Riled Up Senior Squad Puts Away Bethany Purple

It was anybody's game through the first two quarters as Worth County's 'Lil Tigers Senior Squad led 13-6 after one half of action. But the players took exception to the South Harrison players doing the "Our House" chant on the Worth County field during their ritual right before the start of the second half and picked up the effort and intensity to win 26-6 in Pride of Iowa Junior Football action Saturday.

On their very first play from scrimmage, South Harrison fumbled away their opening handoff thanks to a big hit from Montana Lykins and the Tigers took full advantage of the short field as they started off on the South Harrison 22. Brevyn Ross took a four-yarder to the 18 and then set the tone for the rest of the game. Ross (25 carries, 183 yards), who had been admonished by Coach Richard Baker for juking too much with the ball last week, got a block from Nathan Pointer and then leveled a defender on his way to a 10-yard gain. The ref tacked on half the distance to the goal for a facemask to the 4. Pointer (11 carries, 37 yards) dove into the end zone for Worth County's first score of the afternoon to make it 6-0 with 12:42 left.

But South Harrison came right back as Carter Thomas caught a halfback pass for 10 yards and Tad Pequignot converted a sneak on third and short on their ensuing possession into a 23-yard gain down to the Tiger 7 to set up a Pequignot dive play from two yards out with 6:49 left in the first to tie it at 6-6. Ross fumbled the ball to set up a possible score for South Harrison, but Wade Rush broke up a pass, a fumble and a false start made it third and 15, Carter Thomas' reverse got nine yards back, and then Truman Moore ran down Pequignot from behind after a one-yard gain to give the ball back to the Tigers on downs.

Brevyn Ross ripped off a pair of sweeps for gains of six and 20 yards down to the South Harrison 19, but then the fumble bug bit again three plays later as Ross apparently thought the play was over and fumbled the ball away on the South Harrison 10 yard line. But Ross made up for his miscue on the next play as he tripped up Jacob Donner on a sweep play for no gain. A pair of cracks by Kasey McFall went nowhere and South Harrison was forced to punt.

Ross finally found his stride on the next series as he rescued second and nine with a seven-yarder and took a fake reverse for 18 down to the South Harrison 22. Ross took another crack to the 14, Nathan Pointer followed a Montana Lykins block to the 7, and Ross ran the remaining seven yards to put the Tigers up with 5:50 left. Ross ran in the extra point to make it 13-6.

South Harrison went nowhere on its next series. An offsides penalty and a five-yard sneak from Pequignot gave them a first down at the 40 but then Montana Lykins shot through and threw Brian Lucas for a three yard loss. Truman Moore pressured Pequiqnot on third down and Ross broke up the ensuing pass; a dive play to McFall only netted five yards and South Harrison was forced to punt. Worth County got a first down to their own 30 before time ran out and a desperation pass was intercepted.

The Tigers got a promising drive going behind the running of Ross as he took the initial play down the right side, reversed field, and then found a hole for nine yards to the 39. Pointer's first down run was good for seven yards and Ross converted another run into a seven-yarder for a first down to the South Harrison 23. Ross took a sweep for eight yards down to the 15 after getting a block for Pointer and the Tigers were knocking on the door. But then Ross tried to get too fancy and threw a forward lateral as he was being tackled after a short gain; that penalty and a block in the back penalty stalled the drive and the Tigers gave up the ball on downs.

Wade Rush intercepted a pass and got a nice return, but he fumbled it right back to the Bulldogs on their own 8. Given new life, McFall ripped off gains of 9, 2, and 16 yards to the 35. But then Nathan Pointer made back to back plays when he shot through and threw Carter Thomas for a loss of six on a reverse and then threw Pequignot for a loss of three on a keeper to set up third and long. The Bulldogs were forced to punt and the Tigers got the ball back on their own 20.

With the ball and the lead, the Tigers had a chance to run time off the clock and they did. Brevyn Ross, after having found out the hard way that playground-style football doesn't work against the big boys, finally began leveling defenders instead of waiting for them to come to him. He was stopped for no gain on his first carry, but then bounced off a defender for five yards to the 25 for a gain of five. After realizing that he could deliver the punishment as well as take it, Ross took off, taking a four-yarder to the 29 for fourth and one. He then leveled a defender on his way for a five-yard gain that converted fourth and one. Nathan Pointer then rattled off a couple of four-yarders and then Ross leveled a would-be tackler on his way to a 14-yard gain down to the South Harrison 24. Pointer then got two yards to the 22 and then Ross followed a Truman Moore block to the 13 and then moved a pile down to the seven. On their next play, the Tigers went on a quick count and Ross followed a line surge five yards down to the two. On their next play, Pointer scored to make it a two-possession game.

With time winding down and South Harrison forced to throw, the Tigers could pin their ears back and go after the quarterback. Lykins hurried a throw on first down at the 30 as Wade Rush broke up a pass. Another pass short-hopped the receiver. McFall's run could only get three yards and South Harrison elected to go for it on fourth and seven, but Lykins and Moore came with the pressure and the pass shorthopped the receiver again.

The Tigers got the ball in good field position and they ran out all of the clock and scored for good measure. Pointer got a five-yarder as he leveled a defender on the play; consecutive rushes by Brevyn Ross went for four yards down to the 20. Pointer only got one on the next play, but Brevyn Ross took an eight-yarder down to the 11 and then Jonny Carlson's keeper went down to the 5 for first and goal. On the next play, the Tigers went on a quick count and Carlson took a quick hitter four yards to the one. On the final play, Ross took the handoff, got a block from Truman Moore, and drove a pile into the end zone for the final yard as time expired. Jonny Carlson drove a defender into the end zone for the extra point run.

Coach Richard Baker said that he was happy for the win and that his squad had some of the best blocking of the year; he singled out Truman Moore, Harley Charles, and Wade Rush for their blocking. However, he said that this Saturday's matchup at 10:00 at Leon against I-35 would be one of their toughest matches of the year. "They're one of the toughest teams in the league and they're fundamentally sound," he said.

Junior Squad Drops Cliffhanger to Bethany Purple

Worth County 'Lil Tigers Junior Squad played its third cliffhanger in a row and this time, dropped a 15-14 nailbiter to Bethany Purple Saturday. The loss dropped them to 2-1 on the year.

Like the varsity squad, the Junior Squad struggled with the penalty bug; back to back penalties on their opening drive as well as a fumbled pitch on fourth down forced the Tigers to give up the ball on downs to start off with. South Harrison threatened to take full advantage as Timothy Heintz took off for 15 yards down to the Tiger 18 on South Harrison's first play from scrimmage. But a holding penalty wiped out a long run and then Tristen Emery ran down Brier Blake from behind on fourth and ten two yards short of the first down as Worth County held at the 10.

Worth County's second drive went much smoother than the first one as Tevin Cameron took a sweep and cutback for 11 yards to the 21. Cameron followed with a counter for three yards and a run for five to the 29. Jonny Carlson took a sweep and juked his way for 28 yards down to the South Harrison 23. Tevin Cameron took three more carries down to the 11 and then Ryan McClellan took a reverse and outran everyone for the remaining 11 yards to put Worth County on top with 51 seconds left in the first quarter. Cade Allee caught the extra point pass to make it 8-0.

After both sides exchanged punts, South Harrison had the ball on their own 22. They resorted to some trickery as they used the halfback pass for a 21-yard completion to Treyton Campbell to the Tiger 37. Jacob Starmer took a dive 10 more yards, and then the Bulldogs overcame a holding penalty with a 16-yard run from Brier Blake on third down as he broke a host of tackles to the 9. Three plays later, Blake was in the end zone for the score with 4:47 left in the half. Campbell caught the two-point pass to tie it up at 8-8. Worth County moved down to the South Harrison 27, but time ran out before they could score.

South Harrison was knocking on the door again at the start of the second half as Mason Doll faked a halfback pass and instead took a 14-yard reverse into Tiger territory at the 35. But this time, Drake Kinsella picked off a pass as Mason Hawk applied pressure and the Tigers took over on their own 35. On their first play from scirmmage, Tevin Cameron took the handoff, got blocks from Cade Allee and Drake Kinsella, shot through the middle, and broke to the outside for a 55-yard score with 11:32 left in the third to make it 14-8.

The Tigers made stand on defense and had a chance to make it a two possession game. South Harrison tried the same play that they started off the second half with, but Drake Kinsella ran down Doll after a six-yard gain and then stayed at home perfectly to stuff Starmer's cutback run for a one-yard gain. Kinsella then broke up a pass on third and three and South Harrison was forced to punt.

Michael Burch followed a Seth Brown block for a 13-yard gain on a keeper and then Tevin Cameron got two carries to the South Harrison 38. But a false start made it third and six; Michael Burch got a sweep that got four yards back. But Tevin Cameron was thrown for a loss on fourth and two and the Tigers gave up the ball on downs.

South Harrison took advantage of the good field position as Doll took an 18-yard sweep down to the Tiger 28. An offsides penalty gave the Bulldogs first down on the 16, and then Brier Blake took a quarterback sneak for first and goal at the six. A facemask penalty put the ball on the 3 and then two plays later, Blake was in the end zone with 11:54 left in the game. Jacob Starmer ran in the extra point for South Harrison to put them up 15-14.

Michael Burch ripped off 13 yards on Worth County's second play on the ensuing series as Ryan McClellan took out three South Harrison defenders during the play. But the Tigers stalled there as three running plays went for only four yards and Burch's fourth down pass was broken up with 6:40 left. South Harrison ran some time off the clock in their next series and punted the ball back to the Tigers, who had 60 yards to go in 3:53 to win. But the Tigers gave up the ball on downs as a fumble on fourth and one on a busted play allowed South Harrison to run off the clock for the win.

Talley Entertains Fall Festival Crowd with Magic, Hypnosis

B.J. Talley, a magician and hypnotist out of St. Joseph, entertained the Worth County Fall Festival crowd with a magic show and then a hypnosis session Saturday night. He opened the magic show with two rabbits, "Hippity" and "Fred," which he turned from white and black to yellow and blue. He also switched their location from one hat to another.

His second trick was a rope trick, in which he took three ropes of different lengths, turned them into ropes of equal length, and turned them back into ropes of unequal lengths. His next trick was one where he and a helper tore some red and black sheets of paper, folded them, and made them into a hat.

The next trick was a satire on TV advertisements; the commercial that he played promised a yellow bandana, but he got a banana instead. He followed the instructions literally; he folded the banana in half and then folded it in half again. He took a red, green, blue, and yellow bandana that came with the kit, turned it into a makeshift bag, and then made the banana disappear.

Talley's next trick was to handcuff himself and try to beat Harry Houdini's record for escaping from handcuffs; he had a member of the audience make sure the handcuffs were solid, waved his hand at the audience, and then proceeded to escape from the handcuffs in seven seconds (Houdini's record was six according to Talley).

The most dangerous trick to that point came next when Talley recruited "Dink" to test one of Talley's new contraptions that he just got in the mail that day. It was a guillotine-shaped device that was to be used to cut carrots and other vegetables. Talley had some carrots handy and the machine was supposed to chop the carrot in the lower hole while keeping the one in the large hole intact. However, two attempts to test the machine were unsuccessful as it was chopping the carrots in the large hole as well as the ones in the small hole. Finally, Talley had "Dink" stick his head in the hole and the machine worked as intended -- it chopped off the carrot in the small hole below "Dink" while leaving "Dink's" head intact.

But the next trick that Talley did was even more dangerous -- he put his assistant, Lacey, into a box, removed the middle part of her body, and then replaced it as Lacey came out intact. His next trick was a leviatation spell in which he took a member of the audience, gave her a wand and crown, turned her into a princess, and had her floating in midair as he was playing the Disney theme song. For his final trick, he drew a picture of one of the audience members and sang the Louis Armstrong hit, "What a Wonderful World" along with the face.

