Stories from Sunday, January 28, 2007

Booker DeRousse woke up at 5 a.m. Friday like he does every other weekday morning. And before eating or showering, the 25-year-old Ste. Genevieve, Mo., man walked over to the scales to weigh himself. The scales read 210 pounds. For most people this would be of passing interest. But for DeRousse, a chiseled 6-foot-2 union carpenter, the extra weight set off alarm bells...

Reaction to Gov. Matt Blunt's health-care proposals run full spectrum -- pans from Democrats and groups advocating for a more aggressive approach to praise from businesses that stand to benefit from the new tax deductions the proposal provides. One business group, however, isn't impressed with Blunt's ideas for promoting employer-sponsored coverage. ...

Paper flew across tabletops Saturday as artists learned a new technique from the man who created it. About 20 people were led by internationally known artist Russell Irwin at a paper mosaic workshop presented by the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri at the Garden Gallery in Cape Girardeau. Irwin, who has a studio in Augusta, Mo., creates textured works that on first glance appear to be paintings. Closer inspection reveals layers of colored paper blending together to make one image...

It comes as no surprise when the Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents votes to increase student incidental fees starting next fall by $55 a semester. State Rep. Jerry Ford of Cape Girardeau has been given the Outstanding Legislator Award from the St. Louis Police Officers Association...

Miscommunication often can cause conflict in relationships. Relationship expert Dr. Steven Schiendling, a licensed mental health counselor in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has written a book titled "Fumbles, Field Goals and the Myth of the Hail Mary" -- a communication guide that pairs football concepts and relationship advice to help men and women better understand what's happening in their own relationship...

Rhonda Elizabeth Jones and F. Arthur Acklie were married Oct. 21, 2006, at First Centenary United Methodist Church in Chattanooga, Tenn. Brian Davis performed the ceremony. Organist was Aesook Lim of Rome, Ga., and soloist was Cordelia Zinskie of Statesboro, Ga...

Andrea Sarah Earle and Anthony Charles Zoffuto Jr. were married June 24, 2006, in a garden setting at the Linden Row Inn in Richmond, Va. The Rev. Claudia Merritt performed the ceremony. Scripture readers were Dr. Anthony Zoffuto and Erin Scheaffer...

Carrie Rheannon Oberle and Timothy Alan Key were married Sept. 23, 2006, at the Elks Lodge in Jackson. Micha Bristow performed the ceremony. The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Virgil Freeman of Oak Ridge and Mr. and Mrs. Chris Oberle of Cape Girardeau. The groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Alan Key of Olive Branch, Miss...

The Larimore Plantation House in St. Louis was the setting for the Oct. 7, 2006, wedding of Susan Ashley Smith and Scott Michael Eftink. Robert Rockabrand performed the ceremony. A poem was read by Reid McCollum of Chicago. The bride is the daughter of Blair and Dory Smith of St. Louis. The groom is the son of Leon and MaryJane Eftink of Cape Girardeau...

Baked Chicken Wings; Crispy Cheddar Potato Skins; All-Star Pork Meatballs; Loaded Nachos; Baked Artichoke Dip; Layered party sandwich

James and Judy Newberry of Springfield, Mo., formerly of Cape Girardeau, announce the engagement of their daughter, Jessica Erin Newberry, to Johnathan Ray Romain. He is the son of Richard and Patricia Romain of Paducah, Ky. Newberry received a bachelor's degree in music from Indiana Bible College in 2005. She is employed at Regions Bank...

GLENALLEN, Mo. -- Gary and Donna Roberts of Glenallen announce the engagement of their daughter, Laci Dawn Roberts, to Matthew Clayton Gunter of Methuen, Mass. He is the son of Michael and Nancy Gunter of Temple, Texas. Roberts is a graduate of Woodland High School. ...

Dean McCormick of Scott City and Marianne McCormick of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Amanda McCormick, to Luke Aufdenberg, both of Burfordville. He is the son of Dennis and Liz Aufdenberg of Burfordville. McCormick is a 2003 graduate of Jackson High School. She received a bachelor's degree in agribusiness economics from Murray State University in Murray, Ky., in 2006. She is the grain accountant at Buchheit Agri Division...

Andy and Debby Brown of Millersville and Chris and Missy Mier of Scott City announce the engagement of their daughter, Julie Ann Mier, to Jamey Louis Heisserer. He is the son of Ralph and Brenda Heisserer of Benton, Mo. Mier is a 2002 graduate of Scott City High School. She received a bachelor's degree in human environmental studies from Southeast Missouri State University in 2005. She is administrative assistant at Kohl's Department Store...

