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Nation Road improvements strengthen safety, infrastructure

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Clay County has finished two major infrastructure projects that improve safety and resilience along Nation Road, including a new Rock Creek bridge and realignment of the nearby roadway. After heavy rains in 2022 caused severe streambank damage and forced a roadway closure, the county took quick action to stabilize the area and strengthen the corridor.

Carr, Tigers ready to continue rivarly with Kearney

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Gaige Carr is ready for Friday night. Carr and his Excelsior Springs teammates will complete the Greater Kansas City Suburban Conference-Blue Division and regular-season portion of their varsity 11-man football schedule Friday on the road against archrival Kearney.
GAIGE CARR extends the ball into the end zone to cap his first-quarter scoring run during Excelsior Springs’ homecoming clash in 11-man varsity football with St. Joseph Central. SHAWN RONEY | Staff

First death sentence in decades for county

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For the first time in about 30 years, a Clay County jury has handed down a death sentence, according to Clay County Prosecutor’s Office Communication Specialist Cher Congour. The decision came after jurors found 28-year-old Joshua T.

Smith guides students toward skilled careers

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As fewer young people enter the trades, one Excelsior Springs Area Career Center (ESACC) teacher is making an effort to show a handson career can be rewarding. Carpentry and construction instructor Bronson Smith is helping students at the Career Center find purpose in the work they build from the ground up.

Watkins Mill event uncovers ties between James, Watkins families

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Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part series covering historian and author Mark Gardner’s presentation during the Fall on the Farm celebration at Watkins Woolen Mill State Historic Site and State Park. Part one highlights Gardner’s introduction, the historical ties between the Watkins and James families and the rare Civil War–era letters preserved at the site. Part two will detail Gardner’s discussion of how the James brothers’ wartime experiences led to their infamous years as outlaws, the Pinkerton raid that shook the county and ways Missouri’s frontier history continues to shape modern legend.