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TUESDAY • 08.11.2009 • $1.00

SLU ‘fires’ its first shots in swine flu war
Vaccine trials • Dozens of volunteers will be monitored by researchers over several
weeks. This fall • About 160 million doses of vaccine will be available if the
FDA gives final approval.
BY BLYTHE BERNHARD • bbernhard@post-dispatch.com > 314-340-8129

Towing scandal snares ex-officer
Former city police detective admits taking bribes in scheme to provide clear titles
on impounded autos to parking firm.
Plea agreement • Kevin Shade has agreed to cooperate with the investigation.

ST. LOUIS • Nicholas Sarakas gets a flu shot every year and didn’t flinch at
a jab of the new swine flu vaccine. “Somebody has to be the first person to try
it,” said Sarakas, who got two shots in his arms Monday at St. Louis University.
It’s estimated that more than 1 million Americans have already caught the swine
flu and millions more could fall ill this fall and winter. Because the H1N1 virus
doesn’t resemble other flu bugs that have circulated in recent years, the new
vaccine was rushed into production. Sarakas and about 200 other adults from the St.
Louis area are participating in the clinical trials to test the vaccine’s shortterm
safety and effectiveness. The government expects to have about 160 million doses
available this fall if the Food and Drug Administration gives final approval as
expected.

Trial participants will get five shots over nine weeks including two doses of swine
flu vaccine, the seasonal flu vaccine and a couple of placebos. Their blood will
be tested before and after the shots to determine how well their immune systems produce
antibodies to fight the flu. Typically, someone who is immunized against a flu
virus either will not catch it or get a milder case. Dr. Sharon Frey leads the vaccine
research at SLU and said the process is moving at “breakneck speed.” Trials are
being conducted at seven other sites in the United States. Frey said she expects
the swine flu vaccine to mimic the seasonal flu vaccine in terms of side effects,
which are generally mild and rare. Still, health officials are
See FLU • Page A4

Nicholas Sarakas, 25, of St. Peters, receives his first of two shots Monday as he
takes part in a trial of swine flu vaccine at St. Louis University Hospital. Carolyn
Stefanski, nurse manager at the SLU vaccine center, administered the shots.

EMILY RASINSKI • erasinski@post-dispatch.com

Defense attorney Scott Rosenblum (left) leaves the federal courthouse Monday afternoon
with former St. Louis police Detective Kevin Shade, who pleaded guilty of mail fraud
for his role in a towing scandal.
BY ROBERT PATRICK • rpatrick@post-dispatch.com > 314-621-5154

J.B. FORBES • jforbes@post-dispatch.com

CHILDREN, PREGNANT WOMEN SOUGHT
More than 1,000 people called SLU about participating in the swine flu vaccine trial.
Researchers still need children and pregnant women to volunteer. Participants said
they receive about $75 for each visit to the vaccine clinic. For more information,
call 314-977-6333. Get the latest health news and search a directory of thousands
of St. Louis physicians. STLtoday.com/thrive

Stimulus cash is raining little joy on Illinois schools
Chaotic state budgeting leaves districts uncertain over how much to expect or whether
it will arrive.
BY DAVID HUNN • dhunn@post-dispatch.com > 314-340-8411

gation into misconduct involving the St. Louis Police Department and a local towing
and parking company expanded Monday with the guilty plea of a former police detective.
Kevin Shade, 35, waived indictment by a grand jury Monday morning and pleaded guilty
to a single felony charge of mail fraud. Thecourtproceedingwasthefirst time Shade
had been identified as part of criminal activity involved with the towing scandal.
As part of his plea, Shade admitted that over an almost fouryear period, he was involved
in a scheme to fraudulently obtain clear titles for impounded ve-

ST. LOUIS • The federal investi-

hicles. BetweenOctober2004andAugust 2008,Shade took cash bribes to sign off on documents
that said vehicles he had inspected had no flaws, or only minor flaws. They actually
had obvious flaws, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen said in court. Shade’s signature
on the forms meant that S&H Parking Systems would receive a normal title to those
vehicles from the state instead of a salvage title, boosting the value of the vehicle.
Shade was one of the officers responsible for vehicle inspections in the department,
which is allowed to do the inspections under state law. The Missouri

