Newsletter, March 2025

Clarksdale Happenings

March 2025

"There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about." – Margaret J. Wheatley

Daylight Savings Time Begins      March 9th

CAF Meeting         March 11th

St. Patrick’s Day         March 17th

City Clerk off   March 12th - March 17th

City Council Mtg (6:30pm City Hall) March 18th

https://clarksdale-mo.com/ Find this newsletter, pay your bill, official minutes, reports, agendas, news about current projects, and more! 

Live! Paperless water bills! Sign up for paperless bills at https://clarksdale-mo.com/bill-payment.

NOTICE OF ELECTION:  The City of Clarksdale will be holding an municipal election on April 8, 2025,  Offices to be filled are Mayor for a 2-year term, and 2 Alderman for 2-year terms.  Natascha Hays is running for mayor. Christina Keesaman  and Zechiriah Hays are running for Alderman. There is also a question on the ballot, If Clarksdale shall continue to forgo an election and its expenses if the number of candidates equals the number of vacancies.

The Clarksdale Yard Waste Site - The Yard Waste Site is Only for yard waste! Not for trash, plastic bags, construction debris, anything that has nails or metal in it. If these rules are not followed, we may need to take further measures, up to and including closing the site permanently. 

Coming! Lions Club Sale - April 26, 2025. Deadline for consignors for the Lions Club Auction is March 27th, Dale 816-393-5266 or Bruce 816-449-8066 no later.

Lions Pitch Tournament! Will be held the first Monday night of the month.  Games all at 7 pm. March 3rd.

Clarksdale Advancement Foundation  is looking for great people who want to make Clarksdale fantastic and help us achieve our goals. Come to our next meeting Tues., March 11 th at 6:30pm at City Hall. “Volunteering is the ultimate exercise in democracy. You vote in elections once a year, but when you volunteer, you vote every day about the kind of community you want to live in”.~Author Unknown

The Clarksdale  Lions Club meets every 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month and we welcome anyone to come and hear what our club does for the community and we are always looking for new members.

Coming! DeKalb Co Treasure Hunt -April 12, 2025- Area wide yard sale! Have a yard sale, get put on the treasure map by calling City hall.  Shop, collect stickers, and enter to win prizes.

Easter Egg Hunt - April 19, 2025- In the city park. Donations of candy accepted. More details to come!

Coming!  Dog Clinic - May 3, 2025- At yhe large shelter house at  the City Park Dr. Stan Goodwin will be here from 9am-Noon to give shots and the Clerk will be here to sell City Licenses $3 for Altered dogs, and $7 for Unaltered dogs. Prices of shot TBD.

It’s Not Luck!

Receiving timely information about weather conditions or other emergency events can make all the difference in knowing when to take action to be safe. Local police and fire departments, emergency managers, the National Weather Service (NWS), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and private industry are working together to make sure you can receive alerts and warnings quickly through several different technologies no matter where you are–at home, at school, at work, or in the community. For those with access and functional needs, many messages are TTY/TDD compatible and many devices have accessible accommodations. Review this fact sheet to make sure you will receive critical information as soon as possible so you can take action to be safe. Be sure to share this information with your family, friends, and colleagues. And remember to keep extra batteries for your mobile phone or radio in a safe place or consider purchasing other back-up power supplies such as a car, solar-powered, or hand crank charger. 

IPAWS INTEGRATED PUBLIC ALERT AND WARNING SYSTEM Organized by FEMA, the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) is the Nation’s alert and warning infrastructure. It provides an effective way to alert and warn the public about emergencies using the Emergency Alert System (EAS), Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards, and other public alerting systems from a single interface. IPAWS is used to send notifications for three alert categories— Presidential, AMBER, and Imminent Threat.

 For more information on IPAWS, EAS, and WEA, visit www.ready.gov/alerts. 

Using IPAWS, officials can send messages simultaneously through multiple pathways, including: - EAS: used by alerting authorities to send detailed warnings to broadcast, cable, satellite, and wireline communication pathways; - WEA: Free, 90-character emergency text messages sent by local alerting authorities to equipped mobile devices within range of cell towers broadcasting in the affected area. You do not have to sign up for WEA alerts. To find out if your mobile device is capable of receiving WEA alerts, contact your cellular service provider or visit www.ctia.org/WEA; and - IPAWS compliant digital road signs, sirens, and other systems. 

