Stories from Sunday, November 3, 2002

Morley Swingle, Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney and author, will be the featured guest on KRCU's "Going Public" radio show on Sunday. Swingle will discuss his recently published novel, "The Gold of Cape Girardeau." The show, hosted by Tom Harte and Chris Schnell, will air at 3 p.m. on 90.9 FM, the region's Public Radio affiliate station...

LOS ANGELES -- Three consecutive best-drama Emmys. A Peabody Award. One of TV's most affluent audiences. All that, and "The West Wing" still must account for losing viewers to "The Bachelor." In the bottom-line world of television, series that deliver a young crowd are the fondest desire of advertisers and networks -- and ABC's dating game is among the new competitors sapping youthful strength from "The West Wing" on NBC...

LOS ANGELES -- Tools and toys. Tim Allen can't escape the trappings of his best-known roles. Formerly Tim "The Toolman" Taylor on "Home Improvement" and the voice of plaything Buzz Lightyear in the "Toy Story" movies, Allen returns as Big Cheese of the North Pole toy industry in "The Santa Clause 2," the sequel to his 1994 hit. The movie opened Friday...

NEW YORK -- Three generic drug companies have joined forces to launch a generic version of the blockbuster ulcer medication Prilosec by the end of the year. The new version eventually could save consumers and businesses billions of dollars. Andrx Corp. ...

DIAMOND BAR, Calif.-- Southern California's air-quality regulators on Friday backed away from a proposed ban, driven by health concerns, on the most commonly used dry-cleaning solvent. If adopted by the board of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the plan would have made the greater Los Angeles region the first jurisdiction in the nation to ban perchloroethylene, or perc ...

McKEESPORT, Pa. -- The bouts, police say, were staged in basements and warehouses. There were trainers, promoters, fight magazines and $50,000 bets. Fighters were pumped up with steroids, and electrocuted when injured badly. State investigators made six arrests in what they call their biggest investigation of a dogfighting ring -- a racket that has allegedly sent pit bulls to their deaths in a high-stakes blood sport for the past five years...

CHICAGO -- Leaders of the pilots union at United Airlines endorsed a $2.2 billion reduction in labor costs over 5 1/2 years, including substantial pay cuts, to help the financially strapped carrier. The airline is seeking $5.8 billion in labor savings from all its unions in order to get a $1.8 billion government-guaranteed loan to stave off bankruptcy...

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- Laurence M. Foley, the U.S. aid worker killed in a possible terrorist attack in Jordan, was remembered Saturday as a big, boisterous man whose humor and mischievous charm won him and his country countless friends. About 250 people attended a memorial service at a Unitarian Universalist church outside Washington that was marked by more laughter than tears and more talk of his zest for life than his violent death...

DALLAS -- University of Texas astronomers have confirmed that a planet orbits one of a pair of stars 45 light-years (260 trillion miles) away. It is the first discovery of a planet in a binary star system where the two stars orbit each other closely...

Julia Roberts goes to Yale to shoot movie NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The stately halls of Yale University got a shot of Hollywood glamour this weekend with Julia Roberts in town to shoot scenes for her new movie, "Mona Lisa Smile." Yale stands in for the Massachusetts campus of Wellesley College in 1953 for the movie about an art history professor, played by Roberts, who helps young female students find themselves...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The Big Room at Carlsbad Caverns, a room that could fill more than six football fields and reach the height of a 30-story building, inspires awe among visitors, but it's a nagging puzzle for geologists. For decades visitors were told the cave, with its gypsum formations, was formed by the relentless drip-drip-drip of carbonic acid eating away at the limestone in a rare process that creates only 5 percent of the world's caves...

Protesters demand extradition of rebel envoy MOSCOW -- Russian lawmakers turned up the pressure on Denmark on Saturday, demonstrating outside the country's embassy to warn the small Scandinavian nation Moscow will not drop its demand for the extradition of a detained Chechen rebel envoy...

The Associated Press JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- A California doctor who committed suicide after being accused in a murder plot gave deadly germs to apartheid South Africa's secret chemical and biological weapons program, CBS' "60 Minutes" reported Sunday...

LONDON -- Iranian security forces have detained one of Osama bin Laden's sons among several hundred people suspected of links to the al-Qaida terror network, the Financial Times reported on its Web site Saturday. Citing an unidentified Iranian official, the newspaper said Iran had handed bin Laden's son over to authorities in either Saudi Arabia or Pakistan. The paper, which does not appear on Sundays, planned to publish the story in its Monday edition, said spokesman Gregory Roth...

