St. Charles County Business Record, MO articles from February 2009

St. Charles County Business Record, MO archives from February 2009

City of St. Charles to use grant to buy foreclosed homes.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Mike Trask Some, but not many, St. Charles homeowners worried about living near foreclosed homes should get some relief starting this spring. St. Charles officials are expecting to get a federal grant in the near future that would...

Angels fill growing niche of in-home nursing care in O'Fallon.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Sarah Wienke For longtime registered nurse and O'Fallon resident Sharon Vermilye, starting an in-home private duty nursing business was something she felt destined to do. It was just a matter of doing it. My whole life I'd say, 'If...

St. Charles Small Business Specialist: Don't panic and other tips for our times.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Sarah Wienke With the constant barrage of bad news about folding businesses, layoffs and a stock market as stable as a slinky, the temptation for entre-preneurs and small business owners is to bury their heads in the sand. Lynette...

Bill anticipates federal funding for Page Avenue in St. Charles County.
February 2, 2009... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff Bill anticipates federal funding for Page Avenue The Missouri Senate Transportation Committee is considering a bill that would expand the number of design-build contracts currently allowed by...

O'Fallon-based Synergetics tabs Hable as president, CEO.
February 2, 2009... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff Synergetics tabs Hable as president, CEO Synergetics USA Inc.'s board of directors has appointed David M. Hable as the O'Fallon-based company's president and CEO. Hable will assume...

St. Charles County dentist completes dental training.
February 2, 2009... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff Dr. F. Jay Ohmes, a St. Charles County dentist, recently completed a six-day training program on advanced functional aesthetics at the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies. The...

St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann: 'I do have a heart'.
February 2, 2009... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff Ehlmann: 'I do have a heart' St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann says he is feeling fine after undergoing a cardiac catheterization about three weeks ago at SSM St. Joseph Health...

St. Charles-based Quilogy gets Nebraska schools contract.
February 2, 2009... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff St. Charles-based Quilogy Inc. says it has signed a $700,000 consulting contract with the Nebraska Department of Education. The information technology company said the contract calls for it...

St. Peters-based Rackers & Fernandez expands.
February 2, 2009... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff St. Peters-based accounting firm Rackers & Fernandez has announced the opening of a new office in Farmington, Mo. The office, located at 1218 Hidden Valley Drive, is the company's second...

8th U.S. Circuit Court upholds district's ban on 'Rebel Pride'.
February 3, 2009... Byline: Donna Walter Farmington school district officials did not violate students' free speech rights when it prohibited them from wearing clothing depicting the Confederate flag It's a good decision because it allows public school...

St. Louis County judge upholds tort reform caps.
February 3, 2009... Byline: Angela Riley A St. Louis County judge upheld the constitutionality of tort reform caps on noneconomic damages. In July, a St. Louis County jury awarded $2.58 million, including $1 million in noneconomic damages, to James Klotz and...

Missouri Gov. Nixon makes first court appointment.
February 3, 2009... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff Gov. Jay Nixon made his first judicial appointment on Monday, naming R. Brent Elliott as circuit judge for the 43rd Circuit. Elliott, of Stewartsville, is currently an associate judge in...

Two St. Louis firms announce merger.
February 3, 2009... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff Two St. Louis firms, Gundlach, Lee, Eggmann, Boyle & Roessler and the Brasher Law Firm, have merged to become Boyle Brasher LLC. The new firm now has 30 lawyers in three states with offices...

St. Louis jury awards $525K in Washington University suit.
February 4, 2009... Byline: Angela Riley A St. Louis jury on Tuesday awarded a famous surgeon $525,000 in his age-discrimination and retaliation claims against Washington University but sided with the university in his breach of contract claim. The jury also...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District affirms $1M jury verdict.
February 4, 2009... Byline: Scott Lauck The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District on Tuesday upheld a $1 million jury verdict from 2007, clarifying a novel question of bad-faith tort law along the way. Quinlock Shobe won $500,000 in actual damages and...

