Region/state briefs 01/29/03

Area anti-war gathering set for Saturday

A member of Veterans for Peace will speak at an anti-war rally on Saturday at the Osage Community Centre in Cape Girardeau.

The Southeast Missouri Coalition for Peace and Justice, an organization that opposes a possible war with Iraq, is hosting what is being called a "teach-in." It is scheduled from 1-3 p.m. and will conclude with an outdoor rally, organizers said.

The event will begin with a videotape presentation by Helen Caldicott, a writer, pediatrician and peace activist.

Sager will speak about the work of the Veterans for Peace. The group has rebuilt six water treatment plants in Iraq, coalition members said. A retired University of Missouri-Rolla professor, Sager has visited Iraq several times to oversee the water treatment plant projects.

A United Nations report in 1999 said 5,000 Iraqi children were dying monthly, said Bob Polack Jr. , an associate professor of social work at Southeast Missouri State University and a leader of the local peace coalition.

Sager blames the deaths on sanctions that arose after the Gulf War. Sager said the sanctions have made it difficult for Iraq to rebuild its water systems and left the country with a lack of clean water.

Lawmakers reject pay increase measure

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Facing a budget shortfall and noting that most workers have gone two years without raises, Missouri lawmakers voted Tuesday to reject pay increases for themselves, top elected officials and judges.

Lawmakers had until Saturday to reject the recommendations of the Citizens' Commission on Compensation for Elected Officials. Or they could simply have refused to fund the raises in the state budget, which typically is completed in May.

House members voted 151-0 to reject the raises. The measure does not require the governor's signature, Gov. Bob Holden's office said. A similar measure was rejected earlier Tuesday by a Senate panel, with the full Senate likely to do the same following debate today.

There was no debate on the measure in the House.

St. Louis group offers to lend train to state

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A St. Louis group of train enthusiasts is offering to lend locomotives and passenger cars to the state if Amtrak cuts its cross-state service on March 1.

Amtrak has said it needs $1.2 million from the state to continue running its twice daily passenger trains between St. Louis and Kansas City from March through the end of June. Otherwise, one of the trains would halt.

The American Association of Railroaders offered Tuesday to lend the state as many as four old Amtrak locomotives and several passenger cars so the train service could continue. The group even said it would provide volunteers aboard the train, although the state would have to contract with someone else to actually operate the train.

Ice, low water levels hamper river shipments

ST. LOUIS -- Ice combined with already low water levels on the Mississippi are reducing barge shipments along stretches of the river.

Members of the shipping industry are asking the Corps of Engineers to release water into the Missouri River to alleviate the Mississippi's low water problems.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard estimated Monday that the low river is costing the barge industry $1 million to $2 million a day in additional expenses and lost revenue.

Most barge shippers on the Mississippi River have lost 50 percent of their capacity because of low water levels, said Lynn Muench, a spokeswoman for American Waterway Operators, a national trade group.

-- From wire reports