best news series superintendent search

By Amanda [email protected]

Although the meeting was shorter than average on Wednes-day, some very big news was announced at the regular board meeting for Perry County School

District 32. In closed session, the board accepted the retirement of District 32 superintendent Kevin Dunn, effective June 30, 2013.

Dunn is currently serving his 11th year with the district, and according to District 32 Assistant Superintendent Russell Leek, the retirement was expected.

“It’s been great working with him,” Leek said. “He has done a

great job for the district during his time here.”

Dunn could not be reached for comment because he was out of town for a work-related confer-ence at press-time Monday.

The board voted to schedule a board work session on Sept. 19, at 7 p.m., to begin the process of fill-ing this position.

In other action:

n School board members were invited to review art proj-ects created by students grades six through eight. Board Vice presi-dent Kevin Bachmann said he was very impressed with the 3-D “Starry Night” projects.

“We are very fortunate to have fabulously talented art teachers working with our students,” said Leek. “They are able to tap into

the students’ natural talents.”Also on display was a selection

of Pirate mascot themed items that will soon be available for pur-chase through the school’s new online spirit store.

“We expect that the online store will be up and running be-fore homecoming,” District 32

TUESDAY >>> SEPTEMBER 18, 2012 >>> 75¢ VOLUME 133 >>> ISSUE 74

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East Perry Community Fair special tab is inside! Also, Black Cats whip Perryville Pirates, 47-7. 1B

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Superintendent announces resignation Kevin Dunn’s retirement date is set for June 30, 2013.

Three decades of event


The 30th annual River Hills Run/Walk will be held on Saturday, Sept. 22, in conjunction with the East Perry Community Fair.

The annual event is a 4.3-mile run/walk from Wittenberg to Altenburg. The proceeds from the run will benefit “My Camp.”

The East Perry Commu-nity Fair begins at 8 a.m., Friday, and will end after the announcement of prizes at 8:30 p.m., Saturday. A special section listing all of the fair’s events is included in this issue of the Repub-lic-Monitor.

Perry County native Tim Steffens, along with his wife Stefanie and Curt and Carla Barber, have been or-ganizing the run for a few years.

“The East Perry County (EPC) Jaycees started the River Hills Run 30 years ago,” Steffens said. “When

See BOARD/Page 5A

30th annual River Hills Run/Walk will be held this Saturday.

Repair of bridge continues Highway T bridge over Saline Creek should be finished next month.


Motorist along Highway T in Perry County can ex-pect longer-than-normal de-lays at the temporary light exchange set up at the site of the bridge replacement project over Saline Creek.

The bridge known as Split Rock, located along Highway T in the western part of the county, is under-going a complete replace-ment that is expected to be completed by next month.

See RUN/Page 6A

See BRIDGE/Page 5A

HOMECOMING COURT ELECTED AT PHS

Photo Submitted

The 2012 Perryville High School Homecoming Court has been chosen by a vote of students. The court will preside over the Oct. 5 Homecoming activities. The king and queen senior candidates are: (from left) Aleshia Reiss, daughter of Warren and Angie Reiss, and Levi Zook, son of Kevin and Glenda Zook; Kristen Triller, daughter of Charlie and Dana Triller, and Chris Zahner, son of Scott and Melissa Zahner; and Lauren Buxton, daughter of Dave and Kris Buxton and Lucas Hotop, son of Rick and Frankie Hotop; junior class representatives include Brooke Picou, daughter of Matt Picou and Renae Bohnert and Jonny Pruiett, son of Eric and Kathryn Pruiett; sophomore representatives are Taylor Cissell, daughter of Randy and Julie Cissell, and Tyler Holligan, son of Brian and Shelley Holligan; and freshmen representatives include Katie Roth, daughter of Mike and Kathy, and Austin Bachmann, son of Dan and Renee Bachmann. The king and queen, chosen by student vote, will be announced during halftime ceremonies at the Perryville vs. Park Hills football game, which begins at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 5 at Pirate Stadium. The PHS student homecoming dance will be held from 8-11 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 6 at the Perry Park Center.

The need for bone marrow donors

Amanda [email protected]

The St. Vincent High School cafeteria was brimming with gen-erous souls last Wednesday, as people came in droves to become members of the National Marrow Donor Program. Many showed up after they heard of one little baby, Macy Westmoreland, who was born with leukemia, and needs a marrow transplant to live.

Macy was born with infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia

(ALL), and while it is one of the most common childhood cancers, it’s incredibly rare for an infant to be born with such a condition. In fact, only one in 5 million new-borns are diagnosed with it.

Currently finishing up her fourth bout of chemotherapy, Macy is not making the strides her family, who now live in Arkan-sas but are Perryville natives, had hoped. She relapsed after the first bout, and has yet to make a full


In 2010, then four-year old Katelyn Pittman wrote a letter to Santa, asking for a mermaid, blocks and a baby. Today, she just wants to feel better.

In the spring of 2006, Chandos and Lisa Pittman and their two sons Devin and Braden welcomed baby girl Katelyn to their Silver Lake home. She weighed in at a healthy 9 pounds, 4 ounces and was 22 inches long.

When Katelyn was just over two years old, Lisa noticed that her little girl’s right eye was changing color.

“Her blue eye started turning green,” Lisa said. “One day, I was

changing her clothes, and noticed a shimmer in the same eye.” Kate-

Many Perryville residents turn out to help Macy Westmoreland

Pitman’s brother offers marrow to save her, but expenses mount

See MACY/Page 5A See PITTMAN/Page 5A

KatelynPittman

OBITUARIES, NEWS, FROM PAGE 1AThe Republic-Monitor Tuesday, September 18, 2012 • Page 5A

Deaths

SeabaughPerryville

Lindola M. Seabaugh of Perryville died Saturday, Sept. 15, 2012 at her residence in Perryville. She was 85.

She was born on April 29, 1927 in Per-ryville, the daughter of John and Elsie (Zahn-er) Richardet. She was married on Dec. 26, 1964 to Troy “Spike” Seabaugh, who preced-ed her in death on April 5, 2005.

Survivors include two sisters and one brother, Velda (Vic) Vallecorsa of Flint, Mich.; Evelyn (Herb) Biehle of St. Louis; and Joe (Pat) Richardet of Shell Knob; several nieces and nephews.

Mrs. Seabaugh was a retired beautician from Charles of Clayton Beauty Salon. She was a member of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Perryville and a volunteer at St. Vincent Thrift Store and Perry County Memorial Hospital.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; four sisters, Mildred Monier, Catherine Monier, Stella Topp and Ruby Marcinkowski; three brothers, Elbert, Joseph Harold, and Elmer Richardet; and infant brother, Joseph Edward Richardet.

Memorials are preferred to St. Vincent Schools.Friends may call at Young & Sons Funeral Home on

Tuesday, Sept. 18 from 4-8 p.m. with a parish wake at 5 p.m. Visitation will continue on Wednesday, Sept. 19 from 6:30-10 a.m. The funeral Mass will be Wednesday at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church at 10:30 a.m. with Rev. Milton Ryan C.M. officiating. Burial will be at the Home Cemetery.

Young & Sons Funeral Home, Inc. in Perryville provid-ed the arrangements.

LindolaSeabaugh

tors are not insulated by near armies of staff. So, we get to know some of these folks we cover in the legislature almost as well as family.

The departing Senate President Pro Tem Rob Mayer, Senate Demo-cratic Leader Victor Cal-lahan, House Democratic Leader Mike Talboy and the already-departed House Speaker Steve Til-ley, are good examples of what is different between Congress and Missouri’s General Assembly.

They bent over backward to help report-ers -- always accessible and honest. There were times when, frankly, I was surprised at just how candid they would get about legislative struggles and battles. I will miss them too.

They help demonstrate how term limits have adversely affected the reporting efforts of state-house reporters.

It takes years to de-velop these kinds of rela-tionships. It takes time for a reporter to learn which politicians are consistent-ly honest and which ones

just try to manipulate us. Likewise, it takes a

news source time to de-velop trust in a reporter. It takes time to gain confi-dence that the reporter really is someone who will keep his word when a promise is made for information to be off-the-record.

As Missouri continues to move into an era of short-term, temporary legislators, I fear those kinds of relationships that I found so critical in cov-ering this place for you will become less frequent.

I would be remiss, however, if I did not mention a positive effect of term limits. They also have sent home legisla-tors who have proven to be ineffective or more interested in politics or personal gain than public policy.

(Phill Brooks has been a Missouri statehouse reporter since 1970, making him dean of the statehouse press corps. He is the statehouse cor-respondent for KMOX Radio, director of MDN and a faculty member of the Missouri School of Journalism. He has cov-ered every governor since the late Warren Hearnes.)

In order to construct the new, wider two-lane bridge, the original 20-foot wide bridge, con-structed in 1933, had to be completely removed.

“The deck rating on the (original) bridge was pretty low,” said MoDot project manager Tim Richmond. “It is striped to be a one-lane bridge.

“The new structure ex-pected to open in the next couple of weeks was con-structed in the same spot as the old, but is 28-feet wide, making it a two-lane bridge.”

A temporary roadway was constructed running through Saline Creek, parallel to the bridge project by building using several large 60-foot cul-verts placed side by side in the creek bed and cov-ered with heavy stone and gravel. The culverts and roadway will be removed

by MoDot once the bridge is officially re-opened, leaving no trace of the road that once ran through the creek.

The project, that began in late May moved ahead of schedule over the sum-mer due to lack of rain, which allowed the work to be completed without rain delay.

Motorists who wish to avoid the construction delay have the option of several detours, with the shortest being the Outer North Road in Perry County to Perry County Road 702, which will take travelers to Highway T. This is a partially paved thoroughfare with two narrow bridges.

Work zones are cur-rently marked along Highway T with signs as improvements are being made, and drivers are asked to use extreme cau-tion near those zones, and plan for possible travel delays.

From Page 1a

Brooks

From Page 1a

Board

From Page 1aBridge

From Page 1a

Macy

From Page 1a

Pittmanlyn was immediately taken for a medical examination, and was diagnosed with an incredibly rare cancer, reti-noblastoma.

“Her eye and optic nerve were removed,” Lisa said. “And because the cancer may not have been con-tained to just the eye, and was a high risk of spread-ing, she was on chemo for six months.”

Although Katelyn was then well, the Pittmans had been warned by doctors there was a slim chance that the chemo treatment she received as a toddler could cause her to develop a can-cer of the blood.

“They told us that there was a 5 percent chance that she could get cancer from the chemo,” Lisa said. “We were told it would happen within the first couple of years if it was going to hap-pen.”

Ealier this year, the Pit-tmans noticed Katelyn seemed to tire easily. “She was also rubbing her legs, complaining of pain,” Lisa said.

During a routine follow- up visit in April, the Pitt-man’s worst fears came true when Katelyn was diag-nosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia, AML, which is a cancer of the blood form-ing tissue in the bone mar-

row. It is one of the most common types of leukemia among adults over age 40, but is rarely found in chil-dren. Persons with this type of cancer have abnormal cells inside their bone mar-row.

The cells grow very quickly, and replace healthy blood cells. The bone mar-row, which helps the body fight infections, eventually stops working correctly. People with AML are more likely to have infections and have an increased risk for bleeding as the num-bers of healthy blood cells decrease. The only way to help Katelyn was with a bone marrow transplant.

On July 13, Katelyn un-derwent a bone marrow transplant, with marrow do-nated by her oldest brother Devon, age 10. He under-went a surgical procedure under anesthesia to have bone marrow extracted from punctures in his pelvic bone.