Talley began the second part of his act by talking about the concept of hypnosis, where the subliminal part of the mind activates. For instance, he said that if someone were eating something, 90% of their audience would activate their saliva glands. There are six different levels of hypnosis; in the lower levels, a person is merely suggestible while at the highest levels of hypnosis, he said that someone could lay you up and take out your appendix and you wouldn't even notice. In fact, Talley said that hypnosis is commonly used in other countries in surgery when anathesia is not available; he said that he is called into the local hospital 2-3 times a month to hypnotize a patient who has an allergic reaction to anathesia. One hour of hypnosis is the equivalent of the body getting six hours of sleep. However, there was a catch -- the subject has to be a willing recipient. "If you fight it, you will win," he said.

After bringing up 17 people from the audience, he took them through a guided relaxation exercise to get them into a state of hypnosis, pushing them to ever-increasing levels of relaxation. The effect of the induction was such that even a few members of the audience in the front fell asleep while listening. The first exercise involved the participants smelling each other over because they were the best-smelling things that they had ever seen. Sidney Davenport declared that her neighbor smelled like candy while Travis Troutwine Jr. declared that his neighbor smelled like flowers and Kevin Austin declared that his neighbor smelled like Jasmine.

But then the scene changed and the participants now were told that their neighbors had the most gross smell ever. Austin declared that his neighbor smelled like a sewer while Kellie Warne declared that her neighbor smelled like a pig while Davenport declared that her neighbor smelled like a skunk. And then, Talley told everyone that they were the source of the foul odors, which led to participants trying to get the gross smells off of them.

After that, Talley put them back to sleep except for Austin and "Dink," the hero of the guillotine trick from the magic show, who both felt like they had to go to the bathroom worse than they ever had in their whole lives. The problem was that Tally told them that they were stuck to their chairs like superglue and that they could not get up and go. Eventually, Talley allowed "Dink" to get up and go to the portapotties just southeast of the stage, only to tell him that his hands were stuck in his pockets and he could not get them out. Then, "Dink's" zipper would not come down.

Then, Talley woke up the participants to find the cutest little birdie on their little fingers that they wanted to play with all the time. They were playing with them and showing them to their neighbors and giving them names. One was named "Tweety" while another was named "Smoky" and another was named "Grant." "Dink" then got up and sang "Old MacDonald" in front of the crowd.

After that, Talley changed the scene again and they were strapped in a bucket in a roller coaster that was 20 stories high and had a top speed of 115 miles per hour. They were screaming and holding hands as the roller coaster bounced up and down. Then, "Dink" became a martian named "Herb" with Kellie Warne as his interpreter; "Dink" would not tell where he had landed his spacecraft and said he was 100 years old.

The group then turned into a rock band and led the audience in doing the "YMCA." Then, they turned into a ballet dance troupe, first with "Dink" and then Kevin Austin in the middle as the star of the show. Then, Talley consigned the group into a haunted house where they were afraid and huddling close to each other and calling for mommy. Finally, in order to live, they had to do jumping jacks.

Then, the cast turned into Miss America contestants where they were competing for the $500,000 Miss America prize. Asked why they wanted to be Miss America, Grant Parman declared that "she" was cuter than all the other contestants; "Tater" declared that "she" was a single mother with four children and that "she" deserved it more than the others; Travis Troutwine Jr. declared that "she" was the hottest person in the world; Sidney Davenport declared that she was the most gorgeous and sang "row, row, row your boat;" "Dink" strutted "her" stuff and declared, "me so sexy;" Kellie Warne declared that she was the brightest one there, while Kevin Austin declared that he was for world peace and beauty and because "these people are scum compared to me." "Dink" was chosen the winner and strutted "her" stuff, while "Tater" cried because "she" didn't get the prize.

Finally, Talley turned all the guys into "Barney," who went around into the audience and gave the kids hugs. Then, he removed all the suggestions, except when he said, "Good night," all the ladies shouted, "I'm sexy!" and then wondered why they just said that.

Respect? Earned.

Worth County gained a huge step towards earning the respect they had been seeking as they beat the Mound City Panthers 22-20 in Mound City Friday. All year, the Tigers had taken exception to what they saw as a lack of respect as the News-Press kept the Tigers out of the rankings and KQ2's pundits were saying that nobody would come close to touching Mound City after their impressive 34-0 drubbing of St. Joseph Christian on opening night. But the Tigers had one factor going in their favor -- they had won three times in Mound City in the last few years. Former coach and current principal Chris Sharp said that he hoped the Lord would keep the rain out -- that statement turned out to be prophetic as the game was played in driving rain all night. It took away the athletic ability of the Panthers and played right into the hands of the Tigers, who thrive on power football and superior conditioning. However, the Tigers will have plenty of reasons to have a chip on their shoulder; for example, the KQ2 pundits, while admitting that Worth County belonged in the picture along with Mound City and North Andrew, predicted that North Andrew's team speed would be too much in districts for "the power teams of the 275." Worth County will play North Andrew on their Homecoming in two weeks.

Coach Chuck Borey said that he wasn't surprised at the outcome since the Tigers had a good week of football practice. "We were practicing all week for this game," he said. "It just goes to show you that hard work pays off." Worth County got the ball on the opening kickoff; although they didn't score, they took a giant step towards proving to themselves that they could compete with the Panthers as they moved the ball. Disaster nearly struck as Eli Mullock stepped out of bounds while fielding the kickoff, putting the Tigers at their own 5. But he atoned for that miscue by taking a 13-yard burst up the middle to the 18 for a first down. A pair of encroachment penalties moved it to the 28 and then Eli Mullock's 11-yard sweep aided by a Barrett Baker block moved it to midfield. A holding penalty helped kill the drive, but the Tigers had proven to themselves that they could move the ball against Mound City.

Mound City tried to establish Gage Rosier on the ground, but the Tigers, using some good gang-tackling, stopped him for no gain all three times and they were forced to punt. Starting at their own 23, Alex Harmening caught a pass over the middle for a gain of 23 to the Panther 27. Worth County had a pair of holding penalties, one of which wiped out a score, but Mullock's third down run gave them first down on the Mound City 17. Eli Mullock then used a Brian Hall block to pick up eight yards down to the 9; two plays later, Zach Harmening took a keeper into the end zone from 6 yards out with 4:04 left to make it 6-0.

Worth County stopped Rosier cold on two more plays, but then nobody guarded Dan Montgomery, whose 31-yard pass play put the ball on the Tiger 18. On their very next play, Rosier finally got open as he took an 18 yard sweep to the house with 2:43 left. Quarterback Lucas Schawang ran in the extra points to make it 8-6.

The Tigers went three and out on their next series, but a booming punt by Alex Harmening put the Panthers in bad field position on their own 10. The Panthers tried to follow Worth County's lead from two years ago when the Tigers gave Kyler Hiatt the ball 44 times as they continued to pound Rosier through the line and Ryan Crowley got a couple of carries as well. But they only got to their own 29 before Dylan Kinsella shot through and disrupted a second and two run, holding Rosier to a gain of one. Barrett Baker then got a sack and the Panthers were forced to punt.

On the ensuing punt, Eli Mullock ran the ball all the way back to the Panther 23. That set up Worth County's second score; just like 2007, special teams were critical in the outcome. In the 2007 playoff game, Drew Yarmer's long punt return set up the Tiger's win in the last seconds. Barrett Baker took a sweep 5 yards to the 18 and then Zach Harmening, all 130 pounds of him, drove a pile down to the Panther 15. An offsides penalty made it first and goal at the 10. A false start set the Tigers back second and long, but then Barrett Baker took a sweep down the left side, cut back towards the middle, and then drove a host of would-be tacklers to the 1. On the next play, Zach Harmening took a sneak, waited for a moment, and then dove through a hole that opened up for the score with 6:45 left in the first half. Alex Harmening's pass made it 14-8.

Seeing that their running game was not working, Mound City switched to their passing game and got the game tied up. Miles Jumps caught a third down pass for a first down at the Tiger 38 and then Rosier caught an eight-yard pass down to the 30. James Schoonover caught an 11-yarder down to the 19 and then the Panthers aired it out to Rosier for the game-tying touchdown pass. Jumps caught the all-important go-ahead extra point pass, but the officials ruled he had caught it out of bounds and the score remained tied at 14 with 5:04 left.

Worth County gave the ball up on downs after a busted play and fumbled pitch in the driving rain, giving the Panthers a perfect opportunity to take the lead. But this time, the Tiger defense stiffened. Rosier slipped and fell on the slick field after a gain of 1. The Panthers went back to their passing game, but Eli Mullock broke up a long pass and then Dylan Kinsella flushed Schawang out of the pocket and forced an incompletion.

The Tigers started off at their own 15 with time winding down and Eli Mullock's eight yard sweep got a first down to the 27. Mullock got a cutback run to the 40 and a roughing the passer call moved the ball to the Panther 28 where the Tigers had an untimed down. But the pass was incomplete and the game remained tied at halftime.

Mound City started off on its own 29 to open the second half and were seemingly stopped on third down as Eli Mullock batted down a third down pass to set up fourth and four at their own 35. But this time, the Panthers elected to go for it and Jumps' six-yarder kept the drive alive. But the drive stalled there as Brian Hall, Dallas Greenland, and Alex Harmening ganged up on Crowley and threw him for a loss of one and Eli Mullock got a sack to force the Panthers to punt. But Worth County could not take advantage as a pair of false starts meant that Zach Harmening's 16-yarder on a spread draw was short of the first down and the Tigers were forced to punt.

The Tigers continued to beat the Mound City line off the ball and set up third and 12, but a facemask gave the Panthers new life after they had been backed up third and 12. But they tried to air it out from the Tiger 36 and Alex Harmening intercepted it on the Tiger 10 to kill the threat. The penalty bug continued to bite the Tigers as a pair of false starts forced a three and out. Gage Rosier had a long runback to give the Panthers a golden opportunity to score from the Tiger 22. Three consecutive carries by Rosier moved the ball to the 10, but then Eli Mullock ran down Schawang from behind on a pass play for a sack and a fumble made it third and goal at the 15. Schawang scrambled all the way down to the Tiger 3 to set up fourth and goal, but then his fourth down pass went out of the end zone and the Tigers had held.

That led to a series of plays in which both teams had a chance to score but couldn't. Eli Mullock ran eight yards for the first down to the 15, but then back to back fumbles and a false start made it third and 14 at the 11. But Barrett Baker caught a 23-yard pass to dig the Tigers out of the hole and give them good field position. Worth County nearly overcame a false start on their next series of downs as Mullock moved a pile 11 yards to the 40. But Mullock was stopped for no gain and Harmening slipped and fell in the rain on the next play, forcing the Tigers to punt.

Rosier finally found some daylight as he ripped off a 27-yarder up to the Tiger 38, but on their next play from scrimmage, Barrett Baker pounced on a fumble and the Tigers took up. But they could go nowhere thanks to a block in the back penalty and the Panthers took over on downs at their own 37. Two plays later, Rosier took off for a gain of 29 yards and ran it into the end zone for a touchdown with 4:26 left in the game to make it 20-14. Eli Mullock broke up the extra point pass to keep it there.

Things were not looking too good for the Tigers as they started off on their own 22. On their first play from scrimmage, Eli Mullock took a pitch and ran down the right side of the field, got a block from Dylan Kinsella, and had a apparent 5 or 10-yard gain as there were four Panthers who were closing in on him to either make the tackle or push him out of bounds. But Mullock, who said he was thinking touchdown all the way, burst through the four Panthers as though they were not there and was gone for a 58-yard touchdown run with 4:09 left that tied it right back up at 20. On the extra point pass, Zach Harmening rolled out to his right and threw a ball that was tipped at the line of scrimmage. But Cody Green, who had slipped and fallen in the end zone, caught the loose carom while lying on his back for the two points to put Worth County up 22-20.

