Stories from May 2002

Associated Press WriterRAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- Six wanted Palestinians were escorted out of Yasser Arafat's battered offices Wednesday night and whisked away in a convoy of U.S. and British armored cars, a diplomatic breakthrough that effectively ends Arafat's five months of confinement by Israeli troops...

Associated Press WriterRAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- Moving slowly through the darkened streets of Ramallah, a convoy of U.S. and British security officers escorted six wanted Palestinian men out of Yasser Arafat's battered headquarters Wednesday night, paving the way for the Palestinian leader's emergence from months of confinement in his compound...

Associated Press WriterAKRON, Ohio (AP) -- A Japanese scientist pleaded guilty Wednesday to lying to the FBI about the alleged theft of research materials from the Cleveland Clinic. Hiroaki Serizawa, a researcher at the University of Kansas Medical Center, and former Cleveland Clinic scientist Takashi Okamoto, a friend of Serizawa, were accused of stealing biological materials used for research on Alzheimer's disease...

Associated Press WriterMANILA, Philippines (AP) -- A Muslim extremist group claimed Wednesday it will kill an American missionary couple if a U.S.-backed pursuit gets too "one-sided" and ruled out further negotiations for their release. The Philippine military vowed to intensify its operation to finish off the Abu Sayyaf and rescue the hostages...

AP Business WriterNEW YORK (AP) -- Blue chip stocks rose Wednesday -- giving the Dow Jones industrials their first two-day advance in nearly a month -- as investors again searched for bargains after weeks of declines. But tech stocks were left behind, falling in response to two disappointing economic reports...

Organizers for the area's National Day of Prayer events have seen more participation and interest than they hoped for since making some changes to the service. Ticket sales were good for the Evening with the Mayors service, though not as strong as they are for the traditional Mayor's Prayer Breakfast. About 40 people have committed to the "Pray It Forward" campaign for Thursday, which allows them to pray for schools, local government staff or hospitals on their own schedule...

Trying to think of a progenitor for Smash Mouth lead singer Steve Harwell, the name that comes to mind is Chubby Checker. They have similarly hefty builds, of course, and both possess distinctive voices. But they also bear a spiritual resemblance, a demeanor that says, Here we are, we might as well have a party...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Two days after a tornado heaved their mobile home several dozen feet, violently tossing Ismael and Gloria Rodriguez against the walls, they stood calmly in the mild afternoon sun, scanning the damage to their property. There was a vacant space where their home used to be...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- After close to nine hours of debate, the Senate on Tuesday failed to reach a vote on a bill that would spend up to $644 million in state revenue over 30 years on sports stadiums and convention centers in four Missouri cities. The centerpiece of the bill would earmark $7 million a year beginning in 2005 to pay off bonds to fund a $346 million, publicly owned ballpark for the St. Louis Cardinals...

Tara Renner knows there's money in getting good grades, just not enough. Even with a $1,500-a-year President's Scholarship that depends on her keeping a 3.5 grade-point average, the Southeast Missouri State University freshman can't make ends meet without two part-time jobs and a $2,600 federal student loan...

Crews moved down William Street Tuesday, chopping trees in preparation for a project that city officials say is essential to the blossoming of Old Town Cape Girardeau although some residents call it pointless. Neighborhood opponents to the street-widening project said the city is killing perfectly good trees and ruining the character of once shady William Street for no good reason...

On April 19, a group of 12 men and women spent their morning taking a sample Missouri Assessment Program test -- the test the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education uses to judge student performance throughout the state each year. Cape Girardeau School District superintendent Dan Steska called the adults who accepted his challenge courageous to take the test, which covers the areas of math, science, social studies and language arts...

MOUNT HOLLY, N.J. -- On a recent evening, about two dozen residents gathered in recliners and rocking chairs, learning not to trust their eyes in this post-Sept. 11 world. That mother wandering by with a baby stroller? She might not be so maternal after all. That kindly looking priest? He might have no ties to religion in reality...

RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia is home to one of the most famous American Indians in history, Pocahontas, but the state's tribes are still fighting to gain recognition from the federal government. To draw support and raise money for their cause, a coalition of tribes is planning the largest statewide powwow in 400 years this weekend. The two-day event features dancers, drummers, singers, food and crafts and is expected to draw some 3,000 people to the Chickahominy Tribal Grounds in Charles City...

U.S. indicts Colombian rebel group, members WASHINGTON -- A federal grand jury, striking a blow against a terrorist threat outside the Arab world, indicted a Colombian rebel group and six of its members Tuesday in connection with the murders of three Americans...

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- President Bush will attend the NATO-Russia summit in Italy at the conclusion of his weeklong European trip late this month. Bush also will visit Berlin, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Paris and Normandy in France. He hopes to complete a nuclear reduction agreement in Russia and plans to commemorate D-Day at Normandy...

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- A Delaware judge on Tuesday cleared Hewlett-Packard Co. of allegations it acted improperly in the proxy fight over the acquisition of Compaq Computer Corp. Former HP director Walter Hewlett, who had fought to stop the $18.4 billion deal, said he would not appeal the ruling, which likely paves the way for completion of the high-tech industry's biggest merger...

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- President Bush, on a campaign to win over California and assert moderate credentials, reprised his "compassionate conservative" theme Tuesday and spoke of his concern for Americans left behind in the economic rebound. Bush wrapped up two days -- and $4.5 million in fund raising -- in California, trying to help conservative Bill Simon's uphill challenge to Democratic Gov. Gray Davis...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Gov. Don Siegelman and Chief Justice Roy Moore on Tuesday rejected each other's proposals for resuming jury trials in Alabama, a day after the chief justice imposed a statewide moratorium to save money. Siegelman proposed a $500,000 emergency loan to the state's courts, but Moore declined. The chief justice said the governor should give the courts $1.2 million from an emergency fund...

SANTA MONICA, Calif. Any time of year, colorful, textured salsas visually liven up table settings. Their bright flavors also add a whole range of top notes to the dishes they garnish. Now is as good a time as any to review your salsa repertoire. Confirm your old favorites; polish up the classics; and try out a bevy of spicy new ideas, ready for incoming seasons of bountiful produce and high-spirited taste...

India debates handling of deadly religious violence NEW DELHI, India -- Ending a 16-hour debate, India's Parliament on Wednesday defeated a motion to censure the government for its handling of India's worst religious riots in a decade -- violence that has left more than 900 people dead in two months...

LIMAY, France -- Deep in Impressionist country, where France shows its true colors along the timeless Seine, a hard-right turn in presidential primaries has cast harsh new light on the surface tranquility. "What do you expect, with life today?" asked Gisele Roblin, who did not vote for Jean-Marie Le Pen but says she knows why so many of her delicatessen customers did. "Crime, no jobs, fear of the future. People have had it."...

CAMPINA VERDE, Brazil -- Want an idea of how important Brazil's beef industry has become? The recent death of Bilara, a champion breeder, merited a two-column obituary in the leading business daily Gazeta Mercantil. Bilara was no ordinary cow. Over 19 years, she produced 172 calves, all but five from test-tube embryos, making her a pioneer in the technological revolution that is transforming Brazil into a global player in the beef business...

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Three weeks after an attempted coup, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday designated a commission to try to smooth relations with his political opponents -- while warning that some were still seeking his ouster. Chavez also promised to soften his uncompromising style after one military and popular rebellion ousted him April 12 and another swept him back into power two days later. ...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Gen. Pervez Musharraf moved toward winning five more years as Pakistan's president in a nationwide referendum Tuesday, although the apparent low voter turnout could weaken his authority in cracking down on Islamic extremism. Musharraf, who came to power in a bloodless 1999 coup, hoped for a high turnout that would lend him a stamp of legitimacy, but Pakistani voters seemed largely to ignore the referendum...

TBILISI, Georgia -- U.S. troops launched operations Tuesday in the former Soviet republic of Georgia to train local forces in anti-terrorism tactics -- the latest step in the worldwide campaign against terror. Eighteen Americans arrived overnight in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, the first of 150 special operations forces involved in the deployment. The rest are to arrive in the coming weeks, with training to get under way in May...

BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- Firefights between U.S.-led special forces and suspected al-Qaida terrorists left up to four of the suspects dead, a U.S. general said Tuesday, detailing attacks in an eastern region where allied leaders say pockets of al-Qaida fighters are holed up...

TEHRAN, Iran -- The 15-year-old girl trying out her new in-line skates in central Tehran also was making a bold fashion statement -- jeans, a bulky sweater rolled up to her elbows and a bright orange head scarf barely hanging on to her hair. Yet her outfit drew no special attention -- part of a quiet, but potentially momentous, test under way in Iran...

BETHLEHEM, West Bank -- Twenty-six Palestinian civilians and police emerged one by one Tuesday from the Church of the Nativity, the largest group to leave one of Christianity's holiest shrines since the monthlong standoff began between Israel's army and a group of armed militants inside...

ST. PETERS, Mo. -- A St. Charles County man was charged Tuesday with involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action, accused of shooting and killing his friend while playing with a gun. The shooting of Andrew Nolfo, 26, of St. Charles, happened over the weekend at a home in St. ...

SHILOH, Ill. -- When a tornado and strong winds tore through her town, resident Meryl Daniels thought it was just another spring storm -- until she noticed the streets cracking. The tornado warning didn't sound until a half-hour after the twister touched down...

DETROIT -- John Mizerock will not worry or wonder whether he'll be Kansas City's manager of the future. When the 41-year-old became the youngest manager -- albeit with an interim tag -- in the majors Tuesday, he chose just to enjoy the moment. "I'm a kid in a candy store now, however long it is, it's going to be great," Mizerock said. "I'm perfectly fine with the interim being in front of my name. I don't deserve anything other than that."...

MILWAUKEE -- Nelson Figueroa settled down after a rocky first inning and hit a two-run single off Greg Maddux in the Milwaukee Brewers' 4-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night. The Brewers snapped a six-game skid in Jerry Royster's first game as manager after the club removed the "interim" tag from his title...

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The French judge and federation chief at the center of the Olympic figure skating scandal were suspended for three years Tuesday and banned from the 2006 Winter Games. The rulings against judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne and French skating head Didier Gailhaguet were announced after a two-day hearing of the International Skating Union council...

No golf tournament anywhere in the world gets criticized about its field as long as Tiger Woods is playing. The good news for the Masters is that Woods, a three-time champion, will be allowed to tee it up for the next 39 years. But that doesn't let Augusta National off the hook...

In the precarious business of managing a baseball team, April really did turn out to be the cruelest month. When the Kansas City Royals fired Tony Muser after Monday night's game -- a 4-0 victory over Detroit -- he became the fourth manager to go down in the season's first month, twice as many as ever before...

ST. LOUIS -- A.J. Burnett gave up three hits in eight innings and Cliff Floyd homered twice as the Florida Marlins beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2 Tuesday night. Mike Lowell also homered and had two RBIs while matching his career high with four hits for the Marlins. St. Louis, coming back from a 4-9 trip, trailed 4-0 after three innings...

DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings aren't stumbling into the second round of the playoffs, but they're not joyously leaping toward the task of facing the hot St. Louis Blues. The Red Wings ousted the Vancouver Canucks by winning four straight games after two loses, and the Blues eliminated the Chicago Blackhawks in five games, including three consecutive shutouts...

WASHINGTON -- House Republicans are drafting election-year Medicare prescription drug legislation to include a full federal subsidy for the low-income elderly as well as protection against catastrophic costs for all seniors, officials said Tuesday. The legislation envisions a voluntary system of insurance in which older Americans would receive coverage from private companies in a market overseen by Medicare, the officials said. The bill carries a 10-year price tag of $350 billion...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush's nominee to head the National Institutes of Health said Tuesday he supports federal funding for research on stem cells from human embryos and promised to speak up if scientific advances pass the limits Bush has set. Dr. ...

WASHINGTON -- The government requested and won approval of fewer warrants last year for secret wiretaps and searches of suspected terrorists and spies, attributing a slight decline to streamlined procedures that became law after the Sept. 11 terror attacks...

WASHINGTON -- The black of space is slashed with silvered streaks of stars as two fiery galaxies merge in a collision of giants. A massive pillar of dust glows in crimson in the glare of hot stars, and another nebula smolders in blues, pinks and reds from the light of stellar birth...

WASHINGTON -- Coming to school menus nationwide: Tainted burgers, fruit and other foods? Reported outbreaks of school-related food-borne illnesses have been rising about 10 percent a year, a congressional study said Tuesday. The General Accounting Office recommended better coordination among federal agencies that inspect food plants with the state and local agencies that buy most food for schools...

WASHINGTON -- More than 2,300 additional organs could be available for transplant each year without recruiting new donors, researchers said Tuesday. The key: a trio of drugs administered to brain-dead patients that help preserve the organs. The drugs allow transplant programs to retrieve more usable organs from each existing donor, according to a review of 18 months of data comparing donors who were given the drugs and those who were not...

WASHINGTON -- U.S. officials on Tuesday took their first face-to-face measure of Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao, who is expected to be the China's next president. Hu sat with congressional leaders on Capitol Hill, and was had dinner with Secretary of State Colin Powell. The sessions were cast as personal time with a Chinese leader...

WASHINGTON -- A House committee investigating the Enron affair is refusing to give Arthur Andersen documents related to interviews of Andersen's chief Enron auditor. The House Energy and Commerce Committee is citing constitutional grounds in its refusal to comply with a subpoena from Andersen. ...

Cape Girardeau's Convention and Visitors Bureau director Terri Clark-Bauer, who was instrumental in attracting the Missouri State Harley Owners Group rally to Cape Gir-ardeau last summer, has resigned. Clark-Bauer, whose resignation is effective May 31, has served as the CVB director since July 20, 1998...

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- A Cape Girardeau woman was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in prison for her role in a succession of robberies last year that left good Samaritans wary of giving directions to strangers. Delores Wright, 43, of 514 Olive St. pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree robbery...

Cape Girardeau Wednesday, May 1 Firefighters responded to the following calls Monday:At 6:27 p.m., an alarm sounding at Southeast Hospital. Firefighters responded to the following calls Tuesday:At 12:06 a.m., an emergency medical service at 1004 William...

Cape Girardeau Wednesday, May 1 ArrestsTonya Ann Richards, 38, 119 E. Cape Rock, was arrested Monday for failure to appear. Timothy Wayne Seabaugh, 39, Millersville, Mo., was arrested Monday for traffic violations. Nakasha Quennette Fisher, 23, 516 S. West End Blvd., was arrested Monday for failure to appear...

In the April 14 article "Medicare's aches and pains," an 82-year-old said, "It's important for anybody to have good health, but it's more important for us (the elderly)." Most do believe their health is the most important. For example, an overtaxed young couple with children might argue their care is more important than an 82-year-old who has had a lifetime to save. ...

Before Sept. 11 and Osama bin Laden and the War on Terrorism became part of our everyday language, the USS Cole was the first hint many Americans had of the ugliness to come. On Oct. 12, 2000, the guided missile destroyer was in a Yemini port for refueling when a small boat packed with explosives was detonated beside it, blasting a hole in the Cole's side. Seventeen sailors were killed and 39 were injured in the attack, which has been linked to bin Laden...

Our mayor elected just last month, Jay Knudtson, has hit the ground running in his new position. He's visiting clubs and civic organizations discussing a vision for Cape Girardeau. And he likely will be highly visible in the future, in contrast to the quiet -- but certainly effective -- manner of our former mayor, Al Spradling III...

FESTUS, Mo. -- Perryville, behind a triple and two RBIs from Chad Stelling, posted a shocking 7-5 baseball victory over state-ranked Festus in the Jefferson County Tournament on Tuesday. Perryville entered the game with a 3-10 record as opposed to Festus, which came in with an 19-1 mark and No. 2 ranking in Class 3A...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Notre Dame made sure that the tough times would continue for the defending Class 1A state champions. The Bulldogs (11-2), ranked third in Class 2A, blanked St. Vincent 6-0 behind Wayne Essner's complete-game one hitter Tuesday at Perryville Park...

ST. LOUIS -- Southeast Missouri State converted a leadoff walk in the 10th inning into the winning run as the Indians defeated Saint Louis University 5-4 Tuesday at the Billikens Sports Center. The non-conference victory was the sixth straight win for Southeast, which improved to 23-14...

AREA NOTRE DAME, JACKSON ATHLETES EARN STATE HONORS Three Notre Dame seniors and two from Jackson have received academic all-state recognition from the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association. Lisa Millham of Notre Dame was among 29 girls from all classes to be honored. On the boys' side, Doug Schaefer and Scott Wittenborn of Notre Dame were selected along with Lance Bollinger and Nathan Brown of Jackson. Thirty-seven players were honored on the boys' team...

No question ANY PRIESTS who have to struggle with a decision of zero tolerance for child molesters should be removed. Child molestation is a crime, and there is certainly no place for criminals as priests. Poor work, too TRUTH BE told, the caller said the poor are lazy and the rich are the only ones who worked hard for what they've got. ...

FREDERICKTOWN, Mo. -- Hazel Aline Baker, 81, of Fredericktown died Monday, April 29, 2002, in Fredericktown. She was born May 31, 1920, at Elvins, Mo., daughter of William Pierce and Lillie Powell Ward. She and Joseph Marvin Baker were married July 2, 1937, in Alma, Mich. He preceded her in death...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Jeanette F. Solomon, 92, of Cairo died Monday, April 29, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born July 10, 1909, in Paris, Ill., daughter of Morris and Mary Curtis Silverman. She married Julius Solomon, who died Jan. 16, 1966...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Rev. Rupert "Bob" Lane, 92, of Sikeston died Monday, April 29, 2002, at Clearview Nursing Center. He was born July 12, 1909, in Anniston, Mo., son of Samuel and Ollie Lee Griffin Lane. He and Gertrude May "Gertie" Casteel were married May 22, 1928, at New Madrid, Mo...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Funeral for Ola M. Lentz of Indianapolis, Ind., will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday at Crain Funeral Home in Dongola. Stan Chism will officiate. Burial will be in Christian Chapel Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 6 to 8 p.m. today...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Delbert C. Kennedy, 71, of Chaffee died Monday, April 29, 2002, at Chaffee Nursing Center. He was born April 26, 1931, in Cape Girardeau, son of Delbert Shirrell and Ora Hope Kennedy. He and Peggy Moore were married Jan. 20, 1979, at Fairdealing, Mo...

