Nursing home fire

VOL. 147 NO. 35 © 2012 The Star-Journal Publishing Co. WARRENSBURG, MO. MONDAY, FEB. 20, 2012 10 PAGES PRICE 50¢

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Your Daily Star-Journalholds the 2011-’12Gold Medal: Mo.’sNo. 1 small daily

Homelessshelter outof funding

JOHNSON COUNTY CARES

SUE STERLINGStar-Journal Staff Writer

Warrensburg – The Johnson County Cares homeless shelter is full and the orga-nization has depleted grant money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

An advisory board member, the Rev. Joel Kurz, said Friday the group used the $4,000 FEMA grant to house people in motels when they could not be helped at the shelter.

“There are always people who fall through the cracks,” Kurz said.

Violent people and sex offenders are among those who cannot stay at the shelter, he said.

“There are things we need to talk about,” he said.

He said two men released from jail in Johnson County went to a Sedalia men’s shelter. First, he said, they needed help obtaining photo identification required for the shelter.

Sedalia has four shelters that are full most of the time, Kurz said, and is working to establish three more. Some shelters are for men, some for women and some for families.

“We have one shelter,” Kurz said. “Maybe we need more.”

The shelter houses women on one floor and men on another.

“We’re using Pettis County’s resources. It’s time to try to create some things here so we can serve people in our county,” advi-sory board member Suzy Latare said.

Jan Powers said she felt they served “two totally separate groups – sex offenders and the homeless. It seems like the two don’t mix. You’re dealing with a group of severely disturbed people: It takes a dif-ferent type of intervention. We can’t just turn them over to people without exper-tise.”

Kurz said many are homeless due to drug, alcohol or mental health problems. Board members have different types of expertise to help resolve such problems, he said.

“As we pool that expertise, we are better able to serve the needs,” he said.

One woman who admitted to using drugs needed to go to rehab, he said. Advisory board member Erica Collins, who works for Pathways, placed her in a Clinton facility almost immediately.

Board member Scott Patrick said Willie Shields, whose nonprofit group will take over the shelter next month, “will be a great resource to fill the gaps, but it’s going to take some time.”

“He has plans for those types of things.”Kurz said Shields wants assurance that

he will receive help from the board and current volunteers.

“If you have expertise in an area, we want you to be the liaison and help make things happen,” he said.

Johnson County Cares set turnover shelter to another group

CYNTHIA NOLDStar-Journal Staff Writer

Leeton – The school board raised the cost of season passes, approved the 2012-’13 school calendar and supported writing a recycling grant.

SPORTS PASSESSuperintendent Susan Crooks said

Leeton charges less for passes than other area schools and fees do not support sports activities adequately. The board voted to raise family passes for the 2012-13 year from $50 to $75, student passes from $12.50 to $25 and individual season passes from $25 to $50.

SCHOOL CALENDARThe board voted to adopt the 2012-’13

calendar Crooks presented as the product of committee study. Aug. 22 is first day of class and May 21 is the last. Crooks said the later start for the year would not con-flict with the state fair and would reduce air conditioning costs.

Professional development for teachers will be full days Mondays instead of Friday half days to get more work done matching curriculum with Department of Elementary and Secondary Education standards.

RECYCLINGCrooks received board approval to write

a recycling grant. “Recycling for everyone, not just the

school,” she said Thursday Recycling is available at sheltered work-

shops in Clinton and Warrensburg, she said, and recycling is a local topic to discuss with the City Council and Lions Club.

The grant amount could be up to $30,000, with a 15 percent match.

Board raises costfor sports, OKscalendar, recyling

LEETON


Warrensburg – “Old-Time Fid-dling: Hal Sappington, Missouri Fiddler” is a book about a music maker co-written by Rose Marie Kinder and her daughter, Kristine Lowe-Martin.

The book includes video of Sap-pington accompanied by guitarist Herb Best.

“I was interested in preserving the old tunes,” Hal Sappington said. “People who like these old time tunes

would like it.” Kinder “started asking me a lot of

questions” in 2009, he said. “Herb Best, guitar player, and I

met over at her house and recorded about three times,” Sappington said.

The CD contains 56 songs, he said.

Sappington, Kinder and Best are retired University of Central Mis-souri teachers who taught in different fields. Music brought them together through the Johnson County Histor-

ical Society open jam on Sundays.Kinder usually plays bass with

the group. She taught writing at UCM, and her co-author daughter is a writer, photographer and graphic artist.

Johnson County Historical Society Press published the book, which is available at the society’s Smiser Heritage Library, 302 N. Main, and at Old Drum Gallery and Trading Co., 128 N. Holden.

“I’ll give a copy to each of my kids,” Sappington said.

Historical society publishes book about music manWARRENSBURG

CYNTHIA NOLD/Star-Journal

ABOUT HISTORY: Johnson County Museum Curator Lisa Irle, left, shows Amber Clifford a new book about old-time fiddling.

UCM ideaof interestto district

WARRENSBURG SCHOOLS

JACK ‘MILES’ VENTIMIGLIAStar-Journal Editor

Warrensburg – Superintendent Deb Orr said the University of Central Mis-souri’s Innovation Campus – 40 miles west, in Lee’s Summit School District – has attracted Warrensburg School Dis-trict’s interest.

“We are certainly going to check into it,” Orr said Friday. “We don’t know all the details yet about the program.”

Working with UCM in cooperation with business partners, including Cerner Corp., the Lee’s Summit district offers

WARRENSBURG DISTRICT, PAGE 9

JOHNSON COUNTY CARES CENTER

EVACUATION

Low 39 / High 52SOURCE: National Weather Service

Night: 70 percent chance of rainTuesday: Mostly sunny, mild

Mules close in on Bearcats


Warrensburg – A basement fire forced more than 60 residents and staff from Johnson County Care Center, a downtown nursing home, to evacuate about 12:45 p.m. Sunday.

The fire knocked out power, forcing residents to go to other area nursing homes for the night.

Maintenance supervisor Roy Davis, the first to fight the blaze, said he sus-pected the fire started in electric con-

duits in the mechanical room.

“They appeared to be smoldering. They’re plated in, but you could see smoke coming out,” Davis said.

Davis attacked the ini-tial fire on his own.

“When I opened the door, the room was engulfed in flames and I put that out with a fire extinguisher. At that point, I went into the boiler room to check the status,” Davis said while Johnson County Ambulance District and

NURSING HOME RESIDENTS, PAGE 9

Roy Davis

I returnedto find it

aflame again.

J.C.VENTIMIGLIA/Star-Journal

FOLLOWING A FIRE in the basement of the Johnson County Care Center, 122 E. Market St., in downtown Warrensburg, about 65 residents and staff members evacuate in the cold weather across the street to the Daily Star-Journal office where they remain for a couple of hours until taken to other locations.

