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Walter E. Williams is my oldest and closest friend. But I didn’t know that his autobiography had just been published until a talk show host told me last week. I immediately got a copy of “Up from the Projects,” started reading it before dinner and finished reading it before bedtime.

It is the kind of book that you hate to put down, even though I already knew how the story would end.

The first chapter, about Walter’s life growing up in the Philadelphia ghetto, was especially fascinating. It brought back a whole different era in black communities – an era that is now almost irretrievably lost, to the great disadvantage of today’s generation growing up in the same neigh-borhoods where Walter grew up in Phila-delphia or where I grew up in Harlem.

Although Walter’s memoir is titled “Up from the Projects,” the projects of the era when he was growing up bear virtually no resemblance to the projects of today.

For one thing, those projects were clean, and the people living in them helped keep them clean, by sweeping the halls and tend-ing to the surrounding areas outside of the buildings as well. The people living in the projects then were probably poorer than the people living in the projects now. But they had not yet succumbed to the moral squalor afflicting such places today.

More important, they – and the whole black community of which they were part – were far safer than today. As late as 1958, when Walter was a young taxi driver in Philadelphia, he used to park his cab in the wee hours of the morning and take a nap in it. As he points out, “A cabbie doing the same thing today would be deemed suicidal.”

There were jobs for black teenagers in those days, and Walter worked at a diz-zying variety of those jobs. Most of those jobs are long gone today, as are the busi-nesses that hired black teenagers.

While there are greater opportunities for many blacks today, there are far fewer opportunities for those blacks at the bottom, living in ghettos across the country and trapped in a counterproductive and even dangerous way of life.

The times in which Walter Williams grew up were by no means idyllic times, nor was Walter a model child nor always a model adult, as he candidly shows. He even reproduces the documents recording

his court martial in the Army.How Walter Williams changed for the

better – partly as a result of his wife, who “became a civilizing and humanizing influ-ence in my life” – is one of the themes of this book. The other great influence in Walter’s life was his mother, one of those strong and wise black women who has had much to do with providing the foundation from which many other black men and women rose out of poverty to higher levels of achievement.

With Walter, that path was not a straight line but had many zigs and zags, and there were times when he was a disappointment to his mother. But, in the end, he vindi-cated all the efforts and hopes that she had invested in him.

There were also teachers, and then pro-fessors, who played a role in developing his mind – especially hard-nosed teachers in Philadelphia who chewed him out when he messed up and UCLA professors who bluntly told him when his work wasn’t good enough.

None of them was the kind of warm, chummy educators that so many hold up as an ideal. After Walter Williams earned his Ph.D. in economics and went on to become a professor himself, he was scathing in his criticism of fuzzy-minded faculty mem-bers who think they are doing students a favor by going easy on them or giving them higher grades than they deserve.

As he began to write about racial issues, Walter was able to draw not only on his research as an economist, but also on his personal experiences in the Philadelphia ghetto, in the Jim Crow South and in South Africa, where he lived for some months during the era of Apartheid.

Few others had so much to draw on, and many of them failed to understand that Walter Williams saw a lot deeper than they did. As a result, his conclusions made him a controversial figure.

When I finished reading “Up from the Projects,” I wished it had been a longer book. But it got the job done – and its insights are much needed today.

T H O M A S S O W E L L

Walter Williams’ Memoir

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Tax rate debate

To the Editor:As the expiration of the Bush Era Tax

Cuts looms and Congress debates what to do next, it is perhaps useful to revisit the facts, and some basic understanding of what they mean.

Let’s first establish the fact that the cur-rent issue is not one of tax cuts. We’re talk-ing about existing tax rates that have been in force for a decade. No one is talking about cutting taxes for the rich. The issue is whether to allow automatic tax increases to take place… and whether to shield anyone or everyone from these automatic increases. If these Obama Tax Increases take place, they will represent the largest tax hike in American history.

Conservatives take the position that it is unwise and unproductive (not to men-tion unfair) to raise taxes on anyone at all during a period of economic turmoil such as we are currently experiencing. Further, it would do damage to the employment prospects of the working classes if more of the income of those in a position to create jobs were to be confiscated in taxes.

Liberals take the position that only the so-called “middle class” deserves to have their tax rates preserved, and that the “rich”

- defined as those earning over $250,000 annually - aren’t paying their fair share and should have their taxes raised.

Before going into the dry economic realities that are embodied in these dia-metrically opposed positions represent, let me first share a parable which has made the circuit of viral email. It very clearly and accurately portrays our “progressive” tax system in a way even a Liberal steeped in Academia and Leftist Propaganda can understand it.

Suppose that every day, 10 men go out for dinner. The bill for all 10 comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this: The first four men — the poorest — would pay nothing; the fifth would pay $1, the sixth would pay $3, the seventh $7, the eighth $12, the ninth $18, and the 10th man — the richest — would pay $59. That’s what they decided to do. The 10 men ate dinner in the restaurant every day and seemed quite happy with the arrange-ment — until one day, the owner threw them a curve (in tax language a tax cut).

“Since you are all such good custom-ers,” he said, “I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20.” So now dinner for the 10 only cost $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill

the way we pay our taxes. So the first four men were unaffected. They would still eat for free. But what about the other six — the paying customers? How could they divvy up the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his “fair share?” The six men realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would end up being paid to eat their meal. So the res-taurant owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same proportion, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so the fifth man now paid nothing, the sixth pitched in $2, the seventh paid $5, the eighth paid $9, the ninth paid $12, leaving the 10th man with a bill of $52 instead of his earlier $59. Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four contin-ued to eat for free.

But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. “I only got a dollar out of the $20,” declared the sixth man who pointed to the 10th. “But he got $7!”

“Yeah, that’s right,” said the fifth man, “I only saved a dollar, too . . . It’s unfair that he got seven times more than me!”

“That’s true!” said the seventh man. “Why should he get $7 back when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!”

“Wait a minute,” said the first four men in unison. “We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!” The nine men surrounded the 10th and beat him up. The next night he didn’t show up for dinner, so the nine sat down and ate without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered, a little late what was very important. They were $52 short of paying the bill. Imagine that. And that, boys and girls, journalists and college instructors, is how the tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up at the table anymore. There are lots of good restaurants in Monaco and the Caribbean. Where would that leave the rest? Unfortu-nately, most taxing authorities anywhere cannot seem to grasp this rather straight-forward logic!

Given the fact that 40 percent of Ameri-can wage earners pay no income tax, and in fact, some receive back money in credits that exceed any withholding contribution, we can see that the progressive tax struc-ture already soaks the rich and executes a form of wealth redistribution.

