Stories from Saturday, May 31, 2008

LEOPOLD, Mo. -- Beatrice Jane Landewee, 93, of Leopold died Thursday, May 29, 2008, at Elder Care of Marble Hill, Mo. She was born March 22, 1915, in Leopold, daughter of Anthony and Rose Van Doren Stoverink. She and Herman Henry Landewee were married Aug. 25, 1937. He died Aug. 14, 1990...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — The possibility of providing a new source of biofuel from Missouri forest byproducts was discussed by U.S. Sen. Kit Bond during a stop in Poplar Bluff Wednesday morning. "The sky-high gasoline and diesel fuel prices are putting the squeeze on families, businesses, farmers and truckers," Bond told about 50 people who gathered at Ozark Foothills Regional Planning Commission for the fourth of six stops on his "Let's Get Real About Our Energy Future" tour.. ...

I recently read a review for a set of ear buds. For those of us who have not caught up to the way the iPod is constantly changing culture, "ear buds" are what we used to call earphones. This product used foam designed to protect your ears from high decibels, allowing the ear buds to create a zone that eliminated background conversations and other noise intruding on the playlist...

The first time the new parish hall at Christ Lutheran Church was used was for a sad occasion, the funeral dinner following the service for Sgt. Bradley Skelton of Gordonville, a member of the church who was killed Feb. 6 in Iraq. When the congregation dedicates the parish hall in Gordonville on Sunday, the occasion promises to be more festive...

"Pay attention, son," my father said. "You're watching history." We took in the images from our Philco black-and-white TV set as a reporter shouted into a microphone, "Get the gun, Rafer!" We kept rapt watch in the days that followed along with millions of other Americans. ...

After close to a two-year delay, Cape Girardeau's new federal courthouse will open Monday. Court will be in session, but no ceremonies, tours or hoopla is scheduled to mark the occasion, five years in the making. "We aren't planning any particular ceremony. ...

Southeast Missouri State senior Miles Smith might not be at peak form. But you couldn't tell it by the way he ran Friday during the 400-meter preliminaries at the NCAA Mideast Regional track and field meet. Smith, competing for the first time in nearly a month due to a hamstring injury, had the fastest time among the 24 regional qualifiers...

The Plaza Tire Capahas were missing some of their key players. And they fell behind 8-0 after 1 1/2 innings. But none of that prevented them from enjoying a successful season opener. The Capahas used a seven-run third inning as the springboard to a 14-12 victory over the visiting Valmeyer (Ill.) Lakers on Friday night...

SPRINGFIELD -- Ryan Willen, a key player in Notre Dame's championship runs in soccer and boys basketball, sat in the stands behind home plate to watch the Bulldogs try to extend a similar run in baseball, a sport in which he admittedly does not excel...

SPRINGFIELD -- St. Dominic cleanup hitter Will Mulligan smashed a two-run home run to left field to help his Crusaders team tie Notre Dame 8-8 in the top of the sixth inning of Friday's Class 3 state semifinal game. Mulligan returned to the plate 18 batters later in that same inning and hit his second two-run homer in his third at-bat of the frame. It was a much more meaningless blast, giving his team a 25-8 lead and capping off a 19-run inning...

Organizers estimated more than 400 people turned out for the first night of rides, games and food at the Scott City Mid-Summer Festival. An afternoon of beauty pageants concluded with the Miss Summer Teen contest. Lindsey Ressel, 16, was crowned the 2008 queen, beating out five other contestants. Myriah Miller, 15, was first runner-up and Tori Hosey, 15, was second runner-up...

BERNIE, Mo. -- The Stoddard County Sheriff's Department is reporting the arrest of a Malden, Mo., man accused of selling marijuana, the Dexter Daily Statesman reported. According to the Stoddard County Sheriff's Department, the arrest came following information pointing to John David Matthews dealing drugs in the Bernie area. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Black drivers are more likely to be stopped in Missouri than white and Hispanic motorists, and minorities are twice as likely to be searched and arrested than whites. An annual state report released Friday by the attorney general's office shows that in 2007, black drivers were 66 percent more likely to be pulled over than white motorists. A Hispanic driver was slightly more likely to be pulled over than a white one...

