Saturday, June 04, 2005

ATTENTION VETERANS, ARMED FORCES PERSONNEL, AND FAMILY MEMBERS

On June 25th the First Capitol News will publish a Commemorative Edition Honoring Veterans along with men and women of the Armed Forces. The Commemorative Edition is being published in conjunction with the St. Charles City Council’s Salute To Veterans. The St. Charles City Council has designated Sunday, July 3rd as the Salute to Veterans Day at Riverfest 2005 in Frontier Park.

The City Council has authorized an additional night of Fireworks display as part of the celebration. The extra Fireworks display approved by the Council will be in Frontier Park on the St. Charles Riverfront Sunday July 3rd at 9:30pm (approximate time).

The FCN is looking for any photos (old or new) of armed forces personnel, veterans, and information on veterans, campaigns, men and women of the Armed Forces that we can use as stories in the commemorative edition, ‘Salute to Veterans’.

Advertising opportunities are also available. If you would like to thank or honor a Veteran or member of the Armed Forces or tell them how proud you are of them call us at 724-1955.

We also invite members of American Legion Posts, VFW Posts or any other Veterans Organization to submit the history of their organization along with photographs for insertion in this special commemorative edition, A Salute To Veterans and Men and Women of the Armed Forces.
Please submit your news items and photographs for inclusion as soon as possible. For additional information call the First Capitol News at 724-1955.

City Council Awards Scholarships

The City Council has awarded scholarships to the following students in accordance with a Resolution passed by the City Council establishing a Senior Scholarship Program for 2005 High School Seniors residing in the City of St. Charles.

The recipients of the One Thousand Dollar Awards in 2005 are:
Patrick Conley - Duchesne High School
Danielle Cox - Francis Howell North
Danny Hopkins - Orchard Farm High
Allison Euer - St. Charles High
Matthew Schlichter - St. Charles West

Th recipients of the Two Hundred Fifty Dollar Awards in 2005 are:
Caitlin Cummings - Duchesne High
T. Michelle Farnsworth - St. Charles
Ashley Reckart-Kell - St. Charles High

Each applicant for the Award wrote a 500-1,000 word essay addressing the question: “How Can We Make St. Charles An Even Better Place To Live?” The essays serve two purposes: 1) to recruit ideas from the youth of the community thereby fostering pride in St. Charles; and 2) to offer ideas to the City Council on ways to improve the City.

The Scholarships will be awarded at the regular Council meeting on June 7,. 2005 at 7:00 pm.

Ghost Voters?

Lynndi Lockenour

In April the City made an attempt TO annex 12 parcels of property, which were thought to be vacant, into the city limits. This would mean those properties would then fall under city guidelines.

However, when it came time for a vote, six people voted no, saying they were residents of those properties. First Capitol News suspects that not all six of these residents actually live on the property and may have been encouraged by someone to reside there briefly to enable them to be eligible to vote no on the matter.

Reginald and Betty Payne live on Area 3, located at 3733 Huster Road. Reginald claims he bought the land in 1956 and has lived there every since. “I consider my land a farm,” he said, ‘and I want to keep it that way.”

Reginald was hesitant to speak with me and after only a few questions; he retreated inside his house and locked the door. It is interesting to note that both Reginald and Betty voted “no” in April to the annexation. However, in my brief conversation with Reginald he said he was the only one residing in the home. “I live here alone, so I don’t see why they can’t leave me alone,” he said.

Lawrence Pun owns Area 8, located at 3545 North Highway 94, which currently houses a bar and grill restaurant. When I asked to speak with Lawrence, he declined and sent a bartender out to tell me he had “no comment” on my story. She then asked me to leave the property.

Samantha Erhardt supposedly is a resident of Area 7, located at 2001 South River Road, but the residence appeared vacant. The trailer was empty, except for a few boxes, and the grass was waist high.

It is also interesting to note that Erhardt didn’t register to vote in St. Charles County until February of this year. The City sent notices to the owners of the properties in January informing them of the annexation election.

Dennis Bernat is a supposed resident of Area 1, located at 3732 West Clay Street, next to a used car lot. The residence appeared vacant with old rusted cars cluttering the back yard and several broken windows. The man who owns the used car lot assured me that Dennis does in fact live there. However, in the four trips made to the house, First Capitol News never saw Dennis or any sign that someone was living in the house.

St. Charles Fire Chief Ernie Rhodes On Consolidation

By Tony Brockmeyer

First Capitol had an opportunity to interview St. Charles Fire Chief Ernie Rhodes regarding the fire study commission recently set up by St. Charles County Councilman Dan Foust.

FIRST CAPITOL NEWS (FCN)
On November 9, 2004 the St. Charles County Council appointed a fire study commission to determine what effect a county wide fire district would have on the delivery of fire services and the effect a county wide emergency services district would have on the fiscal capacity and financial viability of fire services throughout the county, and the economic impact on taxpayers throughout the county resulting from such proposed consolidation.
FIRE CHIEF ERNIE RHODES (CR)
That’s a really good question. I guess that is the whole reason for the commission study. First of all I think there is always a better way to do something and in the City of St. Charles as far as fire, EMS and rescue and a vast array of technical services the fire services are responsible for, I think we do a really good job. I think if there is a better way to provide a service we should look at it.

FCN: Do you think that a county wide service would be more efficient than your department is now.

CR: It is hard to tell. I am an advocate for the taxpayers of this community to make sure the quality of fire service, rescues, EMS, is very strong. I think we have that right now. But many people ask. What do you think? How do you feel? Would this be a benefit to the city? Right now I can’t say it would be or it wouldn’t be because I haven’t seen their plan. I don’t know what their plan is to number one maintain the service to increase the service or decrease the service or maintain the tax level. Increase the service and decrease the tax level. I haven’t seen their plan so it is hard for me to say if I am against it or for it. I do know one thing. We provide a very strong service to this community right now and I am totally against anything that would compromise that service.

FCN: What is your personal expectations on how many minutes will pass from the time someone calls to report an emergency to the time one of your units will respond?

CR: You can break this down into several sections. Number one is dispatch time. Number two is turnout time and number three is response time. It is hard for me to control the dispatch time because I don’t oversee dispatch. I think there are a lot of variables. When a caller calls it is hard for the dispatcher to get a good history of what is going on and then dispatch the equipment. It takes time to dispatch, load it into the CAD, the CAD chooses the equipment, then set off the tones, all the tones go out and then the turn out. Time for the national standard is about one minute. Per national standard there should be no more than a four-minute response time. That means when the trucks acknowledge they are responding they get on the scene within four minutes. That is pretty important and this is why. When you look at how do we design service, how do we design fire service you want to look at benchmarks.

The one good benchmark out there is called flashover. That all deals with the dynamics of fire growth. A fire goes through several stages of development. The one stage it will go through regardless of what is burning and length of time it is burning is flashover. If we have a house on fire and the fire starts in the corner, it will go to flashover. That is usually anywhere between four to eight minutes. What we want to do is get a fire truck on the scene within four minutes because we want to be there to put water on the fire before it reaches flashover. Once it goes to flashover it leaves the room of origin, which means more manpower to put it out. More water, more damage and really it compounds any search and rescue effort. So in the city of St. Charles we have a little over a four-minute response time. That is the national standard. That is very precious. We are very fortunate. We can get a fire truck on the scene and you would be surprised how many times we go to a fire and it starts small we get there quick enough to hold it. We save the house. We prevent that from becoming a working fire. We should go by the national standards. They are based on science and data. Not based on Ernie Rhodes’s interpretation of what is right and what is wrong.