Doug Edelman

4 I OPINION I DECEMBER 15, 2010MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE

l E T T E r s T o T h E E d i T o r

NEWSMAGAZINENETWORK.COM

Mid Rivers Newsmagazine is published 25 times per year by 21 Publishing LLC. It is direct-mailed to more than 61,000 households in St. Charles County. Products and services advertised are not necessarily endorsed by Mid Rivers Newsmagazine and views expressed in editorial copy are not necessarily those of Mid Rivers Newsmagazine. No part of Mid Rivers Newsmagazine may be reproduced in any form without prior written consent from Mid Rivers Newsmagazine. All letters addressed to Mid Rivers Newsmagazine or its editor are assumed to be intended for publication and are subject to editing for content and length. Mid Rivers Newsmagazine reserves the right to refuse any advertisement or editorial submission. © Copyright 2010.

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6 I OPINION I DECEMBER 15, 2010MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE

Question of the week:

What do you want for Christmas?Answer the question: editor@midriversnewsmagazine.com

EDITORIAL

NEWSMAGAZINENETWORK.COM

DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

- Virginia O’Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepti-cism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except (what) they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehended by their little minds.

All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to our life its high-est beauty and joy.

Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Virginias. There would be no childish faith then, or poetry, no romance, to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe

in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove?

Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can con-ceive or imagine all the wonders that are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, not even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart.

Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernatural beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! He lives and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

This Christmas season, Mid Rivers Newsmagazine is choosing to reprint possibly the most famous newspaper editorial of all time. The piece, written by Francis Phar-cellus Church, originally was published in the New York Sun on Sept. 21, 1897, and was written in response to a young girl’s letter to the paper. We hope that you enjoy reading it for the first or the hundredth time, and we wish your family all the goodness that this season can bring.

There is a Santa Claus

NEWSMAGAZINENETWORK.COM I 7DECEMBER 15, 2010MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE

(636) 978-1953 309 Main Street

O’Fallon, MO 63366

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8 I DECEMBER 15, 2010MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE

St. PeterS

Don’t trash the lightsBroken holiday lights don’t belong in the

trash—but the recycling bin.St. Peters residents can put broken holi-

day light strands in a blue bag and drop it in the trash cart for trash collection. Or non-working light strands can be dropped off in a special container at Recycle City located at 131 Ecology Drive in St. Peters.

“The program started in 1997 and was the first of its kind in St. Charles County. For the past three years we have recycled nearly 20 tons of broken light strands. That is the equivalent weight of 10 police cars that never made it to a landfill,” said David Kuppler, manager of health and environ-mental services. “It is recycling at its best and the public has been very receptive to a bright idea.”

Elvis is in the building Elvis is visiting St. Peters next month. Elvis impersonator Tom Christopher

and his band will return to St. Peters to pay tribute to the King of Rock ‘n Roll at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 28, in the Cultural Arts Centre Performing Arts Theatre located in St. Peters City Hall.

Tickets for the performance are on sale now for $16 per person. Refreshments and a cash bar will be available outside the the-atre during intermissions. No food or drink is allowed in the theatre.

For more information on this show, call 397-6903 or go online to stpetersmo.net.

St. CharleS County

And the nominees are…Nominations are now being accepted for

the January 2011 election to the Univer-sity of Missouri Extension Council of St. Charles County.

“The University of Missouri Extension Council of St. Charles County is seek-ing people from all walks of life who are interested in education and the progress of

our community,” said Susan Mays, council chair. “Serving on the extension council is a great way to help make our community a better place for people to live.”

The St. Charles County Extension Council is the local link between county residents and the University of Missouri four-campus system. Council members assist in planning and carrying out exten-sion educational efforts to improve lives. As public officials, extension council members administer a local budget to sup-port education that meets educational pri-orities.

Candidates must be at least 18 years old and reside in the county. Nominations for the extension council must be made by Dec. 17.

Individuals interested in serving on the council can contact Scott Killpack at 970-3000.

St. CharleS

Shaw honored as citizen of yearGary Shaw, managing director - Invest-

ments at Wells Fargo Advisors, has been named the 2010 Citizen of the Years by the St Charles Chamber of Commerce. He will be honored at the Citizens of the Year Gala on Feb. 4.

Shaw is on the board of directors of many St. Charles/ St. Louis organizations including: Missouri KIDS (Missourians Who Kare for Injured and Disabled Stu-dents), St. Charles County Boys and Girls Club and Arts Foundry of St. Charles.

“The Citizen of the Years recognizes an individual for their continued involvement and support of local civic groups, service organizations, and charities,” said Scott Tate, president and CEO for the St. Charles Chamber of Commerce. “Gary’s service to organizations throughout the region spans three decades. He has supported a number of organizations and has been recognized by local charities for his generosity. Gary has gained the respect of the business com-munity and we are pleased to also recognize him for his service to our community.”

Shaw is also on the Board of Trustees for Lindenwood University, has served on the Blue Ribbon Committee for United Services for the Handicapped and is a past Board Member of the YMCA, past Advisory Member of the Academy of the Sacred Heart, past Board Member of the Missouri Special Olympics and past Board Member of the St. Joseph Health Center Blue Ribbon Committee.

The chamber will also be recognizing the 2010 Lifetime Distinguished Service Award recipients: Mike Ricketts (Humani-tarian); Mimi Jackson (Cultural); and Joe Briscoe (Civic).

o’Fallon

Winter warm upIt’s cold outside—and O’Fallon wants

to help its residents stay warm in their homes.

Low-income O’Fallon homeowners who need help with lowering heating bills are encouraged to apply for the City of O’Fallon’s new home weatherization grant.

“With the weather getting colder, we hope people will take advantage of the grant and get their homes taken care of as soon as possible,” said Jessica Hawk-ins, O’Fallon’s grant administrator. “The grants are available to homeowners living in single-family homes and mobile homes, too.”

Qualified O’Fallon homeowners will be eligible for weatherization improvements to their homes such as additional insulation, caulking, window repairs or replacements, doors, weather stripping, furnace and water heater repairs or replacements and other items designed to boost energy efficiency. Applicants must meet other qualifications, including income guidelines.

The city of O’Fallon is administering the grant in partnership with the North East Community Action Corporation (NECAC). The grant was awarded by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ Ener-gize Missouri Housing Initiative, which is funded through the Federal Recovery Act.

Applications for the weatherization program and additional information are available online at www.ofallon.mo.us/dept_CDBG.htm, or at the front desk in

the O’Fallon Municipal Centre. For more information, call 379-5411.

SCC

Home school classesStarting in January, St. Charles Com-

munity College is offering a new Homes School Enrichment program designed to supplement at-home instruction.

The classes—which will be held during the day at SCC—are limited to 15 students and taught by experienced SCC instruc-tors.

“Taking a home school class is an excel-lent way to bridge learning at home to learning in the classroom,” said Amy Fitz-william, program assistant for SCC’s Con-tinuing Education Department.

