St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 30

C2 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH METRO FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, 1999 www postnet.comnews Law order A A ST. LOUIS COUNTY OUR Wd Woman is charged in murdefoHlire scheme Blues hold season ticket sale Talent vows he would revive road program As governor, he would sell bonds to pay for highway construction A woman has been arrested on charges of an undercover St. Louis County police detec tive to murder her ex-husband, officials disclosed Thursday. Pamela Phelps, 51, of the 1500 block of Gene Crayton Avenue in St.

Louis, was arrested July 29 and charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action. She was being held on $200,000 bail Police began investigating July 26, when an anonymous informer told a North County precinct sergeant that Phelps was talking about hav ing her ex-husband murdered. The sergeant told detectives, who worked with the informer to arrange a meeting with Phelps. On July 28, an undercover county police detec tive met Phelps at a hotel, where she gave him $500 to murder her ex-husband and $70 for a weapon, police said. The next day, the detective visited Phelps and told her the murder had been committed Illinois.

He left, and other officers arrested Phelps. "The suspect, Pamela Phelps, had indicated that she had access to a hit man and, had it not been for the informant and our officers and de 'iapi atwww -fPwi 1 tectives working together, she may have been successful in committing murder," said Chief TEAK PHILLIPS POST-DISPATCH Brian Korte of Affton examines available Blues hockey seats, marked with tags, Thursday at Kiel Center. Fans were able to buy full or partial season tickets that remained, at prices up to $3,003 per seat. ST. LOUIS Landmark status for church is endorsed The St.

Louis Heritage and Urban Design Commission on Thursday night voted 7-1 to tentatively endorse landmark status for St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in the Central West End. However, spokeswoman Ivie Clay said the commission made clear that it wants only the church building to be a By Scott Charton Of the Associated Press SEDALIA, Mo. Unveiling "the 15-year plan, plus," Rep. Jim Talent on Thursday staked his bid for governor on selling $1 billion a year in bonds to resuscitate a defunct 15-year highway building program.

No new taxes will be required to complete his plan, Talent, R-St. Louis County, pledged. "The people of Missouri already gave at the office for this plan," through a 6-cents-per-gallon gasoline tax enacted to finance the 1992 road program, he said. As a state representative, Talent voted for that plan. Talent said he would make himself accountable to Missouri voters if his proposal didn't have all of the defunct plan's projects under contract by 2011.

"That's aggressive, but it's doable," Talent said at a news conference at the state fair outpost of the Missouri Farm Bureau, a group that has criticized the death of the 15-year road program. The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission voted last year to abandon the 1992 plan as the financial blueprint for road building. The commission said the 1992 plan wasn't financially viable on any timetable, and that it started with $1.4 billion more in projects than money. The panel said that red ink increased because there was no built-in cushion for inflation or growth in the scope of projects. Talent proposed selling more than $1 billion in bonds annually for 10 years to raise money for completing the 1992 plan.

He would pay off the bonds without raising taxes, Talent told reporters, by earmarking $430 million a year in existing state and federal road funds; squeezing an extra $100 million in "efficiencies" from the Department of Transportation; and diverting another $100 million from elsewhere in the state budget. These steps would provide about $516 million in additional annual money for major highway construction in the first year over current projections, after bond interest and other expenses. He displayed two maps of Missouri one showing the 1992 plan's projects, and an identical map highlighting his proposal. The maps were identical. The other announced GOP gubernatorial candidate, Trenton Mayor Tim Whitaker, also campaigned at the fair and said that his platform is focused on completing the 1992 highway plan.

He wasn't ready to say how he would finance reviving the plan. Gov. Mel Carnahan, a Democrat Ron Battelle. VINITA PARK Murder investigation is reopened A skull of a woman who was murdered 14 years ago was exhumed Thursday from a grave near Fulton, in an effort to gather new evidence that might lead to her killer, Vinita Park police said. Authorities said Linda Sue Sherman, 27, of Vinita Park, was reported missing in 1985.

The case remained inactive until 1991 when Vinita Park received an anonymous tip indicating that Bridgeton police had the skull. It had been found a year earlier outside a Bridgeton restaurant. The St. Louis County Medical Examiner's Office identified the skull as Sherman's through dental records; it was buried in Fulton. The torso has not been found, police said.

The skull will be transported to Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute in Mercyhurst, where it will be examined for possible further evidence. Heading the examination will be a soil scientist and a forensic archaeologist Police are hoping that trace evidence will lead to a grave site where the other remains are buried. Vinita Park Police Chief Robert Hartz asked any residents who may have additional information to call 428-7373. O'FALLON, III. Retired police sergeant wins suit A jury in Belleville awarded $119,170 on Wednesday to retired O'Fallon, 111., police Sgt Roy Winans on his claim that he was harassed into retiring five years ago 10 years earlier than he had planned.

Winans, 57, testified that Chief Donald Slazinik gave him menial duties that required him to report to officers of lower rank and far less experience. He said the early retirement had cost him up to $800,000 in wages and pension. landmark not any items inside. The Board of Aldermen will make the final decision on the landmark issue. If landmark status is grant The old four-year schedule required the earning of 21 credits from up to 24 classes.

