Blunt picks Democrat for state transportation commission

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Gov. Matt Blunt names a retired judge to fill a Democratic spot on the State Highways and Transportation Commission

The six-member commission overseas the Missouri Department of Transportation.

Seventy-year-old Grace N. Nichols has been a senior judge in St. Charles County since 1997. She was mayor of St. Charles for eight years, until 1995. She also spent six years on the St. Charles City Council.

Nichols would replace fellow Democrat Bill McKenna of Crystal City.

The Senate must confirm the appointment.

McKenna's term expired a year ago, but Blunt decided to keep him on the commission to finish a plan for a new Mississippi River bridge in St. Louis. An agreement with Illinois to build the span was unveiled in February.