DEMANDING ACTION TIGERS HOST REBELS

A local chapter of Students Shutting down Ole Miss guard

Demand Action gathered Sunday Breein Tyree is crucial for Missouri
for a town hall regarding gun safety men’s basketball as it goes for its
in Columbia schools second straight win Tuesday
Page 2A Page 1B
Tuesday, February 18, 2020 • COLUMBIA’S LOCALLY OWNED NEWSPAPER • COLUMBIAMISSOURIAN.COM • 75 CENTS

One man’s trash is another one’s trouble Former

Ashland police
chief alleges his
removal was
violation of
due process
BY GRACE NIELAND
news@columbiamissourian.com
Lyn Woolford filed a petition for
injunctive relief Monday after being
forced out of his job as Ashland
police chief last
week.
The petition argues
the removal was a
violation of due pro-
cess by the town’s
mayor, Gene Rhor-
er, after the police
chief refused to
LYN WOOLFORD remove the mayor’s
girlfriend from her
own home, which she was sharing
with the mayor. The girlfriend is not
named in the court document.
Contacted at the Boone County
Journal, which he owns, Rhorer
declined to comment. The newspa-
per had not reported on Woolford’s
removal as police chief as of Mon-
day afternoon.
JEFFREY ZIDE/Missourian Rhorer placed Woolford on imme-
Johnny Clippard collects piles of trash Aug. 5 along his route in Columbia starting at Cosmo Park. Clippard has grown frustrated with broken and busted bags, extra pickups diate paid administrative leave last
that were not properly scheduled and the dangers of his job as a trash collector for Columbia. Clippard planned to work for five years as a trash collector and will be finished Tuesday, according to previous
with the five years in June. “I don’t want anyone who replaces me to go through what I’ve gone through,” Clippard said. Missourian reporting. At the time,
the city administrator, Tony St.
Romaine, said the city could not
disclose any details until the matter

Columbia’s Solid
BY SKYLAR LAIRD sized items and unbagged pieces stacked on had been reviewed.
news@columbiamissourian.com curbs outside houses. Rhorer allegedly called Woolford
The city already requires all trash to be in on at least two occasions, demand-

Waste Utility team

David Sorrell, assistant director of utilities,
a bag or bundle weighing less than 50 pounds ing that he send Ashland police
said his team of trash collectors has seen it
and measuring no more than 4 feet long and officers to remove Rhorer’s girl-
all on people’s curbs — kitchen tables, piles of
2 feet around. Residents often break these friend from their shared residence,

hopes the city will

loose trash, stacks of furniture and mattress-
rules, but workers usually collect the trash according to the petition. Seeing no
es.
anyway. apparent threat of violence, Wool-
Sorrell presented possible changes to how

pick up these new

“I don’t know how we got from picking stuff ford instead sent officers to simply
Columbia residents will dispose of their trash
up in bags and bundles to picking up anything keep the peace.
to the Columbia City Council at its premeeting
that somebody left in a pile in the front yard,” After these incidents, the petition
work session Monday night. The presentation

ideas on trash day

Sorrell said. states, Rhorer’s attitude toward
detailed some of the ongoing issues with trash
City Manager John Glascock added if the Woolford began to “sour.” Woolford
collection and potential new rules for dispos-
trash wasn’t collected for any reason, the was removed from his position as
al.
city would receive complaints and send the city administrator on March 29,
One major problem Columbia’s Solid Waste
trash collectors back out to pick up what they 2019. Matt Uhrig, Woolford’s attor-
Utility has been dealing with is excessive,
missed, regardless of if it was bagged. ney, said this removal happened less
large or loose trash. The presentation includ-
ed photos showing mountains of trash, over- Please see TRASH, Page 3A Please see CHIEF, Page 3A

Minors could be tried as adults for firearm offenses under proposed law
BY ABIGAIL SHAW AND TITUS WU
news@columbiamissourian.com
JEFFERSON CITY — Children
older than 12 could be tried as
adults for firearm offenses if a bill
debated by the Senate Judiciary
Committee on Monday becomes law.
Sen. Wayne Wallingford, R-Cape
Girardeau, said “this is one of
the governor’s priorities” and was
brought to him to carry through the
Senate. Gov. Mike Parson has met
with mayors of the state’s cities to
discuss solutions in combating the
rising gun violence.
“He had talks with people from
those cities, the mayors and that,
and I also know he works for pro-
tecting Second Amendment rights,”
Wallingford said. “How do you pro-
tect Second Amendment rights but
deal with crime, deal with use of a
weapon? This might be the best way
to compromise with that.”
The bill would not require
minors charged with armed crim-
inal action or unlawful use of a
firearm to be tried as adults, but it
would require them to go before a
judge who would determine how to
try them.
Jimmie Edwards, director of the
St. Louis Public Safety Depart-
ment, testified in favor of the bill.
Edwards served as a circuit judge
in St. Louis from 1992-2017 and said
just bringing a minor before the
court for a certification hearing is
enough of a deterrent.
Edwards also testified on behalf
of a mayor’s working group,
including the mayors of Columbia,
Kansas City, St. Louis and Spring-
field.
During testimony, concerns were
raised that the priority should be on
preparing for “Raise the Age,” a bill
that Wallingford also carried. That
legislation passed in 2018, raising
the age for automatically trying
someone as an adult from 17 to 18.
“Raise the Age” goes into effect
January 2021.
But the senator, adding that it
could be a wake-up call, thinks
having young people go before a
judge to determine whether to be
tried as an adult would help steer
young people off the path of crime
as well.
“I know that would get my atten-
tion, certainly, and I think that’s the
thought,” Wallingford said, “that
this would get the attention of those
people to say, ‘This is probably not a
good idea to go down the road that
I’m currently going down.’”
“People should know I support
rehabilitation of our youth very
strongly,” he added.
The committee also heard testi-
mony on SB 778, which introduces
penalties for purposefully flying
drones over corrections, mental
health and open air facilities. This
bill is nearly identical to one that
was proposed last session that failed
to make it over the finish line by the
end of session.

Marriage bill brings concerns over same-sex discrimination

TODAY’S WEATHER
MOSTLY SUNNY
40/22

INDEX BY CLAIRE COLBY state laws regarding marriage marriage. estly say that since gay mar-
news@columbiamissourian.com and replaces marriage licens- “I’m trying to understand riage was made legal that their
Abby7A
es with contracts of domestic why you’re doing this,” said marriages have deteriorated.
Classifieds5B JEFFERSON CITY — Rep.
union. Rep. Tracy McCreery, D- St. I feel like this bill is actually
Nation8A Adam Schnelting says his bill,
Schnelting, R-St. Charles, said Louis. “And all I keep coming kind of a solution looking for a
Obituaries2A which he informally refers to
he proposed the bill to limit the back to is how hurtful and divi- problem.”
as the “Get Government Out
Opinion5A role of government in marriage sive it is.” A similar bill passed in
of Marriage Bill,” is not about
Sports1B to recording marriages, “rather Schnelting said he has been Alabama in 2019, removing
same-sex marriage.
Sudoku6B than authorizing them via the considering such legislation the power to grant marriage
“The bill is very fair,” he
TV schedule 8B licensure process,” he said. since 2014, a year before certificates from courts and
said. “It treats everyone equal-
He presented the bill to the Obergefell v. Hodges, the instead allowing couples to sign
ly under the law. It just reduc-
House General Laws commit- Supreme Court case which an affidavit with a judge. The
Our 112th year/#112 es the role that a government
tee Monday. A similar bill, made same-sex marriage the bill came into law after some
2 sections plays in an institution as pri-
House Bill 62, was proposed in federal law. conservative judges in Ala-
16 pages vate and sacred as marriage.”
2017 by Rep. TJ Berry, R-Kear- “Since gay marriage became bama stopped issuing marriage
But opponents of the bill
ney. It did not pass. the law of the land, my mar- licenses because they viewed
argued during a Monday
Under the bill, the state doing so as endorsing the union,
hearing that it would unfairly riage has not been impacted
according to NBC News.
discriminate against same-sex would not require or facilitate at all,” McCreery said. “I don’t
“I would suggest that this
couples. ceremonies, but would allow for think anybody in this room
6 54051 90850 3 The bill, HB 2173, changes civil or religious ceremonies of could raise their hand and hon- Please see MARRIAGE, Page 4A
COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN
No time to waste: Trash pickup ideas to come
TRASH from Page 1A
“We’ve trained people that
we were going to pick this
up,” Glascock said. “It’s just
customer service, but we’re
going way beyond customer
service now.”
The Solid Waste Utility
recommended it change the
current ordinance to require
staff to stop collecting trash
that exceed the cited dimen-
sions or is not properly bun-
dled or bagged. It also sug-
gested putting a limit on the
number of bags or bundles
residents could dispose of
each week.
The council agreed as long
as the limit is generous. Sec-
ond Ward Councilman Mike
Trapp suggested five bags;
Mayor Brian Treece recom-
mended closer to 10.
The council also suggested
this policy involve notifying
residents as to why their
trash was not picked up, such
as leaving a door hanger or a
note stapled to the trash.
Third Ward Councilman
Karl Skala said that will
hopefully solve the problem
of people believing their trash
will magically disappear, and
reinforce that trash is instead
collected by people.
Improvements to special
pickup for oversized items,
such as furniture, was also
brought up. If approved, these
regulations will require resi-
dents to schedule pickups and
pay a fee similar to what is
charged for commercial pick-
up, which is $3.23 per minute
or $16.17 per pickup.
The utility’s next step is to
bring these proposed changes
in front of the council as a
regular Monday meeting for
official approval.
The utility also informed
Attorney
of former
chief says
mayor took
‘retaliatory
action’
CHIEF from Page 1A
than one month after one of
Rhorer’s calls.
There are no recordings
of the phone calls between
Rhorer and Woolford, said
Uhrig, because Rhorer did
not call 911 or the police
department but instead called
Woolford directly.
“Rhorer has since taken
retaliatory action, in violation
of the city ordinances and
state law, by first terminating
(Woolford) from his position
of City Administrator and
then by placing (Woolford) on
administrative leave from his
role as chief of police,” the
petition alleged.
Uhrig said the circumstanc-
es of Woolford’s removal vio-
late state law on how a city of
Ashland’s size and type can
go about removing its police
chief as well as state whis-
tleblowing laws that protect
public employees from retal-
iatory action when reporting
or disclosing any prohibited
action by superiors.
Ashland Deputy Chief of
Police Terry Toalson was
named interim chief last
Tuesday, and his appointment
was expected to be made offi-
cial at an Ashland Board of
Aldermen meeting this Tues-
day night, according to pre-
vious Missourian reporting.
It is unknown if this appoint-
ment would still occur in light
of Woolford’s petition.
ONLY
DAYS LEFT
12
TO FILE YOUR
PERSONAL
PROPERTY TAX.
DEADLINE
IS MARCH 1.
886-4250
SHOWMEBOONE.COM
Johnny Clippard guides driver Isiah Williams as he backs the truck up to reverse direction Aug. 5. Clippard was
training newly hired trash collector Williams during the shift.
the council about the ongoing
problem of trash collector
vacancies. As of Monday,
Sorrell said, there were 13
vacancies in trash collec-
tor positions despite recent
increases in wages.
In 2018, the council raised
the minimum wage for trash
collectors to $15 an hour. And
for fiscal 2020, which began
Oct. 1, the council added
another $2 an hour to that
wage.
The continued vacancies
are due at least in part to a
shortage of people possessing
commercial driver’s licenses,
which are required to drive a
garbage truck.
The city has 13 employees
with the driver’s license
Three sewer improvement projects approved
BY WILLIAM SKIPWORTH
news@columbiamissourian.com
The City of Columbia will
spend $1.1 million to update
city sewer systems after
the Columbia City Council
approved three improvement
projects Monday night.
All three sewer improve-
ment projects were unan-
imously approved after
presentations from City Man-
ager John Glascock.
The Leslie Lane stormwa-
ter improvement project will
replace failing, corrugated
metal pipes and two inlets
near the corner of Leslie
Lane and Garth Avenue. The
project will cost an estimated
$150,000 that will come from
the city’s storm water utili-
ties funds.
The College Avenue, Court
Street and Hickory Street
sanitary sewer improvement
project was also approved.
This project will replace
failing clay-pipe sewer mains
under College Avenue and
the Columbia Terminal Rail-
road. It will cost an estimat-
ed $500,000, also from the
city’s sewer utilities funds.
Mayor Brian Treece
emphasized the need for this
Recycling Ambassadors
Volunteer Training
Tuesday, February 25
6pm - 8pm
at the ARC (1701 W Ash St)
Recycling Ambassadors help
the City educate the community
to reduce waste and increase
recycling in Columbia.
To register for training contact
City of Columbia Volunteer Programs
call 573-874-6271 or email
volunteer@CoMo.gov
necessary to collect trash
and recycling, Sorrell said.
It requires 13 drivers each
day to complete all routes.
If fewer than 13 drivers are
available, routes have to be
split or supervisors must
drive routes, taking them
away from their other respon-
sibilities, according to the
staff presentation. If the num-
ber of drivers drops to 10 or
fewer, collection of recycling
may be canceled.
The city contracts with
temporary agencies to fill
these openings, but several
agencies it has worked with
in the past stopped sending
workers because of the high
rate of injury, according to
previous Missourian report-
project but questioned why
it was getting priority over
others.
“I have constituents who
have been waiting 10 plus
years for new sewers,” he
said.
He was also concerned
when he learned the city had
yet to secure the easements
necessary for construction.
“If one person doesn’t give
up their easement, it holds up
the entire project,” Treece
said.
Glascock reassured him
that they will be able to work
on other parts of the project
while they acquire ease-
ments.
The council also approved
the Standford Drive and
Glenwood Avenue sewer
improvement projects. Both
will create a new gravity
sewer main and at least one
sanitary sewer structure at
each location.
The Stanford project will
take place between Stanford
Drive and Radcliffe Drive
and will cost an estimated
$150,000.
The Glenwood Avenue proj-
ect will install approximately
440 feet of new pipe and 347
JEFFREY ZIDE/Missourian
ing. Many temporary workers
do not possess commercial
driver’s licenses and cannot
drive the trucks.
Contracting out work is also
costly for the city.
In fiscal 2019, tempo-
rary agencies cost the city
$504,000, Sorrell said. He
projects the city will spend
$615,000 in fiscal 2020 on
contracted work, since it has
already paid $205,000 for
temporary workers this fiscal
year.
One suggested solution to
this problem was to reevalu-
ate roll carts.
The rolling garbage cans
would be lifted into garbage
trucks with an automatic
arm, ending the need to have
“I have constituents who have
been waiting 10 plus years for
new sewers.”
feet of new gravity sewer
main and will create five
sanitary sewer structures.
These improvements will be
made on Glenwood Avenue
and to the area adjacent to
the southeast.
The project will cost an
estimated $300,000. Funds
for both projects will come
from the city’s sewer utility
private common collector
elimination funds.
Glascock responded to
council concerns that the
Black History Month Free Event
Saturday, February 22 | 1:00 pm
“The Cultural and Societal
Importance of Black
Communities During the
Jim Crow Era”
in the Montminy Gallery at the Boone County History & Culture Center
573-443-8936
www.BooneHistory.org
Tuesday, February 18, 2020 — Page 3A
JEFFREY ZIDE/Missourian
Johnny Clippard rides on the side of his trash truck in August. David
Sorrell, assistant director of utilities, presented possible changes to how
Columbia residents will dispose of their trash to the Columbia City Council
at its premeeting work session Monday night. The presentation detailed
some of the ongoing issues with trash collection and potential new rules
for disposal.
both a driver and trash col- Sorrell said he plans to
lector on each route. They return to the council in about
were voted down in Columbia two months with new propos-
in 2016, with one concern als for the suggested revi-
being a potential loss of jobs. sions. From there, he said he
Sorrell said that shouldn’t be will need more time to edu-
a concern. cate the public on the changes
“If we actually converted before implementing them.
to a roll cart system today, “Whatever we do here, we
we still wouldn’t have enough would have to do an educa-
staff out there,” he said. tional campaign first,” he
However, Sixth Ward Coun- said. “Before we start doing
cil Member Betsy Peters said anything, it’s going to take
that seems like a conversa- three or four months.”
tion for another night, and Residents are welcome to
the utility made no concrete call the Solid Waste Utility
plans to include roll carts in anytime with concerns, Sor-
the future council proposal. rell said.
BRIAN TREECE
Mayor of Columbia
projects would be done in a poles and netting as well as
piecemeal fashion and said reroute the cart path to the
that is just how those proj- 15th hole. The total budget
ects tend to happen. for this project is $50,000. It
In other council action: will be funded through a fee
■ The council unanimous- paid by golfers who use the
ly approved the construction course.
of improvements to the ■ In a 6-to-1 vote, the
driving range at L.A. Nickell council also approved an
Golf Course, a public course amended version of a water
in Cosmopolitan Park. The conservation incentive pro-
construction will expand the gram meant to ease demands
driving range and the tee on the city’s drinking water
box. In order to do so, work- system. Treece was the sole
ers will need to move some dissenting vote.
featuring Kylar W. Broadus, Esq.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Speaker
3801 Ponderosa St, Columbia
@boonehistory
COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN
No time to waste: Trash pickup ideas to come
TRASH from Page 1A
“We’ve trained people that
we were going to pick this
up,” Glascock said. “It’s just
customer service, but we’re
going way beyond customer
service now.”
The Solid Waste Utility
recommended it change the
current ordinance to require
staff to stop collecting trash
that exceed the cited dimen-
sions or is not properly bun-
dled or bagged. It also sug-
gested putting a limit on the
number of bags or bundles
residents could dispose of
each week.
The council agreed as long
as the limit is generous. Sec-
ond Ward Councilman Mike
Trapp suggested five bags;
Mayor Brian Treece recom-
mended closer to 10.
The council also suggested
this policy involve notifying
residents as to why their
trash was not picked up, such
as leaving a door hanger or a
note stapled to the trash.
Third Ward Councilman
Karl Skala said that will
hopefully solve the problem
of people believing their trash
will magically disappear, and
reinforce that trash is instead
collected by people.
Improvements to special
pickup for oversized items,
such as furniture, was also
brought up. If approved, these
regulations will require resi-
dents to schedule pickups and
pay a fee similar to what is
charged for commercial pick-
up, which is $3.23 per minute
or $16.17 per pickup.
The utility’s next step is to
bring these proposed changes
in front of the council as a
regular Monday meeting for
official approval.
The utility also informed
Attorney
of former
chief says
mayor took
‘retaliatory
action’
CHIEF from Page 1A
than one month after one of
Rhorer’s calls.
There are no recordings
of the phone calls between
Rhorer and Woolford, said
Uhrig, because Rhorer did
not call 911 or the police
department but instead called
Woolford directly.
“Rhorer has since taken
retaliatory action, in violation
of the city ordinances and
state law, by first terminating
(Woolford) from his position
of City Administrator and
then by placing (Woolford) on
administrative leave from his
role as chief of police,” the
petition alleged.
Uhrig said the circumstanc-
es of Woolford’s removal vio-
late state law on how a city of
Ashland’s size and type can
go about removing its police
chief as well as state whis-
tleblowing laws that protect
public employees from retal-
iatory action when reporting
or disclosing any prohibited
action by superiors.
Ashland Deputy Chief of
Police Terry Toalson was
named interim chief last
Tuesday, and his appointment
was expected to be made offi-
cial at an Ashland Board of
Aldermen meeting this Tues-
day night, according to pre-
vious Missourian reporting.
It is unknown if this appoint-
ment would still occur in light
of Woolford’s petition.
ONLY
DAYS LEFT
12
TO FILE YOUR
PERSONAL
PROPERTY TAX.
DEADLINE
IS MARCH 1.
886-4250
SHOWMEBOONE.COM
Johnny Clippard guides driver Isiah Williams as he backs the truck up to reverse direction Aug. 5. Clippard was
training newly hired trash collector Williams during the shift.
the council about the ongoing
problem of trash collector
vacancies. As of Monday,
Sorrell said, there were 13
vacancies in trash collec-
tor positions despite recent
increases in wages.
In 2018, the council raised
the minimum wage for trash
collectors to $15 an hour. And
for fiscal 2020, which began
Oct. 1, the council added
another $2 an hour to that
wage.
The continued vacancies
are due at least in part to a
shortage of people possessing
commercial driver’s licenses,
which are required to drive a
garbage truck.
The city has 13 employees
with the driver’s license
Three sewer improvement projects approved
BY WILLIAM SKIPWORTH
news@columbiamissourian.com
The City of Columbia will
spend $1.1 million to update
city sewer systems after
the Columbia City Council
approved three improvement
projects Monday night.
All three sewer improve-
ment projects were unan-
imously approved after
presentations from City Man-
ager John Glascock.
The Leslie Lane stormwa-
ter improvement project will
replace failing, corrugated
metal pipes and two inlets
near the corner of Leslie
Lane and Garth Avenue. The
project will cost an estimated
$150,000 that will come from
the city’s storm water utili-
ties funds.
The College Avenue, Court
Street and Hickory Street
sanitary sewer improvement
project was also approved.
This project will replace
failing clay-pipe sewer mains
under College Avenue and
the Columbia Terminal Rail-
road. It will cost an estimat-
ed $500,000, also from the
city’s sewer utilities funds.
Mayor Brian Treece
emphasized the need for this
Recycling Ambassadors
Volunteer Training
Tuesday, February 25
6pm - 8pm
at the ARC (1701 W Ash St)
Recycling Ambassadors help
the City educate the community
to reduce waste and increase
recycling in Columbia.
To register for training contact
City of Columbia Volunteer Programs
call 573-874-6271 or email
volunteer@CoMo.gov
necessary to collect trash
and recycling, Sorrell said.
It requires 13 drivers each
day to complete all routes.
If fewer than 13 drivers are
available, routes have to be
split or supervisors must
drive routes, taking them
away from their other respon-
sibilities, according to the
staff presentation. If the num-
ber of drivers drops to 10 or
fewer, collection of recycling
may be canceled.
The city contracts with
temporary agencies to fill
these openings, but several
agencies it has worked with
in the past stopped sending
workers because of the high
rate of injury, according to
previous Missourian report-
project but questioned why
it was getting priority over
others.
“I have constituents who
have been waiting 10 plus
years for new sewers,” he
said.
He was also concerned
when he learned the city had
yet to secure the easements
necessary for construction.
“If one person doesn’t give
up their easement, it holds up
the entire project,” Treece
said.
Glascock reassured him
that they will be able to work
on other parts of the project
while they acquire ease-
ments.
The council also approved
the Standford Drive and
Glenwood Avenue sewer
improvement projects. Both
will create a new gravity
sewer main and at least one
sanitary sewer structure at
each location.
The Stanford project will
take place between Stanford
Drive and Radcliffe Drive
and will cost an estimated
$150,000.
The Glenwood Avenue proj-
ect will install approximately
440 feet of new pipe and 347
JEFFREY ZIDE/Missourian
ing. Many temporary workers
do not possess commercial
driver’s licenses and cannot
drive the trucks.
Contracting out work is also
costly for the city.
In fiscal 2019, tempo-
rary agencies cost the city
$504,000, Sorrell said. He
projects the city will spend
$615,000 in fiscal 2020 on
contracted work, since it has
already paid $205,000 for
temporary workers this fiscal
year.
One suggested solution to
this problem was to reevalu-
ate roll carts.
The rolling garbage cans
would be lifted into garbage
trucks with an automatic
arm, ending the need to have
“I have constituents who have
been waiting 10 plus years for
new sewers.”
feet of new gravity sewer
main and will create five
sanitary sewer structures.
These improvements will be
made on Glenwood Avenue
and to the area adjacent to
the southeast.
The project will cost an
estimated $300,000. Funds
for both projects will come
from the city’s sewer utility
private common collector
elimination funds.
Glascock responded to
council concerns that the
Black History Month Free Event
Saturday, February 22 | 1:00 pm
“The Cultural and Societal
Importance of Black
Communities During the
Jim Crow Era”
in the Montminy Gallery at the Boone County History & Culture Center
573-443-8936
www.BooneHistory.org
Tuesday, February 18, 2020 — Page 3A
JEFFREY ZIDE/Missourian
Johnny Clippard rides on the side of his trash truck in August. David
Sorrell, assistant director of utilities, presented possible changes to how
Columbia residents will dispose of their trash to the Columbia City Council
at its premeeting work session Monday night. The presentation detailed
some of the ongoing issues with trash collection and potential new rules
for disposal.
both a driver and trash col- Sorrell said he plans to
lector on each route. They return to the council in about
were voted down in Columbia two months with new propos-
in 2016, with one concern als for the suggested revi-
being a potential loss of jobs. sions. From there, he said he
Sorrell said that shouldn’t be will need more time to edu-
a concern. cate the public on the changes
“If we actually converted before implementing them.
to a roll cart system today, “Whatever we do here, we
we still wouldn’t have enough would have to do an educa-
staff out there,” he said. tional campaign first,” he
However, Sixth Ward Coun- said. “Before we start doing
cil Member Betsy Peters said anything, it’s going to take
that seems like a conversa- three or four months.”
tion for another night, and Residents are welcome to
the utility made no concrete call the Solid Waste Utility
plans to include roll carts in anytime with concerns, Sor-
the future council proposal. rell said.
BRIAN TREECE
Mayor of Columbia
projects would be done in a poles and netting as well as
piecemeal fashion and said reroute the cart path to the
that is just how those proj- 15th hole. The total budget
ects tend to happen. for this project is $50,000. It
In other council action: will be funded through a fee
■ The council unanimous- paid by golfers who use the
ly approved the construction course.
of improvements to the ■ In a 6-to-1 vote, the
driving range at L.A. Nickell council also approved an
Golf Course, a public course amended version of a water
in Cosmopolitan Park. The conservation incentive pro-
construction will expand the gram meant to ease demands
driving range and the tee on the city’s drinking water
box. In order to do so, work- system. Treece was the sole
ers will need to move some dissenting vote.
featuring Kylar W. Broadus, Esq.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Speaker
3801 Ponderosa St, Columbia
@boonehistory
COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN Wednesday, February 19, 2020 — Page 5A

OPINION
WRITE • REFLECT • RESPOND • COLUMBIAMISSOURIAN.COM

CONVERSATIONS

Residents have ideas

in response to possible
trash pickup changes
BY VERONICA MOHESKY AND LAURA MISEREZ
news@columbiamissourian.com
Columbia is considering changing the way it
collects residents’ trash. The Solid Waste Util-
ity has recommended that the Columbia City
Council change the current ordinance to allow
staff to not pick up trash that is not properly
bundled or is too heavy or large. If a change
is passed, bagless or unbridled trash will be
left behind.
Our readers responded to the discussion on
our website and social media. Some readers
think Columbia should look to other cities for
guidance.

“Why can’t COMO just look at what other

cities do and follow suit. Trash pickup in this
city is ridiculous. Where else can residents
expect to dump anything in any condition out
on the curb and have it taken away for no extra
charge? Elsewhere you pay for whatever size
garbage can you think you will fill in a week
and that is all they take away. I see the need
to have easy and affordable pick up for larger
hauls so lower income people don’t just end up
with piles of junk in their yards, but unlimited
is ridiculous.”
— CARA JOOS
ON FACEBOOK

“The city should look into how other commu-

nities operate that don’t have these issues. Say
for example, we are from Minnesota and this is
how they dealt with their waste management.”
— RHIANNON LEE
ON FACEBOOK

Improving financial reality for

‘Rolling in the Deep’
Others say Columbia should invest in manda-
tory roll bins, which would hold the trash and
limit the amount of garbage automatically.

“Can we please get the roll bins already?”

— MEGAN SONDGERATH HALL
ON FACEBOOK
“I can’t believe people voted down roll carts.
Such a better solution honestly.”
— JORDAN ELLIOT RICHARDS ON FACEBOOK
“I bought a roll cart when I moved back to
Columbia 13 years ago. It’s so convenient to
wheel everything to the curb in one shot, espe-
cially when there’s snow, ice or rain. I wish
I could leave the cart at the curb instead of
unloading it. Sometimes crows pick the bags
open.”
— TIM KRIDEL
ON THE MISSOURIAN WEBSITE
“That also seems to be the trend elsewhere
(going to carts).”
— ELLIS SMITH
ON THE MISSOURIAN WEBSITE
Thinking outside the bag
One reader wrote that private contractors
might be the solution to this issue. Another
reader thinks Columbia needs to go back to old
methods for trash pickup.
“The city needs to get out of the trash busi-
ness and let private contractors handle it.”
— ERIC COX
ON THE MISSOURIAN WEBSITE
“So are they going back to only picking up
black trash bags imprinted with scott logo? Or
why did they discontinue that method 20-25
years ago. Seems like a logical way to have
people pay for the amount of service that they
require.”
— BRIAN TURNER
ON FACEBOOK
What do you think? Submit a letter to the
editor.
GUIDELINES FOR LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
The Missourian encourages readers to share their
opinions. Letters should be about 400 words and
addressed to letters@columbiamissourian.com; longer
pieces will be con­sid­ered for guest columns. All letters
and guest columns will be verified for accuracy. The
Missourian does not accept anonymous submissions.
Questions? Email Opinion Editor Laura Johnston at
johnstonlc@missouri.edu or call 882-6870.
blacks means investing in ourselves
C
onsidering the myriad problems
facing the Black community, both
here in America and throughout
the African diaspora, it is time for
Black people to think in terms of economic
development and self-determination. A
form of predatory economics is destroying
Black people, and we must begin to pursue
cooperative economics in which we control
our communities if we are to succeed.
— Us Lifting Us, Atlanta, Georgia
In his State of the Union address in Janu-
ary, President Trump cited the historically
low black unemployment rate as an indi-
cator of America’s economic success and
growth during his presidency. Brookings
experts Marcus Casey and Bradley Hardy,
however, note that “the unemployment rate
alone presents a revealing but incomplete
picture of economic well-being within any
community.” Two major factors are left
out of the Trump analysis that need accen-
tuating. First, the unemployment rate for
African Americans (6.0%) is still almost
double of Anglo Americans (3.1%). Second,
the median household income for African
Americans is nearly $30,000 less than it is
for Anglo families: $41,361 to $70,642.
■  Outside of retirement accounts,
only 37% of African Americans own
wealth-building products such as stocks and
mutual funds.
■  Only 35% believe they are doing a
good job of preparing for retirement.
■  About 33% have less than one month
of funds saved for a crisis and less than
25% have amassed more than six months of
emergency savings.
■  And, 58% are actively involved in
educating their children on finances, versus
48% of Caucasians. Forty percent rely on
family members for information (from Afri-
can American Economics: Real Facts, Black
Enterprise, 2019).
“The study shows African Americans
want to improve their financial situations
and are hopeful about the future,” said Evan
MORE ONLINE
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: The Missourian uses Twitter for breaking news alerts and to have conversations with readers on what they think of events in the
news each day. Follow us at Twitter.com/CoMissourian or text “follow CoMissourian” to 40404. No account is necessary to sign up.
THE REV. C.W.
DAWSON JR.
Taylor’s “pull yourself up
by your bootstraps” approach
cannot be the answer given
to the huge economic disparity
African Americans face.
Taylor, African American market director,
MassMutual. “At the same time, it sheds
light on the financial struggles and inequi-
ties that the African American community
continues to battle. Those contradictions
indicate a need for greater financial educa-
tion and discipline for the whole family to
achieve economic success. In fact, the big-
gest financial regret expressed by respon-
dents was that they wished they had started
saving and investing sooner.” Sixty-three
percent of African Americans believe the
American Dream of financial security is
achievable, while 33% believe the American
Dream no longer exists.
The State of the American Family survey
consisted of 3,235 total interviews with
Americans, including 482 African Ameri-
can respondents. Most of these interviews
(2,730) were conducted with men and
women ages 25–64 with incomes equal to or
greater than $50,000 and with dependents
under age 26 for whom they are financially
responsible. Respondents had to contribute
at least 40% to decisions regarding finan-
cial matters in their household to qualify.
In this survey, 63% of African Americans
believe the American Dream of financial
security is achievable while 33% believe the
American Dream no longer exists. Clearly,
many African Americans still cling to a
hope that the economic system in this coun-
try will one day benefit them despite the
counter-evidence. Notice that the respon-
dents in the above survey had an average
income of $50,000 or more. No doubt that
those who have a median family income of
$41,000 or less would have a much different
narrative to tell.
I disagree with Evan Taylor’s assessment
of the problem. Taylor’s “pull yourself up
by your bootstraps” approach cannot be the
answer given to the huge economic dispari-
ty African Americans face. I agree with the
Atlanta self-development group that “the
need for Black people to develop a compre-
hensive economic and political strategy has
become overwhelmingly and undeniably
clear. Now more than at any other time in
our history since 1865, Black People must
organize for real power to ensure the safe-
ty and welfare of its people.” By collective
investing and self-determination, we can
reconstruct the economic situation the
majority of African Americans currently
live under.
Black History Month is, again, descriptive
and normative. Since the days of Marcus
Garvey, and later Malcolm X, we have been
instructed to invest in ourselves. So far, we
have ignored the lesson. Perhaps the pres-
ent economic realities will motivate us to
build and grow.
The Rev. C.W. Dawson Jr. was the first
African-American to earn a Ph.D. in philos-
ophy at MU. He teaches at Columbia Col-
lege and Moberly Area Community College
and writes for the Missourian.

CONTACT US ABOUT THE OPINION PAGE

WRITE: Letter to Editor, P.O. Box 917, Columbia, MO 65205
EMAIL: letters@ColumbiaMissourian.com
FAX: 573-882-5702 CALL: 573-882-5720
General Manager: Bryan Chester • chesterb@missouri.edu
Executive Editor: Ruby L. Bailey • baileyru@missouri.edu
Opinion Editor: Laura Johnston • johnstonlc@missouri.edu
The Missourian’s Opinion section is a public forum for the
discussion of ideas. The views presented here are those of
the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the
Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to
contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original
topic of your own, use our online submission form at
columbiamissourian.com/letters.
“I believe that the public journal is a public trust; that all connected with
it are, to the full measure of their responsibility, trustees for the public;
that acceptance of a lesser service than the public service is betrayal of
this trust. I believe that clear thinking and clear statement, accuracy and
fairness are fundamental to good journalism.”
WALTER WILLIAMS, FOUNDING DEAN,
MISSOURI SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM
https://www.columbiamissourian.com/opinion/darkow/darkow-taking-out-the-
trash/article_870d84a6-5284-11ea-8493-5bfdc59ee8c6.html

DARKOW: Taking out the trash

JOHN DARKOW
Feb 19, 2020

Editorial cartoon by John Darkow

John Darkow
https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/covid19/no-recycling-pickup-next-week-
after-waste-employees-exposed-to-covid-19/article_93f950e6-9d61-11ea-941d-
9f9034cac505.html

No recycling pickup next week after waste

employees exposed to COVID-19
BY MISSOURIAN STAFF
May 23, 2020

The city of Columbia will not be collecting residential recycling curbside

the week of May 25 after Columbia/Boone County Public Health and
Human Services con rmed Saturday that several employees and
temporary sta ers had been exposed to COVID-19.

Those exposed will be placed in isolation, according to a Saturday

evening news release from the city. The number of people a ected is
"su cient enough to prevent the utility from collecting both trash and
recycling from residential curbside customers," according to the city.

As a result, only normal trash will be collected for the following week.
Bulky items such as furniture and appliances will not be picked up.
Further pause of recycling pickup after May 30 is possible, and the city
will issue updates throughout the coming week, according to the city.

Due to the Memorial Day holiday on Monday, all trash collection dates
will be delayed one day.

Residents can drop o their recycling at any of 11 drop o locations:

Columbia College Dulany Hall (near 8th Street and Hickman

Avenue)

Columbia College Wrightman Building (south end of Pannell Street)

The Armory (north parking lot at 7th Street and Park Avenue)

10th Street and Cherry Street (south side of the Cherry Street
Parking Structure)

Home Depot (3215 Clark Lane)

 Moser’s on Keene (900 North Keene St.)

Moser’s Supermarket (705 W. Business Loop 70)

3601 South Providence Road (outer road north of Nifong)

State Farm Parkway (on Nifong just east of Grindstone)

University of Missouri (Bluford Hall on Kentucky Avenue)

University of Missouri (Shurz Hall on Ashland Road east of College

Avenue)

A map of the locations can be found at CoMo.gov/utilities/solidwaste.

Galen Bacharier
Galen Bacharier is an assistant city editor at the Missourian. He has reported on higher
education, state government and breaking news. Reach him at
galenbacharier@gmail.com or on Twitter @galenbacharier.
https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/local/no-curbside-recycling-pickup-next-
week-due-to-continuous-staffing-shortage/article_83de8ac8-b7dd-11ea-ac58-
27e4a4d8b812.html

No curbside recycling pickup next week due to

continuous sta ng shortage
BY SUSIE SHU
Jun 26, 2020

Correction
The city will not pick up recycling from residential curbside customers for the week of
June 29. An earlier version of the article had incorrect information about services
affected.

Due to continuing sta ng issues in the Solid Waste Utility, the city of
Columbia is making service changes to residential curbside recycling
for the week of June 29.

The sta shortage will prevent the utility from collecting recycling from
residential curbside customers, according to a city news release. All
e orts will be shifted to normal trash collection given its importance to
the health and safety of the community, the release said.

The release, sent after 1 p.m. Friday, noted crews would only be able to
collect approximately 40% of curbside recycling Friday.
If crews are not able to collect a customer’s recycling material, the items
should be retrieved from the curb and held for the week of July 6 or
taken to one of 11 recycling drop-o points.

According to the release, the following steps will be taken next week:

• There will be no curbside residential recycling collection.

• Only normal trash and bulky items will be collected.

• Although city o ces will be closed Friday, the observed Fourth of July
holiday, residential curbside trash will be collected Friday. The land ll
will also be open to the public.

• On July 4, the land ll will be closed, and the regular household

hazardous waste collection event will be canceled in observance of
Independence Day.
Customers can take their recycling materials to one of 11 recycling drop-
o points. A map of these locations can be found at city of Columbia
Utilities website. The drop-o locations are:

• Columbia College Dulany Hall (near Eighth Street and Hickman

Avenue)

• Columbia College Wrightman Building (south end of Pannell Street)

• The Armory (north parking lot at Seventh Street and Park Avenue)

• Tenth and Cherry streets (south side of the Cherry Street Parking
Structure)

• Home Depot (3215 Clark Lane)

• Moser’s on Keene (900 N. Keene St.)

• Moser’s Supermarket (705 W. Business Loop 70)

• 3601 S. Providence Road (outer road north of Nifong)

• State Farm Parkway (on Nifong just east of Grindstone)

• University of Missouri (Bluford Hall on Kentucky Avenue)

• University of Missouri (Shurz Hall on Ashland Road east of College

Avenue)

MORE INFORMATION

City dumps recycling collection inde nitely

City seeking feedback about new recycling drop-off site

Curbside recycling in Columbia will resume on a reduced basis

Xin Shu
General Assignments, summer 2020 Studying data journalism Reach me at
xsm82@missouri.edu, or in the newsroom at 882-5700.

