Parkway School District Gives Raises Following Millions in Cuts

After cutting $8 million from the budget and eliminating 130 full-time jobs, KMOV reports that the Parkway School District gave its gave administrators and department heads raises. Watch KMOV's story here.

As previously reported by Patch, in February, the Parkway School Board voted to cut up to $9.63 million from the district's budget over the next two years. At the time, school officials blamed the depressed economy for lower revenue.  According to a report by KMOV investigative reporter Craig Cheatham, the district cut $8 million of that this year and those budget cuts eliminated 130 full-time positions. (Watch Craig Cheatham's complete report on KMOV.com here.) However, Cheatham also reports that a few months after deciding on the cuts, the district gave all of its administrators and department heads pay raises, including all 70 employees making more than $100,000 a year. Parkway school officials tell Patch that vote came at the June 13 …

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Tax Loophole For St. Louis County Country Clubs Has Homeowners Paying More

A loophole reportedly allows private country clubs in West County to pay less taxes, affecting what school districts like Parkway receive and forcing homeowners to pay more. Watch KMOV's story here.

According to a recent news report by KMOV invstigative reporter Chris Nagus, private country clubs in Missouri receive a "sweetheart deal" which allows them to pay less in taxes. (View Chris Nagus' report on KMOV here.)  As a result, homeowners pay more in taxes and school districts, including the Parkway School District, receive less money for education. According to Nagus' report, Town and Country's Bellerive Country Club, Meadowbrook, and Westwood are all country clubs located within the Parkway school district. He said Parkway is losing $218,850 a year due to the loophole. Parkway School District Board President Beth Feldman is interviewed in the KMOV report. She points out that any extra money would help Parkway because the district …

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KMOV Reports Parkway Student Faces Expulsion for Cyberbullying

A Parkway Central High School student is kicked out of school and facing expulsion for inappropriate Facebook messages, KMOV reports.

Local Entrepreneurs: Their Secret to Success

Chef Mel Turns a Passion For Cooking Into Burgeoning Business

This Manchester woman turned a "great recipe" into a booming business. See how her entrepreneurial spirit shines through.

"Sweeeeeeet" (with roughly six or seven extra e’s) is exactly the way Manchester's Melissa Dodd-Ruesing likes to describe her original red pasta sauce. In fact, she is so confident in its sweetness that she thinks she just might be able to make a living off of selling the stuff. Driven by her self-confidence and the encouragement of her friends, Dodd has spent the last eight years working diligently to build and expand her brand of Chef Mel sauces. “I didn’t like any red sauce anywhere, so I started making my own. And it just kind of went from there,” she said. In 2003, Dodd was working as a physical therapy assistant at St. Luke's Hospital. Potlucks were often held at work. It was there that the sauce was first exposed to a wider audience…

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