Buchanan County Clerk Mary Baack-Garvey traveled to Atchison Monday to pick up another batch of 26,000 election ballots for the November election.
The new, court-ordered, language for Amendment Six required every county in the state to replace ballots that were already printed with the old language. That will cost nearlyy five thousand dollars in Buchanan County.
Despite a statute saying the state will pick up the tab, Baack-Garvey says she’ll believe it when she sees it.
“There is a statute that does clearly state that if there is a statewide reprint, that the state will cover the cost of that,” Baack-Garvey said, “but, I don’t believe that until I see it.”
“Just like, we had final certification day for the November election. That means no other changes to the ballot. Well, look what happened there. That didn’t matter. The ballot still got changed anyway. So, until I hear directly from the Secretary of State that they’re going to be cutting me a check, I’m going to assume that we’re paying for it.”
As it turns out, Baack-Garvey and other election officials across Missouri meet with the Secretary of State this week in Jefferson City. Baack-Garvey says she expects the Secretary to be bombarded by questions about it. She expects to have a definitive answer in about a week.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Authorities in northeast Kansas have arrested a man suspected of firing a shot at a Johnson County sheriff’s deputy.
The deputy was unhurt in the shooting early Monday, which set off a massive search for more than 12 hours in the southern part of the county. The sheriff’s department says the suspect was arrested without incident several miles from where the confrontation occurred.
The deputy was investigating a reported break-in at a construction site when the suspect fired a shot before fleeing. Authorities said the deputy did not return fire.
Several schools in the Blue Valley district were placed on heightened alert during the search. Law enforcement officers patrolled bus stops during the morning.
National Farm Safety & Health Week is this week, September 21-27.
At this time of year harvest is top of mind for farmers. They’re eager to get into the field and want to make sure they’re being efficient when harvesting their crops.
At the same time, safety in the field and on roadways is of the utmost importance.
FERGUSON (AP) – The city of Ferguson is hosting a five-week series of town hall meetings, but not everyone is welcome, including the media.
The meetings, announced last week, will address concerns raised after the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. The city said the meetings will update residents on changes the city council wants the community to consider.
The Justice Department has gotten involved and a spokesman for the city said the meetings will be closed to the media and nearly anyone else who is not a resident of the St. Louis suburb.
Ferguson spokesman Devin James told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch the Justice Department’s Community Relations Service feels having media present could alter the conversations.
The bridge on Route A over the Nodaway River, just east of Maitland, is now open, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation, but with a weight restriction. Once flood waters receded, inspectors from the state bridge division were able to inspect both the bridge structures underwater and the bank at the bridge end. While the structure is safe for motorists, a 20-ton weight restriction is now in place. Travelers should also be alert as the bridge could close immediately if the river level rises. Any additional water in the river channel could affect the stability of the slope under the bridge end and compromise the bridge support.
The 51-year-old bridge carries approximately 2,300 vehicles a day. Inspectors, concerned that recent flooding may have caused excessive scouring, closed the bridge Monday, Sept. 15, 2014, until a complete inspection could be conducted. The bridge inspection team, a MoDOT geologist and local personnel determined the bridge could reopen this afternoon with a 20-ton weight restriction.
“We realize this is a vital route for the surrounding communities. By placing a weight restriction on the bridge, we are able to reopen it to most traffic,” said MoDOT District Engineer Don Wichern. “Our number one priority is safety. We ask all motorists in the area to follow the weight restriction, for their own protection and well being.”
The Route A Nodaway River Bridge was built in 1963. All bridges throughout the United States are federally required to be inspected at least every two years. MoDOT’s Northwest District has more than 1,300 bridges among its 20 counties.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The independent candidate trying to unseat U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts in Kansas says he owns assets worth between $21.5 million and $86 million.
Greg Orman on Monday released a copy of the financial disclosure report that candidates for federal office must file each quarter.
It shows that since the beginning of 2013, Orman and his wife, Sybil, have earned between $917,000 and $4.5 million in income. Most of the assets and income are associated with Orman’s business interests.
Orman is a 45-year-old Olathe businessman hoping to unseat the three-term Republican incumbent in the November election.
Orman co-founded a private equity firm. His disclosure form also lists interests in banking and real estate.
Roberts reported in August that he and his wife own assets worth between $1.6 million and $4 million.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is expressing concern that an intruder carrying a knife was able to get into the White House where his family lives.
Obama press secretary Josh Earnest says Obama is “obviously concerned” that a man got through the White House front doors Friday evening a few minutes after the first family left for Camp David. But Earnest says Obama has complete confidence in the Secret Service.
Earnest wouldn’t say whether Obama wants to see security expanded to a wider perimeter around the White House. The Secret Service is discussing that as an option.
