Stories from Sunday, November 24, 2002

To the editor: We have been season ticket-holders and boosters of Southeast basketball for more than 20 years and have seen many fine young people not only play ball but be role models in the community. After a recent exhibition game, I decided to get a poster signed by the players...

ST. LOUIS -- Eric Messier, Joe Sakic and Milan Hejduk scored and Patrick Roy made 19 saves to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night. The Avalanche ended a three-game winless streak (0-1-2) and extended their winning streak in St. Louis to five games...

TAMPA, Fla. -- Warren Sapp remembers everything about the day Brett Favre helped him become a household name. Three sacks, two forced fumbles, incessant trash-talking and a hand slap that christened a friendship -- and what has evolved into perhaps the biggest personal rivalry in the NFL...

Houston's offensive linemen care about rookie quarterback David Carr, even if they have allowed him to be sacked an NFL-leading 53 times. Just to show they care, tackle Ryan Young says the offensive line will pay for Carr's weekly massages if Carr gets sacked more than two times a game...

ST. LOUIS -- A judge's ruling Friday pushed forward the city's effort to collect millions of dollars in damages from lead paint contamination. In the 88-page ruling, St. Louis Circuit Judge Margaret Neill rejected most of the paint manufacturers' reasons why the suit should be dismissed...

ST. LOUIS -- A former St. Louis man has been sentenced to three consecutive life sentences without parole in the slayings of three people during two shootings last year. Torin Dyson, 27, was sentenced Friday on three first-degree murder counts. Dyson was convicted in the execution-style slayings of Helana Murphy, 35, and her boyfriend, Dirk Austell, 30, on April 2, 2001, as well as the killing of Herbert Robinson, 20, in March 2001...

NORTH CHICAGO, Ill. -- Far fewer families will open their homes to recruits at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center for a home-cooked meal this Thanksgiving than did last year. But nobody is complaining. Officials said it's not that anybody has forgotten the recruits. Rather, there aren't as many this year because sailors aren't leaving the Navy in the numbers they once did...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Jerry Bass was 8 years old when his mother fatally abused his triplet brothers in what authorities called one of the worst cases they had ever seen. A lawsuit filed on the boy's behalf claims that Jerry, now 11, is entitled to compensation from the Missouri Division of Family Services for the loss of his brothers, Gary and Larry...

LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. -- An 89-year-old arch slated for historic preservation was damaged beyond repair when a construction driver misjudged the arch's height and drove into it. The entry arch, one of two at Longview Farm in this Kansas City suburb, was to be moved to a new home in eight months...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- For the first time, federal prosecutors say they have proof that rogue pharmacist Robert R. Courtney's dilution of chemotherapy drugs hastened -- perhaps even caused -- a cancer patient's death. That won't lead to murder charges against Courtney, who has already pleaded guilty to diluting two cancer drugs out of greed. However, prosecutors hope the independent findings by two cancer specialists will result in the former pharmacist receiving the stiffest possible sentence...

A recent effort to monitor a half-dozen central Illinois home schools has raised the murky issue of whether authorities have any control over parents who choose to teach their kids. Bruce Dennison, regional superintendent of schools for Bureau, Stark and Henry counties, is seeking information from six home schools to ensure they are providing a proper education...

VIENNA, Austria -- After months of purges and personality clashes, the anti-immigrant Freedom Party that convulsed European diplomacy stands to lose handily when Austrians vote in parliamentary elections today, but while down, the party still may not be out...

SUNDANCE, Utah -- Sundance Village, Robert Redford's own resort at the base of the Wasatch Range's highest peak in Utah, is known worldwide for its annual film festival. But it also offers a low-key, no-hassle escape just about any time of year in what the actor calls rustic elegance...

Try something different on your next vacation. Go digging around in a pile of dirt searching for diamonds. Or relax in a hot mineral spring in a historic resort town. Head for Arkansas and visit Crater of Diamonds State Park -- www.arkansas.com/outdoors--sports/crystals/ -- the only place in the world where you can pay a small fee to dig for diamonds -- and keep whatever you find. They'll rent you tools if you don't want to pack your own shovel...

WASHINGTON -- The White House on Saturday defended the FBI's handling of a diplomatically sensitive investigation into reports that Saudi Arabia provided money that helped support two of the Sept. 11 hijackers. A spokesman for the Saudi embassy said the allegations that the wife of the Saudi ambassador supported terrorists are "untrue and irresponsible."...

