Memphis Democrat Newspaper

Joel P. Harrity  Sr., 56, of Blue Springs, Missouri passed away September 7, 2017 at the medical center in Independence, MO.  The son of Joseph and Donna (Hayes) Harrity, he was born August 29, 1961 in Kansas City, Kansas.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Kathy Jo (Riebel) Harrity in 2009.

He is survived by his children: Brett (Tracie) Akers, Jennifer (Frankie) Sutton, Joel (Natalia) Harrity Jr., Aron (Andrea) Harrity, DJ and Katelyn Harrity; four beautiful granddaughters: Alexys, Leila, Katherine and Makala; his parents: Joe and Donna; mother-in-law: Jan Slayton; father-in-law, Tommy Riebel; siblings: Ann (Fred) Matz, Kevin Harrity and Beth (Bob) Sutton; nieces, nephews, great-nephews and nieces along with several aunts, uncles, cousins and many friends.

Memorials in his honor are suggested to the Katelyn Harrity Education Fund and can be left at or mailed to the Payne Funeral Chapel, 202 E. Madison St. Memphis, Missouri 63555.

A Memorial graveside service was held at the Brock Cemetery north of Memphis with family and friends gathering at noon for the inurnment.  At the conclusion of the service everyone was invited back to the United Methodist Church in Memphis where friends of the family prepared a meal.

Arrangements were entrusted to the care of the Payne Funeral Chapel in Memphis.

Subscribers to the Memphis Democrat can check off their newspaper from the list of businesses they need to contact regarding address changes created under the new 911 addressing system implemented recently in Scotland County.

“All Scotland County addresses for subscribers have automatically been updated to the new 911 address by our circulation software,” said publisher Chris Feeney.

That means customers on the former Memphis rural routes as well as those in Arbela, Gorin, and Rutledge and those in the county served by the Wyaconda, Downing and Baring post offices, do not need to contact the newspaper office with their address changes.

“This only deals with the system-wide update related to the 911 address changes,” Feeney said. “If you move or have a different change of address, you will still need to contact the newspaper office with the change to insure proper delivery.”

The newspaper uses Interlink Circulation, a subscription-based software that provides regular United States Postal Service database updates for addressing verification, as well as CASS (Coding Accuracy Support System) and Locatable Address Change Service (LACS) services to help insure the most accurate mailing list possible for each week’s newspaper distribution and circulation via the mail service.

Just a little over a month after receiving a new heart, infant Delayna LouIda Schrock is back home in Memphis. The family arrived home on October 6th, together at their residence for the first time since Delayna was born at Scotland County Hospital on June 30th.

The newborn was medically cleared to return home for the first time since she received a heart transplant in St. Louis on August 26th.

“Everything seemed to continue to improve ahead of schedule as soon as she got her new heart,” said her father William. “Initially we didn’t expect to be back home until November, so we were thrilled that she is doing so well and we got to come home ahead of schedule.”

William explained the key now for his daughter will be avoiding illness. As part of the medical efforts to ensure her body does not reject its new heart, Delayna’s white blood cell count is kept artificially low. This has an impact on her immune system, and while she is still able to fight infections and other bacteria and viruses, her body does so at a reduced rate.

“The way the doctors explained it to us, she isn’t necessarily more susceptible to catching something,” said William. “But if she does, it will be harder for her to fight it and it will take longer for her to get over something like a cold or the flu.”

Maintaining the proper white blood cell levels currently requires medication and regular observation. Delayna is able to do some of her checkups at Scotland County Hospital, but will still be making regular trips back to St. Louis every two weeks.

“Her body is already adjusting and doing more on its own,” said William. That is allowing Delayna to be slowly weaned off some of her medication.”

But she will likely never be fully medicine free.

“It likely will be something she will always have to work with,” said William.

It is the body’s constant transitioning avoid rejecting the transplanted heart that ultimately leads the majority of infant patients to have to have a second transplant surgery in the following 20 to 30 years.

The family currently is able to receive visitors, but they ask callers please contact them advance to help control any potential health concerns. Those same efforts to limit Delayna’s exposure to possible contagions will continue to delay the family’s return to their regular lifestyle for the first month days back at home.

“I’ve been able to get back to work, but we’ve been advised for the first 30 days to limit our travel and exposure to others outside the home as much as possible,” said William.

An effort is underway in the community to assist the family in meeting its medical and travel expenses as well as to assist in offsetting lost income during Delayna’s medical journey. Anyone interest in helping the family can make a donation through the popular online service GoFundMe. The direct link iswww.gofundme.com/praying-for-delayna

(Shelbina) – Local business owner Cindy O’Laughlin has announced her campaign for state senate to replace a term-limited Brian Munzlinger of Lewis County.