Nursing home fire sendsresidents on ‘field trip’

THE DAILY STAR-JOURNAL, WARRENSBURG, MO., MONDAY, FEB. 20, 2012 PAGE 9

Continued from Page 1high school juniors college credit, on-the-job training with businesses, a bach-elor’s degree after their sophomore year in college, reduced and possibly no college debt, and jobs after graduation.

Summit Academy in the Lee’s Summit School District serves 12 metro area districts, including Odessa, but has no agree-ment with Warrensburg School District. Prior to Gov. Jay Nixon’s visit in support of the Innova-tion Campus on Thursday, Lee’s Summut School Dis-trict’s executive director of technology, Dr. Don Andrews, said the dis-trict is open to expanding academy enrollment to other districts.

Orr and Assistant Superintendent Scott Pat-rick – chosen to assume the superintendent role at the end of the school year – began discussing the idea Friday of whether the UCM program would work for Warrensburg. She said she also has talked about the possi-bility with UCM President

Chuck Ambrose.“How the scheduling

works, how the credits work, all of those details – there’s just several pieces that we need,” Orr said. “The program sounds very beneficial to students, so there’s no question about that. It’s how can we make it work for our students here to get them what they need.”

In cooperation with Ambrose, Nixon on Friday provided a $500,000 state grant to help underwrite campus apprenticeships and job-training pro-grams.

Starting in the fall, the Innovation Campus program will enroll up to 30 high school juniors at Summit Technology Academy. UCM officials expect to expand the pro-gram to 50 or 60 more students in year two and up to 100 students in year three.

“The Innovation Campus will create a direct pathway for Missouri students from the classroom to training for career opportunities in high-demand fields,” Nixon said.

Warrensburg district reviewsInnovation Campus potential

J.C. VENTIMIGLIA/Star-Journal

AT LEE’S SUMMIT, from left, are UCM President Chuck Ambrose, first lady Georganne Nixon and Gov. Jay Nixon.


INSIDE THE STAR-JOURNAL, Johnson County Care Center nursing facility residents wait for transportation to other nursing homes follow-ing a fire in their home. Standing at center, nursing center dietary department employee Daizy Winters tries to keep spirits up.

Continued from Page 1nursing home staff got res-idents off the cold parking lot and moved across the street into The Daily Star-Journal building.

Davis said he turned off the main power in the boiler room and then rechecked the mechanical room.

“I returned to find it aflame again,” he said.

In addition to fire, thick gray smoke filled the maintenance room, but Davis said he crawled with the fire extinguisher back into the room to stay below the choking smoke.

“I put it out a second time and ducked out the door to get some air,” he said. “I went out on my knees.”

The effort the second time left Davis choking, but then he noticed the fire had returned.

“I went back to the room that was on fire and tried to put it out a third time with no success,” he said.

Smoke stretched from the ceiling down to less than 2 feet from the floor, Davis said, making breathing impossible. “I was breathing smoke and it was all over.”

Warrensburg Fire Department and Johnson County Ambulance Dis-trict personnel responded.

While smoke poured from upper windows in the three-story facility, firefighters worked inside to stop the fire and to blow out the smoke at 122 E. Market St.

At the scene, Fire Chief Phil Johnston said the department responded to an automated call.

Johnston notified the State Fire Marshal’s Office of the fire. Notifica-tion is required any time a fire involving a medical facility occurs. Office per-sonnel arrived about 6:10 p.m. to begin work.

The official cause of the fire’s origin could take hours or weeks to determine, Johnston said, depending on the work needed.

Mayor Baird Brock, also at the scene, said he is glad everyone got out safely. He congratulated emergency personnel for their efforts.

Ambulance district per-sonnel and Johnson County

Care Center Adminis-trator Rhonda Meyrand and her staff checked and rechecked names. They made sure everyone got out of the building safely and that everyone knew where every patient would be transported for care until the facility returns to normal operations.

“Everybody’s chipped in to help us. They’ve been great,” Meyrand said. “They’ve been great.”

Meyrand said the fire did not get far.

“It was a small fire con-tained in the mechanical room,” she said after making sure residents had places to put them up. “Residents are all housed on the second and third floors and it was in the basement.”

Ambulances lined up five deep behind The Star-Journal building, with buses from Oats and Whiteman Air Force Base providing help to transfer nursing home residents to Ridge Crest and War-rensburg Manor nursing facilities.

Johnson County Emer-gency Services Director Gloria Michalski said the transportation effort worked well.

“They’re doing an awe-some job,” she said.

To reassure some nursing home residents, one employee referred to the newspaper visit as a field trip. Staff helped resi-dents to and from bath-rooms and with personal care as needed.

Warrensburg City Man-ager Paula Hertwig Hop-kins also responded to the scene and congratulated emergency personnel who continued placing resi-dents onto gurneys and into ambulances. Red Cross worker Doug McIndoo, in cooperation with Emer-gency Services, passed out hamburgers donated by McDonald’s to emergency workers and nursing home residents.

“What a great commu-nity,” Hopkins said.

Meyrand praised her staff.

“I could not ask for a better staff, the way they’ve acted today. They’ve responded 100 percent,” she said. “They’ve been absolutely great.”

Nursing home residents find shelter at newspaper office

Anyone who has ever ventured into a disaster zone knows the feeling of hopelessness that can envelop a person.

The first disaster I encountered personally in-volved a flood that inundated homes on the Meramec River in Jefferson County. I went to sleep that night in our clubhouse, built on the highest land next to the river, and then raised another 10 feet on concrete blocks. I felt no concern about the flood predic-tion. The next morning a boat arrived on the top step to our front door to res-cue us. The water below ranged from about 10 feet at our porch to a depth of about 16 feet on the roughly 200-yard row across the back water to the road. I could barely see the roof of the neighboring house to the south, built on much lower land. As we rowed, I thought about people who did not live in clubhouses, as we did, but who had no other place to go. Being only about 10 at the time, I could only feel sorry.

On Dec. 2, 1982, I worked in New Baden, Ill., a tiny rural town that stood in the path of a tornado that killed a person and did severe damage. I recall the rain still fell when I arrived and how odd the wrecked businesses and residences seemed in “my town.” I considered many in that town to be friends and shared their loss.

I have covered far worse floods, far worse torna-does and big fires in the years that followed. I took a rowboat down Highway 3 in Illinois after East St. Louis flooded in 1984, and in 1993, I saw our news-paper office in downtown Parkville, Mo., flooded to the ceiling and then drove along the Missouri River to St. Louis, where Vice President Al Gore spoke to encourage Lemay area residents, and I continued visiting flood-ravaged communities, including St. Genevieve, along the Mississippi until I reached Memphis. I saw houses turned to kindling by the killer tornados in Hutchinson and

Greensburg, Kan., and worried with my family when a tornado did severe damage in Liberty, Mo., including at William Jewell College, in 2003. I have covered numerous fires and fatal accidents.

