Stories from Wednesday, January 11, 2006

CAIRO, Ill. -- A corrosive atmosphere choked off any chance of a working relationship between the Cairo City Council and Mayor Paul Farris during a meeting Tuesday that included threats to have police remove residents supporting council members. Farris and the council members kept their anger with each other under control for most of the regular session. ...

The Cape Girardeau city engineer's office will soon send the second member of its 22-person staff to Iraq. John Hedrick, a civil engineer who has been in charge of much of the overlay work done on Cape Girardeau streets in the past year, will report for duty later this month...

With less than one week left to file in Scott City's April municipal election only incumbents have filed for the five seats up for grabs. The filing deadline is at 5 p.m. Tuesday. This April, Scott City voters will elect council members in wards 1 through 4, with two seats up for election in Ward 2. In a normal year only four seats would be up for election, but a Ward 2 seat that was vacated midterm is also up for election this year...

Trinity Lutheran School will expand by adding a new gymnasium and an elevator at a cost of about $1.3 million. School officials refer to it as the "Complete the Cross" project because the addition, extending east toward Pacific Street, will result in cross-like footprint for the building...

KAPALUA, Hawaii -- Michelle Wie is starting to feel the stress. She has been a professional golfer for three months and already is worth more than some men who have been playing longer than she has been alive, with endorsement deals that could reach $10 million and more than $1 million for an appearance fee to play overseas...

NEW YORK -- After falling short a dozen times, Bruce Sutter was relieved. He became only the fourth reliever given baseball's highest honor, gaining election to the Hall of Fame on Tuesday. "When the phone call came and the caller ID said 'New York,' I thought, oh, maybe this is it," he said...

NORMAN, Okla. -- Missouri's Marshall Brown knew the strengths of Oklahoma's frontcourt tandem of Taj Gray and Kevin Bookout and used them against the Sooners. Brown scored a career-high 21 points, including the two free throws with 1.8 seconds left that lifted Missouri to its fifth straight victory, 71-69 over No. 22 Oklahoma on Tuesday night...

MOSUL, Iraq -- When Capt. Pat Flynn and his squad knock on doors in Mosul in search of intelligence tips, Iraqis often welcome them inside with candy and tea in tiny glasses. When he asks if they have been intimidated or threatened, they emphatically shake their heads "no."...

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran broke U.N. seals on its nuclear enrichment facility Tuesday, pledging only to conduct research, but the international nuclear watchdog said Tehran also planned small-scale enrichment of uranium -- a process that can produce fuel for nuclear weapons...

CONCORD, N.H. -- Some weeks, inspiration is hard to come by. Others, there's just no time for it. The logistics of producing this column have changed dramatically since the birth of my son 15 months ago. The hours I once could dedicate to reading dozens of cookbooks in search of just the right recipe have become crowded with dirty diapers...

HELENA, Mont. -- It took just two words to land Polish immigrant Ben Kahn in prison for nearly three years during World War I. The 38-year-old traveling liquor salesman called wartime food regulations in the United States a "big joke" while talking with a Montana hotel owner as he waited for breakfast in March 1918...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Apple Computer Inc.'s shift to Intel Corp. microprocessors came months earlier than expected Tuesday as CEO Steve Jobs unveiled desktop and notebook computers based on new two-brained chips. The first Macs to deploy Intel's Core Duo processors will be the latest iMac desktop, whose circuitry is all built into the display, and the MacBook Pro laptop...

TALLMANSVILLE, W.Va. -- Investigations were called into both the Sago Mine disaster and overall national mining safety as the state prepared to say farewell to the last two victims of West Virginia's worst coal-mining accident in more than 35 years...

Interior Department to close map agency in Rolla WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Interior Department said Tuesday it is going ahead with plans to move its federal mapping agency office out of Rolla, Mo., after an internal review found the decision-making process was fair. ...

