Daily Record (St. Louis, MO/St. Louis Countian) articles from June 2005

Daily Record (St. Louis, MO/St. Louis Countian) archives from June 2005

8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules age discrimination case gets another chance in court.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Donna Walter A former Kelly Services salesperson will have another shot at suing the company for firing her in retaliation for raising concerns of age discrimination, although she lacks the probative evidence to pursue the...

MO Court of Appeals, Western District rules faulty allocation of marital debt causes remand.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Denise G. Callahan A husband took it on the chin when the couple split, but the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, found several digits of the divorce decree deficient, so it remanded the cause for further consideration....

Commentary: How balance sheets can help you manage your firm.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Jim Wirken This week we are going to continue talking about the fourth area that makes up every business in the world: billing. You will remember that the other four areas are: clients or customers, administration, getting the work...

Missouri Supreme Court to clarify childhood sexual abuse law.
June 2, 2005... Byline: Donna Walter It should be up to a jury to decide whether a former Chaminade student's claims against his high school stemming from the sexual abuse by two of his teachers are precluded by the general statute of limitations, said...

MO Supreme Court finds property partition mishandled by lower court.
June 2, 2005... Byline: Erin Suess A lower court jumped the gun on settling a dispute between two real estate partners, disposing of a disputed property in such a way that it amounted to a private sale - and well beyond the court's powers - held the...

St. Louis-based American Equity Mortgage opens in 25th state.
June 3, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff As of May 31, American Equity Mortgage, one of the leading mortgage bankers in the country, will serve customers in one-half of the United States. New offices in Phoenix and Orlando, Fla., bring the...

St. Louis businessman Michael Ferman elected Better Business Bureau chairman.
June 3, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Rubin, Brown, Gornstein & Co. L.L.P. partner Michael Ferman, CPA, has been elected to serve a second one-year term as chairman of the board of directors for the Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern...

St. Louis-based Clayco building truck facility.
June 3, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Clayco is building a new 35,000-square-foot maintenance building that will house truck repair operations for Metro Truck and Trailer at the Gateway Commerce Center in Granite City, Ill. TMT...

New MO Housing Development Commission officers elected.
June 3, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff State Treasurer Sarah Steelman was elected chairwoman of the Missouri Housing Development Commission during the commission's annual meeting in Jefferson City, Mo. She replaces Gary Collins of Jefferson...

Contegra to build Sanford-Brown campus in southwest St. Louis County.
June 3, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Contegra Construction Co. has been awarded the contract to build a 55,000-square-foot headquarters campus for Sanford-Brown College at the intersection of Missouri Hwy. 141 and Bowles Ave. in southwest...

Construction industry preparing for new FCC unsolicited fax ban.
June 3, 2005... Byline: Sean Ryan (This article originally ran in the Daily Reporter, Milwaukee, WI., another Dolan Media publication).The construction industry is mailing a blizzard of permission slips in rushed preparation for the July 1 implementation...

Entertainment, incentives key to continuing development in St. Louis.
June 3, 2005... Byline: Erin Suess St. Louis City Mayor Francis Slay spent some time with members of the St. Louis chapter of the Building Owners and Managers Association last week at their monthly meeting, talking with them about the challenges facing...

Vinyl industry fights back against documentary linking cancer with exposure to vinyl resin.
June 3, 2005... Byline: Brian Johnson (This article originally ran in Finance and Commerce, Minneapolis, MN another Dolan Media publication). The vinyl industry is fighting back against an award-winning documentary that links liver cancer with exposure to...

Better Business Bureau issues warnings, expulsions.
June 3, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff The Better Business Bureau urges consumers in need of bathtub or tile reglazing to use caution when dealing with Eastern Refinishing Inc., located at 3203 Tennyson, St. Louis. According to the firm's...

Existing home-sales in U.S. hit record.
June 3, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Existing-home sales hit a record high in April, defying expectations of a modest slowing trend in 2005, according to the National Association of Realtors[R]. Single-family home sales rose 4.5 percent in...

Commentary: Viewpoint - Grocery wars, hot retailers and 12,000 pretzels.
June 3, 2005... Byline: Larry Lichtenauer (This article originally ran in the Baltimore Record, Baltimore, MD, another Dolan Media publication).Three of the most frequently asked questions at this year's International Council of Shopping Centers...

Springfield-based John Q. Hammons Hotels committee approves accord.
June 3, 2005... Byline: Dolan Media Staff Writer (This article originally ran in the Journal Record, Oklahoma City, OK., another Dolan Media publication).A special committee of the board of directors for John Q. Hammons Hotels Inc. of Springfield, Mo.,...

