St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 13

B3 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH METRO WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 2001 $5,000 is offered for clues to killer of Alton teen Radio Child molester will lose broadcast license Continued from Bl tices on the part of its parent company, GenCorp. Still, such severe FCC action is rare. Spokeswoman Audrey Spi-vack said she and fellow staff members could not even recall the last time the FCC revoked a license for character reasons. However, the FCC has revoked the licenses of convicted drug traffickers in accordance with unrelated drug laws.

"You're not going to find a broadcaster out there who will defend this guy's right to own a station," said Ron Rodrigues, editor of Radio Records, a trade publication. "This is the wrong case to take a stand on." Still, employees at Rice's Missouri stations say Rice deserves another chance. "Now, we hope justice will prevail," said Bill Ummelmann, KBMX general manager. "Running a station has nothing to do with an owner's personal life." Reporter: Diane Toroian E-mail: Phone: 314-340-8343 Andrews said. "We thought maybe somebody would sell someone else out for it." Andrews said such a reward was rare for Jersey County.

Vera Black, Kristy Black's grandmother, said the family members will not be able to move on with their lives without knowing what happened to her. "We are really lost because we just don't know what happened," Vera Black said Tuesday. "That's what's so hard about it We just have to hope, wait and pray." Kristy Black's family last saw her about 1 a.m. June 9 when she left to go to a friend's house in Alton. Police later discovered that Black never went to the home, Andrews said.

Instead she visited a nightspot in St Louis with several friends then went back to a house in Alton. Police have given polygraph tests to several people with her that night, Andrews said. They told police said the group went to bed about 4 a.m. and Black was gone when they woke up later that morning. Police pulled Black's body out of the Mississippi River on June 13 near Grafton.

She had been stabbed several times. She had died 24 to 72 hours earlier, Andrews said. Black, an honor student at Ca-hokia High School, was found wearing only shoes and a watch, and was wrapped in a multicolored blanket. The blanket most likely came from a hotel room, The Supreme Court opted in March not to hear the case. Rice has filed an appeal with the commission, urging it to review new evidence.

He said information about his illness was never presented to the FCC. Radio analysts say they doubt the FCC's revocation signals the start of a moral crusade to strip unsavory owners of their licenses. That's largely because owners today are hundreds of stockholders, not individuals. That said, the FCC has revoked licenses based on the character of a company as an institution. For instance, the FCC stripped the RKO radio chain of its licenses in 1987 after finding unethical business prac- Jersey County authorities say reward may spur investigation forward By Heather Ratcliffe Of the Post-Dispatch The Jersey County Sheriffs Department is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the killer of an Alton teenager.

Martin Andrews, chief sheriffs deputy in Jersey County, said the investigation into the killing of Kristy Black, 17, had stalled. "The case was going nowhere," Bi-State exults Ridership in May rose 19 percent over same month last year BY DOUG MOORE MetroLink ridership has risen mure man expecieu since uie new line in St Clair County opened in Mav. and the 19 Der- cent increase over last year has lirjhr rail nnprntnrc ru7Anlrinrr eta- ULS1 KTVUIUllg UU. tion parking to better accommo- date commuters. "Ridershin is much hetter than predicted.

Much better," said flOW THROUGH SUNDAY! Andrews said. He said Black's body was probably dropped off a bridge along the Great River Road or dumped at the Piasa Harbor Boat Ramp. Investigators believe Black was probably killed in Alton, although her body was discovered in Jersey County, Andrews said. The Jersey County sheriffs department, with few resources to devote to the case, will lead the investigation until police determine where the crime occurred. Authorities are looking for anyone who may have seen Black alive June 10-12.

To reach the Jersey County Sheriffs Department, call 618-498-6881. Reporter Heather Ratcliffe: E-mail: Phone: 618-659-3637 MetroLink line Bi-State is redesigning its Fifth and Missouri station in East St Louis by removing bus loops and adding parking. As a result, Bi-State will probably not renew leases it has on two nearby parking lots when the leases expire later this year. Irwin said Bi-State would continue to lobby the federal government for funding of MetroLink from Scott Air Force Base to Mid-America Airport "If we don't do it, 25 years from now people will say: 'What were we thinking Irwin said. "We're doing everything we can to convince the federal government this is the right thing to do." As for a line to Madison County, "there really aren't any plans for MetroLink in the immediate future," Irwin said.

Madison County voters in November 1997 voted down a half-cent sales tax to fund MetroLink there. Reporter Doug Moore: E-mail: Phone: 618-23S-O260 a power supplier vestments, primarily in nuclear plants, that went bad the board negotiated the reduced rates. At Illinois Power, which serves nearly all of the Metro East area, rates were reduced 15 percent on Aug. 1, 1998, and will drop another 5 percent on May 1. Reporter Jim Getz: E-mail: Phone: 618-659-3639 IT lorn Irwin, executive director ot Bi-State Development Agency during a Rotary Club meeting mam puyuur Ben un ai bet Jr Tuesday in Granite City.

Irwin had been invited to the meeting to discuss the future of Bi-State. in May uuu, oeiore tne 17.4-mile extension onened in Illi Wonl lAnnl Qlflnrl Ciai iiuui iivui wigiiu wwii Silk Wool Blend Sportcoafs. Iimh 'lettuce soo, i Wool mart Approved L-iOOH 99' ttM brim 95 wjvwvf wmvueup jurcmrcir rmov ruiiy wceTOj out mips limit mil: www.bettemwrowear.com HJi HU. SM mm rMH Head of utility watchdog group urges public to pick i Cotton Slacks Wool Blend Slacks i Feldini Sportshirts Havana Sportshirts hywi ut vesxi ww. iwm iu, wciuim 2 ByJimGetz Xklt lace tlnn 1 A mraitkc nn hpfnrp rpcirlpnrinl rnctnmprc in Il linois can choose their electricity MmdMulmdAUuxJE9K ST.

