State briefs 4/25

Carnahan to make campaign official Sunday

ST. LOUIS -- U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan, D-Mo., will formally begin her campaign Sunday in St. Louis, officials with the campaign said Wednesday.

Carnahan will hold "Working Families" rallies in St. Louis and Kansas City on Sunday, followed by visits to Springfield and Cape Girardeau on Monday. Carnahan also plans visits to other Missouri towns in the coming weeks.

The St. Louis rally Sunday is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Richmond Heights American Legion post. She will appear at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at Penn Valley Community College in Kansas City.

Coalition proposes turning railroad into trail

CARTHAGE, Mo. -- A stretch of railroad slated for abandonment could one day become a recreational trail that would connect three southwest Missouri cities.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway has proposed abandoning its rail line between Carthage and Columbus, Kan.

Jasper County Commission, Carl Junction city officials, a Carthage group and the Joplin Trails Coalition have joined together in hopes of making the line part of the rails-to-trails project, linking Carthage, Oronogo and Carl Junction.

Joplin Trails Coalition has already developed the Frisco Greenway Trail between Joplin and Webb City.

The proposed new route would allow joggers and bicycle riders to get from Joplin to Carthage while being on roadway for only about two miles, said Paul Teverow, coalition president.

Children who got sick Tuesday return to school

EUREKA, Mo. -- All 37 children taken to hospitals after complaining of illness at a suburban St. Louis grade school were back in class Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the cause of the outbreak was still not known.

No additional children became sick at Ralph Blevins Elementary School in Eureka. School was in session Wednesday, though kids were being kept inside because some of the illnesses on Tuesday occurred after a gym class on a school track.

Inspectors with the St. Louis County Health Department and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources were trying to determine what caused the illnesses.

One thing they were looking at: A custodian sprayed wasp and hornet killer outside a doorway in an area that many of the sick children passed by.

Authorities identify burned body found in car

NEW LONDON, Mo. -- Authorities have identified the burned body found last week in a car in rural Ralls County.

The body is that of Scott J. Champion, 44, of Bridgeton, Ralls County Sheriff Ben Berghager said Wednesday.

An autopsy had revealed that Champion died of suffocation caused by the fire, Ralls County coroner Woody St. Clair said last week. A farmer found the body inside a 1994 Subaru.

-- From wire reports