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

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

MealThymes offers personal chef service for busy St. Charles County families.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Sarah Wienke How many times have you come home from a long day's work wishing there was a fresh meal ready for you and your family to eat? MealThymes, a new personal chef business, is bringing that service to St. Charles County,...

St. Charles County cuts 19 positions.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Business Record Staff St. Charles County officials will be cutting staff and making other budget moves in advance of an expected 1 percent decline in revenues for next year. In a press release Thursday, the county announced that 19...

Borrowing costs may impact St. Charles municipal bonds.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Sarah Wienke The credit crisis and financial roller coaster that began with defaults of subprime mortgages is now affecting municipal borrowing, a development that could affect whether local taxing entities can finance future...

O'Fallon-based Griffin Protection Group extends ID protection.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Sarah Wienke An O'Fallon-based security firm that specializes in identity protection and theft resolution is now extending its services to the public. Griffin Protection Group began for the first time to extend its services to...

St. Charles County Business Record News Digest: November 3, 2008.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Business Record Staff Grand opening of SSM Cancer Care The public is invited to attend the grand opening of SSM Cancer Care at St. Joseph Hospital West Nov. 13. Tours of the new facility will begin at 6 p.m., followed by a...

St. Louis-based Bryan Cave adds Atlanta's PoGo; combined firm will have 1,165 attorneys.
November 4, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole Bryan Cave and its new merger partner share about a dozen clients, a bank and a conservative approach to finances, according to leaders at the two firms. St. Louis-based Bryan Cave reached a deal last week to acquire...

Missouri Gov. Blunt loses dismissal of defamation lawsuit.
November 4, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Gov. Matt Blunt and four of his staff members will remain defendants in the lawsuit brought by his former deputy general counsel. Jackson County Circuit Judge Michael Manners on Friday denied all of Blunt's motions...

Judge in Kansas City drug-dilution cases dies at 77.(Obituary)
November 4, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Lee E. Wells, a former Jackson County judge who presided over the flood of litigation that followed the Kansas City drug-dilution case, died last week, according to court officials. He was 77. Wells served on the...

Commentary: The hippy judge and the Rule in Shelley's Case.
November 4, 2008... Byline: Craig Napier Everyone remembers the Rule in Shelley's Case, from first-year Property, but how many of you have actually used it in court? Over beers recently with a veteran mentor, I got a gem that I won't soon use in my travels in...

Missouri Supreme Court OK's increase in tax assessment.
November 5, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Tuesday was a tough day for taxpayers -- at least for those taxpayers hoping the Missouri Supreme Court would order refunds. In one of four tax-related opinions, the court said an increase in revenue from Franklin...

Missouri case about odor of deceased prior tenant shows extremes of landlord-tenant disputes.
November 5, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley Ryan and Amanda Findlay's excitement at their new apartment quickly turned to disappointment when, after they had signed their lease and moved in, they discovered a terrible odor. Eventually, the Findlays learned from...

Challenge to abortion-clinic law continues in Missouri Court of Appeals Western District.
November 5, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri continued its effort on Tuesday to have allegedly vague abortion-clinic regulations struck down. In arguments before the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District, the...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District overturns $825,000 jury verdict.
November 5, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley The Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District overturned an $825,000 jury verdict for a man whose hip fracture went undiagnosed for several weeks. The court remanded the case for a new trial after finding that the...

Missouri Supreme Court to hear arguments today, Thursday.
November 5, 2008... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff The Missouri Supreme Court has a full bench again, just three months after Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. left for a federal court position. Judge Zel Fischer, picked last month by Gov. Matt...

All Missouri judges retained under Plan.
November 6, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Voters retained St. Louis County Associate Circuit Judge Dale Hood on Tuesday despite a recommendation by a Missouri Bar evaluation committee that they vote him off the bench. A total of 230,183 voters, or 54.25...

Lawyers gain one seat in Minnesota Legislature.
November 6, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck / Kelly Wiese Jay Nixon and Chris Koster weren't the only lawyers elected to state positions on Tuesday. Most lawyers already in the state Senate and House retained their seats, and in a few cases attorneys gained new...

St. Louis County bond proposal to renovate courts fails.
November 6, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley A St. Louis County bond proposal that would pay for new government buildings was rejected by voters on Tuesday. While Proposition I did get a little over 50 percent of the votes, that wasn't the four-sevenths majority...

Lon Hocker Society seeks to raise professionalism among Missouri Bar lawyers.
November 6, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley One of Thomas Burke's goals as president of the Missouri Bar is to promote professionalism among lawyers. In an effort to do so, Burke has formed the Lon Hocker Society, filled with past recipients of the bar's Lon O....

Kansas City light rail lawsuit left in limbo.
November 6, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck Despite a heavy campaign by city officials and local law firms, Kansas City voters on Tuesday rejected a plan to build a light rail starter line. The 56-percent to 44-percent vote against the $815 million project is...

