Stories from Friday, May 23, 2003

HOUSTON -- Jeriome Robertson has found the secret to pitching in the major leagues -- don't think. Robertson won for the first time in more than a month, pitching 5 2/3 innings to help the Houston Astros beat the Cardinals 5-2 Thursday night. Robertson (2-3) allowed one run on four hits, striking out four and walking none for his first win since beating Cincinnati on April 10. He had had four no-decisions and two losses since his previous victory...

CLAYTON, Mo. -- A judge declared a mistrial Thursday when jurors could not decide on the guilt or innocence of a Roman Catholic priest accused of molesting a teenager eight years ago. Afterward, prosecutors said they will try the Rev. Bryan Kuchar again...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Despite being courted by his own political party for several weeks, Democratic Lt. Gov. Joe Maxwell said Thursday he won't run for the U.S. Senate next year. State and national Democratic Party officials had been trying to recruit Maxwell to challenge Republican Sen. Kit Bond, who has not officially announced a re-election bid but is expected to seek a fourth term...

STOCKTON, Mo. -- Steve Jones kneeled beside his grandparents' grave Thursday in Stockton Cemetery, patiently scraping debris from a surface that once supported a 300-pound granite headstone. He was determined to return the marker -- knocked to the ground when a May 4 tornado ripped through this southwest Missouri town -- to its upright position before Memorial Day...

ODESSA, Mo. -- A Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper making a traffic stop was killed early Thursday when his car was rear-ended by a truck and he became trapped inside the burning vehicle. Patrol spokesman Lt. Tim Hull identified the trooper as Micheal Newton, 25, who was assigned to Troop A in the Kansas City suburb of Lee's Summit...

OZARK, Mo. -- A Rockaway Beach man was convicted Thursday of second-degree murder in the shaking and beating death of his girlfriend's toddler son. Jurors returned the guilty verdict against David Manwarren, 23, in Christian County, where the trial was moved from Taney County on a change of venue...

EFFINGHAM, Ill. -- The Effingham Fire Department owns a faded red time machine with ladders on the roof, flashing lights and a siren that wails all the way back to just before midnight on April 4, 1949. That was the night fire exploded through St. Anthony Hospital. The 72-year-old building vanished in a wall of flame that killed 77 people and injured dozens more. Among the dead were a dozen newborn babies and the maternity nurse who chose to perish with them rather than save herself...

CHICAGO -- Both Billy-Bob and Bubba have repulsive false teeth, but it took the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to determine that Billy Bob's are the real deal when it comes to disgusting dentures. The appellate panel on Wednesday reversed a southern Illinois federal judge's decision to overturn a copyright infringement award to novelty teeth maker Billy-Bob Teeth Inc. of Hardin...

WASHINGTON -- Russia is asking the Bush administration to maintain a U.S. freeze on testing as it considers full-scale development of battlefield nuclear weapons. A senior Russian official told reporters Thursday his government also intends to develop new types of weapons, which he said probably would not be nuclear-armed and certainly would not be aimed at the United States...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush is considering a three-way meeting with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Egypt, officials involved in the planning said Thursday. Bush's aim in a high-profile meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas would be to prod them into implementing the so-called road map for a settlement...

WASHINGTON -- The Senate and House on Thursday passed their own versions of a $400.5 billion defense spending plan for 2004 that would increase money for homeland security, development of new weapons and benefits for the troops. Legislation in both bills includes more than $70 billion for weapons purchases and $9.1 billion for a missile defense system. ...

WASHINGTON -- A $330 billion tax cut being completed by Congress will provide bigger paychecks for some workers, breaks for married couples and parents and investment opportunities for businesses. It also may make filing tax returns next year more complicated...

This week's veto road show staged by Gov. Bob Holden pretends to be about the Missouri budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. In a series of whistle stops around the state, Holden has announced plans to veto spending bills covering nearly two-thirds of the state budget approved in the legislative session that ended last week...

If you hunt turkey in Missouri, you already know that the three-week spring season ended less than two weeks ago. You've probably already put your hunting gear away and broken out your fishing tackle. While the fishing gear is definitely a good idea, you might be premature in placing your shotgun in storage, because both squirrel and stream bass become legal quarry Saturday...

A proud Army wife I'M A wife of a reservist with the 389th Engineering Battalion. I am so very proud of my husband and all the other men who are over there with him. When something like this happens, it is great that there is such a great support system. There are so many places you can go for help. I am proud to be a wife of an Army man. I wish everyone the best and hope they all come home safe and soon...

