Stories from January 2004

Unaware of what was going on, John Atkinson IV posed with his happy mom, Melissa Atkinson, and dad, John Atkinson III celebrating the first baby born for the New Year in Cape Girardeau. John IV was born at Southeast Missouri Hospital at 4:29 p.m., weighing in at 7 pounds, 8 ounces. He will join his brother Caleb, 4, and his sister Olivia, 5, at the family's home in Bernie, Mo...

Celebration model LeSabre offers large car comfort at a reasonable price The old adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," certainly applies to the current edition of the Buick LeSabre. For years it has been the best-selling full-size car on the road, and one test drive will show you why. I recently picked up a LeSabre Celebration Edition from VanMatre Buick and headed across the new Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge for a test drive...

Betterment association plans fish, chicken supper BELLCITY,Mo. -- A fish and chicken supper, including dessert and drink, will be sponsored from 4 to 7 p.m. Jan. 9 by the Bell City Betterment Association. The meal will be served at the Bell City Community Center. For more information about the supper, call Millie at (573) 733-4551...

CHICAGO, Ill. -- The most frustrating part of Southeast Missouri State University's 57-50 New Year's Eve loss at DePaul is that the Indians had every opportunity to win. But the Indians simply did not play -- or shoot --quite well enough to pull off the upset...

ST. LOUIS -- Chris Pronger scored the first of St. Louis' four power-play goals and Doug Weight added four assists, sparking the Blues to a 5-4 victory Thursday night over the New York Rangers. The Blues won for just the second time in seven games. The Rangers, 3-2-0-1 in their last six, failed to win three straight for the fifth time this season...

MOUNT VERNON, Mo. -- Human remains discovered in the rubble of an old farmhouse have been sent to a St. Louis lab, where DNA tests will be performed in hopes of identifying the partial skeleton. A study of the bones indicates the remains are those of a right-handed white female, age 19-33, who stood between 5-feet and 5-feet-2-inches, said Lawrence County Coroner Don Lakin...

The New Year marched in with Mummers in Philadelphia -- including paraders dressed as Saddam Hussein and Martha Stewart -- while a huge crowd gathered for the Rose Parade marveled at petaled spectacles including water-squirting elephants and a bubble-blowing octopus...

NEW YORK -- The bulls returned with a flourish to Wall Street in 2003 as the Nasdaq, Dow Jones and Standard & Poor indexes all ended the year higher -- the market's first winning year since 1999. Investors -- both private and corporate -- hoped for more good news in 2004 following the too-recent grueling bear market that wiped out billions of dollars from investors' portfolios...

ALBANY, N.Y. -- To prevent house fires set by careless smokers, New York state has adopted the nation's first rules mandating that cigarettes sold in the state must be rolled with lower-ignition paper. The so-called "fire-safe" cigarettes will extinguish by themselves if not puffed on, and advocates say they will prevent many of the fires now triggered by smokers who leave cigarettes unattended...

Most of you have probably recovered by now from any revelry regarding the new year. Fortunately or unfortunately, I don't have a problem with late-night partying. That's because "late night" for me is anything past 9 p.m. Occasionally my wife and I go a little crazy and stay up to watch "Judging Amy" until 10 p.m. On rare occasions, both of us remember how it ended...

On the first day of January 1959, 8-year-old Carlos Eire awoke to a tropical sun peering through the wooden shutters of his Havana bedroom. There were "galaxies of swirling dust specks" in the soft light and he "stared at the dust, as always, rapt."...

SHREVEPORT, La. -- Except for the game itself, Gary Pinkel insisted he wouldn't change a thing. Despite Missouri's uncharacteristically sloppy showing in a 27-14 Independence Bowl loss to Arkansas on Wednesday night, the Tigers' third-year coach has no doubts that his disciplined approach will pay off in the postseason. And he means next season...

PASADENA, Calif. -- Now there's nothing left to do but wait. Top-ranked Southern California all but assured itself a piece of the national championship Thursday with a 28-14 thumping of No. 4 Michigan in the Rose Bowl. The Trojans say they're No. 1 -- and few will disagree...

On New Year's Day, police arrested a 20-year-old Thebes, Ill., man they say hours earlier fatally shot a 25-year-old Cape Girardeau man. The shooting occurred outside the Taste, an after-hours club at 402 Good Hope in a Cape Girardeau neighborhood that has been plagued by violence for years...

Cape Girardeau School District patrons will have an opportunity to air concerns about impending budget cuts at a special school board meeting Monday night. More than 200 people crowded the board meeting room in December, when superintendent Mark Bowles presented his suggestions for making $1.3 million in cuts. ...

Before Iraq, John Plaskie never played video games with his two stepsons. "They always wanted me to play Xbox, but I thought it was just something kids do," said Plaskie, 44. "When I got home Tuesday, playing Xbox with them was the highlight of my day."...

The St. Francis Indoor Invitational soccer tournament celebrates its 10-year anniversary as the event kicks off today at 5 p.m. at three locations on the Southeast Missouri State University campus. The annual tournament was first organized in 1995 with 41 teams involved, but a decade later the competition has grown to 97 teams, with age groups ranging from under-8 boys to under-18 boys and girls...

Some Good Hope Street residents want the Taste after-hours club permanently closed in the wake of a fatal shooting New Year's Day. But Cape Girardeau City Council members say there is little they can do since the club doesn't sell liquor and as a result doesn't operate with a liquor license...

Views of Midwest exhibit to open "Five views of the Midwest" featuring works of Jeff Aeling, Tim Anderson, Ahzad Bogosian, Michael Dubina and Jeffrey Vaughn will be on display Jan. 8 through 31 at Gallery 100 and the Lorimier Gallery. In the exhibit, each artist presents his interpretation of the Midwest landscape, from the prairies of Kansas to the bluffs and river views. ...

Stepping into Dr. David Crowe's office is like walking into an art gallery, with panoramic shots of a crumbling stone mill amid a forest of flowering trees ready to bud, photographs of rock formations in Utah and Western skylines lining the walls. Much of his office on Broadway in Cape Girardeau was designed so it could showcase Crowe's photography. Office manager Carol Statler said one of the rounded walls was designed and built long before Crowe had the perfect picture to hang on it...

LOS ANGELES -- There are three stages of afterlife for a dead TV show, and a program's fate can be decided by its unaired episodes. Heaven is a DVD release -- a kind of immortality for a series like Fox's "Firefly" or "The Tick," which had devoted viewerships that were too small for network advertisers but large enough to justify selling a boxed-set of discs...

NEW ORLEANS -- Anne Rice, the author who gave new life to the undead, lives in a house full of saints. Her library holds half a dozen 15-inch to 2 1/2-foot-high statues, including a porcelain Virgin Mary and Child dressed in embroidered velvet and stiff, gold lace. ...

The Greenville (S.C.) News Some Republican lawmakers want to put the image of Ronald Reagan on the dime. They'd get rid of the dime's current occupant, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. This is a bad idea. Reagan is uniquely loved by many Americans, but even Nancy Reagan, speaking for her husband, has come out against the proposal...

Droves of Britons gave up meat during England's mad cow outbreak in the 1980s, but since the discovery of an infected cow in Washington state American vegetarians mostly have trod carefully, trying not to take advantage of a situation that could cost lives and cripple a $40 billion industry...

SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- Someone who buys lottery tickets in this Cleveland suburb is going to have a prosperous new year. Ditto for ticket buyers in Pennsylvania and South Carolina. A winning Mega Millions ticket worth $162 million was sold at a convenience store here, Ohio Lottery spokeswoman Mardele Cohen said. ...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Saddled with a shortfall of at least $14 billion and a promise not to raise taxes, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is likely to release a budget next week with few surprises -- it will contain cuts, cuts and more cuts. While the administration has released no details of the 2004-2005 spending plan, lawmakers and lobbyists engaged in budget negotiations with the governor say they expect to see a painful list of spending reductions that reach every corner of the state bureaucracy. ...

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department has denied manhandling Michael Jackson during his arrest and asked prosecutors to investigate the pop star's complaint, threatening to charge Jackson if the accusation is deemed false. ...

PIERRE, S.D. -- Cattle producers in South Dakota plan to give away discount coupons and talk with grocery store shoppers to encourage them to keep eating beef despite the first U.S. case of mad cow disease. South Dakota Cattlemen's Association president Brian Brockel said producers hope to convince people that beef is safe and persuade nations that have banned imports of American beef to reverse their stand. ...

HONG KONG -- Tens of thousands of protesters marched peacefully Thursday to push for full democracy in this former British colony, echoing a huge rally in July that threw the government into crisis. Organizers proclaimed the latest demonstration a success and said it showed Hong Kong's "people power" movement was very much alive. ...

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Clashes between protesters and police marred celebrations Thursday marking Haiti's 200th anniversary of independence as embattled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide vowed to save his country from poverty and turmoil. Underscoring deepening political divisions, more than 15,000 government supporters rallied outside the National Palace in the capital while about 5,000 presidential opponents marched toward downtown, shouting "Down with Aristide!"...

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- A senior Egyptian official pressed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Thursday to lead the way toward ending three years of violence with Israel, saying he is hopeful the response will be positive. The Egyptian truce efforts came amid signs the Palestinians are growing concerned over Israel's threat to abandon peacemaking and draw its own border with the Palestinians. ...

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- A bomb tore through a crowded New Year's concert in Indonesia's Aceh province, killing 10 people -- including three children -- and challenging government claims that security in the restive region is improving. Wednesday's blast, which also wounded 45 people, was the bloodiest bombing in Aceh since the government on May 19 abandoned a six-month truce and launched a military offensive against the rebels. ...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- U.S. troops and helicopters killed as many as 14 enemy fighters in clashes in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, the military said Thursday. Three U.S. soldiers were wounded in the battle Wednesday some 12 miles northeast of Shkin, a town in Paktika province near the Pakistan border. ...

CENTRALIA, Mo. -- A Centralia woman arrested for failing to pay a $2 parking ticket has joined her husband in filing a federal civil-rights lawsuit against police officers in this town north of Columbia, along with other city officials and the municipality itself...

Baseball David Wells, the hefty, free-spirited lefty, spurned the New York Yankees and agreed to a one-year contract with his hometown Padres on Wednesday. College Kansas State quarterback Ell Roberson was accused Thursday of sexually assaulting a woman at the team hotel, leaving his start in tonight's Fiesta Bowl in question. ...

Cape Girardeau The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI Brian P. Boyer, 42, of 313 Gerard Street, Bonne Terre, Mo., was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia and failure to maintain a single lane...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Tuesday: At 9:05 p.m., an alarm sounding at 245 Aquamsi. At 11:21 p.m., a medical assist at 2835 Whitener. Firefighters responded to the following calls Wednesday: At 6:53 a.m., a medical assist at 147 N. Silver Springs Road...

Changing history SOME OF the Founding Fathers were openly anti-Christian, with Thomas Jefferson being the best example. Read what he wrote in depth. I think it's amazing that all of these fundamentalist types want to rewrite history to fit their fanatical belief system...

Broshuis Daughter to Bradley Michael Broshuis and Karen LaDawn Taylor of Leopold, Mo., St. Francis Medical Center, 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2003. Name, Taylor Michelle. Weight, 7 pounds 11 ounces. Second daughter. Ms. Taylor is the daughter of Larry and Florence Taylor of Benton, Mo., and Marian Wyatt of Scott City. Broshuis is the son of Roy and Phyllis Broshuis of Whitewater. He is employed at Crader Tire and Retread Service Inc...

10 years ago: Jan. 2, 1994 Dr. Fred Rawlins delivered 6-pound, 3-ounce William Wyatt Perry Wednesday, marking last of about 8,000 babies Cape Girardeau obstetrician has helped bring into world; he is giving up obstetrics portion of his practice. Giving reached all-time high for local Salvation Army's Tree of Lights campaign, which surpassed its 1993 goal, raising $118,000; goal was $115,000...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Emma D. Pittman, 75, of Dexter died Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2003, at Missouri Southern Healthcare in Dexter. She was born Oct. 8, 1928, at Greenbrier, Mo., the daughter of Henry and Evie Borders Jones. She married Leon Pittman in 1942 at Zalma, Mo. He preceded her in death on Aug. 15, 1958...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Kathryn Barringer, 79, of Dongola died Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2003, at her home. She was born April 22, 1924, in Dongola, daughter of John and Clara Bracken Baker. She and Vincent "Dutch" Barringer were married May 8, 1948. He died Oct. 31, 2000...

Delvin Edward Roth, 75, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Sept. 24, 1928, in Cape Girardeau, son of Walter and Cora Koeppel Roth. Roth was a 1947 graduate of Central High School. He worked 37 years at Goodwin Printing Co. in St. Louis, retiring in 1990...

Nathan Vincent Wibbenmeyer, 15, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2003, at his home, after a battle with cancer. Friends may call at Notre Dame Regional High School from 2 to 9 p.m. today, with a vigil service at 7. Funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at the high school, with the Revs. Ed Stanger, Charles Prost, Scott Sunnenberg and Oscar Lukefahr officiating. Burial will be in St. Mary's Cemetery...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- William B. Seabaugh, 93, of Sikeston died Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2003, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Nov. 15, 1910, in Patton, Mo., the son of Garrett and Emma Bollinger Seabaugh. He married Wanda Elizabeth Blunt in Poplar Bluff, Mo., on Nov. 10, 1937. She preceded him in death on May 17, 1994...

POCAHONTAS, Mo. -- Elmer R. Reisenbichler, 88, of Pocahontas died Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2003, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girar-deau. He was born May 6, 1915, in Pocahontas, the son of Rudolf and Lena Tanz Reisenbichler. He married Lillian Wachter on May 23, 1943. She survives...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Lula Lois Etherton, 80, of Jonesboro died Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2003, at her home. She was born Nov. 4, 1923, in Mulkeytown, Ill., the daughter of William Carl and Lula Maude Snider Short. She worked as tech at Choate Mental Hospital for many years...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Bonnie Jean Happe Gereau, 75, of Sikeston died Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2003, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born Sept. 21, 1928, in Farrenburg, Mo., the daughter of Jake C. and Esther Farrenburg Happe. She married Robert Iver Gereau on Dec. 13, 1957. He preceded her in death on Jan. 8, 1976...

ULLIN, Ill. -- Madge Miller, 99, of Ullin and formerly of Dongola, Ill., died Thursday, Jan. 1, 2004, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Crain Funeral Home in Dongola.

Muriel L. Dyer, 90, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2003, at the Lutheran Home. She was born July 17, 1913, in Cape Girardeau, the daughter of Vivan and Paula Waldman Dyer. She was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church and a graduate of the University of Missouri. She worked at Brown Shoe Co...

MILLERSVILLE, Mo. -- Joseph Douglas Martin, 43, of Millersville died Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2003, at Scopus, Mo. He was born June 4, 1960, in St. Louis, the son of Samuel D. Barnwell and Rose Martin. He attended Mineral Area Junior College. He was a land surveyor...

Mildred M. Young, 84, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born June 15, 1919, in Graves County, Ky., the daughter of Floyd W. and Eugenia E. Scherfflus Morris. She married Walter Young on May 15, 1942, in Kennett, Mo. He survives...

WHITEWATER, Mo. -- Charles H. "Skip" Lawson Sr., 59, of Whitewater, Mo., died Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2003, at the family home following an illness. He was born June 10, 1944, at St. Louis, the son of Homer and Irene Durbin Lawson. He married Diana Lynn Strayhorn on Oct. 5, 1981, at St. Louis. She survives...

MCCLURE, Ill. -- Hiram Junior Fisher, 74, of McClure died Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2003, at his home. He was born Feb. 14, 1929, in Alexander County, son of William and Buena Jackson Fisher. He married Esther Smith, who preceded him in death. Fisher retired from Lonestar Cement in Dixon, Ill. He was a member of First Free Will Baptist Church in Olive Branch, Ill...

Joseph A. Francis, 85, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2003, at the Lutheran Home. He was born Dec. 22, 1918, in St. Louis, the son of Joseph A. Francis Sr. and Anna Seper Francis. He married Lela Marie Gammon on July 29, 1940, at Cape Girardeau. She survives...

Rettia M. Crites, 82, of Daisy, Mo., passed away Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 3, 1921, in Daisy, the daughter of Phillip and Rebecca Propst Sebaugh. She and Alfred Crites were married Oct. 12, 1940. He passed away Oct. 1, 1993...

To the editor: I was intrigued by Paul Greenberg's claim of Flannery O'Connor as his champion for banning flag burning. O'Connor would find his analogy between her belief in the "real presence" in the Eucharist and his belief in "presence" -- the presence of what he never makes clear -- in the American flag far more offensive than her companion's view that it was only a "symbol." She would have found Greenberg's abuse of her faith blasphemous...

Department of Conservation Missouri's 2003 firearms deer season had some ups and downs, but the final tally shows that hunters bagged 254,367 deer. That is up almost three percent from last year's record harvest of 247,826. This was the first year for the Urban Portion of Firearms Deer Hunting Season. Hunters bagged 91 deer in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas Oct. 25 and 26...

Know someone with a damaged heart? Ever heard of a zebra fish? Want to know the connection? While a broken heart often fixes itself over time, no human as far as we know can physically re-grow a heart. But apparently a zebra fish can. In an article in Science magazine, researchers reported cutting out 20 percent of a zebra fish's heart. ...

SAN ANTONIO -- Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team bounced back from a 36-point loss to nationally ranked Kansas State with a 73-63 victory over Alcorn State in the Texas-San Antonio New Year's Classic on Wednesday. Southeast (5-6) led from wire-to-wire as it grabbed a 7-0 lead and built a 15-point lead in the first half before setting for a 36-25 advantage at intermission. Alcorn State (1-7) closed to within six points in the second half but never got closer...

The thousands of high school basketball fans who cheered for their favorite teams at the Southeast Missouri Christmas Tournament this year at the Show Me Center had their share of thrills. The championship game between Jackson and Cape Girardeau's Central High School nearly filled the house, which made the Show Me Center an exciting place to be...

The delicate balance between security and threats of terrorism reached another milestone this week. The United States has informed foreign airlines that fly over U.S. air space they may be required to include armed law enforcement officers among their passengers...

