Stories from April 2004

The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3838 color guard assembled on Saturday at Cape County Park North as volunteers began installing the 500 new flag pole holders along Old Glory Lane in the park. Standing at attention, from left: Clemon Crain, Elmer Schearf, Herb Nance, John Bertrand, Bob Wade and Melvin Kuehle...

NEW YORK -- Here's a children's show that still boasts plenty of street credibility. Now beginning its 35th season, "Sesame Street" remains a daily destination for millions of preschoolers, an evergreen cityscape as much a part of their world as any other play space...

Bell Son to Wesley Joseph and Letitia Lea Bell of Perryville, Mo., St. Francis Medical Center, 5:15 p.m. Saturday, March 20, 2004. Name, Luke Thomas. Weight, 6 pounds 5 ounces. Second son. Mrs. Bell is the former Letitia Moore, daughter of Jerry and Diane Moore of Perryville. She is a registered nurse. Bell is the son of Robert and Lawana Bell of Perryville. He is a K-9 police officer...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Wyatt Tyson Smith, 22, of Sikeston died Tuesday, March 30, 2004, at his home, following an extended illness. He was born May 30, 1981, in St. Louis. Smith was a 2002 graduate of New Dawn State School. Survivors include his foster parents, Mike and Melissa Stewart of the home; mother and stepfather, Jane Smith and Mark Jones of St. ...

ALTENBURG, Mo. -- Eleonora Mueller, 96, of Altenburg died Tuesday, March 30, 2004, at Perry County Nursing Home in Perryville, Mo. She was born March 23, 1908, at New Wells, Mo., daughter of Herman and Clara Schneider Perr. She and Herbert G. Mueller were married Oct. 25, 1931. He died Aug. 13, 1984...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Landon Garvin Sterling, 88, of Sikeston died Tuesday, March 30, 2004, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. He was born Sept. 4, 1915, in Camden, Tenn., son of Matthew Thomas and Leona Smith Sterling. Sterling lived in Mississippi County most of his life, moving to Sikeston in 1995...

STURDIVANT, Mo. -- Glendale Ladd, 69, of Sturdivant died Tuesday, March 30, 2004, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Jan. 30, 1935, at Como, Mo., son of Finis and Thelma Whitehead Ladd. He and Shirley Kennedy were married Feb. 7, 1953, at Marble Hill, Mo...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Kermit Burris, 51, of Cairo died Saturday, March 27, 2004. He was born Nov. 14, 1952, in Cairo, son of Thomas F. and Ida Ray Burris Sr. Burris was a graduate of Cairo High School. He was a truck driver more than 20 years with city of Cairo Street Department. He also was an on-call fireman from 1992 to 1994, worked at Burkart and Union Carbide, and various self-employment jobs...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Robert L. "Bob" Davie, 65, of Jonesboro died Monday, March 29, 2004, at his home, following an extended illness. He was born Jan. 12, 1939, in Jonesboro, son of Winstead R. and Edith Graham Davie. He and Adalee McPherson were married July 21, 1962, in Springfield, Ill...

Carole W. Clayton, 69, died at 12:45 a.m. Tuesday, March 30, 2004, at Life Care Center in St. Louis, after a brief illness. She was born Aug. 12, 1934, in Breakbell, Ark., daughter of Lawrence Clayton and Cathran Irene McCord Wilson. Mrs. Clayton graduated from Charleston High School in 1951...

Superb production MY HAT goes off to all of the students, faculty and others who were involved in the Central High School production of "South Pacific." What a superb job. From the gorgeous sets and wonderful music to the beautiful singing and great acting, this is a show you wouldn't want to miss. Whether you are a fan of musicals or not, this show is so much more...

To the editor: I was listening to the Kidd Kraddick show. There was a segment on a high school in North Dakota. An 18-year-old female student was seen smoking a cigarette off campus by a community member who told the principal. She was subsequently banned from attending the prom. ...

To the editor: The story on shoplifting was incomplete. About one-quarter of the stealing offenses that occur are committed by juveniles. Dr. John Wade was right. Some juveniles see this as a right of passage. I have seen as many children encouraged by relatives to steal as I have by their peers. I recall with some pleasure the times our police have filed charges for endangering the welfare of a minor when parents have been fleecing businesses by using their children to grab the goods...

To the editor: This letter is in response to Robert Polack Jr.'s March 25 letter. Polack stated that his organization has delivered petitions to U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson's office containing 60 signatures against war with Iraq. Does he realize Emerson represents over 400,000 people?...

Last week I admitted to my profligate ways with vitamins: I never met one I didn't like. To the rescue came Dr. John La Puma, a nutrition-focused medical doctor. He admonished me to "supplement wisely," not promiscuously. This week, Dr. John gives me an earful about minerals and water-soluble vitamins...

Today Blood drive from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Central High School in Cape Girardeau. Blood pressure screening from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the Cape Senior Center, sponsored by the Generations Resource Center at Southeast Missouri Hospital. For information, call 651-5825...

As health-care procedures change and once-delicate surgeries become more routine, the need for a stable blood supply increases. A new building for the American Red Cross blood services division in Cape Girardeau will help make that possible. The building at 20 S. Mount Auburn Road more than tripled the amount of space the center once had and allows it to hold regular blood drives and open donation times...

A pack of 20 candidates is running in the race for two associate commissioner seats in Cape Girardeau County. They appear already to have set a record for sheer numbers. Rodney Miller, longtime Cape Girardeau county clerk, can't ever remember such a big field...

The Boonville (Mo.) Daily News Most University of Missouri fans assumed the new sports arena would be named after the Laurie name, knowing the family had donated $25 million to the project. The realization of calling the new sports venue "Paige Sports Arena" has Tigers fans buzzing with conversation. .....

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following call Tuesday: At 6:21 p.m., an alarm sounding at 1000 Towers Complex. Firefighters responded to the following calls Wednesday: At 1:10 a.m., an emergency medical service at 3008 Themis. At 7:23 a.m., a still alarm at 16 S. Pacific...

Cape Girardeau The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests James T. Doughten, 43, 407 E. Rodney, Cape Girardeau, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of telephone harassment. Ladawn M. Hogan, 24, 531 S. Hanover, Cape Girardeau, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of resisting arrest and interfering with an arrest...

The United Way of Southeast Missouri and the Volunteer Intergenerational Center, VIC, will announce April as community volunteer month at a news conference set for today. The announcement is set for 3:30 p.m. at the Boys and Girls Club at 232 Broadway...

Greater Dimensions plans annual fish fry for April 9 An annual fish fry will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 9 at Greater Dimensions Church, 723 Hackberry, Cape Girardeau. The menu includes fried catfish fillets, spaghetti, cole slaw, dessert and drink. Dine-in, carryout or delivery. Those wanting to place delivery orders should do so by 10 a.m. Call 334-0616...

Cape Girardeau Community Caring Council Aging Committee Receives Donation Alliance Bank recently donated $1,500 to be used for the Community Caring Council Aging Committee Senior Resource Directory. The directory will include listings for services offered by non-profit agencies and other service providers that have representatives on the Aging Committee. Free of charge, it will be available to senior citizens living in Cape Girardeau County while supplies last...

County chapter of AARP meeting on Monday The Cape Girardeau County Chapter of AARP No. 4041 will meet at 1:30 p.m. Monday at Grace United Methodist Church, Broadway and Caruthers. The program, "The River Campus," will be presented by board member Ruth Knote. There will be a drawing for a door prize...

The Rose Hill Garden Club of Cape Girardeau has been awarded a $2,600 grant from the Principal Financial Group Historic Gardens Project. Funds will be used to create the gardens at the Red House Interpretive Center in downtown Cape Girardeau. Established by the The National Garden Clubs Inc. the grant program is under the sponsorship of the Principal Financial Group aiming to enhance gardens at historic sites in communities across the nation...

JUPITER, Fla. -- Matt Morris pitched seven strong innings to give the St. Louis Cardinals their eighth one-run win of the spring, 2-1 over the Montreal Expos on Wednesday. Morris, slated to start the opener Monday, ran his string of scoreless innings to 15 1/3 before Matt Cepicky hit a home run to dead center in the sixth. In all, Morris scattered seven hits and had two strikeouts...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Electricity customers of AmerenUE will have their bills drop by a total of $30 million starting today under an agreement negotiated in 2002 by the Public Service Commission. The commission also approved rate decreases this week for natural gas customers in seven northeast Missouri counties, and rate increases for gas customers in the town of Sullivan...

CHESTER, Ill. -- The death of a Menard Correctional Center inmate who succumbed to hypothermia in an unheated cell was an accident, a coroner's jury has ruled. Charles Platcher's death on Christmas Day was an accident because the heat in the building had malfunctioned, the six-member Randolph County coroner's jury declared Tuesday...

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan -- An Uzbek official said early today that a lone militant who had been holed up in a house blew himself up, ending a standoff in the Uzbek capital that has been rocked by four days of violence. The official said there had been no hostages in the house and contradicted police who claimed several assailants had taken a large number of captives...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Teachers could get more pay for performing extra duties, and districts would have leeway to offer bonuses for hard-to-fill jobs under legislation approved by the House passed Wednesday. The measure by Rep. Jane Cunningham, R-Chesterfield, passed the House by an announced vote of 110-24 and now moves to the Senate...

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- The International Court of Justice ruled Wednesday that the United States violated the rights of 51 Mexicans on death row and ordered their cases be reviewed. The United Nations' highest judiciary, also known as the world court, was considering a suit filed by Mexico claiming 52 convicted murderers weren't given their right to assistance from their government...

Judge issues international warrants for Spain bombers MADRID, Spain -- A Spanish judge issued five international arrest warrants on Wednesday for suspects in the Madrid train bombings and re-arrested a released Moroccan suspect, a court official said. Another suspect identified as Otman El Gnaout was also arrested. Judge Juan del Olmo was forwarding the warrants to authorities in Britain, Morocco and France...

NEW YORK -- Wall Street edged modestly lower Wednesday, closing a turbulent quarter on a down note as the government reported weaker-than-expected growth in the manufacturing sector and OPEC signaled it would move ahead with a planned production cut...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Rosaura Navarro picked strawberries in the fields near Watsonville until she wrenched her back and leg while lifting the baskets of fruit four years ago. Back injuries are notoriously hard to diagnose, and Navarro says doctors could not pinpoint the source of her pain. Nevertheless, the 30-year-old woman she has been getting $110 a week in workers' comp instead of the $420 she made picking crops...

Rice to be asked about Clinton information WASHINGTON -- When she testifies before the commission reviewing the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Condoleezza Rice will face pointed questions about what outgoing Clinton administration officials told her about terrorism -- and how urgently the new Bush administration regarded al-Qaida's threat. She also may face questions about her credibility. Rice may testify publicly and under oath before the 10-member panel as early as next week...

DETROIT -- Kmart has taken aim at several hundred towns, cities and counties nationwide in a lawsuit that claims the communities overcharged the discount retailer millions of dollars in property taxes on stores and other facilities. Some of those being sued have agreed to settlements over the disputed tax assessments, which range in value from a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars. ...

10 years ago: April 1, 1994 Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents hiked tuition Thursday and approved other fee changes while holding line on room charges for 1995 fiscal year. Five Cape Girardeau educators have been selected as first Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce Educators of the Year; honorees are Carol Reimann, Tammy Sue Brotherton, Joseph "Bud" Thompson, Marjorie Engleman and Sister Mary Ann Fischer...

Farmers plan increased crop planting this year COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri farmers reported planting more winter wheat this year and also intend to plant more soybeans, corn, cotton and rice than last year, according to the first survey of farmers' plans for the upcoming growing season. ...

VIENNA, Austria -- OPEC will cut its production target by 4 percent, several oil ministers said Wednesday -- a move that could drive prices past the psychologically important threshold of $40 per barrel at a time when U.S. customers are already enduring high gasoline prices...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- As the House of Representatives debated a proposed state constitutional ban on same-sex marriages on Wednesday, even some supporters questioned the need for the measure. "We are wasting a lot of time for something that doesn't even need to be brought up," said state Rep. Ed Wildberger, a St. Joseph Democrat who voted for the legislation...

Opera does not have to be intimidating, at least that is what those involved with Southeast Missouri State University's latest opera production are trying to get across. "Opera has an uphill climb from the get go," said voice professor Christopher Goeke. "I'm hoping to get the word out that it's accessible."...

It's hard to believe that anyone could miss a day filled with the clamor of 18 boisterous 2-year-olds. But Sharon Goff is afraid that her time of negotiating a balance between play time and nap time for the toddlers is nearing an end. Even worse, she's worried about where they will go...

When Bill Needle draws a loaf of bread or a royal falcon, he's not just doodling. He's creating hieroglyphics, the picture script of ancient Egyptian priests. "I am one of 11 Egyptologists in the United States that can read hieroglyphics," he said, a smile of pride etched on his face...

FALLUJAH, Iraq -- In a scene reminiscent of Somalia, frenzied crowds dragged the burned, mutilated bodies of four American contractors through the streets of a town west of Baghdad on Wednesday and strung two of them up from a bridge after rebels ambushed their SUVs...

CHARLESTON, W.Va.-- Jessica Lynch is trying to work it all out. A year after the Army supply clerk's wounding and rescue made her the Iraq war's most famous soldier, she grapples with questions both personal -- going to college; getting married -- and philosophical -- Why did she survive when others didn't?...

This is the first part of a two-part look at the rationale for fighting the war on terrorism in Iraq. By George P. Shultz ~ From The Wall Street Journal We have struggled with terrorism for a long time. In the Reagan administration, I was a hawk on the subject. ...

Dale Watkins has been around rodeos and other horse-related events all his life. It took him 46 years to discover his favorite: polo. In 1990, the Cape Girardeau resident witnessed his first polo match in Carbondale, Ill. It turned out to be love at first sight...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Reducing the length of buck season and requiring hunters to shoot a doe before taking a buck are among the suggestions being considered as Missouri prepares to launch a pilot deer management program. Conservationists estimate there are 1 million deer in the state...

Charity may begin at home, but that doesn't stop out-of-state organizations from calling and soliciting donations. Charities often reach out and touch contributors for donations over the telephone; donors should be aware of who they're giving money to...

Brandon Gendron homered in the 10th inning Wednesday to give the Jackson baseball team a 1-0 win at Hillsboro. Tyler Beussink picked up the win in relief after a strong performance by Jason Meystedt. Meystedt threw nine innings, allowed only two hits and struck out 15 for Jackson (2-1)...

The Kelly boys and the Scott City girls were led by some dominating performances to win team titles Wednesday in the Kelly Open. Tyson Glaser and Michael Glastetter each won three individual events for Kelly in the boys competition. The Hawks, who also won all three relay events, rolled to the team championship with 156 1/2 points. Runner-up Chaffee scored 58 1/2 and Saxony was third in the five-team meet with 49 points...

Even though Southeast Missouri State University's softball team struggled in non-league play, coach Lana Richmond is hopeful the Otahkians will fare much better against Ohio Valley Conference competition. The Otahkians will begin to learn more about their league fate today as they open OVC play against visiting Eastern Illinois in a 3 p.m. doubleheader...

STILLWATER, Okla. -- Southeast Missouri State University pitcher Ryan Forsyth graduated from Edmond (Okla.) Memorial High School, less than an hour's drive from Oklahoma State. He was not recruited by the Cowboys, and decided to make a statement to them Wednesday at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium. The junior right-hander gave up just five hits in 8 2/3 innings en route to a 4-2 win for the Indians. He struck out four and walked four...

April 1, 2004 Dear sir, I am forwarding this information because the person who sent it to me, Mr. Ponzi, is a good friend and does not send me junk. A little girl is going to die from a form of cancer that occasionally is fatal. She probably has six months to live. Since she will never get to kiss a boy, never get to wear a prom dress, never get to win a Nobel Prize, you owe it to her to pass this letter along. Please send it to everyone you know...

Cape Girardeau The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Delbert Wayne Hogan Jr., 18, 531 S. Hanover, Cape Girardeau, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of domestic assault, resisting arrest and assault of a police officer...

Exhibit at Three Rivers Community College POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- The work of local artist Laura Clark will be on view at Three Rivers Community College's Tinnin Fine Arts Center starting today. This is Clark's first show at the college, although she is an art teacher there. The exhibit is titled "Dialogues" and runs until April 23. There is also a free lecture by Clark at 12:30 p.m. today at the arts center...

Author Eddy Harris will spend part of the day with students at Cape Central High School and the public at the Cape Girardeau Public Library. Harris' debut novel "Mississippi Solo" was chosen as this year's ReadMOre selection. ReadMOre is a program sponsored by Missouri public libraries, book stores and related organizations that encourages reading. Each year one book is selected for the state to read and discuss and the author of that book makes appearances throughout the state...

If your idea of a good evening out involves art exhibits, food and drink, and lots of fellow art lovers, tonight is the night for you: Gallery receptions are being held at the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, the Southeast Missouri State University Museum, the Garden Gallery and the Schock Community Arts Center...

'Hellboy' Starring Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, John Hurt, Doug Jones and David Hyde Pierce. Based on Mike Mignola's comic, this movie is about a demon summoned to Earth by Russian monk Rasputin as part of a Nazi experiment in 1944. A scientist rescued the creature and raised him to be a force of good. ...

Four stars (out of four) "Jersey Girl" is a romantic comedy about Ollie Trinke (Ben Affleck) whose life has been spun around 180 degrees. Ollie's high-priced New York life changes when his wife (Jennifer Lopez) dies and he is left with a newborn baby. Unable to keep up, Trinke moves in with his father in New Jersey. It is here he learns to live and love again...

Dear Tom and Ray: A friend of mine, Chris (his real name), is about to buy a U.S.-made car, brand-new, off the showroom floor. I suggested that he might want to consider buying a model of which lots of units are sold. It's my idea that the more popular a car is, the less likely he will be to end up with a lemon. Also, if a car is common, repairs and replacement parts might cost less. Is this a good strategy for buying a new car, or am I all wet?...

10 years ago: April 2, 1994 Funding for five regional offices of Missouri Department of Economic Development will be included in state's budget for next fiscal year beginning July 1. Olympic torch, on its way to United States Olympic Festival in St. Louis, is scheduled to pass through Cape Girardeau on June 1...