SCC Continuing Education will host a parent advisory board meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 15, in Rooms 205-206 of the Stu-dent Center on SCC’s campus. RSVP by calling Amy Fitzwilliam at 922-8335 or e-mail afitzwilliam@stchas.edu.

lindenwood

Lindenwood receives grantLindenwood University has received a

$25,000 grant from Maritz to continue a glade restoration project at its Boone Home Campus in rural St. Charles County. The grant will continue and expand the exist-ing project, which over that past two years has reestablished an important habitat for a variety of species, some of which are rare or endangered.

“A glade is an opening in a forest, facing south or southwest on a hillside,” said David Knotts, director of the project and dean of Lindenwood’s Boone Campus “It has a desert-like habitat and is home to species like yucca and prickly pear cactus. Opening up the area by removing the inva-sive tree growth allows for the rock shelves to emerge, which creates habitats for spe-cies that would not be there otherwise.”

Knotts said many glades in Missouri, like the one at the center of the project, have been taken over by invasive growth, such as cedar trees, which are not native to the area. A large part of the project has involved removing the cedar trees to allow for the reestablishment of the glade.

News Br iefs

NEWSMAGAZINENETWORK.COM

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10 I NEWS I DECEMBER 15, 2010MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE NEWSMAGAZINENETWORK.COM

By Jeannie SeiBertWhat is considered wasteful and frivo-

lous federal government spending to one faction of the populace is nothing more than a tool of good government to others seeking funding to complete infrastructure projects.

The topic is earmarks.Earmarks have become the poster child

for wasteful government spending and a plank in the Tea Party platform. These are the folks who backed many a successful GOP candidate in November. Now with an incoming majority in the House and a fili-buster-proof Senate, the GOP is attempting to follow through on their demands.

In fact, the future of earmarks may already be a fait accompli – Senate Minor-ity Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ken.) has already announced he would be supporting a moratorium on earmarks for the duration of the recession.

And he’s getting bi-partisan agree-ment. U.S. Sen. Clair McCaskill (D-Mo.)

announced she too would support a ban on earmarks.

While these gestures may or may not be symbolic, most believe earmarks are not the source of all that’s wrong with Wash-ington, D.C. - nor are they a substantial percentage of the total federal budget.

As 15-year veteran of the Missouri Leg-islature now serving his fourth year as the St. Charles County Director of Administra-tion, Chuck Gross has developed a view of earmarks worth noting.

“Earmarks are an interesting thing,” Gross said. “In the (Second Congressional) district they’re not called earmarks. In the district they’re called ‘government’ – for things like the Page Avenue extension.”

While two-thirds of the Page Avenue extension project has been constructed, the final third, from Mid Rivers Mall Drive to Hwy. 40/61 is in dire need of a funding source.

Gross’ experience in Jefferson City con-vinced him that discretionary spending,

which is what earmarks are, done the way the Missouri Capitol does it, is far superior to the Washington way of allocating fed-eral government largesse.

“...We (the Missouri General Assembly) didn’t have an earmarks process like in Washington,” Gross said. “We could not mix budget and non-budget items in the same bill.”

What may have given earmarks a red mark were ones such as in 2009 when $4.3 million in federal funds were dedicated to constructing a turtle tunnel in the state of Florida. Another chunk of change was allocated to fund the Woodstock Museum in upstate New York.

U.S. Senator-elect Roy Blunt who is representing southwest Missouri district in the lame duck Congress has had even more exposure to the Show-Me way vs. the Washington way.

Blunt’s public information director Dan

Earmarks Some local infrastructure coming about because of special funding

By Mary ann O’tOOle HOlleyChristmas, for the most part, is filled

with memories.For several local families, Christmas just

wouldn’t be the same without old-fash-ioned Christmas caroling—not at church; not at school, but up and down neighbor-hood streets.

Kathleen Meyers of St. Charles has served as chairman for the St. Louis Christmas Carolers Association for 8 years, looking after carolers in St. Charles and St. Peters and providing them with flyers and collection cans that will benefit 41 chil-dren’s organizations.

“It’s only for two months a year, maybe

three, but it’s a short term commitment, and it’s for a good cause,” Meyers said.

The St. Louis Christmas Carols Asso-ciation began in 1911, when William H. Danforth and a group of friends decided to bring joy and good will to their neighbors by caroling outside their homes. Being successful businessmen, and philanthropic by nature, the funds collected during their caroling in December were used to help needy youngsters.

Founder William H. Danforth died in his home on Kingsbury Place in St. Louis on Christmas Eve, 1955. Legend has it he was waiting for carolers to serenade him.

The Danforth Family continues to play

a key role, but it’s the carolers themselves that spread the joy in a double-dipping way. They say caroling for the St. Louis Christ-mas Carols Association gives twice to their community: sharing the gift of holiday music with friends and neighbors while collecting funds to help needy children of our area.

“It has been a dying tradition, but this year has been breakout,” Meyers said. “It seems like people are getting back to more traditional things.”

Meyers daughter, Marissa, 13, went

troop 3648 carolling in 1998 (left) and today.

Local families continue making memories through caroling

‘A-cAroling wE will go...’

See EArMArKS, page 21

See A-cAroling, page 12

Keep tax returns indefinitely and the supporting records usually for six years. In general, except in cases of fraud or substantial understatements of

income, the IRS can only assess tax for a year within three years after the return for that year was filed. For example, if you filed your 2009 individual income tax return by its original due date of April 15, 2010, IRS would have until April 15, 2013 to assess a tax deficiency against you. If you file your return late, IRS gener-ally has three years from the date you filed the return to assess a deficiency.The problem with the three-year rule is that the assessment period is extended to six years if more than 25% of gross income is omitted from a return. In addi-tion, the assessment period does not begin to run until a return is filed. Therefore, if the IRS claims that you never filed a return for a particular year, it can assess tax for that year at any time (even beyond three or six years), unless you can prove that you did file, Proving that you filed would, of course, be impossible after you have discarded your returns.While it’s impossible to be com-pletely sure that the IRS will not at some point seek to assess tax, retaining tax returns indefi-nitely and important records for six years after the return is filed should , as a practical matter, be adequate.In addition, keep records that could affect future tax returns. Some examples are nondeduct-ible individual retirement account contributions, home improvement costs and stock cost or basis.

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I NEWS I 11DECEMBER 15, 2010MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINENEWSMAGAZINENETWORK.COM

By Jeannie SeiBertThe hottest news tornado leading virtu-

ally every journalistic outpost in the world recently has been the ongoing saga of hacker and secret government document leaker Julian Assange. It even touched down right here in our own backyard on Dec. 8 as an O’Fallon-based company was sucked into the WikiLeaks vortex.

By now everyone is aware that Assange’s Web site, WikiLeaks, obtained secret U.S. government documents and twice has dumped hundreds of thousands of pages of sensitive military and diplomatic com-muniqué onto the Internet.

While WikiLeaks founder, Assange, cooled his heels in a London jail on an unrelated charge, the MasterCard World-wide computer data center in O’Fallon was deliberately targeted by a group of computer hackers who call themselves

“Anonymous.”wThe group formed in behalf of WikiLeaks’

rights of free speech, according to various Web site postings, including Twitter.

