Stories from February 2003

Defending Ohio Valley Conference baseball champion Southeast Missouri State University is expected to defend its title in 2003, according to a vote of the league's coaches. The Indians, also picked as the league's preseason champion by national publications Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball, received five first-place votes in the conference poll released Friday...

PITTSBURGH -- Name the patron saint of lovers: easy, St. Valentine. The patron saint of travelers: not too hard, St. Christopher. How about a black saint? Stumped? So are many black Roman Catholics, but that's changing. "When I came up in the church, I thought all the saints were white because that is all I saw. ...

HURRICANE, W.Va. -- C&L Super Serve, the store that sold Jack Whittaker a $315 million Powerball ticket, has been especially lucky lately. The store also sold a ticket worth $100,000 in Wednesday's drawing. And now people from all over the country are trying to get a piece of the store's special magic...

An area beverage distributor who is said to be "unbelievably involved in the community" and a family funeral home that has compassionately dealt with grieving families for three generations were given the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's highest business awards Saturday night...

WASHINGTON -- Americans boosted their spending in December by the largest amount in five months as end-of-year financing deals and other incentives on cars and other big-ticket items proved too good to pass up. The Commerce Department reported Friday that consumer spending jumped by 0.9 percent in December from November, when spending rose 0.4 percent. December's increase, the largest since July, provided a helping hand to the struggling economy...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Top U.N. arms inspectors said Friday they would not agree to new talks in Baghdad unless Iraq demonstrated more cooperation and met unspecified conditions. One hinted it might be necessary to meet Saddam Hussein to resolve the crisis...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Private fund-raising efforts have failed to come up with enough money to save a state-run juvenile boot camp from falling victim to government budget cuts. The Show-Me Challenge camp run by the Missouri National Guard initially was to close Jan. 15. But the state agreed to give supporters of the Nevada, Mo., camp a few weeks to try to raise private donations...

The zigzag has been taken out of Main Street in Cape Girardeau. The concrete has been poured and the street is all but finished. All that needs to be completed is part of a sidewalk and the joints between the concrete slabs need to be sealed. But before the road can be opened to traffic at the Mill Street intersection, Mother Nature will have to cooperate...

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Members of Southern Illinois University's faculty union will be at their jobs Monday morning, but that doesn't mean they won't call a strike later that day in a dispute over pay and working conditions, union officials said Friday...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush said Friday he would welcome a second U.N. resolution on Iraq but only if it led to the prompt disarming of Saddam Hussein. Pushing for a new resolution, British Prime Minister Tony Blair called confronting Iraq "a test of the international community."...

By Austin Bay Know your enemy. In 2003, America knows a lot more about al-Qaida than it did on Sept. 11, 2001. We've a clearer strategic picture of al-Qaida's goals and methods. Captured terror kingpins have spilled their guts. Videotapes found in Afghani caves have helped stop al-Qaida operations in Southeast Asia. Electronic eavesdroppers monitor al-Qaida chatter...

SALAHUDDIN, Iraq -- Returning to his homeland for the first time in nearly five years, a prominent Iraqi opposition leader entered the Kurds' autonomous enclave with the help of Iran and declared Friday he would stay there to battle Saddam Hussein's government...

A plan to have Cape County Transit Authority vans deliver meals to elderly shut-ins starting July 1 remains on the drawing board, but the executive director of the transit service says state and federal funding restrictions make it unlikely. "If the Missouri Department of Transportation won't allow us to do it, then we just can't do it," said Jeff Brune, executive director of the Jackson-based transit service...

In announcing the Area Wide United Way allocations for the coming year on Friday, director Nancy Jernigan praised the work of employee coordinators who helped overcome the challenge of a recession to help bring in the organization's most successful campaign...

Filmmaker Spike Lee takes BET to task HAMILTON, Bermuda -- Urging blacks to step into "gatekeeper" roles, Spike Lee criticized Black Entertainment Television, saying it lacks serious entertainment and that rap music promotes ignorance. The director and producer of such films as "Do the Right Thing," "Malcolm X" and "25th Hour" spoke Thursday to a crowd of about 500 people, including students and Bermuda Premier Jennifer Smith. The lecture was sponsored by Bermuda College...

ATLANTA -- Hospitals in Georgia and northern Florida were warned Friday to temporarily stop using some blood from the American Red Cross because it was feared contaminated with mysterious white particles. The Red Cross reported that the particles are not infectious agents and that no harmful effects in patients have been reported...

TOKYO -- The last two families of the 35 people on a Japanese fishing boat that was accidentally hit and sunk by a U.S. submarine settled with the Navy on Friday. The settlement, signed at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, ends all negotiations over compensation from the accident, said Makoto Toyoda, a lawyer representing the two families...

VERSAILLES, France -- A former nurse was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison for giving lethal injections of morphine or potassium to six seriously ill patients at a suburban Paris hospital. Christine Malevre, 33, also was banned from her profession because of the deaths in 1997 and 1998. She was acquitted in the death of a seventh patient at a hospital in Mantes-la-Jolie, near Versailles, where she worked...

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Diplomats from the United States and five other countries met with President Hugo Chavez and opposition leaders Friday, seeking a deal for early elections and an end to a two-month strike. With indications the strike was dying down, opponents were hoping international pressure on Chavez to negotiate would help revive their drive for early balloting...

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast -- A 5,000-strong stone-throwing mob invaded Ivory Coast's main airport Friday, storming planes on the tarmac and taunting, slapping and spitting at terrorized French families in flight from their former West African colony. "Never come back!" one band of young men shouted, spewing profanities at a woman and three children who ran sobbing under a gauntlet of blows from parking lot to terminal...

BAUCAU, East Timor -- A cargo plane crashed while landing in fog near an airport on East Timor's north coast, killing all six people aboard, a U.N. official said Friday. The Russian-made IL-76 was carrying equipment for a Portuguese telephone company in East Timor, U.N. spokesman Wilton Fonseca said in the capital, Dili...

MIAMI -- A botched robbery turned into a nationally televised five-hour police chase and hostage standoff Friday when a gunman forced a mail carrier to elude officers in her postal truck as he sometimes fired shots at them. Officers eventually used spikes to flatten the truck's tires after a 90-minute pursuit through city streets. Heavily armed SWAT team members surrounded the truck but the gunman held carrier Tanya Mitchell captive for two hours before releasing her unharmed...

Atkins Son to Sidney Don and Lana Jean Atkins of Chaffee, Mo., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 10:01 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 25, 2003. Name, Peyton Cook. Weight, 8 pounds 2 ounces. First child. Mrs. Atkins is the former Lana Cook, daughter of Larry and Janet Cook of Whitewater. ...

Daily American Republic PUXICO, Mo. -- Preliminary findings on the human remains found near Puxico are consistent with those of a missing Bernie, Mo., woman. According to Stoddard County Sheriff Steve Fish, the body was a white female, between the ages of 40 and 60 and probably between 5 foot to 5 foot 4 inches...

10 years ago: Feb. 1, 1993 Cape Girardeau Jaycees, in cooperation with Cape Girardeau Regional Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 33, is seeking donations to purchase bulletproof vests for officers of Cape Girardeau Police Department and other FOP members; Cape Girardeau has largest police force in area and is only regional department that doesn't provide vests for its officers; it is estimated at least $15,000 will be needed to outfit more than 60 officers on local force...

ANNA, Ill. -- The funeral for Robert Shelton of Anna will be held at 10 a.m. Monday at Crain Funeral Home in Anna. The Rev. Kenneth Mixen will officiate. Burial will be in Anna City Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday, and Monday until time of service...

Marcella B. Layton, 83, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Jan. 31, 2003, at the Lutheran Home. She was born May 26, 1919, in Morrisonville, Ill., daughter of Herman Elmer and Mary Brockamp Todt. She and John Anthony Layton were married June 1, 1939, at Sikeston, Mo. He died Aug. 17, 1987...

Charles Norton Seabaugh, 87, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Jan. 30, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Sept. 2, 1915, in Cape Girardeau, son of Barrett C. and Mary Alma Huttman Seabaugh. He and Ella B. Hinton were married April 28, 1946, in Hernando, Miss. She died May 6, 1991...

The funeral for Howard Franklin Barnes of Cape Girardeau will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at McCombs Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau. The Rev. David E. Schaffner will officiate. Burial will be in St. John's United Church of Christ Cemetery at Fruitland...

Irma Rose Schwepker, 94, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Jan. 31, 2003, at the Lutheran Home. Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Donald Shepard, 66, of Jonesboro died Friday, Jan. 31, 2003, at his home. Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Anna is in charge of arrangements.

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Edward "Cotton" Sadler, 75, of Chaffee died at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30, 2003, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, Mo. Cotton was born Feb. 5, 1927, in Chaffee, son of Monroe Cecil and Ada Belle Roberts Sadler. He and Maureen Barlow were married Oct. 9, 1948...

Highway resurfacing THIS IS in response to the comment about why Cape Girardeau County is scheduled for four miles of highway resurfacing when other counties are scheduled for more. The routes slated for new asphalt in Bollinger, Madison, Perry and St. ...

To the editor: Last month, in covering the plight of Rodney Yoder, references were made to the Church of Scientology and its founder, L. Ron Hubbard, containing errors. Hubbard was a humanitarian. His discoveries and developments in drug-rehabilitation and criminal reform are renowned. ...

To the editor: I am a 22-year-old liberal college student. As such, I often get the rap of being an anti-establishment, baby-killing nut. I have actually had people say this to me. I have no problem with people expressing their opinions. However, I believe these people are somewhat misinformed. In response to the Jan. 26 editorial on abortion, I believe the Southeast Missourian to be among the misinformed...

To the editor: In your Jan. 30 article "Cost-cutting plan by SBC upsets frequent dialers," you reference a man who is complaining about the plan change. He states he is paying $100 a year for Internet service and $34.99 a month for the Local Plus plan. That comes to $519.88 a year...

Times are somewhat surprisingly tough for Tennessee Tech's women these days, but Southeast Missouri State University coach B.J. Smith knows one thing. The Otahkians (11-6, 5-2 Ohio Valley Conference) better not take the Golden Eaglettes (7-10, 2-4) lightly when the squads hook up at the Show Me Center today in a 5:30 p.m. tipoff...

Bolstered by Thursday's rout of Tennessee State that broke a two-game losing streak, Southeast Missouri State University now looks to upset one of the Ohio Valley Conference heavyweights. Two-time defending OVC regular-season champion Tennessee Tech is not at the top of the league standings, but the Golden Eagles (12-8, 5-2 OVC) still figure to present quite a challenge for the Indians (8-11, 3-4) tonight at the Show Me Center...

To help explain what's been going on with Title IX, look at George Washington University's cross country team. Athletic director Jack Kvancz designates the same number of roster spots -- usually about 13 -- for both men's and women's cross country. It's no problem getting enough men to fill all the spots. In fact, there are usually too many...

The University of Missouri's unofficial barnstorming tour reached Jackson High School on Friday. MU athletic director Mike Alden, with assistance from other athletic department representatives, gave a presentation to about 35 Jackson students in the school's library...

Dexter's Derek Demaree poured in 37 points Friday night as the top-seeded Bearcats won their fifth straight Stoddard County Conference Tournament championship, beating second-seeded Bell City 77-68 at Bloomfield High School. The 6-foot-4 Demaree entered the contest averaging about 12 points...

Improvement wasn't on the minds of the Central Tigers after a 71-59 home loss to Poplar Bluff Friday night. The pain of a game, unthinkable to win the past few years, was outweighing any consolation. "That was a hard loss we should have won," said Central junior Ryan Delph, who scored a team-high 18 points. "With three minutes left they only had us by two, and we should have capitalized."...

CLEVELAND -- LeBron James' season ended with the swiftness of one of his ferocious dunks. The nation's top high school player -- and projected NBA star -- was ruled ineligible as an amateur because he accepted free sports jerseys, ending the celebrated senior's high school career...

In the midst of Missouri's foster care woes and concerns about the handling of 12,000 children by the Division of Family Services, a judge from Cape Girardeau has taken a stand that could lead to immediate and meaningful changes. Missouri Chief Justice Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. took the podium last week before a joint session of the Missouri Legislature and let state senators and representatives know that children without suitable parents are a class of Missourians he cares about deeply...

When filing for school board and other local government seats closed last week, the lists of candidates included the names of responsible people who want to serve their communities. It takes a lot of courage and community spirit to make a decision to be a candidate for local offices that are so accessible to the constituents being served...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, Feb. 1 Firefighters responded Thursday to the following items: At 3:45 p.m., alarm at 2601 Independence. At 9:56 p.m., extrication at Independence and Kingshighway. Firefighters responded Friday to the following items: At 4:35 a.m., alarm at 2895 Bloomfield...

Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department Saturday, Feb. 1 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWIs Brian K. Jackson, 42, of Millersville, Mo., was arrested Jan. 25, on suspicion of driving while intoxicated...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, Feb. 1 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Steven J. Lejeune, 22, of 1210 Duck Street, Eunice, La., was arrested Thursday on suspicion of leaving the scene of an accident, improper passing and no proof of insurance...

WASHINGTON -- Federal campaign regulators have cleared Missouri Republican Sen. Jim Talent of Democratic Party accusations that his earnings as a lobbyist amounted to improper contributions from GOP cronies. The Federal Election Commission said "there is no reason to believe" Talent violated the law, an FEC official wrote Talent and the Missouri Republican Party...

WASHINGTON -- Heeding the complaints of business, the Bush administration is revamping decades-old labor regulations in an overhaul that could force many higher-income Americans to work longer hours without overtime pay. The Labor Department argues that the pillars of American labor law, which established the 40-hour work week, a minimum wage and overtime pay, are antiquated...

ST. LOUIS -- A wrist injury that might cost captain Chris Pronger the entire season was supposed to shove the Blues to the back of the pack. Instead, without their best defenseman, they arrived at the All-Star break leading the Central Division and among the NHL's best with 66 points. They lead the Detroit Red Wings, a perennial Stanley Cup contender, by two points, and are fourth-best overall...

MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- After months of pondering the contract offer, Dale Earnhardt Jr. decided he needed advice. He didn't call a lawyer, an accountant or an agent. Instead, he took the paperwork to his sister, Kelley, and let her hash out a deal. If it's business, pleasure or personal, Earnhardt's 30-year-old sister is the first one the NASCAR superstar turns to...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's Medicaid program has received more than $566,000 as a result of a national settlement state attorneys general reached with drug manufacturer Pfizer. Attorney General Jay Nixon said Missouri was part of a 47-state settlement related to rebates offered to Medicaid programs for the anti-cholesterol medication Lipitor...

Rinehart, Stone trial delayed; witness in Haiti KENNETT, Mo. -- A Scott County judge has granted a continuance in the case of Dexter's ex-police chief Ken Rinehart and Sgt. Sammy Stone. Charged with hindering prosecution, Rinehart and Stone were supposed to stand trial Feb. 6 in Dunklin County before Associate Circuit Judge Douglas Mann of Scott County...

BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- The twisted wreckage of a U.S. helicopter lay on an Afghan plain Friday as troops searched for clues to a crash that killed four members of an elite unit that slips special forces commandos behind enemy lines. The hulk of helicopter lay near Bagram Air Base, with snow-covered mountains far in the distance. The military said it was unsure what caused Thursday's crash. There was no indication of enemy fire...

BANGKOK, Thailand -- The foreign minister of Thailand on Friday welcomed Cambodia's apology and offer of compensation for mob violence against its embassy and Thai-owned businesses but stopped short of restoring full diplomatic relations. Thailand downgraded diplomatic relations and cut economic ties with its smaller neighbor after mob violence against its embassy and citizens in Phnom Penh earlier this week...

NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico -- State police officials said Friday that a U.S. investigation of the busy U.S. consulate in this border town apparently is centered on a woman accused of selling U.S. visas for $1,900. State police said complaints were filed here last year against Margarita Martinez Ramirez, alleging she failed to deliver a visa after accepting payment...

MEXICO CITY -- Long lines of buses clogged main streets Friday in the heart of Mexico City as tens of thousands of farmers gathered to demand greater protection against U.S. imports and to seek more government aid. "The central objective is to show the nation that there is great discontent in the countryside that cannot be hidden," said Víctor Suarez, one of the organizers of the march, that has as its focus the North American Free Trade Agreement...

MOSCOW -- What does the stern-faced commander in chief of a million-strong army have in common with a self-effacing elf from a popular children's film? Nothing -- except perhaps a longish nose, piercing eyes and a certain indefinable similarity. Russian President Vladimir Putin may not be green and wrinkly like Dobby, the house elf from "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," but moviegoers have been struck by a certain resemblance...

SHANGHAI, China -- China's business capital has long yearned for an architectural landmark to fit its world-size ambitions. After years of delay, Shanghai may finally get it. Defying unease about eye-catching skyscrapers since the Sept. 11 terror attacks, a developer said Friday it will resume work this month on a glass office tower that will be the world's tallest building...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Two Los Alamos National Laboratory investigators who were forced out under armed guard last fall after they found financial laxity and abuses at the lab that built the atomic bomb are getting some vindication. The pair exposed a scandal that has since claimed five top managers at the lab entrusted with some of America's most sensitive defense secrets...

ATLANTA -- Americans have lower levels of lead and secondhand-smoke byproducts in their bodies than they did a decade ago, according to a government study that is being called the most extensive examination ever of exposure to environmental chemicals...

To understand how much the typical American home has changed in 60 years, just look in the bathroom. It's hard to find one that doesn't have hot water, a toilet and a bathtub. In 1940, barely half of U.S. homes had all three features. Likewise, a telephone was a luxury item for many Americans when World War II began. Now they're ubiquitous, with some families placing them in every room, including the bathroom...

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea will negotiate only with the United States to end the standoff over its nuclear program, an envoy from the North said Friday, rejecting the idea of multilateral talks on the dispute. The new position came as U.S. officials said North Korea appeared to be gearing up at its nuclear facility at Yongbyon. American spy satellites detected substantial activity at the facility in January -- a sign the country may be getting ready to produce nuclear weapons...

Citing years of decreasing customers, Union Planters Bank officials have decided to shut down the branch at 325 Broadway. When it closes around May 2, there no longer will be a full-service bank in downtown Cape Girardeau. Letters were mailed to customers Friday notifying them of the closure, said Union Planters' regional president Charles Daniel...

New color palette drives shoppers to buy new merchandise for spring wardrobe. By Samantha Critchell ~ The Associated Press NEW YORK -- They're already starting to pop up in store windows like the first flowers that emerge from the frozen ground: a handful of spring styles in sweet sherbet colors...