AUSTIN -- No two players ever came to Texas with greater expectations than Chris Simms and Cory Redding. They were proclaimed the two best high school football players in America. And together they headlined the Longhorns' 1999 freshman class that was hailed as the best in the nation...

Make the awards count WE WERE at a school basketball function and heard several people discussing how the all-conference teams are selected. We were told that a player received honorable mention without even playing one game. How does this happen? We are sure that he is a good kid and all, but we thought honors such as all conference had to be earned. I think this needs to be addressed because things like this demean the whole process and belittle the players who actually earn the honor...

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Arizona State was not Terrell Suggs' first choice, or even his second. He was ready to sign with Florida State, or maybe Tennessee. "I didn't really think I was going to come here, but then my mom talked me into it," he said. "I don't regret any minute of it."...

MURRAY, Ky. -- Shane Andrus kicked a 52-yard game-winning field goal as time expired to give Murray State a share of the Ohio Valley Conference championship with a 37-35 win over Eastern Illinois on Saturday. Murray State (7-4, 5-1 Ohio Valley) won the OVC's automatic bid to the Division I-AA playoffs next week with the win over Eastern Illinois (8-3, 5-1 OVC)...

If you are looking for a home with the feel of a cozy cottage but the convenience of a home nestled in the middle of town, the house at 1821 Lacey might be for you. This home is about 40 years old but it has many of the same attributes that builders are putting into brand new homes. One of those is hardwood floors, which run throughout this house. The durability and beauty of these floors show it was a wise choice in construction...

Try this: Ask people you know if you think they deserve a pay raise. Then, if you're working for a living, ask yourself if you think you should get a raise. Chances are that 100 percent of the responses to these questions would be a resounding yes...

Cape Girardeau Sunday, Nov. 24 Firefighters responded to the following calls on Friday: At 4:26 p.m., emergency medical service at 2136 William. At 8:58 p.m., emergency medical service in the 1500 block of Kurre Lane. Firefighters responded to the following calls on Saturday:...

A traffic incident Friday on Route M in Bollinger County injured two Marble Hill residents, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said. The accident, which occurred at 3:05 p.m., 8 miles west of Scopus, Mo., injured Kyle Long, 18, and Clayton Luttrull, 26...

U.S. 61 to be reduced to one lane for construction Traffic on U.S. 61 at its junction with Interstate 55 between Cape Girardeau and Jackson will be reduced to one lane on Monday for construction work, state highway officials said. Traffic will be reduced to one lane for about a quarter-mile in each direction from 7:30 a.m. ...

Four charged with murder in death of boy LONDON -- Four people were charged Saturday with murdering a boy whose body parts were found scattered around a town in central England, police said. A boy's severed arm, wrapped in a plastic bag, was found last week in the Grand Union Canal in Loughborough, 110 miles north of London. Two more sets of body parts, including his legs, were discovered in a street and playing fields in the town...

WANT TO GO? CRAFTS, GIFTS & COLLECTIBLES SHOW When: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. today Where: Bavarian Halle, I-55 exit at Jackson/Fruitland RIVER VALLEY CRAFT CLUB SHOW When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. today...

JERUSALEM -- Israel on Saturday said its troops fatally shot a U.N. official during a West Bank firefight with Palestinian gunmen because he had what appeared to be a gun and because Palestinians were firing at troops from inside the U.N. compound. The United Nations disputed the army's claim, denying Palestinian gunmen were in the U.N. compound and saying the slain official, Iain Hook, was armed only with a cell phone he was using to try to evacuate U.N. staff...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- President Saddam Hussein has promised opposition groups a new constitution that allows freedom of expression, pluralism and a free press, an exiled group said Saturday. Other exiles dismissed the offer as a ploy to rally support before a possible U.S. attack...

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Disney workers spent several hours disinfecting a Disney cruise ship Saturday after more than 200 passengers fell ill with a stomach ailment on a seven-day cruise last week. A crew of more than 1,100 sanitized the 964-foot Disney Magic ship hoping to eradicate the stomach bug before the ship left port...

