St. Charles County Business Record, MO articles from March 2008

St. Charles County Business Record, MO archives from March 2008

Making the hour count when you're hiring.
March 1, 2008... Byline: Angela Cobb An hour of your time is valuable. Recruiting top talent using a consistent interview process is crucial. As a busy executive, you need to balance interviewing with your fast-growing to do list. Being able to maximize...

Q&A with Steve Brennell of nonprofit organization Willows Way.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Wm. Stage From its beginning in 1990, Willows Way has worked to provide individually-designed support services to the developmentally disabled, services built upon the principles of inclusion, independence, and self determination....

Commentary: Making the hour count when you're hiring.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Angela Cobb An hour of your time is valuable. Recruiting top talent using a consistent interview process is crucial. As a busy executive, you need to balance interviewing with your fast-growing "to do" list. Being able to maximize...

Judy Burns of Patriot Machines Inc. in St. Charles honored.(Awards list)
March 3, 2008... Byline: St. Charles Business Record Staff Judy L. Burns, owner and operator of Patriot Machines Inc. in St. Charles, is scheduled to be honored Tuesday by Missouri First Lady Melanie Blunt. Burns is one of five winners of the inaugural...

Tom Drabelle is O'Fallon's new PR head.
March 3, 2008... Byline: St. Charles Business Record Staff Tom Drabelle is scheduled today to begin his duties as the city of O'Fallon's newest director of public relations. Prior to joining the city, Drabelle worked in communications jobs for Coventry...

SSM Health Care in St. Charles and Lake Saint Louis hires Montez Alford.
March 3, 2008... Byline: St. Charles Business Record Staff SSM Health Care has named Montez Alford as manager of professional services at its St. Joseph hospitals in St. Charles and in Lake Saint Louis. In her new job she will be responsible for all...

Crystal Extrusion Systems in Union promotes Tom Ziegler.
March 3, 2008... Byline: St. Charles Business Record Staff Crystal Extrusion Systems in Union has promoted Tom Ziegler to vice president of operations. He joined the company in 2006 as general manager. Ziegler's responsibilities include planning and...

Julie Davis of St. Charles to head Negwer division.
March 3, 2008... Byline: St. Charles Business Record Staff Julie Davis of St. Charles will lead NM Specialties, a new division of St. Louis-based Negwer Materials Inc. "With her 13 years of experience working with specialty products, we are confident she...

Jefferson City-based Premier Bank announces promotions.
March 3, 2008... Byline: St. Charles Business Record Staff Jefferson City-based Premier Bank recently announced that three employees had been promoted to the position of assistant vice president, senior residential mortgage lender. They are Mark H. Markus,...

David Sampl of O'Fallon promoted at Kwame Building Group.
March 3, 2008... Byline: St. Charles Business Record Staff David Sampl of O'Fallon, Mo., has been promoted to vice president of the financial services group at Kwame Building Group in St. Louis. In this position, Sampl is responsible for managing the...

Anne Ritter and Jeff Milam join Brown Smith Wallace.
March 3, 2008... Byline: St. Charles Business Record Staff Brown Smith Wallace has hired Anne Ritter to work in the company's Tax and Accounting Service Group in St. Charles. The CPA and consulting firm said Ritter will prepare and review financial...

Sen. Tom Dempsey named to Missouri Workforce Investment Board.
March 3, 2008... Byline: St. Charles Business Record Staff Republican state Sen. Tom Dempsey of St. Charles has been named to the Missouri Workforce Investment Board. The board works under guidelines established by the federal Workforce Investment Act of...

Kwame Building Group to manage Wentzville project.
March 3, 2008... Byline: St. Charles Business Record Staff Kwame Building Group has been named construction manager and owner representative of the 1st Financial Federal Credit Union corporate headquarters and branch project now under construction in...

Cissell Mueller Construction completes church project in St. Charles.
March 3, 2008... Byline: St. Charles Business Record Staff Cissell Mueller Construction Inc. has completed construction of a 9,300-square-foot expansion of St. Charles Presbyterian Church. The project included a two-story classroom addition, and the...

St. Charles Chamber of Commerce holds ribbon-cuttings.
March 3, 2008... Byline: St. Charles Business Record Staff The St. Charles Chamber of Commerce recently conducted a number of ribbon-cutting ceremonies in Whittaker Homes' New Town development. The businesses that recently opened there are: Farmers...

