Jan. 23
Auxvasse celebrating 62 years of loafing
The 62nd Annual Loafers Week in Auxvasse will be Feb. 21-26 at the Auxvasse Community Center, 702 S. Main St. Doors open at 9 a.m. on Monday-Friday and at 8 a.m. on Saturday.
Loafers Week is held each year in late winter so everyone can get together and visit. Last year, it was delayed until August because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The event began as a one-day event 62 years ago at the grain elevator, and has grown into a week-long celebration. There will be card games, dominoes and other board games as part of the fun everyday. There will also be free coffee, iced tea and peanuts available.
There will be a noon meal served everyday by different organizations. Beginning at 11 a.m. Monday, the Knipp family will be serving a spaghetti dinner; Tuesday the Callaway Bank will be serving fried chicken; Wednesday the Sons of Confederate Veterans will have a potato bar; Thursday the Auxvasse Community Center will be serving turkey with dressings; Friday the Auxvasse Lions Club will be serving a ham and bean dinner; and then, on Saturday, the week-long celebration will come to a close with the Lions Club's "all you can eat" pancake meal beginning at 8 a.m. and continuing through the noon meal.
Student art exhibition featuring prehistoric artifacts coming to William Woods
An exhibition of various kinds of art and media produced by William Woods University students, all depicting a set of prehistoric artifacts, will begin next week on the WWU campus.
The exhibition, titled "Creative Paleontology: The Artform of Prehistory," will begin on Monday at the University's Kemper Center for the Arts, and run through March 1. An opening reception is scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday.
The exhibition will include an exhibit of excavated specimens and fossils, including parts of dinosaurs, that was unearthed in 2020 in South Dakota by a team from Westminster College, led by Associate Professor of Environmental Science and Geneology David Schmidt. As a collaborative show, William Woods undergraduate student artists will display their original work, in a variety of media, based on their interpretation and interaction with the sample specimens.
Jan. 24
Katherine White, 24, and her family grew up around Callaway County. She graduated last spring from the University of Missouri, and works as a speech language pathologist assistant at McIntire Elementary and Fulton High School.
White and Nikki Dowden are co-owners of Evolve Dance Academy, where White began dancing at when she was 7.
On the weekends, she loves spending time with her family and friends, traveling to dance competitions, teaching dance class and going to church at Mokane United Methodist Church.
"My family and I are very close," White said. "I love spending time on the family farm with them. I also love to hunt, fish and do anything outside."
Before her father, David White, passed away, he worked for the school district in Fulton. And her mom, Sharon White, has been a teacher at Fulton High School for several years.
What was your first job?
I started working my first job at 15 years old before I could even drive, and I taught dance at the old studio here in Fulton. That same year I also worked as a pharmacy technician at Red Cross Pharmacy, which is now CVS.
Former Fulton police chief to run for state House
Former Fulton Chief of Police Steve Myers announced his bid for Missouri State Representative.
Myers will run for Missouri's 49th District, which Travis Fitzwater currently holds. Fitzwater is in his last term.
District 49 includes much of Callaway County, including Fulton, and a portion of Cole County, northeast of Binder Park. Schulte owns a farm in Callaway County.
"Our country is reaching the point of no return," Myers said in a press release. "We need elected officials who are willing to listen to us, not the lobbyist. I've protected our communities for nearly 40 years and I intend to continue serving our community with the honesty and truth it deserves."
Myers started in law enforcement in 1982 and served as Fulton chief of police from 2002 until late last year. Myers grew up working on a family farm and ran a nearly 2,000 acre-farm.
Jan. 25
Faith Maternity Care has vacancies for expectant mothers
Expectant mothers who need somewhere to go have an option in Callaway County.
Kingdom Ministries' Faith Maternity Care of Mid-Missouri regularly houses up to five pregnant women, but as of Monday, four are vacant.
The facility is funded through a grant focused on giving people alternatives to abortion.
The organization can also house children if this isn't a woman's first pregnancy.
Director Shannon McPherson said the facility is normally full this time of year.
"We just had four women move out at the same time because housing opened up for them," she said. "So, we've gone from a full house to just one woman who was in labor today. Normally at this time of year, because it's so cold, the phone is ringing off the hook. We get phone calls here and there, but it's just surprising that we've had everybody move out at once."
Callaway school see increase in COVID-19 cases
According to the Callaway County Health Department website, there are 309 active COVID-19 cases as of Friday.
Not only has the county itself seen an uptick in cases, but the school districts as well.
Fulton Public Schools had to shut down Jan. 18 due to staffing shortages. By Wednesday, they were able to reopen all buildings except Bush Elementary. All buildings were open by Thursday.
