The Columbia Parks and Recreation Department is starting to fill empty slots among its aquatic center lifeguard staff.
The department received 10 applications after it put out a call last week seeking staff. There needs to be a minimum of 70 guards to be able to open pools. Only 46 guards are on staff as of Friday. Our staff will follow through with (the 10 applicants) to get them registered for training, department Marketing Specialist Tamara Miller wrote in an email.
Guard training will happen Tuesday through Thursday, June 4-6, June 14-16 and June 18-20. Sessions are free for those employed by the city.
Veterans and their families in the mid-Missouri region have received masks since August from the U.S. Exercise Tiger Foundation to help safeguard against the COVID-19 pandemic.
As virus cases decrease, vaccinations increase and health orders are relaxed, the foundation on Monday received its last shipment of 100,000 masks from the state.
Seven members of the Arnold Air Society, an honorary, professional and service organization with the University of Missouri Air Force ROTC, helped move the boxes of masks into the foundation s office on East Walnut Street in downtown Columbia.
The foundation received the cloth masks via a partnership involving Missouri Public Safety, the Missouri Veterans Commission, the State Emergency Management Agency and Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services for the Mask a Vet program, Public Affairs Officer Walt Domanski said.