Stories from Saturday, July 22, 2006

On their first full day of relief work in St. Louis, 220 National Guard troops from the 1140th Engineer Battalion of Cape Girardeau were knocking on doors and clearing debris to help those affected by Wednesday night's storm. About 480,000 people in the St. Louis area remained without power Friday...

Following several days of hot, humid weather, rains washed through and cooled down the Cape Girardeau area Friday afternoon. Winds upward of 43 mph brought in the first rainfall for the area in seven days, according to Dan Spaeth, a meteorologist for National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky...

BENTON, Mo. -- The Scott County Commission is encouraging Sikeston and Scott City to join with the county to consolidate their 911 call centers. Commissioners want to explore the possibility of consolidating call centers to offset declining revenue from 911 phone taxes charged on land-line phones...

The wording on the marquis sign has nothing to do with the price of burritos. But those at Burrito-Ville in Cape Girardeau hope it sends a lingering message to those who might be tempted to pass a bad check at their restaurant. Do it and we will publicly humiliate you...

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- Atchison County's position as the state's wind farm capital is strengthening as a third company is laying plans for a wind-energy complex in northwest Missouri. Lenexa, Kan.-based TradeWind Energy told the St. Joseph News-Press that it has obtained leases on 20,000 acres in the county and envisions a wind farm capable of generating up to 400 megawatts, or enough electricity to power 240,000 homes...

HOYLAKE, England -- Tiger Woods stood in the middle of the 14th fairway with a dazed look, so far away from the green he couldn't tell where his ball landed. "It went in?" Woods asked his caddie. Yes, it did. With another amazing shot in a career filled with them, Woods seized the lead at the British Open with a 7-under-par 65 Friday and cast aside the notion that his poor performance at Winged Foot was anything more than a rare off week for the world's greatest golfer...

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Rams running back Marshall Faulk will have major reconstructive knee surgery and miss the 2006 season, a blow that could spell the end of his career. Though coach Scott Linehan said at a news conference Friday that the 33-year-old Faulk wasn't ready to call it quits, retirement might be on the horizon...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Coaches looking for long-term deals of more than five years can cross the University of Missouri off their wish lists. With rancor over the terms of the settlement with former University of Missouri-Columbia basketball coach Quin Snyder and new coach Mike Anderson's prospective buyout still fresh, curators of the four-campus University of Missouri system on Friday quickly endorsed a plan giving them greater oversight of athletics, including coaches' contracts...

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University has hired John Danowski from Hofstra to coach its embattled men's lacrosse team, the new coach said Friday. "It's a very exciting time," Danowski told The Associated Press. "Duke University is one of the top schools in the country by any measure."...

LONG POND, Pa. -- Denny Hamlin is the new driver to beat at Pocono Raceway, proving that Friday by winning the pole at the track where he scored his first career victory. Hamlin, who won here last month, made his qualifying lap very late in the session with Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne sitting on top of the chart. But he posted a lap at 169.827 mph to grab the pole...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry Bonds expressed "relief" that the federal grand jury considering possible perjury and tax-evasion charges against him expired without an indictment. The slugger's troublesome right knee feels 100 percent, too. Bonds, who hit his 722nd career home run Thursday night in a win against the San Diego Padres, declined to talk to reporters Thursday only hours after federal prosecutors decided not to indict him for now, but he made a journal entry on his personal Web site...

MACON, France -- After a leisurely ride Friday, one of the most dramatic Tour de France editions in years reaches a crucial stage today -- the individual time trial. The question on everyone's lips: Can American Floyd Landis overcome a 30-second deficit and wrest the yellow jersey away from race leader Oscar Pereiro of Spain?...

WASHINGTON -- Ron McLain has no qualms about the federal government getting involved in marriage. Indeed, he's counting on it. McLain has applied for a $550,000 federal grant to hire counselors for Marriage Mentoring Ministries Inc., a tiny business in Fresno County, Calif., that helps couples before and after they exchange wedding vows. He also has a bid in for a $250,000 grant to teach men to become better fathers...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A program that assists first-time home buyers in Missouri is getting a $50 million infusion of funds. The "First Place Loans" program offers below-market interest rates and help with down payments and closing costs to households that make less than $57,000 to $65,550 a year. It is administered by the Missouri Housing Development Commission through a network of about 60 lenders...

PARIS -- France mobilized Friday to send urgent aid to Lebanon, the Red Cross managed to get relief supplies to the south -- and Israel agreed to allow a safe corridor crucial to ensuring that food and medicine reaches those in need. International efforts to get humanitarian aid to Lebanon appeared to be getting off the ground at last. Demands mounted for safe passage for aid to millions of Lebanese increasingly isolated by Israel's air and sea blockade...

ON THE ISRAEL-LEBANON BORDER -- Israel massed tanks and troops on the border Friday hours after calling up reserves, as the army announced plans for a ground operation to destroy Hezbollah's tunnels, hideouts and weapons stashes. Israel, which pulled its troops out of Lebanon just six years ago after a lengthy and costly occupation that caused painful divisions within the Jewish state, was poised to carry out its third large-scale ground operation in Lebanon since 1978. ...

