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Saturday, September 23, 2006
FRONT PAGE - FIRST CAPITOL NEWS September 23, 2006
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DEPOSED TESTIMONY LINKS DEVELOPER TO RECALL FRAUD
DEVELOPER SAID, “WITHOUT MARK BROWN IN OFFICE IT WILL BE EASIER TO GET PROJECTS APPROVED”
By Tony Brockmeyer
When we learned from depositions that fraud was revealed in the attempt by the Citizens Empowerment Committee headed by Linda Meyer to recall Councilman Mark Brown, the First Capitol News contacted Councilman Mark Brown for a comment. Brown told the First Capitol News, “My job on the council is to protect the residents not the rich developers. I will not vote to allow developments that will be detrimental to the homeowners of St. Charles.”
Depositions taken in the effort to recall Councilman Mark Brown have revealed the effort is fraught with fraud and lies and spearheaded by developers wanting Brown out of office so they would have an easier time getting their developments approved.
Mathew LaMora, an employee of local developer Mike Sellenschueter testified under oath, “Mr. Sellenschueter never came out and told me if you don’t do this (collect recall signatures) you’re going to lose your job; however, he did state that without Mark Brown in office it will be much easier to get our developments approved. So by you getting the signatures it’s going to help that process along.”
LaMora, of Wright City, Missouri, who was employed by Sellenschueter as a project manager, testified that he was paid $5 to $10 for every signature he collected in the recall effort. By law the circulator of the recall petitions is required to attest with their signature that they were present and observed each person’s signature being placed on the petitions. The circulator then is to put their name and address on the petitions as the circulator and have their signature attested to by a notary public.
LaMora testified that he did not witness every signature on petitions that carried his signature and that in some instances he was told to sign blank forms that would be filled out later.
He further testified that a man, who he did not know, represented himself as being from the Citizens Empowerment Committee and had him sign the blank forms attesting to the fact he had collected signatures. That man told him, “I need you to sign here and I’ll fill out the rest.” He then gave him a check and took the blank forms and told LaMora they would be filled out later.
Linda Meyer notarized LaMora’s signature on the forms, however, LaMora testified he has never met Meyer in his life.He further testified that his address on the forms were wrong. Meyer is the wife of a St. Charles police officer and is the treasurer of the Citizens Empowerment Committee. That committee, formed with the purpose of recalling Councilwoman Dottie Greet and Councilman Mark Brown and was financed by Sellenschueter, Developer TR Hughes, former hospital head and business partner of Tr Hughes Kevin Katz, PR guru Glennon Jamboretz and his partner, former St. Charles Councilman Ken Kielty. All of these individuals are confidants of Mayor York who was also very active in the recall campaigns along with Councilmen Mike Weller and Bob Kneemiller, and Bob Hoepfner. These same four tried to block the investigation by denying funds to uncover these acts of fraud. A story in the last edition of the First Capitol News tells of the Mayor moving to fire Police Chief Tim Swope. She had asked for copies of the recall investigation and Swope refused to give them to her because it was an ongoing investigation. Sources at City Hall told the FCN that she was angry because Swope had his officers investigating the fraud and forgeries.
LaMora said he did not know Linda Meyer, had never met her, had never had his signature notarized in her presence and had turned the forms over to a man, not a woman.
Tara Hart, another person hired by the Citizens Empowerment Committee, testified under oath that she did not witness all the signatures on petitions she turned in for the recall of Councilman Mark Brown. She admitted she had dropped blank forms off at the Rivers Edge Retirement Committee and picked them up several days later. There were 84 signatures on the forms when she picked them up and she never witnessed any of them. Mayor York’s father. John Sinclair (deceased) was reportedly active in the recall campaign and was a resident at Rivers Edge.
Sellenschueter was angry with Brown because of Brown’s refusal to accept Sellenschueter’s development that Brown said was in a creek bed. Brown refused to vote to allow Sellenschueter to hook his St. Charles County development up to St. Charles City water and sewer lines. Councilman Bob Hoepfner, who had voted several times to deny Sellenschueter to hook up to the City lines changed his vote in favor of the development after he received the plumbing contracts for several homes in the development.
Brown had also remarked on the Council floor that he was against the development because it had not been built to City standards and was built too close to a creek. He said he was concerned that City taxpayers would have to pay millions of dollars for the repair of erosion to the creek banks in later years. Brown, on the council floor during a televised council meeting, discussed the fact that he had been offered a payoff for a favorable vote on this development. Brown pointed out several other councilmen had also received offers for their support. Brown stated some of the council people accepted the offers. The matter was passed 5 to 4 with one abstention because of a conflict.
Brown had also voted against allowing TR Hughes’s St. Andrews development in St. Charles County to hook up to St. Charles City water and sewer lines for similar reasons.
State Representative Tom Dempsey (R) 18th District, had a state law passed in one day forcing St. Charles City to allow the TR Hughes development to be hooked up to City sewers without annexation.
Councilwoman Dottie Greer soundly defeated the attempt by the Citizens Empowerment Committee funded by developers Hughes and Sellenschueter and headed by Linda Meyer. Because of fraud uncovered in the Greer recall attempt the Council refused to place the recall of Brown on the ballot.
Eugene Carroll, a disgruntled former member of the 4th of July Riverfest Committee filed suit to have the Brown Recall placed on the ballot. The Mayor had brought up Carroll’s name for reappointment to the Riverfest committee after his term had expired several times and each time it was rejected by the City Council. Carroll was represented by Claude Knight, a friend of the Mayor and her personal lawyer, in the attempt to recall Brown. After several depositions were taken and obvious signs of fraud and misinformation on the part of Citizens Empowerment Committee were uncovered, Knight dropped the suit.
