MEET CHAMPIONS Wildcats have two runners place in the top five to help lead them to team crown at Wellsville, See Page 9
MONTGOMERY
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Wednesday, September 26, 2018 USPS 361-260
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Volume 150, Issue 39
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Illness Access to mental health expanded Grant provides funding for counselors delays to meet with students in school murder trial By Megan Gearhart STAFF WRITER
Kavanagh’s lawyer had ‘severe stomach issues’
Students in the Montgomery County R-II and Wellsville-Middletown R-I school districts can now receive mental health counseling right in their school buildings, thanks to a grant through Missouri Girls Town. The grant provides funding for the districts to offer in-house professional behavioral health counseling one day each week
for primarily middle school and high school students, although some elementary school students have also been helped by the service. R-II District Superintendent Mike Gray said the counseling service is already in high demand, and that Missouri Girls
Town Program Director Melissa Blumer is working on an additional grant to extend the service to two days a week. “We’ve noticed for a long time that there’s not a lot of what we could call direct services to students in our area,” Gray said. “Or if there is, the parents have
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This week Montgomery County will celebrate its official designation as a Certified Work Ready community. The Certified Work Ready Community initiative is a national effort by ACT to align workforce training programs with economic development needs of communities. The Missouri Job Center-Warrenton will host a celebration for the county on Thursday, Sept. 27. The event will be held at the Montgomery County Courthouse at 10 am. Elected officials, community, educational, and business leaders will be in attendance. Missouri Division of Workforce Development Director Mardy Leathers will be the guest speaker. To achieve this designation, the county had to reach established goals. A specified number of individuals in the workforce had to achieve a National Career Readiness Certificate by scoring at certain competency levels on the ACT WorkKeys test. The WorkKeys test measures skills which are critical to onthe-job success. In addition, a number of employers in the county expressed their recognition of the certificate as part of their hiring process. The goal is to have a skilled workforce which meets the needs of local employers. This important designation is one more tool to help with business retention and attracting new businesses to the community. Everyone is welcome to attend this celebration of Montgomery County’s achievement.
Bicentennial Celebration reaches Mineola The celebration of the Montgomery County Bicentennial continued Saturday, Sept. 22, when a full day of activities were held in Mineola. Top, Dale and Sue Deeker look at photos of the old church where they were married. Right, The Loutres entertained visitors. Also held during the day was a car show, historical displays, blacksmith demonstration, and art and quilt displays. Megan Gearhart photos.
Cancer Supporters holding fundraiser this Saturday The Montgomery County Cancer Supporters is gearing for its first annual event to raise funds to help residents diagnosed with cancer. The fundraising event will be held at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds on Saturday, Sept. 29, from 2 to 10 p.m. All money raised will stay in Montgomery County to help local residents. Some of the items that will be given to patients are gas cards, treatment totes with puzzle books, scarfs
Inside this edition Courthouse News............ 3 Obituaries........................... 5 Sports................................... 9
See HEALTH, Page 2
Officials to celebrate Work Ready designation
By Tim Schmidt A death penalty trial has been delayed after the lawyer for alleged triple murderer Shawn Kavanagh was granted a continuance due to an illness. Presiding Judge Wes Dalton approved the delay as jury selection was set to begin Sept. 12 in Cape Girardeau County. The Kavanagh trial was scheduled to start Sept. 17 in Warrenton. Kavanagh’s lawyer, Robert Lundt, said he had been without sleep for 24 to 48 hours and had been physically sick with severe stomach issues and needed medical treatment, according to online court records. He added he would be providing ineffective assistance if the case proceeded to trial. Prosecutors objected to the continuance. Both sides are scheduled to meet again Oct. 2 to determine a new trial date. Kavanagh, 27, of Bellflower, has been charged with stabbing to death three people and critically injuring a fourth person during a brutal Valentine’s Day attack on Feb. 14, 2014, at a home south of Jonesburg. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Kavanagh, who remains held in the Warren County Jail. He has entered a not guilty plea. He faces nine felony counts, including three counts of first-degree murder, four counts of armed criminal action, first-degree domestic assault and first-degree burglary. He is accused of stabbing Tara Lynn Fifer, 22, of Montgomery City, and Lexy Vandiver, 29, and her son, Mason Vandiver, 8, both of Jonesburg. He also is charged with critically injuring his estranged wife Jescie Powell Kavanagh. Shawn Kavanagh placed a 911 call at 7:51 p.m. and told the dispatcher that he had just stabbed his wife and killed several people. Vandiver’s 18-month-old daughter was found unharmed inside the home. The couple was married for 10 months before separating three weeks prior to the Valentine’s Day attack, according to family members.
to travel and a lot of parents can’t travel or don’t have the means to travel. So we’ve been looking at ways that we can gain services for some of our students who need some mental health help. And this would provide them direct counseling services while they’re here at the school so they wouldn’t have to go anywhere else to get that, and in addition it would be probably more
Legals.......................... 10-13 Classifieds.................. 14-15 Real Estate........................15
and hats. The MAR Car Show will start with their registration at 9 a.m. Our opening ceremony will be at 2 p.m. Other activities include live entertainment, raffle, bingo, speakers about cancer, petting zoo, face painting, four bounce houses from Rock’n Rentals, direct sales vendors, kettle corn, snow cones, cotton candy, a survivor celebration tent and much more. Food will be provided by
Davis Meat and will consist of brats, pork burgers, hot dogs, fish sandwich, mushrooms, french fries, onion rings, pretzels and loaded nachos. Cocoa Cola will be there with drinks. Montgomery County Cancer Supporters was organized after the American Cancer Society cut back on the support it provided to local Relay For Life events. A local committee decided to change the event and keep all proceeds in the community. The local group still
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supports ACS and research through the sales of T-shirts and through the Relay For Life memorials. The Montgomery County Cancer Supporters are starting the event with nearly $10,000! This is due to the fundraising efforts this year from the Easter Egg fundraiser and a 3-on-3 Basketball Kickoff. The rest of the starting money has come from corporate sponsors. Please see a schedule of events on Page 2.