Stories from Saturday, December 6, 2003

NEW YORK -- A-Rod playing alongside Curt Schilling in Fenway Park next season -- it could happen as the Boston Red Sox try to beat the New York Yankees in a heated game of "Can you top this?" The Red Sox are discussing acquiring the AL MVP Alex Rodriguez from the Texas Rangers for Manny Ramirez in what would be a swap of the only $20 million-a-year players in baseball history...

I recently returned from another of my frequent road trips. Road expeditions hold great mystery and fascination for my husband and me because we are unsure of what to expect. Scenery teases flirtatiously with its hide-and-seek demeanor, saying, "Come see what's hidden here -- uncover what we can teach you." Consequently, I received an awesome revelation while traveling home from our last excursion...

Concert to be presented at Greater Dimension Dorcel Ware will present a concert at 7 p.m. tonight at Greater Dimension Ministries Church in Cape Girardeau. Ware will sing praise and worship songs. Admission is free, but an offering will be collected. For information, call 335-3038...

Basketball Karl Malone will not play Sunday against the Utah Jazz after being suspended for one game by the NBA for elbowing Dallas guard Steve Nash in the head. The penalty was announced Friday by NBA vice president Stu Jackson after he reviewed videotape of Malone's thrown elbow, which came in Thursday's game...

Southeast Missouri State University opens its indoor track and field season Sunday at the Arkansas State Invitational. Both the men's and women's teams will compete. "The athletes have been looking forward to competition since we began our fall training in September," Southeast coach Joey Haines said. "There will be a lot of top Division I programs at this first meet, and it will give us a chance to evaluate and see where we need to go from there."...

To the editor: In response to the article "Community responds to special boy" -- the story about the effort to provide a dog for Josh Ghiz: This was a truly lovely story of love and compassion, which are so needed in these difficult times. Thank you...

To the editor: In response to the article "Community responds to special boy": The people in your community must be wonderful to extend themselves so willingly. I am sure their generosity will return to them in unexpected ways. JAN BATES...

To the editor: In response to the article "Community responds to special boy": Thanks for the article about Josh Ghiz and community efforts to raise money for his special dog. It brought tears to my eyes to read about such generosity. It makes me thankful for the good people of Cape Girardeau and for the many friends we all have everywhere, most of whom we've never met...

To the editor: A win-win opportunity has been overlooked in regard to the name of the road that goes in front of Central High School and the Career & Technology Center. The functional and architectural front of the high school is the part that faces the parking lot, not the Silver Springs Road frontage. ...

Peggy J. Burlison, 82, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Dec. 5, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center. Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

It's an incredibly frustrating situation for countless Americans, most of them women, who are struggling to raise children alone when they expected financial assistance. Instead, they are left to deal with all the expenses related to child-rearing: The house payment. The clothing. The food. The school supplies. And miscellaneous expenses incurred when children participate in any extracurricular activities...

It was deja vu all over again. On Tuesday, the Missouri Department of Transportation issued a media release announcing the roundabout at U.S. 61 and Main Street in Perryville, Mo., would be closed next week while crews widened it to accommodate truck traffic...

WASHINGTON -- Americans are growing more optimistic about the economy and that shift is beginning to improve President Bush's standing with voters, according to an Associated Press poll. People are increasingly comfortable about job security for themselves and for those they know -- 44 percent now, compared with 35 percent in early October...

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Players say he's an inspiration. Contemporaries call him a master motivator. Above everything else, Howard Schnellenberger is a winner. Other than one ill-fated season at Oklahoma, Schnellenberger has won -- and won fast -- everywhere he's gone...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Barbecue baron Ollie Gates stepped down Friday from the state Highways and Transportation Commission. Gates had worked closely over the past several years with Transportation Department director Henry Hungerbeeler, who on Tuesday announced his own resignation effective June 1."If Hungerbeeler feels strongly enough to resign his position, it's only fitting and proper that I do the same," Gates said...

The Cape Girardeau School District is one step closer to unloading two of its vacant buildings. A bid has been accepted on the former board office at 61 N. Clark St., and a judge ruled last week that a contract between the district and a Jefferson City construction company owner for the purchase of the L.J. Schultz School is valid...

It's the not knowing that scares Robin Lenau's family. They don't know where she went. They don't know if she's taking her medications. And they don't know if she's alive. The 18-year-old with bipolar disorder disappeared in early November from a Perryville shelter, reportedly leaving in a car with an unidentified man for Poplar Bluff, said her mother, Kathy Lenau. ...