“A bone marrow trans-plant was the only thing that would keep her in per-manent remission. It was the only thing that could cure her. We all got tested. Devon was a full match so he underwent the pro-cedure. We didn’t want to pressure him, but explained to him that it could help his sister not have cancer any-more and that she needed his healthy cells. He under-stood that, and he signed off on giving permission

himself,” Lisa said.“They sedated him and

did multiple punctures to his pelvic bones and re-trieved the stem cells from his marrow. He was in some pain, but he did well. He had to have two pressure dressings on his hip.”

Lisa said it was particu-larly difficult for the family during the marrow trans-plant.

“It was hard, a very sick child in the bone marrow unit, and another undergo-ing the extractions,” Lisa said. “Plus our other boy was (staying) with grand-parents.”

Lisa said with the bone marrow transplant Katelyn received from her brother, the cancer is expected to stay in remission. Right now, Lisa is staying with Katelyn at the Ronald McDonald house near Children’s Hos-pital. She’s been there since Aug. 1. The community is banding together now to help little Katelyn and her family. Although the couple has health insurance, there are always so many inciden-tal expenses when someone is sick. Parents have to miss work, and making the long trips back and forth to Chil-dren’s Hospital where Kate-lyn is receiving life-saving treatment. She is expected to remain hospitalized until next month.

The Katelyn Joy Pittman Benefit Fund has been es-tablished at Regions Bank

in Perryville where those interested in assisting the family may make a dona-tion. In addition, a group of friends, family and others that are close to the fam-ily have arranged a spe-cial evening at Ponderosa Steak House in Perryville. On Oct. 16, beginning at 4 p.m., the local steak house will donate 50 cents for every entrée sold, while on behalf of the Pittman fam-ily, volunteers will act as servers at the eatery with “tips” going to the Pittman family. They will also have a variety of different items that patrons can purchase a chance to win.

Family friend Jeff Weibrecht is asking the community do what they can to help little Katelyn and her family. And the Pit-tmans wish to make sure they are the voice of AML, by raising awareness about the organization Be the Match.

“We were blessed that we had a donor,” said Pit-tman. “If not, we would have to go to the registry right away, and then be waiting like so many other families. We know of some children who are needing matches in the near future, just like our daughter did. I’ve met so many people that are sitting and waiting for a cure for their child. Bone marrow is something our bodies regenerate, and you could save a life. ”

recovery. After Macy’s re-lapse, it led doctors to be-lieve that the best chance for a long-term cure is a bone marrow transplant.

And, through word of mouth and flyers posted throughout town showing the beautiful baby’s smiling face, Perryville residents showed up in their inherent generous nature, ready to be a match for Macy, or for anyone who may need the marrow of another.

“I want to help out,” said Perryville resident Grace Pyle last Wednesday. “I hope that someone would do the same for my chil-dren.”

Jennifer Lukefahr, her one-year-old son Gavin and her mother Gail Cissell, showed up at last Wednes-day’s drive as well.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Lukefahr said. “I’m a mother of three, and when my babies were born, I do-nated their blood for blood stem cell donation.”

Jed Jennings, of Per-ryville, said he was at the li-

cense bureau when he came across the flyer with baby Macy’s smiling face, and he began to cry.

“That flyer made me cry,” he said, tearing up again. “I couldn’t not come here.”

Those who attended the

registry first filled out forms regarding their health, then read about marrow extrac-tion procedures. Afterward, they swabbed their own cheeks for DNA, which will determine whether they’re a match for someone who needs a transplant. Those who became members of the registry will now be eligible to donate marrow until they’re 60 years old.

Coordinator of Wednes-day’s drive, Denis Mosely, thanked everyone for com-ing.

“The response is over-whelming,” she said. “I ex-pected this kind of turnout for the whole day, not in the first hour alone.”

The drive ran from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m.

In regard to being a match for Macy, those who signed up to be a donor will find out in the coming weeks if they can save the six-month-old’s life.

Marketing Director Kate Martin said. n The board reviewed

the monthly Missouri School Board Association’s video report which included information about Proposi-tion B, which will appear on the Missouri ballot in November. Proposition B would increase cigarette taxes by 73 cents per pack, up from the current 17 cents per pack to 90 cents per pack. The MSBA reports that this will generate about $273 million in annual reve-nue, with half going directly to fund education statewide. n There was no report

from Perry County Teach-er’s Association due to the fact that Pirate Pride Paloo-za was canceled last Friday, leaving the organization with nothing new to report. Pirate Pride Palooza has been rescheduled for Oct. 3 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. to co-incide with the Perryville

High School Homecoming celebration that will be held Oct. 5.n Perry County Mid-

dle School presented this month’s building report. Principal Velda Haertling and assistant principal Mark Phillips described the process of interpreting MAP testing data.

“MAP testing results give us a good gauge of our strengths and weaknesses,” Haertling said. She ex-plained that each school re-ceives a report, by teacher, of student test results. At PCMS, the staff is now ana-lyzing those reports.

“Our teaching staff is looking for the areas where our teachers are teaching and our students are learn-ing well,” she said. “We also look at areas that must be improved.

“We compare the teach-ing strategies by grade level and content area and then we learn from one another. If one teacher’s students did very well in one area while another class did poorly,

those teachers will collabo-rate to develop more effec-tive teaching strategies.”

Haertling and Perryville Elementary School princi-pal Jennifer Streiler have also planned a collabora-tion between all PES fourth grade teachers and the PCMS fifth grade teachers.

“We’re going to work to-gether to help our students better manage that transi-tion from elementary to middle school,” Haertling explained. n The food service pro-

gram was the spotlight for monthly review during the meeting. Leek highlighted portions of the food ser-vices program evaluation, giving a comparison of the number of breakfasts and lunches for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 school years.

“Food services director Angie Gotto and her staff take great care in providing meals that are nutritious, well-balanced and which satisfy the taste standards of most of our children,” Leek said. “The new federal

school lunch regulations are an adjustment that we are making very well.”

Leek said District 32 Food Services served 118,197 lunches at the ele-mentary school and 178,701 lunches at the middle and high school cafeteria last year.n The board approved

the 2012-13 tuition rate for Altenburg District 48 stu-dents attending Perryville High School at $6,770.92. Dunn reported that there are currently 27 District 48 stu-dents enrolled at Perryville High School.

“And while we set a year-ly tuition amount, District 48 actually pays an hourly rate based on each student’s attendance, with a minimum attendance of 90 percent re-quired,” Dunn said. n Dunn gave an update

regarding the changes in revenue, which have oc-curred since the budget was finalized in June. These amendments to the budget will be voted on at the Oc-tober board meeting.

Photo by AmAndA lAyton

The new bridge along Highway T over Saline Creek should be finished next month. Until then, there will be delays.

Perry County USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced that the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) has been approved for Perry County. ECP provides cost-share as-sistance for livestock water in areas impacted by severe drought.

Livestock producers who are fac-ing a critical need for water may be eligible to receive financial assistance through FSA. ECP can help with con-

necting to other water sources, drilling wells, but the most important thing is that interested producers talk to the of-fice prior to taking any action.

ECP provides financial assistance for up to 75 percent of the cost to implement approved temporary emer-gency practices and up to 50 percent of permanent practices. Applications are accepted now through Sept. 21, 2012.

Producers must submit their re-

quests for ECP assistance to FSA prior to beginning any work. Com-pleting any action, such as well drill-ing, before submitting an ECP request could result in forfeiture of program eligibility.

For more information on the Emer-gency Conservation Program, or infor-mation on drought assistance, call the Perry County FSA office at (573) 547-6531 or visit www.fsa.usda.gov/mo.

Perry eligible for drought relief

Photo by AmAndA KeeFe

Last Wednesday’s bone marrow registry at St. Vincent High School yielded a serious turnout, as people lined up to fill out their information, then swab their cheeks to find out if they’re a match for someone in need.

THURSDAY >>> SEPTEMBER 27, 2012 >>> 75¢ VOLUME 133 >>> ISSUE 77


SUNSHINE Is SVHS to continue its willing ways Friday? 6A

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MANCHE AND MADISON Super search begins

Voting begins

Oldest building repaired


The Perry County School District 32 School Board met in special session Wednes-day evening to discuss hir-ing procedures to replace District 32 Superintendent Kevin Dunn, who plans to retire June 30, 2013.

D u n n announced he would be retiring at the Sept. 12 meet-ing. He has been work for the district for 11 years, six as superinten-dent. Board president Tina Littge led the meeting. All other board members were in attendance, including vice president Kevin Bach-mann, and members Scott Hotop, Scott Cooper, Jeff Weibrecht, Nancy Voelker and Mark Gremaud. Board secretary Barb Hagan also attended.

District 32 Marketing Director Kate Martin was asked to develop sample pamphlets that listed District 32’s appealing attributes and accreditations, in addition to listing the work history and educational requirements the board is looking for in an ideal candidate.

“These pamphlets will be sent to employment agencies throughout the re-gion, and will also be sent to those whose names have been kept on file for previ-ously inquiring about the opening,” Martin said.

Between the two pam-phlet designs Martin sub-mitted, the board chose a more modern, progressive layout.

The board decided that applications for the super-intendent position would be accepted both online and by mail. The group debated what qualifications they would require in an appli-cant, noting that an ideal candidate would not be re-quired to have a doctorate, but that it would be pre-ferred, and a minimum of two to three years of admin-istration. Littge said there was a specific timeline to the hiring process.

“We will accept applica-tions until Nov. 1, and ex-pect to review and screen applicants for the entire month of November,” she said. “We anticipate hiring an applicant in mid-Decem-ber, and that person’s offi-cial start date would be set for July 1, 2013.”


For registered Missouri voters who are unable to make it to the polls for the November election, they can begin voting via an absentee ballot six weeks prior to an election, which was Tuesday for the Nov. 6 election.

Perry County voters can request absentee ballots from Perry County Clerk Randy Taylor at the Perry County Administration of-fice located at 321 N. Main St., Perryville.

Reason’s for voting ab-sentee may include:n Absence on Election

Day from the jurisdiction of the election authority in which said voter is regis-tered to vote.n Incapacity or confine-

ment due to illness or physi-cal disability, including a person who is primarily responsible for the physical care of a person who is in-capacitated or confined due to illness or disability.n Religious belief or

practice.n Employment as an

School board starts the process to replace Kevin Dunn.

Registered voters could start voting absentee Tuesday of this week.

TinaLittge

Photo by AmAndA Keefe

Pit bull owner Lara Manche says her 2-year-old dog Madison couldn’t be sweeter, and was appalled when she heard of the “Kill a Pit Bull Day” text that has gone viral.

Target: Pit BullsSheriff says anonymous viral text to kill pit bulls is just ‘idiotic swaddle’ Amanda [email protected]

An anonymous text sent out earlier this month went viral quickly after it encouraged violence to-ward pit bulls on Halloween. No one is sure where the text originated, but many find its message rather disturbing.

It promotes “National Kill a Pit Bull Day” to occur on Oct. 31, Halloween.

The text has reached Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. It reads (verbatim, including er-rors):

“I’m here by announcing October 31 National kill a pitbull day. After you take the kids trick or treat-ing keep your costume on round up some friends

and kill as many pitbulls as you can before midnight. Baseball bats, knives, bricks and poisons (a hotdog soaked in radiator fluid works well) are all suitable tools. Their owners like brag about there high thresh-old for pain. So don’t worry them suffering they can take it. So remember to spread the word! OCTOBER 31, 2012 NATIONAL KILL A PITBULL NIGHT.”

Though the text is dubbed a hoax by some news outlets, local law enforcement says it’s better to be safe than sorry when it comes to the safety of your pit bull, or any pet, on Halloween.

