Region/state briefs 04/10/03

Guard rail repairs scheduled for I-55

A Missouri Department of Transportation maintenance crew will be making guard rail repairs today on Interstate 55 just south of the Route AB interchange near Scott City.

There will be one lane of traffic southbound from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. while the work is being done. The work zone will be marked with signs. Motorists are urged to use extreme caution while traveling near the area.

For additional information, contact the Missouri Department of Transportation's customer service center toll-free at (888) ASK-MODOT.

Hundreds rally at Capitol against budget cuts

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Hundreds of people representing different interests thronged the state Capitol on Wednesday to protest possible budget cuts and urge lawmakers to support tax increases.

The House last month passed a budget that would cover a projected $700 million shortfall by cutting state spending in the fiscal year that starts July 1. But the budget currently is being revised by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

About 400 school board members and superintendents from around the state held a rally, then lobbied lawmakers with stories of how budget cuts could affect their districts.

Dennis Cooper, superintendent of Bolivar schools, said his district was planning for a reduction of at least $650,000 next year.

Senate backs revisions in sentencing laws

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Senate gave initial approval Wednesday to a bill revising Missouri's criminal sentencing laws, but rejected an amendment abolishing the state's death penalty.

The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Harold Caskey, is designed to slow the growth of Missouri's prison population and reduce state spending as lawmakers confront an estimated $700 million shortfall in the next budget.

State budget officials estimate that Caskey's bill could save the state $10 million in the fiscal year beginning July 1, as well as $19 million in fiscal year 2005 and about $21 million in 2006.

Missouri is among several revenue-strapped states considering ways to reduce spending for prisons.

From 1977 to 2000, Missouri's prison population grew by more than 400 percent and now exceeds 30,000 inmates.

Caskey estimated that more than 1,500 prison beds would initially be freed up because of his bill.

Among other things, Caskey's bill would lower the maximum sentence for the lowest category of felonies to four years from the current five years.

Man sentenced in robbery, beating at horse ranch

TROY, Mo. -- A 17-year-old St. Louis man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in the robbery and attack of two men at an eastern Missouri horse farm.

William Smith pleaded guilty in February to assault, robbery, burglary, property damage, tampering and arson. He was sentenced Tuesday in Lincoln County Circuit Court.

All three people charged in the crime have been sentenced to prison. Carol King, 33, of Clarksville, pleaded guilty in February to first-degree burglary and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Her estranged husband, Tracy Lee King, 23, a one-time ranch hand, pleaded guilty to assault and robbery in December and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

The attack occurred in April at a horse farm near Elsberry owned by Bill Thompson, 61. Thompson and Kenneth Wilson, 46, were seriously injured.

Thompson is the former publisher of Saddle & Bridle magazine who had retired to his 56-acre Fieldstone Farm 60 miles northwest of St. Louis.

By police accounts, King suspected his former boss was loaded with cash and the trio went to the property seeking valuables.

-- From wire reports