INTERIM DIRECTOR IS NAMED

CHARLESTON -- Southeast Missouri Weed Inc. named an interim executive director Thursday and appointed another person to fill a vacancy on the board.

Ron Skaggs was named interim executive director. He participated in the meeting Thursday afternoon via a conference call from his St. Louis office.

Skaggs, a former police chief in Festus, is law enforcement coordinator for the Eastern District of the U.S. attorney's office in St. Louis. He was president of the Missouri Police Chiefs Association last year.

Skaggs knows about the Weed and Seed program and will serve as interim executive director until a new director is hired later this summer, said Rick Hetzel, president of the board.

The board is conducting a nationwide search for an executive director. Calvin Bird resigned from the post in mid-April. He had been the first and only executive director for the regional Weed and Seed program. He was hired in 1997.

The board also appointed Dr. John Wade, head of the Criminal Justice Department at Southeast Missouri State University, to the board. He fills a vacancy left by the resignation of Dr. Paul Keys. Keys had served as president of the board until late April.

The board set its next meeting for June 24 in Poplar Bluff. Because the Weed and Seed program is a regional effort, the board moves its meetings each month among program cities Sikeston, Poplar Bluff, Charleston, Caruthersville and Cape Girardeau.