For additional information please see firstcapitolnews.blogspot.com
Of particular interest:
January 14, 2006 – Attorney Invokes 5th Amendment
January 14, 2006 – Recall Fraud Admitted in Deposition
January 27, 2006 – Citizen Empowerment Committee Leaders Profit Personally from Recall efforts
January 27, 2006 – Police Take Suspect Into Custody Involving recall Petitions
February 17, 2006 – Depositions Could Be fatal – Recall Committee Attempts to Delay
March 4, 2006 – Recall Petitions, Criminal Violations – Widespread forgeries
April 1, 2006 – Councilmen Brown, Greer, Koester file suit to stop Sellenschueter’s Hook Up To City Water and Sewer System
Brown Files Counter Suit Against Sellenschueter’s Company for $25,000 Damages
April 8, 2006 – David Slays Goliath – Greer Beats recall Attempt
May 20, 2006 – Prosecutor expected to file more charges in Citizen Empowerment Committee recall Effort
June 3, 2006 – Investigation Into Recall Uncovers More Fraud – Evidence turned Over to FBI
September 16, 2006 – Forgeries Found in Brown Recall
By Tony Brockmeyer
When we learned from depositions that fraud was revealed in the attempt by the Citizens Empowerment Committee headed by Linda Meyer to recall Councilman Mark Brown, the First Capitol News contacted Councilman Mark Brown for a comment. Brown told the First Capitol News, “My job on the council is to protect the residents not the rich developers. I will not vote to allow developments that will be detrimental to the homeowners of St. Charles.”
Depositions taken in the effort to recall Councilman Mark Brown have revealed the effort is fraught with fraud and lies and spearheaded by developers wanting Brown out of office so they would have an easier time getting their developments approved.
Mathew LaMora, an employee of local developer Mike Sellenschueter testified under oath, “Mr. Sellenschueter never came out and told me if you don’t do this (collect recall signatures) you’re going to lose your job; however, he did state that without Mark Brown in office it will be much easier to get our developments approved. So by you getting the signatures it’s going to help that process along.”
LaMora, of Wright City, Missouri, who was employed by Sellenschueter as a project manager, testified that he was paid $5 to $10 for every signature he collected in the recall effort. By law the circulator of the recall petitions is required to attest with their signature that they were present and observed each person’s signature being placed on the petitions. The circulator then is to put their name and address on the petitions as the circulator and have their signature attested to by a notary public.
LaMora testified that he did not witness every signature on petitions that carried his signature and that in some instances he was told to sign blank forms that would be filled out later.
He further testified that a man, who he did not know, represented himself as being from the Citizens Empowerment Committee and had him sign the blank forms attesting to the fact he had collected signatures. That man told him, “I need you to sign here and I’ll fill out the rest.” He then gave him a check and took the blank forms and told LaMora they would be filled out later.
Linda Meyer notarized LaMora’s signature on the forms, however, LaMora testified he has never met Meyer in his life.He further testified that his address on the forms were wrong. Meyer is the wife of a St. Charles police officer and is the treasurer of the Citizens Empowerment Committee. That committee, formed with the purpose of recalling Councilwoman Dottie Greet and Councilman Mark Brown and was financed by Sellenschueter, Developer TR Hughes, former hospital head and business partner of Tr Hughes Kevin Katz, PR guru Glennon Jamboretz and his partner, former St. Charles Councilman Ken Kielty. All of these individuals are confidants of Mayor York who was also very active in the recall campaigns along with Councilmen Mike Weller and Bob Kneemiller, and Bob Hoepfner. These same four tried to block the investigation by denying funds to uncover these acts of fraud. A story in the last edition of the First Capitol News tells of the Mayor moving to fire Police Chief Tim Swope. She had asked for copies of the recall investigation and Swope refused to give them to her because it was an ongoing investigation. Sources at City Hall told the FCN that she was angry because Swope had his officers investigating the fraud and forgeries.
LaMora said he did not know Linda Meyer, had never met her, had never had his signature notarized in her presence and had turned the forms over to a man, not a woman.
Tara Hart, another person hired by the Citizens Empowerment Committee, testified under oath that she did not witness all the signatures on petitions she turned in for the recall of Councilman Mark Brown. She admitted she had dropped blank forms off at the Rivers Edge Retirement Committee and picked them up several days later. There were 84 signatures on the forms when she picked them up and she never witnessed any of them. Mayor York’s father. John Sinclair (deceased) was reportedly active in the recall campaign and was a resident at Rivers Edge.
Sellenschueter was angry with Brown because of Brown’s refusal to accept Sellenschueter’s development that Brown said was in a creek bed. Brown refused to vote to allow Sellenschueter to hook his St. Charles County development up to St. Charles City water and sewer lines. Councilman Bob Hoepfner, who had voted several times to deny Sellenschueter to hook up to the City lines changed his vote in favor of the development after he received the plumbing contracts for several homes in the development.
Brown had also remarked on the Council floor that he was against the development because it had not been built to City standards and was built too close to a creek. He said he was concerned that City taxpayers would have to pay millions of dollars for the repair of erosion to the creek banks in later years. Brown, on the council floor during a televised council meeting, discussed the fact that he had been offered a payoff for a favorable vote on this development. Brown pointed out several other councilmen had also received offers for their support. Brown stated some of the council people accepted the offers. The matter was passed 5 to 4 with one abstention because of a conflict.
Brown had also voted against allowing TR Hughes’s St. Andrews development in St. Charles County to hook up to St. Charles City water and sewer lines for similar reasons.
State Representative Tom Dempsey (R) 18th District, had a state law passed in one day forcing St. Charles City to allow the TR Hughes development to be hooked up to City sewers without annexation.
Councilwoman Dottie Greer soundly defeated the attempt by the Citizens Empowerment Committee funded by developers Hughes and Sellenschueter and headed by Linda Meyer. Because of fraud uncovered in the Greer recall attempt the Council refused to place the recall of Brown on the ballot.
Eugene Carroll, a disgruntled former member of the 4th of July Riverfest Committee filed suit to have the Brown Recall placed on the ballot. The Mayor had brought up Carroll’s name for reappointment to the Riverfest committee after his term had expired several times and each time it was rejected by the City Council. Carroll was represented by Claude Knight, a friend of the Mayor and her personal lawyer, in the attempt to recall Brown. After several depositions were taken and obvious signs of fraud and misinformation on the part of Citizens Empowerment Committee were uncovered, Knight dropped the suit.