The cyber vigilantes, armed with a prear-ranged code, received their order to “FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!” via a Twitter posting. At that point hundreds of hackers simultaneously sent out the codes triggering an untold number of messages to be simultaneously sent to the MasterCard Web site.

“Actually, what happened was that the traffic to our website significantly increased, which made it harder than it would usually be to access the site,” said spokesman Amanda Gioia, of the Master-Card O’Fallon data center in an e-mail. But,

“…there was no impact to our systems or our data.” There was also no impact with regard to credit card transactions.

An army of MasterCard IT specialists essentially went into the computer secu-rity world’s version of DefCon 5. Work-ing feverishly, data center teams pulled together to keep the servers from crashing

– especially crucial during the most active retail sales month of the year.

“It took just a few short hours for the MasterCard Technology teams (to) restore normal Web site traffic to the site,” Gio-lia’s e-mail to MRN states. “During this time, there was no impact to our systems or our data. In addition, our cardholders could continue to use their cards for secure transactions globally.”

Other corporate Web site servers simi-larly attacked did crash however.

The same strategy was used on Visa the next day.

Also PayPal and Amazon.com were hit. Some servers did crash but no Web site was offline for more than a few hours. Because these are all financial transactions-centered

entities, virtual security is taken no less seriously than a high-level military opera-tion’s would be.

“…Our core processing capabilities were never compromised,” the MasterCard spokesman’s e-mail states. Customers’ financial information “remain intact, and no cardholder account information is at risk.”

Until now, computer hackers have been written off as pesky, or mischievous, annoying troublemakers. This particular hack attack took on a different dimension.

According to posts on hacker Web sites and Twitter, Anonymous is retaliating for the financial transaction companies’ volun-tary decision to sever ties with WikiLeaks’ fundraising Web sites.

While claims that WikiLeaks document dumps have undermined the nation’s secu-rity and foreign relations, no government entity has made a move to shut down the Web site.

However, U.S. Senate committee on homeland security Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) on Nov. 28 called for WikiLeaks to be taken off line. Whether or not that can be accomplished legally, Liberman went further requesting financial transac-tion companies to sever all ties with the leaker’s fundraising links.

In about the same timeframe, the State Department issued a memo alluding to WikiLeaks’ activities as potentially illegal indicating it would consider any entity associated with the Web site to be a co-conspirator.

While Amazon.com was the first to drop the WikiLeaks fundraisers links Master-Card followed suit on Dec. 6. Visa elimi-nated the fundraisers the next day.

Subsequent Twitter postings trumpet the Anonymous hackers’ glee at the chaos they’d caused, dubbed Opera-tion: Payback.

As the Supreme Court decision equated financial donations as a form of free speech, Anonymous hackers think First Amendment rights are being violated as WikiLeaks fundraiser sites are dropped from their former Web hosts: MasterCard, Visa, et al.

First Amendment legal specialist Grant Doty with the St. Louis division of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) doesn’t quite see the legal logic.

“The First Amendment prohibits the government from making a law that would prohibit free speech,” Doty said. A private entity, a company, a retailer can refuse to do business with anyone or any other entity it deems inappropri-ate for whatever reason.

‘Anonymous’ attacks MasterCard Worldwide – all data remains secure

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out early this year, putting out fliers that announce the date of their singing arrival. The fliers prevent “surprises” and alert neighbors who’d like to listen to light up their porch to invite the crooning carolers.

The Association finds places for the groups to sing, like at Bass Pro Shop in St. Charles, The Meadows shopping center in Lake Saint Louis and at Lambert Airport, underneath the replica of the Spirit of St. Louis airplane.

Maggie Steitz has been caroling with her “Girl Scouts” under that suspended airplane for at least 15 years—long since her girls graduated from the scouting program.

“It is kind of a dying art; it’s kind of sad,”

Steitz said. “But we’ve had some wonder-ful experiences. It was a lot of fun when the girls were little, and really a positive experience, obviously, because once they were seniors in high school and left Girl Scouts, they called me back a year or so later asking, ‘Do you think we can do that again?’”

Steitz said because they were assigned to the airport, it wasn’t such an issue to bring donations to the troops, so the girls stopped at the USO, sang and gave soldiers some goodies the girls had made. Now, the young women choose gifts for the soldiers from a “Wish List,” Steitz said.

“We don’t sing good and it doesn’t matter. We have a lot of fun,” Steitz said. “We’re a ragtag bunch, but we enjoy it.”

12 I DECEMBER 15, 2010MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE NEWSMAGAZINENETWORK.COM

By BRIAN MCDOWELLAfter 15 years of legalized casino gaming

in Missouri, the state is leading the way in helping those who have a crippling gam-bling addiction.

The Missouri Gaming Commission’s Voluntary Exclusion Program (VEP) is going strong. Created in 1996, the program provides problem gamblers with a method to acknowledge their gambling problems and take responsibility for the addiction by agreeing to forever stop visiting Missouri casinos.

A 24-hour, confidential gambling hel-pline (1-888-BETSOFF) is available for Missourians. The helpline offeres instruc-tions on joining the VEP and referrals to counselors and Gamblers Anonymous meetings.

To join the VEP, gamblers must visit a Missouri Gaming Commission (MGC) office, show a photo ID and sign a piece of paper establishing their identity and verify-ing their desire to be a part of the program.

Those who join the VEP are removed from all Missouri casino direct marketing lists, refused check cashing privileges at Missouri casinos and denied participation in the state’s casino player programs. The problem gambler agrees that if he or she is discovered in a Missouri casino, he will be arrested for trespassing.

Currently, the Missouri VEP has more than 15,000 enrollees, and according to a Gaming Commission spokesperson, 60 to 80 new people enroll each month.

Rick Cox, a certified compulsive gam-bling counselor at the state-funded Bridge-way Treatment Centers, said the VEP is not intended to be a fix or a surefire cure for addiction but rather a tool for gambling addicts.

“As long as they have a healthy fear of the legal system, it gives addicts extra pause about indulging in gambling,” Cox said.

Every casino is equipped with a list of those in the VEP, and casinos are expected to keep those listed off casino properties. However, Cox said that the elimination of loss limits has made it more difficult for casinos to keep tabs on who enters the properties, because anyone older than 21 can enter a casino without showing a player’s card.

Relatives of problem gamblers have called casinos to report people on the VEP list who still frequent the casinos, Cox said.

Missouri’s VEP does not technically extend to casinos in other states, although casinos owned by out-of-town conglomer-ates, like Harrah’s, are expected to enforce Missouri’s program at all its properties.

Cox said he encourages his Missouri cli-ents to get on a voluntary ban list in Illinois, as well.

He said anyone who has problems cre-ated by gambling yet continues to gamble has a gambling addiction and needs to take steps to seek help. Currently, there is no way to be removed from the VEP.