CARDWELL, Mo. -- This Bootheel city is considering measures to help residents deal with high gas prices. During its last city council meeting, officials mentioned the idea of allowing four-wheelers and golf carts as transportation for those who can legally drive...

CHENGDU, China -- Most of the 8,000 children found alone after China's devastating earthquake have been reunited with their parents, Chinese officials said Friday. About 1,000 have not been spoken for but the need to find adoptive families is now far less than earlier thought, said Ye Lu, a senior official at the Civil Affairs Department in hard-hit Sichuan province...

Some benefits I WILL be glad when gasoline gets to $10 per gallon. There will be less traffic, and the streets will not wear out as quickly. Snowball effect DON'T PEOPLE realize that when the price of gasoline goes up, other things are affected? Motorists won't be going anywhere because they can't afford gas, which means people won't be buying other things, which will hurt the economy...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- The Bloomfield Board of Aldermen came one step closer to the proposed annexation of Highway 25 this week. As is required by the Missouri Department of Transportation, the board held a meeting Monday following the official announcement to allow people in the affected areas to voice any objections they might have. No one did, a fact that will be forwarded to MoDOT. The board will approve the annexation at one of its June meetings...

WASHINGTON -- As it turned out, Sameer Mishra provided more than just comic relief at the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee. He ended up winning the title. The 13-year-old from West Lafayette, Ind., who often had the audience laughing with his one-line commentaries was all business when he aced "guerdon" -- a word that means "something that one has earned or gained" -- to win the 81st version of the bee Friday night...

PARIS -- Americans are shell-shocked at $4-a-gallon gas. But consider France, where a gallon of petrol runs nearly $10. Or Turkey, where it's more than $11. Drivers around the world are being pummeled by the effects of record gas prices. And now some are hitting back, staging strikes and protests from Europe to Indonesia to demand that governments do more to ease the pain...

Cape Girardeau County's new scrap tire program has turned out to be wildly popular. People lined up early in the morning on a Tuesday to rid themselves of their old treads. More than 2,400 tires were collected in one day to be disposed of. That's a lot fewer tires cluttering our area and a lot fewer mosquitoes to deal with. The pesty insects love to breed in water that collects in old tires...

WASHINGTON -- After nearly a year, the end of the presidential primaries is in sight. Over the next few days, people in Puerto Rico, South Dakota and Montana will vote. Superdelegates who have been silent will announce their intentions. Barack Obama will likely clinch the Democratic nomination, ready to take on Republican John McCain...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Charles Ray "Charlie" Murray, 67, of Jonesboro died Friday, May 30, 2008, at his home. He was born May 28, 1941, in Cobden, Ill., son of Willie and Geraldine Burnett Murray. He and Carolyn Harris were married Dec. 19, 1962, in Anna, Ill...

BENTON, Mo. — Since Tom Beardslee took over Scott County's 911 system about two months ago, commissioners have seen the operation become more organized and efficient. The commissioners discussed that during their regular meeting Thursday. "Myself, as the presiding commissioner and being [a member of the commission] going on eight years, I think this is the best I've ever seen our 911 operations being," said Presiding Commissioner Jamie Burger. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A state judge on Friday ordered the Department of Revenue to stop charging a higher fee for accessing driver's license and motor vehicle records, finding that the increased price violates the state Sunshine Law. The Revenue Department on May 1 started charging $7 to get those records. Previously it charged $1.25 and a fraction of a cent for companies that bought large quantities of records in bulk...

To the editor: Hope keeps us living for another day Looking at the future in a different way Thinking of things that can be Wanting something better than we currently see Knowing if we work towards our call True change will happen for us all With inspiration for a different life...

Janet Hopkins, co-owner of The Little Ole Opry on Highway 34 in Burfordville, has announced she and her husband are canceling the Saturday night dances. "People are still calling and wanting to go, but yet, it's just hard," she said. "We've been there for 22 years. With the gas prices and being out in the country, business had slacked off. It was hard getting bands. Hopefully another band will decide to make their home there."...