“As with anything these days, you have to take every comment made seriously,” said Perryville Po-lice Chief Keith Tarrillion. “You never know what

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the third of a series of three articles regarding the recent purchases of three historic buildings in down-town Perryville, and what the new owners plan to do with them.)


The oldest building in Perryville, commonly known as the Hildebrand Jeweler building, will be open to the public as a re-tail consignment boutique, hopefully by the holidays.

Owners Katina and Jon Wahlers, of Perryville, bought the building — erected some time between 1828 and 1832 — last No-vember.

“We didn’t know what we were going to do with it initially,” Katina said. “But we bought the building on a split-second decision on the day they were auctioned off.”

The historic structure,

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TUESDAY >>> DECEMBER 4, 2012 >>> 75¢ VOLUME 133 >>> ISSUE 96


BRAZEAU Taxidermy jobs were scam; man charged. 20

Christmas comes early to tiny village in East Perry. 11

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The Perry County School Dis-trict 32 Board of Education will welcome three candidates for the superintendent’s position to campus on Tuesday.

Board members selected the fi-nalists from 15 applicants.

They include: n Dr. Aaron Cornman, who is

the superintendent at Pierce City R-VI Public Schools in Pierce City.n Scott Ireland, who is super-

intendent of Pleasant Hope R-VI School District in Pleasant Hope.n Dr. Jonathan Oetinger, who

is assistant superintendent for busi-ness and operations of Waynesville R-VI School District in Waynes-

ville. The candidates will be given

tours of the schools and campus on Tuesday afternoon and then meet with District 32 administrators.

The Board of Education will meet in a special session Tuesday evening to allow district staff to meet the candidates. Dr. Cornman will meet the staff at 4 p.m., Mr. Ireland will visit at 5:15 p.m. and

Dr. Oetinger will meet the staff at 6:30 p.m.

The board hopes to have the new superintendent hired by the middle of December.

In September, current superin-tendent Kevin Dunn announced his plan to retire at the end of the school year after 31 years in educa-tion, the last six as superintendent at District 32.

Applicants to tour District 32 campus, meet with the staff today.

AaronCornman

ScottIreland

Superintendent search narrowed to 3

Residents rally for the Roths


Her closest friends say what they will miss most about her is her smile, and her sweet southern voice, but in the end, it is her husband Brent and three small children who will miss Connie Roth the most after she succumbed to injuries sustained in a horrific Nov. 5 car crash that ended her life 15 days later.

“She was pure southern charm,” friend Carol Word of Frohna said. “Everyone was always ‘Miss’ this or ‘Ma’am’ that. She was just good inside and out.”

Word, and another friend of the late Roth, Kellie Engert, are just two of an army of many who’ve made it a mission to show support to Frohna’s Brent Roth, and his three young children, Kallee, 8, Lilly, 6, and three-year old Zachery.

Engert reiterated Word’s warm senti-ments about Roth, saying she was the kind of mother they all looked up to.

“Children flocked to her,” she said. “It didn’t matter whose children. They were drawn to her. She was so kind. I don’t think she had an enemy. I’d never heard a person say a cross word about her, or heard her say anything cross about someone else.”

According to the pair, on a misty Mon-day afternoon last month, Roth, a stay-at-home mom, had just picked up her young children at the end of their school day, and was on the way to take her daughters to dance class when the GMC Envoy they were traveling in slid on wet pavement, and overturned, leaving Roth and her oldest child very seriously injured.

“We actually came up on the accident,” Engert said, referring to Word and herself. “We could see the rescue workers, and the helicopter take off. We didn’t know who was in the wreck yet. Then we drove by, and saw the vehicle. My heart just sank. It was a terrible feeling to see how bad the situation was and know that it was someone you knew in an accident this serious.”

It was shortly after that it was confirmed that Roth and her children were indeed the ones in the accident, and the community immediately began to rally to offer support for Brett and the children.

“I immediately wanted to go to the hos-pital,” said Engert, tearfully recalling the events of the day. “Because I knew those babies were going to need a mommy, and their mommy was too hurt to help them.”

After a three-day stay in the hospital, young Kallee was released, and is recover-ing from her injuries. Her mother, however,

Community offers enormous support for family of woman who died in a tragic automobile accident.

See ROTH/Page 5

CAVE EXPLORERS AND CAVE DWELLERS

Photo by amanda Keefe

On Sunday, Nov. 25, a group of Perry County residents, including several Perryville city officials, took a trip under-ground and explored the Berome-Moore cave system. Cavers hoped to shed light on exactly what it is they do since scrutiny has fallen on them due to the recent grotto sculpin issue. In red is Missouri Caves and Karst President Jim Sherrell, at left is Perryville Alderman Curt Buerck and at far right is Assistant Police/Fire Chief Bill Jones.

Cavers support delay of grotto sculpin endangerment strategyAmanda [email protected]

Since the recent grotto sculpin issue hit Perry County, local cavers have come under scrutiny, though for what,

they’re not entirely sure.

Although there are several cave (or “grotto”) groups that frequent Perry County caves, and have for decades, some residents feel the cavers are par-tially to blame for the recent move by U.S. Fish and Wild-

life to consider listing the grotto sculpin as endangered, which would ultimately lead to the designation of critical habi-tat on landowners’ property.

“There was some anger toWord cav-ers,” said Ray Shaw, board member and frequent caver for SEMO Grotto. “As if we were the ones that brought this down on people. I feel that’s untrue.”

In fact, cavers were not the ones to discover, or be the first to research, the cave-dwelling fish — a local col-lege student stumbled upon the grotto sculpin in 1991 and wrote a thesis on it, attracting the attention of agencies like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

At the Oct. 30 public meeting held by the service, Missouri Caves and Karst Conservancy President Jim Sher-rell said a concerned landowner ap-proached him afterWord.

“I had one landowner come up to me and told me, ‘I know you won’t be get-ting on my land,’” Sherrell said.

Recently, a Perry County landowner denied caving groups access to a cave on his property — one the groups have

explored for decades.“I’m sure this person is being pres-

sured,” Sherrell said. “They asked us, while all of this is going on, not to re-turn. I think the landowner is worried, pressured and concerned. Prior to all of this, we were able to access that cave for 30 years.”

However, on the flip side, Sherrell said he’s received the opposite response as well. “I’ve also had other landowners contact me and members of [the con-servancy] and ask us to please come out and check their sinkholes, and evaluate their properties.”

Regardless, cavers are still looking to save face, and explain to the commu-nity, and all other involved parties, that their involvement could, and should, be used as a benefit.

Both Shaw and Sherrell couldn’t

WantMore?Missouri’s federal politicians also against fish being listed as endangered.

Page 5

See FISH/Page 5

OBITUARIESThe Republic-Monitor • www.perryvillenews.com Tuesday, December 4, 2012 •

Deaths

KenserPerryville

Betty J. Kenser of Perryville died Thurs-day, Nov. 29, 2012 at Independence Care Center of Perry County. She was 69.

She was born Oct. 30, 1943 in Perry County, the daughter of William L. and Rita O. (Cottner) Boxdorfer. Mother survives in Perryville.

Other survivors include a son, Travis (An-nette) Kenser of Lee’s Summit; three sisters and two brothers, Mae Schumer, Kenny (Linda) Boxdorfer, Mike (Polly) Boxdorfer, and Cindy (Leroy) Ponder, all of Perryville; Shirley Ann (Mike) Christ of Knightdale, NC; two grandchildren, Ava G. and Braylon W. Kenser.

Betty had been employed by Gilster Mary-Lee. She was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church.

She was preceded in death by her father.Memorials are preferred to Immanuel Lutheran Church

or Alzheimer’s Association.The funeral service was held Saturday, Dec. 1 at Im-

manuel Lutheran Church with Rev. Thomas Handrick of-ficiating. Burial was at the church cemetery.


BettyKenser

HugheyChaffee

Hallie Hughey of Chaffee died Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012 at Chaffee Nursing Center in Chaffee. She was 92.

The funeral service was held Monday, Dec. 3 at Young & Sons Funeral Home with Rev. Dennis Cebulak officiat-ing. Burial was at the Home Cemetery.


brash new folks. They were not sufficiently con-servative for Webster nor did they display sufficient respect for the Senate.

Despite enrapturing or-atory, you could not quite trust everything Webster said. He loved to tell tall tales, but he would, to put it mildly, sometimes exaggerate.

It struck me that it was for no better reason than to make his story more entertaining. He was not really deceptive about it. To some, he’d acknowl-edge that he sometimes would make things up. He actually advised me that I should not trust every-thing he said.

I remember one night he was talking about his own history and he pointed to the biography he had written about himself in the state’s official manual.

“He operated the first landing barge ashore in the

invasion of the islands of Lubang and Masbate,” his biography noted in 1969. It was true, Webster said.

But, then with a chuckle in his voice, he went on to acknowledge that the “invasions” of the Pacific islands occurred after Japan’s emperor had surrendered. So what he saw when he landed were Japanese soldiers lined up in formation politely bowing.

It was a great story, but it wasn’t true!

In checking the spell-ing of the islands for this column, I learned that the invasion of those two islands actually had oc-curred well before Japan’s surrender. There had been real fighting.

It would seem that decades after his death I’m still learning the lesson Webster tried to teach me — to not believe everything he or any other politician says.

(Phill Brooks has been a Missouri statehouse reporter since 1970.)

from Page 4

Brooks

On the other hand, President Richard Nixon’s administration had be-come a widespread crimi-nal conspiracy, involving burglaries, illegal wire-tapping and blackmail, anything to crush political opponents.

“It was strategic on Nixon’s part,” said Bob Woodward in a June 17 CBS interview. He joined with Carl Bernstein to lead the Washington Post’s Watergate investi-gation. “Anyone who was an opponent, anyone who was a perceived enemy, anyone who was on the other side, he would go after them.”

The Watergate story began on July 17, 1972, when five men were ar-rested at 2:30 a.m. trying to bug the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Water-gate office complex. Two days later the Washington Post printed a story that a Republican aide was among the burglars.

By Aug. 8, 1974, after hundreds of more Watergate stories and the resignation or conviction of many White House staff members, President Nixon himself resigned, the only U.S. president to do so.

“Illegal plans, illegal burglaries,” said Bern-stein in that same CBS report. “Really, the White House became a kind of criminal enterprise by the end of his presidency to

a remarkable extent, that I think we didn’t under-stand at the time.”

One comment concern-ing Watergate can help us judge all presidents. “Best thing I’ve ever heard was from Richard Nixon’s attorney general,” said Bernstein in the CBS report. “(He) later went to jail (in) Watergate, and he said, ‘Watch what we do and not what we say.’ That pretty much tells us what we need to do. It’s not that complicated.”

Clearly, what the Obama administration said about Benghazi at-tack wasn’t what really happened. Is this one inci-dent, or is a trend? That’s the only way this incident could turn into another Watergate.

“I think there’s an increasing concentration of power in the presi-dency, so it needs to be watched really carefully,” Woodward said. “That is the ultimate lesson: watch concentrations of power. How are we doing in the media? Okay, but prob-ably not good enough.”

Wise words from Woodward. The biggest lesson learned from Wa-tergate is that people with immense power cannot be trusted, not Obama, not any president. They might eventually earn our trust, but it will with what they do, not what they say.

(Tay Smith is the edi-tor and publisher of the Republic-Monitor. Email him at [email protected].)

from Page 4

Smith

was not so lucky, After being in a comatose state for more than two weeks, Connie passed away during the early hours of Nov. 20.

Her funeral was held at Concordia Lutheran Church that was near capacity with friends and family who gathered to say goodbye to the woman from Cotton Plant, Ark., who found her way into their hearts more than a decade ago.

