Monthly Archive

Pop in to the Drexel R-IV Schools this week and you will see youngsters decked out in pajamas and career attire as the entire student body partakes in fun and exciting activities throughout the week for the upcoming Courtwarming. The Courtwarming King and Queen candidates have been announced. For Queen, front row, left to right: Sophomore Mallory Mager, Junior Kelsey Irvin, Senior Mallari Russell and Freshman Jessi Gunnels. For King, back row, left to right: Sophomore Evan McCaine, Junior Justin Wheeler, Senior Cody Breuer and Freshman Brett Moles.

The Board of Aldermen of the City of Drexel, Missouri met in Regular Session February 9th, 2009. The meeting was held at City Hall. Mayor Kenneth Reece, Alderman Sue Bush-Wishon, Alderman Terry Mayfield, and Mayor Pro Tem Doug Musick were all in attendance. Alderman Allman was absent. Mayor Reece called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Citizens present were Sody Geuy, Darryl Gilbert, Chad Harrington, Judy Houseman, Marcella Johnston, Bob Miller, Marilyn Nickell, Sheila Reece, Don Simerson, Boyd Smith, Judy Stivers, Mike Stivers, Mary Wallace, B.T. Webb, Jim Welborn, and Joe Ziegler.

Missouri Gas Energy recently received approval from the Missouri Public Service Commission to reduce its Cost of Gas Charge (the wholesale price of natural gas plus interstate transportation and storage costs) from the current $0.94501 per hundred cubic feet (Ccf) to $0.77358 per Ccf. This is the second cost of gas reduction this heating season for MGE customers.
This filing reflects the declining price of wholesale natural gas and is welcome news during the heart of what is turning out to be an unusually cold winter during an economic recession.

Last Tuesday evening was an evening to remember as four students were formally inducted into the Drexel Chapter of National Honor Society (NHS). They are: Tara Freeman, Brianna Gamache, Tanner Shipley, and Nichole Vlieger.
A pot luck meal preceded the candlelight induction ceremony. President Brittany Page conducted the ceremony that was attended by family, friends, and faculty. The evening’s speaker, Principal Robbie Shepherd, addressed the group about positive choices one makes in life. Adviser Judy Daniel conducted the official signing in of new members.
To be considered for...

Dear Editor and residents:
Let’s talk swimming pool.
My stand on the swimming pool is that it is one of our most important assets the city owns! It is long been providing this community with a multitude of benefits. Besides being a wonderful and safe place to hang during hot days, it keeps our kids under supervision and out of mischief, besides the medical advantage of wearing off some of that energy.

James E. Wheeler, 85, Bucyrus, KS, passed away February 11, 2009 at his home.
The visitation was on Saturday, February 14, 2008 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Funeral Mass was celebrated after the visitation at 11:00 a.m. at the Queen of the Holy Rosary Church in Bucyrus, KS. Burial was in the Queen of the Holy Rosary Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, gifts may be given as a memorial to Queen of the Holy Rosary Cemetery.
To send a special message to the family please visit www.penwell-gabel.com.
Arr: Penwell – Gabel Louisburg Chapel 120 S. Broadway Louisburg, KS 66053.

By RICHARD HETTINGER
It’s the start of something big.... Baseball and Softball Programs are being introduced to the sports program at Drexel R-IV. Many Drexel students have played baseball or softball in the past summers through a league, but starting this year the Bobcats and Lady Cats will have both sports as an organized school activity.
With help from donations and volunteer work, both from individuals and businesses, the fields are fast approaching readiness for the Spring Sports to begin.

By RICHARD HETTINGER
Drexel traveled the considerable distance to Chilhowee on Friday the 13th to take on the Lady Indians. It must have been a chilling time for the Lady Indians as this date sometimes brings scary moments. The Lady Cats, as visitors, probably wore out their welcome as they were relentless in scoring a one sided victory 68 to 27.

By RICHARD HETTINGER
In a makeup game last Friday with Chilhowee, the Bobcats showed that they can win. After trailing at half time by a score of 23 to 21, they outscored Chilhowee in the second half 31 to 19, leaving them with a nice 52 to 42 win.

To accommodate parents who have questions about the new instructional practices and how they are preparing children for the MAP assessment, we are offering an informational meeting on February 24th from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Please feel free to stop by any time during this session.