FCN: What percentage of the time does your department meet that response time?

CR: I would say probably 90 percent, which is a pretty good percentage.

FCN: Do you have any areas where the response time is longer?

CR: There is an area of concern. It would be the northwestern quadrant of the City. Around the Truman Boulevard area. We rely 100 percent on mutual aid from Central County Fire District at that station. Based on the comments of Chief Johnson from Oregon who the commission brought in, you really want to rely on mutual aid up to 15 percent and I agree with him because we do not have control of that fire station. That fire station does not have a paramedic on the fire truck either. So if there were an area of the city that concerns me about a response time it would be that geographical portion of the City.

FCN: Once your firefighters have received a call how long does it take them to get on the road?

CR: It depends on the call. I have seen times of 10 seconds all the way up to a minute and 40 seconds. What is important is that you need to identify those times came from dispatch. Calculated in those times is also dispatch time. Probably the turn out time on a fire is right around a minute. It can take up to 30 to 40 seconds to dispatch an alarm with all the trucks so that time is figured in. The County fire chiefs as a whole are looking at that right now thinking we need to recalculate and do it appropriately by national standards. Dispatch time is dispatch time. Turn out time is turn out time and response time is response time. Right time the dispatch and turn out times are intertwined so it is hard to get a really clear objective look at that.

FCN: Would it be more efficient if you had you own dispatchers?

FCN: I don’t thinks so. County Alarm and Dispatch since Bob Watts has taken over as the leader, has improved greatly. I think they are doing a good job. I don’t think us taking over our dispatch would improve our response time.

FCN: How many firefighters do you have on each unit?

FCN: We have a minimum of three firefighters on every fire truck and ladder truck. The national standard calls for four firefighters but we have a minimum of three. Some days we could have more because if we have folks who are not sick or on vacation we could have up to four guys.

FCN: How do simultaneous calls affect your turn out?

CR: Obviously it depends on how many calls come in at one time. The more calls the thinner our service delivery. That very seldom happens, but what we do have is automatic mutual aid with Central County and basically every fire department in the metropolitan area. It is all flawlessly integrated through the 911 CAD systems. For instance, if station five is out of service and the next closest fire truck is a Central County fire truck, it is automatically dispatched so there is no delay in response time.

FCN: If I live in the City, but I live closer to a fire station that is out of the city, when I report an emergency, which fire unit is dispatched first?

CR: Myself and Chief Mason of the Central County Fire District have a fantastic working relationship. We share common standard operating guidelines. One of those is the first alarm response. If there is property or life endangerment Russ doesn’t care and I don’t care what it says on the side of the truck. What is important is to get someone there. We send the closest truck. If Central County is closer to your house and the city station closest to your house is out of service we will send the closest truck period.

FCN: What level of service does your department provide for emergency medical service?

CR: When I first became fire chief here in the city there was a little controversy on EMS between County Ambulance and our EMS units. Since then we have had a really good relationship and we use both those units. We use the closest life support unit. The former chief of the County Ambulance Service said if you are going to have a medical emergency you want to have it in the City of St. Charles because they have access to four ambulances and we have a paramedic on every fire truck. We can get you a paramedic in four minutes. That is another good benchmark. Based on human physiology, four to six minutes of a life threatening injury you can have irreversible brain damage that will affect your quality of life for the rest of your life. If we can get a paramedic on the scene within four minutes we can greatly enhance your survival. And that is important. We are the only fire department in the county that provides that.

FCN: If they made a countywide fire department would that hold true for whatever trucks were covering the City of St. Charles?

CR: No it would not hold true.

FCN: There was an accident a couple of weeks ago on Highway 94 at Zumbehl Road. There were several ambulances and two emergency airlift helicopters there. What determines when an emergency helicopter is called for transportation?

CR: If it is a prolonged extraction or if it is a significant life threatening injury, that meets the criteria to go to a level one trauma center. St. John’s Mercy, Barnes downtown and St. Louis University Hospitals are Level 1 Trauma Centers. If they have a significant injury we call medical control, which is St. Joseph’s Hospital, to converse with the physician there and we follow our protocol that meets that criteria. That is what determines if we fly somebody out. A lot can also depend on traffic conditions.

FCN: Who makes that call?

CR: The paramedic on the scene goes by the protocols and confers with medical control at St. Joseph’s Hospital so it is a combined decision.

FCN: There has been some talk about changing the locations of the fire stations. What are your thoughts on that?

CR: Our mission statement says, “Service Without Boundaries, Compassion and Integrity in all we do and the Courage to move forward. With all the controversy with the Consolidation Commission we still have to remember that here in the city of St. Charles we have a fire service to provide. Right now, with the city growing, we are talking to the Public Safety Committee of the Council to start working with the Council on the fact that we have a city that is growing and do we have to start relocating fire stations. If we relocate several stations I think we can address that coverage issue on the northwestern quadrant of the city by Truman Boulevard and Ehlmann Road. The area of the city that is not well protected. For fires right now it is protected by Central County. They have a good fire service. But they don’t have a paramedic on their fire truck. As fire chief, I do not have any control over that fire station so when they have a fire and that truck is out of service, nobody calls Ernie and tells me so I can move equipment around to cover our City. We don’t know. We don’t have control. That is why we need to shift our fire stations around the City to make sure we can still provide coverage to the residents in that area of the city. I want to stress that we are not advocating building a sixth fire station and hiring twelve new people. I don’t think we want to do that, but I am advocating we start to talk about, can we relocate fire stations and provide equal service across the whole City of St. Charles. That is what we are looking at. We are strictly talking about it. There have been no decisions made. We are working with the Council trying to identify some areas of concern as the fire department looks at it to be objective to make sure we are providing a good service.

FCN: As New Town grows do you think that will necessitate the addition of a fire station?

ER: If you look at the rooftops that will be in there and I have heard of two different formulas. Two point one person per rooftop and two point six. We are going to have 15,000 people or so in New Town. You will have a small city up there. We plan on moving station four into New Town. That has been on the Capitol Improvement Plan for several years now, even before I came here as fire chief. We plan on moving that station to New Town. It is going to be a very dense area so we are going to put a fire station in there. In several years, 10 or maybe 15 years, we may not need any more fire stations but we may need to put another fire truck in service with a manned crew at a busy fire station. For instance, if we move station four into New Town and that truck is out of service, like six hours a day running calls, we may need to get another fire truck there to make sure we are there to cover the other calls. I can see the city of St. Charles in 10 or 15 years maybe hiring another pumper crew but not building a sixth station. Right now, if we can just move the stations, I think it will definitely save money for the city versus the easy fix. Putting a fire station up at Ehlmann and hiring twelve fire fighters. We want to be responsible. I know the Council wants to be financially responsible and we want to do that.

FCN: Your physical resources such as fire vehicles, training facilities, personal protective safety equipment, are they all adequate?

CR: Yes they are. We have state of the art protective gear, which allows our firefighters to go in deeper and be more aggressive in fire attack and rescue situations. We have got a great bunch of guys. They are dedicated firefighters. They work so hard for this community. They are not only firefighters they are paramedics. They can turn their hat around. If somebody has a bad car wreck they can take care of him or her. If somebody has a bad car wreck with the car on fire they can do both. They not only do that they do hazardous material response. Technical rescue, water rescue, building collapse, confined space rescue. We have to be so ready, because when somebody calls for help and we can’t fix it, who are they going to call? So we have to bear that burden to know it all. And we do that.

