Stories from Thursday, June 15, 2006

The Vision House had been in full operation for more than two months when Theresa Taylor began writing her grant. During the first few weeks of operation, it was a rare and cherished moment when Theresa got to spend quiet time by herself. Such was the case on a beautiful May day at her house on Route V, but this wasn't the type of quiet time Theresa craved...

Before sunrise Wednesday, downtown Cape Girardeau resembled a street party as hundreds of people flocked to the riverfront for a chance to appear on national television. Weatherman Dave Price of CBS' "The Early Show" broadcast the nation's forecast live from Cape Girardeau. He was surrounded by people -- some had been at the riverfront since 2 a.m., and some had traveled for more than two hours -- holding up signs and banners...

June 15, 2006 Dear Dad, Fathers and sons have a hard time telling each other how they feel about each other, and I'm not going to embarrass either of us by trying to achieve that breakthrough. Men know what women maybe don't know, that those feelings are transmitted through the eyes, through a pat on the shoulder, by telling each other stories, by playing a game of golf together or hunting together, by helping each other...

Three Rivers Community College profited from its past partnership at three Bootheel education centers while Southeast Missouri State University lost money, financial data submitted to the Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education shows. Southeast reported that it lost more than $1.1 million in the operation of its three Bootheel centers in fiscal 2005. Three Rivers reported that it made more than $342,000 during the same period from teaching classes at Southeast's centers...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- In a county with two boundaries formed by rivers, flooding is one of the rhythms of life. Levees provide a measure of security but aren't 100 percent reliable. Flood insurance is another form of security. Where the Mississippi and Ohio rivers meet, however, many people can't buy it no matter how much they are willing to pay...

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Edmonton Oilers beat three higher-seeded teams to reach the Stanley Cup finals. They weren't going out that easy. Fernando Pisani stunned Carolina with a short-handed goal in overtime, giving the Oilers a 4-3 victory in Game 5 on Wednesday night and sending the series back to Alberta...

PITTSBURGH -- Freddy Sanchez jokes that Pirates teammate Zach Duke has a pretty swing for a pitcher, but rarely does much with it. On a night Duke didn't pitch nearly as well as usual, that bat certainly came in handy. Jose Castillo homered and drove in four runs, and Duke was more effective at the plate than on the mound with three RBIs to lead the Pirates past the St. Louis Cardinals, 9-7 Wednesday night...

Scott County Central superintendent Dr. Joby Holland and boys basketball coach David Heeb had mixed feelings about the action taken by the Missouri State High School Activities Association's board of directors on Wednesday. The board voted unanimously at its regularly scheduled meeting "to uphold its previous opinions and actions" on a suspension for Heeb and probation for Scott County Central...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Mary M. Hahn, 91, of Chaffee died Wednesday, June 14, 2006, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 6, 1914, at Whitewater, daughter of George Burrette and Annie Margarete McCormick Kinder. She and Leroy "Jack" Hahn were married March 25, 1933. He died April 24, 1979...

If people seemed to be prowling through wooded areas around Cape Rock Drive and spending more time than usual communing with nature in Kiwanis Park, that's because they were hunting for gold. A golden golf ball to be exact. The contest, sponsored by Arena Golf and offering a free set of golf clubs and a golf bag, ended Wednesday, but not before it brought out the treasure hunter in a lot of people...

Chester Grover Matthews, 78, of Cape Girardeau passed away about noon Tuesday, June 13, 2006, at Saint Francis Medical Center, after a lengthy illness. He was born Aug. 30, 1927, in Glenallen, Mo., son of the late Chester R. and Florence E. Hargiss Matthews. He married Dora Olive Slinkard May 1, 1948. She preceded him in death Sept. 23, 1988. He married Dorothy J. Latham Gilbert Dec. 28, 1991...

From staff and wire reports U.S. hospitals have saved an estimated 122,300 lives in the last 18 months through a massive campaign to reduce lethal errors, the leader of the national effort said Wednesday. "I think this campaign signals no less than a new standard of health care in America," said Dr. Donald Berwick, a Harvard professor who organized the campaign...