For additional information please see firstcapitolnews.blogspot.com
Of particular interest:
January 14, 2006 – Attorney Invokes 5th Amendment
January 14, 2006 – Recall Fraud Admitted in Deposition
January 27, 2006 – Citizen Empowerment Committee Leaders Profit Personally from Recall efforts
January 27, 2006 – Police Take Suspect Into Custody Involving recall Petitions
February 17, 2006 – Depositions Could Be fatal – Recall Committee Attempts to Delay
March 4, 2006 – Recall Petitions, Criminal Violations – Widespread forgeries
April 1, 2006 – Councilmen Brown, Greer, Koester file suit to stop Sellenschueter’s Hook Up To City Water and Sewer System
Brown Files Counter Suit Against Sellenschueter’s Company for $25,000 Damages
April 8, 2006 – David Slays Goliath – Greer Beats recall Attempt
May 20, 2006 – Prosecutor expected to file more charges in Citizen Empowerment Committee recall Effort
June 3, 2006 – Investigation Into Recall Uncovers More Fraud – Evidence turned Over to FBI
September 16, 2006 – Forgeries Found in Brown Recall
STING OPERATION LEADS TO CRACKDOWN ON MINOR’S PURCHASE OF ALCOHOL
St. Charles Police Chief Tim Swope on right congratulating Eric Gentz, District Supervisor for Motomart on their vigilance. FIRST CAPITOL NEWS PHOTO BY TONY BROCKMEYERPolice Chief Commends Motomart For Vigilance
By Phyllis Schaltenbrand & Tony Brockmeyer
According to St. Charles Police Chief Tim Swope, a police sting Wednesday night at package liquor establishments in St. Charles netted his officers seven violators.
St. Charles Police School Resource Officers, Dare Officers and selected minors working undercover, all under the command of Sergeant Mike Akers visited 35 package liquor establishments in the City. The minors attempted to purchase alcohol and in seven instances were successful.
“We will not tolerate this illegal behavior in our City,” said Police Chief Swope. “We are doubling our efforts to bring the illegal purchase of alcohol by minors to a halt.”
Working with a grant provided by the State that paid for the overtime, on Wednesday evening between the police detail visited 35 of the 41 St. Charles businesses licensed to sell package liquor. At seven of those businesses clerks sold liquor illegally to minors sent in by the police.
Sgt. Akers said, “The minors we use are volunteers from the local schools. Usually that have suffered a tragedy in which a relative or friend has been killed or injured by an intoxicated driver. We do not try to fool anyone, it is obvious they are under the legal age to purchase liquor.”
“We tremendously appreciate the grant money from the state but it doesn’t pay for all of the program expenses,” said Chief Swope. “”Even if we did not receive the grant our enforcement efforts would continue. We have doubled our efforts from last year. We have had too many kids deaths caused by intoxicated drivers in St. Charles County. Even one death at the hands of a drunk is too many.”
When asked about punishment for the offenders Chief Swope said, “There will be an administrative follow up by our City Liquor Control Board and also a follow up by the State Liquor Control.”
When asked for the names of the businesses that sold to the minors Captain Gerry Pollard told the First Capitol News, “When the purchase is made the clerk who made the sale is responsible and any charges will be brought against them. Therefore, we are unable to release the names of the businesses until such time as action is taken against the license holder.”
“We are surprised at the number of repeat offenders,” said the Chief. “We will continue our enforcement and believe that the City Liquor Control will start suspending liquor licenses of the guilty parties.”
Motomart Commended By Police
On Liquor Control Policy
By Phyllis Schaltenbrand
Eric Gentz, District Manager of Motomart and Dawn Hecht, manager of the Motomart stores in St. Charles received commendations from the St. Charles Police Department for their stringent liquor sale policy.
Eric Gentz told the First Capitol News, “I have a personal interest in making sure that our employees do not violate any liquor control laws and make any sales to underage individuals in any of our eleven stores. My sister was killed by a drunken driver 25 years ago I am a stickler for this.”
Dawn Hecht, who manages the two Motomart stores in St. Charles and has been with the company for twenty years said, “We do not tolerate sales of liquor to minors. If one of our employees is caught making a sale or in a police sting they are dismissed.”
“Motomart is an exemplary company,” said Chief Swope. “Dawn and Eric deserve a lot of credit for the concern they have shown and the company policy they have developed regarding this serious problem.”
“We provide training tapes and meetings on just the minor issue,” said Eric. “We do not tolerate the illegal sale of liquor or tobacco. We even have a private company that comes into our stores to check out our employees to make sure they are not violating the law. It is automatic termination if they are caught making illegal sales to minors of either liquor or tobacco”
“If our employee is involved in a police sting and they do not make the sale they receive a $100 bonus,” said Dawn. For years I have been writing on their paychecks, ‘REMEMBER TO CARD.”
“Leadership starts at the top,” said Chief Swope. The management at Motomart takes this matter seriously and we appreciate their efforts in helping us prevent these illegal sales.”
Police Sgt. Mike Akers said, “The incidents of illegal sales are still too high and we are working to eliminate this serious problem.”
Motomart, with headquarters in Belleville, Illinois has two stores in St. Charles, South Fifth Street and Highway 94 North and one in Earth City. The South Fifth Motomart has been recently remodeled. “I am a firm believer that if all liquor establishments showed the concern and training as Motomart this would no longer be a problem,” said Captain Gerry Pollard.
RAMBLING WITH THE EDITOR - Tony Brockmeyer
We are proud that we are investigative reporters and continually scoop other publications including the daily paper. Many news tips have been received and there are several investigations pending. A couple of these investigations are taking a great amount of our time. So that we can provide accurate information that we can back up we must spend the time necessary to dig up the facts so we can provide our readers with the information.
The First Capitol News reaches a very large audience who anxiously look forward to the arrival of each and every edition.
A former competitor, Ed Watkins, the former publisher of the now defunct St. Charles Citizen, remarked in an article in another publication;
“I think people really underestimate the First Capitol News and the power of the First Capitol News. I have a healthy respect for them because I have been in the business now and the newspaper business is a difficult one for anybody today.”
It is a difficult job but one we enjoy. We appreciate our readers and thank them for all the telephone calls, letters and e-mails we have received from them complimenting us on our publication.
Because we want to provide the best publication possible, it is sometimes necessary that we take time off from publishing in order to follow up on the investigative reports we are working on. We have a couple of large ones in the fire and the more we investigate the more involved it becomes. To discover the truth we must follow all the leads and gather all the information.
We want our readers to understand that occasionally there will be a week without a printed publication. We just need the time to gather the facts.
On our weekly web log on the internet at
firstcapitolnews.blogspot.com we will let our readers know our next publication date. Even though we may not publish on a particular week you can keep informed about St. Charles news on our daily web log which can be found at firstcapitolnews-today.blogspot.com. We are striving to keep it updated daily with fresh information.
We also have other exciting news. A new web page is under construction on the internet. You will be able to pull up each and every page of each edition each week of publication. It will include all the information that is in the printed edition including all the ads from our fine advertisers. You will also be able to purchase display and classified advertising as well as photos on line. We appreciate your support of our advertisers and please continue to visit them.