Killian Son to Todd Arnold and Kimberly Ann Killian of Scott City, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 1:04 p.m. Monday, March 8, 2004. Name, Eli Todd. Weight, 9 pounds 13 ounces. Mrs. Killian is the former Kimberly Givens, daughter of Jerry and Ida Givens of Scott City. She is employed at Bank of Missouri in Cape Girardeau. Killian is the son of Arnold and Connie Killian of Scott City. He is employed at Spartech Polycom...

Leroy H. Watkins, 86, died Thursday, April 1, 2004, at St. Francis Medical Center. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel.

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Robert Lee Lukefahr, 70, of Oceanside, Calif., died Feb. 26, 2004, at the San Diego Hospice. Lukefahr was born June 10, 1933, in Perryville, son of Ruben and Anna Lukefahr. He married Ursula M. Lukefahr. He was an electrical engineer for Unisys for 28 years. He was a Korean Navy veteran and a member of Eta Kappa Nu Association and Tau Beta Pi Association...

ANNA, Ill. -- Frank M. Cavaness, 95, of Anna died Wednesday, March 31, 2004, at City Care Center. He was born July 9, 1908, at McClure, Ill., son of Fred and Anna Kinder Cavaness. He and Pearl Cruse were married March 21, 1936. Cavaness had owned and operated Cavaness Tin Shop. He was a member of First Baptist Church...

SEDGEWICKVILLE, Mo. -- Mary E. Seabaugh, 89, of Sedgewickville died Wednesday, March 31, 2004, at Elder Care of Marble Hill, Mo. She was born Feb. 20, 1915, at Lutesville, Mo., daughter of Freeman and Mamie Baker Graves. She and Harley Wilson Seabaugh were married Nov. 20, 1937, at Patton, Mo...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Sandra Faye Williams, 38, of Sikeston died Wednesday, March 31, 2004, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born May 10, 1965, in Hughes, Ark., daughter of Joe Louis and Flora Lee Mitchell Williams. Williams had lived in Sikeston most of her life. She attended New Dawn State School, and was a member of and usher at Power House of God Church...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Victor Omer Hahn, 87, of Marble Hill, Mo., died Thursday, April 1, 2004, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born June 12, 1916, in Lutesville, Mo., the son of Robert F. and Mary Etta Stevens Hahn. He married Alberta Lee Baker June 15, 1946. She died Feb. 16, 2003...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Bob Jenkins, 76, of Sikeston died Wednesday, March 31, 2004, at his home. He was born Oct. 17, 1927, in Cleveland, Ohio, son of Harold and Irene Jenkins. He and Dana Jensen Garner were married in 1969. Jenkins graduated from the University of Missouri in 1952. He founded Sikeston General Oil Co. in 1967, and retired in 1999...

ORAN, Mo. -- Mary Jane Wade, 78, of Oran died Wednesday, March 31, 2004, at Sikeston Convalescent Center in Sikeston, Mo. She was born March 10, 1926, at Oran, daughter of Carrol Joel and Mary Donaldson Stigall Wade. Miss Wade retired as vice president and cashier at Oran State Bank in Oran. She was a member of First Baptist Church in Oran and Oran Chamber of Commerce...

Donna Sue Amlingmeyer, 54, of Paducah, Ky., died Wednesday, March 31, 2004, at Lourdes Hospital in Paducah. She was born Dec. 8, 1949, in Evansville, Ind., daughter of L.L. and Mary Gross McCarty. She married John Amlingmeyer. Donna graduated in 1968 from Mount Vernon Senior High School, and from Deaconess School of Nursing in 1971. She worked at Deaconess Hospital 12 years, and had been at Lourdes Hospital the past 21 years, working as a care manager. She was of the Baptist belief...

Philip L. Kearney, 87, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, April 1, 2004, at Chateau Girardeau Health Center. He was born June 21, 1916, in Sheldon, Iowa, son of Francis Eugene and Margaret Kelly Kearney. He and Mary Catherine Lanertz were married Nov. 22, 1941, in Fulda, Minn. She died March 10, 1973...

To the editor: A friend told me about the death of Herbert Taylor. I simply wept. I'm writing to acknowledge Taylor, who was not only an educator with an exceptional vision, but a mentor and a friend. As a foreign student from Nigeria, Herb welcomed me in the communications department at Southeast Missouri State University from 1983 to 1986. ...

Thanks for credit card A GREAT big relieved thank you to the thoughtful individual who found my credit card Wednesday at Wal-Mart and called the credit card company to report it lost. In my haste to get to an appointment on time, I did not put it back in my wallet as I usually do. Again, my eternal thanks...

To the editor: Over the past nine years, we have had children active in the Jackson High School Drama Club. Despite recent budget cuts, the leadership shown by Bob Clubbs as sponsor and director for the past three years has afforded the club and its participants positive opportunities...

Baseball Milton Bradley has probably played his last game for the Cleveland Indians. Bradley was barred from the team's training camp Thursday, one day after getting pulled from an exhibition game by manager Eric Wedge for not running out a popup. ...

To the editor: The names Cheney, Rove, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Perle, Libby, Armitage, Abrams, Bennett and Jeb Bush are well-known to anyone who follows politics. While only two were elected and the rest were appointed, these are the people who run both the White House and our country...

The Central girls swimming team breezed by visiting Poplar Bluff 106-64 to improve to 7-2. Lindsey Smith was part of three first-place finishes (200 medley relay, 100 free, 400 free relay). Eleven teams will visit Central's Bubble on Saturday for the City of Roses.Central results...

Don't forget that Saturday night is when we set our clocks forward one hour for daylight-saving time. The advantage of the time change, of course, is the extra daylight as these spring evenings stretch into summer's late sunset. The disadvantage is the loss of an hour of sleep, which the extra hour in the fall never quite seems to make up...

Southeast Missouri has enjoyed a rare early spring this year, one in which blooming flowers and blossoming trees have been unmarred by heavy frost -- although temperatures last night were nippy. When was the last time anyone can remember tulip trees keeping their marvelous flowers and not being zapped by a spring freeze?...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following items Wednesday: At 5:14 p.m., a fire alarm at 1000 Towers Complex. At 7:55 p.m., an emergency medical service at 100 N. Frederick. Firefighters responded to the following items on Thursday: An emergency medical service at 381 Country Club Drive...

It is likely that most Missourians believe marriage is intended for couples consisting of a man and a woman. That has been the religious and cultural model until recent years, when same-sex couples have sought to have their unions legally sanctioned...

1:15 p.m. today at 301 N. Clark On the agenda: Contract with the City of Cape Girardeau Personnel Discussion of concealed weapon signage

WASHINGTON -- Accompanied by grieving families, President Bush on Thursday signed into law new protections for the unborn that for the first time make it a separate federal crime to harm a fetus during an assault on the mother. "If the crime is murder and the unborn child's life ends, justice demands a full accounting under the law," Bush said before signing the measure, a major priority for many of the president's most loyal political supporters. ...

Concrete work by MoDOT scheduled in Perry Co. PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Crews for the Missouri Department of Transportation will make repairs to highways in Perry County during the coming week. Concrete repairs to parts of Interstate 55 will be made today from 7:30 a.m. ...

WASHINGTON -- It's becoming a pattern in the Senate: Republicans withdrawing or defeating their own legislation rather than allowing Democrats to force votes that could embarrass GOP leaders and be used against President Bush. The latest clash came Thursday, when Senate Republicans tried to force through a bill changing the 1996 welfare law to require more single mothers to work for more hours to qualify for benefits. The measure also would provide millions of dollars to promote marriage...

DULUTH, Ga. -- The tee shots found the fairway, the approach shots nestled close to the hole and the putts rolled smoothly. For one day, at least, Jose Maria Olazabal was back on his game. The two-time Masters champion crafted a 7-under 65 Thursday to tie rookie Roger Tambellini for the lead after a blustery first round at the BellSouth Classic. They were one shot ahead of Craig Bowden, and two in front of Tim Petrovic and PGA Championship winner Shaun Micheel...

ST. LOUIS -- A Missouri maker of DVD-copying products said Thursday it has appealed court rulings in New York and California that it stop making and marketing its software. The company, 321 Studios Inc. based in the St. Louis suburb of Chesterfield, filed the appeals in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in California and the 2nd U.S. Circuit appellate court in New York...

CLAYTON, Mo. -- His sights set on being a Chesterfield Township Republican committeewoman, Christian Tompras filed by Tuesday's deadline for the post on the Aug. 3 ballot, only to see the paperwork rejected. The reason? Tompras is a man, and state law mandates that only a woman can run for the post...

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan -- A woman detonated a bomb Thursday in central Uzbekistan, killing one person and critically injuring herself, and the government for the first time said al-Qaida was behind this week's attacks that left at least 44 dead, mostly alleged militants...

LOS ANGELES -- John Mancini has a beef with some cartoon fish. Mancini is the founder of the Italic Institute of America, which decries what it calls Hollywood's stereotyping of Italians as dumb thugs or murderous gangsters. Now, after years spent fighting movie and TV mafia, the organization has targeted a kids' cartoon, the upcoming DreamWorks movie "Shark Tale," because some of its villainous sea creatures are played by Italians and have Italian names...

ANKARA, Turkey -- A sweep against a militant Turkish group netted more than 50 suspects in three European countries Thursday in what experts said could be the fruit of increased security cooperation before the Athens Olympics. The suspects were picked up in Turkey, Italy and Belgium after security forces there and in Germany and the Netherlands launched raids against houses used by the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front, or DHKP-C, a Marxist group that calls for the overthrow of the Turkish government.. ...

NEW YORK -- The jury in the grand-larceny case against two former Tyco International jurors deliberated for an 11th day without reaching a verdict Thursday. Former chief executive L. Dennis Kozlowski, 57, and former finance chief Mark Swartz, 43, are accused of looting the conglomerate of $600 million through stock manipulation...

DETROIT -- A woman and four children were tied up and beaten to death in this city, which already had been shaken by a surge of killings this year. A 13-year-old girl alerted authorities after escaping from the house where a 33-year-old woman, a 16-year-old boy and three girls, ages 9 to 14, were found dead Thursday...

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The man arrested in the deadly string of highway shootings that terrorized Ohio drivers for months was indicted Thursday on a murder charge that could bring the death penalty. Charles A. McCoy Jr., 28, was also charged with numerous other offenses, including attempted murder, assault and vandalism, in half of the 24 shootings...

SAN DIEGO -- Computer maker Gateway Inc. announced Thursday that it will shutter all of its stores next week, eliminating nearly 40 percent of its work force in a move aimed at breaking out of a three-year slump. The company said it will eliminate 2,500 jobs as it closes all 188 stores. The businesses will close April 9 and workers will be dismissed by the end of the month...

srobertson Double cab is biggest Toyota truck model yet Americans are in love with their pickups, and it's a relationship that seems to have no end in sight. It's also apparent that "bigger is better," at least when it comes to pickups. More trucks are sold in North America than in any other part of the world, and despite rising fuel prices, the three top selling vehicles are full-size trucks with V-8 engines. ...

During one of our philosophical conversations, a colleague here at the newspaper had a great idea and suggested I take up the cause in my column, because, goodness knows, this column will trumpet just about anything legal. Look at the list: World Famous Downtown Golf Course, Cape Girardeau Fruitcake and Praline Festival Days, Battle of Cape Girardeau Grudge Match, Trail of Tears Rite of Initiation (participants cross the Mississippi River in the winter without a boat) and the All-County Sailing Relays at the Capaha Park lagoon.. ...

SAN ANTONIO -- Sentimental favorites at the Final Four are usually old or recovering from a serious setback. This year, Eddie Sutton has no competition. He qualifies on both counts. At 68, Sutton returns with a third and perhaps final shot to win it all, which would make him the oldest coach ever to do so. He's already the oldest ever to arrive here, and like a bouncing ball, Sutton has known many ups and downs. But the last of those will be with him always...

This is the second part of a two-part look at the rationale for fighting the War on Terrorism in Iraq. By George P. Shultz ~ From The Wall Street Journal In the early 1990s, U.N. inspectors [in Iraq] found plenty of materials in the category of weapons of mass destruction and they dismantled a lot of it. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Senate on Tuesday approved legislation that would retool Missouri's existing prescription medication benefit for the elderly to fill a coverage gap in a new federal drug program. The federal plan, which President George W. ...

It wasn't exactly what Southeast Missouri State University coach Lana Richmond wanted, but at least her squad broke a nine-game losing streak. The Otahkians opened Ohio Valley Conference play Thursday against visiting Eastern Illinois intent on sweeping a doubleheader against one of the teams predicted to finish toward the bottom of the standings...

Brian Matthews hopes that East Tennessee State's loss will be Southeast Missouri State University's gain in the form of a big, fast wide receiver who can help the Indians put up the kind of prolific offensive numbers they compiled in 2002. "I'm excited to be here and I'm just trying to help out any way I can," said Matthews as the Indians wrapped up their first week of spring practice at Houck Stadium this week...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A Senate committee endorsed a bill Thursday attempting to fix a funding flaw identified by the state Supreme Court in Missouri's new concealed guns law. While upholding the general legality of concealed guns, the Supreme Court recently ruled the funding mechanism in the law could impose an illegal, unfunded mandate on county sheriffs responsible for administering it...

ST. LOUIS -- Marc Lamothe won in his second start of the season as the Detroit Red Wings clinched first place overall in the NHL with a 3-2 victory over the Blues on Thursday night. The Blues missed a chance to clinch their 25th straight playoff berth, which would extend the longest current streak in professional sports. Instead, the loss in their regular-season home finale put them in a three-way tie with the Oilers and Predators for seventh in the Western Conference with two games to go...

FALLUJAH, Iraq -- A U.S. general vowed an "overwhelming" response to the murder and mutilation of four American contractors, but U.S. troops stayed out of this anti-American city Thursday and fearful Iraqi police took no action. Residents said they were ready to take on the Americans if they try to enter Fallujah, where schools and shops remained open a day after insurgents ambushed the contractors' SUVs and mobs strung up two of their charred corpses on an iron bridge spanning the Euphrates River.. ...

People passing through Scott City for the next couple of weeks will find it hard not to notice that the train tracks are busier than usual. But not with trains. It will remain that way until the middle of May, when the rail improvements on the 40 miles of railroad tracks running from Scott City to Dexter are completed...

Lights illuminating the cables and towers of the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge will remain dark probably until the end of April. Hubbell Lighting of Christiansburg, Va., has a branch location that is remaking the trim that holds the lens in place, said Keith Robinson, project manager for the contractor, Sachs Electric. Delivery of the new parts may take up to two weeks, he said...

William Crist's father, now 90, is one of two children out of a family of nine siblings that lived beyond the age of 20. This was not an uncommon statistic for families in the late 1800s. Polio, leukemia, diphtheria -- all killers in those days -- have been subdued by modern medicine in the past century...

It's hard to have a bad show when you start out with a classic Johnny Cash song. At least that proved true for the Brooks & Dunn show Thursday night at the Show Me Center. The night's first performer, Josh Turner, opened with "Folsom Prison Blues" and though it's hard, if not impossible, to follow that, the rest of Turner's short set was a crowd pleaser...

Area churches are expecting to fill their sanctuaries on Easter Sunday, in part because of the attention and curiosity generated by the film "The Passion of the Christ." Mel Gibson's dramatic movie about the last hours of Christ's life has gained international media attention. The movie shows the arrest, suffering and crucifixion of Jesus Christ and has been criticized for its violence and anti-Semitic tones...

If the Ohio Valley Conference's baseball coaches were correct, then perhaps the biggest series of the entire season will take place on the second weekend of league play. Southeast Missouri State University (11-13, 2-1) visits Jacksonville State (10-13, 3-0) for a three-game set featuring the two preseason favorites based on voting by the league's coaches. The squads will have a 1 p.m. doubleheader today and a 1 p.m. single game Sunday in Jacksonville, Ala...

ST. LOUIS -- Democratic Gov. Bob Holden criticized a Republican budget plan to eliminate vacant state jobs as "callous and careless," suggesting it would harm the education of the deaf, blind and disabled. A plan pending in the House Budget Committee would abolish more than 500 full- and part-time state jobs that have been empty for at least three months, saving the state an estimated $20 million...

Candidates for the 158th District of the Missouri House of Representatives told a group of Republican women Friday -- one in person, two by proxy -- that if elected they intended to work toward reducing the size of government, creating jobs and making business a priority...

Cape Girardeau took part in Missouri's ReadMOre program for the first time with the appearance of author Eddy Harris at Central High School and the Cape Girardeau Public Library on Friday. ReadMOre, in its third year, is a collaborative effort between Missouri public libraries, bookstores and starting next year, the Missouri Humanities Council. The goal, said project coordinator Kathleen Nigro, is "to encourage all Missourians to read and discuss the same book."...

ST. LOUIS -- Geologists are launching a study of soils in parts of Illinois, Missouri and Indiana to chart how strongly earthquakes could shake different areas. The several-year study by the U.S. Geological Survey will not show where earthquakes are expected to originate, only which areas likely would face the worst shaking in a quake...

Ashley Godwin figures it's a great way to wind up a record-setting career. Tara Boldt, Alexis Traylor and Katie Bloom figure it's a great way to gain experience and build some major momentum for the remainder of their careers. Those four Southeast Missouri State University gymnasts make up one of the school's largest-ever qualifying groups for tonight's NCAA Division I South Central Regional in Tucson, Ariz...

Southeast Missouri State University junior Heather Jenkins' bid for a Gatorade Classic three-peat got off to an impressive start Friday. Competing in the only event on the opening day of Southeast's 23rd annual track and field meet, Jenkins won the hammer throw with a distance of 171 feet, 4 inches that exceeded her previous personal best by about 10 feet...

SAN ANTONIO -- Bill Walton, Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon should be smiling Saturday. The pure center, the position that has slowly -- some say sadly -- become something of a relic in college basketball over the last decade or so, is back in the limelight...

WASHINGTON -- After months of dismal job growth, the nation's employers dusted off their help-wanted signs in March and added workers at the quickest pace in four years, swelling payrolls by 308,000. Even so, the unemployment rate inched up a tenth of a point to 5.7 percent as more people were encouraged to start looking for work again but failed to find jobs, the Labor Department said Friday...

Holding the reigns to his horse, Desired Spark, Lew Sterrett rode around Flickerwood Arena in Fruitland kicking up dirt and sharing Scripture at the same time. Sterrett delivered his "Sermon on the Mount" before a standing-room-only crowd Friday night at the arena. At least 1,000 people filled the bleachers in the arena to see Sterrett break a 3-year-old stallion that had never before been ridden...

