State briefs 4/4/16

St. Louis Zoo probes tourist-train accident

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Zoo officials said no visitors were injured when one of the site's tourist trains hit a parked one from behind, sending an engineer to the hospital as a precaution. The accident happened shortly before 3 p.m. Friday while about 150 visitors were on the two trains and an approaching train hit a parked one from behind while traveling at 8 mph, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Zoo spokeswoman Susan Gallagher said it's unclear why the approaching train didn't stop, but the accident was not caused by a mechanical failure. Accidents have been few on the popular 1.5-mile loop excursion line, which opened in 1963 and features gasoline-powered engines designed to resemble old steam locomotives pulling open-carriage cars. Ten people were injured when one train backed into another in 1970, and in 1998, engineer John W. Forsythe was killed when his runaway locomotive jumped the track and overturned. More than 35 million people have ridden it since it opened.

Formers Rams dome gets a new name

ST. LOUIS -- The domed stadium in St. Louis is getting a new name now that the Rams are gone. Since 2002, the financial firm Edward Jones has owned naming rights. But as of Friday, the Edward Jones Dome is being renamed The Dome at America's Center. The NFL in January agreed to allow the Rams to move to Los Angeles. Edward Jones canceled its naming-rights contract a month later. The firm paid more than $32 million over 14 years for the naming rights. The dome is part of the America's Center convention center.

Sex offender admits paying for child porn

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A registered Missouri sex offender pleaded guilty in federal court to sending money to the Philippines to view online pornography. The Springfield News-Leader reported 65-year-old Paul Sipeer of Duenweg, Missouri, pleaded guilty Tuesday to receiving child porn over the Internet. Federal prosecutors said he faces at least 15 years in prison. Prosecutors said Sipeer transferred money to people in the Philippines in amounts between $10 and $20 several times a month last summer to watch child porn. Sipeer admitted to investigators he sent about $1,200 to the Philippines to pay for child porn. He acknowledged downloading other child porn from the Internet.

-- From wire reports