Stories from June 2003

They struggled through the pain of boot camp. They lived knowing a call to battle could come any day. Some fought and survived wars. But the numbers show many Missouri veterans don't know how to get the benefits they deserve, benefits that could help them earn civilian jobs, medical services or financial assistance...

WASHINGTON -- Looking for a little levity in troubled times? War, terrorism and stock market slumps have been unlikely fodder for decades' worth of reassuringly goofy jokes. The Library of Congress has a half-million of them, courtesy of Bob Hope. "I don't understand terrorists," Hope quipped 10 years before the Sept. 11 attacks. "How could anyone get so angry, so involved, so worked up about anything? ... I mean outside of golf."...

Few students go through college without scavenging something, say a sofa from a sidewalk or a TV from a trash bin. And come graduation day, most young people on campus flee head-on into "real life," leaving their trash behind. Their schools, for years stuck with mountains of dorm room detritus from loads of fast-food mac and cheese to computers and stereos, have begun turning the trash into treasure, raising thousands of dollars for charities and donating tons of food to those who help the needy.. ...

CHICAGO -- Although cancer is usually a disease of the elderly, a large government review finds older people are often excluded from studies intended to discover better drugs to treat their disease. Older people may be left out for legitimate reasons, such as having other serious illnesses along with their cancer. But experts contend that many more should be offered a chance to take part in these experiments, known as clinical trials...

WASHINGTON -- As a new U.S.-led team of international experts is heading to Iraq to intensify the search for weapons of mass destruction, President Bush says banned armaments already have been found -- even though officials have said they have only located mobile laboratories suspected of producing them...

EAGAN, Minn. -- Northwest Airlines expects to furlough 150 more pilots because of cutbacks in Asia flights stemming from travelers' fears about SARS, the union representing its pilots said. Although Northwest said Friday that no decision has been made about SARS-related layoffs in other work groups, the Eagan-based airline recently notified all of its unions that more jobs may be cut due to passenger fears about severe acute respiratory syndrome...

NEW YORK -- White clothing is far more complicated than a simple T-shirt. White garments have more "rules" attached to them than probably any other category of clothes; some of them can be tossed into the summer wind, but others shouldn't be ignored...

McBRIDE, Mo. -- The runaway river first approached as faraway sparkles across rich bottom land, then sneaked up as syrupy rivulets pulsing through ditches in town. Then in a murky rush the Mississippi River took McBride, backfilling to the north through a broken levee, splashing against railroad boxcars, surging across the floor at Al's Place, where owners Lois and Leonard Naeger had already loaded out the pool table, bar stools and dishes...

The Great Flood of 1993 changed Cape Girardeau's landscape. With federal and state funds, the city bought out more than 100 houses in the floodplain and had them torn down, mostly in the Red Star district. The Kingshighway and Meadowbrook areas in the southern part of the city also had buyouts...

Area pool players have one last day to get out from behind the eight ball and go to Las Vegas. Amateur league pool players began the American Legion pool championship Friday night at the A.C. Brase Arena Building. The event ends at 2 p.m. today with four winning teams eligible to participate in the national team tournament in Las Vegas in August...

DALLAS -- Time and again, Ruben Reyes asked the University of Texas at El Paso for permission to hold protests about environmental dangers, the administration and censorship -- typical stuff for a campus demonstration. Each time, Reyes was turned down by officials who said the student union where the creative-writing student wanted to talk was not one of the two "free-speech zones" on the campus of 17,000 students...

SANTA ANA, Calif. -- In the produce section, piles of shiny, green pasilla chiles sit beside paddle-shaped cactus leaves and bumpy brown yucca roots. At the meat counter, a customer greets a clerk in Spanish and asks him to marinate some ranchera-style beef...

WINNECONNE, Wis. -- A student who sued her public school district to sing about God at her graduation ceremony will get her wish, district officials and the student's lawyer said Thursday. Rachel Honer, 18, had alleged that Winneconne High School violated her constitutional rights of free speech and religious expression when it ordered her to substitute the three references to God in "He's Always Been Faithful" or not perform at the June 8 ceremony...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Reaching for a pungent potion of solvent, wood sealer and perfume, Olga Santiago Ocana advises how to ward off bad spirits during hurricane season -- and forecasters warn this year's season could be busier than ever. Sandwiched between bundles of herbs, candles, beads and other paraphernalia of Santeria, the Afro-Caribbean religion, Santiago tells a client to sprinkle the anti-hurricane elixir around the home...

BOZEMAN, Mont. -- A couple arrived for work at their new landscaping business only to find that their office wasn't there. The modular trailer had been blown into a nearby pond the night before when a powerful wind roared through the area. "I told my wife she should have paid the office bill because it's gone," said Bob Norton. His wife Julia Royston owns J&B Rock and Landscape Materials west of town...

ST. LOUIS -- It's not always a beautiful day in the neighborhood. The guy next door won't muzzle his barking dog. The able-bodied woman down the street regularly steals the handicap parking space. Someone lays on his horn at 7 every morning to pick up a friend for work. The newly arrived immigrant parks in the alley and no one can explain to him he's not supposed to...

NEW YORK -- Inside the tent, four young women soar through the air, legs hooked around trapeze bars, one hanging only by an ankle. Dropping deftly to the floor, they critique the performance -- in Russian, Italian, Portuguese, English. Near a trampoline, three boys are conversing in Chinese...

WASHINGTON -- If the Postal Service is to be run like a business, it needs the freedom to set its prices like a business, postmaster general John Potter said Thursday. Potter told the President's Commission on the Postal Service that his agency is hampered by the complex 16-month process involved in setting rates...

Imagine getting a $275,000 house for just $100. Talk about a dream come true! And on top of that, the $100 spent goes to a great cause: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. That dream will come true for someone who gets the chance to live at 146 Super Bowl Drive in Touchdown Estates. Tickets are still available for the benefit raffle. The drawing will be held June 22...

Alan and Kay Perkinson of Kansas City, Mo., announce the engagement of their daughter, Alana Kay Perkinson, to Lucas Michael Rouggly, both of Florissant, Mo. He is the son of Mike and Cindy Rouggly of Jackson. Perkinson received a degree in children's ministries in 2003 from Johnson Bible College in Knoxville, Tenn...

Brenda and Rich Yahnke of Ridott, Ill., and Garrett and Delta McArthy of Carbondale, Ill., announce the engagement of their daughter, Melissa McArthy, to James Walker Jr., both of Cape Girardeau. He is the son of James and Suzanne Walker of Fredericktown, Mo...

Judy Looney of Cape Girardeau and Ronald Looney of Puxico, Mo., announce the engagement of their son, Everett Earl Looney, to Amanda Sue Hoehn. She is the daughter of Clyde and Sandra Hoehn of Doe Run, Mo. Looney is a 1993 graduate of Leopold High School at Leopold, Mo. He is employed at Motorcycle Stuff of Missouri...

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Fisher of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Kate Elizabeth Fisher, to Eric Ryan Sievers. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Lonnie Sievers of Jackson. Fisher is a 2001 graduate of Jackson High School, and is pursuing a degree in early childhood education at Southeast Missouri State University. She is employed at Pioneer Market in Jackson...

Larry and Barbara Sanford Spiers of St. Clair, Mo., announce the engagement of their daughter, Molly Ellen Spiers, to Eric Neil Smith. He is the son of Richard and the Rev. Marilyn Smith of DeSoto, Mo. Mrs. Spiers is formerly of Scott City. Spiers is a graduate of St. ...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Jim and Phyllis Schultz of Tamms announce the engagement of their daughter, Tonika C. Schultz, to Chad M. Schuster. He is the son of Mike and Ginny Williams of Sesser, Ill. Schultz is a 1996 graduate of Shawnee High School, and a 1999 graduate of Shawnee College. She is a medical secretary for Dr. Karen Yates in Cape Girardeau...

NEW HAMBURG, Mo. -- Mr. and Mrs. Aloysius Otto Kern Jr. of New Hamburg announce the engagement of their daughter, Denitra Michelle Kern, to Steven Dale Holman Jr. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Pullen Sr. of Charleston, Mo., and the late Steven Holman...

Edie E. Doberenz and Randall L. Kagy were married May 10, 2003, at Abundant Life Church. David Butler performed the ceremony. Maid of honor was Theresa Degroot of Ponca City, Okla. Bridesmaids were Amy Wienstoroer of Washington, Mo., and Janice Doberenz of St. Louis...

The Honorable Jo Ann Emerson and Ronald Craig Gladney of Cape Girardeau announce the marriage of her daughter, Victoria Marie Emerson, to Andrew Wolcott Barnes. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Wolcott Barnes of Great Falls, Va. The bride is also the daughter of the late Congressman Bill Emerson...

Julie Anne Weakley became the bride of Jeffrey John Koch May 24, 2003, at Centenary United Methodist Church. Dr. Clayton L. Smith performed the ceremony. Organist was Mary Miller, trumpeter was Marc Fulgham, and soloist was Leslie Buck, all of Cape Girardeau...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- There's more to Bloomfield than the Stars and Stripes Museum and Library. Much more, according to Robert H. Forister. His 400-page book on the small Stoddard County town, "Bloomfield, Missouri: Highland in the Swamps," began appearing on Southeast Missouri bookstore shelves last week...

10 years ago: June 1, 1993 Should 8th District U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson decide to seek Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, Emerson's chief of staff, Lloyd Smith, says he will give serious consideration to running for Emerson's House seat; Smith, who will turn 42 next month, has been on congressman's staff since March 1981, two months after Emerson took office...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Frank E. Ponder, 68, of Perryville died Friday, May 30, 2003, at his home. He was born May 24, 1935, at St. Louis, son of Frank and Edna Peppers Ponder. He and Cecelia Y. Silebi were married May 16, 1994. He was an U.S. Air Force veteran and was employed making neon signs. He was a member of the IBEW Union Local No. 1 in St. Louis...

Viola "Vi" Weber Smith, 74, of Newburgh, Ind., died Thursday, May 29, 2003, at Deaconess Hospital. She was born March 21, 1929, to Joseph Ludwig Weber and Caroline Schram Weber Grootens. She attended St. Mary's Cathedral School in Cape Girardeau...

Blane Stafford, 92, of Franklin, Tenn., died Saturday, May 31, 2003, at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. He was born Sept. 19, 1910, in Stoddard County, Mo., son of Thomas and Minnie Allen Stafford. He and Oma Fletcher were married July 4, 1928, at Bell City, Mo.; she died April 9, 1994. He then married Frances Hart on Nov. 26, 1994, at Jonesboro, Ark. She died May 22, 2001...

Martha Louise Barnard, 90, died Saturday, May 31, 2003, at Heartland Care and Rehab in Cape Girardeau. She was born July 6, 1912, in Fornfelt, Mo., daughter of James and Laura Alice Freeman Gill. She and Fred M. Barnard were married Sept. 15, 1940, at St. Louis. He died Dec. 15, 1972...

Marshall Lee Vowels, 74, died Thursday, May 29, 2003, at the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born Oct. 8, 1928, at Wyatt, Mo., son of Albert and Gladys Miller Vowels. He and Mary Faith Estes were married Dec. 3, 1950, at Fornfelt, Mo...

KELSO, Mo. -- Cletus C. Francis, 77, of Kelso died Saturday, May 31, 2003, at Chaffee Nursing Center. He was born June 25, 1926, in Advance, Mo., son of David and Lillie Murry Francis. He and Evoleen Shell were married Dec. 3, 1945, at Grassy, Mo. Francis retired after 20 years at General Grocery Co. in St. Louis as an order selector. He was a member of First General Baptist in Cape Girardeau...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Nadine Francis Pennington Koch, 83, died Friday, May 30, 2003, at Clearview Nursing Home in Sikeston. She was born Dec. 20, 1919, near Dewitt, Mo., daughter of Fred and Ada Goodbar Pennington. She and Marvin Harold Koch were married Sept. 8, 1940. He died Sept. 5, 1992...

Vester Earl "Dick" Long, 89, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, May 31, 2003, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born Dec. 19, 1913, in Vinson, Okla., to Lawrence L. and Fannie P. Smith Long. He was a supervisor for Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America until his retirement in 1976...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Edwin L. Clausen, 78, of Perryville died Friday, May 30, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Feb. 1, 1925, in McNabb, Ill., son of Hans and Effie Paulsen Clausen. He and Dorothy Doll were married June 12, 1980, at Ste. Genevieve, Mo...

Need representation DOES STATE Sen. Peter Kinder represent all Cape Girardeans or just Republicans? He spends so much time with partisan politics that he is neglecting the needs of his own constituency. Southeast Missouri State University and our two major school districts are among our largest employers, yet he has done nothing to defend state funding for public education. ...

To the editor: My old flag was faded, and it seemed appropriate to replace it with a new one on this past Memorial Day. When my family and I took the old flag to the deposit box at Freedom Corner, we were met with a pleasant surprise. The display of flags was most impressive. ...

To the editor: I am disappointed in the presentation of data accompanying your May 29 story about the tax cut signed by President Bush. It showed the tax cuts for a range of taxpayers from low middle income to high income. With out presenting the total tax paid by each taxpayer, the reader has no way to put the numbers in perspective. ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Southeast Missouri State University's track and field program had several more solid performances Saturday but came away with no automatic national qualifiers as the NCAA Mideast Regional concluded. The top five finishers in each event from the four regionals across the nation qualify for the NCAA Championships June 11 to 14 in Sacramento, Calif. Six more at-large qualifiers in each event will come from the top marks turned in nationally this season...

To the editor: Paul Zmolek's letter regarding the Drury lawsuits over the River Campus, "Good citizens accept results and move on," made a good point. Now, change "citizens" to "politicians." Then think of all the things that are repeatedly up for vote (tax increases, gun control) that have been voted down and apply the phrase "they fought the good fight, ... ...

One day after Jackson's Stuart McIntosh captured the Class 4 pole vault title, area athletes had several more standout performances in the Missouri Track and Field Championships that concluded Saturday in Jefferson City. In Class 4, Central's Jennifer Pancoast and Cody Beaton both placed second in their respective events, as did Jackson's Heather West. Central's Ashley Colon was third...

After a couple of years of trying, the Missouri Legislature this year passed a sales-tax holiday that is expected to save shoppers about $5 million at a critical retail time: back-to-school shopping. The first sales-tax holiday will be in August of next year. An emergency provision to have a tax holiday this year failed to pass...

On Monday, Missouri legislators will begin returning to Jefferson City for a special session to deal with the state budget. The special session was called by Gov. Bob Holden after he vetoed several budget bills that were approved in this year's regular legislative session. The new budget takes effect July 1, which leaves one month to resolve the budget issues...

Cape Girardeau Sunday, June 1 Firefighters responded Friday to the following items: At 7:43 p.m., medical assist at William and Farrar. At 9:30 p.m., medical assist at 1710 N. Sprigg. At 11:16 p.m., medical assist at 118 S. Sprigg. Firefighters responded Saturday to the following items:...

Daily American Republic POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A Poplar Bluff man is to appear in federal court Tuesday for a detention hearing after he was indicted for possessing pseudoephedrine. Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Darrell Spain picked up Ronald Lee Lunsford, 43, Thursday from the Butler County Jail, where he has been held since his May 6 arrest, and transported him to Cape Girardeau...

Cape Girardeau Sunday, June 1 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI Brandon C. Baker, 23, of 909 Ranney, Cape Girardeau, was arrested Saturday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated...

Putin pitches visa-free travel between Russia, EU STRELNA, Russia -- The leaders of Russia and the European Union sought Saturday to allay Russian fears about the Western bloc's eastward expansion and engage each other more in solving common problems ranging from illegal migration to terrorism...

The Great Flood of 1993 in Southeast Missouri began as just another flirtation with the flood stage in early April. It became a disaster caused by a river that wouldn't go away until fall. Levees soaked with water for months began to fail. Traffic couldn't move on the Mississippi River from early July until the flood began subsiding late in August...

WASHINGTON -- FBI director Robert Mueller is traveling overseas this week on a tour that will include a stop in the Middle East. An FBI spokesman said Mueller left yesterday on a foreign trip, but he declined to confirm a Time magazine report that the director would be stopping in Saudi Arabia to thank the Saudis for their cooperation following the May 12 suicide bombings in Riyadh...

WASHINGTON -- When Democratic voters are asked which politician they want as president, one name consistently appears at the top -- Hillary Rodham Clinton. But the New York senator couldn't make it any clearer that she isn't running for the White House. At least not in 2004...

Summer's coming, time to dip a baited hook in a lake, play on a sandy beach or sand dune, hike in the woods or just do some leisurely exploring. You can find it all in northwest Michigan -- even the sand dunes. A 34-mile stretch of sand dunes along the shore of Lake Michigan is preserved in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore -- www.nps.gov/slbe/ -- where you can play in the sand, hike, fish and look for wildlife...

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Rick Carlisle sat elbow-to-elbow with the man who had just fired him, Joe Dumars. In a bizarre scene, talk turned to Larry Brown, who will become Detroit's next coach. "If you think he's going to bring in a stiff behind me, you're nuts," Carlisle said Saturday. "He's going to bring in a big-time guy, and if he can do that he will have done his job."...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Illinois' minimum wage would increase 35 cents an hour Jan. 1 and jump another $1 in 2005 under a plan the House approved Saturday. Framed as a way to help impoverished families better provide for themselves, the measure passed 71-45 over Republicans' cries that it would drive business from the state...

P The town's fight against the Mississippi played out on television screens worldwide. The Associated Press STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. -- A decade since it was nearly engulfed by the Mississippi River, this trove of antique shops, bed-and-breakfasts and 18th-century homes has a confidence as quiet and mighty as the river itself...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- After five years of repetitive labor in a chicken-processing plant in southwest Missouri, Edilma Pérez can hardly move her wrists without feeling pain. When Pérez was diagnosed with carpel tunnel syndrome, worker's compensation paid for her first doctor visit. ...

RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- The St. Louis Galleria, considered one of the foremost malls in the region, has been acquired by the country's second-largest shopping center owner. General Growth Properties Inc. of Chicago did not release a specific sales price. The company said only that it spent $626 million to buy the Galleria and the Coronado Center in Albuquerque, N.M...

