News Staff

Truman State University says Kirksville will be the site of the 2025 Special Olympics Missouri State Summer Games, May 30th to June 1st! Volunteers are needed to make the games a special event for athletes, families and spectators. There are more than 300 opportunities available during the event. Volunteers are a crucial component of making the games a special event for athletes, families and spectators. There are more than 300 volunteer opportunities available during the event, from help at the athletic competitions to many of the support efforts. In addition to assistance for swimming, track and field, and powerlifting, volunteers will be needed for the opening ceremony, the Healthy Athletes stations, move in, bingo, crafts, photography and more. Individuals and organizations can sign up for multiple volunteer opportunities as long as there is no time conflict between events. A complete list of volunteer needs can be found online.

Starting today, students at Ray Miller Elementary in Kirksville will be dismissed via the new KidAccount system they are piloting. When arriving for parent pickup, parents/guardians will have their cards scanned as a check-in and the adult who is picking them up will be selected through our portal by dismissal staff. You will also be expected to show your ID to confirm your name. Students will be notified via staff members that their ride has arrived and will be sent to line up with our staff organizer. Once students are present, they will be directed and loaded into their vehicle and dismissed through KidAccount. This system will ensure that students are picked up by authorized adults and that we have an accurate record of student dismissal.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol would like to remind the public that driver examination stations throughout the state will be closed on the following dates:
Thursday, May 8, 2025, in observance of Harry S. Truman’s birthday. Normal operations will resume on Friday, May 9, 2025.
Monday, May 26, 2025, in observance of Memorial Day. Normal operations will resume on Tuesday, May 27, 2025.

A bridge replacement project on the Nodaway County Route NN Bridge over Platte River is scheduled to begin Monday, May 5. Louis-Company, LLC, working with the Missouri Department of Transportation, expects to complete the project and reopen Route NN at the bridge by October 2025. Following a routine inspection in August 2024, crews from MoDOT closed the bridge due to deterioration.

MoDot says weather permitting, a resurfacing project located on U.S. Route 136 in Schuyler County, from U.S. Route 63 in Schuyler County to 0.3 mile west of Route N near Livonia in Putnam County, is scheduled to begin on May 1. The total length of improvement is 8 miles and is expected to be completed by late May. Traffic will be reduced to one lane with a 10-foot width restriction at the location where crews are actively working.

Two people were killed in a two-vehicle crash that happened in Schuyler County on April 24th. The Missouri State Highway Patrol says two vehicles hit head-on at the centerline of Highway 136, a mile and a half east of Lancaster. Both drivers were killed. They were a 59-year-old man from La Plata, driving a Dodge Dakota, who was not wearing a seat belt. The other driver was in a Toyota Rav-4, a 63-year-old woman from Lancaster, who was wearing a seat belt.

The Missouri Department of Transportation has contracted North Central Bridge, LLC to replace the Hickory Creek Bridge on Holt County Route B. The project, which will replace the current bridge that was built in 1938, is scheduled to begin Monday, May 5. During construction, Route B will be closed at the Hickory Creek Bridge. Motorists will need to seek an alternate route during the closure.

Kirksville will be the site of the 2025 Special Olympics Missouri State Summer Games, May 30 through June 1, and the Truman State University campus will host all the events. Volunteers are a crucial component of making the games a special event for athletes, families and spectators. There are more than 300 volunteer opportunities available during the event, from help at the athletic competitions to many of the support efforts. In addition to assistance for swimming, track and field, and powerlifting, volunteers will be needed for the opening ceremony, the Healthy Athletes stations, move in, bingo, crafts, photography and more. Individuals and organizations can sign up for multiple volunteer opportunities as long as there is no time conflict between events. A complete list of volunteer needs can be found online at somo.volunteerhub.com/vv2/lp/state.

The City of Kirksville celebrates Arbor Day on April 25, 2025, with a proclamation from Mayor Zac Burden and tree planting. Trees increase property values, enhance the economic vitality of business areas and beautify our community. They also reduce the erosion of our precious topsoil by wind and water, cut heating and cooling costs, moderate the temperature, clean the air, produce life-giving oxygen and provide habitat for wildlife. The Kirksville Parks and Recreation Department would like to invite residents to a tree-planting event on Arbor Day. New trees will be planted at 11:00 am on Friday, April 25, 2025, at Detweiler Park, 411 E. McPherson St. Join Parks and Recreation staff to learn more about planting and the City’s commitment to being a Tree City USA. Kirksville is pleased to be recognized as a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation for 26 years.

Individuals are invited to a public informational meeting that will share information about the future interchange improvement project on U.S. Route 63, over U.S. Route 36 in Macon. The public meeting is planned for Monday, May 5, 2025, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Comfort Inn & Suites Macon at 1821 N. Missouri Street in Macon, Missouri. Details about the project, including a project schedule, will be shared at the meeting through displays and discussions with Missouri Department of Transportation engineers. The meeting is open-house style, so there will be no formal presentation; attendees can attend anytime between 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. The project is scheduled to be under contract this Fall and will include bridge rehabilitation, off-ramp realignments and turn lane improvements at the ramp terminals, traffic signal and lighting upgrades at the U.S. 63 and Bus. 36 intersections, and safety improvements at Kellogg Avenue median crossover.