The Springfield News-Leader from Springfield, Missouri • Page 1

FAITH INSIDE MIKE WIEBE'S 16 POINTS POWER BRANSON OVER WILLARD ID Springfield OZARKSMOBILE.COM Springfield, Missouri Saturday, January 12, 2008 50c Tr 1 SlfiSSl? ice Storm Anniversary 3KI BECKY 5HINK LANSING (MICH.) STATE JOURNAL Dawne Botke-Coe, 50, performs tarot card readings at the Triple Goddess Bookstore in Okemos, Mich. Botke-Coe says her generation has not been afraid to test religious waters. New breed of senior citizens The baby boomers, as they age, will present a challenge to religious institutions. The challenge won't be just a matter of the size of the group the largest group of senior citizens this country has ever known. Boomers tend to insist on a personalized spirituality autonomy, freedom of choice, fulfillment in the here and now as well as salvation in the hereafter.

1C IIS Psychologists in state ask for authority to prescribe Bill aims to expand scope of mental health treatment. By Kathleen O'Dell Missouri psychologists and their patients are asking lawmakers for the authority to write certain prescriptions for mental health disorders, saying it will improve access to badly Gdi Cold, dark homes. Broken trees. Agonizing delays. Hie ice storm began a year ago today, and we're still feeling the effects.

ONLINE NOW IrT" Q-l'x, 'it VJ XOMI needed care. It's a question of service and need, say advocates with Missouri Families for Access to Comprehensive Treatment. The state has fewer than 400 licensed More online: Missouri psychologists explain why they want authority to prescribe drugs for mental health disorders. v- 1 "tV 'ft fcS M'. "i i lilt- rjLw ai, rtL 1 DAN BOEVER Justus Boever shows the size of a fallen tree a half-mile east of Highland Springs.

Post your weather, tornado photos j. Dozens of tornadoes ripped across the Ozarks on Monday night i xomw and Tuesday morning. Post your pic-tures of tornadoes, lightning strikes, dark clouds and storm damage in our tornado gallery at News-LeaderxomMyPhotos Bears to face Drake's pressure 'D' Missouri State assistant coach Kyan Brown says handling Drake's multiple pressure defensive looks will be a key for the Bears in today's conference matchup. Hear an audio scouting report at In Sports: Bears senior forward Dale Lam-berth recognizes that the Drake Bulldogs are for real after winning 12 in a row and tying for first in the Valley. ID YOUR COMMUNITY NEWS-LEADER FILE PHOTO tV 'f 5 4lf 1 Storm costs measured in millions of dollars, mental distress, destroyed trees.

By Wes Johnson Every time the wind blows, Mount Vernon resident Herbert Moore is reminded of last year's devastating ice storm. "That was an awful thing we went through," said Moore, 97. "There's huge tree limbs that broke and still hang down because of the ice. Whenever there comes a hard wind, they come a-crashing down." One year ago today, the first of psychiatrists, the only mental-health professionals in Missouri allowed to prescribe drugs, advocates say. And, they add, waiting times to see a psychiatrist ranges from two weeks to eight months, especially in underserved rural and inner-city communities.

See Prescriptions, Page 8A School district examines meal money for traveling staff By Cory de Vera The Springfield school district may start asking teachers to turn in meal receipts for meals the district covers at out-of-town training conferences, officials said Friday. Current policy caps the cost of an employee meal at $25 or a total of $42 for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the same day. It doesn't require receipts. In response to a News-Leader inquiry, district officials said they don't know how much R-12 spent reimbursing employees, board members or volunteers for meals at professional development events during the 2006-07 school year. In late December, the News-Leader asked Superintendent Norm Ridder why the district didn't require receipts.

Ridder initially said he thought the district did, and that he al- See Meals, Page 8A DEAN CURTIS NEWS-LEADER Two Joggers head down Catalpa Street near Phelps Grove Park on a recent afternoon (above). At this time a year ago, fallen trees made the area nearly impassable. The ice storm of January 2007 helped make the year a costly one for Missouri residents. City sewer lines overflow Stormwater flowing into Springfield sewer lines is causing sewage to overflow onto the Ward Branch Greenway trail and into the James River, residents and officials have observed. 6A Traffic deaths reach 14-year low Fatalities on Missouri highways dropped 11 percent in 2007, falling below 1,000 for the first time since 1993.