Mary and Craig Petzoldt and Tim Kelly of Jackson announce the engagement of their daughter, Michelle Ellen Kelly, to David Husbands. He is the son of Chuck and Linda Husbands of Lloyd, Fla. Kelly is a 1998 graduate of Jackson High School, and a 2002 graduate of the College of Nursing. She is employed at Silver Springs Surgery Center...

DWI; Property damage

The Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to the following calls Friday: n At 5:04 p.m. emergency medical service in the 300 block of Siemers Drive. n At 9:01 p.m., car fire in the 900 block of South Kingshighway. n At 9:12 p.m., emergency medical service in the 100 block of North Main Street...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Republican Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and a favorite of conservatives, will take the first step in a 2008 presidential bid, an official said Friday. Huckabee, 51, plans to file papers Monday establishing an exploratory committee that will allow him to raise money and hire campaign staff, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid pre-empting a formal announcement...

DES MOINES, Iowa -- New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton blamed President Bush on Saturday for misusing authority given him by Congress to act in Iraq, but conceded "I take responsibility" for her role in allowing that to happen. In an interview with The Associated Press, Clinton also said she would not cede black votes to Barack Obama and that she had proven as a U.S. senator that gender is irrelevant...

James Edward Summers Sr., of Cape Girardeau, passed away at the age of 84 on Friday, Jan. 26, 2007, at Saint Francis Medical Center, surrounded by family. Jim was born March 6, 1922, in Palmyra, Mo., the son of Walter and Myrtle Summers. Jim and Pat Mills were married Jan. 25, 1958, in the chapel at Malden Air Base, Malden, Mo...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Jane Simmons, 75, of Tamms died Friday night, Jan. 26, 2007, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born on Jan. 21, 1932, in Streator, Ill., to Rudolph Theodore and Wilifred I. (Losey) Hendrickson. She was a member of the First Baptist Church in Alton, Ill. She was a registered nurse and worked at hospitals in California, Florida, Illinois and Missouri...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Gail Anette Cureton, 55, of Marble Hill died Friday, Jan. 26, 2007, at Des Peres Hospital. She was born March 27, 1951, in Watson, Ark., daughter of Robert Hugh and Myrtle Mae Threet Bell. She and Roy Cureton were married March 23, 1973, at Oran, Mo...

BENTON, Mo. -- J.W. Wiedefeld, 57, of Benton died Friday, Jan. 26, 2007, at his home. He was born Sept. 29, 1949, in Cape Girardeau, son of Elmer Charles "Johnny" Wiedefeld and Anna Marie Scheffer Wiedefeld. Wiedefeld was employed as a laborer for the Operating Engineers Local 513. He served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. He was a member of St. Denis Catholic Church in Benton...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Nota B. Ables, 86, of Sikeston died Friday, Jan. 26, 2007, at the Sikeston Convalescent Center. Ables was born Sept. 27, 1920 in East Prairie, Mo., daughter of John Wesley and Bird Cooper Dover. She and Cline Ables were married July 27, 1946. He died July 4, 2003...

LICK CREEK, Ill. -- Stanley "Steve" Carter, 56, of Lick Creek died Friday, Jan. 26, 2007, at his home. He was born June 4, 1950, in Anna, Ill., son of Don Wayne and Gladys Irene Mixen Carter. He and Janet Dover were married. Carter served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam. He worked as a meat cutter at Kroger's in Marion...

Alleen Anna Blattel, 90, of Scott City died Friday, Jan. 26, 2007, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Sept. 9, 1916, in Fornfelt, Mo., daughter of Peter John and Bertha Westerhold Hoffman. She and Anthony Joseph Wilhelm were married Nov. 26, 1936, at Illmo, Mo. He died April 21, 1992. She married Elmer P. Blattel April 18, 1994. He died April 14, 2002...

Josh Davis, 56, of Alto Pass, Ill., died Friday, Jan. 26, 2007, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born May 12, 1950 in Cairo, Ill., son of Warren H. and Edna (Reed) Davis. He and Lela Burton were married in 1970 in Jackson. He is survived by his wife; two sons, Mickey Davis of Anna, Ill. ...

LAKE OF EGYPT, Ill. -- Mary Ann Abercrombie Willis, 93, of Lake of Egypt, formerly of Anna, Ill., died Thursday, Jan. 25, 2007, in Williamson County. Friends may call from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Crain Funeral Home in Anna. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the funeral home, with the Rev. Verlee Eaker officiating. Interment will be in Anna Cemetery...

