Forum Flashbacks: April 23-30

FORUM FILE PHOTO
Ten clicks of a camera over a span of 1.4 seconds helped produce this image of Maryville youth Jonathan Baker sinking a free throw at the Northwest Missouri State University high rise outdoor basketball courts on Wednesday. Baker won the national Elks Hoop Shoot free throw competition by sinking 24 of 25 free throws.

25 years ago

• Authorities were back to work this morning, searching for the body of a 22-year-old Maryville woman police contend was raped, sodomized and murdered before being thrown into the 102 River on the east side of Maryville.
  Dennis Lee Jones, 24, Maryville, has been charged with first-degree murder, felonious restraint, forcible rape and forcible sodomy in the disappearance of Karen L. Hawkins, 22, Maryville.
• Slowly, the Maryville City Council is moving towards some sort of closure regarding minors in Maryville taverns. At the Monday night meeting, the Council elected to form a task force to further explore the problem.
  The debate began when some Maryville citizens approached the council, asking they consider a city ordinance banning minors from Maryville taverns.
  The debate revolves around over/under nights made popular by some area taverns. On over/under nights minors are allowed on the premises, but are not allowed to consume alcohol.
  Some Maryville citizens contend that minors are being served alcohol once inside the bar.
  About a month ago, the City Council held an open forum, allowing proponents of the ordinance, students and bar owners to voice their opinions regarding the issue.
  Monday night the council unanimously approved the formation of a task force to further examine the problem.
  “What we are going to do is form this group to look at the entire issue of minors consuming alcohol in Maryville,” Maryville Mayor Jerry Riggs said. “Not just over/under nights at the bars.”

15 years ago

• Sewer problems along Park Avenue continue to perplex the City of Maryville, but public works crews are hoping a few inexpensive tests will help pinpoint the problem without reverting to the costly option of replacing the sewer line.
  At Monday’s city council meeting, public works director Greg Decker spoke about the problems and potential solutions.
  “We haven’t been sitting idly by,” Decker said. “We’ve been doing everything in our power to find out what’s going on out there.”
  The long-running problem along Park Avenue causes houses to flood during periods of heavy rain.

5 years ago

• Two of the three men convicted of robbing the Citizens Bank & Trust branch in Burlington Junction March 21, 2014, have been sentenced in federal court.
  Donald D. Kestner Jr., 27, of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and Travis Joe Davis, 28, of Fort Dodge, Iowa, were sentenced Wednesday before federal District Judge Greg Kays.
  Kestner was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison, and Davis was sentenced to 16 years and eight months. Both sentences are to be served without the possibility of parole.
  The third defendant, Joseph O’Neill, has yet to be sentenced.
  All three men pleaded guilty in October to a federal charge of armed bank robbery.
• After a 13-month delay caused by higher than expected initial project bids, the Maryville R-II Board of Education accepted separate proposals for the construction of the high school performing arts center and the construction of a new kitchen and new commons and cafeteria area at Eugene Field Elementary School at their April 20, 2015 meeting.
  Voters originally approved the no-tax-increase bond issue to finance building/improvement projects April 8, 2014, but after initial bids came in higher than anticipated, the R-II Board of Education decided to re-bid the projects.