The Springfield News-Leader from Springfield, Missouri • Page 24

Sunday news-Leader 6B February 22, 2004 DCS revises process of paternity testing Conco officials glad deal for land is done i tfjCV 'wi3c, NEWS-LEADER FILE PHOTO The current Willard high school (lower left-hand corner) and the site for a new building (upper right-hand corner) are seen in this photo. The district signed a contract with Conco Quarries for the land on Thursday. WILLARD, from Page IB sonry work. The school's gymnasium and auditorium will be constructed with the pre-stressed material, which includes a layer of insulation built into it. The rest of the school will be done with brick and cement, allowing for flexibility in the thickness of insulation, according to Jack Hood of Hood-Rich.

Ozark High School, which opened earlier this year, also used the combination of pre-stressed concrete and brick and masonry. That facility is slightly larger 254,000 square feet than Willard's plan. It was constructed for about $19 million near the original price of the Willard project. In Waynesville, school officials elected to go with a com chance at placement. Since the latter wasn't done, the DCS is in the position of trying to backtrack and do what's right.

Long says a "family support team" DCS staff persons, a juvenile officer, the baby's guardian ad litem, the foster family and Marti Fewell, eventually joined by people who have experience in the adoption of a similar child will decide the baby's fate. Long won't name a timeframe of how long it will take. "We are going to do what's best for the child." The Rev. Larry Maddox, president of the local chapter of the NAACP, thinks it should be simpler. "The main thing is that the kinship placement should have been done in the first place, and it was wrong," Maddox says.

"(The caseworker) knew who the family was; there were three foster families in this baby's own family, and he ends up with a white family? "Race had to play a part for them not to put him with his family, you would have to assume. I can't understand why they wouldn't have wanted to put him with his own family." On Thursday, Marti Fewell had a wish come true, and a window of hope opened. DCS personnel told her she could spend a day this weekend with the boy at her home. Thursday night, an ecstatic Fewell was up late baking a cake. "I've told them, and I mean every word of it, when this baby's 90 years old, I'll still be fighting for him." Contact News-Leader columnist Sarah Overstreet at 836-1188.

OVERSTREET, from Page IB "I would like to give him a chance to know his family, his heritage, give him an opportunity to live the kind of life I have, stability," she says. "Granted, he may have stability, but he's a black child. I had a very good childhood, very good, and we're a very close-knit family." If her grandson doesn't come back to his own family, it will be like a part of them is always missing, Gloria Fewell says. The paternity test results weren't back until December 2003. They proved that Tonish Fewell, who is now in prison, was the father and Marti the aunt.

Long acknowledges that obtaining the paternity test took too long. "We've put some procedures in place to make sure the whole process doesn't take so long now," she says. The DCS started doing Mar-ti's foster parent suitability study in January. By that time, the baby was 15 months old. Since DCS regulations direct that foster placements should go first to family members or others with close ties to a child, she expected the baby would be placed with her then.

"I thought it would just naturally happen. I bought a baby bed, but week after week, nothing. By this time, Marti Fewell was becoming apprehensive almost to the point of frantic. Long says DCS personnel are caught in a difficult place, because one statute gives foster parents first dibs for adoption once a child has been in a foster home for nine months, and another statute directs DCS personnel to give relatives first Also not showing up on the estimate are digging costs associated with construction. Bids for the work have not yet been released.

While what will go into the new school remains in question, one thing does not: the location. The contract between the district and Conco Quarries was signed Thursday, completing the deal for the company to donate 40 acres for the school site, according to attorney John Price, who represents the quar ry- The pact includes a number of stipulations, Price said, including an agreement that if a new school is not built in a set amount of time, "This is a problem that has been created by the state of Missouri It's not based on us building a new high school" Allen Bird, Willard school board president plete pre-stressed design. The price tag for the facility: $21 million. Although it's too early to place a firm price on the new school, district officials created in Willard," Bird said. "This is a problem that has been created by the state of Missouri.

It's the same thing that they're dealing with in Ozark, Nixa and Mountain Grove. It's not based on us building a new high school." But he admits it's an issue people are confusing, causing some added debate in the small Greene County community. School officials realize they have work to do before the April election. "Communication is the key to building confidence," Bird said. "Hopefully, once everybody sees that we're doing everything we can to make everything open, they'll be inclined to vote yes and do what's best for the kids." Bird said the school district has been holding informational meetings each week to discuss not only the upcoming tax levy vote, but also the new school.

On March 18, district officials will host a public hearing for the new high school. Hood-Rich officials will be present at that meeting. "We want to get as much information in front of voters as we can before April," Bird said. "If we can do that, we're confident that people will vote yes once they know what's really going on." Contact reporter Jeff Arnold at correcting misinformation and rumors than we did actually working out the deal," Price said. Royal hopes construction on the new school will begin this summer.