SEDGEWICKVILLE, Mo. -- Woodrow Dale Felton, 66, of Sedgewickville died Tuesday, April 30, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Aug. 31, 1935, in Zion, Ark., son of Charley and Susie Anderson Felton. Felton was an over-the-road truck driver. He was a member of UAW Local 29 in Arlington, Texas...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Carmeline England, 76, of Marble Hill died Monday, April 29, 2002, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Nov. 1, 1925, at Grayridge, Mo., daughter of John Edward and Alta M. Tayler Pratt. She and Albert F. England were married in 1941. He died in June 1971...

Melva Rose Lewis, 78, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, April 30, 2002, in Prague, Czechoslovakia, of an apparent heart attack. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

ANNA, Ill. -- Isabel Lence, 83, of Anna died Sunday, April 28, 2002, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 31, 1918, in Anna, daughter of Tullie and Beulah Lamkin Dillow. She and Rolla E. "Buck" Lence were married Feb. 6, 1939. He died Feb. 10, 1993...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Lena Jane Elledge, 91, of Lake St. Louis, Mo., died Sunday, April 28, 2002, at Blanchette Place Care Center in St. Charles, Mo. She was born Sept. 22, 1910, at Lutesville, Mo., daughter of William Frederick and Anna Emeline Liley Eaker. She and the Rev. William Elledge were married Dec. 24, 1928, at Lutesville...

Hartline Son to Charles Robert Hartline Jr. and Nekosha Rhonnette Alexander of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 4:41 a.m. Monday, April 22, 2002. Name, Charles Robert III. Weight, 7 pounds 1 ounce. Ms. Alexander is the daughter of Rhonda Brown and Joe Aaron of Paducah, Ky. Hartline is the son of Diann Hickam of Anna, Ill., and Charles Hartline Sr. of Cobden, Ill...

10 years ago: May 1, 1992 Jackson -- Staying off voter registration list no longer is guarantee of avoiding jury duty in Cape Girardeau County; computer now will randomly select jury panel members by drivers license numbers instead of voter registration; County Circuit Clerk Charles Hutson says first panel members picked under new procedure will begin their terms May 11...

Standard Democrat NEW MADRID, Mo. -- Two people will return to court Thursday to face a string of drug-related charges. Edward A. O'Guin and Traci L. Garza were arrested by New Madrid County sheriff's deputies after a warrant was served Thursday at O'Guin's residence at 530 Mill St. in New Madrid...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Somber faced, teary-eyed students streamed out of the gymnasium at T.S. Hill Middle School Monday morning after learning the details of the death of one of their teachers. When students arrived at school for classes Monday, most had already heard the news concerning the death of Kristy Becker, who taught social studies at the Dexter school. The students quietly filed in the gymnasium and awaited the start of a new -- and different -- school day...

smcclanahan Are you suffering from spring fever or could it be Kentucky "Derby Fever"? The first Saturday in May is the running of the roses in Louisville, Ky., each year, and there is a certain madness in the air as area Derby-goers gear up for an exciting week. ...

In his classic book, "Eating in America," Waverly Root tells us, "Americans were slow about taking avocados to their hearts, and in its early prudish days their growers dared not advertise the merit which, privately, they considered likely to prove its strongest selling point."...

My last pair of glasses lasted five years. You'd be amazed how long glasses, clothes, shoes, haircuts, furniture, dental work and cars will last for a person in the journalism business. Might have something to do with that whole eat-or-get-new-glasses dilemma that faces all of us writers...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- With time diminishing and tension rising, state lawmakers were at loggerheads Wednesday on how much to increase funding for public schools. The disagreement delayed work -- at least temporarily -- on the rest of the roughly $19 billion budget for the upcoming next fiscal year, and raised the prospects that lawmakers could need a special session to finish the budget...

The women who were victimized by a former Dexter police officer filed a motion in federal court Tuesday in Cape Girardeau asking it to allow them to consolidate their cases and add additional parties. Dexter lawyer Stephen Holden said he filed the motion to consolidate the cases "for judicial economy."...

The public will have a chance to find out about plans to celebrate the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial when 125 people involved in planning events around the state convene in Cape Girardeau. The Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Community Workshop is one of two the state commission is holding yearly around the state to coordinate events in 2004, the anniversary year of the exploration. The public is invited to listen to presentations and participate in afternoon forums...

MAYHILL, N.M. (AP) -- A man who started a wildfire in the Sacramento Mountains that had already burned more than 9,500 acres and destroyed at least 20 structures by Thursday committed suicide because he couldn't live with what happened, a sheriff said...

AP Special CorrespondentRAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- Blowing kisses to children and flashing V-for-victory signs, Yasser Arafat toured his battle-scarred West Bank capital on Thursday, vacated only hours earlier by Israeli troops and tanks...

AP Farm WriterWASHINGTON (AP) -- The House on Thursday passed an election-year farm bill that will boost spending by 70 percent and increase subsidies to grain and cotton farms while adding thousands of other producers to the federal dole...

AP Diplomatic WriterWASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush said Thursday that important progress is being made in ending the violent standoff in the Middle East and declared that Israel must negotiate an end to its "occupation" of Palestinian areas in the West Bank...

AP Business WriterNEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street took an expected break Thursday following a two-day blue chip buying spree, leaving prices narrowly mixed. The Dow industrials managed a moderate gain, but tech stocks continued their slide. "We needed a little bit of a breather here," said Bob Dickey, managing director of technical analysis at Dain Rauscher Wessels in Minneapolis...

How many insect species are there? Nobody knows. But a new study says a widely cited estimate of about 30 million should be slashed to around 4 million to 6 million. That would bring the 20-year-old estimate in line with some more recent ones. But the author of the original estimate says he'll stick with his higher figure for now...

DAVIE, Fla. -- Say you're 71 years old and want to learn about abstract impressionism. Read "Moby Dick" for the first time. Study marine biology. In Florida's retirement kingdom and throughout the nation, golden agers are choosing wonkish foreign policy chats and Jane Austen discussions over games of bridge, shuffleboard and golf. And they're loving it...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Moving swiftly toward solving the state's latest budget crisis, a Senate panel on Wednesday endorsed using $120 million in state savings to help balance the budget for the fiscal year ending June 30. The 13-0 vote by the majority-Republican Senate Appropriations Committee came less than a week after Democratic Gov. ...

BRIGHT FUTURE By Scott Moyers ~ Southeast Missourian The New England Patriots deserved to win. But the St. Louis Rams will continue to be perennial Super Bowl contenders as long as they keep their core quality players like Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk...

From staff and wire reports JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri students could be taking fewer standardized tests next year, courtesy of a decision Wednesday by lawmakers to slash test funding by about 60 percent. As a result of the cuts, on which budget negotiators agreed, the state likely would eliminate its standardized tests for science, social studies, health and physical education...

NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER Want to go? A noon prayer service will be held today at the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse in Jackson, Mo. In case of rain the service will be at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Mo...

Lawmakers give support to concealed weapons bill By Andrea L. Buchanan ~ Southeast Missourian Local supporters of a bill that would legalize concealed weapons said they're preparing themselves for another disappointment...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The replacement for NASA's aging space shuttles may take off like a plane, be propelled by booster rockets that fly back to Earth and, in one of the more radical moves, eliminate pilots. The reusable space plane, equipped with crew escape and automatic landing systems, would be far safer than the shuttle, officials said Tuesday in unveiling 15 design concepts. It also would be much cheaper to operate, they promised...

NEWARK, N.J. -- The creator of the "Melissa" computer virus was sentenced Wednesday to 20 months in federal prison for causing millions of dollars of damage by disrupting e-mail systems worldwide in 1999. David L. Smith, 33, pleaded guilty in December 1999 to a state charge of computer theft and to a federal charge of sending a damaging computer program. In the federal plea, both sides agreed the damage was greater than $80 million...

Tuition at the nation's public colleges and universities took an ever-bigger bite out of family income between 1980 and 2000, outpacing financial aid and state support, a study released Thursday says. Hardest hit were the poorest families, according to findings of The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, an independent, nonprofit think tank in San Jose, Calif...

Chesney's latest album takes over top spot NEW YORK -- Kenny Chesney's "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems" had no problem beating the competition for the top spot on the album chart. The country singer's latest release debuted at No. 1 for the week ending April 28, according to industry figures released Wednesday...

MANILA, Philippines -- Muslim extremists holding American missionaries hostage ruled out further negotiations on Wednesday and threatened to kill the Kansas couple if U.S.-backed pursuit of the outlaws gets too close. The Philippine military vowed, meanwhile, to intensify its drive to wipe out the Abu Sayyaf extremists and rescue Martin and Gracia Burnham of Wichita, Kan...

MANILA, Philippines -- A grenade explosion killed three people and wounded two others Wednesday after police said they thwarted two possible terrorist attacks, including one that may have targeted President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The grenade blast occurred around 9:45 p.m., while people were dancing on a basketball court that had been turned into a trade fair during May Day celebrations at Notre Dame village, part of Cotabato city, police chief Sanggacala Dampac said...

LONDON -- Firebombs hurled at Jewish schools and synagogues in France. Orthodox Jews assaulted on the streets of north London. Protesters at a Rome demonstration dressed as suicide bombers. European Jews are increasingly uneasy about a wave of anti-Semitic violence that has coincided with rising tensions in the Middle East...

PARIS -- Well over a million people across France marched against extreme-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen on Wednesday, just four days before he faces President Jacques Chirac in a race that has mobilized the country. The marches on the traditional labor holiday of May Day were the culmination of nearly two weeks of public protests following Le Pen's stunning showing in the presidential election's first round...

UNITED NATIONS -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan abandoned efforts Wednesday to send a fact-finding mission to the Jenin refugee camp after Israel first gave a green light and then said the mission was biased. In a letter to the U.N. Security Council, Annan said the team would be disbanded on Thursday...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Allegations of widespread fraud followed a referendum that extended the rule of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf by five more years. In a challenge that could hurt the key U.S. ally's bid to strengthen authority, critics who questioned the credibility of the voting pounced on the final figures published Wednesday -- showing 97.7 percent backed the military ruler and putting the turnout at over 50 percent...

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- A nighttime rocket attack apparently aimed at a building where U.S. special forces were sleeping missed its target early Wednesday and no one was injured. It was the first time U.S. forces have come under fire in the hostile border region of Pakistan since they began operations in recent weeks...

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Israeli forces completed their withdrawal from Ramallah early Thursday, hours after a diplomatic breakthrough ended a siege on Yasser Arafat's compound in the West Bank town. The deal also saw six wanted Palestinians sent to jail, where they will be watched over by American and British wardens...

A Roman Catholic diocese in the Illinois suburbs of St. Louis has removed a priest because of an allegation that he sexually abused a New Jersey minor in the 1970s, diocese officials announced Wednesday. Officials with the Belleville, Ill., diocese said its Fitness Review Board recommended administrative leave for the Rev. ...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- When the students at the city's Career and Technology Center needed a class project, the school district found them a doozy. Rather than hire a professional contractor to add a pavilion to Sikeston High School for events like tennis tournaments and class reunions, the district's Board of Education turned to the center's students, who are learning about construction trades. They drew the plans, built the pavilion and landscaped the grounds...

WARRENTON, Mo. -- Ten Warrenton High School students suffered minor injuries Wednesday afternoon when their school bus collided with the back end of an oncoming tractor-trailer truck, officials said. The victims were taken to three area hospitals for treatment...

The Associated Press COLLINSVILLE, Ill. -- Heavy thunderstorms raked southern Illinois on Wednesday, uprooting trees, derailing a train and overturning trucks. No serious injuries were reported and a tornado watch was in effect for several Southeast Missouri counties until 4 a.m. this morning...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Every week for a year now, Annette Johnson has met and prayed with other community members that police will identify a 3- or 4-year girl found beheaded last April. The group thought their prayers had been answered this week when there were similarities between the Kansas City case involving the girl known as Precious Doe and that of a missing Florida girl. ...

DETROIT -- After a shaky start in the playoffs, Dominik Hasek showed why the Detroit Red Wings fought other suitors -- including St. Louis -- to acquire the six-time Vezina Trophy winner and two-time NHL MVP. Hasek, acquired last summer from Buffalo, was solid as the Red Wings won four straight to beat Vancouver in six games and advance to face the Blues. The second-round series starts Thursday night...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The numbers are set for Harlan's Holiday: He'll try to win the Kentucky Derby from the No. 14 post as the 9-2 favorite in a full field of 20 horses. Harlan's Holiday, the consistent bay colt with six wins and four seconds in 10 career starts, was a slight favorite over Came Home and Buddha, both listed at 5-1 in the morning line set Wednesday night by Churchill Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia...

ST. LOUIS -- Tino Martinez hit his first two homers of the season, and Travis Smith pitched six impressive innings for his first career victory as the injury-depleted St. Louis Cardinals beat the Florida Marlins 6-4 Wednesday night. The Cardinals, who won for only the fifth time in 15 games, have five starting pitchers on the disabled list. Smith, making his second career start, allowed only Mike Lowell's second-inning home run...

CHICAGO -- Yao Ming arrived in a black stretch limousine, a crowd of people waiting to catch a glimpse. A collective "ooh" went up when he walked into the gym, ducking his head so he wouldn't bump into the concrete doorway. Inside, 65 NBA scouts, coaches and team officials were waiting, including Miami coach Pat Riley, New Jersey Nets general manager Rod Thorn and Washington Wizards assistant GM Rod Higgins. ...

BOSTON -- Manny Ramirez homered twice, and Jose Offerman went 4-for-4 Wednesday night to salvage another rough outing at Fenway Park for Pedro Martinez and lead the Boston Red Sox to a 15-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Martinez (4-0) allowed three runs in five innings, giving up six hits and two walks while striking out five. He is 1-0 with a 9.45 ERA in three starts at home this year, and 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA in three road starts...

DENVER -- In took eight years for consecutive shutouts to be pitched at Coors Field. Denny Neagle limited Pittsburgh to three hits in eight innings, and the Colorado Rockies extended their winning streak to five by beating the Pirates 6-0 Wednesday night...

WASHINGTON -- Americans are undecided about cloning farm animals, dismiss the notion that some numbers are lucky and believe global warming is a serious problem. But a majority also say some people have mysterious psychic powers, according to a survey that found belief in "pseudoscience" is widespread in the United States...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush told Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao on Wednesday that he is confident the countries can resolve their differences over Taiwan and human rights, the White House said. Hu later warned publicly that any trouble on the Taiwan question could hurt U.S.-Chinese relations and vigorously defended his country's human rights record...

Area Airman completes basic training course Airman Antoine Bigham has graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base at San Antonio, Texas. He is the son of Geraldine Bigham of Charleston, Mo., and is a 2000 graduate of Charleston High School...

Civil War general and later President Ulysses S. Grant danced the night away at a ball in his honor. Author and riverboat pilot Mark Twain frequently dropped anchor there. English novelist Charles Dickens observed the bustling Cape Girardeau riverfront from his room...

Bishop to speak at Eucharistic celebration Bishop John Leibrecht will be the principal celebrant at a special Eucharistic celebration and open house planned at 6:30 p.m. today at Immaculate Conception Church at Jackson. The Crystal Rose awards will be presented during the Eucharistic Celebration...

Seven Girl Scouts received the Girl Scout Gold Award recently in a special ceremony. The Gold Award, the highest award a Girl Scout can earn, helping girls develop skills in leadership, career exploration, self-discovery and service. The Girl Scout Gold Award Project asks Scouts to plan a project to benefit others...

Show Me Center Tuesday, May 7 7:30-8:30 a.m. -- Registration, coffee 8:30-8:45 a.m.-- Welcome and introductions: Doug Eiken, executive director, Missouri Lewis & Clark Bicentennial Commission...

Melva Rose Lewis, a former advertising saleswoman and obituary writer for the Southeast Missourian, had written her own obituary but didn't think she'd need it for a long while. The 78-year-old Lewis died of a massive heart attack Tuesday shortly after arriving in Prague, Czechoslovakia, on vacation with family members, including her daughter, Mary Frances Young...

Cape Girardeau Thursday, May 2 Firefighters responded to the following calls Tuesday:At 10:07 p.m., an emergency medical service at 424 Sheridan. Firefighters responded to the following calls Wednesday:At 12:31 a.m., an emergency medical service at 40 S. Sprigg...

Cape Girardeau Thursday, May 2 ArrestsShontai Maurice Carter, 28, 412 N. St., was arrested for delivery of a controlled substance, probation violation. Ivory Joe Robinson, 39, 14 S. Henderson, was arrested Tuesday for possession of a controlled substance...

Cape Girardeau can seem insulated and self-sufficient, a mostly peaceful, mostly homogenous Midwestern town people move to or stay in because of the excellent quality of life it has to offer. Its exotic name can belie its geography: Cape Girardeau is the only inland cape in the United States...

Congratulations to the two new homeowners who launched the Carter Estates subdivision at West End Boulevard and College Street in Cape Girardeau. It should become a very special neighborhood with exceptional residents. After all, how many homeowners have "sweat equity" in where they live? It's the term Habitat for Humanity uses for the required investment their beneficiaries must have in their future homes. ...

Today Blood pressure screening from 10 to 11 a.m. at Cape Senior Center, sponsored by the Generations Resource Center at Southeast Missouri Hospital. For information, call 651-5825. Carbohydrate counting class from 1 to 2 p.m. in the Diabetes Center at St. Francis Medical Center. For information, call 331-5897...

Story by Laura Johnston Photos by Fred Lynch ~ Southeast Missourian Simple everyday chores around the house and tasks on the job provide plenty of opportunities for Americans to injure themselves, often when they don't intend to, but using ergonomics could help prevent many injuries, particularly those of the lower back, knees and wrists...

CHICAGO -- New research estimating that 20 percent of recently approved prescription drugs have serious and even life-threatening side effects suggests doctors should prescribe older medication whenever possible. "It's like playing Russian roulette when a doctor prescribes a newly approved drug that doesn't have a big breakthrough," said Dr. Sidney Wolfe of Public Citizen Health Research Group, a co-author of the study...

Bootheel area residents warned of scams DEXTER, Mo. -- Dexter's acting chief of police, Paul Haubold, and the Pemiscot County sheriff's office have asked residents to beware of letters, e-mails and telephone calls that ask for bank account information...

JACKSON BOARD OF ALDERMEN AGENDA 7:30 p.m. tonight at City Hall Power and Light Committee Consider motion accepting the audit report for the year ending Dec. 31 as prepared by Beussink, Hey and Roe, certified public accountants...

