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Missouri man claims to speak Arabic, threatens Oasis Truck Stop shooting HAZELGREEN, Mo. (March 4, 2013) — A man who claimed to speak Arabic and threatened to shoot a truck stop clerk early Sunday morning now faces a Class D felony charge of making a terrorist threat, according to Pulaski County Circuit Court records. Daniel Mark Lawson, 55, of Glencoe, is being held on a $100,000 bond with surety by a bail bondsman allowed; he could spend up to four years in state prison with a $5,000 fine if convicted. According to court records, three deputies were dispatched at 3:38 a.m. Sunday to the Oasis Truck Stop, which is located at Exit 145 of Interstate 44 at the junction of Highway 133, “for a suspicious activity call involving an individual threatening to shoot the store clerk” which had begun about 3:15 a.m. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... Darrell Todd Maurina
Sgt. 1st Class James McClarney
Skyping while deployed: Guardsman electronically ‘attends’ engineer ball LAKE OZARK, Mo. (Feb. 7, 2013) — Although currently deployed to Afghanistan with the Missouri National Guard’s 1138th Engineer Company of Farmington and Fredericktown, one soldier was able to virtually join his wife at the 35th Engineer Brigade Engineer Ball. Sgt. 1st Class James McClarney, a platoon sergeant with the 1138th, was able to visit with his wife, JoLynn McClarney, via the video communication software Skype during the ball, which was held at Lodge of the Four Seasons. It is just the second time the McClarneys, who live in Imperial, have missed physically attending the ball together since 1988. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... Matthew J. Wilson/Missouri National Guard
Chaplain (Col.) Gary Gilmore
State chaplain emphasizes warrior support at Missouri Guard engineer ball LAKE OZARK, Mo. (Feb. 7, 2013) — Warrior support for soldiers before, during and after deployment was the key topic recently at the Missouri National Guard's 35th Engineer Brigade Engineer Ball at Lodge of the Four Seasons. The ball, in its 34th year, is a gathering open to all Missouri Guard engineers that occurs almost annually and is presented by the brigade, which is headquartered at Fort Leonard Wood. It was the first time to host the ball for Col. William Blaylock II, who took over as brigade commander in December of 2012. "The engineer community in Missouri is bigger than the brigade and the brigade is spread out across the state. So the ball gives an opportunity for leaders within the brigade and our engineers outside the brigade to come together," Blaylock said. Col. Gary Gilmore, state chaplain and the ball's guest speaker, recounted the story of Elmer the Engineer, his grandfather who served during World War I, to more than 300 of the state's citizen-soldier engineers and their families. Through the story we learn the importance correspondence from home, whether it be letters or care packages, played in Elmer's moral and well-being while he was deployed for more than a year to France. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... Matthew J. Wilson/Missouri National Guard
Jim Bogle
Crocker superintendent, school board president, vice-president resign CROCKER, Mo. (Feb. 6, 2013) — Following months of fighting, a closed-session motion to place him on paid administration leave that was later retracted in closed session at a special board meeting, and the resignation of two board members, Superintendent Jim Bogle is out as the head of the Crocker R-II School District. According to a Wednesday announcement from the Crocker school district, Bogle’s interim replacement will be retired Camdenton Superintendent Ronnie Hendricks, a Crocker High School graduate who served 20 years as Camdenton superintendent and has 40 years experience in education. The district’s official announcement gives no reasons for Bogle’s resignation. Bogle had been the focus of controversies several years ago in the Crocker district, but it’s not clear from the closed session minutes, obtained through the Missouri Sunshine Law, what prompted the new critics of Bogle or what finally caused his resignation. Neither of the two board members who resigned, former board president Bob Boulware or his replacement as president, Mark Sasfy, have publicly indicated their positions on Bogle’s work. Boulware, a longtime Crocker resident who had been superintendent of the Swedeborg R-III School District and Laquey R-V School District prior to his retirement, has had serious health problems in recent years. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... Darrell Todd Maurina - 1 opinion posted
Jack Fincher
Former City Administrator Jack Fincher, 65, 'was the city of St. Robert' SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Feb. 6, 2013) — When retired St. Robert City Administrator Jack Fincher died Saturday, he left a city behind where employees helped fix lunch on Wednesday for more than 60 members of his family, even though he’d been gone from the city administrator’s office for nearly a decade. Fincher’s final retirement for health reasons in 2004 didn’t end his community involvement. He ran for and was elected to the city council and continued to serve on the Pulaski County Ambulance District board, working with the same tenacity that had allowed him earlier in life to remain city administrator despite losing most of his lungs and riding in a wheelchair. For City Clerk Debbie Adkins — the city’s second-longest serving employee who knew Fincher 34 years ago when he was still working in the street department — Fincher was a fixture in city government. “He liked to say he was hired as a meter reader and worked his way up,” Adkins said. “Jack was a worker, and the thing about Jack was he knew this city. If somebody couldn’t locate a water line or anything, Jack knew exactly where it was… Jack loved St. Robert; he was totally, totally dedicated to St. Robert.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... Darrell Todd Maurina
Crocker firefighters respond to a burning carport at the Sterling Apartments.
Two fires break out this week on Highway 17 south of Crocker CROCKER, Mo. (Feb. 6, 2013) — Firefighters from numerous area departments responded this week to two separate fires on Highway 17 south of Crocker, the first on Monday morning at the Sterling Apartments and the second early Wednesday morning at a home on the 17000 grid of Highway 17 near the intersection of Highway 133. According to Crocker Rural Fire Protection District spokesman Joshua Hall, Crocker firefighters were paged about 12:30 a.m. Monday to the Sterling Apartments and found a duplex “with heavy fire involvement from an attached carport.” Only preliminary information is available so far about the Wednesday morning fire, which broke out shortly before 2 a.m. when residents reported their back bedroom engulfed in fire. All residents evacuated the home, and when firefighters arrived they found the blaze had spread to about half of the home. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... Darrell Todd Maurina
New Pulaski sheriff plans weekly meetings with area residents DIXON/RICHLAND, Mo. (Jan. 25, 2013) — Want to meet your new sheriff? Beginning next week in Dixon and continuing for the next month in other communities, Sheriff Ron Long will be meeting local residents who want “to speak with him about ‘any’ law enforcement topic or matter of community concern.” Long, who was elected in November and took office at the end of January, will be at the Dixon Senior Citizens Center at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 31. The following week, he’ll be at First Baptist Church of Richland on Tuesday, Feb. 5, at the same time. The full schedule for the local visits hasn’t yet been announced but will be included in Long’s weekly “Sheriff’s View” column, he said. Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... Darrell Todd Maurina
McCaskill praises approval of Violence Against Women Act by U.S. House WASHINGTON, D.C. (Feb. 28, 2013) — U.S. Senator and former Jackson County Prosecutor Claire McCaskill today released the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives reversed course on nearly one year of delay, and voted to approve the Violence Against Women Act: “Today, Republicans in the U.S. House finally relented and let the Senate bill get a vote — and it passed with the bipartisan support we knew it would. I hope it demonstrates an increased ability by Congress to break partisan logjams and do the work we were sent here to do.” Click here to read more on Pulaski County Daily News ... Press Office of U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill
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