■ What started as a professional relationship between two like-minded teachers has grown into something far more than either expected. A technology teacher at Festus Elementary School and a primary school teacher in a small village in Africa have used the internet to bridge the enormous geographical and cultural gap between them. In the process, they have become friends and their learning communities are now sister schools. The two teachers are Theresa Reando, 49, of Herculaneum and Temwanani Chilenga, 23, who teaches at the Chambu Primary School on the far outskirts of Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi, a small nation in southeast Africa. See Laura Marlow’s story.
■ A jury has awarded a former clerk in the Jefferson County Circuit Clerk’s Office $225,000 in damages in a lawsuit that claimed she was forced out of her job as political retribution. A four-woman, four-man jury unanimously found in favor of Jeanette McKee, who worked for more than 27 years in the office before she left six months after Circuit Clerk Mike Reuter took office in January 2015. Reuter, a Republican, defeated McKee, a Democrat, in the 2014 general election. On June 20, after a four-day trial before Eastern District U.S. District Court Judge Catherine Perry, the jury awarded McKee $25,000 in actual damages and $200,000 in punitive damages. She also will be compensated for $4,404 in legal fees. McKee also is seeking to recover up to $126,307 in additional attorney’s fees. See Steve Taylor’s Page 1 story.
■ Jefferson County voters may get a chance to vote on a sales tax to fund park improvements in April 2020, but the chief backer of the idea, District 1 Councilman Brian Haskins, doesn’t like the direction the proposed ballot measure has taken. The Jefferson County Council voted 5-2 at its June 24 meeting to give preliminary approval to place a 3/8-cent sales tax proposal, to be called Proposition P, on the April 7, 2020, ballot. But an amendment was also passed, with a 4-3 vote, that would prohibit any money generated by the sales tax being used for recreation centers, pools or water parks. See Steve Taylor’s story.
■ Hillsboro R-3 school officials have agreed to sell about 56 acres of land along Hwy. A for $1.1 million less than the district paid for it in 2004. The board voted 5-0 June 27 to sell the property for $400,001 to Bridle Creek Properties of Ste. Genevieve, a real estate company. The company offered the highest of three bids for the property. Brad Bauman, a spokesman for Bridle Creek, said June 28 that residential development is the company’s “most likely use” for the property.
Despite selling the property for a loss, it’s the best deal the district can get under current market conditions and for the foreseeable future, school officials said.
■ Jodi Litvinov said she had seen her neighbors help each other before when floodwaters effectively cut off the Sulphur Springs community in Imperial from the outside world.
However, the 38-year-old said she was especially impressed with the camaraderie during the latest flood, which lasted longer than what she’d witnessed before. Sulphur Springs Road closed May 26 when it flooded after the Mississippi River rose above 41 feet, causing Glaize Creek to back up and pour out of its banks. The road didn’t reopen until June 20. During that time, residents from the 20-to-25-home Sulphur Springs community used boats, canoes and kayaks to travel through floodwater and get to their vehicles, which were parked at the nearby Windsor Baptist Church, 6701 Hwy. 61.
■ If you happen to be at Walt Disney World in Florida next March, you might run into an excited 3-year-old boy who is experiencing a dream come true – namely, Elias Fielder of Arnold. Elias, who is battling both a rare neurological syndrome and adrenal cancer, wants to meet Mickey Mouse in person. And thanks to Make-A-Wish Missouri and Kansas, he’s going to get the chance. See Katelyn Mary Skaggs’ feature story.
■ Read the hilarious tale of the garage door opener in Katelyn Mary Skaggs’ column in the Editorial section, plus a poem about the Fourth of July and accompanying fireworks.
■ See Sports editor Russell Korando’s column, which explains changes in how private schools are classified. St. Pius X will be the only local school affected. The state will no longer use the multiplier system and individual teams will be classified on post-season performance. Also catch up on summer ball, and see a feature story on Zach Reed, a state-champion pole vaulter at Festus who is now a brand-new Jefferson County Sheriff’s corrections officer.
*** Summer, indeed.