Kristin and Ron Thompson feel like they are single parents although they are happily married and live in the same Huntington Beach, Calif., house. That's because when Ron's working as a firefighter on 24-hour shifts, Kristin stays home watching their two school-age sons...

ST. LOUIS -- A former St. Louis police sergeant who had received several department honors is accused of pointing a pistol at his 10- and 14-year-old daughters, authorities say. John McKenzie has been charged with child abuse. Last year, he was fired from the police force for shoplifting...

ST. LOUIS -- A U.N. official urged the United States to ratify a treaty protecting the rights of children, an act he said would inspire the world "to go the extra step" for its youngest citizens. Jacob Doek, chairman of the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child, called on the United States to join with 191 countries that have already signed the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child because "it would really help the world," he said Friday during a speech in St. Louis...

COLUMBIA -- Authorities are investigating a man who was arrested after 137 containers of infectious medical waste were found inside an empty home in Columbia. The 36-year-old man was arrested Tuesday and released Thursday on $500 bond. Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Crane said he planned to file three misdemeanor charges against the man...

ROSCOE, Ill. -- State wildlife officials have confirmed the first known case in Illinois of chronic wasting disease in a deer. The fatal brain condition was discovered in a sick deer shot Oct. 23 on private land just east of Roscoe near the Wisconsin border. The disease has infected deer and elk from Colorado to Wisconsin...

OLATHE, Kan. -- John E. Robinson Sr. should be put to death for killing two women and stuffing their bodies into barrels on his rural property, a jury recommended Saturday. The decision makes Robinson the fifth man to receive a death sentence recommendation from a Kansas jury since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1994...

FAIR GROVE, Mo. -- Two people were killed in a head-on collision in southwest Missouri early Saturday. The Missouri State Highway Patrol identified the victims as Michael Sherman, 21, and Ronald Akins, 64, both of Buffalo, Mo. One car crossed the centerline on U.S. 65 south of Fair Grove about 4 a.m. and struck the other one head-on, the patrol said...

LONDON -- The legacy of Princess Diana -- dead five years now -- haunts the beleaguered British royals yet again, as a fierce debate rages about the motives of Queen Elizabeth II, whose belated revelations cleared Diana's former butler on charges he stole from the House of Windsor...

BANGUI, Central African Republic -- Americans were evacuated today with coup forces reportedly in control of roads out of the Central African Republic capital. Fears of new fighting ran high in the tense city. A U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo plane carried out more than two dozen people -- U.S. Embassy workers, other Americans, and other foreign nationals, Lt. Col. Pat Barnes said at U.S. European Command in Stuttgart, Germany...

ANKARA, Turkey -- Showered with carnations and chants of "We love you" at campaign rallies, Turkey's most popular politician, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, led his front-running party into elections today expected to radically remake parliament. Erdogan's Justice and Development Party has its roots in Islamic-oriented political movements, but he and other leaders contend they have changed and are not promoting a religious agenda. ...

PHILADELPHIA -- Scholars are objecting to a National Park Service text that does not mention that the house in Philadelphia used by President George Washington had a slaves' quarters attached to it. Instead, the Independence National Historical Park's Web site refers to a "large servants' hall" that Washington had attached to the back of the house...

The Associated Press DENVER -- Real estate company Re/Max International has sued CBS, alleging an episode of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" portrayed a shady real estate agent who used a for-sale sign that looked like a Re/Max sign. The suit, filed Thursday in U.S. ...

Laura ByrneByrne, a track and cross country athlete from 1986-1989, won four Division II individual titles during the 1988-89 school year when she won the cross country national championship, the indoor 1,500 and 3,000-meters and the outdoor 5,000-meters...

A who's who of standout Southeast Missouri State University athletes and coaches were on display at the Show Me Center Saturday afternoon when the school honored the first class of inductees for its new Athletic Hall of Fame. Fourteen former athletes and coaches and three national championship teams make up the inaugural class that also was honored during halftime of Saturday night's football game against Tennessee Tech at Houck Stadium...

