Stories from Sunday, September 9, 2001

WASHINGTON -- Democrats say it is up to President Bush to suggest a solution now that his budget chief has told lawmakers part of this year's Social Security surplus may have to be diverted to pay for other programs. White House budget director Mitchell Daniels delivered the news privately Friday to House Republican leaders. It would put the administration and Congress on track to violate an oft-stated pledge to leave Social Security funds untouched...

NEW YORK -- Mike Mussina didn't come close to perfection, but still was too much for Boston as Tino Martinez homered twice to lead the New York Yankees over the Red Sox 9-2 Saturday. Mussina, who came within one strike of a perfect game at Fenway Park on Sunday night, struck out the side in the first inning...

LAKES Bull Shoals (East): 86 degrees, low, dingy; bluegill fair on live baits; largemouth bass fair in evening on topwater lures; walleye fair in morning on nightcrawlers. Clearwater Lake: 83 degrees, normal, clear; black bass fair on soft plastics and topwater lures in early a.m. and late p.m.; catfish fair early a.m. and late p.m.; channel catfish fair late p.m.; all others slow...

MONTREAL -- The scenario is familiar to Scott Verplank. Now all he has to do is rewrite the ending. Despite not hitting the ball as crisply as he wanted, Verplank emerged from a pack of players who battled hot, swirling winds and posted a 4-under 66 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead in the Canadian Open...

ST. LOUIS -- A walkaway from house arrest who months ago staged his own suicide has been captured in California on federal charges that he robbed a Missouri bank. FBI agents arrested Matthew Kevin Holleran, 25, of the St. Louis suburb of Chesterfield, shortly before 10 p.m. Friday at Los Angeles International Airport. Federal agents on Saturday declined to discuss the arrest or what may have led Holleran to California...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The colorful "welcome" sign and students hard at work gave no hint that a legal fight clouds the future of Banneker Charter Academy of Technology. The school's sponsor, Central Missouri State University, revoked the 2-year-old school's charter last month...

SALEM, Mo. -- A man who was holed up in a home north of Salem was arrested without incident Saturday afternoon by officers who entered the house nearly 48 hours after a standoff began. The suspect offered no resistance when about 20 federal agents entered his home, said Mark James, special agent in charge of the Kansas City office of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City pharmacist accused of diluting drugs has filed a formal request to delay his trial, citing a need for more time to prepare. Robert R. Courtney, 48, has pleaded innocent to 20 counts of tampering, adulterating and misbranding the chemotherapy drugs Gemzar and Taxol...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A man pulls his car to the side of the road. An extravagantly-dressed woman walks up. They agree on a price. Moments later, the man is arrested and his color photograph is taken and plastered onto Kansas City's municipal cable station...

ST. LOUIS -- For the second time in six months, a suburban St. Louis couple was convicted of prostitution for conducting what they claim were educational sex seminars. St. Charles County Judge William Rader issued the latest guilty verdict Friday. He also sentenced Tom and Suzi Wahl to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine...

NEW YORK -- When their sibling showdown ended, Venus and Serena Williams somberly walked to the net and embraced. "I love you," Venus told her kid sister after winning her second consecutive U.S. Open title by beating the more erratic Serena 6-2, 6-4 Saturday night in the first prime-time women's Grand Slam final...

DENVER -- Jeff Kent homered and drove in three runs and the San Francisco Giants, with Barry Bonds going homerless for the second straight game in hitter-friendly Coors Field, beat Colorado 7-3 on Saturday. The Giants moved past Los Angeles and back into the NL wild card lead by a half-game...

RICHMOND, Va. -- Veteran Ricky Rudd showed Kevin Harvick that experience counts Saturday night, passing the aggressive rookie with six laps to go and winning the Monte Carlo 400 Winston Cup race. Rudd, who became the second driver in a span of six laps to be bumped off the lead by Harvick on the 383rd of 400 laps, passed Harvick back on the inside of the fourth turn to win for the second time this season...

Nancy Jernigan, director of the Area Wide United Way, will be the guest today on KRCU's "Going Public" radio show. She will talk about the Area Wide United Way's 2001 campaign and the local organizations that the fund drive supports. The show will air at 3 p.m. on 90.9 FM, the region's Public Radio affiliate station...