Mound City got a penalty on the ensuing kickoff and had to start on their own 15. Two plays later, J.J. Mullock pounced on a fumble to give the Tigers the ball. Mound City, knowing the Tigers were going to run to eat time off the clock, sent everyone they had and threw Barrett Baker for a loss of 3 and Eli Mullock for a loss of 2. Barrett Baker's 14-yard run was one yard short of the first down, but the Tigers had run two minutes off the clock and forced Mound City to move the ball 75 yards for the game-winning score. A pass interference penalty moved the ball up to the 20 and gave the Panthers a first down, but a pass short-hopped James Schoonover and then another Panther fumble rolled all the way back to the 5 before they were able to recover it. Yet another fumbled snap rolled all the way back to the 1 to set up fourth and 29, and on the final play from scrimmage, the Tigers were able to flush Schawang from the pocket and force him to hurry his throw. The throw was too far for Gage Rosier to catch up with and the Tigers had pulled it off.

Route 46 to be closed Friday east of Route C

The Missouri Department of Transportation has announced that MO 46 in Worth County has been scheduled for roadwork on Friday, September 25th (weather permitting.) Area maintenance crews will be closing MO 46 between Route C and one-half mile east of Route C in Allendale for a culvert replacement. Area maintenance crews will be closing the road from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Motorists will need to choose alternate routes during this time.
For more information about this or other projects being handled by MoDOT, please call our toll-free customer service hotline at: 1-888-ASK-MoDOT (1-888-275-6636).

Two Bad Innings Sink Northeast vs. South Nodaway

Northeast Nodaway began showing signs of playing with one of the upper-level teams in the area. The problem is that it only took two bad innings to sink them against South Nodaway as their losing streak has now hit six games. This time, they fell 11-1 in six innings against the Longhorns. They will have to figure out a way to hit fast pitching if these results are to improve as DeKalb's pitcher is only a freshman and South Nodaway's pitcher is only a sophomore.

The Bluejays are still looking for answers to get themselves over the top against the upper division as Coach Rex Wallace shuffled his lineup once again. This time, he put Rachel Runde at catcher, Sarah Fox at third base, Kristan Judd in left field, had Allison Carter and Hallie Oelze leading off, and moved former leadoff hitters Taylor Dougan and Emily Bryant to the 7th and 6th slots in the batting order. Sarah Fox was moved from the 6th to the 8th slot in the order. Mallorie Peters moved up to the third slot in the lineup.

Like the last game they played against the Longhorns, Northeast had their chances, but could not get the big hit that would start a rally and get runs across the plate. In the top of the first, they got runners on with two outs as Mallorie Peters walked and Blair Schmitz hit a sharp single to right. But they were stranded there as Rachel Runde grounded into a force at third to end it.

South Nodaway's first seven batters reached safely as they took a 5-0 lead. Northeast made three errors in the inning and pitcher Taylor Dougan fought the strike zone as she walked three batters. She had three batters down to two strikes, only to lose them to two walks and a single. Marissa VanPelt led off the inning as she bunted and Taylor Dougan threw it away for an error. Kendra Holaday walked and Cheyanne Murphy singled to left, but a strong throw from Kristan Judd kept the run from scoring and set up a possible force at the plate. But Kylee Wiederholt singled to right to score one run after getting two strikes and Brooke Wolf walked after another two-strike count. Rachelle Beattie then grounded for what should have been a force play at the plate, but Sarah Fox threw it away and one run scored on the play. Wiederholt came home when the ball rolled away from Runde and Runde threw the ball away to allow her to score as well. Lindsey Coffman walked to load the bases, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise this time for Northeast, as Fox got the first out of the inning by throwing home on a forceout. Makayla Hilsakeck grounded out to Hallie Oelze at second to score the final run of the inning for South Nodaway.

After Northeast went down in order in the top of the second, Coach Wallace put Runde back in at third, Fox back to left field, Kristan Judd back behind the plate, and inserted Katrina Freemeyer in for Allison Carter in right field. Northeast got two quick outs against South Nodaway as Freemeyer made a nice catch of Cheyanne Murphy's fly ball, but again they couldn't close the deal as Brooke Wolf doubled into the gap in left center and Rachelle Beattie singled to bring her home. But Dougan showed a little more confidence at the mound as she struck out Lindsey Coffman for the third out of the inning.

South Nodaway threatened in the third, but this time, Northeast made a strong play in the field to deny them a run. With one out, Hilsabeck hit a line drive into center for a base hit. Dougan began to fight the strike zone again as she uncorked two wild pitches to move her to third and then lost VanPelt to a walk after having had two strikes on her. But Emily Bryant made a shoestring catch of Holaday's pop fly behind the mound that looked like it would drop in for a scratch hit and then Runde threw out Murphy at first for the third out.

With two outs in the fourth, Northeast tried to manufacture a run but could not score. Rachel Runde hit a sharp grounder that third baseman Cheyanne Murphy knocked down but Runde beat it out. Runde then stole second. But after hitting two hard foul balls down the left field line, Emily Bryant struck out and Northeast remained scoreless.

South Nodaway scored one more in the bottom of the fourth. Dougan struck out Wiederholt to start the inning, but couldn't finish off Brooke Wolf after getting two strikes on her and walked her. Rachelle Beattie bunted to Rachel Runde, who fielded it cleanly, but made an ill-advised throw to second as Wolf was already there. That put runners on first and second with one out instead of a runner on second with two outs. They advanced to second and third on a wild pitch and then Lindsey Coffman grounded to Oelze at second and Wolf was safe at home on a close play at the plate to make it 7-0. Northeast got out of the inning with no further damage done when Marissa McConkey popped out to Dougan and Alexis Nelson grounded out to Hallie Oelze.

Northeast finally got a run across in the fifth thanks to some opportunistic baserunning. With one out, Sarah Fox reached on an error as Murphy threw a grounder into the dirt. Kristan Judd moved her to second with a sharp single to center and then pitcher Kendra Holaday uncorked a wild pitch that barely got away from the catcher. But Fox took off for third and was safe on a close play. Katrina Freemeyer grounded out to score her. Hallie Oelze hit a hard shot off Holaday's glove for a scratch hit, but they could do nothing more as Mallorie Peters grounded out to first to end the inning.

South Nodaway tried to manufacture a run in the fifth, but they were denied. Marissa VanPelt bunted a slow roller past Runde at third and Emily Bryant had to scoop it up; she made a strong throw but VanPelt was safe on a close play. Holaday hit a slap to Taylor Dougan, who hesitated on whether to throw to second or first and wound up having no play. That looked like a big inning in store, but Rachel Runde fielded Cheyanne Murphy's grounder and stepped on third for the first out. Dougan redeemed herself by fielding Kylee Wiederholt's bunt and throwing out VanPelt at third for the force. Brooke Wolf hit a hard grounder down the third base line that might have gone for extra bases had it gone through, but Runde knocked it down and held her to a single that loaded the bases. Runde then got her third putout of the inning as Beattie grounded to her and she stepped on the bag at third for the final out.

With two outs in the top of the sixth, Emily Bryant, who had been hitting the ball hard and foul all afternoon, finally hit one fair to left for a base hit. Taylor Dougan then hustled down the line to beat out a routine grounder to short to put runners on first and second. But Sarah Fox popped out to strand them there.

Lindsey Coffman walked to lead off the South Nodaway sixth and the backbreaker came on the next play. Marissa McConkey bunted a pop fly in the air that was a possible double play. Taylor Dougan came on the dead run, but it dropped just before she got to it. Blair Schmitz, charging from first, got there and had McConkey out at first with Oelze covering by a clear half-step, but the umpire blew the call and called her safe. Oelze then got shorthopped by Alexis Nelson's grounder to load the bases and then VanPelt's three-run triple aided by the huge South Nodaway field and Kendra Holaday's double ended the game on the 10 run rule.

More than $17.8 million in stimulus funding awarded to Missouri for community development projects

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill announced today that state of Missouri and 17 communities have been awarded a total of $17,819,557 in federal grant money through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG). The money was made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The CDBG program helps states and local governments to undertake a wide range of activities intended to create suitable living environments, provide affordable housing and create economic opportunities.

According to HUD, the following Missouri communities have been awarded funding:
· State of Missouri – $6,433,629
· Blue Springs – $61,127
· Columbia – $227,139
· Florissant – $61,028
· Independence – $202,906
· Jefferson City – $88,951
· Jefferson County – $309,462
· Joplin – $177,586
· Kansas City – $2,371,367
· Lee’s Summit – $84,118
· O’Fallon – $65,991
· Springfield – $360,730
· St. Charles – $84,272
· St. Joseph – $475,429
· St. Louis – $5,333,348
· St. Louis County – $1,431,315
· St. Peters City – $51,159
Funding to states and localities through the economic recovery package will be allocated through existing federal programs like these, rather than earmarks, in order to ensure prompt distribution and better accountability. Local projects receive funds from these grants by following the process set up by each program. During Congressional consideration of the economic recovery bill, McCaskill worked to put additional accountability measures in place.

­­­­­ McCaskill believes that federal grants and loans are a positive alternative to earmarks, which in the past have frequently had too little accountability. Competitive merit and need based federal grants and low-interest government loans bring federal assistance to Missouri in an honest and fiscally responsible manner.

McCaskill: Contract Auditors Responsible For Shoddy Work Must be Fired

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Officials from the Defense Contractor Audit Agency (DCAA) faced tough questions today about the agency’s major deficiencies when they testified before the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released today outlined continuing problems with the agency, and U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill demanded to know why, over a year after problems were first uncovered, those responsible have still not been held accountable.

Watch video of the hearing

“I used to be a prosecutor before I was an auditor, and in the criminal law we have ordinances, then we have misdemeanors, then we have felonies, then we have capital crimes. And criminal conduct ranges from one end to the other. In the world of auditing, what has been committed here is a capital crime. There can be no greater indictment of an audit agency than this GAO report,” McCaskill said.

Citing today’s GAO report that outlined the extent of the DCAA’s failures, McCaskill focused on one example among many. She read a section of the report about a DCAA audit of one of the five largest defense contractors in Iraq.

The contractor initially failed the lengthy review; however, after the contractor exerted pressure and persuasion over agency supervisors, the auditors took steps to reassess the contractor and changed the review. As part of the new review, an interim audit supervisor directed auditors to throw out documentation citing some of the worst violations by the contractor and alter sections of the review, including pasting the signature from the former supervisor on a new draft of work papers to make it appear as if the supervisor has approved them.

“In April 2007, SIGIR, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, reported that, in spite of being paid $3 million to complete the renovation of a building in Iraq, the contractor’s work led to plumbing failures and electrical fires in a building occupied by the Iraqi civil defense directory. Now, I have one simple question: has that interim audit supervisor been fired?” McCaskill asked.

McCaskill continued, “Has that interim audit supervisor, who told that auditor to commit fraud by copying and pasting a supervisor’s signature to work papers, have they even been demoted?”

Despite some attempt to clarify the circumstances, the DCAA officials admitted that fraud had occurred and no one had been fired or demoted, and in fact the interim supervisor has been promoted.

McCaskill also referenced the Walter Reed Army Medical Center scandal when the Washington Post reported in early 2007 that major failures within the organization had resulted in abysmal conditions for wounded service members. McCaskill recalled being impressed that Secretary Robert Gates held officials at the top of the organization accountable by firing the officer responsible for the entire Army Medical Command. McCaskill suggested the same brand of accountability was needed for DCAA.

