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

The Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association has  announced the 2015 Amateur Championship will be conducted July 30 – Aug. 1 at Boone Valley Golf Club.  This will be the silver anniversary of the area’s most prestigious amateur championship and the coveted Jim Tom Blair Trophy. Bryan McMurray, General Manager of Boone Valley Golf Club, said he is pleased with the opportunity to host this edition of the Amateur. “On behalf of Boone Valley’s ownership and membership we are excited to host the 2015 Metropolitan Amateur Championship.  Boone Valley has a history of hosting great championships,” McMurray said. “The venue will provide players ...

The recruiting process will not continue into the fall for Fort Zumwalt North guard Zach Glotta. Glotta, a standout senior-to-be backcourt player for the Panthers has given a verbal commitment to Ohio Valley Conference member Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tn. Glotta, who spent his summer playing for the Gateway basketball club 17 and under team, will begin his senior season as a four-year starter running the Zumwalt North offense at point guard under the direction of his dad, Coach Charles Glotta. In his junior season, Glotta averaged 15.1 points,  2.6 rebounds, 3.6 steals, and 4.5 assists per game ...

New York’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, like so many others who call themselves “progressive,” is gung-ho to solve social problems. In fact, he is currently on a crusade to solve an educational problem that doesn’t exist, even though there are plenty of other educational problems that definitely do exist. The non-existent problem is the use of tests to determine who gets admitted to the city’s three most outstanding public high schools — Stuyvesant, Bronx Science and Brooklyn Tech. These admissions tests have been used for generations, and the students in these schools have had spectacular achievements for generations. These achievements ...

MICDS midfielder Harry Wellford has made a verbal commitment to play Division I Lacrosse at the University of Virginia. The program is widely-known for its recruiting successes mainly from the East Coast; Wellford is the first St. Louis lacrosse player to commit to an Atlantic Coast Conference school. After considering Duke, Princeton, Georgetown, Notre Dame and a few others, Wellford decided on the Cavaliers. In addition to having the opportunity to play for the all-time winningest coach, Don Starsia, Wellford is excited to attend one of the best academic schools in the nation where he plans to study business or ...

  Lindenwood University product Pierre Desir has been working diligently in training camp the past two weeks with the Cleveland Browns. The fourth round pick from Francis Howell Central had his first action just over a week ago in the Browns intersquad scrimmage in Akron, Ohio. On Saturday (Aug. 9), Desir got to see his first preseason action as an NFL player in the Browns preseason opener at Ford Field in Detroit against Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson, and the Detroit Lions. Desir got into the game at left cornerback in the first half and missed a few tackles. He was ...

Dystopian futures and explosive action comes to the big screen this weekend.

There is a quiet oasis in West County where people go to remember and pay tribute to their late pets. Wildwood resident Dr. Dennis Eschbach, a pet chiropractor, has had 13 pets buried over about 20 years at Memory Park Pet Cemetery, located at 1457 Boly Lane in Twin Oaks. He and his wife have four more plots reserved for their current dogs. “We wanted a nice place to be able to visit them after they were gone,” said Eschbach, who described Memory Park as a “perfect, very calm and peaceful place that they keep up beautifully.” Memory Park was ...

The Fort Zumwalt School District will continue to test its athletes – both on and off the field – for the effects of concussions. The district will utilize the ImPACT testing program again next year for its high school athletes involved with football, soccer and cheerleading. Brandon Larkin, M.D., with Advanced Bone and Joint in St. Peters, presented the results from the latest ImPACT testing at the Board of Education meeting on July 21. ImPACT is a computerized neurocognitive test used to evaluate athletes who have sustained a concussion. The test looks at eight key neurocognitive domains, including: impulse control, ...

Westminster Christian Academy graduate Jacob Turner has a new team to pitch for. The Chicago Cubs acquired Miami Marlins right-hander Jacob Turner, whom they also claimed on waivers. The Marlins received Class-A pitchers Jose Arias and Tyler Bremer in return. Turner will be the latest reclamation project for pitching coach Chris Bosio, joining recently acquired Felix Doubront. Turner, a St. Charles native whom the Tigers selected with the ninth pick of the 2009 draft, never lived up to his potential, going 9-21 with a 4.77 earned-run average for the Tigers and Marlins. He made 20 starts for the Marlins last ...

The River City Rascals kept hold of their slim lead over the rival Gateway Grizzlies in Frontier League West Division race for another day. On Friday night (Aug. 8) at TR Hughes Ballpark, the host Rascals won the first game of a twi-night doubleheader against the Florence (Ky.) Freedom and then lost the second game for a split. That coupled with winning over the Freedom on Wednesday night  (8-3) gave them a 2-1 series win. Bryce Shafer took the hill for River City in the opening game. Shafer, making his first start in nearly two weeks was sharp as he ...