best news series city scandal

St. Vincent teams play on old floor for last time Perryville loses to Sikeston, out of playoffs. 6

Step back, and let the city do its job. 4AMID A LOT OF RUMORS

TUESDAY >>> FEBRUARY 28, 2012 >>> 75¢ VOLUME 133 >>> ISSUE 17

SERVING PERRY COUNTY SINCE 1889

Where are they now?Know someone from Perry County who has hit the big time?

Maybe a CEO somewhere? A war hero? A best-selling author? A professional athlete? Tell us!

Email: [email protected] or call 547-4567

PREPARING FOR THE BIG ONE

Photo by AmAndA LAyton

Emergency Management Director for the City of Perryville Bill Jones stands in front of a school bus that has been outfitted to serve as the area’s mobile command and communications center in the event of any disaster, including an earthquake.

By Amanda [email protected]

Thursday marks the 24th an-niversary for the Republic-Moni-tor’s annual Treasure Hunt game.

“Although the newspaper has undergone many changes over the last few months,” said Republic-Monitor editor and publisher Tay Smith, “the Treasure Hunt is a Perryville tradition that we want to continue, and I look forward to challenging our hunters this year. We are also grateful for the ad-

vertising support that makes this much-loved game possible.”

You never know where the medallion is going to pop up. For nearly a quarter century Perry County residents have welcomed in spring with the search for the disc that puts $150 in their pocket. The medallion has been to the post office, the library, and practically every lakeside dock in the county. Hunters are reminded that it will always be hid on public property.

“We want to make sure that ev-eryone respects other hunters, as

well as the public area where the medallion will be hidden,” Smith said.

The person or team that first locates the medallion must notify the Republic-Monitor within one hour. Call 547-4567, ext. 10, to leave a message, or bring it by the Republic-Monitor’s office at 10 W. Ste. Maries St., or email [email protected].

Winners must be photographed and interviewed before receiv-ing their check. Results will be featured in upcoming issue of the

Republic-Monitor. Any person or team violating

the rules of Treasure Hunt will be disqualified.

“We hope all the medallion hunt fans have a safe and fun hunt,” Smith said.

Look for clues in Thursday’s paper in the ads of the following sponsors: Ross Furniture, Plaza Tire, American Family Insur-ance (Mike Maloy, agent), Reid’s Harvest House, Perryville Chiro-practic Center, Lorenz Shoes and Keller, H&R Block. The medallion.

Newspaper’s annual search for medallion begins this Thursday

Earthquake: Are you ready?By Amanda [email protected]

The recent seismic activity in south-east Missouri, served as a gentle remind-er to residents that they live on one of the largest fault zones in the Untied States.

According to the Missouri Depart-ment of Natural Resources the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) is the most active seismic area in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. According to recent data, “scientists estimate that there is a 25-40 percent probability of a damaging earthquake occurring in the central U.S. within the next 50 years.”

Emergency Management Director for the City of Perryville Bill Jones says the best thing residents can do to prepare for a disaster is to educate themselves.

“The most important thing for people to know ahead of time in the event of any disaster is that there is no ahead of time,” Jones said. “People need to be ready at all times, and the best way to do that is though education and planning.

“People around here remember in 1990 when scientist Iben Browning predicted that there was going to be a big quake on the New Madrid Fault in southeast Missouri on Dec. 2 and 3. There was no quake, but what Browning

did scared people enough to force them to action. For the first time they believed the threat of a quake was real.”

Scientist point to the history of the NMSZ as a reference of what could happen. According to the United States Geological Survey, 200 years ago the NMSZ roared to life with a series of three very large earthquakes occur-ring between Dec. 16, 1811, and Feb. 7, 1812 — with six major aftershocks with an estimated magnitude of 7 oc-curring within the first two days follow-ing the first earthquake.

Hundreds of smaller earthquakes were reported for the next year.

Collectively, the earthquakes are ranked as among the largest in the United States since its settlement by Europeans; coming in at 10 times the size of the infamous 1906 San Fran-cisco earthquake that, by today’s stan-dards, caused an estimated $8.2 billion

in damage. As a reminder of those catastrophic

quakes, each February Missouri ob-serves Earthquake Awareness Month. On Feb. 7, hundreds of schools and businesses across the state participate in the Great American Shake Out — a simultaneous drill where participants will drop to the ground, seek cover under a sturdy table or desk and hold on until the shaking stops.

“The City of Perryville as well as a number of local schools participated in the ShakeOut,” Jones said. “It is a good time to remind ourselves to get prepared.”

The ShakeOut isn’t the only emer-gency management-planning going on. In May FEMA is holding a national-level emergency response drill in the New Madrid Seismic Zone that will simulate a catastrophic earthquake.

Jones advises that people need to be somewhat self-reliant in the event of an earthquake.

“Will there be emergency help? Sure,” Jones said. “But will it be enough to feed, clothe and provide water for every last person? No. That is why peo-ple need to have emergency supplies on hand and be prepared to be on their own for at least 72 hours. Tuck back some

See QUAKE/PAge 5

City begins inquiry

Filing starts for Aug. vote

Amanda [email protected]

A number of employees, including Pub-lic Works Director Charlie LaRose, have been suspended from the Perryville Public Works Department.

According to City Administrator Brent Buerck, there is currently an internal inves-tigation pending.

“There have been rumors [regarding mo-tives behind the investigation], and we’ve initiated an internal investigation,” Buerck said.

Perryville Police Chief Keith Tarrillion confirmed the internal investigation.

“That’s about all I know,” Tarrillion said.Mayor Debbie Gahan did not confirm

the investigation, saying, “I can’t shed any light on this to either confirm or deny it. We never make any comments on anything in the process, if it is, in fact, in the process.”

Newly appointed Water/Wastewater Su-perintendent Jeremy Meyer said he could not comment on the matter, as well as Pub-lic Works employee Tim Paulus.

Several employees suspended while internal investigation begins.


Filing for the August primary election opens today for several county offices.

Filing will remain open until 5 p.m., March 27.

Appearing on the Aug. 3 primary ballot will be the offices of Perry County Com-missioner for District 1 and District 2, sher-iff, assessor, public administrator, coroner and surveyor.

Candidates may also file for township committeemen and women positions in each of the county’s 6 townships. Each township can have one Republican and one Democratic committeeman and one Re-publican and one Democratic committee-woman. If no one files for those seats, they do not appear on the ballot and the party appoints someone to fill the vacancy.

To file for a county office, appear in person at the office of Perry County clerk

See ELECTION/PAge 5

“ Will there be emer-gency help? Sure. But will it be enough to feed, clothe and provide water for every last person? No.”

— Bill JonesEmergency Management Director

www.perryparkcenter.com

Chronicle (PG-13)

Monday, Feb. 27 - Thursday, Mar. 1

Little League19 days left to sign up!

TUESDAY >>> MARCH 6, 2012 >>> 75¢ VOLUME 133 >>> ISSUE 18


St. Vincent loses when offense goes cold. 6 Both Saxony teams lose in district finals. 6

With everyone’s efforts, we’re winning. 4, 5THE WAR AGAINST METH


The Secret World of Arrietty (G)

Showing through Thursday, March 8

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (PG)

Friday, March 8 - Thursday, March 15

Don’t forget to sign your child up forLittle League!

Something happening?Let everybody know with an announcement in the Republic-Monitor!

If you’re event is free, or if you are advertising a non-profit organization, send it to us, and we’ll let everybody know!


City fires 4 public works employees


Four Perryville’s Public Works Department employees — includ-ing the director — were fired Thursday morning in connection with an internal city investigation into stolen city property.

The city refused to release the names of the individuals “because (the investigation is currently) a

personnel matter,” according to a city-issued press release.

However, multiple sources say the four include Perryville Public Works Director Charlie LaRose, along with public works employ-ees Chris Favier, Jim Thompson and Carl Davis.

The internal investigation in-volves, but is not limited to, the sale of city-owned scrap or sal-vaged material, according to the city press release.

Those who were terminated were contacted for comment. LaRose and Thompson failed to

return phone calls from the Re-public-Monitor. Davis would not comment, but Favier did.

“I was terminated, but I won’t comment any further,” Favier said.

Perryville City Administrator Brent Buerck said the internal in-vestigation has been underway for a little more than a week. Should criminal action be discovered dur-ing the investigation, Buerck said the city has “certainly left the pos-sibility open” for criminal charges to be filed against the four former employees.

“Until we’ve reached the point

where we feel criminal charges are necessary, we’re still approaching this as an internal investigation,” Buerck said.

Police Chief Keith Tarrillion also said Friday that a criminal investigation has not been started.

Mayor Debbie Gahan would not comment on whether a crimi-nal investigation is being consid-ered.

“Because of the delicate na-ture, because it has to do with personnel decisions and because we still need additional evidence, I have no comment at this time on

whether a criminal investigation is being considered,” she said.

Buerck said city scrap mate-rials are kept behind the Public Works building in bins and stor-age areas, or the materials will sometimes be collected by the Perry County Recycling Center.

The Public Works director heads one of five city depart-ments, and reports to the city administrator. The director su-pervises various city operations, including water and sewer, street and refuse, gas, fleet management and airport.

Included in the dismissals is the Perryville Public Works director, Charlie LaRose.

Shed, boat destroyed in blaze


A structure fire at 616 Bruce St., Per-ryville, blazed Friday afternoon as Per-ryville Police and the Perryville Fire De-partment arrived on scene around 4:15 p.m.

A shed in the back of the house at 616 Bruce caught fire, and according to Peryville assistant fire chief Bill Jones, the cause appears to be from owner Allen Steffens accidentally striking a nail with a wood saw, igniting a spark.

“It appears that while the homeowner was cutting with an electric saw, he may have hit a nail, which created a spark that traveled to a vacuum bag of highly com-bustible sawdust where the fire started to smolder,” Jones said.

The two-car garage had no vehicles inside, however, the structure was a total loss. The fire also destroyed a boat parked inside the shed.

Bruce Street was closed off for through-traffic, and several bystanders stood and watched the fire engulf the shed. High

Bruce Street fire started from a spark caused during a wood working project.

Photos by AmAndA Keefe

The 600 block of Bruce Street in Perryville was blocked off with fire engines on either end of the street to prevent through-traffic from traveling close to a structure fire that was dif-ficult to contain because of high winds.