In most cases, I could do little beyond the immediate job of record-ing the mayhem for posterity, under-standing that the horror of the mo-ment will pass and that people will someday want to show their children and grandchildren what happened.

Sometimes there are chances to help, and when that can be done safely, most reporters that I know – because they are people, same as any-one else – will step up. If a displaced person needs a ride, if emergency personnel need water, if a person burned out of an apartment needs money, news people will help or not just as readily as everyone else. I know one reporter who – seeing a female deputy wrestling a man intent on getting her gun, and no one else

in the hall – ignored the fear that the man already had the gun, grabbed him, and talked sense to him until the deputy gained control of the situation.

On Sunday, when the Johnson County Cares Center dealt with a little fire, The Daily Star-Jour-nal staff stepped up. Noticing people in wheel-chairs on the parking lot – 40-degree weather is cool, but even worse when people are elderly – the newspaper took in 69 residents.

I am pleased with how our staff responded. Teresa Shane immediately set to work to create room by helping to move desks. Cynthia Nold ran out to buy cups so people could drink. Bob Carder, Bob Davis and Stella Harris gave up their chairs so that those with greater needs could be comfortable.

People in the media often are stereotyped in movies as callous and uncaring. Some are. Some are not. We’re just like everyone else.

Fire Chief Johnston gives thanksto many for nursing home fire help

Newspaper people like everyone else

The Warrensburg Daily Star-Journal welcomes let-ters to the editor from our readers.

The writer’s name, address and telephone number must be given in the letter, though only the name and city of origination will be published.

Letters will be edited for taste, length, punctuation, clarity and in accordance with newspaper style. The writer's intent will not be changed.

Endorsements and criticisms will be scrutinized for fairness to all involved.

All letters become Star-Journal property and will not be returned.

E-mail letters are preferred and should be sent to [email protected]. Written letters may be addressed to: Daily Star-Journal, Jack Miles, Editor, 135 E. Market St., P.O. Box 68, Warrensburg, Mo, 64093.

LETTERS POLICY

BIBLE VERSESBACKWARD GLANCESCompiled by Stella Harris Psalm 94: 11-12

[email protected](c) 2011 Star-Journal Publishing Co.

Jack Miles

Feb. 22, 1967Kim Anderson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Billy

Anderson, has been named local winner in a Time magazine annual Current Affairs contest.

Alberta Goodwin, county health nurse, presented a program, “Dental Health,” at the Cardinals 4-H Club meeting Saturday at the VFW Hall. Debbie Jennings, president, con-ducted the business meeting.

-speare Club meeting held Tuesday at the home of Mrs. William Raker. Mrs. Kenneth Tipton reviewed “Give Me Liberty,” a novel about Pat-rick Henry by Noel G. Gerson.

Feb. 22, 1977Jean Yankee, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. For-

rest Yankee, has been named Teenager of the Month by the Warrensburg Optimist Club.

Charlene Carter, daughter of Mrs. Nancy A. Sipes, Latour, has been assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division in Wurzburg, Germany.

Evelyn Vaughn hosted Prairie Exten-sion Club Wednesday at a carry-in luncheon. Mrs. L. H. Beebe presented “Fabrics and Find-ings Update.” Mrs. Frank Toepfer presented on choosing, growing and using spices and herbs.

Feb. 22, 1987 Lester Morrison completed 30 years of ser-

vice with John Deere Equipment, 20 years at the local organization, on Feb. 15.

Brenda Wil-son has been chosen to serve on the 1987 State Acteens Council.

Super Special $9.95 most cars and light trucks

The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.

Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law;

PAGE 4 THE DAILY STAR-JOURNAL, WARRENSBURG, MO., WEDNESDAY, FEB. 22, 2012

YOUR LETTERS

Warrensburg’s caring community spirit shined once again, this time to deal with the fire at Johnson County Cares Center, 122 E. Market St.

The community’s spirit has been seen time and again in donations and volunteerism, with people coming forward to provide a homeless shelter so no one in the community would freeze this win-ter, people providing shelter to battered women and their children, church groups making sure the hungry eat not only during the holidays but all year round, and help for those fighting and dis-placed by fires.

The Johnson County Cares Center fire Sunday again turned a spotlight on those who are on the front lines of preserving life, with the lion’s share of the work being done by Warrensburg and Johnson County firefighters, law enforcers and the Johnson County Ambulance District. They got into and made safe the building while nurs-ing home staff got out all 69 residents – taking the time to list and count and recount everyone to as-sure the safety of all.

Others also made their concerns known, with Mayor Baird Brock and City Manager Paul Hertwig Hopkins appearing at the scene to en-courage and thank everyone.

Caring people looking out for one another – that defines the spirit of Warrensburg.

Community shinesfor those in need

OPINIONS

The Star-Journal Publishing Co.135 E. MARKET ST., WARRENSBURG, MO. 64093

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William E. JamesPUBLISHER

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DEPARTMENT HEADSEditor ................. Jack “Miles” Ventimiglia

Ad Manager ......................... D.J. Lowery

Circulation Manager ............ Kevin Quinn

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MissouriPress Assoc.

The Associated Press

In our 147th Year of Service to the Public

On Sunday, I received a telephone call from City Manager Paula Hertwig Hopkins. She was very complimentary about the response and follow-up

to yesterday’s fire at Johnson County Care Center. As she passed on her compliments, I was reminded how much we all appreciate hearing that a job has been done well. I usu-ally know what it takes to produce a favorable outcome, and I saw a lot of that demonstrated yesterday.

For those of you who responded to the initial response, you did an outstanding job. Your experience and deci-sion-making skills were quite evident.

To those of you who responded on the “all call” ... we couldn’t have completed the

tasks without you. You understand the importance of coming back to aid members of our team when the tasks exceed our capabilities with the crews sizes that we have on initial attack. We all appreciate your coming back to help us. “You” became “us” quickly and in important ways.

To the fire crews who later performed the special and important tasks of removing medical records, business files, and patient belongings from the building as well as transporting the facility’s food to suitable off-site locations in your personal vehicles, your efforts weren’t overlooked by me or by others. Special people do special things, and I am very proud of you for who you are and for what you do.

For the members of the Warrensburg Police Department and the UCM Department of Public Ser-vice who responded, I say it again, “thanks for traffic control, scene security and investigation assistance.” You would have to be a firefighter to fully understand the sense of security we feel when we see you at the end of the block protecting our apparatus and espe-cially our fire hoses.” Maintaining scene control and preserving the integrity of our water supply through that large yellow fire hose are among the highest pri-ority assignments at an incident. You might not feel your job is important, but loss of water or equipment can quickly escalate into a loss of life. We appreciate your attention to these important tasks.