Fred Anklam
As senior editor of the Missourian, Fred Anklam manages general assignment reporters.
He can be reached at anklamf@missouri.edu or in the newsroom at 573-882-5720.
 COUNTY WON’T FOLLOW PROTECTION AND PROPHECY
For now, at least, Boone County In the latest entry in the Missourian’s
won’t make the move that The Moments That Shaped Them series,
Columbia did by requiring wearing Bennett Durando looks at a defining victory
face masks in most public settings for MU softball coach Larissa Anderson
Page 4A Page 1B
Wednesday, July 8, 2020 • COLUMBIA’S LOCALLY OWNED NEWSPAPER • COLUMBIAMISSOURIAN.COM • 75 CENTS

MISSOURI + 767 BOONE COUNTY + 34

COVID-19 UPDATE: Tests: 435,348 Cases: 24,712 Deaths: 1,042 Cases: 547 Deaths: 2

ONE L.O.V.E. Chval out as

the dean of
MU College
of Education
BY GALEN BACHARIER
news@columbiamissourian.com
MU’s College of Education dean,
Kathryn Chval, will no longer serve in
the position, effective immediately.
Erica Lembke, chair
of the college’s Depart-
ment of Special Educa-
tion, will serve as inter-
im dean, Provost Latha
Ramchand said in a
Tuesday email to facul-
ty, staff and students at
the college. Chval will
KATHRYN CHVAL‌ return to teaching and
research.
Ramchand did not provide any expla-
nation in the email for the change in
leadership.
MU spokesperson Christian Basi con-
firmed the leadership change Tuesday.
No further information about the move
was being made public, he said.
Chval has served as dean for the col-
DANIELLE PYCIOR • Missourian lege since March 2016. She has worked
Please see CHVAL, Page 4A
Cemone James performs for the first time in Columbia at the CoMo for L.O.V.E. (Lifting
Oppression Virtually Everywhere) fundraiser Tuesday at Café Berlin. The event was held
to raise money for Black movements and organizations. “This is something that everybody
is in tune with,” James said. “Whether you’re white or Black, everybody is interested in the
creative arts. When we can all relate on that one thing, that’s when everything else pops off.”
City dumps
recycling
Columbia prepares for mandatory masks collection
BY WILLIAM SKIPWORTH
news@columbiamissourian.com
to remove your mask.
■  Staying put in a business 6
indefinitely
feet away from other patrons.
Wearing face masks in most BY MISSOURIAN STAFF
People can also remove their
public and in some private settings news@columbiamissourian.com
masks at the request of a police
will be mandatory in Columbia
officer, medical professional or The city of Columbia will refrain
starting at 5 p.m. Friday.
if their identity needs to be con- from collecting recyclables at curbside
After the Columbia City Council
firmed. until further notice, given continued
passed an amended emergency
Businesses are required to pro- staffing challenges and the declining
ordinance just before midnight at
vide masks to their employees. markets for the materials.
Monday night’s City Council meet-
Punishment for failing to wear a The city’s collection of recyclables
ing, everyone age 10 and older will
mask is a $15 fine for individuals has been erratic in recent weeks, in
be required to wear face masks
and $100 for businesses. Busi- part because some trash and recycling
when around people outside their
nesses will be fined $100 for each collectors have tested positive for the
household. This includes public and
employee, so if three different novel coronavirus. The difficulty in
private settings. The council hopes
employees aren’t provided masks, retaining staff, however, is a challenge
this will help curb the spread of
for example, the business would be that has plagued the city for the past
COVID-19.
fined $300 total. few years despite significant wage
The ordinance includes excep-
The ordinance does not apply increases approved by the Columbia
tions for people with disabilities,
to property of the county, state or City Council.
and masks can be removed to do
federal government such as the The city said in a Tuesday news
the following activities:
Boone County Courthouse or MU. release that the primary staffing chal-
■  Eat or drink at a restaurant
MU, however, plans to require lenge is finding and keeping drivers
or bar.
students to wear masks in class- with commercial driver’s licenses.
■  Play sports or exercise out-
rooms this fall. The suspension of recycling service
doors.
The rule as written will remain begins Wednesday, but the city said
■  Drive in a vehicle. in the release that households whose
in effect for 90 days but can be
■  Communicate with the deaf LEANNE TIPPETT MOSBY/Missourian
trash collections are on Mondays and
lengthened or shortened at the dis-
or hard of hearing. Jon Klaas attends a rally opposing the mask ordinance Monday in front of the Tuesdays can leave recyclables out if
cretion of the council.
■  Receive dental examinations Columbia municipal building, which houses the Columbia City Council chambers. A
and other services that require you Please see MASKS, Page 4A smaller number of people carrying pro-mask signs were also in the vicinity. Please see RECYCLING, Page 4A

Missouri officials cite Number of COVID-19

TODAY’S WEATHER
SUNNY AND HOT
93/73

INDEX holiday reporting delay patients in Boone County

as virus cases spike hospitals is on the rise
Abby5B
Classifieds4B
Obituaries2A
Opinion5A
Sports1B The Associated Press difference in new Boone Coun- BY FEIYU SU one COVID-19 inpatient at
Sudoku4B ty numbers reported by the news@columbiamissourian.com 3 p.m. Tuesday, Jessica Park,
JEFFERSON CITY — Mis-
TV schedule 6B state (40) and county (34) indi- communications consultant
souri on Tuesday reported the A total of 18 people were
cate there were 767. The state for Boone Hospital Center,
state’s highest daily increase hospitalized with COVID-
reported that there have been said.
Our 112th year/#213 in confirmed cases of the coro- 19 as of Tuesday in Boone
24,629 reported cases total Truman Veterans’ Hospital
2 sections navirus, which health officials County. In comparison, 12
since the virus first struck had one COVID-19 inpatient
12 pages said is partly due to delayed COVID-19 inpatients were
the state. Again, Boone Coun- Tuesday, Jeffrey Hoelscher,
reporting because of the holi- reported June 30.
ty’s totals differ (547 to the public affairs officer for
day weekend. MU Health Care reported
state’s 464), making the overall Truman Veterans’ Hospital,
Missouri reported another 16 COVID-19 inpatients as of
reported cases in the state said.
773 cases of coronavirus Tues- 6 p.m. Tuesday, according to
24,712. At least 1,042 people Boone County had a total
day, a roughly 3.2% increase the hospital.
6 54051 90850 3 from Monday, although the Please see CASES, Page 4A Boone Hospital Center had Please see HOSPITALS, Page 4A
Page 4A — Wednesday, July 8, 2020
Lembke is named interim
College of Education dean
CHVAL from Page 1A
at MU since 2003. Her inter-
im replacement, Lembke, has
also been at MU since 2003
and has served as chair of the
Department of Special Educa-
tion since 2015.
“I look forward to the College
of Education’s future success
and will do everything I can
to help the college succeed,”
Ramchand said in the email.
In 2018, Chval was one of
four candidates vying for the
position of provost, during
which she emphasized her
focus on diversity and inclu-
sivity at MU.
Countywide mask ordinance unlikely,
Boone County commissioner says
BY KALEIGH FELDKAMP
news@columbiamissourian.com
The Boone County Com-
mission has no plans to follow
Columbia’s lead and impose a
countywide mask ordinance,
one commissioner said.
The Columbia City Council
passed an amended emergen-
cy citywide mask ordinance
by a vote of 6-1 on Monday.
Fifth Ward Councilperson
Matt Pitzer was the sole vote
against the ordinance.
The ordinance goes into
effect at 5 p.m. Friday and
requires all Columbia res-
idents over the age of 10 to
wear masks when around
people who are not members
of their household. The ordi-
nance was amended to exempt
some activities, including
when inside a personal vehicle,
while eating and drinking in
restaurants or bars and when
exercising outdoors.
Northern Commissioner
Janet Thompson said that
because the majority of
Boone County’s cases are
coming from Columbia, the
Now more than ever ...
our commitment to every individual child
is the right fit for families looking for a
more personal approach to learning.
Learn about our preschool through fifth-
grade curriculum and the CSSC difference.
Schedule your virtual visit today.
(573) 876-7260 | stephens.edu/cssc
Her vision of diversity
would be “a collection of peo-
ple, experience and expertise
that complements, completes
one another and, hopefully,
intentionally and strategically
grows over time,” accord-
ing to previous Missourian
reporting. She said it would
build on her strategies uti-
lized at the College of Educa-
tion.
Ramchand was chosen
over Chval for the position.
As dean, she developed
The Bridge — a group for
faculty, staff and faculty at
the college to meet weekly
county health department
does not see a reason to
impose a mask ordinance for
the entire county at this time.
“If the data picture chang-
es, we’ll need to look at (that
option),” Thompson said. “But
now, the data shows where it’s
necessary is Columbia.”
With Tuesday’s 34 new pos-
itive COVID-19 cases report-
ed, Boone County now has
547 positive cases. Of those
positive cases, 190 are active
and 355 have been released
from isolation, according to
county data.
Last week, Boone County
reported its highest sin-
gle-day COVID-19 positive
case increase, with an
increase of 39 new cases
Thursday. The county’s
COVID-19 positivity rate
was a startling 15.7% for
the week of June 26 to July
2, compared to the rate that
remained at or below 1.4%
up until June 12, according to
previous Missourian report-
ing.
At Monday’s council meet-
ing, Columbia/Boone County
The Children’s School
at Stephens College
and “develop and expand
their multicultural knowl-
edge, awareness and skills.”
She also held monthly open
houses with faculty, staff and
students.
Lembke, in addition to her
position chairing the Depart-
ment of Special Education,
has served on several college
and campus community com-
mittees, according to Ram-
chand’s email.
She was president of the
national board for the Divi-
sion for Learning Disabilities
and editor for Assessment for
Effective Intervention.
Department of Health and
Human Services Director
Stephanie Browning said she
did not think Columbia should
move on to the next stage of
its reopening process in light
of the increase in new posi-
tive cases.
To slow the spread of
COVID-19:
■ Stay home if you are
sick.
■ Avoid close contact with
others by social distancing
from people outside of your
household.
■ Wear a mask when
around others.
■ Follow all guidelines
when visiting businesses in
Boone County.
■ Wash your hands often
with soap and water for at
least 20 seconds or use hand
sanitizer with at least 60%
alcohol.
■ Cover coughs and sneez-
es.
Contact your primary care
physician or local health
care system immediately if
you begin to experience any
symptoms of COVID-19.
CS SC
People line up to testify about the proposed mask ordinance Monday at the Columbia City Council regular
meeting. Mayor Brian Treece reminded those lining up to maintain social distancing.
Mask ordinance passes in
wake of rise in virus cases
MASKS from Page 1A
The ordinance passed by
a vote of 6-1, with only Fifth
Ward Councilman Matt Pitzer
voting against it. Because it
was an emergency ordinance,
it required six votes to pass.
Pitzer felt some aspects of
the ordinance went too far. He
was unhappy that it required
masks in private homes when
residents are around people
from outside their households,
and he felt the 90-day duration
was too long. He unsuccess-
fully lobbied the council to
amend those portions of the
ordinance.
The mandate didn’t pass
without ample debate. Before
the meeting, two separate
protests occurred outside the
Daniel Boone City Building,
one in support of the ordi-
nance and one against it.
About 40 people gathered for
the dueling protests.
Brian Beckstrom, a tobac-
co salesman in Columbia,
opposed the ordinance.
“I don’t believe they prove to
be effective,” he said of masks.
“I think we’re going to punish
business even more.”
Beckstrom said he also
doesn’t believe the ordinance
is enforceable.
Other people opposed a gov-
ernment mandate.
“We’re not here because
we’re against masks,” Julie
Artemova, a physical therapist
assistant at Boone Hospital
Center, said. “We’re here
because we’re against the gov-
ernment overreaching.”
Artemova said what con-
cerned her most about the
ordinance was that it required
people to wear masks in their
City’s curbside recycling service
is suspended; drop off encouraged
RECYCLING from Page 1A
they’ve already been placed on
the curb. They will be collect-
ed by the end of the week.
In addition to keeping qual-
ified drivers, the city also has
struggled to retain perma-
nent and temporary help in
collecting curbside trash and
recycling.
“In addition, finding buyers
for recyclable materials has
become difficult, if not impos-
sible,” the news release said.
City Utilities Director David
Sorrell said in the release that
suspending recycling service
was “a difficult decision as we
know how valuable curbside
residential recycling is to our
Missouri Health Dept. A total of 18
data shows 700 daily people with
virus hospitalizations COVID-19
CASES from Page 1A
have died so far, including
another 14 reported Tuesday.
Health department officials
attribute the single-day hike
partly to delayed reporting
from labs to the state.
“We also had a high volume
of case accumulation over
the holiday weekend and
expect some higher-than-av-
erage numbers tomorrow as
well,” spokeswoman Lisa Cox
said in an email.
On Saturday, the state
reported only 59 additional
cases, for example.
COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN
own homes when they are
around people outside their
household.
Artemova said she was born
in the Soviet Union and moved
to the United States in her
20s. Her experience with the
government there, she said,
informs her stance on the sit-
uation.
Protester Amy Spain sup-
ported the ordinance.
“Because someone doesn’t
want to wear a mask, we get
to be sick? That’s not fair,” she
said.
Spain said she worries that
her grandson, who has Reiter’s
syndrome, is at a higher risk
for more serious symptoms
should he contract COVID-19.
Discussion was extensive
during the actual council
meeting. More than two
dozen residents representing
both sides of the argument
addressed the council before
it voted.
“This is probably one of the
most important decisions you
will make as a City Council,”
Alyce Turner, who supported
the ordinance, said.
MacKenzie Everett-Ken-
nedy, a teacher and owner of
Papa’s Cat Café on Second
Street, came out in support of
masks as well.
“People are not engaging in
basic public safety practices,
and for that reason, it’s time
for our local authorities to take
action,” she said.
She said that patrons have
responded positively to mea-
sures she’s put in place at her
business and that her at-risk
patrons are especially thankful.
Everett-Kennedy said rep-
resentatives of 36 other local
customers and has been for
many, many years.”
Sorrell encouraged residents
to take recyclables to one of
the city’s 11 drop-off locations.
He said the city is exploring
additional drop-off sites, par-
ticularly in the northern part
of town.
A map of the drop-off loca-
tions is available on the city’s
website. Here’s a list of where
they are:
■ Columbia College Dula-
ny Hall (near Eighth Street
and Hickman Avenue).
■ Columbia College
Wrightman Building (south
end of Pannell Street).
■ The Armory (north park-
ing lot at Seventh Street and
Despite recent increases
in reported cases, Gov. Mike
Parson and the state’s Health
Department director have
pointed to decreases in hos-
pitalizations over time and
other factors that they say
show Missouri is managing
the virus.
Health Department data
show roughly 700 daily hospi-
talizations from COVID-19 in
recent days. That’s up from
the roughly 600 a day report-
ed at the end of last month
but lower than the more than
980 when hospitalizations
peaked in May.
LEANNE TIPPETT MOSBY/Missourian
businesses, including Shake-
speare’s Pizza and Yellow Dog
Bookshop, have signed her
letter in support of the ordi-
nance.
Chris Devine spoke against
the ordinance.
“Boone County and Missouri
are both the United States,” he
said. “Last time I checked, it’s
a free country.”
The ordinance comes in the
wake of a rise in COVID-19
cases. Boone County recorded
145 new cases between June
29 and Sunday, 15 on Monday
and 34 more Tuesday. Since
the beginning of the pandem-
ic, there have been 547 cases
total in the county.
Stephanie Browning, direc-
tor of the Columbia/Boone
County Department of Health
and Human Services, told the
council that a mask mandate
is an important step toward
curbing the spread of the
virus.
The county’s positivity rate
— the percentage of tests that
come back positive — was
15.17% for the week beginning
June 26. It was 0.4% the first
week in May.
Browning said much of the
increase in coronavirus cases
is a result of young people fail-
ing to adhere to social distanc-
ing guidelines.
On Tuesday, Christian Basi
of the MU News Bureau said
administrators are examining
the ordinance.
“We’re reviewing the
approved ordinance and will
likely have discussions about
it over the next few days to
determine how it might impact
MU and any plans for reopen-
ing in the fall,” Basi said.
Park Avenue).
■ Tenth and Cherry streets
(south side of the Cherry
Street parking structure).
■ Home Depot, 3215 Clark
Lane.
■ Moser’s on Keene, 900 N.
Keene St.
■ Moser’s Supermarket,
705 Business Loop 70 W.
■ 3601 S. Providence Road
(outer road north of Nifong
Boulevard).
■ State Farm Parkway (on
Nifong just east of Grindstone
Parkway).
■ MU campus (Bluford
Hall on Kentucky Avenue).
■ MU campus (Shurz Hall
on Ashland Road east of Col-
lege Avenue).
hospitalized
in Boone Co.
HOSPITALS from Page 1A
of 547 positive cases, 190
of which were still active,
as of 4:15 p.m. Tuesday.
Of the total positive cases,
355 had been removed
from isolation as of Tues-
day, according to the city
of Columbia.
Two deaths have been
attributed to COVID-19 in
Boone County since the
pandemic began.
 NEW TESTING SITE
An additional location for drive-thru
COVID-19 testing opens to the
public Monday at Mizzou North with
the same hours as the original site
Friday & Saturday, July 10-11, 2020 • COLUMBIA’S LOCALLY OWNED NEWSPAPER • COLUMBIAMISSOURIAN.COM • 75 CENTS
COVID-19 UPDATE:
Parson pushes
CARES money
toward higher
education, job
development
BY MIKAYLA EASLEY
news@columbiamissourian.com
In the midst of Missouri’s budget crisis, $125
million from the CARES Act will help higher
education institutions return for the fall semes-
ter and Missourians access job training.
At the beginning of the 2021 fiscal year, Gov.
Mike Parson restricted $448 million from Mis-
souri’s budget due to financial shortfalls caused
by COVID-19. More than $55 million of those
withholdings came from the budget for the
Department of Higher Education and Workforce
Development.
“With budget concerns and job layoffs and
losses across the state, workforce development
will be critical to our recovery,” Parson said
during a Thursday news conference. “Whether
Please see CARES, Page 4A
MU education
department chair
resigns following
dean’s removal
BY GALEN BACHARIER
news@columbiamissourian.com
A department chair within MU’s College of
Education resigned the position Wednesday
effective immediately, citing recent events in
both the department and college.
David Bergin’s resignation as chair of the
Department of Educational, School and Coun-
seling Psychology comes the day after Kathryn
Chval was removed as dean of the college Tues-
day. He notified the interim dean of the college
and department chairs of the decision Wednes-
day and informed faculty via email Thursday.
“Given recent events in the college and in my
department, I have decided to resign as chair
of the Department of Educational, School, and
Counseling Psychology effective immediately,”
Bergin said in the email. “I notified Interim
Dean Erica Lembke and the department chairs
of my decision on Wednesday July 8. If you have
urgent issues that would normally go to the
chair, Dr. Lembke asks that you contact the pro-
gram coordinators.”
Bergin has served as chair of the depart-
ment since 2018 and has worked as faculty at
MU since 2001. He remains a professor in the
Department of Educational, School and Counsel-
ing Psychology.
Bergin did not respond to an emailed request
for comment Thursday.
MU had no response on his resignation as the
university does not comment on personnel mat-
ters, MU spokesperson Christian Basi said.
TODAY’S WEATHER
SUNNY
88/68
INDEX
Abby5B
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Our 112th year/#215
2 sections
16 pages
6 54051 90850
ALL THAT JAZZ
Columbia College legend Bob
Burchard recounts how a Kenny
G song helped pave the way to a
career-changing win
Page 2A Page 1B
MISSOURI + 810 BOONE COUNTY + 42
Tests: 454,825 Cases: 26,134 Deaths: 1,051 Cases: 639 Deaths: 2
ZEPHYRUS LI/Missourian
Rachel Harper disposes of recycling bags Wednesday near the Tenth Street parking garage. Harper said she decided to dispose of her
recycling bags instead of waiting for collection because she was headed downtown that day.
Suspension of curbside recycling
symptomatic of a troubled utility
BY MIKAYLA EASLEY retaining employees, according to a Ideally, each truck would have two
news@columbiamissourian.com news release announcing the change. drivers with commercial driver’s
Specifically, the city lacks enough licenses alternate driving and picking
Blue bags full of recyclables will be
workers with commercial driver’s up trash. But Buffaloe said that given
absent from Columbia’s curbsides for
licenses to complete both trash and the lack of qualified drivers, the city
the foreseeable future.
recycling routes five days a week. has been hiring temporary employees
After weeks of irregular services
The issue has been compounded by to ride on the backs of trucks while one
and years of staffing problems, the
the inability to sell recyclables, causing person drives the entire route.
city on Wednesday suspended curb-
the city to lose money while providing Columbia spokesperson Brian Adkis-
side recycling collections and urged
incomplete service. son said the only way for the city to
residents to take recyclable paper,
Columbia Sustainability Manager resume curbside recycling would be
cardboard, bottles, cans and plastics to
Barbara Buffaloe said the city would to hire and retain more drivers with
dumpsters placed at one of 11 locations
need a minimum of 13 qualified driv- proper commercial driver’s license
throughout the city.
ers to run both routes every day. It is
The city decided to stop recycling
consistently short by two or three, she Please see RECYCLING, Page 4A
pickup mainly due to the challenge of
said.
Public backs first phase of Perche Creek Trail
BY ABBY ORF pie Bridge Road and will cost the city’s park sales tax. owned property next to the trail
news@columbiamissourian.com an estimated $1.2 million to Parks and Recreation planner will be developed as a mitiga-
build. Janet Godon said that if the tion bank. Keys said when wet-
People gathered Thursday The proposed construction trail is approved, construction
lands are disrupted by devel-
under the pavilion at Jay Dixon and alignment of the trail and would be scheduled to start late
opment, new wetlands must be
Station to learn and talk about bridge will help complete the next spring. It’s anticipated to created, or departments can
the first phase of the 1.1-mile planned 30-mile loop around be complete and open to the buy credits.
Perche Creek Trail. Columbia. The first phase of the public by late fall of 2021. Keysalso said the sewer
The 10-foot-wide concrete Perche Creek Trail has not yet Engineering and operations utility plans to use proceeds
trail, if approved, will stretch been approved, but it is on the manager Erin Keys of the city’s
from the MKT Trail to Gilles- list of projects to be funded by sewer utility said the city- Please see TRAIL, Page 4A
Court rulings keep Trump’s financial records private for now
Prosecutor’s demand for from investigation while he
holds office or that a prosecu-
tax returns was upheld, tor must show a greater need
but Congress cannot than normal to obtain the tax
have access to the data records. But it is unclear when
a lower court judge might
BY MARK SHERMAN order a Manhattan prosecutor’s
The Associated Press subpoena to be enforced.
WASHINGTON — The The justices also said that
Supreme Court issued a mixed Congress has significant, but
verdict Thursday on demands not limitless, power to demand
for President Donald Trump’s the president’s personal infor-
mation.
financial records that will keep
his tax returns, banking and By 7-2 votes, the justices
upheld the Manhattan district
other documents out of the pub-
attorney’s demand for Trump’s
lic eye for the time being.
tax returns but kept a hold on
The court rejected broad ANDREW HARNIK/Associated Press
Trump’s financial records that
arguments by Trump’s lawyers Bill Christeson holds up a sign that reads “Follow the Money” outside the
Congress has been seeking for
and the Justice Department Supreme Court Thursday in Washington. A Supreme Court ruling grants
3 that the president is immune Please see TRUMP, Page 4A Manhattan district attorney access to records, but not Congress.
Page 4A — FRIDAY & SATURDAY, July 10-11, 2020
Lack of drivers means the city must prioritize trash collection
RECYCLING from Page 1A
certification who can also
physically do the job.
“It’s a very dangerous job,”
Adkisson said, “because you’re
not only out in the elements
— from the extreme cold to
the extreme heat like today
— you’re physically running
along with the truck and
lifting and throwing heavy
materials into the back of the
truck.”
The lack of drivers means
the city can’t run its eight
trash and four recycling
routes to full capacity, forcing
them to prioritize trash collec-
tion.
Staffing city workers isn’t
a new problem for Columbia,
especially refuse collectors.
It’s one of the only places
in Missouri that hires city
workers to handle recycling
from beginning to end. This
includes collection, sorting and
selling materials.
The Missourian previously
reported that the lack of full-
time refuse collectors was
costing the city more in hiring
temporary employees. Util-
ities Director David Sorrell
projected at the May work
session that the city would
spend $600,000 on temporary
workers for the trash utility
this fiscal year.
The job’s high rate of inju-
ry turns many awayand also
costs the city hundreds of
thousands in annual worker
compensation claims. To
attract more full-time work-
ers, refuse collectors were
given a raise to at least $17 per
hour after the previous year’s
raise to $15 per hour. The
efforts have not been fruitful,
however.
The situation is dire enough
that some city officials are
contemplating another round
of debate on whether to use
roll carts for trash collection
— or even hiring a private
company to provide the ser-
vice. Sixth Ward Councilwom-
an Betsy Peters at a May 18
budget work session asked
city staff to compile a report
comparing the cost of those
options with the current city
service.
“I feel like we sorta keep
$10 million will fund future job Trail would help complete a
training for state’s workforce 30-mile loop around Columbia
CARES from Page 1A
it be a four-year degree, a
community college, a techni-
cal school or other types of
job training.”
Zora Mulligan, commis-
sioner of the Department
of Higher Education and
Workforce Development, said
the CARES money will help
higher education institutions
safely administer in-person
classes while also facilitating
remote learning.
“One of the things we
learned this spring is that it
is possible for colleges and
universities to very rapidly
move all of their instruction
online,” Mulligan said, “but
that it is optimal to have a
Congress unlikely to get Trump’s personal, business records before election
TRUMP from Page 1A
more than a year.
Trump, the only presi-
dent in modern times who
has refused to make his tax
returns public, didn’t imme-
diately regard the outcome
as a victory even though it
is likely to prevent Trump’s
opponents in Congress from
obtaining potentially embar-
rassing personal and business
records ahead of Election
Day.
The documents have the
potential to reveal details
on everything from possible
misdeeds to the true nature
of the president’s vaunted
wealth – not to mention
uncomfortable disclosures
about how he’s spent his
money and how much he’s
given to charity.
“This is all a political pros-
ecution. I won the Mueller
Witch Hunt, and others, and
now I have to keep fighting
in a politically corrupt New
York. Not fair to this Pres-
idency or Administration!”
Trump lashed out on Twitter.
The rejection of Trump’s
claims of presidential
immunity marked the latest
Recycling bags in a collection bin near the Armory Sports Center.
dipping our toes in the water,
and we keep saying it’s costing
us a ton for our trash guys,
and we’re injuring them, but
we’re not really addressing
what our other options are,”
Peters said.
Buffaloe said roll carts are
an option. They can be emp-
tied into garbage trucks auto-
matically, meaning a driver
little bit more time and more
resources to do so.”
From the federal funding,
$80 million will help public
institutions make accommo-
dations for in-person learning
and campus life. In addition,
$23.6 million will be allocated
from the Governor’s Emer-
gency Education Relief Fund
for other resources such as
staffing, payroll, student ser-
vices and other needs.
To support online learning,
$10 million will be allocated
to support broadband and
technology efforts.
Along with colleges and
universities, Mulligan
announced that almost $10
million would fund future
job training for Missourians.
instance where Trump’s
broad assertion of executive
power has been rejected.
Trump’s two high court
appointees, Justices Neil
Gorsuch and Brett Kavana-
ugh, joined the majority in
both cases along with Chief
Justice John Roberts and the
four liberal justices. Roberts
wrote both opinions.
“Congressional subpoenas
for information from the
President, however, implicate
special concerns regarding
the separation of powers. The
courts below did not take
adequate account of those
concerns,” Roberts wrote in
the congressional case.
The ruling returns the
congressional case to lower
courts, with no clear prospect
for when it might ultimately
be resolved.
The tax returns case also
is headed back to a lower
court. Mazars USA, Trump’s
accounting firm, holds the
tax returns and has indicated
it would comply with a court
order. Because the grand
jury process is confidential,
Trump’s taxes normally
would not be made public.
Manhattan District Attor-
and more than one trash col-
lector would not be necessary
on each route.
“It doesn’t require as much
getting off and on the truck,”
she explained, “and it definite-
ly makes it a safer working
environment.”
Opponents of roll carts are
steadfast, however. They used
an initiative petition to place a
This includes resources for
displaced workers to learn
new skills for different
career paths and high-de-
mand positions in information
technology.
Mulligan emphasized that
education workforce develop-
ment is crucial as Missouri
continues to reopen its econ-
omy and encouraged Missou-
rians to keep seeking options
for higher education.
“If they’re thinking about
taking a semester off or
maybe taking a year off, I
really encourage them to
stick with their plan,” Mulli-
gan said, “even if their plan
looks a little bit different than
it did this time last year.”
ney Cyrus Vance Jr. said his
investigation, on hold while
the court fight played out,
will now resume.
“This is a tremendous vic-
tory for our nation’s system
of justice and its founding
principle that no one — not
even a president — is above
the law. Our investigation,
which was delayed for almost
a year by this lawsuit, will
resume, guided as always by
the grand jury’s solemn obli-
gation to follow the law and
the facts, wherever they may
lead,” Vance said.
Even with his broadest
arguments rejected, Jay
Sekulow, Trump’s personal
lawyer, said he was pleased
that the “Supreme Court has
temporarily blocked both
Congress and New York pros-
ecutors from obtaining the
President’s financial records.
We will now proceed to raise
additional Constitutional
and legal issues in the lower
courts.”
Justice Samuel Alito, who
dissented with Justice Clar-
ence Thomas in both cases,
warned that future presi-
dents would suffer because
of the decision about
ZEPHYRUS LI/Missourian
moratorium on any discussion
of roll carts on the ballot in
March 2016, and 54% of voters
approved it. Buffaloe said she
wouldn’t be confident sug-
gesting roll carts again unless
the Columbia City Council
requests it.
Columbia resident Amber
Klempke said she was shocked
when she moved to the city
TRAIL from Page 1A
from the credits to develop
a wetland and riparian area
adjacent to the trail.
Ted Farnen, a Fifth Ward
representative on the Parks
and Recreation Commission,
said he heard no opposition to
the trail at the meeting.
Resident Dean Hargett is
eager to see it. “I have been
waiting for the 30-mile loop
for years,” he said.
Fourth Ward Councilman
Ian Thomas expressed his
excitement about continuing
progress on the 30-mile trail
loop. Thomas called Colum-
bia trails “a real asset to the
community, especially in
these pandemic times.”
Trump’s taxes.
“This case is almost cer-
tain to be portrayed as a
case about the current Pres-
ident and the current polit-
ical situation, but the case
has a much deeper signifi-
cance,” Alito wrote. “While
the decision will of course
have a direct effect on Pres-
ident Trump, what the Court
holds today will also affect
all future Presidents—which
is to say, it will affect the
Presidency, and that is a
matter of great and lasting
importance to the Nation.”
The case was argued by
telephone in May because of
the coronavirus pandemic.
The fight over the congres-
sional subpoenas has signif-
icant implications regarding
a president’s power to refuse
a formal request from Con-
gress. In a separate fight at
the federal appeals court in
Washington, D.C., over a con-
gressional demand for the
testimony of former White
House counsel Don McGahn,
the administration is making
broad arguments that the
president’s close advisers
are “absolutely immune”
from having to appear.
COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN
and learned she had to put
her trash and recyclables on
the street. Feeling bad for the
trash collectors, she agreed
that having roll carts would be
a safer option.
Klempke said her blue bags
have been collected only once
in the past four weeks. Now
she drops off her recycling
about once a week at the loca-
tion near Providence Road and
Nifong Boulevard.
Adkisson said he expects the
City Council during the com-
ing budget process to continue
having conversations with the
public about how trash and
recycling service should look.
The coronavirus pandem-
ic also affected the city’s
recycling pickup. Along with
employees being exposed to
COVID-19 in May, bans on
certain recyclables being
sold overseas has negatively
impacted markets. Specifi-
cally, Buffaloe said it’s been
hard to get rid of plastics #3
through #7, some of the most
difficult materials to sell.
“When we were doing recy-
cling, even maybe five years
ago, we could make even,” she
said. “But now, with recycling
markets going down, it’s cost-
ing us to run the trucks and
we’re not getting a full return
on our investment.”
Columbia isn’t alone in
struggling with the declining
market for recyclables. China
dealt the recycling industry a
blow with its Operation Sword
mandate in 2017, through
which it stopped accepting
recyclables from other coun-
tries because of problems with
contamination such as greasy
pizza boxes or plastics with
dirty labels, according to a
report by the Manhattan Insti-
tute. The report concluded that
municipal governments should
strongly consider getting out
of the recycling business, at
least for the time being.
Some Columbia residents
have wondered aloud wheth-
er the city will reduce their
monthly utility bills, given
that curbside recycling has
been suspended indefinitely.
A Tuesday news release from
the city didn’t address that
question.
The rate the city charges
“The Columbia
trail systems are
the most beautiful
trails I’ve seen in
my work.”
LAWRENCE SIMONSON
Transportation advocate
Some people in Colum-
bia believe the trails uplift
the city and community by
improving quality of life,
connecting people to nature
and even enticing companies
In two earlier cases
over presidential power,
the Supreme Court acted
unanimously in requiring
President Richard Nixon to
turn over White House tapes
to the Watergate special
prosecutor and in allowing
a sexual harassment lawsuit
against Clinton to go for-
ward.
In those cases, three
Nixon appointees and two
Clinton appointees, respec-
tively, voted against the
president who chose them
for the high court. A fourth
Nixon appointee, William
Rehnquist, sat out the tapes
case because he had worked
closely as a Justice Depart-
ment official with some of
the Watergate conspira-
tors whose upcoming trial
spurred the subpoena for the
Oval Office recordings.
The subpoenas are not
directed at Trump himself.
Instead, House committees
want records from Deutsche
Bank, Capital One and the
Mazars USA accounting
firm. Mazars also is the
recipient of Manhattan Dis-
trict Attorney Cyrus Vance’s
subpoena.
residents for solid waste col-
lection is based on the total
volume of trash and recy-
clables throughout the city,
Adkisson said.
“It’s essentially how much
material goes to the landfill,
either into a cell or through
the recycling facility,” he said.
“It’s not whether it’s curbside
or drop-off recycling.”
Adkisson said utility rates
are another topic the coun-
cil will likely discuss when
budgeting for fiscal 2021. In
May Sorrell proposed a 10%
increase for the utility.
Columbia resident Rebecca
Schedler said the city should
charge residents by the
amount of trash they put out
to be collected, rather than
charging a flat rate.
“I’ve been recycling as long
as I can remember ... Every
time I have to put something
in the trash, it makes me
mad,” she said, estimating she
puts only six bags of trash per
year at the curbside.
Schedler also worries the
city’s drop-off recycling con-
tainers will always be full,
given that more people will be
using them. That would force
them to stack recyclables on
the ground.
Buffaloe encouraged resi-
dents to check inside recycling
bins before leaving their bags
on the ground. Sometimes the
bins are stacked high at the
front and have more room
toward the back.
Columbia resident Leon
Jovanovic agreed and said that
when recycling containers
are packed toward the front,
the arthritis in his shoulders
makes it difficult for him to lift
materials into the containers.
Adkisson said some of the
collection sites are emptied
daily, and he noted that the
city is considering adding
more drop-off sites, particu-
larly north of Interstate 70,
where there is only one site, at
the Home Depot.
“I should emphasize that
we still highly encourage res-
idents to recycle materials,”
Adkisson said, noting that it is
easier for crews to empty bins
at drop-off locations, and it’s
possible they’ll be able to do
that more frequently now.
to bring jobs to town, trans-
portation advocate Lawrence
Simonson said.
“The Columbia trail sys-
tems are the most beautiful
trails I’ve seen in my work,”
Simonson said. “You feel like
you have left the city.”
Will Green, 60, said he
rides his bicycle weekly
on Columbia trails with a
Facebook group named Two
Wheel Tuesday.
“If we can make (the trails)
into a loop, it’ll be more fun
so we don’t have to see the
same thing twice,” Green
said.
Thomas said the design of
the bridge will not be decid-
ed until after it’s approved by
the City Council.
Appellate courts in Wash-
ington, D.C., and New York
brushed aside the president’s
arguments in decisions that
focused on the fact that the
subpoenas were addressed
to third parties asking for
records of Trump’s business
and financial dealings as a
private citizen, not as pres-
ident.
Two congressional com-
mittees subpoenaed the bank
documents as part of their
investigations into Trump
and his businesses. Deutsche
Bank has been one of the
few banks willing to lend
to Trump after a series of
corporate bankruptcies and
defaults starting in the early
1990s.
Vance and the House Over-
sight and Reform Committee
sought records from Mazars
concerning Trump and his
businesses based on pay-
ments that Trump’s former
personal lawyer, Michael
Cohen, arranged to keep two
women from airing their
claims of decade-old extra-
marital affairs with Trump
during the 2016 presidential
race.
 TWITTER IS HACKED
Twitter accounts of tech moguls,
politicians, celebrities, major
companies and more are hacked
in an apparent Bitcoin scam
Thursday, July 16, 2020 • COLUMBIA’S LOCALLY OWNED NEWSPAPER • COLUMBIAMISSOURIAN.COM • 75 CENTS
COVID-19 UPDATE:
Roll cart debate rolls
back into Columbia
BY ABBY ORF
news@columbiamissourian.com
A Facebook group formed in
support of a switch to roll carts
for trash and recycling col-
lection in Columbia is gaining
steam.
Amy Belcher, a 41-year-old
receptionist, started the group,
called Columbia MO Citizens
For Roll Carts, on Friday after
the city announced it would sus-
pend curbside recycling collec-
tions indefinitely. The city cited
continued trouble with staff
shortages and said trash collec-
tion had to be its priority.
By Wednesday afternoon,
the group’s membership had
grown to 1,095. Belcher hopes
the Facebook group can foster
productive and civil discussion
about the issue.
“I firmly believe you catch
more flies with honey than you
do with vinegar,” she said.
Worker safety is the main
reason Belcher supports roll
carts. She said the issue is
important because there is a
“very large workforce who are
our neighbors, friends, spouses
or children.”
“(Workers) shouldn’t be
Parson: Lawmakers are
returning to the Capitol
to address violent crime
BY MIKAYLA EASLEY
news@columbiamissourian.com
Gov. Mike Parson announced
Wednesday that Missouri will
hold a special legislative session
beginning July 27 to address vio-
lent crime.
Parson cited increases in crime,
especially in the state’s urban
areas, as a reason to call lawmak-
ers back to the Capitol. He com-
pared this year’s violent crime
rates to 2019, calling the climbing
statistics “unacceptable.”
“These are just the grim num-
bers, but the effects of violent
crime across our state are best
measured in lives,” Parson said,
“lives lost, futures cut short and
families hurting.”
During the special session, law-
makers will be asked to consider
amending state statues related to
six different provisions:
■  Modifying the offense of
endangering the welfare of a
child.
■  Creating the Witness Pro-
tection Fund.
■  Allowing certain witness
statements to be admissible in
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2 sections
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6 54051
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MU swimming coach Andrew
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sports psychology to the pool
Page 2A Page 1B
MISSOURI +902 BOONE COUNTY +26
Tests: 517,947 Cases: 29,875 Deaths: 1,103 Cases: 800 Deaths: 3
required to put their lives on
the line,” Belcher said.
The city for the past several
years has spent hundreds of
thousands of dollars on work-
er compensation claims filed
by trash collectors. It also has
trouble recruiting temporary
workers to fill the jobs because
of its inherent dangers.
Nevertheless, the city also is
on track to spend $600,000 on
temporary workers this year
alone.
While Belcher worries about
workers’ safety, Third Ward
Council Member Karl Skala
said he’s not sure how the city
could afford to pay for carts
and retrofitting trucks.
Skala noted the city is facing
a potential 10% budget cut,
largely because of the impact
of COVID-19 on declining sales
ZEPHYRUS LI/Missourian
tax revenue. Dr. John Dodam fondly looks at one of the MU Mule Club mules Friday. Rose and Bess, 2-year-old Belgian mules and understudies of Tim
“These are hurdles to over- and Terry, will serve as mascots of the club. “With mules, you develop more of a partnership than with horses,” Dodam said.
come to change to roll carts,”
Two new Missouri mules
said Skala, who favors a hybrid
model that would allow people
to try out roll carts or to stick
with the black bags the city
gives them now.
join the MU Mule Club
The debate and divide over
Please see CARTS, Page 6A
BY CHRIS MARTUCCI Going forward, it will be their physically sound and can handle
news@columbiamissourian.com job to put on fancy black-and-sil- the events that we take them
ver gear, hitch up to a wagon and to,” said John Dodam, Mule Club
Meet Rose and Bess. become goodwill ambassadors for sponsor and chief of veterinary
An enormous amount of pres- the university. medicine and surgery at MU.
sure rests on their haunches.
“Not all mules like crowds; not
The 2-year-old Belgian mules Goodwill ambassadors all mules like people, so we have
will be the fourth pair to serve
The mules appear in dozens of to be pretty careful,” he said.
as mascots of the Mule Club,
events every year — parades, fes- After the right mules are cho-
high-profile representatives of tivals, fairs and football games. sen, they are thoroughly and
an organization that has been on They travel throughout the state carefully trained. That can take a
campus since 1984 at the MU Col- for picnics, socials and wagon few years since maturity in mules
courts. lege of Veterinary Medicine. rides. They encounter hundreds comes at 4 or 5 years of age.
■  Certification for juveniles The new mules are understud- of people who talk to them, pet “They’re teenagers, essential-
tried as adults for the offense of ies of Tim and Terry, who have them and, perhaps, even scare
ly,” Dodam said of the 2-year-
unlawful use of a weapon and served as the official two-mule them.
olds.
armed criminal action. team since 2008. Rose and Bess Few mules have the tempera-
As with any teenager, they
■  Increasing the penalty for are the fourth team of mules ment to stand up to that kind of
require boundaries and routine.
the offense of unlawfully trans- in the last 36 years selected to pressure.
become mascots.
ferring a weapon to a child. “We have to pick mules that are Please see MULES, Page 6A
■  Removing residency
requirements for police and pub-
lic safety employees in St. Louis.
Parson said the proposed leg-
Parson signs new motorcycle helmet law,
islation would give law enforce-
ment the adequate resources to
fight violent crime within their
medical marijuana provisions, other bills
communities. He emphasized the
importance of witness protection
and said many people don’t testi-
fy out of fear of retaliation.
“All I want to do is give them
BY MIKAYLA EASLEY lawmakers to curtail or forgo sev- reasons,” Parson said in a statement
every possible tool I can give
news@columbiamissourian.com eral pieces of legislation. In several about the bills he signed. “Howev-
them from the state level to do
er, the General Assembly pushed
their jobs,” Parson said. Gov. Mike Parson gave his seal cases, lawmakers relied on creating
through these challenges and con-
Some legislators called on Par- massive omnibus bills tacked with
of approval to several new laws this
son to broaden the scope of the amendments, many of which Parson tinued to work for the people of Mis-
week, including removing provisions
session to include other measures, signed. At the same time, he vetoed souri. We appreciate their efforts to
for motorcycle helmets, limiting
including police reform. House Bill 1854 and said several of get several important pieces of leg-
some medical marijuana sales and
Lawmakers have urged Parson the bill’s provisions did not relate to islation across the finish line despite
streamlining testing of sexual assault
to address violent crime in Mis- the unprecedented circumstances of
kits. its original purpose.
souri in the past. COVID-19.”
This year’s hectic and shortened “This year’s legislative session
Please see CRIME, Page 6A legislative session caused many was very challenging for obvious Please see LAWS, Page 6A
Governor attempting to reassure Missourians
as COVID-19 cases continue to climb in state
The Associated Press jump was Tuesday, with 936 new cases. school buildings. Online learning would con-
The department also reported the number tinue at least through Oct. 21.
ST. LOUIS — Gov. Mike Parson sought to of deaths rose Wednesday by 10 to 1,103. Meanwhile, Springfield school officials
reassure Missourians about the coronavirus Boone County and DHSS have consis- unveiled a proposal Tuesday to allow fam-
pandemic Wednesday, as the state reported tently reported different numbers of cases. ilies in the state’s largest district to choose
888 new confirmed cases, its second-largest Based on information provided by the city in-person or virtual learning for the fall.
single-day increase. of Columbia, a more accurate number of A finalized plan is scheduled to be
“WE ARE NOT DEFENSELESS state cases is 29,875. released next Thursday, but officials caution
AGAINST COVID-19,” Parson, a Republi- For Boone County, 800 overall positive that tweaks may be needed throughout the
can, said in a tweet. “We are much better cases and three overall deaths were report- year, depending on COVID-19.
prepared now to deal with the virus than we ed Wednesday. There were 26 new cases. Nicole Holt, deputy superintendent of
were in March.” Amid the increases, schools are making academics, said the district is also develop-
His tweet came as the number of new decisions about what fall classes will look ing contingency plans to move students to
cases rose Wednesday. The Missouri like. virtual learning if a localized or widespread
Department of Health and Senior Services The Ferguson-Florissant School District spike in COVID-19 cases prompts the clo-
reported 29,714 cases, up nearly 18% from a board said in an email sent to families that sure of individual schools.
90850 3 week ago. The only other day with a bigger it is “strongly considering” not opening “We have to plan for the worst,” she said.
Page 6A — Thursday, July 16, 2020
‘It’s a mutual growth experience’ Potential adoption of roll carts has
MULES from Page 1A
They must learn how to
interact with people and
crowds, lead calmly and
trust their handlers to get
them from Point A to Point
B.
“Training starts from Day
One,” Dodam said. “You’ve
got a four- or five-year
investment until you get a
usable team.”
Two of his veterinary stu-
dents, Robert Schmidt and
Stepfanie George, handle the
day-to-day care, taking care
of the mules’ daily mainte-
nance: feeding, grooming,
shoeing and spraying them
with insect repellent.
“It’s a process of mutu-
al understanding,” said
George, who was vice presi-
dent of the Mule Club during
the past year.
“Not only are we taming
the mules, but they are get-
ting to know us as well. It’s a
mutual growth experience.”
But handling these ani-
mals is not fun and games
all the time.
“They’ll kick the fence;
they’ll roll on over some-
times,” George said. “So
many things can happen
with them.”
Golden girls
Hillda and Louise were
the Mule Club’s first team.
They arrived in Columbia in
1984 after being purchased
by Robert Kahrs, then dean
of the College of Veterinary
Medicine.
The two females came
from an 87-year-old farmer
in Fayette who was in bad
health and looking for a good
home.
Not long afterward, a new
tradition was born. Before
every Missouri home foot-
ball game, people would
wander over to the stalls to
see the mules before head-
ing to Memorial Stadium.
To this day, that remains
an informal pregame ritual.
“They’ll pet them, and
we have to hope they can
bring the Tigers some luck,”
Dodam said.
Dodam came to the vet
school in 1995 and became
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Robert Schmidt, a student in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine,
cares for a mule Friday in the Mule Club barn. Club members take turns
caring for the mules, cleaning them and spraying them with disinfectant.
club sponsor when Dean
Kahrs had heart surgery.
“I went to visit him in the
hospital, and he’s lying in the
hospital bed about to go into
surgery. He grabs my hands
and asks me to take care of
the mules and the students,”
Dodam said. “I wasn’t plan-
ning on getting involved
that much, but I didn’t have
much choice. I said yes, and
I didn’t quit.”
Hillda and Louise retired
in 1996 at age 20, and the
reins were handed over to
newcomers Jill and Shirley.
They served as mascots for
12 years before Tim and
Terry, the current team,
took over the job.
Stubborn as a mule?
A mule, the mixed-breed
offspring of a male donkey
and a female horse, has been
used for thousands of years
in various capacities. Their
crossbreeding gives them a
horse’s strength and a don-
key’s brains.
Some of the most well-
known civilizations in world
history — Greece, Rome,
Egypt and Mesopotamia —
used mules to carry heavy
loads and pull wagons,
according to the American
Mule Museum.
Their hardiness and smarts
evolved into the well-known
idiom, “Stubborn as a mule.”
An accurate description?
“With a mule, they get
a little bit of that donkey,
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ZEPHYRUS LI/Missourian
and that means they think,”
Dodam said. “And because
they think, that makes them
a little difficult to work.
Being smarter does not nec-
essarily mean you’re easier
to work with.”
Stubbornness has served
mules well over the decades,
especially in the 19th cen-
tury during the Western
expansion in the U.S.
The mule was especially
popular in Missouri when it
was the “touch-off” point for
those heading west. The ani-
mals proved to be a reliable
means of getting early set-
tlers through the plains and
across the Rocky Mountains
and Sierra Nevada because
their hooves are harder than
those of a horse.
The pack animals were
also in demand in the Deep
South, where they became
an important part of every
aspect of agriculture, from
plowing to planting to haul-
ing crops to market.
But Missouri remained the
largest mule-holding state
until the turn of the 20th
century, becoming synony-
mous with the animal in the
process.
“My favorite animal is
the mule,” former President
Harry S. Truman once said.
“He has more horse sense
than a horse. He knows when
to stop eating, and he knows
when to stop working.”
Bess, in fact, was named
after Truman’s wife.
$5 TIX
been a longtime contentious issue
CARTS from Page 1A
roll carts is not new to
Columbia. The Columbia City
Council faced strong opposi-
tion to roll carts around 2011
and again in 2015. Citizens
who fought against roll carts
last time collected enough
signatures on an initiative
petition to place a six-month
moratorium on any dis-
cussion of roll carts on the
March 2016 ballot. It passed
with 54% of the vote.
“City Council could take it
up,” Skala said, “but I doubt
they will.”
Sixth Ward Council Mem-
ber Betsy Peters has asked
the city staff to draft a
report that would compare
the cost of the current sys-
Some lawmakers remain skeptical
session will lead to reduced crime
CRIME from Page 1A
Missouri Democrats called
on Parson to include gun
reform legislation in last
September’s special session,
which focused on sales tax.
Some lawmakers remain
skeptical the special session
will be enough to reduce
crime.
“We had hoped the gover-
nor’s special session call would
be motivated by a desire
to save lives,” Rep. Crystal
Quade, D-Springfield, said in
a statement. “Instead, he only
seeks to distract from his bun-
gled response to the pandemic,
and the generational economic
devastation resulting from it,
with misinformed tough-on-
crime rhetoric that will solve
nothing.”
Rep. LaKeySha Bosley,
D-St. Louis, also said in a
statement that if lawmakers
are to address violent crime,
they also need to address
police reform after months of
nationwide protests against
police brutality — including in
Columbia.
“If we want to be tough on
crime, let us be tough on all
crime, including those com-
mitted by men and women
who swear an oath to protect
and serve,” Bosley said.
Such topics are too compli-
cated and controversial to be
addressed during a special ses-
sion, Parson said, and should
be discussed at length during a
regular legislative session.
Governor vetoes taxing districts bill
LAWS from Page 1A
The complete list of legis-
lation signed by Parson can
be found on the governor’s
website.
Motorcycle helmets
no longer required
Under House Bill 1963,
motorcyclists over the age of
26 will no longer be required
to wear a helmet, so long as
they can provide proof of
health insurance.
Parson vetoed a similar bill
in 2019, which would have
allowed motorcyclists over 18
to ride without helmets.
Motorcyclists are required
to have a health insurance
policy that covers the medical
costs of injuries from motorcy-
cle accidents. While police will
be able to ask to see insurance,
they cannot stop drivers just
to see if they are following the
law.
In addition, local govern-
ments will not be able to
enforce their own laws that
require helmets.
Maureen Cunningham,
executive director of the Brain
Injury Association of Missou-
ri, said in a statement that the
repealed law will cost the state
in lives lost and additional
health care costs.
“It is unfortunate that Gov.
Parson chose to ignore calls,
emails and letters from orga-
nizations and individuals,”
Cunningham said. “Instead, he
decided to add to the Missouri
Budget shortfall, allow higher
costs to Missouri taxpayers
and increase waiting lists for
services for individuals with
brain injury.”
The original legislation with
COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN
tem with a roll cart system
or a private service.
Some Columbia residents
have called for privatizing
the trash utility, Skala said,
but he added that handing
the utility over to a private
company would cause the
city to lose the ability to set
rates.
Some members of the
Facebook group have wor-
ried about the potential loss
of jobs the city will face if
it adopts roll carts. The city
struggles to staff the trucks
now, Skala said, even with
pay that exceeds minimum
wage.
The City Council in recent
years has boosted the mini-
mum pay for trash collectors
to $17 an hour.
“We had hoped the governor’s
special session call would be
motivated by a desire to save
lives.”
REP. CRYSTAL QUADE
D-Springfield
When discussing the root
causes of violent crime, how-
ever, Parson said he’s interest-
ed in addressing children and
mental health programs, along
with providing law enforce-
ment with more resources in
the future.
Parson has worked with
local officials in the past
to address violent crime in
Missouri. In October, he met
with mayors Brian Treece of
Columbia, Ken McClure of
Springfield, Lyda Krewson of
St. Louis and Quinton Lucas of
Kansas City to discuss strat-
egies to combat gun violence
and other crime. The meeting
occurred the month after
Columbia recorded five gun
deaths in just 10 days.
In January, Treece said
the group identified witness
protection as one area for
improvement in their commu-
nities. According to previous
Missourian reporting, Colum-
bia has lobbied the governor’s
the helmet change was related
to identifying funding for a
testing facility for the hyper-
loop transportation system.
HB 1963 also creates new
restrictions for flying drones
over prisons, mental health
facilities and sports stadiums.
The bill will go into effect
August 28.
Reining in medical
marijuana
While several pieces of leg-
islation regarding Missouri’s
controversial medical mari-
juana licensing process came
to a stop during the COVID-19
pandemic, lawmakers were
able to pass House Bill 1896.
The law has new rules about
how marijuana can be market-
ed and sold.
Marijuana edibles cannot be
sold in the shape of humans,
animals or fruits. The pack-
aging and logos fall under the
same provisions. Future rules
will also be created so medi-
cal marijuana edibles do not
appeal to minors.
HB 1682 also requires
employees and owners of
medical marijuana facilities
to submit fingerprints to the
Missouri State Highway Patrol
for Department of Health &
Senior Services background
checks.
Testing sexual assault
kits
Last year, the attorney gen-
eral’s office began making
its way through over 6,000
untested rape kits. Now, Sen-
ate Bill 569 provides a process
to streamline the process that
tests these kits in the future.
The legislation creates the
“Justice for Survivors Act,”
Opponents of roll carts
have argued that some res-
idents would struggle to get
their roll carts to the end
of their driveway, that oth-
ers would have nowhere to
store the carts and that they
would be too expensive.
Belcher said she would like
to see a move toward imple-
menting roll carts as soon
as possible, but she would
be OK about an experiment
with a hybrid model.
She has encouraged mem-
bers of her Facebook group
to lobby their City Council
representatives, and she
has considered collecting
signatures to put a measure
in favor of roll carts on the
ballot.
office for more local tools to
offer witness protection.
In addition, Parson signed
Senate Bill 600 earlier in July.
The massive public safety bill
had several provisions relat-
ed to public safety, including
increased prison sentences
and the elimination of prison
sentences for certain violent
crimes. He said the bill would
provide law enforcement with
tools to fight criminals.
With the announcement
coming less than two weeks
from when lawmakers need
to return to Jefferson City,
Sen. John Rizzo, D-Kansas
City, sent a letter to the Mis-
souri Department of Health &
Senior Services requesting it
provide COVID-19 testing to
anyone working in the capitol
building before the session.
“I think that’s fine,” Parson
said in response to the request.
“Anything we can do to make
it safe. It’ll be a good place to
do testing.”
the “Sexual Assaults Survi-
vors’ Bill of Rights,” the “Mis-
souri Rights of Victims of Sex-
ual Assault Task Force” and
evidential collection kits.
In what became another
omnibus bill, the original legis-
lation established a process to
test sexual assault kits easier
while allowing victims to track
its status.
In addition, the bill now
protects victims’ rights by pro-
viding mental health resourc-
es while the assault is being
investigated by police and
creates a telehealth network
for medical professionals con-
ducting examinations.
The legislation was one of
the most bipartisan-supported
bills during the 2020 session.
Parson says no to special
taxing districts
HB 1854, another massive
omnibus bill, was vetoed by
the governor because of its
many amendments. The leg-
islation would have altered
how local governments create
taxing districts but included
provisions Parson felt were
unrelated.
“It is my judgement that the
intent of these constitutional
requirements was not ful-
filled in this instance due to
the constraints imposed upon
the General Assembly by the
recent outbreak of COVID-19,”
Parson wrote in the veto letter.
Taxing districts are often
created in Missouri to fund
special projects. Current law
states they must be approved
by voters within the borders of
the proposed district, but HB
1854 would have changed that
to voters of an entire munici-
pality.
 MCCLOSKEYS CHARGED TACKLING UNKNOWNS
The St. Louis couple, who yelled Columbia high school football
at protesters while brandishing coaches are tackling not just a
firearms, have been charged with new season but a season with
felony unlawful use of a weapon more uncertainties than ever
Page 4A Page 1B