NEW YORK -- The instructions read: The day before the job interview, decide what you will wear and check that it is clean, pressed and not missing buttons. The night before the interview, decide what you will be taking in your handbag and set it aside. The day of the interview, don't wear flashy jewelry; keep it small and simple...

Maybe Andy Dodd likes that he can swing as hard as he can, and there is no foul called. Maybe it's that he can choke someone dry, and there is no jail time. Or maybe it's that he can tie up someone in an arm lock and not be thrown into the penalty box...

NACOGDOCHES, Texas -- Debris plummeted from the sky over hundreds of square miles of Texas and Louisiana, smashing a rooftop, splashing into a reservoir and sending emergency crews on a far-flung hunt for bits of what was once space shuttle Columbia...

Even with its shuttles grounded, NASA can easily retrieve the astronauts aboard the international space station using Russian vehicles. A Soyuz vehicle attached to the space station could bring the three astronauts onboard back to Earth at a moment's notice. But if the space agency's remaining shuttles are out of service for an extended period in the wake of Saturday's catastrophe, as seems likely, it could prove difficult to maintain the station's operations...

Israel's first astronaut, Ilan Ramon, lifted the spirits of a troubled country when he blasted off last month on the space shuttle Columbia. Front pages of Indian newspapers Saturday carried pictures of Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian-born woman in space, to celebrate her expected return to earth on the space shuttle Columbia...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Investigators trying to figure out what destroyed space shuttle Columbia focused immediately on the possibility that its thermal tiles were damaged far more seriously than NASA realized by a piece of debris during liftoff. Just a little over a minute into Columbia's launch on Jan. ...

Gerald Boyd, managing editor of the New York Times, will deliver the annual Michael Davis Lecture at 7 p.m. Feb. 16 in the University Center Ballroom on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University. The event, part of the university's Black History Month activities, is free and open to the public. ...

On Sunday mornings, members at St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church greet one another with hugs and handshakes. Families pile into pews to worship together. Some don purple robes and join the Chancel Choir before the service starts. For 140 years this church has served as the center of Cape Girardeau's black community. It is the oldest black congregation in Cape Girardeau County...

Sixth-annual Read-A-Thon continues throughout the month. Elementary schools and Early Childhood Centers in the region will participate. Contact Joyce Renaud at 651-2499. Annual black history month book sale, sponsored by Southeast Bookstore. Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.FEB. 2...

ROME -- Authorities found a newspaper photo of Britain's military chief when they arrested 28 Pakistanis in Naples this week with powerful explosives, forged documents and maps of the area with "sensitive targets" highlighted, a police official said Saturday...

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan's leader celebrated the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year on Saturday by handing out 15,000 red envelopes stuffed with cash to people in his hometown. President Chen Shui-bian gave away the equivalent of $5.80 in every envelope, for a total of $86,705, in the southern farm village of Kuantien. He ran out of envelopes before he got to the end of a line that stretched about two miles...

By Dr. John Koch Question: I know that modern dogs are descended from prehistoric wolves. My question is when and how were dogs domesticated from wolves? Answer: Some time ago, an archeological dig in Egypt uncovered a grave in which were found the fossilized remains of a man hugging a small puppy. ...

Groundhogs garner plenty of publicity as furry predictors of spring. But farmers say they're nothing but pests, and conservation officials see them as tasty game. It's a far cry from the celebratory mood surrounding Pennsylvania's Punxsutawney Phil, the most noted of the nation's groundhogs...

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Opponents of President Hugo Chavez began focusing on a petition drive to cut his term in power Saturday, after agreeing to ease a two-month strike that has crippled Venezuela's economy. Opposition leaders plan to hold what they call the "Great Sign-up" today, inviting citizens to sign various initiatives rejecting Chavez's government and seeking his ouster...

BENEATH THE DEMILITARIZED ZONE, Korea -- In the tunnel's dank subterranean air, a nightmare scenario of war begins with the steady thud of boots on granite. South Koreans once feared that thousands of North Korean soldiers would surge through the dark, hundreds of feet below the ground, then burst to the surface far into South Korean territory...

A call from an acquaintance prompted James Godwin to turn on his television Saturday morning. It was then the rural Jackson resident saw video footage of space shuttle Columbia becoming a fireball across the Texas sky. His thoughts immediately went to his daughter, Dr. Linda Godwin, a NASA astronaut who lives in Houston and was part of the ground crew for the Columbia mission. He's been on the ground at her NASA launchings and landings, praying for her safety...

WASHINGTON -- Bugs don't have lungs, so how do they breathe? Maybe more efficiently than people, according to the first close-up view of insects forcing air in and out of tiny oxygen pipes. It took one of the world's strongest X-ray beams -- a view hundreds of times more detailed than today's medical scans can provide -- for scientists at The Field Museum in Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory to videotape how beetles breathe...

CHICAGO -- University of Chicago archaeologists using recently declassified satellite surveillance images have discovered that subtle depressions in land in Syria and Iraq are the remains of 5,000-year-old roads. The ancient thoroughfares were important for commerce in the ancient Near East as local settlements expanded and came into contact with people from southern Mesopotamia, according to Tony Wilkinson and Jason Ur of the university's Oriental Institute...

An Iraqi dam under construction on the Tigris River threatens to submerge the remains of the spiritual capital of the ancient Assyrian empire in an act archaeologists liken to flooding the Vatican. Much of the city of Ashur, which thrived for more than 1,000 years until the Babylonians razed it in 614 B.C., could vanish under a lake to be created by the Makhoul dam, U.S. and European archaeologists said...

Even though it's winter, there's no need to forsake flowers -- real, live, growing flowers. Tropical plants know nothing of winter, and some are capable of growing and flowering practically nonstop as long as they have year-round moisture, warmth, food, and light. They share our winter quarters well...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Legal issues regarding Gov. Bob Holden's plan to fill a budget shortfall by borrowing against future proceeds from Missouri's financial settlement with the tobacco industry are expected to be resolved this week. But even if those issues are settled favorably, the Legislature will still be left to decide if the proposal is a good idea for the state...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Maintenance workers are unscrewing light bulbs in government buildings. And posters urge employees to turn off their computers, printers and coffee pots when they go home for the day. It's all part of a plan to close the state's budget gap one dollar at a time. And true to government form, the campaign even has name -- "The Big Turn Off."...

ST. LOUIS -- The passage of time has done little, if anything, to soothe Tony La Russa's anguish. As Cardinals players prepare to report to spring training Feb. 14, their manager is still stewing over last season. For a time, it appeared the Cardinals were a team of destiny, a team that surmounted tragedy to reach the postseason for the third straight time...

An anti-war rally organized by the Southeast Missouri Coalition for Peace and Justice drew approximately 100 people to the Osage Community Centre Saturday."War can be avoided and should be avoided," said Tom Sager, a peace activist from Rolla, Mo., and the rally's guest speaker. "The reason I think it will be avoided is this group of people right here. If people speak out for peace in large enough numbers, there will be peace."...

Last week, the world learned what has been known or suspected about Iraq's secret weapons for a long time. It was these suspicions that motivated the U.N. Security Council to adopt Resolution 1441, which calls not just for inspections in Iraq, but for complete cooperation and disclosure from the Iraqis regarding their past and current weapons programs...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The chief U.N. weapons inspectors will return to Baghdad on Feb. 8 for last-minute talks before their next Security Council report on the hunt for banned weapons in Iraq, Iraqi and U.N. officials said Saturday. Arms monitors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei are seeking concessions to speed their investigators' day-to-day work -- in particular removing obstacles to U.N. reconnaissance flights and to private interviews with Iraqi scientists...

An Oak Ridge man was arrested early Saturday on a charge of arson stemming from a late Friday night fire that gutted a Jackson apartment building and left six tenants homeless. The six tenants and two visitors in the building at 502 N. Hope St. escaped by jumping out of second-floor windows as flames raced up the stairs, blocking the only door to the outside. Thick smoke clouded the two second-story apartments where three couples lived...

TEHRAN, Iran -- Helicopters rained flowers over Tehran and sirens wailed across the city Saturday to celebrate the 24th anniversary of Iran's Islamic revolution. But the festive spirit was lost on Iranian reformists, with some complaining that the country's hard-line establishment had not delivered on promises made after the 1979 revolution to reform the Persian state's society...

WILLIAMSPORT, Md. -- Even in this age of raunchy rap and tasteless television, high school drama coach Ruth Ridenour warned students trying out for "Les Miserables" that it contained swear words. Three, precisely: "hell," "bitch" and "bastard."...

Now they want respect I HAD to laugh at the hypocrisy I heard on the radio. It was a public-service announcement about how kids are getting things over the Internet and downloading music. It said the music industry is at risk. It asked people to respect the law and not download music. ...

WITTENBERG, Mo. -- Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Theiss of Wittenberg observed their 60th wedding anniversary with a celebration Dec. 28, 2002, in Altenburg, Mo. Hosts were their children and spouses, Kathy and Danny Schoenherr of Frohna, Mo., Nancy and Lynn Ponivas of Alton, Ill., and Bud Theiss of Detroit, Mich...

Joe and Eula Limbaugh of Jackson were honored with a surprise anniversary celebration Jan. 19 at Holiday Inn in Cape Girardeau. About 20 guests attended the event. The couple has been married 65 years.

Linda Marie Daniels and Timothy Wayne Dow of Cape Girardeau announce their engagement. She is the daughter of the late Clarence and Margaret Daniels of DeSoto, Mo. Dow is the son of Charlotte Dow of Cape Girardeau and Darrell Dow of St. Louis. Daniels attended DeSoto High School, and received a bachelor of science degree in sociology from Southeast Missouri State University. She is employed at Family Counseling Center Inc. in Cape Girardeau...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Jay and Gwen Phenicie of Sikeston and John and Sandy Hall of Bertrand, Mo., announce the engagement of their daughter, Ashley Wade Hall, to Justin Lynn Johnson, both of Farmington, Mo. He is the son of Terry and Saundra Johnson of Sikeston...

Jim and Fay Bruening of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Sarah Marie Elizabeth Bruening, to Michael E. Stock Jr. He is the son of Karoline A. Stock of Belleville, Ill., and Mike Stock Sr. of Columbia, Ill. Bruening is a 1998 graduate of Central High School. She received a bachelor's degree in geological engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla in 2002, and is pursuing a master's degree in geological engineering at the university...

Joseph and Marilyn Gilmore of Cape Girardeau and Frank and Theresa Proffer of Sikeston, Mo., announce the engagement of their daughter, Renee Marie Proffer, to Scott Brendon Schwendinger. He is the son of Gary and Linda Schwendinger of Chesterfield, Mo...

Robert Welker of Cape Girardeau and Mary Jo Rogers of Scott City announce the engagement of their daughter, Charrity Ann Welker, to Jeremiah David Rhymer, both of McClure, Ill. He is the son of Patricia Rhymer of McClure and Charles Rhymer of Cape Girardeau...

KELSO, Mo. -- Dale and Mary Dannenmueller of Kelso announce the engagement of their daughter, Kayleen Marie Schweiss, to Ryan Christopher Weatherspoon. He is the son of Michael and Joyce Weatherspoon of Scott City. Schweiss is a 1999 graduate of Scott City High School. She expects to receive a bachelor of arts degree in psychology from Southeast Missouri State University in May. She is employed at Immediate Health Care in Cape Girardeau...

Lisa Kaye Reynolds and Michael Joseph Newman of Jackson announce their engagement. She is the daughter of Budd and Sue Pence of Advance, Mo. Newman is the son of Bill and Sue Newman of Burfordville. Reynolds is a graduate of Zalma High School at Zalma, Mo. She is a training coordinator at Procter & Gamble...

St. Mary's Cathedral was the setting Oct. 12, 2002, for the wedding of Michelle Lynn Volkerding and Daniel Joseph Huesgen. The Rev. Gefford Lamprea performed the ceremony. Music was by Trio Girardeaux. Parents of the bride are Dr. Christopher and Myra Jung and Steve and Sherri Volkerding, all of Cape Girardeau. The groom is the son of Karl and Jane Huesgen of Bridgeton, Mo...

10 years ago: Feb. 2, 1993 Cape Girardeau residents who lock themselves out of vehicles will no longer be able to summon help of police department; at last night's meeting, city council unanimously voted to approve contract with Seabaugh's Auto Repair to provide city vehicle lockout service for $15 per vehicle in lieu of past policy of free police department service...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Donald W. Shepard, 66, of Jonesboro died Friday, Jan. 31, 2003, at his sister's home in Jonesboro. He was born March 24, 1936, at Dongola, Ill., son of Harry and Beatrice Boshell Shepard. He served in the U.S. Air Force and was a laborer in highway construction...

Irma Rose Schwepker, 94, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Jan. 31, 2003, at The Lutheran Home. She was born July 8, 1908, at Cape Girardeau, daughter of Goley and Alvinia Emma Schrader Robinson. She and Herman A. Schwepker were married Jan. 9, 1932, at Advance, Mo. He died July 9, 1986...

STURDIVANT, Mo. -- David B. Stephens, 56, died Friday, Jan. 31, 2003, as a result of a fire in his home. He was born Jan. 30, 1947, at Brownwood, Mo. He and Jannett Sneed were married in 1991. He was a pipefitter and spent most of his life in the Sturdivant and Advance, Mo., communities...

Lucille Clementine Enderle, 87, of Scott City died Saturday, Feb. 1, 2003, at The Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City.

To the editor: Gov. Bob Holden's budget proposal calls for one of the largest tax increases in the history of this state. Over $750 million in new taxes would attack individuals, small business and corporations if the proposal passes. The governor claims the tax increases would only affect large corporations and the gaming industry, with no individual taxpayer feeling the effect of this monumental increase. ...

The house at 2126 Kenneth Drive in Cape Girardeau represents two of the most crucial elements of new home selection: location and affordability. This brick and vinyl split level in the Alma Schrader School district will be open for showing from 2 to 4 p.m. today...

To the editor: The League of Women Voters of Missouri strongly supports the juvenile justice recommendations of Chief Justice Stephen Limbaugh made in his State of the Judiciary message to the Missouri General Assembly. The league continues to support the following measures to assure a coordinated and efficient system of juvenile justice that would treat all children fairly and act quickly...

Cape Girardeau Sunday, Feb. 2 Firefighters responded to the following calls on Friday: At 6:18 p.m., alarm at 450 Siemers Drive. At 8:57 p.m., emergency medical service at 3439 William. Firefighters responded to the following calls on Saturday: At 12:24 a.m., an alarm at 201 N. West End Blvd...

Cape Girardeau Sunday, Feb. 2 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI Jason Lee Guynn, 29, of Gilmer, Texas, was arrested Saturday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Arrests Larry Hood, 49, of 1006 N. Frederick, Cape Girardeau, was arrested Friday on a warrant for contempt of court...

Dr. Pauline Fox, former vice president of administration and enrollment management at Southeast Missouri State University, will discuss the River Campus arts school project, gender equity issues and campus construction on KRCU's "Going Public" radio show today...

A Bollinger County man died in a fire early Friday which swept through his home near Arab, Mo. David Stephens, 56, died of smoke inhalation, fire officials said. His wife, Janette, managed to escape without injury. An Advance, Mo., firefighter spotted the blaze around 4 a.m., said Calvin Troxell, a Bollinger County fire investigator and assistant fire chief for Marble Hill Fire and Rescue...

British firefighters begin new strike over pay LONDON -- Firefighters walked off the job for the fifth time in three months Saturday, starting a 48-hour strike in their bitter dispute over pay. Military crews with outdated trucks and equipment stood in once again for the 55,000 striking firefighters, on call to respond to emergencies starting at 9 a.m...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush would strengthen the Internal Revenue Service's ability to pursue tax scofflaws, rich and poor, in a $2.23 trillion budget for 2004 that he will send Congress on Monday. The initiative will be part of a fiscal blueprint that will project federal deficits for each of the next five years, though the shortfalls will decline annually, a Republican familiar with the Bush administration's plans confirmed Saturday...

ST. LOUIS -- Dutifully repentant, Charles Reed answers correctly and politely to Judge Theresa Burke's tough-love questions about public drinking downtown, and how he will turn his life around. Yes, he is attending Alcoholics Anonymous and group courses for the homeless. Yes, he is staying at a shelter but wants a job and his own apartment. Yes, he will do community service...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- For six years, Kansas City police Sgt. Dave Bernard has kept a wanted poster of Ralston Wellington taped to his office wall. Now, he finally can take it down. London police last week caught the fugitive, who allegedly took part in shooting a man and a woman in Kansas City in 1997 and, authorities say, was an international drug dealer who traveled between the United States and Great Britain...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's Renaissance-style Capitol, with its white limestone walls and high arching dome, was built to project a grand image for the state. Now the capital city is seeking to boost its image, too -- proposing to double its geographic size and increase its population more than 30 percent in a massive and contentious annexation effort...

My 11-year-old son and I enjoy playing our electric guitars. I like a clean sound from our amplifier. He likes to play around with the amplifier's special effects, including reverb, fuzz (technically called overdrive), bass and treble. He is amazed by the sound coming out of the amp, and how the amp "powers up" the flat sound of the unplugged electric guitar. ...

The Associated Press REVELSTOKE, British Columbia -- Another avalanche in eastern British Columbia killed seven skiers, including some high school students, provincial authorities said Saturday. The 10 survivors were airlifted to Glacier Park Lodge by helicopter, said Bob Pearce of the British Columbia Ambulance Service. Several suffered minor injuries, he said...

SARAVENA, Colombia -- Leftist guerrillas freed an American photographer and a British reporter on Saturday after kidnapping them 11 days earlier in one of the most violent regions of Colombia. Scott Dalton, of Conroe, Texas, and Ruth Morris, a British citizen raised in southern California, were the first foreign journalists to be kidnapped in Colombia's four-decade-long war. Both live in Bogota and had been in Arauca on assignment for the Los Angeles Times...

BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- A lone gunman opened fire on U.S. troops searching caves in southeastern Afghanistan, a U.S. military spokesman said Saturday. No one was hit and the gunman was not captured. The U.S. patrol was fired upon around noon Friday by an assailant hiding in the Adi Ghar mountain, the site of a firefight Monday between a group using the mountain caves as a supply depot and U.S. and coalition forces...

NEW YORK -- ABC won a network bidding war to acquire the rights to a documentary on Michael Jackson and immediately scheduled it for prime time on Friday. The documentary, "Living with Michael Jackson," features "unprecedented and exclusive access to Jackson's private life," ABC promised...

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast -- Nearly 100,000 loyalists marched through Ivory Coast's main city Saturday, burning French flags and calling for the death of the French president in the biggest protest yet against a French-brokered peace deal. The demonstration by government supporters angered at the prospect of sharing power with rebels came as West African leaders met with President Laurent Gbagbo in Abidjan to try to salvage the accord...

