Stories from Saturday, January 26, 2002

LOS ANGELES -- A Superior Court judge has ordered mediation in the $30 million palimony lawsuit filed against Stevie Wonder by an ex-girlfriend who also accuses the singer of giving her a sexually transmitted disease. Angela McAfee filed the lawsuit in October, claiming the singer-songwriter promised to support her for life. In court documents, she charges that Wonder gave her herpes, a claim Wonder's attorney has denied...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Another St. Louis lawmaker is leaving the Missouri House, this time a Republican. Rep. David Levin, R-St. Louis, sent a letter of resignation to Speaker Jim Kreider on Friday. His last day will be Monday, and his departure will create the House fourth vacancy from the St. Louis area...

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The slow economy will delay plans by Arch Coal Inc. to build a $1 billion coal-fed power plant near this southwestern Illinois city, company officials and local organizers said Friday. The St. Louis-based company, which owns 300 million tons of reserves in Southern Illinois, has met with utility companies, power generators and other prospective partners to build and run the plant near Pinckneyville, Arch spokeswoman Kim Link said...

HARRISONVILLE, Mo. -- A western Missouri man who told authorities he could not control "the ugly monster" within himself was sentenced to two consecutive life terms for his videotaped sexual assaults on young girls. Elza Terry, 55, of Warsaw, was sentenced Thursday. Cass County Circuit Court Judge Jacqueline Cook actually gave him six life terms, but only two will run consecutively...

ST. LOUIS -- There are no statewide standards directing emergency workers in Missouri how to respond to an attack by a weapon of mass destruction, and public health officials have no state-based stockpile of immunizations and other medicines. Those are two of the many findings of the Missouri Security Panel, which met Friday in St. Louis to report to Gov. Bob Holden and provide recommendations on how to better secure the state in defense of a terrorist attack or man-made disaster...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Lottery Commission wasted little time in approving a new gambling game that Gov. Bob Holden hopes will boost education funding. The commission on Thursday unanimously approved Quick Draw Lotto, an online keno game. Missourians could be making keno bets in local bars and restaurants by June 1...

ST. LOUIS -- Orlando Pace vs. Hugh Douglas already was perhaps the most intriguing matchup of Sunday's NFC championship game, without throwing Kurt Warner's sore ribs into the mix. Now, the Philadelphia Eagles' twice-fined pass rush specialist against the St. Louis Rams' All-Pro tackle takes on added importance. That's because the Rams realize they can't allow Warner, who missed practice Thursday, to get hit...

ST. LOUIS -- Kurt Warner returned to practice on Friday after missing most of the previous day with sore ribs and said he'll take an injection if necessary before Sunday's NFC championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles. "I'd rather not if I didn't have to," Warner said. "But it's obviously something that can be pretty painful, especially with what I have to do...

CHICAGO -- Jocelyn Thibault made 25 saves as the Chicago Blackhawks defeated St. Louis 2-1 Friday night and snapped the Blues' franchise-record 10-game winning streak. Peter White's breakaway goal midway through the second period stood up as the game-winner for Chicago, 11-3-1 in its last 15 games...

Baseball The Seattle Mariners traded third baseman David Bell to San Francisco for infielder Desi Relaford and cash. The Mariners didn't have a place for Bell after acquiring third baseman Jeff Cirillo from Colorado in a trade last month. Bell, 29, hit .260 last year with 122 hits, 15 home runs and 64 RBIs...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Carolina Panthers hired New York Giants defensive coordinator John Fox as their new coach on Friday, giving him a four-year deal worth about $1 million annually. Fox becomes a head coach for the first time, at any level. Fox, who first interviewed with the Panthers last week, emerged as the front-runner to replace George Seifert on Thursday, when he was brought back to Charlotte for a second interview...

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The farther away from the hole, the better off Duffy Waldorf was Friday in posting his second straight round of 6-under 65 to take the lead in the Phoenix Open. Waldorf chipped in for birdie, holed two long birdie putts and also made an eagle putt from 35 feet to reach the halfway point at 130. He was one stroke ahead of Vijay Singh (65) and Rory Sabbatini (64)...