“God works in mysteri-ous ways,” Ward said. “She held on until Thanksgiv-ing break at school. I don’t know what they would have done about her funeral while school was in session. She touched so many lives. There isn’t a person who would not have wanted to be there to pay their respects.”

It was on a visit to Froh-na more than a decade ago, where Connie met life-long resident Brent, a self em-ployed carpenter and farmer. The couple would have cel-ebrated their 11th wedding anniversary this month.

“She didn’t have to be from here to be part of our family,” Ward said.

“Connie was the first in line to volunteer on any committee. She was always helping out at the church and school. I got to know her through Clover Kids. She also helped with Sun-day school.”

As the community qui-

etly grieves the loss of a be-loved friend and neighbor, they have wasted no time in coming to Brent’s aid.

“As soon as this hap-pened, immediately, it was ‘what can we do to help,’” Engert said.

The help has been pour-ing from everywhere.

On Saturday, volunteers from Frohna, Altenburg and other surrounding areas hosted the first of many fun-draising activities for the family, with a benefit break-fast at United in Christ Lu-theran School’s gymnasium to raise money for the Roths expenses.

In eight hours, more than 700 people came through the buffet line. The event also included a silent auc-tion and bake sale, with all the proceeds going to a family so quiet and reserved they would never ask for a donation from anyone. Word and Engert both said the Roths are private people, and that everyone wishes to give Brent and the children the space they need to grieve.

“This is about fellow-ship,” Word said. “We just want to make sure Brent and the children are going to be taken care of. People

have called to offer to pay tuition for the children. Ev-eryone cares so much about the family.”

In addition to the break-fast, another benefit will be held at the East Perry Pub on Saturday, Dec. 8.

“There will be a fish fry and a silent auction,” Word said. “It starts at 2 p.m., and for information on donat-ing, people can contact Tim at (573) 824-9998.”

Engert said the staff at UCLS has been selling bracelets that say “Faith Strong,” which feature the Bible verse Lamentations 3:22-24, which says, “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, be-cause his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faith-fulness. The Lord is my por-tion, saith my soul; there-fore will I hope in him.”

“We purchased 500, and we have less than 100 left,” Engert said. “If we have to order more we will do so.”

In addition to the bene-fits, every day since the day of the accident, the women of the east end have been busy making dinners and breakfasts for the Roths.

“We are using a website — www.takethemameal.com,” Engert said, “That’s how it stays organized and we don’t duplicate meals two days in a row. We are booked up through the mid-dle of December right now. We keep them in the fel-lowship room at the church, and Brent can pick them up

after he gets the kids from school.”

For information on giv-ing meals contact Sarah Benkendorf at (573) 824-1137.

Additional donations can be made to the family through the River Valley Chapter of Thrivent, noting that the donation is for the Roth family.

Engert and Word both said as much as Connie’s death is a story about loss, it is a story about love and faith.

“We have lost people before,” Engert said. “But this is really the first time a young mother has been taken from her children so suddenly. It has brought us all so much closer together. You can see what is really important in life, and how much we will all have to lean on one another to get through it.”

Word just wanted to let everyone know what a beautiful person her friend was inside and out.

“We want to make sure we keep her memory alive for her children,” she said. “So they will always know what a wonderful woman she was, and how much ev-eryone thought of her. She wasn’t with them for very long, but she taught them so many things. They are such good kids.”

To help, contact Carol Word, Engert or call the church office at Concordia Lutheran in Frohna at (573) 824-5435.

from Page 1

Roth

stress enough how willing both of their cave groups were in aiding residents through this uncertain time.

“We’re willing to help with the research,” Sherrell said, as he cited there was quite a lack of it. “We can go into the environment, and we can assist with mon-itoring the species. We’re also willing to help clean up any sinkholes with contam-ination, and are willing to assist any landowners with caves, sinkholes or springs and help them come up with a management plan for their properties.”

Shaw, whose group SEMO Grotto works a bit differently than the con-servancy, said they too are willing to help, but their ex-pertise lies in mapping cave systems for those landown-ers who live atop one.

“We provide a service for the landowners and give them copies of what we’ve mapped out,” he said. “But at this point, SEMO Grotto wants to put it out there that if there’s anything we can do, we’d love to help.”

Shaw explained that the relationship caving groups and area landowners have had for the last 50 years has always been strong, and to lose that would be terribly unfortunate.

“My biggest concern is that we’re going to lose our relationships [with land-owners], and that we’re not going to have access,” he said. “Traditionally, we’ve all worked together. The last thing we want is to upset our landowners.”

And, in regard to both Shaw and Sherrell’s opinion on whether the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made a rush decision to consider listing the specie as endan-gered, they’re both on the

same page.“They’re jumping the

gun,” Sherrell said. “They have not determined that it is, indeed, a distinct spe-cies. I don’t feel they’ve done enough studies to know if the specie is in de-cline, and they need a lot more research on this.”

Shaw agrees.“It’s the most ridiculous

thing I’ve ever heard in my life,” he said. “Yes, the water is polluted. It’s a fact. There’s no question. How-ever, there’s grotto sculpin everywhere. There’s been pollution, run-off, dump-ing in sinkholes — yet that sculpin is still here.”

He continued, saying he’s seen healthy sculpin in a cave that was terribly pol-luted just 20 years before, but has since been cleaned.

“[The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s] decision is obviously premature,” he said. “There’s nowhere near enough data to support it.”

Regardless of their senti-ments toward the agency’s decision, both cavers com-mend the community’s past and future efforts to keep the environment sustain-able.

“Landowners and com-munity members alike are doing a fantastic job,” Shaw said.

“I think by Fish and Wildlife making every-one aware of the issue, it’s going to give Perry County government and citizens a chance to show what can be done, and be confident that it will be addressed locally,” said Sherrell.

Whether you’re a con-cerned landowner or a gov-ernment official, Missouri Caves and Karst Conser-vancy and SEMO Grotto ask that you contact them should questions, concerns or favors arise. Contact Ray Shaw at [email protected], or Jim Sherrell at [email protected].

from Page 1

Fish


In the wake of the grotto sculpin controversy that has fallen over Perry County, three state and federal offi-cials have taken a stance on the issue. And, regardless of political preference, all three sentiments seem fairly similar.

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Em-erson (R-Cape Girardeau), U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Rolla) and U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Branson) have all written letters to Daniel Ashe, director of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-vice, regarding the possi-bility of the cave-dwelling grotto sculpin being listed as endangered.

The first letter, written just two days after the Oct. 30 public meeting held in Perryville and coordinated by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was signed by both Blunt and Emerson. The let-ter cited the designation of critical habitat (and listing the sculpin as endangered), as possibly having “signifi-cant negative effects on the quality of life for our con-stituents in Perry County.”

The letter was written mainly as a request to ex-tend the time in which local residents could comment on

the matter, as the commu-nity was given only 60 days by the service.

“Extending the comment period will give (U.S.) Fish and Wildlife Service more information and perspec-tives so a sound conclusion can be made on all facts be-fore moving forward,” the letter reads.

The comment period was never extended, and the cut-off for comments was Monday, Nov. 26. Though hand-written letters are still arriving on USFWS’s door-step, comments reached roughly 430 as of last week — much less than the 800 city and county officials had hoped for.

Two weeks after Blunt and Emerson sent their let-ter, McCaskill sent one to the federal agency as well.

“Many of my constitu-ents have contacted me ex-pressing significant concern regarding the implications of the proposed rule,” Mc-Caskill writes. “… I request

that you carefully consider the comments submitted by my constituents regarding the economic and other im-pacts of the proposed rule.

“As we work to achieve important conservation goals, we must also care-fully consider costs to land-owners and communities and work to minimize those costs wherever possible.”

Then, in late November, congresswoman Emerson released yet another, much lengthier letter to the ser-vice, urging it to seek other alternatives to recover the grotto sculpin species in-stead of listing it on the Endangered Species Act, or designating critical habitat. At the end of the letter, Em-erson listed four questions on the issue, directed to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-vice, requesting a response to each.

Though Blunt could not be reached for comment on his stance, McCaskill and Emerson shed some light on their feelings on the matter.

“U.S. Fish and Wildlife must ensure that their ac-tions are carried out in a re-sponsible way,” McCaskill said. “They must consider fully any impact its actions could have on Perry County residents.”

Emerson had no qualms

with getting “fired up” about the situation.

“Why should a little crit-ter be more important than people?” Emerson asked. “Fish and Wildlife took no real thought as to how this impacts the community.”

Emerson admitted that she’s not a huge fan of the federal agency. “My big-gest frustration is that they could care less about people and more about the critters,” she said. “It drives me nuts. I have very little trust for those folks.”

She continued, saying the reason she didn’t at-tend the Oct. 30 meeting stemmed from her passion on the matter.

“I personally didn’t go because I thought I’d cause more problems,” Emerson said. “I would’ve mouthed off. I let my passion get in the way.”

She also commended Perry County and Perryville for installing a community plan to correct the issue.

“It makes a big differ-ence when you’re proactive about it, and Perry County is,” she said. “I applaud the community for the plan that they’ve put in place to in-sure that not only the grotto sculpin, but that nothing else, gets put on the Endan-gered Species Act list.”

U.S. Rep. Emerson: ‘Why is little critter more important than people?’

Jo Ann Emerson

ClaireMcCaskill

“ God works in mysterious ways.”

— Carol Word, friend of Connie Roth

THURSDAY >>> DECEMBER 6, 2012 >>> 75¢ VOLUME 133 >>> ISSUE 97


Outstanding treats for everyone from the Browns. 1B-2B

St. Vincent girls get 1st win on new floor. 6A

© 2012, Perryville Newspapers, Inc. 8B


Although they have been sign-ing up families in need since be-fore Thanksgiving, volunteers at the East Missouri Action Agency (EMAA) are currently struggling to make sure that the underprivi-leged children in the community will have something under the tree

this Christmas. EMAA volunteer Jeff Niccum

said they are currently in dire need concerning the Adopt-a-Family program. The annual drive that provides Christmas gifts for, among others, low-income chil-dren in the community is falling well short of its early December goal.

“We have 120 families signed up so far, and less than half of those have been adopted,” Niccum said earlier this week. “I’m get-ting nervous that we won’t be able

to provide for the families, and am pleading with the community to help us out once again.”

Niccum said there have been some slight changes made to the program this year. “We will be providing for the children of a family only (and not adults), as well as some local elderly resi-dents.”

Niccum is just one of three volunteers that takes care of or-ganizing the distribution of gifts. Other volunteers include Sheila Martens, Ashley Peer and Brenda

Edwards.The Perry County branch of

the EMAA is located just off the downtown square at 25 Jackson St. in Perryville. It is under the management Community Service Representative Kathleen Capps.

Over the past couple of years, budget cuts have made it a strug-gle to continue the Adopt-A-Family program that brought aid to close to 250 families in Perry County last year. Without volun-teers to man the program, it would cease to exist.

In 2011, the organization was forced to trim their hours of ser-vice to the public due to cuts in the Community Service Block Grant Funding. The Perryville office is only open Tuesdays and Thurs-days from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., and closed for lunch from noon-1 p.m. This gives families only two days a week to register for assistance.

Those shorter hours have also made it challenging for people who wish to stop in to adopt

‘Adopt-a-Family’ is short of fundsGroup trying to raise money for Perry children who need help at Christmas.

See KIDS/A


Those who have considered running for public office will have less than one week to make a decision as filing opens on Tues-day for a wide array of office seats — city positions, school board spots and members of a hospital’s board of directors — that will be decided in an election April 2, 2013.

