Propositiion Project K.I.D.S. passes

Candidates and supporters wait for the election results to be posted on the screen in the main hall of the Dunklin County courthouse Tuesday night.

[Click to enlarge]

The main hall at the Dunklin County courthouse in Kennett was packed early Tuesday evening as poll workers brought their ballot boxes to the courthouse, where Sheriff Bob Holder and deputy Wally Poyner met them and escorted the boxes to the appropriate destination inside the courthouse.

As results were tallied for wards one through five at Kennett, one thing was apparent from the beginning; voters were strongly supporting Proposition Project K.I.D.S., where 1,116 voted in favor of the bond issue, and only 379 residents voted against it.

Jerry Noble, superintendent of the Kennett public school system, said he was very proud to see such a tremendous outpouring of support on the bond issue. "This is a blessing," he said, as he looked at the large number of votes for the proposition as election workers posted the election results on the screen set up in the main hall.

Proposition Project K.I.D.S. was not the only thing that was clear early. In the race for Kennett School Board, voters showed favoritism for first timer Chris Wake, who pulled ahead early and ended with a whopping 1,030 votes. Also new to the board will be Randy Haman, who received 791 votes, and former board member Eules Hively, who received the support of 733 of the voters. Daren Todd and Bob Green fell a bit short, with Todd receiving 567 votes and Green receiving 517.

Other races in Kennett were for seats with the city government, which included a battle between Ward I opponents Patty Webb, who was the incumbent, and Mark Ellis.

Webb, who was appointed by the council and Mayor Wheeler to fill the seat of former councilman Randy Bridges, fell a bit short in last night's election, receiving only 48.80 percent of the votes. Although it was a tight race, Ellis pulled ahead, receiving 192 votes to Webb's 183.

The only other race at Kennett was for the Ward V alderman seat. Incumbent Tracy Smith pulled ahead to beat Gene Watts. Smith received the support of 53.51 percent of the voters, while Watts earned 46.49 percent. Although it was a fairly close race, Smith pulled away with 183 votes to Watts' 159.

The City of Hornesville had another tense race for the Chief of Police race between Carl Pierce and Johnny Van Nunnery. Two years ago the pair had the city divided, resulting in only a one vote difference that eventually led to a re-count. Again, it proved to be the difference in only one vote. But to keep from wasting any more time and money, Nunnery accepted the difference and backed down.

This time though, Nunnery had nothing to worry about because the voters of Hornersville showed support, casting 51.01 percent of their votes for Nunnery. Although there is only a difference of six votes, Nunnery was able to pull ahead with 101 votes to Pierce's 95.

The Chief of Police is not the only thing that will be different in the City of Hornersville, as newcomer Rondia Rauls pulled away with the lead for north ward alderman, earning 41.23 percent of the votes, which was a little more than seven percent more votes than that of Incumbent Mart Goff, who earned 33.33 percent of the voter's support. In the end, Rauls had a total of 47 votes, Goff had 38 votes, and Ronnie Coleman received 29 votes.

In addition to the change in the north ward, voters elected a new alderman in the south ward as well. Incumbent Greg Fletcher fell short of his goal to beat opponent Glen Burress, who received 41 votes, to Fletcher's 38.

Arbyrd had a big race as well for Mayor and the south ward alderman seats. The residents of Arbyrd have elected to keep Mayor Lonnie Dale Gibson, Jr., as overseer of the city and its financial matters in business.

Beating opponent Paul Phillips, Gibson walked away with 50 votes, 22 more than that received by Phillips, making it a 63.29 percent lead over his opponent, who earned 35.44 percent of the residents' votes.

In the race for south ward alderman, Robert Burgess pulled ahead, beating his opponent Alfred "Rich" Vallee, with a vote of 21 to 14.

In the race for Southland school board, the voters chose to keep their incumbents, electing to keep Kathy Zolman, who received 130 votes, Jeff Wilson, who received 111 votes, and Derrick Higgins, who collected 110 votes, over Steve Eastburn, who walked away with 60 votes.

The City of Senath had only one race and that was for the south ward alderman seat. Incumbent Junior Jaco was elected by the voters of Senath to remain in his seat, as he earned 103 votes over that of his opponent Randy Wiseman, who took in 65 votes.

Residents of Senath also voted on a proposition to determine whether or not the voters preferred to have an elected Chief of Police or an appointed one. The residents obviously prefer to elect their own city marshall, as 120 voted against the proposition and 96 residents voted in favor of it.

The Holcomb Board of Education had a race among four individuals who were seeking to fill the three available seats as Holcomb school board members. Residents spoke, as they elected Danny Broglin, with 155 votes, Keith Emmons, with 149 votes, and Dickie Dobbins, who earned 141 votes. Candidate Dennis McCormick fell a bit short, earning only 130 voter's support.

The City of Malden elected Cindi Earnheart as Ward II councilman, and Larry Crain as Ward VI councilman. Earnheart beat her opponent Jimmie Garris, with a 55/51 vote, and Crain beat his opponent Ronnie Dell, with a 92/81 vote.

The Village of Rives elected Alton Payne, Carl Kinneson and Jonas T. Payne as trustees. Kinnision received 20 votes, A. Payne received 15 votes and J. Payne received 16 votes. Robin Pritchett fell short, earning only 8 votes, along with Cathy Pritchett, who earned the votes of 7.

Other school board elections included Clarkton, who elected three to serve and represent the school. Those elected include, Michael "Shawn" Simpson, who received 186 votes, Tina Roberts, who received 218 votes, and Milton Ladymon, who earned 195 votes. Falling short in the election was Jimmie Calvert, who received 115 votes.

Candidates elected to serve the Campbell school board are, Ray Davis, Kerry Davis and Gary Grubbs.

The Bernie board of education race had a tie with two candidates receiving six votes, and three earning two a piece. Jack McGowan and Tom Hobgood earned six votes each and Keith Snider, Denny Riddel and Chris Freed each earned two votes.

All other seats within local city governments were unopposed.