That Southeast Missouri State University's Willie Ponder would score the game-winning touchdown Saturday night isn't surprising. After all, he is a Division I-AA All-American wide receiver who already had racked up 11 touchdowns this season. But the way Ponder reached the end zone in the final seconds against Tennessee Tech was unconventional to say the least...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- For more than two months teams across Southeast Missouri have tried to figure out how to stop Leopold senior hitter Holly Jansen. If Saturday's Class 1 sectional in Advance is any indication, that problem remains unsolved. In a dominating performance, Jansen banged out 23 kills and the Leopold Wildcats (32-2-1) rolled to a 15-7, 15-3 win over Bismarck in the sectional championship...

ST. LOUIS -- Jennifer Pancoast again led the way for the Central girls cross country team, this time leading the Tigers to the Class 4 state meet. Pancoast placed second in the sectional field on the 3.1-mile layout at Jefferson Barracks Park Saturday as Central claimed the fourth and final state spot in the eight-team field...

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. -- The Notre Dame Bulldogs were unable to conquer perennial volleyball power St. Francis Borgia in the Class 3 sectional Saturday at Ste. Genevieve High School. But on a war-front within, Notre Dame (31-6-1) ultimately won a battle of nerves before its season closed...

EAST Albany, N.Y. 32, Robert Morris 7 American International 34, Pace 7 Bates 48, Bowdoin 28 Bentley 37, Assumption 6 Bloomsburg 23, West Chester 10 Brockport 17, Thiel 0 Bryant 9, Stonehill 8 C.W. Post 34, S. Connecticut 8 Carnegie-Mellon 27, Chicago 10...

AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State has learned that with Seneca Wallace running things, anything is possible. Wallace certainly made things happen Saturday, setting a school record with 493 total yards and directing a 93-yard touchdown drive with time running out that gave No. 22 Iowa State a 42-35 victory over Missouri...

TEMPE, Ariz. -- No one expected the Rams to be looking up at the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC West standings seven games into the season. Yet after an 0-5 start, the Rams (2-5) are two games in back of the Cardinals (4-3) heading into today's game at Sun Devil Stadium. A victory over Arizona is the next essential step in St. Louis' uphill climb...

Even after Halloween's sugar high, Bailey still talks about breaking a world's record. Our 6-year-old proudly informed us last weekend that she planned to stay in her monkey pajamas because she was working on a world's record. I'm not sure she even knows what a world's record is, but she certainly likes the sound of it...

Although the games won't count on their records, Southeast Missouri State University's 2002-03 basketball teams will test themselves against outside competition -- as well as show themselves to the public -- for the first time this week. Southeast hoop fans are probably curious to take a look at both squads in those home exhibition games that have the women playing St. Louis Goldstar Friday night and the men facing Missouri-Rolla Saturday night...

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- Rusty Wallace is on edge. All his energy is channeled into just one thing: winning a race. Wallace goes into today's Pop Secret 400 on a 59-race winless streak. With just three events remaining this season, he's in serious jeopardy of not winning for the first time in 17 years...

Iknew it, I knew it I JUST knew Notre Dame would receive a first-place vote or two in the Top 10 volleyball poll even after being crushed by Leopold in both sets last week. I'd love to see the logic behind the journalist who still maintains Notre Dame is the best team in Southeast Missouri. ...

MINNEAPOLIS -- Scientists hope a new study will help develop a way for brewers to manufacture a beer that tastes as good in the dead of winter as it does on a hot summer day. The study will investigate how growing conditions and locations can affect hops, barley and other ingredients and change the flavor and aroma of a brand of beer from batch to batch...

PHILADELPHIA -- A man was held for trial after his 11-year-old son testified that his father had forced him to sell drugs and carry a gun. "I was sick and tired of being used and I wanted to tell somebody," said the boy, who walked into a police station Sept. 24 and gave his account to police...

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Doug "Mackey" Goodwin says there were "a lot of miracles at work" the day he got his new heart. The 60-year-old former player for the NFL's Buffalo Bills received a transplant at New York Presbyterian Hospital on Sept. 11, 2001, the day terrorists crashed two planes into the World Trade Center...

SANTA ROSA, Calif. -- A dentist is offering trick or treaters $1 a pound for their sweets to make a point about dental hygeine. Dr. Stephen Berger has offered to buy children's Halloween candy since 1984. He said he averages about 1,500 pounds of treats a year, and that he has the candy carted off to the dump...

BIGGS, Calif. -- In a nation where Minute Maid spends $100 million to name a Houston ballpark, NASCAR hosts a Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400 and people seeking $1 million willingly expose their inner flaws on TV's "Survivor," what's so wrong about becoming Got Milk? Calif.?...

