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Lewis County
Serving the communities of Lewis County, Mo. since 1862 (USPS 088-820) Vol. XL New Series, No. 16 Canton, Mo. 63435 • 16 Pages • 2 Sections • 55 cents
BREAKING NEWS UPDATES AT
Thursday, April 19, 2012
County in middle of rankings in state for healthcare BY DAN STEINBECK EDITOR dan@lewispnj.com
C -1 BOARD TO PICK SUCCESSOR MEMBER; BOGUS APPLICATION ALSO SUBMITTED BY DAN STEINBECK EDITOR dan@lewispnj.com
The Lewis County C-1 School Board has set May 1 as the date to interview a potential successor board member. The new member will take the place of Harry Scifres, who was elected last year. Scifres and Robert Reed Miller resigned in March after admitting voting on extra duty contracts for the 2011-12 school year that included family members of the two board members, a violation of state law. Miller was defeated in the election earlier this month as he sought his old position. There were four applications received by the C-1 School district, including a bogus one. The legitimate applications came from former board member Terry Faulconer, two-time unsuccessful candidate Jamie Brennan, and former board member and twice defeated candidate Donna Collier. The bogus letter came from “Mickey Mouse,” and was reportedly condescending of the C-1 School District. “It wasn’t very nice. It was turned over to the police,” C-1 Superintendent Jackie Ebeling. The meeting to interview the candidates will be Tuesday, May 1 at 6:30 p.m. and is open to the public, and the board will vote and place its new member after the interviews.
Lewis County is ranked as number 54 of the 114 counties and the City of St. Louis in a recent report on healthcare. In two general categories, Lewis County ranked 54th in health outcomes and 53rd in Health factors. Here is how Lewis County ranked in six sub categories: 12th in physical environment; 34th in social and economic factors; 50th each in mortality and morbidity; 71st in clinical care; and 91st in health behaviors. The sub-category details show the Lewis County information, followed respectively by the national benchmark and the state average. Mortality – 8,328 premature deaths; 5,466 for the national benchmark and 7,981 for the state average. Morbidity – 20% poor/fair health; 10%-16%; 4.8% poor physical health days, 2.6%- 3.6%; 3% mental health day, 2.3%-3.7%; 6.8% low birth rate, 6.0%8.1%
Health behaviors – 28% adult smoking, 14%-24%; 34% obesity, 25%-31%; 30% physical inactivity, 21%-28%; 18% excessive drinking, 8%-17%; 241 sexually transmitted infections, 84-438; 25 teen birth rate, 22-44. Clinical Care – 18% uninsured, 11%15%; 85 preventable hospital stays, 4975; 79% diabetic screening, 89%-84%; 60% mammography screening, 74%65%. Social and economic factors – 91% high school graduation, national not listed, 86% state; 49% some college, 68%61%; 8.5% unemployment; 5.4%-9.6%; 25% children in poverty, 13%-21%; 21% inadequate social support, 14%-19%; 21% children in single parent households, 20%-32%; 174 violent crime rate, 73-518. Physical environment – zero air pollution particulate days, same for national and state; zero air pollution ozone days, zero national and 7 for the state; 10 access to recreational facilities, 16-10; 18% limited access to health foods, zero for
the national, eight for the state; zero fast foods restaurants, 25-47. To Lewis County Health Department Administrator Diane Lay, the two things that stand out for Lewis County’s report were the high adult smoking and obesity figures. “Both can lead to cardiovascular problems,” Lay said. Lay said past smoking cessation classes in Lewis County have not been well received, but said Missouri has the 1-800-QUIT-NOW (784-8669) for people interested in quitting smoking. As far as the obesity, Lay said there are some opportunities for exercise in Lewis County, but should people have questions about where to exercise, they can call the Health Department at 573-767-5312. She said the screenings figures are lower because many don’t have health insurance to cover the associated costs. Lay encourages families to exercise together to combat obesity and childhood obesity, and encourages people to make healthy food choices.
MORNING FOG
CANTON BUSINESS LEADER DIES A retired Canton store manager has died. Ray Snell, 88, Canton, died April 10 in Blessing Hospital. Snell was longtime manager of the former Niemann Foods in Canton. An obituary is on page 7B.
CLARIFICATION The Press-News Journal ran an article last week about the new fire truck for the R-4 Fire Protection District. The district has stations at Ewing and Maywood. The new truck is hosued at the Ewing station. The district was incorrectly stated in last week’s article.
TIGER BASEBALL The Canton Tigers were victorious over Mark Twain last night by a score of 12-0. The Tigers have improved to 6-2 for the year, having won their last six games. The Tigers were led by 2 hits each from Brandon Berhorst and Aaron Ellison. Garrett Serbin earned the win on the mound, throwing three innings, and then he was relieved by Lucas Brown. The Tigers put it all together last night: hitting, baserunning, pitching, and defense. The Tigers look to keep it going Thursday against La Plata, Friday against South Shelby, and in Madison on Saturday.
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Photo by Dan Steinbeck
Sunshine breaks through low hanging fog on the morning of April 12 near Culver-Stockton College. It was midway up the college hill where the clear skies separated from the fog.
OPEN HOUSES TO DISCUSS PIPELINE PROJECT IN AREA BY DAN STEINBECK EDITOR dan@lewispnj.com
Enbridge Energy Company, Inc. has set eight open houses to discuss the cross-state pipeline project that will be located in 11 Missouri counties. One of those counties is Lewis, where the project enters in the southeast corner from Illinois. The closest of the come-andgo open houses is at the Quincy, Illinois Holiday Inn at 4821 Oak Street on Wednesday, April 25 from 5-8 p.m. three of the other open houses are listed in an ad elsewhere in this newspaper. The open houses will allow
the public to view displays and maps and talk with project team members. Specifically, it is for landowners, elected officials, and stakeholders. Enbridge has proposed expanding an existing pipeline with the construction of a nearly 600-mile, 36-inch diameter interstate crude oil pipeline from Flanagan, Illinois to Cushing, Oklahoma. The pipeline work will begin in 2013 and ready for service by mid 2014, and initially will be able to handle 585,000 barrels of crude oil a day. Enbridge is expected to invest $2.8 billion in the whole project.
CANTON CITYWIDE YARD SALES ARE THIS WEEKEND
The biannual Canton citywide yard sales are this weekend, April 20-21. There are 28 advertised sales in this issue of the Press-News Journal in the Canton area alone, and an unknown number of unadvertised sales which will be held, each offering a variety of goods. Next weekend is the Canton citywide cleanup, held on Saturday, April 28. The yard sales are held in the spring and the fall, and each of them is followed with citywide clean-up.
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