St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page A006

A6 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 1 THURSDAY 07.22.2010 Whoa! say foes of Ameren ash landfill Opponents at hearing in Union call for advisory committee on disposal of coal waste. BY E.J. ROTERT Special to the Post-Dispatch long time in Franklin County, including with the recent widening project of Highway 100 into the city of Washington. Also, Paul Reitz, an engineer and certified flood plain manager, said a large area near the proposed landfill, both natural and man-made which he termed a "fill" would block floodwater flow over the site.

Company representatives on Tuesday presented an amended version of their proposal that took into consideration concerns voiced by opponents and commission members at a hearing July 6. The commission isn't expected to come to a recommendation for the county's three commissioners before Aug. 17, said Scottie Eagan, head of the county's Planning and Zoning De KIICHIRO SATO Associated Press Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich talks to reporters at the federal courthouse in Chicago on Wednesday after the defense rested without calling any witnesses. UNION Slow down the approval process and appoint an advisory committee was the overwhelming plea from opponents of a proposed coal ash landfill near the AmerenUE power plant in Labadie.

An overflow crowd turned up Tues -day for the final of three public hearings on the issue before the Franklin County Planning and Zoning Commission. AmerenUE wants to bury ash from the power plant at the landfill, as well as from other plants it owns. The Labadie plant, along the Missouri River, is its largest coal-fired plant. Franklin County's three head commissioners would have to vote on the plan, based on a recommendation from the planning commission. Opponents cited concerns of lowered property values; increased traf fic in the area from coal ash being trucked in from other plants; possible groundwater contamination; and potential toxicity of the ash, especially in the event of a flood that inundated the containment structure.

Most opponents if not all were affiliated with the community group Labadie Environmental Organization. Many wore shirts, buttons and hats that read, "Save Our Bottoms." Others, including power plant workers or other employees of AmerenUE, spoke in favor of the proposal, Greg Gurnow included. Gurnow said his family moved to the area before the plant was built in 1970. He works there and lives so close, he sometimes bicycles to work. Proponents countered that coal fly ash has been used for fill purposes a TRIAL FROM Al READY, READY, READY TO ROCK 'N' ROLL Cha Chi Scanio, 6, of St.

Charles, hears Richard Fortus of Guns N' Roses fame talk to the group of rock 'n' roll campers on Wednesday. Fortus, a native of St. Louis, shared his expertise with the kids at Camp Jam. The camp, at DeSmet Jesuit High School, lets participants perform live on stage with their own bands. DAWN MAJORS Blagojevich says he won't testify because prosecutors 'proved my innocence' experience.

Maybe the biggest lesson I've learned is that I talk too much." Blagojevich's defense team rested its case Wednesday morning without calling Blagojevich or anyone else to the stand. Jurors will return Monday, when closing arguments are expected. After the jury was sent out, U.S. District Judge James Zagel pressed Blagojevich on whether it was his own decision not to testify. "That's correct, your honor," Blagojevich answered, standing.

"It was my decision." Defense attorneys often prefer that their clients don't testify, because a poor performance on the stand can seal their fate, while putting up no defense can send a message that the prosecution didn't prove its case. That was the strategy of Blagojevich's predecessor, former Gov. George Ryan, but it didn't work: Ryan was convicted of corruption in 2006 and is serving a federal prison term. Keeping the famously verbose Blagojevich off the stand was a move his attorneys first hinted at Tuesday afternoon, after opening the trial, five weeks earlier, by telling jurors Blagojevich would testify. That, in turn, was preceded by more than 18 months of Blagojevich's own public vows to testify, which he made on talk shows and other appearances in his high-profile tour of American pop culture following his December 2008 arrest and January 2009 impeachment.

"I will prove my innocence andlwill testify," Blagojevich said just last week, as he left the courthouse. What changed his mind, Blagojevich said Wednesday, was the government's case, which took just five weeks to present instead of the four or five months that prosecutors had initially predicted, and didn't include convicted political fixer Antoin "Tony" Rezko or other potentially controversial witnesses. Instead, the government's case relied largely on conversations between Blagojevich and others secretly taped by federal agents through his phones and campaign office that appear to show the Democratic governor plotting to use his office for personal gain. Among the allegations is that he planned to auction off President Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat for campaign funds or a high-profile federal appointment, and that he threatened to withhold state funding from a Chicago children's hospital if he didn't get a major campaign contribution from the hospital president.

