Free complimentary copy July 8, 2016 • Volume 3, No. 37
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Raytown City Hall reopens, source Raytown alderman of airborne hazard unclear
dies following stroke
By Kris Collins
According to the Raytown Police Department, and police headquarters reopened Sunday after the building was vacated Thursday evening because air quality tests showed an unsafe level of formaldehyde. City Hall opened Tuesday. Cpl. Jimmy Wolsey, of the police department, said he did not know the exact measurements found in the air. The Occupational Safety & Health Administration’s (OSHA) exposure limit for an eight-hour time-weighted average is 0.75 parts formaldehyde per million parts of air. However, Wolsey said he suspects the high formaldehyde level was an “isolated incident.” Tests conducted after Thursday, he said, didn’t show high levels of the carcinogen. The source of the formaldehyde is yet to be discovered. Formaldehyde is a colorless, strong-smelling gas often found in water-based solutions. According
Photo by Kris Collins Raytown City Hall and Raytown Police Department headquarters reopened earlier this week after air quality tests conducted this past Thursday showed unsafe levels of formaldehyde.
to OSHA, it’s commonly used as a preservative in medical laboratories and mortuaries, it’s also found in chemicals, particle board, household products, glues, permanent press fabrics, paper product coatings, fiberboard, and plywood. It is also widely used as an industrial fungicide, germicide and disinfectant.
The police department, in the bottom level of City Hall, recently underwent renovations, but Wolsey said naming a source is speculation. “They have people in and out during the day checking it, but at this point we have no idea,” he said. The closure did not stop police operations. The Raytown Fire Protection District was on-hand to offer
support, and the Kansas City and Lee’s Summit police departments provided temporary facilities from which the Raytown police operated. The Raytown-Brooking Eagle will continue to report as more information is known. Look for updates at www.RaytownEagle.com.
Cafe’s new owner hits liquor license obstacle By Kris Collins Newzroom Cafe, just across the street from Raytown High School, is under new ownership. The menu and decor are seemingly untouched, there are a couple of new faces around the restaurant, and at the moment there’s no more live jazz from 6 to 10 p.m. on Friday nights. The decision doesn’t entirely lie in the hands of Colandus Rucker Jr., who became the owner in midMay. He had to discontinue the jazz because he can’t justify the expense without alcohol sales, which funded the entertainment under the previous owners, and he can’t get approved for a liquor license. “I have to pay the band to come in, I have to pay for the cook to come in, and then what I have to pay for the food, and nobody is ordering liquor,” Rucker said. “Liquor was a big part of that. I had to suspend that because I couldn’t pay the band. I would be paying them out of my pocket at a loss.”
Photo by Kris Collins Colandus Rucker Jr., left, with Rome Spruill at Newzroom Café. Rucker, the new owner, is seeking a liquor license from the city of Raytown to continue live jazz at the restaurant on Friday nights, but a city ordinance precludes him from getting one because of the café’s proximity to a school.
Mark Loughry, interim city administrator, said the previous business owners were improperly issued a liquor license. The process for obtaining a liquor license, he said, is to first get a letter of support from the
city for a state liquor license application. The city then entertains liquor license applications once the state license is secured. The previous owners should not have received a Raytown liquor li-
cense because of a city ordinance mandating all liquor sales are outside 300 feet of school or church. The previous owners were able to get a state liquor license because they, through error on the city’s part, received the support letter from City Hall and Missouri law bans sales of alcohol within only 100 feet of schools or churches. Though there is no waiver process at Rucker’s disposal, the Raytown Board of Aldermen could reduce its 300-foot buffer to match the 100-foot one set in state law. “The long and the short of it is we have to remove that restriction of 300 feet,” Loughry said. Newzroom is approximately 120 feet away from Raytown High. Rucker said interested customers still call to check on the status of the live music, but he’s worried he may lose some of the Friday night crowd if the suspension lasts longer. Loughry said he believes, but isn’t certain, that Rucker may be on the agenda for the Board of Aldermen’s July 19 meeting.
Raytown Alderman Steve Mock died Wednesday night following health complications from a stroke he suffered this past week. He was 60 years old. Mayor Mike McDonough had asked for prayers and a moment of silence for Mock and his family during the regular board of aldermen meeting Tuesday evening. Mock was a long-time Raytown resident, and owner of Mock Construction. Mock suffered the stroke on June 30. He was first elected as ward 5 alderman in 2009.
Finance director named interim city administrator
Photo courtesy city of Raytown Mark Loughry, Raytown finance director, and interim city administrator
Mexican fare favorite returns to Raytown
By Kris Collins
The popular Mexican restaurant Fiesta Azteca Grill and Cantina returned to Raytown this month. Andres Orozco, owner, previously ran the restaurant in Raytown before moving to Lee’s Summit. Orozco returned to Raytown July 2 to the former Jim G’s Drive-In. The family-owned business has gotten a warm welcome since it opened, he said, noting roughly 80 percent of the customers were regulars at his restaurant before he moved to Lee’s Summit. “It’s not just the food. I try to treat people like family,” he said “When they come here I want them to feel like they’ve come to my house because this is what I do for a living, and I want to do it right. I’m very happy and I’m very proud of what I do.” Orozco closed shop in Lee’s Summit in mid-May and began preparing the new restaurant for opening day. He put up a few interior walls around the kitchen, painted and did some light floor work. More improvements will follow, he said. More information on Fiesta Azteca is available at the restaurant’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/fiestaaztecakc.
Raytown Finance Director Mark Loughry was named the interim city administrator Tuesday evening during the regular Board of Aldermen meeting. “Right now, it’s just a temporary thing,” Loughry said after the appointment. “They asked me to fill the role and I’m very happy to do that. I’m very flattered, I guess, that they showed confidence in me to handle that role.” The board adopted a resolution 8-0 (Aldermen Steve Mock and Mark Moore were absent) to approve the appointment. Loughry was serving as acting city administrator prior to the appointment and will fill the void until a new administrator is found. Mahesh Sharma, former administrator, left the city July 1 to take an administrative role for Scott County, Iowa. Sharma had been administrator since 2008. The board recently chose Strategic Government Resources to search for the city’s new administrator. There is no timeline or target date by which to fill the position. Mayor Mike McDonough said the city wants the best candidate for the job and doesn’t want to be tethered by a deadline.
Photo by Kris Collins Andres and Maria Orozco stand in their restaurant, Fiesta Azteca, which just moved back to Raytown from Lee’s Summit on July 2.
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Garlic Baked Chicken Page 7
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