Wildfires that raged in Indonesia in 1997 charred millions of acres and spread a thick haze in the Southern Hemisphere, threatening the health of millions of people and dealing a severe blow to the region's economy. Now, ecologists have discovered another alarming effect: The fires may have spewed enough carbon to significantly affect the climate...

Researchers say they have found the first evidence that harbor seals can learn to tell the difference between the calls of roving, seal-hunting killer whales and their safer fish-eating killer whale cousins. Distinguishing between the dialects of the complex vocalizations is difficult, but allows the seals to save time and energy by feeding shoulder-to-shoulder on the same salmon runs with the local whales for weeks at a time, they said...

NEW YORK -- Recent gunfire in offices at the center of the nation's pirate compact disc and DVD trade indicates that soaring profits are drawing violent criminals to the illegal, but once-placid business, authorities say. An armed robber shot Guinean immigrant Ablia Diallo to death Tuesday in a midtown Manhattan office stuffed with counterfeit CDs and DVDs, including recent releases "8 Mile" and "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," police said...

NAPOLEON, Ohio -- Postal workers and a local newspaper plan to send old pictures, canceled checks and bank statements to people who lost them when tornadoes hit -- more than 40 miles away. The items from the Van Wert area, south of Napoleon, have been turning up in people's yards since the tornadoes swept through northwest Ohio on Nov. 10...

P Reruns air through the winter until new episodes are filmed. The Associated Press SOUTHBORO, Mass. -- On a country road, tucked away behind a white picket fence, Michael Weishan is hard at work cultivating inspiration in his back yard. Once a week, the host of "The Victory Garden" takes television viewers behind the fence and into his garden to provide hands-on tips on how to have blooming flowers and thriving vegetables...

WASHINGTON -- Courthouses opened their doors Saturday to let children celebrate ceremonies that made their adoptions -- and their new families -- a legal reality. "If you are adopted, you are special," Washington's mayor, Anthony Williams, told about 20 youngsters who officially got new parents in the nation's capital. Williams spoke from experience: he was adopted in 1954 in Los Angeles...

The Wall Street Journal We consider ourselves civil libertarians, as wary as anyone of government power. Which is why we're scratching our heads over the fear and loathing unleashed by the latest court ruling in favor of the Bush Administration's anti-terror efforts...

When you're in your 40s, it's tough to look sophisticated and wise while you're sitting on a small chair in a first-grade classroom. But then, you're not alone. Other parents are doing the same thing. It's one of those "parent days" where schools encourage parents to go back to school and learn something. More specifically, they want you to know that your kids are learning something and not just hibernating...

A 24-year-old Oran man remained hospitalized in stable condition on Saturday at St. Francis Medical Center following an accident Friday night at Kingsway and Kingsbury. Benjamin Karr was taken by ambulance to the hospital after his black Chevy Cavalier ran off the road, overturned several times, landed in a tree, fell out and them came to rest upside down, police said. The accident occurred at 8:55 p.m...

The holiday season is in full force, and cheer is in the air. For those who lament the offerings of Cape Girardeau, Jackson and the surrounding area, open your eyes to the celebration of events that makes our towns glitter. Here's just a taste of what's been happening in the past two weeks:...

WAUSAU, Wis. -- State wildlife officials over the weekend sought a grim bounty -- the heads of 50,000 deer -- to determine how far chronic wasting disease has spread among the herd. But many hunters were choosing not to part with their trophies Saturday...

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Officers of the nonprofit testing company that administers the SAT, Advanced Placement exams and the Graduate Record Exams have received six-figure bonuses since its current president took over. Fifteen Educational Testing Service officers received bonuses totaling $2 million in the fiscal year that ended in June 2001. Individual bonuses were as large as $366,000...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Endeavour streaked into orbit Saturday night after weeks of delay, carrying up a new set of residents and another massive building block for the international space station. NASA had feared storms in Spain might postpone the flight for the second day in a row. But in the end, the rain held off at one of the two overseas emergency landing strips and managers cleared Endeavour and its seven astronauts for takeoff...

Miss World contestants packed their swimsuits and evening gowns Saturday to leave Nigeria, but religious clashes -- ignited in part because of the pageant -- continued for a fourth straight day with angry Christians attacking Muslims who objected to the contest on moral grounds...

HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Food shortages in Zimbabwe have markedly worsened, causing massive profiteering, political interference in distribution and forcing the hungry to survive on wild fruits and roots, relief agencies said Saturday. An estimated 6.7 million Zimbabweans, more than half the population, are in danger of starvation in the coming months because of food shortages blamed on drought and the government's chaotic program to seize thousands of white-owned commercial farms for redistribution to black settlers.. ...

SAPPORO, Japan -- Stashed away in a cabinet, three boxes sat ignored inside a Buddhist temple for decades. Few knew that their contents were all that remained of slave laborers brought to imperial Japan and worked to death. Now, after a three-year probe, priests at the Nishihonganji Temple believe they have matched the remains with the 101 Korean laborers, opening the way for the remains to be returned for a proper burial...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- A supporter of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf was sworn in Saturday as head of a new civilian government that was seen as sympathetic to Pakistan's support for the United States in the war on terrorism. Zafarullah Khan Jamali's election may ease concerns in the West about the rise of Pakistan's ultraconservative religious parties, who came in a surprising third in Oct. 10 elections and called for greater distance from the United States...

BUCHAREST, Romania -- President Bush on Saturday embraced nations newly invited to join NATO and said the alliance must defeat terrorism's "face of evil," just as the West confronted the Nazis and communists who oppressed this region for decades...

JERUSALEM -- A rare musical find -- a score containing Gustav Mahler's own handwritten revisions -- has been unearthed at a music academy in Israel, officials said Thursday. The score of Mahler's First Symphony had been unknowingly filed away for over 40 years in the archives of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance...

"The Pennsylvania Miners' Story" is a remarkably good film, but you'll want to rate it "C" for claustrophobic. Even before the calamity that led to the nine miners' ordeal and thrilling rescue, you will be riveted just by their ordinary mission: working deep underground in shafts 4 feet high...

NEW YORK -- The City Council and the mayor have reached a tentative agreement on an 18 percent property tax hike to help fill a $1.1 billion budget deficit, council Speaker Gifford Miller said Saturday. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg had originally proposed boosting property taxes by 25 percent to help balance the budget for this fiscal year, which ends next June 30. But the council opposed an increase that large, administration officials said...

HOUSTON -- Would anybody like to buy a vowel? Two of Enron's trademark "tilted-E" signs, removed from marble bases outside the bankrupt energy giant's downtown Houston headquarters earlier this month, will be sold at an auction Dec. 3-5. Also for sale: a black rotating tilted-E that once lit up part of the lobby...

AUGUSTA, Maine -- With only nine votes separating Democrats from Republicans in the struggle for control of the state Senate, Maine's outgoing independent governor is asking the state's highest court for advice. Gov. Angus King asked the Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Friday for guidance on what his options and obligations are in certifying a winner. But time is short: King faces a Tuesday deadline for summoning the new legislature to convene Dec. 4...

NEW YORK -- Kennedy Airport's AirTrain, the $1.9 billion service linking the airport's terminals to city subways, has been indefinitely postponed since a September derailment that killed a train operator. The service had been scheduled to begin by the end of the year, but the train's builders and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have not resumed testing or set a new opening date, agency spokesman Pasquale DiFulco said...

Whenever a coach turns around a struggling college program in any sport -- particularly a relatively young coach -- he or she often becomes a prime target to be hired away by a bigger, higher-profile university. Now that Tim Billings has just finished leading Southeast Missouri State University's previously woeful football program to an 8-4 record in just his third season with the Indians, it stands to reason that eventually he will fit that above scenario...

Several years ago, the Photo Marketing Association International (PMAI) and the Photography Information Council (PIC) designated the day after Thanksgiving as National Family Photo Day. That day was selected because it's a day when families enjoy being together before the commercialism of the holidays sets in...

PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has softened his opposition to a war on Iraq after patching up relations with President Bush at the NATO summit, and he made it plain that Germany would serve as a staging area in any invasion to oust Saddam Hussein...

Vietnam war veteran Frank Ackles remembers the tragedy of the war in Southeast Asia. He sees no reason to repeat it in Iraq. "In war, there is no honor," Ackles told a crowd of 50 people who gathered at the Osage Community Centre in Cape Girardeau on Saturday night to protest what they see as the Bush administration's looming war with Iraq. A banner hung on the wall proclaimed, "Peace is patriotic."...