New Melle firefighters get grant.
March 3, 2008... Byline: St. Charles Business Record Staff Gov. Matt Blunt announced recently that the New Melle Fire Protection District in St. Charles County had been awarded $104,382 in grant money from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Sentencing changes guidelines by U.S. Sentencing Comm. over crack disparity take effect.
March 4, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Harold Simmons is flying the coop. Originally sentenced to 37 months in prison for possession with the intent to distribute crack cocaine, Simmons is one of thousands of inmates leaving federal prison after receiving...

Federal judge rules detainee in Mo. does not have First Amendment right to publish newsletter.
March 4, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A detainee at the Missouri Sexual Offender Treatment Center in Farmington does not have the First Amendment right to publish a newsletter, a federal judge said recently. William Bradford, a resident at the facility,...

Missouri Lawyers in the News: March 4, 2008.
March 4, 2008... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff Jordan Cherrick, leader of Greensfelder Hemker & Gale's appellate practice, quietly exited the firm last week. His name had vanished from the firm's Web directory by Thursday, the first day...

Railroad worker wins $1M in St. Louis County.
March 5, 2008... Byline: Allison Retka In one of the first personal injury suits lodged against a railroad company since the state overhauled its tort laws, a southern Missouri man won a $1.05 million jury verdict in St. Louis County. Myles Bentley, 34,...

Missouri Supreme Court to decide if a prosecutor should try a former client.
March 5, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A county prosecutor should be barred from pursuing charges against a woman he once represented as a criminal defense attorney, the woman's lawyer said before the Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday. But the prosecutor,...

Court considers civil confinement of sex offenders.
March 5, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese A man confined as a sexually violent predator wants the Missouri Supreme Court to let him go, saying he never should have been locked away in the first place. Jackie Holtcamp, whose case the high court heard on...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District considers speedy trial issue.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese A man found guilty by a St. Louis jury of stealing an elderly woman's purse outside a church wants his conviction tossed out because he wasn't brought to trial quickly enough. A panel of the Missouri Court of Appeals...

Change in Missouri law should mean earlier pension, ex-judge says.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A former state administrative judge should have started receiving pension payments when he turned 62 despite how the law read when he left the bench, his lawyer argued before the Missouri Supreme Court. But the...

Meadows starting to bloom: Five months before lifestyle center opens, 26 businesses have signed leases.
March 8, 2008... Byline: Amy Armour A city filled with residents with disposable income, coupled with the high traffic location off of Highway 40 and the 'pro-development' city aldermen made Lake Saint Louis a natural choice for the Meadows, developers say...

Missouri gas prices soar.
March 8, 2008... Byline: St. Charles Business Record Staff Gasoline prices climbed past $3 a gallon in some parts of the state last week, while diesel fuel prices surged to record highs, according to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. The average...

Missouri's economic outlook is better than most.
March 8, 2008... Byline: Gov. Matt Blunt As governor, I have worked to cultivate economic growth and make Missouri a state of opportunity by enacting pro-jobs, pro-growth initiatives. Before I took office, the state was losing jobs at an alarming rate,...

Gamemaker Simultronics' looking to double up.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Mike Trask New building will allow company to grow workforce After a weather-related delay, the ground has been broken in the 370 Corporate Center Office Park in St. Charles for a 26,000-square-foot building that will become...

Weldon Spring withdraws annexation -- for now.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Mike Trask Weldon Spring officials have withdrawn their petition to involuntary annex the Missouri Research Park. But officials won't stop trying to get businesses inside the park to become a part of the city, according to Mayor...

Meadows starting to bloom in Lake Saint Louis.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Amy Armour Five months before lifestyle center opens, 26 businesses have signed leases A city filled with residents with disposable income, coupled with the high traffic location off of Highway 40 and the 'pro-development'...

Employers have vote on politics at work.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Rich Meneghello Never before has a presidential election had the potential to wreak as much havoc on workplaces as the 2008 election could bring to bear. Most people are accustomed to a measure of division between co-workers come...

Missouri gas prices soar.
March 10, 2008... Byline: St. Charles Business Record Staff Gasoline prices climbed past $3 a gallon in some parts of the state last week, while diesel fuel prices surged to record highs, according to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. The average...

St. Charles Convention Center recognized for service.
March 10, 2008... Byline: St. Charles Business Record Staff A trade magazine for the second consecutive year has honored the St. Charles Convention Center for its service and venue excellence. "Facilities and Destinations" magazine recently gave its Prime...

