■ Jefferson County officials are looking to assume control of up to 150 miles of subdivision streets that are now under private ownership. Public Works Director Jason Jonas said his department has begun accepting applications from subdivision homeowner associations that want the county to take over maintenance of their streets. Assuming control of subdivision streets is a step forward for Jefferson County, which has never done so before, Jonas said. See Steve Taylor’s Page 1 story.
■ Before most of you who read this were born, a victory for humanity happened quietly right here in JeffersonCounty. In September 1954, more than a year before Rosa Parks refused to sit in the back of a Montgomery (Ala.) bus and sparked the U.S. civil rights movement, 23-year-old Willa Haney started teaching a typing class at Festus High School. Willa Haney was black. Every student staring back at her was white. It was the first crack in the wall of local school segregation. Willa and her husband, Adam, emissaries for integration, will be honored in a 6 p.m. Friday night (May 11) gathering at the First United Methodist Church of Festus/Crystal City. The public is invited. See Gordon Bess’ Page 1 story and Peggy Bess’ column in the Editorial Section.
■ Dozens of Jefferson County senior citizens are happier with their teeth this week after the April 30 debut of the Jefferson County Health Department’s “Senior Smiles to Go” mobile dental unit. Eventually, county health officials estimate, the number of served seniors could climb to 2,300, as the van travels year-round on a rotating schedule to the county’s 39 senior care facilities. The van, which hit the road after nearly four years of spadework, spent its first week of operation parked outside Autumn Ridge Residential Care and Senior Living in Herculaneum. See Peggy Bess’ story.
■ Central Jefferson County will get two new Mercy clinics by the end of 2019. A former 7-Eleven store at Catlin Road and Old Hwy. M in Barnhart just east of a Karsch’s Village Market was torn down last week to make way for one of the clinics, and another will go up on a vacant lot on the east side of Business 21 at Jeremiah Boulevard in Hillsboro, just north of Leon Hall Parkway and the Hillsboro R-3 School District campus. See Steve Taylor’s story.
■ The Relay for Life of Jefferson County is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Saturday at West City Park, 2232-2292 Old State Hwy. A, in Festus. See the schedule of activities in the May 10 Leader and a feature story on Samantha Peterein, 28, of Festus, who is a volunteer for the relay and has been battling differentiated thyroid cancer since April 2017. See Tracey Bruce’s story.
■ Arnold Mayor Ron Counts has been busy working with a newly established commission charged with planting flowers and other greenery and otherwise beautifying the city. The Arnold City Council voted unanimously April 19 to appoint five people to the Beautification Committee – Andrew Sutton, Joe McKee, Tim Seidenstricker, Gaye Counts and Tricia Sutton. Each one was appointed to a two-year term. Council members voted unanimously March 15 to establish the commission. See Tracey Bruce’s story.
■ Sports editor Russell Korando writes in the May 10 Leader about high school coaches who are moving to new jobs. It’s a long list.
*** Bye-bye redbud and dogwood. Hello, allergies.