FCN: The other night I noticed a tow truck towing one of your units down Kingshighway. What kind of plans do you have for repair or replacement of your equipment?

CR: That was the old ladder truck that we traded in. The council approved the purchase of a new ladder truck, which we definitely need in the city. It is going to a broker in Alabama. As far as maintenance, the fire department provides it’s own maintenance. We save a lot of money by having our own mechanics and taking care of our own trucks.

FCN: If the taxpayers spent more money to make improvements in the fire department how much of that money would you estimate would come back through lower insurance premiums?

CR: You are referring to the ISO rating. Right now the city is a class four ISO rating. That is an independent service, a grading system that the insurance companies use to identify the ability of your local fire department and we are a class four. If we decrease to a class three the residents will not see a decrease in their insurance premiums but business will. We are in the process of getting a reevaluation of our ISO rating and we are hoping to decrease that classification. Which will be good for the business owners. Anytime we can save cost in insurance premiums we need to do that. We are looking at that and we are preparing to try to lower the rating.

FCN: In your personal opinion, as a professional fire chief, in the event the county would decide they wanted a countywide fire department, do you think it would require a tax increase or would there be a tax decrease for the taxpayers?

CR: I would have to look at their plan. If we were going to maintain our benchmarks in the City of St. Charles with a little over four minute response for fires and rescue and emergency medical services, I would say it would probably be a tax increase for a lot of people across the county because that is a pretty high standard to make. If the plan is less than that, I don’t know. It is hard for me to say because I don’t know their plan. I haven’t seen where it is broken. If it is broken tell me where it is broken so I can fix it.

FCN: A lot of people are not familiar with you Chief. Would you please give us your background?

CR: I have been in the fire service for 22 years as a firefighter. I have been a paramedic for roughly 19 years. I was with the Maryland Heights Fire District and went up the ranks there. I have been here for a little over two and one half years. I am also a rescue manager for one of 28 Federal Urban Search and Rescue Teams. I have a lot of experience in Urban Search and Rescue Disaster Response Operations. I have a Bachelors Degree in Applied Behavioral Science. Numerous certifications, firefighter one, two, three. Fire officer certifications, technical certifications in all Urban Search and Rescue. Tony, this is all I know. I eat sleep and breathe the fire service. I am really a very family oriented guy and I really like to serve the folks of this municipality.

FCN: Last year there was an election and there was a turnover on the City Council and the new Council came in with a goal of trying to save taxpayers money. We have noticed a lot of the City department heads were openly defiant and hostile towards the Council and resisted those efforts. But we have never heard anyone say a bad word about Ernie Rhodes. We have heard nothing but praise. What do you attribute that to?

CR: Oh my goodness. I can’t speak for anybody else but I know I work for Allan Williams and the elected officials who run the City of St. Charles. All I need to do is listen to what they need. Listen to what their constituents need and align our resources to make sure it happens. I guess I am just mindful of where I am at in the process of city government. I am a servant. I try to give my objective opinion and if there is a better idea then we go with that idea.

FCN: Putting aside the county study, if things continue the way they are where St. Charles has it’s own fire department, what do you see in the future for the St. Charles taxpayers?

CR: I do not necessarily see a tax increase. Maybe I am not in a position to foresee that. I see us maintaining our level of service. I see in the future that if we can move fire stations and spread out a standard of response equally across the city as being very important to the city residents. I see us being able to maintain our service if we can do that. If we can’t do that, then I as a fire chief say that we need to build that other station up around Ehlmann and then man that station. I see maybe in the next 10 to 15 years putting on an additional crew at an already existing station because of call volume. Other than that we provide every service we possibly can. We provide a very strong fire protection service. A very strong EMS service. A very strong rescues service. I think for a department our size we are really maximizing our resources. I am proud of our fire department. Proud of the men and women and I know that my firefighters are proud to serve to pursue our mission. That is Service without Boundaries, Compassion and Integrity in all we do and the courage to move forward.

FCN; You made a statement at one time that if someone has an emergency and it does not involve a gun, call the fire department. Do you still subscribe to that?

CR: Absolutely. If people need help in this City, call the fire department. Just like when the storm came through last July. My guys got the chain saws out and went door to door and began cutting trees down for the people. We were never out of service. When an emergency came in, they put the saws back in their trucks, they went to the emergency and they came back. That is what we are here to do. We are here to help people. My guys help people. And I want them to help people.

FCN: Do you have anything that you want to tell our readers that I haven’t thought to ask you?

CR: Tony, you are pretty thorough. I believe you covered all the bases. I appreciate the opportunity to present a little input on what is going on with reorganization. We are just trying to make sure that we maintain the level of fire service for the citizens of St. Charles. We are not necessarily against it. We would just like to say that if the recommendations are consolidation we would like to have the opportunity to opt in. To evaluate the financial impact. To evaluate the impact on service. We have some very strong benchmarks. A four-minute response time for fire and emergency medical services. That is very precious.

RAMBLING WITH THE EDITOR - Tony Brockmeyer

NO DAN IT’S NOT US

We have been told that former Councilman Dan Gould is blaming the delay in his request for a liquor license on the First Capitol News. You were a Councilman Dan until Dottie Greer defeated you. You should know that we do not have a vote on the City Council. But maybe that was covered at one of the many, many meetings you missed.

No Dan, you alone are responsible. You were the one who was arrested and jailed for driving under the influence. You were the one who berated and was belligerent to the police officers. You were the one who threatened and then apparently attempted to bribe the officers with a take home police car. You were the one who became a member of the committee and signed the papers for the recall attempt to try to get Councilwoman Dottie Greer removed from office after she soundly defeated you. No Dan, blame it on yourself.

The First Capitol News did not complain that your kitchen did not meet code and did not have a hood. Other restaurant owners made that complaint.

I don’t remember the exact working Dan but the liquor license requirements require the applicant to be of good character and to know and obey the laws especially the liquor laws. As for as good character, I won’t even go there. People should make up their own minds. As for obeying the laws, you may have a problem.

There have been ads placed notifying customers that Oliver’s is under new ownership. If indeed this is true and you have completed the sale, and you are operating the Restaurant/Bar, then you have already violated the laws. Even before your application has been voted on. The liquor laws of the state are very strict Dan. They do not allow you to operate under another persons liquor license or use their product.

The penalties can be very severe. No Dan, we do not vote on your liquor license, but if we did our vote would be NO. If you can't comply with the law before you get the license, why would they expect you to comply if a liquor license is issued.

Yes I know, you have been reported as saying you believe, business is business and politics is politics and they should not be mixed. I guess when you tried to put this newspaper out of business you forgot your beliefs.

A CONFLICT OF INTEREST?

We received a call from a local bank. They were complaining that the Economic Development Director for St. Charles, Nadine Boon, had mailed a invitation on official St. Charles City letterhead inviting Main Street Merchants to a meeting on June 8th. The letter told the invited merchants that refreshments would be furnished by Rocco Russo of Frontenac Bank. Their complaint was that Boon is on the Board of Frontenac Bank, and was using her official position and city funds to promote the bank. I wonder if the City Administration will take any action against Boon.

