By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

Flooding around the Chillicothe area eased enough for transportation officials to reopen both lanes of traffic on U.S. Route 65 south of the city.

Grand River floodwaters have made travel difficult in the Chillicothe area, closing both U.S. Route 65 and U.S. Route 36. The Missouri Department of Transportation reports it was able to reopen 65 just south of Chillicothe, but a section of the highway remains closed from Carrollton to U.S. Route 24 in Waverly.

MoDOT advises motorists that portions of U.S. Route 24, Route 10, and Route 139 remain closed in that area.

Both lanes of U.S. Route 24 east of Keytesville reopened this morning after floodwaters receded. The roadway remains closed west of Keytesville, through Brunswick and DeWitt. Portions of Routes 5 and 10 as well as U.S. Route 24 south of Carrollton remain closed.

Missouri River levels dropped over the weekend. Still, nearly 400 roads statewide are closed, due to flooding. Locks and dams upstream from St. Louis have been shut down as the Mississippi River crests at its second-highest level on record at some points.

Click here for the MoDOT website on northwest Missouri flooding.

The National Pork Producers responded to President Trump’s plan to impose a five percent tariff on all Mexican imports by June 10. NPPC President David Herring appealed to Trump to reconsider his plans to open a new trade dispute with Mexico. “American pork producers cannot afford retaliatory tariffs from its largest export market which Mexico will surely implement,” he says. “Over the last year, trade disputes with Mexico and China have cost hard-working U.S. pork producers and their families about $2.5 billion.” Herring is asking Washington to move forward with ratification of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement and preserve zero-tariff pork trade in North America for the long term. “We’re also asking for a trade agreement with Japan,” he says, “as well as a resolution to the trade dispute with China. U.S. pork has a historic opportunity to make inroads into the Chinese market as the country continues to struggle with the African Swine Fever outbreak.” For most of the past year, American pork farmers have lost about $12 per hog due to trade retaliation by Mexico, which recently lifted the retaliatory tariffs last week. Those numbers come directly from Iowa State University Economist Dermot Hayes, who says U.S. pork producers will lose the entire Mexican market if they face protracted retaliation. Mexico brought in 20 percent of total U.S. pork exports last year.

ANDREW COUNTY— One person was injured in an accident just before 3:30 Sunday in Andrew County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Harley Davidson Road King driven by Jerry A. Kirkpatrick, 58, Westboro, was northbound on U.S. 71, five miles north of Savannah.

The motorcycle traveled off the road, began to skid, overturned, struck the ground and the driver was ejected. Andrew County EMS transported Kirkpatrick to Mosaic Life Care for treatment of serious injuries. He was wearing a helmet, according to the MSHP.

WASHINGTON — Eagle Communications Inc. has been selected by the National ESOP Association as the winner of the 2019 Total Communications, More Than 250 Employees, Annual Award for Communications Excellence. The Total Communications award recognizes overall excellence in efforts to educate the public and employee owners about a company’s ESOP and ownership culture.

Eagle was also selected as the runner-up winner for two other awards: Videos and the Employee Ownership Marketing category.

The Videos award distinguishes excellence in the use of original, printed materials to explain or promote the company’s ESOP to employee owners, customers, or the community. Eagle’s final nomination, in Employee Ownership Marketing, recognizes excellence in advertising and marketing the benefits of employee ownership to customers, the community, and the public.

Individually, Andrea Clinkscales was recognized as a finalist for National “Employee Owner of the Year.” She was recipient of the Heart of America “Employee Owner of the Year” Award in 2018.

“The great educational curriculum for employee owners includes ESOP 101 content, information discussed on weekly bulletin videos, a weekly revenue call, an ESOP Facebook group, eight educational videos, and a pre-retirement seminar. A leadership program is a great development opportunity for employee owners looking to take a greater role. The company also engages in local Chamber of Commerce events to share about the company and employee ownership,” commented the AACE judges.

The AACE awards are sponsored each year by the Association to recognize the outstanding communications and educational programs of its members. The awards are presented each May at the Association’s National Conference in Washington, DC to companies who have excelled in communicating the ESOP and its meaning to the company’s employees.

AACE Award winners are chosen by a panel of five judges made up of both management and non-management employee owners, each of whom has demonstrated active experience and interest in the field of ESOP’s and employee ownership communications.

Gary Shorman, CEO of Eagle Communications, is Chairman of the National ESOP Association.

“The National Conference brings together some of the best employee owned companies in the country,” he said. “For us to be represented as award winners shows the passion of our Eagle team for providing great customer service and “no excuses” employee ownership in the communities we serve.”

Eagle Communications is the parent company of Hays Post.

By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

There is another casualty to flooding in northwest Missouri.

The Missouri Department of Transportation closed the Grand River Bridge on Route A, just south of Route T in Gentry County after discovering significant scour damage from flooding. MoDOT closed Route A to assess the damage and determine what repairs need to be made. It is not known when the bridge will reopen.

The bridge is closed to all traffic. MoDOT advises motorists to find alternative routes.

Click here for the special website MoDOT maintains on northwest Missouri flooding.