(Click on image to enlarge)
Friday, December 14, 2007
Las Posadas to be performed December 1st on Historic Main St
(Click on image to enlarge)Las Posadas to be performed December 1st on Historic Main St
Las Posadas, the traditional Spanish reenactment of the difficulties Joseph and Mary faced on the night that would become the first Christmas Eve, will take place on Saturday, December 1 in historic downtown St. Charles, Missouri.
The gathering will begin at 6 p.m. at the corner of Boones Lick Road and South Main Street. Visitors are encouraged to bring candles or flashlights. Candles will also be available for purchase with proceeds benefiting the South Main Preservation Society.
The event will end at Jaycee Stage in Frontier Park with the reading of The Christmas Story and caroling around a Yule log bonfire. There will also be a living nativity scene and the lighting of the city’s Christmas tree.
The Las Posadas reenactment is part of the Christmas Traditions festival, which runs Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through December 23.
Real Estate Market Remains Steady In Area
Real Estate Market Remains Steady In Area According To Association of
REALTORS
Despite recent news reports to the contrary, homeowners in the St. Louis market continue to see growth in their investment in their home, according to sales figures for the third quarter of this year obtained from the Mid-America Regional Information System (MARIS), the multiple listing service which covers the Missouri side of the St. Louis region. According to MARIS, the median price of a home sold between July and September of this year was $158,000, which is an increase of 1.6 percent over the same period one year ago. This represents the combined median home price for St. Louis City, and St. Louis, St. Charles, Franklin, Lincoln and Jefferson Counties.
“The figures show that despite what you see in the national media, the market in the St. Louis area remains steady. Remember, all real estate is local and the St. Louis metropolitan area is its own unique market,” said John Williams, President of the St. Louis Association of REALTORS®. “Despite what you may have heard, a homeowner in our area can generally sell his or her home for more than he or she paid for it. Our region is a great place to own a home,” commented Don Rogers, President of the St. Charles County Association of REALTORS®.
Both Williams and Rogers pointed out that today’s market in our area is running very close to the pre-boom markets of 2002 and 2003. “Yes, we have returned to a normal market,” commented Williams. “A normal market is a good thing for our local economy; it means we have returned to a period of steady and sustainable growth that all signs indicate can continue into the future,” Williams continued.
“Potential homebuyers who wait are missing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that today’s market gives them,” commented Rogers. “We have steady prices, a large selection of homes to choose from, and mortgage interest rates near historically low levels. All these factors, combined with a strong local economy, make this a great time to buy a home,” added Rogers.
“Unfortunately, there may be local individuals and families who will listen to the national media and miss this great opportunity to own the home of their dreams,” concluded Williams.
REALTORS
Despite recent news reports to the contrary, homeowners in the St. Louis market continue to see growth in their investment in their home, according to sales figures for the third quarter of this year obtained from the Mid-America Regional Information System (MARIS), the multiple listing service which covers the Missouri side of the St. Louis region. According to MARIS, the median price of a home sold between July and September of this year was $158,000, which is an increase of 1.6 percent over the same period one year ago. This represents the combined median home price for St. Louis City, and St. Louis, St. Charles, Franklin, Lincoln and Jefferson Counties.
“The figures show that despite what you see in the national media, the market in the St. Louis area remains steady. Remember, all real estate is local and the St. Louis metropolitan area is its own unique market,” said John Williams, President of the St. Louis Association of REALTORS®. “Despite what you may have heard, a homeowner in our area can generally sell his or her home for more than he or she paid for it. Our region is a great place to own a home,” commented Don Rogers, President of the St. Charles County Association of REALTORS®.
Both Williams and Rogers pointed out that today’s market in our area is running very close to the pre-boom markets of 2002 and 2003. “Yes, we have returned to a normal market,” commented Williams. “A normal market is a good thing for our local economy; it means we have returned to a period of steady and sustainable growth that all signs indicate can continue into the future,” Williams continued.
“Potential homebuyers who wait are missing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that today’s market gives them,” commented Rogers. “We have steady prices, a large selection of homes to choose from, and mortgage interest rates near historically low levels. All these factors, combined with a strong local economy, make this a great time to buy a home,” added Rogers.
“Unfortunately, there may be local individuals and families who will listen to the national media and miss this great opportunity to own the home of their dreams,” concluded Williams.
Real Estate Market Remains Steady In Area
Real Estate Market Remains Steady In Area According To Association of
REALTORS
Despite recent news reports to the contrary, homeowners in the St. Louis market continue to see growth in their investment in their home, according to sales figures for the third quarter of this year obtained from the Mid-America Regional Information System (MARIS), the multiple listing service which covers the Missouri side of the St. Louis region. According to MARIS, the median price of a home sold between July and September of this year was $158,000, which is an increase of 1.6 percent over the same period one year ago. This represents the combined median home price for St. Louis City, and St. Louis, St. Charles, Franklin, Lincoln and Jefferson Counties.
“The figures show that despite what you see in the national media, the market in the St. Louis area remains steady. Remember, all real estate is local and the St. Louis metropolitan area is its own unique market,” said John Williams, President of the St. Louis Association of REALTORS®. “Despite what you may have heard, a homeowner in our area can generally sell his or her home for more than he or she paid for it. Our region is a great place to own a home,” commented Don Rogers, President of the St. Charles County Association of REALTORS®.
Both Williams and Rogers pointed out that today’s market in our area is running very close to the pre-boom markets of 2002 and 2003. “Yes, we have returned to a normal market,” commented Williams. “A normal market is a good thing for our local economy; it means we have returned to a period of steady and sustainable growth that all signs indicate can continue into the future,” Williams continued.
“Potential homebuyers who wait are missing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that today’s market gives them,” commented Rogers. “We have steady prices, a large selection of homes to choose from, and mortgage interest rates near historically low levels. All these factors, combined with a strong local economy, make this a great time to buy a home,” added Rogers.
“Unfortunately, there may be local individuals and families who will listen to the national media and miss this great opportunity to own the home of their dreams,” concluded Williams.
REALTORS
Despite recent news reports to the contrary, homeowners in the St. Louis market continue to see growth in their investment in their home, according to sales figures for the third quarter of this year obtained from the Mid-America Regional Information System (MARIS), the multiple listing service which covers the Missouri side of the St. Louis region. According to MARIS, the median price of a home sold between July and September of this year was $158,000, which is an increase of 1.6 percent over the same period one year ago. This represents the combined median home price for St. Louis City, and St. Louis, St. Charles, Franklin, Lincoln and Jefferson Counties.
“The figures show that despite what you see in the national media, the market in the St. Louis area remains steady. Remember, all real estate is local and the St. Louis metropolitan area is its own unique market,” said John Williams, President of the St. Louis Association of REALTORS®. “Despite what you may have heard, a homeowner in our area can generally sell his or her home for more than he or she paid for it. Our region is a great place to own a home,” commented Don Rogers, President of the St. Charles County Association of REALTORS®.
Both Williams and Rogers pointed out that today’s market in our area is running very close to the pre-boom markets of 2002 and 2003. “Yes, we have returned to a normal market,” commented Williams. “A normal market is a good thing for our local economy; it means we have returned to a period of steady and sustainable growth that all signs indicate can continue into the future,” Williams continued.
“Potential homebuyers who wait are missing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that today’s market gives them,” commented Rogers. “We have steady prices, a large selection of homes to choose from, and mortgage interest rates near historically low levels. All these factors, combined with a strong local economy, make this a great time to buy a home,” added Rogers.
“Unfortunately, there may be local individuals and families who will listen to the national media and miss this great opportunity to own the home of their dreams,” concluded Williams.
RAMBLING WITH The Editor Tony Brockmeyer
Council & Mayor Given A Happy New Year By Ameristar Casino
The First Capitol News would like to wish all our readers and advertisers a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We know the members of the City Council are going to enjoy a Happy New Year. The Mayor and HER Council have been invited to be the guests of Ameristar Casino over the New Years Holiday. That includes a night of fun for them and a guest as well as accommodations in the new hotel.
City Council Members Participate In Illegal Gambling
We have learned that several members of the city council participated in the illegal poker game that was held recently at Bogey Hills Country Club to reduce the campaign debt for councilman and former judge candidate Richard Veit. Their names were not on the finance campaign disclosure forms filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission because their $300 entry fees were paid for and listed under the names of other individuals.Where is a prosecutor when you need one? Those participating in this illegal gambling should resign their council seats.
Council Holds Closed Meeting Over Law Suits
The city council held a closed door meeting last Monday afternoon at city hall to discuss settling the Sellenschuetter law suit and a new law suit that has been brought against the city by police sergeant Ronald Lloyd. Lloyd filed suit claiming that he was being punished by the Mayor for helping former councilman John Gieseke in his run for Mayor in April. Lloyd and Gieseke have been close friends since childhood. Lloyd was transferred to a shift that does not allow him to continue as a part-time high school football coach. His take home police vehicle was also taken from him. Lloyd says he was told by Police Chief Dennis Corley that he (Corley) was ordered by the Mayor to take the action against Lloyd. The council is discussing a $1 million offer to Sellenschuetter, even though their attorney has advised against the settlement. During the discussion, Council President kneemiller would not recognize councilwoman Laurie Feldman and allow her to speak. Feldman broke down in tears. Six votes could not be found to settle with Sellenschuetter. The Council members who received campaign contributions and other offers from Sellenschuetter still have not excused themselves from voting on the lawsuit; A clear conflict of interest. No offers were made to settle Lloyd’s law suit.