Paul R. "Bobby" Criddle, 72, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, June 14, 2006, at Ratliff Care Center. He was born Oct. 27, 1933, in Cape Girardeau, son of James and Mabel Irene Kester Criddle. Mr. Criddle formerly worked at Florsheim Shoe Co., before working at the Southeast Missourian newspaper. He then worked at Blair Industries, retiring in 1996 after many years of employment...

Disturbing statement; Ordained 25 years; Statistical question; Summer's here; Timing the lights; Sign priorities; Pave Old Orchard; For the sales tax; Theories of violence; Sign disparity; No political signs; Trashy signs; Like Truman; Remove the signs; Political signs; Carter comparison; Drug perks

A car fire in Cape Girardeau Wednesday morning may have been intentionally set. When officers arrived at 519 N. Middle St. around 2:30 a.m., a blue Pontiac was on fire, police spokesman Jason Selzer said. According to witnesses, the vehicle's owner and a neighbor had been involved in an ongoing dispute, Selzer said. No arrests had been made, but investigators were looking into the suspicious origin of the blaze. "Obviously, cars don't just burst into flames," Selzer said...

A convicted knife-wielding, want-to-be robber was sentenced this week to eight years in prison for an attempted Cape Girardeau theft. Hearing the case on a change of venue, Circuit Judge Fred W. Copeland handed down the sentence Tuesday to Charles W. ...

BENTON, Mo. -- A man accused of robbing a Scott County gas station waived his preliminary hearing Wednesday and was bound over to circuit court. Robert L. Bom, 44, of rural Benton was charged with first-degree robbery for the April 26 heist of Express Fuel, on Highway 77 near Benton. ...

For the second time in two months, the Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning Commission will recommend against allowing the construction of a convenience store and filling station at the corner of Lexington Avenue and Perryville Road. In a split 5-5 vote, commissioners decided the neighborhood was residential and should stay that way. A split vote amounts to a rejection...

ORAN, Mo. -- After nearly 21 years of not participating in the National Flood Insurance Program, Oran city leaders are considering getting the town back in the program. Oran's participation in the program was suspended Sept. 18, 1985, when the city failed to adopt a flood-plain management ordinance...

WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday demanding more information about a Defense Department database that collected information on anti-war groups and U.S. citizens. The lawsuit asks that the Defense Department turn over records it collected in its TALON database, a system developed by the Air Force after Sept. 11, 2001, as a way to collect information about possible terrorist threats...

MIAMI -- Favoring a stiff left knee, Dwyane Wade hobbled to the yellow maintenance cart and slipped onto its flatbed. He propped himself up against the front seat and settled back for the short ride to the Heat's locker room. "Can I drive?" Wade asked. "I always wanted to drive one of these things."...

ST. LOUIS -- Rick Ankiel's comeback has taken another turn for the worse. The pitcher-turned-outfielder will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his left knee. Ankiel had the surgery May 26 in California. He injured the patellar tendon on Feb. 27 in Jupiter, Fla., during spring training and never played a spring or regular-season game...

The Chinese want boys, and the Canadians want girls. If they have enough money, they come to the United States to choose the sex of their babies. Well-off foreign couples are getting around laws banning sex selection in their home countries by coming to America -- where it's legal -- for medical procedures that can give them the boy, or girl, they want...

NEW YORK -- A homeless man was arrested Wednesday in the stabbing of four people, including three tourists, who were attacked in a 12-hour span in Manhattan. Police said they were questioning the 21-year-old man but did not have a motive. Two of the four victims were stabbed near a Times Square hotel, and the others were attacked inside the subway system. Two were from Canada and one was from Texas. All four were hospitalized, but police said they were expected to survive...

