A new, phone call notification system has been installed at School of the Osage — even better, since parents’ phone numbers were automatically programed, parents won’t have to remember to register.

The district plans on using the alert system to notify parents and guardians of school cancellations and early dismissals due to weather. The superintendent can also use the program to send out other emergency messages deemed necessary.

Fall and winter at Lake of the Ozarks usually means a lull in activity and a break on the roads. That's not so this year. In the next few weeks, new roads will open to traffic, detours will reroute vehicles and fresh projects will get underway. Combined, more than $200 million has been spent by the Missouri Department of Transportation in the lake area. The projects have transformed the landscaped, redefined how residents and tourists get from one destination to another and even made it a little safer to travel.

The School of the Osage High School Homecoming Parade is Friday, Sept. 24, at 4 p.m. Community businesses and organizations that would like to support School of the Osage are invited to submit an application to have a float in the homecoming parade on the Bagnall Dam Strip. The application can be found on the School of the Osage website.

The deadline for applications is Monday, Sept. 20 at 4 p.m. Return all applications to the main high school office or email completed applications to durninb@osage.k12.mo.us.

The School of the Osage held the line on its 2010-11 tax levy for the fourth consecutive year.
The board of education last week voted to set a tax levy of $2.72 per $100 of assessed valuation after a mandated tax levy hearing.  The hearing preceded the board’s regular monthly meeting.

Here's a brief recap of the Lake Ozark Board of Aldermen meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 24.

• An ordinance outlining a Code of Ethics for city officials was approved after little discussion.

• Lake Ozark is cleaning house.

• It may not cure the city's financial woes, but the Board of Aldermen is proposing a cut to their own pockets in order to save a few extra dollars.

A Missouri State Highway Patrol investigation into an incident involving an unidentified Lake Ozark city employee will take a little longer than originally anticipated.

Sgt. Paul Reinsch, the public information officer for Troop F, said the officer in charge of the case was still looking into the matter. Once the investigation is completed, the final report will be sent to the Miller County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for charges to be considered.

It will be the prosecuting attorney’s decision on whether or not to file criminal charges, Reinsch said.
Highway Patrol bega

The roundabout politics at Lake Ozark City Hall hasn’t discouraged a few faithful city residents who now, more than ever, are willing to step up to the dais and lend a helping hand.
The most recent came in the form of a $500 donation to the city through the Lake Ozark Police Benevolent Association. The money will be used to purchase a wireless microphone system to be used during council meetings.
The donors, a couple living in Lake Ozark, asked to remain anonymous.

A Miller County woman accused of kidnapping her son and leading New Mexico State Police on a violent, high-speed car chase asked for a competency hearing that could extend her court case.

Officials with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources have already ruled Sunday evening's 1,000-gallon sewer line break had little environmental impact and no lasting concern, according to Lake Ozark Public Works Director Matt Michalik.
Investigators assessed the scene Monday after the city reported the release to DNR.

The Lake Ozark Board of Aldermen will meet in regular session on Tuesday, Aug. 24.

An Edwardsville, Kan., woman joked that she was "just hoping to win enough to pay for lunch" when she stopped for a sandwich on Aug. 13. Connie Vandenberg, 51, ended up with more than enough to cover the tab at Casablanca in Lake Ozark.

Vandenberg was on her way to pick up her son from summer camp at the time of her $10,542 Missouri Lottery Club Keno win. Her mother, Karen Belknap of Sunrise Beach, and ex-husband, Louis Vandenberg of Greenview, were along for the ride.

"He's on hold right now," she said with a laugh, referring to when she called her son's camp to inform the counselors she was running late.

The 2010 budget in Lake Ozark is being slashed after July’s sales tax revenues came in and showed there’s few shoppers in the city. Officials will attempt to meet a 38 percent deficit in sales tax revenues by cutting spending in all areas of the budget. Anything considered not “mission critical” to the city’s day-to-day operation has been or will be cut.

So far, reductions in staff positions and furlough days have remained off the table.

The city is also looking at other sources of income including delinquent business license fees, past due property taxes and cashing in a bank CD when it matures next month. The $27,000 CD will help Lake Ozark’s budget get through the rest of the year.

If things continue down the same path for the rest of the year, Treasurer Linda Gardner-Goos estimates the city will have a little under $43,000 left in general revenue accounts to use as next year’s reserves.

Larry Wayne Davis, 18, and Brandon Terrell Green, 19, both of Jefferson City reportedly fled Marshall's department store in Osage Beach with stolen merchandise.

The Lake Ozark Fire Protection District was a recent recipient of a $2,500 grant provided by the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Forestry Division. The district used the money to develop a Community Wildfire Protection Plan, which establishes a plan to reduce wildfire hazards in the district’s coverage area. A main component of the plan is to work with the community to reduce a structure’s ignitability due to wildfires.

Dave Van Dee has his job back after the city of Lake Ozark reversed it's decision to terminate his contract as administrator. The 5 to 0 vote was announced by Mayor Johnnie Franzeskos after the Board of Aldermen met behind closed doors for nearly two hours Tuesday night. The motion was to rescind the Aug. 10 decision to fire Van Dee.

Despite the turmoil inside city hall, Lake Ozark officials are going to have to band together in order to educate the public on a $6 million bond initiative aldermen approved to be placed on November’s ballot. Without voter approval, the city is ineligible for grants and low-interest loans, placing a further burden on the total cost of upgrading the city’s sewer system.

Dave Van Dee might have a job with the city of Lake Ozark after all. Several days after the Aug. 10 meeting where aldermen voted to terminate the city administrator's contract, allegations rose that the vote was illegal.

A Miller County couple charged with kidnapping a five-year-old boy and leading state troopers on a high-speed chase in the New Mexico desert returned to New Mexico where they will face a total of 21 criminal charges.

The Lake Ozark Board of Aldermen voted 4-2 Tuesday night to terminate City Administrator Dave Van Dee's contract with the city.
Van Dee's contract has come under scrutiny recently as his one-year anniversary approached. Aldermen used the weak economy and slumping sales tax revenues as a guise to approach Van Dee about renegotiating his nine month severance package.

As the executive director for Citizens Against Domestic Violence/Victim's Outreach Center, or CADV/VOC, Fiene sees a lot cuts, scrapes, bumps and bruises. The minor injury could be from something as simple as a child falling while playing in the playroom at the emergency shelter or a mother grabbing a hot pan while cooking.

Fiene also sees wounds that can't be cured with a kiss and a smiley-face band-aid. There are broken bones, physical and sexual trauma and emotional pain that leave long and lasting scars on their victims.

Of course, the Band-Aids that fill Fiene's thoughts right now don't come in cute, character-adorned boxes at the grocery store.

First, there's the problem with the shelter's kitchen sink. After it continuously backed up, volunteers rigged a temporary solution by cutting a hole straight through to the outside wall and attached a pipe so the sink's contents drains to the yard.

Fiene estimates they'll have to spend around $8,000 for a permanent fix, which will involve removing the 1950s-era home's siding and drilling pipes into the concrete foundation.

It's an expense the Board of Directors for CADV/VOC was hoping to avoid as they applied for a $275,000 grant earlier this spring. The grant, part of a Community Development Block Grant, is the last piece of funding needed to build a new, 6,000-square-foot shelter for victims of domestic violence and their children.