Four people dead in Interstate 55 accident

PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. -- Four people died Wednesday in an accident on Interstate 55 in Missouri's Bootheel when a vehicle struck a tractor-trailer nearly head on, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said. The accident occurred at 10:45 a.m. near Portageville, said Shannon McGowan of the Highway Patrol in Poplar Bluff A southbound vehicle crossed the I-55 median and struck a tractor-trailer in the northbound lane, the patrol said. The truck driver, whose injuries were not disclosed, was airlifted to a Cape Girardeau hospital for treatment. The four dead were in the other vehicle. The patrol had not released their identities as of Wednesday afternoon because it was still trying to contact next of kin.

Tiny earthquake shakes St. Louis region

ST. LOUIS -- No major damage was reported after a minor earthquake shook the St. Louis region. The tiny quake, centered 10 miles southeast of St. Louis, struck around 11 p.m. Tuesday in East St. Louis, Ill., said Waverly Person, a geophysicist at the National Earthquake Information Center in Denver. It had a magnitude of 2.5 and probably doesn't signify a larger quake to come, Person said.

Man sentenced to 18 years for road-rage killing

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A man was sentenced to 18 years in prison for his part in an April 2001 fatal attack on a man who cursed at him and his father in a case of road rage. Thomas Brown Jr., 27, will serve 14 years for second-degree murder and four years for armed criminal action. His father, Thomas Brown Sr., 53, is serving a 22-year sentence for his role. The state argued the father and son, each weighing more than 300 pounds, attacked the 115-pound Edward Chacon about 15 minutes after he cursed them on the road.

-- From wire reports