Stories from September 2007

By Bridget DiCosmo Southeast Missourian Cape Girardeau police arrested a suspect in connection with a robbery that occurred behind the floodwall in downtown Cape Girardeau. Mikeem R. Daniel, 17, of Haywood City, Mo., was arrested around 7:15 p.m. Friday...

An 86-year-old man known to local law enforcement as "Pops" was arrested Thursday on charges of possession of drug paraphernalia. Cape Girardeau police and members of the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force apprehended Hubert Seals, 86, of 818 S. Sprigg St., following a search of his residence, which was a known "crack house," according to a probable-cause statement by Detective William Bonhert of the Cape Girardeau police...

There's plenty of water available in Southeast Missouri, just not where farmers need it most. The Mississippi River rose to almost 28 feet, four feet below flood stage, Friday at Cape Girardeau. That's a rise of 16 feet in nine days. A flow gauge at Thebes, Ill., late Friday recorded three times the average volume of water in the river than is normally seen this time of year...

Cape Girardeau experienced the driest August on record this year since 1961, according to National Weather Service observations. Only 0.01 inches of rain was recorded in August at the National Weather Service's observation station at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, the driest since the agency began to take records there in 1961...

BOISE, Idaho -- Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig will resign from the Senate amid a furor over his arrest and guilty plea in a police sex sting in an airport men's room, Republican officials said Friday. Craig will announce at a news conference in Boise today morning that he will resign effective Sept. 30, four state GOP officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity...

Arrests

Fighting crime; Wasting tax dollars; Spewing venom; Rough street; Jogging safety; Time to leave; Teaching children; Dear Abby

Gladys E. Edwards went home to her heavenly Father Thursday, Aug. 30, 2007, at Chateau Girardeau Health Center. She was born March 25, 1920, to David Benton and Ona Caroline Yount Bollinger on the Bollinger family farm. She attended Southeast Missouri State University. She was united in marriage to Ralph W. Edwards of Marquand, Mo., May 15, 1940...

NEW YORK -- What began as a ninth-grade prank, a way to trick already-suspicious friends who had fallen for his earlier practical jokes, has earned Rich Skrenta notoriety as the first person ever to let loose a personal computer virus. Although over the next 25 years, Skrenta started the online news business Topix, helped launch a collaborative Web directory now owned by Time Warner Inc.'s Netscape and wrote countless other computer programs, he is still remembered most for unleashing the "Elk Cloner" virus on the world.. ...

JACKSON, Wyo. -- Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke vowed Friday to do all that is necessary to protect the national economy from the ill effects of a global credit crunch -- but not to bail out investors and lenders "from the consequences of their financial decisions."...

CLEVELAND -- The FBI is looking overseas for suspects who have phoned bomb threats to more than 24 grocery stores, banks and discount stores in 15 states, including at least six new cases Friday in Ohio. The callers have threatened to set off a bomb unless store employees wire money to an account abroad. At a Dillons grocery store in Hutchinson, Kan., the caller ordered customers and workers to take off their clothes and threatened to force them to cut off a manager's fingers...

NEW YORK -- While Fred Thompson's "Law & Order" character disappears from NBC starting Saturday because of concerns over federal equal time provisions, cable viewers will still have plenty of opportunities to see his district attorney Arthur Branch...

NEW YORK -- Apple Inc. escalated a dispute with NBC Universal over the pricing of television shows by announcing Friday it would not sell any NBC programs for this fall season on iTunes. Earlier, NBC had told Apple it would no longer allow its programs to be sold via iTunes at the end of the year. NBC Universal-controlled television programming accounts for an estimated 40 percent of the video downloads on iTunes...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- "Mass disturbances" are up sharply at the Guantanamo Bay prison this year despite a security overhaul and the release of dozens of prisoners, according to a new U.S. military report. A one-page report titled "Danger Inside the Wire" said there were 385 mass disturbances in the first six months of 2007 compared to 201 for all of 2006, an increase of more than 90 percent with half the year still to go...

GUANICA, Puerto Rico -- Miles of rocky shoreline and mangrove thickets have been fouled by a fuel spill drifting along Puerto Rico's southwest coast, environmental officials said Friday. Specialists walked blackened shores as helicopters flew over the area to assess damage and track the slick, which also could threaten a pristine coral reef off the coast of La Parguera, a diving site popular with tourists...