ST. LOUIS -- Police will investigate whether officers acted improperly in raiding buildings and stopping vehicles in advance of protests outside a global agricultural forum in mid-May, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported in a copyright story. "We have an obligation to review what went on during that several-day period" leading up to the May 18-20 World Agricultural Forum, police chief Joe Mokwa told the newspaper...

ST. LOUIS -- Monsanto Co.'s fledgling president and chief executive said Friday the biotechnology and agricultural giant has no plans to retreat from its pursuit of sharply debated genetically modified crops. "My mandate is simple: Deliver on the promise of Monsanto's technology," Hugh Grant, 45, told analysts a day after being announced as successor to Hendrik Verfaillie, who resigned in December after two years of lackluster financial performance...

ST. LOUIS -- State officials hope that a refurbished conservation area will draw more people to the confluence of the nation's two largest rivers. The state Department of Conservation on Friday marked the reopening of the Columbia Bottom Conservation Area just north of St. Louis...

"Flowers have spoken to me more than I can tell in written words. They are the hieroglyphics of angels, loved by all men for the beauty of their character, though few can decypher even fragments of their meaning." Those words were written by U.S abolitionist, writer and editor Lydia M. Child in 1842...

NEW YORK -- Children seem to have a natural affinity toward animals -- they want to see them, hold them and learn more about them whenever they have the chance. Have you ever noticed how young zoo visitors widen their eyes as they pass the bears, big cats and elephants? Or, how long the line is for a chance to touch the stingrays at the aquarium?...

NEW YORK -- Pregnancy is supposed to be a beautiful time in a woman's life: She's happy, she's glowing. But sooner or later, she'll also start to notice the stretch marks and dark spots on her skin and the roots peeking through the hair that she used to color...

EVIAN, France -- The world's seven richest industrial countries and Russia struggled to reach common ground Saturday on a range of global issues in advance of an economic summit. The Group of Eight gathering, however, is likely to be remembered more for the disagreements separating the countries than for any modest achievements on combating AIDS or jump-starting global growth...

OSWIECIM, Poland -- President Bush passed under Auschwitz gate's chillingly misleading proclamation that "work makes you free" to pay tearful tribute Saturday to the victims of Nazi death camps. "Never forget," he exhorted. Bush and his wife, Laura, spent nearly two hours touring the Auschwitz and Birkenau extermination camps...

GUANGZHOU, China -- The civet cats are gone from their cages at the market, replaced by ducks and rabbits. The snakes, bats, badgers and anteater-like pangolins are missing, too. For years, the hundreds of stalls at Chatou Wild Animal Food Market in China's southern business capital of Guangzhou were a snapping, hissing zoo of exotic, endangered wildlife destined for the plates of the most adventurous diners...

JERUSALEM -- The United States accepts a Palestinian plan to persuade militant groups to halt anti-Israeli attacks rather than launch an immediate crackdown, the Palestinians said Saturday ahead of a three-way summit with President Bush. Israel has said that for now it would accept a cease-fire from the militants, though it wants Palestinian officials to act to disarm and disband the groups as soon as possible...

QUINCY, Mass. -- A 54-year-old man has been indicted for manslaughter in a deadly argument over abandoned golf balls. Robert Carnathan pleaded innocent at his initial arraignment in the Nov. 9 death of Donald King, 79. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted...

MURPHY, N.C. -- Friends say Jeff Postell, a rookie police officer in this small mountain town, has his eye on bigger things -- like becoming an FBI agent. On Saturday, he did what hundreds of FBI and other law enforcement officers couldn't, arresting one of the nation's most wanted fugitives, Eric Robert Rudolph...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush is dismissing the idea that Iran would be the next U.S. military target as "pure speculation," even as the White House seeks to increase pressure on the Islamic nation to cooperate in the fight against terrorism and weapons proliferation...

Mayor O'Malley a natural for the part BALTIMORE -- Mayor Martin O'Malley says his role in a new John Travolta film, "Ladder 49," wasn't much of a stretch -- he played the part of a mayor. "I never came out of character," O'Malley said. His one day of work Thursday garnered him membership in the Screen Actors Guild and a $650 paycheck. O'Malley said he will donate the money to the Baltimore fire department's foundation...

P The numbers of children living with grandparents has grown in the past decade, experts say. By Mitch Stacy ~ The Associated Press TAMPA, Fla. -- Before Freddie and Edna Myles could get their own seven children reared and out of the house, the couple started taking in their grandchildren...

BOSTON -- Former President Bill Clinton says in the future, a former two-term president might be able to return to office later in life -- but the Constitution would have to be amended. "It wouldn't affect me, but for future generations the 22nd amendment should be modified," Clinton said Wednesday during an appearance at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum...

P The move has worried civil libertarians, but the mayor says he's doing nothing wrong. By Brandon Loomis ~ The Associated Press HARVEY, Ill. -- The mayor of this crime-ridden Chicago suburb says the town needs help that conventional forces cannot render. So he has turned to six Christian ministers, one for each ward...

Becca may have a career ahead of her in television. At least, she sees it as fun to dress the part at a career day event at her middle school. Students came to school last Thursday dressed for their dream-world jobs. Becca chose the job of TV reporter. She came to school with curled hair, a tape recorder, and a microphone carrying the made-up logo, "Me-Me-Me TV." She sported a news badge around her neck...

jkoch By Dr. John Koch Question: I know that dogs have the ability to both hear and smell better than their human masters. However, after having observed several dogs over the years I have come to the conclusion that humans see better than dogs. Am I correct?...

Morehead State's Lance Seasor might seem a bit out of place on a Craftsman Union Capahas team that features eight players who competed for Southeast Missouri State University this year. But if Saturday's season-opening doubleheader against the visiting Valmeyer (Ill.) Lakers is an indication, Seasor will be right at home playing baseball in Cape Girardeau...

Rodney Shy took his first trip to Busch Stadium nearly 20 years ago. Over the course of that day's game between the Cardinals and Cubs, one player really stood out to him. "That was my first memory of seeing Ozzie play," said Shy of Oran, Mo. On Saturday, Shy and several hundred Ozzie Smith fans got their chance to get books, memorabilia and souvenirs signed by Smith in Cape Girardeau...

The annual baseball draft does not generate nearly the excitement or buzz of the other major professional sports drafts -- namely football and basketball -- but it's still plenty interesting. And it's always fun for area baseball fans -- myself included -- to follow the draft and see if any local players are selected. A few generally are every year and this week's 50-round event Tuesday and Wednesday figures to continue that trend...

Briefly Baseball The Astros activated right-hander Roy Oswalt from the 15-day disabled list Saturday and sent reliever Brandon Puffer to Triple-A New Orleans. Mets first baseman Mo Vaughn has probably played his last game. ...

Jackson Legion splits its opening doubleheader Jackson's Senior American Legion baseball team split a pair of high-scoring games with Imperial in its season-opening doubleheader at home Saturday. Jackson used a five-run seventh inning to come from behind in the 10-9 opener. ...

FENTON, Mo. -- Michelle Moody finally ended the scoring drought between the Jackson Indians and the Lafayette Lancers. Moody, a Lafayette freshman, scored the only goal Saturday in Lafayette's 1-0 win over Jackson in a Class 2 quarterfinal at the Anheuser-Busch Conference & Soccer Centre...

FENTON, Mo. -- His and her state soccer titles weren't in the cards for Notre Dame. John Burroughs, led by a talented combo of Jamie Greenwald and Erin Lingle, saw to that in the Class 1 state championship game Saturday at the Anheuser Busch Conference & Soccer Centre...

Cape Girardeau police spent Saturday evening investigating the death of a 38-year-old mother of two found dead inside her home by paramedics. There were no apparent signs of foul play, but investigators and the Cape Girardeau County coroner aren't ruling out a possible crime, chief Steve Strong said...

ST. LOUIS -- Kenny Lofton's 26-game hitting streak is history. But so is Woody Williams' 10-game winning string. Lofton went 0-for-5 to end his streak, but the Pittsburgh Pirates handed Williams his first loss in nine months in a 4-3 victory over the Cardinals on Saturday...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- What do U.S. soldiers use to cope with the grit and heat of Iraq? Why, cottony women's underthings, diaper ointments, pantyhose, and moist wipes with the aroma of baby powder. Drugstore products usually reserved for women and babies are all the rage among U.S. troops in Iraq...

If the Great Flood of 1993 brought Dutchtown anything other than misery, it might have forged the town's determination to build a levee to protect the community from the Diversion Channel. In the broiling July heat of 1993, the flood brought volunteers from all over the region to help build a levee of gravel and sandbags atop Highway 74 in Dutchtown. ...

DOVER, Del. -- Ryan Newman sees no problem with being far back in the Winston Cup standings, even though much more was expected of him this season. After all, he was the rage of NASCAR when he moved from 16th to a final standing of sixth last year and became rookie of the year. It was obvious that he was the fastest driver, leading the circuit with seven poles...

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Martin Brodeur showed he's not perfect, but the Anaheim Mighty Ducks still are in playoff overtime -- and that's why they're still alive in the Stanley Cup finals. Ruslan Salei scored off Adam Oates' faceoff win at 6:59 into overtime and the Mighty Ducks, taking advantage of one of the biggest misplays of Brodeur's career, beat the New Jersey Devils 3-2 in Game 3 Saturday night...

KEEPING YOUR WHITES WHITE When white is bright, it's stylish and sophisticated; when white turns dingy, it's just plain dingy. Cotton Incorporated, an industry research and marketing company, offers the following tips in its seasonal newsletter "Lifestyle Monitor" on proper white washing techniques:...

MURPHY, N.C. -- Eric Robert Rudolph, the Olympic Park bombing suspect who became almost a mythic figure during his years on the run in the Appalachian wilderness, was arrested early Saturday as he scavenged for food behind a grocery store. After a massive manhunt that included infrared scopes on helicopters and logs rigged with motion detectors, it was ultimately a rookie officer on patrol at 3:27 a.m. ...

For the first time, scientists have made mature mammals regenerate a type of inner-ear cell important for hearing, a key step toward a treatment that might someday help millions of people with hearing loss. The researchers made adult guinea pigs grow new sound-sensing cells, called hair cells, in the spiral-shaped chamber called the cochlea...

When one is young and full of idealism, there is no reason for anything that smacks of the trite. Everything is bright and new and shiny. So it is with the high school graduating classes this year. When I reflected upon my class motto, "We build the ladder by which we climb," I thought there were never more meaningful words. There it was, in blue letters, on white paper, forever stamped in our memory...

Associated Press WriterJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri's Legislature began a special session Monday -- called back to work by Gov. Bob Holden to reconsider spending cuts to education and human services, and decide whether to refer tax increases to voters...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- Two Missouri electric companies and a Nebraska company are considering a $1 billion partnership to build a 600-megawatt power plant. Springfield City Utilities, Joplin-based Empire District Electric Co. and Omaha, Neb.-based Tenaska Energy have not yet signed any agreements regarding the proposed coal plant, said Bill Braudt Jr., general manager of project development at Tenaska...

KENNETT, Mo. -- I like to think that the inherent, indigenous and inexhaustible genius that prevails throughout much of America's Dixieland will someday rub off on those of us who live right along the Mason-Dixon line or even hundreds of miles north of it...

Political rhetoric IT'S THE same rhetoric from both Republicans and Democrats: Take all the credit, give none to the other. Spread hate for each other. Statesmanship be damned. Tax cuts and more tax cuts to get re-elected in 2004. The economy has its ups and downs regardless of party. It will turn around, and Republicans will take credit. Both parties use deception on the American people...

Everybody knows that the people at Teen Challenge work hard, not just at overcoming drug problems in a Christian-based treatment program, but also at growing outstanding strawberries. But despite all of the hard work at the rural Cape Girardeau group home, Teen Challenge had a couple of years of measly strawberry crops. Organizers feared people might turn away from the organization's annual strawberry festival...

The Cape Girardeau Craftsman Union Capahas are off to a 4-0 season start after sweeping another home doubleheader Sunday. After winning twice against Valmeyer (Ill.) Saturday, the Capahas disposed of the St. Louis Printers 6-4 and 13-2 at Capaha Field...

Dalhousie Golf Club will become a stepping stone for the Missouri Amateur Golf Championship today when it hosts one of six qualifying tournaments around the state. Twelve of the 31 golfers in today's 18-hole competition will earn spots in the field for the tournament, which will be June 24 to 29 at Hickory Hills Country Club in Springfield...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Peggy Sue Barlow, 63, of Chaffee, formerly of Delta, died Sunday, June 1, 2003, in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee.

10 years ago: June 2, 1993 For first time since early April, Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau is below flood stage; but water woes inside East Cape Girardeau, Ill.-Clear Creek Levee District are expected to continue for at least another week or two; one-way traffic will remain in effect over part of water-covered Illinois Route 3 between Route 146 junction and Gale for another seven to 10 days...

VILLA RIDGE, Ill. -- Mary Malley, 86, of Russellville, Ky., formerly of Mounds, Ill., died Sunday, June 1, 2003, at Logan Memorial Hospital in Russellville. She was born July 5, 1916, in Unity, Ill., daughter of Harry and Myrtle Douglas Woodney. She was married to James Thomas "Pat" Malley, who preceded her in death...

TAMMS, Ill. -- John Jakal, 91, of Tamms died Sunday, June 1, 2003, at City Care Nursing Center in Anna, Ill. He was born April 12, 1912. He resided at H&S Shelter Care Center in Tamms for many years. Visitation will be after 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at Jones Funeral Home in Tamms. Graveside funeral service and burial will follow at 10 a.m. at Liberty Cemetery east of Pulaski, Ill., with the Rev. Larry Buckles officiating...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Geneva D. Roy, 82, of Advance died Sunday, June 1, 2003, at the Heartland Care Rehab Center in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are pending with Morgan Funeral Home in Advance.

Penney Lynn Jackson, 38, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, May 31, 2003, at her home. Arrangements are pending with Ford and Sons Funeral Home.

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Hoang Xvan Nguyen, 81, of Miner, Mo., formerly of Vietnam died Friday, May 30, 2003, at his home. He was born Jan. 1, 1922, in Nghe An, Vietnam, son of Danh Van and Trieu Thi Nguyen. He and Nam Thi Nguyen were married in 1955 in Saigon...

Briefly Baseball Roger Clemens was denied his 300th career victory for the second time Sunday when the host Detroit Tigers rallied from six runs down and tied the New York Yankees in the seventh inning. Clemens pitched six innings and was in position to become the 21st pitcher in history to win No. 300, but New York's bullpen and defense let him down...

Development conference held at Lake Ozark The 45th annual Governor's Business Development Conference came to a close last week at the Lodge of Four Seasons at Lake Ozark. Creating jobs in a knowledge-based economy was the theme of this year's conference, which featured informational sessions, guest speakers and business networking opportunities...

Cottonwood recognizes employee of the year Cottonwood Residential Treatment Center recognized the Employee of the Year for 2003 during the annual Employee Relations Day held at the center on May 16. Sharon McDowell of Cape Girardeau was selected for the award by co-workers, who cited her professionalism and skills in working with others. McDowell began her career at Cottonwood in 1999 as a direct care staff member and is currently children's psychiatric care supervisor...

Cape Girardeau Monday, June 2 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI Danita Russell, 36, of 534 N. Fountain, Apt. 2, Cape Girardeau received a summons Saturday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated...

Cape Girardeau Monday, June 2 Firefighters responded to the following items Saturday: At 5:24 p.m., a medical assist at 630 North St. At 5:39 p.m., an outside fire at 1330 Southern Expressway. At 9:02 p.m., a medical assist at 1137 S. Pacific. At 9:26 p.m., a medical assist at 407 N. Kingshighway...

Church to have ham and bean supper Wesley United Methodist Church on Highway 177 in Fruitland will hold a ham and bean supper from 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday. The meal includes ham and beans, corn bread, coleslaw and pies. Children 5 and under eat free. Ministry to hold fish fry Friday...

Marine to ship out on USS Nassau group Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Joe C. Hester, son of Stacia D. and Cliff C. Hester of Scott City, is preparing to reboard ships of the USS Nassau Amphibious Ready Group while assigned to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based in Camp Lejeune, N.C...

CHRIS PAGANO*semissourian.com Bill Copanas has donated blood more than 100 times. He feels this is an opportunity to help others. Southeast Missourian Giving blood is a "painless ordeal," according to longtime donor Richard Giles, and sometimes donors help people they know...

Name: Jackie Griffith Lives in: Cape Girardeau Family: Husband, Steve; daughters, Kelly Winder and Deidre Griffith; granddaughter, Jacqueline Belle Winder, and grandson, Blaise Winder. Job: Recent retiree of AmerenUE, Area Wide United Way board member...

Monday, June 2 7 p.m. City Hall, 401 Independence Study session at 5 p.m. Public hearingsn A public hearing regarding the request of Jeffrey A. and Laura Thomas for a special-use permit for a lighted pole sign at 1925 William St. A public hearing regarding the request of St. Francis Medical Center for a special-use permit for a four-story Health and Wellness Center at 150 S. Mount Auburn Road in a general commercial district...

WASHINGTON -- Rules governing ownership of newspapers and television and radio stations are on the verge of changes that could significantly alter who controls what people see, hear and read. In a vote set for Monday, the Republican majority on the five-member Federal Communications Commission was expected to allow companies to buy more television stations and, in some cases, own both a newspaper and a broadcast station in the same city...

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- They don't mind being called lucky Ducks. Even Adam Oates, their most experienced player, called them exactly that. If it took a fortuitous bounce or a freaky play to get them back into the Stanley Cup finals against the New Jersey Devils, so what? As Oates said Sunday, "Winning was huge for us. If it's 3-0, it's a lot different series."...

PARIS -- Jeers and whistles rained down as Venus Williams brushed past a TV interviewer on her way off the court. She raised a hand to wave stiffly. In the stands above, her sister Serena and mother quickly rose to leave. The family isn't used to such early exits at Grand Slam tournaments...

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen will be sent on a rehab assignment after throwing to hitters Sunday for the third time in a six-day span. Manager Tony La Russa said Isringhausen probably will pitch Tuesday or Wednesday somewhere in the minor league system. The location has not yet been determined, but the Cardinals would prefer that the team be at home...

ST. LOUIS -- Discipline in the middle of the lineup helped the St. Louis Cardinals snap a three-game losing streak. Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen drew consecutive two-out walks to set up Edgar Renteria's tiebreaking, two-run single in the seventh inning of a 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday...

