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Volume 104 • Number 37 • Tuesday, February 25, 2014 • PO Box 188 • 111 E. Jenkins • Maryville, MO • 75¢
Absentee voting begins for impending election By TONY BROWN News editor
The April 8 municipal election has officially begun. Nodaway County Clerk Beth Walker has announced that absentee ballots for the Tuesday, April 8, municipal election are now available at her first-floor office in the County Administration Center, located at 403 N. Market St. in Maryville. Anyone needing to vote absentee due to illness or absence from the polls on Election Day can do one of the following: • Submit a request in writing by mail or fax that lists name, address, mailing address if different, signature, date of birth, and the last four digits of your social security number. • Call Walker’s office at (660)-582-2251 and request an absentee ballot application. • Vote in person in the clerk’s office Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Voters must bring a valid identification document such as a voter
registration card, driver’s license or utility bill. The final day the clerk’s office can mail absentee ballots to voters is Wednesday, April 2. The deadline for voting absentee in person is 5 p.m. Monday, April 7, at the county clerk’s office. Absentee ballots will be counted on Election Day along with those cast by voters countywide for candidates seeking election to town councils and school boards. Of course, in order to vote, county residents have to register first. The process is simple and can be done either at the clerk’s office, at any Department of Motor Vehicles license office, or by going to the Missouri Secretary of State’s website at www.sos.mo.gov and clicking “register to vote” at the top of the page. The deadline for registering is March 12. In Maryville, three people are running for two open City Council seats, which are being vacated by incumbents Jim Fall and Ron Moss, who decided not to seek re-election. The can-
didates are Rachael Martin, Tim Shipley and Adam Switzer. As for the Maryville R-II School Board, all three incumbents are running unopposed. Returning to the board for new three-year terms will be Roger Baker, Jason Haer and Sean Wiedmaier. Other school board races around the county include West Nodaway R-I, where re-election is assured for unopposed incumbents Bernie Farmer, Troy Brady and Ted Finney. Six candidates are seeking three open board seats in Nodaway-Holt R-VII. None of the six are currently board members. Names on the ballot will include T. Scott Clement, Gayle Saxton, James Hanson, Jared Holmes, Andrew Lance and Jim Fuhrman. In North Nodaway R-VI three incumbents will automatically receive re-election to three-year terms: Greg Frueh, Tony O’Riley and Jennifer Torres. Also in R-VI, two candidates are running for a single seat carSee ELECTION Page 6
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
At the ready
Nodaway County Clerk Beth Walker stands at her office’s service counter with stacks of absentee ballots for the Tuesday, April 8, municipal election. The contest will decide school board, city council and aldermanic races across the county in addition to a number of tax proposals and a $10.25 million bond issue proposed by the Maryville R-II School District.
Spainhower takes helm of NW Regional Council By JIM FALL
Exeutive editor
New NWMRCOG Director Jackie Spainhower
Jackie Spainhower returned to her roots in regional planning Monday as she began her new assignment as executive director of the Northwest Missouri Regional Council of Governments in Maryville. For the former executive director of the St. Joseph Safety and Health Council who spent
four years as community development director for the Mo-Kan Regional Council prior to her St. Joseph assignment, it was a homecoming of sorts. She began her public service career as a workforce specialist and program assistant in the Maryville office before succeeding former Northwest Regional Council director Tye Parsons as director of the Mo-Kan organization. In 2006.
“It excites me to be back,” Spainhower, a Bedford, Iowa, native, said Monday. “I really missed living in Maryville so much. “You know all your neighbors, all you need is right here. There are friendly people and a real sense of community,” she said. “And I am excited to be back in the planning commission See SPAINHOWER Page 3
Cold weather blues?
Get help to get happy
By TONY BROWN News editor
Psychiatrists and psychologist have fancy names for the mood changes many people experience during a long, bitter winter, but most folks simply talk about having the “blues” or getting “cabin fever.” “When people are blue their mood goes down, and with cabin fever they have some type of change in mood but feel a bit of anxiety – being ‘antsy,’ as well. These words are part of our cultural description of what people experience,” said Dr. Michael Mattock, a psychologist and counselor at the Northwest Missouri State University Wellness Center. “Human beings are meant to reach out in the world and make connections. It makes us feel better,” Mattock said. “But during
the winter we often don’t do activities we enjoy and, when we pull back, we feel blue.” Recognizing that extended stretches of lousy winter weather can put a real dent in one’s mental outlook is one thing. Doing something about it is another. And Mattock said that when skies are gray and cold and the snow drifts high it’s easy to limit yourself in terms of exercising, socializing and getting out and about. Such limitations really do have a negative effect on mood, he warned, and, if left unchecked, can develop into depression. Performing only one indoor activity to the exclusion of others can also lead to depression. Adults and youngsters alike often suffer from using technology — playing video games, texting or just being online — to See WINTER BLUES Page 6
OFFICE NUMBER
660-562-2424
A strategy for what ails you
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Dr. Michael Mattock, a psychologist and counselor at the Northwest Missouri State University Wellness Center, said that extended stretches of winter weather can set people up for feeling irritable and depressed. However, strategies such as meditation, exercise, eating right and getting enough sleep can help folks beat the coldweather blues.
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