Archives for September 2011

After 30 years, Uptown Cafe is closing.

“There’s a lot of factors involved in it. I just didn’t make a snap decision”

Owner Brenda Sewall says she’s retiring, and there’s nobody who wants to take over cooking for everybody. Brenda said there’s a very good reason to do it though.

“All the people that comes down and getting to know them all. We’re all like family. Somebody passes away or whatever and its like losing your relative, or somebody gets married or has a baby. Its just interaction with the community. I enjoy it and if I didn’t I wouldn’t be in business for 30 years.”

So go to the Uptown Cafe in downtown Kirksville one last time…

Brenda says, “I close at 2. I”m going to have lunch.”

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has notified the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services of two additional confirmed cases of Listeriosis in Missouri associated with the national recall of cantaloupe produced by Jensen Farms, of Holly, Colo.

That brings the total of three Listeriosis cases in Missouri that have been confirmed by the CDC as linked to the recalled cantaloupe. All three cases have been hospitalized; one individual, age 94, has died. According to local medical officials, the immediate cause of death was not the Listeriosis infection.

The whole cantaloupe in question were shipped nationwide between July 29 and Sept. 10, 2011. The whole cantaloupe have a green and white sticker that reads: Product of USA- Frontera Produce-Colorado Fresh-Rocky Ford-Cantaloupe, or a gray, yellow, and green sticker that reads: Jensen Farms-Sweet Rocky Fords.

The CDC reminds Missourians that if the whole cantaloupe is unlabeled, consumers can contact their retail store to see where it came from. ”If in doubt, throw it out.”

Officials have not found any of the contaminated melons still on the shelves.

Visit www.health.mo.gov for more.

Could you vote to raise Missouri’s minimum wage up to 8.25 an hour?

You could be asked to do so. The same group who worked to raise the minimum wage five years ago is trying to get it on next year’s ballot. Reports indicate that the secretary of state’s office already has the ballot issue so it can be approved before signatures can be collected on petitions. The measure calls for the minimum wage in Missouri to go from the current 7.25 to 8.25 by 2013 and further penalizes businesses that don’t pay the minimum wage.

The Joint Interim Committee on School Accreditation heard testimony for the first time on possible solutions to the problem of students leaving districts when they become unaccredited. It’s a problem because the schools the students transfer to say they’re becoming overcrowded and aren’t able to deal with an influx of new students. One option the committee heard was to expand charter schools. Committee Co-chair Jane Cunningham says that could be an option.

Not all students want to transfer, and not all can because of transportation. Committee Co-chair Scott Dieckhaus says he thinks the committee can come up with a solution because of who the committee members are.

Some of the members are public school teachers, and others are on the House and Senate education committees.

Governor Jay Nixon says it’s time for members of the Missouri General Assembly to get over their differences and produce a workable jobs bill. Nison pointed out that state lawmakers have been in special session for 3 weeks at a cost to taxpayers of about 170 thousand dollars. Nixon called for agreement on the jobs bill – or, for lawmakers to bring the special session to a close.

A check earlier this month found all 50 registered sex offenders in Adair County in compliance with residency restrictions and registration requirements. The check was conducted without warning between September 11th and 18th. One offender was found to be homeless. Two of the offenders were already being held in the Adair County Jail on other charges.

Northeast Regional Medical Center will dedicate its new chapel next Monday at 1 p.m. A total renovation at the chapel includes a new color scheme, new furniture and a new stained glass window. NRMC says the chapel is open to everyone, offering a quiet place for worship. Just before the dedication of the chapel, the medical center will hold a Pastor’s Appreciation luncheon at noon.

They owe for not one, but two vehicles.

When Mamtek US Inc was setting up shop and promising to employ lots of people — many hundreds of people, they also took out loans for two vehicles. Now that the company has broken its promises of building an artificial sweetener plant and not hiring anybody, it has also defaulted on the loans for the two vehicles. Mamtek was supposed to build the plant in Moberly. The city issued several million dollars in bonds, state threw in several million too, but no Mamtek. The company’s missed a bond payment and its defaulted on those car loans. The bank, City Bank and Trust wants it money and the vehicles back, but they’re sitting on property that Moberly Industrial Development Authority owns, and they say the bank has not proved that they own the vehicles.

A Kirksville man tried to avoid hitting a deer Tuesday night, but crashed his car instead.

Missouri State Highway patrol said Steven Filczer was heading north on Highway 63 around 8 p.m. when he went off the right side of the road to avoid hitting the deer. His car hit an embankment and rolled. MSHP said the 56 year old Filczer was taken to Samaritan Memorial Hospital in Macon, then to University Hospital in Columbia, and that he had moderate injuries. While he was treated and released, his car wasn’t in such good shape, MHSP said it was totaled. But, they said Filczer was wearing his seatbelt.

During the weeks of September 11 and September 18, 2011 the Adair County Sheriff’s
Office conducted an unannounced check to make sure registered sex offenders were where they were supposed to be.

There are 50 registered sex offenders who live in Adair County and they’re required to register regularly with the Sheriff’s Office and must also comply with certain residency restrictions related to their proximity to schools and child care facilities. All registrants were found to be compliant with their registration and residence restriction requirements.

Two offenders are currently residing within the Adair County Detention Center on charges unrelated to sex crimes.

One sex offender is currently homeless. While not required to, he voluntarily reports into the Sheriff’s Office once a week to keep us up-dated as to his efforts in finding a place to reside. There is nothing in the registration laws that prevent an individual from being homeless, however the registrant must still register at the prescribed times and must not be in areas which they may be restricted from.