Shanahan, other execs sued by shareholders in St. Louis City Circuit Court.
November 7, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley A class action lawsuit has been filed by the former shareholders of Engineered Support Systems against Michael Shanahan Sr., Gary Gerhardt and other executives of ESSI as well as DRS Technologies Inc.'s CEO for their...

Fire district, city of Lee's Summit spar in Mo. Supreme Court over taxes for service.
November 7, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter The Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a case that could affect the existence of fire protection districts across the state. The dispute before the court was between the South Metropolitan Fire...

Federal jury in St. Louis awards sex researcher $2.4M for unjust enrichment.
November 7, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Sex researcher Virginia Johnson won a $2.4 million jury verdict against a health care management company for using the Masters and Johnson service mark to market treatment programs that have nothing to do with sexual...

Voters eliminate loss limit at Missouri casinos.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Mike Trask The elimination of the loss limit at Missouri casinos will not result in any dramatic changes at Ameristar St. Charles Casino, according to a company spokesman. The state's voters last week approved Proposition A, 56-44...

St. Charles County Business Record Biz Bites: November 10, 2008.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Mike Trask At long last Peoria, Ill.-based Cullinan Properties Ltd. has scheduled a groundbreaking ceremony on Nov. 17 for its Streets of St. Charles de-velopment. Invitations were scheduled to go out in the mail either Friday or...

Manufacturing woes continue, with some bright spots in St. Charles.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Mike Trask The outlook for U.S. manufacturers continues to dim. On Friday the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that manufacturing employment throughout the country fell by 90,000 jobs in October. The bureau said there...

L.A. federal judge to conduct pretrial hearing in trial of O'Fallon woman.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A Los Angeles federal judge is scheduled to conduct a pretrial hearing this morning about what evidence will, and will not, be allowed in the trial of Lori Drew, who is charged with creating a fake MySpace account to...

St. Charles County Business Record News Digest: November 10, 2008.
November 10, 2008... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff County budget proposal is lean The St. Charles County Council is considering a 2009 budget proposal that calls for budgeting $55.2 million for the general fund, or about $1 million less than...

Post-trial ruling may impact tort reform: St. Louis County judge asked to cap non-economic damages.
November 11, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley A judge's impending ruling on post-trial motions in a medical malpractice case has the potential to impact the tort reform law. In July, a St. Louis County jury awarded $2.58 million, including $1 million in...

Butsch exits St Louis law firm Green Jacobson.
November 11, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole Three attorneys have split off from the Green Jacobson firm to start their own shop. David Butsch, who had been a name partner with Green Jacobson & Butsch, launched the new firm in Clayton on Nov. 1 with former...

Settlement with Goldman Sachs finishes General American Life litigation.
November 11, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole A $100 million settlement with Goldman Sachs marks the end of the road for litigation over the 1999 collapse of General American Life. The settlement approved Nov. 13 brings to $242 million the total collected from...

Kansas City woman drops McCain-Palin suit.
November 11, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick The Kansas City woman who feared for president-elect Barack Obama's life dropped her lawsuit against his former opponents. Mary Kay Green last month sued U.S. Sen. John McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, contending...

Jackson County jury: Union Pacific Railroad will not have to pay damages to employee shot on job.
November 11, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Union Pacific Railroad will not have to pay damages to a former employee who was shot on the job. A Jackson County jury on Monday returned a defense verdict for the railroad company, which was sued by a man...

U.S. attorney indicts two Missouri men for mortgage fraud.
November 11, 2008... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff Report Two men have been indicted in a mortgage fraud scheme involving the sale of residential real estate located in Sikeston, U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway announced Monday. Russell Todd...

Wrongly convicted man sues St. Louis County.
November 12, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Johnny Briscoe had made up his mind. Convicted in 1983 of a rape he didn't commit, the inmate decided he would tell the parole board what it wanted to hear at his September 2006 parole hearing. He would take...

Sedalia attorney faces sanction in representation of Allstate Insurance case.
November 12, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick In a career built largely on defending bad-faith claims against insurers, it was Paul Hasty Jr.'s own act of bad faith that has him facing disciplinary action. Hasty, who has primarily handled insurance defense work...

Class action sought in the St. Louis Circuit Court against Charter Communications.
November 12, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A St. Louis resident blames Charter Communications' use of unlicensed installers for the problems she's been having with her cable reception. So on Friday she filed a class action lawsuit against the company. Leigh...

Half-cent fee for state motor-vehicle records struck down in Missouri.
November 12, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A section of Missouri law ordering fees for accessing motor-vehicle records was struck down by a Cole County judge. The decision by Judge Patricia Joyce on Monday targets a last-minute addition during the...