WASHINGTON -- As they prepare to increase their role in Iraq, including more combat duty, soldiers with the Army National Guard and Army Reserve already are experiencing a bigger share of U.S. military deaths there. Of the 39 deaths in December in Iraq for which the Pentagon has released the victim's names, 10 were citizen soldiers, according to an Associated Press review of the Pentagon reports. ...

WASHINGTON -- Security concerns prompted the cancellation Thursday of the same British Airways flight from London that U.S. authorities had boarded the night before when it landed at Washington Dulles International Airport. U.S. officials were acting on intelligence information -- and not just suspicious passenger names -- when they boarded a British Airways jet on New Year's Eve at Dulles, a national security official said...

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is easing restrictions on exports and private assistance to Iran in response to the country's devastating earthquake. Blanket licenses are being issued to permit American firms and individuals to transfer funds to Iran to be used in relief and reconstruction programs, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced...

ST. LOUIS -- The city logged its lowest murder rate in more than four decades in 2003, a dramatic showing that police credit to aggressive law enforcement efforts to rustle up violent offenders. Police said there had been just 69 killings in the Gateway City in 2003, matching the total of 1962. That was the last time St. Louis registered fewer than 100 murders in a calendar year...

KERMAN, Iran -- Mehrdad Vakili remembers his father screaming, "Get out of the house!" as Iran's devastating earthquake began shaking the walls of the family's home. The 12-year-old boy ran but was immediately pinned by rubble. Mehrdad was rescued. His father and younger brother were not...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pervez Musharraf won a vote of confidence Thursday that supporters hailed as the final step on the general's journey from dictator to democrat. Opponents derided the proceedings -- which will keep the Pakistani leader in power as president until 2007 -- as a tattered fig-leaf barely obscuring his continued military rule...

TIKRIT, Iraq -- On mud-spattered computer screens in their Humvees, American soldiers scan digital street maps, monitor enemy positions, zoom in on individual buildings through satellite imagery and download instructions from commanders. Back on base, senior officers watch raids unfold on large screens showing real-time footage from aerial drones and displaying maps with moving icons for ground and air forces. Their locations are tracked by global positioning satellites...

SANTIAGO, Chile -- Eight Israelis and Palestinians left Thursday on an expedition to climb an unnamed, unconquered mountain in Antarctica, vowing to show they can work together under difficult, dangerous conditions. The two yachts carrying the six men and two women of the "Breaking the Ice" expedition sailed from Puerto Williams, a Chilean navy base 2,050 miles south of Santiago...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghanistan's constitutional convention came off the rails Thursday, as panicked officials adjourned the gathering in the face of a boycott by opponents of President Hamid Karzai. The delay was the most severe setback yet to this war-ravaged nation's attempt to put its vision of a secure future on paper, and raises real concern that the historic gathering will end in failure...

MTV to air chronicle of Gideon Yago in Iraq NEW YORK -- MTV News correspondent Gideon Yago, who previously traveled to Kuwait to report on how the war was affecting young people there, is now sharing his experiences with the youth in Baghdad. "Diary of Gideon in Iraq" is scheduled to premiere at 9:30 p.m. Jan. 14 on the cable music channel. The special chronicles Yago's two-week trip to Baghdad, in which he interviewed young Iraqis and talked to American soldiers still stationed there...

New Salem Baptist hosted the Midwest Sports Christmas Classic with five boys and girls teams beginning play on Friday night at New Salem Baptist. The five teams involved in the two-day tournament include New Salem Baptist, Heartland High School, Peoples Christian, Southern Missouri Christian and Life Christian...

With just 17 days until the filing deadline and only one person signed up to run, officials in the Cape Girardeau School District are worried that current budget woes have discouraged interest in the 2004 school board election. Since school board filing opened Dec. 16, only incumbent Dr. Martha Zlokovich has filed for one of the two vacancies on Cape Girardeau's seven-member board. Each opening is a three-year term...

Cape Girardeau would have a new fire station, a renovated police station, more firefighters and better-paid police under a fire sales-tax proposal that the city council could put before the voters in April. City manager Doug Leslie has drawn up a quarter-cent sales-tax proposal that the council will consider placing on the April 6 ballot when it meets Monday night...

Four Cape Girardeau voting precincts will be consolidated to two in time for the Feb. 3 presidential primary election, Cape Girar-deau County clerk Rodney Miller said. Precincts 4 and 5 will be combined and will both vote at the Centenary United Methodist Church...

FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- Southeast Missouri State University's Indians were disappointed that they missed out on an upset at DePaul Wednesday afternoon. But the last thing the Indians (6-4) want is to come up totally empty on their two-game road trip. That's why they're approaching today's noon contest at Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne (2-10) as one of their most important of the season, especially since it will be Southeast's final non-conference test...

FESTUS, Mo. -- A roomful of children sitting on bleachers hesitantly search for the notes to "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" on their recorders. Their music teacher, Joshua Rhine, encourages them and eventually relents, playing the music on a stereo for them to follow along...

Pancost Trucking had been profitably hauling about eight refrigerated containers full of beef each week from Colorado to West Coast ports until the mad cow scare led dozens of countries to ban American beef. Now the Sterling, Colo.-based company is "in a tailspin" because two of its biggest customers, Tyson Foods and Excel, a division of Cargill, have all but halted exports, leaving owner Gerry Schaefer scrambling to find other work for his 20 drivers...

Motorists may find it rough going on a temporary gravel road built across soggy ground and designed to detour traffic while a Bloomfield Road bridge is replaced. Construction workers are attacking drainage problems that threaten to undermine the detour road which is expected to carry thousands of motorists daily for the next three months...

An account at Union Planters Bank has been opened for accepting donations for the family of John and Brooke Foltz of Festus, Mo., by their friends and relatives in Jackson. The Foltzes lost their home Dec. 20 to a fire. The cause of the fire is still undetermined, according to friend Ruth Nitschwitz...

John Starnes is a Christian musician who weaves the story of his life into the tapestry of his song lyrics. He will perform Jan. 11 at Lynwood Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau. The concert begins at 6 p.m. and will take the place of the church's usual evening worship...

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Rams were vulnerable to the blitz all season, and the bye week gave the coaching staff extra time to deal with it. The Rams gave up 43 sacks this season, tied for fourth-highest in the NFL. The vast majority of the sacks came on blitzes, including all four in their 30-20 loss at Detroit in the regular-season finale...

MACHIAS, N.Y. -- Four-year-old Dalton Eisenhardt and his 2-year-old brother, Wyatt, don't protest or complain about the machines that hold onto them with tubes and cords during every moment of their lives. Despite the tracheotomies, the feeding tubes and ever-present nurses, the boys smile...

NEW YORK -- Wall Street rode out 2003 on a wave of optimism this past week as upbeat investors bet that the economic rebound will accelerate. But analysts say the next few trading days may be more telling since early January gains historically bode well for the rest of the year...

TIKRIT, Iraq -- A foot patrol of U.S.-trained Iraqi civil defense officers emerges from an alley into the bustle of this city's main highway. Quickly, some of the men wrap scarves around their faces, fearful of being recognized by insurgents attacking Americans and their Iraqi allies...

NEW YORK -- The nation's manufacturing sector finished 2003 with its most robust month of growth in 20 years. The Institute for Supply Management reported Friday that its manufacturing index jumped to 66.2 in December from 62.8 the previous month, strong evidence that the economic turnaround continues to pick up steam...

LOS ANGELES -- Rapper 50 Cent's "Get Rich or Die Tryin"' was the top-selling album in 2003, followed by Norah Jones' Grammy-winning debut, "Come Away With Me." "Get Rich or Die Tryin"' sold 6.5 million units, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The jazzy "Come Away With Me," which won the Grammy for album of the year, sold more than 5 million. CD album sales declined 2 percent from the previous year and overall album sales fell 3.6 percent. Overall music unit sales were off 0.8 percent...

ROME -- Big. That's how many Italians sum up their impressions of the United States -- from the Grand Canyon to the jumbo burgers to the backsides. But Italians no longer have to cross an ocean to gape at flab. This country of the good-for-your-waistline Mediterranean diet has somehow produced a generation of chubby children. And with Italian youngsters now among Europe's fattest, doctors are worrying about the nation's health future...

ST. LOUIS -- More tests have failed to identify foreign objects found last month in two packages of ground beef at a suburban St. Louis supermarket, leaving police and health officials hoping the FBI can unravel the matter, officials said Friday. "It's a mystery," said Lisa Bedian, spokeswoman for the city of St. Peters, where the packages were found at a Schnucks store on Dec. 8 and Dec. 27...

WASHINGTON -- Traditionally the champions of small government and states' rights, President Bush and his allies in Congress have aggressively pursued policies that expand the powers of Washington in the schoolroom, the courthouse, the home and the doctor's office...

The Missouri Supreme Court has announced the appointment of Judge John P. Heisserer to the Commission on Alternative Dispute Resolution Services in domestic relations cases. Heisserer is a circuit judge in the 32nd Judicial Circuit, which includes Cape Girardeau, Perry and Bollinger counties. He replaces Mary Kasten of Cape Girardeau on the commission, which has a membership of the judiciary, family law attorneys, the University of Missouri School of Law and legislators...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded Thursday to the following items: At 7:06 p.m., motor vehicle accident at William and Farrar. At 7:29 p.m., medical assist at 524 Louis. At 10:06 p.m., medical assist at 411 Themis. Firefighters responded Friday to the following items: At 3:08 a.m., medical assist at 2700 Pioneer Drive, No. 167...

Cape Girardeau The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Antonio J. Lawrence, P.O. Box 54, Mounds, Ill., was arrested Thursday on Cape Girardeau County warrants for probation violation and failure to appear...

Cape Girardeau County The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI Joey A. Stoffreger, 26, of Chaffee, Mo., was arrested Dec. 27 on a Cape Girardeau County warrant for driving while intoxicated and assault of a law enforcement officer...

Basketball Heat guard Dwyane Wade, who is making his own case for Rookie of the Year, will miss at least two weeks with a bone bruise in his right wrist. Third among rookies in scoring behind highly touted LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, Wade was placed on the injured list after undergoing an MRI. He is expected to wear a cast for at least two weeks...

What our wives say I AM constantly hearing about the problems that the University of Missouri president's wife has caused in Columbia. There are several things being overlooked here. She was not interviewed by the board of curators nor hired by the state. ...

Smith Son to John Franklin Smith and Rhonda Kay White of Scott City, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 4:58 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 27, 2003. Name, Dalton Gage. Weight, 6 pounds 14 ounces. Ms. White is the daughter of Sandi and M.G. Cook of Scott City. Smith is the son of John and Gladys Smith of Scott City...

10 years ago: Jan. 3, 1994 Proposed $1.46 per month trash fee increase is again delayed as Cape Girardeau City Council votes to have citizens group examine volume-based billing options; council refuses to take steps to bid out city trash service to private contractors...

ANNA, Ill. -- Alice Cox, 93, of Anna died Friday, Jan. 2, 2004, at Heartland Health Care Center in Avon, Ind. Crain Funeral Home in Anna is in charge of arrangements.

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Virginia Rose Finn, 82, of Bloomfield died Friday, Jan. 2, 2004, at Advance Nursing Center in Advance, Mo. She was born March 18, 1921, at Williamsville, Mo., daughter of Roy and Pearl McGee Haynie Sr. She and Alvin Finn were married July 27, 1940, at Kennett, Mo...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Faye Heard, 91, of Hobart, Ind., formerly of Dongola, died Thursday, Jan. 1, 2004, at Miller's Merry Manor in Hobart. Crain Funeral Home in Dongola is in charge of arrangements.

ALTENBURG, Mo. -- Ruth M. Miesner, 86, of Altenburg died Friday, Jan. 2, 2004, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Aug. 27, 1917, at Wittenberg, Mo., daughter of John and Hulda Richter Heins. She and Gilbert Claus Miesner were married Feb. 26, 1938. He died Nov. 16, 1994...

Lorene T. Segraves, 93, of Scott City died Friday, Jan. 2, 2004, at her home. She was born May 23, 1910, at Senath, Mo., daughter of William and Nancy Fox Turman. She and Richard W. Segraves were married May 9, 1931. He died Oct. 18, 1957. Segraves was formerly of Cape Girardeau. She had been a receptionist for Dr. James Kinder, retiring in 1980. She was a member of Grace Pentecostal Church...

Lew B. Harmon Jr., 67, of Cape Girardeau, died unexpectedly Thursday, Jan. 1, 2004, in a hospital at Fulton, Mo. He was president of Peoples Bank of Jackson and Altenburg, Mo. Parker Funeral Home in Columbia, Mo., is in charge of arrangements. Announcement courtesy of McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Mary Ross, 54, of Chaffee died Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Aug. 26, 1949, in New Madrid County, Mo., daughter of Harry and Helen Young Burns. She married James Ross. Ross was a member of First Baptist Church...

Fred L. Kaempfer, 80, of Jackson died Friday, Jan. 2, 2004, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Sept. 27, 1923, in Cape Girardeau, son of William F. and Millie Ann Davis Kaempfer. He and Louise Dabbs were married March 25, 1952, in Cape Girardeau. She died April 10, 1988...

Kathleen S. Parks, 81, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Jan. 2, 2004, at the Lifecare Center of Cape Girardeau. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel.

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Vastie Griffin, 100, of Sikeston died Monday, Dec. 29, 2003, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born Dec. 5, 1903, in Red Banks, Miss., daughter of George and Lula Young. She and John Griffin were married in 1926. Griffin was a member of St. John Missionary Baptist Church...

Ruie Elizabeth Calhoun, 71, of Scott City died Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Nov. 10, 1932, in Johnsonville, Tenn., daughter of William Henry and Mamie Corbitt Ledbetter. She and Raymond Lee Calhoun were married in January 1960. He died Dec. 21, 2003...

Verda Lou Fronabarger, 85, of Oak Ridge died Thursday, Jan. 1, 2004, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born April 18, 1918, in Burfordville, daughter of Jason and Matilda Green Phelps. She and Dale W. Fronabarger were married Dec. 24, 1939...

Roland Clinton Wagner, 79, of Jackson died Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2003, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born Oct. 2, 1924, in Jackson, son of Henry Joseph and Florentine Louise Wolgast Wagner. He and Betty Ruth McKinney were married Oct. 2, 1948, in Chattanooga, Tenn...

Rettia M. Crites, 82, of Daisy passed away Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 3, 1921, in Daisy, daughter of Phillip and Rebecca Propst Sebaugh. She and Alfred Crites were married Oct. 12, 1940. He passed away Oct. 1, 1993...

To the editor: As a property owner on South Lorimier Street, I'd like to see the Taste closed down. If the owner of the establishment can't control the property and its clients, let's do it for him. These are not the actions of the people I'd like to see in my neighborhood. Why do we think the neighbors there want them? Enough is enough already. Let's close it now...

To the editor: I and many other veterans can only laugh at the article "Working overtime" in last Sunday's paper. What did this guy think he was being paid for 31 years in the Guard for? Summer camp? No one forced any of these people to accept an assignment or paycheck to be in the National Guard. We've had an all-volunteer military force since the mid-1970s...

PASADENA, Calif. -- Let the rest of the country tune in to the Sugar Bowl on Sunday night. The USC Trojans believe college football's championship has already been decided. "I'm not going to watch it and I don't care," Southern California receiver Mike Williams said. "All we know is that we took care of business...

HARTFORD, Conn. -- The plan is simple and the results beyond question. "Our approach is we're not going to lose at home," Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said. Top-ranked Connecticut stays true to its word, and has a chance to again rewrite the record books of women's college basketball...

Today Gospel singing with The Gloryroad Travelers and the Victory Men Quartet at 7 p.m. at Shiloh Baptist Church in Villa Ridge, Ill. Upcoming Cape Girardeau County Christian Women's Club will meet at 11 a.m. Jan. 12 at Delmonico's in Jackson. Speaker is Debbie Osborne of St. Charles. Lunch and day-care reservations are needed by Jan. 8; call Bonnie Macke at 243-2866...

hey attend Mass in Latin, using a liturgy Rome abolished. They abstain from meat on Fridays and women cover their heads in church. For more than three decades, a small group of American Roman Catholics has been quietly worshipping in ways the Vatican told them to abandon...

"Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for one who loves another has fulfilled the law." Romans 13: 8. Have you ever wondered if you were spiritual enough? And thought if there was only extra time you could do more for God? Time to pray more often, attend church more frequently and make a concentrated effort to help other people. I was vulnerable to all those feelings until I recently heard a comment made by our pastor that allowed me to change my perspective...

An upcoming report on whether Roman Catholic bishops are implementing their new mandatory discipline plan for sexually abusive priests will say most dioceses are complying, but "there is still a lot that needs to be done," the official overseeing the audit said Friday...

Nancy Key, a lifelong Episcopalian, grew uneasy as speaker after speaker at her diocesan meeting rose to denounce the confirmation of the first openly gay bishop in the history of the American church. The Diocese of San Joaquin, Calif., is among the more conservative in the nation, and its bishop, John-David Schofield, is prominent in the network moving toward a break with the denomination's leaders...

Thirty countries have banned U.S. beef imports since a single case of mad cow disease was confirmed in Washington state Dec. 23. Missouri's position as the second-leading producer of beef cows in the nation makes the need to control mad cow disease all the more pressing...

WASHINGTON -- Female American troops in Iraq have killed Iraqis with bombs and bullets. They've won medals for valor and Purple Hearts for combat wounds. They've been captured as prisoners of war, killed by enemy fire and buried as heroes in Arlington National Cemetery...

WASHINGTON -- The safety net tightened around air travel Friday as British flights to Washington and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, were canceled, while law enforcement officials acknowledged that some delays were caused by mistaken identities. Mexican authorities also reported another cancellation...

WASHINGTON -- Iran informed the United States on Friday that it is not prepared to immediately accept an administration proposal to send Sen. Elizabeth Dole to Iran to deliver earthquake relief supplies. Iran said it prefers that the U.S. proposal be "held in abeyance" because of the current situation on the ground in Iran, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Stephen Davis sat down at his locker, unaware Steve Spurrier had just resigned as coach of the Washington Redskins. When told, he didn't believe it. He checked his cell phone: Eight messages. A sly smile crept across his face for a second. Then someone asked if one of those messages was the Redskins begging him to come back...

BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Ravens' dominance of the Tennessee Titans can be traced to the rivalry within the rivalry: Ray Lewis versus Eddie George. Tennessee (12-4) will be seeking to snap a five-game losing streak against Baltimore (10-6) in a first-round AFC playoff game today. The biggest roadblock in the Titans' trek to the Super Bowl is Lewis, the NFL Defensive Player of the Year and one of the fiercest linebackers in the game...

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Craig Krenzel left college football with another Fiesta Bowl triumph and another MVP award. Ell Roberson's comeback fell one touchdown short in a game many thought he would not play. Krenzel, who finished his Ohio State career 24-3 as a starter, matched his career high with four touchdown passes -- two apiece to Michael Jenkins and Santonio Holmes -- and No. 7 Ohio State held off No. 8 Kansas State 35-28 on Friday night...

ST. LOUIS -- With public meetings and prayer vigils, some opponents in south St. Louis County are challenging proposals for a new casino. "None of us are of the mind-set that casinos or gambling are bad," though prospects of a gambling site not far from a south St. Louis County elementary school aren't acceptable, said Debbie Wirtel, a mother organizing parents opposed to the plan...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Sen. Jim Talent said Friday that state officials have not tapped $72 million in federal education money earmarked for Missouri in the past few years, and that it's still available. But state education officials said that, over time, they will make use of the money...

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration, pressing for the irreversible and verifiable elimination of North Korea's nuclear program, distanced itself Friday from planned visits there by congressional aides and private scientists. White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said that a six-nation effort to address the issue -- which began last August -- is the appropriate forum for such an undertaking...

BRISBANE, Australia -- "Crocodile hunter" Steve Irwin's latest stunt -- hand feeding a large crocodile while holding his infant son -- drew fire from viewers Saturday, a visit by police and the promise of a government investigation. Before a crowd of onlookers at his reptile park in Beerwah, north of Brisbane, Irwin on Friday cradled his month-old son, Robert, under one arm and dangled a piece of chicken from the other hand in front of a 13-foot crocodile...

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Egypt will send its intelligence chief to the Palestinian areas next week in a renewed effort to press militant groups to halt attacks on Israel, Palestinian officials said Friday. The visit by Gen. Omar Suleiman comes amid growing Palestinian concerns that Israel will impose its own borders on the West Bank if peace efforts break down...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghans on both sides of an ugly ethnic divide at the country's constitutional convention said they narrowed their differences during crisis talks with American and U.N. officials Friday. The progress during a one-day break at the loya jirga could avert a complete collapse of the gathering, seen as a historic opportunity to help this war-ravaged nation toward the promise of peace and stability...

BAM, Iran -- Most of the 30 circular guard towers have crumbled into avalanches of dirt, along with parts of the thick, mud-brick walls. The bathhouses, gymnasiums and a Zoroastrian temple that survived for centuries now resemble a moonscape. The earthquake that killed nearly a third of this Iranian city's people last week also devastated its archaeological jewel -- the Arg-e-Bam, or Citadel of Bam, the world's largest mud-brick fortress, parts of which date back 2,200 years...

Libya seeks reward for opening to inspections NEW YORK -- Libya's prime minister said his country wants to be rewarded for opening up to nuclear inspections, and stressed that the United States must lift sanctions by May 12 or his government won't have to pay $6 million to each family of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing victims, according to an interview published Friday. ...

NEW YORK -- Companies are expected to step up hiring in 2004 after a year in which household spending boosted the economy more than business investment, according to a group of economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal. The 54 economists surveyed for the Journal's 2004 economic-forecast report said they thought the unemployment rate could fall to 5.5 percent by November...

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- So where do two of America's newest multimillion-dollar lottery winners eat lunch to celebrate? Try the Steak n Shake. Norman and Deanna Shue went to the burger joint Thursday after finding out they had won half of Wednesday's $221.5 million Powerball jackpot. They wanted to claim the prize but couldn't because state offices were closed for New Year's Day...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A threatened lawsuit over a live "possum drop" to ring in New Year's prompted folks in a mountain town known as the "Opossum Capital of the World" to roll over and use a roadkill replacement. But Brasstown isn't ready to give up on its proudest local tradition...

PASADENA, Calif. -- After a journey of seven months and 303 million miles, a six-wheeled NASA rover will speed like a bullet tonight toward the surface of Mars and, if all goes as planned, stop with a bounce. The plunge through the Martian atmosphere at 12,300 mph will mark the start of the riskiest portion of the voyage thus far...

PASADENA, Calif. -- A NASA spacecraft flew through the bright halo of a distant comet Friday to scoop up less than a thimbleful of dust that could shed light on how our solar system was formed. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said its Stardust spacecraft passed within an estimated 143 miles of the comet Wild 2 as it plowed through the gossamer cloud that cloaks the dirty ball of ice and rock...

MINNEAPOLIS -- Banishment, long regarded as the ultimate punishment among American Indians, is making a comeback among tribes trying to find more effective ways to deal with gangs and drugs. Generations ago, banishment meant casting offenders out and making them fend for themselves in the forest or on the plains...

Several leaks in the roof of the Cape Girardeau Post Office have forced the carrier operation to be moved temporarily to the processing center at 475 Kell Farm Drive. "The leaks in the roof have been causing us some problems," postmaster Michael Keefe said. "We have cases set up and water dripping down, so we've had to move equipment. We don't want mail getting wet."...

Southast Missourian India Jeffery of St. Louis has been appointed student regent at Southeast Missouri State University. Jeffery, who is pursuing a bachelor of science degree in nursing, will replace Laura Hockensmith, whose term on the board of regents has expired. Gov. Bob Holden appointed Jeffery to a one-year term earlier this week. In Missouri, student regents attend board meetings but don't have voting power...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Houston Nutt of Arkansas was offered the coaching job at Nebraska, and the Razorbacks were awaiting his decision. "He's just trying to decide now and weighing all options," Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles said Friday. "I had a nice visit with him and I was kind of encouraged that he might stay."...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- On the day after Christmas, Mary Lizenbee drove to the Breaktime gas station just to get fuel for her vehicle. She received a dollar in change, so she bought a Powerball ticket. Lizenbee now is $100,000 richer. The 62-year-old Chaffee woman matched all five white-ball numbers in the Dec. 27 Powerball drawing. She barely missed the sixth number that would have enabled her to share in the $221.5 million top prize...

The second day of 2004 brought near record-breaking warm temperatures to Southeast Missouri. In Cape Girardeau, where the average temperature on Jan. 2 has been 39.8 over the past five years, the high reached 64. The record high for Jan. 2 in Cape Girardeau was set in 2000, when the temperature reached 69 degrees. ...

By P. Amy MacKinnon ~ From the Christian Science Monitor MARSHFIELD, Mass. -- When I was growing up, the family dinner was a tradition. Above the clatter of plates, my parents discussed the world around us from their perspectives at either end of the great oak table. ...

CINCINNATI -- Jon Kitna's whole career has been about comebacks. Written off in college, he made it to the NFL as an undrafted free agent. He led Seattle to the playoffs, only to lose his job. He came to Cincinnati as a starter and lost his job again...

An after-hours nightclub is back in business this weekend and two brothers face felony charges in the wake of Thursday's early morning fatal shooting outside the Taste in Cape Girardeau. Club operator Patrick Buck said he stood just a foot from the man who shot Anton Shamon Miller in the back while outside the club at 402 Good Hope. The 25-year-old Miller lived at 411 S. Frederick St. in Cape Girardeau...

Star quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Steve McNair reached the individual pinnacle of the NFL on Friday when they shared The Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player award. In just the third tie since the award began in 1957, the premier passers each received 16 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the NFL...

Jackson's boys basketball team may have the longest winning streak in the area at 11, but it is Saxony Lutheran that remains as the lone unbeaten boys team in Southeast Missouri. With a win over Christ Our Savior Lutheran on Saturday, the Crusaders improved to 7-0 in their inaugural varsity season...

FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- Southeast Missouri State University's Indians have already had a few near-misses on the road this season. But Saturday afternoon they finally got over the hump -- thanks to a game-winning shot by Brett Hale with less than one second remaining that lifted the Indians to a thrilling 77-75 victory over Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- After obstetrician Jamie Ulbrich's malpractice insurance carrier stopped doing business in Missouri, the best coverage he and three colleagues at their Marshall clinic could find would have cost them double what they paid in 2003...

Seventeen-year-old Brent Bohn doesn't know what he had for breakfast yesterday, but he knows the exact date his family last ate at Cracker Barrel. He loves watching high school football, and his parents celebrated this year when, for the very first time, he chose to sit next to other students at a game instead of hovering at his father's side...

PHILADELPHIA -- Pete Rose admits in his upcoming autobiography that he gambled on baseball, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Saturday. The newspaper cited an unidentified source who was briefed on the book. The New York Times, citing a source in major league baseball, reported Wednesday that Rose admitted to betting on baseball at a meeting with commissioner Bud Selig...

AARP to meet The Cape Girardeau County Chapter of AARP #4041 will meet at 1:30 p.m. Monday at Grace United Methodist Church in Cape Girardeau. The program, "Senior Learning Opportunities for 2004" will be presented by Beth Mueller, director of the senior learning program at the Hoover Center...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Palm Beach County prosecutors investigating Rush Limbaugh for his prescription drug use have filed "doctor shopping" charges against only one person in the past five years, according to a review of court records. Limbaugh's lawyer said the review by The Palm Beach Post in Saturday's editions offers more evidence that the conservative radio commentator is being unfairly targeted...

For Larry O'Neill, his wife, Becky, their family and their children's guests, the 10th annual St. Francis Indoor Invitational soccer tournament is the last hurrah of Christmas vacation before returning to school on Monday in Marion, Ill. The O'Neills enjoyed a week off with the children and have been staying at the Drury Inn since Friday night. ...

Imagine the winners of tonight's Oklahoma-LSU game leaving the Sugar Bowl waving crooked fingers toward the sky and chanting, "We're No. 1/2." That won't happen, thankfully, but only because the truth-in-advertising laws don't apply to college football. Otherwise, the poor kids wouldn't have a choice...

ROSEMOUNT, Minn. -- If cats have nine lives, then this dog has at least three. A wee dachshund from Rosemount earned the nickname Railroad Joe recently, after running away from owners Tom and Cindy Caruth. The stubby-legged dog took up life on the tracks and made a legend of himself by getting run over by freight trains at least three times in five days -- twice by the same conductor...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- For some, cosmetic tattooing is a way to minimize the morning routine. For others, it is a way to feel better about their appearance. But for men and women who consider getting tattooed, experts recommend careful consideration before going through with the procedure...

ST. LOUIS -- Organizers of St. Louis' New Year's Eve blowout had hopes for a big bash, guessing that 25,000 revelers would take part in the gala featuring a Ferris wheel soaring up more than 11 stories. Oh, how they underestimated. The turnout turned out to be at least twice -- by some accounts, quadruple -- what had been envisioned, packing Forest Park, clogging parking lots and overwhelming shuttles in what already had been billed as the biggest New Year's blowout this river town had ever seen.. ...

Nigeria routs armed Islamic sect; eight killed LAGOS, Nigeria -- Nigeria declared Saturday it had put down an armed uprising by an Islamic movement seeking to create a Muslim state in Africa's most populous nation, after running battles that killed at least eight people. ...

As the saying goes, "They just don't build 'em like they used to." And that is certainly true of the home at 1829 Thilenius in Cape Girardeau. It has the character of a historic home, but the convenience of being located midtown, only minutes from everything Cape Girardeau has to offer...

More Tiger support I JUST wanted to comment on how much I enjoyed the Christmas tournament game between Cape and Jackson. I am a die- hard Central fan, so the loss was very upsetting, but the guys should still be very proud of themselves. I was (as always) impressed with the number of Jackson fans that came out to support their boys. ...

Baseball The Mets reached a preliminary agreement with free-agent reliever Braden Looper on a $6.75 million, two-year contract. The Mets would not confirm the deal Saturday but said they had asked the durable right-hander to take a physical early next week, usually the last step before finalizing a contract. ...

Accident statistics I UNDERSTAND the frustration the people on Dunklin Street are going through. One resident says there are many accidents there, but the police say there have only been eight accidents in the last two years. That's the same thing they told us in our neighborhood when we asked for a reduction in the speed limit. ...

Gary and Mary Hobeck of Jackson announce the engagement of their daughter, Heather Renee Hobeck, to Tommy Lee Tucker. He is the son of Jean Tucker of Zalma, Mo., and Bill Tucker of Springfield, Mo. Hobeck is a 2000 graduate of Jackson High School. She is employed at Southeast Missouri Hospital...

Lynn and Linda Yount of Jackson announce the engagement of their daughter, Courtni Brooke Yount, to Joshua Heath Stephens. He is the son of Jill Collins of Cape Girardeau. Yount is a 1997 graduate of Jackson High School. She is majoring in corporate communications at Southeast Missouri State University. She is employed at Rodney Arnold Homes...

Jim and Marilyn Evans of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Shana Lynn Evans, to Raymond Barnhart Spencer, both of St. Louis. He is the son of Ted and Donna Spencer of Cape Girardeau and Paula and Bake Ottofy of Bland, Mo. Evans attended Southeast Missouri State University...

Nichole Louise Larmie and Jared Peter Snell of St. Louis announce their engagement. She is the daughter of Marilyn Larmie of Cape Girardeau and Ed Larmie of Fairfield, Calif. Snell is the son of Cindy Kerber and Rodger Snell of Cape Girardeau. Larmie is a 2000 graduate of Central High School, and a 2003 graduate of Mineral Area College. She is employed at Gateway in St. Louis...

Arika Britt Lucy and the Rev. Timothy C. Winborne were married June 7, 2003, at First Baptist Church in Jackson. The Rev. Jerry Sullivan of Magee, Miss., performed the ceremony. He was assisted by the Rev. Mary McCord of Sikeston, Mo., aunt of the bride, and the Rev. Richard Britt of Farmington, Mo., grandfather of the bride...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Jessica Lynn Smith and Joshua Paul Hanlon were married July 19, 2003, at St. Ambrose Catholic Church. The Rev. Ralph Duffner performed the ceremony. Lector was Leonard Kirchdoerfer of San Francisco, Calif., uncle of the bride. Organist was Betty Vandeven of Chaffee. ...

Angela Marie Basler and William T. Peters exchanged vows Sept. 13, 2003, at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in St. Louis. The Rev. Michael Esswein performed the ceremony. The bride is the daughter of Robert and Betty Basler of Cape Girardeau. The groom is the son of Hedy Melliere and William and Martha Peters, all of St. Louis...

10 years ago: Jan. 4, 1994 Jackson Realtor unable to fill his office building with tenants has sparked firestorm of protest over his request to change building's zoning to better suit market demands. Jackson police chief Larry Koenig will resign soon to accept new position of personnel director and office manager at Jackson City Hall...

UNIONTOWN, Mo. -- Helen L. Wichern, 79, of Uniontown died Saturday, Jan. 3, 2004, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born on Aug. 7, 1924, at Jacob, Ill., daughter of Gustave and Ida Guetersloh Darnstaedt. She was a retired postmistress. She was a member of Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown, the Grace Ladies Aid, the LWML and the Retired Cheerful Country Doers...

ANNA, Ill. -- Noma Helen Jordan Lancaster, 91, of rural Anna died Saturday, Jan. 3, 2004, at Union County Hospital in Anna. She was born on July 2, 1912, at Mill Creek, Ill., daughter of Henry and Minnie Lingle Jordan. She married Oris Jordan, who died in 1955. She then married Ed Lancaster, who died Jan. 9, 1986...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- S.R. "Wes" Schuchart, 91, of Sikeston died Friday, Jan. 2, 2004, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. He was born May 2, 1912, in Union, Mo., son of Rudolph and Minnie Schuchart. He and Ella M. Heuiser were married on April 23, 1935, in Sikeston. She died April 30, 1999...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Marie C. Modde, 88, of Perryville died Friday, Jan. 2, 2004, at Perry County Nursing Home. She was born Oct. 15, 1915, in Belgique, Mo., daughter of Ernst and Mary Moll Wood. She and Edward L. Modde were married Feb. 13, 1936. He died Oct. 1, 1990...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Madge Miller, 99, of Ullin, formerly of Dongola, died Thursday, Jan. 1, 2004, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born April 23, 1904, daughter of William and Melissa Hill Toler. She and Russell Calvin were married in 1921. Miller worked for eight years for a shoe factory. ...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Faye Lingle Heard, 91, of Hobart, Ind., formerly of Dongola, died Thursday, Jan. 1, 2004, at Miller's Merry Manor in Hobart. She was born Aug. 23, 1912, daughter of Jesse and Anne Clark Lingle. She and Earnest Heard were married May 10, 1943. He died Aug. 27, 1974...

ANNA, Ill. -- Alice Cox, 93, of Anna died Friday, Jan. 2, 2004, at Heartland Health Care in Avon, Ind. She was born Aug. 12, 1910, in Flinthill, Mo., daughter of John and Emma Fritz Grothe. She and Henry Cox were married Dec. 12, 1931. He died May 4, 1974...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Mary Drucilla Hardie, 63, of Reseda, Calif., died Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2003, at North Ridge Hospital in North Ridge, Calif. She was born Sept. 5, 1940, in Poplar Bluff, Mo., daughter of Violet Taylor and Philip May. Hardie had been a health-care provider...

Kathleen Susan Parks, 81, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Jan. 2, 2004, at Life Care Centers of Cape Girardeau. She was born July 18, 1922, in Batesville, Ark., daughter of George W. and Martha M. Ward Turner. Parks was a waitress at Al's Midtown for 26 years. She was a member of the VFW, Eagles, St. Mary Cathedral and the Council of Catholic Women...

Alma Ann Tripp, 82, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, Jan. 3, 2004, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born on April 29, 1921, at Wittenberg, Mo., daughter of Ernest H. and Louise Leine Stueve. She and Ralph Tripp were married Aug. 24, 1945, at St. Louis. He died July 16, 2003...

