The Springfield News-Leader from Springfield, Missouri • Page 13

s. 4" 4 Ckaife I ACROSS THE OZARKS 2B I THE NEIGHBORS PAGE 3B I DEATHS 4B LIFE TIMES 6B ESSENTIALS 8B COMICS 9B Thursday, March 28, 1996 News-Leader HS y9P3) Ju The measure is aimed at keeping the waste of the largest operations at bay. More Wednesday legislative action The Associated Press From Our Staff 4 f'i jimt JIIfvr ni--" I 'CZ1 M'v Springfield public schools may not take a cut in the amount of railroad and utility taxes they receive after all, if a bill approved by the state Senate Wednesday also is approved by the House. In other Senate action Wednesday, a "zero tolerance" bill was passed and sent to the House that would revoke the driver's license of minors who drive after drinking alcohol, even if they were not intoxicated by adult standards. Inside: Details.

5B JEFFERSON CITY The Missouri House endorsed new regulations Wednesday for the state's largest hog producers, but it barred local governments from adopting their own regulations. House members also placed a hold on a proposed state rule that would prohibit most hog farms from being located near lakes or streams that provide drinking water for people or a habitat for endangered species. The mega-hog farm bill was approved by voice vote, with plenty of "ayes" and no audible "nos." It now awaits a final House vote, which has not been scheduled. Missouri lawmakers are scrambling to place reins on corporate hog farms after several hog waste spills contaminated creeks and rivers The Associated Press Penned pigs line the sides of a Premium Standard feed barn near Princeton. Corporate hog farms face tougher regulations under a measure that was given initial approval in the state House Wednesday.

A final vote has not been scheduled. Widening of Grand cruises along Wl IIIa- nll 7v zJpf pr 1 fe CAMDEN COUNTY Jury finds man guilty of murder A Mack's Creek man has been convicted of first-degree murder and kidnapping in the 1991 killing of a convenience store clerk. Jess Rush, 20, was convicted Tuesday after a Camden County jury deliberated about three hours. The jury recommended a life sentence without parole. Sentencing was tentatively scheduled for May 13.

Rush was charged in the death of Trudy Darby, 42, who disappeared in January 1991 from the Camdenton store where she worked. Her nude body was found, with a gunshot wound in the head, two days later in the Little Niangua River. Rush was 15 at the time of the killing. He was certified to stand trial as an adult. Rush's half-brother, Marvin Chaney, 34, is also charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping in Darby's death.

His trial is scheduled for November, but no exact date has been set. MCDONALD COUNTY Missing girl calls mom, says she, friend are OK One of two missing girls from Seneca has called her mother to report they both are safe, still together and living on the street, McDonald County authorities said Wednesday. The girls Dawn Burns, 16, and Angela Craig, 15 were reported to have run away from the home in which they were living in Seneca. The mother, who lives in Smyrna, called authorities and told them she had received a call from her daughter on Tuesday, but her daughter had not given information about the whereabouts of the two. The McDonald County Sheriffs Department is continuing the investigation as two runaway juveniles.

Authorities did not say which girl made the call to her mother. CARTHAGE Two die in mobile home fire; smoking blamed Two people died in a fire that swept their mobile home early Wednesday on the west side of Carthage. The victims were identified by police as Robert L. Lane, 33, and Julie D. Hoover, 28.

A neighbor was awakened by the sound of barking dogs about 236 a.m., said Fire Chief John Cooper. She discovered her neighbor's mobile home on fire. The blaze destroyed the end of the mobile home where the bedroom was located, said Cooper. The state fire marshal's office was investigating the cause, but Cooper said there were no signs of foul play and that the fire appeared to have been caused by someone smoking in bed. LEBANON Doctors say meningitis caused toddler's death The death of a 3-year-old Lebanon boy Tuesday in a Springfield hospital has been blamed on spinal meningitis, but further tests are being done to determine what kind of infection was involved, Laclede County Acting Coroner Joe Pickering said Wednesday.

Eric Ryan Dampier was in St. John's Regional Health Center in Springfield one day before he died Tuesday morning, Pickering said. Physicians working on the case said they are waiting for the results of toxicology tests to determine if the meningitis was bacterial or viral, he said. As a precaution, one dozen people who were in close contact with the child are receiving medication, he said. and killed thousands of small fish during the past six months.

The bill targets Missouri's three largest producers Premium Stan: dard Farms, Murphy Family Farms and Continental Grain which raise more 17,500 hogs annually at each of several sites. Premium Standard and Continental Grain have been responsible for most of the waste spills. "This goes directly to where the problems occurred, preventing this environmental intrusion without putting the little, small family farmer out of business," said the sponsor, Rep. Phil Tate, D-Gallatin, whose district includes mega-hog farms. The House rejected an amendment that could have opened the way for lo See HOUSE, Page 5B Death fuels fears about isolated Bible school Secrecy around a killing in a southeast Missouri community has neighbors worried.

The Associated Press PATTERSON A slaying at a Bible school for troubled teen-agers in the isolated Ozark foothills has neighbors conjuring up images of cults and armed compounds. The Mountain Park Baptist Acade-my is shrouded in secrecy, even among its closest neighbors in this rural southeast Missouri lake country popular with fishermen and campers. On Wednesday, two day after a 16-year-old Florida boy was beaten and slashed to death at the academy allegedly by three classmates an empty touring bus blocked the only access to the camp, a driveway off a winding gravel road, about five miles from the tiny, unincorporated community of Patterson. Visitors can see nothing of the school from the road other than two homes reportedly occupied by school employees. The school is surrounded by rolling wooded hills.

