| Weather cancels many area events |
By: Darrell Todd Maurina
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Posted: Tuesday, January 27, 2009 10:01 am
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PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Jan. 27, 2009) — Most but not all government offices are closed today, and many meetings have been rescheduled.
City offices in Waynesville, St. Robert, Dixon and Richland remained open Tuesday morning with no plans to close early due to weather conditions, but the Crocker City Hall and Pulaski County Courthouse both closed all day on Tuesday. Fort Leonard Wood spokesman Mike Alley said post personnel decided Monday night to ask only key and essential personnel to report for duty Tuesday, and as weather conditions continued to deteriorate Tuesday morning, he announced that General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital was closing most operations on Tuesday as well except for emergency room care.
“All clinic appointments are cancelled,” Alley said. “TRICARE West will be contacting patients over the next few days to reschedule appointments.”
Every school district in Pulaski County had already decided by Monday night to cancel Tuesday classes, though details should be confirmed with each school district since some functions may be continuing.
Unlike many of the cities, Pulaski County has many employees who travel long distances to work from outlying communities. Presiding Commissioner Bill Ransdall urged drivers to stay off the roads if at all possible.
“We closed the courthouse because the weather and there is a second band of weather coming in right now. The courts have postponed cases as well,” Ransdall said. “I’m asking people to stay off the roads. People who are getting hung up on these hills are impeding our ability to grade and salt roads. Please stay home, and when you get home, please try to get your vehicle into your driveway or safety off the roads.”
The courthouse closure of business offices doesn’t mean the sheriff’s department or emergency functions are closed. Since the courthouse has a generator and is the designated emergency shelter for the area, it will be available if needed, Ransdall said.
“The courthouse will be open for emergencies should we have to enact the shelter plan, but it will not be open for normal business,” Ransdall said.
Other cancellations include:
• The St. Robert Public Works Committee had been scheduled to meet at 5 p.m. Monday. That meeting has been cancelled and city officials say it has not yet been rescheduled.
• A guidon uncasing ceremony for the 94th Engineer Battalion had been scheduled for Tuesday morning along with a community “welcome home” ceremony at the USO for various smaller units and individual personnel who had been returning to Fort Leonard Wood during the last year without a major ceremony. Fort Leonard Wood and Waynesville-St. Robert Chamber of Commerce personnel say the two events will be rescheduled for a later date, but that date has not yet been announced.
• The Waynesville-St. Robert Chamber of Commerce had planned a Monday night community forum on economic and community development with St. Robert Mayor George Sanders, Waynesville Mayor Cliff Hammock, Pulaski County Presiding Commissioner Bill Ransdall, Waynesville R-VI Superintendent Judene Blackburn, and Maj. Gen. Gregg Martin, Fort Leonard Wood’s commander. That forum has been rescheduled for Feb. 23 at 6:30 p.m. at the Waynesville High School Library.
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