Cox said that is a positive thing and cited examples of gambling addicts who stayed out of casinos for more than 10 years and resumed the destructive habit within one visit to a casino.

“Anything that puts addicts in action is a problem,” Cox said, adding that for addicts, gambling can affect brain processes in the same way as drugs.

“I’m not saying that all gambling is bad,” Cox said. “But if thousands of people put their name on this list, there is obviously a problem.”

Missouri program for problem gamblers remains strong

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Last week, Attorney General Chris Koster announced that Bank of America will pay $67 million nationally under a multistate settlement for its involvement in a nation-wide scheme to rig bids and engage in other anticompetitive conduct that defrauded Missouri municipalities, school districts and not-for-profit entities in the purchase of municipal bond derivatives. The mul-tistate settlement is one component of an overall $137 million settlement Bank of America is entering into simultaneously with several federal agencies.

The combined multistate settlements will provide eligible entities the opportu-nity to receive restitution for the wrongdo-ing. Approximately 50 Missouri entities are eligible to receive more than $2.6 mil-lion under the settlement.

According to a press release from the AG’s office, the settlements are the result of a broad and ongoing criminal and civil investigation that focuses on individual executives at Bank of America, other major financial institutions and certain brokers in connection with the marketing and sale of municipal derivative investments. These derivatives are typically investment con-tracts that government issuers and not-for-profit entities use to reinvest the proceeds of tax-exempt bond offerings until the funds are needed or to hedge against inter-est rate fluctuations. The transactions are often awarded after a competitive bidding process or negotiated directly between the financial institution and the issuer.

As alleged in the states’ settlement agree-ment, during the period 1998 through 2003,

Bank of America and other financial insti-tutions and brokers allegedly rigged bids, received and provided “last looks” on bids, and submitted non-competitive “courtesy” bids on these investments. The alleged schemes enriched financial institutions or brokers at the expense of state agencies, towns, cities, school districts and not-for-profit entities. As a result of this miscon-duct, state, local and not-for-profit entities entered into contracts at suppressed rates of return on investments or paid higher rates on interest-rate hedging instruments

than they would have in a competitive mar-ketplace.

“This settlement recovers money that municipal bond issuers and not-for-profit organizations would have received but for the alleged bid rigging of Bank of America and its co-conspirators,” Koster said in a press release. “Bank of America and its co-conspirators engaged in sham bids in which the outcome had been predetermined in order to provide the illusion of competitive bids and fair dealing while enriching finan-cial institutions and brokers at the expense

of cities, taxpayers and not-for-profit orga-nizations.”

Bank of America voluntarily self-reported the wrongdoing to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Under the DOJ’s Corpo-rate Leniency Program, Bank of America was granted conditional leniency based on its acknowledgement of wrongdoing, significant cooperation and making restitu-tion. To date the DOJ has brought criminal actions against seven individuals and one company, and it has obtained guilty pleas against eight others.

I NEWS I 15DECEMBER 15, 2010MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINENEWSMAGAZINENETWORK.COM

Bank of America to pay settlement for its part in bonds schemeMissouri investors eligible to receive more than $2.6 million

Road extension to displace business

Plans for an extension of West Clay Road in St. Charles will cause a handful of local businesses to relocate. Steve Noonan, proj-ect manager for the city of St. Charles, said the project is currently in the preliminary design phase. At this time there is no fund-ing in place to complete the project.

“Right now we’re exploring other fund-ing sources,” Noonan said.

Noonan said the expansion will displace four businesses located near the corner of West Clay and First Capitol Drive. The effected businesses include Midas, Ponds Plus, Labor Ready, Inc. and Book-X-Change. A project task force has been developed to help effected businesses relo-cate.

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Francis HowellESPN Rise

A Francis Howell Central wrestler is fea-tured this month on the cover of the ESPN Rise magazine

Terrel Wilbourn, senior wrestler and team captain at FHC, is featured in an article that highlights his achievements at the high school level, as well as numer-ous highlights from his overall career. Wilbourn is currently ranked No. 3 in the United States at 135 pounds by Win Maga-zine and is considered to be one of the top-ranked wrestlers in the country.

Wilbourn began wrestling at age 3 when his father, Terry Moore, set up a wrestling area in their garage. Since then, Wilbourn has trained year-round and traveled around the country winning and placing in several tournaments. He is a three-time Missouri state medalist and a two-time Missouri State Champion. He compiled a perfect 51-0 record his junior year at 130 lbs.

Steven Cross, FHC head wrestling coach, said Terrel’s success comes from a combination of hard work, great technique and outstanding athletic ability.

“He is a simply a freakishly good ath-lete and makes just about everything look easy,” Cross said. “He appears smooth and relaxed on the mat, then explodes and just runs through his opponent. He’s extremely

quick, very strong and has great balance and agility.”

In club wrestling he is a six-time All-American and has won two national titles in Folkstyle wrestling and one in Freestyle wrestling.

After graduation, Wilbourn plans to attend and wrestle at a junior college or wrestle in the military.

Teacher takes flightConstance Bedsworth, eighth-grade

communication arts teacher at Mary Emily Bryan Middle School, recently accompanied World War II (WWII) veter-ans on their trip to Washington D.C. The trip was sponsored by the Honor Flight Program, a non-profit organization created solely to honor America’s veterans for all their sacrifices.

The Honor Flight Network honors America’s heroes by transporting veterans on a “Tour of Honor” to Washington D.C. to visit and reflect at their memorials. Top priority is given to senior veterans – WWII survivors, along with other veterans who may be terminally ill. The Honor Flight Program expresses thanks to those brave men and women who sacrificed their lives for America.

Bedsworth took letters written by sixth-

grade students at Mary Emily Bryan Middle School that were distributed during the Honor Flight mail call. Students also donated money to the Hats for Heroes foundation, a non-profit organization pro-viding knit, crocheted, and sewn items to active duty and wounded soldiers.

Summer school changes The Board of Education recently

approved the 2011 summer programs for the Francis Howell School District. The elementary level program will be different than in previous years, but the middle and high school programs will be a repeat of the program held last summer.

The program for students in grades K through 5 will focus on assisting students who are struggling in the areas of read-ing and math. Students will be identified through district assessments and an invi-tation to attend will be provided to those students meeting the criteria as a struggling learner. The number of students that can attend will be limited.

The elementary program will be held at four of the district’s elementary schools this summer, with transportation being pro-vided. Invitations to participate in the pro-gram will be mailed to parents beginning in mid-February 2011.

The middle school students who have failed any of the core classes of math, read-ing, science and social studies will have the opportunity to retake those classes this summer. Transportation will be provided

to students who request it upon enroll-ment. The program will be held at Francis Howell Central High School again this year, because of construction at the other two high schools.

The high school students will be able to enroll in courses that they have failed in the current school year. In addition, credit advancement classes will be available for students who are seeking to earn an elec-tive credit during the summer.

