Stories from Saturday, July 26, 2003

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Nearly 2,300 Missourians received letters from the state in the past year asking them to prove they were still able to drive safely, in response to a program that allows people to file confidential complaints about drivers. About one-third of the targeted drivers failed physical examinations or driving tests and had their licenses revoked, according to figures provided by the state Department of Revenue. Some others had their driving privileges limited in some fashion...

RANCHOS DE TAOS, N.M. -- A man with a pair of guns pumped 19 shots into a car at a gas station, killing three people, authorities said Friday. Jason Perea, 25, fled in his pickup after the shootings Thursday night and was captured near Espanola, about 35 miles away, District Attorney Donald Gallegos said...

PHOENIX -- It's so hot windshields are shattering or falling out, dogs are burning their paws on the pavement, and candles are melting indoors. People who live in the Valley of the Sun don't usually sweat the summer heat. But this July is off the charts...

NEW YORK -- This should be a great time for the book world. "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" has set sales records. Hillary Clinton's memoirs, "Living History," has sold more than 1 million copies. Other recent successes include Oprah Winfrey's book club pick, "East of Eden," and Walter Isaacson's "Benjamin Franklin."...

ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia -- A Russian colonel was convicted Friday of kidnapping and murdering an 18-year-old Chechen woman and sentenced to 10 years in a maximum-security prison. Col. Yuri Budanov, the first Russian officer to be prosecuted for a crime against a civilian in Chechnya, admitted strangling Heda Kungayeva, saying he did it in a fit of rage during an interrogation...

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Newly elected President Nestor Kirchner overturned a decree Friday that prevented former military officers accused of abuses during the 1976-1983 dictatorship from facing human rights trials abroad. The president's order came a day after a federal judge ordered the detention of 45 former officers and one civilian sought by Spain on charges of torture, murder and other crimes during the dictatorship's "dirty war" against suspected dissidents...

KUFA, Iraq -- A Shiite Muslim cleric whose radical movement was left out of the Governing Council set up by the United States to run Iraq vowed Friday to rally his young followers and form a religious army to drive American troops from Najaf -- the country's holiest Shiite city...

NAIROBI, Kenya -- Nighttime killings, rapes and abductions have gripped the capital of a volatile region in northeastern Congo despite the deployment of a French-led emergency force in the town, an international aid group said Friday. The military force began arriving in Bunia on June 6 to stem fighting between rival tribal factions that killed hundreds of people...

MONROVIA, Liberia -- The bloodiest barrage in days sent shells crashing into the U.S. Embassy grounds and a school packed with refugees in the rebel-besieged capital Friday -- leaving people wondering why a long-awaited U.S. peace deployment was coming only after so high a toll...

JERUSALEM -- Israel announced on Friday it would transfer two more West Bank cities to Palestinian control and shut down three major roadblocks, moving ahead cautiously with a U.S.-backed peace plan as the Palestinian premier met with President Bush in Washington...

TOKYO -- Lawmakers voted Friday to send Japanese forces to Iraq to help with reconstruction, despite delaying tactics by the opposition that deteriorated into a wild shoving match. The passage of the bill was a victory for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who campaigned hard to send peacekeeping troops overseas as he seeks to raise Japan's profile on the world stage...

LONDON -- Tony Blair's powerful communications chief Alastair Campbell has long been a lightning rod for criticism that the prime minister's government puts image over substance. Now, a furious debate over prewar claims about Iraqi weapons and the suicide of a Ministry of Defense scientist are fueling rumors that Campbell -- one of Blair's oldest and most important allies -- may soon resign...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Their faces covered in morticians' makeup, patches of hair sprouting from their scalps, two bodies were displayed to journalists Friday in a further attempt by American occupation authorities to convince skeptical Iraqis that Saddam Hussein's sons Odai and Qusai are really dead...

KINSHASA, Congo -- Congo's transitional power-sharing government met for the first time Friday, heightening hopes for the end of nearly five years of war in the vast central African country. President Joseph Kabila presided over the meeting that was attended by the four vice presidents named in December: the leaders of the two main rebel groups; an ally of Kabila's; and a member of the country's unarmed political opposition...

Man gets 15 years for shooting at Cape police FARMINGTON, Mo. -- A 22-year-old South Carolina man pleaded guilty Friday in a St. Francois County courtroom to breaking into a mobile home and keeping Cape Girardeau police at bay during a 7 1/2-hour shootout on May 13, 2002...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A Butler County woman may be the first Missourian in at least 40 years to have contracted a rare virus transmitted by mosquitoes, the state Department of Health said Friday. The department said the 54-year-old woman, who was not identified, has a suspected case of eastern equine encephalitis, a virus that is sometimes found in wild birds and is occasionally transmitted from them to humans by the bite of infected mosquitoes...