Morley Swingle has authored thousands of legal documents in the 16 years he's been Cape Girardeau County's prosecuting attorney. But on Saturday afternoon, he signed his name inside the cover of a story he spent nearly two decades drafting. Swingle signed more than 300 copies of his first novel, "The Gold of Cape Girardeau," at Barnes & Noble on Saturday afternoon. He signed about 200 books Friday night at Southeast Missouri University's museum...

Missouri's new system of provisional ballots -- which goes into effect for the first time in Tuesday's general election -- could delay the outcome in the U.S. Senate race between Democratic incumbent Jean Carnahan and Republican challenger Jim Talent...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush and top aides are losing patience with Harvey Pitt but have not decided whether to seek his ouster as Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, a senior White House official said Saturday. Support for Pitt among Republicans, who had been steadfastly backing him amid Democrats' calls for his resignation, eroded as Sen. ...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Attorney General Jay Nixon said the Ozarks Technical Community College should not question whether it needs to return a $180,000 state appropriation. "I saw the headline in your paper," Nixon told The Springfield News-Leader Friday. "'OTC board to ask Nixon: Must cash go back?' The answer is yes."...

To the editor: I'd like to comment on the behavior of the broadcasters of the Southeast Missouri State University football team. As I was driving through the area Saturday, I heard a commentator make a reference toward the opponent's coach, who was of Italian background. This individual stated after the opponent's head coach questioned a call by the official, "He's telling him (the official) about the 'guys' he has on his staff."...

Women still searching for numbers that match the fit By Eils Lotozo * Knight Ridder Newspapers A strange thing happened to me at the Target store in Cherry Hill, N.J., a couple of weeks ago: I tried on a skirt in a size small, and it fit. Small is not how many people would describe my healthy 5-foot-6, 147-pound figure. Heck, the last time I was anything resembling small was in high school -- during the Nixon administration...

Cape Girardeau Sunday, Nov. 3 Firefighters responded Friday to the following calls: At 4:30 p.m., emergency medical service at at 331 S. Lorimier. At 9:41 p.m., emergency medical service at 517 Middle. Firefighters reponded Saturday to the following calls:...

NEW YORK -- Public health officials have developed an odd interest lately in the mundane and arcane. Epidemiologists are tracking orange juice sales at the local Safeway and poring over school attendance data. They're mapping every case of the sniffles they can find and watching surveillance videos to count how many times people sneeze...

The U.S. Senate, sometimes called the world's most deliberative body, is a powerful institution. Its 100 members hold sway over federal legislation and policy, as well s the appointment of judges and the oversight of government. Because of the Senate's enormous clout, electing senators is a serious matter...

WASHINGTON -- A nervous nation goes to the polls Tuesday to select a new Congress, and voters are as likely to elect a divided government in this era of anxiety as they did two years ago in a time of peace and prosperity. The House of Representatives appears likely to remain narrowly in Republican control. ...

Measures appearing on Tuesday's statewide ballot would change the costs of cigarettes and call for a state constitutional convention, among other choices. Following are all the issues up for vote in Missouri, with explanations about what the measures intend to do and how opponents and proponents view them:...

Cape Girardeau County's punch-card voting system will be scrapped even though it works well, the county's chief elections official says. That's because a new federal law will eliminate punch-card voting nationwide in response to the voting problems in Florida in the 2000 presidential election. It will force counties to use voting systems such as those involving touch-screen machines or ones that use optical scanners to count paper ballots, said Cape Girardeau County Clerk Rodney Miller...

ALONG U.S. 50, Mo. -- Retired minister Fred Ackman has "had enough of the Bushes." But gun and bait shop owner Jim Sloan supports the president "150 percent." Anne Parker is a city alderwoman herself but is weary of negative campaigns by all parties: "The slicker they are, the more slippery they are."...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Faced with U.S. threats of war, people on the drab streets of Baghdad speak of dying for Saddam Hussein -- but as a remote possibility and without much anger or emotion. They seem more concerned about why Washington is so focused on Iraq and not on Iran or North Korea, other countries President Bush has labeled part of the "axis of evil."...

By Edith M. Lederer ~ The Associated Press UNITED NATIONS -- President Bush on Saturday called Saddam Hussein a "dangerous man" with links to terrorist networks, as Security Council members awaited a revised U.S. resolution to disarm Iraq...