To the members of the Johnson County Fire Pro-tection District, you would have to be in my shoes to know how I feel about your apparatus and personnel pulling up to our incident locations. The best compli-ment I can pay you all is that I would want to be one of you if I couldn’t be one of us. I’m sure the citizens in

MANY AID RESIDENTS, NEXT PAGE

Phil JohnstonWARRENSBURG FIRE CHIEF

DEAR AMY: I am a 50-year-old, single man politely described as “un-usual.”

I have very few friends and am very comfortable with that.

I am not a social animal and like structure in my life.

If it were not for my sisters, I would wear the same combination of tan pants, white shirt, red tie and blue blazer every day.

I have worked with a young lady for 15 years; she is in my circle of friends, and I have ac-companied her to various activities for years.

She has intimated to me, my sisters and some colleagues that she would like for us to become ro-mantically involved with the hopes of marriage as the outcome.

I have tried to dissuade her and her “allies” by pointing out my age (I am 13 years her senior), my personality and our disparity of appearance – she is quite stunning, and I am very plain.

I had always assumed that I would just live as a bachelor.

I don’t think a marriage to me would be emotional-ly fulfi lling for her based on the factors I have presented, but she feels I would offer unquestioned stability. – Unsure

DEAR UNSURE: You have a right to live the life you want to live, in the

way you want to live it.You need only search

your own soul to make choices that are authen-tic, and not based in fear and anxiety.

Aside from that, you should reassess a relation-ship in which you feel pressured to offer some-thing to someone that you have no desire to give.

You should also con-sider what “unquestioned stability” means. This dis-tinctly unromantic term makes it seem as though she is making a bid for your 401(k).

DEAR AMY: I’m dating a wonderful man who also happens to be a wonderful father of four great kids.

The children are all younger than 10. We get along very well.

The issue is that he gets the children every single weekend. So I can choose to entertain four kids and eat at Chuck E. Cheese every weekend, or be a “Weekend Widow” and hang out by myself.

My boyfriend refuses to

look into hiring a sitter or even asking his ex for a weekend off.

Am I being unreason-able in thinking this issue could be grounds for part-ing ways?

– Weekend Widow

DEAR WIDOW: I un-derstand not wanting to spend every weekend din-ing at Chuck E. Cheese; one way you might infl uence your guy is to suggest that you all fi gure out how to cook together and enjoy evenings that are both fun and more nutritious at home.

Your guy will need to realize the importance of balance in terms of his pri-vate life with you and his role as an involved father, but when it comes to this particular family, you two should enjoy your Monday through Friday romance and use your weekday time together to prepare your-selves for the weekends.

If you can’t accept this, then I agree that this might not be the right relationship for you.

Confirmed bachelor thrown off balanceway you want to live it.

your own soul to make choices that are authen-

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(c) Tribune Media [email protected]

With grateful hearts, we say thank you.Everyone at Johnson County Care Center would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who so freely gave of their time, energy, kind and comforting words and services to our residents Sunday during the evacuation due to a fire in the basement of our

facility. This was a very dramatic experience for nursing home residents, which will never be forgotten not only by the residents but by the staff at Johnson County Care Center. We certainly have God to thank for the safety of our residents. We also thank God for

sending all of you who assisted us in every single step of the way to safety. I as administrator of the facility would like to thank the staff for their fast response to the situation and for their compassion for our residents. It will never be forgotten. We would also like

to thank each and every one of you who were involved in assistance. I personally feel it takes a very special person to so quickly respond to assist others in need. Our residents quickly had blankets, food, and a safe place to go where it was warm. Thank you

Daily Star-Journal for opening your business for 69 very special people to be in out of the cold. Others provided comforting words assuring them that all would be ok, which did not end and is still ongoing as they are all placed in other homes on a temporary basis.

The response from Ridge Crest Nursing Home, Warrensburg Manor Nursing Home, and Country Club Care Center here in Warrensburg as well as Myer Care Center in Higginsville, and our 3 sister homes in Kansas City, Clara Manor, Myers, and

The Summit a special Thank You for your quick response in helping us get our residents to safety. The community assisted in ways that completely takes my breath away. The gratitude we feel is overwhelming. Within a very short time there were so many others

who showed up to help in any way needed. Thank you so much to the Warrensburg Ambulance District, Oats and Warrensburg Veterans Home for the buses, as well as Whiteman Air Force Base for their offer as well. A special thank you to the Warrensburg

Fire Department and Warrensburg Police Department for everything they did to save lives and be compassionate and caring to our residents. Thank you Petra, Thank you Alewel’s Country Meats, Thank you American Red Cross. I know there are so many others who were there Sunday to help. I am sorry I do not know everyone who was there to personally thank each and every one of you. I know that I am very proud of the staff at Johnson County Care Center for being the compassionate and caring individuals that it took to make this horrifying experience for our residents as easy as possible. The staff continues to work with our residents in the

other facilities to provide as much comfort and care as possible and providing a familiar face until they can come home again. Although they are being well cared for in the other facilities that we will always be grateful for, THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for caring for our residents enough to do everything you did.

Rhonda Meyrand, Administrator, and all the staff at Johnson County Care Center

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LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS LOCAL NEWSAMANDA LUBINSKIStar-Journal Staff Writer

Centerview – Crest Ridge School District students, teachers and staff will suffer cuts.

The Board of Education approved reducing spending by nearly $169,000 in the 2012-’13 school year.

“In November or December we got everyone together and created an advisory council that was made up of parents, teachers, staff and board members and created a road map of where we are at financially,” Super-intendent Julie Dill said. “Based on the current economic situation, we went over everything and the council came up with a list of cuts that could be made.”

The list of cuts: $24,000 used to send high school students to Warrens-burg Area Career Center for credit recovery; $33,028 from dental and vision insurance for staff; $88,487 to pay two full-time certified staff members; and $23,375 in payroll and benefits based on reducing student contact days from 174 to 169.

In January, Dill said the board must make up for federal and state funding cuts. She said the state

cut the district’s formula funds by nearly $205,000 in the 2011-’12 school year and the federal government cut nearly $27,500 from Title One alloca-tions.

Dill said the projected budget for 2012-’13 is more bleak because of an estimated $61,000 to $300,000 in state cuts and nearly $36,000 in federal cuts.

In addition to cuts made to the 2011-’12 budget, the board eliminated 2012-’13 Career Ladder funds.

“That’s $42,000 right there,” Dill said.

Twenty-eight teachers receive Career Ladder supplemental pay.

All board members approved the cuts.

Dill said she is confident cuts will not affect education.

The district plans to offer a credit recovery program, replacing one offered in Warrensburg.

