BRIDGE CLOSURE - US 60/62
Alexander County, Illinois and Mississippi County, Missouri
Location – Cairo, IL
The Illinois Department of Transportation would like to alert motorists traveling in the Cairo area that the US 60/62 bridge over the Mississippi River will be closed to all traffic.
The closures are scheduled to begin on Monday, March 28th at 8 a.m. extending through Thursday, March 31, at 12 p.m. and Monday, April 4 at 8 a.m. extending through Thursday, April 7 at 12 p.m.
The bridge will be open to all traffic from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. each night.
Crews will be performing required annual safety inspections of the structure.
Bloomfield, MO - The Stoddard County Commissioners held their weekly meeting on Monday, March 7, 2022. The meeting opened with prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Presiding Commissioner Danny Talkington stated that the state of Missouri has begun a procedural audit of Stoddard County. The county is audited annually by a private accounting firm, but the state of Missouri tries to audit the county every four years in person.
Stoddard County was audited four times in 2021. One was the annual financial audit and the other three were due to concerned with the CARES Act.
According to Talkington they have not received results of the CARES Act audits. During the meeting Cecil Weeks produced a financial audit report for both 2019 and 2020.
The document is 70 pages and can be reviewed by CLICKING HERE.
Here are the recommendations given by State Auditor Nicole Galloway's office:
“The county (must) ensure the proper general ledger accounts are created to allow an individual to post transfers to the correct accounts. In addition, we recommend management train staff members on how to properly record interfund transfers. A review process should also monitor for errors in recording transfers.
“Management (must) reconcile the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) with the general ledger at year end to ensure that all costs are captured. Actual expenditures should also be reported rather than revenue.”
At 10 a.m. Presiding Commissioner opened bids for the 2021 audit.
Two accounting firms bid on the 2021 audit.
Devereux and Company of St. Charles, MO bid $15,000. This bid included all out-of-pocket expenses and would evaluate all financial statements, the schedule of expenditures of federal funds and accounting processes and procedures.
CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen) made a bid of $18,500 and did not include travel expenses.
The county commissioners voted 3-0 to chose Devereux and Company, of St. Charles, to do the county’s financial audit for 2021.
The audit would begin in July and a draft of the results would be issued by September 2, 2022. The audit would be conducted on and off site, and company representatives would be on site a minimum of five days.
At 11:00 a.m. Neil Gilb, of Charter Communications, discussed rural broadband internet and that Charter would be willing to offer internet service to the underserved areas Around Advance and Bell City.
Charter currently serves residents of both Stoddard County communities and is currently expanding its services in Bollinger County.
Gilb said Charter wasn’t planning to expand immediately in Stoddard County, but would consider it following the completion of the Bollinger County project.
Route Y in Stoddard County will be closed as contractor crews perform railroad maintenance.
This section of roadway is located from County Road 535 and County Road 551, near Aquilla, Missouri.
Weather permitting, work will take place Thursday, March 17 from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m.
The work zone will be marked with signs. Motorists are urged to use extreme caution while traveling near the area.
For additional information, contact MoDOT’s Customer Service Center toll-free at 1-888-ASK-MODOT
Route K in Stoddard County will be closed as Missouri Department of Transportation crews replace a culvert under the roadway.
This section of roadway is located from Highway BB to County Road 235.
Weather permitting, work will take place Wednesday, March 16 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The work zone will be marked with signs. Motorists are urged to use extreme caution while traveling near the area.
For additional information, contact MoDOT’s Customer Service Center toll-free at 1-888-ASK-MODOT
Bloomfield, MO - State Auditor Nicole Galloway announced that her office has begun a regularly scheduled audit of Stoddard County. Citizens with information relevant to the audit are encouraged to contact the auditor's Whistleblower Hotline. The county received a rating of "fair" in an audit issued in March 2018.
"Audits can help local officials take steps to make government more efficient and effective for taxpayers," comment Galloway in a press release. "I encourage residents with information that would be helpful to our audit of Stoddard County to contact my office through the Whistleblower Hotline."
Residents who would like to provide information for consideration in this or any audit may contact the State Auditor's Whistleblower Hotline at moaudit@auditor.mo.gov or by calling 1-800-347-8597.
Concerns may also be submitted anonymously online at auditor.mo.gov/hotline
The state of Missouri tries to personally audit a county every four years, according to presiding commissioner Danny Talkington.
The county was audited four times last year: One was the annual financial audit and three concerned the CARES Act.
