CAPE GIRARDEAU GIRL WILL VISIT GOVERNOR'S MANSION MONDAY

A 10-year-old Cape Girardeau girl is among Missouri youngsters scheduled to participate in the Missouri Safe Kids Summit Monday in Jefferson City.

Christina Leimer and a number of other youngsters will meet with the governor's wife Jean Carnahan and Dr. Coleen Kivlahan, director of the Missouri Department of Health.

All of the children are safety advocates. Some have suffered injuries that could have been prevented with appropriate precautions, such as bicycle helmets, smoke detectors, or child safety seats; some have been saved from major injury by such devices; some participate in important safety activities in their communities.

Two boys who will in Jefferson City Monday, also attended the National Safe Kids Summit in Washington, D.C., earlier this month. They met with a U.S. Senate Labor and Human Resources subcommittee to tell their stories about how the injuries they suffered could have been prevented.

Those who represented the state in Washington, D.C., were Jesse Crocker, 14, of Jefferson City, who lost his foot after being caught in a mobile home fire, and Marcus Young, 14, of Kansas City, who suffered a head injury in a bicycle collision when he was not wearing a helmet.

Other children who plan to attend the summit Monday are: from Ashland, Heather Zumwalt, 4; from Hallsville, Katie Williamson, 4; from Jefferson City, Alice Kunce, 10; from Kansas City, Jennifer Smith, 9; from Moberly, Marcus Haque, 6, Hana Haque, 3, and Farris Haque, 2; from Springfield, Trent Bland, 4; from St. Louis, Christopher Ricci, 13, Daniel Imhoff, 8, and Laurel Imhoff, 13; from Webb City, Brandon Reed, 5.