Stories from Friday, June 23, 2006

In a rare move, the state Board of Education voted Thursday to financially penalize the Bell City School District $13,000 for illegally counting some students as residents and subsequently drawing more state aid. The school district wrongly counted 10 students who actually were residents of a neighboring district, a state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education investigation found. ...

A summer storm pelted the Chautauqua tent behind the Osage Community Centre in Cape Girardeau Thursday night. But the real storm was inside. Dressed in a black hat and dress, performer Glenna Wallace portrayed Mary Elizabeth Lease, who championed America's farmers in the 1890s...

Half of the proposed track swap between the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroads has been approved quietly, without the public outcry that has sprung up over the swap's potential impact on Southeast Missouri. BNSF filed a petition on April 14 to gain approval from the Surface Transportation Board -- the federal regulatory body that reviews railroad track acquisitions -- to acquire 30 miles of track in northeast Colorado...

NUREMBERG, Germany -- They were confident. They were hyped. They promised that the world's game had arrived in the United States -- and that the world best beware. Instead of building on their World Cup glory of 2002, much less matching it, the Americans crashed out in the first round just like in 1998, overmatched by superior opponents and their own expectations...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Top-seed Bryan North won his opening-round match in the 99th Missouri Amateur Golf Championship 3 and 2 over Joey Parr on Thursday, but the tournament's No. 2 seed didn't fare nearly as well. In the upset of the day, Jason Clamors, seeded 63rd in a field of 64, cruised past second-seed Jeff Zimmerman 7 and 6 at Blue Hills County Club...

CHICAGO -- The only hit rookie Anthony Reyes allowed Thursday night cleared the fence. On one swing of Jim Thome's bat, Reyes lost his no-hitter and the St. Louis Cardinals lost again to the Chicago White Sox, who rode the pitching of Freddy Garcia to a 1-0 victory...

CHICAGO -- Albert Pujols came off the disabled list Thursday and returned to the St. Louis Cardinals' lineup for their series finale against the Chicago White Sox. The 2005 NL MVP played first base and batted third. He lined out to left field in his first at-bat...

NEW YORK -- Chicago White Sox pitcher David Riske was suspended three games by the commissioner's office Thursday for intentionally throwing at St. Louis' Chris Duncan this week. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen also was suspended, for one game. He and Riske were each fined an undisclosed amount by Bob Watson, vice president of on-field operations for Major League Baseball...

OMAHA, Neb. -- Jonah Nickerson pitched 7 2-3 shutout innings in his second outstanding start in four days, leading Oregon State to a 2-0 victory over Rice on Thursday night and into the championship round of the College World Series. Oregon State (48-15), which advanced from the losers' bracket after falling to Miami on the tournament's first day, will take on North Carolina (53-13) in a best-of-three series starting Saturday night...

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Joe Thornton edged out Jaromir Jagr again. Thornton, who beat out Jagr for the scoring title by two points, took the Hart Trophy as the NHL's MVP on Thursday with Jagr again relegated to runner-up. "I was a big hockey fan so I would always watch these awards and Wayne [Gretzky] would always take it home and obviously Mario [Lemieux] and Mark [Messier] as well," Thornton said after accepting the award from Messier at the league's annual award ceremony. ...

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Three cities -- two from Europe and one from Asia -- made the cut Thursday as the IOC trimmed the field for the 2014 Winter Olympics. Salzburg, Austria; Pyeongchang, South Korea; and Sochi, Russia; were selected as finalists by the International Olympic Committee's executive board...

U.S. gets access to bank records in terror fight WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government gained sweeping access to international banking records as part of a secret program to choke off financial support for terrorism, officials said Thursday. Treasury Department officials said they used broad subpoenas to collect the financial records from an international system known as Swift. ...

WASHINGTON -- Just hours after the Senate rejected U.S. troop withdrawals, a Democratic challenger to Sen. Mike DeWine charged that the Republican "failed Ohio's military families today by voting for more of the same in Iraq." Acting equally swiftly, the GOP's Senate campaign committee criticized Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey as an "ultra-liberal" who cast a "vote to surrender in Iraq."...

Scott City's 2006-2007 budget reflects little change from last year and provides some room for stashing money into emergency reserves. The city council passed the budget -- including $2,224,821 in expenditures and $2,385,585 in revenue -- Monday night...

NEW YORK -- The New York Knicks put Larry Brown out of his coaching misery Thursday, ending weeks of uncertainty by firing the Hall of Fame coach with four years and a reported $40 million left on his contract. President and general manager Isiah Thomas will replace Brown as coach...

