Stories from August 2002

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei -- The Bush administration is weighing resuming dialogue with North Korea after Secretary of State Colin Powell held the first face-to-face U.S.-North Korea meeting since President George W. Bush labeled Pyongyang part of an "axis of evil" during his January State of theUnion address...

WASHINGTON -- Working moms increasingly are relying on their parents to watch their young children, and more fathers are helping out with child care, too. Grandparents have become a more popular choice for the job than day-care centers, according to a Census Bureau report being released today...

REVENUE OPTIONS By Callie Chitwood ~ Southeast Missourian The recent completion of the $17 million Central High School has officials in the Cape Girardeau public school district considering future projects, namely a $5 million auditorium...

By Mark Bliss ~ Southeast Missourian The lawyer seeking to unseat circuit Judge William Syler in the August Republican primary alleges that he and other lawyers don't have confidence in the veteran judge and increasingly are disqualifying him from hearing their criminal cases...

10 years ago: Aug. 1, 1992 It's official: Sam's Club is coming to Cape Girardeau; Sam's Club officials have confirmed plans to build 134,900-square-foot warehouse adjacent to Wal-Mart Supercenter near Route K/Siemers Drive intersection. Dean of College of Business Administration at Southeast Missouri State University has resigned to take similar administrative position at small Catholic university in Miami; Richard Schmidt, who helped push Southeast's business program along road toward national accreditation, will be dean of school of business at St. ...

Polls open at 6 a.m. on Tuesday for the primary election. An incorrect opening time appeared in Wednesday's edition. The Southeast Missourian regrets the error.

JACKSON, Mo. -- Thelma "Marjorie" Petzoldt, 76, of Jackson died Tuesday, July 30, 2002, at Monticello House. She was born June 23, 1926, in Summersville, Mo., daughter of Edward and Ethel Jones Belew. Petzoldt lived in the New Wells, Mo., community many years. She was an obstetrical technician at Southeast Missouri Hospital 30 years, retiring in 1990. She moved to Grove, Okla., and then to Jackson in 2001. She was a member of First Baptist Church...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Betty Brewer, 37, of Sikeston died Wednesday, July 31, 2002, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born in Lilbourn, Mo., the daughter of Clyde and Lattie Milligan Brewer. She was a Baptist. She is survived by her mother of Sikeston; a daughter, Misty Brewer of Sikeston; two brothers, Chester and Lloyd Brewer, both of Sikeston; five sisters, Linda McLean and Brenda Brewer, both of Sikeston, Myrtle Landnier of Gautier, Miss., and Patty Bohnert and Dianne Chadd, both of Sikeston.. ...

Graveside service for Maxine Blackshear was held Wednesday at Lorimier Cemetery. The Rev. John Goff officiated. Ford and Sons Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements. Blackshear, 79, died Sunday, July 28, 2002, at Hunter Acres Nursing Center in Sikeston, Mo...

CYPRESS, Ill. -- The Rev. Lowell West, 81, died Tuesday, July 30, 2002, at his home near Cypress. Arrangements are incomplete at the Wilson Funeral Home in Karnak, Ill.

CAIRO, Ill. -- Arlie C. Seawright, 78, of Escanaba, Mich., died Sunday, July 28, 2002, at Pinecrest Medical Care Facility in Powers, Mich. He was born Jan. 17, 1924, in Cairo, son of Arlie and Lillie Morgan Seawright Sr. His wife, Eloeise, died in 1987...

Shirley Ann Batterton, 67, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, July 30, 2002, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. She was born Jan. 3, 1935, in Cape Girardeau, the daughter of Kelly and Louise Mary Miget Willard. She received a master's degree in psychology from Lincoln Land College in Springfield, Ill. ...

Easy targets I AGREE that a crackdown on speeders is necessary on Mount Auburn Road. However, I think it's very unprofessional for police to sit in a church parking lot at the base of an extremely steep hill. In order to stay below the speed limit, a driver has to brake all the way down the hill. Police can write all the tickets they want on Mount Auburn without resorting to this cheap tactic. This is just taking advantage of people...

To the editor: I had the awe-inspiring opportunity to celebrate Mass with Pope John Paul II in Toronto for World Youth Day 2002. Special thanks to Teresa LeGrand, youth minister of St. Mary's Cathedral, who organized the pilgrimage for 27 area youths...

To the editor: I enjoyed reading the articles about the wiffleball tournament that went on this past weekend. I am glad to see there are people who appreciate this great game. I and many helpers have hosted an annual wiffleball tournament in this area for what will be the sixth year now. We like to call it the Wiffleball World Series. This year's tournament will be Sept. 28-29...

Shape Up Cape Updates The Fit to Print team earned 792 points for the week. Our competitors, St. Andrew's Fit for Eternity earned 928 points for a 92.8 average per person while the public library's Bookin' Team earned 392 points for a 56 point per person average...

Today Blood pressure screening from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Cape Senior Center, sponsored by Southeast Missouri Hospital's Generations Resource Center. American Red Cross blood drive from noon to 5 p.m. at Sears. Donors should bring some form of identification. Call 339-1822 for information...

Drug and alcohol use among America's students in grades six through 12 is at the lowest level in years, according to a new nationwide survey released last month. That's the good news. Researchers attribute the decline in chemical abuse among these youngsters to more efforts by more adults to keep children away from illicit substances...

An innovative bartering plan has some Missouri farm families seeing their sons and daughters earning a university degree, where otherwise that would be less likely as a result of financial constraints. The school is Lindenwood University in St. Charles County, Mo. Lindenwood's president, Dr. Dennis Spellman, came up with the idea after mulling how the school might help cash-strapped farm families...

Jackson Thursday, Aug. 1 Firefighters responded to the following call Wednesday:An ambulance assist at 316 E. Adams.

Cape Girardeau Thursday, Aug. 1 ArrestsFranklin Eugene Reed, 37, of 1589 Bel-Air, Apt. 11, Jackson, Mo., was arrested Monday for assault and driving while revoked. Raymond Kenneth Jones, 31, of 1006 Locust was arrested Monday on a Cape Girardeau County warrant for bad checks...

Cape Girardeau Thursday, Aug. 1 Firefighters responded to the following calls Tuesday:At 7:11 p.m., an emergency medical service at 316 S. Lorimier, Apt. 6. At 11:17 p.m., an emergency medical service at 301 N. Lorimier, Apt. 31. Firefighters responded to the following calls Wednesday:...

WASHINGTON -- Armed with harrowing stories of death threats and shadowy guards seizing their factories, American corporations have gotten the Bush administration to put the squeeze on Russia in a campaign that is benefiting from good timing. The message delivered by senior diplomats and President Bush is pointed: Moscow needs to clean up corruption and other obstacles to expanding business if it wants to convince the world it belongs in the World Trade Organization...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- In conjunction with the Chaffee German Days being held this weekend, the River City C.B. Club will sponsor an indoor sale on Saturday. Visitors may browse in air-conditioned comfort at 115 W. Yorktown from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The sale will feature an assortment of quality used clothing in infant to adult sizes, as well as small furniture and household items. ...

Midshipman completes 'Plebe Summer' session Navy Midshipman Sean M. Kinney, son of Robin P. Kinney of Cape Girardeau, recently completed six weeks of U.S. Naval Academy Indoctrination (Plebe Summer) in Annapolis, Maryland. This demanding, fast-paced orientation begins four years of preparation for commissioning as naval or Marine Corps officers. ...

The Fourth Annual "Bikers for Babies" event has been scheduled for Aug. 17 at River Eagle Distributing on Rust Avenue in Cape Girardeau. The event is to benefit the March of Dimes. Combined, the Bikers for Babies rides in Missouri were ranked in the top five as the largest AMA sanctioned motorcycle fund-raising events in Missouri in 2001...

The year was 1920. The Cape Girardeau community was a bustling one, with more than 12,000 people. The city was connected to three railroads -- Illinois Central, Frisco and Cape Girardeau Railway Co. It had an electric street car system, a modern sewer system, and a Bell telephone system. No less than four steamboat lines made frequent stops...

In an effort to take the animals to the people, the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri has announced several mobile adoption dates and dates for fundraising events for the society. The following mobile adoption dates were announced: - Aug. 3, Mobile Adoption at Buchheit's, 1 to 4 p.m...

Lawmakers to gather at open house On Aug. 23, the Southeast Missouri Network Against Sexual Violence Board of Directors will host an Open House and Ceremony of Appreciation from noon to 1:30 pm. at No. 63 Doctor's Park in Cape Girardeau. The Awards Ceremony will begin at 12:30 p.m. and will recognize Southeast Missouri representatives and senators whose diligence allowed the Southeast Missouri Network Against Sexual Violence to receove over $160,000 in state funding for the next year...

A seminar designed to teach children how to approach dogs is being held on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 10 a.m. to noon at the Cape Girardeau Public Library. The seminar is entitled, "I Like Children -- But: Children and Dogs Mini Seminar", and is to be presented by Marilyn Olson Neville...

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. economy downshifted into a lower gear in the second quarter, due to cautious consumers. Last year's recession also turned out to be deeper than previously thought, new government figures released Wednesday showed. The new information confirmed that the economy was sinking well before the Sept. 11 terror attacks -- something that some economists had suspected...

WASHINGTON -- More than 60 fathers were arrested Wednesday in a national crackdown on people who have chronically failed to pay child support. It was the largest sweep in the four years since the federal government began pursuing parents who owe large sums of money and have a proven ability to pay...

WASHINGTON -- A leading senator took the Bush Administration to task Wednesday for its failure to act on the potentially dangerous food supplement ephedra. "Today I am asking the Secretary of Health and Human Services to determine whether the dietary supplement ephedra poses an 'imminent hazard' to the public's health, and if so, use his authority to suspend sales of the product in the U.S. ...

WASHINGTON - The Senate Wednesday rejected a proposed Democratic compromise aimed at adding a prescription drug benefit to Medicare, virtually assuring another stalemate on the issue despite its potency with voters in an election year. Voting 49-50, the Democratic-controlled Senate fell 11 votes short of the 60 needed under its budget rules to pass the proposal, a scaled-back version of a more comprehensive Democratic bill that the Senate defeated last week...

WASHINGTON -- A federal judge ruled Wednesday that two British citizens and an Australian captured in Afghanistan and held in Cuba have no right to trial before U.S. courts. Britons Shafiq Rasul and Asif Iqbal and Australian David Hicks are being held at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to the government. They were captured while fighting with Taliban and al-Qaida forces, U.S. officials allege...

MIAMI -- At first, the St. Louis Cardinals hit Josh Beckett as if they knew what pitch was coming. And that may have been the case. A change in his delivery solved the problem, and the rookie lasted six innings Wednesday night to help the Florida Marlins beat St. Louis 8-5...

MACOMB, Ill. -- Rams defensive end Tyoka Jackson will be sidelined three to six weeks with cartilage damage in his right knee, putting his status for the season opener in jeopardy. Jackson was to undergo arthroscopic surgery either Wednesday night or Thursday morning. He returned to St. Louis earlier Wednesday for an MRI that revealed the damage. He was injured earlier in the week but couldn't pinpoint the source...

NEW YORK -- A reputed Russian crime boss was arrested Wednesday on charges he fixed two figure skating events at the Salt Lake City Games by arranging a vote-swapping deal, yet another bizarre twist in a scandal that has tainted the sport. Alimzan Tokhtakhounov, picked up in Italy on U.S. ...

GLADEVILLE, Tenn. -- Alex Barron's best trait might be persistence. The 32-year-old former karting champion had searched for the perfect team since moving to open-wheel racing in 1996. Unable to find it, he bounced around and thought of quitting before deciding to work even harder, marketing himself to potential bosses...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The University of Missouri-Columbia's unfinished $1.6 million pedestrian bridge over busy Providence Road is nine inches too short for traffic clearance according to federal guidelines, officials said. School officials are talking with the Missouri Department of Transportation about whether exceptions to the guidelines might be granted, said Phil Shocklee, director of campus facilities...

MOUNT VERNON, Ill. -- Bond has been set at $1 million for a 74-year-old man charged in the killing of his 85-year-old brother-in-law. Kenneth Fry is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the death of Lester Derry, Jefferson County State's Attorney Gary Duncan said...

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Roy Blunt was released from the hospital Wednesday after undergoing surgery to remove his left kidney, which contained a cancerous cystic mass. Blunt, R-Mo., was told the renal cell tumor was completely removed and there was no indication the cancer had spread, his office said...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The state agency responsible for controlling liquor sales in Missouri needs to control its own costs when it comes to holding training conferences at the Lake of the Ozarks, a new state audit says. The report Wednesday by State Auditor Claire McCaskill said that the Division of Liquor Control spent $3,320 to send 21 workers from Jefferson City to a training conference in Osage Beach in November 2000...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Republican state auditor candidate Jay Kanzler is taking a temporary leave of absence from his job at Washington University, a decision similar to one made by Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jim Talent. Kanzler, an associate general counsel at the St. Louis school, worked out a deal with university officials earlier this year allowing him to go on unpaid leave in September so he can concentrate on his campaign, a spokesman said Wednesday...

NEW DELHI, India -- Lying under the open sky each night, Asmit Aggarwal gets to gaze at the stars, take in the gentle breeze and listen to crickets. Unfortunately, the 29-year-old software engineer isn't on some romantic getaway -- he's on his roof...

Explosion kills at least 19 in Ukrainian mines KIEV, Ukraine -- An underground explosion tore through a coal mine Wednesday night in Ukraine, killing at least 19 . Two miners were still missing after the explosion, which occurred 3,557 feet underground...

JERUSALEM -- A bomb hidden in a bag ripped through a busy cafeteria at Hebrew University Wednesday, killing seven people, including three Americans, in an attack that shattered the peace in one of the few places where young Jews and Arabs still mixed freely...

LONDON -- A heritage group announced an $88 million plan Wednesday to rescue Stonehenge from the 20th-century clutter that has sprung up around the ancient circular stone monument. Branded a "national disgrace" by some lawmakers as it now stands, Stonehenge is flanked by highways, and visitors trying to imagine its original splendor do so with the steady hum of traffic in the background...

ATHENS, Greece -- Crippled but defiant after a police onslaught, Greece's most-wanted terrorist group mocked reports of its demise Wednesday and warned it could open a new front: grabbing hostages to exchange for captured suspects. "We are still alive," said a declaration attributed to the November 17 cell that has waged a 27-year campaign of killings and attacks in the name of extreme Marxism and Greek patriotism...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A hapless would-be car bomber who was intercepted after a traffic accident in the heart of Kabul told interrogators he was assigned by al-Qaida to assassinate President Hamid Karzai or, failing that, to kill foreigners in the Afghan capital, an Afghan intelligence chief said Wednesday...

From wire reports Researchers have found another reason to watch your waistline: Being even modestly overweight increases the chances of developing heart failure. Extreme obesity has already been linked to heart failure, but whether that was true for milder weight problems wasn't as firmly established...

NEW YORK -- AOL Time Warner Inc. said Wednesday that the Justice Department is looking into its accounting practices, raising the possibility of a criminal case against the world's largest media company. AOL Time Warner did not detail the Justice Department probe and agency officials declined comment. Securities regulators are already investigating the company's bookkeeping...

CAVE JUNCTION, Ore. -- Residents packed up and left a valley in southwestern Oregon Wednesday as firefighters reinforced a line against a 30-mile wall of flames. Authorities urged the area's 17,000 residents on Tuesday to be ready to evacuate within 30 minutes. Trucks and trailers with furniture have been leaving the area since Sunday, and a Cave Junction animal hospital sold out of pet carriers and nearly ran out of sedatives for dogs and cats...

Emmy oddsmakers place bets on Sheen LAS VEGAS -- Martin Sheen is the favorite to win a best-actor Emmy -- at least at some Las Vegas casinos. Oddsmakers at Bally's and the Stardust both like Sheen, who's nominated for his third consecutive year as President Bartlet on NBC's "The West Wing."...

LOS ANGELES - She had the name picked out since high school: Logann Rae, taken from a soap opera. She had two dolls waiting in a closet, both saved since childhood. But Tanya's first child was a son. Then came another. When an ultrasound showed that her third child was also a boy, she struggled to hide her tears from the nurse...

CHICAGO -- Police arrested a suspect Wednesday and pleaded for help in finding members of a mob that pulled two men out of a van after an accident and beat them to death with bricks, stones and their bare hands. "This is a simple, senseless double homicide committed by a bunch of cowardly thugs," Police superintendent Terry Hillard said. "These are murderers. They killed two innocent people."...

PATERSON, N.J. -- A man who allegedly sold fake IDs to two of the Sept. 11 hijackers apparently fled the country for Egypt just before authorities came to arrest him in a raid on his home and businesses Wednesday, investigators said. Interpol was notified to be on the lookout for Egyptian immigrant Mohamed El-Atriss, who faces charges of manufacturing and distributing fraudulent documents and conspiracy...

LOCAL EVENTS Motorcycle and ATV divisions, SEMO Speedway, Blodgett, 7:30 p.m. Friday. Late model, modified, hobby, pure stock and cruiser divisions, Malden Speedway, 7:30 p.m. Outlaw super-street division, Sikeston Drag Strip, 5 p.m. Saturday...

Staff and wire report Winston Cup driver Ken Schrader will take injured World of Outlaws champion Danny Lasoski's spot in the IROC finale Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "I've known Danny a very, very, long time. Before he started driving, he would come out and help us when I was racing Sprint Cars," Schrader said of his fellow Missouri racer. "I'm very grateful and honored to have this opportunity to drive for him. I'm just sorry it has to be under these circumstances."...

A smile creases Mike Helton's normally stoic face as he's asked what fans think is wrong with NASCAR. The president of America's new rage sport has heard it all before, and when he steps out of his hauler this weekend at the Brickyard 400, some of the spectators with garage passes will be waiting for autographs -- and a chance to express their opinions...

Offensive tackle John Tait will miss two weeks of the Kansas City Chiefs' training camp after a fight with a rookie teammate left him with cuts that needed 17 stitches to close. Tait, the starting right tackle, also broke his nose in the fight Tuesday with defensive lineman Eddie Freeman...

MACOMB, Ill. -- The statistics Dane Looker just posted in NFL Europe are of little use to him now in his longshot bid to make the Rams. The wide receiver led the NFL's spring developmental league with 54 catches and 661 yards in 11 regular-season games. He was chosen the World Bowl MVP after making 11 more receptions for 111 yards and two touchdowns as the Berlin Thunder beat the Rhein Fire...

