State digest 03/22/06

AmerenUE has plan to stabilize Taum Sauk

ST. LOUIS -- AmerenUE announced a plan Tuesday to stabilize the upper reservoir of its Taum Sauk hydroelectric plant by the summer. The plan requires a permit from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and would allow officials to safely continue their investigation. The repair is not meant as a permanent fix. The St. Louis-based utility has not decided whether it will seek to rebuild Taum Sauk, AmerenUE spokesman Tim Fox said. The reservoir failed on Dec. 14, causing a rupture that spilled more than 1 billion gallons of water.

Patient dies after being placed in scalding water

ST. LOUIS -- A 36-year-old man who had been in the state mental health system nearly all his life died last week after being placed in scalding bath water at a St. Louis County facility for the mentally retarded, authorities said Tuesday. The man died Thursday at a St. Louis County hospital, six days after suffering severe burns March 10 during a bath at Northwest Habilitation Center in suburban St. Louis, said Bob Bax, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Mental Health. His identity was not released. An initial investigation indicates staff neglect and a problem with the water system's temperature control function. The latter has been fixed.

Rottweiler kills northwest Missouri 3-year-old

JAMESON, Mo. -- A pet Rottweiler attacked and killed a 3-year-old northwest Missouri boy. The 130- to 140-pound dog was shot and killed Monday after it charged at a Daviess County deputy sheriff who was responding to the Jameson home where Quillan Cottrell was mauled earlier in the day, Sheriff Kevin Heldenbrand said. The mother discovered her son's body in the backyard when she went looking for him. The attack occurred while the dog was on a 25-foot chain. Authorities were told the Rottweiler, which belonged to the boy's uncle and was less than a year old, had not bothered anyone before.

Snow slickens roads in northern Missouri

The arrival of spring brought heavy snow to parts of northern Missouri, causing dozens of mostly minor accidents, but left the southern half of the state unscathed. Parts of northeast Missouri received up to 9 inches of snow that began late Monday -- the first day of spring -- and continued into Tuesday morning, part of a storm that dumped more than 2 feet of snow in parts of the plains. But much of Missouri was spared. An expected storm in Kansas City never happened -- a prediction for 4 to 6 inches turned out to be mostly rain. The snow-rain line split the St. Louis region in half. Parts of St. Charles County and north St. Louis County got 4 inches. The city itself got a dusting. It was rain only in south St. Louis County.