One of Missouri's most memorable baseball seasons in recent history will be remembered for a remarkable postseason run that trumped a lackluster regular schedule. The Tigers were ranked 10th in the nation in the preseason, but stumbled to a 12-15 record in the Big 12. They won 10 of 12 heading into the Super Regional, a remarkable turnaround for a team that finished a so-so 35-28, but they put their game together at the right time and finished only two victories shy of the College World Series...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Casey Mears was hired Wednesday to drive for Hendrick Motorsports, earning a seat with one of NASCAR's super-teams. The move had been widely expected since last week, when Mears informed car owner Chip Ganassi he would not be coming back in 2007 on the same day Brian Vickers asked to be released from his Hendrick contract...

The arrests earlier this month of 17 suspects with links to al-Qaida were surprising both because of the size of the group and where they were apprehended: in Canada, with whom the United States shares its longest and least protected common border. The arrests also raised several frightening prospects:...

WAPPAPELLO, Mo. -- Barton E. Umphenour, 78, of Wappapello died Saturday, June 10, 2006, at his home. He was born Dec. 4, 1927, in Danville, Ill., son of Carl and Martha Rehberg Umphenour. He and Helen Richardt were married Feb. 14, 1987, in Warrenton, Mo...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Paul G. Ruessler, 64, of Perryville died Tuesday, June 13, 2006, at Perry County Memorial Hospital. He was born June 17, 1941, in Perry County, son of Wilbur and Anna Mattingly Ruessler. He and Doris Clampitt were married Aug. 13, 1960...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Ruth M. Johnson, 85, of Cairo died Tuesday, June 13, 2006, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 17, 1920, in Cairo, daughter of Willie and Gladys Everett Goins. She married Walter F. Johnson, who died in 2000...

Daniels; Baker; Jones; Ford; Blyzes; Collier

25 years ago: June 15, 1981 The Government Accounting Office's recommendation that the air traffic control tower at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport be closed will be opposed by the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, but it won't be very vocal opposition; chamber president Robert B. Hendrix says the group is in a quandary over the matter, because it has voted to support President Reagan's budget cuts, and closing the tower would be one of those cuts...

The Plaza Tire Capahas managed just four hits in an 8-2 road loss to Fairview Heights on Wednesday. Fairview Heights pitcher Josh Meyle did not allow a hit until the seventh inning, when the Capahas (5-4) scored their only two runs. Fairview, which finished with 12 hits, grabbed a 3-0 lead after the first inning and lead 8-0 after six...

Jon Simpher pitched 7 2/3 innings, and last-minute insert Caleb Daughhetee went 5-for-5 as Scott County's American Legion team routed District 14 foe Jackson 13-3 on Wednesday at Jackson. Scott County improved to 2-1 in district play and bounced back from a loss to Dunklin County the previous night...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Leora M. Crader, 93, of Marble Hill died Tuesday, June 13, 2006, at Eldercare of Marble Hill. She was born Dec. 23, 1912, at Zalma, Mo., daughter of Charles F. and Cora E. Talley Back. She and Buford L. Crader were married April 1, 1929. He died Aug. 16, 1994...

Briefly Dr. Michael C. Wulfers of Cape Girardeau was elected vice president of the Missouri Academy of Family Physicians at its annual meeting in St. Louis June 2. Founded in 1947 the academy is a not-for-profit professional medical society of more than 1,700 physicians, residents and medical students across the state. It is dedicated to optimizing the health of patients, families and communities through patient care advocacy, education and research. It is based in Jefferson City...

They're baaa-aa-aack! Once thought to be eradicated, bed bugs are making a comeback -- by hopping onto the luggage of tourists and military personnel returning from overseas. They often crawl onto luggage in the baggage compartment of an airplane. You might pick them up in a hotel room or college dorm room. Another way to bring them in is through buying second-hand furniture...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Government forces fanned out across Baghdad on Wednesday, setting up checkpoints, frisking motorists and causing huge traffic jams on the first day of the largest security operation in Iraq's capital since Saddam Hussein's ouster three years ago...

A seven-year prison sentence was given Tuesday to an admitted Cape Girardeau arsonist. Anthony R. Williams, 20, of 902 Jefferson Ave., received the sentence from Circuit Judge David A. Dolan for first-degree arson in an Aug. 11 apartment building fire...

