FLIP PAGES FOR WEBSITE.qxp_shopper 4-22-20.qxp 5/24/21 1:19 PM Page 1
TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2021
TRENTON
R-T REPUBLICAN-TIMES 75¢
©W.B. Rogers Printing Co., Inc.
12 PAGES + 1 INSERT
Established Sept. 4, 1864 - 157th Year - No. 75
republican-times.com
NCMC Set To Sign MOU With MCC Buchanan County Would Move To NCMC Region If the North Central Missouri College Board of Trustees approves a memorandum of understanding with a Kansas City-area based community college at Tuesday night’s meeting, it will change the landscape of higher education in the St. Joseph area. The board is scheduled to consider the MOU with Metropolitan Community College during its regular monthly meeting and if approved, it would have NCMC, rather than MCC, as the primary service provider for school districts located in Buchanan County. The change came about after Missouri Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, who represents St. Joseph, had introduced a bill that would include that change. Luetkemeyer withdrew the bill, opting instead to let the change come about through the MOU, which was approved by MCC at a meeting last week. The change would not take affect until after the Spring 2022 semester. NCMC President Dr. Lenny Klaver said the relationships NCMC has built with businesses and industry in Buchanan County is likely what prompted those entities to have a preference for the customized training that can be offered through NCMC. He said NCMC also has a good relationship with Missouri Western State University. “This was not instigated by us,” he said. “It was instigated by industry leaders and legislators in St. Joseph.” Dr. Klaver said NCMC will begin working with the stakeholders in Buchanan County to determine how to move forward. “We have a year to meet with business and industry leaders and others in St. Joseph and Buchanan County to determine what they need and how we are going to meet those needs,” Dr. Klaver commented. NCMC is in the process of merging three satellite programs in the northwest part of its 16-county service region. They include nursing programs at Maryville and Bethany as well as Behavioral Health and Early Childhood Education programs along with various general education courses offered at the North Belt Site in the village of Country Club in Andrew County, which is already in NCMC’s service region. Currently, NCMC is leasing facilities in each location at a combined cost of more than $50,000 annually. The merger to a new location includes NCMC’s purchase of a property that would suffice for the programs currently offered and the ability to offer additional career technical education in a part of the region where economic indicators for employ-
ment demand are high. According to Dr. Klaver, the city of Savannah was selected due to its strategic location and ability to enhance enrollment by offering the programs mentioned earlier in this quadrant of the NCMC service region. What is most prominent in the locations merger is to positively impact workforce development with a high quality education and training center in an area of need. Supportive of this plan are data indicating that the counties of Holt, Gentry, DeKalb, Worth and Andrew demonstrate below the mean in the following areas: average family income, average household income, per capita income, percent of
BRIEFS
NCMC Board Agenda The North Central Missouri College Board of Trustees will meet in regular session at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Frey Administrative Center. In addition to the MOU, items on the agenda include new employee introduction, reports from the Head Start directors, vice president of business and finance, vice president for academic affairs, vice president for student affairs, the chief information officer and Dr. Klaver. The board will consider bids/purchases, a board policy change, continuance of audit services, 2021-22 salaries, a resignation, employments and revised and new job descriptions. The board also plans to hold a closed session to discuss personnel, legal matters and real estate. adults with no college and no degree (associate or bachelor) and some college but no degree. A center in Savannah pro-
vides easy, centralized access to higher education for all of these underserved areas in northwest Missouri [See NCMC, Page 3]
Memorial Day Closings
Several offices and businesses have announced plans to be closed on Monday, May 31, in honor of the Memorial Day holiday . Closed will be the Trenton Post Office, Trenton City Hall/TMU, the Trenton Area Chamber of Commerce/License Bureau, all state offices at the Grundy County Courthouse (Division I and II of the Circuit Court, the juvenile office and recorder’s office), the USDA Farm Services Agency, the Grundy County-Jewett Norris Library, the Grundy County Health Department, the North Central Missouri Children’s Advocacy Center, the Green Hills Regional Planning Commission and Missouri Job Center, the Community Action Partnership of North Central Missouri, BTC Bank, Citizens Bank and Trust, Farmers State Bank, Farmers Bank of Northern Missouri and US Bank. North Central Missouri College will also be closed and the Ketcham Community Center is scheduled to closed at noon on Saturday and be closed both Sunday and Monday. The Trenton Republican-Times office will be closed Monday and re-open for business as usual on Tuesday morning. Tuesday’s paper will be in mailboxes on Wednesday. The deadline for the June 2 Green Hills Weekly will be noon on Wednesday, May 26.
