Stories from Saturday, December 21, 2002

POTOSI, Mo. -- If not for the prosecuting attorney's pet fish, Washington County might be without a courthouse. Fire broke out early Monday on the second floor of the Southeast Missouri courthouse in the office of prosecutor John Rupp. An overloaded electrical circuit was blamed...

NEW YORK -- The nation's 10 biggest brokerages agreed Friday to pay $1.44 billion and fundamentally change the way they do business to settle allegations they misled investors by hyping certain companies' stocks. The moves are aimed at restoring public confidence in the stock recommendations made by Wall Street firms...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- The state Supreme Court reversed a $3.5 billion judgment against Exxon Mobil on Friday, ruling in a gas royalty dispute that a confidential legal opinion should never have been admitted as evidence. The ruling sent the case back for possible retrial, which must not include the confidential document written for the energy giant. It did not address the size of the judgment, which Exxon argued in its appeal was excessive and unwarranted...

DUNCAN, Okla. -- Two Air Force training jets flying in formation collided Friday over southern Oklahoma, causing one plane to crash. None of the four people aboard the planes was seriously injured, including two who ejected, military officials said...

BOSTON -- In a step aimed at resolving more than 400 sex-abuse lawsuits filed against the Boston Archdiocese, attorneys for alleged victims submitted rough estimates Friday of how much money they are seeking. The undisclosed figures were submitted by about two dozen attorneys and were based on descriptions of the alleged abuse, how alleged victims were hurt and how much money the attorneys believe their clients should receive...

HONOLULU -- The remains of all nine crew members aboard a U.S. Navy patrol plane that crashed in Laos during the Vietnam War have been identified, the Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii, announced Thursday. The OP-2E Neptune crashed into the cloud-covered face of Phou Louang Mountain on Jan. 11, 1968, according to officials...

NEW YORK -- Imprisoned rapist Matias Reyes described it as "that feeling." It came over him one night in 1989 after spotting a woman running in Central Park. He said he followed her, raped her, then kept silent for years as five youths were convicted in the attack and served prison sentences...

YONKERS, N.Y. -- A sport utility vehicle rammed into a state trooper's cruiser on the side of the road and burst into flames, killing the trooper and driver and injuring six others, at least five seriously. The police cruiser was a Ford Crown Victoria -- a make that police departments have alleged is prone to catch fire when struck from the rear at high speed. At least a dozen other officers in the country have been killed in fiery crashes in Crown Victorias since 1983...

PATNA, India -- Maoist guerrillas ambushed a police van in eastern India on Friday, killing 18 people, most police officers, officials said. At least 20 policemen were wounded in the ambush and the fierce gunbattle that followed, said Arjun Munda, home minister for the state of Jharkhand...

UNITED NATIONS -- The United States vetoed an Arab-backed resolution Friday that would have condemned Israel for the recent killings of three U.N. workers, calling it one-sided. Twelve other council members -- including close U.S. ally Britain -- voted in favor of the resolution, and two abstained...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Inside the Mother of All Battles mosque, the prayer leader counseled Iraqis to be patient and sought God's help Friday against U.S. forces massing in the Persian Gulf. "Destroy their planes. Burn their tanks. Turn their cannons back upon them," implored Imam Thaer Ibrahim Al-Shomari, a day after the Bush administration declared Iraq in material breach of U.N. resolutions...

BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- Attacks on U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan are likely to increase if there is war in Iraq, a top commander in the war on terror said Friday. "Is there likely to be an increase in hostile acts against the coalition? I think yes," Lt. Gen. Daniel K. McNeill told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Two Afghan interpreters wounded by a grenade explosion at an international peacekeepers' base in Kabul died Friday, a day after the attack. One Afghan victim was identified as Habib Ullah, 28, who had worked as a translator for a French charity, the Afghan Media and Cultural Center...

SAN'A, Yemen -- Yemeni security forces battled suspected al-Qaida members holed up in a building in a gunfight that left two policemen dead and four others wounded, a security official said. Two suspected al-Qaida members escaped after the battle in the port city of al-Mukalla...

