Stories from Saturday, November 22, 2003

MIAMI -- The trade ministers from 34 nations smiled, shook hands and patted one another on the back after finishing their latest meeting on creating the world's largest free-trade area. But many see this week's congratulatory mood as unwarranted, arguing that the framework that the ministers approved Thursday was a major setback from the original goal set here nine years ago of tearing down all trade barriers from Alaska to Argentina...

ST. LOUIS -- A new study led by Washington University in St. Louis will research the mental-health impact of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on survivors who worked inside the World Trade Center. The university will get a $2.5 million grant for the study...

JOPLIN, Mo. -- Jasper County commissioners have decided against pursuing further action against former sheriff Bill Pierce. Pierce resigned in July amid an investigation by the Missouri Attorney General's office into the private business he operated at the jail in Carthage. He also was questioned about $2,000 in Jasper County Drug Task Force funds that were never put into the county treasury...

PULASKIFIELD, Mo. -- It was bad enough when the three dogs Valerie Yonker counted on to make her feel safe while her husband is deployed to Iraq were shot dead. Now she is being taunted in the middle of the night by youths making yelping and whimpering sounds as they drive past her 80-acre farm in the foothills of southwest Missouri...

WASHINGTON -- The National Academy of Sciences has concluded that a technique the FBI has used for decades to match bullets to crimes is flawed, a position that could hand defense lawyers a new avenue of attack against the world's most famous crime lab...

WASHINGTON -- Senate opponents blocked Congress from finishing its energy bill Friday, dealing a severe setback to President Bush's proposal to redirect the nation's energy agenda toward more production of oil, gas, coal and corn-based ethanol. Critics of the bill, both Democrats and Republicans, said it would provide too many favors to industry and hinder cleanup of water fouled by a gasoline additive...

WASHINGTON -- The government warned Friday of an increased risk of terrorist attacks on Americans at home and overseas and stressed concerns al-Qaida could try to hijack cargo jets and crash them into targets. Terrorist bombings overseas and an increased volume of threats against U.S. interests at home and abroad led the Homeland Security Department and FBI to issue the public warning and an advisory to law enforcement agencies, government officials and private-sector security personnel...

WASHINGTON -- In the prelude to a high-stakes vote, President Bush reached out from Air Force One on Friday and lobbied reluctant House Republicans to support sweeping Medicare prescription drug legislation. Bush made his calls on the trip home from a state visit to England as Republican leaders worked to hand him a legislative and political victory and Democrats dug in to defeat a bill they called a threat to the government's health care program for seniors...

County health center uses up flu vaccine The Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center has used up its supply of flu vaccine, said assistant director Jane Wernsman. Some area physicians and walk-in clinics are still offering the shot, but the center won't be restocking the shot, she said. The center administered about 4,600 vaccinations, Wernsman said, and the amount purchased was based on last year's demand...

Volunteers for the Army Reserve are mailing their first shipment of Shoeboxes for Soldiers in the coming days. The campaign, which began this month, is aimed at getting donors to buy enough Christmas gifts to fill a shoe box. Recommended items include: pens, paper, stamps, hard candy, tiny Christmas trees, light-weight gloves, travel-size toiletries, gum and damp wipes...

Mayoral hopeful has campaign with a Sheen SAN FRANCISCO -- Martin Sheen, who stars as President Bartlet on NBC's White House drama, "The West Wing," has endorsed San Francisco mayoral candidate Matt Gonzalez, citing Gonzalez's record of fighting for working families and responsible government as a a city supervisor. Sheen has delivered anti-war speeches at peace rallies in San Francisco, and he appeared at a spring benefit for a Berkeley-based nonprofit agency...

Cape Girardeau The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Anthony Fisher, 34, of 915 Ranney, Cape Girardeau, was arrested Thursday on a Cape Girardeau warrant for failure to appear...

Cape Girardeau County The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests David A. Tingle, 26, of Cape Girardeau, was arrested Nov. 14 on suspicion of driving while revoked. Jesse G. Kuykendol, 23, of Cape Girardeau, was arrested Nov. 15 on a warrant for parole absconding...

Where were you when President John F. Kennedy was shot 40 years ago today? It's a question that defined a generation, just as the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, will define today's generation. The Camelot feeling of Kennedy's short administration was bolstered by his personal charisma and the glamor of his family -- a feeling that was spread across the nation by the medium of television. ...

