Stories from Saturday, July 8, 2006

Following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, airport security across the country was beefed up. The Transportation Security Administration began screening passengers boarding flights in late 2002, replacing airline personnel who previously performed those duties...

On Friday afternoon AmerenUE filed for an electric rate increase that would spike bills across the state by an average of 17.7 percent next year. The increase, if approved, reflects rising coal and transportation costs and would be the first rise in electricity prices since 1987, Ameren officials said...

The Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau has capitalized on the public's fascination with the Mississippi River to market the community to visitors, CVB director Chuck Martin said Friday. Martin said the CVB's marketing slogan, "Where the River Turns a Thousand Tales," has focused attention on what first draws visitors to the city...

Army Staff Sgt. Daniel Cook's job doesn't involve the mundane routine of sitting behind a desk in an air-conditioned office or performing the same task over and over on an assembly line. No, his job is much better than that. "It's the best job in the division," the 82nd Airborne paratrooper says just before he climbs up on the observation and command platform placed in the middle of the Cape Girardeau Regional Air Festival grounds...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Bond was set at $750,000 Friday for a small-town minister's wife charged with killing her husband at their church parsonage. "For her, that's tantamount to no bond at all," said defense lawyer Steve Farese. Mary Winkler, 32, has been held without bond since March 23, the day after her husband, Matthew Winkler, 31, was found dead in Selmer, about 80 miles east of Memphis...

LAREDO, Texas -- A Republican-led House panel met at the Mexican border Friday in an unusual field hearing that the chairman said he hopes will push the Senate to focus on enforcing immigration law. "It's elementary that to defend ourselves against our determined and resourceful enemies, our border must be secure," said Rep. Ed Royce, the California Republican who chairs the International Relations Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation...

HOUSTON -- A psychiatrist testified Friday that she warned Andrea Yates not to have any more children after she tried to commit suicide twice within months of having her fourth child in 1999. "I could pretty much predict that Mrs. Yates would have another episode of psychosis," Dr. Eileen Starbranch told jurors in Yates' murder retrial...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- It was moving day Friday for the crew of Discovery, which transferred thousands of pounds of supplies and cargo from the space shuttle to the international space station. And there was good news: The astronauts earned an extra day in space...

At Libertyfest earlier this week, Neal Edwards became the fourth recipient of the Spirit of America Award. The Missouri Veterans Home has been the focus of much of Edwards' volunteer work, but the World War II veteran has raised more than $1 million for different causes over his lifetime. ...

Cape Girardeau...

Concert fund-raiser for Vision House; Lewis Bock to speak at Grace UMC Sunday; Today; Sunday; Friday

When people become busy with life's affairs it's difficult to see there's more going on than meets the eye. When we're involved in our daily activities, much is occurring of which we are unaware. Our soul constantly attracts or repels -- bringing to fruition what we most attend to...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Chris "Mo" Mofield, son of Jerry Lee Mofield and Shelba Lane Mofield of Dexter, was born Aug. 19. 1964, in Cape Girardeau. He departed this life at Missouri Southern Healthcare in Dexter Thursday, July 6, 2006, at the age of 41. Chris attended First Baptist Church in Dexter, was employed as a funeral director with Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home in Dexter the past 20 years...

Emmett E. Duff, 94, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, July 6, 2006, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born July 16, 1911, in Turley, Mo., son of Thomas H. and Wenona Long Duff. He and Gladys Elmore were married Oct. 20, 1936, in Lebanon, Mo. She died May 23, 1996...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Stella Mae Mills, 93, of Chaffee died Friday, July 7, 2006, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born July 15, 1912, at Burfordville, daughter of Dean Emerson and Nola America Proctor Stone. She and J.R. Mills were married Sept. 19, 1929. He died June 5, 1988...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Clarence Guild, 83, of Tamms died Wednesday, July 5, 2006, at the Rehab and Care Center of Jackson County in Murphysboro, Ill. He was born July 22, 1922, in Tamms, son of William and Elizabeth Klee Guild. He and Edith Dakin were married Dec. 1, 1952...

PUXICO, Mo. -- Martin Keith Payne, 47, of Puxico died Friday, July 7, 2006, at Saint Francis Medical center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Feb. 6, 1959, in Advance, Mo., son of Thomas C. and Audrie Moore Payne. He and Vickie Gardner were married Oct. 13, 1979, at Puxico...

