St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page B004

NO ENTRY FEE IN JANUARY ff er expires January 31, 200 8 We ff er Persona Training Pi ates Core oar Fitness asses Weig ts Racquet a ll Stu io cyc ing an more BELLEVILLEHEA LT an SPOR SC ENTER 10 0 1 Sout h7 4t re Be ll evi ll I ll inois 6222 3 6 1 8 398. 27 7 8 get I i 2008! IRESOLVE St. Charles County, MO- Hip Pain Sufferers are reclaiming their life even after they were told just arthritis, live with An amazing, shocking report is available that is helping many people who suffer with Hip Pain and trouble walking. They knew it was possible to get help so they called for their copy of the free report entitled All Hip Pain Sufferers Need To If been told drugs and shots are your only choices, but reject that information, you need to call today for your free report. Call today toll-free 24 hours a day 1-800-895-4474 to get your own copy of this amazing Free Report.

Take matter into your own hands. Call today and reclaim your life. Pain Sufferers Walk, No partnership Preview Guide Sunday, January 20 in the Post-Dispatch. Get your motor with a sneak peek at the 2008 St. Louis Auto Show.

just sit there, use to determine your fastest route to the Auto Show. www.saintlouisautoshow.com Metro B4 1 WEDNESDAY JANUARY 9, 2008 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH STLTODAY.COM ST. LOUIS Man, 24, is charged in November killing Tray Ferguson, 24, of St. Louis, was charged Tuesday with fatally shooting another man in November on Grand Avenue near 20th Street.

William Shockley, 34, was getting into a vehicle with his girlfriend about 9 p.m. Nov. 29 when someone shot at the pair, police said. Shockley, of the 4700 block of Beacon Avenue, jumped into the vehicle, and his girlfriend drove him to Barnes-Jewish Hospital, were he died several hours later. Ferguson, of the 5500 block of Louisiana Avenue, was charged with rst-de- gree murder, rst-degree assault, escaping from custody and two counts of armed criminal action.

ST. CHARLES COUNTY Man, 35, is charged in string of robberies A Riverview man has been charged with at least three armed robberies in St. Charles, and authorities say he has been linked to several other robberies and car thefts in St. Charles and St. Louis counties.

Kevin M. Sullivan, 35, of the 9600 block of Diamond Drive, has been charged with three counts of robbery and one count of resisting arrest in St. Charles. Charges elsewhere are pending. Lt.

Craig McGuire of the St. Charles County Department said police believe Sullivan was stealing license plates from cars in his neighborhood, then stealing cars from an Avis car rental facility. One of the cars he is accused of stealing was found by the Riverview Police Department, he said. EAST ST. LOUIS Man gets 10 years for having child porn A man from Collinsville has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty of possessing child pornography, the U.S.

ce said. Charles Vassar, 52, had pictures on his computer that included 10-year-old boys engaged in sex acts, court documents say. Authorities found the pictures in June. Vassar entered the guilty plea Friday. EAST ST.

LOUIS Collinsville man guilty of distributing porn A man from Collinsville pleaded guilty Tuesday to eight counts of distributing child pornography, the U.S. ce said. Richard Heatherly, 58, distributed computer images showing lewd pictures of young girls, court documents say. Each of the eight counts carries a penalty of ve to 20 years in prison. Heatherly is scheduled to be sentenced April 11.

SPARTA, ILL. Physician is charged with fondling worker Randolph County prosecutors have charged Sparta Community Hospital doctor Frantz Charles, 61, with unlawful restraint, battery and criminal sexual abuse. He is free on $1,000 cash bond. Charles is accused of pulling a part-time female employee into the locker room at the hospital last month and forcing her against a wall, where he allegedly fondled her. Charles says he merely sought to give the woman a hug after having not seen her for about six months.

Joann Emge, the chief executive, says Charles was placed on leave as the hospital does its own investigation. LAW ORDER By Virginia Young POST-DISPATCH JEFFERSON CITY BUREAU CHIEF JEFFERSON CITY Attorney General Jay Nixon called Tuesday for the Legislature to pass a bill preventing donors from funneling big money to candidates through political party committees. Nixon, a Democratic candidate for governor, said his proposal would cut off the main route around campaign contribution limits, which were overwhelmingly supported by voters in 1994. Republican legislative leaders countered that proposal would accomplish little because of other loopholes in the law. For example, multimillionaire Rex eld of St.

Louis recently ed his ability to donate by setting up a network of 100 political action committees. proposal do anything to get past establishing 100 different said Senate Majority Leader Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph. Shields said the best way to track contributions would be to repeal the limits, allowing money to go directly to candidates. But others said that approach could be cult to pass in an election year.

The Legislature repealed the limits for about seven months last year, but a court reinstated them based on a challenge to another part of the law. State voters rst imposed limits ranging from $100 to $300 in 1994. A court said those caps were too low. The limits in place today stem from an alternative passed by the Legislature, also in 1994. They range from $325 for a House candidate to $1,275 for a gubernatorial candidate.

