[ballwin]
Some may argue that distributing marijuana is a victimless crime. After all, efforts to legalize marijuana use are succeeding from state to state. But back in the day, Missouri played hardball with ‘persistent’ drug offenders, one of whom was Jeff Mizanskey, who is 20 years into a mandatory life sentence for selling pot. Without possibility of parole. This is unconscionable to Shamed Dogan, a Republican state legislator who represents Ballwin. He and two other state reps visited Mizanskey, 61, in prison recently, and Dogan has introduced a bill that would change the landscape for those imprisoned on marijuana charges … which, apparently, is only Mizanskey. The legislature last year changed the criminal code, so that offenders like Mizanskey would not languish in prison for the rest of their lives. He’s been a good prisoner for the last two decades, says Dogan, who also points out there were no weapons, violence or other aggravating factors in any of Mizanskey’s convictions. OK … pot may not be addictive, but it seems to keep some habitual users on a couch in mom’s basement for as long as Mizanskey’s been in prison. But more important, it’s not heroin, meth—or alcohol—which without question can destroy lives quickly, in any number of sickening ways.
[chesterfield]
Three groups have been recognized by Chesterfield’s Citizens Committee for the Environment for their unique approaches to ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.’ Charity Sharity, Girl Scout Troop 2534 and Ozark Berry Farm received ‘Green Team’ awards recently. Charity Sharity collects and reuses fabric and sewing notions, distributing them to more than 180 service organizations in the metro for reuse. Its efforts help bring to fruition comfort bears and blankets provided to families in stressful situations. (Meanwhile, props to the organization for one of the cutest names anywhere!). The young ladies from Girl Scout Troop 2534 got a nod for planting and maintaining a butterfly garden in Eberwein Park on Old Baxter Road. They’ve also volunteered at a number of recycling and planting events. Ozark Berry Farm was honored for its outstanding, innovative environmental efforts with native plants, including donating several milkweed plants that have been given away at Earth Day events. The committee, founded 23 years ago, actively seeks volunteers.
[clayton]
The county seat has been called the metro’s ‘second downtown,’ and for good reason—there are about as many tall, modern office towers scraping the skies above Clayton as there are in the city. One of them, the 19-story building at Hanley Road and Carondelet Plaza, is not going to get any bigger—or taller (could or would architects and builders even do that?)—but it’s going to get better, to the tune of $6.5 million. Rebranded as Hanley Corporate Tower, the structure will include a state-of-the-art fitness center, modernized elevators, a tenant lounge, better restrooms, and a renovated lobby, among other things. No word on whether the retrofit also could include more parking, you know, as a gift to the City of Clayton. (Might they dig a little deeper for a bigger garage? Could or would architects and builders even do that? I dropped out of physics, so what do I know?)
[kirkwood]
Score one—a big one—for the good guys. Kirkwood cops recently arrested a group of suspected identity thieves. Here’s how authorities say it all went down. It started with an alert O’Fallon woman, who discovered a $440 shoe charge on her debit-card statement. For shoe lovers, apparently, that isn’t all that much! She called the credit card company to report it, whereupon the company told her a purchase using her account had just been made at a Kirkwood eatery. She promptly called Kirkwood police, who responded in time to arrest three suspects as they left the restaurant. The investigation was turned over to federal authorities, leading them to a Maryland Heights hotel room where they discovered stolen credit cards, bogus credit cards, and 30-some fake gift cards, not to mention thousands of dollars in merchandise believed to have been purchased with other people’s money. The chief suspect in the trio, from Miami, was smacked with federal charges that include aggravated identity theft. But, my goodness—who spends $440 on shoes? Oh, never mind.
[st. charles]
Once you drive west over the Daniel Boone Bridge from Chesterfield, you will have entered the richest county in Missouri. What? You heard right, all you naysayers from the tony communities in the central corridor. The state’s median income is $47,380, and St. Charles County’s is about $25,000 more than that, according to a report on msn.com’s ‘24/7 Wall St.’, derived from a survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. Separate reports include detailed demographic info from the richest and poorest counties in each U.S. state. Only five of the 50 counties reviewed had median annual incomes less than $10,000 greater than the comparable state figures. Household incomes in most of these areas were more than double the comparable income in the states’ poorest counties. To identify the richest county in each state, ‘24/7 Wall St.’ reviewed five-year estimated median annual household incomes from 2009 through 2013 from the survey. Hmmm … now it makes sense why retail and commercial development are so wild and wacky just this side of the Missouri River. Some of it, of course, is from deep-pocketed folks in our area who go, and have gone, west. But much of the surprising (to me, anyhow) economic disparity is from people coming the other way—from well-to-do outlying towns like St. Peters, Lake St. Louis, Dardenne Prairie, O’Fallon, Wentzville et al. Who knew?
[sunset hills]
Sunset Hills was as good a place as any for the National Weather Service (NWS) to hold a class to train storm spotters, considering the devastation wrought by a tornado on New Year’s Eve 2010. The freak Dec. 31 storm destroyed an entire neighborhood along the Court Drive cul-de-sac and several businesses along Lindbergh Boulevard on the city’s northern edge. Although a motorist further west on Interstate 44 was killed by high winds, no one here was seriously hurt. The NWS plans to hold additional spring classes this month in St. Louis and southwestern Illinois. High-schoolers and above are eligible to volunteer for training, which will teach them how to collect meteorological data safely and report it promptly to the appropriate authorities. A class is slated for March 10 at Missouri Botanical Garden. Last month, a training in St. Peters was cancelled because of the weather. (No, there wasn’t a tornado in sight; it was just too freakin’ cold.)
[university city]
Who wants to go to Mars? Tim Gowan of U. City, and Maggie Duckworth of Bridgeton, that’s who. They expressed interest in bravely going where no man has gone before. How brave? They both know they wouldn’t be coming back. Sound insane? Well, thousands of people expressed interest in the Mars One project, a privately funded Dutch mission to establish a colony on the Red Planet. The list of would-be Martians applying to be part of the bold plan started at more than 200,000 applicants. In 2014 Gowan made an earlier cut, and was among a bigger list of 1,000, which recently was winnowed down to 100 candidates, 50 men and 50 women, including Duckworth. Duckworth, 30, an electrical engineer, would still be plenty young by the planned 2024 lift-off of the Mars colonists. She tweeted that this has been her ultimate goal since she pointed at the sky and uttered her first word: ‘home.’ But what if she gets married and has children between now and then? Would her husband and part-Martian sprouts be allowed to climb aboard, or would they have to stow away? Then, what would happen were a colonist to get homesick? They might be a little relieved to know there’ll be a Starbucks team along for the ride to set up the first franchise that’s out of this world—JK, people! (Or, maybe we’re not.)
[webster groves]
To alleviate overcrowding, allow small class sizes, provide free full-day kindergarten and preschool scholarships, plus pay teachers and staff at or above the county median, the Webster Groves school board has placed two propositions on the April 7 ballot. (Bottom line: Voters are being asked in Proposition S to give thumbs up to a 65-cent tax levy, and in Proposition W to approve a $28 million bond issue.) The district has added some 300 students since just 2007, and temporary ‘fixes’—like carving classroom space out of a cafeteria and holding classes in hallways—are becoming untenable, officials say. Hixson Middle School would be expanded so that sixth-graders could be accommodated there, and the Steger Sixth Grade Center would become an additional elementary school. And if the district’s much-used and well-loved Moss Field looks old-school, there’s good reason: The sports facility hasn’t had a major upgrade since it opened in 1948! Passage of the propositions would mean a 93 cent tax increase altogether. (Pictured, above)