JACKSON, Mo. -- At Jackson High School, where football, wrestling and basketball grab much of the attention, the baseball program has played the role of the changeup in the sports repertoire. It's lacked a little zip in the passion department. "The thing about here, we just don't take baseball real serious, in my opinion, compared to football and other sports," Jackson coach Sam Sides said. ...

ORAN, Mo. -- After their scheduled baseball games were rained out, Oran and Notre Dame met in an impromptu matchup Wednesday. And the Eagles came away with an impressive 6-4 victory. Oran (10-4) rode a five-run second inning and Ryne Wood's four hitter to victory. Wood went the distance with six strikeouts and one walk...

Laura VanHoevelaak will try to reach the pinnacle of Ohio Valley Conference track & field this weekend in the OVC Championships in Cape Girardeau. She's already reached the pinnacle of academics at Southeast Missouri State University. She's on schedule to graduate this month with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average...

AREA SE's Hatton garners OVC baseball honor Southeast Missouri State University senior center fielder Vern Hatton has been named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week for last week's games. Hatton batted .545, with two home runs, six runs batted in and six runs scored as the Indians won all four of their games, including an upset of Oklahoma State and a three-game sweep of OVC rival Austin Peay...

To the editor: Their reward is a piece of candy for completed homework. She shared brownies on her birthday with her students. She knows how to let them be kids, but you can see the love and respect in her students' eyes when she is around. I have witnessed her dashing outside with forgotten lunchboxes...

Why are we cutting down trees on William, really? Expanding the street made sense when we were looking at having a gambling boat because of the traffic, but it didn't materialize. Also, most of the traffic will be redirected once we get the new bridge done. Who comes up with these plans, anyway?...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Alene O. Koenig, 72, passed away Tuesday, April 30, 2002, at her home in Jackson. Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. today at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson. Funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Friday at the funeral home. The Rev. Robert Henrichs will officiate. Interment will be in Russell Heights Cemetery...

ANNA, Ill. -- Dr. Salvador D. "Doc" Marques, 78, of Anna died Monday, April 29, 2002, at Union County Hospital. He was born May 11, 1923, in Redlands, Calif. He and the former Sandra Sue Rhodes were married 37 years ago. Marques was a physician. He is survived by his wife...

Delphus Barnhart, 79, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday May 1, 2002, at his home. Arrangements are pending at McCombs Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

SIKESTON, Mo. -- James Walter Gates, 51, of Sikeston died Wednesday, May 1, 2002, from injuries received in an automobile accident Jan. 1, 2002. He was born Oct. 24, 1950, at Matthews, Mo., son of Ernest James and Hazel Nance Gates. He and Jessica Tidwell were married Nov. 22, 1991, in Sikeston...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Gerry Jean Packard, 64, of Cambridge, Wis., died Wednesday, May 1, 2002, at her home. She was born Sept. 22, 1937, in Mounds, daughter of Gerald L. and Edith Marie Jackson Palmer. She and Robert Packard were married April 27, 1957, in Ferguson, Mo...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Mabel Berkbigler, 98, of Perryville died Wednesday, May 1, 2002, at Perry County Nursing Home. She was born Sept. 1, 1903, in Perry County, daughter of Louis and Mary Huber Miget. She and Daniel J. Berkbigler Sr. were married Sept. 29, 1930. He died Feb. 14, 1982...

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- Mary F. Church, 78, of Granite City, Ill., died Wednesday, April 24, 2002, at Missouri Baptist Hospital in St. Louis. She was born Dec. 24, 1923, in Illmo, Mo., daughter of John and Ada Robertson Williams. She married Lindsay M. Church Sr., who died in 1990...

Copeland Daughter to Michael and Deborah Copeland of Lexington Park, Md., St. Mary's Hospital in Leonardtown, Md., 1:35 p.m. Tuesday, April 23, 2002. Name, Deanna Elizabeth. Weight, 7 pounds 15 ounces. Second daughter. Mrs. Copeland is the former Deborah Fessler, daughter of Charles and Judy Fessler of Jacksonville, Fla. She is a teller at Bank of America. Copeland is the son of Walter and Linda Copeland of Cape Girardeau. He is an avionics technician in the U.S. Navy...

10 years ago: May 2, 1992 Cape Girardeau native who is member of Los Angeles Police Department's SWAT team believes violence, prompted by decision in Rodney King beating trial, is lessening, but he's not sure it's over; Bob Kain, 31, has been member of team for year and half...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Evidentiary issues prompted the dismissal of murder charges against the suspects in the shotgun death of the owner of Bud's Country Store at Wappapello, Mo. Gary Lee "Bud" Ayers, 52, of Wappapello was found dead inside his store on Route T at about 7 p.m. Feb. 22 by a Butler County deputy who responded to an alarm sounding there...

Standard Democrat SIKESTON, Mo. -- Sikeston's city council is gearing up for the transition to the home rule form of government. The city's form of government will change next April, Mayor Phil Boyer said, and the council and city staff have established the steps required implement the Home Rule Charter...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A Bloomfield, Mo., man charged with raping a fellow patient on the mental health unit at Three Rivers Healthcare-South Campus is in jail. Benjamin Abraham Bivens, 20, was booked at the Butler County Jail this week on a warrant for forcible rape. His bond is set at $50,000...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Stoddard County authorities have charged two Dexter, Mo., men in connection with a Sunday morning theft at a Bloomfield business. Robbie Hale, Bloomfield police chief, said about $2,000 in tobacco and alcohol goods were stolen from the store...

May 2, 2002 Dear Dixie, Two of the Neosho nieces were visiting last weekend. We took them to Grace Cafe to see the farewell concert by Don Haupt Jr., a local photographer/Delta blues musician/pizza delivery guy -- it says so on his card -- who days later packed up his car and his newly recorded CD, "Life is Difficult," and is headed out West to pursue life in Eureka, Calif...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- State subsidies for cross-state Amtrak service will continue but funding for river ports was cut sharply Thursday by state budget negotiators. The cuts came as lawmakers negotiated differences between the House and Senate versions of next year's budget for the Missouri Department of Transportation...

HONOLULU -- Bedecked in a red flower lei, the dog whose story of being cast adrift on the high seas captured international headlines made her U.S. debut before the media Thursday. The brown-and-white terrier mix named Forgea appeared relaxed as she was held by a veterinarian aboard the tugboat that brought her to Honolulu Harbor. The 2-year-old dog had spent 24 days alone on an abandoned fuel tanker...

LATE SENATE DEBATE By Marc Powers ~ Southeast Missourian JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Supporters of taxpayer subsidies for a new St. Louis Cardinals ballpark outlasted a filibuster on Thursday as the Senate voted 19-14 to give proposal first-round approval...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- State Rep. Tom Burcham will wait until after the legislative session ends May 17 to make a decision on whether to continue his bid for a second term in office. Burcham, R-Farmington, returned to the House of Representatives Tuesday after a three-week leave of absence to seek treatment for alcoholism following his April 9 arrest for driving while intoxicated...

WEATHERING THE SEASON By Bob Miller ~ Southeast Missourian Parts of Perry County were covered with hail twice Thursday morning, but the ice pieces in the Frohna and Altenberg area were small, and no damage was reported, said an official at the emergency management office in Perryville...

National Day of Prayer ceremony draws about 100 By Laura Johnston ~ Southeast Missourian JACKSON, Mo. -- The rain Thursday morning might have dampened the grounds, but it certainly didn't dampen the spirit of the people who attended the National Day of Prayer gathering, nor did it dilute their prayers...

KILLS TWO DOGS By Andrea L. Buchanan ~ Southeast Missourian A freak lightning strike caused a house fire Thursday in Cape Girardeau, destroying the home and killing two dogs inside...

Islamic militants blamed for 31 killed in Algeria ALGIERS, Algeria -- Alleged Islamic militants killed 31 people and wounded five others in two separate attacks, the official Algerian news service reported Thursday. The attacks occurred late Wednesday in the Tiaret region, about 210 miles west of the North African nation's capital, the APS news agency said. ...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The band Widespread Panic has endorsed a crackdown on drug use and illegal drinking at a concert where about 200 fans were arrested, one died of an overdose and another committed suicide. "Widespread Panic makes every possible effort to ensure a safe environment for everyone attending a show," a statement from the band said. "We fully support the actions taken by local police to eliminate drug dealing and underage drinking at all Widespread Panic concerts."...

ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Andrea Marcovicci as Gertrude Lawrence, Paula West as herself, Klea Blackhurst singing Ethel Merman, and KT Sullivan and Mark Nadler performing the songs of Gershwin are on tap in the 2002 Grandel Theatre Cabaret Series to begin in September...

Senate confirms director for health institutes WASHINGTON -- The Senate on Thursday confirmed Elias Zerhouni, executive vice dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, as the next director of the National Institutes of Health. The Algeria-born radiologist will take over the nation's premier biomedical research agency. The voice vote on the Senate floor came just hours after the Senate health committee approved the nomination...

The Associated Press BOSTON -- One of the most notorious figures in the sex abuse scandal engulfing the Roman Catholic Church was arrested Thursday on charges he repeatedly raped a young boy, sometimes in a church confessional, during the 1980s. The Rev. Paul Shanley, 71, who has advocated sex between men and boys, voluntarily surrendered at an apartment in San Diego on three counts of raping a child in Massachusetts...

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Pedro Carmona was a respected businessman before he assumed quasi-dictatorial powers last month during the attempted ouster of President Hugo Chavez. Now, in the eyes of many in this South American nation, Carmona is Public Enemy No. 1...

LE BOURGET, France -- Erik Lindbergh popped out of the cockpit Thursday, furiously waving his arms in the air at the end of his 17-hour flight from New York to Paris. He was celebrating the replication of his grandfather's groundbreaking solo and nonstop flight across the Atlantic in 1927. ...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Newly freed from Afghanistan's most notorious prison, gaunt and bewildered Taliban inmates spoke Thursday of being packed 50 to 60 in cells meant for five and starvation rations that sometimes led to death. Hundreds of inmates -- heads shaved for lice and ratty clothes hanging loosely from wasted bodies -- wrapped themselves in thin shawls against the evening chill as they waited in the Afghan capital of Kabul for buses to take them home...

MARSEILLE, France -- Rain dampened Jean-Marie Le Pen's parade Thursday, and the presidential candidate found barely 3,000 supporters at what was supposed to be a triumphant rally to end his campaign. "Paris is the heart of France, but Marseille is the heart of the National Front," he told the small, cheering crowd, thanking them for carrying him to an upset victory in the election's first round...

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Blowing kisses to children and flashing V-for-victory signs, Yasser Arafat toured his battle-scarred West Bank capital Thursday, vacated hours earlier by the Israeli troops and tanks that confined the Palestinian leader to his office for more than a month...

SHELBYVILLE, Mo. -- In what attorneys believe to be a statewide first, a jury has found the Shelby County prosecutor guilty of assaulting a member of the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Following a one-day trial that ended just after midnight on Wednesday, the jury convicted Prosecuting Attorney Steve Raymond of third-degree assault, recommending a fine of up to $1,000 and no jail sentence...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Supporters of a proposal to more than quadruple Missouri's cigarette tax said Thursday they have collected more than enough signatures to put the matter before voters in November. The ballot proposal would ask voters to add 55 cents to the state's current tax of 17 cents per pack of cigarettes. Taxes on other tobacco products would rise by 20 percent...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- University of Missouri-Columbia chancellor Richard Wallace won't seek the university system's top job after current president Manuel Pacheco retires next year. Wallace made the announcement after a Council on Public Higher Education forum in Jefferson City Tuesday night...

BONNE TERRE, Mo. -- Nearly two years after the new prison here was first scheduled to open, the first inmates have arrived at "The Big Empty." Fifty prisoners in the state's Regimented Discipline Program arrived Wednesday, Department of Corrections spokesman Tim Kniest said Thursday...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Supporters of a proposal to more than quadruple Missouri's cigarette tax said Thursday they have collected more than enough signatures to put the matter before voters in November. The ballot proposal would ask voters to add 55 cents to the state's current tax of 17 cents per pack of cigarettes. Taxes on other tobacco products would rise by 20 percent...

CHICAGO -- A Cook County judge denied a motion by the state Thursday to dismiss a lawsuit filed by attorneys seeking $900 million in fees from a settlement with the tobacco industry. Judge James Henry said the motion was premature and that the state could pursue the matter after both sides have had a chance to explore the factual issues of the case. He also suggested the two sides consider solving their dispute outside court...

ELSBERRY, Mo. -- After a lifetime of work devoted to the animals, it seemed fitting for William Thompson to spend his own retirement tending to the needs of retired show and race horses. A place for older horses is just what Thompson, 61, and Kenneth Wilson, a 46-year-old accountant, created in this Lincoln County town, where they refurbished an old three-story farmhouse and opened Fieldstone Farm...

URBANA, Ill. -- The University of Illinois' student government organization has passed a resolution supporting Chief Illiniwek's retirement. It was the first time in seven years that the Illinois Student Government has taken a position on the controversial mascot's fate, which the university's board of trustees is expected to decide in July...

SAN DIEGO -- Sammy Sosa homered in consecutive at-bats, giving him four in two games, and the Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres 6-1 Thursday to end their season-high five-game losing streak. Sosa took over the major league lead with 12 homers, one ahead of Houston's Lance Berkman and Florida's Cliff Floyd. Sosa also moved into a tie with Jose Canseco for 22nd on the career list with 462, one more than Ken Griffey Jr...

CHICAGO -- Mike Cameron made history in more than one way Thursday. Cameron and Bret Boone became the first teammates in major league history to both hit two home runs in the same inning, connecting back-to-back twice in Seattle's 10-run first against the White Sox on Thursday night...

ST. LOUIS -- Eight of Cliff Floyd's 11 home runs have come on the road, and it's no accident. Floyd, who connected for the third time in three days in the Florida Marlins' 9-6 come-from-behind victory over the St. Louis Cardinals, loathes hitting in Miami. He's batting .372 with 15 RBIs on the road and .286 with nine RBIs at home...

DETROIT -- Red Wings goalie Dominik Hasek credited defense and a little luck for Detroit's win. He neglected to mention his own part. Hasek wowed the Joe Louis Arena crowd with many of his 23 saves as the Red Wings beat the St. Louis Blues 2-0 Thursday night in the opener of their Western Conference semifinal series...

WASHINGTON -- The ancestor of all the grains, fruits and blossoms of the modern world may have been a fragile water plant that lived in a Chinese lake 125 million years ago. The plant, called Archaefructus sinensis for "ancient fruit from china," is of a species never before seen and carries the clear characteristics of the most primitive of flowering plants, said David Dilcher of the Florida Museum of Natural History and the University of Florida...

WASHINGTON -- Fake bank correspondence and tax forms are being used across the country in a scam to steal people's identities and bank accounts, the IRS warns. In most cases, people receive a letter claiming to be from their bank stating that it is updating records. Included with the letter is a phony Internal Revenue Service form, which the person is urged to fax to a number within a week or certain tax benefits could be lost...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush and European leaders on Thursday tried to defuse tensions that are threatening to spark a full-blown trade war but reported no breakthrough on the most contentious issue -- new American tariffs on steel. Bush and the European leaders pledged to abide by World Trade Organization rules in working out their differences over the up to 30 percent border tax that the United States imposed on certain steel imports last month in an effort to protect the beleaguered U.S. ...

WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Thursday he intends to cancel an $11 billion program to develop an artillery gun for the Army, a move that revealed tensions between Rumsfeld and Army Secretary Thomas White who has fought to save the program...

WASHINGTON -- The House overwhelmingly approved an election-year farm bill Thursday that will pour billions of dollars in subsidies into Midwestern and Southern states that are political battlegrounds for lawmakers in both parties. The bill, which would boost subsidies by 70 percent, marks a reversal of the 1996 Freedom to Farm law that was supposed to wean farmers from government subsidies...

WASHINGTON -- The United States and Russia have worked out broad outlines of an agreement to reduce their nuclear arsenals, but obstacles remain to be overcome, an administration official said Thursday. It was still uncertain whether Secretary of State Colin Powell and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov would be able to solidify an agreement when they meet today in Washington, said the official...

WASHINGTON -- The United States joined with the United Nations, the European Union and Russia on Thursday in calling for an international Middle East peace conference. President Bush set tough terms for a Palestinian state. Bush, at a news conference said such a state must be democratic and not based on a foundation of terror and corruption. The president also renewed his description of Israel's hold on the West Bank as an "occupation" and said it must yield to Palestinian statehood...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- A Sikeston man died Wednesday from injuries he received in a New Year's Day car crash. James Walter Gates, 51, had been hospitalized with a brain stem injury since the crash, which claimed the lives of his 12-year-old daughter Brittany Gates and his sister-in-law Evelyn Orman...

It was an offhand remark, made by a high schooler gently teasing the school nurse -- the nurse he's known since kindergarten, and whom he's obviously quite fond of. "After I found out what happened, I felt awful all week," said Drew Janes, a senior at Twin Rivers High School...

A Heartland Cares Tornado Relief effort, designed to help the American Red Cross and victims of tornadoes that have ripped across Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois over the past two weeks, has been kicked off by KFVS-12 and the Zimmer Radio Group...

In Thursday's Southeast Missourian, a story on concealed weapons should have stated that the Missouri House of Representatives approved a bill on the issue last week. The Missourian regrets the error.

Cape Girardeau Friday, May 3 Firefighters responded to these calls Thursday:At 10:26 a.m., a medical assist at 1105 Linden. At 10:28 a.m., a structure fire at 1130 N. West End Blvd. At 11:37 a.m., an alarm sounding at 1112 Linden. At 1:03 p.m., an alarm sounding at 345 Rockport...

BENTON, Mo. -- A Haywood City, Mo., man was arrested Wednesday on drug charges. Charlie Smith, 36, is being held in Scott County Jail on drug trafficking charges. Charges against Smith, also known as "Big Daddy," stem from an undercover narcotics investigation, said Scott County Sheriff Bill Ferrell...

Cape Girardeau Friday, May 3 DWIJacqueline Michelle Rodgers, Benton, Mo, was issued a summons Wednesday for driving while intoxicated and other traffic violations. ArrestsCharles Emmanual Thompson, 37, 624 Boxwood, was arrested Wednesday for possession of heroin and crack cocaine with intent to distribute...