Under the law, political parties can give candidates about 20 times the limit for example, $12,750 in cash and $12,750 in goods and services for a gubernatorial candidate. the problem: Since the limits were adopted, the number of political party committees has jumped to 346 from about 100. For example, each county and each legislative district can have a Republican and a Democratic committee. Rich donors can give unlimited sums to political party committees, which then funnel the money to candidates. In a conference call with reporters, Nixon said, is no reason these committees, which have proliferated across the state, should have more power than regular Rich Chrismer, a spokesman for Republican Gov.

Matt Blunt, declined to comment on tightening limits for party donations. Chrismer said Blunt would favor ed changes to make the campaign nance system more transparent. House Minority Leader Paul LeVota, D-Independence, will sponsor proposal. 573-635-6178 Nixon backs campaign nance bill Measure would restrict amounts political party committees could give to candidates. Blunt declines to comment.

By Jo Mannies POST-DISPATCH POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT Almost a month before the Feb. 5 primary, voters eager to register or cast absentee ballots are ock- ing to St. Louis election headquarters. More than 1,000 new registrations were submitted in the county Tuesday, a fourfold increase in the daily tally since Thursday. But county Republican elections director Joseph Goeke was even more impressed by line in the lobby of prospective absentee voters waiting to cast ballots.

the first such crowd since absentee voting started Christmas Eve. Goeke is preparing for another surge today, the voter registration deadline in Missouri for next presidential primary. Similar heightened activity by would-be voters, although on a smaller scale, is reported in the city of St. Louis and St. Charles County.

attribute it to the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire said Charlene Lohman, St. Charles deputy elections director. In St. Louis, Republican elections director Scott Leiendecker reports a flurry of last-minute registrations by folks never voted seen a uptick in the last ve Leiendecker said. While today is the registration deadline for new voters, or for those who have moved to a new county, area election cials emphasized that registered voters who move within their county have more time to switch their registrations.

Voters who move from one address to another within the city of St. Charles, for example, have as late as Election Day to change their address for voting purposes. In St. Louis County, the largest voting bloc, the surge in voter interest is prompting Goeke to predict that the Feb. 5 turnout could hit 35 percent or more.

Only 15 percent of Missouri voters and a slightly higher percentage of county voters turned out for the last presidential primary in 2004, largely because of a dismal turnout among Republicans because President George W. Bush had no serious opposition. The Democratic vote in that presidential primary, won by Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, actually set a record. Election officials across Illinois also were seeing a surge in voter registrations, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.

cial registration numbers be available until next week, but several counties said that they were seeing a jump from past years. Chicago election cials have seen about 10,000 people register in the last six days roughly triple the number from past presidential primaries. Registrations, absentee voting take off St. Louis County reports 1,000 new registrations on Tuesday. Sign-up deadline for Feb.

5 primary is today. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MARSHFIELD, MO. Authorities began assessing damage Tuesday after rare winter tornadoes hit sections of Missouri, leaving at least two people dead and injuring several others. Two women were killed and about two dozen people were injured in a roughly 12-hour march of storms that started Monday afternoon. Dozens of homes and commercial buildings were destroyed or damaged across the region, state emergency cials said.

Gov. Matt Blunt, who Monday activated the State Emergency Management Agency to coordinate the response, visited a wind-damaged elementary school Tuesday in Republic and was due to tour damage in Strafford, both in Greene County. Blunt said state and federal emergency management officials would start tallying damage totals today a rst step toward potentially qualifying for federal assistance. In the meantime, Blunt said there had been no requests from counties or cities for cant assistance from the state. He said that was a good sign that local responders had the resources they needed.

Nancy Green, 53, was killed in her mobile home in Webster County, and Rachel Lawson, 85, died when her home collapsed near Strafford Donald Teaster, who owned the mobile home Green was renting near eld, said he had only enough time to grab his wallet and credit cards and get into his van before a tornado turned his trailer upside down. Greene County reported one injury, down from an earlier estimate of 10. eld had between eight and 10 buildings destroyed or severely damaged, while Strafford had at least 30 homes and businesses destroyed, and Republic reported at least 15 homes damaged. Six injuries, two of them critical, were confirmed around Marshfield, state emergency cials said. Laclede County had 12 injuries including critical, according to the State Emergency Management Agency.

IN ILLINOIS Homeowners and emergency workers were also cleaning up damaged property in northern Illinois after a tornado moved through there At least three homes were leveled Monday night in Boone County, where four people were hurt including one woman who was in critical condition with head injuries at a hospital in Rockford. A veterinarian was called to stitch up the wounds of dairy cows. looked horrible. It was extremely sad to said Sandra Rogers, Boone emergency management coordinator, after ying over a two-mile stretch where the tornado touched down. The National Weather Service sent two survey crews to map the path and found a trail of destruction 100 yards wide and 13.2 miles long.

Meteorologist Mark Ratzer said the tornado touchdown lasted 18 minutes, beginning at 3:30 p.m. in Boone County near Poplar Grove and speeding northeast into McHenry County northeast of Harvard. Wind speeds were estimated at 136 to 165 mph. In McHenry County, authorities allowed more than 100 residents to return to their homes Tuesday afternoon after a railroad train tanker, derailed by the storm, was inspected, lifted upright and determined to be safe. toll mounts Two are dead, others are injured; property is destroyed or damaged.

Doris Whitcher carries photos salvaged Tuesday from her home near Strafford, after a tornado damaged the home Monday night. Whitcher was unhurt. The Associated Press WINTER STORMS.