B U S I N E S S

school year.

Both the 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years saw all Shelby school district buildings close for periods of time due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In-building instruction ended in mid-march 2020 and online/remote learning put into place for the remainder of that 2019-20 academic year. A surge in coronavirus cases in Shelby and Richland County late this past fall also prompted a return to remote learning from Nov. 23, 2020 through Jan. 8, 2021. In-class instruction resumed on Jan. 11, 2021 in Shelby and continued through the remainder of the 2020-21 school year.

In other business as detailed on the July 15 meeting agenda, members:

* approved the elimination of student instructional fees and athletic transportation fees for grades K-12 for the 2021-2022 school year. All other payments such as club and Chromebook fees, as well as class dues, will remain in place, the agenda noted.

* approved student handbooks for Shelby High School, Auburn and Dowds elementary schools and the pre-school in addition to changes to the high school and Shelby Middle School extracurricular handbook.

* hired Jeffery Kurtzman as boys varsity tennis coach

* accepted a $1,500 donation from Garmann Miller and a $100 donation from Guenther Mechanical.

“It’s our normal backto-school professional development,” Assistant Superintendent Paul Walker said in explaining how the donated funds would be used. “We’re just trying to have more collaboration with the teachers and so forth. We have some more donations coming next month for that.”

School Board members in attendance were White, Scott Rose, Carl Ridenour and Lynn Friebel. Check shelbydailyglobe.com for additional coverage of the latest meeting.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A police official who has run large departments in Maryland and Virginia has been selected as chief of the U.S. Capitol Police in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 insurrection, in which pro-trump rioters stormed the building in a violent rage, disrupting the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential win.

J. Thomas Manger, who most recently served for 15 years as chief in Montgomery County, Maryland, was picked for the position following an extensive search, according to four people briefed on the matter. The people were not authorized to discuss the selection process publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

The decision comes as the Capitol Police and other law enforcement agencies are struggling to determine the best way to secure the Capitol and what direction to take the 2,300-person force that guards the building and the lawmakers inside it and functions as mashup of a national security agency and local police department.

The department has asked for more funding for more officers and better riot gear. In the meantime, the massive fence that encircled the grounds was taken down in the past few weeks.

The Capitol Police Board, which includes the House and Senate sergeant at arms and the Architect of the Capitol, is charged with oversight of the police force and led the search.

Manger served as chief in Montgomery County, outside Washington, from 2004 to 2019. Before that, he led the Fairfax, Virginia, police department. Those jobs, as well as a leadership position in the Major Cities Chiefs Association, have made him a familiar face in Washington law enforcement circles and on Capitol Hill.

Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman was elevated to the role after the agency’s top official, Steven Sund, was forced out a day after the riot.

Pittman, a longtime Capitol police officer, wasn’t expected to get the job permanently. And her appointment did little to soothe the tumult inside the department or to quell concerns about failures of preparation and intelligencesharing ahead of the insurrection.

She faced steep criticism from her own officers after they said she showed little to no leadership on the day of the insurrection. The union voted overwhelmingly to show no confidence in her.

As the invaders wielded metal pipes, planks of wood, stun guns and bear spray, the vastly outnumbered rank-andfile officers inside the building were left to fend for themselves without proper communication or strong guidance from supervisors. The officers weren’t sure when they could use deadly force, had failed to properly lock down the building and could be heard making frantic radio calls for backup as they were shoved to the ground and beaten by rioters, with some left bloodied.

A new House committee is investigating the insurrection and the mistakes made by the Capitol Police and other law enforcement that allowed hundreds of Trump’s supporters to break in. The panel announced Monday that four police officers, including two Capitol Police, will testify about their experiences that day at the committee’s first hearing on July 27.

Project Coordinator Joe Gies explained in his report that bids were opened for the downtown enhancement project.

“Kelstin of Shelby was the low bidder of $1,090,911. The estimate was $1,095,000, so it was just under that,” Gies said.