“I admired Secretary Gates, and I really was beginning to believe that we had in the military now someone that understood that when you have a scandal, you must have accountability,” McCaskill said. “Let me say for the record, that no one has been demoted over this capital offense. No one has lost their job.”

McCaskill continued, “If somebody is not fired over this, I don’t think anyone should ever take this agency seriously again.”

'Lil Tigers Junior Squad Shuts Out Mount Ayr

Worth County's Junior Squad made some goal line stands and held off a tough Mount Ayr White squad as they notched a hard-fought 12-0 win. It was their second cliffhanger win of the season as Drake Kinsella made a goal line tackle on fourth down in Worth County's first game to preserve a 22-19 win.

The Tigers took the opening drive of the game against Mount Ayr in to score and made it stand for the rest of the half. Worth County took over at its own 30 and Tevin Cameron took a dive play 4 yards and then moved a pile to the 40. Jacob New then took a pitchout 10 yards for a first down to the 30 behind a Tevin Cameron block. Cameron then took a pitch down the right side for 9 yards behind a Cade Allee block and then took a 13-yarder down to the Mount Ayr 8. Two plays later, quarterback Michael Burch concealed the ball perfectly as everyone was keying on Cameron and he ran untouched into the end zone from 4 yards out to make it 6-0 with 10:28 left in the first quarter.

Mount Ayr's opening script was simple -- run the sweep until Worth County stopped it. Baylee Love got five consecutive carries that moved the ball to the Tiger 35 and then Tristan Holmes caught a 10-yard pass to the 25. Then, they switched to the quarterback sneak and Triston Ackley took three carries down to the Tiger 15. They went back to the sweep as Love carried the ball 7 yards to the Tiger 8. But the Raiders stalled there as a botched handoff made it third and 7 at the 12. Love's dive only got three yards back as he was met by Drake Kinsella and Bryant McCord and then a fourth and four pass into the end zone was in and out of the hands of a Mount Ayr receiver as Worth County held for the first of many times.

Worth County got out of the hole behind the running of Tevin Cameron. He converted a third and 9 for a nine-yard gain to the 19 and then outran some defenders on a pitchout for a 14-yarder to the 33. The Tigers stalled there and were forced to punt. Mount Ayr came right back down the field as Love ran for eight yards on third and seven at their own 23 thanks to some poor tackling to the 31. Sweeps by Ackley and Love netted seven and 14 yards respectively, and the Raiders were right back into Tiger territory at the 28. Love broke to the outside for what appeared to be a possible score, but Will Engel stopped him at the last minute for a six yard gain to the 22. The Raiders stalled there thanks to a holding penalty, a false start penalty, and a fumble. Tevin Cameron took a fake reverse and netted 23 yards on the last play of the first half.

Mount Ayr gambled to start the second half and it backfired, leading to Worth County's second score of the game. Love's sweep was stopped for a loss of 3 as Peyton Weir shot through to make the play. A false start made it second and 18, but Love's sweep went for 15 yards to the Mount Ayr 37. A bobbled snap led to an incomplete pass, but Love's cutback run made it first and 10 at the Tiger 35. A false start penalty moved them back to midfield and Drake Kinsella and Tevin Cameron combined to stop Love for a one yard loss. Dylan Campbell picked up six yards back, but a fumble left them fourth and 10 at the Tiger 35. Mount Ayr went for it and Drake Kinsella shot through to throw Campbell for a loss of 3 to give the Tigers excellent field position at their own 38.

The Tigers took full advantage of the gift. Cameron ripped off gains of 4 and 5 down to the Mount Ayr 33. A fumbled snap made it fourth and one, but Michael Burch atoned for it when he took a sneak five yards to the 28 and then executed a perfect fake handoff that fooled everyone and took a carry 14 yards to the Mount Ayr 14. Two plays only netted four yards, but then Tevin Cameron jumped to the outside and made it into the end zone for Worth County's second score of the day to make it 12-0 with 2:06 left in the third.

Mount Ayr put some fresh legs in and went to Bradley Wurster, who promptly ripped off gains of 14 and 20 off the sweep down to the Tiger 10. That set up first and goal, but Peyton Weir strung out another sweep by Wurster perfectly to the sideline and held him to a gain of two down to the 8. One of the Mount Ayr linemen back into his own quarterback, knocking him down and making it third and goal at the 10. A sweep by Wurster only got to the 7, but an offsides penalty moved it to the 3. The Raiders went to Love on fourth and goal, but he was stopped at the 1 and the Tigers had held deep in their own territory yet again.

Worth County went three and out and Mount Ayr got the ball on the Tiger 38. With time running out, Wurster got 18 yards down to the Tiger 20, but the Tigers held there. Will Engel hit Tristan Holmes and separated him from the ball on a pass play; Keegan Warner shot through and stopped Wurster for no gain, and Drake Kinsella shot through to throw Love for a loss of 3 as the Tigers were finally getting rid of their blockers and flying to the ball. A false start set up fourth and 18 and a fumble was recovered by the Tigers, who ran out the clock for the win.

'Lil Tiger Senior Squad Can't Solve Raider Size

Worth County's senior squad was one touchdown away from an unbeaten season last year. Last Saturday, they have a whole lot farther to go after they fell to a Mount Ayr Raider squad that was loaded with 6th graders 32-8. Coach Richard Baker said that Mount Ayr's first touchdown "let the air out of our team." "We saw some good things out of everyone, but not all at one time." Baker said that the team had a lot of work to do before Saturday's home game at 1:00 to get back on the winning track. Specifically, he mentioned getting on the blocking sleds and working on their stances.

A fumbled snap led to the Tigers losing the ball on downs and Mount Ayr took over on the Tiger 35. After a ragged sequence in which both sides were moving, the Raiders were stuck at their own 38 at third and 17. But Zach Murphy took a pitchout 10 yards and then Kyle Dolecheck took an option 13 yards to the 19 for the first down. Dolecheck victimized the Tigers all day long with his running. Five plays later, Levi Jared would score Mount Ayr's first touchdown. Logan Stark caught the two-point conversion pass to make it 8-0 with 4:26 left in the first quarter.

The real backbreaker came on the next series. Aided by an offsides penalty, Brevin Ross converted third and inches with a first down run down to the Mount Ayr 34. But quarterback Ben Badell was thrown for a loss of three and a false start made it third and 18 at their own 32. Badell then threw the ball into a crowd of white shirts and Dolecheck added a pick-six to make it 14-0 with 13:54 left in the half.

Worth County was inadvertently given an extra down on its next series, but still couldn't convert thanks to a fumbled pitch that made it third and 18 on their own 22. The Tigers were forced to punt and Mount Ayr took over on their own 20. From there, Trevor Anderson ran around end for 19 yards to the 39; three plays later, Dolecheck went back to pass, found nobody open, and scrambled 39 yards for Mount Ayr's third score to make it 20-0 with 6:26 left.

The Tigers fumbled another snap to set themselves in a second and 11 hole. A pair of runs by Brevin Ross nearly got them out of that hole and set up fourth and two at their own 38, but a false start wiped out any hopes of a first down and the Tigers were forced to punt again. Anderson took off for a 27-yard sweep, but on their next play, Mount Ayr made one of their few miscues, fumbling the ball away; Montana Lykins pounced on the loose carom as time was running down in the half.

Worth County started off determined to make a game of it, but everything went out the window on the second play. Mount Ayr had a busted play, but poor tackling on Worth County's part meant Dolecheck was off to the races again, this time for a 47-yard score that made it 26-0 with 12:42 left. But Worth County was able to use a late hit after the touchdown run was over to answer as they started off on Mount Ayr's 35. Facing third and six at the Mount Ayr 31, Brevin Ross got seven down to the Mount Ayr 24. The Tigers were faced with third and 9 from the 23 but Ben Badell aired it out to Jonny Carlson for a 21-yard pass play that set up first and goal at the 2. Two plays later, Brevin Ross scored from one yard out with 6:02 left in the third quarter. Jonny Carlson's pass made it 26-8.

Mount Ayr ate a lot of time off the clock but Worth County finally got a stop. A fumbled snap set back Mount Ayr second and 14 on their own 26, but three consecutive carries by Dolecheck got them a first down on the Tiger 36. Trayton Breit shot through and forced a bad pitchout that made it second and 14 at the 40. Breit then hurried Dolecheck into an errant throw on third down. But Dolecheck was off to the races as he got a 16-yard gain down to the Tiger 24. But a clipping penalty, a false start penalty, and a bad snap were too much for even Dolecheck to overcome and Mount Ayr was forced to punt, giving the Tigers the ball on their own 20.

Worth County got another good drive going and threatened to make it a two-possession game. This time, it was Nathan Pointer who caught a long pass for a 27-yarder to the Mount Ayr 36. Brevin Ross carried for five yards on a cutback run and then Jonny Carlson took a reverse down to the 23. But the blocking was nonexistent on the next few plays as the Tigers were driven back to the 31. Pointer caught a long pass, but his 15-yarder was not enough for the first down and Mount Ayr took over on downs. Dolecheck lined up at receiver and took a reverse 55 yards for a touchdown with 1:47 left to account for the final score.

Softball Tigers in Brutal GRC Stretch

The Worth County softball team lost 15-0 in three innings to Hamilton last Thursday as they entered the third leg of a brutal stretch of games in which they play some of the powerhouse teams in the conference. They must still play Stanberry and make up their rained-out game with them; they must also play King City, Maysville, and participate in an always-tough Eagleville tournament. They came into the game having already lost 11-0 to Jefferson and 12-3 to Gallatin.



Part of Worth County's problems come from consistency -- against Jefferson, Delaney Davidson struggled on the mound and it was Ashley Reynolds who pitched respectably for the Tigers. But against Hamilton, it was Reynolds who was shelled for 10 runs and Kacey Smyser who pitched better in the last two innings. Against Plattsburg in the Union Star Tournament, it was Smyser who got into trouble and it was Reynolds who shut them down. Coach Todd Simmons pitched Reynolds, who had pitched well in a 4-1 loss to the Hornets last year, and told her to challenge the Hornet hitters. The move backfired drastically as the avalanche of hits and errors in the first inning was capped by Elise Greenwood's grand slam home run that made it 10-0.

"They're a hard-hitting team," said Simmons after the game. "They're a good strong team."

Brooke Gilland doubled in the gap to left center field with one out in the bottom of the first, but she was stranded there as Reynolds and Amanda Downing struck out to end the inning. After the first inning, Coach Todd Simmons took Reynolds out of the game, moved Brooke Adams from shortstop to left field where she played last year, put Rebecca Moore at catcher, and moved Brooke Gilland to shortstop. "Ashley did nothing wrong; she did everything I asked her to," explained Coach Simmons. "I wanted to put Kacey in and get her some experience." The moves stemmed the bleeding, but not enough to avoid Hamilton ending the game on the 15-run rule.

Sarah Green flied out to start the second and Smyser made a nice running catch of a pop fly as she sprinted all the way to the third base line and snagged it before it dropped. But Emily Schieber tripled to the wall in left, Ellie Whitt singled, and Katrina Grossman tripled to bring home two more runs. The damage could have been worse but Eileen Greenwood hit a high chopper to Gilland at short; she threw an errant throw, but Delaney Davidson dug it out of the dirt for the third out.

Worth County made five errors in the third that led to the fatal 15th run crossing the plate. Shelby Dickey reached on an error when Bailey McPike threw a grounder into the dirt; Elsie Greenwood was hit by a pitch. They took second and third on a wild pitch. Jill Lucas hit a pop fly behind second; Gilland came on the dead run and made a great catch but fell down, allowing Dickey to score. Greenwood took off to third and Gilland threw it away; nobody was covering home which meant Greenwood scored on the play as well. Sarah Green scored on a wild pitch later in the inning for the 15th run.