"Friday we were still short a number of staff members," FPS Superintendent Ty Crain said. "But we're working together. The staff has really stepped up, and gone above and beyond in order to make sure that we can get coverage and supervision and be able to effectively operate the buildings."
Though Fulton has seen a spike in COVID-19 cases with 44 currently positive, it's the combination of the spike and the typical cold and flu season.
"We actually have more staff that were out just because of illness," Crain said. "Not that they were positive for COVID. It was just flu bug or stomach bug or some other type of illness. We typically have that this time of year, but then when you put the COVID on top of it, that's what really kind of pushed us over the edge. We have staff that would be eligible to return but some of them it sticks around a little bit longer, and they're not feeling well enough to return."
Jan. 26
Fulton to increase number of electronic water meters
While slow, the city of Fulton is making progress on a multi-year project focused on efficiency.
The city is increasing the number of utility meters that can be read electronically, saving labor.
During Tuesday's City Council meeting, Chief Financial Officer Kathy Holschlag said someone can read all the electric meters and about half the gas meters electronically, but water meters are the hangup.
The city is upgrading water meters as they fail, which means -- unlike for the other two utilities -- the meter crews aren't replacing all the meters in a certain area at the same time.
The city has about 60 routes. City staff read about eight digitally last month. Holschlag said that accounts for around 2,000 meters.
She said there's two more routes fully equipped with smart meters the city hopes to read.
Legionnaires' disease found in four people after stays in Rolla hospital
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services is investigating a Central Missouri outbreak of Legionnaires' disease.
Four people who came down with the bacteria-caused disease had previously been hospitalized at Phelps Health in Rolla. The first case occurred in May.
The source of the bacteria remains under investigation.
Out of an abundance of caution, the DHSS is advising health care providers and the public of a potential health concern for people who may have been in contact with a water source in the hospital, according to a DHSS news release.
People can get Legionnaires' disease -- a serious type of pneumonia -- by breathing in small water droplets containing legionella bacteria. People generally don't spread Legionnaires' disease to other people.
Jan. 27
William Woods University announces new Board of Trustees
William Woods University has appointed Christopher Daily and Dawn M. Iwamoto to the William Woods Board of Trustees. They were voted on unanimously by the university's governing board and are effective immediately.
Daily, of Fulton, serves as superintendent of the Missouri School for the Deaf, where he is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the operation of the school, including its educational, residential, financial and outreach services. He has been with the school since 2015, serving as assistant superintendent from 2015-21.
He has also served as a commissioner on the Missouri Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing since last year.
Prior to joining the Missouri School for the Deaf, Daily served in a variety of roles in local public school systems since 2000, including as assistant principal and athletic director for the Fulton Middle School, assistant principal at the Fulton High School, summer school principal for FMS and FHS, and visual arts instructor at FHS and in the Troy R-3 School District.
FPD to apply for equipment grant, destroy expired files
The Fulton Police Department will apply for a grant to help upgrade materials.
Fulton City Council members approved applying for the Local Violent Crime Prevention Grant at Tuesday's meeting. The city will apply for $24,384 through the grant.
Funds would go toward items like laptops and docking stations for city policy vehicles.
There is not a city match, which means if the city receives the grant it does not need to contribute any funds to go along with it.
Jan. 28
Annual Chamber of Commerce banquet postponed due to virus
he Callaway Chamber of Commerce has postponed its annual banquet. Details will be announced at a later date, the chamber said.
The banquet was scheduled for Thursday at 54 Country with the theme of "An Evening with the Stars."
The banquet gives members an opportunity to get an overview of what the chamber accomplished throughout the year. It's also when they present annual awards, including J.H. Atkinson, Loyal Subject, Allen Conner Youth Award, Small Business of the Year, Large Business of the Year, Chamber Leadership Award and Ambassador of the Year Award.
"It is basically a night for our chamber members," Executive Director Tamara Tateosian said. "They come in, we have some hospitality time where they have a chance to visit, network and catch up from the holidays, and then we do food and have our program."
Fulton's search continues for a new captain to steer the ship.
Former Director of Administration Bill Johnson announced his retirement in November after leading the city's day-to-day operations for more than 25 years. His last day was Jan. 7.
Utilities Superintendent Darrell Dunlap has stepped in as interim director of administration while City Council searches for a permanent candidate.
Mayor Lowe Cannell said the city received about 30 applications for the position and phone interviews have been scheduled.
He said the goal is to conduct phone interviews during the next week before selecting candidates for in-person interviews.