Ready or not, make way for the tourists.
June 4, 2005... Byline: Mike Trask By most accounts, tourism has become a major industry here. Although difficult to quantify, state officials estimate tourism to be a $13 billion industry in Missouri. "It's hard because it's a service industry. How...

MO's small-biz owners like direction that state is headed.
June 4, 2005... Byline: Mike Trask Nearly two-thirds of Missouri's small-business owners are satisfied with the direction in which the state is headed, according a report released Wednesday by the National Federation of Independent Business. The...

Commentary: Missouri tourism trends mapped as summer season starts.
June 4, 2005... Byline: Mike Nixon Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Ah, the traditional call of family vacation season. One most parents have heard at least once. And one they, along with every other child ever cooped up in a car...

More businesses investing in VoIP technology.
June 4, 2005... Byline: Tommy Santora (This article originally ran in New Orleans CityBusiness, New Orleans, LA, another Dolan Media publication). Bank of America and Ford Motor Co. made the switch. So have Parish National Bank and the city of New...

Matson, Driscoll & Damico managing partner named certified fraud deterrence analyst.
June 4, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Matson, Driscoll & Damico L.L.P. managing partner Peter Karutz, CPA, CVA, is among the first in the country to be named as a certified fraud deterrence analyst. Karutz successfully completed the CFD...

Adamson Advertising doubles media buying/planning staff.
June 4, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Adamson Advertising has doubled its media buying/planning staff by adding Cathy Richardson as media supervisor, Tim Rank as media negotiator, Christy Toy as media planner/negotiator and Kori Racine as a...

Two join law firm of Williams Venker & Sanders LLC.
June 4, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff John P. Lord has joined the law firm of Williams Venker & Sanders L.L.C. as of counsel, and Lalii A. Chin has joined as associate. Bringing 12 years of trial experience from his previous position at...

Five law students join Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin's Summer Associate Program.
June 4, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Five law students join Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin's 2005 Summer Associate Program in the firm's St. Louis, Mo., office. A total of 21 summer associates will participate in the firm's offices in...

Lawyers Assn. of St. Louis elects new officers.
June 4, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff The Lawyers Association of St. Louis has elected its new officers. Robert E. Tucker, an associate with Goffstein, Raskas, Pomerantz, Kraus & Sherman L.L.C., is president of the association, and James R....

Missouri Supreme Court and Missouri Court of Appeals Summaries of Opinions: June 4, 2005.
June 4, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Civil Law Defamation; statute of limitations Sometime in 1997, PDQ Manufacturing, Inc., which made car wash machines, contracted with Advanced Cleaning Technologies Inc., to distribute and...

St. Louis court commissioner reaches retirement on career docket.
June 6, 2005... Byline: Mike Nixon Seneca Nolan is a family man. Prior to his retirement in April, Nolan's interest and concern for domestic relationships reached beyond his immediate household and, for 32 years, considered the individual lives that...

Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis members gather for 26th annual Bench and Bar.
June 7, 2005... Byline: Donna Walter The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis held its 26th annual Bench & Bar Conference last week at The Country Club Hotel & Spa at the Lake of the Ozarks. The conference attracted the second-largest number of...

MO Court of Appeals, Eastern District reinstates $5.5M medical malpractice verdict.
June 7, 2005... Byline: Emily Umbright A St. Louis City trial court erased a multimillion-dollar jury verdict not knowing it had the authority to determine whether the verdict went against the weight of evidence, the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern...

Bench and Bar panels focus on independent judiciary at Lake of the Ozarks conference.
June 8, 2005... Byline: Donna Walter The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis took on the issues that threaten the independence of the judiciary in two separate panels at the Bench & Bar Conference held last week at the Lake of the Ozarks. One...

MO Supreme Court rules indemnification clause wording not ambiguous.
June 8, 2005... Byline: Erin Suess Everyday people may not be able to tease meaning from the web of complex wording in contracts, but sophisticated corporations certainly can, found the Missouri Supreme Court, dismissive of an insurance company's attempts...

Commentary: Attorney compensation is all about the hours.
June 8, 2005... Byline: Jim Wirken We are continuing to talk about the area of "billing" as the fourth area of the five areas that make up every business in the world. As you know, the other four areas are as follows: "clients" or "customers,"...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals reverses $2M jury award in no-knock entry case.
June 9, 2005... Byline: Emily Umbright David Doran thought he had $2 million-plus coming to him after Kansas City, Mo., police busted into his home without knocking and shot him, but he was wrong. On Monday, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals en...

