Stories from Saturday, March 16, 2002

By Scott Moyers ~ Southeast Missourian A blonde woman stood behind her screen door, talking on the phone and staring toward the mobile home on the hill. Not 50 feet away, two sisters who live in side-by-side trailers chatted quietly in their front yard, one nervously twisting her wedding ring, while their children giggled on a swing set...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Menard Correctional Center in Southern Illinois was locked down Friday after an inmate punched an assistant warden in the face. Alan Frentzel, 50, fell and hit his head, briefly losing consciousness, Fairchild said. He was taken to Chester Memorial Hospital, but he appears to be OK, Corrections Department spokesman Brian Fairchild said...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Her mezzo-soprano vocals have delighted audiences as far away as Italy. But despite her success, Clay County resident Joyce DiDonato, 33, was surprised this week to learn she has been awarded the 2002 Richard Tucker Award, opera's most prestigious prize...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Darwin Baggett experienced plenty of stress as a high school shop teacher. After all, he was responsible for students working with dangerous equipment on the ambitious project of building a house. Then he had to deal with the boys' sense of humor -- faking injuries and screaming in pain, for instance, or nailing one another's clothes to the wall...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Support for Gov. George Ryan's moratorium on capital punishment has fallen by nearly half in two years, a poll finds. Only 46 percent of respondents support the halt to executions, the Copley News Service poll found, while 42 percent oppose it and 13 percent are undecided...

ST. LOUIS -- On the day Boeing Co. lost the contract to build the Joint Strike Fighter, reactions across the city ran from shock to panic to despair. What a difference a Pentagon budget year can make. Sure, the 2003 fiscal year budget proposed by President Bush last month allocates just under $3.5 billion to the JSF project and winner Lockheed Martin Corp. -- and that's just a sliver of the $200 billion or more to come from the largest Defense Department contract in history...

URBANA, Ill. -- As a former Urbana school superintendent and one-time member of the Champaign County Board, Kermit Harden is well known around here. But he's one of those people who never talked much about his experiences in World War II. That's changing: A documentary is being made about a prisoner exchange involving a group of Allied soldiers held by the Germans, and Harden was one of those soldiers...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Planned Parenthood affiliates have asked the Missouri Court of Appeals to order the dismissal of a lawsuit over state funding for family planning. Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri and Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region filed a petition in the Court of Appeals' Western District on Friday. The petition asks that Cole County Circuit Judge Byron Kinder be ordered to end the lawsuit...

AREA SOUTHEAST BASEBALL TEAM PLAYS AT HOME TODAY Southeast Missouri State University's baseball team will host Culver-Stockton today in a 2 p.m. doubleheader at Capaha Field. The squads will also have a 1 p.m. single game Sunday...

The Associated Press CHICAGO -- New school, same old result in the NCAA tournament for Bob Knight. Jermaine Dearman had 17 points and 11 rebounds Friday night as 11th-seeded Southern Illinois beat Knight's Texas Tech 76-68 in an Eastern Regional opener. Kent Williams scored 17 for the Salukis, who won their school-record 27th game...

No fourth straight Final Four for Michigan State. The team it beat for the 2000 national title, Florida, is gone, too. Still, in a respite from bracket-busting, most first-round games went according to form Friday. The only true stunner was 12th-seeded Creighton's elimination of Florida 83-82 in double overtime on Terrell Taylor's 3-pointer with 0.2 seconds left in a Midwest Regional opener...

WASHINGTON -- Two senators asked President Bush on Friday for a meeting to discuss Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge's refusal to testify before Congress. One of the senators went even further in the latest chapter in the dispute over the control of information that has pitted lawmakers from both parties against the White House...

WASHINGTON -- A Senate committee's party-line rejection of a Mississippi judge could endanger other nominees, lawmakers said Friday, with talk of retaliation from Republicans and Democrats. GOP leader Trent Lott called the defeat of U.S. District Judge Charles Pickering of Mississippi for the U.S. Appeals Court "a real blow," and said he would block one of Majority Leader Tom Daschle's aides from getting on the Federal Communications Commission...

WASHINGTON -- The FBI is making a major push to track and disrupt fund raising that has sent millions of dollars from the United States to the Islamic militant group Hamas, officials say. The effort predates Sept. 11 and stems from intelligence first developed in a 1998 investigation that uncovered a Hamas fund-raising operation in Chicago, the officials said...

