Review of Gallatin North Missourian headline news, January-June 2019

FEBRUARY
• The fourth annual Gallatin Rotary Trivia Night was held Feb. 2 at the Spillman Center in Jamesport with 18 teams participating, the event brought in $5,276.26. • Lance Rains of Gallatin has been hired as city administrator for Gallatin, having been selected from a field of six applicants who hailed from as far away as New York. • North Daviess students celebrated “National Thank Your Mailman Day,”. • The Gallatin Theater League (GTL) scheduled auditions for the spring play, three one-act plays with Rhonda Malo, Doug Nichols and Jan Stout each directed. • Head William Jewell College Coach, former Cardinal player and Jameson High School alum Larry Holley recently announced that he will retire at the end of this basketball season. • Gallatin’s Shopko store was listed among the additional store closings. • Nick Nigh with Herner Construction updated the board on the ongoing walkway project between the middle school and elementary buildings during the meeting of the Gallatin R-5 Board of Education. • The North Missouri Sportsman’s Alliance (NMSA) is sponsored its annual free deer antler scoring day at the Elks Lodge in Chillicothe. • David Jason Smith of Gallatin has been appointed as the Daviess County Coroner. • As the 2019 budget year begins, Daviess County is in a stable financial condition with a beginning fund balance of $3,245,918.08, estimated revenues of $3,822,726.59, and estimated expenditures of $4,101,942.23, which will leave the county with an estimated fund balance of $2,966,702.44. • Gallatin city crews were very busy with snow removal and weather – related issues in mid-February, street crews hauled 40 tons of sand to treat the streets. • It’s been a hard winter for area schools: a look at the rules for making up snow days. • Hy-Strung Motorsports of Gallatin took second at the 2019 Championship Tractor Pull at the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, KY. • The weather was miserable, but that didn’t stop 53 plungers from braving the cold for Special Olympics, raising almost $15,000 and still counting, in their dedicated effort. • After the recent announcement of two new pharmacies planning to open in Gallatin, one of the parties, Dungy’s Market, announced that they will not pursue the location of a pharmacy in their grocery store. • Jay C. Guhlke, 33, Polo, was arrested for promoting and possession of child pornography, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control. • Windstream Holdings Inc., a rural telecommunications company which serves Gallatin and many other area towns, filed for bankruptcy protection.

MARCH
• Tom Crouse, a junior at Gallatin R-5 High School, was on the top of his “game” last weekend, winning the RFD TV Jr. American Calf Roping competition during the Jr. American Rodeo. • The Daviess-DeKalb Regional Jail self-audit was completed in preparation for the official audit that will be conducted by representatives of the Missouri Sheriffs Association to ensure compliance with Missouri Jail Standards. • McBee Construction purchased the building located on the corner of West Jackson and South Market in Gallatin in 2017 and started giving it an overhaul. • The Gallatin Active Aging Resource Center announced recently that it will be participating in the 17th annual March for Meals — a month-long, nationwide celebration of Meal on Wheels. • The Gallatin Theater League is hoping again to provide repairs and maintenance to the Courter Theater and adjacent Kulis building through the Theater League Patron Program. • An accident on I-35 has resulted in the death of a Grant City man. • The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has set an April 15 deadline to apply for wetland and agricultural land easements in Missouri. • Daviess County schools in the Active Aging Resource Center’s service area were asked to submit branding ideas which were voted on by the Center’s Board of Directors, Morgan Glidewell of Gallatin High School was the winner of the contest. • A huge flock of snow geese have settled in the fields in the Magill river bottom. • The Missouri Department of Natural Resources announced the availability of the 2019 Annual Census of Missouri Public Water Systems. • Public Works Director Mark Morey reported that operators have had more issues at the new water plant, a valve blew off and released 11,000 pounds of CO2. • Daviess County Emergency Management Director David Roll was one of the presenters at the first ever Midwest Rural Emergency Management Summit held Mar 22, at the University of Central Missouri campus in Warrensburg. • Voters in Jamesport had the opportunity to vote on a use tax at the April 5 municipal election. • To promote their passion for reading, Searcy Elementary School welcomed students and their families to go “Where the Wild Things Are” for Family Fun Night.