When Colorado-based Kinder Morgan Power Co. announced last week that it is abandoning a plan to build a $300 million plant near Crump, at least one Cape Girardeau County family was left wondering what kind of damage the company might be leaving behind...

They still have to put people on a waiting list, but with a "moonlight" session at the November community garage sale the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department doesn't have to turn quite so many away. "The reason we have two sessions at this sale is because there were still so many people waiting in line to register when we got done," said Amy Roth, recreation coordinator for the city's parks and recreation department. ...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Kenneth and Mary Torbet of Marble Hill celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary Oct. 13, 2002, at Reflections Fine Dining in Jackson. Hosts were their children and grandchildren. Mr. and Mrs. Torbet were married Oct. 13, 1942, at Grant City, Mo. Their attendants were Don and Gladys Torbet, brother and sister-in-law of the groom...

1. What steps do you propose to spur the national economy and create jobs in Missouri? I propose immediate, deep cuts in taxes and spending, beginning with the repeal of the federal income tax and an end to all federal spending that cannot be justified under the powers delegated to the federal government in the Constitution.2. What measures would you endorse to avoid future corporate scandals?...

1. What steps do you propose to spur the national economy and create jobs in Missouri? Federal money should be shifted from the military economy, which has only a short-term reach, to community-based public works and public service jobs programs. We could expand Missouri's agricultural economy: Worldwide demand for organic foods is increasing exponentially while worldwide demand for genetically modified foods is shrinking. ...

1. What steps do you propose to spur the national economy and create jobs in Missouri? Missouri lost 55,000 jobs last year -- the most in the country. I've traveled to Missouri's 114 counties and everywhere I go plants are closing and people are laid off or they're afraid of losing work. ...

SAN GIULIANO DI PUGLIA, Italy -- An earthquake jolted south-central Italy on Thursday, sending a nursery school roof crashing down on a class of preschoolers during a lunchtime Halloween party. At least 13 children in the school and two women in nearby homes were killed...

Baseball The Mariners interviewed Yankees third base coach Willie Randolph and Baltimore bench coach Sam Perlozzo, and general manager Pat Gillick said two more names have been added to the list of possible replacements for Lou Piniella. Gillick refused to identify the latest possibilities...

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Scientists studying both traditional electrolysis and cutting-edge cold plasma technology also will investigate a third way to preserve the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley, the first sub in history to sink an enemy warship. During the next year, scientists will experiment to see if supercritical fluids may prove the best choice for conserving the sub that sank with its crew of eight in February 1864, after sinking the Union blockade ship Housatonic...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Getting Hallmark Cards Inc. to sell Veterans Day cards became a personal crusade for Keri Olson after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Olson, who has worked for Hallmark for the past two years and whose father received a Purple Heart for combat wounds in the Vietnam War, managed to convince the Kansas City-based company that making the cards was a good idea, even though Hallmark had considered it at least twice before but decided consumers weren't interested...

SAN GIULIANO DI PUGLIA, Italy -- Aftershocks continued to rattle this abandoned village Saturday as prosecutors probed whether poor construction was to blame for the deaths of 26 children buried when an earthquake flattened their school while adjacent buildings remained standing...

1. What steps do you propose to spur the national economy and create jobs in Missouri? I will propose to the Congress that any income from a financial transaction that involves a tax-free exchange will be changed to allow the parties involved to have one year after the close of the transaction to execute the tax-free exchange. This proposal will include any property that is subject to the capital gains tax, and it will be retroactive for five years, including the property of deceased people...

1. What steps do you propose to spur the national economy and create jobs in Missouri? Currently the United States tax rates are entirely too high and tax credits are given to corporations and individuals that do not stimulate the economy or too many imprecise and unenforceable laws for those that cheat the tax system are not enforced. ...

1. What steps do you propose to spur the national economy and create jobs in Missouri? Our economy in Missouri is very diverse. Our congressional district, which is the most rural in the state, faces challenges different from those in the metropolitan areas. ...

Jim Talent1. What steps do you propose to spur the national economy and create jobs in Missouri? Missouri lost 55,000 jobs last year -- the most in the country. I've traveled to Missouri's 114 counties and everywhere I go plants are closing and people are laid off or they're afraid of losing work. ...