ANHEUSER-BUSCH Record: 22-12 n Manager: Ron Clifton Coaches: Mike Clifton, John LeClerc, Geoff Macy, Todd Robinson, Carl Lavall n Top hitters: Jim Fulton (.410, 9 2B); Ron Martin (.380, 8 HR, 9 2B, 30 RBIs); Brian Shephard (.375, 4 3B, 10 2B); Ed Dodson (.360, 24 RBIs); Josh Morgan (.330, 3 HR)...

Cape Girardeau Ford & Sons didn't have to earn a spot in the American Legion Zone 4 Tournament that begins today at Capaha Park. Even so, manager Tom Reinagel is confident his team will prove it belongs in the field. Cape joins four district champions in the double-elimination event that advances the winner to next week's four-team state tournament in Columbia. ...

The Heartland Nationals softball team will try to begin a run at another title when they play their first game in the Babe Ruth 14-and-under national tournament in South Bend, Ind., today. The team won a state tournament in Washington, Mo., and then a regional tournament in Chaffee, Mo., last week to qualify for the national event...

Oval-track racing takes a week off at Auto Tire and Parts Racepark Aug. 23, 24 and 25 for the Maxxis Grand National ATV Series, an event expected to feature big-name riders on the four-wheel racing series. The three-day event is one of only six of its kind scheduled nationally this year...

Briefly Baseball A look at the deals made Wednesday before the 3 p.m. CDT non-waiver trade deadline: The White Sox traded RHP Bob Howry (2-2, 3.91 ERA) to the Red Sox for RHP Franklin Francisco and LHP Byeong Hak An...

Aug. 1, 2002 Dear Patty, We arrived at Amity Hills Farm Saturday morning trusting Mickey to take care of her three surviving puppies even though we have a few suggestions about how she could refine her mothering skills. We knew she'd moved the puppies under the foot bridge leading from the farm house to the south pasture on Friday so that's where we looked first...

While the future of the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau remains uncertain, some city council members are mentally teetering on whether the city should remain in control of the CVB or let the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce take over the job...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Campaign contributions began flowing into state Rep. Tom Burcham's coffers in July following six months in which he did little fund raising. Burcham, R-Farmington, collected $5,100 from donors from July 1 through July 25, the period covered by campaign finance disclosure reports due Monday with the Missouri Ethics Commission...

By Sam Blackwell ~ Southeast Missourian Businessman Steve Gerard is going to recite a love poem of sorts. Electric violinist Ryan Keller is a member of a high school rock band that will play two songs. Darrell Pruett, the bar manager at Port Cape Restaurant, plans to do five minutes of stand-up comedy...

SIKESTON -- A two week investigation by the Sikeston Department of Public Safety has led to the arrest of Andrew B. Laura for the July 16 murder of Steven White. A Sikeston man is also in custody in connection with the fatal shooting. Laura, 21, is originally from Indianapolis, Ind., and had been living with relatives in Sikeston for two weeks prior to the homicide. He is charged with armed criminal action and first degree murder. No bond was set and arraignment is not yet scheduled...

Students renovate new offices for Cape's school board By Callie Chitwood ~ Southeast Missourian The pungent odor of new carpet and fresh paint is welcome by Cape Girardeau School employees moving into their new board office at 301 N. Clark Ave...

Everything from banting to 'chew-chew' diets have hit celebrity status. By Michael Stroh ~ The Baltimore Sun Before the Atkins New Diet Revolution, before The Zone, before the Pritkin Program, there was the Letter on Corpulence...

SherenDaughter to Jacob Wayne Sheren and Terri Lynn Strawn of Scott City, Mo., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 5:32 p.m. Thursday, July 25, 2002. Name, Mariah Faith. Weight, 6 pounds 15 ounces. First child. Ms. Strawn is the daughter of Becky Strawn of Scott City. Sheren is the son of Rick and Donna Sheren of Scott City. He is employed by city of Scott City...

A marriage of newspaper reporting and state-of-the-art technology is taking the Southeast Missourian into a new age of journalism. It's the age of semissourian.com. The Web site made deadlines obsolete several years ago, because it can be updated with breaking news at any time. But now semissourian.com is adding visual and audio elements so site visitors can get every detail of a story on demand and also see photographs, watch video and hear sound clips...

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Shunning talks with North Korea could be a costly U.S. mistake, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday, contending that negotiations with the communist state could alter policies that produce militarism and widespread hunger...

To the editor: It's a crying shame what Gov. Bob Holden has done to the elderly, especially those in nursing homes, who are the very people who voted for him to be governor. As we all know by now, the governor has caused Medicaid to quit paying for over-the-counter medicines. ...

Just what figure skating needed: another cheap thrill. Already a refuge for con artists and cronyism, now it has become a front for the mob. Any hope of getting the sport kicked of the next Winter Olympics just vanished. Besides having friends now in high and low places, imagine the appeal of "The Sopranos" on ice...

ST. LOUIS -- Twenty-two Missourians have been tested for possible exposure to the West Nile virus, but so far, there have been no confirmed human cases here, a state official said Thursday. Meanwhile, the virus is the confirmed or suspected cause of death for 23 birds and nine horses around the state, said Dr. Howard Pue, chief of communicable disease control and veterinary public health for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. All of the cases have occurred since late July...

JERUSALEM -- The votive candles, placed to remember the dead and wounded, flickered gently in the Thursday afternoon breeze at a spot just outside the bombed-out Hebrew University cafeteria. Next to them were flowers, some of them wreaths with black bunting draped across them. ...

NEW YORK -- Manufacturing activity grew more slowly in July and jobless claims were up, according to reports released Thursday, underscoring an economy struggling to fully recover from last year's recession and the Sept. 11 attacks. The Institute for Supply Management reported that its index of business activity slipped to 50.5 percent in July from 56.2 percent in June. ...

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei -- The United States signed a sweeping new anti-terrorism treaty with southeast Asian countries on Thursday aimed at substantially upgrading security in the region -- a key front in the war on al-Qaida. The treaty with the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, is one of the most extensive security arrangements concluded among the United States and its allies in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks...

QIQAY, Afghanistan -- The Afghan villagers watched as five Chinook helicopters roared into their silent valley and disgorged 100 U.S. soldiers, weapons at the ready. An hour later, after drawing no fire, the soldiers came up to talk. "We're here to help you, to see what you need, and also to find the Taliban and al-Qaida, who did some bad things to the United States," Capt. Todd Fleming, a reservist from Rochester, N.Y., explained to a dozen curious men and boys...

MEXICO CITY -- Greeting his followers in the Zapotec language, Pope John Paul II ended an 11-day pilgrimage on Thursday by reaching out to Indians, who have been steadily deserting the Roman Catholic church, and urging the faithful to treat Native Americans with greater respect...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraq's air force chief told President Saddam Hussein that his forces are ready to fight and win a possible U.S. invasion, Iraqi media reported Thursday. Hussein met with Lt. Gen. Hamid Rija Shilah and other top air force officers Wednesday to discuss plans to enhance their fighting capabilities, al-Iraq newspaper reported...

Gear of famous British journalist to be auctioned LONDON -- Well-worn travel gear that accompanied intrepid 19th-century journalist Henry Morton Stanley on his search for explorer David Livingstone went on display Thursday at Christie's auction house, where it and other artifacts will be sold....

ARCHBALD, Pa. -- The world's largest pothole has fallen on hard times. Once a tourist magnet, Archbald Pothole State Park in northeastern Pennsylvania now attracts litterbugs, men looking for sex and the occasional geologist drawn by the sheer size of this naturally occurring hole in the ground...

Dennis Hale, the wastewater treatment coordinator for the city of Cape Girardeau, has been awarded a life membership certificate for the Missouri Water and Wastewater Conference. To obtain life membership status, an individual must have been an active member of the MWWC for 25 consecutive years...

Daily American Republic POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- What began as a rescue operation this morning ended more than two hours later after city and county crews extracted a man who was buried when the trench he was working in collapsed. According to Butler County Deputy Coroner Bruce Goin, the victim is identified as Charles Worley...

The first round of the American Legion Zone 4 tournament Thursday did not go the way host Cape Girardeau Ford and Sons hoped. Two errors left Cape in an early hole and then a fifth-inning offensive outburst helped break things open in Festus' 15-4 victory at Capaha Field in a game stopped after six-and-a-half innings by the 10-run rule...

Tonight you might be sitting there listening to The Dempseys' brand of high-test rockabilly, a pleasing cocktail in hand, enjoying the good musicianship when everything suddenly accelerates into overdrive. Joe Fick mounts his horizontal standup bass and becomes Jim Carrey on acid. Brad Birkedahl starts "chicken pickin'" his paisley Telecaster and babyfaced drummer Ron Perrone Jr. kicks the party into riot gear...

Painting, drawing shows open at arts council Exhibitions of paintings by Southeast professor Ronald Clayton and work by the Drawing Group, artists who meet every Wednesday at the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, open today. A reception for the artists will be held today from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the arts council galleries at 119 Independence St...

These are the 10 songs Teri Wondra of Cape Girardeau wouldn't want to live without: 1. "Bluebird" -- David Morgan (boka4u2@aol.com) I included this song in the Christmas gift I gave my kids. It says what I want for them most: "Get the one degree above the Ph.D. ...

HURON, Ohio -- At last we're winding down to the final week here at the Huron Playhouse. "Little Mary Sunshine" opens tomorrow night and runs through Saturday, at which point we'll begin final strike. Final strike consists of insane last hours at the playhouse, bringing down the last of everything we put up and reverting the playhouse back to McCormick Middle School. We'll get less than six hours of sleep before heading to Bowling Green for final load-out on Sunday...

NEWPORT, R.I. -- It was a watershed event in popular music: Bob Dylan, folk music's young minstrel, taking the stage with an electric guitar slung over his shoulder. To the die-hard folkies at Newport on July 25, 1965, it was an outrage. Thirty-seven years later, Dylan is coming back, headlining Saturday's program at the Apple & Eve Newport Folk Festival...

Three stars "Dragonslayer" meets "Mad Max." That's what you can expect from the fantasy "Reign of Fire." The film stars Christian Bale ("Little Women") and Matthew McConaughey ("Ed TV") as two men fighting for mankind's very survival against fire-breathing dragons...

10 years ago: Aug. 2, 1992 Second Missionary Baptist Church has new pastor; the Rev. Clifford Mitchell Sr. is installed in afternoon service; message is given by the Rev. S.W. Oliver, pastor of First Baptist Church in Cairo, Ill. Sedgewickville - The Rev. ...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Vivian Yates, 95, of Cobden died Thursday, Aug. 1, 2002, at Jonesboro Healthcare Center in Jonesboro, Ill. She was born Nov. 24, 1906, at Cobden, daughter of William and Lona Nicholson Garner. She and Henry Clay Yates were married May 7, 1932, in Union County, Ill. He died June 13, 1988...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Shelburne Delaney "Shoddy" Brewer, 92, died Tuesday, July 9, 2002, at Homestead Hospital in Homestead, Fla. He was born Aug. 6, 1909, at Bertrand, Mo., son of George Delaney and Lucy Presson Brewer. He and Dorothy Adelaide Walker were married Nov. 11, 1933, in Sikeston. She died Aug. 23, 1979...

EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. -- Jimmy Miller, 93, of Waterproof, La., died Thursday, Aug. 1, 2002, at Riverland Medical Center in Ferriday, La. He was born Aug. 21, 1908, in Warren, Ark., son of Jim and Laura Johnson Miller. He and Birtha Johnson were married in February 1930. She died Nov. 5, 2001...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Margaret Pratt, 84, of Tamms died Wednesday, July 31, 2002, at Ratliff Care Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 28, 1918, in Tamms, daughter of Henry and Julia Gannon Minton. She and Clovis Pratt were married in 1952. He died July 7, 1977...

Funeral Mass for Shirley Ann Batterton of Cape Girardeau will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Old St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church. The Rev. Gefford Lamprea will officiate. Burial will be in St. Mary's Cemetery. Friends may call at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home from 4 to 6 p.m. today...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Lawrence D. Duggan, 87, of Cairo died Thursday, Aug. 1, 2002, at Daystar Care Center. He was born April 24, 1915, in Cairo, son of Patrick and Catherine Houlihan Duggan. Duggan was a member of St. Patrick's Catholic Church. Survivors include a nephew, John Heaman of Huntsville, Ala...

ANNA, Ill. -- Helen L. Caraker, 78, of Lake Placid, Fla., formerly of Anna, died Wednesday, July 31, 2002, at her home. Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Anna is in charge of arrangements.

ANNA, Ill. -- Frank L. Crider, 73, formerly of Tamms, Ill., died Thursday, Aug. 1, 2002, at the Illinois Veterans Home in Anna. Friends may call after 6 p.m. Sunday at Crain Funeral Home in Tamms. Funeral service will be at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home with the Rev. Larry Buckles officiating. Burial in St. Adalbert Cemetery in Niles, Ill...

ORAN, Mo. -- Teresa Mary Brucker, 76, of Grandview, Mo., died Tuesday, July 30, 2002. She was born Jan. 20, 1926, in Oran. Brucker had lived in the Kansas City area since 1949. She was a member of VFW Auxiliary in Cape Girardeau. Survivors include three sons, Mike Brucker of Grandview, Bill Brucker of Overland Park, Kan., John Brucker of Belton, Mo.; two sisters, Bertha Rommel of Cape Girardeau, Geneva Phillips of Grandview; eight grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren...

CYPRESS, Ill. -- The Rev. Lowell G. West, 81, of Cypress died Tuesday, July 30, 2002, at his home. He was born Oct. 14, 1920, in Dongola, Ill., son of Joseph and Stella Turner West. He married Hildah Troutman. West was pastor of Mt. Olive Baptist Church near Dongola, and had pastored several Baptist churches in the area. He also farmed...

MORLEY, Mo. -- Owen Dudley "Red" Wells Jr., 76, of Morley died Thursday, Aug. 1, 2002, at his home. He was born Aug. 6, 1925, at Benton, Mo., son of Owen Dudley and Lavinia Jane Eaves Wells. He and Ruth Jean Smith were married Jan. 29, 1947, at Morley...

Make wall into The Wall I HAVE another idea for reviving downtown Cape. It would attract lots of people, particularly teens and young adults. Extend the height of the wall by the river and turn it into a rock-climbing wall. It could have a simple name like "The Wall" and use a sound system to play the classic of the same name in the background...

To the editor: Why does David Limbaugh keep pounding at the Democrats and Bill Clinton? Why don't the Republicans take the blame for rising unemployment, huge deficits, falling stock markets and the inability of our Washington officials, especially President Bush, to do something about the whole mess?...

The only local tax issue in Cape Girardeau County on Tuesday's ballot is a $550,000 revenue bond issue that would provide startup financing for Public Water Supply District No. 5 serving the Nell Holcomb and Egypt Mills areas north of Cape Girardeau...

Missouri and Cape Girardeau County election officials expect about one out of every four registered voters to go to the polls Tuesday for the primary election. Primary elections are held to reduce the number of candidates to one for each party. In addition, there are some important issues on Tuesday's ballot...

Cape Girardeau Friday, Aug. 2 Firefighters responded to the following calls Thursday:At 12:02 a.m., a request for emergency medical service at 2011 N. Kingshighway. At 7:45 a.m., a request for emergency medical service at Cape Girardeau Police Department, 40 S. Sprigg...

Jackson Friday, Aug. 2 ArrestsJohn D. Gillman, 18, of 1225 Brandom, Apt. 1, and Jordan R. Walker, 20, of 621 W. Washington St. were arrested Wednesday for second-degree assault. Phillip E. Thomas, 33, of 325 Elm St. was arrested Wednesday on a Jackson warrant for failure to appear in court to answer charges of trespassing...

Cape Girardeau Friday, Aug. 2 DWILawrence Gates, 24, of 430 Sheridan, Apt. 8A was arrested Wednesday for driving while intoxicated. ArrestsShawn Dobbs, 25, of 801 Good Hope, Apt. 7, was arrested Wednesday for driving while suspended, failure to signal, no proof of insurance and no seatbelt...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Trains remain such a common backdrop of life in this Bootheel town that their sights and sounds blend in with everyday life. And that, authorities warn, can have fatal consequences. Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Brent Davis spent Tuesday riding the rails of Dexter as part of the patrol's "trooper on the train" program, designed to increase awareness about the dangers of railroad crossings...

Here is the formula for calculating body mass index:Your weight in pounds ÷ your height in inches ÷ your height in inches x 703 = BMI Normal weight is a score of 25 or less. Overweight is a score of 26 to 30. Obese is a score of more than 30...

MIAMI -- A.J. Burnett was throwing 99 mph in the first and ninth innings, making it a tough night for the Cardinals. Burnett pitched a four-hitter for his major league-leading fourth shutout as the Florida Marlins beat the Cardinals 4-0 Thursday night...

MACOMB, Ill. -- Dealing with a heat wave, the St. Louis Rams will hold three night practices under portable lighting next week. It was 98 degrees midway through the team's afternoon workout Thursday, although there were few heat-related woes. Defensive end Ryan Pickett left the field with about a half-hour to go in the two-hour practice...

Ray Lewis agreed to a five-year contract extension Thursday that includes a $19 million signing bonus and keeps the All-Pro linebacker with the Ravens through 2008. Lewis' new seven-year contract is worth approximately $50 million. Lewis had two years left on a deal that was to pay him $4.75 million each year...

LANCASTER, Calif. -- Two teen-age girls abducted at gunpoint early Thursday from a lovers' lane were rescued 100 miles away after their kidnapper crashed his getaway car and was shot to death by sheriff's deputies, authorities said. Kern County Sheriff Carl Sparks said he was certain the kidnapper was minutes away from killing the girls and had chosen a remote location in the high desert. He said the girls had been raped...

NEW YORK -- Two former WorldCom executives were arrested Thursday on charges of falsifying the books by $3.8 billion at the now-bankrupt long-distance company -- the second time in a week that American business leaders were led away in handcuffs. Former chief financial officer Scott Sullivan, 40, and former controller David Myers, 44, surrendered to the FBI in the latest blow to the company and corporate America, which has seen investors bail out of the stock market because of one accounting scandal after another.. ...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Did a 27-year-old with perfect vision and admitted pickiness help prevent disaster on the space shuttle? NASA may never know, but the manager of the shuttle program said inspections will be more thorough from now on. The first of 11 tiny hairline cracks that grounded the entire shuttle fleet was spotted by David Strait, a sometime surfer with 20/20 vision who works for United Space Alliance, one of NASA's contractors...