Residents from the city of Perryville will be electing one alderman from each of the town’s three wards. Seats up for grabs currently belong to Larry Riney in Ward I, Randy Leible for Ward II, and Gary Schumer in Ward III.

To be eligible for a position on the City of Perryville Board of Aldermen, the can-didate must be at least 21 years of age, a United States citizen, a resident of the city for at least one year prior to the election, a resident of the ward in which the candi-date is running, a registered voter and shall not be in arrears for any unpaid city taxes. There is also a $25 filing fee.

Residents can file for a city seat begin-ning at 8 a.m., Dec. 11, at city hall. Filing will run through 5 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 15,

Filing opens for various positionsCity council, two school boards and the hospital board all have spots up for grabs.

WANTED: A NEW SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT

Photo by amanda Layton

Perry County District 32 superintendent candidate Dr. Jonathan Oetinger, who is currently the assistant superinten-dent for business and operations of Waynesville R-VI School District was one of three candidates who participated in a public questioning held in the Career Center multipurpose room Tuesday night. District staff, school board members and representatives from the media were all on hand for the meeting as the board continues the process to decide be-tween Oetinger, Dr. Aaron Cornman, who is the superintendent at Pierce City R-VI Public Schools or Scott Ireland, who is superintendent of Pleasant Hope R-VI School District in Pleasant Hope.

See ELECTION/Page 5A

Native to hold book signingBy Amanda [email protected]

Ann Hazelwood is a hometown girl who’s made a name for herself in the quilt-ing world, and this weekend she’ll be mak-

ing a visit to Karen’s Hall-mark in Perryville to give her fans a first crack at her latest book, “The Basement Quilt.”

Hazelwood will be at Karen’s Hallmark located on the downtown square in Perryville from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday.

“I had a good turn out when I signed there before,” Hazelwood said. “I’m really looking forward to this. Karen told me I will be there with Santa that day, so it should all be exciting.”

AnnHazelwood

See BOOK/Page 6A

Three finalists meet the public


The Perryville Board of education met in a special session Tuesday night to allow three superintendent candidates the opportu-nity to state their vision for the future of Perry County School District 32.

The board hopes to have the new superintendent hired by the middle of Decem-ber. In September, current superintendent Kevin Dunn announced his plan to retire at the end of the school year after 31 years in education, the last six as superintendent at District 32.

Roughly 25 members of

the school’s faculty gath-ered, along with all seven school board members and representatives from the media, to witness the can-didates being asked key questions about their man-agement philosophies, pri-orities in education and what unique qualifications they could bring to the posi-tion should they be selected. Each applicant appeared in-dividually, and was given the

same series of about a dozen questions, without know-ing what the questions were ahead of time.

Candidates vying for the spot include: Dr. Aaron Cornman, who is the super-intendent at Pierce City R-VI Public Schools in Pierce City; Scott Ireland, who is superintendent of Pleasant Hope R-VI School District in Pleasant Hope; and Dr. Jonathan Oetinger, who is assistant superintendent for business and operations of Waynesville R-VI School District in Waynesville. The first two candidates come from districts smaller than District 32, which serves 2,313 students and has 204 staff members, while Oet-inger currently administers to a district more than dou-ble the size of Perry County.

The meeting began with Cornman, who said a strong relationship between the su-perintendent and teaching staff is a must.

“The superintendent’s job is to be a cheerleader and a champion for education,” he said. “It is their job to pro-vide teachers with every tool they need to facilitate learn-ing. We facilitate learning through listening to teachers, discussing their needs and giving educators what they need to work with kids.”

Dr. Cornman has an ex-tensive background in edu-cation, both in the classroom and as an administrator. He currently serves a district with an enrollment of 720 students, and a staff of 86. He has been superintendent

Faculty gathers to hear what three say they can do for school district.

Aaron ScottCornman Ireland

See SCHOOLS/Page 6A

www.perryparkcenter.com

Perry Park Centerwill close at 5 p.m. on December 8

Pizza with Santa Saturday, December 15 at Senior

Citizen Center 11 a.m.–1 p.m.

Hi - I am Mike Ochs ... Come see me for any of

your car needs.

712 N. Kingshighway • 547-1835Visit us at ochsautosales.com

Hazelwood, now a resident of St. Charles, has writ-ten several books for the American Quilter’s Society, including “100 Things You Need to Know if You Own a Quilt.” She is a former quilt shop owner, and the author of more than a dozen dif-ferent books about quilting as well as regional food and travel in Missouri.

Hazelwood is an Ameri-can Quilt Society-certified quilt appraiser and presi-dent of the National Quilt Museum’s Board of Direc-tors.

She said this is her first attempt at writing fiction.

“In my travel books I always mention Perryville as my hometown,” she said. “This is the first fic-tion book. It is the first in a series. There will be two books a year, with the sec-ond coming in January, called ‘The Potting Shed Quilt.’”

Friend, and Perryville

resident Joan Brown, said she’s very excited about the weekend signing.

“This has been such a fun time in my life,” Brown said. “Ann and I were great friends when we worked to-gether after high school in St. Louis, and now our friend-ship has grown to the pres-ent. I didn’t know when we picked up again via email that she was doing a novel, and she makes me feel so apart of things. I just think how neat it is to see a home-town person become a author of a wonderful series.”

“The Basement Quilt” is the story of florist Anne Brown, who decides to learn to quilt in order to help her aunt, and in the process, uncovers family secrets. It is available online through Amazon.

Future books in the se-ries will focus around Anne, her family and friends who live in the Colebridge Com-munity.

For more information about Hazelwood’s books, visit her Website at http://www.booksonthings.com.

NEWS, FROM PAGE 1APage 6A • Thursday, December 6, 2012 The Republic-Monitor • www.perryvillenews.com

a family, or drop of the items they’ve collected.

“People who want to pick out a family to adopt are having trouble reach-ing us, because they can’t just stop by on their lunch hours because we’re closed,” Niccum said.

“So we are going to have to make other drop off arrangements to make sure these families get provided for this year.”

The deadline for fami-

lies in need to register for assistance this holiday sea-son is Dec. 15, which is less than two weeks away.

“We may end up with even more people signed up, and that is why we are so desperate for the dona-tions to start coming in,” Niccum said.

“Those who wish to be considered for assistance need to come in and fill out paper work with Kath-leen. Then she turns them over to us, and we handle the rest.”

Those who wish to do-nate to the Adopt-A-Fam-

ily can do so by selecting a family from the list at the EMAA office. Like last year, the rules of donating are the same.

“We ask that people leave the presents for the family unwrapped, and put them in a large bag, like a garbage bag, and label them with the number of the fam-ily they’ve adopted,” Nic-cum said.

“Every child needs clothes or shoes, and in addition, they can ask for three toys.”

Niccum said the major-ity of the elderly ask for

items like fresh fruit, new housecoats or blankets.

Donations should be dropped off in a timely fashion at the EMAA dur-ing its regular business hours.

The deadline for those wishing to Adopting-A-Family is Dec. 18. This is also the day when all donated goods should be turned in.

“We just want to help as many as we can this year,” Niccum said.

For more information about the Adopt-A-Family program contact the Perry

From Page 1a

Kids

From Page 1a

Book

at Pierce City for two years. Candidate Ireland has

16 years in education, 10 of which were spent in the classroom. He currently leads a school with an en-rollment of 920 students, and a staff of 103. He is a basketball coach, with a state championship to his credit, and said he would like to see Perryville be-come the “envy of all the schools in the state.”

“You get to that point through mass corrobora-tion,” he said. “Anyone who stands up and says they have all the answers doesn’t. I don’t have all the answers, everyone in this room has ideas, and that is why I think it’s important to surround myself with good people; smart people that will be the driving force to take this school to the next level. My job as superinten-dent is to play a support roll to every other person here.”

He said he believes that success doesn’t lie in the students as much as it does the teachers. “Teachers are the driving force of educa-tional system. We are here for kids, but it starts with teachers.”

The final presentation of the evening came from Dr. Oetinger who has served in his current position for seven years at Waynesville R-VI that serves three com-munities and has an enroll-ment of 6,000 students and 471 staff members.

He stated a platform of equality between school ad-ministration and the teach-ing staff.

“The superintendent and teacher are no different,” he said. “They are both educa-tors. I would be a person to help facilitate learning by creating a great learning en-vironment comes from cre-ating great staff members.”

All three candidates have school-aged children that would become students of the school district and were in agreement that Perryville was a place they would be glad to relocate to raise their respective families.

“I want to find a stable community and school dis-trict to put my children in school. This district has a

lot to offer them, and the school district is a big part of the community,” Oet-inger said.

The board put out a call for candidates shortly after the beginning of the school year when Dunn announced his plans to retire at the end of the 2012-13 school year. According to District 32 Board President Tina Littge, they received 15 ap-plications and six hopefuls were interviewed before narrowing the field to the final three that were asked to participate in the public questioning.

Littge feels the search for Dunn’s replacement has gone very smoothly up to this point. “I feel we can’t make a mistake in this pro-cess,” she said. “They are all great candidates. It will be a hard decision to make.”

At the conclusion of the candidate question-ing, those who attended the meeting were asked to submit their comments on the candidates for the board to review during their deci-sion- making process.

Board member Jeff Weibrecht said it is not a de-cision the board takes light-ly, and they are being very thorough in the process.

“We want to get input from as many people as we can,” he said. “This is an important decision that di-rectly impacts the direction the school will go in.”

Oetinger commented on how well he thought the ap-plication process at District 32 was handled.

“I’ve had a good inter-view process here,” he said. “The level of participation on behalf of the staff mem-bers show how much the teachers and community cares about the future lead-ership of this district. Re-gardless of if I’m selected, the school has made an im-pression.”

Board members will be meeting again in closed ses-sion on Thursday evening to further discuss which ap-plicant will be offered the position. Littge confirmed that the board is still follow-ing the original timeline for selecting a candidate by the middle of this month.

The person selected will take over at the new super-intendent at District 32 in July of 2013.

From Page 1a

Schools

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The search for a new superin-tendent at Perry County School District 32 came to a close on Fri-day when candidate Scott Ireland accepted the offer of a three-year contract to take over the spot soon to be vacated by retiring superin-tendent Kevin Dunn.

District 32 Board member Jeff Weibrecht said the decision to offer the position to Ireland

was unanimous among the board when they met in special session on Thursday.

“His was the name that just kept coming up,” Weibrecht said. “Not just among

the board, but also in the com-ments that we accepted from staff members that attended the meet-ing where candidates were ques-

tioned.” Ireland currently serves as

superintendent at Pleasant Hope R-VI School District, a school with an enrollment of 920 stu-dents, and a staff of 103. He was one of three finalists presented to district staff on Tuesday evening. Ireland has worked in education for 16 years, 10 as a teacher and the rest in administration. He has been married since 1997 and has twin 12-year-old boys and a step-son who is serving his third de-

ployment to Afghanistan with the U.S. Army.

Ireland studied at Missouri State University, earned his mas-ter’s degree from William Woods University and his specialist in education degree from Central Methodist University. He started his teaching career in Niangua and has served as a teacher, principal, superintendent and coach.

In fact, he coached both the boys’ and girls’ high school bas-ketball teams while he served as

superintendent at Montrose R-14 School District. In 2010, he was named the Class 1 District 8 and the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Girls Coach of the Year. Ireland and the Montrose Lady Jays finished the 2009-2010 season with a record of 31-0 and claimed the state championship title.