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers should stop stalling final action on the White House's education plan in their bid to increase school spending, President Bush said Saturday. Such efforts, he said, are a fruitless "tactic of the past." The president's budget, however, does not provide the money needed to improve education and meet the expectations raised by his education package, said the National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers' union...

NASA has extended public viewing hours for its Starship 2040 exhibit in Cape Girardeau. Housed in a 48-foot-long tractor-trailer, the mockup of a commercial spacecraft as it might look in 2040 will be on display at the NASA Educator Resource Center at 222 N. Pacific St. Wednesday through Friday...

WASHINGTON -- The slumping economy may stiffen Congress's resistance to closing military bases, but Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said the changes are necessary to save billions the military needs to spend elsewhere. In an interview, Rumsfeld said Americans must understand that if the military is forced to keep open unneeded bases, it will be starved of money it needs to modernize...

NEW YORK -- Once a blighted thoroughfare through a neighborhood down on its luck, Harlem's 125th Street has become a popular destination for tourists looking for a taste of soul. The historic strip -- lined with jazz clubs, soul-food restaurants, shops, museums and art galleries -- is the epicenter of this bustling Manhattan neighborhood that attracts tourists from as far away as Europe and Japan...

WASHINGTON -- In a dramatic shift, the Bush administration on Thursday abandoned the Clinton-era effort to break up Microsoft. It suggested a lesser antitrust penalty that could still force changes to the company's new Windows operating system. The Justice Department also dropped charges that the software giant illegally hurt competitors by tying or bundling separate features, like a Web browser, to its flagship computer operating system...

PHILADELPHIA -- Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk and Isaac Bruce strike fear in most defenses. Donovan McNabb does it by himself. The St. Louis Rams' score-at-will offense is being overshadowed by a new defense that will feature nine new starters in today's season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles...

Days are growing shorter and somewhere the leaves already are starting to turn color. Whether you're thinking of taking an afternoon drive, a weekend trek or a full "leaf peeping" vacation, the Web is full of sites that'll tell you where and when to find the best viewing...

ST. LOUIS -- Alan Benes waited a long, long time for this. Benes, making his first start in more than four years, threw six strong innings as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-5 Saturday in a matchup of wild card contenders. "He's had a long road, and people were talking about whether he was ever going to come back," catcher Mike Matheny said. "It's one of those stories you just love to see and be a part of."...

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Amy Miller is a pretty, blonde 12-year-old with a winning smile, immaculate nails and the lifting power of an elevator. Competing in June at the U.S. Weightlifting Schoolage National Championships in Louisiana, Amy set a national record for girls 16 and under when she hoisted 133 pounds toward heaven. To put that in perspective, the seventh-grader's own body only weighs just over 94 pounds...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Boone County honored its "favorite son" Roger Wilson on Thursday, renaming its government center for the man who rose to the Missouri governor's office amid tragedy. Wilson, 52, was visibly moved as speaker after speaker told of his family's generational involvement in county government and politics, and of his steady but sympathetic handling of the sudden transition when Gov. Mel Carnahan died in a plane crash last fall...

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. -- A former Air Force One made its final flight Saturday after decades of service carrying seven U.S. presidents over a million miles. After a dramatic flyby 1,000 feet over the tarmac, the Boeing 707 touched down just after 11 a.m. at San Bernardino International Airport...

YANKEE HILL, Calif. -- After a tense night of waiting to learn if their property had survived a devastating wildfire, Butte County residents forced to flee their homes were told Saturday they could return. More than 40 of the people who evacuated some 400 homes had spent the night at a shelter at the Spring Valley School, where they anxiously awaited the addresses of homes that burned...

NEW YORK -- A Columbia University professor caused a panic among restaurateurs across the city after he sent letters to 240 restaurants falsely complaining of food poisoning as part of a study on how they respond to complaints. The form letter was sent last month on school stationery by Frank Flynn, a professor in the business school, though the study was not authorized by Columbia, The New York Times reported Saturday...

