A suspicious item was discovered in the dumpster at the Trex Mart convenience store in Tracy on Monday about 9 a.m. The item was found by a Deffenbaugh trash crew before emptying the dumpster at the gas station. The Platte County Sheriff’s Department then responded and secured the south side of the parking lot. The department then called in the Kansas City Bomb and Arson Squad, who retrieved the item with a robot. The item was later detonated after the hazardous materials team from the Southern Platte Fire Protection District responded. Authorities said the item was a Coke bottle with wires attached to it and an unknown liquid inside.
Newly-elected Parkville officials were sworn in at Tuesday night’s meeting. Officials who won reelection were Sandra Ferguson, judge; Gia McFarlane, alderman; Gerry Richardson, mayor; Marc Sportsman, alderman; Jeffrey Bay, alderman; Dave McCoy, alderman; and Jim Brooks, alderman.
A write-in winner in the race for Tracy mayor has been announced by the Platte County Board of Elections. The new mayor is Rita Rhoads, a current alderman. Rhoads beat out incumbent mayor Brenda Ferguson by a margin of five votes. Rhoads received 27 votes to Ferguson’s 22. “I’m glad I won, we’ve got lots of things to get taken care of,” Rhoads said. Rhoads will be sworn in at the next meeting of the board of aldermen.