The Daily Journal from Flat River, Missouri • 1

MONDAY EDITION WW VrVi! rfr.jh.fi rjx December 12,2005 .4 ra rr i ii i1 il'ii I TuSfiF 44 -J jj HIGH AlMc Clrfted 11-13 Comics 10 Community Obituaries Sport 5-6 Today in History .2 25 P. Cloudy low line.com Volume 75, Issue 313 50 daily, $1 Sunday Mouui will announce its crossover plans Chkis Cline Daily Journal Several students from Central Middle School meet each Monday morning to discuss the Breakfast Serial that appeared the day before in the Daily Journal. Cereal, milk and some literature Meetings Tuesday to discuss decision are open to public By PAULA BARR Daily Journal Staff Writer PARK HILLS Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) officials on Tuesday will announce their decision regarding the crossover closure plan for the section of U.S. 67 from the Leadington exit to the Fairgrounds. The decision will be announced in public meetings at 11 a.m.

and 1:30 p.m., said MoDOT Community Relations Manager Angie Wilson. Both meetings will take place at the department's Park Hills Construction Office, 105 Industrial Park. The meetings will be similar to those held in November. The morning meeting will be with business owners and the afternoon session is for emergency responders and local officials. Members of the public are welcome to attend either gathering.

"Anytime we have an issue like this, we like to go back and personally visit with people," Wilson said. "It's better when we can talk face to face." MoDOT could announce it has chosen one of five options raised at last month's meetings, or it could develop a new solution from concerns and suggestions raised by the public throughout November. The closures are part of a project to improve safety along the highway. The first phase of that project was to build a west outer road, which opened in early November. The project also includes construction of an $8 million interchange at the Fairgrounds intersection, which is scheduled to begin in 2007.

Initial plans called for the closure of crossovers at Fairgrounds, Hunt Road, Holly Tree Lane, Busenbark RoadRed Rooster Road, Michael Lane and Bray Road. Some of the roads would have right on, right off access on both northbound and Southbound lanes, while others would have access only on one side or the other. MoDOT called for the November meetings after business owners, concerned that customers would have difficulty getting to their stores, complained about the plan to close all the crossovers at once. During their meeting, owners said the plan would leave customers confused when they could not cut across the highway, which could lead to a decrease in business. However, emergency offi- See MODOT Page 2 Students meet to read and discuss Daily Journal Breakfast Serials By CHRIS CLINE Daily Journal Staff Writer PARK HILLS Cereal, milk and literature are the topic of discussion each Monday at the Central Middle School Library.

A group of students and teachers gather each Monday at 7:30 a.m. to read and discuss the previous day's Breakfast Serial which appeared in the Daily Journal. Each Sunday the Daily Journal prints a chapter of a serial. The current one is "Long Road Home" by Katherine Paterson. The Daily Journal started printing Breakfast Serials in the fall of 2004.

"When we complete one serial, we start another," said Daily Journal Managing EditocSherry Greminger. "I supply the milk," Weiss said. "This is my first year as the librarian so it is an experiment for me. The Breakfast Serial concept is an interesting way to get kids into reading. The Daily Journal has been great to work with.

We even have the ability to e-mail the author directly which is almost unheard of." Weiss said the middle school age group is a tricky one to deal with. "They are at the age where you really have to have high interest material," Weiss said. "The chapters in the Breakfast Serials are very short which is good. Right now the serial we are reading deals with a family fleeing Koso.vo." Weiss said the size of her group has doubled within the past "We went from 5 to 10 students," Weiss said. "I would love to see every chair in here filled up.

This is such a good way to create interest in reading and is a good way to introduce kids to famous authors." Central Middle School Librarian Shara Weiss said the Breakfast Serial concept has been around for a while. "I actually first saw this when I was in graduate school," Weiss said. "I knew then that I eventually wanted to do this. Each Monday morning we meet in the library and I read them the previous day's chapter. Each chapter always has a cliffhanger which we discuss.

The cliffhanger I think keeps people interested in what is going to happen next week." Weiss -said her group of middle school students who come each Monday is small, but is getting bigger. "I hope it continues to grow," Weiss said. "At the very beginning I Went to all of the sixth grade classes and read them the first chapter so they could see what this is all about." Weiss' said students bring their favorite cereals' in on Monday's for the weekly readings. The Holiday Biz Is Booming! Crocker pleads guilty to selling misbranded drugs recreational use outside of a traditional phs siei relationship." the charge states. According to a law enforcement officer, the- investigation began after a 16-year-old girl overdosed at a party in St.

