A Roach man remains hospitalized from a head on crash Thursday on Highway 54 in Osage Beach.  The Department of Public Safety released the names of all three drivers involved in a car accident that caused Highway 54 to shut down in both directions at the Industrial Drive intersection.

At 10:17 a.m., a 1989 Chevrolet Blazer driven by 21-year-old Jason Pile of Roach crossed the center turn lane and traveled eastbound in the westbound lanes.  Pile's Blazer struck a 1997 Chevy Blazer S-10 driven by 17-year-old Kyle Simpson of Camdenton.  The head on collision sent both vehicles spinning.  An eastbound Jeep Wrangler struck Simpson's vehicle as it spun.  

Firefighters extracted Pile and Simpson from their vehicles.  Both were transported to Lake Regional Hospital.  Pile was seriously injured and Simpson sustained what police describe as moderate injuries.  The driver of the Jeep Wrangler, 37-year-old Vanessa Nelson of Camdenton refused treatment at the scene.  Osage Beach Police continue to investigate the cause of the crash.

Camdenton Mayor Mike Wackerman expressed concerns over the rising cost of 911 dispatching in Camden County.  A newly installed half cent sales tax provides raises to the six dispatchers who staff the dispatch center.

"We were told, directly from the sheriff, that the reason for it was he had to give his people raises; we found that kind of a challenge, because we thought that is what the sales tax was for," Wackerman said.

The city of Camdenton will pay the county $80,000 for emergency dispatch service in the upcoming fiscal year.  The cost is projected to jump to $106,000 in 2009.

"When you look at a budget that you have to help support go from $500,000 to $1.2 million and you have a percentage of that, you would kind of like to have some input in that, and we had no input," Wackerman said.

Camden County Sheriff John Page says it's no secret that the budget for 911 more than doubled in a single year, in part because of salaries from the sales tax, but argues that cities are billed by their percentage of emergency calls compared to the rest of the county.

"They get billed for the same thing as what they have been billed for in the past that's not going to change," Page said, "Yeah, there are some major increases due to pay, but we need to be able to keep qualified people--that is a part of it--and costs are rising."

Sheriff Page adds that cell phones contribute greatly to rapidly rising costs of 911 dispatching, and that the county still offers cities a decent deal.

A new acquisition for the Osage Beach Fire Protection District was put to an unexpected use last night off of A Road. The district was called about 8:10 for a stalled SUV on a low water crossing near Garrison Road. Fire Chief Jeff Dorhauer says a family, two parents and two kids, were trapped at the crossing with water already at the vehicle bumper and rising.

"Normally we'd have to go to a very dangerous operation where we'd set swimmers in the water trying to get to the van," Dorhauer said. "Luckily with the acquisition of this new aerial and its capabilities we brought it in."

The 105 foot Metz aerial truck that the department recently purchased proved its value to the firefighters on scene.

"We were able to fly it at a negative grade, send it out to the vehicle with two of our people in the basket, and one by one bring people out of the car."

All four were brought safely to dry ground without injury. Chief Dorhauer says that the truck performed flawlessly in a situation that wasn't expected.

"This isn't one that we ever thought about but when the call came out last night the crews on duty from their training responded it and it worked out extremely well."

The Osage Beach Fire Protection District was backed up by Lake Ozark and Mid County while the swift water rescue took place.

The Camdenton Police Department is adding to the skills of its officers with a new rifle program.  At the Camdenton board meeting this week, Police Chief Laura Wright got approval to adjust police policy to add in the new weapons.  Wright says the rifles and training will put the Camdenton PD on par with other agencies. 

"With the incidence of the increased violence, increased number of ammo, increased risk factors, law enforcement has generally been moving toward the trend of implementing rifles," Wright said.

"Several other law enforcement agencies in the area have already implemented the rifles and we are just following suit." 

The rifles are being brought in to handle specific strategic situations.  Wright says one example is a school shooting.

"We sincerely hope that we never have a school shooting, but we cannot take certain firearms and certain projectiles into that type of a situation because we need to make sure that we are able to isolate the target and not hit innocent bystanders."

Sergeant Chris Rector of Camdenton Police Department was recently certified to serve as a rifle instructor, which allows Camdenton to train on the weapons in-house.  The department plans on buying four rifles to begin the program.  The board of aldermen approved the change to the police department's use-of-force policy unanimously.