'Click'; Starring Adam Sandler, Kate Beckinsale and Christopher Walken. A workaholic architect is faced with a dilemma: go on a vacation with his wife and kids or work overtime to land a high-profile design job. Saving him from making this choice is an eccentric Bed, Bath & Beyond product developer, who gives him a universal remote that allows him to rewind, fast-forward, slow down and pause his own life. Rated PG-13 for language, crude and sex-related humor and some drug references, running time 98 minutes. (Town Plaza Cinema); 'Waist Deep'; Starring Tyrese Gibson, The Game, Larenz Tate and Meagan Good. Ex-con O2 is trying to go straight for the sake of his young son Junior, but he's forced to go back outside the law when the boy is kidnapped in a carjacking. Junior is taken to a vicious criminal leader, Meat. O2's shady cousin Wanna Be and street-smart hustler Coco must decide if they want to help O2 get his son back. Rated R for strong violence and pervasive language, running time 97 minutes. (Cape West Cine); Opening Tuesday; 'Superman Returns'; Starring Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey, James Marsden and Parker Posey. After a mysterious absence, Superman returns to Earth only to find that his beloved Lois Lane has moved on with her life. Meanwhile, the Man of Steel's nemesis, Lex Luthor, is ready to hatch a plot that will render Superman powerless forever. Rated PG-13 for some intense action violence, running time 154 minutes. (Cape West Cine) ; STILL PLAYING; 'The Break Up'; Starring Jennifer Aniston, Vince Vaughn and Joey Lauren Adams. After their latest squabble, art dealer Brooke decides to break up with her boyfriend, Gary, who conducts bus tours of Chicago. But breaking up and moving out is hard to do, especially when the former couple's friends, family and even complete strangers offer their advice on how to deal with the situation. Rated PG-13 for sexual content, some nudity and language, running time 107 minutes. (Town Plaza Cinema) ; 'Cars'; Starring the voices of Paul Newman, Owen Wilson, Bonnie Hunt and Michael Keaton. Lightning McQueen, a hotshot rookie race car, embarks on a trip down Route 66, headed to California and the big Piston Cup Championship race. Along the way, he meets Sally, a snazzy 2002 Porsche, Doc Hudson, a 1951 Hudson Hornet and Mater, a rusty tow truck. Together they help Lightning realize there's more to life than first place. Rated G, running time 122 minutes. (Cape West Cine) ; 'The Da Vinci Code'; Starring Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou and Ian McKellen. In Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to the Louvre -- a museum employee has been murdered. Near his body is a strange cipher. To solve the riddle, Langdon joins with the victim's daughter, French cryptologist Sophie Neveu, and learns of a centuries-old conspiracy surrounding the Priory of Sion, a secret society dating back to the days of Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli and Leonardo Da Vinci. Rated PG-13 for disturbing images, violence, some nudity, thematic material, brief drug references and sexual content, running time 149 minutes. (Cape West Cine); 'Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift'; Starring Lucas Black and Sung Kang. Street racer Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) is sent to live with his estranged father, a military officer stationed in Tokyo. Sean doesn't exactly fit in, until an American buddy, Twinkie, introduces him to the underground world of drift racing. In his first race, Sean unknowingly takes on the Drift King, a local champ with ties to the Yakuza, Japan's organized crime ring. Rated Rated PG-13 for reckless and illegal behavior involving teens, violence, language and sexual content, running time 104 minutes. (Cape West Cine) ; 'Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties'; Starring Breckin Meyer, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Bill Murray. Garfield follows his owner, Jon, to England, where he's mistaken for a lookalike regal cat who has inherited a castle. Garfield loves the royal treatment afforded by his loyal subjects, but when the evil Lord Dargis learns of the deception, he sets out to expose the furry impostor and turn the castle into a tourist resort. Rated PG for some off-color elements, running time 80 minutes. (Cape West Cine); 'The Lake House'; Starring Sandra Bullock, Keanu Reeves and Shohreh Aghdashloo. A lonely doctor and a frustrated architect begin exchanging love letters only to discover they are living two years apart. Rated Rated PG for some language and a disturbing image, running time 99 minutes. (Cape West Cine) behavior involving teens, violence, language and sexual content, running time 104 minutes. (Cape West Cine); 'Mission Impossible III'; Starring Tom Cruise, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Michelle Monaghan. Retired from active duty, former spy Ethan Hunt now spends his time training IMF agents. But when a lunatic arms dealer threatens the life of Hunt's girlfriend, the superspy gathers his crew to bring her back to safety. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of frenetic violence & menace, disturbing images & some sensuality, running time 126 minutes. (Cape West Cine); 'Nacho Libre'; Starring Jack Black, Hector Jimenez and Ana de la Reguera. Ignacio (friends call him Nacho) is a Mexican priest who moonlights as a lucha libre wrestler to raise money for his orphanage. Rated PG for some rough action, and crude humor including dialogue, running time 104 minutes. (Town Plaza Cinema); 'The Omen'; Starring Liev Schreiber, Julia Stiles, Josh Hutcherson and Mia Farrow. A government official and his wife gradually come to think that their son, Damien, might be the physical embodiment of Satan. Rated R for disturbing violent content, graphic images and some language, running time 105 minutes. (Cape West Cine); 'Over the Hedge'; Starring the voices of Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling and Steve Carell. Verne and his woodland friends discover that a tall green thing has appeared in the middle of their neighborhood -- it's a hedge. RJ, a devious raccoon, explains that beyond the hedge are creatures called humans, and the food they throw away is delicious. Verne doesn't want to go, but RJ convinces everyone that there's no choice. Will the gang of critters venture into suburbia to see what's in store? Rated PG for some rude humor and mild comic action, running time 96 minutes. (Cape West Cine) ; 'RV'; Starring Robin Williams, Cheryl Hines, JoJo and Jeff Daniels. An overworked executive, Bob, persuades his wife and children to give up their Hawaiian vacation for a cross-country RV trip, including a detour in the Rocky Mountains. But the real reason for Bob's change of plans: saving his career. But when he has a run-in with a crew of full-time motorhome weirdos, Bob learns to appreciate his family. Rated PG crude humor, innuendo and language, running time 100 minutes. (Cape West Cine); 'X-Men: The Last Stand'; Starring Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Halle Berry and Anna Paquin. A "cure" for the mutant X gene has been discovered, which threatens the very existence of mutants like Magneto and Professor Xavier. The two leaders have opposing viewpoints on the situation: Magneto insists on a violent revolution to stop humans from exterminating their kind, while Xavier prefers tolerance and working with the government on a compromise. But the balance is shifted by the shocking return of Dr. Jean Grey, who appeared to die in a great flood at the end of X2: X-Men United. Now she's more powerful than ever as Dark Phoenix, and if Wolverine can't persuade her not to join Magneto's crew, a war could be at hand. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action violence, some sexual content and language, running time 104 minutes. (Town Plaza Cinema)

