Stories from Thursday, June 16, 2005

Meth cooks have made illegitimate livings by hiding their supplies, their labs and chemicals, then selling their products to users. Missouri has taken a page from the concealment chapter of meth makers' cookbooks, and will begin hiding key ingredients right behind pharmacy counters...

When it was built in 1924, the publishers of the Southeast Missourian saw their new building on Broadway as a visible symbol of their commitment to community beautification. Today, that exterior architecture -- Spanish-style roof, ornamental balconies, arched windows and glazed-tile walls -- and the newspaper's impact on Cape Girardeau history have landed the building on the National Register of Historic Places even as the newspaper plans to make extensive improvements to the structure...

When Harry Rediger envisions the proposed new $1.9 million Armstrong Drive in west Cape Girardeau, he imagines it as another Siemers Drive, a highly traveled roadway lined with big-name businesses and popular restaurants. But the Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning commissioner also sees beneath the surface and asserts that such a roadway would offer so much more -- a forward-thinking traffic solution, a catalyst for job creation and a much-needed boost to the city's tax base...

The golfers expressed some concerns about course condition heading into today's first round. PINEHURST, N.C. -- Balls that land in the rough can't be seen 5 feet away. Shots that land on the domed greens at Pinehurst No. 2 don't stay there very long. The U.S. Open is supposed to be the toughest test in golf, and Vijay Singh found it to be every bit of that...

The celebration scheduled for Saturday evening at Central Municipal Pool was sparked by an act of serendipity by Glenn Reeves. "I was cleaning out some files and I ran across an old brochure from the Night of Gold, and I said, 'My God, this place is 25 years old,'" said Reeves, who is one of the organizers of Saturday's celebration for the anniversary of the pool's opening...

LARGO, Fla. -- All along, Michael Schiavo said his brain-damaged wife's situation was hopeless -- that she had zero chance of emerging from her persistent vegetative state. On Wednesday, the autopsy backed him up. Medical examiners determined that Terri Schiavo suffered irreversible brain damage and even blindness, and they found no evidence that she was strangled or otherwise abused before she collapsed...

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Now 86 and in frail health, the Rev. Billy Graham is all but certain that his revival meeting in New York City next week will be the last he ever leads in the United States -- and probably the last that the famed evangelist does anywhere...

Most of the missing adults tracked by the FBI are men. More than one-in-five of those abducted or kidnapped are black. But you might not get that impression from the news media, and some journalism watchdogs are now taking the industry to task for what they see as a disproportionate emphasis on cases in which white girls and women -- overwhelmingly upper-middle class and attractive -- disappear...

CENTRALIA, Ill. -- A towering bur oak believed to be older than this tranquil Tree City USA itself may get the ax if locals don't meet a pastor's demands: Pay $75,000 or the mighty tree outside his church gives way to more parking. The Rev. Johnnie Wilson II says he has every right to cut down the tree outside the Bible Based Community Church along Pine Street...

BOSTON - Americans grappling with mental illness are more likely to be treated for it now than they were 10 years ago, according to a landmark government-backed survey. The rate of mental illness has remained the same, but researchers believe that with more treatment inroads in the future, rates should eventually start to drop...

WASHINGTON -- A senior Republican, Sen. Arlen Specter, urged Congress on Wednesday to clarify prisoners' rights at Guantanamo Bay, decrying a "crazy quilt" of legal decisions about the military's handling of suspected terrorists. Other Republicans on Specter's Judiciary Committee were divided over whether the Bush administration's practices were satisfactory. ...

VIENNA, Austria -- OPEC agreed Wednesday to increase its production quota by half a million barrels a day in an effort to cool high crude oil costs that have dampened the global economy. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said its output ceiling will rise from 27.5 million barrels to 28 million as of July 1, and that it will consider another 500,000-barrel increase later this year if prices don't fall...

OPEC boosts output, but petroleum prices rise VIENNA, Austria -- OPEC failed to cool the sizzling global energy market on Wednesday with pledges to increase its crude production target by half a million barrels a day and consider a second boost of that size later this year. ...