“I have run programs of credit recovery inside my districts before and am willing and able to do it again so students will still get the credits they need but it will be here instead of Warrensburg,” she said. “... Also, we have the smaller number of con-

tact days already integrated into next year’s schedule and I am sure we can still prepare students in the way we all expect.”

Board Vice President Scott Sieg-fried said he supports Dill’s recom-mendations.

“We hired Julie to do the job and if she thinks this is the best schedule, I think we should do that,” he said.

BOARD APPROVES CALENDARThe board approved the 2012-’13

calendar.Before the vote, board members

expressed concerns about less time spent in the classroom. Some board members said breaks should be more widespread.

“By looking at the proposed cal-endar you have students having time off right after getting back from a two-week Christmas break,” board member Janet Everhart said.

“And if you look at March, we have spring break split up so they are getting two spring breaks,” board President Rick Schmidli said. “So there isn’t one full, five-day week in the whole month of March. That’s

right before end-of-course exams and Missouri Assessment Program tests. How can kids learn with a schedule like that?”

Dill said courses include exams and state assessment curriculum throughout the year.

“They will be more prepared because we will focus on the material throughout the year instead of just trying to cram it all in there right before the test,” she said.

Board member Becky Brookshier said she is concerned about starting school Aug. 16.

“That’s a week earlier than most districts and I worry too about the state fair because I know a lot of kids show there, and are real involved in that, and may not have time to do so,” she said.

Dill said the earlier start would coincide will Warrensburg’s Voca-tional Technical program.

“That way the students we have, that go there, won’t be adversely affected,” she said.

The board approved the calendar 5-to-1 with Schmidli voting no and board member Tony Matthews being absent.

Crest Ridge budget means cuts for students, teachers, staff


Warrensburg – John-son County Community Health Services made up ground in January to-ward meeting projected revenues, fi nancial of-fi cer Peggy Shaul said Thursday.

In her January fi nan-cial report, Shaul told the Board of Trustees the agency had a positive bal-ance of $135,000 in rev-enue over expenses for the month, adding this is the fi rst time that has oc-curred during the seven months of the fi scal year.

“The numbers keep coming back a little stronger each month,” Shaul said.

But she said net rev-enue is down 67 percent from last year, includ-ing about a 23 percent decrease in net patient revenue.

Total revenue is about $178,000 below budget, she said, but expenses also are down about $102,000, including $27,200 in Jan-uary.

Non-operating revenue rose $11,800, due mainly to a $19,000 increase in property tax receipts that offset lower interest income, Shaul said.

She indicated the fi nan-cial picture may brighten next month.

“February has been a pretty busy month,” she said.

Health board betterSUE STERLINGStar-Journal Staff Writer

Warrensburg – Commu-nity Health Services may move into the new build-ing, 723 PCA Road, next month, AdministratorDebbie Haller said.

Haller told the board Thursday she anticipates construction will end in a couple of weeks.

The board authorized $5,596 in change orders to

add railings at the main entrance and along a side-walk, stair tread for the east stairs, reversing the swing of two entry doors and relo-cating a light switch.

“Most are for safety is-sues,” Haller said.

The board OK’d change orders totaling $27,000 for the project, including $11,000 for new windows in the existing building.

Staff presented the con-

tractor and architect with a punch list, she said.

“We’re in the penalty phase” on the project, Haller said.

The Jan. 17 completion date had been set. She said the $250 per day penalty will defray some change order costs.

The board authorized Haller to accept a bid from one of three moving compa-nies that staff determined

meets the agency’s needs.Haller said the choice

will depend on the compa-ny’s availability, services offered and anticipated length of the move.

“We want as little dis-ruption of business as possible,” she said, adding staff “will map out final details next week.”

An open house is set ten-tatively for 1:30 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 18.

Community Health Services could move in March

Centerview – The Crest Ridge School Board approved leasing 23 acres to Gary Krewson for farming.

“It’s something we do every year. It’s the patch of land on the south part

of the district property,” Superintendent Julie Dill said Monday.

Krewson will pay the district $85 an acre.

The lease will be put out to bid again next year.

Board approves leasing district farm property

xxxxx

VOL. 147 NO. 36 © 2012 The Star-Journal Publishing Co. WARRENSBURG, MO. TUESDAY, FEB. 21, 2012 10 PAGES PRICE 50¢

Rejected childrenoperate out of hurt

caused by father

COMICS: 7RECORDS: 5

WARRENSBURG FIRE DEPT.

Obituaries ........................... 5 Barbara Simmons

Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9TV Listings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8



Night: Partly cloudy, coolWednesday: Mostly sunny, mild

Call goes outto curb areahomelessness

JOHNSON COUNTY


Warrensburg – With the homeless shelter due to change hands next month, Johnson County Cares will focus on obtaining and maintaining a volunteer base.

Johnson County Cares opened the winter shelter at 136 W. Culton St. on Dec. 19.

A not-for-profit group, Destiny Commu-nity Partners, led by Willie Shields, will take over operations in early March.

“Problems arise every day. We could always use more (volunteers),” Johnson County Cares advisory board member Joel Kurz said. “Willie wants to ensure we will continue to support him. If you have expertise in an area, we want you to be the liaison and help make things happen.”

Another board member, the Rev. Ter-rance Moody, said the volunteer base “will take some beefing up.”

Moody said most volunteers work full time.

“How do we ramp up and get more volun-teers? I just see mostly the same people,” he said. “Johnson County Cares is about getting other people involved. What we really need is people who are going to go influence other people ... to give blocks of time. It’s about us hooking up with other people (long term).”

Kurz said, “We do things piecemeal now, but we’ve done a pretty good job of addressing situations.”

Jan Powers said board members deal with the situation, “but at some point you won’t be able to intervene.”

“We’re overloading the board. You’re trying to do everything,” Powers said.

Kurz said he has received calls from potential volunteers, but better organiza-tion is needed.

Powers agreed to serve as volunteer scheduler and coordinator.

Tauni Forte, who is forming another nonprofit group to assist the homeless, said University of Central Missouri orga-nizations may supply volunteers.

Survival Adult Abuse Inc. Director Brad Schulte said many UCM programs require student internships.

“You should never run out of students,” he said.

“You have to evaluate their commit-ment,” Moody said, and schedules must be planned around university breaks.

Board member Suzy Latare said Johnson County Cares Board Chairwoman Erica Collins has talked with UCM social work students and with Whiteman Air Force Base groups.

“We need a clear description of jobs,” Latare said.

Debbie Evetts said people have called to seek volunteer training.

Moody said volunteers “want to know specifically what you want them to do. ... When you understand where work is needed, you can guide people to where it’s needed.”

Theresa Presley suggested the Web site list jobs for volunteers.