WASHINGTON -- America's struggling manufacturers, which have seen hundreds of thousands of jobs evaporate during the recession, appear to be mounting a comeback. Industrial production at the nation's factories, mines and utilities rose 0.4 percent in February, the strongest gain since the summer of 2000, right before the industrial slump began, the Federal Reserve said...

WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Friday he sees little chance of expanding the international security force now keeping order in Afghanistan's capital. "The line of countries volunteering to step up and do that is a very short one, which suggests to me that that is not going to happen," he told a Pentagon news conference. He said it was likely that the current force of 4,500 foreign troops, led by Britain, will remain in Kabul until the end of the year...

WASHINGTON -- As the Bush administration weighs possible confrontation with Iran and Iraq, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Friday the United States would stand by a 24-year pledge not to use its nuclear arsenal against non-nuclear nations. In an interview with The Associated Press, Powell also said that he hoped Israel's pullback of troops and tanks on the West Bank would continue but that the withdrawal may not be permanent...

ST. LOUIS -- The city's Board of Aldermen voted Friday to approve a heavily negotiated deal to help build the St. Louis Cardinals a new stadium, becoming the first group of lawmakers to sign off on the plan. The St. Louis County Council and the state Legislature must also approve the deal, which would place a total of about $200 million in public financing toward the $346 million project...

Shooting incident lands Poplar Bluff man in jail POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A Poplar Bluff man faces weapon charges after he allegedly fired into a local apartment building in an attempt to settle an earlier disagreement with an occupant there. Roderic Maurice Woods, 23, was charged Friday with two counts of unlawful use of a weapon. Bond was recommended at $50,000...

STATE CONVENTION By Bob Miller ~ Southeast Missourian All morning, the Cape Girardeau Central High student council put on quite a show. Pulsating music, laughter, glow sticks, flashing lights, skits, choreographed dancing, dry ice and a few high-pitched "whoop whoops" saturated Central's gymnasium as more than 1,000 students from 24 schools congregated for the Missouri Association of Student Councils' state convention.. ...

Missouri's elderly can begin signing up April 1 for the state's new prescription drug benefit program that could pay up to $5,000 a year in drug bills for residents with limited income. State Rep. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, discussed the new program, Missouri SenioRx, in a meeting Friday with about 30 residents at the Cape Girardeau Senior Center...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Two years ago, U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson rolled over token opposition and into a third term in Congress. In the 2002 elections, the Cape Girardeau Republican could be on the path to another easy victory. As of Friday, no Democratic contenders had filed for Missouri's 8th Congressional District seat. Even the rumor mill has been silent as to possible challengers...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- State Rep. Phillip Britt said Friday that he won't seek re-election to the House of Representatives so he can spend more time with his young family. Britt, D-Kennett, becomes the only incumbent lawmaker from Southeast Missouri not being forced out by term limits to forgo a 2002 re-election bid...

HOUSTON -- A jury spared Andrea Yates' life Friday after prosecutors stopped short of demanding the death penalty for the tormented mother who drowned her five children in the bathtub. Yates, 37, was sentenced to life in prison and will have to serve at least 40 years before she is eligible for parole...

SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. -- Amateur stargazer Doug Snyder had spent days scanning the skies with his 20-inch reflector telescope hoping to find something new when he happened upon "a little gray smudge." The little smudge proved to be a big deal: It was a new comet...

Sixth missile defense test termed successful WASHINGTON -- An interceptor rocket smashed into a dummy warhead 140 miles over the Pacific Friday night in the fourth successful test of its kind, a Pentagon spokeswoman said. The interceptor, launched from a tiny Pacific island near the equator, destroyed the dummy warhead at 9:41 p.m., Pentagon spokeswoman Cheryl Irwin said...

BOISE, Idaho -- The last thing anyone in Idaho expected was an international incident. When the Idaho House took up a nonbinding resolution last week urging peaceful self-determination for Spain's Basque minority, it hardly raised an eyebrow. There are 15,000 Basques in Idaho, the biggest such community in the United States, and Basque issues occasionally come up...

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Argentina's government ordered banks to sell part of their dollar holdings Friday in a bid to halt a slide of the beleaguered peso, which has lost more than half its value against the dollar since January. The currency's plunge following a decision two months ago to let it float against the dollar has generated fears of inflation and a further deterioration of Argentina's crisis-ridden economy...