When Perry County voters passed a 50-cent school tax increase in November, it was by no means a financial windfall. That school district's tax remains below Jackson's and well below Cape Girardeau's. Some seem to forget that Perry County had released two lists of cuts: one with educational programs and positions that would go whether the tax increase passed or not and a second list of programs that would go only if the tax didn't pass...

Sometimes, when times are tough and pressures abound, professionals can forget why they began their careers in the first place. No doubt that is what's happening in Cairo, Ill., where 71 union teachers picked about a month before graduation as the time to go on strike...

JACKSON, Mo. -- David Ludwig may have served on the Jackson Board of Aldermen longer than any other person in the board's history, Mayor Paul Sander says. That 21-year tenure ended Thursday night when Ludwig, who is running for Cape Girardeau County auditor, surrendered his seat to his good friend Barbara Lohr, who ran unopposed in Ward 1 in April...

Five-time defending men's champion Eastern Illinois and defending women's champion Tennessee State will be favored again in today's Ohio Valley Conference track and field championships, but neither will have the advantage Southeast has. Being at home...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Notre Dame clinched the SEMO Conference girls' soccer championship in a scoreless, double-overtime battle with second-place Jackson. Jackson (11-1-1, 3-1-1) owes its only league loss to Notre Dame (10-2-3, 4-0-2). Notre Dame goalie Katie Palmer and Jackson's Whitney Werner had shutouts...

Jamie: Since you grew up in DuQuoin, Ill., did you spend much time at the DuQuoin State Fair?Jaret: Oh yeah, every year. What was the best thing about it?Jaret: Eating all that junk food and hanging out with friends. You'd see friends you hadn't seen in a while. It was a good time...

Southeast Missouri State University's softball team can make up for its first losing season under coach Lana Richmond in just one weekend. The fifth-seeded Otahkians (13-25) play today in the six-team Ohio Valley Conference Tournament in Richmond, Ky., facing fourth-seeded Austin Peay (19-33-1) at 10 a.m...

When Courtney Haman signed with Southeast Missouri State University's track & field program in 1999, she had an idea she might be asked to learn the javelin. But little did Haman know that she would quickly turn into the Ohio Valley Conference's best...

Baseball Lou Gehrig's famous farewell speech, in which he called himself "the luckiest man on the face of the earth," will be repeated by celebrities in 15 major league parks before games on June 1. The unique promotion was created by major league baseball and Project ALS to call attention to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the disease that took the Hall of Fame baseball player's life and now is commonly known as "Lou Gehrig's disease."...

There is something about a big tree that commands interest, respect, and a certain amount of awe. Trees are the largest and oldest living organisms. The giant redwoods (Sequoia gigantea) reach a height of 325 feet and a diameter of 30 to 35 feet at their base...

I feel it's finally time for me to respond to the recent misunderstanding surrounding any type of earnings or commuter tax. In a recent interview with a Southeast Missourian reporter that I viewed as a brainstorming session, I mentioned that we would be looking at a number of ways to potentially generate more revenue. ...

Pray for peace IT DOESN'T seem like Afghans know what to pray for. I would think praying for peace might be a good thing. Teaching children as young as 3 not to walk around with toy guns in their arms, emulating war, might be a good thing. I would like to think, in a country that size, that they might have someone with enough integrity and honor to lead their nation. ...

BENTON, Mo. -- Iva Mae Laub, 70, of Benton died Wednesday, May 1, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 30, 1931, at Sikeston, Mo., daughter of William Lee and Iva Mae Gray Bohannon Sr. She and William Harold Laub were married April 3, 1948, at Kewanee, Mo...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Paul H. Job, 81, of Jackson died Thursday, May 2, 2002, at Monticello House. He was born Dec. 9, 1920, at Dutchtown, Mo., son of Leo and Alma Schmidt Job. He and Melba M. Moore were married June 14, 1941, at St. Mary's Cathedral in Cape Girardeau...

Wilma Tate, 92, formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Wednesday, May 1, 2002, at Regent Care Nursing Center in San Antonio, Texas. Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Helen Rose, 75, died Thursday, May 2, 2002, at Ratliff Care Center. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Rayburn Clark, 75, of Sikeston died Thursday, May 2, 2002, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. He was born Aug. 3, 1926, in Waldenburg, Ark., son of Earnest and Lucy Terry Clark. He and Imogene T. Williams were married April 26, 1956, in St. Louis...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Alvin W. "Al" Milam, 69, of Jonesboro died Thursday, May 2, 2002, at his home. He was born Oct. 6, 1932, in Stokes, Ark., son of Willis and Stella Holder Milam. He and Lillian Smith were married Dec. 12, 1951, in Pocahontas, Ark...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Harold Eugene Lee, 72, of Charleston died Wednesday, May 1, 2002, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Feb. 15, 1930, in Charleston, son of John Marion and Delia May Sitzes Lee. He and Dorothy Jean Griffith were married Aug. 13, 1955, in Charleston...

OAK RIDGE, Mo. -- John T. Morrison, 79, of Oak Ridge died Thursday, May 2, 2002, at his home. He was born Sept. 8, 1922, at Uniontown, Mo., son of Chalmer Vest and Hedwig Bock Morrison. He and Helen Dost were married Aug. 8, 1951. Morrison was a dairy farmer. He was a member of Grace Lutheran Church at Uniontown, Mo...

DUTCHTOWN, Mo. -- Betty L. Obermann, 75, of Dutchtown died Wednesday, May 1, 2002, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 18, 1927, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Delvie and Hazel May Stephens Oxford. She and H.W. "Bud" Obermann were married Jan. 18, 1948, at Gordonville, Mo...

Frederick R. Jueneman, 90, of Fairfield, Calif., died Thursday, April 4, 2002, at Laurel Creek Health Center in Fairfield. He was born Aug. 4, 1911, at Fort Logan, Colo., son of George and Ruby Ireland Jueneman. He and Rodney Carmack were married Sept. 7, 1938, in Cape Girardeau. They lived in Cape Girardeau from 1938-48...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Edith Jeannette Ancell Ford, 92, of Sikeston died Wednesday, May 1, 2002, at Clearview Nursing Center. She was born Nov. 23, 1909, at Sikeston, daughter of Robert Frank and Essie Jackson Carter. She first married Lynn Ancell May 3, 1931, in Blytheville, Ark. He died Dec. 18, 1948. She later married Leonard E. Ford Oct. 27, 1951, in St. Louis. He died in 1955...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Ruby Bell Harp Coleson Rogers, 90, of Cape Girardeau, formerly of Olive Branch, died Thursday, May 2, 2002 at Heartland Care and Rehabilitation Center. Born Aug. 14, 1911 in Cache, she was the daughter of John and Myrtle Potts Harp...

10 years ago: May 3, 1992 The $25 activity fee Southeast Missouri State University students pay each semester helps fund everything from athletics to Student Government; activity fee was levied for first time in fall semester; prior to that, student activities were funded out of university's general operations budge; for 1991-92 year, fee has generated about $36,000...

NEW YORK -- It seems as if everything Ashanti touches these days turns to gold -- or platinum. The 21-year-old R&B singer has a No. 1 hit song, "Foolish"; she knocked Celine Dion from the top of the charts with her self-titled debut album, which has sold 1 million copies in less than a month; and she has had three simultaneous top 10 hits on the Billboard charts, a feat last accomplished by The Beatles...

These are the 10 sons Elsie VanMeter of Cairo, Ill., could not live without: 1. "Go Light Your World" -- Kathy Troccoli Let your faith be a light in the darkness of this world. 2. "Forever Young" -- Rod Stewart I think we all hope there is someone who will remember us this way...

The late John Boardman was an architect by profession and an artist at heart. When he died at the end of 1999, he left behind sketch books filled with thousands of drawings few people have ever seen. He slept only a few hours each night and often was working on multiple pieces of art and architecture projects at the same time...

Southeast Missouri State University students will be able to apply online for preferred parking permits for the first time this summer. Students may apply starting at 8 a.m. on July 8 for parking permits for the 2002-2003 school year. Beth Glaus, manager of parking and transit at Southeast, said online registration will allow all students the same opportunity to register for permits...

Submitted photo A stained-glass and wooden cross hung in the sanctuary at First G ROADWAY'S REDESIGN By Marc Powers ~ Southeast Missourian JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri State Highways and Transportation Commission on Friday approved a controversial redesign of Highway 34-72 through Jackson, Mo., opposed by some city residents and business owners...

URBANDALE, Iowa -- Pipe bombs accompanied by anti-government propaganda exploded Friday in six mailboxes in rural parts of Illinois and Iowa, injuring six people in an attack authorities called domestic terrorism. Two other bombs were found but did not detonate, and a note found with them said more "attention getters" were on the way. It was signed "someone who cares."...

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Anne Graham Lotz says she doesn't have the gifts that made her father the 20th century's most famous evangelist. And she never sought the mantle that brother Franklin has taken, leading the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association into the 21st century. Yet the revival speaker from Raleigh has still followed her father and brother into the family business -- with her own style...

CLEVELAND -- Two airport concourses were evacuated Friday after a passenger's bag set off an explosives detector, and the passenger and bag disappeared into the crowd before security personnel noticed, authorities said. Airport Commissioner Fred Szabo said screeners were unable to locate the bag in a search of the concourses. He could not rule out the possibility that the passenger got on a departing flight with it before the concourses were closed...

BOSTON -- The Archdiocese of Boston on Friday backed out of a settlement agreement with 86 people who have accused now-defrocked priest John Geoghan of child molestation, saying the deal was too expensive as the list of potential victims grows. The archdiocese's finance council rejected Cardinal Bernard Law's request to sign the deal, estimated to be worth $15 million to $30 million...

WILLIAMSON, W.Va. -- Rescue crews in helicopters and four-wheel-drive vehicles searched through the steep valleys of Appalachian coal country Friday after flash flooding left at least four people dead and 14 missing. Five inches of rain fell in six hours Thursday, sending streams and rivers surging out of their banks in the mountainous area where West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia meet...

By Andrea L. Buchanan ~ Southeast Missourian Claiming to be a fan since birth, Neil Shockley was dressed for the opening day of the "Spider-Man" movie based on the popular comic book superhero. Shockley caused a mild commotion when he arrived at a Cape Girardeau theater Friday clad in a Spider-Man mask and T-shirt and claiming to have similar powers to the superhero...

Volunteer spotters help meteorologists track storms By Bob Miller ~ Southeast Missourian They're often the difference between a watch and a warning, the difference between keeping alert and taking cover. And in the most extreme cases, when high-tech equipment can't always give the needed details, weather spotters can be the difference between life and death...

BOSTON -- For decades, the Rev. Paul Shanley had been a renegade -- he was quoted as publicly advocating sex between men and boys and spoke against the church's treatment of gays. Even so, the archdiocese did not remove him as a priest -- instead transferring him to several parishes, despite allegations of sexual abuse. Now, he's behind bars, facing criminal charges he repeatedly raped a boy...

Trial in reporter slaying reopens, adjourns again HYDERABAD, Pakistan -- The closed-door trial of Muslim militants charged in the kidnap-slaying of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl resumed briefly under tight security Friday after moving from Karachi because of prosecution fears of a terrorist attack, officials said...

KATMANDU, Nepal -- Security forces killed at least 90 Maoist guerrillas in western Nepal overnight, the government said Friday, days before the prime minister visits Washington to seek help in fighting the rebels. The fighting represented one of the largest death tolls since King Gyanendra imposed a state of emergency Nov. 26 and ordered the army to clamp down on the rebels after they withdrew from peace talks and attacked government troops and offices...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The latest mission to pursue al-Qaida and Taliban fighters is drawing chuckles from American forces -- not for its objective, nor for its methods, but for its name. In a tiny case of cultures clashing, "Operation Snipe," a name chosen by Britain, fails to take into account the existence of a more jocular American tradition: the snipe hunt...

NABLUS, West Bank -- Israeli troops swooped down on a Hamas hide-out in the West Bank's largest city Friday, while Orthodox Christians in biblical Bethlehem marked a somber Good Friday with no sign of a break in the siege of the Church of the Nativity, now entering its second month...

VIENNA, Ill. -- Lawyers for a state employees' union will try to convince a judge here Monday that Gov. George Ryan doesn't have the right to close the Vienna Correctional Center before the current fiscal year is over, a union official said Friday...

LAKE OZARK, Mo. -- Missourians still feel sorry about U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan's loss of her husband and son in a campaign plane crash 18 months ago, but sympathy votes won't elect her, Republican Jim Talent said Friday. "Is there a sympathy vote? I think clearly there's sympathy, and there ought to be. I'd think less of Missourians than I do if I thought they didn't still sympathize," said Talent, the Democratic senator's best-known GOP challenger...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- DNA that could provide the identity of a child whose body was found more than a year ago in Kansas City will not arrive here until Monday. Police said Friday that a missing 5-year-old Miami girl, Rilya Wilson, has many similarities to the beheaded child known to Kansas Citians as Precious Doe. Her body was found in Kansas City more than a year ago; Rilya has been missing from Miami for 15 months...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A firefighters' union seeking the right of collective bargaining has gathered more than enough signatures to put the issue before voters in November, a union official said. The Missouri State Council of Fire Fighters has been gathering signatures supporting its proposed amendment to the Missouri Constitution for about 16 months -- getting the earliest jump of any group attempting to put a question on the ballot...

ST. LOUIS -- While packing for his business trip, Paul Stubbs tossed in a pack of matches in case airport security workers seized his cigarette lighter and even brought an electric shaver so he wouldn't have to surrender his disposable razor. "I made sure there were no sharp objects, no glass, no nothing that could be used as a weapon," the Knoxville, Tenn., man said Thursday in a Lambert Airport smoking lounge...

FAUCETT, Mo. -- The Mid-Buchanan School District has placed a fourth-grade teacher on administrative leave while it investigates allegations that she inappropriately helped her students on state tests.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Buddha hung his head. So did trainer Jim Bond. The handsome gray colt, one of the favorites for today's Kentucky Derby, was scratched with a bruised foot on the eve of the race and sadness replaced confidence and excitement at Barn 48...

NEW YORK -- With four home runs in the game already and a chance to break the record, Mike Cameron chose to follow baseball decorum instead. That's just the kind of guy he is -- and why so many people in baseball were happy for Cameron, now known for so much more than being the player who replaced Ken Griffey Jr. in Seattle...

ST. LOUIS -- Damian Moss never got a chance to finish his no-hit bid. The Atlanta rookie was pulled for a pinch-hitter after seven innings and 116 pitches, and St. Louis got its first hit on Fernando Vina's one-out single in the eighth off reliever Mike Remlinger...

DETROIT -- The St. Louis Blues hope to have a big part of their team back for Game 2 of their second-round playoff series against the Detroit Red Wings. St. Louis wasn't as physical as usual in Thursday night's 2-0 loss in Game 1. A big reason was the absence of rugged forwards Dallas Drake and Tyson Nash. Drake still was suffering from a concussion he suffered in the first round against Chicago, and Nash had the flu...

PHILADELPHIA -- Brandon Duckworth's pitching and hitting sent the Philadelphia Phillies over the Colorado Rockies 3-2 on Friday, handing the Rockies their first loss under new manager Clint Hurdle. Hurdle had been 6-0 since taking over when Buddy Bell was fired on April 26...

WASHINGTON -- The summer before the Sept. 11 attacks, the FBI in Arizona alerted Washington that several Arabs were suspiciously training at a U.S. aviation school and urged that agents nationwide contact other schools where Middle Easterners might be studying...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush expressed optimism Friday that the United States and Russia will reach a major nuclear arms reduction agreement that he can sign with President Vladimir Putin at a Moscow summit in three weeks. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said there was a "very high probability" of reaching a deal that would cut U.S. and Russian arsenals of long-range warheads to a maximum of 2,000 on each side within 10 years...

Republicans are running 30-second television ads across Missouri touting Senate candidate Jim Talent's record on health care. The commercials begin by mentioning that breast cancer claimed the life of Talent's mother, Marie. Paid for by state and national Republican committees, the spot was scheduled to begin airing Friday in media markets across the state...

WASHINGTON -- The nation's unemployment rate jumped to 6 percent in April -- the highest in nearly eight years -- as job seekers streamed back into the market faster than companies added new positions. The Labor Department's latest snapshot on employment, released Friday, was a fresh sign the economic recovery that started out at a sprinter's pace appears to be slowing to a jog, economists said...

I SAW on CBS News where they say that big oil has manipulated things so they can keep prices high. I can very easily imagine that, as well as I can imagine ABC, CBS and NBC also manipulating the news to keep their ratings up. I don't see a whole lot of difference in their thought process...

State officials in Jefferson City are working issues that are important to the business community, such as providing more online access, building new roads and eliminating governmental paperwork. That's what James P. Thompson, project manager for Small Business Outreach, told those who attended First Friday Coffee at the Show Me Center Friday...

Cape Girardeau inspections director Tarryl Booker has accepted the position of building and neighborhood services manager for the city of Carbondale, Ill. Booker is the second city department head to have turned in a resignation in the last week. The city announced Terri Clark-Bauer's resignation as the Convention and Visitors Bureau director on Monday...

David Hitt and Charlie Griffith can't sleep through storms anymore. At the earliest signs of severe weather, they immediately run to a basement and listen intently to weather reports. They keep their eyes on a radar screen, anticipating where storms will go and mentally prepare for the worst...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, May 4 DWIFred Weaver Naeter, 52, of 1911 Briarwood Dr. was arrested Thursday for driving while intoxicated. ArrestsTyron Lakahr Watson, 22, of Cairo, Ill., was arrested Thursday for domestic assault. Matthew Gerald Tarrillion, 24, of Perryville, Mo., was arrested Thursday for failure to appear...

Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department Saturday, May 4 DWILuke D. Meystedt, 20, of Cape Girardeau was arrested April 27 for driving while intoxicated. Susan R. Niswonger, 40, of Jackson, Mo., was arrested Wednesday for driving while intoxicated...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, May 4 Firefighters responded to the following calls Friday:At 7:01 a.m., an emergency medical service at 801 Good Hope. At 9:51 a.m., a business fire at 1415 Independence. At 2:10 p.m., an emergency medical service at Broadway and Clark...

The deaths of young people hit a community harder than any other, but especially so when there's no reason for them. That was the case with 17-year-old Amanda Robinson, by all accounts a lively, energetic, beloved girl who was out on her own in Cape Girardeau, had a job and wanted to be a health care professional. Her whole life was ahead of her...

