Work to replace the dead trees that have been removed along Highway 19 in Cuba officially got underway on December 12. Viva Cuba, which is organizing the work as part of its Adopt-a-Highway project—the first in Missouri—received $10,000 in funding for new trees from the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) in October.
The old Midway Motel and some adjacent vacant apartments, both which were scheduled for demolition in February, burned to the ground on Friday, Dec. 13. The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.
The Crawford County Coroner’s Office has received toxicology tests involving the deaths of two truck drivers whose bodies were found in Cuba last month. Both men were determined to have died from drug use.
The Cuba City Council approved a five-year electric rate reduction for a local industry, extended the lease of a city building, and accepted bids for liability and health insurance during its December 10 meeting. The council will not meet again until January.
The city of Cuba hasn’t been enforcing its historic preservation ordinance in at least a dozen years and the committee formed to oversee it hasn’t met in a decade, Planning and Zoning Committee Secretary Annalee Williams told the Cuba City Council at its meeting on December 10. She recommended the entire ordinance be repealed and a motion to do so was approved.