Charles County. The girl spent several days in the hospital but lived. Soon after, they' received information about where the drugs were, coming from and interviewed, those suspects. Eventually DEA agents found out the drugs were coming from people who got them from Redmon. According to police reports, Redmon admitted that during the two-year period when he was a technician at the Farmington-based Medirate Professional Pharmacy, Inc.

(Medicate Long Term Pharmacy) he stole approximately 297,763 dosage units of Alprazolam, Diazepam, and Hydrocodone Bitartrate from his employer. Redmon worked as a pharmacy technician filling and preparing prescription drugs for the pharmacy's customers, residents in nursing homes and inmates in state correctional ties. Authorities believe Redmon sold the pills to David Crocker who then sold the pills to his nephew, Dennis Victor Crocker II, 2'3, of Maplewood. Authorities believe Dennis Crocker sold the pills to at least two other mdi- See CROCKER Page 2 Drugs had street value of $30,000 By TERESA RESSEL Daily Journal Stall Writer Anpther local man could be sentenced to time in federal prison for selling prescription medications. David L.

Crocker, 47, of Park Hills, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stephen Limbaugh in federal court last week to selling misbranded prescription drugs. According to court records, David Crocker purchased Alprazolam (Xanax), Diazepam, and Hydrocodone Bitartrate from Mark ReilmorT, a pharmacy technician at the Farmington-based Medirate Professional Inc. (Medicate Long Term Pharmacy), which is a wholesale pharmacy. Redmon was recently fined and sentenced to 24 months in prison.

David Crocker could be sentenced to up to three years in prison and fined up to $250,000. He is scheduled to be sentenced at 1 p.m. Feb. 17. The federal charge alleged David Crocker purchased the medications and sold them over a period of more than a year to another person in exchange for cash.

The medications had a total street value of at least 000. "This person was not a medical professional and (he) knew at the time of sale and dispensation that the' person would then sell the drugs to others for Donna Hickman Daily Journal Business Is brisk at the Bonne Terre Post Office where Darlene Williams handed Greg Tyree a Christmas gift Monday morning that he'd ordered for a family member. Caria Beck said Christmas cards should be mailed by next Monday in order to get to their U.S. destination by Christmas. Priority mail should be sent by Dec.

22 and express mail by Dec. 23 for Christmas delivery. The post office has been so busy, they'd run out of Christmas stamps, but expected a delivery this afternoon. Desloge Public Library to double in size Kaufman said the front portion of the building will most likely be used to house book stacks. "We are probably going to keep our main entrance on the side of the ing." Desloge Mayor David Kater said making the public library a great facility for the community is a priority of his.

"I feel like it is very important to get -the library done," Kilter said. "It is a good asset to the city and will be an even better one when it is completed. It's going to get a lot bigger. Hopefully we will be able to add computer to what we already have. We have a lot of kids and.

adults that come in to use the computers. It's going to be a great thing once it Please See DESLOGE Page 2 As city hall moves out, library moves in By CHRIS CLINE Daily Journal Staff Writer DESLOGE With city offices picking up and moving to the new Desloge City Hall, plans aje in the works to double the size of the Desloge Public Library. The library, which was previously housed in the rear of city hall, now has the entire building. "The board of aldermen has budgeted $20,000 this year for renovations to the library," said Desloge City Administrator Eric Wiederhold. "We are getting ready to gut the front part of the building and tear down the non-original partitions.

After the area is gutted we are going to paint it and have new carpet installed." Wiederhold said the renovations will most likely take place in January or in February. "Any other actions will be determined by the library board and the board of aldermen," Wiederhold said. "There has been some discussion about purchasing new furniture for the front part of the building." Librarian Jill Kaufman said she is very excited about expanding the library; "We had a contractor come in and take measurements," Kaufman said. "He is supposed to draw up some plans so the Library Board and the Board of Aldermen can go over them. One of the things we would like to do is make our children's area larger so we can host a fre-school story hour.

We also would ike to make more room to add computers for Internet access." Chris Cline Daily Journal There are plans to double the size of the Desloge Library by moving into the space that previously housed the city hall. '1.