P The presentation was welcome news in troubling times. The nation's financial doldrums are discouraging at best, depressing at worst. Governments that expanded programs and services during the boom time of the 1990s are now wondering how to keep those programs -- and all the others -- afloat. It appears some of the burden will be shifted to taxpayers, who already are struggling with investments gone south...

Without quite admitting it, American Christians, both conservatives and liberals, often excise those gnarly, negative portions of the Bible. Preachers offer self-help, self-affirmation, psychology, positive thinking and possibility thinking. The "prosperity gospel" (aka "name it and claim it") guarantees health and wealth, while the big-selling "Prayer of Jabez" promises spiritual successes...

Today Ladies Evening Out and Exhale Plus Conference events sponsored by the House of Prayer Outreach Mission. The luncheon begins at 10:30 a.m. at House of Prayer. A TranquiliTea is at 7 p.m. at the House of Prayer. Tickets are required for both events...

Prayer patrol prepares to meet at La Croix Participants in the prayer patrol a La Croix United Methodist Church will meet, some for the first time, this weekend. Over the past few weeks, children have been praying for police, firefighters and emergency workers as part of a ministry program sponsored by the church...

BRANSON, Mo. -- The diner's crowded for a weekday morning. Dishes clatter, spoons clink on glass, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee fills the air. Tables are packed hungry tourists gearing up for a day of sightseeing, locals headed to work. The waitress turns from the counter with a microphone fills the restaurant with song, strong and clear:...

Work passes quickly when friends share the labor. That's exactly what the four women who gather each week to assemble the bulletins used in weekend Masses at St. Mary's Cathedral think. The quartet -- Virginia Poston, Hermina Westrich, Iva Fee and Kathleen Kluesner -- has been meeting in the parish office center each Friday for years to assemble the pages and inserts for the 850 bulletins used at St. Mary's and Old St. Vincent churches...

"Look up; do you see the beautiful rainbow?" "I see my rainbow in the clouds to serve a sign of the covenant between me and the earth" (Genesis 9:13). "If you walk to the end of that rainbow, you will find a bright shiny "pot of gold." I heard those quotes from my mother often as I was being reared on a farm in Southern Missouri where fluffy, white cotton grew. ...

ANNE GRAHAM LOTZ BORN: May 21, 1948, the second of five children to Billy and Ruth Graham. FAMILY: Married to Danny Lotz, a dentist; three grown children. WORK: Founder of AnGeL Ministries in 1988, a vehicle for Lotz's revival meetings and speaking engagements. She's written four books; a fifth is scheduled for release this fall...

Fruitland Livestock FRUITLAND, Mo. -- Fruitland Livestock Auction Wednesday. Receipts: 432; last week, 536; last year, 559; compared to last week steers and heifers sold steady to 2.00 higher. Slaughter cows sold 1.00 higher and bulls sold 2.00 higher; demand moderate and supply light. Cows made up approximately 33 percent of the run, 66 percent feeders...

It wasn't exactly what the doctor ordered, but it's definitely what Notre Dame needed. Tim Wencewicz, filling the designated hitter role because of a ailing knee, blasted a two-run home run to spark a six-run Notre Dame first inning and the top-seeded Bulldogs rolled 10-5 over defending champion Chaffee in the quarterfinal round of the SEMO Conference Baseball Tournament...

Cape Girardeau Central's girls track team won its eighth consecutive SEMO Conference meet championship by scoring 106 points in the event held Friday at Central. Jackson (82) took second over Poplar Bluff (64) and Sikeston (19). Central's Vicki Wilson had a hand in four first-place finishes. She won the 100 and 200 while running legs on two victorious relay teams. Central won 10 of 18 events overall...

While rain the past few days may not have been welcomed by area baseball teams, it's given the Perryville Pirates an opportunity to savor their biggest win of the season. The Pirates' fourth win of the season came Tuesday and created quite a thud. The victim was Festus, the No. 2 ranked team in Class 3A, which came into the Jefferson County Conference Tournament game with a sparkling 19-1 record...

Southeast Missouri State University is in the driver's seat to win its first Ohio Valley Conference regular-season baseball championship. But Indians coach Mark Hogan says the Indians, who have been close to the title several times, can't afford to let up. They need to keep the pressure on the rest of the league, beginning today in the start of a three-game series with Tennessee Tech at Cookeville, Tenn...

RICHMOND, Ky. -- Southeast Missouri State University's softball team began the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament impressively. But the Otahkians ended Friday's opening rounds of play in somewhat dubious fashion. The Otahkians, seeded fifth for the six-team event, defeated Austin Peay 5-3 in the first round...

Eastern Illinois University javelin thrower Ron White had a record day Friday to open the two-day Ohio Valley Conference Track & Field Championships. White set an OVC record and surpassed the automatic qualifying standard for the NCAA Championships with a distance of 248 feet, 10 1/2 inches. The previous OVC mark of 221-11 was held by Southeast Missouri State's Randy Johnson (1995)...

Southeast Missouri State University had four individual champions Friday in the first day of the Ohio Valley Conference Track & Field Championships. But no winner was more surprising than Jaret Willi. Willi, a two-time OVC outdoor champion in the pole vault, captured the long jump title in his first competitive long jump competition since his junior year in high school...

Ross Bennett went back in time to rediscover his batting stroke. The result is that the Central High School product tops nationally ranked Baylor in hitting with a .372 average while also ranking among the Big 12 Conference leaders. "Things have worked out well for me so far this year," Bennett said. "Things have kind of fallen into place."...

AREA PETERMAN AMONG WINNERS IN CAPE CHIP-A-WAYS EVENT Deanna Peterman finished first in the A-flight during the Cape Chip-a-Ways event this week. Bev Wink won the B-flight. The play of the day winner was Lillian Angle; Carol Brown won the low puts competition...

To the editor: Even though the Marquette Hotel remains empty and in serious need of repair, it is Cape's only standing hotel that at one time was so luxurious, so popular and so charming it was a favorite of many and served the people graciously for a long time...

Samuel T. Woodson, 1 month, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, May 3, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Melva Rose Lewis, 78, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, April 30, 2002, in Prague, Czech Republic. She was born July 20, 1923, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Benjamin R. and Selma Meyer Schrader. She and Francis F. Lewis were married Oct. 21, 1950. He died June 1, 1988...

Audrey M. Hill, 90, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, May 3, 2002, at the Lutheran Home. Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Helen Marie Rose, 75, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, May 2, 2002, at Ratliff Care Center. She was born July 3, 1926, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Norman Czar and Ruby May Bowerman Canfield. She and Thomas McKinley Rose were married July 17, 1943, in Mississippi County, Ark. He died Jan. 7, 1985...

Delphus Barnhart, 79, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, May 1, 2002, at his home. He was born Aug. 4, 1922, in Marmaduke, Ark., son of Seab and Etta Moore Barnhart. He and Shirley Magelitz were married June 21, 1975. Barnhart served in the U.S. Navy during World War II...

Perry Daughter to Mark and Deborah Perry of New Bedford, Mass., St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford, 7:47 a.m. Sunday, April 7, 2002. Name, Rachel Michelle-Marie. Weight, 7 pounds 9 ounces. Third child, first daughter. Mrs. Perry is the former Deborah Jansen, daughter of Mary Jane Jansen of Kelso, Mo., and the late Martin L. Jansen. Mr. and Mrs. Perry are self-employed business consultants with AFG & Associates in New Bedford. He is the son of Anthony and Antoinette Perry of New Bedford...

10 years ago: May 4, 1992 Cape Girardeau Public Schools soon will be able to pinpoint students' homes on computers; system is replacing old pin-head map with computerized map; first project for new mapping program is to help re-map school bus routes and boundaries; maps will also be used for redistricting evaluation, building assignments and enrollment projections...

Daily Dunklin Democrat KENNETT, Mo. -- Skeletal remains found off a county road near Campbell, Mo., last fall have been identified as those of a Campbell man, missing for nearly nine years, said Dunklin County Sheriff Bob Holder. Holder said the remains are those of Trenton Terrell "Terry" Akridge, who was reported missing July 9, 1993...

JACKSON, Mo. -- When Donna Lichtenegger opened the mailed invitation to meet with President George W. Bush, she thought it was a fund raiser. "I wondered how much this was going to cost," she said. She soon found out she wasn't being asked to give a dime...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- With a constitutional deadline looming, House Speaker Jim Kreider is engaged in a game of budget brinkmanship. The General Assembly has until midnight Friday to complete the budget for fiscal year 2003, which begins July 1. Both the House and Senate have passed versions of the approximately $19 billion spending plan, but must hammer out the differences before sending it to Gov. Bob Holden...

Don and Marty Riley of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Sarah Elizabeth Riley, to Justin Eli Flowers. He is the son of Randy Flowers and Karen Fieser of Qulin, Mo. Riley is majoring in speech/language pathology at Southeast Missouri State University. She is employed at Payless Shoesource...

Susan and David Ludolph of Cape Girardeau and Peter and Priscilla Ferden of Lewisville, Texas, announce the engagement of their daughter, Casey Sue Ferden, to Bradley Joseph Patterson, both of Columbia, Mo. He is the son of David and Marcia Walton of Cape Girardeau...

Randall and Valerie Hargraves of Belleville, Ill., announce the engagement of their daughter, Holley Hargraves, to George Aplin. He is the son of Bruce and Mary Mims of Cape Girardeau and Alvin B. Aplin Jr. of Crestview, Fla. Hargraves is a 1997 graduate of Belleville Township High School West, 2001 graduate of Southeast Missouri State University, and is attending Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. She is a computer analyst with SBC Communications in St. Louis...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Larry and Paula Glueck of Chaffee announce the engagement of their daughter, Angela Dawn Glueck, to Jeremy Jason Ruiz. He is the son of Ken and Ginny Ruiz of Chaffee. Glueck is a 1995 graduate of Chaffee High School. She is employed at Do It Best Corp. in Cape Girardeau...

Kimberly Kay Ramsey of Jackson, Mo., and John Stephen Daniel of Cape Girardeau announce their engagement. She is the daughter of Bud and Sharon Wallace of Brewton, Ala. Daniel is the son of the Rev. and Mrs. Robert J. Daniel of St. Louis. Ramsey is a graduate of Dwight D. Eisenhauer High School in Decatur, Ill. She received a bachelor of science degree in nursing from Southeast Missouri State University...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Rick and Loretta Morrow of Dexter announce the engagement of their daughter, Kara Amy Morrow, to Ronald David Glaus II. He is the son of Ronald and Laura Glaus of Kelso, Mo. Morrow received a bachelor's degree in communication disorders from Southeast Missouri State University in 2000. She is working toward a master's degree in speech/language pathology...

LOWNDES, Mo. -- Heather Wiseman and Shannon Bennett of Lowndes announce their engagement. She is the daughter of David Wiseman and Judy Wiseman of Advance, Mo. Bennett is the son of John Bennett of Paragould, Ark., and Tom and Angie Robins of Bloomfield, Mo...

BENTON, Mo. -- Michael and Loretta Welter and Michael and Bonnie Westrich of Benton announce the engagement of their daughter, Dana Donelle Alexis Welter, to Randy Andrew Tingwall. He is the son of Al and Karen Liffengren of Surprise, Ariz., and the late Thomas Tingwall...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Keith and Sharon Ehlers of Perryville announce the engagement of their daughter, Leticia Mary Ehlers, to Jason Duane Kelley. He is the son of Phillip and Roberta Kelley of Perryville. Ehlers is a 1996 graduate of Perryville High School. She received a bachelor of science degree in nursing from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2000. She is a pediatric nurse at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau...

BENTON, Mo. -- Terry W. and Barbara Mobley of Jefferson City, Mo., announce the engagement of their daughter, Crystal Ann Ziegler, to Matthew John Albers. He is the son of the Rev. James Robert and Margaret Albers Sr. of Kampala, Uganda. Ziegler is also the daughter of the late John Ziegler of Benton...

FRIEDHEIM, Mo. -- Jennifer Marie Schaaf and Shane Edward Kiefer were united in marriage Jan. 5, 2002, at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Jackson, Mo. Msgr. Ed Eftink performed the single ring ceremony. Pianist was Jeff Overbey and soloist was Casey Janet, cousin of the bride, both of Cape Girardeau...

Michelle Marie Rediger and Mark Wesley Burris were married Jan. 27, 2002, at Megen's Bay in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. The bride is the daughter of Harry and Fran Rediger of Cape Girardeau. The groom is the son of Phillip and Diane Burris of Tuscola, Ill...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Denise Lorene Nordin and Michael John Wortmann exchanged vows Nov. 24, 2001, at Most Precious Blood Catholic Church in St. Louis. The Rev. Gregory Kirsch performed the double ring ceremony. Scripture readers were Julie Wortmann and Karen Kaufmann. Organist was Kathy Laury, and soloist was Tyree Emerson...

Music is a big part of 13-year-old Jacob Bowers' life. The seventh-grader at L.J. Schultz School says he listens to rock and punk music an average of 49 hours a week while doing chores and homework or just hanging out in his room. "I like the sound," he said...

The airplane ride was great. It was nice getting away from his sister, too. Matthew Griffin, 10, of Boy Scout Troop 5 in Cape Girardeau, was one of 280 Scouts who attended the 2002 spring camporee at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport Saturday. The event, which began at 8:30 p.m. Friday and will run until 10 a.m. today, provided all sorts of aviation education Saturday...

"Other than Japanese cars, and maybe now Japanese electronics, Americans do not understand the impact." -- Mitch Robinson, industrial recruiter. Area industries reciprocate business relationship with foreign markets By Scott Moyers ~ Southeast Missourian...

Justin King smiles at the hammers and the monster he created for his 400-frame computer animated scene. What took hours to create plays out on his monitor in a matter of seconds. It's the kind of animation that one sees in films and video games. King, a 24-year-old former Dexter High School wrestling coach, will be the first Southeast Missouri State University student to graduate with a fine arts degree in 3D imaging and computer animation. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- After two years of minor skirmishes in the General Assembly, supporters of public financing for a new St. Louis Cardinals ballpark fought and won their first pitched battle last week when the Senate gave initial approval to a stadium funding package...

CHICAGO -- Heart patients who are given widely used drugs called beta blockers before bypass surgery have slightly better survival rates and fewer complications, a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found. Beta blockers, which slow the heart rate, have been shown in previous research to improve survival in heart patients undergoing other types of surgery...

ATLANTA -- Women are five times as likely as men to die from lupus, an immune system disease that causes crippling joint pain, scientists said. A 20-year study also found that blacks are three times as likely as whites to die from the disease, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported...

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- When a Davenport woman discovered she was pregnant, she didn't waste time. Tonya Matheny delivered her first child three days later. "It's mind-boggling," said Matheny, 29, who lives in Davenport with her husband of 4 1/2 years, L.T...

NEW YORK -- Richard Isoldi never had vision trouble before, so when reading became a bit difficult he postponed seeing an eye doctor for two years. The 46-year-old Houston banker now has reading glasses, but wears them as little as possible. "Once I'm starting to drive and things are blurry, I will cross that bridge and go with contacts," Isoldi said. "I think people look better naturally than having a glass on their face."...

LOS ANGELES -- In a world with hundreds of television channels, figuring out who's watching what is getting harder and harder. For decades, viewing habits have been tracked through devices attached to TVs and radios in the sample. Thousands of households also kept paper diaries during the crucial television "sweeps" periods in February, May, July and November...

Book a trip at the last minute. Stay closer to home. Take the grandkids. These are some of the thoughts on the minds of American vacationers as the summer travel season nears. As is customary this time of year, the cost of gasoline and potential airport delays are among travelers' top concerns. ...

LAVERGNE, Tenn. -- Sixteen Muslims have filed a religious discrimination lawsuit claiming managers at a Whirlpool plant yanked scarves off women's heads and followed workers into restrooms to make sure they weren't praying. The current and former workers at the factory sued Whirlpool seeking $310,000 in damages, along with a court order forcing the company to "reasonably accommodate" the workers' religious practices, as required by law...

BAKERSVILLE, N.C. -- Fire broke out at a county jail in the mountains of western North Carolina, killing eight inmates who were locked inside its cells and injuring 13 other people, authorities said. Mitchell County Sheriff Ken Fox, whose office runs the 1950s-era jail, said it appeared that Friday night's fire began in a storage room on the jail's ground floor and quickly spread through the two-story brick and wood building...

U.S.-born Jordanian queen touts Islam NEW YORK -- Hoping to clear up misconceptions about Islam and plug her upcoming memoir, Jordan's Queen Noor addressed about 500 publishers and booksellers Saturday. "Part of my mission is to portray the Muslim faith as I understand it," she told attendees of a national publishers' fair, adding that Islam is often characterized as a "backward, fanatical religion."...

WASHINGTON -- The love life of a female chickadee could make a country music classic: "If your song don't pass muster, buster, I'm gone." The lady chickadee has a cheatin' heart, quick to find another lover if her mate fails to win his daily song contests with rivals. In effect, she decides that if her mate is a loser, he won't be the only papa in her nest, say researchers at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario...

BOSTON -- Attorneys promised renewed legal action against the Archdiocese of Boston on Saturday after the church backed out of a multimillion-dollar settlement with alleged victims of a pedophile priest. Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who negotiated the $15 million to $30 million settlement for 86 clients, said he will ask a judge Monday to approve the swift deposition of Cardinal Bernard Law, which was delayed when the settlement was agreed to in March. ...

OMAHA, Neb. -- Billionaire investor Warren Buffett assured stockholders Saturday that Berkshire Hathaway's insurance operations are back on track after losses blamed on the terrorist attacks. More than 10,000 shareholders attended Berkshire's annual meeting...

OHIOWA, Neb. -- Five pipe bombs were found Saturday in rural Nebraska mailboxes, heightening fears among Midwesterners already on edge after similar bombs injured six people in Iowa and Illinois the day before, authorities said. Federal officials had described the earlier bombings as an act of domestic terrorism and said anti-government propaganda and notes warning of more "attention getters" were found nearby...

CHARLES CITY, Va. -- Amid throbbing drums and the smoke of sage and sweetgrass, six Virginia Indian tribes came together Saturday for a powwow backing their fight for federal recognition, their first joint gathering in some four centuries. More than 3,000 people attended...

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- Soldiers training for the Special Forces began a qualification exercise Saturday under sweeping new security measures imposed after a participant's death earlier this year. Students in the Special Forces Qualification Course use the "Robin Sage" exercise to practice interactions with guerrilla forces. Trainees work with civilians playing the role of insurgents in a fictional scenario...