U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., urges legal protection for troops.
November 13, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton brings a country lawyer's sensibility to his role as chairman of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee. So when he discusses the pressing challenges of America's military, his concerns are both...

Kansas City attorney faces probation for altercation.
November 13, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A Kansas City attorney with a history of disciplinary action is looking at more severe punishment for allegedly trying to fight a client. Roy King Jr., a member of the bar since 1985, is accused of violating ethical...

Missouri Supreme Court considers child molester's request to see his children.
November 13, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A man convicted of molesting his 12-year-old stepdaughter is challenging the constitutionality of a state law that denies him unsupervised visitation and custody of his biological children. The Missouri Supreme Court...

Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan tosses lawsuit over life sciences funding.
November 13, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese Opponents of early stem-cell research have lost a battle in court. A group had sued various state officials during the summer, asking the court to clarify the validity of a state law and budget process in light of a...

Halloween litigation haunts courts in Missouri.
November 14, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter The ghosts and goblins have gone home for another year, but litigation about restrictions on sex offenders' Halloween activities goes on. On Tuesday, Gov. Matt Blunt and Attorney General Jay Nixon filed a motion to...

Criminologists gather in St. Louis to learn latest trends in research, crime.
November 14, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley About 2,500 criminologists from all over the globe converged on St. Louis this week for the American Society of Criminology's annual meeting. Criminologists employed in academia, state agencies, police departments and...

Fatal I-44 truck crash in Missouri to settle for $1.4 million.
November 14, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck Attorneys have asked a federal judge to approve a $1.4 million settlement in a wrongful death case from St. Louis County. According to documents filed this week with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of...

Charity denied damages from Kansas City accountants.
November 14, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A Kansas City accounting partnership escaped having to pay millions of dollars for allegedly botching an audit of a children's charity. A Jackson County jury used less than an hour to return defense verdicts in...

U.S. attorney Hanaway launches task force on mortgage fraud.
November 14, 2008... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway announced the formation of the U.S. Attorney's Mortgage Fraud Task Force. The task force met for the first time on Wednesday. Most of us have learned the hard...

Correction.(Correction notice)
November 14, 2008... The July 17 story Metro Law Firm head owes for unpaid taxes said U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber issued a judgment against St. Louis lawyer Elbert A. Walton Jr. on June 10. The judgment ordering Walton to pay the federal government...

General Motors plans to 'shuffle' Wentzville jobs.
November 17, 2008... Byline: Sarah Wienke General Motors officials say they don't know yet how many of their nearly 2,000 workers will be laid off when they slow production speeds at the Truck Assembly Center in Wentzville early next year. However many, it...

Senior housing is well under way at Meadowlands in O'Fallon.
November 17, 2008... Byline: Mike Trask With people living longer, more Americans are faced with the arduous task of finding a facility for a parent who can no longer take care of himself or herself. When builder Tom Hughes a couple years ago was faced with...

Former St. Louis hockey player opens natural meats store in O'Fallon.
November 17, 2008... Byline: Sarah Wienke A former St. Louis Blues hockey player and an O'Fallon businessman have teamed up to open T-Bones Natural Meats. The store, owned by retired National Hockey League player Terry Yake and Mike Manser, is located in the...

St. Charles County Business Record News Digest: November 17, 2008.
November 17, 2008... Byline: Business Record Staff County declared disaster area President George W. Bush last week declared a major disaster exists in St. Charles and some surrounding counties because of severe storms and flooding that struck the area Sept....

Q&A with Masuzo Kudo of Kitaro Bistro of Japan in O'Fallon.
November 17, 2008... Byline: Wm. Stage Driving along O'Fallon's Highway K one cannot help but notice the unique, free-standing glass and steel structure, stylized letters on the facade spelling out the establishment's name: Kitaro. If the outside is...

Senior housing is well under way at Meadowlands in O'Fallon.
November 17, 2008... Byline: Mike Trask With people living longer, more Americans are faced with the arduous task of finding a facility for a parent who can no longer take care of himself or herself. When builder Tom Hughes a couple years ago was faced with...

Cyberknife improves cancer treatment options: $4.2M system is one of three in Missouri.
November 17, 2008... Byline: Sarah Wienke Saint Louis University Hospital and St. Charles County-based Missouri Cancer Care have joined forces with SSM St. Joseph Hospital West to provide cutting edge cancer treatments in one comprehensive center. The three...

Missourians in the News: November 17, 2008.
November 17, 2008... Byline: Business Record Staff Woodburn, Wohlgemuth join Midwest Bank MidWest BankCentre has appointed Janet S. Woodburn and Thomas M. Wohlgemuth to its St. Charles County Regional Board. Woodburn is president and CEO of Bridgeway...