ST. LOUIS -- One of four former Charter Communications executives accused of conspiring to defraud investors pleaded guilty Friday and is cooperating in the case against the other three men, authorities said. Former senior vice president David McCall, 48, was among those charged Thursday in what prosecutors called schemes to boost revenue, cash flow and subscriber numbers to meet the nation's third-biggest cable television company's financial projections...

LOS ANGELES -- Oscar-winning director John Schlesinger, who daringly brought gay characters into mainstream cinema with "Midnight Cowboy" and tapped into nightmares with the teeth-drilling torture of "Marathon Man," died Friday at 77. The filmmaker had a stroke in 2000, and his condition had deteriorated significantly in recent weeks...

Several of Cape Giardeau's Gator Swim team's future stars, along with a few present ones, will be in competition this weekend when the area swim team puts a close to another summer. While a few Gator USA Swimmers are competing in Oklahoma this weekend after coming off a successful trip to Carbondale, Ill., for their first of two long course championship meets, much of the rest of the team is gearing up for the Southeast Missouri Swim Conference Summer League Championships in Jackson today...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Cape Girardeau Ford and Sons American Legion baseball team put an exclamation point on its first district title since 1995. Ford and Sons, the top seed in the six-team District 14 tournament, wrapped up the championship Friday by routing second-seed Dunklin County 13-0 in seven innings due to the mercy rule...

Despite solid House approval, the idea of letting Americans buy prescription drugs from foreign suppliers at a fraction of the U.S. cost still faces a formidable hurdle in the Senate. Key senators in both parties argue that the safety risks may be too great...

A former bookkeeper will spend the next eight years in prison for stealing more than $97,000 belonging to Cape Girardeau and Jackson school children. Boone County Circuit Court Judge Ellen Roper sentenced Robin Michelle Whitson, 39, of Cape Girardeau to two consecutive four-year terms in prison...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Sunday is the 50th anniversary of the signing of the truce at Panmunjon that ended open hostilities between North and South Korea. The so-called "forgotten war" was a major turning point in American military policy, said Dr. Frank Nickell, a Southeast Missouri State University history professor who teaches a class on the Korean War...

Former state senator Danny Staples of Eminence, Mo., died of a heart attack last week at the age of 68, just seven months after completing 20 years in the Missouri Senate. He was term-limited out. He had been in apparent good health. I know he missed serving in the Senate where his camaraderie was rare...

NEW YORK -- Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols was suspended for two games and fined by major league baseball for fighting after being hit by a pitch against San Diego. Padres catcher Gary Bennett and manager Bruce Bochy were fined for their roles in the bench clearings during the Cardinals' 3-1 victory July 13...

LONG POND, Pa. -- Ryan Newman left no doubt about who has the car to catch at Pocono Raceway when he backed up the fastest practice speed with his fifth pole of the season in qualifying Friday. Newman hustled his Dodge around the 2 1/2-mile triangular track at 170.358 mph to claim the top starting spot for Sunday's Pennsylvania 500. He continued to demonstrate his liking for the track, where he qualified second seven weeks ago before finishing fifth in the Pocono 500...

ST. LOUIS -- Reggie Sanders and Brian Giles homered and the Pittsburgh Pirates scored six runs in the eighth inning of a 10-5 victory Friday night. Jose Hernandez had three hits, including a leadoff double in the eighth, as the Pirates capitalized on a variety of physical and mental mistakes by the Cardinals...

MACOMB, Ill. -- Rams rookie offensive guard Scott Tercero, the team's sixth-round pick, will be sidelined an estimated six weeks because of a knee injury. Tercero, injured in the first of two workouts Friday, will undergo surgery Saturday. Tercero first hurt his knee lifting weights last week, and tore cartilage when he slipped and fell during a non-contact drill...

MACOMB, Ill. -- Marshall Faulk's NFL-record string of four straight 2,000-yard seasons rushing and receiving is history. So is his run of five straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons. But the Rams' running back, entering his 10th season in the league at 30, is making no concessions to age...

CROMWELL, Conn. -- Suzy Whaley's ever-present smile faded just slightly as she finished the second round at the Greater Hartford Open. Not because she was disappointed in her score, but because she knew her whirlwind week on the PGA Tour was over. "I wish I could explain to you how it feels to have that many people cheering for you all day long, for two days straight. ...