Durable Power of Attorney for Finances

Durable Power of Attorney for Finances: An Important Document in Financial and Estate Planning

Currently taking an online estate planning course from Kansas State University, Dr. Rebecca J. Travnichek, Family Financial Education Specialist with University of Missouri Extension, has realized families, including her own family, need to plan for a number of important future concerns. Two issues can be resolved by instituting two legal documents—a durable power of attorney for finances, described below, and a health care proxy or durable power of attorney for health care to be described in the next Financial Success Spotlight.

Pretend you have been in an accident and are lying unconscious in a hospital bed unconscious for almost a week. Your mortgage payment was due the day of the accident. The car payment is due tomorrow. There are several other bills that need to be paid this week. Your checking account is in your name only. What is going to happen to your finances? Well, let’s just say it might not be good.
One solution to this type of problem is to establish a spouse, loved one, or trusted friend as your durable power of attorney for finances. This person or persons can act in your behalf in financial matters—paying your bills—if you are unable to do so yourself. You want to be sure the person or persons you appoint in this role are individuals you trust above all others.
There are other manners in which you can accomplish these means, but they are time consuming and costly. For example, appointing a guardian may take as long as six months to finalize and cost up to $10,000 or more depending upon the situation. Power of attorney forms cost as little as $1. Many states offer free forms on their websites. It must be notarized too, which may cost a few dollars as well.
The word “durable” is important regarding this and the Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care. Durable means that it remains in effect for as long as you live, as long as you do not change it. It does not end if you become incapacitated. At death, your last will and testament becomes the important guiding document.
One last thing to remember about the durable power of attorney for finances document, keep the signed, original document with other important documents in your home, not in your safe deposit box. Most entities will act only upon receipt of the original document, not a copy. Give a copy to the individual or individuals you designate as the powers of attorney, but be sure to tell them where to locate the original if they need too.
For more information on this or any other family or personal finance topic, contact Dr. Rebecca J. Travnichek at University of Missouri Extension-Andrew County (816) 324-3147 or via e-mail at TravnichekR@missouri.edu.

Capitol News for September 23rd, 2009

+ State's Economic Development Director resigns [Entered: 09/18/2009]The state official in charge of creating jobs in Missouri resigned on Sept. 14.The letter of resignation from the director of the Department of Economic Development, Linda Martinez, was submitted and accepted by Gov. Jay Nixon, but neither Nixon nor Martinez were available to explain why she resigned only eight months after receiving her post.However, Martinez wrote to Nixon, "I am sorry we have been unable to meet and therefore we have been unable to discuss and reconcile our different views on how to move the state that we both love forward." Get the extended story here. [ http://www.mdn.org/2009/STORIES/MRESIGN.HTM ]

+ Supreme Court files motion to suspend law license of embattled former lawmaker [Entered: 09/18/2009] Despite reports from several news agencies that embattled former state Rep. Steve Brown, D-St. Louis County, had refused to turn in his law license, the Supreme Court confirmed Sept. 14 that it had received Brown's petition for voluntary suspension.Art Magulis, Brown's attorney, said he sent the petition, along with Brown's license, to the court's disciplinary council office on Sept 9. The Supreme Court made a motion to suspend his license on Sept. 11. Although the court has received Brown's petition, the suspension is not automatic, and the chief disciplinary council will still have to review the petition and make a recommendation before any final action is taken. Brown resigned from the Missouri House of Representatives last month after pleading guilty to federal obstruction of justice charges relating to the unsuccessful congressional race of former state Sen. Jeff Smith, D-St. Louis City.Brown's sentencing date is set for Nov. 20.

+ Missouri legislators didn't overturn any vetoes made by the governor [Entered: 09/18/2009]In the annual veto session held in Jefferson City on Sept. 16, Missouri lawmakers upheld all vetoes made by Gov. Jay Nixon following the 2009 legislative session. By a straight party-line vote, Missouri's House upheld the Democrat governor's veto of a measure to require the administration give legislators keys to the top of the Capitol.The dome-key measure was the only veto for which even a motion was made at the veto session.The override motion failed 86-71 -- well short of the 109 votes need for a two-thirds majority to override a governor's veto.The bill's original sponsor, state Rep. Jason Smith, R-Salem, said it also contained more important financial oversight provisions that outweighed worries about issuing extra keys to the Capitol's dome area.Four of Nixon's vetoes were brought to the House floor, with three withdrawn after brief debate.In the Senate, not a single motion for an override was made as the lieutenant governor read off the list of bills vetoed by the governor. Get the extended story here. [ http://www.mdn.org/2009/STORIES/NOVETO.HTM ]

+ State sees increase in student loan defaults [Entered: 09/18/2009]The Missouri Department of Higher Education showed a 40 percent increase of student loan defaults.The department released figures that showed 4,617 borrowers from across the state are in default on their student loans -- up 40 percent since 2008.State officials attributed this increase to the current economic climate and high unemployment rates."When people lose their jobs or are working less, they typically have to prioritize things like housing and food. Sometimes they're not able to make a payment like a student loan payment -- that might lead to create a default," said Paul Wagner, deputy commissioner of the state's higher education department.Get the extended story here. [ http://www.mdn.org/2009/STORIES/LOAN.HTM ]

+ Missouri taxpayers will contribute $171 million to state pension fund next year [Entered: 09/18/2009]The pension board for state workers decided Sept. 17 that the state will need to kick $276 million into the pension fund for state employees next year -- a $20 million increase over the current budget year, according to the state budget office.The payment is the result of the national economic downturn that cut the investment returns on the retirement fund.While large, the amount approved by the pension board is a bit lower than the original $303 million estimate, thanks to a change in accounting practices.Money for the pension fund is derived from two sources: state contributions and investment earnings. Get an extended story here. [ http://www.mdn.org/2009/STORIES/MOPEN.HTM ]

Reeling Bluejays Drop 3rd Straight

The reeling Northeast Nodaway Bluejays dropped their third straight game last Tuesday, a 15-1 rout against an 8-9 DeKalb squad. But Coach Rex Wallace said that their 8-9 record didn't mean anything. "Look who they played," he said. "Lafyette, Cameron. Whitney Wardlow was one of the fastest pitchers we have seen and she's only a freshman. They hit well and field well and they're well-coached."

Northeast had one chance to survive -- don't let the Tigers jump on them early. But they failed to make two routine plays in the top of the first that would have gotten them out of the inning with only one run scored. Doubles by Paige Hartman and Kaley Pyles got DeKalb's first run home; that should have been their only run, but back to back dropped pop flies let two more runs in and left Northeast down 3-0.

The Bluejays then continued their struggles at the plate from the Union Star Tournament as the umpire was generous in calling the same kind of low strike zone that the players had trouble with in that tournament. Emily Bryant walked and stole second with one out, but she was left stranded there as Rachel Runde and Blair Schmitz struck out.

Shawna Bomberger led off the second for DeKalb by hitting a pop fly single to lead off. Northeast tried to get her on a force play at second, but she beat the throw there to set up the big inning for the Tigers. Northeast pitcher Taylor Dougan then began to fight the strike zone as she walked Hartman and McKenzie Reagan to force in one run. Kaley Piles' pop fly single scored two and Casey Martin's grounder to first scored another one to make it 7-0. The damage could have been worse but Rachel Runde snared a high chopper for one out and Emily Bryant speared a hard-hit line drive for the third out of the second.

Northeast failed to solve Wardlow in the second as they struck out the side in the inning. But the Bluejays turned around and held DeKalb to no runs in the third as Hallie Oelze snared another hard-hit line drive and Taylor Dougan struck out Pyles with two on and two out to keep it at 7-0.

Mallorie Peters led off the Bluejay third with a scratch hit, a pop fly that dropped in no man's land between the plate and the mound; that hit seemed to break the ice for Northeast as they began to catch up to Wardlow's pitching and at least put the ball in play. She went to second on a wild pitch, but Allison Carter grounded out to first, Taylor Dougan was called out on strikes by one of the umpire's patented ankle-high calls, and Emily Bryant popped out.

The Bluejays almost got out of the fourth with no damage done, but once again, the Tigers struck with two outs. This game was a game of almosts -- DeKalb scored many of their runs with two outs. Casey Martin popped out to Oelze at second. Tymber Johnson walked, but Taylor Dougan threw a nice change to Wardlow to strike her out. But Whitney Hickman singled just under Bryant's glove at short, Bomberger walked to load the bases, and Zoe Link hit a line drive just over Emily Bryant's glove for a single to score two to make it 9-0. Again -- almost. That seems to be the difference between Northeast and the upper-level teams.

Northeast finally got one over the plate in the bottom of the fourth. Rachel Runde walked and Blair Schmitz reached on an error when Bomberger bobbled a grounder at third. Hallie Oelze hit a pop fly single behind the bag at first and down the line to score Runde to make it 9-1. Sarah Fox loaded the bases with nobody out with a walk and it looked like a possible repeat of the Pattonsburg game was in the air. But then the plate umpire came to the rescue of Wardlow and the Tigers with one of his patented ankle high strike calls on Kristan Judd for strike three and Mallorie Peters struck out as well. Allison Carter hit a pop fly that looked like it might drop in between the mound and short, but Pyles made a diving catch to keep Northeast from scoring any more runs. Again -- almost.

Once again, Northeast got DeKalb to two outs and once again, they could not close the deal. With one out, Pyles tripled down the line in left. Casey Martin hit a grounder to Bryant at short; Bryant looked Pyles back perfectly and threw to first without Pyles scoring. But Tymber Johnson singled Pyles home with two outs to make it 10-1. It looked like DeKalb would end the game on the ten-run rule as Wardlow was hit by a pitch and Hickman walked to load the bases. Bomberger hit a grounder to Dougan at the mound, who threw a high throw to first. But Blair Schmitz stretched high to bring it down and Northeast lived to fight another inning.

Rachel Runde walked with two outs and went to second on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fifth, but they could not score her as Blair Schmitz popped out to end the frame. Dougan then fought the strike zone in the top of the sixth and DeKalb took full advantage; Dougan walked three batters and hit one to force one run in; Casey Martin singled to right to plate two, Valerie Ford reached on a dropped fly ball to score one, and Wardlow singled between third and short for the final run. Dougan then walked Alyssa Jones to load the bases with nobody out, but then struck out Kim Helton looking and then catcher Kristan Judd picked off Ford from third. Dougan then struck out Link to get out of the sixth.

With two outs in the sixth, Kristan Judd was hit by a pitch and Mallorie Peters walked; they went to second and third on a wild pitch. But Katrina Freemeyer was caught looking to end the game.

Tigers Down Kickapoo Nation 68-14 in Final Tuneup Before Mound City

Worth County beat Kickapoo Nation out of Kansas 68-14 in its final tuneup before its game against Mound City next Friday in Mound City in a game called at halftime. The Tigers ended the game early as the JV saw much of the playing time Friday.

Barrett Baker returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown as he ran straight up the middle and there was a hole big enough for a truck to drive through and he bounced to the right side for the score with 11:45 left in the first quarter. J.J. Mullock missed the extra point, but he would go on to nail six in what may have been a record-setting performance.

Kickapoo got the ball back on their own 13 and handed the ball off to Lumper Cadue. Listed at 6'1" and 206, that weight seemed low as he was a load to bring down as he was one of the bigger backs that the Tigers will see this year. It took three or four Tigers to bring him down at times. But on their first series, the Tigers stopped the Warriors cold as Barrett Baker and Dallas Greenland led a surge that stopped Cadue cold on third and four after he had bounced off one tackler. On the ensuing punt play, Josh Wagner shot up the middle and tackled the punter for a loss of three and the Tigers got the ball on the Kickapoo 16. The Warriors would shoot themselves in the foot with poor special teams play all night.

