Stories from Saturday, February 2, 2002

Southeast Missourian JONESBORO, Ill. -- The rain that deluged Union County this week was over by Friday, and Green Creek returned to its banks. To an outsider, the only sign of flooding was damp, bent grass drying in the sun and grief encompassing the community...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Conflicting reports emerged Friday about the fate of reporter Daniel Pearl, with Pakistani police saying U.S. officials had received a ransom demand and a new e-mail claiming he had been killed. A caller contacted the U.S. Consulate in Karachi and demanded $2 million and the release of the former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, senior police officials said...

BLUE BOOK BLUES "I'm going to issue a press release to let people know that I'm a Democrat." -- Rep. Rick Johnson of High Ridge By Paul Sloca ~ The Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri secretary of state's office has ordered more state manuals to keep up with demand -- and along the way is correcting some errors...

ST. LOUIS -- The former office manager of a temporary employment business has been indicted by a federal grand jury for false billings amounting to $278,000, U.S. Attorney Ray Gruender said Friday. Linda Sykora, 40, of St. Louis County, could face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Restitution is mandatory...

ST. LOUIS -- In the company's effort to search for lead beneath the floor of Mark Twain National Forest, the Doe Run Co. on Friday released a list of 19 locations in eastern Missouri it has proposed for exploratory drilling. Attorney General Jay Nixon had requested the release of the locations from forest officials, but Doe Run resisted, citing federal laws that protect the "proprietary" business information. Friday's release of the locations was a voluntary shift in policy, Doe Run said...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency pledged his help Friday for areas of Missouri hardest hit by this week's ice and snow storm. FEMA director Joe Albaugh told Gov. Bob Holden -- who toured a north Kansas City neighborhood lacking electricity and littered by downed tree limbs -- that the agency would do what it could to aid the cleanup. Holden said he will formally apply for federal disaster aid on Monday...

CAHOKIA, Ill. -- A contingent of Missouri lawmakers and government leaders returned Friday after visiting with Ford Motor Co. executives, calling hope to keep open the suburban St. Louis assembly plant "a long shot," but one still worth pursuing. Gov. ...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- State officials say they're confident that private agencies, working with recruiters and trainers from the Division of Family Services, can find enough foster homes across Missouri to make up the current shortage. Child advocates aren't so sure...

ST. LOUIS -- Here's the question: If the Gateway Arch suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, falls into the Mississippi River during Super Bowl week, does it make the evening news? This year -- with the St. Louis Rams in the biggest game of them all -- probably not...

By Ronald Blum ~ The Associated Press NEW YORK -- Jeffrey Loria doesn't have a signed agreement to buy the Florida Marlins from John Henry, but baseball's ownership committee already has recommended approval of the sale...

NEW ORLEANS -- Something about the Big Easy seems too easy this Super Bowl week. As in, easy to make a dinner reservation, easy to hail a taxicab in a rainstorm, easy to push through the crowd on Bourbon Street at 1 in the morning. Perhaps there's something about soldiers trolling the streets in camouflage that doesn't really lend itself to carefree debauchery in the French Quarter...

NEW ORLEANS -- For St. Louis Rams coach Mike Martz, the distractions of Super Bowl week have been largely non-existent. The increased security is no bother at all. In fact, he likes having an escort and being whisked away. "It's not been a problem," he said Friday. "In fact, it's helped. Our situation in the hotel is really better than two years ago. Actually, it's much appreciated because it's so much easier."...

MIAMI -- Roy Jones Jr. can see the end of the road. The undisputed light heavyweight champion thinks 2003 might be his last year in boxing. He cites his age and injuries and says there's "not many" more big fights left in him. "The challenges are there, although I'm not as hungry as I used to be," the 33-year-old Jones said this week during his three-week training stint in Miami for his fight tonight against Glen Kelly. "Your body is a lot different, and injuries start showing up."...

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- Pat Perez, so sick that he thought about pulling out of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, is starting to feel good about sticking around. With birdies on four his last five holes Friday at Pebble Beach, Perez polished off a 7-under-par 65 and quickly built a four-stroke lead over Lee Janzen heading into the weekend...

