Around Southeast Missouri 2/14/07

School board seeks bids for roofing project

ESSEX, Mo. -- The Richland School Board voted to accept a recommendation from superintendent Mike Kiehne to request bids for its elementary school roofing project be presented for the next board meeting March 22. John Losher of the Garland Co. delivered a presentation Thursday and fielded a host of questions from board members who were skeptical of claims about such projects. Losher told the board that, as a supplier of materials that would meet building specifications, his company would warrant both materials and labor for 10 years. He told the board the work should take less than two weeks from start to finish. Losher explained his company would also have a warranty for workmanship with the actual builder for the first two years, after which Garland would engage a contractor for any warranted repairs itself. Finally, Losher told the board the contract would be drawn up so that workers would receive the prevailing wage, a wage set by the state of Missouri for specified jobs done under contract for public institutions including schools. In many cases, it tends to be higher than the average wage for a given local area, and the added expense can sometimes be a concern for institutions trying to save taxpayer dollars. There is currently no published estimate of the cost for the roofing job.

-- Dexter Daily Statesman

Dexter park department plans new gymnasium

DEXTER, Mo. -- The Dexter Park and Recreation Department is well on its way to adding a new gymnasium. It will measure 80 feet by 110 feet and will house a single gym floor with bleacher capacity for 280 people. There will also be extra goals and volleyball nets that can be moved to make for more practice space. "The only facility we have now is the old junior high gym and we just don't have enough room there," said park superintendent Lawson Metcalf. "We have more demand on the space than we have space available." One reason, Metcalf said is the amount of growth they have seen in their basketball and volleyball in recent years. In 1997, the volleyball league had only 50 girls and there was no basketball program. Since then, the park department has taken over the Optimist-run basketball leagues and has nearly triple the number of youths involved in volleyball. In 2006, they had 201 youths in the basketball program and 129 in the volleyball program. Another problem Metcalf cited was coaches' complaints about not having enough practice time in the gym on Park Lane. The gym will be built where the softball field at the corner of the pool parking lot in East Park currently sits. That field will then be relocated to the Sports Complex. The project is expected to cost approximately $1 million and, according to Metcalf, will be at no additional cost to voters. Once the gym is constructed, the Parks Department still plans to continue using the old gym for at least the next 10 years or so.

-- Dexter Daily Statesman

Violent crime incidents on the rise in Sikeston

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Sikeston Department of Public Safety officials are seeing the same trends here as noted in national crime statistics. "All serious offenses are pretty much up nationwide," said Capt. John Martin. While overall crime is down, an upward trend in violent crime is being seen both nationwide and locally. "The serious crimes are up -- especially the serious assaults," said Capt. Dan Armour. He said even law enforcement experts don't have concrete explanations for the trends seen in crime statistics. Martin said crimes classified as the most serious by law enforcement are homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny thefts, motor vehicle theft and arson. Aggravated assaults are those that result in serious injury, according to Martin, and larceny thefts are those of more than $500 in value. Five homicides -- the highest number in the last five years -- were reported in Sikeston in 2006. Rapes were down slightly at seven last year as compared with the 10 reported in 2005 but are up from a decrease to five in 2004. Robberies nearly doubled with 28 reported in 2006, up from 15 in 2005. Motor vehicle theft was also up at 57 last year from the 2005 total of 38. On the other hand, the other theft charges, larceny and burglary, were both down somewhat. Larceny, which is usually one of the most common serious crimes, was down from 583 in 2005 to 498 last year. Burglaries dropped slightly from 183 in 2005 to 171 in 2006. The number of arsons dropped almost in half last year at five with nine reported in 2005. In 2006, 341 domestic assaults were reported, down from 428 in 2005 and 445 in 2004. In 2006, there were a total of 672 incident reports investigated in Section 8 and public housing, according to Armor. In 2005, there were 484 -- a 39 percent increase, he noted.

-- Sikeston Standard Democrat