Stories from Monday, June 26, 2006

With the Fourth of July just more than a week away, local police agencies are reminding residents what fireworks activities are allowed. Setting fireworks off in Cape Girardeau and Jackson is only allowed between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. Tuesday through July 3, with the time extended to midnight on July 4...

Golfers putted around pieces of history at the No. 6 hole inside the Convention and Visitors Bureau during Sunday's Downtown Golf Tournament. The hole was created by Tim Roth, set designer for the River City Players and husband of Betty Roth, who is an administrative assistant at the CVB...

Emergency officials blocked off a section of a Main Street sidewalk and part of the road Sunday afternoon in Cape Girardeau after a resident informed police an old building looked as if it may collapse. The vacant building at 36 N. Main St. has several bricks bulging from its left side, but officials don't expect it to collapse, said Fred Vincel, Cape Girardeau Fire Department's battalion chief. ...

Golf balls were flying through downtown Cape Girardeau on Sunday as more than 80 golfers participated in the first Louis J. Lorimier Memorial World-Famous Downtown Golf Tournament and All-You-Can-Eat Catfish Buffet. While the nine-hole course wasn't easy, organizers and participants agreed that the tournament was a success and an afternoon of fun...

Cape Girardeau plans to be one of the first cities to apply for status as a DREAM community. But for smaller towns, gaining access to the program may be more dream than reality for now. Gov. Matt Blunt unveiled the DREAM -- Downtown Revitalization Economic Assistance for Missouri -- Initiative Tuesday at several stops across the state, including Cape Girardeau. ...

Tyler Keys will travel to Orlando, Fla., at the end of July for a shot at his first national bowling title. But the 15-year-old Delta, Mo., resident is in no mood to wait that long. He's ready to get his roll on. "I'm pretty nervous," Keys admitted. "I'm ready to go now. I don't feel like waiting. This is the biggest event I've ever bowled in."...

Any day now. That's the time frame for the opening of Broadway Books & Roasting Co., the new downtown book store and gourmet coffee shop, according to one of the owners. "We're just going to open the door and not make an announcement," said Jo Ann Bohnert, who owns the business at 605 Broadway with Janet Woods. "We're just finishing up a few last-minute things."...

You can lead a horse buyer to water, but you can't make him drink. At the seventh Adopt-A-Wild Horse and Burro program, held Friday through Sunday, 70 horses and 11 burros were available for adoption, but only about 16 animals were adopted. The program, sponsored by the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management, was held at Flickerwood Arena in Jackson. The last time the event was held in 2004, almost all of the horses and burros were adopted...

Herkert enlists in the Missouri National Guard; Essmyer commissioned as second lieutenant

The seventh annual East Missouri Action Agency back-to-school fair will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. July 26 at Red Star Baptist Church, 1316 N. Main St., Cape Girardeau. Targeting economically disadvantaged Cape Girardeau County school-age children, attendees must verify they meet income guidelines. Pre-registration is required at East Missouri Action Agency, 1111 Linden, Cape Girardeau...

Ben Curtis will have to wait at least one more day to get his first victory since the 2003 British Open. Curtis was routing the field Sunday in the Booz Allen Classic, leading by eight strokes over Padraig Harrington with seven holes to go when play was suspended for the day because of approaching thunderstorms...

DETROIT -- This weekend, the Detroit Tigers drew more fans to Comerica Park for three consecutive games than they ever have in its seven-season history. Brandon Inge said the 125,417 people that crammed into every nook and cranny of the ballpark -- and those nonpaying customers perched on the parking garage beyond the left-field wall -- witnessed a transformation...

OMAHA, Neb. -- Bill Rowe's three-run homer capped Oregon State's seven-run fourth inning, and the Beavers forced a deciding game in the championship round of the College World Series with an 11-7 victory over North Carolina on Sunday night. Oregon State (49-16) and North Carolina (54-14) will play tonight, with the winner taking home its first national title in baseball...

A survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting ranked 144 cities around the world, measuring the comparative cost of more than 200 items such as housing, transportation and food. The 50 priciest cities in the world: 1. Moscow 2. Seoul 3. Tokyo 4. Hong Kong...

Khanthaly Keopraseut is courageous and determined. Since 2002, the 28-year-old mentally handicapped woman has been trying to bring three leaders in her church to justice. She accused the fellow members of the Marble Hill Bible Chapel of sexually assaulting her. Charges against one man were dismissed when a judge ruled Keopraseut was not a competent witness. A second defendant pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge that brought him 60 days in jail...

Show-Me Net celebrates 10th anniversary Show-Me Net, a not-for-profit Internet provider, is celebrating its 10th anniversary of providing low-cost dial-up to Southeast Missouri. Show-Me Net, which covers Cape Girardeau, Bollinger, Scott and Perry counties, is expanding to the Ste. Genevieve area in conjunction with the anniversary...

Charter Communications has announced plans to "aggressively roll out" its phone service to Southeast Missouri this summer, starting with places like Jackson this week and expanding to Cape Girardeau in July. The cable company will offer phone service this week to Jackson, Oran, Morehouse, Sikeston, Charleston and New Madrid, said Charter spokesman Brian Posnanski. Cape Girardeau is expected to receive the service in July, he said, as agreements for 911 emergency accessibility are worked out...

Area bank adds to financial services team First Community Bank has recently added Kevin Fles to its financial services team. Fles will be working out of First Community Bank's Cape branch at 17 S. Mount Auburn Road. Fles will provide clients with personalized and professional financial guidance. First Community Bank has locations in Poplar Bluff, Cape Girardeau, Bernie, Malden and Campbell...

Baseball...

Teach your children; Taken for granted; Beauty where you see it; Picking up; Balloons and birds; Political phraseology; Christian innocence; Handicapped graduate; Animals vs. humans; Tax waste; License bureau; Golf donations; Inside knowledge; 'Godless' fan; You're lucky; City entrance; Raining advice; New science; Terrorists' rights; Higher power; Walking and talking

Victor Carl Frentzel, 64, of Cape Girardeau, died Friday, June 23, 2006, at his residence in Cape Girardeau. He was born April 30, 1942, in Cape Girardeau, son of Herbert Herman and Corene Tucker Frentzel. He and Judy Klipfel Frentzel were married on Jan. 26, 1963, in Cape Girardeau...

Freddie Lee Stearns, 72, of Jackson, passed away Sunday, June 25, 2006, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Nov. 3, 1933, in Daisy, Mo., son of Orville and Nellie Hobeck Stearns. He and Rosemary Sides were married June 3, 1950...

Jimmy "Jim" Razer, 61, of Scott City died Saturday, June 24, 2006, at his residence. He was born Nov. 8, 1944, in Flint, Mich., son of Sidney Earl and Juanita Lee Massey Razer. He and Kathie Gail Lankford were married Sept. 13, 1965. She survives...

Velma E. Holdcroft, 81, of Phoenix, Ariz., formerly of Scott City, died Sunday, June 25, 2006, at Banner Thunderbird Medical Center in Glendale, Ariz. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City.

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Marie Ann Riney, 93, of Perryville died Saturday, June 24, 2006, at her residence. She was born March 20, 1913, in Ozora, Mo., daughter of Anthony and Elizabeth Roth Dallas. She and Eddie L. Riney were married on Sept. 6, 1928, in Perryville. He died June 7, 1990...

Dorothy Jean Davis Betts, 69, of Sebring, Fla., formerly of Tamms, Ill., died Sunday, June 25, 2006, at the Shands Hospital at the University of Florida in Gainsville, Fla. Funeral arrangements are incomplete with Jones Funeral Home in Tamms.

25 years ago: June 26, 1981 During its closed session, the Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents approved the specifics of a plan designed to reduce the manpower at the institution in light of the sizable withholding from the university's state appropriation ordered earlier this week by Gov. Christopher S. Bond; 39 staff positions at the school will be vacant, most of those being positions that are currently unfilled...

