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Volume 104 • Number 88 • Wednesday, May 7, 2014 • PO Box 188 • 111 E. Jenkins • Maryville, MO • 75¢
Admin, coaching slots filled at MHS By JASON LAWRENCE Assistant news editor
The Maryville R-II School Board went outside the district for a couple of new hires announced following a closed-door personnel session held over the noon hour on Tuesday. The board hired a new Maryville High School assistant principal to succeed Thom Alvarez, who will take over as MHS principal this summer following the departure of Jason Eggers, who has accepted an administrative post with the public school system in Jefferson City. Filling Alvarez’s shoes in the No. 2 administrative spot will be Bryce Durnin, who currently serves as assistant principal at School of the Osage High School in Osage Beach near the Lake of the Ozarks. “He’s got several years of experience as an assistant principal, and that’s always good, especially with me moving into a new position,” Alvarez said. “Having someone with experience in this position will benefit me.” Durnin became assistant principal at Osage High in 2009. He has a bachelor’s degree in biology and secondary education from William Jewell College as well a master’s degree in educational leadership and a specialist’s degree in education from Northwest Missouri State University. “I think he’ll be a great fit,” Alvarez said. “He’s familiar with the area. His
wife’s from Savannah. So he’s familiar with our school district and really knows what we’re about and is excited to be apart of the Maryville community as well as the school district.” Prior to his tenure at the School of the Osage, Durnin taught science and coached baseball and girls basketball in the Liberty School District from 2000-2006 and coached baseball at Park Hill South high School from 2006-’09. “We’ve heard a lot of positive comments, recommendations, references and so forth,” said R-II Superintendent Larry Linthacum. In addition to Durnin, the board approved hiring Candace Boeh to teach physical education and serve as head girls basketball coach, replacing Lori Klaus and Grant Hageman. Klaus’ resignation was approved last week from her positions as PE teacher, head volleyball coach and head track coach. Hageman was reassigned last week from head girls basketball coach to boys assistant coach. “It’s one of those that we didn’t want to wait a long time,” Linthacum said. “It is May 6, and at this time of year with Grant Hageman and his desire to move over to the boys program and the opening that we had, it wasn’t something we were going to wait a long time. We also felt that Candace was the best candidate with what she See MHS Page 3
County to charge sex offender fees By TONY BROWN
Recognizing an opportunity
As a part of their sentences, some sex offenders are required to re-register at regular intervals ranging from once a Beginning June 1 registered sex of- year to every 90 days or so. But White fenders in Nodaway County will have said there will be no charge for meeting to reimburse the Sheriff’s Office for at this requirement after the offenders pay least part of the cost of keeping track of the initial $10 fee. their whereabouts, contact information, At any given time about 30 registered job situation and Internet sex offenders live in activity. Nodaway County, and Sheriff Darren White White said keeping said Tuesday that Mistrack of their informasouri statutes, which have tion is a fairly labor inlong required convicted tensive activity. He estisex offenders to register mated that deputies and with local law enforcejail staff spend a total of ment, now permit agenat least 20 hours a week cies to charge offenders on sex offender registrafor keeping track of and tion-related duties. updating their informaFor many counties, tion. he said, the cost is even Next month Nodaway higher. Buchanan Counwill join Buchanan, Anty, for example, assigns drew, Atchison, Holt, two officers to sex ofDarren White DeKalb, Harrison, Worth fender registration full and Gentry counties in time. Platte County, just charging offenders $10 for initial regis- north of Kansas City, has three full-time tration plus an additional $5 each time detectives detailed to the task. the record has to be updated. “We’re actually pretty fortunate here” Mandatory updates, White said, in- in terms of the number of sex offendclude things like new phone numbers, ers of which officers have to keep track, changes of address, job status, vehicle White said. He added that the new fees purchases and email and social media won’t generate a lot of revenue but will access information. help defray some of the expense inSex offender paperwork and fieldwork volved in creating offender registration also includes Halloween compliance files and keeping them current. checks and address verification to ensure “If you do the numbers, we obviousthat those convicted of such crimes do ly won’t be collecting a lot of money,” not reside within 1,000 feet of schools, White said. “But this is, at least, a way to daycare facilities and designated public make (sex offenders) a little bit accountareas. able for the predicament that they’re in.” News editor
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TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Jason White talks to a customer from behind the wheel of the Pontiac van he uses to shuttle patrons of his newly formed taxicab business. White founded Northwest Taxi & Shuttle Service after longtime local cabbie Steven Swaim retired. After six weeks, business has grown to the point where White, who works seven days a week, is considering buying a second vehicle and hiring a relief driver.
Taxi service giving car-less a ‘fare’ deal By TONY BROWN News editor
When Steven Swaim, who operated the Cab Company of Maryville for nearly 30 years, retired a while back, the surprisingly large group of Maryville residents who don’t drive or have regular access to an automobile found themselves either afoot or dependent on relatives and friends to get them to the grocery store or the doctor’s office. One normally associates traveling by taxi with the way people live in big cities. But small-town cab services have long been a part of life in rural communities like Maryville, and especially in college towns where many students — particularly those from other countries — don’t own cars. Then there are elderly folks whose driving days are behind them, and one-car families where one spouse or the other may not have
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access to a vehicle during the workday. Swaim’s retirement after decades of making sure car-less Maryville got where it needed to go left a lot of people in the lurch — a lurch that has now been removed by an ambitious young entrepreneur who is once again offering a local shuttle and tax service. Jason White, a 1994 Maryville High School graduate, had always made a good living working construction. But over the last few years, he said, he found himself wanting more and more to be his own boss. As it happened, White lived close to where Swaim operated his home-based taxi service. “I knew that he was going to retire at some point,” White said, “and I saw his cars were in motion a lot. It just seemed like a business that could be huge if you were willing to work at it.” So six weeks ago White
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acquired the necessary licenses and completed the city’s required background check for cab drivers. Then he hung a couple of Northwest Tax & Shuttle Service signs on his six-passenger Pontiac Montana van and hit the street. So far, he said, business has been good — and sometimes great. “If I can make what I made last week I can do pretty well,” said White, who is married with two stepchildren and a new baby on the way with his wife, Jessie. White said about half his business during the closing weeks of the school year consisted of international students from Northwest Missouri State University, who either needed rides to local stores and restaurants or required shuttle service between Maryville and Kansas City International Airport. See TAXI Page 9
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