WILTON, Conn. -- Breakfast is usually considered one of the most important meals of the day. Meet its challenge by keeping close at hand a copy of the new book, "A Real American Breakfast" by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison (Morrow, $34.95)...

LOS ANGELES -- Gloria Reuben's doing double-duty this month, playing two high-powered women on CBS. On "The Agency," which concludes its premiere season May 9, she's Lisa Fabrizzi, manager of the CIA's homeland intelligence. But before that, she's family court judge Natalie Britain in "Little John," a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie airing tonight at 8...

MANILA, Philippines -- Glittery Hong Kong dramas dominate prime time in Malaysia and Singapore. Latin America's steamy telenovellas heat up the screen in the Philippines. In Vietnam, viewers follow the tangled twists of a half-dozen Chinese dramas...

LONDON -- Jean-Marie Le Pen has shocked Europe, raising fears that the far right is being resurrected as a political force for the first time since World War II. Le Pen's upset success in getting through to the second round of France's presidential election today is seen by many as a key step in the reshaping of European politics and the revival of the far right and nationalism as a major force. ...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- President Pervez Musharraf said Saturday he turned down a U.S. extradition request for the killers of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl so that their punishment at home could serve as an example to those defying his crackdown on violence and terror...

KIEV, Ukraine -- Inside a ramshackle Soviet-built apartment building not far from Kiev's gold-crested onion dome cathedrals, Galina Ivanets bends over an egg, transforming it into a tiny, brilliant piece of art. "Pysankarstvo" -- the art of painting Easter eggs -- has enjoyed a renaissance as part of the religious and cultural awakening in post-Soviet Ukraine following decades of state-sponsored atheism. ...

KANO, Nigeria -- A Nigerian airliner taking off with 76 people aboard tore a three-block swath through mosques and homes in the northern city of Kano on Saturday, scattering charred corpses and blood-and-soot covered plane seats through a terrified working-class neighborhood...

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- A gunman burst into a luxury Istanbul hotel Saturday, fired shots in the air and briefly took about 10 people hostage before surrendering to police. No hostages were harmed. NTV television identified the gunman as a Turk, Mustafa Yildirim. It said he took the hostages to protest Russia's military action in the breakaway republic of Chechnya and Israel's offensive in the Palestinian territories...

BETHLEHEM, West Bank -- Israel and the Palestinians held high-level talks Saturday to try to break the monthlong standoff at one of Christianity's holiest shrines on the eve of Orthodox Christians' Easter and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's departure for the United States...

NEW YORK -- It's almost second nature for parents to give their babies breast milk or formula and eventually milk. But as children get older and stronger -- mentally and physically -- nutrition becomes a battle that some parents aren't willing to fight...

Many gardeners buy special foods for their plants, but it's rarely necessary. Roses really don't need "rose food" any more than any plant might need vegetarian or kosher food, or fish emulsion on Fridays. Plants take up the bulk of their nutrients as ions (charged atoms or groups of atoms) that dissolve in water in the soil. ...

'Anything goes' is the new rule for poolside fashion. By Samantha Critchell ~ The Associated Press NEW YORK The first thing to remember when shopping for a new bathing suit this year is to forget everything you already know...

NEW YORK -- The gazillions of choices women face at the beauty counter might be an example of having too much of a good thing. Cosmetic Executive Women, an organization of 1,400 top beauty experts and industry representatives, aims to help consumers cut through the confusion with its CEW Beauty Awards program. This year, the group chose products in 17 categories as "the best in beauty."...

LAKE OZARK, Mo. -- Lawmakers should restore cuts to standardized tests and make higher school funding their top priority as they settle upon a final version of the state budget this week, Gov. Bob Holden said. Speaking Saturday to newspaper editors, Holden said lawmakers looking for places to balance the budget should steer away from the core funding for elementary and secondary schools...

MIAMI -- The description of 5-year-old girl not reported missing for over a year is so similar to that of the beheaded body of a child found last year in Kansas City, Mo., that investigators believe they might be the same child. Officials are now comparing DNA taken from the dead child, nicknamed Precious Doe, and the mother of Rilya Wilson...

ST. LOUIS -- A man has sued the St. Louis and Denver archdioceses over sexual advances he says he endured from this city's police board president who resigned after two male police officers similarly accused him. Rodrick LeGrand's U.S. District Court lawsuit, filed here Friday, accuses the Rev. Maurice Nutt of assaulting him by touching and trying to kiss him while both were with Area Resources for Community and Human Services. Nutt was a board member for that community group...

ST. LOUIS -- Firefighters Derek Martin and Rob Morrison charged into the flaming, smoke-belching building looking for a colleague who had become disoriented. The firefighter missing in Friday night's four-alarm blaze turned up alive. But Martin and Morrison -- 38-year-old married fathers each with 11 years on the department -- didn't make it...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A Kansas City woman whose trip to a nail salon caused her finger to become so infected she had to have the tip amputated has settled a negligence lawsuit for $140,000. Rebecca Burgess, 47, claimed she got the infection while old acrylic nails were being ground off with an electric grinder at the Fancy Nail Salon in Kansas City. The infection was then encased into her finger by the hard new acrylic nail that was applied...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- About 415,000 Missourians could be receiving their state income tax refunds a little later than usual. The state has delayed the payment of some refund checks because of a budget crunch caused by lower-than-expected income tax collections...

LEBANON, Mo. -- A Southwest Missouri pastor may be forced to dismantle the church he spent a lifetime building after jurors Saturday ordered him to pay $26 million for abducting his six grandchildren and indoctrinating them in his anti-Semitic beliefs...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- As part of a nearly $10 million cleanup effort, workers are painting and scrubbing the Veterans Hospital where maggots once infested the noses of two comatose patients. Forty-six additional workers -- most of them directly involved in housekeeping -- are needed at an annual cost of nearly $2.2 million, according to a hospital action plan. Another $7.8 million is estimated for one-time renovation costs, including replacing wall coverings and painting...

CLAYTON, Mo. -- A St. Louis County grand jury has indicted a man accused of fatally stabbing his roommate, who police say was trying to prevent the suspect from stabbing himself. Timothy McDermott, 22, was charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action for the stabbing death of Matthew Knoerle. McDermott remains jailed on bond. The indictment was handed down Friday...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Bob Baffert is one baffling guy when it comes to the Kentucky Derby. Last year the trainer had the favorite and lost. On Saturday, he had a long shot and won. War Emblem went wire-to-wire and left 17 3-year-old challengers in the dust, rolling to a four-length victory over Proud Citizen and giving Baffert his third Derby victory in six years...

Golf K.J. Choi, trying to become the first South Korean winner on the PGA Tour, shot a 1-under 71 to take a one-stroke lead after the third round of the Compaq Classic at New Orleans, La. Choi had a 12-under 204 total on the English Turn course, a stroke ahead of John Rollins (68) and Bryce Molder (69)...

PHILADELPHIA -- Marlon Anderson tied his career high with four RBIs and Doug Glanville hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the sixth inning to lead the Philadelphia Phillies past the Colorado Rockies 6-5 on Saturday. Jimmy Rollins went 4-for-4 with two triples as the Phillies, who handed the Rockies their second straight loss...

JONKOPING, Sweden -- Jaromir Jagr scored a second-period goal, and Martin Prochazka had a goal and an assist as the Czech Republic edged the United States 5-4 Saturday at the World Hockey championships. The game was played pressure-free as both teams had already qualified for the quarterfinals...

ST. LOUIS -- A 28-year-old rookie gave the pitching-strapped St. Louis Cardinals a huge lift. Jason Simontacchi, signed as a minor league free agent in the offseason, worked seven strong innings in his major league debut in a 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday...

DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings wasted little time taking control of the game -- and their playoff series with the St. Louis Blues. Steve Yzerman scored on the first shot of the game and Dominik Hasek made 35 saves as Detroit beat the Blues 3-2 Saturday to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series...

Mystery of fireworks festival in community BREMERTON, Wash. -- Once every spring, the night sky over Kitsap County lights up in a dazzling display of pyrotechnics -- 3,800 fireworks launched from a barge somewhere between Manchester and Bainbridge Island...

INDIANAPOLIS -- The burlesque bars and bistros where musicians once stopped to jam on their way to St. Louis or Chicago are all gone. The jazz and soul played in the smoky theaters of this crossroads city have grown quiet. Even memories are hard to come by on what people called The Avenue, a street where cabarets and juke joints once thrived. Decades of development drove up real estate prices and left little to celebrate of the area's rich cultural heritage...

There's much more to do in the Black Hills of South Dakota than just admire Mount Rushmore. You can hike just about anywhere; explore caves; pursue trout; gamble in Deadwood, the old Wild West mining town where Wild Bill Hickok was gunned down; and see the emerging monument to Chief Crazy Horse...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush and Congress are poised for a burst of new federal spending as pressures build on lawmakers from the approaching elections, the war on terror and the slowing economic recovery. Underscoring the bipartisan push, Bush seems unlikely to object to a $30 billion defense and counterterrorism package that House Republicans and Democrats were writing that is $3 billion larger than he wanted. ...

WASHINGTON -- A week after Zacarias Moussaoui accused her of plotting his execution, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema denied bias against the only man indicted in the Sept. 11 attacks. Her four-page order rejected his demand, in a jailhouse motion, that she step down...

WASHINGTON -- Perhaps it was a fight over food or a mate. For some reason, someone whacked a Neanderthal over the head with a sharp weapon 36,000 years ago in what is now France. A team of Swiss and French scientists that studied the result of this ancient violence speculated that it was most likely the result of conflict with someone in his own group...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush gave Washington reporters a look at "what life is really like inside the Bush White House" on Saturday, showing off his collection of "actual, never-seen-before photos." One of the good things about life in the mansion is that his wife, Laura, is always on hand to help him out, he said displaying a photograph of the first lady standing with her hands on each side of his face...

KEYSTONE, W.Va. -- Streams began receding Saturday in the ravaged central Appalachians as rescue workers searched the hills and valleys for more victims of devastating floods that killed at least six people. Amid light rain, recovery crews worked to reopen roads blocked by mud, boulders and washouts in the region that encompasses parts of southern West Virginia, western Virginia and eastern Kentucky...

Arab nations threaten boycott of conference CAIRO, Egypt -- The 22 nations in the Arab League will not participate in a U.S.-sponsored Mideast peace conference until Israel withdraws from lands it occupied during the latest violence with Palestinians, the league's secretary-general said Saturday...

The cities of Altenburg and Frohna, Mo., will receive federal grants and loans totaling more than $2.6 million to construct a sewer system. U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan, D-Mo., announced the grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Altenburg will receive a $586,000 grant and an $881,000 low-interest loan. Frohna will receive a $478,000 grant and a $717,000 low-interest loan. Both loans will be paid off over 35 years...

Above: A group of Southeast Missouri State University students played hackeysack Saturday at the. Right: Chris Cahill, frontman for the band Aaron in Stereo performed with his group at the Earth Day celebrationBy Andrea L. Buchanan ~ Southeast Missourian...

Cape Girardeau Sunday, May 5 ArrestsHoward Smith, 29, of 20 N. Pinwood was arrested Friday for driving with a revoked license. Angel Tucker, 26, of 1937 Delwin was arrested Friday on an outstanding warrant. TheftGasoline was reported stolen Friday at Amoco, 3276 William...

Cape Girardeau Sunday, May 5 Firefighters responded to the following calls Friday:At 8:18 p.m., an emergency medical service at 227 S. Pacific. At 10:52 p.m., a trash fire in Arena Park. Firefighters responded to the following calls Saturday:At 7:55 a.m., an emergency medical service at 1805 Grandview...

They don't give names to tornadoes like they do tropical storms, but that doesn't mean we don't get to know them up close and personally. A little over a week ago, residents of Marble Hill, Mo., and Dongola, Ill., came face to face with tornadoes that bullied through their towns, destroying homes, ravaging businesses, injuring dozens and -- in the case of 12-year-old Billy Hoover and 69-year-old Janie Chamness -- stealing lives...

P Three-hundred volunteers were more than fair-weather friends to parks. It was a rainy, chilly Saturday, but more than 300 people opted to be more than fair-weather friends to Cape Girardeau's city parks. The annual Friends of the Parks Day held recently provided an opportunity for people to help pick up trash, plant flowers, spread mulch and complete other chores at the city's 23 parks...

Central will ride the momentum of a shutout of Parkway West into Tuesday's boys' tennis district tournament at St. Louis. Central (13-2) won 9-0 Saturday to end the regular season. Trevor Blattner, Andy Tansil, Paul Hagler, Andrew Eaton, Eric Daume and Tyler Roeger won in singles. Blattner-Tansil, Eaton-Daume and Hagler-Roeger swept doubles...

A quirky bounce in baseball is a lot like beauty -- it's nature determined by the eye of the beholder. For the fourth-seeded Jackson Indians, a "good bounce" Saturday helped them pick up a 5-2 victory over top-seeded Notre Dame at Capaha Field and reach the championship game of the SEMO Conference Tournament...

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University and Tennessee Tech split a pair of decisive victories Saturday as the Indians retained their lead in the Ohio Valley Conference standings. The Indians won the opener 7-2 and dropped the finale 9-2. Southeast is 24-15 overall and 11-3 in OVC play. Tech is 22-22 and 5-8...

RICHMOND, Ky. -- Tennessee-Martin used a two-out seventh-inning rally to force extra innings and followed with three runs in the eighth to defeat Southeast Missouri State University 4-1 Saturday, eliminating the Otahkians from the Ohio Valley Conference Softball Tournament...

Heather Jenkins didn't enter the Ohio Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships with the best throw in either the shot put or discus. But the Southeast Missouri State University freshman still came away a double winner. Jenkins, a Central High School graduate, followed Friday's victory in the shot put by capturing Saturday's discus with a school record 162 feet 9 inches. The old mark of 160 1/2 was set in 1983 by Pat Washington, another Central product...

Eastern Illinois' men and Tennessee State's women were expected to successfully defend their titles in the Ohio Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships. They didn't disappoint during the event that concluded Saturday in Cape Girardeau...

Thanks for our coach I WOULD like to thank the Scott City School Board. They have allowed us at Delta the pleasure of having one of the finest girls basketball coaches around. We love coach White. The Delta girls softball team is also lucky to have a coach who cares. Thank you coach Brown...

To the editor: Thank you very much for putting forth the effort and sending out the journalists and photographers to the prayer meetings on May 1 at the Osage Community Center and Freedom Rock. The story was wonderfully written and I believe captured the purpose behind the National Day of Prayer...

To the editor: On Tuesday evening, April 30, members of the Southeast community and the university came together to share their many talents and mutual love of music while transporting their audience across the Atlantic Ocean to the British Isles through their performance combining the Southeast Missouri Symphony Orchestra with the Choral Union and University Choir...

Save your money I KEEP reading about the poor getting poorer and the rich man getting richer, and who works harder, the poor man or the rich man. I don't know what people's definition of "rich" is. I'm fairly well off, and I've never owned a business. ...

Phyllis Tedlie Watkins, 75, of Sikeston, Mo., died Friday, May 3, 2002, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born March 31, 1927 in Hartland, New Brunswick, Canada, daughter of Wendell Phillips and Claire Augusta Boyer Tedlie Sr. She and Richard L. "Dick" Watkins were married July 14, 1949, in St. Louis. He died Nov. 21, 1994...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Lois M. Batjer Gahan Layton, 97, of Perryville died Saturday, May 4, 2002, at Perry County Nursing Home. She was born May 26, 1904, in Abilene, Texas, daughter of W.F.D. and Lois Dunovant Batjer. In her early days in Perry County, Layton was a home demonstration agent with the Extension Service of the University of Missouri and graduated from Southeast Missouri State Teachers' College...

DES MOINES -- Paul K. Zimmerman, 42, of Windsor Heights, Iowa, died Thursday, May 2, 2002, near Bethany, Mo., from injuries sustained in an automobile crash. He was the son of E.J. and Geri Zimmerman of West Des Moines, Iowa. On June 9, 2001, in Cape Girardeau, he was married to Jennifer Kopf. Her family resides in Cape Girardeau...

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. -- Ronald Paul Kaiser, 71, died Saturday, May 4, 2002, at St. Thomas Hospital after an illness. He was born Feb. 8, 1931, in Cape Girardeau, son of Paul and Louise Kaiser of Poplar Bluff, Mo. He served as an air traffic controller during the Korean War, then graduated from Arkansas State College in 1958...

Dessie F. Poe, 85, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, May 3, 2002, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born Dec. 12, 1916 in Daisy, Mo., daughter of Amon W. and Minnie Seabaugh Fullbright. She and Elbert L. "Wamp" Poe were married Feb. 26, 1939, in New Madrid, Mo. He died Sept. 19, 1984...

Audrey M. Hill, 90, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, May 3, 2002, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 7, 1912, in Rector, Ark., daughter of Edward and Elizabeth Bradsher Bucy. She and Thomas C. Hill were married April 20, 1935, at Terre Haute, Ind. He died Feb. 15, 1994...

Samu'El T. Woodson, one month, five days old, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, May 3, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born March 28, 2002, son of Samu'El Taylor and Koreena K. Woodson. Survivors include his parents; four brothers, Christian Woodson of Sikeston, Mo., Sammudrick Taylor of Cape Girardeau, Elijah Woodson of Cape Girardeau and Devian Taylor of Atlanta, Ga.; five sisters, Alexis Woodson of Sikeston and Precious Taylor, Delilah Woodson, Samunia Taylor and Mercedes Taylor, all of Cape Girardeau; his maternal grandparents, Carol and Hubert Rutherford of Cape Girardeau; his paternal grandmother, Rosie Taylor of Kennett, Mo.; and his maternal great-grandmother, Wilma Price of Brownsville, Texas.. ...

Gregory Sprengle of Boy Scout Troop 8 in Cape Girardeau, studied an aviation instrument Saturday at the spring camporee held at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.SIKESTON, Mo. -- Joe James, 78, of Sikeston, Mo., died Friday, May 3, 2002, at his home in Sikeston...