Missouri Supreme Court: Criticizing judges could get lawyer suspended.
February 4, 2009... Byline: Donna Walter A Kansas City lawyer told the Missouri Supreme Court he acted with intellectual curiosity when he wrote letters to a Jackson County circuit judge challenging her integrity and accusing her of engaging in judicial...

Jackson County awards $2.5M for injuries in car crash.
February 4, 2009... Byline: Scott Lauck The bad economy apparently made no difference to a Jackson County jury that awarded a woman $2.5 million late last week. The award to Adrienne Garrison Wayman, of Grain Valley, compensates her for injuries she suffered...

Robin Carnahan will run for Senate in Missouri.
February 4, 2009... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan announced Tuesday that she will seek the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Christopher Kit Bond. Last month, Bond declared that he would not...

Bridgeton gynecologist seeks to stop abortion protests.
February 5, 2009... Byline: Angela Riley A Bridgeton gynecologist says anti-abortion protesters are harassing his patients, and he wants them to stop. Dr. Allen Palmer and his office, WomensCare Gynecology, named members from the Holy Spirit Catholic Church...

Washington University plans appeal of $525K verdict.
February 5, 2009... Byline: Angela Riley Washington University plans to appeal a $525,000 verdict issued against it in an age-discrimination claim by a former surgeon and department head. The university's defense attorney, Joe Conran, of Husch Blackwell...

Martinez confirmation bogs down again in Senate in Missouri.
February 5, 2009... Byline: Jason Rosenbaum Linda Martinez's path to leading Missouri's Department of Economic Development hit yet another roadblock on Wednesday. Sen. Scott Rupp, R-Wentzville, blocked the St. Louis attorney's nomination from coming up for a...

St. Louis County bond issue axed: Proposal would have paid for new family court building.
February 5, 2009... Byline: Angela Riley The St. Louis County Council has dropped plans for a $120 million bond proposal that would have paid for a new family court building. The move, made at the council's Tuesday night meeting, followed promptings from St....

Correction.(Correction notice)
February 5, 2009... The Jan. 28 article "St. Louis County jury issues defense verdict in med-malpractice case" should have indicated that plaintiff attorney Burton Greenberg said Dr. David Brown, not Dr. Susan Mackinnon, had an interest with Dr. Anthony Sudekum in...

New charges brought in Jackson County Circuit Court in alleged fake attack case.
February 5, 2009... Byline: Scott Lauck A federal grand jury added new charges on Wednesday against a woman accused of staging an attack to bolster a civil lawsuit and the man she allegedly hired to carry out the attack. In a federal complaint filed last...

Madison County, Ill. agrees to fund facilities for mentally ill.
February 5, 2009... Byline: Donna Walter Residents of a Madison County, Ill., facility for the physically disabled and mentally ill failed to force the county to keep Shelter Care Home open, but they succeeded in getting county assistance for at least 10...

City of St. Louis settles reverse discrimination suit.
February 6, 2009... Byline: Donna Walter The city of St. Louis agreed to settle a reverse discrimination lawsuit filed more than seven years ago by two white men who had applied to be firefighters. Eric Deeken was awarded $25,000, and Michael Martinez got...

Former Obama aide joins Missouri-based Bryan Cave office in Washington, D.C.
February 6, 2009... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff Jeff Berman, a former campaign aide to President Barack Obama, joined Bryan Cave's new public policy and governmental affairs practice in the firm's Washington, D.C., office. Berman was the...

Missouri Senate: Donnelly confirmed; Martinez still on hold.
February 6, 2009... Byline: Jason Rosenbaum Two of Gov. Jay Nixon's cabinet appointees faced very different fates on Thursday when their nominations were brought up for a vote in the Missouri Senate. Margaret Donnelly's appointment as the new director of the...

Suits in Jackson County Circuit Court claim danger from seats' collapse.
February 6, 2009... Byline: Scott Lauck It's hard to think of a front-end car crash as safe, but drivers in such accidents at least have the airbag to stop them. In a rear-end crash, all that stands between occupants and harm is the back of the car seat. In a...