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Southern Illinois University's president asked Friday for an internal review to determine whether he can keep his job in the wake of claims he may have plagiarized parts of his 1984 doctoral dissertation. Glenn Poshard insisted the flap would not prompt him to resign and rejected claims that he may have plagiarized parts of the dissertation. ...

MOSCOW -- A St. Louis student is free to return to the United States, after Russian prosecutors dropped a smuggling charge against her on Friday. Roxana Contreras had been prohibited from leaving Russia for 2 1/2 months. She had faced a possible 7-year prison sentence on charges related to buying old currency and military medals as souvenirs from a street vendor. She was fined for buying Soviet-era medals...

ST. LOUIS -- About 120 residents of the Bellefontaine Habilitation Center in St. Louis County will be moved to private, community-based programs after a federal review showed they were at risk of injury or even death, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Friday...

WASHINGTON -- Federal offices owe some $45 million in delinquent withholding taxes and the Internal Revenue Service needs to do more to ensure that the government lives up to its taxpaying obligations, according a report issued Friday. The Treasury inspector general for tax administration, who oversees IRS operations, also found that as of January this year delinquent state and local government accounts totaled $254 million...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush huddled with top military leaders about the Iraq war Friday, and Pentagon officials defended efforts to rid the Iraqi national police of sectarian bias and corruption, even as an independent review found the force too tainted to continue...

Vincentian Marian Youth event to be held Sept. 9 The next Vincentian Marian Youth Encounter will feature the annual outdoor Mass at the grotto and fall hayride Sept. 9. Praise and worship music will start the night off with music starting at 5:45 p.m. ...

EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. -- Daisy Irene Thomas, 88, of East Prairie died Thursday, Aug. 30, 2007, at East Prairie Nursing Center. She was born Feb. 15, 1919, in Graves County, Ky., daughter of Stanley B. and Ruthie L. Cook Thomas. She and Marion Otto Thomas were married Sept. 22, 1935. He died July 8, 1977...

Geraldine T. Byron, 87, of St. Louis, formerly of Jackson, died Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2007, at her home. She was born Nov. 4, 1919, in Jackson, daughter of Charles and Mary Steimel Sievers. She married Arthur E. Byron, who preceded her in death. Byron had been an office worker, and a member of Concord Baptist Church...

Baker; Wybert; Woods; Wheatley; Maurer; Galati; Shock; Barnes; Stabbs; Johnson; Kinder; Hellwege

God created us for work. If we truly want to cling to the biblical truth that God created us for life, purpose and Sabbath we must also submit to the proposition that work is a part of life. Adam and Eve, created in the image of their creator (an act of work itself) were completely supplied for. They were given every fruit, every tree to abundantly provide for their needs, minus one. Accompanying the overabundance of provision and the permissive command to enjoy was the instruction to work...

I was required to write my life's story numerous times as I attended college. "Why would I want to reach into the past and dredge up memories?" I asked myself. The past was over! I saw no reason to waste energy thinking about what was done. I placed more importance on what was happening now, and, particularly, in the future. I discovered why writing one's life story is valuable...

There's plenty of water available in Southeast Missouri, just not where farmers need it most. The Mississippi River rose to almost 28 feet, four feet below flood stage, Friday at Cape Girardeau. That's a rise of 16 feet in nine days. A flow gauge at Thebes, Ill., late Friday recorded three times the average volume of water in the river than is normally seen this time of year...

On a team that returned nine regulars and three additional letterwinners, Heather Nelson knew it would take special freshmen to break into the lineup. The Southeast Missouri State women's soccer coach apparently has found some. Two freshmen started Friday night's season opener and one of them scored the lone goal as the Redhawks slipped past Northwestern (La.) State 1-0...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Southeast Missouri State volleyball team won its third straight match Friday with a victory on the opening day of the North Florida Labor Day Classic. Southeast (3-1) beat host North Florida 30-21, 27-30, 30-26, 30-21. Brittany Hastings led the Redhawks in kills with 15. Aubrey Dondlinger had 13 and Brenna Schlader added 11...