Tuesday, July 21, 2020 • COLUMBIA’S LOCALLY OWNED NEWSPAPER • COLUMBIAMISSOURIAN.COM • 75 CENTS

MISSOURI +532 BOONE COUNTY +10

COVID-19 UPDATE: Tests: 571,912 Cases: 33,775 Deaths: 1,132 Cases: 901 Deaths: 3

Columbia among most vulnerable college towns

The city’s economy relies heavily on students — a population that could drop if classes go entirely online
BY WILLIAM SKIPWORTH
news@columbiamissourian.com

A
n already difficult year may not get much better for college towns
like Columbia, at least according to a new study by SmartAsset, a
financial technology company based in New York City.
The study ranks Columbia the 25th-most vulnerable U.S. college
town — of 95 analyzed — to the economic effects of the coronavirus pan-
demic.
Much depends on what universities decide to do about holding in-per-
son classes this fall and what those classes will look like. Many fear that
in-person classes will accelerate the spread of the virus. Even if schools
reopen, the pandemic is still expected to reduce spending and revenues as
Please see TOWN, Page 6A

LEANNE TIPPETT MOSBY/Missourian LEANNE TIPPETT MOSBY/Missourian

A sign on the entrance of Fuzzy’s Taco Shop’s downtown location notifies customers of its A “For Lease” sign hangs in the window at the location that was formerly Bambino’s Italian Cafe on Monday on Elm Street in downtown
permanent closure Monday on South Ninth Street in downtown Columbia. The sign also Columbia. A SmartAsset study has ranked Columbia the 25th-most economically vulnerable U.S. college town — of 95 ­analyzed —
encourages customers to visit the company’s other local location, on Nifong Boulevard. because of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Revenue guarantee for Charlotte flights is Ding-

on Columbia City Council’s August agenda dong,
census
BY KALEIGH FELDKAMP Airlines, which would be the com- The $800,000 grant is part of the In June 2017, the City Council
news@columbiamissourian.com pany most likely to provide service U.S. Department of Transporta- approved a revenue guarantee of
between Columbia and Charlotte. tion’s Small Community Air Service $600,000 for United Airlines’ flights
The city is gearing up to establish
American now offers flights Development Program. It would be to and from Denver, along with

passenger flight service between
Columbia Regional Airport and
Charlotte Douglas International
Airport.
An $800,000 grant from the U.S.
Department of Transportation and
more than $300,000 in local and
state contributions would allow the
city to create a $1.1 million revenue
guarantee fund that could be used
to entice American Airlines to pro-
vide the service.
The Columbia City Council at its
Monday meeting heard the first
reading of an ordinance that would
establish the fund. A final vote is
scheduled for the council’s Aug. 3
meeting.
The grant was first awarded
back in February and is a stepping
stone in negotiations with American
between Columbia and Chicago and
Dallas. United Airlines flies to and
from Denver and Chicago.
“Expanded air service to Char-
lotte means enhanced connections
throughout the eastern U.S., which
brings new and exciting economic
and travel opportunities to mid-Mis-
souri,” Mayor Brian Treece said
back in February.
Charlotte Douglas International
Airport ranks among the 10 busiest
airports in the world, according
to its website, which says it serves
approximately 178 nonstop desti-
nations around the globe and wel-
comes more than 50 million passen-
gers per year. It would put Columbia
travelers within easy reach of
several Southeastern Conference
destinations.
supplemented with $150,000 from
the Missouri Department of Trans-
portation, $80,000 from MU and
$80,000 from the city of Columbia,
according to the memo.
Revenue guarantees are intend-
ed to encourage airlines to supply
additional air service in smaller
regional markets such as Columbia
by ensuring they make at least a
minimum amount of profit on the
flights.
In 2013, the council approved a
similar revenue guarantee to pro-
vide up to $3 million over two years
to American Airlines to support its
flights to Dallas/Fort Worth and
Chicago O’Hare international air-
ports. American tapped that fund
only once, for $22,652 in March
2013.
calling
$250,000 to market the service.
United billed the city for all that
money about a year later.
Columbia Regional Airport has
seen a decrease in the number of
flights per day in the wake of the BY FEIYU SU
coronavirus pandemic. United news@columbiamissourian.com
Airlines suspended its flight from
Columbia to Denver as a result of If your household has not
fewer travelers. yet responded to the 2020
On the other hand, the airport U.S. census, you can expect a
knock on your door or door-
received nearly $18.8 million
bell to ring any day now.
through the federal Coronavirus
Census takers on Thursday
Aid, Relief, and Economic Security began seeking out those who
Act, which it can use for capital have not filled out the cen-
projects, operations or debt relief. sus forms. The Kansas City
The city plans to use some of that census office will continue
money for operations to free up to deploy workers in Boone
some of the transportation sales tax County between now and Oct.
proceeds it normally uses to subsi- 31, Sara Humm, a commu-
dize the airport. nity relations specialist for
the Columbia city manager’s
office, said.
Census takers are readily
identifiable, so you should be

Columbia City Council opts to

TODAY’S WEATHER able to tell whether the per-
STORMS LIKELY son at your door is legit. They
85/71 wear a valid government ID
badge with their photograph,
INDEX
Abby5B
Classifieds4B
put roll carts back on the ballot a U.S. Department of Com-
merce watermark and an
expiration date, according to
a news release from the city.
Nation4A BY MISSOURIAN STAFF They also will be trained
that now has more than 1,000 followers, had
Obituaries2A on social distancing protocols
news@columbiamissourian.com addressed the council earlier in the evening. She
Opinion5A and other health and safety
said the time has come to switch to roll carts,
Sports1B Columbia residents are likely to get another guidance before visiting
given the city’s forced suspension of curbside neighborhoods.
Sudoku4B chance to vote on whether they believe an auto-
recycling service and the exorbitant workers’ Residents can call (312)
TV schedule 6B mated roll cart system for trash collection is the
compensation and temporary worker costs the 579-1500 to speak with a U.S.
best option for the city.
city’s Solid Waste utility incurs each year. Census Bureau representa-
The Columbia City Council voted 4-3 to put
Our 112th year/#222 Fifth Ward Councilman Matt Pitzer during tive if they have concerns
2 sections the wheels in motion for a November ballot
general council comments said the time has about the identity of someone
12 pages issue that would ask residents whether they
come for the city to change the way the city col- at their door, according to the
support or oppose the switch. The city’s legal
lects trash and recycling. release.
team will be responsible for drafting the precise
“It’s clear that the system is broken, and it’s If no one is at home when
language of the ballot measure.
kinda falling apart ... ,” he said. “It’s time to junk the census takers visit the
The council took up the issue toward the
it.” household, census takers will
end of its regular meeting Monday night.
6 54051 90850 3 Amy Belcher, who founded a Facebook group Please see COUNCIL, Page 6A Please see CENSUS, Page 6A
Page 6A — TUESDAY, July 21, 2020 COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN

Businesses adjust, mayor remains optimistic as semester approaches

TOWN from Page 1A
at least some students reduce
activities to stay safe.
That’s a big concern for
cities like Columbia, whose
economies rely on large stu-
dent populations.
Columbia is projecting a
10% decline in sales tax rev-
enue this year, according to
previous Missourian report-
ing. Originally, the council
had only budgeted for a 2.5%
decrease. Sales tax accounts
for 27% of the city’s revenue.
In a radio interview Mon-
day morning, Mayor Brian
Treece talked about what it
would take to get students
back to Columbia.
“I think the key for us will
be — until there is a vaccine
and more widespread test-
ing — that we keep cases
manageable with respect to
contact tracing and hospital-
ization so that we can allow
in-person classes at our three
colleges and universities
here,” he said.
The three college campuses
include MU, the UM Sys-
tem’s flagship campus with
a student population just shy
of 30,000; Columbia College,
which has about 1,100 stu-
dents; and Stephens College,
with fewer than 1,000 stu-
dents.
All three campuses have
announced they will be hold-
ing at least some in-person
classes next semester, and it’s
still possible — especially in
light of new outbreaks of the
pandemic in many states in
the U.S. — that classes will
be offered entirely online at
some point during the semes-
ter.
In the study, SmartAsset
tried to identify the cities
most dependent on under-
graduate students and their
spending. The study pulled
data for all U.S. cities with a
population of at least 50,000
and at least one four-year
college or university and cre-
ated a list of the top 25 most
vulnerable.
The study compared stu-
dents as a percentage of each
city’s population, college
staff as a percentage of the
city’s workers and the con-
centration of bookstores,
bars, restaurants, hotels and
entertainment establishments
within the city.
According to the study,
undergraduate students
taking in-person classes in
four-year colleges make up
15.97% of Columbia’s popu-
lation. College staff make up
15.56% of the city’s workers.
And bars and restaurants
make up 7.87% of the city’s
establishments.
The study calculated an
index based on all these
factors and gave Columbia
an index of 67.61. For ref-
erence, Lawrence, Kansas,
the nearest city also listed
in the study and home to the
University of Kansas, scored
an 81.68 and Bloomington,
Indiana, home to Indiana Uni-
versity and the city ranked
as most vulnerable, scored a
100.
The top 25 also includes
several college towns in
neighboring states such as
Manhattan, Kansas; Ames
and Iowa City, Iowa; and
Normal and Champaign, Illi-
nois. It also includes homes
of several other SEC institu-
tions such as Tuscaloosa and
Auburn, Alabama; Athens,
Georgia; Gainesville, Florida;
and College Station, Texas.
A brighter vision
from the mayor
In an interview with David
Lile on KFRU radio Monday
morning, Treece took the
long view.
“When I look at the long-
term horizon, I am optimistic
on Columbia’s resiliency,” he
said in the interview, “both
in terms of the types of busi-
nesses we have but also what
those businesses did early on
in this pandemic.”
Wearing a mask is one
proven way to reduce the
spread of COVID-19. On July
6, the Columbia City Council
passed an emergency ordi-
nance, requiring masks when
around people outside of one’s
household.
In the interview, Treece
said he’d had a phone meet-
ing with 38 downtown bar,
restaurant and retail owners
who told him that the week-
end after the mask ordinance
went into effect, those busi-
nesses had “one of the best
weekends ever.” He said that
customers had told business
owners they were waiting
for things to get safer before
they came out.
He said he’s seen an overall
positive reception to the mask
ordinance and believes that it
was a good time to do it.
Treece also said that he’s
been having continued dis-
cussions with health depart-
ment leaders and school offi-
cials about what would have
to happen for them to “push
the panic button.”
Balancing health,
business
A point of tension has
emerged between businesses
and the Health Department
as the COVID-19 crisis grinds
on: how the department
informs people of possible
exposure to the virus at busi-
nesses.
Columbia/Boone County
Health and Human Services
tweeted July 2 that anyone
visiting Room 38, a bar on
Eighth Street, between June
22 and 25 may have been
exposed.
Billy Giordano, owner of
Room 38, wasn’t happy with
the way the health depart-
ment handled the situation.
He felt his bar was being sin-
gled out. He spoke to several
local news outlets to express
his frustration.
“Other places have had
staff members test positive,
and no press release was
made,” he told KOMU. “All
of the grocery stores, all of
the gas stations are not really
doing anything to help the
situation anymore than we
are, and yet there’s been no
record.”
The Health Department
A sign notifies customers of a temporary closure at Kaldi’s Coffee on Monday on South Ninth Street in downtown
Columbia. Columbia’s economy is reliant on a large student population.
“When I look at the long-term horizon, I am
optimistic on Columbia’s resilience.”
also tweeted July 3 that any-
one at Willie’s Pub & Pool or
Silverball on June 26 may
have been exposed.
Health Department Assis-
tant Director Scott Clardy
said the department sent out
those notices for a reason.
“The only time we do that
is if we can’t identify all the
close contacts,” Clardy said.
“It’s our responsibility to noti-
fy people if they may have
been exposed and we can’t
identify them. If we don’t
send out a release, that means
that after talking to the per-
son who tested positive, we
feel as though we’ve been
able to identify all the close
contacts.”
With the recent rise in
COVID-19 cases in mid-Mis-
souri and across the country,
there’s been a heightened
BRIAN TREECE
Columbia mayor
focus on how businesses are
working to keep people safe.
Columbia/Boone County Pub-
lic Health and Human Ser-
vices said it’s working closely
with businesses to that end.
“We have a whole group of
people here that do nothing
but work with businesses to
help them follow compliance
and understand what their
requirements are,” Clardy
said.
When the mandatory mask
ordinance was passed, one
of the chief concerns about
the ordinance was how busi-
nesses would be expected to
enforce this rule.
“What we expect business-
es to do there is make a good-
faith effort,” Clardy said. “So
things like put a sign up say-
ing that masks are required.
If someone comes in their
LEANNE TIPPETT MOSBY/Missourian
establishment and doesn’t
have a mask on, tell them
they need to have a mask on.”
The Health Department
created signs for local busi-
nesses to post to inform cus-
tomers of the new ordinance.
Six signs have been released
featuring various phrases,
such as “Face masks required
upon entry” and “Face masks
required, smiles still encour-
aged.” One of the signs has
been translated into Spanish.
Clardy said businesses can
also offer curbside service to
customers who don’t want to
wear a mask.
Jonathan Weng, owner of
U Knead Sweets, a bakery on
Cherry Street, said that his
business has had no problem
getting customers to comply.
He said his establishment
doesn’t even need to put a
sign up and that customers
have been very responsive to
verbal reminders.
“Occasionally, people walk
in and, you know, some peo-
ple wear their mask not the
way they’re supposed to wear
it,” he said “You know, if they
put it under their chin, then
we just kind of verbally tell
them, ‘Hey, there’s a regula-
tion that we need you to com-
ply with, so please put your
mask on.’ And most people
don’t have a problem.”
Weng said that staff keep
their masks on at all times,
too. He also said that U
Knead Sweets is working to
put up some sort of plexiglass
barrier to separate customers
and employees, as well.
“This whole COVID-19
thing has really put a test on
us,” Weng said.
In terms of promoting
social distancing within
businesses, Clardy suggests
putting signs on the floor that
mark 6 feet of distance to let
patrons know where to stand
or making certain aisles one-
way to control traffic and
avoid close contact.
“As far as what works best,”
Clardy said, “make sure that
a group that comes together
stays together and then stays
6 feet away from any other
groups. Those are the kinds
of things that work best. It’s
the physical distancing that
works best”
The department’s website
has resources for businesses
and an email address (busi-
nessguidance@como.gov)
dedicated to corresponding
with businesses on the mat-
ter.
Send help stat
In a webinar hosted by the
National League of Cities
on Monday, leaders from
other college towns across
the U.S. were a little less
optimistic than Treece in his
radio interview. The webinar
focused on addressing the
economic uncertainty of the
current climate, and leaders
of several college communi-
ties implored the U.S. Senate
to include $500 billion in
relief funding for commu-
nities of all sizes across the
country.
The webinar brought
together leaders from several
college towns, including Ron-
ald Filippelli, the mayor of
State College, Pennsylvania,
home to Penn State.
“The absence of students
since March has been crip-
pling to our city,” Filippelli
said.
Another panelist, Gloria
Betcher, a city council mem-
ber from Ames, Iowa, home
to Iowa State University,
noted that, before the pan-
demic, Ames had the nation’s
lowest unemployment rate in
February of 2020 at 1.7%. By
the end of May, unemploy-
ment had quadrupled in the
city. She also noted that the
city recorded a $9.1 million
shortfall in revenue.
“Ames, Iowa, is not unique,”
Betcher said. “This story
could belong to any American
college town.”

Low response Roll cart measure would be up for vote Nov. 3

COUNCIL from Page 1A and First Ward Councilwoman Pat “yes” on the 2016 ban who say they

rate would put

There’s a significant rub, though.
Columbia voters in March 2016
approved a referendum banning the
city from using automated systems
involving roll carts for trash collection.
Fowler opposed it.
Fowler suggested there would be
time during upcoming budget discus-
sions to further flesh out the pros and
cons of a change. Pitzer and Peters,
however, noted that without a Novem-
would change their minds and vote in
favor of roll carts if they had another
chance.
Pitzer suggested another vote might
produce a different result. “The facts
on the ground have changed,” he said.

funding at risk
CENSUS from Page 1A
leave a notice with information
about how to respond online, by
phone or by mail, according to
the news release.
As of now, the response rate
in Boone County remains low.
Humm said about 64% of Boone
County households have already
responded, compared to 61.8% of
Columbia households.
Statewide, the Census Bureau
reported that 62.2% of households
had responded. That matched the
national response rate.
Columbia’s response rate for
the past two decennial censuses
was 77%, according to a previous
Missourian story.
Humm said one of the reasons
for the lagging response rate thus
far is that many college students
returned to their hometowns
because of the pandemic. College
students are advised by the Cen-
sus Bureau to indicate on their
forms where they live for the
majority of the year.
Humm encouraged residents to
fill out the 2020 census because
it’s important for the future
development of the community.
“Federal agencies use census
results to distribute hundreds of
billions of dollars in funds each
year,” Humm said.
If one person, child included, is
not counted, Missouri loses an esti-
mated $1,300 in federal funding
per year, according to the release.
Household residents can now
respond to the 2020 census online
at my2020census.gov, by phone at
(844) 330-2020 or by completing
and mailing back the paper ques-
tionnaire they received in the
spring, according to the release.
Residents can follow Boone
County Counts, a partnership to
promote the census, on Facebook
and Instagram at @BooneCounty-
Counts or on the website at Boone-
CountyCounts.com.
It passed with 54% of the vote.
Mayor Brian Treece said he was
reluctant to subvert the will of citi-
zens who voted for that initiative. He
likened it to the Missouri General
Assembly repealing constitutional
amendments that have been approved
by Missouri voters.
Sixth Ward Councilwoman Betsy
Peters joined Second Ward Coun-
cilman Mike Trapp, Fourth Ward
Councilman Ian Thomas and Pitzer in
supporting a November vote. Treece,
Third Ward Councilman Karl Skala
City poised to waive bus fares through ’21; council reviews project plan
BY WILLIAM SKIPWORTH
news@columbiamissourian.com
City staff is recommending bus
and paratransit service remain free
through fiscal 2021 given the support
the city has received for transportation
services through the federal Coronavi-
rus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security
Act.
At the beginning of the coronavirus
pandemic, the council had waived
fares for the city’s buses in an effort to
ease the economic difficulties caused
by the pandemic. The council was
scheduled to vote on whether to repeal
ber vote, the issue would linger far
longer than the troubled utility can
tolerate.
Despite her vote, Peters said she
wondered about the wisdom of a ballot
issue. If voters were to reject roll carts
again, she asked, “What do we do then?
There’s really not an option. We can’t
keep doing trash bags.”
The 2016 referendum established
ordinances that prevent the city from
converting to roll carts.
Thomas said he has heard from
numerous constituents who voted
those waivers Monday night, but City
Manager John Glascock said that
wouldn’t be necessary, given the influx
of federal aid.
The council also held a public hear-
ing on the capital improvements plan
for fiscal 2021. It detailed the different
infrastructure projects the city plans
to carry out in the coming fiscal year.
It includes:
■  $4.8 million worth of projects for
the electric utility.
■  $3.3 million for improvements to
government buildings.
■  $1.3 million in Parks and Recre-
The council also struggled with what
the wording of a ballot issue might be.
Would it focus on repealing those ordi-
nances, or would it simply ask citizens
whether they favor roll carts?
City Counselor Nancy Thompson
said the ballot language wouldn’t need
to be bogged down by complicated lan-
guage regarding the potential repeal of
ordinances. Citizens should be able to
vote “yes” if they are for roll carts or
“no” if they are against them, Thomp-
son said.
“We can make it clear.”
ation Department projects, all funded
by dedicated parks sales taxes.
■  $4.7 million in street mainte-
nance and construction, including $2.2
million to extend Discovery Parkway
from Gans Road to New Haven Road.
■  $3.7 million in sewer upgrades.
■  $21.8 million in water projects,
including the treatment plant upgrade.
Earlier in the meeting, there were
five scheduled public comments
regarding police reform and racism.
They ranged from urging the city to
revamp its mental health services to
racism in Columbia Public Schools.
 JOHN LEWIS MEMORIAL
The Civil Rights icon was
remembered Saturday in his
Alabama hometown during the
first of several days of services
Sunday & Monday, July 26-27, 2020 • COLUMBIA’S LOCALLY OWNED NEWSPAPER • COLUMBIAMISSOURIAN.COM • 75 CENTS
COVID-19 UPDATE:
Glascock’s 2021 budget would cut jobs, change policing in the city
BY WILLIAM SKIPWORTH
news@columbiamissourian.com
Columbia’s financial picture looks
grim for 2021.
City Manager John Glascock in
a Friday morning news conference
outlined his proposed budget for the
fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
It calls for eliminating 78.5 full-
time positions and for significant
budget cuts that will challenge
general fund departments and the
city’s utilities. The cuts would have
a direct impact on residents’ lives.
“Individuals, families, businesses
are feeling the effects of COVID-19,
which include financial struggles,”
Glascock said. “Your city govern-
ment is not immune to these finan-
cial struggles and uncertainty.”
Along with the proposed cuts,
Glascock is calling for changes in
the way the city polices and the
permanent elimination of curbside
recycling and distribution of trash
and recycling bags to households.
Glascock’s budget includes
$621,000 for a mental health collab-
oration between the Police Depart-
ment and the Health Department.
He also wants to reestablish the
Police Department’s Community
Outreach Unit, staffing it with six
officers and a sergeant, and pro-
mote community policing downtown
by switching the responsibility for
parking enforcement from meter
attendants to uniformed police offi-
cers.
Clardy provides insight about pandemic
BY CLIVIA LIANG
news@columbiamissourian.com
Scott Clardy, the assistant
director of the Columbia Health
Department, spoke Friday to
clear up misunderstandings about
COVID-19 testing and positive
cases among young people.
Clardy said the optimum time
for people to get tested is seven
to nine days after their last expo-
sure.
When someone receives a posi-
tive test result, it is common that
people who have been in contact
with the person will immediately
go to get tested, Clardy told the
weekly gathering of Muleskin-
ners, the club for Boone County
Democrats.
But Clardy said there will be
problems even if those people
come back with negative tests.
“You’re going to have them
come back to work and they could
still show positive within the next
three or four days or five days,”
he said.
Clardy also stressed that even if
people go and get a negative test
result after seven to nine days,
they still have to stay quarantined
for a full 14-day period.
He talked about the high rate of
infections among young people,
despite them being a lower-risk
population.
There are 267 positive cases of
TODAY’S WEATHER
VERY WARM
93/73
INDEX
Abby8B
Classifieds7A
Nation7A
Obituaries2A
Opinion6A
Sports1B
Sudoku8A
TV schedule 8B
Our 112th year/#227
2 sections
16 pages
6 54051
CARDINALS WIN 9-1
Adam Wainwright pitched six innings
and Paul Goldschmidt hit a home run
to propel St. Louis over Pittsburgh for
their second win of the season
Page 7A Page 1B
MISSOURI +1,359 BOONE COUNTY +36
Tests: 619,721 Cases: 40,845 Deaths: 1,182 Cases: 1,039 Deaths: 3
Glascock conceded that parking
enforcement downtown “probably
won’t be as intense.”
To drive the mental health col-
laboration, Glascock is proposing
eight additional positions in the
Police Department and seven in
the Columbia/Boone County Pub-
lic Health and Human Services
Department. He said it remains to
be seen exactly how that initiative
will work, but it comes in response
to calls for shifting some of the
responsibility for responding to
emergency calls from police to men-
tal health experts.
Glascock anticipates total revenue
of $416.7 million in fiscal 2021 and
total spending of $456.9 million.
To balance the general fund bud-
get, which covers the day-to-day
operations of 20 city government
departments, he proposes drawing
$531,892 from reserves.
The spending plan calls for no
increases in utility bills, except the
possibility of a 3% increase in water
rates after calendar year 2020 ends.
Still, Glascock warned, each of the
utilities is in danger of falling below
targeted reserves without rate
increases in the near future.
The solid waste utility, he said,
could go into the red by fiscal 2024
without a rate increase. He said he
and his staff are preparing for a
LEANNE TIPPETT MOSBY/Missourian
council discussion on the possibility
Robert Bridgford enforces the parking ordinance in downtown Columbia. City Manager John Glascock presented the recommended fiscal
of converting to roll carts for trash
year 2021 budget on Friday, which would move responsibilities of four parking enforcement employees to the Columbia Police Department.
Please see BUDGET, Page 4A
Columbia Public Schools to hold
virtual webinars on reopening
BY LARISSA GAO Families were asked to review
“If it is necessary for us to work news@columbiamissourian.com their options and respond to a sur-
vey indicating whether they would
with the university to get cases Columbia Public Schools will hold be attending in-person or online by
a series of virtual webinars in a June 30.
isolated and to identify close program, called Parent-Community
University, about schools reopening
Superintendent Peter Stiepleman
told KMIZ on July 21 that about
contact, those cases will be in the fall.
These meetings will allow par-
85% of families had responded to
the survey. The district is working
reported and followed up on just ents and community members to
learn more about the programs and
on contacting the remaining fami-
lies who hadn’t responded, he said.
like any other cases.” long-range planning of the district,
according the district website. Ses-
“Right now, about 80% of our
families have chosen to be in-per-
sions will begin Tuesday and be son, and 20% have asked to start the
SCOTT CLARDY held at various times until Aug. 6. year online,” he said.
Assistant director of Columbia Heath Department Classes are set to begin Aug. 25. The reopening plan released by
Parents with children in elemen- the district said students will be
tary, middle or high school can find encouraged to stay within stable
people between ages 20 to 24 in In response, Clardy pointed out information about the webinars, groups to minimize exposure. Large
Boone County, which is the high- that the Health Department has which will be either live or record- gatherings, such as schoolwide
est among all age groups, accord- issued three notices of violation ed, on the district’s website. assemblies, will not take place.
ing to a city government website. to three local bars: Willie’s Pub & The webinars are divided into The district will ”expect” students
“The large majority of our Pool, the Country Club of Missou- four sections: social-emotional, aca- to wear masks in the fall semester
cases are under the age of 30, ri, and Truman’s Bar & Grill. demic, getting ready for school and but allow exemptions, including
which is a huge concern,” Clardy Clardy said the department technology. Stress management for students with special needs, anxiety,
said. This is mainly because the tracks the complaints of local caregivers, technology troubleshoot- trauma or ADHD. Teachers might
youth aren’t doing a good job at businesses that it regulates. ing and Q&As about certain classes need to wear see-though facial
social distancing, he said. “The first thing we do is to are topics to be discussed. shields, so students with hearing
City Council Member Karl educate them and try to make In addition, the Columbia School impairments can read lips.
Skala, one of the attendees at the sure that they understand what’s Board will hold a special meeting The reopening plan said that
meeting, expressed his concerns expected and what they’re doing Aug. 4 to discuss fall reopening buildings could close temporarily if
about young people in bars violat- wrong,” he said. “And if we get plans further. a student or employee tests positive
ing current health orders: “The continued complaints or if we The district announced during for COVID-19. Long-term closures
government is helping to reopen think the circumstance is obvi- a June School Board meeting that would happen if attendance drops
businesses, including opening up ously egregious, then we go ahead it would allow families to choose significantly or an order to close
the bars where the kids are less between online instruction and comes from the state or county
responsible.” Please see CLARDY, Page 4A in-person classes next year. health officials.
Parents agonize over back-to-school decisions
Across the country, lems and dyslexia and another
who’s starting college.
chaos and disarray have As they decide how their
marked the start of the children will learn this fall
2020 school year amid the coronavirus pandem-
ic, these parents are anxiously
BY TAMMY WEBBER weighing the benefits of in-per-
AND STEPHEN GROVES son instruction against the
The Associated Press risks that schools could shut
Joshua Claybourn is leaning their doors again or that their
toward sending his kinder- children could contract the
garten daughter to in-person virus and pass it on.
classes at a private school next “To say we are stressed
month. Holly Davis’ sixth- might be an understatement,”
grade daughter will learn said Davis, of Noblesville, Indi-
online, though the family has ana, whose family is self-isolat-
ing after one of their daughters
not yet decided what to do for ROBERT COHEN/The Associated Press
was exposed to COVID-19 at
school for a teenage daughter Derick Pratt, center, and other Rockwood School District parents wait in line
a cross country meet. “We’re
who requires special accom- for a seat at a school board meeting last week in Eureka. Many parents spoke
90850 3 modations for hearing prob- Please see SCHOOL, Page 4A against Rockwood not offering options for children to return to school.
Page 4A — Sunday & Monday, July 26-27, 2020 COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN

Proposed budget Clardy: Stable groups of students are important

would add more CLARDY from Page 1A
and issue the violation notic-
attendee, asked Clardy to
clarify the fact that students
don’t have to report their
the contact tracing in the
community beyond campus.
Clardy said it will work
working with all the school
districts on how to prevent
kids from contracting the

recycling drop-off
es.”
positive test results. closely with the student virus.
Clardy expressed concerns
“It’s never the responsibil- health center, sharing infor- Clardy said it is important
that there will be an increase
in COVID-19 cases when stu- ity of the individual who is mation with each other. to maintain stable groups of

sites in the next year
BUDGET from Page 1A
and recycling collection.
Significant cuts Glasock
proposes include:
■ $1.4 million from sewer
utility operations.
■ $1.9 million from solid
ees who are losing their jobs
may be able to transfer to a
job in another department.
“This was not an easy deci-
sion,” Glascock said of the job
cuts. “It was one of the hard-
est I’ve ever had to make.”
The budget includes no rais-
dents come back to school in
the middle of August.
To prepare for that, Clardy
said the Health Department
has applied to the Boone
County Commission for
CARES Act funding that will
help to bring in up to 40 addi-
tional staff.
Alyce Turner, another
positive to report that posi-
tive case. It’s the responsibil-
ity of either the health care
provider and/or the laborato-
ry,” Clardy said.
He said that staff at the
MU Student Health Center
will do the contact trac-
ing for students, while the
Health Department will do
“If it is necessary for us
to work with the university
to get cases isolated and to
identify close contact, those
cases will be reported and
followed up on just like any
other cases,” Clardy said.
Clardy also talked about
issues among younger kids.
He said the department is
students, which means that
kids are around the same
kids all the time.
“That helps us from a
contact tracing standpoint.
If one of those students gets
positive, it limits the num-
ber of contacts that student
would have if they stay in a
stable group,” he said.

Parents fear schools could close on short notice

waste operations.
■ $8.6 million from elec-
tric operations.
■ $1.3 million from water
utilities.
Glascock said in his writ-
ten budget message that he
doesn’t see the need for a
decrease in monthly solid
waste bills, given that the city
still bears the responsibility
for collecting all trash and
recycling, no matter how resi-
dents dispose of it.
To help make up for the
elimination of curbside recy-
cling service, he said, the city
will add five to 10 recycling
drop-off sites in the next year.
Before the coronavirus pan-
demic, the city was already
seeing a huge decline in
sales tax revenue, one of its
biggest sources of income.
The situation grew far worse
when COVID-19 shut down
many local businesses. The
city expects a 10% decline in
sales tax revenue this year
and an additional 1% drop in
fiscal 2021.
“I see fiscal year 2021 as
a year of uncertainty,” Glas-
cock said. “Uncertainty of
our revenue in general, our
business climate picture,
the way we educate and the
health of our community
overall.”
Of the 78.5 jobs eliminat-
ed, only 11 are filled. The
jobs being cut are from
departments across city gov-
ernment, including utilities;
the city manager and clerk’s
offices; and the Finance,
Community Development and
Parks and Recreation depart-
ments. Glascock said employ-
es for city workers, but Glas-
cock said he and the Colum-
bia City Council might be
able to revisit that during the
second half of the fiscal year.
Similarly, he said, his staff
will monitor the economic sit-
uation closely to see whether
additional cuts are required
or additional spending is pos-
sible as the year progresses.
The budget also calls for
reducing the Career Aware-
ness Related Experience
program by 32 trainees,
closing Little Mates Cove at
Twin Lakes Recreation Area
and reducing funding for the
city’s Trade A Tree, Tree
Power and energy audit pro-
grams.
On the bright side, Glas-
cock is proposing the city
provide free bus and para-
transit service as a pilot proj-
ect throughout fiscal 2021.
This is possible because the
city won a $6.5 million grant
for transportation services
through the federal Coronavi-
rus Aid, Relief and Economic
Security Act.
CARES funding also will
allow the city to shift $2 mil-
lion worth of transportation
sales tax revenue from the
bus service and Columbia
Regional Airport to street
maintenance, which city resi-
dents have said in annual sur-
veys is their No. 1 priority.
“2020 has been a challeng-
ing year for our community,
our state, our nation and the
world,” Glascock said. “From
the coronavirus pandemic to
the civil unrest, this is a year
that will change the course of
our city’s future.”
SCHOOL from Page 1A
being forced to make impos-
sible decisions.”
Across the country, chaos
and disarray have marked
the start of the 2020 school
year as families await deci-
sions from district officials
and, where they have a
choice, make agonizing deci-
sions over whether to enroll
their children online or in
person — often with very
little guidance from school
leaders.
If their kids are not in
classrooms, parents will
have to line up child care —
or find the time to help their
children learn online.
They have no idea if it will
be safe to send their children
to school — or whether the
school doors will open at all
or stay open if someone is
diagnosed with the virus.
Further complicating
decisions, in some public
school districts, kids who
opt for online instruction
won’t be able to participate
in in-person extracurricular
activities.
The decision over how kids
will be schooled is particu-
larly fraught in low-income
areas and communities of
color that bear the double
burden of being most affect-
ed by the pandemic and
those where students could
benefit most from being in
school, said Dr. Kiran Joshi,
senior medical officer and
co-lead of the Cook County
Health Department, which
serves 2.4 million people in
125 communities outside of
Chicago.
“I think there’s clearly
a lot of value in in-person
instruction,” Joshi said. “I
think, though, that that has
to be balanced with the need
to control the pandemic. ...
We’re learning more every
day about the role of children
in transmission.”
Many parents dread a
return to the scenario that
millions faced in the spring,
when they tried to work
while their kids attended
school — all while everyone
was cooped up at home.
Claybourn said it’s not
clear yet what his local
public school system in New-
burgh, Indiana, would do if a
someone caught COVID-19.
The private school he’s eye-
ing said it would close only
the child’s classroom, and
only for two to three weeks.
The public school also
plans to offer an online
option, but to Claybourn,
an attorney who works out-
side his home, “that is not a
solution because ultimately
requires someone with the
kids all day.”
He also wants his daughter
to have the routine, friend-
ships and interactions with
teachers that come with
in-school learning.
“I will never be as good of
a teacher as the trained pro-
fessionals,” he said. “I under-
stand the concern about kids
contracting and spreading
the virus, but for me the
larger concern is the pros-
pect of not being in school
for an extended period.”
For Davis and her hus-
band, health concerns and
the threat that schools could
close at a moment’s notice
pushed them to choose online
learning for their young-
est daughter, rather than a
hybrid program that would
include in-person learning.
Davis explained that she
is at high risk for developing
serious illness if she gets
infected.
“Until they figure out
what’s going on (with the
virus), let’s take one kid out
of the system,” she said.
A resurgence of cornavi-
rus infections in much of the
United States is adding to the
uncertainty.
The U.S. leads the world
with more than 4.1 million
confirmed infections and
over 146,000 deaths, accord-
ing to data compiled by
Johns Hopkins University.
Worldwide, more than 15.7
million infections and over
640,000 deaths have been
reported.
Experts say those figures
understate the true toll of the
pandemic, due in part to lim-
ited testing.
Many countries are seeing
rising cases tolls. France’s
coronavirus infection rate
crept higher Saturday, and
Spain cracked down on night-
life, trying to tamp down on
new infection clusters.
In New York City, Macho
Lara, an IT manager at a
Brooklyn charter school, said
he and his wife have ago-
nized over what to do with
their children, who are enter-
ing third grade and fifth
grade at public schools.
Officials are tentatively
offering the public school
system’s 1.1 million students
the choice between continu-
ing remote instruction or a
hybrid model where children
attend classes a few days out
of the week.
“We still have no idea
what’s going to happen in the
fall,” said Lara, who added
that they’re trying to weigh
health risks, the uncertain-
ty of their work schedules,
local transmission rates that
seem to be inching up, their
children’s need for friends
and the impact on the social
development of their 8-year-
old, who also hates wearing
a mask.
Complicating the family’s
decision, they’re getting little
clarity from elected leaders.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said
this week he wouldn’t make
a final decision on opening
schools until just a few days
before they are scheduled to
restart in September.
New York Gov. Andrew
Cuomo has said the ultimate
decision is up to him.

SPONSORED

Truman VA Staff Deploy to COVID-19 Hot Spots
SPONSORED BY HARRY S. TRUMAN
MEMORIAL VETERANS’ HOSPITAL
For Christy Ollison, RN, a critical care
nurse at Harry S. Truman Memorial Vet-
erans’ Hospital in Columbia, Missouri,
the COVID-19 pandemic is very real and
personal. As part of the U.S. Department
of Veterans Affairs’ Disaster Emergency
Medical Personnel System (DEMPS), she
has made three voluntary deployments
to assist other VA facilities overwhelmed
with COVID-19 cases. On July 23, Ollison
completed a two-week deployment to San
Antonio. She also completed two deploy-
ments to New Orleans this past April.
“These surges of COVID patients happen
so quickly that core staff cannot adapt to
such a rapid change in patient numbers,”
Ollison said. “Another issue is that each of
these patients requires such high inten-
sity care. At both medical centers that
I’ve been deployed to, their ICU’s have
exceeded capacity and they’ve had to
expand into areas that weren’t meant to be
used for critical care. However, there was
no choice.”
“In New Orleans, my patient population
mostly was 50- to 60-year-old Veterans
with additional, or comorbid conditions
such as diabetes and obesity,” Ollison
In addition to volunteers, Truman VA also has provided medical equipment and supplies to other
facilities in need. In this photograph, Jimmie Riggins, Chief of Respiratory Care Services at Truman
VA, prepares two ventilators and related supplies on March 27, for deployment to New Orleans.
IN HARM’S WAY
said. “In San Antonio, we treated mostly
30- to 50-year-olds with few pre-existing
conditions. In fact, I didn’t really notice
any obvious common comorbidities in our
patients while I was there. COVID-19 can
be extremely unpredictable.”
Ollison said that during her first deploy-
ment, she “hit the ground running” and
staff had to figure out a lot on their own
very quickly due to COVID-19’s newness
at that time. In San Antonio, she worked in
a COVID unit where the process of put-
ting on and removing personal protective
equipment (PPE) was refined to reduce the
possibility of exposure to the virus.
“We had designated areas where staff
assisted us in donning and doffing PPE
properly and safely,” Ollison said. “We
used PAPR (powered air purifying respira-
tor) masks, gowns, and two pairs of gloves.
Nothing personal went into the COVID
units and nothing that had been in these
units came out with us. Food, drinks and
bathroom breaks were very limited due Christy Ollison, RN, (fourth from right) poses with other DEMPS volunteers during one of her April
to the doffing and donning process. The 2020 deployments to New Orleans.
extended periods we were required to
wear PPE could be physically exhausting, outside of our facility through the DEMPS continue to learn, and there’s still a lot we
program,” said Patricia Hall, PhD, FACHE, don’t know. However, we are supporting
especially when added to the long hours
we spent providing specialized care.” medical center director of Truman VA. each other, and in the process, I’m able to
“We’ve had more than 20 dedicated health bring back valuable knowledge to better
“I cannot tell you how proud I am of my
professionals voluntarily deploy as part of serve our Veterans.”
staff who have volunteered to serve others
VA’s national response to this pandemic.
Several of them more than once. They’ve
gone to some of the hardest hit areas in
this county, to places such as New York
City; San Antonio; New Orleans; White
River, Arizona; and Chicago. What they
are seeing in these areas are staff who are
exhausted and need support from others.
They’re also seeing an array of COVID
cases that include both younger and older
patients. So, my message to everyone
is that COVID-19 is real and we all need
to wear our masks. Remember, my mask
protects you, and your mask protects me.
It’s a simple thing we all can do to protect
each other.”
Although Ollison looks forward to a day
when DEMPS volunteers no longer are
needed, she is committed to the work of
helping others.
“The staff at both facilities where I’ve
been deployed have been grateful for the
extra help,” Ollison said. “I’ve enjoyed Ollison (right) and Adam Huckfeldt, (left) a
nursing assistant from Truman VA who also is a
being a part of something that is very re- DEMPS volunteer, wear PPE in a San Antonio
warding, and I received a firsthand look at COVID unit. The photograph was taken with an
how COVID treatment is evolving. We all iPad used to connect patients with their families
because of visitor restrictions.
COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN Thursday, July 30, 2020 — Page 5A

OPINION
WRITE • REFLECT • RESPOND • COLUMBIAMISSOURIAN.COM

GUEST COMMENTARY

We must all help

others meet their
essential needs
I have more questions than answers, as of
late.
According to Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy
of needs, humans need
food, sleep, water, secu-
rity, health, finances,
friendship, family,
connections, respect,
recognition, self-esteem
and meeting one’s full
potential.
What if we consider,
at minimum, the physio-
logical and safety needs
a human right? Even
starting at the bottom of
Maslow’s pyramid, as a KARI
society we aren’t doing UTTERBACK
well in meeting the needs
of all our community
members.
I see people in our community without access
to enough food and water. I see people sleeping
where no one should have to sleep.
I see people not feeling safe and healthy. It
feels like this will lead to our community not
being as resilient as possible because folks
aren’t able to reach their full potential.
Other communities are doing better with their
most vulnerable populations. Sometimes when
I point this out or ask about change, the topic is
considered political or taboo.
I think I must be getting the lines blurred.

We need a governor who

Where does someone’s political opinion end, so
someone else’s human rights can begin?
■  Why is feeding the hungry political?
■  Why is housing the homeless political?
■  Why is holding the police accountable, so
we can all feel safe, political?

cares about our health

■  Why is health and health care political?
■  If we know that housing first policies
work, why aren’t we doing that?
■  If we know having emergency social work
help available can lead to less crime, why aren’t
we doing that?
■  If we know needle exchanges work, why

aren’t we doing that?
■  If we know that folks having access to
their meds is healthiest, why aren’t we doing
that?
■  If we know access to clean water and
healthy foods are essential, why doesn’t every-
one have access?
■  Why aren’t there more children services
workers? Why isn’t everyone a mandated
reporter?
■  Why is quality care for our elders unavail-
able to so many?
■  Why aren’t there more reentry programs
to ensure folks are successful after their time
served?
■  What is our responsibility to ensure that
people’s basic needs are being met?
■  Are we throwing up unnecessary road-
blocks?
■  When someone talks about policy change
or basic human rights, should we ask them to
stop being political?
■  What if our neighbors had what they need-
ed and when we speak about politics it was for
the common good?
Please have conversations and reach out to
those with institutional power about ways to
meet the basic human rights needs in our com-
munity.
Kari Utterback is an NCCJ certified diversi-
ty facilitrainer and the 2019 Columbia Values
Award winner. She writes occasional columns
for the Missourian.
TO THE EDITOR
Don’t open public school
G
ov. Mike Parson has made state-
ments over the last couple of weeks
that have me questioning his con-
cern for the people of Missouri.
On May 27, the governor said that if a
voter was not comfortable going to a voting
station for the June 2 election, the voter
should just stay home. That disenfranchised
many older and high-risk Missourians.
On July 16, the governor mentioned on
radio talk that Missouri is spending $15 mil-
lion of its federal COVID-19 relief money to
promote tourism in the state as the number
of cases continues to rise.
We know about the fiasco in May at the
crowded Lake of the Ozarks pool parties.
We not only had a spike in virus cases after
Memorial Day, but the contagion extended
well outside state borders.
Inviting tourists to Missouri when the
number of cases is breaking records is fool-
ish.
On July 17, the governor was interviewed
by Marc Cox on KFTK radio in St. Louis.
About two minutes into the interview, Cox
began talking about a youth sports complex,
the POWERplex STL, that county commis-
sioners wanted to close because of the pan-
demic. He asked Parson for his thoughts.
The governor told him: “These kids have
got to get back to school. They’re at the low-
est risk possible. And if they do get COVID-
19, which they will, and they will when they
go to school — they’re not going to the hos-
pitals ... They’re not going to have to sit in
doctor’s offices. They’re going to go home,
and they’re going to get over it. We gotta
move on. We can’t just let this thing stop us
in our tracks.”
On July 20, the governor wanted to talk
about the upcoming special session of the
DAVID ROSMAN
With his recent statements, it
appears Gov. Mike Parson is
putting the citizens of Missouri
below a win in the November
election.
the statement he made July 17, Parson said
the quote was taken out of context.
“Sometimes you get attacked for a lot of
things. There was one thing taken out of
context I want to say over the weekend,” he
said.
“Look, I care about kids — being a grand-
parent — about going to school. The reality
is when I say this virus will be in our school
system, somebody acts like I don’t care
about that. I care deeply about that, but it
is very important as a public official that
you speak the truth about that. That’s a real
possibility.”
I listened to Parson’s original statement
on KFTK four or five times. It was not
As of Friday in Missouri, over 4,100 cases
of COVID-19 belong to people under the age
of 20. About 34% of the population under 25
has been infected.
Contrary to some misinformation on the
Internet, those under 30 who are asymptom-
atic can and do spread the disease. Children
can also spread the disease to their parents,
grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends and
neighbors.
From just these four separate statements,
it appears the governor is putting the citi-
zens of Missouri below a win in the Novem-
ber election.
This is similar to the tactic being used
by the president in his new “law and order”
campaign.
It is the same attitude that extends absen-
tee and mail-in ballots only to high risk
citizens instead of making them available to
everyone.
If the governor truly cares about his con-
stituents, he would announce a statewide
order to wear masks, encourage unrestrict-
ed voting by mail and provide statewide
guidance for reopening schools and univer-
sities.
He would provide concrete plans to
increase the number of testing stations and
discourage tourism that will further spread
COVID-19.
We must vote Parson out of office in
November. The governor’s race is not a
shoe-in. The latest polls have the race neck-
and-neck, within the margin of error.
We need a governor and president who
care about the health of the population, not
who take a cavalier attitude toward the peo-
ple they serve.

until we have a vaccine
As a senior citizen with a granddaughter in
high school and a son who teaches in Columbia
Public Schools, I believe
the schools should not
MARILYN reopen in-person until
LAKE there is a reliable vaccine.
I, myself, am sequester-
ing until there is a vac-
cine. Our children are the hope of the future,
and teachers are the hope of the present. Keep
them safe.
Marilyn H. Lake, Ph.D., is a retired member
of the MU faculty, alumna and author.
ABOUT THE OPINION PAGE
The Missourian’s Opinion section is a public forum
for the discussion of ideas. The views presented
here are those of the authors and do not necessarily
reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of
Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion
page with a response or an original topic of your own,
use our online submission form at
columbiamissourian.com/letters.
legislature and the violent crime we are
seeing across our state. The issue of stu-
dents going back to school came up again.
In response to a reporter’s question about
TO THE EDITOR
Medicaid expansion will strengthen the health of rural Missouri
As a cattle and grain farmer from How-
ard County and program director of the
Missouri Rural Crisis Center, I work with
hundreds of rural families throughout Mis-
souri.
I have seen many of
the struggles Missou-
RHONDA ri farmers and rural
PERRY people face, which is
why I support Medic-
aid expansion.
I always appreciate the thoughtful debate
that Steve Spellman brings to mid-Missouri
through his community radio show, but I
disagree with his recent opinion piece about
Medicaid expansion.
The facts show that expanding Missouri’s
Medicaid program, MO HealthNet, would
bring much-needed federal funding into
taken out of context.
His response July 20 was not a denial but
an excuse. He was trying to talk his way out
of an uncomfortable situation he started.
our state.
Rural Missouri has been hit hard by
COVID-19, and our rural hospitals and
many health care providers are in des-
perate need of these funds to keep seeing
patients.
These added federal dollars would save
our state $39 million in the first year of
expansion and help keep our rural hospitals
open as critical points of access to care.
Further, the law guarantees the federal
government would cover 90% of the costs
to expand Medicaid in Missouri.
The federal government has made time-
ly payments to states for the last 50 years
without fail, and there is no reason that
would change now.
Furthermore, hard-working farmers and
families have already paid these funds
David Rosman is an editor, writer and
professional speaker. You can read more of
David’s commentaries at ColumbiaMissou-
rian.com and InkandVoice.com.
through federal taxes, and we deserve for
them to be used to help our friends, neigh-
bors and families here in Missouri instead
of those in other states.
Since the legislature has failed to act, it is
time for Missourians to make their voices
heard. On Aug. 4, we have an opportunity to
strengthen the health of our rural commu-
nities and our state budget by voting YES
on Amendment 2.
Rhonda Perry is program director of
the Missouri Rural Crisis Center, a grass-
roots organization of 5,500 farm and rural
families with a mission to preserve family
farms, promote stewardship of the land and
environmental integrity and strive for eco-
nomic and social justice by building unity
and mutual understanding among diverse
groups, both urban and rural.
 BIDEN CLOSES IN ON VP PICK COVID KEEPS CARDS IDLE
Joe Biden reportedly is targeting the week Six positive COVID-19 cases in their traveling
of Aug. 10 to announce his running mate, party since the St. Louis Cardinals arrived
with Kamala Harris, Karen Bass and in Milwaukee have led to the postponement
Susan Rice considered the top contenders of the entire series against the Brewers
Page 4A Page 1B
Sunday & Monday, August 2-3, 2020 • COLUMBIA’S LOCALLY OWNED NEWSPAPER • COLUMBIAMISSOURIAN.COM • 75 CENTS

MISSOURI +943 BOONE COUNTY +61

COVID-19 UPDATE: Tests: 696,745 Cases: 51,288 Deaths: 1,253 Cases: 1,235 Deaths: 4

COLUMBIA OTES 2020 Ballot

Precautions will be in place during
2020 primary election Tuesday
BY LARISSA GAO
news@columbiamissourian.com
Boone County Clerk Brianna
Lennon expects about 30% of the
county’s 114,000 registered voters
to cast ballots in Tuesday’s primary
election.
There are a total
of 61 candidates
seeking their par-
ty’s nominations for
19 different offices
ranging from county
positions to statewide
offices and the 4th
BRIANNA District seat in the
LENNON U.S. House of Repre-
sentatives.
Voters also will cast ballots on
Amendment 2, which asks whether
they want to expand Medicaid in the
state.
Lennon is predicting the election
will lure just less than one in three
registered voters.
“Just looking historically at other
elections, the August primary
tends to be lower turnout than the
November general. So 30% is about
average for what we would see,” she
said.
Many of the candidates for public
offices are unopposed in the prima-
MEET THE CANDIDATES
There are eight people running for lieu-
tenant governor and 11 for governor.
Pages 4A & 5A
ry, but there are exceptions. Four
Republicans are seeking the nomi-
nation for Northern District Boone
County commissioner, for example,
and there are four Republicans and
five Democrats running for gover-
nor.
Still, Amendment 2 might do more
to bring people to the polls than
anything else on the ballot. If voters
approve it, the measure will expand
Medicaid eligibility to an estimated
230,000 adults in Missouri, which
includes people earning less than
$18,000 individually or $30,000 for a
family of three, according to a pre-
vious Missourian story.
The county’s 45 polling places will
be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tues-
day. People can find their voting
information on the Boone County
Clerk’s website or by calling the
office at 573-886-4375.
To ensure public safety during the
COVID-19 pandemic, a plexiglass
barrier will be placed in front of the
election judges, Lennon said. Vot-
ers will also see signs encouraging
them to maintain social distancing
and wear masks.
High school students will be on
the spot to keep polling locations
disinfected between voters, she
said.
Although the pandemic brings
plenty of challenges, Lennon said
the polls will be fully staffed.
“We always have a challenge mak-
ing sure we have enough workers,
regardless of the election,” Lennon
said, “but we’ve tried to do more
outreach to get more election judg-
es, and we’ve had a lot of returned
judges.”
Lennon said around 4,600 people
had already voted in the county
before Friday. Her office thus far
had received 63 mail-in ballots.
Among absentee voters, 900 cast
ballots in person, and 3,684 deliv-
ered them by mail.
These ballots have been processed
by the staff and will be the first
ballots counted on election night,
she said.
Lennon said her staff had good
luck with mail-in ballots during the
municipal election in June.
“We’ve been lucky that we’ve
always had a process in place to
Please see ELECTION, Page 3A
How to
participate
in Tuesday’s
election
BY THE MISSOURIAN STAFF
news@columbiamissourian.com
Here’s what you need to
know to cast a ballot in Tues-
day’s primary election.
Polls will be open from
6 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Boone
County Clerk’s website has
information about polling
place locations and a quick
search to find a voter’s spe-
cific site. Voters need to take
some form of identification
— a voter ID card, a driver’s
license or state-issued ID —
with them to the polls.
Voters can change their
address online at the Boone
County Clerk’s website —
even on election day.
Sample ballots and voter
ID cards were sent to reg-
istered voters by mail or
email. There also is a sample
ballot available on the county
clerk’s site.
If you have questions about
voting, you can contact the
clerk’s office at 573-886-4375.
language
would allow,
not require,
roll carts
BY MISSOURIAN STAFF
news@columbiamissourian.com
The language of a proposed
roll cart measure the Colum-
bia City Council will consider
placing on the November bal-
lot is pretty clear:
Vote “yes” if you want
to allow the city to use roll
carts. Vote “no” if you don’t.
The measure drafted by the
city’s Law Department would
authorize, but not require, the
city to convert to the use of
roll carts and automated col-
lection of trash and recycling.
The City Council at its July
20 meeting voted 4-3 to ask
for the language. If it makes
the ballot and voters approve
it, the measure would repeal
three sections of the city
code that now prohibit the
use of roll carts in Columbia.
The ordinance calling for
the special election will be
introduced for first reading
Monday night. A final vote
would be scheduled for the
council’s Aug. 17 meeting.
The deadline for certifying
issues for the November bal-
lot is Aug. 25.

‘Odd,’ but still good: Hickman High School celebrates 2020 graduates
BY FEIYU SU
news@columbiamissourian.com
Wearing purple caps, gowns and
tassels, holding diploma covers
and taking photos, Hickman High
School graduates of the class of
2020 experienced a different grad-
uation ceremony Saturday — wear-
ing masks and social distancing.
Three separate graduation cere-
monies took place throughout the
day Saturday at the school’s Compe-
tition Gymnasium, rather than one
big gathering. Graduates, together
with their parents, guardians and
guests, could attend one of the three
commencements, all while wearing
a face covering and maintaining
distance.
Class of 2020 graduate Mattie
DeHaven joined the 9 a.m. gradua-
tion ceremony with 64 other gradu-
ates. She thought the ceremony was
“kind of odd” because she couldn’t
celebrate it with her entire class.
“But everybody that’s here, we’re
a close community,” DeHaven said.
“So we all just came together and
had a good time.”
Jadah Burke, another graduate,
thought being able to stand on the
stage and receive a diploma was a
good feeling.
“I finally graduated, and it’s over
Please see HICKMAN, Page 7A
Fifth Ward Councilman
Matt Pitzer led the charge
for the ballot measure at the
July 20 meeting, saying it’s
time to “junk” the way the
city collects trash and recy-
cling now. The utility has
been in dire straits in recent
years as it struggles to retain
staff, particularly those with
commercial driver’s licens-
es, and with the expense of
using temporary workers and
paying worker compensation
claims.
The problems peaked this
summer, when the city sus-
pended curbside collection
of recycling indefinitely.
City Manager John Glascock
in his proposed budget for
fiscal 2021 has proposed
permanently eliminating that
service, a move that would
save the city about $1.35 mil-
lion per year. Glascock also
recommends the city stop
distributing blue recycling
bags and black garbage bags
to Columbia households. That
would save another $350,000
per year.
The council is scheduled to
introduce another ordinance
Monday that would authorize
both those cuts. A final read-
ing and vote would be sched-
LEANNE TIPPETT MOSBY/Columbia Missourian
uled for Aug. 17.
From left, DeAriel Derritt and Diego Branda pose for photos Saturday at Hickman High School. Graduates and their guests were given Sixth Ward Councilwoman
about one hour after the ceremony to take photographs at the school to allow time to clean and prepare for the noon ceremony. Betsy Peters at a May work
session asked the staff to pro-
duce a report comparing the
cost of the current trash and
recycling service with one

Boone reports record 61 cases

TODAY’S WEATHER that uses roll carts and with
CHANCE OF RAIN the option of contracting with
79/62 a private collector. The staff
is still working to produce

Saturday, fourth death Friday

that report.
INDEX The Law Department said
Abby8B in its memo to the council
Classifieds7A regarding the potential roll
Nation 4A, 5A cart vote that it could cost
about $200,300 to put the
Obituaries2A BY MISSOURIAN STAFF are currently hospitalized, and 512 people issue on the November gen-
Opinion6A news@columbiamissourian.com are quarantining because of exposure. eral election ballot. Voters
Sports1B Missouri reported 935 cases Saturday, already will be casting bal-
Sudoku8A Boone County reported 61 new positive lots on candidates for a host
bringing the state total to 51,258. Boone
TV schedule 8B COVID-19 cases Saturday, a daily record. County’s numbers for the county have con- of public offices, including
The county also reported its fourth death sistently been higher than the state’s for the county, state and congressio-
Our 112th year/#232 from the virus Friday. county, so more accurately there were 943 nal seats as well as president
2 sections The fourth death was an individual in of the United States. Two
new cases Saturday (Boone reported 61 to
16 pages the over-80 age group, the Columbia/Boone proposed amendments to the
the state’s 53 for the county), bringing the Missouri Constitution also
County Public Health and Human Services total to 51,288 (the state reported 1,205 for are scheduled for November
Department said Friday. the county instead of the aforementioned votes.
Boone County has now reported 1,235 total 1,235 reported by Boone). Glascock said during his
COVID-19 cases, 224 of which are active, Ten new deaths were reported, bringing
6 54051 90850 3 according to the county’s dashboard. Three the state’s toll to 1,253. Please see COUNCIL, Page 3A
COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN Sunday & Monday, August 2-3, 2020 — Page 3A

City Building Council will hear parks sales tax report Mail-in
voting
work intended to
COUNCIL from Page 1A permanent one-eighth-cent COVID-19 contact tracing.
sales tax that helps fund oper- ■ A report suggesting
July 24 budget presentation ations of the parks depart- the city’s Housing Programs

increases
that without a rate increase ment. Division seek $750,000 in
the solid waste utility would A PowerPoint presentation CARES Act funding from the

improve customer
be in the red by fiscal 2024.
Roll carts have been specif-
ically prohibited in Columbia
since voters in March of 2016
prepared for the council sug- county commission to pro-
gests it also consider whether vide additional assistance to
to ask voters for an additional businesses in Columbia, in the ELECTION from Page 1A
quarter-cent parks sales tax, county’s smaller towns and

experience, safety
BY CLIVIA LIANG
news@columbiamissourian.com
City government hopes
to renovate two areas with-
in the Daniel Boone City
Building to boost public and
employee safety.
The city plans to create a
new customer service center
on the first floor and to con-
vert a freight elevator to a
recycling chute. The chang-
es will not only enhance cus-
tomers’ experience but also
boost employee safety, City
Manager John Glascock said
at his July 24 budget presen-
tation.
“We’ve had a lot of ques-
tions and concerns from cit-
izens that come in and want
to set up service, pay a bill
or set up payment plans, and
they have to go to multiple
offices,” city Finance Direc-
tor Matthew Lue said. “A
customer who wants to pay
a bill, for example, might
go to the cashier’s office or
one of two customer utility
offices.
“So instead of having
our citizens go to multiple
places, we want to put that,
all of those services, in one
location so that customers
have a one stop shop to take
approved a citizen initiative handle mail-in ballots,
which would generate a little in rural areas of the county. but we found some effi-
to block the City Council from
more than $5.5 million per That aid would come in the ciencies so that we can
considering them. That mea-
year. That, the presentation form of micro-enterprise and accommodate the grow-
sure passed with 54% of the
says, would free up general small-business recovery loans ing number of them,” she
vote. Mayor Brian Treece at
the July 20 meeting expressed fund money for other depart- that could benefit about 60 said.
care of all their business,”
reservations about putting ments and would boost the businesses. The report says Lennon said she hopes
Lue added. total sales tax rate for parks to allowing the Housing Pro-
the issue to another vote, but more people will return
Converting the freight the half-cent maximum autho- grams Division to administer
Pitzer and Fourth Ward Coun- mail-in or absentee bal-
elevator to a recycling chute rized by the state. those grants would be an lots as soon as possible.
cilman Ian Thomas said a lot
will help custodians collect The agenda for the council’s efficient way to distribute the More than 7,000 Boone
has changed in the 4½ years
recycling more efficiently, regular meeting also includes: loans because it already has County residents have
since the measure passed.
according to a July staff Also Monday, the council ■ Introduction of an ordi- systems in place to do so. requested them, she said,
memo to the Columbia City is scheduled to hear a report nance that would authorize ■ A public hearing and which means a little over
Council. during its 6 p.m. work session an agreement between the vote on whether to spend half of those have been
The city’s fiscal 2021 returned.
on a potential vote to extend, Columbia/Boone County $815,000 to build an indoor
capital improvement plan Department of Health and pavilion at A. Perry Philips The deadline for mail-
and perhaps make permanent,
proposes $250,000 to do the Human Services and the Park. in ballots is 7 p.m. Tues-
a one-eighth-cent sales tax
work. The City Council has that primarily pays for capital Boone County Commission to The council’s regular meet- day. The deadline for
already approved a $28,500 projects in the Parks and Rec- provide federal Coronavirus ing begins at 7 p.m. in its casting absentee ballots
contract with Simon Oswald reation Department. Voters Aid, Relief, and Economic chambers at the Daniel Boone in person at the county
last agreed to extend the tax Security Act funding to hire City Building, 701 E. Broad- clerk’s office is 5 p.m.
Architecture to do the archi-
in 2015. The city also has a temporary workers to do way. Monday.
tectural work.
“We hope to have it done
by the end of fiscal year
2021, but it really could run
into fiscal year 2022,” Lue
said.
There are some challenges
involved because the Daniel
Boone City Building is a his-
toric building, Lue said.
“You don’t want to change
those historic features too
much, otherwise it will
change the whole dynamic
of a building,” Lue said.
The city’s Historic Pres-
ervation Commission will
review plans for modifying
the space.
Lue said city officials will
meet Monday to discuss
details of the project.