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Watching the New Jersey Nets make a run at the NBA title hasn't been much fun for Dikembe Mutombo. A proud man, Mutombo has played in four of the Nets' 14 playoff games, and it seems doubtful that the eight-time All Star and four-time defensive player of the year will have a big role in the finals against the San Antonio Spurs. Game 1 is Wednesday night in San Antonio...

DUBLIN, Ohio -- Kenny Perry has gone unnoticed for 17 years on the PGA Tour. Not anymore. One week after a record-setting victory at the Colonial, Perry built another big lead Sunday at the Memorial. He ran out of gas at the end and closed with three straight bogeys, but still shot even-par 72 for a two-shot victory over Lee Janzen...

DOVER, Del. -- Ryan Newman lost power steering, but not determination, and held off Jeff Gordon to win Sunday at Dover International Speedway. The victory in the MBNA 400 gave Newman what he hopes will be the momentum to move into contention in the Winston Cup points race...

U.S. Sen. Jim Talent of Missouri criss-crossed the state last week with an interesting idea, stopping in Cape Girardeau to talk about it with a roomful of people in the know. He was in front of various businessmen and entrepreneurs talking about how to upgrade the roads in Missouri -- and the rest of the nation -- and make them more conducive to travel...

WEST QUINCY, Mo. -- James Scott spends his days minding his own business, keeping a low profile among the convicted rapists, murderers and drug pushers. "You've got a rule in prison -- you see nothing, you hear nothing," Scott, 33, said. He spoke in low, measured tones during an interview inside the Jefferson City Correctional Center, where he is serving a life sentence as the only person ever tried and convicted for an obscure state law: causing a catastrophe...

SCHELL CITY, Mo. -- Suspected Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph spent about four months at a white supremacist compound in southwest Missouri 18 years ago, according to a director of the Church of Israel. Dan Gayman told The Joplin Globe in 2001 that Rudolph, his mother, Patricia, and his brother Jamie stayed on the church's Schell City property for about four months from November 1984 until the next spring...

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- Harold Costigan lives in a world with no sound and little light -- where the memory of his last clear senses is filled with the faces of hungry and dying soldiers. Costigan, 86, of Blue Springs, is a World War II veteran and a survivor of the Bataan Death March and the Japanese prison camps in the Philippines. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Last year, the Department of Natural Resources was doing some routine surveying and came up with an interesting discovery: Part of James Lyons' house was in a state park. The boundaries of Thousand Hills State Park in northern Missouri had encroached on Lyons' property by seven-tenths of an acre. And Lyons had encroached on park land by 1.7 acres...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- After weeks of accusations, political posturing and complex accounting, Gov. Bob Holden prepared to square off this week against the Republican-controlled legislature in a special session on Missouri's state budget. From the fall of the gavel at noon today, Holden and the legislature will have less than a month to pass a revised state budget or face a potential government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins July 1...

David and Marie Mayberry of Commerce, Mo., maintained their sense of humor with a for-sale sign as their home was flooded by the Mississippi River in 1993. "I'm sick of this," Marie Mayberry said from the front porch of their home on July 10, 1993...

EVIAN, France -- World leaders clamped a harmonious face on a summit simmering with Iraq war disputes Sunday, striking a united front with pledges of billions of dollars to fight AIDS and hunger in poor nations. The meeting's most closely watched moment was the welcoming handshake between French President Jacques Chirac and President Bush, whose wartime differences led to angry recriminations on both sides of the Atlantic. ...

Israel eases some travel restrictions JERUSALEM -- Israel eased travel restrictions Sunday on Palestinians and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he would probably dismantle illegal settlement outposts soon, as leaders prepared for a summit with President Bush aimed at ending 32 months of Mideast violence...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- FBI director Robert Mueller on Sunday said the Riyadh suicide bombings bore "all the hallmarks" of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror group, and he praised the U.S.-Saudi cooperation in the investigation of the attacks. Mueller, who arrived in Saudi Arabia earlier in the day from Jordan, said he was in the Gulf kingdom to praise Saudi officials for their support in the war on terror and the probe into the fatal May 12 attacks...

HONG KONG -- An eighth front-line Hong Kong health care worker died of SARS on Sunday, and in Canada nurses accused hospital officials of ignoring warnings of Toronto's latest outbreak, which also claimed another victim. In Taiwan, officials handed out free thermometers in an island-wide "take-your-temperature" campaign amid signs containment efforts were paying off. The number of daily infections remained in single digits for the fourth day in a row...

KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia -- The film is only seven minutes long. It was shot with a video camera, cost $1,000 to make and can only be seen on the Internet. And it is remarkable. "Who...?" was filmed by Haifaa al-Mansour in this conservative Muslim country, which has no movie industry or even theaters. Some Saudis believe it's against their religion to own TV sets or show images of the human form...

VAIL, Colo. -- More than 400 residents were ordered to evacuate Sunday as heavy spring runoff and rain increased fears of mudslides and sent a creek over its banks. High water also created a large sinkhole that forced the closure of the major east-west highway across Colorado...

The Associated PressNEW YORK -- Five decades of splits, stop-on-a-dime spins and side-gliding dance steps can take a toll even on the hardest-working man in show business. "I'm getting very tired, and I'd love to quit yesterday," says James Brown, his gruff voice sounding a bit weary after a recent late-night performance at B.B. King's nightclub...

LOS ANGELES -- You don't have to exist to get an MTV Movie Award. The irreverent ceremony honored the little green Jedi, Yoda, for best fight scene from "Star Wars: Episode II--Attack of the Clones," while the raspy creep Gollum from "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" won for "virtual performance" and for best on screen team for its performance alongside human co-stars Elijah Wood and Sean Astin...

Senate begins debate on increasing ethanol in gas WASHINGTON -- Politicians hail ethanol, the corn-based gasoline additive, as a boon to the environment and a way to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil. But ethanol also comes with its own environmental problems and scientists disagree over whether producing ethanol actually uses more fossil energy than it replaces...

CHICAGO -- For the first time, doctors have convincingly shown that blocking tumors' blood supply can help cancer patients live longer, proving a theory that has cycled through years of hope and frustration. The idea -- the lifelong quest of Harvard's Dr. Judah Folkman -- is that cancer needs a growing network of blood vessels to survive. Shutting down this process, called angiogenesis, should arrest tumors and even obliterate them...

CHICAGO --The fortunes of Erbitux, the experimental medicine that brought down the head of ImClone and ensnarled Martha Stewart in a Wall Street scandal, got a boost Sunday from a new study that concluded it helps terminally ill victims of colon cancer...

MURPHY, N.C. -- Suspected Olympic park bomber Eric Rudolph remained under heavy guard in a county jail Sunday as federal agents in camouflage headed into the surrounding woods again, this time hoping to figure out how he eluded them for five years. Dozens of law enforcement vehicles lined U.S. 74 across from Murphy High School, a short distance from the grocery store where Rudolph was caught early Saturday when a rookie police officer spotted him scrounging for food...

Presidential job would 'never' interest Oprah SEATTLE -- Oprah for president? A fan was handing out orange bumper stickers promoting the idea, but don't hold your breath. The idea doesn't interest Oprah Winfrey -- top daytime TV talk-show host, magazine publisher, movie star, honored literacy booster and all-around mover and shaker...

and Brad Foss ~ The Associated Press Companies specializing in security, construction, energy and telecommunications will benefit first from the lifting of economic sanctions in Iraq, where U.S. government contracts offer chances for big profits...

NEW YORK -- Satellite radio comes from space bearing gifts: 100 digital channels with eclectic music options and few or no commercials, beamed directly to cars and home stereos throughout the continental United States. Less than a year ago, potential subscribers and investors were treating it like an unwelcome visitor from another planet. Its dueling providers, XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., were warning they might run out of cash...

NEW YORK -- The nation's unemployment rate has edged up to 6 percent, but frustrated jobseekers -- shoulder to shoulder with so many others who have recently lost work -- are convinced the number is missing something. They're right, experts say. The unemployment figure, based on the government's monthly survey of 55,000 households, only counts those people who have made an effort to look for a job in the last four weeks...

BENTON, Mo. -- In her 67 years, Barbara Caraway has been to 22 Charlie Daniels Band concerts. "I've been a fan all my life. I just love him," said Caraway, who lives in Cape Girardeau. Caraway and around 750 other people turned out Sunday night at the Auto Tire & Parts Race Track in Benton to hear the 66-year-old Daniels sing about barstools, lost love and rowdy crowds...

Don't ask Harry Rediger about Britney Spears dancing with a can of Pepsi or two sexy girls in a cat-fight over Miller Lite or even some teenage punk pushing Dell Computers. Chances are, if it's a television commercial, he hasn't seen it. "I'm skipping as many as I can," said the retired retail manager from Cape Girardeau. "I don't have to watch them anymore."...

MATTHEW APGAR * photos@semissourian.com Charlie Daniels and his band played in the Auto Tire & Parts Race Track in Benton, Mo., on Sunday. About 750 people danced and sang along with Daniels' country music. By Bob Miller ~ Southeast Missourian...

COMMERCE, Mo. -- Buddy Vetter and the Mississippi River are bound together. Retired now, he was a riverboat pilot for 38 years. He was on the river when the Mississippi came after his family's double-wide mobile home in July of 1993. With the help of neighbors and family members, his wife, Mary, moved their belongings to a relative's house while vowing to return...

For more than 15 years, it was Riverside Gymnastics. Then for several years it was Main Street Furniture. Starting July 1, the property at 45 N. Main St. in Cape Girardeau -- one of downtown's larger buildings -- will take on another incarnation, this time as Pastimes Antiques...

dwilson In a world dominated by reality television programs based on plot twists, a feel-good-nonfiction-sports story is king. Networks are introducing a new reality television show every week and Americans are gobbling them up. So why isn't anyone watching the Stanley Cup playoffs?...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A special legislative session on Missouri's budget opened Monday with a few lawmakers proposing tax increases that Republican leaders indicated were likely to die. Democratic Gov. Bob Holden called lawmakers into an extra session to refer tax increases to the ballot as a way to avoid spending cuts and correct what he claims is an out-of-balance state budget...

Construction workers have ripped up the Towers residence hall parking lot and dug into a hillside as part of a project to expand parking for Southeast Missouri State University's high-rise dormitories -- a move school officials say should ease the parking crunch by this fall...

Marketing professor Dr. Charles Wiles, whose career got a boost from newspaper publicity, won't be grading any more papers. But he still hopes to make the grade with his own marketing efforts. Wiles turned in his final grades last month at Southeast Missouri State University after more than three decades in the classroom. He retired from full-time teaching in 2000. Since then, he has taught a single marketing course each fall and spring semester...

10 years ago: June 3, 1993 Missouri Highway and Transportation Department is considering options to improve traffic safety on Highway 61-34 beneath Interstate 55 between Cape Girardeau and Jackson; one plan includes relocating westbound lanes closer to eastbound lanes and eliminating median from near Veterans Home westward to where dual lane highway comes together...

Miller Twin son and daughter to John E. and Beverly Joy Miller of Jackson, Southeast Missouri Hospital, Tuesday, May 27, 2003. Ryan Duncan was born at 8:20 a.m. and weighed 4 pounds 15 ounces. Rachel Ann Marie was born at 8:22 a.m. and weighed 5 pounds 2 ounces. ...

Robert E. Wilhite, 80, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, June 2, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

PATTON, Mo. -- Rosemary Ward, 59, of Patton died Monday, June 2, 2003, at home, following an illness. She was born March 14, 1944, daughter of Albert Joseph and Elizabeth Grace Kish Quentin. She and Gary Ray Ward were married April 10, 1982, at St. John's, Mo...

BERTRAND, Mo. -- Mildred Leoria Eifert, 85, of Calhoun, Ga., died Sunday, June 1, 2003, at Gordon Health Care Center in Calhoun. She was born Aug. 12, 1917, at Rockview, Mo., daughter of John and Rose Holmes Wooley. She and Norman W. Eifert were married May 17, 1941. He died Aug. 2, 1989...

Geneva Dorothy Roy, 82, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, June 1, 2003, at Heartland Care Rehab Center. She was born July 31, 1920, in Fort Wayne, Ind., daughter of Gideon and Mageline Eberly Wansitler. She and Armor N. Roy were married Nov. 17, 1942. Roy had been head clerk at Bushes Department Store in Flint, Mich...

Penney Lynn Jackson, 38, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, May 31, 2003, at her home. She was born Aug. 5, 1964, in Mattoon, Ill., daughter of Wilburn L. and Billie J. Gibson Jackson. Jackson was a 1983 graduate of Granite City High School in Granite City, Ill. She moved to Cape Girardeau in 1987 from Granite City. She was a machine operator at Lee-Rowan Co. Wire Products in Jackson...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Peggy Sue McClain Barlow, 63, of Chaffee passed away Sunday, June 1, 2003, at the home of a daughter in Cape Girardeau. She was born Feb. 20, 1940, at Chaffee, daughter of Henry and Mandy Cook McClain. She married Bobby E. Barlow Oct. 18, 1954, and was with him 37 years until his passing July 11, 1992...

Educating the public I'M GLAD Missouri's governor is educating the public on the egregious errors of the state legislature. Their failure to close gargantuan and undeserved corporate tax loopholes has created a revenue crisis in education, health care and other essential programs. The governor should pay no attention to GOP Speak Out spinmeisters...

To the editor: I'm all for cutting taxes. As a matter of fact, I wish there was no such devil as taxes. Individuals should voluntarily pay for the services they want or need, but that is unlikely to happen with the bloated government we have. This tax cut is unlikely to ease that bloat, because government will spend more than it takes in taxes. ...

To the editor: I have recently been reading about the proposed cuts in funding for education, health care and social services in Missouri. I am very concerned about the impact these cuts will have on those of us who live in Southeast Missouri. These cuts will drastically affect those who are the most vulnerable among us: children and the poor. It is probably no coincidence that this population is either too young to vote or less likely to vote. Where are the priorities of our state officials?...

To the editor: In the May 31 Southeast Missourian, in a story headlined "Council fires Cape city manager," the mayor stated that "he and the council were instrumental in sacking fire chief Michael Lackman, Convention and Visitors Bureau director Terri Clark-Bauer and city inspections director Tarryl Booker last year."...

Approved the voluntary annexation of 6.5 acres along West Independence as submitted by Robert and Lori Meyer. Accepted the bid of Innovative Idea Integration of Jackson in the amount of $43,824.68 regarding computer hardware acquisition and installation, under the computer hardware upgrade project...

SCOTT CITY CITY COUNCIL ACTIONSMonday City Hall Old business Accepted demolition bid on house on First Street East. New business Approved liquor license for Casey's General Store. Approved liquor license for Rhodes 101 Convenience Stores...

As Jackson resident John Baker put it, thinking about paying property taxes on a house that was destroyed by a tornado would be overwhelming. It's a good thing he won't have to. Neither will any of the Cape Girardeau County residents whose homes were destroyed in the May 6 storms, thanks to a recent decision by the county commission...

"The war in Iraq is not over, madam." Those are the words of Lt. Gen. David McKiernan, the commander of the coalition ground troops in Iraq, correcting a reporter last week who had asked how many U.S. soldiers had been injured "since the end of the war."...

Southeast Missourian When this article runs, I will have less than a month before I make the flight back across the Pond. Everything is starting to wind down: school ends this Friday; students here have "summer fever" already; lazy afternoons with barbecues are being planned. All of these are signs that my departure is rapidly approaching...

SAC, Catholic Campus Ministries honored The Student Activities Council and Catholic Campus Ministries were awarded Outstanding Student Organization awards at Southeast Missouri State University. The awards recognize student organizations that have made outstanding contributions to the betterment of the university community...

Cape Girardeau Tuesday, June 3 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWIs Anton Shamon Miller, 24, of 12037 S. Perry, Chicago, Ill., was arrested Monday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated and prohibited acts...

Monday, June 2 Consent ordinances (Second and third readings) Repealed handicap parking on a portion of South Middle Street. Approved a record plat of Schuessler Subdivision. New ordinances (First reading) Approved a special-use permit to Jeffrey A. and Laura Thomas for the purpose of constructing, operating and maintaining a lighted pole sign at 1925 William St...

Cape Girardeau Tuesday, June 3 Firefighters responded to the following items Sunday: At 5:43 p.m., a trash fire at 1031 N. West End Blvd. At 7:18 p.m., a cardboard bale fire at 1310 Southern Expressway. At 7:26 p.m., a medical assist at 3003 Themis.Firefighters responded to the following items Monday:...

WASHINGTON -- Coming to you soon from the Pentagon: the diary to end all diaries -- a multimedia, digital record of everywhere you go and everything you see, hear, read, say and touch. Known as LifeLog, the project has been put out for contractor bids by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, the agency that helped build the Internet and that is now developing the next generation of anti-terrorism tools...

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court said Monday that companies cannot be sued under a trademark law for using information in the public domain without giving credit to the originator, a defeat for 20th Century Fox in a dispute over old war footage. Justices ruled 8-0 that a video company, Daster Corp., did not violate the trademark law when it reused World War II documentary footage without giving credit to 20th Century Fox...

WASHINGTON -- Federal regulators relaxed decades-old rules restricting media ownership Monday, permitting companies to buy more television stations and own a newspaper and a broadcast outlet in the same city. The Republican-controlled Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 -- along party lines -- to adopt a series of changes favored by media companies...

WASHINGTON -- Antioxidants, already widely promoted as cancer-fighters, also may help protect the brain from chronic alcohol damage. Chronic alcoholism damages parts of the brain used in learning and memory, but giving rats an antioxidant protected them from the damage, according to researchers working in the United States and Spain...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A special legislative session began Monday with House Democrats accusing Republicans of procedural deception. Democratic leaders complained that majority Republicans had encouraged their own members to return to the Capitol on Monday while telling Democrats they could stay home until Thursday...

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt -- President Bush, taking the lead in the frustrating search for Mideast peace, pledged Monday to work unstintingly for the goal of Israel and a Palestinian state living side by side without bloodshed. He said that "this is going to be a difficult process" but claimed progress...

LONDON -- Queen Elizabeth II celebrated the 50th anniversary of her coronation Monday with a religious service at Westminster Abbey, the royal shrine where she was crowned. A crowd outside the abbey cheered as the queen, wearing a primrose yellow suit and hat, arrived with her husband, Prince Philip...