Kansas City-based H&R Block loses quest for coverage for class action suits.
November 18, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A federal appeals court said two insurance companies do not have to cover Kansas City-based H&R Block for class action lawsuits filed over the tax preparation company's refund anticipation loan program between 1996 and...

City of Jennings police officers unionize under court ruling.
November 18, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley Police officers for the city of Jennings have become the first officers in St. Louis County to be certified as union-represented. The move came after the Missouri Supreme Court lifted a 60-year ban on collective...

Man sues Kansas City Health Department over lost promotion.
November 18, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A man of Nigerian ancestry contends he was demoted from his prominent job within the Kansas City Health Department due to his sex and national origin. Eniola J. Olomiye sued the city and two health department...

Both St. Louis school boards want control: Missouri Supreme Court hears arguments over accreditation.
November 19, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Lawyers for the St. Louis Public School District's two school boards and for the Missouri State Board of Education were before the Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday, arguing about which school board has the right to...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District puts a nail in Schoemehl's coffin.
November 19, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A panel of appeals judges ruled that a woman missed the window to take advantage of a controversial 2007 Missouri Supreme Court decision. The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District on Tuesday denied Marianne...

A Missouri salary commission urged to raise judiciary's pay.
November 19, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck In the face of a faltering economy and historically skeptical lawmakers, Missouri's legal community is again pushing for judges to get raises. A state salary commission met Tuesday morning in Kansas City to discuss a...

Directory's dentist listing not misleading: Mo. appeals court rules disclaimer not needed.(Directory)
November 20, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley A panel of judges determined that the American Associations of Orthodontists had failed to state a claim when it sued Yellow Book USA Inc. for unfair competition for listing general dentists as orthodontists in its...

Engineer alleges discrimination at Boeing, files lawsuit in U.S. District Court in St. Louis.
November 20, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A former Boeing engineer says the aerospace company fired him because he warned his supervisors the company was defrauding the federal government and because his supervisors wanted a younger manager to take his place....

Grant will assist mentally ill inmates at Kansas City's Municipal Correctional Institution.
November 20, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Several Kansas City organizations are partnering in an attempt to slow the revolving door of mentally ill inmates at Kansas City's Municipal Correctional Institution. Building Respect Integrity Determination Goals...

Jackson County jury awards $1M for medical malpractice.
November 20, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A Kingsville family received a rare seven-figure plaintiff's verdict in their lawsuit against a Clinton doctor for medical malpractice. On Tuesday, a Jackson County jury awarded $1 million to Alex and Megan...

U.S. District Court in Missouri: Insurance firm needn't pay after dentist invokes Fifth Amendment.
November 25, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter An insurance company does not have to pay the $2.4 million settlement agreed to in a wrongful death suit against a University City dentist. James E. Bubenik and the family of Henry M. Johnston entered into a so-called...

Gridiron returns to St. Louis for its 52nd annual self-parody of legal profession.
November 25, 2008... Byline: Richard Jackoway With Sarah Palin having returned to the frozen tundra, Saturday Night Live isn't the yuckfest it was during the election. Fortunately for St. Louis lawyers in search of some song, a little dance and more than a few...

Longtime Springfield lawyer Glenn Burkart remembered.(Obituary)
November 25, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese A longtime lawyer and founder of a Springfield defense firm has died. Glenn Burkart was remembered by colleagues as a legendary litigator and great storyteller who also took the time to serve as a mentor to younger...

Missouri Court of Appeals says developers have standing to challenge property assessments.
November 26, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A Missouri appeals court gave the go-ahead for two real estate developers to challenge Jefferson County Assessor Randy Holman's increased valuation of property the developers sold in 2005. A hearing officer of the...

Governor Blunt fills vacancies in 22nd, 4th Circuits.
November 26, 2008... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff Gov. Matt Blunt announced two appointments to state courts on Tuesday. Theresa Counts Burke will be an associate circuit judge in the 22nd Judicial Circuit, and Corey K. Herron will be an...

In Missouri, judges' raises tied to state employees'.
November 26, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese In a tough economy, with state revenues shaky, a state commission charged with setting salaries called for treating judges and elected officials like any other state employee. The half-staffed Citizens Commission on...

Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District bars claim of educational malpractice.
November 26, 2008... Byline: Allison Retka A student cannot sue her teacher for failing to teach her adequate skills. For years, Missouri and most other states have upheld that concept by striking down claims based on educational malpractice. On Tuesday, the...

Independence lawyer told to repay lost investment.
November 26, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck An Independence attorney will pay $575,000 after losing a widowed investor's money, the Missouri Secretary of State's Office said Tuesday. According to a consent order filed with the office's enforcement section, H....

News Digest.
November 27, 2008... Byline: St. Charles County Business Record Staff Shopping campaign is under way The Economic Development Center of St. Charles County is working with local governments, businesses and civic groups on a campaign to keep residents' shopping...