Stories from March 2003

College students tend to gravitate to bars and hangouts in town, but seldom do they spend their time there talking about theological issues. Unless they're attending a session in the Bar Hop series, sponsored by Catholic Campus Ministries at Southeast Missouri State University...

WASHINGTON -- The government began building the case toward a possible ban of the popular herb ephedra Friday by proposing strong new warning labels that the pills can cause heart attacks and strokes or even kill. The warning labels -- first proposed in 1997 but blocked until now by the powerful dietary supplement industry -- could be on every bottle by year's end, the first in a series of Food and Drug Administration steps that could limit, if not stop, the herb's use...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraq agreed Friday to begin destroying its Al Samoud 2 missiles within 24 hours, Iraqi sources said. Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix, who set the deadline for today, called the decision "a very significant piece of real disarmament."...

WASHINGTON -- Iraqi forces guarding Baghdad are armed with chemical weapons and may have orders to use them, U.S. officials say, raising the grim prospect of American troops closing in on the capital city and facing a battlefield filled with deadly agents...

LONDON -- The United States and Britain are locked in a ferocious diplomatic battle with France for the support of six nations who could hold the key to whether the U.N. Security Council backs a war on Iraq. Promises of rich rewards and hints of bruising punishment are flying as diplomats seek the support of Angola, Cameroon, Chile, Guinea, Mexico and Pakistan over a second United Nations resolution that would authorize military action against Saddam Hussein...

SALAHUDDIN, Iraq -- Kurdish leaders said Friday they will resist if the United States lets Turks join an invasion of northern Iraq, raising fears American troops will be caught in a generations-old ethnic struggle for control of the strategic border region...

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea accused the United States Friday of triggering a nuclear crisis by failing to provide promised energy, disrupting inter-Korean reconciliation and plotting war against the North. At the same time, Pyongyang reiterated that the only way to resolve the nuclear standoff on the Korean Peninsula was through direct talks with the United States. Washington says ties can only improve if North Korea first abandons its nuclear ambitions...

WASHINGTON -- NASA's top administrator, Sean O'Keefe, said Friday he rejects the idea that nothing could have been done in orbit to help the crippled space shuttle Columbia and possibly save its seven astronauts. Raising his voice, O'Keefe told reporters that NASA has a long history of responding to orbital emergencies and would have done so again had it been clear that Columbia was in trouble...

SPACE CENTER, Houston -- In the final minutes of their lives, Columbia's astronauts were cheerful, at times lighthearted. They helped one another in the cockpit, collecting empty drink bags and putting on their spacesuit gloves. The two women mugged for the camera. They remarked on the blast-furnace heat outside -- mere minutes before the superheated gases were about to penetrate the left wing and lead to their deaths...

Longtime Cape Girardeau elementary school teacher Judy Peetz stands in front of a chalkboard and quizzes her small class of anxious students on words like mosquito, nickel and bench. "What is a mosquito?" Peetz asks. "It will bite you," answers one, looking down at her workbook...

Channing to wed childhood sweetheart NEW YORK -- Carol Channing is getting married again -- to her childhood sweetheart from 70 years ago. The 82-year-old singer-actress said Harry Kullijian, with whom she grew up in San Francisco, tracked her down after reading about himself in her memoirs. Kullijian had been trying to reach her for 60 years, she said, and a mutual friend gave him her phone number...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Rebuffing the Bush administration, a federal appeals court Friday refused to reconsider its ruling that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools is unconstitutional because of the words "under God." The case could go next to the U.S. Supreme Court...

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- Paul Simon, a former U.S. representative and senator from Illinois, will be this year's recipient of the Harry S. Truman Award for Public Service. Simon will be given the award in a ceremony May 2. Simon was selected because of a public-service career that spanned more than 40 years, paralleling that of the former president from Missouri, Independence Mayor Ron Stewart said in a letter to Simon...

ST. LOUIS -- A California man faces up to five years in federal prison and $250,000 in fines after admitting Friday he threatened to kill President Bush last summer. Eugene Lewis, 54, of the Los Angeles area, remains jailed pending sentencing May 13 on the felony count of threatening a president's life...

BENTON, Mo. -- Area schools will no longer be provided with the Drug Abuse Resistance Education Program from the Scott County Sheriff's Department. According to Sheriff Bill Ferrell, the change is the result of personnel shortage. "As we get ready to move into the new jail, our request for what we thought to be the minimum staffing has been cut," Ferrell said...

Cape Girardeau County Saturday, March 1 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Aaron Nelson, 37, of Cape Girardeau, was arrested Feb. 21, on a Cape Girardeau County warrant for patronizing prostitution...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, March 1 Firefighters responded Thursday to the following items: At 3:58 p.m., citizen assist at 512 S. Hanover. At 4:16 p.m., fire alarm at Southeast Missouri Hospital. At 6:54 p.m., emergency medical service at 720 S. Pacific...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, March 1 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Michael T. Reeves, 22, 316 S. Lorimier, Apt. 12, Cape Girardeau, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance...

Today Basement sale from 7 a.m. to noon at Grace United Methodist Church, sponsored by church women's group. United Methodist Men of New McKendree Church will meet at 7:45 a.m. for breakfast and fellowship. Guests will be Jackson Mayor Paul Sander and Jim Roach, city administrator...

Hennecke Son to Nicole "Nicky" Smith of Delta, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 4:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 22, 2003. Name, Bryson Brock. Weight, 5 pounds 15 1/2 ounces. Third son. Ms. Smith is the former Nicole Hennecke, daughter of Betty Hennecke of Whitewater, and the late Bob Hennecke. She is office administrator at Memco Barge Line...

10 years ago: March 1, 1993 Tenants at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport terminal building will have to operate out of their temporary offices for a while longer; completion of long-awaited terminal building renovation project has been pushed back to April 17; although some of tenants likely will be able to move into renovated section of terminal later this month, car-rental companies at airport will have to remain in temporary office -- mobile trailer situated in terminal building parking lot...

Briefly Colleges Georgia assistant coach Jim Harrick Jr. was suspended Friday, a day after a former player accused him of paying his expenses and committing academic fraud. Football coach Jack Harbaugh resigned just two months after leading Western Kentucky to the NCAA Division I-AA championship. Harbaugh, who coached the Hilltoppers to a 91-68 record in 14 seasons, stepped down "to pursue other opportunities," according to a statement from the university...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Nola E. Tidwell, 82, of Sikeston died Thursday, Feb. 27, 2003, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born Sept. 26, 1920, in Marietta, Ga., daughter of John and Lucy Groover Tucker. She and Hays W. Tidwell were married April 12, 1952, at Bloomfield, Mo. He died Jan. 21, 1985...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Mary Helen Swinger, 77, of Dexter died Friday, Feb. 28, 2003, at Missouri Southern Healthcare. She was born Jan. 6, 1926, at Charter Oak, Mo., daughter of Arzie and Bertie Barnett Baldwin. She and Harry Swinger were married Aug. 22, 1942, at Bloomfield, Mo...

Junior Miller, 81, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Feb. 28, 2003, at the Lutheran Home. He was born Oct. 31, 1921, in Cape Girardeau, son of Charles and Anna Keith Miller. He and Juanita Hengst Exler were married Dec. 30, 2000, in Cape Girardeau. Miller farmed at Neelys Landing, owned Jackson Dressed Meats from 1955 to 1972, then raised cattle near Patton, Mo. He was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church at Egypt Mills...

Size isn't the issue THIS IS to the woman who says she's a size 18 and her dream is to become a singer. Don't give up your dream, because there have been a whole lot of wonderful large singers over the years. Think of Mama Cass, Della Reese and Kate Smith. ...

To the editor: I watched Dan Rather interviewing Saddam Hussein Wednesday night. It was a masterful display that should demonstrate who we are dealing with. At one point, Rather, as he usually does, subtly maneuvered Saddam into a box. In our culture the interviewee would squirm trying to find a way out. Saddam simply rejected the premise, cut Rather off at the knees and moved on...

To the editor: Hello to all our old friends in Jackson. We now live in Warrensburg, Mo., where Dennis is going to Central Missouri State University. We just wanted all the Jacksonians to know that Jacob is in high school in Warrensburg and wrestling for the Tigers, and he rocks. ...

To the editor: As a member of the Cape Girardeau production of "The Vagina Monologues," I would like to say how happy I am that the presentation has received such positive comments. I would especially like to thank Sam Blackwell for not only coming to the show, but supporting it as well. ...

To the editor: Each day I check the Southeast Missourian's Web site. Sharon Sander's "Out of the past" column gets me going. I just love to read about the development of Cape Girardeau and the Southeast Missouri State University area. My dad remembers a lot of it and he enjoys it too. Keep up the good work, Sharon...

To the editor: Gabe Koehler and I were friends through high school. His loss makes us appreciate what we have. It's heartbreaking to lose a friend so young. I just want people to remember Gabe for who he was, not for what happened to him. He was too great a man to be remembered only by his tragic death...

Dr. George W. Murray, president of Columbia International University in South Carolina, will be the guest speaker at this week's Missions Conference at Cape Bible Chapel. The conference title is "Jesus: Life for the world." The conference will be held Sunday through Wednesday. Services will be from 9:15 to 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday and 7 p.m. on other days. A nursery will be provided for children up to age 3...

ST. LOUIS -- A man who directed another man to kill a government witness in a drug and weapons case was sentenced Friday to 51 years in federal prison. Qusai Mahasin, 23, who lunged at a federal prosecutor after being convicted in December, also was ordered to pay victim Ben White $2,345 to defray medical treatment costs. White was shot three times outside his home on April 18, 2000...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A peace studies professor said Friday he authorized a mass e-mail sent across the University of Missouri's flagship campus promoting anti-war activities, including skipping classes in protest if the U.S. attacks Iraq. The e-mail stirred controversy because it was first sent -- to thousands of students and faculty members at the Columbia campus -- without the usual signature of a sponsoring campus organization...

LONDON -- A recent surge in Saudi Arabian oil production should help cool sizzling prices when crude shipments from the Persian Gulf reach U.S. ports within a month, industry analysts said Friday. Prices eased a day after spiking to a 12-year high in the United States on concerns about tight supplies. Some analysts said OPEC member countries were pumping furiously and argued that the current market turmoil would ease once these fresh barrels hit the market...

KARACHI, Pakistan -- Anti-American violence returned to the southern port city of Karachi on Friday, when gunmen ran out of a park and opened fire on Pakistani police guarding the U.S. Consulate, killing two officers and injuring at least five other people...

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand's crackdown on drugs, during which hundreds of suspected dealers have died, has boosted the market for amulets believed to offer magical protection against bullets and other violence. Metal or clay talismans, often picturing Buddhist symbols or monks and worn on a neck chain, are a staple of Thai culture. ...

BEIJING -- His boyish smile beams from the pages of China's major newspapers. Lately, he's on the television news every night. Dozens of Web sites are dedicated to him. But he's no pop star. This is Lei Feng, a 1960s propaganda icon, a dead soldier hailed as a model of charity. Dusted off and updated, he's being promoted as an example of cheerful self-sacrifice by communist leaders who worry economic reform has made Chinese selfish and fed social tensions...

Dealer: R.I. nightclub bought cheap packaging PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The dealer who sold soundproofing to the nightclub where an inferno killed 97 people said Friday the owners bought cheap and highly flammable packing foam, not real acoustic insulation...

Palestinian minister denies secret accounts JERUSALEM -- In a bid to dispel charges of widespread corruption, the top Palestinian financial official on Friday said the Palestinian Authority had no secret accounts and had not funneled money to groups Israel and the United States accuse of terrorism...

CLEVELAND -- The shiny, swirling $62 million building that houses the business school at Case Western Reserve University is a marvel to behold. But it is sometimes best admired from afar. In its first winter, snow and ice have been sliding off the long, sloping, stainless-steel roof, bombarding the sidewalk below. And in bright sun, the glint off the steel tiles is so powerful that standing next to the building is like lying on a beach with a tanning mirror...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The first person convicted under a law that bars aid to terrorists was sentenced Friday to 155 years in prison for leading a cigarette smuggling ring that funneled profits to the Lebanese group Hezbollah. Mohamad Hammoud, 29, masterminded a scheme to bring cigarettes from North Carolina, where low taxes keep down prices, to Michigan for resale. In June, he was found guilty of sending $3,500 to Hezbollah...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team clinched at least a tie for second place Thursday in the Ohio Valley Conference by beating Tennessee Tech. Today, the Otahkians (16-10, 10-5) look to finish in second by themselves and close the regular season on a positive note when they take on last-place Tennessee State (4-21, 2-13) at the Gentry Center. The tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m...

BALTIMORE -- Jim Phelan remembers the last time Mount St. Mary's went looking for a new basketball coach, back in 1954. Phelan was 25 and working as an assistant coach at La Salle University. His boss offered to recommend him for the job. He told Phelan: "You'll love it. You'll win a lot of games, you'll stay forever, and no one will ever hear of you."...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee State has had one of the worst seasons in NCAA Division I basketball in recent years, but the Tigers get one final chance to do something positive. That's why Southeast Missouri State University coach Gary Garner is fearful of tonight's 7:30 p.m. tipoff at the Gentry Center that will end the regular season for both the Tigers and Indians...

Catholic priests who have served with Monsignor Richard Rolwing say he's a man of wisdom, caring and compassion. And they wish to become more like him as they continue their own ministries. Rolwing marked his 50th anniversary as a priest with a golden jubilee Mass on Friday evening at St. Mary's Cathedral, where he has served as pastor for the past 16 years. Nearly 600 people attended, including 78 members of Rolwing's family...

A Jackson church could face a judgment day on Earth if it does not correct a zoning violation concerning its property. City attorney Tom Ludwig filed a petition Friday asking the court to set a deadline for Good News Christian Center to stop using its land at 1320 Old Cape Road as a machine shop and truck refrigeration unit warehouse...

WASHINGTON -- Playing 50 minutes on a swollen leg would seem to spell trouble for a 40-year-old NBA player with a recent history of knee problems. Michael Jordan should be able to carry on. This injury isn't quite the same as the one that doomed his season a year ago...

New class, same old result. The defending Class 2 state champion Notre Dame girls basketball team passed its first test in Class 4 with flying colors, rolling past No. 2 Dexter 73-42 in the Class 4, District 1 championship game in front of a packed gym at Notre Dame Regional High School Friday night...

Meadow Heights wrapped up the Mississippi Valley Conference boys basketball title Friday on the same night Joey Bell passed the 1,000-point career mark on their home court in Patton, Mo. The Panthers, 18-6 overall and 6-0 in the MVC, scored on their first six 3-point attempts in the game and led Zalma 30-19 after the first quarter. The Bulldogs took advantage of foul trouble and closed the gap to 41-38 at halftime...

The Notre Dame Bulldogs would have to agree with a certain red-shoed girl named Dorothy. Indeed, there is no place like home. Hosting its first basketball district in school history, second-seeded Notre Dame needed every bit of its home-court advantage to eke out a 81-78 comeback victory over top-seeded Dexter Friday night...

and Mike Wells ~ Southeast Missourian Saying he was outraged and alarmed, Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, demanded Gov. Bob Holden either disavow or accept responsibility for a purported Department of Natural Resources memo that threatens staff members with termination if they share with lawmakers budget-cutting ideas...

Ever since Joshua Allen Wolf fatally shot his grandmother Carol Lindley as she watched television in their Jackson home on May 6, 2000, the lingering question has been why? Why would the boy, then 16, take the life of the woman who had raised him? A new book on the crime and its aftermath comes no closer to answering that question...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Being two hours late for your first day of work and accidentally head-butting the governor isn't exactly the best way to start a career in state government. Unless you're Nancylea Hunt. Despite her less than stellar beginning, Hunt went on to amass 62 years of full-time state employment -- a tenure touted by state officials as the longest in Missouri history...

JUPITER, Fla. -- Mo Vaughn hit a two-run homer and Jay Bell went 3-for-3 with two RBIs as the New York Mets beat the Cardinals 7-3 Friday. Winning pitcher Al Leiter threw two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and three walks. Albert Pujols homered for the Cardinals...

JUPITER, Fla. -- One plunked batter, no pitches in the dirt, none to the backstop, and no broken windows. All in all, baby-faced, blond-tipped Rick Ankiel is still on course for a comeback in a career that has been as spectacular on the way up as it has been on the way down and might have some wild loop-the-loops in the future...

The pockets on cargo pants -- and cargo shorts, skirts and bags -- are big enough to hold the attention of many different types of people. Designers are using silk and taffeta fabrics for dressier versions of typically casual cargo silhouettes; retailers are stocking up on pocketed looks for spring; and regular folks still can't get enough of the shape that had previously been declared dead by fashion insiders...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University's baseball team split the first two seven-inning games of a three-game series Saturday. Southeast (2-3) got a strong pitching performance from Tim Alvarez in the opener of the doubleheader. He had a complete-game shutout for his second win of the season in a 5-0 Southeast win. Alvarez limited Memphis (2-2) to four hits while walking two and striking out one. Alvarez's lone strikeout ended the game...

Dear Gov. Holden: Thank you for your invitation to the "Jobs Summit" you're hosting tomorrow (March 3) at the mansion. I'll see you there. The subject is timely. In December, your administration published a report informing us that Missouri is one of a handful of states that remains in recession. ...

They come to Room 103 at Scott City Middle School every Wednesday morning -- about 25 students who, heads bowed, hands clasped and eyes closed, gather to pray. Over an early-morning snack of cookies and donuts, the enthusiastic sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders from various religious denominations also hold a quick Bible study before heading off to their first class...

NEW YORK -- Ruth Fisher, the widowed matriarch of her funeral-home family, is as much a part of "Six Feet Under" as any other character. But there's something irresistibly off-putting about her. She is part of the environment in which her fellow characters exist, seldom calling attention to herself. So you focus on the people around her, even as she absorbs you in everything she does...