Otto G. Seabaugh, 89, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Jan. 2, 2004, at Chateau Girardeau Health Center. He was born on Oct. 9, 1914, at Cape Girardeau, son of John Otto and Caroline Sally Green Seabaugh. He and Della Sievers were married June 24, 1967, at Monroe, N.C...

BENTON, Mo. -- Orland J. Bollinger Sr., 87, of Benton died Saturday Jan. 3, 2004, at the home of his son in Benton. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

John W. Henry, 81, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Jan. 2, 2004, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born on March 28, 1922, at McLeansboro, Ill., son of Cornelius and Grace McClimans Henry. He married Guadalupe Vera Ibarro on May 11, 1964, in Mexico City, Mexico...

John W. Henry, 81, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Jan. 2, 2004, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Ford and Sons Funeral Home Sprigg Street Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Saxony Lutheran's boys basketball team improved to 7-0 with a 65-45 win over Christ Our Savior Lutheran on Saturday at St. Vincent High School. The game, which was scheduled to be played at Christ Our Savior in Evansville, Ill., was moved to St. Vincent due to problems with Christ Our Savior's facilities...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- In 1956, Springfield was abuzz with the news that new rock 'n' roll sensation Elvis Presley would be performing at the Shrine Mosque. David Rosen was 11 years old. Rosen ran from his home to the Shrine Mosque to buy his ticket as soon as he heard the news. He went to the show alone, arriving early. When the doors opened, he raced ahead of the crowd, landing a front-row seat...

Like dreams, statistics are a form of wish fulfillment. -- Jean Baudrillard In Illinois, some school officials are having a field day with statistics showing how well their students did on federal math and reading tests....

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education regularly compiles data on how many students are in each of the state's school districts, how much each district spends during a school year and how much each district spends on average for each student...

In the 14th visit to our state of his presidency, President Bush will be in St. Louis Monday for his only Missouri fund raiser of this campaign. Receipts topped the $2 million mark some days ago on the way to what will likely prove the largest and most successful political fund raiser in Missouri history...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Saturday: At 1:01 a.m., a medical assist at 1721 Cape Meadow Circle. At 4:50 a.m., a medical assist at 617 Boxwood. At 11:19 a.m., investigation of an odor at 75 S. Plaza Way. At 2:36 p.m., trash burning at Koch and Herman....

Cape Girardeau The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Thefts Two Missouri license plates were reported stolen Friday at Shawnee Expressway and West End Boulevard. Seven incidents of forgery were reported Friday at 101 S. Mount Auburn Road...

An 18-year-old man was reported shot in the leg early Saturday in the 1700 block of Cape Meadow Circle, Cape Girardeau police said. The victim, who was treated at a local hospital, told police he was assaulted by two unidentified people. Police said the victim wasn't seriously injured in the incident, which occurred at 1:55 a.m...

Three people were injured in two separate accidents in Cape Girardeau County on Friday, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said. Jerran Pasborg, 60, of Cape Girardeau was taken by ambulance to Southeast Missouri Hospital after being injured in a one-vehicle accident at 1:30 p.m. on Cape Girardeau County Road 635...

Otto Seabaugh, a major benefactor of Southeast Missouri State University who -- along with his wife -- helped fund construction of the school's polytechnic building, died Friday in his hometown of Cape Girardeau at the age of 89. University officials praised the charity of Otto Seabaugh and his wife, Della. The Cape Girardeau couple gave more than $1 million to help construct the polytechnic building at Southeast that bears their names. The building was dedicated on Sept. 15, 2001...

Donney Holley of RV America made a $1,000 donation to Toybox in addition to gifts of toys.

Community events planned to honor the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. have been announced. Activities in the following list include both university and community events in Cape Girardeau throughout January. 19th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Breakfast. Doors open at 7:30 a.m., program starts at 8 a.m. Jan. 19 at the Show Me Center...

WASHINGTON -- The nearly empty U.S. Capitol was evacuated Saturday after a sensor detected a possible biohazard in the basement of the building's Senate wing, but the problem turned out to be an industrial solvent. Capitol Police spokeswoman Jessica Gissebel said field tests came up negative for harmful materials. Samples were being sent to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore for further analysis, she said...

Industry expects winter travel to increase WASHINGTON -- The Travel Industry of America is forecasting an increase in winter travel this season. The organization says Americans are expected to take more than 31 million business trips this season and leisure travel is expected to grow by 2 percent...

CAYMAN BRAC -- There's not much reason to go to Cayman Brac. No casinos. Only a few restaurants. Not much shopping. No golf. So what do you do with a week to kill on a Caribbean island with one of the world's best reef systems? S-C-U-B-A. And snorkeling. And hiking, climbing and birding. And the all-important sitting on the beach...

Bill Belichick owns three Super Bowl titles, and after leading the New England Patriots in his best coaching job, he was honored Saturday as The Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year. In a year of masterful coaching throughout the league, Belichick led the Patriots to the NFL's best record, 14-2. The Patriots, fighting off injuries almost from the outset of the schedule, won their final 12 games, setting franchise records for winning streak and victories in one year...

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Neither Mike Holmgren nor the Green Bay Packers have had much success in the playoffs since they parted ways five years ago. Both expect to change that today when the Seattle Seahawks visit Lambeau Field for a NFC wild-card playoff game...

HONOLULU -- Steve McNair, Jamal Lewis and Ray Lewis, all NFL postseason award winners, will start for the AFC in next month's Pro Bowl, joining tight end Tony Gonzalez, offensive tackle William Roaf and fullback Tony Richardson of the Kansas City Chiefs...

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- The Madison County sheriff has shut down the jail's phone system until he can find a way to stop inmates from making random calls. Prisoners, who only can make collect calls, have been dialing numbers at random, trying to convince people who answer to then make costly third-party calls to the prisoners' friends or relatives...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A suburban Kansas City man whose late wife received diluted cancer drugs from pharmacist Robert Courtney has sued the law firms that spearheaded a $73 million settlement with two drug companies. The lawsuit filed by Jerome S. Tilzer, of Leawood, Kan., alleges that the law firms intimidated them into agreeing to the settlement, failed to pursue their claims competently and diligently, and engaged in conflicts of interest and self-dealing...

ST. LOUIS -- Underscoring Missouri's importance in national politics, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton stumped Saturday for Nancy Farmer in the state treasurer's quest to unseat Republican Sen. Kit Bond and perhaps help Democrats wrest back control of the Senate...

NEW BERLIN, Ill. -- From the Lucky Strikes he puffs to his relentless stalking of the front-page story, Jake Brosky is the epitome of the hard-nosed newspaper reporter of the 1950s. Brosky is as brash as his creator, author Taylor Pensoneau, is soft-spoken. ...

Take the words "Elvis" and "fashion" and put them together, and unfashionable images might spring to mind: white jumpsuits, loud polyester prints or the divinely tacky decor of Graceland, the King's home. Blame the 1970s, not Elvis Presley, says Julie Mundy, who wrote "Elvis Fashion" with the cooperation of Graceland...

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt -- A charter jet full of French tourists returning home from Egyptian vacations crashed into the shark-infested Red Sea early Saturday, killing all 148 people aboard. Officials blamed mechanical failure. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said the crash, which came as nations heightened security at airports and canceled flights because of terror threats, was "not related to any terrorist act."...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Terrorism, free trade and fighting poverty top the agenda at a South Asian summit today, but attention will be focused on the sidelines, where Pakistani and Indian leaders have a historic opportunity to cement peace overtures after a half-century of hatred...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Insurgents hit a U.S. base in central Iraq with mortar shells, killing one American soldier and wounding two others, the military said Saturday. In a separate attack, rebels set off a bomb and opened fire on a U.S. convoy in Baghdad, killing two soldiers and wounding three...

LOS ANGELES -- If "Sex and the City" puts its fans in the mood for anything these days, it might just be a good cry. The final episodes of HBO's series about four high-flying New York women start airing 8 p.m. today, and after that it's goodbye to Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha...

NEW YORK -- A few months ago, reporter Diane Dimond told Court TV chairman Henry Schleiff that she was working on a great story and would need him to commit money and manpower to help dig it out. But even in the privacy of his office, she wouldn't tell Schleiff what the story was...

LOS ANGELES -- Iranian-American groups have raised more than $1 million to help victims of last week's deadly earthquake in Iran, money that some hope will improve relations between the countries. "I am hoping out of this to have a new relationship going on between the United States and the Iranian government," said Reza Dehbozorgi, head of the Iranian Professionals Association of South Florida...

AUSTIN, Texas -- After nearly a quarter-century as one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress, Texas Rep. Ralph Hall switched parties to become a Republican and said he expects support from the White House. He said he's known President Bush since he was a young boy. "He's a godly man. He's a Texan and he was the governor and he's our friend," Hall told The Associated Press Friday...

NEW YORK -- The city's 400th bank robbery of 2003 required no safecracking. No hostage-taking. Not even a drawn gun. The robber simply walked into an HSBC branch in Manhattan on Tuesday, produced a threatening note demanding money and left with an undisclosed amount of cash...

TAMPA, Fla. -- Elvis is having a little trouble with the refrigerator door today. The 6-month-old golden retriever keeps at it, though, tugging on a towel tied to the handle until he finally gets the door ajar. Once inside he grabs a plastic cereal bowl in his teeth from one of the shelves and deposits it on a desk across the room. Next, he opens a drawer to hunt for a spoon...

DENVER -- A winter storm that brought up to 3 feet of snow to parts of Colorado's high country Saturday was blamed for a fatal plane crash and an avalanche that temporarily shut down Vail Pass. A twin-engine plane trying to land in heavy snow crashed less than a quarter-mile from the runway at Cortez-Montezuma County Airport in southwestern Colorado, reported the Montezuma County Sheriff's Office. ...

BEDFORD, Ky. -- Political newcomer Nick Clooney needed no introduction as he shook hands with people hunched over steaming breakfast plates at the Farmhouse restaurant. The 69-year-old congressional candidate has instant recognition in northern Kentucky from his days as a Cincinnati television news anchor...

Theron shares tips on how to gain weight NEW YORK -- Charlize Theron, who modeled before becoming an actress, was a model of how not to eat in preparation for the movie "Monster." Theron gained 30 pounds to play Aileen Wuornos, the Florida prostitute-turned-serial-killer. Theron said her diet consisted "mainly of Krispy Kreme doughnuts and anything that was swimming in cream or had cheese on top of it."...

I missed the final day of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament because of a road trip with Southeast Missouri State University's basketball team. But watching most of the first three days of action at the Show Me Center left me with quite a few strong impressions of the 16-team event...

ST. LOUIS -- Vesa Toskala has learned to make the most of his opportunities. The San Jose Sharks' backup goalie, who had not played since losing in St. Louis 4-2 on Dec. 18, turned the tables on the Blues, making 25 saves to lead the Sharks to a 3-1 victory Saturday night...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A couple of changes in the starting lineup got the attention of No. 23 Missouri. Coach Quin Snyder shook up the status quo, leaving Arthur Johnson and Josh Kroenke on the bench for the opening tipoff, and it shook up the rest of the roster in a 76-56 victory over Iowa on Saturday. Linas Kleiza matched his career best with 18 points, including seven in a 2 1/2-minute stretch of the second half, to help Missouri pull away...

National Guard soldiers in Southeast Missouri and their families gathered Saturday for ceremonial goodbyes in a crowded A.C. Brase Arena Building in Cape Girardeau. The private goodbyes will come before 3 a.m. Tuesday when the soldiers of the 1140th Engineer Battalion leave for up to 18 months of active duty, most of it expected to be in Iraq or elsewhere in the Middle East...

WASHINGTON -- Authorities were concerned with terrorism threats in the air and on the ground Saturday. The British government delayed a London-to-Washington flight for three hours and U.S. officials monitored heavily secured stadiums hosting the first round of football playoffs...

BALTIMORE -- With one gritty victory, the Tennessee Titans ended a run of misery against Baltimore and kept alive their hope of returning to the Super Bowl. NFL career scoring leader Gary Anderson kicked a 46-yard field goal with 29 seconds left after a courageous effort by a limping Steve McNair, giving the Titans a 20-17 victory Saturday in a first-round playoff game...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Jake Delhomme could throw, Stephen Davis could run and nothing Bill Parcells and the Dallas Cowboys tried could stop them. Delhomme threw for 273 yards and a touchdown, Davis ran for 104 yards and a score and the Carolina Panthers ended the Parcells-led turnaround in Dallas with a 29-10 victory over the Cowboys in the first round of the NFL playoffs Saturday night...

BAM, Iran -- Iranian rescue workers pulled a 97-year-old woman from the rubble Saturday, nine days after an earthquake razed this city. U.N. officials warned many survivors were suffering psychological disorders as the confirmed death toll rose to 29,700...

PASADENA, Calif. -- A NASA rover plunged through the atmosphere of Mars and bounced down upon its rocky surface Saturday night, beginning a mission to roam the Red Planet in search of evidence that it was once suitable for life. A cheer went up at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory after signals showed the spacecraft had successfully reached Mars...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- With another round of state budget problems and the return of some high-profile bills previously stopped by gubernatorial veto, Missouri's 2004 legislative session in many respects will be a replay of last year's edition. A major difference is this time around the political stakes are significantly higher...

Given the impressive career he had at Dexter High School, it's almost hard to believe that Southeast Missouri State University junior guard Brett Hale had never before hit a game-winning shot. But Hale said the leaning 15-footer he rolled in to beat host Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne 77-75 Saturday afternoon was indeed the first such moment of his career -- as far as he can recall...

WASHINGTON -- Bill Linski was lying down watching television when he felt as if something in his chest was being ripped apart. It was. The largest artery in Linski's body, the aorta, was splitting. It took a major operation to keep him together, and his surgeon thinks Linski's weight training triggered his brush with death...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- On Tuesday, an attorney representing 229 Missouri school districts plans to file a long-expected lawsuit challenging the way the state funds public schools. His plaintiffs will include school officials, students, parents and taxpayers. And his claim will be twofold -- that Missouri fails to provide enough money to schools, and that the money it does provide is handed out unfairly...

WASHINGTON -- Meat chili. It's what's for lunch today when the 650 students of the Reardan-Edwall School District in eastern Washington state return to class. The district is about a 90-minute drive from the Moses Lake plant where a Holstein infected with mad cow disease was slaughtered. News of that first mad cow case in the United States broke Dec. 23 when many of the nation's schools were on break...

Area retailers, boosted by last-minute and post-Christmas spending and the increased use of gift cards, posted a bigger holiday season than last year while many U.S. retailers probably had their best season in at least four years. Sales at U.S. stores open at least a year rose about 4 percent in November and December from the same period a year ago, the largest gain since 5.4 percent in 1999, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers...

MADISON, Wis. -- A storm that brought whiteout conditions to Wisconsin was blamed for two freeway pileups involving more than 50 vehicles Sunday, authorities said. The storm also forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights in Chicago. The afternoon accidents on the east side of Madison on Interstate 90 occurred after snow had severely reduced visibility, said Kevin Fosso, a Dane County public safety dispatcher supervisor...

With the start of the new year, Missouri Korean War veterans may now apply for the Korean War medal, medallion and certificate. The program, created last fall, was modeled after the World War II Veterans' Award Recognition Program. Veterans must have served on active duty in a U.S. military force any time from June 27, 1950, to Jan. 31, 1955, and have been honorably discharged from military service, unless they are still in active service in an honorable status, according to the legislation...

Name: Anne Foust Lives in: Cape Girardeau Family: My husband, Byron, and I have lived here 38 years. We have a daughter who teaches third grade in Memphis. Job: I have an interior plant service, Green Gardens...

A final vote on the Newcomer's Club name change will be held at the 11:30 a.m. meeting on Wednesday. Activities of the Newcomer's Club's subgroups for January include: the Book Club will meet at Barnes & Noble at 7 p.m. Jan. 26, with "The DaVinci Code" by Dan Brown up for discussion; the Lunch Bunch will meet at the Phoenician Restaurant at 11:30 a.m. Jan. 12; members will have coffee at Tracy's Place in Jackson at 9:30 a.m. Jan. 23...

Private finishes training with National Guard Pvt. Matthew R. Cotner recently completed 18 weeks of basic training and advanced individual training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., with Bravo Company, 787th Military Police Battalion, 1st Platoon. Cotner is with the 1137th Military Police Company of the Missouri National Guard in Kennett, Mo. He is the son of Ron and Karen Cotner of Cape Girardeau...

I didn't watch the Sugar Bowl game Sunday night. I didn't need to. I watched USC demolish Michigan on Thursday. The decisive victory by the Trojans soured the significance of Sunday night's Sugar Bowl, because as long as USC doesn't slip from its No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press poll, it will have a share of the national championship...

NEW ORLEANS -- Conceding "we made a mistake," the head of the BCS said an NCAA basketball tournament-style committee might become part of the selection process next season -- reducing the possibility of a split national championship in football. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese said Sunday that several changes could be discussed in the coming months, from the elimination of computers as a selection factor to adding an extra Bowl Championship Series game...

What will happen on the local business scene in 2004? A few local business leaders offered me some predictions last week, on subjects ranging from new retail developments to the state of the economy. Take them for what they're worth -- which is a whole lot more than if they were coming from me. (In the past, I invested in Enron and WorldCom and once predicted that Sears would move to the mall. No Nostradamus, I.)...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- The departure of the 500 members of the 1140th Missouri National Guard Engineer Battalion will affect many families in Southeast Missouri, but it will be especially hard for the Meyer family of Apple Creek, Mo. Dolores and Paul Meyer have three sons who will be leaving with Company B for the Middle East Tuesday morning: John, 26, and 20-year-old twins Patrick and Michael...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- The Perry Park Center in Perryville was packed Sunday afternoon as members of the community came out to give their best wishes to the Missouri National Guard 1140th Engineer Battalion Company B before it departs for the Middle East early Tuesday morning...

A state-imposed fee applied to automobile tire purchases expired Thursday and the Department of Natural Resources says the loss of revenue could pose health risks to the public. The department is already launching a campaign for the 2004 legislative session to reinstate what the fee funded, a program that enforced state laws on tire disposal, cleaned up illegal tire piles and provided incentives for schools and communities to use shredded tires for playground surfaces...

