State digest 2/28

Paper plates sent in protest to lawmakers

BISMARCK, Mo. -- Paper plates -- symbolically cut in half -- will be piling up in the offices of Southeast Missouri lawmakers as part of a protest of planned cuts to senior citizen centers.

Because of a severe budget shortfall, Gov. Holden's budget for fiscal 2003 calls for reduced funding for senior citizen centers. The Southeast Missouri Area Agency on Aging stands to lose about $825,000 in state money.

And Medicaid matching funds are tied to the state's contribution, an additional $1.l million would also be lost. The $1.9 million total loss represents about half of the agency's annual $3.87 million budget.

Caroll Boren, administrator at the senior center in Bismarck, said the cut would be devastating.

"We are already in a hole," Boren said, noting that the center holds fund raisers just to pay bills.

"So my paper plates are ready to mail," she said.

Boren and other directors of Southeast Missouri senior centers are mailing letters protesting the cuts. Along with the letters, they're sending paper plates cut in half to represent the lost funding for a program that delivers meals to seniors.

Boren plans to send 75 plate halves, each bearing the name of one of the Bismarck center's senior clients, to Rep. Dan Ward. Another 75 will sent to Sen. Danny Staples.

Federal agency cites firm in fatal trench accident

LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. -- A federal agency is seeking about $4,500 in penalties for safety violations from a Grain Valley company after a trench collapse killed a Lee's Summit firefighter.

Roger Moorhead, 49, was off duty and helping S&W Excavation build the Summit Crest shopping center last October when an 11-foot deep trench caved in on him.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said the company did not provide an adequate stairway or ramp for an emergency exit from the trench. The citation also said the company did not correctly slope the trench or protect employees by mechanical shoring.

S&W Excavation does not plan to contest the citation.

Thieves steal eight cars being warmed up outside

ST. LOUIS -- It's a common practice on a cold winter day: Start the car, turn the heater on, then go back inside and let the car warm up.

On Wednesday, thieves in St. Louis took advantage of people doing just that.

Police reported eight vehicles were stolen, all in the same general area of south St. Louis, and all as cars were left unattended with the motors running on a morning when temperatures hovered in the low teens.

Carla Claghorn said she left her car unlocked because the key was in the ignition. She went inside for just a few minutes.

Authorities believe the thefts are part of an organized effort.

Illinois couple's deaths could be double suicide

MEXICO, Mo. -- Autopsy results indicate a double suicide as the cause of death for two Illinois residents whose bodies were found this week in an Audrain County field.

On Tuesday, Audrain County Coroner Pat Farnen and a forensic pathologist examined the bodies of John Campbell, 49, and Jean Horner, 31, both of New Canton, Ill.

Sheriff's deputies found the bodies after law enforcement officials in Pike County, Ill., called Monday and said they were searching for a missing man and woman.

-- From wire reports