St. Charles-based LMI Aerospace creates composites tech center.
March 10, 2008... Byline: St. Charles Business Record Staff St. Charles-based LMI Aerospace Inc. has created a Composites Technology Center of Excellence to provide engineering manufacturing, test and certification services to the aerospace industry. The...

Michael Allton starts Web design firm in Lake Saint Louis.
March 10, 2008... Byline: St. Charles Business Record Staff Michael Allton has started Stadia Studio, a Web design firm in Lake Saint Louis. The firm specializes in providing small businesses with services such as Web site design, hosting, search engine...

St. Charles area chambers celebrate ribbon-cuttings, openings.
March 10, 2008... Byline: St. Charles Business Record Staff Lakeside Tan celebrated its grand opening Feb. 5 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony conducted by the Lake Saint Louis Dardenne Prairie Area Chamber of Commerce. The tanning salon is located at 11108...

Dr. Alan Umbright named to Missouri's Time Critical Diagnosis Task Force.
March 10, 2008... Byline: St. Charles Business Record Staff Dr. Alan Umbright, SSM St. Joseph's executive medical director of emergency services, has been named to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services' recently formed Time Critical Diagnosis...

Michelle Broadhurst joins SSM St. Joseph Health Center in St. Charles.
March 10, 2008... Byline: St. Charles Business Record Staff Registered nurse Michelle Broadhurst has been hired as cardiac catheterization and electrophysiology lab care team coordinator at SSM St. Joseph Health Center in St. Charles. In her new position,...

Crider Health Center honors 'heroes'.
March 10, 2008... Byline: St. Charles Business Record Staff The Crider Health Center has honored four individuals and three organizations for their contributions to the community's overall health and well-being. The recognition took place March 1 during the...

Two join Brown Smith Wallace's St. Charles office.
March 10, 2008... Byline: St. Charles Business Record Staff Consulting firm Brown Smith Wallace has hired Kathryn Turnbull to work as medical billings specialist in its St. Charles office. She has more than five years of experience in medical billing, and...

White Auto Body West in O'Fallon recognizes 3 employees.
March 10, 2008... Byline: St. Charles Business Record Staff White Auto Body West in O'Fallon recently recognized three employees who each achieved 10 years of service. They are: * Matt Morfeld, a refinish technician; * Craig Fievet, auto body repair...

Commentary: Missouri's economic outlook is better than most.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Gov. Matt Blunt As governor, I have worked to cultivate economic growth and make Missouri a state of opportunity by enacting pro-jobs, pro-growth initiatives. Before I took office, the state was losing jobs at an alarming rate,...

Lawmakers in Missouri react quickly to drunken driving case.
March 11, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese The Supreme Court has ruled that some drunken driving crimes in municipal courts don't count when trying to enhance penalties for repeat criminals. And Missouri legislators are already taking steps to fix the ambiguity...

St. Peters hotel to pay $35K to settle EEOC complaint.
March 11, 2008... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff A former front desk clerk at Ramada St. Peters will receive at least $35,000 as part of a settlement with the hotel's parent companies. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued SASAK...

Mo. Supreme Court's committee to hear testimony about child-support guidelines.
March 11, 2008... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff The Missouri Supreme Court's Family Court Committee will hear public testimony about the child-support guidelines next week. The hearings will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. on March 21....

Missouri proposal on how to select its high court judges gathers steam at state capitol.
March 12, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese As the debate rages on about how Missouri selects judges for its highest courts, one proposal has taken a step forward in the legislative process. The House's Special Committee on General Laws voted Tuesday to forward a...

8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals OKs evidence gained in disputed search.
March 12, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Roy Hudspeth didn't want the Missouri State Highway Patrol to search his home computer for child pornography. But his wife agreed to the search. On Tuesday, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the trial judge...

St. Louis Law Firms Announce Staffing Changes: March 12, 2008.
March 12, 2008... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff Claire Schenk, a former assistant U.S. attorney, has joined the St. Louis office of Thompson Coburn. She is a partner in the firm's business litigation practice group. Schenk will concentrate...

The deposition from Heck: Lawyer and client sanctioned for abusive testimony.
March 12, 2008... Byline: Mitch Margo All trial attorneys have their deposition war stories. We've all dealt with the uncooperative witness and the obnoxious lawyer. Evasive answers can be annoying. Irrelevant questions can prolong a tedious day. Be...