R-9 Takes Personnel Action
The Trenton R-9 Board of Education took action on several items during a closed session Monday morning. According to information provided by the district, the board accepted the resignations of Rebecca Burr, seventh grade social studies teacher; Sarah Huffstutter, high school cook; and Richard Miller, high school paraprofessional. Those hired during the meeting included Kayla Roberts, fifth grade Language Arts; Wes Croy, part-time middle school paraprofessional; Sarah Pauley, junior English teacher at THS; Stacey Russell, Success Center teacher; Tammy Ockenfels, part-time summer school teacher; and Annie Bass, Tristan Dugan, Mary Hale, Colbi Kirk, Shelby Bagley, Kelsi Lowe and Amy Currie, summer school substitute teachers.
Museum Opening, Program Set
Photo Courtesy of Megan Taul
DOWNTOWN AWARDS Main Street Trenton and the Trenton Downtown Improvement Association held a dinner and program Friday evening in celebration of 30 years of working to make the downtown area a vibrant place to conduct business. Those honored during the event include, from left, Billy Wilson, 2021 Downtown Partner of the Year; Wendell Lenhart, Founding Member Award; Peggy Noel and Kathi Brewer of Howard’s Department Store, 2021 Business of the Year; Venna Hicks, 2021 Volunteer of the Year; and Gary and Joyce Schuett, 2021 President’s Award.
The Grundy County Historical Museum will be open for the season on Memorial Day, Monday, May 31. Members of the Joseph L. Norton, Veterans of Foreign Wars, No. 919, will present a patriotic program beginning at 10 a.m. The museum, including the military building, will remain open until 4 p.m. This season's new exhibit is "The History of Photography." A fully equipped dark room and life- size pinhole camera are informative and fun features of the display. Many old and "new" cameras and the history of their development are included in the display as are a poster of the known photographers of the area. Those viewing the display will recognize several of the cameras that you either owned or saw advertised - no cell phones! The museum will be open weekends and holidays through the Missouri Day Festival, which is the third weekend in October.
COVID Case Update
It’s nothing like it was over the winter, but Grundy County residents should pay attention to the fact that cases of the COVID-19 virus are still being recorded in the county. According to Grundy County Health Department Administrator Elizabeth Gibson, the county has added new cases every day since May 17 and the number of active cases now stands at 12. That brings the total number of cases since the pandemic began to 1,090. Mrs. Gibson said she believes the vaccines available are effective, but there will also be breakthrough cases from any vaccine, so county residents should still be smart- wash hands, social distance, wear a mask if you can’t be distanced from others.
Kiwanis Club Trying To Keep Flags Flying Organization Seeking Help With Flag Project At Courthouse R-T Photo/Seth Herrold
TOP DAWGS Eight students at Trenton Middle School are the recipients of the Top Dog Award, which honors one female and one male student from each grade for demonstrating the best overall qualities of academic success, citizenship and character. Those honored for the 2020-21 school year include, from left, fifth graders Payton Hanes and Ryan Gott; sixth graders Makayla Mejia and Kayden Foster; seventh graders Kinsley Otto and Kameron Foster; and eighth graders Sofia Currie and Wade Houser. A complete listing of year-end awards for students at TMS, Rissler Elementary School, Pleasant View R-6, Spickard R-2 and Laredo R-7 will appear in a special section in the Friday, May 28, edition of the Republican-Times.
With smaller numbers (and older members), the Trenton Kiwanis Club is reaching out for help in putting up the flags around the Grundy County Courthouse on six patriotic holidays. The club held a meeting Thursday with representatives of other local service organi-
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
STATE BOUND...
There is a chance of rain beginning Wednesday night and going into Thursday with high temperatures in the low 80’s and high 70’s. The high in Trenton on Thursday was 75 with Friday hitting 76 and Saturday reaching 72. Those three days saw a combined .94 of an inch of rain fall. Sunday’s high was 81 with a low of 65. The high on Sunday at the Government Weather Station at the Barton Farm Campus was 79 with a low of 63.
The Trenton girls track and field team is sending four to state. Kristi Ewing advanced in the 400, Ava Simpson moved on in the 3,200 and the two combined with Gracyn Rongey and Shay Westerhof to qualify in the 4x4. SPORTS, PAGE 2
Trenton Republican-Times “News Every Day...When YOU Want It”
CHANCE OF RAIN
republican-times.com
zations to discuss a plan to keep the courthouse flags flying. “We are not interested in abandoning this project, we are looking for help,” said Kiwanis member Kara Helmandollar. Kiwanis leader Dave Woodson told the group that the club is in search of groups to help volunteer to help set up and take down flags on six holidays: Memorial Day, Flag Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Patriots Day and Veterans Day. [See KIWANIS, Page 3]
WHAT’S INSIDE
SPORTS ..........................PAGE 2 COMMUNITY ..................PAGE 5 CALENDAR .....................PAGE 5 ACROSS MISSOURI .......PAGE 6 CALENDAR .....................PAGE 5 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT....PAGE 7 CROSSWORDS ................PAGE 9 CLASSIFIEDS ................PAGE 10 AREA .............................PAGE 12