Evelyn Ludwig Sohn, 93, of Jackson died Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2006, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Aug. 16, 1912, in Cape Girardeau County, daughter of John F. and Carrie Hoffman Schweer. She first married Henry Ludwig Nov. 23, 1930. He died Jan. 25, 1968. She and Russell Sohn were married June 30, 1973. He died Jan. 26, 1980...

Construction is about to begin on a new corn-milling operation at the Southeast Missouri Port Authority. The $5 million, four-story plant owned by SEMO Milling will produce food-grade corn products. This will be the first food-producing facility and the eighth business to locate at the port...

Hockey; Tennis

25 years ago: Jan. 11, 1981 The building which housed Delta Plastics Inc., on U.S. 61, about three miles north of Scott City, was destroyed yesterday morning, when a fire of unknown origin swept through its interior. While the Mississippi River between St. ...

Lamplighters FCE; Xi Nu Phi

To the editor: I read with interest and a great sense of dread the article in the Jan. 3 edition, "Last year's Medicaid cutbacks reviewed." The observation by House Speaker Rod Jetton, R-Marble Hill, that "you don't always know the consequences of any bill you pass until it actually goes into place" quite frankly scares me to death that there are actually politicians making and passing laws that the rest of us are paying for dearly and that the politicians have no idea of the reality they force the rest of us to live in.. ...

PULASKI, Ill. -- Dorthy Virginia Troester Palmer, 80, of Pulaski died at 12:10 p.m. Monday, Jan. 9, 2006, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. Mrs. Palmer was born Aug. 4, 1925, at Pulaski, daughter of Lindsey and Nannie Thurston Troester. Mrs. Palmer was a lifelong resident of Pulaski. She was a member of Pulaski Christian Church, where she served as a deaconess and a member of the Ladies Aid, and was an original member of the church's quartet...

To the editor: Thanks to Gov. Matt Blunt, we are turning the corner on a brighter day for Missouri's colleges and universities. Last year, even though welfare and other social programs were cut back because of a tight budget, Blunt maintained the same amount of spending for higher education. ...

To the editor: I would like to give a big "hats off" to officer Jeffrey Nichols, officer Shaun Smelser and Dan with loss prevention at Target. My car was broken into, and packages I planned on returning the following day were stolen along with receipts. The next morning I contacted the police station. I told officer Nichols I had thought about contacting the stores involved and giving them a heads-up. Everyone at Target, Famous Barr, J.C. Penney and Trade Secrets was helpful and kind...

Thanks for substation; No detours, please; Lacking participation; Water Street issues; Tasteless coverage

Mays; Eggemeyer; Horrell; Davis

Ann F. Tuthill Wiethop, 81, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Jan. 8, 2006, at her home. She was born Dec. 25, 1924, in Nashville, Tenn., daughter of L.B. and Flossie Melton Tuthill. She and Carroll Wiethop were married July 24, 1943, in St. Louis. Mrs. ...

NEW ORLEANS -- This city is dreaming big as it puts together a blueprint for its rebirth in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, considering such audacious ideas as re-creating a long-gone jazz district, building a network of bike paths and commuter rail lines, and establishing a top-flight school system...

Woman and caretaker die in apparent suicide pact SAN FRANCISCO -- A 106-year-old widow and her 30-year-old caretaker died together in an apparent suicide pact at the home they shared, police said. The bodies of Helen Godet and her friend and caretaker of nine years, David Lund, were found Friday along with suicide notes indicating that Lund strangled the woman after she decided she could not take her own life, Inspector Dennis Maffei said Tuesday. ...

Cape Girardeau...

Cape Girardeau...

IRS freezes some refunds without telling taxpayers WASHINGTON -- The Internal Revenue Service freezes tens of thousands of tax refunds it deems questionable without telling people that they're suspected of fraud, the nation's taxpayer advocate said Tuesday. ...