ST. LOUIS -- A more potent form of heroin apparently has made inroads into the St. Louis area, according to federal authorities, who are worried the drug's increased use could increase violence and the number of addicts, particularly young ones. Officials say the switch from black tar heroin from Mexico to so-called white heroin from Afghanistan and southwest Asia comes as use of the drug in St. Louis is growing, apparently spreading to younger addicts...

Fed: Conditions ripe to keep interest rates low WASHINGTON -- With inflation tame and the fragile job market healing, the Federal Reserve has room to hold a main short-term interest rate near rock-bottom levels for some time, a Fed policy-maker said Sunday. ...

NEW YORK -- On a cold December morning, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has just finished breakfast at a diner and is heading for work at city hall. A taxi driver spots him on the sidewalk and leans out the window. "Bloomberg, way to go! Great job!" As he tells the story, the mayor is clearly delighted by the spontaneous show of support, but at the halfway point of his four-year term, the cab driver's compliment has become a rare affirmation for the Republican mayor in a city that has grown restless during his watch.. ...

RICHMOND, Va. -- What do Britney Spears, the United Methodist Church, the St. Louis Rams and Hallmark Cards have in common? They're among the hundreds of celebrities, organizations and companies on the National Rifle Association's roster of entities that it considers hostile to gun-ownership rights...

EATONTON, Ga. -- After months of protests by followers dressed as Egyptian pharaohs, mummies and birds, the leader of a quasi-religious cult is headed to trial today on charges he molested young followers. Dwight "Malachi" York leads the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, a mostly black sect whose neo-Egyptian compound on a Georgia farm includes pyramid-like structures. ...

Still struggling with money worries, state lawmakers head back to work to deal with some tricky problems -- Medicaid cuts, higher education funding, and whether to allow more gambling among them. Finding solutions will be tough, and made that much harder by lawmakers keeping one eye on fall elections...

Tammy Faye helps raise funds for AIDS services DURHAM, N.C. -- A "drag bingo" event hosted by Tammy Faye Messner drew about 700 people to raise money for Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina. The former Tammy Faye Bakker said she was one of the first women to speak out about caring for people with AIDS when she was on the "The PTL Club" television show with her ex-husband in the 1980s. ...

CHICAGO -- Every day, nearly one-third of U.S. children aged 4 to 19 eat fast food, which likely packs on about six extra pounds per child per year and increases the risk of obesity, a study of 6,212 youngsters found. The numbers, though alarming, are not surprising since billions of dollars are spent each year on fast-food advertising directed at kids, said lead author Dr. David Ludwig, director of the obesity program at Children's Hospital Boston...

LIPOVICA, Serbia-Montenegro -- NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo have found a welcome distraction from their difficult daily routine -- Bubble and Trouble. Every Sunday, dozens of peacekeepers come to frolic and tumble with the two baby bears who were rescued by an American after hunters killed their mother last March...

SIALKOT, Pakistan -- The British Raj is history and Pakistan is half way round the world from Scotland, but in the bazaars and alleys of Sialkot the pulse of the Highlands beats -- or rather drones -- on. This dusty city in eastern Pakistan is home to four generations of bagpipe makers, who once kitted out Scottish regiments in what was part of Britain's India colony and now sell to piping enthusiasts around the world...

GOTEBORG, Sweden -- Inside a waterfront factory soaked with the acrid smell of tobacco, about half the blue-clad workers show an odd facial deformity: Their upper lips look swollen. It's a telltale sign they are sampling some of the 20 tons of smokeless tobacco being produced here daily...

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia -- It's a sleepy Sunday morning, and the quiet of a field behind the capital's high-rises is interrupted only by the beeps of a metal detector and the occasional thumps of a hoe. For Jan Babincak, the day of rest is an opportunity to look for the missing numerical identification of a U.S. warplane that crashed in the field during World War II...

PARIS -- The Fouchard family, returning from vacation under the Egyptian sun, was all but wiped out, with 11 dead. The Normandy village of Formigny, meanwhile, lost its mayor, killed along with his wife and three children. Across France, families and communities were mourning Sunday for the 133 French victims of Flash Airlines flight FSH604, which crashed off the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik on Saturday, killing all 148 people on board...

BASRA, Iraq -- The occupation of Iraq is entering a critical stage, with just six months to restore order ahead of the return to self-rule, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Sunday. His top envoy warned insurgents are growing more sophisticated and planning bigger attacks...

REPUBLIC, Mo. -- Forget about the stitching machine that lines the length of her family room wall. Never mind the two sewing machines that sit side by side or the piles of fabric squares scattered from one side of her house to the other. Maggie Jones still considers herself and her two closest friends quilting "greenhorns" -- combined total experience: two years, four months...

SUNSET HILLS, Mo. -- A man who disrupted services at a suburban St. Louis church Sunday after claiming he was Jesus later drove a car into the building's lobby doors, witnesses and police said. No one was injured. Life Christian Center pastor Rick Shelton told St. ...

Baseball Javier Vazquez and the New York Yankees were close to agreement Sunday on a $45 million, four-year contract. The 27-year-old right-hander, acquired from Montreal on Dec. 4, is eligible for free agency after next season, and the Yankees wanted a multiyear contract. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and Vazquez's agents, Sam and Seth Levinson, were working Sunday on finalizing the deal...

NEW ORLEANS -- There's no question who's No. 1 to the thousands of purple-and-gold partyers in tiger stripes who packed the Superdome and Bourbon Street. That LSU likely will have to share the national title hardly matters. By holding off Heisman Trophy winner Jason White and Oklahoma 21-14 at the very end Sunday night in the Sugar Bowl, these Tigers certainly proved they belonged in the Bowl Championship Series finale...

WASHINGTON -- Still energized by the capture of Saddam Hussein and signs of an economic rebound, President Bush begins the 10-month countdown to Election Day with the nation under a high terror alert and his job performance under criticism from Democrats who want to sit in the Oval Office...

WASHINGTON -- Extra security checks again delayed a British Airways flight to Washington Dulles International Airport on Sunday as the United States entered a third consecutive week on a high state of alert for terrorists. As the number of cancellations and delays mounted, the chairman and ranking Democrat on a key House committee endorsed a rapid assessment to plug gaps in U.S. defenses against terror attacks...

Tehran: 'Time is not ripe' for U.S. delegation to visit TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran rebuffed Washington's suggestion that a high-profile U.S. delegation fly in with earthquake relief, saying Sunday the time "is not ripe" for such an exchange -- which could be seen as a sign of smoother ties between the two. ...

Today, 7 p.m. City Hall, 401 Independence Study session at 5 p.m. Public Hearings A public hearing regarding the request of Gwenn Freitag to rezone 2984 County Road 620, currently in the process of annexation into the city limits of Cape Girardeau, from R-1, single family dwelling district, to C-2, general commercial district...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded Saturday to the following items: At 10 p.m., emergency medical service at 825 N. Fountain. At 10:10 p.m., a natural gas leak at 2700 Bloomfield. Firefighters responded Sunday to the following items: At 2:53 a.m., emergency medical service at 338 Broadway...

Cape Girardeau The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Assaults A suspect was in custody Saturday pending formal charges for domestic assault. Chad Phillips, 1920 Monterey, and Roberta Phillips, 1920 Monterey, both of Cape Girardeau were issued summonses Saturday on suspicion of assault...

No surprise I READ in the paper where Cape Girardeau lost the Trex Co. site to Mississippi. That is no surprise when all you read and hear is that Cape Girardeau is going broke. Is that truly a surprise? Those bad laws IF WIDESPREAD flouting of immigration laws is justified because they are "bad laws," does widespread running of red lights mean that stoplights are bad?...

10 years ago: Jan. 5, 1994 Some major changes have been announced for Coca-Cola Bottling Co.'s operations in Southeast Missouri following purchase of local plants by Coca-Cola Enterprise of Atlanta, Ga. Incumbent Pat Ruopp yesterday filed for fifth term on Cape Girardeau Board of Education, only candidate to do so on opening day of filings...

ZALMA, Mo. -- Nancy "Grace" Ladd, 65, of Zalma died Sunday, Jan. 4, 2004, at the Monticello House in Jackson. She was born July 23, 1938, in Bollinger County, Mo., the daughter of the late Emmett "Pete" and Elizabeth "Bess" McHaney Nall. She married James Ladd on May 3, 1958, at Glennon, Mo...

Helena Paulina Cracraft, 88, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Jan. 4, 2004, at Kindred Hospital in St. Louis. She was born July 3, 1915. Arrangements are pending with Ford and Sons Funeral Home.

Ronnie "Bucky" L. Barks, 45, of Jackson died Saturday, Jan. 3, 2004, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born May 14, 1958, at Cape Girar-deau, son of the late Eugene and Theola Brown Barks. He and Tina Perdue were married Feb. 11, 1999...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Howard E. King, 87, of Cairo died Saturday, Jan. 3, 2004, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, Mo. He was born May 13, 1916, at Gill, Ark., son of the late George and Grace Simmons King. He married Zita Johnson...

ANNA, Ill. -- Clarence Pulliam, 95, of Anna died Sunday, Jan. 4, 2004, at Jonesboro Health Care in Jonesboro, Ill. Arrangements are pending at Crain Funeral Home in Anna.

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- William Joseph Staffen, 76, of Perryville, Mo., formerly of Farmington, Mo., died Saturday, Jan. 3, 2004. He was born Dec. 7, 1927, at Libertyville, Mo., son of the late Eddie and Rose Steffan Staffen. Staffen served in the U.S. Army in World War II. He owned and operated D and B Concrete Finishers and worked throughout the state of Missouri for many years...

ANNA, Ill. -- Hazel Marie Gawenda, 75, of Lake of Egypt, Creal Springs, Ill., died Sunday, Jan. 4, 2004, at her home. She was born June 12, 1928, at Chicago, daughter of Joseph and Edna Kalat Miller Sr. She and Alex J. Gawenda Sr., were married on Feb. 8, 1947, at Chicago. He died on April 1, 1999...

TAMMS, Ill. -- James "Jay" C. Morse, 74, of Dorsey, Ill., died Sunday, Dec. 28, 2003, at his residence. He was born May 25, 1929, in Powe, Mo., son of the late Allen and Myrtle Whitehead Morse. He and Norma Holshouser were married Sept. 4, 1960, at Wood River, Ill...

BENTON, Mo. -- Orland James Bollinger Sr., 87, of Benton died Saturday, Jan. 3, 2004, at his son's home in Benton. He was born July 4, 1916, at Benton, son of Theodore and Rosa Vogel Bollinger. He and Mary Jane Brock were married Aug. 31, 1941, at Benton...

To the editor: While most of the residents of this area were spending this Christmas season decorating their homes and lawns with a variety of ornaments and lights, the members of the Cpl. Mason O. Yarbrough Detachment of the Marine Corps League were busy planning, collecting and organization the annual Toys for Tots drive. We want to report the success of this year's drive and thank everyone for their support...

With the new year comes a new federal law regarding all that spam -- unwanted e-mail -- that fills the in-boxes of most typical computers hooked to the Internet. The new Can-Spam Act has been called an anti-spam law, but in reality it is unlikely to cut down on anyone's e-mail trash. ...

Women in agriculture group meets Thursday The next meeting of Scott County Women in Agriculture will be at 7 p.m. Thursday at the USDA Office, Highway 77, Benton, Mo. Della Hubbard of Farm Credit Services will speak on crop insurance. For more information, call Kay Dover at the USDA Center at (573) 545-9027. The organization's goal is to educate others about agriculture...

CAPE GIRARDEAU SCHOOL BOARD Special Meeting 6 p.m. today at 301 N. Clark St. On the agenda: Recommendations for budget reduction

INDIANAPOLIS -- Peyton Manning saw Marvin Harrison fall to the turf after a 16-yard catch and was getting ready to huddle for the next play. "All of a sudden, I see Marvin sprinting for the end zone," Manning said. "When something like that happens, it tells you maybe it's going to be your day."...

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Al Harris never got a chance for a Lambeau Leap. By the time he thought about it, he was buried under an avalanche of teammates. His long dreadlocks flapping outside his helmet in the frigid wind, Harris streamed down the sideline with a 52-yard interception return in overtime. That touchdown lifted the Green Bay Packers past the Seattle Seahawks 33-27 Sunday in a first-round NFC playoff game...

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Lindsay Harding dribbled nearly the length of the court unimpeded, slicing through Connecticut's defense. Looking up, the speedy Duke guard whipped a pass to Jessica Foley on the right wing. Before a defender could thwart things, Foley let fly a 3-pointer at the buzzer that gave Duke a 68-67 upset of the top-ranked Huskies, ending UConn's 69-game home winning streak...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri coach Quin Snyder's lineup shake-up brought the desired result, and he threatened to do it again if it'll keep his team on track. The No. 23 Tigers (5-4) ended a puzzling three-game losing streak in which they fell behind by 21 points to Illinois, by 15 to Memphis and 10 to Belmont, then staged furious rallies that fell just short, with a dominating 76-56 victory over Iowa on Saturday. ...

J.B. FORBES * St. Louis Post-Dispatch Maria Tanqua, 24, left, sat with her mother, Domingas Laura Nassar, 45, in St. Louis. Tanqua recalls the phone call she received recently from the Red Cross asking her if she knew Domingas Tangua, which was her mother's name before she got married. ...

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- Wherever life and politics took him, there was one constant for Harry S. Truman: Bess Wallace, the childhood sweetheart who became his wife and eventually the first lady of the United States. Now, the thousands of letters that Truman wrote to Bess throughout their lives have been put to use in a new, permanent exhibition at the Truman Presidential Museum & Library...

CAIRO, Egypt -- The Al-Jazeera satellite channel broadcast an audiotape Sunday purportedly from al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, in which he urged Muslims to continue fighting a holy war in Iraq and the Middle East rather than cooperate with peace efforts...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghans approved a new constitution on Sunday, embracing a deal shaped in three weeks of rancorous debate as a chance to cement a fragile peace and push ahead with reconstruction two years after a U.S.-led coalition ousted the Taliban regime...

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Three days after he was diagnosed with liver cancer, Lin Wen-piao mixed a deadly dose of pesticide with milk and yogurt and fed it to his young son and two daughters before drinking some of the mixture himself. Splashed across the island's front pages, their deaths late last year shocked Taiwanese. ...

NEW YORK -- The recording industry's legal onslaught against Internet song-swappers appears to be having its desired effect. The percentage of Americans who download music online has been sliced in half, according to a report released Sunday. Fourteen percent of Internet users surveyed from Nov. 18 to Dec. 14 said they sometimes download songs to their computers, according to the report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project and comScore Media Metrix, a Web tracking firm...

JOHNSTON, Iowa -- In a feisty, first debate of the election year, Howard Dean drew fire from fellow Democrats on Sunday over trade, terror, taxes and more, then calmly dismissed his rivals as "co-opted by the agenda of George Bush." "I opposed the Iraq war when everyone else up here was for it," said the former Vermont governor, invoking the issue that helped fuel his 2003 transformation from asterisk in the polls to front-runner...

ANAPRA, Mexico -- Ten years ago, the border slum of Anapra was a sea of shacks made of packing crates and car parts. Families stored scarce water in discarded industrial drums, and illegal electricity hookups started fires and sometimes electrocuted residents...

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- He's been a pre-eminent forensic anthropologist for half a century. His research facility inspired Patricia Cornwell's bestseller, "Body Farm." And his triumphs include identifying the remains of the Lindbergh baby. But at 75, Dr. Bill Bass, a semiretired University of Tennessee professor emeritus, still gets an adrenaline rush from a fresh encounter with an unidentified corpse...

WASHINGTON -- Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan defended himself over the weekend against a criticism of his tenure, saying policy-makers would have damaged the economy in the late 1990s had they tried to burst that era's speculative stock market bubble...

NEW YORK -- We all make mistakes with our money, but identifying those mistakes can be the first step toward correcting them. Here are some ways experts believe consumers go wrong -- and their advice for staying out of trouble: Savings Don M. Blandin, president of the nonprofit American Savings Education Council in Washington, D.C., believes the biggest mistake workers make is cashing in their 401(k) retirement accounts when they change employers...

DON FRAZIER * dfrazier@semissourian.com Brothers Patrick Meyer, John Meyer and Michael Meyer said their goodbyes to friends and family during Army National Guard deployment ceremonies held Sunday at the Perry Park Center in Perryville, Mo. John Meyer's wife, Tasha, left, and their 8-month-old son, Caleb, were at the ceremony.By Mike Wells ~ Southeast Missourian...

PASADENA, Calif. -- Thrilled by the apparently flawless landing of the Spirit rover on Mars, NASA scientists pored over photos and other information, awaited a stream of even more tantalizing data and worked on the days-long process of getting the robot ready to roll...

Associated Press Writer JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- An attorney for more than two hundred school districts filed a long-expected lawsuit Tuesday challenging the way the state distributes money to public schools. The school districts claim the funding formula does not provide enough money for schools and does not distribute the money fairly...

Don't cut a band director. Don't cut teachers. Don't cut counselors. Don't charge a student activity fee. Sell the board office. Cut administrators. Take fewer athletic trips. Shorten the school year. These were some of the suggestions the Cape Girardeau School Board received from a crowd of about 170 district patrons at a special meeting Monday night...

SEOUL, South Korea -- Talks on ending the North Korean nuclear crisis hung in limbo Monday: North Korea blamed the impasse on Washington's demand for disarmament, and South Korea and Russia said it was unlikely a new round of six-nation negotiations could open this month...

NEW YORK -- Now the wait begins. Pete Rose hopes baseball will end his lifetime ban after his first public acknowledgment he bet on games while managing the Cincinnati Reds. The admission in "My Prison Without Bars," his autobiography due out Thursday, will be part of the evidence in Rose's case for reinstatement, commissioner Bud Selig's chief deputy, Bob DuPuy, said Monday...

ST. LOUIS -- Dwayne Roloson gave up a goal in the opening minute, then shut out the St. Louis Blues the rest of the way to help the Minnesota Wild earn a 1-1 tie Monday night. Mark Rycroft scored at the 29-second mark of the first period for the Blues and Andrei Zyuzin tied it midway through the second period. The rest was all goaltenders as Roloson and Chris Osgood of St. Louis made 23 saves apiece...