A partisan battle is erupting in Jefferson City with one week left in the session.  Republican lawmakers in the house have passed a resolution asking for a voter photo ID requirement to be placed on the ballot in November for Missouri voters.  Republican Represenatative Jim Lembke says the amendment to require the ID is needed to keep the process clean. 

"I'm shocked, I'm amazed, I'm outraged, I'm appalled, and any other adjective that you can come up with," Lembke said, "that there are members in this body that don't believe, that just as sacred as the right to vote is the ability that we safeguard that vote, that we know it's an honest vote."

Democrat Representative Paul Levota says this is simply a partisan political maneuver. 

"This is simply politically motivated to disenfranchise a group of people who either can't afford an ID or don't want to get an ID," Levota said. "But usually they don't vote for the majority party."

"This is a clear attempt to suppress votes." 

Representative Lembke says the people of the state should be allowed to determine the fate of the measure.  He says just because no one has a specific example of voter fraud doesn't mean it isn't there. 

"We know that voter fraud exists," Lembke said. "Because we can't point to any certain name of somebody that's convicted of it, we're supposed to be led to believe that is is not happening, that's ridiculous."

The measure is now headed to the senate after passing on party lines in the house. 

How would you feel about participating in a little role reversal with you local police department?  The St. Joseph Police Department is trying a new strategy as a result of limited officers and a developing neighborhood watch.  The department is looking for a generous sponsor to purchase two reconditioned radar guns that will be turned over to citizens.  The city wants teams of two residents to sit in their own vehicles and one person will put the radar gun on drivers traveling ten miles an hour over the speed limit.  The other will write the make and model of the car down along with the license plate.  Police will then determine if the plate and the vehicle description match and a warning letter will be sent to the car's registered owner.  A similar program is already in effect in Shawnee, Kansas, where residents are told to be as invisible as possible when they shoot the radar gun.  They are also told to call police if confronted by an angry driver.  Representatives of the St. Joseph Police Department hope this will encourage residents to handle some of their own speeding problems. 

The Camden County Sheriff's Department arrests three accused child molesters in a 24-hour period.

Thursday, deputies arrested an Eldon man accused of molesting a 6-year-old girl. Fifty one year-old William Rowden faces one count of first degree child molestation. Rowden's ex-girlfriend contacted the sheriff's department and told investigators that she believed Rowden made inappropriate contact with her 6-year-old daughter. Rowden is in jail with a bond set at $100,000 and a May 15 court date.

An investigation that began April 14 concluded Wednesday night with the arrest of 56-year-old Walter L. Chester of Camdenton. Chester stands accused of inappropriately touching an 8-year-old girl. Investigators first took up the case when the girl told school officials that an older neighbor made sexual contact with her. Chester is in the Camden County Adult Correctional Facility on child molestation charges. An Associate Circuit Judge set his bond at $150,000 dollars.

Camden County Sheriff John Page says the arrests fell within the same time frame by circumstance.

"It's a sad state of affairs that we've had these cases come up this close together, but we just had 3 of them in the last 30 days, and the officers were put on alert that the warrants were down and to watch for these individuals, and it just all came to fruition at the same time," Page said.

Sheriff Page adds that the addition of full-time child abuse investigator Stacy Moser allows child abuse cases in Camden County to move at a faster pace.

All new developments in Camdenton must hook up to the city water and sewer system.  New septic tanks and wells are virtually banned.  The Camdenton Board of Aldermen gave final approval to the water and sewer mandate this week. 

The bill stirred a great deal of debate for several weeks, leading to a compromise that allows for extenuating circumstances.  Ward III Alderman Sandy Osborn says it's important to include some case-by-case stipulations in the ordinance.

"Taking into consideration a number of factors: the layout of the land, the possibility of future expansion in the area, so on and so forth, is the biggest thing that, I think, pulled the board all together on it," Osborn said.

Camdenton Mayor Mike Wackerman says the ordinance contains a clause that leaves the city approachable for out of the ordinary developments, in which case the city could shoulder some of the cost of hooking a development on to the water and sewer system.

"What has happened in the past, and having been involved in it directly, I know that the people didn't feel like that and that if someone told them ‘no,' other than the board, that was the gospel truth," Wackerman said, "This allows, in the ordinance for them to have an avenue."

Alderman Osborn ultimately supports the idea of an appeal process, where cost sharing could be negotiated.

"In addition to the board being able to make the decision of cost sharing, it also allowed the public, if they had disagreements with the city's determination, to come to the full board for an appeal process," Osborn said.

The Camdenton Board of Aldermen unanimously approved the water and sewer mandate.