The Museum Minute: Barrows boys in the area

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

Herman’s Historical Happenings week of July 20

1861 Dr Hansbrough, of Butler, is arrested by Federal troops, in South Cass Co. He admits he is a Southern, but a non combatant. He is shot to death, after a “trial”.

1889 The Butler Fair Association disbands because of lack of energy and money.

1901 The current news for Bates Co is the drought. W.O. Atkeson, editor of the Butler Free Press prints he had driven 15 miles North of Butler, and saw less than 15 acres of corn, when ordinarily there would be thousands of acres of corn.

1907 Butler and Rich Hill are the only towns in Bates Co issuing saloon licenses.

1933 A Butler resident reports he saw a carload of people 3 1/2 miles North of Butler, on U.S. 71 and he thought they had machine guns. This mornings Kansas City Star has an article of a shoot out, police against the Barrows brothers of Texas, at Platte City Mo.

1937 The graveling of Highway 71 between Butler and Harrisonville is completed with the last gap, at the county lines, covered today. The gravel is loose and the underneath earth is soft and it will probably be impassible after heavy rains.

1999 Butler city administrator Dennis Pyle announces to the Butler city council that public works director, Loren Appleberry, has resigned. The council is alarmed and want to know why. Pyle doesn’t give any specifics.

What's Up by LeRoy Cook

Why so loud?

After years of failing to achieve record-busting high temperatures, the Global Warning predictors are finally getting their way this week. Kansas City International airport is set to break the 100-degree mark for a couple of days, at least, and the weekend temperatures aloft were well above standard atmosphere numbers, borne on strong southwest low-level winds out of the southwest desert country.

Traffic wise, we had the usual crop of training missions come through this week, the UH-60 Black hawk Sikorsky helicopters from Whiteman AFB and the Piper Archers from Aviation Training Professionals at Kansas City Downtown airport. A Mooney M20C stopped through and an AirTractor AT 502 took on spraying duties. Few of the local crowd ventured out, due to the heat.

The hapless impaired pilot who landed out of fuel on I-70 by Grain Valley at 3 a.m. Thursday morning used up all his luck avoiding trucks and unseen obstructions. His airplane is repairable but his flying privileges are long gone. Reportedly only an unsupervised student pilot, he faces a long list of charges. Aviation has a inherent way of policing those who persist in poor judgment; airplanes bite fools, I’ve often said.

Weather and inclination permitting, this Saturday morning is already time for the monthly gathering of the Fliars Club, wherein tall tales and hunger lead us aloft. This month came in on a Friday

How come, we got asked, are some cropdusters louder than others? One could say some have bigger motors, but it’s the older smaller planes that make more takeoff noise, because they have longer 3-blade propellers that turn at supersonic speed. The big AirTractor 802 with a shorter 5-blade prop turns slower, even with 1200 hp at work.

Describing agricultural workplanes depends on how knowledgeable the speaker is. Properly, they aren’t “cropdusters” because we haven’t spread insecticide in dust form for years. And they aren’t always “sprayplanes” because a lot of material flown on is dry granules dispersed with a spreader under the hopper. Aerial Applicators is what the guvinment calls them, which covers a multitude of sins, from dropping fish into lakes to fighting forest fires. For now, we’ll just refer to them as “agplanes.” 

If you’re into World War II aircraft, the Commerative Air Force is bringing its “Texas Raiders” B-17 bomber to St. Joseph Rosecrans airport this weekend, June 15 to 17, accompanied by a C-47 transport and a T-6 Texan advanced trainer. Watching and looking are free, tours are reasonable, rides are pricey but worth every dollar. Maybe we’ll be lucky enough to see them fly over this area.

The weekly question wanted to know why the back of propeller blades, the side seen by the pilot, is painted flat black, while the front is usually left au natural, or with white painted tips. It’s because black renders the spinning prop invisible to the pilot’s view. For safety on the ground, we want the people in front of the plane to see the big meat cleaver. Next week’s puzzler is “who was Ernst Mach, and what did he know about supersonic flight?” Send your answers to kochhaus1@gmail.com.

Wescoat gets down to business

Finances remain a hot topic for the Adrian city council and in this month’s meeting, it’s clear that new city Administrator Ryan Wescoat has jumped in feet first to get things on the upswing. 