When it comes to getting Missouri back on a sound financial footing and a prudent budget course, the tool that will have to be used is a machete, not a pair of fingernail clippers. In essence, that is the conclusion of a new report about the Show Me State's past, current and future financial situation. The report was produced by one of the state's leading budget authorities, James R. Moody...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Since the beginning of the legislative session in January, all eyes have been focused on finding money to balance the current state budget. While there was ample political sniping between majority Republicans in the Missouri Legislature and the Democratic governor, the opposing factions eventually forged a compromise that everyone could live with, though it made no one happy...

BOSTON -- Steady low doses of an old-fashioned blood thinner have been shown to dramatically lower the risk of recurring, dangerous blood clots in the legs and lungs, offering the first effective treatment for an estimated 750,000 U.S. victims annually...

Imagine Iraqi commanders getting misleading text messages on their cell phones. They appear to contain orders from Saddam Hussein but are actually sent by the U.S. military in disguise, directing Iraqi troops to a trap. Or how about a radar that confuses the Iraqi air defense system by showing U.S. bombers in the wrong locations, or heading in the wrong direction?...

ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkey's parliament dealt a stunning blow to U.S. war planning Saturday by failing to approve a bill allowing in American combat troops to open a northern front against Iraq. The decision was likely to seriously strain ties with Washington and marked a setback to U.S. efforts to show Saddam Hussein that he is surrounded and his neighbors support a U.S.-led coalition...

PARIS -- President Jacques Chirac has won worldwide praise as a champion of peace over Iraq, but he has also steered France into a confrontation with the United States that could damage French interests and prestige. For France, the diplomatic crisis over Iraq has been a triumphant vindication of its claim to be a global leader, letting it stand up to the world's only superpower and portray itself as speaking for much of the globe...

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt -- Arab leaders said they reject war on Iraq and U.S. threats to remove Saddam Hussein, but their message Saturday was undermined by exchanges of insults and sharp divisions at a summit aimed at finding unity over the Iraq crisis...

LONDON -- Opponents of military action against Iraq are as misguided as the appeasers who refused to stand up to Adolf Hitler in the 1930s, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said in comments published Saturday. In his latest attempt to win over Britons unconvinced of the need for war, Blair said he was "prepared to be judged by history" on Iraq...

SAN DIEGO -- The assignment of the USS Nimitz and its battle group to the Persian Gulf means the U.S. military soon will have an unprecedented floating air force within striking distance of Iraq. The Nimitz will leave San Diego with its eight-ship battle group and 8,000 sailors and airmen Monday. ...

VATICAN CITY -- Intensifying his diplomatic efforts to avert a war against Iraq, Pope John Paul II is sending a special envoy to Washington to meet with President Bush, the Vatican said Saturday. Cardinal Pio Laghi, an Italian who for years served as the Holy See's ambassador to the United States, will leave Rome in the next few days, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said...

SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, in his first policy speech since taking office, on Saturday warned of a "calamity" from the standoff over North Korea's nuclear program unless a peaceful resolution is found quickly. After his speech, North Korea issued a dispatch threatening that nuclear war could break out on the Korean Peninsula at "any moment," an escalation of the communist North's hostile rhetoric as international pressure grows for it to disarm...

Before the Columbia broke apart, NASA experts debated over five days the risks to the space shuttle, moving from a telephone inquiry about tires to remarkably accurate fears focusing on the left wing. Toward the end, engineers even identified with haunting precision which sensors might fail in sequence as the space shuttle raced through searing temperatures...

NASA's administrator rejected a formal request by the accident board looking into the Columbia disaster to reassign top agency officials from participating in the investigation, the first serious dispute over the integrity of the probe since the space shuttle's breakup killed seven astronauts...

Even if Toni Smith is wrong, much good has come of her actions. Smith plays basketball at Manhattanville College, a Division III school in New York. Since December, she has protested what she calls "inequalities embedded into the American system" and the pending war in Iraq by turning 90 degrees away from the flag during the national anthem before each game...

Briefly Baseball David Wells disputed a claim in his autobiography that he was "half drunk" when he pitched his perfect game, maintained he gets along well with teammate Mike Mussina and hoped his book wouldn't be a distraction to the Yankees. ...

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Using a CAT scan, of course, a veterinarian discovered a 2,000-year-old mummified feline is actually a dog. The mummy at the Albany Institute of History & Art was scanned using computerized tomography tests by Douglas Cohn, who heads an animal experiment lab at Albany Medical Center...

GHARDAIA, Algeria -- For miles there are only plains of orange Saharan sand, a dusty empty road, shepherds in white turbans leading camels and sheep to patches of parched grass. Then the road curves and there's a surprising sight: an oasis of shimmering green palm trees and farmland, and bustling hilltop cities of small houses in the warm shades of a desert sunset...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The state and the University of Missouri-Columbia are deliberately keeping minorities from accessing education, civil rights activist and Houston lawyer Alvin Chambliss Jr. said. "I thought Mississippi was bad," Chambliss said Friday during a speech at the University of Missouri-Columbia. "But Mississippi is 10 times better than this state."...

GAINESVILLE, Mo. -- The Rev. Gordon Winrod's church and Ozarks farm will be sold this month to pay a $26 million jury award for abducting his grandchildren and indoctrinating them in his anti-Semitic beliefs. Jurors returned the award last May in a civil lawsuit accusing Winrod of using mind-altering techniques, such as keeping the children in isolation and whipping them, to mold the children's attitudes. ...

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. -- Local tourism officials worried spring break may not be as prosperous as in the past. The reasons: Fewer rooms, higher prices, a weak economy, the threat of war, stricter law enforcement and more competition. This Florida Panhandle resort city has been the nation's leading spring break destination in recent years. Businesses usually rake in about $200 million from the last week of February through the middle of April...

Delta FFA breakfast I WANT to compliment the Delta High School FFA and its new adviser, Alisa Swindell, on their great FFA community breakfast. It was the best one held in the past 10 years. Excellent job, Delta FFA. Earned-income credit I WOULD like to comment on the budget problem that the United States supposedly has. ...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- John H. and Charlotte Peters of Marble Hill announce the engagement of their daughter, Lisa Ann Peters, to Michael Lee Statler. He is the son of Rick and Barbara Statler of Patton, Mo. Peters is a graduate of Leopold High School in Leopold, Mo. She is majoring in accounting and expects to graduate in May from Southeast Missouri State University. She is employed at Montgomery First National Bank in Cape Girardeau...

KELSO, Mo. -- Mr. and Mrs. Dave Carman of Kelso announce the engagement of their daughter, Amy McClain Carman, to Daniel Justin Smiley. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Rondell Smiley of Bernie, Mo. Carman expects to receive a bachelor of science degree in nursing from Southeast Missouri State University in May. She is employed at St. Francis Medical Center...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Denny Urhahn of Athens, Ala., and Jeannie Davis of Imperial, Mo., announce the engagement of their daughter, Mindy Lauren Urhahn, to Donald Albert Slinkard. He is the son of Mary Slinkard of Advance, and the late Jefferson M. Slinkard...

William and Peggy Goodwin of Freeburg, Ill., announce the engagement of their daughter, Natalie Marie Goodwin, to Jason Martin Frank. He is the son of Joe David and Kay Frank of Jackson. Goodwin is a 1994 graduate of Freeburg Community High School. She received a degree in marketing from Quincy University in 1998, and a master's degree in business administration from Eastern Illinois University in 1999. ...

Mary Beussink and Todd Beussink of Jackson announce the engagement of their daughter, Amanda Renee Beussink, to Jeremy W. Balsman. He is the son of Diana Balsman and Jerry Balsman of Jackson. Beussink is a 2001 graduate of Jackson High School. Balsman is a 1998 graduate of Jackson High School. He expects to graduate in May from Missouri Valley College at Marshall, where he is majoring in criminal justice...

Linda L. Blumenberg of Cape Girardeau announces the engagement of her daughter, Gina L. Blumenberg, to Kenneth M. Demyan. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Ron Loterbaugh of Lorain, Ohio. Blumenberg is a graduate of Delta High School in Delta, Mo. She is employed at Thorngate Ltd. in Cape Girardeau...

Gordon W. Eller and Dorothy A. Eller of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Carrie L. Eller, to Robert D. Wunderlich, both of Jackson. He is the son of Tammy Deimund of Cape Girardeau and David Wunderlich of Altenburg, Mo. Eller is a graduate of Central High School, and is pursuing a degree in elementary education at Southeast Missouri State University. She is employed at Screen Arts Inc. and at Logan's Roadhouse...

Dale and Judy Summers of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Megan Summers, to Chris Holland. He is the son of Beverly Holland of Benton, Mo., and James Holland of Jackson, Tenn. Summers is a 1997 graduate of Central High School. She is employed at DMart Convenience Store in Cape Girardeau...

Thomas M. Meyer and Mary Meyer of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Jean Marie Meyer, to Kareem Talaat Fuad Boctor. He is the son of Talaat and Aida Boctor of St. Louis. Meyer is a 1998 graduate of Notre Dame High School. She received a bachelor of science degree in 2002, majoring in human environmental studies-interior design. She is employed at Pier One...

Gary and Bonnie Scherer of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Dr. Angela Marie Scherer, to Matthew John Bommarito. He is the son of Joe and Donna Bommarito of St. Louis. Scherer is a 1992 graduate of Jackson High School. She received a bachelor of science degree in agribusiness from Southeast Missouri State University in 1997, a doctorate in veterinary medicine at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2001, and was a surgical intern graduate from Veterinary Specialty Services in St. ...

Wilbur and Brenda Kirk of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Jill Esther Kirk, to Kile Timothy Buerck. He is the son of Mark and Linda Buerck of Cape Girardeau. A June 21 wedding is planned.

Petty Officers 3rd Class Emily Ann Wulfers and Jeremiah Dean Cleveland were married Sept. 24, 2002, at Virginia Beach Courthouse in Virginia. The ceremony was performed by Justice of the Peace Al Sokolick. The bride is the daughter of Jeff and Camie Wulfers of Cape Girardeau. Curtis and Melanie Cleveland of Garden Grove, Calif., are parents of the groom...

10 years ago: March 2, 1993 County commission yesterday appointed committee to design five-year capital improvements plan for roads and bridges in Cape Girardeau County; 11-member group was recommended by new First District Associate Commissioner Larry Bock as way of getting more input about maintenance and replacement of bridges and nearly 600 miles of roads under county's responsibility...

Willis A. Downs, 83, formerly of Charleston, Mo., died Friday, Feb. 28, 2003, at the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born March 19, 1919, in Charleston, son of Jesse E. and Bette Rogers Downs. He and Jo Ann Frazier were married Jan. 15, 1946. She died March 31, 2001...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- George D. Horman, 79, of Chaffee died Saturday, March 1, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center. Arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee.

HARDIN, Ky. -- John Waldron, 72, formerly of Sikeston, Mo., died Friday, Feb. 28, 2003, at Murray Calloway County Medical Center in Murray, Ky. Arrangements are incomplete at Ponder Funeral Home in Sikeston.

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Nina Pennington, 78, of Bloomfield died Thursday, Feb. 27, 2003, at her home. She was born March 18, 1924, at New Madrid, Mo., daughter of Homer and Leona Widows Henson. She and Bill Pennington were married in 1970 at Sikeston, Mo. He died Sept. 19, 1984...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Ralph Watson, 88, of Olive Branch died Saturday, March 1, 2003. Friends may call from 5 to 8 p.m. Monday and from 8 to 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Crain Funeral Home in Tamms, Ill. Funeral will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Olive Branch United Methodist Church, with the Rev. Jerry Herring officiating...

Mary Louise Hager, 78, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Feb. 28, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born June 2, 1924, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of William and Mamie Hett Deevers. She and William Brockmire Jr. were married in 1943. He died in 1951. She and Weldon Hager were married June 17, 1961, in Cape Girardeau...

To the editor: Citizens for Missouri's Children wants to applaud Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder's leadership in assembling a bipartisan coalition to reform nursing-home legislation and protect some of Missouri's most vulnerable residents: the elderly. Kinder and his bill's co-sponsors recognize it makes no difference whether a nursing home is operated by a for-profit, not-for-profit or religious organization. Protecting the elderly is the goal...

To the editor: Unfortunately, I can't make it home in time for the funeral for Gabe Koehler. I grew up in Jackson for most of my life and can say that for 15 years I had the absolute pleasure of calling Gabe one of my dearest friends. I even called him my brother. When you're 25 and you've known someone for 15 of those years, it's pretty much the same thing, right?...

To the editor: In response to the article "Businesses change, but building remains": My extreme thanks to Janis Gosche and the Southeast Missourian for the article and great photos of my great-grandfather's (and later my grandparents, Ed and Mona Vandeven's) store. It has brought back some fond memories...

The first step in having it all is finding it all. The house at 2137 Chesapeake in Cape Girardeau's Northfield subdivision offers everything a homeowner could want. Solid brick construction on the outside and room for even the largest families, with five bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms and a three-car garage...

You probably won't find anyone willing to defend the holiday street decorations in downtown Cape Girardeau. They are old and worn out. The Downtown Merchants Association would like to purchase new decorations, but even with another successful annual auction, held Saturday night with a Mardi Gras theme, the association doesn't have the $50,000 needed for replacements...

Cape Girardeau Sunday, March 2 Firefighters responded to the following calls Friday: At 5:19 p.m., an emergency medical service at 1300 S. West End Blvd. At 6:23 p.m., an emergency medical service at 334 N. Frederick. At 9:46 p.m., an emergency medical service at 121 S. Sprigg St...

Cape Girardeau Sunday, March 2 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests A 17-year-old male was taken into custody Friday on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance. Formal charges have not yet been filed...

BERTRAND, Mo. -- A Sikeston man sustained moderate injuries in an accident Friday night near Bertrand. Johnnie Sells, 38, was taken to Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston after the 9:50 p.m. accident. It occurred on Interstate 57 in Mississippi County, one-fourth of a mile south of Bertrand...

State highway crews will begin routine repairs and continue an inspection of the Mississippi River bridge at Cape Girardeau this week, weather permitting. The bridge will be reduced to one lane for deck repairs, Missouri Department of Transportation officials said...

The Southeast Missouri Symphony will be the topic of discussion on KRCU's "Going Public" show today. Symphony director Dr. Sara Edgerton, guitar professor Jeff Noonan and Tyson Wunderlich, winner of a concerto competition at the university, will be the featured guests...

As fire chief of Boone County, Mo., Steve Paulsell and his department will be first to respond if terrorism hits home. He only hopes federal funding will back him up. Paulsell heads Missouri Task Force 1, one of the federal response teams that scoured through rubble at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon for survivors of the Sept. 11 attacks...

WASHINGTON -- Federal inspectors are checking all travelers arriving in the United States for radiation as part of an expanded effort to screen for terrorist activity, a Customs official said Saturday. Dean Boyd, a spokesman for the new Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, said inspectors began using small, pager-like detectors Saturday at U.S. ...

WASHINGTON -- By the time Afghan President Hamid Karzai finished his stroll down the corridors of American power last week, he had learned a few harsh lessons in the fickle ways of Washington. Karzai got the red-carpet treatment and had lunch with President Bush. But he also got a stern lecture from senators about the hazards of sugarcoating the problems of his devastated land -- criticism that seemed to offend him...

WASHINGTON -- Self-cleaning traffic signs and antennas and roofs that shed ice like water off a duck's back could be in the future thanks to a newly developed coating that is super at sending water on its way. A team of Turkish materials researchers took the sacred lotus plant as their inspiration in developing the coating...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Low water levels on the Missouri River could be bad news for barge operators and farmers, but the Conservation Department is promoting the situation as a rare recreational opportunity. Lower water means better fishing and more opportunities for picnicking, camping and treasure-hunting on sandbars that typically are submerged...

KIRKWOOD, Mo. -- One of two U.S. pilots who mistakenly killed four Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan last year has returned to his high school and received a show of support -- a $1,500 check for his legal fund. While saying he was heeding his lawyer's advice by not saying much publicly, Maj. Harry Schmidt on Friday told the Vianney High School students in this St. Louis suburb that "I'm very humbled by your generosity."...

BELLEVILLE, Ill. -- Two dozen charitable groups around St. Louis will share nearly $1.4 million of the $6.5 million settlement from a lawsuit over an auto dealership's advertisements faxed to more than 33,000 numbers. The list of charities was approved by St. Clair County Circuit Judge Michael J. O'Malley, who supervised the negotiations and last summer's settlement involving Newbold Toyota-BMW in O'Fallon, Ill. Distribution began Friday...

ST. LOUIS -- A Missouri killer whose death sentences were overturned by a federal appeals court has been sentenced to life behind bars without parole in one of the cases. Willie Simmons, 38, was resentenced Friday in St. Louis Circuit Court in the January 1988 strangling of Leanora McClendon, 20. Her body was found in her apartment bathtub...

NEW YORK -- In the fashion world, 2003 will be a vintage year for wine. The rich-yet-soothing color flowed freely on the runways during New York Fashion Week. Carolina Herrera showed a belted double-breasted jacket in burgundy satin over a slim pearl gray skirt, and she used the same burgundy color for a fitted leather jacket with a wool skirt in a wine-and-blue floral pattern...

NEW YORK -- Money is a part of everyday life, but very few people -- especially parents -- are comfortable talking about it. Heidi Steiger, executive vice president of the wealth management firm Neuberger Berman, says avoiding financial discussions now will cause further headaches later...

WARSAW, Poland -- The left-leaning government that has ruled Poland for just over a year collapsed Saturday after an emergency meeting between coalition partners broke down in a bitter dispute sparked by a new tax plan. Prime Minister Leszek Miller said he will ask the president to dissolve the coalition and withdraw two Peasant Party ministers from the government...

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- A train filled with tourists ran off a bridge near one of Taiwan's most popular mountain resorts Saturday, killing 17 people and seriously injuring 102, officials said. As crews raced to airlift the injured from the island's central Ali Mountain, a rescue helicopter crash-landed near the scene. There were no serious injuries aboard the aircraft...