EVIAN, France -- President Bush's fiercest opponents over Iraq worked to put the war and the rift with America behind them Monday, with French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder pledging firm support to build a stable and prosperous Iraq...

SARS handling will be reviewed, officials say TORONTO -- Officials announced another death and 10 more SARS cases in Canada's largest city Monday and said they would review how they handled a renewed outbreak of the flu-like illness after accusations that warnings were ignored...

The Associated Press UNITED NATIONS -- U.N. inspectors found no evidence Iraq had weapons of mass destruction but had many questions and leads to pursue when their searches were suspended just before the U.S.-led invasion, chief inspector Hans Blix said in his final report Monday...

JERUSALEM -- A disagreement brewed Monday between Israelis and Palestinians over the fate of more than 100 Israeli settlement outposts set up in the West Bank during 32 months of violence. Other differences -- on how to rein in Palestinian militants and the wording of summit declarations -- also persisted, underscoring the difficulty of ending the violence despite world pressure...

MOSCOW -- An unmanned spacecraft built by the European Space Agency blasted off atop a Russian rocket Monday on a mission to Mars, where it will orbit the planet for nearly two years and search for signs of life. The Mars Express spacecraft was launched by a Soyuz FG booster rocket from the Russian-operated Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:45 p.m.CST, according to the agency...

LONDON -- New research indicates that kidney transplant patients could reduce their risk of heart attacks by about a third by taking popular cholesterol-lowering drugs. Experts say the study, published today on the Web site of The Lancet medical journal, provides important evidence that statin drugs can improve the health of kidney transplant patients, who are often vulnerable to heart trouble...

USS Constellation arrives home after final mission CORONADO, Calif. -- Sailors aboard the USS Constellation unfurled large "thank you" banners as the aircraft carrier returned home Monday from Iraq on its final mission before decommissioning. The ship was greeted at North Island Naval Air Station by thousands of relatives and friends shouting "welcome home" to the 5,000 sailors who had spent seven months at sea...

NEW YORK -- U.S. manufacturing declined again in May, but at a much slower rate -- a sign the sector could finally be poised for recovery. In a report released Monday, The Institute for Supply Management, an industry group, said its manufacturing index was 49.4 percent last month, up from 45.4 in April. A reading below 50 means manufacturing activity is slowing; above 50 indicates the industry is growing...

PHOENIX -- The Roman Catholic bishop of Phoenix has relinquished some of his authority in an unprecedented agreement with prosecutors that will spare him from indictment on charges of protecting child-molesting priests. Under the agreement, Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien acknowledged he concealed sex-abuse allegations against priests, Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley said Monday...

FORT STEWART, Ga. -- Col. Paula K. Underwood, an Army doctor, had just returned to her post in Germany from the 1991 Gulf War when she saw a patient whose condition baffled other doctors. The patient was a soldier, also just back from the war, who complained of memory loss. He could no longer find his way from home to work. He had trouble remembering how to make his morning coffee...

NEW YORK -- The city agreed Monday to pay $5 million to settle a lawsuit claiming residents of a city-run nursing home were traumatized by the way they were abruptly evacuated because of concern for the facility's safety. Brenda Tripp said she had to search for her mother, Eunice, who suffers from dementia, after the 1998 evacuation of the Neponsit Health Care Center...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- After five years on the run, Olympic bombing suspect Eric Rudolph was put aboard a government plane in handcuffs and flown to Alabama to face trial first in a deadly abortion clinic attack that authorities say offers the strongest case against him...

SAN FRANCISCO -- A pair of comic book villains modeled on two real-life musician brothers are constitutionally protected, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday. Johnny and Edgar Autumn, comic book characters based on the real-life musical brothers Johnny and Edgar Winter, appeared in three Jonah Hex comic books published in 1995 by DC Comics. The villains were half-human, half-worm creatures with green tentacles sprouting from their chests...

Lead singer's illness forces Chicks to cancel CLEVELAND -- The Dixie Chicks canceled a sold-out concert over the weekend because lead singer Natalie Maines had a sore throat. Fans were not permitted to go to their seats at Gund Arena on Sunday and the show was canceled about 15 minutes before its 7:30 p.m start time. The concert was rescheduled for June 11...

To certain critics of U.S. policy in Iraq, the only thing worse than going to war with Saddam Hussein is the fact that we won. This they can never forgive -- which is why they are now trying to make a war crime out of the fact that the allies haven't yet found caches of weapons of mass destruction...

The average Jackson household could see its monthly electric bill go up by $5.74 if the Jackson Board of Aldermen approves the recommendation of two engineering firms that performed a study on Jackson's electric rates. Schultz Engineering Services and Fisher and Arnold outlined their study during a public hearing at Monday night's board meeting...

For the 22 families in Jackson who lost homes on May 6 to tornadoes, federal officials are in town for a few days this week to ask them to consider one potentially life-saving change as they rebuild -- adding a safe room. In fact, officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency hopes everyone will build a so-called steel reinforced "safe room" where family members can go when severe weather hits...

When Randy Kiplinger stood before the City Council in Scott City Monday night to complain about a drainage ditch, Mayor Tim Porch broke into a grin. Kiplinger and Porch were both wearing neck braces. "A broken neck is nothing to laugh at," the mayor said apologetically...

A 45-year-old Sikeston man was arrested Thursday on 16 counts of first-degree statutory of having deviate sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 14, one count of first-degree child molestation and one count of possession of child pornography...

A Jackson man charged with first-degree statutory rape and sodomy of a girl younger than 12 years of age appeared Monday in circuit court in Jackson. Circuit Judge William Syler continued the case to July 21. Bradley C. "Chris" Bollinger, 31, is currently free on $75,000 bail. Police began an investigation Oct. 10 after a girl came forward about the alleged sexual abuse that occurred in 1999...

An autopsy performed on the Cape Girardeau woman found dead in her home Saturday has not yet determined the cause of her death. Penney Jackson, a 38-year-old mother of two, was found unresponsive Saturday afternoon by paramedics. Toxicology test results aren't expected back for about six weeks, said Cape Girardeau County coroner Mike Hurst...

The case against a Cape Girardeau business owner cited for having dozens of unlicensed cars on his lot was delayed. Despite repeated court orders, Lester Sample has failed for more than a year to remove the junked cars from his lot at 212 S. Spanish St., where he operates Riverfront Auto...

During the "Click It or Ticket" campaign in May, Cape Girardeau police issued 95 safety belt tickets, four child restraint violations, 108 speeding tickets and 35 tickets for other traffic and moving violations. The campaign was participated in by law enforcement agencies across the state to promote seat belt and child restraint use. Funding for salary pay was provided by a grant through the Missouri Division of Highway Safety...

Part of Highway 34, near Marble Hill, Mo., was shut down Monday evening after a 180,000-pound tank fell off a tractor trailer and ruptured a natural gas line. The tank, about 50 feet long, did not injure anyone when it fell, said Marble Hill fire chief Jim Bollinger. No one had to be evacuated out of the area at the time...

Main Street Fitness in Jackson is offering summer programs to get children off the couch and into the gym. Programs begin Wednesday for children from 1 to 13 years old, with classes tailored to their interests and ages. "With the increase in obesity and child diabetes, kids' fitness has been a goal of ours for several years," said Main Street Fitness assistant manager Scott Givens. "Kids who don't attend summer camps need something that will give them the idea about fitness."...

Jesse Eichhorn scored an overall 26 out of a possible 36 on the ACT college admission exam he took earlier this year. It's a score most college-bound high school seniors would be ecstatic over, but Eichhorn is only 13 years old, a student at Jackson Middle School...

The Cape Girardeau Municipal Band will play the first concert of its regular season at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Capaha Park Band Shell. Special entertainment will be provided by the Central Junior High School String Orchestra. The band's program will include "Silver Shadow March," "The Ram's Horn Overture," "Samba for Flutes," "The Phantom Regiment March," "Salute to Bob Hope," "His Honor March," "Atlantic Avenue" and "Highlights from 'Mame.'"...

Cape Girardeau residents will pay more for trash and water service but neither city employees nor those who work for the private firm that runs the water service will get pay raises under a $45 million budget that won first-round approval from the city council on Monday night...

CHESTER, Ill. -- Longtime involuntary mental patient Rodney Yoder is finally free of the state mental-health system, only to find himself in jail awaiting trail on attempted-murder and other charges. Yoder, 44, was charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery and being in possession of a weapon as a felon stemming from an incident three years ago at the Chester Mental Health Center, Michael Burke, a Randolph County assistant state's attorney, said Monday...

Two teams share wins in United Way tournament More than 140 golfers played through Monday's rain to help raise about $20,000 for the Area Wide United Way through its annual golf tournament at the Cape Girardeau Country Club, according to the United Way...

Briefly Baseball Cardinals outfielder Albert Pujols, who hit .345 with 10 home runs and 26 RBI, on Monday was chosen the National League Player of the Month for May. Pujols hit 12 doubles and scored 25 runs in 29 games. He led all NL players in home runs, recording a .707 slugging percentage and a .394 on-base percentage. The 23-year-old leads the major leagues with a .364 batting average and a .701 slugging percentage...

Defending national champion Texas is hitting the road for a super regional matchup at Florida State, the No. 1 national seed. The Longhorns (46-18) and Seminoles (54-11-1), traditionally among college baseball's most successful programs, begin play Saturday night in one of eight best-of-three super regionals announced Monday by the NCAA Division I baseball committee...

HATTIESBURG, Miss. --Murray State pitcher Craig Ringwald was watching the NCAA Tournament selection show a week ago when a familiar name flashed across the screen. Ringwald did a double-take. Baylor? "Of all the teams in the NCAA Tournament, I never thought we'd play Baylor," Ringwald said. "I just couldn't believe it."...

ST. LOUIS -- J.D. Drew is well on his way to conquering the injury that forced Cardinals teammate Mark McGwire out of baseball. It's been about six weeks since Drew was activated from the 15-day disabled list following offseason surgery to correct chronic patella tendinitis in his right knee. After a slow start he's playing more, resting less and contributing plenty to spark an offense that has stalled a bit recently...

Chris Janet has always been a Bulldog at heart. He has no plans for change in that regard, but he does have new plans for his personal and professional life. On Monday, Janet announced his resignation as the Notre Dame Regional High School's athletic director and coach so he can pursue job opportunities that will allow him to spend more time with his family...

PARIS -- Meet Tommy Robredo, the latest wild card dealt by the French Open. He celebrates midmatch points as though he's just won a title. He spins drop shots when no one else would. He's 21, the youngest man left at Roland Garros. And now he's in the final eight of a Grand Slam tournament, joining Albert Costa, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Carlos Moya to give Spain four quarterfinalists at a major for the first time in the Open era...

CLEVELAND -- Paul Silas knows better than anyone what is awaiting LeBron James. Silas threw enough elbows in the lane as a player that he knows there's going to be some aimed at James, the high school sensation tabbed for NBA superstardom. "This is a tough league," said Silas, a rugged rebounder for 16 years as a pro. "It's not a boy's league. This is a man's league. He's going to have to grow up right away."...

NASCAR is caught in the middle of a relentless attack by a dogged critic of Jesse Jackson. At stake are NASCAR's commitment to diversity and the allegiance of some fans who are riled by Jackson's opposition to the war in Iraq, resent him for other reasons, or simply don't want the complexion of the sport to change...

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Overtime, again. The Mighty Ducks win, again. Steve Thomas put in Samuel Pahlsson's rebound 39 seconds into overtime, giving Anaheim a dramatic 1-0 victory over New Jersey on Monday night and evening the Stanley Cup finals at two games each...

SAN ANTONIO -- Nearly two years ago, shortly after hearing the Spurs drafted a French point guard, San Antonio forward Malik Rose learned that Tony Parker had his own Web site. A few clicks later, Rose took his first look. "It was weird. It showed him dribbling around. It showed his weak French dunk. He barely got his fingers over the rim. Probably a 9-foot rim," Rose joked Monday...

Southeast Missourian All of the students featured today are the top achievers at their schools: Central High School, Jackson High School, Notre Dame Regional High School, Saxony Lutheran High School and Scott City High School. All have celebrated their honors and recognition with classmates and family during graduations recently...

When two Cape Girardeau residents found a burglar breaking into their apartment recently, they beat him so badly that he required hospital care, police said. For more on this story, read Thursday's Southeast Missourian.

Associated Press WriterCHICAGO (AP) -- Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Wednesday he will veto pay raises for the state's constitutional officers, judges and lawmakers as part of $22 million in cuts to the state budget the General Assembly just approved...

Associated Press WriterJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- State tax revenues plunged 11.6 percent in May when compared to last year, widening the gap between the revenues Missouri actually has received and what it expected to get. The decline in May was due partly to a decrease in state sales tax revenues and a surge in tax refunds, which were nearly double the amount distributed in May 2002, the state Revenue Department said Wednesday...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Under the revised state spending plan being considered by the House Budget Committee, Southeast Missouri State University would recoup more than $700,000 lawmakers had cut last month from the school's state appropriation. The restoration is possible because of an infusion of federal funds that wasn't anticipated when the Missouri Legislature originally approved a $19 billion state budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1...

TORONTO -- Canada's largest city avoided a new World Health Organization travel advisory over SARS, and health officials said Tuesday the latest outbreak of the pneumonia-like virus appeared to be tailing off. The U.N. health agency discussed the possibility of warning against travel to Toronto but decided the new cases appeared under control with no spread in the general population, a spokeswoman in Geneva said...

ORAN, Mo. -- Coaches often cite the step from junior to senior as the most dramatic time in the physical development of male high school players. The Oran Eagles took a talented junior-laden team to Columbia last spring and took third place at the Class 1 baseball championships...

LONDON -- A parliamentary committee announced Tuesday it would hold an inquiry into the government's decision to go to war with Iraq, as pressure mounted on Prime Minister Tony Blair to explain claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction...

WASHINGTON -- The war in Iraq has sent support for the United States to new lows in Muslim countries and significantly damaged the standing of the United Nations in those nations and elsewhere, according to a survey released Tuesday. The Pew Global Attitudes Project poll also found al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden still gets favorable marks in some Muslim countries, while British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.N. ...

ST. LOUIS -- Matt Morris won his third straight decision and Jim Edmonds' two-run homer sparked a four-run seventh inning as the Cardinals beat the Toronto Blue Jays 11-5 Tuesday night. Edgar Renteria had three hits and three RBIs, Tino Martinez had two hits and three RBIs and Scott Rolen had three hits and scored twice as the Cardinals evened their record at 4-4 on a 13-game homestand, the longest of the season. St. Louis was 8-4 in interleague play last year...

ST. LOUIS -- For at least one pick Tuesday, the Cardinals stuck to their pre-draft strategy of concentrating on position players. The Cardinals selected left-handed hitting catcher Daric Barton of Marina High School in Huntington Beach, Calif., the retirement home of Mark McGwire, with the 28th overall pick. Ten of the team's previous 14 first-rounders since 1991 had been pitchers...

Wednesday Club The last meeting of the GFWC Wednesday Club was held May 21 in the Oscar C. Hirsch Community Room at Cape Girardeau Public Library. Dorothy Points gave "The American Creed" verbatim. Betty Martin, director of the library, and Phyllis Jackson, administrative assistant, were present...

A future soccer complex in Jackson is one step closer to becoming world class, according to a park association official, now that a $150,000 federal grant has been approved. "This is just absolutely huge," said Jack Litzelfelner Jr., president of the Jackson Soccer Park Association. "This will ensure us of having what I believe will be the finest soccer complex between St. Louis and Memphis."...

The name on the scholarship at Lipscomb University says a lot about Kenny Perry without saying anything at all. The Simpson County (Ky.) Scholarship Fund has already paid tuition for a dozen kids from his hometown, and countless more will get financial aid for years to come...

I was recently strolling through Capaha Park and was impressed by the number of memorial trees that I found. I wondered whom each individual was, who placed the tree in the park, and how they touched lives of others when they were alive. I am sure that there is a long story about each individual...

WASHINGTON -- All states should prohibit inexperienced drivers from using cell phones behind the wheel, the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday. New Jersey and Maine have passed laws prohibiting those with learner's permits from using cell phones or other wireless devices while driving. The NTSB said it wants the 48 other states to adopt similar laws, although it can't mandate the change...

CONCORD, N.H. Sarah Kramer takes seriously her job as a self-described "vegan warrior." Her mission? To dispel myths about meatless living and inspire people to crave the sort of mirthful, easy-to-make meals she and friend Tanya Barnard write about in their cookbooks...

The area follows the national trend in quick home sales at record low interest rates By Scott Moyers ~ Southeast Missourian Jaime Craig walked slowly through the fashionable ranch-style house on Jane Street in Cape Girardeau Tuesday, opening closets, counting bathrooms and nodding favorably at the shaded, fenced-in back yard...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) -- A former Missouri Bootheel police chief charged with selling and possessing drugs last month now faces federal drug charges. Former Howardville Police Chief Timothy Collins was arraigned Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau on charges of distribution of a cocaine base. Authorities said the charge stemmed from an incident on Dec. 22, but no additional information was released...

STOCKTON, Mo. (AP) -- Voters in this southwestern Missouri community devastated by a tornado a month ago have said no to building a new high school. A proposed tax levy increase to fund the project to relieve overcrowding in the existing school was rejected on an 842-265 vote Tuesday...

We ran a front-page article Friday asking our readers to submit 250-word essays about why they love America. That's a tough request on so many levels. It's difficult to put into words why we love America. (I don't even know why I choke up almost every time I hear an outstanding performance of our national anthem.) There are just so many reasons, especially with America and Americans under attack...

Radio listeners across Southeast Missouri didn't hear it Tuesday morning, but behind the radio waves a silent message was transmitted that may someday save lives. A fax testing Southeast Missouri's Amber Alert system was successfully sent by Cape Girardeau police to three regional radio stations: KEZS in Cape Girardeau, KKLR in Poplar Bluff, Mo., and KTJJ in Farmington, Mo...

The popping of hammers, the whirring of drills and the snapping of wood slats being torn off houses filled Jackson streets Tuesday as laborers continued cleaning up and rebuilding after the May 6 tornado. Among the workers still on the job were city employees who, 26 days after the storm, are still hauling away tree limbs and other junk left in the twister's wake...