MOREHOUSE, Mo. -- Christopher "Chris" Lee Sanders, 22, of Morehouse died Friday, May 3, 2002, at his home. He was born Sept. 13, 1979 in Charleston, Mo., son of Donald Sanders of Dyersburg, Tenn., and Vicky Ogden Stroud of Morehouse. He and Shelley Atchley were married June 23, 2001, in Lilbourn, Mo...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Marlene Brown, 65, of Advance died Saturday, May 4, 2002, at her home. She was born May 24, 1936 in Ogden, Utah, daughter of Charles and Doris Orrell Clark. She and Jack Brown were married Aug. 30, 1953, in San Diego, Calif. She worked as a secretary for the Southern Baptist Association in California for many years. She attended the United Methodist Church in Advance...

Raymond R. Briggs, 61, of Mounds, Ill., died Saturday, May 4, 2002, at his home. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Clifford Ford of Thebes, Ill., and Bonnie Sassman of Peoria, Ill., announce the engagement of their daughter, Tracie Diane Ford of Olive Branch, to Charles Benedict Coker of Cape Girardeau. He is the son of Dan and Betty Poe of Cape Girardeau...

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- Robert and Cyndi Baldwin and Wilma Campbell, all of Scott City, announce the engagement of their children, Melissa Baldwin and Chris Campbell. Baldwin is a 1992 graduate of Scott City High School. She is employed at Blair Industries in Scott City...

Kevin and Cathy Marrinan of Eldred, N.Y., announce the engagement of their daughter, Amy Lynn Marrinan, to Dean Davidson, both of Arlington Heights, Ill. He is the son of Clara Davidson of Cape Girardeau and the late Dr. Walter Davidson. Marrinan received a bachelor's degree from Bucknell University, and a master's degree in communications from Northwestern University. She is a communications manager with Zebra Technologies Corp. in Vernon Hills, Ill...

Cape Girardeau SR. High Term 5 A Honor Roll 12th Grade - Kerri Bard, Trevor Blattner, Lainie Bohnsack, Laura Bowlin, Amy Brookover, Caleb Buis, Erik Busby, Kristin Cain, Katherine Cole, Eric Daume, Ilene Davis, Amy Dewrock, Jeffrey Edmundson, Nathan Foley, Jamie Gabriel, Matthew Gile, Tammy Henson, Terra Herzberger, Cody Hill, Erica Holshouser, Sarah Hyslop, Gabriel Keys, Brian Klonoski, Rebecca Komorech, Andrew Krueger, Dane Lincoln, Eric Lynch, Michael Mercer, Ashley Michael, Kyle Miller, Jocelyn Omalley, Kimberly Pancoast, Magin Patrick, Christy Phelps, Raymond Primonato, Neil Randol, Amy Rauls, Elizabeth Robertson, Mesha Russell, Christine Schlosser, Amber Smith, Tara Smith, Elliott Swoboda, David Templeton, Jow Thompson, Jonathan Vancleve, Sarah Wernsman.. ...

Perryville Senior High A Honor Roll 12th Grade - ELIZABETH BREWER, STEPAHNIE BROWN, ELISHA CHRISTISEN, ERICA CROWDER, RACHEL DEWILDE, RACHAL DOBBELARE, JESSICA DUVALL, NICHOLAS FRANCIS, HEATHER GRAY, JULIA HEURING, JESSIE KINNISON, LAURA KLAUS, KATHY KORANDO, JENNIFER KRAMER, TRACY KUNTZE, KATIE KUTZ, CHRISTOPHER LOHMAN, TYLER LORENZ, AMANDA MAHNKEN, JULAINE MANCHE, JON MIESNER, CATHERINE MOORE, BRIAN MORAN, BONNIE NATIONS, KYLE NOENNING, AMANDA NUYT, CAILEY PERKINS, CINDY RHYNE, JESSICA RICE, MELINDA RICHARDET, ANGELA ROSE, BRIAN SCHLICHTING, TIMOTHY SCHMIDT, MARK SCHOLL, AMY STEFFENS, CHAD UNTERREINER, MICHELLE WINSCHEL, TIMOTHY ZAHNER, SARAH ZELCH.. ...

10 years ago: May 5, 1992 Southeast Missouri State University's Budget Review Committee yesterday approved budget package that calls for 3 percent across-the-board salary increase for all but institution's executive staff; package also includes slight cuts in athletic funding; committee wound up 3 1/2 months of deliberation by recommending a nearly $50 million budget for fiscal year 1993...

"I'm not sure it's the job of us legislators to teach our constituents about representative government." -- Missouri representative The above statement was made by a well-respected state legislator as he was being interviewed about one of the bills he had introduced in this year's session that was generally viewed as favoring special interests in the state. ...

With more than 400 athletes in Cape Girardeau over the weekend for the Ohio Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, there were bound to be plenty of interesting stories. But nobody's story was more compelling than Southeast Missouri State University's Sara Kaznica. Without her willingness to stand up for what she believed in, it's doubtful she would have had a chance to win the OVC pole vault championship Saturday...

Butterflies aren't free. They're growing right here in Bill's Butterfly Nursery, a plastic container that comes in the mail complete with smeary food fit for five larvae. The larvae have now turned into caterpillars and are all wrapped up in their efforts to transform themselves into beautiful Painted Lady butterflies...

You won't have time to read this column because I don't have time to write it. I'm afflicted with a new syndrome. It has a lengthy title -- We-have-only-30-seconds-we're-out-of-time-that's-all-the- time-we-have-we'll-take-this-up-again-sometime syndrome...

AP Business WriterNEW YORK (AP) -- With no upbeat news to cheer Wall Street on Monday, investors once again sold off stocks, sending the Nasdaq composite index to its lowest close in nearly seven months and the Dow industrials down nearly 200 points...

Associated Press WriterBRENTWOOD, Tenn. (AP) -- Two police officers were wounded and a suspect killed during a Monday gun battle along a busy thoroughfare following a bank robbery, authorities said. The incident began about 1 p.m. after a robbery at the Bank of America branch in this suburb just south of Nashville, said a spokesman for Nashville police, which were assisting with the investigation...

Associated Press WriterBOSTON (AP) -- A judge Monday ordered Cardinal Bernard Law to give a deposition on Wednesday in the civil litigation against John Geoghan, the now-defrocked priest accused of molesting scores of youngsters. Superior Court Judge Constance Sweeney expressed concern that Law might not be available to answer questions under oath unless the deposition were held soon...

Associated Press WriterHILVERSUM, Netherlands (AP) -- Right-wing Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn, who led his anti-immigration party to a position of prominence in Dutch politics, was shot six times and killed Monday as he left a radio interview, Dutch television reported...

Associated Press WriterBETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) -- Israel and the Palestinians appeared close to resolving the 35-day standoff at the Church of the Nativity, but were still at odds Monday on how many Palestinian gunmen would be removed from the shrine and sent into exile...

Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush said Monday he shared Israel's disappointment with Yasser Arafat as he prepared for talks at the White House with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "He has disappointed me," Bush said of the Palestinian leader as he toured a school in Southfield, Mich. "He must lead. He must show the world that he believes in peace."...

AP Diplomatic WriterWASHINGTON (AP) -- Israel's vigorous campaign to link Yasser Arafat to terror attacks has not yet convinced the Bush administration, which is urging the Israelis to negotiate with the Palestinians. An avalanche of allegations from Israel, which also seeks to ascribe a direct role to Saudi Arabia in financing terrorists, could complicate President Bush's meeting Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, as well as the administration's attempt to push Israel toward a land-for-peace deal with Arafat's Palestinian Authority.. ...

About 50 former and present students, teachers and administrators from L.J. Schultz School gathered Sunday with friends and family members to celebrate the building's 88-year history. Throughout the afternoon they toured the school, watched a video slide show about the school and shared their memories over punch and a cake with a picture of the school made out of frosting...

LABEL: First of its kind in county By Sam Blackwell ~ Southeast Missourian When Cape Girardeau police officer Dan Seger saw four people trying to tear up the ground at Ranney Park last week, he stopped his patrol car to help...

The legacy of John L.E. Boardman was honored Sunday with an architectural tour of homes hosted by the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri. About 200 people went on the tour, which included six locations, both residential and commercial properties. Judy Hutson, who hosted dozens of people at her town home on Aquamsi Bluff, said that it was a shame that Boardman never got to see the finished product that she, her husband and Boardman began. ...

The Cape Girardeau City Council will hear a formal presentation from the revenue team tonight, a group of city employees who have been working at finding solutions to increase the city's revenue for more than six months. The council meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and will take place at the council chambers at city hall...

smoyers And they say diamonds are forever. Paducah, Ky.-based Michelson Jewelers has announced that it will shut down all of its stores outside Paducah, Ky., meaning the Cape Girardeau jewelry store that has been at the mall since it opened in 1981 will close before the summer ends...

Cardinal Bernard Law on Sunday acknowledged the anguish caused by the archdiocese's withdrawal from a settlement with 86 alleged victims of sexual abuse and said he would seek an "equitable solution." In a rare, detailed accounting of the church's legal affairs, Law explained that the archdiocese's Finance Council had rejected the agreement because of what he called a "laudable" concern about the growing number of victims and the church's diminishing resources...

Comic shows interest in minor league team BROCKTON, Mass. -- Comedian Bill Murray is taking such an active interest in Brockton's new minor league baseball team he may eventually become part owner. The star of "Caddyshack" and "Stripes" is a baseball fanatic and unofficial "director of fun" for the Brockton Rox, who start play this month in the independent Northern League in a new $17 million stadium...

An ordinary antibiotic slowed the progression of Lou Gehrig's disease in mice, suggesting a potential new approach for treating people, researchers report. The disease, formally known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, attacks nerve cells that control movement. As these cells degenerate, an affected person becomes progressively paralyzed. Most cases appear between the ages of 40 and 70, and death follows an average of four years after symptoms appear...

OMAHA, Neb. -- Rural carriers planned to deliver mail as scheduled on Monday despite the discovery of 14 mailbox pipe bombs across the Midwest in recent days, authorities said Sunday. But postal officials warned customers that the doors of roadside mailboxes must be taped or otherwise kept open. Affected are customers in Nebraska, Iowa and northwest Illinois...

HAPPY, Texas -- A tornado swept through a western Texas town Sunday night, killing at least four people and injuring others. Several people were missing, said Mary Lenz, spokeswoman for the State Division of Emergency Management. Twenty homes were heavily damaged along Interstate 27 in Happy, a small town about 30 miles south of Amarillo...

LOS ANGELES -- Phyllis Diller is hanging up her wigs and ending her road career as a purveyor of raucous one-liners that skewered fads, fancies, imaginary husband Fang and her own cosmetic surgery. For 47 years, the housewife-turned-comedian -- and trailblazer for female stand-up comedians -- has delighted audiences with her frizzy hair, outrageous costumes and an explosive laugh that could make strong dogs howl...

WHITESBURG, Ky. -- Some call the unusual blend of rural and urban music hillbilly hip-hop. Others call it hick-hop. The collaboration of banjos, fiddles and drums set to a beat that would leave a rapper out of breath was created to reach inmates from big cities who are in rural Appalachian prisons...

BETHLEHEM, West Bank -- Palestinian officials said early Monday that a deal had been struck to end a monthlong standoff at the Church of Nativity, although a top Israeli official said there had been progress but no deal. Israeli officials said negotiations on the Bethlehem church standoff continued as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon arrived in the United States for talks with President Bush...

PARIS -- President Jacques Chirac was re-elected Sunday in a landslide victory over extreme-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, after a dramatic presidential race that shook France to its foundations. The conservative Chirac was re-elected by the highest margin in the history of France's 44-year-old Fifth Republic. But the win, though huge, was less of a ringing endorsement of Chirac than a ringing rejection of Le Pen, joined by all of France's major political forces...

ISCHIA, Italy -- After weeks of stress from health problems and sex abuse scandals stinging the Roman Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II took a break from the Vatican and traveled to a spa island Sunday in the first of several trips that will test his stamina in the coming months...

CAIRO, Egypt -- Archaeologists have discovered the 110th pyramid to be uncovered in Egypt -- the 4,500-year-old tomb of a queen whose identity remains a mystery, the country's antiquities director said Sunday. "When we discover in Egypt a tomb or a statue, it's something important," said Zahi Hawass, director of Egypt's Supreme Council of the Antiquities. "But when we discover a pyramid, it's the most important thing."...

STAR CITY, Russia -- South African Internet millionaire Mark Shuttleworth landed safely on the Kazakh steppe Sunday after a 10-day space voyage that cost him $20 million, emerged from the Soyuz capsule with a broad smile and said it was "the best thing I've ever done."...

Business is bustling at Yemen's Al-Nur honey shop, where customers are more interested in the products for sale than in the Bush administration's decision to freeze the company's assets and label it a terrorist organization. In Switzerland, the former owner of a holding company said he hasn't had any trouble withdrawing cash since his name appeared on a list of individuals and organizations linked to al-Qaida...

SESSER, Ill. -- After traveling to the Vatican to discuss sexual abuse by priests with the pope, U.S. Conference of Bishops President Wilton Gregory came to a small-town church that has been hit in the most personal way by the growing national scandal...

The Associated Press ST. LOUIS -- Since Missouri began requiring criminal background checks of certified educators in mid-1998, the state has revoked the certificates of 160 educators and denied them to 20 applicants, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported in Sunday's editions...

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- They moved slowly through the underbrush, careful to avoid stepping on any branch that could break and give away their position. Their faces, smeared with the tick green wax paint that comes with the military uniform, were set in determination to accomplish their tasks as part of the weekend military maneuvers which pitted the Southern Illinois University Army ROTC cadets against each other in mock battle situations...

MIAMI -- Florida's Department of Children and Families waited six days to tell police that it lost track of a 5-year-old girl under the state's care, according to internal memos obtained by The Miami Herald. E-mails exchanged between caseworkers and the department's administrators in Tallahassee revealed that the agency instead used an internal procedure to try to locate Rilya Wilson, the newspaper reported Sunday...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Several other states already were using a creative technique to get more federal money when Missouri officials decided to try the same thing. Because the federal government was considering a crackdown on the practice, then-Gov. Mel Carnahan wrote to President Clinton with a plea to approve Missouri's money request...

LEBANON, Mo. -- Gordon Winrod has been ordered to pay $26.1 million in damages for abducting his grandchildren, but it's unclear how the Ozark County pastor will come up with the money. After four and a half hours of deliberation Saturday a Laclede County jury decided that Winrod, 74, his son, Stephen, and daughter, Carol, must pay the damages to Erika Leppert, her brother, Nathan Leppert, their father, Tim Leppert, and uncle Joel Leppert...

NEW YORK -- Ruben Sierra homered and drove in four runs and Joel Pineiro held down the New York Yankees for six innings as the Seattle Mariners completed a three-game sweep with a 10-6 victory Sunday. The Mariners have won 11 of 12 at Yankee Stadium in the regular season following their third sweep ever in New York. But Seattle's last two seasons ended in the AL championship series in New York...

HOUSTON -- Lance Berkman homered twice to tie Sammy Sosa for the major league lead and had five RBIs Sunday as the Houston Astros routed the New York Mets 12-1. Berkman and Sosa both have 13 homers. Houston starter Roy Oswalt, 0-for-13 this season as a batter coming in, had a career high three RBIs, hitting a three-run single in the fifth inning, a bases-loaded blooper that bounced off the glove of second baseman Joe McEwing into the face of center fielder Jay Payton, then rolled away...

NEW ORLEANS -- It was 4 a.m. in South Korea when K.J. Choi began the final round of the Compaq Classic. The hour didn't stop his fans from watching on television. "People will miss work to watch," said Hie-Man Hwang, a South Korean journalist who flew in for Sunday's round. "He can make history, it's a very big thing in Korea."...

AREA Southeast's Nett makes All-Tournament team RICHMOND, Ky. -- Southeast Missouri State University junior second baseman Brooke Nett was selected to the 12-player Ohio Valley Conference All-Tournament team Sunday as the OVC Softball Championships ended...

RICHMOND, Va. -- Patience paid off for Tony Stewart in the wreck-filled Pontiac Excitement 400. Steering clear of a record-tying number of accidents, Stewart pulled away from rookie Ryan Newman on a restart with 17 laps to go Sunday in the rain-delayed race...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Now that he's won the Kentucky Derby with War Emblem, trainer Bob Baffert is looking ahead. Sort of. "I got the Derby," he said Sunday morning outside Barn 33, barely 12 hours after his 20-1 long shot went wire-to-wire to win Derby. "Triple Crown? You get it, you get it. I'm not going to worry about it. We got the Derby."...

ST. LOUIS -- Greg Maddux didn't look like a pitcher who's still taking things slowly. Maddux, on the disabled list for the first time in his career last month due to a lower back injury, pitched six shutout innings to lead the Atlanta Braves over the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 Sunday...

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration wants new leadership in Iraq even if Saddam Hussein allows U.N. inspectors to resume their search for weapons of mass destruction, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday. President Bush has declared Saddam a menace and pledged to remove him from power, although the administration says it has not decided how or when that goal will be achieved. ...

WASHINGTON -- As "commissioner" Cal Ripken Jr. looked on, President Bush cried "Play ball!" Sunday to inaugurate a second season of his White House T-ball league. On a brilliant spring day, Bush presided over a game that was supposed to have been played Sept. 16 but was postponed after the terrorist attacks...

WASHINGTON -- Members of Congress are seeing to it that lobbying groups, donors, friends and family still can visit the White House even though the public generally cannot. Once available to anyone with the patience to stand in line, White House tours were halted Sept. 11 for security reasons and are available now to school groups or by special arrangement...

WASHINGTON -- Male frogs exposed to even low doses of a common weed killer can develop multiple sex organs -- sometimes both male and female -- researchers in California have discovered. "I was very much surprised," at the impact of atrazine on developing frogs, said Tyrone B. Hayes of the University of California at Berkeley...

WASHINGTON -- The United States will tell the United Nations this week it is renouncing formal involvement in a treaty creating the first permanent war crimes tribunal, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday. Powell said the Bush administration will notify U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan that the United States has no intention of ratifying the treaty and now considers itself "no longer bound in any way to its purpose and objective," Powell said on ABC's "This Week."...

Irises will be at their blooming best at Westfield Shoppingtown West Park next weekend. "You'll see spectacular colors and many varieties," said Charles Pickett, an iris fancier for more than a 50 years. Gardeners will be looking at two big awards at the Southeast Missouri Iris Society Show Saturday and Sunday at the Famous Barr court of the shopping center...

Clayton Hill has his pit crew for the 2002 Soap Box Derby. Granddad John Hill Jr., a former Soap Box Derby racer, and dad Trae Hill will be in Clayton's corner when the Cape Girardeau race is held May 18. "The Hills have changed," said 14-year-old Clayton...