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The NCAA placed Alabama on five years' probation Friday, jolting the program Bear Bryant built into a power with a two-year bowl ban and heavy scholarship reductions. The governing body said it considered giving the Crimson Tide the most severe punishment -- the death penalty -- under the repeat violator rules for a recruiting scandal in which boosters were accused of paying money for prep players...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- A training manual for members of Osama bin Laden's terror network lists skyscrapers, nuclear plants and crowded football stadiums as the best targets for spreading fear in the United States and Europe. The chapter on foreign operations in the 11-volume "Manual of Afghan Jihad" also recommends targeting sites of "sentimental value" such as the Statue of Libery, Big Ben in London and the Eiffel Tower in Paris. ...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- An influential Arab satellite station that chose not to air its own interview with Osama bin Laden cut ties with CNN because the cable network broadcast excerpts, in which bin Laden said that killing innocent civilians "is permissible in Islamic law."...

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil -- Ask three different people from three different countries at the World Social Forum what globalization means. The answer, in all three cases, is some sort of loss. Antonio Dias Abreu fears losing his job at a clothes shop in the Brazilian capital, Brasilia. Luis Candia believes his country, Chile, loses its natural resources...

THEBES, Ill. -- When a local family was burned out of their uninsured house last year, Lisa Hale called out the Thebes Junior Volunteers. The 17 youths began knocking on doors and collected $368 to give the family. Through bake sales, selling tickets to win groceries they donated, and a Memorial Day picnic carnival where they operated booths and a bingo game, they raised $200 to help pay the insurance on the village fire truck...

Southeast Missouri State University is one of several Missouri institutions that is slated to lose out on federal funds if President George Bush gets his way. Just last month, Bush signed the money into law as part of the $123 billion labor, education and health bill that passed Congress in December. Now he plans to ask Congress to take back funding for the home-state projects to pay off a deficit in the Pell Grant college student loan program. Pell Grants aid the neediest students...

LOS ANGELES -- Phoenix Pictures has acquired the film rights for "Misconception," a legal thriller co-written by O.J. Simpson defense attorney Robert Shapiro. Shapiro co-authored "Misconception" with novelist, screenwriter and director Walt Becker...

NEW YORK -- Convinced that a look inside the womb will dissuade many pregnant women from abortion, anti-abortion activists hope to provide ultrasound equipment to hundreds of pregnancy centers that promote alternatives like adoption. Congressional allies are drafting a bill that would provide federal funding for the project, which abortion-rights groups bitterly oppose...

PHILADELPHIA -- The foundation set up in the name of Sept. 11 hero Todd Beamer is racing to trademark his last known words -- "Let's roll" -- and ensure that any money made off the phrase goes to the victims' families. The foundation is competing against various companies and individuals who want to sell everything from T-shirts to mud flaps emblazoned with what has become a catch phrase for American courage...

Harold Russell, a disabled World War II veteran who won two Oscars for his role in "The Best Years of Our Lives" before becoming an advocate for the rights of the disabled, has died. He was 88. Russell, who lost both his hands in the war, rarely acted again. He died of a heart attack Tuesday at a nursing home in Needham, Mass., his family said Thursday...

LOS ANGELES -- Winona Ryder was charged Friday with four felony counts stemming from her shoplifting arrest at a Saks Fifth Avenue store in December. The Oscar-nominated actress was charged with theft, burglary, vandalism and possession of a controlled substance. Although she is free on $20,000 bond, prosecutors recommended raising the bail to $30,000...

BOISE, Idaho -- Idaho became the first state Friday to repeal its term limits, undoing a voter-approved measure that was enacted during the Republican high tide of 1994. Overriding a veto by Republican Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, the GOP-controlled Legislature took the law off the books and cleared the way for more than 150 county officials and the attorney general to run for re-election this year...