WASHINGTON -- Members of Congress on Sunday denounced any Iraqi plan that would grant amnesty to insurgents responsible for the deaths of U.S. troops. As part of a plan to mend sectarian strife, Iraq's prime minister has proposed extending amnesty to insurgents and opposition figures who have not been involved in terrorist activities...

Should the Cape Girardeau School District move to a year-round schedule? Undecided: 3.5% (19 votes) 537 votes cast Comments:...

7:30 p.m. today Action Items Power and light committee Street committee...

NEW YORK -- The father of slain journalist Daniel Pearl, a former head of the NAACP and a former mayor of Philadelphia are among the finalists for five $100,000 prizes being awarded for the first time to Americans over age 60 who have used their experience and skills to tackle social problems...

Cape Girardeau...

Cape Girardeau...

St. Mark to hold child adoption meeting St. Mark Lutheran Church, 1900 Cape La Croix Road, Cape Girardeau will present an informational meeting on adoption at 6 p.m. Thursday. The event is sponsored by Lutheran Family and Children's Services. Topics on adoption include costs, post-placement supervision, home study assessment, steps in the adoption process and international and domestic infants (caucasian and African-American). For reservations, call 334-5866...

OMAHA, Neb. -- The world's second-richest man, Warren Buffett, became one of the world's biggest philanthropists Sunday with the announcement that he would bequeath the bulk of his roughly $44 billion fortune to the foundation established by billionaire Bill Gates and his wife...

Stanley Bing never thought writing his latest book on BS jobs would be so hard. He's written seven other books without breaking a sweat, largely on business culture and other BS. "It actually took way more work than I intended it to," Bing said, sitting behind the desk of Gil Schwartz, a vice president at CBS in New York. Stanley Bing is Schwartz's BS pen name and alter-ego...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- It took help from the U.S. Postal Service to jump-start the nation's commercial aviation industry in the late 1920s and early 1930s. NASA administrator Michael Griffin thinks a little push from government could do the same for the commercial space industry in the next several years...

KIBBUTZ KEREM SHALOM, Israel -- Palestinian militants sneaked into Israel underneath a Gaza border crossing Sunday, killed two Israeli soldiers and captured another, raising the threat of an all-out conflict in the Gaza Strip just a year after Israel's pullout...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The Taliban do not pose a long-term threat to Afghanistan's stability, President Hamid Karzai said Sunday. Karzai spoke after the release of an audio recording purportedly of fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar saying the Afghan government did not have the wisdom to solve the nation's crisis. A self-described Taliban spokesman denied the recording aired on Pakistani television was authentic...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- A former driver for Osama bin Laden may help decide the fate of dozens of Guantanamo Bay detainees, and perhaps all of them, as the Supreme Court prepares to rule on his legal challenge to the first U.S. war crimes trials since World War II...

Japan: 'All options' if N. Korea tests missile; Two U.S. soldiers charged in killing of civilian; Iran urges patience as it considers incentives

New test may supply answers on Alzheimer's; Gunman opens fire in distribution center, kills 1

Nelson captures men's open singles title Dan Nelson defeated Bill Bradley in straight sets on Sunday to win the men's open singles title in the third annual All Cancer Erased tournament played at the Southeast Missouri State tennis courts. Nelson, of Carbondale, Ill., defeated Bradley, of Cape Girardeau, 6-4, 6-2...

SONOMA, Calif. -- Jeff Gordon combined patience with a fast race car Sunday at Infineon Raceway to grab a record ninth road course victory. NASCAR's top "Road Warrior" started 11th in the 43-car field and took the lead for the first time on lap 49 of the 110-lap Dodge/Save Mart 350...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Ben Godwin sank a 25-foot putt on the 34th hole of match play Sunday to complete his comeback and win the Missouri Amateur Golf Championship 3 and 2 over Brian Haskell. Godwin, who also won the Missouri Amateur title in 2003, was down by four after the first 18 holes of the 36-hole match...

