Region/state digest 10/27/05

Vote approaches for Scott Co. water bonds

BENTON, Mo. -- The November election is the next critical step for Scott County's rural water district. Phil Lyon, president of the board of directors for the Public Water Supply District No. 4 of Scott County, met with Scott County commissioners Tuesday to provide an update. Voters are being asked to approve a bond issue to pay for the construction of the water district. "The Nov. 8 election is the big hurdle," Lyon said. The water district's formation was approved by voters during the April 5 election. While they haven't been soliciting heavily yet, volunteers have signed up more than 350 users, according to Lyon. A minimum of 1,000 is required. John Chittenden of Waters Engineering in Sikeston, Mo., said design work on the $19 million project may start right away if the funding is approved. Construction could begin sometime in 2007; next year would be spent signing up users, obtaining and filing easements, and selecting and buying a site for the treatment plant.

Barefoot man runs miles from Kennett police

KENNETT, Mo. -- A barefoot man ran two miles through fields to avoid police and was hospitalized after he was caught because he said he had swallowed methamphetamine, police said Wednesday. Bootheel Drug Task Force agents said Shawn Walker, 31, of Kennett was wanted as a suspect in a drug investigation. The chase began Tuesday afternoon when officers received a tip that Walker was running through yards in a Kennett neighborhood and had a lot of meth on him, police said. In fanning out, officers found a footprint and tracked the suspect north for nearly two miles across fields until they found Walker hiding beneath a large plant in a field, officers said. Officers found no drugs, but Walker told them that he had swallowed some meth during the pursuit, police said. He was taken to Twin Rivers Regional Medical Center at Kennett, where he was in police custody Wednesday.

Man executed for 1991 deaths of two sisters

BONNE TERRE, Mo. -- To the end, Marlin Gray maintained his innocence in the deaths of two sisters said to have been pushed from an abandoned Mississippi River bridge 14 years ago. Gray, 38, was executed early Wednesday at the Eastern Reception Diagnostic and Correctional Center for the deaths in April 1991 of Julie Kerry, 21, and her sister Robin, 19. A male cousin of the two young women, initially a key suspect, become the state's chief witness in prosecuting Gray and three others. Gray was pronounced dead at 12:07 a.m. He became the fifth person put to death by Missouri this year, and the 66th since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1989.

-- From wire reports