New Web policy adopted

Moonier finds the medallion


School board members for Perry County School District 32 met with school administrators in special session on Wednesday for final discussion regarding school board policy 4650, which deals with electronic communication between students and school em-ployees.

The new policy was state mandated, and the board got in just under the March 1 deadline when all public schools statewide were re-quired to have a policy in place.

The new policy states: “Employee personal com-munication with students,


With last year’s hunts for the medallion ending in a matter of hours, the first

hunt of the 2012 the meda l l i on r e m a i n e d hidden for more than 24 hours — that is until expert m e d a l l i o n hunter Steve

Moonier discovered it’s whereabouts shortly before 7 a.m. Friday.

“The clues were very

Rules for student, teacher electronic communication.

Steve Moonier

see STUDENTS/PAge 5

see MOONIER/PAge 7

see FIRE/PAge 3

Perryville Fire Department Captain Jeff Bohnert races to get his gear on in preparation of tackling a structure fire last Friday at 616 Bruce St.

Putting out a Friday shed fire in the 600 block of Bruce Street was difficult because of high wind speeds. The fire was caused by the owner striking a nail with an electronic saw, igniting a spark.

Green velvet cakeperfect for a St. Patrick’s day. 1B

Sutterer files for council seat. 5A

THURSDAY >>> MARCH 8, 2012 >>> 75¢ VOLUME 133 >>> ISSUE 19



The Secret World of Arrietty (G)

Showing through Thursday, March 8

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (PG)

Friday, March 8 - Thursday, March 15

Don’t forget to sign your child up forLittle League!

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Another Top Name Brand is now at Perryville Discount Furniture!Get the lowest Prices on Shaw Flooring and Area Rugs!

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City inquiry now a criminal probe

CHOTROW HEADED TO CHINA

Photo by AmAndA Keefe

Gilster-Mary Lee Truck Driver Vernon Chotrow, 36, will be leaving with his two friends for Beijing China March 14 to aid Chinese orphans, which Chotrow said was a calling from God.

Truck driver feels it’s what God wantsAmanda [email protected]

“Have you ever asked yourself, ‘What is my purpose in life?’” Vernon Chotrow asked as he cupped his chin in his palm. “After I got in my accident, I prayed. I took a step back and asked myself that very question, and God spoke to me.”

On Feb. 20, 2010, Chotrow, a Gilster-Mary Lee truck driver from Perryville, began his route through southern Illinois. While on the road, a truck driver asleep at the wheel came into Chotrow’s lane and both trucks collided. The passenger of the other truck died in the wreckage, but Chotrow walked away with minor injuries — he also walked away with questions about his life and his purpose.

To find solace and answers, Chotrow, 36, started to pray. He asked God to help him understand his purpose here — what was he meant to do?

God answered.“Of all things, God was telling me to study

the Chinese language,” Chotrow said. “And I thought, ‘I’m a truck driver. I’m not supposed to learn Chinese.’ I hardly know my own lan-guage, let alone a foreign one.”

Shortly after, powerful dreams began find-ing Chotrow in his sleep — vivid dreams of preaching and teaching to young people, Chi-

nese orphans. He wasn’t sure what to make of all this, so he asked God for a confirmation — “Is this what he wanted from me? I asked him to give me a sign.”

And, low and behold, a sign walked through his church doors a few months later. A family from Ste. Genevieve had just ad-opted a little girl from China. Her name was Allie, and the family would go from church to church so Allie could tell of her life and the tribulations she endured as an orphan. Allie and her family visited Chotrow’s church, First Baptist, and that was enough for Chotrow.

“God sent her to me,” he said. “That was my sign.”

From there, he decided that traveling to China to serve and preach in a Chinese or-phanage was what he would do — what he was compelled to do.


As of Tuesday night, the Per-ryville Police Department began conducting a criminal investiga-tion into the alleged theft of city property involving at least four former city employees.

The City of Perryville began an investigation about two weeks ago into the missing property. Subse-quently, the city suspended and, eventually, fired four employees, including Water/Wastewaer Su-perintendent Charlie LaRose and public works employees Chris Favier, Jim Thompson and Carl Davis.

“One portion of the personnel investigation is now appropriate to convert to a criminal investiga-

tion,” said city attorney Tom Lud-wig Tuesday after a city council meeting Tuesday night.

During that meeting’s closed session, council gave Perryville Police Chief Keith Tarrillion the go-ahead to begin a criminal in-vestigation.

“We are now conducting an in-vestigation into theft of scrap ma-terials from property of the city,” Tarrillion said Wednesday.

The investigation involves the

theft of several types of scrap ma-terials, including No. 1 and No. 2 copper, red brass, aluminum and metal bare bright, or pure copper, with no insulation or coating. The estimated value of the material is $6,500, but Tarrillion said the value could be much higher.

Not only were city employees allegedly stealing the material, they were also allegedly selling it to scrap metal processors. Tar-rillion and the detectives handling

the investigation are now in the process of conducting interviews with current city employees, and they will also be traveling to cer-tain scrap metal processors in St. Louis, St. Francois and Jefferson City to retrieve any receipts re-garding the selling of scrap mate-rials.

“We’re checking all places the scrap was sold at,” Tarrillion

Firemen support LaRoseTwo

caught in drug sting


In a closed session at Tuesday’s Perryville City Council meeting, it was decided that a portion of the city’s internal investigation into alleged theft of city property is now deemed a criminal investigation, according to city at-

torney Tom Ludwig. “One portion of the per-

sonnel investigation is now appropriate to convert to a criminal investigation,” Ludwig said.

Perryville Police Chief Keith Tarrillion will head the investigation.

“This is an incident that the police will be looking at

from a criminal standpoint,” Ludwig said.In regard to the controversy stemming

from the city’s investigation, some Perryville citizens had plenty to say during an open session designed for community members to take the podium and address council.

Three Perryville citizens chose to discuss former Water/Wastewater Superintendent Charlie LaRose’s recent termination, and the possibility of LaRose being removed as fire chief for the Perryville Fire Department.

First up to the podium was Diane Comp-ton on behalf of the Perry County Rural Fire Association and the fire department.

Perryville Fire Chief was dismissed from other city job as part of a probe into property stolen from the city.

“ ... I thought, ‘I’m a truck driver. I’m not supposed to learn Chinese.’ I hard know my own language, let alone a foreign one.”

— Vernon ChotrowGilster-Mary Lee truck driver

Perryville City Council turns internal investigation over to Perryville Police chief.

See PROBE/PAge 5A

CharlieLaRose


Candidates running in contested races during the April election will have a chance to voice their platforms next week.

A candidate forum will be held at 7 p.m., Thursday, March 15 at Perry Park Center Theater. This event is free and the public is encouraged to attend.

The forum is sponsored by the Perry County Republican Central Committee, the Republic-Monitor and the Perry Park Cen-ter.

“We wanted to give the community an opportunity to hear the platform of each candidate in the three contested primary races,” said organizer Mary Bock.

Election forum set for March 15Be sure to

reset clocks

See FORUM/PAge 5A

See LAROSE/PAge 5A

See CHINA/PAge 5A


Two Chester suspects were arrested after the Perry County Sheriff’s Depart-ment conducted an under-cover drug operation March 5 near the Chester bridge, located about 11 miles east of Perryville.

Demetrius W. Martin, 34, of Chester, and Ebony R. Chadwick, 20, of Ches-ter, were taken into custody after delivering a 1/4 pound of marijuana to an under-cover team.

The two were taken to the Perry County Jail, where Martin was charged with a felony of distribution of a controlled substances and resisting arrest.

Chadwick was charged with possession of up to 35 grams of marijuana and unlawful use of drug para-phernalia.

EbonyChadwick

DemetriusMartin


At 2 a.m., Sunday, resi-dents are reminded to set their clocks ahead one hour to “spring forward” in ob-servation of daylight saving time.

Although they will be losing an hour of sleep, sun-set will come an hour later, which adds hours of day-light for those who earn a living doing outdoor work, like farming or construc-tion.

See CLOCKS/PAge 5A

9B

TUESDAY >>> MARCH 20, 2012 >>> 75¢ VOLUME 133 >>> ISSUE 22


Candidates offer their position at forum. 8 TG Missouri & Perryville — a perfect match. 4

District sets course to tackle problems. 16SCHOOL MAINTENANCE


NEW ZUMBA CLASSESStart Monday, March 26Call 547-7275 for details

MAYFEST 5 K RUN

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Perryville City Council plans to discuss the possible dismissal of city Fire Chief Charles LaRose at tonight’s meeting, which begins at 6:30 p.m. at city hall, according to minutes of a March 6 closed session and Perryville City Administrator Brent Buerck.

In those minutes, there was men-tion of considering firing former Water/Wastewater Superintendent

Charles LaRose as fire chief. Buerck said Friday that council would most likely discuss the issue in closed ses-sion, and then re-turn to open session to vote.

LaRose and three other city employ-

ees — including James Thompson, Carl Davis and Chris Favier — were fired Thursday, March 1, for their

alleged involvement in the theft of city property.

The report, which was released last week after a freedom of infor-mation request from the Southeast Missourian, reads, “At this time, the Board of Aldermen consider reliev-ing Charles LaRose from his posi-tion as Fire Chief … City Admin-istrator Buerck notes that the Code of Ordinances allows the Mayor to relieve the Fire Chief of his duties, and that the Fire Department’s By-Laws allows the firemen to vote on

a new Fire Chief.”According to Missouri Sunshine

Laws, any closed session docu-ments are considered public re-cord. In compliance with the laws, Buerck sent the reports Thursday, March 15, to the Southeast Mis-sourian, the Republic-Monitor and others.

In those reports, the city for the first time released the names of the four fired employees. The Repub-lic-Monitor, after an investigation,

WantMore?A transcript of city council’s closed session can be found on Page 6 of today’s issue.

Fire chief’s fate may be decided tonight

Charlie LaRose

TG to expand

Staff photo by amanda Layton

Gov. Jay Nixon was in Perryville on Fri-day to announce a $38 million expansion at automotive manufacturer TG MO. The expansion will start later this month and is expected to create 200 new jobs.