Earnest says in response to the breach, the Secret Service is reviewing its policies, technical enhancements, staffing levels and previous interactions with the Texas man who gained access by jumping a fence.
On Monday, a federal prosecutor says that investigators found more than 800 rounds of ammunition in the White House intruder case, along with a machete and two hatchets.
In a federal court proceeding, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Mudd said that the accused intruder, Omar J. Gonzalez, was a danger to the president.
He said the ammunition and the other items were discovered in a search of Gonzalez’s car.
Photo courtesy Northwest Missouri State University
The Hardy family, whose members have attended Northwest Missouri State University through four generations dating back to World War II, are the University’s 2014 Family of the Year.
Sponsored by Campus Dining, the Family of the Year award is bestowed each fall during the University’s Family Weekend festivities. The recognition comes with a $750 scholarship and other prizes.
Cousins Jaque Runyon and Rebecca Moore nominated their family for the recognition. Jaque, a sophomore interactive digital media major from Maryville, is the daughter of Darla Hardy Runyon and Steve Runyon. Rebecca, a sophomore public and private accounting and financial services major from Grant City, Mo., is the daughter of Julia Hardy Wideman.
The family’s connection to Northwest began when Jacque’s grandfather and Rebecca’s great-grandfather, Earl Hardy, attended Northwest in 1944 before becoming a sergeant in the U.S. Army during World War II. According to Hardy family history, President Uel Lamkin called Earl, who raised turkeys with his brother, to his office and requested two of his best turkeys for the president’s Thanksgiving meal.
Later, while Earl was off to war, his soon-to-be wife, Madge, took classes at Northwest to help her with her teaching career at the Pleasant Valley one-room schoolhouse in Worth County.
After the war ended, Earl and Madge married and had nine children. Eight of them attended Northwest and earned degrees in the field of education. The ninth Hardy child took over management of the family farm to help the others complete their college degrees.
Together, the eight siblings have amassed 145 years of teaching. The siblings and their graduation years are: David Hardy (1968), Barbara Hardy Matteson (1970), Karen Hardy Ross (1972), Nancy Hardy Penserum (1973), Mike Hardy (1976), Janice Hardy Borey (1980), Darla Hardy Runyon (1983) and James Hardy (1986).
Darla Runyon is director of Northwest’s Center for Information Technology in Education, and Carolyn Hardy, wife of Mike Hardy and a 1983 graduate of Northwest, is an assistant professor in Northwest’s Department of Math, Computer Science and Information Systems.
Earl and Madge also have 24 grandchildren, seven of whom are Northwest graduates. As Northwest students, members of the family have had involvement with the Bearcat Marching Band, Phi Beta Lambda, the Bearcat football team and The Northwest Missourian student newspaper, among other organizations.
Jaque Runyon, the eighth grandchild to attend Northwest, is involved with Gamma Alpha Lambda, Phi Eta Sigma and Mortar Board. She is a student employee in the Department of English and Modern Languages.
A great-grandchild, Rebecca Moore is a member of the Accounting Society, Honors Program and Gamma Alpha Lambda, and she is a student employee in the Office of Financial Assistance.
The family also funds the Hardy Academic Scholarship, which is awarded annually to a graduate of the Worth County R-III School District who attends Northwest.
“Grandfather Hardy always said that his graffiti on the world were his children,” Jaque and Rebecca wrote in their nomination. “Some marks have definitely been made at Northwest by the Hardy family. We feel like we could start our own Northwest Hardys Alumni Chapter.”
Families are nominated by members of the Bearcat community or self-nominated. Applicants are judged on the family’s commitment to Northwest, academic success, service and the family’s consistent and sustained involvement over several generations.
Repair work to a bridge on the southern edge of Holt County has prompted a lane closure on Interstate 29, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation. The southbound driving lane of I-29 is now closed and will remain closed overnight. The lane should reopen in the afternoon on Tuesday, September 23, 2014, weather permitting. Motorists may experience delays.
During the lane closure and repair work, a 12-foot width restriction will be in place for all southbound traffic.
The cost to reprint ballots for the November election may not have to come out of Buchanan County’s budget.
According to Buchanan County Presiding Commissioner R.T. Turner, the State will be reimbursing the county around $5,000 to cover the cost of reprinting ballots after an appeals court panel ruled last week that ballot wording previously approved by lawmakers for the proposed constitutional amendment was misleading.
Missouri election officials all over the state are scrambling to reprint ballots and reprogram computers after an appeals court ordered a change to an early-voting proposal that will appear on the November ballot.
County clerks said Wednesday that the change could cost about $5,000 for local election jurisdictions and could delay the availability of absentee ballots.
Buchanan County Clerk Mary Baack-Garvey told us Friday that she was one of the first inline to get ballots reprinted and expects to have them by Monday in time for absentee voting Tuesday.
