Week In Review: Residents Oppose Cell Tower, Orchard Farm School District Names New Superintendent and More

Too busy last week to stay up to date on all the news happening in St. Charles? Not to worry. Patch has your back.

In case you missed them, here were some of the top headlines from the St. Charles Patch from the last few days.

Orchard Farm School District Names New Superintendent

• Thomas Muzzey was named the new Superintendent of the Orchard Farm School District, the district announced on Friday. Current Superintendent Dan Dozier has been with the district for 31 years and planned to step down at the end of the school year.

Residents Oppose 250 Foot Cell Tower Location in St. Charles

• A St. Charles board has voted to oppose possible plans to place a 250-foot emergency communication tower at the northwest corner of North Third Street and Adams Street, near the St. Charles County Corrections facility. The tower is one of 12 that St. Charles County is putting in across the region to upgrade emergency communications for first responders as mandated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

• A man who sold heroin to a person working with St. Charles Police swallowed heroin and fought with officers in an attempt to swallow more of the evidence Saturday, police said. John S. Faupel, 32, of the 9700 block of Treadway Lane in Edmundson, was charged with distributing a controlled substance and resisting arrest.

Eleven Suspended Following Fight at St. Charles West

• Eleven St. Charles West students have been suspended following a fight at the school on Friday involving several teens not from the St. Charles School District.  "These were high school aged kids,"said St. Charles School District superintendent Jeff Marion. "It started out as a typical high school beef and got bigger when people jumped in to help friends."

Francis Howell Starts New 'Off to Kindergarten' Preschool Program

• Increased rigor of kindergarten curriculum has prompted the Francis Howell School District to create a new "Off to Kindergarten" preschool class in the hopes that more students will start school prepared to succeed. The Francis Howell School District this year began using new "common core" curriculum for students in kindergarten, first and second grades. The curriculum will be taught in all grades in the 2014-15 school year and is more rigorous than what has been taught in the past.