WHILE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT BANKS

An attempt by members of the County Convention and Sports Facilities Board to move the Convention Center accounts from Commerce Bank to Premier Bank has been thwarted by the City Council Finance and Audit Committee. A bill authorizing the move had been on the agenda at the last City Council meeting. It was moved to the Audit and Finance Committee where it was rejected Thursday evening. Premier, a relatively new player on the scene, recently opened a store front location on South Fifth Street. It is rumored that they plan to build a facility on the site of the former Burger King. Based in Jefferson City, they already indicate on their web pages they are the official depository for the Convention Center. They also have their advertisements on the large outdoor sign at the Convention Center. The only private business listed on the sign which they are using to promote their mortgage rates. Now their name will have to be removed from the sign and they will have to change their web page. The City Charter and ordinances call for the bank to be the official depositary to be determined by the City Council. Premier also has a location in St. Peters and their web pages announce they are involved in joint projects with TR Hughes. Darrell Roegner is the local Manager of Premier Bank.

THE CITY DESK - Rory Riddler City Council President

Missouri Legislature Is Best
Government Money Can Buy

PART II: The Millionaire Bill Of Rights

Okay group, stay in line. I don’t want any of you wondering away from the tour again. Last week we looked at several of the backdoors millionaires and special interests use to gain special access to our State Representatives and Senators. Today we’re going through one of those doors, deep inside the hidden corridors of power. This part of Missouri’s State Capitol is normally off-limits to average citizens and taxpayers like you or I. So if anyone asks (voice drops to a whisper)…you own a polluting industry and your other car is a Rolls Royce.

Door creaks open slowly.

You will notice right away how the State Representatives and Senators are fawning over us. We’ve been elevated to a higher plain of existence. We are now seen as “patrons” of the political elite. You probably thought the Roman system of wealthy patrons and their groveling clients had died out in 4th Century. It takes more than a couple of millennia to change human nature.

Suppose you are a millionaire homebuilder and you make the mistake of using a private sewer company that doesn’t have a contract with a City to dispose of the sewage. Now the beauty of the Millionaire’s Bill Of Rights, is you don’t even have to call for help. That’s because a friendly State Representative is willing to say, with a straight face I might add, that even though they talked with this homebuilder, they never discussed passing special interest legislation to bail him out.

No, they simply tacked an amendment on to a bill at the last minute, without telling anyone, to materially benefit private interests at the expense of the public interest. Why? Just out of the goodness of their heart. They just couldn’t stand by and see a millionaire suffer. Poor people they can kick out of hospitals, but how they weep at the inhumanity suffered upon their wealthy benefactors.

So what is so wrong about this amendment you might ask. To start with it mandates the City provide service to customers of a private sewer company outside of our City limits. It is like telling us we have to pick up the garbage for people living in Bridgeton or Hazelwood. If we want to stop serving them, we have to give them two years notice…even if they don’t pay their sewer bills for two years!

Did I mention that these private sewer lines are in terrible shape? If they collapse, under this State mandate, the taxpayers of the City of St. Charles would have to pay to repair private sewer lines in unincorporated St. Charles County! One could understand if this amendment were offered by the State Representative who represents the people in the county, but this was put on by a representative who is suppose to be watching out for the interests of City taxpayers.

I wish I could tell you this was the worst example of what goes on here, but consider what befell our poor neighbor to the west. St. Peters made the mistake of putting a tax on hotels that a millionaire hotel developer didn’t like. The legislature stripped them this session of the power to levy this particular tax. Not everyone in the State mind you…just St. Peters. It cost their community $400,000 a year.

The same thing is happening all over the State. Long time observers have never seen it this bad. Gary Markenson is the Executive Director of the Missouri Municipal League. He is one of the easiest going, non-partisan people you would ever want to meet. Here is what he recently wrote (in part) about current attitudes in the Missouri General Assembly:

“Many (State Legislators) campaigned on a platform of less state government and more local control, but after Election Day, they forget the campaign slogan when it becomes inconvenient… Money has always talked in Jefferson City. The special interests, who make endorsements and finance these campaigns, are often supporters of bills to mandate costs in cities or restrict local authority to tax or regulate. On the other hand, municipal officials tend to be non-partisan and neutral in legislative campaigns.”

Well we have time for just one more question from the tour group? Yes, you in the back. You say you wonder why people back home don’t get mad about what goes on up here. Mostly I would say it’s the distance. St. Louis media outlets find it easier to cover controversial school board meetings when a principal gets fired than to have to drive to Jefferson City and spend days here doing real investigative reporting. For the most part legislators know that what goes on in Jefferson City…stays in Jefferson City.

THE PEOPLE SPEAK - Letters To The Editor

Dear Editor:

We’ve historically elected state legislators to run the business of the state and city officials to run the business of the city. In St. Charles, however, this may no longer be the case. Senator Gross and Representative Dempsey, two of our elected state officials, have lately taken to drafting Missouri legislation aimed exclusively at the City of St. Charles thus enabling them to override the decisions of our elected city officials. I realize both these men have a great allegiance to their moneyed backers in the City of St. Charles who do not always see eye-to-eye with our city officials, but St. Charles citizens duly elected these city officials to run our City and the state officials should respect the voters’ preference. By passing laws that apply only to one city, Mr. Dempsey & Mr. Gross have basically created one-man laws because no one else at the Statehouse has any reason to care, much less object, to a law which has no meaning for them or their constituencies. Actually, in the case of Mr. Gross’s legislation, he had to eliminate every square inch of Missouri except St. Charles before his bill would pass as none of the other legislators wanted his bill to affect their area. If this is Mr. Gross and Mr. Dempsey’s idea of democracy, we should think very carefully before casting another vote for either one of these men should they ever run for another political office.

Eleanor McCune

Dear Editor,

I found a recent article by the City’s former Human Resource Director lacked many facts and would like to take this opportunity to set the record straight on one specific area. Carrie Caskey told the residents that the St. Charles City Council questioned Marsh Advantage becoming the broker of record because Don Dilley, the former broker, was local. That is far from the truth and demonstrates a lack of integrity that plagued the City of St. Charles for the length of my tenure.

Councilman John Gieseke and myself questioned Marsh for one reason, we believed that having the same company serve as both the broker of record and the third party administrator would create a system that lacked checks and balances. These checks and balances were necessary to protect the public’s interest in dealing with the carrier of the city’s health care insurance. This is all on tape and on the record, can Caskey say that? We conducted our meeting in open session and my comments are all part of the public record.

The need for these checks and balances were demonstrated when the council received a report from Marsh about the increase in health care premiums for 2005. The new council led the fight to get bids from brokers and insurance companies and these bids came in far less than those of Marsh. I remember watching that meeting and hearing Marsh tell the City Council that their bids were the best the City could hope for. They determined this by using bench marks from another company that they owned. So when you read things with some fiction and some fact, how do you determine fact from fiction? Marsh is now involved in the largest insurance scheme to hit the insurance industry. Marsh is accused of bid rigging and paying for business. Marsh is the parent company of Putman Investments a company that was charged by Federal Trade Commission for wrong doing. I think the people of St. Charles are lucky to have a City Council that didn’t accept the status quo from the so called professionals.

Best regards,
John Scherr
Former City Councilman

Dear Editor:

The Mayor’s Paper, The Citizen, on May 25 in an article by Kevin Smith deadlined Dottie Greer as “A Lightning Rod of Controversy”. The tone of his article seemed to imply that controversy was undesirable. Democracy is controversy. If we didn’t have controversy, we wouldn’t need elections and wouldn’t need multiple branches of government. The only governments where controversy does not exist are dictatorships. There it is not allowed.

