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TRENTON
THURS., JAN. 18, 2024
REPUBLICAN-TIMES “GOD BLESS AMERICA”
Old Glory flying at Five Points
republican-times.com
BRIEFS TFD Responds to Fire Call
At 8:54 p.m. on Thursday, January 11, the Trenton Fire Department responded to a 911 call of a residential structure fire at 1012 Laclede Street in Trenton, owned by Huston Sprinkle. According to a report filed by Fire Chief Brandon Gibler, upon arrival firefighters found heavy fire involvement of the entire south side of the house. A search for fire victims was conducted with accompanying interior fire suppression efforts. Firefighters were able to knock down the fire and ensure no victims were inside the home. After finding extensive fire involvement throughout the entire attic space, the house became unsafe for interior fire suppression efforts, so an exterior defensive strategy was implemented to limit fire from spreading to neighboring structures. The home and contents were a total loss. One adult, two children and three pets were home at the time of the fire, and all made it out safely, with no injuries reported. The Red Cross was contacted to assist the family. Firefighters were on scene approximately four hours and the cause was undetermined. Assisting the TFD were the Grundy County Rural Fire Protection District, Grundy County EMS, the Trenton Police Department, Trenton Municipal Utilities and Liberty Utilities.
“Disco Glam” Is Theme of 2024 Trenton Courtwarming Trenton R-IX Courtwarming activities will be held January 16-20. The theme for this year’s courtwarming is “Disco Glam”. Coronation will take place at the home basketball game on Friday, January 19 as the Bulldogs will take on the Milan Wildcats in the THS gym. The king and queen will be announced in between the boys and girls games. Candidates for courtwarming queen are seniors Ella Novak, Madi Moore and Katelyn Clark, while king candidates include Seth Doolittle, Braydn Sager and Gabe Novak. Attendants include juniors
Astrid Soriano and Maxx Baker, sophomores Olivia Tabbert and Garrison Otto and freshmen Makayla Mejia and Jacob White. Crownbearers will be Lucy Guthrie, daughter of Amy and John Guthrie and Karter Cool, son of Kali and Kameron Cool. The Courtwarming Royalty Presentation will be held on Saturday, January 20 at 6:45 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center. All family and friends are invited to attend. A semi-formal dance will follow for grades 9-12 in the THS gym and conclude at 9:00 p.m. Professional photos will start at 6:00 p.m.
Laredo R-VII School Board Accepts Resignations, Approves Field Trips The Laredo R-VII Board of Education met in regular session on Thursday, January 11 at 6 p.m. The agenda, consent agenda and payment of all bills were approved. In old business, the MUSIC umbrella policy was approved for purchase of $4,000,000 coverage for $730.17. In new business, building improvements were discussed. Also discussed was the preliminary school calendar for 2024-25, with the board deciding to review
the calendar and vote on it at the February meeting. Approval was given for the third through sixth grade to participate in elementary basketball. Field trips approved include a spring trip to Shatto Dairy on April 24 for kindergarten through second grade students and a trip to a Royals game for third through eighth grade students. It was announced that the spring concert will be held Thursday, April 18 at 6:30 p.m. [See Board, Page 2]
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Established Sept. 4, 1864 - 160th Year - No. 20
Wright Memorial Hospital Announces New Administrator Catherine Hamilton, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, has been named Administrator of Wright Memorial Hospital and Hedrick Medical Center, effective immediately. Hamilton has been serving in this role in an interim capacity since August 2023, leading the day-today operations of the two North Central Missouri hospitals. Hamilton has been with Saint Luke’s since 2011, most recently serving as Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) for the Saint Luke’s Critical Access Region. She earned her Master of Science in Nursing degree from Webster University. “Catherine’s exceptional leadership and dedication have been evident throughout her time at Saint Luke’s,” said Darren Bass, CEO, Saint Luke’s North and Critical Access Region. “Her focus on delivering exceptional patient care and fostering collaboration will undoubtedly drive the success of these two hospitals. I look forward to working closely with Catherine as she takes on this important po-
Catherine Hamilton WMH/Hedrick Administrator
Jennifer Dixon, WMH/Hedrick Associate Chief Nursing Officer
sition and leads her teams to new heights." Additionally, Jennifer Dixon, MBA, BSN, RN, NE-BC, has been promoted from Director of Nursing to Associate Chief Nursing Officer (ACNO) for Wright Memorial Hospi-
tal and Hedrick Medical Center. Dixon joined Saint Luke’s in 2003. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the University of Missouri–Kansas City and her Master of Business Administration degree from Western Governors University.
