Stories from Saturday, April 3, 2004

A president's job: Give President Bush's critics credit for versatility. Having spent months assailing him for doing too much after 9-11 -- Iraq, the Patriot Act, the pre-emption doctrine -- they have now turned on a dime to allege that he did too little before it. This contradiction is Mr. Bush's opportunity to rise above the ankle biting and explain to the American public what a President is elected to do...

For 50 years under various names, the United Way of Southeast Missouri has been doing good works. The United Way raises a significant portion of the money organizations in the region need to operate, leaving them to concentrate on improving the quality of life...

Teenagers are always hanging out at the Jackson house where Rachel Sprigg, Mindy Hoffman and Sarah Schumacher live -- but that's sort of the purpose. The house, off the corner of Washington and Hope streets, is owned by First Presbyterian Church but is used most often by teens who gather for Young Life club, an organization that builds relationships with teens and introduces them to Christianity...

To the editor: On March 27 we attended the soccer tournament at Notre Dame Regional High School. Before the Cape Girardeau-Jackson game, the national anthem was played. Several teenagers sitting on a blanket did not bother to stand up. I looked at my husband and said, "I guess our son is serving in Iraq so they have the right to sit." However, I did not believe what I was seeing. ...

To the editor: In answer to Robert Polack Jr.: Freedom is not free. Consider the untold numbers of men and women who have died or have partial bodies. They are why everyone in America has the freedom we have today. Freedom costs. Would we rather fight for freedom over there or here on our own soil? How many innocent children, women and men were tortured and killed by Saddam Hussein? How many are in one grave? Weapons of mass destruction were shipped out of the country. ...

To the editor: In a recent letter, U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson said: "It is dangerous to prefer inaction to a defense of our nation against terrorists" As much as I'd like to believe our action in Afghanistan and Iraq is for our protection, evidence points to the possibility that other factors might have been our motivation for these actions...

To the editor: Several events that I have recently experienced have taught me something that is painfully hard to deal with. Racism is still alive and well in Cape Girardeau, and it's our duty as responsible Americans to speak out against racism, bigotry and hatred in our hometown no matter what the cost...

To the editor: I am so sorry to see the Early Head Start program go. I am shocked that its value did not withstand budget cuts. When I was a student at Southeast Missouri State University, the EHS program provided my child with the care he needed and myself with the opportunity to finish college. ...

Leroy H. Watkins, 86, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, April 1, 2004, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Oct. 4, 1917, in Granite City, Ill., son of David Henry and Maude Fierce Watkins. He and Thelma M. Kurre were married Nov. 24, 1938, in Granite City. She died Dec. 16, 2003...

Raymond Leo Sievers, 89, formerly of Jackson, died Friday, April 2, 2004, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born Oct. 19, 1914, in Jackson, son of Henry and Mary Zeller Sievers. He and Martha Hoffmeister were married March 17, 1961. She died Feb. 20, 1997...

Two Sikeston residents were arrested at noon Thursday after the Sikeston Department of Public Safety narcotics officers and special operations team served a search warrant at 535 N. Ranney. Stephanie Miles, 30, and Cletus Rhoden, 41, were arrested on Scott County warrants for possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute. Both are being held in lieu of $100,000 bond each...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Three adults and two juveniles were arrested at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at a residence at 425 Main St. in Perryville, after authorities raided what they found to be an active methamphetamine lab there. Arrested were Shawn L. Niccum of 321 Perry County Road 318, Jennifer A. ...

Jackson police arrested Clint A. Estraca, 21, of 119 S. Farmington, Friday on drug-related charges after responding to a peace disturbance call. Estraca was later charged by the Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney's office with class A misdemeanor tampering with physical evidence, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, and class B misdemeanor peace disturbance...

Next week, police chief Steve Strong will be in Washington, D.C., learning how to protect Cape Girardeau from terror threats to the area that nowadays aren't hard to imagine. Strong has been selected to attend an all-expenses-paid, weeklong training session on homeland security in the new U.S. Secret Service Memorial Building April 5 to 9...

NEW YORK -- With the jury close to reaching a verdict, a judge declared a mistrial in the grand-larceny case against two former Tyco executives Friday after a juror apparently received an intimidating letter and phone call for supposedly siding with the defense...

Real estate agent Joe Crimaldi said he had no warning before the manager at an apartment complex where he worked called him in to fire him about three years ago. There was no discussion of his sales record, he said, only expressions of how "we don't see eye to eye" and "I don't think this is working out."...

HONOLULU -- The last victim identified in the attack on four civilians in Iraq this week was a native of Hawaii who joined the military out of high school and returned to his home state several years ago after a career as an Army Ranger. His family was informed late Thursday that Wesley J. Batalona was one of the four American contractors killed in Fallujah, Iraq, his older sister, Uilani Shibata, said Friday...