APRIL
• A bridge rehabilitation project began in April on five bridges located over Interstate 35 in Daviess and Clinton counties. • The Jamesport United Methodist Church is partnered with Tri-County Schools in Jamesport to host a benefit for baby Lincoln Flenthrope — “Lincolns for Lincoln.” • Farmers Bank of Northern Missouri, Bethany, Gallatin, and Trenton locations were proud to help sponsor ongoing updates to the Gilman City FFA/baseball facilities through the Gilman City Lions Club with $500 donated.
• Emily Miller began her first day as Children’s Pastor at the Gallatin First Christian Church on April 1. • Kyle Taft began as the new pastor at Gallatin First Christian Church on April 1. • The Gallatin National Honor Society conducted an Autism Awareness Assembly for grades 5-12 on April 1 during homeroom as a way to help promote awareness through Gallatin and the school district. • Access II Independent Living Center presented the Gallatin R-5 School District with an $11,000 check for playground equipment on April 3. • Dennis Cox has been awarded the Missouri Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association Distinguished Award in recognition of his outstanding support of high school athletics in Northwest Missouri. • Street resurfacing bids were announced by the Gallatin Board of Aldermen during their meeting April 8.
• An enclosed walkway from Searcy Elementary to the Gallatin Middle School is now complete, except for some cosmetics. • Daviess County Circuit Court scheduled a hearing on a writ of habeas corpus, a case which originated in Jackson County in 2015, involving Plaintiff Ricky L. Kidd. • Trooper Matthew W. Neely, Troop H, was among 31 Highway Patrol employees who were recognized at an annual awards ceremony on April 13.
• Gallatin Fire Protection District was dispatched to 111 N. Willow Street in Gallatin (Stephanie Dowell residence) for a brush fire that spread to a building. • The Daviess County Library in cooperation with the Gallatin Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is introduced a Family History Night. • Fifty-two Gallatin FBLA members joined over 5,000 students from across the state in Springfield for the Missouri FBLA State Leadership Conference April 13-16. • On April 16, Michael Allen Byrd, 29, of Bethany pled guilty and was sentenced to four years in the Department of Corrections on an E felony count of sexual conduct with prisoner by officer of correctional facility. • Olivia Prindle, a freshman at Gallatin High School, recently had her pictured painted by Laurent Dareau, an award-winning, French-born artist. • Gallatin Police Chief Mark Richards spoke with property owners on code violations. • A project to replace expansion joints and guardrail on two Interstate 35 bridges near Pattonsburg is now underway. • Lisa Worrell from Gallatin will serve as probation officer for Daviess County.