City Council Hears Reports, Approves Water/Sewer Department Wages The Trenton City Council met in open session on Wednesday, January 10, 2024 at 5pm at City Hall after the original meeting scheduled for Monday, January 8 was cancelled due to weather conditions. In attendance were Mayor Jackie Soptic; Council Members William Fisher, Glenn Briggs, Calvin Brown, Timothy Meinecke, David Mlika, Duane Urich and John Dolan on audio; new City Attorney Kenton Kinney; City Administrator/Utilities Director Ron Urton; and City Clerk Cindy Simpson. Absent was Council Member Marvin Humphreys. The minutes from the December 11, 2023 meeting and the minutes from the special meeting on December 19, 2023 were approved. All duly obligated bills were approved for payment. The meeting then moved on to reports. Council member Briggs wanted to thank the city employees for working hard to clear the snow and Mayor Soptic for moving the meeting due to the weather conditions on Monday. Mayor Soptic also
made it a point to thank all city employees for their hard work during the winter weather season. In City Administrator/Utility Director Urton’s report, he mentioned that the electrical crew performed preventative tree trimming during the snow storm. Holiday decorations have been removed from the street lights. There were plans made to run the south sub generators Jan. 14 and 15 during the extreme cold weather and to perform first quarter testing. Urton said the water plant has been running normally. The reservoir will do seeding and mulching in the spring. Irvinbilt is continuing to order materials for the clarifier modification project. Plans to pump out the wet-well have been set tentatively for March. At the sewer plant, the sludge pump quit. Crews pulled it and are getting it to a shop for inspection/repair. A check-valve failed at one of the smaller lift stations and they are getting a quote to replace it. Distribution/collection is performing routine maintenance. Flinn Construction
is finished, but may need to come back in the spring to touch up a few grading issues. Howe Company is advertising Phase 2 of the 10th and Oklahoma watermain project with bids scheduled for opening on February 1. Moving on to the ordinance and resolutions portion of the meeting, Mayor Soptic wanted to start off with Bill No. 2, which is an ordinance of the City approving two legal services agreements, one for city attorney services and one for city prosecutor services, by and between the city and Murphy, Kinney & Sumy. The main attorney that the city will work through is Kenton Kinney and the city can terminate the contract at any time. All city council members voted to approve the contract. Kinney will be taking the place of Tara Walker, who recently resigned the duties. The meeting then jumped back to Bill No. 1 which stated an ordinance amending section 400.045 which deals with the definitions of the unified development ordinance titled “land use.” Changes included the change of prop-
erty use to Principal use, addition of Public Hearing and Public meeting, and additional grammatical fixes. All council members voted yes to amend page 18 of 400.045. Bill No. 3 is an ordinance of the city approving the proposal of Double Check Company, LLC for the removal and installation of a Fuel Master Credit Card reading system at the airport. The work that will be done is the removal of the old Fuel Master pedestal, installation of a new upgraded Fuel Master Pedestal and the confirmation of proper operation between the Fuel Master and customer. The total cost is estimated to be $15,417.00 and installation is estimated to be in the spring. The council gave approval to the installation. In unfinished business, the water/sewer distribution department wages were discussed. Wages recommended by the finance committee include Kenny [See Council, Page 2]