Media The Clark County
Kahoka, Missouri
Clark County Circuit Court To Implement New System With More Convenient Communication With Prospective Jurors Kahoka, Mo. – Beginning this month, prospective jurors in Clark County can choose to communicate with the court by text or e-mail, as the Clark County Circuit Court implements the new Show-Me Jury system. The Clark County Circuit Court will mail new Show-Me Jury questionnaires starting in March, 2020, for jury service beginning April 6, 2020. “A big benefit to the public will be the ease of contacting and communicating with the court concerning their jury service,” Kim Schantz, Circuit Clerk said. “Although Show-Me Jury is not completely paperless, it allows our potential jurors to do more online and choose how they want the court to let them know if they have been excused or disqualified for serving or if their service has been postponed or canceled.” Here is how Missouri’s new Show-Me Jury system works: • The Circuit Clerk will send a letter through the U.S. Postal Service to the juror notifying him or her of their service. • When potential jurors receive the questionnaire, they now can go online at www. courts.mo.gov/ejuror to complete their juror qualification forms. This online questionnaire lets them choose their preferred method of communication with the court – whether by postal service, e-mail or even text message. For prospective jurors who remain in the pool of qualified jurors after completing their questionnaires, this means the local court could send the summons for jury duty electronically. • Potential jurors who believe they are not qualified for jury service under state law can follow the online instructions to submit their necessary documentation electronically. Any potential juror who does not have access to a computer or who prefer not to communicate information electronically, they may call the Circuit Clerk’s office to request a paper copy of the questionnaire. Missouri courts do not require anyone to provide confidential information over the telephone or by e-mail. The Show-Me Jury system is designed to give citizens a choice how they want to communicate with their local courts about potential jury service. Any telephone call or e-mail threatening the recipient with fines or jail time for failure to comply are fraudulent, See JURY, Page 11
Wednesday , March 4, 2020
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Volume 132, Number 10 www.kahokamedia.com
Clark County Man Running For Congress
By Mike Scott “This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” said Charles West of rural Clark County. On Wednesday, February 25, West took a step few will ever take: he filed as a candidate for Missouri’s Sixth District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. West is one of four Democrat candidates challenging Republican Sam Graves for his seat in Congress. “There’s a lot of division in the country. We see it on a daily basis. I don’t see anyone trying to work together,” West said. “I’m a Democrat because back in the day, Democrats stood for the working man. But everything shouldn’t be about party. We have to work for people, not the party. We need to sit down, work together, and find solutions,” West added. West serves on the Clark County R-1 School District board of directors, and education issues are important to him. “The federal government needs to provide more funding for education,” West said. “Teacher’s don’t make near enough.” He added that the State of Missouri needs to support better teacher pay to keep quality teachers in the state. West also supports more trades classes, noting several excellent career fields, such as auto mechanics, electricians, carpenters. pipefitters and welders that don’t require a four year college education. “If we don’t supply that knowledge, they’re going go
somewhere else after high school. They’re not going to stay here.” Having grown up in rural Missouri, West sees plenty of needs in rural areas, including broadband internet access, county roads and incentives for rural manufacturing. “We also need more trade deals for farmers. We need to work as a country so farmers aren’t having to rely on bailouts,” he said. On immigration, West sees the need for legal immigration. “Every factory I visit says they can’t keep workers. A lot of companies that I work with are getting people from Mexico in to do good-paying jobs, because nobody else wants to do them,” he said. West believes immigrants should work on becoming U.S. citizens. West is a strong believer in the Second Amendment, and bristles at the suggestion of confiscating legally owned guns. “I’m a gun person. I’ve always been a gun person. I’m a hunter, my dad is a hunter and I taught my daughter to hunt. I believe in Second Amendment rights all the way,” he said. “I do believe we need more in-depth background checks for getting a new gun,” he added, noting background checks should include mental illness. “A bad thing is, when people see a ‘D’ next to your name, they think you’re going to be taking away their guns. We shouldn’t be taking anyone’s guns,” he said. “It’s a Second Amendment right.” West is 40 years old, and is a 1998 graduate or Clark County R-1. He attended
Charles West of rural Clark County has filed as a Democrat candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives for Missouri’s Sixth District. He is one of four Democrat’s challenging incumbent Republican Sam Graves. Culver-Stockton College in Canton, and played football until a career-ending knee injury. After that, he lost his scholarship and entered the workforce. He now works as an Account Manager for French Gerlman Electric in Quincy, Illinois. “I’m in factories and construction sites day in and day out. I help with automation for machines and electrical transmission.” West is once divorced, and now has a fiance, Melissa, and daughter, Hayden. His father, Jim West, is from the Milan and Green City area, and he still has family there. His
mother, Kathie Roberson, hails from Lewis County. Charles is a member of the Eagles Club in Canton, and the Masonic Lodge in Keokuk, Iowa. “I’m just a regular person that wants to work for people,” he said. “A lot of the people in office today aren’t there for the people. They’re in it for the party and a paycheck,” West said. “It shouldn’t be like that.” As a new candidate, West is still getting started, looking for a campaign manager and a reliable treasurer. A campaign website is under construction. West can be reached at charleswestforcongress@gmail. com.
