By mark Evans mevans@stegenherald.com Dena Kreilter, executive director of the Ste. Genevieve Chamber of Commerce, reported to the Ste. Genevieve County Commission last Thursday that business was booming at the newly-reopened county license office. Kreitler since the office had been “swamped” since reopening on Jan. 4, after being closed more than nine months. The first…
By MARK EVANS mevans@stegenherald.com After nearly a decade on the job, First District Commissioner Randy Bahr and Second District Commissioner Joe Getting were honored at their final meeting last Thursday. Presiding Commissioner Garry Nelson presented each with a plaque and the courthouse staff provided a farewell cake and ice cream. Gettinger, who took office in…
By Mark Evans mevans@stegenherald.com Blindsiding America and the world, the novel coronavirus called COVID-19 became a focus of local attention at the beginning of March. Sandra Bell, executive director of the Ste. Genevieve County Health Department, began updating the County Commission twice a week on the situation and addressed the Ste. Genevieve Board of Aldermen…
By MARK EVANS mevans@stegenherald.com While being introduced to and dealing with the novel coronavirus called COVID-19 took up much of local leaders’ time and energy in 2020, some long-awaited accomplishments were finally realized during the year. PARK ESTABLISHED AFTER BILLS PASS The year saw the final steps taken in the establishment of the Ste. Genevieve National…
From staff reports The Foundation for Restoration of Ste. Genevieve recently honored Missouri Republican Sen. Roy Blunt. Blunt was presented with the 2020 Distinguished Service Award on Thursday, Dec. 17, at the Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park Welcome Center via the Zoom teleconferencing application. Members of the foundation and representative from the City of Ste.…
By ERIC X. VICCARO eviccaro@stegenherald.com Ste. Genevieve County Levee Board District No. 3 approved a resolution during Tuesday’s regular meeting. It’s another step toward the levee board conveying property to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The resolution (No. 20-01) covers operation, maintenance, repair and rehabilitation for the urban design levee. Ste. Genevieve city…
By mark Evans mevans@stegenherald.com Special Road District A board members discussed which roads to possibly overlay in 2021 at their final meeting of 2020, on Dec. 8. It was agreed that an 8/10 of a mile stretch on Sugar Bottom Road was definitely one to do. “We could knock that out,” chairman Paul Arnold said.…
By MARK EVANS mevans@stegenherald.com Looking at weekly numbers, the number of active COVID-19 cases in Ste. Genevieve County seems to have leveled off. While the total number of cases since March continues climbing toward 1,000, the crucial number of active cases at any one time, took a welcome dip the week of Nov. 19. Each…
By Mark Evans mevans@stegenherald.com With winter nearing, the Ste. Genevieve County Ambulance District is staying focus toward staff training and keeping its personnel healthy. That specifically includes protecting them in every way possible from the COVID-19 pandemic. Executive director Kendall Shrum reported at last Thursday night’s monthly board meeting that no positive cases have turned…
By Mark Evans mevans@stegenherald.com Scott Schmieder, road and bridge foreman, discussed various items with the Ste. Genevieve County commissioners, last Thursday. One item of concern included the safety of the crew which had been holding daily meetings at their shop. Presiding Commissioner Garry Nelson asked him about progress in making the road shed safer from…
By MARK EVANS mevans@stegenherald.com Bloomsdale aldermen approved a $5,330 bid by CE Construction to connect property owned by Gail and Steve Zoellner on Clement Road with the city water main at their Nov. 10 meeting. The Zoellners had spoken to the board back in February, outlining plans to building new rental duplexes. Five buildings, with…
By MARK EVANS STE. GENEVIEVE HERALD During a meeting that lasted about 20 minutes last Thursday, the St. Mary Board of Aldermen passed three ordinances pertaining to the police department and future municipal elections. The board also awarded a contract for a flow meter at the sewage plant. The bids for the flow meter were…
By MARK EVANS mevans@stegenherald.com Another high total of active COVID-19 cases were reported in Ste. Genevieve County last week, although the 62 reported cases last Thursday, was considerably below the high-mark of 87 the previous week. Provisional county health department administrator Jeanette Wood reported the numbers to the County Commission at their meeting last Thursday,…
By Eric X. Viccaro eviccaro@stegenherald.com David A. “Big Guy” Pinkley was a dedicated longtime city of Ste. Genevieve employee. On Oct. 10, Pinkley Park was officially dedicated in Dave’s everlasting memory. “It was a great feeling to see that,” said field operations supervisor Gary Roth. “Dave wasn’t only my boss, he was my best friend.…
Both requests for special use permits were approved by the Ste. Genevieve Planning and Zoning Commission during the group’s meeting last Thursday. First, the commission unanimously voted to grant Rodney Milfelt of Milfelt Auto Body LLC requests a variance and special use permit to erect a 24 by 12-foot freestanding sign in an R-1 Single…
By MARK EVANS mevans@stegenherald.com It was a time of optimism, a time of relief and a time of giving thanks, when community leaders and various officials gathered in front of the Jean Baptiste Valle House on Nov. 2. The ceremony marked the official establishment of the Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park as the 422nd and…
By MARK EVANS STE. GENEVIEVE HERALD The drive to establish a national park in Ste. Genevieve has been a slow process, with many twists and turns. The move started around the turn of the current century and led to an eventual National Park Service (NPS) study and assessment of Ste. Genevieve. In November 2001, U.S.…
By MARK EVANS mevans@stegenherald.com With winter weather approaching, time is rapidly running out for paving and patching projects in Ste. Genevieve County. Road and bridge foreman Scott Schmieder told county commissioners last Thursday that he needed to dig out several spots on Saw Mill Road, then repave. He said there is one big spot and…
From staff reports The musical act Po’Anna will headline the first-ever Pecanapalooza set for this Saturday in Ste. Genevieve. Po’Anna is a young, top-flight group of Bluegrass musicians. The band features the following performers: Emalee Flatness, a fiddle player from Willard; Becca Ash, a mandolin player from Stoutland; Justus Ross, a guitar player from Piedmont;…
From Staff Reports All three requests for certificates of appropriateness were approved by the Ste. Genevieve Heritage Commission on Oct. 19. First, Jason Stackle received permission to rehabilitate and renovate the structure, including installation of vinyl windows, steel doors, vinyl porch railing with metal balusters, wooden porch flooring and porch ceiling at 135 N. 3rd…
By Mark Evans mevans@stegenherald.com Charter Church Road was on Ste. Genevieve County’s short list of roads to pave in 2019. It was also on the short list for 2020. A combination of spring floods in 2019, a reduction in revenues due to the pandemic this year and some required tree removal and ditch work by…
By MARK EVANS mevans@stegenherald.com Representatives of Wolf Creek and Ozora Fire Departments visited with the Ste. Genevieve County Commissioners last Thursday, to discuss the possibility of incorporating fire districts. Currently various entities such as Ozora, Wolf Creek and Weingarten have fire associations. Ozora fire chief Allen Schilli stressed that they were just looking to take…
From Staff Reports Ste. Genevieve County Sheriff Gary Stolzer recently praised the actions of sheriff’s department personnel, who, in conjunction with Missouri Highway Patrol personnel, ended an Oct. 6 armed standoff in Bloomsdale without injury. That day, 64-year-old Leonard Herman Burst locked himself in a relative’s home with a gun. A four to four and…
By Mark Evans mevans@stegenherald.com After taking nearly an hour to hear a pair of insurance presentations, the Ste. Genevieve County Ambulance Board began work on a 2021 budget last Thursday night. The process only got so far, though, and a special meeting was set for this Thursday (4:45 p.m.) to finish the budget. District director…
By Mark Evans mevans@stegenherald.com “We had a little issue at the treatment plant,” Mayor Paul Monia told the Bloomsdale Board of Aldermen at the Oct. 13 meeting. “The little issue turned into a bigger issue.” The problem stemmed from personnel not being able to shut a set of aging valves. From what plant manager Ron…
By Mark Evans mevans@stegenherald.com One of history’s mysteries has been unraveled. Back in 1941, the year of Pearl Harbor, Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak and FDR’s third inaugural, Henry Shaw bought a piece of land in Ste. Genevieve County. The land was purchased from Otto Buchholz. Later “Buchholz” or “Buchholtz” Road was constructed on the…
By Mark Evans mevans@stegenherald.com With Mississippi River water levels finally low enough, J.S. Alberici Construction Company of St. Louis has been able to attach protective sheeting to the New Bourbon Regional Port Authority dock. Alberici had the lowest of five bids on March 8, 2019, when five bids for the job were opened. The firm…
By MARK EVANS STE. GENEVIEVE HERALD After many of Ste. Genevieve signature events were canceled by COVID-19 in 2020, the year is beginning to take on a little normality. The second half of October sees several activities taking place that give the fall a more normal feel. This Thursday, drive-by flu shots are available at…
By ERIC X. VICCARO eviccaro@stegenherald.com The Ste. Genevieve Park and Recreation Board agreed recently to have meetings every two weeks surrounding the Pere Marquette Park master plan. “We need to have the mindset we can do anything,” said park board member Lauren Smothers during discussions at a special planning meeting on Oct. 6. Ward 4…
By MARK EVANS mevans@stegenherald.com St. Mary aldermen voted to spend $3,357 for national incident-based reporting system software for the police department and up to $350 to repair the effluent box at the wastewater plant at last Thursday’s meeting. However, the aldermen tabled two other big purchases, in hopes of obtaining additional bids. Mayor Carlton Wyatt…