Southeast Missouri KELSO, Mo. -- There'll be something new at the Kelso Feed animal fair this year -- Shrine clowns. "We'd really like for the clowns to enter their 'invisible dog' in the pet parade," said Carolyn Cauble, coordinator of the third annual fair to be held from 2 to 7 p.m. at Kelso Feed...

Cape Girardeau Monday, May 6 ArrestsMichael R. Martin, 18, 701 Normal, was arrested Saturday on two warrants. Summer Shatrine, 19, of Hayti, Mo., was arrested Saturday on two warrants. Skyler P. Lee, 28, of Jackson, Mo., was arrested Sunday for driving while intoxicated...

7 p.m. Monday Public Hearings A public hearing regarding the request of AmerenUE for a special use permit for an electrical distribution substation at 7 North Ellis Street in a C-1, local commercial district. A public hearing regarding the request of William R. and Kathryn F. Swan for a special use permit for a 160-foot telecommunication tower at 1606 N. Kingshighway in a C-1, local commercial district...

Cape Girardeau Monday, May 6 On Saturday, firefighters responded to the following calls:At 5:19 p.m., an emergency medical service at 1315 Broadway. At 6:10 p.m., an alarm sounding at 4614 Nash Road. At 6:16 p.m., an emergency medical service at Broadway and Kingshighway...

NEW YORK -- Imagine working on a business proposal on your computer. While you're typing, somebody else's text also appears, paragraphs away from your cursor. It's not a ghost in the machine, just your colleague on the other side of the country, pitching in with her part. You're creating and editing the document together, using Groove, a sophisticated but very accessible piece of software...

NEW YORK -- The arrival of spring signals the start of home buying season, and many young apartment renters are wondering if they can afford a house. Home ownership has risen steadily in recent years because mortgages have been available at relatively low interest rates, currently about 7 percent for a fixed-rate loan. Nearly 68 percent of all American families own their own homes, according to U.S. Census data...

SAN JOSE, Calif. Tony Biria was thrilled to receive a Palm m505 computer as a gift last year. That handheld has turned out to be a handful. The gadget worked great for three weeks. Then it refused to synchronize with Biria's PC. He sought answers from old-fashioned phone tech support, Palm's Web site and online chats with Palm engineers...

Five win company award from Chevrolet Five Brennecke Chevrolet professionals recently achieved the highest national level possible in a program sponsored by General Motors. Lee Ruebel and David Richardson, sales consultants, along with Karl Adams and Paul Westrich, service technicians, and Theresa Horst, service adviser, all achieved the platinum level, the highest award given in the 2001 Mark of Excellence program.. ...

Fewer Americans filing insurance claims For a second week in a row, fewer Americans filed new claims for unemployment insurance, suggesting that the budding economic recovery is easing the pace of layoffs. The Labor Department reported last week that for the work week ending April 27, new claims for jobless benefits dropped by a seasonally adjusted 10,000 to 418,000, the lowest since March 23. The week before, claims dropped by 24,000...

With the nation at war and the economy only beginning to look brighter, there is an unprecedented need for those in a position to do so to contribute to agencies that help the less fortunate. However, due to bad publicity on the national level -- not the local level, remember -- for certain charities, even the most generous pause before they part with their money...

PMany have full-time jobs and still manage to vote several hours a week to community service. What a terrific community we live in when 27 people are worthy of volunteer recognition from the United Way. The organization held its annual Volunteer Recognition Awards Luncheon recently, honoring people who give freely of their time for the betterment of others' lives...

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University used a huge fifth inning Sunday to win another Ohio Valley Conference series. The Indians scored eight runs in the fifth to go ahead for good as they defeated Tennessee Tech 12-6. The squads had split Saturday's doubleheader...

Jimmy Blose had few expectations entering last week's Ohio Valley Conference Golf Tournament. "I figured it was just a learning experience for me," he said. But Blose ended up getting more than he bargained for, finishing second during the event in Paducah, Ky...

To the editor: The members of the American Red Cross disaster relief team who have been at work in the community since the devastating storms hit our area would like to thank everyone for the help and support they have given. Immediately after the storm cut a path through the community, the Red Cross brought in specially trained disaster workers to assist members of the local Red Cross chapter in providing groceries, new clothing, medicine, temporary housing, home repairs, household items, transportation and tools to storm victims.. ...

Why punish them? IT SEEMS to me these right-wingers want to punish the people that weren't able to save money in their younger, working days. But people fail to realize that those people who weren't able to save still worked, and paid taxes, voted, and laid the groundwork for those people who don't have much compassion. ...

BROWNWOOD, Mo. -- Ella M. Dunivan, 91, of Brownwood died Saturday, May 4, 2002, at the Advance Nursing Center. She was born Aug. 6, 1910, at Bertrand, Mo. She and Clarence Dunivan were married May 10, 1926. He preceded her in death May 2, 1984. Dunivan was retired from Inland Shoe Co. in Advance, Mo., after working as a seamstress for 25 years...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Raymond Robert Briggs, 61, of Mounds died Saturday, May 4, 2002, at his home. He was born April 6, 1941, at Mineral Point, Mo., son of Wilson W. and Alice Blackburn Briggs. He and Dora Ann Mouser were married July 16, 1964, at Jackson, Mo...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Nola Mae "Diddie" Hays, 74, of Sikeston died Saturday, May 4, 2002, at her residence. She was born June 3, 1927, in Commerce, Mo., daughter of Robert Raymond and Mary Elizabeth Burns Hampton. She and Everett W. Hays Sr. were married Nov. 15, 1944, at Sikeston...

PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. -- Janice C. Montgomery Dial, 77, of Portageville died Friday, May 3, 2002, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born June 12, 1924, at Wardell, Mo., daughter of John and Beulah Tanner Montgomery. She and Richard P. Dial were married Dec. 27, 1943, at Boekerton, Mo. He preceded her in death May 20, 1998...

SPARTA, Ill. -- Corinne H. Ashley, 76, of Sparta died at 4:30 a.m. Sunday, May 5, 2002, at the Randolph County Care Center in Sparta. She was born June 30, 1925, at Gordonville, Mo., daughter of Albert and Amanda Deneke Blumenberg. She and James Ashley were marred Oct. 24, 1948, at Gordonville...

Freda M. Froemsdorf, 88, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, May 5, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home.

ALTENBURG, Mo. -- Arnold L. Roth, 79, of Altenburg died Saturday, May 4, 2002, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born Oct. 13, 1922, at Wittenburg, Mo., son of Leo A. and Linna Mueller Roth. He and Violet Engert were married Sept. 2, 1945...

ESCONDIDO, Calif. -- Harve "Dillie" Calvin Jr., 78, of Escondido, formerly of Mound City, Ill., and Carbondale, Ill., died at 6:15 p.m. Saturday, May 4, 2002, at the Sunbridge East Care Center in Escondido. He was born April 2, 1924, at Mound City, son of Harve Augustus Sr. and Elizabeth Amanda McDaniel Calvin. He was married to Alice Lucille Prim...

SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Wilma Wampler Tate, 92, of San Antonio died Wednesday, May 1, 2002, at Regent Care Nursing Center in San Antonio. She was born Jan. 24, 1910, at Lutesville, Mo., daughter of John W. and Bertie F. Reed Wampler. She and Cecil Tate were married Oct. 15, 1955. He died Oct. 21, 1983...

10 years ago: May 6, 1992 Missouri officials received good news and bad news yesterday with Illinois Gov. John Edgar's unveiling of new $5.4 billion, five-year highway program; good news is Cape Girardeau's Mississippi River bridge project is included in highway plan; bad news is most of funding for project isn't...

Fighting games can be as complex and difficult to master as anything available for home play. Then, there's "Bloody Roar: Primal Fury." This latest in Activision's series of mutant-based battlers comes to us from developer Hudson Soft and Eighting for Nintendo's GameCube. It's an exciting, graphically dazzling game for those who don't want to memorize 50 combination attacks for each combatant and then deal with the arthritis that develops when you try to make them happen...

Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader The intense, emotional opposition to state Sen. Peter Kinder's stadium bill is easy to understand. In a year when education is being cut, when state workers are going a second year without a pay increase, when mental-health services are on the block, how can the state justify spending money on stadiums?...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Protesters opposed to state aid for stadium projects were hushed by police as they marched through the Capitol halls Monday and had to hide their signs when they entered a House viewing gallery. The two busloads of St. Louis residents repeatedly chanted a refrain that also was printed on their matching white-and-black T-shirts: "Fund the needy, not the greedy!"...

JERUSALEM (AP) -- An explosion rocked a reception hall in the Israeli town of Rishon Letzion late Tuesday, and Israel Radio said several people were injured. There were no immediate details on the blast, which came as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon began meeting with President Bush in Washington...

AP Business WriterNEW YORK (AP) -- Choosey bargain hunters surfaced Tuesday on Wall Street, bidding blue chips higher following an extended sell-off that had sent stocks to their lowest levels in months. But technology stocks fell for the fifth straight day...

Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve left a key interest rate unchanged Tuesday, allowing Americans to continue to take advantage of some of the lowest borrowing costs in four decades. That would give consumers an incentive to keep on spending, and businesses might be motivated to step up investment in new equipment and plants. Both are crucial ingredients to help along the budding economic recovery...

Associated Press WriterAMARILLO, Texas (AP) -- The FBI issued an all-points bulletin Tuesday for a 22-year-old man, described as armed and dangerous, in connection with a wave of pipe bombs found in rural mailboxes, authorities said. Lubbock police spokesman Bill Morgan said the bulletin identified the man as Luke John Helder, who was seen driving a gray Honda Accord with Minnesota license plates. The bulletin said Helder was armed and dangerous, according to Morgan...

Associated Press WriterBEIJING (AP) -- A Chinese airliner with 112 people aboard crashed Tuesday night into the water off northeastern China after the captain reported a fire in the cabin, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Rescue efforts were under way, but there was no immediate information about fatalities or survivors...

AP Military WriterWASHINGTON (AP) -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld expressed support Tuesday for embattled Army Secretary Thomas White and said White had personally assured him he had no involvement in congressional contacts by his staff that were "way in the dickens out of line."...

Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON (AP) -- The United Nations Security Council's five permanent members have agreed on a new system of sanctions against Iraq, the White House said Tuesday. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer announced the action in Washington. "This is a step forward," he said...

Cape Girardeau voters could be asked to approve a three-quarter-cent sales tax in August in an attempt to help pull Cape Girardeau out of a three-year financial slump. After six months of investigating ideas, a revenue issues team Monday night suggested the city council put a half-cent parks and stormwater tax and a quarter-cent fire sales tax on the ballot...

The Guardians group has raised more than $45,000 in less than a year -- money that its executive director, R.J. McKinney, says he hopes will never be spent. The group was set up as a not-for-profit corporation last May to raise money to aid the families of any Cape Girardeau County firefighters or policemen killed in the line of duty...

A Jackson, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court Monday to four years in prison on a felony methamphetamine manufacturing charge. Danny Moll, 31, admitted that, between July 1999 and May 2000, he and Deborah Ing regularly produced meth. His role was to obtain pseudoephedrine pills, an ingredient in meth, on at least 30 occasions...

A second person has died following a wrong-way crash on Interstate 55 on Sunday afternoon 12 miles north of Cape Girardeau. Delores Scott, 76, of St. Louis, was pronounced dead at 3:30 a.m. Monday at St. Francis Medical Center. She had been a passenger in a car that had crossed the median and struck an oncoming car. The driver of the car that crossed the median, Mary Grega, 66, of St. Louis, was pronounced dead at the scene...

By Christopher Brotherton For 10 weeks, his book "Absolute Power" was on the New York Times bestseller list. David Limbaugh, author of the book about the Clinton administration, lives right here in Cape Girardeau with his wife, Lisa, and their four children, Christina, Courtney, Caitlyn, and Scott...

President Bush on Monday declared Bollinger and four other Southeast Missouri counties as major disaster areas, a move that will help local governments pay for public property but still leaves storm- and tornado-weary residents waiting. The declaration will set aside federal and state funds to help pay for fixing or replacing such things as storm-damaged public buildings, utilities and roads, but does not address the needs of private residents who suffered damage to homes, property and businesses during the storms April 24 through 28.. ...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A state appeals court has ruled that a state trooper lacked probable cause to initiate a traffic stop in Pemiscot County that resulted in a woman being sentenced to 14 years in prison on drug charges. The ruling, issued Friday by a three-judge panel of the Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District, reverses Veronica Mendoza's convictions for possession of a controlled substance and drug trafficking in the first degree...

Broadcasting students at the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center have been learning lessons in filming, editing, directing and producing since September. While the students have made a lot of clips and public service announcements for class, the only things they've produced and been able to watch from home have been school board meetings on Charter Communications public access Channel 5...

HOUSTON -- The first criminal case to emerge from the Enron Corp. collapse began Monday as Arthur Andersen LLP went on trial for allegedly obstructing justice by shredding Enron-related documents. Sixteen-jurors, including four alternates, were sworn in Monday and opening statements were expected to begin Tuesday. The trial is expected to last at least three weeks...

SEWARD, Neb. -- Another mailbox bomb was found in rural Nebraska on Monday, the eighth discovered in the state and the 16th in the Midwest since the domestic terrorism spree began last week. Authorities also said a pipe bomb was found Monday in a mailbox in the small mountain community of Salida, Colo., 100 miles southwest of Denver...

NEW YORK -- It all started with a Christmas Day massage at ground zero. Now, Dawna LoPiccolo, who soothed exhausted firefighter John Mraz amid the debris of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, is planning their wedding. "I met John in a 20-by-12 wood shack at ground zero. He was the last man I massaged that day," said LoPiccolo, a massage therapist who had volunteered to help rescue workers after the attacks...

MAYWOOD, Calif. -- An angry mob attacked the driver of a stolen van that plowed into a crowd at a Cinco de Mayo street carnival after the driver injured four people, including a pregnant woman and a 2-year-old girl, police said Monday. Jahir Vidales Ramirez had to be rescued by police after an angry crowd pulled him from the van and attacked him following the Sunday night crash, Sgt. Mark Van Holt said in a statement...

EVERGREEN, Colo. -- Fire managers called up additional crews Monday to battle a 400-acre wildfire that had chased more than 2,000 people from their homes in the forested foothills. There were no reports of homes damaged, but the blaze was within a quarter-mile of at least one house and within two miles of subdivisions in the area about 25 miles west of Denver...

LOS ANGELES -- Its record $114.8 million debut puts "Spider-Man," the new superhero of film franchises, in position to give even "Star Wars" a run for its money as the year's biggest hit. With positive reviews, appeal to audiences of many ages and solid repeat business already, "Spider-Man" is virtually assured of becoming one of the top-grossing movies ever...

Cardinal Law ordered to answer questions in suit BOSTON -- A judge Monday ordered Cardinal Bernard Law to give a deposition on Wednesday in the civil litigation against John Geoghan, the now-defrocked priest accused of molesting scores of youngsters...

KANO, Nigeria -- Seconds after takeoff, the airliner lurched and heaved as passengers screamed and prayed aloud, retired Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Ikegwuoha said Monday, relating from his hospital bed how he took off his seat belt and coiled his body into a ball...

BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- U.S. forces hunting down al-Qaida and Taliban fighters have brought more than just firepower to this dust-ridden Afghan air base. They've strung fiber optic cables through the treetops and installed satellite uplinks, providing thousands of American troops with a crucial link to home -- the Internet...

BETHLEHEM, West Bank -- Israel and the Palestinians appeared close to resolving the 35-day standoff at the Church of the Nativity, but were still at odds Monday on how many Palestinian gunmen would be removed from the shrine and sent into exile. Palestinian sources said Yasser Arafat was having difficulty giving the final go-ahead to the deportations -- a sensitive issue among Palestinians, millions of whom already live in exile -- and was trying to minimize the numbers of those to be deported...

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European Union's head office issued a strong denial Monday to Israeli claims that millions of dollars of aid to the government of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat were used to fund suicide bombers. A report by the Israeli government made public on Sunday alleged EU aid money was being used to pay the salaries of hundreds of extremists...

BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- Assailants fired three rockets toward American troops stationed in eastern Afghanistan on Monday but nobody was reported injured, a U.S. military spokesman said. The rockets, launched from crude wooden tripods and set off by timers, exploded at 2 a.m. several hundred yards from U.S. soldiers in the tense town of Khost, Maj. Bryan Hilferty said...

HYDERABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan's Supreme Court said Monday that the trial of Muslim militants charged in the kidnap-slaying of Daniel Pearl can proceed until it rules on a defense request to move it back to its original venue in Karachi, where the Wall Street Journal reporter was abducted...

QUIBDO, Colombia -- Even as government troops struggled Monday to reach a village where 110 civilians were reported slain, President Andres Pastrana called for a U.N. commission to look into the bloodbath. Wooden boats carrying some of the wounded -- men, women and children -- began arriving in Quibdo, a grimy port town upriver from the jungle village of Bojaya, where the civilians, including about 40 children, died during fighting between rebels and paramilitary gunmen...

YANGON, Myanmar -- Aung San Suu Kyi returned to public life Monday after 19 months of house arrest, breathing new life into the opposition's struggle for democracy but aware that Myanmar's military rulers will be loathe to give up their iron grip on power...

PARIS -- Jean-Pierre Raffarin, an affable but little-known conservative senator, was named France's prime minister on Monday, a day after President Jacques Chirac won re-election by an overwhelming margin. Raffarin, 53, is expected to name a new Cabinet this week, possibly as early as Tuesday, and begin working on Chirac's promise to crack down on rising crime and respond to the nation's discontent...

HILVERSUM, Netherlands -- In the first assassination in modern Dutch history, a lone gunman shot far-right leader Pim Fortuyn on Monday, nine days before elections expected to catapult his anti-immigration party into a position of national power. Fortuyn, 54, a former academic and columnist who led an openly gay lifestyle, was shot six times in the head, neck and chest as he left a radio interview...

KATMANDU, Nepal -- Army helicopters killed more than 200 rebels in airstrikes in western Nepal, a government spokesman said Monday, amid the deadliest fighting since the communist insurgency began six years ago. Officials say security forces have killed more than 560 rebels since Thursday -- a claim that could not be independently confirmed. Neither journalists nor human rights activists have access to the battle zones in remote districts of Rolpa and Pyuthan, 185 miles west of Katmandu...