EAGLE, Colo. -- News cameras will be allowed inside the courtroom at Kobe Bryant's hearing on a sexual assault charge on Aug. 6, a judge ruled Friday. A live audio feed will also be permitted, Eagle County Court Judge Fred Gannett said. He placed no restrictions on what the cameras could record...

SAINT-MAIXENT-L'ECOLE, France -- Two champions, two bikes, 2,000 miles of mountains, plains, crashes and hard racing. And it all comes down to this: 30 miles in a race against the clock. By the end of that speedy stretch today, Lance Armstrong should know whether he's beaten rival Jan Ullrich for a record-tying fifth straight Tour de France victory -- and his closest yet...

After growing up in a Native American household, B.J. Smith says he's fully aware of the debate over schools with Indian nicknames. And even though Smith, Southeast Missouri State University women's basketball coach, wouldn't say he's offended by his school's mascot, he said dropping the Indian and Otahkian nicknames -- the recommendation made by Southeast's National Alumni Council -- could have advantages...

DALLAS -- Oklahoma is the preseason pick to win the Big 12 South Division while Kansas State is the choice to win the North in a media poll released by the conference Friday. Texas is picked to finish second behind OU in the South, followed by Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Baylor...

WACO, Texas -- Baylor chose a panel Friday to investigate whether coaches made illegal payments to Patrick Dennehy, the basketball player who disappeared last month and is presumed dead. The committee, composed of three Baylor Law School professors, hired former Austin Mayor Kirk Watson as an outside counsel to help determine if NCAA rules were broken...

Jackson eliminated from junior Legion tournament After winning an elimination game Friday morning, Jackson's junior American Legion team was eliminated Friday night in a 6-1 loss to Ballwin in the Junior Legion State baseball tournament at Jackson...

WASHINGTON -- A federal judge delayed a ruling that would have fined the Army Corps of Engineers $500,000 each day it refuses a court order to lower the water levels on the Missouri River. U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson in Minnesota issued a two-week stay of another federal judge's contempt order, which required the corps to drop Missouri River water levels or pay fines beginning Friday. The corps said Friday it would maintain current river levels...

WASHINGTON -- The economy is showing fresh signs of snapping out of its funk: Orders to factories for big-ticket goods registered the biggest increase since the beginning of the year and new-home sales climbed to the highest level on record. The latest batch of economic news Friday reinforced hopes that a much anticipated revival will take hold in the second half of this year...

WASHINGTON -- Children who are healthy but abnormally short will be able to have injections of growth hormone in hopes of gaining 1 to 3 more inches of height, the Food and Drug Administration said Friday, deciding an emotionally charged issue. The drug, called Humatrope, is not for normal children yearning for a few extra inches, the FDA cautioned. It's for the shortest 1.2 percent of children...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Olinda "Linda" Boehme, 85, of Perryville died Thursday, July 24, 2003, in Poplar Bluff, Mo. She was born July 9, 1918, in Perry County, daughter of Edwin and Elsie Oswald Fassold. She and Arnold E.L. Boehme were married June 13, 1937. He died July 26, 1987...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Guyla W. Moreland, 95, of Mounds died Friday, July 25, 2003, at Daystar Care Center in Cairo, Ill. She was born May 16, 1908, in Benton, Ky., daughter of Burnett E. and Annie West Wallis. She married Henry Moreland, who died in 1977...

ANNA, Ill. -- William A. Sharp, 83, of Anna, formerly of Dexter, Mo., died Thursday, July 24, 2003, at Advance Nursing Center in Advance, Mo. He was born Dec. 10, 1919, in Elco, Ill., son of William Arthur and Melinda Thompson Sharp. He and Edna Mae Warnhoff were married Sept. 8, 1948, in Jonesboro, Ill. She died June 7, 1989. He later married Edna Mae Davis Dec. 21, 1990, in Wickliffe, Ky...

10 years ago: July 26, 1993 McBride,Mo. -- Residents of tiny community of McBride, located about six miles north of Perryville, scrambled to remove what belongings they could from their homes yesterday afternoon in wake of early-morning levee breach about eight miles away...

Schwepker Daughter to Charles and Laura Schwepker Jr. of Lees Summit, Mo., St. Joseph Health Center in Kansas City, Mo., 12:25 p.m. Wednesday, July 9, 2003. Name, Lauren Nicole. Weight, 9 pounds 1 ounce. Third child, first daughter. Mrs. Schwepker is the former Laura Pirrone, daughter of Vince and Arlene Pirrone of Overland, Mo. Schwepker is the son of Charles and Mary Schwepker Sr. of Cape Girardeau. He is marketing professor at Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg...

