Stories from Saturday, October 6, 2001

LANTANA, Fla. -- A 63-year-old Florida man died of the inhaled form of anthrax Friday in the first such death in the United States in 25 years. The case raised fears of a biological attack, but health officials said there is no evidence he was the victim of terrorism...

CONCORD, N.C. -- The mood in the garage area Friday told the emotional story of Blaise Alexander, a popular and promising young driver killed while racing at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Alexander died Thursday night when his car hit the wall head-on in the final laps of the Automobile Racing Club of America race. Although ARCA is not associated with NASCAR, it's viewed as a training ground for the big leagues and many of the cars used are discarded Winston Cup models...

The run for the Rose Bowl is still in its early stages, but look for a lead pack to develop after several key conference games today. Big games are everywhere. There's the Big 12 showdown of No. 5 Texas-No. 3 Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl, No. 2 Florida at No. 18 LSU in the Southeastern Conference, No. 14 Northwestern's visit to Ohio State in the Big Ten and No. 7 Oregon's trip to play Arizona in the Pac-10...

WASHINGTON -- Businesses slashed 200,000 jobs last month, the largest cuts in more than a decade, the Labor Department said Friday in a report offering a snapshot of how anemic the economy was even before the terrorist attacks. The overall unemployment rate remained at 4.9 percent, but it is expected to rise sharply when figures are released for the current month...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush urged Congress on Friday to approve at least $60 billion in fresh tax cuts to boost the staggering economy without resorting to the broad new government spending sought by many Democrats. The announcement followed a Thursday night meeting on the White House's Truman Balcony during which House Republican leaders described for Bush a growing concern among conservatives that he appeared too open to Democratic spending proposals ranging from health insurance assistance to railroad construction.. ...

WASHINGTON -- Responding to an Israeli rebuke, the White House slapped back on Friday, rejecting Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's accusation that the United States was appeasing Arabs at Israel's expense for the sake of its war against terrorism. In a rare public feud, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said that Sharon's accusations were unacceptable. He described President Bush as an especially close friend of Israel and said the administration would keep pressing for peace with the Arabs...

WASHINGTON -- A House committee on Friday put off voting on a critical trade issue amid charges from Democrats that the bill threatened the bipartisan spirit Congress has tried to maintain since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, opened a committee meeting by announcing he was postponing until next Tuesday a vote on legislation giving the president enhanced powers to negotiate new international trade agreements...

WASHINGTON -- The children of Gulf War veterans are two to three times as likely as those of other vets to have birth defects, suggests a government study based on questionnaires and interviews with the veterans. Gulf vets reported more miscarriages, too...

WASHINGTON -- The House on Friday overwhelmingly approved a major expansion of federal farm supports, defying the White House and repudiating the free-market policy enacted by Republicans in 1996. The Bush administration stopped short of threatening a veto but said the cash will benefit big farms that need it the least while promoting more price-depressing surpluses of crops...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush may dislike the farm bill approved Friday by the U.S. House, but his allies there are embracing the $170 billion, 10-year expansion of federal agriculture supports. "I'd be much more worried about the House not passing anything," said Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., a member of House leadership and one of Bush's top lieutenants in Congress...

The Missouri Mentoring Partnership, a program for "at-risk" youths between 16 and 22, is succeeding 75 percent the time, said its director, Marge Sullivan. The mentoring program is designed to help youths find and keep employment as a means to self-sufficiency...

Chief Steve Strong looks at the final draft of a comprehensive study of the Cape Girardeau Police Department like a criminal case. "We have some guides we go through, numerically assign cases that are more solvable," Strong said. "The higher the number, the harder you work."...

From the headliners who drew thousands to a floating stage on the Mississippi River last weekend to the homegrown talent that packed downtown nightclubs to the smaller crowd that listened to spiritual music in the warm sunshine on the final day, the 2001 City of Roses Music Festival was the most successful in the event's five-year history...

Mutton bustin' isn't a regular event at most rodeos, but the boys and girls who tried to ride sheep in the mud Friday night at Cape's Wildest Rodeo showed at least as much gumption as any old bullrider. The children, all 8 and under, didn't spend long on the sheep's back. Some were finished in less than a second. But all got applause and a high-five from a rodeo clown...

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- Chris Riley had two eagles and four birdies in an erratic 4-under 67 Friday to take a share of the lead in the Michelob Championship with Jonathan Kaye and Len Mattiace. Riley also had a double bogey on the second hole and two bogeys. Kaye shot a bogey-free 67 and Mattiace rebounded from a first-hole bogey with a six-birdie 66...

