St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 52

SC2 st. louis post-dispatch ST. CHARLES COUNTY POST Tuesday, December 7, 1999 postnet.comcommunities g) St Charles business has the ear of Rams officials weeks ago in Wentzville. The Wentzville bill goes so far as to set a ceiling on the interest rate payday loan stores can charge and even when the first payment can be made. Wentzville officials bluntly explained that they wanted a bill that produced an inhospitable climate for such enterprises.

But the Wentzville bill got the attention of several pawn and payday loan operators and the aldermen postponed final action on the bill until City Attorney Bob Wohler could review objections and Payday City joins effort to restrict ban shops Continued from page 1 the city of St. Louis in October when the Board of Aldermen introduced a bill limiting to 13 the number of payday loan stores in the city. Both the St Charles and St Louis bills are much less restrictive than a bill introduced three PEGGY BRADBURY Trial Jury weighs dispute over driver in crash Continued from page 1 how the youths' bodies were found lying on the ground, Bradford could not have been driving, she Brian Marino (left), 18, and his father, Mike Marino, of Southwestern Hearing Aids of St. Charles, examine a tiny hearing aid similar to the noise eliminator fitted for the Rams linemen. ground noise.

The team decided to give it a try. The Rams hoped, especially, that the devices would help their game against the Tennessee Titans on Halloween in Nashville. To program the hearing aids, Marino asked the Rams' quarterback to scream cadences, as he and his son measured the pitch and decibel range. Next, they measured the noise level at the TWA Dome during a game, which was close to 110 decibels, or the volume of noise generated by a jet engine. Normal speech is 60 to 70 decibels.

Finally, Marino and his son took impressions, or molds, of both ears from each of the six offensive linemen. The linemen are so large, "I almost had to stand on a chair to take impressions," Marino said. A correct fit is probably 75 percent of the art of fitting a hearing aid, Marino added. An imperfect ear mold will cause the microphone of the hearing aid to whistle with feedback. The new devices, called noise eliminators, were fitted in time for the game against Tennessee.

In the meantime, CBS sent a courier to Marino's office to pick up samples of the noise eliminators for a television show. The Nov. 1 issue of Sports Illustrated magazine announced that the Rams would use "electronic earplugs" for the Oct. 31 game against the Titans. The Titans complained to the NFL Fearing that the devices might interfere with the electronic communication allowed between coaches and their quarterbacks, NFL officials banned the Rams from using the noise eliminators.

The attention backfired in another way. Not only were the Rams banned from using the eliminators in the game, but Titan fans in Adel-phi Coliseum gave them an extra earful. "They turned up the volumes on the intercoms," Marino said. "It was so loud, (the Rams) couldn't even hear in the huddles, they couldn't hear each other talk Movies said. Damage to the interior of the car also proves this, she said.

The trooper with the Missouri Highway Patrol, which named Bradford as the driver, arrived after the occupants were put on stretchers, Alessi said. Hoffman testified that as soon as he woke up in the emergency room, a trooper asked him who was driving, and he told him, "I wasn't." Double Jeopardy, 1:45, 4:45 and 7:35 p.m. End of Days, 1:20, 2:20, 4:35, 5:35, 7:35 and 8:35 p.m. Pokemon: The First Movie, 1:30, 2:30, 5, 5:45, 7:30 and 8 p.m. Sleepy Hollow, 1:15, 4:30, 5:30, 7:15, 8:15 and 9:55 p.m.

Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, 1:30, 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. The Bone Collector, 1:30, 4:20 and 7:20 p.m. The Insider, 7:30 p.m. The Messenger: The Story Joan of Arc, 1:10 and 4:10 p.m, The Sixth Sense, 1:45, 5:40 and 8:25 p.m. The World Is Not Enough, 1:15, 2:15, 4:05, 5:05, 7:05 and 8 p.m.

