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Welcome to Pulaski County Daily — Pulaski County’s best in-depth FREE news coverage, delivered seven days a week, 365 days a year, for comprehensive news in the Fort Leonard Wood area of south-central Missouri.
 
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U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
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Provision Co-Sponsored By Senators Blunt, Klobuchar Included In President’s Tourism Announcement
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Jan. 19, 2012) — U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) praised President Barack Obama’s announcement today that the U.S. Departments of State and Homeland Security are advancing a key provision that was originally included in the Senators’ bipartisan legislation, which is designed to increase international tourism to the United States. The provision – which is part of the “International Tourism Facilitation Act” that was introduced by Klobuchar and Blunt in October 2011 – would allow the Secretary of State to ease restrictions on certain foreign tourist visas that prevent travelers from taking frequent vacations to the United States while maintaining strict security standards. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Press Office of U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
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Blunt applauds USDA disaster recovery funding for Missouri
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Jan. 18, 2012) — U.S. Senator Roy Blunt praised the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) announcement today that it will provide critical emergency assistance for Missouri following extraordinary storm damages that were incurred in 2011. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that Missouri will receive more than $35 million from the Natural Resources Conservation Service's Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWP) and more than $14.7 million from the Farm Service Agency's Emergency Conservation Program (ECP). Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Press Office of U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
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Blunt withdraws previous support for passing Protect IP Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Jan. 18, 2012) — U.S. Senator Roy Blunt released the following statement today regarding the Protect IP Act: “American innovation is a cornerstone to our nation’s economic growth, and job creators have lost $135 billion in revenue annually as a result of rogue internet sites. While I believed the bill still needed much work, I cosponsored the Senate version of the Protect IP Act because I support the original intent of this bill – to protect against the piracy of lawful content.... But unfortunately, Senate Leader Harry Reid is pushing forward with legislation that is deeply flawed and still needs much work." Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Press Office of U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
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Hartzler says 'no' to more reckless Obama spending
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Jan. 18, 2012) — Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler today stood up for her district and fiscal sanity for America by voting against President Obama's request to raise the debt ceiling by an additional $1.2 trillion. She has voted in favor of a resolution disapproving of the Obama Administration's request. "At a time when our national debt stands at more than $15 trillion, it is unconscionable that the President would want to spend more and put this country deeper in debt," said Hartzler. "The debt has already risen by $4.6 trillion since President Obama took office - the most rapid increase in the debt under any United States President." Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
Russell Strand |
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FLW Army expert receives national recognition for fighting sex crimes
QUANTICO, Va. (Jan. 17, 2012) — A military professional from the U.S. Army law enforcement community will be recognized in a big way this April for his significant contributions in combating sexual assault and violence against women. Russell Strand, a retired U.S. Army CID Special Agent and the current chief of the Family Advocacy Law Enforcement Training Division at the U.S Army Military Police School (USAMPS), has been selected by the End Violence Against Women (EVAW) International Board of Directors to receive the 2012 Visionary Award. “Russ and the DoD have done an incredible amount of work in a short amount of time combating sexual assault and violence against women,” said Joanne Archambault, the executive director of EVAW International and a 23-year veteran of the San Diego Police Department. “We have never seen that kind of change in a civilian community and I just wish more people would recognize that fact.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Colby Hauser/CID Public Affairs |
Gospel Ridge blaze kills resident
SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Jan. 17, 2012) — A Monday night blaze in the Gospel Ridge area north of St. Robert killed a man who was trapped inside the trailer. The 55-year-old man was personally known to Waynesville Rural Fire Chief Doug Yurecko, but his name has not yet been released due to difficulty in contacting next-of-kin. Yurecko said neighbors on the 15000 grid of Hardin Road called in the fire at 9:42 p.m. Firefighters arrived at 9:52 p.m. and were able to put out the blaze within minutes, but that wasn’t fast enough to save the man inside. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Richland races have extra school candidates, not enough for city council
RICHLAND, Mo. (Jan. 16, 2012) — Voters in Richland will choose between four candidates running for the Richland R-IV School Board on April 3, but so far have no competition in city council seats. The two school incumbents, Elizabeth Warren and Jerry Pemberton, filed last month, as did challenger Michael Williams. More recently a fourth candidate, Donald Decker, decided to run for the three-year terms, school officials confirmed Monday morning. However, Ward I Alderman Roy Holler was the only incumbent to file for city council as of Friday, along with Ward III challenger Robert Lilly. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Texting totals vehicle in Saturday crash
SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Jan. 16, 2012) — A Saturday evening crash involving text messages totaled a Newburg man’s vehicle and but caused him only minor injuries. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, Robert D. Hathaway, 46, had been driving a 2005 Ford Freestar eastbound on Interstate 44 near St. Robert Exit 161 at 5:50 p.m. while he was texting when he ran off the right side of the roadway and struck a guardrail before coming to rest. In an unrelated incident, troopers arrested Bruce B. Warren, 55, of Richland, on charges including drunk driving. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Spc. Kelly Arends works with a 10-kilowatt generator. |
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Guardsmen train to operate generators to respond to state power outages
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Jan. 14, 2012) — To help protect the state’s citizens in the event of power outages, members of the Missouri National Guard’s Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 35th Engineer Brigade, spent part of their recent drill training to operate generators. In the last three years, the Guard has responded to three separate winter storms that have caused power outages. “State emergency duty is always looming in the winter months and it’s really important to get all the noncommissioned officers trained on generators so we can cover down on any mission where we are tasked for generator power,” said Sgt 1st Class Kevan Phillips, the company training and readiness noncommissioned officer. “This also enables those noncommissioned officers to train their subordinates at the section level on that piece of equipment and get licensed on it. So we are empowering those noncommissioned officers to go train their own people.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Matthew J. Wilson/Missouri National Guard Public Affairs |
Pvt. Damian De Santiago, right, crawls under an obstacle. |
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Missouri National Guardsmen prepare for state’s first Air Assault Course
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Jan. 14, 2012) — The Missouri National Guard is scheduled to conduct its first Air Assault Course in late February at Camp Crowder, near Neosho. To help prepare its citizen-soldiers for the course that is among the Army’s most challenging, the Guard’s 140th Regiment Missouri Regional Training Institute recently held a one-day Pre-Air Assault Course at Fort Leonard Wood to give soldiers from across the state a glimpse at the physical and mental demands of the Air Assault Course. “They wanted to establish a course to train soldiers to make sure they are capable of the Air Assault Course,” said Master Sgt. Richard Burns, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the course. “Air Assault tends to be very physically demanding — it’s been quoted as being the 10 worst days in the Army next to Ranger school. So we want to set these soldiers up for success by doing this pre-course.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Matthew J. Wilson/Missouri National Guard Public Affairs |
Sheriff J.B. King |
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Pulaski Sheriff’s View #3 for January 16 to 20, 2012
Welcome aboard one more time as we move about Pulaski County with the deputies of the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office. I am starting this column on Saturday the 14th and we are not sliding around on the ice today. As I write this sentence it is 9:25am and we have had a massive counterdrug operation underway since 8am this morning on I-44. We have about 14 deputies from three agencies; Pulaski, Camden, and the Miller County Sheriff’s Office hard at work. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Sheriff J.B. King |
Adele Nickels challenges Luge Hardman for Waynesville mayor
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Jan. 13, 2012) — Waynesville city and school races went from quiet to crowded as filing reopened in January. With little time left until filing closes Tuesday afternoon, former Waynesville Councilwoman Adele Nickels threw her hat in the ring Friday to challenge current Councilwoman Luge Hardman in the race to replace outgoing Mayor Cliff Hammock, who is running as a Republican for the state representative seat now held by outgoing Rep. David Day. The city's only other contested race is in Ward III where Councilman Ed Conley is being challenged by two candidates, Joe Krill and Richard Petitt. Two seats are open on the Waynesville R-VI School Board, currently held by Herman Blau and Randy Walters, and each running for three-year terms. Blau has filed but Walters has not done so; retired teacher Pam Anderson and local banker Nathan Purdome have now filed. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
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Blunt undergoes heart procedure, urges checkups for early detection
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Jan. 13, 2012) — U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt announced today that he underwent a routine and successful coronary stent implantation during an outpatient procedure on January 12. The procedure took place at George Washington University Hospital after doctors located a blockage in the front of the senator’s heart as a result of a physical examination earlier this week. Blunt plans to resume his normal schedule next week. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Press Office of U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
Citizen of the Year nominees announced by Chamber of Commerce
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Jan. 13, 2012) — The Waynesville-Saint Robert Chamber of Commerce announced its citizen of the year nominees Friday, including Rick Morris, director of operations for Ehrhardt Properties in St. Robert; Don Tritten, board chairman of the Bank of Iberia; William Boone, pastor of Greater Community Missionary Baptist Church in St. Robert; Ellen Kay York, retired from Fort Leonard Wood civil service; Richard Baptiste, owner of Paul’s Furniture in St. Robert; and Lindall Mostajo, vice president and Fort Leonard Wood branch manager of Armed Forces Bank. All six have extensive volunteer backgrounds detailed in their nomination forms submitted by member businesses or organizations of the Waynesville-St. Robert Chamber of Commerce and included at the end of this article. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Four file for Laquey school board
LAQUEY, Mo. (Jan. 13, 2012) — The Laquey R-V School Board race stayed quiet for most of December, but four candidates have now filed for two three-year positions and one of the incumbents hasn’t yet turned in her candidacy papers. Larry Southard, the current school board president, has been joined by retired Laquey Elementary School Principal Linda Storie and two more candidates, Barbara White and Patrick Sanders. So far, incumbent Mary Cristoffer hasn’t filed. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
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Hartzler wants pipeline, congratulates nominees for service academies
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Jan. 13, 2012) — Good day. Since I first began representing the people of Missouri's Fourth Congressional District a year ago, I have heard — over and over — of the need for America to become energy independent. I couldn't agree more. That is why I'm excited about a bipartisan, job-creating initiative that is awaiting presidential action. It's the Keystone XL Energy Pipeline which was first submitted for approval three years ago and now awaits President Obama's go ahead before it can get up and running. Unfortunately, this common sense move to obtain much-needed oil from a friendly neighbor, rather than from dictatorships, is being delayed by President Obama and a vocal environmental minority, despite favorable environmental impact studies on the project. On another matter, I have the privilege of announcing the names of 15 students from Missouri's Fourth Congressional District who have received Congressional nominations to the U.S. Service Academies. Nominating these 15 young men and women was an honor as they have exemplary academic and extracurricular records and have demonstrated superior leadership skills. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
Lauritson gets a challenger in race for St. Robert City Council Ward IV
SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Jan. 13, 2012) — Former St. Robert mayor George Lauritson will have a challenger in his race for the Ward IV city council seat being vacated by incumbent Billy Urena. City officials confirmed Friday that Rita Honnicutt filed candidacy papers in Ward IV; all three other aldermen are running unopposed. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Many candidates file in Dixon races
DIXON, Mo. (Jan. 13, 2012) — As is often the case, races in Dixon for school and city offices have gathered more candidates than any other area community. Longtime Dixon City Marshal Cliffty Yoakum, the area's the last remaining elected head of a local city police department, is retiring and four candidates are seeking his job: Sgt. Mike Plummer, Yoakum’s second-in-command, and four former Dixon officers, John Ward, James Eddleman and Scott Jones. Jones ran against Yoakum four years ago and currently serves as chief of police in the city of Doolittle. On the Dixon R-I School Board, Kevin Shepherd was appointed to fill a one-year unexpired term when a board member resigned and is being challenged for that one-year term by two people, Melinda Cruey and Jim Alexander. Two other board members, Craig Alexander and Troy Porter, are being challenged for their three-year seats by Steven M. Roberson, Marion Jim Anderson, Cesar Salais and Jim Campbell. So far, there are no contested races for Dixon city council or the Dixon ambulance district.
Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Missouri National Guard moves from 37th to top 10 in state rankings
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Jan. 13, 2012) — The Missouri National Guard has moved up in the ranks, according to a tool used by the National Guard Bureau to rate each state. “I am very proud of the leadership here in Missouri as we have driven individual soldier readiness and taken those metrics that the Guard Bureau judges us by and moved from 37th on the list when we started in 2009, to being in the top 10 today,” said Maj. Gen. Stephen Danner, Missouri’s adjutant general. The National Guard Bureau started using a readiness report card in spring 2011 to rate each state’s National Guard. The report card is broken down into three categories and is used to help decide the future force structure allocations for units within the states. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Sgt. Sarah E. Lupescu/Missouri National Guard Public Affairs |
Snow-covered roads contribute to three area crashes on Thursday
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Jan. 13, 2012) — Thursday’s snowfall led to three crashes causing injuries involving area residents. The only injury wreck in Pulaski County happened at 10:05 a.m. on Highway 133 about two miles north of Richland when, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, Colleen G. Ous, 51, of Richland, was driving her 2002 Dodge northbound, lost control on the snow-covered roadway, ran off the right side of the roadway and struck a tree, suffering moderate injuries. A few minutes later, a crash in Texas County on Highway 17 a mile north of Roby totaled a 2002 Ford truck but caused only minor injuries to its driver, Jerry R. Leininger, 59, of Plato, who had been driving northbound at 10:15 a.m. when he lost control on the snow-covered roadway, ran off the left side, and overturned, striking a tree. Outside the immediate area, a St. Robert woman extensively damaged her 2005 Ford Freestar minivan but suffered only minor injuries on Interstate 44 at mile marker 192.3 in Phelps County. Rebecca S. McGill, 30, had been driving her minivan westbound when she lost control on the ice-covered roadway at 8:10 a.m., ran off the right side of the interstate, struck the embankment twice, and came to rest. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Some races still have no candidates
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Jan. 13, 2012) — While candidates are flocking to file in Dixon and most Pulaski County cities and school boards will have contested races, unless someone files Monday or Tuesday, Swedeborg, Plato, and Crocker school voters won’t have an election, Crocker voters won’t have any contested city council races, and voters in the Pulaski County Ambulance District, Pulaski County Health Board, and certain city council races in Richland and Dixon will have to select their candidates by write-ins on the ballot. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Waynesville schools on snow routes but all area districts holding classes
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Jan. 13, 2012) — Wintry weather on Thursday won’t be repeated today, and so far all area school districts appear to be holding classes today. However, bus drivers in the Waynesville R-VI School District will be running only on snow routes; click the attached link for a list of snow routes. As of 5 a.m., Fort Leonard Wood officials reported six accidents and said most on-post roads are in “amber” condition, with Fort Leonard Wood Route 25 in the cantonment area and Secondary Range Roads W, P, H, and PA in “red” condition. No facilities on post have been closed, however. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
State Senator Dan Brown |
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Brown appointed vice-chair of Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Jan. 12, 2012) — Much of the time spent during the first few weeks of legislative session is taken up by the various committee hearings held in the Capitol. This week, I was proud and honored to be appointed vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee by Senate President Pro Tem Robert N. Mayer. The Senate Appropriations Committee is charged with dispersal of funding for various state departments and agencies. The committee hears testimonies from these departments regarding their budgetary needs for the fiscal year. Several hearings are scheduled to ensure every individual has an opportunity to testify on behalf of their respective departments or agencies. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
State Sen. Dan Brown |
Former elected official investigated for $50,000 missing from school funds
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Jan. 12, 2012) — An official audit of financial records at the Waynesville R-VI School District shows that money has turned up missing from funds controlled out of the district administrative offices. However, Pulaski County Prosecutor Kevin Hillman denies reports in two media outlets, KY-3 television from Springfield and the Waynesville Daily Guide, that charges are imminent and may be filed today. Contacted Thursday morning, Hillman said he’s not sure where the media reports originated that his office had already decided to file charges or that the charges could be filed as early as today. School auditors have previously reported to the school board that the amount of money at issue would have been covered by the former employee’s financial bond, which means that the financial loss to the district, if any, would not be substantial. School officials have since estimated that what they’re calling a “misallocation” of funds involves approxmately $50,000. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Salvation Army exceeds fund goal
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Jan. 12, 2012) — Officials with the Pulaski County service unit of the Salvation Army have exceeded their fundraising goal by more than 50 percent. Gary Porter, chairman of the Pulaski County service unit, announced Thursday that the goal for the 2011 “Tree of Lights” campaign was $51,500, but the actual amount received was $80,168.28. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Waynesville schools on snow routes, all other area districts closed
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Jan. 12, 2012) — All area school districts except the Waynesville R-VI School District have cancelled classes today due to snow, and Waynesville buses will be running only on snow routes. The districts of the Frisco League including Laquey, Richland, Crocker, Dixon, and Plato, as well as the Swedeborg R-III School District, have all cancelled classes today. A link to the Waynesville snow routes is in the attached article. No Fort Leonard Wood facilities are closed and most roads are in amber condition. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Pulaski jurors won't report Thursday for Gipson criminal assault trial
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Jan. 11, 2012) — Jurors called to report Thursday for court in Pulaski County won’t need to appear, Circuit Court Clerk Rachelle Beasley announced Wednesday evening. The trial that had been scheduled involves Roger Matthew Gipson, 35, of Rolla, and was moved to Pulaski County on a change of venue from Phelps County. Gipson is charged with two felonies, second degree assault and first degree property damage. According to court records, Gipson’s jury trial had been set to begin tomorrow in Pulaski County before Circuit Judge Tracy Storie but on Wednesday was reset for a two-day jury trial beginning April 9 with an April 4 pretrial conference. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
County Clerk Brent Bassett will have his office open until 5 p.m. for voter registration today. |
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Registration deadline today for Missouri presidential primary election
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Jan. 11, 2012) — Iowans voted last week, New Hampshire residents voted yesterday, and for Missourians who plan to vote in the Feb. 7 presidential preference primary, today is the last day to register to vote. County Clerk Brent Bassett will be in his office today until 5 p.m. in the county courthouse to take registrations. It’s also possible to go to the website of the Missouri Secretary of State, download a voter registration form, and mail it to his office at 301 Old Route 66, Waynesville, MO 65583. Voter registration forms have to be postmarked today, however, to entitle new registrants to vote in the Feb. 7 primary. Any registration received in person today or mailed with a postmark after today won’t take effect until the April 3 municipal elections for city councils, school boards, and other special entities such as fire, ambulance and water districts. “If you intend to vote in that election, you have to be registered no later than today,” Bassett said. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Christina Rhodenizer |
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Saint Robert department head stabbed during domestic violence incident
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Jan. 11, 2012) — The girlfriend of a Saint Robert city department head expected a wedding ring from her boyfriend Monday night, but instead she is in jail facing three felony charges. According to court reports, Christina Fay Rhodenizer, 33, stabbed her boyfriend at the home they shared outside Waynesville on Sedalia Road and was arrested by Pulaski County deputies on a Class A felony charge of first-degree domestic assault, an unclassified felony of armed criminal action, and a Class D felony of tampering with physical evidence. If convicted on all charges, she could spend up to 37 years in state prison with a minimum sentence of 10 years. While widely known and already reported by some local media, the name of the victim has been deleted from court records provided to media as a domestic violence victim. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Snipe Road wreck totals vehicle
BUCKHORN, Mo. (Jan. 11, 2012) — Emergency personnel called to a Monday evening wreck on Snipe Road discovered that the driver, Kayla N. Phillips, was being transported by private vehicle and the crashed vehicle was being towed out by individuals at the scene. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, Phillips, 18, of Richland, had been driving eastbound at 6:05 when she lost control of her 2000 Pontiac while negotiating a curve about two miles west of Buckhorn, ran off the right side of the roadway and struck a ditch, totaling her vehicle but suffering only minor injuries. In an unrelated incident reported by state troopers, John E. Batchler, 47, of Dixon, was arrested at 1:03 a.m. Wednesday on charges including drunk driving. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Judge Colin Long |
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Long may see no Republican opponents in his campaign for circuit judge
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Jan. 10, 2012) — While numerous Republicans have declared themselves to be candidates for state and local office — at least six area Republicans are running for three different state representative seats, at least three are running for sheriff, and three have declared themselves candidates for Eastern District Commissioner — it’s not clear whether any Republicans are planning to run against the first local Democrat to publicly declare he’s running for office. Associate Circuit Judge Colin Long announced Monday that he’s running for circuit judge, a position once held by his father, Douglas E. Long. The 25th Judicial Circuit includes not only Pulaski County but also Phelps County, Texas County and Maries County. The post is now held by Circuit Judge Tracy Storie, who Long said plans to retire at the end of his current term in 2012. Contacted Tuesday, no local Republican lawyers said they plan to run against Long and none said they’re aware of any Republican judges or practicing attorneys in other counties of the four-county circuit who are considering a judicial campaign this year. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
The Missouri National Guard will now fly Apache Longbow helicopters. |
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Missouri Guard’s attack battalion transitions to Longbow Apache
WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. (Jan. 10, 2012) — The Missouri National Guard’s 1-135th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion held a roll-out ceremony that officially transitioned the battalion to a AH-64D Apache Longbow unit. The battalion, overseen by the 35th Combat Aviation Brigade in Sedalia, has a rich history as an Army Aviation Battalion within the Missouri National Guard. The battalion has flown the UH-1 Huey, OH-58A/C Kiowa Warrior and the AH-1 Cobra. In 1999, the battalion was designated as one of eight National Guard battalions to receive the AH-64A Apache. In 2002, the first AH-64A helicopter arrived at Whiteman Air Force Base. In August 2009, the National Guard Bureau designated the battalion as the sixth Army National Guard Longbow battalion and began fielding it with aircraft in October 2011.
Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Rachel Knight/Missouri National Guard Public Affairs |
Spc. Alexiss Petree flips a tire as part of the Unit Fitness Coordinator Course. |
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Missouri National Guard course focuses on creating physically fit soldiers
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Jan. 10, 2012) — Following the active Army component, the Missouri National Guard is pushing its soldiers to be more all-around physically fit as opposed to simply being able to pass the Army Physical Fitness Test. “The Army found that after 10 years of war, soldiers are getting broken,” said. Capt. Ken Huenink, Missouri Guard state fitness coordinator. “The injury rate for backs and knees was through the roof.” The Guard’s most recent Unit Fitness Coordinator Course focuses on this type of training to help get this new information back to its units. “A lot of it is about functional fitness,” Huenink said “It’s a more well-rounded approach. The whole mindset is changing.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Matthew J. Wilson/Missouri National Guard Public Affairs |
Victim Advocate Coordinator Natalie McCart |
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Stalking can cause medical and psychological issues for its victims
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Jan. 10, 2012) — Stalking is a shockingly common, serious, sometimes violent crime that can be unpredictable, dangerous, and escalate over time. According to the National Stalking Resource Center, stalking occurs in one in twelve women and one in forty-five men, totaling an astonishing 1.4 million people every year in the United States. It is a series of actions that make you feel afraid or in danger and is defined as, “a course of conduct, composed of a series of acts over a period of time however short, a credible threat made with the intent to cause the person who is the target reasonable fear, to harass or repeatedly harass another by engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that serves no purpose.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Natalie McCart, Fort Leonard Wood Victim Advocate Coordinator |
Rep. David Day |
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Day seeks amendment to change state board of education membership
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Jan. 9, 2012) – State Rep. David Day (R-Dixon) has expressed concerns about a recent decision by Gov. Jay Nixon to place a hold on a contract which would provide for the installation of an interoperability system for first responders. The previous administration signed a contract with Motorola which would have given first responders in Missouri the ability to communicate from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The system would include local law enforcement, highway patrol, firefighters, paramedics and other emergency personnel. Currently, the Highway Patrol’s radio system is nearly 50 years old. “This contract, which was already signed, would allow our local police and sheriff’s departments to communicate with law enforcement officials and emergency responders regardless of where they are,” Day said. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Press Office of Rep. David Day |
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
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Hartzler nominates four Pulaski County residents to service academies
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Jan. 9, 2012) — Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler (MO-4), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, has announced that 15 students from Missouri's Fourth Congressional District, including three from Waynesville and one from Crocker, have received Congressional nominations to the U.S. Service Academies. "These 15 young men and women have exemplary academic and extracurricular records," said Hartzler. "I congratulate them on their accomplishments and wish them well in their desire to serve our country." Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Press Office of U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
Sheriff J.B. King |
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Pulaski Sheriff’s View #2 for January 9 to 13, 2012
I would like to take a minute to say job well done to my newest member; Deputy Linda Burgess and her Field Training Officer Deputy Jimmy Bench. They have managed to get into the middle of a series of burglaries and right now they are drowning in paperwork. We have charges filed for two burglaries with another 4-5 cases pending further work and we gave two solved cases to the Waynesville City Police that happened on their turf. We have a lot of recovered property that they are logging into evidence and right now we are not sure where all of it came from.The cases that Linda and Jimmy broke came about because of some fine investigative work on their part that was greatly enhanced by the help of two fine Pulaski County citizens. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Sheriff J.B. King |
Three hurt in separate Sunday crashes
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Jan. 9, 2012) — Three separate single-vehicle Sunday wrecks injured the drivers, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports. The worst of the three wrecks happened on Highway 17 when Lynda L. Maynard, 61, of Waynesville, was driving southbound at 2:45 p.m. in a 2003 Toyota about 3.5 miles north of Waynesville when she ran off the right side of the roadway, began sliding, struck a ditch and overturned, ejecting her, totaling her vehicle and causing serious injuries. Another vehicle was also totaled shortly before midnight on Highway 28 when Brandon L. Landsberg, 20, of Dixon, was driving his 2008 Ford southbound about five miles south of Dixon, lost control of his vehicle, ran off the right side of the roadway, ran off the left side, struck a ditch, then ran off the right side of the roadway before striking a fence and a tree. Landsberg suffered only minor injuries. Outside Pulaski County, a Saint Robert man, Jason P. Peace, 31, was jumping sand berms in an off-road vehicle area of St. Joseph State Park in St. Francois County when he lost control of his 2004 Honda 250R at 12:15 p.m. and suffered moderate injuries. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Crocker teen totals car Friday
CROCKER, Mo. (Jan. 6, 2012) — A Crocker teenager totaled her car Friday afternoon in Miller County and suffered serious injuries. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports. Kayla R. Cantrell, 19, had been driving her 2005 Pontiac southbound on Highway 17 about a quarter-mile south of Route F when she ran off the right side of the road at 2:27 p.m., struck an embankment, and overturned several times before landing on its top in the road. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
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Hartzler objects to Obama's proposed cuts in national defense budget
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Jan. 6, 2012) — Good day. The first full week of the year has not been a good one for America's national defense. President Obama announced a new defense strategy that House Armed Services Chairman "Buck" McKeon has appropriately described as "a lead from behind strategy for a left-behind America." While legislation to raise the debt ceiling, which I voted against, enacted defense cuts, the road map released by the Obama Administration provides the President's vision for implementation of a significant weakening of our defense capabilities. This short-sighted strategy has abandoned plans for fighting two major wars at the same time while cutting America's nuclear arsenal. Additionally, it reduces funding for our national defense along with troop reductions. This dangerous move puts America's national security at risk. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
State Senator Dan Brown |
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Brown introduces bill to increase penalties for slow drivers in fast lane
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Jan. 5, 2012) — I'm sure you've seen it before: You're going down the highway and attempt to pass a slower car, only to be impeded by someone driving along in the passing lane even more slowly. Not only is this an annoying problem, but a dangerous one, as well. It creates obstructions, slows traffic and commerce, and even creates road rage. Many people probably don't even realize they are in violation of the law by remaining in the left lane if they aren't passing a vehicle. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
State Sen. Dan Brown |
Three hurt in Wednesday wreck following Richland police chase
RICHLAND, Mo. (Jan. 4, 2012) — A teenager fleeing Richland police crashed into another vehicle Wednesday afternoon, causing minor injuries to himself and both occupants of the other vehicle. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, Chase A. Muxlow, 18, was being pursued westbound on Route A about two miles north of the city limits at 3:25 p.m. when he made an improper pass going uphill in his 2000 Toyota and struck a westbound 2008 GMC driven by Francis J. Hobbs, 77, also of Richland, causing both vehicles to run off the south side of the roadway. Hobbs, Muxlow, and Hobbs’ passenger Sharon J. Hobbs, 72, were all transported by ambulance to area hospitals and the Hobbs’ vehicle was totaled in the wreck. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Firefighters contained the blaze to a bedroom. |
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Bedroom burns in Hunters Point home
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Jan. 3, 2012) — A family suffered about $40,000 damage to their home in Hunters Point shortly after noon on Monday, according to Waynesville Rural Fire Chief Doug Yurecko. The blaze at 24220 Sprint Lane, which is a side street off Saline Road, caused little obvious external damage to the house but considerable internal damage. “One room had heavy fire damage, the bedroom which was the room of origin, and heavy smoke damage throughout the whole house,” Yurecko said. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Countywide burn ban issued after weekend rash of Turkey Ridge blazes
TURKEY RIDGE, Mo. (Jan. 3, 2012) — Pulaski County is under a countywide burn ban following a series of Saturday fires on New Year’s Eve that burned several dozen acres in the Turkey Ridge area on Highway W and forced an emergency response from nearly every fire agency the area with backup from adjoining counties. “There were a few too many fires that day,” said Waynesville Rural Fire Chief Doug Yurecko. “We had everybody from Pulaski County except St. Robert on scene, and they were standing by for coverage, and we had Lebanon Rural and Sleeper-Stoutland firefighters here too.” The fire began about 2 p.m. near the junction of Radar Road and Highway W and appears to have been started by a man burning trash, Yurecko said. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Soldier suffering from PTSD breaks into commanding officer's off-post house
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Jan. 3, 2012) — Even following nearly four decades of police work in Pulaski County working with the military community around Fort Leonard Wood, Sheriff J.B. King said he’s still sometimes surprised by actions of soldiers. One of those cases happened Monday when a soldier broke into the home of his commanding officer north of Waynesville, said he was thinking about suicide, and said his commander’s home “was the only place he felt safe” because he was suffering with PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder. No comparable incident has happened before in King’s career, he said. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Water supply for Century 21 fire gets extra attention by city aldermen
SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Jan. 3, 2012) — Mayor George Sanders said he expected Tuesday evening’s city council meeting to have a short agenda, and that turned out to be true — except that the longest discussion wasn’t on the agenda at all. Aldermen quickly approved items on the agenda to award bids for concrete flat design work to Oke-Thomas Associates of Springfield and to Ozark Ready Mix of Osage Beach for concrete work, as well as authorizing a 3 percent pay raise for City Attorney Debra Moore. One of those calls was singled out for special attention: a recent fire at the new offices of Century 21 on the corner of Bosa and Missouri Avenue. “Someone told me that the hoses were across Missouri Avenue. Why is that?” asked Alderman Ed Spotts. Fire Chief Doug Cage said there were so many fire trucks on the scene that “the Bosa side could not sustain what we needed to have for water flow.” That led to concerns by Alderman Bill Shaw who asked why work previously done by the city to loop water lines didn't solve the problem.
Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Sheriff Chris Heitman |
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Maries Sheriff’s Corner #1 for January 2, 2012
The Maries County Sheriff’s Office had a very productive year in 2011. We had 20,253 calls for services. A call for service is logged anytime some contacts the Sheriff’s Office in need of a Sheriff’s Deputy, EMS, or Fire Personnel. We investigated a total of 1,218 reportable incidents in 2011, and the Maries County Jail booked a total of 449 inmates. We were able to update our fleet of patrol vehicles, and add a K-9 Unit to the Sheriff’s Office. Being fiscally conservative at the Sheriff’s Office I was able to end the year with over a $20,000.00 surplus. Even with the small tax increase the Sheriff’s Office still operated with less funds then what was used for the Sheriff’s Office in 2007. The tax increase allowed me to keep our 911 system operating and kept me from laying off any current Sheriff Deputies. I appreciate everyone who supported the tax increase, and the Sheriff’s Office in general. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Sheriff Chris Heitman |
Sheriff J.B. King |
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Pulaski Sheriff’s View #1 for January 2 to 6, 2012
We ended 2011 with 12,486 calls for service/case numbers assigned. This will be the new high record for the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office and considering how things have gone the last few years this record should stand until 12-31-2012. We have 45 names on the inmate list today to start out the New Year. On the budget front I am almost ready to claim a victory. I say almost because we ended up at $45,114 over the total budget and that is not bad for a $1,414,413 total budget. The good news is that the overages and the items under budget came out very well and the only reason we are over at all comes from the inmate board bill that was $49,096 over budget. In the end we were under budget enough to balance out $3,982 from the inmate board bill and thus we got stuck with the final $45,114 completely from the inmate board bill. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Sheriff J.B. King |
Richland woman hurt Monday afternoon in Laclede County crash
RICHLAND, Mo. (Jan. 2, 2012) — A Laclede County crash extensively damaged a Richland woman’s vehicle Monday afternoon but caused her only minor injuries despite not wearing her seatbelt. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, Loutina M. Hargett, 34, had been driving eastbound in her 2000 Saturn on Historic Route 66 about 11 miles east of Lebanon when she crossed the centerline at 4:43 p.m., overcorrected, lost control of her vehicle, and ran off the right side of the roadway before striking an embankment. In an unrelated incident, troopers arrested Andre L. Frazier, 31, of Waynesville, on charges including drunk driving. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Sheriff's Blotter for Jan. 2, 2012
The following incidents were reported by the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department on Monday, Jan. 2, 2012. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
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Sheriff's Blotter for Jan. 1, 2012
The following incidents were reported by the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
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Collectors office staff gather around their drop box. |
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Today is last day for tax payments
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Dec. 31, 2011) — It’s almost too late to pay county real estate and personal property taxes in person, but Pulaski County Collector Terri Mitchell is still in her office taking tax payments which are due today, and will remain in her downtown Waynesville office until 2 p.m. The office opened today at 8 a.m. for special hours and will close at 2 p.m., with security provided by county deputies since the rest of the courthouse is closed and some people pay taxes with significant amounts of cash. Tax bills can be mailed, and if postmarked today — not merely dropped off at the post office but actually postmarked today — are considered to be paid on time. However, taxes paid tomorrow incur an automatic 9 percent late payment penalty, which increases by 2 percent per month up to a maximum of 18 percent. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Fatal shooting of Crocker teen appears to be accidental, sheriff announces
CROCKER, Mo. (Dec. 28, 2011) — Shortly after leaving a Wednesday morning structure fire, emergency medical personnel, firefighters and law enforcement rushed to the 10700 grid of Highway 17 north of Crocker where they found a 15-year-old boy dead of what Sheriff J.B. King said appears to be an accidental gunshot wound by another 15-year-old. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Lebanon woman among four Missourians killed during Christmas weekend crashes
RICHLAND, Mo. (Dec. 27, 2011) — A Lebanon woman driving near Richland was one of three Missouri motorists to lose their lives during the four-day Christmas holiday weekend counting period, state troopers announced Tuesday. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, Nancy R. Feldmeier, 41, of Lebanon, was driving a 2005 Pontiac Grand Prix northbound on Highway 133 about two miles south of Richland near Redwood Road when she lost control at 10:25 a.m. Christmas Day, ran off the left side of the roadway, and struck an embankment. Pulaski County Ambulance District personnel transported her to General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital where she ws pronounced det at 12:30 p.m. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Judge's wife joins new candidates running in school, city elections
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Dec. 20, 2011) — Candidate filings continue to trickle in for city and school board positions, though many positions still have nobody turning in papers and most declared candidates so far are the incumbents. Candidate filing began Dec. 13. A week later, the most prominent new candidate to file is Linda Storie, the wife of Circuit Judge Tracy Storie and retired Laquey Elementary School principal, who filed Dec. 14 for the Laquey R-V School Board. Storie joins incumbent board president Larry Southard in filing for two three-year terms on the school board; the other incumbent, Mary Cristoffer, hasn’t yet filed for re-election. The only other non-incumbents to file are Josh Hall in the Pulaski County Ambulance District; Kimberly Skaggs-Henson, a former Crocker alderman who is running for one of two three-year seats on the Crocker R-II School Board; Robert (“Bob”) Lilly, who filed for the Richland Ward III City Council seat; Steven Roberson, who filed for a three-year seats on the Dixon R-I School Board; and Joe Krill, who filed for the Ward III Waynesville City Council seat. New incumbents filing for re-election since the initial filing date of Dec. 13 include Crocker Ward I Alderman Jeff Curry and Waynesville Ward II Councilman Tim Mann. Others who filed the first day but were not previously reported include Crocker R-II School Board member John Riffe and Richland R-IV School Board member Elizabeth Warren. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Tremaine J. Patton |
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Trinity Club shooter turned in by cabbies, Saint Robert police report
SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Dec. 20, 2011) —The man charged in a weekend nightclub shooting tried to evade police by telling them the shots came from a rear parking lot but was turned in by cab drivers, according to new details found in court records filed by St. Robert police. Tremaine J. Patton, 24, of St. Robert, faces up to 33 years in state prison if convicted of the early Saturday morning shooting outside Trinity Club. A man who police later identified as Patton approached officers, telling them that “the shots came from behind the parking lot towards I-44.” When police tried to contact other witnesses, Patton “again approached (an officer) to advise (him) of where he shots had come from.” However, “multiple (cab) drivers advised (the officer) that (Patton) was the subject who had the gun and fired the shot,” according to court records. Patton refused orders not to move and put up a brief struggle, but was eventually handcuffed and arrested by police. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Cpl. Jennifer Hicks helps Nicky Paskiand shop. |
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'Shop with a Cop' provides Christmas to 190 children, thanks to police effort
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Dec. 17, 2011) — About 150 area children turned out Saturday morning for the annual Shop with a Cop program that pairs police officers with needy children to spend $100 for Christmas shopping. “We’re almost done in an hour and a half,” said Waynesville police officer Gwendolyn Andrewcavage, the program coordinator. “It was a very, very productive day… we had wonderful participation this year and we’ll be out of Wal-Mart’s hair shortly.” Police agencies participating this year included St. Robert, Waynesville, Crocker, Dixon, the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Fort Leonard Wood civilian police and enlisted military police officers, and one officer from the Lake Ozark Police Department. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
One person was critically injured in a shooting at Trinity Club. |
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Trinity Club Saturday shooting sends victim to hospital in critical condition
SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Dec. 17, 2011) — An early Saturday morning shooting at a local nightclub sent the victim to a hospital in critical condition and sent the shooter to jail with a quarter-million-dollar cash-only bond, according to Pulaski County Prosecutor Kevin Hillman. Tremaine Patton, 24, of St. Robert, faces first-degree assault and armed criminal action charges which carry a maximum penalty of 33 years in state prison. Most details of the shooting incident are currently unknown, including motive. At this point, the Trinity Club shooting appears to be unrelated to an attempted armed robbery at a nearby gas station in which two people were arrested but one escaped.
Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Harry Widener |
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Coach Nelson's family wins $1 million settlement from Peppers Sports Bar
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Dec. 16, 2011) — The civil case against George Harry Widener is far from over, but lawyers in the wrongful death lawsuit involving former Waynesville High School baseball coach Don Nelson have come to a $1 million settlement with Pepper’s Sports Bar and Grill for serving Widener alcohol on the night that Nelson died in a head-on crash for which Widener has already been convicted in criminal court. In court documents filed Thursday, Kenneth Nelson and Stacey Cruz, the two surviving children of Don Nelson, and Don Nelson’s father Leon Nelson, agreed to a five-way settlement with the owners of Peppers, which “has denied, does deny and continues to deny liability.” Leon Nelson will receive $50,000, Cruz and Kenneth Nelson will each receive $269,968.93, the Smith and Turley law firm will receive $5,000, and David W. Ransin, the Nelson family’s attorney, will receive $400,000 plus expenses of $5,062.13. Thursday morning’s settlement stems from a June 4, 2009 incident in which, according to court records, Nelson was riding a motorcycle westbound on Old Route 66 in St. Robert when Widener, after leaving Peppers, drove the wrong way and hit Nelson head-on, killing him. The case has received widespread local media attention; Widener’s wife is a prominent local real estate agent and Nelson, in addition to his coaching and teaching duties, was a sports announcer on KJPW/KFBD radio. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Soldiers from the 232nd Engineer Company secure a bulldozer for transportation. |
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Engineers train for disaster response
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Dec. 15, 2011) — With temperatures dropping into the low 40s and rain pouring, soldiers from the 232nd Engineer Company trained Tuesday by conducting a no-notice emergency deployment readiness exercise to ensure unit preparedness in the event of a real world disaster. Since Oct. 1, the company has been operating as part of the Command and Control Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear Response Element, part of U.S. Army North. The element is one of three specialized federal military forces designed to assist civilian agencies in responding to catastrophic CBRN incidents in the homeland. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Sgt. Heather Denby/Army Public Affairs |
David Phillips |
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Retired MP School general warns of possible massacre after US leaves Iraq
(Dec. 15, 2011) — On Monday, President Obama welcomed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to the White House with the declaration that U.S. troops were leaving Iraq with “heads held high.” But while administration spin-miesters are promoting the so-called deepening strategic partnership between the United States and Iraq, an emboldened and increasingly defiant Maliki is quickly moving forward with sinister preparations of his own that threaten to jettison President Obama’s mission-accomplished moment. In collusion with the Mullahs terrorist regime in Tehran, the Iraqi Prime Minister is planning a Srebrenica-style massacre of 3,400 unarmed Iranian dissidents living in his country at Camp Ashraf — each and every one of whom was given a written guarantee of protection by the U.S. government. I was the general who delivered that promise to the residents of Camp Ashraf in 2004, which is home to members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) who are “protected persons” under the Geneva Conventions. As the main Iranian opposition movement, MEK is committed to non-violent regime change in Iran and a democratic nuclear-free Iranian future. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Brig.Gen. David Phillips (ret.) |
Santa visits with children during the 2011 St. Nick’s Benefit |
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St. Nick’s benefit on Fort Leonard Wood brings holiday joy to area children
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Dec. 15, 2011) — The Fort Leonard Wood Lions Club, in combination with Army Community Service and numerous community groups surrounding the installation, hosted the 31st Annual St. Nick’s Benefit, Dec. 13, here in Grant Hall. “This year’s St. Nick’s Benefit is a cooperative effort between the Fort Leonard Wood Lions Club and the community, both on post and off to provide some holiday joy to children in this area who may otherwise go without a Christmas present,” Lisa Clinton, Lions Club member and St. Nick’s Benefit chairperson, said. With the generous help of all involved, the 2011 St. Nick’s Benefit will provide gifts to more than 830 children and young adults. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Marti Yoshida/Army Public Affairs |
Lauritson running again in St. Robert, Plummer files for Dixon Marshal
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Dec. 14, 2011) — Filings for city and school offices have been quiet so far, according to early reports from city clerks and school district officials. While candidate filings began Tuesday and will run until next month for the election to be held April 3, preliminary reports indicate that most incumbent school board members and city council members have not yet filed for re-election, and few new candidates are running so far. Two exceptions are in Dixon and Saint Robert. A Dixon policeman, Mike Plummer, filed Tuesday for the post being vacated by longtime Dixon City Marshal Cliffty Yoakum, who earlier declared that he’s not running for re-election. In St. Robert, former mayor George Lauritson filed on Tuesday for the Ward IV Alderman post currently held by Billy Urena. One incumbent is filing for a different office. Waynesville Councilwoman Luge Hardman previously announced that she was planning to run for the post being vacated by Mayor Cliff Hammock and she did in fact turn in her candidacy papers on Tuesday, the first day she could file. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Local government finances doing well, officials tell Chamber members
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Dec. 14, 2011) — Speaking at Wednesday’s meeting of the Waynesville-St. Robert Chamber of Commerce, Pulaski County Presiding Commissioner Gene Newkirk said a year which began with tornados and other disasters has turned into a positive year for the county, financially speaking. “Everything turned the page and started moving in the right direction; county revenue is up this year,” Newkirk said. “We budgeted for a 2 percent increase and we came in at 2.21.” Strict budgeting and a small increase in revenues allowed county commissioners to “pay off quite a bit of outstanding debt this year,” Newkirk said. Other reports included comments by Waynesville Mayor Cliff Hammock, who said the city will be formally annexing 200 acres of land south of Interstate 44, Superintendent Judene Blackburn and Fort Leonard Wood spokesman Shatara Seymour, who updated Chamber members on plans for the upcoming Christmas holiday, and Tourism Director Beth Wiles, who reported on the new county visitors guide. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Local Salvation Army unit struggling with fundraising, spokesman says
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Dec. 14, 2011) — The Salvation Army service unit in Pulaski County continues to have fundraising struggles, according to board chairman Gary Porter who said his local board is hoping to raise $51,500 for local community needs. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Missouri National Guard issues holiday greetings online from local soldiers
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Dec. 14, 2011) — Deployed Missouri National Guardsmen are sending holiday greetings to their loved ones at home. While no Missouri National Guard units near Fort Leonard Wood are deployed, local personnel deployed with units outside the area include Sgt. 1st Class Kembly Elrod of Springfield, Sgt. Adam Slider of Brumley, Sgt. 1st Class Jackie Ray Acord of Dixon, and Spc. Brian Osorio of St. Robert. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Sgt. Sarah E. Lupescu/Missouri National Guard |
2,000 North Dakota Guardsmen served in Iraq, including FLW-trained unit
FARGO, N.D. (Dec. 13, 2011) — As the American military deployment to Iraq draws to a close, the North Dakota National Guard has prepared a summary of the military service of units of their state’s National Guard, with deployments of 2,000 Guardsmen from North Dakota since shortly after the war began on March 19, 2003, including one unit trained at Fort Leonard Wood. The second of 15 units to deploy a total of 18 times was the Bismarck-based 957th Engineer Company (Multi-Role Bridge), whose 175 soldiers found themselves packing quickly in February 2003, when they mobilized to Fort Leonard Wood for training in anticipation of a war beginning in Iraq. They arrived in Iraq in April and began to haul cargo as well as transport, assemble, disassemble and maintain U.S. Army bridging systems. They were the first unit to be equipped with new Common Bridge Transport trucks for the mission. Three of the unit’s soldiers were killed during the mission, and four were seriously wounded. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
North Dakota National Guard Public Affairs |
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
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Blunt thanks colleagues for election as Republican Conference Vice Chairman
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Dec. 13, 2011) — U.S. Senator Roy Blunt issued the following statement today regarding the U.S Senate Republican leadership elections today: "I was honored to be chosen by my colleagues to serve as Republican Conference Vice Chairman today, and I hope this opportunity will allow me to continue contributing to the critical debates that we're facing in America." Click for links to additional information including video links. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Press Office of U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
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Hartzler votes to extend reduced middle class taxes, support oil pipeline
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Dec. 13, 2011) — Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler has voted to protect taxpayers from a scheduled January increase in their Social Security deductions by voting for H.R. 3630 — the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act. The bill maintains, for another year, the reduction in the Social Security payroll tax that Congress approved last December. "This legislation protects workers from a payroll deduction increase but does it in a way that does not borrow resources from the Social Security trust fund," said Hartzler. "The plan protects and funds the trust fund by freezing pay for government workers, including Members of Congress and their staffs, and reforming wasteful federal programs." Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Press Office of U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
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Blunt applauds DOT grant for expansion of Gateway Arch grounds in St. Louis
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Dec. 12, 2011) — U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt issued the following statement today applauding the $20 million TIGER III grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to the CityArchRiver 2015 initiative: “As we prepare to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and Gateway Arch in 2015, I’m very pleased that DOT awarded this grant to the CityArchRiver 2015 initiative, which is truly a public-private partnership of national significance ... This grant will help fund infrastructure projects that will facilitate more visitors and greater access to the Gateway Arch Grounds, which is critically important as we work to spur economic opportunity and attract new visitors each year.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Press Office of U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
Firefighters work to extinguish the fire at Century 21. |
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Arson suspected in Century 21 blaze; $5,000 reward offered by police
SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Dec. 9, 2011) — A commercial structure fire that extensively damaged the newly renovated building of Century 21 Realty in St. Robert is being investigated by state and local officials as an arson case with a $5,000 reward being offered for information leading to an arrest. Maj. Douglas Cooley of the St. Robert Police Department announced shortly before noon Friday that the state fire marshal’s office and St. Robert police have completed their preliminary investigation of the fire and are treating the blaze as an active arson case. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
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Blunt says new federal farm labor rules are 'ridiculous,' could harm FFA, 4-H
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Dec. 9, 2011) — U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt strongly condemned the U.S. Department of Labor's proposed rule today, which would restrict youth from performing some duties on farms. "Having grown up working on my family's dairy farm, I am outraged by the Department of Labor's ridiculous attempts to restrict other young Americans from doing the same," said Blunt. "Farmers and ranchers care deeply about the safety of those working on their farms ... But this rule is absurd, and it would hurt these job creators who rely on young people to assist with the day-to-day operations of American farms." Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Press Office of U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
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Blunt supports oil pipeline, says good energy policies equal American jobs
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Dec. 9, 2011) — As our nation’s economy struggles to rebound, one of the best ways to jumpstart job creation is through good energy policies. Unfortunately, President Obama has delayed one of the largest domestic shovel-ready projects until after his reelection bid in 2012 — stalling the creation of thousands of potential private sector jobs and postponing a critical project that would help strengthen our energy independence. The numbers on the Keystone XL Project speak for themselves: This pipeline will create 20,000 direct jobs during the construction phase of the pipeline. It would also generate $20.9 billion in new private sector spending in addition to $5 billion in new local, state, and federal revenue. Nationwide, this pipeline would benefit 1,400 American job creators. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
State Senator Dan Brown |
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Brown: Count your many blessings
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Dec. 9, 2011) — As the Christmas holiday comes our way, it is an opportune time to be thankful for the many blessings we possess in our lives. Often times, folks become wrapped up in holiday festivities and overlook what is truly important. It's not the gifts you give or the parties that you host that makes the holidays a success — the people who surround you make a merry Christmas season. In addition, as we've endured some difficult economic times in our state, the hardships can sometimes get us down. However, it is when you are faced with the challenging moments in life that you can look to your friends and your family — life's greatest gifts — and say, "I have people who love and care about me. That alone makes me wealthy and a success." Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
State Sen. Dan Brown |
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
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Hartzler says REINS Act would keep federal rules from destroying jobs
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Dec. 9, 2011) — Good day. The House of Representatives took additional important action this week to address out-of-control federal regulations that are destroying jobs. The House has approved H.R. 10 — the Regulations from the Executive In Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act, which I co-sponsor. It's a bill that reins in federal regulations by requiring congressional approval for any federal regulation with an economic impact of $100 million or more. It should come as no surprise that excessive regulations strangle the economy and destroy jobs. According to the Small Business Administration, federal regulations cost our economy $1.75 trillion each year. A December, 2010 Obama Administration report on federal regulations listed more than 4,200 regulatory actions under development by federal agencies. We need to lift the burden on small businesses to encourage them to spend more, invest more, and create more jobs. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
Waynesville woman wrecks car in Thursday evening Cass County crash
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Dec. 9, 2011) — A Waynesville woman wrecked her car but escaped injury Friday evening. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, Athena L. Harris, 30, of Pleasant Hill, was driving a 1995 Toyota Corolla northbound on Highway 7 just north of 227th Street in Cass County at 7:40 p.m. when she overtook Kim McKinney, 54, of Waynesville, who was also driving northbound in a 2010 Chrysler Town and Country but was making a left turn. Neither driver was hurt but Harris’ passenger, James R. Ritchey, 33, of Kansas City, suffered minor injuries. In an unrelated incident, troopers arrested Shawn A. Green, 30, of Waynesville, on an outstanding Miller County warrant. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Driver rams semi in rear, partly shuts down Interstate 44 Thursday night
LAQUEY, Mo. (Dec. 8, 2011) — A sleepy motorist suffered serious injuries Thursday night after crashing into the rear of a semi truck. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, Michael E. Leonard, 37, of Cuba, had been driving a 2005 Dodge Sprinter eastbound on Interstate 44 near Exit 150 when he fell asleep at 8:55 p.m., lost control of his vehicle, and struck an eastbound 2007 Volvo tractor-trailer driven by Victor Y. Sarkisov, 57, of New Baltimore, Mich., causing minor damage to the semi but totaling Leonard’s vehicle. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Icy roads contribute to rollovers
BUCKHORN/ROBY, Mo. (Dec. 7, 2011) — Two separate rollover wrecks on Tuesday morning injured people during snowy and icy weather, and a third rollover north of Crocker on Highway 17 near the Pulaski-Miller county line damaged a vehicle but didn’t injure the driver. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, Donita R. Aldridge, 44, of Springfield, had been driving eastbound on Interstate 44 at Buckhorn when she lost control of her 2002 Ford Explorer on an ice-covered roadway, skidded off the roadway and overturned, with both Aldridge and her passenger, Jacob R. Aldridge, 19, suffering moderate injuries. Earlier in the morning, a crash on Highway 17 a mile south of Roby, south of Fort Leonard Wood, caused minor injuries to the driver of a 2004 Jeep even though she hadn’t been wearing her seatbelt. Gretta Hathaway, 46, of Licking, had been driving her Jeep northbound when she ran off Highway 17 and overturned at 6:55 a.m. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Roby rollover injures woman Tuesday
ROBY, Mo. (Dec. 6, 2011) — A Tuesday morning rollover wreck south of Fort Leonard Wood caused only minor injuries to a Licking woman even though she wasn’t wearing her seatbelt. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, Gretta Hathaway, 46, had been driving a 2004 Jeep northbound when she ran off the roadway at 6:55 a.m. on Highway 17 a mile south of Roby. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Six Hazelgreen firefighters hurt in fire truck crash early Sunday morning
HAZELGREEN, Mo. (Dec. 6, 2011) — An early Sunday morning crash injured six firefighters, according to Capt. Ann Price of the Hazelgreen Rural Fire Protection District. Missouri State Highway Patrol reports indicate that the wreck happened on Randolph Road about 1.1 miles west of Rambling Lane when Darren J. Strong, 36, of Richland, was driving a 1980 Pierce-White fire truck westbound ran off the right side of the roadway at 1:10 a.m., and high-centered on the ditchline. The fire truck sustained only minor damage and was able to be driven from the scene, but Joseph E. Gerber, 19, and Steven R. Heath, 39, both of Richland, suffered moderate injuries. Hazelgreen said Strong was injured but refused medical treatment. Amber William, 24, of Richland, and Jerimiah Wright, 22, of Laquey, assessed the medical situations of fellow firefighters in the ambulance and received medical care when they arrived at the hospital; Michael Beasley, 28, of Laquey, was also hurt. Price said all firefighters suffered moderate injuries. In unrelated incidents, state troopers arrested Bennie L. Hudson, 23, of Fort Leonard Wood, Abigail R. Laufenberg, 20, of Kaiser, Chassity J. Burton, 36, of Richland, and Kevin P. Doyle, 29, of St. Robert, on charges including drunk driving. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
State Senator Dan Brown |
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Brown comments on newly announced state legislative district borders
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Dec. 2, 2011) — After failing earlier in the session to come to an agreement towards drawing new legislative district boundaries, the Missouri Apportionment Commission has concluded its task, and filed the new boundaries with the office of the Missouri Secretary of State. Despite many hours of debate and hearings, the Missouri Senate, House and governor failed to agree on the boundaries by the end of session in mid-May. In addition, the bipartisan citizen apportionment commissions also failed to reach an amicable solution on the district lines in September. As a result, the state constitution mandates the lines be drawn by the six Missouri appellate judges. The decision marks only the second time in Missouri history that redistricting of both chambers were created by the judicial panel. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
State Sen. Dan Brown |
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
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Hartzler objects to gay marriages on military bases, lack of flood control
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Dec. 2, 2011) — It’s been a while since the waters of the Missouri River receded, but the threat of future flooding is first and foremost in the minds of many Fourth District residents living along the river. With possible 2012 flooding on the horizon, the House Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee met this week to assess the 2011 Missouri River flooding and to consider operational plans for the future. I testified before the committee, calling on the Army Corps of Engineers to take steps to prevent future flooding similar to what damaged property this spring and summer. Many residents of the Fourth District feel that these floods could have been reduced, if not completely avoided, by earlier action and better prioritization of uses by the Army Corps of Engineers. In another hearing, this week, I joined the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel for a briefing examining the legal and policy rationale leading the Department of Defense (DOD) to issue guidance, earlier this year, allowing same sex marriage ceremonies on military bases. The guidance issued by the DOD directly violates the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) which defines marriage for all federal purposes to be only between a man and a woman. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
A new wall memorializes fallen engineers in Sapper Grove. |
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New memorial wall for fallen engineers at Fort Leonard Wood in Sapper Grove
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Dec. 2, 2011) — While attending the Engineer Regimental Council of Colonels at Fort Leonard Wood from Nov. 2 to 3, I took the opportunity to visit a spot that has great symbolic and historic meaning for all Operational Engineers ... "Sapper Grove." Sapper Grove is a relatively small, but important, piece of terrain that is really a small amphitheater surrounded by a short brick wall inset with bronze plaques. Each plaque describes the valorous acts of an engineer who earned the Medal of Honor. Sometime in 2008, the idea surfaced to recognize those engineers who had paid the ultimate price, and made the ultimate sacrifice, in service to the nation during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Col. Charles Samaris/Army Corps of Engineers |
Legislative redistricting plan could complicate Pulaski County politics
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Dec. 1, 2011) — A new legislative redistricting plan could dramatically change Pulaski County politics and significantly complicate the campaigns of several already-announced candidates for the Missouri House of Representatives. While in the past State Rep. David Day has served nearly all of the populated parts of Pulaski County except for the Big Piney area and portions of Fort Leonard Wood placed into the Texas County district served by State Rep. Don Wells, Pulaski County’s growth means not just one but three state representatives will serve significant parts of Pulaski County’s population. Day and Wells are term-limited and cannot run for re-election, but Day’s hometown of Dixon, along with Richland, Swedeborg and Crocker, are now grouped into a single district with the city of Rolla. The officer’s housing area of Fort Leonard Wood, Devil’s Elbow, and most of the Highway 28 area south of the Gasconade River are grouped with Big Piney and Texas County, and the areas around Waynesville, St. Robert, Laquey and northern parts of Fort Leonard Wood will be their own district. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Cole Allison |
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Allison gets 10 days in jail for violating probation in officer assault case
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Nov. 28, 2011) — Cole Allison will spend 10 days in the Pulaski County Jail at county expense due to violating the terms of his probation in a case involving an assault on a state trooper and a county sheriff’s deputy, Phelps County Associate Circuit Judge John Wiggins decided Monday morning. Allison, 20, was arrested on May 11 after attacking a deputy and a state trooper, as well as putting his grandfather in a chokehold following a minor car crash on Texas Road near his home and originally faced two counts of second-degree assault on a law enforcement officer, a Class C felony with a maximum penalty of seven years in state prison, and one count of resisting arrest, a Class D felony carrying a maximum penalty of four years in state prison. He entered an “Alford plea” to the resisting arrest charge while the charges of assaulting a law enforcement officer were dismissed; prosecutors agreed to suspend imposition of Allison’s sentence for four years and dismiss any other pending cases “with prejudice,” which means they can’t be refilled, on condition that Allison complete mental health treatment. Just days after the plea, Allison was charged with domestic assault for hitting his 16-year-old stepbrother over the head with a glass plate on Nov. 4, according to court records. If convicted on the new charges, Allison could spend up to seven years in state prison for the Class C felony, or a year in county jail and a $5,000 fine. Allison’s attorney, Charles Frahm, a former Waynesville resident who now primarily practices in Kansas City, said his client refused to accept a proposal by Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kenneth Clayton to revoke Allison’s probation. “We respectfully suggest that this event does not rise to the level of a probation violation ... They fight like they always have, every single week,” Frahm said, arguing that Allison acted in self-defense after being hit by a guitar and being shoved by his brother, and also noting that nobody directly involved in the November altercation was willing to file a police report. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Judge dismisses abuse allegations between Dixon mayor, city clerk
DIXON, Mo. (Nov. 28, 2011) — A dispute between the Dixon mayor and city clerk over an alleged altercation last week in Dixon City Hall got thrown out of court Monday morning by Phelps County Associate Circuit Judge John Wiggins. “You people shouldn’t be in here with this,” Wiggins warned Mayor Ben Copeland and City Clerk Karen Hardwick, arguing that the statute under which both sides filed requests for an ex-parte protective order applies to family issues, not the situation faced in Dixon. “You are an employee and you are a mayor; you shouldn’t be in adult abuse court,” Wiggins said. “If you’ve got something you think the other person shouldn’t be doing, you should get a restraining order… both of these cases are dismissed and you are free to go.” At least for now, that means there are no pending court actions between Hardwick and Copeland. Although a Dixon police officer rushed into the room when Hardwick screamed for help after an alleged assault, Pulaski County Prosecutor Kevin Hillman said so far no law enforcement agencies have filed a report with his agency asking that charges be filed. Hardwick had filed her request for an ex-parte order on Tuesday. One day later, Copeland filed his own request for court protection, claiming that Hardwick had “caused or attempted to cause me physical harm” and “placed or attempted to place me in apprehension of immediate physical harm.” In court documents, Copeland said Hardwick has a “history of irrational behavior, assaultive behavior in the workplace, and may be capable of same in this event also.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Most area roads quiet on Thanksgiving, but troopers are ready for trouble
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Nov. 25, 2011) — No serious crashes have happened yet in Pulaski County during the Thanksgiving Day weekend, but state troopers are still working extra patrols and several local police departments including Waynesville and Saint Robert have been doing special enforcement work this month. Troopers have reported only one crash so far in Pulaski County, a Friday morning incident involving Justin L. Morrison, 22, of Waynesville, who was arrested at 9:28 a.m. Friday on charges including leaving the scene of a crash. An unrelated wreck south of Iberia in Miller County sent an Iowa man to General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital on Thanksgiving Day with moderate injuries. Troopers reported that Derick N. McClintock, 20, of Marion, Iowa, had been driving southbound on Highway 17 about a fifth of a mile north of Miller County Route K when his 2008 Chrysler struck debris in the roadway at 9:25 p.m., ran off the left side of the road, and hit a road sign and a tree. Elsewhere in the state, troopers in Macon County arrested Ricci T. Arnold, 20, of Richland, on charges including drugs. State troopers this weekend are conducting a "Twenty-Mile Trooper" program on Interstate 44 and the CARE (Combined Accident Reduction Program); Waynesville and St. Robert police have reported the results of traffic enforcement operations earlier in the month. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
The 988th MP Company prepares for deployment. |
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988th MP Company faced specialized selection for Afghan inmate duties
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Nov. 24, 2011) — For more than 70 soldiers of the 988th Military Police Company, today’s Thanksgiving dinner will be one of the last meals they share with their families. The unit, which has already had three squad-sized detachments deploy to Afghanistan for personal protective details guarding VIPs and senior military leaders, will soon send the main body of its troops overseas and held a formal deployment ceremony Wednesday afternoon at Nutter Field House. Maj. Timothy Slemp, the rear detachment commander for the 92nd Military Police Battalion to which the 988th MP Company belongs, told the assembled audience that the soldiers who are soon going to deploy will be involved in detainee operations. Isolated problems in detainee operations have received widespread prior publicity at Abu Ghraib in Iraq and elsewhere, and Slemp said the three-star general leading the Joint Special Operations Command assembled a “special expert assessment team to interview all prospective soldiers assigned to this mission.” That assessment and subsequent training went very well, Slemp said. “The Special Operations Command wanted to absolute ensure that the men and women who would be directly interacting with and protecting the lives of both our countrymen and our enemies were of the highest caliber and that they possess the highest qualities of trustworthiness and dependability,” Slemp said. “Failure is simply not acceptable.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Sgt. 1st Class James Barrett |
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Barrett family brings decades of MP experience to upcoming deployment
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Nov. 24, 2011) — Deployments are difficult for families, so the military has created an entire system of rear detachment soldiers and family readiness groups which, among other duties, help meet the needs of the families of deployed soldiers. Many of those soldiers and spouses are new to the military, but that’s far from being the case with Sgt. 1st Class James Barrett and his wife Emily. James Barrett was the 2009 drill sergeant of the year at Fort Leonard Wood and his father was the Military Police Regimental Command Sergeant Major, the top enlisted position in the Military Police Corps. Emily Barrett was formerly on active duty as well and both have deployed together in the past before she left her role as the captain serving as operations officer for the 92nd Military Police Battalion at Fort Leonard Wood and chose to focus on motherhood last year following ten years of active-duty military service. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Mayor Ben Copeland |
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Dixon city clerk asks circuit court for protection order against mayor
DIXON, Mo. (Nov. 24, 2011) — Following allegations of an altercation in city hall, Dixon City Clerk Karen Hardwick has asked for an ex parte order of protection against Dixon Mayor Ben Copeland that could result in the mayor being barred from the clerk’s “place of employment” at city hall. The specific incident to which Hardwick objected happened on Monday, according to her claims in court documents. “He followed me into my office on Monday morning saying he fired me and I need to talk to you,” Hardwick wrote. “While I was putting my purse up, he grabbed my desk chair, pulled it over to him and shoved another chair behind me. When I asked him what he was doing, he said this is my office and my chair, you sit in this one. I pushed/kicked the chair away from me and leaned over to grab the arm of my chair to roll it back over to my desk. When I did this, he took both of his hands on my chest and pushed me into the storage file rack behind my desk. I lost balance and fell up against it. I screamed for help and the city collector (Sheila Plummer) and (police) Sgt. Michael Plummer came running in. When I told him that I could not believe he did that, he told me that he didn’t do anything. Make up whatever you want.” Based on online case records, Monday’s hearing may be the first time either Copeland or Hardwick have seen the inside of a courtroom facing accusations of wrongdoing; neither have a criminal or civil court record in Missouri. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Leaders urge focus on faith and family during deployment of 988th MPs
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Nov. 24, 2011) — Military events are routinely solemnized with prayer by chaplains, and at Wednesday afternoon’s deployment ceremony for the 988th Military Police Company, both the rear detachment commander and the commanding general of Fort Leonard Wood urged the soldiers to rely on family and faith as keys to surviving the rigors of combat. “Especially on the eve of Thanksgiving, I ask those of you here today who are friends and loved ones of those soldiers standing before us, that you give thanks for the incredible gifts of life, freedom, friendship and each other,” said Maj. Timothy Slemp. “If you are so inclined, I encourage you to commit each one of these men and women in prayer and ask that their way be safeguarded, to give them strength.” Brig. Gen. Mark Yenter, Fort Leonard Wood’s commander, urged troops never to let their guard down. “One other thing: this is an opportunity for yourself and your future. I’ve got to tell you something: I don’t know what your religion is; that’s your business, but you’ve got to believe in something,” Yenter said. “This is an opportunity for spiritual growth and I just ask you to think about that.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
The 988th MP Company wears a new uniform. |
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New uniforms mark 988th MP Company for duty in difficult Afghan terrain
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Nov. 24, 2011) — Uniforms change in the Army; that’s a given. However, at Wednesday afternoon’s deployment ceremony for the 988th Military Police Company, Maj. Timothy Slemp, rear detachment commander of the 92nd Military Police Battalion, called attention to the uniforms of the 70-plus soldiers who will soon deploy to Afghanistan. “This company stands before you today in their combat uniform. It is different from the rest of ours; it, too, is uniquely fashioned for the environment for which they will operate in,” Slemp said. “The Army calls it ‘OCP,’ or Operation Enduring Freedom Camouflage Pattern; us laymen simply call it ‘MultiCam.’ Regardless of its name, it distinguishes these fine men and women from the others, and they wear it proudly, as they should.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Lynn Elgar and Wan-Pen Mapes prepare Thanksgiving pies. |
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Thanksgiving for thousands of troops will serve two tons of turkey today
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Nov. 24, 2011) — Preparations for today’s Thanksgiving meal for troops at Fort Leonard Wood began early. Very early, as in 4 a.m., according to Jacob Blackburn, the manager-in-training at the new “double dining” facility at Building 6111, located on Indiana Avenue. The double-dining facility will have more than two dozen cooks combining their efforts for the Thanksgiving meal, not counting additional food service support workers. “I just hope it’s a good one for them; that’s what we’re here for,” said Blackburn, the son of Waynesville R-VI School District Superintendent Judene Blackburn. Post officials ordinarily host Thanksgiving meals for veterans at Tony’s, a restaurant-style dining facility officially known as Building 3223, but this year are showcasing their new facility that ordinarily serves the 31st and 35th Engineer Battalions and can serve more than 3,000 people per meal. The Thanksgiving Day meal cost is $7 for Thanksgiving which will be served from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.; the normal meal rate for lunch and dinner is $4.25. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
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Hartzler issues Thanksgiving greeting
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nov. 23, 2011) — Congresswoman Hartzler has released a Thanksgiving greeting including this: "Many of us learned, as children, that the first Thanksgiving was observed at Plymouth following the harvest of 1621. The Pilgrims came to America to found a new nation on God's principles and, in so doing, set an example for us on the importance of giving thanks... As we gather this Thanksgiving Day with family and friends, let us give thanks to God for all He has given us. Let us also thank the brave men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces whose sacrifices preserve our freedoms and allow us to enjoy God's bounty. Despite our challenges, truly, we are a blessed nation." Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
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Hartzler says 'opportunity missed' by congressional deficit supercommittee
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nov. 23, 2011) — The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, better known as the Super Committee, failed to reach agreement on $1.2 trillion in spending cuts. An opportunity to eliminate some of our huge debt was wasted — and with it, the chance to spur economic growth and create much-needed jobs. To add insult to injury, the failure to reach agreement triggered a mechanism that will lead to an additional $600 billion in cuts to our national defense, making total cuts of more than $1.065 trillion in defense spending over the next ten years. I find this unacceptable. It was clear, early on, that this committee would have a difficult time producing a positive result. Hopes for success were dealt a serious setback when President Obama and Washington Democrats pushed for huge tax increases on America's job creators. The President then insisted that $450 billion of his failed stimulus policies be included in any agreement. Sadly, these "Inside the Beltway" Democrats put their tax and spend dogma ahead of the interests of the American people and failed them miserably. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
Military police deployment ceremony today for troops on way to Afghanistan
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Nov. 23, 2011) — A military police company charged with internment and resettlement operations in Afghanistan will hold a deployment ceremony this afternoon at Fort Leonard Wood. Post personnel announced Monday afternoon that the 988th Military Police Company, a unit with about 70 soldiers which is part of the 92nd Military Police Battalion of the 4th Maneuver Support Brigade, will hold the ceremony at 1 p.m. at Nutter Field House. The unit is assigned to Operation Enduring Freedom, the Army’s name for operations in Afghanistan. As the home of the Army’s military police school, Fort Leonard Wood not only trains traditional MPs for law enforcement roles, area security operations, and maneuver and mobility support but also trains corrections specialists. In peacetime, that’s a small group of MPs who handle military prisons at Fort Leavenworth and elsewhere, but in wartime the role includes dealing with prisoners of war and other detainees captured in battlefield operations. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Brig. Gen. Peter (“Duke”) DeLuca introduces his fiancee, Marianne Paciulli. |
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Army Engineer School gets new commander, and soon, new Army wife
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Nov. 22, 2011) — The Army Engineer School has a new commandant, and the commandant will soon add a ring to his finger. At Tuesday morning’s “assumption of commandancy” ceremony, Brig. Gen. Peter (“Duke”) DeLuca announced that he’ll be bringing a new member into the army family: his fiancée, Marianne Paciulli. “This is a person who was a 26-year New Yorker who agreed to move to Missouri so I think it must be love,” DeLuca said. “I certainly wasn’t about to let her get away and I think when you meet her you’ll know why.” Fort Leonard Wood’s commander, Brig. Gen. Mark Yenter, said he didn’t want to let DeLuca get away, either. “Nobody can outthink Duke DeLuca and nobody can outdebate Duke DeLuca. Thank God I outrank Duke DeLuca,” Yenter said. “I will tell you that Duke DeLuca is one of the most intelligent officers in the Army today. It is not just book learning intelligence, he is a man who is very savvy, he has a great deal of common sense and he is absolutely one of the smartest people I know.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Fiery Friday night crash kills three
DIXON, Mo. (Nov. 21, 2011) — A fiery head-on crash Friday night south of Dixon killed three young men from that community, one of whom is the son of the former Pulaski County treasurer and Dixon Municipal Judge and nephew of the Pulaski County Presiding Commissioner and a St. Robert city alderman. Emergency personnel responding to a crash near the corner of Highway 28 and Cardinal Road, which is about five miles south of Dixon, reported that “there is fire on both sides of the road from the head-on wreck” with a person trapped inside the burning vehicle. According to state patrol reports, Bradley A. Shackleford, 26, had been driving northbound in a 2004 Ford Mustang when he crossed the centerline of Highway 28 about 9:22 p.m. and struck a southbound 1997 Acura nearly head-on driven by James J. Stewart, 24, totaling both vehicles. Shackleford’s Mustang ran off the east side of the roadway, came to rest in a field and caught fire; Stewart’s Acura ran off the west side of the road, overturned several times and also caught fire. Both drivers were pronounced dead at the scene but a passenger in Shackleford’s vehicle, Chad M. McMeekan, 26, was airlifted by St. John’s Lifeline to University Hospital in Columbia where he survived several hours longer and was pronounced dead by a hospital doctor at 3:37 a.m. Saturday. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Rollover injures Crocker teen driver
CROCKER, Mo. (Nov. 21, 2011) — A Monday night rollover on Highway 17 between Waynesville and Crocker totaled a Crocker teenager’s car. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, Angel M. Florez, 18, suffered moderate injuries after driving her 2009 Chevrolet northbound at 8:35 p.m. about four miles north of Waynesville when she ran off the left side of the roadway. In an unrelated incident reported by state troopers, Thomas R. Gan, 20, of Waynesville, was arrested on charges including drug offenses. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Waynesville woman hurt by Friday Franklin County crash near Sullivan
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Nov. 18, 2011) — A Friday afternoon wreck outside of the area sent a Waynesville woman to a Sullivan hospital. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, Krista M. Schumer, 40, of Grubville, had been driving her 1997 Chrysler Town and Country van northbound on Franklin County Highway FF north of Highway 47 when a vehicle ahead of her, a northbound 1996 Chrysler LHS driven by Melissa A. Davis, 29, of St. Clair, slowed for an unknown reason at 2:35 p.m. and after Schumer failed to observe the vehicle slowing down ahead, the front of Schumer’s vehicle struck the rear of Davis’ vehicle. Schumer was not hurt but Melissa Davis and her passenger, Joyce M. Davis, 46, of Waynesville, both suffered minor injuries. In an unrelated incident, troopers arrested Cally L. Brooks, 35, of St. Robert, on charges including drunk driving. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
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Blunt glad Supreme Court will review arguments against ObamaCare
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nov. 14, 2011) — In response to the news that the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in 2012 surrounding President Barack Obama’s health spending bill, U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt has issued the following statement: “I’m pleased that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments over ObamaCare, which the majority of Missourians and Americans have soundly rejected... I hope the Supreme Court will come to the same conclusion next year.”
Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Press Office of U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
Crocker mayor impressed by city's fall festival, area's Veterans Day parade
CROCKER, Mo. (Nov. 14, 2011) — Following more than an hour of closed session discussions of an undisclosed issue, Crocker City Council members complimented city staff on their conduct of the city’s fall festival. “If you missed the fall festival, you missed a great event,” said Mayor Jim Morgan. “We had a real good turnout. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing but it was really successful. We had 12 vendors here, we gave out over 250 hot dogs, I guess, and most of that was all donated, and we’re looking forward to doing it next year.” Morgan said he’s happy about high turnout at two other events: an award ceremony at the Meramec Regional Planning Commission and the annual Veterans Day Parade held this year in Saint Robert. “That place was packed; it was unreal,” said Alderman Lori Layman. Morgan agreed. “It was probably the most impressive parade I have ever seen; the number of people there was outstanding,” Morgan said. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
A property owner recently turned in stolen signs. |
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Ten stolen signs turn up near Dixon
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Nov. 14, 2011) — Ten more stolen road signs turned up recently near Dixon, including roads from Pulaski County, Maries County, and possibly the city of Dixon. The recovered signs include Compton, Cemetery, Crossroads, Cypress, Conway, Maries County Road 638, High Street, and Oak Street. In some cases, more than one sign has the same road name. While all of the road signs turned in Monday are from Bill Farnham’s eastern district or outside county jurisdiction, Western District Commissioner Ricky Zweerink said he’s having similar theft problems. “I don’t know what the answer is,” Zweerink said. “It’s expensive…. I think we have $10,000 or $12,000 (in the budget) we split that two ways.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Three injured in two Sunday crashes
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Nov. 14, 2011) — Two separate single-vehicle crashes early Sunday morning injured three people. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, Scott R. Yondolino, 18, of Richland, had been driving eastbound on Camden County Route A and was 289 feet west of Route E when he attempted to avoid a deer at 12:28 a.m., ran off the right side of the roadway and struck a ditch, causing minor injuries to himself. A few hours later on Highway T about five miles north of Waynesville, Joshua J. Fry, 19, of Waynesville, was driving his 2007 Ford southbound at 4 a.m., crossed the center line, ran off the left side of the roadway, struck the guardrail, ran through a fence and came to rest off the roadway. Fry was not hurt but his two passengers, Megan N. Cato, 16, of Saint Robert, and Ronnie J. Williamson, 16, of Waynesville, suffered minor injuries. Fry’s vehicle was totaled. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
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Hartzler thanks veterans, promotes adoption, defends Lake of the Ozarks
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nov. 12, 2011) — This week America paused to thank our men and women in uniform who have fought to keep our country free. Veterans Day gives all Americans the opportunity to pay tribute to those who have sacrificed on our behalf. While in Warrensburg, I had the privilege of presenting the 2011 Angels in Adoption award to Dr. Curt and Lisa Dyer for their long-time advocacy for foster care and adoption. The Dyers, who have eight children and four foster children, were chosen because of their personal commitment and dedicated work to find loving homes for all children. In other news, there were major developments in the fight to protect the rights of Lake of the Ozarks homeowners whose homes are threatened by a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) edict which effectively ordered electric utility Ameren, the company that owns the Lake, to tear down thousands of homes and other lakefront structures. I followed up the filing of my bill (H.R. 3244) to rein-in the power of FERC with a visit to the Lake where I met with more than 100 frustrated and concerned residents. I was happy to meet with residents who are pleased that FERC’s overreach is being challenged. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
Rothmund's Towing removed this wrecked car. |
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Iberia teenager totals car in Friday afternoon crash on Highway 17
CROCKER, Mo. (Nov. 12, 2011) — An Iberia teen totaled her car Friday afternoon in a one-vehicle crash three miles north of Crocker near the Pulaski-Miller county line. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, Kayla F. Barnes, 19, had been driving a 2000 Kia Sportage northbound on Highway 17 about three miles north of Crocker when she ran off the right side of the road at 4 p.m., struck two trees, and was ejected, suffering moderate injuries. In an unrelated incident reported by state troopers, Kenneth L. Jennings, 17, of Richland, was arrested on charges including drunk driving. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Veterans Day parade held today
SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Nov. 11, 2011) — Lineup is beginning now for the annual Veterans Day parade which will begin at St. Robert City Hall at 11:30 a.m. preceded by an 11 a.m. ceremony with keynote speaker Frank Herbert, a retired command sergeant major who is a member of the St. Robert Planning and Zoning Commission and an Army veteran. He was the 2010 Fort Leonard Wood Retiree of the Year. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Mike Jones gets his order from Gwendolyn Andrewcavage. |
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'Shop with a Cop' still seeking funds to provide Christmas presents for children
SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Nov. 10, 2011) — Police gave tickets Wednesday night at Pizza Hut in St. Robert, but they aren’t payable to the local court system. Instead, officers from several local departments served pizza as waiters and waitresses to benefit the “Shop with a Cop” program in which local police take children from needy families shopping for Christmas presents. The tickets are the bills for the food, and the Wednesday night tips, rather than going to the waitstaff, are used for the Shop with a Cop program. Sacha and Gary Jensen said they didn’t know what to expect when they saw officers in full uniform at Pizza Hut. “The very first thing we thought was, ‘Wow, is she here for a second job?’” Gary Jensen said. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
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Blunt applauds veterans jobs bill, repeal of 3 percent withholding tax
WASHINGTON D.C. (Nov. 10, 2011) — U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt released the following statement regarding the bipartisan repeal of the 3 percent withholding tax and passage of the veterans jobs bill: “The Senate took an important step to reduce economic uncertainty with the passage of these bipartisan bills, both of which passed the House with overwhelming support and President Obama has signaled his willingness to sign it into law. I was proud to cosponsor the repeal of the onerous 3 percent withholding tax, which places an unnecessary financial burden on numerous job creators across America... I was also proud to support important tax incentives for businesses that hire veterans who are coming home and in need of work. As we mark Veterans Day this week, we’re reminded of the incredible sacrifices that our nation’s servicemen and women make each and every day to protect our freedoms. We owe it to these brave heroes to ensure they have the opportunity to earn a living once they return home.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Press Office of U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
Combat engineer vets, child advocates thank Waynesville Park Department
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Nov. 10, 2011) — The Waynesville Park Board didn’t have enough members present Thursday evening to have a quorum and conduct business, but board chairman Roger Olney presented letters from the 19th Combat Engineer Battalion Association and Kids Harbor Too thanking city staff for their assistance with events in the city park and campground. Kids Harbor Too is a child advocacy group which held a “race to erase child abuse” event on city facilities. The 19th Engineers were a combat engineer unit that built and maintained roads in Vietnam; the association is a reunion group which selected the civilian community near Fort Leonard Wood to hold its annual reunions because of the presence of the Army Engineer School. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Cole Allison |
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Man on probation for attacking police charged with attacking stepbrother
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Nov. 10, 2011) — A Saint Robert man who was already in legal trouble for resisting arrest while punching a state trooper and a sheriff’s deputy is now charged with domestic assault for hitting his 16-year-old stepbrother over the head with a glass plate. Cole A. Allison, 20, lives east of the St. Robert city limits not far from the prior incident involving law enforcement. According to a prepared statement by Sheriff J.B. King, Allison now faces a charge of second-degree assault for the Friday incident involving his stepbrother; when deputies arrived, they found he had “cuts on his hands where the glass had broken on impact with the brother’s head” and statements were taken from witnesses. On May 11, Allison was arrested following a minor car crash on Texas Road near his home. Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Hillman took a dim view of the May incident. “When the officers made contact with (Allison), he punched both the state trooper and the sheriff’s deputy in the face, causing lacerations to both requiring medical attention. (Allison) then grabbed his own grandfather and took him to the ground,” Hillman said at the time. “This case again shows the dangers faced by the men and women of law enforcement, even when responding to a minor traffic accident.”
Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
One hurt in Wednesday wreck
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Nov. 10, 2011) — A Dixon man wrecked his vehicle north of St. Robert on Wednesday evening. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, Matthew E. Vinall, 28, had been driving his 1999 Chevrolet Blazer southbound on Laramie Road about three miles north of St. Robert when he ran off the left side of the road at 6 p.m., struck a tree and came to rest in the ditch.
Vinall was not hurt but his passenger, Charlie S. Wehmeyer, 20, of Dixon, suffered minor injuries. In unrelated incidents reported Wednesday, state troopers, arrested Corey H. Carter, 21, of Waynesville, on a misdemeanor shoplifting warrant and Timmy L. Williams, 51, of Waynesville, on charges including drunk driving. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Soldiers in today's memorial helped recover Navy Seal Team 6 wreckage
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Nov. 10, 2011) — Just two weeks before three of its soldiers died and one was severely injured in an IED attack, the 515th Engineer Company from Fort Leonard Wood was accompanied on a Sept. 13 patrol senior enlisted soldiers and earned recognition as the Route Clearance Patrol of the Month. The company commander, Capt. Douglas Solan, is a Pulaski County resident from Dixon; at least two of the three soldiers who will have a memorial service today at Fort Leonard Wood were involved in the recovery mission for the helicopter carrying members of Navy SEAL Team 6, the special forces unit which killed Osama bin Laden in a Pakistan compound. The memorial for 1st Lt. Ivan Lechowich, 27, from Valrico, Fla., near Tampa, Spc. Steven Gutowski, 24, from Weymouth, Mass., near Plymouth, and Pfc. David Drake, from Lumberton, Texas, near Houston, who were killed in action on Sept. 28, will be held at 10 a.m. today in the Main Post Chapel, Building 608, which is located at the intersection of Constitution and Minnesota Avenues. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Crocker pool benefit to feature local bluegrass gospel singer Dale Wilkes
CROCKER, Mo. (Nov. 9, 2011) — Waynesville had to shut down its pool due to lack of money for maintenance. Saint Robert voters passed a special tax to build their new aquatic center. However, Crocker’s community pool is paid for by voluntary donations to a privately run organization, and Crocker Pool Board President Don Theberge is asking community residents to turn out next week Saturday for a benefit supper that serves as one of the pool’s largest annual fundraising events.The Nov. 19 event will feature Dale Wilkes of Summit Grass, a bluegrass and gospel singer originally from Crocker who is coming back to his hometown to raise money for his local pool. “It’s one of the major fundraisers for the year,” Theberge said. “His band is from Jefferson City and he is a local homeboy who grew up in Crocker.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Monday wrecks injure two drivers
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Nov. 7, 2011) — Two separate one-vehicle crashes injured the drivers on Monday. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, Joseph L. Peirce, 46, of Richland, had been driving his 1997 Ford westbound on Camden County Route A 1.3 miles east of Route E when he struck a deer at 10:25 a.m. and ran off the right side of the roadway. Peirce suffered moderate injuries. Later that afternoon, Rufus D. Martin, 68, of Devil’s Elbow, had been driving his 2001 Ford F-150 pickup truck westbound on Interstate 44 in Saint Robert when he lost control on wet pavement at 12:50 p.m., ran off the left side, struck a cable barrier in the median, and suffered minor injuries. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Civilian businesses, Army units team up to volunteer help for animal shelter
CROCKER, Mo. (Nov. 5, 2011) — Pulaski County Humane Society President Kim Fuhr said the support of local businesses and several groups of twenty or more military volunteers from various Fort Leonard Wood units was critical to getting the new Loving Paws Adoption Center open as the society’s new animal shelter in Crocker. Several local businesses in Crocker including Crawford Heating and Cooling, Newcomb Hardware, and John Schwandt’s concrete company donated much of the specialized work at free or discounted rates, along with help from Lowe’s Hardware and Field’s Hardware in St. Robert. Michelle Gramling said her role as a retired major in the Army’s engineer branch at Fort Leonard Wood helped her recruit soldiers who had specific skill sets needed for the construction work as well as general labor. “A lot of times these groups are looking for a project so they’ll email us and then our volunteer coordinator,” Fuhr said. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Head-on Dixon wreck hurts two
DIXON, Mo. (Nov. 5, 2011) — A Friday night head-on crash near the Fox Crossing area southwest of Dixon injured one passenger in each car and totaled both vehicles but left their drivers unscathed. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, Gary S. Chapman, 42, was driving a 2001 Chevrolet Cavalier southbound on Highway 133 at 7:25 p.m. about three miles south of the city limits when he crossed the center line, partially travelled off the left side of the roadway, and struck a northbound 2000 Pontiac Grand Am head-on driven by Clyde J. Quick, 64. Neither Chapman nor Quick were hurt, but Chapman’s passenger, Christine M. Stewart, 43, suffered moderate injuries and Quick’s passenger, Sue Manes, 49, suffered minor injuries. All four are from Dixon. In unrelated incidents reported by state troopers, Yani L. Edwards-Rigby, 36, and Zaccheus J. Rigby, 22, both of St. Robert, were arrested on charges including vehicle tampering; Teddie R. Ries, 54, of Waynesville, was arrested on drunk driving charges; and William G. Berkshire, 23, of Richland, was arrested on numerous outstanding warrants including drugs and drunk driving. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Sierra Burchett watches a shelter puppy. |
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Loving Paws Adoption Center opens to address county dog, cat problems
CROCKER, Mo. (Nov. 5, 2011) — Sierra Burchett, 10, was excited to see a young puppy in the dog runs at Saturday’s grand opening for the new Loving Paws Adoption Center, the Pulaski County Humane Society’s new animal shelter in Crocker. “He looks so cute and has sad eyes,” Burchett said. “I think every puppy should be adopted when they get here.” Burchett, who has two cats and one dog in her home, was one of more than 60 people who turned out Saturday morning for the event marking completion of the transformation of an abandoned and overgrown building at 319 Keeth Road, once a greenhouse for the Pulaski County Sheltered Workshop, into a facility for homeless dogs and cats. The puppy’s new quarters are much different from what he had until recently. “He was left somewhere in rural Pulaski County; the people moved and left him tied to their porch,” said Pulaski County Humane Society President Kim Fuhr. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Foster pet coordinator Karin Gan and foster dogparent Sebastian Balint play with animals. |
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Pet foster family program will continue, needs more volunteer homes
CROCKER, Mo. (Nov. 5, 2011) — The new shelter for the Pulaski County Humane Society can hold many dogs and cats, but as Humane Society President Kim Fuhr told those attending the ceremonial opening on Saturday, it can’t come close to meeting the needs of the stray pet population. Karin Gan, the Humane Society’s pet foster home coordinator, said her work will continue to provide temporary homes for pets outside the shelter. The organization has four foster families currently working and another has recently signed up, she said. “They are working about 30 foster dogs that have all come for the most part from law enforcement actions,” Gan said. “The dogs actually live in the homes with the fosters.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
103 mph speeding ticket may not be worth jail time, judge warns in court
SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Nov. 4, 2011) — Even the county judges don’t like the county jail. During Friday morning’s routine arraignment of people charged with crimes, Associate Circuit Judge Colin Long's docket included Rodney Lamont, 44, of St. Robert, who was cited by a trooper from the Missouri State Highway Patrol for driving his 2011 Cadillac at the rate of 103 mph on Interstate 44. That’s more than 25 mph over the posted speed limit of 70 mph, and required Lamont to make a mandatory court appearance. Lamont tried to enter a guilty plea, but the judge discouraged that. “Have you seen our jail down there? You might want to talk to an attorney,” Long said, leading to loud laughter from the criminal defendants gathered in the courtroom. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Mark Keleise |
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Father charged with kidnapping daughter, threatening to kill mother
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Nov. 4, 2011) — A man who was arrested early Wednesday for parental kidnapping and burglary in Waynesville has an extended history of violence, according to court records, and was called a “persistent domestic violence offender within the city of St. Robert” by police in that city following numerous incidents there dating back to 2009. Mark Sauleotogi Keleise, 23, was arraigned Friday morning on one felony charge of first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle, a Class C felony with a penalty of two to seven years in state prison, and has a summons to appear in court on Dec. 2 on two more felony charges of first-degree burglary, a Class B felony which could bring him five to 15 years in state prison, and parental kidnapping, a Class D felony which could bring him up to four years in state prison. According to court records, the kidnapping happened in Waynesville about 8 a.m. Tuesday and involved a two-year-old child. St. Robert police reported in 2009 that they had been dispatched to the home where the two lived for numerous domestic violence incidents, that “all listed domestic assaults have occurred in the presence of their daughter,” and “the incidents documented between Keleise and White are becoming more frequent and more violent.” Waynesville police report similar incidents, with seven calls dating back to 2010. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Richard Sinden |
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Fleeing Dixon motorcyclist had many warrants for not showing up in court
DIXON, Mo. (Nov. 4, 2011) — Most traffic checkpoints conducted by Waynesville and Saint Robert police end quietly with few incidents, but a Dixon motorcyclist created considerably more work for Pulaski County sheriff’s deputies on Saturday morning when he made a U-turn on his Yamaha and fled the checkpoint near the Gasconade River with three reserve deputies in pursuit. Sheriff J.B. King reported Monday that Richard Allen Sinden, 23, drove into the checkpoint area on Cave Road and Highway O on Saturday, but when the deputies signaled him to stop, he fled north on Highway O. When he appears before judges this week and next week, he’ll be seeing judges who have wanted to see him for some time. Sinden has numerous outstanding arrest warrants for failure to appear in court on various drug and traffic charges dating back many years in Pulaski County, Camden County, and the city of Bourbon. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Matthew Verlyn Disbrow |
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Accusation of antique bowl theft leads to filing of felony stealing charge
SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Nov. 2, 2011) — A repairman who noticed a suspicious truck last week Thursday called deputies and their investigation led to felony charges being filed Tuesday against Matthew Verlyn Disbrow, 36, who pleaded innocent Wednesday morning to accusations that he tried to steal a small glass antique bowl last week from a homeowner off Highway Y north of Saint Robert. Disbrow and the homeowner both have Dixon addresses, but they live near each other in an area between St. Robert and the Gasconade River just a few miles outside the St. Robert city limits. According to court records, Disbrow faces two to seven years in state prison if convicted of the Class C felony of stealing from a home on the 17000 grid of Lariat Lane. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Thermal imaging cameras find accused meth cook after three-hour hunt
LAQUEY, Mo. (Nov. 2, 2011) — An extended chase through property near Highway AB in Laquey using tracking devices led to the arrest of a Dixon woman on charges of resisting arrest and possessing methamphetamine. Star Lynn Gann, 23, faces a Class B felony charge of possessing a controlled substance with intent to distribute and a Class D felony charge of resisting arrest. If convicted, she faces five to 15 years in state prison. According to court records, a man who lives in Texas but owns property on the 26000 grid of Sheila Drive filed a report with the sheriff’s department in early October “alleging unauthorized persons were entering his property.” Sheriff’s logs report that a neighbor called Monday night reporting that a car was in the area; Gann fled but was located after midnight more than a mile away from the scene using thermal imaging cameras from the Waynesville Rural Fire Protection District. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
'It's All Here' promoted at Waynesville Economic Development Committee
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Nov. 1, 2011) — A Chamber of Commerce program to promote area businesses by having them stay open late this Friday received a boost at Tuesday evening’s meeting of the Waynesville Economic Development Committee. “There are many local businesses involved in it; I’ve been trying to help them on my Facebook page,” Hardman said. “Today the Chamber started sending out individual ads on each one of them. A lot of Waynesville businesses are involved in this.” Running from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, the event has nine sponsors who have made special contributions to promote the Community Shopping Party and 23 partners; the 23 partners are businesses which have agreed to remain open for the event. Four of the partners will also be open for the event. A complete list of sponsors and partners is attached. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Crocker woman dies Monday in Miller County Highway 17 rollover wreck
CROCKER, Mo. (Nov. 1, 2011) — A wreck on Highway 17 north of the Miller-Pulaski county line claimed the life of a Crocker woman Monday afternoon. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, Tammy Sinyard, 35, died following a 2:51 p.m. wreck when she was driving her 2006 GMC southbound about a third of a mile before Route K, ran off the right side of the roadway, overcorrected, began to skid, ran off the left side of the roadway, struck an embankment and overturned. In unrelated incidents, troopers arrested Daniel Johnson, 30, of St. Robert, on a felony theft warrant, and arrested Joshua P. Johnson, 24, and Gerald M. Brown, 19, both of Waynesville, on charges including drunk driving. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Downtown bridge, Trail of Tears could be 'Tourist Bonanza' for Waynesville
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Nov. 1, 2011) — A downtown bridge over the Roubidoux Creek near the Trail of Tears site could be a “tourist bonanza” for Waynesville, according to Councilwoman Luge Hardman. During Tuesday evening’s economic development committee meeting, Hardman said she recently met with National Park Service officials regarding the Trail of Tears Cherokee encampment in Waynesville on the route of the forced removal of the Cherokee tribe from Georgia and the Carolinas into what is now Oklahoma. “They have a special company out of Texas; they would come here, they would research it, they would write the text, they would take the pictures. But he kept saying, ‘You guys have a tourist bonanza here,’” Hardman said. While the Route 66 Bridge needs work, Missouri Department of Transportation officials say it’s salvageable, Hardman said. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Fort Leonard Wood's new Main Post Chapel will be dedicated today. |
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Fort Leonard Wood dedication for larger new chapel held this morning
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Nov. 1, 2011) — It’s already in use, but senior officials in the Army chaplaincy will come to Fort Leonard Wood’s new Main Post Chapel today for a ribbon cutting and chapel dedication service. Held at 9:30 a.m. today at the new building located at the corner of Constitution and Minnesota avenues, the 32,900-square-foot facility replaces Soldier Memorial Chapel as the post’s largest chapel. Soldier Memorial Chapel and the other existing chapels will remain in use; expansion of the mission of Fort Leonard Wood has created a need for significant increases in space available for worship services, and among other activities, the new chapel will host large worship services that previously had to be held in on-post theaters. The dedication speaker will be Brig. Gen. Patrick Dolan, the Army National Guard’s Assistant to the Chief of Chaplains, and an ordained Roman Catholic priest. Beginning at 9 a.m. and running until 1 p.m., the Waggener Gate on the west end of Fort Leonard Wood leading to Polla Road and Waynesville will be closed for a training exercise. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Two new Waynesville businesses open with more on track to open soon
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Nov. 1, 2011) — Two new downtown businesses have opened in Waynesville and several more businesses will soon open elsewhere in the city, Councilwoman Luge Hardman announced during Tuesday evening’s meeting of the Waynesville Economic Development Committee. The two new businesses are a gun and pawn shop opened next to the Route 66 bridge over the Roubidoux Creek owned by longtime Waynesville residents Ted and Sue Williams, and Lost in the Woods Antiques opening next to the motor vehicle license bureau office owned by David Hassock, a retired military man who lives in the community. City Administrator Bruce Harrill said the owners of the Subway franchise in Waynesville expect to open soon as well, the Veterans Administration clinic is now open, and a planned convenience store on Ichord Avenue is still on track but doesn’t yet have a firm opening date. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Utility meters may no longer have to be placed on buildings in Waynesville
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Nov. 1, 2011) — Unless turned down by the city council at its Nov. 17 meeting, Waynesville utility workers will have the option of placing utility meters somewhere else other than on the building served by the meter. “In some instances it makes sense to mount them right near the transformers; it makes it easier to read the meters and stuff like that,” said Utility Committee Chairman Mike France during a Tuesday afternoon committee meeting. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Waynesville proposes ban on cutting off electricity during hot weather
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Nov. 1, 2011) — City residents who can’t pay their electric bills won’t have their air conditioning shut off on the hottest summer days or their heat shut off on cold winter days, if rules approved Tuesday afternoon by the city’s utility committee are also approved by the city council on Nov. 17. The rules formalize existing city practice, according to City Administrator Bruce Harrill and Utility Committee Chairman Mike France. “On occasion this summer Bruce called me and said, ‘Hey, Mike, we’ve got a real problem with the heat; there’s been an extended period when the heat indexes were over 100,’ and so we made a conscious decision that we were not going to turn off anybody’s power until such time as the temperature was regulated,” France said. “We did that basically in talking to one another.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
David Silvester |
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MoDOT appoints new district engineer to supervise Pulaski, 17 other counties
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Oct. 29, 2011) — More changes are in the works for the Missouri Department of Transportation in its dealings with Pulaski County. MoDOT for many years placed Pulaski County in its south-central district, based in Willow Springs, with Tom Stehn as its district engineer. A recent reorganization placed Pulaski County in the Central District, based in Jefferson City, and eliminated the South-Central District; Stehn has since announced his retirement. The district engineer for the Central District, Kirk Juranas, has now retired as well and will be replaced with David Silvester, a 20-year veteran of MoDOT. Due to the high cost of road construction, MoDOT is one of the state governmental agencies with the highest level of impact on rural counties in Missouri. MoDOT Chief Engineer Dave Nichols said Silvester “brings a great deal of expertise to the table” and “will ensure we continue to provide a high level of customer service to the citizens of central Missouri.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Waynesville mayoral candidate criticizes cleanliness of McDonalds
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Oct. 29, 2011) — A city councilwoman who is running for mayor of Waynesville has taken to Facebook to take the city’s McDonalds restaurant to task for not meeting her standards for restaurant cleanliness. In a series of posts beginning last week, Councilwoman Luge Hardman, who announced this morning that she’ll be formally announcing her mayoral candidacy on Tuesday next week, criticized Dave Weinbaum, the Rolla-based owner of the McDonalds’ franchises in Waynesville and St. Robert. Hardman’s posts ignited a firestorm, with many local residents joining in Hardman’s criticism of the business and three of them crossposting to their own Facebook pages. After numerous residents posted complaints, some including their own allegations of poor service and poor sanitary conditions, Weinbaum posted his own comments on Hardman’s Facebook account pledging to clean up the problems. Many of the allegations can’t be independently verified, but Pulaski County Health Department inspection reports show a history of issues which were called to the attention of store managers and subsequently corrected. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Cities announce trick-or-treat hours; SR hosts Halloween event Friday
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Oct. 28, 2011) — The five cities of Pulaski County have all announce d their Halloween hours, and two cities will be hosting pre-Halloween events tonight and Saturday. Waynesville, Saint Robert, Fort Leonard Wood, and Richland will all observe trick-or-treat Halloween hours from 6 to 9 pm on Monday, Oct. 31. Dixon and Crocker Halloween hours will be 5 to 8 p.m. on the same day. In addition to the trick-or-treat hours, St. Robert, Richland and Dixon have city-sponsored special events for children in conjunction with Halloween. The first of the events takes place tonight in St. Robert with the city’s fifth-annual Halloween in the Park. Richland has a "Spooktacular" on Saturday, and Richland has a Main Street trick-or-treat event with local businesses on Monday. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
