Your World Today - October 14, 2011

Jump to: SportsObituariesWeather

News

Scroll Down for Sports, Weather and Obituaries!

For State-Wide News, go to the MissouriNet!

To read previous editions of Your World Today please visit our Archives Page.

The United States Attorney’s Office announced that 48-year old Mark Freeman of Salem and 53-year old Joseph Lato, Jr., of Kimberling City, MO. were each indicted on fraud charges involving the sale of real estate in Salem, MO. According to court records, they were each indicted by a federal grand jury on one felony count of conspiracy to corruptly give and receive commissions or gifts for procuring loans.  Freeman also was indicted on one felony count of misapplication of bank funds and one felony count of making false statements on a credit application. According to the indictment, Mark Freeman was employed as a loan officer and Assistant Vice President at Citizens Bank of Newburg, headquartered in Rolla. Joseph Lato, Jr. had a lending relationship with Citizens. Between July 2006 and April 2007, Lato sold nine real estate properties located in Salem. For each transaction, Citizens provided the financing and Freeman was the loan officer. According to the indictment, Freeman and Lato engaged in a conspiracy in which Lato agreed to give, and Freeman agreed to accept, monetary payments to influence and reward Freeman for his effortsin connection with the sale of the various homes that Lato owned. Freeman found the buyers for the homes and, in some or all cases, set the sale price. The indictment also indicates that between June 2006 and September 2007, Freeman devised and executed other schemes to defraud. His schemes consisted of arranging for the purchase of real properties that were collateral on defaulted or non-performing Citizens loans, and then locating subsequent purchasers of the properties at inflated prices to the benefit of himself and the interim buyers; coercing Citizens customers into purchasing properties they did not want as a condition to obtaining financing for other intended purchases and/or as a condition for the bank not declaring a default on existing loans; and altering and falsifying loan documents in connection with loans made by Citizens. Freeman's various fraudulent schemes caused substantial monetary losses to Citizens. If convicted, the conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000; misapplication of bank funds and making false statements on a credit application each carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and/or fines up to $1 million. This case was investigated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of the Inspector General, Assistant United States Attorney Reginald Harris is handling the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The Dent County Commissioners met for their regular meeting Thursday morning at the courthouse. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell reported that grading was going to be done on Dent County Roads 5170, 6090 and 6400, while rock will be added to Dent County Road 4180 and brush will be cut on county road 2460. Purcell said that two men would be servicing the 924 Cat loader, and others would be changing the transmission filters on Dent County Truck #117. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson reported that materials were going to be added and grading was going to be done on Dent County Roads 4260 and 4280, and that brush would be cut on Dent County Road 4380. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said that on Wednesday, the county commissioners and Dent County Clerk Angie Curley attended the award presentation of the Governor’s Award for Agricultural Achievement from Governor Jay Nixon to Helen and Leon Krysler. Skiles reported that the commissioner has received and signed off on the Collector’s report for September. The commissioners set their quarterly meeting for October 24th at 6:00 at the Judicial Building and the meeting will be open to the public. Skiles also presented to the commissioners a Memorandum of Understanding from the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce concerning the sharing of the website salemmo.com with the City of Salem and the chamber. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be held Monday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

The Salem Police Department released their reports involving a disturbance and tampering with a vehicle. On Sunday, October 9th at 2:44 in the early morning, an officer was dispatched to the 600 block of West Fourth Street in reference to a disturbance. The investigation led to the arrest of a 19-year old Salem female for disorderly conduct and peace disturbance. She was issued a summons to appear in court and released. Later that afternoon at 1:59 pm, an officer was dispatched to a residence in the 900 block of East Gibbs in reference to tampering with a vehicle. The investigation revealed that a person or persons unknown took the oil cap off of a motorcycle and put sugar in the fuel tank. Anyone with any information regarding the tampering with a vehicle report, which is still under investigation, is asked to contact the Salem Police Department by calling 729-4242.

October 17th through October 24th is Federal Radon Action Week according to Surgeon General. Health agencies throughout the United States have joined forces to promote awareness of the leading cause of lung cancer for non-smokers. The American Lung Association, Centers for Disease Control, and the National Cancer Institute all agree that radon is a National health problem and encourage radon testing during the October awareness drive. Radon is a naturally occurring, invisible and odorless radioactive gas. It caused more American fatalities last year than carbon monoxide, fires, and handguns combined. If a home has not been tested for radon in the past two years, contact your state radon office for information on locating qualified test kits or qualified radon testers. Learn more about the Federal Radon Action Plan at www.RadonPlan.org.

Sports [TOP]

The Salem Tiger football team will host Owensville tonight to begin District play at 7:00. Due to contractual requirements, the game will be heard on KSMO Radio and on-line at ksmoradio.com on a tape delay basis immediately following the St. Louis Cardinal’s playoff game. Salem enters the game 4-3 on the year.

The Salem Lady Volleyball Tigers lost to Mt. View Thursday in two games, 25-11 and 25-4. The JV also lost in two games, 25-14 and 25-15. The Lady Tigers will play in the Ozark Grand Slam Saturday.

Randy Wolf shined Thursday, tossing seven innings of two-run baseball to help the Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2, and even the NLCS at two games apiece. Matt Holliday and Allen Craig hit solo homers for the Cardinals. Kyle Lohse (0-2) allowed three runs on six hits over 4 1/3 innings to take the loss. Game 5 can be heard tonight on KSMO with the pre-game show at 6:30.

Loui Eriksson, Adam Burish, and Brenden Morrow each scored a goal, as the Dallas Stars held on for a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues. Matt D'Agostini and Chris Stewart scored for the Blues, who got 21 saves from Jaroslav Halak. The Blues will play in San Jose Saturday at 9:00 and in Anaheim Sunday at 7:00.

Missouri will host Iowa State Saturday, as the Tigers are 2-3 on the year and 0-2 in the Big 12. The pre-game show will be on KSMO at noon.

The St. Louis Rams will be in Green Bay playing the undefeated Packers Sunday at noon. The Kansas City Chiefs have the week off.

Obituaries   [TOP]

Funeral services for Robin Green of Cherryville, age 51, will be held Saturday at 3:00 at the Britton Bennett Funeral Home in Steelville. Visitation will be tonight from 4:00 to 8:00. Interment will be in the Gregory Cemetery in Cherryville.

Funeral services for Robert Garland Douglas of Salem, age 82, will be held Monday at 2:00 at the Wilson Mortuary in Salem. Visitation will be Sunday night from 6:00 to 8:00. Interment will be in the Cedar Grove Cemetery in Salem. Memorials may be made to the family.

 Memorial service for Edith H. Lutzen of Rolla, age 89, will be held Wednesday at 1:00 at the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Rolla. Memorials may be made to the Immanuel Lutheran School Tuition Assistance Fund. All arrangements are under the direction of the James and Gahr Mortuary in Rolla.

Weather [TOP]

Today..Mostly sunny, high of 71.
Tonight..Mostly clear, low of 41.
Saturday..Sunny, high of 72.
Saturday night..Mostly clear, low of 53.
Sunday..Sunny, high of 79.
Sunday night..Partly cloudy, low of 54.
Monday..Partly sunny with 30% chance of showers, high of 72.
Monday night..Mostly cloudy with a 40% chance of showers, low of 48.