MANILA, Philippines -- The government of the Philippines will insist U.S. troops take no active role in combat during a planned offensive against Muslim rebels on a southern island, the Philippine president said Saturday. U.S. troops would train Filipino soldiers for operations against the Abu Sayyaf on southern Jolo Island, said Ignacio Bunye, spokesman for President Gloria Macapagal...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Israeli tanks entered a neighborhood in the Palestinian city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza today and advanced on a hospital, witnesses said. About 15 tanks, accompanied by attack helicopters, entered the neighborhood, called the Austrian project, and knocked down the exterior wall around Mubarak Hospital on the outskirts of the city, witnesses said...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- In a spectacular victory for the U.S.-led war on terrorism, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and a senior operative in Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network, was captured Saturday in a joint raid by CIA and Pakistani agents, officials said...

JERUSALEM -- Palestinian leaders moved closer Saturday to amending a law so a prime minister could be appointed -- one of many reforms demanded by the United States and Israel but a change that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat may resist. The Palestinian Legislative Council agreed to meet later this month to amend Palestinian Authority law and create the position of prime minister. Council members were also expected to determine the responsibilities of the new post...

Dr. Henry A. Kissinger abruptly resigned last December as chairman of a commission investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, just two weeks after his appointment. The 79-year-old Kissinger cited demands by some Democratic lawmakers that he make public the names of all of his business clients...

NEW YORK -- Theatergoers may not be quick to recognize the new master of ceremonies in Broadway's "Cabaret." Chances are that many have seen him in something before, but never quite like this. Neil Patrick Harris -- TV's "Doogie Howser, M.D." -- began headlining the Roundabout Theatre Company's raunchy revival of the musical in January, joining a cast that has been heavy on mainstream name recognition in the long-running show that opened in 1998...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A bankruptcy judge agreed Saturday to allow U.S. Airways to terminate its pilots' pension plan, but said his ruling will be subject to the pending decision of an arbitrator. The pension issue is the last hurdle US Airways faces in its plan to emerge from bankruptcy by March 31. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stephen Mitchell's ruling means the airline has not yet completely cleared that hurdle and will be under immense pressure to resolve the pension issue quickly...

A plane was diverted Saturday after air marshals arrested a passenger after he began shouting "Majority rules! Turn the plane around!" and walked toward an exit door during a flight from New York's LaGuardia Airport to New Orleans. Richard Perez, 30, of Bay Shore, N.Y., was arrested and taken to a hospital after the plane landed at Charlotte, N.C., said Robert Johnson, spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration...

DENVER -- An invasive weed that has taken over vast swaths of grazing land in the West may hold the key to creating an effective, natural herbicide. A Colorado State University study found that a chemical compound secreted from the roots of spotted knapweed is toxic to surrounding plants and has potential to wipe out other unwanted weeds...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- As families of the dead and injured struggle with their grief after one of the country's deadliest fires, some are starting to look for compensation. Lawyers say it won't come easily. Rhode Island lawyers estimate at least $1 billion worth of lawsuit claims will be filed in the coming months. But they're not as confident that the pockets of those who may be responsible are deep enough to pay...

KEY LARGO, Fla. -- Two pygmy sperm whales separately rescued off the Florida Keys have died within two days of each other. An 11-foot-long, 950-pound whale died Saturday, a day after it was found stranded near Islamorada and taken to the Marine Mammal Conservancy in Key Largo...

From the Brooklyn Academy of Music to a coffeehouse in northern New Mexico to the National Theatre of Iceland, actors are planning a day of international theater protest against a possible war with Iraq. On Monday, in all 50 states and on six continents, participants will read "Lysistrata," Aristophanes' bawdy comedy of ancient Greece in which women withhold sex until men agree to outlaw war...

Arms waving from side to side in the school cafeteria, Bailey's first grade Brownie troop danced the hula. They wore homemade hula skirts made out of grocery sacks from Wal-Mart, hung colorful plastic leis around their necks and planted plastic flowers in their hair...

WANT TO GO? St. Louis Science Center Address: 5050 Oakland Ave.; St. Louis, Mo. Phone: (314) 289-4400. Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday; 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Friday, though the planetarium is closed on Friday nights; Sundays from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m...

Among a father's jobs is to be sure his son is always safe and to be sure his son is prepared to protect himself. That's how Kevin McCain was introduced to martial arts. "Dad took me to learn karate years ago," McCain said. "I've been doing it ever since."...

To the editor: The Southeast Missourian should be ashamed. The Missouri state wrestling championships were held in Columbia last weekend. However, Sunday morning I awoke to find a meager three paragraphs written about these fine athletes on Page 3. On Page 1 is a basketball story about what goes on at the break. Please leave halftime for the coaches, and report on the remaining sporting events and athletes that are not on break.MARK MORRILL...

Cut the bickering IT'S TOO bad a small school like Scott County Central can't appreciate a good basketball coach like Melvin Porter. Petty bickering between grown adults shouldn't get in the way of the education process. A $1,000 mistake THIS IS Josh Clinard, the kid who won $1,000 at the seMissourian Christmas Tournament. ...

MANHATTAN, Kan. -- The points came in bunches for Rickey Paulding just when Missouri needed them -- and a road win -- the most. Paulding scored eight of his 23 points inside the final two minutes on Saturday, as the Tigers pulled away to beat Kansas State 77-70 for only their third victory in nine road games this year...

Henry Domercant of Eastern Illinois is the reigning Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year and the nation's third-leading scorer. While Domercant is, without question, a tremendous player and has done just about everything possible to win the OVC's highest individual award again, my vote -- although I don't actually have one -- goes to Morehead State's Ricky Minard...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University's women overcame a ragged performance Saturday night to lock up second place in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Otahkians, despite 26 turnovers, pulled away in the second half to post an 81-72 victory over Tennessee State in the regular-season finale...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University added to Tennessee State's misery Saturday night as the Indians finished the regular season on a positive note. The Indians snapped a seven-game Ohio Valley Conference losing streak and handed Tennessee State its 21st consecutive loss by holding off the Tigers 89-82 at the Gentry Center...

JUPITER, Fla. -- Juan Encarnacion and Brian Banks each homered and drove in two runs as the Florida Marlins beat the Cardinals 7-3 Saturday. Rick Ankiel pitched one inning for St. Louis, throwing 16 pitches but only five for strikes. Ankiel, who missed last season with an elbow injury and struggled in the past with wildness, walked two and struck out one...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- By at least one gauge, tough criminal sentencing laws Missouri enacted in the 1990s have worked: More offenders are going to prison and staying there longer. In 1993, the average daily population in Missouri was 15,409 inmates. As of last year, that figure had nearly doubled to 29,871...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Their rivals on the basketball court enjoy the trimmings of high school athletics, from training facilities and letter jackets to the roar of a hometown crowd. Not this team. The Cairo boys basketball team didn't have matching uniforms until recently, much less jackets. The school can't afford extras -- not even a weight room -- and the team rarely plays games at home...

MORLEY, Mo. -- Melvin Porter will be back on the bench with the Scott County Central boys baksetball team Monday after he was reinstated by the school. Porter confirmed Saturday that he has been reinstated as the team's head coach a little more than a week after he was placed on paid leave amid allegations he made an inappropriate comment to a student...

New Salem Baptist School of Marble Hill, Mo., swept the Missouri Christian School Athletic Association State Basketball Tournament Saturday, claiming both boys and girls state championships. The titles were the first for the boys and girls teams in the 12-year history of the program. The girls (22-7) dominated Warrenton Christian 49-29, and the boys (20-11) won 52-41 over Warrenton Christian...

When 11-year-old Brandon Bennett was 8, he won a youth crappie fishing rodeo at Lake Wappapello. The official in charge asked Brandon whether he wanted to come back next year to defend his title. "Nope," Brandon answered, "I'm ready for the big boys."...

The Associated Press NEW YORK -- Former President Bill Clinton has been tapped for jury duty. A questionnaire designed to help defense lawyers and prosecutors select a jury for a federal attempted murder case indicated that Prospective Juror No. 142 was actually William Jefferson Clinton...

jkoch By Dr. John Koch Question: I just bought a new lab puppy. I want him to grow to be as big as possible. What vitamins, minerals, and foods do you recommend? Answer: I hate to burst your bubble, but what you want to do is absolutely wrong. ...

Editor's note: This column originally was published March 3, 2000. My curiosity prompted me to wonder if birds of the same species, living in different geographical locations, have a different accent as do humans. Editors of the bird books are silent on this subject although they are careful, by way of shaded maps, to show us where what species can be found. I have not dwelt anywhere outside the Midwest long enough to draw my own conclusions about this far-out matter...

Just because they're against the war doesn't mean they're against the troops. That was the message being communicated Saturday in an anti-war peace rally at Capaha Park, sponsored by the Southeast Missouri Coalition for Peace and Justice. About 90 people attended the rally, including a few residents who support the war and held up signs to protest the protest. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- More than 180,000 Missourians served by two utilities will see their total average natural gas bills increase over the next few months, under filings approved Friday by state regulators. The Missouri Public Service Commission on Friday said more than 86,000 AmerenUE customers will see their average bills increase $25 between April and October -- the typical summer rate filing period...

LONDON -- Saddam Hussein fired his commander of air defenses as U.S.-led forces claimed control of 95 percent of Iraq's sky, the British government said Saturday. Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman said Saddam had sacked his cousin, Musahim Saab al-Tikriti, and replaced him with Gen. Shahin Yasin Muhammad al-Tikriti...

UMM QASR, Iraq -- Striking before dawn, British tanks and infantry staged a lightning raid into besieged Basra on Saturday, destroying five Iraqi tanks and blowing up two statues of Saddam Hussein before withdrawing without casualties. The strike was the first thrust into the city confirmed by British officers, and it and other limited attacks around Basra could be a preview of how coalition commanders might deal with a siege of Baghdad...

BRYAN OLLER * The Gazette Workers removed the giant lettering of "Bring Me Men" at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Friday. The lettering, which hung at the ramp that leads to the entrance of the terrazzo since 1964, was removed two days after it was announced there would be changes made at the Air Force Academy amidst the worst sex scandal in the academy's history.By Robert Weller ~ The Associated Press...

10 years ago: March 3, 1993 Southeast Missouri State University is considering establishment of shuttle bus system to encourage greater student use of parking lots on perimeter of campus; system would also help alleviate traffic congestion in central portion of campus...

CAIRO, Ill. -- John W. Womble, 66, of Cairo died Saturday, March 1, 2003, at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Marion, Ill. He was born March 8, 1936, in Kosciusko, Miss., son of James W. and Gladys Hodges Womble. He retired from the U.S. Marine Corps after 30 years with the rank of gunnery sergeant...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Violet Treadway, 92, of Wappapello, Mo., died Friday, Feb. 28, 2003, at Three Rivers Healthcare North Campus in Poplar Bluff, Mo. She was born March 24, 1910, in Evansville, Ind., daughter of William Aaron and Charlotte Korb Long. She and Homer Treadway were married April 11, 1926, in Dexter. He died Sept. 6, 1990...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Clifford W. Clifton, 81, of Perryville died Saturday, March 1, 2003, at the Perry County Nursing Home. He was born May 23, 1921, in Menfro, Mo., son of Dhurman and Cartha Sandlin Clifton. He and Leola Milliano were married Aug. 16, 1941, in Perryville...

CLARKTON, Mo. -- Jeffery Wayne McDavid, 35, of Clarkton died Friday, Feb. 28, 2003, in Clarkton. He was born April 14, 1967, in Paris, Tenn., son of Donald Richard and Patricia Crowe McDavid. He and Dawn "Shelly" Simpson were married May 26, 2000, in Piggott, Ark...

ALTENBURG, Mo. -- Wilma E. Meinz, 78, of Cape Girardeau, died Sunday, March 2, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Feb. 11, 1925, in Farrar, Mo., daughter of Theodore M. and Lydia Bachmann Mangels. She and Curt J. Meinz were married Dec. 5, 1943, in Cape Girardeau...

John Mark Sanders, 40, of Delta died Sunday, March 2, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Aug. 22, 1962, in Chaffee, Mo., son of Earl John and Faye Huey Sanders Jr. He was an electrical technician with Fru-Con in Cape Girardeau. Survivors include his mother of Delta; a brother, Robert Sanders of Whitewater, Mo.; and two sisters, Phyllis Sanders of Cape Girardeau and Sally Sanders of Sikeston, Mo...

PATTON, Mo. -- Virgie Marie Cook, 92, of Patton, Mo., died Saturday, March 1, 2003, at Perry County Nursing Home in Perryville, Mo. She was born Dec. 13, 1910, in Patton, daughter of Jessa and Eliza Seabaugh Doggett. She and Elbert Earl Cook were married May 3, 1933. He died Feb. 28, 1973...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Ralph H. Watson, 88, of Olive Branch, Ill., died Saturday, March 1, 2003, at his home. He was born Jan. 29, 1915, at Villa Ridge, Ill., the son of Ralph and Mary Mariah Hayden Watson. He grew up on the family farm near Villa Ridge and attended school at the Villa Ridge School and the Old Meridian School, later graduating from Mounds High School in Mounds, Ill...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- George Dewey "Dude" Horman, 79, at Chaffee passed away on Saturday, March 1, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born May 12, 1923, at Bloymeyer, Mo., to the late Fred and Mayme Griffin Horman. He entered the United States Army on Oct. 25, 1944, during World War II. He was honorably discharged Aug. 30, 1945...

Political parties are OK TO TAKE the political parties out of politics is wrong. The parties are made up of people who have the same ideology. We come together as a group for common ideas. Every group does this, whether they are political or not. There is no guarantee what candidate will get money when you donate to a committee. But people donate because they believe in their party. I think House Bill 237 is wrong. If you want to limit money, let the people vote to do so...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University's baseball team lost a series for the second straight week to open the season as host Memphis pounded out a 14-6 victory Sunday afternoon. The Indians (2-4) and Tigers (3-2) had split Saturday's doubleheader. Southeast also dropped two of three at Alabama last weekend...

at Delta High School BOYS Today's first round: (1) Bell City (21-5) vs. (8) Marquand, 4 p.m.; (2) Oran (20-6) vs. (7) Oak Ridge, 5:30 p.m.; (3) Scott County Central (11-14) vs. (6) Delta (5-16), 7 p.m.; (4) Leopold (10-14) vs. (5) Zalma (9-12), 8:30 p.m....

Missouri third in venture capital investment An annual survey of venture capital investment activity in the United States shows that Missouri ranked third for the second year in a row in the Midwest region for venture capital investments during 2002, according to the Missouri Department of Economic Development...

Cape Girardeau Monday, March 3 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI Willie A. Pate, 47, of 2541 Fairlane Drive, received a summons Sunday for driving while intoxicated. Joel I. Alvarez, 21, of St. Louis received a summons Sunday for driving while intoxicated and failure to stop for a flashing red light. Arrests...

Boyer named president, operating officer of WIB Ken Boyer of Jackson has been named the new president and chief operating officer of Southeast Missouri Workforce Investment Board. The appointment was made Feb. 4. Boyer has been a senior employer of the group since 1991. ...

Teen killed, 25 wounded in incursion into Gaza JERUSALEM -- Israeli tanks firing shells and machine guns moved into two neighboring refugee camps in central Gaza today, witnesses said. A 14-year-old boy was killed and 25 Palestinians were wounded in the incursion, hospital officials said...

401 Independence St. 7 p.m. Monday Study session at 5 p.m.Public hearings A hearing on plans to improve an alley running from Fifth Street to Johnson Street between Main Street and Water Street. A hearing on plans to improve that part of an alley running from New Madrid Street to Mississippi Street between West End Boulevard and Illinois Avenue. Consent ordinances...

Guest artist E.E. Balcos will be in residence at Southeast Missouri State University through Friday. An expert in contact improvisation and other dance forms, Balcos will offer master classes throughout the week. A session at 6 p.m. today will be open to the public. The class will be in Room 210 at Parker Dance Studio...

Banquet, tournament among Jackson events The Jackson Chamber of Commerce has announced several upcoming events. The Educator of the Year banquet is scheduled for April 24. The chamber also is taking reservations for the April 11 golf tournament at Bent Creek Golf Course for teams and hole sponsors. Twelve teams are signed up already, and organizers can only accept 32 teams of four...

Jackson native named plane captain in Maine Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Matthew F. Carr, son of Ruth and Frank Carr of Jackson, recently was designated a plane captain while serving with Patrol Squadron Eight, Naval Air Station Brunswick, Maine...

Six of Cape Girardeau's old homes are the latest "original treasures," says the city's Historic Preservation Commission, which makes such designations three to four times a year. The commission recently recognized houses at 326 N. Middle, built in 1893 and owned by Bob Polack; at 230 Bellevue, built in 1875 and owned by Bridget Oliveto; at 204 Bellevue, built in 1913 and owned by Jeff and Donna Maguire; at 233 Bellevue, built in 1920 and owned by Frank and Ruth Moreland; at 214 N. ...

Beef, chicken dinner planned at Knights hall There will be a roast beef and fried chicken dinner from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the Knights of Columbus Hall on Highway 77 in Oran, Mo. The dinner is sponsored by Guardian Angel St. Ann's PCCW. -- From staff reports...

The first Southeast Missouri students to receive workplace readiness credentials will be honored March 11 at the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center. The credentials indicate to potential employers that the holders possess desirable entry-level skills, increasing the potential for on-the-job success...

WASHINGTON -- Every state allows children under 16 to be tried as adults, but new research indicates many cannot understand their situations well enough to aid their defense. The private MacArthur Foundation study released today said many children under 16 had as much difficulty grasping the complex legal proceedings as adults who had been ruled incompetent to go to court...

WASHINGTON -- The supervisor picked by FBI Director Robert Mueller to oversee internal discipline told senators he was unaware of any recent cases of light punishment for supervisors, even though a subordinate informed him of one such instance two months earlier, documents show...

Descending into National Airport aboard the last plane to fly on Sept. 11, 2001, the attorney general kept his counsel. John Ashcroft watched the Pentagon smolder black that afternoon and mourned Barbara Olsen, a beloved friend among its ashes. His silence ended when he landed. He ordered his offices moved from the Justice Department, with its broad rooms and stunning views of the Capitol, to a windowless bunker across the street at FBI headquarters...