Just before midnight on March 22, Corban Ayala was squirming on a piece of pastel green construction paper spread over the mat in his bassinet. Bedecked in his first white T-shirt and diapers, his feet still dotted with black patches of ink from having his footprints taken, Corban could have been wondering any number of things...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Kevin Witt hit a grand slam in the bottom of the fifth to lead the Memphis Redbirds to a 7-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night. The game was the first of two between the Cardinals and their Triple-A affiliate. Witt's home run came after Jason Bowers hit a three-run homer off Cardinals starter Woody Williams in the same inning...

WASHINGTON -- Citing a need to protect the troops, the Marine Corps operating in Fallujah and elsewhere in the volatile Sunni Triangle of central Iraq is restricting the information it releases about insurgent attacks that kill Marines. On Friday, for example, a statement from the Marines' base camp outside Fallujah said a Marine had been killed the day before "as a result of enemy action" in Anbar province. ...

Local business owners looking to get a jump on this year's crop of teens for summer help got a head start at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Coffee. The presentation for the monthly gathering at the Show Me Center was conducted by Dennis Reagan, director of the Missouri Mentoring Partnership, a two-pronged organization that seeks to provide local teenagers and young adults with necessary life and work skills. ...

Firefighters responded to the following items Thursday: At 6:25 p.m. a medical assist at 1117 Ranney. At 7:30 p.m., a structure fire at 416 N. Frederick. At 8:12 p.m., a medical assist at 1 University Plaza. Firefighters responded to the following items Friday: At 5:51 a.m. a fire alarm sounding at 2911 Kage Rd...

Cape Girardeau The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests: Terry Duane Rucker, 19, of 200 S. Spanish, Cape Girardeau was arrested Thursday on city warrants for failure to appear to pay fines for seven traffic offenses; on a Phelps County warrant for robbery; and on a Cape Girardeau County warrant for a weapons offense...

Today Gospel singing at 7 p.m. at Shiloh Baptist Church in Villa Ridge, Ill. The Gloryroad Travelers are scheduled to perform. For information, phone (618) 995-2306. Sunday Palm Sunday service at 7:45 and 10 a.m. at Hanover Lutheran Church. The service includes communion and confirmation of 11 students during the 10 a.m. service...

Lutheran women's missionary group to meet The Lutheran Women's Missionary League at St. Andrew Church will meet at 1 p.m. April 13 in the church library. The speaker is Molly Strickland with Lutheran Family and Children's Services. Christian Women's Club to meet at Port Cape...

College St. Joseph's swept The Associated Press men's college basketball awards Friday, with senior guard Jameer Nelson a runaway winner as player of the year and Phil Martelli selected as coach of the year. The two led the tiny school from Philadelphia to an almost-perfect regular season, a No. ...

Valid theories I AM absolutely floored. My son, a first-grader at South Elementary School, told me that Christians were wrong and dinosaurs lived before humans. He said his teacher told him that. Evolution is only a theory, not fact, and under no circumstances should a teacher be telling a student that creationism is wrong. It is also a valid theory...

Antill Daughter to Matthew Mikhail Antill and Krista Jennifer Bland of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 9:15 p.m. Friday, March 26, 2004. Name, Tracy Kathleen. Weight, 8 pounds 12 ounces. First child. Ms. Bland is the daughter of Gary and Sue Bland of St. Louis. She is attending Southeast Missouri State University. Antill is the son of Robert and Julie Antill of Chaffee. He is employed at Drury National Call Center...

10 years ago: April 3, 1994 Westminster Presbyterian Church hosts community Easter sunrise service; it is held at foot of fish and cross on hill by church, 1820 Perryville Road. Cape Girardeau police officer Dan Niswonger is in stable condition at local hospital; he was involved in two-vehicle accident early yesterday while on duty...

HORSE CAVE, Ky. -- William E. Anderson, 79, of Horse Cave, died Friday, April 2, 2004. He was born at Fornfelt, son of William E. and Elsie Beckett Anderson. He and Katherine Schnider were married March 14, 1946. Anderson was a 1942 graduate of Fornfelt High School. He worked 39 years on the Pennsylvania Railroad...

WASHINGTON, Mo. -- Carl Eugene Zitzman, 88, of Lonedell, Mo., died Tuesday, March 30, 2004, in Washington. He was born Dec. 6, 1915, at Pacific, Mo., son of August and Katherine Thiebes Zitzman. He and Lola McGalliard were married in 1946. Zitzman was employed 30 years with Great Lakes Navy Electronic Supply Office, retiring as supervisor. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church in Waukegan, Ill., and was a former Boy Scout leader...

Raymond Leo Sievers, 89, formerly of Jackson, died Friday, April 2, 2004, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born Oct. 19, 1914, in Jackson, son of Henry and Mary Zeller Sievers. He and Martha Hoffmeister were married March 17, 1961. She died Feb. 20, 1997...

Leroy H. Watkins, 86, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, April 1, 2004, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Oct. 4, 1917, in Granite City, Ill., son of David Henry and Maude Fierce Watkins. He and Thelma M. Kurre were married Nov. 24, 1938, in Granite City. She died Dec. 16, 2003...

To the editor: I am so sorry to see the Early Head Start program go. I am shocked that its value did not withstand budget cuts. When I was a student at Southeast Missouri State University, the EHS program provided my child with the care he needed and myself with the opportunity to finish college. ...

To the editor: Several events that I have recently experienced have taught me something that is painfully hard to deal with. Racism is still alive and well in Cape Girardeau, and it's our duty as responsible Americans to speak out against racism, bigotry and hatred in our hometown no matter what the cost...

To the editor: In a recent letter, U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson said: "It is dangerous to prefer inaction to a defense of our nation against terrorists" As much as I'd like to believe our action in Afghanistan and Iraq is for our protection, evidence points to the possibility that other factors might have been our motivation for these actions...

To the editor: In answer to Robert Polack Jr.: Freedom is not free. Consider the untold numbers of men and women who have died or have partial bodies. They are why everyone in America has the freedom we have today. Freedom costs. Would we rather fight for freedom over there or here on our own soil? How many innocent children, women and men were tortured and killed by Saddam Hussein? How many are in one grave? Weapons of mass destruction were shipped out of the country. ...

To the editor: On March 27 we attended the soccer tournament at Notre Dame Regional High School. Before the Cape Girardeau-Jackson game, the national anthem was played. Several teenagers sitting on a blanket did not bother to stand up. I looked at my husband and said, "I guess our son is serving in Iraq so they have the right to sit." However, I did not believe what I was seeing. ...

Teenagers are always hanging out at the Jackson house where Rachel Sprigg, Mindy Hoffman and Sarah Schumacher live -- but that's sort of the purpose. The house, off the corner of Washington and Hope streets, is owned by First Presbyterian Church but is used most often by teens who gather for Young Life club, an organization that builds relationships with teens and introduces them to Christianity...

For 50 years under various names, the United Way of Southeast Missouri has been doing good works. The United Way raises a significant portion of the money organizations in the region need to operate, leaving them to concentrate on improving the quality of life...

Two Sikeston residents were arrested at noon Thursday after the Sikeston Department of Public Safety narcotics officers and special operations team served a search warrant at 535 N. Ranney. Stephanie Miles, 30, and Cletus Rhoden, 41, were arrested on Scott County warrants for possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute. Both are being held in lieu of $100,000 bond each...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Three adults and two juveniles were arrested at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at a residence at 425 Main St. in Perryville, after authorities raided what they found to be an active methamphetamine lab there. Arrested were Shawn L. Niccum of 321 Perry County Road 318, Jennifer A. ...

Jackson police arrested Clint A. Estraca, 21, of 119 S. Farmington, Friday on drug-related charges after responding to a peace disturbance call. Estraca was later charged by the Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney's office with class A misdemeanor tampering with physical evidence, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, and class B misdemeanor peace disturbance...

WASHINGTON -- Trains and buses in major U.S cities may be targeted this summer by terrorists using bombs hidden in bags or luggage, federal counterterrorism officials have told law enforcement and transportation officials in a nationwide bulletin. FBI and Homeland Security Department officials said they had received uncorroborated intelligence reports about a plot by terrorists to target commercial transportation systems. ...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Dozens of people have been charged with illegally selling large quantities of over-the-counter drugs used to make methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Todd Graves said. Graves announced Thursday that 38 business owners and employees were charged in four separate indictments on charges that include conspiracy to distribute pseudoephedrine, a common ingredient in over-the-counter cold medicines that is used to make meth, conspiracy to manufacture meth, money laundering and federal firearm violations.. ...

JERUSALEM -- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon revealed the scope of his withdrawal plan Friday, saying Israel will leave all of the Gaza Strip and dismantle four West Bank settlements. But there were reports of violence in both region hours later. A Palestinian gunman attacked the West Bank settlement of Avnei Hefets early today, killing an Israeli man and wounding his daughter before he was shot and killed, rescue services said...

NEW YORK -- In response to an uproar caused by a History Channel documentary that claimed President Lyndon Johnson was involved in the Kennedy assassination, the network will air a challenge to that program by a panel of three historians. The special, airing at 7 p.m. local time Wednesday, is called "The Guilty Men: An Historical Review."...

MADRID, Spain -- A Spanish railroad inspector found a 26-pound bomb hidden in a bag on a busy high-speed line Friday, and police said the device may contain the same dynamite used in last month's Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people. ...

HONOLULU -- The last victim identified in the attack on four civilians in Iraq this week was a native of Hawaii who joined the military out of high school and returned to his home state several years ago after a career as an Army Ranger. His family was informed late Thursday that Wesley J. Batalona was one of the four American contractors killed in Fallujah, Iraq, his older sister, Uilani Shibata, said Friday...

Real estate agent Joe Crimaldi said he had no warning before the manager at an apartment complex where he worked called him in to fire him about three years ago. There was no discussion of his sales record, he said, only expressions of how "we don't see eye to eye" and "I don't think this is working out."...

NEW YORK -- With the jury close to reaching a verdict, a judge declared a mistrial in the grand-larceny case against two former Tyco executives Friday after a juror apparently received an intimidating letter and phone call for supposedly siding with the defense...

Next week, police chief Steve Strong will be in Washington, D.C., learning how to protect Cape Girardeau from terror threats to the area that nowadays aren't hard to imagine. Strong has been selected to attend an all-expenses-paid, weeklong training session on homeland security in the new U.S. Secret Service Memorial Building April 5 to 9...

A president's job: Give President Bush's critics credit for versatility. Having spent months assailing him for doing too much after 9-11 -- Iraq, the Patriot Act, the pre-emption doctrine -- they have now turned on a dime to allege that he did too little before it. This contradiction is Mr. Bush's opportunity to rise above the ankle biting and explain to the American public what a President is elected to do...

Theater experience "SOUTH PACIFIC" was sensational. All the things we go to the theater for were there: the enthusiasm, the ability to take you away and a wonderful job with the music and the orchestra. It was a true theater experience.Can't take the heat...

NEW YORK -- The trench coat is one of the season's "must-have" items, marking a rare alignment between fashion stars and grounded shoppers. And while it's quite possible there already is a trench coat in your closet, the newer versions have some quirky and stylish touches that keep them from being redundant: There are "trench" capelets, tweed-trim trenches, and blue, pink and green trenches...

A walk is as good as a hit. The visiting Parkway North Vikings took that to heart Saturday at Capaha Field, using 10 walks by Central pitchers to dispatch of the Tigers 7-5. "That's what we've been fighting," Central coach Steve Williams said. "I'm disappointed in our pitching. Not that we've let up many runs, but we're giving up free runs."...

Southeast Missouri State University's softball team ran its winning streak to three games Saturday as the Otahkians swept a lopsided Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader from visiting Tennessee State. In a pair of run-rule contests, the Otahkians won 9-1 in six innings and 8-0 in five innings. Southeast is 8-21 overall and 3-1 in OVC play. TSU is 11-22 and 1-4...

Special to the Southeast Missourian JACKSONVILLE, Ala. -- It didn't come easy, but Southeast Missouri State University baseball coach Mark Hogan got what he wanted Saturday. In an early-season showdown between the top two teams in the Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll, the Indians split a doubleheader with host Jacksonville State. They earned the split by winning the nightcap 10-3 after dropping the opener 12-2...

The first question put to Republican gubernatorial candidate Matt Blunt set the tone for the day's dialogue: If he becomes Missouri's next governor, what would he do to improve business? "I know there's no magic formula for getting jobs," said Jim Schwaninger, the executive director of Scott County's economic development office, who brought up the matter. "But what can be done to help us help our businesses?"...

From fighting ferrets to fighting okra and red hawks to red wolves, Southeast Missouri State University students, staff and fans have submitted over 800 suggestions for a new nickname and mascot to replace the Cape Girardeau school's traditional Indian nickname...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- The St. Louis Blues finally can relax with their playoff streak extended for one more year. The Nashville Predators must wait and see. Brian Savage scored the tiebreaking goal at 2:43 of the third period, and the Blues beat the Predators 4-1 Saturday, clinching St. Louis' 25th consecutive playoff berth...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- When term limits forced him out of the House of Representatives in 2003, Pat Naeger had hoped his absence from the state legislature would be temporary. With Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, himself ineligible for another term, Naeger was committed to seeking the GOP nomination for Kinder's upper chamber seat this year...

More than one-fifth of Missouri's public school districts will ask voters Tuesday to pay higher taxes to support education as state funding declines. Failure of the ballot measures, say officials in many of the 114 districts, would force tough choices about such items as class sizes, up-to-date textbooks and athletic programs...

The Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Albert Pujols hit a two-run homer Saturday in the St. Louis Cardinals' 5-1 victory against the Memphis Redbirds. It was the second of two exhibition games between the Cardinals and their Class AAA affiliate. Memphis won 7-3 on Friday night...

American Indian music sounded and flashes of color were displayed against the bright blue sky Saturday, while expressive dancers dressed in full regalia moved swiftly and eagerly to the beat. Wanda Batten and her two girls, Morgan, 9, and Carolann, 7, all of Chester, lll., sat on a bench at Trail of Tears State Park, near Otahki's Grave, and spent the afternoon learning about American Indian culture and tradition...

Papers show U.S. willing to aid Brazil's 1964 coup SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Newly declassified U.S. documents show the extent of American willingness to provide aid to Brazil's generals during the 1964 coup that ushered in 21 years of often bloody military rule. ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A man who e-mailed a note to a federal judge that included a curse word will not be punished after he apologized to the judge in court. U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley sent a U.S. marshal to Robert Dalton's suburban Westerville home with an order demanding he appear in court...

NEW YORK -- Color is the big fashion story for spring, but some people might feel more comfortable wading into this trend instead of jumping in. Wearing bright accessories and cosmetics are ways to get the cheerful look without being mistaken for a Popsicle...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The NCAA and the University of Missouri were able to "lay some issues to rest" in their investigation into the school's men's basketball program, but some other matters remain unresolved, said the professor leading university's probe...

ST. LOUIS -- A neighborhood on the city's north side was transformed Saturday when about 100 firefighters responded to nine blazes within two hours, and fire investigators said at least the first six fires were set. Police had a suspect in custody, fire chief Sherman George said...

ABERDEEN, Wash. -- Beneath this bridge above the muddy banks of Wishkah River, a troubled young Kurt Cobain would come to escape his unhappy home and the persistent gray drizzle of the Washington coast. Among the cracking concrete supports, he would smoke pot and drink and plot his stardom, bragging to friends of his "suicide genes" and that he would die a young rock star...

Phil and Vicki Bishop do not have ordinary jobs. Instead of the nine-to-five drudgery that most of the working world faces, this husband and wife team travels around the country teaching wood-carving seminars. "We teach around 30 classes or seminars a year. We spend about 200 days on the road teaching. You can't beat it," said Phil Bishop, who along with his wife, calls Elk City, Okla., home when not on the road...

As the Cardinals prepare to open a new baseball season Monday, most of the so-called experts are not expecting a whole lot from St. Louis, picking the team to lag well behind the highly regarded Cubs and Astros in the National League Central. On paper, it's true that the Cardinals probably don't compare all that favorably to Chicago and Houston -- especially in the pitching department, as those squads appear loaded on the mound...

Southwest Missouri State ruined Southeast Missouri State University's hopes of winning a third consecutive women's title in its own Gatorade Classic Saturday. But Southeast did not come away empty-handed, as it captured the combined championship in the 23rd annual track and field meet at the Abe Stuber Complex...

SAN ANTONIO -- Georgia Tech and its surprising band of outsiders sure is making a name for itself at this Final Four. Will Bynum shook loose for a layup with 1.5 seconds left and sent the Yellow Jackets further than they've ever been in the NCAA tournament, putting them into the championship game with a 67-65 victory over Oklahoma State on Saturday...

MURPHYSBORO, Ill. -- Central won the girls division and placed 10th in the boys division to claim the overall title at the Heartland Invitational track and field meet on Saturday. Central's girls scored scored 104 points and Jackson was third with 86.50...

SAN ANTONIO -- With a stunning end to a game that looked lost, Connecticut proved it can win the close ones, too. Led by All-American Emeka Okafor, UConn scored 12 straight points down the stretch Saturday night to rally for a 79-78 victory over Duke and move one game away from the national title...

Tiger Woods saw no reason to go to Augusta National for a practice round leading up to the Masters because hardly anything has changed from last year. No holes were lengthened. No bunkers were stretched and deepened. Greens were not reconfigured. Nothing but three dozen new pine trees planted down the right side of the 11th fairway...

DULUTH, Ga. -- Zach Johnson's first full day as the leader on the PGA Tour felt very familiar to him. He played solidly, made putts when he needed to, and held on to the top spot. "I really didn't get nervous," Johnson said. "It doesn't feel that different. It's just golf."...

Deanna Laney departed the 114th District Court, following closing arguments in her capital murder trial Saturday in Tyler, Texas. Laney, 39, had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to murder in the deaths of 8-year-old Joshua and 6-year-old Luke, and serious injury to a child for the beating of Aaron, now 2. ...

Cape Girardeau firefighters responded to the following calls Friday: At 4:53 p.m., an emergency medical service at South Mount Auburn and Highway 74. At 11:15 p.m., an emergency medical service at 425 N. Middle.Cape Girardeau firefighters responded to the following calls Saturday:...

Cape Girardeau The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Mark A. Musselman, 19, of Chaffee, Mo., was arrested Friday on a Cape Girardeau County warrant for a probation violation.Theft...