“It was a lot of hours and a lot of work, sure,” Ireland said last Tuesday. “But it’s what the school

Ireland selected as superintendent

Shrinestolen

Jones visits Perry

ScottIreland

See IRELAND/Page 5A

PERRYVILLE’S FIRST FIREMEN

Submitted Photo

The first-ever Perryville Fire Department, known then as Perryville Fire Company No. 1, stands with their hose cart. To the far left is the foreman (equivalent to the fire chief), O.C. Nabert.


Perryville has quite a rich his-tory, but there’s one element of the city’s past that few know much, if anything, about — the history of the city fire department.

Established in 1874, the origi-nal firehouse was located in the downtown square, on the north side of the courthouse lawn, close to where the Republic-Monitor re-sides today.

The department, originally known as the Perryville Fire Com-pany No. 1, started with about 10 members, with one foreman (equivalent to a chief) and two as-sistant foremen.

“They established a depart-ment because people realized there was a need for it,” said Per-ryville Assistant Fire Chief Bill Jones. “A lot of fires occurred. The square was much the same as it is today, except it was mostly wooden buildings and sidewalks. The downtown area burned down a couple times because of that.”

So, a little more than 40 years after the City of Perryville’s incor-poration, the first-ever fire depart-ment was born.

“Prior to the fire department being established, it was really

just the duty of citizens to help protect their property, and the property of others,” Jones said. “This was a big deal; something to really be proud of in the com-munity. Fire departments weren’t all that common, except for in the big cities. When a town had a fire department, that was bragging rights.”

Equipment in those days was elementary compared to what we have now, but it got the job done — eventually.

“Not only did firefighters have to manage to get to the firehouse by horse, or by running there, they

had to get the fire truck, haul it to the fire — all by hand — and they also had to pull the hose cart.”

The hose cart was separate from the fire truck, and both had to be hauled manually. The hose then had to be hooked to the water supply, and firefighters had to pump a handle up and down for water.

“It wasn’t as easy as switching a switch,” Jones said. “It was quite the job.”

The fire department officially opened in early May of 1874, and as described in an 1874 “The Union” newspaper in Perryville,

their truck was set to arrive right around that time:

“May 1, 1874: The Fire Engine Is Coming. We learn through one of our citizens that the Fire En-gine, purchased of L.M. Rumsey & Co. is now complete and on the way from the factory to this place. We may expect it in a few days, when the boys will no doubt turn out and have a gala day over the inauguration of ‘Perryville No. 1.’”

The fire department was re-sponsible for the city in its en-tirety, but at the time, the city stemmed from about a block north of where the current firehouse sits today, to what is now the city park.

“The city wasn’t very big at the time,” Jones said.

Regardless of the city’s size, they tackled every fire that roared in the little town, and made sure to practice on their off days.

“Oct. 16 1874: The Perryville Fire Company was out with their engine and hose wagon on Mon-day evening, practicing. Practice makes perfect, so we have been taught.”

In 1883, “A Big Fire in Per-ryville” rocked the little town, damaging nearly $15,000 worth of property:

1st city fire department started in 1874

Submitted Photo

Pictured is the original “fire truck” that the first-ever Perryville fire department used in 1874, the year of their inception.

See FIREMEN/Page 5A

Highway 51 memorial to the late Bob Pinar goes missing.


In the deep fog that hung heavy last Thursday night, the ghost bike and memo-rial sign for the late Bob Pinar, which rested against a fence on the westbound shoulder of Highway 51, went missing.

“They’re gone,” said his wife Elaine through tears Friday morning. “Just gone.”

All that remains are the lone pinwheels Elaine and her family placed at the site a few months back.

Bob Pinar, 71, died in a bicycling accident on July 27 along Highway 51, and since his death, his family has gradually added a sign that reads “We Miss You,” a wreath, a ghost bike and a

See PINAR/Page 5A

Missouri Speaker of the House is making a tour through the state.


Missouri’s newest Speaker of the House Tim Jones was at Hoeckele’s Bakery in Perryville on Monday morning on the first stop of his four-day tour across the state, where he plans to visit 20 different small businesses and gath-ering places to meet con-stituents.

On this tour, he will be speaking to voters, commu-nity and business leaders to obtain their input about the important issues facing Missouri. Speaker Jones

See JONES/Page 5A

“The most destructive conflagration that ever vis-ited Perryville occurred last

Wednesday morning, caus-ing a loss of nearly $15,000 … there was no breeze stir-ring during the morning, the air being calm. Had it been otherwise probably a good part of our city would have

been reduced to a heap of smoldering ruins today. Our citizens worked faithfully to prevent the flames from spreading, and by heroic ventures, were successful. How the fire originated will

probably never be known.”Since the inception of

the fire department, Jones said the firehouse itself has moved a few times, and eventually settled in its cur-rent location in 1975.

HuberEllisvillE

Margie Catherine Huber of Ellisville died Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012 at Bethesda Meadow in Ellisville. She was 74.

She was born Saturday, Dec. 11, 1937 in Creve Coeur, the daughter of Thomas J. and Mabel Caroline (Feltz) Moore. She was married Saturday, April 27, 1957 in Per-ryville to Norbert Huber, who preceded her in death March 24, 1977.

Survivors include four sons, Don (Teresa) Huber of Louisville, Ky.; Jerry (Carol) Huber and Mark Huber of St. Louis; Larry (Cathy) Huber of Memphis, Tenn.; one daughter, Gloria Huber of Atlanta, Ga.; one sister, Sr. Doris Moore of Little Rock, Ark.; nine grandchildren, Mi-chelle Renee Huber of Charleston, S.C.; Jordan Thomas Smith and Chelsea Nicole Smith of Atlanta, Ga.; Caitlin Kelly Huber, Sarah Elizabeth Huber, and Grace Elizabeth Huber of St. Louis; Morgan Danielle Huber of Memphis, Tenn.; Emma Catherine Huber of St. Louis; and Lyndsey Paige Huber of Memphis.

Margie was a graduate of St. Vincent High School in Perryville. She lived on Edgewood Road in Cape Gi-rardeau from 1963 until 2010. She was a waitress at Co-lonial Inn, Ramada Inn and Drury Lodge. She later did clerical work at VIP Industries. She was a member of St. Mary Cathedral and the Council of Catholic Women.

She was preceded in death by her husband; parents; and infant brother.

Memorial contributions may be given to St. Mary Grade School or A.L.S.

The funeral Mass was held Friday, Dec. 7, 2012 at 10 a.m. at St. Mary Cathedral in Cape Girardeau with the Rev. Tom Kiefer and Rev. Patrick Nwokoye officiating. Burial was Friday at 2:15 p.m. at St. Boniface Cemetery in Perryville.

Online condolences may be made at www.fordandsons-funeralhome.com.

OBITUARIESThe Republic-Monitor • www.perryvillenews.com Tuesday, December 11, 2012 • Page 5A

Deaths

GeraldineHughey

MargieHuber

oped real legislative friendships from these in-formal settings where the governor could be told the brutally unpleasant truth and hear from folks out-side the legislative leader-ship. From those sessions some heartfelt loyalty developed among those Democrats for the young Republican governor.

Mel Carnahan took a much different ap-proach in dealing with the legislature, but he had an equally successful record.

It was during his administration that the state’s last major tax increase was passed to boost funding for educa-tion. He got through the state’s last major expan-sion of Medicaid to ex-pand health care coverage for children of middle-income parents.

Like Hearnes, he had been a House majority leader, so he understood the process. He had close relationships with many lawmakers, not just legis-lative leaders.

While Carnahan regularly visited the leg-islature’s third-floor hall-ways, these were not pro-longed visits like Hearnes. There were no evening drinking sessions with legislators, like Bond. The Baptist governor did not consume alcohol.

The most significant difference I found in Carnahan’s approach for policy initiatives was his avoidance in dictating the details. Instead, he would leave it to the legislature to work out the specifics.

At times, he came across as mediator-in-chief

when working out differ-ences between the House and Senate.

John Ashcroft played a similar role as a mediator. He spent nights going into the early morning hours in closed-door meetings in legislative offices forging a compromise.

Although Ashcroft did not enjoy the kind of personal legislative rela-tionships of some prior governors, he proved to be a very effective me-diator between a deeply divided House and Senate leadership.

This history would suggest that direct work-ing relationships with lawmakers are essential for a governor to achieve major policy initiatives.

Interestingly, it does not seem legislative experience is neces-sary. Neither Bond nor Ashcroft had served in the legislature before moving to the governor’s office.

Nor does having your own party in control of the legislature seem necessary for success. Republican Bond faced an overwhelming Democrat-ic majority in the legisla-ture. So too did Ashcroft, who played such a key role as negotiator for the higher education bill.

What seems common in the approaches taken by these governors — two Re-publicans and two Demo-crats — was a willingness to spend a significant amount of time dealing personally with legislators during the process in less than formal sessions.

(Phill Brooks has been a Missouri statehouse report-er since 1970. Past columns are available at http://www.mdn.org/mpacol.)

From Page 4a

Brooks

in the last six years — the members have voted not to give themselves the increase.n Congressional Health

Benefits. Members of Congress have good health insurance, but it’s not free and not reserved only for them — 8 million other federal employees, retirees and their families have the same insurance. Those federal employees, includ-ing House and Senate members, are allowed to purchase private health in-surance offered through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.n Congressional

Retirement. Members of

Congress receive retire-ment under the same plans available to other federal employees, the Federal Employees’ Retirement System. They become vested after five years of full participation. As it is for all other federal em-ployees, congressional re-tirement is funded through taxes and the participants’ contributions. Members of Congress under the system contribute 1.3 percent of their salary into their retirement plan and pay 6.2 percent of their salary in Social Security taxes. Members of Congress are not eligible for a pension until they reach the age of 50, but only if they’ve completed 20 years of ser-vice. Members are eligible at any age after complet-

ing 25 years of service or after they reach the age of 62. Please also note that members of Congress have to serve at least 5 years to even receive a pension. By law, the starting amount of a member’s retirement annuity may not exceed 80 percent of his or her final salary.

People love to criticize Congress, and most of the time, they deserve it. Certainly, right now, with the country getting danger-ously close to the Jan. 1, 2013 fiscal cliff, President Barack Obama and Con-gress equally deserve our scorn.

That’s why the email from Warren “Buffet” raises our blood pressure — we’re already frustrated with our politicians in

Washington, D.C. But we don’t need untruths to bol-ster our opinion — there’s plenty of facts out there which show our leaders’ inability to govern and compromise.

The lesson from the email doesn’t involve Con-gress or civics. Instead, the lesson is that most group emails you receive are not true, or only partially true. It’s best to read them and throw them in the trash. At a minimum, research the topic and find the real facts.

That’s what I used to tell my parents. I should have listened.

(Tay Smith is the editor and publisher of the Repub-lic-Monitor. Email him at [email protected].)

From Page 4a

Smith

From Page 1a

Ireland

From Page 1a

Firemen

few other odds and ends to remember him by.

Elaine was not the one to discover the missing me-morial Friday morning, but rather her daughter Carla, who was on her way to work.

“I have no idea who may have taken it,” Carla said. “I’m shocked, and I’m hurt. That’s the one place I can go and feel at peace with my dad, and know that’s where he took his last breath. I say good morning to him every day, and now it’s gone. It was the last thing I expect-ed.”

Carla called the Per-ryville Police Department minutes after she noticed the memorial was missing, not to report it, but to ask that if police should come across the items, to please let her know.

“It had to have been taken some time late last night,” said Police Chief Keith Tarrillion on Friday morn-ing. “Some time during the heavy fog, is my guess.”

The act of taking the items, he said, would be

considered misdemeanor stealing.

“I can’t wrap my mind around what people think when they do these kinds of things,” said Elaine. “I pray for the person or people

who did this.”Friday morning, Elaine

went to Mass as usual, and while listening to the sermon, decided that she wouldn’t put any energy into this.

