January 23, 2019
Clearing the way
Around Town
The city of O’Fallon and the River City Rascals agree on lease for 2019. Pg. 4 Learn the art of making sweet maple syrup. Pg. 6
Business Peoples Bank & Trust Co. announce change in leadership. Pg. 7
Flip For Feature
Road crews from the City of St. Charles Department of Public Works work to push snow off of the streets during a recent winter storm.
Photo courtesy city of St. Charles
Road crews across St. Charles County work long hours in tough conditions to keep city streets clear when snow and ice hit the area By Brett Auten From ice-covered country hills to city streets with knee-deep snow, the area’s road crews are prepped for whatever may happen during the winter season. Ken Vehlewald is a foreman for the city of Wentzville Street Department. During his 17-year tenure at Wentzville, Vehlewald has pretty much seen it all, including the 10-plus inches that hit the area a little over a week ago. He is a veteran member of a crew that when called upon, work in the dead silence of night and during the shuddering cold
while the rest of us sleep. “It is roughest on the night shift due to your body not being used to working that late and bouncing around all night in the truck,” Vehlewald said. “Sometimes you may roll the window down for a little bit to get some cold air to help keep you awake, but you get through it.” And even during the worst conditions, life-threatening situations arise. So when local law enforcement and first responders need to get to a scene of an emergency, then drivers are pulled immediately from their scheduled route to assist. “Mother Nature closes it and we have to
open it,” Vehlewald said. “I have seen it firsthand, being able to save an individual’s life because paramedics or the fire department were able to get in and assist.” In Wentzville, and other neighboring communities, who, what, when, and where decisions on attacking the roads during lessthan-ideal conditions is a group effort. Vehlewald says that a collection of cities superintendents, foremen and directors pour over every local weather forecast, including the cities own meteorologist, receiving hourly updates on start times, projected accumula-
Recipe, Movie & Sudoku. Pg. F-1 CLASSIFIEDS AND HOME & GARDEN. Pg. F-2 /F-3 Moore On Life, Yeggs & Crossword. Pg. F-4
Weather FRIDAY Mostly Sunny 24/18 SATURDAY Chance of Snow 29/17 SUNDAY Mostly Sunny 29/21 FirstWarn Weather
See ‘CLEARING’ page 2
Serving St. Louis, St. Charles and Lincoln Counties | FREE Online at mycnews.com | Vol.21 No.4 | 636-379-1775
prepared by meteorologist Nick Palisch. For the latest updates visit www.facebook.com/nickswx.