IN BRIEF
MU lays off five,
furloughs 10 this past
week amid governance
restructuring
MU laid off five employ-
ees and furloughed 10 this
past week as the university
continues to face the pan-
demic summer’s financial
only one location moving
forward.
The hours for the Mizzou
North site, 115 Business
Loop 70 W., will remain
the same: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Monday through Friday and
8 a.m. to noon Saturdays.
Only those that test posi-

pressures.
The university has laid
off 186 employees total and
KEEPS US
tive for COVID-19 will be
contacted, typically within
24-48 hours of the test, the
release said. Those who test

furloughed 3,644, according
to an MU site that tracks
budgetary actions. Salary
reductions, both mandatory
and voluntary, total 2,350, up
four from last week.
The UM Board of Cura-
tors approved a new gov-
ernance structure for the
system this week that aims
to make substantial admin-
istrative consolidations
and cost savings, including
merging the positions of
system president and MU
chancellor.
State budget cuts have
cost MU about $35 million
and the entire University of
Missouri System over $85
million as of March.
Information used in the
Friday update regarding
MU layoffs, furloughs and
salary cuts is current as of
Wednesday, according to the
site.
Because the numbers
reflect only layoffs that have
officially been recorded
by MU’s human resources
system, it is possible that
additional layoffs have been
made but not yet registered
online.
Furloughs affect staff
members and vary in
length from one week to
three months. Thirty-three
employee contracts have
not been renewed. Data on
salary cuts, furloughs and
layoffs is not broken down
by college or department.
— Galen Bacharier
MU Health Care
COVID-19 testing
locations to merge
Monday
MU Health Care will be
closing its drive-thru testing
site near the Mizzou Softball
Stadium, merging drive-th-
ru testing operations into
the Mizzou North location
starting Monday.
The original testing loca-
tion opened March 18 and
operated in the Mizzou
Softball Stadium parking
lot. The second and soon to
be only location at Mizzou
North opened July 13 in
response to an increased
demand for COVID testing,
according to a news release
from MU Health Care.
As a result of the sec-
ond site’s opening, testing
demand at both locations
has leveled off, requiring
MOVING.
negative can access results
through the HealthConnect KNEE
portal.
Patients who experience
mild COVID-19 symptoms,
who have been exposed to a
positive case, traveled to a
high-risk location or who are
high risk should first obtain
a doctor’s order before get-
ting a test. Asymptomatic
patients who require a test
for an upcoming medical
procedure will be redirected
to the MU Health Care lab A new knee for a more active you.
instead of the drive-thru, the
release said.
Patients who experience
Thanks to robotic technology.
severe symptoms or trouble
breathing should proceed to
an emergency room or con- Having chronic knee pain shouldn’t mean giving up the
tact 911.
For more information, things you love. Thankfully, Columbia Orthopaedic Group
visit muhealth.org/corona-
virus. has a new way to keep you moving: ROSA Knee robotic
— Roshae Hemmings
technology. Our specially trained surgeons use ROSA Knee
Missing Columbia to personalize the approach to total knee replacement —
resident, 58, last seen
July 25, riding moped providing a solution that works for you and your unique
Fifty-eight-year-old
Columbia resident Clayton anatomy. Contact Columbia Orthopaedic Group today to
Jacobs has been reported
missing after he was last
find out whether treatment is right for you and the risks of
seen by his neighbors July
knee replacement.
25 leaving his apartment on
East Forest Avenue.
Jacobs was described as
distraught as he drove away
on his white Honda moped
with a red seat. Jacobs left columbiaorthogroup.com/rosa
without any personal belong-
ings, including his wallet 573-443-2402
and phone.
Jacobs’ daughter, Saman-
tha Walker, said she last saw
her father on Father’s Day.
“He loved driving back
roads in southern Boone
County by the river and out
in Ashland,” Walker said.
“So maybe he went for a
drive and then had an acci-
dent, is where my mind is at
right now.”
Walker also said that
Jacobs’ neighbors were the
Zimmer Biomet is a medical device manufacturer that provides products and other services used by health care professionals
only people who would have
had contact with him that to create personalized care plans. Zimmer Biomet is not a medical professional and does not practice medicine. Zimmer
night. Biomet is not responsible for the content of columbiaorthogroup.com/rosa. The persons in these advertisements are
“I don’t even think it’s models and not actual recipients of Zimmer Biomet products and services. Results are not necessarily typical and will vary
fully hit me yet,” Walker due to health, weight, activity and other human variables. *Not all patients are candidates for joint procedures or ROSA Knee
said when asked how she’s
feeling. “I feel like I’m kinda robotic technology. Only a medical professional can determine the treatment appropriate for your specific condition. Talk
in a bad dream.” to your surgeon about whether joint replacement is right for you and the risks of the procedure, including the risk of impact
Anyone with information wear, loosening, breakage, failure or risk of infection, all of which could require additional surgery. For general information on
regarding the disappear- joint pain and technology, visit www.zimmerbiomet.com or call 1.800.447.5633. ©2020 Zimmer Biomet.
ance of Jacobs should imme-
diately contact the Columbia
Police Department.
— Missourian staff
 POTENTIAL POLICING SOLUTIONS TIGERS DRAW LSU, ALABAMA
Nearly 100 community members tuned With the college football season seemingly
into a virtual town hall Saturday night in the balance, the SEC announced Friday that
to discuss issues surrounding policing MU’s two additional cross-division opponents
in Columbia and propose potential solutions would be West giants LSU and Alabama
Page 3A Page 1B
Sunday & Monday, August 9-10, 2020 • COLUMBIA’S LOCALLY OWNED NEWSPAPER • COLUMBIAMISSOURIAN.COM • 75 CENTS

STATE case information was not available at time BOONE COUNTY +53
COVID-19 UPDATE: of publication because of “technology upgrades.” Cases: 1,398 Deaths: 5

MU students face safety, financial worries Trump defers

BY LARISSA GAO
news@columbiamissourian.com
MU’s fall semester starts in two
weeks, but some students still have
concerns about reopening cam-
pus, including safety and financial
issues.
MU spokesperson Liz McCune
said university officials have heard
from students and parents that they
want to return to campus for in-per-
son experiences, and freshman
enrollment for this fall is up slightly
from last fall.
“So, the university is moving for-
ward with plans to offer an in-per-
son experience with a number of
safety protocols from creating safe
distances to requiring face cover-
ings in most situations on campus to
developing quarantine and isolation
plans in the event of positive cases,”
McCune said.
Students and families have been
given extensive information about
the plans that were built by public
health officials and medical experts,
she said. The university will contin-
ue to review the Show Me Renewal
Plan, which can be found on renew-
al.missouri.edu. It is a plan that out-
lines the challenges the university
expects for the next semester and
steps it is taking to address them.
In addition, public health officials
will monitor the pandemic and
direct contact tracing efforts, which
the university is working to support,
she said.
Health and safety issue
Although MU has lots of rules to
respond to the pandemic, some stu-
dents are still worried about health
Please see STUDENTS, Page 7A
payroll tax,
allows some
unemployment
benefits
President signed executive
order reviving an expired
unemployment benefit
— albeit at up to $400
instead of $600 — after
lawmakers failed to agree
on new coronavirus relief
BY JONATHAN LEMIRE
AND ZEKE MILLER
The Associated Press
BEDMINSTER, N.J. — Seiz-
ing the power of his podium
and his pen, President Donald
Trump on Saturday bypassed
the nation’s lawmakers as he
claimed the authority to defer
payroll taxes and replace an
expired unemployment benefit
with a lower amount after nego-
tiations with Congress on a new
coronavirus rescue package
collapsed.
At his private country club
in Bedminster, New Jersey,
Trump signed executive orders
to act where Congress hasn’t.
Not only has the pandemic
undermined the economy and
upended American lives, it
has imperiled the president’s
LEANNE TIPPETT MOSBY/Missourian
November reelection.
KeShon Russell recounts COVID-19 safety measures in place Saturday in North Hall on the MU campus. Russell is a sophomore Perhaps most crucially,
studying accounting and economics and started as a resident assistant in the spring semester. Russell said resident assistants have Trump moved to continue
been going through a lot of training to ensure they understand the expectations for student conduct and interaction. paying a supplemental federal
unemployment benefit for mil-
lions of Americans out of work
during the outbreak. Howev-

Drop-off receptacles Missouri Senate passes

er, his order called for up to
$400 payments, one-third less
than the $600 people had been
receiving. Congress allowed

bursting with recyclables crime bill, which will

those higher payments to lapse
Aug. 1, and negotiations to
extend them have been mired
in partisan gridlock, with the

now go on to the House

BY ABBY ORF
news@columbiamissourian.com
Deanna Davis drove up to the
city’s recycling bins at Tenth and
Cherry streets Wednesday morn-
ing with an SUV full of box after
box of stuff to unload. It was the
first time she had gotten rid of any
recyclables since the city suspend-
ed curbside collections in early
July.
“We’ve been sort of hoarding it
since they stopped picking it up,”
Davis said.
She feels strongly that the city
should start offering curbside pick-
up again, but that’s not likely to
happen. City Manager John Glas-
cock has proposed permanently
ending the service as part of his
budget for fiscal 2021, a move that
would save the city $1.3 million.
“I think it discourages people
from recycling,” she said.
There’s another issue that’s got
recyclers disappointed: the fact
that the drop-off bins like those
Davis was using often are over-
flowing. Davis got lucky, probably
because she dumped her recycling
early in the day.
On Friday evening, the recycling
bins on State Farm Parkway and at
Moser’s Foods on Business Loop 70
West were overflowing.
At State Farm Parkway, blue
bags stuffed full of plastic and
cans piled about 4 feet over the
brim of the bins, and five bags lay
on the ground.
The bins at Moser’s were filled
2 to 3 feet over the top of the bins,
which were surrounded by more
than 70 blue bags.
Cameron England recycles at
Moser’s because it’s the site closest
to his house. England just needed
to discard some leftover boxes,
“luckily, since we don’t have any
room for cans,” he said.
“This is the first time I have
Please see RECYCLING, Page 5A
A bill proposed by Gov.
Mike Parson to address
violent crime has passed
in the state Senate
BY SUMMER BALLENTINE
The Associated Press
JEFFERSON CITY — State
senators on Friday passed a bill
proposed by Republican Gov.
Mike Parson to address a surge
in violent crime in Missouri’s
cities.
The bill would temporarily
lift a requirement that St. Louis
police live in the city, which Sen.
Doug Libla — a Poplar Bluff
Republican who sponsored the
bill — said would help staffing
shortages by boosting recruit-
ment.
White House and Democrats
miles apart.
Trump largely stayed on the
sidelines during the admin-
istration’s negotiations with
“It’s going to make it easier,
congressional leaders, leaving
and we’re going to have a big-
ger pool of people to draw from
the talks on his side to chief of
staff Mark Meadows and Trea-
in the St. Louis area by relaxing
sury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.
the residency rules,” he said. Trump’s embrace of exec-
Other changes in the bill
utive actions to sidestep Con-
include strengthening witness
gress runs in sharp contrast
protections and harsher penal-
to his criticism of former
ties for adults who give children
President Barack Obama’s use
guns without their parents’ per-
of executive orders on a more
mission.
limited basis. And the pres-
A contested provision of the
ident’s step-back from talks
bill would require judges to
with Congress breaks with his
consider certifying children as
self-assured negotiating skills.
young as 14 as adults for cer-
Now, Trump, who has not
tain weapons crimes.
spoken with Democratic House
While the bill passed 27-3
Speaker Nancy Pelosi since last
with bipartisan support, all
year, sought to play the role
three Black senators voted
of election-year savior, with
against it.
the $400 weekly assistance, as
Sen. Brian Williams, a St. well as a deferral of payroll tax
Please see CRIME, Page 5A Please see TRUMP, Page 5A

Pandemic doesn’t spare Hartsburg Pumpkin Festival

TODAY’S WEATHER
RAIN THEN HEAT
92/74

INDEX BY LARISSA GAO “We’ve been cleaning for this

Abby8B
news@columbiamissourian.com for a while, keeping our eyes on
the guidelines.”
Classifieds7A Leslie Martin said it wasn’t
The committee has been
Nation 3A, 4A an easy decision to cancel the
attending meetings of the
Obituaries2A 2020 Hartsburg Pumpkin Fes-
Hartsburg Board of Trustees
Opinion6A tival. Lots of folks have been
the past couple of months to
working hard to plan the annu-
Sports1B get its thoughts. In the end,
al October event for months,
Sudoku8A Martin said the requirements
she said, but the COVID-19
TV schedule 8B and restrictions proved so over-
pandemic forced their hands.
whelming that neither trustees
The Pumpkin Festival is
nor committee members felt
Our 112th year/#237 one of Boone County’s most
they would be able to hold the
2 sections popular events and brings
16 pages event safely.
thousands of people to this tiny
An official Facebook
town on the Missouri River.
announcement came Wednes-
“A lot of people don’t know
day.
that we are planning for our
“We were sad that we had
event in late January,” Martin, HILLARY TAN/Missourian file photo
to (cancel), because it not only
who is president of the Pump- Leah Fadler, 9, inspects a pumpkin Oct. 12, 2019, at the Hartsburg Pumpkin
6 54051 90850 3 kin Festival Committee, said. Please see PUMPKIN, Page 5A Festival in Hartsburg. The popular event has been canceled this year.
COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN
City plans to add more drop-off sites
RECYCLING from Page 1A
seen it like this,” England
said. “This is pretty crazy.”
The bins have been partic-
ularly full in the evenings.
Residents have been circulat-
ing pictures of them on social
media for the past several
days and wondering what the
city will do to address the
problem.
The city has 11 different
drop-off sites for recyclables,
but that hasn’t been enough to
meet the recent demand. City
spokesperson Brian Adkisson
said plans call for adding
more sites, but the city is still
trying to figure out exactly
where to put them.
Adkisson said he’s unsure
of the timing for new drop-off
sites. “We hope to do it soon,”
he said.
Adkisson said the city has
one worker who emptied the
bins multiple times a day
between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m.
seven days a week. It recent-
ly created a new shift from
2 to 10 p.m. to manage the
increase in drop-off recy-
cling.
Ellen Williamson recycles
regularly. When she visited
the drop-off site Wednesday
on Park Avenue between
Seventh and Eighth streets,
behind the Old Armory Sports
Center, cardboard boxes, old
paper towel rolls and newspa-
per pages littered the ground
between the bins.
Williamson lives in Valley
View Gardens and drove to
the bins to drop off a blue bag
full of plastic bottles and cans
and two boxes full of paper.
Although the bins were only
about a quarter full, William-
son recalled one day when she
had to drive to three different
drop-off sites to find bins that
had any room in them.
She said she preferred curb-
side recycling and noted that
some people on social media
have said they won’t recycle
anymore now that the service
Employees must later repay deferred payroll tax
TRUMP from Page 1A
and federal student loan pay-
ments and the continuation
of a freeze on some evictions
during the crisis.
“It’s $400 a week, and we’re
doing it without the Demo-
crats,” Trump said, asking
states to cover 25% of the
cost. Trump is seeking to set
aside $44 billion in previously
approved disaster aid to help
states maintain supplemental
pandemic jobless benefits,
but Trump said it would be
up to states to determine how
much, if any of it, to fund, so
the benefits could be smaller
still.
Many states have been
facing budget shortfalls due
to the coronavirus pandemic
and would have difficulty
assuming the new obligation.
The previous unemployment
benefit was fully funded by
Washington.
The president said at his
club on Friday night that “if
Democrats continue to hold
this critical relief hostage I
will act under my authority
as president to get Americans
the relief they need.”
Democrats had said they
would lower their spending
demands from $3.4 trillion to
$2 trillion but said the White
House needed to increase
their offer. Republicans have
proposed a $1 trillion plan.
White House aides have
watched the talks break down
with apprehension, fearful
that failure to close a deal
could further damage an
economic recovery already
showing signs of slowing
down. Friday’s jobs report,
though it beat expectations,
was smaller than the past
two months, in part because
a resurgence of the virus has
led to states rolling back their
reopenings.
The president’s team
believes the economy needs
to stabilize and show signs of
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Recyclables pile up in front of a collection bin Tuesday at the drop-off center on Park Avenue.
is gone.
“The fact that these just
keep filling up shows the city
how many people were actual-
ly using (curbside recycling),”
she said. “It makes me sad.”
The city has temporary
workers Wednesday through
Saturday who clean up the
drop-off locations, Adkis-
son said, and it plans to hire
more to clean them Saturday
through Tuesday.
Wednesday at the Moser’s
supermarket on I-70 Drive
Southeast, Margaret Clay-
growth for him to have any
chance at winning reelection.
Aides were hoping to frame
the expected executive orders
signings as a sign that Trump
was taking action in a time of
crisis. But it also would rein-
force the view that the presi-
dent, who took office declar-
ing he was a dealmaker, was
unable to steer the process to
an agreement.
Trump said Saturday the
orders “will take care of pret-
ty much this entire situation,
as we know it.” But they are
far smaller in scope than
congressional legislation,
and even aides acknowledged
they didn’t meet the needs of
all that was required.
“This is not a perfect
answer — we’ll be the first
ones to say that,” Meadows
said Friday as talks broke
down. “But it is all that we
can do and all the president
can do within the confines
of his executive power, and
we’re going to encourage him
to do it.”
Trump said the employee
portion of the payroll tax
would be deferred from Aug.
1 through the end of the year.
The move would not directly
aid unemployed workers, who
do not pay the tax when they
are jobless, and employees
will need to repay the federal
government eventually with-
out an act of Congress, where
there is bipartisan opposition
on Capitol Hill.
In essence, the deferral
is an interest-free loan that
would have to be repaid.
Trump said he’ll try to get
lawmakers to extend it, and
the timing would line up with
a post-election lame-duck
session in which Congress
will try to pass government
funding bills.
“If I win, I may extend
and terminate,” Trump said,
repeating a longtime goal but
remaining silent on how he’d
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www.woodhaventeam.org/donate-a-car
/woodhaventeam
brook tossed a blue bag of
plastic cups and bottles into
a commingled bin. She said
when the recycling bins are
full, she “always tries to go
somewhere else or tries to
make it fit.”
Adkisson said residents who
find containers that are full
can call the city at 573-874-
2489. He said one reason the
bins overflow is that some
people fail to break down
cardboard boxes.
The city does continue to
stockpile recyclable materi-
fund the Medicare and Social
Security benefits that the
7% tax on employee income
covers. Employers also pay
7.65% of their payrolls into
the funds.
“This fake tax cut would
also be a big shock to work-
ers who thought they were
getting a tax cut when it was
only a delay,” said Democrat-
ic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon.
“These workers would be hit
with much bigger payments
down the road.”
Both the House and Sen-
ate have left Washington,
with members sent home on
instructions to be ready to
return for a vote on an agree-
ment. With no deal in sight,
their absence raised the pos-
sibility of a prolonged stale-
mate that stretches well into
August and even September.
Often an impasse in Wash-
ington is of little consequence
for the public — but not so
this time. It would mean more
hardship for millions of peo-
ple who are losing enhanced
jobless benefits and further
damage for an economy
pummeled by the still-raging
coronavirus.
Friday’s negotiations at the
Capitol added up to only “a
disappointing meeting,” said
Senate Democratic leader
Chuck Schumer of New York.
He said the White House had
rejected an offer by Pelosi,
D-Calif., to curb Democratic
demands by about $1 trillion.
Schumer urged the White
House to “negotiate with
Democrats and meet us in
the middle. Don’t say it’s your
way or no way.”
That Capitol Hill session
followed a combative meeting
Thursday evening that for
the first time cast real doubt
on the ability of the Trump
administration and Demo-
crats to come together on a
fifth COVID-19 response bill.
Pelosi declared the talks all
Sunday & Monday, August 9-10, 2020 — Page 5A
ZEPHYRUS LI/Missourian
al at the landfill until it can
find buyers. Residents should
keep in mind that there are
separate bins for glass at the
drop-off sites, and they should
refrain from mixing things
the city can’t recycle with the
stuff they throw in the bins.
“The single biggest thing
customers can do to help keep
our recycling facility operat-
ing as efficiently as possible
is to only place approved
items accepted by the city
of Columbia in the recycling
dumpster,” Adkisson said.
but dead until Meadows and
Mnuchin give ground.
The breakdown in the
negotiations is particular-
ly distressing for schools,
which have been counting
on billions of dollars from
Washington to help with the
costs of reopening. But other
priorities are also languish-
ing, including a fresh round
of $1,200 direct payments to
most people, a cash infusion
for the struggling Postal Ser-
vice and money to help states
hold elections in November.
Mnuchin said renewal of a
$600-per-week pandemic job-
less boost and huge demands
by Democrats for aid to state
and local governments are
the key areas where they are
stuck.
Democrats have offered to
reduce her almost $1 trillion
demand for state and local
governments considerably,
but some of Pelosi’s proposed
cost savings would accrue
chiefly because she would
shorten the timeframe for
benefits like food stamps.
Pelosi and Schumer con-
tinue to insist on a huge aid
package to address a surge in
cases and deaths, double-digit
joblessness and the threat of
poverty for millions of the
newly unemployed.
Senate Republicans have
been split, with roughly half
of Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell’s rank and file
opposed to another rescue bill
at all. Four prior coronavirus
response bills totaling almost
$3 trillion have won approval
on bipartisan votes despite
intense wrangling, but con-
servatives have recoiled at
the prospect of another Pelo-
si-brokered agreement with
a whopping deficit-financed
cost.
McConnell has kept his
distance from the negotia-
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
tions while coordinating with
Mnuchin and Meadows.
Notice is hereby given that a public hearing will be held before the City
Council of the City of Columbia, Missouri in the Council Chamber of
City Hall, 701 E. Broadway, Columbia, Missouri on Monday, August
17, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. to give all citizens and interested parties an
opportunity to be heard in relation to the following:
Done by order of the City Council.
Crime bill lifts police
residency requirement,
boosts witness protections
CRIME from Page 1A
Louis Democrat, cited the
required certification hear-
ings for children as his pri-
mary concern.
“I do believe that we should
hold folks accountable for
decisions that they make, but
I can tell you right now when
I was 14 years old, I didn’t
have a clue of half the things
that I know now,” he said.
“We need to be pushing our
children towards diversion
programs, towards education
opportunities.”
Williams, along with Sens.
Karla May and Jamilah
Nasheed, also criticized law-
makers for trying to change
St. Louis police residency
requirements months before
St. Louis voters have the
chance to weigh in on the
issue when it’s on the Novem-
ber ballot.
May called it disrespectful
for lawmakers who don’t
Bentely Hees, 4, peeks into a box full of pumpkins in October 2016 in
Hartsburg. This year’s Hartsburg Pumpkin Festival has been canceled
because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Pumpkin farms remain
open for visitors despite
2020 festival cancelation
PUMPKIN from Page 1A
affects the town but in fact
all of our vendors as well,”
Martin said.
The event each year
attracts dozens of vendors
who sell their crafts, art-
work and food. It was also
canceled in 1993, the year of
the Great Flood on the Mis-
souri River.
Martin noted that much
of Hartsburg’s population
is older, so the committee
wanted to protect them from
any harm.
“We cannot ensure people
coming in and out will fol-
low the guidelines and other
restrictions to the best of
their ability,” Martin said.
Jo Hackman is the owner
of Hackman Farms, which
supplies thousands of pump-
kins for the event. He said
the cancellation won’t hurt
his business too badly.
“We sell pumpkins from
mid-September to Hallow-
een,” he said. “(The cancel-
ation) may affect us a little
bit, but people know we have
pumpkins, and they would
CITY OF COLUMBIA
ANNUAL BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2021 (FY21)
FOR THE CITY OF COLUMBIA, MISSOURI.
live in St. Louis to push the
change instead of letting St.
Louis residents decide for
themselves who should serve
as law enforcement in the
city.
The violence in St. Louis
over the past couple of
months has been staggering.
As of June 1, St. Louis had
recorded 70 killings for 2020
— the exact same year-to-
date total as 2019. St. Louis
had 32 killings in June and
a startling 53 in July. As of
Thursday, St. Louis has seen
158 homicides — about 40
more than this time last year.
Many experts believe the
coronavirus pandemic has
played a role, causing histor-
ic unemployment that has
hit hardest in economically
disadvantaged areas that
also tend to have the highest
crime rates.
The bill now heads to the
state House for consider-
ation.
ALEX SCIMECCA/Missourian file photo
probably come. We are here
all day every day.”
Hackman always tries
to grow enough pumpkins
every year to accommodate
both regular sales and the
festival. He said he sells
everything from tiny pump-
kins to those weighing up to
200 pounds.
Landon Nahler, the owner
of Nahler Farms Pumpkin
Patch, also relies on the
festival to bring buyers for
his pumpkin crop. He said
his farm will still try to
sell pumpkins the weekend
the festival was set to take
place, Oct. 10-11. He said
he’s confident he’ll get lots
of customers.
The organizers said in
the Facebook post that they
will reach out vendors in the
next few weeks to discuss
vendor fees and that they’re
looking forward to begin-
ning their plans for the 2021
festival. Martin said that
planning will begin earlier
and that committee mem-
bers will have to remain
wary of the pandemic.
Sheela Amin
City Clerk
 DINER DISTURBANCE FOOTBALL IS BACK
After the disruption on his property As Tigers took to the field Monday to
Sunday, Broadway Diner owner start practice, the SEC announced
Dave Johnson says the community its fall schedule and Missouri will
has rallied behind his restaurant start the season against Alabama
Page 3A Page 1B

Tuesday, August 18, 2020 • COLUMBIA’S LOCALLY OWNED NEWSPAPER • COLUMBIAMISSOURIAN.COM • 75 CENTS

MISSOURI +1,143 BOONE COUNTY +11

COVID-19 UPDATE: Tests: 858,617 Cases: 68,632 Deaths: 1,393 Cases: 1,619 Deaths: 5

MU students,
faculty, staff
must report
positive cases
to university
BY GALEN BACHARIER
news@columbiamissourian.com
MU students, faculty and staff are required
to notify the university if they test positive for
COVID-19 under new guidance issued by MU
Monday.
If a student tests positive, they must notify the
MU Student Health Center of that result within
four hours of receiving it, according to a campus
email from MU leaders. They will do so through
a secure online form. The student will provide
details on their activities and and whereabouts
on campus since two days before their testing,
as well as if they live on or off campus.
Students must also notify their instructors that KIT WIBERG/Missourian
they will miss classes within that same four- From left, Pat Fowler, Mayor Brian Treece, and Karl Skala at the start of the City Council meeting Monday in City Hall. On the agenda was the
hour time frame in order to make any possible the issue of residential roll carts for refuse and recycling collection.
remote learning arrangements, according to the
new guidance.
Faculty, staff and student employees should

City Council shoots down effort to

email their supervisor, as well as their dean or
division leader, according to the email.
Positive case information will be kept confi-
dential under educational and health privacy

put roll carts on November ballot

laws. Information regarding those cases will be
used to inform next steps by both MU and local
health officials in cleaning surfaces, arranging
remote work and contact tracing.
The new guidance is a reversal from MU’s
Please see CASES, Page 4A
BY WILLIAM SKIPWORTH Mayor Brian Treece, First Ward would leave their trash in rolling
AND JULIAN NAZAR Councilwoman Pat Fowler and Third carts that a truck with an automated
news@columbiamissourian.com Ward Councilman Karl Skala voted arm would pick up each week.

Missouri judge
Columbia voters won’t get to decide
in November whether to allow the
city to consider switching to roll
against placing the roll-cart mea- Voters in March 2016, however,
sure on the November ballot. Second approved an initiative petition ban-
Ward Councilman Miike Trapp, Fifth ning the city from adopting such a
Ward Councilman Matt Pitzer and system.

revises redistricting
carts and automated trash and recy-
cling collection.
The Columbia City Council, with
Fourth Ward Councilman Ian Thom-
Sixth Ward Councilwoman Betsy Roll carts have proved quite con-
Peters voted in favor. Thomas, who tentious in Columbia. Proponents of
has said in previous meetings that he the switch believe that trash bags on
supported the ballot measure, was the curb are ugly and worry about

measure on ballot
BY DAVID A. LIEB
The Associated Press
JEFFERSON CITY — A Missouri judge on
Monday rewrote the summary for a legislative
redistricting measure that will appear on the
November ballot, ruling that the state’s Republi-
can-led Legislature tried to misleadingly entice
voters into repealing an anti-gerrymandering
reform that voters approved just two years ago.
The decision by Cole County Circuit Judge Pat
Joyce struck down the Legislature’s ballot sum-
mary for Amendment 3 as insufficient, unfair
and partly false. She replaced it with a ballot
as absent, voted 3-3 on whether to
place a measure on the Nov. 4 gen-
eral election ballot asking voters to
repeal ordinances prohibiting roll
carts. The ordinance failed for lack
of a majority.
Measures repealing requirements
that the city provide curbside recy-
cling service and issue vouchers for
black trash bags and for blue recy-
cling bags also failed.
unable to attend.
Questions about the trash utility’s
future dominated the council meet-
ing, which also featured the first
public hearing on the proposed bud-
get for fiscal 2021.
Columbians have long debated
whether to change to an automated
system of trash collection involving
roll carts. Instead of residents leav-
ing trash bags at the curbside, they
the safety of the solid waste employ-
ees who have to lift heavy trash and
ride on the backs of trucks.
Opponents, however, say the carts
are ugly and that many residents will
have no place to store them.
City Utilities Director David Sor-
rell has estimated there would be
about $12 million in up-front costs
Please see COUNCIL, Page 4A

Democrats claim ‘big tent’ for first convention in pandemic

summary suggested by a group that sponsored
the successful 2018 measure and is opposed to
this year’s revision.
Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt,
who represented the Legislature and secretary
of state, can appeal the ruling.
2020 National Convention gets
Redistricting is a big topic nationally because underway as a broad spectrum of
Please see REDISTRICTING, Page 4A speakers delivers an urgent appeal
to unite against President Trump
BY STEVE PEOPLES
The Associated Press
TODAY’S WEATHER
SUNNY NEW YORK — Joe Biden introduced the
82/59 breadth of his coalition to a divided Amer-
ica on Monday night, progressive Dem-
ocrats joining conservative Republicans
INDEX and a billionaire CEO to deliver an urgent
Abby5B appeal for voters to unite against President
Classifieds4B Donald Trump regardless of political ide-
Nation6A ology or party.
Obituaries2A Former first lady Michelle Obama
Opinion5A vouched for Biden’s empathy and experi-
Sports1B ence, while the extraordinary ideological
range of Biden’s many messengers on
Sudoku4B
the opening night of the 2020 Democratic
TV schedule 6B National Convention was perhaps best
demonstrated by former presidential con-
Our 112th year/#242 tenders from opposing parties: Vermont
2 sections Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described
12 pages
democratic socialist who championed a
multi-trillion-dollar universal health care
plan, and Ohio’s former Republican Gov.
HONSX/The Associated Press
John Kasich, an anti-abortion conserva-
tive who spent decades fighting to cut In this image from video, former first lady Michelle Obama speaks Monday during the first night of the
Democratic National Convention. The DNC released excerpts of her speech ahead of the convention.
6 54051 90850 3 Please see DNC, Page 4A
Page 4A — TUESDAY, August 18, 2020
Residents could mount an initiative petition drive on roll carts
COUNCIL from Page 1A
to switch to an automated
system, but some of that
would be offset by trading
in existing trash trucks and
reducing maintenance fees,
worker compensation costs
and payments to temporary
employment agencies.
Amy Belcher, who founded
a pro-roll cart group called
Columbia MO Citizens for
Roll Carts, said she would
continue pushing for a roll
cart system despite the
setback. She promised the
councll she would get a roll
cart measure on the ballot
even without the council’s
approval.
“Roll this to the ballot and
let people actually decide on
this,” Kristin Hill, another
member of Columbia MO
Citizens for Roll Carts, said
before the council rejected
it.
Andrew Hutchinson, who
works with Missouri Jobs
with Justice and workers’
union LiUna, said he spoke
with 21 Columbia solid waste
employees and all favored a
roll cart system.
Some, however, believe
roll carts are eyesores that
Symptom-tracking app will Judge rules GOP lawmakers used
function as ‘a pass’ for access misleading language in summary
CASES from Page 1A
original policy, in which stu-
dents who test positive would
not be required to inform the
university, though their tests
would still be reported to the
local health department.
“The safety of our stu-
dents, faculty and staff is our
number one priority,” said
UM System President Mun
Choi and Provost Latha Ram-
chand in the campus email.
“We believe these measures
contribute to the health of
our university community.”
Symptom-tracking app
Students, staff and facul-
ty will be required to use
the symptom-tracking app
#CampusClear, which MU
will roll out soon.
Daily screenings will
determine if an individual
is able to come to campus,
and the app will function as
a “pass to provide access to
All-virtual affair is first without a meeting place or cheering throngs
DNC from Page 1A
government spending.
“My friends, I say to you,
and to everyone who support-
ed other candidates in this
primary and to those who
may have voted for Donald
Trump in the last election:
The future of our democ-
racy is at stake. The future
of our economy is at stake.
The future of our planet is at
stake,” Sanders declared.
Kasich said his status as
a lifelong Republican “holds
second place to my responsi-
bility to my country.”
“In normal times, some-
thing like this would probably
never happen, but these are
not normal times,” he said of
his participation at the Dem-
ocrats’ convention. He added:
“We can do better than what
we’ve been seeing today, for
sure.”
The unified message, out-
lined in excerpts of prere-
corded speeches, came before
the official start of the first
presidential nominating con-
vention of the coronavirus
era. The all-virtual affair is
the first without a central
meeting place or cheering
throngs. And there were real
questions about whether the
prime-time event would ade-
quately energize the dispa-
rate factions Biden hopes to
capture.
Republicans face a similar
challenge next week.
Trump, seeking to under-
mine the Democrats’ big
night by hosting a political
rally in Wisconsin, where
Biden’s party had originally
planned this week’s conven-
tion, called the Democrats’
event “a snooze” before it
even began.
“You know when you hear a
speech is taped, it’s like there
is nothing very exciting about
it, right?” the Republican
president said.
Democrats abandoned their
would be left at the curb
24/7. They also worry about
the costs of implementing
the new system.
“Visible roll carts would
constitute a permanent
blemish on our city” Colum-
bia Realtor Cindy Sheltmire
said.
About 54% of voters in
March 16 voted to ban the
council from even discussing
roll carts for six months and
to establish the ordinances
that still prohibit their use.
Some council members
and residents, however,
believe public sentiment is
changing.
Pitzer said the city doesn’t
expose any of its employees
to the same level of risk its
solid waste employees face.
Trapp agreed. “We are
responsible for keeping our
workers safe, and we are
failing at that,” he said.
Fowler voted against the
ballot measure, in part
because the preliminary bill
from the Boone County clerk
for the election was more
than $200,000. Skala said the
council should leave it to cit-
izens to force another initia-
tive petition on the matter.
various locations on cam-
pus,” according to the email.
Those locations are being
determined. If someone
enters one of those locations
without the app, they will
have their temperature taken
and will be asked about their
symptoms.
MU already required
everyone on campus to com-
plete a daily symptom and
temperature checklist. If
someone is unable to use the
app, they are still required to
monitor symptoms and tem-
perature daily.
Event restrictions
Events on campus with
more than 20 people are
prohibited under the new
guidance, a vastly lower
threshold than Boone Coun-
ty’s current 100 attendee
maximum.
Outside groups’ events will
also mostly be prohibited,
with the exception of MU’s
In this Feb. 25 photo, Democratic presidential candidates, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., left, and former Vice President Joe Biden, talk before a
Democratic presidential primary debate in Charleston, S.C. Sanders spoke Monday night during the virtual convention saying, “The future of our
democracy is at stake. ThHe future of our economy is at stake. The future of our planet is at stake.”
plans for an in-person gath-
ering in Milwaukee because
of the pandemic. The unprec-
edented gathering is not
only testing the bonds of the
diverse Biden-Kamala Harris
coalition but the practical
challenges of running a presi-
dential campaign in the midst
of a pandemic.
Among a series of national
crises, speakers planned to
address bipartisan concerns
that Postal Service changes
will make it hard for voters
to be sure their mail-in bal-
lots are received in time and
From left, Third Ward Councilmember Karl Skala and Fifth Ward Councilmember Matt Pitzer discuss the issue of residential roll carts at the City Council
meeting Monday in City Hall. Citizens were given time to express their opinions about the issue during the meeting.
serving as a polling location
for the Nov. 3 election. MU
has defined an “event” as
“a communal gathering on
or off campus, outside of a
classroom setting, lasting
longer than 15 minutes,”
according to the email.
Those seeking special
approval for an event with
more than 20 attendees must
complete a request form, but
the only events that will be
approved will be those that
“support MU’s academic
mission” and follow health
and safety protocols.
Face coverings will be
mandatory at all indoor
events and at outdoor events
where six feet of social dis-
tancing can’t be maintained.
Speakers or performers will
not be required to wear face
coverings at events as long
as social distancing can be
maintained.
MU has released a full
events policy.
counted. Ballot access is a
particular concern for people
of color, whose communi-
ties were disproportionately
forced to wait in long lines to
cast primary votes earlier in
the year.
At this moment, Biden sits
in a stronger political position
than Trump, who has strug-
gled to expand his political
coalition under the weight
of his turbulent leadership
and prolonged health and
economic crises. But 78 days
before votes are counted,
history is not on the Demo-
REDISTRICTING from Page 1A
all states must redraw their
congressional and legislative
districts based on the results
of this year’s census. In most
states, those redistricting
decisions will be made next
year by lawmakers, governors
and special commissions.
Missouri was among five
states where voters in 2018
approved ballot measures
designed to diminish the
potential for political influ-
ences in redistricting. It’s
the only state to require a
nonpartisan demographer to
draw state House and Senate
districts to achieve “partisan
fairness” and “competitive-
ness” as determined by a spe-
cific mathematical formula.
An Associated Press anal-
ysis showed that the formula
likely would lead to Demo-
cratic gains in the Legisla-
ture while dropping Repub-
lican majorities closer to the
more even partisan division
cratic challenger’s side. Just
one incumbent president has
been defeated in the last four
decades.
Polls also suggest that
Biden, a 77-year-old lifelong
politician, is on the wrong
end of an enthusiasm gap.
His supporters consistently
say they’re motivated more
by opposition to Trump, who
is 74, than excitement about
Biden. Democrats hope to
shift that dynamic beginning
with the convention.
Biden will accept the nom-
ination Thursday night in a
COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN
reflected in statewide races.
The Republican-led Legisla-
ture this year referred a new
amendment to the November
ballot that would abolish the
nonpartisan demographer
position — returning the
task to a pair of bipartisan
commissions — and relegate
“partisan fairness” and “com-
petitiveness” to the bottom of
the criteria.
Like the 2018 measure, the
Legislature’s revision com-
bines the redistricting chang-
es with popular measures to
lower campaign contribution
limits and restrict lobbyist
gifts to lawmakers.
The ballot summary writ-
ten by the Legislature said
a “yes” vote would “ban all
lobbyist gifts,” reduce contri-
bution limits and create citi-
zen-led commissions to draw
districts based on several
criteria.
Joyce ruled that the sum-
mary wrongly failed to tell
voters that Amendment 3
MATT ROURKE
mostly empty ballroom in his
home state of Delaware. Cal-
ifornia Sen. Harris, the first
Black woman on a national
ticket, speaks Wednesday.
Michelle Obama, whom
Gallup determined was the
nation’s most admired woman
last year, described Biden as
a “profoundly decent man”
in a video excerpt of her
remarks recorded at least six
days earlier.
“He was a terrific vice
president,” she said of the
man who served for eight
years as her husband’s No.
KIT WIBERG/Missourian
“would eliminate the leg-
islative redistricting rules
Missourians overwhelmingly
adopted just two years ago to
combat political gerryman-
dering and replace them with
a redistricting process sim-
ilar in substance to the one
they just voted to abandon.”
The judge said the Legis-
lature’s summary sought “to
entice voters” to pass it by
“misleadingly overstating”
the lobbyist and contribution
restrictions. Joyce said the
summary was “literally false”
for saying it would ban “all”
lobbyist gifts when gifts from
unpaid lobbyists and those
who are related to lawmakers
would still be allowed.
The judge also ordered the
ballot summary to state that
the measure would “repeal
rules for drawing legislative
districts approved by vot-
ers in November 2018 and
replace them with rules pro-
posed by the legislature.”
2. “He knows what it takes
to rescue an economy, beat
back a pandemic and lead our
country.”
The former first lady
appeared in a video sitting
alone in a quiet room with a
sparsely decorated shelf, a
burning candle and a small
blue Biden sign behind her.
With no live audience for any
of the speakers, convention
organizers were forced to get
creative in their high-stakes
quest to generate enthusiasm.
The campaign hosted
drive-in viewing stations in
six states, much like drive-in
movies, where viewers could
watch on a big screen from
the safety of their vehicles.
There were also many online
watch parties featuring celeb-
rities and elected officials to
make the experience more
interactive.
The scheduled Monday
speakers include plenty of
Democratic politicians: Rep.
Jim Clyburn of South Caroli-
na, who is the highest rank-
ing African American in Con-
gress; New York Gov. Andrew
Cuomo; Michigan Gov.
Gretchen Whitmer; Alabama
Sen. Doug Jones; Nevada Sen.
Catherine Cortez Masto and
two former presidential con-
tenders: Minnesota Sen. Amy
Klobuchar and Sanders.
And beyond Kasich, there
were three high-profile
Republicans backing Biden
who got speaking slots: Cal-
ifornia businesswoman Meg
Whitman, former New Jersey
Gov. Christine Whitman and
former New York Congress-
woman Susan Molinari.
Trump, as he often does,
was ensuring he’d be a part
of the conversation. The pres-
ident made two swing-state
campaign appearances on
Monday, first in Minnesota
and then in Wisconsin, which
was to be the location for the
Democrats’ convention before
the coronavirus outbreak.
 CPS SPECIAL SESSION CPS FOOTBALL KICKS OFF
Columbia School Board will meet High school football kicks back into
Monday to discuss reopening action with big wins by Battle and Rock
plans after 14-day positivity rate Bridge. Hickman and Tolton come up
passes online-only threshold short in their season openers.
Page 5A Page 1B
Sunday & Monday, August 30-31, 2020 • COLUMBIA’S LOCALLY OWNED NEWSPAPER • COLUMBIAMISSOURIAN.COM • 75 CENTS

