Region digest 08/02/03

Morley sales tax up for five-year renewal

BENTON, Mo. -- Morley voters will have the opportunity to renew their city sales tax at the polls Tuesday.

The city has had the half-cent sales tax for five years, said Mayor Hallie Granville, and this is the first renewal opportunity.

If approved by a simple majority of voters, the tax would be effective Jan. 1, 2004, through Dec. 31, 2008.

"We really need this sales tax," Granville said, because the state recently lowered franchise taxes on utilities. The tax money goes into Morley's general fund.

In the other election to be held in Scott County, voters in the Chaffee School District will decide a general obligation bond question. Officials are seeking $500,000 through the bonds for buildings, improvements, furnishings and equipment leased by the district.

Illinois teen dies in Lake of the Ozarks accident

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. -- An Illinois teenager has died in a jet ski accident on the Lake of the Ozarks, the Missouri State Water Patrol said.

The patrol said Andrew Kolhenberger, 14, of Columbia, Ill., was killed Thursday after the jet ski he was operating was struck on the side by another jet ski driven by another Illinois teenager. The patrol said the boys had been operating their watercraft recklessly.

Rules for taxi drivers get nod from circuit judge

ST. LOUIS -- Taxi drivers in the region will have to speak English, follow a dress code unless their religious beliefs do not allow it, and retire old cars.

The new Metropolitan Taxi Commission and its rules affecting nearly 1,900 drivers remain in place after a judge found the organization was not unconstitutional.

A St. Louis circuit judge's decision Thursday left in place the nine-member Metropolitan Taxi Commission that recently established rules for area cab drivers.

The Missouri Legislature created the group last year to regulate taxi operations in St. Louis and St. Louis County.

The attorney for Cab Owners and Drivers, Herman Jimerson, said he would appeal the ruling.

The commission requires drivers to speak English and wear white shirts, black slacks and black shoes. The judge ordered the commission to modify the dress code for drivers who cannot comply for religious reasons.

Woman sentenced to prison for importing meth

ST. LOUIS -- A St. Louis woman was sentenced Friday to more than five years in prison for importing methamphetamine into the St. Louis area from Mexico, U.S. Attorney Ray Gruender said.

Melisa Sue Hearty, 23, pleaded guilty to federal charges in May.

In July 2002, Hearty and her boyfriend mailed two guitars, each containing approximately two ounces of methamphetamine, to St. Louis from Mexico, Gruender said. The guitars and their contents were intended for Mindy Lynn Cox, who was previously sentenced to more than nine years in prison for her involvement.

-- From wire reports