But inside, some 200 to 300 students from across the country are enrolled in a "highly structured" environment, said Missouri Highway Patrol Sgt. L.W. Plunkett, who has helped investigate the killing of William Andrew Futrelle II. Neighbors have nothing to fear, he said. "As far as I'm concerned, they don't have anything to hide up there," Plunkett said.

"There are no caches of weapons and they were very cooperative." Still, it hasn't stopped folks here from fretting and comparing the school to violent cults they'd seen on the news. "I don't know why the place is so secret," said a woman who lives about three miles from the academy See SLAYING, Page 2B 4 A vmi 4 Wi Dan Dyer News-Leader The street project may be finished a month ahead of schedule. By Mike Penprase News-Leader Thanks to good weather, a street-widening project on Grand Street may be finished a month ahead of schedule, a city engineer said Wednesday. That's good to hear, said the pastor of a church near the eastern end of the project and the manager of a nearby grocery store that reopened just before work began in December. The original schedule for the $1,077,000 project between Campbell and Douglas avenues had a May completion date.

"We're hoping he'll be finished by the middle of April," Public Works principal civil engineer Mike Giles said of contractor Hartman Company. "CU just got finished with their work and Southwestern Bell has to get their relocation done. After they'redone, we'll be ableto remove the poles and do the paving." Cooperative neighbors also have helped speed the project, he said. The project that includes four divided lanes and a narrow linear park is the first part of a 10-year project to widen Grand Street from Campbell to Kansas Expressway. The city continues to buy property on the street for the project, Giles said.

Construction between Douglas and Fort Avenue depends on future financing through the lucent sales tax, he said. Building the final phase between Fort and Kansas Expressway could be financed through the sales tax or other sources, he said. The widening is needed because Grand carries about 30,000 Greg Waters, a worker for Hartman Company, pounds stakes into the ground as he sets forms for a sidewalk to be poured along Grand Street. "I'm anxious to see the customers who used to drive by here before and after work and stop in here." Smlllle'j manager Diana Schllpp ket, manager Diana Schlipp said. Smillie's opened in the vacant building at 924 W.

Grand St. on Dec. 2, just before the project began, she said. "I'm anxious to see the customers who used to drive by here before and after work and stop in here," she said. "We don't see them now." Ironically, the grocery is leasing a building the city already has purchased for right-of-way.

The city can wait as long as it wants before resuming the project, Schlipp said. "I hope it takes a long time," she said. vehicles a day, Giles said. It's good to learn the project could be finished ahead of schedule, Calvary Temple pastor Larry Meeks said. When rebuilding Grand began in earnest, Meeks noticed a drop in attendance at the 700-member church at 444 W.

Grand he said. Regarding parishioners who may not have wanted to work their way through the construction site to get to church, Meeks said, "There's always the question of when the project is finished, will they return?" Resumption of traffic surely will boost sales at Smillie's Mar Dan Dyer News-Leader Base asphalt has been poured at the intersection of Grand Street and Grant Avenue, signaling that completion of the project is near. CIPs observance of Good Friday sparks debate Giving all workers the Christian holiday off shows a lack of sensitivity, some argue. By Deborah Barnes News-Leader can observe whatever occasions they choose. CU Board Chairman Robert Spence said he'll probably ask a board committee to look into the matter.

Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce President Jim Anderson said he believes it is important to appreciate and respect differences among people. That's a national issue, not just a local one, he said. "I think (diversity) is becoming more of an issue in Springfield, although I think Springfield is not going to become the capital of diversity any time soon," Anderson said. Board member Gordon Elliott said there is no intent to promote any particular religious viewpoint. He said it's just a Friday off and doesn't particularly matter which Friday.

It matters to Gay Revi, spokeswoman for the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, and Rita Sherwin, the rabbi at Springfield's United Hebrew Congregations. The women said CU's policy lacks sensitivity for employees who may hold other religious beliefs. Revi added that the ACLU encourages the floating holiday policy used by other governmental bodies so each person Sherwin Revi those, spokesman John Twitty said. Instead, they receive 12 specific holidays each year. They include New Year's Day, Labor Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving and Good Friday.

The holidays list was set in 1972 during labor negotiations with CU's unions, Twitty said. And it has stayed that way because no one ever asked that it be changed. But several CU board members said Wednesday that it may be time City Utilities workers have enjoyed a paid day off on Good Friday for almost 25 years, whether they observe the religious holiday or not. The utility's offices will close April 5 unlike federal, state, city, county and school offices. Most of those public agencies allow workers to use personal or floating holidays to observe religious occasions.

But utility workers don't get to review the holiday policy. "I think a lot of things need to be rethought. A lot of policies and old ordinances from the 1950s are not even close to correct today," said board member Randy Ebrite. Correction A public hearing on raising fines for car-seat violations will be held at 7 p.m. Monday at City Hall, 830 Boonville during the City Council meeting.

A headline in Wednesday's paper was incorrect. The News-Leader regrets the The News-Leader strives for accuracy and fairness. We will correct any errors or misunderstandings created by stories, headlines or photographs. Readers may request a correction by calling the assignment desk at 836-1258. FOR YOUR INFORMATION Our city editor is Chick Howland, 836-1 170, or fax, 837-1381 page edited by Cheryl Whitsitt, 836-1 199 BlOOd drive: The American Red Cross will sponsor a blood drive from 10 a.m.

to 2 p.m. today at Crane High School. For more information, call 723-5383 or 837-1294. Benefit dance: The Southwest Missouri Indian Center will have a dance and pot luck supper Saturday. The dance begins at 2 p.m.

and dinner at 5, both at the Indian Center, 2422 W. Division St. For more information, call 869-9550. ORION for teens Kids ages 12 to 16 can learn to use the Ozarks Regional Information Online Network at 7 p.m. today at Brentwood Branch Library, 2214 Brentwood Blvd.

Free. To register, call 888-1818..