Federal jury orders automaker to pay $200,000 in discrimination suit.
March 13, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter DaimlerChrysler must pay $200,000 to an employee who was fired from its Fenton plant after he filed charges of discrimination against the company. A federal jury awarded the money to automotive electrician Terak...

Attorneys sue drugmaker Bayer in U.S. District Court in St. Louis.
March 13, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A drug used to reduce blood loss during heart surgery has been linked to kidney failure, and personal injury lawyers are taking notice. On Monday, lawyers from Clayton-based Carey & Danis sued drugmaker Bayer in U.S....

Judge Baker stepping down from St. Louis court.
March 13, 2008... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Report St. Louis Circuit Judge Evelyn Baker is stepping down from the bench at the end of the month. Baker, who will turn 60 on March 29, said the job isn't fun anymore, so she's ready to move on...

Two charged in St. Louis County counselor's murder.
March 13, 2008... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Report Two men were charged Wednesday in the killing of Luke Meiners, an attorney in the St. Louis County Counselor's office whose body was discovered Tuesday in Illinois. Cleophus King, 40,...

Cost of flood insurance ebbing in St. Charles County.
March 15, 2008... Byline: Mike Trask If it's spring, it must be time to start thinking about flood insurance. The good news is the cost has been declining, according to St. Charles County officials. With the possibility of rising waters on the horizon,...

Developer hopes revised plan for business park will find favor with Weldon Spring officials.
March 15, 2008... Byline: Mike Trask After Weldon Spring officials rebuffed his first attempt to build a business park in that community, developer Scott Grau has returned months later with another proposal. He hopes his revised development plan -- much...

Cost of flood insurance ebbing.
March 17, 2008... Byline: Mike Trask If it's spring, it must be time to start thinking about flood insurance. The good news is the cost has been declining, according to St. Charles County officials. With the possibility of rising waters on the horizon,...

Developer scales back plan for business park in Weldon Springs.
March 17, 2008... Byline: Mike Trask After Weldon Spring officials rebuffed his first attempt to build a business park in that community, developer Scott Grau has returned months later with another proposal. He hopes his revised development plan -- much...

Commentary: Last week's Trask column missed the mark.(Column)
March 17, 2008... Byline: S. Richard Gard Jr. I am a big Mike Trask fan. He's a solid journalist in the best tradition of the craft. He employs a healthy skepticism, tells you what he thinks, and he makes the telling a joy to read. It's no coincidence we...

St. Charles EDC business seminars will offer a mid-morning 'Boost'.
March 17, 2008... Byline: Amy Armour No time to spend the afternoon in a business seminar? No problem. "Business Boost," a new series of training seminars, has been developed to energize and educate the time-crunched small-business owner and other business...

AmerenUE to invest $30 million in St. Charles County.
March 17, 2008... Byline: Mike Trask AmerenUE has started work in an older section of St. Charles on a $1.1 million project to bury overhead power circuits. It is the first phase of the utility's nearly $30 million plan to upgrade its delivery network in...

News Digest.
March 17, 2008... Byline: Staff report Synergetics reports record Q2 revenues Synergetics USA Inc. reported record net revenue of $11.6 million during its second quarter, which ended Jan. 31. That's a 2.5 percent jump from the same period one year ago....

News Makers.
March 17, 2008... Pieper named director of physician development SSM Health Care has named Karen Pieper its director of physician development and relations for all of the health-care provider's major facilities in St. Charles County. In her new post, Pieper will...

Pieper named director of physician development at SSM Health Care.
March 17, 2008... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff SSM Health Care has named Karen Pieper its director of physician development and relations for all of the health-care provider's major facilities in St. Charles County. In her new post,...

St. Peters dealer wins GM award.
March 17, 2008... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff Lou Fusz Jr. of Saturn of St. Charles County was one of three area auto dealers named General Motors Dealer of the Year. A total of 115 GM dealers -- out of 6,700 in the U.S. -- received the...

Two join St. Charles law firm.
March 17, 2008... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff Hazelwood & Weber LLC recently announced that Jeremy K. Johnson and Jaclyn M. Zimmermann had joined the St. Charles law firm as associates. Johnson concentrates his practice in the commercial...

BSW promotes Gray, hires Lane.
March 17, 2008... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Brown Smith Wallace, a tax, accounting and business consulting firm, has promoted Lincoln Gray of O'Fallon to manager in the audit group. He had been working as a supervisor in the group and has...