A meeting to plan the Drexel high school 2009 Lock-In was held on Sunday, February 15 in the school library media center. The Lock-In is a semi-annual event designed to promote alcohol free and drug free activities for DHS students freshmen through seniors. Students will participate in fun-filled activities throughout the night and are eligible for a prize drawing at the end of the event.

By RICHARD HETTINGER

By RICHARD HETTINGER
On Tuesday of last week the Lady Cats traveled to Cass Midway to do battle with the Lady Vikings. The game started very slow as the score after one quarter was Drexel 4, Midway 5. At half time the low scoring continued but the Lady Cats had “powered” into the lead at 10 to 9.
The second half continued much the same as the first with the Lady Cats holding the lead after 3 quarters at 20 to Midway’s 16.

Tayler Lancaster, a flamboyant 4th grader at Drexel Elementary, competed Saturday, February 7th, 2009 in Imperial, MO, a suburb of St. Louis, for the State Finals of the Elk’s National “Hoop Shoot” Free Throw Contest. Tayler competed against seven other districts throughout the state. She competed in the girls 8-9 year-old division.

The Cass County Commission recently began looking at the issue of property rights and recently voted to make a policy change in county codes enforcement. Associate Commissioner Bill Cook led the call for helping farm families address building code and ordinance burdens.

Attorney General Chris Koster is warning Missourians of a phishing scam disguised as an offer to lower their credit card interest rate. Consumers have contacted Koster’s office saying a caller claims to be from a company called Card Services, asking them to enter their credit card number to see if they qualify for a better rate. This is simply an attempt by thieves to steal credit card numbers.

A community briefing detailing which local bridges will be repaired or replaced as part of the Missouri Department of Transportation’s Safe and Sound Bridge Program will be held from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, February 17, 2009, at Cass Midway High School library, 5801 E. Route 2, Cleveland, Mo.
MoDOT will replace the decks and make other structural improvements to the Route O bridges over the Grand River and Poney Creek south of Freeman, the Route 2 bridge over the Grand River east of Freeman and the Route B bridge over Knob Creek east of Creighton.

FairPoint Communications announced early this week that it has been made aware of a possible customer scam connected to its e-mail transition. Scammers have been presenting themselves as FairPoint representatives and contacting customers by e-mail to ask for their passwords. The company is investigating the situation. FairPoint urges customers to not respond to these e-mail communications that allege they are from the company.
In the scam e-mail customers are being told that:

The Harrisonville Wal-Mart Store supports community activities in a variety of area schools and communities across the area. Drexel R-IV Schools and the City of Drexel are one of the recent recipients of grant funding provided by the Wal-Mart Corporation and the Harrisonville Wal-Mart store in particular. Pictured above, Store Manager’s Ann Hammonds and Ken Reynolds, center, present a $1,000 donation to, left to right, Katie Hocker, Mallari Russell, Alec Young, Jarrod Jacobs for the Drexel Ballpark renovation project.

A Drexel-based business—InnovaPrep, a division of AlburtyLab Inc.—was among 20 outstanding small businesses in Missouri honored by members of the General Assembly January 28, at a business showcase in Jefferson City. The event, sponsored by the Missouri Small Business & Technology Development Centers (MO SBTDC) and the Missouri Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (MO PTAC), highlighted the achievements of some of the two programs’ top performing clients.

After a long extended break for the holidays, the Drexel Community Betterment Corporation held their first meeting of the new year last Tuesday, January 27th, at noon. Craig Arnold of the Cass County Development Corporation hosted the catered luncheon by Old Aubry’s Cafe at the Drexel Community Center. Those present were Anita Brown, Joe Ziegler, Sue Wishson, Vic Shipley, Kenny Reece, Jim Welborn, Patty Dreher, Marc Finke, Peggy Moles, Lynette Harris, Tyler Black, Greg Mullinex, Craig Arnold, and April Rollins.
April Rollins, owner of Rollins Photography, was welcomed as a new member.

By RICHARD HETTINGER
Our Bobcat boys, being seeded 8th, unfortunately drew the number one seeded Archie Whirlwinds for their first game of the Archie Tournament played during the week of January 26-31. The game was never in doubt as Archie took a 23-9 lead in the first quarter never looking back while handing our Bobcats a 76 to 28 loss and sending them into the Consolation Bracket. Team statistics were field goal percentage 42%, free throws 50%, with 6 assists, 20 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots. The 38 turnovers were a factor in the lopsided score.

By RICHARD HETTINGER

By BRIAN L. BAKER, Associate Commissioner, Cass County
President Thomas Jefferson once said, “Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to
set them to rights.”