West Newsmagazine Your online news source for West St. Louis County, Missouri

Good news for runners Runners are not at increased risk of developing knee osteoarthritis and may even be at a lower risk than the general population, according to research presented this month at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting. Osteoarthritis (OA) is a painful disease involving progressive damage to joint cartilage. Known risk factors for knee OA, which is common, include age, being overweight, injury or stress to joints and a family history of the disease. Speculating that regular running might contribute to OA but noting also that runners typically have a body mass index (BMI) on the lower ...

New in the neighborhood A grand opening celebration was held on Nov. 8 for the newest Casey Ray’s STL Dog Trainers location, 16528 Manchester Road in Wildwood Crossing. A graduate of the National K-9 School for Dog Trainers, Casey Ray has been training dogs in the St. Louis metro area for more than 10 years using his “Balanced Training” philosophy, which emphasizes the use of veterinarian-recommended obedience training, behavioral modification, dog psychology and overall education. Ray founded his business based on the understanding that dogs and their owners achieve their greatest success through training programs designed for their individual needs. ...

Five St. Louis area shopping centers – Chesterfield Mall, Mid Rivers Mall, St. Clair Square, South County Center and West County Center – will open their doors at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving, Nov. 27. Select department stores including Macy’s and Sears, as well as some specialty stores will be open at 6 p.m.; JCPenney opens at 5 p.m. Additional stores will open throughout the evening and into the early morning. Shoppers are encouraged to visit the malls’ websites for a complete list of stores opening times. • Chesterfield-Mall.com • ShopMidRiversMall.com • StClairSquare.com • ShopSouthCountyCenter.com • ShopWestCountyCenter.com “Shoppers are always looking ...

The Pennies Make Sense campaign conducted by the Ballwin Police Department and schools in the city has been an annual occurrence since 1994, but this year’s effort proved to be far from routine. The campaign this year yielded an all-time record $5,947, more than doubling the previous record of $2,471 set just last year – all for the benefit of  St. Louis Area Foodbank. If you’re counting, this year’s amount equals 594,700 pennies. And that’s a weighty matter – nearly 3,300 pounds worth to be more precise. Of course, coins of any denomination, as well as folding money, were cheerfully ...

Remember when Black Friday was an actual day – specifically the Friday after Thanksgiving? Sales, respectfully, didn’t start until the leftover turkey, dressing and pumpkin pies had grown cold. Then, in the wee hours of the morning, die-hard holiday shoppers would head into the cold to grab up gifts at “deeper than deep” discounts. Now Black Friday sales start popping up even before the Halloween decorations are back in the attic. Black Friday had personality when it was one crazy day. And the people who braved sleep deprivation, often freezing weather and limited quantities to get the last Cabbage Patch ...

To the Editor: Yesterday (Nov. 16), once again, protestors shut down traffic in Clayton. It is ridiculous that the lawbreakers can disrupt regular citizens with no parade permit and suffer no consequences in the name of “political correctness.” When are the law-abiding citizens going to wake up and stand up for law and order regardless of race or ethnicity. John Schroeder Wildwood   

To the Editor: Each week I look forward to the delivery of West Newsmagazine in my mailbox free of charge. West gives me the opportunity to learn what is going on in the communities and schools and what is being discussed in terms of changes, developments and legislative issues. I also enjoy most of the letters to the editor, and Thomas Sowell always makes me think about things in a way I may not have done otherwise. I assume that the reason the paper is free is because the people who advertise realize that the publication is widely read by ...

  The Parkway South and Parkway West hockey teams got together on the ice Thursday night and the sizeable, boisterous contingent of students and fans from both schools got their money’s worth and then some. South and West banged each other around the rink, played hard defense, skated fluidly, and scored but after three hard-fought periods, the clubs had to settle for a 2-2 tie in their Suburban South West contest at the Greensfelder Recreation Complex Ice Rink at Queeny Park. “It’s always fun to play a rival and Parkway West has been a long-time rival for many years,” Parkway ...

A pair of rowers from the St. Louis Rowing Club did well at the recent Head of the Hooch at Ross’s Landing Park in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The race was held on the Tennessee River and was hosted by Atlanta Rowing Club & Lookout Rowing Club. The team of John Jaeger, a senior at Ladue, and Hunter Wallace, a junior at Ladue, finished in second place with a time of 20 minutes, 24 seconds for the 5,000 meter race. Coach Andrew Black said he was pleased with their performance. “John and Hunter are among the best junior rowers in the country,” ...

If anyone still has any doubt about the utter cynicism of the Obama administration, a recent agreement between the federal government and the Minneapolis Public Schools should open their eyes. Under the Obama administration, both the Department of Education and the Department of Justice have been leaning on public schools around the country to reduce what they call the “disproportionate” numbers of black male students who are punished for various offenses in schools. Under an implicit threat of losing their federal subsidies, the Minneapolis Public Schools have agreed to reduce the disparity in punishment of black students by 25 percent ...