Latare said background checks will be needed for volunteers who will stay at the shelter.

Judy Vickrey

The mostobvious

problem we faceis being tone deafto the community.


CEMENT SURFER: On an unseasonably warm February Saturday, Jacob Richards, 19, a stu-dent at the University of Central Missouri, practices his skateboarding skills at the Warrensburg Skate Park next to Nassif Aquatic Center. Before receiving public input, the Skate Board Park ranked as a low priority for Parks Board members.

PARKS AND RECREATION


Warrensburg – A Master Plan Com-mittee will help the Parks Board determine future park improvements.

Board President Judy Vickrey formed the com-mittee during a discus-sion of the board’s goals and five-year capital improvements program.

“The most obvious problem we face is ... being tone-deaf to the community,” she said.

“We need to try to find out what the community really wants,” board member Mike Thompson, who will serve on the Master Plan Com-mittee, said.

Capital projects have moved up the ranks when citizens voiced wishes.

A public push for restoring Lions Lake, which had silted in and become

choked with vegetation, made that project a priority for the board in 2010-’11.

The skate park “ranked way down” on the board’s priority list “until we talked with people,” board member Dwayne Jackson said. A community-led effort to raise funds resulted in the skate park becoming a priority, he said.

High public demand led to earlier construc-tion of the aquatics center, he said.

Last year’s goals included obtaining a grant to begin the trail at Lions Lake and improve-ments to the indoor pool, including resurfacing pool floors and a new fea-ture to replace the leisure pool swan.

The trail project received a $100,000 Recreational Trails grant and is in the

BOARD TO ESTABLISH, 3

Parks board seeks inputfrom public on priorities

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Warrensburg – Investigators from the Missouri Division of Fire Safety – with the aid from investigators from Warrens-burg Police and Fire departments, deter-mined Monday “spontaneous combus-tion” resulted in the fire that caused the evacuation of 69 nursing home residents Sunday.

Johnson County Care Center, 122 E. Market St., remained closed Monday.

The fire started as a result of cleaning spilled vegetable oil Saturday, followed by placing the mop heads in a dryer, War-rensburg Fire Chief Phil Johnston said.

“It was caused by a spontaneous igni-tion of mop heads with organic oil,” John-ston said. “Ordinarily, linseed oil and cloth or fibers can spontaneously com-bust, but there was so much heat from the dryer that it accelerated the combustion process. Instead of going over a period of days, it happened in a very short period.”

The dryer caused the mop heads to become so hot that they started smoking and had be removed, he said.

An employee carried the hot mop heads on a piece of cardboard to a small storage room, Johnson said.

“They were too hot to hold,” he said.After being piled in the storage room

overnight, a chemical reaction caused the mops to ignite Sunday, Johnston said.

Early speculation suggested the fire had started within an electrical panel in the storage room.

Further investigation at the facility continued, Johnston said.

Ambulances and buses took Johnson County Care residents to Ridge Crest and Warrensburg Manor nursing facilities, and to three facilities in Kansas City, Johnson County Care Center Adminis-trator Rhonda Meyrand said.

The Fire Department does not release estimated dollar values for building damage, Johnston said.

Oily mopsspur blazedowntown

SUE STERLING/Star-Journal

AT THE FFA breakfast at the United Methodist Church on Mon-day, Dr. Larry Purcell and Luci Smith fill buffet plates. Find more information on the Agriculture Page on Thursday.

FFA IN JOHNSON COUNTY


Holden – A building at 202 E. Pacific St. will be demolished at city expense.

Following a public hearing at City Hall, Building Commissioner Gary Brown found Thomas E. Wine’s house constituted a danger to public safety and should be torn down.

At the hearing, city code enforce-ment officer Eric Gustin testified he inspected the property March 10 after receiving a complaint about

“trash, junk and debris on the prop-erty.” He said he “found violations” consisting of the lot covered with junk, “falling down sheds” and the house sagging, leaning, missing parts, open doors and windows, and a hole in the roof. The house lacks utility service, he said.

He determined the house “was not fit for human habitation,” though Wine still lived there.

Gustin said he issued a notice to abate Jan. 20 and that the city intended to hold a hearing to declare

the building dangerous. He said he believes the building is dangerous.

“It’s not sound and cannot be ren-dered sound,” he said.

He asked Brown to declare the house a dangerous building and to order demolition.

Wine, now living elsewhere, did not testify at the hearing, but did not object to the demolition order. He received 30 days to remove property from the site.

The council accepted Shore Con-struction’s $7,800 demolition bid

City decides to demolish residence on Pacific St.HOLDEN CITY COUNCIL


Warrensburg – Survival Adult Abuse Center plans the Third Annual Girls Night Out fundraiser with a Mardi Gras theme from 6 to 8: 30 p.m. Feb. 28 at Elliott Union, University of Central Missouri.

The event needed a large venue, Joni Pointer said. She chairs Survival’s fund-raising committee and co-chairs the event.

“Kris Ambrose and Teresa PearceSURVIVAL FUNDRAISER, 3

Survival’s fundraiseron university campus

WARRENSBURG

AMANDA LUBINSKIStar-Journal Staff Writer

Kingsville – A man remains in Johnson County Jail while facing felony probation violation charges after a woman caught him trying to steal, allegedly, a pickup truck from her property.

On March 2, sheriff’s deputies responded to a burglary in prog-ress call at 1789 N.W. 450th Road in rural Kings-ville.

Sheriff Chuck Heiss said Ear-lene Modlin encountered a man dressed sus-piciously.

“She was out-side taking her trash out and came around a corner and he was there in her outbuilding. He had camouflaged clothing on and was wearing a black ski mask and had a pair of bolt cutters in his hand,” Heiss said. “It was in the middle of the day in broad daylight.”

Heiss said the man, Jeremy D. Ogle, 34, Kingsville, also possessed a bag of burglary tools.

Before deputies arrived Ogle fled.“The property owner scared him off. We

caught him not too far away in a creek that was at the property line,” Heiss said. “He was still wearing the ski mask.”

Deputies transported Ogle to the Johnson County Jail on a 24-hour felony hold.

A felony warrant issued by the Pros-ecuting Attorney’s Office March 3 charged Ogle with attempted theft of a vehicle, bur-glary and possession of burglary tools. Bond is $15,000.

During the investigation, deputies learned Ogle is on probation for forgery, possession of a controlled substance and driving while intoxicated. A second warrant charges him with felony probation violation and carries no bond.

Warrensburg – Kansas City Power & Light Co. filed a request with the Mis-souri Public Service Commission for rate increases ranging from 10.9 to 15.1 per-cent in three service areas, including in Johnson County.

KCP&L seeks $58.3 million in the MPS area, previously served by Aquila’s Mis-souri Public Service division, for a 10.9 percent increase, or about 27 cents per day for the typical residential customer.

