Having anxiously anticipated additional federal emergency-management reimbursements since the multiple flooding events of May, Phelps County finally received some assistance.

Mindful of the recent rescission of federal funding for upgrading off-system bridges, the Phelps County Commission discussed Thursday the urgency of using accumulated funds to replace or rehabilitate some of the county’s smaller bridges.

Rolla Municipal Utilities has agreed to purchase the building at 101 and 103 W. 10th Street — the Beger & Bushie Law Offices — with the intent of moving its Engineering Department and some of its billing operation there, RMU General Manager Rodney Bourne told City Council members Monday.

The move to the 12,000-square-foot building will begin “after the first of the year,” Bourne said as the City Council went into closed session.

Although the bond approval was the big issue during last week’s meeting, there were still a number of topics and discussions the board considered.

If the Rolla business people and residents who attended the Rolla Regional Economic Commission meeting were looking for a positive sign for improvements to U.S. Route 63 from transportation officials, it came in the form of an update on the Environmental Impact Statement.

“By the end of November, we should get environmental clearance,” said Tom Stehn, South Central District Engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation. “We’ve submitted it to the Federal Highway Commission. This is a very good thing for us.”

The Rolla community is a picture of compassion in action—as families are working hard to collect thousands of gift-filled shoe boxes.

Sgt. John M. Russell, 44, the soldier accused of killing five servicemembers at Baghdad’s Camp Liberty last May, including Rolla High School graduate Spc. Jacob Barton, 20, has been transferred from Kuwait to Butner Federal Medical Center in North Carolina, according to the Army.

During a brief City Council meeting, Newburg officials discussed the aftermath of the flood that hit the city two weeks ago.

Rolla residents will be voting on a bond issue in April after the Board of Education agreed Thursday to place the issue on the ballot.

The Phelps County Commission reviewed Thursday seven bids submitted by health-care insurance brokers seeking to provide health insurance for an anticipated 128 county employees in 2010.

Over 200 turned out for a sunny, clear day to dedicate Rolla's new Veterans Park. Music, speeches, and a commitment to continue the project through the cooperation of various organizations greeted the unveiling of signage and a recently completed parking lot. Veterans from all branches and from WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East were on hand to take part in the celebratory events.

Recent rate increases in wastewater treatment has the Doolittle City Council at least considering building it’s own plant at it’s meeting Tuesday.

For its only meeting in November, the Rolla Board of Education is stuffing the agenda to the gills.

Rolla area veterans got their wish on their special day — Veterans Day — as more than 200 gathered at the 10-acre site on Southview Drive to dedicate Veterans Memorial Park.

It is a site — and it was a sight — befitting World War II veterans and current-day Iraqi war warriors, and the multitudes and servicemen and women in between.

An early-afternoon, five-car pile-up near the Downtown Rolla intersection of U.S. Route 63 and Seventh Street on Wednesday resulted in two people being sent to the hospital.