Region/state digest 12/07/05

Morning accident on Interstate 55 injures three

Three people were injured in a single-vehicle accident in Scott County on Tuesday. A 3-year-old girl received moderate injuries, while Robert Woodson, 46, and Laura Woodson, 46, all of Sikeston, Mo., received minor injuries. All were taken by ambulance to Southeast Missouri Hospital. The accident occurred at 8 a.m. on Interstate 55, one mile south of Scott City. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the accident occurred when Robert Woodson lost control of the 2000 Mercury. The vehicle ran off the left side of the road and overturned.

Singer Guthrie rides rails to help Katrina victims

CHICAGO -- Arlo Guthrie famously sang about the train called the "City of New Orleans." Now he's riding the rails himself, performing in cities along the route to benefit musical venues and musicians who suffered in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Guthrie kicked off his Arlo & Friends benefit tour Monday night at Chicago's Vic Theatre. He and his fellow musicians planned to board Amtrak's City of New Orleans on Tuesday night for the 70-mile trip to Kankakee, where he is scheduled to perform today. Guthrie will disembark for shows in Urbana, Effingham, Carbondale and Memphis, Tenn. Willie Nelson is scheduled to perform during the final show Dec. 17 at Tipitina's in New Orleans.

Man charged over phony charity collection boxes

JOPLIN, Mo. -- Prosecutors have charged a man with placing fake donation boxes for the Special Olympics at two southwest Missouri retailers and are investigating the possibility that he placed as many as 200 similar boxes at locations in three states. Robert L. Winters, 63, was charged with two felony counts of unlawful merchandising in Jasper County Circuit Court after alleging placing donation boxes topped with suckers at Joplin retailers and then pocketing the cash. Attorney General Jay Nixon said authorities are looking into whether Winters may have also placed fake donation boxes in other parts of Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas.

State revenue down slightly in November

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- November was a downer for Missouri's net general revenue -- not because of how much the state took in, but because of how much it gave back to taxpayers. Figures released Tuesday show the state's net general revenue declined by 0.6 percent in November, compared to the same month last year. The reason for the overall decline is that tax refunds also grew to a total of nearly $70 million in November, a more than 150 percent increase over last November's refunds of less than $28 million. Individual income taxes grew by 8.5 percent to nearly $379 million in November.

-- From staff, wire reports