KIRX News

The Adair County Health Department confirmed six new cases of COVID-19 yesterday. The overall case count has risen to 2,496 with 11 active cases and 2,465 people who have left isolation. Five of the cases are related to attendance at a church camp. One case is a fully vaccinated individual experiencing mild symptoms of COVID-19. The Health Department advises that as with the ‘flu vaccine, COVID-19 vaccines do not guarantee you will not get the virus. The antibodies spurred by the vaccine, however, reduce the severity of symptoms experienced by infected individuals.

Governor Mike Parson and Attorney General Eric Schmitt are standing by the state’s new law that would ban police from enforcing federal gun rules. This week, the U.S. Justice Department said in a letter to the Governor, that Missouri cannot reject or disregard federal gun laws. Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton said under our federal system, a state cannot nullify federal law. Parson signed the state’s Second Amendment Preservation Act into law last Saturday.

Troop B will conduct a Hazardous Moving Operation today from 8am to 4pm, in Adair, Clark, Knox, Lewis, and Scotland Counties. Special emphasis will be placed on those violations that contribute to traffic crashes such as speed, following to closely, improper lane changes, distracted driving.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol and Daviess County Sheriffs Office are needing the public’s help in identifying a subject impersonating a Law Enforcement Officer. According to a press release, at approximately 10 a.m. on June 15th, a white male wearing a law enforcement-style uniform driving a vehicle described as a black Dodge Charger with police markings with emergency lights inside the vehicle stopped a citizen on Missouri Highway 6 near Gallatin, in Daviess County. The individual represented himself as a law enforcement officer and issued the citizen citations from New York state. There was an unknown make, white cargo-style van driving in front of the citizen’s vehicle that may have been working in conjunction with the individual posing as a law enforcement officer. If anyone has information relevant to this investigation, they should contact the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office at (660) 663-2031.

Voters living in Macon’s Ward 3 headed to the ballot box on Tuesday to break a tie from April’s election regarding the Ward 3 Council Race between Chris Walk and Jeff Skjeveland, both who had received 23 votes. This time around, Chris Walk received 60% of the vote after the unofficial results were released by the Macon County Clerk’s Office. Prior to running for the seat, Walk was appointed by Macon’s Mayor and confirmed by the City Council to complete the term of councilman, Jeff Brown who moved to Shelby County. After his win in the special election, Walk will remain on council for the next two years.

Linn County added 41 new cases of COVID-19 in the last week. The health department’s weekly update shows there are 93 active cases, which is down 17. So far, 34.6% of the population has initiated vaccination and 29.7% are fully vaccinated.

The Kirksville City Council is making a change to its meeting structure. A citizen sent an email stating that the majority of invocations delivered at the beginning of council meetings for several years, have been prayers. The citizen went on to say that it appears the Kirksville City Council endorses Christianity above all other religions and is actively ignoring the Constitutional separation of church and state. As a result, meetings starting next week will start with a reading of the city’s mission and vision statements and then a moment of silence for the council and the citizenry.to reflect on that. The city’s mission statement is, “Through excellence in service, the City of Kirksville will provide ethical and responsible local government.” And the vision statement is, “Our vision is to be the best city to the citizens we serve, meeting their needs and expectations both today and tomorrow.”

Governor Mike Parson signed HB 271 into law yesterday regarding local public health orders and vaccine passports. Parson says the legislation requires local leaders to be more transparent in their reasoning and accountable for their decisions when it comes to public health orders. It also prohibits local, publicly funded entities from requiring a vaccine passport in order for residents to use public services.

As of yesterday, Adair County’s total confirmed COVID-19 case count is 2,490. Nine cases are active and 2,461 people have left isolation. Eight new cases have been confirmed over the last week, including females ages 6,12, 23, 26, 30 and 64, and males ages 31 and 35. The 17-year-old male admitted and discharged from Northeast Regional Medical Center on June 1 was admitted to University Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Columbia on June 5. He required a ventilator from June 6 through 8 and was discharged to home June 14.

Troop B investigated 4 injury crashes and 2 fatal crashes for the week of June 6 thru June 12. With 9 people being injured as a result of those crashes and 3 fatality injured. 8 occupants of those vehicles were unrestrained or not wearing a helmet on a motorcycle.