Toy Story II, 1, 2, 2:45, 3:30, 4:35, 5:20, 6:30, 7:15, 8, 9 and 9:45 p.m. Troy Plaza Cinema 4 Pokemon: The First Movie, 3:15, 5:15 and 7:15 p.m. Sleepy Hollow, 3:15, 5:15 and 7:15 p.m. The World Is Not Enough, 3, 5:15 and 7:30 p.m. Toy Story II, 3:15, 5:15 and 7:15 p.m.

in Ericsson Stadium at Charlotte, N.C., was not a problem, said Miranda Walker, a public relations specialist with the Rams. With the playoffs looming, however, the Rams still may need the devices this season. Mike Marino declined to discuss how the noise eliminators work. "It's an engineered piece exclusively for them, so I dont want to say too much, OK?" he said. "We use technology that's there for the public; we have to customize it for them." Marino first learned about the hearing aid business as an 8-year-old, when he accompanied his father on house calls.

Eventually, his father taught him the business. Brian Marino hopes to become a broadcaster. He's been to the Rams' training camp twice. When the linemen saw the computers and other equipment to set up the noise eliminators, they were impressed, Brian said. "They said, 'Wow, I feel escort service, and he had dropped her off for a job, police said.

Mid Rivers Fifteen Opening Friday. AMC Regency Square Eight End of Days, 5 and 7:30 p.m. For Love of the Game, 4:30 and 7 p.m. House on Haunted Hill, 5:30 and 8 p.m. The Bachelor, 5:15 and 7:25 p.m.

The Best Man, 5:05 and 7:35 p.m. The Bone Collector, 5:10 and 7:35 p.m. The Story of Us, 5:35 and 7:40 p.m. The World Is Not Enough, 4:30 and 7:05 p.m. St.

Andrews III Blue Streak, 9:15 p.m. Inspector Gadget, 7:15 p.m. Stir of Echoes, 9:10 p.m. The Adventures of Elmo in Grouch-land, 7 p.m. The Runaway Bride, 6:45 p.m.

Three to Tango, 9 p.m. St. Charles Eighteen Anywhere But Here, 1:35, 4:25 and 7:10 p.m. Dogma, 1, 4:15, 7:05 and 9:50 p.m. I I Hearing aids fitted just for linemen screen out noise By Peggy Bradbury Special to the St.

Charles County Post By now, football fans know that the Rams won Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers 34-21 and ensured themselves a berth in the National Football League playoffs as champions of the NFC West Division. But few know that a St. Charles entrepreneur and his teen-age son could have played a part in upping the teams' chances for the victory. Mike Marino of Southwestern Hearing Aids Inc. is the guy who fitted an electronic bug in the ears of the Rams offensive linemen so that, no matter how loud the crowd got, they could hear their quarterback call signals.

Marino's son, Brian, 18, came up with the idea. Before he suffered a broken hand in practice this year, Brian Marino played football for Francis Howell North High School. The idea came during a game at the Trans World Dome. "You could see people calling time out on the field because they couldn't hear," Mike Marino said. "My son said, 'Dad, can't you make something so these guys can eliminate all this and just hear the I'm thinking, 'Why didn't I think of So Mike Marino, who has been in business with his father, Southwestern owner A.G.

Marino, since 1969, offered the Rams a new use for a digitally programmable hearing aid. The devices, which fit snugly in the ear canal, can be adjusted to eliminate much back ST. PETERS Woman, 32, is injured in 1-70 accident Friday A St. Peters woman was injured in an auto accident about 6 p.m. Friday in the westbound lanes of Interstate 70, just east of Highway 79.

An accident report by the Missouri Highway Patrol listed her injuries as serious. Christine Benedict, 32, was taken by the St. Charles County Ambulance District to Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital. She was treated for her injuries and released, a hospital spokesman said.

Another driver, Dmitry Samoylo-vich, 38, from Indiana, hit the rear of Benedict's 1999 Dodge Durango while she was stopped in traffic, according to the patrol report. Benedict's car was then pushed into a 1998 Nissan Pathfinder stopped in front of her. The Pathfinder was driven by Sheri Scott, 33, from Florissant. Scott and Samoylovich, who was driving a 1992 pickup truck, were not injured, authorities said. All the drivers involved were wearing seat belts.