By the fall of this year, Perryville will be home to many new jobs — roughly 200 over the next five years — thanks to an ex-pansion at TG Missouri.

Gov. Jay Nixon was in Perryville late last week, along with U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Em-erson, R-Cape Girardeau, and several local government officials to announce a $38.9 million expansion of the chroming line lo-cated in Building 3 at one of Perry County’s largest employers.

The expansion will include an additional 33,000 square feet of manufacturing space in building 3.

Perryville industry plans to add 33,000 square feet and 200 new jobs over a five-year period.

See TG/page 16


When the weather takes a turn for the worse, you can now count on the Republic-Monitor to send the latest weather updates through its new text-messaging pro-gram.

The program allows for up-to-date, immediate text messages to be sent to anyone — and it’s totally free. Get texts on the latest weather updates, straight

from the National Weather Service, as well as any local breaking news, community events, sports news and scores or school notices and closings.

The new program is ef-fective immediately, and the Republic-Monitor’s old text messaging system will be discontinued on April 1.

Republic-Monitor edi-tor and publisher Tay Smith said the change in the tex-

New texting program offers weather alerts

Concert offers message of hope

Weibrecht finds R-M’s medallion

See TEXT/page 5

Staff photo by amanda Layton

The luck of the Irish was with Annette Weibrecht this St. Patrick’s weekend, helping her to locate the medallion and become week three’s winner in the Republic-Monitor Treasure Hunt Contest.


Beginners luck was with this week’s treasure hunter, 24-year-old Annette Weibrecht, or maybe it was the luck of the Irish that smiled on her, leading her to the medallion’s hiding place at St. Joseph Apple Creek spring on Sunday af-ternoon.

“This is the first season I have ever hunted,” Weibre-

cht said. “And obviously the first time I have ever found the medallion. I didn’t know about the treasure hunt contest, but I read the paper every week so that is how I found out.”

Weibrecht, an LPN, said she was on spring break this week from the Southeast College of Nursing where she will enter the RN bridge program this fall. She is the

See PRIZE/page 5

photo by amanda Keefe

Visiting Perryville from Los Angeles, Margaret Johansen and her granddaughters Avery and Chloe Buff (St. Vin-cent students) came to the concert because they saw it gradually being erected from the street and were curious.


Most folks would agree that Per-ryville is a quiet town — Friday night, it was anything but.

The “Louder Than Before” concert, the brainchild of St. Vincent Youth Ministries Director Keith Volansky, brought the house down Friday eve-ning with three area bands that per-formed to inspire hope and change in

this generation’s youth — Perryville’s own 4 Years Apart, Irony Rains and Tungten Groove were on the night’s line-up.

Held in the St. Vincent campus parking lot from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., the concert had a turnout in the thou-sands, with folks who ranged vastly in age. Grand kids with their grandpar-ents danced amidst the crowd, moth-ers bounced babies on their shoulders and teens gravitated to the front of the

stage, hands in the air. Folks all along St. Joseph Street stood outside to watch the show from their yards, too, which Volansky thought was just too cool.

“Our whole objective was to unite and inspire,” he said. “What really got me was how many people were in their yards watching the concert.”

A large stage equipped with two

See LAROSE/page 5

See CONCERT/page 5

Girl Scout sweetens Guinness, desserts, shrimp, beyond. 1B

Special: improve your home for spring

THURSDAY >>> MARCH 22, 2012 >>> 75¢ VOLUME 133 >>> ISSUE 23



NEW ZUMBA CLASSESStart Monday, March 26Call 547-7275 for details

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All the Top Name Brands at a Top Name Store

11B

LaRose fired as Perryville fire chiefAmanda [email protected]

Former Perryville Water/Wastewater Superintendent Charlie LaRose has been dis-

missed as Perryville fire chief, as of Tuesday’s Perryville City Council meeting.

LaRose, who has worked for the city for 35 years, is being released due to his con-nection with an investigation in the theft of city property.

Tuesday, council members went into closed session to

discuss LaRose’s possible ter-mination, and after 45 minutes of deliberation, the session was re-opened, and City Attorney Tom Ludwig read the official resolution.

The resolution stated that it was in the city’s best interest to take action, and in the best interest of the fire department

that LaRose be removed as fire chief, and from the fire de-partment altogether, effective March 21.

The vote to remove LaRose was unanimous, with Alder-man Gary Schumer making the motion to approve the reso-lution, and Alderman Larry Riney seconding it.

After the vote, Perryville City Administrator Brent Buerck took the podium to clarify specific terms of LaRose’s termination.

“This does not effect his re-tirement, or his time served,” he said. “I want council to be

CharlieLaRose

Dismissal latest in the criminal probe into the theft of city property.

See LAROSE/A

SPECIAL PRIVILEGES IN JEFFERSON CITY

Submitted Photo

Several teachers from Perry County School District 32 took part in a once in a life time experience when Republican Speaker of the House Steven Tilley invited them onto the House floor while in session during the Missouri State Teacher’s Association Day on the Capitol. Pictured are (from left) Marilyn Bohnert, Cheryl Layton, Bethany Thieret, Tilley, Gina Martin and Glenda Grem-aud. The group met with a number of legislatures to discuss issues currently facing educators.


Perry County School District 32 kinder-garten teachers Marilyn Bohnert and Gina Martin, along with other educators, recently traveled to Jefferson City to meet with law-makers on a variety of issues concerning area education.

The pair presented a report about the trip to the school board when the group met in regular session last week.

“It was a wonderful and informative trip,” Bohnert said. “We were there with

other teachers associated with the Missouri State Teacher’s Association to talk with legislators about education funding, tenure evaluation and other issues.”

Issue of particular note is House Bill 1740, that among other things, concerns teacher-tenure and is strongly opposed by Missouri educators.

According to MSTA, nearly 400 educa-tors attended the event, making this year’s annual MSTA Capitol Day one of the larg-est.

Area teachers took the opportunity to meet individually with legislatures, par-

ticularly Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Gi-rardeau, and Speaker of the House Rep. Steven Tilley, R-Perryville.

Bohnert and the other teachers got an unexpected treat during their visit to the Capitol.

“We were waiting outside Speaker Til-ley’s office, and saw so many people going in and out for meetings with him. We knew his time was limited,” Bohnert said. “He was so gracious to us, and asked us to walk with him to the House floor, then explained that under normal circumstances, we would

Teachers surprised in Tilley visit

Filing closes soon


Anyone interested in seeking a variety of elected offices in Perry County will have until 5 p.m., Tuesday, to file with County Clerk Randy Taylor. The primary election will be held in Au-gust.

Appearing on the Aug. 3 primary ballot will be the offices of Perry County Commissioner for District 1 and District 2, sheriff, as-sessor, public administrator, coroner and surveyor.

Thus far, all incumbent candidates have filed, in-cluding for District 1 Com-missioner Jim Sutterer, District 2 Commissioner Patrick Heaps, Charles Triller for assessor, Tammy Tarrillion for public admin-istrator, Timothy Baer for surveyor and for coroner, Herbert Miller. Republican Sheriff Gary Schaaf has filed to retain his seat, and will face competition on the Democratic ticket, where Ted Christisen will run.

Candidates may also file for township committee-men and women positions in each of the county’s 6 townships. Each township can have one Republican and one Democratic com-mitteeman and one Repub-lican and one Democratic committeewoman. If no one files for those seats, they do not appear on the ballot and

Candidates for August primary have until Tuesday, March 27.

See FILING/Page 5A

See TILLEY/Page 5A

Midsummer Night’s performed tonight Photo Submitted by diSt. 32

PHS Silver Dag-ger actors Kevin Cowger and Kalena Schubert, along with the rest of the crew, will take to the stage tonight for the debut performance of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the Per-forming Arts Audi-torium in the Old Senior High School.

By Kate MartinPerry County Dist. 32

“The course of love never did run smooth,” wrote William Shake-speare in 1595, and the sentiment remains true as Perryville High School plans to present his play, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

Performances are set for 7 p.m., tonight, Friday and Saturday, March 22-24, at the PHS Perform-ing Arts Auditorium in the old Se-

nior High School. Admission is $4 at the door.

The show is directed by Jen-nifer Birk-Cook. The backstage techs are Kelc Creason and Hailey Moll, Wade Hamlin is the sound and light tech and sound tech is Nick Pohlman.

The cast includes Shane Metzger as Theseus, Harley Tay-lor at Egeus, Kevin Cowger as Lysander with Taylor as the under-study, Luke Edwards as Demetrius

with Michael Buchheit as under-study, Mariah Adams as Philos-trate, Tristen Dunker as Quince, Heather Cook as Bottom with Adams as understudy, Buchheit as Flute, Elizabeth Munier as Snout, Ellen Booth as Starveling, Megan Gallaway as Hippolyta, Kalena Schubert as Hermia with Kaitlyn Schloss as understudy, Helena with Makinzie Griffith as under-

See PLAY/Page 5A

OBITUARIES, NEWS, FROM PAGE 1A, 4AThe Republic-Monitor Thursday, March 22, 2012 • Page 5A

Deaths

PrevalletPerryville

Melvin W. Prevallet of Perryville died Sunday, March 18, 2012 at Independence Care Center of Perry County in Perryv-ville. He was 83.

He was born on Jan. 22, 1929 in Long-town, the son of Wilbert J. and Lydia E. (Bergman) Prevallet. He was married on June 5, 1949 to Neola Morrison of Per-ryville, who survives.

Other survivors include two daughters and two sons, Sue (Stanley) Galeski of Per-ryville; Steve Prevallet of Branson; Stuart (Shelly) Prevallet and Sarah Borden, all of Perryville; 11 grandchildren, Shawn, Shannon and Shane Galeski, Spen-cer, Lakyn and Lane Prevallet, Brittany and Benjamin Pre-vallet, Courtney, Austin and Dustin Borden; and two great-grandchildren, Josh Hill and Jayden Galeski.

Mr. Prevallet had been a truck driver for Shawneetown Feed. He was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church.

He was preceded in death by his parents.Memorials are preferred to Immanuel Lutheran School

or Serenity Hospice.Visitation will continue on Thursday, March 22 from

6:30-8:30 a.m. at Young & Sons Funeral Home. The fu-neral service will be Thursday, March 22 at Immanuel Lu-theran Church at 10 a.m. with Rev. Matthew Marks officiat-ing. Burial will be at the church cemetery

Young & Sons Funeral Home, Inc. in Perryville provid-ed the arrangements.