BAEZ, Cuba -- Divers retrieved the bodies of 16 people, including a dozen foreigners, from a small reservoir in central Cuba Friday as officials tried to determine what caused the Soviet-made biplane to crash. Everyone aboard the single-engine Antonov AN-2 were killed when it went down Thursday afternoon near this small community just south of Santa Clara, the capital of Villa Clara province about 165 miles east of Havana...

HONG KONG -- Hong Kong authorities took their first legal action against Falun Gong followers on Friday, filing charges accusing 16 sect members of obstruction during a protest outside China's liaison office that ended in a scuffle with police. The charges have set off a debate over whether the government is trying to silence the meditation sect and erode Hong Kong's freedoms, as members and civil rights activists fear, or if it just having police enforce the law against overzealous demonstrators, as the government says.. ...

The Associated Press RAMALLAH, West Bank -- After a first round of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, U.S. mediator Anthony Zinni was upbeat Friday, saying he believed the two sides could begin implementing a cease-fire in the coming days...

KINSHASA, Congo -- Congo opened a military trial Friday in the mystery-shrouded 2001 assassination of dictator Laurent Kabila. Some 100 men and women -- Kabila's former guards and aides, as well as the wives and girlfriends of suspects -- crowded a prison courtroom to face undisclosed charges. Military prosecutor Col. Charles Alamba said the charges would be revealed Tuesday...

BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- U.S. and Canadian troops found a cache of mortars, grenades and rockets Friday as they scoured the mountains of eastern Afghanistan for escaping al-Qaida and Taliban fighters who fled the U.S.-led offensive in the Shah-e-Kot valley...

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Legend has it that St. Patrick scared the snakes out of Ireland. Maybe, but these days they're catching on as pets -- and turning up in unexpected places. "We're finding them in attics, in people's cupboards, under the sink in the bathroom," said Gillian Bird, education officer of the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "One family was watching TV when a snake crawled out from underneath. TVs are such warm places."...

VIENNA, Austria -- OPEC announced Friday that it would not change its oil production target until its members meet again in June to reassess market conditions, reflecting uncertainty over signs the economy is recovering. The decision, approved in a five-hour meeting at the group's Vienna headquarters, was expected to have only a slight impact on consumers...

WASHINGTON -- The government suspended Enron and its former accounting firm, Arthur Andersen, from new federal contracts on Friday, citing evidence of misconduct a day after an indictment that charged Andersen with obstruction of justice. Current contracts -- some $35 million for Enron and $60 million to $90 million for Andersen -- are not affected by the action announced by the General Services Administration...

WASHINGTON -- Is the U.S. Senate race bigger than baseball in Missouri, or are the political parties trying to fix the game? Baseball season is just around the corner in St. Louis, where fans hope the Cardinals will contend for a pennant. The Senate election won't even take place until after the season is over...

Southeast Missouri State University's gymnastics team sent its seniors out in style Friday night. Competing in their final home meet of the year, the Otahkians posted a season-high score to defeat Western Michigan 193.400-191.000 at Houck Field House...

Money for highways MoDOT RECEIVES plenty of money from the gas tax for new highways and repair of highways. However, money is being diverted for mass transit, bike trails, hiking trails, the highway patrol and others. If the gas tax were used only for highways as originally intended, there is enough money. Bike and hiking trails are nice and needed, but money should come from other taxes...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Kenneth Earl Dickson, 72, of Sikeston died Thursday, March 14, 2002, at his home. He was born Sept. 15, 1929, in Sikeston, son of Robert J. and Earline Jones Dickson. He and Lova Simmons were married Oct. 24, 1959, in East Prairie, Mo...

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- Agnes Wilhelmina Hopke, 98, of Scott City died Thursday, March 14, 2002, at Ratliff Care Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 8, 1903, in Graysboro, Mo., daughter of Axel Tycho and Hannah Grant Davis Kjer. She and George Adolph "Doc" Hopke were married Aug. 11, 1925. He died May 30, 1955...

ANNA, Ill. -- Funeral for Gary Rocco Herren of Anna will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday at Gospel Assembly Church. Friends may call at Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Anna after 5 p.m. today. Herren, 54, died Wednesday, March 13, 2002, from injuries received in an automobile accident on Route 146 East...

ANNA, Ill. -- Funeral for Opal V. Brimm of Anna will be held at 1 p.m. Monday at Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Anna. The Rev. Jimmy Keller and Kevin Bourland will officiate. Burial will be in Casper Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday, and Monday until time of service...

