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Betty Leeser Receives National Honor Story on Page 3A Lewis County
Serving the communities of Lewis County, Mo. since 1862 (USPS 088-820) Vol. XL New Series, No. 23 Canton, Mo. 63435 • 20 Pages • 2 Sections • 55 cents
Thursday, June 7, 2012
SALUTE TO VETERANS
BREAKING NEWS UPDATES AT
WORK HAS BEGUN ON MO 16 SUGAR CREEK BRIDGE
Tuesday, June 5 at 8 a.m., MO 16 will close to replace the Sugar Creek Bridge located east of Monticello. The 87 year old bridge should take approximately 49 working days to replace. The new bridge will be eightfoot wider and will open to traffic in late July. Road closure signs will be in place notifying motorists of the work. A detour is available over Routes F, E and A. Some areas of the road will remain open to residential traffic only; all other traffic must take alternate routes during this time. Message boards along the road will be set up in advance of the closure. For more information about this bridge or others in the Safe and Sound Bridge Program, contact MoDOT’s customer service center at 1-888 ASK MODOT or visit us online at www. modot.org/northeast.
RELAY FOR LIFE EVENTS AND MEETINGS SET A Lewis County Relay for Life ATV ride is Saturday and Sunday at Smurfwood Trails off Route 16. In addition there is a raffle for St. Louis Cardinals baseball tickets, and the winning team or individual selling the most tickets gets a voucher for two tickets themselves. Team entries need to he entered by July 17 to Leanne Kaylor (LewisCountyRelay@centurytel.net) or 573-231-2730. Among the other event dates are Hero of Hope nomination, May 16; corporate sponsorships due June 20; campsite assignments, Aug. 15; Relay, Sept. 15.
Photo by Rita Cox
LaGrange Police and Fire Departments and Canton Fire Department were present at the LaGrange riverfront Sunday morning to honor veterans who were participating in the Fishing for Freedom tournament held over the weekend on the Mississippi River. The departments wanted to show their respect and honor all veterans by raising a large flag, show support for all military personnel and thanking them for their service.
LaBelle Rodeo to mark 62 straight years this weekend The annual event features many activities, including a Princess and Queen contest, parade, live music, clowns, and new this year, a mechanical bull BY DAN STEINBECK Editor dan@lewispnj.com
The longest continually running rodeo in Missouri will mark its 62nd year this weekend in LaBelle. “It’s the volunteers and the sponsored that keep it going. We appreciate that,” said LaBelle Rodeo Association President Dennis Scifres. The rodeo runs Friday and Saturday night this week. On Friday at 5:30 are Princess and Queen competition, the former for those under age 12 and the latter for those 12-17.
SQUIRREL DARKENS CANTON THURSDAY AFTERNOON MAY 31 An errant squirrel is blamed for a two-hour power outage in Canton Thursday, May 31. According to AmerenUE officials, the squirrel got a substation in Canton There were 1,077 Ameren customers in the Canton area left without power until just after 5 p.m. some customers didn’t get power restored until 6 p.m.
Contestants for both are judged in an interview and demonstrating specific riding skills in the arena for the age class. The full rodeo itself is at 8 p.m. each night, with these events included: bareback riding, saddle back riding, steer wrestling, cal roping, team roping, over 40 team roping, breakaway roping, barrel races, and bull riding. A parade is Saturday at 3, with line up of parade entries at the old highway department shed west of LaBelle, and runs east on Route 6. A dance follows each evening of the rodeo, with
the band “Hindsight” performing Friday night and the band “Haywire” performing Saturday night. Rodeo Clown “Pork Chop” will return to the LaBelle Rodeo to entertain, and TNT stock contractor of Shelbyville also makes a return visit. Scifres said there would also be a mechanical bucking bull for people who want to try bull riding under controlled circumstances. There will also be refreshments and some product booths. “I hope all people can come out and enjoy it,” Scifres said.
BY DAN STEINBECK Editor dan@lewispnj.com
Two recent plans by the U.S. Postal Service will affect service for the area. In the first decision, made early in May, the U.S.P.S. decided rather than to close many of the 3,700 rural post offices on the chopping block , many will stay open, but will operate under greatly reduced post office hours. The second decision announced in mid-May is a modified plan that still means the Quincy sorting facility will eventually close, with mail shipped to a new destination. “Meeting the needs of postal customers is, and will always be, a top priority. We continue to balance that by better aligning service options with customer demand and reducing the cost to serve,” said Postmaster General and CEO Patrick R. Donahoe in a May 9 news release. “With that said, we’ve listened
to our customers in rural America and we’ve heard them loud and clear – they want to keep their Post Office open.” The new strategy would be implemented over a two-year, multi-phased approach and would not be completed until September 2014. Once implementation is completed, the Postal Service estimates savings of a half billion dollars annually. Here are a list of post offices in Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Marion Counties directly affected by the change in cutting of daily hours: Lewis County: Ewing, LaGrange, Lewistown, and Monticello from eight to six hours each; LaBelle and Maywood, from eight to four hours; and Williamstown from four to two hours. Clark County: Alexandria, Revere, and Wayland from eight to four daily hours; Wyaconda, eight to six hours; St. Patrick, from four to two hours. Knox County: Hurdland, Knox City,
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Newark, Novelty, and Baring, each from eight to four hours. Marion: Philadelphia and Taylor, eight to four hours. LaGrange Postmaster Donna Wiewel said the change is not projected to go into effect until 2014 and declined further comment. Another postmaster also declined comment. On May 17, the U.S.P.S. announced the first 140 postal consolidations of mail processing centers through February 13. This means the Quincy sorting center will close, and rather than route mail through Columbia, Mo., as was proposed earlier this year, it will instead be routed through Springfield, Ill. More than a dozen newspapers, from the tristate area, spoke against this plan to route Quincy mail through Springfield, Ill. fearing it would delay mail. That plan was killed largely through congressional cutting of fund for a study on proposed postal sorting center closings.
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Zach Mathes of Maywood, Mo., during the Canon Dam Bull Jam held at the Mark Twain Lake Spillway. The event took place Friday and Saturday night. Zach will be competing at the LaBelle Rodeo.
POSTAL DECISIONS WILL AFFECT SERVICE IN THE TRI-STATE AREA
Richard Horner
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Photos by Sabrina Sparks
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