The proposed difference in school costs and the handling of the property acquisition for the school, however, are enough to turn some voters off in the quest for the levy increase. If passed, the owner of a $100,000 home would pay an additional $79.80 in property taxes. "I've always been for the school and I have always voted for everything they have ever asked for," Willard resident Jana Copeland said. "But I can tell you I won't be voting 'yes' in April." Said Willard veterinarian Melissa Smith: "We're for the schools and we're concerned about our children. But the thing I keep hearing is how are we supposed to trust the school board with more money (from the levy) if they keep giving us different numbers of how much the new school is going to cost?" Bird said that the tax increase being sought in April cannot, under law, be used for capital projects like building a new school.

Instead, he said the funds are needed for operations in preparation for the budget shortfall expected to be felt by Missouri districts next fall. "This isn't a problem we have Greene County the land would revert back to the quarry. In addition, before the contract is closed, an appraisal of the property will be completed to determine the fair market value of the land. That figure will then be used by Conco for tax purposes, Price said. Quarry officials originally tied road closures to the proposal an idea since abandoned.

The company has since given the land to the school "no strings attached," officials said. Price said Conco officials are pleased to finally be done with the deal. "I think we spent more time are looking at quality rather than all the bells and whistles the higher-priced facility would provide. "We're not looking for the Cadillac we're just looking for a quality school that our students can use," Royal said. In addition to construction costs, the district will need to pay about $500,000 extra for highway improvements.

That's the estimate from the Missouri Department of Transportation, which is currently examining options of installing either a traffic signal or a left-turn lane at the intersection of U.S. 160 and Jackson Street. First District Assoc. Commissioner Darrelt Decker, Greene County Courthouse, 940 Boonville Springfield, MO 65802. 868-4112.

Fax: 868-4050. Second District Assoc. Commissioner Jim Payne, Greene County Courthouse, 940 Boonville Springfield, M0 65802. 868-4112. Fax: 868-4050.

Here's how to contact various government officials and offices: Presiding Commissioner Dave Coonrod, Greene County Courthouse, 940 Boonville Springfield, MO 65802. 868-4112. Fax: 868-4050. MSL Ami Mil (Limited To Stork On Hand) Beautiful Chrif tlzn Art For Your Home Or Office II BOOK KclCHlt CENTER V' I 1351 N. CowmUe EnChtslv lor F.eC.an' u'e cw' wan The Standard of Excellence DOCTORs hospital Runabouts 18' to 29' Deck Boats 20' to 27' Cruisers 24' to 55' Two plead guilty in fatal 2002 carjacking THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ST.

Louis Two of four men accused in a 2002 carjacking attempt that killed an Indiana man traveling with his family have pleaded guilty, days before pending trials for two other suspects, including the alleged gunman. Cortez Tolen, 19, the driver of the carjackers' vehicle, pleaded guilty Thursday to a reduced charge of second-degree murder in return for a recommended 20-year sentence. Tolen also pleaded guilty to assault and armed criminal action. Two days earlier, Marvin Woolfolk, 20, pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and armed criminal action, said Donald Tyson, an assistant St. Louis circuit attorney.

Woolfolk, who faces a recommended sentence of 15 years, has agreed to assist prosecutors. Sentencing for Tolen and Woolfolk is set for April 2. Co-defendants Luther Jones, 24, and Robert Simmons, 19, are to go on trial Monday on charges of first-degree murder, assault and armed criminal action. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty. Authorities suspect that Jones was the gunman who fatally shot Gerardo Perez, 26, of Indianapolis, in the head about 4:30 a.m.

Aug. 25, 2002, after the Perez family's 1998 Chevrolet Tahoe sport utility vehicle was cornered by the carjackers' vehicle near downtown. Police said the family had driven here overnight to visit relatives and had gotten lost after getting off Interstate 70, moments before being confronted by suspected carjackers who police say wanted the SUV's wheel rims. Perez, 26, was a passenger in the SUV driven by brother Jose Luis Perez, 30, who was wounded. Five other relatives, including Gerardo Perez's wife, also were in the vehicle.

Police said one of the attackers fired 11 shots with an assault rifle as Jose Perez tried to back away. Yachts 34' to 58' Houseboats 37' to 55' Pontoons 18' to 30' This is the Final Weekend to Take Advantage of Sea Ray's Boat Show Season Incentives Resolutions Geriatric Mental Health Inpatient Program for older adults 65 and over. Doctors Hospital of Springfield 2828 N. National (417) 837-4181 Call for a free confidential assessment. Services covered by Medicare, Medicaid and Private Insurances.

If You Think You Can't Afford The Best Think Again! Sea Ray Runabouts Starting as Low as $129.00 mo. w.a.c. call for details PORT ARROWHEAD 6 Miles So. of Springfield on Hwy. 160 (Campbell Ave.) in Nixa, M0 SPRINGFIELD 888-724-0220 www.portarrowhead.com Reviews and more llCJI8S Fridays in Weekend.

News-Leader.