Posts by Tanya Sinkovits

Officials: No One Saw Player in Distress in Water
Tanya Sinkovits

MARQUETTE, Mich. (AP) An investigation into the drowning of an 18-year-old freshman on Northern Michigan University’s varsity women’s soccer team confirms that no one saw or heard her in distress in the water.

The school released preliminary Thursday information from its investigation into the Nov. 30 death of Arianna Alioto at the school’s Physical Education Instructional Facility in Marquette. Officials say autopsy results are expected in January and there’s no indication of foul play.

The school has said Alioto was alone in the pool when she was discovered after a team workout and a lifeguard had left when the workout ended.

Public safety director Mike Bath says investigators interviewed soccer team members, the coach, the lifeguard and rescuers.

The freshman midfielder from Columbia, Mo., redshirted this fall while recovering from a knee injury.

Missouri Hospitals Provided $1.1B in Uncompensated Care
Tanya Sinkovits

Health,Local News
Dec 13

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) Missouri hospitals report providing a record $1.1 billion of uncompensated care to patients in 2011.

The Missouri Hospital Association says the figure includes $623 million of charity care provided at 129 hospitals, an increase of about 400 percent since 2004. The total amount of uncompensated care rises to $1.1 billion when other unpaid bills are included.

The hospital group is citing the figures while encouraging Missouri lawmakers to expand Medicaid eligibility to more adults.

Under the new federal health care law, payments to Missouri hospitals could decline by $3.3 billion from 2013 to 2020. The federal law assumes hospitals can handle the cuts because they would be getting more money from an increased number of people covered by private insurance or the government-run Medicaid program.

Missouri Wineries Bloom Over Past Decade
Tanya Sinkovits

Business,Local News
Dec 13

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) A University of Missouri researcher says the number of wineries in the state more than tripled over the past decade.

Fabio Chaddad is an assistant professor of agricultural economics. His research on behalf of the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows Missouri had 108, mostly small wineries last year, compared with just 31 wineries in 2000.

The national growth rate is even greater. Chaddad says there are more than 8,000 wineries in the U.S., compared to 1,000 in 1940.

He presented his research at the university’s recent Grape and Wine Symposium.

Coroner: Highway Worker’s Death Accidental
Tanya Sinkovits

Crime,Local News
Dec 13

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (AP) A coroner in southwestern Illinois has ruled that the death of a 62-year-old highway worker was accidental.

Madison County Coroner Steve Nonn says Dennis Goebel of Dorsey died of asphyxia Oct. 3 when he was accidentally backed over by a Fort Russell Township dump truck. Nobody saw the accident, but his co-workers found him under the truck. Goebel died at the scene.

Nonn says a screening of Goebel’s blood showed only a prescription drug at what the coroner called “therapeutic levels.”

Goebel was working on a township highway department crew that was repairing culverts in the community of Meadowbrook, about 20 miles northeast of St. Louis.