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Jennifer Capriati fought off four match points in the second set and beat Martina Hingis 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2 Saturday to win her second consecutive Australian Open title. The top-seeded Capriati fell behind 0-4 in the second set and cursed at the chair umpire. But Capriati then staved off three match points -- at 3-5 and 5-6 -- to force a tiebreaker...

WASHINGTON -- A panel of scientists says the Energy Department's plan to store nuclear waste in Nevada is fraught with uncertainties. Indeed, the scientists say, no matter where the waste is put, it will be impossible to avoid unexpected problems over the more than 10,000 years the material will be radioactive...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush assailed Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority on Friday for "enhancing terror" by trying to smuggle weapons from Iran and was considering a range of harsh U.S. sanctions including suspension of diplomatic contact. There was no immediate presidential decision. ...

WASHINGTON -- Business coalitions and the nation's accounting and energy industries are moving quickly to try to head off new federal restrictions they fear will emerge from the Enron investigations. One example: tighter rules on 401(k) retirement plans...

BETHPAGE, Mo. -- Strangers were donating money, food and furniture to help a poor Southwest Missouri family begin to rebuild and bury seven people killed in a mobile home fire. Meanwhile, a coroner said Friday the three adult female victims were so badly burned that DNA testing will be required to ensure identification. The test was expected to take at least two weeks, delaying burial for them, as well as the man and three children who died...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- When state lawmakers say education is their top priority, they aren't joking. So far this session, nearly 90 bills have been filed on the subject and more are likely. Beyond promising to fully fund public schools, lawmakers have proposed everything from requiring students to say the Pledge of Allegiance to giving new teachers signing bonuses for going to work in rural counties...

GREENBELT, Md. -- A Pennsylvania school bus driver accused of taking 13 children on a curious, 115-mile detour to Maryland with a loaded rifle by his side appeared in court on kidnapping charges Friday and told a magistrate he was "not totally involved" in the episode...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The father who beat another man to death at their sons' hockey practice was sentenced to six to 10 years in prison Friday after the dead man's 13-year-old boy urged a judge to "teach him a lesson." "Let the world know that a person can't do what he did to my family," Michael Costin said in an unwavering voice. "No matter how much of a sentence that you give to Thomas Junta, my dad got more."...

HOUSTON -- A former Enron Corp. executive who reportedly complained about the company's questionable accounting practices and resigned last May was found shot to death in a car Friday, an apparent suicide. J. Clifford Baxter, a 43-year-old former vice chairman of the energy giant, was discovered dead in a Mercedes-Benz parked on a median not far from his home in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land. He had been shot in the head...

HASSANI KALAN SURANI, Pakistan -- During his six months of study at an Islamic school here, John Walker Lindh expressed admiration for the Taliban and even talked of taking four wives as permitted under Islam, according to those who knew him. Lindh, known here by his Muslim name, Sulayman al-Faris, is remembered in this Pakistani village 165 miles southwest of Islamabad as a kind and earnest young man devoted to his religious studies...

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -- If Somali warlord Hussein Mohamed Aidid is to be believed, Somalia is crawling with terrorists. But Aidid, a onetime U.S. Marine whose father was America's most wanted Somali before being killed in factional fighting, claimed "Islamic terrorists" already control the economy...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghan Prime Minister Hamid Karzai said Friday that the international force policing the capital should be expanded and deployed in the chaotic provinces, while U.S. leaders said that the American military presence in the country might be prolonged...

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba -- Many of the Afghan war detainees now held at Guantanamo Bay will likely be returned to their homelands, a U.S. senator said Friday. The 158 detainees come from 25 countries, Marine Brig. Gen. Mike Lehnert told reporters without identifying the nations. Previously, officials said detainees at this U.S. military outpost were from 10 countries...

Man gets four years for sodomy charges POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- On the day his trial was supposed to begin, a Poplar Bluff man pleaded guilty to sodomizing two young girls. Gary Wayne Parker, 44, appeared before Division III Circuit Judge Kelly Parker of Iron County Friday, according to Butler County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Paul Oesterreicher...

It wasn't the usual news headline -- "Scholars Vote: God Knows Future." Thus did Christianity Today magazine summarize an Evangelical Theological Society convention that climaxed a doctrinal dispute which has been brewing for years among evangelical Protestants. At issue is whether God has total knowledge of the future or somewhat limited knowledge...

