■ Mike and Lynn Kirn of Imperial are thankful for less this year – less food and fewer pounds. After years of effort, they are celebrating Thanksgiving nearly 400 pounds lighter, combined, than they were at their top weights. “Life is just amazing now,” Lynn said. See Tracey Bruce’s Page 1 story.
■ There are 69 agencies that provide health care-related services in Jefferson County that are giving extra thanks this week. Those agencies will receive amounts ranging from $1,500 to $650,000 from the Jefferson Memorial Community Foundation. Grants this round totaled $3,677,351. See Patrick Martin’s Page 1 story.
■ A Bloomsdale woman is thankful that human decency is alive and well after losing $220 in cash while shopping and having it all returned to her. See Laura Marlow’s story.
■ A jury deliberated just under three hours Nov. 17 at the Jefferson County Courthouse to find Thomas E. Harris of Festus guilty of second-degree murder in the Feb. 18, 2015, shooting death of De Soto resident Dion Robinson. The jury also found Harris, 31, guilty of three related charges. See Kevin Carbery’s story.
■ Rick Fischer was appointed to serve on the Crystal City Council in a 5-0 council vote Nov. 14. Fischer fills an open Ward 2 seat created by the death of Charlie DeBoor, who died Oct. 9 at age 62 after a long battle with cancer. See Kevin Carbery’s story.
■ Arnold Ward 3 Councilman Phil Amato has proposed an ordinance that, if adopted, would prohibit anyone from serving more than two consecutive four-year terms as mayor. Ron Counts, the current mayor, is now serving his second four-year term and already has announced that he will run for re-election in April. Amato asked council members to think about the proposal over the holidays. See Kim Robertson’s story.
■ It looks like there will be more public transportation in Jefferson County starting next spring. Jeffco Express, a nonprofit organization that offers bus transportation throughout the county, plans to add a second bus to serve Arnold riders, probably sometime in March, said Dennis Murphy, who manages the bus service. See Kim Robertson’s story.
■ Editorial Page editor Patrick Martin’s column puts forward the case that America needs a strong, free national press to keep our country on course.
■ See the Sports section this week for profiles of the county’s prep girls basketball teams. It’s hoops season!
*** Best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family!