A Christian Conservative who strongly believes in life and the right to bear arms, O’Laughlin advocates strengthening our families as a step toward stabilizing our country and stopping the downward trend we currently see.

A political outsider, Cindy O’Laughlin is a business owner focused on solving Missouri’s workforce shortage by emphasizing the value of skilled trades and conservative policies which strengthen families by providing valuable work.

O’Laughlin grew up on a farm in North Missouri and knows the value of hard work. Cindy co-owns Leo O’Laughlin, Inc., a concrete and aggregate hauling business with locations in Macon, Marceline and Shelbina. Cindy’s work experience began with jobs such as detasseling corn at the age of thirteen and she has worked in factories, livestock barns and as a school bus driver. She holds a business degree from the University of Missouri- Columbia and knows Missouri’s workforce is its most valuable asset. “The private sector powers our state and we need to support private sector growth rather than government growth.”

“We keep re-electing the same people with the same ideas,” said O’Laughlin. “I think that’s part of the problem. We hand people their next political post just because they’ve been there a long time. That’s getting us nowhere fast.”

As a former school board member, Cindy knows that education is the most important key to building a skilled workforce. Cindy will also fight to ensure that all Missouri students should receive a world-class education, regardless of where they live.

“We must keep parents and teachers in charge of schools and invest in programs that prepare students to work with their hands,” said O’Laughlin.  If we’re going to turn this ship around, it’s going to be through our factory workers, our truck drivers, our mechanics…people who know how to work hard and not through politicians.”

Sen. Brian Munzlinger is the current state senator for Senate District 18 in Northeast Missouri. His district includes the counties of Adair, Chariton, Clark, Knox, Lewis, Linn, Macon, Marion, Pike, Ralls, Randolph, Schuyler, Scotland and Shelby.

Cindy and her husband, Russell, live on a farm near Shelbina.  Cindy is a member of Macon First Baptist Church. Cindy and Russell are the parents of four adult sons and they have six grandchildren.

by Brian Neal

The Pepsi Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri is set to host their 2017 season finale event this coming weekend. As the “Fall Nationals” invades the track this Friday, October 20th and Saturday, October 21st. The “1st Annual Jerry Barricknan Memorial” held back on Friday, September 29th and Saturday, September 30th, brought 136 cars on Friday and 133 cars on Saturday to compete in the two day event. So with great weather fore casted for the weekend, expect to see 100+ cars in action both nights.

In action both nights this weekend will be the Modifieds, Stock Cars, SportMods, Hobby Stocks, and Sport Compacts. Both nights will be a complete show, with a full payout each night. All drivers will draw for there starting spot in the heat races each night, with a redraw used to determine the feature line-ups.

On Friday night the Modifieds, Stock Cars, and SportMods will be racing for $1,000 to win, with $100 guaranteed to start the feature. While the Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts are racing for $300 to win on Friday. Then on Saturday the Modifieds will be racing once again for $1,000 to win, but 2nd thru 10th will receive a $100 bonus if they raced on Friday night. The Stock Cars and SportMods are going for another $1,000 to win, while 2nd thru 5th will get a $100 bonus if they raced on Friday night. But if you didn’t race on Friday night all three classes will still be racing for $1,000 to win, with the remainder of the pay being Friday’s pay. The Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts are gunning for a top prize of $300 to win on Saturday, with 2nd thru 5th getting a $50 bonus if they raced on Friday night.

Entry fees for each night will be $50 for the Modifieds, Stock Cars, and SportMods. There is NO entry fee for the Hobby Stocks or Sport Compacts either night.

The complete payout for each night will be the following: MODIFIEDS – 1. $1,000, 2. $600, 3. $400, 4. $300, 5. $250, 6. $200, 7. $170, 8. $150, 9. $140, 10. $130, 11. $120, 12. $110, 13.-24. $100 TOW $75…STOCK CARS & SPORTMODS – 1. $1,000, 2. $500, 3. $350, 4. $250, 5. $200, 6. $150, 7. $140, 8. $130, 9. $120, 10. $110, 11. $105, 12.-24. $100 TOW $75. But if you raced on Friday night then you will be racing for the following pay: MODIFIEDS – 1. $1,000, 2. $700, 3. $500, 4. $400, 5. $350, 6. $300, 7. $270, 8. $250, 9. $240, 10. $230, 11. $120, 12. $110, 13.-24. $100 TOW $75…STOCK CARS & SPORTMODS – 1. $1,000, 2. $600, 3. $450, 4. $350, 5. $300, 6. $150, 7. $140, 8. $130, 9. $120, 10. $110, 11. $105, 12.-24. $100 TOW $75

There will be a practice session held on Friday from 2 PM until 4 PM, with a $25 per car fee being charged. Hot Laps on Friday will begin at 7 PM, with Racing to follow. Then on Saturday Hot Laps will get started at 6 PM, with Racing to follow. Grandstand admission for each night will be adults $15, students (7-16) $7, and kids 6 & under FREE! Pit passes each night will be $30, ages (7-13) $20, ages (4-6) $10, and ages 3 & under $3.

