday’s high was 77. Sunday’s high was 67 with an overnight low of 56. A total of 2.99 of an inch of rain was recorded during that time period. The high on Sunday at the Government Weather Station near Spickard was 64, the low was 52.
What’s Inside... THS alum and long-time instructor/coach Wes Croy is retiring after 15 years at his alma mater. Sports Editor Seth Herrold shares some of his memories in a column appearing on page 2 of today’s Republican-Times.
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri lawmakers wrapped up their work Friday by passing bills allowing people to vote by mail because of the coronavirus and ramping up criminal penalties in response to an uptick in violent crime in the state's biggest cities. Legislators signed off on the special voting provisions for the 2020 elections shortly before their deadline to pass bills in an unusual session that was interrupted for several weeks because of concerns about the virus that causes COVID-19. Voters currently can request absentee ballots only if they provide an excuse for why they can’t vote in person. Illness is one option, but the law isn’t explicit on whether the illness excuse covers healthy voters concerned about catching or spreading COVID-19. Under the bill sent to Republican Gov. Mike Parson, people considered at-risk of the coronavirus — those age 65 and older, living in a longterm care facility or with certain existing health problems — could vote absentee without needing to have their ballot notarized. Anyone else could cast a mail-in ballot but would need to get it notarized. The bill passed with bipartisan support but received mixed reviews from both parties. Republicans said it doesn't include enough restrictions to ensure election security, and Democrats said it has too many rules. “When you are not wanting to go to the polls because you are either ill or fearful of becoming ill, but then you have to go get a notary to be able to not go to the polls, it doesn't really fix the problem,” House Democratic Minority Leader Crystal Quade said. Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft on Friday said he no longer supported the measure after lawmakers stripped a contested photo ID requirement out of it. Lawmakers returned to the Capitol to work on the state budget and other policies days before Parson lifted his statewide stay-at-home order in early May. Members of the public were allowed in the Capitol to watch debate but were encouraged to stay home, prompting concern from some lawmakers about lack of public involvement in crafting major policy changes. Both lawmakers and visitors were quizzed on their health and had their temperatures checked before they could enter the building. “The work that we did here See Voting, Page 5
What’s Inside
Sports.............................page 2 Across Missouri ............page 3 Local News ....................page 4 Community ...................page 5 Calendars ......................page 5 Comics ...........................page 6 Crosswords....................page 7 Dear Annie ....................page 7 Classified................page 8 & 9