New Police Chief and City Administrator
Acting Police Chief Dennis Corley was sworn in as the Police Chief. Michael Spurgeon, the City Manager of Miami Oklahoma, was hired as the new City Administrator. He will start on January 1, 2008 with a salary of $124,000, full benefits, car allowance and six months furnished apartment rent at $1,000 a month. York wanted to hire Spurgeon several years ago but could not get the votes. He claimed he was withdrawing his name because the council had contracted with the First Capitol News to investigate his background. He really withdrew because he could not get the votes. More on Spurgeon to follow.
firstcapitolnews.com
The First Capitol News would like to wish all our readers and advertisers a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We know the members of the City Council are going to enjoy a Happy New Year. The Mayor and HER Council have been invited to be the guests of Ameristar Casino over the New Years Holiday. That includes a night of fun for them and a guest as well as accommodations in the new hotel.
City Council Members Participate In Illegal Gambling
We have learned that several members of the city council participated in the illegal poker game that was held recently at Bogey Hills Country Club to reduce the campaign debt for councilman and former judge candidate Richard Veit. Their names were not on the finance campaign disclosure forms filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission because their $300 entry fees were paid for and listed under the names of other individuals.Where is a prosecutor when you need one? Those participating in this illegal gambling should resign their council seats.
Council Holds Closed Meeting Over Law Suits
The city council held a closed door meeting last Monday afternoon at city hall to discuss settling the Sellenschuetter law suit and a new law suit that has been brought against the city by police sergeant Ronald Lloyd. Lloyd filed suit claiming that he was being punished by the Mayor for helping former councilman John Gieseke in his run for Mayor in April. Lloyd and Gieseke have been close friends since childhood. Lloyd was transferred to a shift that does not allow him to continue as a part-time high school football coach. His take home police vehicle was also taken from him. Lloyd says he was told by Police Chief Dennis Corley that he (Corley) was ordered by the Mayor to take the action against Lloyd. The council is discussing a $1 million offer to Sellenschuetter, even though their attorney has advised against the settlement. During the discussion, Council President kneemiller would not recognize councilwoman Laurie Feldman and allow her to speak. Feldman broke down in tears. Six votes could not be found to settle with Sellenschuetter. The Council members who received campaign contributions and other offers from Sellenschuetter still have not excused themselves from voting on the lawsuit; A clear conflict of interest. No offers were made to settle Lloyd’s law suit.
New Police Chief and City Administrator
Acting Police Chief Dennis Corley was sworn in as the Police Chief. Michael Spurgeon, the City Manager of Miami Oklahoma, was hired as the new City Administrator. He will start on January 1, 2008 with a salary of $124,000, full benefits, car allowance and six months furnished apartment rent at $1,000 a month. York wanted to hire Spurgeon several years ago but could not get the votes. He claimed he was withdrawing his name because the council had contracted with the First Capitol News to investigate his background. He really withdrew because he could not get the votes. More on Spurgeon to follow.
firstcapitolnews.com
Wii Three Kings Of Orient Are..... Standing In Lines For Gifts Near & Far
As the effects of stuffing ourselves for Thanksgiving begins to fade, the primordial instinct to hunt and gather presents for Christmas takes over. If it were easy, there would be no sport in Christmas shopping. No sense of accomplishment at stalking your prey. No sense of danger navigating the crowded parking lots or shouldering your way through the crowds.
Men should be good at this right?
Truth be told, it scares us to death. We want to buy the perfect gifts, especially for our wives. We want them to know how much we appreciate all they do. To acknowledge how much they sacrificed all year for the family and that seemingly uncaring man-bear we sometimes see staring back at us when we look in the mirror too closely.
If men could say all that we feel in gifts at Christmas, I believe there would be Peace on Earth. But the problem for any man is that shopping for women, especially your wife, requires advanced degrees in feminine psychology and anatomy.
We’ve split the atom, mapped the human genome, and peered back through time to the beginnings of the Universe…but no one, repeat, no one, has yet to unravel how to size women’s clothing. So we stand awkwardly in the no-man’s land of the women’s department, straining our puny man-sized brains as we try to envision wives, mothers or girlfriends in this frock or that.
What leads men to believe the women in their lives will be happy with their keen fashion sense is a mystery. Most of us never perused the pages of Cosmopolitan outside of a doctor’s waiting room and then only after exhausting a year old Popular Mechanics, including all the ads for building your own helicopter at home.
We are just as hapless at accessories. Did a man ever buy a hat a woman could wear or a purse she used? Jewelry is somewhat safer ground for those men a little more well-off financially. After all, precious metals can always be melted down and the stones reset.
Fortunately for our male egos, females have learned to be gracious in the acceptance of awkward gifts. Much like when the cat brings home a bird.
But as hapless as men are at Christmas shopping, women are much more organized. For one thing, they hunt in packs.
It wasn’t strictly a Christmas present for this year, but more of a left-over promise from last, that led to my initiation into the world of the female Christmas shopper. My daughter wanted a Wii gaming system. Two weeks before Thanksgiving our family, like so many others, discovered the Wii was once again sold out.
Seven stores later I began to believe what the sales people at the first store had told us. The Japanese manufacturers of the Wii, still obviously upset at the outcome of WWII or is that WWii, were once again out to destroy Christmas. They were driving up demand with ads on television, while strictly controlling the supply to keep prices artificially high.
Just when I thought all was lost and I had failed miserably as a Christmas Elf, my daughter came up with a plan of attack. First she ferreted out information about the next shipment of the Wii from a friendly salesperson. They would arrive at two different stores in the same mall on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, but the stores were not authorized to sell them till Friday morning. It is amazing what kind of information you can get out of the less seasoned temporary Christmas help.
The doors of the mall would open at precisely 6:00 AM and the stores at 7:00. We needed to leave our base camp by 5:00 AM to be in position. Two of the family would assault the first store, while the second team moved into position at the second. Whoever got one in hand first would call the other team.
It was a plan worthy of the Allied Command before D-Day. But like D-Day, or should I say Wii-Day, there was a lot more confusion after the operation began. Fortunately, I was on the winning side.
With just 21 Wii(s) to be had, we were nineteenth in line if you didn’t count pre-teens. At one to a customer, and there would have been a riot had it not been just one to a customer, we made it under the wire.
When I told my wife we had secured the Wii, the first thing she said was. “Great, I’ll call my Mom and tell her to tell her friends they can stop looking.”
“What friends I asked?”
“ Oh, all her female friends.”
Like I said, women hunt in packs. Merry Christmas!
Men should be good at this right?
Truth be told, it scares us to death. We want to buy the perfect gifts, especially for our wives. We want them to know how much we appreciate all they do. To acknowledge how much they sacrificed all year for the family and that seemingly uncaring man-bear we sometimes see staring back at us when we look in the mirror too closely.
If men could say all that we feel in gifts at Christmas, I believe there would be Peace on Earth. But the problem for any man is that shopping for women, especially your wife, requires advanced degrees in feminine psychology and anatomy.
We’ve split the atom, mapped the human genome, and peered back through time to the beginnings of the Universe…but no one, repeat, no one, has yet to unravel how to size women’s clothing. So we stand awkwardly in the no-man’s land of the women’s department, straining our puny man-sized brains as we try to envision wives, mothers or girlfriends in this frock or that.
What leads men to believe the women in their lives will be happy with their keen fashion sense is a mystery. Most of us never perused the pages of Cosmopolitan outside of a doctor’s waiting room and then only after exhausting a year old Popular Mechanics, including all the ads for building your own helicopter at home.
We are just as hapless at accessories. Did a man ever buy a hat a woman could wear or a purse she used? Jewelry is somewhat safer ground for those men a little more well-off financially. After all, precious metals can always be melted down and the stones reset.
Fortunately for our male egos, females have learned to be gracious in the acceptance of awkward gifts. Much like when the cat brings home a bird.
But as hapless as men are at Christmas shopping, women are much more organized. For one thing, they hunt in packs.
It wasn’t strictly a Christmas present for this year, but more of a left-over promise from last, that led to my initiation into the world of the female Christmas shopper. My daughter wanted a Wii gaming system. Two weeks before Thanksgiving our family, like so many others, discovered the Wii was once again sold out.
Seven stores later I began to believe what the sales people at the first store had told us. The Japanese manufacturers of the Wii, still obviously upset at the outcome of WWII or is that WWii, were once again out to destroy Christmas. They were driving up demand with ads on television, while strictly controlling the supply to keep prices artificially high.
Just when I thought all was lost and I had failed miserably as a Christmas Elf, my daughter came up with a plan of attack. First she ferreted out information about the next shipment of the Wii from a friendly salesperson. They would arrive at two different stores in the same mall on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, but the stores were not authorized to sell them till Friday morning. It is amazing what kind of information you can get out of the less seasoned temporary Christmas help.