VILLA RIDGE, Ill. -- Emma Francine Shumaker, 80, of Villa Ridge died Thursday, May 22, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 25, 1922, in Cairo, Ill., daughter of Thomas Jefferson and Lou Emma Lowery East. She and Edward Earl Shumaker Sr. were married June 6, 1944, in Osceola, Ark...

Ruth Louise Roe, 84, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, May 21, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born May 5, 1919, at Oran, Mo., daughter of Louis and Lucy Bell Sullivan Pippin. She and Raymond Ralph Roe were married Nov. 26, 1938, at Jackson. He died Oct. 4, 1968...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Earl E. Calliotte, 90, of Perryville died Thursday, May 22, 2003, at his home. He was born Jan. 6, 1913, in Perry County, son of Francis D. "Donor" and Louise Weinkein Calliotte. He and Rosilda M. Landmann were married Nov. 22, 1947, in Grantfork, Ill...

FRANKFURT, Germany -- Chemical and drug maker Bayer said Thursday that it acted responsibly and in line with the best medical knowledge at the time when it sold a blood-clotting product that saved hemophiliacs from potentially fatal bleeding -- but was linked to the risk of HIV infection...

ROUIBA, Algeria -- Rescuers clawed by hand through rubble as stunned and weeping survivors wandered through collapsed buildings Thursday, after Algeria's worst earthquake in two decades killed nearly 1,100 people, injured thousands and left thousands more homeless...

INDIANAPOLIS -- As Helio Castroneves rode a golf cart through Gasoline Alley and headed for pit lane, the cheers grew to a crescendo. It seemed as if the Brazilian was everybody's favorite Thursday as he prepared to race for an unprecedented third straight Indianapolis 500 victory...

FORT WORTH, Texas -- The first woman on the PGA Tour in 58 years played just like one of the boys. In fact, Annika Sorenstam was better than some of them -- Sergio Garcia, Tom Lehman and two dozen others. She split fairway after fairway. She had a birdie putt on every hole. The only time she stepped into a bunker was to study the break on the green...

To promote seat belt use and safe driving during the Memorial Day weekend and the summer months ahead, the Cape Girardeau Police Department will hold a safety checkpoint today from 1 to 3 p.m. at the First Missouri State Bank at Mount Auburn and Independence streets...

PADUCAH, Ky. -- Tim Alvarez once pitched a five-inning no-hitter in high school. That pales in comparison to what he accomplished Thursday. Alvarez, Southeast Missouri State University's senior left-hander, threw the first no-hitter in Ohio Valley Conference Tournament history as the second-seeded Indians remained alive in the double-elimination event by beating top-seeded Austin Peay 4-0...

Briefly Baseball Barry Larkin went back on the 15-day disabled list Thursday, conceding that his days as the Reds' shortstop are nearing an end. Larkin, 39, strained his right calf while running the bases during a 9-3 victory Wednesday night over the Braves...

Southest Missourian It's not so much a matter of who isn't having some kind of special racing event this weekend. The real question: Who isn't? A handful of Southeast Missouri special events combine with a big schedule of regional draws to set up what could be the busiest weekend of racing this season...

Buick's SUV is upscale and versatile with features that please both driver and passenger Upscale, good looking and comfortable, that's always been my impression of a Buick. I'll never forget that long, graceful hood on the new generation of front-wheel-drive Riviera that appeared in the late 1970s. ...

Top-seeded Central committed four errors in the first two innings, setting the tone for a 9-4 loss to second-seeded Fox in Thursday's Class 4, District 1 Tournament championship game in Arnold. Host Fox (14-12) took a 7-1 lead over the first two innings with five of its runs the result of errors by Central (18-10), which made seven overall...

The top step. It's the pinnacle of the medal podium, reserved for the best track and field athletes in the state. In her previous two years at the Class 2 championships, Loren Groves of Scott City has been everywhere in Jefferson City but on the top step...

Andy Rooney, resident curmudgeon of "60 Minutes" fame, gave his fans quite a scare the other night. At the end of the show's 35th anniversary special, Rooney said some things that led viewers to believe he was retiring. My wife gasped. So did I. Rooney is -- how can I say this delicately? -- old enough to draw Social Security and then some. ...

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Police went undercover as homeless people in tattered clothes to catch drivers running red lights. The undercover officers watched for lawbreakers, then radioed ahead to other officers, who pulled the motorists over and gave them tickets...

AUSTIN, Texas -- Democratic lawmakers in Texas and Washington, D.C., reacted with outrage following revelations a state agency destroyed documents about its search for legislators who fled to Oklahoma to block passage of a redistricting bill. The Texas Department of Public Safety issued a statement Wednesday saying it destroyed the records and photographs because federal regulations prohibit it from keeping intelligence information that is not part of a criminal case...

