GNM_01-27-2021

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NEW DEPUTY Health & Wellness — See pages 4-5

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Wednesday, January 27, 2021

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UPSP 213-200 Vol. 156, No. 31

dinance amending the city code dogs in the pound. adjusting the electric rates. The Public Works Director Mark board tabled the discussion fol- Morey that the new www.NorthMissourian.com — FREE with yourreported print subscription lowing a report provided by dump truck was purchased and Rains for electric rates of sur- picked up. The purchase of rerounding cities. The board plans placement electrical poles for to wait to make any changes until $6,390 was approved and the the electrical rate study is com- board reviewed the People Serplete. vice Operation & Maintenance During comment by the Chief Report for December 2020. of Police, Mark Richards providBills totalling in the amount ed an incident report list dated of $22,970.82 were approved for Jan. 25, which noted the follow- payment. ing: two domestic disturbance; CD interest rate quotes were one juvenile problem; one animal provided from Farmers Bank problem; one agency assistance; and BTC Bank. The followone trespassing; one robbery; ing were approved with Farmone intoxicated person; one in- er’s Bank: a 36-month CD for formation report; one nuisance; $65,199.07 at .70%; a 12-month one suspicious person; and one CD for $100,917.48 at .50%; a (continued on page 3) arrest warrant. There are no

Introducing Kidder Tiny Homes

...have they got a DIY project for you!

David McEwen says the Kidder Tiny Home subdivision, located in Kidder, was in part the brainchild of his son, Daren McEwen. But it turns out much of the ‘brawn’ that has gone into the buildings came from him. Daren lives out-of-state where he has worked for 13 years at a furniture company. When COVID -19 hit in March, the company asked for volunteers to take an

extended vacation to assist the store with social distancing, but this turned into a furlough for many of the employees. Daren was one of those furloughed and was not sure if or when he would be hired back. So, he began to focus on a project begun almost three decades prior by his father, David. In 1994, David purchased several lots in Kidder, including the

Friday & Saturda

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USPS 213-200 Vol. 156, No. 36

City’s AMI system closer to first test; aldermen seek electric rate comparison The new metering system for Gallatin awaits only the attorney’s review of the contract and the board’s signatures. City Administrator Lance Rains and Public Works Director Mark Morey met with Core & Main Representatives on Jan. 25 to review the Advanced Metering Infrastructure system and contract. Rains will have the city’s attorney, Robert Cowherd, review the contract before it is presented to the board. Once the contract is signed the city can expect to have the first dozen meters installed in four to six weeks to test the radio signals. Adjustment to the city’s electric rates will await a rate study. The board discussed a draft or-

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Kidder Institute. Having been in construction most of his life, David fixed up the old Kidder school administration building and eventually sold it to a boot camp. He also made improvements on other lots, such as adding power, electricity, and sewer. Over time, he eventually received approval to build a tiny home community. In the meantime, Daren had (continued on page 3)

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Rick Wharton installing new marquee signs at Courter Theater Dec. 9, 2020 A sign of improvement for GTL UPSP 213-200

Prayers

Vol. 156, No. 29

The Gallatin Theater Leagues (GTL) offers a huge ‘Thank You!’ to Landmark Manufacturing for making new marquee signs and to 87 Pit Stop Powder Coating and Restoration for finishing the signs. Even though the theater league has had to cancel scheduled performances, improvements to the building have continued. A few of those improvements are new air conditioning units to the roof, point tuck repair to the brick facade, ticket booth removal, and renovation to the front lobby. The building improvement chairman is Rick Wharton and GTL is thankful to Rick and other theater members who have dedicated their time to help in the past, present and in future endeavors. GTL members appreciate continued community support.

for our country...

Shipers promoted to major in the Patrol Captain Scott Shipers with the Missouri State Highway Patrol will move up in rank to Major and will transfer from Troop A to serve as commander of the Executive Services Bureau, effective March 1. The Executive Services Bureau serves as the Patrol’s Budget and Procurement Division, Research and Development Division, and as the Patrol’s legislative liaison. Shipers was born in Gallatin, graduating from Gallatin R-5 High School in 1992. He earned a bachelor’s of science degree in criminal justice from Truman State University at Kirksville in 1995. Shipers was appointed to the Patrol on Jan. 1, 1996, as a member of the 71st Recruit Class. He was promoted to corporal in 2001, then to sergeant in 2004 and was designated zone supervisor of Zone 7. Shipers was promoted to lieutenant in 2011, assigned to Troop A Headquarters in Lee’s Summit. He completed Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command in 2015 and was promoted to the rank of captain that same year. He served as commanding officer of Troop A, Lee’s Summit.