MO Court of Appeals says faulty liability release agreement may be corrected.
June 9, 2005... Byline: Denise G. Callahan The Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, says a liability release is considered a contract, and thus, parties get a do-over if the release was made by mistake. The court endeavored to correct what has...

Kevin Pollmann has joins St. Louis-based Government e-Management Solutions Inc.
June 10, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Kevin Pollmann has joined Government e-Management Solutions Inc. as vice president of operations. GEMS provides financial, human resources and revenue management software to governments nationwide. ...

Construction attorney Len Ruzicka joins St. Louis office of Stinson Morrison Hecker L.L.P.
June 10, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Stinson Morrison Hecker L.L.P. has expanded its construction and engineering law practice significantly by adding well-known construction attorney Len Ruzicka as a partner on June 1. He exited his post...

Clayco hires Anita Johnson as mailroom manager for the St. Louis office.
June 10, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Clayco has added Anita Johnson as mailroom manager for the St. Louis office. Johnson is responsible for mail and internal communication operations, packages and bulk mail, copying services, conference...

National Association of Realtors calls for more efficient electronic real estate actions.
June 10, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff A group of transaction management vendors convened by the National Association of Realtors has agreed to work together to develop improvements in electronic real estate processing that would save...

Demand for small buildings stays strong despite interest rate hikes.
June 10, 2005... Byline: Brad Carlson (This article originally ran in the Idaho Business Review, Boise, ID, another Dolan Media publication.) Increases in interest rates on short-term construction loans hasn't kept small commercial buildings from...

Fannie Mae names Daniel H. Mudd as president/CEO.
June 10, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Fannie Mae announced that its board of directors has named Daniel H. Mudd as president and chief executive officer of the company, effective immediately. Mudd has been serving as Fannie Mae's interim...

O'Fallon's newest master-planned community, WingHaven, offers community garden.
June 10, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Now, those who live or work at WingHaven can show off that "green thumb" at a new community garden that serves as the newest intersection of engagement at the $750 million, master-planned community in...

Mortgage Bankers Association seeks curbing of abusive lending.
June 10, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff The Mortgage Bankers Association testified that abusive lending practices have no place in the mortgage industry and the establishment of a uniform national standard is central to protecting consumers...

St. Charles leadership project finds lack of affordable housing for area's working class.
June 10, 2005... Byline: Erin Suess "A nurse can save your life, but she can't be your neighbor." That was the message from members of the recent class of the Vision St. Charles County Leadership program, who spoke with members from the various St....

The Cordish Co. partners with Cardinals to develop Ballpark Village in downtown St. Louis.
June 10, 2005... Byline: Leah G. Rothschild The St. Louis Cardinals last week named an East Coast company as its Ballpark Village development teammate. The Cordish Co., headquartered in Baltimore, Md., will partner with The Cardinals to develop the...

St. Louis law firm Millsap & Singer moves offices to Chesterfield for more space.
June 10, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Design-build is under way on a new 22,000-square-foot headquarters building for local law firm Millsap & Singer P.C. Clayco broke ground on the project April 29. Millsap & Singer P.C. has offices in...

Economist: Higher mortgage rates would aid stability.
June 10, 2005... Byline: Dolan Media Staff Writer (This article originally ran in the Idaho Business Review, Boise, ID, another Dolan Media publication.) Economist Kelly Matthews wouldn't mind seeing mortgage interest rates head north a bit. "I...

Landowners nationwide donate for easements, tax breaks.
June 10, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith (This article originally ran in the Daily Journal of Commerce, Portland, OR, another Dolan Media publication.) Last month, Seattle-based Plum Creek Timber Co. announced plans for a major development project...

Commentary: Turning problems into opportunities.
June 10, 2005... Byline: Louise Phipps Senft (This article originally ran in The Daily Record, Baltimore, MD, another Dolan Media publication.) This article will discuss mediation in noncommercial real estate matters. This subject matter is high on the...

Engineer's Club of St. Louis honors three.
June 10, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff The board of directors of the Engineer's Club of St. Louis presented John R. Kuhlmann Jr., PE/SE, president and CEO of Kuhlmann design Group Inc., with the Achievement Award of the Engineer's Club of...

Missouri officials push for more transportation dollars.
June 11, 2005... Byline: Mike Trask "A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon it adds up to real money," the late Republican U.S. Sen. Everett Dirksen from Illinois once said. These days, with a federal budget that tops $2.5 trillion and annual...