The Notre Dame boys soccer team slipped past Festus St. Pius 3-2 on Friday in the semifinals of the annual Notre Dame SoccerFest. Notre Dame (3-0) received goals from Ryan Willen, Josh Robert and Ty Williams. In the other semifinal, Jackson edged Carbondale, Ill., 2-1...

MALDEN -- Scott City, the most productive offensive team in the area last fall, showed Friday just how much its defense has improved since last season. The Scott City defense yielded no touchdowns against Malden, stopping the Green Wave on four plays inside its own 10-yard line in the final 2 minutes to preserve a 14-6 victory...

Francis Howell Central football coach Travis Wilson knew exactly what to expect for his first ever head coaching experience Friday night as the Spartans hosted Jackson. Wilson played on the 1997 Jackson team that went 10-0 during the regular season and won a playoff game against Kirkwood before falling to Parkway Central in the Class 5A quarterfinals...

PERRYVILLE -- It took them a little while to get going, but Perryville's Kris Cottner and Josh Perreault put on a two-man offensive show Friday night in their team's season opener. Cottner and Perreault combined to rush for 220 yards, leading the Pirates to a 41-26 home victory against Pacific...

A trip to Colorado toughens Tigers for the road ahead. By CHRISTOPHER SMITH Southeast Missourian The Central girls cross country team this summer took a 1,000-mile detour west of its usual practice trails to the mountains of Colorado while training to defend its eighth-straight conference title...

CHAFFEE -- Chaffee ended its 34-game losing streak against Grandview last season. The Red Devils looked like a juggernaut in this year's rematch. Chaffee scored five different ways as it routed the Eagles 47-6 in the season opener for both teams Friday in Chaffee...

CREVE COEUR, Mo. -- You know you've had a bad night when the opposing team's place kicker is setting records for extra points made. Parkway North freshman place-kicker Aaron Hummert set a school record by connecting on eight extra points. To call the Cape Central football team's season opening game bad would be gentle...

The Daily Egyptian, the student newspaper at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, has reported that SIU President Glenn Poshard's 1984 doctoral dissertation had portions either not attributed to their original sources or not put in quotation marks to show they weren't Poshard's writing. An example cited by the newspaper:--From Poshard's dissertation, page 39:...

Jackson Middle School students took time out on Thursday and Friday to practice team-building skills in a series of activities. Partly an icebreaker to help sixth graders from North, South and various parochial elementary schools mix, Christa Millham, assistant principal, said the goal of the games were to find skills they could "relay o the classroom and life in general, to get along with others...

Effective today, purchases by Cape Girardeau's city government of everything "from cars to toilet paper" are being administered by the city manager's office under a program designed to realign the city's purchasing policies; before today, most departments and offices in the city government were allowed to make their own purchases...

It's the season for celebrating a community rich with historical churches. St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church at 516 North St. will celebrate its 144th anniversary Sunday. According to a short history written by church member Charles A. Dunn, the church was first organized in 1863 when circuit riders established the St. ...

During August, farmers have seen their crops bake in the field, largely unable to do anything about the situation if they're farming ground that isn't irrigated. "The last 30 days, it's been like being in a microwave oven set on high," said Matthew McCrate, a resident of the Cape Girardeau area who farms near Portageville, Mo., and is a member of the Missouri Soybean Association board of directors. "The further south you go, the worse it is."...

A late addition to the River Campus events schedule will bring The Moscow Ballet's "Great Russian Nutcracker" back to Cape Girardeau on Dec. 12 and 13, after two seasons when the ballet didn't visit the city. The concert was booked in May, said Robert Cerchio, assistant director of the Holland School of Visual and Performing Arts based at the new Southeast Missouri State University River Campus. ...

Before the airplane. Before the atom bomb. Before television. Before the Southeast Missourian there was Florence Poe. Cape Girardeau's eldest resident celebrated her 110th birthday at Fountainbleau Lodge last week. Her big day was indeed grand with a five-piece orchestra and a crowd of more than 200 people. ...

Husband-and-wife journalists Bob Miller and Callie Clark Miller share the same small house (still), work in the same office (again) and somehow manage to cling to their sanity (barely). Older and wiser (she's wiser, he's just older), the Southeast Missourian sweethearts offer their views on everyday issues, told from two different perspectives....