Worth County only needed two plays to get its second score as an encroachment penalty moved the ball to the 11 and then Barrett Baker took a sweep to the house with 9:50 left. Josh Wagner got the carry for the extra points and bulldozed his defender for the last yard to make it 14-0.

After Kickapoo got the ball on its own 15, Josh Wagner jumped the snap count and disrupted their first play from scrimmage and Alex Harmening was there to clean up Andrew Darnell for a one yard loss. A fumbled snap made it third and long and Cadue dropped a pass as Cody Green applied the pressure and Dallas Greenland made the hit on Cadue.

This time, Kickapoo got off a good punt and put the Tigers on their own 30. But Worth County only needed one play to score as Zach Harmening aired it out to Alex Harmening for a 50-yard strike to make it 20-0 with 7:59 left.

Cadue caught a short pass and turned it into a first down for Kickapoo, but an obvious block in the back penalty wiped it out. Adam Summers then intercepted a pass on third down to give the Tigers the ball on the Kickapoo 36. Once again, they needed only one play to score; this time, Eli Mullock took a sweep to the right side and outran everyone for the score to make it 26-0 with 6:19 left in the first quarter.

Brian Hall and Adam Summers buried the Warrior's kick returned on the 13 and a false start penalty moved it back to the 8. The Warriors handed off to Cadue, but he was met by four Tiger defenders after two yards. He caught a screen pass for five yards but then Summers had perfect coverage on third and eight from the 15 and Kickapoo was forced to punt. Jordan Harding fielded the ensuing kick as Coach Chuck Borey began subbing his JV in at that point and he returned it for a touchdown with 4:32 left. J.J. Mullock nailed the first of six extra point kicks to make it 33-0.

Cadue finally found daylight against the Tigers as he got loose for a 31-yard sweep to the Tiger 35 on the next possession for Kickapoo. But the Warriors stalled there as a botched handoff made it second and 14. A flat pass to Cadue went nowhere as he was met by Mitch Andrews and Bryson Scott for a loss of 1. Two incomplete passes gave the Tigers the ball on downs; Adam Summers batted away the second pass intended for Cadue.

Once again, the Tigers would only need two plays to score. Josh Wagner took a counter sweep to the left, jumped to the outside, hurdled a defender, and ran for 39 yards before being brought down at the 11. Wagner would not be denied the end zone as he would take another sweep, barrell over a defender at the 3, and get into the end zone with 3:21 left in the first quarter. Mullock's second kick of the night made it 40-0.

The ensuing kickoff rolled under Andrew Darnell's legs and he had to fall on it at his own 3. But that only made things more interesting for Kickapoo's first score; Cadue jumped to the outside on a simple dive play up the middle and outran everybody on the Warriors' first play from scrimmage. Darnell ran in the extra points to make it 40-8. With nothing to lose, Kickapoo tried an onsides kick, but Dallas Greenland picked it up and returned it to the Warriors' 21. On their only play from scrimmage, the Tigers carried out a perfect fake to Eli Mullock and Barrett Baker was untouched on a sweep that gave the Tigers another score with 1:48 left. J.J. Mullock kicked his third extra point of the night to make it 47-8.

Kickapoo's special teams woes continued as they tried to let a punt go out of bounds, but it rolled dead in play at the 9; they barely fell on it in time to avoid the Tigers recovering it. Cadue's first carry went nowhere as Mitch Andrews and three other defenders met him for a two yard gain. Cody Straight and Adam Summers met Andrew Darnell for no gain to set up third and eight. On the ensuing pass play, Cody Straight, known by his nickname of "Tater," recorded the sack to force the Warriors to punt. Adam Summers took the punt and Jordan Harding took out a defender much bigger than himself to spring him free for the final 10 yards and a score.

Once again, Kickapoo had trouble with its special teams as Robbie Savago let a kickoff get by him and had to fall on it at the 8. Cadue got a pair of six-yarders for the Warriors, but after his second carry, he was stripped of the ball and Mitch Andrews fell on it at the Kickapoo 20. A fumble set the Tigers back third and 9 at the 19, but Dallas Greenland took a sweep, juked a defender at the five, and drove two other defenders into the end zone. J.J. Mullock's fifth extra point kick made it 61-8 with 9:41 left in the second half.

Worth County made a special teams miscue for once when their ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, giving the Warriors the ball at their own 35. Kickapoo responded with a 10 play 55 yard drive that took up most of the right of the first half. Cadue was a workhorse on the drive, getting six carries. Finally, Cadue got into the end zone with 2:58 left in the half to make it 61-14.

Another onsides kick was unsuccessful and the Tigers got the ball on their own 35. Coach Borey wanted to set up a field goal for J.J. Mullock, which would have been Worth County's first in decades, but you can't ask the players not to run the ball -- Adam Summers, playing reserve quarterback, carried out a fake that fooled everyone and nobody realized he had the ball on an end around until it was too late. His 37-yard run was the final score of the night for the Tigers and J.J. Mullock's sixth extra point kick made it 68-14 with 1:57 left. John Younce tried his hand at kicking off the ball and sent a towering kick that pinned the Warriors back at their own 19 and helped deny them a chance to score again before half.

The Tigers learned that backup center Logan Ridge would be out for the rest of the year with a torn ACL and MCL. However, Wyatt McClain saw action Friday on defense, where he forced a fumble from the nose tackle position. Alex Harmening was fine after a concussion suffered against CFX; he was given the go-ahead to play Friday.

School Offers High School Coop Football to Northeast Nodaway

The Worth County School Board, at the request of Superintendent Matt Robinson, voted 5-0 to offer high school coop football to Northeast Nodaway for the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 school years. The school currently coops with Northeast in Junior High Football and 9th graders from last year's program are allowed to play JV; the 'Lil Tigers football program, which is not affiliated with the school, has five Northeast Nodaway students on the team this year. Football Coach Chuck Borey said that it helped Northeast offer opportunities to kids that they would not normally have and that it allowed Worth County to keep its JV and Junior High programs viable. The two schools have a December 1st deadline to notify the Missouri State High School Activities Association of their plan.





One of the possible obstacles had been enrollment; the two schools must combine their 9-12 enrollment figures for coop purposes. Had the combined enrollment of the two schools been over 200, Worth County would have had to return to 11-man football to offer coop football with Northeast; however, the combined 9-12 enrollment was between 175 and 180 for this year. State rules require schools offering eight-man football to have less than 200 students. The Junior High program brought gate and concession revenues up; Northeast Nodaway busses coop students over, meaning that there is no additional expense for Worth County.





The vote was for the High School program; votes on Junior High programs are taken annually. High Schools must decide on coop football every two years so that they can coincide with MSHSAA's district assignments.





Teacher Julia Moore reported on her work teaching high school and junior high students English. She said that she had taught and subbed in many other schools and that Worth County's students were some of the best that she had taught.





Robinson reported that he had spent a lot of time with the MAP data, which is used to assess the school's Adequate Yearly Progress. Tracking classes across the board, Robinson said that only two classes went down and those went down only slightly. He said that the school was "still a little weak" in math but that they had "tremendous improvements" in both math and communication arts. The school has changed its math series in an effort to raise scores in math. In English II, 75% of students were proficient and advanced while the Math figure was 46%. Schools can now apply up to 25% of a student's grade towards the End of Course exams that schools are now allowed to do; Worth County counts 10% of a student's grade towards that.





The board voted to go into closed session to hire two new substitute teachers.





Enrollment for the Elementary School is 187. 86% of families attended the Open House on August 17th. Parent groups have been meeting to plan for the school year. The room parents are: Kindergarten -- Amber Griffin and Kayna Cameron; 1st grade -- Julie Cassavaugh; 2nd grade -- Bobbi Jo Gladstone; 3rd grade -- Kera Galanakis; 4th grade -- Jamie Allee; 5th grade -- Shelly Straight; 6th grade -- Treva Smyser and Stephanie Hardy. Individual pictures were taken on August 25th; close to 50 people attended the SOAR Family Night on August 21st. Six bikes were given away that night. The FFA sponsored a blood drive that was held in the multipurpose room on September 3rd.





Tracy Stone talked with 5th and 6th graders in the activity center about making wise decisions about behaviors. There was no school on September 16th due to professional development for teachers. Progress reports will go out on Friday notes on the 25th; 3rd grade will begin the STAR program on the 28th. On October 14th, there will be a 10:00 start due to in-service for teachers.





The school released its influenza guidelines. The school will screen for influenza-like illnesses and symptoms; students, faculty, and staff who appear to have an influenza-like illness at arrival or who become ill during the school day will be isolated in a room separate from other students, a mask put on, and sent home. Students, faculty, and staff with influenza-like illness such as fever, cough, or sore throat should stay home and not attend school or go into the community except to seek medical care until at least 24 hours after symptoms and fever have gone away; persons must be fever free without aid of medications.

WCCC Dress Code to be Left Up to Departments

The Worth County Convalescent Center Board voted to allow the custodial, housekeeping, and dietary departments to determine as a department what their employees would wear, within the guidelines set out in the center's dress code. Nurses would not conduct such a meeting; however, they will not be allowed to wear jeans or shorts or shirts that had logos on them and there would be no more Casual Fridays. Nurses would be allowed to wear scrubs like they currently do. The code had been in the policy manual for a long time but had not been enforced. However, Board President Scott Houk said that when a person walks into the facility, they should be able to recognize who is a nurse and who is a custodian, for instance, by the uniforms that they were wearing. Administrator Charlie Green made that point in an earlier interview with the Sheridan Express. Secretary Jozy Moyer said that updating the dress code would help elaborate on what was appropriate attire for employees and what was not. Houk said that it would also help residents identify staff members so that, for instance, if they needed a nurse they could get one.



Board member Kaye Havner said that he wanted the staff to get away from wearing shirts with logos on them and that he wanted them to look more professional, but that he didn't want to see the administration require them to wear a certain color. At that point, resident Jerry Dignan asked to speak. He said that the employees wanted Casual Fridays back and then began to challenge what he saw as Green's failure to follow the WCCC dress code. At that point, Board President Scott Houk declared that since Dignan was not on the agenda that he was out of order. "You had an opportunity to get on the agenda," said Houk. "If you want to speak out, you need to get yourself on the agenda for the next meeting."



The WCCC would pay for the first three uniforms for the employees so that they could meet the dress code standards for the facility; after that, the employees would be responsible. Shirts would have to be clean and in good condition; employees could choose whether they wanted to wear short or long-sleeved shirts. "Most places of employment have dress codes," said Houk. "They make it very clear what you can and can't wear to work." He added that when people say that "everybody" wants a particular dress code, "I don't know who 'everybody' is." Havner said that there had been a lack of communication in the past between administration and employees and other board members agreed that more departmental meetings would help with that problem. "I'm not saying this is wrong, but there needs to be more communication around here," said Havner, saying that he had gotten calls from employees concerned about the dress code.



While the dress code sets out guidelines about what is and isn't appropriate, there are other instances which would not be specifically covered by the code. In that case, Houk said that it would be a matter of the administration deciding what is and isn't appropriate. He said that the policy gave broad discretion to the administration to determine appropriateness; for instance, if someone were to get full arm and face tattoos, the administration could decide that it was not appropriate. "If it becomes an issue, then we would address it," he said.



After further discussion, Moyer said that she didn't have a problem with floral shirts and that for the Director of Nursing, "casual business" was standard. "If you're a professional, then you should look like a professional," added Houk. However, in the past, Moyer said that there had been "way too much wiggle room" in dress code enforcement. However, board members agreed to change the language in the code from "solid" to "same" colors, meaning, for instance, that a department could agree to wear floral shirts as a department.