PITTSBURGH -- A private cheerleading coach has been convicted of having sex with two teen-age girls he had taken to London. Scott Hayward, 34, was found guilty Wednesday of transporting two minors out of state to have illegal sex. The coach, who was acquitted of charges involving a third teen, faces up to 15 years in prison...

LOS ANGELES -- A recorded phone call shows that months before Robert Blake's wife Bonny Lee Bakley was killed, the son of actor Marlon Brando angrily warned her: "You're lucky somebody ain't out there to put a bullet in your head." The exchange with Christian Brando was released by Blake defense lawyer Harland Braun, who cited it as evidence of Bakley's ability to provoke people, as well as a flawed investigation. Blake has been charged in the shooting...

Magazines report Affleck, Lopez dating NEW YORK -- People magazine and Us Weekly have dueling Ben Affleck-Jennifer Lopez stories on their covers. Both are reporting, according to anonymous pals and close sources, the two are an item. People's Aug. 12 issue quotes sources who say the singer-actress began introducing Affleck to friends as her boyfriend three days before she and her second husband, dancer Cris Judd, filed for divorce last month. She and Judd had been married for 10 months...

A visit to Whiteman Air Force Base near Knob Noster, Mo, made for a busy day. About 50 folks from around the state, including Sharon Stinson, Bob Blank, Steve Strong and I from Cape Girardeau, were guests Tuesday of the Missouri Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, with Butch Boyd as our affable host...

MACOMB, Ill. -- Kevin Greene and Jackie Slater, who frequently sparred as Los Angeles Rams teammates, are at it again. The former stars are guest coaches on opposite sides of the ball at the St. Louis Rams' training camp, adding an interesting note to the proceedings. A lot of fire, too...

By Tammy Gwaltney In the last few weeks there have been several stories in the news media detailing the recent kidnapping, sexual abuse and murder of children in this country. Also this summer stories of sexual abuse by church leaders have dominated our news media. These events are absolutely horrifying and bring all of us a sense of fear about how to protect children...

Baseball The Royals recalled right-hander Runelvys Hernandez from Double-A Wichita to start Thursday's game against the Blue Jays. After the Royals' 3-2 loss to the Blue Jays, the Royals activated left-hander Jeremy Affeldt, who had been on the disabled list with a finger blister and broken nail...

Southeast football newcomers report today Southeast Missouri State University's football program will welcome about 40 newcomers today. That group includes freshmen, junior-college transfers and four-year transfers. The newcomers will have their first workout in shorts at 5 p.m. Saturday. About 50 veterans will report Monday, with the Indians' first full-squad practice scheduled for Wednesday morning...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Campaign contributions to candidates for the 157th District seat in the House of Representatives had neared the $100,000 mark with less than two weeks to go before Election Day. Through July 25, the four Republicans and one Democrat vying for the seat had collected nearly $96,000 combined from donors. Counting loans some candidates made to their campaigns, total receipts for the candidates had topped $107,000...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The same provision of Proposition B that could help improve funding for the Missouri State Highway Patrol also has the potential to cost the patrol money and even expose it to a lawsuit over an unconstitutional use of highway fund revenue...

A Nashville-based development group has reached a deal to buy the former Albertsons building in Cape Girardeau and has already held discussions with interested tenants such as Kohl's, Kroger and Food Lion. The group -- MRW Retail -- has inked a contract to buy the building at the corner of Independence and Kingshighway and the deal is set to close Aug. 23, said Glenn Wilson, a partner in the three-man development group...

MAYOR'S NEW JOB By Scott Moyers ~ Southeast Missourian Steve Taylor and Jay Knudtson have left their top executive positions at Bank of America to help start a new bank in Cape Girardeau, a move they say will enable them to get away from the specialized world of mega-banking and back to their roots of community-style finance...

They're eager for a license, but it's the test drive that scares them. That hasn't changed for half a century. Missouri has required driver license exams, both written and behind the wheel, since 1952. Driver exams in Cape Girardeau date back to August of that year...

To find a large variety of freshwater animals in the United States, you don't have to go outside Missouri. The fish, crayfish, mussel, and amphibian fauna of Missouri is more diverse than that of most neighboring states. The diversity of freshwater animals in our state is a result of the variety of habitats that occur here, and the ability of the animals to use these habitats. But will we be able to maintain this diversity...

Boats, trucks, all-terain vehicles, farm equipment and office furniture are among items the Missouri Department of Conservation will sell at two upcoming surplus property auctions. The auctions are Aug. 17 in Brookfield and Oct. 12 in Salem. Conservation Department auctions typically include sport-utility vehicles, sedans, tractors, lawn mowers and other power equipment. Office equipment like copiers, cabinets, shelves, desks, cameras and air conditioners is often included...

WASHINGTON -- FBI and Postal Service agents wearing protective gloves conducted a second search Thursday at the apartment of a former Army researcher considered a "person of interest" in the investigation of last year's deadly anthrax mailings. The FBI gained a search warrant to look inside Steven J. ...

WASHINGTON -- A longtime friend and adviser to Attorney General John Ashcroft signed up Oklahoma City bombing survivors as clients with a promise to use his connections to win them government compensation in exchange for 10 percent to 27.5 percent of the proceeds...

WASHINGTON -- Congress on Thursday returned to the president the power to negotiate trade agreements, passing legislation that also helps workers hurt by the economic fallout from global commerce. "We can show the world that America will lead the way in building a new consensus on international trade," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont...

WASHINGTON -- The Senate on Thursday approved new judges for U.S. District Court in Missouri, confirming the nominations of St. Louis Circuit Judge Henry Autrey to the Eastern District and Springfield lawyer Richard Dorr to the Western District. The 94 U.S. district courts are the government's trial courts, with jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases. Next come the 13 circuit courts of appeals...

One vacationer passing through Southeast Missouri may want to avoid bridges altogether in the future. Truck driver Andy Higginson of Fox Transport, from Paxton Ill., had to guide Bob Bahna's motor home past his oversized load on the Mississippi River bridge at Cape Girardeau Wednesday after the two vehicles became wedged against each other and the sides of the bridge as they attempted to pass. ...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Two Cape Girardeau men have been charged in the kidnapping and murder of Ralph L. Lape Jr., who investigators say was forced from his rural Jackson home, shot in the head and buried in a shallow grave near Portageville, Mo. Mark A. Gill, 31, of 2601 Janet Drive, and Justin M. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- While the federal government is trying to slow recruitment of veterans into the department's already overwhelmed healthcare system, Missouri is taking the opposite approach. Gov. Bob Holden has announced that a new, toll-free state hot line has been created to improve veterans' access to all benefits, including health care. The number is 1 (866) 838-4636...

Perhaps the fact that three of the 13 members of Cape Girardeau's Citizens Finance Task Force missed even the group's inaugural meeting was indicative of things to come. The idea for the task force was a good one. Cape Girardeau, city officials say, is in deep financial trouble. ...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Local narcotics officers hope fingerprints may lead them to the alleged methamphetamine manufacturers that recently left their labs abandoned. SEMO Drug Task Force officer P.R. Neely said the recovery of abandoned labs and lab materials is a common occurrence...

10 years ago: Aug. 3, 1992 Fueled by high-profile race for governor and heated races for local offices, voter turnout in Tuesday's primary is expected to be high; among those running for governor are Republicans State Treasure Wendell Bailey, Secretary of State Roy Blunt and Attorney General William Webster, and Democrats Lt. Gov. Mel Carnahan and St. Louis Mayor Vince Schoemehl...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Wanda Mae Huffman, 69, of Marble Hill died Friday, Aug. 2, 2002, at Elder Care of Marble Hill. She was born Aug. 21, 1932, daughter of Henry Washington and Beulah Mae Jacobs Fox. She and Melvin M. Huffman were married March 12, 1949, in Piggott, Ark. He died Jan. 5, 1990...

Robert G. Landers, 70, of Downers Grove, Ill., formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Thursday, Aug. 1, 2002, at his home. Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

ANNA, Ill. -- Paul Stanley Pearce, 86, of Anna died Friday, Aug. 2, 2002, at Illinois Veterans Home in Anna. He was born Oct. 10, 1915, in Anna, son of William Elijah and Amanda Pyles Pearce. He married Gladys N. Bean, who preceded him in death. Pearce was a barber in Anna from 1951 until retiring. He was a member of Anna United Methodist Church...

William Malcom "Bill" Willett, 73, of Cedar Hill, Mo., died Friday, Aug. 2, 2002, at his home. He was born March 24, 1929, in Detroit, Mich., son of Merlin Charles and Mary Cordelia Roberts Willett. He and Margie Collins were married in St. Louis...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- James Dale Talley, 48, of Advance died Friday, Aug. 2, 2002, at his home. He was born July 30, 1954, in Advance, son of August and Merlene Rea Talley. Talley was a painter. He was a veteran of the U.S. Navy. Survivors include three sons, Jeremy Talley of Farmington, Mo., Jody Talley of Brownwood, Mo., Travis Talley of Advance; a daughter, April Robinson of California; his mother, Merlene Hill of Advance; five brothers, Sammy Talley of Cape Girardeau, Kenny Talley and Michael Sparkman of Brownwood, Mo., Tooter Talley of Dexter, Mo., Terry Sparkman of Sikeston, Mo.; a sister, Cindy Umfleet of Brownwood; and a grandchild.. ...

ANNA, Ill. -- The funeral for Helen L. Caraker of Lake Placid, Fla., will be at 11 a.m. Monday at Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Anna. The Rev. Dewayne Taylor will officiate. Burial will be in Anna Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 6 to 9 p.m. Sunday...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Frank L. Crider, 73, formerly of Tamms, died Thursday, Aug. 1, 2002, at Illinois Veterans Home in Anna, Ill. He was born Sept. 6, 1928, at Tamms, son of John Logan and Dora Hardy Crider. His wife, Frances Mary "Susie" Crider, died in 1987...

ORAN, Mo. -- Myrtle May McClain, 72, of Oran died Thursday, Aug. 1, 2002, at her home. She was born Feb. 24, 1930, at Chaffee, Mo., daughter of Carl and Annie Brown Hubbard. She and Millard A. McClain were married March 1, 1946. He died Feb. 25, 1979...

The funeral for the Rev. John H. Walker of Cape Girardeau will be held at 2 p.m. today at Vinyard Funeral Home in Festus, Mo. Dr. Clayton Smith will officiate. Burial will be in Festus Methodist Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from noon until time of service...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Kenneth Leslie Buck, 68, of Jackson died Friday, Aug. 2, 2002, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Sept. 19, 1933, in Cape Girardeau, son of Dorman and Georgia Smith Buck. He and Bessie Daniel were married April 3, 1953, in St. Louis...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Martha Lou Kelley, 62, of Jackson died Friday, Aug. 2, 2002, at her son's home in O'Fallon, Mo. She was born Aug. 18, 1939, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Charley Lee and Lelia O. Statler Seabaugh. She had lived in Jackson all her life and was a member of First Baptist Church. She was a graduate of Jackson High School in 1957 and attended Southeast Missouri State University for two years...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Sarah Volkerding, 33, of Jackson died Friday, Aug. 2, 2002, at her home. Arrangements are incomplete at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson.

JACKSON, Mo. -- Ralph Lee Lape Jr., 54, of Jackson died Thursday, Aug. 1, 2002, near Portageville, Mo. He was born April 13, 1948, at Cape Girardeau, son of the late Ralph and Edna Marie Graser Lape Sr. Ralph was a retired railroad conductor with the Burlington Northern Railway Co. in Chaffee. He served in the U.S. Air Force...

MORLEY, Mo. -- Elena M. Peer, 98, of Memphis, Tenn., formerly of Chaffee, Mo., died Thursday, Aug. 1, 2002, at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis. She was born Oct. 7, 1903, at Morehouse, Mo., daughter of Adolphus and Ollie Bratton Moseley. She and Armon L. Peer were married Oct. 12, 1922. He died Dec. 3, 1982...

Florence M. Carr, 77, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Aug. 2, 2002, at the Lutheran Home. She was born March 14, 1925, at Birds Point, Mo., daughter of Emory E. and Rosa E. Baugh Brown. She married Benjamin F. "Bud" Carr Dec. 24, 1948, in Cairo, Ill. He died March 19, 1988...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Honey "Lou" Haley, 72, of Pflugerville, Texas, and formerly of Scott City, Mo., passed away Saturday, July 27, 2002. The daughter of the late Jack Hill and Cele Potter-Strieff, she was born Jan. 7, 1930, in Cook County, Ill. She graduated from Central High School in Cape Girardeau...

Make it like jury duty I HAD to laugh when I read the article, "Counties wrestle with lack of labor for polls." One longtime poll worker says young adults don't want to work the polls because elections don't interest them. I'm in my 30s. My husband and I are very interested in elections. ...

To the editor: I was really impressed with the article about Lindenwood University and its bartering system. I hope Southeast Missouri State University and other area colleges take a look at this option. It would not only help immensely with the budget problems that colleges are facing, but it also would make valuable use of area resources as well as helping provide good educations to people who otherwise might be struggling financially or would not otherwise be able to obtain further education...

To the editor: Recently, Jeff Augustine wrote a letter regarding wiffleball and his tournament coming up in September. I would like to publicly thank Jeff for introducing me to this great game. It was years ago on a Sunday afternoon when I was invited to Sherwood Street for a weekly wiffleball pickup game. It was then that I fell in love with the sport. That evening I came home and threw down four bases in my backyard, and my own wiffleball field took off from there...

What is your favorite season? "As long as the earth lasts, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter and day and night shall not cease" (Genesis 8). Do you believe life is about accomplishment and feel the lackadaisical atmosphere of summer is wasted? Perhaps you share my preference for fall and winter because of the brisk, productive atmosphere, and like me, have rarely relished the laziness of summer. ...

BOSTON -- In his first public court appearance since the sexual abuse scandal erupted here in January, Cardinal Bernard Law insisted Friday that an announced multimillion-dollar settlement with dozens of alleged victims was never final. As the cardinal's defended the decision to back out of a $15 million to $30 million accord with 86 adults who claim they were molested by former priest John J. ...

Sunday This Hope, a male group, will perform at 7 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Jackson, Mo. The music includes a cappella and accompanied music. Special message Sunday at First Church of God is "The Lord is my shepherd." Mark Ramsey will preach...

London, July 29. A.D. 2002. Why, when I leave the stove for five minutes, does it burn every time, and yet a watched pot never boils? Why does a young child's summer holiday feel endless, and a trip seems over before it started? St. Augustine of Hippo in the 5th century posed a riddle: "What, then, is time? I know well enough what it is, provided that nobody asks me, but if I am asked what it is and try to explain, I am baffled."...

First Church of God sets Vacation Bible school First Church of God will hold its "Animal Planet" vacation Bible school from 6 to 8 p.m. on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday from Aug. 11 to 21. The events are open to children ages 5 to 12. The evening includes games, prizes and crafts...

Cape Girardeau school superintendent Mark Bowles may be one of the most positive people on the planet. He's facing a difficult first day of school as a major reshuffling takes place with the opening of the new Central High School building. The new state-of-the-art building is on Silver Springs Road, but whether that road will be paved or still under construction is up in the air...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, Aug. 3 Firefighters responded to the following calls Thursday:At 5:27 p.m., after-hours burning, 840 S. Ellis St. At 6:38 p.m., an emergency medical service at 1717 College. At 9:05 p.m., an emergency medical service at motor vehicle accident at 712 Independence...

Cape Girardeau County Sheriff Saturday, Aug. 3 DWIWilliam D. Bollinger, 46, of Marble Hill, Mo., was arrested July 26 for driving while intoxicated, driving while revoked and operating a motor vehicle in a careless and imprudent manner. Gregory S. Hill, 20, of Chaffee, Mo., was arrested July 26 for driving while intoxicated...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, Aug. 3 ArrestsChanda Edmonds, 30, of 103 N. Clark, Apt. 103 was arrested Thursday for possession of a controlled substance. Curtis Skaggs, 37, of 407 Mount Auburn was arrested Friday on a state warrant for probation violation...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Jackson police are searching for a man who made off with $500 in a holdup at the Country Mart Store at 309 E. Jackson Boulevard early Friday. At 1:27 a.m., a 6-foot white male in a black ski mask and dark clothing displayed a handgun to a clerk and demanded money, police said. The man drove away in an older model flat-bed pickup truck. Witnesses said the truck might have had an old couch in back...

LEADERSHIP CAPE The mission of the Leadership Cape Girardeau Program is to identify and motivate emerging leaders and to develop their potential for community leadership roles by exposing them to the opportunities, realities and challenges of our community. The following is a list of the 2002 Leadership Cape group and the projects they worked on:...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri ranks only slightly ahead of last-place Arkansas in its participation of a federal funding program to help fund telecommunication improvements in rural schools, libraries and healthcare facilities. Six years ago Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, designed to deregulate the telecom industry and promote competition in a market that had operated as a monopoly in the past. ...

WASHINGTON -- A friend of Attorney General John Ashcroft who tried to win government compensation for Oklahoma City victims also lobbied Ashcroft's agency to get an antitrust case started on behalf of one of his clients, officials said Friday. Attorney Charles Polk met and discussed the matter with at least two Ashcroft staffers in Washington, but the request was referred to a Justice Department career lawyer in Chicago and ultimately rejected last week...

WASHINGTON -- More than 2 million documents filed by foreigners, from change of address forms to requests for benefits, have been piling up for years and only now are being reviewed by the government, senior U.S. officials said Friday. Immigrant advocates say that raises the possibility some foreigners deported in secret after Sept. 11 were in compliance with laws they were expelled for breaking. INS officials say that has not occurred...

WASHINGTON -- There's little artful about the federal budget book -- it's thick, heavy and plain-looking. But in the Italian city-state of Siena during the 1200s, lawmakers made government balance sheets a work of art. The unusual artwork is on display at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. It's the first time the items have been shown outside Italy...

WASHINGTON -- The nation's unemployment rate remained stuck at 5.9 percent in July with a disappointing 6,000 new jobs created, increasing worries that the fledgling recovery could be in danger of stalling out. Friday's report by the Labor Department capped a week of dismal data in which economists' hopes for signs of a rebound were dashed. Analysts had expected about 60,2000 new jobs for July instead of the meager 6,000...

WASHINGTON -- The government must reveal the names of those held in the investigation of the Sept. 11 attacks, a federal judge ruled Friday, rejecting claims terrorists could use the information to plot new crimes. The Justice Department has not justified a blanket policy of secrecy about more than 1,000 people picked up since the jetliner attacks, U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler ruled. She gave the government 15 days to provide the names...