Missouri Sunshine Law dispute headed back to the trial court.
June 11, 2005... Byline: Denise G. Callahan Political posturing may have been afoot in a Missouri Sunshine Law dispute considered recently by the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, but one attorney in the case says the court never even considered...

Commentary: Adjusting fund expectations could benefit Missouri's infrastructure.
June 11, 2005... Byline: Mike Nixon One could almost hear a collective sigh of relief from state lawmakers, construction contractors, material suppliers and those who could have otherwise been adversely impacted when an anticipated presidential veto of the...

MO Court of Appeals rules executive board has authority to bring suit.
June 11, 2005... Byline: Denise G. Callahan After three years and a reported $2 million spent in legal fees, the Missouri Baptist Convention edged forward an inch in its fight to retain control over five companion organizations. The Missouri Court of...

SSM DePaul Medical Group adds to staff.
June 11, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff The SSM DePaul Medical Group is pleased to announce the addition of K. Helen Kranbuhl, MD. Kranbuhl joins Drs. David K. Bean and Joseph Novinger at DePaul Medical Group at Cross Keys. She is board...

St. Louis chapter of Direct Marketing Assn. announces board members.
June 11, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff The St. Louis chapter of the Direct Marketing Association has announced its 2005 board members. The 2005 president is Bob Mastis from info USA. Additional board members include John Fortner from...

The Council of The American Law Institute re-elects secretary.
June 11, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff The Council of The American Law Institute re-elected Susan F. Appleton, the Lemma Barkeloo and Phoebe Couzins professor of law at Washington University, to a one-year term as secretary. The ALC Council,...

Paule, Camazine & Blumenthal P.C. adds principal, associate to staff.
June 11, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Paule, Camazine & Blumenthal P.C. has added Paul F. Devine as a principal and Barton E. Saettele as an associate. With more than 13 years of legal experience representing some of the premier real estate...

Law firm of Guinness, Buehler, & Murano adds to staff.
June 11, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Donald K. Murano, Esq., has joined the law firm of Guinness, Buehler, & Murano L.L.C., formerly Guinness & Buehler P.C., as a principal member. His state and federal trial practice includes complex...

Stinson Morrison Hecker L.L.P. expands construction, engineering law practice.
June 11, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Stinson Morrison Hecker L.L.P. has expanded its construction and engineering law practice significantly by adding well-known construction attorney Len Ruzicka as a partner on June 1. He exited his post...

MO's Armstrong Teasdale adds to staff.
June 11, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Michael W. Noble has joined the law firm of Armstrong Teasdale L.L.P. He is a member of the firm's intellectual property practice group and focuses his practice in the areas of patent, trademark and...

Missouri Court of Appeals Summaries of Opinions: June 11, 2005.
June 11, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Civil Law Labor and employment; independent contractor status National Heritage Enterprises Inc., appeals from the decision of the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission that the...

Staying unnoticed is job necessity for skilled stenographer.
June 13, 2005... Byline: Mike Nixon Note this: Typed manuscripts generally contain 250 words per page. Each of those pieces of paper could easily be included in a court document averaging 500 pages. Allowing for at least one full trial per week, any given...

Women Lawyers' Assn. of Greater St. Louis' seminar addresses juvenile protection laws.
June 14, 2005... Byline: Erin Suess Protecting some of Missouri's most vulnerable citizens - indigent parents and their children - was the topic on every tongue at the Women Lawyers' Association of Greater St. Louis' half-day seminar, titled "Best...

Unrelated jobs lead MO Court of Appeals, Western District to overturn DES decision.
June 14, 2005... Byline: Denise G. Callahan (This article originally ran in The Daily Record, Kansas City, MO, another Dolan Media publication.) An overachieving paralegal/ limo driver/cleaning lady was the centerpiece of a dispute over what...

Solo, small firm lawyers from Missouri gather to learn at the Lake.
June 15, 2005... Byline: Emily Umbright Solo and small-firm lawyers from around the state gathered last weekend at the Lodge of Four Seasons in Lake of the Ozarks to share business cards and tips of the trade. For many legal practitioners, The Missouri...

8th U.S. Circuit COA's rules recanted testimony not enough to overturn sexual abuse convictions.
June 15, 2005... Byline: Donna Walter Four men convicted of sexually abusing five of their nieces will continue to do time in prison after the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, looking at the case for the third time, said the children's recantations were...

Commentary: Using your monthly reports to see the big picture.
June 15, 2005... Byline: Jim Wirken We are continuing to talk about the area of "billing" as the fourth area of the five areas that make up every business in the world. As you know, the other four areas are as follows: "clients" or "customers,"...

