News Staff

The Kirksville Parks and Recreation Department hosts the 5th annual Halloween Flashlight EGGstravaganza this weekend. Ten thousand Halloween eggs stuffed with candy and toys will be scattered on the ballfields at the North Park Complex, Bring a flashlight and a bag to the free event. The egg hunt starts promptly at 7:00 pm tomorrow. Get more details on the Parks and Recreation Department’s Facebook page.

A man from Kirksville was injured after hitting a deer with his motorcycle. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, 66-year-old Water Green was riding his 2009 Harley Davidson Motorcycle at around 6:30PM Tuesday on Highway 6, two miles west of Kirksville, when he struck a deer in the roadway. The motorcycle came to a rest in the roadway. Green suffered moderate injuries and was taken to Northeast Regional Medical Center for treatment.

Hazel Creek Lake levels will begin to rise again. The City of Kirksville had been lowering the water level of the lake since mid-June in support of work on Hungry Hollow Road by the Adair County Road and Bridge Department. The work that necessitated the lowering of the lake’s water level has since been completed, and the City has now closed the Hazel Creek Lake valves. The Hazel Creek Lake level will now begin to rise, dependent upon natural precipitation.

Snowy weather is just around the corner. In preparation, the Missouri Department of Transportation will hold its annual winter operations drill today. During the drill, motorists may notice increased numbers of MoDOT vehicles on state routes. In rural areas, crews will deploy after 8 a.m. In urban areas, the drill will not begin until after 9 a.m. The exercise should be completed by 3 p.m. MoDOT spent more than $58 million on winter operations last year and used over 139,000 tons of salt; 2.8 million gallons of salt brine; and nearly 490,000 gallons of beet juice. MoDOT has purchased 118,000 tons of salt to refill salt supplies and has a total of 240,000 tons available for use statewide this winter.

In the Adair County Health Department’s latest COVID-19 report, there were seven newly confirmed cases Tuesday and another eight cases yesterday, pushing Adair County’s overall case count past the 3,600 mark. Register for today’s curbside COVID-19 vaccine clinic by calling 660-665-8491.

The Adair County Health Department has another curbside COVID-19 vaccine clinic and one more curbside flu vaccine clinic scheduled for this week. The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine will be administered at the Health Department offices on South Jamison, tomorrow from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Schedule an appointment by calling 660-665-8491. Consent forms are available outside the clinic door or at the time of your appointment. The annual flu vaccine will be administered to residents ages 3 and older this Friday, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. A limited supply of regular doses is available, and registration is not required. If you are age 65 or older and need the high-dose flu vaccine, call the Health Department. Consent forms are available at the Health Department or under the “Forms” tab on the health department’s website.

Yesterday marked 10 years since the devastating downtown fire in Shelbina. On October 19, 2011 at 10:28 P.M., Shelbina Firefighters were dispatched to the area of Rash’s Barber Shop, for the report of a fire behind the building. Firefighters entered the Sam’s Auto Part’s building, but after some time inside, had to evacuate due to rapidly growing fire conditions. Outside, fire crews not only battled the blaze, but the wind with gusts up to 25 MPH. The city’s water towers were drained to half capacity, so water had to be hauled in from the Shelbina Lake with tankers. A total of approximately 419,000 gallons of water was used on the fire, with 96,000 gallons being hauled in from the lake.
A total of 10 fire departments responded to the scene. You can watch a video with some clips from the fire posted on the Shelbina Fire Protection District’s Facebook page.

Bids have opened for a new license office in Kirksville. The current office will be closing on November 5th. The bid process will remain open until October 29th.

Troop B investigated 10 injury crashes for the week of October 10 thru October 16. With 13 people being injured as a result of those crashes. 10 occupants of those vehicles were unrestrained which is a 77% unbuckled occupancy rate.

As Adair County’s overall case count inches toward 3,600, the age of people with new infections is also rising. Of the 30 new cases reported October 9-15, only 33% were residents age 30 or under, reversing a trend that began with the Delta variant. Eleven percent were in the K-12 schools sector and 8% in the higher education sector. Seventeen percent were breakthrough infections involving fully vaccinated individuals. Seven-day totals from Aug. 28 through Oct. 15 declined successively from 108 to 84, 67, 60, 38, 36, and last week’s total of 30 new cases. County health officials say the decline is promising, although there is potential for increases as temperatures drop and people spend more time indoors. The Adair County Health Department continues to recommend that all county residents ages 12 and older get vaccinated against COVID-19 and the Delta variant.