Doctors say Ariel Sharon out of immediate danger JERUSALEM -- Doctors reported progress Tuesday by Ariel Sharon, saying the Israeli leader moved his left hand and appeared to respond to his sons' voices in new signs of recovery from a massive stroke. But while doctors said Sharon was no longer in immediate danger, they cautioned it would be days before they could determine the full extent of the damage he suffered from a brain hemorrhage and whether he has lost his ability to think and reason...

LONDON -- A judge on Tuesday ordered two British men to stand trial on charges of leaking a government memo in which President Bush reportedly suggested to British Prime Minister Tony Blair bombing the headquarters of the Arab satellite news channel Al-Jazeera...

STILLWATER, Okla. -- Oil magnate Boone Pickens likes to win. And with the largest donation to an athletic program in NCAA history, Pickens hopes his alma mater will be able to compete with any school in the country. Pickens announced Tuesday he has donated $165 million to Oklahoma State to help create an athletic village north of the football stadium that already bears the name of the 77-year-old Texas oil tycoon. ...

Some people might argue, but Murray State vs. Austin Peay is generally regarded as the Ohio Valley Conference's most heated men's basketball rivalry. According to a column in Monday's edition of the Leaf-Chronicle newspaper in Clarksville, Tenn., the rivalry features "two teams that don't care much for each other, not to mention the fans."...

Officials at Jackson High School say there has been no change in the policy toward student behavior at basketball, just a clarification that falls in line with Missouri State High School Activities Association rules. "They can sit together, cheer together and holler together," Jackson athletic director Kevin Bohnert said, "but we want to make sure that kids are coming to the games to cheer for our kids and support our teams, and just not singling out any particular player from the other team...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Senators proposed Tuesday to repeal a new law that could allow natural gas companies to raise their rates to offset revenue losses resulting from conservation-conscious consumers. The provision was part of wide-ranging utility legislation that received lopsided approval last year and was signed into law by Gov. Matt Blunt...

The Kelly boys basketball team beat Scott County Central for the second time in three meetings this season, posting a 77-70 victory at home Tuesday night. Kelly (9-5) snapped a losing streak of two three-point decisions. Brandon Ayers led the Hawks with 20 points, while Spencer Ayers added 18 and Jacob Glastetter scored 10...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Some Democrats want the legislature -- not the executive branch -- to decide whether to give the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals tax breaks to help renovate Arrowhead and Kauffman stadiums. Rep. Wes Shoemyer said Tuesday that using state funds for a private stadium is controversial and deserves attention from the legislature...

Another new cookbook has crossed my path. At a progressive dinner recently someone mentioned to me the new cookbook put out by New McKendree United Methodist Church in Jackson. The "Celebration Cookbook" is a unique and nice variety of over 400 recipes with an attractive cover featuring their older facility and now their newer facility on Highway 25...

One of my favorite things to do on a cold and blustery winter Sunday afternoon is to light a fire in the fireplace, make a nest in my lounge chair, turn off the radio and TV, and look through the most current seed catalogs that have just come through the mail...

WASHINGTON -- Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito said Tuesday he would deal with the issue of abortion with an open mind as a justice, though he defended his 1991 judicial vote saying women seeking abortions must notify their husbands. In the second day of Senate hearings, Alito also said no president or court is above the law -- even in time of war -- as he addressed questions on presidential powers. ...

The perks of being a stand-in for "Killshot" stars Johnny Knoxville and Thomas Jane didn't include sitting inside a trailer while the rain poured Tuesday morning. Cape Girardeau residents Matthew Fry and Seth Hudson stood under umbrellas while crew members prepared the movie set at the Missouri Dry Dock. Knoxville and Jane were in the trailers...

A Jackson woman accused of threatening police officers with a knife and stun gun while undressing in front of them was charged in the incident. Tracy L. Mayfield, 37, of 611 W. Washington St. in Jackson, was charged with felony unlawful use of a weapon and possession of a controlled substance. She was also charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia, resisting arrest and property damage...