CHICAGO -- Three former aviation students sued Hooters Air Wednesday, claiming the startup carrier used their business plan from a class project as the blueprint for launching the airline but never compensated them. The former Southern Illinois University students said Hooters used their plan to start the airline in 2003, but never offered them management jobs or a stake in the company, according to a lawsuit filed in Cook County...

PINEHURST, N.C. -- Ten years after he joined the PGA Tour, Tiger Woods still stands alone. And not just because he's so good. Woods was supposed to open the sport up to black kids in America and around the world. Yet a decade later, he remains the only black golfer on the tour. This week, he plays at the U.S. Open, being run by the USGA, which talks about bringing minorities into the sport but doesn't have a single one on its executive committee...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraqi and U.S. forces, acting on a tip, raided a dangerous Sunni neighborhood Wednesday and freed an Australian hostage who was hidden beneath a blanket, officials said. Elsewhere, 33 people died in suicide attacks, including 25 killed when a bomber dressed in Iraqi army uniform blew himself up in a mess hall...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Chiefs have agreed to a one-year deal with free agent wide receiver Az-Zahir Hakim, but coach Dick Vermeil stressed Wednesday there's no guarantee Hakim will be with the Chiefs this fall. Hakim, who played for Vermeil when the St. Louis Rams won the Super Bowl six years ago, was released by Detroit in April. He signed as a free agent there before the 2002 season but didn't produce the way the Lions hoped after watching him excel for St. Louis...

WACO, Texas -- Former Baylor basketball player Carlton Dotson was led off to prison for 35 years Wednesday to shouts from the stepfather of his murdered best friend and teammate, who held up a framed picture of his son and yelled: "Remember him! Remember his face!"...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Osama bin Laden is alive and in good health, as is fugitive Taliban chief Mullah Mohammed Omar, a purported senior commander of the ousted Afghan religious militia said in a TV interview broadcast Wednesday. Asked whether bin Laden is hiding in areas of Afghanistan that are under Taliban control, the man said he would not specify where the terrorist was hiding...

Sikeston police arrest 14 following June 5 fracas SIKESTON, Mo. -- Fourteen people have been arrested after a disturbance in Sikeston earlier this month that injured an officer. Capt. Dan Armour of the Sikeston Department of Public Safety said a crowd of about 80 people gathered at the corner of Ruth and Branum streets the night of June 5 to watch an altercation. ...

In adult court, a young offender can pay a fine without parents knowing a ticket was issued. JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- When the Missouri Legislature stripped juvenile courts of jurisdiction over tobacco possession offenses a few years ago, juvenile officer Michael Davis said most of his colleagues felt it was a mistake. Now that lawmakers are reversing course, Davis said he is hopeful it improve efforts to combat underage tobacco use...

WASHINGTON -- Consumer prices in May posted the first decline in 10 months as energy costs staged a sizable retreat. At the same time, the pace of activity at U.S. factories jumped sharply. A variety of reports released Wednesday depicted an economy shaking off the effects of an oil price surge in the early spring and resuming solid growth...

LONDON -- Andy Roddick jumped to the No. 2 seeding for Wimbledon on Wednesday, the first time just one American man was seeded in the top 16 at the event, and he could face No. 1 Roger Federer in a rematch of last year's final. While Federer's seeding matched his ATP Tour standing, Roddick was pushed two spots higher than his ranking, ahead of 2002 Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt and French Open champion Rafael Nadal...

The Pistons and the Spurs set a record with the first three games won by 15 or more points. AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- One of these days, both the San Antonio Spurs and the Detroit Pistons will bring their "A" game to the NBA Finals on the same night. It hasn't happened yet, but there are still as many as four chances left for the teams to click at the same time...

More than a year after allegations of sexual misconduct against Southeast Missouri State University employee Vincent Spicer, the 42-year-old Cape Girardeau man pleaded guilty to misdemeanor sexual misconduct. That's some consolation to his victim, Christna Parmer, who was a co-worker in the university's Facilities Management when the incident happened in March 2004. But it's not quite enough...