After this weekend of racing there is only one race left on the fall specials schedule. And that will be “Shiverfest”, which will be held on Saturday, October 28th  at the Pepsi Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa.

The following rules will apply at the remaining fall special events: A Working Raceceivers Mandatory In All Classes – 454.000………NO GROOVED TIRES ON REAR IN ANY CLASS!!!…MODIFIEDS- IMCA Rules Apply except for the following: American Racer or Hoosier G60 tires may be grooved on the front…Non IMCA legal cars must run 25 lbs. in front of mid plate…All Aluminum headed motors must add 50 lbs. of lead on front by the motor…Roller motors and stud girdles are legal…Quick change rear ends are legal…Fuel pump on transmission is legal…Front tubular is okay…7800 RPM chip with all open motors…Rear suspension must be IMCA legal…NO Spoilers, unless using the IMCA Crate engine…NO 525 Crates Allowed…STOCK CARS -IMCA Rules Apply with the following allowed: American Racer or Hoosier G60 tires may be grooved on the front…Aftermarket blocks are okay…SPORTMODS -IMCA or USRA Rules Apply with the following allowed: American Racer or Hoosier G60 tires may be grooved on the front…USRA legal SportMods must run NO Spoiler…HOBBY STOCKS – IMCA Rules Apply with floater rend ends allowed….SPORT COMPACTS – IMCA Rules Apply.

For more information you can contact Mike Van Genderen at 641-521-0330.

The Scotland County Health Department has announced that a contract to provide WIC (Women, Infants and Children) services for the fiscal year 2017-2018 has been signed with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

Under the terms of the contracts Scotland County Health Department will be able to serve 124 eligible pregnant or postpartum women, infants and children up to five years of age each month.

WIC is a special supplemental nutrition program that provides services to pregnant women, new mothers, infants and children up to their 5th birthday based on nutritional risk and income eligibility. The primary services provided are health screening, risk assessment, nutrition education and counseling, breastfeeding promotion and referrals to health care. Supplemental food is provided at no cost to participants.

Program eligibility is partially based on income guidelines. Income must he at or below 185% of the federal poverty level, or $45,510 for a family of four. Participants must also complete a nutritional risk assessment by a health professional at a participating WIC agency in Missouri.

The Scotland County WIC Program is headed by WIC Coordinator Nancy Holt. Mary Reiter, is the Registered Dietitian, Margaret Curry serves as a WIC Certifier and Tasma Thornton, RN fills the role as competent profession authority.

The Scotland. Health Department is open Monday thru Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and offers WIC services on the third Tuesday and Wednesday of each month or by appointment.

Missouri women interested in finding out more about how to receive WIC benefits can call TEL -LINK at 1-800- TEL-LINK (1-800-835-5465) or contact the Scotland County Health Department at 660-465-7275. The information is also available online at www.health.mo.gov/wic.

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA. its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA.

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.), should contact the Agency (State or local) where they applied for benefits. Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.

The 2017 Missouri high school football regular season came to a close on Friday night bringing the final seedings for the district playoffs into focus.

Scotland County dropped out of the #2 spot with a 54-16 loss to South Shelby, which allowed the Cardinals to jump all the way from the fourth seed into the second spot in the brackets.

The Tigers were able to hang on to the third seed, as Knox County fell to Fayette 38-20 in its regular season finale, dropping the Eagles from third to the fifth seed.

The #1 ranked team in the state, Monroe City closed out a perfect 9-0 regular season with a hard-fought 22-20 win versus Palymra. The Panthers maintained the #1 seed in the district and will host #8 seed Louisiana (0-9), who fell to Highland 28-13 on Friday night to remain winless on the year.

South Shelby will host #7 seed Paris (2-7). The Coyotes lost a Lewis & Clark Conference finale at Westran 35-0.

The Tigers will host Schuyler County on Friday night. The Rams (3-6) held on to the #6 seed with a 28-18 win Friday night at Salisbury.

Mark Twain moved up into the #4 seed with a 59-14 win at Clopton on Friday night.  Knox County will now travel to Mark Twain for the two team’s district opener on October 20th.