CARLSBAD, Calif. -- Tiger Woods always knew the final piece of his World Golf Championships collection would be the toughest for him to win. David Toms made sure of that. Leading by as many as five holes, Woods recovered from a few shaky shots and held off a gritty charge by Toms Sunday to win the Match Play Championship, making him the first player to capture all four of the WGC tournaments...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- With one week in the regular season and the conference tournament still to go, the Big 12 already has four locks to make the NCAA tournament. What it doesn't have yet is a clear-cut champion -- and with several of the top teams meeting head-to-head this week, things could get really interesting down the stretch...

JUPITER, Fla. -- Ivan Rodriguez homered and drove in three runs, but the St. Louis Cardinals rallied three times Sunday for a 9-8 victory over the Florida Marlins. Eduardo Perez homered and drove in four runs for the Cardinals, and Edgar Renteria added a two-run shot as the Cardinals evened their spring training record at 2-2...

Having already pushed property tax levies to, in some cases, Missouri's legal limits or, in other cases, to the limits of taxpayer approval, some school districts across the state are looking for other ways to fund their operations and capital improvements...

Football Cornerback Aeneas Williams, among four players released by the St. Louis Rams late last week, agreed to terms on a two-year deal with the team. Contract terms weren't immediately available. Williams, a seven-time Pro Bowl player, missed the last half of the 2002 season with ankle and leg injuries. He has been working out at Rams Park nearly every day during the offseason, and is almost fully recovered...

LAS VEGAS -- Matt Kenseth solidified Roush Racing's hold on Las Vegas Motor Speedway by winning the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 on Sunday -- giving his team its fourth victory in the track's six-year Winston Cup history. Kenseth, who won a Winston Cup-best five races last season, got incredible help in the pits -- his crew gave his Ford four tires in 13 seconds on their final stop -- to jump out to a huge lead and beat Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the finish line by 9.104 seconds...

LAS VEGAS -- Roy Jones Jr. surprised John Ruiz by not running. There was nothing surprising about the masterful skills he used to become a heavyweight champion. So confident in his heavyweight debut that he was mocking Ruiz much of the fight, Jones stood in front of Ruiz and simply outboxed him Saturday night to win the WBA heavyweight title...

Vision 2020 and Old Town Cape are just two of the groups interested in developing downtown Cape Girardeau as a vibrant shopping area, tourist attraction and place to live. Cape Girardeau residents aren't afraid to dream big, especially when it comes to the city's downtown...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The number of farms in Missouri fell to about 107,000 last year, continuing a decline that's been going on for many years, the federal agriculture department said. The number of Missouri farms was down about 1 percent from 2001. The average farm size in 2002 was estimated at 279 acres, up 2 acres from the previous year...

ST. LOUIS -- As Missouri considers reforming its child-welfare system, some wonder whether the system is spreading itself too thin and could serve children better by narrowing its scope. They cite the sheer volume of calls to Missouri's child abuse hot line and the required response...

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan -- The stunning arrest of Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed by Pakistani intelligence and CIA agents began with a near miss last month in a dusty border town and became a feverish chase fueled by communications intercepts and suspects' interrogations, security officials said Sunday...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The United Arab Emirates won support Sunday from several Persian Gulf nations in its call for Saddam Hussein to quit power to avert a war, while Iraq poured scorn on the Emirates, calling it a tool of Israel. The king of Bahrain said he backs the call for Saddam to go, according to the Emirates state news agency. Kuwait's Cabinet also backed the measure, the official Kuwaiti news agency said...

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- A top member of Turkey's governing party on Sunday rejected a quick new vote on letting U.S. troops use the country to open a northern front against Iraq -- a second harsh blow to U.S. war planners in as many days. After a revolt in its ranks Saturday, the Islamic-rooted ruling party is in disarray, torn between popular opposition to war and fears of possible lasting damage to the historically close ties with Washington...

MOSCOW -- The typewritten letters on a yellowing page spell out the end of an era in striking shorthand. Next to the time -- 9:50 p.m., March 5, 1953 -- is just a brief entry: "Comrade I.V. Stalin died." So ends a medical report detailing Josef Stalin's last four days, as he lay dying in his Moscow dacha. It is part of a new exhibit at Russia's federal archives, whose officials hope it will help dispel decades of speculation that the Soviet dictator was done in by a Kremlin intrigue...

LONDON -- People should get no more than 10 percent of their calories from sugar, experts say in a major new report today on how to stem the global epidemic of obesity-linked diseases. The study is the most significant in more than a decade on what the world should be doing about its diet. Although concerns about sugar intake are not new, few experts have recommended a specific limit...

LOS ANGELES -- Josh Brolin says he wasn't interested in politically themed TV series in the past. But he signed on as star of NBC's new "Mister Sterling" because he thinks network television, prodded by the success of more daring fare on cable, is finally taking "bigger risks."...

NEW YORK -- They're classically trained Russian musicians steeped in Tchaikovsky and now playing Scruggs. The six young Russians who make up the group Bering Strait are children of scientists and engineers from a once-closed Soviet nuclear city. Now, they've played the Grand Ole Opry, released their first CD, been the subject of a music documentary and been nominated for a Grammy...

CHICAGO -- Instructions for installing child safety seats in cars are written in language too difficult for many adults to understand, researchers say. Such manuals are written at a 10th-grade reading level on average, according to a new study, while data suggest that nearly a quarter of U.S. adults read at or below a fifth-grade level, and at least 25 percent read at about an eighth-grade level...

Five killed in N.C. private plane crash ARARAT, N.C. -- A small plane crashed shortly after takeoff in northwestern North Carolina, killing all five people on board, authorities said. The Beech A-36 went down Saturday evening in a lightly wooded area near the Mount Airy-Surry County Airport, Surry County emergency services director John Shelton said...

CHICAGO -- Families of victims of the deadly Chicago nightclub stampede that left 21 dead are angry that a videotape of the disaster was televised before they had a chance to see it themselves. "We should have had the opportunity to see it privately and, I don't know, find some type of sense to all this before it was blasted over the TV," said Howard Ray Sr., whose son died in the Feb. 17 disaster...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- William Kelly sat in a driving rain outside Grace Church on Sunday, waiting to hear the bells toll for his niece, the latest victim of one of the country's deadliest nightclub fires. "I keep asking the Lord, 'Why?'" said Kelly, 57. "She was such a sweetheart."...

NASHVILLE, N.C. -- Block B's inmates at the Nash Correctional Institution bide their time playing cards or watching two TVs covered by metal grates. They also get religion, nurtured by prison chaplain Sidney Dunston. "A lot of people cry out in trouble. That's why he's there," said Frank Robinson Jr., a convicted murderer from Charlotte. "It's the presence of a godly man who can give you some advice."...

Myers' 'Austin Powers' based on his father ASPEN, Colo. -- When comedian Mike Myers was growing up, anyone who wanted to be invited to his home more than once had to be funny. "My dad was very like, if somebody came in the house that wasn't funny, it was like, 'Can't come anymore,"' said Myers, accepting the 2003 American Film Institute Star Award...

In a league that contains Rasheed Wallace on one coast, Pat Riley on the other and Ron Artest right in the middle (and right in the middle of everything), suspensions are as frequent as misspelled words at a Sylvan Learning Center. The frequency for collegiate coaches and players receiving suspensions is somewhere between misspelled words and unheard of...

Like drinking Starbucks coffee or going to Planet Hollywood, the latest trendy thing is to be against the war, to gleefully mock our country's president and for Dan Rather to portray Saddam Hussein as a "survivor" and America as an "invader" on the "CBS Evening News."...

Pity the plain old cup of coffee. It is a pale country cousin next to cappuccinos and lattes, mochas and macchiatos, espresso drinks made frothy with steamed milk and perked up with an orchard of flavors. This coffee is not dripped in the traditional way. ...

It's taken almost a year, but some Jackson residents are finally seeing the sunshine after the rain when it comes to fixing an erosion problem that wiped out as much as 25 feet from their back yards last spring. Three homeowners in the Annwood subdivision are combining efforts with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fix the banks of Williams Creek...

ike Holman, the new manager of AmerenUE's Cape Girardeau-based Southeast District, says his new job isn't hard to figure out. "It's not brain surgery," Holman said last week from his new office at Ameren's office at 45 S. Minnesota. "We're in the business of keeping the lights on and the gas flowing. We do that and we'll be successful."...

The First National Bank, which is based in Sikeston, Mo., but has a branch in Cape Girardeau, celebrated its charter's 100th birthday with a reception here last week. More than 200 area business owners attended the event held at 2027 Broadway. "Every business anniversary carries excitement and importance, but the 100-year milestone stands out as a true rarity in American business," bank CEO Troy Wilson told the crowd. ...

SNELLVILLE, Ga. -- Home Depot built itself into a retail giant with the style of scuffed and steel-toed workboots, its warehouse-style stores so big the lights sometimes don't reach into the shadowy corners of its vast aisles, with their handwritten signs and often dusty floors...

Proponents of a proposed Cape Girardeau water park say the community needs to take the plunge to replace Capaha Pool. The water park, they say, stands out as economic development project in a four-tax package on the April 8 ballot aimed largely at addressing city budget woes and building needs...

WASHINGTON -- The CIA wants to get inside Khalid Shaikh Mohammed's head. But his interrogators -- CIA, FBI or from a foreign security service -- are working against the clock. Mohammed's information about impending terrorist operations and the location of al-Qaida leaders and cells grows more dated by the hour...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- With U.N. weapons inspectors looking on, Iraq destroyed six Al Samoud 2 missiles Sunday but warned it may suspend the destruction program if the United States indicates it will go to war anyway. In two days, Iraq has destroyed 10 of the banned weapons, about a tenth of its stock of the missiles, which the United Nations has ordered eliminated. ...

KENNETT, Mo. -- I have always believed in the ability of my state to tackle any challenge and to meet the future with a determination to overcome and to succeed. I have viewed my fellow residents as being among those rare individuals who would respond to the needs of others and would do so in the biblical spirit of meeting the basic wants of all God's children...

10 years ago: March 4, 1993 Convention and Visitors Bureau will reconsider whether city should sponsor "town hall" meeting regarding riverboat gambling in Cape Girardeau; CVB Advisory Board last week voted to hold three informational meetings to discuss riverboat casino, cost of which wasn't to exceed $1,500; however, group will reconsider its actions because of public concerns over expenditure of city funds for what might be considered promotion of riverboat gambling in city...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Billy Joe Harris, 41, of Belleview, Mo., formerly of Advance, died Saturday, March 1, 2003, at his home. He was born April 22, 1961, son of J. Paul and Margaret Richardson Harris. He married Kelly Jo Hopper on Aug. 23, 1979, at Eufaula, Ala...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Falvyn Dewayne Grice, 38, formerly of Cairo, died Sunday, March 2, 2003, at Pinckneyville Correctional Center in Pinckneyville, Ill. Friends may call at Massie Funeral Home in Cairo after 11 a.m. Wednesday. The funeral will be at noon Wednesday at the funeral home, with the Rev. Ronnie Mack Sr. officiating. Burial will be in Spencer Heights Memorial Park in Mounds, Ill...

ANNA, Ill. -- Flora B. Baggott, 93, of Greenville, Miss., died Monday, March 3, 2003, at Mississippi Care Center. Crain Funeral Home in Anna is in charge of arrangements.

Sidney James Holder, 68, of Woodbridge, Va., died Thursday, Feb. 27, 2003, at Potomac Hospital in Woodbridge. He was born March 18, 1934, at Fornfelt, Mo., son of Ardell A. and Margaret Holder Sr. Holder was a member of VFW Post 1503 in Dale City, Va., and VFW Post 7916 in Occoquan, Va...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Kimberly Lynn Haynes, 41, of Nashville, Tenn., died Saturday, March 1, 2003, at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville. She was born Aug. 22, 1961, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Jerry and Sue Underwood Haynes. She was formerly of Marble Hill...

The funeral for Henry W. "Hank" Ueleke of Dixon, Ill., was held Monday at Preston-Schilling Funeral Home in Dixon. Dana LaBerge officiated. Burial was in Oakwood Cemetery, with full military graveside service by combined veterans organizations. Ueleke, 73, died Thursday, Feb. 27, 2003, at his home...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Leona R. Pillars, 75, of Perryville died Sunday, March 2, 2003, at her home. She was born Feb. 3, 1928, at New Wells, Mo., daughter of Charles Erwin and Hilda Rozena Bodenschatz Hoffman. She and Charles A. Pillars were married March 25, 1944...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Stella M. Pikey, 88, of Bloomfield died Saturday, March 1, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 13, 1914, at Portageville, Mo., daughter of Tom and Laucinda Hawkins White. She and Cecil Pikey were married Jan. 3, 1934, at New Madrid, Mo. He died June 8, 1972...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Freda Valeria Ice, 93, of Union City, Tenn., died Monday, March 3, 2003, at Beverly Nursing Home in Union City. She was born Sept. 26, 1909, in Karnak, Ill., daughter of Claude and Delsie Miller Bolen. She married Bill Ice, who died Jan. 22, 1963...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Mildred Robinson, 92, of Sikeston died Saturday, March 1, 2003. She was born Feb. 4, 1911, in Meadowview, Va., daughter of Solomon Lee and Victoria Davenport Logan. She and William Henry Robinson were married in May 1942. He died in 1952...

BENTON, Mo. -- Marcus Aron Slinkard, 25, of High Ridge, Mo., died Saturday, March 1, 2003, at his home. He was born Sept. 20, 1977, in St. Louis, son of Louis and Sharon Turman Slinkard. Slinkard was equipment manager with Washington Inventory Service...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- John Waldron, 72, of Hardin, Ky., died Friday, Feb. 28, 2003, at Murray Calloway County Medical Center in Murray, Ky. He was born March 2, 1930, in Pocahontas, Ark., son of Marvin and Tula Caldwell Waldron. He and Billie Jean Larker were married Nov. 19, 1950. She died Nov. 4, 2002...

BELL CITY, Mo. -- Jesse Michael Barnes, 62, of Bell City died Sunday, March 2, 2003, at his home. He was born July 30, 1940, in Jackson, Tenn., son of Jesse and Inez Holloway Barnes. He and Vivian Lee were married Aug. 21, 1965. Barnes was a teacher at Bell City Schools 14 years and principal at Bell City High School three years. He had worked the past 24 years at Missouri Division of Employment in Sikeston, Mo...

Weather statistics IN REGARD to your weather forecast, I really appreciate you listing the normal highs and lows, and it's also interesting to know what the record high and low were. I appreciate it. Thank you. Wrong generation I WASTED my time in watching the Grammy awards show. ...

To the editor: I have been hearing all weekend about Gov. Bob Holden wanting to balance the Missouri budget. I am all for a balanced budget, but how does he figure on doing this? By taking money from our schools. That will hurt our kids in the future, and they will be put further behind later in life when a good education is needed in the job market. I can see a job applicant saying, "No, I didn't graduate because my governor cut our education taxes."...

To the editor: I am an 18-year-old senior at Oak Ridge High School. I have a question dealing with the school at Oak Ridge. I have a Mohawk haircut cut close on the sides and about 2 inches long on the top. I wear it spiked on the top. The principal of the school instructed me today to put my Mohawk down because it was a distraction. ...

To the editor: On Feb. 18, the Missouri House of Representatives voted in favor of legislation that affects the welfare of all Missouri residents. House Bill 390 (and its companion bill, Senate Bill 300) would license anesthesiologist assistants to practice in this state. SB 300 will soon be debated...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Two of Missouri's top players say they plan to return to school for their senior seasons to play for the Tigers. Arthur Johnson has drawn attention after leading the Big 12 with 15 double-doubles this season, while Rickey Paulding has been projected as a first-round NBA draft pick...

Fourth-seeded Meadow Heights' boys basketball team used a halftime buzzer beater to shift the mometum its way and dispose of fifth-seeded South Iron 77-70 in the first round of the Class 2, District 2 tournament Monday at Black River Coliseum in Poplar Bluff, Mo...

P Laws in Indiana and other states requires face-to-face counseling with medical professionals as well as a waiting period before having an abortion. Women need to be informed in making this decision. For decades, the issue of abortion has created an embroiling debate, a hot-button issue unlike any in American history...

With Cape Girardeau's budget such as it is -- tight -- city firefighters could simply have complained about there not being enough money for a tool they truly need: a thermal-imaging camera that would help them find people trapped in burning, smoke-filled homes...

It seems as if it has been forever since I have written my last article -- vacation can do that to you! For this week, and the previous week, my "region" has its last half of a two-week winter break. Scholar regions are split into three groups: A, which is my region and includes Alsace, Normandy/ Brittany, the Rhône Valley and the southernmost part of France; B, which includes the French Riviera, Champagne country, Burgundy and the Loire Valley; and C, which includes Paris and the surrounding area, also known as "Île de France," and Bordeaux. ...

Picture a cross between Dennis the Menace and Freddy Krueger and you'll have some idea of what you're dealing with when you sit down to play the darkly amusing "Vexx." The star of this new Xbox title, from Acclaim, has a mischievous look in his eyes and a set of amazingly evil slasher claws like the "Nightmare on Elm Street" movie monster...

Cape Girardeau Tuesday, March 4 Firefighters responded to the following call Saturday: At 10:08 p.m., an emergency medical service at 20 S. Sprigg.Firefighters responded to the following calls Sunday: At 6:02 a.m., an alarm at 1025 N. Sprigg. At 6:22 a.m., an alarm at 400 N. Frederick...

Cape Girardeau Tuesday, March 4 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI Timothy H. Ainley, 38, of 283 Graphite Lane, Cape Girardeau, was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, possession of drug paraphernalia and failure to stop.Arrests...

Public hearings * Held a hearing on plans to improve an alley running from Fifth Street to Johnson Street between Main Street and Water Street. * Held a hearing on plans to improve that part of an alley running from New Madrid Street to Mississippi Street between West End Boulevard and Illinois Avenue. Consent ordinances...

Judge: Sniper suspect may face death penalty FAIRFAX, Va. -- A judge rejected defense arguments Monday that Virginia's death penalty law is unconstitutional and barred cameras in the courtroom for the trial of teenage sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo...

WASHINGTON -- FBI and CIA experts dug through piles of information Monday from the Pakistani home of alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, searching for clues that new strikes might be imminent. U.S. authorities also questioned Mohammed on Monday, seeking information about safe houses and hideouts used by the al-Qaida terror network, a Pakistani intelligence official said. Mohammed's exact whereabouts were unclear...

