Local

For some, the thought of public speaking sends chills down the spine.

That apparently, isn’t the case for Mexico High School FFA member Grant Norfleet, who took second place in the Missouri Teach Ag Public Speaking Contest, held Jan. 23 at Rolla Technical Center, Rolla. The speech topic was “Agriculture Education in a Diverse World.”

Norfleet says he usually practices the week of, or the week before, the contest.

“One the speech is written and edited, all I have to do is memorize it,” he said.

The memorization process can take one or two days, Norfleet says.

The year 2021 marks the 50th anniversary for OATS Transit, a nationwide leader in rural public transportation systems. The company is headquartered in Columbia and serves 87 counties in the state of Missouri.

What started in 1971 with three vehicles and five drivers serving eight counties, quickly grew to encompass much of the state of Missouri. Today, OATS Transit has more than 650 employees and a large fleet of vehicles providing more than a million trips each year.

Due to the inclement weather the Audrain County area experienced recently, the Audrain County Health Department will be closed on Tuesday, February 16. The office will reopen for business on Wednesday, February 17, at 8 a.m.

Those residents with Women, Infant and Children (WIC) appointments for Tuesday, February 16, will instead have their appointments moved to Wednesday, February 17, at the same time.

Farber’s Feb. 8 board of alderman meeting truly marked the end of an era as the town’s long-time city clerk/collector Marie Bounds drew a 50-year career to a close.

Bounds signed up for city duty in February 1971, at the request of then-mayor Joe Gaw. A lot has changed in the world — and Farber — since then.

“We had over 500 population then,” Marie remembers, “and there wasn’t near the rental properties. Many of the residents had lived here a long time and were active in community projects.”