Part 2: Is Meth Moving Into Your Neighborhood?

A drug agent had a meth lab blow up in his face and said it can happen to a curious child just as easily. He tells 'Patch' criminals are coming to St. Louis County to buy pseudoephedrine and that means meth is being made here, too.

Sgt. Jason Grellner, of the Franklin County Sheriff's Department, has been busting meth labs since 1997, but all that experience did not prevent a "shake and bake" meth lab from exploding in his face. "I'm missing 27 percent of my lungs," said Grellner, who is also president of the Missouri Narcotics Association. "I lost 27 percent of my lung capacity in 2002. I opened a container sitting in a driveway."  If that can happen to an experienced drug agent, it can happen to any curious child who stumbles upon a plastic bottle or an adult who is picking up what is thought to simply be trash, said Grellner, who is the unit commander of the Franklin County Narcotics Unit, which works in conjunction with the St. Louis County Drug Task Force. This …

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Mike Budd

4:09 pm on Wednesday, October 10, 2012

When I read the story of this officer, I feel sorry for what he had to suffer and to be honest, sometimes I have the impression that this drug problem will never been solved... It was already there when I was a child - many years ago ;) and I'm sure that it will still be a problem for the next generations... Meth is not "just another drug": it is very easy to produce and highly dangerous due to …   more ›

MO Texting While Driving Ban - What Do You Think?

Currently the law is only for those 21 and younger, but it could become universal in Missouri. A St. Louis senator has sponsored a bill to include everyone.

A Missouri law prohibits anyone 21 and younger from texting while driving. A St. Louis-area senator, Sen. Robin Wright-Jones (D-St. Louis) has sponsored a bill (SB 567) to expand that to drivers of any age. The bill also states that drivers can’t be stopped “solely to determine compliance with the state text messaging ban.” Wright-Jones’ intention is to help keep Missouri roads safe and to keep insurance rates from rising. She said Missouri is one of the few states without an insurance cap, so crashes can affect rates more than in other states. The Maneater, the Missouri University student newspaper, reported that a hearing was held on the bill last Wednesday in Jefferson City. Representatives from the Missouri Trucking Association, …

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Distracted Drivers Beware: NTSB Recommends Ban of All Portable Electronic Devices

MODOT says commercial motor vehicle drivers will be banned from using hand-held mobile phones while driving on Jan. 3, and it may be just a matter of time before the ban is applied to all drivers. We want to know what you think. Take our Patch poll.

After it announced on Monday that a fatal multi-vehicle crash in 2010 might have been related to a driver texting, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it would hold a Tuesday morning meeting to determine the probable cause of the crash and consider proposed safety recommendations. The crash in question happened in Gray Summit (southwest of St. Louis) and affected several vehicles and more than 40 people. It included two fatalities and 38 injuries, NTSB said in a press release. “This crash involved a series of collisions; first, a pickup truck struck the back of a stopped truck-tractor,” said the release. “Following that, a school bus struck the back of the pickup truck and finally, the first school bus was struck in the …

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Court Maintains Manchester's Funeral Protest Ban is Unconstitutional, Post Dispatch Reports

The St. Louis Post Dispatch reports that a U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed this week the decision that Manchester's funeral protest ordinance is unconstitutional.

Parkway Teacher Says New Facebook Law Goes Too Far

Parkway School District officials evaluate how to comply with a new Missouri Facebook law prohibiting students and teachers from being "friends."

In 2005, when Ashley Lam was a senior at Parkway South High School, Facebook announced it would allow high school students access. Prior to 2005, Facebook was designed for college students with a valid college email, not the general public. Lam, now a photography graduate from Webster University, added her high school drama teacher as a friend on Facebook before graduating high school. Under a new Missouri law, however, her teacher would be in violation of the newly enacted Amy Hestir Student Protection Act, a law aimed at protecting minors from sexual abuse in schools. According to the law, a teacher cannot use a "nonwork-related website that allows exclusive access with a current or former student." In addition, the law says teachers …

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Kim Raile Smith

11:26 am on Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Big Brother has gone too far...this is a ridiculous law.   more ›