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

Lucky No. 13? For Ellen Port, the number’s good. Port won her 13th Metropolitan Women’s Amateur Championship recently at Forest Hills Country Club. It was her first title since 2010. Port, who has won six USGA events, outlasted defending champion Catherine Dolan over 36 holes, winning by five strokes with scores of 72-70 for a 2-under total to win the 22nd annual MAGA Women’s Amateur. Her name again will be etched onto the Jayne M. Watson Trophy. “It’s been a good month for me,” Port said. Port, of course, was the captain of the U.S. team in the Curtis Cup ...

The field for the ninth Metropolitan Open Championship at the Country Club of St. Albans  is set. A total of 65 golf professionals from St. Louis and around the country will compete for a $15,000 first place check. Rounds 1 and 2 will be played July 10-11. Then there will be a cut to the low 40 scores and ties for the final round on July 12. While defending champion Drew Stoltz was unable to make it back to St. Albans in 2014, several past champions are in the field. Chesterfield’s Skip Berkmeyer, the inaugural champion in 2006, will tee ...

The Missouri Department of Transportation will close the ramp from Route 109 to westbound Route 100 for two weeks after morning rush on Monday, July 7. The ramp will be closed so crews can complete work on the roundabout at Route 100 and Route 109. To detour around the closure, drivers should take Route 109 to Old Manchester Road and use Taylor Road to reach Route 100.  The detour will be marked. The ramp should reopen by July 21.

Missouri State outfielder Tate Matheny has earned a roster spot with USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team, which announced on Monday its 24-man roster that will take part in international competition throughout the month of July. Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn and assistant coaches Rob Childress (Texas A&M), Ray Birmingham (New Mexico) and Steve Rodriguez (Pepperdine) will lead the 2014 Collegiate National Team. The USA scored a 6-2 win over Chinese Taipei on Wednesday (July 2) at Coleman Field at the National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. A 10th-inning played under international tiebreaker rules wasn’t enough to decide Tuesday’s series-opening ...

They knew the task would not be easy, but the Eureka Post 177 senior legion team stayed the course, and got the job done. Behind another dominant pitching outing from Brennen Lummus and some timely hits and walks, Eureka grinded out a 7-3 win over Manchester Post 208 Tuesday night (July 2) at Ellisville Athletic Association. “This was a good night for us,” Eureka associate head coach Cam Phillips said. “We knew that this was a big game for us in trying to stay in second place in the District and to try to get a little momentum.” Eureka (14-12, 8-4) took control of the game ...

Former De Smet Jesuit standout point guard and three-time captain Jimmy Barton is coming back to Missouri to continue his college basketball career. It was announced on Tuesday (July 1) that Barton will join the University of Missouri basketball Tigers as a walk-on. In 2012-13 as a senior at De Smet Jesuit, he averaged 14 points, 6 assists, and 3 rebounds per game. Barton earned first-team all state honors as well as being named Metro Catholic Conference co-player of the year. As a four-year starter for the Spartans, Barton earned first-team all state honors and also was named Metro Catholic Conference ...

Ballwin Days welcomes Company G,  17th Missouri Infantry, Turner Brigade to the festival this year. These Civil War reenactors will present a “living history” to Ballwin Days visitors showing what it was like to live – and to fight – during the Civil War period in American history.  They will be camped in Vlasis park from Friday, June 10 through Sunday, June 12 in the area immediately adjacent to the Schmidt-Dahlke log home. Members of the Ballwin Historical Commission will have the log home open and will conduct tours along with quilting and weaving demonstrations. Don’t miss this chance to ...

K9s in Flight, the premier canine sports show, is back at this year’s Ballwin Days festival. The show features world-class diving dogs, jumping as far as 25 feet off a dock into a 15,000-gallon swimming pool while trying to catch a toy, as well as some of the best disc dogs in the world leaping as high as 10 feet to catch a thrown disc. All of the K9 athletes were rescued or adopted from various organizations, and now travel the country spreading their “homeless to high-flying” message: “Adopt a pet, save a life.”

Ballwin Days 2016 marks the 36th anniversary of the festival’s Pretty Baby contest, an event which has to date raised over $73,500 for SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center. Since the first contest in 1981, over 2,077 babies have been entered for Pretty Baby honors.  A photo of each contestant will be on display in the Pretty Baby tent where family, friends and festival guests can cast their monetary votes. Each cent donated is counted as one vote, and special prizes are awarded to the four babies receiving the most votes at the closing ceremony on June 12. Cash or ...

As in previous years, no parking will be permitted in Vlasis Park during the Ballwin Days festival, except for vehicles with handicapped tags. Free shuttle service to and from the park is available from Target, located at Holloway and Manchester roads, and from Olde Town Plaza, 14980 Manchester Road.