ROANOKE, Va. -- For generations, state agents have chased moonshiners in rural parts of Virginia, raiding chicken coops, tobacco barns and old warehouses for the illegal brew. The strong country whiskey, synonymous with Appalachian culture, has made millionaires of families who've quietly produced hooch in these hills, shipping it north to shot houses in Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C...

LAKE SHORE, Minn.-- A retired Honeywell engineer expected to receive a federal tax rebate of $600, but his check from the IRS was a penny short. Days after Philip Gallion got a check for $599.99, he received a four-page letter from the IRS explaining that his rebate had been reduced to cover interest he owed on an underpayment of his 2000 taxes...

Didn't we just have an election? You know, the one where we didn't know who would be president for weeks after we voted? But here we are talking about another election. Not for president of the United States. The talk now is about city councilmembers and term limits and wards and who will be mayor...

Jonathan "Fatality" Wendel lives with his parents, plays computer games for eight hours a day and has just landed a six-figure deal to endorse high-tech products as a "cyberathlete." Wendel, 20, and others like him are breaking new ground for the multibillion-dollar electronic games industry, which hopes to leverage a growing corps of PC warriors to elevate tournament-based gaming to a professional sport complete with teams, talent agents and lucrative endorsement deals...

It didn't quite have the bite of last year's miraculous 34-33 comeback victory. But Saturday night's 24-5 win by Southeast Missouri State University over arch-rival Southern Illinois at Houck Stadium still contained plenty of pop, most notably for the Indians' second-half turnaround and a school-record passing performance by redshirt freshman quarterback Jeromy McDowell...

KENNETT, Mo. -- The great virtue of our uniquely American political system is that it bestows on all citizens the right to choose their leaders, ranging all the way from city halls to the chambers of our federal government. Some eight decades ago we also began bestowing upon these same blessed citizens the right to propose and promote their own laws and rules through the use of the initiative referendum, but this public voice was only heard every two, four or six years at election time...

OAKLAND, Calif. -- It's a mystery, Gregory Goins insists, why his chest begins to hurt when it does. He might be riding the bus, walking down the street, or dozing on a park bench. Suddenly, the pain comes on, spreading through his rib cage, and Goins remembers just how sick a man he is...

Associated Press/LM Otero Competitors played Quake III during the QuakeCon computer game competition in Mesquite, Texas. Companies like Intel Corp., mouse-maker Logitech Inc. and router company Linksys are spending up to $1 million a year to sponsor game tournaments..By Jude Mahoney ~ The Associated Press...

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. -- Two suspected fugitives wanted for assaulting a Minnesota couple were arrested Friday evening, six miles from a popular campground that was evacuated during an search and standoff with a SWAT team, park officials said...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Without a single dissenting vote, two legislative panels on Thursday approved bills aimed at creating a new prescription drug plan for the elderly. The Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee voted 5-0 while the House Children, Families and Health Committee voted 15-0 to move forward with legislation that would replace an existing prescription drug tax credit that has cost more than expected...

NEW YORK -- The first "rule" about kids' health is that there are no absolute rules. What works for one child might not work for another, and what works for one malady might not do the trick the next time. But here's the good news: "Kids have a greater and faster ability to heal than adults," according to Dr. Stuart Ditchek, a New York pediatrician...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Puerto Rico's government has asked U.S. authorities to halt a federal program to eradicate the chirping tree frogs loved in their native Puerto Rico but considered a noisy pest in Hawaii. In Hawaii, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is developing a caffeine-based spray to kill the frogs, known affectionately as "coquis" in Puerto Rico. The caffeine spray would cause cardiac failure in the frogs...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The slow-pitch softball loops toward the plate and Randy Danes hits a line drive that clears the shortstop's outstretched arm and sinks. The left fielder, playing shallow, breaks on the ball, dives, misses, curses. The ball bounds underneath his glove toward the fence...

TOKYO -- Brawls in popular nightspots. Shootouts in the swank Ginza shopping area. Underworld headquarters riddled with bullets. As police work to contain a power struggle within one of Japan's richest underworld syndicates, an unusual wave of high-profile gangland violence has gripped Tokyo...