Highway Patrol performs most of the inspections. Shade also admitted that St. Louis
Metropolitan Towing managerGregoryP.Shepard“andothers” were involved in the scheme.
Metropolitan Towing and S&H are associated companies. Shade has agreed to cooperate
in the investigation and potentially testify, Jensen said in court. Shepard was indicted
on multiple counts of mail fraud, wire fraud and bribery on June 25. That indictment
accuses Shepard and the unidentified “others” of a wide-ranging scheme that included
attempts to
See TOWING • Page A5

.com

About $2 billion in federal stimulus money will boost Illinois state education spending
to record levels this school year. The state Board of Education expects to get nearly
$10.7 billion in state and federal money, $400 million more than last year. But unlike
in Missouri, where stimulus cash will swell spending by more than 10 percent, the
bump in Illinois is just 4 percent of the state education budget. Officials say the
impact on Illinois schools will be mixed. A 7 percent dip in state revenue, coupled
with old debt, has forced Illinois to cut deeply. While stimulus money is filling
some of those holes, in general, schools are getting fewer state dollars to use as
they wish — and more federal funds that must be used for specific purposes. That’s
left schools unsure how to budget for the extra dollars, and even whether they’ll
arrive. “There’s more concern over what’s been cut than over what’s been
gained, said Madi”

K-12 ILLINOIS EDUCATION SPENDING
State board revenues
10 8 6 4 2 0 ’05’06 ’06’07 ’07’08 ’08’09 ’09’10 $12 million

A NEW TAKE FOR BUD
Will Bud Light Golden Wheat catch on as quickly as Bud Light Lime? You can learn
about it, Talk about it, debate it (but not taste it!) in our blog. STLtoday.com/lagerheads

Climate change skeptics uniting in Springfield, Mo.
Led by a Missouri official, they will meet with eye on defeating federal greenhouse
gas legislation.
BY KIM McGUIRE • kmcguire@post-dispatch.com > 314-340-8250


MOTHER’S JOY
We received more than 70 essays sharing the joys of breastfeeding. Read the top 15
and vote on your favorite. STLtoday.com/breastfeeding

* 2009-10 includes more than $1 billion in federal stimus funds, which can be used
over two years. SOURCE: llinois Depatment of Education | Post-Dispatch

son County Regional Superintendent Robert Daiber. Some districts are so pressed for
cash, they have jumped on the extra money, and plan to spend it on teachers, overhead
projectors, busing and testing programs. But most just hope the money arrives soon.
“We haven’t seen anything, ”
See STIMULUS • Page A5 Way cool

Ron Boyer believes climate change skeptics have gotten a raw deal — in some academic
circles, in Congress and certainly in the press. That’s why Boyer, a member of
the Missouri Air Conservation Commission, is sponsoring a meeting Thursday in Springfield
that he says “will highlight the fallacy of anthropogenic global warming proponents’
apocalyptic dogma. ” “The more I looked into this, I found more empirical evidence
that the Earth is actually cooling,” said Boyer, who runs an environmental and
agricultural consulting firm in Fair Grove, Mo. The conference, sponsored by Boyer’s
group, Scientists for Truth, has lured a veritable who’s who of climate change
skeptics and contrarians as
TO MO RROW 87° • FOR ECAST A16

guest speakers. Among them: Dennis T. Avery, co-author of “Unstoppable Global Warming:
Every 1500 Years”; Joseph D’Aleo, former director of meteorology for the Weather
Channel; and Marc Morano, the former spokesman for U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla.,
the former chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Boyer
said the conference is a result of his decision to push back against those he considers
“global warming alarmists” and give skeptics a much-needed public platform. “I
think the case for this side is so much stronger, but you don’t see much about
it in the paper and television, Boyer said. ” Most scientists believe that
See SKEPTICS • Page A4

W E AT HE R • TO DAY 8 6 ° • TO NIGH T 7 7 °
Vol. 131, No. 223 ©2009 STLtoday.com/birdsnest •

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