By Bonnie Stepenoff New Orleans still exists. Sometimes, in places far away from the city, you hear people say we should not rebuild it. There is a big problem with this statement: The city is there -- rebuilding itself. About 40 percent of its people left after the storm and have not yet returned, which means that 60 percent have already come back...

Cape Girardeau...

Cape Girardeau...

A recent celebration at the Cape River Heritage Museum honored the Cape Girardeau bicentennial, the museum's 25th anniversary, past board members and city officials. Special guest Jack Beahan III of Bonne Terre, Mo., impersonated Mark Twain. Museum director Marge Thompson impersonated Becky Thatcher...

An April shoot-out on a Cape Girardeau street may have been the result of "bad blood" due to court testimony, a witness testified Wednesday. During a preliminary hearing for Corey Shannon, 26, of Kansas City, Mo., Clemmie Lane, 34, testified he, his brother and cousin were walking to a home in the 1000 block of South Ellis Street on April 18 to confront another group about an earlier quarrel...

Eruption forces new evacuation at Mt. Merapi MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia -- Indonesia's most volatile volcano nearly enveloped a village with a searing gas cloud during an eruption Wednesday and forced thousands of residents to evacuate just a day after officials lowered the alert level and people returned. ...

MAMARONECK, N.Y. -- Phil Mickelson once took the day off before a major to attend the Buffalo Bills' training camp. Two years ago at the Ryder Cup, he spent his final day of practice on an adjacent course being used for overflow parking and corporate chalets...

West Park Lanes Men High games: Darryl James 290, Chuck Bertrand 286, Jeremy Henson 255, Codey Williams 247, James Smith 246, Keith Schuessler 246, Dennis Turner 242, Lamarr Cooper 236, Joe Seib 233, Michael McGuire 233, David Barberis 227, Don Dunn 227, Scott Varney 226, Matt Hard 225, James Harris 225...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Lillie Myrlee Stewart, 80, of Marble Hill died Tuesday, June 13, 2006, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born July 13, 1925, in Right, Tenn., daughter of Ezra and Lillie Asbell Bowen. She and William H. Stewart Sr. were married Dec. 15, 1944, in Blytheville, Ark...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missourians must show a government-issued photo ID to vote, starting with the November election under a bill Gov. Matt Blunt signed Wednesday. Republican supporters say the identification requirement is necessary to prevent fraud in elections and to give people confidence that legitimate votes aren't being watered down...

The Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department is planning its first ever casino trip to the Casino Queen in East St. Louis, Ill. The trip will cost $25 and includes a buffet lunch and one $5 coupon for the casino. The trip is scheduled for July 31 with departure from the Osage Community Centre at 9 a.m. The bus will return the same day at 6 p.m. The deadline to sign up is July 24. Those interested can call the Parks and Recreation Department at 335-5421 or Jason Karnes at 334-2031...

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- After splashing ashore in Florida without much punch, the remnants of Tropical Storm Alberto churned northward Wednesday, bringing much-needed rain to the Southeast but also spawning damaging tornadoes. By early Wednesday, Alberto had weakened from a tropical storm to a tropical depression over the Carolinas and all tropical storm warnings were discontinued...

Recently I was settling into the delicious dark of a movie theater when a cell phone rang and the owner didn't scramble to turn it off but instead, answered it and then proceeded to carry on a loud and inane conversation. Beware. I am about to let my inner Andy Rooney loose. ...

HAMBURG, Germany -- Bobby Convey came up with a rather stunning analysis of the United States' horrible opening World Cup loss to the Czech Republic: After four years of practices, scouting and skull sessions, U.S. players didn't know what they were supposed to do...

The Chaffee Senior Babe Ruth baseball team split a pair of run-filled games in a doubleheader at Charleston on Monday night. Chaffee won the opener 12-8 and lost the second game 12-11. Chris Hanback pitched four innings for the win in the opener, and added two hits...