Law restricting use of TIFs upheld by Missouri Supreme Court.
June 16, 2005... Byline: Donna Walter The city of St. Charles lost before the Missouri Supreme Court its constitutional challenge to a 2002 law that restricts the use of tax-increment financing. The law was part of Senate Bill 1107, which was written...

Employee who took early retirement not eligible for benefits, MO Court of Appeals says.
June 16, 2005... Byline: Erin Suess Did he quit, or was he fired? That was the question facing the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, which determined that a Proctor & Gamble employee who voluntarily took an early-retirement package could not...

St. Louis Title in downtown Clayton fills a niche in commercial real estate.
June 17, 2005... Byline: Erin Suess In a grand opening befitting its upscale downtown Clayton location, St. Louis Title burst on the commercial real estate market scene, offering the St. Louis region a place to go for all commercial real estate...

Consortium to support neighborhood stabilization efforts in St. Louis area.
June 17, 2005... Byline: Leah G. Rothschild In less than seven months, citizens in seven local jurisdictions can turn to a newly enlarged Home Investment Partnership Consortium for housing solutions that support neighborhood stabilization efforts. St....

Commentary: Single purpose entities can help commercial lenders, borrowers.
June 17, 2005... Byline: Robert K. Rowell (This article originally ran in the MA Lawyers Weekly, Boston, MA, another Dolan Media publication.) During the economic downturn of the early 1990s, a number of financial institutions were badly burned when...

Mandate to legislate standards for all municipalities threatens 'green' buildings.
June 17, 2005... Byline: Dolan Media Staff Writer The increasing interest in environmentally conscious building methods around the country is being threatened by a move to legislate a single set of standards for all municipalities, according to a new...

St. Louis-based architectural firm celebrates 50th anniversary by funding Kenyan clinic building.
June 17, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff In celebration of its 50th anniversary in 2005, St. Louis-based global architectural firm HOK will fund the construction upgrades, outfitting, staffing and launch of a solar-powered diagnostic and...

Jeffrey St. Germain joins Clayco, working from the St. Louis headquarters.
June 17, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Jeffrey St. Germain has joined Clayco as an information systems/Web designer-developer. Working from Clayco's St. Louis headquarters, St. Germain is responsible for network support and Web application...

Balvin joins Coldwell Banker Commercial in St. Louis as sales and leasing associate.
June 17, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Coldwell Banker Commercial CRA L.L.C. has added Kenny Balvin as a sales and leasing associate. As a sales and leasing associate, Balvin handles all types of commercial real estate, including office,...

William Kral joins Midwest BankCentre in St. Charles County as VP of commercial services.
June 17, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff William Kral has joined Midwest BankCentre as vice president of commercial services. The announcement was made by Fred C. Dyer III, regional president of Midwest BankCentre's St. Charles County region....

St. Louis-based American Equity Mortgage promotes Fischer to CAO, named Best Overall Co.
June 17, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff St. Louis-based American Equity Mortgage has promoted Jennifer D. Fischer, SPHR, to chief administrative officer, a new position. "With services now reaching into 25 states, we needed someone to...

St. Louis-based Leonard Masonry receives two International Excellence in Masonry Awards.
June 17, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Leonard Masonry Inc. has received two International Excellence in Masonry Awards. The St. Louis-based masonry contractor was honored for its work on the Emerson Grand Basin and Our Lady of Lourdes...

St. Louis businesses unveil innovative playground at elementary school.
June 17, 2005... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff There are no swings or slides, but a new style of playground is captivating kids in a Maplewood, Mo., neighborhood. The futuristic playground at Maplewood-Richmond Heights Elementary School, 1800...

Legislation would keep banks out of real estate business.
June 17, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith (This article originally ran in the Daily Journal of Commerce, Portland, OR, another Dolan Media publication.) For the fourth year in a row, a majority of the U.S. House of Representatives has backed legislation...

Commentary: Mixing business with politics is not a new event.
June 18, 2005... Byline: Mike Trask In today's world, it is a simple fact of life that politics permeates our lives. Even if you are lucky enough to escape office politics at work, there is a good chance you will encounter family politics upon your arrival...

DED goes to Philadelphia in search of biotech companies.
June 18, 2005... Byline: Mike Trask Five members of the Missouri Department of Economic Development, led by Director Greg Steinhoff, are scheduled to travel to Philadelphia this weekend to attend the Biotechnology Industry Organization's annual convention....