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. -- U.S. military police in training to run detention centers in places like Iraq and Afghanistan have to learn how to handle combative inmates, for their own good and for the good of the country. At the U.S. Army's first mock detention center, which opened for training in May, Sgt. ...

BAGHRAN VALLEY, Afghanistan -- By night, the troops brace for Taliban mortar attacks. By day, they carry heavy gear and weapons over rocky ledges in scorching heat, stopping only to rehydrate, sometimes with the help of intravenous drips. Life with the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment in southern Afghanistan is a battle not only against a stealthy and stubborn enemy but against some of the earth's harshest natural elements...

MIAMI -- Seven people were arrested Thursday in connection with the early stages of a plot to attack Chicago's Sears Tower and other buildings in the United States, including the FBI office here, a federal law enforcement official said. As part of the raids related to the arrests, FBI agents swarmed a warehouse in Miami's Liberty City area, using a blowtorch to take off a metal door. ...

The Cape Girardeau Ford & Sons American Legion baseball team scored eight runs in the second inning on its way to a 9-2 opening-round win over Manchester, Mo., on Thursday in the Paducah, Ky., tournament. After Manchester retired Cape's first two batters of the second inning, Ford & Sons exploded for eight runs off six hits...

Positive strides in revising the county's paving program were made in a public hearing held this week. The hearing was held to discuss the proposed half-cent sales-tax increase on the Aug. 8 ballot in Cape Girardeau County. The sales tax would pay for an expanded program of road paving in the county and would increase salaries and personnel in the sheriff's department...

To the editor: I am writing in response to a political cartoon printed June 15 in the Opinion section. It depicts a newspaper reader inside a house with a headline stating, "MDC Says No Bears in Missouri," while outside a woman is being chased by a bear. I want to point out that the Missouri Department of Conservation is well aware of the presence of black bears in Missouri and makes efforts to educate people about bears. MDC has not denied the presence of bears in Missouri...

