 All Holden R-III schools were closed Monday due to a bomb threat found in a Holden High School girls’ restroom Thursday morning.
According to a memorandum released by district superintendent Scott Slava, the handwritten letter was found in the rest room at approximately 11:06 a.m. saying that on Monday, April 30, 2007, a bomb was to go off at 2:30 p.m. at Holden High School.
After deliberation and discussions with law enforcement authorities, the district administration decided to cancel all buildings’ class for Monday and cancel activities during last weekend as well. School resumed Tuesday, May 1, and the day will be made up at the end of the school year - May 30.
According to Maj. Rick Martin, Holden Police Department assistant chief, the department does not have any suspects as of press time, but they have been “talking to one or maybe two persons of interest.”
The district planned to have regular sweeps of the building and parking areas with a bomb-sniffing dog on campus to insure the safety of all students.
“Although a majority of the time threats do not materialize, please be assured that the Holden R-III District is taking this matter very seriously and is taking every precaution to insure a safe school environment for our students and staff,” stated Slava in his memorandum.
According to Major Martin, the Holden PD met with members of the federal government’s Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) representatives and completed a sweep of the buildings once again with the use of a trained dog. Martin stated that nothing was found.
Slava reiterated, “The Holden district is taking this threat very seriously and will take every possible measure to identify the responsible party and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.”
By Steve Sullins
Editor
The Board of Education of the Kingsville R-I School District, Missouri has instructed its municipal bond underwriter, L.J. Hart & Company of St. Louis, Missouri, to make the $1,200,000 general obligation bond issue available to local individual and institutional investors. “We appreciate the strong vote of confidence we received from local patrons at the election and want the bonds to be available to them,” stated Martha Bush, president of the board of education. These new money general obligation bonds were approved by approximately 76.43 percent of the voters at the April 3, 2007 election, to complete air conditioning improvements to the high school portion of the building; to construct a new vocational-agriculture building and two additional classrooms; to renovate the existing shop into classrooms; to complete roof repairs, electrical upgrades and remodeling and repair improvements to the existing facilities of the district.
“Since interest rates are attractive now and might increase in the future, the board of education wants to lock in rates as quickly as possible,” stated superintendent of schools Kevin Coleman. “At the same time, we want all local investors who are interested in these bonds to have an opportunity to purchase them, and we want to alert them in advance of our plans,” Coleman continued.
The board of education selected the negotiated sale of the bonds in order to capture current market conditions, to be certain that local individual investors and banks receive an opportunity to purchase the bonds, and because the proposed interest rates are fair based upon current conditions in the municipal bond market. Coleman stated that Missouri issues, and those of other states with a similar rating quality sold at competitive and negotiated sales to be certain that rates for the district’s bonds are favorable.
According to L.J. Hart & Company, the bonds are scheduled to mature from March 1, 2017 through March 1, 2027 with interest rates expected to range from 3.8 percent to 4.25 percent. The interest income from the bonds is exempt from federal and state of Missouri income taxes and the bonds are available in $5,000 denominations. These bonds are being sold on a first come, first served basis. Anyone interested in learning more about the Series 2007 bonds can call Coleman’s office at 597-3422 or L.J. Hart & Company at 800-264-4477 to request that a prospectus be promptly mailed to them.
These bonds are to carry a “AA+” rating from Standard & Poor’s Corporation due to the district’s participation in the State of Missouri Direct Deposit Program coordinated through the Missouri Health and Educational Facilities Authority.
If interest rates decline in the future, the district can capture the full benefit because some of the bonds have an optional redemption (call) provision on March 1, 2012 at no penalty. The financing proceeds are anticipated to be available to the district by May 22, 2007.
Kingsville High School hosted a mock wreck on April 27 in preparation for their prom night which was held April 28.
Superintendent Kevin Coleman remarked he thought the mock accident was very effective. “It went very well, and I thought it was beneficial to the students to be able to ask questions of the state troopers during an assembly held after the mock wreck,” he said.
According to Coleman, one of the students who took part in the accident scene was handcuffed, one was placed on a backboard, one was transported in a helicopter and one was placed in a body bag.
“The students were paying attention to the scene and some of them were very somber,” said Coleman.
“Everyone there did a good job from the fire department, the state troopers, the sheriff’s department to Life Flight personnel,” he added.
Coleman thought it was a positive experience and thought the district may hold a mock wreck every two years for the students to really experience what can happen if they drink and drive.
One of the organizers of the event, high school principal Lorna Warren, noted it was an eye-opening experience for students and she thought they received valuable information from the sheriff’s department.
By Dana Neubert
News Staff
Sesquicentennial Meeting Planned
Individuals, families and local organizations are urged to attend a meeting to begin organizing Holden’s sesquicentennial celebration on May 8 at 7 p.m. at the Hallar Community Building.
Although the local chamber of commerce is coordinating the planning effort, president Dennis Mason says it is imperative that people understand it will take a community-wide effort to make the celebration a success.