While Adrian has faced some major challenges in the past few years including the sale of the Adrian Manor and what to do about the former motel, the ‘wish list’ of other things of importance was put on hold; but that list is being addressed now as demonstrated in the July 11 meeting. 

Wescoat revealed that he has been working on ARPA grants, totaling about $750,000 that may be used for water and wastewater improvements, along with public safety and fire grants that will be in the $20,000 range as well. While the grants are matching, the city would need to kick in around 20%, but obviously will still be money ahead. An update regarding the status of the grants will be made available hopefully by Fall.

He also announced that there will be some streamlining regarding the digital side of things at city hall which includes an updated email system and the use Google business services to share documents internally as well as easily make information available to the public. 

In other council news, all i’s were dotted and t’s crossed as Mayor Matt Cunningham and the council ratified the ‘22-’23 budget and it will now be sent to the state for the final ok. 

The city has a non working storm siren and an effort is being made to get it fixed as soon as possible. There was a discussion about having a local electrician take a look at it, but if parts are needed there would be a further delay. The decision was made to have the company that normally services the sirens, which is out of Oklahoma, check it out and make repairs all in one visit.

The fire department is a bit short on space and are temporarily using one bay at city fall to store a truck. Fire Chief Gary Dizney asked the council if an electronic door opener could be installed to quicken access which the council approved. No cost to the city for the installation, as the rural fire department will cover it.

Plans are moving forward to clean up a couple of properties including 116 S. Virginia and the remains of a burned mobile home at 5th and Clark. Several steps are required to legally do this and work hopefully  will begin soon. The city is working at putting together a park  board and volunteers are needed. If anyone is interested contact alderman Hummel or stop by city hall during business hours to get more info. The park is home to a lot of activities including sports and community events and it was emphasized that upkeep and oversight is desperately needed.

With hot, dry weather upon us things are getting critical regarding the river intake pumps at Archie that pump raw water into the lake at Adrian. The water plant draws from the lake and when the level drops, water from up north is needed. Ongoing issues with a hole in the river suction line, compounded with electric pump problems had prompted the city to use a temporary pump but this arrangement presents its own set of issues and the original problem remains. Action is being taken and hopefully a solution is found soon.

Remember, the Adrian city council meets on the second Monday, 7 pm at city hall. The public is highly encouraged to attend.

Commission discusses ARPA distributions

As the election looms, emotions are certainly running high in Bates County and as of late, coffee shop and Facebook chatter has centered around the Bates County Commissioners disbursement of first round America Rescue Plan funds. While information regarding Bates county dollars were already made available, Mid America Live and KMAM/KMOE radio station met with Presiding Commissioner Jim Wheatley, Southern Commissioner Trent Nelson and Northern Commissioner Ken Mooney to get information together and answer a few questions.

Through this, there have been questions regarding the timeline of applicants and Wheatley stated that yes, there were prior verbal discussions with those wanting to apply, however “final consideration was given in order that written applications were received.”

At the forefront of that particular discussion was funding for the Osage Valley rural internet project, which he says their written application was not received until later in the phase, ruling them out for the first round; however he did make it clear that they will be the first to be funded, approximately $750,000, in the second round disbursement which will happen this October. 

While the county is set to receive 3.14 million when all is said and done, here’s who made the first round:

Hume Alliance Ministry $15,855.00
Adrian Rural Fire Department $30,396.29
Adrian Rural Fire Department $53,493.71
Public Water Supply Dist #6 $250,000.00
Public Water Supply Dist  #2 $375,356.50
Public Water Supply Dist #5 $342,508.00
Public Water Supply Dist #3 $213,747.50
Bates Co Fair $274,120.00 (will receive a total of $356,776.00 with balance due in second round).

“I’d like to add that we didn’t make any final decisions until we received a final ruling from the U.S. Treasury which happened in January” said Wheatley pointing out that the commission wanted to play it safe in the event the rules changed.

Indeed, there were some changes along the way and the final categories eligible for requests included water, stormwater and wastewater projects, broadband internet, public health, behavior health, public safety and economic development among other things.

As the playing field had now widened regarding who could apply, now decisions were made regarding why those listed were awarded, and Wheatley offered this summation of each of the recipients in a nutshell:

The Hume Ministerial group feed approximately 200 families in that area. That translates to 400 to 600 people.  They needed either a refrigeration or freezer unit to keep food for distribution.