Former Jackson County assessor rejoins Stinson.
February 6, 2009... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff Stinson Morrison Hecker has formed a property tax issues practice group headed by former Jackson County director of assessment Michael O'Flaherty. O'Flaherty is rejoining Stinson Morrison as...

St. Charles Business Briefs: February 7, 2009.
February 7, 2009... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff The Meadows adds stores Two retailers will open their doors later this month at The Meadows at Lake Saint Louis, at the intersection of Highway 40 and Lake Saint Louis Boulevard. Old Navy is...

Local businesses look for boost at St. Louis Working Women's Survival Show.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Sarah Wienke Two women-owned businesses and a local home improvement company are among the first-time booth vendors at the St. Louis Working Women's Survival Show. Though each has a different reason for securing a booth this year,...

Center ekes out profit: St. Charles Convention Center's economic impact unclear.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Mike Trask Before the St. Charles Convention Center opened in April 2005, its critics argued that the facility would be a financial black hole. Even its proponents agreed that the facility itself would lose money, but they quickly...

BizBites.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Mike Trask Grubb & Ellis has come out with some interesting data showing subleasing opportunities in the metropolitan area. The brokerage division of St. Louis-based Gundaker Commercial Group Inc. said last week that as more...

St. Charles Business Briefs: February 9, 2009.
February 9, 2009... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff The Meadows adds stores Two retailers will open their doors later this month at The Meadows at Lake Saint Louis, at the intersection of Highway 40 and Lake Saint Louis Boulevard. Old Navy is...

Q&A with Dr. Aislinn Vaughan, St. Charles County's only Breast Fellowship-trained surgeon.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Wm. Stage Dr. Aislinn Vaughan is St. Charles County's only Breast Fellowship-trained surgeon. She started in practice with SSM St. Charles Clinic Medical Group in fall 2007 with offices at SSM St. Joseph Medical Park. In April...

Bicentennial fete in St. Louis will focus on locals.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Sarah Wienke St. Charles is planning another bicentennial celebration. But unlike the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial in 2004, this one is for the people who live here and not the tourists. But how much partyting city residents will...

Missourians in the News: February 9, 2009.
February 9, 2009... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff MEMC appoints Chatila CEO MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. in O'Fallon announced Thursday that Ahmad Chatila has been appointed president and CEO effective March 2. Chatila, 42, also will...

Charles Newman, others join Sonnenschein's St. Louis office.
February 10, 2009... Byline: Heather Cole Two more attorneys will be following class action defense lawyer Charles Newman to Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal. Newman, formerly of Bryan Cave, started at Sonnenschein's St. Louis office last week along with fellow...

8th U.S. Circuit rules 'right to remain silent' still meaningful.
February 10, 2009... Byline: Donna Walter A federal prosecutor may not question a defendant in court about her decision not to answer police questions after her arrest, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Monday. Natasha L. Gentry was arrested for...

Reuben Shelton to speak at Black History Month event in St. Louis.
February 10, 2009... Byline: Donna Walter Reuben Shelton, the first black president of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, is the headliner for the annual Black History Celebration, sponsored by the Lawyers Association of St. Louis and the Mound...

Carnahan sued in Cole County Circuit Court over stem cell ballot language.
February 10, 2009... Byline: Jason Rosenbaum A group aiming to add funding restrictions on embryonic stem cell research and abortion services into the state's constitution filed a lawsuit on Monday challenging the secretary of state's ballot language. The...

UMB takes over ownership of Renaissance Grand in St. Louis.
February 10, 2009... Byline: Angela Riley Bondholders for the Renaissance Grand Hotel and Suites formally took over ownership of the hotel after no bidders appeared at the foreclosure sale on Monday. UMB Bank, the bondholders' trustee, entered a bid of $98...