I-44 snarled by Thursday crashes, including fiery fatality of semi truck
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Oct. 28, 2011) — Numerous Thursday afternoon crashes stretching from Jerome to Stoutland snarled Interstate 44 traffic for much of Thursday afternoon, at one point backing up westbound traffic from Exit 140 many miles into Pulaski County. The first of the wrecks took an hour to clear and happened at 2:16 p.m. when, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, Thomas A. Hudgens, 49, of Welling, Okla., was driving a 2007 International semi truck eastbound at mile marker 171, which is in Phelps County not far east of the Pulaski-Phelps county line, changed lanes, and struck an eastbound 2008 Infiniti M35X driven by Cynthia A. Nixon, 47, of Rogersville. Nixon’s car was totaled; she suffered moderate injuries. The semi driver was not hurt. The afternoon’s second crash didn’t cause injuries but snarled westbound Interstate 44 at mile marker 151, which is between Exit 153 for Highway 17 at Buckhorn and Exit 150 for Highway 7 leading to Richland, closing the left lane of traffic from 3:58 p.m. until 5:33 p.m., according to MoDOT reports. While that crash cleanup was still in progress, a much worse wreck happened at the 139.6 mile marker in Laclede County near the Stoutland exit and about five miles west of the Laclede-Pulaski county line. State troopers reported that Vernon F. Lowrance, 60, of Bethel Springs, Tenn., was driving a 2005 Freightliner truck westbound at 4:29 p.m. when he ran off the right side of the roadway, struck a rock embankment, and his truck caught fire. The truck then returned to the roadway and was coming to rest when an item fell off the truck’s semi trailer. A 2003 Ford F-150 pickup truck driven by Michael W. Caudle, 57, of Lebanon, swerved to miss the item in the roadway, ran off the left side of the roadway, and struck the cable barrier. Caudle was able to drive his pickup from the scene, but Lowrance was killed in the crash, which took about six hours to clear and completely closed all westbound lanes. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Rothmund's Towing personnel prepare to remove a wreck. |
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Rollovers wreck two vehicles south of Dixon on Highway 28, one driver hurt
DIXON, Mo. (Oct. 28, 2011) — Two separate one-vehicle rollovers south of Dixon on Thursday and Friday damaged both vehicles, but both drivers escaped serious injury. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, Donald O. Leggett, 63, of Newburg, had been southbound on Highway 28 about a mile south of Dixon on Thursday when he ran his 2001 Ford Edge off the right side of the road at 2:50 p.m. and overturned. Leggett totaled his vehicle and suffered minor injuries. The next day, troopers reported that Kathy L. Armistead, 41, of Dixon, had been driving northbound on Highway 28 about 1:30 p.m. in a tan Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck when she saw another vehicle stopped in traffic waiting to make a left turn onto Highway O. Rather than hitting the stopped vehicle, Armistead turned right into the ditch and overturned, but suffered no injuries to herself or her 16-year-old passenger. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Ambulance bill annoys commissioners
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Oct. 27, 2011) — Presiding Commissioner Gene Newkirk isn’t happy that Sheriff J.B. King is paying for ambulance bills listed as “non-emergency” runs. While paying bills Thursday morning, Newkirk noted a bill of more than $600 which King had charged to his civil fee fund. That’s a fund under the control of each county sheriff that’s generated by revenue from special fees attached to civil cases. “I read every bill when I sign it; I don’t agree with it,” Newkirk said. “If there’s a shootout on Y Highway, why do we pay the ambulance? … Why should taxpayers have to pay for the ambulance?” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
County could benefit from better insurance rates, more doctors covered
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Oct. 27, 2011) — County Clerk Brent Bassett told commissioners on Thursday that he believes the county will be able to obtain significantly better rates for employee insurance. “Right now the numbers that are coming in look very good,” Bassett said. Part of the problem, Bassett said, is that many county employees choose not to carry the county’s health insurance, either because they’re eligible for cheaper insurance through their spouse or because they can’t afford the out-of-pocket county cost. “My goal is to try to get it to them at an affordable price; the numbers he’s giving me is $50 to $60 per month for their share of it,” Bassett said. “But the other side of that coin is if we get more employees on it, it’s going to cost the county more money because right now we’re paying $225” per month on each employee. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
A Dixon man turned in this sign he found in a ditch. |
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County road sign thefts continue
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Oct. 27, 2011) — While county road workers recently recovered several stolen road signs, Eastern District Road Supervisor Stan Crismon warned that the theft problem continues. Stealing county road signs is not only costly for the county but dangerous for residents, Crismon said, noting that last year over $10,000 worth of signs were stolen and had to be replaced in just the Eastern District. “We put them up and they tear them down as quick as we put them up; it runs into a big expense,” Crismon said. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Gas pipeline breaks can be dangerous or deadly, commissioners cautioned
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Oct. 27, 2011) — A gas company representative came to county commissioners on Thursday and urged commissioners to pay close attention to buried gas lines in their work. Ron Blevins, an operations technician from MoGas who lives in Pulaski County, said he’d like to be able to coordinate with county road workers and other government agencies to prevent accidental gas main disruptions. Western District Commissioner Ricky Zweerink said he knows the consequences of a gas leak. “I was there the night they shot the flares up in the air that night in Crocker,” Zweerink said. “The gas was pretty still, it was a foggy night. The shot the first one up and nothing happened; they shot the second one up, and I mean, that whole thing all the way up to Crocker turned purple and every color you could imagine. It was quite a sight, I will tell you; quite a sight.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Deanna Lea Hough |
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Homeless heroin mom has a long history of local legal problems
LAQUEY, Mo. (Oct. 27, 2011) — A 911 phone call from a child whose mother became homeless due to heroin usage led to Pulaski County deputies arresting the mother Monday evening on a felony charge of child endangerment. Deanna Lea Hough, 38, faces a Class C felony charge of first-degree child welfare endangerment accusing her of removing her daughter from the Genesis House, a battered women’s shelter in Waynesville, and “taking her to a house where (the mother) purchased heroin and used heroin causing her to pass out, leaving the child unattended at a house where drug activity was occurring, and allowing the child to walk unattended down a state highway.” According to court records, deputies received a call Monday from a girl standing on the side of the road in Laquey by the corner of Highway AB and Southbend Road who told a deputy that she and her mother had been living at the Genesis House but had been asked to leave due to narcotics usage by her mother. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
DWI checkpoint Saturday mostly quiet
SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Oct. 26, 2011) — Five hours of checking for drunks turned up only one intoxicated driver and two people with no proof of insurance, St. Robert police announced Wednesday. Police conducted a sobriety checkpoint last weekend from 9:30 p.m. Saturday to 2:30 a.m. Sunday. The mostly quiet night saw only 286 vehicles passing through the checkpoint, all of which were stopped and checked; of those drivers, two were cited for insurance violations and one person was arrested for driving while intoxicated, according to Traffic Sgt. Butch Hohman. “I am very glad that the drivers are getting the message that drunk driving is a crime and will not be tolerated. The holiday seasons are fast approaching and people like to party, so if you party, make sure there is a sober driver there to get you home safe,” Hohman said. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Local memorial scheduled next month for three deceased FLW soldiers
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Oct. 25, 2011) — A memorial service will be held on post next month for three soldiers killed by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan, Fort Leonard Wood officials announced Tuesday afternoon. The service will be at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 10, in the Main Post Chapel, Building 608, which is located at the intersection of Constitution and Minnesota Avenues. The new chapel, which is already in use, will have its own dedication service next week on Nov. 1. The three soldiers killed were 1st Lt. Ivan Lechowich, 27, of Valrico, Fla., Spc. Steven Gutowski, 24, of Plymouth, Mass., and Pfc. David Drake, 21, of Lumberton, Texas. All died on Sept. 28 in Afghanistan “of injuries suffered when their vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device while conducting route clearance,” according to Fort Leonard Wood personnel. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Col. Larry Dotson |
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Newburg man promoted to rank of colonel in Missouri National Guard
NEWBURG, Mo. (Oct. 25, 2011) — Larry Dotson, whose family is from Newburg, was recently promoted to the rank of colonel in the Missouri Army National Guard. “I never expected to reach the rank of colonel,” Dotson said. “But to get some of the jobs I’d like to have in the future, I needed to get this promotion.” Dotson currently serves as the special assistant to the commanding general at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La. for National Guard and Reserve matters. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Sgt. Sarah E. Lupescu/Missouri National Guard Public Affairs |
Two locals injured by weekend wrecks
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Oct. 24, 2011) — Two weekend wrecks outside Pulaski County injured local residents, while two crashes on Interstate 44 snarled traffic even though nobody was hurt by the wrecks. A Phelps County crash early Saturday morning seriously injured Brent W. Funk, 29, of Dixon, who according to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, had been driving a 2004 Chevrolet westbound on Interstate 44 at mile marker 189 when he failed to maintain his lane at 1 a.m., ran off the right side of the roadway and struck a guardrail. A second wreck happened at 11:10 p.m. Sunday on Route O in Laclede County, four miles west of Competition, and moderately injured Robert A. Christlieb, 17, of Lynchburg, who had been driving a 1992 Ford pickup eastbound when he fell asleep, ran off the left side of the roadway, went through a ditch and struck a road sign. In unrelated arrests, state troopers arrested Jesse J. Raygor, 29, and Sarah A. Raygor, 33, both of Crocker, Gary S. Chapman, 42, of Dixon, Billy J. Burke, 33, of Dixon, Duane L. Ficke, 44, of Crocker, and Dylan W. Grindstaff, 21, of Crocker, on drug warrants, arrested Ted H. Cole, 45, of Waynesville, on charges including drunk driving, and arrested Edward R. Walker, 52, of Crocker, and Nicholas G. McDaniel, 20, of Dixon, on drug charges. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
The Army Corps of Engineers received an award for energy efficient design. |
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Fort Leonard Wood power crisis leads to energy-efficient design award
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Oct. 22, 2011) — Lyndsey Pruitt and a 25-member team from the Army Corps of Engineers received an international award Friday for their work on Fort Leonard Wood, being named by the Holcim Foundation as one of ten innovative projects for designing an “energy, water and waste efficient military installation.” The project began with an energy crisis caused by Show Me Power but could eventually provide long term benefits not only to Fort Leonard Wood but also to the Army and to the surrounding civilian communities, according to project documents submitted by the Army Corps of Engineers which led to the Holcim Foundation award. “Show Me Power, the FLW energy provider, announced that it would no longer provide service to non-co-op customers, such as FLW,” according to the Army Corps of Engineers. “Through this energy crisis, the USACE team develops a phased implementation plan that would integrate scales, climactic factors, and the life cycle of the built environment to maximize efficiencies and by 2030 become net zero (energy, water, waste). This was taken a step further, developing a practical solution to become a power provider to the community when in need.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
St. Robert police will use this trailer for DWI checkpoint equipment. |
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St. Robert police obtain DWI trailer
SAINT ROBERT, Mo, (Oct. 22, 2011) —Setting up and taking down the equipment for St. Robert’s drunk driving enforcement operations is now easier, thanks to a trailer purchased with grant funds from the Missouri Department of Transportation. St. Robert Traffic Sgt. Butch Hohman said the 5-foot by 8-foot trailer will be used at all the police checkpoints conducted by his city’s police department as well as for storage of equipment between checkpoints. “Before we were taking all the equipment out in the back end of a pickup or whatever kind of transportation we had. It got to be a little bit large amount of equipment to do that,” Hohman said. “Chris Leubbert of MoDOT gave me the OK … he told me to go buy it and get it stenciled, but I had to have the DWI enforcement on it.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Two hurt in Friday afternoon crash outside Fort Leonard Wood main gate
SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Oct. 22, 2011) — St. Robert police announced Saturday that two local drivers were injured in a Friday crash near Fort Leonard Wood’s main gate. The wreck was reported at 5:30 p.m. on Missouri Ave a tenth of a mile south of Gateway Circle, and according to Traffic Sgt. Butch Hohman, happened when a 2002 Chrysler driven by Joshua L. Hettich, 19, of Waynesville, was attempting to make a left turn from the southbound lanes of Missouri Avenue onto a private drive but failed to see an approaching northbound 2009 BMW driven by Martin D. Smith, 40, of St Robert and pulled into the path of the Smith vehicle, causing Smith’s BMW vehicle to hit Hettich’s Chrysler. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
St. Robert Police Department |
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
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Obama urged to protect Georgian sovereignty in Russian trade deal
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Oct. 19, 2011) — U.S. Senators Roy Blunt of Missouri and James Inhofe of Oklahoma sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk this week urging the Obama Administration to protect America's national interests by fully considering the sovereignty of our ally, the Republic of Georgia, before endorsing Russia's membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO). "We are concerned about reports that the United States may endorse Russian membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) in spite of larger strategic challenges in the U.S.-Russia relationship," the senators wrote. "As you are well aware, the United States continues to oppose the presence of Russian troops in the Georgian provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which were invaded by Russia in August 2008." Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Press Office of U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
Driver airlifted after rolling pickup, thrown onto road, struck by car
RICHLAND/SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Oct. 17, 2011) — Wrecks injured two area residents on Sunday off Interstate 44, one of them outside Pulaski County and the other on Highway 7 between Richland and Exit 150 of Interstate 44. The worst of the two wrecks happened at 1:43 a.m. when Dennis J. Martin, 39, of Richland, was run over by a car driver three minutes after totaling his pickup truck and being ejected from the pickup following a rollover. Martin had been driving his 1989 Ford F-150 northbound on Highway 7 about six miles south of Richland when he ran off the left side of the roadway, struck a ditch, overturned, was thrown from the pickup, and while he was laying on the roadway, was struck by a northbound 2002 Mercury Sable driven by Thomas A. Swearingen, 61, of Richland. The day’s second crash happened in Cole County when Jesus M. Rada, 41, of St. Robert, was driving his 2003 Honda CBR motorcycle northbound at 12:51 p.m., approaching the corner of Route B and Osery Road, applied the front brake of his motorcycle, and flipped the motorcycle end-over-end, suffering moderate injuries as a result. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Funeral will be Tuesday for woman killed in Fort Leonard Wood wreck
BUCYRUS, Mo. (Oct. 17, 2011) — Funeral arrangements have been announced for Christine Boone, 49, of Bucyrus, who was killed last week in a crash on Fort Leonard Wood that also critically injured her son, Jonathon Boone, 13. Christine Boone was the wife of KJPW/KFBD radio reporter Chuck Boone; her son was transported by St. John’s Lifeline helicopter ambulance to the University of Columbia hospital. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 18, at Evans Funeral Home in Houston, with burial following in Pine Lawn Cemetery and a 2 p.m. dinner at the Success school. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Pfc. Marcus D. Pollock graduates from Army basic infanty training
SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Oct. 17, 2011) — Army Pfc. Marcus D. Pollock has graduated from basic infantry training at Fort Benning near Columbus, Ga. Pollock is the son of Jason and Angela Pollock of Heritage Road in St. Robert and a 2011 graduate of Waynesville High School. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Army Public Affairs |
Sunday wreck snarls I-44
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Oct. 17, 2011) — A Sunday afternoon wreck snarled Interstate 44 between Waynesville and St. Robert, totaling two cars and sending three people to area hospitals. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, Grace M. Halverson, 18, of Florissant, had been driving a 2000 Chevrolet Malibu westbound at mile marker 158 when she changed lanes at 3:15 p.m. and struck a 2009 Toyota Corolla driven by Shaina R. Updike, 21, of Waynesville which was also travelling westbound. Both the Corolla and Malibu ran off the right side of the road, overcorrected, ran off the left side of the road, struck a rock embankment, and ran off the right side of the road again before coming to rest. Both drivers suffered moderate injuries and an infant passenger, Josiah W. Updike, had minor injuries. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Memorial held in Afghanistan for three FLW soldiers from 515th Engineers
GHAZNI PROVINCE, Afghanistan (Oct. 15, 2011) — Task Force Dolch honored three fallen soldiers from Fort Leonard Wood who served with the 515th Engineer Company (Sapper), Task Force Dolch, Task Force Sword, in a memorial service at Forward Operating Base Ghazni on Oct. 4. U.S. Army 1st Lt. Ivan Lechowich from Tampa, Fla., Spc. Steven Gutowski, from Weymouth, Mass., and Pfc. David Drake, from Houston, were killed in action on Sept. 28 when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device while performing a route clearance mission in eastern Afghanistan. Lechowich became the platoon leader of route clearance patrol 72 in July. His RCP provided freedom of maneuver to coalition forces in Ghazni and neighboring provinces. In early August when a CH-47 Chinook crashed in Wardak province killing 31 American and coalition troops, his team cleared the way to the crash site and assisted with the recovery effort. Company commander Capt. Douglas Solan, from Dixon, recalled Gutowski's thick Boston accent and the time when Gutowski taught him the proper techniques for using the Husky route clearance vehicle. At the end of the lesson, Gutowski jokingly said, “Y’all alright, Sir! I don’t care what they say about y’all.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Army Public Affairs |
Area reporter's wife dead, son critically injured in Fort Leonard Wood wreck
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Oct. 12, 2011) — The wife of a local radio news reporter is dead and their son was critically injured in a Tuesday afternoon crash on Fort Leonard Wood with a large military vehicle. KJPW/KFBD Radio is reporting that Christine Boone, the wife of radio reporter Chuck Boone, is dead and Jonathan Boone, 13, was airlifted in critical condition. Post personnel haven’t yet released the names of the victims or of the soldiers who were driving, but announced Tuesday evening that a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT) killed the driver of a 2005 Dodge Neon and critically injured the passenger. The two soldiers in the military vehicle were not hurt. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Crocker police offer child identification kits at Oct. 22 downtown fall festival
CROCKER, Mo. (Oct. 11, 2011) — In conjunction with Red Ribbon Week at Crocker High School, the new chief of the Crocker Police Department will spend much of the afternoon on Oct. 22 helping parents assemble kits of fingerprints, photos, and DNA samples which can be used if their children disappear. That will involve free hot dogs, chips and soda beginning at 1 p.m. in front of the police department, along with an opportunity to see and to pet the city’s drug dog. Mayor Jim Morgan credited Chief Chris Twitchell with the concept, which both said was planned prior to the high-profile Kansas City case in which Jeremy Irwin and Deborah Bradley reported their infant daughter Lisa missing. However, Twitchell said he hopes that case will remind parents of the importance of having photos and other items available in an identification kid in case their children disappear. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Emergency personnel work to clean up a wreck. |
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Four injured in three Tuesday crashes
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Oct. 11, 2011) — Three separate Tuesday crashes damaged five vehicles and sent four people to area hospitals for treatment. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, a rollover wreck on Cave Road by two 1999 Dodge Ram pickups with Dixon drivers moderately injured Nicholas D. Voyles, 33, who had been driving southbound at 4:20 p.m. when he ran off the right side of the road, overcorrected, crossed the centerline, and struck an oncoming northbound pickup in the side which was driven by Shawn J. Deckard, 40, who was not hurt. A second rollover wreck just west of Exit 159 on Interstate 44 totaled a 2002 Ford E-150 van driven by Slobodan Perovic, 58, of Greenfield, Wis., who ran off the right side of the roadway at 8:21 p.m. and overturned into a rock bluff, suffering minor injuries. Shortly after troopers left the I-44 crash, they responded to another crash on Highway 28 just outside the St. Robert city limits that moderately damaged two cars near the Road Ranger truck stop when Joseph A. Paschall, 22, of St. Robert, crossed the centerline at 9:26 p.m. in his westbound 2001 Buick LeSabre and struck an eastbound 1996 Ford Taurus driven by Paula M. Russell, 51, of Dixon. Both drivers suffered minor injuries. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Maries County crashes hurt four locals
MARIES COUNTY, Mo. (Oct. 10, 2011) — Two weekend crashes in Maries County damaged five vehicles and injured four people, including two each from Saint Robert and Dixon. A four-vehicle crash Friday evening on Highway 63 a quarter-mile north of the Vienna city limits began at 5 p.m. when John M. Smith, 46, of Belle, was slowing his northbound 2002 Ford F150 pickup to make a right-hand turn. Another northbound vehicle, a 2006 Ford Focus driven by Sherry A. Aaron, 44, of Dixon, struck a northbound 2005 Chevrolet Impala driven by Larry R. Wiles, 61, of Dixon, in the rear, totaling both cars, moderately injuring both drivers, pushing Wiles’ Impala into Smith’s pickup and then into the southbound lane where it struck a 2008 Chevrolet Silverado driven by Susan E. Kleffner, 61, of Vienna. Kleffner and Smith were not hurt. The next evening, troopers responded to a one-vehicle rollover eight miles north of Dixon in which Rhonda K. Rideout, 45, of St. Robert, was eastbound at 6:13 p.m. Saturday on Highway 28, failed to negotiate a curve, and ran her 2010 Chevrolet Equinox off the left side of the road where she struck a tree and overturned, causing moderate injuries to herself and her passenger, Deanna L. Rideout, 20, also of St. Robert. In unrelated incidents reported earlier in the week, troopers arrested Robert S. Babb, 43, of Duke, amd Lesley R. Joiner, 30, of Dixon, on charges including drunk driving. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Councilman Mike France |
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'Coffee with Council' held this morning at Waynesville Starbucks in Pricecutter
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Oct. 8, 2011) — Want to chat with your city councilman? If so, Mike France and others from the Waynesville City Council want to meet with you this morning at Starbuck’s Coffee inside the PriceCutter grocery store. While the event organizer represents Ward III, France emphasized that anyone living in the city is welcome to the event, which begins at 9 a.m. and runs until 10:30 a.m. “If they have questions on any of the areas I cover, I’ll do my best to answer any questions regarding the city,” France said. “It’s just a way for them to stay informed and to ask questions, because if I don’t know the answer, I’ll be taking them down and I’ll come to see the city administrator or the people on our city staff that will answer their questions and I’ll get back to them.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Emergency personnel from multiple agencies investigate a suicide. |
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Suicidal soldier kills self Friday across from Waynesville Middle School
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Oct. 8, 2011) — A soldier left Fort Leonard Wood via Polla Road into Waynesville and shot himself in the head at a vacant lot across from Waynesville Middle School for unknown reasons, according to Waynesville police. The name of the soldier has not been released pending notification of his family. The shooting incident happened on the corner of Historic Route 66 and Old Highway H and created traffic slowdowns on one of Waynesville’s most heavily travelled roads as drivers paused to observe the large number of emergency vehicles. There’s no truth to Facebook rumors that the soldier was shot by police, said Waynesville Police Lt. Gary, Brankel, and reports that the soldier came out the main gate to Saint Robert via Missouri Avenue are also wrong. “I have spoken to St. Robert; they had an initial report that the military police were pursuing a vehicle on that road,” Brankel said. “They did make a stop on a vehicle and it turned out to be the wrong vehicle… and then shortly thereafter the pursuit started on Polla Road.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
County Collector Terri Mitchell |
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Fall 2011 Collector’s Report
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Oct. 4, 2011) — We wish to thank everyone who participated in the 2011 Land Tax Sale held Monday, August 22nd; all fourteen properties sold. For months prior to the sale we work extremely hard to inform the rightful owners, heirs or interested parties of the upcoming sale. It is our goal to do all in our power to keep properties from going to the land tax sale; we appreciate all who take part in the sale. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
County Collector Terri Mitchell |
Missouri National Guard to add three new engineer units, almost 190 jobs
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Oct. 4, 2011) – The Missouri National Guard is creating almost 190 new jobs as the 35th Engineer Brigade expands by adding three new units to its fold. The 1135th Engineer Company (Clearance), 335th Engineer Platoon (Area Clearance) and 235th Construction Management Team started this month. Seven of the new positions will be fulltime, while the rest will be traditional, said Maj. Gen. Stephen L. Danner, adjutant general of the Missouri National Guard. “The Missouri National Guard is a recognized leader in the engineer community and has a proven track record of growing new units,” Danner said. “We’ve got the capabilities to ensure that these new units receive the training and manning they need to be successful, and look forward to the opportunities they will provide for our Soldiers and our state.” The 1135th will be under the command of Capt. Lawrence Hardwick. It will be located at the armory in Richmond and include 148 positions. The 335th will be housed at the Rolla armory. The new platoon has 31 positions, all of which are combat engineer slots. The platoon leader will be 2nd Lt. Andrew Lough. The 235th is a nine-person unit of officers and senior enlisted Soldiers who will be stationed at the brigade armory at Fort Leonard Wood. The officer in charge for the team of construction engineers will be Maj. Charles Bach. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Matthew J. Wilson/Missouri National Guard Public Affairs |
Two hurt in Highway 28 wreck
SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Oct. 4, 2011) — Two Dixon women suffered minor injuries in a Tuesday morning wreck on Highway 28 near Hopi Drive about two miles north of the St. Robert city limits at Exit 163. State troopers reported that Betty J. Simmons, 78, of Dixon, was driving a 2002 Dodge Caravan southbound when she failed to yield to a southbound 2006 Honda Odyssey at an intersection and struck the Honda, driven by Phillina F. Lewis, 38, in the side. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
All soldiers killed last week by Afghan IED had deep Fort Leonard Wood ties
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Oct. 3, 2011) — Military personnel released additional information Monday regarding the three soldiers from the 515th Engineer Company who died Wednesday in Afghanistan due to an improvised explosive device during a route clearance mission. 1st Lt. Ivan Lechowich, 27, of Valrico, Fla., Spec. Steven Gutowski, 24, of Plymouth, Mass., and Pfc. David Drake, 21, of Lumberton, Texas, all had extensive connections with Fort Leonard Wood; Gutowski and Drake spent their entire military career at the installation and Lechowicz spent most of his time in uniform at Fort Leonard Wood after becoming an officer. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Big Piney rollover causes only minor injuries in Monday afternoon wreck
BIG PINEY, Mo. (Oct. 3, 2011) — A Monday afternoon rollover southeast of Fort Leonard Wood wrecked a Newburg woman’s vehicle but caused her only minor injuries, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports. Troopers reported that Jennifer L. Massie, 24, had been driving her 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt westbound on Highway TT east of Highway AW when she lost control of her vehicle at 2:30 p.m., slid into a ditch and overturned. In an unrelated incident, troopers arrested Michael E. Bolar, 48, of Dixon, on a misdemeanor charge of third-degree sexual misconduct. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
County senior health fair draws 138
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Oct. 3, 2011) — More than a hundred senior citizens and others turned out Saturday for a health fair at the Saint Robert Community Center offering various health-related resources to local residents. Brenda Warner, the home health director for the Pulaski County Health Department, said the event focused on helping residents learn more about various organizations that could provide help. “What we do is we try to target the seniors and let them know the resources in the community; every year it’s different,” Warner said. “Every year we learn something that we didn’t know was in our community.” Attendance totaled 138 people with 32 vendors, Warner said. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Sgt. Hugh Mills floats under the watch of Capt. Nathan Looper. |