Moore Advances to The American Legion High School National Oratorical Finals
By Denise Shannon
Andrew Moore, a senior at Clark County R-1 High School, has been very busy lately, preparing himself for The American Legion High School National Oratorical Contest. High school and junior high school students can participate in the contest, as long as they are under the age of 20 and are enrolled in high school or junior high school. Students presented and eight to ten minute oration about an
Andrew Moore of Kahoka is the state winner of the American Legion High School National Oratorical Contest. He will compete at the national contest in Indianapolis April 17-19.
aspect of the U.S. Constitution, and how citizens have duties and obligations that they have with our government or society. They cannot use notes, stands, electronics, microphones, or any props when they give their speeches. Then they each delivered an additional extemporaneous three to five minute address on a subject randomly drawn just five minutes before speaking. “The title of my oration, is “Liberty or Death.” He said, “I will discuss the famous speech that Patrick Henry gave in March of 1775, “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death. Now, that was a speech that sparked the Revolutionary War,” he said “What I will be doing is discussing that speech, its significance in that time, and its principles of that speech being, “Liberty and Freedom” and how those are principles that were ingrained in our constitution, and those were principles that were ingrained into the founding of our nation. I discuss how it is our duty as citizens today to preserve liberty, just as Henry fought for liberty in 1775, we are to preserve Liberty. I discuss various ways we are to do that”, he said. He explained that these contests start at a local level. “My first contest was the district contest that was the first week of January and from there, there is a zone contest, and then state. You have to win each contest to keep going on.” “I was fortunate enough to win all three and went to state this year. This was my third year in the contest. My sophomore year I did the contest and made it to zone and got second there, last year as a junior, I made it zone, and got second at state. this year I won district, zone, and won state, as a senior moving on for the nationals, regardless, this would have been my last year.” This year’s state contest was held at Southern Boon High School in Ashland. “Essentially, I come prepared to give five speeches, two of which I know, my oration, then I have to be prepared for any of the four assigned topics, whatever one they pick.” He stated, “There are four assigned topics that have been chosen throughout the different levels of The American Legion Oratorical Contests at Nationals, they will draw one of those four different assigned topics at the contest that day, the four topics are the 12th amendment, 20th amendment, 24th amendment, or the 27th amendment, but, I do not know which one I will be asked to discuss until the official chooses it at that time during the contest.” With his state-level win, he will advance to the 2020 National Finals during April 17-19 in Indianapolis. He will be one out of 54 finalists. So far, Moore has won two $2000 scholarships. “I have been blessed. Altogether I have won $4,000 to put toward school so far, a wonderful blessing,” he said. The top three national finalists receive scholarships of $20,000, $18,000 and $16,000 respectively. “Well, I have a lot of work to do between now and April, I am going to keep preparing and continue practicing, but, I am excited for it,” he continued. “I would like to thank all of the teachers at Clark County that have helped me with the speech, everyone, my family, of course, my friends, and community who have supported me. And, once again I would like to thank God for the great opportunity and how much he has blessed me.”