LAGOS, Nigeria -- President Olusegun Obasanjo called out the army Saturday to combat Muslim-Christian violence raging in a northern Nigerian city, where terrified residents told of churches and homes burned and bodies piling up in the streets. Authorities in Jos, a hilltop city of 4 million, imposed a dawn-to-dusk curfew to quell the fighting, which erupted Friday night at the time of Muslim prayers -- some said, when a Christian woman angered Muslims by trying to cross a street where Muslim men were kneeled over in prayer.. ...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Smiling at her mother, Dayna Curry mouthed the words "I love you" before leaving the Taliban court where she and seven other foreign aid workers pleaded innocent Saturday to charges of preaching Christianity in devoutly Muslim Afghanistan...

LOS ANGELES -- A few years ago, when "Seinfeld" and other comedies ruled television, a seasoned producer airily dismissed concerns that TV dramas might be dead. "Cyclical," he said. "It's a cyclical business. They'll be back." The dramatic renaissance may be hitting its peak during the 2001-02 season. Combine that with the flood of reality shows and it's sitcoms that are looking lifeless these days...

BOGOTA, Colombia -- The extradition of reputed drug boss Fabio Ochoa to Miami -- seen as a victory for U.S. drug agents -- won't put a dent into the world's flourishing cocaine trade, Colombia's top anti-drug lawman said Saturday. "There are millions of consumers and thousands of people willing to supply that demand," said Gen. Gustavo Socha, head of Colombia's anti-narcotics police...

$$$Start Schools have changed a lot since I was a kid, but it's nice to know that we still have the safety patrols to guard us against jaywalking and running in the halls. Becca is the latest in our family to wear the safety patrol belt. Of course, her belt is bright orange. It would stop traffic by itself. When I was a patrol member in suburban St. Louis elementary school eons ago, the belts were white. Still, I was proud to wear the belt...

It had been a long five days. More than 150 volunteers had been working round-the-clock to convince townspeople in Cape Girardeau and surrounding communities to buy stock that would help finance a Mississippi River bridge. "It's ironclad," they said. "It's not a matter of patriotism. It's a matter of business. It's a matter of investing your money at home."...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Just on general principle, though most of the time in a good-natured manner, the state Senate tends to look down on the House of Representatives. Senators like to view themselves as more stately, distinguished and learned than their lower chamber colleagues. House members, in turn, think the Senate is just too full of itself...

10 years ago: Sept. 9, 1991 More than 300 people from four states yesterday took part in SEMO District Fair horse show; even with rain and lightening dampening fairgrounds, hundreds of people watched show; number of entries this year reached 344, says Donna Dockins of Jackson, show organizer; last year there were 277 competitors...

ST. LOUIS -- The Missouri Foundation For Health is accepting applications to fill vacancies that will be created on its board when five directors' terms expire in November. Incumbent directors are eligible for re-nomination. Foundation directors serve without pay for terms of three years...

Bob and Darlene Williams of Cape Girardeau recently renewed their wedding vows at Third Street United Methodist Church, in celebration of their 40th anniversary. The Rev. Janet Hopkins performed the ceremony, with the Rev. Earl Statler assisting. Music was provided by Jill Stamp, Mildred Chapman and Sherman Taylor...

A helicopter operated by ARCH Air Medical Service Inc. was at Wednesday's Cornerstone Church street fair. The names of the helicopter company and the church were incorrect in a photo caption in Thursday's edition. The Southeast Missourian regrets the errors...

ULLIN, Ill. -- Funeral for Alice Kendall, was held at Saturday at Wilson Funeral Home in Karnak. The Revs. Shawn Wasson and Ken Sharp officiated, with burial in Anderson Cemetery at Boaz, Ill. Kendall, 92, of Ullin, formerly of Karnak, died Thursday, Sept. 6, 2001...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Robert L. "Bob" Schuchart, 80, of Sikeston, died Saturday, Sept. 8, 2001, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel in Sikeston.

EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. -- Rodger Lambert, 55, of East Prairie, died Friday, Sept. 7, 2001, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. He was born May 11, 1946, at Wolf Island, Mo., son of Juanita King and Marvin Lambert. He and Pat Barnes were married Dec. 10, 1965; she survives...