Delmon Young sat in front of his computer with family, friends and high school teammates and coaches, waiting to find out when he would be selected in Tuesday's draft. He didn't have to wait long. And when the Tampa Bay Devil Rays took Young with the No. 1 pick, a roar filled Young's Southern California home...

SAN ANTONIO -- The New Jersey Nets plan to run, and the San Antonio Spurs plan to stop them from running. The NBA Finals begin tonight, and if the best-of-seven series can be broken down into one central theme, that's it. If the Nets are successful with their fast break, as they were in the first three rounds, they'll have a much better chance of erasing everyone's collective memory of their dreadful performance in the finals a year ago, when they were swept by the Los Angeles Lakers...

AURORA, Ill. -- Annika Sorenstam tested herself against the best at Colonial, then returned to the top of the LPGA Tour without missing a step. Now she has her sights set on something major: this week's LPGA Championship. "To come to a tournament with a win, it doesn't get much better than that," Sorenstam said Sunday after winning the Kellogg-Keebler Classic by three strokes, a victory that wasn't nearly as close as it looked...

Briefly Baseball Yankees owner George Steinbrenner criticized baseball schedule makers and complained his team is treated unfairly, The New York Times reported Tuesday. The Boss is unhappy about New York's road trip this week, when interleague games begin. His problem: While the Yankees are in Cincinnati and Chicago, the rival Boston Red Sox play Pittsburgh and Milwaukee -- two of the three worst teams in the National League...

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt -- Arab leaders pledged on Tuesday to renounce terror and help end violence against Israel, standing in solidarity with President Bush at what he said was "a moment of promise" for peace. Bush called on Israel to dismantle Jewish settlements in the West Bank...

WASHINGTON -- Hillary Rodham Clinton, acknowledging tirades and tears over her husband's affair with Monica Lewinsky, says former President Clinton lied to her about the relationship until the weekend before he admitted as much to a grand jury. The New York senator vividly describes her pain over the betrayal in "Living History," her new memoir. A copy of the book, which goes on sale Monday, was obtained by The Associated Press...

STIGLER, Okla. -- A woman was charged with breast-feeding someone else's baby at a daycare center without the parents' knowledge. Prosecutors charged Shannon Denney, 32, with outraging public decency and public morals, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $500 fine...

NEW YORK -- A passenger in a car made a desperate cell phone call to a friend, saying the driver was drunk and the car was going far too fast. Moments later, authorities said, the call cut off and the caller was dead. Diony Richez, 20, of Freeport, N.Y., was one of four people killed early Monday in the crash on a highway in Queens. Two others, including Richez's half brother, were hospitalized in critical condition...

RACINE, Wis. -- Three teen-agers rescued a man who fell into a rushing river while strapped into his electric wheelchair. Pedro Cruz, 50, and Karin Mendez-Cruz were taking their dogs for a walk at Island Park when Cruz tried to turn his electric wheelchair around Monday. It tipped over, pulling him down the bank into the Root River...

TheAssociated Press SAN FRANCISCO -- Federal authorities Tuesday arrested a third former Enron executive for allegedly manipulating California's energy market in a scheme that led to rolling blackouts across the state two years ago. John M. Forney, 41, was accused of being the architect behind several illegal strategies Enron used to drive up California's energy prices between 1999 and 2001...

BAYTOWN, Texas -- The remains of three illegal immigrants were found Tuesday in a sweltering railroad car after fellow immigrants escaped and left behind their weakened companions. The two who managed to flee the Union Pacific train in La Coste, near San Antonio, contacted a priest in Austin who informed the Mexican consulate about the three immigrants left behind...

SEATTLE -- Police using pepper spray arrested 12 people at a march and rally by activists protesting an annual seminar of a group decried by critics as a virtual "secret police." Arrests were made Monday night for alleged assault, property damage, obstructing and reckless burning, police officer Deanna Nollette said. Nobody required first aid, she said...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Eric Rudolph, the Olympic bombing suspect who told jailers he survived five years on the run eating wild game, acorns and lizards, pleaded innocent Tuesday in a deadly bombing at a Birmingham abortion clinic. Rudolph pleaded innocent before federal Magistrate Judge Michael Putnam for the bombing of New Woman All Women Health Care, where an off-duty police officer was killed and a nurse critically injured on Jan. 29, 1998...

NEW YORK -- The arrest of Eric Rudolph has rekindled concern about the elusive, unpredictable nature of so-called "lone wolves," but counterterrorism experts say the threat from homegrown extremists seems to be waning even as international terrorism spreads...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- A tipster helped police recover a 5-year-old girl who police say was abducted from her home by a roommate of the girl's father and driven 450 miles to Utah. Anabella Jade Clark, who vanished from her Riverside home Monday, was found later in the day when a passer-by saw her eating lunch at a Richfield, Utah, park with Charles William Mix, 48...

DETROIT -- Two Arab immigrants accused of gathering intelligence on potential targets from Disneyland to an air base in Turkey were convicted of conspiring to support Islamic terrorists Tuesday, the first guilty verdicts involving a "sleeper cell" uncovered after Sept. 11...

HARARE, Zimbabwe -- A general strike shut down much of Zimbabwe's already crippled economy Tuesday, and security forces prevented efforts to organize massive street protests against President Robert Mugabe. Most banks, shops, and other businesses remained closed across the troubled southern African country on the second day of a weeklong show of anti-government sentiment by an increasingly defiant opposition...

KANPUR, India -- At her summer camp, 10-year-old Stuti Gupta is learning to use guns, leap through rings of fire and fight with knives and wooden truncheons -- skills India's most powerful Hindu nationalist group tells her she needs to protect her faith...

BERLIN -- Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan lauded the "remarkable resilience" of the U.S. economy on Tuesday, predicting that growth will pick up soon and praising the timing of the Bush administration's tax cut. Speaking by video link to other top central bankers gathered in Berlin, Greenspan said indications were that a "fairly marked turnaround" was on the way...

Despite infirmities, age, pope plans 100th tripVATICAN CITY -- He has shuffled to tribal music, stared down dictators and taken on journalists anxious to hear the views of St. Peter's successor. Almost nothing has defined Pope John Paul II's pontificate as much as his foreign tours. And despite his age and infirmities, John Paul sets out Thursday on No. 100, five days in Croatia, a Roman Catholic stronghold in the Balkans...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Eight people have been arrested on federal charges stemming from a two-state counterfeit check writing scheme that targeted local businesses, including the Kansas City Country Club and Columbian Title. U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren said Tuesday 20 other people had been arrested on local charges in connection with the scheme, which involved 18 cities in Kansas and Missouri from October 2002 to January 2003...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri is considering but has no immediate plans to accept prisoners from Arizona as part of a plan to relieve prison crowding there, a Missouri Corrections Department official said Tuesday. Last week, an adviser for Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano suggested that Missouri is one of the states being considered for a potential prisoner transfer. Arizona has 30,700 prisoners -- about 4,000 more than the prison system's capacity...

WASHINGTON -- In what Democrats called an annual GOP rite of spring, the Republican-controlled House on Tuesday passed an amendment to the Constitution to criminalize flag burning for the fifth time in eight years. The one-line change to the Constitution -- "The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States" -- was approved by a 300-125 vote as a pair of holidays approach -- Flag Day next Saturday and Independence Day in July...

Cape Girardeau Wednesday, June 4 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Calvin J. Harper, 27, of 130 S. Lorimier, Cape Girardeau, was arrested Monday on a Cape Girardeau warrant for failure to appear...

Cape Girardeau Wednesday, June 4 Firefighters responded Monday to the following items: At 5:11 p.m., citizen assist at 611 S. West End Blvd. At 5:54 p.m., emergency medical service at Broadway and Frederick. At 7:33 p.m., alarm activated at 266 Siemers...

Let's be honest: If any of us tried to do a comedy routine using the jokes written for Bob Hope, we'd be booed off the stage. But when Hope tosses off the same one-liners, listeners are infected by a condition known as uncontrollable laughter. It's not what he says that makes people chuckle. It's how he does it. Look at the half-grin. Consider the eyes looking off in the distance. See the body posture. Add them up, and you have a comedian...

Daily American Republic WAPPAPELLO, Mo. -- A Wappapello woman is figuring out what to do with $100,000 after winning in the May 14 Powerball drawing. Louise Tate matched all five white-ball numbers. She just missed being a multimillionaire when she chose 20 as the Powerball number instead of 21...

10 years ago: June 4, 1993 Columbia, Mo. -- Several hundred fans cheered on Notre Dame High's Bulldogs during Class 2A state baseball championship, and long trip from Cape Girardeau was certainly worth it; Bulldogs rewarded their supporters by winning state title with 3-1 victory over Mansfield here; Notre Dame took advantage of several key Mansfield errors to score three unearned runs, and that was enough to back three-hit pitching of Tim Garner...

Bernie Sims, 87, of Jackson died Monday, June 2, 2003, at Monticello House. He was born Nov. 16, 1915, at Steele, Mo., son of B.H. and Cora Ellis Sims. He and Lena Irene Johnson were married Nov. 30, 1933, at New Madrid, Mo. Sims lived in Anniston, Mo., most of his life. He was a retired self-employed contractor. He was a member of Charleston Masonic Lodge and Anniston Christian Church, and former member of East Prairie Lions Club...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Pamela LaTonya King, 19, of Sikeston died Thursday, May 22, 2003, of injuries received in an automobile accident in Arkansas. She was born March 26, 1984, in Sikeston, daughter of Michael and Janet Lavine. King was a 2002 graduate of Sikeston High School, and was a sophomore at the University of Arkansas-Jonesboro. She was a member of Travelers Rest Missionary Baptist Church...

Nelda R. Braswell, 87, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, June 3, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Vernon Clifford "Red" Wells, 71, of Perryville died Monday, June 2, 2003, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. He was born Dec. 11, 1931, in Stoddard County, Mo., son of Levi Adolph and Myrtle McDaniel Wells. He and Wanda Aleta Lawson were married July 1, 1974...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Shirley Shirkey Slayton, 63, of Sikeston died Monday, June 2, 2003, at her home. She was born May 27, 1940, in Sikeston, daughter of Carl E. "Dick" and Catherine Sneed Tubbs. She first married Harvey Shirkey. She later married Bob Slayton, who preceded her in death...

Robert Edward Wilhite, 80, of Cape Girardeau passed away Monday, June 2, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Nov. 28, 1922, in Liberal, Kan., son of Dr. John R. Wilhite and Lillian May Abington Wilhite. He and Mary Dean Johnson were married Aug. 7, 1960...

Jean Haynes Gerhardt, 70, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Jan. 23, 2003, in North Carolina. Mrs. Gerhardt worked for Dr. Nussbaum several years, and retired from Broadway Prescription Shop. She was a member of First Baptist Church. Survivors include her husband, Bill Gerhardt; two sons, Bill Gerhardt Jr. ...

ORAN, Mo. -- Walter Edward Madigan, 61, of Oran died Tuesday, June 3, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Sept. 24, 1941, in St. Louis, son of Edward J. and Maybelle Hefele Madigan. He and Debra Whorton were married Jan. 25, 1975...

Stop grading CR 244 PLEASE KEEP the road graders off of County Road 244. If you're trying to find something for the guys to do, please find them another job or send them home. Stop sending them down to tear it up. Just when the dust is bearable and it's semi-smooth, the graders show up and destroy the road, making it rough and, because of the dust, dangerous. ...

To the editor: As the General Assembly returns to Jefferson City, a genuine opportunity to have a positive, long-term impact on all Missourians awaits legislators. Higher education is a driving force in Missouri's economy. Without an educated work force, how can we expect companies to bring jobs to the state?...

Most of the laws adopted by legislatures in the various states are based on political or special-interest needs that arise in those states. But there's another batch of laws that states are compelled to adopt: laws the federal government says you have to pass...

Two men plead guilty to Cape hotel robbery Two Cape Girardeau men pleaded guilty to robbery and burglary Monday in Cape Girardeau County Circuit Court. Quintayus Desnes Moore, 26, and Alex Bowen, 26, will be sentenced on July 7 in Jackson. A third charge of armed criminal action was dismissed as part of the plea agreement...

Man sentenced for gun possession Richard Coonts, 41, of Perryville, Mo., was sentenced in federal court Tuesday to 90 months in prison for being a previously convicted felon in possession of a firearm. On March 31, 2002, Coonts was the driver a vehicle stopped for a traffic violation in Perryville. ...

WASHINGTON -- The nation's leading cigarette maker explained to lawmakers Tuesday that it has reversed its long-held opposition to Food and Drug Administration regulation of tobacco in order to help market two products that may be less harmful. At the same hearing, the country's biggest snuff maker pressed for the right to make health claims about its product...

Chicago Cubs star Sammy Sosa was ejected in the first inning of Tuesday night's game against Tampa Bay after umpires found cork in his shattered bat. The Cubs had runners at second and third when Sosa broke his bat with a grounder to second that at first appeared to drive in a run...

TROY, Mo. -- A central Missouri man faces life in prison after pleading guilty to the murder and robbery of a 75-year-old man in January 2002. Gary Campbell, 21, of Macon, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Lincoln County Circuit Court to first-degree murder, first-degree robbery and second-degree arson in the death of Frank Shimek of Goldsberry...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Three Missouri agencies are working together to patrol some stretches of rivers that have become noisy, drunken party spots for people on floating trips. The Missouri Water Patrol, the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Missouri Sheriff's Association will work with local law enforcement agencies to control the thousands of people who float down the rivers on summer weekends...

HILLSBORO, Mo. -- A body found in a shallow grave south of St. Louis is that of a mid-Missouri man missing since December, Jefferson County Sheriff Glenn Boyer said Tuesday. The body of John R. Slayton, 64, was found late Sunday near Valles Mines, about 40 miles south of St. Louis. Slayton, of Osage Beach, was reported missing Dec. 12. A 16-year-old, whose name was not released because he is a juvenile, was detained for second-degree murder and armed criminal action...

ST. LOUIS -- A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that a St. Louis County law limiting children's access to violent video games was unconstitutional. A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis overturned a ruling issued last year that supported the ordinance...

AL KHADER, West Bank -- Israel freed about 100 Palestinian prisoners Tuesday in a goodwill gesture ahead of a Mideast peace summit with President Bush. The oldest, convicted of killing 13 Israelis, was greeted upon his release with clasped hands by Yasser Arafat...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- More than a decade of suspicions about Iraq's missile industry and its capabilities for delivering weapons of mass destruction could be investigated quickly now that American forces control the country. But no U.S. weapons hunters or intelligence officials have visited the heart of Iraq's missile programs -- the state-owned al-Fatah company in Baghdad, which designed all the rockets Saddam Hussein's troops fired in 1991 and again this year. ...

The world leaders remained split on how to deal with North Korea and Iran. By John Leicester The Associated PressEVIAN, France -- On Iraq, at least, they turned the page. But feuding world leaders who came together at a let's-make-up summit in France remained split over the next crises darkening the horizon -- how to prevent North Korea and Iran from building nuclear weapons...

NEW YORK -- Martha Stewart's company said Tuesday the home-decorating mogul has been warned that federal prosecutors plan to seek an indictment against her soon in the insider-trading scandal that has been hanging over her head for the past year. Her lawyer said she would fight any charges...

smcclanahan Last weekend our 6-year-old, Lexie, lost both of her front teeth. It has been a while since we have been through that, and I had forgotten all of the things that are difficult for a toothless little one to eat. Over the past several days we have gotten very creative in food preparation. ...

Two Cape Girardeau County men were arrested over the weekend for allegedly leading police on a high-speed chase through several Jackson streets and county roads Friday night, said Jackson police Lt. Rodney Barnes. The pursuit began shortly before 11 p.m., when Jackson officer Scott Eakers saw a 1987 Chevrolet Nova run a stop sign at Georgia and Washington streets...

Jackson golfer leads state amateur qualifiers Mark Allen of Jackson shot a 1-over-par 73 at Dalhousie Golf Club on Monday to top the list of qualifiers for the upcoming Missouri Amateur Golf Championship. Allen, a qualifier last year, was one of 12 golfers from the field of 31 to qualify for the state championship June 24 to 29 at Hickory Hills Country Club in Springfield. He finished four strokes ahead of Greg Rapp...

Staying in school one more year was worth 35 rounds for Southeast Missouri State University shortstop Zach Borowiak. Borowiak was selected in the 14th round of Tuesday's baseball draft by the Boston Red Sox. Last year, following his junior season at Southeast, he was taken in the 49th round by the San Francisco Giants...

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- He laughed it off at the time as a regrettable accident, one that wouldn't affect his play or confidence and ultimately wouldn't matter in the Stanley Cup finals. As the New Jersey Devils prepare for Game 5 Thursday night, their lead over the Anaheim Mighty Ducks erased by two overtime losses, goalie Martin Brodeur's Game 3 missing-stick misplay may turn out to be the turning point of the series...

by Keayn Dunya The Osiris has gathered vital information, which leads to its destruction. The crew of the Logos, is on track to retrieve that information, which may be vital to Zion. "In the war to save Zion, What part will you play?" Enter the Matrix isn't just game; it's an element in the Matrix universe. Set in between the first and second movies, it explains some details of The Matrix: Reloaded...

06/05/03 Jimmy Thackery & The Drivers BB's Soup & Blues 06/05/03 Bob Reuter & Palookaville Blueberry I-Ell's Duck Room 06/05/03 Bobby Bare Jr. Blueberry Hill's Duck Room 06/05/03 Joy Lynn White Blueberry Hill's Duck Room 06/05/03 Steve Wynn & The Miracle 3 Blueberry Hill's Duck Room...

by Greg Levrault On May 21st, America was witnessing the coronation of the latest American Idol. I knew Ruben had it locked, so I went to the Cape Girardeau Holiday Inn instead. In their backyard, two representatives from Millie Lewis International, one of the world's most distinguished talent scouting agencies, were looking for the next superstar...

Each month, we'll bring you an inside look at the music you hear on The Zone @ 107.1 and the artists that make it. The summer festival season's upon us, and the big question is: which field trip are you going to take this summer? You can't go to all of them (unless you can spare $250 a person,) so what's the right getaway for YOU? Consider:...

by Chad Armbruster Greetings all from the big wicket next to the mighty brown river of ever flowin' sewage. It's time again for another exciting episode in the overly creative and rarely ordinary life of me. Today I come to you in high sprits, an odd enough feeling itself, and in this case the reason is just as good as the feeling. ...