If no one objects, the city of Cape Girardeau could expand by 135 acres this month. The city council will vote Tuesday night to annex Earl and Ruth Norman's property between Benton Hill Trace and Kensington Lane, east of Bloomfield Road. Earl Norman said he was impressed enough with city services to want to pay taxes for them...

Cape Girardeau has 13 miles of roads few people ever travel. Some of the purposes alleys were built for no longer exist -- deliveries of ice and coal, for instance. Narrow, mostly graveled and invariably poorly lighted, they get no respect in the era of four-lane highways and smooth hiking and biking trails...

The last time John Dragoni visited Washington, D.C., more than 20 years ago, he was working for a machinery manufacturer. Now, he's going back to the nation's capitol for a personal matter. "I want to see the World War II memorial. I only have one eye. I can't drive myself and can't get anyone to go with me," the Cape Girardeau man said...

Cape Girardeau Democrats will choose a nominee Thursday for the Feb. 5 special legislative election from among three candidates, county chairwoman Brenda Woemmel said Saturday. The line-up of contenders includes two past candidates for the post and one political newcomer. The party's nominating committee for the 158th District Missouri House seat will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday in the basement conference room at Commerce Bank, 160 S. Broadview St...

On sale for only two model years, Subaru's first seven-passenger sport utility vehicle, the B9 Tribeca, is already getting a makeover. For 2008, the Tribeca loses its less-than-attractive, snouty face, adds more power to its six-cylinder engine and updates its rear suspension and automatic transmission for better ride and performance...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- More than 50 cruise ships are offering one-way repositioning voyages this fall, according to the Cruise Lines International Association. Repositioning cruises are offered as companies move their fleets from summer seasons in Europe, Alaska and Canada to winter seasons in the Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii and elsewhere. Most of the trips end in U.S. or Caribbean ports...

What do you say about a holiday that celebrates working Americans with three days off from work? Here is one tribute to the nation's workers, adapted from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin's Labor Day editorial last year: While many Americans kick back and enjoy time off over this Labor Day weekend, there are numerous others for whom Labor Day means just another shift at the grill, the ticket booth or behind the wheel of a delivery truck...

Not enough to mess with; Bigger impact; Giving to children; Going downhill; Thanks to restaurants; Kids need help too; Never forgotten; Buying grades; Poetic justice; Waste of money

Amber Lynn Newcomb and Derek Thomas Doyle were married July 28, 2007, at Grace United Methodist Church. The Rev. Scott Moon performed the ceremony. Reader was Jennifer Engelhardt of Cape Girardeau. The bride is the daughter of Gary and Debbie Newcomb of Cape Girardeau. The groom is the son of Tom and Karen Doyle of Cape Girardeau...

Amanda Sue McCormick and Luke Denton Aufdenberg were married Feb. 17, 2007, at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Jackson. Monsignor Ed Eftink and the Rev. Deacon William Hennecke performed the ceremony. Organist was Geri Beussink and vocalists were Ron and Christa Hitt, all of Jackson...

Blair Suzanne Hinkebein and Zachary Hargis Huckstep were married May 12, 2007, at Immaculate Conception Church in Jackson. Monsignor Ed Eftink performed the ceremony. Pianist was Danny Seiler of Leopold, Mo., and soloist was Amelia Farrow of Cape Girardeau...

To the editor:The Illinois State Police and Illinois Department of Transportation have announced a new enforcement initiative aimed at increasing safety and reducing fatalities during the Labor Day weekend. The "Stay Alive on the I's" enforcement initiative began Friday when all Illinois interstates were saturated with troopers every 10 miles along interstate corridors. The "Stay Alive on the I's" enforcement initiative concludes Monday with a detail from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m...

To the editor:Contrary to America's self-image as the greatest democracy, America is a republic. A republic is based on the principle that sovereignty resides in the people who delegate power to their elected representatives to rule in their behalf. ...

Ralina Dillingham and Bradley Fornkohl were united in marriage Aug. 18, 2007, at St. Mary's Cathedral. The Rev. Patrick Nwokoye performed the ceremony. Parents of the couple are Stan and Joyce Dillingham and Robin and Debra Fornkohl, all of Cape Girardeau...

