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Obituary - David P. Walker

David P. Walker, age 58, of Raymore, Missouri, passed away on Tuesday, October 26, 2021 at Belton Regional Hospital.

A celebration of David’s life will be held with a visitation from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 2, 2021 at Cullen Funeral Home, 612 W. Foxwood Dr. Raymore, Missouri 64083.

David was born in Kansas City, Missouri on October 8, 1963 to Paul M. Walker and Rosalee A. (Gibbens) Walker. David graduated form high school and continued his education. He worked for the rest of his life fulfilling his passion of cars. Working for thirty two years as an auto body repair technician, he worked at Chambers Brothers in Grandview. David spent many years, restoring old cars and watching NASCAR. He loved cars, but he also enjoyed motorcycles.

David was preceded in death by his father, Paul Walker.

He is survived by his loving wife of twenty-seven years, Mary B. Walker; mother, Rosalee Bailey (Mercer); two daughters, Lauren and Katie Walker; brother Steve Walker; sister, Leanne Barry (Jim); two step-sisters, Lynn Kruse (Kevin) and Marci Bailey; three nephews, Jason, Austin and Riley; and one niece, Ali.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be given to the American Heart Association online at www.heart.org

Butler and Drexel Remain Undefeated

Local Sports Roundup by Cameron Hook

Football season came winding down last week. With the regular season coming to a close, we will be going over the scores from quite a few local teams, and looking at how each finished their season. So without further ado, let us take a look at the Sports Round-Up.

As we did last week, we will start by looking at the hometown Butler Bears. The Bears have been incredibly successful all year. As a matter of fact, one could say they were as successful as possible, because they finished the season undefeated! That is right, your Butler Bears capped off the regular season with a win at home Friday night against Lone Jack. In what was a one-sided affair, the Bears ended their perfect regular season with a 53-6. Expect this squad to be heading into the Class 2 State Tournament with a killer mentality and a head full of steam.

Now it would be doing this next team a disservice to wait any longer to talk about their big win. The Drexel Bobcats who finished last season as District Champions, finished the regular season undefeated. They were unable to do so last season as they started the year off with a Forfeit Loss according to the MSHSAA website. This season Drexel started with a clean slate and took advantage of it, finishing 8-0. Now this team will be looking to not only repeat as District Champs, but they look to go even further. After beating St. Paul Lutheran 80-26, the Bobcats have to be brimming with confidence. Now just like every other football team they will be taking it one week at a time, but you have to think that each week they should be going into their matchup knowing that they can win. This is a spectacular 8-man team that just needs to stay focused and disciplined, if they can manage that, Coach Dean should be looking at nothing but more success with the Bobcats.

On the topic of 8-man, would it really be a local Sports Round-Up if the Whirlwinds were not covered? Archie traveled to Concordia for last week’s game and left with smiles on their faces. Archie came out on top with a final score of 84-42. It might have been nothing but offense, but the Whirlwinds finish the season 8-1. Now they shift their focus to their  next game, which will be against Appleton City. Archie will host the Bulldogs on November 5th in their first game of the postseason. The last time these two squads faced off on the gridiron it was Archie who reigned victorious. Can Archie repeat their 60-8 win over Appleton or will the Bulldogs play spoiler on the Whirlwinds already impressive season?

For the game that many fans could not wait for, Adrian won on the road against Wellington-Napoleon. The Blackhawks got the win in a 41-15 outing. This is their fourth straight win, one that came on the back of some solid defensive play. Adrian gives up 17 points per game on average, but on Friday night they managed to keep the Tigers underneath that average. Adrian, who finished the regular season at 7-2 now must prepare for the Cass Midway Vikings who they play this Friday at home. Last week Adrain took care of Midway in a dominant win, can they repeat their success or will the Vikings be able to learn from their previous mistakes against the Blackhawks?

Let us talk about Kansas for a moment. Now they might have nice roads and bad college football teams, but we are taught to love our neighbors. So it is time to look at a good Kansas football team, and since that automatically disqualifies KU, it must be the Prairie View Buffaloes right? Right. The Buffaloes came away with a very nice victory over the Anderson County Bulldogs. The final score of this matchup was 35-7. The Buffaloes move to 6-2 on the season, and begin practice this week preparing to face off against the Parsons Vikings who happen to have the same record. The game is in Parsons and with the two teams being so evenly matched on paper, you can expect it to be entertaining for all.