WASHINGTON -- The Senate Intelligence Committee's top Republican says he believes Iraq is developing weapons of mass destruction at multiple sites and a pre-emptive strike is warranted to stop Saddam Hussein from doing "irreparable damage" to Americans...

CARTERVILLE, Mo. -- When the wind blows just right, the smell wafting out of Carterville's west end has been described as rotting bacon. The smell is, in fact, used cooking grease recycled at Fleming Grease Co. The lot it sits on is zoned commercial, but area residents living nearby say the smell is so overpowering that it forces them to go in their homes...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Requests for help from pregnant immigrants who spoke little English led to the birth of Springfield's first Hispanic newspaper. Roberto Velazquez and his wife, Maria Del Rosario Velazquez, were often approached by women at church for help in finding Spanish-speaking doctors. With three children of their own, they gladly offered advice...

ST. LOUIS -- One of six people accused in a scheme to steal more than $2 million from St. Charles' former Station Casino was ordered Friday to spend two years and three months in federal prison and pay $1.9 million in restitution. Samarian Tillman, 29, of the St. Louis suburb of Dellwood, was among six former Station Casino workers indicted in February...

HARRISONVILLE, Mo. -- A teenager who phoned in a false bomb threat to his high school less than three weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks was sentenced Friday to four months in a boot camp. If Clinton Calhoun, 18, completes the camp satisfactorily, he will be allowed to finish five years of supervised probation...

The Washington Post NABLUS, West Bank -- Hundreds of Israeli troops and armored vehicles blitzed into Nablus Friday and combed the alleyways in search of Palestinian militants connected to Israeli civilian attacks. At least three Palestinians were killed and five injured when the Israelis punched in about 2 a.m. ...

UNITED NATIONS -- United Nations Secretary-general Kofi Annan reacted coolly Friday to Iraq's invitation for its chief weapons inspector to visit Baghdad and lay framework to resume U.N. weapons inspections after four years. Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri sent a letter to Annan Thursday proposing talks with Hans Blix, the chief U.N. ...

KARACHI, Pakistan -- An elite force of karate-kicking anti-terrorist fighters will begin riding on domestic Pakistani passenger jets this month. The new sky marshals are gaining attention in the conservative Islamic society -- not only for their skills, but because nine are women...

Israel military says Gaza bombing was mistake JERUSALEM -- The Israeli military said Friday that faulty intelligence was to blame for the deaths of 14 civilians -- most of them women and children -- in an air attack on a Gaza City apartment building that successfully targeted and killed a Hamas military leader last month...

U.S. official praises Vietnam openness on POW/MIAs By Tini Tran The Associated Press HANOI, Vietnam -- Vietnam has agreed to new measures to help account for Americans missing from the Vietnam War, including giving U.S. experts access to government archives, a senior U.S. official said Friday...

Students welcome, hard-liners criticize decision to allow girls to attend classes without headscarves Eds: AMs. AP Photo planned By AFSHIN VALINEJAD Associated Press WriterTEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- For the first time since Muslim clerics took control of the country in the Islamic revolution 23 years ago, girls will be allowed to go without headscarves and robes in all-female schools in Tehran -- a move religious hard-liners criticized as "encouraging nudity."...

MOSCOW -- Russian officials tried Friday to smooth over the dispute with the United States over Moscow's nuclear cooperation with Iran, dismissing their own newly released plan to build additional civilian reactors there as merely a draft outlining theoretical possibilities...

By Paisley Dodds ~ The Associated Press KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- President Hamid Karzai dismissed allegations Friday that the United States tried to cover up a deadly airstrike and said a continued American presence was crucial to Afghanistan's future...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- With the entire space shuttle fleet grounded this summer by fuel-line cracks, NASA said Friday it will weld the flawed plumbing and aim for a late-September launch. Space shuttle program manager Ron Dittemore said NASA has assembled "a Super Bowl of welders" from across the country for the unprecedented job, which will begin next week on shuttle Atlantis. The hope is to launch Atlantis on a belated space station construction mission as early as Sept. 28...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Gov. Jeb Bush appointed a temporary secretary of state Friday to replace Katherine Harris, who has been criticized by Democrats for mishandling her resignation to run for Congress. Jim Smith, a former secretary of state, becomes Florida's top elections official as the state prepares to hold its first general and state primary elections since 2000, when the election ended in a presidential recount watched around the world...

NEW YORK -- There were years, Omar Belazi says, when he willingly logged 65-hour weeks, stayed late to vacuum the store's floor and clean the bathroom, and surrendered his Sundays to hit sales targets. But a decade later he grew tired of waiting for the payback...

The Washington Post A Frederick, Md., doctor whose apartment was searched by federal agents for a second time Thursday in the ongoing anthrax investigation was suspended from his job Friday, his attorney said. Steven J. Hatfill, 48, a former Army researcher and biochemist at Fort Detrick, the Pentagon's top biodefense research center, has not been charged and has not been called a suspect in last fall's anthrax mailings, which killed five people, authorities said...

Voight takes father-daughter feud public LOS ANGELES -- Actor Jon Voight has taken his family feud with actress-daughter Angelina Jolie to television. Voight, who won a best-actor Oscar for the 1978 Vietnam War drama "Coming Home," requested an interview with the syndicated TV show "Access Hollywood" to say he is "broken-hearted" that Jolie won't talk to him. When he tried to approach her at a recent party, he said, a security guard turned him away...

Construction crews could begin restoring and renovating the Marquette Hotel within 90 days, says the head of the company that now owns the historic building. Vaughn Prost, chairman of the board of Jefferson City, Mo.-based Prost Builders, said a sign soon will go up soliciting private tenants for the building. The state will be the building's primary lessee, occupying offices on three of the renovated floors...

Leadership Cape, an annually revolving group of up-and-comers from various business and education organizations throughout the community, sets out every year to come up with new concepts that will make Cape Girardeau a better place to live and visit...

The Students of Missouri Assisting Rural and Urban Transportation, or SMART, were joined by Gov. Bob Holden in Cape Girardeau Friday as a part of the students' continuing efforts to promote Proposition B. The SMART group was formed more than two years ago by a group of Canton, Mo., students after a classmate was killed on a two-lane stretch of Highway 61...

WASHINGTON -- Some members of a congressional inquiry into the Sept. 11 attacks are rejecting FBI suggestions they undergo lie detector tests as part of an investigation into leaks from the panel -- a probe they had requested. Among those objecting are two leaders of the inquiry: House Democratic Whip Nancy Pelosi of California and Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., who have said the tests intrude on the separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches...

SLIDELL, La. -- An outbreak of West Nile virus has infected 58 Louisiana residents and killed four, prompting the governor to declare an emergency Friday and ask for federal aid for more mosquito spraying across this hot, humid and swampy state. The West Nile deaths are the first in the country this year and raise the national toll to 22 since 1999, when the mosquito-borne virus was first detected in the United States...

Cape Girardeau Ford & Sons entered the American Legion Zone 4 Tournament with high hopes of proving that it belonged in the field. Instead, Cape had two of its worst performances of the season and was the first squad to be eliminated from the five-team event, courtesy of Friday's ugly 15-9 loss to Anheuser-Busch at Capaha Field...

Nathan Baker will attend Southeast Missouri State University on a baseball scholarship. Friday, the recent Kennett High School graduate turned in quite a performance on the field he plans to be calling home for the next several years. Baker pitched a complete-game shutout and went 4-for-4 at the plate as he led Dunklin County past Festus 8-0 in a winner's bracket game of the American Legion Zone 4 Tournament at Capaha Field...

For Chris Sledge, playing baseball for the Capahas isn't all about being discovered any more, he simply loves to play the game. Sledge, 24, an offensive catalyst in Monday's victory over the Austin (Texas) Gold Sox in the first round of the National Baseball Congress World Series, is one of the so-called old guys on the team. ...

Briefly Baseball Expos president Tony Tavares and general manager Omar Minaya asked New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner to apologize for his criticism of the deal that sent Cliff Floyd to Boston...

Southeast soccer team taking trip to Canada The Southeast Missouri State University women's soccer team is getting ready for an 11-day tour of Canada to play exhibition games in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia, from Aug. 7-17. Seventeen returning players will face various squads, including several from the Canada West Conference, a semi-pro team and the U-19 Australian National team...

NEW YORK -- With a pivotal week of talks upcoming, baseball players hope there's enough progress in negotiations to make setting a strike deadline unnecessary. The union's executive board will meet by telephone conference call Tuesday, but a decision on setting a strike date is unlikely then, two people familiar with the union's deliberations said Friday on the condition they not be identified...

MACOMB, Ill. -- Every play Ryan Pickett is on the field, he hears the words: "Come on Grease!" The St. Louis Rams' second-year defensive tackle with the distinctive nickname can't escape the scrutiny of line coach Bill Kollar. And it's working...

VENICE, Italy -- There could be even more changes in figure skating results from the Salt Lake City Olympics. They might even be thrown out. Two top IOC officials on Friday left open the possibility of changing final scores in pairs and ice dancing from the games, depending on the investigation into an alleged vote-swapping deal orchestrated by a reputed Russian mobster...

RAMS GET MORE TIME OFF DUE TO HEAT St. Louis Rams players are getting a break from the heat wave, with one practice called off for Saturday and a full day off scheduled on Sunday. "It has been very, very hot," coach Mike Martz said Friday. "Our trainers and doctors have monitored the players closely. We're giving them some well-earned time off...

Atlanta wins opener of series between division leaders 11-5. By Tom Saladino ~ The Associated Press ATLANTA -- Wes Helms hit his first career grand slam, and Chipper Jones added a three-run homer as the Atlanta Braves beat the St. Louis Cardinals 11-5 Friday night in a matchup of division leaders...

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Derek Lowe allowed two hits in seven innings to become the AL's second 15-game winner as the Boston Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers 13-0 Friday night. Trot Nixon hit a three-run homer and a two-run shot, tying his career high with five RBIs. Brian Daubach also had a two-run homer for the Red Sox, who recovered from a 19-7 loss to Texas on Thursday night...

PITTSBURGH -- Brian Giles's two-run double won it in the ninth after San Francisco closer Robb Nen was within one strike of his 300th save three times, and the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied past the Giants 6-5 Friday night. The Giants lost their eighth in 11 games and missed a chance to tie Los Angeles for the NL wild card lead...

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. -- Steve Lowery, getting positive vibes from his victory here in 1994, carded seven birdies and one bogey to claim the second-round lead Friday in The International. Lowery, who began the day with 8 points under the modified Stableford scoring system used in this event, overcame windy conditions to score 13 points and boost his total to 21...

Reverend paraphrases the Bible in everyday language On the Net: NavPress: www.navpress.com By Tom Laceky ~ The Associated Press HELENA, Mont. -- In the Rev. Eugene H. Peterson's retelling of the Bible, when Jesus raises a young girl from the dead, he first has to work his way through neighbors bringing casseroles to the grieving family's home...

A generation gap doesn't exist when Pope John Paul II gathers with youths, and a group of teenagers from Southeast Missouri got the chance to see how inspiring and enthusiastic the head of their church can be. Thirty-one youths and adults from St. Mary's Cathedral and St. Vincent de Paul parishes in Cape Girardeau joined more than 800,000 young Catholics from across the globe for World Youth Day events last week in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. "z7>...

SEOUL, South Korea -- North and South Korea agreed Sunday to restart high-level talks next week, getting their stalled reconciliation process back on track, according to a South Korean new report. The agreement, reached at three-day meeting at a North Korean mountain resort, called for the two sides to hold Cabinet-level talks in Seoul on Aug. 12-14, said YTN, an all-news cable network...

Southeast Missouri State University's football team continues to get little respect around the Ohio Valley Conference, which third-year coach Tim Billings understands completely. The way Billings sees it, the Indians don't deserve a whole lot of respect right now. And it's basically up to them to change things...

So the Holden Lug on state workers' paychecks is becoming a reality after all. Thirteen months after Gov. Bob Holden's infamous executive order instituting collective bargaining for state employees, a key feature of forced unionization is coming into focus...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan - The lull in the hunt for al-Qaida and Taliban leaders in Afghanistan has Afghans and Americans alike demanding that the U.S. military make clear what it is doing here and how much longer it plans to keep doing it. Four months after the last major military engagement of the Afghan war, the U.S.-led military coalition has more than 10,000 troops on the ground. ...

BEIJING - Chen Zhaoliang aspires to become a living contradiction. A practicing capitalist, Chen applied last August to become a card-carrying member of the Communist Party. He submitted his application almost immediately after China's leaders announced that the party would open its doors to entrepreneurs, ending its long-standing vilification of people like Chen as "class enemies." In a land where the private sector now accounts for more than a third of economic output, the party knew it had to do something to stay relevant.. ...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. When Woodland schools superintendent Bill Biggerstaff arrived for work on the morning of May 13, he found the inside of the building soaking wet and coated with an inch of mud. "We walked in and saw mud and water, things turned over. Outside the building there was debris everywhere. Water was still standing on the lawn. It looked like a disaster area," Biggerstaff said...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Smith of Tamms celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a reception and dinner June 15, 2002, at the Community Center. Smith and Dorothy Newell were married June 14, 1952, in Waurika, Oklahoma. Their children and spouses are Glenda and Mike Hamilton of Henderson, Ky., and Kenny and Gail Smith of Tamms...

Jim and Bessie Crites of Cape Girardeau celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a dinner June 9, 2002, at Calvary Temple. Hosts were their daughters, Sandra Weiss of St. Louis and Jan Huber of Oak Ridge, Mo. The couple was married June 14, 1952...

Mr. and Mrs. Roger Rebert of Carthage, Texas, formerly of Cape Girardeau, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary July 25, 2002. Rebert and Anna Lou Craig were married in 1942 in Greenup, Ky. He is a retired sales manager with Aerovent Co. in Lansing, Mich...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Mr. and Mrs. Edward Hahn of Jackson celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary with a reception July 14, 2002, at New McKendree United Methodist Church. The event was hosted by their daughter and son-in-law, Saundra and Clarence "Dub" Suedekum of Cape Girardeau...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Larry and Karen Kohlfeld of Perryville announce the engagement of their daughter, Andrea Kohlfeld, to Scott Ponder of Perryville. He is the son of Jerry and Shirley Burroughs of Altenburg, Mo. Kohlfeld is a 1997 graduate of St. Vincent's High School, received administrative assistant certification from Southeast Missouri State University in 2001, and expects to graduate from the university in December 2003. ...

Richard Steven Freeman I and Deborah Ann Freeman of Delta, Mo., announce the engagement of their daughter, Christian Lachelle Freeman, to Jonathan Richard Carlisle, both of Cape Girardeau. He is the son of Gloria and Walter Jackson of Gipsy, Mo. Freeman is employed at Famous-Barr...

Donald and Melba Bernhardt of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Heather Jean Hughey of Marble Hill, Mo., to Jeffrey Lynn Mouser. He is the son of George and Maggie Mouser of Marquand, Mo. Hughey is employed at Slinkard's in Marble Hill...

KELSO, Mo. -- Jerome and Beverly Essner of Kelso announce the engagement of their daughter, Amy Beth Essner, to Ryan Alan Mattes. He is the son of Wayne and Kathy Mattes of Cape Girardeau. Essner is a 2000 graduate of Notre Dame High School. She expects to receive a degree in elementary education from Southeast Missouri State University in December 2003...

Lee and LaDonna Ruebel of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Regina Renee Ruebel, to Jacob Channing Pattengill. He is the son of Lee and Tina Pattengill Jr. of Scott City, Mo. Ruebel is a 1995 graduate of Central High School. She received a master of arts degree in communication disorders from Southeast Missouri State University in 2001. She is a speech pathologist with Therapy Relief Inc. in St. Louis...

David and Phyllis McLain of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Kristy Ann McLain, to Jerime Alan Atchley. He is the son of Al and Freda Atchley of Cape Girardeau. McLain is a 1996 graduate of Central High School. She is employed in the logistics department at Rubbermaid...

LEOPOLD, Mo. -- Sara Elizabeth Nenninger and James Douglas Ritter were married April 6, 2002, at St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Glennon, Mo. The Rev. Frederick Lutz performed the ceremony. Organist was Mary Jansen of Leopold and soloist was Jill Landewee of Kennett, Mo...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Erin Elizabeth Mirly and Adam Jason Click were married May 25, 2002, at Hanover Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau. The Rev. Jeffrey Sippy performed the double ring ceremony. Organist and pianist was Christina Shinn and horn player was Thomas Broussard, both of Jackson, oboist was Johanna Erdman of St. ...

Brenda Diebold and Stephen Robert Gotter were united in marriage Jan. 5, 2002, at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church. The Rev. Charles Prost performed the ceremony. Vocalists were Susan Essner of Cape Girardeau and Amy Diebold of Seattle, Wash., sister of the bride...

GORDONVILLE, Mo. -- Zion United Methodist Church was the setting Jan. 5, 2002, for the wedding of Sara Lyn Michie and Raymond John Higson. The Rev. Ann Mowery performed the ceremony. The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Duane Michie of Hayti, Mo. The groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Higson of Hervy Bay, Australia...

Courtney Blake Haman and Jeffrey Howard Bourbon exchanged vows June 22, 2002, at Trinity Lutheran Church. The Rev. Douglas C. Breite performed the double ring ceremony. Organist was Dottie Meyr, and soloists were Steve and Linda Meadows, all of Cape Girardeau...

Deborah Lou Mast and Mark Bradley were married June 1, 2002, at Bald Knob Cross in Alto Pass, Ill. The Rev. Derek Staples performed the double ring ceremony. Music was provided by Matt Taylor of Cape Girardeau. Parents of the bride are Chester Mast of Florida and Ada Cruce of Cape Girardeau. The groom is the son of Curtis Bradley of Fairview Heights, Ill., and Dorothy Taylor of Cape Girardeau...

Julie Christine Hoffman and Christopher Patrick Casey exchanged vows July 13, 2002, at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church. The Rev. Pat Keeley performed the double ring ceremony. Organist was Valerie Schaefer and vocalist was Alan Bruns, both of Cape Girardeau...

10 years ago: Aug. 4, 1992 City council voted Monday to study spending excess tourism funds on proposal to turn St. Vincent's College property into museum and Civil War interpretive center; council unanimously approved measure despite objections of some members that it was "slap in the face" to city's Convention and Visitors Advisory Board...