NEW YORK -- "You don't want to get me started on this," Kevin Richardson warns, shaking his head and pushing aside his lunch. "I could go on all day." The status of his band, the Backstreet Boys? His job as the latest Billy Flynn in the Broadway version of "Chicago"?...

NEW YORK -- A priest who was barred from the ministry after he was accused of sexual abuse has been working for former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's consulting business, according to published reports Saturday. Monsignor Alan Placa, an old friend of Giuliani's, has been working for Giuliani Partners about three days a week since August...

SAGINAW, Mich. -- The medical examiner listed homicide as the cause of death of a Toughman contestant. But law enforcement officials said they would not seek criminal charges, noting the bouts are legal in the state. Scott Wood, 31, of San Antonio, died Jan. ...

KINSTON, N.C. -- Investigators finally entered the hulking ruins of a medical supply factory Saturday, even as the debris continued to smolder. Despite the unsafe condition of some of the building, investigators went inside the remains of the West Pharmaceutical Services plant, said Peter O'Connor, a special agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives...

KEARNEY, Neb. -- A company that made its name in camping lanterns hopes a portable generator it has begun manufacturing here will help shine the way to a future powered by clean energy. The Coleman Powermate generators combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce up to 1,000 watts of electricity. Pure water is the only waste product of this fuel cell technology, giving it tremendous appeal to promoters of clean energy...

Bobby McFerrin doesn't worry, stays happy GRANVILLE, Ohio -- Jazz singer Bobby McFerrin doesn't get nervous any more before a gig because he doesn't worry any more about what the audience is expecting. "You're successful every time you perform, because everybody is moved -- one way or the other," said McFerrin, participating in an artist-in-residence program last week at Denison University...

You may have heard of the Fox TV show "Man Versus Beast." Well, this was a case of beast against Buddy. It was a disaster of epic proportions. Our dog, Cassie, chewed the hand and most of the arm off Bailey's beloved Buddy Bear. Of course it took me a while to realize the full gravity of the situation. ...

Let me tell you about an extraordinary man, a playwright, who, imprisoned by the communist leaders of his country for five years, rose to become its president. His name is Vaclav Havel, and he is the recipient of countless awards around the world for his advocacy of human rights...

The following letter was published Thursday in The Times of London. It is signed by the heads of government in eight European nations. The real bond between the United States and Europe is the values we share: democracy, individual freedom, human rights and the Rule of Law. These values crossed the Atlantic with those who sailed from Europe to help create the USA. Today they are under greater threat than ever....

Our trip this week is to the Mingo National Wildlife Refuge near Puxico, Mo. During this time of year, it's possible to see eagles nesting in the area. Also, near Mingo is Duck Creek Conservation Area where you'll find ducks, particularly in the colder months...

There's something to be said for a coach To the editor: I've always admired and respected coaches. After all, I was one. For one season. I thought since I played basketball in high school, I'd have no trouble coaching. I knew everything there was to know...

When Southeast Missouri State University saw Tennessee Tech trim what had been an 18-point deficit to just three in the late going Saturday night, the Indians didn't panic. They simply drew strength from a similar situation against Murray State on Jan. 18, when the Racers cut a 19-point deficit to two before the Indians finished strong and prevailed...

It pays to win I'M CURIOUS to know if, in the Super Bowl, both the winners and the losers get a Super Bowl ring. Second, how much are the members of the losing and winning teams paid? Each player on the winning team receives about $60,000, while players on the losing team get about $35,000 apiece. ...

That Tampa Bay won last Sunday's Super Bowl wasn't a major surprise. The Bucs were only four-point underdogs, and most people expected a close game. But the way Jon Gruden's team thoroughly dominated Oakland could not have been anticipated by many gridiron fans, except maybe die-hard Bucs loyalists. Tampa Bay's 48-21 romp put a major exclamation point on a dominant postseason run...

Despite a forgettable balance- beam performance, Southeast Missouri State University's gymnastics team stayed close enough to nearly upset visiting Illinois-Chicago, falling 193.375 to 192.450 Saturday at Houck Field House. In front of an announced crowd of 612, the Otahkians stood toe-to-toe with the Flames -- No. ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri put it on cruise control and nearly paid the price. Ricky Clemons had 23 points, four assists and five steals and the 25th-ranked Tigers avoided a late collapse for a 73-70 victory over Colorado on Saturday. "I think our team has matured a lot this last week," coach Quin Snyder said. "The last five minutes, that's another lesson we need to continue to learn...

Lori Chase almost single-handedly helped Southeast Missouri State University's Otahkians overcome another slow start and finally notch a victory over Tennessee Tech. Chase, a senior forward and one of Southeast's few returning players, poured in 18 first-half points and finished with a season-high 32 as the Otahkians held off the Eaglettes 86-80 Saturday night at the Show Me Center...

Central's girls basketball team couldn't defend its home court Saturday and lost 49-35 to Nerinx Hall of St. Louis. It was the final stage of a two-day trip to Southeast Missouri for Nerinx Hall, which beat the area's top-ranked team, Jackson, on Friday night...

HONOLULU -- Jerry Rice thought he could relax in Hawaii this week. He planned to play some golf, soak up some sun and run through the light practices until his 13th Pro Bowl appearance today. Instead, he spent the week dealing with constant attention from his fans, who took breaks from their regular jobs as the AFC's best players to savor the chance to play with the 40-year-old receiver for the first time in his career...

Florida Tech postponed its men's and women's college basketball games Saturday, and fans across the country paused to mourn the seven astronauts killed aboard the space shuttle Columbia. The shuttle broke into pieces over Texas, just minutes before it was supposed to land at Cape Canaveral in Florida...

Participants in some of this month's United We Read discussions will sample catfish pâte from Mississippi, talk with Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Rick Bragg on the phone and maybe even dress up like their grandpa. The second annual United We Read, a program that encourages the entire community to read the same book, begins with a discussion Monday night...

A filmy cotton and silk shawl with exotic oriental embroidery and edging from Natori can take you from your afternoon's labor at the office to an evening celebration. If the occasion is important but still daytime, try adding a long scarf, like one from Banana Republic with navy polka dots and fringe...

When Southeast Missouri State University saw Tennessee Tech trim what had been an 18-point deficit to just three in the late going Saturday night, the Indians didn't panic. They simply drew strength from a similar situation against Murray State on Jan. 18, when the Racers cut a 19-point deficit to two before the Indians finished strong and prevailed...

High over Texas and just short of home, space shuttle Columbia fell to pieces Saturday, raining debris over hundreds of miles of countryside. Seven astronauts perished -- a gut-wrenching loss for a country and world already staggered by tragedy...

Editor's note: This column originally was published Feb. 3, 1991. Well booted, mittened, coated and capped, I ventured over to the creek recently to determine if I could see any form of wildlife. At least that was my stated purpose. I think, in truth, I just wanted to get outside for a little longer time than it takes me to go to the garage, the mail box or to take the garbage out. Our outside existence is at low ebb in February....

10 years ago: Feb. 3, 1993 Steven Wayne Wright has filed for seat on Cape Girardeau Board of Education; he becomes fourth candidate to seek one of three seats on board; Wright, vice president of Mercantile bank, joins hopefuls John Campbell and Kathy Swan, both incumbents, and Jack Sterrett...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Claude Eugene Willis, 85, of Miller City, Ill., died Sunday, Feb. 3, 2003, at The Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born Sept 19, 1917, in Cache, Ill., son of Frank and Lydia Kerstein Willis. He was a retired farmer. He was a World War II veteran of the U.S. Army and a member of the American Legion and Pulaski-Alexander County Farm Bureau...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Jim D. Baker, 71, of Sikeston died Sunday, Feb. 3, 2003 at Missouri Delta Medical Center. Arrangements are incomplete at Ponder Funeral Home in Sikeston.

Rudell Mulkey Childers, 89, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Feb. 2, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center. Arrangements are pending with Wilson Funeral Home in Karnak, Ill.

LAMAR, Mo. -- Mary Bennett Meinz, 72, of Liberal, Mo., died Saturday, Feb. 1, 2003, at Mount Carmel Regional Medical Center in Pittsburg, Kan. She was born Sept. 7, 1930, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of William Marvin and Mary Gearhardt Bennett. She worked as a shoemaker for Florsheim International in Cape Girardeau and had lived in Liberal for the past 12 years. She was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Lamar...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Charles H. Anderson, 88, of Perryville died Sunday, Feb. 2, 2003, at the Perry County Nursing Home. He was born Feb. 4, 1914, in Perry County, son of Elliott and Rose Yeager Anderson. He was retired from Perryville Cheese Co. He and Merida F. Elder were married July 6, 1934. She died July 30, 1996...

Lucille Clementine Enderle, 87, of Scott City died Saturday, Feb. 1, 2003, at The Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 29, 1916, in New Hamburg, Mo., daughter of the late Celestine and Emelia Bollinger Hahn. On Nov. 5, 1935, at New Hamburg, she married Edwin Paul "Beans" Enderle. She was a member of St. Augustine Catholic Church in Kelso and St. Ann's Ladies Sodality...

FULTON, Mo. -- Keith R. Bachmann, 43, of Fulton died Saturday, Feb. 1, 2003, near Mexico, Mo., as a result of a traffic accident. He was born Aug. 22, 1959, in Columbia, Mo., son of Robert G. and Darlene T. Petzoldt Bachmann. He was a truck driver for American Freightways, a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Columbia and a member of the Harley Bike Club in Columbia...

Thank God you're alive THIS IS a request to the victims of the bonfire explosion. Your friends, parents and news media are discussing what happened and why. All you can think about is that loud boom and the burning of your clothes, hair and skin while you see an orange glow on your best friends running and then falling to the ground. ...

To the editor: I watch the news in disbelief. Seemingly sane men report how many missiles and bombs would be dropped on Baghdad. Many hundreds. Daily. Day after day. This is a city of five million people, people like you and me. Then they go on to explain what Saddam Hussein will likely do in retaliation: purposely explode all the oil wells (which will burn uncontrollably for months) and use his arsenal of chemical weapons...

The Ohio Valley Conference's worst women's basketball team -- at least the record says so -- pays a visit to the Show Me Center tonight. Tennessee State (2-15, 0-7 OVC) will shoot for its first conference win of the season when it takes on Southeast Missouri State University (12-6, 6-2) in a 7 p.m. tipoff...

Southeast Missouri State University football coach Tim Billings said he and his staff hope to land about 15 players during the signing period that begins Wednesday. That total will be quite a bit below what Billings signed during his first three seasons at Southeast, largely because the Indians lost only a handful of seniors from their 2002 team that went 8-4 for the program's best record since 1969...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Orlando's theme parks have roller coaster rides, live action characters and -- if you see their property tax bills -- farms. To save millions of dollars in property taxes, Walt Disney World has placed grazing cattle on its property, and SeaWorld Orlando and Universal Orlando have gotten into the pine tree-growing business...

401 Independence St. Monday, 7 p.m. Study session at 5 p.m. Consent ordinances (Second and third readings)n An ordinance authorizing the acquisition of property for the improvement of Bloomfield Road and replacement of the bridge over Ramsey Branch...

Monday, 7:30 p.m. Action items Power and Light Committee Consider motion accepting the resignations of Allen Hill and Gerald Stoverink as regular members of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. Consider motion approving the mayor's appointment of Bill Engel as a regular member of the Zoning Board of Adjustment, to fill an unexpired term running through April 30, 2005...

Jackson's sense of pride in its community, and particularly its schools, is almost palpable. There are Jackson Indians bumper stickers, signs, T-shirts and whatnot everywhere in town. There's even a giant carved Indian at one of the busiest intersections: Hope and Main streets...

Sadly, some parents would rather spend their child-support money on lottery tickets and slot machines than on putting food into their children's mouths. These moms and dads have tried to become ex-parents when they became ex-husbands and ex-wives, but Missouri wants to put a stop to that practice. And the Bush administration has come up with an idea to help...

Groesbeck retiring from AmerenUE Michael K. Holman will succeed Doug Groesbeck as manager of AmerenUE's manager of the southeast district in Cape Girardeau. Groesbeck is retiring after a 26-year career with Ameren and predecessor companies...

Business group holding counseling sessions The Small Business Development Center of Southeast Missouri State University will be conducting counseling sessions for area small-business people. The counselor, Gil Degenhardt, will be available at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 19. The chamber is at 1267 N. Mount Auburn Road. The counseling sessions are free of charge and last about an hour. For an appointment, call 335-3312...

Cape Girardeau Monday, Feb. 3 Firefighters reponded to the following calls Sunday: At 1:32 a.m., a request for emergency medical service at 122 S. West End. At 10:09 a.m., a vehicle fire at 2115 William. At 12:55 p.m., a grass fire at 2303 Jane. At 2:16 p.m., a request for emergency medical service for a car accident at Ellis and William...

Cape Girardeau Monday, Feb. 3 Burglary A burglary was reported Sunday at 625 N. Lorimier. Theft Theft of electronic equipment was reported Saturday at 422 N. Mount Auburn.

Beginning today, the Southeast Missourian will have a full-time reporter working in Jackson, covering news events, government proceedings and community happenings in an overall effort to improve coverage and customer service in the city. As part of the transition, the Southeast Missourian is investing in a new electronic network for the Jackson office, which will provide faster customer service to readers and advertisers. ...

Memorial Hall University Museum was filled with around 350 people admiring artwork by area students Sunday during the opening of the 25th annual High School Art Symposium at Southeast Missouri State University. Students in 10th, 11th and 12th grade from 30 participating schools in Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois and St. Louis, their families and teachers gathered at the museum for a reception and awards ceremony recognizing the top three entries in seven categories...

St. Francis Medical Center is holding a "Look Good ... Feel Better" program from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday in the Healing Arts Conference Room at the Healing Arts Center. During this program, Look Good ... Feel Better volunteer cosmetologists will teach female cancer patients how to cope with skin changes and hair loss with the help of cosmetics and skin care products donated by the cosmetic industry. Free cosmetic kits will be provided to women in active cancer treatment...

Notre Dame to hold Trivia Night Saturday Notre Dame Regional High School will hold Trivia Night on Saturday. Doors open at 6:15 p.m. with tables of eight available for the game at 7 p.m. Participants can take part in the '50s theme by decorating their table or dressing in costume. Soda, pretzels and great door prizes will be provided, with the top three teams receiving cash...

East Missouri Action Agency Inc. is currently sponsoring a program that helps low-income citizens with filing federal and state tax returns. It is called the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. Through this program, volunteers at EMAA outreach offices file income tax returns free of charge. ...

During the weeks of Feb. 10 through March 10, Cape Girardeau and Jackson elementary schools will jointly launch their kindergarten through fifth-grade students into their economic futures through a program called Junior Achievements. Volunteers are still needed in several of the 130 participating classrooms...

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., was recently chosen to serve on the new Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security. Two of the largest components of Homeland Security -- the Transportation Security Administration and Coast Guard -- are in the current Transportation Subcommittee, which Emerson has served on since 2001. This subcommittee will become the Subcommittee on Homeland Security and will be chaired by Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky...

WASHINGTON -- Shortages of key experts, tight budgets and mounting safety concerns all plagued the nation's space program in recent years, according to a trail of reports by congressional auditors, outside panels and NASA retirees. How much of a forewarning they were to Saturday's space shuttle Columbia tragedy may be determined in the next several weeks...

WASHINGTON -- Scientists working with mice have found that a compound used to fight severe blood infections may be useful in preventing stroke damage. Activated protein C was found to reduce the likelihood that brain cells would self-destruct after a stroke, the researchers report in today's online issue of the journal Nature Medicine...

SUNRISE, Fla. -- In a trying, troubling season, the NHL almost got the All-Star game wrong, too. Even if Dany Heatley didn't. Heatley, a not-so-well known star from a last-place team playing in his first All-Star game, joined hockey greats such as Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux by scoring a record-tying four goals Sunday, though he couldn't prevent the Western Conference from beating the East in the first All-Star shootout in NHL history...

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- The fact that longtime Missouri coach Norm Stewart was honored in a ceremony at Kansas last week has not softened the Tigers' hearts at all. No matter how many nice compliments their former coach might exchange with their archrival, this rivalry is still as heated as any...

HONOLULU -- Ricky Williams' first trip to the Pro Bowl was worth the wait. The Miami Dolphins' star running back rushed for 56 yards, scored two touchdowns and forced a fumble on special teams to earn the MVP award in the AFC's 45-20 victory over the NFC on Sunday...

Sunday; At PGA West, Arnold Palmer Private Course; La Quinta, Calif. Purse: $4.5 million; Yardage: 6,931; Par: 72; Final Round. Mike Weir, $810,000 67-64-65-67-67 -- 330 -30 Jay Haas, $486,000 67-61-67-68-69 -- 332 -28 Chris DiMarco, $261,000 64-68-66-66-70 -- 334 -26...

LA QUINTA, Calif. -- Mike Weir, who stayed steady down the stretch while Jay Haas and Tim Herron shot themselves into trouble, won the Bob Hope Classic on Sunday. Weir shot a closing 5-under par 67 to finish at 30-under 330 and two strokes in front of Haas, who was tied for the lead until he hit into the water in front of the 18th green...

Basketball Chicago Bulls forward Marcus Fizer will miss the rest of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in is right knee. Fizer, in his third season, suffered the injury when he landed awkwardly while catching a pass and then making a layup in Friday night's loss in Portland...

WASHINGTON -- For Michael Jordan, these were the old days in Chicago. The very old days. Not the championship years, when he was winning rings with Scottie Pippen. But the early years, when the Bulls were a so-so team and every game felt like 1-on-5...

CHICAGO -- Prescription rates for Ritalin and similar attention deficit disorder drugs vary dramatically nationwide, research suggests, underscoring ambivalence about medication that has been widely praised -- and widely maligned. While the disorder's prevalence is not thought to vary substantially among geographic groups, the study found rates ranging from 1.6 percent of children's prescriptions examined in Washington, D.C., to 6.5 percent in Louisiana. ...

CARBONDALE, Ill. --Leaders of Southern Illinois University's faculty union opted Sunday to poll members about the school's latest contract offer before deciding whether to call a strike. The union's 45-member policy-making board wants to hear more from the Carbondale faculty before deciding whether to make good on a threat to strike after a yearlong dispute over salary and working conditions on the 22,000-student campus...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A Springfield man has been charged with stealing from an elderly, retired Catholic priest. Frank Gruber, 59, was charged last week with eight counts of elder exploitation. The investigation began after the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Catholic Diocese notified police of concerns about Gruber's treatment of the priest, police spokesman Rick Bookout said...

UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo. -- A man may have been having a diabetic episode when he allegedly ran over a stranger because she was black and Jesus told him to do it, his backers told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for a copyright story Sunday. Steven Johnson's blood sugar level was three times the normal rate when he allegedly made a U-turn on Jan. 27 to run down a woman at a suburban St. Louis bus stop, according to documents provided by his family...

CLAYTON, Mo. -- Police in St. Louis County hope their apprehension last week of several young suspected car thieves will cut down on the number of autos swiped when the temperature drops. In recent weeks, thieves in the county have targeted cars left idling -- and unattended -- by owners waiting for them to warm up. The cold weather helped thieves identify cars with keys left in the ignition because the frosty temperatures makes exhaust fumes visible...

GARDEZ, Afghanistan -- The U.S. military has embarked on a major new plan to help rebuild Afghanistan, throwing its resources into reconstruction projects typically left to private aid organizations. More than ever before, U.S. soldiers will be helping to dig wells for irrigating parched land and rebuild roads and schools destroyed during decades of war...

KUWAIT CITY -- Kuwait plans to step up street patrols and security at key facilities in the face of possible war with its neighbor Iraq. Meanwhile, Westerners were considering advice from their governments to leave Kuwait. Special police forces traversed the city Saturday in armored vehicles in a test of the new security plan...

ROME -- The 28 Pakistanis arrested in a raid that turned up explosives and maps of a NATO base either have denied any links to terrorism or refused to answer questions during interrogations, attorneys said Sunday. After an all-day hearing, a judge ruled Sunday that the suspects should remain jailed while the investigation continues, attorney Gennaro Razzino said in a telephone conversation from Naples, where the Pakistanis were jailed...

HEBRON, West Bank -- The Israeli army, citing a lack of building permits, demolished nine houses belonging to Palestinians in the West Bank city of Hebron on Sunday, leaving dozens homeless. In another development, dozens of Palestinian inmates rioted at an Israeli army prison in the southern desert, and soldiers used tear gas and stun grenades to subdue them, the army said. There was no immediate word on casualties...

LAGOS, Nigeria -- A powerful explosion tore apart a bank and dozens of apartments above it Sunday in Nigeria's crowded commercial capital, killing at least 40 people and trapping many others, relief workers said. Police were investigating a range of motives -- including that the blast was part of a bank robbery plot. Looting and bloody fights broke out as hundreds of young men grabbed fistfuls of cash from the leveled bank and battled over them...

UNITED NATIONS -- Iraq's U.N. ambassador said Sunday he will ask to speak to the Security Council after Secretary of State Colin Powell presents what the United States says will be new evidence of Iraq's weapons programs and links to al-Qaida. Ambassador Mohammed Al-Douri said the Iraqi government has decided against sending a high-ranking official to respond to Powell. ...

Venezuela's opposition begins petition drive CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez declared victory Sunday after his opponents eased a 2-month-old national strike, but hundreds of thousands of voters still signed petitions seeking his ouster...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Just days before a crucial round of talks with chief inspectors, a senior Iraqi official said Sunday that Baghdad is "keen to resolve any pending issues" in the U.N. search for banned weapons, but didn't immediately offer new concessions...

DOHA, Qatar -- A Missouri Army National Guard soldier was killed and three were injured in a road accident in Qatar, the U.S. military said Sunday. The Guard identified the soldier as Sgt. Michael C. Barry, 29, of Kansas City. He was one of about 50 members of the 205th Area Support Medical Battalion deployed to the Middle East in December in support of Operation Enduring Freedom...

RIGA, Latvia -- Latvia's translator-in-chief sits at his desk leafing through dog-eared French and English dictionaries trying to think of a Latvian word for "ombudsman." As chief terminologist at Latvia's Translation and Terminology Center, Peteris Udris is working to pull the country's language out of its Soviet-era hibernation into the age of free markets, open borders and modern technology...

NEW YORK -- A poll conducted last year for HGTV revealed that television viewers considered "Trading Spaces" one of their favorite shows on the cable channel. One problem: It's on TLC, not HGTV. "Trading Spaces," the remodeling show where neighbors impose their decorating tastes on neighbors, was the most popular show on basic cable last week, eclipsing professional wrestling and "SpongeBob SquarePants."...

LOS ANGELES -- Hundreds of thousands of Southern Californians are in danger of having their medical records destroyed because a company says it is no longer being paid to store them. Iron Mountain has been housing the records of KPC Medical Management, which closed its clinics in 2000 and left behind 8 million medical documents...

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. -- Don't put those sweaters away yet. As an anxious crowd shivered in 33-degree temperatures early Sunday, Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his burrow and saw his shadow on Gobbler's Knob, suggesting another six weeks of wintry weather...

CHICAGO -- Former Gov. George Ryan was quietly issuing hundreds of pardons long before he decided to empty Illinois' death row last month, an Associated Press review of state records found. Including the 167 death sentences he commuted days before he left office, the Republican granted 643 clemency requests during his four-year term -- nearly twice as many as his predecessor granted in eight years...

CHICAGO -- The nation's largest group of pediatricians wants lawmakers to maintain limits on the kind of health care nondoctors, such as nurse practitioners, can give to children. The American Academy of Pediatrics is encouraging its doctors to work to block legislation that would allow non-doctors to practice and write prescriptions independently and permit parity in insurance reimbursement...

NEW YORK -- During the Vietnam War, presidents and the Pentagon defended the draft, while the peace movement assailed it. As America edges toward a possible new war, roles have reversed. Backed by other opponents of a war with Iraq, Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., has proposed that the draft -- shelved since 1973 -- be reinstated in the name of "shared sacrifice."...

Cole is a woman who knows about music ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Natalie Cole knows a little something about musical influences. First, there was her father, Nat King Cole. Then, there were all of his friends. "When I was growing up, I had so many musical influences I still feel a little schizophrenic," Cole told the audience at a benefit for California State University, Fullerton's arts program...

Ask John Sander why he's closing the Cape Girardeau True Value hardware store his father started 27 years ago and he'll sigh and say: "It's a sign of the times." Of course, it's more complicated than that. It always is. There are personal factors that Sander doesn't want aired in public --nothing scandalous, just private -- and I'll respect that...

I failed to learn it in 2000 when Mike Jones made the game-winning tackle against Tennessee. I didn't learn it in 2001 when the Ravens pounded the Giants. I didn't believe it last year when the Patriots stopped the greatest offense I've ever seen...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Citing a U.S. Corps of Engineers study, Pemiscot County Port Authority chairman Duane Michie says every $1 invested in river ports yields a $6 economic return. With Missouri's continuing financial problems, however, taxpayer contributions to the state port system, which have already slowed to a trickle, are slated to dry up for the upcoming fiscal year...

The Invest 4 Cape team, a mix of Cape Girardeau city employees and department heads aimed at educating the public on the city's current tax issues, will make a rough-draft presentation tonight on the four tax and fee-increase proposals that voters will decide on April 8...

Matthew Dubbs was a textbook case: It started one day last week with a headache. That night, it graduated to a grinding cough. Then came the nasal drainage, the aching and a 102-degree fever. The flu had taken hold. But what makes Dubbs an even better example of those suffering from the flu this season is this -- he's 6 years old...

DOUGLASS, Texas -- On horseback and in four-wheel-drives, hundreds of law officers and volunteers tromped through piney woods, over pastures and through swamps Sunday, looking for pieces of Columbia that could explain what brought the shuttle down. Pieces as small as a quarter and as big as a pickup were being secured and will eventually be analyzed at Barksdale Air Force Base next door in Louisiana...

NASA put shuttle launches on hold following the Columbia disaster, clouding the future of missions including assembly of the international space station, which has three astronauts aboard. Even with its shuttles grounded, NASA can easily retrieve the astronauts using Russian vehicles. But if the space agency's remaining shuttles are out of service for an extended period in the wake of Saturday's catastrophe, as seems likely, it could prove difficult to maintain the station's operations...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Just before it disintegrated, space shuttle Columbia experienced an abnormal rise in temperature and wind resistance that forced the craft's automatic pilot to make rapid changes to its flight path -- possible evidence that some heat-protection tiles were missing or damaged, NASA said Sunday...

Forensics experts expressed confidence that fragmentary remains of Columbia's crew members could be genetically identified despite the craft's disintegration 39 miles overhead, but said details about exactly how the seven astronauts died and how quickly could be elusive...

SEDALIA, Mo. -- In exchange for a handful of feed, Sedalia resident Robert Poort received a kiss, of sorts, from Debby. The elk, which Poort raised from birth, is one of 40 in his growing herd on his farm just south of Sedalia. Four years ago, at 64, Poort and his wife Dorothy, then 62, decided to make a dream come true and buy their first elk...

LOS ANGELES -- Josefa Salinas believes motoring through the urban wilderness of America's second-largest city requires more than your average sport utility vehicle. She encases herself inside a Hummer H2, a hulking but luxurious version of the military Humvee...

Doctors overwhelmed by ballooning malpractice insurance premiums are taking to the streets like never before -- rallying, demanding government reform and in a few states, walking off the job. The American Medical Association, which opposes withholding patient services, says such vocal action by the nation's doctors is unprecedented. The AMA considers 12 states to be in crisis and lists 31 others, including Missouri, as having serious problems with malpractice insurance...

Applebee's International Inc. announced last week that it has reached an agreement with its biggest franchisee, Thomas and King Inc., to buy the assets of 11 Applebee's restaurants -- including the one in Cape Girardeau -- for $23.2 million in cash...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush will send Congress a $2.23 trillion spending plan today featuring new tax cuts to boost the economy, a conservative tilt to major social programs and record deficits for the next two years -- shortfalls that Democrats blame on Bush's tax cuts...

KENNETT, Mo. -- In this day of a faltering national economy, declining manpower needs and slumping business profits contending with increasing inflationary factors, Missourians have grown increasingly nervous as they opened their morning newspaper or caught the radio's brief message of budgetary woes in Jefferson City...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush focused his budget for 2004 on restoring habitat for fish and wildlife that share the Missouri and Mississippi rivers with barge shipments. But in order to spend the tens of millions of dollars he proposes for the environment, Bush would force cuts in other Army Corps of Engineers projects and require proof that their benefits outweigh the cost to taxpayers...

To the editor: War protesters have been called unpatriotic and unsupportive of our military. In turn, the protesters defend their protests as truly patriotic. The conduct of some demonstrators shows they have different agendas. Demonstrations held in public parks and in front of federal buildings are understandable. ...

10 years ago: Feb. 4, 1993 Owner of several buildings in 400 block of Good Hope Street says structures, which serve as gathering spot where illegal cocaine sales are staged, soon will be torn down; Robert Blank of Bi-State Southern Oil Co., says he expects to have demolition permits and utilities disconnected at buildings in early February...

Rudell Mulkey Childers, 89, of Cape Girardeau and formerly of Mounds, Ill., died Sunday, Feb. 2, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born Dec. 19, 1913, daughter of Ida Holshouser and H.S. Mulkey. She married Woody Childers on Aug. 19, 1952. He preceded her in death on Nov. 3, 1979...

Blanche M. Storz Armbruster, 92, died Monday, Feb. 3, 2003, at the Perry County Nursing Home. She was born Aug. 24, 1910, in Perry County, daughter of Frank and Coletta Lukefahr Stortz. She and Glenn Armbruster were married Sept. 16, 1940. He preceded her in death May 8, 1973...

OLMSTED, Ill. -- Annie Helen Mellein, 81, of Olmsted died Monday, Feb. 3, 2003, at Daystar Care Center in Cairo, Ill. She was born March 1, 1921, in Pulaski County, Ill., daughter of William Edward and Annie Atherton Lance. She married Victor Cecil Mellein, who died Sept. 13, 1987...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Edna B. Gustafson, 86, of Kuttawa, Ky., died Sunday, Feb. 2, 2003, at Hill Top Nursing Home in Kuttawa. She was born May 27, 1916, in Grand Chain, Ill., daughter of John B. and Sarah Rhodes Benoit. She married Glenn F. Gustafson, who died in 1993...

GLENNON, Mo. -- Richard G. Ganey, 85, of New Market, Ala., died Saturday, Feb. 1, 2003, at Huntsville Hospital in Huntsville, Ala. He was born March 28, 1917, in Florida, son of Walter and Ruby Croft Ganey. He married Berenice Thele. Ganey was formerly of the Glennon area. He operated Bell Brothers Shoe Store in Columbia, Mo., more than 30 years...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Claude Eugene Willis, 85, of Miller City, Ill., died Sunday, Feb. 2, 2003, at The Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born Sept. 19, 1917, in Cache, Ill., son of Frank and Lydia Kerstein Willis. Willis was a retired farmer. He was a World War II veteran of the U.S. Army and a member of the American Legion and Pulaski-Alexander County Farm Bureau...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Jim D. Baker, 71, of Sikeston died Sunday, Feb. 2, 2003, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. He was born Nov. 11, 1931, in Cape Girardeau, son of Bennie and Della Duncan Baker. He and Marilyn Andrews were married Dec. 29, 1951. Baker was an estimate assigner with Southwestern Bell prior to retiring. He was a member of First United Methodist Church, Elks Lodge, and Henry Meldrum American Legion Post 114...

Ann Marie Hefele, 87, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, Feb. 3, 2003, at Chateau Girardeau Health Center. She was born Aug. 1, 1915, in St. Louis, daughter of Martin Joseph and Ella Hendron Walsh. She and Harold Joseph Hefele were married Dec. 14, 1941, in St. Louis. He died Nov. 16, 1979...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Cathleen D. Gipson, 99, formerly of Sikeston, died Saturday, Feb. 1, 2003, at Capital Healthcare Center in Jefferson City, Mo. She was born June 8, 1903, in Lake County, Tenn., daughter of Clay and Rose Brown Driskill. She first married James Thomas Bat Aug. 22, 1923. He died Feb. 21, 1952. She and Clifford Lee Gipson Sr. were married April 1, 1961. He died Jan. 13, 1987...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Ethel Melvina Fyffe, 76, of Dexter died Monday, Feb. 3, 2003, at her home. She was born March 7, 1926, at Bernie, Mo., daughter of Charles and Melvina Nelson Clark. She and Eugene Fyffe were married Nov. 9, 1946, in Piggott, Ark. He died May 5, 1998...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Maurine E. Reutzel, 87, of Advance died Sunday, Feb. 2, 2003, at the Baptist Home in Ironton, Mo. She was born Dec. 20, 1915, in Douglass, Texas, daughter of Willie and Eula Fowler Yates. She and Glen Reutzel were married April 21, 1935, in Hugo, Okla. He died June 9, 1987...

John Thomas "T.C." Cotner, 44, passed away Sunday, Feb. 2, 2003, at his home in Scott City, where he lived the past eight years. He was born Feb. 2, 1959, in Cape Girardeau, son of Chester and Hannah Rumfelt Cotner. He married Tammy S. Burger April 21, 1990, at St. Augustine Catholic Church in Kelso, Mo...

Not real bright PEOPLE TALK about kids today having no sense. I can remember countless stories my grandparents told me about people getting hit by trains while walking on the tracks when they were younger. That wasn't real bright either. Is it possible that kids are just kids? People too old to remember being young should give them a break...

To the editor: I was not surprised to hear a report from Iraq stating that if the United States invades Iraq, suicide bombers would be dispatched to carry out retaliation against the United States and her allies. What more does it take to prove that Iraq, under the leadership of Saddam Hussein, poses a clear and present danger to the people of this great country?...

To the editor: I believe in protecting the rights of children still in the mother's womb. You cannot shrug off the responsibility by simply renaming a child to be a fetus. This is wrong and scientifically incorrect. Choosing to terminate this life is equal to terminating any innocent life. We need to quit trying to change our lives by simply changing our words. It is our actions that mold and shape us as a society. Our actions need to be moving toward love and justice...

To the editor: As hard as it maybe to admit, not only may our president maintain a sense of entitlement and hard-heartedness toward the rest of the world, but I think a great many Americans have the same attitude and wouldn't admit it or recognize that it exists...

To the editor: As the days go by with Iraq's noncompliance with the United Nations' latest resolution and the U.S. military buildup continuing in the Persian Gulf region, it appears that war with Saddam Hussein in Iraq could be just around the corner. There are currently 90,000 U.S. forces in the region. If war starts, that number could reach as high as 250,000...

To the editor: I believe the kids who helped save the lives of the people in the apartment in Jackson Friday evening need to be recognized for the wonderful, brave thing they did. My daughter and three of her friends were coming home around 11:30 p.m. My daughter saw what she believed to be a grill on fire and then realized the fire was inside the house. They called 911...

To the editor: I would like to thank everyone in the Jackson community who helped my brother and his friends when they lost their home on Hope Street in Jackson Friday night due to arson. It goes to show that people do give a helping hand when others are in need...

Consent ordinances (Second and third readings)n Authorized the acquisition of property for the improvement of Bloomfield Road and replacement of the bridge over Ramsey Branch. Amended Schedule K of Section 26-121 of the city code by placing a yield sign on Abbey Road at its intersection with Kenneth Drive...

Scott County's new $4.8 million jail is impressive. And long overdue. Sheriff Bill Ferrell has said for years that the 71-year-old, 48-bed jail needed replacing. There weren't enough beds to meet the area's rising number of prisoners. The women's facilities weren't adequate, and the kitchen and laundry rooms were entirely too small...

A military executive from Jefferson City, Mo., was in Cape Girardeau recently, the bearer of ominous news: If the state's budget situation doesn't improve, the Missouri National Guard could be forced to close some of its armories. Lt. Col. Dennis Cruts told current and former Guard soldiers on Jan. 25 that the Cape Girardeau armory is "probably safe" because of its size and wide area of coverage, so there is probably little reason for our local part-time service men to worry...

Kaminskey receives leadership award Cammie G. Kaminskey of Jackson has been awarded a Missouri Leadership Award to attend Southeast Missouri State University for the 2003-2004 academic year. It is a one-year award of $500 to be applied toward resident hall fees. It is given to Missouri students who have demonstrated leadership, scholarship and involvement. Students receiving it must have at least a 3.0 GPA...

Cape Girardeau Tuesday, Feb. 4 Firefighters responded Sunday to the following items: At 8:25 p.m., alarm at 750 N. Mount Auburn. At 10:09 p.m., citizen assist at 416 Elm.Firefighters responded Monday to the following items: At 2:31 a.m., alarm at 1000 N. Sprigg...