Upcoming activities at Trail of Tears State Park Programs are free and meet at the visitors center unless otherwise noted. Children 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult. Contact the park at 334-1711 if groups of 10 or more will attend or to check for changes that may have occurred...

Cape graduate finishes Navy basic training Navy Airman Apprentice Lisa M. Hobbs, daughter of Nancy Hobbs of Cape Girardeau and James E. Hobbs of Jackson, recently completed U.S. Navy basic training at Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Ill. Hobbs is a 1997 graduate of Central High School...

Laurie Clippard, 12, of Jackson will compete in the preteen miss division of the Misses of Missouri Pageant, to be held in Waynesville, Mo., June 24 and 25. The event is patterned after the Miss America Pageant. She qualified by winning the Miss Preteen Jackson pageant in November...

Cape Girardeau...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Wednesday: * At 5:04 a.m., emergency medical service in the 3700 block of Stonebridge Drive. * At 6:12 a.m., a fire alarm at 100 West Park Mall. * At 8:47 a.m., a still alarm at 200 Mason St...

Iraqi insurgents continue to strike deadly blows that hamper the restoration of civil order. While military targets get their share of the death, maiming and destruction, it is innocent Iraqi civilians who suffer the worst losses. When Saddam Hussein was Iraq's dictator, he is believed to have been responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians within his own country's borders. ...

Leigh Ann Lape of Jackson is less than half the woman she used to be. The 5-foot, 3-inch Lape weighed 334 pounds when she made a New Year's resolution to join Weight Watchers just before 2003 turned into 2004. Weight Watchers recommends that new clients not think about how much total weight they have to lose, but concentrate first on losing 10 percent of their body weight -- a more reasonable goal and less likely to discourage the client. ...

To the editor: Until the 17th century, physicians were banned from performing surgery, the belief being that because the human body was made in God's image, it could not be violated. In 1721 Dr. Zabdiel Boylston, a Boston physician, was threatened with hanging for inoculating children against smallpox. ...

To the editor: On May 18 a salesman came to my house selling frozen beef. He misrepresented what he was selling, because a box had only about seven pounds of meat in it. Two boxes cost me $557.14. I am 85 years old and blind in one eye and going to have the other eye operated on. And I can hardly hear at all. The salesman told me some friends had bought meat from him, which made me think he was OK...

All the reasons; Constitutional answer; Agreeable decisions; Health rights; Legal questions; Traffic violations; Targeting teens

To the editor: Thanks for the great article on the Schabbing family ("Searching for greener pastures: The call of the cows.") People should also know that whatever extra time David and his family have is usually spent working on the girls' softball diamonds at Central High School in Cape Girardeau. ...

Mary Drake, 101, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, June 14, 2005, at Chateau Girardeau Health Center. She was born Dec. 7, 1903, in Charleston, Mo., daughter of John Daniel and Ella Minnie Goodin Deal. She and Harvey Ernest Drake were married May 6, 1933, in Charleston. He died in June 1973...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Dorothy Mae Lewis Pratt, 87, of Cairo died Monday, June 13, 2005, at her home, following an extended illness. Friends may call at Heavenly Gates Funeral Home from 11 a.m. until service time Saturday. The funeral will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home, with Bishop Paul Jones officiating. Burial will be in Green Lawn Memorial Gardens at Villa Ridge, Ill...

William A. Wheeler, 80, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, June 15, 2005, at Heartland Care and Rehab Center. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Polly Schuerenberg, 64, of Sikeston died Wednesday, June 15, 2005, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Nunnelee Funeral Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

Virginia L. Strickert, 86, of Richardson, Texas, died Friday, May 27, 2005. She was born Sept. 23, 1918, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Steven and Martha Schaefer Owens. She and the Rev. Paul Strickert were married Feb. 7, 1943, in Cape Girardeau. Survivors include a son, Donald Strickert of Plano, Texas; a daughter, Nancy Marioles of San Antonio, Texas; a brother, Raymond Owens of Cape Girardeau; and a sister, Doris Criddle of Whitewater...

