Jan. 16
In June 2020, the Fulton 58 School District, along with the community, passed a no-tax-increase $27.5 million bond issue, Proposition S.
All three of the district's elementary schools received new secure entrances and updated electrical and plumbing. The parking lots were redone at Bush and McIntire schools.
"That project is completed and now, as you can tell out front of the high school, we are getting started on the high school project," Superintendent Ty Crain said.
At the high school, there will be security updates at the entrance, with a secure vestibule featuring improved lines of sight, access controls and a bullet- resistant transaction window with glazing film.
New administration spaces will be added, which will be relocated to the main entrance for improved visibility to the front approach. The new spaces include reception; offices for the principal, the vice principal, support staff; a conference room; a staff restroom; and storage.
The nurse's area will be relocated to near the administration spaces. The nurse's area will include a waiting area, a nurse desk, open rest space, an exam room, a restroom, the health services director's office and storage.
The school will also be receiving a new competition gym with 1,500 bleacher seats, six retractable basketball goals, three volleyball standards, five event restrooms, six locker rooms and storage.
The boys and girls locker room additions will have 60 lockers each, toilets, showers, sinks and coach offices. There will also be two smaller visitor locker rooms with 28 lockers each and restrooms.
Local lawmakers advocate for state worker pay increase
A personal appeal to take care of "our workers, OUR PEOPLE" was the sentiment expressed in a letter three Mid-Missouri legislators recently sent to their colleagues in the House of Representatives.
They urged their fellow lawmakers to pass a wage and cost of living increase for state workers, which Gov. Mike Parson recommended -- a move they say could bolster recruitment and retention for the area's largest employer.
Rep. Dave Griffith, R-Jefferson City, Rep. Rudy Veit, R-Wardsville, and Sen. Mike Bernskoetter, R-Jefferson City, sent a letter to members of the Missouri House ahead of the legislative session, backing the governor's proposal for a 5.5 percent cost of living adjustment and a $15 per hour minimum base pay for state employees.
The letter, which was given to the News Tribune, noted: "We can continue to limp along and give incremental raises here and there, but the fact is that as the cost of living continues going up, our workers' wages have remained stagnant. And that forces our workers, OUR PEOPLE, to make tough decisions.
"We should be putting that money into our own people, knowing that an investment in them is an investment in the future of our state."
The letter cited a study by CBIZ Human Capital Services that found Missouri's wages far below a competitive rate and ranking lowest in the nation. It also pointed to the money previously spent in workforce development efforts in other sectors of the state, including manufacturing.
Jan. 17
Kith and Kin: McKensay Vandelicht
McKensay Vandelicht is the owner and director of Looney Toones Daycare in Fulton.
She's lived in Callaway County all 29 years of her life. When she got married, she and her husband, Levi, decided to stay in Callaway County to raise three daughters in a new house.
When Vandelicht is not at work, she enjoys spending time at home with her family, riding in their Razor and going fishing.
What was your first job?
I worked at the Callaway race track for my very first job. I worked in the concessions.
Who inspires you the most?
That's a hard one. There would have to be three people specifically that inspire me equally, and that would be my mom, my mother-in-law and my aunt. Just because they have always shown me roles of what strong, inspirational and strong-willed women are. But also showed so much kindness and love and to just be the best person you can be.
After Biden's first year, the virus and disunity rage on
From the inaugural platform, President Joe Biden saw American sickness on two fronts -- a disease of the national spirit and the one from the rampaging coronavirus -- and he saw hope, because leaders always must see that.
"End this uncivil war," he implored Americans on Jan. 20, 2021. Of the pathogen, he said: "We can overcome this deadly virus."
Neither malady has abated.
For Biden, it's been a year of lofty ambitions grounded by the unrelenting pandemic, a tough hand in Congress, a harrowing end to a foreign war and rising fears for the future of democracy itself. Biden did score a public-works achievement for the ages. But America's cracks go deeper than pavement.
