St Charles Community

The Missouri 340 is underway meaning hundreds of paddlers are making their way from Kansas City to St. Louis. Scott Bennett from Kansas City says it’s harder than it sounds. He says the fatigue is really starting to set in, but reaching the halfway point has been a real boost to his morale.

He says he doesn’t care if he comes in last, he just wants to finish. Bennett says he’s enjoying seeing parts of Missouri he’s never seen before, even as a life-long Missourian.

Story on MissouriNet

Army National Guard Pfc. Thomas J. Bressie has graduated from the Direct Fire Infantryman One Station Unit Training at Fort Benning, Columbus, Ga.  The training consists of Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training. Bressie is the son of Carol Bressie of Meramec Way, St. Charles, Mo. His parents, Tom and Pam Bressie, reside on Lower Dardenne Farms Drive, St. Charles. Bressie graduated in 2007 from Fort Zumwalt West High School and received an associate degree in 2009 from St. Charles Community College.

During the nine weeks of Basic Combat Training, the soldier received training in drill and ceremonies, weapons, map reading, tactics, military courtesy, military justice, physical fitness, first aid, and Army history, core values and traditions.  Additional training included development of basic combat skills and battlefield operations and tactics, and experiencing use of various weapons and weapons defenses available to the infantry crewman.

The Advanced Individual Training course is designed to train indirect fire infantry soldiers to employ, fire and recover anti-personnel and anti-tank mines; locate, neutralize and extract mines; map reading and ground navigation; operate and maintain communications equipment and radio networks; construct and camouflage mortar firing positions; operate and maintain mortars and fire control equipment for individual/crew served weapons firing positions.

Attorneys for Hannibal resident Manuel Cazares are asking for a new judge as his second-degree murder trial looms in St. Charles. Cazares is charged with the murders of Amanda Thomas and Carl Patrick Epley in Hannibal on Feb. 28, 2009. He was supposed to plead guilty earlier this year in exchange for a cap of 30 years in prison, but Judge Ted House refused to accept the plea deal.

Story in Herald-Whig

Thursday morning, at approximately 3:01am, the O'Fallon Police Department received a call about a burglary on Sleighridge Court. While the police were conducting their initial investigation they developed leads to a primary suspect.

At approximately 7:40am, a suspicious vehicle was seen in the same area of the burglary with a person sleeping inside. A police officer determined that the occupant of the vehicle was the same person as the suspect from the burglary. As the police officer attempted to arrest the suspect, the suspect managed to break free from the officer and with one handcuff on his wrist jumped into his vehicle and drove off. The police chased after the vehicle, but lost the vehicle after the chase wound through a residential area and across Highway 40.

At 8:47am, an O'Fallon Police Officer identified the vehicle while it was driving on Wild Oak Dr. Another chase took police through the Springhurst subdivion, west to MO N, then north on MO Z. On MO Z, the suspect sideswiped a vehicle and continued on. There were no injuries reported from that accident. The chase continued on westbound Interstate 70 from MO Z. The Missouri Highway Patrol used stop sticks to stop the car just prior to the Warrenten exit.