KIRX News

Governor Mike Parson has announced the award of more than $7.8 million to 226 projects across Missouri for customized training assistance through the Department of Economic Development’s Missouri One Start program. Missouri One Start is one of the key workforce development initiatives included in Senate Bill 68, which was signed into law in July. Among the Northeast Missouri companies that will receive training assistance are: Kraft Heinz Foods Company in Kirksville; and ConAgra Foods, Onshore Outsourcing, POET Biorefining – Macon, LLC, in Macon. In total, the One Start program will provide training for more than 42,000 workers statewide. Governor Parson said. “Helping employers train new and existing workers helps them stay competitive, and that means growth for the business and for our state’s economy.”

A Shelbina man is facing several charges following his arrest this week. The Shelbina Police Department reports that officers responded to an assault and robbery on Tuesday. The victim had been choked, by the suspect, who also took his bicycle. The suspect was identified as Levi McClure and he was placed under arrest shortly after the report. Police say McClure, who was intoxicated, was uncooperative and resisted arrest numerous times during the arrest and booking. He was charged with Robbery 1st degree, Assault 3rd degree, resisting arrest, and stealing.

The firearms portion of deer hunting season gets underway in Missouri this weekend and the Missouri’s Conservation Department is reminding hunters that in certain areas of state, harvested deer must be brought in for mandatory Chronic Wasting Disease testing. Those areas include: Adair, Chariton, Knox, Linn, Macon, Putnam, and Sullivan counties in Northeast Missouri. Mandatory Sampling Stations are open from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. In Adair County, they are located at the NEMO Fairgrounds in Kirksville, and Novinger Country Store in Novinger.

Find other locations here:
huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/wildlife-diseases/chronic-wasting-disease-cwd/mandatory-cwd-sampling-2019

The latest bids for construction of Kirksville’s new aquatic center are in – and they are still higher than the budget. Back in June, construction bids for the original plans for the new Aquatic Center came in $2.5 million dollars higher than was budgeted. As a result, Parks and Recreation, the City Council, and the designer, SFS Architecture, redesigned several parts of the project to bring the costs down. The new bids – while lower than the first – still come in above the $6.5 millions budgeted for the project. In order to keep the current design, the city may need to provide a short-term transfer of money from the City of Kirksville’s general fund. Parks and Recreation had been supported through the city’s general fund, but a voter-approved a half-cent sales tax was passed in April to fund the department and pay for the new city Aquatic Center. Before considering the short-term transfer of funds, City Council members want to review project information and get some clarification from the bidders on the proposed costs.

Congressman Sam Graves, Ranking Member for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, recently announced that the North Central Missouri Regional Water Commission in Sullivan County will receive a nearly $13.5 million grant for the East Locust Creek Reservoir Project. Graves said the project is highly deserving of this grant, which will be used to complete a variety of road projects including: Highway N relocation below the East Locust Creek Reservoir dam, Highway VV extension to Knob Hill Road, and 4,000 feet of improvements to intersections and turning lanes on Highway 5 for safety. The grant will also be applied to widening and reinforcing gravel roads, many of them currently one lane, around the lake to accommodate the significant increase in traffic in the area.

The grant is a d a Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) Transportation Discretionary Grant, or BUILD grant.

The Kirksville Police Department has announced the hiring of a new police officer, Slater Kelley. He began his duties on November 4th. Kelley is a graduate of La Plata R-II High School, and attended Moberly Area Community College’s Law Enforcement Training Center Academy, graduating in 2012. Kelley began his career with the Adair County Sheriff’s Office before moving to Truman State University’s Department of Public Safety. Kirksville Police Chief Steve Farnsworth says the department is excited to have Slater and his years of experience in law enforcement. Farnsworth says Kelleys experience will be a benefit to the community.

The public is invited to join members from three Rotary Clubs of Kirksville and FLATS, Forest Lake Area Trail System Board of Directors, for the launch of the Rotary Nature Playground and FLATS 3.1 Trail. That will happen today at 1:15PM on the Theta Psi Lot at Missouri Street and Osteopathy. The trailhead was a donation by the Theta Psi fraternity at ATSU, and it’s in partnership with the city. It will be the trailhead for the FLATS Trails to begin. Rotary also partnered with the fraternity, FLATS, and the city to do a nature playground. The three Rotary Clubs together applied for a grant from Rotary International and got it. So money from the grant, and money that they raised through their own clubs was pooled together to go towards the playground. Janet Gremaud, member of the Thousand Hills Rotary Club, and a member of the FLATS board, says the plan is for volunteers to start doing dirt work this fall. She says the grant stipulates that the playground be completed by May 31 of 2020.

The second production of the 2019-20 Truman State University Theatre season is “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare. 

This classic tragedy delivers witches, sword play, murder, revenge and madness. Truman’s production mixes Elizabethan and 21st century imagery for an updated approach to the familiar tale, and audiences will also see some gender-bending in the cast of characters.
 
Under the direction of David Charles Goyette, assistant professor of theatre, “Macbeth” will feature spectacular scenic, sound, video and projection effects designed by Brad Carlson, assistant professor of theatre, as well as lighting by senior Molly Garrison. 

“Macbeth” runs at 8 p.m. Nov. 13-16 in the Severns Theatre in Ophelia Parrish. Tickets are available at the Theatre Box Office from 11:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. in the main lobby of Ophelia Parrish. They are $6 when purchased with cash or check, $7 with a credit or debit card, and must be purchased in advance. Out-of-town guests can call 660.785.4515 to reserve tickets. The box office is also open at 7 p.m. on show nights.

Slick roads yesterday morning resulted in a number crashes in Northeast Missouri. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop B, here were a couple of rollover crashes resulting in some injuries on Highway 61 in the Canton area. In Macon, a vehicle driven by 75-year-old Patricia G. Shawn struck a patch of ice and lost control on Highway 36 then struck a tree. Shawn was treated for minor injuries at Samaritan Hospital. An adult and a teen received minor injuries when their vehicle went off the roadway and struck and embankment a mile west of Edina. A pickup overturned when it went off the side of the road in Adair County on US 63, 3 miles north of LaPlata. The driver, 70-year-old Teddy W. Sparks of Bevier, was treated for minor injuries.

Details have been released about a fatal ATV crash that happened in Adair County. The highway patrol report states that the accident at 5:45 PM on Sunday, occurred on Highway 11, four miles east of Winigan. 35-year-old Nicholas Hauser of Washington, Missouri, was driving the ATV, a Polaris Ranger, westbound on the highway with his passenger, 33-year-old Jeremy Trankler of St. Peters, Missouri. MSHP reports that Hauser over-corrected, crossed the center of Highway 11, and began rolling off the roadway where he and Trankler were ejected. Hauser was pronounced dead at the scene by the Adair County Coroner. Trankler received moderate injuries and was flown to University Hospital in Columbia. Troopers say neither occupant was wearing safety equipment on the ATV.