State Farm to raise rates for Missouri motorists

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. will raise rates for Missouri motorists an average of 4.3 percent starting Jan. 15, the company said.

The Bloomington, Ill.-based company announced the increase Monday, which spokeswoman Sarah Wehde said reflects higher anticipated claims costs.

The rate change will lead to higher liability and medical payments coverage for most customers, while some customers will also pay more for collision and comprehensive coverage, the company said.

State Farm, the largest auto insurer in Missouri and the nation, last changed its Missouri rates in November 2000, when they were raised an average of 0.4 percent.

6-year-old boy dragged by family's van

HOLLISTER, Mo. -- A 6-year-old southwest Missouri boy remained hospitalized Tuesday after being accidentally dragged more than 350 yards under his parents' minivan.

The condition of Elijah Downing, a first-grader at Hollister Elementary School, was not released at the request of his family, a spokesman for the Springfield hospital said.

The incident occurred after the boy's parents dropped off Elijah and his older brother to catch the school bus about 7:25 a.m. Monday at an intersection of Missouri 165, two miles west of Hollister, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.

Their father, Lewis Downing, 34, was driving the family's 1993 Ford Aerostar van. They were parked at a stop sign, waiting for the bus to arrive, said patrol Cpl. Gary Riggs, who investigated the accident.

Hospital CEO resigns for Ameren job

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. -- Richard Mark, who is credited with saving St. Mary's Hospital from financial collapse, is resigning as president from the East St. Louis hospital to work for Ameren Corp.

Mark, 46, of Collinsville, has served as president of the hospital since 1990 and will start his new job on Jan. 2 as vice president of the utility's customer service operations in Illinois and Missouri.

"If it had not been for Richard Mark, that hospital would probably not have been able to stay open," said Ken Robbins, president of the Illinois Hospital Association. "He got the community interested in the hospital again and ran it like a business. He was often a spokesman for all hospitals."

When Mark joined St. Mary's, the hospital had a $6.5 million loss. He raised revenues until the hospital was operating at an 8 percent profit. The hospital was profitable for most of the 1990s, but recent budget cuts left St. Mary's with about a $2 million operating loss last fiscal year.

Prosecutors say toddler intentionally neglected

ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill. -- A Streamwood couple whose 18-month-old son weighed less than 11 pounds when he starved to death are accused of neglecting him intentionally.

Amanda and Kristian Fredrickson, both 24, were ordered held without bond during an appearance Monday in Cook County Circuit Court. Both are charged with first-degree murder.

Their son, James, died Friday at just 10 pounds 10 ounces -- 1 pound 10 ounces more than he weighed at birth -- and almost all his fat and muscle had been consumed, prosecutors said. The parents admitted in written and oral statements to not feeding the child or providing medical care, Assistant State's Attorney Michael Andre said.

-- From wire reports