PUXICO, Mo. -- Kenneth "Joey" Phillips Jr., 25, of Puxico died Friday, Aug. 2, 2002, in a drowning at Wappapello Lake. He was born Dec. 19, 1976, in Oran, Mo., son of Kenneth Joe Phillips Sr. and Kimberly June Douglass Phillips. He married Kim Smalley on May 18, 2002...

Christian Gabriel Michael Schott, infant son of Michael and Kimberly Wells Schott of Cape Girardeau, died Wednesday, July 31, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Wednesday, July 31, 2002, at Cape Girardeau. Survivors include his parents; a sister, Caroline Elizabeth Claire Schott; a brother, Coleman Wells Schott; maternal grandparents, Calvin and Carol Wells; and paternal grandparents, Robert and Helen Schott...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Sarah Elizabeth Anne Volkerding, age 33, passed away Friday, Aug. 2, 2002, at her home in Jackson. She was born Jan. 2, 1969, in St. Louis, daughter of Kenneth E. and Rebecca Campbell Volkerding. Sarah was a member of Hanover Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau. She was em-ployed several years as a sales clerk at the Dollar General Store in Jackson...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Mitchell W. George, 47, of Carmel, Maine, and formerly of Cobden, died Friday, Aug. 2, 2002, at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine. He was born May 23, 1955, in Cobden, son of Leslie and Mary Ann Dangbar George. He and Donna Day were married Sept. 6, 1988, in Augusta, Ga...

WOLF LAKE, Ill. -- Bruce Leon Brown, 75, of Wolf Lake died Friday, Aug. 2, 2002, at Union County Hospital. He was born July 30, 1926, at Union County, Ill., son of William Otis and Verda Jane Burnett Brown. Brown was a retired operating engineer, a member of the Local 318, a veteran and a member of the Carroll P. Foster VFW Post 3455 in Anna, Ill...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Thomas H. Stalcup, 79, of Sikeston died Saturday, Aug. 3, 2002, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Feb. 11, 1923, in Jonesboro, Ark., son of Henry J. and Eliza Ellen Griffin Stalcup. He and Laverne Ballentine were married Nov. 15, 1955. She died July 30, 1986...

ANNA, Ill. -- Carl L. Garner, 78, of Anna died Friday, Aug. 2, 2002, at Union County Hospital. He was born Dec. 11, 1923, at Piggott, Ark., son of William and Lona Nicholson Garner. He and Helen Caraker were married Aug. 24, 1946, at Piggott. Garner was a U.S. ...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Dale Joseph Schindler, 58, of Perryville died Thursday, Aug. 1, 2002, at his home. He was born Aug. 15, 1943, at Perry County, Mo., son of Leslie J. and Iva Lee Elder Schindler. Schindler was an auto mechanic and a member of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church...

Pamela Kay Abernathy, 55, of Excelsior Springs, Mo., died Thursday, Aug. 1, 2002, at Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital in St. Peters, Mo. She was born July 10, 1947, in Canby, Minn., daughter of Edgar James Aylward and Lois May Turbak Aylward. She and Timothy Abernathy were married Aug. 16, 2000, at Excelsior Springs. He survives...

SEDALIA, Mo. -- When he started farming in 1974, Fred Gruhn never imagined the day would come when his wheat straw would be more valuable than the grain. But in 2002, that is reality. "In 1974, we got over $4 a bushel for wheat; now we get $2.70," Gruhn said. "And our inputs have just skyrocketed."...

Benefits of education THANKS FOR the recent comment about family planning abroad. I've always noted that we are quick to spend millions of dollars on food, clothing and shelter for starving children in Africa, but we refuse to make any effort toward education, specifically basic sex education. ...

Modern twists on classic beauty would describe the home at 2322 Kenneth in the Randol Farms subdivision. This Cape Girardeau home creatively weaves modern convenience with classic features. Large Palladium windows and a double glass door through an arched entrance give an impression of southern gentility. Yet the home is designed simply with a main floor and finished basement, giving it convenience for both aging baby boomers and young families seeking an easily managed home...

HINGHAM, Mass. There's a fork in the mall where couples part -- he to Brooks Brothers, she to AnnTaylor or French Connection. Retailers who have built their names selling to one gender often dream of breaking into the other gender's market. But such mid-life "sex-change operations" -- as some retailers call them -- can be tricky and have met with mixed success...

This story has all the makings of a great book or an uplifting movie. It's the story of nine coal miners in Pennsylvania who were trapped by water and rescued after 77 hours of intense labor by some 150 workers. The plight of the miners and the efforts of their rescuers captured the attention and hearts of the nation and the world. At times, there seemed to be little hope of a successful rescue...

For working parents everywhere, few decisions are as crucial as the one regarding day care for young children. While parents want their children to receive decent care, the choice often comes down to the basic question of cost. Compared to other states, Missouri has fewer regulations of day-care providers. ...

Cape Girardeau Sunday, Aug. 4 Firefighters responded to the following calls Friday:At 6:45 p.m., an illegal burn at 611 Mechaw. At 7:43 p.m., a medical assist at 540 S. Middle St. Firefighters responded to the following calls Saturday:At 2:03 a.m., an alarm sounding at 3246 William St...

Cape Girardeau Sunday, Aug. 4 ArrestsRobert David Weissinger, 25, of 603 Mechaw was arrested Friday on a city warrant for failure to appear. Troy Lee Jones, 26, of 522 S. Sprigg was arrested Friday for prohibited acts. MiscellaneousAn attempted suicide was reported...

The pros and cons of Proposition B, the road tax measure on Tuesday's ballot in Missouri, will be debated today on KRCU's "Going Public" radio show. Scott Meyer, Missouri Department of Transportation district engineer, and Glen Keenan from the "No on B" committee will discuss the tax measure...

BRANSON, Mo. -- Silver Dollar City Corp. plans to build a $40 million theme park in Branson that will highlight life-changing events of 20th-century America. It will be called "Celebration City," says Mel Bilbo, chief executive of Silver Dollar City. It's targeted to open next spring in the southwest Missouri resort town...

LAS VEGAS -- Personal watercraft will be banned on Lake Mead, Lake Mohave, Glen Canyon and six other national parks after Sept. 15 because the National Park Service won't meet a deadline to complete environmental impact reports for the popular recreational activity...

Public to get first look at restored house PORTLAND, Maine -- After 2 1/2 years of restorations, visitors are getting their first look at the newly overhauled Wadsworth-Longfellow House, the boyhood home of 19th-century poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow...

Vermont isn't just for autumn leaf colors or skiing. It's an inviting place for a vacation at any time of year, with plenty to see and do, and lots of places to relax. It's also a very Web- savvy state, and you'll have no problem finding information on the Internet to help plan your visit...

BRICKYARD 400 Event: The 9th Brickyard 400. Distance: 400 miles; 160 laps around the 2 1/2-mile, asphalt-on-brick Indianapolis Motor Speedway track. Cars: 3,500 pounds; use carburetion instead of fuel-injection found on stock models of passenger cars; tubular frames, with safety modifications...

SEOUL, South Korea -- This year's soccer World Cup jacked up interest in South Korea, which evolved in just a few decades from a war-torn, impoverished land into a global economic power with a rich historical heritage. Even before South Korea co-hosted the one-month premier soccer event May 31-June 30, the Asian country was a destination for millions of Japanese, Chinese and other foreign travelers a year. The World Cup brought hundreds of thousands more, many of them from the West...

ST. LOUIS -- Two Justice Department officials will monitor Tuesday's primary elections in St. Louis, where problems at the polls in November 2000 led to chaos. The federal monitors also have ordered that St. Louis' election board sign a consent decree soon to resolve problems from the 2000 presidential election or face a lawsuit against the city by Friday, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Saturday...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A Jackson County judge has ordered the Kansas City Police Department to turn over $4.2 million in money and property to the state treasury. The funds have accumulated from stolen or abandoned money and property collected by police. The property includes items taken during robberies or burglaries...

MARSHFIELD, Mo. -- Authorities began digging Saturday at an abandoned slaughterhouse near this Southwest Missouri town in a search for three Springfield women missing since 1992. After receiving a tip, Webster County Sheriff's deputies began searching the area last weekend with cadaver dogs. The dogs pinpointed two spots at the slaughterhouse...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A man was sentenced to 27 years in prison for molesting eight boys over several years. Ronnie D. Pitts, 41, of Kansas City, had pleaded guilty in June to 14 counts of statutory sodomy and one count of child molestation. As part of a plea agreement, five counts of statutory sodomy, three counts of sexual misconduct and one count of assault were dropped...

BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. -- Finding enough children's books to satisfy Joy Smith's voracious reading appetite has kept her mother and librarians busy. The 7-year-old Blue Springs girl has plowed through more than 1,600 books since the beginning of June through a public library summer reading program...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City health officials are trying to determine why the city's infant mortality rate is nearly three times higher than the country's lowest rate in San Jose, Calif. In one neighborhood in Kansas City's urban core, babies die at a rate more than double the national figure and close to that of some Third World countries...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- More people are choosing to drive to their vacation destinations this year, and state tourism officials have been urging Missourians to stay close to home. Missouri has initiated the Rediscover Your Missouri Campaign, which touts the state's historical and cultural sites to Missourians. The events of Sept. 11 played a role in the state's decision to cater more to those Missourians wary of traveling far...

ROSCOE, Ill. -- If you never have traveled on Elm Street in Dallas, where President Kennedy was assassinated, the next thing to being there may be an off-the-beaten-path auto museum in Roscoe. There, a 12-by-25-foot panoramic view of Elm Street's grassy knoll transports visitors to Nov. 22, 1963...

DEKALB, Ill. -- Some people like to put pink flamingos in front of their homes. For others, the ubiquitous garden gnome or maybe a brightly painted mailbox is the way to go. But for artistic and aesthetic value, few have DeKalb sculptor Brent George beaten...

The Southern Illinoisan CARBONDALE, Ill. -- One spring day in 1967, when Abderrahman Ibrahim was 9 years old and living in the Palestinian town of Tuikarm, bombs fell on his family's house. It was the start of the Six Day War, during which Israel first occupied the Gaza Strip and Golan Heights, the Left Bank, and East Jerusalem...

Gardeners are divided about how they feel about "standards, which means a naturally bushy plant trained to have a clear, upright stem capped by a mop of leaves -- a miniature tree. A plant may set off on the road to standard status by a few routes. ...

What's the difference between taking a picture and making a picture? Taking one involves just pointing your camera at a subject and clicking the shutter (although some digital cameras don't have a shutter). Making a picture, on the other hand, means looking at a subject or scene carefully; then thinking about which elements you want in or out of the picture to tell the story you want to tell; then looking for a creative composition; then thinking about the lighting; and, finally, clicking the shutter.. ...

MEXICO CITY -- The leader of a Mexican peasant group that thwarted government plans to build an airport on their land pledged to create an autonomous government in the area's main town. Ignacio Del Valle wants to turn Atenco into a self-governed town, similar to ones created by the Zapatista rebels in the state of Chiapas following a 1994 uprising...

ATHENS, Greece -- A cache of weapons, including automatic rifles, was stolen from a military armory after thieves tunneled through a wall, officials said Saturday. Suspicion immediately fell on the embattled terrorist group November 17, but authorities also left open the possibility it was a heist by ordinary criminals...

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan's president said Saturday the island "is not someone else's province" but rather an independent country separate from China -- bold comments that risk enraging Taiwan's giant communist rival. President Chen Shui-bian also repeated his support for a vote on whether Taiwan should seek a permanent split with China, suggesting the island amend its laws to allow such a referendum...

BERLIN -- For a nation that swore off nationalism after World War II, Germany is having an unusual election campaign. Taboos that once muted any serious discussion of the topic are being cracked -- not by some far-right fringe, but by the two main candidates...

KARACHI, Pakistan -- Under heavy security that included police with machine guns, three Islamic militants were arraigned Saturday on charges in last month's car-bombing of the U.S. Consulate that killed 12 people. The three and a member of the Pakistan Rangers paramilitary police also were arraigned on charges of plotting to kill President Pervez Musharraf during a visit to this sprawling city of 12 million people plagued by criminal and sectarian violence...

TEHRAN, Iran -- Key Iranian and Saudi officials Saturday said they could not support a U.S. military strike against Iraq and would, instead, encourage Saddam Hussein to comply with U.N. resolutions. "All the countries of the world, especially neighbors of Iraq, should make plans to encourage Iraq to observe the resolutions of the U.N. ...

LONDON -- At least 36 people have been infected in an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease that killed an elderly man, and dozens more may also have the disease, officials said Saturday. Health authorities in the northwestern county of Cumbria said that along with the 36 confirmed cases, 23 people were showing typical symptoms. They also predicted that 100 more cases could materialize in the next 10 days...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Hundreds of people marched on a provincial center Saturday to protest what they said was a U.S. helicopter attack that killed one Afghan and the U.S. military's detention of five others from the same village, local officials reported...

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- Catholic mail carriers went on strike Saturday in Londonderry, Northern Ireland's second-largest city, over fears they could be targeted in revenge for the latest killing of a local Protestant. In a related development, police released without charge five suspected Irish Republican Army dissidents who had been arrested on suspicion of involvement in Thursday's killing of David Caldwell, a Protestant who had been helping to renovate a British army facility in Londonderry.. ...

LOS ANGELES -- In addition to raising the hair on the back of your neck, some recent movies about ghosts, monsters and other things that go bump in the night are raising questions about the meaning of family and religion, life and death. M. Night Shyamalan, the writer-director of "The Sixth Sense," has been at the trend's forefront, saying frightening films are ideal vehicles for examining serious themes...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- As if high school -- with its harder classes and its social cliques, not to mention raging hormones -- wasn't bad enough, teens face challenges like high divorce rates, rampant availability of drugs and school shootings. But it could be worse...

NEW YORK -- It was the first day of school for the girl in the plaid dress. She posed for a photo with her hands on her hips and a confident smile. There were no tears that day, no clinging, no fretting. "Nothing," says her mother, who still marvels at her daughter's self-assuredness as she headed to class 13 years ago. "I dropped her off and she didn't even look back."...

BOUNTIFUL, Utah -- The billboards along Interstate 15 are a glaring reminder that polygamy isn't dead yet. After decades of effort by the Mormon church and state leaders to cast polygamy as a thing of the distant past, the billboards advertise a new book that calls polygamy "A Promise For Tomorrow."...

NEW YORK -- Fierce storms that rattled the Northeast killed three people by lightning strikes and left thousands without power. A 25-year-old was killed by lightning Friday while watching the storm from a downtown rooftop, police said. In Pennsylvania, a 16-year-old was killed by lightning at a camp. In Maryland on Saturday, a man was struck by lightning at his home and killed...

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Two of the murdered women drove BMWs, but the third victim didn't. Two loved antiques, but the third had no interest. Two lived on the same street at one point, but the third lived on the outskirts of the city. There are no obvious threads to bind the three women together, but police say DNA evidence shows their murders over less than a year were committed by the same man. The killer remains loose and police remain tight-lipped...

AGNESS, Ore. - Just when they think the forest fire is quieting, and talk resumes about pulling salmon and steelhead trout from the Rogue River, the smoke roils over the ridgeline once again. Women confide their fears and men bristle with anger and defiance...

WASHINGTON - Uruguay will receive a $1.5 billion in emergency loans in a few days from the International Monetary Fund and other international lenders, and the U.S. Treasury will advance the money immediately so the South American nation's banks can reopen Monday, U.S. and Uruguayan officials said Saturday...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The ballot for the high-profile Democratic gubernatorial primary has confusing instructions that could cause the same problems that marked the 2000 presidential election, Democrats said Saturday. The ballot instructs voters to "Vote for One Pair," meaning a combined entry of governor and lieutenant governor, though none of the candidates has chosen a running mate...

WASHINGTON - They were crucial to the defeat of the Taliban government, calling in precision airstrikes while huddled in the hills with Afghan allies. And these shadowy warriors are playing an increasingly larger role in the overall war on terror, training foreign troops from the gorges of Georgia to the steamy jungles of the Philippines...

WASHINGTON - President Bush's faith-based and community initiative has stalled in Congress, making full implementation unlikely until next year or after. But two federal agencies, using existing law, have announced plans to distribute nearly $50 million to encourage religious organizations to assist the government in helping the needy...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A woman fatally shot the former head of Alaska's state police, wounded his wife and then turned the gun on herself Saturday, authorities said. The armed woman ambushed retired Alaska Commissioner of Public Safety Glenn Godfrey and his wife, Patricia, as they arrived at their home in suburban Eagle River about 12:30 a.m., police said...

Ozzy Osbourne returns to OZZfest tour early LOS ANGELES -- Ozzy Osbourne is returning to his rock tour OZZfest sooner than expected after promising to take time off to support his wife, Sharon, during her chemotherapy treatments. Osbourne left the tour after Sunday's show in Atlanta and planned to return Aug. 22 in Denver. However, he was so disturbed by his wife's first treatment that she urged him to return sooner, according to a message on his official Internet site...

ESSEX, Vt. -- It's nearly as fast as the most advanced computer, but uses a fraction of the energy. It simultaneously zaps information to thousands of points and is equipped to correct itself. It's not made of silicon, and it came long before the computer chip...

Neuroscientists have discovered what romantics have always known: The touch of a lover's hand is special. Scientists announced last week that humans have a special set of nerves for feeling pleasure at a mother's caress or a lover's embrace...

DAVIS, Calif. -- Former University of California eye researcher Bin Han, his wife and their two sons, ages 9 and 14, were home watching "Jurassic Park III" on May 17 when police showed up with a search warrant. "Bingo," one officer said as he peered into Han's freezer...

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Two new studies add fresh fuel to a decades-old debate about whether a parchment map of the Vikings' travels to the New World, purportedly drawn by a 15th century scribe, is authentic or a clever 20th century forgery. Using carbon dating, scholars from the Smithsonian Institution, the University of Arizona and Brookhaven National Laboratory concluded the map predates Christopher Columbus' voyage by about 50 years, adding to evidence that Vikings reached the New World before he did.. ...

The Associated Press LOS ANGELES -- The nine Pennsylvania coal miners who were trapped underground for 77 hours have sold the TV and book rights to their story to The Walt Disney Co. for $150,000 each, their lawyer said Saturday. The deal includes a movie for Disney's ABC network and a book to be published by the Burbank company's Hyperion Publishing division, Pittsburgh attorney Thomas Crawford said in an interview...