“I’m not going to let this bring me down,” she said. “Bob always used to say, ‘Don’t let anybody steal your joy.’ Bob’s memory will always be at that spot. I’m without words.”

From Page 1a

Pinar

From Page 1a

Jones

HugheyPErryvillE

Geraldine B. Hughey of Perryville died Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012 at Independence Care Center of Perry County in Perryville. She was 85.

She was born Aug. 21, 1927 in Perryville, the daughter of John F. and Anna (Kayser) Bangert. She was married April 5, 1947 to Fred C. Hughey, who preceded her in death on May 4, 2001.

Survivors include two daughters, Gail (Ken) Ochs of Cape Girardeau and Sandy (John) Picou of Ste. Gen-evieve; one son, Larry Hughey of Hydro, Okla.; 10 grand-children and eight great-grandchildren.

Mrs. Hughey had been a custodian. She was a member of First Baptist Church.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; two daughters and four sisters.

Memorials are preferred to Serenity Hospice or Ameri-can Cancer Society (Breast Cancer).

The funeral service was Sunday, Dec. 9 at Young & Sons Funeral Home at 1 p.m. with Rev. Dennis Cebulak officiating. Burial was at the Home Cemetery.

Young & Sons Funeral Home, Inc. in Perryville pro-vided the arrangements.

will also be conducting nu-merous media interviews along his route so that all Missouri voters can be in-formed regarding the chal-lenges and potential solu-tions confronting their state legislature.

Jones was elected to the House in November 2006 and subsequently reelected in 2008, 2010 and 2012. He was unanimously elected as speaker in September for the remaining months of the 2012 session and has al-ready been chosen as speak-er-elect for the 2013-2014 General Assembly. Speaker Jones serves as Representa-tive for the 110th District, which includes portions of Franklin and St. Louis counties. Jones is an attor-ney and currently resides in Eureka with his wife, Su-zanne, and two daughters.

Former Speaker of the

House Steven Tilley was just one of several political figures who attended the Hoeckle’s meet and greet.

“I’m blessed to be able to turn the gavel over to (him),” Tilley said. “There is nobody better in Jeffer-son City. He’s smart, con-servative, will work hard and is a man of integrity and honesty. I feel he will build upon what I left, and do just as good a job if not better than I did.”

Others in attendance included Sen. Wayne Wal-ingford, R-Cape Girardeau, Rep. Jason Smith, R-Salem, and Rep. Shelley Keeney, R-Marble Hill, as well as local business leaders Doug Schreiner, of Perryville Overhead Door, Citizens Electric Company CEO Van Robinson, Farm Bureau representative Brian Koe-nig and American Legion Post 133 Commander Brian Brickhaus, among others.

Jones said the focus of this legislative session would include three key

areas: job creation, energy policy and education fund-ing reform.

“Missouri government needs to find out how we can help our businesses perform better to keep the jobs in Missouri, and grow more jobs. Government can sometimes get in the way of job creation, so my goal is going to be to find out how government can be a facili-tator and get out of the way to help our businesses move forward,” Jones said.

Point two was making sure to keep Missouri in step with the rest of the na-tion when it comes to alter-native energy exploration.

“Here in the Midwest we have to have a strong energy policy,” Jones said. “We run on coal. My goal is to protect that fundamental natural re-source, while still looking at all types of energy. We have a strong nuclear presence in this state. We have wind. We have solar. My goal is to have an energy policy that streamlines regulations, and

makes it easier to harvest the energy we have here and produce more.”

Jones said education re-form would be key to the future of the state. “The chil-dren of today are going to be the job creators of tomorrow. So we need to have a strong education system both in funding and in some reform, encouraging the best and brightest teachers among us to continue to build up their classrooms. Innovation and reform should be just as much a part of the education system as our entrepreneur-ial system.”

Jones said he had been traveling the state for the past two weeks with the newly elected legislatures in both the house and the senate. “We have 53 fresh-man house members and eight or nine new senators,” he said.

Tuesday’s tour continued through southeast Missouri, taking the speaker to Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, Poplar Bluff and West Plains.

school needed me to do, and I enjoyed doing it.”

Ireland said he was at-tracted to Perryville to be closer to his stepson’s home base in Kentucky, and be-cause it’s the perfect place to raise his children.

“I really want a place where I can allow my kids to grow and be successful,” he said. “There is much more opportunity for them at a district this size and I want them to have every op-portunity.”

He said one of the su-perintendent’s primary jobs is having a presence in the community, and he plans to attend all local events. “Superintendents should be seen and highly acces-sible to everyone,” he said. “I also have an open door policy and teachers have as much access to me as do ad-ministrators.”

Ireland said he would like to see Perryville be-come the “envy of all the schools in the state.”

“You get to that point through mass corrobora-tion,” he said. “Anyone who says they have all the an-

swers doesn’t. I don’t have all the answers, everyone has ideas, and that is why I think it’s important to sur-round myself with good people; smart people that will be the driving force to take this school to the next level. My job as superinten-dent is to play a support roll to every other person here.”

Ireland said last Tues-day that he would like to meet with the district’s ad-ministrative team within two weeks and follow it by visiting all district staff to “encourage everyone to be a part of what we’re trying to build.”

The board put out a call

for candidates shortly after the beginning of the school year when Dunn announced his plans to retire at the end of the 2012-13 school year.

According to District 32 Board President Tina Littge, they received 15 ap-plications and six hopefuls were interviewed before narrowing the field to the three final candidates, in-cluding Ireland.

Those three participated in a tour of the school cam-pus, community and the public questioning attended by the board, faculty and media representatives.

Ireland duties will offi-cially begin July 1, 2013.

Photos by AmAndA KEEFE

In the top photograph, Widow Elaine Pinar stands at the memorial site for her late husband Bob Pinar a few months back. All that’s left of Bob Pinar’s memorial site (bottom photo) are a few pinwheels and lawn lights after the “We Miss You” sign, the ghost bike and a wreath went missing last Thursday night.

THURSDAY >>> DECEMBER 13, 2012 >>> 75¢ VOLUME 133 >>> ISSUE 99


PHS Lady Pirates get a win. 6A

Why did two agencies sue U.S. Fish and Wildlife? 11A

© 2012, Perryville Newspapers, Inc.

SeeClassified

Pages4-7B

CELEBRATING WITH SANTA

Photo by AmAndA LAyton

Independence Care resident Gib Villhard enjoyed a visit from his family and jolly ol’ St. Nick on Monday evening as he celebrated along with residents at the annual Christmas party.

Flu is picking up steam

Ireland is ready for challenges

Locally, it’s being seen more and more; nationally, flu hitting early.


Flu season is revving into high gear, and according to the Centers for Disease Control, looks to be widespread due to an earlier-than-usual start.

Dr. Greg Poland, director of both the Mayo Clinic Immunization Clinic and the Mayo Vaccine Research Group, said the most recent flu season has “about the earli-est start in the last decade.”

And with the holiday traveling season fast approaching, local health officials are recommending those who’ve not yet been vaccinated do so as soon as possible, since it takes approximately two weeks for the influenza vaccine to stimulate full immu-nity in a vaccinated individual.

Despite local schools reporting student absences and lots of visits to the nurse’s office, officials at the Perry County Health Department confirmed Tuesday that there have only been 10 diagnosed cases of in-fluenza reported to them thus far this flu season.

Perry County Health Department Ad-

New school superintendent, who will start July 1, 2013, is to be paid $115,000 per year.


Perry County School District 32 will soon welcome a new face, as Scott Ireland takes the helm as the superintendent of the school system on July 1, at the conclu-sion of the 2012-13 school year, with the retirement of current superintendent Kevin

Dunn. And Ireland said he is

looking forward to the chal-lenges of his new position.

“The anticipation of a new community is wonder-ful,” he said in a Monday morning interview. “It is all exciting, and I’m ready to get become part of Per-ryville.”

District 32 Board members conducted an exhaustive search for a new superinten-dent, which included narrowing the field from 15 applicants to three finalists con-sisting of Ireland and two others. All three underwent a rigorous public questioning last week in front of school administrators, laying out their management philosophies, priorities in education and unique qualifica-tions that best suited them for the position.

In a closed session meeting last Thurs-day, board members unanimously selected Ireland from the field of finalists. Ireland will receive a first-year base salary of

ScottIreland

See FLU/PAge 5A

See IRELAND/PAge 5A See ELECTION/PAge 5A

Several file for spots up for grabs in election

A senior Christmas party


Filing opened Tuesday for a variety of county boards and city offices, and incumbents wasted no time in reserving their space on the ballot.

The first contested race of the election comes from Per-ryville’s Ward 2, as both in-cumbent Alderman Randy Leible of 625 Bruce St., and Douglas K. Martin, of 907 El-liot Court, both filed with Per-

ryville City Clerk Tracy Prost to run for the seat.

Incumbent Ward 1 Alder-man Larry Riney also an-nounced his intention to run for

an additional two-year term. Each member of the board

of alderman receives $3,600 per year, paid quarterly, and serves a two-year term.

To be eligible for a position on the City of Perryville Board of Aldermen, the candidate must be at least 21 years of age, a United States citizen, a resident of the city for at least one year prior to the election, a resident of the ward in which the candidate is running, a reg-

istered voter and shall not be in arrears for any unpaid city taxes.

There is also a $25 filing fee.

In the county, incumbent Perry County Health Depart-ment Board member Connie L. Schuessler, of 1749 PCR 347, Frohna, filed with Perry Coun-ty Clerk Randy Taylor.

The Perry County Health Department Board is a five-

Larry RandyRiney Leible


The residents at Independence Care Center are living proof that you’re never too old to delight in a visit from Santa Claus, as they gathered along with family members and staff for their annual facility-wide Christmas parties this week.

“We now divide the party into a two-night event,” Independence Care Director Bonnie Schnurbusch said. “In order to better accommodate the

residents’ assistance levels, we hold a party one night for those residents who require more help and assistance, and the second night is a separate party for those residents who are able to func-tion more independently.

“We started holding the parties this way last year and it just works out so much nicer,” Schnurbusch said.

Party one was held Monday eve-ning in the facility’s dinning room, with a repeat performance being host-ed on Tuesday for the remaining resi-dents and their families.

Santa and Mrs. Claus, who look suspiciously like Wayne and Judy Pitt-man, spent some time mingling among the residents, posing for photos and sharing in the spirit of the season.

Schnurbusch said the Christmas party is just one of several gather-ings the facility plans for the residents every year, but it is by far the largest and records the most attendance from the residents’ families.

“Our residents really look forward

See PARTY/PAge 5A

www.cityofperryville.com

Pizza with Santa Saturday, December 15 at

Senior Citizen Center 11 a.m.–1 p.m.

Register now for 5th-6th & 7th-8th Co-ed Youth Basketball 712 N Kingshighway

573-355-5283

Start your Here

We’re local! Unlimited miles oneverything!

Journey

OBITUARIES, FROM PAGE 1AThe Republic-Monitor • www.perryvillenews.com Thursday, December 13, 2012 • Page 5A

Deaths

From Page 4a

Holiday

I do occasionally daydream about telling them the wrong answers. My dad did that to me once when I was little, and because of his “misinfor-mation” I was roughly 11 years old before I learned that he did not in fact play drums for the Canadian

rock band Loverboy. I don’t even know why

he told me such a lie. Probably because I

was getting on his nerves with my ongoing, constant questions.

So, although I dream of blathering wacky replies to their continuous barrage, instead I reply… “Roughly two and a half miles if you’re standing on the ground, but much further

the higher you go in the air.”