LAS VEGAS -- Velma U. Lee, 81, of Las Vegas, formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2001. Born Jan. 29, 1920, in Lutesville, Mo., she was the daughter of John and Della Masters Gardner. On Nov. 23, 1939, she was married to Robert E. Lee in Cape Girardeau. He died Nov. 26, 1990...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Christina Ann Smith and James Thomas Duby Jr. exchanged vows July 21, 2001, at St. Ambrose Catholic Church. The Rev. Ralph Duffner performed the double ring ceremony. Organist was Betty Vandevan and soloist was Tyree Emerson, both of Chaffee. Servers were Chelsea and Courtney Walter and Lori Obermann...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Mandi Chole Daniels and Lucas James Sturm were married May 12, 2001, at First Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau. The Rev. Charles Blaylock performed the double ring ceremony. Parents of the couple are Terry and JoAnn Daniels of Marble Hill, and Jim and Sherri Sturm of Scott City, Mo...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Cara Lucia Winslow and Todd Anthony Mayberry were married June 15, 2001, at Ninth Street Abbey in St. Louis. Jason Crader of Arnold, Mo., performed the ceremony. Reader was Michelle Crosnoe of Paducah, Ky., sister of the groom. Parents of the bride are Leslye M. Winslow and Paul Winslow of St. Louis. The groom is the son of Linda Slinkard of Advance, Tony Mayberry of Rockwood, Ill., and Bruce Slinkard of Scott City, Mo...

Text of President Bush's statement Wednesday about terrorist attacks, as transcribed by eMediaMillWorks Inc.: I just completed a meeting with our national security team, and we've received the latest intelligence updates. The deliberate and deadly attacks, which were carried out yesterday against our country, were more than acts of terror. They were acts of war. This will require our country to unite in steadfast determination and resolve. Freedom and democracy are under attack...

ORAN, Mo. -- Mr. and Mrs. Dwayne Kraus of Oran celebrated their 40th anniversary with a dinner and reception Aug. 18, 2001, at Guardian Angel Parish Center. Hosts were their daughters and sons-in-law, Amy and Steve Ressel and Audrey and Pat Seyer, all of Oran...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence J. Brown of Perryville announce the engagement of their daughter, Beverly Louise Brown, to Wayne Lewis Boehme. He is the son of Elmer "Sonny" Boehme of Shawneetown, Mo., and the late Viola Boehme. Brown is a 1988 graduate of St. ...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Jeff and Laura Beltz of Jackson announce the engagement of their daughter, Kara Michelle Beltz, to Keith Michael Cantwell, both of Lafayette, Ind. He is the son of Ken and Carol Cantwell of Lowell, Ind. Beltz is a 1997 graduate of Jackson High School...

Mrs. George (Donna) Plumb of the state of California announces the engagement of her daughter, Julie Plumb, to Dane Stausing. He is the son of Sam and Sharon Stausing of Union, Mo. Plumb is a 1995 graduate of Central High School, and studied criminal justice at Southeast Missouri State University. She is a dispatcher with Cape Girardeau Police Department and Fire Department...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Mt. Zion United Methodist Church in St. Louis was the setting May 5, 2001, for the wedding of Brenda Lou Thompson and Aaron Thomas Gleason. The Rev. Scott Lohse performed the double ring ceremony. Musician was Vaughn Keim of Creve Coeur, Mo. Vocalist was Chad Borders of Cape Girardeau. Scripture readers were Renee Gerdes of Bartelso, Ill., and Monica Goebel of Breese, Ill...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Lindsay Gabrielle Torbet and Chad Robert Myers were married Aug. 9, 2001. The bride is the daughter of Mike and Cindi Morris of Marble Hill, and Chris Torbet of Oak Ridge, Mo. The groom is the son of Robert and Terry Myers of Marble Hill...

April Slinkard and Daniel Scott Jr. were married Feb. 23, 2001, in Pensacola, Fla. Parents of the bride are Mr. and Mrs. Mark Slinkard of Cape Girardeau. The groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Scott Sr. of Tampa, Fla. The bride and groom are airman electricians in the U.S. Navy, stationed in Norfolk, Va...

