// a href = ./ //

BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) - A St. Louis man is accused of intentionally causing a pre-dawn wreck during a two-vehicle southwestern Illinois chase that ended with a teenager dead.

Prosecutors in St. Clair County charged 27-year-old Donald Friese with first-degree murder in the April 29 death of 18-year-old Mercedes Ferrarie-Troisi of Caseyville.

Illinois State Police have said Friese was driving one of two vehicles involved in a chase with each other. Police say both cars went out of control at a curve in Fairmont City and flipped. Ferrarie-Troisi was ejected and died at the scene. Police said Friese fled the scene.

As of Wednesday afternoon Friese was in custody in Jennings, Mo., on unrelated federal charges.

Bail on the murder count is set at $1 million.

It's not immediately clear if Friese has an attorney.

   O'Fallon, Illinois Police aren't saying what prompted them to ask for help from the St. Louis Major Case Squad Sunday afternoon, only that a person was dead.  

   Police had been called to the victim's home in the 1300 block of Engle Court around 11:00 a.m. Saturday.  O'Fallon police are now calling the victim's death "suspicious."

   Major case investigators refused to comment on Sunday, but O'Fallon police say they expect to release more details on Monday.  

   SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Gov. Pat Quinn has issued an emergency declaration following the flooding and severe weather affecting areas across Illinois.

   Quinn issued the declaration yesterday. The action will allow the state to access federal resources including generators, pump systems sandbags and additional funds. The declaration is a step below a disaster emergency declaration.

   Quinn says the American Red Cross has opened two shelters in north central Illinois. One is in Oglesby and another in Roanoke.

   Earlier yesterday, Quinn initiated the State Incident Response Center to monitor flooding and severe weather in portions of Illinois and help coordinate assistance local authorities may need.

   The governor is encouraging people affected by the weather to go online for real time updates on the storms.

   ST. LIBORY, Ill. (AP) - The small, metro-east village of St. Libory is returning a quarter of the property taxes collected from new homeowners.

   The Belleville News-Democrat reports that the village is giving back the tax money in an effort to draw young families into its school district. The refund is good for homes built in a certain tax increment finance district and is good for up to eight years. Homeowners apply to receive the refund.

   The village has hired an Edwardsville firm called Moran Economic Development to help it boost growth. About 615 people live in St. Libory, which is about 35 miles southeast of St. Louis.

   Thomas Henderson is with the Illinois Tax Increment Association in Springfield. He says the village's incentives aren't common.

   BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) - The Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville in southern Illinois is pairing its parishes so they can be served by one priest.

   According to a plan released Thursday, the move will mean no parish in the diocese will be closed anytime soon.

   Diocese spokesman Monsignor John Myler says the plan encourages the parishes to prepare for a time when only 50 priests will be available to pastor. He says parishes have been instructed to begin working jointly immediately.

   Myler says the parishes are to implement the pastoral plan in a dynamic, flexible, gradual manner. He says if two or more parishes decide it is better to close a church building, it would be a decision of those parishes.

   The diocese covers the 28 southernmost Illinois counties and includes 121 parishes.

A group of metro-east high school students will vie for the national title in the U.S. FIRST Robotics competition. Team 1208 from O'Fallon Township High School took first place in the weekend competition, along with its alliance partners Teams 3284 and 2408.

More than 40 teams from Missouri and four surrounding states participated in the event at the Chaifetz Arena.

The national championship competition will be held at the Edward Jones Dome in April.

This is the 24th year for the contest which is aimed at encouraging young people to be science and technology leaders.

Crews haven't finished building it, but there's already been a crash on the New Mississippi River Bridge.

It happened about 2:00 Monday morning, when a pickup truck struck an car on Rte 3 in Brooklyn, Illinois. The truck pushed the car onto the bridge.

One passenger in the car was partially ejected. Both that passenger and the driver were taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

Police are now looking for the pickup driver. He reportedly stuck around long enough to flag down another motorist for help, then took off.

Two people remain in critical condition at Mercy Medical Center in Creve Coeur after an explosion at the American Steel Foundries plant in Granite City Thursday morning. They've been identified as Reginald Golliday and Danny Wilson.

At least seven other people were less seriously injured in the 8 a.m. blast.

Granite City Fire Captain Bert Houston says the explosion happened after gas caught fire in the finishing area of the plant, which makes rail car components. Investigators are still trying to determine what ignited the gas.

A Swansea, Illinois woman found dead in her apartment Friday was killed by someone she knew. That's according to police who day the body of 50-year-old Carmen Boyd was found by her landlord.

That's according to police who day the body of 50-year-old Carmen Boyd was found by her landlord. Police arrested 37-year-old Kristofer McDavid Saturday. A day later, the St. Clair County prosecutor charged McDavid with first-degree murder.

Captain Jeff Wild, deputy commander of the Major Case Squad said Boyd and McDavid were acquaintances."It was not random. There's no randomness to this whatsoever. I would just leave it that it was a confrontation that led to the untimely death of our victim."

Police aren't sharing many details about the murder, but court records indicate that Boyd was stabbed. McDavid's bail has been set at five-million dollars.

Swansea Police Chief Mike Arnold says this was the first homicide in the metro-east community since 2006.

GRANITE CITY, Ill. (AP) - Kraft Foods is weighing whether to spend $40 million to expand a southwestern Illinois plant if the city and state provide about $400,000 to widen a road in front of the site.

The Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis reports that the move would add 30 jobs to the 660,000 square foot plant and warehouse. The facilities now have more than 400 workers. The plant produces Capri Sun and Kool-Aid beverages.

As part of the project, the Illinois Department of Transportation would provide $300,000 for the road widening. Kraft says it's needed to allow trucks to turn into the plant.

Granite City Economic Development Director Jonathan Ferry says the matter may go before the city council sometime between April and June.

The Granite City facility became part of Kraft in 1991.