MISSOURI +1,254 BOONE COUNTY +131

COVID-19 UPDATE: Tests: 965,326 Cases: 82,279 Deaths: 1,496 Cases: 2,447 Deaths: 7

Businesses, bars
to stop serving
alcohol at 9 p.m.,
close at 10 p.m.
BY SKYLAR LAIRD
news@columbiamissourian.com
Bars and restaurants must stop serv-
ing alcohol at 9 p.m. and close by 10 p.m.
under new Columbia and Boone County
health orders announced Friday morn-
ing. The directives, intended to combat
the sharp rise in COVID-19 cases, took
effect at noon Friday.
The order also restricts gatherings
to no more than 20 people unless plans
for larger groups are submitted to the
Columbia/Boone County Public Health
and Human Services Department for
review and approval.
Health Director Stephanie Browning
BLYTHE DORRIAN/Missourian announced the directives, which she
Susan Dudley and horse Hollywood jump over flowers Saturday in New Bloomfield. The two previously won second place in the confirmation said are the result of an “exponential”
category. increase in COVID-19 cases in the coun-

Mid-Missouri Miniature Horse

ty. She said the positivity rate for those
tested over the past week was 44.6%,
which is “evidence of widespread com-
munity transmission.”
The county broke its record of new

Show goes off without a hitch

BY TONY MADDEN
news@columbiamissourian.com
Torrential downpour and pandemic
concerns were no match for enthusi-
astic participants at Saturday’s annual
Mid-Missouri Miniature Horse Show
in New Bloomfield, Missouri.
Miniature horse handlers, owners
and enthusiasts gathered for the sec-
ond year in a row at the Carl Gastin-
eau Memorial Arena for a number of
competitive classes. These included
passenger carts pulls, obstacle courses
and a costume contest. According to
organizer Schellie Blochberger, the
show is one of very few opportunities
to showcase the small horses.
“It’s kind of almost a hidden thing,”
Blochberger said. “When you go to an
open show, there may be one or two
classes that you can show them in. So,
Please see HORSE, Page 7A
cases Saturday, with 131.
The new orders will remain in effect
through midnight Sept. 17 but can be
extended or rescinded. It does allow bars
and restaurants to provide curbside pick-
up of food orders after 10 p.m.
The orders also require entertainment
venues to close at 10 p.m. and stop serv-
ing alcohol at 9 p.m.
Browning said the spike in positive
cases is largely due to young people
gathering and ignoring social distanc-
Please see HEALTH, Page 4A

Mo. health director Local group petitions for roll carts on April ballot
says state will have BY GRACIE ALVAREZ
AND DYLAN SCHWARTZ
news@columbiamissourian.com
The group started the petition
process after the City Council
lected enough signatures for
the issue to be placed on the
ballot. Citizens voted 54-46% in
natures. Not everybody likes
when people go door-to-door,

COVID-19 test strips

voted against placing a mea- especially during a pandemic,”
Members of the Facebook sure in the November ballot favor of the proposition, which Proffitt said, “Everybody going
group Columbia MO Citizens that would allow the city to con- also included a six-month mor- door-to-door is going to wear a
sider switching to roll carts. atorium on any discussion of mask, carry hand sanitizer, and

before end of Sept.

for Roll Carts have begun col-
lecting signatures on an initia-
tive petition that, if successful,
would allow voters to decide
whether the Columbia City
BY CIANNA ROTHWELL MORALES
news@columbiamissourian.com Council can consider switching
to roll carts for trash and recy-
Saliva-based COVID-19 test strips could be cling collection.
available in Missouri as soon as the end of The group would like to place
September, Department of Health and Senior the issue on the April ballot.
Services Director Randall Williams said Fri- Amy Belcher and Rachel
day after speaking to the Columbia Chamber Proffitt created the Facebook
of Commerce. group in July after the city
The test strips were developed by research- announced that it would sus-
ers at Washington University in St. Louis, pend recycling collection indef-
in collaboration with Fluidigm, a San Fran- initely. It has since gained 1,700
cisco-based biotech company. Fluidigm members. The city was forced
announced Tuesday that the tests, which to suspend recycling due to
render results within 24 hours, were granted severe staffing shortages.
FDA emergency use authorization. “My motivation for roll carts
Williams’ prediction Friday followed Gov. has always been worker safety,
Mike Parson’s comments on Wednesday, first and foremost,” Belcher
said. “When diving into the
Please see COVID, Page 4A process and talking with city
leaders, I was able to see the
dire financial situation the
solid waste utility is in. Now,
my motivation is still worker
TODAY’S
safety but also includes main-
WEATHER
taining our trash service as a
PARTLY SUNNY
79/63 city entity.”
The council voted 3-3 on the
measure at its Aug. 17 meeting,
with Mayor Brian Treece, First
Ward Councilwoman Pat Fowl-
er and Third Ward Councilman
Karl Skala opposing it. Council
members Mike Trapp, Matt
Pitzer and Besty Peters of the
Second, Fifth and Sixth wards,
respectively, favored the ordi-
nance. Fourth Ward Council-
man Ian Thomas, who had said
previously he would support
putting the issue to a vote, was
absent from the meeting.
The petition, created by
Belcher and Proffitt with the
help of legal council, calls for
“a repeal of sections 22-159(F),
22-159(G), 22-159.1(D) and
22-159.1(E) of the city code
prohibiting the use of residen-
tial roll carts and automated
refuse collection vehicles for
roll carts.”
The sections to be repealed
became a part of the city
code in 2015 after a similar
citizen-led petition initiative,
which opposed roll carts, col-
roll carts by city government
or any effort by the council to
overturn the new ordinance.
The six-month moratorium
is now over, but the ordinance
remains. In order to consider
the use of roll carts and auto-
mated collection, the city code
must be amended and the ordi-
nance repealed.
Skala at the Aug. 17 meeting
said he opposed the council
putting the measure on the
ballot because the ordinances
on the books are the result of
a citizens’ initiative. Any move
to reverse that, he said, should
also come from citizens.
This is what the Columbia
MO Citizens for Roll Carts’
petition aims to do.
Proffitt posted instructions
to the Facebook group on how
advocates can volunteer and
collect signatures for the peti-
tion. Volunteers are encouraged
to go door-to-door to collect
signatures.
“Normally we would have
more people collecting sig-
really we’re just going to try
our best.”
Under the city charter, the
petition needs 3,219 signatures
in order to make it onto the
ballot in April. That would be
equal to 20% of the number of
voters who cast ballots in the
last mayoral election.
“We’re going to try to collect
as many signatures as we can,”
Proffitt said. “The lofty goal
is to collect enough to have
this on the April ballot. The
ultimate deadline is the end of
December, but in order to give
the city clerk time to review it,
our deadline is October.
The question of roll cart use
in Columbia is a long-standing
issue with passionate voices on
both sides. Belcher and Proffitt
are expecting opposition to
their petition but plan to share
information with opponents in
an effort to change their per-
spective.
“I’m hopeful that the
Please see FACEBOOK, Page 4A

INDEX
Abby8B
Classifieds7A
Obituaries2A
Opinion6A
Boone County reports 131 COVID-19 cases, a new daily record
Sports1B BY MISSOURIAN STAFF cases. People ages 18 to 22 account for 936, cases have been reported to MU by the
Sudoku8A news@columbiamissourian.com or 38% of those cases. There are 620 active Health Department since Aug. 19. Fall
TV schedule 8B cases in the county and 929 contacts cur- semester classes began Monday.
Boone County reported 131 new positive
COVID-19 cases Saturday, a new daily rently in quarantine. Columbia Public Schools’ 14-day rate is
Our 112th year/#252 record, as cases in the 18-22 age group con- The city and county announced new now 61.5 cases per 10,000 people. It crossed
2 sections tinue to surge. health orders Friday ordering bars and the threshold for suggested online-only
16 pages The daily increase is by far the largest restaurants to stop serving alcohol at 9 p.m. schooling Thursday. The school board will
for the county, with the previous daily and to close by 10 p.m. in an effort to curb hold a special session meeting Monday to
increase being 87 cases Wednesday. Of the the spread of COVID-19. Those orders took discuss the district’s back-to-school plan.
131 new cases reported Saturday, 83 belong effect immediately. Missouri reported 1,198 new positive
to the 18-22 age group, according to the MU has reported 306 new active student cases Saturday and 32 new deaths, a daily
county’s dashboard. cases as of Friday, according to the uni- high for the state. The state’s seven-day pos-
6 54051 90850 3 Boone County has reported 2,447 total versity’s dashboard. A total of 367 student itivity rate is 12.2%.
Page 4A — Sunday & Monday, August 30-31, 2020 COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN

New COVID-19 test strips can

render results in about 24 hours
COVID from Page 1A
when he called the test strips
“a game changer.”
About 20,000 tests can be
analyzed per day and the
turnaround time on results is
roughly 24 hours.
“I am confident we will
have saliva testing in Mis-
souri by the end of the
month,” Williams said.
Williams said Missouri
has been aggressive with
testing over the summer,
with a widely-lauded “box in”
strategy — a method most
effective for containing the
spread of COVID-19 in group
long-term living situations,
such as nursing homes.
With the start of school
and return of students to
Public Health and Human
Services Department has
been doing a good job.
Although cloth face cov-
erings have been found to
be one of the most effective
methods for limiting com-
munity spread, Williams
explained why he hasn’t
advocated for a statewide
mask mandate. He said the
risk of imposing rules is that
government can exceed the
public’s capacity to comply.
He also acknowledged differ-
ent counties — with different
population densities — don’t
have the same needs.
In general, though: “If you
can’t social distance, you
need to wear a mask. Peri-
od.”
adults.
Williams is also hopeful a
COVID-19 vaccination will
be rolled out in November
for health care workers and
January for the general pub-
lic.
The health department was
already working on aware-
ness campaigns to increase
the number of people who
get the vaccine, he said.
The health department
and providers statewide will
also do all it can to promote
the flu vaccine this year
because limiting the number
of seriously ill flu patients
will be important for not
BLYTHE DORRIAN/Missourian
overwhelming the already-
strained health care system. Columbia locals wearing face coverings walk by Field House bar Friday in downtown Columbia. A new policy has
bars closing early due to the spread of COVID-19.
Williams shot down the

New health order: Gatherings

Williams also talked about idea the response to COVID-
campuses, though, commu- the relatively good news in 19 has been an overreaction
nity spread becomes more of Missouri’s COVID-19 statis- and that it is no worse than
a risk, rather than outbreaks tics, despite the uptick in the the flu.

should not exceed 20 people

in contained living communi- infection rate among young
ties, Williams said. people. He pointed out the
He acknowledged the state’s mortality rate has
uptick in Boone County’s decreased from 7% in April
numbers since students to less than 1% now. That’s
returned to MU but said the largely because the shift
Columbia/Boone County in demographics to young
LOCAL BRIEFS
Missouri Fact Sheets to include data that account
for census changes over the
provide updated data
past few years. The previous
The Missouri Census Data one was outdated and didn’t
Center has released a new work very well, Rice said.
version of what was former- “As far as the site goes, it’s
ly known as the “Missouri
really just one data appli-
County Pages.” cation among many that we
The new data application, have at the Missouri Census
now called Missouri Fact Data Center website,” Rice
Sheets, quickly generates said. “It’s intended for users
data from any county in Mis- that want just a quick snap-
souri. Glenn Rice, research shot from a variety of sourc-
project analyst lead, said the
es at the Missouri county
update was released in early
level.”
August and appears similar
The application was cre-
to the previous version. ated to make it easier for
Rice explained the updated people to compare counties
version uses the most recent with its simple navigation.
data gathered from sources If users want more informa-
such as the agricultural cen- tion, additional sources are
sus, the U.S. Bureau of Eco- linked in the data.
nomic Analysis, surveys and The application is ready to
census population estimates, go with updated information
and local sources to provide on any Missouri county.
more accurate information
that reflect changes over One injured, arrest
time. made after shooting
Some information was A shooting in downtown
taken out because it was mis- Columbia early Saturday
leading, outdated or didn’t injured one and led to an
take into account outside arrest, according to Colum-
factors that would influence bia police.
the data. Other information, Officers responded to a
such as food insecurity for report of disturbance and
children, was added. shots fired at approximately
The updates were needed 12:41 a.m. Saturday near the
PUBLIC TAX HEARING
The Boone County Commissions will hold a public hearing Thursday,
September 15, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. for the purpose of setting 2020 property tax
rates. The proposed 2020 property tax rates, preliminary assessed valuations
and 2019 rates and final assessed valuations are as follows:
2019 FINAL ASSESSED VALUATION
REAL ESTATE
Residential 1,813,239,324
Agricultural 25,307,981
Commercial 632,704,861
TOTAL REAL ESTATE 2,471,252,166
PERSONAL 546,563,266
STATE ASSESSED 35,244,369
TOTAL VALUE 3,053,059,801
2019 TAX RATES
General Revenue
Common Road & Bridge
Group Homes
2020 PRELIMENARY ASSESED VALUATION
REAL ESTATE
Residential 1,846,281,877
Agricultural 26,731,198
Commercial 644,481,136
TOTAL REAL ESTATE 2,517,494,211
PERSONAL 544,431,810
STATE ASSESSED 36,613,282
TOTAL VALUE 3,098,539,303
2020 Proposed Tax Rates
General Revenue
Common Road & Bridge
Group Homes
The hearing will be held in the Boone County Government Center Commission
Chambers, 801 E. Walnut St., Columbia, MO.
Brianna L. Lennon,
Boone County Clerk
INSERTION DATE: August 30, 2020
“The morbidity is much
higher than in the flu ... and
it’s twice as infectious,”
he said. “This particular
infection disease has more
variation than any infectious
disease we have ever seen.”
intersection of Tenth Street
and Broadway, according to
a news release. They found
one adult male victim at the
scene, who had several gun-
shot wounds and was trans-
ported to a hospital. Shell
casings were also found in
the area.
A pursuit of the vehicle
described by witnesses at
the scene ended in the 4400
block of Santa Barbara
Drive, where officers took a
suspect into custody. Mem-
bers of the Boone County
Sheriff’s Department and
Missouri State Highway
Patrol also participated in
the pursuit.
Charges are pending
against Chad L. Thomas, 30,
according to police, and an
investigation is ongoing.
The Saturday morning
shooting is the third in
Columbia this week. One
person was shot and injured
early Tuesday near Clink-
scales Road, and the victim
of a Tuesday night shooting
at Douglass Park later died
of injuries. Murder charges
have been filed in connec-
tion with the Douglass Park
shooting, police said Wednes-
day.
.1200
.0500
.1146
.1200
.0500
.1146
HEALTH from Page 1A
ing guidelines and the city’s
mask ordinance.
“What we’re seeing in our
violations is they’re coming
late at night. Big groups
are gathering, they’re not
wearing masks, they’re not
socially distancing,” Brown-
ing said. “We’re trying to
keep things open and trying
to keep it at a manageable
hour.”
The 9 p.m. cutoff for alco-
hol will give restaurant and
bar patrons enough time to
order and drink their last
drinks before leaving at
10 p.m. Browning said offi-
cials will drive around the
county and spot businesses
that do not comply.
Under the new order, any
large group gathering or
event held at a business or
institution open to the public
is limited to 50% occupancy
or 100 people, whichever is
less. That includes events at
hotels, conference/event cen-
ters and places of worship.
“All business estab-
lishments are strongly
encouraged to operate at a
capacity less than otherwise
permitted to allow for more
distancing within the estab-
lishment,” the order reads.
“Businesses are also encour-
aged to provide services
remotely or in a manner
maximizing social distancing
such as curbside, pickup,
delivery, etc.”
The previous health
order, announced Aug. 6,
specified restrictions about
mask-wearing and social dis-
tancing in bars and restau-
rants. It was set to expire
Monday at midnight.
The county has had a total
of 2,447 cases since March,
620 of them active as of Sat-
urday evening. People ages
18 to 22 account for 936, or
38.3%, of the total cases.
MU has reported 263 new
student cases since Aug. 19,
about a week after students
began moving in.
The number of cases in
the 18-to-22 age bracket
Volunteers aim to get roll cart issue on
April ballot, 3,219 signatures needed
FACEBOOK from Page 1A
opposition will see two
points: that there are pro-
grams in place for the elder-
ly and disabled to ensure
their refuse can still be col-
lected. Also, that the needs
and safety of the employees,
and the department as a
whole, are far more import-
ant than perceived thoughts
on the aesthetics of the roll
carts themselves,” Belcher
said.
Kim Parker is a member
of the Solid Waste Advocacy
Group but said in an inter-
view with the Missourian
that she was speaking for
increased over 220% in the
seven days ending on Thurs-
day, compared to the previ-
ous week, the Health Depart-
ment said in a news release
after the news conference.
The number of hospitaliza-
tions within Boone County
has increased to a current
high of 46 patients.
Browning said she expect-
ed the number of coronavi-
rus cases to increase with
the return of college students
to town, “but I didn’t expect
this rise this fast.”
Assistant Health Director
Scott Clardy told Sebas-
tian Martinez Valdivia of
KBIA/91.3 FM that before
this week’s positivity rate of
44.6%, the highest positivity
rate was 15.8% for July 3-9.
From Aug. 21 through
Thursday, Clardy said, the
average daily positivity rate
for those 18 to 22 years old
was 60.4%. It was 38.7%
before that.
Also, in that seven-day
period 18- to 22-year-olds
comprised 59.5% of all pos-
itives cases, up from 34.5%
the week before.
The Health Department
elaborated on the testing
numbers and positivity rate
on its Facebook page.
Boone County Presiding
Commissioner Dan Atwill
said at the Friday morning
briefing that Browning’s
orders are based on profes-
sional expertise and not per-
sonal opinion or polls.
“We would be foolish not to
listen,” he said.
UM System President and
MU Chancellor Mun Choi
said MU will begin releasing
self-reported data about fac-
ulty and staff Monday.
He also referenced the
University of North Caroli-
na-Chapel Hill, which made
national news for going fully
online after one week of
classes. UNC has a similar
student population to MU,
but Choi cited Boone Coun-
ty’s lower death rate and
higher hospital capacity as
reasons MU has not followed
herself and not for the group.
She noted that the city has
said the start-up costs for
acquiring automated trucks
and providing households
with roll carts would be
about $12 million.
Utilities Director David
Sorrell has said some of
those costs would be recov-
ered by trading in existing
trucks, reducing worker
compensation claims and
temporary worker expenses,
and eliminating the need to
distribute trash bags.
Parker said the city would
have to distribute three
roll carts per household to
accommodate trash and
suit despite a higher number
of cases.
He also said “students and
young people in that age
group do recover at a very
high rate,” which he cited as
another reason he doesn’t
want to close campus.
Browning later disput-
ed this, saying that “even
though our younger popula-
tion may recover quicker,”
they can still feel the impact
of the virus, as well as
spread it.
“I will tell you that when I
look at the number of cases
and I look at the case notes,
there’s a lot of (people in that
age group) that do not feel
well,” she said. “So, let’s not
assume they’re all asymp-
tomatic and feeling good.
That’s not the case.”
MU reported 306 active
student cases Friday on its
COVID-19 dashboard, an
increase of 78 cases since
Wednesday. A total of 367
students have tested positive
since Aug. 19, when the local
health department began
sending data to MU, and 70
student cases have recov-
ered.
Four to five students were
quarantining in MU facili-
ties, Choi said. Those univer-
sity-owned facilities have a
capacity of 60, MU spokes-
person Christian Basi said,
but MU also has contracts
with local hotels in case
there is a need for expanded
capacity.
Business owners were
not consulted about the new
orders, Browning said.
“I talk to people in the
business community all the
time,” Browning said. “Did I
run this past them? No.”
The spike in positive cases
of the coronavirus demanded
immediate action, Browning
said.
“I’m certain they’re wor-
ried about the economic
impact of this,” Browning
said of business owners.
“We all are.”(tncms-as-
set)9a108b58-ea27-11ea-b78a-
17fe1ad8a136[0](/tncms-asset)
recycling collection. That,
she said, amounts to 100,000
roll carts across the city.
“It is a matter of fact, of
not only how we want our
city to look, but how we want
it to function.”
Proffitt is confident the
petitioners will make their
deadline.
“I think we can do it. I
think we’ve seen the support
of people wanting to push
this forward,” Proffitt said.
“The trash collection work-
ers, they’re pushing for this.
I want to support them as
best we can. Make it a better
system for everybody.”
 ANOTHER RECORD HIGH HOMETOWN HERO HONORED
Boone County’s new COVID-19 Glasgow High School honored Negro
cases exceeded 200 on Saturday, Leagues legend John Donaldson with
while the state added dozens of a softball and baseball stadium and
previously unreported deaths a statue Friday
Page 3A Page 1B

Sunday & Monday, September 6-7, 2020 • COLUMBIA’S LOCALLY OWNED NEWSPAPER • COLUMBIAMISSOURIAN.COM • 75 CENTS

MISSOURI +2,018 BOONE COUNTY +221

COVID-19 UPDATE: Tests: 1,034,301 Cases: 92,174 Deaths: 1,639 Cases: 3,331 Deaths: 7

Changes Missouri scales back its helmet law A new Bird

to trash,
recycling
proposed
to council
BY GRACIE ALVAREZ
news@columbiamissourian.com
Columbia could cut the
amount of trash being
dumped in the landfill by
6,000 tons per year and
increase the amount of recy-
cling by 2,000 tons per year
if the City Council approves
a host of changes to the rules
for curbside disposal and col-
lection that will be introduced
at the council’s Tuesday night
meeting.
Those are the estimates
offered in a staff memo on
the ordinance, which would
be up for a final vote at the
council’s Sept. 21 meeting.
Utilities Director Dave
Indian Motorcycle employee Eric Myers, left, talks to Cole Robbins on Wednesday about a motorcycle at Head Motor Company. Robbins
returned to look at bikes after a heavy rain ruined his last trip.
BY MARK OSSOLINSKI
news@columbiamissourian.com
nitely feel like riders should have
the ability to make that choice
HANA KELLENBERGER/Missourian
injuries incurred as a result of a
motorcycle or motortricycle acci-
agreement
would allow
scooters to
make return
BY LUCAS NAVA
news@columbiamissourian.com
The stage is set for Bird
scooters to make a return to
Columbia and the MU cam-
pus.
The Columbia City Council
on Tuesday night will intro-
duce an ordinance authoriz-
ing a new contract that would
allow Bird to bring 500 scoot-
ers to town. The contract
would require Bird to pay an
upfront fee of $10,000 plus $2
per day per scooter deployed
as well as a $4 performance
bond per scooter to offset any
costs the city and MU might
incur.
The contract also estab-
lishes extensive obligations
for Bird and rules for riders.
Bird will have to provide the
city and MU detailed data

W
Sorrell is proposing sever-
al changes to ordinances
regarding trash and recycling
collection in an attempt to
improve working conditions
for the solid waste staff. He’s
also proposing a $5-per-hour
wage increase that would
bring most trash collectors’
wages to $22 per hour. The
memo to the council says that
would cost $354,224 per year.
Sorrell is suggesting the
city pay for those raises by
raising monthly household
trash and recycling bills by
85 cents, which would bring
the total monthly bill to
$17.37.
The ordinance aims to
make collection more man-
ageable by strictly regulating
how residents can put out
hen Columbia resident
Ricky Reeves was
killed in a four-vehicle
crash on Interstate 70
last Saturday, his death appeared
to be the latest statistic in a
well-documented line of motorcy-
cle-related deaths in Missouri and
around the country.
What set Reeves’ case apart,
however, was its status as one of
the first instances of a Missouri
motorcyclist being killed while
legally not wearing a helmet.
“Honestly, I feel like it is the
person’s choice,” said Leslie
Reeves, his widow. “I know that
my husband was killed. I defi-
for themselves. ... At least he died
doing something that he loved.”
In the case of her late husband,
who was struck by multiple vehi-
cles, it’s unlikely that wearing a
helmet would have saved his life,
Reeves said.
But her view on helmets and
choice, which she said her husband
shared, nonetheless reflects the
complexity of competing values
underlying a new state law that
went into effect Aug. 28.
Previously, all riders in Missouri
were required to wear a helmet.
The new law allows them to ride
without one, as long as they are
26 or older and have insurance
that provides medical benefits for
dent. on the use of its scooters and
It also stipulates that “no per- any accidents or other viola-
son shall be stopped, inspected tions that occur.
or detained solely to determine The company also would
compliance” with that requirement have to use geofencing to
and that “no political subdivision restrict scooters to appropri-
of this state shall impose a protec- ate areas and to automatically
tive headgear requirement on the slow them down in others.
operator or passenger of a motor- The maximum speed allowed
cycle or motortricycle.” would be 15 mph.
Similar bills attempting to repeal Riders would be required
the law have reached the gover- to use the scooters only on
nor’s desk before: Democratic Gov. streets and to park them
Mel Carnahan vetoed a repeal in in designated zones or on
1999, and Democratic Gov. Jay sidewalks. They cannot park
Nixon vetoed another in 2009. them in a way that does
2020 brought a different not allow at least 4 feet of
Please see HELMET, Page 5A Please see BIRD, Page 5A

Black bear population spurs hunting season

trash for curbside collection.
Sorrell first discussed the
ideas with the council at a
February work session.
The solid waste staff has
long advocated for better BY COURTNEY PERRETT Because of overhunting and large-
working conditions and strict- news@columbiamissourian.com scale habitat changes, black bear
er rules. The utility has dealt populations in Missouri dwindled
A stable Missouri black bear to nearly zero in the early 1900s.
with increasing vacancies
population spurred the Missouri But in the last 50 years, populations
and staffing issues due to
Conservation Commission on Fri- in the Missouri Ozarks have been
poor working conditions and
day morning to approve plans for steadily increasing. Black bears
high injury rates. The city
a highly regulated 10-day hunting have been migrating into Missouri
has contracts with temporary
season proposed by staff of the Mis- naturally from Arkansas and Okla-
agencies to fill vacancies,
souri Department of Conservation. homa.
but it is costly. The city spent
The Conservation Department Since the Conservation Depart-
$504,000 on temporary agen-
hopes to encourage local residents ment’s initial bear management
cies in fiscal 2019 and is on
and landowners to “participate plan was instituted in 2008, the
track to spend about $600,000
in the sustainable harvest of a black bear population has been
this year.
valuable natural resource,” Laura steadily expanding to reflect 350
One of the major issues
Conlee, a Conservation Department bears in 2012 (including cubs) and
staff has confronted is
furbearer biologist said. approximately 540 to 840 bears in
excessive loose trash. The
If the season is approved by the 2019.
ordinance will more than
commission, a bear hunting season Conlee believes there will be dou-
double the number of trash
could, at the earliest, occur in Octo- ble the black bears on the landscape
bags provided to residents
ber 2021. It would be open only to of Missouri by 2029 given the popu-
from 50 to 104 bags yearly.
Missouri residents. The commission lation growth rate of 9%.
The intention is to discourage
is requesting a final round of public PROVIDED BY THE MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION
Please see RECYCLING, Page 5A input Oct. 16 through Nov. 14. Please see BEAR, Page 5A Black bear photographed in Missouri.

Counties propose Missouri River flooding fixes

TODAY’S WEATHER
MOSTLY SUNNY
91/72

INDEX BY JOSE LUIS ADRIANO ment’s Water Resources Center, said in the and affected 1.2 million acres of farmland,
Abby8B news@columbiamissourian.com meeting. according to the department’s records.
Classifieds7A Around 40 participants discussed a In response, the governors of Missouri,
Representatives from Cole and Call-
Nation7A number of possible alterations to the Cole Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska formed a joint
away counties proposed updating risk Junction, Renz, Capital View and Reveaux
Obituaries2A area maps, increasing levee elevation and flood protection program in November.
levees, all affected by last year’s historic The department’s consultations are part of
Opinion6A reinforcing dikes as possible solutions flooding that led to damage in the region. that program — the fourth and final meet-
Sports1B to regional flooding during a Thursday Opinions were gathered on widening the ing will be Thursday, focused on Montgom-
Sudoku8A meeting. Held over video conference, the top of the levees, reducing slopes on their
TV schedule 8B meeting was the third of four consulta- ery County.
upper ends, running analysis to look at
tions planned by the Missouri Department “We want to bring people into the discus-
overtop locations and reinforcing designat-
Our 112th year/#361 of Natural Resources to gather feedback ed overtop points. sion. We want to give everyone a chance to
2 sections from residents of six counties affected by Also, they urged to update current maps reflect what our states are doing together
16 pages recurrent flooding in the Lower Missouri and understand that,” said Dru Buntin,
for tributaries of the Missouri River, as
River Basin. they also are prone to floods and cause deputy department director for the Natu-
“We want to hear from you what are damage in houses and public areas. ral Resources Department.
the advantages and disadvantages of the Last year, Missouri River flooding over- Residents of those counties can send
different ideas we have for solutions,” topped more than 100 levees across the thoughts and ideas for the project to
6 54051 90850 3 Jennifer Hoggatt, director of the depart- state, led to the closure of around 470 roads floodrecovery2019@dnr.mo.gov.
COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN
Road safety advocates concerned by helmet law
HELMET from Page 1A
outcome.
After vetoing a broad
omnibus bill in 2019 that
would have enacted the
new helmet law, because of
concerns with separate pro-
visions in the bill, Gov. Mike
Parson signed a different
omnibus package in July
containing the new law.
Its passage has conserva-
tive lawmakers and riders’
rights advocates in Missou-
ri celebrating — and road
safety advocates expressing
grave concern.
“The research, data and
experience show that hel-
mets are proven lifesavers,”
said Tara Gill, senior direc-
tor of advocacy and state
legislation for Advocates for
Highway and Auto Safety.
“Data show that when these
laws are weakened, fatali-
ties increase, related costs
increase.”
Gill’s organization was
active in fighting the law’s
passage.
It published op-eds in the
state attempting to raise
Rider rules, impoundment Black bear plan will focus on
fees are part of Bird contract awareness, minimize conflict
BIRD from Page 1A
clearance on a sidewalk, or 5
feet of clearance downtown.
Riders also would be
required to wear helmets and
to avoid distractions such as
wearing headphones or using
a mobile device. They would
be required to take pictures
of their scooters when they
park them.
Bird would have to halt the
use of its scooters by 10 p.m.
each day, and their use would
be prohibited during snow
and other inclement weather.
Both the city and MU
would have the authority to
impound vehicles that are
improperly parked. Bird
would have to pay a $100 fee,
Solid waste plan could revive
recycling pickup if approved
RECYCLING from Page 1A
residents from leaving loose
items at the curb. Additional
bags could be purchased for
$2 each in rolls of five.
Sorrell is also proposing
that the city code be amend-
ed to require that all refuse
be placed at the curb in a
bag bearing a city logo. They
could weigh no more than
50 pounds. Refuse that is
loose, exceeds size limits or
is improperly bagged will not
be collected.
Another major issue Solid
Waste Utility staff have to
deal with, according to pre-
vious Missourian reporting,
is the excessive amount of
oversize items placed on
curbsides for pickup. Trash
collectors frequently have
to pick up furniture, mat-
tresses, old carpet and other
items too large to be placed
Missouri Music Aid raises money to support live music industry
BY HANNAH NORTON
news@columbiamissourian.com
The last time Colin LaVaute
played live music was in
March. Then COVID-19 hit.
“At the time, COVID was
just kind of a whisper in your
ear — something you heard
about in the periphery — and
we had no idea that that was
gonna be the last time that
we were gonna get to play a
show, until today,” LaVaute
said.
LaVaute, the guitarist for
local band Decadent Nation
and host of the show “Big
Muddy Music Hour” on
KBIA-FM, was among nearly
20 musicians and bands fea-
tured in a virtual music festi-
val Saturday called Missouri
awareness of data showing
that motorcycle-related
fatalities inevitably increase
in states that repeal univer-
sal helmet requirements.
After Parson signed the
bill in July, Advocates for
Highway and Auto Safety
issued a statement together
with a coalition of Missou-
ri public health advocacy
groups.
The statement called the
bill’s signing a “deadly deci-
sion” in which “common
sense was sidelined by the
agenda of a vocal minority.”
It also cited data from
Michigan, where the per-
centage of non-helmeted
crash fatalities quadrupled
after the state weakened its
helmet requirement in 2012,
and Florida, where fatalities
increased by 21% per 10,000
registered motorcycles after
the state repealed its univer-
sal helmet law.
The Missouri Department
of Transportation, in a safe-
ty brochure on its website,
estimates that the state will
see a 38% increase in fatali-
ties as a result of the helmet
plus $50 per day of storage
before retrieving impounded
scooters.
Bird and other companies
first brought scooters to
town in 2018, but the early
relationships between the
companies and the city and
MU were rocky.
Public Works Director
David Nichols first put
forward the idea for a pilot
program last September, in
which the city and MU would
form a partnership with a
single ride-share company.
Nichols said at the time that
the new arrangement would
allow strict regulation of the
scooters and the ability to
determine whether they are
an asset to the city’s alterna-
in bags.
Presently, collection of
oversize items only has to
be scheduled 48 hours in
advance and is free. Trash
crews often pick up such
items even without notice.
The bill Sorrell proposes
would require that collec-
tion of oversize items be
scheduled at least a week in
advance, and requests would
have to list the number and
type of items a household
wants collected.
Residents could schedule
the collection of one bulky
item each year for free, but
the charge for any additional
pickups would be $21.50 for
one item and $5 for addition-
al items collected the same
day.
Similarly, the charge for
picking up major appliances
would be increased from
the current fee of $22.75 to
Music Aid. Many professional
musicians and music industry
workers have experienced
financial losses due to the
ongoing pandemic, and Mis-
souri Music Aid aims to help
them get back on their feet.
Live and pre-recorded
performances from across
Missouri and the Midwest
were scheduled to last from
10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and were
livestreamed on Facebook.
Most musicians performed
from their own homes, giving
viewers a glimpse into their
daily lives. Jefferson City duo
Rose Ridge sang together in
green and yellow armchairs
and invited fellow musicians
in to perform with them.
Emma and Olivia Burney, of
the Columbia band The Bur-
requirement’s repeal.
MoDOT also estimates an
annual economic loss for
the state of $9.1 million per
motorcycle fatality.
In allowing most riders to
not wear a helmet, Missouri
joins 31 other states that
give some or all riders the
right to ride unhelmeted.
Eighteen states and the
District of Columbia still
require all riders to wear a
helmet.
Those who pushed for the
law’s passage were consis-
tent in citing the factors
that, for them, supersede the
strict focus on safety: free-
dom and choice.
Tony Shepherd, legislative
director for A Brotherhood
Aimed Towards Education
for Missouri, a riders’ rights
group, returned to those
words repeatedly while
advocating for the law.
“We are not outlawing the
helmet. We’re giving the
people the choice. A helmet
is a good safety device — I
can’t argue that it’s not,”
Shepherd said.
“It rolls down to one word:
tive transportation offerings.
He had hoped a contract
would be in place by January
of this year.
MU issued a request for
proposals in December and
reviewed four responses
in February. Negotiations
with Bird began in March
but were suspended with
the advent of the COVID-19
pandemic that caused the
campus to shut down.
The initial contract would
be good for one year but
could be automatically
renewed for a second and
third year. The contract is
not binding beyond that.
A final vote on the contract
is scheduled for the City
Council’s Sept. 21 meeting.
$29.00.
The hope is that curbside
recycling collection, which
was suspended indefinitely
in July because of staffing
shortages, would be able
to resume if the council
approves the changes.
Households would get 54
blue bags for recycling each
year.
Sorrell is recommending
most of the changes take
effect Nov. 1. The changes to
the number of bags distrib-
uted and the requirement
that all waste be placed in
bags with city logos would
be delayed until Feb. 1.
Also Tuesday, the council
will hold the second of three
public hearings on the pro-
posed $456.9 million fiscal
2021 budget. A final public
hearing and a vote on the
budget are scheduled for
Sept. 21.
ney Sisters, performed from
an orange room, the walls
covered with the family’s
multicolored guitars.
Missouri Music Aid and the
Voluntary Action Center will
put all funds raised toward
a grant program benefiting
music industry professionals.
Anyone in the music indus-
try can apply for the grant
— including sound engineers,
bartenders, bouncers and
more, according to LaVaute,
who created Missouri Music
Aid.
“This industry is on the
ropes, folks, and we if we
don’t do something about it
and if we don’t take action,
I just, I can’t imagine what
the landscape is going to look
like,” LaVaute said during the
Sunday & Monday, September 6-7, 2020 — Page 5A
freedom. We’re just trying
to give a piece of freedom to
the individual rider.”
Shepherd did not refute
the data showing a link
between relaxed helmet
laws and fatalities, and he
acknowledged increased
deaths — in relation to what
he predicted would be an
increase in riders — as a
potential cost of the new law.
He, along with ABATE
for Missouri, recommends
wearing a helmet.
But he maintained that the
decision to wear one should
be left to the individual and
not the government. He also
said when riders do away
with the helmet, they’re
more inclined to practice
caution.
“We take risks every day
of our life, either driving a
car, crossing the street …
every day that we are alive,
we’re taking a risk. When
we get on that motorcycle,
we know we’re taking a
risk,” Shepherd said.
Rep. Shane Roden, R-Ce-
dar Hill, who sponsored the
original version of the law
BEAR from Page 1A
“Now we’re switching to
a more active management
type phase,” Conlee said,
describing the updated
science-based Black Bear
Management Plan the Con-
servation Department has
designed to guide and man-
age the population of bears as
a native species.
“This action plan is really
designed to guide bear man-
agement over the next 10
years,” Conlee said, illustrat-
ing that the plan will ensure
continued research efforts to
monitor bear population size.
The plan will also focus
on spreading awareness
about Missouri’s black bears
while minimizing conflicts
between humans and bears.
Public comment at open
houses in 2019 revealed that
87% of people who attended
were in favor of a highly reg-
ulated, limited hunting sea-
son if the population exceed-
ed 500 bears.
Some members of the
public, however, harbored
concerns about how the
hunting season would affect
the bear population.
“I find it irresponsible for
a wildlife agency to elicit the
hunting of a species whose
population is estimated to
only be at 540 to 840 black
bears after decades of recov-
ery time,” Jessica Albright,
a public speaker opposed to
the proposed bear hunting
season, told the four-member
Conservation Commission.
“Missourians highly value
black bears and don’t want
to see them trophy hunted,”
Amanda Good, the Missouri
and Arkansas state director
of the Humane Society, said
on behalf of the nonprofit.
She said Missouri’s black
bear population pales in com-
parison to states such as Flor-
ida and Wisconsin.
Albright also believes, as
mid-October is peak hik-
ing time for Missourians,
it would be unsafe to have
event.
Nick Foster, executive
director of the Voluntary
Action Center, said he is
proud to be a part of Missouri
Music Aid, which follows the
center’s mission to bridge
gaps and improve the quality
of life for people living in
Boone County.
“Just like those restaurants
and other local businesses,
we want these (musicians)
to be okay; we want them to
be actually more than okay
— we want them to thrive,”
Foster said at the event. “And
we want them to be able to
maintain themselves into the
future.”
The live event included a
wide variety of performances
and speeches from musicians,
in the House, echoed Shep-
herd’s argument.
“One of the things I kept
hearing from constituents
in my district was that they
wanted the choice,” Roden
said. “As a motorcycle rider,
I appreciated that choice.”
Roden said part of the
impetus for the law had to
do with economics and prac-
ticality, citing Missourians
who in the past have chosen
to ride in Illinois or Iowa,
where there are no helmet
requirements, and take their
helmets off as soon as they
cross the state line.
Those riders, Roden said,
spend money on fuel taxes
and other goods and ser-
vices that would otherwise
be spent in Missouri.
But Roden, who also wears
a helmet, said the broader
issue at stake is the govern-
ment’s role in regulating
people’s safety.
“Where do we start draw-
ing the line on what gov-
ernment is responsible for
doing?” he asked. “There’s
no good reason to jump out
of a plane, but parachuters
PROVIDED BY THE MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION
A map of Missouri’s proposed bear management zones.
hunters in the woods.
Bear hunting season would
open on the third Monday in
October and run for 10 con-
secutive days in three bear
management zones located
south of the Missouri River
and demarcated by major
roads and highways under the
plan commissioners approved
unanimously.
Hunting hours would be a
half-hour before sunrise until
a half-hour after sunset.
Hunting quotas would be
determined each spring by
the Conservation Commission
based on data from the Con-
servation Department, how-
ever, quotas have not yet been
established for a first season.
If the quota within the bear
management zones hits or
exceeds 80%, the season may
be closed to limit the chance
the quota may be exceeded
accidentally, Conlee said.
During the season, hunters
would be required to only
hunt lone bears and use the
same methods allowed for
deer and for elk.
They would be prohibited
from using bait or dogs and
required to wear hunter
orange. They also would be
required to use commonly
edible portions of any bear
they kill to prevent people
creatives and local communi-
ty members.
Karl Bussen, owner of Bus-
sen Productions, spoke about
his experience as a photogra-
pher and videographer in the
music industry and how much
music means to him.
“(The pandemic has)
impacted venues, and when
the venue’s impacted, there’s
nowhere to play music; that
impacts people because peo-
ple connect through music,”
Bussen said. “And ... there
are a lot of people that have
music as an outlet.”
Nathan Hunt is the lead
singer of Shaman’s Harvest,
a well-known band from Jef-
ferson City. Hunt told viewers
about the band’s work during
the pandemic and future
do it all the time.”
“Someone who wants to
regulate what you want to do
in your life, they’re part of
the problem. Live your life,
let other people live their
life and mind your own busi-
ness.”
For Gill, the issue is more
complex.
“It is a privilege to drive
on public roads, and the
repercussions of their choice
is not limited to the individu-
al,” she said. “When you sus-
tain these injuries, it doesn’t
just affect the individual, it’s
family, friends, it’s all tax-
payers in the state who have
to cover medical care and
other associated costs.”
It remains to be seen what
those costs will ultimately
be for the state. But for
many Missouri legislators
and riders, it’s a cost worth
paying.
Though grieving, that’s
also the view of Leslie
Reeves in the wake of her
husband’s death. “He will
forever have his knees in the
breeze, and that’s something
I’ll just have to accept.”
from hunting bears solely for
sport and trophies.
Hunters would have to
check their bears using the
Conservation Department’s
telecheck system by 10 p.m.
on the day of the kill.
The Conservation Depart-
ment is also requiring hunt-
ers to submit bears’ premo-
lars so that biologists can col-
lect data to determine the age
structure of the population.
Applications for bear hunt-
ing permits would be avail-
able online from May 1 to 31
for a $10 fee with randomly
selected permit allocations
available by July 1. Those
selected would be eligible to
buy $25 permits.
Ten percent of the permits
allocated would be to land-
owners in the three bear
management zones. Young
hunters 11 years old and up
would need to complete hunt-
er education training before
being eligible to buy a permit.
The commission’s proposed
regulations for the hunting
framework will be published
in the October release of the
Missouri Register.
Public comments will be
presented at the commis-
sion’s December meeting. If
approved, regulations will go
into effect Feb. 28.
plans.
“It’s kind of like starting
over,” Hunt said. “Which
will be, you know — we’re
still gonna do it. That’s the
thing about musicians and
artists: It’s just a thing you
do, regardless of what your
current success is.”
According to LaVaute,
Missouri Music Aid had
raised around $4,000 before
the event officially began at
10 a.m.
The event was promoted by
The Blue Note, Rose Music
Hall, Roots N Blues Festival,
KBIA-FM and Off Track
Events alongside presenters
Les Bourgeois Vineyards and
the Voluntary Action Center.
 BICENTENNIAL CAPSULE NFL, CHIEFS ARE BACK
As Missouri prepares to celebrate The NFL restarts Thursday when
its 200th year of statehood, the defending Super Bowl champ
State Historical Society is seeking Kansas City hosts Houston
materials for a time capsule at Arrowhead Stadium
Page 2A Page 1B
Thursday, September 10, 2020 • COLUMBIA’S LOCALLY OWNED NEWSPAPER • COLUMBIAMISSOURIAN.COM • 75 CENTS