Invented in Japan and perfected on the streets of Brazil, jiu-jitsu is a martial art that typically involves no kicking or punching. Instead it is a grappling competition that emphasizes limb locks and choke holds to neutralize an opponent. "It allows you to use leverage without worrying about sheer power. The power is the application of force on the right place at the right time," said Mario Roberto, a 28-year-old black belt of Rochester, Minn...

Seven-year-old Harlie loves having two big sisters. Destiny Dirnberger and Breena Green aren't really her sisters. They are two outgoing Notre Dame Regional High School seniors who serve as mentors for the Jefferson Elementary School second-grader in an after-school program run by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri in Cape Girardeau...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Florence E. Meppelink, 85, of Springfield died Thursday, Jan. 25, 2007. She was born Aug. 11, 1921, at Muskegon, Mich. She was a 1942 graduate of Central Bible Institute, where she met her husband, Herb. They began ministry with Assembles of God in 1943 and pastored in Kentucky and Michigan. Later she served with her husband when he became a director of Teen Challenge in Michigan and later in Cape Girardeau...

Southeast Public Radio's "Going Public" show today will discuss some of the area news events that occurred this month. Renee Jean, assistant managing editor of St. Francois County's Daily Journal, will discuss the safe return home of kidnap victim Shawn Hornbeck and how the media has covered the story...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke with Pakistan's president about the situation in neighboring Afghanistan here Saturday, a Pakistani official said. The visit came less than three weeks after the House passed legislation that would link U.S. military aid to Pakistan's commitment to combatting Taliban militants -- a measure some fear could strain relations between the two nations, allies in the war against al-Qaida and other terror groups...

WASHINGTON -- From high-dollar fraud to conspiracy to bribery and bid rigging, Army investigators have opened up to 50 criminal probes involving battlefield contractors in the war in Iraq and the U.S. fight against terrorism, The Associated Press has learned...

WASHINGTON -- Convinced this is their moment, tens of thousands marched Saturday in an anti-war demonstration linking military families, ordinary people and an icon of the Vietnam protest movement in a spirited call to get out of Iraq. Celebrities, a half-dozen lawmakers and protesters from distant states rallied in the capital under a sunny sky, seizing an opportunity to press their cause with a Congress restive on the war and a country that has turned against the conflict...

WASHINGTON -- A smorgasbord of Washington insider details has emerged during the perjury trial of the vice president's former chief of staff. For example, when Dick Cheney really needed friends in the news media, his staff was short of phone numbers...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraqi officials say a hotly debated proposed oil law will not favor Americans but acknowledge that foreign companies will be allowed to take their profits out of the country -- an incentive to draw foreign investment. The Oil Ministry has been struggling for months to reach a compromise over draft legislation to govern Iraq's most important industry and pave the way for much-needed investment and know-how to revitalize the devastated infrastructure. ...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Gunmen from the rival Hamas and Fatah movements battled in Gaza City for a third straight day Saturday, firing mortars and grenades in clashes that killed seven people in the increasingly bloody power struggle over the Palestinian government...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The U.S. military reported the deaths of seven more soldiers Saturday, while Sunni insurgent bombers struck yet another market in a predominantly Shiite district, killing at least 13 people in their bid to terrorize Baghdad days before a U.S.-Iraqi military crackdown...

Lawmaker says Iran is installing centrifuges TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran is currently installing 3,000 centrifuges, a top lawmaker said Saturday in an announcement underlining that the country will continue to develop its nuclear program despite U.N. sanctions. ...

ST. LOUIS -- Cujo was a frisky 7-year-old when he sneaked out of his owners' south St. Louis yard in July 2000. Now, thinner and grayer and with a tale that would be fascinating if only he could tell it, the golden retriever is back with the Barczewski family...

WICHITA, Kan. -- Don't clean your plate. Don't wear diamonds before sunset. Don't speak to servants. And please, ladies and gentlemen, do not, under any circumstances, touch your face or your hair in public. To do so would be terribly uncouth. Liza Gilbert had researched the customs and mannerisms of Edwardian England around 1912, when Titanic set sail on her maiden voyage. On a recent Monday, she had to teach a couple dozen modern Americans how to act their parts...

ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Nearly a week after his term elapsed, the former communist strongman who has kept a tight grip on Uzbekistan for more than 15 years shows no sign of vacating the presidential office. The clock ran out on Islam Karimov's second term on Sunday, but there has been no official recognition of the fact -- a sign his hold on power remains strong and that he has no intention of leaving, analysts say...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Since the mid-1970s, the School of Metaphysics in Columbia has been teaching students techniques in concentration, listening and reasoning. It's one of the oldest branches of the Windyville-based school, which has 16 schools across the country...