OAK PARK, Ill. -- Audrey Wheeler thought she had lost all those memories -- the photograph of her smiling father, pictures of nieces and nephews now grown, a copy of the 23rd Psalm that was handed out at her father's funeral. They were gone with the purse that was stolen in an Oak Park restaurant in 1960...

ST. LOUIS -- Two National Guard soldiers at Lambert Airport stood watch Friday afternoon where none had the night before, when a security breach caused the evacuation of thousands of passengers and delayed as many as 70 flights. Police at Lambert blamed the breach, which affected about 4,000 passengers, on human error. ...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- BB guns don't qualify as dangerous weapons or firearms, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled Friday -- although Cody Junior would probably argue otherwise. Junior lost his left eye after being shot with a BB gun in 1998. He was shot by Joshua T. ...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Comfortably nested between the yellowing sheaves of Union County's ledgers is Elaine Rushing. She's the one hunched over the giant pages of the historic record books in the county clerk's back vault, searching for lost marriage and birth dates...

ST. LOUIS -- Brokerage firm Edward Jones will pay more than $31 million to plaster its name over the dome home of pro football's St. Louis Rams for the next dozen years, ending the Rams' nearly yearlong effort to sell naming rights to the enclosed stadium...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The former president of a Kansas City telecommunications firm has been sentenced to four years in federal prison for defrauding customers out of more than $7 million. Troy P. Campbell Sr., 59, will not be eligible for parole from the sentence imposed Thursday by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner. He also must spend three years under supervised release after he gets out of prison, the court ordered...

NEW DELHI, India -- India tested a new nuclear-capable missile Friday and announced it will not pull troops back from Pakistan's border anytime soon, raising tensions with its rival neighbor and drawing international criticism. Officials said the missile, a shorter-range version of the intermediate-range Agni-I, was successfully fired over the Bay of Bengal from Wheeler's Island off the coast of Orissa state in eastern India. The missile's range is 420 miles...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, Jan. 26 DWILance Wayne Farrow, 32, of 448 N. Frederick was arrested Wednesday for driving while intoxicated. Kenneth Lemont Lowe, 34, of 1015 Bloomfield Road was arrested Thursday for driving while intoxicated. Ross Lucas Martin, 21, of 3020 Boutin Drive was arrested Thursday for driving while intoxicated...

The Cairo City Council and the Cairo Board of Education are locked in a financial tug of war over a tax increase for a new school. It is the voters who are being yanked around. The school board decided this month to put a $4.1 million bond issue on the March 19 ballot. The money would fund a new building for kindergarten through eighth grade to replace the 100-year-old junior high and Bennett Elementary School and the 50-year-old Emerson Elementary School...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Funeral for Edith McCormick of Tamms will be at 11 a.m. Monday at Crain Funeral Home in Tamms. The Rev. Kenneth Johnson will officiate. Burial will be in Olive Branch Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 4-8 p.m. Sunday and after 8 a.m. Monday...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Leatrice Barks, 80, of Advance died Friday, Jan. 25, 2002, at Chaffee Nursing Center in Chaffee, Mo. She was born Jan. 19, 1922, at Poe, Mo., daughter of Cleve and Clara Myers Jackson. She and Henry Barks were married Aug. 6, 1942, in Little Rock, Ark. He died Dec. 4, 1967...

MOREHOUSE, Mo. -- Terry Comstock, 55, of Morehouse died Friday, Jan. 25, 2002, at his home. He was born Jan. 25, 1947, at Sikeston, Mo., son of Leo and Barbara "Betty" McDowell Comstock. He and Evelyn Cochran were married Oct. 26, 1963. Comstock was a self-employed building contractor. He had been a commercial sales representative with Lowe's Warehouse in Sikeston since July 2001...

Nathan Kelly "Nate" Mathis, 43, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Feb. 26, 1958, at Dexter, Mo., son of Willie F. and Dathel L. Graves Mathis. Mathis owned and operated Home Entertainment Service and was a video technician. He was a member of Lynwood Baptist Church...