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National Guard’s 7th Civil Support Team preps for water survival exercise
SUNDOWN, Mo. (Oct. 3, 2011) — In preparation for an on-the-water exercise, the Missouri National Guard’s 7th Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team engaged in a day of water survival training recently at Bull Shoals Lake. Each member of the team put on a level-A hazardous material suit and other appropriate safety equipment. Two at a time, team members walked into about eight feet of Bull Shoals water where they had to prove they could float and maneuver themselves in the event that they fell in during a real-world event. “That was a chance for the entire team to build confidence in the equipment just in case they are put in that situation,” said Capt. Nathan Looper of Waynesville, the team’s medical operation’s officer, who acted as one of two safeties during the training. “We are all certified hazardous material technicians, so we can all be called upon to wear the suits into a dangerous area.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Matthew J. Wilson/Missouri National Guard Public Affairs |
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
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Blunt says Washington shouldn't play politics with disaster assistance
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 30, 2011) — Over the past year, Missouri and the nation have faced numerous natural disasters that devastated entire communities and the livelihoods of people nationwide. As we work to rebuild in the aftermath of those disasters, the scope of these events has placed unusual logistical and financial pressures on our nation's funding, response, and rebuilding efforts. Over the last nine months, Missourians have withstood flooding and tornadoes across the state. The most deadly of these struck in Joplin, where the tornado stayed on the ground for six miles and destroyed approximately 30 percent of the buildings in a town of 50,000 people. More than 8,000 homes and apartments were destroyed in Joplin and more than 500 commercial properties were demolished by this devastating tornado. As a southwest Missourian, I have witnessed a lot of tornado damage, but I've never seen anything like this. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
St. Robert man hurts three by crashing into two police cars on traffic stop
SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Sept. 30, 2011) — A. St. Robert man driving without proof of insurance crashed into two police cars Friday morning, extensively damaging his own truck and causing minor injuries to his passenger and two people in a fourth car that had been stopped by police. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, two St. Robert police officers in two different cars had stopped a 1999 Cadillac Deville early Friday morning on Highway Z three-tenths of a mile west of Tulsa Road when a 2002 Dodge truck driven by Tirrell M. Askew, 21, of St. Robert, approached from the west driving eastbound, ran off the right side of the road, and at 1:08 a.m. hit both patrol cars as well as the Cadillac. Askew was not hurt, but his passenger, Joshua P. Wells, 26, also of St. Robert, and two occupants of the Cadillac, Victoria H. Copeland, 18, of Dallas, and Rachel O’Neal, 24, of Grapevine, Texas, suffered minor injuries. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Three Fort Leonard Wood soldiers from 515th Engineers killed by Afghan IED
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Sept. 30, 2011) — Three soldiers from Fort Leonard Wood were killed Wednesday by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan, according to the Department of Defense. All three, 1st Lt. Ivan Lechowich, 27, of Valrico, Fla., Spc. Steven Gutowski, 24, of Plymouth, Mass, and Pfc. David Drake, 21, of Lumberton, Texas, were assigned to the 515th Engineer Company, which is part of Fort Leonard Wood’s 5th Engineer Battalion, a subordinate unit of the 4th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade. Little information about the incident or the soldiers was immediately available from official military sources, except that the three died “when their vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device while conducting route clearance.” Local media are reporting that a fourth soldier was seriously injured in the same attack, and providing numerous additional details of the theee soldiers and their backgrounds. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Golf course closure plans weren't properly publicized, protestors claim
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Sept. 29, 2011) — Objecting to golf course policies of a military installation at a county commission meeting might not be a typical agenda item elsewhere, but when local insurance agent Ken Bassett raised the issue at Thursday’s county commission meeting, he followed long-established local practice of using the twice-weekly meetings of the county commission to gain public attention for disputes at a meeting attended by reporters from most of the local news media. Trying to address the golf course issue in public followed months of trying to address it in private, according to a letter by Roger Nash, the retired superintendent of the Newburg R-II School District who also serves as the board president for Oak Hills Golf and Country Club in Dixon, warning in much stronger language that the winter closure decision wasn’t done with adequate prior notice and publicity. “For whatever reason, I have talked with numerous annual members who were not notified of the annual membership meeting where the proposed closing was simply mentioned as a possibility,” Nash wrote. “I understand that money is tight everywhere and everyone needs to ‘tighten their belts.’ In hindsight, would it not have been prudent to have a widely publicized town hall meeting with the membership prior to making such a controversial decision and explain your rationale and possibly ask for input/alternatives?” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Local winter weather doesn't warrant golf closure, ex-superintendent says
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Sept. 29, 2011) — When MWR personnel decided to change the golf course schedule to close from December 1 until President's Day Weekend, which for 2012 is on Feb. 20, the decision was based on both financial and weather considerations, according to local business leaders who object to the closure. However, Roger Nash, the retired superintendent of the Newburg R-II School District who for the last six years has served as the president of Oak Hills Golf and Country Club in Dixon, said winter weather isn’t a reason to close the course. Nash said he’s an “avid year-round golfer,” provided weather statistics for the last decade, and said doesn’t know of “any local golf course that closes during the period in question.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Numerous civilian leaders sign letter against golf course winter closure
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Sept. 29, 2011) — The golf course complaints against Fort Leonard Wood aren’t limited to one insurance agent who protested to the Pulaski County Commission. While Ken Bassett came to the commission by himself, he brought a letter written by Roger Nash, the retired Newburg school superintendent, and signed by nearly three dozen others. “We could all choose to be members at other area clubs which are open 12 months per year, however we have remained loyal to PVGC over the years, and in doing so, have provided the golf course with considerable financial support,” Nash wrote. That financial support from civilians does appear to be considerable, based on financial information provided by Bassett to the Pulaski County Commission. According fees at the golf course are on a sliding scale with military personnel paying much less than civilian personnel without a military connection. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Planned Fort Leonard Wood golf course cuts blasted at county commission
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Sept. 29, 2011) — Local insurance agent Ken Bassett came to the Pulaski County Commission on Thursday with documents noting that numerous users of the Piney Valley Golf Course on Fort Leonard Wood are upset that the post plans to eliminate winter use of the course without offering any sort of partial refund to patrons who have paid in advance for the service. It’s not clear what role the commission could have with the golf course beyond placing pressure on post officials. “Maybe the commission could take it over?” Bassett said. Bassett said much of the problem with the golf course is that those in charge don’t have a business background, noting that a four-person scramble charity event had been planned with participants paying $100 each toward building homes for disabled veterans. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Waynesville officer Steve Lawhead investigates a rollover wreck. |
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Rollover injures one in Waynesville
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Sept. 29, 2011) — A late Thursday morning rollover ejected an area woman through the rear window of her burgundy 2000 Jeep Cherokee 4x4 eastbound and sent her to General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital with moderate to serious injuries. The woman, who has not yet been identified, was driving eastbound about 11:40 a.m. when, according to police, she “left the roadway right at the entrance to Pratt’s Lawn and Garden, struck the concrete abutment, the tire popped, she lost control, flipped over and then she was ejected.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Former FLW CG takes helm of CID
FORT BELVOIR, Va. (Sept. 28, 2011) — During a formal ceremony today at Fort Belvoir’s Long Parade Field, Maj. Gen. David E. Quantock assumed responsibility as the Provost Marshal General of the U.S. Army and took command of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, commonly referred to as CID. Quantock is the 11th commander of CID since it was first established as a major command in 1971 and the 14th Provost Marshal General (PMG) to hold the position since it was established in 1941. Quantock replaces Brig. Gen. Colleen L. McGuire who will be assuming the responsibility of the J1 on the Joint Staff. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Army Public Affairs |
Embattled Dixon girls basketball coach suspended with pay by school board
DIXON, Mo. (Sept. 27, 2011) — A controversial Dixon girls’ basketball coach was removed Thursday night from coaching duties in a four-hour closed meeting. Craig Moody has been the subject of repeated debates in the Dixon community, but the Thursday night vote was unanimous. Former board president Troy Porter introduced the motion to “remove Craig Moody from all coaching duties effective immediately with pay;” another former board president, Kevin Shepherd, seconded Moody’s motion. Complaints against Moody focus on his coaching practices and do not include allegations of misconduct. He remains a physical education teacher regardless of the coaching vote. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Firefighters remove hoses after extinguishing a blaze. |
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Hunters Point fire wrecks kitchen
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Sept. 26, 2011) — Quick response by firefighters from two departments prevented a kitchen fire from destroying a house in Hunters Point on Monday evening. Waynesville Assistant Fire Chief Mike Shempert said firefighters from his district and Saint Robert were able to knock down the blaze within two minutes of arriving on the scene of the Satchel Road blaze, which was reported about 5:45 p.m.“The occupant was cooking and started a grease fire and it worked its way up and burned the cabinets and part of the ceiling in the kitchen,” Shempert said. “My guys, Waynesville and St. Robert both, got on the attack line and went in and put the fire out… they had a small working fire, just a room and contents fire.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Brig. Gen. Mark W. Yenter |
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From airborne to schoolhouse, new FLW commander has broad background
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Sept. 23, 2011) — The new commander of Fort Leonard Wood is a career Army engineer, but unlike some prior commanders of the post who headed the engineer school before coming back to command the entire installation, Brig. Gen. Mark W. Yenter has never before been stationed at Fort Leonard Wood. A Nevada native commissioned in 1981 as an engineer, Yenter’s most recent service has been in Afghanistan as commander of the Army Corps of Engineers’ operations in that country. He’s also spent time as an engineer brigade commander in Iraq from 2004 to 2006 and served as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne, in special forces assignments, and as division engineer for the Pacific Ocean Division of the Army Corps of Engineers, as well as various staff assignments in Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan, as well as special forces operations. Prior to assuming command on Friday, Yenter’s main prior experience at Fort Leonard Wood was in 1987 when attending the sapper leader course. He’s also come Fort Leonard Wood for pre-command courses and attended the Army Engineer ENFORCE conference. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Lt. Gen. Jack Sterling |
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Innovation at Fort Leonard Wood could point way toward TRADOC future
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Sept. 23, 2011) — When the deputy commander of the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) came Friday to Fort Leonard Wood to preside over the change of command from Maj. Gen. David Quantock to Brig. Gen. Mark Yenter, he noted that it’s unusual for Distinguished Service Medals to be awarded for a time of service as short as that of Quantock, who came to the post in May 2010 and is leaving in the early fall of 2011. Throughout the Army, “the very fabric of our schoolhouses is undergoing huge changes,” said Lt. Gen. Jack Sterling, noting that leaders at TRADOC know commanding Fort Leonard Wood has become a major task. “How can somebody in that short a period of time accomplish all the things that we normally associate with the Distinguished Service Medal?” Sterling said. “I’m here to tell you today that Dave Quantock has earned this medal many times over.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Maj. Gen. David Quantock |
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Quantock will 'go after the dirty stuff' in his new role as CID commander
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Sept. 23, 2011) — When Maj. Gen. David Quantock assumes command of the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division later this month, he’ll also become the Army’s Provost Marshal General — the “top cop” position in the military police. Quantock, the outgoing commander of Fort Leonard Wood who is also a former commandant of the Military Police School, first rose to national media attention when, as a colonel, he was tasked in 2004 with cleaning up the detainee abuse scandal at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. In his new role, Quantock will succeed Brig. Gen. Colleen McGuire, the Army’s first female Provost Marshal General. “It’s a huge responsibility,” Quantock said. “When you are the Provost Marshal General of the Army, integrity of action, ethical and moral conduct, setting the right example for the rest of the Army, your entire organization has to do that because you really are the standard-bearer which everything is measured against. I look forward to that opportunity as I head up there.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Tornado troubles created unexpected issues but defined new standards
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Sept. 23, 2011) — After more than three decades wearing an Army uniform, Maj. Gen. David Quantock has seen a wide variety of problems ranging from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to dealing with detainee abuse scandals in Abu Ghraib to preparing police in Haiti to serve a democratic government rather than a dictatorship. However, New Years Eve tornados weren’t on Quantock’s personal radar screen when he got a call that dozens of houses were destroyed and hundreds damaged by a tornado. The response of Fort Leonard Wood to the tornado “broke new ground and set the way ahead for the Army in response to future disasters,” said Lt. Gen. Jack Sterling, the deputy commander of Training and Doctrine Command. “These changes were just so innovative and were so much the right thing to do that the Army very quickly decided that this was the new standard for the entire Army. What a huge impact you folks have made!” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Two traffic enforcement efforts lead to numerous local, statewide tickets
WAYNESVILLE/ST. ROBERT, Mo. (Sept. 23, 2011) — Two recent grant-funded traffic enforcement activities netted numerous arrests and generated large numbers of tickets, according to reports from the Missouri Department of Transportation and local law enforcement agencies. On Thursday morning, MoDOT announced that Waynesville and Saint Robert police were among 23 law enforcement agencies working along the Interstate 44 corridor last weekend from the Oklahoma state line to St. Louis as part of a “HEAT is On” better driving campaign. Statewide, officers made 708 stops resulting in the detection of nine drivers, 273 speeders, 52 seat belt violators, 49 uninsured motorists, seven drug arrests, nine fugitives apprehended, and 19 cases of drivers with suspended or revoked licenses. Sgt. Butch Hohman of the St. Robert Police Department said 62 of the 708 statewide stops were made by St. Robert police; Waynesville numbers are not yet available. Also, St. Robert police also conducted a safety checkpoint from 2 to 6 p.m. Friday on Old Route 66, with 22 citations written and a half-dozen warnings. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Gate construction delays announced
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Sept. 22, 2011) — Ongoing delays with West Gate construction work on Fort Leonard Wood may slow traffic beyond the originally expected end date for construction, and new construction will begin soon on the North Gate. Both construction projects are part of planned upgrades to install what are called “active barrier systems” for the inbound and outbound lanes that are capable of stopping vehicles from entering the post. Maddy and post officials have previously explained that both projects are unrelated to an incident earlier this year in which Cody Willcoxson raced through Fort Leonard Wood’s West Gate and out the North Gate with an AK-47 in his car and led police from numerous departments on a high-speed police chase from St. Robert into Rolla. Plans for the upgrades have been in place since the Army created new access control point standards in 2009, Maddy said. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Lt. Col. Eric Erkkinen speaks about his 9/11 experiences. |
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Fort Leonard Wood 9/11 memorial focuses on need to remember sacrifices
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Sept. 9, 2011) — Memorial services on anniversaries of the 9/11 terrorist attacks often focus on where people were on the day of the event. For Lt. Col. Eric Erkkinen, now a retired Army chaplain serving in the chaplain endorsement office of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Sept. 11, 2001, led to a call from the Army Chief of Chaplains to come to the Pentagon and assist. Knowing how to do that is not easy, Erkkinen acknowledged, recounting a story of a military doctor unzipping body bags to pronounce the victims dead. “You’re in a Tyvek suit with a hard hat on and a mask, which, by the way, does not leave out the smells... There is a woman with no head and no legs, but the chiffon blouse that she has on is identical to one in your wife’s closet,” Erkkinen said. “They don’t teach you how to deal with that in seminary.” After the terrorist attack, Erkkinen had to visit a retired Marine gunnery sergeant. “He’s waiting for his wife to return from the Pentagon where she worked,” Erkkinen said. “A month later… he knows she died because she didn’t come home that night to celebrate her birthday… the cake’s on the table still.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Firefighters work to extinguish a barn fire. |
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Dixon barn leveled in Tuesday blaze
DIXON, Mo. (Sept. 6, 2011) — Firefighters from three districts responded to a two-alarm barn fire south of Dixon on Tuesday afternoon that sent a large plume of smoke so far into the sky that it could be seen from Saint Robert. The fire was reported at 3:41 p.m., according to Dixon Assistant Fire Chief J.R. Sinden, who said the barn at 13744 Highway O near Calvin Lane was fully involved and mostly on the ground when the first firefighters arrived at 3:56 p.m. In addition to 11 Dixon firefighters on four fire trucks, seven Crocker firefighters responded with an engine, a tanker and a brush truck, and eight Waynesville firefighters responded with three trucks. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Labor Day weekend wrecks hurt two motorcyclists Saturday morning
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Sept. 6, 2011) — The Labor Day weekend was mostly quiet on Pulaski County roadways, though two separate single-vehicle Saturday wrecks injured motorcycle riders. Waynesville resident Roderick J. Hodges, 27, had to be airlifted for treatment of serious injuries after wrecking his motorcycle in the Shalom Mountain/Northern Heights Estates residential subdivision north of Waynesville. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, Hodges, who was later arrested on charges including drunk driving, had been eastbound on London Lane west of Luna Road at 1:50 a.m. when he failed to negotiate a curve. His 2002 Suzuki overturned in the road, ran off the left of the road, and Hodges was ejected. Later Saturday morning, William H. Walker, 53, of Waynesville, had been southbound on Sedalia Road south of Snicker Court when his 2003 Kawasaki ZX6RR ran off the right side of the road at 9:41 a.m., striking a ditch and a large rock before overturning and causing him minor injuries. Two weekend incidents outside Pulaski County, including one fatality, affected people living in the nearby communities of Brumley and Falcon. At 8:53 p.m. Monday, Jared R. Witt, 23, of Brumley, died in a crash after driving a 1999 Ford Mustang eastbound on Highway 42 east of Crestwood Road in Miller County, running off the right side of the road, overcorrecting, and running off the left side of the road before striking a fence and a telephone pole. A Friday evening crash in Taney County on rain-slicked roads caused minor injuries to a Falcon woman, Rose S. Brown, 65, who had been driving a 1998 Buick Century northbound on Highway 465 about four miles west of Branson when she hydroplaned at 5:30 p.m., ran off the right side of the roadway, struck an embankment and overturned. In an unrelated incident, state troopers arrested Luis Gasca, 25, of Webster Grove, on charges including drunk driving. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Emergency personnel investigate a rollover. |
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Seven injured in two Tuesday rollovers
FORT LEONARD WOOD/SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Sept. 6, 2011) — Two separate rollover crashes injured seven people Tuesday night. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, the first of the two wrecks happened just outside the boundaries of Fort Leonard Wood at 7:05 p.m. when Joseph Metcalfe, 21, of Fort Leonard Wood, was driving a 1998 Chevrolet pickup northbound and attempted to make a left turn from Polla Road onto Route H but struck the left rear side of a southbound 2008 Nissan Xterra driven by Connie Latiolais, 41, also of Fort Leonard Wood; Latiolais’ vehicle overturned, ran off the right side of the roadway, and came to rest in a ditch. Metcalfe’s injuries were minor and he refused medical treatment on the scene. However, Connie Latiolais and her son Ryan C. Latiolais, 16, both suffered moderate injuries; her husband Clay J. Latiolais, 45, son Eric A. Latiolais, 13, and daughter Serafina Latiolais, 1, all suffered minor injuries. A few hours later, Randy Cox, 59, of Staunton, had been driving eastbound on Interstate 44 at mile marker 162 when his 1999 Ford F-150 pickup ran off the right side of the interstate at 10:25 p.m., went up an embankment, went onto Highway Z and overturned, totaling the pickup and causing moderate injuries to Cox. In an unrelated incident, state troopers in Carter County arrested two St. Robert residents, James P. Wilbourn, 48, and Abalene J. Simmons, 45, on 24-hour investigative holds; Wilbourn also faces drug charges. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Boating incident injures Fort Leonard Wood man on Lake of the Ozarks
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Sept. 5, 2011) — According to reports from the water patrol division of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Dustin T. Leipert, 21, of Fort Leonard Wood, had been riding a 2011 Kawasaki eastbound at the 2-mile mark of the Glaize Arm of the Lake of the Ozarks on Saturday when he hit a large wake at 7:01 p.m., causing him to be lifted from his seat and suffer serious injuies when he came back in contact with the seat. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Jail inmate tries setting mattress on fire, but blaze quickly extinguished
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Sept. 5, 2011) — Sheriff J.B. King has announced that he plans to seek criminal charges against a jail inmate who set a Sunday morning fire. Jail records show that the inmate set the blaze at 3:15 a.m. and although Waynesville firefighters were called, the fire was extinguished by departmental personnel prior to their arrival. However, jailers had to warn inmates at 3:45 a.m. that if they didn’t turn in the lighter used to set the blaze, the entire jail would be on a 23-hour lockdown. “(A deputy) went back to the jail, advised if he did not get a lighter in the next 10 seconds, 23-hour lockdown would be instated. He has a lighter within three seconds,” according to the sheriff’s log. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Sheriff's Blotter for Sept. 3, 2011
The following incidents were reported by the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2011. Click here for details. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
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February fatal crash north of Crocker leads to negligent homicide charges
CROCKER, Mo. (Sept. 2, 2011) — A Waynesville teenager faces two felony charges of involuntary manslaughter in connection with a February crash north of Crocker that killed two people. According to court records, Dakota Luke Ball, 18, had received a verbal warning for speeding inside the Crocker city limits just minutes before he continued on and had the fatal crash north of town. The charges against Ball for second-degree involuntary manslaughter, a Class D felony, could lead to Ball spending up to four years in state prison and paying a fine of up to $5,000 per death. According to court records, the two victims, Cory Dale Parker, 18, of Waynesville, and Juanita Kaye Prater, 57, of Iberia, both died in the Feb. 6 crash north of the Crocker city limits on Highway 17, about a tenth of a mile north of Benton Road; that’s two miles north of Crocker. The case is set for an Oct. 27 preliminary hearing before Pulaski County Associate Circuit Judge Colin Long at 9 a.m. Ball’s attorney, J. Christopher Allen of the Allen and Rector law firm from Lebanon, filed a plea of innocent and waived formal arraignment in court documents dated Sept. 1. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
John D. Mazurek |
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Maries prosecutor files DWI charges against Crocker man in Meta fatality
CROCKER, Mo. (Sept. 2, 2011) — The Crocker man accused of killing a Meta woman and seriously injuring her mother faces a Class B felony charge of first-degree involuntary manslaughter and a Class C felony charge of second-degree assault for operating a vehicle while intoxicated resulting in injury. According to online court records, Maries County Prosecutor Terry Daley Schwartze filed an amended complaint today against John D. Mazurek, 24, who received only minor injuries from the head-on crash at noon Wednesday on Highway 133 near Meta which killed Wilberta C. Randolph, 57, of Meta, and seriously injured her passenger, Helen K. Weiberg, 85, of Jefferson City. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Sheriff's Blotter for Sept. 2, 2011
The following incidents were reported by the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department on Friday, Sept. 2, 2011. Click here for details. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
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A Meta woman died in this Thursday wreck. (Photo courtesy Maries County Sheriff) |
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Crocker man charged with death of Meta woman in Thursday wreck
CROCKER, Mo. (Sept. 1, 2011) — A Thursday afternoon head-on crash on Highway 133 in Maries County about two miles south of Meta which killed a woman from that community and serious injured her mother may be due to drunk driving by a Crocker man, according to Maries County Sheriff Chris Heitman. “I am truly sorry for the family,” Heitman said in a prepared statement. “It is times like this that people need to realize it is never safe to drink and drive… DWI offenders need to be given harsher sentences.” While the charges against the driver, John D. Mazurek, 24, of Crocker, are first-degree involuntary manslaughter, failure to drive on the right half of the roadway, and failure to use his seat belt, and don’t yet include driving while intoxicated, Heitman’s press release said that “we suspect he was intoxicated” and said that an update to the report will follow. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, Mazurek was driving a 2001 Buick northbound on Highway 133 when he crossed the centerline and struck a southbound 2009 Kia Optima head-on driven by Wilberta C. Randolph, 57, of Meta, totaling both vehicles. Mazurek suffered only minor injuries; Randolph died at the scene and her passenger, Helen K. Weiberg, 85, of Jefferson City, was airlifted with serious injuries. In an unrelated incident, state troopers arrested James L. Tillman, 20, of Waynesville on a felony warrant for theft/stealing property or services valued at $500 to $25,000. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Commissioner Bill Farnham shows a sign with special bolts designed to deter thieves |
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Police catch suspected sign thief
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Sept. 1, 2011) — Taking a sign for “Rich Lane” may take a bite out of whatever financial resources are in the pocket of a Waynesville teenager. County commissioners have spent tens of thousands of dollars trying to replace stolen county road signs, but most people taking signs are never found. However, Waynesville police say they located a sign for Rich Lane at a home on Ellis Drive while investigating an unrelated crime, and turned the case over to county deputies. Sean T. Bland, who lives on Rich Lane, faces Class A misdemeanor charges of receiving stolen property accusing him of retaining a county road sign while knowing or believing that it had been stolen. Bland could face up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine if convicted. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Sheriff's Blotter for Sept. 1, 2011
The following incidents were reported by the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2011. Click here for details. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
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Two Crocker men face burglary charges following break-in at liquor store
CROCKER, Mo. (Sept. 1, 2011) — Former Crocker Police Chief Stephen North left town with a bang: three bangs, to be precise. North’s last official day on the job was Friday, but he was one of several officers who arrived at a Crocker liquor store shortly after midnight Monday morning to find the manager had fired three shots into the air to interrupt what police say was a burglary in progress involving two Crocker residents. Bradley William Uherka, 20, has pleaded innocent to a Class C felony charge of second-degree burglary accusing him of acting in concert with Lewis Gordon Bowles Jr., 28, to enter the J&K Package Store on the 100 block of North Commercial for the purpose of stealing. Uherka is the son of a local businessman active in community affairs and the nephew of the Crocker Elementary School principal. Bowles has not yet entered a plea but faces the same charges. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Waynesville may raise parking fines from $2 or $5 to single $10 rate
