Lathrop PD Makes Arrest Kansas City man facing multiple drugrelated charges || PAGE A2
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Thursday, September 19, 2024 | Plattsburg • Lathrop • Gower • Cameron | FREE |
“Covers Clinton County Like Dew”
SCHOOL THREATS
Rash of school threats felt in Clinton County
by brett adkison leader editor
A rash of online threats against schools in the Kansas City metro spilled into Clinton County last week, while the Cameron school district worked through a
pair of its own safety issues. The Lathrop R-II School District was among the dozens of metro schools implicated in the social media posts last week. The Lathrop Police Department was notified of the situation
Tuesday evening, September 10, and though no specific or credible threat was identified, the Lathrop Police Department and Clinton County Sheriff’s Department posted eight officers throughout the district on
Wednesday. Lathrop Police Chief Dave Speiser added last Thursday that the department would maintain a presence within the district in the following days. Lawson, Polo, Rich-
mond and Lexington were also among the outlying rural districts involved in the threats. While the threats weren’t credible or specific to Lathrop, Superintendent Dr. Adam Willard said such situations aren’t taken light-
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ly.
“My hope is that the Lathrop R-II School District got caught in a scary situation by chance,” he said. “I would like to think that there was not an actual ||Continued on A2
CAMERON SCHOOLS
Book issue continues to cause patron concerns by jamey honeycutt leader publisher
brett adkison | the leader
Family, friends and community members gathered outside of the Clinton County Courthouse on Saturday to dedicate a memorial bench to the late Delmas “Doc” Green, a former local deputy and police chief in Plattsburg, and the late Clifford Kelley, an employee of the Clinton County Road and Bridge Department who died tragically in 1959 while trimming a large tree at the courthouse. The new red bench sits on the northwest side of the courthouse. Sheriff Larry Fish and Clyde May worked to make the bench a reality and made the presentation on Saturday. Family members also spoke of both Green and Kelley. That included stories of Green (the first black deputy in Clinton County and a World War II veteran), his infamous billy club, and how had both a kind side for those in need and a hard-fisted side for those who didn’t respect the law or their fellow man. Front Row (left to right): Brian Kelley (Clifford’s grandson), Gwen Green (Doc’s daughter-in-law) and Wendy Green (Doc’s granddaughter). Back Row: Clyde May and Sheriff Fish.
Zoning board makes changes, approves requests leader reporter
The Clinton County Planning and Zoning Commission had a busy week earlier this month, with a public meeting on Wednesday, September 4, to discuss and review revisions needed to the county’s zoning orders and comprehensive planning. This meeting was held in conjunction with the Clinton County Commissioners. The meeting last about two-and-a-half hours, with the following changes approved: • A revision to temporary living permits in ag-zoned areas
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to allow for only one vacation vehicle allowed for up to 12 months with no extension or reissued permits to be allowed. • Clarifications to the fee scheduling that all commercial towers require a public hearing, the addition of a setback agreement of one-and-a-half times the height of the tower and remove the R4 rezoning application fee. • A revision to require all surveys and plats be approved by planning and zoning prior to being recorded. There was also a minor phase correction clarifying the duty of the Board of Ad-
justments in the zoning order. All zoning ordinance can be viewed on the county website or by contacting the zoning office at (816) 592-3722. The following day— Thursday, September 5—the zoning board held three public hearings, including a minor subdivision request, a major subdivision request and consideration of changes to the zoning ordinances. The first public hearing was a request by Curtis Land and Grain, LLC, of Osborn, Mo., for a minor subdivision of 11.72 acres into two, 5.86-acre
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Community.........A5 Community.........A3 Opinion..............A4 Sports................B1 Legals................B6
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The Goppert Foundation recently made a generous $5,000 donation to the Lathrop FFA Chapter’s Mules Pack Meals program. On November 26, the chapter and volunteers will be packing a total of 30,000 meals (5,000 bags of six servings each) of chicken flavored rice and vegetable soup. Those meals will be utilized by the school’s backpack buddies program and also will be donated to food pantries in Lathrop and the surrounding area. (Left to Right) Lathrop Superintendent Dr. Adam Willard, Lathrop agriculture teacher and FFA advisor Maggie McClain and Corey Strider, president of Goppert Financial Bank. submitted photo
Lathrop R-II Board Meets
This Week’s Sheriff ’s Report
School board reviews annual audit report, approves English language learning contract.
See which calls for service came through the Clinton County Sheriff ’s Dispatch for the previous week.
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Goppert Donates to FFA
CLINTON COUNTY
by jim bonebrake
A light agenda yielded a two-hour meeting, as the concern over vulgar books and the school’s response to recent threats online dominated the Cameron R-I school board meeting Tuesday night. Superintendent Dr. Matt Robinson led off by addressing the performance of the district with a recent online threat of violence following the Georgia school shooting. Robinson reiterated that his team is constantly refining their reporting methods to identify threats earlier without causing undue alarm. “I’m hoping for a much calmer week. Like I said, this was not a Cameron issue; it was a statewide issue with some districts dealing with this daily (since the shooting in Georgia),” said Dr. Robinson. The superintendent repeated, if anyone witnesses a threat or information about a threat to “not share it” but to take it directly to authorities to vet. Sharing spreads misinformation and makes it harder to verify sourcing when assessing a threat. Dr. Robinson moved to his update on restrictions for certain books that have been in question the
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VOL. 129, NO. 47