Cape Girardeau Tuesday, Feb. 4 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Jimmi P. Garcia, 23, of 532 Columbine, Cape Girardeau was arrested Saturday on suspicion of receiving stolen property...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush shipped lawmakers a $2.23 trillion budget for 2004 on Monday bearing record deficits and seeking deep new tax cuts, an ambitious expansion of Medicare and bolstering security at home and abroad at the expense of domestic programs...

Department of Defense Spending: $379.9 billion Percentage change from 2003: +4.2 percent Pay raises for service members would range from 2 percent to 6.3 percent. Includes $245 million to maintain a scaled-down version of the air patrols over the United States that began Sept. 11, 2001, but makes no provision for the cost of continuing the war in Afghanistan or potential war against Iraq...

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Colin Powell will present photographs of mobile biological weapons installations and transcripts of overheard Iraqi conversations to convince allies that Saddam Hussein has potent arsenals in defiance of U.N. disarmament demands, an administration official said Monday...

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- An Independence teen has pleaded guilty to five felony counts stemming from a drunk-driving crash that killed two people and injured three others. Richard Scott Peden, 18, admitted he was drunk when he drove his car the wrong way on eastbound Interstate 70 and struck another car head-on. Justin W. Dyer, 21, of Oak Grove, and Amy A. Bigley, 21, of Kansas City, were killed...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A prison guard faces a felony drug charge after he was caught trying to bring 6 ounces of marijuana to work with him, authorities said. Michael Cook, 38, was arrested Monday and charged with distributing marijuana into a prison. He told investigators he had brought drugs to the Missouri State Penitentiary one other time, Cole County Sheriff John C. Hemeyer said...

SMYRNA, Ga. -- When 10-year-old Tyler Brantley settled into his classroom Monday morning, he almost choked up when his teacher handed him a black arm band to mourn the victims of the space shuttle Columbia. Children around the country grieved for the crew Monday, but for Brantley and the other 49 fifth-graders in Russell Elementary's space center program, Saturday's tragedy hit particularly hard. All year, the students have prepared for a simulated launch in a huge model of a space shuttle...

ST. LOUIS -- A Roman Catholic priest from suburban St. Louis was sentenced Monday to 90 days in a halfway house, placed on probation for five years and fined $5,000 for receiving obscenity through his computer. U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle's ruling bars the Rev. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's child welfare system took center stage Monday in the capital as a new commission began sifting through improvements recommended after last year's death of a 2-year-old foster child. As the panel began meetings, one Springfield lawmaker outlined his own proposal to bring "revolutionary change" to the state's foster care system...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Law enforcement agencies around the state would join forces to alert the public of suspected abductions under a bill overwhelmingly passed Monday by the Missouri House. The bill would create a statewide Amber Alert system, named after a 9-year-old Texas girl who was abducted and murdered in 1996. Local residents who believed instant publicity might have saved her persuaded a radio station to report possible kidnappings...

OCIE, Mo. -- A southwest Missouri man may have killed his girlfriend before fatally shooting himself, authorities said Monday. The deaths of Patricia G. Bunte, 53, and James C. Spence Jr., 54, both of Ocie, were being investigated as a murder-suicide, said Ozark County Sheriff Steve Bartlett...

Spring enrollment is up nearly 2 percent at public universities in Illinois, fueled in part by a sluggish job market that is driving more students to the classroom. Statewide, enrollment climbed by nearly 2,500 students this spring, paced by increases at Northern Illinois University and Eastern Illinois University. The DeKalb campus added 1,017 students compared with a year ago, putting spring enrollment at 23,512. Eastern, in Charleston, has 10,357 students this spring, up 682 from last year...

WARSAW, Poland -- An Ohio man once accused of being the notorious Nazi death camp guard "Ivan the Terrible" is among four ethnic Ukrainians being investigated for killing Jews during World War II in occupied Poland, prosecutors said Monday. Two of the other suspects also are U.S. residents...

LAGOS, Nigeria -- Nigeria ruled out terrorism Monday in a massive blast that flattened a bank building in its largest city, while the death toll rose to 44 after more bodies were pulled from the rubble. Dozens of workers piloted cranes and bulldozers in a search for survivors in the debris of a Lagos Island building containing a four-story bank and three stories of apartments above. Four more bodies were recovered Monday...

JERUSALEM -- The leader of Israel's Labor Party turned down an appeal Monday from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to recreate their centrist partnership, pushing Sharon closer to a hawkish government instead. Without Labor, Sharon would have to depend on hard-line parties to make up a majority coalition, a government that would likely take even harsher military steps against the Palestinians, including expulsion of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat...

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Workers in all sectors but the vital oil industry returned to their jobs Monday -- abandoning a two-month general strike that devastated Venezuela's economy but failed to oust President Hugo Chavez. As life began returning to normal in stores, factories and banks, the government made gains toward restoring oil production to pre-strike levels in a nation that is a major supplier of crude to the United States and the world's fifth-largest petroleum exporter...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraq took the unusual step of issuing an explanation for a missile warhead discovered Monday by U.N. arms inspectors -- before the monitors themselves made the news public. The inspectors found the abandoned case of a small rocket and a "modified, damaged and abandoned warhead" at a missile parts factory south of Baghdad, the Iraqi News Agency said, describing it as a Russian-made Luna -- a short-range rocket permitted under U.N. resolutions...

Israeli court jails alleged al-Qaida trainee EREZ, Gaza Strip -- An Israeli military court on Monday sentenced a Palestinian man to 27 years in prison for training with al-Qaida -- the first such case since Israel began investigating possible links between Palestinian militants and Osama bin Laden's terror network...

Starring SaddamRallying the troops or ordering coffee, Saddam dominates nightly TV By Hamza Hendawi ~ The Associated Press BAGHDAD, Iraq -- It's 9 p.m. in Baghdad, time for the main TV news and a solid hour or more of Saddam Hussein, giving pep talks to his generals, ordering coffee, sending regards to faraway tribal chieftains and denouncing American "wickedness."...

KARACHI, Pakistan -- A bomb on a motorcycle exploded Monday outside the state-oil company in the southern port city of Karachi, killing a parking lot attendant and injuring at least seven other people. The blast, which could be heard for miles, shattered glass and overturned motorcycles at the Pakistan State Oil company, witnesses and police said...

WorldCom to eliminate another 5,000 jobs CLINTON, Miss. -- WorldCom Inc. announced $2.5 billion in cuts Monday, including the elimination of 5,000 jobs, as part of the telecommunication company's plan to emerge from bankruptcy in April. The cuts, which include 8 percent of WorldCom's workforce, are the first major moves by new chairman and CEO Michael Capellas. Details on which jobs will be cut were not released...

The families of Columbia's crew remembered their loved ones Monday as optimists who rejected the word "can't" and explorers willing to accept risk for the sake of expanding knowledge. They urged Americans to support the space effort "for the benefit of our children and yours."...

HEMPHILL, Texas -- Searchers found the nose cone of the space shuttle Columbia buried deep in a thick pine forest near the Louisiana border, officials said Monday night. "It's reasonably intact," said Warren Zehner, a senior coordinator for the Environmental Protection Agency, which is overseeing collection of shuttle debris...

SPACE CENTER, Houston -- While Columbia was still in orbit, NASA's "best and brightest" minds analyzed the potential damage done to its thermal tiles by a piece of debris during liftoff and concluded that the flight was in no danger, agency officials said Monday...

Couple takes wedding photo case to court LONDON -- Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones were "deeply distressed" when "stolen" photographs of their wedding appeared in a celebrity magazine, their attorney told Britain's High Court Monday. Michael Tugendhat said the Hollywood couple were the victims of conspiracy by Hello! to snatch pictures of the wedding after an offer to buy them was turned down. They are suing the magazine for breach of privacy...

Debris from an air disaster can supply important clues to what went wrong. But pieces of Columbia may have been so damaged by the searing heat during their fall through the atmosphere that they may not have much of a story to tell. The shuttle broke up at 200,000 feet and 12,000 mph, and "things burn up very quickly at that speed" from heat generated by contact with the air, said one expert, Jerry Grey. ...

While the federal government is locked in a debate over public information vs. public safety and the right to privacy, Missouri is using the Internet to remove barriers and creating standardized crime forms to lessen confusion. Much of Missouri's circuit court information has been made available during the last two years with the state's online record system, Case.net. Racial profiling reports on traffic stops are available on the attorney general's Web site...

LeBron James is (choose one): a) a victim of hypocrisy; b) a player who broke the rules and should take responsibility; c) a good kid who made a little mistake; d) the epitome of all that is wrong with sports. At 18, this high school sensation with the spin drives, board-shaking dunks, and sweet-touch jumpers already attracts more attention, carries more baggage and evokes more debate than most players who devote a lifetime to getting in and out of trouble...

The legal question of whether Cape Girardeau County owes the city of Jackson road and bridge tax revenue has been sent to the state's attorney general for a ruling. The Jackson Board of Aldermen received a copy of the attorney general opinion request Monday night after having already approved the measure at an earlier meeting. The city of Jackson, Cape Girardeau County and Cole County have submitted the opinion as a joint effort...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- An anti-death penalty group says the case of a man scheduled to die Wednesday for shooting spree in Poplar Bluff 18 years ago highlights the need for a moratorium on executions in Missouri. Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty says Kenneth Kenley is mentally ill and while aware of his actions he could not control them when he fatally shot Ronald Felts and wounded two others during a series of armed robberies on Jan. 1, 1984...

WASHINGTON -- Brian and Jo Ann Barrett of Marble Hill, Mo., were selected the Daily Points of Light for Monday. The award is given by The Points of Light Foundation and Volunteer Center National Network in partnership with the Knights of Columbus and the Corporation of National Service. It honors those who made a commitment to connect Americans through service to help meet critical needs in their communities, especially those focused on children...

Taped readings of this year's United We Read book, "All Over but the Shoutin'," will not be presented this year. Last year, various community members read chapters of the United We Read book "A Painted House" on the public access channel. Julia Jorgensen, librarian at Central High School and founder of United We Read, said a similar arrangement could not be worked out with the school system's Channel 23 because of scheduling conflicts...

The Cape Girardeau City Council gave its blessing Monday to what Mayor Jay Knudtson calls the city's "road show" to win voter approval of four tax issues on the April ballot. Knudtson said some revisions will be made to the 15-minute PowerPoint presentation called "Invest 4 Cape" before its first formal presentation, which is to Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce members at the First Friday Coffee at the Show Me Center later this week...

The migration of hundreds of thousands of blacks from the rural South to the urban North due to the demand for labor during World War I led to an arts movement in the 1920s and 1930s that came to be known as the Harlem Renaissance. Black painters and sculptors, writers, musicians, architects and others working in the arts congregated in cities where the arts were fostered. They also found financial support for their work in the white community because the 1920s economy was thriving...

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- As members of Southern Illinois University's faculty union consider taking their yearlong contract dispute with administrators to the picket line, students on Monday offered little sympathy for either side. "If the professors don't like their job, they should go get another one," said Joshua Ratts, a 26-year-old psychology senior from Champaign...

In a few days the Southeast Missouri State University Otahkians will try to avenge one of their two Ohio Valley Conference losses when the Eastern Kentucky Colones visit the Show Me Center. But before the Otahkians could turn their focus to a week of preparing for EKU, Southeast had to take care of the cellar-dwelling Tennessee State Tigers on Monday at the Show Me Center. ...

Southeast Missouri State University coach Gary Garner figures there is no way Eastern Illinois can play as well against the Indians tonight as it did last time. At least that's Garner's hope. "If they can play any better than that, I don't want to see it," Garner said, laughing...

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Kirk Hinrich scored 24 points and Michael Lee made three key free throws in the final seconds , lifting No. 12 Kansas past No. 21 Missouri 76-70 Monday night. Nick Collison had 22 for the Jayhawks (16-5, 6-1 Big 12), who have won 13 of their last 15 and not lost a regular-season conference home game since Feb. 5, 2001, a span of 15 games...

Top-seeded Meadow Heights pounded fifth-seeded Chaffee 105-58 to win their opener in the round-robin portion of the Mississippi Valley Conference boys basketball tournament Monday in Patton, Mo. Meadow Heights, enjoying its best season in more than a decade, improved to 12-3...

CLEVELAND -- LeBron James has yet to appeal his banishment from playing high school basketball, keeping him off the court. James had been expected to appeal the decision Monday, but OHSAA spokesman Bob Goldring said the organization did not hear from him or his lawyer by late afternoon...

As Americans focused on a sporting event with a much higher profile two weekends ago, the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators took to the ice -- some would say it was very thin ice, at that -- for a matchup of historic proportions. Hours before the Super Bowl, the NHL staged what some dubbed the Bankruptcy Bowl and others the Creditors Cup: a game between franchises mired in bankruptcy court proceedings, believed to be a first for any of the four major pro sports leagues...

The AssociatedPress DETROIT -- The Detroit Lions hope to hire Steve Mariucci as their next coach today after trying to reach a deal for the past six days. "While there was significant progress made during those discussions, no deal has yet been finalized that would make Steve our next head coach," Lions spokesman Bill Keenist said Monday night. "We are hopeful that an agreement can be reached with Steve by the end of the day" today...

SEATTLE ne year after Apolo Anton Ohno rocketed to fame at the Salt Lake Olympics, America's favorite wispy-chinned speed- skater is still basking in the afterglow. In the past 11 months, Ohno has shown off his physique in a Rolling Stone pictorial, met actress Halle Berry at an Oscars Party, had a booth on "Hollywood Squares," and dined with the Backstreet Boys...

Southeast Missourian Fifth-grade students at North Elementary School in Fruitland learned about marketing, customer feedback, advertising and business models as part of a project that lets them develop their own fast-food restaurant. The restaurants, ranging from Touchdown Barbecue to Donut Diner, were created as part of a social studies unit called "Takin' Care of Business," taught by high school students in the Jackson school district...

A record score. An improbable shot. A stirring comeback. Sounds like more show-stopping feats by Tiger Woods, only he hasn't played a competitive round of golf in two months. Surprise! It's the work of Ernie Els. The Big Easy, as he is called, won the Heineken Classic in Australia for his third victory of the year, giving golf what has sorely lacked the past few years -- a serious challenger to Woods...

Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk Reviewed by Justin Colburn and Keayn Dunya Justin: My only experience with Chuck Palahniuk before for this was with another novel he had written that I can't mention the title of. The first rule of Fight Club is you DO NOT talk about Fight Club. ...

by Alexander R. Yaremko There are all kinds of clichés about love. Love hurts, love is a battlefield, all's fair in love and war, you get the picture. Like most clichés, they tend to run on this side of being true. Clichés became cliché because they ring true. If a cliché is what you live by, as in true all the time, you'll run into problems. But the point of a clichés is that they are sometimes, but not always, applicable...

by Jason Parker So let's talk about all kinds of stuff this month. www.winmx.com Try it, you like it. You like it a lot. It's the next big file-sharing program and it kicks Kazaa's rear. Do you like this informal email style column? I hope so because that's the way it is going to be this month. Lol...

02/05/03 Raq Cicero's 02/05/03 Blood Brothers Creepy Crawl 02/05/03 True North Creepy Crawl 02/05/03 Vaux Creepy Crawl 02/05/03 In Medias Res Hi-Pointe 02/05/03 Luce Mississippi Nights 02/05/03 Sixpence None The Richer Mississippi Nights 02/05/03 moe. The Pageant...

OFF! took Jed Payne down to one of our favorite hangouts near the Riverfront- Nick's Family Sports Pub- and gave him one hour to eat every last bite of one of their signature 30-inch party pizzas. "There's no way he's going to do it," remarked Tammie Blattel, general manager at Nick's. "We've had groups of eight or more people who couldn't finish one of those."...

Diary of a Madman, Pt. II: A Discourse on Desire by Jaysen Buterin "There can be no peace of mind in love, since what one has obtained is never anything but a starting point for further desires." - Marcel Proust And as a great poet once waxed about desire, "Desire, even in its wildest tantrums, can neither persuade me it is love nor stop me from wishing it were." In a world that seems hellbent on taking up the entire hand basket, what are we without our desires? Are we nothing more than the latest coming of the same old dominant male monkey cavalry, doomed to whittle away our existence until nothing remains but Keith Richards and fodder for future generations history books? Or will these opposable thumbs be good for something else besides hitching rides and taking up valuable real estate in your bum? Perhaps, dear readers, perhaps. ...

A Valentines Day of outrageous comedy and music is coming to the West Park Convention Center located at the Holiday Inn in Cape Girardeau, on Friday, February 14, 2003. National touring headliner, Jeff Batts and opening act, singer, songwriter Nikki D will perform two shows at 8:00pm and 10:00pm. ...

Not many recent Southeast graduates can say they're doing what they love. At best, most are slogging through the local job market, trying to find entry-level positions in their field- or any field for that matter. But not Renee Ross. After graduating from Southeast in 2001 with a degree in interior design, Renee decided her place in life was not in a design studio, but instead in a tattoo studio- preferably her own...

- Will Anna Nicole Smith hit on my grandpa? Answer: Sign Point to Yes! - Are they using Off! The Wall 8-Balls in the Iraqi weapons inspections? Answer: My Sources Say No! - Has one of the members of Slipknot infiltrated the finals of American Idol? Answer: Yes!...

by Greg Levrault First, let me offer an apology: I had to deactivate my AOL address (anyone who's left AOL can tell you why.) I am sorry that I had to shut it off as the January issue was going to press. If you have anything you've found off the Internet worth shouting about, please e-mail me at DJELVIS@SBCGLOBAL.NET, and I can do some shouting for you...

Reviewed by Justin Colburn and Keayn Dunya Chinese rebels kill Chon's father in order to steal the Imperial Seal. Chon and Roy leave for London in order to meet up with Chon's sister, Lin. Chon and Lin seek their father's killer with revenge in mind. Once there they discover more than they bargained for...

Editor's note: Please submit your club news information either typed or printed. It is sometimes very difficult to make out people's names. Please use members' first and last names instead of formal titles. For instance, Jane Smith, not Mrs. John Smith. Thank you...

A hearing in Missouri's capital today is discussing a bill by Rep. Peter Myers, R-Sikeston, that would prevent the Department of Natural Resources from enacting regulations stricter than federal rules. Pro-business groups like the idea, while small farmers hate it. For more on this story, read Thursday's Southeast Missourian...

The recent outbreak of a flu-like virus kept thousands of Southeast Missouri students out of school during the past month, sending absentee rates skyrocketing and causing some parents to question the fairness of local school districts' attendance policies. ...

WASHINGTON -- When it comes to America vs. Iraq, how much evidence is enough in the courts of public opinion and diplomacy? Lawyers say this is one case they would not want to take into a court of law. "Show me proof, not the innuendoes, not the guesses," says Cincinnati trial lawyer Martin Pinales...

