Stories from Tuesday, June 27, 2006

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- An 18-year-old man was killed this week in a head-on traffic collision in Perry County. David A. Grass of Perryville, was pronounced dead at 8:15 p.m. Sunday at Saint Francis Medical Center. Grass was driving a 1997 Ford F-150 north on Route B a half mile outside of Perryville when a southbound 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix crossed the center line and struck the victim's truck around 1:40 a.m., according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol...

Family and friends of a mentally handicapped Scott City man who was found dead Saturday are seeking contributions to help pay for his burial. His funeral will be held today in Sikeston, but the family said they only have about $350 to cover the cost. The total cost of the funeral will be $3,500...

Americans love to diet. It's part of our culture. We love to eat, too. Which is why sooner or later we all talk about shedding a few pounds. But thankfully we no longer have to eat rice cakes to lose weight. Joni has tried to introduce me to the culinary joy of rice cakes. But so far I've resisted her encouragement...

The state of Missouri will use federal grant money to help a few school districts implement student wellness efforts. But local school districts doubt they'll benefit from it. Gov. Matt Blunt announced in Jefferson City on Monday that state agencies are collaborating to help school districts "promote better nutrition, fitness and health among Missouri school children."...

Officials of Cape Girardeau County's two largest cities will be watching the results of the Aug. 8 county tax vote for signs that voters feel overburdened by local sales tax levies. The largest share of county voters live in Cape Girardeau and Jackson. Retail establishments in the two communities would charge the new tax but very little of the money raised would be spent in the two jurisdictions...

The Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to a report of a natural gas leak in the 1900 block of Randol Avenue at 4:51 p.m. Monday. Ten homes on the street were evacuated for about two hours while the leak was contained. "A track hoe severed a three-inch plastic gas line while doing sanitary sewer work in the center of the street," said battalion chief Steve Niswonger who responded to the scene...

A homemade county road plan proposed to the Cape Girardeau County Commission Monday underlined the county's lack of a firm plan for spending a proposed half-cent sales tax. The failure to provide a detailed proposal with the ballot measure, which will be called Proposition 1 on Aug. ...

The city of Jackson take a closer look at its sidewalks within the next few months. At a regular meeting of the Jackson Board of Aldermen Monday night, the board passed a motion supporting the city's application to the Missouri Department of Transportation for assistance in a sidewalk inventory and condition study. The city will pay 20 percent of the $9,000 sidewalk study and MoDOT will pick up the remaining costs through its Transportation Engineering Assistance Program...

During the warm summer months, there's a sports tournament of some kind -- soccer, softball, baseball -- going on in Cape Girardeau almost every weekend, drawing hundreds of young athletes and their family fans from Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas and Illinois...

More than 40 volleyball players are receiving instruction in Cape Girardeau this week from a man regarded as among the top performers in international history. The way area high school coach Maile Gannon figures it, learning more about the game from Pat Powers is an opportunity that does not come along very often...

Cape Girardeau...

Alvin F. Hampton, 80, of Dekalb, Ill., died Sunday, June 25, 2006, at Kishwaukee Community Hospital. He was born Aug. 16, 1925, in Pascala, Mo., son of George and Esther Brush Hampton. He married Jean Byrd July 2, 1944, in Blytheville, Ark. They would have celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary in seven days...

Jimmy "Jim" Razer, 61, of Scott City died Saturday, June 24, 2006, at his home. 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. Razer retired as a baker at Wal-Mart in Cape Girardeau...

Hellrich graduates with honors; Future leaders summit; Scholarships; Notre Dame offers summer camps; Ennis attends Boys State; Students named to deans' list

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...

The park superintendent and his family were the only people injured Dec. 14 when 1 billion gallons of water in an AmerenUE reservoir tore through Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park. Ameren has reached a settlement with the injured family, and DNR has billed the utility nearly half a million dollars to pay for the cleanup of the park...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Chief Illiniwek likely has not danced his last dance at University of Illinois home football games and could perform at basketball games this winter because the school's board of trustees has not settled on a solution to the long-simmering debate, athletic director Ron Guenther said in a newspaper interview....

