News

RICHMOND – The sky is dusty gray, an odd contrast to the drizzle that falls steadily, lightly across the hillside at Woodland Cemetery. Robins gliding down from trees that line the hillside to the north flit among tombstones set within a green lawn made lush by days of rain.

RICHMOND – Drive-through COVID-19 vaccinations took place May 19 at the Ray County Fairgrounds. The Richmond Fire Department provided staff, including Cody Oliphant, to assist with monitoring those who received the Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine.

RICHMOND – The public will decide whether to pass or fail a ½-cent sales tax to replace the Ray County Jail. The Ray County Commission voted 2-1 to let the public decide the issue in August.

RICHMOND – Seventy-six Richmond High School students graduated Sunday in the school gym before hundreds of relatives and friends on a rainy afternoon. The graduates entered the gym as the high school band, directed by Jeffrey Clymore, played “Pomp and Circumstance.” The “circumstance” part of the music underscored a year of overcoming adversity brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, something mentioned in addresses given by several speakers.

RICHMOND – Changes looming for the Ray County Senior Center include a possible summer versus fall reopening. Center Director Pat Mills talked about reopening in about five weeks.

EXCELSIOR SPRINGS – The Tristn Jevon Center for Recovery, 704 Wollard Blvd., Richmond, is expected to help people like Tristn Jevon deal with mental health and addiction, his stepfather, Robert Cox, Excelsior Springs, said.

RICHMOND – The most famous and infamous characters in the multiuniverse gathered for the Richmond Mushroom Festival under 13-year-old Aidan Leroy’s Brick By Brick awning. Grogu in his high-tech stroller.

COLUMBIA – Missouri 4-H continues to partner with Feeding Missouri and the Missouri Farmers Care Drive to Feed Kids. Through food drives, fundraisers, educational events and presentations, 4-H’ers are learning and raising awareness about hunger and food insecurity in Missouri, where one in five children is in a family struggling to put food on the table.

RICHMOND – A new 911 building? A new justice center? Each side agreed the other needs a new facility. They disagreed on whether the Ray County Commission has any control over the 911 Board’s sales tax income.

RICHMOND– The state is auditing Ray County offices. “We start the audit on Monday,” state Audit Manager Julie Moulden told the County Commission last week.