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Sept. 1, 2011) — City council members in Waynesville could soon be voting on increasing fines for illegal parking. Current fines range from $2 to $5 per occurrence. At Thursday afternoon’s meeting of the Emergency Services and Police Committee, City Administrator Bruce Harrill recommended that fines be made uniform throughout the city and suggested an amount of $10. Any decision on changing the fines would require approval of the full city council, next scheduled to meet on Sept. 15. “If you’re parking in a no-parking area, the fine is $2, which doesn’t seem to be very high… and then in a couple areas it is a $5 fine,” Harrill said. “If we are thinking of the possibility of an increase, I would throw out the amount of $10. It is a little steeper than the $2 fine and it would make it uniform across the board for all those areas.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Dixon could face major budget crunch with sewer bond construction costs
DIXON, Mo. (Aug. 31, 2011) — Dixon aldermen voted unanimously Wednesday evening by a 5-0 margin to approve a property tax rate levy of $1.2512 per $100 of assessed valuation — far higher than most other taxing entities in Pulaski County except the school districts. That represents a slight increase of .12 cents over the 2010 levy, according to Mayor Ben Copeland. “I figured it on my last years’ taxes; you can honestly tell everyone for sure it’s going to be less than $10 of raise,” said former Mayor Betty McPherson. “This has nothing to do with the bonds, it has nothing to do with the water rates being raised.” The current mayor concurred. “It is very, very reasonable,” Copeland said. “It was designed to be the merest of what was necessary to comply with the state recommendation that we would keep on reserve a year’s worth of payments for debt service on our bonds.” Dixon aldermen previously used the city’s utility revenues to supplement budget deficits in other areas. That can’t continue, aldermen warned, once the city’s sewer bonds are approved. “We've been spending money like drunken sailors,” Alderman Quentin Davis said. “The way I understood it, once that bond passes, all that money that we’ve been spending so freely has to stop… if that bond goes through we’re really going to be crunched for cash.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Woman seriously injured Sunday afternoon in boat piloted by Dixon man
DIXON, Mo. (Aug. 31, 2011) — A woman suffered serious injuries Sunday in a boating incident on the Lake of the Ozarks involving a Dixon pilot. According to reports from the Water Patrol Division of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Michael J. Tougaw, 45, was headed downstream at mile marker three on the Glaize Arm at 1:40 p.m. when his 27 foot Baja boat hit a cruiser wake and was trying to slow down. A passenger, Virginia L. Morgan, 55, of Lincoln, R.I., lost her balance and fell. In unrelated incidents, state troopers in Pulaski County arrested Martin R. Bushnell, 32, of Laquey, on charges including drunk driving and arrested Richard E. Arnold, 33, of Dixon, on a misdemeanor warrant for bad checks. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Taylor W. Carson |
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Driver from 2009 rollover injuring four teens now accused of fleeing deputies
DIXON, Mo. (Aug. 30, 2011) — A teenager with a history of Pulaski County traffic cases stemming from a 2009 rollover in which three unbelted teenagers were ejected from their car now faces more charges following an attempt to flee Maries County deputies. Maries County Sheriff Chris Heitman announced today that on Aug. 15, one of his deputies attempted to stop a vehicle on Maries County Road 630 when the vehicle fled at a high rate of speed. “Members of the Maries County Sheriff’s Office received information that the suspect was located in Dixon,” Heitman said, leading to the eventual arrest of Taylor Carson, 19, of Dixon, on charges of fleeing and driving while his license was revoked. “I am thankful that no one was hurt during … Carson’s disregard for public safety,” Heitman said. “It is never smart to run from law enforcement.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Waynesville okays property tax rate; city value increases $2.1 million
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Aug. 30, 2011) — Meeting briefly Tuesday night, members of the Waynesville City Council approved the 2011 property tax rate of 53.43 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, which is expected to generate $281,750 for the city’s general fund. City Collector Stephanie Leuthen, who until 2002 was the Pulaski County Clerk, presented the details of the city’s financial data and noted that last year’s tax rate was 53.53. That reduction happened because the city’s assessed valuation increased from 2010 to 2011: Waynesville now has $44.8 million worth of real estate compared to $43.4 million last year, and has $7.1 million worth of personal property compared to $6.3 million last year. Those figures don’t include $4.2 million of real estate in a Tax Increment Financing or TIF district, and represent a total assessed valuation increase of $2.1 million, from $49,724,275 in 2010 to $51,897,185 this year. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Jury trial cancelled for Aug. 30
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Aug. 29, 2011) — A jury trial scheduled for Tuesday morning has been cancelled and jurors need not report, according to Circuit Court Clerk Rachelle Beasley. Online court records show the only case scheduled for jury trial tomorrow in Pulaski County was that of Kenneth Lee Goad, 52, of Richland, who faced two Class D felony charges of failure to pay more than $5,000 worth of child support in six consecutive months. That case was scheduled to go to a jury trial tomorrow before Associate Circuit Judge Colin Long. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Medical condition downs motorcyclist Saturday in single-vehicle crash
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Aug. 29, 2011) — A Saturday morning motorcycle wreck in Saint Robert moderately injured a Lebanon man. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, James W. Parr, 61, had been riding his 2008 Harley-Davidson eastbound on Interstate 44 at 8:34 a.m. when he suffered an apparent medical condition and struck the rear of an unknown vehicle. Parr’s motorcycle then ran off the right side of the roadway and came to rest on the shoulder. In unrelated weekend incidents, area troopers arrested nine people during the weekend. Andres R. Alaya, 55, of Richland, John S. Ashlock, 41, of Waynesville, Juan R.Ramirez-Alanis, 23, of Gainesville, Ga., and Karina K. Felices, 46, of Laquey, were arrested on charges including driving while intoxicated. Drug-related charges were filed in Phelps County against Christopher J. Cutri, 24, Brandon S. Willis, 21, and Brittney N. Lehman, 22, all of Waynesville, and Willie W. Caldwill, 19, of St. Robert. In Laclede County, Justin A. Foster, 22, of Laquey, was arrested on charges of resisting arrest by fleeing, assaulting a law enforcement officer, and careless and imprudent driving resulting in an accident. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
St. Robert approves clinic sign for Ozark Family-Centered Medical Home
SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Aug. 29, 2011) — In what Mayor George Sanders said would be a “very, very, very short meeting,” St. Robert aldermen met in special session Monday night to give formal approval to the annual property tax rate on $75.2 million of real estate and $9.9 million of personal property within city limits and approved an agreement with the federal government for the Ozark Family-Centered Medical Home to post several signs at its rented facilities in the St. Robert Municipal Center. Ozark Family-Centered Medical Home is an off-post branch of General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital. Its new sign will cost $3,906 and will be paid to Star Sign Company of Rolla. “We basically pick up the ball, have the contractor do their thing… it is no cost to the city of St. Robert,” said City Administrator Alan Clark. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Firefighter fracas dismissed; Krill's attorney acts without his knowledge
SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Aug. 26, 2011) — A legal fight between St. Robert Assistant Fire Chief Greg Polk and former firefighter Joe Krill was dismissed Friday by Phelps County Associate Circuit Judge Bill Hickle after the judge ruled that Krill hadn’t shown up and Krill’s attorney agreed in a telephone conference to dismiss the case. However Krill was actually in the courtroom waiting for Pulaski County Associate Circuit Judge Colin Long to finish his cases so Hickle could use the courtroom to decide on the requests for ex-parte no-contact orders between the two sides. Hickle also had one other controversial set of cases on his docket involving a long-running fight between Dixon businessman Arnold Bassett and retired union worker Dale Saunchegrow which began last year when, according to court records, Saunchgrow fired a gun into Bassett’s pickup truck. Both claim self-defense; Saunchegrow said Bassett was trying to run him over while he was on a riding lawnmower. Those no-contact cases between Bassett family members and Saunchegrow have now been rescheduled until 2 p.m. on Sept. 14. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Spec. Robert Edward Biggins |
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Roommate turns in fellow MP after finding child porn on his computer
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Aug. 26, 2011) — A military policeman at Fort Leonard Wood with eight years of Army service faces the possibility of many years in prison — at least five and possibly up to 20 years — on federal criminal charges of possession of hundreds of items of computer child pornography after being turned in by a fellow MP soldier who contacted Saint Robert police. The Class C federal felony charge alleges that “between June 17, 2007 and May 15, 2011, in Pulaski County, and elsewhere,” Spec. Robert Edward Biggins, 28, of the 512th Military Police Company, both received and distributed materials depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. According to federal court records, some of the victims appear to be as young as two or three years old, and are shown engaging in oral sex with men. Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Hillman said that the charges against Biggins began as state charges; the decision to file federal rather than state charges was on based on greater penalties Biggins could face in federal court, Hillman said. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Waynesville football player collapse was heart attack, officials confirm
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Aug. 26, 2011) — An eighth-grade football player who collapsed on a Waynesville practice field and was airlifted to Springfield likely suffered from an undiagnosed heart condition, according to Mike McCart of the Pulaski County Ambulance District. Local ambulance personnel responded about 4:45 p.m. Monday; St. John’s Lifeline airlifted the student, whose name has not been released, to St. John’s Hospital in Springfield. While the weather on Monday was hot, heat probably isn’t the primary cause, McCart said. “More than likely it’s going to be some kind of congenital thing. I’m sure the heat and exertion and stuff played a part in it, but nothing to suspect of that,” McCart said. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Firefighters work to extinguish hay bales. |
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Crocker barn burns down two days after landowner bought new mower
CROCKER, Mo. (Aug. 25, 2011) — A man living southeast of Crocker lost his barn and a brand-new lawnmower purchased just two days earlier, according to Crocker Fire Chief Mark Fancher. “He lost his winter’s hay, he lost his whole building, and he lost the lawnmower he just bought on Monday,” Fancher said. “Within two to three minutes (of firefighters arriving) the building was collapsing; there were 30 to 35 round hay bales inside, and fully involved.” The 20x30 hay barn on the 20000 grid of Highway HH was a total loss; it was owned by Bill Crawford and is about three quarters of a mile back from the road on a private drive. The blaze was first noticed about noon Wednesday and firefighters spent about four hours on the scene, Fancher said. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Rescue workers confer following a rollover. |
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Rollover wrecks pickup truck on Highway 17 in front of Good Samaritan
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Aug. 25, 2011) — A Waynesville woman suffered minor injuries following a Thursday morning rollover that wrecked her pickup in front of Good Samaritan on Highway 17. Waynesville police said a local woman was driving an orange 1970 Chevrolet pickup truck westbound on Highway 17 when she approached stalled traffic on the roadway about 7:30 a.m., blocking the roadway for nearly an hour. The name of the driver was not immediately released. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Crocker man killed Monday in fiery pickup truck crash on Highway U
CROCKER, Mo. (Aug. 23, 2011) — A Monday night wreck northwest of Crocker killed a pickup driver, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports. Timothy A. Proctor, 20, of Crocker, had been driving a 2001 Chevrolet Silverado eastbound on Highway U when he ran off the right side of the roadway, struck a state-owned road sign, hit a ditch, and then continued onward to strike a tree. His pickup then caught fire. The crash was originally reported as a fire in the woodline about a mile west of the city limits; when Crocker firefighters arrived at the scene, they discovered a pickup truck fully involved in the blaze and firefighters then called for the county coroner’s office when they found a body inside the pickup. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Dixon bicyclist struck by van
DIXON, Mo. (Aug. 23, 2011) — A preteen Dixon bicyclist was transported for emergency medical treatment after being hit by a van Tuesday evening in Maries County. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, David C. Bryant, 28, of Iberia, had been driving a 1999 Dodge Caravan eastbound on Maries County Road 225 about 12 miles west of Vienna when he rounded a curve and met Sheena S. Stratton, 11, of Dixon, who had been riding a bicycle; the two collided causing Stratton to be transported to Capital Region Medical Center in Jefferson City and then transferred to University Medical Center in Columbia with injuries later determined to be minor. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Firefighter stalking hearing Friday
SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Aug. 22, 2011) — A Rolla-area judge has been assigned to handle a request for protection orders between the St. Robert assistant fire chief and the former emergency response coordinator for the American Red Cross’s Phelps-Pulaski County unit. According to court records, Phelps County Associate Circuit Judge Bill Hickle will hear the two cases at 9 a.m. Friday in the Pulaski County Courthouse in which Assistant Fire Chief Gregory D. Polk and former firefighter Joseph P. Krill Jr. accuse each other of various stalking-related offenses and say they’re afraid of each other. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Biker brawl on Interstate 44 involved national gangs, Pulaski sheriff says
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Aug. 15, 2011) — More information came out Monday regarding a high-speed chase involving many motorcyclists following a Saturday shooting near the Highway 7 overpass on Interstate 44 at mile marker 150. While many details are unclear, the incident and another situation in Laclede County appear to be gang-related. “The various motorcycle drivers stopped in Pulaski County were members of or affiliated with a number of well-known national motorcycle gangs,” said Pulaski County J.B. King in a prepared statement. King reported that the Pulaski County 911 Center received about 20 calls, beginning at 8:16 p.m. Saturday; some of the calls described the incident as a motorcycle crash “since many of the bikes were on the ground” but “many other callers reported that approximately 20 men were fighting” and that shots had been fired; traffic on Interstate 44 was reported to be stopped by the incident. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Dixon man killed in weekend wreck
DIXON, Mo. (Aug. 15, 2011) — A rollover wreck early Saturday morning killed a Dixon man. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, Anthony L. Morris, 35, had been driving a 1997 GMC eastbound on Highway 28 about two miles east of the Saint Robert city limits at Exit 163 of Interstate 44 when he ran off the right side of the roadway at 1:20 a.m. and struck a tree. In an unrelated weekend arrest reported by state troopers in Pulaski County, Roger D. Graves, 31, of Laquey, was arrested on drunk driving charges. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Hartzler's listening post has local face
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Aug. 15, 2011) — When one of U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler’s new staff members comes to Pulaski County for a listening post next week, he won’t be new to the area. Levi Mitchell’s listening post for Hartzler will be held in the community room in the basement of the Pulaski County Courthouse, right beneath the office of his mother, Pulaski County Collector Terri Mitchell. The listening post will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 23, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Biker shootout leads to Saturday night police chase down Interstate 44
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Aug. 13, 2011) — Details are still sketchy, but Interstate 44 was filled with police cars and stopped motorcyclists Saturday evening following a shootout and physical altercation at a truck stop on mile marker 150 of Interstate 44 that led to one woman being shot and numerous motorcyclists leading police on a chase that ended around the Waynesville exit at mile marker 156. About the same time, Waynesville firefighters, sheriff’s deputies, and St. Robert police were tied up with a possible meth lab located on Laramie Road; when police rushed to the motorcycle pursuit scene, firefighters drove between the sheriff’s department and the St. Robert police station trying to determine who wanted the suspected meth lab since firefighters didn’t have the necessary facilities to store it. Preliminary reports indicate that the incident began with about 20 people fighting in the roadway around mile marker 150, leading to an emergency request by state troopers for backup from all available law enforcement personnel. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Baymont closed at least until Monday
SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Aug. 12, 2011) — The Baymont Inn will be closed until at least Monday and possibly longer, St. Robert Building Inspector Nathan Carmon warned following a Friday afternoon fire on the hotel rooftop caused by lightning. “The owner was, of course, a little shooken up about the incident, but there was argument or nothing like that," Carmon said. “He was very hands-on and said, ‘What needs to happen is fine; if you need to close it, we’ll deal with it.’” After St. Robert and Waynesville firefighters extinguished the Friday afternoon blaze on the hotel rooftop caused by lightning, firefighters escorted guests into the hotel rooms to collect their personal belongings. “Mother Nature evidently didn’t like me today,” said Betsy Thomson, Baymont’s general manager. “It is my first fire, and I hope to gosh it is the last one.” Thomson said she and her staff worked to relocate about 30 guests, many connected to Fort Leonard Wood, to other lodging facilities. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Police investigate a rollover wreck. |
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Friday rollover caused by drunk driving, speeding, Waynesville police say
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Aug. 12, 2011) — A rollover wreck on Superior Road between the Roubidoux Spring and Historic Route 66 blocked traffic for nearly an hour beginning about 8:55 p.m. and resulted in the Friday night arrest of a Waynesville man, whose name has not yet been released, on charges of driving while intoxicated. Lt. Gary Brankel of the Waynesville Police Department said the vehicle was totaled. “This is a 10 mph road; at 10 mph you can’t roll a car very easily,” Brankel said. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Firefighters respond to a Baymont Inn blaze. |
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Lightning strike shutters Baymont Inn following Friday fire on hotel rooftop
SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Aug. 12, 2011) — A lightning strike on the Baymont Inn roof has shut down the hotel due to extensive water damage, though fire damage was confined to the roof and one room on the top of the hotel. “I’m concerned that recently we’ve had some lightning strikes on these buildings,” said St. Robert Fire Chief Doug Cage. “I don’t know the cause of that, I’m not an engineer, but we do have some concerns about that.” About twenty firefighters from both Waynesville and St. Robert responded to the blaze with five trucks; Pulaski County Ambulance District personnel responded as well, along with St. Robert police, the city building inspector and city utility department personnel. Electricity has been shut off to the hotel and that will likely continue until Monday, Cage said, due to the amount of water flowing inside. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Most off-post hotel owners don't mind privatization of on-post lodging
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Aug. 12, 2011) — Improvements to on-post Fort Leonard Wood lodging aren’t likely to have a negative effect on the off-post hotels and motels, according to Pulaski County Tourism Director Beth Wiles. The local area doesn’t have a hotel, motel or lodging association, but all off-post lodging facilities pay a transient guest tax to the Pulaski County Tourism Bureau which funds promotion of local tourism activities. The tourism board’s membership includes representatives of the hotel-motel industry, restaurants, camping and canoe trip outfitters, and the four chambers of commerce representing the county’s five incorporated cities. Wiles said there are about 1,650 off-post rooms available in the county, nearly all of which are in St. Robert. That’s about the same number as the rooms available on-post for temporary lodging. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Privatization of military lodging turns 1,650 FLW rooms over to developer
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Aug. 12, 2011) — Fort Leonard Wood’s lodging facilities are now being privatized under the new project owner, Lend Lease (US) Public Partnerships, LLC, and its operations partner, Intercontinental Hotels Group. Maj. Gen. David Quantock, Fort Leonard Wood’s commander, said during a formal turnover ceremony on Friday morning that he was surprised to learn how large Fort Leonard Wood’s lodging operations are in comparison to other installations. “We’ve got the most lodging of any post in the entire Army, and that is huge when you think about it. I did not know that until I came here, but you think about the places like (Forts) Hood and Bragg and Lewis, we have the largest lodging of anybody in the Army — five buildings totaling about 1,650 rooms,” Quantock said. Despite recent Army’s awards to the lodging facilities at Fort Leonard Wood, Quantock said privatization is the only realistic way to get an estimated $1 billion worth of lodging upgrades needed at installations throughout the Army implemented in a reasonable time frame. “It would have taken the Army twenty years to do all of that... With the great successes that we’ve had privatizing the housing, we can do the same thing in the housing,” Quantock said. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
GW Lane is now open for traffic. |
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Realigned GW Lane reopens just in time for Waynesville High School traffic
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Aug. 12, 2011) — Just in time for school, Waynesville city officials held a ceremonial ribbon cutting Friday morning for GW Lane running from Waynesville High School to Ichord Avenue, which has been relocated from a route on the north end of Interstate 44 to a new alignment that ends at the Lowe’s Chevrolet car dealership. The project cost $1.8 million, with the city committing to pay about $1 million of that cost, including a $75,000 contribution from the Waynesville R-VI School District. The actual bill to the city will be less since the costs will be shared on a 50-50 basis and the project cost less than the $2 million cost originally expected. “I think we’re very proud to finally see this road finally completed and done; there are people who said that they’d believe it when they saw it,” said Waynesville City Administrator Bruce Harrill. “Well, I hope they can believe it now and can be proud of what we’ve accomplished.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
MoDOT Assistant District Engineer Travis Koestner |
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Road wouldn't have happened without local cost sharing, MoDOT cautions
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Aug. 12, 2011) — The new alignment of GW Lane leading to Waynesville High School took years to accomplish. Travis Koestner, the new assistant district engineer for MoDOT’s realigned Central District who succeeded former District Engineer Tom Stehn after the former South-Central District was eliminated, noted that the road relocation required joint efforts by local and state officials. “This is just a perfect example of a great partnership,” Koestner said. “To do expansion jobs like this, to improve safety from now and into the future, we’re going to have to have these types of partnerships. With the city of Waynesville and the school kicking in on the funding for the project, that is the ideal situation to bring a safer project for the school, the city of Waynesville and the taxpayers in the area.” Although Missouri voters passed an increase in the state’s gas tax to fund major infrastructure improvements, most of that money has now been spent and MoDOT is moving into what Koestner called a “taking care of the system mode.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Crocker Police Chief Chris Twitchel |
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Crocker gets new police chief
CROCKER, Mo. (Aug. 8, 2011) — In a surprise move Monday evening, the Crocker City Council received the resignation of its police chief, Stephen North, and appointed a new chief, Chris Twitchel, who currently serves as an investigator in the Linn Creek Police Department. “The people here are very friendly; it seems like everybody around here is family-oriented, and that’s a big attraction to me because I am a family person,” Twitchel said. Family considerations are part of why North, a Missouri native, is leaving. He will be returning to New Orleans; his wife is from Louisiana and North previously worked in the Tulane University police department. Twitchel is new to Pulaski County but has years of ties to south-central Missouri; his family owns a farm in Montreal. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
State troopers investigate a rollover. |
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Semi rollover blocks Buckhorn traffic
BUCKHORN, Mo. (Aug. 8, 2011) — A semi truck filled with staves overturned Monday morning, blocking the north outer road by Grace Covenant Church and part of Interstate 44. State troopers reported that Carl W. Smith, 53, of Raymondville, had been driving his Volvo semi truck westbound on Interstate 44 when he stated sliding on the wet road and overturned about 7:15 a.m., losing a large load of lumber. Initial reports indicated that Smith was not hurt by the crash, but he was later transported by ambulance for treatment of moderate injuries. In an unrelated weekend incident, state troopers in Knox County arrested Jeffery D. Stull, 39, of Waynesville, on Sunday on charges including drunk driving. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Cody Willcoxson |
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Accused Fort Leonard Wood gate-runner gets case moved out of area
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Aug. 3, 2011) — Police say that Cody Willcoxson ran his car through the West Gate of Fort Leonard Wood and then led police on a high speed chase through two counties from Saint Robert into Rolla. Pulaski County Prosecutor Kevin Hillman said Wednesday morning that due to pretrial publicity, numerous charges against Willcoxson in both counties won’t be handled by a jury in either county, but instead will likely be transferred to Shannon County. Shannon County is east of Texas County and south of Dent County. Its courthouse is in Eminence, which about 90 miles away from Waynesville and about 70 miles from Rolla. The jury pool is likely to be very different from the military community around Fort Leonard Wood and the college community of Missouri University of Science and Technology at Rolla; census figures show that only two-thirds of adults 25 and older have a high school diploma, and had a per capita income of only $11,492, making it the poorest county in Missouri and the state’s only county on the bottom-100 list of poor counties in the United States. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
State troopers investigate a fatal crash. |
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Crocker man killed when pickup truck rolls over him Wednesday morning
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Aug. 3, 2011) — A Crocker man died early Wednesday morning in the Northern Heights Estates residential subdivision five miles north of Waynesville when his pickup truck ran over him on a steep hillside. Alva R. Gately, 65, was killed about 5:45 a.m. when he was out of his 1996 Ford F-250 pickup truck on Luther Lane placing a rock beneath one of the front wheels of the vehicle to prevent it from rolling, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports. However, before he could get the rock placed to prevent the vehicle from rolling, it did roll forward and rolled over him, resulting in fatal injuries. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Firefighters fight each other in court
SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Aug. 3, 2011) — Associate Circuit Judge Greg Warren decided today that he can’t handle a request for protection orders between the St. Robert deputy fire chief and the former emergency response coordinator for the American Red Cross’s Phelps-Pulaski County unit since he personally knows at least one of those involved. Court personnel say the matter will soon be sent to Circuit Judge Tracy Storie, the presiding judge of the 25th Judicial Circuit, for reassignment to a different judge. In addition to their roles on the St. Robert Fire Department, Assistant Fire Chief Gregory D. Polk and former firefighter Joseph P. Krill Jr. are both well-known as community leaders. Polk’s volunteer work with the St. Robert Fire Department began while he was still a drill sergeant at Fort Leonard Wood and he’s served as a Missouri National Guard recruiter. Krill, a medically disabled veteran, received the 2006 Waynesville-St. Robert Chamber of Commerce citizen of the year award for his numerous volunteer activities, which have included the Pulaski County Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, and Fort Leonard Wood Thrift Shop. Krill also ran against Waynesville Councilman Ed Conley in 2006 and 2008 for his Ward III seat on the city council, but was defeated. However, the court documents filed last month paint a very different picture of the two men, saying both fear for their safety based on the other’s actions. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Charles Brent Wagoner |
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Man charged with Dixon killing has court case moved to Phelps County
DIXON, Mo. (Aug. 3, 2011) — A Dixon man accused of shooting another Dixon resident to death this spring has had his case transferred from Pulaski County to Phelps County. Pulaski County Prosecutor Kevin Hillman confirmed Wednesday that his office did not object to the change of venue; court documents say the change to Phelps County was mutually agreed upon by both sides last month and Wednesday’s motion hearing was a formality done by a written memo with no court appearance by the defendant. Charles Brent Wagoner, 51, was charged with first-degree murder, a Class A felony, and attempting to manufacture methamphetamine, a Class B felony, in connection with the death of Rex Monroe on March 2 of this year. Hillman said at the time that the drug charges stemmed from a methamphetamine lab found by state troopers and county deputies while searching Wagoner’s home; the murder case began with an investigation into the death of Monroe, 46, whose body was found on March 2 under a railroad bridge near Dixon. Deputies said at the time that Burlington Northern railroad crews working on the tracks had found a body, later determined to be Monroe. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Sgt. Kerry Proffitt fires the M-26 modular accessory shotgun. |
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Guardsmen test new Army shotgun