Rebekah Suzanne McClard and Jason Byron Smith were united in marriage Aug. 11, 2007, at the home of Carol McClard of Jackson, grandmother of the bride. Tim McClard performed the ceremony. Dan and Tracy McClard of Jackson are parents of the bride. The groom is the son of Kathy Smith of Chaffee, Mo...

Ruthie Darlene Uelsmann and Blake Lyn Yount exchanged vows May 19, 2007, at the Glenn House in Cape Girardeau. The Rev. Stella Turner performed the ceremony. Parents of the couple are Lynn and Linda Tipton and Lynn and Linda Yount, all of Jackson. The bride was presented in marriage by her son, Landon Uelsmann...

Timothy and Sandra Kelley of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Katlyn Shay Kelley, to Tyler Scott Underwood. He is the son of Scott Schetter and Charleen Underwood of Cape Girardeau. He was raised by his grandparents, Don and Elsie Caldwell of Dutchtown...

Janet Bradshaw of Warrenton, Mo., and Don Shaw of Lakeport, Calif., announce the engagement of their daughter, Angela Shaw, to Shawn Williams. He is the son of Cornelia Williams and Hubert Rutherford of Cape Girardeau. Shaw is a 1997 graduate of Central High School, and received a degree in computer aided drafting from ITT Technical Institute. She is employed at SAF-Holland...

Larry and Cindy Pape of Marthasville, Mo., announce the engagement of their daughter, Lea Loraine Pape, to Daniel Joseph Welter, both of Florissant, Mo. He is the son of Richard and Teresa Welter of Jackson. Pape is a graduate of Advanced Delta Careers. She is a dental receptionist/assistant for Dr. John E. Gentles...

Cynthia Rigdon and Kim and Lisa Weaver of Jackson announce the engagement of their daughter, Angela Weaver, to Derek Birk. He is the son of Brad and Saundra Birk of Jackson. Weaver received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Southeast Missouri State University in 2007. She is a temporary accountant at the university...

PATTON, Mo. -- Brandy Mayberry and Richard Davis announce their engagement. She is the daughter of Lisa Clark of St. Louis and Rick and Amy Mayberry of Patton. Davis is the son of Richard and Pam Davis of Patton. Mayberry is a 2007 graduate of Meadow Heights High School. She plans to attend Metro Business College in September, pursuing an associate of applied science degree in medical technology...

Darrell and Debbie Long of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Sarah Ashley Long, to John Reed Foster. He is the son of Henry and Mary Beth Foster of Poplar Bluff, Mo. Long received a master's degree in counseling from Southeast Missouri State University. She is a guidance counselor at Central High School...

PATTON, Mo. -- Dale and Karla Warren of Patton and Matt and Anna Strong of Marble Hill, Mo., announce the engagement of their daughter, Ashley Renee Strong, to Kyle Edward Long. He is the son of the late Rev. Eddie Long and Jackie Long. Strong is a 2004 graduate of Meadow Heights High School in Patton, and 2006 graduate of Metro Business College in Cape Girardeau...

Leonard and Suzanne Katz of Gautier, Miss., announce the engagement of their daughter, Laura Michelle Katz, to Ronald Edward Ruppel II. He is the son of Ronald and Judy Ruppel of Oak Ridge. Katz expects to receive a degree in nursing from Southeast Missouri State University this fall. She is employed at Southeast Missouri Hospital...

BENTON, Mo. -- Bill and Debbie Sneed of Little Rock, Ark., and Dave and Danielle Verkamp of St. James, Mo., announce the engagement of their children, Jamie Jackson and Jeff Verkamp. Mrs. Sneed is formerly of Benton. Jackson is a 2001 graduate of John F. Hodge High School in St. James, and received a degree in marketing and advertising from Missouri State University in 2004. She is an executive area manager with Arbonne International in Kansas City, Mo...

VILLA RIDGE, Ill. -- Ricky Daniels of Bardwell, Ky., and Ronald Kelly of Olmsted, Ill., announce the engagement of their daughter, Tiffany Renee Daniels, to Jerrod Russell George. He is the son of Randy and Carol George of Grand Chain, Ill., and Nettie and Mac Trexler of Villa Ridge. Daniels is also the daughter of the late Debbie Daniels...