Gov. Bob Holden's approach to balancing Missouri's budget for the current fiscal year leaves a lot to be desired. Nobody is denying times have been tough in the state, just as they have been in the rest of the nation. An era of budgets flush with cash as state government grew in jobs and programs came to an end with the economic downturn. As a result, the state has been struggling for three years...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Velma "Belle" Tropf, 90, of Advance died Thursday, Nov. 20, 2003, at Advance Nursing Center. She was born Feb. 14, 1913, in Advance, daughter of Wiley and Carrie Summers Winchester. She married Lester Grindstaff, who preceded her in death. She later married Amel "Pug" Tropf Sept. 25, 1947. He died April 24, 1988...

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Pieces of metal fell off the world's tallest building Friday, injuring at least two passers-by and littering the grounds of an elementary school, an engineer and local TV reported. Engineer Lin Pei-yuan told TVBS cable news that a worker had been moving a cart with metal construction materials from the 90th to the 91st floor of the Taipei 101 building, which is named after its number of floors. The building is expected to open next year...

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis will strive to eliminate lead poisoning in children by 2010, Mayor Francis Slay and other officials said Friday. The St. Louis plan calls for removing lead from buildings before children are poisoned by it. "We need better organization, stricter accountability and new focus," Slay said. "We are going to inspect more homes and take more action before children get sick."...

Balloons, a few skydivers and a whole lot of school spirit helped launch a new improvement program Friday at Central Middle School. To officially kick off the Accelerated Schools program, students released balloons at Capaha Park with cards listing the school's goals and address...

US. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson of Cape Girardeau recently visited the Middle East. She kept a daily journal. Here is the eighth and final installment. By Jo Ann Emerson Tuesday, Nov. 11: Damascus, Syria, is one of the oldest cities in the world, continuously inhabited for 3,500 years...

EDMONTON, Alberta -- For the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens, their game today will be just like old times -- a throwback to when the players were kids and raced from school to a frozen pond. And they never cared how cold it was. So, with no concern for the thermometer, the league is throwing an 86th birthday party for the NHL. The Oilers and Canadiens will play at 55,000-seat Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, the first outdoor game in league history...

FENTON, Mo. -- Central's magical boys soccer season won't include a state title. The Tigers lost 3-2 in overtime Friday night at the Anheuser-Busch Center to St. Louis University High, ending a 26-game win streak with their first loss in more than a year...

MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Kansas State ruined Missouri's postseason hopes in 2001 and 2002. This year, the Tigers would love to pay the Wildcats back -- and add even more luster to their own surprising season. In each of the past two seasons, the Tigers went into the Kansas State game -- the regular-season finale -- needing a win for bowl eligibility. Each time, the Wildcats denied them...

Southeast Missouri State University's football team consists of 14 seniors. Two of them -- linebacker Ricky Farmer and center Eugene Amano -- have been starters ever since coach Tim Billings began his reclamation project four years ago. Farmer and Amano would like nothing better than to end their careers with an Ohio Valley Conference title and in the playoffs, which would be firsts at the school...

Many people are aware I read a lot. I'm always in search of information to help me in making decisions pertaining to my life, family, business and the community, state, nation and world in which I live. I'm sharing some of the items I found interesting in recent reading. Some I disagree with. Some facts are unpleasant. As we face challenges in education, the economy, terrorism, cultural changes and moral values, we should not be ignorant or uninformed before forming opinions...

LOS ANGELES -- For years, Mark Geragos toiled in the legal trenches for little-known clients. Then Geragos took the case of Whitewater scandal figure Susan McDougal, and he quickly ascended into the national spotlight. The cases just kept on coming: Winona Ryder, Gary Condit, Scott Peterson and now, Michael Jackson, have transformed him into a legal superstar. And he is representing Jackson and Peterson at the same time in two of the nation's most sensational cases...