To the editor: In your June 9 editorial concerning railroads, you said "Safety issues cannot be ignored" because that would be irresponsible. We agree. The city of Sikeston believes it would be better for Union Pacific to run their trains in the countryside, not through populated areas...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Monday sharply condemned the disclosure of a program to secretly monitor the financial transactions of suspected terrorists. "The disclosure of this program is disgraceful," he said. "For people to leak that program and for a newspaper to publish it does great harm to the United States of America," Bush said, jabbing his finger for emphasis. He said the disclosure of the program "makes it harder to win this war on terror."...

ST. LOUIS -- The Cleveland Indians' hottest pitcher helped them finally get off on the right foot. Cliff Lee worked six strong innings to win his fourth game this month and keep his perfect interleague record intact, and Travis Hafner homered twice in a 10-3 victory over the sagging St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night...

NEW YORK -- Isiah Thomas has one year to turn around the Knicks -- something Larry Brown couldn't do. And if Thomas doesn't, he'll be gone, too. "I'm saying this right with Isiah here. This is his team," Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan said Monday. "He made this bed. There's nobody better than him to make this thing go forward...

OMAHA, Neb. -- Oregon State was an underdog the moment it took the field at the College World Series. The Beavers didn't come from the right part of the country. They didn't have enough pitching. They couldn't keep fighting off elimination. Bill Rowe had one parting message for all those who doubted them:...

WASHINGTON -- More than a foot of rain washed out highways around the nation's capital Monday, toppled a 100-year-old elm tree on the White House lawn and caused flooding that closed major government departments and the National Archives, where the Declaration of Independence is kept under glass...

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany -- Italy needed the very last kick of the game to reach the quarterfinals. Francesco Totti's penalty kick on the final play lifted Italy past a surprisingly stout Australia 1-0 on Monday. Totti, who came on in the second half, sent his penalty kick high to the right of goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer moments after the controversial call on Lucas Neill. Schwarzer guessed correctly, but couldn't stretch far enough to get the ball before it sailed into the net...

Amazing women; Maybe a fish; Dust no bother; Living with animals; Burger flipping; Benevolent dictator

POTOMAC, Md. -- The completion of the Booz Allen Classic -- and Ben Curtis' long-awaited first victory since the 2003 British Open -- was postponed for yet another day, setting up the PGA Tour's first Tuesday finish in 26 years and making for a cruel, exasperating end to a tournament that seemed doomed from the start...

25 years ago: June 27, 1981 Federal funds for cities will be tight over the next three and a half years, according to Sen. John C. Danforth, who speaks to the Cape Girardeau City Council at city hall; the Republican senator offers little hope for federal funding to help establish a mass transit system here...

Debrock; Yamnitz

David Wayne Garrett, 40, of Scott City died Saturday, June 24, 2006, at his home. He was born May 8, 1966, in Naples, Fla., son of Sammie Eugene and Vonda Jean Nickles Garrett. Survivors include his father of Chaffee, Mo.; a daughter, Jessica Marie Garrett of Scott City; two brothers, Richard Garrett of Marston, Mo., and Marvin Garrett of Scott City...

Terry L. Payne, 51, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, June 26, 2006, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Gladys Lincoln, 85, of Chaffee died Sunday, June 25, 2006, at Chaffee Nursing Center. She was born May 3, 1921, at Dutchtown, daughter of the late Oscar W. and Amanda Sophie Amelunke Sprenger. She and Robert Junior Lincoln were married Oct. 22, 1949. He preceded her in death Nov. 27, 1968...