The doors of the mall would open at precisely 6:00 AM and the stores at 7:00. We needed to leave our base camp by 5:00 AM to be in position. Two of the family would assault the first store, while the second team moved into position at the second. Whoever got one in hand first would call the other team.
It was a plan worthy of the Allied Command before D-Day. But like D-Day, or should I say Wii-Day, there was a lot more confusion after the operation began. Fortunately, I was on the winning side.
With just 21 Wii(s) to be had, we were nineteenth in line if you didn’t count pre-teens. At one to a customer, and there would have been a riot had it not been just one to a customer, we made it under the wire.
When I told my wife we had secured the Wii, the first thing she said was. “Great, I’ll call my Mom and tell her to tell her friends they can stop looking.”
“What friends I asked?”
“ Oh, all her female friends.”
Like I said, women hunt in packs. Merry Christmas!
THE PEOPLE SPEAK - Letters To The Editor
Dear Editor,
For several years, we have enjoyed walking the asphalt trails around the lakes at Fountain Lakes Nature Park in St. Charles. These trails go around several lakes which host abundant birdlife and other wildlife and are a source of good exercise and pleasure to many St. Charles City residents.
The asphalt surface has developed cracks and needs maintenance; however, we were astonished when the city replaced the hard surface paths around the north lake with packed gravel. This gravel surface makes it difficult for those who have to navigate wheelchairs to the handicapped-accessible fishing docks as well as for those who enjoy in-line skating and biking. What was once a nice all-weather surface for walking, similar to Creve Coeur Park paths, has now become a dusty, sometimes muddy, and uneven walking surface. We cannot imagine why the Parks Department thought it needed to grind up a mile and a half of existing asphalt surface rather than repair 10-20% of the surface.
We understand the Parks Department also has plans to grind up the paths around the south lakes and replace them with gravel as well. We would hope they would reconsider the purpose of the paths and type of usage they get and just repair the asphalt rather than chopping up the whole thing and replacing it with dusty, dirty gravel. Perhaps our Parks Department could check with the St. Louis County Parks Department to see how they are able to maintain user-friendly paths without destroying the hard surface when the paths need repair.
When we called the Parks Department, their representative told us they do not have the funds to maintain the asphalt paths that the city received as part of a TIF at Fountain Lakes. What has happened to all the money we receive from that Golden Goose down on our riverfront? Has it come to the point where we now do not have funds for basic maintenance of our green space? On the other hand, could this be a matter of poor management on the part of our Parks Department and our City leaders? We certainly hope they will reconsider and retain/repair the existing hard surface around the south lakes.
Larry & Eleanor McCune, St. Charles
Dear Tony,
I’m thinking about Veterans’ Day.
I got a phone call from Baghdad a week or so ago. A young man recruited into the Army fresh out of high school was trying to connect with my daughter. Joining was his choice, but he was just a kid when he made it. He still is. The Army promised him he’d not be sent to Iraq.
I realized I haven’t done a damned thing about the war except surrender my tax money. So yesterday, I went to meet with a representative from US Senator Claire McCaskill’s office. She was a kind-looking woman who sat at a table taking notes and listening to people who wanted the senator to intervene on their behalf. I asked the staffer to tell the senator that we need to support our troops by bringing them home, and that I was speaking for many people in saying so. Which is true. The man next to me blurted out something like, “Yeah? What about rising gas prices?” I said, “That’s actually a blessing, because we need to curtail our CO2 emissions, and high gas prices help us do that.” I added, “I’d like to talk to you about all that, but we don’t have time right now.” The staffer was due to leave in five minutes.
Then I asked the staffer to tell the senator that we need national health care, too. I asked her to encourage the senator to get discussions going alerting the public to the electronic voting machines which are sucking off the vote and killing democracy, and told her I believed it had happened locally. “And we need more veterans’ benefits.” “Are you a veteran?” she asked. “No,” I said. “But veterans need them.” And future veterans. Bush keeps cutting benefits. And there’s not enough medical staff overseas. Later, I told my husband, Jim, about the “rising gas prices” remark.
I understood then, that despite all our education, children — ours and those in countries at war— are still being thrown into the volcano to pacify the gods. And we’re letting it happen. We allow recruiters in our high schools! If we can’t do better than that, what are we doing? We’re hunkering down in fear, that’s what. We’re afraid to talk to people about what most needs talked about, to speak up. Whatever “side” you’re drawn to, however you feel, exchanging thoughts is what needs to happen.
Calmly. Respectfully. Talk. Listen. Write. Think. Please put hands to the wheel of democracy. And ask for a receipt when you vote.
Peggy Whetzel
Dear First Capitol News,
The ugliest block of North Second Street has one of the most insulting sights in town – an American flag is used as a curtain in a warehouse owned by Kelly’s Heating and Cooling.
Since every window in the cement-block building is curtained off, it looks as if the owners, Jerry Kelly and Steve Miles, are hiding behind the flag.
Guys take the flag out of the window and fly it properly, please.
More appropriate, how about putting a pirate flag in its place? It’s the perfect statement, considering the thousands of dollars you poured into getting Richard Veit on the City Council, and now it’s payback time – he’s working for you to industrialize Frenchtown.
As for Frenchtown, maybe it should succeed from St. Charles, because Councilman Veit has stripped every single Frenchtown-dedicated dollar from the city budget for years to come, even money for park benches. They probably don’t want any tourists or shoppers lured to Frenchtown’s upcoming industrial zone.
Call 636-946-4313 and tell Jerry and Steve how you feel.
Media Jane
For several years, we have enjoyed walking the asphalt trails around the lakes at Fountain Lakes Nature Park in St. Charles. These trails go around several lakes which host abundant birdlife and other wildlife and are a source of good exercise and pleasure to many St. Charles City residents.
The asphalt surface has developed cracks and needs maintenance; however, we were astonished when the city replaced the hard surface paths around the north lake with packed gravel. This gravel surface makes it difficult for those who have to navigate wheelchairs to the handicapped-accessible fishing docks as well as for those who enjoy in-line skating and biking. What was once a nice all-weather surface for walking, similar to Creve Coeur Park paths, has now become a dusty, sometimes muddy, and uneven walking surface. We cannot imagine why the Parks Department thought it needed to grind up a mile and a half of existing asphalt surface rather than repair 10-20% of the surface.
We understand the Parks Department also has plans to grind up the paths around the south lakes and replace them with gravel as well. We would hope they would reconsider the purpose of the paths and type of usage they get and just repair the asphalt rather than chopping up the whole thing and replacing it with dusty, dirty gravel. Perhaps our Parks Department could check with the St. Louis County Parks Department to see how they are able to maintain user-friendly paths without destroying the hard surface when the paths need repair.
When we called the Parks Department, their representative told us they do not have the funds to maintain the asphalt paths that the city received as part of a TIF at Fountain Lakes. What has happened to all the money we receive from that Golden Goose down on our riverfront? Has it come to the point where we now do not have funds for basic maintenance of our green space? On the other hand, could this be a matter of poor management on the part of our Parks Department and our City leaders? We certainly hope they will reconsider and retain/repair the existing hard surface around the south lakes.
Larry & Eleanor McCune, St. Charles
Dear Tony,
I’m thinking about Veterans’ Day.
I got a phone call from Baghdad a week or so ago. A young man recruited into the Army fresh out of high school was trying to connect with my daughter. Joining was his choice, but he was just a kid when he made it. He still is. The Army promised him he’d not be sent to Iraq.
I realized I haven’t done a damned thing about the war except surrender my tax money. So yesterday, I went to meet with a representative from US Senator Claire McCaskill’s office. She was a kind-looking woman who sat at a table taking notes and listening to people who wanted the senator to intervene on their behalf. I asked the staffer to tell the senator that we need to support our troops by bringing them home, and that I was speaking for many people in saying so. Which is true. The man next to me blurted out something like, “Yeah? What about rising gas prices?” I said, “That’s actually a blessing, because we need to curtail our CO2 emissions, and high gas prices help us do that.” I added, “I’d like to talk to you about all that, but we don’t have time right now.” The staffer was due to leave in five minutes.
Then I asked the staffer to tell the senator that we need national health care, too. I asked her to encourage the senator to get discussions going alerting the public to the electronic voting machines which are sucking off the vote and killing democracy, and told her I believed it had happened locally. “And we need more veterans’ benefits.” “Are you a veteran?” she asked. “No,” I said. “But veterans need them.” And future veterans. Bush keeps cutting benefits. And there’s not enough medical staff overseas. Later, I told my husband, Jim, about the “rising gas prices” remark.
I understood then, that despite all our education, children — ours and those in countries at war— are still being thrown into the volcano to pacify the gods. And we’re letting it happen. We allow recruiters in our high schools! If we can’t do better than that, what are we doing? We’re hunkering down in fear, that’s what. We’re afraid to talk to people about what most needs talked about, to speak up. Whatever “side” you’re drawn to, however you feel, exchanging thoughts is what needs to happen.
Calmly. Respectfully. Talk. Listen. Write. Think. Please put hands to the wheel of democracy. And ask for a receipt when you vote.
Peggy Whetzel
Dear First Capitol News,
The ugliest block of North Second Street has one of the most insulting sights in town – an American flag is used as a curtain in a warehouse owned by Kelly’s Heating and Cooling.