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Aug. 1, 2011) — Seven Missouri National Guard engineers were among those recently invited to help test and validate the effectiveness of a new Army weapon system — the M-26 Modular Accessory Shotgun System. Guardsmen from the 1138th Engineer Company (Sapper), of Farmington, spent a day on the range with the 12-gauge shotgun weapons system. Weapons testers, which mainly consisted of Army engineers and military policemen, fired lethal, non-lethal and door breaching ammunition at various distances in the weapons three different configurations. Sgt. Kerry Proffitt, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the group from the Missouri National Guard, said he was honored to help test the shotgun. “This was excellent,” said Proffitt, who lives in Saint Robert. “It’s nice to know that they let the Missouri National Guard unit give their input. As a deploying unit, it’s also nice to know what we may expect from future weapons systems.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Matthew J. Wilson/Missouri National Guard Public Affairs |
Motorist arrested for attacking two police officers following crash
SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (May 12, 2011) — A two-vehicle crash east of St. Robert led to the arrest of a driver who attacked two law enforcement personnel Wednesday afternoon. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, Cody G. Augustyn, 19, of St. Robert, had been driving a 2003 Chevrolet Silverado northbound on Texas Road about 50 feet from True Road when he slowed to make a turn about 3:41 p.m. A 2002 Chevrolet Camaro driven by Cole A. Allison, 19, also of St. Robert, was northbound behind Augustyn, failed to slow down, and struck the Silverado in the rear. Augustyn was transported to St. John’s Hospital in Lebanon with minor injuries; Allison was not hurt but when he refused to cooperate with a state trooper and a sheriff’s deputy who responded; he continued to resist until he was subdued by police. “When the officers made contact with (Allison), he punched both the state trooper and the sheriff’s deputy in the face, causing lacerations to both requiring medical attention. (Allison) then grabbed his own grandfather and took him to the ground,” according to Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Hillman. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Darrell Todd Maurina |
Sheriff's Blotter for May 2, 2011
The following incidents were reported by the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department on Monday, May 2, 2011. Click here for details. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
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Sheriff's Blotter for May 1, 2011
The following incidents were reported by the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department on Sunday, May 1, 2011. Click here for details. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
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St. Robert Police Blotter for May 1, 2011
The following incidents were reported by the St. Robert Police Department on Sunday, May 1, 2011. Click here for details. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
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Pfc. Micki L. Decker from Richland graduates from Army basic training
RICHLAND, Mo. (Jan. 5, 2010) — Army Pfc. Micki L. Decker has graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson near Columbia, S.C. She is the daughter of Mark and Sadie Decker of Richland, and a 2008 graduate of Richland High School. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Army Public Affairs |
Capt. Justin S. Patton graduates from Army Ranger School
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Dec. 29, 2009) — Army Capt. Justin S. Patton has graduated from the U.S. Army Ranger School at Fort Benning near Columbus, Ga., with authorization to wear the distinctive Ranger Tab. Patton, an armor officer, is the son of Jerry and Carol A. Patton of Waynesville. His wife, Andrea, is the daughter of Patrick and Mary Jeffreys of St. Robert. The captain graduated in 2001 from Waynesville High School. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Army Public Affairs |
Master Sgt. Timothy Uptegrove, right, is pinned with his new rank by his unit commander, Lt. Col. Raymond White. |
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Timothy Uptegrove named top NCO of weapons of mass destruction team
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Dec. 15, 2009) — Timothy Uptegrove, of Lebanon, was recently promoted both in rank and position in the Missouri Army National Guard to become the first sergeant of the 7th Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team, a full-time National Guard unit at Fort Leonard Wood. Uptegrove rose from the rank of sergeant first class to master sergeant and moved up from his position as logistics noncommissioned officer with the 7th Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team. “This promotion gives me a chance to apply what I have learned from, and a means to pay tribute to, the truly great senior noncommissioned officers who have mentored me throughout my career,” Uptegrove said. Uptegrove earned the dual promotion by being the most qualified for the job through his vast experience on the team, said Lt. Col. Raymond White, 7th Civil Support Team commander. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Matthew J. Wilson/Missouri National Guard Public Affairs |
Pfc. Marvin J. Brown graduates from basic training, will enter Army Reserve
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Dec. 10, 2009) — Army Reserve Pfc. Marvin J. Brown, a 2009 graduate of Waynesville High School, has graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson near Columbia, S.C. Brown is the son of Lorraine Brown of Fort Leonard Wood and grandson of Vancy L. Brown of Bennettsville, S.C. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Army Public Affairs |
Col. Pamela L. Martis returns from military police duty in Afghanistan
NEWBURG, Mo. (Dec. 9, 2009) — Army Col. Pamela L. Martis, a 1981 graduate of Newburg High School and daughter of Wilma Darlene Cardin of Newburg, is returning to the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., after being deployed to Afghanistan to serve in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Martis was a senior police advisor to the Afghan National Police and has served in the military for 24 years. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Army Public Affairs |
Spec. Josue R. Velazquez deploys to Iraq as Army Reserve combat medic
DIXON, Mo. (Dec. 9, 2009) — Army Reserve Spec. Josue R. Velazquez, a 2006 graduate of Dixon High School and son of Ramon and Jeanette Velazquez of Plato, has been mobilized and activated for deployment overseas to a forward operating base in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Army Public Affairs |
1st Lt. Marcus A. Dyl mobilized for upcoming military police duty in Iraq
LAQUEY, Mo. (Dec. 2, 2009) — Army Reserve 1st Lt. Marcus A. Dyl, a 2001 graduate of Laquey R-V High School, has been mobilized and activated for deployment overseas to a forward operating base in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Army Public Affairs |
Pvt. Curtis W. Nard graduates from Army basic infantry training
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (Dec. 1, 2009) — Army Pvt. Curtis W. Nard, a 2009 graduate of Waynesville High School, has graduated from basic infantry training at Fort Benning near Columbus, Ga. He is the son of Thomas S. Nard of Waynesville and Monika S. Nard of St. Robert. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Army Public Affairs |
Pvt. Phillip S. Doba graduates from Army infantry one-station unit training
DEVIL’S ELBOW, Mo. (Dec. 1, 2009) — Army Pvt. Phillip S. Doba has graduated from the Infantryman One Station Unit Training at Fort Benning near Columbus, Ga. He is the grandson of Mathew Medley, who lives in a portion of Pulaski County with a Newburg address north of Devil’s Elbow. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Army Public Affairs |
Airman 1st Class Bryce E. White |
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Airman 1st Class Bryce E. White graduates from Air Force basic training
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Nov. 19, 2009) — Airman 1st Class Bryce E. White, the son of Raymond and Kimberly White of Fort Leonard Wood, has graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio, Texas. A 2009 graduate of Central High School in St. Joseph, he will be serving in the Air National Guard. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Air Force Public Affairs |
Command Sgt. Maj. Ray Harding |
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Command Sgt. Maj. Ray Harding retires after 37 years serving National Guard
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Nov. 19, 2009) — Command Sgt. Maj. Ray Harding, a Saint Robert resident, was called “a soldier’s friend” and assured that “he will be missed” during his recent retirement ceremony at the Missouri National Guard’s 35th Engineer Brigade. Harding has more than 35 years of service in the Missouri National Guard and two in the Kansas Guard. For the last four years, Harding has been the brigade command sergeant major after moving over from his position as the command sergeant major and commandant of the 140th Regiment Missouri Regional Training Institute, also at Fort Leonard Wood. Before that, Harding was with Company B, 203rd Engineer Battalion in Joplin. In his civilian career during the week, Harding works as a contractor for Battelle Corporation. Before that, Harding spent 24 years as a teacher and head football coach or athletic director at Carthage High School. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Matthew J. Wilson/Missouri National Guard Public Affairs |
Capt. Jean Bernard Le Gall |
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Capt. Jean Bernard Le Gall promoted in Missouri National Guard’s 7th CST
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Nov. 16, 2009) — Jean Bernard Le Gall, of Waynesville, was recently promoted from the rank of first lieutenant to captain in the Missouri Army National Guard. Le Gall has been with the Missouri National Guard for five years with an additional 10 years of active-duty Army experience as an enlisted Soldier. He is a physician assistant and officer in charge of the medical section for the active Guard 7th Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team at Fort Leonard Wood. Along with his duties with the unit, Le Gall also works three days a week — two in family practice and one in the emergency room — at General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Matthew J. Wilson/Missouri National Guard Public Affairs |
Pfc. Bryan Kaolowi |
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Pfc. Bryan Kaolowi named Soldier of the Quarter for National Guard unit
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Nov. 12, 2009) — Pfc. Bryan Kaolowi of Saint Robert, a 2004 graduate of Waynesville High School, was recently named Soldier of the Quarter for Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the 35th Engineer Brigade for his service with the Missouri Army National Guard. The award stated that Kaolowi, who has been in the Guard less than a year, had an exceptional performance during the board, made up of the senior enlisted soldiers. Kaolowi had to perform well on his physical fitness test and answer two current events questions, as well as questions over counseling, the different types of flags and common soldier tasks. During the week, Kaolowi is a sales associate at the Discount Smoke Shop. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Matthew J. Wilson/Missouri National Guard Public Affairs |
Spc. David Eley |
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Spc. David Eley receives promotion in Missouri National Guard unit at FLW
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Nov. 9, 2009) — David Eley, a Springfield resident and 2000 graduate of Laquey High School, was recently promoted from the rank of private first class to specialist in the Missouri Army National Guard. Eley has been with the National Guard for three years. He is a combat engineer with Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the 35th Engineer Brigade, of Fort Leonard Wood, and plans to transfer to Missouri State University in Springfield where he will enroll in ROTC on his way to becoming an officer. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Matthew J. Wilson/Missouri National Guard Public Affairs |
Sgt. Harry R. Wise III named NCO of the Quarter at U.S. base in Honduras
Army Sgt. Harry R. Wise III, a 2006 graduate of Dixon High School, has been named the Noncommissioned Officer of the Quarter for Joint Task Force Bravo at Soto Cano Air Base in Honduras.
Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Army Public Affairs |
Diana Eberharter, of Waynesville, has her warrant officer rank pinned on her. |
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Waynesville woman among 10 new National Guard warrant officers
FORT McCLELLAN, Ala. (Oct. 30, 2009) — Ten Missouri Army National Guardsmen from six different branches recently graduated from the Warrant Officer Candidate School at Fort McClellan, Ala. That follows training in the 140th Regiment Missouri Regional Training Institute Warrant Officer Candidate School at Fort Leonard Wood. It was a moment of exuberance for the newly-pinned warrant officers. “I had finally accomplished my goal — it was a long road,” said Warrant Officer Diana Eberharter, of Waynesville. “I was glad to be finished.” Warrant Officer Jesse Darden, of Columbia, said it was the fulfillment of his childhood dream to fly for his country. “I have wanted to be a military aviator since age 3,” said Darden, who is now an aviator with the 3rd Battalion, 135th Theater Aviation Battalion, of Lebanon. “My dream is becoming a reality. I have gained a deeper commitment to my country and the United States Army. I feel that I am now in a position to truly serve where my greatest potential and passion lies.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Matthew J. Wilson/Missouri National Guard Public Affairs |
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
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Hartzler says she hopes to help flood victims from rising Missouri River
WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 17, 2011) — As you read this week’s newsletter there is no doubt that the rising Missouri River is on the minds of many. I want to reiterate that my staff and I are closely monitoring the actions of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as it releases historic levels of water from upstream dams and reservoirs. On Monday, I will meet with officials with the Corps of Engineers who will brief me on the situation involving the Missouri River. We stand ready to assist in any way we can. Click here for a list of emergency contact numbers and websites that should be helpful.
Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
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Hartzler says balanced budget amendment is crucial for country
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 24, 2011) — As I write this newsletter, America is on the brink of a government shutdown — but it can be avoided. Early Friday morning, the House passed a bipartisan bill that doubles President Obama's request for emergency disaster aid to Missouri and elsewhere and will keep the government running through Nov. 18. Sadly, Senate Leader Harry Reid allowed politics to get in the way of what is needed by declaring this bipartisan legislation dead on arrival. The Senate must not be allowed to play politics with the people of Joplin who are recovering from May's devastating tornado, residents of northwest and southeast Missouri who have coped with devastating flooding, and Americans in other parts of the country that have been hit with hurricanes, wildfires, and droughts. There can be no doubt that the only real solution to our budget problems is a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I am leading efforts in the U.S. House to pass such an amendment. As part of the August debt limit agreement, the House and Senate will have to vote between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31 on that amendment, and I am urging representatives and senators to approve what is truly the only effective way to get a grip on out-of-control Washington spending. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
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After meeting Obama, Hartzler calls for leadership to cut debt, create jobs
WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 1, 2011) — Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler emerged from a White House meeting today with President Obama asking, “Where is the President’s leadership on reining in our out-of-control debt and helping Americans get back to work?” According to Hartzler, “Today’s meeting at the White House sent the same message to President Obama as last night’s House vote against raising the debt limit without substantial spending cuts ... We have to stop spending money we don’t have! That is how we’ll cut our historic debt and that is how we’ll create jobs.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Press Office of U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
Andy Offutt |
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Financial Focus: 'Rules of the Road' for investors
As an investor, you may sometime wonder what on earth is going on in the financial world. One day, the stock market is down 200 points; the next day it’s up 300. One day, a scandal rocks a company; the next day, another firm declares a poor earnings report. Isn’t there any completely smooth route for you to follow as you pursue a comfortable retirement and other key objectives? Actually, there isn’t. But you can help smooth out your journey by following a few basic “rules of the road.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Provided by Andy Offutt/Edward Jones |
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
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Hartzler votes against proposal for raising ceiling on national debt
WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 31, 2011) — Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler says she has taken the side of American taxpayers over the interests of tax-and-spend Washington liberals by saying “no” to President Obama’s call to raise our country’s public debt ceiling. The proposal to give government the authority to continue its irresponsible borrowing and spending without any agreement on spending cuts was solidly defeated in the House. “This vote is a clear message to President Obama and his liberal allies that any increase in the debt limit must be accompanied by real, permanent, and sustainable spending cuts that will change the trajectory we’re on so we don’t bankrupt our country,” said Hartzler. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Press Office of U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
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Hartzler issues Memorial Day statement supporting military
WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 30, 2011) — Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler has released the following statement to mark the Memorial Day holiday: “Memorial Day is the traditional start of the summer vacation season and it is only fitting that on this day Americans honor those who have fought and died to preserve the freedoms we all enjoy. We must never forget the sacrifices made by our brave men and women in uniform who gave the last full measure of devotion to keep our country free. We thank them and their families for their sacrifices and ask God to protect those protecting us.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Press Office of U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
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Hartzler lays wreath at Arlington
WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 27, 2011) — Memorial Day weekend is always a time to reflect on the sacrifices made by America’s military heroes who have given their lives to allow us to enjoy our freedoms. This Memorial Day weekend is no exception. On Friday I had the honor of visiting Arlington National Cemetery and laying a wreath on the grave of a soldier who gave his last measure of devotion in Operation Enduring Freedom. He is one of a long line of Americans who have fought and died in the line of duty in conflicts and wars dating back to our War of Independence. This weekend we salute the sacrifices made by them and their families and ask God to protect our men and women in uniform who are preserving our liberty. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
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Hartzler says more about recent visit to Israel and meetings with leaders
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 2, 2011) — Good Day. It was wonderful to return to Missouri this week following a week-long fact-finding visit to Israel. Our Congressional delegation met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres, and Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces. We traveled to Israel's border with Lebanon, where more than 40,000 rockets — controlled by Hezbollah — are pointed at Israel. We toured the Golan Heights, where we could see into Syria, another of Israel's threats. While there, the terrorist group Hamas was busy firing rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel. Israel is America's most steadfast ally in the Middle East and the only country in that part of the world that shares America's respect for individual rights and freedoms. Israel is a small nation that faces daily threats from nearby evil-doers intent on doing great harm. This beacon of democracy and stability in the Middle East must not be abandoned and must be able to count on the United States as its unwavering friend and partner in peace. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
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Blunt on Budget: It’s time to work together to right our national economy
WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 25, 2011) — U.S. Senator Roy Blunt issued the following statement today in response to the four budget votes this evening, all of which failed to pass: “While I did not agree with any of these budget proposals in their entirety, I voted to continue the debate on the plan introduced by my colleague, Senator Pat Toomey, and the House Republican budget because they both represent good starting points for this critical debate. Clearly, the worst option that we voted on tonight was President Obama’s budget, which every U.S. Senator — including every member of the President’s own party — voted against.” Click here for full text of Sen. Blunt’s comments. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Press Office of U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
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Blunt tours tornado damage in Joplin
JOPLIN, Mo. (May 24, 2011) — U.S. Senator Roy Blunt toured the devastating damage today resulting from the recent deadly tornado in Joplin and met with federal and local authorities to ensure that there is a speedy and comprehensive recovery and rebuilding effort under way. "I live about 60 miles from Joplin and have been here hundreds of times. This was a huge path of destruction in one of Missouri's major cities, and I've never seen anything like it. I applaud the federal and local officials for their recovery efforts, and I thank the volunteers who are generously dedicating their time and resources to help the people of Joplin," said Blunt. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Press Office of U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
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Hartzler returns from visit to Israel
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Aug. 31, 2011) — Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler has completed a week-long congressional visit to Israel to learn more about the special relationship between the United States and Israel, that country's security situation, and the Middle East peace process. "America shares a special partnership with Israel," said Hartzler upon her return. "It is America's greatest ally in the Middle East and the only democracy in the region. We share the same values regarding individual rights and liberties." Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Press Office of U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
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Blunt urges continued FEMA disaster recovery funding for Joplin tornado
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Aug. 29, 2011) — U.S. Senator Roy Blunt released the following statement regarding the reallocation of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding in the wake of Hurricane Irene recovery efforts: "My staff and I are regularly communicating with Joplin officials to make sure that they're getting the immediate help they need... If FEMA can't fulfill its promise to our state because we have other disasters, that's unacceptable, and we need to take a serious look at how our disaster response policies are funded and implemented." Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Press Office of U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
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Hartzler chooses former Warrensburg mayor for 'Angels in Adoption' award
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nov. 9, 2011) — Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler has chosen a Warrensburg couple to receive the 2011 Angels in Adoption award for their long-time advocacy for foster care and adoption and will be presenting the award to them on Nov. 11. Curt and Lisa Dyer, who have eight children and four foster children, were chosen because of their personal commitment and dedicated advocacy for finding loving homes for all children. The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute orchestrates the annual Angels in Adoption program. As a passionate advocate for adoption and a member of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption and the Congressional Foster Care Caucus, Hartzler believes the Dyers embody the types of families needed to care for our nation's foster children. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Press Office of U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
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Hartzler outlines recent congressional action on health care, other issues
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Aug. 26, 2011) — Good Day. Congress is in the middle of its August work time in the district, with the D.C. session set to resume in September. I've been thinking this might be a good time to bring you up to date on some of the legislation the House of Representatives has moved forward during the year's first eight months. One of the first major bills passed by the U.S. House was the repeal of the government health care takeover - delivering on a promise endorsed by most Missourians. Unfortunately, the Senate refused to follow suit and left us with an expensive health care program that fails to make good on a pledge to make quality health care more affordable. On a positive note, a federal appeals court in Georgia recently became the latest court to strike down all or parts of the law on constitutional grounds. There is no doubt this troublesome law will soon end up before the U.S. Supreme Court. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
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Hartzler introduces legislation to help small businesses grow, create jobs
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nov. 3, 2011) — Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler has introduced legislation to eliminate some of the negative provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act in an effort to make it easier for locally-owned banks to lend money to small and medium-sized local businesses so they can grow and create jobs. “Dodd-Frank was supposed to more closely monitor the big banks and create consumer confidence,” said Hartzler. “Instead, this overreaching government regulation has harmed smaller, regional banks by making it difficult for them to lend to small and mid-sized businesses through fixed rate loans.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Press Office of U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
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Blunt applauds bipartisan passage of disaster relief, agriculture funding
WASHINGTON D.C. (Nov. 1, 2011) — U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, the ranking member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, released the following statements today regarding the bipartisan passage of the agriculture appropriations bill for fiscal year 2012 and on passage of his amendment to help fund disaster relief efforts. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Press Office of U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
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Hartzler says Congress hasn't worked hard enough to cut federal spending
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Aug. 12, 2011) — This was my first full week back in the 4th District since Congress passed the deficit reduction bill that I believe did not go far enough — and I have heard quite a bit from citizens offering their thoughts on the bill and my vote against passage. I have met a lot of people, read quite a few emails and letters from others, and took numerous telephone calls from still others who offered their thanks for what many see as a principled stand on my part. These citizens are tired of out-of-control government spending and believe the agreement that was reached does not do enough to address our rising deficits. Like me, they view the agreement as a small step on the road to changing the Washington way of thinking — but they want to see more done. Part of my reason for voting “no” was my fear that this insufficient cut would lead to a downgrade of our credit rating. That is exactly what happened when Standard & Poor’s made it clear the government’s action did not meet S&P’s demand for $4 trillion in cuts plus permanent reforms to change our budget trajectory. What’s worse is that we could be downgraded further if substantial cuts are not realized in the future. There is no time to lose. We must begin this important task and begin soon. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
State Senator Dan Brown |
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Brown comments on federal budget
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Aug. 10, 2011) — Missouri’s state statutes require the budget to be balanced each fiscal year. Although the budget may become more or less stable due to unforeseen circumstances, we have a certain amount of money with which to fund the expenses of the state, and we must appropriate within that framework. Should the nation be held as accountable as the states? We think so. The federal budget is still trillions of dollars out of balance, and the promise of voluntary spending cuts is a very weak solution for the benefit of this country’s fiscal strength. The compromise, recently reached in Washington, D.C. includes a provision to bring an amendment mandating a balanced federal budget to be voted on by federal lawmakers and sent to the states for ratification. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
State Sen. Dan Brown |
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
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Hartzler warns defense cuts could downgrade USA to regional power
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Oct. 19, 2011) — Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler is urging members of the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction — the so-called "supercommittee" that will offer its recommendations to Congress by November 23rd — to refrain from further cuts to America's national defense. In a letter to "supercommittee" members, Hartzler and fellow members of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) warn further cuts to the military will put our country's national defense at risk. "If further cuts to the military are implemented ... these cuts would pose a serious threat to the nation's readiness to respond to current and future global security challenges, break the back of our Armed Forces while slowing our economic recovery, and do little to resolve our debt crisis," stated Hartzler and other HASC members in the letter. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Press Office of U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler |
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
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Senators introduce bill barring EPA from costly regulations on agriculture
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Oct. 19, 2011) — U.S. Senators Roy Blunt of Missouri and Mike Crapo of Idaho introduced the "Superfund Common-Sense Act of 2011" (S. 1729) this week, which would prevent the Obama Administration from imposing yet another needless and burdensome regulation on America's food producers. The legislation would clearly exempt manure, poultry litter, and their nutrient components from liability and regulation under the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA or Superfund law) laws. The bill would also eliminate any reporting requirements by livestock and poultry producers under CERCLA and the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA) for manure emissions. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ...
Press Office of U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt |
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