Neither of those alleged schemes played out. "Prom the very beginning, when all of this happened when the government came into our home and took me away from our kids and then ultimately from the people of Illinois I said from the beginning I did nothing illegal," said Blagojevich. The government tapes, he said, "prove, as I said all along, that I did nothing illegal that I never took a corrupt dollar, I never took a corrupt dime, not a corrupt nickel, not a corrupt penny." Blagojevich explained the alleged plots on the tapes as mere "brainstorming about ideas" between himself and others. "Some of the ideas were stupid (but) brainstorming and free speech is part of what the American experience is supposed to be." Blagojevich was arrested at his Chicago home on Dec. 9, 2008.

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said at the time that he authorized the arrest to prevent the pending corruption of a Senate seat. But the fact that the biggest of Blagojevich's allegedly plotted crimes never were completed could end up as the strongest argument for the defense. After the jury was sent home Wednesday, Zagel, the judge, conducted a hearing with the attorneys to review a defense request that parts of the case be dismissed, in part on grounds that the alleged crimes were just discussions that never led to any criminal activity. "You've got all this talking about what they were going to do but not a lot actually got done said Zagel, summarizing the defense argument.

He noted the defense description of an awful lot of talk that sounds like blowing off steam." Later, summarizing the prosecution's case, Zagel said, "The counter to that is, a conspiracy is a crime, which is accomplished only with a significant amount of communication." Zagel hasn't yet ruled on the defense motions to dismiss some of the counts. FROM Al College students in Missouri are on edge with scholarship amounts still up in the air DAVID CARSON Olajuwon Davis (center), 18, of St. Louis, talks with other members of the Young Artists for Justice and Peace during a dance rehearsal Wednesday. Davis has received an Access Missouri scholarship to attend the University of Missouri- Kansas City. Many affected students will be able to find other sources of money, but there are some who are already are stretched to the limit, said Faith Sandler, executive director of the Scholarship Foundation of St.

Louis. "There is no extra $1,000 anywhere. They've tapped everything," Sandler said. The prospect of declining awards has students like Carl Lewis II, of St. Louis, scrambling to make up the unexpected shortfall.

Like many incoming freshmen, Lewis received a financial aid award letter in May before the state gutted the Access Missouri fund. He was told to expect $1,500 from the need-based scholarship program as he prepares to pursue a chemical engineering degree at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Like others, he is waiting to find out just how far off that estimate will be. "It's very frustrating. But I'm trying to be very optimistic about the whole situation," Lewis said.

Figuring out where those awards will fall is the job of the Department of Higher Education, which administers both scholarship programs. BrightFlight awards for students who score high on ACTs and SATs are expected to be around $1,500, down from $2,000 last year, but the final amounts won't be known until the state receives a last round of test scores to determine how many students are eligible. Those results should be in by early August. The bigger wild card is the Access Missouri program, which offers three award levels, based on whether a student is attending a two-year, four-year public or four-year private school. Higher education officials say they have been waiting both on the MOHELA decision and new estimates on the number of eligible students.

That last factor alone is expected to dampen the awards, with 102,000 students eligible this year compared with 86,000 in 2009. Last year, students at four-year public schools received as much as $1,680 through the program. That number is expected to fall to $1,000 or less. And while officials wait for those final budget numbers, they acknowledge the potential for the delays to force some students to consider sitting out a semester. "I hope that's not the case.

But with every day that goes by, that concern becomes more acute," said Leroy Wade, assistant commissioner for Department of Higher Education. Financial aid directors at the University of Missouri campuses in St. Louis and Columbia don't see that happening. Both schools have been telling up-perclassmen for a month to prepare for a worst-case scenario with $500 scholarships from Access Missouri. That creates the potential "that our estimate will be low and students will be very surprised," said Jim Brooks, director of financial aid at the University of Missouri- Columbia.

Surprisingly, those award letters to upperclassmen haven't generated a lot of complaints yet. That could change soon, said Tony Georges, director of financial aid at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, which recently sent out its first round of bills, due Aug. 1. "Make no mistake.

When they sit down and start doing the arithmetic, they'll be calling," Georges said. PPG PORTER' PAINTS Ugly Concrete? Here is the rock solid solution that covers your existing concrete! The beautiful and durable Pebblestonecpoxy System is applied over your existing: Driveway Basement Floor Porch and Walkway Patio Garaqe Floor Pool Deck more! 3 Available in 1 5 colors FREE ESTIMATES Special Senior Citizens Discount Save from PEERLESS Furniture Leather Gallery ESTABLISHED 1907 $500 1500 St. Louis Resurfacing, Inc. Serving southern Illinois I I'dO'VAV Visit ppgporterpaints.com for area locations and participating dealers. ma 1-800-283-6234 stlresurfacing.com.