On a normal day at the Missouri Capitol, three private security guards stand watch over the metal detector at the main door. Now, with the nation on a high terror alert, they are joined by a single, full-time police officer with a gun. In many parts of America, that qualifies as "enhanced security."...

The federal government's latest security warning could spoil some people's travel plans this Memorial Day, but fears alone won't stop people like Paul Giller. The 32-year-old from Cohoes, N.Y., won't be deterred from going to Australia. "If something bad is going to happen, it's going to happen," he said. "You can't let evil people dictate how you live."...

GUATEMALA CITY -- Two Guatemalan girls born joined at the head but separated by U.S. doctors flew to Los Angeles on Thursday to receive medical treatment after suffering setbacks in their recovery. Maria de Jesus Quiej Alvarez and Maria de Teresa Quiej Alvarez arrived at the airport in separate ambulances. Their mother, Alba Leticia Alvarez, carried Maria de Jesus in her arms, and their father arrived with Maria de Teresa, who was using oxygen to breath...

KATMANDU, Nepal -- A 70-year-old former professional skier from Japan became on Thursday the oldest man to climb Mount Everest, and an Indian-Nepalese army team reached the peak along the original route of Sir Edmund Hillary a half-century ago. Dozens more climbers headed toward the summit to mark next week's 50th anniversary of the first conquest of the world's highest mountain by Hillary and Nepalese guide Tenzing Norgay...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghan authorities on Thursday played down a deadly shooting incident outside the American Embassy in Kabul in which U.S. Marines killed at least three Afghan troops, saying relations between the two nations would not be undermined...

KELSO, Mo. -- Elizabeth Harbour Strickland, 64, of Kelso died Thursday, May 22, 2003, at her home. She was born Dec. 4, 1938, in Jackson, Miss., daughter of James Kirk and Annie May Presley Slawson. She and Jesse Eugene Strickland were married May 8, 1960, in Jackson, Miss...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Juanita Lincoln, 79, of Marble Hill died Wednesday, May 21, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 5, 1924, at Hurricane, Mo., daughter of Marvin and Marie Nanney Limbaugh. She and Dwel Wayne Lincoln were married March 29, 1942, at Marble Hill...

TORONTO -- Seven herds of cattle are now under quarantine in Canada, investigators said Thursday as officials broadened their search for the origins of North America's first case of mad cow disease in a decade. Records indicate the infected cow may have been born in Saskatchewan province, Claude Lavigne of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency told a news conference Thursday...

WASHINGTON -- Rates on 30-year mortgages dropped to a new low this week, the seventh time that has happened this year. The average interest rate on a fixed-rate 30-year mortgage fell to a record low of 5.34 percent, the second week in a row that rates on this benchmark mortgage dropped to an all-time weekly low, Freddie Mac, the mortgage company reported Thursday in its weekly nationwide survey...

Jean-Paul Gaultier moves to Hermes PARIS -- Hermes International SA has selected provocative designer Jean-Paul Gaultier to create its women's ready-to-wear collections. Hermes, the luxury-goods maker known for its silk scarves and leather accessories, said Gaultier will take over after the spring-summer 2004 collection is presented in October...

BOURNE, Mass. -- The massive stranding of about 60 pilot whales on the Cape last summer was a wrenching experience for would-be rescuers. They watched the whales repeatedly beach themselves and eventually die, despite efforts to guide them back to sea...

An eastern Missouri prosecutor has dropped first-degree murder charges against a man suspected of killing 13-year-old Gina Dawn Brooks of Fredericktown nearly 14 years ago. Madison County prosecutor M. Dwight Robbins said Wednesday he reluctantly dismissed the charge against Nathan D. ...

When the Southern rock of .38 Special blasted from the grandstand stage at the SEMO District Fair last September it was the fair's first departure from a tradition of presenting 100 percent country acts. This year the Marshall Tucker Band will continue the new tradition with a performance Sept. 10...

Associate Press WriterKANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- An explosion and fire destroyed a small home in the Waldo area on Kansas City's South Side Friday morning, injuring a father and his 6-year-old son. Police Chief Smokey Dyer said the two were blown clear of the house by the force of the explosion, but that their injuries did not appear to be life-threatening. Both were taken to hospitals...

Two stars (out of four) I always regretted not seeing the original "Matrix" in the theater and was determined not to make the same mistake with the sequel. Was I disappointed! Don't get me wrong, the fight scenes are awesome, and the highway chase scene is incredible. ...