Since every window in the cement-block building is curtained off, it looks as if the owners, Jerry Kelly and Steve Miles, are hiding behind the flag.
Guys take the flag out of the window and fly it properly, please.
More appropriate, how about putting a pirate flag in its place? It’s the perfect statement, considering the thousands of dollars you poured into getting Richard Veit on the City Council, and now it’s payback time – he’s working for you to industrialize Frenchtown.
As for Frenchtown, maybe it should succeed from St. Charles, because Councilman Veit has stripped every single Frenchtown-dedicated dollar from the city budget for years to come, even money for park benches. They probably don’t want any tourists or shoppers lured to Frenchtown’s upcoming industrial zone.
Call 636-946-4313 and tell Jerry and Steve how you feel.
Media Jane
CaSE IN POINT by Joe Koester
Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.
Oscar Wilde
In a public letter from Sunday, November 11, 2007 – State Representative, Cynthia Davis, R-19th District writes in a letter to the editor captioned, “Does this county need a public bus system?” (you need to read the letter in its entirety):
The idea of bringing public buses to St. Charles County is one issue that raises some philosophical questions that need answers before we are ready for a tax increase.
Many of our people live on cul-de-sacs and don’t even have sidewalks. To get to a bus stop, you have to be able to walk safely and not too far.
When I was in city government, I voted on approving most of these subdivisions because that is what our constituents wanted. Buses only work best with high density and streets laid out on a grid. St. Charles County is distinctively different from St. Louis County.
Some people think we need buses to get people to work. What kind of jobs are these that don’t pay people enough to afford a car? When my husband and I were first married, his take-home pay was $126 per week. Our pickup truck wasn’t very pretty, but it was enough for our basic needs. If the employer really needs employees, and can’t pay them enough so that they can afford to buy cars, why doesn’t he charter his own bus to bring them to work?
Our high school parking lots are filled with students’ cars. They are offered free bus rides to school, yet the demand for student parking always exceeds the amount of space available. Even our kids would rather drive.
Waiting at a bus stop in bad weather can be a bad experience if one has to sit out in the heat, rain and freezing temperatures to catch another bus. This is not a workable option for the elderly and those with fragile health conditions.
I believe we have enough kindhearted friends and families that will give their neighbors a ride if they can’t drive.
There is much that is wrong with this letter from a state lawmaker who represents a part of our county in Jefferson City. First off, however, let me say that my point here is not pro or con public buses in St. Charles County and I agree with one part of the letter from Mrs. Davis – namely, our county has epitomized sprawl-style growth that does make bussing, if not impossible, very challenging. It is the attitude of the remainder of the letter that seems pretty sad and off mark.
To start, where Mrs. Davis states that she approved most of these subdivisions complete with cul-de-sacs because “that is what our constituents wanted” I really must ask myself whether that is truly what the residents of O’Fallon wanted. More likely, new residents wanted a yard, a relatively low-priced home in a safe area with decent schools. The fact that their neighborhood was filled with curvilinear streets that created few connecting roads turning their otherwise three-minute commute into fifteen minutes is, perhaps, something the residents didn’t really want at all. The fact that some streets became major arteries lined with strip malls may just have been the price you paid if you wanted the big house with a yard in a safe area with good schools. Certainly, the very role of the community leader is to meet both the interests of his or her residents and also think about the consequences of actions that create wastefully laid out street grids that require great infrastructure with extremely low density and huge future costs both in street and sewer maintenance and hours wasted by residents sitting in traffic or zigzagging over field and dale to move a few blocks down the road (as the crow flies).
More likely, “constituents” are the same characters you know from St. Charles. Well, they are usually not so much “constituents” as “bankrollers” for chosen campaigns. You guessed it – the developers!
In fact, if the aldermen in O’Fallon had wanted to create both low-traffic streets and a basic overall grid pattern then one day of researching street options would have shown them several ways to build that provide both.
Next, to answer the question posed by Mrs. Davis, “What kind of jobs are these that don’t pay people enough to afford a car?” These are mostly service jobs that have been created as our country de-industrializes. Mrs. Davis, these are the jobs that employ the people that your own Party time and again works against by fighting living wage initiatives and universal health care, as well as a host of other public-good services that would benefit working women and poor children. You should remember, one of the first acts your own Governor took when entering office was to throw quite a few of these poor children off of such public assistance previously provided by the state. The next time you stop at a restaurant or pick up dry cleaning, or maybe even step into your own book store, you may see some of these people doing the very jobs you wonder about.
While we all use our own personal experiences to make generalized judgments about life, we also have enough experience as adults to know that many factors come into play and that sometimes the way we experience things is not how the next fellow will. This is why I find the anecdote above about take-home pay of “$126 per week” rather adolescent. It doesn’t tell the whole story – just one personal (maybe partial) story. Many have the luxury of strong family support, good education, etc. while others do not. In fact, some people may have no family support; have chronic health problems, etc. This is not to make excuses for anyone, but rather to illustrate the eventuality that many people who are hard-working may still be struggling due to factors that you and I do not know about.
As far as high school kids driving – indeed they do. These students pay a huge cost to drive too. Many work nights and weekends in order to pay for gasoline and insurance and they can afford this because they usually are supported from home. Besides, do we look to high school students to decide policy of transportation?
The last two paragraphs are also limited in their vision. Yes, when you ride a bus you are exposed to weather fluctuations. When you have no means of transportation you are exposed to dependence on others. There are options available to help with this problem too. For example, bus shelters can be built and even a fan or heater could be installed. There are cities that are looking into smaller buses that would pick up elderly closer to home and sometimes from their home.
Finally, there are not enough kindhearted friends and family for some folks to depend on for a daily trip to work and to the store, bank, doctor’s office, etc. Again, personal experience seems to somehow indicate reality for everyone else in the greater community in Representative Davis’ eyes. In case Cynthia Davis doesn’t know this, most citizens do not have a campaign account with which they can purchase a private vehicle either.
I believe that Representative Davis is sincere in her beliefs. I also believe that like so many who view the world solely from their own experiences and who see things in black and white with no shades of grey, she is also mistaken about how the real world works.
I would like to end by reiterating that I agree a bus system, as we traditionally think of it, would be difficult to operate, costly, and very likely not used by a huge portion of residents in our county due to our demographics and current infrastructure. I just think it is better to speak the truth about the matter rather than determine policy by, well-this-is-how-I-do-things approach. If a traditional bus system won’t work – what options are there? This is something that can be explored and debated as it should be. If you have a decent job and can afford a car, that’s terrific. Maybe you have gotten where you are today because you were smart, worked hard and just deserve it. I find that usually the story (if told honestly) more often is a combination of work, relationships and fortune. Some folks marry well; others inherit well; while others get help by family and friends. It is certain that many people “deserve” their wealth as much as many others “deserve” their poverty. I hope I never need to depend on a bus system in St. Charles County, however, that doesn’t change the fact that their may be a need for one. Who knows, if gasoline prices double or triple, we may all be asking, “Where’s the nearest bus stop?”
Oscar Wilde
In a public letter from Sunday, November 11, 2007 – State Representative, Cynthia Davis, R-19th District writes in a letter to the editor captioned, “Does this county need a public bus system?” (you need to read the letter in its entirety):
The idea of bringing public buses to St. Charles County is one issue that raises some philosophical questions that need answers before we are ready for a tax increase.
Many of our people live on cul-de-sacs and don’t even have sidewalks. To get to a bus stop, you have to be able to walk safely and not too far.
When I was in city government, I voted on approving most of these subdivisions because that is what our constituents wanted. Buses only work best with high density and streets laid out on a grid. St. Charles County is distinctively different from St. Louis County.
Some people think we need buses to get people to work. What kind of jobs are these that don’t pay people enough to afford a car? When my husband and I were first married, his take-home pay was $126 per week. Our pickup truck wasn’t very pretty, but it was enough for our basic needs. If the employer really needs employees, and can’t pay them enough so that they can afford to buy cars, why doesn’t he charter his own bus to bring them to work?
Our high school parking lots are filled with students’ cars. They are offered free bus rides to school, yet the demand for student parking always exceeds the amount of space available. Even our kids would rather drive.
Waiting at a bus stop in bad weather can be a bad experience if one has to sit out in the heat, rain and freezing temperatures to catch another bus. This is not a workable option for the elderly and those with fragile health conditions.
I believe we have enough kindhearted friends and families that will give their neighbors a ride if they can’t drive.
There is much that is wrong with this letter from a state lawmaker who represents a part of our county in Jefferson City. First off, however, let me say that my point here is not pro or con public buses in St. Charles County and I agree with one part of the letter from Mrs. Davis – namely, our county has epitomized sprawl-style growth that does make bussing, if not impossible, very challenging. It is the attitude of the remainder of the letter that seems pretty sad and off mark.
To start, where Mrs. Davis states that she approved most of these subdivisions complete with cul-de-sacs because “that is what our constituents wanted” I really must ask myself whether that is truly what the residents of O’Fallon wanted. More likely, new residents wanted a yard, a relatively low-priced home in a safe area with decent schools. The fact that their neighborhood was filled with curvilinear streets that created few connecting roads turning their otherwise three-minute commute into fifteen minutes is, perhaps, something the residents didn’t really want at all. The fact that some streets became major arteries lined with strip malls may just have been the price you paid if you wanted the big house with a yard in a safe area with good schools. Certainly, the very role of the community leader is to meet both the interests of his or her residents and also think about the consequences of actions that create wastefully laid out street grids that require great infrastructure with extremely low density and huge future costs both in street and sewer maintenance and hours wasted by residents sitting in traffic or zigzagging over field and dale to move a few blocks down the road (as the crow flies).