MelvinPrevallet

EngelhardtCaPe Girardeau

Norma E. Engelhardt of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, March 18, 2012 at The Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was 93.

The funeral service was Wednesday, March 21 at Young & Sons Funeral Home in Perryville at 10 a.m. with Rev. Nathan Burgell officiating. Burial was at Marissa Township Cemetery in Marissa, Ill.


off my phone, stop typing and close my computer.

“I’m on deadline,” I plead.

“I don’t give a pinch of monkey (enter explicative here) about your deadline, meet me for lunch,” he says.

I wonder if the boss will accept a letter from

my parents to get me out of work, much the same as the principal did when I was in high school and had a dentist appointment.

Speaking of deadline, this column is six hours late, and I’ve got a little girl at home waiting on a nice frozen lasagna.

(Amanda Layton is a staff writer for the Republic-Monitor. Email her at [email protected].)

aware that anyone that’s vested retains their retire-ment benefits.”

Buerck said that this not only applies to LaRose, but also to the other fired Public Works employees, including James Thomp-son, Carl Davis and Chris Favier.

LaRose was elected as fire chief on April 15, 2003. Council said that an

election for a new chief will be held promptly.

The city’s investigation involves former city em-ployees allegedly stealing city property, specifically valuable metal scrap mate-rials, taken from the city’s water wells and sold to scrap metal processors for profit.

No charges have been filed, but Perryville Police Chief Keith Tarrillion said his investigation could be finished as early as this week or next week.

the party appoints some-one to fill the vacancy.

To file for a county of-fice, appear in person at the office of Perry County clerk Randy Taylor in the County Administration Building at 321 N. Main

St. in Perryville.Those interested in

seeking office must meet certain qualifications.

Perry County commis-

From Page 4a

From Page 4a

From Page 4a

Layton

Johnson

Martindemocratic government in an inherently unstable, undemocratic, poorly educated land. The colonial era has long since past and almost without exception, those countries which have gone their own way, sometimes after a century plus of occupation by their colonial masters, have failed to create or maintain stable progressive democ-racies without decades if not centuries of struggle and internal conflict. A sad, but historical fact.

2. That Islamic terror-ism somehow arose in a vacuum, without causation. The reality is that the above mentioned western colonial powers occupied all of these lands for extended periods of time over the last century, imposing our own ethos, mores, culture and to some extent, religious val-ues. And, at the very time

they began to be allowed independence, they saw (in their view) those same western powers impose a Jewish controlled, more and more heavily European and U.S. financed and sup-ported state in their midst.

And, what has followed have been numerous ongo-ing conflicts where they see their interests retreat: Israel, control of their oil fields, oil pricing, control of Suez, their technol-ogy and, perhaps most importantly in the case of Islamic fundamentalists, cultural and religious issues thwarted or opposed by the west.

To think that we can crush the widespread anger, distrust and antagonism of millions of Muslims brought about by what they perceive as a hundred plus years of history, via drones, cruise missiles and even the best trained, most moti-vated army in the history of the world, is to live in a fantasy land.

We must focus on education, diplomacy, com-munication and economic assistance. And, to the extent that much of the recent conflict between the west and Arab states have revolved around the supply of oil, we can markedly im-prove our security as well as our potential for good relations with the Islamic world by strongly address-ing our need for oil as an energy resource. And, I’m sorry, more drilling in the Gulf, fracking in Wyoming or oil pipelines through the Midwest are not going to mean a thing to our real energy independence.

Think back to 9/11/2001. I know I do. I try not to, but I can’t help it. The anger and desire for retribution I felt on seeing the World Trade Towers come down and knowing that 3,000 Americans had perished seemed unquench-able. But, we have had our revenge, Osama bin Laden is dead. All of his lieuten-

ants are dead. Virtually all of those he had a hand in recruiting to al-Qaeda are dead or in prison.

My anger has been quenched.

My mind is filled now, too often, with other vi-sions, of piles of human forms, no longer living, being urinated on, of young men and women return-ing home with broken and missing limbs and minds that will never be the same, of a loving American husband and father who, saluting his flag, went in harms way again and again and again, giving his blood, his will, his very all to his country until he went out one night and took the lives of 16 human beings, nine of them children, who — some part of him must have realized — were very much like his own.

It is finished. It’s time to come home.

(Jim Martin is a resident of Perryville. Email him at [email protected].)


With summer quickly approaching, the city of Perryville would like to re-mind pool owners of the or-dinance that is in place re-garding child safety around pools.

For a pool that is deeper than two feet to be pur-chased or constructed, Per-ryville Code Enforcement Officer Joe Martin says a permit must first be granted by the city to the pool pur-chaser.

To pick up a permit, folks can visit Perryville City Hall, located at 215 N. West St., or call City Hall with questions at (573) 547-2594. Pools 24 inches or less are exempt from the ordinance, but City Admin-istrator Brent Buerck said

even the shallowest pool should at least have a bar-rier to keep children safe.

Buerck said the pool ordinance is in place spe-cifically to keep kids safe. Low walls or unattended pool ladders are considered safety hazards, and the or-dinance, put in place more than 10 years ago, looks to correct it.

Once a permit has been picked up and approved by a pool owner, a building in-spector will show up to in-spect the pool to ensure that it’s built within the confines of the ordinance.

The ordinance also ap-plies to hot tubs or Jacuzzis, as stated in the wording it-self.

Buerck said he believes similar ordinances are in place in Jackson and Cape Girardeau.

study, Matt Choka as Ober-on, Taylor Kassinger as Titania, Kaitlyn Chotrow as Puck with Paiton Coo-per as understudy, Griffith as Peasblossom, Cheyenne Davis as Cobweb, Adams as Moth, Cooper as Mustard-seed, Schloss as Speaking Fairy, and Brittany Norfolk, Davis, Creason and Moll as Amazons and fairies.

“This drama is one of the great comedy plays by Shake-speare,” Birk-Cook said. “Our audiences will have a great time with this show.”

The play revolves around the adventures of four young lovers, a group of amateur actors and fairies who in-habit a moonlit forest. The story takes place in midsum-mer and is a farce featur-ing Hermia and Lysander and Helena and Demetrius. Their romantic intrigues are confused and complicated

still further by entering the forest kingdom of Oberon, the King of the Fairies and his Queen Titania. Puck the fairy is full of mischief and tricks and Bottom the weaver and his friends Snug, Snout, Quince and Flute keep the comedy rolling as they try to rehearse their terrible version of the play Pyramus and Thisbe.

“We’ve had a great time rehearsing, and we hope you’ll join us for an evening of humor and fun.”

not be allowed inside, but that he wanted us to come in as his guests, so we ac-tually got to go onto the platform with him and get a first hand look at what goes on when the legislature is in session. It was an incredible experience. So exciting.”

Tilley said he was pleased to provide the opportunity

for the teachers to come to the Missouri House floor.

“Being Speaker allows me to show my constituents a side of the Capitol that very few people get to see,” Tilley said. “I really enjoy that part of the job and it’s fun to see my guests enjoy it with me.”

Bohnert commented that there is currently a good working relationship be-tween state legislatures and educators and she would

like to see it stay that way. Due in part to the teach-

ers visit to Jefferson City, Speaker Tilley and Sen. Crowell both extended an invitation to local eighth grade students to travel to Jefferson City to tour the Capitol.

“It is a wonderful oppor-tunity,” said Perry County Middle School Princpal Velda Haertling. “And we will be taking them up on the offer.”

The hypocrisy deepens when remembering Major Hasan, the psychiatrist at Fort Hood who killed 13, and wounded 29 of our own troops. The liberal media and sympathizers from the Middle East argue that this poor young Muslim man suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome from counsel-ing so many soldiers with actual battle experience. Nearly three years later, they still haven’t tried this cold-blooded, murderous individual. Yet, they want the head of Staff Sergeant Robert Bales … yesterday.

I continue to refer to these people as the “same people”, because essential-ly they are of the identical mind set through out the

region.The question is what

official reaction, or non-action, should the US take? Since the media proclaimed the Iraq war as Bush’s war, and since Obama himself proclaimed Afghanistan as his war, my bet is we will see miles of footage of him or his pinions apolo-gizing, butt kissing, and pleading for forgiveness, coming from this White House. This is what you do when you do not have a solid, even fragmented, foreign policy. The manner in which these countries and their rulers have been coddled by this administra-tion, has lost every ounce of credibility we ever had. They presume we are weak, afraid to act boldly and decisively, and it comes from the manner in which that message has been apologetically given by Mr.

Obama and friends.Like it or not, Patton

was right: war is hell. Military’s are designed to do two things: kill people and destroy things. Not condoning that, it’s just the way of war.

So, do we turn tail and exit Afghanistan sooner than announced, or do we continue with business as usual….what ever that is? Do we again allow a Middle East dictator to set our stan-dards, tell us how to run our military and country, or do we go about our business of troop extraction, hold to our given time table, and tell them to go pound sand?

Clearly, this is a time for decisive leadership from the White House, and once again I am left wondering and waiting.

Bottom line: The entire Middle East has been of the same thought process

for thousands of years. No amount of well intended teaching and leading will ever change that. Ap-proximately 3 percent of the entire Muslim world has taken that beautiful, peaceful, religion hostage. We can’t fix that. Their silent majority must rise and do that. If it appears we are forcing our culture on them, we loose immedi-ately. Through other means than by war, a message must be given and received.

As it relates to these world’s problems, I know this, if I know nothing else. As a world-wide people, we have unfortunately separated ourselves from God, and not until we begin to fully understand the power of His word, will any of this ever be fixed.

(Jim Johnson is a resident of Perryville. Email him at [email protected].)