By Daniel Henninger "What we will not tolerate is the Republican efforts to privatize Medicare." That was the voice of Sen. Ted Kennedy, announcing a no-compete clause for all of Medicare amid the recent debate. It is the voice of the modern Democratic Party which, when you stand back and take a long look, appears not to want to compete at much of anything these days, other than winning the presidency. ...

Violinist Rebecca Goot played Christmas songs at Zickfield Jewelers, music teacher Pam Dumey and sixth-grade student Rachel Bagot performed similar tunes on recorders at Renaissance gift shop, Santa Claus posed for pictures at the Southeast Missourian, and some shoppers rested their feet with carriage rides...

Springsteen lends hand to aid high school band ASBURY PARK, N.J. -- Bruce Springsteen and other musicians performing three benefit shows at Convention Hall this weekend will donate some of the proceeds to the Asbury Park High School band. The money will help buy uniforms and instruments for the band, which was resurrected two years ago with seven members and now features 25 musicians. ...

DECATUR, Ill. -- Ameren Corp. and the parent of Illinois Power Co. announced Friday they are negotiating a possible sale of the Decatur-based utility. Ameren, the parent of AmerenCIPS, AmerenCILCO and AmerenUE, has about 970,000 customers; IP serves about 670,000. The companies' service areas reach from towns such as Wedron, Mendota and Earlville in northern Illinois to Ullin, Thebes and Sauget in Southern Illinois...

Northeast hit by snow; up to 18 inches forecast The Northeast's first major storm of the season closed schools, made a mess on highways and triggered a rush on snow blowers and shovels. The snow was blamed for at least three traffic deaths. Forecasters said the system threatened to deliver an even heavier blow over the weekend, with up to 18 inches of snow forecast in parts of New England...

Phillip E. Owen, 83, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Dec. 4, 2003, at Chateau Girardeau Health Center. He was born Nov. 14, 1920, in Batavia, N.Y., son of Elmer Eliphlet and Edith Wellington Owen. He and Jane Curtis were married Aug. 31, 1948, in Detroit, Mich...

William J. Clark, 84, of San Angelo, Texas, died Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2003, at his home. He was born Sept. 17, 1919, in Cape Girardeau, son of James and Zora Leftridge Clark. He married Juanita DeClue. Clark was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II. He was formerly of Bonne Terre, Mo...

There's only two shopping weekends left before the Cape Girardeau Jaycees deliver Christmas goodies to area children. The toys will be delivered Dec. 18, a week before the holiday. But right now, only 150 of the 500 applications have been filled. Toybox, a program of the Cape Girardeau Jaycees and the Southeast Missourian, provides holiday gifts to needy children up to age 12...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- This was the matchup many predicted before the season for the Big 12 title game. Oklahoma against Kansas State. Two preseason Top 10 teams with high-powered offenses and aggressive defenses playing a game that would have an impact on the national title race...

Trying to slow down the nation's fourth-leading scorer from last season will not be Southeast Missouri State University's only concern when Missouri-Kansas City visits the Show Me Center for a 7:30 tipoff tonight. The Kangaroos (2-2) have apparently given explosive senior guard Michael Watson quite a bit of help as they prepare to take on the Indians (3-2)...

Central's boys basketball team set up a showdown with one of the state's premier teams in the championship game of the Farmington Tournament. The Tigers improved to 2-0 Friday night with a 73-37 semifinal rout of New Madrid County Central and will face Hazelwood Central from St. Louis at 7:30 tonight for the title...

At a packed St. Andrew Lutheran Church gym Friday night, Saxony Lutheran's boys basketball team made history by winning its first-ever varsity game 72-38 over Chaffee. Saxony Lutheran High School opened its doors in the fall of 2000, joined the Missouri State High School Activities Association last year and promptly debuted with junior-varsity basketball. ...

Southeast Missouri State University women's basketball coach B.J. Smith isn't about to overlook Division II Southern Arkansas, which visits the Show Me Center for a 5 p.m. tipoff today. But Smith is more concerned about his Otahkians (2-3) right now than he is the Muleriders, who bring a 5-0 record to Cape Girardeau and are off to their best start since the 1987-88 season...

Ask ironworker Tammy Weiskittel if it will happen, and she'll cringe and offer an optimistic "Hope so." Facing the same question -- one he's been staring at for months -- project manager Larry Owens shrugs his shoulders and says, "We're trying."...