Candidates ready?Candidate filing for the April 5, 2011,

election to the Francis Howell School Dis-trict Board of Education opened at 8 a.m. on Tues., Dec. 14, and will continue until 5 p.m., Jan. 18.

The three-year terms of directors Mike Hoehn, Mark Lafata, and Mike Sommer will expire in April 2011.

To be eligible for the Francis Howell School District Board of Education can-didates must be a U.S. citizen, at least 24-years-old, a resident taxpayer of the district and have, or will have, resided in Missouri one year immediately preceding the election.

Francis Howell School District residents interested in filing candidacy must do so in person at the Administration Building, 4545 Central School Road in St. Charles. Candidates will need to show a valid driv-er’s license to begin the filing process.

For more information contact the super-intendent’s office at 851-4026.

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18 I NEWS I DECEMBER 15, 2010MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE NEWSMAGAZINENETWORK.COM

By Amy ArmourFamilies looking to welcome a new

puppy or kitten this holiday will have the chance to meet about 100 furry animals on Dec. 18.

The seventh annual Holiday Pet Adop-tion event will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Dec. 18, at the St. Charles County Pet Adoption Center, located at 4850 Mid Rivers Mall Drive in St. Peters.

“The center offers dogs, cats, and rab-bits to loving homes throughout the year and strives to pair the appropriate pet with the right family,” said Doug Bolnick, public information officer with St. Charles County Community Health and Environ-ment. “The Holiday Adoption event is a nice way for those seeking pets to interact with the animal they desire, so that fami-lies can select the one they feel has the right personality for their home.”

At this time the shelter has nearly 100 pets available for adoption.

“Most people come to the adoption event because they have been thinking of getting a dog or cat and have decided to make it a fun holiday occasion for the family,” said Theresa Wilson, with the St. Charles County Pet Adoption Center. “Many people like to add a new family

member at Christmas time because the kids are home, parents are on vacation or have some time off and it’s a great time to get a new pet.”

The event will include cats, kittens, dogs, puppies and rabbits. The animals are all different breeds, ages and sizes.

“We always have a variety and there is no way of knowing exactly what will be here on any given day as we get different animals every day,” Williams said. “Typi-cally we will have dogs such as beagles, labs, shih tzus, poodles, shepherds, boxers, etc.”

Williams said she hopes to get at least 40 animals adopted on that day. In the past, the Adoption Center has adopted out between 35 and 45 animals during the one day event. The Pet Adoption Center has placed more than 25,000 pets into loving homes in its 10 year history in St. Peters.

The animals at the St. Charles County Adoption Center come in as strays and are made available for adoption after a legal holding time, or are brought in by owners who can no longer keep them.

“We also get animals from other shel-ters that don’t have as much success with adoptions as we do,” Williams said.

The holiday adoption event will also

include some fun treats for families.“For our holiday adoption day we have

gift bags for all adopters, pictures of their new pet with Santa, raffles, and a dog trainer/behaviorist available for training tips,” said Williams.

Williams said all animals are spayed or neutered, vaccinated, micro-chipped and get a free health exam by a vet.

For a sneak peek of the adoptable pets, visit www.petfinder.com/pet-search?shelter_id=MO200.

Holiday Pet Adoption event set for Dec. 18

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Wadlington said his boss wasn’t ready to rid the country of earmarks in one fell swoop.

“Earmarks that are transparent, above-board and there for people to review, are requested and justified, is a more efficient use of federal dollars,” Wadlington said.

“Congressman Blunt believes an earmark needs to stand on its merits, is appropriate for federal expenditure and appropriate to the community it’s meant to serve.”

Wadlington said Blunt was disappointed when his southwest Missouri district had satisfied all the stated criteria in making a case to government bureaucrats to allocate stimulus funds for a shovel-ready highway expansion project that practically mirrors this area’s Page Avenue extension.

The request was denied.

“We’ve had projects ignored by the federal government that a con-gressman or senator had better insight on,” Wadlington said. “Yes, reform is needed but this is Congress’ job. We need more trans-parency, more openness. (Blunt) believes we need to do away with earmarks made in the dark of night with no accountability.”

Meanwhile, U.S. Congressman Todd Akin (R-MO Dist. 2), maintains that, used responsibly, earmarks are a more efficient use of federal funding than “letting a gov-ernment bureaucrat make those decisions,” according to Akin spokesman Steve Taylor.

“The budget-busters are the entitlements,” Taylor said.

As an example, the FY-2009 budget* broke down as:

Medicare and Medicaid – 19 percentSocial Security – 20 percentDefense – 23 percentTARP – 4 percentOther mandatory – 17 percentInterest – 5 percentOther discretionary – 12 percentThe difference between discretionary

spending and mandatory spending is sig-nificant to note.

Discretionary spending - the category under which earmarks fall - is about one-third of all federal spending. These allo-cations go to fund the FBI, Coast Guard, housing, education, space programs, high-ways, defense and foreign aid.

Conversely, mandatory spending accounts for two-third of all federal dol-lars spent. Entitlement programs, veterans’ benefits and food stamps, for example, are

funded as mandatory expenditures. The other entry of note in this category is the interest paid on the national debt.

Then there’s that looming cloud on the mandatory spending horizon – the baby boomers. A massive population has already begun entering the ranks of entitlement program recipients.

Ever since U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) began sounding the alarm back in the 1970s, entitlement reform has been the political hot potato no one wants to seriously tackle. Each time the topic is broached, it’s shot down with accusations that reformers just want to take

away seniors’ Social Security and Medicare.

This is perhaps the single most incumbent issue with which the new Congress must deal.

In the meantime, in St. Charles County and West St. Louis County it remains up to each person whether the area has benefited from Akin’s earmarks made either as an individual or with co-sponsors.

Akin has snagged the type earmark in which most local govern-ment and economic development leaders wanted. Infrastructure investment begets retail and residential development. That means construction jobs on the front end with the hope of permanent jobs after con-struction is complete.

Some examples include two separate earmarks, $237,000 and $245,000, to the Hwy. 141 upgrade and relocation project.

What’s helped Page Avenue extension get as far as it has was more than $1 mil-lion in earmarks.

Another $142,500 went to Sts. Joachim & Ann Care Service to beef up the Tri-County Outreach Center in St. Peters.

Chesterfield pulled down more than $7 million in earmarks to fund an energy and water infrastructure project. Maryville Uni-versity and Hwy. 61 are seeing improve-ments on opposite ends of Akin’s district.

In all, Akin has initiated more than $7.5 million in earmarks. Those with whom he cosponsored total $91.6 million out of all sponsored earmarks of $1.5 billion from 2008 through 2010.

For a complete list of earmarks, visit www.legistorm.com.

*Sources: Government Accountability Office (GAO), Congressional Budget Office, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the U.S. Treasury Dept.

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Mid-East Area Agency on Aging recently learned it had won a grant from the Meals On Wheels Association of America (MOWAA)/Subaru “Share the Love” grant program.

