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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2014
2 SECTIONS, 12 PAGES
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Courthouse to get new sidewalk in front of west entrance
LAMAR-The cracked and uneven sidewalk in front of the west entrance to the Barton County Courthouse will soon be replaced. The county commission opened two bids on the project, June 9, and awarded the contract to Sprouls Construction Company of Lamar for $8,500. The other bidder, a Carthage firm, submitted a bid that was $20 less, but the commission elected to choose the local company. The area to be replaced extends about 12 feet north and south from the courthouse’s west entrance and from there about half way to Gulf Street. The historic marker identifying the location where Senator Harry Truman accepted the 1944 vice-presidential nomination will be moved slightly forward toward the street. Sprouls is expected to start the project in about a week, and the job is to be completed no later than August 1.
City receives new fire rating, likely to lower some insurance premiums LAMAR-The city has been notified that its insurance rating will improve from the current rating of six to 5X, effective September 1. This see RATING, page 4A
LPD to hold checkpoint The Lamar Police Department, in conjunction with the Southwest Missouri D.W.I. Taskforce, will be conducting a sobriety checkpoint between the dates of June 20 and June 22. The goal for the checkpoint is to make sure that all motorists arrive to their destinations alive by taking intoxicated or impaired drivers off of the roadway. Contact Cpl. Dennis Cornell at 417-682-3546 for information regarding the checkpoint.
INDEX
SECTION A Correspondents......................... 2 Friends & Family....................... 3 Friends & Family....................... 4 School.......................................... 5 Area News.................................. 6 SECTION B Area News.................................. 2 Records....................................... 3 Records....................................... 4 Records/Classifieds................... 5 Legals........................................... 6
By RICHARD COOPER It was Saturday, Nov. 15, 1997. An overflow crowd of more than 60 persons crowded into one of the meeting rooms of Thiebaud Auditorium to witness the bestowing of a well deserved honor on a quiet, unassuming citizen of Lamar. The National Weather Service had come to town to honor Russell Pierson with the John Campanius Holm Award for his 25 years of dedicated service as a cooperative weather observer. Only 24 other such awards were bestowed to cooperative weather observers, nationwide, that year. Robert Bonack, the operations control manager over the NWS’s 14-state central region, told the gathering he had never seen such a large crowd at a Holm presentation. He was amazed at the outpouring of letters from area officials and residents complimenting Pierson on his work. In fact, one letter came from the director of the National Weather Service. Always humble, Pierson thanked the NWS for its recognition and expressed his gratitude to his family for its support. Five years later, he
would be a finalist for the Thomas Jefferson Award, the highest award that can be conferred on a cooperative weather observer. For the Democrat, Russell was a valued colleague. For 32 years, he worked as a press man until the Democrat discontinued in-house printing and hired outof-town printers to do the work at a lower cost. Still, he wrote his weekly weather summary column. After turning in his column at the front desk, he would come back to Democrat file photos my office for a friendly chat. If I didn’t hear him Lamar’s weatherman of 37 1/2 years receiving the recognition enter, there would be a he had earned in a retirement ceremony, April 1, 2010, at the tap on the shoulder fol- Lamar United Methodist Church. Springfield Chief Meteorologist lowed by the unique Bill Davis presented the award. In the right photo, a beaming Pierson chuckle. Our Russell Pierson displayed the plaque to the large gathering of conversations included family, friends, and well wishers who attended the ceremony. weather as well as a wide Every bit of the start-up of my sell was the observer for 37 range of other topics. I finally came to realize that files was made up of photocop- 1/2 years, by far the longest of if Russell could write a week- ies of Russell’s material, which any of the 12 persons who have ly weather column, maybe I he generously made available performed that task. The second longest tenure was E. H. could write a monthly sum- to me. mary. However, I would need Lamar has had a continuously Adams, who was the observer a considerable amount of local operated cooperative weather from 1892 to 1916. weather data, all of which Rus- station since December, 1877, see WEATHER, page 3A sell had in his voluminous files. the oldest in Missouri. Rus-
Thanks in part to Bob Arnold's hard work, AOK to receive much needed bus
The Lamar Community Betterment met for their monthly meeting on Wednesday, June 11, at the Wolf Center in Lamar. The meeting was called to order by Elaine Davis, who passed around the beginnings of the project book to be turned in to Missouri Community Betterment. She commented that she would be sending off the information July 15, and material needed to be in by June 31. The minutes were read by Barbara McDaniels, who also gave the treasurer's report in the absence of Ginnie Keatts. McDaniel also went over the TATS report for the month of May, showing an average ridership of 106 per day, with most rides per day being 135. Sixteen out of 20 days carried 100 plus riders. Due to the absence of Ron Hager, who had a conflict with another meeting, there was no see ARNOLD, page 4A
Lamar Democrat/Melissa Little As apparent by the many vehicles parked outside the Plaza Theatre, the Wednesday Matinee has proven to be a huge success this year, with the theatre open to any and all patrons on Wednesdays, at their 1:15 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. showings. A full schedule of movies is on the agenda up until August 13. Also pictured is the line at the concession stands, which has proven to be hugely popular, as well.
Budget committee to recommend surplus budget By RICHARD COOPER Democrat staff writer
LAMAR-After two work sessions totaling about five hours, the city council’s Public Expenditures (budget) Committee will recommend a surplus budget to the full council when it meets June 23. Revenue will exceed expenses by $247,157. However, this is a recommended budget, and Committee Chairman Steve Gilkey said it could be subject to some revisions by the council before the final spending plan for 2014-15 is adopted. The fire department appeared to be the hardest hit
in reductions in its proposed budget. The amount for radios and pagers was reduced from $4,350 to $2,500. A new building and the land to put it on to give the department a presence east of the MNA Railroad was deleted ($260,000) as was $275,000 for a used ladder equipped fire truck. A digger truck for the electric department was eliminated saving $220,000. New stage curtains for Thiebaud Auditorium costing $10,000 were deleted, and the cost of a new refrigerator was lowered from $1,000 to $700. The request for a new freez-
er at the Aquatic Park was shaved from $500 to $300. The allocation of $2,400 for three television monitors for Memorial Hall was reduced to one monitor at $800. Safety surfacing around children’s rides in the city park was deleted, saving $64,000. The Transportation Tax Fund’s request for a new mower/tractor costing $34,000 was denied. Under capital improvements, the purchase of an unmarked car for over-the-road use by the police department at $18,800 was deleted. For improvement of water and sewer mains, $115,000
had been requested. That amount was reduced by $40,000 to an allocation of $75,000. There were some changes that went in the opposite direction. Maintenance and repair at the airport was raised from $5,000 to $10,000, and the sanitation department’s request for $10,000 for truck repairs was increased to $30,000. Earmarked for reserve was $150,000. The grand total of expenses for 2014-15 comes to $13,001,693. The grand total of all income comes to $13,248,850.