William T. Smith, 76, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, July 4, 2006, at Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born Aug. 4, 1929, in Mammoth Spring, Ark., son of Lee and Nettie Martin Smith. Smith was a meatcutter more than 30 years. Formerly of Hayti, Mo., he was a member of Hayti Church of Christ...

Ronald E. Owens, 66, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, July 7, 2006, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Jesse D. Wolters, 48, of Jackson died Friday, July 7, 2006, at his home. Cracraft-Miller Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Huff; Davault; Gibson; Vanek; Britt; Oliver

25 years ago: July 8, 1981 The remains of two infants were unearthed earlier this week in a field just east of the Florsheim Shoe Co. in Cape Girardeau; the babies died and were buried more than 700 years ago during the "prehistoric" era of Cape Girardeau and are two of 10 human bodies discovered in past years by Southeast Missouri State University archaeology students...

Van Burgess, owner of Jackson-based Burgess Performance, thought it would be fun to appear on the Speed Channel's hit show "PINKS," but he wasn't so sure if he wanted to risk losing his prized Mustang in the process. Now in its third season, "PINKS" has become the Speed Channel's most watched show. The show features head-to-head, street-style drag racing, with the winner taking home the loser's car -- title and all...

Foursome puts in two holes in one Gary Niswonger and Jim Kellett each had a hole in one Friday at Kimbeland Country Club in Jackson. They were playing in the same foursome along with Merle Gelsheimer and Howard Kinder. Niswonger, a Jackson resident, aced the 115-yard fourth hole from the white tees using an 8-iron...

WASHINGTON -- Authorities have disrupted planning by foreign terrorists for an attack on the transportation network, including tunnels, in the New York City-New Jersey area, two federal agencies announced Friday. "We have disrupted a terrorist network that was in the planning stages of an attack," said a statement released jointly at midmorning by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security...

Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro is being closely monitored after developing complications this week requiring more surgery and treatment of an abscess. Doctors at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Pa., changed Barbaro's cast twice in three days, once on Monday to replace bent screws in his shattered right hind leg and a second time Wednesday because the horse seemed uncomfortable...

BERLIN -- Germany captain Michael Ballack is out, and backup goalkeeper Oliver Kahn is in. While third place is all that's at stake now, Germany still hopes to give its fans one final World Cup celebration Saturday in its match against Portugal. They'll have to do it without their versatile leader Ballack, who has an inflamed left knee and will miss the game in Stuttgart...

LONDON -- Britain fell silent Friday on the first anniversary of the suicide bombing assault on London's transit system -- a stunning strike that killed 52 commuters and wounded more than 700 in the capital's deadliest attack since World War II. Prime Minister Tony Blair, survivors and city workers bowed their heads during two minutes of national silence observed from the Wimbledon tennis tournament to Scotland, a quiet punctuated by the solemn tolling of bells at St. ...

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- U.N. peacekeepers on Friday found the bodies of 16 people believed killed in a surge of gang violence, the latest sign the Caribbean nation's capital may be slipping back into disorder after months of relative calm. The troops from Sri Lanka the bodies in the southern Port-au-Prince slum of Martissant, a U.N. statement said. The slum was the site of a recent spate of gunbattles between warring gangs...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- They were smart enough to design a rocket that would shoot their drugs into space if they were caught by police. But they were not smart enough to remember to plug it in. That little detail led two Kentucky men to prison, after they were stopped last summer with a homemade, cigarette-lighter-powered, drug-hiding rocket in the trunk of the car near Columbia...

ST. LOUIS -- Erik Johnson, the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft, will go to the University of Minnesota this fall rather than join the St. Louis Blues. The Blues retain the rights to the defenseman, and the team was part of his decision to go to college...

Cape Girardeau...

JOLIET, Ill. -- Dale Jarrett already was preparing to walk away from Robert Yates Racing at the end of the year. Now his corporate sponsor is following him out the door. UPS announced Friday that it will leave the Yates team at the end of this season, moving with Jarrett to Michael Waltrip's startup Nextel Cup team for 2007...

SAN FRANCISCO -- A Tongan prince known for promoting political reform in his South Pacific island nation died along with his wife in a crash with a teenager's car, authorities said. Prince Tu'ipelehake, 56, Princess Kaimana, 46, and their driver died Wednesday night, according to Senter Uhilamoelangi, a distant relative and longtime friend of the prince. ...

South Carolina is in. Utah and Alabama, too. Missouri is poised to follow suit. Some states aren't waiting for an Aug. 1 deadline to seek help from the federal government in buying anti-flu medicine for a possible pandemic. "We figure it is certainly better to do it and move forward with the purchase and hope we never have to use it than not and wish that we had," said Jim Beasley, spokesman for South Carolina's Department of Health and Environmental Control...

