Stories from Saturday, July 7, 2007

Southeast Missouri State University wants to do a better job of marketing itself. To that end, the school has hired Elizabeth Shelton to fill the new position of director of strategic communication and marketing. School officials announced the hiring late last month in a news release. ...

A $102,919 federal grant will allow the city of Cape Girardeau to install flashing beacons and signs to warn motorists to slow down in front of schools, city officials said Friday. The Missouri Department of Transportation awarded the grant as part of the Safe Routes to School program. The program is designed to encourage children to walk or ride their bicycles to school...

Dan Buchanan lost the use of his legs in a hang-glider accident 26 years ago. Stormy weather that day caused the hang glider to hit him on the head, giving him a compression fracture. Not one to back down from a challenge, Buchanan returned to the skies nine months after the accident and has performed a hang-glider stunt act at air shows since 1989...

The papers are signed and the space is designed for the new location of Discovery Playhouse at 101 William St. The not-for-profit children's museum has been looking for a new home since December and finally settled on the 12,000-square-foot building across from Old St. Vincent's Church on the corner of William and Main streets...

Every year many families turn out for Parks and Rec Day at the Osage Community Centre. Though rain curtailed a few activities, Thursday's event was filled with fun and games. Lots of animals -- including snakes, ponies and trained dogs -- entertained the children, and KFVS12 personality Jason Lindsey provided information about science. Pilots and others involved with this weekend's Cape Girardeau Regional Air Festival came by to talk about flying and sign autographs...

To the editor:Just a quick note to say thank you for reprinting "Continuity" by Jean Bell Mosley on the July 3, 2007, Opinion page. I always enjoyed Jean Bell Mosley's columns in the newspaper. She was certainly a gifted writer. I not only enjoyed her stories, but I found that her writing had the wonderful quality of transporting me back to a simpler time in my own life as well. ...

To the editor:The U.S. Marine Corps is attempting to foist upon former Marine sergeant Liam Madden an other than honorable discharge and calling him disloyal to boot. And why is that? Well, Madden's offense against the corps was to appear at a rally against the Iraq invasion attired, at least partly, in his Marine uniform. If it were not for the fact that the tainted discharge might hamper him in the world of civilian work in future...

Embracing the concept; Rank and file; Looking east; Treating Bush; Checking up; Muddy view; Any day now; Waking up; Class preparation; Still willing; Show courtesy; Likes Libertyfest; Fireworks great; Parade to the bar

MILLER CITY, Ill. -- Jake Pecord, 16, of Miller City died Friday, July 6, 2007, in a vehicle accident in Miller City. He was born Sept. 6, 1990, in Cape Girardeau, son of Jerry A. and Cacey Williams Pecord. He was a member of La Croix United Methodist Church in Cape Girardeau. He was a student at Central High School in Cape Girardeau, where he was active in FBLA, having recently received national recognition for his work with computers...

Eller; Brown; New; Seabaugh; Porcius; Dowd

DWI; DWIs

n At 8:06 p.m., still alarm at 3171 Park Place Drive. n At 8:55 p.m., fire alarm at 1208 S. Kingshighway. n At 6:45 a.m., emergency medical service in the 800 block of North Fountain Street. n At 7:13 a.m., alarm sounding in the unit block of North Main Street...

MIAMI -- When there is tension at the National Hurricane Center, it's usually because a powerful storm is bearing down on Miami, New Orleans or another U.S. city. But the turmoil these days is focused on demands from many staffers that the center's new director be ousted...

Born in Oran, Mo., the fourth child of Bertha Fisher and Robert Fisher, Aug. 3, 1923, Evelyn Lavern Fisher Cooper departed this life Thursday, July 5, 2007, in Austin, Texas. Evelyn is survived by two brothers, Raymond Fisher of Neelyville, Mo., Hershel Fisher of Advance, Mo.; three sisters, Marie Widner of Durand, Mich., Helen Shoaf of Sikeston, Mo., and Wanda Ponce of Bell City, Mo...

AUSTIN, Texas -- Another round of heavy rain drenched parts of eastern Texas on Friday, flooding roads and stranding at least one driver on top of his truck, authorities said. Volunteers with the New Summerfield Fire Department were able to rescue the man after his pickup stalled on a flooded road in Cherokee County, dispatcher Mike Carter said...

