LEWIS COUNTY WELCOMES NEW PRIEST
SEE PAGE A4
Lewis County
Serving the communities of Lewis County, Mo. since 1862 (USPS 088-820) Vol. XL New Series, No. 10 Canton, Mo. 63435 • 24 Pages • 4 Sections • 55 cents
BREAKING NEWS UPDATES AT
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Highland Wins Battle Of The Belt
AMISH COMMUNITY WELCOMES TWO LEAP YEAR BABIES BY DAN STEINBECK Editor dan@lewispnj.com
Two separate Amish families welcomed a new baby into their family on Leap Year Day, Feb. 29. An Amish man, who himself declined to be publicly identified, said Anna Borntreger was born to Amos and Esther Borntreger at the Borntreger home north of Canton on Route 81. Pete, Miller Junior was born to Pete and Kathern Miller the same day. The two couples live about three miles from each other. The man said he read an Ohio newspaper account of 11 Amish couples giving birth on Nov. 11, 2011, or numerically known as 11-11-11. He said Amish don’t always celebrate birthday anniversaries, but that differs among the Amish communities. According to an internet source, every four years a day is added to keep the calendar synchronized with the astronomical year. The 365 days of non-leap years is six hours less than a solar year, which is the amount of time it takes the earth to make one orbit around the sun.
CANTON MAN INVOLVED IN QUINCY ACCIDENT A Canton man was one of two men who had apparent minor injuries in a two-car accident in Quincy Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 29. Nathaniel Logsdon, 26, of Canton and Jeremy Holt, 20 of Payson, Ill., were each taken to Blessing Hospital after the accident. Both were treated and released. Quincy Police said Logsdon was driving a full-sized 1995 Chevrolet van, and struck the rear of Holt’s 2008 Ford pick-up truck at about 10th and Broadway. Logsdon was cited for reckless driving.
ONE LANE TRAFFIC SCHEDULED ON QUINCY BAYVIEW BRIDGE The Illinois Department of Transportation bridge crews will be conducting a detailed bridge inspection of the Quincy Bayview Bridge on US 24 westbound from March 12 through March 30. Traffic will be reduced to one lane on the bridge during the duration of the project. Motorists are asked to reduce speed in the work zone and obey all road construction signs. Delays should be expected. For more information, please call IDOT at 217-653-1863 during normal business hours.
Photo by Sabrina Sparks, lifeadventurephoto.com
Highland High School was presented a bronze banner for their seat belt usage of 91.87 percent and a plaque from the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety for their participation in the program. Lewis County Sheriff David Parrish and Tana Akright, MoDot Battle of the Belt coordinator, presented the honors Feb. 21. The Battle of the Belt is a seat belt competition between Missouri high school students. SADD members (Students Against Destructive Decisions) checked student drivers for seat belt usage and then provided information to the student body about seat belt usage. Highland High School has won the award for three consecutive years.
Filing Has Started For Public Offices BY DAN STEINBECK Editor dan@lewispnj.com
Filing opened for public offices on the county, state, and federal level, although the latter is still in limbo. The following had filed by Monday, March 5 for County offices: Jesse Roberts, Southern Commissioner; John Campen, Northern Commissioner; Larry Arnold, Coroner; Craig Myers, Assessor; David Parrish, Sheriff; all Democrat incumbents; Brett Bozarth, Public Administrator, the Democrat appointed last year to fill Bill Murphy’s post when Murphy retired; and Carson W. Lay, Surveyor, a Republican. Russell Steele, the incumbent Democrat Second Judicial Circuit Judge, has also filed for reelection. Redistricting has changed the borders – and some district numbers. For example, Craig Red-
mon, the incumbent Republican First District State Representative has filed for the new Fourth District, which encompasses more of Adair County and none of Marion County. Likewise, current U.S. Representative, Ninth Congressional District Republican Blaine Luetkemeyer (which now includes Lewis County), has filed for the Third Congressional district, which doesn’t include Lewis County. Instead, the new Sixth District, which covers most of the top third of the state –including Lewis County -, has two people who have filed, Kyle Yarber of Gladstone and Ted Rights of Hamilton. Statewide, there are five candidates who have filed for each U.S. Senator, Governor, and Secretary of State; 11 have filed for Lt. Governor; three have filed for Attorney General; and two have filed for State Treasurer.
Future of former Saturday Store pending BY DAN STEINBECK Editor dan@lewispnj.com
About two dozen Canton community members met March 1 to discuss the fate of the building at Fourth and Lewis recently known as “The Saturday Store.” Joe Clark, head of the Canton Community Betterment Group said each attendee was to fill out a commitment form to the extent they would be willing to financially support the building, if it is used as a community center, as some have suggested. Clark estimates for the first year it would cost a minimum of $6,500 for insurance, utilities, and some on hand for maintenance and repairs. The commitment forms will be evaluated tonight (Thursday, March 8) at
a regular meeting of the CCBG. If it becomes a community center, it could serve as a meeting place for a number of not-for-profit groups, such as service clubs and the Canton Area Arts Council. It could possibly be rented for receptions too. “If we don’t get the right type of support, we will continue with the on-line auction scheduled for next month. We can’t afford to keep it,” Clark said. In recent months Former Culver-Stockton President Bill and Lynn Fox donated the building to the Betterment Group. Potential donors can contact Clark or Kelli Hinton at Heartland Bank. To see the property listed on the auction site go to ucwallingford.com.
TWO RESIGN FROM C-1 SCHOOL BOARD FOR SIMILAR REASONS BY DAN STEINBECK Editor dan@lewispnj.com
Two members of the Lewis County C-1 School Board have resigned, citing similar reasons. The two are long time board member Robert Reed Miller, and Harry Scifres, elected last year. They re-
signed in a special C-1 board meeting last week. Miller is still a candidate for re-election in April. In separate letters, both Miller and Scifres admit to voting on extra duty contracts for the 2011-12 school year that included family members employed by the district. For Miller, it was his wife, and for Scifres, it was
his son. Both letters cite “the Missouri Constitution and related court cases” that say if a board member votes in favor of appointing a relative to the fourth degree, the board member should resign and forfeit his seat. Both men said they did not intend to violate the law and apologized to the fellow board members
and to the district. Both men pledge to continue to be supportive of activities in the school district. In a letter sent to C-1 staff the morning after the meeting, Superintendent Jackie Ebeling said “the administrative team knew nothing about the situation.”