WASHINGTON -- Four armed North Korean fighter jets intercepted a U.S. reconnaissance plane over the Sea of Japan and one of the Korean jets used its radar in a manner that indicated it might attack, U.S. officials said Monday. Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said it was the first such incident since April 1969 when a North Korean plane shot down a U.S. Navy EC-121 surveillance plane, killing all 31 Americans aboard...

WASHINGTON -- Manufacturing barely grew and consumers cut spending amid worries about a possible war with Iraq. The Institute for Supply Management's index of manufacturing activity fell to 50.5 in February, a marked deterioration from January's reading of 53.9...

WASHINGTON -- Babies and toddlers have a 10 times greater cancer risk than adults when exposed to certain gene-damaging chemicals, the government said Monday, in proposing tougher environmental guidelines that would take into account the greater hazards to the young...

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. -- Rhode Island is investigating allegations that players received money from former basketball coach Jim Harrick's staff and boosters and had their grades changed. University spokeswoman Linda Acciardo said last month the school was investigating alleged violations outlined in a lawsuit it settled with former athletic department employee Christine King...

ASHBURN, Va. -- The Washington Redskins have been signing free agents so quickly that owner Dan Snyder had to rotate the pilots who fly the new players in on his jet. "You don't know what day it is," director of player personnel Vinny Cerrato said Monday. "We've been just going and going. The kids are coming in, you're working, taking them to dinner at night...

ST. LOUIS -- A Texas man was charged in federal court Monday after a routine traffic stop on Interstate 44 led sheriff's deputies in southwest Missouri to 1,000 pounds of marijuana in the back of a tractor-trailer. Pascual del Angel, 51, of Bridgeport, Texas, was charged with possession with the intent to distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana, said spokeswoman Jan Diltz of the U.S. attorney's office in St. Louis...

New U.S. Embassy opens in Kenya NAIROBI, Kenya -- A new, heavily fortified U.S. Embassy was inaugurated Monday in Nairobi, 4 1/2 years after a terrorist attack on the complex killed 219 people. The four-story building is the first U.S. mission to be built from scratch since Congress authorized upgrades to diplomatic missions around the world after the Aug. 7, 1998 bombing...

JERUSALEM -- Israeli troops arrested reclusive Hamas ideologue Mohammed Taha on Monday in a deadly raid, signaling a change in Israeli strategy that until now had not targeted the Islamic militant group's leadership. Backed by attack helicopters and tanks, troops blew up Taha's home and three others in the Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. Eight people died in the raid, and besides the 65-year-old Hamas co-founder, his five sons -- all Hamas activists -- were arrested...

The Associated Press NEW YORK --In a scheme prosecutors described as pure greed, ImClone Systems founder Samuel Waksal admitted Monday to dodging $1.2 million in sales taxes on nine paintings he bought from a New York art gallery. Waksal, 55, pleaded guilty in federal court to wire fraud and conspiracy, admitting he ducked the city and state taxes by having bills for the paintings sent to an ImClone office in New Jersey and the art shipped to his Manhattan apartment...

Anastacia to undergo treatment for cancer NEW YORK -- Anastacia is scheduled to undergo radiation therapy after having surgery to remove cancer from her breast, her publicist said Monday. The 30-year-old pop singer, who also had reconstructive surgery on her breast, underwent a seven-hour operation last month at an undisclosed hospital in New York. Her cancer was detected during a routine checkup in January...

In 1972, a New York dance company led by choreographer Steve Paxton created a dance form that became known as contact improvisation. It is a kind of dancing that relies on sensed communication with other dancers, on balancing with partners and working with their momentum...

In 1972, a New York dance company led by choreographer Steve Paxton created a dance form that became known as contact improvisation. It is a kind of dancing that relies on sensed communication with other dancers, on balancing with partners and working with their momentum...

MIKE WELLS * mwells@semissourian.com John P. Heisserer, center, was sworn into office Monday as the new circuit judge for Division II of the 32nd Circuit Court District by Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Stephen Limbaugh. Heisserer's children, Tess and Jed, held the Bible he placed his left hand on while taking the oath of office at the Court of Common Pleas in Cape Girardeau.By Mike Wells ~ Southeast Missourian...

Southeast women hope to convert their best-ever OVC finish into trip to Nashville. By Marty Mishow ~ Southeast Missourian Southeast Missouri State University's women had little trouble winning both games against Eastern Illinois during the regular season...

Southeast faces OVC co-champion Morehead State in opening round of OVC Tournament. By Marty Mishow ~ Southeast Missourian Southeast Missouri State University coach Gary Garner plans to give the Indians a motivational blast from his past as they prepare for the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament...

Oakland pitcher Tim Hudson knows he's supposed to be excited about opening the major league baseball season in Japan. And if the world situation were less precarious, he probably would be. Instead, with the United States preparing for war, Hudson is worried about the March 25-26 games against Seattle...

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- In the first games of spring training, players aren't the only ones getting ready for the season. Fans have made their pilgrimages from the white, wintry North, grateful enough to thaw out, twice blessed by a return to the rhythms of the game after five months away. Others are year-rounders down here, coming to the cozy ballparks on a break from work, school or the golf course...

The Associated Press JUPITER, Fla. -- Jason Simontacchi and Dustin Hermanson each pitched two scoreless innings and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Mets 7-1 Monday. Soon after the game started, St. Louis manager Tony La Russa left for his home in Oakland to attend the trial of a defendant accused of assaulting one of his daughters...

Cape Girardeau's Convention and Visitors Bureau wants to spend an estimated $650,000 in surplus motel and restaurant tax money to help develop attractions that would draw tourists to the city. CVB and chamber of commerce officials say they don't have specific plans yet, but they want the council to allow the chamber-operated agency access to the money and use a small amount of the money to pay for a tourism study...

Saxony Lutheran High School freshman Trey Maevers took special care getting ready for school Monday morning. First came the blue hair gel, which he used to flattened hair on one side of his head. Then came the gold hair gel, which he used to make hair on the other side of his head stand up...

Basement sleeping rooms in Cape Girardeau will have to meet new safety requirements designed to prevent fatal fires. The city council on Monday approved the first reading of a measure adopting the 2000 building codes and the 2002 electrical code on a 6 to 1 vote with Councilwoman Marcia Ritter casting the lone dissenting vote...

Cape Girardeau School District officials have added March 21 to the makeup days students will attend as a result of winter weather cancellations earlier this year. Originally, the day could not be used as a makeup day because of a district music competition that was scheduled to take place at Central High School. The competition has been rescheduled for March 22...

The career Jeff Markland had planned was cut short by a sports injury and a 20-year addiction to drugs. But now, Markland, a former NFL player for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins, says he's enjoying true success. "I'm doing good things with my life and I know who I am and what I want to do with my life," he said...

In the two years that people have been gathering on the first Tuesday of the month for prayer, the group has met in nearly every church in Cape Girardeau. Today the First Tuesday Noon Worship group will meet at noon at the Cape Girardeau schools office, 301 N. Clark. Future meetings are being scheduled on the Southeast Missouri State University campus and possibly at a veteran's hall...

Jackson city administrator Jim Roach calls them small projects, but little projects like these can go a long way, he said. The Jackson Board of Aldermen acted on two infrastructure improvements Monday night involving the extension of utilities in two separate industrial parks...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The latest review of compliance with the state Sunshine Law by public bodies yielded good news and bad news, State Auditor Claire McCaskill said. McCaskill's audit, released Monday, focused on how public bodies handle closed meetings...

CHESTER, Ill. -- When Canadian Millie Strom married Rodney Yoder, the mental patient who recently fought and lost a battle to be released from the Chester Mental Health Center after 12 years, she said she was "sentencing him to a lifetime of love."...

As one set of black robes was set aside by a man who gave nine years to public service, another was donned for the first time Monday by a new judge coming to the bench from 21 years in private practice. Raising his right hand and placing his left on a Bible held by his son and daughter, John P. ...

Old Man Winter seems to have a strong grip on Southeast Missouri, but area schoolchildren are delighted he's still around. With more than 20 inches of snow since November, some school districts have had to cancel classes almost once a week. And last week was no exception: Schools were out for snow days on Monday and plenty had expected to be out Thursday because of weather forecasts that called for more snowfall...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraq crushed missiles, sliced casting chambers, unearthed bombs and sent scientists to talk with U.N. weapons inspectors Monday, all in a desperate effort to prove it is disarming before a crucial U.N. report at the end of the week...

ST. LOUIS -- The first thing that strikes you as you walk into the new Busch Stadium is the view beyond the outfield walls. Unlike the completely-enclosed old Busch, the new stadium features an open plaza in center, and the view is spectacular. In left-center, nestled among downtown hotels and office buildings sits the Old Courthouse where the Dred Scott slavery case was heard. ...

Cape Girardeau Wednesday, March 5The following items were released by theCapeGirardeau Police Department.Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Fate Dayrelle Coaty, 30, of 1111 Bloomfield, Cape Girardeau, was arrested Monday on a city of Cape Girardeau warrant for failure to appear for confinement and two Pemiscot County warrants for failure to appear...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University's women's softball team opened its season Tuesday with a split of a doubleheader with Lipscomb University. Southeast debuted with a 6-0 victory behind the two-hit pitching of Kelly Birk, but the Otahkians then dropped the second game 6-5...

Nuts are the sweetest Mother Nature provides, but toughest to crack. Hawaii, as Michener noted, may be the planet's ultimate melting pot. As such the islands have always been good at taking advantage of the wares of others. Even the ukulele, it turns out, originated in Portugal...

Scott and I had the pleasure of dining with friends from our church over the weekend. Robert and Adelaide Parsons had us over to dinner and she prepared a lovely paella. Many of you right now might be saying to yourself, "What is paella?" Well, paella is a rice dish that originated in Spain. ...

After more than a year of debate, the bar has finally been set for Missouri school districts striving to meet demanding new standardized test requirements under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. During a seminar Tuesday in Cape Girardeau, around 60 public school administrators from throughout Southeast Missouri received the latest information handed down from the federal government regarding the NCLB Act, a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965...

CHICAGO -- It is a quest for 15 minutes of fame that can turn into a few humiliating moments of shame. Still, a growing number of people are putting themselves out there -- smiling or serious, sometimes scantily clad -- asking strangers on the Internet and even celebrity judges on TV to rate their bodies and looks...

Shopping carefully and planning menus with seasonal vegetables can help save you money. By Tommy C. Simmons ~ The Baton Rouge AdvocateBATON ROUGE, La. -- It's time to budget, to pay off holiday bills, insurance statements and credit-card debt, and put money aside for April's income tax reckonings. So, it's also a good time for a primer on a frugal food buy, "Boston butt" pork roast...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A plan to help balance Missouri's budget with revenue bonds may fall through for lack of time, a top state official warned Tuesday. The process of issuing revenue bonds typically takes four to six months. But the state is trying to do it in less than two months, to pump $150 million into the state budget for the fiscal year that ends June 30...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Keenen Patterson was attending his first upper-level staff meeting at the Department of Natural Resources, filling in for his supervisor and taking notes to share with her. He wrote what he thought was most important first, emphasizing it in all capital letters: "Warning: If a senator or representative asks you for ideas about how to reduce the department's budget, Do not do it. This is a firing offense."...

WASHINGTON -- Increasing reports of major side effects -- cancer and liver failure -- are spurring the government to reassess the safety of rheumatoid arthritis drugs that gave patients unprecedented hope when they began hitting the market four years ago...

UNITED NATIONS -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed to a deeply divided Security Council on Tuesday to find common ground on Iraq, saying he is optimistic of an agreement. But some council members said they weren't so hopeful. The United States has been pressing for a vote next week on a resolution to give U.N. ...

ANKARA, Turkey -- The Turkish government may again ask parliament to allow in U.S. troops for an Iraq war, the nation's top politician indicated Tuesday while telling lawmakers to base their decisions on what is best for "the country's future." That future would include a say in northern Iraq and a $15 billion aid package from the United States if parliament approves the deployment of 62,000 troops Washington wants to open a northern front against Iraq in the event of war...

WASHINGTON -- The Army's oldest armored division, "Old Ironsides," got orders Tuesday to head for the Persian Gulf as the total of U.S. land, sea and air forces arrayed against Iraq or preparing to go neared 300,000. The commander who would lead the war, Gen. Tommy R. Franks, met at the Pentagon with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and was to consult with President Bush at the White House today. Last week Franks reviewed his war plan with commanders at his Gulf command post...

SEOUL, South Korea -- After North Korean fighter jets intercepted a U.S. reconnaissance plane, the communist country said Tuesday the threat of armed confrontation on the Korean Peninsula was growing because of what it called U.S. aggression. North Korea did not comment on the interception of the plane. Its state-run media instead criticized annual U.S.-South Korean military exercises that began Tuesday, saying they were preparation for an attack. The exercise, named Foal Eagle, ends April 2...

A strongly worded letter from a Cape Girardeau County commissioner didn't stop a Chicago consultant from filing her final report on the county's juvenile detention center needs, a topic that the commission, judges and juvenile officials have been debating for two years...

A steady stream of traffic rolls along Mount Auburn Road, which increasingly looks more like a freeway than the lonely rural route it once was. Work began this week to widen four-lane Mount Auburn to provide a left turn lane in the road's center that extends from William to Independence streets. The work will ultimately place traffic lights at the Mount Auburn-Independence intersection...

Business owner Jim Drury filed another lawsuit against the River Campus project on Tuesday, prompting frustrated city officials to say they may countersue for damages. The latest suit also threatens funding of the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau. City officials, tired of repeated legal battles, reacted bitterly to the Drury suit. Mayor Jay Knudtson called Drury's actions "childish."...

HOUSTON -- Melted aluminum was found on Columbia's thermal tiles and inside the leading edge of the left wing, bolstering the theory that the shuttle was destroyed by hot gases that penetrated a damaged spot on the wing, the accident investigation board said Tuesday...

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...

Friday will mark the 10th year for the annual Doctors vs. Lawyers Basketball Showdown, and the lawyers want to send the competition to the hospital. "Last year, it was decided by a free shot, so the attorneys weren't too happy," said Larry Essner, executive director of the Community Counseling Center Foundation and organizer of the game. "They're looking for revenge this year."...

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Gov. Paul Patton influenced the promotion of a friend of his former mistress, the state transportation agency said Tuesday. Officials of the Transportation Cabinet had previously said the promotion of vehicle enforcement officer Monty Clark was based on merit, not pressure from the governor's office or from Tina Conner, Patton's mistress...

From horse's mouth SO WHY are the ads running about Gov. Bob Holden not cutting education and never saying that he would? I'm sorry, but I heard it straight from his mouth. He said that he would start with education if he had to trim the budget. Do something...

When Oak Ridge High School senior Jolani McCanless arrived for class Thursday morning, his spiky hair became a point of contention. He sported a new mohawk haircut, clipped short with a stripe of longer hair from his forehead to his neck stretched out in points with hairspray...

10 years ago: March 5, 1993 Wally Lage, general manager of the Paducah Sun newspaper and vice president of newspaper operations for Paducah Newspapers, Inc., has been hired as publisher of the Southeast Missourian newspaper, effective Monday; in addition, perspective editor Jon K. Rust will become assistant to publisher...

From staff reports More soldiers in the region received deployment orders this week as the international movement of U.S. troops continued to gain speed. The 1221st Transportation Company of the Missouri National Guard was ordered to prepare for deployment by March 15. The company is part of 1,000 Missouri National Guard members who were ordered to report for active duty, and their assignment is expected to last a year...

A graphic in Tuesday's edition incorrectly listed the Riverside Regional Library as the Cape Girardeau County Library. The incorrect name was provided by the Missouri state auditor's office. The following students names were omitted from the fifth-grade A honor roll at Central Middle School in Tuesday's edition: Mason Brennecke, Adeline Yates and Paige Yount. Jaron Brennecke's name on the fifth-grade A honor roll at the school was misspelled...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Martha M. Coker, 70, of Olive Branch died Tuesday, March 4, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Aug. 14, 1932, in Wyatt, Mo., daughter of Walter and Mamie Housman. She married James Coker in 1966. She was a member of the Trinity Assembly of God Church in Olive Branch and taught Sunday school...

Nellie M. King, 92, of Scott City died Thursday, Feb. 27, 2003, at Chaffee Nursing Home in Chaffee, Mo. She was born Feb. 23, 1911, at Mineral Point, Mo., daughter of Fred and Mary May Bone Day. She and Theodore W. King were married Feb. 26, 1927, at Potosi, Mo. He died July 27, 1989...

Grace McNeely, 89, of Fruitland died Monday, March 3, 2003, at her home. She was born Dec. 19, 1913, at Puxico, Mo., daughter of Alexander C. and Lucy Cotner Whitledge. She and George Melvin McNeely were married May 31, 1941. He died Nov. 10, 1984. McNeely worked more than 15 years in various positions at Deal Nursing Home in Jackson, retiring in 1984 as purchasing agent. She was a member of First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Colonial Senior Citizens, and Fruitland Fire District Auxiliary...

Dean Sides, 89, died Tuesday, March 4, 2003, at the Carroll House in Carrollton, Mo. She is formerly of Burfordville. McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson is in charge of arrangements.

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Paul G. Fisher Jr., 81, of Sikeston died Tuesday, March 4, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Nov. 7, 1921, at Sullivan, Mo., son of Paul G. and Alice L. Fisher Sr. He and Alice Marlin were married in 1950 in St. Louis...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Geraldine Watkins, 92, of Sikeston died Tuesday, March 4, 2003, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born Oct. 21, 1910, in Grant City, Mo., daughter of Samuel and Viola Lawrence Pratt. She and Clarence "Bud" Watkins were married Oct. 14, 1927. He died Oct. 8, 1957...