Kenneth Henry Reiker was born in Cape Girardeau March 24, 1944, and went to be with his God Tuesday, July 3, 2007, at his home in Shalimar, Fla. Ken was 63. He graduated from Notre Dame High School in Cape Girardeau and attended Murray State University in Murray, Ky. Ken moved to Fort Walton Beach, Fla., in 1969...

Robert Cornelius Cantrell, 93, formerly of Caruthersville, Mo., died Friday, July 6, 2007, at the home of his son. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home.

Charlotte Hubbard, 67, died Friday, July 6, 2007, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home.

Marie B. Philips,78, of Warwick, R.I., died Friday, June 29, 2007, at the home of her daughter and son-in-law in Warwick. She was born April 7, 1929, in Scott City, daughter of Antone and Alma Heuring Kielhafner. She married Joseph Philips 55 years ago. He died in March 2007...

EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. -- Imogine Burney, 83, of East Prairie died Friday, July 6, 2007, at East Prairie. She was born June 9, 1924, in Paris, Tenn., daughter of Stanley B. and Ruthie L. Cook Thomas. She and Bob Burney were married Dec. 19, 1942, at Charleston, Mo. He died March 9, 1999...

Edward E. Minor, 90, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, July 6, 2007, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Friends may call from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home Sprigg Street Chapel. Funeral will be at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home, with entombment in Memorial Park Mausoleum...

ANNA, Ill. -- Homer "Soup" Campbell, 82, of Anna died Thursday, July 5, 2007, at City Care Center in Cobden, Ill. He was born March 6, 1925, in Balcom, Ill., son of Homer and Zona Lingle Campbell Sr. He and Nadine Swafford were married Feb. 29, 1948, in Tupelo, Miss...

MoDOT announces construction updates n Route D in Cape Girardeau County will be reduced to one lane while the Missouri Department of Transportation makes pavement repairs. The section of roadway is from U.S. 61/Route D intersection to Broadridge Street in Jackson. The work will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Wednesday...

An alleged accomplice in the Tuesday shooting of John Lee Tate was charged with tampering with evidence Friday. Police continue to search for Brannon Mackins, 19, of Mounds, Ill., who police say was the shooter. Alfonso Ellis, 23, of 2818 Independence St., was charged with one felony count of tampering with physical evidence for receiving the handgun Mackins allegedly used in the shooting...

Minutes before the U.S. Army Golden Knights Parachute Team jumped out of a twin-engine plane late Friday afternoon at the Cape Girardeau Regional Air Festival, the only female jumper said her thoughts were not on the 14,000-foot plunge, but rather on the girls in the crowd below watching her feat...

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson took on federal contracting practicies, the actions of her colleagues in Congress and even fellow Republicans during a talk Friday to area business leaders. Emerson gave an update on congressional action -- or inaction -- during her address at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's monthly First Friday coffee. ...

The Missouri Department of Agriculture is warning hay producers listed on the Missouri Hay Directory of a scam in which producers are contacted by a supposedly interested buyer. "Our Missouri Hay Directory has truly been a success for over 10 years, and it is unfortunate that someone is trying to take advantage of our producers," said Katie Smith, director of Missouri Department of Agriculture. ...

Since mid-March, both Sikeston and Scott County have been reluctant caretakers of cemeteries. Thanks to a court order, cemeteries in Sikeston and just outside Morley, Mo., were turned over to the governments after years of neglect by their owner, Mike Graham and Associates, a Houston-based company...

MOSCOW -- Sixty years after the AK-47 went into production, Mikhail Kalashnikov says he does not stay awake at night worrying about the bloodshed wrought by the world's most popular assault rifle. "I sleep well. It's the politicians who are to blame for failing to come to an agreement and resorting to violence," Kalashnikov said Friday at a ceremony marking the birth of the rifle, whose initials stand for "Avtomat Kalashnikov."...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- The top-ranking cleric of a radical mosque besieged by government forces in Pakistan's capital rejected calls for surrender Friday, saying he and his die-hard followers were ready for martyrdom. At dusk on the third day of the siege, a half-dozen explosions rocked the area around the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, shooting debris high above the treetops along with plumes of smoke and dust. ...

