Free complimentary copy October 16, 2015 • Volume 2, No. 51
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Raytown High to compete in statewide band competition Saturday By Kris Collins The Raytown High School band will be in Trenton this weekend competing against 67 other schools in the Missouri Day Marching Festival. It’s the fifth and final festival for the band this year, said Raytown High School Director of Bands Joseph Hill. “One of the reasons we choose to go there is because it attracts some of the schools more like us,” he said. “We’re working and we’re improving and we’re getting better, but we’re not interested in going to some of the places with huge festivals, like MU and other places like that. It attracts schools like us that are good, but still working to get to that next level of performance.” Preparation for the festival season starts in the summer and creeps into the school year, when the students will come in early Wednesday mornings for practice and after school Thursday for another two-and-a-half hours of practice. The band has fared favorably in its past four festivals and Hill said he is hoping for a good finish to the season. “This will be a harder festival, harder bands. This is a school-sized festival so we’re up against some bands that are little bigger than us,” he said. “This will
be a good test for them.” The band previously finished first in class in three of the past four festivals and second in class in one. Other competitions group schools by the size of their bands, not the size of the school overall. The band will play Josh Hinkel’s “The Warrior’s Call,” a piece that chronicles a warrior’s progression from getting a call to war, leaving home and going into battle. “That sounds cheesy when you say it like that, but that’s the progression of it and it has a trumpet solo in it that depicts the warrior throughout the whole thing,” Hill said. “Like I said, it’s fairly artistic.” Hill, along with Mike Doney, assistant director and percussion director, Tyler Rick, assistant director, and Shannon Hickman, color guard director, will travel with the band to Trenton on Saturday for the day-long competition. However, Hill said, once the band is on the field, the performance lies in the hands of drum majors Emma Schoolcraft, Becka Vinson and Kevin Johnson, all of which Hill said have put in a large amount of time and effort in preparation this year. The band is competing only in the field competition.
Raytown makes street improvements
Photo by Kris Collins Alex Kolster, Raytown High School choir director, leads members of the band in practice Wednesday after school.
Raytown Fire Protection District taking action to replace faulty truck
Photo courtesy of city of Raytown Crews are expected to complete the road seals during the next two weeks.
By Kris Collins The city of Raytown is completing street seals on various parts of town at a cost of $259,566. The work will be completed over the next two weeks, said Brenda Gustafson, Raytown public information officer. In total, the city is putting a seal on 12.8 lane miles. The work is being completed at the following areas: • Elm, Ditzler, and Laurel between 59th and 63rd streets • Hedges, Northern, Harris, and Harvard between 59th and 63rd streets • Elm, Arlington, and Maple between 75th and 79th streets • Harris, Sterling, Harvard Ter-
race, and Harvard between 85th Terrace and 83rd Street • Sterling, and Harvard between 59th and 63rd streets A new granite aggregate is being used by the city. It is a different aggregate from years past. The process is sometimes referred to as a diamond seal because the finished product has been found to have a better visual appeal with a longer life span for nearly the same cost as previously used aggregates, according to the city. The seal can extend the life of a road up to eight years and may used up to three times before extensive repairs are needed. It has not yet been determined which roads will be improved next. Streets continued on page 2
Park Improvements Page 2
File photo The Raytown Fire Protection District is exploring its options to replace a $520,000 fire engine that has required $21,000 in repairs this year. It is believe the vehicle has an unknown, underlying issue and the board is seeking to replace the vehicle at a significant discount through the manufacturer, Pierce Manufacturing.
By Kris Collins The Raytown Fire Protection District is exploring its options for replacing a truck that has cost the district $21,000 in repairs this year alone. Fire Chief Matt Mace said the truck, a 2009 Pierce Impel, is having far more problems than is typical for the vehicle at this point in its lifespan. The board spoke at length Tuesday evening with board counsel Christine Wald Schmidt about a remedy, and possibly legal action. Mace said Wednesday the board had not sent out a demand letter detailing the board’s wishes for replacing the $520,000 vehicle. The truck has been out of ser-
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vice for the past three-and-a-half weeks, Mace said, and a number of repairs have not fixed an unknown problem with the fire engine. “I think, one, you’ve got a vehicle that’s prone to being broke and, two, you’ve got a repair shop that’s simply out of their depth and they keep hanging parts and they’re not getting any results,” Mace said at the meeting. He noted this specific model and make of vehicle is the last one operating in the Kansas City Metro Area. The other five, he said, have been put out of service and sold by area departments. As of Wednesday, Mace said the board had not finalized its ap-
proach in seeking a new vehicle. However, it was suggested at the meeting the letter requests the manufacturer, Pierce Manufacturing, to give the district credit for the returned vehicle, a significant discount on a new one and to provide a vehicle for temporary use while the matter is sorted. Roger Odneal, the board’s counsel for the past 30 years and who is sitting in on meetings until the end of the year, said the road to a resolution would likely be long, as the matter involves several parties and a vehicle of great value. Mace said he expects the demand letter to be sent out by the end of the week.
Raytown Sports Page 8