Factoids about the river campus by Regina Yoast The river campus will be built on the grounds of old St. Vincent's Seminary. The university plans to use the existing structure for academic classrooms and offices, and plans to build a museum, welcome center, performance and recital halls, extra classrooms an art studios on the property...

June questions Submitted by Greg Levrault 1. Is it going to rain today? - SIGNS POINT TO YES! 2. Was there a point to Matrix Reloaded? - MOST LIKELY! 3. Is anybody else going to dress up for the new Harry Potter novel? - YOU MAY RELY ON IT!...

"Decades ago, a secret organization brainwashed you and implanted a virtually unbreakable adamantium skeleton into your body. Now, as Wolverine, the X-Men's most dangerous weapon, you've discovered you were also implanted with a deadly virus that will kill you within the next 48 hours unless the antidote is found. Your future at risk you must return to confront your past at the sinister Weapon X facility. Time is running out. And so is your life."...

by Jason Parker Hey fat ass, cut the sugar, ranch, and Miracle Whip. During a weight loss contest at work I managed to lose 27 pounds in 12 weeks without exercising, Dr. Atkins, or starving myself. Granted, 6 of those pounds were lost the night before the final weigh-in thanks to some extreme measures, but I'm still down and honest 21 pounds. Am I bragging? Yes. Am I also trying to help you members of "Fat America" by passing along a little knowledge? Yes...

Wedding Date by Alexandra R. Yaremko It's that time of year again. The time of year when every weekend could be spent at a wedding reception. Good, bad, or ugly, there are receptions you want to go to and receptions you have to go to. Then there are the rare occasions when the spheres of have to and want to overlap. The reception you won't miss. (Thank you in advance Beth Roethemeyer, aka "The Bride," for allowing us to share in your special day.)...

Matrix Reloaded Reviewed by Justin Colburn Probes are on their way to destroy Zion and it's up to Morpheous (Cowboy Curtis from Pee-Wee's Playhouse), Neo (Ted "Theodore" Logan from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure) and Trinity (Trinity from the first Matrix) to find a way to stop them from within the matrix. ...

Since about age twenty-five, many conversations I have had with my friends seemed to often descend into one recurring topic: my friends bragging about their children. You know, their rug rats. Chips off the old block. Bundles of joy...

It isn't clear what a suspected burglar was looking for when he broke into a Spanish Street apartment, but he left with a bruised and bloodied face. Cape Girardeau police found Kristoffer Edward Ponzar, 29, of Cape Girardeau, lying on the steps outside an apartment house at 105 S. Spanish, beaten so badly he required hospitalization...

The gawkers don't come around anymore in Jackson. The volunteers who came in droves to help strangers remove debris and salvage the salvageable are seldom seen. Traffic comes and goes as it pleases. For those Jackson residents who were not directly hit by the May 6 tornado, it may appear that business is getting back to normal...

The Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department introduced two volleyball leagues to the public about 10 years ago. This year, one of the leagues has ecscalated to record numbers. The six-on-six division, open to anyone 18 and older, has a record 152 players that began this week as the first of several summer leagues operated by the city...

10 years ago: June 5, 1993 Instead of lawn mowers, whining sound of chain saws is heard throughout much of area as clean-up operations are under way in large area that was ravaged by severe thunderstorms yesterday morning; in parts of Missouri Bootheel and Western Kentucky and Tennessee, residents had to endure second round of severe weather as more storms redeveloped that night; in Southeast Missouri, line of storms cut wide swathe of damage from Lake Wappapello northeast of Poplar Bluff to Mississippi River.. ...

CavanessSon to Michael Ray and Natalie Gayle Cavaness of Anna, Ill., St. Francis Medical Center, 7:22 a.m. Wednesday, May 28, 2003. Name, Tristan Ryne. Weight, 6 pounds 14 ounces. First child. Mrs. Cavaness is the former Natalie Casper, daughter of Gerald and Martha Casper of Cobden, Ill. She is employed in the bakery at Schnucks in Carbondale, Ill. Cavaness is the son of Walter and Annette Cavaness of Cobden. He is employed at Transcraft Corp. in Anna...

Verna D. Petzoldt, 68, of Oak Ridge died Wednesday, June 4, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson.

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Rachel Ruth Pierce, 88, of Sikeston died Tuesday, June 3, 2003, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born Feb. 8, 1915, in Hornersville, Mo., daughter of Peter V. and Lora Moody Branum. She and Cheston Pierce were married July 25, 1971, in Sikeston...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Virginia G. Gwaltney, 88, of Sikeston died Tuesday, June 3, 2003, at Hunter Acres Caring Center. She was born Oct. 15, 1914, in Newbern, Tenn., daughter of John Thomas and Esther Dickson Griffin. She and Fred L. Gwaltney were married Aug. 30, 1969, in Sikeston. He died June 25, 2000...

Nelda Ruth Braswell, 87, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, June 3, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Sept. 28, 1915, in Jackson, daughter of Perle Otis and Ula Grace Shaner Taylor. She and John W. Braswell were married June 24, 1939, in St. Louis. He died Sept. 22, 2001...

ANNA, Ill. -- Carl Preston Hinkle, 80, of Anna died Tuesday, June 3, 2003, at Illinois Veterans Home in Anna. He was born Feb. 25, 1923, in Anna, son of Francis and Lena Jackson Hinkle. He and Ruth Vowels were married Jan. 6, 1941, at Charleston, Mo...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Paul J. "Tobe" Thomure, 81, of Perryville died Tuesday, June 3, 2003, at Barnes-Jewish Medical Center in St. Louis. He was born Jan. 21, 1922, at St. Mary, Mo., son of Tobias Jerome and Eleanor Caldwell Thomure. He and Madeline R. Picou were married Jan. 21, 1941, in St. Louis. She died Sept. 25, 2002...

EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. -- Mark Steven Wheelis, 19, of Onalaska, Texas, died Monday, June 2, 2003, in a drowning accident in Onalaska. He was born Sept. 19, 1983, in Charleston, Mo., son of William Glen and Betty Ann Wheelis Jr. He was formerly of East Prairie and Chaffee, Mo...

Robert Edward Wilhite, 80, of Cape Girardeau passed away Monday, June 2, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Nov. 28, 1922, in Liberal, Kan., son of Dr. John R. Wilhite and Lillian May Abington Wilhite. He and Mary Dean Johnson were married Aug. 7, 1960...

To the editor: In response to the article "Family's paper trail reaches happy ending": Thank you for the recent article about the recovery of Eulah Detweiler's, my late aunt's, high school diploma. Also, a huge thank you to the Dumey family of Jackson for taking the time and effort to find my mother, Dr. Myra Morris Peo, and return the diploma to her. It was my mother's bridge partner, Ann, who spotted the article and recognized the name...

The cost of firing ON FIRING the city manager: Add up the figures to see what this costs the taxpayers -- the severance pay, the interim pay for the acting manager, the cost of advertising for a new manager, the cost of bringing prospective employees to Cape Girardeau. Something most people don't realize: when a city manager is fired, it's generally not because the council doesn't want a bureaucrat who is quick to raise objections to suggested solutions, it's because council wants a yes man...

To the editor: I want to congratulate Dr. Charles Wiles on his new position in Southeast Missouri State University's athletic department. As a former student of Wiles, I am sure there are many other students who will agree with me that he is a superb educator who has impacted the lives of many of us who have gone on to work in a marketing or communications environment. He epitomizes what a college professor should be...

As far as attention goes, Nathan Lewer may have flown under radar at the recent Class 2 state track and field championship. But then again, it's possible he soared over radar. Lewer, who just finished his junior year at Kelly High School, cleared a personal-best 6 feet, 8 inches in winning a state title in the high jump two weekends ago...

AP Sports Writer ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Interleague games are bringing out the best in Tino Martinez. Martinez has four hits and four RBIs in the first two games of the St. Louis Cardinals' series with Toronto, contributing with a run-scoring single and triple in an 8-5 victory Wednesday night...

Point averages NON-PROFITSoutheast Missouri State University President's Team 89.900 City of Cape Girardeau 86.700 Lynwood Baptist Church 48.500 Cape Girardeau Public Library 41.111 Old Town Cape 40.667 Area Wide United Way 25.500 SMALL BUSINESSWells Fargo Financial 81.000...

Americans undergo more than a million LASIK procedures a year, most to correct nearsightedness. By Lauran Neergaard ~ The Associated PressWASHINGTON Consider it an ocular fingerprint: A new generation of laser eye surgery is beginning that maps subtle irregularities in the cornea before it's zapped -- in hopes of crisper vision and fewer side effects...

Today Infant massage class from 8 to 10 a.m. in Friends Lounge at St. Francis Medical Center. Call 331-5107 for information; fee is $25. Blood pressure screening from 10 to 11:30 a.m.. at Cape Girardeau Senior Center, sponsored by Generations Center at Southeast Missouri Hospital. For information, call 651-5825...

On Friday, it will have been one month since a devastating tornado ravaged Jackson, destroying homes, businesses, schools and other buildings and disrupting lives. But in the weeks since, the howls of destructive wind and crumpling wood have been replaced with something much better: the sounds of survival and rebirth...

For Missouri to lose 5,000 public-school educators, as first estimated -- or even 3,400, as later calculated -- would be a serious loss. When it comes to that, we are in full agreement with Gov. Bob Holden and a group of school administrators who are making that claim...

Cape Girardeau Thursday, June 5 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Emmanuel Tramez Ware, 23, of 805 S. Sprigg, Cape Girardeau, was arrested Tuesday on a Cape Girardeau warrant for contempt of court...

Cape Girardeau Thursday, June 5 Firefighters responded to the following items Wednesday: At 1:59 a.m., an alarm sounding at 2852 Independence. At 9:27 a.m., a medical assist at 1115 Woodland Drive. At 12:01 p.m., an alarm sounding at 630 North St. At 12:20 p.m., a medical assist at the 99-mile marker on Interstate 55...

Cape bridge down to one lane for part of today Traffic on the Mississippi River bridge in Cape Girardeau will be reduced to one lane from 8:30 a.m. until noon today. Crews from Jefferson City will be making bridge repairs, weather permitting. Drivers are urged to use caution while traveling through the work zone. For more information, call (888) 275-6636...

Name: Gail Shy Lives in: Chaffee, Mo. Family: My son, Matthew Thomas, just finished his third year at Syracuse University in New York; my daughter, Kathleen Thomas, finished her first year at Ithaca University in New York. I have three sisters and a brother...

Pork roast dinner to be held Saturday, Sunday A pork roast dinner with all the trimmings will be held at Bald Knob Cross in Alto Pass, Ill., from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. A church service will be held at 9:30 a.m. Sunday. The gift shop will open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. To get to the cross, take Illinois Highway 146 east to Illinois Highway 127 north and follow the signs. For more information call (618) 532-8188...

Hotop returns from six-month deployment Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Derek N. Hotop, son of Glenda L. Hotop of Perryville, Mo., recently returned from a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea and Arabian Gulf. He was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, homeported in Norfolk, Va...

The Cape Girardeau Newcomer's Club can be defined in two words: at ease. Living in a new community, which for many is only a temporary residence, is the common thread shared by all. "There are no cliques here," said Carla Harold, originally from Kansas City, Kan...

Enrollment open for Super Sitter classes Enrollment is open for the summer Super Sitter classes sponsored by Southeast Missouri Hospital. Classes are held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the following dates: June 18, June 24, July 8, July 17, July 22, July 30 and Aug. 6...

WASHINGTON -- House Republican leaders yanked an overtime pay bill from Thursday's schedule after failing to find enough votes for passage, a rare win for labor unions in a Congress controlled by the GOP. Wednesday's move followed a massive lobbying effort by organized labor that targeted moderate House Republicans...

WASHINGTON -- It took four years to bring a statue of President Eisenhower to the Capitol, longer than it took the Allies to defeat the Germans during World War II. Dwight D. Eisenhower assumed a permanent place in the Capitol during a dedication ceremony Wednesday as congressional leaders accepted the sculpture into the National Statuary Hall Collection...

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Talk about culture shock. As the Anaheim Mighty Ducks traveled from the comfortable confines of the Pond to the inhospitable New Jersey swampland for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals, they found themselves as far away from Fantasyland as possible...

SAN ANTONIO -- The rebound came off the rim, Tim Duncan grabbed it and fired a 60-foot pass ahead of the field to Stephen Jackson for an uncontested dunk. It was a pass that would have made Jason Kidd proud, if it had been Kidd who had thrown it. But it wasn't Kidd, it was Duncan -- and it put a flourish of a finish on a decisive third-quarter run that led San Antonio to a 101-89 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the NBA Finals...

ST. LOUIS -- Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen, still recovering from off-season shoulder surgery, will make his first rehab appearance today for Double-A Tennessee. Isringhausen is scheduled to start the game and throw one inning to catcher Joe Girardi, who is rehabbing from a back injury and is close to being activated. Isringhausen is scheduled to pitch again on Sunday and could be activated after that...

PIERCE CITY, Mo. -- Some held their nose or a friend's hand. Others just wanted to get it over quickly and jumped solo. But all who plunged into the Pierce City Pool had the same initial reaction: "It's cold." While summer does not officially begin for the rest of the country until June 21, it got underway in Pierce City at 1:27 p.m. Wednesday, when the first children passed through the pool gates...

CHICAGO -- No cork or other foreign material was found in any of the 76 bats confiscated from Sammy Sosa's locker and X-rayed by baseball officials. The bats were taken from the Chicago Cubs' locker room during the game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Tuesday night. Cork was found in Sosa's bat when it shattered after he grounded out in the first inning of the Cubs' 3-2 victory...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Some of the state's largest companies are using loopholes to avoid paying taxes that could help boost education and health care, according to a report Wednesday by an advocacy group. The Coalition to Protect Education and Health Care said 98 of the 540 largest companies in Missouri -- each reporting more than $50 million in federal taxable income -- paid no Missouri income taxes...

ST. LOUIS -- By 2030, the number of Alzheimer's patients will double or triple unless ways are found to delay onset of the progressive, degenerative brain disease, an Alzheimer's expert said Wednesday as a conference began at Saint Louis University...

CHICAGO -- Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Wednesday he will veto pay raises for the state's constitutional officers, agency directors, judges and lawmakers as part of $22 million in cuts to the state budget just approved by the General Assembly. Blagojevich also said he will cut money, put in the budget over his objection, that would continue to fund more than 200 captains' jobs in the state Department of Corrections...

AQABA, Jordan -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas launched a groundbreaking peace plan Wednesday with President Bush's encouragement, offering once-unthinkable pledges in hopes of ending decades of Mideast bloodshed...

BEIJING -- For the first time since March 28 when the SARS virus began to take hold in eastern Asia and Toronto, there were no deaths anywhere in the world from the tenacious disease, world health authorities said Wednesday. With outbreaks at all the initial hot zones either contained or coming under control, severe acute respiratory syndrome is clearly in decline, the World Health Organization said...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Using bulldozers, backhoes and loaders, U.S. Army combat engineers dug through a rubble-filled crater Wednesday, trying to determine whether Saddam Hussein died in an April 7 airstrike on the house where he was believed to be hiding...

MADRID, Spain -- Russia is offering intelligence and other support for a NATO peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan but will not send troops to the nation once occupied by the Soviet Union for 10 years, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Wednesday. Meeting his NATO counterparts, Ivanov said the offer showed the increasingly close relationship between the former Cold War foes...

HONG KONG -- More than 20,000 people turned an urban park into a sea of candlelight Wednesday, marking the 14th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown with hopes for democracy in China and fears about crumbling freedoms in Hong Kong. They sang patriotic songs and chanted "fight against the dictatorship," in a blunt attack on China's one-party political system. Some worry such protests will be harder to make after Hong Kong passes an anti-subversion bill in coming weeks...

KUWAIT CITY -- A Kuwaiti court sentenced an Islamic extremist Wednesday to death by hanging for killing an American civilian working for the U.S. military. Sami al-Mutairi, a 25-year-old civil servant who authorities say was inspired by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network, also seriously injured a second American civilian contractor in the Jan. 21 attack...

MADRID, Spain -- Rescuers and forensic experts searched through twisted, smoking wreckage Wednesday from a head-on train collision in central Spain that killed at least 19 people. The state-owned rail company, Renfe, said 40 people were injured but most were treated and released...

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -- The United States and Norway closed their embassies in the capital of Ethiopia on Wednesday amid heightened fears of terrorism for both nations. Police set up a roadblock on the street that passes the heavily fortified U.S. Embassy compound on the outskirts of Addis Ababa and were stopping and checking all vehicles...

NEW YORK -- The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 9,000 Wednesday for the first time in nearly 10 months, soaring more than 100 points following a pair of positive economic reports. The gains were surprising given some bad news from DaimlerChrysler, which warned of a big loss in its struggling Chrysler division, and the fact that many analysts believe stocks were due for a pullback following weeks of heavy buying...

NEW YORK -- Martha Stewart, the steely perfectionist who built a fortune by selling her vision of good taste and gracious living, was indicted Wednesday in an insider-trading scandal that could put her behind bars. Hours later, she stepped down as chairman and chief executive officer of her media empire...

DENVER -- A 2-week-old baby was back in his mother's arms Wednesday, about 24 hours after police said a woman posing as a church worker drove off with the child. Police chief Gerry Whitman said a suspect was in custody, but wouldn't say who it was or whether police think more people were involved...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The Columbia accident investigator in charge of a series of impact tests said Wednesday he is surprised by the incredible force with which a 1 1/2-pound chunk of space shuttle foam struck and deformed a fiberglass wing replica...

CONCORD, N.H. -- A convicted killer and two other inmates escaped from a state prison on a busy street Wednesday by cutting through two fences. Officials said the men shed their green jumpsuits soon after escaping, but would not say where the jumpsuits were found...

HELENA, Mont. -- Five bulls from a Canadian herd that included a cow with mad-cow disease were shipped to Montana six years ago and have since been slaughtered, state officials said Wednesday. None of the animals showed clinical signs of the disease, said Karen Cooper, spokeswoman for the Montana Department of Livestock. What became of the carcasses after slaughter was unclear...

School's out, but Osbournes are not NEW YORK -- School's out, but "The Osbournes" are back in session. Ten new episodes of the MTV reality series will air throughout the summer, starting at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. The cable music channel said Tuesday that the shows will follow Ozzy, Sharon, Kelly and Jack Osbourne, and their various pets and friends, at their Los Angeles home and on the road...