St. Vincent Jr./Sr. High School PTO Annual

Adults: $7, Children 12 & Under $4, Children 5 & Under FREE for Dine in Only

March 25April 8

April 15

For in Town Delivery

547-2560

Friday, March 23Served 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

St. Vincent High School Cafeteriaadults: $8, Children 12 & Under $4,

Children 5 & under free for dine-in only

march 30

American FamilyInsurance

Mike Maloy547-4500

Carl’s Muffler& Brake Shop

Prince Hudson547-1350

Miller FamilyFuneral Home

Monuments

Perryville, Missouri547-6511

T-N-TPlastics

Erin Carroll547-1051

The Spillway Bar & GrillKitchen open 10 am-9 pm

Located on Hwy. T across from Lake Perry entrance • 547-9916

Bar is open on Sundays at 11 am

Every SaturdaySteak Night14 oz. Ribeye

5:30 p.m.-8 p.m.

Every Friday During LentSeafood Buffet5:30 p.m.-8 p.m.

Saturday, March 24Karaoke9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Friday, March 30Live music by Paul

Hogenmiller7 p.m. to 11 p.m.No Cover Charge

From Page 1a

From Page 1a

LaRose

Filing

From Page 1a

From Page 1a

Tilley

Play

City: Be sure private pools are legal

File Photo

The city of Perryville would like to remind pool owners and pool purchasers to keep the city ordinance in mind pertaining to child safety near and in pools.

See news? Call

547-4567.

TUESDAY >>> APRIL 24, 2012 >>> 75¢ VOLUME 133 >>> ISSUE 32


Relay raises a record amount of money. 9

PHS beats SVHS in baseball game. 6

Something happening?Let everybody know with an announcement in the Republic-Monitor! If your event is free, or if you are advertising a non-profit organization, send it to us, and we’ll

let everybody know!

Email: [email protected] or call 547-4567 www.perryparkcenter.com

The Hunger Games (PG-13)Friday, April 20 - Thursday, April 26

Mayfest 5 Run - Saturday, May 12

Register today!

Coming Soon: Waterbabies andLifeguard Certification Classes


About 15 people showed up at last week’s city council meeting to express concerns about the geese at Willow Pond.

Solution offered in city geese conflictAmanda [email protected]

Geese, again, were a big topic at a Perryville City Council meeting Thursday as more than 15 folks showed up to express their concerns regarding the big birds who reside at Willow Pond.

At the last city council meet-ing on April 4, citizens addressed

council about a handful of geese at the pond being particularly aggressive, as well as a general nuisance. Council decided at the April 4 meeting that remov-ing the geese in a humane fash-ion would be the best way to go about it.

This sparked controversy, and several individuals approached city government to suggest an

alternative way to solve the prob-lem, which led to Thursday’s meeting.

Several folks living near the Willow Pond area insist that the geese are, in part, what makes Willow Pond so special, and to remove them would be wrong. Others Thursday night disagreed, saying that there were two geese

See GEESE/PAge 8

THE SOURCE OF OUR DISCONTENT


Pictured is the scrap metal collected from the Perryville Public Works Department. Scrap like this was allegedly taken from the city and sold for profit by three city employees, Charlie LaRose, Robert Brown and Jeremy Meyer. All three were charged Friday with felony counts of stealing.

Investigation ends in arrests

PHS Band brings back the top spot

Leader, vet Lottes dies

Three fired employees are not charged


The two-month investiga-tion into theft of city proper-ty came to an end Friday, as three persons were charged

with multiple felony counts of stealing.

Of the three, only one, Charlie LaRose, was a mem-ber of the initial four Public Works employees who were fired in early March when allegations surfaced of pos-sible theft.

The other three who were fired, including Jim Thomp-

son, Carl Davis and Chris Favi-er, were not charged last week.

When asked why the three employees who were fired in March didn’t receive charges, District Prosecutor Thomas Hoeh said, “The fact that they were fired had no impact on my decision on whether to bring charges forth. I did not take into consideration who

[the city] fired.”City Administrator Brent

Buerck, in his official state-ment for the city, said it’s not necessary for an employer to dismiss an employee as a result of criminal charges being filed, just as it’s not necessary that criminal charges be filed to discipline or dismiss an employee.

City manager: arrests don’t mean a person is fired, and vice versa.


Felony charges were filed Friday against two current city employees and one former employee for the theft and sale of city property, ending a two-month investigation.

Those charged, according to 32nd Judicial Circuit Prosecutor Thomas Hoeh, include:

n Former Perryville Water/Waste-water Superintendent and former Per-ryville Fire Chief Charlie LaRose,

54, of 216 S. Church St., Perryville, was charged with two felony counts of stealing. One charge stems from an event that occurred on Feb. 26, 2011, where approximately $3,600 of city-owned scrap metal was sold. The sec-ond charge stems from a May 27, 2011 incident, where approximately $3,100 of city scrap metal was sold.

n Current Perryville Water/Waste-water Plant Superintendent Jeremy Meyer, 37, of 30 Dreamz Lane, Per-ryville, and Perryville Public Works employee Robert Brown, 34, of 408 N. Waters, Perryville, are each charged with one count of felony stealing which stems from the same incident, the sale of approximately $1,600 of city scrap

metal on Feb. 11 of this year.

Charlie LaRoseAccording to LaRose’s affidavit,

Perryville police discovered that on Feb. 26, 2011, LaRose sold $3,070.29 worth of scrap to Ace Scrap Metal Processors, a scrap yard located in St. Louis. Among items scrapped included 124 pounds of no. 2 copper, 53 pounds of sheet copper, 26 pounds of scrap aluminum, 202 pounds of no. 1 copper and 683 pounds of red brass. LaRose received a check for the sale.

Also on Feb. 26, the affidavit says LaRose sold to Ace Scrap the follow-

Charlie LaRose, Jeremy Meyer, Robert Brown all face felony charges of stealing.

See THREE/PAge 10


Sunday afternoon rain showers did little to dampen the spirits of spectators who lined the sides of the highway to show their support for the Perryville High School Band who returned from their weekend Florida competition where the student musicians brought home not one, but four trophies.

The Perryville High School Band partic-ipated in the Music USA Festivals competi-tion held April 19-21 at Universal Studios in Orlando, Fla. Music USA Festivals is a non-profit organization promoting music education through quality evaluation. The band funded their trip through the sale of band cards, magazine and pizza drives.

The PHS symphonic, concert and march-ing bands all competed during the three-day festival. The 80-member band is under the direction of Jay Peters and assistant band

Pirates compete in Music USA Festivals at Orlando, Fla.

See BAND/PAge 12

StAff Photo by AmAndA LAyton

Harry Lottes is pictured here with his great-great-niece Megan Lundy during the 2010 Honor Tour.


A former local business owner died at Perry County Memorial Hospital late last week at the age of 90. Harry L. Lottes was a lifetime Perryville resident and a second-generation owner of the Roziers Mercantile in Perryville, which has been open on the downtown square in Perryville since 1903. He passed away on April 18.

Harry Lottes was the last of the second generation of the family that found Rozier’s.

See LOTTES/PAge 12

NEWSPage 10 • Tuesday, April 24, 2012 The Republic-Monitor • www.perryvillenews.com

Charles LaRose

Perryville Police Dept.Probable Cause AffidavitState of MissouriCounty of PerryPerryville Police Dept.Case #2012-0234

I, Lt. Direk L. Hunt, upon my oath state that I have probable cause to believe that between the dates of 02/26/2011 and 05/27/2011, the below named individual committed the following viola-tions of:

(1) Steeling over $500.00, RSMO: 570.030, Charge Code #1502199.0.

(2) Stealing over $500.00, RSMO: 570.030, Charge Code #1502199.0.

Name: Charles S. LaRose. Last known Address: 216 S. Church, Perryville, MO 63775. Race: White. Sex: Male. Date of Birth: 05/30/1957.

Place where offense(s) occurred: Public works De-partment, Perryville, Mo. 63775, which is located in Perry County, Missouri.

My Probable cause is based on the following facts: On 02/21/2012, I was advised by Chief of Police, Keith B. Tar-rillion that we had been asked by City Administrator, Mr. Brent Buerck, to look into a matter involving the City of Perryville Public Works employees. The allegations were that employ-ees were gathering scrap metals belonging to the City of Perryville and selling them and retaining the proceeds from the sale of the items.

According to records held by the City of Perryville there was a total of $5,538.00 in wire purchased for replacing

the damaged wire at Well# 2. Total measurement of the wire purchased was approxi-mately 700 feet.

CT# 1-A check was made of scrap yards in Missouri and subsequent contact was made with Ace Scrap Metal Processors Inc., which is located at 5900 Manchester Rd., St. Louis, Mo. 63110. We were advised and sub-sequently provided with information in regards to certain sales of scrap met-als in 2011. A check of the invoices revealed the fol-lowing: that on 02/26/2011, Charles S. LaRose who was then employed by the City as the Water Department Superintendent sold scrap to the above location. The fol-lowing items were scrapped: 124 pounds of #2 copper, 53 pounds of sheet copper, 26 pounds of scrap aluminum, 202 pounds of #1 copper and 683 pounds of red brass. LaRose received a check payable to him in the amount of $3,070.29 for these ma-terials. On the same date Charles LaRose sold to Ace Scrap the following additional items of scrap metals: 435 pounds of cast aluminum, 27 pounds of bare bright copper, 52 pounds of yellow brass and 147 pounds of PTD sid-ing and received another check payable to him in the amount of $565.85.

Ct# 2-On 05/27/2011, Charles LaRose sold a load of scrap at the same loca-tion as above on 05/27/2011 and received a check made payable to him in the amount of $3,096.29. In this sale of scrap materials the follow-ing items were sold: 720 pounds of bare bright cop-per, 53 pounds of #2 copper

and 168 pounds of 6061 (1/4 inch thick or greater extruded structural aluminum).

On 02/22/2012, a non-custodial interview was con-ducted of Charles LaRose at the Perryville Police Depart-ment. Prior to the interview LaRose was advised that he was not under arrest and that he didn’t have to answer questions if he did not want to and that we were asked by City Administration to look into what happened to wire from Well# 2.

LaRose then stated that it had gotten sold and then stat-ed that it had been scrapped out. LaRose stated that he had scrapped the metal in St. Louis, Mo. LaRose stated that he had scrapped about 600 feet of wire from Well# 2.

LaRose also related the following that when he worked under Jeremy Free-man under his administration as Public Works Director they (Public Works) actually sold wire to someone else that they did not scrap this wire but that he was unsure how this was done.