NOAA WEATHER RADIO ALL HAZARDS The NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards, or NWR, is a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting forecasts, warnings, and emergency information 24 hours a day. It is a comprehensive weather and emergency information service available to the public. All-hazards messages include weather events, technological incidents like chemical spills, AMBER alerts, and national emergencies. NWR also broadcasts EAS notices. A special weather radio receiver is required to receive NWR broadcasts. You can buy these receivers at many retail outlets such as electronics stores, department stores, big box stores, or online. Be sure to look for the Public Alert or NWR logo to ensure the radio meets technical requirements. Models identified as SAME, or Specific Area Message Encoding, receivers allow users to select alerts for specific geographic areas. For information on NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards, visit www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr.

ENHANCED TELEPHONE NOTIFICATION (ETN) SYSTEMS In the event of an emergency, local officials in many local communities can send warning messages and instructions to individuals in an at-risk area through an ETN system, such as a Reverse 911® system. Most systems include landline phone numbers, but some also allow for messages to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and mobile phones through an opt-in process—check with your local emergency management for information on this system and available features. 

OUTDOOR SIRENS AND/OR VOICE ALERT SYSTEMS Outdoor sirens and/or voice alert systems are used to alert people outdoors of an immediate danger so they can take cover. The system is not designed to be heard inside building walls. Note that some communities may still have the siren infrastructure in place but it may no longer be operable, so it is important to check with your local emergency management office to understand if this service is currently provided. 

LOCAL SCHOOL OR ORGANIZATION NOTIFICATION SYSTEMS  

Many workplaces, schools, and community- and faith-based organizations have notification systems to warn individuals of emergencies and provide tailored notifications. These may range from listservs to opt-in text and email systems similar to those used by local jurisdictions.

MOBILE APPS WITH LOCAL ALERT FUNCTIONS

FEMA APP Stay updated with severe weather alerts from the National Weather Service for up to five locations across the U.S.; learn how to stay safe before, during, and after over 20 types of hazards; save a custom list of the items in your family’s emergency kit; and locate and receive driving directions to open shelters and disaster recovery centers. You can also submit disaster-related photos to a public map using the Disaster Reporter feature. The FEMA App is also available in Spanish. Download the app to your mobile device or smartphone free on iTunes or Google Play. Learn more at www.fema.gov/mobile-app.

AMERICAN RED CROSS APP The Red Cross Emergency app combines more than 35 different types of severe weather and emergency alerts. You can choose the alerts that are important to your location or the location of loved ones. The “Family Safe” feature allows you to notify loved ones that an alert has been issued in their area and check to see if they are safe. The app also offers information on what to do before, during, and after severe weather hits and how to find open Red Cross Shelters. All content is also available in Spanish. You can download the app to your mobile device or smartphone free on iTunes (Apple-iOS 6.0 or later) and Google Play (Android). Learn more at www.redcross.org/prepare/mobile-apps.

THE WEATHER CHANNEL APP Tracks weather and provides local forecasts and push alerts of severe weather to your mobile device. Download the app to your mobile device or smartphone free on iTunes (Apple-iOS 6.0 or later), Google Play (Android), App World (BlackBerry), and Windows Phone at www.weather.com/apps. 

SUMMARY OF ACTIONS FOR INDIVIDUALS - Confirm your mobile device can receive Wireless Emergency Alerts. - Sign up for text and/or email alerts from your local jurisdiction. - Consider purchasing a NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards. - If you do not have a landline, check to see if your jurisdiction has options for VoIP and mobile phones to be connected to ETN systems such as Reverse 911©. - Sign up for listservs and alerts for the workplace, schools, houses of worship, or other community organizations you’ll want to hear from in an emergency. - Download relevant hazard alerts and warnings apps. - Create a list of all the alert systems available to you, and make sure everyone in the household receives the alerts as part of your household communication system. 

SUMMARY OF ACTIONS FOR ORGANIZATIONS - Test internal communication systems to ensure all individuals in the organization can be contacted. - Designate individuals to be responsible for distributing alerts from official sources. - Consider purchasing a NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards. - Develop a list of all the alert systems available for your community and your organization as a guide for people in the organization. - Encourage individuals to sign up for alerts and warnings, and assist them with finding any needed information.