MADRID, Spain -- A Spanish railroad inspector found a 26-pound bomb hidden in a bag on a busy high-speed line Friday, and police said the device may contain the same dynamite used in last month's Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people. ...

NEW YORK -- In response to an uproar caused by a History Channel documentary that claimed President Lyndon Johnson was involved in the Kennedy assassination, the network will air a challenge to that program by a panel of three historians. The special, airing at 7 p.m. local time Wednesday, is called "The Guilty Men: An Historical Review."...

JERUSALEM -- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon revealed the scope of his withdrawal plan Friday, saying Israel will leave all of the Gaza Strip and dismantle four West Bank settlements. But there were reports of violence in both region hours later. A Palestinian gunman attacked the West Bank settlement of Avnei Hefets early today, killing an Israeli man and wounding his daughter before he was shot and killed, rescue services said...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Dozens of people have been charged with illegally selling large quantities of over-the-counter drugs used to make methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Todd Graves said. Graves announced Thursday that 38 business owners and employees were charged in four separate indictments on charges that include conspiracy to distribute pseudoephedrine, a common ingredient in over-the-counter cold medicines that is used to make meth, conspiracy to manufacture meth, money laundering and federal firearm violations.. ...

WASHINGTON -- Trains and buses in major U.S cities may be targeted this summer by terrorists using bombs hidden in bags or luggage, federal counterterrorism officials have told law enforcement and transportation officials in a nationwide bulletin. FBI and Homeland Security Department officials said they had received uncorroborated intelligence reports about a plot by terrorists to target commercial transportation systems. ...

WASHINGTON, Mo. -- Carl Eugene Zitzman, 88, of Lonedell, Mo., died Tuesday, March 30, 2004, in Washington. He was born Dec. 6, 1915, at Pacific, Mo., son of August and Katherine Thiebes Zitzman. He and Lola McGalliard were married in 1946. Zitzman was employed 30 years with Great Lakes Navy Electronic Supply Office, retiring as supervisor. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church in Waukegan, Ill., and was a former Boy Scout leader...

HORSE CAVE, Ky. -- William E. Anderson, 79, of Horse Cave, died Friday, April 2, 2004. He was born at Fornfelt, son of William E. and Elsie Beckett Anderson. He and Katherine Schnider were married March 14, 1946. Anderson was a 1942 graduate of Fornfelt High School. He worked 39 years on the Pennsylvania Railroad...

10 years ago: April 3, 1994 Westminster Presbyterian Church hosts community Easter sunrise service; it is held at foot of fish and cross on hill by church, 1820 Perryville Road. Cape Girardeau police officer Dan Niswonger is in stable condition at local hospital; he was involved in two-vehicle accident early yesterday while on duty...

WASHINGTON -- After months of dismal job growth, the nation's employers dusted off their help-wanted signs in March and added workers at the quickest pace in four years, swelling payrolls by 308,000. Even so, the unemployment rate inched up a tenth of a point to 5.7 percent as more people were encouraged to start looking for work again but failed to find jobs, the Labor Department said Friday...

SAN ANTONIO -- Bill Walton, Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon should be smiling Saturday. The pure center, the position that has slowly -- some say sadly -- become something of a relic in college basketball over the last decade or so, is back in the limelight...

Southeast Missouri State University junior Heather Jenkins' bid for a Gatorade Classic three-peat got off to an impressive start Friday. Competing in the only event on the opening day of Southeast's 23rd annual track and field meet, Jenkins won the hammer throw with a distance of 171 feet, 4 inches that exceeded her previous personal best by about 10 feet...

Ashley Godwin figures it's a great way to wind up a record-setting career. Tara Boldt, Alexis Traylor and Katie Bloom figure it's a great way to gain experience and build some major momentum for the remainder of their careers. Those four Southeast Missouri State University gymnasts make up one of the school's largest-ever qualifying groups for tonight's NCAA Division I South Central Regional in Tucson, Ariz...

ST. LOUIS -- Geologists are launching a study of soils in parts of Illinois, Missouri and Indiana to chart how strongly earthquakes could shake different areas. The several-year study by the U.S. Geological Survey will not show where earthquakes are expected to originate, only which areas likely would face the worst shaking in a quake...

Cape Girardeau took part in Missouri's ReadMOre program for the first time with the appearance of author Eddy Harris at Central High School and the Cape Girardeau Public Library on Friday. ReadMOre, in its third year, is a collaborative effort between Missouri public libraries, bookstores and starting next year, the Missouri Humanities Council. The goal, said project coordinator Kathleen Nigro, is "to encourage all Missourians to read and discuss the same book."...

Candidates for the 158th District of the Missouri House of Representatives told a group of Republican women Friday -- one in person, two by proxy -- that if elected they intended to work toward reducing the size of government, creating jobs and making business a priority...