MAY
• The building and financing of Little Otter Creek near Hamilton, a project which has been in the works for over a decade, finally entered its final stages. • The Missouri FFA Association recognized Addison Burns, a senior with the Gallatin FFA Chapter as Area 2 Star in Agriscience at the 91st Missouri FFA Convention. • Casey Smith, 8, harvested a 16-pound albino jake turkey with a four-inch beard on April 20 on private land near Polo. • Older adults in Northwest Missouri had the opportunity to choose representatives from their respective areas for positions on the Northwest Missouri Area Agency on Aging Board of Directors and the Silver Haired Legislature. • USDA Rural Development began accepting the first round of applications for the Rural e-Connectivity Pilot Program (ReConnect Program) on April 23, 2019, through reconnect.usda.gov, according to Acting Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development Joel Baxley. • Gary Nation, Overland Park, KS, sent in an old Gallatin High School football team photo asking for identification of players. • Gallatin Water Plant Project was explained: the city began working on the Water Treatment Plant replacement in 2008 with hiring an Engineering firm to begin the process of evaluating the need and capacity of a new plant.
• Senator Roy Blunt visited the Gallatin Water Treatment Facility on May 4. • Caldwell County’s Little Otter Creek Watershed Plan is nearing completion, but one of the steps left involves mitigation features. • A Trenton man was fatally injured in an accident in Daviess County, Richard Moore, 61, Trenton. • GHS alumni celebration set for May 8.
• Ryan Beenken, 30, social studies teacher at Gallatin R-5, was the graduation speaker for the Class of 2019. • Auditions were held for the Missoula Children’s Theatre (MCT) production of “Aladdin” from 10 a.m. to 12 noon on July 8 at the Courter Theater in Gallatin. • Bill Weber and Jay Turner with Fletcher-Reinhardt Service Company shared a detailed PowerPoint presentation on the Advance Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system during the May 13 meeting of the Gallatin Board of Aldermen. • Each year, more and more older adults are making a positive impact in and around Missouri communities, including Mary Lou Searcy who volunteers at the Active Aging Resource Center in Gallatin. • The Missouri Quilt Museum in Hamilton and The National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY, have finalized an agreement that will bring the most respected and well-known collection of modern quilts to visitors to Hamilton all the time. • The Fourth Annual Kids Fishing Derby was held June 1, at the pond located on the west side of The Baptist Home in Chillicothe. • The 27th annual Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger® Food Drive was held May 11, 2019. • Elizabeth Marie Wilkinson, 40, and William Douglas Wilkinson Jr., 42, both of Winston, were each charged May 14 with two counts of child endangerment. • Brandy Rhoades, 40, and Shane O’Dell, 41, were arrested May 25, each on two counts of child abuse, no sexual contact, B felony. • The Altamont Alumni banquet held out for 96 years, but this year it came to a close because of declining attendance and so many now deceased. The last meeting was held May 11.
• A new support group for individuals affected by cancer was formed, and community members were invited to come to the first informal meeting. • America’s rural transportation system was in need of repairs and modernization to support economic growth in the nation’s Heartland, according to a new report released this month by TRIP, a national transportation research nonprofit. • Frank Frazier’s VFW Post 2172 held two Memorial Day services on May 27.

JUNE
• Farmers’ Electric Cooperative celebrated 81 years of providing electric service to its member-owners at the annual meeting of members. • Jacob Waidmann, Bob Westmoreland, and Steven West with Core and Main, a waterworks distributing company out of St. Louis, delivered a PowerPoint presentation for an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) Sensus Metering System for electric and water meters that could be installed in Gallatin. No decision was made. • At approximately 7 a.m. on May 31, 2019, Missouri state troopers responded to Interstate 35 on a report of shots fired from a red passenger car. • Tom Mowery with Mutual Gains Horsemanship, a natural horse trainer out of Colorado and considered one of the best in the country, held a horse training clinic at Alvin Detweiler’s farm south of Jamesport. • Nominations were open for the 2019 County Committee Election. • Two 20-year-old men were in custody for the assault and kidnapping of a confidential victim on June 8, Connor Monteer, Jamesport, and Caleb Kettner, Belton. • Mary Immaculate semi-annual auction raises over $65,000 raised for good causes, $21,000 to Backpack Buddies. • Kevin and Michelle Noel have opened John and Marge’s Attic at 801 Industrial Parkway in Gallatin. • Gallatin Fire Protection District was dispatched to Honey Creek Ranch on Ridge Avenue for a shed fire at 7:25 p.m. June 5. • The Missouri Rural Water rate study and the People Service rate study for the City of Gallatin have been completed and Gallatin City Administrator Lance Rains has collected the information. • Sentencing has been pronounced for a Gallatin couple who burglarized multiple Gallatin residences from June through October of 2018, Amanda M. and Johnny Rainey of Gallatin. • A Kidder man was fatally injured in an accident, Chaz Streu, 25. • Jennifer Teel took off for Japan to spend 12 days on a cultural exchange program. • Trenton Police Officer Jasmine Diab was transporting a prisoner, Jamey Aaron Griffin of Trenton, through Daviess County on U.S. 69; Griffin was able to gain control of the officer’s firearm. • The Census Bureau began recruiting and hiring people for important preliminary work in preparation for the 2020 Census. • This time last year, Daviess County was seven inches below normal for the year in rainfall, according to the Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Gallatin. This June the county is 6.04 inches above normal. • The approximately 2,000 children under 18 who comprise about one quarter of Daviess County’s population are less likely to live in poverty than the county’s children five years earlier, according to the KIDS COUNT Data Book.
• Homer S. Rainey, a 16-year employee of the Missouri Department of Transportation, retired July 1.