The Adrian Fire Department had two vehicles, a brush truck and rescue truck that were becoming a serious maintenance and reliability issue. 

Water districts needing to replace,  upgrade or install new water lines; do water tower painting and other tower maintenance.

The Bates county fair intends to use the money for rework of the youth building, finishing the new arena and other updates. Wheatley did say that money for the fair was heavily based on “investing in the youth of our community”.

During our meeting with the Bates county commissioners, it was pointed out that there were many who applied that either did not meet the criteria or otherwise were ineligible. 

In continuation of this story, Mid America Live will next interview those who received first round money to get specific details regarding how the funds will be used, along with reasoning behind it. In a separate article, we plan to speak with Osage Valley regarding their new timeline, as well as other impacts on the rural internet project.

Updated Obituary - Matthew Steele Moberly

Matthew Steele Moberly, 31, passed away in Texas on July 11th , 2022. An intimate memorial will be conducted at a later date to allow for the family to grieve this loss. Arrangements entrusted to the Mullinax Funeral Home, Drexel Chapel (816-657-4400).

Memorial contributions may be made to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). Messages of condolence may be left for the family at www.mullinaxfuneralhome.com.

Matthew was born in Orange County California and grew up in Missouri. He had many interests and talents and had a heart for many, including the elderly, and received his CNA Certification.

He had been involved in Christian theater and excelled in each lead role. He was very gifted musically and was self-taught at playing several musical instruments.

Matthew loved to sing, but one of his most cherished gifts was his ability to write his own songs to sing and play either the guitar or piano.

He had a sense of humor that could easily draw him to the center of attention and bring any get together of friends to only sounds of laughter.

He also refurbished furniture, and built unique pieces for the home. Matthew enjoyed activities with his brothers and will be fondly remembered for the playful times and his ability to change an average experience into a goofy spontaneous endeavor.

Matthew is survived by his parents, Larry and Tracy, two brothers Kyle and Taylor, Grandmother Alfreda, and daughters Audrey, Amelia and Kennedy Moberly.

Changes coming to Kamp Keirsey

Hello friends and family of Kamp Keirsey. As many of you may already know I will be stepping down as manager of Kamp Keirsey to focus on our local church ministry at FBC Butler MO.

The Osage River Baptist Association is now looking for the next camp manager for Kamp Keirsey. 

The responsibilities include: the spiritual operation of the camp, recruitment and training of camp directors and staff, the physical operations of the camp, and preparation of reports to the association. 

The candidate must agree to association doctrinal statement and be willing to be a member of an association church.

Kamp Keirsey is located approximately 1 hour south of Kansas City. Send resumes to: osage.river@hotmail.com. Thank you for your support of this camp ministry.

For His Glory Alone
Bill Perkins
Kamp Keirsey
Manager
660-679-1004

http://kampkeirsey.com/

Sexual misconduct case bound over for trial

A preliminary hearing was held on July 19th for Charles O'Dell Reece 38,  of Butler who is accused on multiple charges of sexual contact with a student that allegedly took place in April 2018, December 2018 and March 2019.

Reece appeared with attorney Scott Friedrich before Lynn Ewing, A.P.A. representing the State of Missouri and Judge Cory L. Atkins.

Counsel Friedrich advised he received a copy of the Second Amended Complaint filed by the State and waived formal reading of the charge(s) and a not guilty plea was entered. The Court finds probable cause to believe the defendant was involved in the commission of a felony as charged in Counts I through XXVII in the Second Amended Complaint.

The Honorable Judge Cory L. Atkins advised he will forward the cause to the Missouri Supreme Court for judicial assignment. Arraignment date will be determined following judicial assignment. Cash bond in the amount of $50,000.00 is continued as posted.

Dane Diehl Pre-primary meet and greet in Nevada!!

Dane Diehl Pre-primary meet and greet!!
July 27, 2022
3 Cedars Event center
Nevada, Mo

 
If anyone hasn’t had the opportunity to hear our platform and vision for the district then this is for you. 

Help us spread the word to reach anyone we have missed campaigning. This is the last big push to deliver the vote on August 2nd!! 

#diehlformissouri #District125