MISSOURI +1,366 BOONE COUNTY +63

COVID-19 UPDATE: Tests: 1,070,909 Cases: 96,447 Deaths: 1,673 Cases: 3,599 Deaths: 7

A CROSS-COUNTRY RIDE Waste issues

still dominate
City Council
conversations
BY GRACIE ALVAREZ
news@columbiamissourian.com
The future of trash and recycling
collection dominated the Columbia
City Council’s discussion of the pro-
posed budget for fiscal 2021 Tues-
day night.
Utilities Director David Sorrell
outlined a host of proposed chang-
es for the council that he said are
designed to make the work envi-
ronment for refuse collectors safe
and more attractive and to improve
recruitment and retention rates for
those jobs.
The changes are included in a
bill that council members will vote
on at their Sept. 21 meeting, when
they also are scheduled to hold a
final public hearing and vote on the
entire budget for fiscal 2021, which
begins Oct. 1.
Proposed changes to the budget
for the Solid Waste Utility include:
■  Requiring all trash and recy-
clables to be placed curbside in
city-provided bags that are stamped
with city logos. Residents would get
104 trash bags annually, double the
52 bags they get now. Additional
bags would be available in rolls of 5
for $2 per bag.
■  Requiring that residents pay
GRACE NOTEBOOM • Missourian $17.37 monthly for curbside trash
and recycling pickup, an increase of
Before taking a photo of the court for his upcoming project, Leo Walsh stands 85 cents per month. Curbside recy-
cling has been suspended since July
for a portrait Friday at Douglass Park in Columbia. He played basketball because of staffing shortages.
■  Requiring residents to sched-
through high school and walked onto his college team during his junior year. ule bulky item collection at least
a week in advance and charging
Now, he shows his appreciation for the sport by documenting basketball courts $21.50 per pickup for the first item
and $5 per additional item during
throughout the U.S. at @peachbaskets on Instagram. the same pickup. Every household
would get one free bulky-item pick-
Please see Page 4A for more of Walsh’s adventures. up per year.
Please see TRASH, Page 3A

Attorney general announces DNA Parson supports keeping

‘hits’ from rape kit testing effort
BY EMILY WOLF
news@columbiamissourian.com
An ongoing initiative to process
untested sexual assault kits in
Missouri has produced 11 match-
es to DNA profiles of known
criminal offenders, according to
a Wednesday news release from
Missouri Attorney General Eric
Schmitt’s office.
The initiative, which started
during former Missouri Attorney
General Josh Hawley’s tenure,
began after an investigation by
the Columbia Missourian revealed
the state had never done an audit
to determine the total number
of untested kits and that the evi-
dence was languishing in hospi-
tals and law enforcement agencies
all over the state.
The matches came after
Schmitt’s office began shipping
untested sexual assault kits to the
lab from police departments last
year. Of 16 kits that were upload-
ed to CODIS, the national DNA
database of prior offenders, 11
generated matches. These DNA
hits will be referred to local law
enforcement and prosecutors and
could result in arrests.
Other kits could not be uploaded
into CODIS, either because only
the victim’s DNA evidence was
found or there wasn’t enough
DNA to produce a profile of the
perpetrator, according to the
release.
“Despite challenges posed by
COVID, we have continued this
important work and are proud
to announce the first CODIS
hits resulting from kits shipped
through the SAFE Kit Initiative,”
Schmitt said in the news release.
“While this is still early in the
process, we will work with police
departments and local prosecu-
tors to do what we can to hold
offenders accountable and honor
the courage of victims who have
come forward.”
universities open despite
rising COVID-19 cases
BY ALLISON MARIE SAWYER are also off to a good start,” he said
AND JOSE ADRIANO at Wednesday’s news briefing.
news@columbiamissourian.com “We are closely monitoring the
impact this is having on Missouri’s
JEFFERSON CITY — As
overall case growth and positiv-
COVID-19 cases rise in Missouri,
ity rate,” Parson said. “We know
Gov. Mike Parson plans to stay in
there is a lot of concern right now
close communication with univer-
regarding college students, but I
sity presidents to monitor the fall
want to assure you that our col-
semester.
leges and universities have plans in
Parson said during a news con-
place, and we appreciate the hard
ference Wednesday that he wants
work and leadership of our higher
to see schools — at all levels —
education administrators to keep
remain open.
“Our colleges and universities Please see PARSON, Page 3A

Vaccine by Nov. 3? Halted study explains just how unlikely

TODAY’S WEATHER
CLOUDY
69/61

INDEX BY LAURAN NEERGAARD
The Associated Press
Abby5B
Classifieds4B WASHINGTON — The sus-
Nation6A pension of a huge COVID-19
Obituaries2A vaccine study over an illness
in a single participant shows
Opinion5A
there will be “no compromises”
Sports1B on safety in the race to devel-
Sudoku4B
op the shot, the chief of the
TV schedule 6B National Institutes of Health
told Congress on Wednesday.
Our 112th year/#363 AstraZeneca has put on hold
2 sections studies of its vaccine candidate
12 pages in the U.S. and other countries
while it investigates whether a
British volunteer’s illness is a
side effect or a coincidence.
“This ought to be reassur-
ing,” NIH Director Francis
6 54051 90850 3 Collins said before a Senate
committee. “When we say we
are going to focus first on safe-
ty and make no compromises,
here is Exhibit A of how that is
happening in practice.”
Scientists have been scram-
bling to develop a vaccine
against the coronavirus since
the outbreak began, and the
U.S. has launched the world’s
largest studies — final-stage
testing of three leading candi-
dates, with three more trials
set to come soon that will each
recruit 30,000 test subjects.
Public health experts are
worried that President Donald
Trump will pressure the Food
and Drug Administration to
approve a vaccine before it is
proven to be safe and effective,
a concern senator after senator
echoed on Wednesday.
“When it comes to a COVID-
19 vaccine, we can’t allow
President Trump to repeat his
alarming pattern of putting pol-
itics ahead of science and public
health,” said Sen. Patty Murray
of Washington, the committee’s
ranking Democrat.
The U.S. has invested billions
of dollars in efforts to quick-
ly develop multiple vaccines
against COVID-19. But public
fears that a vaccine is unsafe or
ineffective could be disastrous,
derailing the effort to vaccinate
millions of Americans.
Collins said the public needs
to understand the process
behind telling when any vaccine
candidate is ready for wide-
spread use — one that by design
is keeping both manufacturers
and politicians in the dark until
the evidence gels.
About 150 COVID-19 infec-
tions in a study of 30,000 people
should be enough to tell if that
candidate really is working —
and an independent group of
experts, not the FDA, gets to do
the counting.
Who monitors the studies?
Every vaccine trial is over-
seen by a “data and safety mon-
itoring board,” or DSMB. These
Please see VACCINE, Page 3A
COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN
Suspension of research trials not uncommon Parson, Galloway plan
VACCINE from Page 1A
boards include scientists and statisti-
cians who are experts in their fields but
have no ties to either the government or
the vaccine makers.
The top priority: watching for safety
concerns, like the one that sparked a
DSMB in Britain to pause AstraZene-
ca’s vaccinations and alert its U.S. coun-
terpart.
But this is the group that also will
decide when each vaccine is ready to be
evaluated by regulators.
Answers unlikely before election
Even if a study has a spate of infec-
tions large enough to prove the effec-
Waste workers have ‘the hardest job of all’
TRASH from Page 1A
■ Approving a $5 “add-
pay” wage increase for solid
waste workers, which would
apply only when they are
actually doing the physical
work of collecting trash on
routes.
■ Charging a fee for
special pickup of unlawfully
placed material of $72.13 per
container, plus $55 per ton of
refuse, plus $1.15 per minute
it takes to load the container.
■ Employing a code
enforcement specialist to
focus on addressing unlaw-
fully placed material and
illegal dumping.
The hope is these changes
will not only make collection
simpler and safer for work-
ers but also help to combat
the major personnel vacan-
cies the department has dealt
Parson discusses violent crime and COVID unveils health agenda
PARSON from Page 1A
their students and communi-
ty as safe as possible.”
Parson said he held a con-
ference call with leaders of
the state’s four-year univer-
sities in early September to
discuss the status of COVID-
19.
“We received updates on
the opening of fall semester,
COVID-19 mitigation and
testing protocols, as well as
new and future testing break-
throughs that may be utilized
in the near future,” he said.
Parson said university
presidents and state govern-
ment officials will continue
to be in close communication
to prepare for the potential
distribution of new COVID-
Teacher deaths raise alarms as new school year begins
Some teachers had
considered leaving
their jobs even before
in-person school began
BY JIM SALTER AND
LEAH WILLINGHAM
The Associated Press
O’FALLON — Teachers
in at least three states have
died after bouts with the
coronavirus
since the
dawn of the
new school
year, and
a teachers’
union lead-
er worries
the return
ASHLEE to in-person
DEMARINIS classes will
have a dead-
ly impact across the U.S. if
proper precautions aren’t
taken.
AshLee DeMarinis was
just 34 when she died Sunday
after three weeks in the hos-
pital. She taught social skills
and special education at John
Evans Middle School in Poto-
si, Missouri, about 70 miles
southwest of St. Louis.
A third-grade teacher died
Monday in South Carolina,
and two other educators died
recently in Mississippi. It’s
unclear how many teachers
in the U.S. have become ill
with COVID-19 since the
new school year began, but
Mississippi alone has report-
ed 604 cases among school
teachers and staff.
Randi Weingarten, presi-
dent of the American Federa-
tion of Teachers, said schools
need guidelines such as man-
datory face coverings and
strict social distancing rules
to reopen safely.
tiveness question, the DSMB also must
be comfortable that there’s enough
evidence of safety before opening the
books to the FDA. Generally, the FDA is
requiring safety data from at least 3,000
people, Surgeon General Jerome Adams
told the Senate panel.
This process isn’t new — Phase 3
studies of vaccines and therapies are
always done this way, though rarely in
so bright a spotlight.
Suspending a study not that rare
It’s not uncommon for pauses in
research to investigate whether an
unexpected health complaint is real-
ly related to a vaccine or not, Collins
told senators worried about what the
with over the years. The
proposals altogether, when
weighing new costs against
new revenue, would cost the
utility $66,699.
First Ward Council mem-
ber Pat Fowler said recruit-
ing and retaining refuse
collectors is the real problem
that needs to be addressed.
She wondered whether rais-
ing the pay for all collectors,
regardless of whether they
are driving or manually col-
lecting refuse, would be bet-
ter than the add-pay option
and an effective means of
enticing temporary workers
to go for full-time employ-
ment with benefits.
City Manager John Glas-
Missouri Democrat
cock said paying solid waste
employees with commercial
drivers’ licenses more than
similar drivers in other util-
running for governor
ities would create untenable
19 resources, including rapid
testing options.
Parson also said state offi-
cials are assisting higher
education institutions with
the challenges of COVID-19
to limit the spread of the
virus. He stated their assis-
tance has been directed at
testing and contact tracing,
among other things.
Parson’s Democratic chal-
lenger for governor, Nicole
Galloway, said Parson did not
do enough earlier this year to
prepare for the reopening of
schools.
“Instead of getting the
virus under control before
students headed back to cam-
pus, the Governor did noth-
ing,” said Galloway’s spokes-
person Kevin Donohoe in a
“If community spread is
too high as it is in Missouri
and Mississippi, if you don’t
have the infrastructure of
testing and if you don’t have
the safeguards that prevent
the spread of viruses in the
school, we believe that you
cannot reopen in person,”
Weingarten said.
Johnny Dunlap, a 39-year-
old drama and forensics
teacher at Dodge City High
School in Kansas, said he
considered quitting before
the district made masks
mandatory for teachers and
students. Still, his history
of bladder cancer and high
blood pressure have left him
with some angst about being
around so many people.
Existing health conditions
can put people at higher risk
for severe illness and death
from the virus.
“I’m at a high school with
close to 2,000 students, so
it kind of runs against the
advice we have been given
for half a year now,” Dunlap
said.
The early phase of the pan-
demic claimed the lives of
dozens of teachers. The New
York City Department of
Education alone lost 31 teach-
ers among 75 employees
whose deaths were blamed
on the coronavirus.
Across the U.S., the Amer-
ican Federation of Teachers
lists 210 union members who
have died. The list includes
support staff and retirees as
well as teachers.
The start of the new school
year brought with it new
fatalities.
In Oxford, Mississippi,
42-year-old Nacoma James
taught at a middle school
and helped coach high school
AstraZeneca suspension means for the
nation’s year-end goal.
“The reason we’re investing not in one
but six different vaccines is because
of the expectation that they won’t all
work,” Collins said.
AstraZeneca gave no details on the ill-
ness, but Collins said it involved a “spi-
nal cord problem.” Earlier-stage studies
hadn’t revealed any serious side effects.
Final testing of two other vaccines
is continuing, one created by the NIH
and manufactured by Moderna Inc., the
other made by Pfizer and Germany’s
BioNTech. Several vaccine candidates
made by Chinese companies are in late
stages of testing in various countries,
but with smaller numbers of volunteers.
inequities.
Third Ward Council mem-
ber Karl Skala wondered
whether the city could
reduce the 50-pound weight
limit on trash bags to make
them easier to pick up, but
Sorrell said most refuse
workers would rather pick up
one 50-pound bag than multi-
ple lighter bags.
Fourth Ward Council mem-
ber Ian Thomas approved of
the requirement that refuse
be placed in city-provided
bags that are branded with
the city logo. He said that
would make it easier for
collectors to decide whether
they should pick up trash or
leave it.
Sorrell said there would
be no need for a limit on the
number of bags residents can
place at the curb. Because
residents would be able to
statement to the Missourian.
Violent Crime
Parson also discussed vio-
lence in the state and said
crime rates have escalated
since the start of the pan-
demic.
The governor said 191 peo-
ple have been murdered this
year in St. Louis, more than
the total victims in 2018 and
almost the same number as
all of 2019. On the other side
of the state, Kansas City has
138 homicide victims, com-
pared with the 104 victims in
all 2019.
“Violent crime has been
a problem in our state long
before COVID-19, and we
have seen it escalate even
football. He died Aug. 6
during the first week of
classes but was self-quaran-
tining when teachers and stu-
dents returned to the class-
room, said Lafayette County
School District Superinten-
dent Adam Pugh.
Pugh recalled that James
was a seventh-grade student
when Pugh began teaching
30 years ago.
“It was a hard punch to
my stomach, when I heard,”
Pugh said.
James worked with foot-
ball players during summer
workouts, but an investi-
gation found no new cases
linked to him, Pugh said.
Another Mississippi teach-
er died Sunday. History
teacher Tom Slade recently
posted on Facebook about
his battle with pneumonia
caused by the coronavirus.
Slade was teaching in-per-
son when the academic year
started Aug. 6, Principal
Raina Holmes said, but
began quarantining after he
had contact with someone
who was positive at a church
meeting. His last day of
teaching was Aug. 21.
Slade was known for jok-
ingly using a judge’s gavel to
quiet noisy students.
“He always brought humor
into his classroom and his
students loved that part
about him,” Holmes said.
In South Carolina, Deme-
tria “Demi” Bannister, 28,
died three days after being
diagnosed with COVID-19,
her school district said in
a news release Wednesday.
Bannister taught third grade
in Columbia.
The district said Bannister
was at Windsor Elementary
School on Aug. 28 for a teach-
buy additional rolls of bags
for $2 each if they need more
than 104 in a year, the cost
of picking up additional bags
would be covered.
During the public hearing,
Columbia resident Brian
Page said trash workers
deserve not only to be paid a
livable wage but also lower
health insurance deductibles.
“I’m here to speak for the
solid waste workers who run
beside the truck collecting
trash,” Page said. “They have
the hardest job of all. If you
don’t believe me, try keeping
up with them for a week’s
work.”
If the council approves the
changes at its next meeting,
most would take effect Nov.
1. The requirement that trash
be placed only in city-pro-
vided bags would be delayed
until Feb. 1.
more in recent months,” Par-
son said.
He also talked about House
Bill 46 and House Bill 66,
two initiatives waiting to
become law. House Bill 46
seeks to help to fill the gap of
140 polices officers needed
in the St. Louis Metropolitan
Police Department by relax-
ing residency requirements
for St. Louis public safety
workers, the governor said.
House Bill 66 would create a
witness and victim protection
program.
Earlier in the day, the gov-
ernor announced a $1 million
grant to the Urban League
of Metropolitan St. Louis to
extend a crime de-escalation
initiative, called “Serving
Our Streets.”
er work day, before classes
resumed.
In Potosi, in-person classes
started Aug. 24. DeMarinis
was already hospitalized
by then but had been in the
school preparing for the year
a couple of weeks earlier, her
sister, Jennifer Heissenbut-
tel, said.
Superintendent Alex
McCaul said contact tracing
determined she had no close
contact with any teachers,
students or staff.
DeMarinis grew up near
New York but developed a
passion for her rural school
and Potosi, a town of 2,600
residents, Heissenbuttel said.
DeMarinis had wanted to
teach special education since
she was a child, when a spe-
cial education teacher helped
her overcome mild dyslexia.
“She had the patience of a
saint. She was really meant
for it,” Heissenbuttel said.
“The kids loved her. She
touched so many lives.”
DeMarinis had asthma,
which can put someone
more at risk for severe ill-
ness from COVID-19. She
began feeling poorly around
mid-August, Heissenbuttel
said. After developing fever
and shortness of breath, she
was tested for the coronavi-
rus and was soon hospital-
ized.
It’s unclear where DeMa-
rinis picked up the virus.
Heissenbuttel is a nurse
who works in a New York
area hospital’s intensive care
unit. Somehow, she managed
to avoid the illness that her
sister couldn’t.
“I thought it would be me,
not her,” Heissenbuttel said.
Thursday, September 10, 2020 — Page 3A
to debate in Columbia
BY ADAM JACKSON
news@columbiamissourian.com
Candidates in the race for
Missouri governor will meet
for a debate 2 p.m. Sept. 25 in
Columbia.
The forum will be held at
the Missouri Theatre and
televised live on KOMU 8.
The event is co-sponsored by
the Missouri Press Associa-
tion.
“It originally would have
been scheduled in Jeff City,”
said Missouri Press Associa-
tion Executive Director Mark
Maassen. “That’s where our
convention was going to be.
But we had to cancel it due to
COVID-19 concerns.”
The event will be the first
time all four candidates
— Gov. Mike Parson, the
incumbent Republican; State
Auditor Nicole Galloway, a
Democrat; Libertarian nom-
inee Rik Combs; and Green
Party nominee Jerome Bauer
— share a stage to discuss
their positions.
“Not all debates include
the third party candidates,”
Maassen said. “It was a board
decision from the Missouri
Press Association Board.
We feel that the third party
candidates need to be heard
as well as the typical Repub-
lican and Democratic candi-
dates.”
The forum will not be open
BY SUMMER BALLENTINE
The Associated Press
Democratic candidate for
Missouri governor Nicole
Galloway said Wednesday
that she wants to pass a state
law protecting health insur-
ance for people with preexist-
ing conditions.
The proposal is part of the
state auditor’s health care
plan if voters elect her over
Republican Gov. Mike Parson
on Nov. 3. She also pledged to
enact Medicaid expansion as
called for by voters, attempt
to bring down health care
and prescription drug costs
and promote more primary
care clinics in rural and pre-
dominantly Black areas.
“Missouri families need
health care coverage that
isn’t eating up more-and-
more of their paycheck, and
they need access to quality
care close to home,” Gallo-
way said in a statement. “As
Governor, my focus will be
on lowering the cost of health
care for Missouri families
— especially as we build our
way back from this pandem-
ic.”
Former President Barack
Obama’s federal health care
law already requires health
insurance companies to
cover preexisting conditions.
The law also bars insurers
from charging more to peo-
ple because of past medical
problems and from canceling
coverage, except in cases of
fraud.
But Missouri and other
states are suing to overturn
the law. Galloway’s plan
calls for a backup state law
protecting people with preex-
isting conditions in case the
federal law is undone.
Forcing insurance com-
panies to cover people with
preexisting conditions is
popular, including among
Republicans.
President Donald Trump
last week teased the possi-
bility of executive action to
require health insurance
companies to cover preexist-
ing medical conditions.
Galloway and Parson’s
Columbia N
573.777.1000
Sedalia - Smithton
Warrenton - Wentzville
Foristell - Hermann
www.TheMissouriBank.com
Member FDIC | Equal Housing Lender
to the public because of the
coronavirus pandemic and
limitations on the size of gath-
erings. Attendance by other
media will be limited.
A livestream will be avail-
able for all MPA members
to use on their websites. The
forum is being produced in
cooperation with the Missouri
School of Journalism.
David Lieb, The Associated
Press’ chief correspondent in
Jefferson City, will moderate.
Media members representing
KOMU, the Missouri School
of Journalism and the Mis-
souri Press Association will
question the candidates.
No additional forums are
confirmed — though Gallo-
way challenged Parson in
August to three more debates
in the Kansas City and St.
Louis regions, and “another
outside of the two major met-
ropolitan regions.”
Parson’s campaign man-
ager, Steele Shippy, said the
governor is still considering
whether to participate in any
more debates.
“Governor Parson val-
ues the discourse provided
through debate, and our
campaign is actively review-
ing debate invitations from
organizations throughout
the state,” Shippy said
after Wednesday’s forum
announcement.
most notable split on health
care policy is over whether to
expand Medicaid eligibility to
thousands more low-income
adults in Missouri, which vot-
ers approved in August.
Galloway supported the
plan. Parson did not, but he’s
repeatedly said he’ll imple-
ment it anyway. Parson had
raised concerns that expand-
ing Medicaid would be expen-
sive and might mean cuts to
education spending and other
programs.
His campaign raised simi-
lar concerns about Galloway’s
overall health care agenda.
“Nicole Galloway’s plan for
health care represents more
government, higher taxes and
fewer results for Missouri-
ans,” Parson campaign man-
ager Steele Shippy said in a
statement.
The financial impact of
expanding Medicaid is uncer-
tain, but it could cost the
state at least $200 million or
save as much as $1 billion
annually by 2026, according
to estimates from Galloway’s
office. The auditor’s office is
required to provide financial
estimates for ballot mea-
sures.
Missouri’s Medicaid pro-
gram currently does not
cover most adults without
children, and its income eligi-
bility threshold for parents is
one of the lowest in the nation
at about one-fifth of the pov-
erty level.
Shippy cited a rural health
care summit Parson orga-
nized in 2018, funding for
telehealth medical care and
providing personal protective
equipment to first responders
amid the coronavirus pan-
demic as examples of what
Parson has done on health
care since becoming gover-
nor in 2018.
An independent political
action committee backing
Parson’s bid for another term
on Wednesday released an ad
trying to tie Galloway’s stanc-
es on health care to Vermont
Sen. Bernie Sanders and
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth
Warren.
Columbia S
573.777.9500
 A SEAT AT THE TABLE MU GAINS THREE-STAR
After the passing of Justice Ruth Tight end Max Whisker, a three-
Bader Ginsburg, Columbia women star athlete from Lee’s Summit,
reflect on the changes she made commits to Missouri in the 2022
and the legacy she leaves behind class as MU prepares for Alabama
Page 3A Page 1B
Tuesday, September 22, 2020 • COLUMBIA’S LOCALLY OWNED NEWSPAPER • COLUMBIAMISSOURIAN.COM • 75 CENTS

MISSOURI +1,429 BOONE COUNTY +16

COVID-19 UPDATE: Tests: 1,219,559 Cases: 114,156 Deaths: 1,807 Cases: 4,302 Deaths: 8

City Council approves trash, recycling changes and fiscal 2021 budget
BY GRACIE ALVAREZ
news@columbiamissourian.com
Seven men who collect the
trash and recyclables Colum-
bia residents regularly set
out at their curbside asked
the Columbia City Council,
during a public session Mon-
day night, to give them some
consideration.
Lax enforcement of city
rules over the years have
allowed households to put just
about anything at the curb-
side, the workers said. Couch-
es, mattresses, lawn mowers,
treadmills and even weight
sets have been left on the
pavement across Columbia.
The group tried to shed
light on the dangerous work-
ing conditions, staff vacancy
issues and financial struggles
they face in their line of work
to urge the council to approve
budget amendments for fis-
cal 2021 designed to restore
the health of the solid waste
utility.
Robert Smith, a Solid
Waste Utilities mechanic,
told the council about the
challenges involved in fixing
broken-down garbage trucks.
He said mechanics often
must work on the back of the
trucks amid broken glass,
used needles and rotten food.
He spoke of changing flat
tires on a loaded truck while
on the side of some of Colum-
bia’s busiest streets.
Refuse collector Jimmy
Hart appealed to the council.
“We ask for help,” he said.
“We need more money.
Our mechanics need more
money.”
In the end, the council
approved a set of amend-
ments to the budget for trash
and recycling collection.
Fifth Ward Council member
Matt Pitzer, however, argued
the amendments were Band-
Aids trying to make tempo-
rary fixes to a broken utility.
The approved changes
include:
■  Requiring all trash
and recyclables to be placed
curbside in city-provided
bags that are stamped with
city logos. Residents will
Please see BUDGET, Page 4A

Columbia
is easing up
on enforcing
the meters
downtown
BY SKYLAR LAIRD
news@columbiamissourian.com
Parking tickets sticking out from
under windshield wipers soon will
become less common in downtown
Columbia.
City officials say parking meter
enforcement will relax somewhat
in the coming year as they shift the
responsibility for writing tickets to
police officers on patrol in the cen-
tral business district.
City Manager John Glascock pro-
posed the change as part of the city
budget for fiscal 2021, which begins
Oct. 1.
Glascock said at an Aug. 13 bud-
get work session that the change in
parking enforcement is part of an
overarching community policing ini-
tiative downtown. It also will reduce
the burden of parking tickets on the
Municipal Court and emphasize edu-
cating people about parking legally.
MARGO WAGNER/Missourian Until now, the city’s parking utility,
An unnamed cat lies in a cage at the Central Missouri Humane Society. The cat is one of 79 removed from a house in Sedalia last month. which is part of the Public Works
Department, has had four enforce-

Animal hoarding burdens local shelters with neglected pets
BY JARED GENDRON
news@columbiamissourian.com
When two staff members from
the Sedalia Animal Shelter pulled
up to a one-story house in Sedalia
earlier this summer, they weren’t
prepared to find 79 cats living in
squalor.
Every window was covered
with opaque plastic and aluminum
foil. Inside, the living room was
cluttered with cat bowls, newspa-
pers and half-empty litter boxes.
Propped against a bedroom wall
was a mattress and box spring
with a kitten wedged inside.
“[The house] smelled like
straight ammonia — the worst
ammonia smell you could ever
smell in your whole life,” said
Troy Schneider, the animal control
officer who helped rescue the cats
Aug. 26.
Fourteen cats ended up at the
Central Missouri Humane Society,
where a handful are still waiting
for foster homes or adoption.
During the same week, 31 dogs
— mostly Chihuahuas and Peking-
nese — were found in a single
home in Boone County after the
owner died.
Animal hoarding, while rela-
tively rare according to shelter
officials, has put unusual pressure
on shelters this summer. In these
two cases, the number of pets was
so large that 10 shelters had to be
recruited across three states to
take them in.
At least 250,000 animals fall vic-
tim to animal hoarding each year,
according to the American Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals.
The Humane Society of Mis-
souri, based in St. Louis, has a
task force to intervene in cases
of animal abuse and neglect. The
Animal Cruelty Task Force travels
more than 290,000 miles every
year to respond to 18,000 reports
of abuse and neglect involving
nearly 22,000 animals, according
to the Humane Society.
Pet hoarders often believe their
actions are actually helping the
animals by taking them in. But
lack of resources, veterinary care
and living space defeat their often
compassionate efforts.
The Hoarding of Animals
Research Consortium claims that
owners who hoard likely share
symptoms of impulse control dis-
order or obsessive control disor-
der, though there is consensus that
the two are separate mental health
problems.
Legal cases involving hoarding
are often unsuccessful, according
to ASPCA. Those who commit
a crime do so because they are
“emotionally troubled,” not with
ill intent. Fines and discipline can
prove ineffective, and hoarders
will often continue to collect ani-
mals.
In January, the Humane Society
of Missouri in St. Louis rescued
25 small breed dogs and a cat
Please see ANIMALS, Page 4A
ment agents whose full-time jobs
have been to seek out illegal park-
ers and write tickets. Community
Relations Director Steven Sapp said
Glascock believes it makes more
sense to transfer that responsibility
to the Police Department, which will
have officers and community service
aides fold parking enforcement into
their other duties.
“It adds some efficiency to the
operations of the Police Department,
to be able to handle all that from
their standpoint instead of going
through Public Works because it’s an
enforcement action,” he said.
The parking utility would reim-
burse the Police Department for the
cost of enforcement.
The city gave existing enforcement
agents the option to be trained as
community service aides. One took
the offer, while the other three have
Please see PARKING, Page 3A

COVID-19 testing site Trump plans to make

TODAY’S WEATHER
SUNNY
76/57

INDEX
Abby5B
Classifieds4B
closes as cases decline
State3A BY SAVANNAH BENNETT
Opinion5A news@columbiamissourian.com
Sports1B
Sudoku4B
Active cases of COVID-
19 have decreased, giving
TV schedule 6B the Columbia Boone/County
Public Health and Human
Services time to catch up
Our 113th year/#5 with case investigations and
2 sections contact tracing, according
12 pages to a report given by Health
Department Director Steph-
anie Browning at Monday’s
City Council meeting.
Because of the decline in
demand for tests, MU Health
6 54051 90850 3 Care closed one of its testing
sites, so the only testing site
left is at Mizzou North.
Browning said on average
it takes 48 hours from the
time a person tests positive in
Boone County for the Health
Department to initiate con-
tact. From there, contact trac-
ing is able to be completed
within 24 hours.
Scott Clardy, assistant
Health Department director,
said he worries not enough
people are being tested and
therefore the decline in new
Please see COVID, Page 4A
court pick by Saturday
The announcement
would come before
Justice Ruth Bader
Ginsburg’s burial
BY LISA MASCARO,
ZEKE MILLER
AND JONATHAN LEMIRE
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Pres-
ident Donald Trump met
Monday with Judge Amy
Coney Barrett at the White
House as the conservative
jurist emerged as a favorite
to replace the late Ruth Bader
Ginsburg on the Supreme
Court, the start of a monu-
mental Senate confirmation
fight over objections from
Democrats it’s too close to the
November election.
Trump said he expects to
announce his pick by week’s
end, before the burial of
Ginsburg, the court’s liberal
icon, at Arlington National
Cemetery.
The president told reporters
he was still going to be inter-
Please see SCOTUS, Page 4A
Page 4A — TUESDAY, September 22, 2020
Around $2K raised in donations for the Central Missouri Humane Society
ANIMALS from Page 1A
from a hoarding situation in
south central Missouri after
the owner died and left them
alone for a week.
Last year, 41 sick and
neglected dogs and cats
were removed from a repeat
offender in western Missouri.
Most were living in stacked
crates without food and water,
according to a story in the St.
Louis Post-Dispatch.
At the Central Missouri
Humane Society in Colum-
bia, the cats seized in August
have since been treated for
illness and trauma. Special
accommodations were made
so they could live in an isolat-
ed, stress-free environment,
according to Michelle Casey,
associate director and cam-
paign manager of the Central
Missouri Humane Society.
All but four cats have now
been placed in foster homes
where they can be assured of
consistent monitoring, food
and shelter, Casey said.
When the cats were found
in Sedalia, between 15 to 25
were living in each room,
according to Troy Schneider,
a Sedalia animal control offi-
cer.
“I guess [the owners] had
been sleeping in their car.
They were sleeping in their
car when the officers initial-
ly responded, before we got
there.” said Schneider, who
said he thinks the couple
couldn’t stay in the house
with the heat and smell.
Five people eventually
assisted in relocating the
cats, including staff of the
Sedalia Animal Shelter.
Sedalia authorities had
entered the house with a war-
rant after a neighbor notified
authorities of possible ani-
mal neglect. There was also
speculation that dead animals
were on the property, and
rescuers did ultimately find
One bulky-item pickup per year for households Health Department
BUDGET from Page 1A
get 104 trash bags annually,
double the 52 bags they get
now. Additional bags will be
available in rolls of 5 for $2
per bag.
■  Requiring that resi-
dents pay $17.37 monthly for
curbside trash and recycling
pickup, an increase of 85
cents per month. Curbside
recycling has been sus-
pended since July because
of staffing shortages. The
change means the city will
resume distributing blue
bags for recycling.
■  Requiring residents to
schedule bulky item collection
at least a week in advance and
charging $21.50 per pickup
for the first item and $5 per
additional item during the
same pickup. Every household
will get one free bulky-item
pickup per year.
■  Approving a $5 “add-
pay” wage increase for solid
waste workers, which will
apply only when they are
Sudden Supreme Court vacancy reshaping last months of presidential race
SCOTUS from Page 1A
viewing other candidates and
might meet with Judge Bar-
bara Lagoa when he travels
to Florida later this week. But
Barrett has long been favored
by conservatives, and those
familiar with the process
said interest inside the White
House seemed to be waning
for Lagoa amid concerns by
some that she did not have a
proven record as a conserva-
tive jurist.
Democrats, led by presiden-
tial nominee Joe Biden, are
protesting the Republicans’
rush to replace Ginsburg,
saying voters should speak
first, on Election Day, Nov. 3,
and the winner of the White
House should fill the vacancy.
Trump dismissed those
arguments, telling “Fox &
Friends,” “I think that would
be good for the Republican
Party, and I think it would be
good for everybody to get it
over with.”
The mounting clash over
the vacant seat — when to fill
it and with whom — injects
new turbulence in the pres-
idential campaign with the
A cat peers out of its cage at the Central Missouri Humane Society in Columbia. The cats at the shelter will be spayed or neutered and microchipped
before they are adopted. Currently the shelter is closed to the public, but people looking to adopt can look at animals and apply online.
the remains of 27 cats in the
backyard and two inside the
house.
Two cats required emer-
gency medical attention at
the scene and were later
taken to a clinic, but neither
survived.
Both former owners were
arrested at the scene, are
now out on bond and have
been barred from taking in
any more animals. A Sedalia
city ordinance forbids any-
one from housing more than
actually doing the physical
work of collecting trash on
routes.
■  Charging a fee for
special pickup of unlawfully
placed material of $72.13 per
container, plus $55 per ton of
refuse and $1.15 per minute
it takes to load the container.
■  Employing a code
enforcement specialist to
focus on addressing unlaw-
fully placed material and
illegal dumping.
First Ward Council mem-
ber Pat Fowler pushed for
giving all solid waste col-
lectors with commercial
driver’s licenses the $5 add
pay, regardless of whether
they were working with a
full crew of city workers or
a crew comprised of tempo-
rary workers.
“I have a concern that ...
the process by which you
come to work for solid waste,
you have to be a CDL driv-
er,” Fowler said to Utilities
Director Dave Sorrell during
the meeting.
Judge Amy Coney Barrett speaks during a commencement ceremony May 19, 2018, in South Bend, Ind.
nation still reeling from the
coronavirus pandemic that
has killed nearly 200,000
Americans, left millions
three cats or dogs in any
combination at a time.
However, Randi Battson,
manager of Sedalia Animal
Shelter, said she wants to
pursue the case further at the
state level.
The state animal abuse stat-
ute is violated when someone
“purposely or intentionally
causes injury or suffering to
an animal” or while having
“ownership or custody of an
animal knowingly fails to
provide adequate care, which
Pitzer said that while he’d
like to pay trash collectors
more, there are also fire-
fighters and police officers
who deserve higher wages.
“We’re talking about this
because we’re in a hole,
because we have a system
that does not work,” Pitzer
said. “It’s broken down.
We’re just going to put a
Band-Aid on something.”
Mayor Brian Treece said
the staff proposal, “whether
it’s a Band-Aid or not, is the
best solution for the problem
we are currently faced with.”
The council also discussed
the possibility of an automat-
ed trash collection system in
2021, based on the current
petition initiative to get roll
carts on the April ballot.
Fowler believes the petition
will succeed.
“I have every confidence
that we will have a ballot
question in April ... and the
way the wind is blowing, we
will be looking at automated
trash collection in April,”
unemployed and heightened
partisan tensions and anger.
Up until now, the race has
been largely a referendum on
results in substantial harm
to the animal.” Animal abuse
is listed as a class A misde-
meanor.
The Central Missouri
Humane Society has received
approximately $2,000 in
donations from a mix of com-
munity members and donors
to arrange for the necessary
resources for the cats found
in Sedalia. Most have shown
signs of revitalized energy,
but some continue to suffer
from eye infections, dental
Fowler said.
Third Ward Council mem-
ber Karl Skala seemed to
disagree.
“I guess I’m not as san-
guine about the inevitably
of going to some other sys-
tem,” he said. “For the folks
encouraging it, I hope it’s
successful for them.”
Skala also disagreed with
previous comments that sug-
gested the proposed changes
are just a temporary fix.
“To suggest there is no way
to fix it and we are just put-
ting Band-Aids on it is short-
sighted before we see the
data,” Skala said. “These are
some tremendous improve-
ments here ... that go a long
way to improving these trash
collectors lives on a daily
basis.”
The trash and recycling
collection changes will take
effect Nov. 1. The require-
ment that all refuse be
placed in city-provided bags
will not be enforced until
Feb. 1.
ROBERT FRANKLIN/The Associated Press
how Trump has managed or
mismanaged the COVID-19
pandemic.
Democrats point to hypoc-
COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN
MARGO WAGNER/Missourian
disease and feline AIDS,
Casey said.
“We are hopeful that the
majority of them will come
out of this unscathed, physi-
cally,” she said. “Sometimes
it’s the scars you can’t see
that take the longest to heal.”
Ten cats have moved into
foster homes around the
Columbia area; only two dogs
remain at the shelter, while
the others have moved into
foster homes or were adopted.
The cats are still battling
considers text service
for contact tracing
COVID from Page 1A
cases may point to cases going
unreported as opposed to
fewer individuals being sick.
Browning met with bar and
restaurant representatives to
talk about the current regula-
tions that were amended last
week. It was safer, according
to the representatives, to
keep bars and restaurants
open later to prevent students
from hosting their own gath-
erings. They reasoned that
at least with patrons at bars
and restaurants, they could
ensure that social distanc-
ing guidelines were being
enforced.
The bar and restaurant rep-
resentatives said they want to
be allowed to stay open until
risy in Republicans trying to
rush through a pick so close
to the election after Sen-
ate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell led the GOP in
refusing to vote on a nominee
of President Barack Obama
in February 2016, long before
that year’s election. Biden is
appealing to GOP senators to
“uphold your constitutional
duty, your conscience” and
wait until after the election.
Ginsburg, 87, died Friday of
metastatic pancreatic cancer.
She will lie in state at the U.S.
Capitol this week, the first
woman ever accorded that
honor. First, her casket is to
be on view mid-week on the
steps of the high court. She
is to be buried next week in a
private service at Arlington
National Cemetery.
Conversations in the White
House and McConnell’s
office have been increasing-
ly focused on Barrett and
Lagoa, according to a person
granted anonymity to discuss
the private deliberations.
A judge on the U.S. Court
of Appeals for the 7th Circuit,
Barrett, 48, was a strong
contender for the seat that
illnesses such as feline leuke-
mia, severe gingivitis and ear
infection. One of the animals,
a 3-year old female tortoise-
shell cat, suffers from a head
tilt and has difficulty balanc-
ing. Casey believes she needs
a neurological assessment.
Elizabeth Richmond decid-
ed to foster a cat so that her
dog, a great Pyrenees-Ana-
tolian shepherd mix, could
make a new friend.
Punkin Roll, the 10-year
old female, was initially in
poor shape when she entered
the household, Richmond
said. The cat had fleas and
suffered a respiratory illness,
which caused her to constant-
ly sneeze.
“You could just feel all of
her bones — she was just
very tiny,” she said.
In the time Richmond has
fostered her, she said the cat’s
health has improved dramat-
ically. She no longer sleeps as
much throughout the day and
appears to be content living
among Richmond’s family.
Richmond has fostered
almost 60 pets in the last
two years, 40 of them cats.
She says foster care allows
abused animals to present
their personalities in safe
environments. Foster parents
can then help an animal shel-
ter match a pet with the right
owner, increasing the chanc-
es for successful adoption.
Richmond is convinced that
Punkin Roll will do well with
owners who understand an
older cat and thinks children
would enjoy her company.
Those interested in foster-
ing or adopting an animal
can visit the Central Missouri
Humane Society’s website. It
offers profiles on every ani-
mal and instructions on how
to submit foster or adoption
applications.
Potential adopters may also
request to meet with foster
parents and prospective pets.
midnight, but Browning said
it was too premature to con-
sider that option. Right now,
bars and restaurants have to
close by 10:30 p.m.
“I think they were really
respectful of my concerns,”
Browning said of the repre-
sentatives.
To speed up the case inves-
tigation and contact tracing
process, the Health Depart-
ment is looking into getting
an agreement with Twilio, a
text-based service. It would
work to speed up the rate of
its contact-tracing process.
Browning said people are
hesitant to answer a call from
an unknown number but that
Twilio’s ability to text confi-
dentially would help alleviate
that obstacle.
eventually went to Brett
Kavanaugh in 2018. At the
time, Trump told confidants
he was “saving” Barrett for
Ginsburg’s seat.
Lagoa has been pushed
by some aides who tout her
political advantages of being
Hispanic and hailing from
the key political battleground
state of Florida.
Trump said he is planning
to name his pick by Friday or
Saturday, ahead of the first
presidential election debate.
With just over a month before
the election, McConnell said
the Senate has “more than
sufficient time.”
No nominee has won confir-
mation so quickly since San-
dra Day O’Connor — with no
opposition from either party
— became the first woman to
serve on the Supreme Court
in 1981.
Both sides are mobilizing
for a wrenching confirmation
fight punctuated by crucial
issues before the court —
health care, abortion access
and even the potential out-
come of the coming presiden-
tial election.
https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/roll-cart-petitioners-need-3-219-signatures-
they-have-500/article_d13c4114-ff5b-11ea-9d4d-4b6984b1c34d.html

