■ Mike Toombs figures everything happens for a reason, even being shot in the line of duty and fearing for his life in a Cedar Hill basement. Toombs, 49, of Arnold is a corporal with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and serves as its armorer – the officer who maintains weapons. He also provides weapons training and serves as an informal information technology adviser. One of his most trying duties happened six years ago – after just two weeks on the job – when he was called on Oct. 11, 2013, to back up Officer Nina Osia, who was checking out a 911 hangup call in Cedar Hill. See Steve Taylor’s Page 1 story, and a special section honoring first responders.
■ Six Festus R-6 School District students have confirmed cases of pertussis, more commonly known as whooping cough, according to school officials. Five of those students attend Festus High School and one is at Festus Intermediate School, said Kevin Pope, an R-6 spokesman. Jefferson County Health Department officials said Oct. 25 that nine other possible cases of whooping cough among R-6 students were being investigated. See Kevin Carbery’s Page 1 story.
■ Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak has a simple message for county residents: Dangerous criminals are coming to our towns. Marshak said the Sheriff’s Office has linked more than 40 thefts to groups from outside the county prowling local subdivisions looking to steal from unlocked vehicles. The warning came after Terry Logan, 41, of Imperial was shot at three times on Oct. 18 when he confronted a would-be thief outside his home in the Summerfield Parkside Estates subdivision off Seckman Road near the Mastodon State Historic Site. See Tony Krausz’s Page 1 story.
■ Organizers of the first-ever Jefferson County Job Fair were hopeful but a bit apprehensive about how the event would go. “We were scared to death, actually,” Arnold Mayor Ron Counts said, surveying the packed parking lot moments after the fair opened. “But this is a great turnout.” More than 500 job seekers attended the free event, held Oct. 23 at the Fox C-6 Service Center in Arnold. It was sponsored by five local entities: Leader Publications, the city of Arnold, the Arnold Chamber of Commerce, the Fox C-6 School District and JeffersonCollege. See Laura Marlow’s story.
■ The Jefferson R-7 Board of Education is back to full strength. Former R-7 school board member Karen Koenig has been appointed to fill the board seat left open following Shane Wolk’s recent resignation. Wolk, who was elected to the board in April, resigned effective Sept. 30 due to health concerns. The school board voted 5-1 on Oct. 22 to appoint Koenig to fill the vacancy until the April election, when the seat will be on the ballot for a two-year term. See Laura Marlow’s story.
■ Security guards and others who provide security soon will be required to be licensed to work in Jefferson County. The County Council voted unanimously last month to add the requirements to the county’s code of ordinances. “We’ve been working on this for some time,” Sheriff Dave Marshak said. “Even though we’ve had this idea in the works for some time, we wanted to get something on the books before the state and county start allowing medical marijuana facilities. We’re expecting an increase in the number of people working as private security officers as a result of these facilities. But we’re long overdue on having something like this. At a police chief’s meeting, (Arnold Chief Bob) Shockey told me we needed something like this 30 years ago.” See Steve Taylor’s story.
■ Peggy Bess writes a Halloween-themed column for the Editorial section and John Winkelman follows suit with his Outdoors column in the Sports section.
■ Read sports editor Russell Korando’s reflections on the career of Jefferson High softball standout Abi Chipps, now a senior.
*** The next Leader event will be the Holiday Shopping Spree on Nov. 16, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Quality Inn, 1200 W. Gannon Drive, Festus. Come to have some fun and find some Christmas bargains.