LOS ANGELES -- A lawyer who has tangled with Michael Jackson called Friday for child welfare authorities to temporarily remove the pop star's three children from his custody because of new child molestation allegations. Gloria Allred's demand came as quiet descended on Santa Barbara following Jackson's media-saturated surrender Thursday...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. reported a 43 percent rise in its third-quarter profit, meeting Wall Street's expectations as the snack-baker continued to open new stores. Its shares surged nearly 5 percent in midday trading. Based in Winston-Salem, Krispy Kreme said Friday it earned $14.5 million, or 23 cents a share, in the three months ended Nov. 2, up from $10.1 million, or 17 cents a share, in the same quarter last year...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Rockets launched from donkey carts. Explosives hidden in the carcasses of roadkill. Land mines taken apart and converted for attacks. Insurgents in Iraq are borrowing tactics used by Palestinians, Afghans and others to press their fight against the U.S.-led occupation...

SEDGEFIELD, England -- President Bush labeled Turkey, shaken by deadly suicide bombings, a new front in the war on terror Friday and offered U.S. help in hunting down the perpetrators. Two bombings in Istanbul on Thursday and new rocket assaults in Baghdad on Friday overshadowed the president's tour of Prime Minister Tony Blair's home turf in rural northeast England...

VIENNA, Austria -- The United States voiced unprecedented criticism of the U.N. atomic agency chief Friday, suggesting he glossed over Iranian deceptions about its nuclear program, even as diplomats in Washington hinted at a compromise on whether the Iranian issue should be referred to the U.N. Security Council...

LAMU, Kenya -- In the medieval alleys of this old stone town, U.S. soldiers are lending a hand -- stitching up cuts, fixing the plumbing at a girls' school -- and watching every smile for signs of breaking ice. But in coming to a Muslim community that U.S. officials fear is al-Qaida territory, the soldiers are struggling against powerful currents...

CU CHI, Vietnam -- As the sound of gunfire exploded around them, the American sailors made their way through the jungles of Vietnam on Friday -- this time as tourists. As they fired off AK-47s, crawled through dirt tunnels, and walked through a booby-trapped forest, the Americans touring the Cu Chi tunnels found echoes of the Vietnam War coming back to life...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Suzanne Acup, 56, of Olive Branch died Thursday, Nov. 20, 2003, at Heartland Care Rehab Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 30, 1946, in Alexander County. Survivors include three sons, Jimmy Acup of Olive Branch, Dewayne Acup of Thebes, Ill., David Acup of Granite City, Ill.; her mother, Hazel Garrett of Thebes; a sister, Nellie Tucker of Thebes; a brother, Wilford Garrett of Thebes; and seven grandchildren...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Lillian M. Capps, 89, of Sikeston died Thursday, Nov. 20, 2003, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born Feb. 26, 1914, in Essex, Mo., daughter of Alonzo and Katherine Mann Hawley. She and Harvey O. Capps were married Dec. 8, 1934, in Essex. He died Feb. 2, 2000...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- L. Byrd Frentzel, 79, of Perryville died Friday, Nov. 21, 2003, at his home. He was born Oct. 17, 1924, in Perryville, son of A.E. and Nellie Byrd Frentzel. He and Winnie Abernathy were married Sept. 9, 1950. Frentzel was a school bus driver. He was a member of American Legion Post 133...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The University of Missouri has not yet met a state lawmaker's request for a public discussion about a proposal to close the university's medical school and connecting hospital in Columbia and build a new facility in Kansas City. On Oct. 20, Rep. Chuck Graham, D-Columbia, sent a letter to the University of Missouri curators asking them to hold a public forum within 30 days -- a timeframe that expired Wednesday...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded Thursday to the following items: At 5:18 p.m., medical assist at 1931 College. At 6:43 p.m., medical assist at 2825 Bloomfield. Firefighters responded Friday to the following items: At 12:57 a.m., medical assist at 120 N. Main...

DALLAS -- Forty years after John F. Kennedy's assassination, an overwhelming majority of Americans do not believe the official conclusion that a loser named Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, killed the president with a cheap mail-order rifle fired from the Texas School Book Depository...

When Bill Brown was a little boy, his grandfather wanted him to know of his Cherokee heritage, but he also wanted the child to keep it quiet. "Shhh," said Brown, now 76, holding a finger to his lips, recalling what his grandfather used to tell him when he worried that the boy would be teased. "Don't tell people you're Indian."...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Though he knows his suggestion might be met with public skepticism, Missouri Bar President Bill Corrigan says the state legislature needs more lawyers. So the bar is working to recruit lawyers to run for office. Whereas one-third of Missouri's legislators were lawyers in 1900, barely 13 percent are today. In fact, the legislature has fewer lawyers than it has in decades -- five of 34 senators and 21 of 163 representatives, Corrigan said...