A typical child might learn how to ride a bicycle with training wheels before he learns to ride anything else. Dustin Gross, 23, of Cape Girardeau took a more unusual route. Gross was racing motorcycles before climbing onto a bike. He was 6 when he had his first high-powered race, and it wasn't until he was 7 that he straddled a bike seat...

Southeast's Scott qualifies for nationals Southeast Missouri State University senior Shelton Scott has qualified in the long jump and triple jump for the NCAA Track and Field Championships June 11 to 14 in Sacramento, Calif...

Briefly Baseball Five days after designating infielder Bill Selby for assignment, the Indians traded him to the Cardinals on Wednesday for minor league catcher Clint Chauncey. Selby, 32, was batting just .103 (4-for-39) in 26 games before being designated for assignment last Friday...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Trey Graviett's sixth-inning home run that nearly sailed over the left-field bullpen and out of Taylor Stadium was a sight to see during Wednesday's Class 1 semifinal. But it was the Oran senior's two-run triple in the seventh inning that finally provided the top-ranked Eagles enough breathing room to advance into tonight's state-championship final with a 7-3 victory over No. 6 Concordia...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The proposed elimination of 538 administrative positions at three state departments would have a devastating impact on their ability to provide services to Missourians, department officials told lawmakers Wednesday. Department of Social Services director Steve Roling said his office would become a one-man shop under the cuts endorsed by the House Budget Committee...

Three local fire departments have gained a technological advantage in battling flames and finding victims. The East County Fire Protection District and the Scott City and Cape Girardeau fire departments were presented three new thermal imaging cameras Wednesday afternoon at Station No. 1 in Cape Girardeau...

The unofficial beginning of summer has given swimmers the cold shoulder. Only nine braved the water during the hour and a half the Jackson's city pool operated on Monday's opening day. The high temperature that second day of June was only 65 degrees...

For a few hours Wednesday morning, Nancy Jernigan lived another life, one no one ever would have chosen. In that life, Jernigan was a troubled 14-year-old, not a prominent resident and executive director of the Area Wide United Way. In that life, she was abandoned by her father, who left the family with no money and a stack of bills...

Associated Press WriterJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- On a tense and raucous day at the Missouri Capitol, Democratic Gov. Bob Holden and Republican legislative leaders confronted one another with starkly different plans for the state's spending and taxing as hundreds of Missourians cheered and jeered them...

June 5, 2003 Dear Patty, Late some Sunday afternoons I go to the golf course to play just a few holes by myself in the setting sun. The weekend crowd has gone home to nurse their battered egos and strained backs, leaving the course almost empty. The birds chirping goodbye to the day and the golden light create a kind of magical serenity...

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- A federal jury Wednesday ordered Taco Bell Corp. to pay $30.1 million to two men who claimed the fast-food chain stole their idea for the advertising campaign featuring a talking Chihuahua. Thomas Rinks and Joseph Shields, both of the Grand Rapids area, sued Taco Bell in 1998, saying they pitched the idea for a character called "Psycho Chihuahua" more than a year before Taco Bell began airing the dog commercials in 1997...

WASHINGTON -- The House voted Wednesday to ban a procedure that abortion foes call "partial birth" abortion, moving the restriction a crucial step closer to President Bush's signature. With the 282-139 vote, Congress was on the verge of ending a practice that Rep. Steve Chabot said was "truly a national tragedy."...

An earthquake in western Kentucky shook things up in southern Illinois and across the region early Friday, causing minor damage. An earthquake measuring 4.5 in magnitude erupted one mile south of Blandville, Ky., at 7:29 a.m. CDT, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter is about 15 miles south of Cairo at Illinois' southern tip...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A former Roman Catholic priest and grade school counselor was sentenced Friday to nearly five years in federal prison and fined $10,000 for possessing thousands of pornographic images of children. U.S. District Judge Jean Hamilton sentenced James Beine, 60, who also goes by the name Mar James, to four years and nine months behind bars...

BARDWELL, Ky. (AP) -- An earthquake shook portions of western Kentucky early Friday, cracking sidewalks and rattling pictures off walls, authorities said. There were no immediate reports of injuries. Sheriff's dispatchers in southeast Missouri said they had no reports of quakes or damage in the region...

The gawkers don't come around anymore. The volunteers who came in droves to help strangers remove debris and salvage the salvageable are seldom seen. Traffic comes and goes as it pleases. For those Jackson residents who were not directly hit by the May 6 tornado, it may appear that business is getting back to normal...

FALLUJAH, Iraq -- Guns drawn and tensed for battle, U.S. forces locked down a neighborhood for a house-to-house search Thursday, targeting attackers who killed one American soldier and wounded five others in the latest eruption of anti-occupation violence...

BEIJING -- The SARS outbreak is "over its peak" around the world, including in the hardest-hit country China, a World Health Organization official said Thursday. A renewed outbreak in Toronto shows, however, that the world must still remain vigilant against the illness, said Henk Bekedam, the WHO representative in China...

LONDON -- Women pregnant with boys tend to eat about 10 percent more calories a day than those carrying girls but don't gain more weight, new research indicates. The study, published this week in the British Medical Journal, appears to explain -- at least in part -- why newborn boys are heavier than girls and suggests that signals between the fetus and the mother drive the appetite during pregnancy...

Here is the prepared text of Gov. Bob Holden's speech Thursday to the Missouri Legislature, which is convened in a special session: Madame Speaker, Mr. President Pro Tem, First Lady Lori Hauser Holden, and members of the 92nd General Assembly:...

The prepared text of House Speaker Catherine Hanaway's speech Thursday to the Missouri Legislature, which is convened in a special session: Fellow members of the General Assembly, at the end of the day, when the debates and speeches have finished, when the arguing stops, when the reporters have written their stories and broadcast the news, when we have retired to our offices to continue our work, and when this chamber is quiet, the essential truth of this great debate over the state budget will remain.. ...

The prepared text of Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder's speech Thursday to the Missouri Legislature, which is convened in a special session: I wish to appeal to you first for some cooperation on three measures we passed that you have pledged to veto. First, you have pledged a veto of the right-to-carry bill we passed, yet again, with overwhelming bipartisan support...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Anti-tax protesters and opposing factions upset with cuts in state services traded heated rhetoric in the Capitol Thursday as the House of Representatives passed revised spending plans for education and other key portions of the state budget...

WASHINGTON -- Virtually every driver in the country could be pumping gasoline containing corn-produced ethanol by 2012 under a plan approved Thursday by the Senate. The proposal, incorporated into a broader energy bill, would dramatically change how refiners blend gasoline and how they meet federal clean air requirements. It would require a doubling of ethanol use, to at least 5 billion gallons a year, in what would be a boon to corn farmers...

ST. LOUIS -- A man described by police as a violent drug dealer was found guilty of shooting two men, killing one, after being acquitted earlier this year of murdering three other people. On Wednesday, a St. Louis Circuit Court jury convicted Adrian Bowman, 24, of University City, of murdering Daryl Spann, 37, of St. Louis, and assaulting Spann's friend on Oct. 28, 2000...

Three stars (out of four) "Finding Nemo" is a charming children's movie. The CGI animation was done by Pixar, whose films include "Toy Story" and "Monsters, Inc." It has your simple get-back-the-kidnapped-child plot but with a twist...

Ukrainian banker Oleg Kovalenko thought when he arrived at an American financial institution, he would see customers lining up to have money flung at them, regardless of collateral or credit. "I had that stereotype," Kovalenko said. "But it's like getting a loan in other places. You have strict regulations here too."...

After first beating up a suspected burglar, a Cape Girardeau man now sits in county jail on domestic assault charges. John Henry Harris II, 20, was arrested Thursday and charged with second-degree assault for allegedly attacking Chasity R. Pehm. Police responded to a call shortly before 2:30 a.m. Thursday at Southeast Missouri Hospital, where Pehm was receiving treatment. She told police the couple were arguing when Harris punched her, grabbed her by the hair and hit her twice more...

Students and interested parties are invited to attend the court session of the Missouri Eastern District Court of Appeals when it holds a docket for the first time in history at the circuit courtroom at the Perry County Courthouse in Perryville, Mo...

An 11-year old boy nearly drowned Thursday morning at the Jackson city pool during swim team practice and now a machine is breathing for him at a St. Louis hospital as his family awaits word on possible brain damage. Andrew Tyler was rushed from Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau to Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis, followed by his family and friends...

PARIS -- It started in the very first game, when a few fans applauded an errant forehand. By the final set, thousands loudly cheered missed serves. And when Serena Williams abruptly shook hands without speaking a word to Justine Henin-Hardenne, the woman who had just ended her Grand Slam winning streak, full-throated boos echoed from the upper deck...

Listen up, all you multitasking lawyers, bankers, doctors and executives. Yeah, you ... you know who you are! You wear a suit Monday through Friday, and you probably drive a so-called midlevel luxury car like a Lincoln, or one of those "suave" foreign brands that you bought up in St. ...

Cape Sr. Legion loses on the road to Festus Cape Girardeau's Ford & Sons Senior American Legion baseball team dropped an 8-6 decision to host Festus Wednesday night in its season opener. John Thies picked up the loss. He worked five innings, allowing four runs and five hits...

R.I. commission votes for stronger fire safety laws PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A commission formed after a deadly nightclub fire voted Thursday to recommend a tougher state fire code with more stringent sprinkler requirements and a ban on pyrotechnics in smaller buildings...

Maguire blames movie roles for yo-yo dieting NEW YORK -- Tobey Maguire has been yo-yo dieting lately, but it's work-related. He bulked up to star as the webslinging crimefighter in last year's "Spider-Man," then trimmed down to play a jockey in the upcoming "Seabiscuit," then had to get buff again for next summer's "Spider-Man 2."...

NEW YORK -- The New York Times' top two editors resigned Thursday after a tumultuous five weeks that began with the exposure of Jayson Blair's journalistic fraud and grew into a drumbeat of criticism of the management style at one of the world's most distinguished newspapers...

JERUSALEM -- Palestinian leaders expressed doubts Thursday about Israel's commitment to remove dozens of unauthorized Jewish settlement outposts in the West Bank as required by a new Mideast peace plan. Jewish settlers have pledged to resist the dismantling of any of the more than 100 outposts that have been established since 1998 -- at times with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's encouragement -- to prevent the handover of land to the Palestinians...

WHO officials say SARS outbreak 'over the peak' BEIJING -- The SARS outbreak is "over its peak" around the world, including in the hardest-hit country China, a World Health Organization official said Thursday. A renewed outbreak in Toronto shows, however, that the world must still remain vigilant against the illness, said Henk Bekedam, the WHO representative in China...

VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia -- A female suicide attacker detonated a bomb Thursday near a bus carrying soldiers and civilians to work at a military airfield near Chechnya, killing at least 16 people. It was the third suicide attack in the Russian Caucasus in less than a month...

CHESTER, Ill. -- A Randolph County judge has ruled longtime mental patient and criminal defendant Rodney Yoder has not been denied a speedy trial, even though the crimes he's accused of occurred three years ago. Yoder, 44, had been held in the Chester Mental Health Center, a state mental hospital, since 1991 after a contentious stint in jail for hitting his ex-wife...

PALMYRA, Mo. -- A northeast Missouri woman and her son were killed Thursday when their car was hit by a tractor trailer and ran off U.S. 61 near Palmyra, authorities said. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said Carol Nunemacher, 55, and her 16-year-old son, Wolfgang Nunemacher, who was driving the car, were pronounced dead at the scene...

In a story in Thursday's edition, Chasity Pehm's first name was misspelled. The Southeast Missourian regrets the error.

Cape Girardeau Friday June 6 Firefighters responded to the following items Wednesday: At 6:05 p.m., a medical assist at 913 Ranney Ave. At 7:58 p.m., a carbon monoxide assist at 2719 Stephen Drive. Firefighters responded to the following items Thursday: At 3:16 a.m., an alarm sounding at 3039 William St...

Cape Girardeau Friday, June 6 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI Gwen L. Wood, 27, of 10033 County Road 607, Dexter, Mo., was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated and failure to drive in a single lane...

When Gov. Bob Holden vetoed two-thirds of the Missouri budget last week, he hoped there would be enough pressure from special-interest groups to force state legislators to find ways to increase spending beyond that contained in bills approved in the regular legislative session. The governor would like to see some taxes increased, including some that would require a statewide vote later this year, well after the new budget takes effect July 1...

Fields Daughter to Dr. Ken and Marla Fields of Hamilton, Mont., Community Medical Center in Missoula, Mont., 8 a.m. Tuesday, May 6, 2003. Name, Katelyn Marie. Weight, 8 pounds. Second daughter. Mrs. Fields is the daughter of James and Carol Craft of Jackson. Fields is the son of James and Sandy Fields of Evansville, Ind., and Joe and Karen Kitchen of Atlanta, Ga. He is employed at Rocky Mountain Lab...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The opening sounds like a line from a dirty joke: "A farmer and a teacher, a hooker and a preacher." But the one laughing is Randy Travis, who has his first No. 1 country hit in nine years singing those lyrics in the gospel song, "Three Wooden Crosses."...

The names Vicki L. Outman and Herb Wickham are well known in Southeast Missouri art circles, so it is not surprising that Outman's "Lake Boutin" won a Best of Show award and Wickham's "Bollinger Mill in Snow" a Juror's Award in the new exhibit opening today at the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri...

'In the Pursuit of Leisure'Far from reflecting the fun produced by a night of club-hopping, "Mr. Bartender (It's So Easy)" the first single from Sugar Ray's "In the Pursuit of Leisure," is about as much fun as a hangover. That goes double for "Bring Me the Head Of ... ," the spoken-word intro preceding it...

Rendezvous at Fort de Chartres this weekend PRAIRIE DU ROCHER, Ill. -- The Midwest's largest gathering of 1700s-era re-enactors will be at the 33rd annual Rendezvous at Fort de Chartres Saturday and Sunday. The rendezvous features military units, traditional craft demonstrations, period music and dancing, an 18th century fashion show, black powder shooting events, cannon firings and more. Everything is free and open to the public. The public can participate in some activities...

For the last six months I have been watching the building of the new O'Charley's in Cape on my way to work. Wondering first what it was, then who O'Charley was and whether I would like O'Charley. Well, the last is not at issue. I like all new shiny things, like toys, boys and coins. Ooh, is that a quarter on the ground? Get out of my way, Fabio...

"Wrong Turn" suffers a fate similar to that of many other horror and supernatural thrillers released in the last decade: It leaves you with the feeling that you're watching an episode of "The X-Files," only Mulder and Scully never show up. In this case, the feeling is especially strong, as the movie closely recalls an episode called "Home," featuring the inbred Peacock brothers. ...

10 years ago: June 6, 1993 Members of St. Mary's Cathedral Parish celebrate church's 125th homecoming with Mass at Deerfield; festivities continue with picnic lunch, games and lots of visiting with family and friends; parish was founded in 1868. Ralph Ford, chairman of Cape Girardeau County Republican Central Committee for past two-and-one-half years, has resigned his position; retired Cape Girardeau school teacher, who operates 200-acre farm north of Jackson, made semi-surprise announcement Friday at meeting of committee.. ...

ANNA, Ill. -- Geraldine "Jerry" Egan, 85, of Lombard, Ill., died Monday, June 2, 2003, at the home of a daughter. She was born Feb. 8, 1918, in Joliet, Ill., daughter of Edward William and Jenny Helen Morello Peters. She married James K. Egan. Survivors include a son, Terence Egan of Plano, Texas; a daughter, Jeanine Weilmuenster of Anna; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren...

Verna Dell Petzoldt, 68, of Oak Ridge died Wednesday, June 4, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Aug. 22, 1934, in Oak Ridge, daughter of Lynn and Artie Barks Roberts. She and Royal Petzoldt were married April 8, 1967...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Fannie Mae Lane Simmons, 99, of Sikeston died Wednesday, June 4, 2003, at Miner Nursing Center. She was born Sept. 3, 1903, in Martin, Tenn., daughter of Lorenza Dow and Martha Jane Lane Davis. She first married Buford "Shorty" Lane, and then Connie Simmons...

Ann Mary Watts, 79, of St. Louis died Wednesday, June 4, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Aug. 16, 1923, in Collinsville, Ill., daughter of Azelio and Maria Petucci Ferrari. She and Lester Leonard Watts were married Dec. 25, 1958. He died in April 1961...

Preferred seating I WANT to commend Central Junior High School for an excellent performance of "Little Mermaid." I've seen this many times in productions here in Cape Girardeau. We go to a lot of events at the junior high and the high school. Once again, all of the seats up the middle were reserved. ...

To the editor: In your May 31 issue, the following statement was made: "The mayor said he and the council were instrumental in sacking fire chief Michael Lackman, Convention and Visitors Bureau director Terri Clark-Bauer and city inspections director Tarryl Booker last year." I never used the word "sacked." This paraphrased quote attributed to me does not reflect the true meaning of my statement. ...

To the editor: It seems that instead of calling our elected officials "representatives" or "senators," we should just call them "politicians." How can we call people who throw away our tax dollars so thoughtlessly our federal representatives? They represent themselves. What has been allowed is certainly bad enough, but to allow a $21 billion increase in pork is an unconscionable act...

To the editor: I urge our federal legislators to enact a Medicare drug benefit this year. Average Americans are confronted with serious problems affording the medications their doctors prescribe. Prescription-drug affordability used to be viewed as a low-income problem, but today it's hurting those of all incomes. ...

Many of the gadgets of modern technology wind up in cluttered closets, bulging basements or overflowing garages. But gadgets that affect the way we watch TV -- which occupies our time more than just about anything else -- find wide acceptance and a ready market...

Standard Democrat BENTON, Mo. -- A Sikeston, Mo., woman will face trial on second degree murder charges following her appearance before Associate Circuit Court Judge David Mann at her preliminary hearing Wednesday. Stephanie Miles, 28, is charged with the stabbing death of her estranged boyfriend, Sherman Baker, 34, also of Sikeston, during an altercation at 1:30 a.m. April 18 at 249 W. Kathleen. Her arraignment is set for June 26 in Division I of Scott County Circuit Court...