We are excited about our new web pages and as soon as construction is completed we will provide you with the web address.
Our next publication will be on October 7, 2006. Check our daily web log for updates of St. Charles news.
MAYOR WITHHOLDS APPOINTMENTS
At Tuesday’s City Council meeting the Mayor did not present her new appointments to the Park Board. She had notified the Council earlier she was planning on attempting to re-appoint Thomas Smith, TJ Slattery and submit the name of Lynn Porterfield as a new appointment.
After the story of Thomas Smith and his involvement in political money laundering appeared in last weeks’ First Capitol News we were told the Mayor decided to wait on the appointments as she did not have the votes for passage.
You can read about Smith on our web log, firstcapitolnews.blogspot.com.
Slattery is the president of the Park Board and it appears he is getting the board and the park department involved in city politics and this could be trouble for both him and the board down the road. He is also on the 4th of July Riverfest Committee and is a confidant of Smith.
Porterfield is the former City Attorney and City Administrator whose wife ran against Councilman Bob Hoepfner in the last Council election. During that election the Mayor became actively involved in an attempt to defeat Hoepfner.. She and her husband even worked the polls on election day. It will be interesting to see if Hoepfner votes against Porterfield or if he has made a deal with the Mayor. That would not be a surprise to anyone.
How about it Bob, deal or No Deal?
The First Capitol News reaches a very large audience who anxiously look forward to the arrival of each and every edition.
A former competitor, Ed Watkins, the former publisher of the now defunct St. Charles Citizen, remarked in an article in another publication;
“I think people really underestimate the First Capitol News and the power of the First Capitol News. I have a healthy respect for them because I have been in the business now and the newspaper business is a difficult one for anybody today.”
It is a difficult job but one we enjoy. We appreciate our readers and thank them for all the telephone calls, letters and e-mails we have received from them complimenting us on our publication.
Because we want to provide the best publication possible, it is sometimes necessary that we take time off from publishing in order to follow up on the investigative reports we are working on. We have a couple of large ones in the fire and the more we investigate the more involved it becomes. To discover the truth we must follow all the leads and gather all the information.
We want our readers to understand that occasionally there will be a week without a printed publication. We just need the time to gather the facts.
On our weekly web log on the internet at
firstcapitolnews.blogspot.com we will let our readers know our next publication date. Even though we may not publish on a particular week you can keep informed about St. Charles news on our daily web log which can be found at firstcapitolnews-today.blogspot.com. We are striving to keep it updated daily with fresh information.
We also have other exciting news. A new web page is under construction on the internet. You will be able to pull up each and every page of each edition each week of publication. It will include all the information that is in the printed edition including all the ads from our fine advertisers. You will also be able to purchase display and classified advertising as well as photos on line. We appreciate your support of our advertisers and please continue to visit them.
We are excited about our new web pages and as soon as construction is completed we will provide you with the web address.
Our next publication will be on October 7, 2006. Check our daily web log for updates of St. Charles news.
MAYOR WITHHOLDS APPOINTMENTS
At Tuesday’s City Council meeting the Mayor did not present her new appointments to the Park Board. She had notified the Council earlier she was planning on attempting to re-appoint Thomas Smith, TJ Slattery and submit the name of Lynn Porterfield as a new appointment.
After the story of Thomas Smith and his involvement in political money laundering appeared in last weeks’ First Capitol News we were told the Mayor decided to wait on the appointments as she did not have the votes for passage.
You can read about Smith on our web log, firstcapitolnews.blogspot.com.
Slattery is the president of the Park Board and it appears he is getting the board and the park department involved in city politics and this could be trouble for both him and the board down the road. He is also on the 4th of July Riverfest Committee and is a confidant of Smith.
Porterfield is the former City Attorney and City Administrator whose wife ran against Councilman Bob Hoepfner in the last Council election. During that election the Mayor became actively involved in an attempt to defeat Hoepfner.. She and her husband even worked the polls on election day. It will be interesting to see if Hoepfner votes against Porterfield or if he has made a deal with the Mayor. That would not be a surprise to anyone.
How about it Bob, deal or No Deal?
THE CITY DESK - Rory Riddler, Councilman Ward 1
Want To Float A Trial Balloon?
CIP Debate Puts Ideas Into Play
The annual debate over the City’s Capital Improvements Plan is an excellent time to float trial balloons. Have a road project you want considered or a beautification project? Just fill it up with helium (and you thought politicians only used hot air) and release it during one of the Council Work Sessions.
Of course, not every idea gets off the ground. These quickly turn from trial balloons to the lead variety. Then there are those that get off the ground just far enough for your fellow Council members, the Mayor, City staff, press or public to riddle with arrows. It’s amazing how good your aim becomes with practice.
Fortunately, those that launch enough new ideas get a little better with practice. We try to take into account the direction of the prevailing political winds and political landscape.
The Capital Improvements Plan is a six-year planning document on how to spend the ? cent Capital Improvements Tax, the bulk of our gaming revenues and other miscellaneous funds and grants designated to pay for infrastructure or other capital items. We call it the CIP Budget for short. It seems a lot of programs or boards at City Hall eventually get reduced to initials. Sometime I’ll explain what HLPARB, CID, NID, TDD, TIF, CDBG, COW and PUC all mean other than a higher score at Scrabble.
Like the City Operating Budget, the City Administrator and Finance Director prepare the CIP. They start with a “wish-list” from every Department Director and sometimes input from elected public officials. There are always more requests than anticipated funds available, so their unenviable task is to pare down what everyone asks for. They then turn the plan over to the Mayor who can add, subtract or eliminate money from any line item she cares to before presenting it to the City Council the first week in July.
I always look forward to the CIP discussions and bring out my own wish list I’ve been saving all year like a kid about to visit the department store Santa. But this year didn’t feel much like Christmas in July. The economy is still weak and gaming funds are down. Couple that with the fact that surplus land we were expecting to sell by now was until recently tied up in court. The City kept winning, but the plaintiff kept appealing.
Then there is the County Executive Joe Ortwerth. He’s determined to leave office at the end of the year managing to have offended just about everybody. His latest “temper tantrum” was to hold $3 Million hostage that the County Road Board owes the City of St. Charles. This is money from the tax we all pay and was promised to reimburse us for projects the Road Board and the County had already agreed to pay a portion of.