Department heads would be responsible for setting an example for appropriate dress under the code while shorts or capris would not be allowed. After the departmental meetings and the implementation of the dress code, Houk said that the facility could give families a color code to identify staff.



The board voted to revise the budget, citing decreased revenue from the state. They also voted to approve the 2009-2010 budget.



Cable TV came up for discussion; board member Martha Rush noted that while the WCCC offers free cable to residents, most other facilities don't. Two residents have bought sattelite service as well. Administrator Charlie Green said he would look into getting sattelite for the facility, citing the fact that more and more nursing homes were making that switch.



The board voted to fix the back entrance of the facility for an estimated cost of $600 as well as the area around the hole in the back parking lot for an estimated cost of $22,000. A patch for the hole would have cost $1,860 and might not have held until next spring. Fixing the entire back parking lot would have cost an estimated $60,000 and both Houk and Green said that there were other priorities. Green said that the boilers were original and that the facility was looking at going to air conditioning and cooling for individual rooms. He said that it would partially pay for itself in reduced energy costs for the facility. Green said that he would draw up a list of needs and prioritize them for the board.



The board voted to renew membership in the Missouri Healthcare Association; Green said that they were able to go to meetings and discuss common issues, meet with state officials, keep up to date with regulations, do background checks on employees, get training and licenses for employees at reduced cost, and send residents to beauty contests.

Austin Says Teen Drinking Problem Continuing

Presiding Commissioner Kevin Austin addressed the Grant City Council Wednesday and said that there continued to be a teen drinking problem, especially in the Hy-Vee Parking Lot at night hours. He said that current sheriff Terry Sheddrick was doing what he could but that the city could use a night watchman for the weekends and that there was a continuing problem with teen drinking in the city. In addition, he said that Country Corners, the business that he owns, was broken into again with $10,000 worth of cigarettes stolen. He said that college kids were supplying high school freshmen and sophomores with drinks and that one night when he drove by at 3 in the morning, "the Hy-Vee parking lot was completely full of kids who were totally drunk." He said that he feared that one morning, one kid would be killed in a wreck. In fact, he said that one night he observed a truck pull over and drop off a "whole truckload" of beer cans along the road; sure enough, another car full of teens came by later and picked them up.





Austin said that Sheddrick's position was that he could do nothing without a sign against loitering posted by Hy-Vee because they cannot go onto private property unless they actually observe a crime being committed. The US Constitution protects US citizens against arrests without probable cause and against searches without a warrant. In the past, Austin said that law enforcement's response was to come by and pour beer cans out without arresting anyone. "It doesn't look for for the city, Hy-Vee, or the county to have this problem continuing," he said. Subsequently, Austin told the Sheridan Express Tuesday that he had met with Donnie Waldeier, the manager of the Grant City Hy-Vee, who had agreed to cooperate.





Austin said that part of the problem was a lack of supervision from parents. "I've talked to some parents about this," he said. "Some are willing to help, but others feel that the Hy-Vee parking lot is like a babysitter for them. I actually had one parent tell me, 'At least I know where my child is.'" Austin said that it was better for parents to have their children hauled in than for them to get a visit from the sheriff to tell them their child was just killed in a car wreck. Austin said that he didn't have that problem at Country Corners because he said that the kids knew that if he found them there, they would be escorted off. Casey's has a "no loitering" sign prominently posted on their property and will prosecute persons for loitering on their premises.





The council voted to proclaim October 3rd as National Lion's Club Appreciation Day; Mayor Roach signed the proclamation afterwards.





Economic Developer Charity Austin reported that the city has been given the go-ahead to proceed with the Downtown Renovation Project that is being paid for with the $367,500 appropriation from the federal government. An engineer will come in two weeks to begin work on the project. It will involve decorative lighting on the outside of the square as well as curb and sidewalk work. There will also be handicapped access on the corners. The city will handle the bidding for the project while the MODOT will administer the money. The city will seek to use as many local contractors as possible in the project. State prevailing wage requirements will apply.





The city will close off all of the square on Saturday, September 26th for the Fall Festival and part of the square for the remainder of the event.





Jim Larson reported on the progress of the project for the new firehouse. They met with the architect Thursday and are in the process of drawing up the plans as well as surveying for the land needed. The city will sign over the property south of the basketball court to the Fire Department as part of the project. The city said that they could demolish the building with the equipment that they have; if the fire department were to demolish it, Larson said that it would add to the cost of the project. The plan is to get bids early next year and to start construction shortly afterwards. None of this will be contingent on purchasing any of the old railroad property. Presiding Commissioner Kevin Austin ruled out moving the sheriff's office there, saying that there was no money or feasibility to move him there.





Public Works Director Carl Staton reported that the mower tractor was fixed and that city employees were working on the lagoon. The Pool Park has been tiled; a leak at the booster station was fixed and a pump was switched out at the lift station. The city put a yield sign on the intersection of High Street and Lover's Lane and a stop sign on the south end of East Avenue. Staton met with the engineers over the proposed water main project and city crews took down a tree that was in the way of the Nature Trail. There was a leak on the main leading to the Middlefork plant south of Worth; there was a sewer issue on 3rd street that turned out to be on the customer's side of the line. Staton got his water license and is currently undergoing training for sewers; the council voted to pay for two nights of lodging for Staton and Water Superintendent Greg Miller down at the Lake of the Ozarks late in October for training.





Clerk Ayvonne Morin reported that the Missouri Rural Water Association was willing to help with the replacement of the 11-mile water main as well as with getting al the city's sewer lines, water lines, and hydrants on GPS. Morin will find out more information about the project and report back to the council.





The council voted to join the Northwest Missouri Wholesale Water Commission. Councilman Bruce Downing said that there was "not a whole lot of choice" in the matter. The city will not be obligated to buy water from the commission and it was expected that they would not begin supplying water to the region until 8-9 years down the road. The council appointed Water Superintendent Greg Miller as the city's representative to the board and councilman Bruce Downing as the alternative representative. The contract specifies that the city's representative shall be the Water Superintendent and that the alternate representative be a councilman appointed by the mayor.



The city got a letter from Middlefork Water Company stating that their water passes all DNR tests and is perfectly safe to drink. Mayor Roach suggested that someone from the city could attend Rural Water District meetings, saying that it would help with communication between the city and the Rural Water District. The council agreed to send a cover letter offering to attend the meetings if needed. The Rural Water District buys water off of the city; the contracts between the city and both the Rural Water District and Middlefork Water Company are up for renewal in 2011.





90 of the 175 surveys that are needed for the $1 million 11-mile water main project have been returned; there were concerns expressed that the penciled numbers on the forms meant that forms could be traced to individuals. The city explained that the surveys were beyond their control and that they were done by the Missouri Department of Economic Development and not the city. The numbers cannot be used by either the city or the DED to identify individuals.





The next step in the Nature Trail Project will be to move a light pole that is in the way of the trail and to mark out the second stage of the trail. The county may donate some time to the project; it was estimated that the light pole could be moved a day. The city learned that Dudley Davidson and Dennis Downing had skid steers that might be used for the project.





The city got the paperwork turned in for the bathhouse project for the pool; the Missouri Department of Revenue has recommended approval for the project. The city will learn by October whether or not they have gotten approved for the project.





The council voted to retain the water in the pool over the winter citing decreased pressure on the walls. The consultant involved with the plan refused to make a recommendation, citing the fact that putting a pool within a pool as the city did was unique and that there were no precedents on whether to keep water in or drain the pool as the city had the old one. The leak in the pipe was determined to be small enough that it did not need fixing. The city will do work on the pipes that lead from the drains so that they will not freeze during the winter. In the spring, the city will flush the pipes.





Emergency Management Director Pat Kobbe and Mayor Roach will attend a Department of Homeland Security Oversight Committee meeting.





The council awarded the contract for updating the city's codes to Sullivan Publications for a cost of $520. There have been 33 new pages of ordinances passed by the city since the last time the codes were updated two years ago. The vote was 3-1 with Bruce Downing opposed. Supporters of the motion said that the work was needed to keep the books from getting into the state they were in 10 years ago, when it cost the city thousands of dollars to update them. Downing said that the cost for the work was too high.





The city is in the process of putting in a bid to the state to host the Department of Revenue office. The city will have to put up a video camera in the office for security purposes; the 33 pages of paperwork for the bid are due by September 29th.





Clerk Ayvonne Morin reported that the city had gotten a letter from the DNR informing them about grant opportunities to pay for the engineering phase of the 11-mile water line from Middlefork to the city. The paperwork is due by October 30th; the council directed the city to pursue the grant.

Tigers Go Through Four Centers, Still Beat CFX 56-34

Before the season started, there were concerns about Worth County's depth -- how would they respond when they had to deal with injuries. Friday night, they went through four centers and still moved the ball at will on the CFX Hornets to win 56-34. The Tigers were victimized by CFX players who would chop block their centers below the knees; that is illegal under high school football rules, which are designed to protect centers from such injuries. However, the refereeing crew followed a double standard for the two teams all night -- they did not penalize CFX players for chopping at the knees, but simply talked to them. The CFX players obviously got the message that the refs didn't really mean what they were saying about not cutting people at the knees. On the other hand, they would penalize the Tigers and call back long touchdown runs without warning them against whatever they were doing. As another example of the one-sided officiating present Friday night, the refs would allow CFX players to come off the field and repair equipment without missing a play. However, they would make Tiger players miss a play whenever they needed to repair equipment. Consequently, Worth County's two main centers, Wyatt McClain and Logan Ridge, went down with injuries and were unable to finish the game. Josh Wagner then hyperextended his arm and couldn't perform center duties, leaving Coach Chuck Borey to turn to J.J. Mullock. The Tigers also lost Alex Harmening to a concussion as he could not go after the first half.

Worth County learned something valuable about themselves during the game -- they have at least four people who could snap the ball. Some teams, even at the professional level, have all the trouble in the world with the center-quarterback exchange. CFX killed drives all night because they could not get the ball to the quarterback and make use of their strength at the skill positions. After the 1995 season, the one in which Worth County won its first state title, then-Coach Mark Fletcher said at the Athletic Banquet that many teams had tried to imitate Worth County's fast-paced style of football, only to fail because they did not have anyone who could snap the ball. Consequently, despite having all sorts of weapons at the skill positions in P.J. Sanders, Daniel Gladstone, Nate Combs, and Dustin Lambert, he gave the MVP trophy that year to center Michael Adwell, who did not make a single bad snap that year.

The Tigers got off to one of their typical slow starts as CFX got the ball in good field position at their own 36. A sack by Dylan Kinsella made it second and 12, but Thauan Andrade took a reverse 11 yards to the Tiger 35 and then Kevin Dodson scored off a burst up the middle for the first CFX score of the night. Worth County was in a stupor as they were not huddling for defensive plays like they were supposed to and they seemingly hit the snooze button. The Hornets had nothing to lose and got a successful onsides kick to get the ball at the Tiger 37 as the kick caromed off Dylan Kinsella. The Hornets gave the ball three straight times to Jordan Showalter and they overcame a false start penalty to get a first down at the Tiger 27. But then the Tigers woke up as Barrett Baker nearly intercepted a long pass intended for Jacob Beck. Kevin Dodson tried a spread draw, but was met by Josh Wagner and Dylan Kinsella for no gain. The Hornets tried the same reverse play that worked for them in their initial series to Andrade, but he was met by Brian Hall, Dylan Kinsella, and Josh Wagner for no gain. On fourth and 10, Andrade caught a screen pass and was all alone for a moment until Brian Hall met him and drilled him for a one-yard gain, giving the Tigers the ball at their own 26.

