Law enforcement officials continued scouring Danner Park into the late afternoon hours looking for clues in connection with the discovery of girls clothing that had been found this morning in the men’s park restroom.
Chillicothe Police officers stand near one of the blocked entrances to Danner Park this (Thursday) morning while awaiting the arrival of bloodhounds from Western Missouri Correctional Center in Cameron, Mo. According to Police Chief Rick Knouse, Chillicothe Parks Department workers discovered ripped children’s clothing in one of the bathrooms just after 8:30 a.m. this morning. After the park was subsequently closed, law enforcement officials from the CPD, the Livingston County Sheriff’s Department, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol converged on the park to investigate. Knouse said the bloodhounds were going to be used to search the park for additional evidence or a person. Knouse said there was no blood on the clothes when they were found, but precautions were being taken to be on the safe side and officers were working with local schools to see which students were absent from school today. The park, Knouse said, will be closed while the investigation continues.
The Chillicothe Country Club is preparing the grounds for its second annual Smokin’ and Grillin’ Contest to be held Saturday, Sept. 11, by taking down the fencing and netting around the tennis courts as well as the game nets. Officials from the country club stated this morning (Thursday) that they were doing a general clean-up of the area before the event. The barbecue grills for the contest will be set up around the tennis court area Chautauqua weekend.
Chillicothe Municipal Utilities line foreman Clint Campbell and lineman Larry Miller repair a power line at the southeast corner of Cherry and Polk streets Tuesday afternoon. The repair involved straightening a bracket that was bent during a storm. The work is part of CMU’s ongoing process of repairing and maintaining power lines and poles.
Members of the Liberty 4-H Club participated in a craft last (Tuesday) night outside of the Liberty 4-H Clubhouse during the club’s August meeting. The club will be conducting fundraisers and seeking grants this year to renovate the clubhouse, which was formerly used as a one-room school house. The first phase of the project, club leaders say, will likely involve working on the building’s foundation. The clubhouse is located south of Chillicothe near the junctions of U.S. Highway 65 and Route Z.
The Friends of the Livingston County Library and the Chillicothe Area Arts Council have teamed up with funding and programming to bring master storyteller Loretta Washington to Chillicothe for a series of programs from Thursday, Sept. 9 to Sunday, Sept. 12.
St. Louis based Washington is recognized throughout Missouri for her workshops on storytelling, and for her masterfully crafted stories of American Folklore and African-American history. She has presented many workshops for the Missouri Humanities Council’s Read First program. Among her stories are those of her great-grandmother, Ellen, who was born into slavery in the Missouri Bootheel in 1853.