An interview was con-ducted of Jeremy Freeman who was employed as the Public Works director from 10/10/2006 until 06/27/2008 and he related the following information that at no time were Public Works employ-ees authorized to collect scrap from Public Works job sites and use it for their own purposes. He also stated that all the superintendents were aware of these policies and practices while he was there.

A check revealed that while Jeremy Freeman was Public Works Director there were actually three sales of scrap that occurred and all

the proceeds from these 3 sales went to the City of Per-ryville. Copies of the records showing the deposits into the City’s General Revenue ac-count were obtained verifying what Freeman had related and what he had set up for the sale of scrap materials.

On 04/13/2012, I spoke with Jeremy Freeman and he related the following that how this all began was that he had seen that there was a large amount of scrap materi-als lying around Public Works and that he had went to the City Administrator Bill Lewis at the time and informed him about the sale of materials. He stated that Sides Recy-cling set up a container down at Public Works and that the scrap materials were to be placed into the container. He also stated that he had meet-ings with all his superinten-dents regularly and they were all informed what they should do with the scrap materials and that the money would be going to the City of Perryville. He also related that all the employees should be aware of City Code in regards to the taking of items belonging to the City of Perryville. He stat-ed at these Superintendent meetings there was: Charles LaRose, Timothy Britt, Jer-emy Meyer, Dave Clements and the other Superinten-dents as well that were as-signed to Public Works.

Witnesses: Brent Buerck/Jeremy Freeman/Chief Keith Tarrillion

Affiant swears that the facts contained in this Prob-able Cause Affidavit are true to the best of their knowledge and that Affiant is aware that false statements made herein are punishable by law.

Affiant: Direk L. Hunt

Jeremy Meyer

Perryville Police Dept.Probable Cause AffidavitState of MissouriCounty of PerryPerryville Police Dept.Case #2012-0320

I, Lt. Direk L. Hunt, upon my oath state that I have probable cause to believe that on the date of 02/11/2012, the below named individual committed the following viola-tions of:

Stealing over $500.00, RSMO: 570.030, Charge Code# 1502199.0

Name: Jeremy B. Meyer. Last known Address: 30 Dreamz Lane, Perryville, Mo., 63775. Race: White. Sex: Male. Date of Birth: 07/07/1974.

Place where offense(s) occurred: Water Treatment Plant, Perryville, Mo. 63775, which is located in Perry County, Missouri.

My Probable cause is based on the following facts: On 02/21/2012, I was advised by Chief of Police, Keith B. Tar-rillion that we had been asked by City Administrator, Mr. Brent Buerck, to look into a matter in-volving City of Perryville Public Works employees. The alle-gations were that employees were gathering scrap metals

belonging to the City of Per-ryville and selling them and retaining the proceeds from the sale of the items.

During the course of in-terviewing employees with the City of Perryville in re-gards to the above matter, a non-custodial interview was conducted of Jeremy B. Meyer on 02/23/12, in which he related the following infor-mation: Prior to the interview Meyer was advised of the fol-lowing: that he was not under arrest and that he didn’t have to answer any questions and that he was free to leave at any time he wanted. Meyer related that he understood.

Meyer was advised that the Police Department had been asked by City Adminis-tration to look into a matter in-volving the scrapping of items belonging to the City. Meyer was asked if had heard any-thing about this and he stated that he had.

Meyer was asked if he knew anything about the scrapping of items from Pub-lic Works and he stated that it had been going on for awhile and that they would store it for awhile and then scrap the items and split the proceeds up between the department.

Meyer stated that 12 days ago he sold a load of copper at ACE (Recycling Center).

He stated that this was the first time he scrapped any items and that he heard about Ace Recycling from Charlie (LaRose).

Meyer stated that the wire he had scrapped came form Well# 5 at the Water Treat-ment Facility and that he along with Robert Brown had gathered it. He stated that they had gathered the wire on City time and that they gath-ered it about 7 months ago. He stated that he transported the wire to St. Louis in his per-sonal vehicle.

Meyer stated that he had gotten around $1,600.00 plus for the scrap and that the check had been made payable to him and that he cashed the check 2 weeks ago. He stated that he gave the money to Brent Buerck yesterday (02/22/12). He stated that he did this after Buerck met with all supervi-sors about the scrapping of items belonging to the City.

Meyer stated that he real-ized what had been done was wrong and that he didn’t know what to do with the money however he stated that he had paid Robert Brown $800.00 for helping but said this was his personal money and not money from the scrapping. He stated that he and Brown had a discussion about this.

Meyer however went ahead and paid Brown. Meyer kept the money without turning it over to the City.

Meyer stated that he was sorry and that at the least there needs to be some disci-plinary action. He stated that it was wrong ever to think about keeping the money and sell-ing the property without going through proper channels.

I later made contact with Ace Metal Processors Inc., which is located at 5900 Manchester, St. Louis, Mo. 63110 in regards to the sale of the copper wire. They re-lated that they would fax me a copy of the sale paperwork which was dated 02/11/2012. I later received the copy which revealed that the check was made payable to Jeremy Meyer and that it was for the amount of $1,678.40.

The items sold are listed as follow: 185 pounds of bare bright, 271 pounds of #1 cop-per and 73 pounds of #1 insu-lated copper 50%.

Witnesses: Brent Buerck/Chief Keith Tarrillion

Affiant swears that the facts contained in this Prob-able Cause Affidavit are true to the best of their knowledge and that Affiant is aware that false statements made herein are punishable by law.

Affiant: Derik L. Hunt

Robert Brown

Perryville Police Dept.Probably Cause AffidavitState of MissouriCounty of PerryPerryville Police Dept.Case #2012-0320

I, Lt. Direk L. Hunt, upon my oath state that I have probable cause to believe that on the date of 02/11/2012, the below named individual committed the following viola-tions of:

Stealing over $500.00, RSMO: 570.030, Charge Code # 1502199.0

Name: Robert R. Brown. Last known Address: 408 N. Waters, Perryville, Mo 63775. Race: White. Sex: Male. Date of Birth: 09/04/1977.

Place where offense(s) occurred: Water Treatment Plant, Perryville, Mo. 63775, which is located in Perry County, Missouri.

My Probable cause is based on the following facts: On 02/21/2012, I was ad-vised by Chief of Police, Keith B. Tarrillion that we had been asked by City Administration, Mr. Brent Buerck, to look into a matter involving City of Per-ryville Public Works employ-ees. The allegations were that employees were gather-

ing scrap metals belonging to the City of Perryville and selling them and retaining the proceeds from the sale of the items.

An interview was con-ducted with Robert Brown and he related the following information: Prior to the inter-view Brown was advised of the following, that he was not under arrest, that he did not have to answer any questions and he was free to go at any time. Brown related that he understood.

Brown was then informed that our department had been asked by City Administration to look into a matter involv-ing the scrapping of materi-als from Public Works. Brown was asked if he had heard anything about this and he stated that he had.

Brown was asked if he knew anything about scrap-ping of items from Public Works and he related the fol-lowing information, he stated that they had stored wire from the Treatment Facility and that he and Jeremy Meyer had stripped the wire and that they talked about selling it and splitting the proceeds.

Brown stated that this was the only time he had ever done anything like this. He stated that he and Jeremy

cut the wire up on City time and stored it to get it out of the way.

He stated that they moved it in the City vehicle. He stat-ed that the wire came from the Treatment Facility and was stored at the water plant. He stated that this had been going on for about 9 months. He stated that he was never given any money.

I then advised Brown the following what if I had been told by Jeremy Meyer that he had received $800.00. Brown stated that he didn’t receive any money. I asked is Jeremy lying then and he ultimately stated that he was.

Brown was asked who cleaned the wire and he stated that both he and Jer-emy Meyer did. He was asked how the money was going to be split up and he stated that they were going to get an equal share. He was asked if the cleaning of the wire was done on City time and he re-lated that it was done on City time and that it was done at the City Water Plant.

Brown when asked if he felt what he was doing was wrong he stated, “Well, yeah.”

Brown never admitted to taking any money from Meyer.

The initial interview was terminated.

Brown returned later to the Perryville Police De-partment to speak with me. Brown related that he did get the $800.00 from Jeremy and that he had lied because he was scared.

He stated that he had went and talked with Jeremy after we had spoken and that he gave Jeremy back the $800.00

I later made contact with Ace Metal Processors Inc., which is located at 5900 Manchester, St. Louis, Mo. 63110 in regards to the sale of the copper wire. They re-lated that they would fax me a copy of the sale paperwork. I received the copy which revealed that the check was made payable to Jeremy Meyer and that it was for the amount of $1,678.40.

The items sold are listed as follows: 185 pounds of bare bright, 271 pounds of #1 copper and 73 pounds of #1 insulated copper 50%.

Witnesses: Brent Buerck/Chief Keith Tarrillion

Affiant swears that the facts contained in this Prob-able Cause Affidavit are true to the best of their knowledge and that Affiant is aware that false statements made herein are punishable by law.Affiant: Derik L. Hunt

The Charges(EDITOR’S NOTE: These probable cause affidavits are printed here as they were given to

the newspaper, with only the defendants’ social security numbers omitted.)

ing additional items: 435 pounds of cast aluminum, 27 pounds of bare bright copper, 52 pounds of yellow brass and 147 pounds of PTD siding. He received a check in the amount of $565.85.

The affidavit says on May 27, 2011, LaRose sold a load of scrap at the same location and received a check in the amount of $3,096.29. The items sold in-cluded 720 pounds of bare bright copper, 53 pounds of no. 2 copper and 168 pounds of 6061 (extruded structural aluminum).

In LaRose’s initial interview with police on Feb. 22 of this year, he admitted selling the scrap ma-terials to Ace Scrap, and added that he had also “scrapped about 600 feet of wire from Well No. 2 (a city well).”

Jeremy Meyer and Robert Brown

In Meyer’s initial interview with police, he said that taking and selling scrap had been going on for awhile, and that those at Public Works would first store the scrap for a time, “then scrap the items and split the proceeds up be-tween the department,” according to Meyer’s affidavit.

Meyer also admitted to sell-ing a load of copper to Ace Scrap within the last two months. He said this was the first time he had ever “scrapped any items,” and that he heard about Ace Scrap through LaRose. Meyer admit-ted that the material sold to Ace Scrap, which generated a $1,600 check in Meyer’s name, was taken from one of the city wells (Well No. 5) at the Perryville Water Treatment Facility, and that he and Brown gathered the scrap together more than six months ago, accord-ing to the affidavit.