In America, everything is for sale -- even Jeff Swanson's head. The Iowa guy is offering to let an advertiser tattoo his head for $100,000. Swanson insists he's not a nut. "I would just like to make sure my kids have the chance for a good education when the time comes and I would like to buy a race horse or two I've had my eye on," he tells the Internet world...

CHICAGO -- Authorities charged seven people Saturday with first-degree murder for the deaths of two men who were stomped and beaten with bricks and stones by a mob after a traffic accident. Each also was charged with felony murder and other counts in the deaths of Jack Moore, 62, and Anthony Stuckey, 49, the Cook County State's Attorney's office said...

KENNETT, Mo. -- Suppose Missouri held an election and no one came to the polls Or imagine that eligible voters who failed to cast a ballot in the last election would have to re-register. Or consider the possibility of assessing a poll tax on citizens who didn't show up at the last primary or general election...

Not so good I THINK the trade that the St. Louis Cardinals recently made was not good. Polanco was too good of an overall player at different positions. And to give up Timlin and Bud Smith also was just too much for what we will be losing. Is Joe back?...

Heartland Nationals win three games in tourney SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The Heartland Nationals, an area girls fast-pitch softball team, won three games Saturday to clinch at least third place in the 14-under national tournament. Heartland will play Jefferson Parish (La.) at 9 a.m. today in the loser's bracket final. The winner advances to the 11 a.m. championship round against unbeaten Homewood (Ill.), where it would need to win twice...

Briefly Basketball Longtime Lakers broadcaster Chick Hearn has probably called his last game, his neurologist said Saturday after performing surgery for brain hemorrhaging. "If he has a full recovery in terms of his motor functions he will very likely have speech difficulty, so I will foresee that he will have a difficulty to be announcing," the neurologist, Dr. Asher Taban said...

MACOMB, Ill. -- The day the St. Louis Rams drafted Eric Crouch, his Heisman Trophy was useless. The former Nebraska quarterback, perhaps the future X factor in the Rams' offense, now is playing catch-up at a new position. Crouch is a wide receiver with zero experience, trying his best to hold his own and avoid embarrassment among four-time Pro Bowler Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- A former presiding commissioner who wants his job back and a farmer concerned about a lack of employment opportunities in the county will compete in Tuesday's Republican primary for presiding commissioner of Bollinger County. Both hope to win the right to oppose Democratic incumbent Kenny Trentham in the November general election...

BENTON, Mo. -- Paul Boyd filed for the job when his boss, Scott County Prosecuting Attorney Cristy Baker-Neel, decided not to run for re-election this year. So did Frank Marshall, a Sikeston, Mo., lawyer Baker-Neel defeated in the 1994 primary. Boyd hopes voters compare the candidates' experience working with law enforcement. ...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Aromas from church picnic delicacies -- funnel cakes, homemade ice cream, barbecue, chicken and dumplings, porkburgers -- are floating through the air again, adding to the history of the St. Vincent de Paul Seminary Picnic. This year's event marks the 102nd gathering for the picnic. The event spans three days, starting Friday and ending Sunday evening...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- A former newspaper reporter from Perry County hopes to unseat state Rep. Tom Burcham in Tuesday's Republican primary. Cecilia Fallert resigned as features editor of the Perry County Republic-Monitor earlier this year to declare her candidacy for state representative in the 106th District. She is running on a platform of improving health care and educational reform and opposing abortion...

BOSTON -- Worse than cholesterol? Hard to believe, perhaps, but the top health concern of millions of Americans is about to be trumped by what doctors say is an even bigger trigger of heart attacks. The condition is low-grade inflammation, which may originate in a variety of unlikely places throughout the body, including even excess fat. New federal recommendations are being written that will urge doctors to test millions of middle-aged Americans for it...

ATLANTA -- When it comes to power, Chipper Jones is having an off year. Try telling that to the St. Louis Cardinals. Jones hit a pair of two-run homers Saturday to back the strong pitching of Jason Marquis, carrying the Atlanta Braves to a 6-1 victory over the Cardinals in a matchup of NL division leaders...

Southeast Missouri State University football coaches got to take a look at the Indians' rookies on the practice field for the first time Saturday -- and they generally liked what they saw. After welcoming about 40 newcomers to camp on Friday, those first-year Indians -- which includes freshmen, junior-college transfers and four-year transfers -- hit the Houck Stadium turf late Saturday afternoon for their first workout...

INDIANAPOLIS -- The way Tony Stewart likes to handle pressure is to get in his race car and drive -- fast. He did just that Saturday, ignoring the oppressive heat, overcoming a slick track and shaking off a myriad of outside distractions to win the pole for Sunday's Brickyard 400...

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. -- Craig Barlow birdied the last three holes to inch ahead of Steve Lowery and claim the third-round lead Saturday in The International. Sergio Garcia made the most noise in the third round, carding an eagle and eight birdies to storm the leaderboard and move into fifth place...

CANTON, Ohio -- Jim Kelly never tossed a touchdown pass as meaningful or had a moment on the field as sweet. Just as if he once again were running Buffalo's no-huddle offense, Kelly spread things around Saturday during a moving induction speech into the Pro Football Hall of Fame...

PITTSBURGH -- Barry Bonds hit his 597th career homer and just missed another while driving in four runs, leading the San Francisco Giants past the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-6 Saturday. Bonds moved within three homers of becoming the fourth major leaguer with 600 homers, connecting off Kip Wells (10-9) to put the Giants up 5-0 in the second...

WICHITA, Kan. -- The Craftsman Union Capahas entered the National Baseball Congress World Series not playing all that well. But they're sure playing well now. The unseeded Capahas raised their NBC World Series record to 2-0 Saturday by beating the fourth-seeded Elkhart (Kan.) Dusters 8-6...

A marathon day of baseball paid major dividends for Dunklin County. Pressed into the loser's bracket of the American Legion Zone 4 Tournament after losing to Oakville 8-6 late Friday night, Dunklin County rebounded with a pair of thrilling extra-inning victories Saturday at Capaha Field...

NEW YORK guy shopping for a pair of basic jeans this fall might think he's stumbled into the women's department. Retailers and clothing manufacturers including Levi Strauss & Co. and American Eagle Outfitters Inc. are focusing on a trendier look for young men, including low-rise jeans that hug the hips -- similar to the pants that a year ago became a must-have style for teen girls and young women...

TAMPA, Fla. -- Congressional candidate Chuck Kalogianis says he wants affordable prescription drugs and social security to be the main focus of his campaign. But his past as a stripper in Massachusetts may get in the way. Kalogianis, 39, acknowledges his two-year stint with "Men in Motion" more than a decade ago when he was a law student in Boston...

Great granddaughter Victoria was the first one who was not anxious to enter into our limping world. Who could blame her? Multiple, horrific, worldwide crimes dominating the printed news, made visible on TV and furnishing the main topic of human conversation?...

Campus parking frustrates Southeast Missouri State University students who don't want to park far from classes and residence halls or pay the increased cost for permits. Students say they don't want to park in the large parking lot known informally as "Pig Lot." Once part of the university farm, the New Madrid Street lot is too far from their classes, they say...

Ban figure skating from the 2004 Olympics. Tilt a figure-eight compulsory on its side and ban ice dancing from the Olympics for infinity. Start testing for anabolic steroids in Major League Baseball today at high noon. Sammy, step right up. You're first...

This time last year, the final game in a series with Montreal sparked an 11- game winning streak for the Cardinals following a trade for pitching. The team begins a six game home-stand against Montreal tomorrow with a new pitcher. After Montreal, the stretch includes a series with New York, who the Cardinals swept last year during the streak...

CAVE SPRINGS, Mo. -- John Larson's 30 free-range chickens in Southwest Missouri have become part of a project to monitor the spread of the West Nile virus in the state. Army reservists go to Larson's 10-acre farm north of Cave Springs once a month to test the flock for the virus that first appeared in Missouri last year among crows in the St. Louis area...

ALBANY, N.Y. -- More than half a dozen states worried about West Nile virus are using climate-based computer models to predict the course of the mosquito-borne disease before a fatal outbreak occurs. Public health officials usually rely on reports of dead birds as an early warning sign that West Nile is spreading in their region. Scientists say this new method would warn local officials in advance if their counties are at high risk for the virus...

If the American Legion Zone 4 Tournament proved one thing, it's that counting out Dunklin County is a big mistake. After losing to Oakville in Friday's winner's bracket final, Dunklin County looked like a serious longshot to win the championship...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- More than 20 percent of Tuesday's legislative primary winners will be all but guaranteed a job at Missouri's Capitol next January because they face no opposition in the general election. Barring any independent candidate challenges this fall, 44 of Tuesday's winners will be part of the legislature when work gets under way Jan. 8. Many are likely to be incumbents returning to Jefferson City for another term...

10 years ago: Aug. 5, 1992 Jackson - Longtime Cape Girardeau County Associate Commissioner Leonard F. Sander was defeated in Republican primary Tuesday; Sander, seeking his ninth two-year term on commission, lost to Larry Bock by margin of 267 votes; Bock will face George Cox in November, who was unopposed in Democratic primary...

Stay out of the way TO THE person who has driven all over: If you want to take time to smell the roses, fine and dandy. But don't pull out in front of me when I'm going the speed limit and then drive slower than the speed limit. Stay out of the fast lane. Stay to the right. That way I won't have to try to get around you. Don't block the traffic, and we'll get along just fine...

To the editor: On a radio talk show, Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, discussed the recent abduction of a young girl in California. He said that whenever the abductor was captured, a search of his home or computer would surely uncover pornography of some sort...

To the editor: In response to my recent letter, a Speak Out caller asserted I was wrong to claim that America's public schools have contributed to our country's high standard of living. The caller claimed that "the correlation between achievement in school and standard of living is virtually nonexistent." I heartily disagree with the caller's conclusion, and the facts do not substantiate such a supposition, as a recent article showed...

WELLINGTON, Kan. -- Any other year would find Dave Hermesch a busy man, joining hundreds of other agricultural nomads in their combines to follow ripening crops of wheat across the Plains. But the work normally awaiting the Oklahoma man and his 12-member crew is literally drying up, another blow dealt by the wilting drought that has devastated the harvest...

Standridge, Hall lead list of ATPR race winners Robbie Standridge and Chris Hall were among top winners Saturday at Auto Tire andParts Racepark near Benton, Mo. In sprints,Standridge, of Springfield,Ill., held off Tommy Worley Jr. of Bismark, Mo., and led all 25 laps. Todd Rowland of Jackson, Mo., was third...

RUSSELL, Kan. -- On the northern edge of town, there's an aroma of fresh yeast around the new ethanol plant. To some it smells like a distillery; others sniff the sweet smell of success. Success, because since production started last October, the U.S. Energy Partners plant has given a needed boost with jobs and the buying of tons of milo, most of it purchased from area farmers...

7:30 p.m. Monday City Hall Public hearing Hearing to consider the rezoning of 3.8 acres of property located at 2370 N. High St. from R-1 (single family residential) District to C-2 (general commercial) District as submitted by Oak Enterprises, L.L.C...

7 p.m. Monday, City Hall, 401 Independence Street Study Session at 5 p.m. Public Hearingsn A public hearing regarding the request of Walter and Sheila Rasmussen for a special use permit for a group home daycare at 2740 Adeline Avenue in an R-1, single family residential district...

CHICAGO -- Asthma rates may have leveled off in U.S. children after increasing in the 1980s and early 1990s, government research shows. Earlier data suggested a similar trend among adults, but more evidence is needed to confirm it, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...

There are many ways to measure a community: size, wealth, medical services, educational facilities, retail variety, job opportunities, affordability, religious involvement, friendliness, governmental services -- and on and on. By those measurements, the towns in our area would rank high in almost every category...

It's either no big deal, or it's a really big deal. And it probably depends on where you live. Ask almost anyone who lives in the town about four miles east of Marble Hill, Mo. -- on Highway 34 with about 100 hardy souls -- how to spell the name of the town, and they will gladly oblige. After all, this is a friendly small town...

Exxon earnings fall 41 percent in second quarter DALLAS -- Exxon Mobil Corp. said last week that second-quarter earnings fell 41 percent, and it blamed the decline on lower oil and natural gas prices and thinner profit margins in its refining business...

Cape native to distribute new medical product Cape Girardeau native Alan Terry's company, Sonorex, will become the exclusive distributor for a medical device that treats tennis elbow now that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given approval to the product...

"I think Mark is doing the right thing by going into rehab," Tim Gordon, vice president of an online concierge service, typed quickly to a friend. Sitting at his office computer, Gordon was multitasking in cyberspace as usual, holding several instant-messaging conversations at once...

NEW YORK -- While some people are worried about what the stock market's volatility is doing to their savings, many others are worried because they aren't saving at all. How should you get started? "Think small" is the suggestion from groups formed in recent years to encourage Americans to save...

This spring, America Online Inc. announced that it was working on a new version of instant messaging that would be custom-made for businesses. "Corporations are asking for it," says AOL spokeswoman Catherine Corre. AOL is working with VeriSign on a product that will encrypt messages but still let people communicate with current AOL Instant Messenger users...

For years, WorldCom Inc. senior management was known as "The Bernie and Scott Show." As chief financial officer, Scott Sullivan could -- and often did -- complete his boss' sentences. Bernie Ebbers laid out the vision and Sullivan provided the numbers...

Cape Girardeau Monday, Aug. 5 Firefighters responded to the following calls Sunday:At 12:42 a.m., an emergency medical service at 3037 North Church. At 2:54 a.m., an alarm sounding at Towers West and Towers North.At 3:35 a.m., an alarm sounding at 3257 William St...

Cape Girardeau Monday, Aug. 5 ArrestsKelly Baker, 17, of East Prairie, Mo., was issued a summons Saturday for stealing/property damage. Diane O'Kelly, 51, of 117 N. Frederick was arrested Saturday for unlawful use of a weapon, possession of drug paraphernalia, driving while suspended, failure to use turn signal and a Scott City warrant for failure to appear in court...

State Rep. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, has been awarded the Missouri Association for Career and Technical Education Legislative Recognition Award for 2002. The organization is a statewide organization of career and technical educators. Crowell received the award during the Missouri ACTE's 33rd Annual Joint Summer Workshops and Conference held in Springfield, Mo., where he addressed the 3,000 member educators and spoke on the importance of an educational system which includes career and technical education opportunities for students.. ...

With a new school year only weeks away, Heidi Crowden of Cape Girardeau's Safe Kids Coalition, reminds parents that now is the time to begin reviewing school time safety tips with children. According to statistics from the National Safe Kids Campaign, an estimated 2.2 million children ages 14 and under sustain school-related injuries each year. Many of those accidents are related to travel to and from school...

Thursday marked the 90th birthday for the Cape Girardeau County Extension Service. Mary Gosche, Human Development Specialist for the Service, said the Extension Service has come a long way since its beginning on Aug. 1, 1912. She said the progress of the Extension Service will be honored at the Extension's Annual Picnic to be held this month...

Kipper graduates U.S. Naval Academy Ens. Rory M. Kipper, son of Bonnie L. and Paul M. Kipper of Cape Girardeau, recently graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. He was commissioned to his current rank in the U.S. Navy...

WASHINGTON -- War against Iraq is likely, said a senator exploring U.S. options, and other lawmakers joined him Sunday in pressing the Bush administration to make the case to Congress before any attack. Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., led hearings last week that highlighted both the gravity of the threat posed by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the difficulty of replacing him with stable leadership...

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration said Sunday it moved as swiftly as possible to develop a plan on how to eliminate al-Qaida -- a process that took eight months and wasn't complete until one week before the Sept. 11 attacks. The Clinton administration had handed off to the incoming Bush team detailed assessments of the threat, and offered ideas on how to counter al-Qaida...

WASHINGTON -- Senate leaders agreed Sunday that members of Congress should not submit to lie detector tests as part of an FBI investigation of intelligence leaks. "I think it's a bad idea. I think that it's an infringement constitutionally on the legislative branch. And I don't think there's much support for it," said Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D...

PITTSBURGH -- Barry Bonds hit his 598th career homer, one of six San Francisco home runs, and J.T. Snow had a three-run shot and five RBIs as the Giants roughed up the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-5 Sunday. Bonds went 3-for-4 and scored three times while homering for the second game in a row. His 31st home run of the season led off the ninth inning and left him two away from joining Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays as the only players with 600 homers...

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. -- Rich Beem carded seven birdies and made a critical eagle on the 17th hole to hold off a furious rally by Steve Lowery and claim The International on Sunday. Beem, playing the last six holes gingerly because of a back that stiffened up during a weather delay, had a 19-point round for a total of 44 points under the modified Stableford scoring system used in this event...

For the first time since Jake Plummer became a starter in his rookie season, there will be no seasoned quarterback behind him. Chris Greisen, who has thrown 16 NFL passes in his three seasons with Arizona, moves into the backup role for the Cardinals. The third-stringer is lanky, strong-armed rookie Josh McCown...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Bob Holden's voice jumps an octave when asked if he has been active enough in support of Proposition B. "I've been active," Holden insisted in an interview last week in his Capitol office. "I've made this issue high on the agenda to let the people vote on it from the very beginning of this administration. I've spoke out about it every opportunity I get."...

ST. LOUIS -- A lack of corporate sponsorship has caused Taste of St. Louis to be called off for another year. The annual event, intended to showcase restaurants and draw people into downtown, had been scheduled for Sept. 13 and 14 at the Gateway Mall...

ST. LOUIS -- The Baptist denomination that once was home to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Rev. Ralph Abernathy will begin its annual convention here today. About 10,000 members of the Progressive National Baptist Convention -- one of the nation's largest black denominations -- are expected to conduct business and attend religious classes at America's Center and at downtown hotels. The denomination has about 2.5 million members...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The idea was to reward students' summer school attendance in the Kansas City School District with gift certificates. But when students lined up to receive the awards, the district wasn't prepared for such good attendance. The end result: Parents and children went home hot and angry, some of them empty-handed, and district officials apologized for what one called "a lack of planning."...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A green plot in southwest Springfield could become a center of gardening and horticulture in the area. The Springfield-Greene County Parks Department, the University Outreach and Extension and a group called Friends of the Garden are working on plans to build a horticulture center overlooking Nathanael Greene and Close Memorial parks...