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Ever wonder how a body would decay differently if it was tied to a tree rather than left lying on the ground? The morbid question was one forensic anthropologist Dr. Bill Bass needed answered, so he set up an experiment at the famed research center known as the Body Farm, which Bass founded at the University of Tennessee...

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Researchers in California said they have created the world's densest memory circuit, one that's about 100 times denser than today's standard memory circuits, while remaining as small as a human white blood cell. Scientists from the California Institute of Technology and the University of California, Los Angeles, reported the development in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature...

Chicago high-rise apartment fire kills 2 CHICAGO -- Fire broke out in a high-rise apartment building in Chicago on Friday night, killing at least two people and injuring two others. Two elderly victims were taken to the hospital in critical condition but later died, said fire department spokeswoman Eve Rodriguez. ...

LIVERMORE, Colo. -- Squatting in a small corral in a picturesque Rocky Mountain valley, paleontologist Brent Breithaupt points excitedly at a patch of mud containing a large, fresh, three-toed footprint. "Everything that we see in this track here can be found in the fossil record," he said...

PHILADELPHIA -- Prince Charles and his wife Camilla shook hands with well-wishers outside Independence Hall on a frigid Saturday to kick off their first trip to the city where Americans declared their independence from British rule. The Prince of Wales and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, greeted long lines of gushing fans, mingling with them, accepting flowers and charming many in the crowd...

SEATTLE -- A bridge over Seattle is becoming hazardous to the mental health of the dot-com employees and other office workers below, who keep seeing people jump to their deaths from the span. Thirty-nine people over the past decade have committed suicide off the 155-foot-high Aurora Bridge -- eight in 2006 alone -- and counselors are regularly brought in to help office workers deal with the shock of seeing the leap or the bloody aftermath...

SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. -- A 62-year-old grandmother who prosecutors said ran drugs to support her bingo habit has been sentenced to three years in prison and a $150,000 fine. Acting on a tip, state police stopped Leticia Villareal Garcia near Bisbee in southeast Arizona in February 2005 and found 214 pounds of marijuana stuffed into the trunk of her car...

CHICAGO -- Al Capone refuses to be rubbed out. Chicago officials shun any association with "Scarface," whose Prohibition-era exploits made his name synonymous with the city. "Anything that glorifies violence we are not interested in," said Dorothy Coyle, director of the city's office on tourism...

Testosterone soaked the air at the A.C. Brase Arena Building on Saturday night with a mix of violence, alcohol and attractive women. Some combination of the three likely helped play a part in what turned out to be a capacity crowd at the Devastation Fight Night mixed martial arts event...

Southeast Missouri State had been playing so well lately, even when the Redhawks lost, it was by narrow margins to some of the Ohio Valley Conference's best teams. Not Saturday night. The Redhawks laid an egg -- a big one -- as Murray State crushed them 85-67...

With so little separating Southeast Missouri State and Murray State in the Ohio Valley Conference standings, perhaps it was fitting that the teams played overtime Saturday night. Make that two overtimes. But for Southeast, it was worth the trouble. In a game that featured 11 ties, 18 lead changes and no advantage greater than eight points, the host Redhawks finally squeezed out a 66-63 win...

Shawn Sherrell fired in a runner down the lane with 1.5 seconds left to lift Charleston to a 73-71 victory in a SEMO Conference battle with Notre Dame. The loss was the first in conference play for Notre Dame, which fell to 17-4 overall and 4-1 in the league. The Bulldogs are ranked in the top 10 in the state Class 4 poll...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Fresh off a pretty good election cycle for Democrats, former Gov. Roger Wilson announced Saturday that he is stepping down as chairman of the Missouri Democratic Party. Wilson, 58, of Columbia, had served as party chair since August 2004, selected by Claire McCaskill after she defeated Gov. Bob Holden in the Democratic gubernatorial primary...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The state could have the last word in deciding the number and types of plants and animals farmers can raise. Those types of issues now often are decided at the local level, while the state oversight focuses more on water and air pollution...

BEAUFORT, Mo. -- Life isn't normal again for Ben Ownby. But all in all, life seems pretty darn good. Ben got home Saturday afternoon after a long day of Boy Scout training, where he was working to earn a merit badge in First Aid. He walked in the front door, looked around and stood stopped in his tracks with a big grin on his face...