■ Andrew and Catie Scott of Imperial may find party planning a bit problematic in the future.
Their twin daughters, Madi and Parker, shared a womb but not a birthday. When Madison Kay was born on Nov. 3, medical professionals expected her sister would follow in a few hours.
But 13 days would elapse before Parker Cate made her appearance. See Laura Marlow’s Page 1 feature story.
■ Herculaneum voters will be asked in the April 7 election to approve a 1 percent increase to the city’s sales tax, partly to raise police salaries. Proposition Public Safety will require a simple majority for passage. If approved, the city’s current sales tax rate of 8.850 cents per $1 (9.850 cents per $1 in the community improvement district that includes businesses along McNutt Road between I-55 and Commercial Boulevard) would be raised by 1 cent. See Steve Taylor’s story.
■ If you were looking for a female version of Frank Wilcox – the De Soto native who had a long career as a character actor in films and television – you could hardly do better than to come up with Morgan Fairchild. So it makes sense to choose Fairchild, a star on TV shows ranging from prime-time soap operas (“Dallas,” “Flamingo Road,” “Falcon Crest”) to comedies (“Friends”) to science fiction (“Roswell”), as well as dozens of roles in movies, as the special guest for the eighth annual Frank Wilcox Film Festival, to be held March 21 in De Soto. See Gordon Bess’ story.
■ A Cold Stone Creamery has opened in Arnold. Owners Krista and Robert Ryffel of south St. Louis County opened the shop at 1270 Jeffco Blvd. late last year. The couple had a soft opening on Nov. 18, and a grand-opening will be held from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11, when ice cream will be 20 percent off, Krista said. “We are thankful for everyone who has come out and supported us since we opened,” said Krista, 49. “It has been wonderful. We were so nervous about it, doing it for our first time. It has been spectacular.” See Tony Krausz’s story.
■ It’s been decided. Horseback riding will be prohibited in most Jefferson County parks. After months of discussion and debate, the Jefferson County Council voted 4-3 Jan. 27 to approve an amendment to the county’s parks and recreation ordinances to ban horses in all county parks except for Big River Saddle Club Park in Dittmer and, once it is developed, Beck Park in the northwest corner of the county in the Eureka area. See Steve Taylor’s story.
■ Officials with Public Water District No. 6, which provides service to about 3,200 customers in House Springs and Byrnes Mill, are looking at consolidating into the Jefferson County Public Sewer District, but one water district board member said he’s not happy about it. The two entities have signed an intergovernmental agreement to develop a plan to merge the water district into the sewer district. See Steve Taylor’s story.
■ In the Editorial section, Peggy Bess writes about Missouri’s “happy bubble” of immunity regarding influenza and the coronavirus. Flu cases are starting to rise in the state and in Jefferson County, however. Also, we have an editorial about the Legislatures attempts to undermine Clean Missouri.
■ Sports editor Russell Korando writes in his column about the retirement of longtime wrestling referee Skip Watkins. Also, Festus has chosen A.J. Ofodile as its new football coach.
*** More snow? Stop it, already.