Volunteers Will Help Clean Up Public Parks Saturday

Sept. 24 is National Public Lands Day, a day in which people help clean more than 2,000 public sites across the country.

National Public Lands Day is a one-day volunteer clean up of public parks across the country held this year on Sept. 24. Many people are expected to help clean up more than 2,000 public parks and other sites that day. National Parks like the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone an Acadia National Park will be free to visitors and volunteers. There are several opportunities to clean up public lands in the St. Charles area. On Saturday, Francis Howell Central science teacher Jessica Rowe plans to bring a group of students to pick up trash in Laurel Park. After, students will clean up the nearby Spencer Creek and conduct some water testing, looking at Nitrates, phosphates, chloride, oxygen and ph levels. Rowe said students typically enjoy having the …

• Photos (1)

MOsaics Festival Draws Artists From Around Country

Art fans headed out to the St. Charles art festival.

Mosaics Art Fest.

• Photos (13)

St. Charles Seeks Grant Funding for Fifth Street, Tourism Center

St. Charles will apply for a TIGER 3 grant to fund 80 percent of $14.5 million improvements to First Capitol, Fifth Street.

St. Charles is eyeing the former Mary Rents building at the corner of Fifth Street and Boone's Lick Road as a possible location for an additional tourism center and a transportation hub for the city.  The tourism center and transportation hub are part of $14.5 million proposed improvement project for the Fifth Street and First Capitol corridor. The city plans to apply for a federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery 3 Discretionary Grant to fund the project. TIGER 3 grants are being awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation for infrastructure projects that would have a significant impact on a metropolitan area. If awarded, a TIGER grant could fund up to 80 percent of the project. "There are so many good points …

• Photos (1)

Commission To Meet Tonight To Discuss TIF for Lindenwood Town Center

Meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. at St. Charles City Hall.

A Tax Increment Financing Commission will meet Thursday Sept. 15 at St. Charles City Hall to discuss a proposed TIF for Lindenwood Town Center, a mixed-use project planned in the heart of St. Charles. The meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in City Council chambers. The proposed town center is expected to include a grocery store, relocated post office, drive thru restaurant and eventually, student housing for Lindenwood University. Mark Grimm, an attorney with Gilmore & Bell and a city consultant on the project is expected to explain the tax increment financing and the role of the commission. Scott Sachtleben, vice president of development for the DESCO Group, will give a presentation on the proposed redevelopment project. Larry Marks with …

•  1 Comment
• Documents (1)

City To Conduct Flooding Investigation, Waiting For FEMA Declaration

St. Charles residents are working to restore their homes that were damaged in flash flood.

Imagine walking two feet down the stairs to find your family room has turned into a murky pool. This was the scene Ken and Barbara Olive had to live with after the June flash flood. Now, the room where their family once held Christmas celebrations looks like an unfinished storage space. The Olives have cleaned up what remains of their family room, but they are waiting on to hear from their insurance company before refinishing the room. Ken Olive said he does not expect that the city will reimburse his family for the damage. Two hundred and ninety structures suffered flood damage from the storms on June 24 and 25. More than two months after the flash flooding, it is still too early to tell what the City of St. Charles plans to do to prevent…

• Photos (5)

Faith Matters

A Ministry of Love and Joy

Rev. Joan Jones has been the chaplain at Emmaus Homes in St. Charles for 13 years. It is a ministry of calm compassion, a call to love the people, and joy every day.

The Rev. Joan Jones is chaplain at Emmaus Homes in St. Charles. She began March 1, 1998, having moved from the east coast and parish ministry in churches in New York and Pennsylvania. “I was geared for the parish,” Jones said. “This was all new.” Emmaus Homes is a place of the spirit. Its stated mission is, in part, “to enhance the quality of life for adults of all beliefs who have cognitive, intellectual and other developmental disabilities.”   The first Emmaus campus, founded in 1893, used the former seminary of the Evangelical Synod of the West in Marthasville, MO. That location is Emmaus Homes West. Emmaus Homes in St. Charles or Emmaus Homes East, began in 1901. That is 110 years in the St. Charles community. Both places continue the …

• Photos (5)

Be There Now

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri Welcomes Two New Board of Directors Members

Rhonda Brandon and Mark Cusumano join the BBBS Board of Directors.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri announces the appointment of two new members to its Board of Directors. “We are honored and excited to have such creative, thoughtful and committed leaders on the Big Brothers Big Sisters Board of Directors," said Becky James–Hatter, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri. “We are thrilled about our newest members whose experience, vision and business sense will add additional insights as we continue to further our mission to build trusting and enduring relationships that encourage and support young people.” Rhonda Brandon, vice president, human resources operations, BJC HealthCare, is responsible for ensuring key human resources business practices, strategies and initiatives are …

• Photos (2)

City Awards Nonprofits More than $20,000 in Grant Funding

Volunteers in Medicine, St. Louis Children's Hospital Foundation among groups to receive a grant.

Several nonprofit groups were awarded grant funding from the city of St. Charles on Tuesday.  Members of the Grant Review Committee included council members Laurie Feldman, Ward 3, Dave Beckering, Ward 7, Mary Ann Ohms, Ward 1 and Tom Besselman, Ward 2.  Volunteers in Medicine received $4,780, which will go toward helping to provide people with medication.  St. Louis Children's Hospital Foundation received $4,000. Jeanne Gibbons, officer of Corporate and Foundation Relations at St. Louis Children's Hospital accepted the grant. She said the Foundation is bringing two 40-foot mobile health vans into the St. Charles area to help about 350 children through restorative dentistry, health screenings and follow up with social workers for hearing …

• Photos (1)