Stories from Tuesday, May 13, 2003

High school sophomores get taste of real life budget constraints By Phil Weber ~ The Quincy Herald-Whig MENDON, Ill. -- A group of students at Unity High School here recently got a taste of what the real world might be like...

A New York Times reporter "committed frequent acts of journalistic fraud," including stealing material from other newspapers, inventing quotes and lying about his whereabouts, according to an investigation conducted by the paper. The review found problems in at least 36 of the 73 articles written by Jayson Blair from the time he began receiving national reporting assignments in late October to his May 1 resignation. ...

AUSTIN, Texas -- State troopers and the elite Texas Rangers were ordered to track down and bring in 59 Democratic lawmakers who brought the Texas House to a standstill Monday by going into hiding. The quorum-busting boycott capped months of tension between Democrats and the newly-in-control Republicans, and occurred as the chamber was scheduled to debate a congressional redistricting plan opposed by Democrats...

NEW YORK -- Jay Leno talked Mideast peace with Secretary of State Colin Powell and Katie Couric turned into a sexy if nervous comedian as the NBC hosts swapped their "Tonight" and "Today" gigs. "Don't adjust your television set. I've got a special co-host today," Matt Lauer said, introducing Leno at the outset of "Today." Lauer, in a far less glamorous stunt, is to swap jobs with a cab driver later in the week...

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- When New Jersey voters approved gambling in hopes of saving a dying Atlantic City, it was a roll of the dice: They were betting on a mob-tainted business that had never before been used to revitalize a city. Twenty-five years to the month after the first casino opened its doors, Atlantic City is booming and New Jersey is being hailed for making gambling more respectable. More than 25 states now have some form of casino gambling...

School suspends several students in hazing case GLENVIEW, Ill. -- A suburban high school Monday suspended several seniors involved in a brutal off-campus hazing melee and will recommend the girls be expelled. Principal Michael Riggle of Glenbrook North High said he took the steps after the district's lawyer advised him that the school had broader powers to discipline students for the videotaped incident than he had thought...

VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia -- A truck laden with explosives blew up Monday outside a government compound in Chechnya, reducing eight buildings to rubble and killing at least 41 people. Russia's president said the attack was aimed at derailing a political resolution of the 3 1/2-year-old war...

BASRA, Iraq -- Peering into a simple plywood coffin, Karima Musa Mohammed carefully looked over the remains inside -- a ragged blindfold tied around the skull, feet bound by black cloth, faded gray pants, light gray shirt. "No, not him. Not my son," she pronounced, then burst into tears...

North Korea nullifies nuclear-weapons accord SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea said Monday a 1992 agreement with South Korea to keep the Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons was nullified, citing a "sinister" U.S. agenda. The accord was the last remaining legal obligation under which North Korea was banned from developing atomic arms. In January, Pyongyang withdrew from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, a global accord to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Police packed guns again Monday for the first time since the war and unpaid Iraqi soldiers rallied angrily outside a U.S. Army base in Baghdad, a city of people outraged over crime, blackouts and lack of salaries. Many residents have said they feel helpless over the looting, arson and general lawlessness of fellow Iraqis since the U.S.-British invasion brought down President Saddam Hussein's government last month...

AMMAN, Jordan -- Secretary of State Colin Powell tried Monday to overcome Arab skepticism about Israel's intentions with assurances that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had begun implementing a blueprint for peace with the Palestinians. Referring to Sharon's decision to release dozens of prisoners, remove some roadblocks to travel by Palestinians to their jobs in Israel and to transfer funds to the Palestinians, Powell suggested actions were what mattered in Israel's approach to the blueprint...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Hours before a visit by the American secretary of state, attackers shot their way into three gated compounds housing Westerners and others and set off car bombs in Saudi Arabia's largest city. At least one person was killed and 60 were injured, hospital and security officials said...

BEIJING -- Wu Jianxing's bicycle shop is a rare bright spot in China's SARS-battered economy. Warned by health experts to avoid crowds, Beijing commuters are shunning buses and subways and switching back to the two-wheeler -- the classic transportation of China's 1970s "bicycle armies." Wu says sales at his Dark Horse Bicycle Shop have doubled to 15 cycles a day, and he attributes the rise to fear of SARS...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The man chosen to lead U.S. efforts to put postwar Iraq on track to democracy, L. Paul Bremer, said upon his arrival in the capital Monday that his goal is to help Iraqis "regain control of their own destiny" after decades of rule by Saddam Hussein...