TodayGreater Dimension Church of God will hold a women's luncheon from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. A special guest speaker and music is planned. Tickets are $10. For information, call 334-0616. Vacation Bible school from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Cape Church of Christ. A pizza lunch will be served. The theme is "How God reaches us." To register or for information, call 335-4619...

NEW ORLEANS -- Jurors worked through the day without reaching a decision Friday in a case claiming cigarette companies should be required to pay for medical monitoring for 1.5 million Louisiana smokers and for programs to help smokers quit. The jurors must answer 67 questions to determine the facts of the class-action lawsuit against Philip Morris, R.J. ...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A man accused of assaulting two children in discount stores in West Virginia and Kentucky allegedly told another person that he was "really in trouble" because he had used a knife in one attack, the FBI said in a criminal complaint...

FLAGLER BEACH, Fla. -- A 79-year-old disabled man lost control of his car and plowed into a northern Florida roadside farmer's market Friday, leaving three people with minor injuries, officials said. The man, a polio victim who uses a wheelchair when not driving, was leaving the weekly market when he rammed three other vehicles and some food stands around 10 a.m., Flagler Beach police Sgt. Todd Havener said. The town is about 75 miles south of Jacksonville...

TORONTO -- Government officials announced additional aid for Canada's beleaguered cattle industry Friday, responding to a mad cow disease scare that has led 35 countries to ban Canadian beef. Alberta beef producers will receive a total of $136 million, Ontario $12.5 million, and Saskatchewan $8.6 million, officials said...

LAHORE, Pakistan -- Police commandos stormed a maximum-security jail in eastern Pakistan where armed prisoners took visiting judges and female inmates hostage Friday. The five hostage-takers and three of the judges were killed, officials said. The commandos were called in after hostage-takers threatened to kill their captives six hours after seizing them, police official Malik Iqbal said...

JERUSALEM -- Israel issued a stern rebuke Friday to Romania after its president was quoted by a newspaper as saying the Holocaust was "not unique to the Jews." Israel summoned the Romanian ambassador to the Foreign Ministry, ministry spokesman David Saranga said. At the same time, Israel directed its ambassador in Bucharest to submit a strong protest to that government...

TOKYO -- A strong earthquake shook northern Japan early Saturday, but there were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries. A less powerful earthquake around midnight in the same area had reportedly injured at least 11 people. The 7:13 a.m. earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.2 shook Miyagi Prefecture, about 190 miles northeast of Tokyo, the Meteorological Agency said...

LONDON -- Actress Kate Winslet and her husband, director Sam Mendes, are expecting their first baby, his publicist confirmed Friday. Winslet, who has a 3-year-old daughter, Mia, from her previous marriage to Jim Threapleton, is due to give birth in January...

Not even a utility pole can stand in the way of progress on the Mount Auburn Road widening project. The contractor -- Lappe Cement Finishing of Perryville, Mo. -- simply paved around a utility pole that stands in the middle of a new right-turn lane for a Burger King restaurant rather than wait for it to be relocated...

SAN FRANCISCO -- The state Supreme Court declined Friday to halt the recall vote of Gov. Gray Davis, virtually assuring California its first such election targeting a governor. Davis and potential opponents geared up for a quick -- and likely dirty -- campaign...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Virginia Bumbarger, 91, of Memphis, Tenn., formerly of Sikeston, died Thursday, July 24, 2003, at Allen Morgan Health Center in Memphis. She was born April 21, 1912, in West Point, Miss., daughter of William Cary and Roberta Harseim Whitehead. She and Paul R. Bumbarger were married June 15, 1934, in West Point. He died June 11, 1999...

MCCLURE, Ill. -- Hazel Irene Gearing, 91, of McClure died Thursday, July 24, 2003, at the home of her daughter. She was born Nov. 26, 1911, at McClure, daughter of William Clinton and Flora Elizabeth Verble Burchyett. She and Henry Ray Gearing were married Sept. 6, 1930, in Jonesboro, Ill. He died March 30, 1987...

Evelyn Leona (nee Dalenberg) Rector, fortified with the sacraments of Holy Mother Church, Saturday, July 19, 2003; born Jan. 19, 1911, in Kalamazoo, Mich., to the late Peter C. and Ethel M. Dalenberg; loving wife of the late Rudolph Daily Rector whom she married June 24, 1933; beloved mother of Susan Kay (John F.) Evans, and the late Robert Lee Rector; dear grandmother of Dene' Drury and (Johnny Sissom), Shelly (Daniel) Henson, John R. ...