ANNA, Ill. -- The funeral for Flora B. Baggott of Greenville, Miss., will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at First Baptist Church in Anna. The Rev. Tim Sadler will officiate. Burial will be in Cobden Cemetery at Cobden, Ill. Friends may call at the funeral home from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday, and Friday until time of service...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Lila J. Childers, 75, of Mounds died Monday, March 3, 2003, at her home. She was born May 5, 1927, in Dongola, Ill., daughter of Lowell S. and Cleeta Keller. She married Bill Childers, who preceded her in death. Childers had been a clerk 20 years at the Ben Franklin Store and also was a cook with Head Start, both in Mounds. She was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Mound City, Ill...

To the editor: In response to Patricia Cox's letter, we are also grieved that a little girl fell and got hurt at the Boys and Girls Club. That little girl is healing rapidly and doing much better. We are grateful for the medical community and for folks who bring their children to the Boys and Girls Club, which continues to offer educational and recreational programs for the kids so that they can improve their grades, improve decision making and grow into responsible adults...

To the editor: "So what did you talk about?" We expect that when we return from our coffee club. Politics? Movies? Last night's supper? How about tabby? No, not cats. George had been to the Georgia coast and brought a postcard of St. Simons with a picture of the 104-foot lighthouse built of tabby. The senior member of our fraternity spoke for all of us: "What is tabby?"...

To the editor: What is the real reason for the U.S. crusade against Iraq? We have been crying wolf about Iraq and its alleged weapons of mass destruction. But our 400-person weapons inspection team with U.S. experts using U.S. intelligence, U.S. helicopters and U.S. U-2 spy planes directed by U.S. intelligence agencies have found nothing. Further, Iraq has allowed all locations including palaces and private property to be inspected. Scientists have provided private interviews...

To the editor: I will admit that I sometimes get frustrated when I get stuck behind a slow driver, but then I decide to think about the person instead of the situation. Maybe he is a World War II veteran. I bet he moved like lightning as he stormed the beach at Normandy. He may be one of those who risked his life for all of us, including those impatient, ungrateful tailgaters...

To the editor: I would like to express the citizens of Cape Girardeau how proud I am of my father, John R. Heckrotte. He has spoken up many times in regard to the TIF proposal. He has no political ties with anyone nor owns any business or land. He is doing this for the citizens of Cape Girardeau...

Since its inception in 1961, more than 168,000 Americans have volunteered for the Peace Corps, an international volunteer organization that provides educational and technical assistance around the globe. Currently, the Peace Corps has some 7,000 volunteers in the field, but officials hope that number can be increased to 15,000 over the next five years...

The winter of 2002-03 will, no doubt, be remembered as one of the coldest, snowiest, iciest and gloomiest in memory. Years from now, coffee-shop regulars will sip their scalding brew during the coldest months of the year and talk, as usual, about the weather. Somewhere in the conversation, someone will say, "Remember that winter -- when was it? -- that we had snow or ice every Thursday?"...

Cape Girardeau Wednesday, March 5 Firefighters responded to the following items Monday: At 2:35 p.m., an emergency medical service at 3439 William. At 6:23 p.m., a still alarm at 126 Camelia. At 11:39 p.m., a still alarm at 2800 Gordonville Road.Firefighters responded to the following items Tuesday:...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Reducing the corporate income tax rate -- one of the few legislative priorities of Missouri's Democratic governor to be embraced by Republican lawmakers -- was considered by a House committee Tuesday. The bill would lower the corporate income tax rate by one percentage point from 6.25 percent to 5.25 percent starting July 1...

WASHINGTON -- Janet Rehnquist, the daughter of Chief Justice William Rehnquist, will resign as inspector general of the Health and Human Services Department after a controversial tenure. Rehnquist wrote President Bush that she will leave June 1 to spend more time with her teenage daughters and pursue other professional opportunities...

WASHINGTON -- Republican lawmakers showed the same disdain for President Bush's latest Medicare prescription drug plan Tuesday as they did his first one a month ago, promising that after two failed attempts by the White House they will write their own plan with bigger benefits for older Americans...

QUINCY, Ill. -- A Quincy University fraternity has been at least temporarily shut down after a highly publicized incident involving a puppy that was thrown from a Mississippi River bridge last month. Alpha Delta Gamma's national office ordered the Quincy chapter to move out of its on-campus house this week and suspended the university's 25 members. The university will help the displaced members find housing...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Four years after voters narrowly rejected the idea, the Missouri House gave initial approval Tuesday to a bill that would allow people to seek permits to carry concealed guns. The latest proposal would not go to a statewide vote but would require the signature of Democratic Gov. Bob Holden, who in the past has threatened to veto legislation similar to the 1999 ballot measure...

MANILA, Philippines -- A bomb planted inside a backpack ripped through an airport terminal in the southern Philippines on Tuesday, killing at least 21 people -- including an American missionary -- and injuring about 150 in the nation's worst terrorist attack in three years...

NAIROBI, Kenya -- The governor of Kenya's Central Bank resigned Tuesday in a widening scandal over the collapse of a private bank that held millions of dollars in public pension funds. Nahashon Nyagah, 47, stepped down amid accusations that he failed to prevent the loss of $17.9 million that state-owned companies and institutions deposited in the Euro Bank, which collapsed last month...

ANTWERP, Belgium -- The thieves stood ankle-deep in a mess of diamonds, gold, jewelry, stocks, bonds, cash and lockboxes strewn on the vault room floor. After outwitting security in the world's diamond-cutting capital and prying open 123 vaults, they had one unexpected problem: There was just too much loot to carry...

ATHENS, Greece -- The alleged chief hit man of Greece's deadliest terrorist group accepted "political responsibility" Tuesday for a spree of killings and bombings that spanned nearly three decades. "I assume political responsibility for every action," Dimitris Koufodinas, charged with taking part in 16 killings by the group November 17, told the court...

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- A Swedish commission blamed the government Tuesday for failing to follow leads in the 1945 disappearance of Raoul Wallenberg, who was captured by Soviet troops after saving thousands of Hungarian Jews during World War II. In 2001, Russia acknowledged for the first time that Wallenberg and his driver were imprisoned for political reasons until they died, but didn't say how, where or when they died...

BEIJING -- China convened a landmark session of its largely toothless legislature Wednesday, preparing to anoint a new generation of leaders who will shepherd Asia's fastest-growing economy through fundamental economic and social change. At the top of the agenda was the virtually certain ascension of Hu Jintao, the Communist Party's newly installed general secretary, to the presidency now held by Jiang Zemin. ...

JERUSALEM -- Yasser Arafat is considering a Palestinian billionaire without political clout as prime minister, but has been told by his Fatah movement that it will only accept PLO deputy chief Mahmoud Abbas in the job, officials said Tuesday. The wrangling is not just over names, but over whether the prime minister will have real power to set policy. ...

BEIJING -- A strong aftershock hit the Xinjiang region of northwestern China on Tuesday, little more than a week after an earthquake struck the area and killed at least 268 people, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. No new casualties were immediately reported...

NEW ORLEANS -- Thousands of revelers shook off the fear of war and the struggling economy Tuesday as they celebrated Mardi Gras with a vast and raucous street party under a bone-chilling fog rolling off the Mississippi River. The problems with Iraq and North Korea were drowned out by the music and good cheer of Fat Tuesday. The only evidence was in costumes of duct tape and plastic, along with "Bomb Iraq" bull's eyes...

ALLENDALE, N.J. -- The Today Sponge contraceptive is back on the market, eight years after it disappeared from U.S. drug store shelves in an alarming turn famously depicted on a "Seinfeld" episode. The return of the sponge is expected to lead to bulk buying -- and perhaps more spontaneous romance -- among its fiercely loyal users...

CHICAGO -- She was once known as U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun, but now the former lawmaker and Democratic presidential hopeful has dropped the hyphen. A spokesman said the decision was made after several media inquiries about how to refer to Braun, who announced in February that she would begin fund raising for a White House bid...

WEST WARWICK, R.I. -- At least one member of Great White testified Tuesday before a grand jury deciding whether criminal charges should be filed in the deadly nightclub fire sparked by the band's pyrotechnic display. Also Tuesday, relatives of two of the 98 people killed in the Feb. 20 blaze filed what is believed to be the first lawsuit filed in the tragedy...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Police were searching for a bicyclist suspected of randomly riding up to at least 21 different women and punching them in the face. An arrest warrant was issued Monday for Richard Jiron, 42, who has been linked by witnesses to three of the attacks, police said. Jiron was last seen Thursday, the day police released a composite sketch...

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Federal agents routinely seize property used in crimes, from drug dealer's cars to hackers' computers. But the government has begun nabbing Internet domain names -- a tactic civil libertarians say threatens online merchants and could enable the feds to spy on unwitting Web surfers...

LOUISBURG, N.C. -- Jesica Santillan, the Mexican teenager who died last month after a bungled heart-lung transplant, was laid to rest in a rural North Carolina cemetery Tuesday as the ethical debate over her treatment continued to swirl. The 17-year-old girl's coffin was slipped into a mausoleum wall and covered with a slab of pink granite as her parents watched. Some 100 mourners attended the outdoor service...

Regis launches talent search for co-host NEW YORK -- Regis Philbin has found a way to feed off "American Idol" and mark time until co-host Kelly Ripa returns from maternity leave. "Live With Regis and Kelly" has launched a talent search for a co-host that will culminate with the winner working as Philbin's partner on the talk show's April 16 edition...

Tuesday marked the 3,519th career day in my professional career. If I'm exaggerating, it's only slightly. Near the beginning of every calendar year -- as sure as the snowfall and the resulting crazed rush on bread and milk at Cape Girardeau grocery stores -- every school in Southeast Missouri has a career day. This is an event where hundreds of students already bored out of their skulls by simply being in school pass into a near-coma when forced to listen to adults talk about their jobs...

I'd have more respect for those of us who disagree with Toni Smith's stance if since Sept. 11 we had collectively made some sacrifice or taken some action that made war in the Middle East less likely. I'd have more respect for those of us who disagree with Toni Smith's stance if since Sept. 11 the routine of playing the national anthem at sporting events had taken on the importance it now has at Manhattanville College women's basketball games...

AMES, Iowa -- From court cases to injuries to defections, distractions have dogged the Iowa State and Missouri basketball teams. Tonight they'll try to put everything aside for a couple of hours to play a game. Missouri (18-7, 9-5 Big 12), rejuvenated by an upset of Oklahoma and a rare road victory, visits Iowa State (14-11, 4-10) for the Cyclones' home finale...

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Based on the standings, it was expected that Southeast Missouri State University's basketball season would end Tuesday. But the Indians' 91-84 loss to Morehead State in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament was anything but routine...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Gary Pinkel has seen the progress in practice. He has seen his team improve in fundamentals and quickness. Now, the Missouri coach wants to see progress where it counts. "To be very blunt, I want to see the progress in wins and losses," Pinkel said Monday as he prepared for the start of spring practices on Thursday. "That's the way I want to see it, that's what Gary Pinkel wants to see...

Southeast Missouri State University football coach Tim Billings expects an extra level of excitement and enthusiasm when the Indians begin spring practice Thursday. That would seem natural afte last year when the Indians went 8-4, the program's first winning record since 1994 and its best record since 1969. The fact Southeast lost only a few key seniors adds even more to the atmosphere...

MARTIN, Tenn. -- The Southeast Missouri State University men's golf team led by three strokes after the second round early Tuesday but couldn't hold off a big finish by Murray State in the Tri-State Classic. Murray State was 6-under par in the third round and finished at 880. Southeast was six back at 886, one ahead of North Alabama. Western Illinois (888) and St. Louis (890) completed the field...

Nine minutes. That's about how long second-seeded Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team held the lead in its 79-76 opening round victory over Eastern Illinois in front of 637 fans Tuesday at the Show Me Center. And while six of those minutes came to start the game, it was the last three that counted the most...

JONESBORO, Ark. -- Arkansas State struck for five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning as it rallied for a 7-3 baseball victory over Southeast Missouri State University Tuesday. Southeast (2-5) carried a 3-2 lead into the eighth, but Arkansas State unloaded five of its nine hits in the inning to take the lead...

SIKESTON, Mo. --A new minor-league baseball group with plans to bring a Class A team to Sikeston has shelved the idea until next year after two participating cities backed out. Randy Morgan of Paducah, Ky., the organizer of the Kentucky-Illinois-Tennessee League, said Tuesday that stadium upgrades in Dyersburg, Tenn., and Union City, Tenn., both were behind schedule and wouldn't be complete in time for the season scheduled to begin in May. ...

You don't have to wait until the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament begins on March 20 to catch hoop fever. March Madness has already arrived -- high school style. Prep fans may not be equipped with office pools, but they will be treated to plenty of excitement for the next two-plus weeks...

Kelly advanced to the championship game of the Class 3, District 2 boys basketball tournament Tuesday night by using a late surge to upend Scott City 61-55 at Bloomfield, Mo. Scott City (17-7) took a 44-39 lead into the fourth quarter but stumbled down the stretch...

CANTON, Ohio -- LeBron James shut down everyone except the little kids asking for an autograph. James sat at the scorer's table for 10 minutes following the game and signed his name on programs, hats and jerseys. He even posed for pictures with some adoring fans...

Even though it was 25 years ago, Mark Kelsay remembers his days as a soap-box derby racer as a time when he grew closer to his father than ever before. They put countless hours into building two of the cars, from sawing the wood to the tiring work of sanding and painting the long, sleek, red-and-blue frames. When they were finished, they raced them down hills where he lived in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and later in St. Louis...

JUPITER, Fla. -- Rick Ankiel gave up three runs and five hits in one inning, and the Cardinals lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-5. Ankiel entered in the seventh with the score tied at 2. The Cardinals' reliever took the loss in his second outing of the spring, giving up four straight two-out hits...

ST. LOUIS -- Justin Papineau gave the Blues an ugly win. Papineau scored 1:45 into overtime to lift the Blues to a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night. St. Louis, which has won three straight, finished with a season-low 12 shots. The Blues managed only two shots in the third period and one in overtime. Their previous low for shots was 15, which occurred three times...

Game review by Keayn Dunya Describing the DotHack project is somewhat problematic. It's not so much a game as a multi-pronged attack aimed at creating something truly multi-dimensional. The Dot Hack project consists of four playstation2 games; Infection, Mutation, Outbreak, and Quarantine, a DVD series; Liminality, and the series DotHack//Sign. All of which interconnect to give an overview of the DotHack world. Yet the basis of the DotHack project is the DotHack game series...

03/06/03 - Glassjaw, Mississippi Nights 03/06/03 - Hot Water Music, Mississippi Nights 03/06/03 - "SnoCore Rock", Mississippi Nights 03/06/03 - Sparta, Mississippi Nights 03/07/03 - Jake's Leg, Cicero's 03/07/03 - Frank Morey, Frederick's Music Lounge...

by Alexandra R. Yaremko Now that the warm fuzzies of February are over, let's talk turkey. Not the sort of turkey with all the trimmings, although these are decked out. We're talking the turkeys that are married, but still date. Not an oxymoron in some circles...

Reviewed byJustin Colburn I was feeling a little apprehensive as I walked into the theater to see Daredevil. It's no secret I am an avid comic book reader and it's also fairly obvious that comics have become the next big trend in movies. The success of Spider-Man, Road to Perdition and Blade 2 last year helped pave the way for such projects as the Hulk, the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, X-Men 2 and Daredevil. ...

by Chad Armbruster Well friends it's been over a year since we last talked and a lot has happened in 365 plus days. I'll give you the basic rundown of events and save you the Jerry Springer-ness of it all. Since January of 2002 I started taking medication for depression, got married, had four new jobs, got divorced, stopped taking medication, lost 2 of my jobs, started taking medication again and found many friends I never even knew I had. ...

Oscars 2003 Watch them March 23, 7:30 P.M. on ABC OFF! determines the odds in the office pool by asking its all-knowing 8-Ball who will win, who will lose, and why Oscar looks so ripped... Best Picture Chicago wins (IT IS CERTAIN), The Pianist might do it (OUTLOOK GOOD), but OFF!'s favorite, The Lord Of The Rings has a snowball's chance (DON'T COUNT ON IT)...

WARNING: It is not recommended that you plan your life around these horoscopes, but we do hope you find them amusing. ARIES (Mar.23-Apr.19) Break through the logjam. Under normal circumstances, this current should be strong and sweet. Soon you'll be where you belong, and then you can relax...

by Regina Yoast Cape Girardeau's art community just got new digs. And a new art cooperative, for that matter. Starting this month, both the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri and a new entity, the Visual Arts Cooperative, will be showing out of three separate galleries at the same address- 32 N. Main...

by Tom Edwards This winter, by the pitiful standards of Southeast Missouri, has been particularly harsh. The region has received about twice the amount of snow, sleet, freezing rain, and the ominously vague 'wintery mix' than it did last year. This season has brought a potpourri of ice falling from the skies from the light and fluffy stuff to the heavy, sloppy crap to what could best be called 'chunky rain'--the ugly, unfriendly bastard cousin of a cold, stinging rain...

by Greg Levrault I don't know how long I'm going to have a column. There's plenty of sounds and sights to write about on the Internet, and the editorial staff of this magazine have been open and cooperative. However, the essence of this column - file-shared projects - is being threatened at the legislative level...

by Jason Parker WINMX, have you checked it out yet. WINMX.com, it's the next big thing in file sharing. Well, another awards show down and 50 more to go. My own political views aside, I was happy to see that with the exception of Fred Durst, not too many chose to voice their anti-war feelings, or at least weren't allowed to do so. ...

Economic development I'M CALLING about a water park in Cape Girardeau. When we got one in Farmington, all of the people of Southeast Missouri came to use the park, and it basically paid for itself, not to mention the new jobs and revenue it brought...

To the editor: In response to the article "Wife of mental patient files for divorce": My divorcing Rodney Yoder has nothing to do with my so-called liberal friends or the fact that Yoder is committed to a mental facility. It has everything to do with Yoder's misconduct. Yes, I gave him a life sentence of love. As it turned out, he wanted servitude. Furthermore, Yoder is an intellectual terrorist. Remaining in close proximity, such as a marriage, would be like committing hara-kiri...

To the editor: They were called the good old days, and that is exactly what they were. The current terrorism reminds me of times without fear. Imagine, if you can, walking late at night when there were no street lights and knowing you were safe from bodily harm. A full moon at times gave a glimmer of light...