NEW YORK -- With four years of tidy-up time since weapons inspectors left Iraq, finding remnants of outlawed arms in a country the size of California would meet anyone's idea of a tough job. But advances in technology have given inspectors from the United Nations and International Atomic Energy Agency the ability to quickly sniff out telltale microbes or molecules that could signify chemical, biological or nuclear weapons...

MANSFIELD, Ohio -- Readiness takes many forms. Joe Rose got married. Chris Muncy had a new furnace installed. Rees Walther bought computer software so his wife could manage the family finances. As the United States creeps closer to war with Iraq, thousands of National Guard and Reserve members are organizing their personal lives, knowing they could be called to active duty at any time and with little warning...

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Labor negotiations between Southern Illinois University-Carbondale administrators and the union representing its faculty ended Friday with both sides hoping to agree to a deal by next month. Both sides agreed to continue talks Dec. 4...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- As Missouri Department of Transportation officials tell the story, they never intended to distribute road construction funds on a geographic basis. But after the department's ambitious 15-year plan was finalized in 1992, someone did the math and discovered that 60 percent of MoDOT's spending on road-and-bridge projects would be done in rural Missouri and the remainder in the St. Louis and Kansas City regions...

When bids for the widening of Mount Auburn Road between William and Independence streets in Cape Girardeau were opened recently, there was some good news. Both bids for a five-lane projects were lower than estimates for a four-lane project. Just about everyone saw the need for five lanes, but city officials have said all along that the scope of the widening project would hinge on how much the bids were when it came time to start construction...

LANDOVER, Md. -- Kurt Warner is back. So is Danny Wuerffel. Oh, well, let's compare them anyway. Warner? He's a two-time MVP who has taken the St. Louis Rams to two Super Bowls and is on pace to become one of the all-time great quarterbacks. He's returning after missing six games with a broken right pinkie, coming back to a team that has won five straight...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- In Alabama and Ohio, courts last week ordered the removal of monuments to the Ten Commandments from a state courthouse and four public schools. In Texas, a federal court just six weeks earlier ruled the opposite, deciding a monument to the Ten Commandments could stay on state capitol grounds...

WASHINGTON -- Public school teachers in California earned the most last year and those in South Dakota the least, the nation's largest teachers union reported Thursday. Overall, increases in education revenues and teacher salaries lagged behind rates set last year, while school enrollments increased, according to the National Education Association. The group represents more than 2.7 million elementary and secondary teachers and other education professionals...

Baseball Houston Astros outfielder Richard Hidalgo was recovering at home Saturday after he was shot in the left forearm during a carjacking. He was released from the hospital Thursday. Hidalgo will travel to Houston on Sunday and meet with the team's training staff on Monday, Astros spokesman Warren Miller said...

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose really doesn't like parades. Still, he was persuaded to ride in a convertible Saturday, passing people wearing purple foam moose antlers and yelling his name, as grand marshal of a parade honoring the law enforcement agencies that hunted for the Washington-area snipers...

EWING, Ill. -- Some people might have seen the discovery as nothing more than an old brick sidewalk covered by 6 to 8 inches of dirt and grass. Gordon Carpenter, however, saw it as a bright pathway that showcased this Franklin County community's history...

Not all conifers are evergreens, and deciduous conifers include some of the most beautiful trees. A beautiful, deciduous conifer? Most people plant conifers because they keep their leaves year-round. Nonetheless, deciduous conifers make up for their winter nakedness with stately form and fast growth...

Cape Girardeau Sunday, Nov. 24 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI John Jay Hunze, 27 of 1815 N. Kingshighway was issued a summons Saturday on charges of driving while intoxicated and careless and imprudent driving at Kingshighway and Gerhardt...

A day after putting up one of its most impressive performances of the season, third-seeded Southeast could not keep its momentum going as it was swept in three games by No. 1 seed Tennessee Martin Saturday in the Ohio Valley Conference Championship in Martin, Tenn...

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Go ahead, Ohio State. It's safe to exhale. The Buckeyes, college football's high-wire act, escaped yet another tight jam Saturday with a 14-9 victory over rival Michigan. A season of hope has turned perfectly magical for the second-ranked Buckeyes (13-0, 8-0 Big Ten), who are on their way to the Fiesta Bowl to play for a national title on Jan. 3...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Kansas State finished the regular season looking like it belonged among the Big 12's best, even if the Wildcats won't make it to the championship game. Darren Sproles ran for 116 yards and a 12-yard touchdown, setting two school records in the process, and No. 10 Kansas State dominated defensively in a 38-0 victory over Missouri on Saturday...

