Story Published:
Dec 2, 2008 at 7:25 AM CST
Story Updated:
Dec 2, 2008 at 9:58 AM CST
SPRINGFIELD -- A Greene County judge fired a barrage of questions at Springfield's municipal prosecutor regarding the city's use of red-light enforcement systems. Associate Circuit Judge Mark Fitzsimmons asked
prosecutor Johnnie Burgess to explain details of the red-light video/still camera ordinance, which assigns drivers a civil fine if their vehicle is recorded running a red light.
The questions were during a hearing on a retired state trooper's effort for a new trial after he got a ticket for his vehicle running a red light. He's challenging the city ordinance that imposes civil fines, similar to parking tickets, on owners, not the proven drivers, of vehicles that run red lights at intersections with the enforcement systems.
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A state lawmaker wants to dampen the parties on some of Missouri's popular floating streams. Proposed legislation by state Sen. Delbert Scott, R-Lowry City, would ban beer bongs, Jell-O shots, kegs and beaded Mardi Gras necklaces on rivers.
The bill was among the first filed on Monday as lawmakers gear up for the 2009 legislative session.
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AVA, Mo. -- A man who is charged with shooting his ex-wife's boyfriend, then beating him to death with a baseball bat, is scheduled to go before a judge on Tuesday. James Hitchcock of Ava is charged with killing Wendell Hilhouse in August.
Investigators say Hitchcock asked the couple to help him move some cars. When they pulled up alongside his vehicle, the woman says Hitchcock opened the door and shot Hilhouse.
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JOPLIN, Mo. -- Missouri Southern State University is putting a campus-wide freeze on hiring. The school is working on plans to handle a potential 15-percent budget cut.
MSSU started worrying last summer when reports predicted the state budget could be $200 million short of predicted revenue.
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ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A fire at an AmerenUE substation knocked out power to at least 50,000 businesses and homes in the St. Louis area on Tuesday morning. More than a dozen schools closed or delayed their starts because of the outage and darkened traffic signals delayed commuters.
The outage began around 4:15 Tuesday and was over around 8. Ameren says the fire occurred after what sounded like an explosion at its Watson substation.
The outage area stretched south from Clayton Road to Interstate 55 and west from Geyer Road to Kingshighway. The hardest-hit area is near the River Des Peres in the south St. Louis area.
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To see Brandon Beck's forecast, click on the video icon near the top of the page.