“No they don’t blink, because they don’t have eyelids, except sharks. Sharks blink.”

“Ronald Reagan.”“She was an old lady

in a Wendy’s commercial who couldn’t hear or see who kept shouting to her two friends about the size of her hamburger patty in a sandwich from a rival fast

food restaurant.”“I wouldn’t want to

use it after six months, but some people are different and will eat it up to a year after it is frozen.”

“We’re ordering pizza ...”

(Amanda Layton is a staff writer for the Repub-lic-Monitor. Email her at [email protected].)

(and let’s not forget the miniature marshmallows that float around the brim), sitting by the fire, popping in a classic movie to share with the kids, or letting the kids decorate the tree anyway they want?

What gift is greater than to hear the laughter of a child? What gift is greater

than to see a smile light up their face or to feel that warm embrace of their hug? How much does it cost to sit around and tell stories, share some of the family’s favorite memories, play a game, or get creative and construct some crafts together? How much does it cost to laugh together, to spend quality time with one another, and to create those moments that will forever be cherished?

To this day, it is not the gifts I received, the food made, or how clean the homes were that I remem-ber; but, it is the warm embraces of the hugs and the conversations I had with those I love. Although I may not see some as often, or they have been called to heaven, what they gave me, although maybe never real-izing it, was the greatest gift ... the gift of being loved.

So, as you celebrate each

day this season, remember to also celebrate one anoth-er. But above all, remember to embrace one another with the biggest, warmest, lon-gest, tightest hugs ever! May each and every one of you have a blessed and wonder-ful Christmas season.

(Jessica Mahathath lives in Perryville and works with the Perry County Community Task Force.)

B is the one they have seen the most of this year. “There is a wide range of ages of those being diag-nosed,” she said.

But area schools are still seeing quite a bit of sick-ness floating around, re-gardless of whether it’s the flu.

“The majority of chil-dren I’m seeing right now have a stomach virus,” said Yvonne Spears, Per-

ryville Elementary School nurse. “They have a lot of vomiting and diarrhea. We are just now starting to see children coming in ill, then later being diagnosed with true flu.”

Immanuel Lutheran School in Perryville report-ed 19 children out sick at one time last week, which is a notable percentage of absence for a school of 215.

Also of note is the marked increase of Tami-flu, a prescription medi-cation used to combat flu symptoms that is also used

as a preventative medica-tion, being distributed by area pharmacies.

“We had a lot of Tami-flu scripts last week,” said Kara Jokerst, pharmacy technician with HealthCare HealthMart Pharmacy in Perryville. The CDC re-ports that over the last 30-year period, flu activity most often peaked in Feb-ruary (14 times), followed by January and March (5 seasons each), and lastly December being the high-est month of reported cases four of the last 30 seasons.

This means there is still time to vaccinate for those who’ve not yet received a flu shot before the end of flu season that can last as late as May.

“We don’t have anymore flu clinics at the Health De-partment scheduled,” Lau-rentius said.

“But there are other places people can get vac-cinated.

The CDC says the best way to prevent the flu is by getting a flu vaccine each year, and to practice good hand washing technique.

to this party,” she said. “We have special food for everyone to enjoy, and there is al-ways a good turnout.”

A three-piece band, consisting of Ray-mond Bohnert, Glennon Brown and Mark Weinkein, entertained party-goers with their take on traditional Christmas carols and whatever other classic country songs the elderly were in the mood to hear. The evening was filled with music and laughter, as the residents appreciated a break from the usual weekday activities.

Schnurbusch said a little something extra was given to each patient this year.

“We owe a tremendous thank you to the employees of TG Missouri,” she said. “They made care packages for each of our residents filled with lotions, lap blankets and other treats. It was such a generous gift.”

$115,000, with the possi-bility of a pay increase in both his second and third year, provided school board members would vote to in-crease the pay of educators district-wide.

“That is a great way to go into it,” Ireland said. “Knowing the board saw in me the direction they want the school to go.”

Ireland currently serves as the superintendent at Pleasant Hope R-VI School District in Pleasant Hope, Mo., a small town of just more than 600 people. The district consists of four schools — elementary, middle, high school and a ranch school. Ireland over-sees the education of more than 900 students, and just over 100 certified staff members.

In comparison, District 32 serves 2,313 students and 204 staff members.

Ireland said he feels very much up to the challenge of leading a larger school.

“I feel really comfort-able engaging any and all challenges that we could face in Perryville. The size of the district is not an issue for me. With my philoso-

phy of collaboration with all stakeholders, the size of the district just allows for more input. Which is very exciting for me. I feel that all districts, no matter their size, have many of the same obstacles to overcome,” he said.

Ireland said the first order of business for his wife and twin sons will be locating housing in Per-ryville.

“We will likely find a rental house until we are settled for a while, then look to purchase a home,” he said. “We will be relo-cating to Perryville in late May, after the school year ends here (Pleasant Hope).”

The school year at his current district comes to a close on May 9.

Ireland was described by more than one individual as a “listener,” that would be the right kind of leadership for the school.

“I think it’s important to surround myself with good people; smart people that will be the driving force to take this school to the next level,” Ireland said. “My job as superintendent is to play a support roll to every other person here.”

He said he intends to make a visit to Perryville next week to meet with the principals in each of Dis-

trict 32’s schools.“It is my intention to

meet with the teachers in mid-January as well,” he said. “Sometime after Christmas break.”

Ireland said those meet-ings should give him a good start on a plan for the future of Perry County District 32.

“These meetings will give me an idea about the direction that Perryville is heading, and what is im-portant to the people of the district,” he said. “I will be able to begin formulating a plan to mold their vision into what we want and need to get accomplished at the school.”

He sees space as the big-gest challenge facing the district.

“From the informa-tion I have gathered so far, growth of the district is one area we need to look at,” Ireland said. “With a grow-ing population, facility im-provements are going to be an important challenge for Perry County District 32.”

He would also like to see a marked improvement in standardized test scores.

“Academically, we will need to continue to work on improving MAP/EOC scores,” he said. “My first priority when I take over in July will be to review the district needs assessment,

and form a team of stake-holders to formulate a plan on how we can best meet those needs.”

Ireland said the transi-tion of leadership between superintendent Dunn and he should be relatively seamless.

“I anticipate a smooth transition, and will be speaking directly with Mr. Dunn this week,” he said. “He’s leaving the district in a great position to move forward with good things.”

Ireland said those meet-ings should give him a head start on a plan for the future of Perry County District 32.

“These meetings will give me an idea about the direction that Perryville is heading, and what is im-portant to the people of the district,” he said. “I will be able to begin formulating a plan to mold their vision into what we want and need to get accomplished at the school.”

Ireland said he was im-pressed with the interview process constructed by Dis-trict 32’s board.

“I thought it was great,” he said. “I’ve never been questioned in front of ad-ministrators before when applying for a position. It was good to get a chance to speak about the views they see in their schools.”

person panel that governs the Perry County Health Department. Elected mem-

bers serve four-year terms. Board members receive no compensation for serving on this board.

Voters will be asked to elect three individuals to serve on this board.

Other seats to be filed include school board mem-bers for both Perry County School District 32 and Al-tenburg Public District 48, as well as a member for the Perry County Memorial

Hospital Board. Also up for election is an alderman seat in Perryville’s Ward 3. No persons have yet filed for any of these seats.

Filing will remain open until 5 p.m., Jan. 15.

From Page 4a

Layton

Schamelmaryland HeigHts

Anna Mae Schamel of Maryland Heights, formerly of Perryville died Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012 at National Health Care Center in Maryland Heights. She was 87.

She was born Nov. 27, 1925 at St. Mary, the daughter of Charles E. and Caroline (Giesler) Lawrence. She was married on May 11, 1946 in Lithium to Quentin Thomas “Bud” Schamel, who preceded her in death.

Survivors include one daughter, Carolyn Ann Schamel of St. Louis; one son, Clarence Charles “Sandy” Schamel of St. Peters; one sister, Stella Mattingly of Ste. Genevieve; four grandchildren; six great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.

Anna Mae was a stitcher for Prince Gardner. She was a member of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Per-ryville. She was also a member of the American Legion Auxiliary Post 133.

She was preceded in death by parents, husband, four brothers, and one sister.

Memorials are preferred to Susan G. Komen Founda-tion.

Visitation will be Saturday, Dec. 15 from 10 a.m.-Noon in the Gathering Space of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Perryville. The funeral Mass will be at Noon with Rev. Milton Ryan, C.M. officiating. Burial will be at Mount Hope Cemetery.

Miller Family Funeral Home provided arrangements.

AnnaSchamel

Grebingaltenburg

Marvin Paul Grebing of Alten-burg died Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012 at his daughter’s residence in Bollinger

County. He was 75.He was born Jan. 29, 1937 in Altenburg,

the son of Paul Jacob and Esther (Weinhold) Grebing. He was married April 9, 2005 to Beverly Wiggins of Altenburg, who survives.

Other survivors include four sons and two daughters, Ralph (JoNell Hunt) Grebing of Witten-berg; Barbara (Lorn Allbrighton) Grebing of Marble Hill; Harvey Grebing of Altenburg; Cathy (Mark) Haertling of Altenburg; Billy (Sarah) Grebing of Wittenberg; Phillip (Renee Emerson) Grebing of Altenburg; two step-children, Sheila (Hank) Bumann of Pocahontas and Doug Williams of Follet Texas; one brother, Oliver Grebing of Jackson; two sisters, Imogene Thompson of Arvada, Colo. and Phyllis Mueller of Centennial, Colo.; seven grandchildren, Dylan Grebing, Danielle Maucelli, Kyle Haertling, Court-ney Haertling, Victor Grebing, Bethany Grebing, and Phil-lip Grebing Jr.; five step-grandchildren; and two step-great-grandchildren.

Mr. Grebing had been a farmer. He was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg, Farm Bureau, past member of MFA Association and VFW Post 4282. He was a United States Navy veteran.

He was preceded in death by his parents and one grand-daughter, Destiny Grebing.

Memorials are preferred to Lutheran Hour Ministries or Crown Hospice.

Friends may call at Trinity Lutheran Church in Alten-burg on Saturday, Dec. 15 from 11 a.m. to the time of ser-vice at 1 p.m. with Rev. Stephen Dressler officiating. Burial will be at the church cemetery with military graveside ser-vice by American Legion Post 133 and MO Delta Team.


MarvinGrebing

PetzoldtaFFton

Harold A. Petzoldt of Affton died Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012 at St. Anthony’s Hospital in St. Louis. He was 87.

The funeral service was held Monday, Dec. 10 at Christ Memorial Lutheran Church in Affton with the Rev. Greg Smith and Rev. Bill Simmons officiating. Burial was at Jef-ferson Barracks National Cemetery.

From Page 1a

From Page 1a

Ireland

Flu

From Page 4a

From Page 4a

Election

Party

PHoto by amanda layton

Betty Laurentius had a ball on Monday as Santa himself took her for a spin around the dance floor during the annual Christmas party at Independence Care Center.

WilliamsPerryville

Patrick H. Williams of Perryville died Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012 at Inde-pendence Care Center of Perry Coun-

ty in Perryville. He was 70.He was born Feb. 17, 1942 in Perry Coun-

ty, the son of James G. and Mae (Woolweav-er) Williams.

Survivors include two sisters, Nancy (Mar-cus) Steurer of Perryville and Nellie (Dave) Besand of Sedgewickville.

Mr. Williams had been a laborer. He was a United States Army veteran of the Vietnam War.

He was preceded in death by his parents and one broth-er, James.

All services are private.Young & Sons Funeral Home, Inc. in Perryville provid-

ed the arrangements.

PatrickWilliams

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