Speak Out education THE EDUCATION I receive at the hands of individuals using Speak Out is incredible. Take the bit about the individual glad that we didn't get the All America City award. Living in this town, in a diversified neighborhood, shopping in multicultural shops, working with a sampling of every aspect of society, I am told that we don't deserve the recognition. Gosh, what sand hill is your head stuck in?...

ST. LOUIS -- State Auditor Claire McCaskill is slightly ahead of Sen. Jim Talent in their race for the U.S. Senate, according to a poll conducted for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and KMOV-TV. The statewide poll released Sunday showed McCaskill, the Democratic challenger, favored by 49 percent, compared with 43 percent for Talent, the Republican incumbent, the Post-Dispatch reported Sunday. The margin of error was 3.5 percent...

WARRENTON, Mo. -- A new study shows that the network of cables now spanning Interstate 70 between St. Louis and Kansas City is saving lives and reducing the number of vehicles crossing into oncoming traffic. Out of 378 accidents in 2005 in which vehicles hit the cables, only 6 percent made it through, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation...

WASHINGTON -- A new test may help scientists answer a perplexing "which came first" question about the development of Alzheimer's disease, possibly pointing the way to earlier diagnosis or even treatment. Brain deposits of a small protein known as amyloid beta long have been associated with Alzheimer's. But scientists have been unable to determine whether the body begins producing too much of the protein or loses the ability to clear it away...

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. population is on target to hit 300 million this fall and it's a good bet the milestone baby -- or immigrant -- will be Hispanic. No one will know for sure because the date and time will be just an estimate. But Latinos -- immigrants and those born in this country -- are driving the population growth. ...

The Cape Senior Babe Ruth split a road doubleheader with Chaffee on Sunday, winning the first game 8-0 and dropping the nightcap 4-2. Garrett Stevens threw a two-hitter in the opener, striking out nine and walking one. Cape (5-10) had 11 hits, including two apiece from Jacob Wengert, Trey Glaus and Luke Moll. Nathan Kolda had four RBIs...

STUTTGART, Germany -- David Beckham bent the ball over the wall and squeezed England into the World Cup quarterfinals. Beckham curled a trademark 25-yard free kick just inside the post in the 60th minute, giving England an ugly 1-0 victory over Ecuador on Sunday and a berth against Portugal...

DETROIT -- St. Louis Cardinals left-hander Mark Mulder has rotator cuff inflammation and irritation in his left shoulder, an MRI revealed. The Cardinals plan to re-examine Mulder's shoulder in about a week, and haven't set a timetable on his return. Mulder was supposed to start Sunday, but Sidney Ponson filled in...

WIMBLEDON, England -- As recently as a year ago, there was a growing sense that Venus Williams was no longer the player she once was, lacking the drive and perhaps the game to compete for Grand Slam titles. And then came her masterful fortnight on the lawns of the All England Club, capped by a thrilling, 9-7 third-set victory over Lindsay Davenport in the final, giving Williams a third Wimbledon championship...

TOKYO -- The United States plans to deploy Patriot Advanced Capability 3 missiles in southern Japan by the end of the year, a local newspaper reported late Sunday. The PAC-3 is designed to intercept and destroy incoming missiles and aircraft. The report comes as the United States and Japan are deeply concerned about signs North Korea may be preparing for an imminent test-launch of a Taepodong-2 ballistic missile...

The Cape Girardeau Ford & Sons American Legion baseball suffered a 4-0 loss on Sunday to Ballwin in the semifinals of the Paducah (Ky.) tournament. Cape was eliminated with the loss, finishing the tournament with a 2-2 mark and falling to 13-13 overall...

From the outside, the brick building still looks ancient. But inside, it's being transformed into a modern campus building as part of Southeast Missouri State University's new River Campus arts school. The interior walls, the massive wood ceilings and floors and the brick chimneys are being covered by new construction...