In this midterm election year, Biden confronts seething divisions and a Republican Party that propagates the delusion that the 2020 election, validated as fair many times over, was stolen from Donald Trump. That central, mass lie of a rigged vote has become a pretext in state after state for changing election rules and fueling even further disunity and grievance.
Jan. 18
Women, Wine and Wild game on tap for next month
Missouri Pheasants Forever Quail Forever (PFQF) and the National Deer Association (NDA) have come together to host a Women, Wine & Wild Game event Feb. 18.
The event, which is for ages 21 and older, begins at 6 p.m. at the Scout Cabin, 705 E. 8th St.
Local wines and wild game appetizers will be available.
"It will definitely be a fun event for Callaway County to come out to," said Kim Cole, Missouri Outreach Coordinator at PFQF. "And ladies elsewhere too, if they feel like driving in a little bit. But we are really excited about it."
Though PFQF and NDA focus on different wildlife, the event is going to be about getting women to connect with conservation as a whole. They want to help women get more involved in different ways.
"I think we're really hoping this will provide a new opportunity for lots of ladies who may not have quite the same interest but interests that can all fall somewhere in deer hunting, upland hunting, conservation and things like that," Cole said.
Missouri to recieve millions in federal bridge funding
Missouri is set to receive $484.3 million from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to improve highway bridges.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, also known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, was passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden in November.
The U.S. Department of Transportation announced Missouri's allocation and its formula for determining bridge funding in each state last week.
Like all funding to the states, Missouri's $484.3 million will be spread across five years. It will get $96.9 million for its first allocation.
Despite having the fifth most bridges in poor condition, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Missouri is receiving the 14th largest bridge allocation.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration's guidance to states, funding is allocated through a formula based on the relative cost of replacing and fixing highway bridges considered to be in poor or fair condition in the National Bridge Inventory. The formula, which is part of the legislation, was created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Jan. 19
Fulton City Council to get third opinion on wastewater facility pollutants
The Fulton City Council is preparing to potentially challenge the Missouri Department of Natural Resources on upgrades to the wastewater facility.
At a special meeting Tuesday, the Council approved an agreement with Burns and McDonnell not to exceed $10,000 for a third opinion on the condition of the city's wastewater plant and its impact on Stinson Creek.
The plant processes local waste prior to discharge into Stinson Creek.
Darrell Dunlap, interim director of administration, said when he met with DNR he was told to met new total maximum daily load permitting levels, the city would need to spend about $5 million in upgrades to the facility.
The total maximum daily load (TMDL) is used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and DNR to focus on restoring impaired waterways. The agencies declared Stinson Creek as impaired for low dissolved oxygen and excessive organic sediment levels, according to council documents.
DNR released an implementation strategies guide in October for reducing the TMDL in Stinson Creek.
Missouri attorney general renews threat to sue schools over mask, quarantine rules
Missouri is continuing to see record daily coronavirus infections, near-peak COVID-19 caseloads in hospitals and threats from Attorney General Eric Schmitt that he will sue school districts that require masks or send students home when they are infected or exposed to the virus.
In a statement issued Tuesday morning, Schmitt said school mask rules and requirements that students with an infection or exposure remain at home violate a Nov. 22 Cole County Circuit Court decision that found local health orders designed to stop the spread of COVID-19 violated the Missouri Constitution.
Schmitt, in his statement, said the ruling applies to school districts and any decisions about masks and isolation belong with parents.
"My office is currently finalizing lawsuits against all non-compliant districts to end the forced masking of schoolchildren, which will be filed later this week," Schmitt said. "It's far past time that the power to make health decisions concerning children be pried from the hands of bureaucrats and put back into the hands of parents and families, and I will take school district after school district to court to achieve that goal."
Schmitt is misreading the law, said Doug Hayter, executive director of the Missouri Association of School Administrators. Laws governing school districts give boards of education general power to set rules needed to run their districts and specific authority to keep infectious students out of school, he said.