To the editor: A caller to Speak Out suggested backers of the Missouri stem-cell initiative seek to clone designer babies, relegate women to fertility factories and rake in fortunes as a result of this research. The master propagandist Joseph Goebbels once said, "If you tell a lie, tell a big one. Never change it. If you tell it often enough and loud enough, it becomes accepted as truth, and you no longer have to tell it. The masses will believe and tell it for you."...

Christian employers; Bless you ; Makes you wonder ; The willies ; Eating to survive; Running the district; Speeders on 74; Ready, Lord; Shifting the blame; The perfect thing; No humor; Bush fan; Do the right thing

THEBES, Ill. -- James Chester Elliott, 58, of Thebes died Monday, June 19, 2006, at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Marion, Ill. He was born Sept. 28,1947, in Cairo, Ill., son of James Chester and Mary Alberta Sands Elliott Sr. He married Paula Wolford...

25 years ago: June 23,1981 Despite a predicted drop in enrollment for this fall, Southeast Missouri State University might top last year's record enrollment of 9,135, based on the number of applications from potential freshmen; according to the school's admissions director, the pace of admissions this year would be even further head of last year if there weren't so much uncertainty over the status of federal grants and loans...

BENTON, Mo. -- Suzi Glaus, 61, of Benton died Thursday, June 21, 2006, at Ratliff Care Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 21, 1945, at Oran, Mo., daughter of Arthur "Mack" and Mary Faye Dennis Eachus. She and Larry Glaus were married Jan. 27, 1968, at Benton. He died Nov. 18, 2005...

Cassie Dollie Hale, 89, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, June 22, 2006, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born May 12, 1917, at Morley, Mo., daughter of Grant and Nettie Riley Andrews. She and Herbert "Shaw" Hale were married Feb. 5, 1935. He died April 24, 2005...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Gary Walston, 64, of Reddington Beach, Fla., died Tuesday, June 20, 2006, at his home. He was the son of Kathryn Burris Gundersen and Malcolm "Slick" Walston. He and Nancy McCowan were married in 1960. He and Linda Anderson were married in 1996...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Elaine Mead, 68, of Dongola died Wednesday, June 21, 2006, at her home. She was born July 31, 1937, in Dongola, daughter of Lewis and Alva Miller Dillow. She and Edward Hill were married in March 1956. He died Nov. 11, 1960. She and Charles "Chuck" Mead were married May 17, 1963. He died May 29, 1987...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Alvin M. Frank, 84, of Chaffee died Wednesday, June 21, 2006, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Feb. 18, 1922, at Dutchtown, son of Henry Philip John and Manda Rosine Anna Springer Frank. He and Adella Catherine Kirchdoerfer were married Jan. 21, 1950...

Last year was a watershed year for Tunes at Twilight. The summer-long concert series broke attendance records for both a single concert and the entire series in its fifth year last summer. The first half of the series wraps up tonight before a nearly two-month break with Nashville singer/songwriter Dana Cooper...

The following information was released by the office of U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway for defendants in who appeared in federal court Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel. PLEADED GUILTY Names: Bryon A. Mann, John Allen Mann and Charles F. Wallace...

Malden to hold Fourth of July pageants Saturday MALDEN, Mo. -- Entries are being accepted for Malden's Fourth of July pageants held Saturday at the Malden Community Center. The first four divisions, Baby Miss, Toddler Miss, Tiny Miss and Little Miss, will compete at 2 p.m. ...

A call for a discussion of dust control on county roads brought 10 people to the Cape Girardeau County Commission Thursday, some almost begging for help. "I have lived out there for 27 years eating dust," said Connie Seabaugh, who lives along County Road 316 south of Jackson. "I am sick of it."...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A former supervisor for a trash-collection company was charged Thursday in a 13th killing. Lorenzo J. Gilyard, 55, was charged with first-degree murder for the death of Helga Kruger, an Austrian national who was killed in February 1989...

To the editor: I read in Sunday's paper a comment about Cairo, Ill., operating "successfully without government." This person has not observed well because government is being carried out unilaterally, if not successfully, every day under the dictatorship of the current mayor...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A lawsuit over last year's Medicaid cuts gained new life Thursday as a federal appeals court suggested it was unreasonable of Missouri to deny coverage of certain medical equipment to most low-income adults. A panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the denial of a preliminary injunction last September by a trial judge and instead directed him to reconsider the case...

Cape Girardeau...

Cape Girardeau...

ST. LOUIS -- A local Cape Girardeau independent film crew took home two awards Thursday for making a film in 48 hours. The crew's seven-minute movie, "A Dirty Job," was a comedy revolving around the life of a bank manager who takes his job title literally and picks up trash on the bank of the Mississippi River...