The winning essay describes how Bob Turner of St. Peters took on meal deliv-ery after retiring from Delta Airlines and serving in Korea where he earned a Purple Heart. Turner delivered meals weekly for 17 years to homebound seniors in his neighborhood, accompanied by his wife, Eleanor, after she retired 8 years ago.

When Bob Turner underwent a nine-way heart bypass, Meals on Wheels became part of his rehabilitation.

The ritual of delivering a hot lunch and a smile helped sustain Bob just as much as it sustained the dozen people on his weekly route, Eleanor Turner said.

After Bob’s heart rendered him too weak to drive, Eleanor took the wheel with Bob as a passenger.

“He was eager to get out there, even when his health declined,” Eleanor said. “We were often the only people these folks would see for weeks on end.”

Bob Turner died in October, leaving a legacy of compassion after deliver-ing nearly 10,000 Meals on Wheels in St.

Peters. Eleanor Turner plans to take over the

route solo come January, news that was met with jubilation by the homebound seniors on the Bob and Eleanor’s route.

“That day Bob passed, everyone was asking about him,” said MEAAA/St. Peters Home Delivery Coordinator Mary Evans, who has been on the job for 15 years. “I delivered Bob’s route myself that day and heard from folks that he had been in each of their thoughts and prayers. We miss him.”

MEAAA is now entering the next phase

of the holiday competition – which relies on getting the most Facebook users to “Like” our story.

Winning that portion of the contest could earn this Meals On Wheels program up to an additional $500.

The money comes at a critical time for this Meals On Wheels program, and the more than 140 other grant winners nation-wide. The country’s economic downturn has made it more difficult to raise money to continue feeding our community’s home-bound and other hungry seniors.

MEAAA plans to use the money to make up for the $300,000 decrease in state fund-ing this year which is expected to worsen next year.

Without the support of volunteers and private contributions, some of the MEAAA routes will have to go to frozen meals, with five frozen lunches delivered on Mondays. This means no human contact for many homebound seniors for a week at a time.

Anyone interested in delivering meals should e-mail chamacher@mid-eastaaa.org or call 207-0847, ext. 118.

MEAAA hopes to win funding through ‘Likes’ on Facebook

Eagle Days set to take flightLast year, eagles were spotted in O’Fallon – but there was an

element of luck involved.To ensure eagles are spotted, there’s Eagle Days.

Eagle Days is set to take flight in just a few short weeks. Eagle-lovers of all ages are invited to the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, 10950 Riverview Drive, St. Louis, Jan. 15 and Jan. 16, to watch eagles fishing, riding ice floes, soaring overhead or roosting in nearby trees. Eagle Days runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day, with an educational program, featuring a live eagle, repeated every 20 minutes from 10 a.m. to 2:40 p.m.

Visitors are welcome to view eagles through spotting scopes

staffed by trained volunteers. In addition, Eagle Days features activities to entertain and educate the whole family. Programming includes a hands-on exhibit of local birds presented by St. Louis Audubon, a full-size replica of an eagle’s nest and warming tent activities including children’s art courtesy of The Green Center. All activities are free.

Nature and history will intersect, as visitors enjoy Lewis and Clark living history demonstrations at both Bridge entrances. The Missouri Bridge entrance will feature re-enactors from the Dis-covery Expedition of St. Charles. Visitors can glimpse how Lewis and Clark and their crew lived more than 200 years ago. The Illi-nois side will feature re-enactors from the Lewis and Clark State Historic Site. Both entrances will showcase life-sized replicas of boats.(called “pirogues”) used during the expedition.

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Even though the first Biggest Winner St. Charles County contest has ended and the winners have been announced, the journey toward a healthy lifestyle has

only just begun.During the last 12 weeks, Barnes-Jewish

St. Peters Hospital and Progress West Healthcare Center have shared the benefits from losing weight. They include:

Reducing the risk of recurrence of vari-• ous cancers Lowering risk of sudden death from • heart disease or strokeLowering the risk of Type 2 diabetes• Improving sleep patterns• Lowering cholesterol levels• Increasing energy levels• Reducing blood pressure• Improving mobility• Decreasing respiratory problems•

Improving blood sugar levels• Increasing self esteem•

Many contestants have successfully reached or surpassed their goals, while others have more weight they want to lose. Regardless of where you are at in your weight loss program, it is important to eat a balanced diet and get regular exercise to have continued success at taking control of your health.

Maintaining weight loss is about chang-ing your mindset toward food and finding ways to keep your body active through exercise. As you move into a new year and a healthier lifestyle, remember:

Maintain a healthy dietThe basics of healthy eating are simple.

Focus on eating fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and keep red meat to a mini-mum. Be aware of portion sizes. Focus more on trying to substitute unhealthy foods as often as possible – not necessar-ily eliminating them altogether from your diet.

If you simply cannot live without choco-late ice cream, trying to eliminate it entirely from your diet will not work because it will

only frustrate you. Opt instead for lower-calorie or reduced fat options as often as possible to reduce the total calories con-sumed over time. The calories saved by making a few small changes over time can be banked for occasional splurges.

Keep activeThe word “exercise” conjures up many

things to many people. For some, exercise may even be a bad word.

As learned during the 12 weeks, it’s important to get at least 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise per day, five days a week. The best thing about aerobic exercise is that the benefits are cumula-tive – you essentially gain the same health benefits from taking three 10-minute walks throughout the day as you do from taking one 30 minute walk.

Be in it for the long termJust remember, focus on realistic, achiev-

able goals when it comes to healthy eating and exercise. Make behavior modifications you can live with for a lifetime, instead of just weeks. Small changes can make a big difference in your health.

Benefits of losing weight and keeping it off

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The holidays are a busy time of year. Don’t let foot problems get youbehind. Painful problems like bunions and hammertoes can easily becorrected. Make time in your busy schedule to seek treatment from Dr.Hays at the Hays Foot and Ankle Center. Visit haysfootandankle.com formore information or call 636.379.2272 to schedule your appointment today!

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TRIVIA NIGHTThe Vision St. Charles Leadership Trivia

Night will be held at 7 p.m. on Sat., Jan. 29, at the American Legion Hall, 2500 Raymond Drive in St. Charles. There will be a bonus round, a 50/50 raffle and a silent auction. The cost is $20 per person or $200 for a table of 10. The cost includes free beer and soda. A cash bar is available, and no outside alcohol is allowed. The grand prize for the winning table is $400. Proceeds will be used for scholarships to help defray the tuition for the 2011-12 Vision participants who may need financial aid. Round spon-sorships are available for $50. For more information, call Christa Montgomery at 314-448-0403.