Nettie M. Fisher, 96, of Scott City went to heaven Friday, June 23, 2006, at her home. She was born Dec. 6, 1909, in Ancell, Mo., daughter of John and Bertha Ash Miller. She and Nevan August Fisher were married Sept. 23, 1930, in Waterloo, Ill. Nettie was a 1927 graduate of Fornfelt High School, and valedictorian of her class. She began a Bible study in her home in 1946, which was soon to become the Scott City Wesleyan Methodist Church. The church is now Cornerstone Wesleyan...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Beatrice Hindman, 86, of Advance died Sunday, June 25, 2006, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Nov. 30, 1919, at Brownwood, Mo., daughter of Oscar and Thelma Virgin Speer. She and Raymond L. Hindman were married Feb. 18, 1937, at Brownwood. He died May 15, 1968...

THEBES, Ill. -- Virtus Cox, 82, of Thebes died Monday, June 26, 2006, at her home. Friends may call at Jones Funeral Home in Tamms, Ill., from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday. The funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Alexander Freewill Baptist Church near Olive Branch, Ill...

Do you ever wake up and think that things just couldn't get any more monotonous? That the trail of eroded carpet you walk on every day is eventually going to whittle away down to bare floor, leaving you with a plushness of lost possibilities on either side?...

ST. LOUIS -- A federal judge on Monday halted executions in Missouri until the state Department of Corrections makes sweeping changes to its execution protocol. In a 16-page opinion, U.S. Judge Fernando Gaitan Jr. said the state's lethal injection procedure subjects condemned inmates to an "unnecessary risk" of "unconstitutional pain and suffering."...

Cape man pleads guilty to having child porn A Cape Girardeau man admitted in federal court last week to possessing more than 20,000 images of child pornography on his home computer. Before U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel on Friday, Terry Corbin, 56, 215 N. ...

Action items Street committee...

Cape Girardeau...

Cook and Kern team for horseshoe victory Lachelle Cook and Rose Kern teamed for a win at the Southeast Missouri Horseshoe Association event Sunday at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Jackson. Virgil Schreckenberg and Junior Smith finished second, and Cori Stoverink and Sheila LeGrand were third in the 16-team event...

An error in the top of the seventh inning Monday sent Cape Girardeau Ford & Sons American Legion team's pitching into a tailspin, as Cape dropped a pair of games to Dunklin County at Capaha Field. Ford & Sons led 1-0 heading into the top of the seventh in the opener, with Jeremy Brinkmeyer and Kory Kitchen working on a one-hitter. Chris Brotherton sailed a throw from third base over Blake Slattery's head to put a runner on second with no outs, and the Dunklin County offensive onslaught ensued...

WIMBLEDON, England -- Martina Hingis played at Wimbledon for the first time since 2001, and it was as though she never left. Those crafty strokes. Well-timed net rushes. And rain. Ah, yes, rain. Day 1 at the All England Club began with sprinkles that delayed the start of the tournament for an hour. After about 30 minutes of action Monday, time enough for Hingis to win the first set against Olga Savchuk of Ukraine 6-2, rain returned and halted play for good...

CHICAGO -- The Western Open, one of the oldest stops on the PGA tour, is getting a name change and will rotate from the Chicago suburbs to other Midwestern cities -- including St. Louis -- under an agreement announced Monday. The tournament will be called the BMW Championship beginning in 2007, when it is moved from July to September and becomes part of a new championship points race...

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court plunged on Monday into the acrimonious debate over global warming and whether the government should regulate "greenhouse" gases, especially carbon dioxide from cars. The ruling could be one of the court's most important ever on the environment...

Lt. Gen. James Conway has been nominated to be the next commandant of the Marine Corps. Conway is a St. Louis native who graduated from Roosevelt High School and Southeast Missouri State University. He now serves as the director of operations for the Pentagon's Joint Staff. Before taking the Pentagon post, Conway commanded the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force for two combat tours in Iraq...

Fifteen-year-old Jordan Murphy loves to play hoops, so after school he and his brother Joshua, 13, jump on bikes and troll their neighborhood in Shawnee, Kan., for pickup games. Often they pedal through a hectic blind intersection to reach courts at the civic center, and then toss their bags on the ground and start dribbling. ...