LOS ANGELES -- "Deadwood." "Into the West." "Brokeback Mountain." Don't tell Robert Duvall the Western is dead. "People are always saying that, but they're always makin' em as they're saying those words," says the iconic Academy Award-winning actor who stars in as well as executive produces the two-part Western adventure "Broken Trail," premieringat 7 p.m. Sunday on AMC...

Attorney General Jay Nixon's acceptance of campaign donations from the Ameren Corp., a target of litigation in the Taum Sauk reservoir breach, would get any other lawyer disbarred, Department of Natural Resources director Doyle Chilers said Thursday in Cape Girardeau...

Playing its first game in a week, the Cape Senior Babe Ruth baseball team came out swinging Thursday night at Capaha Park, scoring three runs in the first inning and adding five more in the fifth en route to an 11-3 victory over the visiting Portageville Americans...

When Kohl's manager Rodney Hall first heard that Cape Girardeau was opting out of the sales-tax holiday last month, he admits he was a little disappointed. "A little bit, I was," Hall said. "I knew they had their reasons for doing that, but it was such a great day for us last year, I'd hate to lose those sales."...

The first annual Downtown Golf Tournament is set to kick off at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, and more than 70 golfers have signed up to play. "There's a lot of excitement. People have been asking me about it everywhere. They're kind of curious whether it's for real or not," said co-organizer Charlie Herbst. "I think quite a few people will show up just to watch even if they didn't sign up to play."...

Ben Curtis shot a career-best 9-under-par 62 Thursday at the Booz Allen Classic, topping a lackluster field in the first round of an anticlimactic tournament following the U.S. Open. The 2003 British Open champion took advantage of the impeccable conditions at TPC at Avenel in Potomac, Md., that looked especially inviting after last week's brutal challenge at Winged Foot...

Three stars (out of four) Jack Black will charm you with his audacity in "Nacho Libre." Even while you laugh at his adolescent antics, including farting at inappropriate times, squeezing his buttocks to show off for the pretty nun and laying a trap for his skeletal sidekick with stale chips, you develop a soft spot for this poor loser...

HOUSTON -- Roger Clemens was upstaged by a rookie almost half his age. Francisco Liriano, Minnesota's 22-year-old phenom, pitched seven scoreless innings to lead the Twins to a 4-2 win over the Houston Astros on Thursday night in Clemens' much-anticipated debut...

When is a station wagon not called a station wagon? When it's a Saab 9-3 SportCombi. For 2006, Saab expanded its car line of 9-3 sedans and 9-3 convertibles by adding a wagon. But it's not officially called a 9-3 wagon. In a nod to former Saab nomenclature that used "combi" to denote versatility and utility in Saab hatchbacks, the new 9-3 wagon debuted as a stylish, five-door model whose name conveys sportiness and utility...

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- Justin Knox probably spent the last few minutes of his life struggling to breathe. The fentanyl pain patch he chewed up March 11 released three days' worth of pain medication into his body in a matter of hours. The fentanyl -- 80 times more powerful than morphine -- shut down the 22-year-old Farmington man's respiratory system...

Jordan Leiner is quick to shy away from the title "frontman" in the new incarnation of The Melroys. Since the band's founder, songwriter, original frontman and Jordan's father, Randy Leiner, died in February 2005, the young Leiner has stepped into the spot to carry on the Melroys in his absence...

When the high school softball season begins in August, Notre Dame head coach Jeff Graviett will once again assume his position in the third base coaching box as he has the past three seasons. Graviett may also be a little more aware of every batted ball and every throw toward third...

Dear Tom and Ray: Today I was involved in an accident. I was happily cruising along at the speed limit (35 mph), in the right lane, when someone came up behind me. He was clearly upset that I was doing just the speed limit, and he could not stand being unable to get around me because of a line of cars in the other lane. ...

Lorimier officiates weddings at Red House; CSPAN2 book bus coming to library July 6; Local band Inkognito calls it quits after 8 years; Grateful Dead guitarist's band comes to St. Louis; Cave Vineyard to hold Mushroom Festival July 8; Southern Illinois featured on PBS show; Elton John and Tim Rice's 'Aida' comes to Muny; Symphony Orchestra members perform at art museum

METROPOLIS, Ill. -- At one end of the street, a 6-foot-6 guy named Lars is waving a hammer and pretending to be the Norse god of thunder. Nearby, a reporter for the French equivalent of Time magazine is interviewing a paunchy engineer wearing a cape. And somewhere amid all the chaos, the son of an Oscar-winning actress is preparing to get married in a Superman costume...