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice rejected the "false promise" of an immediate cease-fire in the spreading war between Israel and Hezbollah on Friday and said she would seek long-term peace during a trip to the Mideast beginning Sunday...

To the editor: Many people think we can fix the problems in this country by changing presidents or Congress. That idea is time tested, and it has failed miserably. The Bible is clear. Human life is most precious to the Lord than anything. Now we vote for our candidates based political party and forget about the Bible...

To the editor: The deal reached between the White House and U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) concerning the Bush administration's warrantless eavesdropping program is a compromise only in the sense that it compromises our fundamental freedoms as Americans...

To the editor: I think I have an answer to the yard-sale problem that will be beneficial to both the city and the people having the sales. Why doesn't the city set up a designated area that everyone can use for yard sales? The city could charge a small fee. ...

Bob Kibler Jr., 85, of Jackson passed away Wednesday, July 19, 2006, at Chateau Girardeau Health Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born April 7, 1921, in Jackson, son of John Robert and Ethel Louise Watkins Kibler Sr. He and Betty Harney were married Oct. 21, 1945, in Pottsville, Pa. She survives...

Baseball...

"Can I go to vacation Bible school this year?" That's the echo heard all around the globe. Yes, summer means it's time to attend vacation Bible school! And most churches provide one if they're able. How awesome it is to see children's eager, smiling faces as they re-enter the world after spending mornings or evenings participating in the wholesome activities available there. "But what makes it so appealing?" some ask...

Fund-raiser concert at New McKendree; Local churches hold vacation Bible schools; Today; Friday; Sunday

Only the rain could slow down Cape Girardeau's momentum Friday night in an elimination game against third-seeded Jackson at the District 14 American Legion tournament in Chaffee, Mo. Cape Ford & Sons, the fourth seed, built an 8-0 lead through four innings when lightning halted play. Soon the downpour began and play was suspended as the infield filled with water...

Fashion fads; Beauty is gone; Energy first; Paying for roads; Less mileage; Repair the streets; TV noise; First, win games; Maintaining roads; Hospital smoking; City road funding; Committed leader; Mowing along walks; Spanking works; Risking their lives; About stem cells; They earn it; Wrath of God

25 years ago: July 22, 1981 About 200 Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. customers turned out at two Public Service Commission hearings in Cape Girardeau Tuesday to express their strong displeasure with a company request for a 73 percent rate increase affecting basic line access, equipment, connections and operator-assisted long distance rates...

Scheeter; Welton; Conway; Lockridge; Rolfing; Kieffer; Carmack; Brown; Balsman; Sanford; Abernathy; Dunning

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Wallace R. Morgan, 75, of Olive Branch died Thursday, July 20, 2006, at his home. He was born March 6, 1931, in Arlington, Ky., son of Ruel and Nellie Burton Morgan. He married Emily Morgan. Morgan was employed 42 years at Lincoln Industrial Corp. in St. Louis...

EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. -- Walter Mack McCormack, 83, of the Dogwood community died Thursday, July 20, 2006, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born June 18, 1923, in Trimble, Tenn., son of Robert and Wava McCormack Spelling. His parents died when he was 18 months old and he was adopted by C.P. and Mollie McCormack. He first married Elsie Pauline Watts Feb. 6, 1947. She died Jan. 16, 1971. He later married Carol Johnson Miller-Spangberg...

Maebell M. Youngblood, 79, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, July 21, 2006, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

BELLEVILLE, Ill. -- Ellsworth V. Foulk, 84, of Belleville died Thursday, July 20, 2006, at his home. Visitation will be from noon to 2 p.m. today at Pete Gaerdner Funeral Home in Belleville. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. today at the funeral home. A graveside service will be held at 2:30 p.m. Monday at Russell Heights Cemetery in Jackson...

Gilbert H. Beussink, 76, of Jackson passed away Friday, July 21, 2006, at his home, following a lengthy illness. He was born March 31, 1930, in Leopold, Mo., son of Herman and Mary Beussink. He and Beulah Holzum were married July 5, 1952. Gilbert served in the U.S. Army from Dec. 6, 1951, to Dec. 1, 1953, during the Korean Conflict...

Beginning Aug. 28 children ages 4 through 7 who weigh less than 80 pounds and are less than 4 feet, 9 inches tall must be strapped into a booster seat when riding in a vehicle in Missouri. That's the law. Booster seats are necessary because the seat belts and shoulder restraints that protect adults don't adequately protect small children and can make injuries worse in a collision...

Cape Girardeau...

Cape Girardeau...

For the second year in a row a book published by the Southeast Missouri State University Press will receive the Missouri Humanities Council's Governor's Book Award. The book, "Matthews: The Historic Adventures of a Pioneer Family," was written by Sikeston, Mo., businessman and university board of regents member Edward "Ned" Matthews III and published by the press in January 2005...