The higher seeded team will host the district semifinals games, scheduled for Friday, October 27th.

The winner of the Scotland vs. Schuyler game would travel to South Shelby if the Cardinals win their opener. If Paris were to upset South Shelby, the Coyotes would travel to either Memphis or Queen City for the semifinals.

The winner of the Mark Twain and Knox County first round contest would travel to Monroe City or would host Louisiana if the Bulldogs can pull off one of the greatest upsets in state playoff history to pick up their first win of the year by  beating the 31 ranked team in the state.

The district championship game is set for Friday, November 3rd.

Sonia Caldwell and Rick Clark are the parents of a daughter, Annalee Gail Clark, born September 30, 2017 at 2:23 a.m. at Scotland County Hospital in Memphis. Annalee weighed 7 lbs 13 oz and was 21 inches long. Grandparents are Doug and Nolene James of Kahoka and Rex and Amy Clark of Kahoka.

Gage Dodge boots a 29-yard field goal that trimmed the South Shelby lead to 6-3 late in the first quarter of Friday night’s loss to the Cardinals.

Friday the 13th proved particularly unlucky for the Scotland County football program as South Shelby came to town and amassed more than 560 yards of offense en route to a 54-16 victory that saw the Tigers fall in the final district standings heading into the playoffs on Friday.

There was nothing too alarming in the first period, as SCR-I trailed just 6-3. But the Cardinals took flight in quarter number two, scoring 20 straight points as the Tigers could not stop the ground game. Scotland County rallied in the third period, tossing a shutout while trimming the lead to 34-16, but the Cardinals put the final 20 points of the game on the scoreboard in the fourth period to take the 54-16 win.

The Tigers took the game’s opening kickoff and mounted a 10-play drive that crossed midfield. A fake punt attempt was unable to pick up the 16 yards necessary for a first down and South Shelby took over on downs at the 44 yard line.

Two plays later the Cardinals were in the end zone as Brock Wood broke a 47-yard touchdown run to give South Shelby a 6-0 lead with 7:26 left in the opening quarter. SCR-I stopped the two-point conversion.

Scotland County appeared to answer right back. Will Fromm connected with Gage Dodge on a 26-yard pass play. Fromm then hit Brett Monroe with a 31-yard pass play to convert on fourth down and give SCR-I the ball first and goal at the four-yard line. After two runs went backwards, SCR-I found the end zone when Dodge broke a pair of tackles on a screen pass to get past the goal line. Unfortunately the play was nullified by a penalty and SCR-I was forced to settle for a 29-yard field goal by Dodge to make the score 6-3 with 2:24 left in the first period.

South Shelby answered with an eight-play drive. Wood had a 20-yard run and Cody McKenzie added a 12-yard pickup before Wood capped off the drive with a 15-yard run. SCR-I again turned away the two-point try to keep the South Shelby lead at 12-3 with 10:18 left in the second period.

SCR-I went three and out on offense and the Cardinals were in the end zone again just four plays later as Wood broke a 59-yard TD run. He added the two-point run to extend South Shelby’s lead to 20-3 with 7:21 left in the first half.

South Shelby took advantage of another SCR-I three-and-out on offense, wasting no time after the Tigers’ punt to extend the lead to 26-3. McKenzie took the first hand off of the drive and eluded the SCR-I defense en route to an 81-yard TD run.

Scotland County was able to answer with a scoring drive. Fromm got the ball rolling as he scrambled up the middle for a 38-yard gain. The junior signal caller made an incredible play on the next snap. In the grasp of a pair of South Shelby blitzers he was able to make a two-handed chest pass to Dodge in the backfield , who turned it into a 19-yard gain. Three plays later Dodge took the direct snap in the Wildcat formation and broke through the Cardinals’ defensive line for a four-yard TD run. Dodge added the PAT kick to trim the lead to 26-10 with 3:09 left in the first half.

Gage Dodge heads toward the end zone for a touchdown.

The Tigers tried an onside kick but South Shelby recovered. The Cardinals then marched 53-yards in just six plays as Wood scored his fourth touchdown of the first half, breaking a 23-yard TD run with 1:18 left in the first half. McKenzie ran in the two-point conversion to make the score 34-10.

That left enough time for SCR-I to mount one final drive of the first half. A pass interference penalty on South Shelby moved the ball across midfield before Fromm connected with Jace Morrow and Jaydan Payne for completions to move the chains. But with the ball at the 31-yard line and just three seconds left on the clock, South Shelby was able to intercept a pass in the end zone as time expired.

Scotland County’s defense made two fourth down stops to end Cardinals’ drives in the third period. Unfortunately SCR-I went three and out on its first possession of the second half and failed on a fourth down attempt of its own.