He is doing it to force the City into paying the County $300,000 that we are disputing from 2005 as a payment for the Family Arena. At odds is whether or not the County lived up to its obligation to have a minimum of 115 “ticketed” events that year. To stretch to that number they have been counting things like high school graduation ceremonies where tickets are given out for crowd control, but not “sold” to the general public.
Rather than let the issue go to Court and be resolved Ortwerth resorted to his signature strong-arm tactics. All shall fall before the great and terrible Joe Ortwerth, yadda, yadda, yadda. I think the next County Executive will spend his first week taking down all the mirrors in the County Executive’s Office. They are the fun-house variety that makes you look more important.
So until that issue gets resolved (and yes, cooler heads are working on it), we have to cover those shortfalls ourselves. But I’m not one to let all the doom and gloom spoil my proposing a few changes in the CIP.
I want to see more funding for the façade grant program that I began a couple of years ago. It has been a boost to North Main and Frenchtown helping entice property owners to make larger investments in the upkeep or remodeling of their business properties. It’s been so successful that it was expanded to areas of First Capitol to Kingshighway and West Clay. Last year the council adopted a plan I proposed to expand the program to include small grants to help people with residential façade upgrades to help with neighborhood stabilization.
At our first CIP meeting I was successful in getting the Council to agree to add $50,000 to our efforts to upgrade lighting and other infrastructure along North 2nd in Frenchtown. I hope to get other monies set aside for capital projects and beautification on North Main and North 94 as well.
Of general interest is my desire to see us plan next year for a police and fire memorial to be built in 2008. I would also like to see the City continue the Historic Personages Statue program I instigated last year, which resulted in the wonderful new bronze statue to Daniel Boone. Next in the series would be Saint Philippine Duchesne, which would become a real icon for the First Ward at the corner of 2nd and Clark.
My most important goal is to get engineering money in the budget for the extension of Randolph from Fox Hill Road to Little Hills Expressway. Earlier in the year I proposed we add this project to our future goals and to request some of the funding from the County Road Board. I’m happy to say the County Road Board liked the idea and has agreed to add it to their list of projects to reimburse the City for in the future. The goal now is to get the project moved up.
In short, this “short” section of additional roadway will allow hundreds of residents of Fox Hills, DeVilla Trail, Fox Bluff, Country Bluff and Stable Ridge to be able to access the new Fifth Street Extension (Mel Wetter Parkway) without having to drive down Fox Hill Road, South on 94 and then back up the hill via Little Hills Expressway. I’ve had positive feedback from dozens of residents of these neighborhoods that such a connection will save time, gas and money for them every day.
There are other projects already in the CIP I will seek to enhance. I think I have identified an additional million dollars in 2009 that could be shifted to the proposed Community Center. There is also a new line item for a rental “conversion” program. The council has yet to establish the guidelines for this new program, but the goal is to help new first-time homebuyers afford to buy and convert to single-family use property formally used as rental property. It will most likely include a forgivable loan towards a down payment if the people agree to homestead the property for five years.
There are other line items I hope to protect from marauding bands of my fellow Council members as they do the same. When the smoke clears in a few weeks and all the wounds are bound, the City will have a new Capital Improvements Plan to guide us…till this same time next year.
CASE IN POINT - Joe Koester, Councilman Ward 9
I believe that professional wrestling is clean and everything else in the world is fixed.
Frank Deford
Political junkies around the country are excited that it’s election season while a larger portion of the populace has no use for the entire affair. It’s understandable why the process is looked upon with such disdain. Sound bytes have replaced platforms; telephone calls asking, “If the election were held today…” seem to always come at dinner time; and one political advertisement is followed by the next and each one is telling us that the last one we saw or heard was a lie. It doesn’t change the fact, however, that we all need to be engaged as much as possible in the process keeping an eye on our democratic-republic.
Too often campaigns are seen as personality battles while public policy is left out of the discussion altogether. Races are too much about individuals and too little about public policy and governing. The consequence of this is a system where incumbents are sent back to govern in spite of voter dissatisfaction because the electorate reasons that this guy or that lady is nice. Nice people can pass bad laws that hurt senior citizens, children, etc. If the race were more about policy, the question can be asked, “Has the governing Party done its job and have improvements been realized in areas that are our priority?”
An election in this case is not about the individual but about platform. Political parties living under these rules have to advance a “ contract” that can achieve support of 51% of the voters. We will never have a platform that we agree with 100% of the time, but each of us can weigh each party’s entire platform and decide where we best fit.
A primary is a horse of a different color since two like partisans are facing off and their influence may determine their party’s future platform. Within the Party, an individual’s platform is taken into account and it is his or her fellow partisans who bless or rebuff a candidate’s positions. Think back to the Republican primary for president in 2000 and you may recall that John McCain was leading in polls and primaries. His own party decided to use a tactic called, “push polling” where leading, or misleading questions are asked about a candidate to give the impression that the questions being asked are factual. A push poll may go something like this, “If you knew that candidate x had the worst attendance record in the Missouri House, would you be more or less inclined to vote for him?” Hmm, tough question, right?
In McCain’s case, the question led voters to believe he had an illegitimate child. McCain has an adopted child, but hey, the question is just theoretical…
The question worked and McCain lost in the South Carolina primary and shortly thereafter he withdrew from the race.
A local columnist recently had a state senator commenting on how some on city council have been sniping at him for passing legislation that applies only to St. Charles regarding its casino revenues. What seemed to go unmentioned was the fact that this law is specifically for our town that makes it egregious, not the law per se. What I have asked for is equal treatment under the law for our City. If the good senator prefers legislating locally, he should resign from state government and run for council. The infringement of local control goes against the oft-touted claim that these guys want small government with more local control. Fact is they want small government when some corporate interest has written the checks and they can repay them with special favors that usually mean removal of regulations for those giving the money; oftentimes we pay a greater price by loss of consumer protection.
Furthermore, the same columnist indicated that vote totals in the primary are indicative of the election results in November. Using this logic, Ted House, Jim Primm, and Barb Walker would have never won an election. Fact of the matter is, there were far more contested races on the Republican ballot than on the Democratic ballot. The local contested races are of great interest to people so many independent voters and even some Democrats asked for a Republican ballot to vote for a friend running for county council or collector or sheriff.
Finally, our city sewers are strained – we have a lot of upgrading to be done because we are getting close to capacity at our treatment plants. Depending on how many more county developments the state forces our City to take sewage from, we could max out sooner rather than later. Upgrades are being made, so while we are at it, I am asking the city to keep the residents on Buckingham in their thoughts and take care of an undersized line there.