WASHINGTON -- Consumer advocate Ralph Nader led a group of peace activists Tuesday in accusing the Bush administration of letting its ties to the oil industry influence the government's war strategy against Iraq. "This is a government that is marinated in oil," the former presidential candidate said at a news conference...

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Colin Powell, bidding for U.N. support, is set to present evidence that Iraq has hidden large caches of weapons of mass destruction from international inspectors and defied calls on it to disarm. Powell's public presentation today to the U.N. Security Council in New York will be the centerpiece of a strenuous campaign to enlist support from Russia, France and other skeptical governments as well as from the American public...

WASHINGTON -- To pay for some of his proposed tax cuts, President Bush wants to raise more than $2 billion by charging new or larger fees on everything from stockyard, kennel and poultry plant inspections to military veterans' health care and Medicare claims processing...

10 years ago: Feb. 5, 1993 Cape Girardeau Board of Education is scheduled to formally vote Monday to place $25 million bond issue on April 6 ballot; proposed bond issue, if approved by voters, would buy two new school buildings, addition to Jefferson Elementary School, earthquake resistance, air-conditioning and electrical updates for existing buildings; tax increase of 72 cents would retire bonds...

PADUCAH, Ky. -- Half the workers at the nation's only plant that enriches uranium for commercial nuclear power walked off the job Tuesday in a protest over wages, health care and pension issues. About 620 workers went on strike at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The facility's operator said it would keep the plant running with management taking over some of the tasks...

Wunderlich Twin daughters to David and Erin Wunderlich of Frohna, Mo., Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2003. Madison Emma was born at 7:59 p.m. and weighed 4 pounds 6 ounces. Faith Violet was born at 8:01 p.m. and weighed 2 pounds 4 ounces. First children. Mrs. Wunderlich is the former Erin Roth, daughter of Lloyd and Ruth Roth of Frohna. Wunderlich is the son of Frances Wunderlich of Jackson, and the late Oliver Wunderlich. He is employed at Associated Sheet Metal Inc...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Louis Summers, 65, of Cairo died Sunday, Feb. 2, 2003, at his home. He was born May 15, 1937, son of Rufus and Myrtle Berry Summers. Summers was a construction worker many years. Survivors include a daughter, Vernice Summers, and a sister, Annie Lattin of Cape Girardeau...

Robert W. "Bob" Spinks, 54, of Troy, Mo., died Thursday, Jan. 16, 2003. He was born Dec. 20, 1948, son of Mitchell Wesley and Rita JoAnn Heuring Spinks. He married Sandy Meier. Spinks served two tours in Vietnam and received a Purple Heart. Survivors include his wife; a daughter, Tammy Martin; two stepsons, Eric Borgmeyer and Michael Smythe; a stepdaughter, Michelle Howell; three brothers, William Spinks of St. ...

ANNA, Ill. -- Wilbur Delene Corzine, 74, of Lawrence, Kan., died Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2003, at the home of a daughter. He was born Sept. 13, 1928, in Union County, Ill., son of William L. "Bill" and Velma Miles Corzine. He and Betty June Fritz were married May 22, 1948, in Piggott, Ark. She died April 22, 2002...

Richard L. Bliss, 84, died Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2003, at the Lutheran Home. He was born Oct. 30, 1918, in Grand Rapids, Mich., son of John L. and Lilian I. Rombauer Bliss. He and Nancy Hamilton were married Oct. 1, 1948, in St. Louis. Bliss received a master's degree in architecture from Washington University...

DEXTER, Mo. -- The funeral for Lester C. Shell of Dexter will be held at 1 p.m. today at Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home in Dexter. The Rev. Wayne Dismuke will officiate. Burial will be in Dexter Cemetery. Shell, 82, died Monday, Feb. 3, 2003, at Cypress Point Health Care...

PATTON, Mo. -- Paul Denzel Statler, 82, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., passed away Sunday, Feb. 2, 2003. He was born June 8, 1920, son of Tivis and Mabel Seabaugh Statler. His mother preceded him in death when he was three years old. He then went to live with his great-uncle and aunt, Eli and Rada Thiele of Sedgewickville, Mo...

RAPE IS a horrible crime and should be severely punished. To falsely accuse someone of such a crime is in its own form a kind of rape, and it too should be severely punished. Taxing the workers YOU CAN see who Gov. Bob Holden likes to tax: the working man. ...

To the editor: As a resident of the beautiful state of Missouri, I have been deeply concerned by Gov. Bob Holden's risky plan to use $375 million of the tobacco settlement money that will leave an even bigger hole in the budget for fiscal year 2004. ...

Correction: The name of the writer of the letter "Protesters should target civilians who make policy" on Tuesday's Opinion page was misspelled. The correct name is Jack Dragoni of Chaffee, Mo. The Southeast Missourian regrets the error.

To the editor: I am outraged at the recent speech made by South Africa's former president, Nelson Mandela, in which he voiced his personal opinion about the way President Bush was handling the situation with Iraq. Mandela made it clear he thinks Bush stops short of being incompetent, which was a personal attack and definitely out of line...

To the editor: It is so good and comforting to know we have people like Robert Polack Jr. He sounds like some of what we called in the Korean War a 90-day wonder. Polack just knows all about it. Someone should tell him that when you're in something like this, you don't tell your enemy everything...

To the editor: C-SPAN recently aired an Iraqi government and military cabinet meeting. It was interpreted in English for the U.S. audience. I became hooked for about 30 minutes. There were 15 to 20 men wearing berets and uniforms sitting around a table. Saddam Hussein himself, smoking a cigar and looking in charge, sat at the head of the table...

To the editor: In response to the article "Oldest black church leading by example": I have received many articles from your fine newspaper and always enjoy them. This article was one of the best. It portrays the love, commitment, joy, Christian attitude and the concern and respect for each other that is found in all the AME churches I have attended. ...

To the editor: A gala celebration marking the end of 40 years for Cape Girardeau's Holiday Inn leaves many memories, both nostalgic and happy. My high school reunion was held there in 1970 and will leave precious memories of both. I have on numerous occasions enjoyed delightful and delicious Holiday Inn meals that have always been served graciously and with the utmost dignity...

When a national tragedy occurs, there is a progression of thoughts and emotions: shock and dismay, grief and concern, an intense desire to know how and why, a time for mourning. It is the ability of the people of this great land to come together as each emotional stage follows its course...

You won't see this room grace the cover of splashy home magazines, and it's not included on most home tours. But America's laundry rooms are in the midst of The Great Clean Up. The laundry room is shoving aside kitchens and baths for attention, if for no other reason than sheer volume. Americans churn through 35 billion loads of laundry -- 100 million tons worth annually, according to Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse...

The Scandinavians have the right idea. In a land darkened by winter, they revere white for its ability to reflect and enhance the waning sunlight. You can do the same in your home. Snuggle in, and make the most of it. Few things are more serene than frosty windows and softly falling snow. Instead of fighting it or grousing about it, make the most of it...

Cape Girardeau Wednesday, Feb. 5 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests William H. Matlock Jr., 37, of 1305 Broadway, Apt. 1, Cape Girardeau, was arrested Monday on a Dunklin County warrant for assault...

Cape Girardeau Wednesday, Feb. 5 Firefighters responded Monday to the following items: At 3:03 p.m., check carbon detector at 723 N. Missouri. At 3:40 p.m., fire alarm at 2149 William. At 5 p.m., emergency medical service at 402 S. Kingshighway. At 8:43 p.m., emergency medical service at 909 Hackberry...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Imagine receiving some of the best news of your life -- and yet when you receive it, there is no one around to tell. Ralph Hanna, owner of Hanna's Garage in Poplar Bluff, was recently in this predicament when he learned that he qualified for the regional tryouts of the ACDelco Technician of the Millenium III competition...

The Cape Girardeau Police Department and the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department are investigating a number of thefts of Stihl power tools. The thefts ocurred recently at Elfrink Transportation and USF Dugan Freight Terminal. Anyone with information about these thefts or the whereabouts of the tools is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at 332-0500, the police department at 335-6621 or the sheriff's department at 243-3551...

Area residents attend earthquake seminar About 60 businessmen, utility workers and emergency personnel attended an earthquake seminar Tuesday at the Osage Centre in Cape Girardeau. Susie Stonner, public information officer for the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency said four speakers addressed earthquake topics about earthquake risks and hazards, contingency planning, emergency planning and coordination, insurance and basic safety measures, like securing filing cabinets and book cases to walls to protect employees.. ...

SPACE CENTER, Houston -- NASA was warned nine years ago that the space shuttle could fail catastrophically if debris hit the vulnerable underside of its wings during liftoff -- the very scenario that may have brought down Columbia. After receiving the warning, NASA made changes in materials and flight rules to lessen the risk of debris breaking loose, Paul Fischbeck, an engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University who conducted the 1994 analysis, said Tuesday...

WASHINGTON -- The nation's manufacturers saw demand for their products grow in December, offering a dose of good news for an industry that has been struggling. The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that orders to U.S. factories bounced back in December, rising by 0.4 percent over November orders, when orders declined by 0.8 percent...

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon on Tuesday identified the U.S. Army National Guard soldier who was killed in a road accident in Qatar last Saturday as Sgt. Michael C. Barry, 29, of Overland Park, Kan. Barry died as a result of injuries sustained as a passenger in a vehicle that was struck by another vehicle in Doha, the capital of Qatar. The accident is under investigation...

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Leaders of Southern Illinois University's faculty union decided Tuesday they are going to recommend union members approve the school's latest contract offer, averting a threatened strike. Members of the governing body who made the decision widely expect their 400 union members to pass the proposal when they vote Thursday and Friday, said union president Morteza Daneshdoost...

HEMPHILL, Texas -- NASA sent teams Tuesday to check out reports of space shuttle debris found as far west as California and Arizona -- material that could shed light on the earliest stages of Columbia's breakup. Later in the day authorities in Texas said a 6- to 7-foot section of what they believe to be part of a shuttle wing was found in a pond east of Nacogdoches...

POTOSI, Mo. -- A man sentenced to death in the 1984 killing of a tavern patron during a one-night rampage spent Tuesday hoping 11th-hour appeals to federal courts and Missouri's governor would spare his life. Scheduled to be executed at 12:01 a.m. today, Kenneth Kenley, 42, sought to stave off lethal injection at the Potosi Correctional Center...

By now, you may have a growing pile of advertisements for plants. You might call them "seed catalogs" or "nursery catalogs," but there's no getting around it -- they are ads. Their goal is to induce you to make a purchase. How lucky we are to be offered such a diversity of plants at such convenience. ...

CARACAS, Venezuela -- President Hugo Chavez celebrated Tuesday's anniversary of a 1992 coup attempt that launched his political career while opposition leaders trying to oust him mourned those killed in the botched putsch. Under international pressure to end Venezuela's political crisis, Chavez's government rejected an opposition proposal to shorten his presidential term and instead suggested a referendum on his rule -- though it would take place far later than the opposition wants...

SIALKOT, Pakistan -- Shipping containers full of fireworks caught fire and exploded Tuesday, blowing in walls of a nearby school and raining fiery debris on surrounding buildings. At least 17 people were killed, including two children. Dozens of others were injured in the blasts at a trucking depot near the town of Sialkot as the fireworks were being placed in two containers for shipment to Lahore, 60 miles to the southwest...

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Turkey's leading political figure began preparing the public Tuesday for a possible war, criticizing the Iraqi government and warning that Turkey could put itself at risk by staying neutral in a conflict at its border. The dramatic shift by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has long emphasized peace with Iraq, came before an expected Friday vote in parliament that could allow the United States to base thousands of troops in Turkey for an invasion of Iraq...

BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro -- Erasing Yugoslavia from the map of Europe, lawmakers all but dissolved the troubled Balkan federation Tuesday and gave birth to a new country with a new name: Serbia and Montenegro. Under a European Union-brokered accord approved by parliament, the two republics stick together in a loose union that gives each greater autonomy and the trappings of statehood. The final breakup of the former Yugoslavia -- outright independence for both -- could come as soon as 2006...

TANJUNG PINANG, Indonesia -- Indonesian detectives interrogated a man accused of leading the Singapore cell of the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist group, an official said Tuesday. Indonesian authorities arrested Mas Selamat Kastari on Bintan Island on Sunday night...

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Relenting on an earlier decision, Thailand's king granted an audience Tuesday to Cambodia's foreign minister, who is on a delicate mission to placate the neighboring country after last week's anti-Thai riots in the Cambodian capital...

SEOUL, South Korea -- The top U.S. military commander in South Korea said Tuesday he has not requested reinforcements, despite a deepening crisis over North Korea's suspected nuclear weapons development. Gen. Leon J. LaPorte made his statement after U.S. officials in Washington said Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld is considering sending an aircraft carrier to the waters off the Korean Peninsula and adding bombers in Guam...

JERUSALEM -- Israeli tanks and troops entered a Palestinian refugee camp in the Gaza Strip early Wednesday, exchanging fire with gunmen, Palestinian security officials and witnesses said. A 62-year-old bystander was wounded, apparently while watching the incursion into the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza from his window, Palestinians said...

JERUSALEM -- Israel refused to comment Tuesday on remarks by former South African President Nelson Mandela, who assailed the U.S. policy on Iraq and complained that Israel was not being forced to surrender weapons of mass destruction. Mandela made his remarks Thursday at the International Women's Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa...

LONDON -- In his first Western television interview in more than a decade, Saddam Hussein said the United States wants to conquer Iraq so it can "control the world" and insisted his regime does not have weapons of mass destruction. A retired British lawmaker and peace activist, Tony Benn, conducted the 40-minute interview, in which the Iraqi leader spoke slowly in precise, careful tones, his voice at times falling very low, as he sipped from a cup of Arabic coffee in what appeared to be a room in one of his palaces.. ...

LONDON -- The fiery Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri was removed from his post Tuesday as a leader of a London mosque alleged to be a recruitment center for Islamic radicals. Al-Masri was dismissed by the government's Charity Commission for "inappropriate political statements" and interfering with the running of the Finsbury Park Mosque, registered as a charity...

JERUSALEM -- Israeli and American forces fired a salvo of Patriot missiles Tuesday as part of a joint exercise to test air defenses. Israel's defense minister also said a U.S.-Iraq war is "apparently inevitable." A witness saw six missiles fired from a battery deep in southern Israel's Negev Desert. The Israeli military confirmed six launches and said more missiles could be fired in the next few days...

HYDE PARK, N.Y. -- Few would argue that delicious, homemade ice cream makes a perfect accompaniment to many traditional dessert favorites. However, making ice cream at home when so many store-bought frozen desserts are available might seem hardly worth the time. Homemade desserts, especially frozen ones, often take a back seat to the more convenient, ready-to-eat options...

BOSTON -- The sickly economy may have a silver lining: Research shows tough times are good for your health. In a paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Mass., economist Christopher J. Ruhm concluded that when jobs are scarce, both unemployed workers and those who keep their jobs -- but perhaps with less work to do -- behave in a healthier manner...

SAN FRANCISCO -- It's not quite the economic revolution once envisioned by brash entrepreneurs, but a handful of Internet businesses are actually making money. In breakthroughs that show the promise of e-commerce wasn't all smoke and mirrors, four dot-coms recently reported their first quarterly profits...

LOS ANGELES -- A member of the Jewish Defense League pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to bomb a mosque and the office of a Lebanese-American congressman. According to the plea agreement, Earl Krugel said he and Irv Rubin, the late leader of the militant group, discussed bombing Arab institutions in the Los Angeles area...

ATLANTA -- When Pam Sanson needed a quick $300 to pay the bills, she never expected her decision would cost her more than $900 in interest in just six months. Sanson had taken out what's known as a payday loan, a quick short-term loan with a very high annual interest rate -- 600 percent in Sanson's case. ...

Comedian starting his own Brady bunch LOS ANGELES -- Comedian Wayne Brady has someone new to entertain -- his daughter. Brady's actress-wife, Mandie, gave birth to the couple's first child, Maile Masako Brady, on Monday. The child weighed 6 pounds, 1 ounce...

East Perry County isn't for the weak of heart or those prone to car sickness. I'd been there a few times for The Best Little Fair in the Land in Altenburg, which really is a cool fair. It's famous for jumping mules and bone-in fish sandwiches, but I've never really understood Southeast Missouri's general fascination with bone-in fish sandwiches. Is it a sandwich when you have to take the top off and pick the fish apart or risk a trip to the hospital?...

Imagine the shock and agony he must have felt. The guy takes a four-stroke lead into the final round only to see it disappear by the time he makes the turn. He fights his way back into contention, has momentum on his side and then throws it all away with one bad swing...

Susan McClanahan ~ Recipe Swap Birthdays are always a cause for celebration in our home, and the festivities are nearly underway for Lexie to celebrate her sixth birthday. She is so excited about turning 6 years old. Having a boy and a girl, it amazes me how they differ in what is important. ...

DETROIT -- Cast aside by the San Francisco 49ers, Steve Mariucci found his services in strong demand back in his home state. Mariucci was hired as coach of the Detroit Lions Tuesday, taking over one of the league's worst teams less than three weeks after he was fired by the 49ers...

ST. LOUIS -- The Rams hired two new coaches and added five players to their roster, the team said Tuesday. Seven-year NFL veteran Frank Falks will coach tight ends. And former North Dakota State coach Bob Babich will be a defensive assistant. Falks most recently coached for four seasons (1997 to 2000) with the Detroit Lions, where he coached running backs. Prior to that, he spent three years as tight ends/H-backs coach for the San Diego Chargers...

NEW YORK -- On a winter's day, James Blake gave a clinic for children at the Harlem Tennis Center, the old wood-floored armory where Arthur Ashe once did the same when Blake was a child. To Blake's regret, he doesn't remember meeting Ashe and didn't learn much about him until his death from an AIDS-related illness 10 years ago Thursday, when Blake was 13...

With a stifling press and a 28-point effort from Ashley Millham, the Notre Dame girls basketball team pushed its winning streak to seven games with a 50-37 win over Central Tuesday at the Show Me Center. The Bulldogs (12-7) turned to the full-court press right out of the gate and caused Central to burn two timeouts less than halfway through the first quarter...

Southeast Missourian CHARLESTON, Mo. -- There is something about Southeast Missouri State University's Indians that brings out the best in Eastern Illinois. The Panthers made it a clean sweep of the season series by hammering the Indians 85-73 Tuesday night in front of 1,438 fans at Lantz Arena...