The Middle Mississippi River, the stretch of river located between St. Louis and Cairo, Ill., has two general types of side channels -- open and closed. Open side channels have both ends connecting with the main river channel, while closed side channels have only one end connecting with the main river channel. Closed side channels can function as both types, depending on river elevation...

The Missouri Conservation Tax is one example of how hunters and voters cannot be apathetic when it comes to watching our politicians and lobby groups. Some politicians say the Missouri Department of Conservation should be held accountable. Those politicians and a certain lobby group are absolutely correct. If they both would take time and do research about the department, they would find that the Missouri Department of Conservation is consider the model conservation program for the nation...

Third Quarter Alma Schrader Elementary School A Honor Roll 4th Grade -- Bryan Brown, Lauren Dumey, Hayden Fowler, Caleb Goode, Laurel Kasten, Joe Kiefner, Will Kinder, Ryan Ladd, Jonathon Lutes, Nancy Mardanova, Molly Martin, Kelsey Martin, Casey Mehner, Steven Meyer, Sarah Mittrucker, Emma Oh, Amy Raddle, Faith Reynolds, Prithvi Rudrappa, Lexi Smith, Josh Staples, Mimi Stoyanova...

Missing information I WAS very disappointed March 24 in the Sports section, under the track and field girls results between Central and Notre Dame, some Central results were skipped over. List Cape as well as Notre Dame, because Notre Dame isn't the only school in town. Please, please be fair. It's ridiculous that the Cape people have to be run over by the Notre Dame people because somebody at your paper likes Notre Dame. Straighten up. Act right. Do both schools fairly...

On behalf of all those involved in the Jackson Underground Dodgeball League, I want to express my gratitude for the fantastic article about the 2004 JUDL Invitational that appeared in the March 25 edition of the Southeast Missourian. We felt the article portrayed the youth of the community in a very positive manner. ...

PERKINS, Mo. -- Cleophas and Dortha Shoemaker Halter of Perkins celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary Feb. 19, 2004. A dinner was held at the home of their daughter and son-in-law, Frances and Dennis Wagoner of Chaffee, Mo. The attendants at their wedding were Rita Biesher and Harold Halter...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Don and Mary Franklin of Cairo announce the engagement of their daughter, Lori Franklin, to Lyndal Vaughn. He is the son of Larry and Gloria Vaughn of Olive Branch, Ill. Franklin is a1998 graduate of Notre Dame High School. She expects to receive a bachelor of science degree in early childhood from Southeast Missouri State University in May. She is employed at J.C. Penney Co...

Kathi Bell of Jackson and David Fox of Marble Hill, Mo., announce the engagement of their daughter, Rebecca Ann Fox, to Matthew David Dunn. He is the son of Debra Palmer of Jackson, and the late Chris Dunn. Fox is a 1999 graduate of Woodland High School. She is employed at Domino's Pizza and Red Lobster...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Pat Whistler of Chaffee announces the engagement of her daughter, Michelle Rae Whistler, to Matthew Wayne Holder. He is the son of the late Ardell "Popeye" and Pat Holder of Scott City. Whistler is also the daughter of the late Bill Whistler...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Mike and Debbie Mirly of Chaffee announce the engagement of their daughter, Amanda Nicole Mirly, to Jason Matthew Chapman. He is the son of Wayne Chapman of Chaffee and Darla Chapman of Cape Girardeau. Mirly is a graduate of Chaffee High School, and received a degree in licensed practical nursing from Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center. She is an LPN at St. Francis Medical Center...

Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd L. Ervin and Curtis D. Kelley Jr. of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Regan Jayne Kelley, to Nicholas John Laiben. He is the son of John and Laurie Laiben of Festus, Mo. Kelley is a 1997 graduate of Central High School, and a 2002 graduate of Southeast Missouri State University. She is pursuing a master's in education at Columbus State University in Columbus, Ga. She is a certified athletic trainer at Hughston Sports Medicine Center...

Dr. and Mrs. Ronald P. Lessmann of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Julie Katherine Lessmann, to Travis Reid Kearbey of Nashville, Tenn. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. David A. Kearbey of Ellsinore, Mo. Lessmann is a 1998 graduate of Central High School, and a 2003 graduate of Southwest Missouri State University. She is an independent contractor with Ad-On Promotional Products...

LEOPOLD, Mo. -- Cindy Renee Eeftink and Derek Paul Beussink were married Nov. 1, 2003, at St. John's Catholic Church. The Rev. Lewis Hejna performed the ceremony. Organist was Diane Bradshaw of Scott City. Parents of the bride are Richard and Geralyn Eeftink of Leopold. The groom is the son of Rick Beussink and Gwen Seabaugh of Advance, Mo...

Cape Bible Chapel in Cape Girardeau was the setting Dec. 13, 2003, for the wedding of Rebecca Kate Coleman and Matthew William McDonald. The ceremony was performed by the groom's father, Phillip McDonald. Pianist was Kristen Halliday of O'Fallon, Mo., violinist was Drew Flamm of Toledo, Ohio, and soloist was Robert Reid of Dayton, Ohio...

10 years ago: April 4, 1994 Southeast Missouri State University wants to offer students name-brand food on campus as part of new food service contract that's being worked out; everything from McDonald's to Pizza Hut is being considered, school officials and food service vendors say...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Arnold Mouser, 71, of Marble Hill died Thursday, April 1, 2004, at his home. He was born May 22, 1932, in Lutesville, Mo., son of Robert Melvin and Ivy Shell Mouser. He married Sandra Story on May 14, 1955, at East St. Louis, Ill...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Betty Jean Stout, 73, of Mounds died Saturday, April 3, 2004, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Jan. 30, 1931, at Ullin, Ill., daughter of Charles M. and Stella Egner Calvin. Stout was a retired bookkeeper for the Shawnee Development Council; she had been a secretary for the Pulaski County Circuit Clerk's office in Mound City, Ill...

ANNA, Ill. -- Faye Coryell, 76, of Anna, died Saturday, April 3, 2004, at home. Funeral arrangements were incomplete at Hileman Funeral Home in Jonesboro.

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. -- Julia Ann Sides, 46, of Collinsville, formerly of Tamms, Ill. died Friday, April 2, 2004, at Anderson Hospital, Maryville, Ill. Arrangements are incomplete at Crain Funeral Home in Tamms.

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Walter W. Hotop, 91, of Perryville died Friday, April 2, 2004, at Perry County Memorial Hospital. He was born Aug. 5, 1912, at Biehle, Mo., son of William J. and Emma Balsman Hotop. He and Trudie H. Hoffman were married Aug. 5, 1935...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Vurtis Josephine Moreland, 91, of Mounds. died Friday, April 2, 2004, at the Cobden City Care Center in Cobden, Ill. She was born March 15, 1913, in Johnson County, Ill., daughter of William Marshall and Mary Ellen Dunn File. She and Rich F. Moreland were married. He died March 7, 1959...

APPLE CREEK, Mo. -- Lonnie A. Unterreiner, 84, of Apple Creek died Friday, April 2, 2004, at Perry County Memorial Hospital. He was born May 21, 1919, at Apple Creek, Mo., son of Anton M. and Barbara E. Bohnert Unterreiner. Unterreiner was a farmer. He was an Army veteran who served during WWII and a member of American Legion Post 133. He was also a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church at Apple Creek...

Gwen L. Everly, 63, of Jackson, passed away Saturday, April 3, 2004, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 6, 1941, in Omaha, Neb., daughter of James Harry and Elinor Casebeer Harrod. Gwen was a Cardiac RN and had worked 25 years at St. Francis Medical Center. She fought cancer the past four years and became unable to work in March 2002...

Raymond Leo Sievers, 89, formerly of Jackson, passed away Friday, April 2, 2004, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born Oct. 19, 1914, in Jackson, son of Henry and Mary Zeller Sievers. He and Martha Hoffmeister were married March 17, 1961. She preceded him in death on Feb. 20, 1997...

MCCLURE, Ill. -- Jasper C. Lovell, 82, of McClure, died Friday, April 2, 2004, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born April 11, 1921, at McClure, son of Clyde and Minnie Burchyett Lovell. He and Georgia C. Lamb were married Sept. 24, 1943, at Cape Girardeau. She preceded him in death on June 12, 1998...

To the editor: I am saddened after reading Jo Ann Emerson's response to Robert Polack's letter. While Polack is very specific in writing about the Iraq war, she claims that he has included Afghanistan in his concerns. Then she adds the loss of life through 9-11 on top of it...

To the editor: John Ruester claims the Iraq invasion was based on intelligence although the White House relied on discredited, self-serving lies offered by Iraqi ex-patriots in the exiled Iraqi National Congress and ignored our own intelligence. He also makes the racist claim that 9-11 was, in some way, a function of a general Islamic attitude and argues that it is therefore acceptable to attack a nation that was totally unconnected with 9-11 since it happened to be Islamic...

To the editor: People who favor same-sex marriage are trying to sell the American people on the idea that they are being denied their rights and are being discriminated against. It is not just marriage they want. They want homosexuality to become a legitimate, normal and morally acceptable lifestyle...

Colonial Dutch architecture isn't a common architectural style found in Southeast Missouri, but that's exactly what catches the eye at 1547 Bunker Hill in Northfield Subdivision. This home is charming with its barn-like shape and practical styling. It's that practicality that made the Pennsylvania Dutch famous for the style, and it's what makes this house an excellent buy -- lots of space for the money...

Whenever families must make major purchases, they usually rely on credit cards or bank loans. The nation's credit system has contributed to the high standard of living most Americans enjoy. But borrowing means having to pay back loans plus interest. ...

The Cincinnati Enquirer We hope the U.S. Supreme Court uses the Pledge of Allegiance case to restore some balance to the culture war over public acknowledgments of God. ... The Supreme Court should reverse a California ruling as a wrong-headed overreaction to claims that any reference to God in public life violates the First Amendment. ...

ST. LOUIS -- A Washington University scholarship program previously available only to blacks is now open to students of all races, the university said Friday. Several universities in Missouri reconsidered minority scholarships after being challenged by groups campaigning against racially targeted college programs...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A survey of more than 1,000 gays, lesbians and bisexuals found a population that is generally healthy practicing unhealthy habits such as smoking, unprotected sex and missed medical tests. The survey was conducted by the Kansas City Health Department and the Lesbian and Gay Community Center of Greater Kansas City...

NEW YORK -- It's the rainbow after the storm. After too many months of black turtlenecks and gray polar fleece, spring is here and with it comes a wardrobe of bright colors and pretty silhouettes. A cheery palette is the season's top trend, transcending price, age and individual style. ...

JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is taking a bold gamble in letting 200,000 members of his Likud Party have the final say on a plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip. If Sharon wins and leads Israel out of Gaza, he could earn a place in history as one of the nation's great prime ministers. If he loses, he may have to resign...

MADRID, Spain -- At least three suspects in the Madrid railway bombings blew themselves up Saturday as police prepared to storm their apartment. One special forces agent was killed in the explosion and 15 police officers were wounded. The blast in Leganes, a southern suburb of Madrid, blew out part of the exterior walls on the first and second floors of the brick apartment building...

By Nick Swan ~ The Daily Helmsman After a fierce battle between 10 candidates, the Democrats have chosen not a person they particularly like, but someone they believe is electable. Sure, no one in his party is particularly excited about him, but John Kerry is apparently the man who can beat Bush, and if you don't believe it, just ask him...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The U.S. closure of the weekly newspaper of a zealously anti-American Shiite cleric has invigorated the movement and its opposition to the American-led occupation. With the United States planning to surrender political power to Iraqis by the end of June, Washington can little afford a new front in the increasingly violent battle to pacify the country. But closing the newspaper, Al-Hawza, seems to have opened one...

TYLER, Texas -- A woman who claimed God ordered her to bash in the heads of her sons was acquitted of all charges by reason of insanity Saturday after a jury determined she did not know right from wrong during the killings. A jury found that Deanna Laney was legally insane May 9 when she killed her two older sons, ages 6 and 8, in the front yard and left the youngest, now 2, maimed in his crib. Laney, 39, would have received an automatic life sentence had she been convicted of capital murder...

10 years ago: April 5, 1994 In effort to eliminate further delay of law to establish minimum property standards, city council Monday elected to bypass recommendation by city manager J. Ronald Fischer and put matter on agenda for vote at next meeting; Fischer had suggested that city manager appoint city officials to draft minimum property maintenance code for council's consideration...

John F. Tarr, 68, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, April 3, 2004, at Southeast Missouri Hospital at Cape Girardeau. He was born Nov. 9, 1935, at Cape Girardeau, son of John A. and Stella Rosalie Griffaw Tarr. He and Donna Rudluff Tarr were married May 5, 1962, at Cape Girardeau...

ANNA, Ill. -- Helen C. Treece, 71, of Anna died Saturday, April 3, 2004, at her home. She was born March 28, 1933, near Anna, daughter of Charles Ford and Anna Hubach Cates. She and Kenneth C. Treece were married June 18, 1951, at Jonesboro, Ill. Treece was a caregiver for Home Health Care. She was a member of the Anna Church of the Nazarene and the Anna American Legion Auxiliary...

ANNA, Ill. -- Faye Coryell, 76, of Anna died Saturday, April 3, 2004, at her home. She was born March, 2, 1928, in Arkansas, daughter of Thomas and Etta Cheney Jefferson. She and Carl Franklin Coryell were married March 5, 1946, at Pulaski County. He died Aug. 14, 1985...

SCOTTCITY -- Hilbert Oscar Tuschoff, 79, of Scott City died Sunday, April 4, 2004, at Southeast Missouri Hospital at Cape Girardeau. He was born May 2, 1924, at Friedheim, Mo., son of Oscar and Mary Kester Tuschhoff. He and Aileen Mae Redpather Brant were married July 3, 1965, at Illmo, Mo...

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. -- Julie Ann Sides, 46, of Collinsville, formerly of Tamms, Ill., died Friday, April 2, 2004, at Anderson Hospital at Maryville, Ill. She was born March 13, 1958, at Cairo, Ill., daughter of Billy Joe and Paula Miller Eickelman. She and Nathan Ray Sides were married May 22, 1999...

ANNA, Ill. -- Paul H. Cunningham, 90, of Anna died Sunday, April 4, 2004, at his home. He was born July 15, 1913, at Blodgett, Mo., son of Theodore and Laura Davis Cunningham. He and Ondean Karraker were married in 1941 at Jackson. Cunningham was an electrician and a 60-year member of the Brotherhood of Electricians Local 702. He was a U.S. military veteran of World War II and was a member of First Baptist Church in Anna...

Thomas Irl Moore, 83, formerly of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, April 3, 2004, at his home at Kansas City, Kan. Arrangements are pending at Ford and Sons Funeral Home.

Molly Tranum, 19, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, April 4, 2004, at her home. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel at Scott City is in charge of arrangements.

Theater experience "SOUTH PACIFIC" was sensational. All the things we go to the theater for were there: the enthusiasm, the ability to take you away and a wonderful job with the music and the orchestra. It was a true theater experience. Can't take the heat...

To the editor: I couldn't help but stare in amazement at U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson's response to Robert Polack Jr.'s latest letter about Iraq. Is Emerson actually unaware that there were no connections between Iraq and al-Qaida and 9-11? How could someone serving in the second most powerful legislative body in the history of the world be so uninformed? This should give us all pause for thought...

To the editor: State Rep. Jason Crowell's guest column about Medicaid changes proposed by the Missouri House seriously misrepresented the issues surrounding the state's medical assistance programs. Unfortunately, your March 26 editorial further confused the issue...

Motorsports Elliott Sadler barely held off rookie Kasey Kahne in an exciting finish Sunday. Sadler's victory in the Samsung/Radio Shack 500 -- his second career NASCAR Nextel Cup win -- came by two-hundredths of a second over Kahne, the rookie who has three runner-up finishes and a third-place showing in seven races for Ray Evernham. Jeff Gordon finished third and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was fourth,...

Southeast Missouri State softball team picked up its fourth straight OVC victory Sunday, completing a three-game sweep of Tennessee State with a 3-0 victory at home. Southeast (9-21, 4-1 OVC) scored three runs in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by Lyndsey Webb and a two-run single by Suzi Lair. Kelly Birk (4-7) pitched the shutout, allowing five hits, no walks and striking out two...

The honors keep coming for local basketball players with the announcement of the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association's all-state teams. Dominitrix Johnson of Bell City and Sommer McCauley of Notre Dame each were honored by the coaches. McCauley and Johnson each made the all-state lists released by the Missouri Sportswriters and Sportscasters as well...

In the blink of an eye, a thief can swipe merchandise from a retail store and leave other shoppers with the bill. Shoplifting costs the American public more than $33 billion a year, according to a survey from the National Retail Security organization. The costs are passed on to customers in higher prices, according to the survey...

Hodges earns special professional designation J. Derieck Hodges, of Albrecht-Hodges Inc. in Cape Girardeau, has earned the Chartered Financial Consultant professional designation from the American College in Pennsylvania. To attain this designation, Hodges had to complete at least eight courses and 16 hours of supervised examinations. He has been with the company for 20 years and resides in Jackson...

Big River releases new phone book Big River Telephone recently announced the release of a new telephone book. Among its features is a cross reference section that allows you to look up a phone number and identify the caller. The book is also small enough to fit in a car's glove compartment, its listings are printed in larger type...

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- It might have seemed to be the best possible week for boosters of the Linux open-source operating system. As their nemesis, Microsoft Corp., was getting sanctioned by Europe for anticompetitive trespasses, computer giant Hewlett-Packard Co. gave Linux a new vote of confidence, and the largest Linux distributor posted strong financial results...

An alert neighbor who smelled smoke and heard a smoke detector go off at 416 N. Frederick called the Cape Girardeau Fire Department Thursday. No one was home at either of the two apartments in the building owed by John Perry. The electrical fire began in the laundry room in the basement causing moderate fire and smoke damage...

7:30 p.m. today Public hearing Hearing to consider the rezoning of the properties addressed as 1730 and 1802 E. Jackson Blvd., from R-2 (single family residential) to C-2 (general commercial) as submitted by Charles and Carol Draper, Robert and Jacqueline Strack and Patrick N. Dean...

NAJAF, Iraq -- Supporters of an anti-American cleric rioted in four Iraqi cities Sunday, killing eight U.S. troops and one Salvadoran soldier in the worst unrest since the spasm of looting and arson immediately after the fall of Saddam Hussein. The U.S. military on Sunday reported two Marines were killed in a separate "enemy action" in Anbar province, raising the toll of American service members killed in Iraq to at least 610...