Mattie Jane Hawn, 90, of St. Louis died Thursday, Jan. 24, 2002, at Altenheim Retirement Center in St. Louis. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Philomena Mary Jirik, 96, of Bloomsdale, Mo., died Thursday, Jan. 24, 2002, at Jefferson County Memorial Hospital in Crystal City, Mo. She was born Dec. 29, 1905, at Oran, Mo., daughter of Louis and Frances Blattel Schramm. She and Simon J. Jirik were married Feb. 5, 1929. He died Aug. 27, 1982...

URBANDALE, Ill. -- Funeral Mass for Harold E. Walker of Urbandale will be held at 11 a.m. today at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Cairo, Ill. The Rev. Jerome Fortenberry will officiate. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery at Villa Ridge, Ill. Friends may call at Barkett Funeral Home in Cairo from 9-10:30 a.m. today...

ELCO, Ill. -- Graveside service for Margaret R. Gaines of Elco will be held at 1 p.m. today at St. John's Cemetery. Monsignor Tom Miller will officiate. Hileman and Parr Funeral Home in Jonesboro, Ill., is in charge of arrangements. Gaines, 62, died Friday, Jan. 25, 2002, at Jonesboro Healthcare Center...

Cyril Glastetter, 85, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Jan. 24, 2002, at his home. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Daugherty Daughter to Mike and Sara Daugherty of DeSoto, Mo., St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis, Monday, Oct. 29, 2001. Name, Lyndsay Alexandra. Weight, 6 pounds 1 ounce. Second child, first daughter. Mrs. Daugherty is the daughter of Richard and Vicki Hutcheson of Charleston, Mo. Daugherty is the son of Wayne and Bev Daugherty of Roach, Mo., and the late Lynn Daugherty...

Thursday's edition of the Southeast Missourian listed the wrong date for KRCU Radio's fourth annual Valentine Dinner-Dance. The event will be held Feb. 9. The Southeast Missourian regrets the error.

10 years ago: Jan. 26, 1992 Marchers parade west on Broadway during Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Freedom March; beginning at Common Pleas Courthouse, procession ends at St. James A.M.E. Church with program on King's legacy to the church. Sikeston - Contract to sandblast and repaint Mississippi River bridge at Chester, Ill., may be let later this year; $2 million project, scheduled to start last spring, was delayed after state and federal environmental agencies said bridge had to be enclosed in cloth so that toxic lead-paint chips and particles blasted from span wouldn't fall into river.. ...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- More than half of the individuals indicted last week by Stoddard County's grand jury on drug-related charges are now in custody. The indictments are the result of "multiple investigations" by the Stoddard County Sheriff's Department and SEMO Drug Task Force from mostly December and early January, said Stoddard County deputy Dennis Fowler...

A publisher who turned a small weekly into a communications company that now owns 48 newspapers, and a company that has been putting musical instruments into the hands of Southeast Missouri students for more than half a century are the newest recipients of Cape Girardeau's highest business awards...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Law enforcement officers in Cape Girardeau set a record for the number of search warrants issued in 2001, nearly doubling the number issued the year before. According to the Cape Girardeau Prosecuting Attorney's office, there were 105 search warrants issued, compared to 52 in 2000...

Mildred Frances Jenkins Hoffman, 76, of Richmond, Va., died Thursday, Jan. 24, 2002, at St. Mary's Hospital in Richmond. She was born May 18, 1925, in Cape Gir-ardeau, daughter of Harry and Mary Drum Jenkins. She and Jack Hoffman were married in 1945 in Cape Girardeau...

Stadium black hole IT IS interesting that the "Cardinals have eight lobbyists trying to lock up votes in Jefferson City." The Coalition Against Public funding for Stadiums "does not have a full-time lobbyist at the Capitol." This situation leaves no doubt where the money and power are concentrated. ...

There's a different kind of feud brewing in Scott County, but it certainly will be as heated as the school tussle in Cairo. In August, Scott County Sheriff Bill Ferrell replaced the broken air conditioning in his jail without consulting the county commission. His friend, Kenny Bridger, did the work...

As President Bush builds a worldwide anti-terrorism coalition, some of his staunchest supporters at home are raising serious questions about the United States' new allies. Religious conservatives have built an influential human rights movement over the last five years aimed at protecting Christians and other religious minorities overseas -- particularly in Muslim countries...

