A Hero's Dedication

Earlier this week, a stretch of I-44 was dedicated to Cpl. Dennis Engelhard, a state trooper who was killed last year on Christmas day when he was helping another motorist on the side of the highway and was hit by an oncoming car. Engelhard has been remembered as a hero and a giver who had a lifelong dream of being a state trooper, but since his death, an ongoing controversy has ensued about benefits for gay partners. Kelly Glossip, Engelhard's domestic partner, has sued the patrol's pension system, stating they denied him the survivor benefits given to spouses of heterosexual officers. For more about Cpl. Engelhard and the political and legal debate surrounding his death, read the latest installment of Ray Hartmann's monthly column, Think Again, here and in the January 2011 issue of St. Louis Magazine, on newsstands Dec. 28.