More likely, “constituents” are the same characters you know from St. Charles. Well, they are usually not so much “constituents” as “bankrollers” for chosen campaigns. You guessed it – the developers!
In fact, if the aldermen in O’Fallon had wanted to create both low-traffic streets and a basic overall grid pattern then one day of researching street options would have shown them several ways to build that provide both.
Next, to answer the question posed by Mrs. Davis, “What kind of jobs are these that don’t pay people enough to afford a car?” These are mostly service jobs that have been created as our country de-industrializes. Mrs. Davis, these are the jobs that employ the people that your own Party time and again works against by fighting living wage initiatives and universal health care, as well as a host of other public-good services that would benefit working women and poor children. You should remember, one of the first acts your own Governor took when entering office was to throw quite a few of these poor children off of such public assistance previously provided by the state. The next time you stop at a restaurant or pick up dry cleaning, or maybe even step into your own book store, you may see some of these people doing the very jobs you wonder about.
While we all use our own personal experiences to make generalized judgments about life, we also have enough experience as adults to know that many factors come into play and that sometimes the way we experience things is not how the next fellow will. This is why I find the anecdote above about take-home pay of “$126 per week” rather adolescent. It doesn’t tell the whole story – just one personal (maybe partial) story. Many have the luxury of strong family support, good education, etc. while others do not. In fact, some people may have no family support; have chronic health problems, etc. This is not to make excuses for anyone, but rather to illustrate the eventuality that many people who are hard-working may still be struggling due to factors that you and I do not know about.
As far as high school kids driving – indeed they do. These students pay a huge cost to drive too. Many work nights and weekends in order to pay for gasoline and insurance and they can afford this because they usually are supported from home. Besides, do we look to high school students to decide policy of transportation?
The last two paragraphs are also limited in their vision. Yes, when you ride a bus you are exposed to weather fluctuations. When you have no means of transportation you are exposed to dependence on others. There are options available to help with this problem too. For example, bus shelters can be built and even a fan or heater could be installed. There are cities that are looking into smaller buses that would pick up elderly closer to home and sometimes from their home.
Finally, there are not enough kindhearted friends and family for some folks to depend on for a daily trip to work and to the store, bank, doctor’s office, etc. Again, personal experience seems to somehow indicate reality for everyone else in the greater community in Representative Davis’ eyes. In case Cynthia Davis doesn’t know this, most citizens do not have a campaign account with which they can purchase a private vehicle either.
I believe that Representative Davis is sincere in her beliefs. I also believe that like so many who view the world solely from their own experiences and who see things in black and white with no shades of grey, she is also mistaken about how the real world works.
I would like to end by reiterating that I agree a bus system, as we traditionally think of it, would be difficult to operate, costly, and very likely not used by a huge portion of residents in our county due to our demographics and current infrastructure. I just think it is better to speak the truth about the matter rather than determine policy by, well-this-is-how-I-do-things approach. If a traditional bus system won’t work – what options are there? This is something that can be explored and debated as it should be. If you have a decent job and can afford a car, that’s terrific. Maybe you have gotten where you are today because you were smart, worked hard and just deserve it. I find that usually the story (if told honestly) more often is a combination of work, relationships and fortune. Some folks marry well; others inherit well; while others get help by family and friends. It is certain that many people “deserve” their wealth as much as many others “deserve” their poverty. I hope I never need to depend on a bus system in St. Charles County, however, that doesn’t change the fact that their may be a need for one. Who knows, if gasoline prices double or triple, we may all be asking, “Where’s the nearest bus stop?”
WINE NOW BEING PRODUCED IN WATER STREET CAVERNS
By Tony Brockmeyer
Photos by Tony Brockmeyer
Little Hills Winery of St. Charles now has a new home in which to make and store their famous wines. Although the location may be new to Little Hills Winery it has been a fixture in St. Charles since 1851. Little Hills Winery wines are now stored and produced about 50 feet underground in historic St. Charles in about 5000 to 7000 square feet of caverns under Water Street.
Until the early 60’s the caverns were the home of the Fishback Brewing Company. In 1965 Nick Van Dyke purchased them from the Fishback family and began brewing batches of Van Dyke Beer. After the Van Dyke Brewing Company closed the caverns were purchased by Jim Reed of Cavern Springs Winery. Now they are the new home of the Little Hills Winery production division.
Ten years ago David Campbell and his family purchased the Little Hills Winery Restaurant at 501 South Main Street and operate it on a daily basis. “When we bought the restaurant 10 years ago there was a gentleman who made our wine for us and put our label on it,” David Campbell told the First Capitol News. “In the last three years we have made the change over to producing our own wine. Making sure it really is a legitimate winery.” The Campbell family also operates the Little Hills Winery Wine Shop at 710 South Main Street in St. Charles.
According to David Campbell, “Little Hills Winery sells about 8,000 cases of wine in the wine shop and restaurant a year. A case is 2.3 gallons of wine. In the caverns we are only going to do about 3,000 gallons. Anything more than that would be difficult because the caverns are really not designed for a heavy commercial production. We are somewhat limited.”
Little Hills Winery has a secondary bottling line in the St. James area where they will do another 3,000 cases. “We may be able to get production a little bit higher in the caverns but this will be more intended for red aging in barrels,” he said.
When asked if wine was good for your health David said, “Typically the red wines more than white. The tannins are very good I drink a glass in the evening. They have some other scientific components in there but it is the red. White wine is okay but it is the tannins that help digest your food and help lower the blood pressure.”
Little Hills Winery can bottle about 50 bottles an hour in their cavern production area. They have a small vineyard in Eolia, Missouri where Vignoles and Norton are grown and they have just purchased a small farm in Wentzville where they will be planting more grapes next year. “As grapes are a popular crop, there are many available for our purchase,” David said. “We get grapes from Mountain Grove, St. James and Augusta, Missouri areas.”
The only power equipment used by Little Hills Winery in the caverns is a corker. The machine that places the corks in the bottle. Everything else is pretty much gravity driven. “We pump the wine into tanks,” he said. “The wine then gravity feeds into our filler where we can fill six bottles at a time. They get corked and then we put labels on by hand. We place capsules over the corks and the top of the bottles and a heat gun is used to shrink the capsules onto the bottles which are then placed in a case and they are stored in the driest room in the caverns.”
The caverns usually maintain a temperature of about 64 degrees year round. In the lower chamber of the caverns a spring flows at a rate of about 85 gallons a minute. According to David that is why the street was named Water Street.
When we visited the winery David and his crew along with his wine maker, Phil Grazyk, were bottling Alpenglow and Alpenglow Blanc, a holiday wine best served warm, that Little Hills has produced for almost 20 years.
Grapes are usually obtained in the fall. Some juices and concentrates are available throughout the year and are used for fruit wines like Little Hills Winery Strawberry that is usually made in July. Traditionally the grape crop isn’t ready until the last part of September through October.
When asked if he was planning on expanding his restaurant operation into the caverns, David said, “I think one restaurant is enough. The goal is to be able to get the caverns to a point where we can share them back to the community because they are truly historic. Our intention is to do some private wine tasting activities down here but we will not be making this into a restaurant.”
The caverns also contain beer brewing barrels that are thought to be over 100 years old.
Photos by Tony Brockmeyer
Little Hills Winery of St. Charles now has a new home in which to make and store their famous wines. Although the location may be new to Little Hills Winery it has been a fixture in St. Charles since 1851. Little Hills Winery wines are now stored and produced about 50 feet underground in historic St. Charles in about 5000 to 7000 square feet of caverns under Water Street.
Until the early 60’s the caverns were the home of the Fishback Brewing Company. In 1965 Nick Van Dyke purchased them from the Fishback family and began brewing batches of Van Dyke Beer. After the Van Dyke Brewing Company closed the caverns were purchased by Jim Reed of Cavern Springs Winery. Now they are the new home of the Little Hills Winery production division.
Ten years ago David Campbell and his family purchased the Little Hills Winery Restaurant at 501 South Main Street and operate it on a daily basis. “When we bought the restaurant 10 years ago there was a gentleman who made our wine for us and put our label on it,” David Campbell told the First Capitol News. “In the last three years we have made the change over to producing our own wine. Making sure it really is a legitimate winery.” The Campbell family also operates the Little Hills Winery Wine Shop at 710 South Main Street in St. Charles.
According to David Campbell, “Little Hills Winery sells about 8,000 cases of wine in the wine shop and restaurant a year. A case is 2.3 gallons of wine. In the caverns we are only going to do about 3,000 gallons. Anything more than that would be difficult because the caverns are really not designed for a heavy commercial production. We are somewhat limited.”
Little Hills Winery has a secondary bottling line in the St. James area where they will do another 3,000 cases. “We may be able to get production a little bit higher in the caverns but this will be more intended for red aging in barrels,” he said.