To the editor: We're so proud and pleased the homes at 214 N. Lorimier and 220 N. Lorimier were recognized as two of Cape Girardeau's original treasures. As children, we grew up in the home at 220 N. Lorimier with our parents, Emil and Linda Busch, and brother, Gene. After marrying, we lived in the home at 214 N. Lorimier, which also was owned by our parents...

10 years ago: March 6, 1993 Two men are injured when north-bound Burlington Northern train jumps tracks near Lone Star cement plant; three engines pulling 100-car train derail along with seven cars, which pile together in twisted heap of metal, rocks and mud; Paul Buchheit, 43, of Scott City, train's conductor, is taken to hospital with minor injuries; train's engineer, W.R. Geiser, 28, of Dutchtown is treated at hospital for cuts on arms and head and then released...

Balsman Daughter to Jeremy William Balsman and Amanda Renee Beussink of Jackson, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 7:29 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23, 2003. Name, Paige Renee. Weight, 6 pounds 15 ounces. Ms. Beussink is the daughter of Todd and Mary Beussink of Jackson. Balsman is the son of Jerry and Diana Balsman of Jackson...

BURFORDVILLE, Mo. -- Geraldine "Dean" Sides, 89, formerly of Burfordville, died Tuesday, March 4, 2003, at the Carroll House in Carrollton, Mo. She was born March 17, 1913, in Portageville, Mo., to Marcus and Lula Combs. She married Garnett "Bud" Sides Aug. 7, 1932, in Scott City. He preceded her in death Jan. 14. 1990...

Paul B. Kinder of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, March 4, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

ANNA, Ill. -- S. Maxine Henderson, 76, of East Alton, Ill., died Tuesday, March 4, 2003, at Alton Memorial Hospital. She was born Oct. 9, 1926, in Alton. She and Clarence Richard Henderson were married June 6, 1975. He died July 19, 1993. Henderson was formerly of Anna. She had worked at Alton State Hospital and Choate Mental Health Center. She retired as production manager at RAVE, and then worked in home health care. She was a member of United Missionary Baptist Church at Lick Creek, Ill...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- George Thurman Propst, 85, of Sikeston died Wednesday, March 5, 2003, at Clearview Nursing Home. He was born Feb. 22, 1918, in Sabula, Mo., son of Charles E. and Grace Pannebecker Propst. He and Jo Bollinger were married July 10, 1941...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Elbert D. Foster, 65, of Cairo died Monday, March 3, 2002, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Feb. 2, 1938, in Tamms, Ill., son of Harry and Lucille Boone Foster. Foster attended Love Joy High School in Mound City, Ill...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Anna Francis Maples, 94, of Chaffee died Tuesday, March 4, 2003, at Chaffee Nursing Center. She was born March 17, 1908, in Wayne County. She and James E. Maples were married Dec. 12, 1928. He died Oct. 23, 1983. Maples was a member of the Assembly of God Church, and was formerly of Puxico, Mo...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Lloyd A. Emmendorfer, 67, of Perryville died Tuesday, March 4, 2003, at his home. He was born Aug. 2, 1935, at Perryville, son of Vincent and Elvira Hoffman Emmendorfer. He and M. Jean Cotner were married March 1, 1954, at Perryville...

Roy E. Baker, 85, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, March 5, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born July 20, 1917, at Welcome, Minn., son of James Edward and Wilma Opal Crosson Baker. He and Lorraine E. Sanguinett were married June 29, 1959, at Perryville, Mo...

WASHINGTON -- If you're lying in a hospital bed, chances are doctors didn't check you for a silent killer -- one that causes some 60,000 potentially preventable deaths a year. It's called "deep vein thrombosis," when a dangerous blood clot forms deep in the leg muscles. The clot sometimes floats into the lungs, causing sudden death...

Today Blood pressure screening from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Cape Senior Center, sponsored by the Generations Center at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Health Bites Luncheon from noon to 1 p.m. in conference room B at St. Francis Education Center. Topic is portion size; cost is $5. For information, call 331-5399...

Cape Girardeau Thursday, March 6 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Kimberly J. Barron, 43, of 2816 Themis, Cape Girardeau, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of possession of drug paraphernalia, driving while suspended and failure to use a turn signal...

Cape Girardeau Thursday, March 6 Firefighters responded Tuesday to the following items: At 3:53 p.m., emergency medical service at 401 Independence. At 4:47 p.m., emergency medical service at 2185 Sussex. At 6:52 p.m., emergency medical service at William and Interstate 55...

In story in Wednesday's edition, the Oak Ridge High School principal should have been identified as Paul Lynch. The Southeast Missourian regrets the error.

Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper Danielle Heil, former Cape Girardeau resident, received a proclamation from Gov. Bob Holden on Feb. 17 for her outstanding work in the Dominic James -- Division of Family Services (DFS) investigation in the Springfield, Mo., area...

USSForrestal veterans invited to attend reunion VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- The USS Forrestal CVA/CV/AVT-59 annual reunion is scheduled for Sept. 23 to 28 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The invitation is open to everyone who ever served aboard the Forrestal in any capacity...

Name: Ryan McClard Lives in: Jackson Family: I'm married to Laura McClard. Job: I'm a mortgage lender for Mid-America Mortgage Services in Jackson. What do you like most about the area? Small town conservative values and our tight-knit community feeling...

Jackson church makes plans for chili supper The Jackson Church of the Nazarene will hold a chili supper from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday at the church, 3026 E. Jackson Blvd. Proceeds will be used for a building project for the church. Knights of Columbus schedule fish fry...

Program gets children, parents ready for school Children birth through five years old are invited to bring their parents and discover dinosaurs at the Educare Play Group at 10 a.m. March 27 at the Cape Girardeau Public Library. This is an interactive time for parents and children. There will be lots of hands on activities. For more information call Educare at 651-9171, ext. 110...

Southeast Missourian The Area Wide United Way is accepting nominations for the 16th Annual Volunteer Recognition Awards to distinguish and honor the phenomenal volunteer efforts in Southeast Missouri. This program was developed to recognize the array of efforts contributed from numerous individuals and organizations that have significantly impacted our community in the past year...

More than 100 revelers at clubs in Chicago and Rhode Island would be alive today if basic safety precautions had been observed. In the two tragedies that recently took place within a few days of each other in crowded nightclubs, safety was ignored. Safety is disregarded on a daily basis in a variety of situations, but in these cases more than 100 people died who didn't have to...

WASHINGTON -- Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle said the Bush administration continues to "sit back and watch" as the crisis in North Korea steadily worsens. The administration is "playing down the threat and apparently playing for time. But time is not on our side," said Daschle, D-S.D., who was joined Wednesday by other leading Democrats in voicing concern over recent trends on the Korean peninsula...

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court said certain repeat offenders may be locked up for long periods for relatively minor crimes, ruling Wednesday that a sentence up to life is not too harsh for a criminal caught swiping three golf clubs. The court also said a term of 50 years to life is not out of bounds for a small-time thief who shoplifted videotapes from Kmart. The tapes, including "Batman Forever" and "Cinderella," were worth $153...

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court considered on Wednesday whether library patrons should be able to surf the Internet without government-ordered pornography filters. Justices will decide before July if Congress can require public libraries to install software to filter out pornography as a condition of receiving federal money...

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that states can post sex offenders' photos and other personal information on the Internet, a step the states say is aimed at protecting people from criminals living nearby. In a key first test of "Megan's law" provisions that are on the books in every state, the justices said sex-offender registries are not an unconstitutional extra punishment for offenders who already have served their sentences...

WASHINGTON -- After getting very close to passage last year, legislation making it more difficult for consumers to wipe away their debts in bankruptcy court is moving in Congress again. Key Republican lawmakers want to move quickly to draft and vote on a bill, "but we will be thoughtful in the process," Rep. Christopher Cannon, R-Utah, chairman of a House Judiciary subcommittee, said at a hearing Tuesday...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush's decision after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to aggressively boost the federal emergency oil stockpile contributed to a dramatic decline in commercial oil stocks and caused energy prices to soar, says a study by Senate Democrats...

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., is headed to Cuba today to promote trade with the United States. Emerson, of Cape Girardeau, has been a congressional leader in seeking increased trade with Cuba. She wants American producers, particularly farmers in her Southeast Missouri district, to be allowed to sell more food to Cuba...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Local governments and private developers would both benefit under a House-endorsed bill providing state incentives for improvements to older downtown areas. Under the Downtown Economic Stimulus Act, the state would distribute up to $150 million a year for development projects in downtown sections with a majority of buildings at least 35 years old. Cities would have to create economic stimulus authorities to be apply for the money...

PEKIN, Ill. -- Penny Wood's drug-weathered face helped cut a deal that kept her out of prison, but the 40-year-old Pekin woman says she now faces stares and ridicule instead. Wood accepted a unique plea agreement in January that gave her probation in exchange for using her photographs in a campaign to curb methamphetamine use by showing the physical toll of the drug...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A Greene County farmer was placed on one year of federal probation Wednesday for illegally using an animal drug to kill 10 migratory birds. Donald E. Smith, 54, was also fined $2,000. He pleaded guilty in November to using Warbex as a poison. Warbex has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration only to treat grub and lice on cattle, and any other use violates federal law, U.S. Attorney Todd Graves said...

DOHA, Qatar -- Iraq's envoy called a Kuwaiti diplomat a "monkey" and a "traitor" in a rare public display of divisions at an Islamic forum convened Wednesday to seek a unified stance against any U.S.-led war on Iraq. The angry name-calling, broadcast live on satellite television, was the second time in a week Arabs across the region got to watch tensions usually kept behind closed doors erupting between their leaders...

UNITED NATIONS -- The chief U.N. weapons inspector said Wednesday that Iraq was providing "a great deal more of cooperation now" with inspectors under threat of U.S. military action and he hoped it was not too late to avoid war. "If war breaks out, of course, I think that it is a serious failure for the approach through inspection to disarmament," Hans Blix said two days before delivering an important update on Iraq's cooperation to the U.N. Security Council...

BOGOTA, Colombia -- A bomb set off by suspected rebels ripped through a shopping center in northeastern Colombia on Wednesday, killing seven people, injuring at least 20 and setting the complex on fire. Television images showed shocked survivors wandering around the shopping stalls, blackened Ash Wednesday marks still on their foreheads...

PARIS -- In a blunt warning to the United States and Britain, the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Russia said Wednesday they will block any attempt to get U.N. approval for war against Iraq. Diplomats say the Europeans have concluded they cannot stop the United States from launching a war but are determined to resist to the last moment rather than see the Americans dominate world affairs. ...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Its top lieutenants have been hunted down, arrested or killed, its rank-and-file scattered. But those charged with wiping out Osama bin Laden's terror network warn al-Qaida remains a pre-eminent threat. The nature and structure of al-Qaida have changed radically since it carried out the Sept. ...

BERLIN -- An associate of Carlos the Jackal, already serving a life sentence, faced new murder charges at a trial starting Wednesday for five attacks in Western Europe that killed six people in the 1970s and 1980s. Johannes Weinrich, 55, who once was at the top of Germany's most-wanted list, was head of European operations for Ilich Ramirez Sanchez -- the man known as Carlos -- during what prosecutors described as a gun-for-hire career for Arab and East European governments that ended with his capture and extradition from Yemen in 1995.. ...

HAIFA, Israel -- A bomber blew himself up aboard a bus filled with students in this northern Israeli city Wednesday, killing at least 16 people and injuring 55. The blast spread blood-splattered debris throughout a prosperous hilltop neighborhood, ending a two-month lull in suicide bombings...

Army presses parliament to accept U.S. troops ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkey's powerful military said Wednesday it supported letting in U.S. troops for a war in neighboring Iraq, boosting pressure on legislators to reconsider their rejection of a measure allowing the American deployment...

UNITED NATIONS -- The United States has ordered two Iraqi diplomats to leave the country for engaging in activities outside their diplomatic status -- a usual reference to spying, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Wednesday. Iraq's U.N. Ambassador Mohammed Al-Douri said the men were informed of the expulsion order Tuesday at 5 p.m. and given 72 hours to leave the United States...

KUWAIT CITY -- In the first trial after a series of attacks on U.S. military personnel in Kuwait, a judge on Wednesday sentenced a policeman to 15 years in prison for seriously wounding two American soldiers. The judge said the sentence was intended to deter anyone who might think of harming Americans. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops are deployed in Kuwait in preparation for a possible war on neighboring Iraq...

Feds: Economic activity subdued in last 2 months WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve said Wednesday economic activity around the country remained subdued in January and February as concerns about a possible war in Iraq slowed spending by consumers and businesses...

ST. LOUIS -- A Missouri appeals court Tuesday overturned an order keeping a woman committed indefinitely as a violent sexual predator, ruling there is little evidence proving women convicted of sex crimes are likely to become repeat offenders. The state pledged to appeal the ruling by the Missouri Court of Appeals, which decided that claims Angela Coffel probably would become a repeat offender were "based on private, subjective and untested theories."...

Starting in May, pilots who want to be armed and pass a screening process will be trained and will be allowed to have weapons during flights. Congress has approved allowing airline pilots to carry handguns on planes and use them inside cockpits as protection if needed...

NEW ORLEANS -- As the revelry of Mardi Gras faded into the quiet of Lent, the question for the city became how much the troubled economy, threat of war and bad weather kept crowds down. At midnight, mounted police cleared Bourbon Street to officially end Mardi Gras. An expansive citywide trash pickup began early Wednesday...

WEST BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- Nearly nine years ago, Desmon Venn threw a single punch at a high school classmate and put him in a coma. Venn pleaded guilty to assault, spent two months in a boot camp and figured he had paid his debt to society...

By Estes Thompson ~ The Associated Press LOUISBURG, N.C. -- Family and friends sobbed as the 17-year-old Mexican girl who endured two heart-lung transplants was laid to rest, even as a debate raged over whether such organs should have been offered in the first place...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Public school officials in nine western states may still lead students in the Pledge of Allegiance after a federal appeals court that ruled the recitation was unconstitutional put its decision on hold pending a review by the Supreme Court...

Giuliani's 'Leadership' still selling strong NEW YORK -- Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's best-selling book, "Leadership," has exceeded more than 1 million copies in print since its release in October. Jonathan Burnham, president of Miramax Books, which published "Leadership," said Giuliani has authored a collection of quotations that will be sold alongside copies of the book beginning May 7...

For some of those who are protesting the probable upcoming war in IRAQ, I'd like to recommend they see the movie "THE PIANIST," which depicts "man's inhumanity to man." The movie is based on the real experience of a Holocaust survivor. One is shocked by the realization that some do NOT respond to what you might think are logical, rational arguments and questions. Even the question "WHY?" is met by the unholstering of a gun and a bullet through the forehead...

March 6, 2003 Dear Leslie, After we married, DC and I began going to her family's cabin on the Castor River a few weekends each warm month. The cabin is on a gravel lane off an asphalt county road. Two hills before the turnoff sits a well-kept house flanked by a large garden. ...

If you're looking for a humble athlete who appreciates where he came from and who he learned from, glance toward the Cape Girardeau recreational basketball courts and you may spot David Bertrand. The son of a former Southeast Missouri State University basketball player, Bertrand, 29, gives all credit to his teammates, his former coaches and, most of all, his dad...

Briefly Baseball Baseball umpires filed a grievance against major league teams Wednesday, charging that the computer system chosen to evaluate them was not reliable. Umpires have also filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board over management's refusal to provide information about the Questec Umpire Information System...

The city of Jackson, bigger than it has ever been and growing faster than it has ever grown, is dabbling in uncharted water. Will there be enough water and will the water be clean enough and have enough pressure to meet the demands of the growing city?...

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce has come out in favor of the city's four tax proposals on the April ballot, saying they will help keep the city a regional center by providing for basic city needs and creating an economy-boosting attraction -- a $6.5 million water park...

WASHINGTON -- The United States and Britain have more than doubled the number of air patrols in the "no fly" zone over southern Iraq this week to keep Iraqi air defenders off guard and mask the start of any war, a senior defense official said Wednesday...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A legislative committee voted Wednesday to open an inquiry into whether the executive branch has directed state employees to limit their responses to lawmakers seeking information. The broadly described inquiry grew out of Republican lawmakers' concerns that department directors in Democratic Gov. Bob Holden's administration have been stonewalling legislative efforts to cut the state's operating budget...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The constitutionality of executing offenders who were juveniles when they committed their crimes was challenged before the Missouri Supreme Court Wednesday. The case was brought by Christopher Simmons, who is on death row for murdering Shirley Crook in her Jefferson County home in September 1993. He was 17 at the time...

Scott City police chief Don Cobb was and wasn't surprised when word came 10 days ago that his National Guard unit, the 2175th Military Police Company based in St. Clair, Mo., had been mobilized. Cobb just returned eight months ago from Kosovo, where he served a six-month tour of duty with the company...

Scott City Police officer Chris Moore has been trained to be a DARE officer and now is spending a few hours each day at the Scott City High School. Scott City took on the responsibility of paying for its own anti-drug officer after the Missouri Highway Patrol dropped funding for the program. The city previously was served by a DARE officer who traveled around the county...

The suspect in a Jan. 18 bonfire explosion appeared Wednesday morning in Jackson for arraignment in circuit court and filed a motion for a change of venue. By agreement with the prosecution, the case against Jerry L. Self Jr., 22, was moved to Perry County by Circuit Court Judge William Syler...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Long-time congressional aide Lloyd Smith of Sikeston said Wednesday that he will not run for the state Senate in 2004. Smith said many folks had encouraged him to seek the seat and pledged support. However, he ultimately concluded next year wasn't the right time...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Advocates for tightening loopholes in Missouri's telemarketing "no-call" statute are accusing House Majority Floor Leader Jason Crowell of taking steps to kill the bill. Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, denied that is so but would not commit bringing the measure up for debate by March 13, at which time the measure would be dead under House rules...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Law enforcement agencies seized nearly $5.1 million in assets believed to have resulted from criminal activity last year -- a 40 percent increase from 2001, according to a new state audit. The audit examines the actions taken by law enforcement under the state's Criminal Activity Forfeiture Act in 2002...