LOUIS 1 1002 Old Halls Ferry Road 314-653-9426 BRIDGETON 12478 St. Charles Rock 314-739-1209 ST. LOUIS 4151 Lindell Boulevard 314-533-0555 FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS 5 Ludwig Drive 618-398-7199 ouyyuLf uic picaiuciu ui uic utility watchdog group in the state iflilB for norr kxvmmt on new Illinois by Illinois riders has Bi-State and the St Clair County Transit District adding parking to its Memorial Hospital and Southwestern Illinois College stations. This Bi-State will add 100 more parking spaces at the hospital lot, giving that station 305 spots. Meanwhile, the transit district has agreed to lease from the college 300 additional spaces for MetroLink riders.

Those spaces should be available by the time fall classes begin next month, said Bill Grogan, managing director of the St. Clair County Transit District The college is expected to build more parking spaces for its students to make up for the spaces it leases near the MetroLink station to the transit district. Bi-State expects the college station to get some relief in mid-2003, when the Shiloh-Scott Air Force Base station opens, said Bi-State spokesman Cathie Farroll. There, 500 parking spaces for civilians and 200 spaces for military personnel are to be built is high. The Illinois law allows utilities to sign long-term contracts with power suppliers in addition to buying off the spot market, where prices fluctuate; California did not allow such agreements.

The law is phased in over several years, giving utilities, large industries and smaller consumers time to prepare and, it is hoped, develop a thriving market by the time rate reductions come off in 2005 so that competition would keep prices low. Fritz said the Citizens Utility Board saw how competition for residential customers had been slow to emerge in California because power suppliers chase the bigger eaters of energy: large industries. In exchange for allowing Illinois' electric companies to get their customers to pay off the utilities' "stranded costs" in him. The state and federal courts, including the Supreme Court, ruled several times against Mallett's claim of discrimination, saying he had received a fair trial. Michael J.

Gorla of St Louis, who was Mallett's last appeals lawyer, restated the argument in the clemency petition. Earlier Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Gorla's final appeal, which argued thatthe trial judge didn't give the jury adequate instructions to consider Mallett's state of mind at the time of the murder. The court rejected it without comment Reporter Tim O'Neil: E-mail: Phone: 314-340-8132 Sug RetaHPnca $49.95 Authorized Dealer 1 over ridership nois, the light rail system carried 1,153,800 during the 31-day period. For May 2001, MetroLink had 1,375,250 passengers, an increase of 221,450 from the same time last year.

The line opened May 5 for two days of free rides before officially opening as a fare system. Bi-State does not break down the number of riders per leg of the light rail system, said spokesman Linda Hancock-Ross. June ridership numbers will not be available for another two weeks, she said. While the numbers are increasing with more stops, fewer used MetroLink to attend Fair St. Louis this year.

Last year, 405,800 fairgoers rode MetroLink to the three-day fair. This year, only 280,122 riders took the train to the fair. Hancock-Ross said having Independence Day fall in the middle of the week was the most likely contributor to a decline in ridership. The healthy use of MetroLink doesn't mean anything unless you take advantage of it," Fritz said Tuesday afternoon in Edwards-ville, one of several media tours he is making around the state. The Illinois Legislature formed the Citizens Utility Board in 1983 to serve residential and small-business utility ratepayers.

The board, which is run by a 20-member administrative panel, is funded by consumers and a grant The board intervenes on behalf of consumers before the Illinois Commerce Commission, files suits and provides consumers with information about utilities. Fritz said Illinois had several advantages over California for deregulation to take place: Unlike in California, several new power plants were built in Illinois in the 1990s, including new natural gas-fired "peakers" designed to operate when demand struggle. "People don't want to hear that," Mallett said. "People tell me that if I want clemency from the governor, I need to say that I did it. I am truly sorry that it happened, but it happened in self-defense.

I ain't going to lie or sugar-coat it." As Holden considered clemency, Mallett said he knew he had "no chance. I'm black, (Froemsdorf) was a law officer and white. I got everything stacked against me." Race had been a key part of Mallett's request for Holden's mercy. His case was moved from Perry County to Schuyler County, a virtually all-white fanning area, and an all-white jury convicted PK1K1 300 Whenever Minutes 2000 Weekend Minutes for 1 Full Year All Plans Include rree Long Distance WW wants to deliver two messages to consumers. First, deregulation of the electric industry in Illinois coming to residents May 1 is not expected to be the debacle it has become in California, for sev eral reasons, saia Kanay fritz, president of the Citizens Utility Board.

But second, if customers don't exercise choice, prices may rise again after 2005, when rate ductions that the Citizens Utility Board negotiated into the 1997 deregulation law expire. "We advise everybody to sign up for competition, because it Mallett Trooper killer seeb governors mercy Continued from Bl On Tuesday, Mallett clung to the story he has given since he made his first videotaped confession on the day he was arrested that he shot Froemsdorf in self-defense. He said Froemsdorf hit him and that after Mallett got his hand out of the handcuffs, they struggled over the gun. He said he shot Froemsdorf in the American Family Insurance continues to help our policyholders who sustained damage from the April 10 hailstorm in north St. Louis County.

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