CHICAGO -- One man allegedly kicked the two men who were fatally beaten by a mob "until he was out of breath" while another smashed the skull of one of the victims with a concrete block. Those were some of the details presented by a prosecutor Sunday at a hearing for four suspects in the beating deaths of two men who were killed after a van they were in struck three young women sitting on a porch Tuesday on the city's South Side...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Officials had to close six of the city's 14 public swimming pools indefinitely as a result of a work stoppage by lifeguards. At least 14 lifeguards were fired on Saturday for refusing to go back to work. Officials shuffled staff to keep the other eight pools open...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- After years of controversy, Springfield now has a permanent reminder of one of the ugliest acts in the city's history -- the 1906 lynching of three black men. Some of the thousands who gathered over the weekend for annual Park Day events said they hoped that the day's ceremony would help put the lynchings in the past...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- With admittedly little hope for returning to the air, bankrupt Vanguard Airline Inc.'s decision to reorganize rather than sell everything off has left one nagging question: Why? After all, the company, which bled money year after year, failed to get the funding it needed in nearly a year of begging the government and lenders for help...

AMMAN, Jordan -- Jordan's Crown Prince Hamzeh on Sunday suggested the Muslim world needs a modern approach to Islamic thinking if it is to escape poverty, illiteracy and absence of freedoms. Hamzeh, a half brother of Jordan's King Abdullah II and heir to the throne, told a gathering of 100 scholars that the Muslim world was facing "a severe crisis."...

HEBRON, West Bank -- Israel stepped up its policy of demolishing homes of Palestinian militants, blowing up nine houses in the West Bank Sunday as part of an effort to discourage attacks. The army said the houses were residences for Palestinians "who committed or planned murderous acts of terrorism against Israeli civilians."...

JERUSALEM -- A Palestinian suicide bomber blew up a bus in northern Israel during the morning rush hour Sunday, killing himself and nine passengers on a day punctuated by violence from the rolling hills of the Galilee to Jerusalem's Old City to the Mediterranean beach front...

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay -- Congress approved emergency legislation shoring up Uruguay's battered financial system Sunday, voting to block access to some long-term deposits in the country's two state banks. "This will be difficult medicine, but it's the only possible solution," Economy Minister Alejandro Atchugarry told lawmakers...

LA PAZ, Bolivia -- Bolivia's Congress ended a presidential tie on Sunday, picking U.S.-educated millionaire Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada to lead the South American nation as it confronts economic malaise and growing social unrest. Sanchez de Lozada, a centrist mining executive who was president from 1993 to 1997, won a congressional vote by a 84-43 margin over Evo Morales, a radical Indian leader of Bolivia's coca growers...

BOGOTA, Colombia -- As a Harvard man who wears gray suits and comes across as a policy wonk, Alvaro Uribe might seem an odd choice for a wartime president. But after 38 years of increasingly bloody civil war, Colombians appear eager to follow their new leader into the intensified battle he has promised to wage against the country's rebels...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghanistan's former king moved back into his royal palace Sunday, four months after returning from exile and 29 years after being driven from the throne in a family coup. It clearly was a happy homecoming for the 87-year-old ex-monarch...

GONAIVES, Haiti -- Families walked to church Sunday as calm settled on the streets of this Haitian port city, two days after gunmen drove a tractor through a prison wall and unleashed 159 inmates, including a local political activist. None of the escaped convicts was reported captured, and no police were on the streets Sunday...

QALA-E-GHAZ, Afghanistan -- Harsh climate, uncleared land mines and crumbling infrastructure have made southern Afghanistan among the country's poorest regions. Those same problems also are keeping away the very aid workers needed to help this former Taliban stronghold...

MEXICO CITY -- When "American Family" traveled to Mexico recently, the groundbreaking Hispanic TV drama experienced a cultural homecoming. The series, set in East Los Angeles, follows life with the Gonzalezes, a Mexican-American family with strong cultural and family ties south of the border...

NEW YORK -- A home movie shows the boy in a Little League uniform, scampering around first base with the abandon of an ice skater about to lose his footing and spin out of control. The scene switches to a hospital bed, where the boy's face is gray and puffy. Moments later, his mother -- her eyes filled with tears -- describes the moment his heart stopped. She hugged him, whispered she loved him. And he was gone...

LOS ANGELES -- "Signs" ran crop circles around the competition to top an unusually strong weekend box office for August. The film, starring Mel Gibson as a farmer who finds mysterious patterns marking his fields, raked in $60.3 million, according to studio estimates Sunday...

HARTFORD, Conn. -- A sport utility vehicle plowed into a museum on Sunday, destroying irreplaceable artwork and antiques on display in the 1782 homestead. "It's devastating. This was the real thing," said William Hosley, executive director of the Antiquarian and Landmarks Society...

DALLAS -- Five people, including a mother and her two young daughters, were shot to death Sunday night at a Dallas residence. One person was wounded. Police said they took the woman's husband into custody for questioning and recovered a semiautomatic handgun...

PITTSBURGH -- A 17-year-old Canadian passenger on a US Airways flight from Toronto was arrested for using a lighter on his shoe, authorities said. The teen told police he was burning loose material off his tennis shoes as the plane taxied into Pittsburgh International Airport Saturday. The boy's father was seated next to him...

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A man was arrested for jumping a ticket counter and trying to bypass security at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, authorities said Sunday. The security breach caused the airport to ground all flights for 90 minutes and rescreen between 800 and 1,000 passengers, airport spokesman C. Douglas Hartmayer said. It was unknown how many flights were delayed...

LOS ANGELES -- An international team has completed the most comprehensive map ever of the genetic code of the mouse, an accomplishment that will make the laboratory animal more useful to scientists studying human health and disease. The map covers an estimated 98 percent of the order of the nearly 3 billion letters that make up the mouse code, or genome...

SOMERSET, Pa. -- Nine miners who spent more than three days in a flooded coal mine 240 feet underground joined hundreds of people at a church service Sunday night to give thanks for their rescue a week ago. Family, friends and neighbors filled a small church about 100 yards from where the men were trapped for 77 hours in a cramped shaft at Quecreek Mine in western Pennsylvania...

NEW ORLEANS -- Three armed men robbed bar patrons then shot and killed a police officer as they fled early Sunday, police said. Three man was arrested, and one other was being sought. The gunmen robbed about a dozen people at Club Tango, in a low-income area 10 blocks northeast of the French Quarter, police said. A person inside the bar managed to call police at 3:23 a.m...

HATTERAS, N.C. -- Strong undersea currents and shifting winds delayed an attempt Sunday to raise the 120-ton revolving gun turret of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor. Sixteen officers and crew members died Dec. 31, 1862, when the Union ship sank during a storm, landing upside-down in 240 feet of water. The wreckage was discovered in 1973...

Barry Bonds is the best home-run hitter in baseball. Kurt Vonnegut is the best novelist. Ozzy Osbourne is the best at slinging around bleeping four-letter words. I wish I were the best at something. In other words, I wish I were more like the local Blimpie...

Scott City to vote on sales tax By Bob Miller ~ Southeast Missourian SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- At the city pool, Scott City employees want to keep the water clean. At city hall, they just want to keep the water out. These are the reasons the city is asking residents to approve a quarter-cent sales tax increase on Tuesday...

Cape Girardeau's 10th annual BBQ Fest will be held Aug. 23 and 24 at Arena Park in Cape Girardeau. Jeff Glenn, director of membership development for the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, said that the annual BBQ Fest serves two purposes: to promote the use of beef and pork, and to provide an opportunity for the area's best backyard barbecue teams to compete for bragging rights and a $200 grand prize...

A new school year will begin soon, and Project Charlie, a drug-resistance and self-esteem program for elementary school children, needs more volunteers to take the Project Charlie message into area classrooms. A training session for those interested in becoming Project Charlie volunteers will be from 6 to 10 p.m. Aug. 29 at the LaCroix Methodist Church in Cape Girardeau...

INDIANAPOLIS -- He's "Awesome Bill" again. Bill Elliott passed Rusty Wallace 12 laps from the end, then held him off on a restart with four laps to go Sunday on the way to a victory in the Brickyard 400. It was the second straight win for the 46-year-old Elliott, whose career was rejuvenated last year by new car-owner Ray Evernham. ...

CANTON, Ohio -- The most important player on the NFL's newest team already understands his place in the superstructure. That's why David Carr, the quarterback of the Houston Texans and the top draft pick, carries equipment bags and fetches cold drinks for the veterans...

ATLANTA -- The St. Louis Cardinals finally got a hit off Damian Moss. It didn't do them any good. The Australian left-hander allowed just one hit in eight innings, and the Atlanta Braves beat the Cardinals 2-1 on Gary Sheffield's leadoff homer in the ninth Sunday night...

ORLAND HILLS, Ill. -- Like any other former police officer, John Askew knew he had to help when he heard an explosion in his apartment complex in this Chicago suburb. Except Askew isn't exactly like most other ex-police officers. So, when he heard the screams, he pointed his wheelchair in their direction and started to roll. ...

KENNETT, Mo. -- A 35-year-old Poplar Bluff, Mo., area man escaped from custody at the Dunklin County Jail Saturday afternoon. Milton Roy Taylor, described by authorities as being a black male, six feet tall and 150 pounds, escaped from the jail's recreation yard during the time inmates were allowed outside...

Briefly Boxing Lennox Lewis hinted he might retire -- or at least demand more money to fight -- in an interview published Sunday. The 36-year-old Lewis, who knocked out Mike Tyson in June to retain the WBC and IBF heavyweight titles, told The Observer that he has little left to prove. ...

A one-vehicle accident in Scott County early Sunday morning resulted in injuries for both the driver and his two passengers. Jeremy Penny, 22, of Cape Girardeau was eastbound in a 2000 Pontiac on U.S. 61 and Route A three miles north of Benton, Mo., when his vehicle ran off the right side of the road and overturned...

CHICAGO -- Not long ago a member of the president's staff complained that the penny continues to exist because it features a likeness of Abraham Lincoln, who is from Illinois, as is the current Speaker of the House. At about the same time, a congressman who wants the penny to disappear introduced a bill that would discourage its use...

JACKSON, Mo. -- When ninth-grader Stacy Goodwin thinks back to her first day of school at R.O. Hawkins Junior High in Jackson, she can't help but cringe. "I got pushed into a locker, and my feet got stepped on constantly," she said. Goodwin's experience is similar to that of the other 800 students who spent last year crammed into a building intended to hold only 600 eighth- and ninth-grade students...

There's something to be said for a game where your finger is almost constantly on the trigger. Unfortunately, when you can't see what you're shooting at, some of the air comes hissing out of the balloon. That's the problem with "Stitch Experiment 626," from High Voltage Software and Sony Interactive for the PlayStation 2...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Organizers with the Jackson Area Optimist Soccer Association (JAOSA) hope to have a land-disturbance permit in hand within three weeks and begin construction of a 27-acre soccer complex. Former JAOSA president Jack Litzelfelner, head of the project committee, said he expects ground movement on the development to begin Aug. 23. The complex, which will feature 19 fields, will be in a flood plain off Highway PP in the southwest part of Jackson...

10 years ago: Aug. 6, 1992 Thad Bullock is winner; early Wednesday morning, final returns from 8th District pushed Bullock to top of six-candidate field for Democratic nomination, making him winner over James L. Thompson of Bourbon by 111-vote margin; for Bullock, who had never come close to capturing his party's nomination during races in 1968, 1984, 1986, 1988 and 1990, Wednesday was day of jubilation...

Clippard Son to John Paul and Kari Nicole Clippard of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 4:54 p.m. Monday, July 8, 2002. Name, John David. Weight, 9 pounds 4 ounces. Third child, first son. Mrs. Clippard is the former Kari Aslinger, daughter of Howard Aslinger and Jean Aslinger of Cape Girardeau. ...

Alonzo W. Rumfelt Sr., 82, of Middletown, Calif., died Friday, Aug. 2, 2002, at his home. He was born Sept. 7, 1919, in Cape Girardeau, son of Robert and Mary McCain Rumfelt. Rumfelt worked at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, Calif., retiring in 1963. He then worked for Harold Smith Construction in Middletown, retiring in the mid-1980s...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Anita Lucille Miller, 93, of Sikeston died Monday, Aug. 5, 2002, at Sikeston Convalescent Center. She was born March 2, 1909, in Cape Girardeau County, daughter of Walter and Minnie Sides Noland. She married Charles E. Miller, who died in 1983...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Graveside service for Mary Jane Childress of Cincinnati, Ohio, will be held at 10:30 a.m. today at Garden of Memories Cemetery. The Rev. Fred Leist will officiate. Nunnelee Funeral Chapel is in charge of arrangements. Childress, 84, died Friday, Aug. 2, 2002, at Manor Care Nursing and Rehab Center in Milford, Ohio...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Alfred L. White, 42, of Lansing, Mich., died Monday, July 29, 2002, at Bixby Hospital in Adrian, Mich. He was born Dec. 2, 1959, in Sikeston, son of Johnny and Pearlie Mae White. White was a 1978 graduate of Sikeston High School. He was a former member of Smith Chapel United Methodist Church...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Sybil Bonds, 65, of Bourbonnais, Ill., died Monday, Aug. 5, 2002, at her home. She was born June 24, 1937, in New Madrid County, Mo., daughter of Louis P. and Exia Taylor Dolan. She and Jimmie Bonds were married in 1959. He died in February 1981...

ULLIN, Ill. -- The funeral for Robert M. Cheek of Ullin was held Saturday at Crain Funeral Home. Ronnie Gulley officiated. Burial was in Christian Chapel Cemetery. Cheek, 82, died Wednesday, July 31, 2002, at Herrin Hospital. He was born May 23, 1920, in Coatesville, Ind., son of George and Opal Storm Cheek. He and Ruth Swadener were married Feb. 19, 1942...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Ernest Lee Stork, 86, of Paducah, Ky., formerly of Pulaski County, Ill., died Monday, Aug. 5, 2002, at Medco Center Nursing Home in Paducah. He was born Jan. 22, 1916, in Conkling, Ky., son of John Calvin and Anna Hardin Stork. He first married Kathryn Stork, who died in 1992. He later married Louise Cox...

Beulah M. Camden, 85, of Cape Girardeau passed away Thursday, July 25, 2002, in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 26, 1916, in West Fork, Mo., daughter of Harry and Asiadell Estep. Beulah is survived by two daughters, Kathy Green and husband Jim of Sedgewickville, Mo., Nellie Shell and husband Jerry of Bentonville, Ark.; three sons, Harold Camden and wife Sharon of Bushnell, Ill., Bob Camden of Sedgewickville, David Camden of Fenton, Mo.; a sister, Irene Fickley of Cape Girardeau; 14 grandchildren; and 20 great-grandchildren.. ...

To the editor: Regarding the editorial, "Few take interest in city's financial plight": You hit the nail on the head. People believe the city council will do as it wants. People are not informed of the meetings by the city. I have asked for all public meetings be shown on Channel 5 the public-access channel...

Mowing priorities COULD SOMEONE please tell me why the highway department in Bollinger County mows along the secondary roads before mowing a much more traveled road like Highway 34, which is dangerous to travel anyway? Taxpayers foot the bill I WOULD like to reply to the resident of Chaffee who thinks the former chief of police should pay back some of the salary he received while serving in Kosovo. ...

Briefly Baseball Ted Williams' oldest daughter, Bobby-Jo Williams Farrell, on Monday asked for the public to donate to a new "Ted Williams' Last Wish Fund" to help cover her legal expenses, which her attorney said could eclipse $100,000, as she fights her siblings in a Florida court. ...

JACKSON BOARD OF ALDERMEN ACTIONS Monday City Hall Public hearing Held hearing to consider the rezoning of 3.8 acres of property located at 2370 N. High St. from R-1 (single family residential) District to C-2 (general commercial) District as submitted by Oak Enterprises, L.L.C...

Lester Goodin is a good citizen. Now the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has recognized that citizenship, as characterized by his good stewardship of our natural resources. During the mid-1980s, Goodin saw severe erosion threatening his land at Thompson Bend next to the southernmost tip of Illinois along the banks of the Mississippi River...

If you owe state taxes -- and maybe a penalty too -- in Missouri, now's the time to settle up. During the legislative session that concluded in May, the General Assembly took a step that many other states have taken. Lawmakers enacted, and Gov. Bob Holden signed into law, a 90-day tax-amnesty program...

WASHINGTON -- When architects turned a former Safeway grocery into a public charter school in 1999, they ditched the dusty chalkboards. Instead, each of the 17 classrooms at the SouthEast Academy of Scholastic Excellence got a glossy whiteboard and set of colored markers -- to the delight of special education teacher JoAnne Anthony...

Cape Girardeau Monday, Aug. 5 Arrests Ian N. Saputo, 21, of Leopold, Mo., was arrested Monday on a Cape Girardeau warrant for failure to appear. Danny A. Rodgers, 39, of Sulligent, Ala., was arrested Monday on a Jackson County warrant for larceny. Michael L. Cease, 32, of 1119 Walnut was arrested Monday on a Brevard County, Fla., warrant for probation violation...

Cape Girardeau Tuesday, Aug. 6 Firefighters responded to the following calls on Sunday: At 7:41 p.m., a medical assist at Pemiscot Street and North West End Boulevard. Firefighters responded to the following calls on Monday: At 2:22 a.m., a medical assist at 151 S. Spanish...

WAPPAPELLO, Mo. -- The body found in Black River Friday evening is that of a Wappapello woman who hasn't been seen in more than six months. The victim is Porisha K. Davis, 39, of Wappapello, said Butler County Coroner Larry Cotrell. "X-rays and dental records have allowed us to identify her. Because of the length of time between the death and the recovery, we do not have a cause of death yet," Cotrell said...

WASHINGTON -- "What's the hardest thing about living with your diabetes?" Richard R. Rubin asks each of his patients. Seldom do they say cite fear of the amputations, kidney failure, blindness and heart attacks that years of uncontrolled diabetes will cause. But often they cite sleepiness from middle-of-the-night bathroom runs...

WASHINGTON -- The 1994 revolution that gave Republicans control of the House of Representatives produced a seismic shift in federal spending, moving tens of billions of dollars from Democratic to GOP districts, an Associated Press analysis shows. Rather than pork barrel projects for new GOP districts, the change was driven mostly by Republican policies that moved spending from poor rural and urban areas to the more affluent suburbs and GOP-leaning farm country, the computer analysis showed...

WASHINGTON -- After two fatal crashes and with still-raging summer fires, lawmakers are criticizing the Defense Department over its delays in turning over some excess planes to battle wildfires. Six years after Congress directed the Pentagon to cull its fleet for aircraft that could be converted to firefighting tankers, the first replacement has yet to arrive...

WASHINGTON -- Microsoft Corp. is disclosing more technical information about its Windows operating system products in order to comply with a federal antitrust settlement that has yet to be approved by a judge, the company announced Monday. "Microsoft is obligated as a company to continue to move forward to meet our obligations under the agreement, even as we are waiting for a final decision," Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith said...