Some people have complained to me, “Don’t you think it’s terrible that the Mayor and the Council don’t get along? We just can’t get anything done.” No. I don’t think it’s terrible. I think it’s wonderful, expected, and proper. Perhaps the “anything” that we can’t get done is something some of us don’t want done.

Plato in his political treatise “The Republic” said of democracy, “Democracy, which is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike.” He also said in the same work, “Democracy passes into despotism.” Yes indeed, we do have to be careful!

Alexis de Tocqueville, a Frenchman who visited America in 1832 just to observe our democracy in action, set down his observations and analysis in a work entitled “Democracy In America” He said, “This ceaseless agitation which democratic government has introduced into the political world, influences and social intercourse.” He aslo wrote, “...but the political activity which pervades the United States must be seen to be understood. No sooner do you set foot upon American ground, than you are stunned by a kind of tumult; a clamor is heard on every side; and a thousand voices demand satisfaction of their social wants.”

In regard to our current controversies, Kevin Smith identified the position taken by Dottie Greer on several issues, implying that her position was the “wrong” one. Some of the issues mentioned were:
1. Proposing a bill to ban the sale of fireworks within the city.
2. Fighting the Boon’s Lick Road improvements
3. Refusing to be sworn in by Mayor York.
4. Voting to remove the Mayor from the dais at council meetings.
5. Opposing the convention center
6. Leading the charge to pass Amendment One.

These are all reasons why I would vote for Dottie Greer if I lived in her ward.

In regard to items three and four, I realize that the Charter states, “The mayor shall have the power to administer oaths and affirmations...” but I see nothing i the Charter to prohibit someone else from performing this function. The Charter also states, “The mayor shall not be a member of the council, but shall have the right to participate in the deliberations at all the meetings of the council.” I think that the change of seating helps to emphasize the separation of powers which should exist between the Mayor and the council. The council members who took the action identified in items three and four were simply declaring their independence from the office of Mayor, an independence that seemed to be lacking in the previous council.

In representative government, the legislature or council is supposed to represent the interests of the people in their district, not just the people who elected them, but all the people in their district. If a majority of their constituency has a certain frame of mind, then they should vote accordingly. If Dottie Greer’s residents opposed the convention center then she was right to oppose it. If they favored it, then she was wrong. If a majority of people in Mike Weller’s ward favored his no vote on subpoena power at the May 4th administrative hearing then he did the right thing. If they wished to subpoena, then he was wrong. I suspect in this case he was wrong, but not having canvassed his ward, I really can’t say.

Glen Dashner


Dear Editor,

I disagree with Daniel Roach on “What do you think about this?”

I don’t like defending Mr. Tom Hughes but if I believe a person is right I back him even if he is a republican.

I’m a democrat and I have been retired since 1996 because of social security.

No way would I go to a prayer breakfast if a anti-Christ was to speak.

Charlie R. Glear

THE CONSERVATIVE FACTOR - Alex Spencer

“Attack On The Office of Mayor, ” says Ed Watkins, editor of the Citizen.

Watkins has stated that a vote of the people for a charter amendment and a recall petition to attempt to recall York is an attack on the very office of Mayor. I believe the proponents of change are unhappy with the Mayor and do not trust her. Watkins would have us believe that if we criticize the Mayor and here cronies the actual attack is on the office itself. Does he honestly believe that removal of this Mayor would forever result in the public wishing to remove future Mayors prematurely forever?

For the many decades that I’ve been aware of city politics, there has been no mention of recalling any Mayor, much less an organized effort by several groups, independent of each other, who appear to be working diligently to to retire this Mayor.

I invite all to take the time to read our City Charter. It is very clear and easy to understand. Perhaps some of you would like to call Watkins and request him to print any portion of the charter which states that, A Recall effort or Charter Amendment or impeachment proceedings are an attack on the “Office of Mayor.” For any one of the above to even commence, the majority of the voters must be very unhappy with the performance of our Mayor.

As taxpayers, is it not our just right to use the City Charter as we see fit? Who pays the Mayor’s salary and the salaries of those she hires at top wages? We do.

Mr Ed, since we all know about your “Honest Voice About Honest Issues,” shouldn’t you be more interested in the office of City Administrator?

Wasn’t it Patti’s best friend and “Top-Cop” Tommy Mayer who ordered City Administrator Williams to lay down on a concrete parking lot with guns drawn in order to humiliate hi in front of other police officers? Does this not constitute an attack on the “Office” of City Administrator? At the very least, it was an overt abuse of power to intimidate Mr. Williams and show him “Who was really running this city!” Defend this in your next tabloid.

I believe these so-called “attacks on the Mayor” started when Patti’s best friend, Tommy Mayer, had one of his cronies call the First Capitol News and squeal on the St. Charles Police Association because they were backing Riddler for the office of Mayor. If Watkins lived in this city or ever had, he would know this bit of documented history. Mayer did not believe that any candidate but York should receive endorsements. Since Mr. Ed knows so much, please tell us exactly what joined Mayer and York at the hip and what were their future plans for this City? To most people, it appeared to be an alliance straight out of hell which has been extremely detrimental to both. Mayer has been fired and the taxpayers want York to resign or be impeached. Those two facts simply cannot be refuted.

It appears that Internal Affairs closed the book regarding any activities of Tommy Mayer. Judge and Jury! “Take that, you taxpayers,” is what Patti’s friend communicated to the citizens of this city.

Mr. Ed boasted that 75 people showed up to support York at what was supposed to be a hearing to gather and determine facts. It should be noted that at least half of her :Golden Friends; (He who has the gold makes the rules) live in cities other than St. Charles.Mr. Ed also ran a large ad touting the “Mayor’s Legal Defense Fund.” Poor Patti, can drive a luxury car but has no money! The persons engineering this fund are Elmendorf, Kielty, Baum, TR (Ed’s boss) and Rick Tillman. Why does she even need an attorney? The subpoenas requested to obtain the facts were blocked by Jerry Reese. It’s a moot point. What are these benevolent men going to do with the money they’re collecting? Since Patti is not poor, will they just give it to her anyway so that she has gas money for her Lexus convertible?

Is there something wrong with this picture?

Since Watkins does not live here and this City is none of his personal business, why did he force himself into the mix? Could it be for a hefty salary under a firm contract?

People are placing bets as to how long it will take TR to discover that he’s being made a fool of. Will it not be until he runs out of money? If he runs out of money, will the same people continue to follow him like puppy dogs looking for a bone? I thin not!

At the moment, TR is the newest rich boy on the block and rules in most of his associations. He is much in demand, idolized and sought out by every group and charity to use his good name.

TR stated that the hearing to determine the facts about the Mayor’s illegal signing of a City contract without Council approval, was nothing more than a “Kangaroo Court.”

Charley picked it up and ran with it in his true to form column - using “Kangaroo Court” at least nine times in the article. The great thing about Charley is that he always knows who to bow - down to. That’s why his writing is referred to as a “gossip column,” not respectable news reporting.

The way TR is going about getting his sewers hooked up is a win-win situation for him. His development is not in our city - by his choice.

He also chose to unite with Nancy Matheny and Bill Weber to interview City Council candidates for the last election. I think everyone remembers the policy of this elite group. “If you don’t do as we say, you leave by the back door.” Our current City Council is looking out for the taxpayers of this city and attempting to protect our over-loaded sewer system.

