News Staff

Last week, the Kirksville R-III School District received a faxed message from the Missouri State Attorney General’s office regarding a complaint alleging a Sunshine Law violation. According to the Missouri Attorney General’s office, the Sunshine Law declares Missouri’s commitment to openness in government. The law sets out the limited instances when meetings, records, and votes may be closed, while stressing that these exceptions are to be strictly interpreted to promote the public policy of openness. Public meetings, including meetings conducted by telephone, internet, or other electronic means are to be held at reasonably convenient times and must be accessible to the public. The Kirksville R-III School District says they immediately sought clarification from the Attorney General’s office about the complaint and are continuing in the process of responding to their request for additional information.

Crews will begin on the Missouri Route 15 resurfacing and sidewalk project today. The entire project includes resurfacing from U.S. Route 136 west junction at Memphis to Missouri Route 6 north junction in Edina with sidewalk work in Edina north of Missouri Route 6, the total length of improvement being just over 22 miles. The project will also have added shoulders from U.S. 136 west junction at Memphis to Missouri Route 6 north junction in Edina, the total length of improvement is just over 21 miles.

During last week’s City Council Meeting, Kirksville Mayor Zac Burden signed a proclamation declaring April 11 through 17, “National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week” in the City of Kirksville. Public safety telecommunicators perform mission critical tasks behind the scenes to support police, fire and EMS. The Kirksville Police Department says this week is a way to recognize the hard work of these valuable members of public safety and thanks the women and men of the Adair County E911 Center and public safety telecommunicators nationwide.

The Macon County Clerk’s Office conducted a recount yesterday following a tie for one of the races in Tuesday’s Municipal Election. In the Ward 3 City Councilman race in the City of Macon, both Chris Walk and Jeff Skjeveland received 23 votes each. The recount showed the same results. Once the results aer certified by the Secretary of State, the City of Macon will move forward with tie break pursuant to state statute. One of two things can happen, a special election can be called or if both candidates agree, a drawing can take place to break the tie.

Scotland County Hospital’s Population Health Care Team has been recognized as “Top Performers” by Crossriver Quality Health Partners. The team was recognized for completing the highest monthly percentage of Annual Wellness Visits within all of CQHP entities for the month of February. CQHP is an organization of healthcare providers in the region. Its mission is to unite physicians and other healthcare providers to improve the patient experience, the health of populations, reduce the cost of healthcare, and improve provider satisfaction.

Due to COVID guidelines for social distancing, Saturday night’s Truman Football game against William Jewell will have limited attendance at Stokes Stadium. No general public tickets will be available and since the stadium does not have a separate visitor’s section, no visiting team fans will be allowed. Two gates will be open, one a Truman player pass list gate and one for Truman students, the other, faculty and staff presenting their Truman ID (one ticket per ID) to cap the capacity at approximately 700 spectators. Face masks and social distancing is expected at all times in the stadium. In addition, no tailgating will be allowed, no concessions will be sold. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. and free online coverage can be found GLVCSN.com/Truman.

John Gardner will be sworn-in to the Kirksville City Council on Monday following his win yesterday in the Municipal Election. One of his first issues will be helping to appoint someone to another City Council Seat, as Chuck Long resigned at this week’s meeting. Long said his resignation had to be effective immediately because he is taking a new job near the Lake of the Ozarks and will be moving there at the end of this month. Long joined the council in 2016, served as mayor in 2018, and was re-elected to the City Council in 2019.

The Macon County Clerk’s Office will be conducting a recount this morning regarding the tie in the unofficial results of the Ward 3 Macon City Council Election. Both Chris Walk and Jeff Skjeveland received a reported unofficial total of 23 votes each in Tuesday’s election.

The new Kirksville Aquatic Center’s grand opening celebration is being pushed back. The original plan was to open the facility on Memorial Day. But the city says due to delays by the project contractor in obtaining necessary construction materials, the celebration for the outdoor water park will be delayed until Saturday, June 19th. Passes for the water park will be available for purchase starting on Monday, April 26th at the Parks and Recreation Office on the first floor of City Hall, or online at parks.kirksvillecity.com.

The wading pools at both Brashear and P.C. Mills parks will open on Saturday, May 29, 2021, and will both be open daily from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm. Once the new Kirksville Aquatic Center opens, the wading pool at Brashear Park will be open on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm, and the P.C. Mills wading pool will be open on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm.

Here are results of the Municipal Election for Kirksville and Adair County.

For Kirksville City Council, there were four candidates vying for one open seat. John Gardner won the seat by recieving 56.05 percent of the vote. Kabir Bansal had 27.85 percent of votes. Dana McDowell 11.53 percent and Kevin Alm 4.34 percent.

There were 6 candidates running for two seats on the Kirksville R-III School Board. Angela Caraway won one of the seats with 26.43 percent of the vote and Nick Billington won the second seat with 22.29 percent.

Eight candidates ran for three seats to serve on the Adair County Health Department Board of Trustees. The top three vote getters were: Dr. Brenda Higgins with 19.88 percent, Curt Platz with 15.73, and Robin Jones Darr with 14.80 percent.

The majority of Adair County voters were in favor of a quarter-cent sales tax proposal to fund repairs of the courthouse, with 55.77 percent voting yes.

For Brashear Mayor, Rob Mayfield was the winner over Joanne Kincaid. Mayfield won 55.26 percent of the vote.

The two At-Large seats for the City of Greentop went to Doug Lindquist and Justin Ray.

The two At-Large seats for the City of Novinger went to Janice Pearce and Matthew Davis.

There’s a tie in the race for a school board seat for the R-1 Novinger School District. Justin Klingsmith won the first seat with 26.93 percent. There’s a tie for the second seat with both Sharon Barnes and Robin Carter each receiving 21.04 percent.

According to the Adair County Clerk’s Office, 2,915 of the county’s 14,555 registered voters cast a ballot – that’s a 20.03 percent voter turnout.