Southeast Missouri State University football coach Tim Billings' name has surfaced as a potential candidate for the head coaching job at the University of Wyoming. But Billings told the Southeast Missourian on Saturday that he has not yet been contacted by Wyoming officials...

It's not too hard to teach children about thankfulness when parents dangle a reward in front of them. The instructions are easy enough for even a 2-year-old to understand: When you want something say "please," when you get it say "thank you." It might be more difficult, however, to teach children about the first Thanksgiving, an event that happened centuries ago to people these kids never knew...

The holidays are the time when many people remember those who are in need or without family. Mrs. A would like to be so remembered. She has no children and a nephew helps take care of her financial matters. She had past surgeries that wiped out her savings. She lives on very little each month, mostly what she gets through Social Security...

Requests for the season's hottest holiday toys are already showing up on Toybox applications. Area children, whose families are in need, can receive Christmas gifts through Toybox, a joint program of the Cape Girardeau Jaycees and the Southeast Missourian. The program is open to families with children up to age 12...

Chances are you won't track down an animal made from barbed wire in a retail store. But it might be discovered at a craft show. It's those one-of-a-kind, homemade items that have attracted an estimated 700 vendors and 10,000 shoppers into the Cape Girardeau and Jackson area this weekend as annual holiday arts-and-crafts shows operate in five separate locations...

The communication came from the district office weeks ago. This year, the memo said, Thanksgiving is a week later. That means there will be a six fewer days for the holiday shopping season, the most profitable time of the year for many retailers. "It was direct," said Rick Done, the manager of Cape Girardeau's Target store. "It said we needed to get our ducks in a row. Service has to be good. We need to draw the customers in because we're losing a week's worth of business."...

Worst road conditions I'M CALLING about road conditions in Missouri. They're the worst I've seen anywhere. A new car will be shaken to death in three months. They say Mississippi is the poorest state in the nation, but it's got the best roads. That's because tax money is going where it's supposed to. Missouri should wake up...

WASHINGTON -- Four-year-old Eliza Brady held still as Dr. Yuan-Chi Lin slowly stuck hair-thin needles into her legs. After six months of these acupuncture treatments, the painful intestinal inflammation that plagued Eliza for two years was finally better...

WELLSTON, Mo. -- A school bus driver has been fired after a 4-year-old girl left on the bus later was found in tears wandering along a busy street. The suburban St. Louis girl, Kyra Pratt, apparently fell asleep Thursday afternoon on the Laidlaw school bus, woke up alone at the bus and wandered out close to Page Avenue near Interstate 170 before passing motorists rescued her and took her to Vinita Park police...

Amy Marie Beussink and Paul Elliot Shearon were married Aug. 3, 2002, at St. John's Catholic Church in Leopold, Mo. The Rev. Bill Huggins performed the ceremony. Organist was Mary Jansen of Leopold, and vocalists were Erin Darter and Bryan Schmidt of Cape Girardeau...

Cindy Lea Wachter and Timothy Patrick Johnston were married Sept. 28, 2002, at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. The Rev. Walter Patzwitz performed the ceremony. Parents of the couple are Charley and Retha Wachter of New Wells, and Tim and Linda Johnston of Scott City...

The federal Delta Regional Authority has awarded two $200,000 grants to Southeast Missouri State University to help fund construction of a new greenhouse and an entrepreneurial training and business loan program. U.S. Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., announced the two grants. Pleased school officials spelled out the details of the two projects...

10 years ago: Nov. 24, 1992 Southeast Missouri State University plans to renovate two of its four high-rise Towers dormitories in move designed to completely change living space within the residence halls; $11 million project - to be funded by issuance of bonds - will mark first major renovations of Towers complex since its construct 25 years ago...

