BELLEVILLE > Diocese settles suit — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville said Friday it has settled a lawsuit for $1.2 million against one of its priests who was accused of molesting an altar boy at St. Theresa's Parish in Salem, Ill., in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Last August, a jury awarded $5 million to another victim of the same priest, the Rev. Raymond Kownacki, for a conspiracy by diocesan officials to hide allegations of sexual abuse by Kownacki. The verdict was the largest jury award in a local priest-abuse case. The diocese has appealed the award.

The plaintiff in the case settled this week, filed as a "John Doe," was mentioned in a complaint written in 1982 to the diocese by another family, stating that Kownacki had abused their son and several others. Kownacki was moved to another parish shortly after that complaint. The suit alleged negligence and conspiracy by the diocese, and was nearly identical to the one that won the $5 million judgment last year. In a statement, Belleville Bishop Edward Braxton said "on the occasion of this settlement," the diocese "continues to express regret for any instance of sexual abuse of a minor by a member of its clergy."



ST. LOUIS > RAINFALL SETS RECORDS — RAINFALL FOR THE AREA SET TWO RECORDS IN THE PAST 24 HOURS: FOR THE MOST DAILY RAINFALL AND FOR THE MOST RAIN FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER, A METEOROLOGIST WITH THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAID FRIDAY. METEOROLOGIST DOUG TILLY SAID THAT 1.91 INCHES OF RAIN WAS RECORDED AT LAMBERT-ST. LOUIS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT FOR THURSDAY, A RECORD FOR ANY OCT. 23 SINCE 1874, WHEN SCIENTISTS STARTED RECORDING WEATHER CONDITIONS. THE PREVIOUS RECORD WAS SET IN 1913 AT 1.67 INCHES OF RAIN, TILLY SAID. AND THIS OCTOBER HAS BEEN THE WETTEST EVER AT 8.55 INCHES OF RAIN, AS OF 7 A.M. FRIDAY. THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 8.52 INCHES OF RAIN WAS SET FOR OCTOBER 1990.