UNITED NATIONS -- The U.N. Security Council on Friday relaxed a freeze on the assets of more than 200 people suspected of having links to terrorism so they can pay for basic needs like rent, medicine and in some cases, legal expenses. The individuals had complained that they were left facing poverty by the U.N. ...

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Hundreds of thousands of whistle-blowing demonstrators demanding President Hugo Chavez's resignation took to Venezuela's streets Friday, the 19th day of a general strike that has crippled the oil-rich nation's economy. Some protesters waved Venezuelan flags while others painted their faces in the national colors of red, yellow and blue. ...

LOS ANGELES -- Steven Spielberg has rescued another Oscar from the auction block. The director-producer paid $180,000, not including fees and taxes, to buy Bette Davis' best actress Oscar for the 1935 movie "Dangerous," spokesman Marvin Levy said Thursday...

ST. LOUIS -- The annual Braggin' Rights game today between Illinois and Missouri has more than enough cachet even when the teams are not at the top of their games. That Missouri (6-0) is No. 11 and Illinois (7-0) just one spot behind only adds to the atmosphere of what always is the city's biggest event and toughest ticket of the year. The last time both teams came in unbeaten was 1989, when both were in the top five and Illinois won 101-93...

Pat Riley was fined $50,000 this week for saying a few NBA refs hold grudges against him. I'm not sure what's funnier: How long Riley needed to figure it out or that he actually believes it's only a few refs. Every official who's worked his games since 1991 holds at least one of Riley's markers. ...

WASHINGTON -- A beleaguered Trent Lott stepped aside Friday as Senate Republican leader two weeks after igniting a political firestorm with racially charged remarks, and Tennessee's Bill Frist prepared to inherit the job when the GOP takes over the chamber next month...

WASHINGTON -- The American Red Cross may have released tainted blood to hospitals, the government said Friday, reporting more than 200 violations of federal blood safety rules in its battle to get the Red Cross to improve the quality of its blood operation...

WASHINGTON -- The White House called off President Bush's planned trip to Africa next month, citing the standoff with Iraq and a desire to start work on domestic priorities. The trip will be rescheduled for later in the year, said White House press secretary Ari Fleischer...

Missouri's public libraries are being shortchanged by legislators whose spending habits are making it harder for libraries to serve patrons, said Secretary of State Matt Blunt. For the last three years, city and county libraries in Missouri received fewer tax dollars than guaranteed by the law and will get nothing next year because legislators ignored a statute that directs 10 percent of taxes collected from out-of-state professional athletes and entertainers to libraries, Blunt said...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Conservation Commission on Friday gave approval for construction of the Cape Girardeau Conservation Campus. The campus is part of a $7.3 million project at Cape Girardeau County Park North. Commissioner Stephen C. Bradford of Cape Girardeau said the campus will prove a boon for the county...

Missouri Sens. Kit Bond and Jim Talent are backing Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee to replace embattled Republican leader Trent Lott. Lott was under fire for lamenting publicly that Sen. Strom Thurmond had lost his bid for president in 1948, when Thurmond ran as a segregationist. Lott resigned Friday after colleagues -- Bond and Talent among them -- openly began lining up behind Frist...

Pauline Fox, a top vice president at Southeast Missouri State University, retired Friday but kept the key to her Academic Hall office. Fox said she kept the key in case she needs to handle any campus business before her term officially ends at the close of this month. In addition, she will be on campus part-time at the start of the spring semester to handle gender and racial equity issues for university president Ken Dobbins...

After finishing second each of the last two years, the Jackson Indians are in contention to capture their first Tiger Classic since 1992. Through round-robin play Friday at the event at Central Junior High in Cape Girardeau, Jackson held a slim lead over two-time defending champion Ste. Genevieve...

The fourth-seeded Central Tigers fell four minutes short of their first HealthSouth Holiday Classic girls' basketball title Friday night -- twice. Still holding a game-long slim lead midway through the fourth quarter, Central had to settle for a four-minute overtime at the Show Me Center...