If it was pool, the Meadow Heights Panthers' favorite call would be "Three ball, corner pocket." The Panthers' boys basketball team has been turning gymnasiums into billiard halls -- and running the table. Powered by its prowess with the three ball, Meadow Heights has been chalking up win after win. With a 12-4 record, the Panthers are having their best season in more than a decade, and they've been on a deadly 3-point shooting tear...

MINNEAPOLIS -- Laurence Maroney, one of the best high school running backs in the country, said he will sign with Minnesota today. Maroney was the top recruit in the St. Louis area, leading Normandy High with 1,917 yards rushing, 24 touchdowns and an average of 9.7 yards per carry in 2002. Rivals100.com ranks the 210-pounder as the 18th-best running back in the nation. He can run a 40-yard dash in 4.38 seconds...

AKRON, Ohio -- LeBron James wants to play, and he's asking a judge to put him back on the court. James' attorney requested a temporary restraining order Tuesday to block a ruling by state officials that barred the high school superstar for the rest of the season...

Bragging rights don't come with disclaimers about margin of victory or style points. All that matters is who owns the deeds. In a one-game, winner-take-all meeting with cross-town rival Central on Tuesday at the Show Me Center, Notre Dame's boys basketball team emerged with the rights with a skin-of-the-teeth 47-46 victory...

Scott City could not contain state-ranked Bell City or senior Eric Henry as the Cubs rolled to a 95-77 road victory Tuesday night in boys basketball. Henry finished with 44 points for Bell City (17-3), ranked No. 2 in Class 1. Scott City (10-6) took a 20-15 lead into the second quarter but the tide soon turned. The defending state champions outscored Scott City 28-11 in the second quarter for a 43-38 halftime lead...

When you find a good mascot, you stick with it. That's what Jackson's Matt McComas plans to do. The Indians' senior lineman will sign today with the Indians of Southeast Missouri State University. McComas, 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds, was a two-year starter at Jackson. He relishes the opportunity to help the Indians build on their best season in 23 years. Southeast finished last season with an 8-4 record in coach Tim Billings' third year...

River stages are calculated from an arbitrary "gage zero" point. The reason that there are sometimes negative levels is because these points were established decades ago and, over time, the river has shifted. The reason that this is not adjusted is because the people who live around the river are familiar with the flood stage and how the current stage compares to it. It takes a vast amount of planning and education in order to change a "gage zero," which would also change the flood stage...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- With reductions in state spending for higher education, Southeast Missouri State University's president told lawmakers he is worried some potential students eventually may be priced out of an education. Dr. Ken Dobbins made his comments Tuesday while testifying before the House Education Appropriations Committee, which will determine how much state aid Southeast and other universities will get in the next state budget...

While the low Mississippi River is a boon to Tower Rock tourism, it's an expensive pain for barge companies. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Fred Miller said the river stage at Cape Girardeau on Tuesday was 4.8 feet, but the forecast calls for it to rise by two-tenths of a foot by today. Over the next three days, the corps predicts the stage will increase to 5.7 feet, Miller said...

SPACE CENTER, Houston -- Under sapphire blue skies that once held Columbia and her crew, President Bush paid tribute Tuesday to the shuttle's seven astronauts and rededicated the nation to space travel. "They go in peace for all mankind. And all mankind is in their debt," he said...

Cape Girardeau police are warning residents about a scam artist who used a telephone Monday to convince a woman to hand him a large sum of her money in the Sears parking lot. The woman, who does not wish to be identified, received a phone call Monday afternoon from a man posing as a bank examiner. He asked her specific questions about her account, including whether she had made a deposit within the last month, said Sgt. Rick Schmidt of the Cape Girardeau Police Department...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A not-for-profit power utility that serves customers in three Southeast Missouri counties is asking lawmakers to fix a legal quirk that makes it the only such company in Missouri subject to full state regulation. Dan Rodamaker, chief executive officer of Citizens Electric Corp., told a House committee on Tuesday that local control of such decisions by the customer-owned utility would enable it to reduce regulatory costs...

ALTENBURG, Mo. he trip from anywhere to Tower Rock is over two-lane Perry County roads with hairpin turns and hair-raisingly narrow bridges. The last mile is across a gravel-covered, muddy stretch called County Road 460, blocked in spots on Tuesday by road graders and dump trucks...

When the four-wheeler 12-year-old Zach Dover was driving turned over and landed on his face almost two years ago, it split his skull, crushed both of his orbital bones, fractured his head in 156 places and pushed his nose to where his cheek was supposed to be...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Republican legislative leaders outlined a plan Tuesday to cover Missouri's budget shortfall without cutting education funding or relying entirely on the state's tobacco settlement. Democratic Gov. Bob Holden responded with a mix of concern and delight -- pleased that Republicans were working with him to avoid education cuts but uncertain yet if all of their proposals could work...

NEW YORK -- Two designs that would put the tallest buildings in the world at the site of the World Trade Center were selected Tuesday as the finalists in the plan to redevelop Ground Zero. The plan from Berlin architect Daniel Libeskind calls for glassy, angular buildings clustered around the foundations of the fallen towers. The other, proposed by an international team of design firms known as THINK, evokes the original trade center with twin towers of ethereal latticework...

TRENTON, N.J. -- Democrats and Republicans in the state Senate have reached the broad outlines of a compromise meant to ease the malpractice insurance crisis and prevent more doctors from closing their practices. The deal was worked out Tuesday in a closed-door meeting as more than 4,000 doctors rallied in front of the Statehouse in a cold, steady rain, chanting, "Tort reform now!"...

Denver Stuckey is not old by any means, but even he sometimes wonders where all the years have gone. That's what happens in the life of a college baseball player when he's had so much fun -- and such a productive career -- playing for his local university...

Joe Gissy is used to winning, and he's been doing it since his sophomore year at DeSmet High School when the school won the first of back-to-back state ice hockey championships. His senior year brought him a twist: Joe replaced the blades on his skates with wheels...

Meeting for Memory Walk set for Feb. 18 The first Memory Walk committee meeting will take place from noon to 1 p.m. Feb. 18 at the Alzheimer's Association Southeast Missouri office, 1301 N. Kingshighway, Suite 1, Cape Girardeau. The association is looking for volunteers to serve on the Memory Walk planning committee which meets monthly. ...

10 years ago: Feb. 6, 1993 Metropolis, Ill. -- Amid sounds of towboat horns, Dixieland jazz band and accolades from state and city officials, first riverboat gambling casino in Southern Illinois arrives at Metropolis; veteran pilot, Capt. Charles "Ken" Murphy, guides 210-foot, 1,400-passenger vessel into Merv Griffin Riverboat Landing at noon, giving more than 2,500 people gathered at river their first view of Players Riverboat Casino...

Koshakji Son to Pierre and Maureen Koshakji of Dallas, Texas, Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, 3:10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2003. Name, Grant Nicholas. Weight, 6 pounds 7 ounces. Fourth son. Mrs. Koshakji is the former Maureen Tlapek, daughter of Pat and Anne Tlapek of Cape Girardeau. Koshakji is the son of Anastasia Koshakji of Nashville, Tenn., and the late Richard Koshakji. He is an executive with Exchange Enterprises...

BERTRAND, Mo. -- Cyara Breann Lizenbee, 5 days, of Bertrand died Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2003, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, Mo. She was born Jan. 31, 2003, in Sikeston, daughter of Jason Ray Lizenbee and Christy Dawn McWhirter. Survivors include her parents of Bertrand; paternal grandparents, Ray Lizenbee of East Prairie, Mo., Naomi Lizenbee of Bernie, Mo.; maternal grandparents, Arnold McWhirter of Sikeston and Debra Hardin of Converse, La.; paternal great-grandmothers, Nona Jones of Campbell, Mo., and Dorothy Lizenbee of Advance, Mo.; and maternal great-grandmother, Nola McWhirter of Bertrand.. ...

Margaret "Peggy" Diehl, 90, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2003, at Chateau Girardeau Health Center. She was born May 28, 1912, in Philadelphia, Pa. She and Frank Diehl were married in 1933 in Philadelphia. He died in 1994. Diehl had been a bookkeeper in the magazine publishing field. She was a member of Christ Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Cape Girardeau...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Robert Anthony "Bobby" Gregory Jr., 23, of Bloomingdale, Ill., died Thursday, Jan. 30, 2003, at Glen Oaks Hospital and Medical Center in Glendale Heights, Ill. He was born Sept. 14, 1979, in Charleston, Mo., son of Robert Anthony and Barbara Ann Rush Gregory. He was formerly of Cairo...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Tom A. Morrow, 81, of Jackson, Miss., died at 10 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2003, at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Jackson. He was born Oct. 21, 1921, in Eupora, Miss., son of James and Maudie Bridges Morrow. Tom served in the U.S. Army 26 years. He was a veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam, and received a Purple Heart...

Dewey Lynn Crites, 85, of Victoria, Texas, died Saturday, Feb. 1, 2003, at Citizens Memorial Hospital in Victoria. He was born Oct. 25, 1917, in Oak Ridge, son of Clarence and Sarah Smith Crites. He and Helen Inez Harris were married in July 1962. She died Feb. 26, 1994...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Jack Collins, 79, of Olive Branch passed away at 9:45 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2003, at his home. He was born July 21, 1923, in Alexander County, Ill., son of William "W.I." and Gertrude Greenley Collins. He and Colleen Fisher were married May 16, 1946...

While Morehead State has grabbed plenty of attention for shooting to the top of the Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings, Austin Peay perhaps ranks as the OVC's biggest surprise roughly halfway through the league schedule....

Like an old movie IT REALLY makes me sick to my stomach every time I turn the TV on and all I hear is President Bush pushing the issue of war. It is like watching an old movie. Wake up, America. You'd better enjoy all your precious time with your loved ones, because come hell or high water we will go to war no matter how many people get killed. Bush should be worrying about the United States and taking care of his own people...

Mike Stevens knows it will take time building Southeast Missouri State University's struggling women's tennis program into a winner. But Stevens believes that will eventually happen. "In time I think we can get it going, but it will take time to get the players we need to compete in the conference," he said. "It will take several years to get it to the point where we want it to be."...

Today Health Bites luncheon from noon to 1 p.m. in conference room A at St. Francis Education Center. The topic is "Women's Heart Advantage" with speaker Kay Thurston, a nurse and heart attack survivor. There is a cost for the luncheon. Call 334-5399 or 331-5970 for details...

Some might say Joe R. Thompson is lucky to be alive. He says luck had nothing to do with it. A traffic accident somehow catapulted Thompson, who lives in the Kansas City, Mo., suburb of Blue Springs, from his car and sent him through the air, where he ended up dangling from power lines for almost 20 minutes while he was being rescued...

WASHINGTON -- Tens of thousands of Americans face the heart valve replacement that Sen. Bob Graham underwent last week, open-heart surgery that is likely to increase dramatically as the population ages. But what if a simple pill could slow the rusting of the aortic heart valve and let patients postpone, maybe even avoid, the surgery that is today's only fix?...

It's a bit alarming to hear doctors say their practices -- and, therefore, access to quality health care -- are being threatened by the cost of swelling medical malpractice insurance. The health-care industry is clearly worried. Twelve states are considered to be in a crisis. And 31 others, including Missouri, have serious problems with malpractice insurance...

Cape Girardeau Thursday,Feb. 6 Firefighters responded Tuesday to the following items: At 5:39 p.m., emergency medical service at 2719 Flora Hills. At 8:38 p.m., emergency medical service at 14 N. Fountain.Firefighters responded Wednesday to the following item:...

Cape Girardeau Thursday, Feb. 6 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Misty R. McIntyre, 17, of 1288 Linden, Apt. 2, Cape Girardeau, was arrested Tuesday on Cape Girardeau warrants for failure to appear and contempt of court...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The message for this year's Rural Restoration Conference, explained Carol Cohen, will be the need for Americans to turn back to the foundations which were essential in establishing the United States of America. Cohen, executive assistant of Adopt a Farm Family of America Inc., is working with its founders, Peter and Mary Myers, in organizing the annual conference, which this year is scheduled for Feb. 14-17 at the Ramada Inn...

U.S., France send Ivory Coast reinforcements ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast -- The United States sent a small military team to conflict-torn Ivory Coast on Wednesday, and France announced it was increasing its force to more than 3,000 troops, amid often violent protests against a Paris-brokered peace accord...

The admission price to the Jackson Junior High School Winter Dance, sponsored by the Noon Optimist and the Optimist Club of Jackson, was two canned food items for donation to the food pantry. Student council members and their teacher sponsors, Kyle Mabuce and Leslie Richmond, decorated the gym and cafeteria. Council members sold refreshments at the dance to raise money for other projects...

Judge Lewis Blanton, United States Magistrate Judge to the Eastern District of Missouri, will be the class sponsor and principal speaker at the Court of Honor held in Southeast Missouri State University's Academic Hall at 2 p.m. Saturday. This event will honor the 79 Boy Scouts from 19 Southeast Missouri counties and 10 Southern Illinois counties who earned the Eagle rank during 2002...

Mason dinner at Millersville Lodge tonight All Masons are invited to a dinner at the Millersville Masonic Lodge Westview No. 103 tonight. Dinner will be served at 6:45 p.m., followed by a meeting at 7:30 p.m. For more information contact Billy Keele at (573) 866-3282...

National Guard performs minefield training The weekend of Jan. 12 to 13 found members of the National Guard B Company 1140th Engineer Battalion spending much of their training time laying a minefield, breaching that same minefield and later improving that breach...

The annual 15th District Veterans of Foreign Wars and Auxiliary Voice of Democracy and Patriot's Pen Essay awards luncheon was held recently at VFW Post 3838 in conjunction with the 15th District meeting. Twenty-eight students sponsored by posts and auxiliaries throughout Southeast Missouri had advanced to the district level...

A workshop opportunity for Missouri farmers to learn more about crop diversification will be held Feb. 20 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Vernon County Fairgrounds in Nevada, Mo. and from 7:15 a.m. to noon at the Best Western Inn in Sikeston, Mo. Sponsored by the Missouri Department of Agriculture, the Thomas Jefferson Agriculture Institute and University Extension, the workshops will cover the benefits of diversifying production with fruits, vegetables, sunflowers and agroforestry as well as the resources and financial assistance available to producers.. ...

WASHINGTON -- Democrats must "break the bubble" of public support President Bush enjoys on foreign policy if they hope to win in 2004, and Sen. John Kerry has the best chance of doing that, says the AFL-CIO's political chairman, Gerald McEntee. But the labor federation probably will withhold its endorsement until after the primary season, McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said Wednesday in an interview with Associated Press reporters and editors.. ...

WASHINGTON -- Labor Secretary Elaine Chao waded into the patients' rights debate Wednesday, pressing a Bush administration idea to help small businesses offer better, cheaper health insurance to their workers. Bush wants to help small businesses offer their workers the same health care benefits as Fortune 500 companies by letting them pool together to increase their buying power and push down premiums...

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers expressed doubt Wednesday that they will rush extra safety funds to NASA, saying the space agency has not yet requested more money. But they said they expected Congress to provide additional money once NASA makes progress in uncovering the cause of the shuttle Columbia disaster and requests more dollars, perhaps this spring. ...

WASHINGTON -- Worried about a possible war, Wall Street has been in a funk this year and the news on Main Street hasn't been any better. Business executives are freezing new spending and hiring, fearful of big commitments in the face of so much uncertainty...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush's nominee to head the Securities and Exchange Commission pledged aggressive enforcement of corporate anti-fraud rules and said Wednesday that picking a new chairman for an accounting industry oversight board is his top priority...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- High mold levels found in parts of the Missouri Supreme Court building aren't hazardous enough to force the immediate closure of the 95-year-old building, state officials said Wednesday. But a state report obtained by The Associated Press shows that high mold levels were found on walls, duct work and furniture on all three floors of the building...

POTOSI, Mo. -- Over the 19 years since Kenneth Kenley killed one of her sons in a crime rampage lasting several hours, Jackie Felts kept a scrapbook about the case, clinging to hope of watching the killer's death sentence carried out. The Poplar Bluff woman heralded Jan. 7, when Kenley's execution was set. Finally, a surviving son says she believed, two decades of torment of hearing so much about the killer and so little about her slain son Ronald would end with Kenley's last breath...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Sprint Corp., facing a report its two top executives are being forced out over their use of a questionable type of tax shelter, reported earnings Wednesday of $39 million during the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, a judge in Georgia said she'll decide within a week whether an executive from a Sprint rival can take over as chief executive of the Overland Park, Kan.-based telecommunications firm...

LITTLE ROCK -- Arkansas officials lost their battle for a Toyota Motor Corp. truck plant Wednesday, but emerged with assurance that major companies know that all roads lead to a 5,000-acre cotton, rice and bean field in the Delta. The Japanese automaker said Wednesday it would build a $800 million plant near San Antonio -- a site blessed with ready access to millions of truck drivers and a Latin American landscape that Toyota would love to tap...

ST. LOUIS -- Construction crews are erecting 4,000-pound concrete barriers around most of the grounds at the Gateway Arch as a precaution against terrorist attacks, officials said. The 10-foot-long barriers would prevent trucks loaded with explosives from reaching the Arch, Gary Easton, superintendent of the Jefferson National Expansion Project, said Tuesday. The 32-inch-high barriers, similar to those used on road projects, will be installed about 4 feet from the curb...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Lighting up a smoke while enjoying a meal at Springfield restaurant could become a thing of the past. Springfield's City Council was getting its first look Wednesday at a draft ordinance that, if adopted, would ban smoking in most eating establishments...

MOUNTAIN GROVE, Mo. -- Three adults and four juveniles have been arrested in connection with break-ins at dozens of businesses in southwest Missouri. The adults were charged Wednesday in Wright County, while the youths were turned over to juvenile authorities...

DJAKOVICA, Serbia-Montenegro -- American flags flutter on peasants' homes. A couple grateful for U.S. help in ending Kosovo's war names a daughter in honor of Madeleine Albright. A six-story-high poster of former President Clinton towers over the capital's main drag, renamed Bill Clinton Boulevard. And the president of Kosovo is building a new compound he calls the White House...

THE HAGUE, Netherlands-- The United States must temporarily stay the execution of three Mexican citizens on death row in Texas and Oklahoma, the World Court ruled Wednesday. In a unanimous decision, the 15-judge panel said that the delay was needed while the U.N. court investigates in full whether the men -- and 48 other Mexicans on death row in U.S. prisons -- were given their right to legal help from the Mexican government...