Cape Muny Band to play twice on Memorial Day The Cape Girardeau Municipal Band will perform two concerts on Memorial Day. The concerts will be the band's first of the season. The band will play from 10:30 to 11 a.m. Monday at the Osage Community Centre as part of the Memorial Day service...

A half hour before the stand selling strawberries on Independence Street in Cape Girardeau was supposed to open Thursday, 25 eager people were already waiting in line to purchase the fresh-picked fruit. "It's not unusual to see 10 or 20 people in line when we get here in the morning," said the Rev. Jack Smart, executive director of Teen Challenge International of Mid-America, the local organization that grows the strawberries. "And we stay busy throughout the day."...

WASHINGTON -- Tommy R. Franks, the Army general who commanded U.S. forces to battlefield victories in Afghanistan and Iraq, has decided to retire after 36 years in uniform. He announced no plans, but a senior defense official said Franks had informed Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that he planned to step down as commander of Central Command "in the weeks immediately ahead" and that he would like to retire from the Army this summer...

UNITED NATIONS -- Putting aside bitter divisions over the Iraqi war, the U.N. Security Council gave the United States and Britain a mandate Thursday to govern Iraq and use its oil riches to rebuild the country. The resolution opened the door to a quick resumption of oil exports...

FALLUJAH, Iraq -- Residents threatened more resistance to American troops occupying this troubled Iraqi city Thursday, after a U.S. armored vehicle was ambushed during a late-night raid and two Iraqi civilians were reportedly shot to death. Two U.S. Army Bradley Fighting Vehicles were patrolling the area when one was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade late Wednesday night in Fallujah's industrial section, U.S. Army Capt. Allen Vaught said...

Disease experts said Thursday the SARS virus appears to be just as hardy in its 15th victim as its first one, suggesting its ability to spread isn't weakening. The virus' robust nature indicates it is well-adapted to reproducing inside the human body, health experts said...

Plywood sheets protect the original tile flooring of the 74-year-old Marquette Hotel's lobby. Floors in other parts of the downtown Cape Girardeau building lie under heaps of rubble created by demolished walls and torn-open ceilings. It's part of the pick-and-choose demolition that workers are doing to turn the 1920s-era hotel into state offices while trying to preserve the historic building's character...

Cape Girardeau County residents whose homes were destroyed in May 6 storms will not have to pay property taxes on those houses for the rest of the year, the Cape Girardeau County Commission unanimously decided Thursday. The commission passed an occupancy law that will allow victims to have their taxes prorated, meaning the victims who qualify will only have to pay taxes for the first four months of 2003...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Legislation enabling Noranda Aluminum Inc. to negotiate power contracts free of state rate regulation became law Thursday after being signed by Gov. Bob Holden. Company officials said the law is vital to the survival of its New Madrid smelting facility, which employs 1,100 workers...

MEXICO CITY -- The bodies of 11 of 19 illegal migrants who died after being locked in a sweltering truck trailer and abandoned in South Texas arrived in Mexico City late Thursday. Mexican air force personnel unloaded the white and brown metal coffins from a C-130 Hercules transport plane and put them in black, white and maroon hearses. ...

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- A gas explosion at a snack bar in downtown Istanbul killed two people and injured seven Thursday, the Anatolia news agency reported. Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler said that a leak from a gas canister used to cook food had caused the explosion, which was so powerful that it blew refrigerators onto the street...

C. Leo Stearns, 91, of Rapids City, Ill., died Thursday, May 15, 2003, at Trinity Medical Center East Campus in Moline, Ill. He was born July 23, 1911, in Elk City, Okla., son of Jefferson and Dona Drum Stearns. He and Vera Adams were married April 15, 1938, in Elsberry, Mo. She died May 20, 1998...

Anna Mae Hahs, 85, of Jackson died Thursday, May 22, 2003, at Jackson Manor. McCombs Funeral Home at Jackson is in charge of arrangements.

Shirley Dean Fulton Jenkins, 67, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, May 5, 2003, in Santa Ana, Calif. She was born Sept. 30, 1935, in Missouri. She married Don Jenkins, who preceded her in death. Survivors include a son, Donald Jenkins II of Missouri; two daughters, Diana Sellars and Stasha Morse of California; a sister, Marty King; a friend, Jackie Lemonds; 14 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren...