4A OZARKS VOICES three waves of freezing ram began coating trees, power lines even blades of grass with up to two "weatherhead" to their vocabulary. Qn p-nn 3 A nc "Arroi the ctrxrm mta lnrnAn tnaf ice, "After the storm, we learned that inches of heavy, clear 2007's extreme weather was the costliest in Missouri history. Video report: Take a look back at the destruction of a xom year ago. Photo galleries: View hundreds of photos from the ice storm and its aftermath in the Ozarks. Your memories: Click on this story online to share your memories of surviving the ice storm.

Past coverage: Read our stories chronicling the historic weather event. In Springfield, 75,000 City Utilities customers suffered through up to two weeks of cold and darkness as temperatures plummeted to single digits. Damage and cleanup costs reached $59.5 million in Greene County alone. Trees bowed to the ground and broke. Ice-laden tree limbs fell, ripping power lines from utility poles.

CU had to replace 330 ice-damaged utility poles. Hundreds added the word an inch of ice on power lines and poles was equal to the weight of a Chevy Suburban," said John Gagan, meteorologist with the Springfield National Weather Service. "You're looking at more than two tons of ice per pole." The deep freeze stretched from northeast Oklahoma diagonally all the way to St. Louis. The worst-hit areas with ice up to 2 inches thick centered on See Ice storm, Page 3A Immigrants made scapegoats Undocumented aliens have become the new enemy in this political season, writes Yolanda Lorge, president of Grupo Latinoamericano.

A legitimate concern over the failures of our national immigration policy is being transformed into an ugly attempt to turn immigrants into scapegoats for all our discontents, she writes. IB Lawson remembered for her love, spirituality Index Auto News IF Business 12A Classified 6C Comics 5C Crossword 4C Deaths 4B FaithS Values 2C Garage Sales 7C IB 9C 9C ID 12A 14A 13A Opinion Real Estate For Sale Rentals Sports Stocks Television Weather Employment 7C Horoscope 4C LifeFaith 1C Lottery 2A Merchandise 7C Movies 14A NationWorld HA Night Life 1C Strafford woman, 85, was one of two killed in Monday storms. By Steve Koehler STRAFFORD Monday's tornado blew away thousands of precious pho Weather 48 Limited sunshine today, with some 29 rain expected near the border. Cloudy tonight: 13A Precipitation: 15 GANNETT NEWSPAPER VOL. 118, NO 12 2008.

NEWS-LEADER Photo galleries: 'r 1 View additional ages of tornado damage and cleanup. Video coverage: Watch aerial images of the storm damage. Your photos and videos: Share images from the storm. Discussion: Nominate your storm hero and tell your story about riding out the storms Monday night. Data-Leaden Search a database of past powerful Missouri storms.

"t- 1 1 i I I AW ro: tographs, trinkets, keepsakes and homemade quilts that belonged to 85-year-old al of Lawson, who was killed when her house was leveled by a tornado. Lawson of Strafford was one of two people who died after a barrage of tornadoes struck the Ozarks late Monday and early Tuesday. Nancy Green of Marshfield also was killed. At Friday's service, a video montage of both black-and-white and color photographs showed Law-son with family and friends during holidays, picnics, weddings and graduations. Christian songs played in tea Lawson Rachel Law-son.

But Lawson will not be forgotten, her tearful daughter Jan Jacques said. "Our memories of her are in our hearts. We are so blessed for all the memories we have." Hundreds of family members and friends packed Strafford First Assembly of God on Friday for the funer- AMBER ARNOLD NEWS-LEADER Family and friends leave Rachel Bernice Lawson's funeral at First Assembly of God in Strafford on Friday afternoon. The 85-year-old woman died after a tornado struck her home. See Funeral, Page 8A 1 a I lUU'll1l'.

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