In the L&P area formerly served by Aquila’s St. Joseph Light & Power divi-sion, the increase of $25.2 million rep-resents an increase of 14.6 percent, or 36 cents per day.

In the Kansas City area, the increase of $105.7 million, or 15.1 percent, will mean

an increase of 48 cents per day for the typical customer.

The PSC has set March 19 as the deadline for applica-tions to intervene in the rate case.

Individuals who wish to comment should contact the Office of the Public Counsel or the Public Service Com-mission.

Hearings are scheduled in Jefferson City in October. The PSC can approve, reduce or reject the request. If approved, new rates take effect in January. Last year, the PSC reduced the requested increase from 13.8

percent to 5.25 percent.In a press release,

KCP&L President and Chief Operating Officer Terry Bassham said the rate increase is necessary because “over the last sev-eral years, the costs of doing business have outpaced the company’s ability to main-tain its current rates.”

Bassham cited upgrades to infrastructure, invest-ments in renewable energy, environmental mandates and a sharp drop in natural

gas prices that has decreased the amount of electricity KCP&L can sell outside the

service territory as factors requiring the rate increase.

The need for additional generation capacity in the former Aquila service areas also is a driver, the press release states.

Bassham said KCP&L Economic Relief Program will expand as part of the rate increase request. The program offers bill payment assistance to low-income cus-tomers and a credit of up to $50 per month for 2,000 customers who meet income requirements and are current on bills.

The program, initiated in 2010, is set to end in September. But if the expanded program is approved, KCP&L plans to more than double participation with a focus on senior citizens.


Jefferson City – A dog fight is under way, with Old Drum, Seaman and Jim the Wonder Dog nip-ping at the title of “State His-torical Dog.”

The capital crowd has dis-covered man’s best friend comes from War-rensburg, with the Supreme Court in 2011 unveiling a bust of Old Drum and lawmakers this year considering whether to name him the State Historical Dog.

Rep. Denny Hoskins, R-Warrensburg, offered House Bill 1778 to leash Old Drum to the state title. The term, “man’s best friend,” became affixed origi-nally to Old Drum after a trial.

On Oct. 28, 1869, Leonidas Hornsby ordered a hired hand to shoot a dog hanging around the property. Old Drum, owned by Charles Burden, wound up dead. Burden sued and his lawyer, Con-federate Sen. and later U.S. Sen. George Graham Vest, delivered in court what has become known as “Eulogy to a Dog.”

The eulogy concludes, “And when that last scene comes, and death takes his master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there, by the grave side will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful, and true, even in death.”

The eulogy left jurors in tears and won the lawsuit. Hoskins hopes Vest’s howl still resonates in the halls where Vest once served as a Missouri House member.

But other lawmakers have dogs in the fight. Rep. Joe Aull, D-Marshall, has come sniffing around on behalf of Jim the Wonder Dog. Jim’s claim to fame is that he carried out commands no matter the language given, and received a spot in Ripley’s Believe It or Not. Some folks who know about “animal acts” might sug-gest, speaking colloquially, “that dog don’t hunt.” One blogger asks, “Is it true that

LAWMAKERS, BACK PAGE

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Indians fall by two points

VOL. 147 NO. 47 © 2012 The Star-Journal Publishing Co. WARRENSBURG, MO. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2012 12 PAGES PRICE 50¢

COMICS: 10

MORE INFOIndividual citizens who wish to comment should contact:Office of the Public Counsel, Governor Office Building, 200 Madison St., Suite 650, P.O. Box 2230, Jefferson City, MO 65102-2230; call (866) 922-2959; or e-mail [email protected] gov. or the Public Ser-vice Commission staff, P.O. Box 360, Jefferson City, MO 65102; call (800) 392-4211; or e-mail [email protected].

Obituaries ........................... 5

Ralph Poese

Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3TV Listings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7


JOHNSON COUNTY CARE CENTER


BACK HOME... At Johnson County Care Center, 122 E. Market St., a nursing home in downtown Warrensburg, resident Vernon Burris is among the first to return Tuesday following a fire that forced staff to evacuate the building two weeks earlier, Feb. 19.

COMMUNITY: 2


Night: 80% chance of rain, coolThursday: 60% chance of rain, mild

Base adding ‘couple hundred’

JEFFERSON CITY

Old DrumBUST IN STATE SUPREME COURT BUILDING


Warrensburg – Sixteen days after a small fire forced their evac-uation, the first residents returned Tuesday to Johnson County Care Center, 122 E. Market St.

Oily towels – heated and removed from a dryer, then left in a small room – caused the Feb. 19 fire, investigators reported. The fire forced the evacuation and reloca-tion of 69 residents.

Removing smoke odor and res-idue took several days.

Nursing home Administrator

Rhonda Meyrand watched as staff helped resident Vernon Burris off the bus to return to the home.

“Between today, tomorrow, Thursday and Friday, everybody will be back,” Meyrand said.

They will return from nursing facilities in Warrensburg and from as far away as Kansas City.

“All of our inspections have been cleared,” Meyrand said.

Burris would be among the first residents to eat at the center since the fire, she said.

“We’re cooking lunch right now,” Meyrand said.

Nursing home residents return

Daugher now neighbor

DUELINGDOGGIES

JEFFERSON CITY

Old Drum one of three dogsvying for Historical Dog title

KINGSVILLE

KCP&L asks to raise rates in Johnson County

WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE


Warrensburg – More personnel are coming to Whiteman Air Force Base, which is expanding physically, Brig. Gen. Scott Vander Hamm said at the Rotary Club luncheon Tuesday at Audrey J. Walton Clubhouse, Keth

Memorial Golf Course.“Whiteman will plus-up,” Vander

Hamm said, adding “a couple of hun-dred people” to the 11,000 personnel as A-10s move from Louisiana to Mis-souri.

The A-10 Thunderbolt II, better known as a Warthog, is a single-seat, twin-

engine, straight-wing jet that provides close air support for ground forces by attacking tanks, armored vehicles and other ground targets having limited response capability.

In addition to personnel and A-10s coming, Vander Hamm said, the base

BASE BUYING LAND, BACK PAGE

Woman foilsalleged effortto steal truck

Jeremy D. OgleUNDER ARREST IN JOHNSON COUNTY

1708 West Main St. Sedalia, MO

660-829-0804


Warrensburg – Mayor Baird Brock shook 10 hands as he handed out 10 framed proclamations at the City Council meeting.

Proclamations recognized those who responded to the fire emergency and evac-uation of Johnson County Care Center, 122 E. Market St., Sunday, Feb. 19.

Most of the framed words of honor went to emergency responders, but the first went to Jack “Miles” Ventimiglia, editor and representative of The Daily Star-Journal.