ORAN, Mo. -- Herbert and Rita Giesler of Ste. Genevieve, Mo., announce the engagement of their daughter, Carrie Ann Giesler, to Daniel Keith Dirnberger. He is the son of Lenard and Camilla Dirnberger of Oran. Giesler is a 1998 graduate of Ste. Genevieve High School. ...

Paul and Ellen Koeper of Jackson announce the engagement of their daughter, Jessica Ann Koeper, to Jesse Lee Sostillio. He is the son of James and Julie Sostillio of Warner Robins, Ga. Koeper is completing her final semester at Southeast Missouri State University, where she expects to receive a degree in general studies. She is employed at My Daddy's Cheesecake...

ORAN, Mo. -- Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Glastetter of Oran celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a reception and dinner Aug. 4, 2007, at Oran Knights of Columbus Hall. This was followed by a Mass at Guardian Angel Catholic Church where they repeated their wedding vows...

Wally and Dori Lage (front row center) of Cape Girardeau recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary with their family at the Villages near Orlando, Fla. The Lages were married Aug. 5, 1967.

The campaigns of two Missouri congressional candidates will get a boost next month when Vice President George Bush appears in their behalf; Bush is scheduled to be here Sept. 30 to endorse Rep. Bill Emerson's bid for reelection; Bush will also be at Blue Springs, Mo., Sept. 28 in support of Wendel Bailey, candidate for the 4th District...

By Thomas F. Hall This Labor Day as we pause in recognition of a collective job well done, we should also pause to think about our neighbors who are on duty today around the globe as well as those standing ready and on call: our country's 1.1 million National Guard and Reserve service members...

Area artists show their one-of-a-kind wearable art at Garden Gallery By Chris Harris Southeast Missourian Artists do more than put art on a canvas; they put art on fingers, wrists and earlobes. A few crafty Cape Girardeans are fashioning the latest in fashion: authentic, one-of-a-kind jewelry...

City offices to be closed Monday for Labor Day City of Cape Girardeau offices will be closed Monday in observance of the Labor Day holiday. City offices will resume normal business hours on Tuesday. Due to the holiday, the Public Works Department has shifted solid waste and recycling pickup schedules: Monday residential solid waste and recycling routes will be picked up on Tuesday. ...

Tomorrow, most of us will celebrate Labor Day by taking the day off. Some will still be working, busing tables, counting back change, delivering goods or putting together Tuesday's newspaper. Regardless of what you're doing on Labor Day, the Southeast Missourian would like to recognize some of the area's behind-the-scenes workers who do their jobs well. Readers and a few of the area's larger employers were invited to nominate some of their most notable workers. We share a few of the nominations:

BOISE, Idaho -- Idaho Sen. Larry Craig resigned Saturday over a men's room sex sting, bowing to pressure from fellow Republicans worried about a scandal dimming their election prospects. "I apologize for what I have caused. I am deeply sorry," Craig said, his wife Suzanne at his side...

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A maze of wooden planks and glass panes is gradually taking shape among the austere office buildings of downtown Oakland, a structure alternately described as a bee hive, an inverted basket or a nuclear reactor. Only an inconspicuous sign on a fence offers a clue that it will soon be one of the nation's most ambitious -- and expensive -- religious sites...

ST GEORGE'S, Grenada -- Hurricane Felix gathered strength Saturday and pounded Grenada with heavy rains and winds, snapping small boats loose from their moorings and toppling utility poles on its route toward the Caribbean island of Aruba. The storm was upgraded from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane Saturday evening, with sustained maximum winds near 75 mph. ...

GENEVA -- The campaign poster was blatant in its xenophobic symbolism: Three white sheep kicking out a black sheep over a caption that read "create security." The message was not from a fringe force in Switzerland's political scene, but from its largest party. ...

LONDON -- Power-sharing talks between former Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto and President Gen. Pervez Musharraf were deadlocked Saturday, setting back efforts to end military rule as pressure grows to restore democracy. In London, Bhutto said the talks were at a "standstill" because members of the ruling party objected to working with her Pakistan People's Party, the country's main opposition party which she has led from exile...