All-Pro defensive end John Abraham of the New York Jets sprained his left knee in practice Saturday, but plans to be in the lineup when the team opens its season in less than five weeks. An MRI examination Monday revealed a second-degree sprain of the medial collateral ligament, and the team estimated he will be out four to six weeks...

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department has lost track of 775 weapons and 400 laptop computers, more than half of which may have contained national security or sensitive law enforcement information, an internal probe found. Some of the weapons were used to commit crimes and the classification level of 218 of the missing laptops is unknown, said the audit report by the department's Office of Inspector General...

NEW YORK -- Randy Johnson pitched a two-hitter and struck out 11 Monday as the Arizona Diamondbacks completed a four-game sweep with a 2-0 victory over the New York Mets. Coming off a 149-pitch start last week -- the longest outing in the majors this year -- and pitching in 89-degree heat didn't slow Johnson (16-4), who struck out the first six batters -- two shy of Jim Deshaies' record to start a game...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The Columbia campus was the only one in the University of Missouri system to send letters this year telling parents that their underage children got in trouble with alcohol or drugs. The University of Missouri Board of Curators voted in March 2001 to allow schools to notify parents of students younger than 21 if their child violates alcohol or drug rules more than once, or is ever caught driving drunk on campus...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's weather has been hotter than the primary campaigns for its statewide offices this summer. The political heat has come mainly from a proposed tax increase for transportation. As voters head to the polls today, they will be deciding on the state's largest ever tax increase -- around $500 million annually for transportation through higher sales and fuel taxes...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Hunting? Sure. Paintball? Take a hike -- that's the answer from the Missouri Department of Conservation for permissible uses of its land. The Missouri Conservation Commission decided on a list of permissible and impermissible uses of its land at its July meeting, after being told area supervisors are getting more requests for uses of department land that don't reflect the mission of promoting hunting, fishing, nature appreciation and nature education...

Los Angeles Times BEIJING -- Two lions, two bears, a wolf and about a dozen other wild animals are preparing to journey to Afghanistan as a Chinese safari park plays Noah to the war-ravaged country's ark. The well-intended gesture, however, has provoked an outcry from international animal rights advocates, who argue that the Kabul Zoo in the Afghan capital is in no condition to accommodate these furry peace ambassadors...

TOKYO -- In a nation famous for steep prices, one bargain stands out -- the 59-yen hamburger. The special offer, launched Monday by McDonald's Co. Japan, is part of the company's campaign to win back sales devastated by a mad cow scare and other fears about food safety in Japan...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraq made its second offer to open its weapons systems to the world, overtures guardedly welcomed by the United Nations but rejected by Washington as a ploy to avoid U.S. military strikes. Iraqi parliamentary speaker Sadoun Hammadi on Monday invited U.S. lawmakers and experts of their choice to visit Iraq for three weeks to search sites or facilities where they suspect weapons of mass destruction are hidden...

KRUGERSDORP, South Africa -- The new Vanessa Skipp stared in awe at a giraffe loping through the African bush -- her recently creased face smooth, her tummy tucked, her excess fat sucked away. Skipp, a 53-year-old from Houston, looked a new woman by the end of her holiday -- a blend of luxury safari and bargain-rate plastic surgery...

BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- Two rockets were fired at a U.S. special forces base in Afghanistan Saturday night, but there were no casualties, a military spokeswoman said Monday. The rockets landed 400 yards from the U.S. camp near Lwara in Paktika province, about 90 miles south of Kabul, said Lt. Col. Carla Sylvester at the U.S. military headquarters in Bagram...

KARACHI, Pakistan -- The United States closed its consulate in the city of Karachi after local authorities reopened a street in front that Americans deemed a security risk, a U.S. official said Monday. The consulate was closed Monday after Pakistani authorities removed large concrete blocks and reopened the road in front of the heavily guarded building to traffic...

JERUSALEM -- An FBI team arrived Monday to work with Israeli police investigating the bombing by the militant group Hamas that killed seven people at Hebrew University, including five Americans. The four-person team will visit the site of Wednesday's bombing, and will pool their information with Israeli security forces, who will lead the search for the bombers, Israeli police spokesman Ofer Sivan said...

MURREE, Pakistan -- Masked gunmen firing Kalashnikov rifles burst through the front gates of a Christian school Monday, killing six people and wounding three in the latest attack against Western interests since Pakistan joined the war against terrorism...

German authorities shut down Arab charity BERLIN -- German authorities shut down an Arab charity accused of collecting money for the militant Palestinian organization Hamas, the interior ministry said. Investigators seized the equivalent of $296,000 from accounts of the Al-Aqsa organization in the cities of Aachen and Cologne, Interior Minister Otto Schily told reporters Monday...

JERUSALEM -- Israel struck back at the Palestinians on Monday following a day of deadly attacks, firing missiles at a suspected weapons factory in the Gaza Strip and announcing a ban on Palestinian travel in the northern West Bank. At the same time, however, Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer met with the Palestinian interior minister, Abdel Razak Yehiyeh, to discuss plans for a cease-fire to allow Israeli troops to leave Palestinian areas, Palestinian officials and Israel Army Radio said.. ...

LONDON -- Ninety-four people were hospitalized Monday after the worst Legionnaires' disease outbreak in nearly a decade -- an outbreak that already has killed one elderly man in northwest Britain. Sixty-four of those patients were confirmed to have the illness, while the remaining 30 were suspected of having it, health officials said. Eighteen people were in intensive-care units at five hospitals...

NIAMEY, Niger -- Mutinous soldiers tried to take over three garrisons in the capital of Niger on Monday, but were repelled by loyalist troops in a gun battle that lasted more than two hours, government officials said. Hama Amadou, prime minister of the West African nation, said the city of Niamney remained under government control...

The Associated PressUNITED NATIONS -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Monday he will write to Iraq seeking clarification on whether it agrees to the U.N. plan for the return of weapons inspectors, a move supported by the Security Council. Annan said he would look "in a different light" at Iraq's invitation to the chief U.N. ...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Just weeks before the start of the school year, a judge struck down Florida's voucher law Monday, saying the state constitution forbids the use of tax money to send youngsters to religious schools. The decision could mean turmoil for the 46 students who are attending private school under the only statewide voucher program in the nation and might have to go back to public school. In addition, more than 650 other youngsters had hoped to use vouchers this school year...

CHICAGO -- A woman struck by a van last week in an incident that ended with the beating deaths of two men inside the vehicle died Monday, hospital officials said. Shauna Lawrence, 26, was sitting on a porch when the van hurtled the curb and struck her and two others last week, authorities said. The other women survived...

LOS ANGELES -- Doctors began operating on 1-year-old twin sisters joined at the head Monday in a long, risky procedure to separate the blood vessels and bone they share. "We are cautiously optimistic in the early going," said Dr. Michael Karpf, director of the UCLA Medical Center...

HOUSTON -- Suspecting her husband of having an affair, Clara Harris did what wealthy wives can afford to do: She hired an investigator. But what the private eye saw could become Exhibit A against Harris herself. As the investigator's video camera rolled, an enraged Harris allegedly killed her husband in a parking lot by running him over three times with her silver Mercedes-Benz. The victim's 16-year-old daughter was in the passenger seat...

SANTA ANA, Calif. -- Prosecutors said Monday that they will seek the death penalty against the man accused of killing 5-year-old Samantha Runnion, who was dragged away from a playmate by a man who asked for help in finding his puppy. Alejandro Avila, 27, is charged with murder, kidnapping and two counts of forcible lewd acts on a child. ...

FOREST FALLS, Calif. -- A mother bear and cub died in a fire they started after breaking into a home in a San Bernardino National Forest mountain community to look for food. A 300-pound black bear and her cub entered the house through an open front window Sunday afternoon , fire spokeswoman Tracey Martinez said...

Volunteer firefighters receive Tritt donation ATLANTA -- Country singer Travis Tritt is donating $25,000 to a group of volunteer firefighters who helped rescue trapped coal miners in Pennsylvania last month. Tritt, who performed at the Ohio State Fair this weekend in Columbus, is donating the money to the Sipesville (Pa.) Volunteer Fire Company, according to his official Web site...

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- An 80,000-pound section of a concrete wall fell on a group of construction workers as they ate lunch Monday, killing three of them. Officials said the wall toppled when another crew had removed temporary braces from the 35-by-20-foot section, unaware the wall had not been permanently secured to the roof...

CLEVELAND -- U.S. marshals transferred former Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. on Monday from an Ohio jail to a federal prison in Pennsylvania where he will serve eight years for bribery and racketeering. Traficant had asked to be placed in an Ohio prison so he can run for re-election Nov. 5 from his Youngstown district. But the sentencing judge made no recommendation either way...

HATTERAS, N.C. -- The coral-encrusted gun turret of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor was raised Monday from the floor of the Atlantic, nearly 140 years after the warship sank during a storm. As salvage crews cheered, the 120-ton turret was pulled out of the depths by a huge crane on a 300-foot barge. A Civil War-era American flag fluttered from the salvage apparatus and silt-colored water poured out of the turret into the whitecapped sea before the wreckage was swung aboard the barge...

WASHINGTON -- Marcia Drummond sees doctors for a living. On a typical workday, she may drive to points in the entire Washington region to visit pediatricians, internists, cardiologists and family practitioners. A pharmacist by training, she's now a foot soldier in a mounting clash between the pharmaceutical industry and the benefit plans that pay for their products...

PITTSBURGH -- President Bush on Monday rejoiced in the against-all-hope rescue of nine miners, telling the men and their saviors their tenacity "really represents the best of our country." "Today we're here to celebrate life, the value of life and most importantly the spirit of America," the president said from the Green Tree firehouse, emergency gear arrayed behind him, after a 20-minute private huddle with the miners and their families...

NEW YORK -- Prosecutors said Monday that as many as 4,000 people used ATMs to steal $15 million from a municipal employees' credit union whose computer security system was damaged in the Sept. 11 attack. Police said they had arrested 66 people and were seeking 35 others. But thousands more are under investigation in what already is one of the largest fraud cases to come out of the terrorist attack...

PHILADELPHIA -- A judge gave a woman the go-ahead Monday to get an abortion after her ex-boyfriend won an extraordinary order that temporarily prevented her from terminating her pregnancy. Common Pleas Judge Michael Conahan dissolved the temporary injunction issued against 23-year-old Tanya Meyers by another judge a week ago. Conahan also dismissed a lawsuit filed by the ex-boyfriend, John Stachokus, to force her to carry her fetus to term...

Trey Parker, 9, got his kicks Monday outside R.O. Hawkins Junior High School, where was helping his mother, Leanne Parker, get her ninth-grade classroom ready for the new school year.By Matthew Mosk ~ The Washington Post...

Area farmers say lack of rainfall 'burning up' crops By Scott Moyers ~ Southeast Missourian Southeast Missouri farmers have had a tumultuous relationship with the rain this year. They collectively cursed it as it fell this spring, when it rained so much that it flooded in places and pushed back the start of planting season by weeks...

The city of Cape Girardeau officially handed over control of the Convention and Visitors Bureau to the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce at its meeting Monday night. But, with a few amendments to the original contract, the council took steps to make sure the city will still have an active voice in the direction of the CVB...

Southeast Missourian BENTON, Mo. -- Prosecutors revised a charge against a Scott City, Mo., teen accused in the stabbing death of his stepfather from second-degree to first-degree murder on Monday. John Mayabb was stabbed numerous times at his home in Scott City. Police arrested his stepson, Christopher Jones, 18, not long afterward about five blocks from the house...

Southeast Missourian JACKSON, Mo. - Two suspects in the shooting death of a rural Jackson man were arraigned Monday afternoon in Cape Girardeau County Associate Circuit Court on charges of first-degree murder and kidnapping...

Council looking to ban dogs from certain events By Sam Blackwell ~ Southeast Missourian JACKSON, Mo. -- If planning to come to the Jackson Homecomers celebration Aug. 20-24, leave your dog home. On Aug. 19, it will become illegal to have a dog at Homecomers or at the Jaycee Fourth of July celebration...

An early morning home invasion in downtown Cape Girardeau has police on the lookout for two gunmen. Officers responded at 2:17 a.m. Monday to a report of a shooting at 143 S. Spanish, where a 40-year-old man was found shot through his arm. The man told police he was entertaining three guests at his home when two armed men entered through a back door...

Southeast Missourian Construction for a water main project will reduce part of Mount Auburn Road to one lane of traffic beginning today. The westernmost southbound lane will be closed for 600 to 700 feet beginning at Gordonville Road. The work will continue to move north along Mount Auburn Road for several weeks while work is completed...

WICHITA, Kan. -- Just two weeks ago the Craftsman Union Capahas' 17th consecutive trip to the National Baseball Congress World Series hung precariously in the balance. As far as the tournament was concerned, the Capahas looked to be stranded in the on-deck circle when they were dethroned by Springfield, Mo., as the Mid-South Regional champion, missing out on the automatic berth. ...

Southeast Missourian Lt. John R. Davis, auxiliary services division commander with the Cape Girardeau Police Department, was elected Chairman of the Missouri Law Enforcement Traffic Safety Advisory Council by law enforcement delegates from across the state during their annual traffic safety conference held at Lake Ozark, Mo., in July...

The Cape Girardeau Municipal band will perform at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Capaha Park Band Shell. Guest vocalists will be husband and wife Christopher Goeke and Lori Schaffer, who teach vocal music at Southeast. The celebrity guest conductors will be the Central High School drum majors...

LOS ANGELES -- Chick Hearn, who made "slam dunk" and "air ball" common basketball expressions during his 42-year broadcasting career with the Los Angeles Lakers, died Monday night. He was 85. Hearn, the only play-by-play announcer the Los Angeles Lakers ever had, died at 6:30 p.m. at Northridge Medical Center Hospital, team spokesman Bob Steiner said...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry Bonds has raced past so many baseball milestones in the past two seasons that it's difficult for anyone -- even Bonds himself -- to step back and truly appreciate his achievements. There are certain numbers that everyone can understand, however. The first was 500. The second was 73...

INDIANAPOLIS -- NASCAR chairman Bill France wonders whether Tony Stewart might have been provoked into hitting a photographer after a 12th-place finish in the Brickyard 400. While NASCAR continued its investigation Monday, France said he would be interested in seeing pictures or footage of the confrontation, if any exist...

MACOMB, Ill. Unlike many of his teammates, St. Louis Rams safety Adam Archuleta didn't fortify himself with diversionary toys like video games or remote control cars before heading to the team's remote training camp site. Archuleta, entering his second season in the NFL, likes it dull when he's not thinking football. So forget the PlayStation2...

ATLANTA -- Just a few days into August, the Atlanta Braves have already turned their attention to October. Barring a monumental collapse, the Braves are assured of another division title. For those who've lost count, this will be No. 11 in a streak that began when a different Bush was in the White House...

NEW YORK -- Imaginative minds can conjure horribly apocalyptic consequences from a smallpox attack. Here is a disease that kills 30 percent of those it infects and leaves survivors permanently scarred. After plaguing humanity for centuries, it was finally eradicated three decades ago so that no one today has any built-up immunity to it. ...

Photo courtesy of The Mirror Danny Robert, left and Valerie LeGrand, right, held candles and looked over a prayer book during a vigil at World Youth Day in Canada. The Cape Girardeau teenagers were among a group of 48 from Southeast Missouri who attended the events in Ontario...

ST. LOUIS -- After four decades as a sidelines student of Missouri politics, Senator-by-appointment Jean Carnahan defeated a jailed Democratic primary opponent Tuesday to win her first election. Republican Jim Talent formalized their nationally watched November showdown by sweeping aside four unknown primary challengers...

CHAMBER PROJECT BY BOB MILLER ~ Southeast Missourian If councilwoman Marcia Ritter had a crystal ball, the vote on the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau might have been unanimous...

Despite a $3.5 million campaign and a generally acknowledged need for better roads, a proposal to raise Missouri's fuel and sales taxes for transportation failed badly in Tuesday's election. Proposition B was failing by nearly a 3-to-1 margin with more than half of all precincts reporting results statewide. The "no" chorus was strong in almost every county...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- State health officials reported the first known human case of West Nile virus in Illinois on Tuesday and said more cases are likely before summer ends. The 22-year-old woman, a student from Maryland, reported only minor symptoms -- fever, achy muscles and a slight rash -- and has recovered, said Dr. John Lumpkin, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health...

Southeast Missourian BENTON, Mo. -- Both drivers sustained moderate injuries Tuesday in a collision on Interstate 55, two miles south of Benton. Aulcey Huffman, 72, of Jackson, Mo., was taken to Southeast Missouri Hospital after the 10 a.m. accident...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, decrying a rash of recent child abductions and murders, declared Tuesday the nation must work harder to keep its young from being "victims of despicable acts of violence." Appearing in the White House Rose Garden to announce plans to convene a fall conference on missing, exploited and runaway youths, the president said, "Our nation grieves with every family that has suffered unbearable loss and our nation will fight the threats against our children."...

P Mark A. Gill lived with Ralph L. Lape Jr. a month before Lape disappeared, according to documents. By Mike Wells Southeast Missourian JACKSON, Mo. -- Court documents have revealed a strong connection between 54-year-old Ralph L. Lape Jr. and one of the men charged in his death...

Marquis de Lafayette becomes honorary citizen WASHINGTON -- The Marquis de Lafayette, who fought alongside George Washington at Valley Forge and secured the aid of France during the Revolutionary War, on Tuesday became the sixth person to be conferred with honorary U.S. citizenship...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. - Voters chose Sue Oster as the new Recorder of Deeds in Perry County. Oster defeated four other candidates for the position, with only a 15-vote margin. No Democrats filed for the office. About 37 percent of the county's registered voters cast ballots in the primary race Tuesday...

BENTON, Mo. -- Scott County voters chose a candidate with experience and a working knowledge of the prosecutor's role to fill the post as the county's first full-time prosecuting attorney. Paul Boyd defeated Frank Marshall by a 58-vote margin in Tuesday's primary election. Boyd earned 2,186 votes; Marshall received 2,128...

Standard Democrat SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Sikeston Jaycees Bootheel Rodeo kicks off tonight, marking the 50th anniversary of the annual event. In addition to rodeo events like bareback riding and calf roping, the Sikeston Jaycees have music booked each night. Alabama will play tonight, followed by Lonestar on Thursday, Gary Allan on Friday and Trace Adkins on Saturday...