SEATTLE -- Smashed cars, buses and other debris littered an industrial lot Monday to represent the aftermath of a radioactive "dirty bomb" explosion for the most extensive bioterrorism drill in the nation's history. The five-day drill, combining the Seattle disaster with the fake threat of a biological agent in Chicago, is aimed at testing the ability of local, state and federal authorities to handle terrorist attacks. ...

MTV renews Carson Daly's contract NEW YORK -- Last call hasn't sounded yet for Carson Daly at MTV, which renewed the host's contract for two more years. Daly has been the face of MTV since he started hosting the afternoon video countdown show "Total Request Live" in 1998. But he's appeared less frequently in the past couple of years as he's developed his late-night talk show, "Last Call with Carson Daly," on NBC...

Admit it: The first reports of jockey Jose Santos' "funny" ride on Kentucky Derby winner Funny Cide sounded almost too familiar to NOT be true. After all, a rider used a battery-operated device to spur a horse to victory just four years ago in the Arkansas Derby. And a repeat performance, even so soon after that one, would hardly have seemed shocking compared to some of the other schemes uncovered in recent years...

BOSTON -- The New Jersey Nets needed 10 extra minutes to avoid another game with the Boston Celtics. Jason Kidd scored 29 points as the Nets completed a sweep of the Eastern Conference semifinal with a 110-101 win in double overtime Monday night. They'll play in the Eastern Conference final for the second straight year against Detroit or Philadelphia. That series, tied 2-2, resumes Wednesday night...

CLAYTON, Mo. -- A jury deliberated less than two hours Monday before ruling in favor of St. Louis Rams running back Marshall Faulk in a civil case accusing him of domestic abuse. Meanwhile, the jury ruled against Faulk's former girlfriend, Helen Dunne, 27, who is also the mother of three of Faulk's children...

Stewards' investigation concludes Santos had nothing in his hand besides a whip. By Richard Rosenblatt ~ The Associated Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Jose Santos was cleared Monday of wrongdoing in his Kentucky Derby victory aboard Funny Cide after track officials found he had nothing in his hand besides his whip...

Orlando plays a quieter role than the home run hitting part of the Rangers' Rafael Palmeiro. By R.B. Fallstrom ~ The Associated Press ST. LOUIS -- Rafael Palmeiro hit his 500th home run on Sunday. Orlando Palmeiro (no relation) has four, and he's quite secure...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Vijay Singh believes Annika Sorenstam has no business playing in the Colonial next week, and he would withdraw if he gets paired with her. "I hope she misses the cut," Singh said after his runner-up finish in the Wachovia Championship. "Why? Because she doesn't belong out here."...

The Union soldier who has been a silent sentinel over downtown Cape Girardeau for 92 years has fallen. On Monday, a large branch from a nearby tree crushed the Civil War memorial fountain statue, which was erected on the Common Pleas Courthouse lawn in 1911...

For a guy who was away from baseball last year, Justin Christian isn't doing too bad. Christian, Southeast Missouri State University's senior transfer second baseman, has been able to fill the large shoes of departed star Clemente Bonilla -- and then some...

Circuit Judge William Seay of Dent County is scheduled to hold a telephone conference call with lawyers in the River Campus lawsuit case today, one week after he was assigned the case. The conference call will deal with procedural issues, court officials said...

Voter distrust of City Hall, fueled by controversy over the River Campus project, and confusing ballot measures led to the defeat of four tax and fee proposals in the April 8 election, local residents told the Cape Girardeau City Council on Monday night...

Main Street Levee District workers opened up the Merriwether Street pumping station in downtown Cape Girardeau on Monday, preparing for a week of rising Mississippi River waters. The National Weather Service is forecasting a crest of 34.5 feet on Wednesday. Thirty-two feet is the flood stage at Cape Girardeau...

It's been a week since a tornado cut a path through Jackson, and for the victims, volunteers and work crews, the hard work is just getting started. The road back to normalcy will be a long one, said Mark Winkler, area coordinator for the State Emergency Management Agency...

It could be the next Indiana Jones flick: "Desert Mummies of Peru." But for the next 16 days, graverobbers, archaeology and 1,000-year-old mummies will be real life for Pete Barger, who is leaving today for Ilo, Peru, where he will use his skills as a radiographer to X-ray the mummified remains of an ancient culture to unearth clues about how they lived...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Legislation that would expand the authority of county commissions to enact local ordinance moved a step closer to passage on Monday. While the original Senate bill was limited to allowing counties to establish reasonable speed limits on roads that run through their jurisdiction, the House of Representatives endorsed a change that would grant county governments more sweeping powers...