Hamburg steps down as principal at Summers Compton Wells in St. Louis.
February 10, 2009... Byline: Heather Cole Steve Hamburg has stepped down as principal in the firm that bore his name. Hamburg, who has a class action and complex litigation practice, now is of counsel, according to a press release issued by Hamburg and the...

U.S. District Court in St. Louis awards almost $700K for head-on crash.
February 11, 2009... Byline: Donna Walter A federal judge ordered a drunken driver to pay more than $695,000 to a woman he injured in a nearly head-on collision in O'Fallon. The plaintiff, Sherry Lesch, sued the driver, Louis Gumpenberger, and the U.S....

Challenge to casino measure rejected by Missouri Court of Appeals Western District.
February 11, 2009... Byline: Scott Lauck A Missouri appeals court denied a legal challenge to November's casino ballot measure -- three months after voters approved it. The ballot item, known as Proposition A, was challenged in court in August 2008. The trial...

ABA to honor St. Louis attorney.
February 11, 2009... Byline: Angela Riley A St. Louis attorney is receiving a national award from the American Bar Association for her outreach efforts to enhance the public's awareness of the need for a fair and impartial judiciary. Doreen Dodson, of The...

Martinez approved after long delay: Missouri attorney will head Department of Economic Development.
February 11, 2009... Byline: Jason Rosenbaum Gov. Jay Nixon's pick for director of the Department of Economic Development was approved by the Missouri Senate on Tuesday, but not before a St. Charles County senator delivered a fiery rebuke of the governor....

Missouri Supreme Court orders new hearing over altered plea deal.
February 11, 2009... Byline: Angela Riley The Missouri Supreme Court ordered an evidentiary hearing for a man who argued the state altered his plea agreement. The court decided on Tuesday that the St. Francis County Circuit Ccourt erred when it denied Gary...

Illegal practice of law suits move against auto dealers in Missouri.
February 12, 2009... Byline: Angela Riley A lawsuit filed last week against Don Brown Automotive in St. Louis alleging an illegal practice of law is the most recent in a string of dozens of lawsuits filed in the wake of a 2007 Missouri Supreme Court decision,...

Jackson County Circuit Court tosses guilty plea in abandoned body case.
February 12, 2009... Byline: Scott Lauck A Jackson County judge issued a sharply worded opinion that threw out a man's 22-year criminal sentence and said the county prosecutor's office perpetrated a fraud upon the trial court for withholding evidence in the...

McDonald's wage suit OK'd in U.S. District Court in Missouri.
February 12, 2009... Byline: Donna Walter A federal judge allowed a group of McDonald's employees to go ahead with their lawsuit to collect McOvertime. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Charles Shaw said the plaintiffs could continue with their class action...

Missouri-based Bryan Cave Lays off 58 attorneys.
February 13, 2009... Byline: Heather Cole Citing a deteriorating economy, Bryan Cave is laying off 58 attorneys and 76 staff members firmwide and freezing salaries for 2009. The steps followed efforts throughout 2008 to slash expenses in an attempt to avoid...

St. Louis attorney Phillip B. Polster dies at 89.
February 13, 2009... Byline: Angela Riley Longtime intellectual property attorney Philip B. Polster will be remembered for accomplishing much very quietly, his son and law firm partner said. Polster died Monday; he was 89. Polster practiced law for 60 years...

Credibility issues center of woman's asylum case in 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
February 13, 2009... Byline: Donna Walter Irene Clemente-Giron wants to live in the United States. Shortly after her visitor's visa expired, the El Salvadoran woman applied for asylum, claiming the police in her native land persecuted her for her religious...

Hearne named new head of law firm of Lathrop & Gage in St. Louis.
February 13, 2009... Byline: Heather Cole Thor Hearne is now heading up the St. Louis office of Lathrop & Gage. Hearne, known for his work as national legal election counsel for President George W. Bush's 2004 re-election campaign, takes over from Brent...