The unbelievable truth that President John F. Kennedy had been shot in Dallas passed from stunned teachers to students, in hushed words exchanged between workers and from store clerk to customer, until the crushing news came an hour later that the nation's young, charismatic leader was dead...

Although few ponder the routine act, many millions of American Christians do something radical when they recite the creed, says New Testament scholar Luke Timothy Johnson. In a country that praises individualism, worshippers are expressing solidarity with a community's collective wisdom rather than personal opinions, Johnson explains...

Somewhere between the music and the message, people find a way to come into the presence of God at The Summit. "It's simple yet it's profound," said Denny Reeves, director of music at Centenary United Methodist Church. Music might be what draws them into the 9:30 a.m. Sunday service inside the Family Life Center at the church -- there's a blend of eclectic sounds from the mandolin, electric guitar and drums coming from the speakers...

MIKE WELLS * photos@semissourian.com Spying the arriving keel boats of the Lewis and Clark Discovery Expedition are St. Ambrose Catholic School students Allie Bryant, Shannon Ratcliff, Colin Dame and Edward Haney. At right, Ted Mueller, portrays Corps of Discovery member "Ebenezer Tuttle," an artillery private who took part in the famous journey. ...

CHESAPEAKE, Va. -- A cocky Lee Boyd Malvo laughed repeatedly during a police interrogation as he recounted some of last year's sniper attacks, saying of one victim, "He was hit good. Dead immediately," a detective testified at Malvo's murder trial Friday...

I read again the accounts of the great New Madrid earthquake. The earth shook violently. Cracks opened in the ground. Bottomless holes formed. The Mississippi River ran north instead of south. People filled the churches; for they truly believed that the world was coming to an end...

The Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Tampa native Tino Martinez was traded from the Cardinals to the Devil Rays on Friday for a minor league pitching prospect. St. Louis gets pitcher Evan Rust and a player to be named. Martinez is owed $7.5 million next season under the $21 million, three-year deal he agreed to with the Cardinals in December 2001, and his contract contains an $8 million option for 2005 with a $1 million buyout...

BEAVER, Pa. -- The largest outbreak of hepatitis A in the nation's history is being blamed on green onions from Mexico. Of the nearly 600 cases -- three fatal -- traced to a Chi-Chi's Mexican restaurant, almost all involved the imported onions, either in salsa or two particular entrees, Pennsylvania and federal health officials said Friday. But how the scallions became tainted remains unclear...

They are excruciating headaches that last for days and return at a moment's notice. Often, they surface in the teenage years and last through much of adulthood. It's a condition that has existed for centuries, doctors say. But only recently has it been given a name: "chronic daily headaches," or CDH, defined as migraines or neck- and head-squeezing tension headaches that are present 15 or more days each month...

If the rest of Southeast Missouri State University's home basketball schedule is anything like Friday night's season opener, then Indians fans should be in for some kind of treat. The retooled Indians -- featuring five returning starters but also five key newcomers -- survived a frantic finish with Wisconsin-Green Bay to post a 63-62 victory in front of 4,132 fans at the Show Me Center...

WASHINGTON -- Mortgage-market giant Freddie Mac disclosed Friday that it had inflated its earnings for 2001 in financial reports by nearly $1 billion, the first time in its months-long accounting crisis that it acknowledged overstating profits. And a review commissioned by the company, newly made public, found that Freddie Mac's now-ousted top executives were aware of accounting manipulations used to draw a distorted picture of its finances. ...

Local resident awarded divinity fellowship Lynn Harper, a 2002 graduate of Southeast Missouri State University, was recently awarded a Samuel and Sarah Wait Graduate Fellowship in theology and ministry at Wake Forest University Divinity School. Harper was one of three students who received the award, which covers the cost of tuition and fees and is renewable for up to three years...

ANNA, Ill. -- Ronnie Acuff, 54, of Anna died Thursday, Nov. 20, 2003, at Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Marion, Ill. He was born Sept. 1, 1949, in Anna, son of Joseph Lyndall and Leola Irene McIntosh Acuff. He and Mona Jane Rhodes were married July 9, 1970...