David P. Berry, 77, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, June 14, 2005, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Jan. 12, 1928, in Queens, N.Y., son of the late Donald and Marcella Krohman Berry. He and Mary Rhodes were married in 1962 at Long Island, N.Y...

BENTON, Mo. -- Madalyn Marie Wheetley was stillborn Tuesday, June 14, 2005, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Survivors include her parents, Derick Wayne Wheetley and Melissa Marie Zimmerman of Benton; a brother, Jordan Zimmerman; maternal grandparents, Roy and Jane Butler of Benton; paternal grandparents, Darrell and Lisa Wheetley of Benton; maternal great-grandmother, Betty Bashem of Barlow, Ky.; paternal great-grandparents, Bill and Nancy Crossen and Larry Hopper of Benton, Kenneth and Barbara Wheetley of Sikeston, Mo.; paternal great-great-grandmothers, Mary Hopper of Benton and Janetta Marshall of Sikeston.. ...

Cline...

New McKendree UMW...

MARQUAND, Mo. -- Hugh Lambert Woods, 87, of Marquand died Tuesday, June 14, 2005, at Madison Memorial Hospital in Fredericktown, Mo. He was born Aug. 20, 1917, at Hunter, Mo., son of Otto and May Lambert Woods. He and Mary Elizabeth "Beth" Upchurch were married Feb. 15, 1942...

25 years ago: June 16, 1980 Cape Girardeau County Court threatens to declare a quarantine in the county if pet owners don't have their animals immunized against rabies. Chief deputy sheriff Eugene A. Coombs is sworn as the new Cape Girardeau County interim sheriff; because Coombs will only be serving in that post six months, no one will be appointed to fill the chief deputy slot...

June 16, 2005 Dear Leslie, The rebels have complained that assistance has not reached Tamil areas fast enough since the disaster. The last time I visited my friend Julie she talked about how much she loves her house overlooking the bay in Trinidad but said earthquakes scare her. ...

Lilly pitched the gem this time, and the Blue Jays took two of three games from St. Louis in the interleague series. TORONTO -- Blue Jays manager John Gibbons has practically made it his mantra: Ted Lilly has to have a good season if Toronto is going to contend in the American League East...

VIENNA, Austria -- Tehran should be recognized for its role in unmasking the nuclear black market, a senior Iranian envoy said Wednesday, challenging criticism that his country was not working closely enough on the issue with the U.N. atomic watchdog agency...

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -- Thousands of people have been arrested across Ethiopia after violent clashes in which police killed 36 people, a New York-based human rights group reported Wednesday. The political unrest prompted Britain on Wednesday to suspend a planned $54.1 million increase in aid to Ethiopia, one of the world's poorest countries. ...

TORONTO -- A Canadian Senate report released Wednesday said customs agents should carry weapons to prevent terror threats, and blasted Ottawa and Washington for not doing more to secure the shared border. Unlike U.S. Border Patrol agents, CBSA officers are unarmed. The arming of the Canadian border agents has long been opposed by the government...

I used to snigger quietly and with a slight air of superiority whenever I would hear an older person loudly ask a companion in the movie theater: "What did they say?" Then just last week, my friend Paul, who is two years younger than I am, turned to me in one of those same theaters and loudly asked: "What did he just say?"...

Ford and Sons dropped an 11-8 decision on Wednesday night. The Dunklin County American Legion baseball team had scored 26 runs in its first two District 14 games, both wins. Cape Girardeau Ford and Sons was not immune to Dunklin's big bats on Wednesday, falling 11-8 in a district contest at Capaha Field...

He held the school's saves records from 1987 until last year. Truman Smith remembers Hal Hempen as not only a top-flight pitcher but also an outstanding individual. "He was one of the most special kids I've ever been around," said Smith, who was Southeast Missouri State's pitching coach when Hempen played for the Redhawks in 1986 and 1987. "He just brightened up the room."...

The Cape Girardeau Historic Preservation Commission regularly selects buildings that embody important elements of the city's culture and history and places a sign in the yard identifying them as one of "Cape's Original Treasures." Selections for spring 2005 are:...