Saturday, February 9, 2013
The president of the Kirkwood-based Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod asked for an apology from a pastor who participated in an interfaith vigil after the shootings.
A few days after the shooting in Newtown, CT, that killed 20 children and six adults, the community gathered with a variety of clergy leaders representing a number of faiths for a prayer service and vigil. That didn't sit well with the president of the conservative, Kirkwood-based Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. A pastor from Christ the King Lutheran Church, a Missouri Synod church in Newtown, was among those who participated. And the president of the synod, The Rev. Matthew Harrison, asked that pastor to apologize, as reported in an article by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Saturday. The Post's coverage summarizes the issue thusly: The synod forbids "worship services that blend the beliefs and practices of Lutherans with those of other …
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
VIDEO: Police emphasize training anyone can take to prepare for individuals trying to kill people in confined areas. School staff and residents are encouraged to consider it as helpful background.
Sniping and shooting-related situations obviously are unpredictable; reacting quickly is key. (Sign up here for the FREE Patch Newsletter, including Breaking News Alerts.) Free training to prepare for attacks from active shooters is available to everyone from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. At Thursday's Safe Schools Partnership meeting held for multicounties' worth of local school districts and hosted by Rockwood School District, Eureka Police Chief Michael Wiegand spotlighted an independent study course designed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Emergency Management Institute. This course provides immediate tips for school teachers, but was developed to be applicable to anyone who desires to increase their …
Thursday, January 3, 2013
The move is in response to concerns raised by school administrators about school security following the deadly massacre in Newtown, Conn., last month.
The Chesterfield Police Department is rolling out a program to expand its presence at area schools in response to the shootings at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. (For instant news updates follow Patch on Facebook and Twitter.) The new program will re-assign an officer to be a full-time School Resource Officer (SRO) at all 12 of the area's public and private elementary schools and at a private high school. Individual officers were already present at Chesterfield's two middle and two high schools, so the new initiative means all educational institutions will be covered. "The purpose of this is to provide some additional safety and security," said Chesterfield Police Capt. Steven Lewis. "The officer will work with the schools and see …
Thursday, December 27, 2012
We live in a broken culture . . . There is much goodness out there but there is just as much bad.
3 a.m. comes awfully early. When that alarm goes off like that it doesn’t wake you up, it scares you up. My wife and I got out of bed barely into December 15 and proceeded to get ready for our flight to Florida. We were flying to Orlando to interview for a position in Gainesville. Our flight left St. Louis at 6:25 A.M. and so we got up earlier than anyone should be made to. I also made the strongest cup of coffee in the history of coffee. (Sign up here for the FREE Patch Newsletter, including Breaking News Alerts.) We had an uneventful flight to Florida. We went to pick up our rental car for the 2 hour drive north and as we headed onto the turnpike we made phone calls home. During the drive we heard just glimpses on the radio about …
Friday, December 21, 2012
Parkway School officials said they have already asked law enforcement to up their presence by having patrol officers check in at elementary schools.
Posting an armed officer in every Parkway and Rockwood school and in schools across the country is the goal of the National Rifle Association (NRA), the guns-rights lobby announced on Friday. (For instant news updates follow Patch on Facebook and Twitter.) "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," said Wayne LaPierre, the organization's top lobbyist, at a Friday news conference, according to a Huffington Post report. The statement comes on the heels of the tragic school shooting in Newtown, CT, where 20 children and six adults were killed. NRA had remained silent until Wednesday, when it first announced its intention to offer "meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again." The …
"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," the NRA's Wayne LaPierre said.
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Friday, December 21, 2012
In an amazing Friday morning press conference in Washington DC, the National Rifle Association broke its weeklong silence following the horrific shooting of 26 people at a school in Newtown, CT and called for a surge of gun-carrying "good guys" around American schools. NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre called for a new kind of American domestic security revolving around armed civilians, arguing that "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." "We care about our president, so we protect him with armed Secret Service agents," LaPierre said. "Members of Congress work in offices surrounded by Capitol Police officers. Yet, when it comes to our most beloved, innocent, and vulnerable members of the …
Law enforcement and school districts are searching for solutions to protect students and prevent a repeat of the tragic Newtown school shooting last week.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Legislation being prepared to ban assault-style weapons; President to make the issue "central" to his second term
With the national conversation centering on gun control legislation following the tragic school shooting in Newtown, CT, and the National Rifle Association scheduling a press conference Friday to weigh in on the issue, weapons of all sorts are flying off the shelves in at least one local gun store. (Sign up here for the FREE Patch Newsletter, including Breaking News Alerts.) "We're busier now than we've ever been," said Scott Schoenbeck, general manager of Ontargetstl.com, a Valley Park shooting range and gun store. "People are scared to death that they won't be able to buy the firearm of their choice." Some are even scared to talk about the issue, out of fear of reprisal. Two other local gun stores declined to comment on the calls for …
However, law enforcement and school district officials said a meeting of the Safe Schools Partnership Program Thursday morning produced meaningful discussions on other ways to prevent a repeat of the tragic school shooting in Connecticut last week.
UPDATED 1:15 p.m.- Law enforcement and school district officials said a meeting of the Safe Schools Partnership program Thursday morning produced meaningful discussions about ways the two groups can work together to improve safety at St. Louis-area schools in the wake of last week’s tragic shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Both the Manchester Police Department and Town and Country Police Department had officers at Thursday's meeting. (Town and Country also provided Patch with information on the Safe Schools Partnership and how schools and poice prepare for a school intruder situation, which has been posted in the "comments" box below.) (For instant news updates follow Patch on Facebook and Twitter.) “It was a very frank and open …
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Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Police and school officials will discuss changes in security after Friday's tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Due to the recent event in Connecticut, St. Louis County Police Department officers and members of the Safe Schools Partnership just announced Tuesday morning they will be meeting this Thursday at 9 a.m. (For instant updates follow Patch on Facebook and Twitter.) Safe Schools Partnership of St. Louis County was launched during the 1998-1999 school year. It is a collaborative agreement between the county police department, area police departments, school districts, and other concerned agencies, with the sole goal of assuring safety for children. The meeting, which is not open to the public, will be held at the Parkway School District Instructional Services Center. Editor's Note: Leave your own recommendations right here in the comments' …
Amy E.
3:37 pm on Sunday, February 17, 2013
I also watched it on television, and I agree that I saw nothing in that memorial gathering that indicated that any of the clergy present were endorsing the faiths of any of the others. They were all simply trying to offer comfort to the grieving. I felt the same way some 11 years earlier when the LCMS pastor David Benke participated in an interfaith memorial gathering at Yankee Stadium following … more ›