MARSHALL, Mo. -- A circuit court judge will not face charges for his involvement in a March accident in which a pedestrian was hit, the Missouri attorney general's office said. The attorney general's office issued a statement Friday saying charges would not be filed against Dennis A. Rolf, the presiding judge of the 15th Judicial Circuit...

Donna White should have been at her job Monday in the office of a martial arts center. Instead, she was cleaning up tornado damage while tending to her two children. The tornado that damaged her home last week also wrecked school buildings in De Soto, Mo., forcing the district to cancel classes for the rest of the year and send students home for an unexpectedly early summer. That left White with no choice but to tell her boss she was staying home, too...

CLAYTON, Mo. -- An FBI agent shot and wounded a suspected parole violator who allegedly drove threateningly toward him Monday, marking the first shots fired by anyone with a 12-year-old area task force designed to capture apparently violent fugitives...

To the editor: On April 11, our son, Greg Smith, was involved in a terrible accident on Interstate 55. The concrete truck he was driving blew a tire and rolled over and over down an embankment to land on its side with Greg pinned in the smashed cab...

Thanks for assistance I WANT to thank the young woman for giving me peace of mind and helping me by using her cell phone to call for assistance. It's nice to be living where strangers are concerned and caring about the welfare of others. Thank you very much...

Teresa Lynn Davidson of Cape Girardeau died Monday, May 12, 2003, at her home. She was born Aug. 15, 1943, at Hayti, Mo., daughter of Clifford and Carolyn Dale Kirby. She and David Davidson were married April 3, 1965, in Cape Girardeau. Mrs. Davidson was a member of Lynwood Baptist Church and Joy Sunday School Class, and worked in the preschool department...

Jo Evelyn Patterson, 70, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, May 10, 2003, at her home. She was the daughter of Paul Eugene and Gladys Evelyn Austin Kinder. She and S. David Patterson were married Sept. 9, 1949, in Cape Girar-deau. He preceded her in death Jan. 9, 2003...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Johnnie Lou Russell Worley, 86, of Sikeston died Saturday, May 10, 2003, at Sikeston Convalescent Center. She was born Oct. 13, 1916, in Tupelo, Miss., daughter of Fred Harrison and Mattie Lou Ivie. She first married Willie Lee Russell in 1937. He died in 1975. She and Brown Worley were married Aug. 3, 1982...

Henry A. Burnette, 90, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, May 12, 2003, at Ratliff Care Center. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Lillie Paralee Wills, 93, of Advance died Monday, May 12, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 17, 1909, at McGee, Mo., daughter of Edgar and Ella Stephens VanMatre. She and Clarence E. Wills were married Jan. 2, 1929, at McGee. He died Dec. 27, 1982...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Craig M. Lindsley, 50, of Perryville died Saturday, May 10, 2003, in the Emergency Room at Perry County Memorial Hospital. He was born June 18, 1952, in Green Bay, Wis., son of Vernon and Mary Lou Collen Lindsley. He and Janet Passer were married June 18, 1974. She died May 8, 1997...

ANNA, Ill. -- Rosetta "Billie" Briner, 84, of Anna died Monday, May 12, 2003, at her home. She was born Feb. 14, 1919, in Union County, daughter of John and Lucinda Edwards Smithson. She and Edward L. Briner were married Aug. 15, 1936. He died March 18, 1976...

Cape Girardeau Tuesday, May 13 Firefighters responded to the following item Sunday: At 9:13 p.m., a medical assist at 1448 N. Kingshighway. Firefighters responded to the following items Monday: At 2:59 a.m., a medical assist at 220 S. Lorimier. At 6:10 a.m., a citizen assist at 606 S. Silver Springs Road...

10 years ago: May 13, 1993 Drury Development Corp. is moving forward with plans to build five-story, 118-room Drury Inn at southwest intersection of Interstate 55 and Route K; Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning Commission yesterday recommended unanimously that city council approve special-use permit for motel...

Stephens Son to Jason Douglas and Amy Michelle Stephens of Cape Girardeau, 9:42 p.m. Thursday, May 8, 2003. Name, Evan Douglas. Weight, 8 pounds 4 ounces. Mrs. Stephens is the former Amy Gunnels, daughter of Vern and Delma Gunnels of Adamsville, Tenn. She is an administrative assistant at Central High School. Stephens is the son of Gary and Jean Stephens of Fenton, Mo. He is a science teacher at Central High School...

