By Pamela Rensing Better Newspapers, Inc. Greg Hoskins, publisher of Better Newspapers, Inc., is proud to announce the acquisition of two Illinois newspapers: The Breeze Courier and The Shopping Spree, both located in Taylorville, Illinois. Based in Mascoutah, Illinois, Better Newspapers, Inc. is a family-owned company now operating 26 publications in Illinois and Missouri. The…
By MARK EVANS mevans@stegenherald.com Alan Wells, 911 director in St. Francois County since 1993, addressed the Ste. Genevieve County Ambulance District Board during the board’s monthly meeting last Thursday. Wells updated the board on operations at the state-of-the-art joint communication and EOC center in Park Hills, which handles both counties’ emergency calls. Ste. Genevieve and…
Nine years ago Thursday, on March 11, 2012, Ted Coalter lost a battle with cancer at age 58. A 1971 Ste. Genevieve High School graduate, who edited the school newspaper, the Mike, he then served in the military in Vietnam. Coalter stayed in Cape Girardeau after getting a BS in business administration at Southeast Missouri…
FROM STAFF REPORTS Longtime Ste. Genevieve Parks and Recreation Board member Gerard “Gerry” Schwent died at his home at age 70, March 3. Schwent was also a member of National Wild Turkey Federation, a past alderman for Ste. Genevieve and had been president of Ste. Gen. Eagles Club, Knights of Columbus 1037. He was chairman…
By MARK EVANS mevans@stegenherald.com PERRYVILLE – With only two voting members present at the start and three by the end, the New Bourbon Regional Port Authority Board of Commissioners lacked a quorum on Feb. 24. Initially, only board president Ron Inman and member Mark Gremaud were there, in addition to the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning…
By MARK EVANS mevans@stegenherald.com After denying an LED sign to the Church of Ste. Genevieve on Jan. 25, the Ste. Genevieve Heritage Commission approved a pair of requests for certificates of appropriateness for one property owner and tabled another request. The commission was also updated on a State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) grant to put…
By ERIC X. VICCARO eviccaro@stegenherald.com City of Ste. Genevieve Board of Aldermen officially approved an agreement with the Community Foundation of the Ozarks during its regular meeting this past Thursday. The agreement allows the foundation to serve as the nerve center for all fundraising efforts for Pere Marquette Park improvements. It also allows contributions from…
By ERIC X. VICCARO eviccaro@stegenherald.com Ste. Genevieve County Levee District No. 3 board of directors approved a raise for superintendent Norman Gallup at its Jan. 12 regular meeting. The hour-long meeting covered a wide variety of topics. Gallup performs a highly technical and specialized functions on the levee, and he brought up the matter of…
There will be two items on the agenda for a work session following this Thursday’s board of aldermen meeting. Discussions are set to cover utility terrain vehicle permits and walkers along Pine and Park Streets. The work session will be aired on SGTV Spectrum Channel 991, and also will be available through the Zoom teleconferencing…
By MARK EVANS mevans@stegenherald.com Mayor Paul Monia and Bloomsdale aldermen are eager to get started on the city’s big water line replacement project. They conferred with David Van Leer of Cochran Engineering during the city’s Jan. 12 meeting. “The biggest thing on moving forward is moving forward,” Monia said, after the contract was signed. Monia…
By MARK EVANS mevans@stegenherald.com During last Thursday night’s St. Mary Board of Aldermen meeting, Alderman Dr. Zenon Duda offered to plant trees to spruce up the city appearance. He addressed previous concerns about trees being killed by flood waters and about the difficulty of mowing in between large trees. He said Cyprus trees would be…
Due to the coronavirus, Ste. Genevieve Project Pioneer is cancelling all activities until Fall. The usual August event would have had meetings with families in crowded rooms, a risk the committee doesn’t want to take during the pandemic. By October, it is hoped the virus will be tamped down enough so the group can continue…
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…