State Representative Tom Dempsey may be able to bring home the bacon for Daddy Ernie, (Pio's and the License Bureau) but it will prove to be his bitter pill to swallow - not Daddy or TR. Eighty percent of Dempsey’s district is within the City of St. Charles. If his recent legislation is signed by the Governor, the City will be forced for two years to allow TR to hook up to our sewers in order to compete St. Andrews. He will save tons of money at the expense of our City taxpayers and St. Andrews is not in the City. (He’ll probably donate his profit to Patti York’s Legal Defense Fund so she can keep gas in that convertible!)

W all need to tell State Representative Tom Dempsey that there will lbe consequences to pay at the polls next year.

COMMENTS & COMMENTARY by Charles Hill

Well, it’s time to roll our sleeves up and get to work. First, let’s take it upon ourselves to lobby each and every Councilperson to let them know Main Street is ready and willing to take the lead in determining the direction tourism must take. The great thing is most of the people I have spoken with believe that we are the anchor but not the end all, be all, of tourism. Main Street is willing to share the stage with the other attractions and other areas of interest St. Charles has to offer.

One councilman spoke about the sports in the area and from what I heard the response was “we already do that.” Well, we do market to the sports teams they say. Go down to Mueller Park on a weekend and look at the people. Most are guests in our City but they have no idea what we have to offer. Something as simple as a kiosk providing information about Main Street, Bass Pro and the Casino would help expose soccer moms and dads to what St. Charles has to offer outside the sporting arenas. These little things are missing. Would you ever invite guests to your home without giving them directions? That is what we do all the time.

Main Street can be a positive force if we move quickly on an agenda that allows for a marketing campaign that creates a sense of wanting to be, instead of the stale and lifeless marketing we have now. Our City is in need of a new direction in marketing. The editor asked me to include slogans that the former Convention and Visitors Bureau director would have created for Las Vegas instead of the award winning, and probably a phrase that will live on forever, “What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas.” If our previous director would have created the slogans this is a quick sample; “Las Vegas-you can gamble.” Las Vegas-where it is a dry heat.” “Las Vegas-it’s in the desert so bring sunscreen.”

We have missed so many opportunities because we never really wanted to know who and what are market was and we never created any marketing that would bring people in the numbers that the CVB tried to take credit for.

This new convention center with all the splendor it possesses, has the potential to bring in guests we never had, but if we don’t change the thinking of the CVB that we are more than historical than we are destined to continue to go in a downward spiral.

STRAIGHT TALK - Bob Hoepfner Councilman Ward 10

Hello again out there folks. It has been a couple of weeks but we are back on track again . I get hundreds of calls a month, from people asking for help, asking me to stand up for them. I always try to respond in a positive way because I am here for the resident taxpayer, the senior citizen.

You know it is easy to be with the wine and cheese set because they have the power and they have the money. I guess instead of writing about the challenges of the city and challenges to our citizens, it is easier to write about old junk car or your house pet. Most of us really care and stand up for folks. I have been doing this for over 30 years. I don't write gossip. I write about the true struggles and sometimes the successes of our resident taxpayers.

Take for example, we all voted to join the Metropolitan Park System. Where we tax ourselves, build up the funds for a Metropolitan park system. It consists of the three counties in Missouri and four counties in Illinois. The Metropolitan Park Commission does major development throughout these counties connecting the hiking and biking trails. Some of the money paid in is returned to the participating counties and pieced out to the municipalities. Our piece of the pie this year is $200,000 for the City of St. Charles. I have learned that the Mayor and our Economic Development believe that they can use that money to help bring a large company into St. Charles.the Mayor and our Economic Development Department believe they can do whatever they want with that money. When I voted for the Metropolitan Park System it was my understanding that our extra money would go to our city parks. What was your understanding my friends? I believe they are going to make an attempt to take this $200,000 away from the park system and use it to build a parking lot for this company. What would we do with the parking lot if this company falls apart. They are also considering putting a road through the soccer complex for this company.

You all remember Proposition P. Proposition P says parks money is parks money and the city leaders cannot use that park tax for anything other than parks. It is my understanding they were also talking about doing a bond issue and were planning on using the park tax money as collateral for the bonds. This is not right and I am completely against it.

I want our park tax dollars to go for our city parks only. Just like we said in Proposition P. Evidently these people still feel that they can do anything they want in our park system and you and I have to put a stop to this.

We have made some changes at City Hall and there are going to be more. Right now some of the staff think that they run the City irregardless of what the residents and/or the council want. But you know the outcome of that one don’t you folks.We will, I promise you we will get back to the needs and concerns of the resident taxpayers. Stay tuned and stay in touch. God love you one and all. Warts and all. 949-0956.

“Grease” is the word!

Flood Stage Productions is putting the finishing touches on their upcoming production of “Grease”. Opening night is June 10 at the St. Charles High School auditorium, and the stage is the target for the efforts of dozens of volunteers. What comes and goes in a few performances did not just happen overnight.

Director Lori Gibson brings her considerable acting and directing talents to this production. She began auditions in March, but her creative mind has been developing this production for nearly a year. Casting a full crew of people who could act AND sing AND dance would have been daunting for some, but Gibson has collected a very talented cast to bring “Sandy”, “Danny”, “Roz” and the rest to St. Charles.

The choreography of this jumpin’ production has been developed by Greg Matzker. This St. Louis native took to dance by chance nearly 20 years ago, and has received recognition in everything from community theater to competitive swing dancing. “Getting to work on this show reminds me why I am in theater,” says Matzker. “Because it is fun!” With nearly 150 productions to his credit, he has recognized that the freedom allowed to him at Flood Stage is unique. “This cast has intensity and liveliness… no matter what I throw at them!” he says with pride. He says he has developed dance numbers that are reflective of the era, but not replicas of the movie’s routines, bringing excitement out from the stage and into the seats.

And what music is playing during all this dancing? All the music in the production is performed live by members of the local band “Bone Daddy”. Musical director Kevin Kurth is bringing 50’s dance tunes and the entire “Grease” score to vibrant life with the talents of these fabulous local musicians. And while most productions have only a week of rehearsals with actors and musicians together, “Bone Daddy” will have been rehearsing with the cast for nearly a month by opening night. Be sure to catch their act during intermission, too.

All this energy brings the music alive, but what transports the audience to Rydell High? Fantastic sets have been designed by Jim Davis to do just that. His greatest challenge was the very wide SCHS stage, but his vision for the sets truly brings a bit of Broadway to Flood Stage. Davis has devoted his talents to over 125 productions in a variety of venues, including ten years as Artistic Director for Christmas Traditions on Historic Main Street. Audiences will be amazed when the curtain goes up on Flood Stage’s production of “Grease”!

Flood Stage Productions has a cast of contributors who support community theater. The Quick Trip Corporation and the St. Charles Arts & Culture Commission have provided financial support. Griffey Custom Homes donated a generous supply of quality lumber and building materials. Cardinal Towing and the students at Lewis & Clark Technical School helped to make “Greased Lightning” a reality.

“Grease” runs June 10 & 11 at 8pm; June 17 & 18 at 8pm; and June 19 at 2pm. All performances are at St. Charles High School auditorium. Reservations are available by calling (636) 946-2114.

