STATE TROOPERS OUT IN FULL FORCE DURING FOURTH

Law enforcement agencies were out in full force, hoping to hold down the number of drunken drivers and traffic fatalities on roadways and waterways during the long Fourth of July holiday.

Extra Missouri Highway Patrol officers patrolled roadways, paying special attention to speed, seat belts and alcohol-related violations, as well as helping motorists.

"We have everybody out," said a spokesman from the Illinois District headquarters at Ullin. "Even the commanders are on the road."

The Fourth of July holiday weekend is a peak time for travel, with motorists taking advantage of the long weekend, including visits to waterways where they exchange cars and trucks for boats.

No fatalities had been reported in the 13-county Troop E District of Southeast Missouri through Saturday afternoon, but a number of accidents were reported. Fifteen accidents with four injuries were reported Friday and 17 accidents with 11 injures were reported during the day Saturday.

Final statistics in Southern Illinois will not be available until Monday morning.

One drowning death was reported in Bollinger County, where a 5-year-old Illinois girl drowned in a farm pond.

The body of Samantha G. Ross, 5, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Randol W. Ross of Collinsville, Ill., was recovered from the farm pond along county road 902, said Jim Bollinger, director of Bollinger County Civil Defense and county deputy coroner.

The Marble Hill Fire Department-Civil Defense joined a number of other groups in the search for the girl about 2 p.m. Joining in the search were members from the Patton Fire Department.

The girl was found in 12 feet of water. She was taken by air ambulance to St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, where she was pronounced dead by Cape Girardeau County Coroner John Carpenter at 3:10 p.m.

The Ross family was visiting in Bollinger County for the Fourth of July.

The long weekend started for many people started at noon Thursday, and will continue through Monday.

State troopers throughout the nation participated in Operation C.A.R.E. (Combined Accident Reduction Effort).

And, with thousands of boaters headed for waterways, conservation police, U.S. Coast Guard and local police monitored waterways.

The first Missouri traffic fatality of the holiday weekend was reported early Friday in a one-car accident in Pulaski County, when a Waynesville man was killed in a crash on Interstate 44, near Waynesville.

Since then, six more people died through Saturday afternoon, including Natan Weir, 14, of Ballwin, who died late Friday when the tractor he was riding ran off a Jefferson County road near Hillsboro and overturned.

Eleven people were killed in Missouri traffic accidents during last year's Fourth of July holiday. Some 1,906 accidents were reported during that 102-hour period; 1,018 people were injured.

The greatest number of traffic fatalities in Missouri over the Fourth of July weekend was 40 in 1972. Twenty-one died in 1995.

Large crowds of boaters were expected at Rend Lake and Carlisle Lake in Southern Illinois. Boaters and police, were thick at Little Grassy Lake near Carbondale and Horseshoe Lake in Alexander County.

Wappapello Lake is a big destination for boaters in Southeast Missouri, and more so this weekend with the Waterfest '97 celebration at Redman Creek Beach and Recreation Area from noon to 4.

Kentucky Lake is a popular boating destination in Kentucky.

SAFE TRAVELING TIPS

Missouri State Patrol officers offered some tips for staying safe while traveling:

-- Stay fresh and alert when driving. Take plenty of breaks and don't try to meet an unrealistic schedule.

-- Avoid peak travel periods, including tonight.

-- Avoid late afternoon driving when heat, fatigue and heavy traffic are a strain.

-- Choose a designated driver before going to a party.

-- Drive at a safe speed, allowing plenty of time and distance to react to traffic changes.

The same encouragements apply to boaters.