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Volume 104 • Number 68 • Wednesday, April 9, 2014 • PO Box 188 • 111 E. Jenkins • Maryville, MO •
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Signing up
Eugene Field Elementary School Assistant Principal Brian Lynn, right, Picks up his ballot from an election judge Tuesday morning at the polling place in the basement of the Maryville R-II School District office.
75¢
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Checking the results
R-II Superintendent of Schools Larry Linthacum, left, along with county commissioners Robert Schieber and Robert Stiens, crunch numbers at the County Administration Center Tuesday as vote totals are announced precinct by precinct.
Voters approve school bond, gravel tax Shipley, Martin take council seats By TONY BROWN News editor
Two major funding initiatives — one proposed by the Maryville R-II School District and one by Nodaway County — passed easily in Tuesday’s municipal elections. Voters also elected local political newcomers Tim Shipley and Rachael Martin to the Maryville City Council. A projected 67.34 percent of Maryville R-II patrons voted in favor of a $10.25 million bond issue that will be used to construct a new performing arts center at Maryville High School along with a new MHS practice gymnasium and an expanded kitchen and cafeteria area at Eugene Field Elementary School. The bonds will also fund en-
hanced security measures at the main entrances to all three of the district’s schools, including Maryville Middle School, and provide a few other extras at the high school such as an improved weight room and additional space for athletics lockers. In numerical terms, the bond issue passed 1,235-599 in a vote that required a four-sevenths supermajority. The success of the county’s ballot measure means that residents in all 15 townships, an area that includes Maryville, will pay an additional one-half-cent sales tax next year that will be used to purchase maintenance road rock. As has been the case for decades, township revenues come almost exclusively from property taxes. In recent years, how-
ever, those levies have maxed out against a 90-cent cap per $100 of assessed valuation, meaning that income stays flat while costs continue to rise. Most of the gravel burden, therefore, has been assumed by the county, which currently pays 77.7 percent of the cost of maintenance gravel in each township, a formula that translates to $525 per mile of road for the county and $150 per mile for each township, a total of $675. The county has about 1,000 miles of gravel roads. Under the current budget, Nodaway County and the townships combined expect to spend $690,000 for gravel this year, $533,000 of which will come from the county. Now that the sales tax has
Tim Shipley
Rachael Martin
passed, the townships’ contribution will be eliminated, allowing the subdivisions to spend the money on their own “supplementary” gravel — rock purchased over and above the 45 tons per mile or so considered essential. Figuring sales tax revenue at a projected $1 million, the county will now have more than $300,000
in new money for road maintenance. According to South District County Commissioner Robert Stiens, the approximately halfmillion dollars the county now spends for rock will be reallocated for the repair and replacement of new bridges and drainage tubes, where rising costs are also putting See VOTERS Page 3
Society pays tribute to historian Carneal By TONY BROWN News editor
Ex-professor feted
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Emeritus Professor of History Tom Carnneal, left, who served for many years as first president and then longtime treasurer of the Nodaway County Historical Society, is shown with his family during a reception Tuesday at the museum held in honor of his 80th birthday. Also pictured are Carneal’s young grandson, Bennett Malotte, his son, Chris Malotte, at left in dark glasses, and siblings, from left, Martha Chandler (seated), John Carneal and Sam Carneal.
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One of the most precious possessions any rural community can have is its past, and thanks to Tom Carneal, the Northwest Missouri State University emeritus professor of history who turned 80 this week, that possession for Nodaway County is a very rich legacy indeed. The Nodaway County Historical Society — which Carneal essentially transformed following his arrival on the Northwest campus in 1968 — is today an important cultural and social resource in the Maryville area that embraces three buildings, including two historic 19th century structures, and a collection consisting of thousands of documents, genealogical records, special holdings and artifacts. The society celebrated Carneal’s contributions Tuesday with a birthday reception at the main museum, located at 110 N. Walnut in Maryville. Surrounded by well-wishers, family and society members, Carneal reflected on his career and the growth of the society over more than 45 years. Shortly after his arrival in Maryville, Car-
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neal, fresh from graduate studies at what is now the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the young college instructor and Army veteran decided to become active in the society, which, though founded in the 1940s, had become little more that a monthly discussion club. There was no museum, and no one was even dreaming yet of acquiring such structures as the 1850s Caleb Burns House at 420 West Second Street or the Hickory Grove School, built in 1883 and now located on the museum grounds. “Basically people got together once a month and talked about what they would like to do,” Carneal said. “When someone went on a trip, they brought back pictures. But deep down inside … well, I think what they wanted was a museum.” Lots of people talk. Carneal acted. The society didn’t have any money, so he signed the mortgage for the Burns House property himself. Then he helped orchestrate the publishing of “Tales of Nodaway County,” a popular history that sold out three printings’ worth of copies and made it possible for the nascent organization to pay off the note on the two-story pioneer residence.
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See CARNEAL Page 5
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