For the last bit of 8-man news this week, Rich Hill defended their home turf this week as they held off the visiting Liberal Bulldogs, 46-12. The Tigers should be glad they ended the season on such a high note as there have not been too many of those this year. Both teams finish the regular season at 4-5. Now, Rich Hill will get their shot at redemption, as their next game is against a Jasper team that beat them earlier in the year. Can Rich Hill pull off the revenge game or will they fall short to the Eagles on the road? We will not be getting the answer to that question until November 5th when the Tigers go on the road.

For the Sports Round-Up Game of the Week, the Butler Bears have been chosen. While this seems like a bit of a cop out as the Bears first postseason game is still undecided, (according to the MSHSAA website,) it cannot go without saying how electric Butler is this year. Regardless of who they play, the undefeated Bears are a team you do not want to miss. Bears photo courtesy of Butler High School.

The Museum Minute: Telephone Vandal Disrupts Service

Courtesy of the Bates County Museum 802 Elks Drive, Butler Mo 64730 (660) 679-0134

Herrman’s Historical Happenings week of October 27

1868 The census for Bates County shows 5,733 males, 5,057 females, 5,844 horses & 12, 535 head of cattle.

1875 A feud that has been brewing for several weeks ends when M.H. Goodwin shoots John Cane. Mr Cane found his estranged wife and Goodwin together, rural Butler.

1911 The Bates county school superintendent, Mr. Allison, reports the Harmony Mission School, 8 miles east of Passaic, has 55 students, and the teacher is Miss Randall, who gets $55 a month. 

1930 R. Spurlock is brought before Justice B. F. Jeter, in Butler, he was arrested upon a complaint of the Charlotte Telephone Co for cutting down and destroying a telephone pole at the Huffman corner 3 miles east of Virginia. The entire telephone system was tied up for several hours.

1932 Doctor R.E. Crabtree, city of Butler Health Officer, appeals to citizens to conserve water as the Miami is about dry and they may have to lay pipe to the Recreation Lake.

1940 Thieves break into the McNeil School and steal just about everything that had been donated for the school carnival, scheduled for tomorrow, but now postponed to November 4th.

1951 The Bates County Tractor & Implement Co, holds its official Grand opening, at 71 highway and Harrison St. Ed Nolin, a life time farmer of Bates Co. is manager and Jack Stark is parts and service manager.

1952 Mr & Mrs Elmer McCann have taken over the management of the Butler NU-SHO movie theater at Adams and highway 71. Former manager Wilbur Smith will go back to laying tile.

1968 The Merwin Christian Church building is dedicated.

2000 The Deems Farm Equipment of Butler is beginning its 61st year as the John Deere dealer in the area and is one of the largest in western Missouri.

Crosswind Considerations

What’s Up by Leroy Cook

That was a pretty impressive cold front that slid through here on Sunday, leaving a display of cumulus build-ups to the east after the skies cleared behind the front. The low ceilings earlier in the day had pretty well thwarted any flying, along with the strong crosswind at the Butler runway. Some of the frosty mornings last week required priming fuel to get the engine started; it’s that time of year.

As far as transient traffic goes, we saw a Piper Cherokee on the approach Saturday, a Piper Arrow was in, a Cessna Skyhawk landed and a Cirrus SR-22 came by. Locally, Rebekah Knight took the Cessna Skyhawk out, Flight Instructor Eric Eastland did a couple of Cessna 150 training sessions and Chris Hall had the SkyDive KC Beech King Air E90 up on jump runs, until the weekend frontal passage shut them down.

I get asked now and then about “how strong does the crosswind have to be before it prevents us from landing?” Doesn’t happen, I tell them; airplanes always land…one way or the other. After all, they can’t stay up forever. Seriously, I figure 15 knots of crosswind is plenty, after which I’ll look for another airport with a more favorable runway direction and perhaps land there. If you’re feeling lucky you can try landing with 20 or 25 knots across the runway, but chances are you’ll be going around instead of landing on the first attempt.