ST. CHARLES COUNTY Man in critical condition after crash on Highway 61 A Monroe City man was seriously injured Friday after losing control of his car on Highway 61, north of Route A. Thomas Hagan, 55, was taken to St Joseph Health Center, where he Pet Of The Week SAM LEONBST. CHARLES COUNTY POST This 4-month-old female Lab mix is waiting at the St. Charles Animal Shelter, 2501 North Main Street, to be adopted.

She is housebroken and good with children. Phone: 949-3395. 'I A one foot away." That day, the team was called for eight false-start penalties on the offensive line. Rams linemen repeatedly jumped before quarterback Kurt Warner finished calling signals. The Rams lost 24-21.

Since then, NFL officials dropped the ban on the devices, which neither transmit nor interfere with electronic signals. "They haven't pursued it, basically," added Todd Hewitt, equipment manager for the team. Last week, three days before their game against the Panthers, the Rams were tight-lipped about whether they would use the devices. Hewlitt said that if Panther fans weren't excessively noisy, the devices would not be needed. Just the same, Marino and Larry Hungerford, an associate who programs the noise eliminators, were in and out of the Rams' headquarters at Earth City over the last month, fine-tuning the devices.

As it turned out, the noise level Order LAKE SAINT LOUIS Man charged with bringing wife to county as a prostitute A St. Louis man has been accused of bringing his wife to Lake Saint Louis this summer to work as a prostitute. Danny Volner, 45, was charged this week with promoting prostitution. If found guilty, he faces a maximum punishment of five years in prison. Authorities say Volner admitted bringing his wife to St.

Charles County to work as a prostitute because he needed money to support his drug habit. On June 25, police found Volner parked in the Cedar Ridge apartment complex off Highway 40. Residents had reported his vehicle as suspicious. Further investigation revealed that his wife was working for an New home? Step In to see us and you could eave up to 20 on homeowners insurance with our New Home Discount. Call today.

Bob Davis 2211 OrosteRd. St. Charles, MO (636) 946-6522 (636) 724-8903 AUTO HOME KWWHI rfMThLFt CIW tawin Fnly total tnsniu (oifMf kuakua tICAHfMllY Law was listed Monday in critical condition. According to the Missouri Highway Patrol, Hagan was heading south around 7:50 p.m. when his vehicle veered onto the shoulder.

He steered back to the left and lost control. He attempted to correct his direction by steering right, and the vehicle overturned. Hagan was ejected from the car. He was not wearing his seat belt, authorities said. He suffered a serious injury, according to the St Charles County Ambulance District Paramedics made it the scene, treated Hagan, and had him in the ambulance within six minutes, district spokesman Marty Limpert said.

Michele Munz Night Day Today The Lake Saint Louis Architectural Review Board will meet at 8:30 a.m. at City Hall, 1000 Lake Saint Louis Boulevard. The Lincoln County Commission will be in session from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Lincoln County Court House, 201 Main Street, Troy.

The Warren County Commission will be in session from 9:30 a.m. to noon at the Administration Building, 105 South Market Street, Warrenton. The St. Charles City Council will meet at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 200 North Second Street.

The Fort Zumwalt Citizens Advisory Committee will meet at 7 p.m. at the Administrative Offices, 110 Virgil Street, O'Fallon. The Warrenton Board of Aldermen will meet at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall, 107 South West Street. The directors of the Portage des Sioux Volunteer Fire Department will meet at 7:30 p.m.

at the Fire House, Church and LeSieur streets. Wednesday The Wentzville Board of Aldermen will meet at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall, 310 West Pearce Boulevard. The Dardenne Prairie Planning and Zoning Commission will meet at 7:30 p.m. at John Weldon Elementary School, 7370 Weldon Spring Road, St.

Charles. The O'Fallon Fire Protection District Board will meet at 8 p.m. at the O'Fallon Fire Protection District Office, 119 East Elm Street. Special purchase of Sew Serge Sewing Machines, new in factory sealed cartons. These machines will be liquidated to the public at a fraction of their original price.

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