Ventimiglia regularly grabs camera

and note pad to cover fire and accident stories. With the Johnson County Care Center emergency directly across the street from the newspaper, Ventimiglia came back with more than a story, he brought 69 residents and several care center staff members.

The Daily Star-Journal’s proclamation said emergency responders evacuated res-idents to the center’s parking lot without time to gather coats when the wind chill registered 42 degrees. The proclamation stated “newspaper staff rearranged an interior area of their building to provide a warm shelter for the displaced resi-dents and their staff members ...”

Ventimiglia invited them in, filling the front page and the building with the people in the news story.

In addition to what Ventimiglia did, Teresa Shane and other staff members at The Daily Star-Journal assisted in making residents as comfortable as pos-sible.

Brock also gave framed copies of procla-mations to representatives of emergency responders and care center staff.

Chief Shane Lockard representing Johnson County Ambulance District; Administrator Rhonda Meyrand, rep-resenting Johnson County Care Center; Executive Director Liz Lenger, Johnson

County Central Dispatch; Director Gloria Michalski, Johnson County Emergency Management Agency; Chief Larry Jen-nings, Johnson County Fire Protection District; Investigator Chris Beal, Mis-souri Division of Fire Safety; Sgt. Dan Othic, University of Central Missouri Department of Public Safety; Battalion Chief Doyle Oxley, Warrensburg Fire Department; Chief Bruce Howey, War-rensburg Police Department.

The proclamation recognized the prompt and effective cooperation among all the agencies in immediate response and follow up to the fire at Johnson County Care Center.

Emergency personnelreceive city recognition

SUE STERLING/Star-JournalWORK PROGRESSES Monday on 100th Southwest County Road

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Chris BealSTATE DIVISION OF FIRE SAFETY INVESTIGATOR

Liz LengerCENTRAL DISPATCH EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Doyle OthicUNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL MISSOURI SERGEANT

Chris OxleyWARRENSBURG FIRE DEPT. BATTALION CHIEF

Rhonda MeyrandJOHNSON COUNTY CARE CENTER DIRECTOR

Gloria MichalskiEMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR

Bruce HoweyWARRENSBURG POLICE CHIEF

Larry JenningsFIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT CHIEF

AMONG THOSE to whom Mayor Baird Brock, left, awards proc-lamations of thanks for helping to answer the emergency call at Johnson County Care Center is Johnson County Ambulance District Chief Shane Lockard.

Warrensburg – The Historic Preser-vation Commission invites the public to hear historic preservation consul-tant Deb Sheals at 6:30 p.m. March 14 at the Municipal Center Council Cham-bers, 200 S. Holden St.

The commission states Sheals has worked on the National Register of His-toric Places Multiple Property Docu-mentation Form and the Grover Street Victorian Historic District nomination. At the meeting, Sheals will discuss her efforts to list a historic district and a multiple property documentation form in Warrensburg. Sheals will share sto-ries and history from her research of Warrensburg and discuss how to obtain historic tax credits from the State His-toric Preservation Office.

The city received a Historic Preserva-tion Fund Grant, with 60 percent of the project cost coming from federal funds and 40 percent of the project provided by local match.

The city received the $12,000 federal match in March 2012. This project is partially funded by a grant from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, State Historic Preservation Office and the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Historic preservationexpert plans to speakin city on March 14th

BRIEFSWednesday last day to register to vote

Warrensburg – Johnson County Clerk Diane Thompson reminds county resi-dents that they have until 5 p.m. March 7 to register to vote before the books close for the April 3 General Municipal Elec-tion.

Mail-in registration cards must be postmarked as of March 7 to be valid for the election. Mailed cards may be used for initial registration, transfer, or change of address.

For more information, call the clerk’s office at (660) 747-6161.

Free event aids active military, veteransWarrensburg – More than 30 vendors

signed up to participate in the Military and Veterans Resource Event at Univer-sity of Central Missouri.

Participating vendors will provide information at booths and tables set up at Elliott Union ballroom from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 13.

UCM Coordinator of Military and Vet-eran Services Deliliah Nichols said the purpose is to give resource information. She said the event is free and is meant to benefit active duty service members, Guardsmen, reservists and veterans.

Area resources expected include the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Missouri Career Center Express, R-G Federal Credit Union, Fuelling and Associates LLC Counseling Services, the Kansas City Veterans Administration Hospital and the Missouri Veterans Com-mission.

Continued from Page 1Property owners said the roadbed

had been abandoned and they own half of the 40-foot right of way.

Commissioners denied a petition the homeowners submitted in January 2010 to request closing the road. Commis-sioners then decided to reopen 100th Southwest as a through road.

County crews began clearing the roadbed two years ago and started con-struction about one year ago.

The homeowners obtained a tempo-rary restraining order and injunction

in May to keep county road crews and Mark and Jeff Irle, who farm adjacent land, off the portion of the roadway between 101st Southwest and Post Oak Creek until the issue is decided.

The homeowners filed an amended petition last month, forcing postpone-ment of the trial set to begin Feb. 28. The trial is now set to start Oct. 10.

Meanwhile, county road crews are building the roadbed across the Irles’ land between 301st Southwest and Post Oak Creek in preparation for reopening the road.

Work on disputed ‘road’ continues in county

NEWS RELEASE

Warrensburg Fire Department

102 S. Holden Warrensburg, MO 64093

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sunday, February 19, 2012

FIRE FORCES EVACUATION OF WARRENSBURG NURSING FACILITY

The Warrensburg Fire Department responded at 12:31 PM today to an automatic

fire alarm activation at Johnson County Care Center, 122 E. Market Street. The facility

is a three story (plus basement) building utilized as a state licensed nursing facility.

Approximately 70 residents were in the facility at the time of the alarm activation.

Fire Department units and personnel responded promptly and were advised by

staff members at the front door that a fire had occurred in a commercial clothes dryer

located in the basement’s laundry room and that the fire was out.

As firefighters were verifying there was no fire in the laundry room, they were

alerted to the presence of smoke on the second and third floors. After they began

removing occupants from the upper floors, another member of the facility’s staff alerted

them to the presence of a fire in a storage room in the southeast area of the basement.

On-scene Incident Commander Doyle Oxley requested the response of all

available off-duty Warrensburg Fire Department personnel as well as crews and

equipment from the Johnson County Fire Protection District and the Johnson County

Ambulance District.

The fire crews directed their efforts towards attacking and quickly extinguishing

the storage room fire and the simultaneous evacuation of the residents from the building.

The fire was quickly extinguished but not before smoke migrated throughout the building.

As additional fire fighting and emergency medical service resources arrived, the

priority transitioned from fire attack to ensuring all residents and staff members were

Nursing home fire

Documents

Transcript of Nursing home fire