It's not even January and Central's boys basketball team already has won more games than it did last season. The Tigers, 4-21 in coach Derek McCord's first season, improved to 5-2 Friday night with a 65-51 victory over host Farmington. "We're playing well, and we're right where we need to be going into the Christmas tournament," McCord said...

Southeast Missourian Southeast Missouri's quest for respect in soccer took a giant leap forward when Notre Dame won the Class 2 boys state championship, the first by any school in the region. The respect came front and center this week with the release of the all-state soccer teams chosen by the state's coaches...

Kyle East was a second- team All-Ohio Valley Conference punter for Southeast Missouri State University in 2001. Now East and his Carroll College teammates are making an improbable run through the NAIA tournament that saw them knock off undefeated No. 1 Sioux Falls to reach today's championship game...

ST. LOUIS -- Indiana State used first-half runs of 16-0 and 11-0 to post an 82-71 victory over Southeast Missouri State University Friday night in the opening round of the Coca-Cola Billiken Classic. Host St. Louis routed Gardner-Webb 105-54 in the other first-round contest...

Demetrius King credits better shot selection and increased confidence for the best offensive stretch of his Southeast Missouri State University basketball career. He hopes the shots keep falling tonight when the Indians (4-5) take on Southwest Missouri State (3-4) in a 7 p.m. tipoff at the Show Me Center...

For the third time in three days, Southeast Missouri State University wide receiver Willie Ponder has made first-team All-American. The latest to honor the senior is The Sports Network, which released its team Friday. Earlier in the week, Ponder made the American Football Coaches Association and Associated Press All-American teams...

Four facing charges in water park burglary POLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Four Poplar Bluff men face burglary charges after they allegedly broke into a building at the new water park on the south end early Friday. Butler County Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Barbour charged Jeffrey Leroy Christensen, Aaron Joseph Desrochers, Douglas Christopher Edwards and Bennie David Brown with second-degree burglary. Bond was recommended at $10,000...

BOONVILLE, Mo. -- Cross-state traffic was disrupted Friday in Missouri after separate truck and train accidents closed portions of a main highway and railroad between St. Louis and Kansas City. Both accidents happened near Boonville, a Missouri River community in the center of the state...

WASHINGTON -- A Continental Airlines jetliner was diverted Friday night after a passenger reportedly stood in violation of rules for flights entering the nation's capital, aviation officials said. The flight was en route from Newark, N.J., to Ronald Reagan National Airport outside Washington when it was diverted to nearby Dulles International, Transportation Safety Administration spokeswoman Heather Rosenker said...

SEOUL, South Korea -- Conversation between President Bush and South Korean President-elect Roh Moo-hyun on Friday eased concerns that Roh's blunt criticism of the United States could damage ties with Washington. Roh, whose election victory Thursday was helped by growing anti-Americanism among South Korean youth, spoke to Bush by phone. They agreed to boost bilateral ties and work for a peaceful resolution of North Korea's nuclear threat, Roh's office said...

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Suspected rebels opened fire on a police station and set off a car bomb in an attack in eastern Colombia that left four people dead and 17 wounded Friday. Police believe the attackers were members of the National Liberation Army, or ELN, Colombia's second largest guerrilla group, which has a strong presence in the region and has been blamed for recent attacks on media outlets there...

PARIS -- American billionaire financier and philanthropist George Soros was convicted of insider trading Friday and fined $2.2 million by a French court. Soros said he was "astounded and dismayed" and vowed to appeal. The 72-year-old Soros denied having inside information about a pending takeover attempt of French bank Societe Generale when he traded its shares 14 years ago...

TOKYO -- Hundreds of orphans left behind by Japanese troops fleeing China at the end of World War II sued the Japanese government on Friday. A total of 637 plaintiffs in two groups filed a lawsuit seeking $173 million in compensation and an apology, Tokyo District Court spokesman Hideyuki Ito said. The smaller group, comprised of 40 older plaintiffs, is hoping for quicker proceedings by filing separately...

VATICAN CITY -- Mother Teresa, the Roman Catholic nun who spent much of her life caring for the poor of Calcutta's slums, moved a step closer to sainthood Friday when Pope John Paul II approved a miracle credited to her intercession. With the miracle, Mother Teresa will be beatified in a ceremony scheduled for Oct. 19 in Rome, her order said. The date is the Catholic Church's Mission Sunday, and the Sunday closest to the 25th anniversary of John Paul's election as pope...

