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Friday, June 21, 2019
TRENTON
REPUBLICAN-TIMES
Trenton, MO 64683
Established Sept. 4, 1864 - 155th Year - No. 83
TRENTON POLICE DEPARTMENT
Diab Faces Long Recovery
Officer Thankful For Support Shown Following Shooting Jasmine Diab certainly couldn’t imagine she would be spending her 25th birthday in a Kansas City hospital recovering from a gunshot wound, but, if nothing else, she is able to celebrate life - a life that was nearly taken from her a week ago. In that week’s time, the Trenton police officer has watched a community come together to support her and her fellow officers. Officer Diab, who joined the force in June 2017, turned 25 on June 20 and is recuperating from a gunshot wound she sustained while transporting 38year-old Trenton resident Jamey A. Griffin to St. Joseph for a mental health evaluation on June 14. During a struggle in the vehicle, Griffin was able to gain control of Officer Diab’s weapon, shooting her in the abdomen. Griffin was wounded in the hand during the incident. He attempted to take the patrol unit and flee from the scene, but two bystanders, Rick Shannon and Jason Gamm, were able to capture him and hold him until
UTILITY COMMITTEE
law enforcement officers arrived on the scene in Winston. Griffin is being held without bond in the Daviess-DeKalb Regional Jail on three felony charges. While the story of her injury has garnered a lot of attention across the entire area, Officer Diab is focusing on getting better and celebrating every breath. The outpouring of support she has received has left her nearly speechless - something that anyone who knows her would find somewhat unbelievable. “I really appreciate the support of the community and everything that everyone has done for me,” she said on Wednesday. “It has really touched my heart and opened my eyes about how this community really cares about me. I appreciate the prayers. I had no pulse and now I’m awake and talking, so it’s working.” The long road to recovery has begun and no one knows exactly what the future will hold, but community members are making the road a little bit
easier with numerous fundraisers being planned and individuals and organizations donating funds for expenses, utilities, etc. A fund has been set up at North Central Missouri College, where Officer Diab is a criminal justice major. Dino’s Diner will hold a fish dinner fundraiser tonight (Friday), with the proceeds from the $10 meal to be donated to the officer. Other opportunities to help can be found on the Facebook page Helping Jasmine Diab. As one would expect, Officer Diab is not the only one being affected by the incident. Her fellow officers at the Trenton Police Department have had to come to terms with the incident and how close they came to losing a member of their family. The community support for Officer Diab, however, has been a bright spot, according to Trenton Police Chief Rex Ross. “I think the whole department has been impressed with the show of support,” said Chief Ross. “At a time when
Officer Jasmine Diab
morale was really low, we’ve been able to recognize that we really do have a lot of community support.” Chief Ross said the officers have held a group meeting to be able to process the events of June 14 and another one will be offered in the future. The department is also reaching out to those who have been in similar situations to be available for Officer Diab and her fellow officers. The thing that no one See Officer, Page 12
City Has Chance To Save Money said that an improved credit rating for the city has resulted in more banks being interested in financing the project. A formal presentation on the financing is to be made to the council at its meeting on Monday night. The committee voted to send several recommendations to the council for formal approval. The list includes: • a project at 24th Street and Pleasant Plain to address issues with sewer lines in the area. The company doing the Normal Street sewer line project, SAK Construction of O’Fallon, has submitted a cost proposal of $41,400 to do the work while in Trenton. If approved, it would be done as a change order in connection with the Normal Street work. • a proposal for maintenance and equipment upgrades at the water plant. • approval of a bid from Border States Electric for four motorized, gang-oper-
SPICKARD BOARD OF ALDERMEN
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Briefs... 4-H Events Set For Saturday The NFAA Archery and Hunting and Outdoors Skills competition for area 4-H members will be held in Trenton on Saturday, June 22. Events are open to the public. Archery, shooting and outdoor skills will be demonstrated during events scheduled throughout the day at various sites in the community. Archery events will be held at the First Baptist Church Activity Center, with Line 1 shooting scheduled at 9 a.m. and Line 2 shooting at 10:30 a.m. American 600 Archery will take place at the Barton Farm Campus, beginning at noon. Also at the Baptist Church Activity Center will the be hunting skills competition. This event gets under way at 9 a.m. The Trenton Trap and Skeet Range will host shotgun shooting, which gets under way at 9 a.m. Rifle and air rifle competition will be held at the Vance Cox American Sportsman shooting range, north of Trenton. That event is also set for a 9 a.m. start.
Light Agenda For Tuesday
Project Financing Discussed
The city of Trenton is hoping to save money on the cost of its effluent disinfection project at the wastewater plant after learning that a lower interest rate to pay for the work is available. During a meeting on Tuesday night, members of the city council’s Utility Committee received financial information regarding payment for the headworks project, which the council has agreed to do as part of the project now under way to meet effluent disinfection requirements of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Information presented by City Administrator Ron Urton showed the city would be able to borrow $6,102,395 at a rate of 3.6 percent over a 20-year period to pay for the entire project (current work and the headworks). The city is now paying an interest rate of 4.9 percent on certificates of participation being used to finance the current project work. Urton
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ated, air brake switches at a cost of $37,800 and the purchase of 47 power poles from McFarland at a cost of $10,700. • a proposed change in the city’s net metering policy, changing the credit a user of solar electricity receives from the city for feeding power back into the city grid to a fixed rate of three cents per kilowatt hour. The credit would be listed on the customer’s bill. Comptroller Rosetta Marsh reported on bids being sought to print and mail the city’s utility bills. The bids will then be compared to the cost of having an employee do the work before a decision is made. The committee also held a brief discussion regarding electric rates, reviewed the monthly financial statement and heard reports from department heads.
The Grundy County Commission will meet in regular session on Tuesday at the courthouse. The only item listed on the agenda is a 10 a.m. meeting with Ambulance Director Steve Tracy.
NCMC Board Meeting The North Central Missouri College Board of Trustees will meet in regular session at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 25 in the Frey Administrative Building. Items on the announced agenda include consideration of the 2019-20 college budget; consideration of the Workforce Development Board budget; consideration of donor recognition; consideration of bids/purchases; approval of the 2019-20 college catalog; the third reading of a board policy manual change; the second reading of revisions to the purchasing and travel policy; personnel, including an updated organizational chart, a resignation, employments and Head Start; and reports from Head Start, the vice president of academic affairs, the associate vice president for student affairs and the president. An executive session for personnel, legal matters and real estate is also planned.
Princeton Board To Meet The Princeton R-5 Board of Education will hold a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 27 at the school. Items on the announced agenda include amendment of the 2018-19 budget, zeroing out the activity balances, discussion of projected 2018-19 end of year balances, discussion of the certified staff salary schedule and administrator pay for 2019-20, discussion of the 2019-20 non-certified staff schedule and approval of the 2019-20 preliminary budget.
This Weekend... TODAY (FRIDAY) Chalk Walk Art from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Car Cruise and Food at 6 p.m. Downtown Trenton Superstars Dance Studio at 6:30 p.m. Sesquicentennial Park SATURDAY 4-H Archery, Hunting Outdoors Skills Various Locations (see story at top of page) Wheels and Wine Car Show at 10:30 a.m. Black Silo Winery
2019-20 Budget Amended
New Water, Sewer Rates Set For City Of Spickard The Spickard Board of Aldermen have approved new water and sewer rates following action taken during a meeting on Monday night, June 17. According to minutes provided by the city, new water and sewer rates were adopted by the board, effective June 25. The vote was 3-0 with aldermen Wilbur Roberts, Maggie George and Daniel Chapman in favor. Alderman Charles Holtzclaw was absent. The minimum charge for water used up to 1,000 gallons will be $30 per month. Water usage over 1,000 gallons will be charged at a rate of $16.50 per 1,000 gallons. The water usage will be billed in 100-gallon increments for all water used over the minimum charge. The base rate for sewer usage was set at $10 per month for a connection to the system. The Tier 1 rate, which is usage based on the first 1,000 gallons of water used, will be the base rate plus $9. The rate for all gallons used over
1,000 will be $9.50 per 1,000 gallons. The sewer usage will be billed in 100-gallon increments for all gallons over the Tier 1 rate. The new rates replace ones that were adopted earlier this year and rescinded after three members of the board of aldermen resigned and were replaced. The resignations followed a public meeting in April, during which time several citizens voiced their concerns about the original utility rate increases that resulted in some customers seeing their bills increase by as much as 250 percent. The rate increases were made due to improvements the city is looking at regarding its water and wastewater system, including the possible construction of a new lagoon. Also adopted by the board was an ordinance amending the budget for the 2019-20 year to reflect anticipated revenues and expenditures involved with the new rates. The budget now shows the sewer fund with a projected balance of $479.20 while the water fund has an antici-
National Weather Service There is a chance of rain throughout the weekend, with highs in the 80s and lows in the upper 60s to lower 70s. Monday’s high at the Government Weather Station in Trenton was 82, Tuesday’s high was 81 and Wednesday’s high was 73, with a low of 65 and .97 of an inch of rain recorded. The high on Wednesday at the Government Weather Station near Spickard was 68, the low was 59 and .31 of an inch of rain was recorded.
pated balance of $88.82. The board voted to hire Troy George to dig up lines in which water leaks have been found so that repairs can be made. Three of the leaks have been designated as top priorities and include one behind the post office, one in the downtown area and one coming from an embankment. A sewer leak has also been reported on property containing a grinder pump and the board also hired George to dig up that line as well. Robert Payne will make repairs on all the lines. The council voted to replace a grinder pump control panel that had recently failed. It was noted that Mayor Alan Tharp continues to work on an emergency plan for sewer repairs that could include using gas-powered pumps. It was voted to give the mayor authority to make decisions regarding emergency repairs without prior board approval. The city has been informed that needed re-
pairs to the south pump station will cost much more than had previously been projected due to the number of homes being served. Irvinbilt Construction, which was contracted to do the repair work, said it was willing to proceed with the project at the increased price or the contract could be dissolved and the city could buy the materials already purchased for the work. The other option was to see if the parts could be returned and the city pay any restocking fees. It was noted that a second contractor had indicated the work could be done for $5,000, but is waiting for a final estimate before moving forward. Getting estimates from other contractors was also discussed. The mayor reported the water tower should be fixed by the end of the week. Grundy County Public Water District #1 personnel are making the repairs and the city is paying the cost. The city will continue monitoring the tower on a daily basis.
What’s Inside... The Gilman City Fair, held June 13-15, included livestock judging events. See page 3 of today’s Republican-Times for photos of area youth who showed grand champion and reserve champion entries.
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What’s Inside Sports.............................page 2 Local News ....................page 3 Op/Ed ............................page 4 Community ...................page 5 Agriculture....................page 6 Across Missouri ............page 7 Comics ...........................page 8 Dear Annie ....................page 9 Crosswords....................page 9