Cape Girardeau The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests A female, 49, was taken into protective custody Saturday at the 400 block of Morgan Oak. Brandon Allen Harris, 21, of 2902 Bernice, Cape Girardeau, was arrested Saturday on a Cape Girardeau warrant for failure to appear on original charge of tampering with evidence...

7 p.m. today City hall, 401 Independence Study session at 5 p.m. Public hearings A public hearing regarding the request of Gerard Dirnberger for a special-use permit to operate a landscaping business from his home located at 1053 N. Clark St., in an R-1, single-family residential district, and to use an existing storage shed at the same location for storage of landscaping and mowing equipment...

Dennis completes 12 weeks of basic training Marine Corps Pvt. David K. Dennis, son of Gabriele Dennis of Patton, Mo., and Brian K. Dennis of Caruthersville, Mo., recently completed 12 weeks of basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, Calif. Dennis is a 2001 graduate of Cooter High School in Cooter, Mo...

Copies of photographs, preferably digital, from Relay for Life campsites, survivor and luminaria ceremonies are being requested for use in a commercial to air on Charter Cable Network to promote Cape County's Relay for Life, June 4 and 5 at Cape County Park North...

Breakfast, elections taking place at center The Community Counseling Center's annual breakfast and elections meeting is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. April 16 at the Career and Technology Center in Cape Girardeau. Call Martha at 651-3747 to register and arrange for breakfast buffet payment...

Church will serve up chicken and dumplings A chicken and dumplings dinner complete with green beans, cole slaw, mashed potatoes, ham, corn, dessert and drink will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. April 17 at Hobbs Chapel United Methodist Church, 3024 Highway 177, just north of the Cape Girardeau city limits. Carryouts available. An antique collectibles and quilt sale will also take place. Call 334-3080 for more information...

9 a.m. today Action items Request for indigent burial for David Vanpelt Request for 911 training Appointments 9:30 a.m. -- Stan Murray, Hubble Creek project 10:30 a.m. -- Bid-Surplus Tractor Blades 10:45 a.m. -- Chris Leyton, Smith & Co.

Bo Hart, who batted .277 for the Cardinals last year and filled a hole at second base, was among the team's final roster cuts Sunday. Hart, who became expendable with the acquisition of Tony Womack on March 21 along with the emergence of infielder Hector Luna, was optioned to Triple-A Memphis. Womack beat out both Hart and Marlon Anderson for the second base job, and will bat leadoff in Monday's opener against the Milwaukee Brewers...

CHICAGO -- Very young children who watch television face an increased risk of attention deficit problems by school age, a study has found, suggesting that TV might overstimulate and permanently "rewire" the developing brain. For every hour of television watched daily, two groups of children -- aged 1 and 3 -- faced a 10 percent increased risk of having attention problems at age 7...

Israeli ministers confront Sharon over withdrawal JERUSALEM -- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon engaged in a heated argument Sunday with hardline Cabinet ministers opposed to his plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank, government officials said. The spat reflected the tough internal pressure that Sharon faces as he tries to move forward with his proposal to leave the areas -- removing troops and uprooting settlements in the process...

MADRID, Spain -- The suicide apartment house blast that killed the alleged ringleader of last month's Madrid train bombings and four other terror suspects left the core of the terror group either dead or in jail, Spain's interior minister said on Sunday...

ALBANY, Ga. -- Patrons of the Dougherty County Library get an e-mail each day featuring one or more chapters from a selected book. These "five-minute reads" may persuade the readers to check the book out from the library or go to a bookstore and buy it. If nothing else, they can share their thoughts on the book with other readers on the library's Web site...

LOS ANGELES -- The green slime oozed and children screamed in delight at Saturday's 17th annual Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz, who won the hearts of kids everywhere as the voices of the love-struck ogre and princess in the animated film "Shrek," hosted the show at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion. Myers ended the event drenched in slime, a trademark booby-prize of Nickelodeon's audience-participation shows...

The Associated Press LOS ANGELES -- A wisecracking demon from hell took down The Rock for the weekend's box-office title. "Hellboy," starring Ron Perlman as the comic-book superhero, debuted as the top flick with $23.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday...

NEW YORK -- Bringing a reporter's eye to biblical stories is Peter Jennings' passion. ABC is taking the extraordinary step of devoting all three hours of prime time Monday to Jennings' latest religious saga, "Jesus and Paul: The Word and the Witness."...

WASHINGTON -- Democrats in numerous key Senate campaigns face a financial disadvantage this fall, according to strategists in both parties, the combined result of the priority given to John Kerry's bid for the White House, new fund-raising restrictions and the location of the most competitive races...

SAN FRANCISCO -- When David Knight married his boyfriend of 10 years, his parents were not among the mothers and fathers proudly snapping photos and sipping champagne at San Francisco's City Hall. His mother is long gone, dead of cancer when he was 17. And his father, well his father .....

Mark Dirnberger can spot a cheater almost instantly. When the owner of Bella Italia walks through his restaurant he notices their tables, empty but for a glass of water. No soda, nothing sweet. If they venture to have sweetened tea, it's always Sweet and Low, never sugar. No bread, and if they order a salad, they are very deliberate in selecting its ingredients. But when they order their pasta, they go hog wild, piling on as many decadently high-carb ingredients as they can...

Residents who own property along the proposed East Main Street extension are encouraged to attend tonight's Jackson Board of Aldermen meeting to voice their concerns and questions to the board. The city, which has struggled to secure right of way from some property owners, hopes an informal, voluntary public hearing will help clear the air on several issues...

It's no contest when it comes to Tuesday's Cape Girardeau City Council election. Councilmen Jay Purcell of Ward 3, Hugh White of Ward 4 and Matt Hopkins of Ward 5 are all running unopposed for re-election to four-year terms. It's the first time there have been uncontested races for council seats since the city began holding ward elections a decade ago. Prior to that, all council members were elected at large...

ST. LOUIS -- The Southeast Missourian newspaper claimed a first-place, two second-place and two third-place awards in the annual Missouri APME News Writing Contest. The contest drew 190 entries from 18 newspapers and was judged by newspaper staffs from Nebraska and the Journal-Sentinel. The awards were presented Friday in St. Louis at the Missouri APME annual convention...

An on-going conflict lasted nearly an hour early Sunday morning, starting at the Phat Cat on Broadway and ending at St. Francis Medical Center. In the end, one person was arrested, an officer was assaulted and two people were injured in a motor vehicle accident...

Francine's Gardens are lovely enough to have been featured in Southern Living magazine, but never before this year has there been such a spring display. Last fall, 24 horticulture students from the Cape Girardeau Vocational School planted 5,000 bulbs at the Cape Girardeau business that provides a setting for weddings, receptions and other gatherings. The product of their work is currently blooming all over 28 N. Pacific St...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- In the era before term limits, the departure of nearly three dozen incumbents from the House of Representatives in the same election year would have been seen as a mass exodus. Considering that when term limits first had an impact in 2002 there were 84 open House seats heading into the August party primaries, the 32 vacancies this year is comparatively low...

Lauren Fritsche was well-aware of why she spent Sunday afternoon in Capaha Park, holding a sign rather than playing on the playground equipment. "Because my daddy's in Iraq," the 5-year-old said shyly, her sign reading, "My daddy's in Iraq: God bless him." When asked how that made her feel, she was ready with an answer...

Auto racing has been a part of Joey Mack's life since before he could operate a motor vehicle. "Before I could drive, me and my brothers would ride our bicycles four or five miles on Saturday night to watch the races," said Mack, a lifelong Benton resident who grew up within cycling distance of Auto Tire and Parts NAPA RacePark. "I've been working on cars ever since I could drive, and that led to racing."...

SAN ANTONIO -- There's no mistaking Emeka Okafor. He's the All-America center from Connecticut, the sure lottery pick in the NBA draft. There's also no mistaking Luke Schenscher. He's the 7-foot-1 Australian with the shaggy red hair who plays center for Georgia Tech...

NEW ORLEANS -- With one final swat, Diana Taurasi secured Connecticut's place in another national championship game. Connecticut fought off repeated comebacks by a gutsy Minnesota team and stayed on track to win a third straight NCAA title with a 67-58 victory in the semifinals Sunday night...

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. -- Jacksonville State scored nine runs in the bottom of the eighth inning and a single run in the bottom of the 10th to rally for a 15-14 victory in the rubber match of a three-game series against Southeast Missouri Sunday afternoon at Rudy Abbott Field...

ST. LOUIS -- Meetings with the Secret Service were an element of the final preseason workout for the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers, who'll have President Bush watching them today. Bush, hopeful of boosting his candidacy for re-election in a crucial swing state, will throw out the first pitch and is scheduled to stick around for at least a few innings. ...

DULUTH, Ga. -- Zach Johnson coasted through 10 holes before the trouble started. After getting five birdies earlier, simply making par was difficult. Four bogeys in five holes, and suddenly, his five-shot lead was down to two. "I was just trying to make pars," he said. "There is a danger in that, but on this golf course, par is a good score."...

"Prophet Muhammad prohibited even the mutilation of a dead mad dog and he considered such a thing as religiously forbidden. What happened in Fallujah is a distortion of Islamic principles and it is forbidden in Islam." -- Sheik Khalid Ahmen, a senior cleric in Fallujah, Iraq, condemning the mutilation of four American contractors in the city west of Baghdad. Ahmen promised that Muslim preachers would tell their followers that the destruction of the bodies was wrong....

Five weeks. That's how long my bosses think it takes a reporter to become acclimated to Cape Girardeau enough to write a decent business column. Let's hope they're right. Let me start with a little background. I was raised in a small town of 312 people in Miller County in central Missouri. ...

It's going to cost a bit more to die or play golf in the city limits of Cape Girardeau. Monday night, the city council approved 5 percent across-the-board fee increases for all park and recreation services. Councilman Jay Purcell voted against the increase, which passed on a 6-1 vote...

10 years ago: April 6, 1994 With two sitting councilmen contending for office of Cape Girardeau mayor, experience won out yesterday as two-term Councilman Al Spradling III defeated Melvin Gateley. Two Cape Girardeau dentists were elected to seats on Cape Girardeau Board of Education Tuesday; incumbent Patrick Ruopp was re-elected to fifth term, and Robert G. Fox was elected to his first term...

Fleming Daughter to Kimberly L. Fleming of Morehouse, Mo., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 8:39 a.m. Monday, March 29, 2004. Name, Lily A. Weight, 4 pounds 11 ounces. First child. Ms. Fleming is the daughter of Teresa Fleming of Morehouse and Walter Ellington of Sikeston, Mo...

David L. Sneed, 54, of Jackson died Monday, April 5, 2004, at his home. He was born March 6, 1950, in Jackson, son of Clyde and Avis Crain Sneed. He and Carol Whitledge were married May 30, 1969. Sneed was co-owner and operator of D&D Automotive in Jackson and worked at Auto Tire & Parts 10 years. He then worked for Jackson Auto Parts before retiring. He was a member of New Bethel Baptist Church and Excelsior Lodge 441 AF&AM...

ANNA, Ill. -- Maxine E. Girtman, 88, of Anna died Sunday, April 4, 2004, at Jonesboro Healthcare Center in Jonesboro, Ill. She was born March 31, 1916, in Wetaug, Ill., daughter of J.E. and Maude Sitter Culp. She and William Cletus Girtman were married Oct. 7, 1933, in Marion, Ill. He died Jan. 11, 1992...

Leonard Leroy Beckett, 74, of Scott City died Monday, April 5, 2004, at his home. Ford and Sons Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau is in charge of arrangements.

Molly Elizabeth Tranum, 19, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, April 4, 2004, at her home. She was born Jan. 21, 1985, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of David J. Donley and Linda Charlene Lix. Molly was a 2003 graduate of Okeechobee High School in Okeechobee, Fla., where she was a member of National Honor Society, president of Little Big Lake Bank, and president of Walk for Life in Okeechobee...

Thomas Irl Moore, 83, of Ballwin, Mo., died Saturday, April 3, 2004, at the home of his son in Kansas City, Kan. He was born Aug. 9, 1920, at Kennett, Mo., son of Buster H. and Pearl Ivy Merideth Moore. He and Ruby Kiehne were married July 28, 1946, in Sikeston, Mo...

James Hadley, 65, of Jackson died Monday, April 5, 2004, at his home. He was born Aug. 12,1938, at Morley, Mo., son of Martin and Ruby Keller Hadley. He and Carol Headricks were married April 22, 1985, in Cape Girardeau. Mr. Hadley had worked for Cauble and Field and was a deckhand with Mid-South Barge Lines. He was a member of New McKendree United Methodist Church...

Maker of trees WHEN I drive around Cape Girardeau and see all the beautiful white trees in bloom, I think of a poem I learned in high school many years ago. "Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make tree." Thank you, God. Expensive concert...

To the editor: In response to a Speak Out comment, here is Valid Theories Part II: The teacher was right in telling the boy that evolution was only a theory but still a possibility. The teacher was wrong, however, in telling the boy that Christians were wrong. The Christian views on this matter have not been proven one way or the other and, therefore, should not have been dismissed. After all, the teacher did say that evolution had not been proven fact either...

To the editor: In response to the article "St. Louis officers may have violated policies in shooting": What kind of police chief would comment to the paper that his officers probably violated department policy? Even if they did violate policy, the chief should not comment on it until the investigation is complete...

Baseball Cleveland Indians left fielder Matt Lawton reported the theft of $117,000 in jewelry and other items from his downtown hotel room over the weekend, when the Indians were in town for exhibition games against the Phillies. Lawton called police Sunday morning after returning from a trip to Atlantic City, N.J., to report the theft of jewelry and other personal items from his room at the Ritz-Carlton...

For years, the need for public transportation in the Cape Girardeau area has been identified as a major need. Many older residents either don't have their own transportation to get to the grocery store or doctor's appointments or are no longer able to drive themselves. Many working residents who don't own vehicles find it difficult to get and keep jobs without reliable transportation...

By Elysia Rouggly Ah, sweet sixteen. This age is a high point for every teenager because turning 16 means one thing: driver's license. I've been 16 for four months now and have only a permit, long expired. People have asked why I don't have my license yet, but I simply say that I'm too lazy. ...

The Associated Press MIAMI - At a small public high school near downtown Miami, students balance algebra and literature with hemlines and A-frames, allowing future fashion designers and architects to start focusing on prospective careers while still in their teens...

I turned sixteen on Jan. 13th. As is tradition with newly turned 16-year-olds, I went to take my driving test. I wasn't even nervous about the test; in fact I was thoroughly excited. My mom, on the other hand, was terrified. She kept telling me not to be nervous and that if I should fail, I had all of my life to take the test again ... ...

I love the Internet. Technology and I sometimes don't get along, but the Internet, in my opinion, is one of the absolute best inventions ever. The best thing about the Internet is that it connects you to people. In one night, I can talk to my father who lives in Jackson, my best friend who lives across town and my cousin who lives in New York. I love that. Then of course, I spend about an hour on something called the VATER board...

Meadow Heights student council honored The Missouri Association of Student Councils recently awarded the student council at Meadow Heights High School with the gold honor council award. The honor is based on applications and recognizes councils with comprehensive programs that promote student activities and leadership...

The following items were released by the Department of Public Safety. Arrests do not imply guilt. Thefts A wall clock was reported stolen Monday at Towers Cafeteria. Video tape movies were reported stolen Monday at H Dorm.

Too many times I've heard the phrase "I need to go on a diet," or "I think I'll loose 10 pounds this week." These ridiculous remarks wouldn't irritate me so badly if it weren't for the fact that the person making them wasn't pulling her hand out of a Cheetos bag and munching down...

Cape Girardeau The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWIs Troy L. Jones Jr., 27, 838 S. Ellis, was arrested Monday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Kevin R. Schraenkler, 41, Moheaken Lane in Fruitland, was arrested Monday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Sunday: At 4:14 p.m., an emergency medical service at 609 Jefferson. At 7:39 p.m., an emergency medical service at 240 O'Connell. At 10:46 p.m., an emergency medical service at 28 N. Fountain...

Action items Authorized the mayor to sign a depository agreement with First Midwest Bank. Accepted the dedication of drainage, stormwater detention, sewer and utility easement deeds from the Gerald L. Englehart and Lois G. Englehart Revocable Trust, the Kenneth J. Englehart Revocable Trust and the Helen B. Englehart Revocable Trust...

Consent ordinances (Second and third readings)n Approved an ordinance authorizing the acquisition of property for the improvement of Minnesota Avenue between Bloomfield Road and Brink Street. Approved an ordinance approving and adopting 5-percent fee increases for the Parks and Recreation Department Services...

ST. LOUIS -- A Poplar Bluff, Mo., man pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to robbing a Gray Summit bank twice in November 2003. Donald Ray Evans, 46, of the 900 block of Eve Street, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of robbery of a federally insured institution before U.S. ...

WASHINGTON -- Iraq has become "George Bush's Vietnam," Sen. Edward M. Kennedy said Monday, calling the president deceitful and for the first time comparing him to former President Nixon, who resigned in disgrace. Saying that truth has become the biggest casualty of the Bush administration, Kennedy said Bush misled the public about the war, the economy, health care and education, eroding the nation's reputation at home and abroad...

WASHINGTON -- The proliferation of cell phones is having potentially dangerous consequences for firefighters and police officers, who in some places can't use their radios to call for help because of interference from cell signals. The Boston suburb of Cambridge, Mass., is one of those areas. ...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Major League Baseball will not retest the approximately 500 samples remaining from last year's drug tests for the steroid THG, a baseball official said Monday. Results of the drug tests on Barry Bonds and several other players are being sought by federal prosecutors probing a San Francisco-area nutritional supplements lab. It is not clear if the samples for Bonds and those other players are among the ones that still exist...

ST. LOUIS -- At a time when blood donations are down, the American Red Cross is especially pleased with a St. Louis man. Maurice Wood, 77, holds a pair of records in the Guinness Book of World Records for giving blood. He's been donating for 54 years, longer than anyone in the world, and has made 301 donations. So far, Wood has given 37 1/2 gallons of blood, one pint at a time...

Powell urges Haitians not to reward criminals PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Secretary of State Colin Powell on Monday was urging Haiti's leaders to make sure government posts are not given to leaders of the February insurrection who are criminals or human rights violators. ...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- U.S. administrators in Iraq declared a radical Shiite cleric an "outlaw" Monday and announced a warrant for his arrest, heightening a confrontation after battles between his supporters and coalition troops killed at least 52 Iraqis and nine coalition troops, including eight Americans...