Melissa Ann Collins and Kristopher Michael Tanner were married Aug. 19, 2001, at Fort Zachery Taylor Park Beach in Key West, Fla. Margery West performed the double ring ceremony. Parents of the bride are Linda Jean and Thomas Dale VanAtta of Mt. Juliet, Tenn., and Michael Allen Collins of Bell Buckle, Tenn. The groom, formerly of Cape Girardeau, is the son of Karen Lynn and Tommy Lynn Caughlin of Jonesboro, La., and Michael Earl Tanner of Marshall, Texas...

Byron O. Feverston, 79, of Cape Girardeau, died Saturday, Sept. 8, 2001, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born July 5, 1922, at Cape Girardeau, son of Charles E. and Mary George Feverston. He and Virginia Craft were married June 5, 1942, at Cape Girardeau. She survives...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Elizabeth "Nanny" Mungle, 87, of Charleston, died Saturday, Sept. 8, 2001, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born May 27, 1914, in Pemiscott County, she was the daughter of Walter L. and Cora D. Groom Reynolds and lived most of her life in Mississippi County...

Cape Central kicker Chris Jones missed a 35-yard field goal in Friday night's game against New Madrid. The wrong name appeared in Saturday's issue. The Southeast Missourian regrets the error.

A new plan for taxpayers to help buy prescription drugs for some elderly Missourians appears headed for speedy passage in the special session of the legislature, which opened last week. Two other agenda items -- one to exempt the early federal tax refunds from becoming taxable state income, and another to make changes in a 1999 law regulating livestock prices -- have their detractors but are likely to be acted on soon...

The view of surrounding farmlands -- and on clear nights, lights from neighboring towns -- will make anyone glad they decided to leave city life and retreat to the comfort of the country and this custom-built ranch home. Fruit and nut trees dot the wooded five-acre landscape and a pole barn stands ready to house a variety of equipment...

ST. CHARLES, Ill. -- Erik Silis spent his first day as a high school freshman navigating between a middle school and a cluster of trailers outside its doors. Silis and 2,200 other St. Charles East High School students must put up with the makeshift arrangement for at least a year as their high school building is torn up and washed down. The culprit: mold, found throughout the school and blamed for headaches, fatigue and respiratory problems among students and staff...

Police Cape Girardeau Sunday, Sept. 9 DWIPatricia M. Averitt, 35, of Vavergene, Tenn., was arrested Friday on complaints for driving while intoxicated, endangering the welfare of a child and striking a stopped vehicle. Raymond W. Roberts, 22, of Sikeston, Mo., was arrested Friday on a complaint for driving while intoxicated...

Cape Girardeau Sunday, Sept. 9 On Friday, firefighters responded to the following calls:At 5:17 p.m., emergency medical service at 135 S. Ellis. At 6:44 p.m., emergency medical service at 823 N. Clark. At 8:08 p.m., emergency medical service at 130 Vantage Drive...

Hector Gonzales waits on tables at a Mexican restaurant. His wife, Carmen, labors at a Jackson, Mo., factory. They struggle to make ends meet, raising two young daughters in a small basement apartment on Clark Street in Cape Girardeau. The couple is among a small but growing number of Hispanics, many of them from Mexico, who have moved to Cape Girardeau County in search of decent jobs and safe neighborhoods...

There was no marching band in Saturday's parade, but nobody could have heard one anyway. The throaty sound of tuned Harleys was music enough for the thousands of HOG members astride their bikes. They were young turks and grannies, middle-aged men and babes with bare midriffs...

Elizabeth Aufdenberg of Burfordville, Mo., grew up on a farm and knows just about every detail of preparing chicken for a meal. So finding a recipe to enter in a poultry cooking contest wasn't much of a task for her. "I know just about everything from butchering to dressing it for the table," she said...

BEIJING -- After 18 anxious months, the family of an American electrical engineer detained by Chinese security agents is hoping that President Bush's upcoming visit to China will help win his release. Fong Fuming of West Orange, N.J., was detained in February 2000 and accused of bribing officials for secret documents...