Briefly Baseball Eli Marrero, who provides Cardinals manager Tony La Russa with necessary flexibility in the outfield and behind the plate, will undergo right ankle surgery today and is sidelined indefinitely. Marrero suffered the injury in the fourth inning of St. Louis' game with the Cubs on Sunday...

To the editor: Missouri politicians have a horrible record when it comes to defending Second Amendment issues. The latest Republican effort, House Bill 349, is no exception. HB 349 has many gun-rights infringements written into it. Among them are provisions that would create zones in which law-abiding citizens would be disarmed before entering. ...

Jake Welch pitched five solid innings as Central's baseball team went on the road Monday and picked up a 5-1 victory over Hillsboro. Welch allowed one earned run on four hits. Chris Daniel pitched the final two innings for the Tigers (15-9). Josh Ford led the way offensively with a single and two RBIs. Seth Hudson added an RBI double...

Even those with jaded views of the world and who always think the worst of people had to have been inspired by the story of Mary Sample and Roberta Brown. Those are the two Tipton Linen & Uniform Service employees who, in two recent instances, found $2,000 and $1,500 respectively, and turned it in...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Bob Holden asked state and federal emergency management agencies Monday to assess tornado damage in four more Missouri counties. The agencies will survey Cole, Howard, Lewis and Pike counties and consideration the four for federal aid packages...

ATKINS, Ark. -- The pickle factory may be gone, but the Pickle Fest goes on. Residents in a place that clings to the moniker Pickle City USA have decided to have the annual Picklefest this coming weekend even though the town's pickle factory shut down last May...

WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- Police are searching for a man who robbed a gas station with a kitchen fork. According to Warrenburg police, the man was waving the fork when he entered the Break Time gas station early Saturday. Detective Tom Carey said two employees at the store said the robber overpowered the clerk at the counter...

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Anaheim Mighty Ducks didn't need overtime to beat the Minnesota Wild, just an opportunistic penalty kill and another outstanding performance by their unflappable goalie. Jean-Sebastien Giguere was perfect again, and Kurt Sauer and Rob Niedermayer scored short-handed goals Monday night to lead the Mighty Ducks to a 2-0 victory over the Wild...

WASHINGTON -- Threatened with the loss of federal money, the vast majority of the nation's schools have declared that they allow prayer wherever and however the Constitution permits. For the first time, federal law requires school districts to prove that they have no policy stifling court-protected prayer by students or teachers. Those that don't comply risk losing a share of elementary and secondary school money totaling $23 billion...

WASHINGTON -- Companies could own combinations of newspapers and television and radio stations in the same city and any one company could control TV stations reaching nearly half of U.S. homes under broad changes to media ownership rules proposed Monday...

JACKSON SCHOOL BOARD MEETING 7p.m. today 614 E. Adams St. On the agenda: Approval of bid for second-phase of resurfacing R.O. Hawkins Junior High track. Amendment to the 2002-2003 school year calendar. Administrative reports...

WASHINGTON -- Coalition forces have taken custody of the Iraqi scientist known as "Dr. Germ" for her work in making biological weapons, according to Pentagon officials, who said they also had field reports that the head of Saddam Hussein's military has been captured...

Cape Girardeau Tuesday, May 13 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI Craig Allen Hale, 25, of 1401 Bessie, Cape Girardeau, was arrested Sunday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated and domestic assault...

By Laura Johnston Southeast Missourian First graders at Clippard Elementary School will know more about sentence structure, revising a story and grammar and punctuation when school ends, but the lessons in writing and reading aren't nearly as fun as becoming published authors...

Art and horror don't always blend well, especially in the erratic world of video games. After two critically rejected versions, "Clock Tower 3," from Capcom for the PlayStation 2, has been rejiggered to the point where it's an artistic success -- in a gruesome sort of way...

Area student elected fraternity commander Tim Robert, a junior chemical engineering major at the University of Missouri-Rolla, has been elected commander of the Sigma Nu Fraternity and was recently selected for membership in three honor societies: Phi Kappa Phi, Omega Chi Epsilon and Order of Omega...

The strongest reason for people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government. No free man shall be debarred the use of arms. -- Thomas Jefferson Thirty-five states already have laws that allow law-abiding citizens to carry concealed firearms. The Missouri Legislature wants to make it one more....

Jackson Mayor Paul Sander has proclaimed the city to be in a state of disaster and enacted a curfew in areas affected by last week's tornado during Monday night's board of aldermen meeting. Police chief James Humphreys asked Sander for assistance in the department's efforts to curb looting and to keep non-residents out of those neighborhoods, Sander told the council...