The new standard will be phased in over the next four years, said Patrick Sullivan, high school principal. This fall's seniors must earn 22 credits to graduate. The class of 2001 must earn 25, the class of 2002 must earn 27 and the classes of 2003 and beyond, 29. The new scheduling, adopted recently in four Madison County districts, usually involves four classes one day and three or four different ones on the next. SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE Command gets first chief master sergeant The U.S.

Transportation Command at Scott Air Force Base has its first command chief master sergeant Ken Van Holberk, a 27-year veteran of Air Force service. Van Holberk has been at Scott for a year, serving as the top noncommissioned officer in the Air Mobility Command. In the new job, he'll wear a second hat as the top sergeant in the Air Mobility Command, a subunit of the Transportation Command. Van Holberk came to Scott from Travis Air Force, where he was senior enlisted adviser of the 15th Air Force. In his new job, he'll be the eyes and ears among the enlisted ranks for Air Force Gen.

Tony Robertson, the head of the Transportation Command and its aerial subunit are to help build self-confidence and to encourage socialization in a nonclinical environment The nonprofit agency offers instruction in a variety of arts, including paper making, basic sketching and ceramics. These services are provided free to those in need. On Sunday, the Hardee's restaurant in Maplewood will hold a fund-raising benefit for the studio from noon to 4 p.m. Pick up a Hardee's flier at the studio and take it to the restaurant near Sutton Boulevard and Manchester Road; 20 percent of the order will be donated to the studio. For more information, call (314) 646-0444.

ST. LOUIS AREA Medical helicopters are repaired ARCH Air Medical Services grounded and repaired two of its medical emergency helicopters last week, after a fatal helicopter crash near Houston exposed a potential problem with the aircraft ARCH, which operates five helicopters at its bases in St Louis and Joplin, repaired its two Eurocopters without interrupting its service, said Denis McCann, director of marketing for ARCH. On Aug. 6, the Federal Aviation Administration banned certain older Eurocopter models from flying after a mede-vac chopper crashed in Texas. ARCH's two Eurocopters were repaired at the manufacturer's suggestion, before the FAA order.

ed, the building's demolition or any major changes to the structure would require advance city approval. Church members are split over whether to move the congre BELLEVILLE Marketing firm goes before county officials The first of two out-of-town marketing companies competing for a contract to recruit businesses to MidAmerica Airport made a presentation Thursday to St. Clair County officials. Representatives with A3M a Denver partnership with ties to the St. Louis area, met for more than an hour with the county's Public Building Commission.

During the closed-door session, A3M outlined development and air service possibilities and ways the company would bring them to MidAmerica, county officials said. MidAmerica opened in April 1998 in Mascoutah, yet no air carrier operates regular flights from there. However, the airport handles about 3,000 landings and takeoffs a month, mostly military flights from neighboring Scott Air Force Base. A second company will go before the commission in a special meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

MAPLEW00D Art studio seeks volunteers to teach The Open Door Art Studio is looking for volunteers and financial assistance to offer art workshops for adults and children suffering from mental illness. The studio's goals gation to west St Louis County. Some who want to stay in the city are promoting landmark status as a way of making a move more difficult ROXANA Board approves new credit requirements Roxana High School stu dents will have to earn more class credits to graduate under a policy approved Thursday night by the school board. The requirements were adopted because, under the district's new high school class scheduling, freshman students will be taking up to 32 classes over four years. ST.

'LOUIS 2 are charged in drive-by shooting Two men have been arrested and charged in connection with a drive-by shooting that left a man critically wounded, SL Louis police said Thursday. Lawrence Cushshon and Terran Hill, both 22, were each charged Thursday with two counts of first-degree assault and armed criminal action. The victim, Freeman Whitfield, 24, was critically wounded Tuesday just after 11 p.m. Shots were fired from a passing vehicle as he was driving near Benton and North 22nd streets, police said. A passenger in Whitfield's vehicle, a girl, 17, was unhurt.

The suspects were arrested several hours after the shooting. Cushshon, who police say was the shooter, lives in the 3700 block of Keokuk Street Hill lives in the 2600 block of North 19th Street Illinois officials say network hurts patients in need of livers who calls lack of consensus on The Associated Press CHICAGO Illinois patients in crave highway solutions one of his big Under the agreement among Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota launched this month without the approval of a national oversight group livers are offered to patients with the most urgent need regardless of where they reside in the four-state region. Illinois has long been the fifth state in that region and remains so under United Network of Organ Sharing policy, but it did not approve of the policy. Residents of central and Southern Illinois who seek transplants through St. Louis hospitals are unaffected by the agreement need of livers have been put at risk by a new Midwestern organ-sharing network gest disappointments in office, said there are no quick financial fixes.

He also said it will be hard to find funding in the state budget without that excludes Illinois, some organ trans plant officials said Thursday. taking money from important FuSUine postnet.com, WMAAAAAA 923-2323 Home Improvement Kitchen remodeling, wood linishing, renovating the bath, adding a fireplace, adding a deck, installing insulation, roofing and siding, and much more! ARTS ml -Check out postnetcom's new A 1 1 For a comprehensive view of stuff to do, search the ENTERTAINMENT deflnitive source entertainment Calendars by keyword, date, type of postnetcomenleitainmenl entertainment options in metro St. Louis! event or area. Or check out today's Best Bets for a quick take at recommended events. MJRkTTPIUrr Visit Postnet com's Yellow Pages to find your summer rtlAnMlrLAOt necessities.

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