1. What steps do you propose to spur the national economy and create jobs in Missouri? As a member of the Senate Small Business Committee, I will continue to work to create a positive environment for business and job growth. We must ensure that our citizens obtain the education and job training necessary to compete in the global economy and find high-paying jobs...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Robyn Bles and Josh Shelly announce their engagement. She is the daughter of Rick and Patty Tanksley of Chaffee, and Lee McDaniel of Caruthersville, Mo. Shelly is the son of Dewayne and Kim Shelly of Hayti, Mo. Bles is a student at Dyersburg State Community College in Dyersburg, Tenn...

Mr. and Mrs. Paul R. Kreitler of Ste. Genevieve, Mo., announce the engagement of their daughter, Rebeka Jane Kreitler, to Andrew Charles Wright. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Richard G. Wright of Overland, Mo. Kreitler is a 1995 graduate of Ste. Genevieve High School, and a 1999 graduate of Southeast Missouri State University. She expects to receive a master's degree in May 2003. She is a guidance counselor with Cape Girardeau Public Schools...

10 years ago: Nov. 3, 1992 Jackson - County Clerk Rodney Miller is anticipating record number of voters could go to polls today in Cape Girardeau County; but because this will be one of longest ballots ever, Miller is urging voters to come to polls prepared, to avoid long lines; biggest turnout ever in county was in 1984, when 25,302 people cast votes...

Helen May Shores, 88, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, Nov. 2, 2002, at Chateau Girardeau Health Center. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home.

WITTENBERG, Mo. -- Esther J. Doering, 103, of Wittenberg died Friday, Nov. 1, 2002, at her home. She was born Feb. 5, 1899, at Old Appleton, daughter of Gottfried and Ida Landgraff Mueller. She and Ernst George Doering were married Feb. 27, 1927. He died Nov. 1, 1986...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Lola Slaughter Waters, 91, of Dexter died Friday, Nov. 1, 2002, at the Beverly Health and Rehab Center in Dexter. She was born April 6, 1911, at Zalma, Mo., daughter of Leo and Phebe Sherrills Davis. She and Melvin Slaughter were married in 1929. He died June 17, 1986. She and Ben Waters were married April 14, 1988. He also preceded her in death...

Louise M. Cole, 83, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Nov. 1, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Aug. 18, 1919, at Cape Gir-ardeau, daughter of John C. and Laura Cole. She had worked at the former Cole-Webb Grocery Store in the Red Star District of Cape Girardeau and later worked as the credit manager at Montgomery Ward in Cape Girardeau for 15 years. ...

Thelma Louise James, 92, of Cape Girardeau, formerly of Puxico, Mo., died Saturday, Nov. 2, 2002, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born Sept. 12, 1910, at Zalma, Mo., daughter of Bernie and Lillie Hindman Shell. She and Arthur James were married Nov. 20, 1933, at Jonesboro, Ill...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Hester A. Tucker, 90, of Perryville died Saturday, Nov. 2, 2002, at Perry County Nursing Home. She was born Feb. 17, 1912, at Brewer, Mo., daughter of Hazzard and Hattie Powers Morgan. She and Elbert J. Tucker were married Dec. 29, 1944, at Perryville. He died June 18, 1968...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Billy R. Morphis Jr., 32, of Paducah, Ky., died Friday, Nov. 1, 2002, at the Western Baptist Hospital in Paducah. He was born May 3, 1970, at Covington, Tenn., son of Billy R. and Mary Clapp Morphis. He and Charlotte L. Pearson were married Sept. 23, 2000, at Cobden...

ANNA, Ill. -- Delbert Parr, 79, of Anna died Saturday, Nov. 2, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Sept. 26, 1923, at Cypress, Ill., son of Lionel and Mary Turner Parr. He and Doris Page were married Oct. 31, 1945, in Arkansas...

Get some backbone SYNDICATED COLUMNIST Kathleen Parker is quite correct in stating that it takes courage to bear witness and make a public stand. That is why I urge area citizens to get some backbone and speak up in Speak Out. Cause for amazement I AGREE with your editorial assertion that Missourians are watching with amazement as the Missouri Supreme Court considers a case concerning collective-bargaining rights for public employees. ...

Home-buying -- like geometry -- is a matter of studying angles. There are many things to consider: location, price, design and a number of other factors that can't even be defined. The home at 264 County Road 522 near Pocahontas is one of those rare homes that looks good from any angle. It's located on over 60 rolling hills, and a lake on the property offers a private stock of bass, crappie and bluegill. A smaller pond seen from the northwest side of the house offers a peaceful view...