Grants and statues are nice, but our main purpose is to provide services to our residents – we have to do that well or the other things don’t really matter much.
Let’s end with a quote that I think Frank Deford would like:
“Democracy is a team sport. It is not like going to a ballgame where you sit passively and decide if you like the players and evaluate their abilities after watching the game. We are the players, we are the team, in a democratic nation or a democratic world.”
John Renesch
THE VIEW FROM THE CHEAP SEATS By Jerry Haferkamp
The View From The Cheap Seats
By Jerry Haferkamp
Leadership, noun: the act or an instance of leading.
After reading the past issue of the FCN, I was left wondering about leadership in St. Charles.
The front page had major articles on what may be an attempt by the mayor to fire Police Chief Swope and on Mr. Smith, currently under the microscope for campaign finance activities. What, you ask, has this to do with leadership?
The article states that Smith’s term on the park board has expired, and he refuses to give up the seat that was formerly his. He obviously gets his form of “leadership” from our former City Administrator, Mr. Williams, who refuses to honor his contract and still occupies the office he shouldn’t. The president of the Park Board should show “leadership” and not allow Mr. Smith to hold a seat at the meetings. Mr. Williams could show “leadership” by taking a hike.
If Mr. Smith and the former city administer don’t have to vacate, Chief Swope should take his “leadership” cue from Williams and refuse to leave if he is fired. When his contract expires, he should thumb his nose at the mayor and sit tight. What the heck, she endorsed the former city administrator’s actions so she should endorse Chief Swope’s if he does likewise. Like I said in my last column, “Consistency, Madame Mayor, consistency”.
Anyway, what’s up with Swope investigating possible crime? For a man who grew up in St. Charles, why is it so hard for him to understand that the mayor, her family and her confederates are considered by her to be above the law?
By the way, leadership in the Prosecuting Attorney’s office would mean indicting the person who, according to sworn testimony, submitted the fraudulent petitions. What did I say about the mayor’s confederates being above the law? Somebody poke Banas and wake him up.
I was approached by one of our prominent citizens a few days ago. He owns properties in the Frenchtown area. He questioned why money is going to be wasted on the “roundabout” (also known as a traffic circle or traffic circus) on North Third at Tecumseh. He stated that we need sidewalks in many neighborhoods where the children have to walk in the streets to get to school or a school bus stop. If the roundabout is using city funds, he wondered if the money would be better spent on sidewalks for our children’s safety. I agree. I’m not sure if this project is strictly a MoDOT waste of money, or whether our city is also flushing your money down this unwanted and unneeded bumper car track. It needs to be stopped. There is no traffic problem at that intersection.
Of course, that’s just the view from the cheap seats.
By Jerry Haferkamp
Leadership, noun: the act or an instance of leading.
After reading the past issue of the FCN, I was left wondering about leadership in St. Charles.
The front page had major articles on what may be an attempt by the mayor to fire Police Chief Swope and on Mr. Smith, currently under the microscope for campaign finance activities. What, you ask, has this to do with leadership?
The article states that Smith’s term on the park board has expired, and he refuses to give up the seat that was formerly his. He obviously gets his form of “leadership” from our former City Administrator, Mr. Williams, who refuses to honor his contract and still occupies the office he shouldn’t. The president of the Park Board should show “leadership” and not allow Mr. Smith to hold a seat at the meetings. Mr. Williams could show “leadership” by taking a hike.
If Mr. Smith and the former city administer don’t have to vacate, Chief Swope should take his “leadership” cue from Williams and refuse to leave if he is fired. When his contract expires, he should thumb his nose at the mayor and sit tight. What the heck, she endorsed the former city administrator’s actions so she should endorse Chief Swope’s if he does likewise. Like I said in my last column, “Consistency, Madame Mayor, consistency”.
Anyway, what’s up with Swope investigating possible crime? For a man who grew up in St. Charles, why is it so hard for him to understand that the mayor, her family and her confederates are considered by her to be above the law?
By the way, leadership in the Prosecuting Attorney’s office would mean indicting the person who, according to sworn testimony, submitted the fraudulent petitions. What did I say about the mayor’s confederates being above the law? Somebody poke Banas and wake him up.
I was approached by one of our prominent citizens a few days ago. He owns properties in the Frenchtown area. He questioned why money is going to be wasted on the “roundabout” (also known as a traffic circle or traffic circus) on North Third at Tecumseh. He stated that we need sidewalks in many neighborhoods where the children have to walk in the streets to get to school or a school bus stop. If the roundabout is using city funds, he wondered if the money would be better spent on sidewalks for our children’s safety. I agree. I’m not sure if this project is strictly a MoDOT waste of money, or whether our city is also flushing your money down this unwanted and unneeded bumper car track. It needs to be stopped. There is no traffic problem at that intersection.
Of course, that’s just the view from the cheap seats.
COMMENTS & COMMENTARY by Charles Hill
If you thought Steve Powell’s departure from the Greater St. Charles Convention and Visitors Bureau would stop the spending of taxpayer dollars on things that would never make a return on the investment, you need to look at this week’s celebration of the return of Lewis and Clark. Powell and Venetia Macintire have once again received taxpayer money to fund the grand opening of their new venture on South Main in conjunction with the return of Lewis and Clark. If it wasn’t for government money, one has to wonder if Powell could make a dime. These two received $25,000 plus extra funds from City Arts and Culture Commission for the return celebration. If you do the math the event this weekend has to increase sales in town $250,000. A monumental task if you ask me after the flop of the bicentennial.
One should look and call those involved with tourism in Peoria, Illinois and ask the question, why did Powell leave there so suddenly? I have to hand it to the good people of Peoria, they figured out much quicker than us that Powell’s expertise isn’t in tourism.
The City of St. Charles should look at all the indispensable department heads that have worked in their jobs for long periods. Maybe the first place to look is the economic development department. I think that this city is very undersold by this department.
Let’s get back to Steve and Mac; they have voiced opposition to a development that is sorely needed on Main Street. A condo development is proposed and this development will bring the needed population base that most smart thinkers know is needed to reinvigorate Main Street after the lack of vision that has been the norm for the past ten years. These new residents will help reshape the retail stores along the street. We would see retail that supports and serves the locals on the street would come with this development. Of course those who are selfish and small-minded are against this like so many other good things that have been introduced but shoot down.