"We still feel strongly that local school districts or governmental entities have the authority to make decisions," Hayter said.
Jan. 20
Fulton to apply for $200k in demolition funds for 43 properties
Fulton city officials hope to fund 43 voluntary demolitions through state funds, local money and in-kind materials this year.
Fulton City Council members approved an application for $200,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds at Tuesday's meeting, which would go toward demolition of dilapidated buildings -- if awarded by the state.
The city will also dedicate $308,216 in local funding and $57,313 in in-kind materials and labor for the project.
Dennis Houchains, director of planning and protective services for Fulton, said property owners will contribute $500 each to the project. Each provided $100 up front.
"With that money, the grant money and then the cash money the city has budgeted, hopefully that will be enough to take down all 43 structures," Houchains said.
This project comes as a result of a survey Fulton conducted into the condition of buildings around the city.
Callaway County among top counties in deer, turkey seasons
If you're a hunter, Callaway County was a prime spot for killing deer or turkey during the 2021-22 season.
The county placed third among Missouri counties for the numbers of deer killed by firearm or by archery for the season that ended Jan. 15, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC).
The preliminary number of deer killed for the season was 293,670. Of the deer that were killed, 143,049 were antlered bucks, 26,599 were button bucks and 124,022 were does. Hunters killed 297,214 deer during the 2020-21 deer hunting season with 140,855 being antlered bucks, 28,652 being button bucks and 127,707 being does.
Top counties for the 2021-22 deer season were: Franklin with 6,392 deer killed, Texas with 5,478 and Callaway with 5,452.
Totals for other Central Missouri counties showed 1,833 deer killed in Cole County; 3,300 in Boone; 2,508 in Maries; 3,273 in Miller; 1,804 in Moniteau; 4,345 in Morgan and 4,359 in Osage.
"This year's harvest total was slightly behind last year's mark and about 3 percent above the previous five-year average," said Jason Isabelle, MDC cervid program supervisor. "We've seen an increasing trend in statewide deer harvest for about the past eight years. The deer population has continued to increase across much of southern Missouri at the same time that we've seen a population recovery in most of the counties impacted by the severe hemorrhagic disease outbreak that occurred in 2012."
Jan. 21
New Bloomfield moves to red phase for COVID-19
The New Bloomfield R-3 School District Board of Education decided to move the district into the red phase of its Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Service Plan, the board announced Thursday.
In this phase, there is a large uncontrolled transmission within the school community and all students will learn virtually from home.
Members looked at the new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for students who test positive for COVID-19. Those new guidelines allow a student who tests positive to quarantine for five days instead of 10 as long as the student has no symptoms or their symptoms are resolving, and they wear a mask when around others for five additional days.
The board chose to amend their Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity Plan of Service to follow the CDC guidelines.
Missouri River port remains possibility for Callaway County
The first potential tenants of a proposed Missouri River port in Jefferson City will visit the Capital City in February to brief state lawmakers on the company's plans to build a container port facility in the state.
At the Heartland Port Authority meeting Thursday, Vice Chairman Roger Fischer suggested he could invite representatives of American Patriot Holdings to talk about their plans and how they might fit with the local port authority's plans.
Fischer and other port officials from across the state met with APH officials and Gov. Mike Parson in December. After that meeting, APH announced a 300-acre stretch of land in Herculaneum would become the home of their new container port facility, which would serve the Midwest region for the export and import of containerized cargo.
Herculaneum was chosen since it's one of the most northern spots on the Mississippi River, without dealing with locks and dams. The facility is expected to open in 2024 with boats from the port going to locations up and down the Missouri River.
Heartland board member Jason Branstatter, who is operations manager at Capital Sand Company, suggested the board should talk with APH officials about what their needs would be at a port in Central Missouri. He suggested APH could potentially help the board determine what the best site is for the Heartland Port.