ST. LOUIS -- Democratic Gov. Bob Holden criticized a Republican budget plan to eliminate vacant state jobs as "callous and careless," suggesting it would harm the education of the deaf, blind and disabled. A plan pending in the House Budget Committee would abolish more than 500 full- and part-time state jobs that have been empty for at least three months, saving the state an estimated $20 million...

If the Ohio Valley Conference's baseball coaches were correct, then perhaps the biggest series of the entire season will take place on the second weekend of league play. Southeast Missouri State University (11-13, 2-1) visits Jacksonville State (10-13, 3-0) for a three-game set featuring the two preseason favorites based on voting by the league's coaches. The squads will have a 1 p.m. doubleheader today and a 1 p.m. single game Sunday in Jacksonville, Ala...

Holding the reigns to his horse, Desired Spark, Lew Sterrett rode around Flickerwood Arena in Fruitland kicking up dirt and sharing Scripture at the same time. Sterrett delivered his "Sermon on the Mount" before a standing-room-only crowd Friday night at the arena. At least 1,000 people filled the bleachers in the arena to see Sterrett break a 3-year-old stallion that had never before been ridden...

Just before midnight on March 22, Corban Ayala was squirming on a piece of pastel green construction paper spread over the mat in his bassinet. Bedecked in his first white T-shirt and diapers, his feet still dotted with black patches of ink from having his footprints taken, Corban could have been wondering any number of things...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Kevin Witt hit a grand slam in the bottom of the fifth to lead the Memphis Redbirds to a 7-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night. The game was the first of two between the Cardinals and their Triple-A affiliate. Witt's home run came after Jason Bowers hit a three-run homer off Cardinals starter Woody Williams in the same inning...

Antill Daughter to Matthew Mikhail Antill and Krista Jennifer Bland of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 9:15 p.m. Friday, March 26, 2004. Name, Tracy Kathleen. Weight, 8 pounds 12 ounces. First child. Ms. Bland is the daughter of Gary and Sue Bland of St. Louis. She is attending Southeast Missouri State University. Antill is the son of Robert and Julie Antill of Chaffee. He is employed at Drury National Call Center...

Valid theories I AM absolutely floored. My son, a first-grader at South Elementary School, told me that Christians were wrong and dinosaurs lived before humans. He said his teacher told him that. Evolution is only a theory, not fact, and under no circumstances should a teacher be telling a student that creationism is wrong. It is also a valid theory...

College St. Joseph's swept The Associated Press men's college basketball awards Friday, with senior guard Jameer Nelson a runaway winner as player of the year and Phil Martelli selected as coach of the year. The two led the tiny school from Philadelphia to an almost-perfect regular season, a No. ...

Lutheran women's missionary group to meet The Lutheran Women's Missionary League at St. Andrew Church will meet at 1 p.m. April 13 in the church library. The speaker is Molly Strickland with Lutheran Family and Children's Services. Christian Women's Club to meet at Port Cape...

Today Gospel singing at 7 p.m. at Shiloh Baptist Church in Villa Ridge, Ill. The Gloryroad Travelers are scheduled to perform. For information, phone (618) 995-2306. Sunday Palm Sunday service at 7:45 and 10 a.m. at Hanover Lutheran Church. The service includes communion and confirmation of 11 students during the 10 a.m. service...

Cape Girardeau The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests: Terry Duane Rucker, 19, of 200 S. Spanish, Cape Girardeau was arrested Thursday on city warrants for failure to appear to pay fines for seven traffic offenses; on a Phelps County warrant for robbery; and on a Cape Girardeau County warrant for a weapons offense...

Firefighters responded to the following items Thursday: At 6:25 p.m. a medical assist at 1117 Ranney. At 7:30 p.m., a structure fire at 416 N. Frederick. At 8:12 p.m., a medical assist at 1 University Plaza. Firefighters responded to the following items Friday: At 5:51 a.m. a fire alarm sounding at 2911 Kage Rd...

Local business owners looking to get a jump on this year's crop of teens for summer help got a head start at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Coffee. The presentation for the monthly gathering at the Show Me Center was conducted by Dennis Reagan, director of the Missouri Mentoring Partnership, a two-pronged organization that seeks to provide local teenagers and young adults with necessary life and work skills. ...

WASHINGTON -- Citing a need to protect the troops, the Marine Corps operating in Fallujah and elsewhere in the volatile Sunni Triangle of central Iraq is restricting the information it releases about insurgent attacks that kill Marines. On Friday, for example, a statement from the Marines' base camp outside Fallujah said a Marine had been killed the day before "as a result of enemy action" in Anbar province. ...

Area churches are expecting to fill their sanctuaries on Easter Sunday, in part because of the attention and curiosity generated by the film "The Passion of the Christ." Mel Gibson's dramatic movie about the last hours of Christ's life has gained international media attention. The movie shows the arrest, suffering and crucifixion of Jesus Christ and has been criticized for its violence and anti-Semitic tones...