BEIJING -- China on Monday confirmed its first SARS case since an outbreak of the disease was contained in July, and authorities ordered an emergency slaughter of civet cats and other species thought linked to SARS' transmission be completed by the end of the week...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Consolidating some state offices, switching from rented to state-owned property and getting rid of extra parking and warehouse space should save the state $1 million a year in rental costs, Gov. Bob Holden said Monday. The Office of Administration has worked to move several state offices spread around an area into one building and to use office space in state-owned or leased buildings rather than renting space. ...

ST. LOUIS -- The bad taste is almost gone from the St. Louis Rams' loss to the Lions in the regular-season finale. The NFC West champions got a week to mull over the upset that knocked them out of home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, and they returned to work for a practice walkthrough on Monday refreshed...

CHICAGO -- Teenagers in the United States have higher rates of obesity than those in 14 other industrialized countries, including France and Germany, a study of nearly 30,000 youngsters ages 13 and 15 found. Among American 15-year-olds, 15 percent of girls and nearly 14 percent of boys were obese, and 31 percent of girls and 28 percent of boys were more modestly overweight...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Republican Secretary of State Matt Blunt plans to make official next week what has been assumed for months -- that he is running for governor. Blunt's campaign has booked a gymnasium for Jan. 14 at Strafford High School for what his campaign describes generally as "a major announcement."...

A divided Cape Girardeau City Council voted Monday to put a quarter-cent fire sales tax on the April 6 ballot. The vote was 6-1 to seek voter approval of a permanent tax. Councilman Jay Purcell voted against putting the issue on the ballot, saying he first wanted a commitment from city officials to cut nonessential services to help balance the budget in future years...

WASHINGTON -- For all the worry mad cow disease is generating, it's just one in a family of 10 diseases discovered so far -- five in animals, five in humans -- that are arguably medicine's most mystifying maladies. Most so-called prion diseases are incredibly rare in this country, although one has spread into deer and elk herds in at least 12 states, sparking concern about contaminated game meat...

WASHINGTON -- U.S. agriculture officials have decided to kill 450 calves in a Washington state herd that includes an offspring of the cow diagnosed with mad cow disease. Ron DeHaven, the Agriculture Department's chief veterinarian, said Monday that the month-old calves would be slaughtered this week at an undisclosed facility that is not being used for processing...

An offer we shouldn't refuse! In a recent interview in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Walter Metcalf, chairman of the Bryan Cave law firm in St. Louis and future chairman of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, made an offer to Missouri's legislative leaders -- state Sen. Peter Kinder, president pro tem of the Senate, and state Rep. Catherine Hanaway, speaker of the House -- as well as Gov. Bob Holden...

Restrict divorces WHY DOESN'T state Rep. Jason Crowell propose a constitutional amendment to eliminate no-fault divorce in support of the family? Time for a break EVERYBODY IS growling and griping about state employees getting an extra holiday. They haven't gotten a pay raise in two years. It's about time they got a break...

ACTs, MAPs and SATs are all glorious things we must encounter while in high school. Boy, I sure do love them. They bring back such good memories of ... oh, wait. There are none. There are memories, however. Like the times I wanted to stab myself in the heart with my pencil. ...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The international space station is experiencing a slow, steady drop in air pressure, and American and Russian flight controllers are investigating possible causes. Mission Control notified astronaut Michael Foale and cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri about the leak just before their bedtime late Monday afternoon...

LOS ANGELES -- Coach Pete Carroll promised the USC Trojans will remain humble in their reign as The Associated Press' national champion -- humble and hungry. "How do you top this? How about doing it again a couple times?" a jubilant Carroll said Monday morning after he was presented The AP's championship trophy...

Residents of a quiet city street and the local police department are trying to figure out how 16 dead geese and ducks ended up in the front yard of a home in the northern part of Cape Girardeau early Monday morning. The Cape Girardeau Police Department responded Monday to a call from a residence near the intersection of Greenbrier and Chesapeake about the discovery of snow geese and mallard duck carcasses in a yard...

The operator of the Taste after-hours club in Cape Girardeau defended his business Monday night after a handful of residents asked the Cape Girardeau City Council to shut down his popular gathering spot. It has been five days since a 25-year-old Cape Girardeau man was shot to death outside the Taste at 402 Good Hope St. ...

As two Illinois brothers appeared in court via a computer video broadcast from jail Monday afternoon, investigators scoured the downtown riverfront looking for the gun used to kill Anton Shamon Miller outside the Taste club on Good Hope Street early Thursday morning...

Somebody wants to be you. With just a few bits of information -- a Social Security number, bank account or credit card numbers or even just your birth date -- a thief can ruin your finances or possibly get you arrested. Identity theft isn't new, but it appears to be a growing problem. It has affected 27.3 million Americans in the last five years, according to a recent survey by the Federal Trade Commission. Victims can spend months or years repairing the damage to credit or reputations...

Mary Vinson's morning visitors at Bull Run Elementary School in Centreville, Va., walked in with a bloody nose, a lost tooth, a sore throat and a tender hip. Then came the case of the conk on the head. After a tower of plastic cubes came crashing down on 9-year-old Cal Meunier in class, two buddies escorted him to see Vinson, the school's clinic room aide. She gave him an ice pack, told him to rest on the only available cot and shifted attention to other students...

It's hard to summarize a half century of life. Traveling down memory lane gets harder the older you get. I turned the Big 5-0 on Monday. My wife and kids and friends wouldn't let me forget it. I got my share of black balloons, a plastic black coffin, an over-the-hill parking permit, a "whine" list, a black T-shirt proclaiming that I "got old" and a blow-up cane. ...

Oops -- Spear's quickie marriage annulled LAS VEGAS -- After 55 hours of marital madness and publicity gone wild, Britney Spears and temporary husband Jason Allan Alexander, a junior at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, La., decided Monday to scrap it. ...

HONOLULU -- Behind his state-issue desk in a small fourth-floor office sits a slightly built, soft-spoken man who has managed to shake Hawaii's power structure to its core. Over the past two years, Robert Watada and his staff at the state Campaign Spending Commission have exposed, bit by bit, a scandal in which respected architects and engineers illegally made political donations in the names of their employees, wives and children, allegedly to win government contracts...

CHICAGO -- Foreigners arriving at U.S. airports were photographed and had their fingerprints scanned Monday in the start of a government effort to use some of the latest surveillance technology to keep terrorists out of the country. The program allows Customs officials to check passengers instantly against terrorist watch lists and a national criminal database...

CLEVELAND -- A woman has told police she picked the winning numbers for the $162 million Mega Millions lottery jackpot but lost the ticket before the drawing, according to a police report. Elecia Battle, of Cleveland, told police she dropped her purse as she left the Quick Shop Food Mart last week after buying the ticket. She said she realized after the drawing last Tuesday that the ticket was missing...

Three U.S. soldiers were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a U.S. military convoy west of Baghdad, and insurgents shot and wounded another soldier in an ambush northwest of the capital, the military said Monday. In London, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said British forces would likely remain in the country for years to come. ...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Building on momentum toward better relations after a half-century of venom, Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf held much-anticipated, face-to-face talks Monday with Indian leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The talks were seen as a milestone toward increasing confidence for a rapprochement, two years after their armies stood on the brink of war...

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Two letter bombs addressed to senior members of the European Parliament went off, bursting into flames when opened, and another was intercepted Monday, the latest in a series of explosives mailed to European Union targets. No one was injured in the two explosions. Authorities in Brussels also intercepted a suspicious package sent to a fourth parliamentarian and were investigating whether it contained a bomb...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghans have thrashed out a new constitution and opened the way for national elections this summer, but an ugly ethnic split laid bare at the convention that drew up the charter and a continuing Taliban insurgency show that a brighter future still rests on a razor's edge...

TBILISI, Georgia -- Attacking corruption is the key to fixing Georgia's many troubles, and the targets will include the assets of ousted President Eduard Shevardnadze, the country's new leader said Monday in an interview with The Associated Press...

CIA: Voice on new tape believed to be bin Laden CAIRO, Egypt -- A speaker who was purportedly Osama bin Laden said on an audiotape that the U.S.-led war in Iraq was the beginning of the "occupation" of Gulf states for their oil and called on Muslims to keep fighting a holy war in the Middle East. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A federal court hearing on whether to permanently block a state law that requires a 24-hour waiting period for abortions has been delayed until May. Senior U.S. District Judge Scott O. Wright issued a temporary restraining order against the law in October and scheduled a Jan. ...

SUNSET HILLS, Mo. -- The man who drove his car into the lobby doors of a church in this St. Louis suburb has become increasingly delusional since being injured in a 1997 boating accident that killed their father. No one was injured in the incident at the church. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A committee of farmers, government officials and university professors wants the state to create tax incentives for farmers who take environmentally sensitive steps to dispose of poultry waste. The committee was created by the legislature two years ago to study ways to keep the poultry industry profitable while lessening the environmentally harmful products it creates. ...

OTTUMWA, Iowa -- Democrat John Kerry is finding new political life in Iowa with a coalition of veterans, firefighters and undecided voters wondering about the viability of a Howard Dean or Dick Gephardt presidential nomination. The combination could be enough to salvage the Massachusetts lawmaker's campaign, perhaps even shake up the Democratic race...

WASHINGTON -- In an extraordinary request, the Bush administration asked the Supreme Court on Monday to let it keep its arguments secret in a case involving an immigrant's challenge of his treatment after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Mohamed Kamel Bellahouel wants the high court to consider whether the government acted improperly by secretly jailing him after the attacks and keeping his court fight private. He is supported by more than 20 journalism organizations and media companies...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush will propose immigration law changes to allow workers from Mexico to enter the United States if they have jobs waiting for them, officials said Monday in previewing an election-year measure intended to bolster support among Hispanic voters...

Gregory L. Hutchison, 43, of Vienna, Ill., died Monday afternoon in a one-car crash on Illinois Route 146 after he crashed his vehicle into a tree, according to Illinois State Police. Hutchison was eastbound, about four miles east of Interstate 57 when he drove off the south side of the road...

The Jackson Board of Aldermen took the following action on items Monday night: Passed an ordinance which authorized the mayor to sign depository agreements with US Bank and Bank of Missouri. Approved the minor plat of Skinny's Subdivision, as submitted by John and Donna Lichtenegger and Robert M. Janet...

Public Hearings Held a public hearing regarding the request of Gwenn Freitag to rezone 2984 County Road 620, currently in the process of annexation into the city limits of Cape Girardeau, from R-1, single family dwelling district, to C-2, general commercial district...

Cape Girardeau The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Thefts Gasoline was reported stolen Sunday by Rhodes 101 at 401 Morgan Oak. Chrome wheel rings were reported stolen Sunday at 265 Notre Dame Drive...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded Sunday to the following items: At 4:48 p.m., emergency medical service at 822 S. Sprigg. At 5:30 p.m., alarm at 141 N. Silver Springs. Firefighters responded Monday to the following items: At 12:44 a.m., emergency medical service at 40 S. Sprigg...

MVC dean's list includes two area students Andrew L. Obermann of Chaffee, Mo., and Talitha Hoffstetter of Gordonville were recently named to the Missouri Valley College dean's list for the fall 2003 semester. Missouri Valley College is a private liberal arts school in Marshall, Mo...

Baseball The Expos traded pitcher Scott Stewart to the Indians on Monday for a pair of minor leaguers, outfielder Ryan Church and infielder Maicer Izturis. Stewart, 28, was 3-1 with a 3.98 ERA in 51 relief appearances last season. ...

Abraham Son to Ronnie Abraham Jr. and Robbin Dale Rohlfing of Cape Girardeau, St. Francis Medical Center, 12:27 p.m. Friday, Dec. 19, 2003. Name, Koda Lee. Weight, 5 pounds 6 ounces. Fifth child, fourth son. Ms. Rohlfing is the daughter of Larry and Darlene Clover of Jonesboro, Ill. She is a home health aide. Abraham is the son of Ronnie and Jametter Abraham of Cape Girardeau. He is a cook...

10 years ago: Jan. 6, 1994 Representatives from 10 companies attended meeting yesterday of casino operators and developers interested in submitting riverboat gambling proposal to Cape Girar-deau. "Images of the Past in the City of Roses," history book published by Southeast Missourian staff, has sold out; 2,000 books were printed, and 1,000 were pre-sold...

ANNA, Ill. -- Clarence Pulliam, 95, of Anna died Sunday, Jan. 4, 2004, at Jonesboro Health Care Center in Jonesboro, Ill. He was born Aug. 28, 1908, son of David and Ida Boner Pulliam. He married Lois Wiggs in 1941, who died July 6, 1999. Pulliam was a farmer and a member of Anna Heights Baptist Church...

Helena Paulina Cracraft, 88, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Jan. 4, 2004, at Kindred Hospital in St. Louis. She was born July 3, 1915, at Tilsit, daughter of Louis Christian and Minnie Matilda Wedekind Burgfeld. She and John W. Cracraft were married Feb. 9, 1943, in Cape Girardeau. He preceded her in death...

ANNA, Ill. -- Mary R. Hubbs, 88, of Anna died Monday, Jan. 5, 2004, at Jonesboro Health Care Center in Jonesboro, Ill. She was born June 29,1915, in Cobden, Ill., daughter of Everett and Madie Hinman Rendleman. She and Carl Hubbs were married Aug. 2, 1941...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Paul G. Smither, 73, of Cairo died Monday, Jan. 5, 2004, at his home. Barkett Funeral Home in Mound City, Ill., is in charge of arrangements.

Juanita Porter, 91, of Jackson died Monday, Jan. 5, 2004, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born Oct. 9, 1912, at Lutesville, Mo., daughter of Marion Hezekiah and Rosa Baker Small. She and Ralph Webster Porter Sr. were married Nov. 12, 1934. He died Oct. 22, 1958...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Thelma Lorraine Sissom Johnson, 80, of Sikeston died Saturday, Jan. 3, 2004, at her home. She was born March 1, 1923, in Caledonia, Mo., daughter of John Hughes and Pearl Virginia Hicks Grenia. She married Henry Casper Sissom, who preceded her in death. She later married Henderson Anderson Sissom, who also preceded her in death. She married Jerome Johnson, who died April 6, 1989...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- McKaeley Nicole Chappell, 1 day, died Saturday, Jan. 3, 2004, at St. Louis Children's Hospital. She was born Jan. 2, 2004, at Jefferson Memorial Hospital in Crystal City, Mo., daughter of Michael and Michelle Reiss Chappell of Copperas Cove, Texas...

VANDUSER, Mo. -- Elve Johnson, 93, of Vanduser died Sunday, Jan. 4, 2004, at Miner Nursing Center. She was born Jan. 6, 1910, in Blytheville, Ark., daughter of James Andrew and Ada Ellis Hargett. She and R.A.P. Johnson were married March 3, 1928, in Blytheville. He died Dec. 4, 1980...

Mary Ellen Halter, 81, of Sun City, Ariz., died Thursday, Jan. 1, 2004. She was born Nov. 5, 1922, at Painton, Mo., daughter of Loe and Ruth Jeffress. She and Michael J. Halter were married 58 years ago. Halter was formerly of Cape Girardeau. Survivors include her husband; two sons, Jeff Halter of Jackson, Tenn., Jim Halter of Sun City; a daughter, Bev Peterson of Carefree, Ariz.; three grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren...

ANNA, Ill. -- William Michael Coleman Jr., 60, of Anna died Saturday, Jan. 4, 2004, from injuries received from falling off a ladder. He was born July 25, 1943, in Chicago, son of William and Helen Coleman. He and Valrey Lyerla were married April 4, 1970, in Kankakee, Ill...

Ernest McElrath, 81, of Farmington, Mo., died Thursday, Jan. 1, 2004, at his home. He was born Aug. 15, 1922, at Bismarck, Mo., son of Harry and Ona Buxton McElrath. He married Ann Kirk. McElrath lived in Jackson seven years before moving to Farmington four years ago. He was a retired rural mail carrier, and a real estate broker...

SEDGEWICKVILLE, Mo. -- Rachel B. Jones, 74, of Sedgewickville died Monday, Jan. 5, 2004, at her home. She was born Jan. 7, 1929, at Zalma, Mo., daughter of Homer M. and Goldie Bitterman Bohnsack. Jones was a certified nurse assistant, and had worked at Jackson Manor in Jackson...

To the editor: If giving state employees who have not received a raise in three years two extra days off is so repugnant to you, why did you not heap criticism on state Sen. Peter Kinder and state Rep. Catherine Hanaway, who issued memos long before the governor's executive order giving all 560 Senate and House employees the day off after Thanksgiving and Christmas as well as giving all their employees even more days off with pay? Hanaway gave all House employees the Monday before Veterans Day and Christmas Eve off, and Kinder gave Senate employees Christmas Eve off.. ...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- This is the time of year when the Big 12 coaches start saying nice things about each other, predicting a tough road to the conference championship and expressing guarded optimism for their own teams' prospects. Let the games that matter begin...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Jackson's girls basketball team ended Poplar Bluff's 34-game home winning streak on Monday night and gave coach Sam Sides a 42-41 win on his birthday. The Mules had not lost a home game since the 2000 season and had not lost to Jackson at Poplar Bluff since the 1999 district finals. Jackson improved to 9-1, and Poplar Bluff fell to 8-4...

Cape Girardeau and Jackson officials would like to make the Fourth of July safer. Some residents say fireworks make their neighborhoods seem like war zones. It's more than an appearance issue. In 2002, 8,800 people were treated nationally for fireworks-related injuries, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Most of those were from aerial fireworks such as bottle rockets...

DETROIT -- General Motors Corp. fell short in its bid to increase U.S. market share for a third straight year as the world's largest automaker, along with Ford Motor Corp. and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group, saw sales decline in 2003. At the same time, some foreign automakers posted record results for the year, including Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. ...