St. Charles names Yacovelli to liaison post.
March 17, 2008... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff Gina Yacovelli is St. Charles' new community relations liaison. She has worked for the city for the past 10 years in the fire and administration departments. The new job calls for Yacovelli...

Forum set to review St. Charles land-use plan.
March 17, 2008... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff Report The public may review and comment on a land-use proposal for St. Charles County at an informal forum scheduled for 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday. It will take place in Room 115 of the...

Employees sue Town & Country-based Charter over car tasks.
March 18, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuit against Charter Communications has been certified as a national collective action. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Madison, Wis., seeks unpaid wages and overtime pay...

Lawmakers in Missouri mull changes for public defenders, judges.
March 18, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese Missouri's public defenders could have a clear-cut way to rein in their bulging caseloads if a Senate bill goes on to become law. Missouri's public defender system has spent the past year looking for ways to lighten the...

Senior judge named to Mo. Highways and Transportation Commission.
March 18, 2008... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff A senior judge in St. Charles has been appointed to one of the most powerful positions in state government -- highway commissioner. Grace Nichols, 70, a Democrat and senior circuit judge,...

Letter to the editor: Voters should decide whether the Missouri Plan should be changed.(Letter to the editor)
March 18, 2008... To the Editor: In the March 12 story, Proposed changes to Missouri Plan gather steam at Capitol, Woody Cozad, a lobbyist for The Missouri Bar, suggested that the Missouri Plan should not be updated because Missourians consented to it in 1940...

Money may be missing from Pagedale court, state audit finds.
March 20, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter More than $1,000 -- perhaps more than $30,000 -- could be missing from Pagedale's municipal court, according to a report issued by the state auditor's office. An audit by the office found that $1,088 in court funds...

Women lawyers to be honored at St. Louis Daily Record annual awards banquet.
March 20, 2008... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff Report The achievements of 18 female lawyers will be recognized next month at the St. Louis Daily Record's 10th annual Women's Justice Awards banquet. U.S. District Judge Jean C. Hamilton...

Missouri's high court rejects concealed-carry challenge.
March 20, 2008... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff Report The Missouri Supreme Court rejected on Tuesday a challenge to the state's concealed carry law. It argued that permits for concealed firearms violate the Missouri's Hancock Amendment....

U.S. Supreme Court ruling may negate local death sentence.
March 25, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A U.S. Supreme Court decision in a Louisiana death-penalty case could affect a man sentenced to death 15 years ago in St. Louis County. St. Louis County Circuit Judge William Corrigan sentenced Herbert Smulls to death...

Missouri expected to feel 'the pulse'/Judge refuses to block man-made river rise.
March 26, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese A judge denied a last-minute attempt by Missouri officials to block the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from plans to release water into the Missouri River, leaving state officials to brace and hope their fears of further...

Former St. Louis-area coach gets one year in prison.
March 26, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese After hours of emotional testimony from former students about his impact on their lives, former St. Louis-area high school basketball coach Floyd Irons was ordered by a federal judge to spend a year in prison and pay...

Missouri Attorney General Nixon seeks order to halt spring rise.
March 26, 2008... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon is seeking a temporary restraining order to stop the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' planned "spring rise" on the Missouri River. In a press release...

Legislature may let defenders refuse cases, boost drug court budget a bit.
March 28, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese The state's drug courts would see a slight boost in funding if the House's budget plan holds. The judiciary budget is among several bills of interest to the legal community that have taken significant steps forward at...

Muslim woman paid $65,000 after complaint over head scarf at St.Charles firm.
March 28, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese A Muslim woman who claimed she lost her job for refusing to go without her head scarf is being paid $65,000 by her old company, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says. Mariam Soultan worked for Client...

Terry Blair found guilty of murder by Jackson County judge.
March 28, 2008... Byline: Staff report Despite misgivings about the way Kansas City police handled the case, a Jackson County judge on Thursday found accused serial killer Terry Blair guilty of six counts of murder. Blair, 46, faces life in prison without...

Panel selected for 21st Circuit judicial opening.
March 28, 2008... Byline: Staff report The St. Louis County Judicial Commission announced on Thursday a panel of three nominees to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of St. Louis County Circuit Court Judge Barbara Ann Crancer. The three nominated by...

Officials may lift blight label from Frenchtown.
March 29, 2008... Byline: Mike Trask When St. Charles City Council members approved a bill declaring approximately 15 acres of the Frenchtown Historic District to be blighted, they did so hoping the designation would attract a developer who would redevelop...