U. S. District Court, Western District of Missouri denies officers immunity in excessive force suit.
February 13, 2009... Byline: Scott Lauck A federal judge allowed key allegations to go forward in an excessive force lawsuit against several Kansas City Police Department officers. Judge Ortrie D. Smith on Tuesday denied summary judgment on excessive force...

Doing good during the furlough.
February 16, 2009... Byline: Sarah Wienke Kenny Reese doesn't want to collect unemployment checks and watch TV while the Wentzville GM Truck Assembly Plant stops production for three weeks. A team leader in the body shop with 29 years with the company, Reese...

St. Charles County Association of Realtors' message unchanged after one year.
February 16, 2009... Byline: Mike Trask When the St. Charles County Association of Realtors launched a public relations campaign in February 2008, the message was that it was a great time to buy a house. Since that time the economy has deteriorated further...

Taking initiative: St. Peters Economic Development Task Force calls for more use of incentives.
February 16, 2009... Byline: Mike Trask St. Peters needs to place more emphasis on redevelopment and the use of incentives to stimulate the local economy, according to a panel appointed to study the situation. Mayor Len Pagano last year appointed one dozen...

O'Fallon project brings new life to historic site.
February 16, 2009... Byline: Sarah Wienke Turning the earth with an antique shovel used for burials for more than a century, O'Fallon's Sisters of the Most Precious Blood broke ground last Thursday on a $50 million retirement community, which will be built on...

Missourians in the News: February 16, 2009.
February 16, 2009... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff Kusman selected to head First Bank's Mortgage Division First Bank has named Bill Kusman of O'Fallon as president of its Mortgage Division. Prior to joining First Bank, Kusman served as a...

8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules miranda need not apply.
February 17, 2009... Byline: Donna Walter A federal appeals court refused to second-guess a district court judge's decision not to suppress statements a criminal defendant made to police before his Miranda rights were read to him. The appellate court also...

Law student in St. Louis fasts for her native Sri Lanka.
February 17, 2009... Byline: Angela Riley Not many Americans are familiar with the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka. But Washington University law student Sadena Thevarajah and seven others from People for Equality and Relief in Lanka, or PEARL, have been on a...

K.C. protesters call for immigration reform.
February 17, 2009... Byline: Scott Lauck Kansas City's federal immigration court hasn't yet brought in its first live judge, but it's already been the focal point of a protest. The Immigration Justice Advocacy Movement, a faith-based group in Kansas City,...

Cole County Circuit Court exonerates man for 1992 murder.
February 18, 2009... Byline: Allison Retka An Illinois man convicted of the 1992 murder of a southeast Missouri woman has been exonerated by Cole County Circuit Judge Richard B. Callahan. Joshua Kezer was found guilty of the murder of Angela Mischelle Lawless...

Lawyer says city must pay for violations at Lambert St. Louis International Airport.
February 18, 2009... Byline: Donna Walter Lawyers for a group of current and former Bridgeton residents on Tuesday asked a federal judge to order the city of St. Louis to pay the maximum penalty for violations of the Clean Air Act connected with a runway...

U.S. Magistrate judge for Eastern District of Missouri rules red-light camera suit can proceed.
February 18, 2009... Byline: Angela Riley In a broad-ranging order earlier this month, a federal judge has allowed for a lawsuit challenging the city of Arnold's use of red-light ticket cameras to proceed. U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas C. Mummert III, of the...

Voter ID back in Legislature in Missouri.
February 18, 2009... Byline: Jason Rosenbaum Missouri Republicans are engaging in another fight to establish a requirement to present photo identification before voting. But the proposal in its current form might not actually impact any Missouri voters for...

House fire wrongful death appears close to settlement in Jackson County Court.
February 19, 2009... Byline: David Knopf Kelly Caine, the father of a girl who died in a December 2006 house fire in Bates County, declined Tuesday to agree to a settlement proposed before a hearing at the Jackson County Court Annex in Independence. Caine...

Cole County Circuit frees inmate Kezer.
February 19, 2009... Byline: Allison Retka Inmate Joshua Kezer walked out of the Jefferson City Correctional Center on Wednesday, just a day after he was exonerated for the 1992 murder of a southeast Missouri woman, Mischelle Lawless. On Tuesday, Cole County...

Plaintiffs in deadly crash seek new trial in Missouri Supreme Court.
February 19, 2009... Byline: Scott Lauck Almost six years after a fiery crash on Interstate 70 killed a state trooper and severely injured another driver, lawyers for the victims asked the Missouri Supreme Court to let them take another crack at the maker of...

Missouri Supreme Court rules testimony hearsay, defense argues.
February 19, 2009... Byline: Jason Rosenbaum An attorney for a St. Charles woman convicted of manufacturing meth argued before the Missouri Supreme Court on Wednesday that prosecutors inappro-priately used hearsay evidence to help secure her conviction....

Class actions sought in suit against St. Louis-based Monsanto.
February 20, 2009... Byline: Angela Riley A group of residents from Sauget, Ill. have filed suit against Monsanto, and its subsidiaries alleging that for years the company dumped toxic, carcinogenic chemicals that poisoned their town. The suit asked for two...

Missouri Court of Appeals upholds workers' comp injury definition.
February 20, 2009... Byline: Donna Walter A Missouri appeals court issued a decision this week likely to please the state's Republican-led Legislature. On Tuesday, the appellate court in St. Louis said a Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission employee...

Who employs municipal judges a thorny issue for appeals court in Missouri.
February 20, 2009... Byline: Scott Lauck Municipal judges in Kansas City are part of the state's 16th Judicial Circuit, but their paychecks come from the city. They are selected through a system very similar to Missouri's Nonpartisan Court Plan, but the Kansas...

8th Circuit rules bank robbery wasn't a 'necessity'.
February 20, 2009... Byline: Donna Walter Faced with the choice of living in prison or on the streets, James Richard Cook says he had to choose prison. Then he tried to use that choice to stay out of prison. A federal judge, however, refused to allow Cook's...

Republican Congressman Roy Blunt to run for Senate in Missouri.
February 20, 2009... Byline: Angela Riley Republican Congressman Roy Blunt announced on Thursday that he will seek the U.S. Senate seat to be vacated by Sen. Christopher Kit Bond. Bond announced in January that he would not seek a fifth Senate term in 2010....

School district awaits $1.2M from Cullinan.
February 21, 2009... Byline: Mike Trask St. Charles School District officials are hoping to receive a $1.2 million payment from Peoria, Ill.-based developer Cullinan Properties Ltd. in the near future. Cullinan is the developer of the Streets of St. Charles,...

St. Charles-based Simutronics' new game has already made money as a development platform.(Company overview)
February 23, 2009... Byline: Wm. Stage Explore fantastic worlds, make lifelong friends, fight epic battles. This pitch is directed to the legion of subscribers who play the online games offered by Simutronics, the company responsible for CyberStrike,...

Eastern District Appellate Court in Missouri rules gamblers are consumers.
February 23, 2009... Byline: Sarah Wienke Seven Ameristar Casino patrons are celebrating what they've termed a complete victory over the St. Charles casino after the Eastern District Appellate Court ruled in their favor. This decision says that a gambler is...

St. Charles School District awaits $1.2M from Cullinan.
February 23, 2009... Byline: Mike Trask St. Charles School District officials are hoping to receive a $1.2 million payment from Peoria, Ill.-based developer Cullinan Properties Ltd. in the near future. Cullinan is the developer of the Streets of St. Charles,...

Local government officials in St. Charles County submit requests for federal stimulus funds.
February 23, 2009... Byline: Sarah Wienke The amount of federal stimulus money St. Charles County gets is still undetermined, but local officials have put together lists of shovel-ready projects to make sure they get a piece of the pie. Last week, President...

Missourians in the News: February 23, 2009.
February 23, 2009... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff Groves named to Women's Safe House board The Women's Safe House, a St. Louis shelter for battered women and their children, has named Michelle Groves of Wentzville to its board of directors....