Labor Protesters Block Interstate

Several hundred workers and activists formed a human barricade across a major St. Louis highway to demand that more minorities be hired for state construction jobs. No one was injured, but 125 people were taken into custody. Those arrested, including New York activist the Rev. Al Sharpton, were immediately released but ordered to appear Aug. 17 on charges of impeding the flow of traffic and failing to obey a police order. Members of MO-KAN, a group representing minority contractors, staged the protest on Interstate 70, the site of a construction project.