When asked if wine was good for your health David said, “Typically the red wines more than white. The tannins are very good I drink a glass in the evening. They have some other scientific components in there but it is the red. White wine is okay but it is the tannins that help digest your food and help lower the blood pressure.”
Little Hills Winery can bottle about 50 bottles an hour in their cavern production area. They have a small vineyard in Eolia, Missouri where Vignoles and Norton are grown and they have just purchased a small farm in Wentzville where they will be planting more grapes next year. “As grapes are a popular crop, there are many available for our purchase,” David said. “We get grapes from Mountain Grove, St. James and Augusta, Missouri areas.”
The only power equipment used by Little Hills Winery in the caverns is a corker. The machine that places the corks in the bottle. Everything else is pretty much gravity driven. “We pump the wine into tanks,” he said. “The wine then gravity feeds into our filler where we can fill six bottles at a time. They get corked and then we put labels on by hand. We place capsules over the corks and the top of the bottles and a heat gun is used to shrink the capsules onto the bottles which are then placed in a case and they are stored in the driest room in the caverns.”
The caverns usually maintain a temperature of about 64 degrees year round. In the lower chamber of the caverns a spring flows at a rate of about 85 gallons a minute. According to David that is why the street was named Water Street.
When we visited the winery David and his crew along with his wine maker, Phil Grazyk, were bottling Alpenglow and Alpenglow Blanc, a holiday wine best served warm, that Little Hills has produced for almost 20 years.
Grapes are usually obtained in the fall. Some juices and concentrates are available throughout the year and are used for fruit wines like Little Hills Winery Strawberry that is usually made in July. Traditionally the grape crop isn’t ready until the last part of September through October.
When asked if he was planning on expanding his restaurant operation into the caverns, David said, “I think one restaurant is enough. The goal is to be able to get the caverns to a point where we can share them back to the community because they are truly historic. Our intention is to do some private wine tasting activities down here but we will not be making this into a restaurant.”
The caverns also contain beer brewing barrels that are thought to be over 100 years old.
The View From The Cheap Seats by Jerry Hafferkamp
The View From The Cheap Seats
By Jerry Haferkamp
The long wait is over. We have a permanent Chief of Police and will soon have our new Director of Administration.
The Director of Administration should be what our mayor calls a “good fit”. He comes from Miami, Oklahoma. Miami has less than 1/4th our population and probably 1/20th our revenue. I don’t know if he’s up to the task ahead, but I’m sure the mayor will “guide” him.
Chief Corley has had time to become adjusted to the position. The mayor called him a “proven person”. One of the first actions he took as interim Chief was to re-assign an officer that happened to have supported the wrong mayoral candidate. Patti says Corley had a “calming” effect on the department. That type of activity will calm anyone who dares to speak out against this mayor. It’s sort of like in The Godfather, waking with your horse’s head under your covers. Maybe a better analogy would be the “calming effect” the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had on the Japanese Empire. He has definitely “proven” that he knows the requirements of his position.
While Frenchtown residents and business owners are trying to improve the area, it seems like someone is working against them. There is a proposal before the Council to spot-zone certain properties, adding to the problems facing Frenchtown. There were several speakers at the last Council meeting expressing opposition. It will be interesting to see if Councilman Veit listens to his constituents, or turns a deaf ear as he did in the parking situation. We all know the businessmen and women lost their parking after political contributions were made and the Veit contributor benefited. But while this beneficiary eats steak shouldn’t Richard at least throw his constituents a bone? Or maybe he has already given them exactly that.
Note to Frenchtown: Money talks, and apparently Veit can’t hear you talking. Maybe if you hold an illegal poker game and contribute the house cut to his campaign, he’ll listen.
Of course, that’s just the view from the cheap seats.
By Jerry Haferkamp
The long wait is over. We have a permanent Chief of Police and will soon have our new Director of Administration.
The Director of Administration should be what our mayor calls a “good fit”. He comes from Miami, Oklahoma. Miami has less than 1/4th our population and probably 1/20th our revenue. I don’t know if he’s up to the task ahead, but I’m sure the mayor will “guide” him.
Chief Corley has had time to become adjusted to the position. The mayor called him a “proven person”. One of the first actions he took as interim Chief was to re-assign an officer that happened to have supported the wrong mayoral candidate. Patti says Corley had a “calming” effect on the department. That type of activity will calm anyone who dares to speak out against this mayor. It’s sort of like in The Godfather, waking with your horse’s head under your covers. Maybe a better analogy would be the “calming effect” the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had on the Japanese Empire. He has definitely “proven” that he knows the requirements of his position.
While Frenchtown residents and business owners are trying to improve the area, it seems like someone is working against them. There is a proposal before the Council to spot-zone certain properties, adding to the problems facing Frenchtown. There were several speakers at the last Council meeting expressing opposition. It will be interesting to see if Councilman Veit listens to his constituents, or turns a deaf ear as he did in the parking situation. We all know the businessmen and women lost their parking after political contributions were made and the Veit contributor benefited. But while this beneficiary eats steak shouldn’t Richard at least throw his constituents a bone? Or maybe he has already given them exactly that.
Note to Frenchtown: Money talks, and apparently Veit can’t hear you talking. Maybe if you hold an illegal poker game and contribute the house cut to his campaign, he’ll listen.
Of course, that’s just the view from the cheap seats.
Comments & Commentary by Charles Hill
This past month the South Main business owners had the opportunity to experience a water main break. The dedicated City Staff fixed the break and business went on. At the next council meeting the break was discussed and our illustrious City Council President, Bob Kneemiller, had this to say,”At least they didn’t complain like the North Main businesses.” That might not be an exact quote but it is close. This statement sums up the council and mayor’s belief of what our opinions are to them. We are a nuisance when we hold them accountable, we are troubling them when we want a street fixed, it’s an inconvenience to them when they have to repair something. This attitude exists because the fish rots from the head down. Mayor York has always placed the average residents in second place. Kneemiller’s comment was directed at the hard working business owners who had to endure weeks and weeks of North Main Street being closed. This closure hurt our only means of income, hurt our families and our customers. So Bob, next time you want to call us complainers be ready to fork over the money for our loss when you can’t keep the city running. Last time I looked that was your job.
The other part of my anger is about South Main and our usual complainers. Archie Scott, Gene Woods, Karen House and the infamous Mydler family. They just can’t stop complaining about one thing or another. Archie complains because the city won’t spend a million dollars on a visitors center, Wood complains about a business simply wanting to increase revenues for the city by adding a temporary tent that can’t be seen from the street. House complains about the building of new housing on South Main. They all complain and rightfully so about the lack of maintenance of the street.
When it comes down to it. Main Street is not full of complainers per se. There are people who actually believe the city is responsible to them as taxpayers and the city should be able to fix things in a timely manner.
Back to the tent and South Main. Only in Historic St. Charles can you get permission to place a crappy looking tent on Main Street, blocking a Historic Marker to sell cookies that were baked in a residence off of Sibley Street. Then the same South Main complainers decided that a tent that would help support a business, bring in tax dollars, bring people to Main Street, a tent that is high quality and can’t be seen from the street, doesn’t cover anything historic, should not be allowed. Come on!
Lastly, I watched the Veterans Day Memorial Service and want to thank our Veterans. The one thing that struck me as we honored our Vets in front of a memorial that cost in excess of $300,000, is how many vets could we have helped with that money? Recently it was discovered that 25 percent of those homeless in the US were veterans who had served our country. This is a national disgrace. Instead of spending money on monuments we should be finding out ways to help our service men and women. Creating an environment that helps them find jobs, helps them find shelter. This monument was spearheaded by a group of self-serving veterans who felt they deserved a statue. These veterans should be finding ways to help their brothers in arms, not create monuments to themselves.
The other part of my anger is about South Main and our usual complainers. Archie Scott, Gene Woods, Karen House and the infamous Mydler family. They just can’t stop complaining about one thing or another. Archie complains because the city won’t spend a million dollars on a visitors center, Wood complains about a business simply wanting to increase revenues for the city by adding a temporary tent that can’t be seen from the street. House complains about the building of new housing on South Main. They all complain and rightfully so about the lack of maintenance of the street.
When it comes down to it. Main Street is not full of complainers per se. There are people who actually believe the city is responsible to them as taxpayers and the city should be able to fix things in a timely manner.
Back to the tent and South Main. Only in Historic St. Charles can you get permission to place a crappy looking tent on Main Street, blocking a Historic Marker to sell cookies that were baked in a residence off of Sibley Street. Then the same South Main complainers decided that a tent that would help support a business, bring in tax dollars, bring people to Main Street, a tent that is high quality and can’t be seen from the street, doesn’t cover anything historic, should not be allowed. Come on!
Lastly, I watched the Veterans Day Memorial Service and want to thank our Veterans. The one thing that struck me as we honored our Vets in front of a memorial that cost in excess of $300,000, is how many vets could we have helped with that money? Recently it was discovered that 25 percent of those homeless in the US were veterans who had served our country. This is a national disgrace. Instead of spending money on monuments we should be finding out ways to help our service men and women. Creating an environment that helps them find jobs, helps them find shelter. This monument was spearheaded by a group of self-serving veterans who felt they deserved a statue. These veterans should be finding ways to help their brothers in arms, not create monuments to themselves.