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Smarting from a failed strike to oust President Hugo Chavez, Venezuelan businessmen warned Wednesday that plans to restrict access to foreign currency will bury the reeling economy. Chavez's leftist government plans to announce the restrictions today, to try to stop a devaluation of the bolivar and protect Venezuela's foreign reserves, which shrank $2 billion during the two-month strike...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- He's the closest thing to a smoking gun in Washington's intelligence arsenal, a man who could finally and definitively link Saddam Hussein with the world's most notorious terrorist and push reluctant allies to support a U.S.-led war against Iraq...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Baghdad officials on Wednesday dismissed Secretary of State Colin Powell's anti-Iraq case before the U.N. Security Council as a collection of "stunts," "special effects" and "unknown sources" aimed at undermining the work of U.N. arms inspectors in Iraq...

HAMBURG, Germany -- Federal prosecutors demanded the maximum sentence of 15 years Wednesday for the first Sept. 11 terror suspect to be tried, calling the defendant "a cog that kept the machinery going." During more than three months of testimony, prosecutors portrayed Moroccan student Mounir el Motassadeq, 28, as an integral part of a terror cell that included lead Sept. 11 hijacker Mohamed Atta...

WALDO, Kan. -- Peering out from behind the counter at the Waldo post office, Carol Shaffer remembers when this tiny north-central Kansas village had two grocery stores, two filling stations and a vibrant K-12 school. But it has been 39 years since the last graduating class at the high school and 29 years since the grade school was closed in a merger with another school district. Shaffer thinks Waldo's slow decline can be tied directly to the loss of its school...

The Associated Press CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.-- A greed-driven plot that reached the top levels of Tyson Foods used illegal immigrants smuggled into the country to keep poultry plants running, a prosecutor said as the company's federal conspiracy trial opened Wednesday. ...

The Associated Press PHOENIX -- Federal and tribal authorities quarantined a county in western Arizona on Wednesday, one day after announcing that a deadly bird virus had been found on an Indian reservation there. The order, issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Colorado River Indian Reservation, will prohibit birds or items that have come in contact with the infected birds from leaving La Paz County, said Lori Faeth, the governor's natural resources adviser...

LOS ANGELES -- A snack shop owner who authorities say was paid to communicate with North Korean officials through codes and meetings abroad -- as well as recruit other agents -- appeared in court Wednesday to face charges of failing to register with the federal government...

WESTMINSTER, Colo. -- A boy fired several shots in a Ranum High School courtyard Wednesday after confronting another student in a hallway, authorities said. No injuries were reported. A police officer assigned to the school chased the boy and captured him nearby, Adams County sheriff's Capt. Craig Coleman said...

NEW YORK -- Clergy, firefighters and others protested at a publishing company Wednesday, outraged by a book they claim includes lies about looting and disrespect toward human remains at ground zero. "American Ground: Unbuilding the World Trade Center" by William Langewiesche has infuriated firefighters and others because it includes a passage relating the discovery of dozens of new jeans from The Gap -- still tagged, folded and stacked -- inside the cab of a fire truck pulled from the rubble...

SPACE CENTER, Houston -- After days of analysis, NASA backed away Wednesday from the theory that a piece of foam that struck Columbia during liftoff was the root cause of the space shuttle's disintegration over Texas. Shuttle program manager Ron Dittemore said investigators now are focusing more closely on the desperate effort of Columbia's automatic control system to hold the speed of the spacecraft stable despite an increasing level of wind resistance, or drag, on the left wing...

DOVER, Del. -- As a color guard stood at attention, flag-draped cases containing the remains of the seven crew members of the space shuttle Columbia arrived Wednesday at Dover Air Force Base. A C-141 military cargo plane carrying the remains from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana touched down just before 2:40 p.m. at Dover, home of the military's largest mortuary...

NACOGDOCHES, Texas -- Despite gathering more than 12,000 pieces of debris from the shuttle Columbia, a NASA official said Wednesday none of the pieces provides critical answers for why the shuttle broke up. "We do not have any red-tag items," said Ron Dittemore, shuttle program manager, referring to items engineers have identified as crucial to the investigation into the cause...

SPOKANE, Wash. -- FBI agents have arrested a former Washington Army National Guard officer and his ex-wife on espionage charges alleging they attempted to sell national security secrets. Officials would not give details Wednesday. The indictment includes a reference to a North Carolina lawyer who has represented the Ku Klux Klan and militant anti-tax leaders...

Feb. 6, 2003 Dear Julie, Our favorite hardware store is closing. So is the branch office where we bank, where we consider the tellers friends. Business is having problems. The economy has suffered since 9/11. We don't know what is to be done about Iraq. These unsettled days, the world seems to be holding its breath. We could use some oxygen...

By Ed Simpson Missouri Gov. Bob Holden is being disingenuous with the people, certainly not a rare event in politics and, from his point of view, perfectly understandable. But the fact is that the governor is trying to frame the budget debate in such a way that not only are people excluded from the decision-making, but that the only possible outcome is to have winners and losers...

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea said Wednesday it has reactivated its nuclear facilities, a surprise announcement that raised questions whether it was trying to take advantage of Washington's preoccupation with Iraq to ratchet up pressure in its own standoff with the United States...

AKRON, Ohio -- LeBron James can put his high school jersey back on for at least a few more games. The basketball superstar was cleared to play Wednesday by a judge who blocked a ruling that stripped him of his eligibility for accepting two free sports jerseys worth a total of $845...

We certainly bring out the best in the Eastern Illinois basketball team. According to their coaches, their best two games of the season have been against Southeast. I felt we were really ready to play Tuesday night in Charleston, Ill., and we got off to a great start, but we couldn't slow down Henry Domercant and the rest of the EIU shooters and the Panthers came away with an 85-73 win...

DALLAS -- Bill Guerin scored with 1:30 left in regulation, and the Dallas Stars pulled out a 2-2 tie Wednesday night against the Blues to maintain a share of the NHL's best record. Guerin's 23rd goal came after Mike Modano gathered a loose puck on the left side and made cross-ice pass to Sergei Zubov. He fed Guerin charging the middle for the tying goal in the battle of division leaders...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Legislation to make it more difficult for state officials to adopt environmental standards that exceed federal guidelines was endorsed by business and industry groups on Wednesday. Small farmers and those worried about water quality at the state's recreational lakes, however, countered that Missouri regulators, not those in Washington, D.C., should determine what is best for the state...

The recent outbreak of a flu-like virus kept thousands of Southeast Missouri students out of school during the past month, sending absentee rates skyrocketing and causing some parents to question the fairness of local school districts' attendance policies...

The crosses at the Cemetery of the Innocents along Siemers Drive in Cape Girardeau have been removed to make way for a new business development, though there is no confirmation about what type it is. A representative of Drury Southwest, which donated the land to the anti-abortion group SEMO Lifesavers, said it was still unclear what kind of development would be on the property since negotiations were still ongoing. She declined to say who was purchasing the property...

Five Mississippi River bridges in Southeast Missouri will get new inspections as the Missouri Department of Transportation seeks to make sure that its major bridges over the Mississippi and Missouri rivers are safe for motorists. Those spans include the aging Mississippi River bridge at Cape Girardeau, which in recent years has been subject to quarterly inspections, said Scott Meyer, MoDOT district engineer in Sikeston, Mo...

and Dafna Linzer ~ The Associated Press UNITED NATIONS -- Secretary of State Colin Powell, relying on a stream of U.S. intelligence, urged the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday to move against Saddam Hussein because Iraq has failed to disarm, harbors terrorists and hides behind a "web of lies."...

When Southeast Missouri State University and Morehead State met earlier this season, the host Eagles had no trouble cruising past the Indians. Southeast hopes that's not the case tonight when the Ohio Valley Conference teams square off in a rematch at the Show Me Center...

Everybody knows firefighters can handle a water hose. But the Jackson crew has proved they're handy with the hammer too. Jackson's firefighters are almost finished with a remodeling project that will move their administrative offices from the current location -- the station at Hope Street and East Jackson Boulevard -- to a building next door...

Jeff Glenn has left the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce to take a job with U.S. Sen. Jim Talent's office, where he will serve as the district office director for Southeast Missouri. Glenn, 33, will serve as the liaison between Talent's Washington, D.C., office and the constituency of Southeast Missouri's 22-county district. For the past 2 1/2 years, Glenn had been the Chamber's director of membership development. His first day was Monday...

A Jackson man was arrested Wednesday after being charged with first degree statutory rape and sodomy of a girl younger than 12 years of age. Jackson police began an investigation Oct. 10 after the girl came forward about the alleged sexual abuse that occurred in 1999...

A Cape Girardeau man pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to drug and gun charges. Ted A. Imrie, 42, pleaded guilty to one count of being unlawful user of a controlled substance in possession of two firearms and one count of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. He appeared before U.S. District Judge Henry Autrey...

A Jackson man pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to one felony count of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Mark J. Lampe, 35, appeared before U.S. District Judge Henry Autrey. On Jan. 6, 2002, a Scott County deputy, responding to a report of trespassing on County Road 217, found Lampe holding a 12-gauge, pump action shot gun...

INDIANAPOLIS -- Kobe Bryant rolled his eyes as he was peppered with questions about a possible fourth straight trip to the NBA Finals. Sure, the Los Angeles Lakers are on a torrid pace, winning 12 of their last 16 games, but all that's gotten them is a 23-23 record...

Coming off the program's best season since 1969, Southeast Missouri State University football coach Tim Billings says the Indians reaped the rewards of that success Wednesday when the signing period began. Billings announced the signing of 16 players to national letters of intent, including a transfer quarterback from Arizona State already enrolled at Southeast, a transfer wide receiver from Texas Christian, a junior-college transfer and 13 high school seniors. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Anyone suspected of committing a crime could be held by police for 30 hours without being charged under a bill given initial House approval Wednesday. Under current state law, people arrested for most crimes without warrants must be released after 20 hours if charges have not been filed...

GUILDERLAND, N.Y. iz Neill sprinkles a handful of sunflower and thistle seeds in her bird feeders and watches as a flock of birds circles her yard. The veteran bird watcher says she has survived three bouts of cancer inspired by the appearance of cardinals, blue jays and chickadees outside her window. Now, she's returning the favor by helping scientists track changes in the bird population that could be associated with West Nile virus...

I'm all for cell phones. Let me confess up front that I have a cell phone. I have one of those plans that allows me to call anywhere in the country without being charged extra for long distance. There are a few restrictions. For example, I'm limited on how many minutes I can use during peak times, whatever that is. ...

The band Kansas recorded some of the great rock 'n' roll anthems of the 1970s: "Song for America," "Carry On Wayward Son," "Dust in the Wind," and others. Violinist Robby Steinhardt and vocalist Steve Walsh were the most distinctive elements of the six-piece band's sound, a marriage of classical and rock music that with the bands Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer defined the term progressive rock...

Art by Parker, Jennings on display at Arts Council Art created by James V. Parker and Damon Jennings will be displayed in exhibits opening today at the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, 119 Independence St. in Cape Girardeau. A reception for the artists will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. today...

NEW YORK -- Gary Bergman bounds onto the stage, hopping backward down a short flight of stairs -- a dangerous move, even for the most agile. George Ashiotis enters more cautiously, feeling his way across a complex set that is new to him. Both men are actors, rehearsing the Agatha Christie play "Ten Little Indians." And both are blind...

Three stars Some movies spend way too long setting up the plot and developing the characters. The great thing about "Narc" is that it doesn't do this. You immediately join the action of a gun chase, which sets the tone for the rest of the movie. The movie kept my interest from this very first chase to the surprise ending...

10 years ago: Feb. 7, 1993 The Rev. George Orvick preaches at morning service at Scriptural Lutheran Church, County Road 635; Orvick, president of Evangelical Lutheran Synod, speaks informally to congregation after service and answers questions. Following family tradition, 16-year-old John H. ...

The Cape Girardeau County Historical Alliance will meet at 2 p.m. Sunday in the Missouriana Room of the University Center on the Southeast Missouri State University campus. The time was incorrect in Thursday's edition. The Southeast Missourian regrets the error...

Uelsmann Son to Scott and Alison Uelsmann of St. Louis, St. John's Mercy Medical Center, 4:22 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 16, 2003. Name, Cole Andrew. Weight, 8 pounds 11 ounces. Mrs. Uelsmann is the former Alison Henry, daughter of Gene and Diane Henry of Waterloo, Ill. She is a financial analyst with Enterprise Rental Car. Uelsmann is the son of Herman Uelsmann of Cape Girardeau and Marcia Stone of Jackson. He is a physical therapist...

ANNA, Ill. -- Louis H. Bauer, 77, of Sun City, Ariz., and formerly of Union County died Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2003, at Hospice of the Valley Care Center in Mesa, Ariz. He was born March 6, 1925, in Jonesboro, Ill., son of Ernest and Emma Roth Bauer. He married Betty Jo Gillespie in 1947. She preceded him in death on Aug. 6, 1989...

Altha Day, 89, of Lakewood, Colo., died Sunday, Jan. 12, 2003, at Hospice of St. John of Lakewood. She was born Dec. 30, 1913, at Tilsit, Mo., daughter of Peter and Maude Whittaker. She and Norman W. Day of Cape Girardeau were married Jan. 10, 1933. He preceded her in death...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Hilda S. Buchheit, 89, died Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2003, at Perry County Nursing Home in Perryville. She was born April 16, 1913, at Longtown, Mo., daughter of Louis and Theresa Unterreiner Leible. She and Isidore W. Buchheit were married Nov. 5, 1935, at Apple Creek, Mo. He died April 7, 1994...

A facility for all IT IS absolutely ridiculous to complain about the Osage Centre being rented to protesters. The Osage Centre is part of the City Parks and Recreation Department. The protesters pay their taxes too and are as entitled as anyone else to use it...

To the editor: On behalf of the Alan R. Stroup family, we want to publicly thank the many people who have shown the Minor, Stroup and Payne families so much kindness in our time of extreme sorrow following the Alan's death. People have been so supportive in so many different ways. ...

To the editor: I wonder if Americans really know what kind of legacy we left behind us after Desert Storm. Do people realize that America used shells made of uranium that left behind a radioactive battlefield? The incidence of leukemia and cancer in the children of Iraq has gone up six to 12 times in the past 10 years. ...

To the editor: I just read that the plan for invading Iraq starts with dropping more bombs on Baghdad in two days than were dropped in the whole Gulf War. This is a densely populated area, and low-end estimates are that 500,000 innocent Iraqis will die. ...

Six tenants of an apartment building in Jackson can take some comfort after a fire nearly cost them their lives that a suspect was quickly apprehended and is being held in the county jail on first-degree arson charges. Jackson police acted swiftly after learning an earlier dispute apparently resulted in the deliberate setting of a fire in the building's entry hall -- blocking the only door out of the building for the upstairs occupants...

Cape Girardeau Friday, Feb. 7 Firefighters responded Wednesday to the following items: At 5:33 p.m., emergency medical service at 1548 Revlon. At 7:28 p.m., illegal burn at 535 S. Benton. At 7:42 p.m., emergency medical service at 105 Clark Street. At 8:52 p.m., burning after hours at Lexington and Old Sprigg...

Missourians have been waiting to see how the state legislature, controlled by Republicans for the first time in more than half a century, would address a shortfall currently estimated at $350 million in the state budget for the fiscal year that ends June 30...

Cape Girardeau Friday, Feb. 7 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWIs Rodney Patrick Pearman, 19, of RR1 Box 17, Cairo, Ill., was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, failure to stop at a stop sign and minor in possession of alcohol...

Invest 4 Cape topic of First Friday coffee The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce will host the First Friday Coffee at 7:30 a.m. today at the Show Me Center. The topic is Invest 4 Cape, a program by Mayor Jay Knudtson and city manager Michael Miller. The two will explain four separate tax issues that will appear on the April 8 ballot in the city. Refreshments will be served...

Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON -- One CIA officer was killed and two others were injured in a training accident in eastern Afghanistan, agency officials said. The officer, Helge Boes, was killed Wednesday when a grenade detonated prematurely during a live-fire exercise, CIA officials said in a statement issued Thursday evening...

WASHINGTON -- U.S. planes dropped nearly a half-million leaflets over southern Iraq on Thursday, including some saying American forces "do not wish to harm the noble people of Iraq," the Defense Department said. The planes dropped 480,000 leaflets at about 2:30 a.m. EST near Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, as well as the cities of Umm Qasr, An Nasiriyah and Az Zubayr, according to a statement from U.S. Central Command...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The millionaires sat at their tables, discussing the latest business deals and how their portfolios might be affected. A convention of Fortune 500 execs? No, just a bunch of NASCAR drivers at media day, the kickoff to a new season that got quite a jolt when R.J. Reynolds, the sponsor of the Winston Cup Series, said it might sever sponsorship ties with NASCAR...

The Associated Press ST. LOUIS -- It was another blown point for the Blues, who always preach defense first. Keith Tkachuk's second goal of the game put the Blues ahead of the New York Rangers with 7:17 to go, and Mikael Samuelsson responded with his second only 45 seconds later in a 4-4 tie Thursday night. The Blues tied the Stars 2-2 Wednesday night, giving up the tying goal with 1:30 remaining...

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Members of Southern Illinois University's faculty union started voting Thursday on a new contract, union officials said. The union's 400 members were scheduled to vote Thursday and Friday on the university's four-year proposal, said Randy Hughes, a union officer...

ST. LOUIS -- Critics who don't like the aesthetics of the new barriers along the western edge of the Gateway Arch grounds can take solace in knowing they are temporary. Or are they? The National Park Service office in St. Louis said Thursday the string of 10-feet long, 32-inch high, 4,100-pound concrete barriers along Memorial Drive is a temporary security measure, intended to keep a truck or van carrying explosives from entering the Arch grounds, the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Despite strong objections from anti-abortion groups and some lawmakers, Richard Dunn won confirmation Thursday by the state Senate as Missouri's new health director. Gov. Bob Holden's nominee to lead the Department of Health and Senior Services drew opposition because of his statements on awards of state family planning funding to Planned Parenthood, which also provides abortions...

PALMYRA, Mo. -- Thousands of tourists pass through this little town on their way to see the Mark Twain tourist sights in nearby Hannibal, which served as the inspirational setting for the Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer classics. But potential criminals better steer clear of the Midwest Antique Co...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- The State Board of Education on Thursday voted to set up an advisory board to save a Southern Illinois school district from bankruptcy, the third such panel created in less than two months. State schools superintendent Robert Schiller will appoint members to a financial oversight panel to monitor and approve a bailout plan for the Cairo school district...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Democratic Gov. Bob Holden embraced a proposal Thursday to attack doctors' rising malpractice insurance costs by creating a temporary state-run insurance plan. The state plan would be limited to physicians in some of the higher-risk specialties that have seen the largest rise in premiums, such as obstetricians, neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons, and trauma and emergency room doctors...