Look for our Progress Edition in next week's issue!
©2014 Serving Lamar, Golden City, Lockwood, Jasper, Sheldon, Mindenmines and Liberal for 144 years. Incorporating The Daily Democrat, Golden City Herald & Lockwood Luminary.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014
2 SECTIONS, 12 PAGES
Visit Our Website For Breaking News Updates, Obituaries & Events
www.lamardemocrat.com
Lamar R-1 School Board survey to appear in April 2 edition By MELODY METZGER Lamar Democrat
The Lamar Democrat will be featuring a Lamar R-1 School Board survey in the April 2 edition. A series of five questions have been mailed to the school board candidates to be completed and returned to us in order for the public to get a better feel on the people that are running for election. If available, a picture of the individual candidate will also appear. There are seven candidates running and it is the newspaper's hope that they will all return the questionnaire in order for them to be published.
Lamar Democrat address clarification By MELODY METZGER Lamar Democrat
There has been some confusion regarding where to send payment for bills and subscriptions when submitting them to the Lamar Democrat. All payments may be sent to us locally at P.O. Box 458, Lamar, MO 64759 or to the corporate office, Lamar Democrat, c/o Lewis County Press, P.O. Box 227, Canton, MO 63465. We have received payments where the address has been crossed and they have been sent to the Lamar Democrat, P.O. Box 227, Lamar, MO 64759. This is not correct. When sending them to us locally, please use the P.O. Box 458 address. Also, payments may be brought by the office at 100 E. 11th St., in Lamar. Please note that we are no longer at the 900 Gulf St. address. If you go there it will tell you it is temporarily closed for remodeling. We are not closed, we are very much in business. Feel free to stop by anytime, even if it's just to see our new offices! We value your patronage.
INDEX
SECTION A Correspondents ........................ 2 Friends & Family ...................... 3 Friends & Family ...................... 4 School/Sports ............................ 5 Sports ......................................... 6 SECTION B Area News ................................. 2 Records ...................................... 3 Records/Legals .......................... 4 Legals/Classifieds...................... 5 Area News ................................. 6
A wonderful program promoting literacy came to Lamar West Elementary School on Thursday, March 13, for a fun-tastic time of sharing music, books and poetry with Pat Higginbotham, Carol Darrow and Suzanne Cloyed. “Reading Is Fun” was enjoyed by third and fourth graders during a morning celebration and each student walked away with a personal new book of their choice. These amazing volunteers come to Lamar R-1 Elementary schools at least twice a year to promote literacy and give away books.
Lamar R-I board of education renews contracts, hears security report By RICHARD COOPER Democrat staff writer
LAMAR-March is contract renewal time for the board of education of the Lamar R-I School District. In executive session, March 13, contracts for the 2014-15 school year were approved for 39 probationary teachers and those who will be eligible to become tenured teachers the following year. The district has 61 tenured teachers for whom no vote was required. Approval was also given to extend contracts to 13 certified employees for the Barton, Dade, and Jasper counties Special Education Cooperative. The board also accepted the resignations of Jennifer Doty, special education teacher at East Primary School, and Natalie Mast, Spanish/English teacher. A contract extension was granted to OPAA for food service and OPS for custodial services, both for the 2014-15 school year. One additional half-time position was added to the OPS contract since the new building, now under construction, is expected to be finished and ready for occupancy by August. During a report on security by Executive Director Piper Stewart, it was learned that all of the R-I buildings have a total of 56 doors. However, each building has only one main entrance. All other doors are kept locked. An inspector will be hired to find ways to make each door more secure. Also, the school resource officer, Cpl. Oliver Cornell, will soon undergo specialized training in maintaining security. Stewart also disclosed that cameras are mounted in all of the district’s school buses. Two parents of children attending Lamar schools appeared before the board to object to the adoption of the curriculum known as Common Core State Standards. Denise Overstreet raised the issue of control over local school dis-
P.O. Box 458 | 100 East 11th Street Lamar, Missouri 64759-0458 Phone: 417-682-5529 | Fax: 417-682-5595 info@lamardemocrat.com www.lamardemocrat.com
tricts and said Common Core takes control to the national level and away from the local community. She said it flies in the face of small and limited government. She asked the board members if they felt they knew enough about Common Core, which she asserted was created “behind our backs.” Jamie Shaver, who appeared before the board at its January 16 meeting, said Common Core invades children’s privacy when it requires the sharing of information about them, a sharing which also crosses state lines. She took issue with Common Core testing, which she asserted was age inappropriate and stressful to the children who would take them. Directing a question to the board, she asked them if they felt Common Core is good for Lamar schools.
Shaver’s position on the agenda for the board meeting did not provide time for a dialogue on Common Core, but she said she desires one at some time in the future. Although it was not a dialogue, Superintendent Dr. Zach Harris did respond briefly. First, he said that he has met with Shaver several times and has great respect for the research she has done on the subject. He added that the standards that have been established in the Lamar R-I curriculum are still locally driven. Common Core State Standards were adopted by the Lamar board roughly two years ago, but implementation has not been completed. In an update on construction of new buildings, Dr. Harris told the board that it was likely the floor base of the new gymnasium would be poured dur-
ing the week of March 17-21. After viewing a video of the latest statewide trends and issues from the Missouri School Boards Association, Dr. Harris noted that a regional meeting of MSBA will be held in Neosho on April 22 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Dr. Harris also said he has received several telephone calls from persons wanting to purchase bricks from the district’s 1936 building, which has been razed to be replaced by a new structure. Upon his recommendation, the board unanimously approved selling the bricks at $5 apiece with a maximum limit of five bricks per person. The board will determine at a later date what use will be made of the funds raised. One of the bricks is on display on the front counter of the Lamar Democrat.
Training for disaster response highlights LEPC meeting By RICHARD COOPER Democrat staff writer
LAMAR-The alternate monthly meeting of the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) appropriately concentrated on training to cope with disasters. A Hazard Mitigation Plan for Barton County was given final approval from the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) in December, 2013. All except $5,000 of the cost of the plan was paid with federal dollars. Various types of documented volunteer work in creating the plan is allowed as in-kind credit toward paying off the $5,000. According to Joe Kelly of the Harry S. Truman Coordinating Council, Barton County Emergency
Management has now reduced its obligation to just $1,300, and that will likely be completely paid in the near future. With a Hazard Mitigation Plan in place, Barton County becomes eligible for financial assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). A multi-state exercise, known as Capstone, will be conducted June 16, 17, and 18 on coping with an earthquake disaster, a very appropriate exercise for Missouri since the New Madrid fault is an active zone in the bootheel. Barton County Emergency Management will participate on the 16th and 17th from 9 a.m. until noon in the training room of the Barton County Ambulance Department. Training for CPR certifica-
WE WANT YOU Subscribe today & discover why we’re the area’s newspaper of choice since 1870!
$30* for 1 Year Subscription (Barton County Resident) $50* for 1 Year Subscription (Out of County Resident)
tion will be offered by the Red Cross of Jasper County on May 28, 29, and 30 at the Red Cross Academy on the campus of Missouri Southern State University in Joplin. There will be no charge. A natural gas emergency class is being organized in Barton County. The time and location of the class will be announced later. Emergency Management Director Tom Ryan reported that the statewide test of emergency warning sirens, conducted on March 6, found two sirens inoperable. All others worked properly. The next meeting of the Local Emergency Planning Committee will be at noon, May 8, in the training room of the Barton County Ambulance Department.
STARTING AT
ONLY 30 $
*
*Prices good from February 26, 2014 through March 31, 2014 and available for NEW SUBSCRIBERS ONLY; prices are not available for subscription renewals.