So, why don’t we build extra runways so we can avoid the risk of a crosswind landing? With land and construction costs as they are, that isn’t likely to happen. We’re lucky to have the one runway we have. I have a picture of Butler airport in the old days, when it was 80 acres of native grass, and there were three distinct landing lanes visible, a north-south and two intersecting diagonal ones. Over at St. Louis, the Navy built Smartt Field during WW-2 as a training facility (now St. Charles County airport) with no less than eight runways arranged in an octagon shape. That pretty much eliminated the crosswind accidents in their Stearman biplanes, but concrete was cheap then and the war had to be won at any cost.

The chartered DC-9 airliner accident in Houston last week was called a “miracle” by the news media, because no one got hurt when the aborted takeoff run left the airplane a burning wreck off the end of the runway. It was not a miracle, it was a survivable outcome because the crew did what it was trained to do and the exits and escape slides functioned as designed. Safety requires preparation, and the operators were prepared.

The question from last week was about “day-glow” bright florescent paint that was a brief fad in the 1950s and 1960s. The idea was to cut down on mid-air collision risk by making planes more visible, adding bright color to wingtips and tails. Ed Robertson put the paint on his old Cessna 140 trainer, in case the government’s recommendation became a requirement. The notion was wisely called off, because the color weather- faded into dull orange in a matter of a few months. For next week, we want to know what’s unique about the Navy’s new MQ-25 tanker aircraft. You can send your answer to kochhaus1@gmail.com.

Less Than Desired Turnout for Butler Town Hall Meeting

City Administrator Mike West and the council addressed a group of just over 20 citizens during the much touted Town Hall Meeting held last Thursday evening. Topics covered were water rates, street repairs, airport improvements/repairs and the roughly $800k the city will receive as part of the American Rescue Plan to offset COVID related losses. It is proposed that a portion of the money goes to reimburse the city for the cost of the city hall remodel; grant a $50 utility credit to residents; develop a sensory/handicap park at North Field Park; and use remaining funds to offset the cost of an electronic water meter reading system that will significantly reduce labor required to read meters. From the audience questions included could the incoming ARP money be used as matching funds for a city grant? Unfortunately no. Other public concerns centered around keeping streets swept, solving internet issues and infrastructure concerns related to sewer and water. 

Remember, the Butler city council meets on the first and third Tuesdays 7 pm, upstairs at the Butler city hall.

Bates County Real Estate Transfers and Marriage Licenses

Yohe, Dustin to Yohe, Arthur Lt 11 Bl 65 Rich Hill, Original Town Of+

Becker, Gale to Becker, Gale Str 13-38-33 //Nw

Heiman, Garrett to Hackett, Lorrie Lt 17 Bl 29 Rockville, Original Town Of+

Beasley, Orville to Tucker, William F Bl 10 William’s Addn+

Brooks, Linda Diane to Keener, William J. Lt 5 Bl 8 William’s Addn+

Hankins, Richard Brent (Suc Trustee) to Droz, Jeffrey D Bl 163 Town Company’s Second Addn+

