BEWARE: Latest Scam Is Door-to-Door 'Cooking School' Sales

Youth pose as students of L’École Culinaire to sell phony magazine subscriptions, Better Business Bureau says.

Better Business Bureau just released this warning: St. Louis area residents should be alert for a new door-to-door magazine sales scam involving young people posing as students of L’École Culinaire, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) warns. L’École Culinaire is a legitimate cooking school in St. Louis, but magazine sales door-to-door is a fraud. James Grover, campus director for L'École Culinaire, said the salespeople do not represent the school. “None of our students would be out doing that,” Grover said. A homeowner in the 5400 block of Pernod Avenue, in the city’s North Hampton neighborhood, said she was approached by a young man and woman last week who asked her to buy magazine subscriptions to be sent to servicemen and women overseas. …

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Crime Time

Crime: Chesterfield and Crimes of Passion

Chesterfield police release recent incidents.

Sometimes police are called in to domestic disputes, or crimes against people and property that appear to involve anger management issues. Here's the most recent report, for Chesterfield. Police said: For more information, sign up for Chesterfield Patch newsletter. Click here See crimes of THEFT

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Crime Time

Crime: Thefts Include Copper Wire, Gold, Monitors, GPS

Chesterfield police report theft the past week.

Chesterfield police said: THEFT NEXT EDITION: Anger management resulting in crimes

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Knife Attack in Chesterfield Parking Lot

Late night incident.

Police said a victim reported an unidentified man slashed the victim with a knife, in a parking lot on McBride & Son Corporate Center Drive in Chesterfield Valley Saturday night, about 10:48 p.m. The victim had only minor cuts to the hands, police said, fending off the blade until the slasher took off. Police said the man struck out with the knife when he discovered the victim was watching him peer into vehicles parked on the lot. Police said any further information was being witheld in the ongoing investigation. McBride & Sons are builders, with coporate offices located in the round building on the corner of Swingley Ridge Drive at Olive Boulevard, however there is also a street with the same name in Chesterfield Valley. An earlier …

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Two Ex-Parkway Students Shot to Death

Chesterfield grandmother blames texts in mother-daughter deaths.

UPDATED 2:45 p.m., Wednesday Chesterfield native Amy Freeman Burton, 37, and her daughter Ainsley Freeman, 13, were found shot to death in their San Francisco Bay Area home Monday evening. They had reportedly moved from the St. Louis area in December. A Parkway School District spokesperson said both mother and daughter attended Parkway schools. Mother Amy Freeman Burton graduated from Parkway West High School in 1993. Daughter Ainsley Freeman attended Claymont Elementary School in Ballwin "on and off from kindergarten through fifth grade." According to the Pleasanton, CA Patch, Burton's husband, Christopher Burton, reportedly found the victims and called police. Investigators said Christopher Burton is not a suspect, but a "person of …

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Fire Officials: Chesterfield Mobile Home Park Most Dangerous In District

Monarch Fire spends $10K grant on outfitting mobile homes with smoke alarms.

Residents of Chesterfield's Mobile Home Park were found to be the most vulnerable to danger from fires in the entire Monarch Fire Protection District, fire officials said. So local firefighters have installed 230 smoke alarms at the Park so far, Monarch Fire Marshall Roger Herin said Monday. The most recently organized efforts were this past Thursday, and Sunday. Herin said the criteria for the high-risk determination included: A $10,000 grant was used to buy 448 smoke alarms, pamphlets, hardware and related tools to install. The alarms were installed with 10-year batteries. Special smoke alarms for hearing-impaired were also available, that typically include flashing lights. U.S. Fire Administration Assistance to Firefighters Fire …

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Ex-Parkway Teacher Sub Indicted On Child Porn Possession

Warning: The following article contains graphic content.

A former substitute teacher for the Parkway School District has been indicted on charges of child pornography and is scheduled to be the subject of a preliminary hearing Friday. Richard Ambler, 49, of Florissant, served as a substitute teacher in the district from 2009 to 2010, Parkway spokesperson Cathy Kelly said. Kelly said that in light of the charges, Ambler has been disqualified from any future work opportunities within the district. The FBI contacted the district about Ambler, a district official confirmed. In addition to his work as a substitute teacher, Ambler has been employed as a tennis coach at Lutheran High North St. Louis Christian School, Kelly said. Ambler faces charges of possessing child pornography on an external hard …

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Crime Time

Chesterfield Neighbors and Strife Lead to Police Calls

Not getting along is the theme here.

Social interaction leads to legal tangles in these cases from the Chesterfield Police incident log for the week.

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Jean Whitney

5:28 am on Thursday, May 3, 2012

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