Please call your councilman in support of this development to insure that we don’t have to continue the never ending funding of a street that doesn’t understand the amount of money they use that the rest of the City could benefit from.
One should look and call those involved with tourism in Peoria, Illinois and ask the question, why did Powell leave there so suddenly? I have to hand it to the good people of Peoria, they figured out much quicker than us that Powell’s expertise isn’t in tourism.
The City of St. Charles should look at all the indispensable department heads that have worked in their jobs for long periods. Maybe the first place to look is the economic development department. I think that this city is very undersold by this department.
Let’s get back to Steve and Mac; they have voiced opposition to a development that is sorely needed on Main Street. A condo development is proposed and this development will bring the needed population base that most smart thinkers know is needed to reinvigorate Main Street after the lack of vision that has been the norm for the past ten years. These new residents will help reshape the retail stores along the street. We would see retail that supports and serves the locals on the street would come with this development. Of course those who are selfish and small-minded are against this like so many other good things that have been introduced but shoot down.
Please call your councilman in support of this development to insure that we don’t have to continue the never ending funding of a street that doesn’t understand the amount of money they use that the rest of the City could benefit from.
ELM ST WINE & SPIRITS OPENS
By Tony Brockmeyer
St. Charles County residents Raj Desai and Nick Shah have opened Elm St Wine and Spirits at 2303 Elm Street in St. Charles. The business is located at the intersection of Elm and Hawthorne.
As an opening special, they are offering a 15 percent discount on all purchases of $25 or more accompanied by a coupon located in this newspaper. The coupon expires on October 7, 2006 so be sure to take advantage of this special offer.
In addition to offering fine wines, cigars, beer and kegs to go, they also take special requests. “We can order just about anything,” said Raj. “All our customers have to do is let us know what they want. We will be happy to accommodate their requests.”
The Elm St. Wine and Spirits is open 365 days a year. “As long as we can get to the store through rain, sleet or snow we will be open to provide excellent service to our customers,” said Raj.
Elm St. Wine and Spirits is proud of their wide selection. They will provide delivery service on large orders.
They also offer a selection of premium cigars.
Stop by and take advantage of their opening offer of 15 percent off purchases over $25 and welcome Raj and Nick to St. Charles.
SPORTS - First Capitol News Sports Section - MIKE MCMURRAN Sports Editor
MY COLUMN - MIKE MCMURRAN FIRST CAPITOL NEWS SPORTS EDITOR
Cardinal baseball was introduced to me by my grandmother in 1964. That means I was able to watch Lou Brock in his first season as a Cardinal, watch Bob Gibson, Timmy McCarver, Bill White, Julian Javier, Dick Groat and others overtake the Phillies on the last day of the season to win the National League pennant. 1964 was the year the Cardinals beat the Yankees in seven games to win the World Championship. The Yankee lineup included such names as Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. What better introduction to Cardinal Nation could a 10 year-old boy ask for?
I’m somewhat certain I’ve mentioned it here before, but it warrants repeating. In the 70’s and early 80’s, Cardinal Nation was more like “Cardinal Village,” in that tickets were easy to come by. It was not unusual, nor difficult, to purchase front row box seat tickets on game day. Most would not even waste their money on box seats because they knew they could purchase general admission seats and simply move down to the box seats. I remember being at Bob Forch’s first no-hitter in April of 1978; there were less than 17,000 in attendance.
Through the years I have remained a loyal Cardinal fan. On the day Lynn and I were married, the entire wedding party had their pictures taken at the foot of Stan Musial’s statue. Both Lynn and I have insured all three of our children have been exposed to Cardinal baseball. It is not unusual to find all three kids, after they finish their homework, watching the Cardinal’s on television. Just last evening I caught Joe watching the game some 10 minutes or so past his bedtime. “Ah Dad, c’mon! Molina is batting with the bases loaded and he’s never hit a grand slam before. Can’t I just watch what he does?” How could I turn him down?
This past Sunday Joe and I were the guests of Harry and his son Derrick Griffits at Busch. Even though we sat through 3 hours of rain, and never so much as saw a pitch, Joe and I witnessed the retiring of Bruce Sutter’s number “42.” “Pay close attention, Joe,” I told my son, “someday you will come here with your son and you will be able to tell him you were at the game Bruce Sutter’s number was retired. You will be able to tell your son how your dad took you to the game, just like you are taking your son.” That’s how it is suppose to work!
After the game was called I offered Harry his tickets back. He told me to keep them. “Harry,” I offered, “these are like cash, now that the game has been cancelled.” I knew that to be true because in years past should a game be cancelled, or not completed, all you had to do was take your ticket stubs to the ticket window and you would either (a) receive a full refund, or (b) trade the tickets in for a different game.
Such is no longer the case! According to the Cardinal ticket office, all season tickets will simply receive a credit on next year’s bill – no matter who had the tickets. Now, in my situation I really can’t complain. The tickets were a gift to Joe and me. But I couldn’t help think of all those, and I guess there to be hundreds, if not thousands, who bought tickets outside the stadium, on the street. It is rather well known throughout Cardinal Nation, season ticket holders will unload tickets outside the stadium. These tickets are far, far better than any tickets one can purchase at the tickets window; after all, they are season tickets. Sometimes one must pay a premium (scalper), sometimes not. The closer it gets to game time, the closer to face value the tickets become.
So, let’s say a family of four wished to go to Sunday’s game, had no tickets, and planned on buying them downtown. I think it is safe to say one might drop $200 for 4 tickets – 4 decent tickets. Once the game was cancelled, those tickets became worthless! The Cardinals refuse to issue any cash refund to the ticket holder! “That is our policy,” is the only response they would give. “We will credit the season ticket holder’s account next season.” I guess that means that any season ticket holder who doesn’t renew is also out of luck.
What does all this mean? It means the Cardinals’ owners are doing their best to insure Cardinal Nation dies after this generation. Baseball is about tradition – age-old tradition! For the past two centuries, baseball fans held on to their ticket stubs until the 5th inning. Why? Because they were as good as money, that’s why! Not now!
What does all this mean? I’m not sure. Does it mean I will boycott Cardinal baseball? Nah, I’m addicted. I am concerned about the future of Cardinal Nation.
On a positive note, we’ve only 44 days remaining until we vote Sally Unfaithful out of office. For those with a short memory, she is the candidate who unseated Rep. Tom Green in ’04, with a campaign based on untruths and out right lies. The timing of the malicious mailings were well planned and thought out – preventing Mr. Green to respond in ample time. To use a boxing metaphor, she sucker punched him. It won’t happen again.