Joni Patrice Lowes and Greg Matthew Schemel were married June 29, 2002, at First Baptist Church in Jackson. The Rev. Raymond Epps performed the ceremony. Organist was Geri Beussink and vocalist was Beth Roethemeyer, both of Jackson. James and Kathy Lowes of Jackson are parents of the bride. The groom is the son of Randy and Vonda Schemel of Houston, Texas, and Mark and Mary Hails of Evansville, Ind...

DeAnna Marie Sides and Gregory Windsor Smith exchanged vows June 29, 2002, at Old McKendree Chapel in Jackson. The Rev. Ron Watts of Cape Girardeau performed the ceremony. Billy Keys of Cape Girardeau played keyboards and trumpet, Monte Wilson of Lexington, Ky., played acoustic guitar, and vocalist was Sherry Eakers of Cape Girardeau, aunt of the bride...

John and Phyllis Wiedefeld of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Allison Renae Wiedefeld, to Anthony Scott Bomar. He is the son of Gary and Jeanine Bomar of Jackson. Wiedefeld is a graduate of Notre Dame High School. She is teller supervisor at Union Planters Bank...

Joseph "Bud" and Sharon Thompson of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, April Thompson, to Christopher Tritto. He is the son of Stephen and Peggy Tritto of San Jose, Calif. Thompson received a bachelor of science degree in biology from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She expects to receive a medical degree from the university, and to begin an obstetrics and gynecology residency in July 2003...

James and Linda Mittrucker of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Laura Michelle Mittrucker, to Travis Joseph Klipfel. He is the son of Herman and Priscilla Klipfel of Cape Girardeau. Mittrucker is a 2001 graduate of Notre Dame High School, and attends Southeast Missouri State University. She is employed by Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Billy and Lois Kirk of Sikeston announce the engagement of their daughter, Emily Suzanne Kirk, to Billy Arnold Davis Jr. He is the son of Billy and Lois Davis of Benton, Mo. Kirk is a registered nurse at Stoddard County Public Health Center in Bloomfield, Mo...

Jason Holloway of Jackson announces the engagement of his mother, Sherry Kay Holloway, to Alan Dean Riley. She is the daughter of the late Glenn and Dorothy Langston, and Connie Langston of Jackson. Riley is the son of Juanita Walker of Advance, Mo., and the late Melvin Riley...

BENTON, Mo. -- Jamie and Sherry Burger of Benton announce the engagement of their daughter, Vanessa Marie Burger, to Gregory Heath Morgan. He is the son of Debbie Nelson of Hayti, Mo., and Richard and Beverly Morgan of Risco, Mo. Burger is a 1997 graduate of Kelly High School. She is employed at Schlumberger Data Services...

Jessica Ann Dees and Jeffrey Scott Walker were married June 29, 2002, at St. Augustine Catholic Church in Kelso, Mo. The Rev. Oliver Clavin performed the ceremony. Lectors were Amanda Broshuis of Jackson, and Becky Langston of Blue Springs, Mo., cousin of the groom. Organist was Diann Bradshaw of Scott City. Flutist and vocalist was Amy Turnbull of Denton, Texas...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Shannon Marie Davis and Damian Christopher Erzfeld were married July 27, 2002, at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Perryville, Mo. The Rev. Kevin Fausz performed the ceremony. Reader was Linda Job of Paducah, Ky., aunt of the bride. Giftbearers were Allen and Marilyn Schott of Jackson, uncle and aunt of the bride, and Kathy McCune of Perryville, aunt of the groom. Organist was Ann Brewster and soloist was Andrea Chambers, cousin of the groom, both of Jackson...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- First Baptist Church in Chaffee was the setting July 6, 2002, for the wedding of Jamie Lyn Wessel and Shawn Dale Nix. The Rev. Wayne Dismuke of Dexter, Mo., performed the ceremony. Pianist was Rebecca Hanlon of Chaffee. Soloists were Toni Clark of Mountain Grove, Mo., and Doug Driesel of Houston, Mo...

Samantha Renee Stroder and Travis Lane Brown exchanged vows May 18, 2002, at First Baptist Church in Millersville. The Revs. Daniel Hale and Ronnie Brown performed the ceremony. Pianist was Arika Lucy of Jackson. Soloists were Rebecca Johnson and Courtney Crowden, cousin of the bride, both of Jackson...