WASHINGTON -- Attorney General John Ashcroft urged Congress on Thursday to expand the new anti-terror law to permit the government to hold more suspects indefinitely and extend the death penalty to more people accused of terrorist crimes. He also said the current anti-terror law, which critics say is cramping citizens' legitimate rights, needs to be expanded to let prosecutors bring charges against anyone who helps or works with suspected terrorist groups as "material supporters."...

WASHINGTON -- Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge acknowledged frustration with the nation's color-coded terror alert system Thursday and said he wants a system of specific alerts when intelligence warrants it. Ridge said he believes the national alert system provides vital information to law enforcement, businesses and the public about the seriousness of intelligence gathered on terrorists. ...

Several Illinois congressmen are expected to visit Wrigley Field today to honor Sammy Sosa, even though the star is facing suspension over playing with a juiced bat. The U.S. House voted 372-0 Monday to congratulate the Chicago Cubs star on his 500th home run and praise him as a role model. Today's ceremony is to present him with a copy of the House resolution. A day after the House vote, Sosa was found to be hitting with a corked bat...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A teenage boy who ran over and killed a woman after she confronted him for hot-rodding on a city street has been sentenced to five years in prison. Frederico Cantu, 17, pleaded guilty in March to involuntary manslaughter and fleeing the scene of a June accident in the death of Bee Etta Harkins, 49. ...

WEBB CITY, Mo. -- Members of a southwest Missouri family who believed they were living in the country recently discovered they are city dwellers due to a 33-year delay in filing annexation papers. Randy and Jodi Heuertz wanted their three children to grow up in a rural area, where they could play and not have to worry about neighbors. ...

RIJEKA, Croatia -- Despite advancing age and ailments, a determined Pope John Paul II began his landmark 100th pilgrimage on Thursday -- a grueling five-day, five-city tour of this ex-Yugoslav republic still struggling with the legacy of war. Blinking in the afternoon sun, the 83-year-old pontiff was helped by aides into a chair atop a cart, and then was wheeled along a red carpet during the welcoming ceremonies...

UNITED NATIONS -- Chief U.N. inspector Hans Blix warned Thursday against jumping to the conclusion that Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction just because there is a long list of outstanding questions about its weapons program. Saddam Hussein's regime may have hidden weapons, but it also may have destroyed them, and now that the Iraqi dictator has been ousted "it should be possible to establish the truth we all want to know," he told the U.N. Security Council...

CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar -- President Bush insisted anew on Thursday that war to rid Iraq of destructive weapons was justified, and he said the truth about Saddam Hussein's ability to create and use deadly germs and bombs would come in time. "We're on the look. We'll reveal the truth," Bush said in a speech to 1,000 cheering troops as he wound up a seven-day tour of Europe and the Middle East. He flew back to Washington along a path that took him over Baghdad...

LITHONIA, Ga. -- In the nearly two years since a federal appeals court barred the University of Georgia from using affirmative action, the school has stepped up its efforts to reach top black students. It has put recruiters in offices in mostly black Atlanta and in southern Georgia. ...

NEW YORK -- Prosecutors tucked a highly unusual twist into their indictment of Martha Stewart -- a charge that she committed a crime simply by declaring her own innocence. Prosecutors say the domestic guru committed securities fraud -- that is, she deliberately tried to inflate the stock of her own company -- when she stood up in public last summer and denied engaging in insider trading...

Southeast Missourian Larry Hull sits just seven points out of the lead in the modifieds season points chase at Malden Speedway. It's a fact that the racer from Old Appleton isn't following, at least not this early in a season still weeks away from the halfway point...

Deer hunters will benefit from changes, MDC says Missouri deer hunters will have more days of hunting and may have to spend less on permits when the season begins in the fall. The Missouri Department of Conservation has approved 2003 deer hunting regulations that increase the length of the firearms deer seasons by eight days. ...

Briefly Baseball The Royals took just two days to lock up their two first-round picks, signing outfielder Chris Lubanski and catcher Mitch Maier Thursday. Both are lefthanded hitters. Terms were not disclosed...

In this business, it's hard to be a celebrity. Most newspaper folks are born, get a job, work a long time, move around a little bit to improve their paychecks, retire, never write the Great American Novel and die, pretty much in that order. I'm not trying to be glum. It's just that a handful of journalists have been much in the news lately, and one of the cardinal rules of journalists is to report the news but avoid, at all costs, being the news...

Clarity on the state budget is elusive. Democratic Gov. Bob Holden vetoed four of the state's budget bills passed by the GOP-controlled legislature and called for a special session. Republican leaders in the House and Senate say the budget they advanced to the governor is only $12 short of balancing. Holden says not true -- revenues will be $367 million short, resulting in unconscionable cuts to education and to health and human services...

At a special session that started this week, Missouri lawmakers should quickly restore money to serve the state's neediest citizens, then place several tax increases before voters this fall. Missourians deserve the opportunity to adequately finance critical state services such as educating children and taking care of the less fortunate...

X-rays, scans on Hall of Fame bats are negative; slugger awaits word on suspension. By Nancy Armour ~ The Associated Press CHICAGO -- The bats have been checked and the interviews done. Now all Sammy Sosa can do is wait to see what his punishment will be for using a corked bat...

Oran outhits Sparta 11-3 in Class 1 championship game but falls 5-2. By Rus Baer ~ Southeast Missourian COLUMBIA, Mo. -- It's been well documented what Oran senior Ryne Wood thinks about third place. Simply -- and definitely more delicately -- put, he doesn't care much for it...

WASHINGTON -- The Senate voted Thursday to give some low-income families a check worth up to $400 for each of their children, as Republicans buckled under demands from Democrats to make more low-wage workers eligible for an increased child tax credit...

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Three unconventional goals in a totally out-of-character game put the New Jersey Devils in a familiar position -- up 3-2 in the Stanley Cup finals. Brian Gionta scored a goal and set up Jay Pandolfo for the go-ahead score -- neither of which went off the Devils' sticks -- in a decisive second period as New Jersey beat the Anaheim Mighty Ducks 6-3 in Game 5 Thursday night...

Williams takes no-hitter into eighth inning of Cardinals' 13-5 victory. By R.B. Fallstrom ~ The Associated Press ST. LOUIS -- Woody Williams held Toronto hitless until Orlando Hudson singled with one out in the eighth inning and the St. Louis Cardinals romped 13-5 Thursday night in a game the Blue Jays played under protest...

WASHINGTON -- In a historic move after a half-century, the United States will pull its ground troops away from the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea and consolidate them at bases well to the south. The realignment, announced in a joint U.S.-South Korean statement Thursday, has been in the works for months. It reflects Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's push to break a Cold War mold of assumptions about the usefulness of having troops along the tense DMZ...

Due to the special session of the Missouri Legislature called by Gov. Bob Holden, this month's First Friday Coffee program has been changed. Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder and state Rep. Jason Crowell cannot present the original program as scheduled...

TORONTO -- Canadian health authorities are investigating whether a medical resident who worked in a Toronto hospital maternity ward has SARS, an official said Friday in a setback to the city's efforts to control a second outbreak of the disease. Globally, only a dribble of new SARS cases were reported Friday in the hardest-hit areas -- China, Taiwan and Hong Kong -- during a worldwide trend of remission. ...

Like a lot of athletes, bull riders say they want to take on the best. Before the East Perry County Rodeo concludes today in Altenburg, Mo., cowboys from across the country will get their crack at some of the top stock the region has to offer. "There will definitely be some stock there that have lots of athletic bucking ability," stock contractor Mark Johnson said, whose Johnson Rodeo Company out of Jonesboro, Ark., provides the stock for the Perry County Community Rodeo...

Slugger's three-run double rallies St. Louis to 8-6 win over Orioles. By R.B. Fallstrom ~ The Associated Press ST. LOUIS -- Albert Pujols capped a four-hit game with a three-run double in the eighth inning as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-6 Friday night, extending their winning streak to five games...

Trinity Lutheran Church began with just a handful of members almost 150 years ago. This weekend, 800 people are expected to gather for an anniversary celebration and worship service. The celebration service Sunday afternoon is the kickoff event in honor of the church's 150th anniversary. It begins at 1:30 p.m. at the A.C. Brase Arena Building and will replace the other worship services that are usually held during the weekend at the church...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- After a contentious first week of a special legislative session on the budget, there was at least some encouraging fiscal news out of the Capitol -- the cost of having lawmakers back at work was less than expected. The House and Senate spent a combined $59,796.08 during the session called by Democratic Gov. Bob Holden to reconsider the state budget...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- After a three-month absence, the U.N. nuclear agency came to postwar Iraq on Friday to assess the nation's biggest nuclear plant -- abandoned, looted and left in alarming disarray. Representatives from the International Atomic Energy Agency -- operating this time under continuous U.S. military escort -- will try to figure out exactly what's missing from the Tuwaitha nuclear facility and how to find it...

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon's intelligence agency had no hard evidence of Iraqi chemical weapons last fall but believed Iraq had a program in place to produce them, the agency's chief said Friday. The assessment suggests a higher degree of uncertainty about the immediacy of an Iraqi threat -- at least with regard to one portion of its banned weapons programs -- than the Bush administration indicated publicly in building its case for disarming Iraq, with force if necessary...

MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin health officials ordered a ban Friday on the sale, importation and display of prairie dogs after a dozen people were sickened from exposure to the animals. Health officials said all 12 people in Wisconsin had recovered or were getting better, although three remained in a suburban Milwaukee hospital Friday in satisfactory condition. Two other people were sickened in Illinois...

As levels of normalcy begin to return to Jackson, one month after a tornado smashed the city, homeowners have felt varying degrees of insurance company cooperation as they try to recover. Ed and Sue Walker already have spent nearly $2,000 to repair tornado damage that will not be reimbursed by the insurance company...

SAN ANTONIO -- A chunk of foam fired at high speed cracked a space shuttle wing panel Friday, offering what investigators said was the most powerful evidence yet to support the theory that a piece of the stiff, lightweight insulation doomed Columbia...

One of Jackson's busiest intersections will be shut down soon as construction workers begin improvements designed to improve traffic flow. Work on Shawnee Boulevard from Old Cape Road to East Jackson Boulevard will begin June 16 and will be closed until July 3. At that time, the road should be reopened, but the city is allowing Kluesner Concreters of Scott City up to 21 calendar days for the closure of the street...

The gymnasium at Alma Schrader Elementary was packed wall to wall with screaming, jumping kids and smiling parents, while the aroma of hot dogs filled the air at Blanchard Elementary during each school's annual play day Friday. Instead of their usual classroom routine, students spent their second-to-last day of school having fun and playing games...

NEW YORK -- Thom Yorke has never been known as the chattiest of rock stars, which he proved yet again during Radiohead's concert for MTV2. Among the lead singer's brief comments, all of which drew screams from the sold-out Beacon Theatre crowd Thursday night: "Good evening," "Hello" and "Thanks a lot." Even when he took a sip of water, then hoisted the plastic bottle in the air, it sparked shrieks from the adoring fans...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A Florida judge ruled Friday that a Muslim woman cannot wear a veil in her driver's license photo, agreeing with state authorities that the practice could help terrorists conceal their identities. After hearing three days of testimony last week, Circuit Judge Janet C. Thorpe ruled that Sultaana Freeman's right to free exercise of religion would not be infringed by having to show her face on her license...

HILLSBORO, Mo. -- A St. Louis-area woman has been cleared in a 1997 slaying after an investigator admitted to jurors he perjured himself in testimony about how he obtained the woman's supposed videotaped confession. A Jefferson County jury on Thursday acquitted Sara Norton, 22, of Cedar Hill, of charges of first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the March 1997 shooting death of Dennis Corum, of Fenton...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Preservationists in Springfield are dismayed after someone stole part of the city's history. Thieves hit the downtown's Gillioz Theatre, long remembered by generations of Ozarkers for its elegance. A collection of the movie house's furniture, including fixtures from the grand opening in 1926, disappeared sometime over the Memorial Day weekend...

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- A Blue Springs man was sentenced Friday to six years in prison for causing a fatal crash while driving the wrong way on Interstate 70 last year. Fredrick J. Hertel, 30, must serve an additional five months for a drunken driving incident that occurred nine months later, after his license was revoked...

BURNHAM, Maine -- For Bob Burr, bigger is better when it comes to the lowly golf tee. Burr, the chief executive officer of Pride Golf Tee Co., has taken the small wooden spike to new heights -- literally. The company has cashed in on the popularity of oversized golf drivers by adding five-eighths of an inch to the standard tee. Sales have grown sixfold in the past two years as they have become a staple among a growing legion of golfers, including some on the PGA Tour...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, June 7 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests William L. Harlow, 46, of P.O. Box 743, Sikeston, Mo., was arrested Thursday on suspicion of sexual misconduct...

Cape Girardeau County Saturday, June 7 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Ronald E. Wiggins, 19, of Pocahontas, Mo., was arrested May 30, on a Cape Girardeau County warrant for stealing...

Mormon church reaches 25th anniversary of allowing blacks into the faith's priesthood By Debbie Hummel ~ The Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY -- Mormon church leaders describe it as a shared, simultaneous revelation from God...

Cape Girardeau Sr. Babe Ruth sweeps twinbill The Cape Girardeau Sr. Babe Ruth A's swept a doubleheader from Jackson Thursday night at Capaha Field. The A's (6-0) won an error-filled opener 3-1 behind a strong pitching performance by Tim Davis. Davis pitched a complete game, allowing only one hit. Davis struck out nine and walked only two. The A's managed only two hits themselves in the opener...

Walters Son to Bradley Shane and Joni Ellen Walters of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 8:49 a.m. Monday, June 2, 2003. Name, Brayden Shane. Weight, 6 pounds. Mrs. Walters is the former Joni Boyer, daughter of Butch and Janet Boyer of Jackson. Walters is the son of Don and Loretta Walters of Dexter, Mo. He is a pharmaceutical sales specialist with AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals...

10 years ago: June 7, 1993 Preparations are under way for Riverfest '93, which will begin its annual run Friday and end Saturday at 11 p.m. in downtown Cape Girardeau; this year's celebration will salute 200 years on Mississippi River with activities ranging from bicentennial parade to recreation of 1840s fur trading post...

Norman Collyott, 72, of Jackson, died Friday, June 6, 2003, at his home. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. today at McComb's Funeral Home in Jackson. The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home. Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Benjamin Welborn, 83, of Sikeston died Thursday, June 5, 2003, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. He was born March 12, 1920, in Double Springs, Ala., son of William Jackson and Flora Jane Curtis Welborn. He and Martha Sue Spraggs were married Oct. 30, 1947, in Sikeston...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Richard L. "Dick" Conroy, 62, of Mokena, Ill., died Thursday, June 5, 2003, at St. Francis Hospital in Blue Island, Ill. He was born Nov. 4, 1940, in Cairo, son of Lawrence J. and Margaret Grindler Conroy. Conroy retired as sales manager and purchasing agent with Jernberg Forging Co. in Chicago. He was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Mokena, Knights of Columbus Council 1027 and Elks Lodge 651, both in Cairo...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- James Lloyd Moore, 64, of Advance died Friday, June 6, 2003, at his home. He was born Dec. 9, 1938, in Advance, son of Jacob and Nettie Turner Moore. Moore was a retired farmer, and member of Father's Arms Fellowship in Scott City. Survivors include two daughters, Terri Hazel of Advance, Jerri Moore of Scott City; two sisters, Mildred Garner and Emma Moore of Advance; and three grandsons...

THEBES, Ill. -- Larry Wehmeyer, 51, of Thebes died Friday, June 6, 2003, in Cape Girardeau. Crain Funeral Home at Tamms is in charge of arrangements.

TAMMS, Ill. -- Delmar Honey of Rockford, Ill., formerly of Tamms, died Thursday, June 5, 2003, at Rockford Memorial Hospital. Crain Funeral Home in Tamms is in charge of arrangements.

FROHNA, Mo. -- Gladys M. Hughes, 78, of Frohna died Thursday, June 5, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born May 27, 1925, at Wittenberg, Mo., daughter of Paul and Louise Hellwege. Hughes retired from International Shoe Co. She was a member of Concordia Lutheran Church...

Elinore Pauline Murray, 65, of Greencastle, Ind., died Thursday, June 5, 2003, at her home. She was born March 6, 1938, in Petersburg, Pa., daughter of Russell I. and Kathleen R. Steele Walker. She and Lynn C. Murray were married Aug. 15, 1964. Mrs. Murray was a graduate of Brazil, Ind., High School. She had worked at Eitel's Flowers, P.R. Mallory's, and in the clerk's, treasurer's and microfilm departments at Putnam County Courthouse. She was a member of the Lutheran Church...

UNIONTOWN, Mo. -- Leo J. "Dutch" Hoeh Sr., 86, of Uniontown died Thursday, June 5, 2003, at Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born July 8, 1916, at Uniontown, son of Joseph W. and Pauline A. Pfisterer Hoeh. He and LaWana M. Fenwick were married Oct. 3, 1942, in St. Louis...

No raise needed TAKING OVER the city manager's job until a replacement is found does not require a $5,000 pay raise. What is it going to cost Cape Girardeau to get a new city manager when one of his many assistants now makes $78,000 a year? This is a big mistake...

To the editor: A summary of a Newsweek-Princeton Survey finds that 46 percent of Americans believe human life begins at fertilization, and 12 percent believe life begins when the embryo implants in the womb. Eighty-four percent believe homicide charges should be brought on behalf of a fetus killed in the womb, 28 percent would bring charges of homicide once the fetus is able to breath on its own outside of the womb, and only 9 percent believe that charges should never be allowed...

To the editor: Iona Cemetery, a small, well-loved cemetery off Route V between Cape Girardeau and Jackson, received considerable damage as a result of the May 6 tornado. There were many old cedar trees sprinkled throughout the cemetery that were blown down. Many grave markers were either broken, knocked off their foundation, displace or scattered throughout the cemetery. Some may even be missing...

"What is your dad like?" I asked myself that question when I realized Father's Day was fast approaching, and considered the many varieties of dads. Some are sportsman, collect antique cars and others are musical or studious. Dads can be family men whose primary joy is derived from spending time with their families...

Today Ladies Breakaway session from 10 a.m. to noon at First Assembly of God church in Scott City. Susan Warnke will speak. Contact Pastor Randy Morse at 264-2365 for information. Gospel singing featuring the New Creations at 5 p.m. at Whitewater Methodist Church in Whitewater. There is no admission charge...