He dreams of the day when there will be a sports league with no managers or players, just owners. No need for actual games, just wall-to-wall meddling. And George Steinbrenner will rule there, too. In the meantime, he practices on the Yankees. The first real pitch of this baseball season is almost a month off, but the Boss is already in midseason form. ...

AMES, Iowa -- Tim Barnes scored 24 points and Jackson Vroman added 14 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists as Iowa State, playing under difficult circumstances, rolled past Missouri 71-55 Wednesday night. Iowa State (14-11, 5-10 Big 12) built a 16-point lead 10 minutes into the game and dominated a Missouri team that had won four of five and beat then-No. 3 Oklahoma a week ago...

The Southeast Missouri State University gymnastics team used a strong bars and floor routine to knock off visiting Eastern Michigan 193.975 to 191.750 at Houck Field House Wednesday night. Southeast won three of four events, with Ashley Godwin taking three first-place finishes. Godwin scored matching 9.825s to win the floor and bar routines. Godwin's 39.075 also was good enough to give her the all-around crown...

PARK HILLS, Mo. -- There would be no dramatic comeback this time. Playing in the Class 4 sectional at Mineral Area College, Notre Dame's boys basketball team dug a deep, early hole and never fully emerged. The De Soto Dragons proved not only too tall but too accurate in a 61-54 victory...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Advance used a quick start to advance past Meadow Heights 79-60 and into the finals of the Class 2, District 2 tournament. Advance (21-7) held Meadow Heights to just 10 points in the first quarter with heavy pressure defense. Easy baskets off of turnovers gave Advance a 28-10 lead after the first...

FARMINGTON, Mo.-- Jackson's girls basketball team grabbed the lead with three minutes left and used strong free-throw shooting to defeat eighth-ranked Gateway Tech 50-38 in the Class 5 sectional round. The Indians (20-8) move on to the quarterfinals at 3:15 p.m. Saturday in Farmington against Nerinx Hall (19-10), a 67-56 winner over Hazelwood West...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- For 33 years, R.J. Reynolds and NASCAR have gone together like fast cars and Victory Lane. Just a year after signing a five-year deal to keep its Winston brand as the title sponsor of the world's premier stock car racing circuit, the cigarette-maker has given NASCAR permission to find another backer...

VIERA, Fla. -- Brett Tomko allowed one hit in four innings Wednesday as the Cardinals defeated the Montreal Expos 1-0. Tomko faced just two batters over the minimum, walking Wil Cordero and allowing a single to Vladimir Guerrero. He induced nine ground-ball outs and struck out two...

DNA lab illustrates promise of the life sciences The Missouri business is one of 44 accredited labs nationwide. By Steve Friedman ~ Columbia Daily Tribune COLUMBIA, Mo. -- She's helped create a groundbreaking map of the human genetic code and assisted in the identification of the infamous "South Side Rapist" in St. Louis, yet Kim Gorman's pursuits today are centered on families...

Southeast Missouri State University's softball team opens its home schedule today when the Otahkians host the three-day Southeast Softball Classic featuring six squads. The Otahkians (1-3) will compete against Drake (11-4), Lipscomb (9-3), Middle Tennessee (6-5), Southwest Missouri (5-6) and Siena (0-0). All games will be at the Southeast Softball Complex...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The effort to cover Missouri's budget shortfall received a boost Thursday as the Senate gave final approval to a bill appropriating money for the costs of selling revenue bonds. The revenue bonds would net the state $335 million, of which $150 million would help cover the shortfall in the current budget. ...

Toby Keith ... Born: July 8, 1961, Moore, Okla. Married: Lives with wife, Tricia, and daughters, Shelley and Krystal, and son, Stelen, outside Norman, Okla. Current CD: "Unleashed" Current single: "Rock You Baby" Other hits: "How Do You Like Me Now?," "You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This," "Country Comes to Town," "Should've Been a Cowboy," "Dream Walkin'," "We Were in Love," "I'm So Happy That I Can't Stop Crying" (duet with Sting)," "I'm Just Talkin' About Tonight," "I Wanna Talk About Me," "My List," "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)," "Who's Your Daddy?". ...

Egbert to conduct Southeast singers at Carnegie Hall Forty members of the Southeast Missouri State University Choir and Choral Union will perform at Carnegie Hall April 20 under the direction of Dr. John Egbert, professor of choral music at Southeast...

NEW YORK -- One Sunday morning last December Joe Strummer faxed a message to Paul Simonon, his old friend from the Clash. Simonon was the holdout. Strummer, Mick Jones and "Topper" Headon wanted to perform at the Clash's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, and the singer urged Simonon to stop being churlish and dig out his bass guitar...

One and a half stars Though I would not sit through a repeat performance of "Old School," I would seriously consider buying the soundtrack. There were a couple of scenes that the whole audience thought were funny, but for the most part the humor was overdone. ...

LOS ANGELES -- Bob Morales and his wife sat through advertisements for the Cartoon Network, the NBC show "Boomtown" and AOL Broadband. There was a pitch for the U.S. Army, another for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Morales would have accepted the promotional barrage at home in front of the television, but it annoyed him to go through it at the movie theater...

NEW YORK -- Talk about a Grammy sales bump -- Norah Jones' debut album, "Come Away With Me," sold 621,000 copies after her Grammy sweep, almost 500,000 more than the week before -- the biggest post-Grammy sales spike ever, according to her record company...

10 years ago: March 7, 1993Congregation of St. John's Lutheran Church at Pocahontas is having year-long observance of 125th anniversary of church; opening celebration was held Feb. 14 with emphasis on sacrament of baptism; St. John's, member of Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, was founded in 1868 by group of Austrian Lutherans; records don't give month and day of first service; services were held in homes of founding members, until church building was dedicated in 1870...

Green Daughter to Timothy Charles and Terri Ann Green of Perryville, Mo., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 3:56 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21, 2003. Name, Madelyn Marie. Weight, 7 pounds 5 ounces. Third child, second daughter. Mrs. Green is the former Terri Chappius, daughter of Don Chappius of Perryville and the late Becky Chappius, and Mary and Kirk Schremp of Perryville. She is an accountant at TG Missouri Corp. Green is the son of Bill and Nancy Green of Perryville. He is self-employed...

Dorothy M. King, 82, of Jackson died Thursday, March 6, 2003, at Jackson Manor. McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson is in charge of arrangements.

Anna Trout, 102, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, March 5, 2003, at her home. She was born June 11, 1900, in Indian territory in Oklahoma. She and John William Trout were married Aug. 29, 1921, in Durant, Okla. He died Nov. 10, 1959. Trout had lived in Cape Girardeau 35 years. She had been a child care provider. She was a member of First Christian Church and worked in the nursery more than 20 years...

ANNA, Ill. -- Grace Blessing, 94, of Anna died Thursday, March 6, 2003, at Union County Nursing Home. She was born Nov. 6, 1908, in Makanda, Ill., daughter of John and Surilda Batson Fulcher. She and Sidney T. Blessing were married Oct. 26, 1934, in Marion, Ill. He died June 22, 1976...

Carol Jean Wilburn, 50, of Scott City died Thursday, March 6, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City is in charge of arrangements.

Dr. David Duck, 88, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, March 6, 2003, at the Lutheran Home. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Barbara Marian Kosharek, 57, of Scott City died Thursday, March 6, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 1, 1945, in Jersey City, N.J., daughter of Antonio George and Marian R. Schilkie Cecere. She and John K. "Jack" Kosharek were married Dec. 18, 1965, at St. Mark Presbyterian Church in Van Nuys, Calif...

Jerry Douglas Davis, 60, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, March 5, 2003, in an airplane crash near Sparta, Ill. He was born Nov. 9, 1942, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Waddy E. and Elsie Mae Carter Davis. He and Judith K. Barnhouse were married in 1964...

Albert N. Wulfers, 79, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, March 6, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Jan. 2, 1924, in Cape Girardeau, son of Edward C. and Clotilda Seib Wulfers. Mr. Wulfers served in the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II as an Army specialty aviation cadet (pilot) and achieved the rank of first lieutenant. After the war he returned to Cape Girardeau and worked at Firestone until he was recalled in 1951 to serve in the Korean War as a U.S. Air Force captain...

No prison frills A STORY on the front page says that Missouri is looking for solutions to the growth of prisons. One of the ways I think we accomplish this, other than turning all criminals loose, is to take all the frills out of prisons: no television, no library, no free use of telephones...

To the editor: My husband and I left Cape Girardeau last June for Philadelphia, but we like to keep up with the goings-on in Cape by reading the Southeast Missourian online. Imagine my surprise this morning when, cup of morning coffee in hand, I went to the semissourian.com Web site and was greeted with the headline, "Drury files third River Campus suit."...

To the editor: Thank you to Hayti, Mo., which should be very proud. My parents where traveling on Feb. 13 when my dad had a heart attack. They had checked in at the Comfort Inn and had to call an ambulance. I would like to thank the girl working that night. She doesn't know how much her assistance helped my mother...

To the editor: It was a pleasant gift to read Peter Hilty's letter about the coffee gang. It brought back memories of when I worked in the Southeast Missourian printing press shop. I would walk home at times and go to the fast-food establishment at Broadway and the West End Boulevard. ...

To the editor: In response to the article "Wife of mental patient files for divorce": Can Millie Strom explain exactly what an "intellectual terrorist" is any better than Rodney Yoder's jailers can explain "mental illness"? If not, it's a nothing but another cynical strategy...

Almost anyone who devotes half a century to a job, hobby or community service deserves special attention. But when folks speak of Monsignor Richard Rolwing, they put less emphasis on the length of his service to the Roman Catholic Church than to the quality of his pastoral care and devotion...

In a year when political nerves in Jefferson City are prickly and when elected officials at every level of state government are overwhelmed with budget matters, one topic that seems to be attracting a bit of positive feedback from all sides would cut taxes on corporations...

Cape Girardeau Friday, March 7 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Ashley R. Parker, 20, of 1313 W. Murray Lane, Sikeston, Mo., was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of stealing...

Southeast's plan for welcome center approved The Missouri Tourism Commission has approved Southeast Missouri State University's plan to operate a Missouri Welcome Center at its future River Campus arts school. Southeast is working in cooperation with the city of Cape Girardeau, the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce and the Convention and Visitors Bureau to develop the visitors' center...

Cape Girardeau Friday, March 7 Firefighters responded Wednesday to the following items: At 5:47 p.m., emergency medical service at 415 Emerald. At 6:35 p.m., emergency medical service at 381 N. Park. At 11:13 p.m., emergency medical service at 1105 Emily Court.Firefighters responded Thursday to the following items:...

WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld indicated Thursday that he wants U.S. troops stationed near the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea to be moved farther from the heavily defended zone, shifted to other countries in the region or brought home...

WASHINGTON -- Senate Democrats won a showdown vote Thursday blocking Miguel Estrada's nomination for a federal appeals court, dealing President Bush a major loss in the battle over the nation's courts. Bush called the Senate filibuster of Estrada a disgrace, and Senate Republicans pledged not to give up...

WASHINGTON -- The Senate unanimously ratified a treaty Thursday that would cut active U.S. and Russian long-range nuclear warheads by two-thirds, acting as a separate nuclear crisis was building in Asia. The Moscow Treaty, hailed by the Bush administration as symbolizing a new era of friendship and cooperation with Russia, would take missile levels to the lowest point in 50 years...

WASHINGTON -- A man and a woman, both wearing duct tape, were arrested in the Capitol on Thursday. A police officer saw two people wearing devices that he thought resembled suicide bombs. The woman had a belt with duct tape around her waist, while the man had jars filled with an undetermined liquid wrapped around him with duct tape, Capitol police chief Terrance Gainer said...

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration completed its rollout of a proposal to let small businesses buy into group health insurance plans anywhere in the country on Thursday, and Missouri's two senators were front and center. President Bush said his plan would help extend coverage to the 41 million Americans who lack health insurance. Of that number, six in 10 work for small businesses or are self-employed, according to Labor Department figures...

WASHINGTON -- Air Force Secretary James Roche said Thursday that the service needs to move quickly to fix a climate that has led to at least 54 alleged cases of rape and sexual assault at the Air Force Academy. "We have cadets who have misused power, that have done things we cannot tolerate," Roche said. "We have to deal with a climate that has allowed this to happen."...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Surrounded by research displays, Gov. Bob Holden told a University of Missouri-Columbia audience Thursday that life science leadership is the key to the state's economic future. The university is observing "Life Sciences Week," showcasing student and faculty research under a broad academic banner. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Legislation that would let Missouri parents sue anyone who enables a minor daughter to have an abortion without their consent is making its way through the Missouri Legislature. After several hours of debate over three days that produced an important compromise, the Senate gave the bill initial approval on a voice vote Thursday. Final approval would send the measure to the House, which is considering a similar bill...

PARK HILLS, Mo. -- A commercial greenhouse fire that forced the evacuation of a three-block area and required the response of 34 fire departments was still burning but under control late Thursday, authorities said. "We're in mop-up mode, but we're keeping our eyes on the fire that's still burning," Park Hills fire chief Robert St. Jemme said...

BEDFORD, Va. -- The National D-Day Memorial Foundation and its top creditors said Thursday they will find a payment agreement that should pull the beleaguered monument out of bankruptcy protection. "It hasn't been easy, taking care of this debt," said Clif Coleman, president and chief executive officer of Coleman-Adams Construction, the memorial's largest creditor with $1,961,701 still unpaid. "But we'll get our money in time."...

UNITED NATIONS -- As opposition hardened against a war with Iraq, Britain offered Thursday to compromise on a U.S.-backed resolution by giving Saddam Hussein a short deadline to prove he has eliminated all banned weapons or face an attack. With some 300,000 U.S. ...

ARROYO HONDO, Mexico -- Everything was set for Jesica's funeral: schoolchildren were preparing a parade, a teacher wrote a poem in her honor, volunteers spruced up her burial plot. Then word reached the people of Arroyo Hondo that the 17-year-old wasn't coming home after all. Her parents had chosen to bury her in Louisburg, N.C., fearing that if they brought her body across the border into Mexico they would be barred from going back...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistani and American forces intensified the search for Osama bin Laden along a southwestern stretch of the border with Afghanistan and carried out raids this week based on information from a newly captured al-Qaida deputy, Pakistani intelligence and military officials said Thursday...

ALGIERS, Algeria -- An Air Algerie passenger jet, one of its engines ablaze, crashed shortly after takeoff deep in the Sahara Desert on Thursday, and 102 people were killed, officials said. A young soldier survived. The Boeing 737, flight 6289, crashed after taking off from Tamanrasset bound for the Algerian capital, Algiers, 1,000 miles to the north...

VATICAN CITY -- Pope John Paul II's new book of poetry, a three-part meditation on nature, life and death -- including his own -- makes clear he has no plans to step down. "Roman Triptych" is the first book of poetry John Paul has written since becoming pope in 1978. Vatican officials said the poems came out of a trip to his beloved Poland last summer...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Baghdad residents are snapping up pistols and hunting rifles; trenches and sandbagged gun positions are multiplying. Militiamen loyal to Saddam Hussein say they're ready for a fight to the death. Baghdad is gearing up for what could be a street-to-street fight against American troops, if President Bush gives the order to invade. Saddam appears nightly on television to reassure Iraqis the Americans would be no match in a ground battle...

JABALIYA REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza Strip -- In the most intense battle in Gaza in months, an Israeli army raid left 11 Palestinians dead Thursday, including eight who witnesses said were hit by an Israeli tank shell fired at a crowd. Israel insisted it targeted only armed men...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- No one would accuse Travis Howard, a 33-year-old country music singer and contestant on the new reality TV show "Nashville Star," of being camera shy. Howard earns his living performing in Los Angeles nightclubs and bars. But the reality aspect of "Nashville Star," a USA Network series that combines "Big Brother" with "American Idol," gives him butterflies...

HOUSTON -- A former NASA official who led a study three years ago that faulted the way the agency dealt with safety risks told the Columbia investigation board Thursday that the same problem appears to have played a role in the shuttle disaster. Henry McDonald, an engineering professor, appeared as a witness as the board held its first public hearing on what caused the shuttle to break up over Texas on Feb. 1, killing all seven astronauts...

GREELEY, Colo. -- Criminal charges will not be filed against a mother accused of leaving her six children home alone while she took a 17-day vacation to Italy with her boyfriend, prosecutors said Thursday. District Attorney Al Dominguez said he did not have enough evidence to charge Jennifer Ferrell, 33, with child abuse, although he did not condone her behavior...

NEW YORK -- It is one of the worst-kept secrets of New York's fine art galleries: Ultra-rich art collectors who drop millions of dollars on paintings are illegally arranging with dealers to duck the sales tax. But now, state and federal prosecutors are going after buyers and dealers with zeal...

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. -- If girls go wild, they'll go to jail -- and so will those who videotape them baring it all, says the mayor of America's top spring break destination. The creators of the "Girls Gone Wild" videos are planning a live pay-per-view broadcast next Thursday from an undisclosed spring break destination. In the videos, college-age women bare their breasts while partying...

TAMPA, Fla. -- A man upset that his son was being bullied fired several shots into a crowd of teenagers, killing a 14-year-old bystander who had hoped to play with the other boy, police said. Jabbar Anthony died Wednesday night after being shot in the chest. Witnesses said he collapsed across the street from his home and was held by his grieving mother as he gasped for air. He died at a hospital...

HOUSTON -- Two major banks knew Enron Corp. was misrepresenting its financial condition by disguising billions of dollars in loans as income in the years leading to its collapse, a court-appointed examiner said. Citibank and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. helped devise accounting techniques known as "prepay transactions" that Enron used to inappropriately count $5 billion in loans to itself as income, attorney Neil Batson said in an interim report...

China to get introduction to the Rolling Stones BEIJING -- The Rolling Stones are coming to China to celebrate their 40th anniversary, but most Chinese don't know Mick, concert organizers said Thursday. Until this year, not a single disc by the Stones and their lead singer, Mick Jagger, had ever been officially released in the world's most populous nation, said Dai Renzhi, a spokeswoman for EMI Records China. ...