BATTLE OF THE WARRIORS
St. Charles West still knows Warrenton’s Weaknesses
By Louis J. Launer
Welcome to bare-bones football at Steve Stahl Stadium at St. Charles West High School. The Marching Warriors were traveling to Murray, Kentucky for a band contest. So there was no band for the football game. Those who came to the game expected to see a football game that would make up for the last two games that provided embarrassment for the St. Charles West Warriors.
After going 0-2 in the first two weeks of the season, West needed a confidence boost. They got that and more against the Warrenton Warriors. Since joining the GAC four years ago, Warrenton has never beaten St. Charles West. With no band, someone or some people had to create excitement. The fans did quite well without a band, especially the student-fans.
Brannon Champagne started for St. Charles West at quarterback. His first two games were not good at all due to fumbles and interceptions that cost West the two losses. West returned to its traditional running game out of the wishbone formation.
Warrenton made mistakes early. A bad punt deep in their own territory on their first series in the first quarter gave West the ball on the 1 yard line. Chazz Davis scored the first touchdown of the game for St. Charles West. Davis carried the ball 7 times in the game for a total of 84 yards. Davis also scored his second touchdown for West from 2 yards out late in the second quarter.
Matthew Jones, who really did not see much action in the last two games, showed he could carry the ball as he had 13 carries for 90 yards. He scored a touchdown in the first quarter from 10 yards out.
Champagne, who definitely had something to prove in this game, attemped a pass late in the first quarter, only to see a big hole opened up thanks to the St. Charles West offensive line. Champagne scored a 30-yard touchdown and summed up most of the offensive highlights for St. Charles West.
Warrenton’s troubles on defense didn’t affect their offense after a 21-0 first quarter shutout by St. Charles West. West placed its second string defensive line in while Warrenton kept their first-string offense. That gave Warrenton’s Alex Tobben a chance to run a 3-yard touchdown and ruin West’s shutout.
St. Charles West’s Scott Butler, another player who didn’t receive a lot of playing time during the first two games of the season, scored a 4th quarter touchdown, just to get some experience. But Warrenton’s Alex Tobin, took advantage of a sleepy St. Charles West second-string defense and caught one pass and scored a 40-yard touchdown.
Two field goals in the fourth quarter by St. Charles West’s Zach Ring made the final score 34-18 in favor of St. Charles West. This past weekend, St. Charles was the only winner of the three high schools in St. Charles. St. Charles High and Duchesne had problems of their own and both of those teams played in the annual Gateway Gridiron Classic held at Lindenwood University.
MICDS 51, DUCHESNE 26 (at Lindenwood University) – In three weeks and three games, Duchesne can only get their offense going late in the game. Anthony Suber and Joey Zimring had two touchdowns each for MICDS and the rout was on. Duchesne’s Dan Friedel caught four touchdown passes for all four of Duchesne’s scores. His longest reception was from 35 yards out. To add insult to injury, MICDS’ Tyler Johnson at the end of the game received the last kickoff after Duchesne’s fourth touchdown. Johnson ran the ball back 90 yards for the final score.
WASHINGTON 14, ST. CHARLES HIGH 6 (at Lindenwood University) – The Washington Blue Jays are 3-0 thanks to a balanced offensive attack. In the first quarter, Andrew Gildehaus ran one touchdown in from a yard out. Denodus O’Bryant caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Matt Scheible in the second quarter and that was all Washington needed to defeat the SCHS Pirates. O’Bryant had 120 yards rushing for the Blue Jays. St. Charles High’s Clifton Brown did have a 48-yard touchdown run in the third quarter for the Pirates’ only score.
There was one touchdown called back by the Pirates. Quarterback Jake Bornhop passed to Eric Henningsen for what was supposed to be a 19-yard touchdown pass. But a holding call by the officials wiped out the touchdown and the offensive momentum of the Pirates.
The Ladies’ Battle of St. Charles
Warriors Raid the Pirates in Exciting Match
By Louis J. Launer
No matter what sport these two schools play, St. Charles High and St. Charles West are serious rivals. Girls volleyball is definitely taken seriously by the students who packed the Gene Bartow Gymnasium at St. Charles High School last Thursday night.
St. Charles West’s Erika Holmes had two kills in a row in the first game of the match. Holmes is a freshman on the varsity squad. Her teammate, junior Mary Cunningham served a few aces. But some mistakes by Cunningham forced a side out and sparked a rally by the St. Charles Pirates. Erin Bekebrede and Emily Jacobs of the Pirates worked well together by putting together a 5-point rally keeping in pace with the Warriors, who led the entire first game. The Warriors’ good communication among their teammates kept the lead for the Warriors, although no was expecting either team to dominate.
Brianna Baldwin is a good setup player. She’s the tallest player for the Warriors at 6 feet 2 inches and only a sophomore. She set the ball for senior Courtney Champagne and sophomore Allison Naumann to make the score. Game point saw the Pirates’ serve as going out, with the Warriors watching. St. Charles West took the first game, 25-21.
St. Charles High regrouped for game 2. Led by Molli Wilkerson, the Pirates communicated and took advantage of several West serves going either out of bounds or striking the net. West regrouped and tried to stay focused. Erika Holmes still provided a couple of kills for the Warriors. But senior Abby Schulteheinrich and junior Tori Fenemor helped each other with the setup and scores for the Pirates as they kept West behind, forcing the Warriors to catch up in game 2. Wilkerson blocked two Baldwin tappers and also tapped in a few scores to keep the Pirates ahead. St. Charles West tried to rally and come back. But falling behind in a volleyball game is the first fundamental learned. St. Charles High took the second game, 25-16.
The student fans as well as parents on both sides were pumped up ready for game 3 of the match. Even several male students, apparently members of the varsity football team for St. Charles West, had their faces painted and cheering on the volleyball team. Game 3 is where one St. Charles West player began to dominate. That was Mary Cunningham. The 6’0” middle hitter scored two aces, set up several scores with key bumps and was able to surprise the Pirates who appeared either afraid to touch the ball or was not focused on the location of the ball. The Pirates did attempt one comeback after two Warrior mistakes close to match point. But the Warriors did take the third game and the match win over the Pirates, 25-16.
Both teams still have Duchesne on their schedule, another team that has been quite dominant recently in girls’ volleyball.
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