Mason says he encourages individuals and organizations to begin brainstorming on different ideas that could be a part of the event and says once planned, a calendar would be printed highlighting the year-long celebration.
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A spring evening last week erupted into violent weather with very high straight-line winds which blew through Holden and surrounding communities causing intermittent damage.
The winds, estimated at as high as 80 miles per hour, damaged barns and homes and were part of a large, severe thunderstorm that descended on the area. Five barns were destroyed and multiple homes and barns sustained minor to moderate damage due to the high winds accompanying the storm. “We quit counting the number of homes and barns with minor damage; there were so many structures affected,” said director of Johnson County Emergency Management, Karen Eagleson.
The wind estimate is based on the damage and the extent of distance objects were blown, according to Eagleson. “It was raining so hard and blowing it sideways, you couldn’t see five feet in front of you,” she added. “The damage was very widespread encompassing all the north-western side of Johnson County.” Most of the damage was southeast of Holden and the thunderstorm brought with it not only wind but approximately two-three inches of rain.
One storm victim, Barbara Snyder, who lives north of Medford, had the roof blown off of her barn. “Part of it ended up in a tree, part in my neighbor’s field and part in front of my machine shed. I just thought it would be some high winds but never dreamed something like this would happen,” she said.
Snyder just recently built that barn after losing one to the damaging tornado that struck her neighborhood two years ago.
Eagleson said, “There was a lot of damage in the Medford area, including the Medford Methodist Church that reported roof and siding damage.
The barn of Terry and Beverly Kennedy was one that was demolished by the high winds. “We were sitting in the house watching television and the tv went out so I was going to get a portable one out to watch and my neighbor called and said, ‘Did you know your barn is in my fence row?’ We had no idea. I knew there was a lot of rain and wind but I didn’t hear it when it was dismantling the barn,” said Beverly Kennedy. “We waited for the rain to let up then went out to check and see if there were any cows in the barn, but after counting them, all were safe and accounted for,” she added. Kennedy said she felt they were pretty lucky no further damage occurred. The winds split her pear tree in her front yard in half and turned over their diesel barrel, but other than that, they were lucky. “I’m just thankful no one was hurt and no cattle were killed during the storm,” she said. “I’m glad I didn’t see it happening, I’m scared to death of tornados and high winds,” she added.
American Family insurance agent Ted Guinn reported 30 claims so far from the severe weather. “Mostly shingles, roofs off of sheds and barns and debris being blown into people’s vehicles,” said Guinn.
According to State Farm insurance agent Bobby Hoffman, he has had approximately 12 claims called into his office since the storm. Most of the damage was to barns but there was some shingle damage to homes. He has had claims come in from near AA and 50 Highways and near Medford, so the damage was fairly widespread.
Some homes were left in the dark in the wake of the spring storm, according to West Central Electric Cooperative’s general manager Glenn “Skip” Alsup. “We dodged a bullet again,” he said. Approximately 260 services were without power for several hours, with the majority of the damage and outages confined to the Holden area. Most of the outages were caused by heavy winds blowing trees and metal into the lines. All services were restored by 2 a.m., according to Alsup.
“This is an unusual year for storms for this area,” said Eagleson. “The season started in February with a tornado. Normally our storm season runs from April through June, but now it’s not uncommon to see tornados from February through October.”
“These were just intense straight-line winds, not a tornado,” said Andy Bailey of the National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill. “There was no tornadic signature indicated on radar.” He added that people in the Holden vicinity have been hit several times already this season and we are just now getting into the heart of storm season.
Eagleson urges everyone to purchase a weather radio to be prepared for the spring and summer severe weather. They can be purchased at Walker’s Variety, Radio Shack.
Eagleson encourages people who sustain damage in these storms to be sure to call her office at 660-747-2666 and report the extent of damages they receive. She added there were no reports of any injuries to any people or livestock.
By Dana Neubert
News Staff
Academic Awards Scheduled May 10
The Holden R-III School District will be recognizing students who are excelling in the academic areas in a special program on Thursday, May 10 at 6:30 p.m. in the high school gym.
All of the classroom teachers in Holden, grades preschool through grade 12, were asked by their principals to submit the names of their top two students to be recognized. Parents of the academic award recipients will be mailed a notification letter from their child’s respective school a week prior to the program.
Each student to be recognized will be awarded with a certificate and an academic excellence award pin for their outstanding achievements.
Sally Davidson, coordinator of the annual event, urges all teachers, parents, community leaders, school board members and interested patrons of the Holden R-III School District to attend this program to show their support for those students who have academically excelled as one of the top two of their classes for the 2006-2007 school year.
PTO Offers School
Packs For Students
PTO is offering parents the opportunity to order their children’s school supplies for next year right now.
The school supply pack will be delivered to the students at the Back to School night in August. Orders are due by May 4.
Avoid shopping hassles, save time and money. The packs are custom packed for each student and contain quality products.
For questions, contact Sandra Streit at ptomail@holden.k12.mo.us.
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