LOS ANGELES -- Can a man escape the villainy of his past through his good works? This is the driving theme behind "Redemption: The Stan 'Tookie' Williams Story," about the South Los Angeles street gangster and death row inmate whose anti-gang books for children have earned him three Nobel Prize nominations...

SAN ANTONIO -- The Connecticut Huskies really do have it all: the All-America center, the flashy guards, the coach who gets everything right, and now a national title won with ease. Led by 24 points from Emeka Okafor and 21 from Ben Gordon, the Huskies outclassed Georgia Tech 82-73 on Monday night to win the championship many predicted they'd get from the very start of the season...

SAN ANTONIO -- When he heard there was a new movie being made about the Battle of the Alamo, Asleep at the Wheel's Ray Benson figured there would surely be a CD featuring music from the film. Then "The Alamo" co-star Billy Bob Thornton told him that there wasn't any such album in the works...

Texas, New Mexico hit hard by heavy rain In New Mexico, water released from an overloaded dam added to floodwaters in the Carlsbad area Monday, as the swelling Pecos River flooded underpasses and forced school closures. South Texas was on watch for possible flooding from the slow-moving storm system that dumped up to Monday before. The National Weather Service had flood warnings in effect into Tuesday in a triangle roughly formed by San Antonio, Corpus Christi and Laredo...

MILWAUKEE -- One school that received millions of dollars through the nation's oldest and largest voucher program was founded by a convicted rapist. Another school reportedly entertained kids with Monopoly while cashing $330,000 in tuition checks for hundreds of no-show students...

In the wake of a Sunday-morning fight outside the Phat Cat bar that resulted in a crowd being dispersed by pepper spray and the assault of a police officer, a spokesman said the Cape Girardeau Police Department is not worried about how the venue is being run. Neither are the nightclub's Broadway neighbors...

Cord Polen has joined U.S. Bank as executive vice president and chief lending officer. He will lead the development of the commercial lending group promoting growth and economic support in Jackson and Cape Girardeau, where he will be based.

The following column first ran last April. Maxine Boren is the queen of Easter bunnies. They're everywhere in her front yard, most of them of the plastic, air-filled variety. She has large ones and small ones. Her bunnies come in a variety of colors that complement the bright hues of the fake flowers that adorn her Easter yard. She grows real flowers too, but only after Easter and the bright bunnies have been deflated and stored away for another year...

Leslie Vance, business manager for UPS, was recently honored for completing 20 years of service with that company. Vance works out of the UPS facility in Jefferson City. She resides in Oak RIdge.

The 2,000 registered voters of Ward 4 in Jackson will have the opportunity to choose their city alderman today. Incumbent Joe Bob Baker is running against Jim Litzelfelner for the post, the only race on the city ballot. David Reiminger is running unopposed for the other spot in Ward 2...

Tim Goodman cleared up the dirt issue Monday night as four of the seven property owners along the proposed East Main Street extension project attended a meeting geared at creating dialogue between the city and the land owners. Goodman, representing Warren Place L.L.C. ...

For the past few years, Ken Inman has harbored hopes of owning a Century 21 Realty office in Cape Girardeau. So when the opportunity to buy two offices came up in the same week, he couldn't pass it up. On Friday Inman and his son, Keith, finalized their purchase of Century 21 Key Realty. That came just three days after the Inmans closed the deal to buy Century 21 Ashland Realty...

The Scott City Fire Department has applied for a $62,000 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, fire chief Jay Cassout announced at Monday's Scott City Council meeting. This will be the third year that the fire department has applied for this federal grant, which has been given out to fire departments nationwide since the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The House Budget Committee on Monday endorsed an $18.49 billion state spending plan that would boost total appropriations by 3.7 percent from what lawmakers originally approved for the current fiscal year. Despite boosting appropriations by $662.6 million for the fiscal year starting July 1, the Republican-led committee's proposal is $329.3 million -- nearly 1.8 percent -- short of what Democratic Gov. Bob Holden recommended in January...

DIXON SPRINGS, Ill. -- The Illinois portion of the Cherokee Indians' Trail of Tears is re-emerging as researchers and enthusiasts work to document the path used by thousands of Indians forced to relocate in the late 1830s. While the Trail of Tears is celebrated in other states, only now is there an organized effort in Illinois to look for the trail, which followed old military roads to the west. ...

Health care: Jo Ann Emerson might have moved a mountain in her bargaining on prescription-drug imports from Canada and Europe. She was a leader of a bipartisan group in D.C. fighting for the issue. The following is an excerpt from a private newsletter which addresses the issue:...

The Cape Girardeau Country Club on March 22 kicked off a nine-week membership drive. It may be the last time the club launches such a concerted campaign. Around the time the effort ends, Cape Country Club may have hired its first club manager. That position will be charged with member recruitment and member services on a year-round basis, said Gerald Jones, president of the club's board of governors...

Jackson's girls soccer team avenged a shootout loss to Notre Dame earlier this season by pulling off a 1-0 win over the Bulldogs on Monday night at Jackson. Molly Hartmann scored on a turnaround shot with about five minutes left in regulation. Jackson improved to 5-3-1, while Notre Dame took its first loss and fell to 6-1-1...

ST. LOUIS -- For most teams, a winning record after the season opener is no big deal. The Milwaukee Brewers are different. Their 8-6 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals, with President Bush watching from a box above home plate, is the first time the downtrodden franchise has been above .500 in two years. The Brewers haven't finished with a winning record since 1992...

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- A cola in his hand and a cigarette never too far from his lips, John Daly never looked more at ease as he stepped out of the Augusta National clubhouse Monday, far removed from a world of trouble. "I'm just so happy to be here," Daly said quietly. "To me, this is like heaven."...

The Small Business Development Center of Southeast Missouri State University will be conducting counseling sessions for area small businesses in Cape Girardeau, Perryville, Mo., and Sikeston, Mo., in April. Counselor Gil Degenhardt will be available for free one-hour sessions by appointment at:...

On the other side of the fence, they've seen drug deals, hookers and street fights. They've watched some of the houses that make up their south-side neighborhood deteriorate behind chipping paint, ignored lawns and boarded-up windows. But inside the 6-foot tall, black wrought-iron fence that encircles Fort Hope Apartments in Cape Girardeau is a starkly different world -- one that residents describe as peaceful, well-maintained and largely crime-free despite what takes place in abundance just beyond the complex's borders.. ...

Explanation goes here

10 years ago: April 7, 1994 In aftermath of stunning defeat of constitutional amendment that jeopardizes viability of riverboat gambling in Missouri, state officials are going back to drawing board trying to decide next step. Former Cape Girardeau County assessor, John L. Wescoat, 88, died April 5 at local hospital; Wescoat served on committee that secured Trail of Tears State Park and secured options on land for that park...

Exchange Club The Exchange Club of Cape Girardeau met March 2 and 16 at Port Cape Girardeau. Larry Simon was in charge of the program on March 2, and Vernon Auer presented the One Nation Under God program on March 16...

In Friday's edition, the police report should have stated that Krystal Gail Meador, 19, was arrested for suspicion of stealing, and a male in the same incident was cited into juvenile court. In Tuesday's edition, a story on the Cape Girardeau City Council's vote Monday night to increase park fees should have said that Councilman Jay Purcell voted against the increase, which passed on a 6-1 vote...

Beckmann Son to Michael P. and Tracie L. Beckmann of O'Fallon, Mo., St. Luke's Hospital in Chesterfield, Mo., 7:18 p.m. Monday, March 22, 2004. Name, Carter Davis. Weight, 7 pounds 8 ounces. First child. Mrs. Beckmann is the former Tracie Allen, daughter of James and Pat Allen of Cape Girardeau. She is rehab manager at Surrey Place in Chesterfield. Beckmann is the son of Joseph and Patricia Beckmann of Potosi, Mo. He is a software consultant with C.M. Systems Inc...

Earl Howard Fulford, 83, of LeRoy, Ill., died Monday, April 5, 2004, at LeRoy Manor. He was born Dec. 2, 1920, in Rockwood, Ill., son of Earl Everett and Grace Ruth Hindman Fulford. He and Mildred Caroline Wohlwend were married June 29, 1952, in Cape Girardeau. She died in April 2001...

Leonard Leroy Beckett, 74, of Scott City died Monday, April 5, 2004, at the home of a daughter in Scott City. He was born Feb. 10, 1930, in Cape Girardeau, son of John L. and Clemia A. Brown Beckett. He and Donna Marie Rhodes were married in 1959 in Cape Girardeau. She died Nov. 3, 1978...

Proud of soldiers I AM so proud of the American soldier. By helping to secure peace abroad, he is protecting us at home. Through her courage, kindness and restraint, she is converting enemies to friends. All our soldiers are heroes. Praise them for their dedication and sacrifice and courage and strength in Iraq and Afghanistan. Support them with your prayers. They are doing good work, and the world will be a safer place because of it. I am so proud of them...

To the editor: Connect the dots. Who was appointed to be the agent for recruiting the candidate for vice president? Dick Cheney. Who was chosen as the vice presidential candidate? Dick Cheney. Who must accompany the president to meet with the 9-11 commission? Dick Cheney. Who is the guardian of the Republican partisan agenda? .....

To the editor: It spells trouble for America if the national election goes to the left. Outcomes would be having the United Nations over our military operations, a huge delay in our economic rebound, ridiculous incursions of the government into health-care services, the triggering of trade wars, legal rights for terrorists who kill Americans overseas, the raising of federal gasoline taxes and a weakening of our military and missile defense...

To the editor: I see we have another expose of the Bush White House on the way. The latest best seller-to-be is by none other than John Dean. Remember him? He was President Nixon's counsel who served time for his role in Watergate. The book, to be released later this week, is "The Secret Presidency of George W. ...

To the editor: A recent letter perpetuates the Orwellian doublethink of the Bush administration, which tries to link Saddam Hussein with Islamic extremists by simply mentioning them together. The facts flatly contradict this. As a secular dictator who treated Islamic leaders harshly, Saddam was the exact opposite of an Islamic extremist...

To the editor: Left-wing groups have increased their pressure on Congress to censure the president as a first step toward demanding impeachment. They reason the president lied to the public and Congress in order to invade Iraq. They must have forgotten what U.S. ...

Scorpions place second The Kohlfeld Scorpions reached the championship game of the All Fools Tournament at Southern Illinois University on Saturday but suffered a 22-17 loss to the Eastern Illinois Panthers Rugby Club. The Scorpions (11-2) picked up three wins to reach the final. Kohlfeld defeated the Western Illinois Bulldogs Rugby Club 45-10, and then stopped Western Kentucky University 35-12. The Scorpions' final victory was a 32-5 triumph over the Tennessee Tech Rugby Club...

Baseball George Bamberger, a former major league pitcher who managed Milwaukee's "Bambi's Bombers" teams in the late 1970s, died of cancer. He was 80. Bamberger, who also managed the New York Mets, died Sunday at home in North Redington Beach, Fla., according to Garden Sanctuary Funeral Home and Cemetery in Seminole...

Scott City outhit Perryville but fell six runs short in a 13-7 home loss Tuesday in high school baseball action. Jonathon Barr and Seth Ward each had three hits for Scott City (1-3),. Scott City had 13 hits overall, while Perryville had 11. Cory Buerck had three hits and pitched a complete game for Perryville (7-2). The Pirates had five triples, including two by Shaun Roth...

Finding affordable health care is tough when people with limited or no financial resources can't locate a dentist who accepts Medicaid payments or need to fill a prescription but don't have the insurance coverage or the cash to pay for it. There doesn't seem to be any end to the rising health-care costs Americans see today. ...

Cape Girardeau The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI Carol D. Dias, 43, 2700 Pioneer Drive, Cape Girardeau, was arrested Monday on suspicion of DWI and failure to drive within traffic lanes...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following items on Monday: At 5:47 p.m., a motor vehicle accident at Highway 74 and South Silver Springs Road. At 6:09 p.m., an illegal burn at 185 Garnet. At 6:52 p.m., a stove fire at 716 N. Sprigg. At 7:25 p.m., a medical assist at 1333 N. Sprigg...

THURSDAY Maundy Thursday service with communion at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. at Hanover Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau. Maundy Thursday service with communion at 4 and 7 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau. Maundy Thursday communion worship at 4 p.m. at St. Andrew Lutheran Church. An abbreviated form of the Passover supper, the "Meal in the Upper Room" will be held at 7 p.m. at the church. Reservations are necessary. Call 334-4600 for details...

Charleston man pleads guilty to cocaine charge A Charleston, Mo., man pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court Tuesday to two felony counts of distribution of five grams or more of cocaine base. Santago Townsend, 21, now faces a maximum punishment of 40 years in prison and a $2 million fine on each count. ...

WASHINGTON -- The hair, saliva and sweat of federal workers could be tested for drug use under a government policy proposed Tuesday that could set screening standards for millions of private employers. The proposal will expand the methods to detect drug use among 1.6 million federal workers beyond urine samples. ...

WASHINGTON -- David Nelson is a law-abiding 34-year-old lawyer from Belleville, Ill. But he says the government treats him as if he's a threat to commercial aviation who shouldn't be allowed on a plane. Nelson says he believes his name appears on the government's "no-fly list," people deemed too dangerous to board commercial flights. For Nelson, it's a case of mistaken identity: he's not the David Nelson the government believes is a threat...

NEW ORLEANS -- Make it a double for UConn. Connecticut's women completed an NCAA Division I championship sweep for the school by beating Tennessee 70-61 Tuesday night, one day after the men's team won their tournament. With key contributions from everyone and with Diana Taurasi leading the way, the Huskies captured their third straight title. It was further confirmation that UConn has supplanted Tennessee as the top program in the women's game...

CHICAGO -- Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader called Tuesday for President Bush to be impeached for "deceiving the American people night after night after night" about U.S. involvement in Iraq. "When you plunge our country into war on a platform of fabrications and deceptions, and you bring back thousands of American soldiers who are sick, injured or dead, and that war is unconstitutionally authorized to begin with, Mr. ...

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Matt Painter says he is torn between staying at Southern Illinois to continue building a program he helped revive or leaving for Purdue, where he would be an assistant coach before eventually taking over as head coach. The Southern Illinois coach said he met with Purdue's president and athletic director on Sunday and discussed the possibility of becoming an assistant there under Gene Keady for next season before taking over for the longtime Boilermakers coach in the next five years. ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Digging in haste on a corner fence post hole last July, a Kansas City homeowner sliced right through a fiber optic cable two feet below the surface, interrupting phone service to 18,000 customers. A couple of weeks later, another warm-weather fence post digger in Jefferson City carved into buried phone lines, forcing 911 calls to be rerouted, disrupting Internet service and automatic teller machines...

PACIFIC, Mo. -- A religious order's plan for a center for troubled priests to be located near this community outside of St. Louis is raising concern from residents of the area. Catholic priests with Servants of the Paraclete, an order that looks after other religious clergy, want to develop a facility for priests who suffer from problems including alcoholism, depression and pedophilia, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Tuesday...

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran promised to prove by mid-May that it doesn't want to build nuclear weapons, the chief U.N. nuclear inspector said Tuesday. Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Iranian leaders assured him they know they must cooperate with the Vienna-based nuclear watchdog. The international community has become increasingly suspicious that Tehran is hiding evidence about its nuclear program...

LONDON -- British and U.S. intelligence agencies and police foiled a plot to create a chemical vapor bomb in Britain, the British Broadcasting Corp. said on Tuesday. The alleged plot involved osmium tetroxide, a catalyst used in industry, but there was no indication that the suspected plotters had obtained any of the substance, the BBC said, citing security sources...

VILNIUS, Lithuania -- Lawmakers narrowly ousted Lithuania's scandal-ridden president Tuesday for abuse of office, ending the Baltic state's worst political crisis since it gained independence from Moscow. The ouster of President Rolandas Paksas in a secret ballot came less than three weeks before the country joins the European Union on May 1...

PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico -- People who were driven from riverside neighborhoods by deadly flooding returned to water-logged homes in this northern Mexican city to salvage their belongings Tuesday. City officials raised the death toll to 34. Many residents began burying the dead, and large trucks started clearing the streets of debris...

KIGALI, Rwanda -- For most Rwandans, the memory of genocide, rapes and murders are still fresh some 10 years after more than 500,000 people were hacked, shot and clubbed to death in the 100-day killing spree in this tiny central African country. Today African leaders and U.S. and European officials in the capital, Kigali, will mark the 10th anniversary of the slaughter that began on April 7, 1994...

AMMAN, Jordan -- Eight al-Qaida-linked militants were convicted and sentenced to death Tuesday in the murder of a U.S. aid employee in 2002, but six of them -- including a Jordanian terror chief -- remain at large. The slaying of Laurence Foley in 2002 stunned Jordan, a close U.S. ally and peace partner with Israel...

The Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- A man claiming to be a senior al-Qaida figure that the United States believes is operating in Iraq has released a tape calling for the country's Sunni Muslims to fight Shiites and claiming responsibility for high-profile attacks there...

A radical Shiite cleric sought by U.S. forces said he was willing to die resisting any attempt to capture him. Aides said Muqtada al-Sadr moved from the fortress-like mosque in Kufa, where he had been holed up, to the nearby holy city of Najaf. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld said American military commanders in Iraq will get additional troops if they request them. About 135,000 U.S. troops now are in Iraq -- "an unusually high level," Rumsfeld said...

Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for March 29 to April 4. Listings include the week's ranking, with viewership for the week and season-to-date rankings in parentheses. An "X" in parentheses denotes a one-time-only presentation...

NEW YORK -- It's not so surprising that Oliver Stone, a director whose incendiary world view sparked such features as "JFK" and "Natural Born Killers," would be drawn to Fidel Castro. Here's another tough guy with whom he could compare notes on running the show...

These seafood-stuffed pasta shells have a mouthwatering appearance, and they'd make a great party dish -- the recipe makes enough for 10 main-dish servings. The jumbo shells are easy to serve and easy to eat, filled with shrimp and scrod, topped with seasoned bread crumbs...

PASADENA, Calif. -- One person apparently thought the Pasadena Playhouse's stage production of "Dirty Blonde" was worth immortalizing. Police were called to the theater Sunday after a man was caught illegally videotaping an afternoon performance of the play about the actress Mae West, officials said...