Southeast Missouri State University could receive $2 million in federal Defense Department funding to research blast-resistant barriers and buildings to protect troops from harm. Some of the money ultimately would go to Kontek, a firm in New Madrid, Mo., which makes blast-resistant barriers and is branching out into the manufacture of blast-resistant structures, university officials said...

Burglars of two Cape Girardeau bars made off with cash and video machines during heists this week. Independence Place and Cape Club Complex reported burglaries in which thieves targeted their video amusement machines. The glass front door of Independence Place, 5 S. Henderson Ave., was broken in between 5:30 p.m. Wednesday and 2:30 a.m. Thursday, according to police spokesman Jason Selzer...

Euil "E.T." Trickey, 85, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, July 20, 2006, at Missouri Veterans Home. He was born May 20, 1921, in Cape Girardeau, son of Irl Everrett and Julia Marion Trickey. He and Louise Williams were married June 7, 1942, in Oran, Mo. She died March 11, 2005...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The constitutional right of the people to propose ballot initiatives should supersede state laws detailing how the petitions must be organized, an attorney for supporters of two rejected ballot measures argued Friday. But a judge and attorneys defending the state's position questioned that assertion, noting that laws commonly prescribe more details than the constitution without violating it...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A Kansas church group that routinely protests at military funerals across the country filed a suit in federal court Friday, claiming the Missouri law banning such pickets infringed on the members' religious freedoms and right to free speech...

A scam artist stole $600 from a Cape Girardeau bank this week. A man entered US Bank, 325 N. Kingshighway, around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday wanting to exchange $1,200 in $100 bills for $50 bills, police spokesman Jason Selzer said. ...

Two former Pentagon officials, including an acting secretary of the Navy, have been accused of scheming with a banned American contractor to get lucrative rebuilding contracts in Iraq, The Associated Press has learned. The contracting firm, Custer Battles LLC, was suspended two years ago by the military for submitting millions of dollars in fake invoices...

EL PASO, Texas -- Four U.S. soldiers accused of murdering suspected insurgents during a raid in Iraq said they were under orders to "kill all military age males," according to sworn statements obtained by The Associated Press. The soldiers first took some of the men into custody because they were using two women and a toddler as human shields. They shot three of the men after the women and child were safe and say the men attacked them...

LOS ANGELES -- John Mellencamp played, but Dan Quayle's no longer a fan. The former vice president walked out of the singer's July 14 show at Harvey's Lake Tahoe Casino in Nevada, miffed about a comment made by Mellencamp about President Bush's administration. ...

OAXACA, Mexico -- Protesters have taken over the center of folkloric Oaxaca, making tourists show identification at makeshift checkpoints, smashing the windows of quaint hotels and spray-painting revolutionary slogans. Police are nowhere in sight. It's not the tranquil cultural gem beloved by tourists from the United States and Europe. A month of protests to try to oust the governor have forced authorities to cancel many events, including the Guelaguetza dance festival...

BAIDOA, Somalia -- Somalia's top Islamic leader called Friday for a holy war against Ethiopia to drive out troops the largely Christian nation sent to protect the internationally backed Somali government. The radical Islamic forces control more of Somalia than the government, and have made clear they consider themselves the legitimate authority in the country...

Todd Cleveland, Chris Marchi and Steve Stilson won the championship flight oof the Southeast Missouri Hospital three-man scramble Friday at Cape Girardeau Country Club. Due to inclement weather, the entire field was not able to complete play and a modified format was used to determine winners...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- The Cape Girardeau Senior Babe Ruth baseball team ended Charleston's hopes of winning a state title on its home field in dramatic fashion Friday afternoon, as third baseman Blake Gaddis sent Cape to a 4-3 victory with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning ...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraqi forces backed by a U.S. helicopter battled Sunni gunmen south of Baghdad on Friday, and at least 11 combatants died. U.S. troops killed five Iraqis -- including two women and a child -- in a separate exchange of fire. An extended ban on vehicles held down violence Friday in Baghdad after one of the most violent weeks in the capital this year, but four people were wounded by a bomb outside a Sunni mosque, police said. ...

CORDOBA, Argentina -- Venezuela formally entered Mercosur Friday, increasing the South American trade bloc's economic might and vowing to transform the once-sleepy policy organization into a force for profound social change. President Nestor Kirchner welcomed the "historic" addition of oil-rich Venezuela, the continent's No. ...

WASHINGTON -- The 1965 Voting Rights Act, which opened polls to millions of black Americans, is on its way to President Bush's desk after winning a 25-year extension from Congress. The president promised to sign it even before the 98-0 vote, eager to improve the GOP's standing with minorities...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- The Vincentian Fathers and Brothers at St. Mary of the Barrens are moving into their new home -- a 65,000-square-foot residence capable of sheltering as many as 35 priests, both active and retired, including about a half-dozen who need skilled nursing care...

CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- The AIDS infection rate among pregnant women in South Africa stayed at about 30 percent last year, according to a government report Friday that said the infection rate was stabilizing. "This is encouraging to note, but a great deal of work still needs to be done to ensure that new infections no longer take place at all in South Africa," Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said in his department's report...