Meyer said he gave $800 of the $1,600 to Brown for “helping.” Brown, who also said this was his first time taking/selling scrap, claimed he was never given $800, according to Brown’s affidavit. Police asked if Brown thought Meyer was lying about giving Brown half the cut, and he “ulti-mately stated that [Meyer] was,” according to the affidavit.

Later, according to the affi-davit, Brown returned to the po-lice department and told officials that he did receive the $800 from Meyer, but “had lied because he was scared.”

The $800 allegedly given to Brown, Meyer said, was Meyer’s own personal money, not money made from the scrap sale. The Meyer and Brown affidavits are unclear as to where the entire $1,600 ended up. Meyer said he ended up turning the money over to City Administrator Brent Buerck on Feb. 22. Then, the af-fidavit states, “Meyer kept the money without turning it over to the city.”

Meyer and Brown: Still Employed?

Before the initial investigation began, four Public Works employ-ees — including LaRose — were fired in early March because of their connection with city theft. The other three were Jim Thomp-son, Carl Davis and Chris Favier. These three terminated employees were not charged with any crimi-nal action. (Refer to the related story on page 1.)

Police Chief Keith Tarrillion said the reason Meyer and Brown were not fired with the other four in March was because their al-

leged offenses surfaced later in the investigation, whereas LaRose and the other three already-fired employees’ actions were verified well before the investigation even began.

“During the initial investiga-tion, this did not come to light (the incident Meyer and Brown were involved in),” Tarrillion said. “It was not something we were aware of right away. It was in the midst of the investigation that we dis-covered this. Until we were able to verify any criminal action, it would’ve been unfair to remove [Meyer and Brown].”

Meyer and Brown are not en-tirely in jeopardy of losing their jobs either, even after charges were filed against them. In an of-ficial statement sent by the city Friday, City Administrator Brent Buerck writes, “It is not necessary that criminal charges be filed for the city, or any employer for that matter, to discipline or dismiss an employee. At the same time, it is not necessary for an employer to dismiss an employee as a result of the fact that criminal charges were filed.”

When asked to expound on whether Meyer and Brown will be fired based on their criminal charges, Buerck would not com-ment, but referred to the portion of the city’s statement quoted above.

At this time, Buerck was un-able to confirm or deny whether Meyer and Brown still hold their positions, or if they’ll lose them based on their charges.

‘… this was not an acceptable practice’

In the probable cause affida-vit regarding LaRose’s alleged criminal action, former Public Works Director Jeremy Freeman, who was employed at the depart-ment from 2006 to 2008, was in-terviewed on whether employees were aware that taking and selling scrap metal was illegal at the time he was employed.

In the affidavit, he is quoted as saying that, “At no time were Public Works employees autho-rized to collect scrap from Public Works job sites and use it for their own purposes.” He also stated that all superintendents were aware of these policies and practices while he acted as director.

Freeman said he had meetings with all his superintendents regu-larly and they were all informed as to what they should do with the scrap materials, and that the money would go to the city of Per-ryville. LaRose and Meyer were among those superintendents Freeman refers to as being at said meetings.

Tarrillion concurred, saying, “I think they were all aware of it. From interviewing Freeman, he made it very clear that this was not an acceptable practice.”

Amidst all of this, one of the initial fired employees, Chris Fa-vier, is taking legal action, looking to appeal his termination from the Public Works Department. Buerck said an appeal hearing will be scheduled in the near future.

Charges on the three alleged of-fenders were determined over the last two weeks, while prosecutor Hoeh analyzed evidence collected by the Perryville Police Depart-ment from the two-month investi-gation. Hoeh sifted through more than 30 interviews and findings, and concluded that there was suf-ficient evidence to support charg-ing the three alleged offenders.

It is still uncertain whether there will be more charges in con-nection with the case, according to Buerck and Tarrillion.

From Page 1

ThreeCharlie LaRose Jeremy Meyer Robert Brown

Photo by AmAndA KeeFe

The suspects might have taken metal from the City of Perryville Public Works Department scrap metal yard shown above.

TUESDAY >>> AUGUST 14, 2012 >>> 75¢ VOLUME 133 >>> ISSUE 64


School board deals with its policy related to nepotism.15 Sentences are handed down in Circuit Court. 3

Panel set to discuss controversial reality. 16NEW FINANCE REFORM?

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Three plead guilty

School is in session

PAYING THE PRICE

Photo by tay Smith

The regular season hasn’t started yet, but Perryville High School football players — and St. Vincent’s, too — are battling it out in preseason camp hoping to find a position to help the team. Here Devin Blandford (23) wraps up running back Cody Crawford (26) with help from Grant Voelker (55) Friday night at a scrimmage at PHS. The Pirates will scrimmage St. Vincent and Scott City this Friday. Then, on Friday, Aug. 24, the Pirates will open their season against East Prairie.


Perryville property taxes are slightly lower this year, much to the pleasure of Per-ryville City Council members, who discussed the issue at a Wednesday meeting.

The statue allows municipal governments to adjust property taxes every even-numbered year, and though the city could have raised the tax significant-ly higher, they chose to stick

with what they’ve always tried to do historically — keep them low for citizens.

“Our suggestion to the board was to drop overall tax rates ever-so-slightly by re-aligning where the money flows,” said Perryville City Administrator Brent Buerck. “We also tried to get cleaner, rounder numbers that would be easier to communicate and explain.”

The city could have raised the total tax levy to 84.15 cents/$100 of assessed value, but the board decided to actu-ally drop the overall tax levy rate to an even 76 cents. The

result is a reduction of about 65/100th of a cent, as last year’s total levy was 76.65 cents.

“The state said we could go up to over 84 cents as a total tax rate,” Buerck said. “Though it was true, council has always tried to keep lower overall tax rates.”

Aldermen Larry Riney asked, “So, we could’ve gone up to 84 cents?”

Buerck said yes, but fol-lowed with, “We didn’t, though. Even Forbes Magazine pointed out recently that this is part of what made us success-ful for years. We’ve tried to do

this for decades.”Later, Riney said, “I want

to thank Brent and the city for keeping taxes down.”

Also Wednesday, former Water/Wastewater Plant Su-perintendent Ron Berkbuegler, who retired earlier this year after 35 years with the city, was recently selected as Regional Operator of the Year, and is now up for State Operator of the Year.

“This speaks to the qual-ity hard worker that he was,” Buerck said.

Wednesday also saw a dis-cussion regarding a request

City property taxes going down

Priorities change concerning day care issue

Property taxes decreased “ever so slightly,” says city administrator.

See TAXES/Page 11

See DAY CARE/Page 5


An interesting reversal oc-curred at Wednesday’s Per-ryville City Council meeting in regard to two separate day-cares looking to open within the area.

Originally, owners of a local building in the area, Stan Den-ninger and Rebekah Roth, were set to receive an emergency or-dinance for their potential day-care to expedite the process of obtaining a special use permit.

Council suggested this in

early July after Little Wonders Learning Center closed in late June, leaving several children without a place to stay. The emergency ordinance would allow them to obtain a permit and open their doors faster to accommodate those children without a daycare.

The operators of a separate proposed daycare, Mark and Therese Unverferth, were to go through the normal process of obtaining a special use permit. The Unverferths applied for a permit well before Little Won-ders closed. Wednesday night,

the daycare owners saw a re-versal in who should receive a permit first.

As it turned out, the Un-verferths are actually closer to opening their doors than Den-ninger and Roth, who are still drawing up construction plans and don’t foresee opening until October. The Unverferths are set to close the property pur-chase Aug. 20, a day before the next city council meeting.

“The emergency ordi-nance for the Unverferths just shaves off one day for them,” Perryville City Administrator

Brent Buerck said Wednesday.With this decision, the Un-

verferths will now be receiving the emergency ordinance, not Denninger and Roth.

Denninger and Roth will go through the normal process of obtaining a special use permit. A first reading of issuing the couple a special use permit was approved Wednesday, and an emergency ordinance (which includes first read, second read and final approval) was ap-proved for the Unverferths to


The Perryville city employees who were charged in late April with felony theft and sale of city property saw their first and only hearing Thursday at the Perry County Courthouse.

There will be no jail time, and charges were reduced from felonies to misdemean-ors, and there are fines to be paid.

Though initially charged with felony stealing, all three involved — Charlie LaRose, Jeremy Meyer and Robert Brown — pled guilty to misdemeanor stealing and walked away with $100 fine sentences. LaRose paid full restitution to the city for the amount of scrap material stolen, while Meyer and Brown paid their restitution in full during the two-month investigation, said Police Chief Keith Tarrillion.

A plea bargain was arranged between Perry County Prosecutor Thomas Hoeh and those charged prior to Thursday’s hearing, according to Tarrillion.

Fines to be paid, but there will be no jail time.

CharlieLaRose

RobertBrown

JeremyMeyer

See GUILTY/Page 5

This week, all of Perry County schools will begin classes.


Area Students will be heading back to class beginning this week, with the largest number of children enrolled at Perry Coun-ty School District 32, which will welcome more than 2,000 children grades kindergar-ten through 12 tomorrow morning.

“We have had a busy summer mak-ing improvements,” Superintendent Kevin Dunn said. “There has been a lot of change. It has been a lot of fun on my part to be able to make positive changes in things. It has been a great summer, because we had the money in the budget to tackle projects and we got a lot of good things done.”

St. Vincent’s schools will open their doors on Thursday morning with 235 stu-dents, grades seventh through 12th, and 308 in the elementary.

Already back into the routine of the classroom is the student body of Altenburg

See SCHOOL/Page 5


The Elvis Experience Friday, Aug. 24Tickets on Sale Now

Waterbabies ClassStarts Monday, Sept. 10 (Class fills fast!)

ParaNorman (PG)

Friday, Aug. 17 - Thursday, Aug. 30

OBITUARIES, NEWS, FROM PAGE 1The Republic-Monitor Tuesday, August 14, 2012 • Page 5

Deaths

BusbyPerryville

James Harold Busby of Perryville, for-merly of Sedgewickville died at his home Monday, July 30, 2012. He was 84.