Should converts from Islam to Christianity be threatened with execution? Should Christians be barred from sharing their beliefs with Muslims? Should Christians be permitted to maintain churches, schools and charities on their own terms? Such questions are matters of serious discussion in parts of the Muslim world...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A Jackson, Mo., native was among the list of nominations for a Christian music award this week. Zoegirl, a female trio that includes Kristin Swinford, formerly of Jackson, was among the best new artist nominees announced Wednesday. Zoegirl is known for its upbeat dance music with some sounds of R&B...

Nominations in 41 categories were announced Wednesday: Artist: Steven Curtis Chapman, Nicole C. Mullen, P.O.D., Michael W. Smith, Third Day. Female vocalist: Natalie Grant, Nicole C. Mullen, Nichole Nordeman, Rebecca St. James, CeCe Winans...

First Assembly adds new Sunday service Cape First Assembly is adding a new service at 10 a.m. at Freedom Rock Center beginning Feb. 3. The center, at Broadway and Kingshighway, serves as a site for youth worship and activities. The new service will add another worship site and style for the congregation. The church already has services at 7 p.m. Saturday and 9 and 11 a.m. Sunday at the building on Mount Auburn Road...

Lori Strickland gladly sets aside her thick three-ring binder of lesson plans and outlines to spend time playing with Noah Jones and Lucas Brooks during an afternoon of Mother's Day Out. Strickland is director of the weekly preschool program at Lynwood Baptist Church, which offers learning opportunities for children from age 1 to pre-kindergarten...

Today Good News Players will present drama and music during the 5:30 p.m. service at First General Baptist Church in Jackson, Mo. The players are college students from Oakland City University in Indiana. The service is casual and includes movie clips, Powerpoint presentations and contemporary music. For information, call 243-8467 or visit them on the Web at www.clas.net/-fgbc...

JACKSON, Mo. -- The Jackson boys basketball team rallied from a six-point halftime deficit to sink visiting Perryville 59-45 Friday night. Jackson (12-8) enjoyed a 16-7 advantage at the free-throw line, hitting on 89 percent of its attempts. Lance Bollinger and Seth McDowell paced the Indians with 18 and 10 points, respectively...

There are still plenty of games left to be played, but there is no denying the importance of today's Ohio Valley Conference women's basketball matchup between Southeast Missouri State University and Austin Peay. Entering the 3:30 p.m. tipoff at the Show Me Center, the Otahkians (12-6, 4-3 OVC) and Lady Governors (11-7, 4-3) are tied for third place in the nine-team league, with Morehead State lurking just one-half game behind. ...

Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team appears to be improving with almost every game -- but the Indians continue to receive few tangible rewards for their progress. Coach Gary Garner hopes that will finally change today when the Indians (3-15, 1-6 Ohio Valley Conference) face Austin Peay (9-12, 4-3) in a 1 p.m. tipoff at the Show Me Center...

MOBILE, Ala. -- DeShaun Foster went from leading Heisman Trophy contender to bystander as UCLA's season fall apart. Now the record-setting tailback will put his talent on display for the first time in more than two months today in the Senior Bowl, a game for top NFL prospects...

Southeast Missouri State University women's tennis coach Donna Ryan is confident that her young and inexperienced squad will begin to make solid strides this year. The Otahkians, who have only six players -- the amount necessary to field a full lineup -- went 0-7 in Ohio Valley Conference matches last season, although they did finish 5-13 overall...

To the editor: I have a nephew who is a doctor, a cousin who is a minister and another cousin who is a funeral director. They tell me I have it made, but that doesn't necessarily have to be true. My doctor nephew furnishes me with solutions in dealing with various health problems. They are all good...

To the editor: The story "U.S. to pledge $290 million for Afghanistan" angered me to the point that I had to write to say I don't understand our thinking here in America. No country will replace the damage we have suffered from warmongers. But the story said our aid to Afghanistan will cost $1.7 billion in the first year. ...

The hiss of a welding torch, the whine of a moving crane, the hum of a boat motor, the ping of metal hitting metal and the occasional shout of a construction worker were just a few of the sounds heard on the cold and windy construction site of the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge Thursday morning...