THE YMCA BREAKS GROUND AT THE NEW TOWN AT ST.CHARLES

The New Town at St. Charles’, a traditional neighborhood development off Hwy. 370 and New Town Blvd., and the YMCA of Greater St. Louis, a charitable organization committed to building strong communities, concepts seem to go hand and hand.

This seemingly natural marriage moved one step closer to reality recently as the YMCA of Greater St. Louis and Whittaker Homes broke ground for the 47,000-square-foot, three-story YMCA facility located in the heart of the first neighborhood center in The New Town at St. Charles.

Construction is expected to begin on the YMCA this summer. The facility is planned to include an indoor swimming pool and water park, locker rooms, a gymnasium, exercise rooms, a nursery, meeting rooms and more. The first phase of the project is estimated to cost between $3.5 and $4.5 million.

According to Greg Whittaker, president of Whittaker Homes, “The YMCA is an essential piece to making The New Town at St. Charles a true town. We are creating a place of the past where people can choose to walk to the general store, church, parks and more. The YMCA is committed to building strong communities and bringing families together, so it truly is a perfect match.”

Gary Schlansker, President and CEO of the YMCA of Greater St. Louis agrees. “We are thrilled to have this opportunity to serve more people in the St. Charles area, with quality YMCA programs like swimming lessons, day camp, fitness and youth sports,” he said. “This new YMCA will enable us to fulfill our vision of building strong kids, strong families and strong communities, every day.”

The YMCA of Greater St. Louis, a not-for-profit charitable organization, has 20 branches and 450 program sites that will serve more than 600,000 people this year through programs that develop spiritual, mental, and physical well being for all people. No one is turned away from the YMCA because of an inability to pay.

Priced from the $100s to $800+, New Town at St. Charles is a true new urbanism town with a mixed use of homes designed for all income levels. Housing types at New Town include condo/townhome mansions, row homes, detaches Galt House detached townhomes, cottages, single-family homes, custom homes, live work units, lofts, and senior courtyard homes.
Ultimately, this $1.3 billion project will be a thriving town with approximately 5,700 residences in ten phases, with a carefully planned mix of homes in addition to a town center and four neighborhood centers.

New Projects celebrate 120 Years Of Health Care In St. Charles

Lynndi Lockenour

People crowded around the timeline and booths giving away free pens to read about the history of St. Joseph Medical Center. The snack and cake tables were also of interest as guests waited for tours of the new facilities.

The Center celebrated its 120th birthday at a ceremony held on Thursday, May 19. Though the actually birthday isn’t until November, they were eager to show the community what they’ve been working on and start using the new facilities.

Carrie Trent, public relations and marketing for the Center, said showing the facilities to the community was an important aspect to updates being made. “The community has always strongly supported us,” she said. “They have been as excited about this as we are.”

The first of several new facilities is the cardiovascular suite. It houses several expanded services, including new cardiac cauterization and electrophysiology capabilities. The electrophysiology lab is the only one of its type in St. Charles County. With this addition of electrophysiology, specialists can assess a heart’s electrical condition and use implantable defibrillators and pacemakers to treat specific problems.

The cardiovascular suite costs in excess of $2 million. In addition to the three catheterization labs and interventional radiology lab, the multimillion suite houses a new nine-bed pre and post-operative area. The suite is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, allowing flexibility and improved ability to handle emergency cases.

Pamela Hancock, executive vice-president of administration, has worked with The Center for 30 years and said in that time she has seen many changes. “People die every year because of heart palpitations which could be prevented with machines like the new one we have now,” she said.”

The other major facility revealed was the H.W. Koenig Cancer Center. It features new linear accelerators and uses Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) technology.
IMRT is the most significant treatment available in the last 25 years for people with malignant tumors.

Hancock said that though the technological advances are extremely important, they are just one way The Center continues to help the community. “The technology and services change with the times,” she said, “but it’s all with the same relative idea of helping as many people as we can,” she said.

Paul Convery, MD said this type of service to the community is what the hospital was originally founded on 120 years ago. “We were originally asked to start this hospital because the community needed it,” he said, “which is something we continue to strive for now, is that community involvement.”

The hospital began in the late 1870’s with a small house at 305 Chauncey Street. Fr. Edward Koch, pastor at the time for the St. Peter Parish, gave the land across the street from the church to the Sisters of St. Mary so they could build a hospital.

St. Joseph first opened its doors in 1891 as a 28 bed red brick structure. During its first year, the hospital admitted 121 patients. Things have changed because in 2002 the 364-bed Center and 88-bed St. Joseph Hospital West combined had 18, 264 acute admissions, 65,670 emergency department visits, 1,596 births and 12,936 surgery cases.

The first addition to the hospital was in 1904, with another wing being added in 1924 to include the first elevator at St. Joseph. A third addition was opened in 1945. In 1959 there was a groundbreaking ceremony for a new six-story, air conditioned east wing for maternity patients. Because of the population boom between the 1950’s and 1960’s, in 1965 the hospital announced plans for another major renovation and building program. This evolved into the three stages that lasted through 1978.

In addition to the cancer center and cardiac lab, St. Joseph also celebrated renovations on the sixth floor which including 31 patient rooms. Also renovated were the Healing Presents Gift Shop and the Historic Stumberg House at the corner of Jefferson and Third streets, which houses hospital offices.

In addition, the hospital received a federal appropriation of $500,000 to assist in building a prominent Health Education Resource Center on its campus. When this center is completed it will be the only facility of its kind in St. Charles County. It will provide access to information and educational opportunities in health services and health care not otherwise available to residents.

Fun at The Aquatic Centers

Swim lessons family season pool passes, aqua-size, water power-walking, synchronized swimming, swim teams, teen night bashes and much more are being offered this season by the St. Charles Aquatic Centers.
According to Cathy Dedecker. “Blanchette Aquatic Center has three separate pools.The main activity pool has two slides and also a drop slide. We have a mushroom fountain that has a drop slide for the kids. It also has two different size lily pad walks for children of different heights. We have a kiddie pool equipped especially for the younger ones. It also has an outer slide and a water playground. There is also a lap pool where we have general swimming and where we give swim lessons.”

Opening day for the Aquatic Centers was May 28th. The normal hours are 11am to 7pm except for Saturdays which will be 11am to 6pm so that they can accommodate birthday parties and other special events.

We are also going to have three teen splash nights at Blanchette and Wapplehorst pools,” she said.”This is something new that we are trying. We are going to have DJs, games, water activities for the children from 6 to 9. At Blanchette Aquatic Center the teen nights will be on June 11, July 9, August 13 for youth 11 to 14. The admission is $8 per person. That includes admission, a value meal, fun, games, food and prizes. At Wapplehorst Aquatic Center the teen splash nights will be on June 25, July 23, and August 20th also from 6 to 9 for youth 11 to 14 and again the fee is $8.”

St. Charles residents can obtain a pool VIP card at City hall. This allows all city residents to swim at the Aquatic centers at a greatly reduced rate. According to Cathy, “Some special benefits of this card include: you can swim any time at the McNair Aquatic Center for only $3 for adults and $2 for children; and after 4pm the rates drop even lower to $2 for adults and only $1 for children. Both Blanchette and Wapelhorst have reduced rates after 4pm. The fee is $3 for adults and $2 for children. Residents can also take advantage of our Family nights every Wednesday and Friday at al l three aquatic centers. The rates are only $2.50 for either children or adults. Wapelhorst stays open until 8pm on Family nights which begin on Friday, June 10th.”

