What Can Schools Do to Boost Security for Students?

In the wake of the shooting that killed at least 18 children at a Connecticut elementary school, is there anything schools should do to guard against such acts?

A couple of days after the grim news of a shooter killing at least 20 children and at least seven others at a Newtown, CT, elementary school, we know that police locally have beefed up patrols around St. Louis County elementary schools. The news is almost too great to bear, as evidenced by watching President Barack Obama choking up as he talked about the shootings on Friday. As a parent, I know that like you, I think nothing of sending my child off to school every day. We just cannot wrap our heads around the thought of teachers, who should be explaining the three R's, not getting between our children and a gunman. In Connecticut, Brenda Lebinski told Newtown Patch that her daughter is safe because "my daughter's teacher is my hero. She …

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Railroad Accidents: The View from Inside the Engine

A MoDOT blogger talks about his experience driving a train and warns people not to take chances on railroad tracks.

Man Struck and Killed by Train in Wentzville

The unidentified victim was wearing headphones and was apparently unaware of the train behind him.

- - - Updated at 5 p.m. - - -  The teen that was struck and killed by a train Sunday morning has been identified as a 15-year-old boy from Arnold. Mitchell Maserang, 15, was wearing headphones and walking away from the westbound train when he was struck at about 9:45 a.m. Sunday, according to officials at Norfolk Southern Railroad. Robin Chapman, a spokesman for the railroad who spoke to CBS News Local and KMOX radio said that even though the train blew its horn, the man never responded. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Maserang was going to be a sophomore at Fox High School in Arnold. He had been visiting his father and stepmother, Michael and Gina, in Wentzville and lives with his mother, Carol, in Arnold.   - - - Original …

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