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. unveiled its new flagship sedan, the Five Hundred, and the Freestyle crossover vehicle, two family-oriented vehicles aimed at helping the world's second-largest automaker recapture a piece of the car market. Ford also introduced an updated version of its classic Mustang sports car and the concept for a new Shelby Cobra performance car, while GM unveiled a new version of the Corvette...

WASHINGTON -- The Labor Department is giving employers tips on how to avoid paying overtime to some of the 1.3 million low-income workers who would become eligible under new rules expected to be finalized early this year. The department's advice comes even as it touts the $895 million in increased wages that it says those workers would be guaranteed from the reforms, which Labor Secretary Elaine Chao called long overdue...

NEW YORK -- As the bills from holiday spending sprees arrive, Americans are finding that the mountain of debt they've built has gotten even higher. Consumer debt has more than doubled in the past 10 years to record levels, making it hard for many families to cope...

WASHINGTON -- The holiday travel season ended without incident but the nation must stay on a high terrorism alert because U.S. authorities continue receiving credible information about possible attacks, federal officials said Monday. Homeland Security officials closely monitored international flights, professional and college football games and other potential targets over the Christmas and New Year's holidays. ...

NEW YORK -- Dennis Eckersley could set the standard for Hall of Fame closers. Eckersley hopes to become only the third relief pitcher elected by the Baseball Writers' Association of America when voting results are announced Tuesday. He and 3,000-hit man Paul Molitor, both on the ballot for the first time, have impressive Cooperstown credentials -- but the waiting is driving Eckersley mad...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- It's impossible to predict the course John Fox's coaching career might have taken if not for a one-year furlough with the St. Louis Rams. Perhaps he wouldn't be in Carolina, where in less than two years he has successfully rebuilt the Panthers from the worst team in the NFL to NFC South champions...

PHILADELPHIA -- Tug McGraw, the zany relief pitcher who coined the phrase "You Gotta Believe" with the New York Mets and later closed out the Philadelphia Phillies' only World Series championship, died Monday. He was 59. McGraw died of brain cancer at the home of his son, country music star Tim McGraw, outside of Nashville, according to Laurie Hawkins, a family spokesperson. He had been battling the disease since March when he underwent surgery for a malignant tumor...

ST. LOUIS -- President Bush said he is laying the foundation for a "great victory in Missouri," a state he visited for the 14th time on Monday after narrowly carrying it in 2000. Part of the foundation is financial: Bush collected $2.8 million from his dinner and reception at America's Center, a Missouri record for a one-time event. ...

CEIBA, Puerto Rico -- Navy ships are vanishing from Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, ending an era when defense spending boosted Puerto Rico's economy and the U.S. territory was seen as a strategic asset. The military has used the base for six decades to keep watch over the Caribbean, and as the outpost closes, with thousands of troops and civilians to leave by March 31, Puerto Rico is losing an economic powerhouse that employed more than 6,000 people and brought an estimated $300 million a year to the island.. ...

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said Monday he has ceased trying to schedule a summit with his Israeli counterpart aimed at restarting peace talks, amid continuing bloodshed in the 39-month-long conflict. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was booed by members of his hard-line Likud party as he insisted Israel would withdraw from some Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in a peace agreement with the Palestinians...

CAMP ANACONDA, Iraq -- Iraqi guerrillas blasting U.S. military convoys with improvised bombs hidden at roadsides may have learned tactics by talking to Chechen rebels and Taliban and al-Qaida fighters in Afghanistan, a U.S. Army intelligence officer told The Associated Press...

Kinks singer wounded chasing purse snatcher NEW ORLEANS -- Singer-songwriter Ray Davies of the celebrated British rock band the Kinks was shot in the leg while chasing thieves who snatched a purse from a woman he was with, police said Monday. He was not seriously injured. ...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Rush Limbaugh's medical records will remain off-limits to prosecutors for at least 15 days more while his attorneys pursue an appeal to permanently seal them, a judge ruled Monday. Limbaugh's attorneys asked for the extension while they appeal the judge's earlier decision allowing prosecutors to examine the files for evidence that the conservative radio commentator illegally purchased painkillers...

GROVE CITY, Ohio -- Some parents drove students who normally ride the bus and extra security guards were on hand as schools in this Columbus suburb reopened Monday after bullet holes in two buses were linked to a series of sniper shootings. In the parking lot of East Franklin Elementary School, parents sat in cars and watched their children walk to the front door after a two-week winter break...

ATLANTA -- In observations looking back to the edge of time, astronomers have captured images of the oldest and most distant galactic clusters ever seen, a discovery that shows immense numbers of stars formed less than 2 billion years after the birth of the cosmos...

PASADENA, Calif. -- Combining 21st-century rocket science and 1950s movie technology, NASA on Monday released a 3-D, black-and-white panoramic picture of the bleak surface of Mars snapped by the newly landed rover Spirit. Reporters at a news conference were issued cardboard 3-D glasses to look at the 360-degree image of a desolate, wind-scoured plain strewn with rocks...

The (Independence, Mo.) Examiner University of Missouri President Elson Floyd is under pressure to release the source of some funds used to pay the university's four campus chancellors. Floyd, who has been a needed breath of fresh air for the university, should release the information. .....

(Camdenton, Mo.) Lake Sun Leader With their increasing affection for invective, idiocy and illusion, Republican and Democratic office-holders in Jefferson City are unable to agree on a revenue forecast for the coming year, effectively derailing the legislative budget process before it begins...

Strong 3-point shooting and stifling defense in the second half allowed Doniphan to come away with a 42-35 road victory Monday night over Cape Central. Senior Karri Thomas paced Doniphan with 22, including six 3-pointers. Doniphan as a team had nine 3-pointers...

Seeking to improve the way the Cape Girardeau County Commission conducts meetings and records its decisions, Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones proposed meeting guidelines Monday. The proposed policy would limit the commission to making decisions on agenda items only. Discussion on items not on the agenda would be allowed, but those topics would not be voted on until a later meeting when they are listed as action items on the agenda...

The Poplar Bluff man who shot and killed 31-year-old Billy Jones Jr. of Cape Girardeau was sentenced Monday to life in prison by Butler County Judge Mark Richardson. In November, a jury found Jibril Walton, 26, guilty of involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in the Aug. ...

A 28-year-old Jackson man was charged Monday with three felony counts of child molestation, two felony counts of sexual misconduct and two misdemeanors for furnishing pornographic material to minors. Matthew E. Prince of 143 Mango Circle is currently held on $75,000 bond at the Cape Girardeau County Jail. Investigators say he took a bath with two girls under the age of 14 years, exposed himself to them while watching a pornographic video and fondled them through their clothing...

Behind plastic-covered windows and behind schedule, construction workers -- in coats and gloves to ward off the cold -- continue to transform a dilapidated hotel on Broadway into a state office building. Next week, the work should be even more visible as construction begins on enclosing the rooftop seventh floor as a penthouse addition. The space could be used for commercial office or a restaurant, project planners said...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Claiming the Missouri Legislature has failed to fulfill its constitutional obligation to adequately fund public education and fairly distribute the money, 243 Missouri school systems are turning to the courts for relief. The Committee for Educational Equality, which includes 48 Southeast Missouri school districts, filed a lawsuit in Cole County Circuit Court on Tuesday that seeks to have the state's current funding system declared unconstitutional...

On the brink of making more than $1 million in budget cuts, Cape Girardeau School District officials are turning to the community for direction on the future of public education. Thursday evening, the district will hold the first of what school board president Sharon Mueller hopes will become a semiannual event known as a stakeholders meeting...

Associated Press WriterJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- As Missouri lawmakers prepared for an election-year session beginning Wednesday, Republican legislative leaders offered to cooperate with Democratic Gov. Bob Holden, but not if he once again proposes tax increases to help balance the state's budget...

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Spirit rover yielded the sharpest picture ever taken of the surface of Mars, revealing in breathtaking detail Tuesday a completely rust-colored landscape strewn with rocks. NASA scientists said the "postcard," sent across 105 million miles of space to Earth, had three to four times the resolution of any other pictures ever taken of the Red Planet. Spirit used a camera with the robotic equivalent of 20/20 vision...

CONCORD, N.H. -- Perhaps it's because I'm from the Northeast, but I'm just not accustomed to food causing pain, at least not intentionally so. Nor to it carrying dire warning labels. That's probably why I recently was mystified by a spice catalog that included a "USE WITH CAUTION" alert in the description of a particular dried chili pepper...

With three games in five days, including back-to-back nights, Central's boys basketball team cleared the bench and finished with 12 players in the scoring column Tuesday night in a 62-39 win over Perryville at home. Playing in his third game of the season, Mitch Craft came out and scored Central's first five points. In all, the Tigers had seven different scorers in the first quarter and grabbed a 17-10 lead...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Halfway through the state's fiscal year, Missouri's tax revenue is up nearly 5 percent, but the state's budget director said Tuesday that's not good enough to warrant the release of additional funding for public schools. That's because Missouri's revenue bubble is expected to deflate in the upcoming months as people claim larger tax refunds authorized by a federal tax cutting package enacted last year, said Linda Luebbering, the budget director for Democratic Gov. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Today is the deadline to register to vote in the Feb. 3 Missouri presidential primary elections. Prospective voters can register in person at their local county clerk's office, public library or license bureau office. Registration by mail is also possible, but forms must be obtained from the above locations. Mail-in registrations must be postmarked by today to be valid for next month's elections...

ATLANTA -- The flu season has yet to reach its peak, despite a drop-off in cases in some states, health officials warned on Tuesday. At least five states -- Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, Washington and West Virginia -- no longer have widespread outbreaks of flu, but 42 others still do, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said...

In the months leading up to December's opening of the new Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge, much was made of what the new $100 million span would mean to Southeast Missouri's economic future with the thousands of new people that would come to Cape Girardeau on the safer, wider and more attractive structure...

WASHINGTON -- Genetic testing confirms that the cow diagnosed with the first U.S. case of mad cow disease was born in Canada, agriculture officials said Tuesday. The finding puts new emphasis above the border in the investigation of the North American outbreak of the brain-wasting disease. The Holstein, slaughtered in Washington state on Dec. 9, is the second cow born in western Canada diagnosed with mad cow disease since May...

ST. LOUIS -- Marc Bulger isn't wasting time worrying about his first playoff start for the St. Louis Rams. "It's definitely a new experience and I know the level of play is going to go up," Bulger said Tuesday. "But it's still football." And Bulger, despite his lack of playoff experience, has an 18-4 record as the starter the last season and a half...

Time for fairness I UNDERSTAND the frustration of the Taste's neighbors, and I feel sorry they are having to put up with this. But, as it's been explained in the paper, the city's hands are tied since the Taste doesn't have a liquor license. The owner of this business stated that if there was one incident he would close, because he was concerned for the neighbors. ...

Eastside Homemakers The Eastside Homemakers met Dec. 17, at Delmonico's Restaurant in Jackson. After lunch a meeting was held. Maxine Southard gave the devotion, "Christmas is the Season of our Heart." Betty Butler read "Sense of Humor," Janet Piepenbrok read the article "Where did all the decades go?" and Loretta Atkins read "Christmas in the Netherlands." Southard led the group in a Christmas game...

A federal law using an incentive program intended to make voting less confusing and more precise will most likely come at a cost of about $87,000 to Cape Girardeau County. County Clerk Rodney Miller estimates that's how much it will cost the county to eliminate its punch-card ballot system. The Help America Vote Act, or HAVA, does not require that counties eliminate the punch cards, but it does provide incentives, about $3,200 per precinct, to do away with them by 2006...

CLEVELAND -- Two women -- one with a ticket, one tearfully without -- laid claim to a $162 million lottery jackpot Tuesday, triggering a legal dispute that could come down to "finder's keepers" or fraud. Elecia Battle went to police Monday with the teary story of a lottery ticket lost outside a convenience store, and a small crowd with flashlights soon gathered in the snowy parking lot in search of the precious paper scrap...

LONDON -- Britain's royal coroner asked police to look into theories a conspiracy led to the car crash in Paris that killed Princess Diana and boyfriend Dodi Fayed, saying Tuesday he was obliged "to separate fact from fiction and speculation." Coroner Michael Burgess' request -- part of the opening of official inquests into their 1997 deaths -- came as a tabloid newspaper reported Diana believed Prince Charles was plotting to kill her by staging a car accident...

For Derek Winans, becoming just the 18th player in Southeast Missouri State University men's basketball history to join the 1,000-point club will carry a more special meaning than it might have for many of those who came before him. That's because Winans, a junior guard, grew up just minutes from the Show Me Center, in East Cape Girardeau, Ill...

WASHINGTON -- Orders to U.S. factories, after posting two months of solid increases, fell by 1.4 percent in November, the biggest decline in seven months. But analysts viewed the drop as a temporary blip in what has been an improving picture for American manufacturers. ...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Two years after nuclear-armed India and Pakistan nearly went to war, their leaders agreed Tuesday to hold peace talks next month on all topics, including the hot-button issue of Kashmir that lies at the heart of their half-century of mutual hatred and mistrust. Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee agreed to the talks in meetings in the Pakistani capital under the cover of a regional summit...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraq's U.S.-led administration will release 506 prisoners from detention camps, while simultaneously offering bounties for 30 more Iraqis wanted in the anti-American insurgency, officials said Tuesday. Coalition officials said the releases -- out of some 12,800 detainees -- are aimed at fostering more goodwill and intelligence tips, which they said have surged in the three weeks since the capture of Saddam Hussein...

Nearly all of the nation's Roman Catholic bishops, including those in Missouri, are carrying out a new policy they adopted to prevent sex abuse by priests, according to a church audit released Tuesday. Critics said the study was fundamentally flawed...

Cape Girardeau The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Rachel Hempstead, 17, of 915 S. Pacific, Cape Girardeau, was arrested Monday on a Cape Girar-deau warrant for failure to appear...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded Monday to the following items: At 8:44 p.m., emergency medical service at 200 S. Benton. Firefighters responded Tuesday to the following items: At 1:04 a.m., alarm sounding at 1236 Linden, Apt. 2. At 6:29 a.m., emergency medical service at 1927 N. Kingshighway...

Baseball Two-time American League MVP Juan Gonzalez agreed Tuesday to a one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals that guarantees him $4.5 million. The free-agent outfielder gets $4 million next season, and the deal includes a mutual option for 2005 at $7 million. ...

McKee Daughter to Joshua Lee McKee and Jessica Lynn Dailey of Olive Branch, Ill., St. Francis Medical Center, 1:24 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2003. Name, Brandy Darline. Weight, 7 pounds 5 ounces. First child. Ms. Dailey is the daughter of Jeanette Brooks of Olive Branch and John Dailey of Elco, Ill. She is a student. McKee is the son of Beverly and Jerry Held of Olive Branch and Kevin McKee Sr. of Perks, Ill. He is employed at ACBL Docks...

10 years ago: Jan. 7, 1994 Local FISH food program has moved operations to larger pantry at 106 S. Sprigg; program provides food, assistance with utility payments, transportation and medication to people in need. St. Paul Lutheran School is observing its 100th anniversary; school was opened Jan. 1, 1894, a year after church was founded; it now has 203 students and teaching staff of 10...

A graphic on Cape Girardeau's proposed fire sales tax in Saturday's edition of the Southeast Missourian carried incorrect information regarding replacement of police cars. The proposal includes $2 million over 10 years for replacement of police cars based on replacing 10 cars annually. The Southeast Missourian regrets the error...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Raymond Chandley of Cairo died Sunday, Jan. 4, 2004, at St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis. Friends may call at Heavenly Gates Funeral Home from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, and after 9 a.m. Friday at Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church. Burial will be in National Cemetery...

ANNA, Ill. -- Msgr. Tom Miller, 52, of Anna died Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2004, at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Anna is in charge of arrangements.

Robert F. Shuck, 93, of Seminole, Fla., died Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2003, at Wright Nursing Center in Seminole. He was born June 3, 1910, in Elsberry, Mo., son of Robert F. and Margaret Mitchell Shuck. He and Gertrude Lehr were married March 23, 1935, in St. Louis. She died Feb. 10, 2000...

Anton Shamon Miller, 25, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Jan. 1, 2004, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Dec. 5, 1978, in Chicago, son of Gentry and Ardella Renia Kindle Miller. He attended Egyptian High School in Tamms, Ill., and was later schooled in the Chicago area. He moved to Cape Girardeau from Chicago...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Mattie C. Busch, 65, of Perryville died Monday, Jan. 5, 2004, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born May 14, 1938, at Yount, Mo., daughter of Walter K. and Mabel Hahn Heaps. She and Harold L. Helms were married Oct. 18, 1958. He died Aug. 12, 1987. She and Theodore R. Busch Sr. were married Nov. 3, 1994. He died March 31, 1998...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Dorothy Blackburn, 77, of St. Louis died Saturday, Jan. 3, 2004, at St. Luke's Hospital in St. Louis. She was born Aug. 4, 1926, in Cairo, daughter of Frank and Clara Edison Webb. She married Robert Blackburn, who preceded her in death...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Paul G. Smither, 73, of Cairo died Monday, Jan. 5, 2004, at his home. He was born Sept. 11, 1930, in Grahamville, Ky., son of Grover and Kattie Ratcliffe Smither. Smither had worked at Burkart Manufacturing and E.L. Bruce in Cairo. Survivors include a sister, Katherine Javoroski of Crystal Falls, Mich.; two brothers, Jesse Smith of Cape Girardeau and James Smither of Jeffersonville, Ind...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Raymond Wright, 78, of Sikeston died Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2004, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Aug. 8, 1925, in Clarkton, Mo., son of Rudy A. and Beulah L. Freeman Wright. He and Betty Gray were married Aug. 8, 1944...

To the editor: Recently, Rush Limbaugh's attorney stated, "Rush Limbaugh has been singled out for prosecution because of who he is." I disagree. Since his confession, Limbaugh has been afforded many passes and has not had to face the consequences of his behavior...

To the editor: It was a beautiful day when I left my house in Nashville on Christmas Eve, and I was excited about going to Cape Girardeau. I would soon see the wonder in my children's eyes as they opened gifts from Santa. I also was anticipating my first drive across the new bridge. As I round the bend in Illinois where Highway 3 pulls alongside the Mississippi River, I searched the skyline. The awesome towers of the bridge compounded the beautiful view of the river. It was mesmerizing...