GRAND CHAIN, Ill. -- Lela Faye Carr, 76, of Grand Chain died Thursday, May 22, 2003, at her home. She was born July 16, 1927, in Cairo, daughter of Ernest and Elsie Abney. She married James Carr, who preceded her in death in 1987. Carr was a member of United Pentecostal Church in Dongola, Ill...

10 years ago: May 23, 1993 St. Paul Lutheran Church in Jackson celebrates its 100th anniversary with special services; guest speaker at worship services is the Rev. James W. Kalthoff, president of Missouri District of Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod; St. Paul began on March 18, 1893, with original constitution signed by six charter members...

When I seek out restaurants to sample their menus, I love to talk to the managers and the owners. Some are hesitant to speak to me. I don't know why. I'm just a big lovable pussycat (OK, I did scratch some people in the past, but it's the past). Some are willing to step up to the plate. ...

A season of classics peppered with adventurous contemporary plays awaits audiences next season at the Rose Theatre. The University Players will perform both Shakespeare's comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie," one of the great American plays of the 20th century, during the first semester. A third classic, the children's story "Rapunzel," will be produced in the spring...

'Deftones' The intense, distorted riffs of the Deftones' self-titled release is a soundtrack befitting any headbanger's ball and music to keep out of the hands of those with poor anger management skills. With song titles like "Death Blow," "Battleaxe" and "Bloody Cape," the follow up to "White Pony," which won a Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 2000, is an audio assault guaranteed to turn timid hands into fists...

NEW YORK -- "You're very lucky tonight," poet Glyn Maxwell told the audience at Cooper Union's Great Hall. He stood at the podium Wednesday night, surrounded by an all-star cast of poets -- Charles Simic, Nina Cassian, Sharon Olds, Philip Levine and this year's Pulitzer Prize winner, Paul Muldoon...

Bigham Daughter to Wendell Clayton and Tanya Denese Bigham of Benton, Mo., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 9:11 a.m. Wednesday, May 14, 2003. Name, Destiny Shyan. Weight, 8 pounds 3 ounces. Mrs. Bigham is the former Tanya McCutchen, daughter of Bill and Cheryl McCutchen of Benton. She is a hairdresser at Mastercuts in Cape Girardeau. Bigham is the son of Duck and Donna Ashworth of Wyatt, Mo., and Joyce Bigham of Olive Branch, Ill. He is a salesman at K's Merchandise in Cape Girardeau...

Cape Girardeau Friday, May 23 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI Michael G. Hoffman, 20, of 819 S. Pacific, Cape Girardeau, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, failure to obey a stop sign, failure to drive within a single lane and possession of marijuana...

Cape Girardeau Friday, May 23 Firefighters responded Thursday to the following items: At 3:12 a.m., medical assist at 205 S. Pacific. At 6:16 a.m., extrication at County Road 620 and Route W. At 6:51 a.m., structure fire at 2006 Montgomery. At 11:25 a.m., motor vehicle accident at Interstate 55...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The pain and anguish for state Rep. Todd Smith and his family have been slow to fade. In February 2002, Smith's brother Mark took his own life shortly before his 35th birthday. Smith still wonders if something -- anything -- could have been done to prevent the tragedy. The Republican lawmaker from Sedalia said there may soon be a way to spare other families from facing something similar...

RATNAPURA, Sri Lanka -- Searchers found more bodies from Sri Lanka's worst floods in three decades, which killed at least 266 people, while engineers worked Thursday to widen rivers to drain away floodwaters. Search teams continued looking in remote villages for up to 500 people missing following the floods and landslides in southern Sri Lanka that started late Saturday after days of heavy rain...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Four more men allegedly linked to al-Qaida were arrested as part of a crackdown that Saudi officials launched after deadly bombings in Riyadh last week, a Western diplomat said Thursday. The four were arrested Tuesday for their alleged ties to 19 men wanted over a weapons cache found May 6 near the site of the deadly Riyadh bombings, which occurred six days later, the diplomat said on condition of anonymity...

American forces captured Aziz Sajih al-Numan, a former senior Baath Party leader who is No. 8 on Central Command's list of the 55 most-wanted Iraqis. Al-Numan was identified as the Baath Party's regional command chairman responsible for west Baghdad, and is the highest-ranking person on the list of 55 to be taken into custody so far...

ROME -- The release from jail this week of a Mafia boss turned state informant has reignited a long-standing debate over the use of turncoats in mob prosecutions, with many arguing the law is too benevolent toward criminals who have been convicted of hideous murders...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- In his latest veto declaration, Gov. Bob Holden said Thursday that he will reject the $4.5 billion budget approved by lawmakers for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Holden also intends to announce today when he will call lawmakers into a special session on the budget...