St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page A001

1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 I A By Abby Goodnough and Scott Shane NEW YORK TIMES MIAMI In a cant victory for the Bush administration, a federal jury found Jose Padilla guilty of terrorism conspiracy charges Thursday after little more than a day of deliberation. Padilla, a Brooklyn-born convert to Islam who became one of the rst Americans designated an in the anxious months after Sept. 11, 2001, now faces life in prison. He was released last year from a long and highly unusual military confinement to face criminal charges in federal court here. SCHOOL-BY-SCHOOL RESULTS http://www.stltoday.com/info Find out how your school and district fared in our Information Station Are test scores a fair measure for schools? Discuss in Talk of the Day STLtoday.com/talk STLTODAY.COM STLTODAY.COM PAGE: A01PD1MN0817 FOR MISSOURI A1 FRIDAY AUGUST 17, 2007 FOUNDED BY JOSEPH PULITZER IN 1878 STLTODAY.COM Vol.

129, No. 228 KEEP UP WITH HIGHWAY 40 Big changes are coming to Highway 40 this weekend, and we will report the latest. Make sure you keep up with all the highway information online at STLtoday.com/traffi SHIITE, KURD ACCORD Iraqi leaders forge new political alliance World A12 PASSPORTS State Department backs off on faster service for higher fee Nation A3 WEATHER WOES Tropical storm brings heavy rain to ood-weary Texas Nation A2 CARDS 8-0 win makes sweep at Milwaukee and closes gap in NL Central Sports D1 SOS TO FED volatility seen as cry for rate relief Business B1 NEWSTRACKER UPDATES ON CONTINUING STORIES POST-DISPATCH WEATHERBIRD HOW TO FIND THE PERFECT MATTRESS COME BACK TOMORROW LIFESTYLE COMPLETE INDEX ON PAGE A2 WEATHER TODAY TONIGHT TOMORROW FORECAST PAGE D10 TOP NEWS PERU QUAKE TOLL RISES The toll of known dead rose to 450 across the Peruvian desert region hit by quake as searchers pulled bodies out of rubble and caregivers struggled with limited supplies. NATION A6 LOCAL NEWS STILL TOO HOT High temperatures are nally retreating under 100 degrees, but that mean vulnerable residents are out of danger yet. METRO C1 THOSE FEE OFFICES All politics aside, Missouri government license ces are not automatic moneymakers.

The network of 183 privately run ces have seen an overall decline in income since 2005. METRO C1 SELLING Companies like are looking to retail sites to consumers, meaning they use stores to show off and sell a broad range of services. BUSINESS B1 TOP TIGHT END Missouri tight end Martin Rucker thought about leaving early for the NFL after last season, but back with the Tigers and gures to make another big contribution on offense. SPORTS D1 ELSEWHERE LENDER BORROWS Countrywide, the largest mortgage lender, shocks markets by borrowing $11 billion so it can keep making loans. BUSINESS B1 INSIDE STORY John Ashcroft was in March 2004 when White House aides tried to get the then- attorney general to sign an extension for warrantless domestic eavesdropping, the FBI director says.

NATION A2 Passing marks out of reach? METRO EDITION NOT TOO LATE TO PLAY MILLIONAIRE MONEY INSIDE PAPER MISSOURI ASSESSMENT PROGRAM SCORES STUDENTS IMPROVING, BUT Alone on patrol NORVELLE BROWN had no partner with him when he went down the alley to his death. just have the says president of the Police cers Association. Padilla verdict a victory in war on terror By Clay Barbour and Patrick M. ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH ST.

LOUIS When St. Louis police officer Norvelle Brown turned his squad car into a darkened alley Wednesday night, the 22- year-old rookie was on his own. Despite being less than 11 months removed from the Police Academy, Brown was on patrol without a partner. a tough reality for St. Louis police, but hardly a new one, cers say.

just have the said Kevin Ahlbrand, president of the St. Louis Police cers Association. Brown was shot by an unknown assailant in the alley, but as of Thursday, investigators still know exactly what happened that night. The young cer was on patrol a few blocks northwest of Sherman Park when he saw a group standing in an alley in the 1600 block of Semple Avenue around 9:40 p.m. He got out of his car but ask for backup.

Moments later, he called dispatch, said shots had been red and that he was hit. Police are looking for two By Jaimi Dowdell, Paul Hampel and David Hunn ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH At their current pace, Missouri schoolchildren will fall far short of reading and math skills needed to meet federal requirements by 2014, according to test scores released today. Scores on the Missouri Assessment Program known as MAP have improved for ve years, but are increasing too slowly for school districts to meet yearly targets set by the state. Almost one-third of school districts missed the mark this year.

In the St. Louis area, just seven of 57 districts all of them small and rural met the goals this year, compared with 19 last year. No districts in St. Louis County made enough progress this year. As the state targets rise toward 100 percent of students being proficient in reading and math by 2014, even some of the most well-regarded By Derrick Goold ST.

LOUIS POST-DISPATCH MILWAUKEE Once-and-present Cardinals phenom Rick Ankiel returned to the major leagues playing a new position with a new number and renewed enthusiasm. Perhaps a reintroduction is order. Call him An-KEE-el. has three he said. Ankiel has been a two-syllable name, at least publicly, since he was a pitching prodigy on the way to his big-league debut in 1999.

But the preferred pronunciation is subtly different. He mentioned the common mispronunciation a few times when he was a rookie and a young pitcher in the organization, but realized we had the Kiel Center, I was ghting a losing He joked: FOR THE RECORD: Rick Ankiel says we have been mispronouncing his name for years. An-KEE-el. PLEASE SEE ANKIEL A7 Padilla Found guilty of terrorism conspiracy charges PLEASE SEE OFFICER A10 PLEASE SEE SCORES A7 PLEASE SEE PADILLA A5 Fire damages church The historic St. Alphonsus Church was seriously damaged in a ve-alarm re Thursday night.

The church on North Grand Boulevard, a monument in midtown St. Louis, was dedicated in 1872. Fire Chief Sherman George said that while the walls stayed intact, re engulfed the interior of the structure. The famed steeple remained standing. Sarah Conard Post-Dispatch STORY IN METRO C1 1 1 22:50:56 22:50:56.