The two makers of flu shots in the United States said Friday they have run out of vaccine and will not be able to meet a surge in demand resulting from fears of a particularly bad flu season. Nevertheless, the companies said people who have put off getting their shots may still be able to find them, since distributors and doctors' offices may still have some left...

FRUITLAND -- Dressed in denim jeans and Western shirts, dusty cowboy boots and hats, the crowd sat around a circle of folding chairs singing favorite old hymns like "Amazing Grace" and "I'll Fly Away" as a guitar player strummed the chords. If you didn't know any better, you'd think this crowd had just rolled in off the rodeo circuit. ...

Bitter winds on Friday and the cold air that seeped into unbuttoned jackets served as a cold wake-up call that seasons are changing. For Salvation Army bell ringers, a cold reception is just part of the job. Marty Fluegge of Cape Girardeau rang the bell at Jackson's Wal-Mart on Friday, and the tormenting wind repeatedly whisked the hood off his head...

On Thursday, a local group collecting Christmas gifts for soldiers had 1,200 shoeboxes to ship overseas but needed about $1,500 within 24 hours to pay for postage. Their cry for help did not go unheeded by Southeast Missouri residents. By Friday evening, $9,000 had poured in, along with 600 more shoeboxes filled with gifts for soldiers serving in Kuwait and Baghdad. That's in addition to roughly $2,500 donated before Friday...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded Thursday to the following item: At 8:57 p.m., emergency medical service at 1100 S. Kingshighway. Firefighters responded Friday to the following items: At 1:17 a.m., emergency medical service at 724 S. Sprigg. At 7:36 a.m., medical assist at 2775 Lynwood Hills Drive...

ROCKVIEW, Mo. -- Donald Jones, 72, of Rockview died Friday, Dec. 5, 2003, at his home. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee, Mo., is in charge of local arrangements.

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Eugene Carroll, 65, of Chaffee died Friday, Dec. 5, at his home. He was born July 26, 1938, to the late James Edward and Amanda Marie Willie Carroll. He was a retired concrete truck driver with McDonald Concrete Company in Cape Girardeau and a member of the Local 574 Teamsters Union in Cape Girardeau. He was a member of Grace United Methodist Church of Rockview, Mo...

Richardson Twin sons to William P. and Barbara G. Richardson Jr. of Jackson, St. Francis Medical Center, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2003. William Patrick III was born at 8:33 a.m. and weighed 4 pounds 3 ounces. Kyle Walker was born at 8:52 a.m. and weighed 4 pounds 6 ounces. ...

10 years ago: Dec. 6, 1993 Gallery 100 and Southeast Missouri Council on the Arts, located for past 7 1/2 years in bank building at 100 Broadway, will move at end of month to temporary lodgings at 1707 Mount Auburn Road. City council agrees to table proposed trash fee hike until its Dec. 20 meeting to allow for citizen comments and staff presentation regarding plan...

No surprises AFTER READING several comments about Councilman Jay Purcell, you can understand what our nation has become. People will complain about any subject for the sake of argument. Keep it coming. Nothing shocks or surprises me anymore when it comes from the misinformed, especially those who repeat the propaganda of their political parties as the gospel...

Today Basement sale from 7 a.m. to noon at West Side Church of God in Cape Girardeau. The sale is a fund-raising event for the youth department. United Methodist Men at Hobbs Chapel will meet for breakfast at 7:30 a.m...

WASHINGTON -- The economy's four-month hiring spree slowed in November, raising new questions about revival in the jobs market even as the unemployment rate edged down to 5.9 percent. As one economist put it: "Ho, ho hum." Friday's Labor Department report "is like getting just the Christmas present you wanted, but two sizes too small," said Bill Cheney, chief economist at John Hancock Financial Services Inc...

Cape Girardeau County The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWIs Kenny R. Lawrence, 32, of Cape Girardeau, was arrested Nov. 26, on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. John A. Cribbs, 39, of Bertrand, Mo., was arrested Nov. 27 on suspicion of driving while intoxicated...

Cape Girardeau The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Manuel T. Ware, 24, of 805 S. Sprigg, Cape Girardeau, was arrested Thursday on a Cape Girardeau warrant for failure to appear...

Holiday shoppers in bookstores are often attracted to pretty coffee-table tomes. But for recipients who'd enjoy some substance, the best gift might well be a good religious book. Religion's book of the year for 2003 is "The Resurrection of the Son of God" (Fortress), a blockbuster by N.T. Wright that rebuts the doubts, ancient and modern, concerning Christianity's pivotal belief that Jesus rose bodily from the grave...