Roll cart petitioners need 3,219 signatures. They

have 500
BY GRACIE ALVAREZ
Sep 25, 2020

Members of the Facebook group “Columbia MO Citizens for Roll Carts”

only have a few weeks left to gather the 3,219 signatures they need to put
roll carts on the ballot in April.

The group began collecting signatures on a citizens’ initiative petition in

August. If successful, it would allow voters to decide whether the
Columbia City Council can consider switching to roll carts for trash
collection.

Amy Belcher, creator of the Facebook group, said supporters lack the
number of signatures they had hoped to have by this point. The ultimate
deadline for submitting the petition is in December, but the group is
aiming to have enough signatures by October to give City Clerk Sheela
Amin’s o ce ample time to review them.
“We would love to have all 4,000 that we are shooting for by Oct. 9, but
we have 500 right now,” Belcher said. “I really don’t know if we’re going
to get there.”

Under the city charter, the petition needs 3,219 signatures from
registered voters in the city to make it onto the ballot in April. That
would be equal to 20% of the number of voters who cast ballots in the
last mayoral election.

The deadline for the city to place issues on the April ballot isn’t until Jan.
26. Belcher said Amin has advised her group to submit its petition by
Oct. 9. If they don’t have enough signatures by then, members will aim
to put the measure on the August 2021 ballot instead.

“There’s also the possibility that if we don’t get the signatures, the city
could put it on the ballot themselves,” Belcher said.
Council members have been divided about whether to put the issue
before voters on their own. An e ort to place the measure on the
November ballot failed on a 3-3 vote on Aug. 17, during a meeting Fourth
Ward Councilmember Ian Thomas was unable to attend. Thomas had
previously expressed support for putting the issue to a public vote.

First Ward Councilmember Pat Fowler surmised at the council’s Monday

meeting that the petition drive would be successful, saying the changes
to trash and recycling collection that the council made as part of the
scal 2021 budget would probably serve as a stopgap until the roll cart
vote.

Third Ward Councilmember Karl Skala said he wasn’t so sure the

petition would succeed or that the public would vote to allow roll carts if
it gets the chance.

“I guess I’m not as sanguine about the inevitably of going to some other
system,” Skala said Monday. “For the folks encouraging it, I hope it’s
successful for them. And obviously, as council, we’ll do what we are
asked to do ... but I’m not convinced.”

Skala said before the August vote that he opposed having the council put
the measure on the ballot because the existing ordinances prohibiting
roll carts are the result of a 2016 citizens’ initiative. He believes any
e ort to repeal those ordinances should also come from citizens.
Belcher is con dent the city will switch to roll carts within the next few
years. She hopes the city will begin to budget for the switch.

“It seems to me, the city absolutely wants to switch to roll carts, and we
eventually will. It’s just a matter of when,” Belcher said. “I think they’re
pretty sure we’ll get the signatures.”

The group will be collecting signatures this weekend and next weekend
at these times and locations:

10 a.m. to noon Saturday at the drop-o recycling locations at State

Farm Parkway, on South Providence Road and at the Armory
Sports Center at Seventh and Ash Streets.
11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday at the State Farm Parkway site, from 11 a.m.
to 1 p.m. and from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Armory Sports Center
site and from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday at the South Providence recycling
site.
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at 601 Rowe Lane.
8 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Columbia Farmers Market.

Kristin Hill, the organizer of the signing events, said she thought the last
few signing events succeeded, considering they were planned at the last
minute.

“This is almost our only way to do it (collect signatures),” Hill said. “We
have some volunteers who are a huge help, going door to door in the
neighborhoods as much as they can ... but with the virus, we just don’t
have very many volunteers who want to go door to door.”
Belcher and Hill hope the signing events will help them reach the goal of
submitting by Oct. 9.

“All we can do is the best we can do,” Hill said.

Roll Cart Petition

 1 of 2
Document 65%

MORE INFORMATION

Columbia group begins initiative petition to put trash roll carts on ballot

City Council approves trash, recycling changes as part of budget

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Group seeking more signatures for roll cart petition

"We can do it!" Roll cart petitioners miss goal but vow to persist
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Signature collection for roll cart petition moves online amid
COVID-19

Gracie Alvarez
Public Life reporter, fall 2020. I am currently studying investigative journalism and political
science. Reach me at gaap8b@mail.missouri,edu, or in the newsroom at 882-5700.
Page 2A — Thursday, October 15, 2020
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Missouri awards more
than $800,000 to invest
in broadband projects
Boone County will receive
nearly $100,000 in broad-
band funding through the
second round of Missouri’s
Emergency Broadband
Investment Program.
Gov. Mike Parson
announced Monday morning
that 11 broadband projects
throughout the state would
receive $846,407 in funding
to connect households to
broadband internet. Nine of
those projects will provide
access to gigabit service,
according to a news release.
The Emergency Broadband
Investment Program works
to reimburse providers who
have expanded or plan to
connect unserved and under-
served areas in the state to
high-speed internet during
the pandemic, according
to the release. The funding
helps offset construction
costs for new broadband
expansion to aid people work-
ing from home, students and
other vulnerable populations.
In July, Missouri allocat-
ed more than $50 million
in CARES Act funding to
improve broadband connec-
tions by facilitating distance
learning in K-12 and higher
learning education, connect-
ing vulnerable communities
to telehealth services and
creating a grant program to
improve internet access in
Missouri libraries, accord-
ing to previous Missourian
reporting. As part of that
initiative, the Emergency
Broadcast Investment Pro-
gram awarded $3 million in
the first round of its funding.
The Missouri Department
of Economic Development
estimated this second wave
of funding will help 465 addi-
tional Missouri households
get access to improved inter-
net connections.
You can find the list of the
program’s recipients online.
— Tia Alphonse
McCloskeys plead not guilty to felony charges
Gov. Mike Parson has
said he will pardon the
St. Louis couple if they
are convicted
BY JIM SALTER
The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis
couple celebrated in some
circles and vilified in others
for waving guns at protesters
marching on their private
street pleaded not guilty to
two felony charges at a brief
hearing Wednesday.
Mark and Patricia McClos-
key, who are both attorneys in
their early 60s, were indicted
by a St. Louis grand jury last
week on charges of unlawful
use of a weapon and tamper-
ing with evidence. They will
appear in court again Oct. 28.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney
Kim Gardner originally filed
the weapons charge in July.
The grand jury added the evi-
dence tampering charge. The
indictment states that a semi-
automatic pistol was altered
in a way that “obstructed the
prosecution of Patricia McClo-
skey” on the weapons charge.
The McCloskeys have
blamed the “leftist” Demo-
crats in St. Louis for their
Judith Mathis Richards,
1940 — Sept. 23, 2020
Judith Mathis Richards, 80,
of Columbia died peacefully
Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020, in
her daughter’s home.
She was born Judith
Ann Mathis in 1940 in St.
Louis to Roy Sublett “Pete”
Mathis and Pauline Voorhies
Mathis, both of whom pre-
ceded her in death.
She graduated in 1958
from Hickman High School,
and in 1960 she married her
high school sweetheart, Lon
Davis Richards (Captain
USAF) who preceded her in
death in 1968 in Vietnam.
She never remarried, saying
he was the love of her life.
She was also preceded
Man pleads guilty to
stealing firearms from
Tiger Pawn Shop
A man from Mexico,
Missouri, pleaded guilty in
federal court yesterday for
possession of stolen firearms
during a Sept. 2019 bur-
glary at Tiger Pawn Shop in
Columbia, according to a U.S.
Attorney news release.
Tyler Andrew Hilderman,
27, pleaded guilty before
U.S. Magistrate Judge Willie
J. Epps Jr. on “one count of
possessing stolen firearms
and one count of stealing
firearms from a licensed
firearms dealer,” according
to the Tuesday release.
Co-defendant Alexander
Mears, 21, from Columbia
pleaded guilty July 14 to pos-
session of stolen firearms.
Mears said he and Hilder-
man stole 65 firearms from
Tiger Pawn Shop last year,
according to the release.
Hilderman and Mears were
arrested in Sept. 2019 in con-
nection with the burglary.
Last year, Hilderman admit-
ted to selling one of the stolen
firearms to an unnamed
woman who then sold the gun.
The firearm Hilderman sold
was a Springfield Armory
.45-caliber pistol that was
stolen during the burglary.
Enforcement officers in Coo-
per County found the pistol
during a search warrant at a
residence. The resident told
officers he purchased the gun
from a woman, who said she
got the gun from Hilderman.
In his plea agreement,
Mears said he and Hilder-
man made a hole in the pawn
shop building’s wall. Hilder-
man stood outside as Mears
passed stolen firearms
through the hole, according
to the release.
Assistant U.S. Attorney
Jim Lynn is prosecuting this
case, which was investigat-
ed by the Columbia Police
Department and the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fire-
arms and Explosives.
plight and have become folk
heroes among some conser-
vatives. They have received
support from President Don-
ald Trump, and they spoke
on video during the opening
night of the Republican
National Convention.
In fact, the McCloskeys’
attorney, Joel Schwartz, indi-
cated that Trump remains
interested in the case.
“They have spoken with
the president,” Schwartz said
after the hearing. “The pres-
ident contacts them semi-fre-
quently.” He declined to elab-
orate, and the McCloskeys
declined to be interviewed.
Gov. Mike Parson has
defended the couple’s right to
protect their home and said he
will pardon them if they are
convicted.
The protest on June 28
came in the midst of national
racial injustice demonstra-
tions that followed the death
of George Floyd in Minneap-
olis. A few hundred marchers
were on their way to St. Louis
Mayor Lyda Krewson’s home
when they veered onto a
private street made up of mil-
lion-dollar homes in St. Louis’
posh Central West End.
Mark McCloskey emerged
FAMILY SUBMITTED OBITUARIES
in death by her sister, Jane
Pemberton.
She is survived by her
daughters, Kirsten Richards
and Regan Richards, as well
as many nieces, nephews and
great-nieces and -nephews.
She earned an MA in art
from MU in 1971, and art
remained a cornerstone
throughout her life.
Judy was a lifelong Girl
Scout and was active in the
American Red Cross, Colum-
bia Friends Meeting, Locust
Grove Baptist Cemetery
Association and the Osher
Lifelong Learning Institute.
A virtual memorial meet-
ing will be held at 2 p.m.
IN BRIEF
Columbia Public Students registered for
Library Jack-o’-Lantern canceled commencement
Jamboree next Friday ceremonies between March
Columbia citizens of all ages
are invited to get into the Hal-
loween spirit with a “Jack-O’-
Lantern Jamboree” from 7 to
8 p.m. Oct 23 at the Columbia
Public Library.
Anyone is welcome to sub-
mit a festive carved pump-
kin creation for display at
the jamboree.
In the past few years, the
library has hosted indoor
pumpkin-decorating contests.
This year, because of social
distancing protocols, the
pumpkin event was re-imag-
ined to be held outdoors.
Families can jump in their
cars with their apple cider and
spooky music on hand to enjoy
a safe, drive-by community
display of illuminated pump-
kins. They will be placed on
the outer wall of the library’s
south parking lot, according to
the library website.
All interested parties must
fill out a Google Form on
the Daniel Boone Regional
Library system’s website.
The form asks for a name,
email address and the num-
ber of jack-o’-lanterns that
will be submitted.
The library will send out an
email to the participants, with
instructions and reminders,
as well as printable carving
patterns and ideas.
Pumpkin submissions may
be turned in between 10 a.m.
and 5:30 p.m. Oct. 22 and until
noon Oct. 23 at the library, 100
W. Broadway.
Attendees should be on the
look out for spooky surprises,
such as the Sanderson sisters
from “Hocus Pocus.”
Columbia College class
of 2020 to graduate in
virtual commencement
Columbia College will hold
a virtual commencement cer-
emony following the fall 2020
semester in efforts to stop
the spread of COVID-19.
Mark and Patricia McCloskey leave following a court hearing Wednesday in St. Louis. The McCloskeys have
pleaded not guilty to two felony charges, unlawful use of a weapon and tampering with evidence after been
seen waving guns at protesters marching on their private street this past summer.
from his home armed with
an AR-15 rifle and Patricia
McCloskey came out with a
semiautomatic handgun.
Gardner, a Democrat, said
the display of guns risked
Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020,
under the care of Columbia
Friends Meeting. For more
information, email: info@
quakersmissouri.org
In lieu of flowers please
send donations to Columbia
Friends Meeting, quak-
ersmissouri.org/donate,
or Locust Grove Baptist
Cemetery Association c/o
Parker-Millard 12 E. Ash St.
Columbia, MO 65203.
Arrangements are under
the direction of Parker-Mil-
lard Funeral Service and
Crematory, (573)-449-4153.
Condolences may be left
online for the family at
parkermillard.com.
COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN
2020 to Dec. 2020 are wel-
come to participate in the
virtual event, according to a
release from the college.
In the release, Scott Dalry-
mple, president of Columbia
College, said it was a difficult
decision to make the com-
mencement virtual.
“Our 2020 graduates
deserve to be recognized for
their hard work and commit-
ment to staying the course
in the face of unimaginable
obstacles,” Dalrymple said.
He said the decision fell in
line with “local health guide-
lines” and their “continued
focus on keeping the mem-
bers of our campus commu-
nity healthy.”
The in-person ceremony
was originally to be held
Dec. 19.
“While it is not ideal, we
will do everything we can to
make the virtual experience
as memorable as possible,”
Dalrymple said.
— Abbey Tauchen
VA hospital to hold
drug takeback event
Truman Veterans’ Hospi-
tal is partnering with local
law enforcement to hold a
“drug takeback” event later
this month, according to a
Wednesday news release
from the hospital.
The event will give the pub-
lic an opportunity to “safely
remove expired, unused and
unwanted” pharmaceuticals
and other medications from
their homes for disposal,
according to the release. It
will be held from 10 a.m. to
2 p.m. Oct. 23 on the first
floor of the hospital’s parking
garage near the elevators.
Items not accepted include:
■  Needles.
■  IV solutions.
■  Injectables.
■  Syringes.
■  Inhalers or compressed
air cylinders.
bloodshed.
Schwartz called the charges
a “travesty” and a “politi-
cal prosecution,” citing as
evidence Gardner’s ads in
her successful Democratic
Janet Leigh Shelton,
Oct. 7, 1955 — Oct. 11, 2020
Janet Leigh Shelton, 65, of
Columbia passed away Oct.
11, 2020, at her home. She
was born Oct. 7, 1955, in St.
Louis to the late H. Kent and
Dorothy (Chambers) Shelton.
Janet was a resident of
Woodhaven Care Center
for 30 years. She worked
at CMSE for 28 years. She
enjoyed coloring and watch-
ing scary movies. She also
loved her McDonalds!
She was very close to and
loved her mother, her nieces
and nephews and her family
very much.
Left behind to miss her is
her sister, Pam Robb (Willis)
of Columbia; sister-in-law,
Ruth Shelton of Wentzville;
Most people who use pre-
scription medication for
nonmedical reasons obtain
the drugs from family and
friends, according to the Cen-
ters for Disease Control and
Prevention. This event offers
a safe and convenient way to
dispose of prescription drugs.
— Zoe Hormell
Roll cart petitioners fall
2,000 signatures short
A citizens’ petition initia-
tive started by members of
the Facebook group “Colum-
bia MO Citizens for Roll
Carts” fell 2,000 signatures
short of putting roll carts on
the ballot in April.
The group began collecting
signatures in August with
the hope that voters would
be able to decide if the city
could consider a switch to
roll carts for trash and recy-
cling collection. A 2016 voter
initiative imposed an ordi-
nance that prohibits the city
from doing so.
Rachel Proffitt, one of the
creators of the Facebook
group, said in an announce-
ment that though they did not
get enough signatures for the
April ballot, they will continue
petitioning efforts to try to get
the issue on the August ballot.
As of Tuesday, the group
had collected 1,057 signa-
tures. Its goal was 3,219.
Since the group did not
turn in any signatures by
its Oct. 9 deadline, all signa-
tures collected thus far are
will remain valid and can be
used in its continued efforts.
Proffitt estimated that the
deadline to get roll carts
on the August ballot would
be in February in order to
give City Clerk Sheela Amin
enough time to validate the
signatures.
“Let’s keep going and let’s
get this on the August ballot.
We can do it!” Proffitt said to
the group in a video posted to
Facebook.
— Gracie Alvarez
JEFF ROBERSON/The Associated Press
primary campaign in August
in which she referenced the
case. Schwartz said he will
ask that Gardner’s office be
disqualified so another prose-
cutor can take over the case.
good friends Patty and Mari-
anne; many nieces and neph-
ews; her friends and family of
Woodhaven; and brother Scott
(Linda) Shelton.
She was preceded in death
by her parents and brother
Steve Shelton.
The family would like to
extend a special thanks to the
staff at her house for taking
such good care of her!
There will be a private ser-
vice held at Woodhaven. In lieu
of flowers, memorial donations
may be made to Woodhaven,
1405 Hathman Place.
Arrangements are under
the direction of Parker-Mil-
lard Funeral Service and
Crematory.
Page 2A — Thursday, October 29, 2020 COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN

Changes to curbside solid waste

WEATHER IN BRIEF
Columbia Public Library
to close for Election

pickup will take effect Monday

BY JASHAYLA PETTIGREW
TODAY’S FORECAST: news@columbiamissourian.com
HIGH 48° LOW 29° Recently approved changes to solid
waste curbside collection, including
Rain likely in the early trash bag requirements and scheduling
morning leading into a bulky item pickup, take effect Monday.
cloudy day. Columbia City Council recently
approved the changes at its Sept. 21
Sunrise 7:33 a.m. regular meeting.
Sunset 6:11 p.m. Under the new rules, waste must be
in a trash bag in order to be collected
FRIDAY at the curb, according to a city news
High 55° Low 38° release Wednesday. Beginning in
Sunny and mostly clear throughout early 2021, only trash bags with city
the day and evening hours. logos will be accepted. Details on that
change will be shared in early winter,
SATURDAY according to the release.
High 63° Low 38° Bulky items will no longer be
Sunny and mostly clear throughout
the day and evening hours. collected on a customer’s normally
scheduled collection day. Customers
SUNDAY are responsible for requesting and
High 49° Low 28° scheduling a collection day at least
Sunny and mostly clear throughout one week in advance of pickup.
the day and evening hours.
Bulky items are considered to be
normal household items that will not
fit in a regular trash bag. Sofas, mat-
tresses and box springs are counted.
Any items that are materials result-
ing from the erection, destruction or
remodeling of a building — including
felled trees, large automobile parts
and hazardous materials — are pro-
hibited, according to the release.
Each residential customer will be
granted one free scheduled bulky item
collection per calendar year, accord-
ing to the release. Additional requests
for bulky item pickup will be charged
at $21.50 for the first item and an
extra $5 for any other item collected at
the same time. Appliances with refrig-
erant will be charged at $29 per item.
Customers are required to provide
at least 24 hours’ notice to cancel
a bulky item or appliance pickup.
If they fail to do so, the collection
charge will be included on the next
utility bill, according to the new rules.
Customers can request bulky item
pickups and appliance collections by
calling 874-CITY (2489), online at
CoMo.gov or through the MyCoMo
app, which is available in the App
Store or Google Play Store.
Bundled items, such as tree limbs,
and items in disposable containers,
such as potting soil bags, will not be
collected under the new rules. Those
items will be left at the curb with a
note showing that the item was not
placed in a bag for collection. Custom-
ers are in charge of removing those
tagged items from the curb and ensur-
ing they are properly disposed of.
Further updates on the solid waste
curbside collection will be available
soon on the city website, CoMo.gov/
Utilities and through the CoMo Recy-
cling and Trash app available on
CoMo.gov via the CoMobile Apps link
at the top of the page.
Day, except for voting
Columbia Public Library
will temporarily close to the
public and halt curbside deliv-
ery Tuesday to make social
distancing more possible as
voters cast their ballots.
The largest branch of
the Daniel Boone Regional
Library system has served as
a polling place for years. Larg-
er turnout is expected because
of the presidential election.
“We want to make sure that
voting in the library will be
as safe as possible for voters,
library patrons and staff,”
said Margaret Conroy, Daniel
Boone Regional Library exec-
utive director, in a Wednesday
news release.
The other libraries in
the Daniel Boone Regional
Library system — in Ashland,
Fulton and Holts Summit —
are not polling places and will
remain open Tuesday.
— Tia Alphonse

DEATH NOTICES
Tanzie Davidson, 58, of Colum-
bia died Oct. 23, 2020. Arrange-
ments are under the direction
of H.T. May and Sons Funeral
Home.
Maynard Hulett, 86, of Colum-
bia died Oct. 23, 2020. Arrange-
ments are under the direction
of Parker-Millard Funeral Service
and Crematory.
Pearlie Henderson, 63, of
Columbia died Oct. 23, 2020.
Arrangements are under the
direction of Parker-Millard Funer-
al Service and Crematory.
Michael Friedman, 65, of
Columbia died Oct. 24, 2020.
Private funeral services will be
held at 1 p.m. Oct. 28 at Memo-
rial Funeral Home. The service
will be livestreamed on Memori-
al Funeral’s page and saved for
later viewing.
OUR STAFF
Executive editor: Ruby Bailey,
baileyru@missouri.edu, 882-6695
Managing editor: Jeanne Abbott,
abbottjm@missouri.edu, 882-4164
Business, news, sports editor:
Pete Bland, blandp@missouri.edu,
882-5744
Director of community outreach:
Elizabeth Stephens,
stephensec@missouri.edu, 882-9951
Director of photography:
Brian Kratzer, kratzerb@missouri.edu,
884-0693
Education editor: Elizabeth Brixey,
brixeye@missouri.edu, 882-2632
News editor: Victoria Jones,
jonesv@missouri.edu, 882-5744
Public life editor: Scott Swafford,
swaffords@missouri.edu, 884-5366
Public safety and health editor:
Katherine Reed,
reedkath@missouri.edu, 882-1792
Senior news editor: Laura Johnston,
johnstonlc@missouri.edu, 882-6870
State government editor: Mark Horvit,
horvitm@missouri.edu, 884-6149
Newsroom coordinator: Cheri Cherry,
cherryc@missouri.edu, 882-5747
Newsroom librarian: Sandy Schiefer,
schiefers@missouri.edu, 882-4876
HOW MAY
WE HELP?
OUR OFFICES are located at
221 S. Eighth St.
Columbia, MO 65201
WE ARE OPEN 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday
through Friday. The Columbia Missourian is
published five days a week except for the
day after Christmas.
MAILING ADDRESS:
The Columbia Missourian
P.O. Box 917
Columbia, MO 65205
PHONE: 882-5700
FAX: 882-5702
EMAIL: news@ColumbiaMissourian.com
ON THE WEB: ColumbiaMissourian.com
OUR POLICY: The Missourian’s policy is to
check all local stories for accuracy before
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please let us know. If you spot a mistake,
let us know that, too. Call the newsroom to
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PRINT AND DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION with
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HOME DELIVERY is $119.40 per year
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Periodicals postage paid at ­Columbia,
Missouri
PUBLISHED by the
Missourian Publishing Assoc.
Steven Sapp retiring after serving city for 41 years
BY ABBEY TAUCHEN
news@columbiamissourian.com
Steven Sapp, Columbia
community relations direc-
tor, has announced he will
retire at the beginning of
next year after 41 years
working for the city.
Sapp, 61, was born and
raised in Columbia and is
a fourth-generation Boone
Countian. He said he has
loved living in Columbia
because it is a vibrant com-
munity with lots to do. MU
keeps Columbia especially
young and exciting, he said.
“It’s just a fun place — a
great place to live for so
many people,” Sapp said.
“Part of our challenge is
making sure it’s a fun place
and a great place to live for
everybody, not just a few,
but everybody.”
In 1980, Sapp started his
career by answering 911
phone calls for Public Safe-
ty Joint Communications.
He joined the Columbia Fire
Department as a firefighter
in 1989 and was assigned as
a lieutenant to the Fire Mar-
shal’s Division in 1998.
Sapp continued to work up
to captain and then battalion
chief as the fire marshal.
Clarence John “Bush” Bierschwal Jr., June 29, 1923 — Oct. 17, 2020
Clarence John “Bush” Bier-
schwal Jr. passed away Oct.
17, 2020, in Springfield.
He was born June 29, 1923,
in Carroll, Iowa, to Ida Dan-
kel Bierschwal and Clarence
John Bierschwal. Bush was
raised in Nevada, Iowa, with
his older sister, Virginia D.
Bierschwal, who preceded
him in death July 8, 2012, in
Springfield.
Bush attended Iowa State
University briefly before
World War II led him to San
Diego as a radioman in the
Signal Battalion of the U.S.
Marine Corps. Ultimately
based in Hawaii, Bush fought
in the Pacific Theater of the
war from 1942–45. He landed
on Iwo Jima, but he never
talked about it. If asked, he
would just say he carried the
radio. Bush was honorably dis-
charged Sept. 28, 1945, con-
tinuing his military service
in the Army Reserves until
he retired a colonel in the
U.S. Army Veterinary Corp
(1950–88). He received the
Distinguished Service Medal,
three Army Meritorious Ser-
vice Medals and the Army
Achievement Medal.
After the war, Bush
returned to Iowa State,
where he met and married
Stanley Eugene Webster,
95, of New Franklin passed
away Oct. 27, 2020, at The
Neighborhoods in Columbia.
Stanley was born in
Gravois Mills, Missouri, on
Oct. 2, 1925, a son of Clyde
and Mable Metcalf Webster.
He married Judith Woods
on Feb. 3, 1951, in Boonville,
and she preceded him in
death. Stanley served his
nation during World War
II in the U.S. Army, serv-
ing in the Pacific Theater
“I think we’ve made some
progress, but we have a lot of
work that needs to be done.”
STEVEN SAPP
Columbia community relations director
He retired from the fire
department in June 2012.
One month after his
retirement, he joined the
Columbia Public Works
Department as the public
information officer. In Jan.
2016, he was promoted to
director of the Community
Relations Department.
“My entire career has
been dedicated to public
service and to the residents
of mid-Missouri,” Sapp
wrote in a news release. “It
has been a humbling and
extremely fulfilling expe-
rience to serve and to work
alongside so many other
dedicated public servants
who strive each and every
day to make our community
a better place for everyone.”
FAMILY SUBMITTED OBITUARIES
the love of his life, Lorette
Beryl Nelson, on Dec. 27,
1948. Iowa State is where
Bush received his doctor-
ate in veterinary medicine
in 1950. Bush and Beryl
moved to Excelsior Springs,
where he first practiced. In
about 1952, they moved to
Columbia, when Bush joined
the faculty as a professor
of veterinary medicine and
surgery at the MU College of
Veterinary Medicine.
Columbia is where they
raised their two daughters,
Beverly B. Sherman (Paul)
now of Springfield and Betsy
A. McQueary of Rogersville.
Football Saturday at their
home in Columbia was pure
black and gold. In those days,
we all walked through cam-
pus to Faurot Field as the
autumn leaves fell, picking
up the pace when we heard
Marching Mizzou play in the
distance. Rain or shine, win or
lose, Bush would not leave the
game until the end.
Bush taught veterinary
medicine at the univer-
sity for 34 years, from
1952–86. There he estab-
lished research and clinical
programs in his specialty,
large animal reproduction
(he served as charter diplo-
Stanley Eugene Webster, Oct. 2, 1925 — Oct. 27, 2020
7th Division
including the
Philippines,
Okinawa and
Korea. His
occupation
was as an
Operating
Engineer 513.
STANLEY Stanley
WEBSTER‌
was a 50-year
member of the Union of
Operating Engineers Local
in the Bridgeton/St. Louis
area and enjoyed traveling
The Community Relations
Department was newly
created when Sapp became
director. According to the
news release, he “champi-
oned a number of new initia-
tives to strengthen commu-
nications and improve inter-
actions with residents.”
Travel plans
In retirement, Sapp plans
to see his family and travel.
“It’s time to go visit some
grandchildren that we hav-
en’t seen in person for a while
and just do some traveling
and see other parts of this
beautiful country,” he said.
Sapp hopes to visit all 50
states with his wife, Kim.
A couple of years ago, they
visited Alaska. This year,
mate and former president
of the American College
of Theriogenologists). At
MU he was twice awarded
the Distinguished Teacher
Award. He also received the
Alumni Faculty Award, Dis-
tinguished Professor Award,
Distinguished Faculty Award,
Dr. David Bartlett Lecture
Award and the Iowa State
University Stange Award.
His professional career
took Bush and Beryl around
the world, and they loved to
travel and dance. Bush loved
his big band and swing music,
the Katy Trail, fishing, Jekyll,
computers, photography, the
Missouri Tigers, the Kansas
City Chiefs, a great scotch and
a fine cigar. He and his family
spent a year in the Nether-
lands on sabbatical while he
taught and co-authored the
textbook “The Technique of
Fetotomy in Large Animals”
with Dr. C.H.W. de Bois.
It was in the Netherlands
that Dr. de Bois introduced
Bush to cycling. Bush was
hooked on bicycling from
then on. His veterinary stu-
dents fondly recall making
farm calls in a clinic truck
with a bicycle tucked away
in the back. After their farm
calls were finished, Dr. Bier-
and spending time with his
family during his retirement.
He is survived by two
sons, Daniel Webster
(Robin) of Holts Sum-
mit and Rodney Webster
(Sandy) of Boonville; a
sister, Mary Carmichael
(Bob) of New Franklin;
four grandchildren, Luke
Webster (Dawn), Shelle
Steinmetz (Kevin), Nick
Sandbothe (Holly) and Nate
Sandbothe (Tresssie); and
great-grandchildren, Craw-
they were supposed to travel
to Hawaii, but their plans
were halted by COVID-19.
Sapp has four children and
14 grandchildren. That may
take him and his wife to the
Northeast first.
He hasn’t seen some of
his grandchildren in person
in more than a year. He is
striving to reconnect in the
safest way possible.
“I think that in itself will
be so rewarding,” he said.
City Manager John Glas-
cock said Sapp has had an
impact on Columbia in his
long career with the city.
“It’s hard to imagine the
city of Columbia without
Steve,” Glascock said in the
news release. “He has made
such a positive impact on
our community and provid-
ed unwavering dedicated
service to our residents for
many decades.”
Glascock thanked Sapp for
his service in the release.
Sapp said he values commu-
nity engagement and that it is
important on every level. He
said his work over the years
has given him the opportunity
to meet community members
from all backgrounds.
“It has been eye-opening
schwal would
say “just let
me off here,”
and then he
bicycled the
30 miles or
more back
to the Vet
School. They
CLARENCE
JOHN “BUSH” also report
BIERSCHWAL‌ his classroom
instruction
was made more interesting
because he loved to instruct
using movies he had made of
actual procedures performed.
Bush thoroughly enjoyed
teaching, his students, his
colleagues and photography,
then along came comput-
er digital photography. All
along, he kept current. He
built his own computer and
could often be found late at
night in his office editing
film. Bush retired from the
MU Vet School a professor
emeritus. His portrait hangs
in a place of honor at the Vet
School to this day.
Truly, Bush and Beryl most
enjoyed each other, family
and their many friends. Their
daughter, Betsy, has one son,
Matt (Alex) of Ozark, who has
a young son, James. Betsy has
two daughters, Dr. Melissa
Broaddus (J.T.) and son, Sam,
ford and Gatlin Webster,
Kenadie and Bostyn Stein-
metz and Aubrielle, Zach,
Ryan and Austin Sandbothe.
In addition to his parents
and wife, Stanley was pre-
ceded in death by a daugh-
ter, Brenda Sandbothe, and
a son, Bruce Webster, and
by two brothers, Jim and
Jewell Webster.
Funeral services honoring
Stanley’s life will be held 10
a.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020,
at Markland-Yager Funeral
to hear from people and hear
their stories,” Sapp said.
He said he hoped Colum-
bia’s conversations would
move forward, both civil and,
when appropriate, uncivil.
“Conversations are hard
work. We should all kind of
participate in that, and be
respectful in those conversa-
tions,” he said. “So I just hope,
as a community, we continue
to have those conversations
and continue to get better and
from our perspective within
the city government.”
Sapp said there is always
work to be done to improve
transparency.
“I think we’ve made some
progress, but we have a lot
of work that needs to be
done,” he said.
His true hope is for all
departments to come togeth-
er as one.
“We’re not just the Utility
Department, we’re not just
the Parks and Recreation
Department — we are the
city of Columbia,” he said.
“We have to work together
as leaders and directors.
That is how we truly find
the harmony that we need to
best serve our artisans, resi-
dents and our visitors.”
of Springfield and Lindsey
(Cody) of Charleston, South
Carolina. Daughter Bev and
her husband, Paul, have two
sons, Luke (Springfield) and
Sam (Kansas City, engaged
to Taryn Nash); and two
daughters, Elise (Columbia)
and Hayley (Iowa City). Bush
leaves behind his cat, Tebow,
now a new member of the
Sherman household. All ani-
mals loved Bush, and he them.
Always active, always
thoughtful of others, always
positive and always support-
ive, Bush taught us all many
wonderful lessons — real life
lessons including humility,
hard work, responsibility and
the importance of family and
friends. Much loved, we miss
him deeply but smile knowing
Bush and Beryl are together
again. To his many friends,
made closer by cards and
emails, thank you all.
We plan for a short service
Saturday, Oct. 31, in Colum-
bia. Bush loved fun; we cer-
tainly have enjoyed the fond
memories each of you have
been sharing with us. Please
live each day to its fullest, as
he did for over 97 years. Like
Frank sang it, he did it his
way. Thank you, Bush.
Home. Visitation will be
from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday eve-
ning at the funeral home.
To those attending, the fam-
ily asks that for everyone’s
safety social distancing be
observed and to wear a face
covering.
Burial with military hon-
ors will be at Boonesboro
Cemetery.
Condolences may be
shared at marklandyager.
com.