To the editor: How long must we wait for the next murder at the Taste? Having relatives living east of the Taste, I worry constantly about them. Their vehicles have been broken into, and their yard is littered by Taste patrons. It doesn't seem to matter who owns the place, it's a blight...

Facing Notre Dame for the second time in 10 days, the Charleston Blue Jays again proved to be too quick for the Bulldogs, cruising to a 66-40 SEMO Conference victory Tuesday night at Notre Dame Regional High School. The Bulldogs (2-9) hung tough early on, using several backdoor passes to get open shots in taking an 8-2 lead in the first four minutes...

Derek Pobst scored his only point of the game on a free with 7.2 seconds remaining to lift Bell City to a thrilling 57-56 victory over visiting Jackson in boys basketball action Tuesday night. Bell City, ranked third in the state in Class 1, improved to 10-2 and avenged a loss to the Indians in the quarterfinals of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament...

The magnitude of some natural disasters can only leave us poor humans stunned and gasping. How do we comprehend the demise of more than 30,000 people when the ground quaked in Iran the day after Christmas? We can't. But we can respond to the survivors, just as the United States and more than 30 other countries did...

The (Tacoma, Wash.) News Tribune Bush administration officials have given in slightly on one of the most obvious problems with the No Child Left Behind Act: the fact it makes no exception for special-education students in its strict testing requirements for school districts. .....

BENTON, Mo. -- Three Scott County men now face felony drug charges after officers searched a home north of Sikeston on Tuesday and turned up a "large quantity" of marijuana, drug paraphernalia, cash and guns, according to the Scott County Sheriff's Department. ...

Hillary Clinton apologizes for joke about Gandhi ST. LOUIS -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton apologized for a joke about Mahatma Gandhi, saying it was "a lame attempt at humor." The New York Democrat made the remark at a fund raiser for Senate candidate Nancy Farmer, Missouri's state treasurer, on Saturday. Clinton introduced a quote from the Indian independence leader by saying, "He ran a gas station down in St. Louis."...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Bob Holden appointed Sikeston businessman Edward "Ned" Matthews to the Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents on Tuesday. Matthews said he is excited about becoming one of the six voting members of the school's governing board...

WASHINGTON -- Aided by a Republican-controlled Congress, President Bush is on track to become the first chief executive since John Quincy Adams in the 1820s to complete a full term without vetoing one bill. He has, however, made frequent use of the veto threat, and so far that's been enough to get what he wants...

WASHINGTON -- CIA interrogators taking on Saddam Hussein must contend with the likelihood that some of their questioning could become public during his eventual trial. That means decisions now on how to conduct the questioning and record the conversations, U.S. officials say...

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Kevin Weekes made 19 saves, and Danny Markov and Kevyn Adams provided the offense in the Carolina Hurricanes' 2-0 victory Tuesday night over the St. Louis Blues. Weekes' fifth shutout of the season helped the Hurricanes snap a three-game losing streak...

ST. LOUIS -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton apologized for joking that Mahatma Gandhi used to run a gas station in St. Louis, saying it was "a lame attempt at humor." The New York Democrat made the remark at a fund raiser Saturday. During an event here for Senate candidate Nancy Farmer, Missouri's state treasurer, Clinton introduced a quote from Gandhi by saying, "He ran a gas station down in St. Louis."...

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- A bomb strapped to a bicycle killed 13 people Tuesday in this southern Afghan city, most of them children who halted a soccer game and rushed to the site after an initial explosion. The treacherous double blast, blamed on Taliban militants, may have been intended to lure U.S. troops or hit the provincial governor. But it was innocents who died -- another bloody reminder of the violence sweeping Afghanistan two years after the Taliban's fall...

JERUSALEM -- Israel has slated 28 unauthorized West Bank outposts to be torn down under the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan, security sources said Tuesday. But critics argue the plan requires Israel to dismantle more than twice that number. The list was disclosed a day after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told a convention of his hawkish party that even some of the larger veteran settlements would have to be removed -- either under the road map or under his own proposed unilateral plan to disengage from the Palestinians.. ...

LOS ANGELES -- Michael Jackson has again surrendered the passport authorities briefly returned to him so he could travel to Great Britain on business, although there was no indication he ever used it. Santa Barbara County District Attorney Thomas Sneddon took Jackson's passport after the singer was booked in November on child molestation charges...

It seems wrong to be running the air conditioner in January. I come from a long line of women who refuse to turn on the air conditioning unless the children are spontaneously combusting, and then 80 degrees is the lowest thermostat setting allowable. If an outside door stays open for longer than 1.5 seconds, the women in my family yell, "Are you trying to air-condition the entire neighborhood?"...

smcclanahan Good food and good friends; is there any better way to spend an evening during the holiday season to help bring in a new year? Last weekend was our annual progressive dinner that Scott and I participate in during the holidays. The locations were divided into courses at three different couple's homes...

AMES, Iowa -- Quin Snyder's memories of Hilton Coliseum are the kind best forgotten. "My memories of Hilton are nightmares because we got it handed to us up there," the Missouri basketball coach said. Snyder is 0-4 at Iowa State's arena, where Missouri and ISU open Big 12 play to night...

NEW YORK -- Paul Molitor and Dennis Eckersley were elected to baseball's Hall of Fame on Tuesday in their first year of eligibility. Molitor was picked on 431 of 506 ballots (85.2 percent) cast by reporters who have been members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America for 10 or more years. Eckersley was selected on 421 ballots (83.2 percent)...

NEW YORK -- A design consisting of two reflecting pools and a paved stone field has been chosen for the World Trade Center memorial after an eight-month international competition that drew more than 5,000 entries, The Associated Press has learned. The "Reflecting Absence" memorial, created by city designer Michael Arad, was chosen by a 13-member jury of artists, architects and civic and cultural leaders after months of intense deliberation...

Leroy Grey Grey here, scribbling into the future... As of presstime, there's still no sign of "Big Fish" coming to Cape, which is a tragedy. It's a Tim Burton movie! That's fun for the whole creepy family!! It's a contender! But I'll save the Oscar talk for next month...

Chris Morrill I attended the dedication of the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge on Saturday, December 13th, 2003. That I would attend surprised even me, as I'm not usually one who usually attends civic "rah-rah" type events. But this event was important enough that even I was drawn into it...

Jim Obert 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' It was two years ago that I reviewed "The Fellowship of the Ring," the first of three movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien's legendary trilogy "The Lord of the Rings." At the beginning of that review, I stated my credentials: I am a hard core Middle-earther who read the books seven or nine times while in college at SIU in the early 1970s. ...

Jason Parker We made it! And to mark our journey into this 2004th year of the new age, we survived numerous television marathons and bowel games to begin the year. Yes I said bowel games, originally a typo but upon second thought, I feel it fits for some of you, especially those who may have consumed a bit too much while ringing out 2003...

Leroy Grey Insider here, folding all my Christmas wrapping paper into nice, neat squares; waste not, want not. This Christmas got so bad, I had to resort to the Sunday comics. And I usually save that stuff for birthday presents. Let's start with some concert news. The next band to bus in and yell, "Are you ready to rock, Cape Girardeau?" is going to be Three Doors Down. They're taking over the Show-Me Center January 29th, along with Shine Down and Tantric...

North Americans apparently yearn to be free. Free of crowded closets, grungy garages and assorted other household clutter. That nearly 75 percent of recently polled homeowners deem an organized home as very important...

by Jason Parker We made it! And to mark our journey into this 2004th year of the new age, we survived numerous television marathons and bowel games to begin the year. Yes I said bowel games, originally a typo but upon second thought, I feel it fits for some of you, especially those who may have consumed a bit too much while ringing out 2003...

by Leroy Grey Insider here, folding all my Christmas wrapping paper into nice, neat squares; waste not, want not. This Christmas got so bad, I had to resort to the Sunday comics. And I usually save that stuff for birthday presents. Let's start with some concert news. The next band to bus in and yell, "Are you ready to rock, Cape Girardeau?" is going to be Three Doors Down. They're taking over the Show-Me Center January 29th, along with Shine Down and Tantric...

by Chris Morrill I attended the dedication of the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge on Saturday, December 13th, 2003. That I would attend surprised even me, as I'm not usually one who usually attends civic "rah-rah" type events. But this event was important enough that even I was drawn into it...

Jim Obert 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' It was two years ago that I reviewed "The Fellowship of the Ring," the first of three movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien's legendary trilogy "The Lord of the Rings." At the beginning of that review, I stated my credentials: I am a hard core Middle-earther who read the books seven or nine times while in college at SIU in the early 1970s. ...

Hey OFF! readers, wanna hear what a cross between Garth Brooks and Rascal Flatts would sound like? Neither do we. Or at least we didn't until we met local artist Chris Blair. He's had three number one hits on the independent country charts and won the New Horizon Award at Nashville's 1999 Golden Music Awards. Not half bad, for a country boy...

by Leroy Grey Grey here, scribbling into the future... As of presstime, there's still no sign of "Big Fish" coming to Cape, which is a tragedy. It's a Tim Burton movie! That's fun for the whole creepy family!! It's a contender! But I'll save the Oscar talk for next month...

Dear Auntie Rhon, I'm a college student on the shy side. I like going out with my girlfriends to the clubs but I don't feel comfortable talking to guys in the clubs. If I see a guy that I'm interested in I don't talk to him, I freeze because I don't know if he'll be interested in me or if he's being polite because I'm with my friends. What can I do?...

Pablo Picasso prints hang on the wall. Tchaikovsky plays in the background during nap time. There are no admonitions to sit still or participate in group activities. But at a moment's notice, the majority of students in this small Cape Girardeau preschool can reel off the names of all the U.S. presidents in chronological order...

Associated Press WriterJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Two men convicted of murder and a second charge related to the same killing told the Missouri Supreme Court on Thursday the convictions violate constitutional prohibitions against double jeopardy...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri Supreme Court Judge Duane Benton is expected to be nominated by President Bush for a seat on a federal appeals court, a Supreme Court spokeswoman said Thursday. Benton, 53, was hearing court arguments Thursday morning, but court spokeswoman Beth Riggert confirmed his expected selection for a spot on the St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals...

10 years ago: Jan. 8, 1994 Steve Naeter has filed for seat on Cape Girardeau Board of Education; he joins incumbent Jack Ruopp in seeking three-year term on board. When Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority convenes its first board meeting of 1994 Monday, it will have two new members; Cape Girardeau County Commission voted to appoint Joe Gambill of Cape Girardeau to replace Jim Limbaugh...

Basketball fans of all ages braved the frigid weather Wednesday night, coming out to the Show Me Center to catch the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters in action. Since 1927, the Globetrotters have been delighting basketball fans of all ages with their goofy antics and amazing talent...

Swimming isn't just a hobby for Jameson Kuper. It's a lifestyle. His family ushered him into the sport at age 5, and now he won't let go of his dream of competing at the college level. Kuper, a 16-year-old sophomore at Notre Dame Regional High School, hasn't taken a break from the sport since his mother, Pat, first taught him the basic strokes 11 years ago. A year later, at 6, he was swimming year-round for the Gators, a local club team...

Ford D. Childers, 88, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2004, at the Lutheran Home. He was born Feb. 26, 1915, in Cobden, Ill., son of Jesse Allen and Eliza Ellen Pearson Childers. He and Ethel A. Blessing Glasford were married Sept. 14, 1978, in Shawneetown, Ill. She died Dec. 4, 2003...

Florence C. Schlemeyer, 97, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2004, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Oct. 13, 1906, at Senate Grove, Mo., daughter of Arnold and Lydia Bade Rohlfing. She and George Schlemeyer were married May 27, 1931. He died Oct. 14, 1985...

Helen Elvira Dittlinger, 90, of Whitewater died Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2004, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born May 22, 1913, at Lutesville, Mo., daughter of Samuel E. and Buelah Hunt Dial. She and Albert A. Dittlinger were married July 4, 1935, at Benton, Mo. He died June 15, 1994...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Preston Lawrence Harper, 2 days, died Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2004, at St. Louis Children's Hospital. He was born Jan. 5, 2004, in Sikeston, son of Travis and Amanda Richardson Harper. Survivors include his parents of Sikeston; maternal grandparents, Karen Richardson and David Pemberton Jr. ...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Vonda Lee Snyder, 68, of Sikeston died Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2004, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 15, 1935, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Hayward Joseph and Verna Ussery Poe. She and the Rev. Bill Snyder were married March 25, 1956, in Cape Girardeau...

Eulalia F. Friend, 85, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2004, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born Jan. 8, 1918, at Dexter, Mo., daughter of Arthur and Luella Bischoff Kirsch. She and Harry D. Friend were married Nov. 15, 1942, at Parma, Mo...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Ralph Doyle Vesterby, 63, of Selmer, Tenn., died Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2004, at McNairy Regional Hospital in Selmer. He was born Feb. 24, 1940, in Indio, Calif., son of Doyle Frederick and Minnie May Ramsey Vesterby. Vesterby was a pattern designer with Brown Shoe Co...

ANNA, Ill. -- Msgr. Tom Miller, 52, of Anna died Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2004, at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. He was born Nov. 4, 1951, son of Frank E. and Rose Catherine Ann Miller. He was pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Anna. Survivors include his mother...

Robert F. Shuck, 93, of Seminole, Fla., died Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2003, at Wright Nursing Center in Seminole. He was born June 3, 1910, in Elsberry, Mo., son of Robert F. and Margaret Mitchell Shuck. He and Gertrude Lehr were married March 23, 1935, in St. Louis. She died Feb. 10, 2000...

Mary "Meg" Hall, 78, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2003, at Ratliff Care Center. She was born May 2, 1925, in Washington, D.C., daughter of Arthur H. and Carolyn Easton Gass. She married William C. Hall, who preceded her in death. Mrs. Hall was a member of St. Mary's Cathedral and St. Mary's Council of Catholic Women...

Henry Carl Copman, 70, of Wheaton, Md., died Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2003, at his home. He was born April 2, 1933, in Advance, Mo., son of Paul and Lillie Hefner Copman. He and Rosemary O'Neill were married July 27, 1957. Mr. Copman retired from IBM after 36 years of service. He was an active volunteer with Meals on Wheels and Friendly Visitor Program...

Blame the loiterers I SEE more calls urging the city to shut down the Taste, a legal business, when the problem is not the business. The problem is the loiters allowed to gather up and down the street. Blame them for the problems. Love is a blessing...

To the editor: Not all of our Founding Fathers were anti-Christian. This was George Washington's prayer for the United States. If we would all say this prayer daily, our country just might be healed. George Washington's Prayer for the United States...

To the editor: As I was reading on your Web site your coverage about recent deployment activities, I realized that there was no mention of the 30 or so men who were called up from the 110th from Macon. I was married Dec. 31. My husband was called up for active duty to serve with the men leaving from Perryville, Mo. ...

To the editor: I am a state worker. I love my job. It doesn't bother me much that we haven't received any raises in three years. No job is perfect. I choose to work where I do. I know I have a job that is much better than many out there, and I was very thankful that we were off the day after Christmas and the day after Thanksgiving. It was a wonderful gesture to let us know we were being thought of and appreciated...

To the editor: I just read the article about the bridge work on Bloomfield Road. The construction superintendent indicated that the ground around the temporary gravel detour is saturated with water and doesn't drain well. He also said that "it is just a bad time of the year" to use the gravel detour. Why don't city officials wait until the summer to do this three-month project? Wouldn't it be safer for area families?...

Southeast Missouri State University's women had a big debut under new coach B.J. Smith last year, finishing second in the Ohio Valley Conference's regular season and tournament for the first time ever. But Smith's rookie season with the Otahkians could have been even better if not for Austin Peay, which dealt them three losses -- including 85-61 in the OVC Tournament finals...

Southeast Missouri State University men's coach Gary Garner considers his team's nonconference season a success as the Indians went 7-4. But that solid start will mean very little beginning tonight as Ohio Valley Conference play opens with a home game against defending champion and preseason favorite Austin Peay...

Bored with your regular workout? Looking for a way to melt those pounds away? Maybe what you need is a personal trainer. Sort of a mixture of motivation and muscle, personal trainers can help you get started with a regular workout routine or help push you over the hump in a workout you've already begun...

Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune Within the past couple of weeks, state politicians have launched grand plans for funding popular programs with two separate bond issues no doubt reflecting partisan electoral competition. Democrat Gov. Bob Holden came out first with a rather vague plan for funding life sciences research and transportation infrastructure. He would repay the bonds in part by scaling back on tax credit programs, which have become quite numerous in Missouri...

For the U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq, the fear of roadside bombs and snipers is all too real. Iraqi guerrilla groups have been targeting all types of military vehicles with homemade bombs and small-caliber weapons. When members of the U.S. Army Reserve's 428th Transportation Company in Jefferson City was activated to go to Iraq, the soldiers took creative measures to fashion homemade armor to add on to their vehicles...

St. Joseph (Mo.) News-Press The University of Missouri wants $72 million to build a new health-science research center for its School of Medicine. If it gets that money from the state, the university system would need another $52 million to build a new health-sciences building on its Kansas City campus...

To researchers' surprise, a study found that for-profit health insurers are just as likely as not-for-profit ones to pay for costly operations for the elderly such as heart bypasses and knee replacements. The study of 1997 data on 12 operations and other procedures showed that for-profit plans were neither denying care nor holding down costs as much as commonly believed, the researchers said...

HOUSTON -- Former Enron Corp. finance chief Andrew Fastow is negotiating a plea bargain that could send the high-powered executive to prison for his role in the accounting scandal that brought down the energy company, sources close to the case said Wednesday...

WASHINGTON -- Leading technology companies urged Congress and the Bush administration Wednesday not to impose new trade restrictions aimed at keeping U.S. jobs from moving overseas, where labor costs are lower. The companies said such policies would do little to resolve long-standing problems more broadly affecting America's global competitiveness, such as low-scoring schools and inadequate research spending. ...

DETROIT -- If you've ever haplessly wrestled with a truck's spare tire or longed to liven up a drab dashboard display, the auto industry has the gadget for you. A wide array of handy gizmos and whimsical extras are hidden among the horsepower on display at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit...