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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2021
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Established Sept. 4, 1864 - 157th Year - No. 46
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All Trenton R-9 Employees Deemed Essential Salary Committee, Wrestling Club Address Board
The Trenton R-9 Board of Education took additional action on the designation of personnel deemed “essential,” heard a salary proposal from certified employees and hired a manager for the district’s new performing arts center during a meeting held Tuesday in the Trenton High School Commons.
Essential Employees The board had deemed all teachers and administrators as “essential” employees during the January meeting, but the issue had been placed back on the agenda for this month’s meeting with the intention of re-visiting the issue of staff members that were not included in the earlier resolution, including non-certified staff such as paraprofessionals, custodians, etc. Being deemed “essential” in the school district means that even if an employee has come in close contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19, the employee can
WHY NOT USE AN AMI DAY? Trenton R-9 Superintendent Mike Stegman explained to the R-9 board that the district has a limited supply of AMI (alternative methods of instruction) days that can be used for bad weather. Stegman explained the difference between AMI and AMI-X Days. The AMI-X days are those that can be used if the school is closed due to COVID-19 and students are being taught online. The AMI days can be used for weather days, but are limited to 36 hours or approximately five days. He said the district, as of Tuesday evening, has only two more full AMI days to use and if it uses a third day, 90 minutes would need to be made up somewhere in order to reach the required 1,044 hours of instruction needed. The forecast was not looking good for Friday.
go to work at the school if they are not showing symptoms of the virus. On a 6-1 vote, the board agreed to extend that designation to all employees. Marcie Cutsinger, the lone “no” vote on the issue (and one of three “no” votes when the board deemed certified staff and administrators as essential at the January meeting) said her concern is that an employee can be a close contact with a person who has the virus (possibly in their home) and then go to the school and be around students, including developmentally disabled students. The reply was that if an employee is sick or showing any symptoms they should stay home and that the nurses and administrators should be monitoring that. Board member Brandon Gibler said it should be evaluated on a case by case basis as far as risk goes and with the nurses and building administrators handling it. It was unclear at the meeting if that is actually what is being done. Superintendent Mike Stegman said building administrators have been told that if someone has a close contact, is
BRIEFS
R-9 CALENDAR UPDATES • Board members officially designated May 20 and 21 as makeup days for the days missed Nov. 23 and 24. • It was announced classes will be dismissed early on Thursday, March 11 so virtual parent-teacher conferences can be held. There is no school on Friday, March 12 or Monday, March 15. There’s a chance this could change slightly if additional hours are needed due to bad weather days. • The board set summer school as May 26 through June 30, although it may need to be altered if the regular school year goes longer due to days missed. • The 2021-22 school calendar was approved, showing classes beginning on Tuesday, Aug. 24 and ending with an early out on Wednesday, May 18. New staff will report for work on Aug. 16, with an all-staff workday set for Aug. 17. The calendar has 47 built-in weather hours.
not showing symptoms and wants to come back to work, “we’re going to let them come back.” “That’s what we thought the board said to do,” he explained. Dr. David Whitaker, who said he had asked that the item be put back on the agenda because in retrospect he throught the non-certified staff had been overlooked, agreed with other board members that all staff is essential and said he doesn’t feel that most children are at risk of catching the virus or spreading it as much as adults,
so he didn’t feel there is that much danger in allowing an employee who has been deemed a close contact, but is not showing symptoms, to be at school. It was noted that quarantine measures for essential workers basically just mean the person can go to their place of employment, not that they are free to not quarantine from other activities. Those voting in favor Tuesday of the “essential” designation for all employees were Board President Dorothy Taul, [See R-9 BOARD, Page 5]
Plane Goes Down In Grundy County Plane Hit Tree Trying To Make Emergency Landing
A St. Louis father and his adult son lost their lives when their single-engine Cessna airplane crashed in the eastern portion of Grundy County on Monday. According to Grundy County Coroner Dewayne Slater, the bodies of 85-yearold Philip Lefevre of St. Louis and his 47-year-old son, Philip Lefevre, Jr., of Sunset Hills were found at the crash site. Slater said he doesn’t know who was piloting the plane,
which is something that will be determined by investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration. The two men were reportedly enroute from Moberly to Kirksville when the plane crashed. According to the FAA’s preliminary crash report, the single-engine Cessna177RG had attempted an emergency landing and struck a tree in a field near the intersection of Highway 6 and Highway 139 North in the far eastern portion of the county. The website Flightaware.com shows that the plane, owned by Aircraft Partners LLC, took off from the St. Louis Downtown airport (Cahokia/St. Louis) at 10:51 a.m. on Monday and had last been seen at 11:57 a.m. when it landed as scheduled at
The Trenton Police Department will have a new recruiting tool thanks to an incentive approved Monday evening by the Trenton City Council. On a 7-0 vote, with Fourth Ward Councilman Duane Urich absent, the council approved a training agreement that would pay for academy tuition and fees for a police officer who is hired by the city. The agreement is similar to one that is used for linemen and is designed
The Laredo Board of Aldermen met Monday evening, approving a salary increase for the city clerk. Following the clerk’s annual evaluation, the board voted to give city clerk Ashley Bonnett a 3 percent salary increase. With the raise, her salary is now $14.73 for the part-time position. The next regular board meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Monday, March 8.
Sunnyview Contracts Awarded
The Grundy County Nursing Home District Board of Directors has announced that the USDA has approved the contracts for the energy project taking place at Sunnyview Nursing Home. According to information provided by Sunnyview Administrator Jerry Doerhoff, Raines Heating and Cooling was awarded the contract for $828,270.29 for the HVAC portion, with The Wilson Group being awarded the contract for windows and doors at a cost of $388,369. Doerhoff said the loan closing on the project is scheduled for Feb. 16 at the regular meeting of the board.
Vaccine Navigator Launched airport-data.com photo
Two St. Louis-area men lost their lives when this plane, pictured here in an undated photo, attempted an emergency landing in eastern Grundy County and struck a tree.
Moberly. The Grundy County Sheriff’s Department had been contacted Tuesday morning to assist the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department regard-
ing the missing aircraft, which had last known to be north of Humphreys in Sullivan County heading southwest around 3 p.m. on Monday. The wreck-
age of the fixed-wing four-seat plane was located Tuesday afternoon in a secluded wooded area. [See PLANE, Page 5]
Chronically Understaffed Department Gets Help Council Approves Training Agreement For Academy Tuition
Laredo Aldermen Meet
to help attract new officers to a department that is chronically understaffed. Salaries that have historically been lower than the surrounding area coupled with low numbers of graduating officers have made it difficult to keep the department fully staffed and it is hoped this new agreement will help alleviate some of that problem. Trenton Police Chief Rex Ross, who said he will begin using the new policy as he attends two upcoming recruiting events, told the council that the two training programs he is mostly likely to recruit from cost $6,000 to $7,000 for the six-month programs. The agreement calls for the city to reimburse the recruit upon successful completion of the training and receipt of the recruit’s Missouri POST license, with rules set
forth for repayment if the recruit leaves employment with the TPD prior to 36 months of employment. The council also agreed to allow City Administra-tor/Utility Director Ron Urton to sign documents and move forward with a plan to refinance loans through DA Davidson and Company. According to information provided to Urton and Utility Comptroller Rosetta Marsh by Charlie Zitnik of DA Davidson, the city has the potential to save interest on the loans for water plant improvements, wastewater plant improvements and the 17th Street Bridge. In looking at the water plant improvement, the original loan was for $3,565,000, with a final payment date of May 1, 2038. Zitnik said the city could reduce its payments by approxi-
mately $500,000 over the remaining term, saving around $30,000 per year. On the wastewater plant improvement project, the original loan was $5,924,000, with a final payment of Nov. 1, 2038. The city could reduce the payments by over $205,000 over the remaining term, or approximately $12,000 per year. On the 17th Street Bridge project, which has a loan of $1,411,617 and a final payment on Dec. 1, 2027, the city could reduce its debt payment by approximately $93,000 over the remaining term or approximately $13,300 per year. In other business, the council: • approved the appointment of Clint Trump and Zane Robinson to the utility board and Jason Shuler to the police [See COUNCIL, Page 5]
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
NEAR MISS FOR NORTH CENTRAL...
There is a chance of snow tonight with an overnight low of -3. Temperatures remain freezing over the weekend with a high of 6 on Saturday and -1 on Sunday. The high Monday was 7 with .3 of an inch of snow falling. Tuesday hit a high of 14 with Wednesday reaching 16 with a low of 8 and .05 of an inch of snow. The high Wednesday at the Government Weather Station near Spickard was 12 with a low of 1.
The No. 17 North Central Missouri College men’s basketball team just missed picking up a road win over Division I Moberly Area Community College on Tuesday, falling 110-109 in overtime. SPORTS, PAGE 2
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Grundy County Active Cases Drop To 15 For those who are trying to get a COVID-19 vaccine, Missouri has launched, Vaccine Navigator, a new tool to help residents receive information about vaccine availability. When individuals register with Vaccine Navigator at covidvaccine.mo.gov/navigator, they will answer some questions about their age, health status and employment to determine their priority group. Registrants will be notified when they become eligible (if their group is not currently active) and they can view information about vaccination events and providers in their area. The information gathered will also be used to make participation in mass vaccination events easier and more efficient as well as assisting with reminders for second doses. Grundy County Health Department Administrator Elizabeth Gibson said the GCHD [See COVID, Page 3]
WHAT’S INSIDE
SPORTS ..........................PAGE 2 OP/ED ...........................PAGE 4 CALENDARS ..................PAGE 5 AGRICULTURE ...............PAGE 6 COMICS ..........................PAGE 8 CROSSWORDS ................PAGE 9 CLASSIFIEDS ................PAGE 10 NASCAR .....................PAGE 11 AREA .............................PAGE 12