Worth County got off to a promising start as Barrett Baker followed a Josh Wagner block down the right side for a 23-yard gain to the CFX 31. He was stopped for no gain on the next play and then Baker's touchdown was wiped out by a holding penalty on Eli Mullock -- the refs felt no warning was necessary, contrary to the repeated warnings they gave to CFX players. That made it second and 22 on their own 38. CFX nearly added to their lead as they jumped a flat pass, but Alex Harmening made a diving 37-yard grab of a long Zach Harmening pass on third and 22 to make it first and goal at the five. Two plays later, Zach Harmening scored off a sneak into the end zone. Eli Mullock took a sweep right on the extra point try, juked a defender, and ran into lineman Brian Hall but got the extra points to make it 8-6 Worth County with 5:46 left in the first quarter.

CFX got buried on their own five as Jordan Showalter bobbled the kickoff and it rolled out of bounds. They moved the ball to the Tiger 30 thanks to an assortment of dives and sweeps. But on second and eight from the 30, the Hornets aired it out and this time, Eli Mullock intercepted it at the 15 as nobody was there but him. Mullock weaved his way past blocks by Josh Wagner and Alex Harmening to the 40. But the Tigers could not take advantage. Barrett Baker got a seven-yard gain down to the 33, but the blocking was nonexistent on the next play as Barrett was stood up for no gain, Zach Harmening fumbled a snap, CFX players were chopping at the knees on defense, and Harmening threw an interception that was returned to the 25. Wyatt McClain was hurt on that series.

But CFX could not regain the lead as Barrett Baker shot up the middle and threw Andrade for a four-yard loss. The first of many fumbled snaps for CFX moved them back to the 21 and Josh Wagner got a sack for a loss of three back to the 18. Eli Mullock fielded the ensuing punt and had a long runback to the CFX 31 that set up Worth County's second score. They only needed two plays to do it as Wagner took a counter, ran over one would-be tackler near the line of scrimmage, and ran all the way down to the 17. From there, Barrett Baker took a dive, got blocks from Logan Ridge and Josh Wagner, and made it into the end zone for the score with 10:14 left in the second that made it 14-6. Zach Harmening was stopped just short of the end zone on the extra point try.

CFX could still get nothing going as Alex Harmening got a shoestring tackle on the kickoff to prevent a long gain and give them first and 10 at their own 25. Harmening then met Dodson after a two-yard gain and then Josh Wagner and Cody Green had a big hit on Jordan Showalter and forced a fumble for a loss of two. On the next play, CFX tried a flat pass, but Cody Green jumped the route and returned it for a pick-6 with 8:50 left. The extra point was a busted play, but Eli Mullock started left, reversed his field, got a block from Josh Wagner, and ran down the right side into the end zone for the two points to make it 22-6.

The ensuing kickoff was a knuckleball that Showalter fell on at the 10. But Showalter redeemed himself for CFX by winning a jump ball pass and corraling it at the Tiger 35 for a 35-yard gain. Eli Mullock shot through and threw Dodson for a three yard loss and CFX tried a direct snap to Showalter, but Cody Green stopped him for a loss of one on the play. But Jacob Beck juggled and caught a 13-yard pass to make it fourth and one and then Dodson took a sneak for nine yards down to the Tiger 17. But the Tigers stiffened there as their linebackers were finally coming up and making hits rather than waiting for the CFX backs to come to them. Dallas Greenland made the initial hit on a dive play to Showalter after a gain of two. Kevin Dodson tried another crack up the middle, but Dylan Kinsella grabbed him and pulled him down for no gain. A false start made it third and 13 at the Tiger 20 and then Dallas Greenland and Eli Mullock covered a long pass perfectly to set up fourth and long. A bad snap ended it there.

Worth County started off on their own 29 and went with a no-huddle look; however, it stalled after some initial promise. Barrett Baker took a 14-yard sweep to the CFX 39 and an encroachment penalty moved it to the 34. But on the next play, the refs called a holding penalty on the Tigers and ignored the one in which center Logan Ridge was hurt and had to sit out the rest of the game. On the next play, a bad snap allowed CFX to recover a fumble on the Tiger 37. A pair of flat passes to Showalter moved it down to the 25 and a spread draw by Dodson made it first and goal at the Tiger 8. A false start moved it back to the 13, but then poor tackling allowed Thauan Andrade to burst into the clear and score. Dodson ran in the extra points to make it 22-14 with 3:07 left.

The Hornets tried another onside kick, this one over the Tigers' heads, but Worth County fell on it at their own 25. But they stalled there thanks to yet another holding penalty and were forced to punt. Alex Harmening got a big hit on Showalter on the punt to pin them at their own 23. With time running out in the first half, Thauan Andrade took a reverse for five yards and then the Hornets aired it out, hitting Jacob Beck for a 45 yard pass play for first and goal at the seven. This was a potentially momentum-changing series, but the Tigers made a goal line stand to deny the Hornets a score. Brian Hall had a big hit that led to a fumble that CFX recovered for a loss of 2. Dodson then made two cracks at the line that set up fourth and goal at the Tiger four. But then the Hornets tried a pass over the middle and Barrett Baker knocked it down to preserve the eight-point lead for Worth County at the break.

CFX squibbed the opening kickoff to the Tigers, who recovered the ball on their own 23. Zach Harmening took a busted play and got seven yards out of it and the ref tacked on a late hit out of bounds for 15 more down to the CFX 33. Barrett Baker took a dive play and jumped to the outside for 21 yards down to the CFX 12 and then followed a block from J.J. Mullock for 11 more down to the CFX 1 as Mullock was learning the ropes of his new position in a hurry. Zach Harmening then bulldozed his way into the end zone and the Barrett Baker bounced off a tackle for the extra points to make it 30-14.

But the Hornets came right back after getting into a hole. Dodson's counter was met by Josh Wagner and Cody Green and then Dodson was hit as he threw a pass that Dallas Greenland nearly intercepted. But then threw a middle screen to Andrade, who fumbled it forward and the Hornets got the first down on the recovery at the 38. On the very next play, Dodson took a spread draw and was all alone as nobody was anywhere near him. Jacob Beck caught the two point conversion pass to make it 30-22 with 9:50 left.

Barrett Baker began cramping up and was stuffed for a gain of one on the first play of the next series and had to sit out that series. But in his absence, Eli Mullock took a burst up the middle for 16, Zach Harmening took a spread draw for 21 yards after following a J.J. Mullock block, and Eli Mullock bounced to the outside for the remaining 10 yards for the score with 8:35 left in the third. Cody Green caught the two-point pass to make it 38-22.

The Hornets were stopped at their own 21 on the next series thanks to an Adam Summers hit. From their own 21, CFX tried to air it out and had Beck open, but Dodson's pass was long. They tried a quick screen to Andrade, but Dallas Greenland snuffed it out for no gain. Dodson then took a spread draw for nine yards and then converted a fourth and inches sneak on a measured first down. The Hornets tried a direct snap to Andrade, but that fooled nobody as Dylan Kinsella stopped him for no gain. They then tried a reverse to Andrade, but Brian Hall shot through and stuffed him for a loss of 6. Eli Mullock broke up a pass to set up fourth and 17 from their own 24, and the Hornets were seemingly forced to punt. But once again, the refs showed a lack of familiarity with the rulebook as they allowed a Hornet player to run onto the field at the last possible minute and grab a pass out of a fake punt for a first down to the Tiger 35. The Tigers held anyway as Brian Hall broke up a long pass, the Hornets drew a false start penalty, Cody Green batted down a pass at the line of scrimmage, and Showalter fell on his route on third down, drawing a protest from the CFX coach, who thought he was interfered with. This time, the Hornets punted and the Tigers got the ball on their own 26. Worth County only needed one play to score as Eli Mullock caught a 54-yard play action pass to make it 44-22 with 4:56 left in the third.

CFX started on their own 20 and started off with an incomplete pass. A direct snap to Showalter went nowhere, and another incomplete pass forced the Hornets to punt to the Tigers, who got the ball on their own 31. But Worth County could not make it a four-possession game as they buried themselves with a false start penalty. On fourth and ten, J.J. Mullock lined up to punt and the Hornets went all out for the block. They would have gotten it, but Mullock alertly took the snap and ran eight yards and nearly got the first down to the Tiger 39. Mullock was seemingly auditioning to be the next Bo Jackson or Deion Sanders as he was doing a little bit of everything Friday night.

On the ensuing series, Thauan Andrade heard footsteps and dropped a pass and Wagner met Dodson on the same spread draw play that netted them a long touchdown earler to set up third and seven. But the Tigers were not familiar with the guard eligible play and nobody guarded Colton Kephart, who took a 36 yard pass for a touchdown to make it 44-28 with 1:30 left.

A stop and a score would have given the Hornets a one-possession game and they nearly held. A holding penalty wiped out yet another long touchdown run in what has become a common scene for the Tigers and the blocking was nonexistent as the Tigers were stuck with third and 21 at their own 21. But Eli Mullock took a short pass and turned it into a gain of 17 to the 38 for fourth and three and then the Hornets jumped offsides to give the Tigers a first down at the CFX 37. From there, Eli Mullock took a dive and nearly broke it as he ripped off 18 yards to the 19 and the Hornets were starting to get winded while the Tigers were still fresh. Barrett Baker came back into the game and outran two defenders and drove four more into the end zone to make it 50-28 with 11:51 left in the fourth quarter.

The Hornet players were sucking air at that point and the Tiger pass rush was finally starting to get to the quarterback as they were pinning their ears back and playing the pass. Dylan Kinsella and Cody Green each hurried Dodson into throwing errant passes and then Dodson's scramble was only good for six yards to bring up fourth and four from their own 31. The Hornets went for it from there and threw a jump ball pass to Beck, but Eli Mullock had it covered and the Tigers took over in CFX territory at the 31.

Barrett Baker outran a bunch of defenders down the middle for a 20-yard gain to the 11, but penalties stopped the Tigers once again. A holding penalty and an equipment penalty moved it all the way back to the 30, and Worth County could only get back to the 13 before a delay of game penalty stopped them again. After the Tigers gave the ball back on downs at the 12, CFX moved the ball through the air as they were throwing to try to get back in the game. But they were constantly stopped by bad snaps and penalties and came up short. Thauan Andrade caught a middle screen for 14 yards to the 26 but Dallas Greenland had a big hit on the next play to force an incompletion. A false start and a bad snap moved it all the way back to the 13, and Dodson aired it out to Showalter in desperation on third and long. Dallas Greenland seemingly had it zeroed in for an interception, but Showalter snatched it from him at the last minute for a 33 yard pass play that kept the drive alive at the Tiger 35. A dive and a flat pass made it third and inches at the Tiger 25, but yet another bad Hornet snap and a long pass for Beck that was too far for him gave the Tigers back the ball on downs at the 40.

Barrett Baker hit the hole for a gain of two and then Eli Mullock took a play that was designed to go left, got a block from Dylan Kinsella, cut back to his right, and was off to the races for a 38 yard touchdown run for the dagger that made it 56-28 with 5:15 left.

CFX had one last gasp in them as a pass interference moved the ball to their own 30. Jacob Beck hauled in a long pass for 21 yards down to the Tiger 29; Showalter's fourth down catch and run for 10 yards put the ball on the Tiger 17. Two plays later, Showalter beat Eli Mullock deep for a score to make it 56-34 with 2:52 left. The Hornets recovered the onside kick at the 30. Dylan Kinsella jumped a screen pass and broke it up; Wagner's pressure forced a hurried throw and made it third and 10. But Showalter caught a flat pass for four yards and a spread draw netted Dodson a 9 yard gain and a first down to the Tiger 27. But a fumble stopped them at the 31 and an incomplete pass made it third and 14 at the 31. Daniel Umbarger caught a 13-yard pass for fourth and inches at the 18, but yet another bad snap caused Dodson to hurry his throw and Dallas Greenland broke up the pass to end the game.