State briefs 12/31/03

Property taxes due today in Cape Girardeau, Jackson

Today is the last day to pay 2003 property taxes without being assessed interest for delinquent fees. In Cape Girardeau County, property taxes can be paid at the county administrative building at 1 Barton Square in Jackson or at 44 N. Lorimier in Cape Girardeau. Mailed payments must be postmarked Dec. 31, 2003. The last mail pick-up in Jackson is at 6 p.m. at the post office. The last mail pick-up in Cape Girardeau is midnight at the mailbox in front of the processing center at 475 Kell Farm Drive.

Scientists study St. Louis-area earthquake possibility

ST. LOUIS -- Geologists have begun working with Missouri and Illinois agencies to study St. Louis-area soil and bedrock, looking to better map the danger zones and safer places in case of a serious earthquake. The study announced Monday comes as many scientists and engineers suspect that the New Madrid Fault beneath the Bootheel area in southeast Missouri could produce a significant temblor within the next half-century or so. A series of earthquakes was linked to that fault in 1811-12, when the mid-Mississippi Valley was sparsely settled. Lesser-but-damaging quakes followed in the Bootheel in 1843 and 1895.

Missouri deer hunters had a record season this year

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- It was another record year for Missouri deer hunters. The state Conservation Department says hunters using guns killed 254,367 deer in 2003, up 2.6 percent from last year's record of 247,826. Missouri hunters actually killed fewer deer than last year during the regular 11-day firearms season in November. But more deer were killed during a 10-day muzzleloader season, a nine-day antlerless-only deer season and a two-day youth hunting season. The Conservation Department recorded 13 firearms accidents during the 2003 deer season, two of which were fatal. The safest year was 2000, when the department recorded four firearms deer hunting accidents. The worst was 1986, with 26 deer hunting accidents.

Boeing lands $9.6 billion Navy aircraft contract

ST. LOUIS -- The Navy awarded Boeing Co. a roughly $9.6 billion contract to supply 210 additional F/A-18 Super Hornets jet fighters and to design the EA-18G airborne electronic attack aircraft. Under the contract, announced Monday by Boeing's St. Louis-based defense division, the Navy will buy 42 aircraft in each of the fiscal years 2005 through 2009. The deal gives the Navy the flexibility to increase the number by as many as six per year. The five-year design-and-development program for the EA-18G runs from fiscal year 2004 until early fiscal year 2009.

St. Peters investigates possible meat tampering

ST. LOUIS -- Police and health officials in the St. Louis suburb of St. Peters said Tuesday they are investigating possible meat tampering after unspecified foreign objects were found in two packages of ground beef at a supermarket. St. Peters officials said there were no reports of any illnesses related to the suspected tampering of packages found at a Schnucks store there on Dec. 8 and last Saturday, and that the public was being notified merely as a precaution. Authorities were apprised Monday of the questioned packages, and preliminary analysis at the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department lab failed to identify the objects, officials said.

-- From staff, wire reports