■ The curious sport of “ultrarunning,” wherein athletes go way past the standard marathon distance of 26.2 miles, has finally, officially, arrived in Jefferson County. Tim Treon of the Jefferson County Run Club said he was tired of seeing runners, himself included, driving up to St. Charles County or St. Louis to compete in endurance races, which encompass distances from 50 kilometers (31 miles) to 100 miles, or time-period runs (six to 24 hours). So, the 44-year-old Festus resident almost singlehandedly organized the Endurance Trials event Saturday at West City Park in Festus. It was a case of, “If you hold it, they will come.” See Gordon Bess’ story.
■ Lots of changes are in the works at Comtrea, an agency that provides health services throughout the county. The biggest change is Comtrea’s plan to sell Bridle Ridge Acres in Hillsboro, which means the agency will scrap plans to build an integrated health center there. Instead, Comtrea will look for a new property in Festus to develop later. Sue Curfman, CEO of Comtrea, said the agency’s board of directors spent a year considering its next move before coming to the conclusion that the Bridle Ridge property is too small to meet its needs. “It’s a beautiful property, but it doesn’t fit in our mission,” she said. See Tracey Bruce’s story.
■ It took about eight months, but Ken Waller finally decided on the next step in his political career. Waller, who announced in July that he would not run for a third four-year term as county executive, has filed to seek the Republican Party nomination for county clerk in the Aug. 7 primary election. Democrat Randy Holman has filed for his party’s nomination. He is the current county clerk, appointed by Waller in March 2017 to replace Wes Wagner, who left in the middle of his third four-year term. Waller will face opposition in the Republican primary from Jeremy Day, who led an unsuccessful petition drive last year to recall Waller as county executive. See Steve Taylor’s story.
■ Jefferson County is a “hot spot” for opioid prescriptions, county health officials have learned from the first set of data reported through the Health Department’s participation in a multi-county Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. “They (the numbers) confirm a lot of the concerns we originally had,” Health Department Director Kelley Vollmar said. “There is a phenomenal amount of medication out there.” And the more medication that is dispensed into the community, the greater the possibility that dangerous drugs will be diverted, end up in the wrong hands and lead to overdoses, she said. See Peggy Bess’ story.
■ The Hillsboro Board of Alderpersons on Monday chose Joe Phillips from among their ranks to serve as the city’s new mayor. Phillips, 47, has been a Ward 1 alderperson for 12 years and is replacing former Mayor Dennis Bradley, who resigned Feb. 26 at the start of an impeachment hearing to remove him from office. See Kevin Carbery’s story.
■ A subdivision development next to Northwest High School in Cedar Hill that’s been more than a decade in the planning may be about to become a reality. The Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Commission voted 6-2 at its Feb. 22 meeting to approve a preliminary plat for O’Brien Place, a 114-home development on 51.52 acres just north of the high school campus. The development will be along Hwy. 30 but access will be from Pete O’Brien Drive and Cedar Hill Road. See Steve Taylor’s story.
■ Patrick Martin takes the column this week, commenting on the slew of judges who have switched from Democrat to Republican to run in the Aug. 7 primary. Letters are dominated, once again, by people with strong opinions on guns.
■ Sports editor Russell Korando tells the story this week of the Fehlker family of Hillsboro, who are praying that baby Blair has successful surgery to fix his tracheomalacia. Dad Joe Fehlker is a counselor and coach in the Hillsboro R-3 School District.
*** Don’t forget to Spring Forward overnight on Saturday!