BALTIMORE -- Cal Ripken reached another milestone before heading into retirement, playing in his 3,000th career game Friday night as the Baltimore Orioles lost to the Boston Red Sox 7-5 in the second game of a day-night doubleheader. Frank Castillo (10-9) pitched seven innings of two-hit ball and Trot Nixon went 3-for-4 with a home run to lead Boston to a 5-0 victory in the opener...

ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Braves clinched their 10th straight division championship with a 10-spot. Chipper Jones hit a grand slam and the Braves took advantage of Ryan Dempster's wildness to score 10 runs in the first inning, winning another NL East title with a 20-3 rout of the Florida Marlins on Friday night...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Oil spewed like a geyser from the trans-Alaska oil pipeline Friday, more than 24 hours after a man shot a hole in the line. Crews struggled to install a clamp to stop the leak and clean up more than 260,000 gallons of oil. The work was proceeding slowly due to explosive vapors at the site, said Brad Hahn of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation...

NEW YORK -- In the same church where he was married a dozen years ago, a police officer who died at the World Trade Center was remembered Friday by friends and family -- the first service for the 23 NYPD members killed in the terrorist attack. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was among the mourners for Officer Vincent Danz at a Long Island church. Danz called his wife from the north tower on Sept. 11, leaving a message on their answering machine before the building collapsed...

SOFIA, Bulgaria -- Declaring solidarity with the West in the war on terrorism, the leaders of 10 Eastern European and Baltic countries urged NATO on Friday to expand its military alliance and tighten security across the continent. Meeting under heavy security at Bulgarian President Petar Stoyanov's residence, the heads of state said the Sept. 11 attacks underscored the need to bring their nations into NATO and present a more united front to terrorist elements...

SOCHI, Russia -- Salvage workers scrambled Friday to collect wreckage from the Black Sea, gathering evidence that may tell whether a terrorist attack or an errant Ukrainian missile brought down a Russian plane full of Israelis. Grief-stricken relatives gathered in this southern resort to identify bodies of their loved ones...

LAKE OZARK, Mo. -- Gov. Bob Holden signed legislation Friday creating a new prescription drug benefit for lower-income senior citizens. The new insurance-like program replaces a state income tax credit that has provided up to $200 annually to seniors to help offset their medicine bills but cost the state $85 million last year -- more four times what was expected...

ST. LOUIS -- Moving faster than expected, the West Nile virus has been found in five dead crows around St. Louis, U.S. Geological Survey scientists said Friday. No human cases of the mosquito-transmitted form of encephalitis have been reported regionally...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Environmental Protection Agency needs to move quickly to develop guidelines that will safeguard the nation's water supply, Sen. Kit Bond said Friday. Bond, R-Mo., visited Kansas City's health department and water treatment facility, where he was briefed on city's ability to combat a bioterrorism attack or to thwart efforts to disrupt the water supply...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Some supporters of the state's plan to build an Abraham Lincoln library and museum fear Gov. George Ryan is letting politics interfere with the project. Ryan and his wife, Lura Lynn, have been active supporters of the $115 million library. They have lobbied for government and private money for a project they say will educate and inform people...

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- It's been more than 20 years since Southern Illinois University students Susan Schumake, Kathleen McSharry and Theresa Clark were stabbed to death in separate crimes that shocked this college town. Now police will try to solve the murders that took place in 1975, 1976 and 1981 by exhuming the body of a convicted killer they say may have been responsible, Carbondale Police Chief R.T. Finney said Friday...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Where's the beef? Look no further than this weekend's American Royal K.C. Masterpiece Invitational, billed as the world's largest barbecue contest. About 350 teams from 25 states and Canada fired up grills and smokers Friday outside Kemper Arena for the contest, which marks the beginning of the six-week-long American Royal...

ST. LOUIS -- In a matter of a minutes, the St. Louis Cardinals lost Mark McGwire's home run record and fell into a tie for the NL Central lead. Lance Berkman hit a game-tying home run in the eighth inning and a go-ahead RBI double with two outs in the ninth of the Houston Astros' 2-1 victory Friday night...

STILLWATER, Okla. -- A solid victory over a Division I-AA opponent last week was encouraging for Oklahoma State. Now the challenge is to play the same way against a Big 12 team. The Cowboys (2-2, 0-1 Big 12) play host to Missouri tonight in a game they know is important to their bowl game chances...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry Bonds wasted no time. He claimed home run history for himself Friday by hitting No. 71, ending Mark McGwire's reign just one night after he tied baseball's most glamorous record. Then in the third inning, he hit No. 72. Bonds' record-breaker came at Pacific Bell Park in the first inning on a tailing fastball from Los Angeles' Chan Ho Park and landed in right-center...