It's spring, and it's appealing to turn to fresher fare -- a little lighter in approach, food to tickle the taste buds, to make the most of seasonal items. After hearty holiday meals you may have some good ham to use up in casual dishes, perhaps leftover hard-boiled eggs, too...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Gov. Jeb Bush endorsed a bill to allow illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses, saying they are in the state anyway and officials should accept that fact. The bill he is backing has enough safeguards that it would ensure terrorists are not getting licenses, Bush said Monday...

The cutting of 12,500 jobs by Bank of America Corp. should not include any Southeast Missouri employees, according to bank officials. Representatives of Bank of America made the announcement on Monday, saying cutbacks will take place over the next two years and are a result of its merger with FleetBoston Financial Corp...

YAZOO CITY, Miss. -- An Amtrak passenger train derailed in rural central Mississippi late Tuesday, killing at least one person on board and injuring as many as 70. The 10-car train, traveling from New Orleans to Chicago, toppled onto its side about 25 miles north of Jackson, authorities said...

CHICAGO -- Boy or girl? Now you can pick the sex of your baby in the privacy of your own home. Or so the Internet sellers of sex-selection kits would have you believe. The latest fad in babymaking offers guaranteed, worry-free gender selection for just $199 plus shipping. Some experts call it "snake oil."...

SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- A woman who claimed that she bought and lost a $162 million lottery ticket was found guilty Tuesday of filing a false police report. She was fined $1,000 and ordered to perform 50 hours of community service. Elecia Battle, 41, of Cleveland, also was ordered to pay $5,596.71 in restitution for police overtime, security and other costs related to the case. ...

A Canadian woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to felony methamphetamine related charges, wrapping up the largest pseudoe-phedrine/methamphetamine case ever handled in this district. Krystina Randles, 36, of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada was arrested June 26, 2003, in West Midlands, England. ...

The Jackson Chamber of Commerce has taken over the Fourth of July celebration, including the fireworks show, after the Jaycees bowed out of organizing the event. Ken Parrett, the executive director of the Jackson chamber, said the chamber will work to make sure the fireworks show doesn't drop off in quality. The chamber and the city have contributed $5,000, but $5,000 more is needed for the fireworks, Parrett said...

Charges have been filed against an employee of Southeast Missouri State University for allegedly assaulting a fellow employee. According to Assistant Prosecutor Gordon Glaus, Vincent Spicer, 41, of Cape Girardeau was charged with two counts of first-degree class A misdemeanor sexual misconduct, and one count of third-degree class C misdemeanor assault...

A dining phenomenon unique to Florida is the early bird special. In Missouri, you've got your lunch special and then dinner. Here, there's an in-between period when people who are in bed by 8 p.m. want to eat dinner. As a reward for being "early birds," they get a couple of bucks off...

Last night I dreamed I ate a 10-pound marshmallow," the late Tommy Cooper used to tell his audiences. "And when I woke up, the pillow was gone." The fez-wearing British comedian probably would not have fared very well on the marshmallow test, created by psychologists at Stanford University in the late 1960s and found to be a reliable predictor of academic success. ...

Easter has so many neat legends surrounding the different symbols and meanings for the holiday. There is the legend of the dogwood tree, which has been one of my favorites for many years. Now, in the past several years, the legend of the pretzel has become popular. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- House Republicans on Tuesday offered a revised state spending plan that would allocate more money for elementary and secondary education than requested by Democratic Gov. Bob Holden, who for the last year has accused the chamber's majority party of failing to provide ample funding for public schools...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Police would be able to initiate traffic stops solely on the belief that a motorist or passenger isn't wearing his seat belt under a bill the Senate approved Tuesday. State Sen. Jon Dolan, R-Lake St. Louis, said his narrowly tailored proposal is a small infringement of individual choice that is outweighed by the state's interest in improving safety...

Cape Girardeau voters elected two new members to the board of education in Tuesday's election, while Ward 4 voters in Jackson returned Alderman Joe Bob Baker to his seat. In the area's two largest races -- Cape Girardeau and Woodland school districts had seven candidates each -- newcomers were elected over incumbents by wide margins...

The Bible doesn't really describe in detail the place where Jesus shares his last meal with his disciples, so the scene at Grace United Methodist Church in Cape Girardeau isn't meant to be historically accurate. "It puts the worshippers in the frame of mind and almost places them with the disciples at the Last Supper," said the Rev. Scott Moon, the church pastor who portrays Jesus for the Maundy Thursday dramatization...

Keeping up with the Joneses in Cape Girardeau County can be tricky -- especially considering that two of the county's more prominent Joneses share Gerald as a first name. One Gerald Jones is Cape Girardeau County's presiding commissioner and owner and president of The Cash-Book Journal in Jackson. The other owns Pyramid Clinical Services Inc. in Cape Girardeau and is president of the Cape Girardeau Country Club Board of Governors...

NAJAF, Iraq -- Insurgents and rebellious Shiites mounted a string of attacks across Iraq's Shiite south and U.S. Marines launched a major assault on the turbulent Sunni city of Fallujah on Tuesday. Up to a dozen Marines, two more coalition soldiers and at least 66 Iraqis were reported killed...

Southeast Missouri State University's baseball team will try to bounce back from a tough loss when it steps out of league play today to face an NAIA opponent. Freed-Hardeman, located in Henderson, Tenn., will provide the opposition in a 3 p.m. first pitch at Capaha Field...

A busy weekend was well worth it for Southeast Missouri State University first-year cross country and assistant track coach Eric Heins. Heins put in plenty of time Friday and Saturday coaching Southeast's athletes and helping with various aspects of the meet during the school's 23rd annual Gatorade Classic...

Central starter Cory Huskey threw three strong innings for the Tigers in a five-inning start Tuesday at Notre Dame. Unfortunately for the Tigers (1-4), in the second and fourth inning Huskey's control got away from him, and so did the game. Notre Dame (7-2) scored one run in the second and four in the fourth, with the help of five walks and an error, and held on for a 5-4 win...

ST. LOUIS -- The Milwaukee Brewers got home runs from newcomers Craig Counsell, Lyle Overbay and Chad Moeller on Tuesday night in a 7-5 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Winning pitcher Doug Davis worked into the seventh inning and the Brewers battered St. Louis pitching for the second straight day. Milwaukee moved to 2-0 for the first time since 1995, when it won its first three games...

Three times an all-state selection. Two times a state champion. Add two-time Southeast Missourian Player of the Year to the list. Bell City senior Dominitrix Johnson's numerous achievements, which included a 40-point performance in the Class 1 state title game, helped to earn him the title of this year's Southeast Missourian Player of the Year...

April 23, Steve Ewing is coming to Cape Girardeau with his new project to do a show with the Tone Def All-Stars. The show will be free at Breakaways. If you haven't heard any of his new stuff, its available on-line at www.steviee.com. Los Angeles-based musician Steve Ewing, co-founder and lead singer of the alternative rock band 'The Urge', has launched his long awaited solo project with a new seven song recording entitles "Here we go again," a series of Southern California shows, and an extensive fall and winter U.S. ...

You know I got to say I feel sooooooooo loved. Running around town during the last two months I've had a total of 3 people stop me and ask me " How come I wasn't writing my column anymore?". Was it my pithy wit that you missed in my column ? No, They missed that my life sounded more pathetic than theirs.( Insert ego deflation here)...

1. Do mean people ever get theirs? Answer: Concentrate and try again. Answer 2: As I see it, yes! 2. Will Janet's other breast be exposed? Answer: Signs point to yes. 3. Is Michael Jackson guilty? Answer: Without a doubt. 4. Do bad guys ever get caught?...

Wow, you'd think the summer season started already! Letís get going WALKING TALL Where's my generation's Joe Don Baker? It sure ain't the Rock; he has to take it down a notch for this based-on-a-true-story remake. If Rock was being the Rock, this "cleaning-up-town" act would take twenty minutes. LOOK FOR: Johnny Knoxville, because somebody has to show us how much it hurts...

WEDNESDAY- APRIL 7 Bruce Zimmerman - California Juice Club 8pm Karaoke - Brothers Lounge 8pm THURSDAY- APRIL 8 Bruce Zimmerman & The Water St. Blues Band - Port Cape 9pm FRIDAY - APRIL 9 Intention - Our House 9pm Jeff Hankins Band - Broussard's 9pm...

It's just a short drive across the Mississippi to Owl Creek Vineyard in Cobden, Ill. Owl Creek is a small winery and vineyard operation that opened in 1995. For the 2003 vintage season, about 51,500 pounds of grapes were crushed producing about 3,200 gallons of wine...

Well, this is a strange month for the Insider. After March's events, the Insider's getting a chance at a radio show for April (or until the basketball games come back.) Trouble is, I donit know how to do a radio show (Sundays, 6PM - 10PM). But at least I got my own message board now (1071thezone.proboards23.com) Advice and comments are appreciated...

Gettin' Lucky productions is proud to announce, the 2004 BlueJam GrassFest Music and Camping Festival that will take place April 23-24, 2004 at the Shawnee Natural Amphitheater. Headlining the event is nationally known Grateful Dead Tribute Band The Schwag from St. ...

I give 110% at work each week. 20% on Monday, 25% on Tuesday, 35% on Wednesday, and 25% on Thursday. That way I can give 5% on Friday. So if you're boss asks you to give 110% you can do so without a problem. Because nothing beats a 5% Friday! The FCC should stand for Federation of Controlling Communists. ...

10 years ago: April 8, 1994 City council will hold special session Monday morning to decide whether to proceed with two water plant projects that could receive 75 percent funding from Economic Development Administration; administration allocated special funding for flood recovery and mitigation, and city of Cape Girardeau was invited to submit projects for consideration...

Schlosser Son to Chad Michael Schlosser and Bridgette Denise Scroggins of Jackson, St. Francis Medical Center, 7:37 a.m. Wednesday, March 31, 2004. Name, Drake Michael. Weight, 7 pounds 3 ounces. Ms. Scroggins is the daughter of Carolyn and Ronnie Bowers of Jackson and Sonny and Liz Scroggins of Shreveport, La. She is a server. Schlosser is the son of Dale Schlosser of Scott City and DeRhonda and Bob Gosche of Kelso, Mo. He is employed at TG Missouri Corp...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Willard R. Hahn, 88, of Marble Hill died Wednesday, April 7, 2004, at Chateau Girardeau in Cape Girardeau. He was born Feb. 22, 1916, in Bollinger County, Mo., son of Jacob M. and Laura M. Eaker Hahn. He and Ferneita A. DuLaney were married Sept. 3, 1938, in Jackson...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Jake Leon Pounds, 83, of Bloomfield died Wednesday, April 7, 2004, at his home. He was born June 21, 1920, at Ward, Ark. He and Rita Skelton were married and she preceded him in death June 12 1997. He and Audrey DeBerry were later married...

PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. -- Lily Finney Duckworth, 87, of Portageville died Tuesday, April 6, 2004 at Marston, Mo. She was born Dec. 16, 1916, at Portageville, daughter of Mary Ella Warren and John William Young. She and Bill Finney were married March 3, 1937, and he preceded her in death May 5, 1960. She and Vernon Duckworth were married March 10, 1978, and he preceded her in death July 3, 2003...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Ruth L. Lane, 73, of Charleston died Wednesday, April 7, 2004 at Charleston Manor Nursing Home. Arrangements are incomplete and will be announced by the Heavenly Gates Funeral Home of Cairo, Ill.

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Virgie Marie Hayes, 74, of Sikeston died Wednesday, April 7, 2004, at her home. She was born May 9, 1929, at Kennett, Mo., daughter of Grover and Minnie Dillon Neldon. She and Albert Snowden Hayes were married Feb. 16, 1949, at Kennett. He died April 5, 1985...

Irma Roland Matvy, 87, of Scott City died Tuesday, April 6, 2004, peacefully at her home with her children, Mary Lynn Matvy of San Francisco, Calif., and Mike Matvy of Knoxville, Tenn., at her side. They were each holding a hand when she passed away...

THEBES, Ill. -- Pauline Tucker, 84, of Thebes died Wednesday, April 7, 2004, at Life Care Center. She was born Nov. 16, 1919, at Chaffee, Mo., daughter of John and Ollie Watkins McHughs. She and Thomas Tucker were married June 20, 1936. He died Nov. 1, 1990...

Clyde Warren Huff Jr., 57, of Palmdale, Calif., known as C.W. to his family and friends, rode home to be with the Lord Wednesday, March 31, 2004, in Lancaster, Calif. He was born Dec. 17, 1946, in Cape Girardeau, son of Clyde and Helen Huff Sr. He was a graduate of Central High School and was a member of the Civil Air Patrol. He went into the U.S. Army at age 17. C.W. was a member of the Air Cavalry and flew 400 missions in Vietnam...

To the editor: I am a gunner's mate in the U.S. Navy. I just finished reading the online article about a rally in support of us over here in the Middle East. I would like to say that seeing things like that is a real morale booster. Thank you for all of your support while we are over here. It is greatly appreciated...

To the editor: I like Jon Rust's idea of keeping the old bridge piers on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River. Keep at least one of the piers. Seriously. R.L. HAWKS Durango, Colo.

Thanks to Amy Fahnestock's no-hitter and a 14-hit attack, Southeast Missouri State University's softball team was able to salvage a split of Wednesday's Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader with visiting Austin Peay. After dropping the opener 5-2, Southeast romped 8-0 in six innings. The Otahkians are 10-22 overall and 5-2 in OVC play. The Govs are 13-24 and 3-7...

WASHINGTON -- Does a pregnant woman's exposure to certain chemicals put her child at risk of learning disabilities? Do genetics and pollution interact to cause asthma? What's the real impact of TV on toddlers? The government is preparing the largest study of U.S. children ever performed -- it will track 100,000 from mothers' wombs to age 21 -- to increase understanding of how the environment affects youngsters' health...

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Two mammograms within 10 months in 1994 cleared Lorna Johns of breast cancer so she decided to skip the X-ray the following year. "That was wrong," she said. "That was the one I shouldn't have skipped." She was 68 when her doctor discovered a lump during a 1996 exam. A lumpectomy soon followed, then radiation therapy to help rid Johns of one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in women...

Today Preparation for childbirth class at 5:30 p.m. in the St. Francis Medical Center Healing Arts Center conference room. Asthma education program at 6:30 p.m. in the Generations Center at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Program is for children and adults. Participants should bring flow meters, spacers and list of medication. Call 651-5825 to register...

I've got enough to worry about as I get older. If the possibility of Leaky Gut Syndrome weren't bad enough, now I have to worry about losing my balance. Perhaps I am just borrowing worry. But it does seem that my whole physical "balancing apparatus" is aging. And so, my friends, are yours...

Two million Americans used cocaine and 33.5 million drove drunk during the 30 days prior to a recent survey taken by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association. In 2001, more than 1,100 reports of child abuse or neglect and 819 reports of domestic violence were logged in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties...

The Kansas City (Mo.) Star Congress should take a closer look at how the Pentagon conducts health screening for troops ordered overseas. In many cases, the screening is cursory and some soldiers are deployed despite serious problems such as diabetes and heart disease. .....

Firefighters responded to the following items on Tuesday: At 2:17 p.m., an emergency medical service at North West End Boulevard and Normal. At 4:04 p.m., an illegal burn at Roberts Street and Oak Lane. At 4:34p., an emergency medical service at 1240 Marilyn...

Cape Girardeau The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Daniel J. Reynolds, 33, 3030 Mimosa, Cape Girardeau, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of assault. Jamie R. Goehman, 29, 2247 Highway N, Chaffee, was arrested Tuesday on a Cape Girardeau County warrant for being a parole absconder...

Good Friday dinner planned for Scott City The Schock Community Arts Center will hold a fish and shrimp dinner from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. Friday. Proceeds will support the arts center. Menu includes a two piece fish and shrimp dinner or a four piece fish dinner; sides include macaroni and cheese, baked beans, potato salad, slaw, hush puppies, tea, lemonade or coffee. Carryouts available. The dinner will be located at the Schock Community Arts Center, 116 E. Hickory, Scott City...

Arbor Day was commemorated Friday at Alma Schrader School by students and staff and the Cape Girardeau Council of Garden Clubs. Club president Nancy Bahn and members Martha Ellen House, Joyce Churnside, Judy Holshouser, Anne Foust and Barb Blanchard attended the presentation led by Arbor Day chairman Nadine Davis...

Southeast facilities management sets auction Facilities management employees at Southeast Missouri State University will hold a silent auction for a marble-topped hand-crafted antique pine buffet from through April 19. The public may view the buffet at the Facilities Management Service Center from 8 a.m. ...

Students from West Lane Elementary School in Jackson and Millersville Attendance Center celebrated National Nutrition Month in March by building a food pyramid and later donating the collected items to the Jackson Ministerial Alliance Food Pantry for Cape Girardeau County residents...

Navy Seaman graduates from basic training Navy Seaman Margaret M. Clay, daughter of Patricia A. and Stephen J. Clay of Perryville, Mo., recently completed U.S. Navy basic training at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Ill. During the eight-week program, Clay completed a variety of training including classroom study, practical instruction on naval customs, first aid, fire fighting, water safety and survival, and shipboard and aircraft safety. ...

WASHINGTON -- Condoleezza Rice will provide a detailed accounting of the Bush administration's anti-terror actions before the 2001 attacks but won't attempt to offer a blow-by-blow rebuttal to former counterterror adviser Richard Clarke when she goes before the Sept. 11 commission...

WASHINGTON -- Former White House counterterror chief Richard Clarke two weeks ago drew tears and gratitude from families -- and criticism from Republicans -- when he publicly apologized. "Your government failed you. ... I failed you," said Clarke, who resigned in 2003...

WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department is threatening to withhold $350 million that was to pay for disposal of some of the most dangerous radioactive waste from Cold War bomb-making. First, it says, Congress and state officials must accept a cleanup plan already rejected in court...

ST. LOUIS -- Scott Rolen capped a five-run rally in the seventh inning with a three-run homer, as the St. Louis Cardinals won their first game of the season, 9-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night. The Cardinals overcame a shaky debut from Woody Williams, who threw 82 pitches in three innings, and some shoddy defense to beat a Brewers team that scored 15 runs the first two games...

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- For the San Jose Sharks to prove that their resurgence was more than a winter anomaly, they must bloom in the playoffs this spring. "I think our guys know that they've had the best regular season in the history of the Sharks," coach Ron Wilson said. "They also know that the regular season is over."...

