Mid Rivers Newsmagazine Your online news source for St. Charles County, Missouri

A friendly competition between three local municipalities will benefit hungry families in St. Charles, Lincoln and Warren counties this winter. For the fifth consecutive year, the cities of Weldon Spring, Cottleville and Dardenne Prairie have teamed up for the Tri-City Holiday Food Drive. Each city will compete to collect the most food donations for Sts. Joachim and Ann Care Service, which feeds more than 120 local families each week.

A pair of rowers from the St. Louis Rowing Club did well at the recent Head of the Hooch at Ross’s Landing Park in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The race was held on the Tennessee River and was hosted by Atlanta Rowing Club & Lookout Rowing Club. The team of John Jaeger, a senior at Ladue, and Hunter Wallace, a junior at Ladue, finished in second place with a time of 20 minutes, 24 seconds for the 5,000 meter race. Coach Andrew Black said he was pleased with their performance. “John and Hunter are among the best junior rowers in the country,” ...

If anyone still has any doubt about the utter cynicism of the Obama administration, a recent agreement between the federal government and the Minneapolis Public Schools should open their eyes. Under the Obama administration, both the Department of Education and the Department of Justice have been leaning on public schools around the country to reduce what they call the “disproportionate” numbers of black male students who are punished for various offenses in schools. Under an implicit threat of losing their federal subsidies, the Minneapolis Public Schools have agreed to reduce the disparity in punishment of black students by 25 percent ...

More than a few homes don't get the Thanksgiving celebration others are so fortunate to enjoy. But the volunteers of No Hunger Holiday are out to change that – and they're asking the community to help. The organization's annual "turkey drive" takes place Thursday, Nov. 20 to Monday, Nov. 24.

Marquette’s Frankie Thomas won both of his matches in the recent 2014 Mid-America Junior Cup at Fox Run Golf Club. The Kansas City Golf Association and Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association forged a 4-4 tie in the Junior Cup allowing the KCGA to return to western Missouri with the Mid-America Cup. “It was a great experience,” Thomas said. It was his first time playing on the Junior Cup team. “I was selected for the team because I won the Missouri Junior Amateur and I also qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur,” Thomas said. “It meant a lot to be chosen because ...

After a year of construction, Mercy Kids Mid Rivers has opened in Cottleville. Dr. Howard Schlansky, medical director of pediatrics for Mercy Clinic, said part of the pre-construction process for the Mid Rivers facility included working with the president of Mercy Kids and holding conversations with the St. Charles community to figure out what exactly was needed at the new facility.

On Oct. 29, the O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce and the city of O’Fallon’s Economic Development Department collaborated along with the city’s Grow in the ‘O’ committee to host the O’Fallon Industrial Summit.

The Innovative Technology Education Fund’s (ITEF) 2015 grant cycle has opened, and schools and teachers in St. Charles County can now submit applications to receive grants to advance innovation and technology in their classrooms. Since 2006, ITEF has provided in excess of $1.5 million in grants to area schools, allowing them to transform libraries into “makerspaces,” introduce robotics and animation to elementary art students, and put computers with advanced software in the hands of middle school students. Last year, ITEF awarded a total of $358,543 through six grants averaging approximately $51,000 each. ITEF’s unique model allows them to use existing ...

Shelly Farinella, counselor at Fern Ridge High, and Jason Lievanos, sixth-grade world geography teacher at West Middle, were surprised with Peabody Energy Leaders in Education awards. The Leaders in Education program rewards dedicated and compassionate educational professionals with awards and recognition at an annual dinner reception. Award recipients are selected throughout the school year by a committee of top educators and business leaders and each earn a $1,000 award. This year marks Farinella’s 21st year in Parkway. Before becoming a school counselor, she worked as a police officer for St. Louis County and the city of Chesterfield for approximately 10 ...

For the ninth consecutive year, the Francis Howell School District has won the Meritorious Budget Award from the Association of School Business Officials International. The award is conferred only to school systems that have met or exceeded the Meritorious Budget Award criteria. The award was for the 2014-15 budget, prepared by Chief Financial Officer Kevin Supple with assistance from Director of Finance Cindy Reilmann and the finance department staff. The 2014-15 budget includes over 400 pages and contains not only the official budget, but also background and summary materials. The budget material is presented via narratives, charts and graphs to ...