Kratzer's Corner by Mel Kratzer
The Changing of Johnson-Shut-Ins
During the late spring and summer months, many of us St. Charles Countians make the two and a half hour pilgrimage drive to the crown jewel nature paradise known as “Johnson Shut-ins.” This refreshing special conservation area consists of a mile stretch of various boulders overrun by a crystal clear river offshoot creating a swimming mecca made up of mini waterfalls, whirlpools, and deep waterholes. But a few years ago, the enormous Tom Sauk Mountain reservoir collapsed transforming Johnson Shut-ins into a place very different than before.
A few years ago, my woman and I were wrapping up a mini-camping trip and decided to satisfy our curiosity by visiting the Tom Sauk Mountain Dam and Reservoir operation. After an up close view of the dam, we traveled up a protracted incline to the reservoir, which was encompassed in a large lake- sized aboveground pool-like concrete container. The showing -wear exterior reservoir walls revealed a hint that a structure failure could be a possibility. Your mind’s imagination kicked into full gear contemplating wondering what the disaster scenario would be if this reservoir gave way. Little did we know that two months later, that dam reservoir breakage would become a reality?
In laymen’s terms, here’s how AmerenUE’s Tom Sauk Mountain Dam works. Water is released from the mountain top reservoir flowing downhill to the energy turning turbines of the dam below. The water is subsequently pumped back up to the reservoir, as this process is repeated over and over constantly generating electricity for you and me. When Tom Sauk Mountain Dam Reservoir collapsed, the water in the top-of the mountain tank was at full capacity, a definite worse case scenario.
Driving to Johnson Shut-Ins entrance, you’ll notice a two hundred yard empty swath of space carved down the mountain through the forest into the state park’s beginning. What really looks like what happened is a F5 tornado buzz sawed its way through the area with vengeance. A high chain link prison-like fence is also at the park’s front part to the middle as I am told some restoration is still taking place.
Johnson-Shut-Ins inside the park characteristics have made a mind-boggling transformation. There are house-sized boulders that were picked up and moved downstream that no human or human made machine could move. Trees throughout the park are permanently bent into an “Arch” shape due to the force of the wall of water that overran them. The deck-like wooden walkway has vanished courtesy of that fifteen-minute gigantic burst of water that barreled its way by. The width of Johnson-Shut-Ins banks is now enormous nearly quadruple in size. That’s what happens when a two-football field wide water sudden release takes place.
The Shut-Ins themselves are recognizable but very different too. What strikes out first to your eyes is the massive amount of gravel all over the Shut-Ins area. It’s everywhere and I’m told its there to stay, as workers and AmerenUE have no equipment to get it out of there. In bulldozers or backhoes would sink into the small river’s bottom. Sound’s to me that AmerenUE doesn’t want to pay to remove the gravel manually by shovel and wheel barrel. This electric company got a sweetheart damage pay-off deal thanks to our sell-out Governor Blunt, so they don’t have to worry much about the park anymore unless Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon successfully sues the paints off them.
Favorite Shut-Ins spots like the brief underwater under boulder cave, the mini waterfall/whirlpool, and the steeper mini waterfalls have disappeared. Only millions of years of natural river transformation can change them back so you and I will never see them again. The deep pool at the Shut-Ins ending is smaller and shallower to a point where it’s outlawed to jump from the cliffs and boulders. If you do jump from these upper rock formations, a six hundred dollar fine will be levied against you if a ranger witnesses it and they are almost always on patrol. In the years past, you would see cliff jumpers plunge into the deep pool below occasionally seeing someone come up to the water’s surface with a strawberry of blood on their body from hitting bottom.
An enlightening item about the Shut-Ins is that the water is still clear as a bell and comfortably cool. Park workers tell me that a biodegradable substance was put into the water to remove all the mud and murk that was present after the reservoir breakage mishap. Varieties of fish and turtle are still plentiful and can be spotted easily from the surface to the bottom. I do not know how clean the waters are as my little girl accidentally swallowed some of it and was sick with a virus for two weeks.
The amount of water that flows through the Shut-Ins is less than before and the reasons for that are quite interesting as I learned from chatting with the park’s workers. A nine-year drought has plagued the area to a point where people in the county may have to figure out alternative ways of getting water and go into a full-blown conservation mode. Also “Leaky Creek” as locals and park workers refer to it as, has dried up. The Tom Sauk Mountain Reservoir leaked from its inception and the leakage formed Leaky Creek which fed the Shut-Ins. AmerenUe always new about this and maybe that’s why Attorney General Nixon maybe be going after the company for neglect damages.
In August through early September, the park opened, but you were restricted to use of the Shut-Ins only. The Johnson Shut-Ins Parks’ trails and campgrounds were off limits due to under repairs. The park’s store is open and in decent shape. Next year the park will open sometime but in what kind of capacity is unsure. I know the adjacent businesses near the park would welcome the opening as they have suffered immensely from the park’s prolonged closure. You’ll see some closed down “ghost-town-like businesses” not too far from the park. It depressing to see how this “disaster’ caused economic strife to these park-related companies.
But all is not gloom and doom with the Shut-Ins as the park still is the great getaway paradise you can’t wait to get to visit when you get a hot summer day off and want to escape the heat. Hopefully a lesson has been learned here; never build anything that will adversely affect an ecological treasure. And the Johnson-Shut-Ins are still a beautiful though they are not quite like you may remember them.
Editor’s note. Since this article was written AmerenUE has agreed to a settlement with the state.
During the late spring and summer months, many of us St. Charles Countians make the two and a half hour pilgrimage drive to the crown jewel nature paradise known as “Johnson Shut-ins.” This refreshing special conservation area consists of a mile stretch of various boulders overrun by a crystal clear river offshoot creating a swimming mecca made up of mini waterfalls, whirlpools, and deep waterholes. But a few years ago, the enormous Tom Sauk Mountain reservoir collapsed transforming Johnson Shut-ins into a place very different than before.
A few years ago, my woman and I were wrapping up a mini-camping trip and decided to satisfy our curiosity by visiting the Tom Sauk Mountain Dam and Reservoir operation. After an up close view of the dam, we traveled up a protracted incline to the reservoir, which was encompassed in a large lake- sized aboveground pool-like concrete container. The showing -wear exterior reservoir walls revealed a hint that a structure failure could be a possibility. Your mind’s imagination kicked into full gear contemplating wondering what the disaster scenario would be if this reservoir gave way. Little did we know that two months later, that dam reservoir breakage would become a reality?
In laymen’s terms, here’s how AmerenUE’s Tom Sauk Mountain Dam works. Water is released from the mountain top reservoir flowing downhill to the energy turning turbines of the dam below. The water is subsequently pumped back up to the reservoir, as this process is repeated over and over constantly generating electricity for you and me. When Tom Sauk Mountain Dam Reservoir collapsed, the water in the top-of the mountain tank was at full capacity, a definite worse case scenario.
Driving to Johnson Shut-Ins entrance, you’ll notice a two hundred yard empty swath of space carved down the mountain through the forest into the state park’s beginning. What really looks like what happened is a F5 tornado buzz sawed its way through the area with vengeance. A high chain link prison-like fence is also at the park’s front part to the middle as I am told some restoration is still taking place.
Johnson-Shut-Ins inside the park characteristics have made a mind-boggling transformation. There are house-sized boulders that were picked up and moved downstream that no human or human made machine could move. Trees throughout the park are permanently bent into an “Arch” shape due to the force of the wall of water that overran them. The deck-like wooden walkway has vanished courtesy of that fifteen-minute gigantic burst of water that barreled its way by. The width of Johnson-Shut-Ins banks is now enormous nearly quadruple in size. That’s what happens when a two-football field wide water sudden release takes place.
The Shut-Ins themselves are recognizable but very different too. What strikes out first to your eyes is the massive amount of gravel all over the Shut-Ins area. It’s everywhere and I’m told its there to stay, as workers and AmerenUE have no equipment to get it out of there. In bulldozers or backhoes would sink into the small river’s bottom. Sound’s to me that AmerenUE doesn’t want to pay to remove the gravel manually by shovel and wheel barrel. This electric company got a sweetheart damage pay-off deal thanks to our sell-out Governor Blunt, so they don’t have to worry much about the park anymore unless Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon successfully sues the paints off them.
Favorite Shut-Ins spots like the brief underwater under boulder cave, the mini waterfall/whirlpool, and the steeper mini waterfalls have disappeared. Only millions of years of natural river transformation can change them back so you and I will never see them again. The deep pool at the Shut-Ins ending is smaller and shallower to a point where it’s outlawed to jump from the cliffs and boulders. If you do jump from these upper rock formations, a six hundred dollar fine will be levied against you if a ranger witnesses it and they are almost always on patrol. In the years past, you would see cliff jumpers plunge into the deep pool below occasionally seeing someone come up to the water’s surface with a strawberry of blood on their body from hitting bottom.
An enlightening item about the Shut-Ins is that the water is still clear as a bell and comfortably cool. Park workers tell me that a biodegradable substance was put into the water to remove all the mud and murk that was present after the reservoir breakage mishap. Varieties of fish and turtle are still plentiful and can be spotted easily from the surface to the bottom. I do not know how clean the waters are as my little girl accidentally swallowed some of it and was sick with a virus for two weeks.