AUDITIONSOpen auditions for the

O’FallonTheatreWorks’ production of the musical, The Amazing Adventures of Dan Daredevil, will be held from noon to 2 p.m. on Sun., Jan. 9, in Civic Hall, located at 305 Civic Park Drive in O’Fallon. The play will be performed on the stage at City Hall over the weekends of April 29 – May 1 and May 6 – May 8. This spoof of radio’s “golden age” by Tim Kelly calls for six men and nine women who can sing. For more information, visit www.renaudspir-itcenter/otw or contact Darren Granaas at 474-8150.

WINTER SCHEDULEThe winter schedule is now in effect

at the new Heritage Museum at Heritage Park, located at 1630 Heritage Landing in St. Charles County. The center is now open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sun-days. For information about scheduling a group tour, contact Ryan Graham at 949-7535 or e-mail at parks@sccmo.org.

HOLIDAY HAPPENINGSThe city of O’Fallon’s 19th annual Cel-

ebration of Lights will be held until Dec. 30 at Fort Zumwalt Park. The whole family will enjoy the thousands of twinkling lights

and charming holiday scenes through-out the park. Families can take a ride on a carriage, a train or a sleigh-hayride. All rides require reservations. To schedule a 30-minute carriage ride, call the Carousel Farms and Carriage Company at 390-4403. Train rides are available on Monday nights only. The cost is $7 per person for ages 12 and up, $5 for ages 1 to 11, and free for infants up to 11 months. For additional information, call 379-5614, or visit www.ofallon.mo.us/COL.

TRIPSA Day in Eagle Country will be held

from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wed., Feb. 2. Board the motor coach at 7:30 a.m. at Civic Hall located 305 Civic Park Drive in O’Fallon for day-long adventure of wild-life and bald eagle-spotting. Travel through scenic woodlands and along spectacular limestone bluffs in the Mississippi Valley where wintering eagles prefer to roost, and make a mystery stop before returning to O’Fallon at 6 p.m. The cost of $75 for O’Fallon residents and $84 for non-resi-dents includes transportation, a continental breakfast, lunch at rustic Pere Marquette Lodge, gratuities and escorts. Register by calling 474-2732, or by visiting www.ofallon.mo.us/parksandrec.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Liberty Productions presents the Charles Dickens Classic A Christmas Carol at 7 p.m. on Thurs., Dec. 16 and Fri., Dec. 17; and at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Sat., Dec. 18 in the Francis Howell Central High School auditorium, located at 5199 Hwy. N. Admission is free. For tickets, directions or more information visit www.Liberty-Productions.org or call 734-7870.

• • •Young People’s Theatre of St. Charles

Community College will present The Nut-cracker at 7 p.m. on Fri., Dec. 17; at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Sat., Dec. 18; and at 2 p.m. on Sun., Dec. 19 at the Donald D. Shook Fine Arts Building Theater on the SCC

campus. The cost is $7. For more informa-tion, call 922-8233.

• • •Emerging local artists will be featured

in a mixed media exhibition from Dec. 10 through Jan. 14 at The Foundry Art Centre located at 520 North Main Center in St. Charles. Beyond the Resume will showcase the works of artists who have received their Master of Fine Arts or a Masters of Arts from an area university within the last three years. For more information, call 255-0270.

• • •An introductory acting class for young

students will be held on Tuesdays from Jan. 11 through April 26, at the Foundry Art Centre, located at 520 North Main Center in St. Charles. Students, from first through eighth grade, will learn basic acting tech-niques and short-form improvisation using monologues, short scenes and educational

games to develop their creative energy into acting for the stage. Classes will be taught by Becca Helms. The cost is $180 for mem-bers and $200 for non-members. For more information or to register, contact Angela at 255-0270 or angela@foundryartcentre.org.

PETSPets can have their picture taken with

Santa Clause from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., Dec. 16 at Baue Pet Services Tribute Center, 4175 Shady Springs Lane in St. Peters.

No appointment is necessary, however appointments may be made by calling 875-5700. Both human and pet snacks will be provided. A $5 minimum donation is requested, which will go to the St. Charles Humane Society, to benefit those dogs and cats who may not have a home this Christ-mas. For more information, please contact 314-520-7237; or online at baue.com.

Community Events

28 I DECEMBER 15, 2010MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE NEWSMAGAZINENETWORK.COM

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County again offers free tree recycling after the holiday

After the Yuletide celebration, give one more gift by recycling your live Christmas tree so that it may be turned into mulch or fish habitat.

Again this year, St. Charles County is partnering with area municipalities to offer residents this free service at various sites from Dec. 26 through Jan. 18.

Be sure to remove the tree stand, decorations, and plastic bag or cover before leaving your tree at one of the locations below:

Live trees will be accepted at the following locations:In St. Peters * Laurel Park (upper parking lot), enter via McClay Valley Rd. * St. Peters Golf & Recreation Center, 200A Salt Lick Rd.* St. Peters Earth Centre, 115 Ecology Dr.St. Peters locations are open 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Mon. thru Sat., Dec. 28 to Jan. 18In Wentzville* Progress Park (parking lot), 968 Meyer Rd. Open 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., seven days a

week, from Dec. 26 to Jan. 18In O’Fallon* Civic Park (upper parking lot), 400 Civic Park Dr.* O’Fallon Sports Park, 3589 Hwy. K. Open from dawn to dusk, Dec. 26 to Jan. 18In Lake Saint Louis* Founders Park, 7 Freymuth Rd. Open during daylight hours, Dec. 26 to Jan. 17In St. Charles County* Quail Ridge Park (Group Picnic Area), 5501 Quail Ridge Pkwy. (Wentzville)Park hours are 7 a.m. to one-half hour after sunset, seven days a week, from Dec. 26

to Jan. 22In addition to live trees, non-foil gift boxes, wrapping paper and Christmas tree lights

may be recycled at Recycle Works West, 2110 E. Pitman Ave., in Wentzville, or Recycle Works Central, 60 Triad South Dr., in St. Charles. Hours are 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday. For more information about St. Charles County recycling programs, call 949-1800 or visit www.scchealth.org/es.

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PeoPle & PlacesBest Elected Official

Best Mayor

Best Radio Personality

Best Television Personality

Best Teacher

Best citizen

Best city

Best local personality to look up to

sPorts & recreationBest High School Athlete (Male)

Best High School Athlete (Female)

Best St. Louis Professional Athlete

Best Professional Athlete Not Named Albert Pujols

Best Local Sportscaster

Best Playground

Best golf course

Best place to watch sports

Best local athlete to look up to

Dining & entertainmentBest Hamburger

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Best Ethnic Restaurant

Best breakfast

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local FlavorBest High School

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A preferred home care choice since 1987. College degreed professionals provide care/companionship. Why accept less? Competitively priced options. Care managers and clinical staff available. Bonded & insured. AAA screened. Call Gretchen at StaffLink (314) 477-3434www.Stafflinkusa.com

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computer Problems?computer Support Needs?computer Training Needs?

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ANYTHING IN PLUMBING.Good Prices! Basement bathrooms, small repairs & code violations repaired. Fast Service. Call anytime: 314-409-5051

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