Edna Lucille Schabbing, 82, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Nov. 21, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born June 11, 1921, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Arthur and Ella Schwab Job. She and Albert C. Schabbing were married Oct. 25, 1944, in Cape Girardeau...

SEDGEWICKVILLE, Mo. -- Ray N. Grantham, 85, of Sedge-wickville died Friday, Nov. 21, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born June 4, 1918, near Lixville, Mo., son of John and Mabel Drum Grantham. He and Vera Sea-baugh were married June 9, 1945...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Barbara Jeanette Eaker, 72, of Marble Hill died Friday, Nov. 21, 2003, at Elder Care of Marble Hill. She was born Aug. 22, 1931, in Alton, Ill., daughter of Hazel Wesley and Mabel Lorene Claxton Webb. She and Truman Eaker were married Feb. 12, 1948, at Lutesville, Mo...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Richard E. Lilley, 49, of Hapeville, Ga., died Friday, Nov. 21, 2003, at Southern Regional Medical Center in Riverdale, Ga. He was born Nov. 13, 1954, in Cairo, son of Fred Matthew and Helen Lucille Hawf Lilley. He married Peggy Inez Raines...

EAST CAPE GIRARDEAU, Ill. -- Jerry J. Burton, 38, of East Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born July 2, 1965, in Cairo, Ill., son of Fred and Donna Wilburn Burton. He married Pamela Lang...

Dr. Sam Gisi Frissell, 50, of McMinnville, Tenn., died Thursday, Nov. 20, 2003, at Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga, Tenn. He was born Aug. 27, 1953, in Cape Girardeau, son of Dan and Venus Gisi Frissell. Frissell was a medical doctor. He was a member of the Methodist Church in McMinnville...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Cardine Pruitt, 60, of Perryville, Mo., died Friday, Nov. 21, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Oct. 22, 1943, to the late Richard and Alma Beinlein Vernon. She married Glenn Pruitt Sr. May 11, 1963...

Stephen "Steve" C. Logan, 60, of Jackson died Friday, Nov. 21, 2003, at his home. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson. Funeral will be Monday at 11 a.m. at the funeral home. Burial will be at Russell Heights Cemetery...

10 years ago: Nov. 22, 1993 Ian Sutherland, assistant prosecuting attorney in Cape Girardeau County, recalls day 30 years ago President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. Computer error in city's finance department resulted in yearlong respite for more than third of Cape Girardeau's 11,000 city sewer customers...

Daily American Republic ELLSINORE, Mo. -- The wife and a son of hunter fatally shot over the weekend were arrested Thursday night in connection with his death. Denise E. Hanna, 47, of Ellsinore and Shawn Curtis Hanna, 26, of Poplar Bluff were in jail Friday morning pending formal charges...

Davis Son to Chris and Jennifer Davis of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 7:42 a.m. Monday, Aug. 25, 2003. Name, Creed Brake. Weight, 6 pounds 7 ounces. First child. Mrs. Davis is the former Jennifer Brake, daughter of Terry and Cindy Brake of Millersville. She teaches sixth and seventh grades at Guardian Angel School in Oran, Mo. Davis is the son of Cheryl and Pat Ressel of Chaffee, Mo., and Randy and Sharon Davis of Whitewater. He is a buyer at Nordenia USA Inc...

Thinking ahead IT IS all good and well that Councilman Jay Purcell worked as a garbage collector for one day. But until you do a job every day, you don't have a clue as to what goes on. I just bet Purcell will be running for mayor in the future. What do you bet?...

Baseball Kevin Appier is staying with the Kansas City Royals. The 35-year-old right-hander and the Royals agreed Friday to a one-year contract for the $300,000 minimum. Anaheim, which released Appier in July, is responsible for the remainder of his $12 million salary in 2004, the final season of a $42 million, four-year contract he agreed to with the New York Mets in December 2000...

Sunday Latin Mass at 9:30 a.m. at Old St. Vincent's Church in downtown Cape Girardeau. Monsignor Richard Rolwing, formerly priest at St. Mary's Cathderal, will conduct the service. The event is being held in conjunction with Lewis and Clark bicentennial activities...

Chandra Brown said she was given a message by coach B.J. Smith prior to Friday night's home opener for Southeast Missouri State University's Otahkians. "I was told to go out and make layups. I was told to go out and get the job done," Brown said, smiling...