In 1998, Cape Girardeau was the first city in Missouri to be designated disaster resistant under the Project Impact program. The city became a model for others in the country. But when Sept. 11 gave new definition to the word disaster, the nation turned fresh eyes to emergency preparedness programs with one question: "Are we ready for terrorism?"...

When Cape Girardeau Central High School principal Mike Cowan opened the Southeast Missourian shortly before 5 a.m. Friday, he thought, "Oh, dear." On the front page was a photo showing a group of Central cheerleaders tossing an effigy of a Jackson cheerleader into a bonfire at a rally on school property the night before...

David Joe Lewis Davis Jr., 48, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Sept. 30, 2001, at his home. He was born Nov. 20, 1952, in Boyle, Miss., son of David Cowan and Ruby Brown Davis. He and Linda Harris were married in September 2000 in East Cape Girardeau, Ill...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Terry Roger Smith, 53, of Bloomfield died Thursday, Oct. 4, 2001, from injuries received in an automobile accident. Born April 5, 1948, in Poplar Bluff, Mo., he was the son of Thomas "Bud" and Mary Moore Smith. A lifelong resident of Stoddard County, Smith was a veteran of the U.S. Navy and served in Vietnam. He was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Wappapello, Mo...

Virginia I. Mungle, 79, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Oct. 5, 2001, at Fountainbleau Lodge. Arrangements are incomplete at McCombs Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

JACKSON, Mo. -- Linda Sandvos, 94, of Jackson died Friday, Oct. 5, 2001, at Jackson Manor Nursing Home. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at McCombs Funeral Home.

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Funeral Mass for Kevin J. Hotop of Perryville will be held at 9 a.m. today at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church. The Rev. Kevin P. Fausz will officiate. Burial will be in Mount Hope Cemetery. Friends may call at Miller Family Funeral Home from 6:30-8:50 a.m. today...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Lollie M. Chrisman, 94, of Dexter died Thursday, Oct. 4, 2001, at her home. She was born Dec. 31, 1906, near Essex, Mo., daughter of W.R. and Mary Caroline McMullin Taylor. She and Howard Chrisman were married Oct. 30, 1938, at Sikeston, Mo. He died Sept. 25, 1979...

Jack H. Moore, 80, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Oct. 5, 2001, at Missouri Veterans Home. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel.

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Funeral for Jerry L. Merryman of Olive Branch will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at Crain Funeral Home in Tamms, Ill. The Rev. Billy Don Heady will officiate. Burial will be in East Prairie Memorial Park in East Prairie, Mo. Friends may call at the funeral home from 5-8 p.m. today...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Ann H. Blechle, 92, of Perryville died Thursday, Oct. 4, 2001, at Perry County Nursing Home. She was born Oct. 18, 1908, at Lixville, Mo., daughter of Thomas Franklin and Ida G. Grantham Fellows. She and Otto D. Blechle were married June 15, 1934. He died Aug. 7, 1993...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Garnet Wilson Ledbetter, 79, died Thursday, Oct. 4, 2001, at his home. He was born June 16, 1922, in Rosiclare, Ill., son of Grover and Mollie McClusky Ledbetter. He and Julia Elizabeth Griffith were married in 1944 in Rosiclare. She died June 22, 1969...

ANNA, Ill. -- Pauline Kohler, 83, of Anna died Friday, Oct. 5, 2001, on arrival at Union County Hospital. Arrangements are incomplete at Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Anna.

LeGrand Son to Brian and Jill LeGrand of Kelso, Mo., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 7:36 a.m. Friday, Aug. 31, 2001. Name, Joseph Paul. Weight, 7 pounds 8 ounces. First child. Mrs. LeGrand is the former Jill Heitz, daughter of Robert and Janet Heitz of Jackson, Mo. She is employed at Southwestern Bell. LeGrand is the son of Kenny and Cindy LeGrand of Kelso. He is a civil engineer with U.S. Department of Agriculture...

10 years ago: Oct. 6, 1991 Sunday hours proved to be popular with users of Cape Girardeau Public Library; Director Terry Risko says 115 people visited library yesterday, which had Sunday hours for first time; about 400 books were checked out between time Library opened at noon until it closed at 4 p.m...

