Week in Review: Police Monitoring Garage Doors, Man Nabbed for Buying Meth Ingredients and More

Too busy last week to stay up to date on all the news happening in Wentzville? Not to worry. Patch has your back.

In case you missed them, here were some of the top headlines from Wentzville Patch from the last few days.

Your Open Garage Door: An Open Invitation

• Did you know that if your garage door is open after 11 p.m. and a police officer rides by, he or she will knock on your door to notify you of the potential for theft Officers on patrol in residential neighborhoods after 11 p.m. check for open garage doors. If they see one, they knock on the door and ask the homeowner if they were aware that the door was open. The practice is part of the Wentzville Police Department's effort to crack down on property crimes—in particular, car thefts and burglaries. 

Strategic to Wentzville's Future? Board Continues De-Annexation Discussion

• The Wentzville Board of Aldermen once again took up a discussion of de-annexation, specifically for a group of four homeowners in the Meadowbrook Estates subdivision. Three of the four homeowners were in attendance. 

• St. Charles County Department of Community Health and the Environment regularly inspects food service establishments throughout St. Charles County, except for within limits of St. Peters. Businesses are inspected one to four times a year or after public complaints. "Lower-risk" places, like gas-stations that serve pre-packaged foods, are inspected less often than "higher-risk" places, like a restaurant, said Doug Bolnick, spokesman for the health department.

Aldermen Left 'Flabbergasted' Over Parks Fund Snafu

• A discussion at last week's Wentzville Board of Aldermen work session about the city's Project Parks and its cost overruns developed into one about accounting—specifically, earmarking the 2010 parks sales tax for the construction and operation of the city's three new parks: Heartland, Peruque Valley and Splash Station. Several aldermen expressed disappointment that proceeds from the 1/2-cent sales tax had not gone into a separate account just for that purpose.

• A Greenville, MO man was arrested Feb. 28 in an ongoing investigation into buying pseudoephedrine for methamphetamine production. Ricky Coppedge, 32, of Greenville, MO was charged March 31 by the St. Charles County Prosecutor’s Office with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession of pseudoephedrine with intent to make meth.