LONDON -- The FBI said Friday that two suspects in the failed car bombings in Britain had made inquiries about working in the United States, and an Iraqi doctor arrested at the attack on Glasgow airport became the first person charged in the terror plot...

WASHINGTON -- Employers added 132,000 jobs, paychecks grew solidly and the unemployment rate stayed at a low 4.5 percent in June, fresh evidence that the once listless economy is regaining energy. The new snapshot of conditions across the country, released by the Labor Department on Friday, showed that companies have a respectable -- albeit not ravenous -- appetite to hire and that there are opportunities for job seekers willing to pursue the hunt...

HELENA, Mont. -- If a record-breaking heat wave doesn't lift soon, cattle rancher Sharon McDonald may see her hay crop turn to dust. Oppressive temperatures eased a bit in some parts of the West, but McDonald's central Montana ranch baked under triple-digit heat. Forecasters reported little relief in the days ahead, saying the weather system that brought the high temperatures could last well into next week...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri abortion providers will face new regulations for their clinics and new restrictions on teaching sex education classes. Gov. Matt Blunt signed legislation Friday placing more abortion clinics under government oversight by classifying them as ambulatory surgical centers. Planned Parenthood claimed the law could force it to spend up to $2 million to remodel one of its clinics and halt medical abortions at another site...

CHICAGO -- For weeks, Debbie Dethart refused to venture into her back yard to mow the lawn because swarms of noisy cicadas covered everything. Lately though, the elementary school teacher from Homewood has spent a lot of time cleaning up bug carcasses as the 17-year periodical cicadas die off -- not to return until 2024...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Matt Blunt vetoed a massive package of tax breaks Friday but indicated he would summon a special session if legislative leaders could agree on a slimmed-down economic development bill. Blunt, a Republican who has proudly championed tax cuts, said the bill passed by the Republican-led legislature would have cost the state about $200 million while doling out money to questionable causes. He denounced it as "loaded down with excessive spending."...

CINCINNATI -- A divided federal appeals court rejected a lawsuit Friday challenging President Bush's domestic spying program without ruling on the issue of whether warrantless wiretapping is legal. In a 2-1 decision with Republican-appointed judges in the majority, a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the plaintiffs had no standing to sue because they couldn't prove their communications had been monitored by the government...

LAS VEGAS -- A man on a balcony over the New York-New York casino floor opened fire on the gamblers below early Friday, wounding four people before he was tackled by off-duty military reservists, police said. A fifth person was hurt in a crush of people fleeing the casino...

Asif Shah was one of the better pitchers in the Ohio Valley Conference this year, leading Southeast Missouri State with seven wins while compiling a solid 3.22 ERA. The left-hander had not yet lived up to that resume this summer for the Plaza Tire Capahas...

The Paducah Sun The groundwork began back in the 1980s when the neighborhood was established as a historic district. You might even say it began earlier, with the simple realization that this section, with its distinctive architecture and its proximity to downtown, deserved preserving...

ST. LOUIS -- Mark Mulder exited his latest bullpen session Friday optimistic he can help the St. Louis Cardinals' makeshift pitching staff at some point this season. "Today was by far the best I've thrown," Mulder said after throwing 45 to 50 fastballs several hours before the Cardinals played the San Francisco Giants. "Where that is on a scale, I don't know, but it's definitely a lot, lot, lot better."...

The Cape Girardeau City Council unanimously approved a resolution last night directing the city's administrative staff to apply for a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant that would target a residential area on the city's south side. A decision on a proposed ordinance aimed at regulating abortion in the city of Cape Girardeau was postponed at last night's city council meeting, but Mayor Howard C. Tooke says he would support a vote on the ordinance at the next meeting set for July 19...

With music, games, a little magic and a lot of learning, area children are having fun and learning about their relationship with God at vacation Bible school. Here is a look at Bible school activities through photographs.

Looking at things through the eyes of God is different than seeing them with the vision of humans. I was astonished by an insight shared recently by someone in our Bible study group. It was proof that it's not in what we participate that makes the difference, rather it's the purpose of the actions...

ST. LOUIS -- Barry Bonds hardly got a chance to move closer to Hank Aaron on Friday night. Playing in one of baseball's most tradition-rich cities, Bonds grounded out, drew three walks and watched his teammates produce in the San Francisco Giants' 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. He remained at 751 homers, four shy of matching Aaron's record...