FRANKLIN, Mass. -- Diana Bardsley wiped tears from her eyes as she recalled taking food off her plate to feed her beloved spaniel Hunter and two Siamese cats. Her greatest fear: that she could be forced to surrender the animals as she struggled to stretch her food stamps and Social Security income to meet the escalating cost of living...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Thursday: n At 5:42 p.m., emergency medical service in the 900 block of Hackberry Street. n At 10:59 p.m., an alarm sounding at 1823 Rush Ave. Firefighters responded to the following calls Friday:...

Pehm Daughter to Patrick A. and Katrina A. Pehm Jr. of Benton, Mo., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 3:14 a.m. Friday, May 16, 2008. Name, Summer Leann. Weight, 5 pounds, 9 ounces. Third child, second daughter. Mrs. Pehm is the former Katrina Guerrier, daughter of Rhonda McVay of Cape Girardeau and the late Donald Guerrier of Benton. Pehm is the son of the late Rhonda Pehm and the late Patrick Pehm of Charleston, Mo. He is employed at Plants Plus...

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests n Latavia R. Flye, 21, 539 S. Spring Ave., was arrested on a Scott City warrant for failure to appear. n Harrison S. Foster, 20, of Scott City was arrested on suspicion of robbery, possession of a controlled substance (methadone) and making a terrorist threat...

YANGON, Myanmar -- Myanmar's military government is forcing cyclone victims out of refugee camps and "dumping" them near their devastated villages with virtually no aid supplies, U.N. and church officials said Friday. Eight camps set up by the junta for homeless victims in the Irrawaddy delta town of Bogalay were "totally empty" as the clear-out continued, said Teh Tai Ring of UNICEF...

To the editor: While it begs oversimplification, I believe we face a grave threat from the oil spike. It reaches into every corner of the nation and undermines our national fabric. This economic terrorism is reducing our nation to a sense of helplessness. We all see and feel what is happening...

NEW YORK -- A construction crane collapsed Friday on New York's Upper East Side, smashing into a 23-story apartment building as it fell to the ground, killing two construction workers and seriously injuring another. It was the second deadly crane accident in two and a half months and the latest of several construction mishaps in the city, which recently shook up its Building Department and beefed up inspections...

KENNETT, Mo. — About $17,000 worth of stolen equipment has been returned to the Kennett Country Club, thanks to the efforts of investigators with the city's police department. According to detective Lt. Tim Trowbridge of the Kennett Police Department, the Criminal Investigations Division of the police department recently completed an investigation of four burglaries dating back to March...

SCOTT COUNTY, Mo. -- As early as Monday, cleanup operations will begin at an abandoned Scott County farm, where more than 50 dead hogs were discovered Tuesday in a metal barn. Barry Cook, the Scott County Health Department's administrator, was the first on the scene after receiving two phone calls from neighbors of the hog farm...

NEW YORK -- A construction crane snapped and smashed into an apartment building with a thunderous roar Friday, killing two workers in the city's second such tragedy in two and a half months and renewing fears about the safety of hundreds of cranes towering over the New York skyline...

Nancy Joann Williams, 58, of Keokuk, Iowa, died Tuesday, May 27, 2008, at Keokuk Area Medical Center. She was born July 19, 1949, in St. Louis, daughter of Edward Carl and Marian Marcella Wilson Starke. She and C. Kenneth Williams were married Oct. 15, 1983. He died May 6, 2002...

New schedule at Abbey Road Christian church Beginning Sunday, the schedule for Abbey Road Christian Church will be: n 8:30 a.m.: The Road n 9:25 to 9:40 a.m.: Fellowship n 9:40 a.m.: Adult Sunday school n 10:30 a.m.: Abbey Road Adventures for Children...

25 years ago: May 31, 1983 The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review a federal appeals court ruling in the lawsuit brought by the developers of Westborough Mall against the city of Cape Girardeau and West Park Mall developers, clearing the way for the trial in the four-year-old case...

BETHEL, N.Y. -- Jimi Hendrix's dive-bombing guitar runs on "The Star-Spangled Banner." Rain chants. Joe Cocker's chicken strut. The love, mud and three days of music. The Woodstock experience is a museum piece now. The Museum at Bethel Woods opens Monday on the site of the old dairy farm northwest of New York City that was trampled by some 400,000 people on the wet weekend of Aug. ...