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Webster-Kirkwood Times October 23 - 29, 2009
First United Methodist Church:The Outwardly Focused Congregation
First United Methodist Church, under theleadership of Pastor Michele Sue Shumake-Keller, continues to reach out to our com-munity to involve people of all ages inexperiencing the Love of God together.Every Wednesday afternoon, beginning at5:10 p.m., Celebrate! invites children to anevening of dinner, crafts, singing and storytime, all built around a biblical theme. Thissemester the children have a special project:creating toys for the homeless animals at theAnimal Protective Association. On Oct. 24they will make a special field trip to the APAto deliver their hand-made toys to the ani-mals in the shelter there.Parents and Little Somebodies, PALS,offers monthly activities for families withyoung children. On Sunday, Oct. 25, they’replanning a trip to the St. Louis Zoo. PALS isalso inviting the children in our communityto participate in our Build a Gift Program onSaturday, Dec. 5, when volunteers in ourcongregation help them create special, hand-crafted gifts for Moms, Dads, and othermembers of their families.We welcome all families to join us in ourtwice yearly camping event at Blue Mountain,Arcadia, Mo., where we gather together inthe peace and tranquility of nature. You andyour family may enjoy canoeing, fishing andhiking in this lovely escape from the pres-sures of daily living.Retired men who enjoy “taking mattersinto their own hands” will want to join our“Tuesday Guys,” who take on projects aroundour church like painting, carpentry, refinish-ing furniture and a bit of landscaping aroundthe church grounds. And there’s always acoffee and doughnut break to make the worka little easier and a lot more fun.Women who like to stitch will find a wel-coming group in the Quilters and Embroidersof First United Methodist Church. Their fin-ished quilts are donated to our Lord’s AcreAuction held every November to benefit ourMissions program.And everyone who enjoys the joy andpageantry of the Christmas Story will want towitness our eagerly anticipated March to theManger drama that takes place at both our8:30 and 11 a.m. services on the Sundaybefore Christmas, Dec. 20.
600 N. Bompart• 961-4133
First United Methodist Church
city had gotten “a couple of proposals,but they hadn’t worked out.”The property is owned by theLipton Group.“We’re always talking to people,”said Paul Schroeder, commercialproperty supervisor for Lipton. “Wenever know when those will be puttogether, so we don’t really haveanything to report at this moment,but we’re looking forward to puttingsomething together with somebody.”The plaza opened approximately 25years ago, and the theater has beenclosed for two years. A drainage creekruns through the middle of the sitewhich detracts from the overall lookof the development. According to City AdministratorBarry Alexander it’s far too prematureto talk about any prospectivedevelopers.“I don’t want to dash anything bysaying there are talks going on,” hesaid. “There are problems with the
site. In its current conguration, you
don’t have good sight lines. We’vehad talks with Lipton and they areaware of the problem, and it’s madeeven worse by a poor economy. Whatis possible to be done there, I don’tknow.”said. The money inexplicably bumpsthe cost of the redevelopment projectfrom about $42.2 million to about$51.3 million, nearly two years afterthe project was declared complete.The additional $9.1 million wereadded to the developer’s list of reimbursable expenditures in ahandwritten line item in a documentcalled an “Allonge,” Moore contendsin a PowerPoint slide presentationhe has prepared to persuade State Auditor Susan Montee to launch aninvestigation.
Moore said he led suit against
DESCO in May 2006 to forcedisclosure of the derivation of allits expenses related to KirkwoodCommons. But the suit was thrownout because the court said it shouldhave been directed against KirkwoodCommons, LLC, rather than DESCOGroup, Moore said. He has not
gathered sufcient funds to re-le the
action, he said.Moore is hoping Montee willpick up the ball. If he succeeds in
gathering sufcient signatures, theauditor’s ofce would conduct a study
of the proposed project to determinethe appropriateness of a full scale
investigation, according to the ofcial
Web site.Kirkwood City Attorney JohnHessel said there is a questionwhether a private corporation couldbe forced to submit to a state auditthrough an initiative petition.
Moore said he is making no specic
accusations.“I would like to have it cleared up
before I start pointing ngers. It just
doesn’t make sense….I really wantto get it cleared up. The questionable
gure is the $9.1 million,” Moore said.
Audit Petition Drive
from page 4A
Shrewsbury Eyesore
from page 4A
Members Connie Karr and MichaelLynch, Public Works Director Ken Yost and Police Sergeants WilliamBiggs and Thomas Ballman. All butBiggs were shot down in the CityCouncil chambers.McEntee Park also is dedicatedto the memory of a murdered publicservant, Sgt. William McEntee, whowas shot fatally on July 5, 2005, while
answering a reworks complaint.
Kirkwood resident Kevin Johnson,20 years old at the time, has beenconvicted of McEntee’s murder andsentenced to death.The gunman in the 2008 City Hallshooting, Charles “Cookie” Thornton,was shot to death at the scene bypolice.The Memorial Walkway,constructed of grey aggregate, will
integrate now-separate memorials.
A fountain outside City Hall, built inhonor of former mayor Robert Reimbut no longer functioning, will berazed and its memorial plaque movedto a small plaza to be built in thenortheastern corner of the grounds. A walkway dedicated to Kirkwood’sveterans will attach to the northernend of the Reim Plaza, while the newMemorial Walkway will connect onthe south. In the middle of the plazawill sit a new fountain featuring agranite ball that will roll freely on a
lm of water. The idea, said Franke,
is to underscore the theme of theproject: “Where community and spiritmeet.”The plaza will be landscaped, withconcrete planters and a seat wall
for visitors. A ag pole, drinking
fountains and an irrigation systemwill also be installed at strategicpoints in the plaza and along thewalkway. At either end of the new walkwayan “event memorial” will be installed,stating the purpose of the memorial,
said Franke. The inscriptions, set in
granite, will read:“The citizens of Kirkwood dedicate
this path in honor of the ne public
servants who lost their lives in service
to the community, on Feb. 7, 2008.”
Memorial Walkway
from page 1A
The MemorialWalkway will inte- grate now separatememorials.
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