Milosevic to face one trial on three charges THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic will face only one trial to answer for three separate indictments for war crimes in Kosovo, Croatia and Bosnia, the U.N. tribunal said Friday...

Priest in Florida pleads guilty to drug charges PENSACOLA, Fla. -- A Roman Catholic priest accused of dealing drugs from the rectory pleaded guilty Friday to federal charges. The Rev. Thomas Crandall, 47, could get five to 40 years in prison at sentencing April 17...

LONDON -- The Iron Lady is set in stone. A lawmaker unveiled a two-ton, eight-foot-tall marble statue of Margaret Thatcher on Friday, giving Britain its first look at a work that has stirred up a partisan squabble reminiscent of her days as prime minister...

JERUSALEM -- Ariel Sharon held secret talks with three senior members of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's inner circle this week, the first such meeting since he became Israeli prime minister a year ago, a Palestinian official said Friday. Sharon aides declined to comment...

NEW DELHI, India -- India's poorest souls crowd the banks of the Yamuna in an early morning mist, dumping waste, washing clothes and bathing in one of India's holiest -- and most polluted -- rivers. The Yamuna Pushta slum, a sprawling shantytown in the capital, New Delhi, has become a modern symbol of the economic and social ills that have plagued India for centuries...

LAGOS, Nigeria -- Calendars depicting death and destruction after explosions at an arms depot were selling briskly Friday in Lagos. Standing on a street corner outside the base where the explosions erupted Sunday night, Mohammed Fafunya sold dozens of the 25-cent calendars -- posters with a collage of fiery, gory photographs and the legend: Lagos State Bomb Disaster 27-01-2002...

Baseball Center fielder Kenny Lofton, a six-time All-Star, agreed to a $1.25 million, one-year contract with the White Sox. Lofton, 34, spent most of his 11-year major league career in Cleveland. The proposed sales of the Marlins and Expos were approved by baseball's ownership committee -- even through Jeffrey Loria had not yet signed his agreement to buy the Florida franchise from John Henry...

WASHINGTON -- Nearly 1 million discouraged people suspended their job searches in January, producing an unexpected drop in the nation's unemployment rate. Even though there are mounting signs of an economic recovery, economists believe the rate will rise again as cautious companies delay rehiring laid-off workers...

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department, drawing the White House into its criminal investigation of Enron Corp., ordered President Bush's staff Friday to preserve documents relating to conversations with Enron executives about the energy company's financial interests...

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University's Otahkians would have faced a daunting challenge tonight under any circumstances. But coming off Thursday's surprise loss at Tennessee State, the task for the Otahkians as they prepare to face Ohio Valley Conference powerhouse Tennessee Tech is perhaps even greater...

A valuable goose I SEE our good Cape Gir-ardeau Police Department playing hide-and-seek on Highway 74. They are hiding around the corner, hoping to catch a speeder. That's the goose that laid the golden egg for the city. Signal to wackos I REALIZE President Bush is under pressure at times, but his comment about "over his dead body" has to be the dumbest thing he could have ever said. There is probably some wacko out there who is thinking he can be the one who does it...

MOREHOUSE, Mo. -- Lois Ella Burton, 77, of Henderson, Tenn., died Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2002, at the home of a daughter in Henderson. She was born Aug. 11, 1924, in Sweetlips, Tenn., daughter of William Patrick and Hallie Leeanna Hamm Flatt. She first married L.V. Hopper, who died July 6, 1972. She and Jack Burton were married July 5, 1973. He died July 28, 1993...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Virginia M. Blaylock, 58, of Rocky Ridge, Mo., died Saturday, Jan. 12, 2002, at Jefferson Memorial Hospital in Crystal City, Mo. She was born Jan. 20, 1943, in Cairo, daughter of Harry George and Flora Marie O'Donnell French. She married Richard D. Blaylock...

Katherine "Kitty" Collins Schumacher, 82, died Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2002, in Bokelia, Fla. She was born Jan. 25, 1919, at Portageville, Mo. She and Francis H. Schumacher of Kelso, Mo., were married in 1937 at Kelso. The Schumachers lived near Cape Girardeau until moving to Florida in 1957...