He was born Aug. 6, 1928 in Truman, Ark., the son of Daniel M. and Cora (Wood-ard Busby. He was married to Evelyn John-son, who preceded him in death.

Survivors include his mother, Cora M. Busby of Perryville; a son, Michael Busby of Marble Hill; brothers, Raymond Busby of Perryville; Norman Busby of Millersville; Homer Busby of Harrison, Ark.; and Wayne Busby of Orlando, Fla.; sisters, Geneva Carrol of St. Louis; Maxine Speciale of Troy; and Ruth Tinker of Perryville; three grandchildren; 10 great-grand-children; a great-great-grandchild; and a special friend, Ida M. Shepherd of Perryville.

He had worked as a diesel mechanic for a trucking com-pany and was of the Baptist faith.

He was preceded in death by his father; two sons, James Lee Bsuby and Jeff Busby; and a grandchild.

The funeral service was held Wednesday, Aug. 1 at Liley Funeral Home in Patton with the Rev. Greg Mason officiating. Burial was at the Bollinger County Memorial Park Cemetery near Marble Hill.

JamesBusby

ErnstPerryville

Richard L. Ernst of Perryville died Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012 at his residence. He was 61.

He was born on May 19, 1951 in Per-ryville, the son of the late Flavian B. Ernst and Cleora (Sutterer) Ernst of Perryville, who survives. He was married on July 21, 1973 to Barbara K. Buerck of Perryville, who sur-vives.

Other survivors include three sons and two daughters-in-law, Chad (Stephanie) Ernst of Hillsboro; Nathan (Laura) Ernst and Alan Ernst, all of Perryville; three brothers and one sister, Denis (Barbara M.) Ernst, Cynthia (Larry) Stea-rns, Michael (Karen) Ernst, and Robert “Bob” Ernst, all of Perryville; three grandsons, Rowan, Reece, and Greyson Ernst; and two step-granddaughters, Colette Williams and Paige Meyer.

Mr. Ernst was owner-operator of Ernst Service Station and Machine Shop in McBride. He was a member of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, Holy Name Society of Our Lady of Victory Parish in Sereno and American Legion Post 133. He was an United States Army veteran.

He was preceded in death by his father.Memorials are preferred to St. Vincent de Paul Catholic

Church Endowment or Garden of Hope at Perry County Memorial Hospital.

The funeral Mass was held Monday, Aug. 13 at 10 a.m. at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church with Rev. Jason Schumer officiating. Burial was at Mount Hope Cemetery with military graveside service by American Legion Post 133 and MO Delta Team.


RichardErnst

KlobePerryville

Mary A. “Gussie” (Bauer) Klobe on Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012, Baptized into the Hope of Christ’s Resurrection.

Beloved wife of Floyd R. Klobe; dear mother of Wayne (Susan), Paul (Diane), Dennis (Sandi), Darlene, Arlene (Bryan) Capkovic and Laraine (Rick) Schrodrowski; dear grandmother of 10, great-grandmother of 4, beloved aunt, sister, sister-in-law and friend.

In lieu of flowers memorials to the Scleroderma Foun-dation, 300 Rosewood Drive, Suite 105, Danvers, MA 01923 appreciated.

Mrs. Klobe at Hutchens Mortuary, 675 Graham Road, Florissant for visitation Sunday, Aug. 12 then to Miller Family Funeral Home, 829 West Saint Joseph Street, Per-ryville, Tuesday, Aug. 14 at Noon until Mass time at 2 p.m. at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Perryville. Inter-ment at Mount Hope Cemetery.

Miller Family Funeral Home provided local arrange-ments.

lion in the Michigan lot-tery, but was bankrupted within five years. n Willie Hurt, also

of Michigan, took home $3.1 million in 1989 and was broke and charged with murder two years later. His lawyer said he blew his money on crack cocaine and a divorce. n Here’s another sad

story. Jack Whittaker, Jr., was a successful con-struction firm owner when he won the $314.9 million lottery after buy-ing a ticket on Dec. 25, 2002 at a supermarket in Hurricane, W. Va. Before he won the lottery, Whittaker was worth an estimated $17 million, but after he took the cash and paid taxes, he walked home with an additional $114 million.

Whittaker pledged 10 percent of his winnings to Christian charities, and paid $14 million to help low-income families. He also purchased a home and a truck and gave it to the clerk who sold him the ticket, along with $50,000 in cash.

But things turned sour

quickly. By 2009, his daughter, granddaughter and her boyfriend had died in separate, drug-related incidents. Whit-taker had run-ins with the police at a strip club, and Caesars Atlantic City is suing him for issuing bad checks.

Now, with no family and no fortune, Whittaker said, “I wish I’d torn that ticket up.”

I guess it’s fun to play the lottery, and dream of big homes, no debt, giv-ing to the poor, helping educate kids, great season tickets for Missouri foot-ball games, etc., etc. The list is endless.

But the dream of win-ning, at least for many who have actually won, has turned quickly into a nightmare.

(Tay Smith is edi-tor and publisher of the Republic-Monitor. Email him at [email protected].)

From Page 4

Smith obtain their permit.“I no longer see the ne-

cessity for the emergency ordinance for [Denninger] and [Roth],” Buerck said.

When Little Wonders first closed, Mayor Deb-

bie Gahan said there was a sense of urgency to open a new daycare.

“We did feel a sense of immediacy initially,” she said.

Initially, city officials re-ported 60 children were left without daycare when Little Wonders Learning Center closed in July. However,

Buerck said Wednesday the number was significantly lower.

Buerk added, “Whether it’s an emergency anymore is debatable,” as many of the children who once attended Little Wonders have found other daycares to attend.

Even Denninger, owner of one of the buildings, said

he’d be embarrassed to get an emergency ordinance on this now, simply because plans to open are months away. Those approving the reversal Wednesday includ-ed Larry Riney, Tom Guth, Curt Buerck and Randy Leible. Aldermen Gary Schumer and Prince Hud-son were not present.

is zero tolerance for it and there will be consequences if they are caught using. Let them know what the consequences are and stick to them.

Not sure where to start? Booklets are available to

help you. Just stop by the Perry County Community Task Force office at 21 S. Main Street, or call 547-1292 to get your free copies.

It is so vital to begin talking with our children about this topic at an early age, so the message is instilled. It then becomes easier for them to resist the pressures when a substance

is offered to them. Our children may say,

“It’s my decision and I’m not hurting anyone.” However, our children must understand that their deci-sions do affect more than just themselves. When they injure/kill someone else due to driving under the influence, when they are incarcerated due to their

drug usage, or when they begin to destroy their own health and future because of alcohol or other drug usage, they don’t just hurt themselves. It is families, friends and the community that is also torn apart.

(Jessica Mahathath works for the Perry County Com-munity Task Force. Email her at [email protected].)

“If they pled guilty, they’d get reduced charges,” Tar-rillion said.

He said they also had no prior convictions to their names, which allowed for a reduced sentence as well.

LaRose pled guilty to two counts of misdemeanor

A stealing, while Brown and Meyer pled guilty to one count each. All three had the option to choose between probation time or paying fines. Each chose to pay a $100 fine, plus court costs.

Those charged waived arraignments Thursday as well.

The investigation into theft of city property began

in February after four Per-ryville Public Works em-ployees were fired for al-legedly taking and selling city scrap metal. The inves-tigation lasted nearly two months. The majority of scrap materials were stolen from the Public Works De-partment, though some was taken from a damaged city well.

The stolen material in-

cluded no. 1 and no. 2 cop-per, red brass, aluminum and the metal bare bright. The estimated cost of the stolen materials rang in around $7,000.

The fourth fired Public Works employee, Chris Fa-vier, was not charged, but is taking legal action against the city, looking to appeal his termination from the de-partment.

Public School, which start-ed their school year on Monday, with 103 students grades kindergarten through eighth enrolled.

“We are excited to re-turn with the theme ‘APS 2012, be a part of a winning team,’” District 48 Super-intendent Bleau Deckerd said. “To go along with our theme, we will have a tailgate party open house (tonight), at 5:30-7:30 p.m. Parents and commu-nity members are invited to come check out the school, visit the classrooms and teachers.”

Deckerd said the entire

APS staff would be return-ing this year, and have a new special education in-structor, Ruby Bowyer.

“She comes to us with a wealth of experience in dealing with children of all ages and with varying dis-abilities, and we are thrilled to have her and her family as a part of APS,” Deckerd said.

APS will continue to offer preschool servic-es, and according to Deck-erd, is the only licensed and accredited preschool in the area.

“We accept enrollment throughout the school year,” Decker said. For more in-formation about preschool, contact Jen Eifert at (573) 824-5476.

United in Christ Lu-theran School in Frohna has 112 students grades kinder-garten through eighth this year, up from 104 in 2011-2012 semesters, and wel-comes a new preschool aid, Tessa Burroughs, and a new assistant cook Stefanie Kas-sel. The school held regis-tration and opening services on Sunday at Concordia Lu-theran Church to welcome the student body back into the fold. Classes start for UCLS tomorrow morning at 8 a.m.

Immanuel Lutheran School in Perryville will welcome 210 students this year grades kindergarten through grade eight on Wednesday, with opening chapel that the public is in-

vited to attend. Principal Bill Unzicker

said the student body would see some positive changes in the school this year.

“We have more than doubled the amount of classrooms with interactive white board technology,” he said. “We have also added WiFi, so those students with hand-held devises or those visiting our school will be able to access Internet. We are making technology the big push.”

Residents are reminded that with back to school, both pedestrian foot traf-fic and automotive traffic will be higher along certain routes in the morning and afternoon and drivers should proceed with caution.

From Page 1

From Page 4

From Page 1

From Page 1

Daycare

Jessica

Guilty

School

Questions? Call the R-M

at547-4567.

RIBBON CUTTING IN FROHNA

Photo submitted

Caring Palms Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork in Frohna was welcomed to the Perryville Chamber of Com-merce during a ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday, Aug. 7. Those attending included (left to right) Nancy Hadler, Nicole Moore, Melissa Hemmann, Caring Palms Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork owner Penny Wheeler, Ali-son Porter and Nicole Zoellner.

Grow your business.

Call Nicole, Alison or Sandy to place an ad today. 547-4567

Get exposure by advertising in The Republic-Monitor.

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