Region/state digest 05/07/05

Ste. Gen company faces fine for river pollution

ST. LOUIS -- A Ste. Genevieve, Mo., company pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to a misdemeanor count of polluting the Mississippi River. Southern Illinois Transfer Co. operates a marine terminal south of Ste. Genevieve. On June 26, 2001, the company dumped water from a barge containing petroleum coke into the river without a permit. The company now faces a fine of $200,000 and has paid partial restitution of $3,508.33 to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources as compensation for its response to the dumping. Sentencing is set for Aug. 5.

Court orders defrocked priest freed on bond

ST. LOUIS -- Missouri's Supreme Court on Friday ordered a defrocked priest to be freed from prison on bond, 10 days after it threw out the former elementary school counselor's convictions on charges that he exposed himself to boys in a school restroom. James Beine has been serving a 12-year sentence at the Farmington Correctional Center for the 2003 convictions, before the high court intervened April 26. Beine's release on $5,000 bond did not occur Friday, because paperwork was not completed before that day's close of business, a corrections spokesman said. Attorney Lawrence Fleming said his client likely would remain jailed until at least Tuesday.

-- From staff, wire reports