MILL CREEK, Ill. -- Alexis Nicole McCormick Dillman, 3, of Mill Creek died Thursday, Jan. 31, 2002, in a flood-related accident in rural Jonesboro, Ill. Alexis was born July 16, 1998, in Carbondale, Ill. She attended Apostolic Faith Church in Anna, Ill...

ESSEX, Mo. -- Berneice Lane, 79, of Essex died Thursday, Jan. 31, 2002, at Missouri Southern Healthcare in Dexter, Mo. She was born April 23, 1922, at Grayridge, Mo., daughter of George and Lizzie Merritt McConnaughhay. She and Harold Otis Lane were married Dec. 31, 1938, at Bloomfield, Mo. He died April 2, 1996...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Funeral for Beulah Lingle of Dongola will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday at Crain Funeral Home in Dongola. The Rev. Verlee Eaker will officiate. Burial will be in American Legion Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 5-8 p.m. today...

Dorothy Marie Wiggins Norris, 44, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2002, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born Sept. 13, 1957, in Sikeston, Mo., daughter of Dorothy Lee Thornton of Sikeston, Mo., and Percy Burgett of Clarksdale, Miss. She and Michael Norris were married Feb. 4, 1984...

ANNA, Ill. -- Hazel Mae Davis, 83, of Dongola, Ill., died Friday, Feb. 1, 2002, at the Rehab and Care Center of Jackson County in Murphysboro, Ill. She was born Dec. 17, 1918, in Granite City, Ill., daughter of Elbert H. and Iva Ury Dillow. She and Matthew Davis were married Dec. 24, 1940. He died Jan. 4, 1988...

Gentil Daughter to Cory Wayne and Tracy Nichole Gentil of Jackson, Mo., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 7:02 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24, 2002. Name, Sarai Grace. Weight, 8 pounds 9 ounces. Fourth child, second daughter. Mrs. Gentil is the former Tracy Eaker, daughter of Mary Porter of Jackson and Danny Eaker of Cape Girardeau. She is a realtor at Century 21 Key Realty. Gentil is the son of William Gentil of Peoria, Ill., and the late Karen Rush. He is a deckhand with Ingram Barge Co...

10 years ago: Feb. 2, 1992 Benton - Scott County will operate on $3.45 billion budget this year, up only slightly from last year; last year county operated on $3.41 million budget; there are no general pay raises in this year's budget, and county will have to dip into cash reserves to make ends meet...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Bob Holden raised and spent $10 million to be elected governor. On Wednesday, he must have wondered why. He stood before a joint session of the General Assembly, ready to deliver his State of the State speech, and everyone in the building knew it would be nothing but bad news...

After more than 70 years, Lillian English of Gordonville, Mo., still vividly recalls her days as a bridge queen. They have been stirred again as the new Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge takes shape. English, formerly Lillian McAtee, had a central role in the dedication of Cape Girardeau's Mississippi River bridge that opened in 1928...

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University's Indians saw last week just what all the fuss surrounding Tennessee Tech is about. Tonight, the reeling Indians (3-17, 1-8 Ohio Valley Conference) will see the surging Golden Eagles (15-4, 8-0) again in a 7:30 p.m. tipoff at the Eblen Center...

Cape Central and Jackson will participate in the Class 4A, District 1 wrestling meet today at Mehlville High School in St. Louis. Action begins at 11 a.m. with the championships at 6 p.m. In addition to the two local schools, the eight-team field includes defending champion Fox, Mehlville, Oakville, Northwest House Springs, Poplar Bluff and Seckman...

BELL CITY, Mo. -- Bell City (18-4) continued to roll with a 52-44 win over Oran, the 10th-ranked team in Class 1A. "It's a big win for our kids, it just gives us an edge going into districts knowing that we can beat them," said Bell City coach David Heeb, whose team had fallen to Oran twice earlier...