William Hector Lynn, 71, of Jackson, Mo., died Friday at the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born Nov. 14, 1931, at Stewart County, Tenn., son of William H. and Nellie Mae Satterwhite Lynn. He and Patty V. Kern were married. Lynn was a machinist for 30 years for McDonnell Douglas in St. ...

Cynthia Sturm, 38, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, March 15, 2002, at her home. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City, Mo.

Elmer J. Perry, 82, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, March 15, 2002, at the Lutheran Home. He was born Jan. 16, 1920, at Jackson, Mo., son of Henry and Minnie Farrow Perry. He and Helen O'Howell were married Nov. 20, 1948, in Piggott, Ark. Perry worked on the river several years. He then was foreman of the waste water disposal facility with the city of Cape Girardeau 15 years, retiring in 1982. He was a member of the Fox Hunter Association, Red Star Baptist Church and VFW Post 3838...

Esther M. Leible, 92, of Maryville, Ill., died Thursday, March 14, 2002, at Elmwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Maryville. She was born Jan. 24, 1910, in Perryville, Mo., daughter of James and Anna McCauley. She and Philip J. Leible were married May 14, 1938, at Perryville. He died Aug. 25, 1997...

DELTA, Mo. -- Gertrude Gentry Carnell, 94, of Slocomb, Ala., died Thursday, March 14, 2002, at the home of a daughter. She was a native of Arkansas. She married John Herman Carnell, who preceded her in death. The Carnells lived at Delta and owned and operated Carnell's Cafe 11 years. They moved to Hudson, Fla., and then to Ozark, Ala., in 1974. She attended Logan Road Baptist Church...

ANNA, Ill. -- Robert E. "Bob" Nicolaides, 87, of Anna died Thursday, March 14, 2002, at his home. He was born Dec. 15, 1914, in Jonesboro, Ill., son of Dan and Mae Norris Nicolaides. He and Zoe Ann Murphy were married April 13, 1957. She died Nov. 13, 1993...

Lutes Son to Christopher Michael and April Mae Lutes of Marble Hill, Mo., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 10:43 a.m. Friday, March 8, 2002. Name, Devon Matthew. Weight, 8 pounds 1 ounce. Second son. Mrs. Lutes is the former April Watson, daughter of Terry and Cecilia Watson of Puxico, Mo. Lutes is the son of Gary and Sharon Lutes of Marble Hill. He is a machine operator at Newell Rubbermaid...

10 years ago: March 16, 1992 Jackson - Jackson craft store and adjoining apartment were heavily damaged in fire yesterday morning; cause of blaze isn't known, but state fire marshal's office is investigating; fire began in stairwell in basement of building and spread throughout; The Craft Gallery and Country Store, 110 West Mary, was heavily damaged by fire and smoke...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Southwest Missouri State University students got another tuition increase Friday as the state continues to cut education funding in the wake of a budget shortfall. The university's Board of Governors approved increases of 9.4 percent for undergraduates and 9.6 percent for graduate students in a unanimous vote. It marks the second time the board has raised fees in the past 90 days. Officials said they had no choice...

and Andrea L. Buchanan ~ Southeast Missourian When Winford S. Griffith shot Mary Boitnott in the head Friday morning at her Cape Girardeau mobile home, it wasn't the first time he had fired a gun at another person...

To the editor: It was my privilege to attend the all-faiths service at the Osage Community Centre March 10 honoring the 90-year celebration of the Girl Scouts of America. My compliments to Laura Hinkebein, organizer. The flag ceremonies were most impressive. The singing, guest speakers and videos were touching and well-received by all...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- When you have a proven winning formula, you stick with it. The Bell City Cubs have a formula they've been using all season, and it definitely works in big games. Drawing on its potent three-person scoring attack, game-long defensive pressure and penchant for strong second halves, Bell City continued to dispose of Class 1A schools on Friday...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- President Bush stood at a camouflaged lectern and promised U.S. forces "everything it takes" to battle terrorists. "USA!" they chanted in return, applauding as he prodded Congress to increase military spending as a patriotic duty...