Clean up efforts under way after Mexican flood PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico -- Skies once filled with threatening clouds cleared and the cleanup of the destruction caused by flooding that killed 34 people got underway in this town on the U.S. border. But even as hundreds began picking up the pieces of their damaged homes and water-logged belongings, many of their neighbors were burying loved ones...

FALLUJAH, Iraq -- U.S. Marines in the third day of a battle to pacify this Sunni Muslim city fired a rocket and dropped a 500-pound, laser-guided bomb on a mosque compound Wednesday, and witnesses said as many as 40 people were killed. Shiite-inspired violence spread to key cities in Iraq...

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Shiite militiamen drove Ukrainian soldiers and coalition officials from the Iraqi city of Kut on Wednesday, and Japan urged the United Nations to intervene to stop the growing violence in Iraq. Italy's defense minister, however, said Italian troops would stay in Iraq, rejecting opposition calls to pull out after clashes that left 15 Iraqis dead and a dozen Italians injured. U.S. forces sent helicopters and troops to reinforce the Bulgarians...

BIDOU, West Bank -- Israeli workers with chain saws cut down a Palestinian farmer's olive grove Wednesday to make way for a West Bank security barrier, sparking a clash in which at least 15 Palestinian villagers and two Israeli police were wounded...

Energy giant announces $2.5 billion stock buyout DENVER -- Energy giant Kerr-McGee Corp. announced plans Wednesday to buy Westport Resources Corp. in a $2.5 billion stock deal expected to boost its oil and natural gas holdings in Texas and the developing hotbed of the Rockies. The deal would create one of the nation's biggest independent oil and gas producers and raise Kerr-McGee's daily production volume by more than a third...

Dealmaker Trump takes on chicken in casino COACHELLA, Calif. -- Without any specific strategy, dealmaker Donald Trump battled a live chicken and won $250. The real estate mogul showed up at his namesake Trump 29 Casino Tuesday and played the Apprentice Chicken Challenge, a tic-tac-toe game with live poultry in a booth pecking its board selections while a gambler makes picks outside the box. ...

ST. LOUIS -- As the city celebrates 2004 for the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark journey, a display at the St. Louis Art Museum is focusing on the American Indians who played an important role in the region long before the explorers arrived to map the Louisiana Purchase...

SAN FRANCISCO -- A state appeals court on Wednesday overturned a $21.7 million judgment awarded to a California woman who sued the tobacco companies before dying of lung cancer. The 1st District Court of Appeal said a San Francisco County jury, when deliberating damages for Leslie Whiteley, should have been instructed by the judge that the tobacco industry was immune from liability from 1988 to 1998. In 1998, the legislature removed tobacco from a shielded class of products immune from lawsuits...

Former wife testifies in Nichols' murder trial McALESTER, Okla. -- Terry Nichols' handwriting is on a variety of documents that investigators have linked to the Oklahoma City bombing plot, Nichols' former wife testified at his murder trial Wednesday. The documents identified by Lana Padilla include motel registration cards, prepaid calling card applications and rental agreements filled out in the names of Joe Kyle, Darryl Bridges and other aliases that have been linked to Nichols...

NEW YORK -- Ruth Jordan, the former juror at the center of a media furor during the Tyco mistrial, said she never signaled her support for the defense but was likely going to vote to acquit the firm's two former executives. "At best it was going to be a hung jury," Jordan said in an interview published Wednesday in The New York Times. "I don't think I would have voted guilty on any count."...

HOUSTON -- The wife of former Enron finance chief Andrew Fastow backed out of a plea bargain Wednesday after a federal judge refused to go along with a sentence of five months in prison and five months of confinement at home. The proposed sentence for Lea Fastow had been carefully worked out as part of a larger plea agreement involving her husband's criminal case. But prosecutors said her decision will not affect his part of the bargain, which calls for up to 10 years in prison for conspiracy...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Rush Limbaugh's attorney argued Wednesday that investigators trampled the conservative commentator's privacy rights when they made a surprise visit to a doctor's office to seize his medical records. Limbaugh attorney Roy Black is seeking to keep the records sealed from prosecutors who accuse the radio host of illegally buying prescription drugs. He said investigators should have provided some notice they were going to seize records containing private information...

Investigators seek cause of Amtrak derailment FLORA, Miss. -- Investigators examined twisted track and overturned passenger cars Wednesday to figure out why an Amtrak train derailed over a swamp, killing one person and injuring nearly 60 others. The nine-car City of New Orleans, en route to Chicago, jumped the tracks Tuesday night near Flora. Its cars tumbled five or six feet off a trestle about 25 miles north of Jackson...

HAMBURG, Germany -- The only Sept. 11, 2001, suspect ever convicted walked out of jail Wednesday smiling and laughing, freed less than 2 1/2 years into a 15-year sentence after judges ruled the evidence was too weak to hold him pending a retrial. Mounir el Motassadeq, whose conviction on charges of aiding the Sept. ...

The official online rumor mill at Southeast Missouri State University has been grinding away for five years, dispelling the ridiculous, acknowledging the benign and sometimes even confirming that what students have been whispering about is actually true...

A misdemeanor charge was filed last week against a Cape Girardeau lawyer and former judge for practicing law after he had been disbarred. Bob Gowen Jr., 44, was disbarred Jan. 14 for professional misconduct, according to the Missouri Supreme Court order issued that day. His law license also was revoked...

In the event of a tornado, such as the one last year that swept through Jackson, or a train wreck like the one that happened Tuesday in Yazoo City, Miss., it's good to know neighbors are willing to help. But it's even better when those neighbors are trained to respond...

A woman in southern Mexico cut open her own womb with a knife and delivered a healthy baby boy in her rural home when problems developed during childbirth, doctors report in a medical journal. The woman and her son, her ninth child, both survived despite an eight-hour car ride to the nearest hospital and waiting several hours for medical care once there, said co-author Dr. Rafael Valle, a Northwestern University obstetrician who said he learned about the case from a colleague in Mexico...

Most Missouri schools are looking to get funding increases based on results from state elections and good tax revenue reports. About 79 percent of school funding proposals on Tuesday's ballots -- property tax increases or bond issues -- were approved, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education reported Wednesday in an unofficial survey of the 114 districts holding elections...

On the surface, Wednesday's non-league baseball game against Freed-Hardeman didn't seem very significant for Southeast Missouri State University. But after Sunday's discouraging Ohio Valley Conference loss at Jacksonville State -- in which Southeast blew a late nine-run lead -- the Indians were intent on getting back on a winning track...

If Southeast Missouri State University does wind up with a new nickname and mascot for its athletic teams, the chances are good one of the school's colors, red, will be emphasized. A university committee on Wednesday narrowed the list of prospective nicknames to five from an original pool of more than 800 suggested by various groups that included Southeast students, staff and fans. Three of the five possibilities include "Red" as part of the name...

Central dropped just one match to Dexter on Wednesday in an 8-1 home tennis dual win. The Tigers improved to 5-0. Singles -- 1. Heath Orr def. Jake Smith 8-4; 2. James Ford (D) def. Adam Baron, 8-4; 3. Tyler Roeger def. Derek Roberts, 8-2; 4. Kevin Rohatgi def. Ben Smith, 8-3; 5. Will Ramsey def. Gabe Smith, 8-1; 6. Kyle Davis def. Derek Clark, 8-6...

Chaffee entered Wednesday's showdown with Delta, one of the area's top spring softball teams, with something to prove. Despite a 6-0 record entering the game, Chaffee still had memories of an error-plagued 10-0 loss to the Bobcats a year ago. Those bad memories were erased Wednesday with a late rally leading to a 5-4 win at Chaffee...

DON FRAZIER * dfrazier@semissourian.com Notre Dame senior Sommer McCauley was a first-team all-state selection this season after averaging 18 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. By Jeremy Joffray ~ Southeast Missourian...

April 8, 2004 Dear Patty, Our little beagle, Alvie, wandered into our front yard 2 1/2 years ago, scarred and dusty like a big-eared bluesman too long on the road. We found out that he dug under a fence to escape from the previous person who'd taken mercy on his vagrancy. She'd picked him up looking even scragglier 60 miles south of Cape Girardeau. He was hanging out at a field where skydivers land...

Many people still do not understand the significance of the medical malpractice crisis in Missouri. I hear about it firsthand every day from family physicians across the state. Insurance premiums coupled with low reimbursement are forcing family physicians to quit providing services or even leave Missouri. If we don't get some legislative relief this year, it will be harder for citizens to find a doctor, get obstetrical care and access other services...

About 3,000 youths from across the state are expected to attend a youth convention through Friday in Cape Girardeau. The annual event is sponsored by the Missouri District of the United Pentecostal Church. The convention began Wednesday evening with a speaker at the Show Me Center and continues with sessions at 10 a.m. and 1 and 7:30 p.m. today. The speaker for the morning and afternoon session is Harold Linder, and Jason Dillon will speak during the evening session...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Discussions on the state budget are often in terms of hundreds of millions of dollars. For a group of Bootheel lawmakers, the key figure has been a mere $125,000. That's the amount they successfully plugged into the proposed $18.64 billion state operating budget for the coming year in order to protect the State Public Health Laboratory in Poplar Bluff, which the Department of Health and Senior Services wants to close...

For his visit to Cape Girardeau, potentate Gale Bennington of the Moolah Shrine packed his red fez, but he left his mini-car in St. Louis. Instead, the regional head of the Shriners fraternity breezed into town aboard the full-sized plane of a fellow Shriner, who donated his time, aircraft and piloting services. Bennington came to let people know that access to that Shriner generosity isn't limited to its officers...

In the wake of the war on terrorism, the United States government has made it tougher for international students to obtain study visas, but Southeast Missouri State University has remained relatively unscathed by this and has not seen a marked drop in the number of international students...

Two Charleston, Mo., men pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for distributing cocaine base. Corey Owens, 33, pleaded guilty to one felony count of cocaine distribution. Ervin D. Boyce, 26, pleaded guilty to one felony count of distribution of five grams or more of cocaine base...

A St. Louis man who earned a degree in marketing in 1979 from Southeast Missouri State University was indicted Tuesday in U.S. District Court in connection with a $2 million investment scheme. Rick D. Shirrell, 46, was indicted by a federal grand jury on three felony counts of wire fraud, 12 counts of engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property, and 11 counts of money laundering...

Associated Press WriterJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- After breaking a contentious 16-hour debate, senators on Thursday passed legislation supporters say will help lower doctors' malpractice insurance premiums. The legislation would create new limits on jury awards in many types of lawsuits -- which insurance companies claim is the cause for doctors' fast-rising premiums...

PACIFIC, Mo. (AP) -- A religious order has dropped a zoning request that would have allowed development of a center for troubled priests near St. Louis. The Servants of the Paraclete, an order that looks after other religious clergy, wanted to develop a facility for priests who suffer from problems including alcoholism, depression and pedophilia on 226 acres near Pacific. Area residents had expressed concern...

Fred Meystedt owns nearly 50 fishing poles, but he gets along just fine using only one. "I gotta have a lot of poles," he joked, "just like my wife's gotta have a lot of clothes." Meystedt's simple fishing style has helped the 67-year-old have an enjoyable and successful career as a fisherman...

The son of a Whitewater, Mo., woman was seriously injured fighting in Iraq, but even though he was brought back to the United States to a military hospital, she didn't have the means to see him. But then the local VFW and Marine Corps League stepped in...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- While House Republicans trumpeted their efforts to increase funding for elementary and secondary education this week, chamber Democrats complained that similar attention hasn't been paid to higher education. The state budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning July 1 that cleared the House on Wednesday includes $4.75 billion for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, a $201.7 million boost from current appropriations. ...

Sure signs of spring in Cape Girardeau: flowering trees in bloom, tulips and daffodils blossoming in colorful beds, and old mattresses and yard waste piled up on curbs. It's time for the annual -- and final -- spring cleanup. Cleanup begins Monday and continues through Friday. Pam Sander of the city's Department of Public Works said that extra items will be picked up during residents' normal trash pickup days...

Two men who were wrongfully convicted of capital murder and exonerated will speak in Cape Girardeau on April 19 through "Justice Talks," an educational project sponsored by a grant from Amnesty International. The Cape Girardeau Chapter of a campaign for a moratorium on executions in Missouri organized the event...

Some probably remember "The Alamo" opens today in movie theaters, but certainly fewer know that the leaders of the battle for Texas independence share ties to Missouri. Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett and Stephen Austin all have connections -- some more tenuous than others -- to the Show Me state...

Southeast Missouri State University's softball team is in third place in the Ohio Valley Conference, having won five of its first seven league games -- but coach Lana Richmond knows the jury is still out regarding the Otahkians as possible title contenders...

It's still so early in the Ohio Valley Conference baseball season that the league's teams have so far only played six of 27 scheduled games. But Southeast Missouri State University coach Mark Hogan knows the Indians need to start making a serious push toward the top of the standings; otherwise, they might dig themselves an early hole that is simply too deep...

ST. LOUIS -- In their opening series, the Milwaukee Brewers looked like a changed team. Brady Clark homered in his first two at-bats and Keith Ginter hit a three-run homer to help power the Brewers' backups over the St. Louis Cardinals 11-5 Thursday...

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Niko Dimitrakos got quite a souvenir from his first NHL playoff game. Dimitrakos scored 9:16 into overtime, and Evgeni Nabokov stopped 26 shots to lead the San Jose Sharks to a 1-0 victory over the St. Louis Blues in the opener of their first-round playoff series Thursday night...

Matt Painter resigned Thursday as head basketball coach at Southern Illinois to take an assistant coaching job at Purdue, SIU athletic director Paul Kowalczyk announced. Painter will be an associate coach under Gene Keady next season before taking over when the longtime Boilermakers coach retires. The 67-year-old Keady has one year left on his contract...

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Back-to-back birdies brought out that boyish smile in Justin Rose. The loss of his longtime looper brought a tear to Tom Watson. A suspect swing made Tiger Woods look as vulnerable as ever. The Masters had a little bit of everything Thursday, starting with Rose shooting a 5-under 67 to take a two-shot lead, and ending with Woods walking briskly to his car in darkness, 4 over par through 14 holes and not much to say...

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- A rock slide in the Shawnee National Forest has blocked a road with boulders, trees and slabs of stone the size of pianos. Forest Service officials said Thursday they don't have the heavy equipment needed to remove the rock and it could take two weeks or more to find a contractor and remove the rubble...

NEW DELHI -- The world is likely to be polio-free next year, but the war against AIDS is being lost, the U.S. health secretary said Thursday. "We're on the precipice of accomplishing it," Tommy Thompson said of eliminating polio. If the current vaccination campaign is successful, polio will become only the second know disease after smallpox to be wiped out by humankind. ...

Scientific proof MORE STUDIES prove that TV is bad for kids. On top of all the other reasons for parents not to have their kids watch TV, there's now scientific proof that watching TV at a young age changes the formation of the brain and makes kids much more likely to have attention-deficit disorder. Turn off the TVs, parents, if you want to do your kids a favor...

Entries sought for open photography contest The International Library of Photography has announced that entries for the International Amateur Photography Contest are now being accepted. The deadline is July 31 and is open to everyone. The International Library of Photography is an organization designed to bring the work of amateur photographers to the public's attention. For more information on the contest, go to www.picture.com...

After providing funk to the denizens of Cape Girardeau for six years, Funky Donkey Cheese is calling it quits. The band's shows tonight and tomorrow at the Rude Dog Pub will be its last. The band cites the recent decisions by vocalist Beth Poole and guitarist Bryan Davidson to quit the band as the main reason for the breakup...

'The Alamo' Starring Dennis Quaid, Billy Bob Thornton, Patrick Wilson, Jason Patric, Patrick Wilson, and Marc Blucas. In a small Texas town in the spring of 1836, roughly 200 men lost their lives defending the Alamo, a small mission building, from several thousand Mexican soldiers under the command of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. ...

Three stars (out of four) When the U.S. Army foils the Nazis' plans to bring seven demons of chaos to the world, a baby demon passes through the opened portal. The baby, named Hellboy (Ron Perlman) by those that found him, becomes part of a secret organization known as "Paranormal Research and Defense."...

Hyundai Accent gives new car experience at used car price Accent n. 1 a style of pronunciation or inflection. 2 an entry-level car with a 100,000 mile warranty that sells new for less than many used cars. 3 not to be confused with "scent," as in "new-car scent," that intoxicating aroma missing from used cars...

LONDON -- Vivienne Westwood, famous for dressing the Sex Pistols and creating the 1970s punk look, isn't interested in keeping up with the times. "I prefer to go faster than that," she says. "If you keep up with the times, there's nothing to see. You are always at a point where you just missed everything."...

WASHINGTON -- Under sharp questioning, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice insisted Thursday that President Bush fully understood the threat of terrorism before Sept. 11, 2001, but no intelligence foretold the deadliest attack ever on American soil...

Improvements have been made, but caseworkers are still too slow in responding to child abuse hotline calls and are not adequately following up on cases where intervention and services are needed, State Auditor Claire McCaskill said Thursday. McCaskill released results of an audit that looked at how abuse cases were handled in Greene and Jackson counties and the city of St. Louis in 2003. It was a follow-up to her office's child abuse hotline report in December 2000...

EdmundsSon to Michael Jacob and Jennifer Lynn Edmunds of Jackson, St. Francis Medical Center, 12:17 p.m. Wednesday, March 31, 2004. Name, Simon Jacob. Weight, 7 pounds 11 ounces. First child. Mrs. Edmunds is the former Jennifer Browning, daughter of Bob and Nora Browning of West Frankfort, Ill. She is a nurse. Edmunds is the son of Mike and Sue Edmunds of Jackson. He is a handy man and lawn care provider...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Two teenagers were taken into custody for allegedly vandalizing two St. Louis churches, a school and a community center. A 16-year-old boy was taken into custody Wednesday night, and a 17-year-old surrendered to police on Thursday...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- While investigators tried to unravel the story of a 16-year-old boy who weighed just 40 pounds when he was taken to an Illinois hospital this week, a few details about his background were emerging. The boy from Michigan -- who is mentally retarded, prone to seizures and has cerebral palsy -- was in serious condition in the intensive care unit at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis...

Chomping on gum and wearing a navy blue USA T-shirt, Charles Bigham Jr. examines the monuments at Freedom Corner at Capaha Park in Cape Girardeau. His grandfather, John Reynolds, a union bricklayer, helped restore these columns a few years ago. But as the 7-year-old runs his fingers over the raised names of soldiers killed in World War II, his mind is on a modern-day soldier: his father...