COVID Update: Jan. 27 Statewide Rank based per 100k population:

*Daviess County ....... 553 (74th among 114 counties; +21 since 01/20)

Caldwell County .........613 (70th among 114 counties; +14 since 01/20)

Gentry County ............707 (6th among 114 counties; +23 since 01/20)

Harrison County .........780 (14th among 114 counties; +43 since 01/20)

Grundy County ...........793 (33rd among 114 counties; +14 since 01/20)

Dekalb County............886 (61st among 114 counties; +24 since 01/20)

Livingston County ....1243 (30th among 114 counties; +43 since 01/20)

Clinton County .........1450 (60th among 144 counties; +24 since 01/20)

State to date: 452,937 cases, 6,709 deaths Statewide positivity rate (last 7 days): +10.4% Source: Missouri DHSS at 11 a.m. Jan. 27

USA: 25.5M confirmed cases

(recoveries unreported); 425K deaths

Worldwide: 100M cases, 55.4M recovered, 2.16M deaths

Source: Wikipedia & NY Times; daily reports available via the World Health Organization

*NOTE: Local numbers reported by the Daviess County Health Department may differ from state reports due to the lag time involved in processing the reports. Today Daviess County locally reports: 638 total cases (95 active; 529 recovered). To date there have been

14 deaths officially recorded in Daviess County. Questions? Call the County Health Dept.:

660.663.2414

Local man a witness at Capitol, refutes ‘all involved’ in violence by T.L. Huffman, staff writer

Rolla Joyce of Gallatin was at the rally in Washington D.C. on Jan. 6. The gathering ended in calamity when a violent mob breached the Capitol, threatening the 535 members of a joint session of Congress who were gathered there to count the Electoral College vote. Five people died in the melee, including a Capitol police officer and a young female protester. But the gathering didn’t start with dark intentions, Joyce says. It started as a gathering of like-minded people who only wanted to be seen and heard. “We weren’t nut jobs, just concerned citizens,” he says. For the most part, they were citizens worried about irregularities in the voting process, concerns they say have been dismissed by the press and government officials. Most were hoping for the opportunity for the electoral college to be audited. “Seven or eight states sent dueling electors,” Joyce says. “We were thinking if it got kicked back to the state legislators, they could debate which ones were correct.” Joyce was a reluctant witness.

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“I didn’t want to go to the rally on Jan. 6,” he says. “I felt strongly impressed that I should go. I believe the only reason I was so strongly prompted to go was so I could stand as a witness. Not everybody there got wrapped up in the extremist activities, not even close.” Joyce has not always been a Trump advocate. “In 2016, I was part of the ‘Never Trump’ campaign,” he says. “But I thought he was the better option of the candidates. I was pleasantly surprised by what he ended up doing. I chalk some of my support up to the constant attacks by the Democratic party. They were holding anti-Trump rallies before he was even inaugurated.” Joyce drove to Washington to join the rally. It took him about 18 hours. He got to the Shady Grove metro station around 5:30 a.m. on Jan. 6. He rode the red line train into Washington D.C. with a guy he’d just met from California named Jeff. Moving toward the Ellipse along Pennsylvania Avenue, away from the Capitol building, Joyce saw trucks with dozer blades and police cars lined up along

the side streets to keep vehicles out of the area from the Capitol Building to the White House, and Pennsylvania Avenue to “The Mall.” He and Jeff walked from Metro Central station to Pennsylvania Avenue then to 15th Street by the Ellipse, where a security check point was set up on Constitution Avenue. “There was a revelry-type atmosphere, and upbeat music was playing on the loudspeaker,” he says. “The crowd was chanting U-S-A and whatnot.”

Walking along with the crowd, Joyce was aware of agitation among some people caused by tweets from internet personalities, names he was not really familiar with. “Some conspiracy wonk was tweeting that Mike Pence and Congress planned to unseat Trump and seize power of the executive branch. That was the only outrage I actually heard voiced by the crowd.” He arrived at the checkpoint at about 6:30 a.m. A giant line of thousands of people had started to form trailing south along the sidewalk to the Washington

Monument, and around to 15th Street and back to Constitution Avenue waiting to go through Security to enter the Ellipse. “The attitude was more or less one of merriment,” he says. He noted an occasional Q’Aanon flag. He spotted internet personality Alex Jones as his ‘posse’ passed by. “Some people in the crowd were shouting, but it was not overwhelming, just the occasional person pumping a fist and shouting, ‘We’re with you!’ and ‘Yeah Alex!’ in approval,” Joyce says. The rally was scheduled to start at 9 a.m. and President Trump was set to speak at 11 a.m. By 9 a.m., the area was full but not tightly packed. “It was wide enough that Jeff and I were able to navigate through. We could see and hear, but the sound system was awful.” They went back to the security check point in the middle of Constitution Avenue by the intersection next to the Ellipse. “We could see on the jumbotrons,” Joyce says. “At this point, the crowd just seemed happy to be there.” (continued on page 12)


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