In response to an emergency blood shortage, the Community Blood Center will hold a blood drive at the Grain Valley Community Center, 713 Main Street, from 1:00pm—7:00pm on Wednesday, October 28th.
     Each presenting donor will receive a Royals t-shirt.
     Appointments are preferred; walk in welcome if capacity permits. To sign up as a donor, visit savealifenow.org/group, enter Group Code: EH27.
     For medical eligibility questions, call 800-688-0900.
     For information regarding Community Blood Center’s response to COVID-19, visit safealifenow.org/coronavirus.
 

     Jack Bailey and Abby Castle were named Homecoming King and Queen during a halftime ceremony on October 9th.      
     The Eagles would go on to defeat the William Chrisman Bears 53-22.
See page 9 of this week’s edition for a summary of the game.

     Grain Valley is offering residents an opportunity to safely dispose of paints, household chemicals, batteries, and other household hazardous waste during its annual Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event from 8:00am—Noon on Saturday, October 10th at the Jackson County Public Works facility, 34900 E. Old US 40 Highway.
     The event is free for residents of Grain Valley and other member communities of the Regional HHW Program.
     For more information, call 816-701-8226 or visit www.recyclespot.org.
 

     The Grain Valley Eagles Cross Country team has celebrated a number of strong performances so far this season, but it is the team’s actions outside of competition that has impressed their coaches.
     Head Cross Country Coach Nick Small  explained the team’s theme for this season is “More Than Running.”
     “Our team is progressing well this season. They have really bought in to our theme this year. Eating habits, sleeping habits, the little things before and after practice like rolling, dynamics, mental training/education, giving back.—all of it.  As a coaching staff we take pride in how they have approached each race and they have had some pretty solid performances against some of the best teams in the state,” Small said.
     “Even more, what makes us most proud is the love they show to our community.  For the last 2 weeks, members of our team have organized on their own to pick up trash at local trails we run consistently.  They noticed a problem and they mobilized to fix it. They meet before our runs, donating their time. As coaches, we have been blown away by their self organized philanthropy and the joy in which they give back. I am truly honored to coach this team.”
 
See Sports for results from GVHS Cross Country’s recent meet.
Photo courtesy Grain Valley Cross Country
 

​     Free disposable face masks may be picked up at the Grain Valley Community Center, 713 Main Street, during their regular operating hours while supplies last.
     Masks are provided as a courtesy of Jackson County and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department.
 
Photo credit: iStock Photo
 

     Missouri’s Sales Tax Holiday begins on Friday, August 7th and runs through Sunday, August 9th. Certain back-to-school purchases, such as clothing, school supplies, computers, and other items as defined by the statute, are exempt from sales tax for this time period only. The following items are included in the sales tax holiday:
     “Clothing” - any article of wearing apparel intended to be worn on or about the human body including, but not limited to, disposable diapers for infants or adults and footwear. Each article of clothing must have a taxable value of $100 or less.
“Personal computers” - a laptop, desktop, or tower computer system which consists of a central processing unit, random access memory, a storage drive, a display monitor, a keyboard, and devices designed for use in conjunction with a personal computer. Personal computers and computer peripheral devices cannot exceed $1,500.
 
     “School supplies” - any item normally used by students in a standard classroom for educational purposes, including but not limited to, textbooks, notebooks, paper, writing instruments, crayons, art supplies, rulers, book bags, back packs, handheld calculators, graphing calculators, chalk, maps, and globes. The value of each school supply purchase is not to exceed $50.  In addition, school supplies shall also include graphing calculators valued at $150 or less and computer software having a taxable value of $350 or less.