Slick roads contributed to a deluge of car crashes Friday night said Missouri State Highway patrol. Troopers reported nine accidents between 5-7 p.m. just in Cape Girardeau and Bollinger counties. A fierce thunderstorm over Cape Girardeau and Scott counties combined with heavier Friday night traffic were the biggest factors in the accidents, police said...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, March 16 On Thursday, firefighters responded to the following calls:At 5:17 p.m., vehicle fire in the 300 block of Broadview. At 6:23 p.m., emergency medical service at 1030 S. Pacific. At 8:03 p.m., emergency medical service at 529 S. Hanover...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, March 16 ArrestsRichard Steven Wren, 19, of 903 S. Sprigg was arrested Thursday for assault and possession of a controlled substance. SummonsBrenda Diane Hale, 35, of 103 Clark was issued a summons Thursday for stealing at 3439 William...

No death is as grim as that of a child. All those visions of a happy and productive life and all of that life's potential are gone. Grieving parents are left behind to wonder how their hopes and expectations were reversed, leaving them to outlive their babies instead of the other way around...

As the old saying goes: Reading is fundamental. Southeast Missouri students and teachers seem to have a firm grasp on the concept, considering their triumphs through Reading Renaissance. That's a program that encourages children to read not only for the fun of it, but for rewards. The students don't just have to finish reading a book, they must prove they comprehended it by passing a test administered by computer...

NAUVOO, Ill. Mormon hotelier and farmer William H. Walker heeded the call more than 150 years ago, devoting one in every 10 days to helping build a grand temple envisioned as the spiritual home of his fledgling religion. Less than a decade later that temple lay in ruins, ravaged by fire and storm after persecution forced the Mormons to abandon the city they carved in the Mississippi River wilderness...

Today The Crabb Family, Heartfield and Youngsong will perform a concert at 7 p.m. at the A.C. Brase Arena Building. For more information call (573) 701-1850 or (314) 795-3032. Chili supper at Wesley United Methodist Church in Fruitland, Mo., from 3-7 p.m. Tickets are $5 for adults and $2.50 for children. There will also be a Country Store where crafts and baked goods will be sold...

Dotty Behring of Cape Girardeau said, "We are to serve others -- all people, fellow Christians, neighbors, non-Christian enemies. I love my Lord and I want my 'neighbor' to know." "Love they neighbor as thyself." Matthew 22:39 (NIV Student Bible)...

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. -- Plagiarism charges have caused trouble lately for historians and college students, and even clergy are being questioned about whether they should cite more sources from the pulpit. Thousands of sermons have been collected online, making it easy for religious leaders to peruse the words of others for inspiration. And the point where research becomes plagiarism is murky for ministers and rabbis, who have many demands on them beyond composing a weekly sermon...

Guest speaker at miracle crusade Benji Mallory of Carrollton, Ga., will be the guest speaker during a four-day miracle crusade at Abundant Life Church. Mallory will speak at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday and lead a women's retreat March 23. She will speak at the 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. worship services March 24...

Margaret Huebel has been listening to young children tell stories for nearly 30 years, but it's the stories she tells that seem to interest them most. Huebel is a Sunday school teacher for the first and second grades at Red Star Baptist Church. She has been a member of the church since 1946...

TODAY'S GAME Class 1A Championship Bell City (28-5) vs. Santa Fe (24-5) When/Where: 2 p.m., Hearnes Center, Columbia, Mo. Bell City playoff road: def. Oran 73-49 for district; def Delta C-7 78-42 in regionals; def. No. 10 Thayer 77-69 in sectionals; def. Crocker 83-76 in quarterfinals; def. Stewartsville 65-55 in semifinals...

TODAY'S GAME Class 2A Championship Notre Dame (28-2) vs. Elsberry (30-0) When/Where: 7:55 p.m., Hearnes Center, Columbia, Mo. Notre Dame playoff road: def. Kelly 69-29 for district; def. Twin Rivers 60-41 in sectionals; def. John Burroughs 80-51 in quarterfinals; def. No. 1 Stockton 41-39 in semifinals...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Deana McCormick knew what it felt like to lose to Stockton in the biggest game of her life. She now knows what it feels like to beat the Tigers in the biggest game of her life. After losing to the Tigers in the 2A state championship game last year, McCormick was presented with a unique opportunity to re-write the script Friday in the 2A semifinals...

and Scott Moyers ~ Southeast Missourian Convinced his old friend had spilled the beans about his private life -- including possibly tipping one lover off about a relationship with a second woman -- a Cape Girardeau man went on a shooting spree that ended in his own death Friday, police said...