N O RT H W E S T
MISSOURIAN
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2022
MARYVILLE, MISSOURI
NWMISSOURINEWS.COM
VOL. 110, NO. 19
@THEMISSOURIAN
South Main to close for 48 hours S
outh Main Street will close for 48 hours starting 7 a.m. Feb. 8, lasting until Feb. 9 to allow construction crews to install a 48-inch concrete pipe through a 15-foot trench. All businesses on Main Street will still be accessible during the street closure; however, traffic will be closed from Scooter’s Coffee to Nodaway Valley Bank. There will be a detour for through traffic on Munn Avenue, South Avenue and South Hills Drive. “There is no way to bridge across safely with a pipe like that,” City Manager Greg McDanel said. McDanel said Tuesdays and Wednesdays are typically the lowest single days for sales and that this is ordinarily the lowest quarter for sales. So, this would likely be the best time for the lowest impact on businesses around town. McDanel said the city is working with Maryville Public Safety to have a presence on those days to reduce the amount of people cutting through parking lots to avoid the closure. He said he was looking on the bright side, and that this is the only planned closure on Main Street during construction on the South Main Improvement Project.
GRAPHIC BY MAKAYLA POLAK DESIGN EDITOR
Local schools see substitute teacher shortages SIDNEY LOWRY News Editor | @sidney_lowry
After nearly two full years of navigating through the pandemic, schools nationwide are still facing major effects due to COVID-19, such as multiple teachers and students out sick or quarantining, substitute shortages, or supply shortages that impact school lunches. Nodaway County is no different. Three Nodaway County school districts – Nodaway-Holt R-VII, West Nodaway R-I and Maryville R-II School Districts – have had issues with more teachers in quarantine than at previous points of the pandemic. Maryville High School Principal Thom Alvarez said though student quarantines have been down in comparison to previous years, a much larger number of teachers have been missing school due to COVID-19. West Nodaway School District Superintendent Mitch Barnes said the district schools have had similar issues with teachers having to miss school days. “Sometimes there’s been days where we have smaller classes, so we double up those classes,” Barnes said. “There have been a couple days where I thought we were going to have to close to survive.”
As a result of more teachers being out due to COVID-19, more substitute teachers are needed to take over their classes. “I think sometimes not as many people have signed up as years past as this year and last year because of the exposure factor,” Alvarez said. “I think sometimes subs are retired teachers and people in the community of the retirement age, so they’re a little hesitant to come and increase their exposure.” Nodaway-Holt pays substitutes $80 a day, and Superintendent Jeff Blackford said the possible risk of getting the virus usually outweighs the pay for most of the district’s current substitutes. Maryville High School said that though interest in substituting from retirement-aged people has been down, its student teachers have stepped up to fill in the gaps. “Knock on wood, we’ve been fortunate to have most of our days covered, and we’ve worked a lot with the college,” Alvarez said. “We have a lot of student teachers here, so we’re able to use them. If they turn in their sub paperwork, they can get paid to sub. We’ve been fortunate to have a number of student teachers in our district to help us.”
SEE DISTRICTS | A4
ADDALYNN BRADBURY PHOTO EDITOR
West Nodaway School District Superintendent Mitch Barnes addresses the crowd during the school board’s meeting about possibly switching to a fourday school week to save money and resources.
BLACK STUDENT UNION SPIRIT WEEK EVENTS Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Feb. 21
Feb. 22
Feb. 23
Feb. 24
Feb. 25
Show your Hair-itage
Top Tier Tuesday
What’s the Word Wednesday
Throwback Thursday
For the People Friday
Students are encouraged to wear their natural hair, and the DI Office will be giving out hair tips.
Students on campus are invited to “dress to impress.”
There will be a pop culture themed scavenger hunt in the DI Office from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Black Student Union invites students to play games at 6 p.m. on the third floor of the Student Union.
Students on campus are invited to wear black to show support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
GRAPHIC BY SIDNEY LOWRY NEWS EDITOR
Northwest celebrates Black health and wellness
SIDNEY LOWRY News Editor | @sidney_lowry
Every year, Black History Month has a different theme, and this year’s theme is surrounding Black health and wellness. The events Northwest is holding are meant to feature speakers and show movies with people who have made historical strides in Black health and well-being. Diversity and Inclusion Assistant Vice President Justin Mallett said the theme this year is important because of the pandemic. “Covid is affecting very large rates of historically marginalized and historically underrepresented communities, in particular Black communities,” Mallett said. “So be-
ing able to be able to understand the importance of health and wellness with any marginalized community is very important.” Not many people are aware of the historical contributions that Black scientists, doctors and other professionals have made in the area of health and wellness, Mallett said, the ignorance being another contributing factor in the choice of theme. The DI Office will be sharing historical facts on its social media page throughout the month with Black history facts. To kick off events for the month, Eddie Glaude Jr. will be visiting at 7 p.m. Feb. 3 in the Charles Johnson Theater to give a lecture over Black history, social justice and being an “ally.”
“Dr. Eddie Glaude is probably one of the most well-respected researchers in the country, as relates to the works of James Baldwin, other historical components,” Mallett said. “So to be able to have someone of this status come to Northwest is a huge thing.” The DI Office is hosting a movie night at 6 p.m. Feb. 16 in the J.W. Jones Student Union Boardroom. The showing will be of the documentary “The Color of Medicine: The Story of Homer G. Phillips Hospital,” which is about a St. Louis hospital that employed the largest number of Black doctors and nurses in the world.
SEE HISTORY | A4
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