One cold morning in December, 25 volunteers bundled up to search the skies around Mark Twain Lake to count the bird population. Starting as early as 3:30 a.m., the nine teams pointed their binoculars to cover 298 miles around the lake area in search of our feathered friends. It’s the first time our neck of the woods has been covered in the official bird count for the National Audubon Society.
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The annual December bird count has been going on for 121 years. The Hannibal area was added to the official locations in large part because of George Wisdom, a member of Mississippi Hills Master Naturalists. He put in hours of work filling out the lengthy application process that the Audubon Society requires to even be considered. Once he got approval, he had to put out the call for volunteer bird watchers. He hoped that ten people might be willing to brave the winter elements for his pet project. As the morning dawned, 25 people showed up armed with binoculars. They
HANNIBAL â The Hannibal Street Department could soon feature an additional full-time position.
During Tuesday nightâs meeting of the Hannibal City Council at city hall consideration was given to creating a full-time street maintenance position while eliminating three part-time jobs.
The bill, which received a successful first reading, will come up for a final reading when the council meets on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021.
âWe currently have two of the part-time positions open due to promotions. We would like to promote our remaining part-time employee to the new full-time position,â said Andy Dorian, the cityâs director of central services.
The new full-time position would pay $28,569. According to Dorian, the elimination of the three part-time positions and the creation of one full-time job would not cost the city any additional money.