FLINT, Mich. -- Six people were found shot to death within hours of each other in the Flint area. Five of the victims died Thursday in three separate shootings, and the body of the sixth was discovered earlier in the day in nearby Oakland County. In Genesee County, a man and woman were found dead in a sport utility vehicle outside the Mount Morris Township police station. They were apparently killed in the Saginaw area, about 30 miles north, police said...

HOUSTON -- A Texas man behind a worldwide e-mail ring that traded pornographic images of children, some as young as 18 months old, was sentenced to the maximum of 30 years in federal prison Friday. "I'm sorry for the children in the pictures," Mark Bates, 33, of Palestine said. "I was using the pictures so I wouldn't go out and hurt anyone. I wasn't thinking there was actually a person behind the pictures."...

SAN FRANCISCO -- James Kilgore, a former Symbionese Liberation Army fugitive who was captured in South Africa after more than two decades underground, pleaded innocent Friday to explosives counts and other charges. Kilgore, appearing for the first time in court after being extradited from South Africa, was part of the 1970s radical group that kidnapped newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst. ...

Did you ever wonder why Christmas falls on Dec. 25? After all, the Bible provides no birth date for Jesus. Or does it? There's a possible clue in Luke 2:8, which says that when Jesus was born shepherds were "out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night." Some figure a wintertime birth was unlikely because sheep would have been kept in a corral, not out in the countryside...

In the minds of many children, the story of Christmas is about Santa Claus, reindeer and the presents they wait for all year. But, of course, the real story of Christmas is a religious one, and several new books tell it in a manner children will both enjoy and understand...

Christmas Eve Open communion from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Kimbel Chapel at Centenary United Methodist Church. LaCroix United Methodist Church will hold its Christmas Eve services at 1:30 and 5 p.m. The Children's Choir will perform at 6:30 p.m. Candlelight and communion will be offered at the 9:30 and 11 p.m. services...

By R. Wilson Freyermuth Jr. COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Our state's leaders place great rhetorical value upon the role of higher education in Missouri's economic future. On her Web site, state Sen. Sarah Steelman of Rolla states that Missouri colleges and universities should "provide a world-class education" and thus "should expect sufficient funds to accomplish their missions."...

Considering the formidable amount of news space in newspapers and number of hours on television and radio devoted to smallpox information, a survey due out in the January issue of the New England Journal of Medicine is baffling. Harvard School of Public Health researchers found that, of 1,006 randomly selected adults surveyed:...

To the editor: I've read many of the Speak Out comments concerning the United States going to war with Iraq. Some of them make a lot of sense as they are backed up with fact. Others, like those declaring that the United States is going to war over oil, come from poorly informed people. ...

Lee Son to James Brent and Susan Nichole Lee of Jackson, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 9:04 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2002. Name, Cole Brent. Weight, 8 pounds 15 ounces. First child. Mrs. Lee is the former Susan Monroe, daughter of Frank and Linda Monroe of Jackson. She is a customer service representative with McGill Marketing Group. Lee is the son of Sandra Lee of Union City, Tenn. He is road foreman of engines with Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway...

Daily American Republic POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A Poplar Bluff man faces multiple traffic violations after leading officers on a high-speed pursuit through the south end early Friday. Bennie L. Wells was arrested on five counts of running a stop sign, three counts of making an illegal turn, four counts of driving left of center, speeding, failure to yield, no proof of insurance, driving while revoked and driving while intoxicated...

Associated Press/John S. Stewart Linn Thorton opened a box of donated goods in his shop in Monett, Mo. Thorton has collected and distributed toys in Monett for 24 years.Daily Dunklin Democrat KENNETT, Mo. -- A Southeast Missouri physician has been elected to the board of directors for the Missouri Foundation for Health...

LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. -- A Lee's Summit baby sitter has been fined more than $1,000 for leaving four babies alone while she went to her boyfriend's apartment to continue an argument. Carrie Howard, 31, also was sentenced to two years of probation, during which she is to undergo substance abuse treatment and have no contact with children younger than 17 other than her own. ...

MONETT, Mo. -- His workshop is in rural southwest Missouri. His sleigh is a horse trailer pulled by a 1994 Chevrolet pickup. And he prefers to wear denim jeans and jacket, topped off by a cowboy hat. But Linn Thornton is Santa in the eyes of many Monett residents...

NORFOLK, Va. -- "I'll Be Home for Christmas" blared from loudspeakers when the USS George Washington deployed from Norfolk Naval Station in June. On Friday, the sailors kept their promise. The aircraft carrier pulled into the pier shortly before 9:30 a.m. ...

Mrs. B called the local offices of the Missouri Division of Health and Senior Services in tears Thursday after her gifts from Christmas for the Elderly were delivered and again Friday morning. She didn't think she was worthy of any of the presents, and she thought she'd received far more than she needed. "Did you buy the whole store out?" she asked...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, Dec. 21 Firefighters responded to the following calls Thursday: At 1:33 p.m., an emergency medical service at 325 S. Lorimier. At 3:55 p.m., an emergency medical service at 1802 Stoppard. At 5:29 p.m., an emergency medical service at 202 Siemers...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, Dec. 21 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Stephanie K. Barnett, 22, of 201 Bledsoe, Matthews, Mo., was arrested Thursday on suspicion of possession of ephedrine with intent to distribute and driving without a license...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, Dec. 21 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI Arthur L. Keys, 66, of Bell City, Mo., was arrested Thursday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated...

While the American people have turned their attention to Iraq's weapons and the antics of Saddam Hussein, an insidious threat has arisen in Afghanistan. To much of the American public, the issues in Afghanistan have been solved. The Taliban is dissolved. A democratic government is in place. U.S. troops are there to make sure things stay stable...

To the editor: A Speak Out comment said, "We are our own worst enemy" with reference to the lack of strong biblical teaching. The apostle Paul warned the young evangelist Timothy of this problem 1,950 years ago: "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths." -- II Timothy 4:3-4...

Tools to fight meth WAY TO go, city council. Give your officers the tools they need to clean up our cities. Meth users are dying at their own hands. Meanwhile, they are poisoning their neighbors. Caution on Route U IN RESPONSE to the article "One killed in collision on fog-shrouded road": I am not trying to place any blame, but the dump truck drivers need to slow down and stay on their side of the road. ...

James H. Johns, 87, of Jackson passed away Friday, Dec. 20, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born July 10, 1915, in Friendship, Tenn., son of Carlos and Florence I. Privett Johns. He and Alta Marie Holmes were married Aug. 11, 1936...

Alban "Jake" Riehn, 89, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Dec. 20, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born May 7, 1913, at Oran, Mo., son of Albert Frederick and Shabla J. Niswonger Riehn. He and Lucell Stewart were married Sept. 19, 1937, at New Madrid, Mo...

ORAN, Mo. -- Virginia Ann Hodges, 66, of Oran passed away Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital, surrounded by family and friends. She was born Oct. 3, 1936, at Fornfelt, Mo., daughter of the late Leo and Rose Mae Wright Abernathy...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Lela Weinrich, 80, of Perryville died Friday, Dec. 20, 2002, at her home. She was born July 11, 1922, in Perry County, daughter of Leo and Julia Hoehn Schamburg. She and Willard Theodore Weinrich were married June 1, 1958. He died April 26, 1978. She was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church...

10 years ago: Dec. 21, 1992 Computer-controlled railroad grade-crossing safety equipment will be installed at number of busy railroad crossings in Southeast Missouri in next two to four years; three of crossings to be upgraded by September are in and near Randles in Southwest Cape Girardeau County, where Cape Girardeau man was killed three years ago at one of crossings...

Jackson would have a new entrance into town, one lined with convenience stores, hotels and strip malls rivaling the Route K interchange. Cape Girardeau could have a new east-west route along its northern edge. Southeast Missouri State University could have a technology research park on ground that is currently home to grazing cattle...