WASHINGTON -- Amtrak is threatening to eliminate train service to dozens of states in a dramatic maneuver aimed at pressuring Congress to double its support. The national passenger railroad said Friday it will discontinue long-distance, overnight train service in October if Congress doesn't give it $1.2 billion for the next budget year...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A law firm involved in the state's lawsuit against the tobacco industry is suing over the disbursement of $111.2 million earmarked for legal fees associated with the settlement. Humphrey Farrington McClain and Edgar PC has filed a lawsuit against lead attorney Thomas Strong, his Springfield law firm, and three other firms...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, Feb. 2 ArrestsGeorge Herman McBride, 38, of 219 N. Henderson was arrested Thursday for possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute and an outstanding warrant. Billy Ray McCasling, 43, of 219 N. Henderson was arrested Thursday on an outstanding warrant...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, Feb. 2 Firefighters responded to the following calls Thursday:At 4:34 p.m., an emergency medical service at the recreation center on Southeast Missouri State University campus. At 6:21 p.m., a gas odor at Magill Hall on Southeast Missouri State University campus...

Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department Saturday, Feb. 2 DWIMark A. Pattillo, 30, of Swansea, Ill., was arrested Jan. 25 for driving while intoxicated. Joey B. Howard, 23, of Fredericktown, Mo., was arrested Jan. 26 for driving while intoxicated...

The Cape Girardeau City Council had the opportunity last month to study an independent audit of city finances. The 123-page report is intimidating to those not accustomed to eyeballing financial statements and balance sheets. However, even the most amateur eye would consider it to be a thorough review of the city's coffers...

Americans' fear of flying, prompted by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, seems to have dissipated for the most part. Once again, airports are packed with travelers, and the airline industry seems to be moving out of danger of collapse. But one issue continues to threaten that segment of the economy: security breaches...

SALT LAKE CITY -- When the first Mormon settlers wandered into the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, they were on the run from public scrutiny, seeking to be left alone with their religion and polygamous lifestyle. Now, with the Winter Games set to begin in Salt Lake City on Feb. 8, the Mormons are again being scrutinized...

ApologetiX to perform in Cape Girardeau A cross between Billy Graham and "Weird Al" Yankovic, the Christian rock band ApologetiX will perform a concert at 7 p.m. Feb. 9 at First Baptist Church. The rock band does parodies of secular songs with Christian lyrics...

Today Gospel singing at 7 p.m. at Shiloh Baptist Church in Villa Ridge, Ill., featuring Ron and Stacy Groves, Sisters by Heart, and the Gloryroad Travelers, all of Mounds. Sunday Vesper service at 4:30 p.m. at First Baptist Church followed by a Super Bowl party and viewing of the game in the Activities Center at 5 p.m...

The Rev. Gary Brothers and his wife, Rose, have been invited to attend a national prayer breakfast in Washington, D.C. on Thursday. It is the second year that Brothers has received an invitation to the event with President Bush, Vice President Cheney and members of Congress...

SALT LAKE CITY -- When people talk about "The Church" in Utah, they're not talking about the Roman Catholic Church. Catholicism is America's largest denomination, but its No. 2 in Utah and represents only about 9 percent of the state's residents, or roughly 200,000 people. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claims 70 percent of Utah's residents -- around 1.5 million people...

Dr. Gary Miller has been playing the pipe organ at First Presbyterian Church for about as long as the organ has been at the church. Miller, who was a consultant for the church when it installed the pipe organ in 1983, now directs the choir and plays the instrument each Sunday for worship at the downtown church...

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- The Scott City Rams solved a recent problem just in time to salvage homecoming Friday. Scott City, which held halftime leads in its last two games before losing, watched another lead evaporate under the heat of East Prairie, but recovered for a 70-52 Scott-Mississippi Conference victory...

Cape Girardeau city manager Michael Miller signed an emergency traffic regulation Thursday, acting upon a petition signed by 18 residents who live on Park Avenue, one block west of Dempster Hall on Southeast Missouri State University's campus. The regulation will allow police officers to immediately issue tickets for no parking on the west side of the street. ...