The amount of water that flows through the Shut-Ins is less than before and the reasons for that are quite interesting as I learned from chatting with the park’s workers. A nine-year drought has plagued the area to a point where people in the county may have to figure out alternative ways of getting water and go into a full-blown conservation mode. Also “Leaky Creek” as locals and park workers refer to it as, has dried up. The Tom Sauk Mountain Reservoir leaked from its inception and the leakage formed Leaky Creek which fed the Shut-Ins. AmerenUe always new about this and maybe that’s why Attorney General Nixon maybe be going after the company for neglect damages.
In August through early September, the park opened, but you were restricted to use of the Shut-Ins only. The Johnson Shut-Ins Parks’ trails and campgrounds were off limits due to under repairs. The park’s store is open and in decent shape. Next year the park will open sometime but in what kind of capacity is unsure. I know the adjacent businesses near the park would welcome the opening as they have suffered immensely from the park’s prolonged closure. You’ll see some closed down “ghost-town-like businesses” not too far from the park. It depressing to see how this “disaster’ caused economic strife to these park-related companies.
But all is not gloom and doom with the Shut-Ins as the park still is the great getaway paradise you can’t wait to get to visit when you get a hot summer day off and want to escape the heat. Hopefully a lesson has been learned here; never build anything that will adversely affect an ecological treasure. And the Johnson-Shut-Ins are still a beautiful though they are not quite like you may remember them.
Editor’s note. Since this article was written AmerenUE has agreed to a settlement with the state.
First Capitol News Sports - Mike McMurran Sports Editor
“Deferred gratification,” is a phrase that pretty much describes my life. Don’t think it wasn’t hard being thirty something years old and trying to complete my undergraduate degree at UMSL. Often times I would run into people I grew up with and they would share with me how they had started a family and were working on furthering their career. All I could say was, “I’m still going to school.” All they while they were making money and collecting “stuff.” As time went on things kind of balanced out and in some cases I even surpassed them in the race “to collect stuff.”
As regular readers of this column know, I started having children later in life – I was 41 years-old when my daughter, Maggie, was born. Today’s column deals with Maggie, having my priorities in order – and the opposite of deferred gratification – immediate gratification.
For the past three years or so, Bob Barton and I have covered the “Guns and Hoses” event held downtown on Thanksgiving Eve. This year was to be no different. Of course as those of you with children know, when you have children – things change at the drop of a hat. It seems Maggie’s performing arts troupe, Just Kids (the youngest group from the Patt Holt Singers) had a gig at Macy’s on Thanksgiving Eve. The group has a Christmas Show where the children dress up like elves and sing and dance and make everyone within the sound of their voices smile and feel better. That’s pretty much what they do – make people feel better. Well, it seems Macy’s was having a giant celebration to kick off the official holiday season and they needed some elves. The folks at Macy’s did what anybody with any sense would do if they needed some elves, they called Patt Holt. “How many elves do you need and what size,” is probably what Patt said to the folks at Macy’s. You see she has a wide variety of elves for just such an occasion.
The “t’s” were crossed and the “i’s” were dotted and my daughter had a Thanksgiving Eve gig – a real paying gig! The girls had to be downtown by 6 p.m. Ah, but you see, Lynn, who usually volunteers to transport the girls, wouldn’t get home from work until 5:45 or so – she wouldn’t be able to take the girls. I couldn’t because I had to go to Guns and Hoses – or so I thought. “Dad, can you drive us downtown to Macy’s – please?” Well, I guess if you’ve seen one fight you’ve seen them all – so I agreed. On Thanksgiving Eve I was in a van full of young elves on their way to their paying gig.
All went well, the girls had a good time, and were home by 10 p.m. I was none the worse for missing Guns and Hoses.
Thanksgiving morning the dogs woke me up at their usual 5 a.m. – they didn’t know it was a holiday and they could have slept in. I’m one of those types of people that once I get up I’m awake – at least for a few hours. So I made some coffee and read the morning paper. By the time the rest of the family was up, I was ready for a nap. So at about 11 or so I laid down for a power nap.
Then it happened, not deferred gratification, but rather one of those magic moments of being a parent. One of those moments that make everything you’ve done worth wild! At noon, on Thanksgiving Day, Maggie came in and woke me. “Dad, it’s noon, it’s noon on Thanksgiving Day, and that song we always listen to will be coming on soon – get up!” For those of you who don’t have a rock and roll background, every Thanksgiving Day, at high noon KSHE 95, the rock station most of us grew up with, plays Arlo Guthrie’s, Alice’s Restaurant. It’s been their tradition for over thirty years. Well, some five years ago, I turned Maggie on to the song. Remember now, Maggie loves music, and found the song very interesting.
Rather than go downstairs and listen to Alice’s Restaurant, Maggie and I laid down in the bed, my arm around her, and listened to the classic tune – that is until the final two stanzas of the song. On Thanksgiving Day, at around 12:20 or so, Maggie and I were singing out loud, together, one sounding sweet, the other terrible: “You can get anything your want, at Alice’s Restaurant.”
In case I didn’t make my point clear, I would have missed the song had she not waken me from my Thanksgiving morning nap – she remembered our Thanksgiving tradition. I couldn’t help but think – this is what you get for giving up Guns and Hoses and taking your daughter to do her Thanksgiving Eve paying gig at Macy’s. Then it really struck me, I bet, years after I’m dead and gone, my daughter will be listening to Alice’s Restaurant with her kids, and saying something like, “I used to listen to this song with my dad when I was your age. Now I’m listening to it with you.” And for a moment, she’ll remember her dear old dad.
As regular readers of this column know, I started having children later in life – I was 41 years-old when my daughter, Maggie, was born. Today’s column deals with Maggie, having my priorities in order – and the opposite of deferred gratification – immediate gratification.
For the past three years or so, Bob Barton and I have covered the “Guns and Hoses” event held downtown on Thanksgiving Eve. This year was to be no different. Of course as those of you with children know, when you have children – things change at the drop of a hat. It seems Maggie’s performing arts troupe, Just Kids (the youngest group from the Patt Holt Singers) had a gig at Macy’s on Thanksgiving Eve. The group has a Christmas Show where the children dress up like elves and sing and dance and make everyone within the sound of their voices smile and feel better. That’s pretty much what they do – make people feel better. Well, it seems Macy’s was having a giant celebration to kick off the official holiday season and they needed some elves. The folks at Macy’s did what anybody with any sense would do if they needed some elves, they called Patt Holt. “How many elves do you need and what size,” is probably what Patt said to the folks at Macy’s. You see she has a wide variety of elves for just such an occasion.
The “t’s” were crossed and the “i’s” were dotted and my daughter had a Thanksgiving Eve gig – a real paying gig! The girls had to be downtown by 6 p.m. Ah, but you see, Lynn, who usually volunteers to transport the girls, wouldn’t get home from work until 5:45 or so – she wouldn’t be able to take the girls. I couldn’t because I had to go to Guns and Hoses – or so I thought. “Dad, can you drive us downtown to Macy’s – please?” Well, I guess if you’ve seen one fight you’ve seen them all – so I agreed. On Thanksgiving Eve I was in a van full of young elves on their way to their paying gig.
All went well, the girls had a good time, and were home by 10 p.m. I was none the worse for missing Guns and Hoses.
Thanksgiving morning the dogs woke me up at their usual 5 a.m. – they didn’t know it was a holiday and they could have slept in. I’m one of those types of people that once I get up I’m awake – at least for a few hours. So I made some coffee and read the morning paper. By the time the rest of the family was up, I was ready for a nap. So at about 11 or so I laid down for a power nap.
Then it happened, not deferred gratification, but rather one of those magic moments of being a parent. One of those moments that make everything you’ve done worth wild! At noon, on Thanksgiving Day, Maggie came in and woke me. “Dad, it’s noon, it’s noon on Thanksgiving Day, and that song we always listen to will be coming on soon – get up!” For those of you who don’t have a rock and roll background, every Thanksgiving Day, at high noon KSHE 95, the rock station most of us grew up with, plays Arlo Guthrie’s, Alice’s Restaurant. It’s been their tradition for over thirty years. Well, some five years ago, I turned Maggie on to the song. Remember now, Maggie loves music, and found the song very interesting.
Rather than go downstairs and listen to Alice’s Restaurant, Maggie and I laid down in the bed, my arm around her, and listened to the classic tune – that is until the final two stanzas of the song. On Thanksgiving Day, at around 12:20 or so, Maggie and I were singing out loud, together, one sounding sweet, the other terrible: “You can get anything your want, at Alice’s Restaurant.”
In case I didn’t make my point clear, I would have missed the song had she not waken me from my Thanksgiving morning nap – she remembered our Thanksgiving tradition. I couldn’t help but think – this is what you get for giving up Guns and Hoses and taking your daughter to do her Thanksgiving Eve paying gig at Macy’s. Then it really struck me, I bet, years after I’m dead and gone, my daughter will be listening to Alice’s Restaurant with her kids, and saying something like, “I used to listen to this song with my dad when I was your age. Now I’m listening to it with you.” And for a moment, she’ll remember her dear old dad.
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