Wheeler, Donald L to Wheeler, Kimberly Str 14-42-33 //Sw

Weiss, Randall L to Lind, Jeremy R Lt 406 Country South Ext. #4+

Crary, Benjamin N. to Henderson, Randy W Str 19-40-31 //Sw

Tippie, Roger Lane to Sellars, Dixie Lt 9 Bl 21 Sprague, Original Town Of+

Chandler, Colby to Simms, Timothy Bl 83 Walnut Nka Foster

Flying H Genetics, Llc to Smith, Zephaniah M Str 2-39-30 //Nw

Park West Estates, L.P. to Brown, Barbara M. Lt 2 Bl D Park West P4/52

Mcquillen, Johnathan N to Blakesley, Glen Scott Str 17-42-31 //Sw

Coffman, Gary F to Gargus, Anthony Lt 9 Bl 11 West Side Addn+

Ths Land Holdings, Llc to Stuart, Kenneth E. Lt 139 Adrian, Original Town Of

Duncan, Jennifer D. to Fink, Shane E. Str 14-42-33 //Ne

Tenholder, Mark E. to David & Nicole Thurman Farms, Llc Str 14-42-31 //Nw+

Forhy, Carolyn to Sargent, Richard B. Lt 6 Bl 21 West Side Addn+

Reyburn, Berry Lee to Wasmer, Kenneth Andrew Str 22-38-29 //Sw

Reyburn, Berry Lee to Wasmer, Kenneth Andrew Str 21-38-29 //Se+

King, Shirley Brooks to King, Shirley Brooks Str 5-38-33 //Nw

Tenholder, Donna Mae (Trustee) to David & Nicole Thurman Farms, Llc Str 14-42-31 //Nw+

King, Richard Reeves (Trustee) to Henderson, Randy Str 19-40-31 //Sw

Steel, Edward & Sue Ann Trust 07-31-2008 to Henderson, Randy Str 19-40-31 //Sw

Wheatley, Thelma B. 08-22-1990 to Lockard, Dwayne Keith Str 2-39-32 //Nw

Marriage License:

Meade, Stuart Wryan and Walsh, Sonya Ann

Kepley, Dillon Wayne and Snodgrass, Jayme Marie

Cumpton, Wade Lee and Clark, Katrina Dawn

Brown, Jameson Bastain Craig and Patrick, Cheyenne Elizabeth

Hansen, Eric Michael and Cumpton, Christine Denise

Nationwide Supply Issues Hit Close to Home

For a while, we’ve been watching news of cargo ships stacking up at U.S. ports from afar but now beginning to see the net effect of this locally. In talking with area businesses we’re hearing of shortages of all kinds and the list seems to be growing. Local appliance shops are having trouble getting replacement handles, knobs and basic timers leaving thousands of dollars of saleable merchandise waiting on a $10 part. Equally as bad, our local HVAC folks are now being told that heating and cooling systems that normally are in stock in nearby warehouses now are looking at a 4-6 month or longer delivery time. 

The shortages seem to come at all levels including common car parts such as alternators and batteries, along with some items that are rarely in short supply such as paper and ink. Paint is getting hard to find. Crafters are having trouble getting certain types and colors of fabric and thread. 

Tires are no exception. We spoke to Dale Newkirk, owner of Right Choice Truck & Tire who is also feeling some supply chain pain. “Like everyone else in our business, we’re having trouble getting certain brands and sizes of tires” he said in a conversation on Tuesday “And a really hard time getting parts for semi trucks too”. Newkirk went on to say that getting what he needs comes from wherever they can find it such as Texas or Wisconsin, which are not the regular suppliers. “A normal day of business would be to make orders and expect them in a few days, however now, an increasing amount of time is spent searching for what is in stock around the country,” he added.  

Our nation’s leaders say the shortages are because the economy is reopening and demand is up- but there seems to be a lot more at hand here, including docks running at 50% or less capacity. With Winter approaching, we have to wonder when will things start to swing back the other way? No one is certain. Newkirk offered “Not to cause panic buying, but if anyone needs tires or a repair, you might do it sooner than later before supplies get even more limited”. As our conversation continued those sentiments apply to other things as well. He reinforced “While facing unknowns, it’s better to get whatever you need now as opposed to not being able to get it when you absolutely need it down the road” and that advice seems to make sense. 

Dale and wife Trish also own Troublefree Transportation, a trucking company that predominantly serves the midwest that dispatches out of Butler. “Unlike the cargo ships that are stuck, the trucking business is pretty much wide open” said Trish, who is president of the company “We could run as many trucks as we want but the limitation now is not having enough drivers”. She went on to explain that due to changes in regulations, COVID, and varying pay incentives complicate matters greatly. Even with those issues, the trucking industry appears to be in a little better shape compared to oceanic shipping vessels. In rough numbers it is speculated that it will take at least 6 months to unload the ships off the California coast IF the ports were running at full capacity. 

As we face the great unknown, we are already seeing a spike in heating fuels, gasoline, diesel and food along with sure signs of what appears to be hyperinflation; which means problems may very well continue into a good portion of next year.