GRASSY, Mo. -- Sandra Jean Boyer, 50, of Grassy died on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2002, at the Elder Care of Marble Hill, Mo. She was born Oct. 21, 1952, at Festus, Mo., daughter of Edward and Elsie Geraldine Kent Smith. She and Chester "Joe" Boyer were married June 21, 1996, at Marble Hill...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Lucille Presson Cox, 88, of Charleston died Friday, Nov. 22, 2002, at the Bertrand Retirement Facility. She was born June 4, 1914, in Mississippi County, daughter of Earl and Irene Jackson Presson. She and Manford Henry Cox were married May 31, 1936. He died Jan. 6, 1990...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Paul Everett Hulshof, 68, of rural Charleston died Friday, Nov. 22, 2002, at his home. He was born Dec. 31, 1933, at Cape Girardeau, son of Henry B. and Emma Priggel Hulshof. He and Geri Moody were married July 7, 1956. He had lived in New Madrid and Mississippi counties most of his life and was a well-known farmer and landowner. ...

BURFORDVILLE, Mo. -- Paul L. Cook, 75, died on Friday, Nov. 22, 2002, at his home near Burfordville. He was born June 16, 1927 at Lutesville, Mo., son of Elza E. and Maude Fulbright Cook. He and Dorothy Grisham were married Oct. 31, 1973. He worked for the Missouri state parks as a heavy equipment operator and retired in 1989. He then worked part time at Trail of Tears State Park...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- John Norman, 63, of Charleston, formerly of East Prairie, Mo., died on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2002, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. He was born Jan. 5, 1939, in the Dogwood community near East Prairie, son of James Edward and Elsie Marie Burns Norman...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Elizabeth Ann "Libby" Lewis, 44, of Sikeston died Friday, Nov. 22, 2002, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born June 3, 1958, at Sikeston, daughter of Jack and Polly McMillen Lewis. She was a 1976 graduate of Sikeston High School and lived in Sikeston most of her life. She was a member of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church...

ANNA, Ill. -- Clara Basse Purtle, 91, of Topeka, Kan., formerly of Anna, died Friday, Nov. 22, 2002, at Cypress Village Nursing Home in Jacksonville, Fla. She was born Oct. 19, 1911, in Pulaski County, Ill., daughter of William and Bertha Studer Basse...

New McKendree United Methodist Church in Jackson was the setting for the wedding July 27, 2002, of Beth Ann Trickey and Jon Mark Craiglow. Dan Usher performed the ceremony. Reader was Lynda Seabaugh of Jackson, sister-in-law of the bride. Parents of the couple are Milford and Dorothy Seabaugh and William and Velma Craiglow, all of Jackson...

BENTON, Mo. -- Natalie Renee King and Brian Lee Choate exchanged vows June 29, 2002, at Crown Heights Christian Church in Oklahoma City, Okla. Don Mitchell of Salisbury, Md., uncle of the bride, performed the ceremony. Music was by Josh, Sarah and Elise Mitchell of Salisbury, cousins of the bride...

Hugh E. and Matilde Stone of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Luisa Virginia Stone, to Arnoud Martijn Buzing of Urbana, Ill. He is the son of Piet and Anke Buzing of Heiloo, The Netherlands. Stone is a 1993 graduate of Notre Dame High School, and received bachelor and master degrees in psychology and school psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is pursuing a doctorate in school psychology at Illinois State University...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Like thousands of others in Missouri, Chris Richey is heading to the fields and woods this weekend to hunt deer. The 17-year-old LaMonte high school student planned on getting up early and staking out a spot, hoping for a repeat of last year's success...

FRANKFORD, Mo. -- In a rural setting south of Frankford, Jamie Graham is turning outdoor memories into wildlife art. Graham, owner and operator of Wild Creations Taxidermy, creates replicas of nature by preserving and mounting the skin of animals, fish and birds with the incorporation of many crafts, such as painting, drawing, molding, casting, sculpture, and more...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.-- Joe Leaphorn is not his old self. The Navajo police lieutenant from 14 Tony Hillerman novels has been altered for television. But his creator is pleased with what he sees. Wes Studi, who plays Leaphorn in "Skinwalkers" as the new PBS' "Mystery" season gets under way Sunday at 8 p.m., must share credit for the novelist's pleasure with director Chris Eyre and writer Jamie Redford, son of Robert Redford, the executive producer...

CHICAGO -- Long-term use of the blood thinner Plavix can significantly reduce the risk of death and bad side effects in angioplasty patients, a study found. The promising results suggest there would be at least 24,000 fewer deaths, heart attacks and strokes combined annually if every U.S. patient who undergoes angioplasty were treated for one year with Plavix, the researchers said...