// a href = ./ //

CARRIER MILLS, Ill. (AP) - Caterpillar Inc. and police say an explosion at one of the company's southern Illinois sites where mining equipment is repaired left one worker hospitalized and heavily damaged a building.

Caterpillar spokesman Rusty Dunn says it's unclear what caused the blast and fire yesterday morning in an unattached paint building. That building was heavily damaged. Saline County Sheriff's Office Lt. Tracy Felty says it happened near the village of Carrier Mills.

Dunn says an unidentified employee sustained burns and was taken to a St. Louis-area hospital. His medical status was not immediately known.

The Carrier Mills site and a related site in nearby Norris City together employ about 70 people. It's not clear how many workers were at the Carrier Mills location when the explosion happened.

Carrier Mills is about 140 miles southeast of St. Louis.

CHICAGO (AP) - Authorities say they've filed murder charges in the death of a 15 year old honor student who was shot last month near the Chicago home of President Barack Obama.

Chicago police spokeswoman Melissa Stratton said Monday that two young men are charged with first-degree murder in connection to the Jan. 29 death of Hadiya Pendleton.

They also are charged with two counts of attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm. Their names haven't been released.

Police say Pendleton was talking with friends in a Chicago park when one suspect ran toward the group and opened fire. The gunman then fled in a car.

The shooting made national headlines after it was reported that Pendleton had recently returned from Washington, where she'd performed during inauguration festivities with her high school band.

As the race for St. Louis Mayor heats up, the jabs are getting more pointed. The Domcratic candidates, incumbent Mayor Francis Slay, Aldermanic President Lewis Reed and former Alderman Jimmie Matthews, squared off in a second forum Monday. All three talked about crime, education and redevelopment. And then the mud slinging began.

Mayor Francis Slay chided Democratic rival Lewis Reed for not releasing his tax returns. The Aldermanic President drew a contrast between his returns and Slay's. Reed said it would be a different matter for him to release his joint tax returns since his wife was a working lawyer and the Mayors was a "stay-at-home mother."

Reed then accused Slay of creating a personal "slush fund" with more than 150-thousand dollars left over in the Citizens for a Stronger St. Louis fund -- the campaign committee aimed at keeping the city’s earnings tax intact. Slay denied that.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that committee treasurer Brad Ketcher said the campaign fund was converted into a nonprofit organization after the election.

St. Louis' Democratic primary election is March 5th. The winner will face Green Party candidate James McNeely in the general election.