Region/state briefs 04/23/03

Route U speed limit reduced due to repairs

Due to repairs by the Missouri Department of Transportation, the speed limit on Route U in Cape Girardeau County will be reduced to 45 mph beginning today.

MoDOT crews have been repairing potholes along the road recently. The route has had added traffic because of road work at Castor River and Diversion Channel.

The new speed limit will be in effect along the entire route. Warning signs will be posted.

Open forum today on post-war reconstruction

An open forum on post-war reconstruction of Iraq will be held today at noon at Southeast Missouri State University's Academic Hall. The forum is free and open to the public.

Four Southeast professors -- Willie Redmond of the economics department, David Cameron of the history department, Alynna Lyon of the department of political science, philosophy and religion and Peter Hirschburg, department of criminal justice and sociology -- will speak at the forum, sponsored by Phi Sigma Alpha, the political science honor fraternity.

Patrol: Woman lied about wreck that killed two

DEXTER, Mo. --A Dexter woman who allegedly lied to police is being held without bond in the Stoddard County Jail after officers identified her as the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident Friday that claimed two lives.

Tonya R. Boner, 28, was arrested Monday by the Missouri State Highway Patrol and is being held on suspicion of felony vehicular manslaughter and other charges.

The accident occurred at 9:20 p.m. Friday on Route E in Stoddard County when a westbound 1996 Chevrolet was driving in the eastbound lane and struck a 1989 GMC head-on. Killed were Dianne L. Conner, 33, of Bloomfield, Mo., and Kenneth J. Sitz, 55, of Essex, Mo.

At the time, officers were led to believe the driver of the Chevrolet was a male who fled the scene. Boner had said she was a passenger, but was identified as the driver by investigators and witnesses.--From staff, wire reports