WASHINGTON -- After not a single Democrat voted for the House's Head Start plan, the Republican leading the Senate's preschool review reaffirmed he envisions a different approach. "I am committed to working with my colleagues in the Senate, on both sides of the aisle, to craft a bill that best serves the children," said Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, chairman of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions...

WASHINGTON -- The House approved a $90 billion measure for veterans, housing and other programs for next year on Friday after Republican leaders overcame complaints that the measure would shortchange veterans' health care. The chamber also voted 352-60 to approve a separate bill providing $984 million in immediate relief for victims of natural disasters. House members then left town, finished with their legislative work until September...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush said Friday that both sides must do more to advance the U.S.-backed Middle East peace plan: He criticized Israel for building a security fence and allowing new settlements and told visiting Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas that all terror activity must cease...

Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department Saturday, July 26 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWIs Christopher Brown, 20, of Jackson was arrested July 19 on suspicion of driving while intoxicated...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, July 26 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI Christopher M. Perigo, 29, of P.O. Box 35, McClure, Ill., was arrested Thursday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, July 26 Firefighters responded Thursday to the following items: At 5:23 p.m., illegal burn at 518 S. Ellis. At 6:20 p.m., emergency medical service at 329 Albert. At 8:37 p.m., illegal burn at 1222 Spanish. At 10:34 p.m, emergency medical service at 1424 N. Henderson...

While the controversy surrounding the sale of Louis J. Schultz School continues, the 89-year-old building will soon be on the market again. Litigation over a contract between a Jefferson City developer and the Cape Girardeau School District has continued for over a year now, but district officials are now looking for a real estate agent to put the building back on the market...

Nobody could have summed up the public perception of school administrators' salaries better than Central High School parent Rhonda Young, quoted in an article on the subject earlier this week. "People always want to blame something, and the top is where they start because those are the people in charge," she said...

For months, the sign touting the corner of Frederick and Independence streets as the future home of a new federal courthouse has piqued the interest of passers-by. Now the General Services Administration has released an artist's rendering of the new building. It's quite a showplace and will no doubt become a Cape Girardeau landmark...

The roiling sex abuse crisis of the past 19 months has gravely worsened already existing problems for the Roman Catholic Church in America, triggering urgent discussions about the future of the faith. Out of the tumult, four authors of varying stripes have arisen to proclaim in unison: Catholicism simply can't go on like this. Problem is, there's not much else they agree on, which underscores the church's plight...

DALLAS -- Roman Catholic parishioners in Dallas -- fed up with the fallout from the clerical sex abuse crisis -- have taken the rare step of starting a petition drive that urges their bishop to resign. The Committee of Concerned Catholics' effort to get Bishop Charles Grahmann to step down offers another example of how the 19-month national scandal has made American Catholics more willing to confront their spiritual leaders...

La Croix United Methodist Church recently named a new student ministries director for the congregation. Mike Fitzpatrick is a recent graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary. He began work at the church July 21. Gospel singing organized by Villa Ridge church...

To the editor: I am tired of hearing about Jessica Lynch being a hero. She is not a hero. She was a member of a unit that got lost and captured. They did not complete their assigned mission. Others were put at risk rescuing them. I have heard very little about the rest of her unit but a whole lot about Lynch...

Not on the menu I DON'T know what kind of Wild West saloons other Speak Out contributors like to eat in, but I try to avoid dining in restaurants that have a reputation for shoot-outs. Teaching is an art ON THE surface, it seems reassuring that the Cape Girardeau School District is going to employ the latest scientifically researched techniques to enhance learning in the classroom. ...

To the editor: I too would love to see I-66 go through Illinois. I traveled the old U.S. 66 many times before its demise in 1976. The historic highway carried a lot of people with hopes and dreams to many destinations. John Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath" portrays the trials and tribulations of what people went through while traveling the mother road, an affectionate name Steinbeck gave U.S. 66...

Frank Estes Osborn, 77, of Cape Girardeau passed away Thursday afternoon, July 24, 2003, at the Lutheran Home, following a brief illness. He was born March 11, 1926, in Centralia, Ill., son of Frank Stanton and Lela Mary Estes Osborn. He and Bernice Treloggen were married June 10, 1951, in Centralia...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri State Treasurer Nancy Farmer said Friday that she will challenge Republican incumbent Kit Bond in the 2004 Senate race, filling the Democratic Party's void for a strong candidate in the election. Farmer had met with Democratic leaders and potential contributors from across the nation before deciding to enter a race that at least two other statewide office holders had turned down...