Friendliness. Accessibility. Fellowship. Members involved with the recent building expansion of St. Andrew's Lutheran Church kept those three qualities in mind when they began planning last April. Foremost in their minds also were two Bible verses: Ecclesiastes 3:3, "... a time to tear down and a time to build up," and from the book of Jude, "Build yourselves up in faith and pray in the spirit," says the Rev. Paul Short, pastor of St. Andrew's...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A couple of weeks after a group of House Republicans backed off from announcing a proposal to overhaul the driver's license office system -- after hearing from Gov. Matt Blunt -- the group is pressing ahead. Last month, the group of five legislators, none of whom are members of House leadership, announced news conferences around the state to unveil their plan, then quickly canceled them, saying the governor, also a Republican, wanted to discuss the matter...

CHICAGO -- President Bush expressed frustration Friday with the slow pace of diplomacy in dealing with North Korea and Iran and prodded world leaders to send an unmistakable message condemning Pyongyang's long-range missile test. He said the United States would have had "a reasonable chance" of shooting down the missile if it had been necessary, though America's missile-defense system is still in the testing phase and its capabilities are modest. ...

NEW ORLEANS -- Government and independent engineers disagreed Thursday when pressed by a U.S. House subcommittee on whether levees are safe enough for residents to rebuild in areas struck by severe flooding during Hurricane Katrina. Army Corps of Engineers Col. Richard Wagenaar stressed that the levees ringing the metro area now are significantly stronger and in some cases higher than what existed before Katrina hit Aug. 29...

HOUSTON -- Jason Marquis shut down the Houston Astros for his 11th win and pinch-hitter John Rodriguez homered in the St. Louis' Cardinals' 8-2 victory Friday night. Gary Bennett added three hits and an RBI for St. Louis. Marquis (11-6) allowed two runs and six hits in 7 2/3 innings, striking out four and walking two...

VITRE, France -- Tour de France favorites, it's time to step up. The race begins in earnest Saturday with the first long time trial on a Tour marked by crashes and a doping investigation that has stripped the event of elite riders. After an opening week when top riders took few risks and the glory belonged to sprinters Robbie McEwen and Tom Boonen, the time trial should help reveal the true contenders in a depleted field...

JOLIET, Ill. -- Jeff Burton figured that if he kept qualifying well, eventually he'd win another pole. He did that Friday, taking the top spot for Sunday's race at Chicagoland Speedway with a lap of 181.647 mph. Earlier this year, Burton won the pole for the season-opening Daytona 500...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Have any expired medicine? If it's expired by, say, 80 years, don't throw it out just yet. And think twice before tossing away grandpa's moldy tobacco tins. The Boone County Historical Society is looking for old goods to help restock the shelves of the former Easley Store to make it resemble the store during the 1920s and 1930s...

ST. LOUIS -- An official with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is "very frustrated and saddened" that a third worker from the same St. Louis-area bridge-painting company has died in an accident this year. Andy J. Wilson Sr., 49, an employee of Thomas Industrial Coatings Inc. of Pevely, fell Wednesday from a four-lane bridge under repair in northeast Kansas City. Another employee died after falling from the same bridge in May...

Recent flight cancellations in and out of the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport were due to a combination of factors but not a lack of passengers, officials say. In June, 19 departing and arriving flights at the airport were canceled. Four have been canceled so far in July, according to RegionsAir president Doug Caldwell...

Tiger Woods rebounded from a rough opening round at the Western Open, but Phil Mickelson stumbled badly. And Stewart Cink jumped into contention with one of the best rounds ever at the tournament. Woods shot a 4-under 67 during the second round Friday, a day after struggling for a 1 over. Still, he was seven shots behind leader Daniel Chopra, who carded a 5-under 66 to hold a two-stroke lead over Vijay Singh at Cog Hill in Lemont, Ill...

WIMBLEDON, England -- It's Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal in another Grand Slam final. Federer, hitting breathtaking winners from all parts of the court, overwhelmed Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman 6-2, 6-0, 6-2 Friday to close in on his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title...

The Cape Girardeau American Legion junior team's season came to an end with an 8-4 loss Friday to Jackson in an elimination game at the District 14 tournament at VFW Stadium in Sikeston. Cape, which had lost 11-1 to top-seeded Sikeston on Thursday, finished its season 18-22...