Wapplehorst Aquatic Center has a five story speed slide for the daring, a water rapids ride, an underground water slide that takes you to a third level, a children’s playground with a large red bucket that tips over every minute, a lot of gizmos and gadgets to play with like water guns and water features. Wapplehorst also has an open flume slide that you can go down in an inner tube. There is a large body of water called the activity pool and there are a couple of lanes open for lap swimming and a general area where kids can just play in the water.

The McNair Aquatic Center has one large body of water. There is a large speed slide that dumps into a splash pool. It also has a lily pad walk, two different sizes to accommodate various size children. It also has a kids water playground and an otter slide for the little children to go down.

Cathy says, “Don your swim suit and get set to get wet!”

For additional information you can contact Cathy Dedecker at 949-3372

MY COLUMN - Mike McMurran Sports Editor

Ah yes, so often I forget why I entered the field of education. It seems like only yesterday, I was an undergraduate student at UMSL, and the all-important question was posed to the students: “Why are you entering the field of education?” There were some profoundly philosophical responses. “I wish to touch the future,” “Teaching is the most important job in American society,” “Working with youth is my life’s calling.” Then it came time for my response. “I want summers off!” And so it is. It has been a family tradition around the McMurran household that I call my lovely wife Lynn the moment school has been dismissed for summer and sing a verse of Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out…” She hates it; I love it.

Saint Charles High Baseball Pirates are on a roll at the right time. Head coach Charlie Meeker’s squad will travel to Columbia this weekend to participate in the Class 3 final four. The Pirates presently have a six game winning streak; if they can stretch it to eight they will be crowned State Champions. They will take on Pacific (15-7) in semifinal action Friday afternoon at 5 p.m. The Championship game is scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday evening at Taylor Stadium on the University of Missouri Campus. Good luck boys!

Since school is out for summer the format will change a bit. Rather than have an “athlete of the week” we will now have a “team of the week.” This week’s team is a rowdy bunch of beer drinkers (my kind of guys) who play at Wallephorst Park on Tuesday evenings. They are sponsored by Cullpepper’s located on W. Clay. Should you wish to nominate a team for team of the week, contact me by phone or e-mail. Any team is eligible; youth, adult, baseball, softball.

Regular readers of this column know next to my family my passion in life is football. They also know that I have been offered two or three assistant coaching positions for next season; all of which I turned down. Then it happened. An old friend of mine called me last week and informed me he had just been named head coach of that football factory in North County, Trinity Catholic High School. Mark Harris is his name, and I have no doubt he will be successful. It may take him a couple of years, but I know Mark, and he knows football, and more importantly is an excellent teacher. Anyway, I congratulated Mark on his new position, and wished him all the luck in the world. He then asked me to come out of retirement and be his offensive line coach. “Nope, I am retired Mark. Plus I have this newspaper gig which is as demanding as it is fun.” Harris responded, “I don’t even have a second choice, you are the only one I want, sorry.” It took me by surprise, and, frankly, it gave me goosebumps. After a lengthy family discussion, it was decided that as long as I was able to continue writing for this wonderful weekly, returning to coaching would be fine. My 4th grade daughter Maggie and 2nd grade son Joe made it clear to me I had committed to the newspaper, and that in this family we keep our commitments. Sometimes I wonder who the adults are in my family.

Any way, I have made arrangements to do both. If anything, the high school coverage will improve in the fall. More to come.

Congratulations to St. Charles City resident Ryan Wallace who was recently announced the head football coach at Jennings High School. Unfortunately, Jennings and Trinity will play each other on the final game of the season next year. It is never fun competing against your friends – but it sure is fun beating them.

And lastly, it seems the Saint Charles Lady Pirates Soccer team overcame a bit of adversity and reached the finals of the District Tournament before ending their season. They were nominated for “team of the week,” and would have been an excellent story. Unfortunately, by the time I received the message they had turned in their uniforms and gone their individual ways. Sorry. Congratulations ladies. You have represented your school, your community, and your families proudly.

Mike McMurran: 314.280.9189 or mcmurran@charter.net

STATE BOUND!

By: Mike McMurran
Sports Editor

The St. Charles High Baseball Pirates will make their first trip to Columbia and the Class 3 Baseball Championships since 1997 this weekend. Led by senior Brad Bichel’s two hit, shut out victory over St. Francis Borgia in quarterfinal action, the Pirates will compete for the chance of bringing home the first state baseball title in the school’s history.

“With this group of seniors I think that anything less than reaching the final 4 would have been a disappointment,” shared head coach Charlie Meeker. In addition to Bichel, those seven seniors include: Ryan Eisenbath, Nick Roth, Kyle Boschert, Brian Randazzo, Caleb Orf and Shane Roemer. “Bichel, Boschert and Randazzo have played together on a team called the Cobras since they were youngsters,” Meeker said, “pretty much the entire group has been best friends for some time.”

In Meeker’s only previous trip to the final 4 as a head coach in ’97, the Pirates finished 4th. Prior to that the Pirates first and only trip to the final 4 was 1993; Meeker served as an assistant on that squad.

Bichel had this ending in mind since the beginning of the season. “From day one this was our goal. If we didn’t make it to state our season wouldn’t have been complete. If we had not made it to state we would have felt it was a bad season, no matter what the record was.” Randazzo agreed. “This whole season has been fun,” he said, “the entire team gets along really well, everyone gives 100 percent effort, we just do our job – and now we reap the benefits. This really is the icing on the cake,” offered the former First Capitol News Athlete of the Week.

Boschert is happy but made it clear the season is not over. “Yeah, it’s been a great season, but we still gotta go out there and get two more. To be so close is an awesome feeling “To win state and get a banner in the gym would be the ultimate.”

The Pirates are scheduled to take on Pacific in semifinal action on Friday at 5 p.m. The winner will take on the winner of the Webb City (23-4) and Benton (24-1) game in Saturday’s 8 p.m. Championship game. All games will be played at Taylor Stadium on the University of Missouri campus.

Local 1987 Local Brotherhood of Carpenters of St. Charles Salutes First Capitol News Team of the Week

Diameters are Team of the Week

“The Diameters bring a competitive spirit to a recreational sport.” Head coach Eric Vaughn

By: Mike McMurran
Sports Editor

St. Charles City resident Brad Nichols holds the career scoring record in basketball at Fort Zumwalt High School, but nothing beats the thrill he gets playing slow pitch softball with his buddies on the Diameters.

The team has been selected the inaugural FCN Team of the Week, due largely to their antics on the field, such as blasting music prior to each player coming to bat. “Some teams like it, some don’t,” offered shortstop, and team spokesman Ryan Wallace, “we think its cool, and that’s all that matters,” says the St. Charles resident.

It seems Culpepper’s Restaurant, on West Clay made a wise investment when deciding to sponsor the Diameters. “We go there after most games and drink their cold, cold beer,” says Wallace. “And how could we not order their great appetizers,” he says as if he were making a commercial. From the look of most of the players, Culpepper’s will easily get their money back, and them some.

Eric Vaughn, the team’s head coach is a bit more diplomatic, and much easier to believe. “We are mostly just a bunch of guys who are trying to continue living the glory days. We know our most productive athletic days are behind us, but heh, no team out there has more fun than we do.”

Having fun, what a great concept. The team plays twice a week as well as entering a number of tournaments.

To nominate a team for Team of the Week, contact Mike McMurran at 314.280.9189 or mcmurran@charter.net