Pulaski County Daily News

SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Jan. 1, 2022) -- With severe weather on its way this weekend, City of Saint Robert, Missouri officials have urged residents to conserve electricity to avoid a repeat of last year's peak electric usage that led to the city being charged much higher electric rates which then had to be passed on to area residents in their electric bills. St. Robert Mayor George Lauritson clarified Saturday that a peak alert is **NOT** yet in effect. "Peak usage" happens when electric utilities that don't generate their own power -- which includes all of the city utilities in Pulaski County and the two rural co-ops, Laclede Electric Cooperative and Gascosage Electric Cooperative -- have to buy more electricity than to serve their customers than they had agreed to buy in their electric contracts and must pay a premium price to do so. That premium price is paid to the electricity generation companies, and in some cases, they are also paying premium prices if they have to buy electricity from outside the region.

PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Dec. 31, 2021) -- Those who waited until the last minute to pay their property taxes have just over two hours left to pay in person at the Pulaski County Courthouse in downtown Waynesville, where unlike the rest of the county offices, County Collector Terri Mitchell is keeping her office open today for regular hours until 4:30 p.m. The Pulaski County Sheriff's Department is providing security in the courthouse during the tax collection process.

SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (Dec. 29, 2021) -- A Tuesday afternoon crash on I-44 snarled traffic and left a wrecked car in the median overnight until it could be removed on Wednesday. State troopers reported that Daniel L. Switzer, 24, of St. Louis, was driving a 2006 Chevrolet Malibu westbound when he ran off the left side of the road near mile marker 160.2 and struck the cable barrier in the median, sending debris into the eastbound lanes that struck a 2013 Freightliner box van driven by Dalton C. Crum, 26, of Rolla.

ST. ROBERT, Mo. (Sept. 27, 2021) -- A Devil's Elbow man who plea-bargained a 2020 rollover crash down to defective equipment could now spend one to seven years in state prison if convicted of possessing methamphetamine while leading St. Robert police on a high-speed motorcycle chase exceeding 100 mph on rural roads early Sunday morning. That police chase began on the St. Robert North Outer Road between Exits 161 and 163 of I-44 and ended with Kyle William Palmer, 22, wrecking his motorcycle and being arrested at gunpoint by police. St. Robert police filed Class E felony charges of fleeing police and Class D felony drug possession charges against Palmer for a police chase that began at 12:40 a.m. Sunday. A St. Robert officer reported Palmer was westbound on a Honda CRF450 dirt bike and his radar clocked the motorcycle as driving 56 mph in a 45 mph zone, and also said the motorcycle had no visible rear taillight or license plate.