Joseph Charles Wengert, 86, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Oct. 4, 2001, at Missouri Veterans Home. He was born July 24, 1915, at St. Mary, Mo., son of Martin and Josephine Breig Wengert. He and Venita McAtee were married Aug. 16, 1941, at Perryville., Mo...

Off-campus parking I AM replying to the comment about the college kids parking on New Madrid and in Capaha Park. If the campus had enough parking for even half the students, that wouldn't be a problem. Herd mentality I AGREE that international terrorism needs to be rooted out and that we must have the will to do so. ...

To the editor: On Sept. 11, I was at the Florida-Georgia state line when I heard of the planes crashing into the World Trade Center in New York. I watched the price of gasoline go up. By the time I got to Tifton, Ga., the price was up to $1.56.9 a gallon. The price in Alabama was $1.59.9. In Illinois it was $1.99.9. Missouri was $1.56.9, and Wisconsin was $1.74.9...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, Oct. 6 ArrestsEdward Jonathan Boaz, 19, 1022 Bloomfield Road, was arrested Thursday for possession of marijuana and cocaine with intent to distribute. Tammy Lynn Dykes, 37, 224 S. Spanish, was arrested Thursday for failure to appear in court and fraud...

P In just four months, the group has rasied more than $100,000 to provide financial assistance to the families of police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty. Cape Girardeau's police and firefighters deserve backup, and now the Guardians are there...

Today is the last day of the Bollinger County Sesquicentennial Festival, a weeklong celebration of a county with a rich and interesting history that actually began with the dinosaurs, as evidenced by the bones uncovered there, but officially began in 1851...

Debbie Riley knows firsthand what a church visit can do to change a life. Even before she began attending First Baptist Church, members visited her to take information about parenting and details about the church in a Cradle Roll program designed to reach new parents...

Predictions that the end of the world is at hand have come and gone for centuries, and they've always had one thing in common. They've always been wrong. Yet with the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, experts who monitor doomsday predictions say fresh apocalyptic scenarios are popping up with a new intensity...

Patti Reynolds will speak at 10:45 a.m. Sunday at Jackson Church of the Nazarene in Jackson, Mo. Reynolds is a career assignment missionary for the church, serving in Guatemala. She is assistant to the regional director for missions in the Mexico and Central America region and works with missions and medical teams for translations and assistance when they visit the area...

Today Pet blessing ceremony at 10 a.m. on east lawn of First Presbyterian Church in Cape Girardeau sponsored by the Downtown Council of Churches. For information, call 334-2869 or 335-2579. Labyrinth at First Christian Church, open to public from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. No admission charge...

Cape Central went into Friday night's matchup against arch rival Jackson hoping to recover from a serious offensive slump. Jackson would have nothing of the sort. The Indians (6-0) dominated the Tigers, limiting Central (2-4) to just 77 yards of total offense as Jackson claimed a 33-0 victory in front of approximately 8,000 fans at Houck Stadium...

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- The Sikeston High School football team pulled off a major area upset Friday night as the visiting Bulldogs stunned previously undefeated and state-ranked New Madrid County Central 25-14. Sikeston improved to 4-2 while NMCC fell to 5-1. The Eagles are ranked fourth in Class 3A...

Friday's rain caused a major shakeup in high school softball district tournaments involving local teams as no games were played. The Class 4A, District 1 championship game between Cape Central and Jackson, which had been scheduled for 11 a.m. today at Jackson City Park, has been pushed back to 4 p.m. to allow the field more time to dry...

For Southeast Missouri State University football fans who think their team has struggled in recent years, the Indians have absolutely nothing on the University of Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks, who visit Houck Stadium for tonight's Family Weekend contest...

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Southeast Missouri State University's best-ever start in women's soccer continued Friday as the Otahkians picked up a victory that no doubt will open plenty of eyes around the Ohio Valley Conference. In just their third season of play, the Otahkians improved to 9-0 as they opened OVC play with a thrilling 1-0 road triumph over two-time defending OVC regular-season champion Eastern Illinois, which had never before lost a regular-season conference match...

To the editor: Thank you for the Oct. 1 article about the new GED tests. The Adult Learning Center along with the Missouri Mentoring Program and Caring Communities are located in the old vocational-technical building at 301 N. Clark Ave. The Adult Learning Center did not move to the new Career and Technology Center...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- A coroner's inquest has been ordered into the death of an Olive Branch man, found dead in a motel room Thursday at the Horseshoe Lake Inn. A preliminary autopsy report indicates Jerry Merryman, 38, died at 8:35 a.m. Thursday as the result of a gunshot wound, said Alexander County coroner David Barkett...