Notre Dame High School girls volleyball team rocketed to the finals of the 14th annual SEMO Specialties and Sports Tournament at the Show Me Center on Saturday. The Lady Bulldogs championship run ended with a 15-8, 15-13 loss to Rosati-Kain of St. Louis in the winners bracket, the Gold Division. The second-place finish was the best ever for Notre Dame in the highly competitive tournament...

BENTON, Mo. -- Notre Dame's girls took first place at the Kelly Cross Country Invitational Saturday, while Kelly's boys took second place. The Lady Bulldogs had four medalists (top 15), including overall runner-up Sarah Unterreiner who finished the 5K course in 23:47.30...

Richard T. Cates, 71, of Cape Girardeau, died at 1:26 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 8, 2001, at St. Francis Medical Center. Born Dec. 24, 1929, in Hayti, he was the son of Pearl H. and Mary Carr Pullam Cates. Cates belonged to the Salvation Army in Cape Girardeau...

KELSO, Mo. -- Alfred F. Westrich, 81, died Friday, Sept. 8, 2001, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born July 5, 1920, at Chaffee, Mo., son of Albert John and Estella Enderle Westrich. He and Hermina H. Bles were married June 4, 1946. He was a retired farmer...

Modern language A PERSON uses profanity and vulgarity to make up for lack of intelligence and lack of vocabulary. That seems to describe television and movie screenwriters. Poor planning IT'S REALLY interesting and enlightening to see Mayor Al Spradling's response to the community uproar about these torn-up streets. ...

To the editor: This new law making tinted car windows illegal was slipped through and voted on quietly just like the midnight raises for all the legislators several years ago. I strongly urge everyone with tinted car windows to please call Gov. Bob Holden at (573) 751-3222, state Sen. ...

To the editor: The U.N. Population Fund representative in China, Sven Burmester, recently commented, "For all the bad press, China has achieved the impossible. The country has solved its population problem." The United Nations has contributed $177 million for population control to China, whose policies include gross violations of human rights, including forced abortions, mandatory sterilizations and the destruction of houses of families with more than one child. Infanticide is also widespread...

It took a while, but Jeromy McDowell and Southeast Missouri State University's offense finally ended up picking apart the Southern Illinois defense. McDowell, Southeast's highly touted redshirt freshman quarterback, passed for a school record 391 yards Saturday night -- 317 coming in the second half -- as the Indians pulled away for a 24-5 victory in front of 9,822 fans at Houck Stadium...

The mere thought of a snake makes many of you shudder. The reality of seeing one near your house may even upset you. As autumn approaches, the likelihood to encounter a snake increases. Many urban dwellers are moving into territory already considered home by snakes. Knowing what attracts snakes and where to expect them may reduce your anxiety this fall...

MADISON, Wis. -- Bernard Berrian returned the second-half kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown and piled up 300 all-purpose yards as No. 19 Fresno State continued its remarkable start with a 32-20 victory over No. 23 Wisconsin on Saturday. The Bulldogs are off to their first 3-0 start since 1995 -- the last year Wisconsin lost a nonconference game at home...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Zack Abron scored two first-half touchdowns and ran for 106 yards as Missouri and new coach Gary Pinkel beat Southwest Texas 40-6 Saturday night. Missouri (1-1) easily outclassed the Division I-AA school, recording two safeties and holding the Bobcats (1-1) to minus-23 yards rushing in the first half and just 116 yards in offense overall...

MILWAUKEE, Wisc. -- Southeast Missouri State's volleyball team dropped a three-set match, 30-23, 30-25 and 30-20, to DePaul University Saturday, but regrouped to take a five-set match over Drake in the Powerade Panther Invitational. Against Drake, Bobbi Carlile led the Otahks with 22 kills, while Sarah Frost had 18 as Southeast improved to 2-4. Emily Johnson had 23 digs and Jessica Wilson had a team-high five blocks. Emily Scannell had 58 assists...

I called her the Bag Lady at first. Affectionately, of course, for she is my dear Viney. When it became too difficult for me to carry the weekly groceries up the back walk, up the five steps, across the porch, into the kitchen, she volunteered. She is a prime example of one who sees a need and fills it...