The Tigers defense produced its third stop when Branton Burrus chased down Kanon McKenzie in the backfield for a sack and forced a fumble that was recovered by Mason Kliethermes.

Stephen Terrill stuffs the South Shelby run.

On the next play, receiver Brett Monroe made a double move on his route on the outside, appearing to break off his route to curl in for a potential pass, only to spin and break free behind the defender who had broke up to cover him. Fromm dropped a perfect pass in over the defender and Monroe took it to the end zone for a 53-yard touchdown. The PAT was no good, leaving South Shelby’s lead at 34-16 with 58 seconds left in the third period.

SCR-I kept the momentum as Dodge dribbled a perfect onside kick toward the sideline and Fromm was able to grab a high bounce out of midair.

But just like the clock striking midnight on Cinderella, the scoreboard clock burned up the final seconds of the period and the scoreboard changed to the fourth quarter. Everything shifted to South Shelby at that point as the Cardinals intercepted a pass on the first play of the fourth period and went on to score 20 unanswered points.

Wood finished with 322 yards rushing and five touchdowns on 25 carries. McKenzie added 188 yards and two scores on 13 tries.

Kaden Anders breaks through for a good kick return.

Fromm completed eight of 27 passes for 172 yards and a TD. He ran the ball nine times for 54 yards. Dodge was held to 28 yards and a TD on 12 rushes. Monroe had three catches for 93 yards and a TD. Dodge caught three passes for 48 yards.

Payne led the SCR-I defense with 15 tackles. Terrill finished with nine tackles and Burrus had eight stops and the sack and forced fumble.

The loss dropped Scotland County to 5-4 on the year and allowed South Shelby to leap frog from the #4 seed all the way up to the #2 seed in the Class 1 District 5 tourney that starts Friday.

Now the #3 seed, SCR-I will host# 6 seed Schuyler County on October 20th in the district opener. The Tigers bested the Rams 31-8 on September 8th in Queen City.

The Scotland County R-I Board of Education met in regular session on Wednesday, October 11, 2017.  President, Trinity Davis, called the regular meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. with six members present.  George Koontz was absent.

1. Consent Agenda

The board voted 6-0 to approve the following items on the consent agenda:

Approve Minutes from September 13, 2017

Approve Updated Sub List for 2017-18

Approve Procedural Evaluations – District Professional Development, Secondary At-Risk Counseling, Elementary At-Risk Counseling, Elementary & Secondary Instructional Effectiveness, and the Extra-Curricular Procedural Evaluation

Approve Personal Day Requests- All submitted requests were approved.

III. Old Business

1. Approve District Audit – The board voted 6-0 to accept the district audit as prepared by Wade Stables, P.C.
2. Financial Report –Year-to-date revenues total $879,463.26 which is an increase of approximately $16,046.74 from last year. Expenditures are $1,303,594.50 which is up $82,677.34 from last year.  This leaves a deficit YTD of $424,131.24.  This deficit trend will continue until we begin to receive our local tax revenue in January.
3. Report on MSBA Conference – George Koontz and Ryan Bergeson attended the annual MSBA Conference. This year’s conference included various topics centered on public education which included best practice, learning with technology, STEAM, safety, and updates to policy and procedures.
4. Open Surplus Bids – The board voted 6-0 to accept the bid from Mike Aylward for the John Deere 1020 Tractor with blade and mower for $1,655.52.
5. Facility Projects – The board reviewed options for early childhood education, upgrades to the vocational building, and safety measures for each building.
6. CSIP/Technology – President Davis appointed Cole Tippett and Christy Aylward to serve on the CSIP Committee for Technology.
7. New Business

 Permission to Advertise for Snow Removal – The board voted 6-0 to advertise for snow removal.

Approve PAT Job Description – The board voted 6-0 to approve the PAT Job Description as presented.

Approve Overnight Stay Request – The board voted 6-0 to grant the request from FFA Advisor, Waltedda Blessing, for FFA members to attend the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana on October 25-28, 2017.

Schedule November Board Meeting – The November meeting will be held Thursday, November 9^th at 6:30 p.m. in the elementary art room.

In closed session the following items were approved:

Approve One Early Graduation Request.  6-0

Closed session minutes, September 13, 2017. 6-0

Offer to employee Jennifer Drummond as Full Time PAT Parent Educator. 6-0. Position was not accepted.

The Board of Education met in special session on Thursday, October 12, 2017.  Members present: Trinity Davis, Christy Aylward, Rhonda McBee, and Jamie Triplett.

Hire Amanda Long as Full Time PAT Parent Educator. 4-0