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuelans have a penchant for creative naming, with some parents giving their children unusual names like Hersony, Nohemar -- or even Superman. But such odd names might be turned down by the civil registry if Venezuela approves a bill barring parents from giving their children "names that expose them to ridicule, are extravagant or difficult to pronounce," or that raise doubts about whether a child is a girl or a boy...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- U.S.-led coalition and Afghan security forces killed about 70 suspected militants in Afghanistan, where violence is running at its highest level since the ouster of the Taliban regime six years ago, authorities said Saturday. The surge in militant attacks comes despite the presence of more than 50,000 foreign troops and 110,000 Afghan police and military officers, as well as a multimillion dollar reconstruction effort to rebuild the shattered nation...

SAN ANTONIO, Venezuela -- More than two dozen Colombian prisoners arrested three years ago in an alleged plot against President Hugo Chavez were freed Saturday in a goodwill gesture he hopes will help facilitate a prisoner exchange in Colombia. The 27 Colombians who boarded a bus to return home after being pardoned by Chavez were among more than 100 men arrested three years ago on accusations of plotting to stage a rebellion and assassinate the Venezuelan leader...

n At 5:10 p.m., emergency medical service at the intersection of Bellevue and North Sprigg streets. n At 7 p.m., a motor vehicle accident cleanup at the intersection of South Silver Springs and Bloomfield roads. n At 7:34 p.m., emergency medical service at the intersection of South Kingshighway and Southern Expressway...

DWI

Richard H. Swaim, 88, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Aug. 31, 2007, at Saint Francis Medical Center. He was born Sept. 27, 1918, in Memphis, Tenn., son of George H. and Anne Dickson Swaim. He and Mildred Smith were married April 6, 1941. She survives...

ST. LOUIS -- Rose Mary Crump, 74, of Maryland Heights, Mo., died Saturday, Sept. 1, 2007, at home. She was born Dec. 11, 1932, at University City, Mo., daughter of Francis Bernard and Mary Ethel Montgomery Hanlon. She and Arthur L. Crump were married May 29, 1954. He died April 1, 1994...

BAGHDAD -- Civilian deaths rose in August to their second-highest monthly level this year, according to figures compiled Saturday by The Associated Press. That raises questions about whether U.S. strategy is working days before Congress receives landmark reports that will decide the course of the war...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A woman whose lie about being raped kept an innocent man behind bars for almost two years is now in jail herself. Armand Villasana, 54, was jailed for rape from 1998 until 2000, when his conviction was overturned based on DNA evidence. His accuser, Judith Lummis, admitted Aug. 7 that she made up the rape to cover up an extramarital affair...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Financial problems have cost Union Station its professional accreditation, which could hurt the station's efforts to attract future exhibits. In a letter dated Thursday, the American Association of Museums said the station had made progress in many areas, but had used up most of its endowment and had no solid financial foundation...

WASHINGTON -- Democrats Barack Obama and John Edwards on Saturday joined three other Democrats in vowing to skip states that break party rules by holding early primaries, a move that leaves front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton alone in planning to compete in Florida and Michigan...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Juanita Brown, 80, of Marble Hill died Thursday, Aug. 30, 2007, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Aug. 2, 1927, in Bessville, Mo., daughter of P.F. and Della Caroline Robins Rhodes. She and Wilford Brown were married Sept. 24, 1949 at Lutesville, Mo. He preceded her in death May 17, 2007...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Barry James Barnes, 44, of Dudley, Mo., died Friday, Aug. 31, 2007, at Missouri Southern Healthcare in Dexter. He was born Feb. 1, 1963, at Dexter, son of James H. "Jim" and Mary Ellen Williams Barnes. Barnes had lived in the Dudley area all his life. He worked as a farm hand until his health forced his retirement...

ANNA, Ill. -- Felma Honey, 89, of Anna, Ill., died Friday, Aug. 31, 2007, at her home. She was born March 30, 1918, at Neelyville, Mo., daughter of Charles Estel and Elvie Jane Carter Bodine. She and LeRoy Q. Honey were married July 3, 1941, at Cape Girardeau. He died Dec. 18, 1963...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- George Lee Kirkpatrick, 68, of Marble Hill died Saturday, Sept. 1, 2007, at his home. He was born Jan. 29, 1939, near Marble Hill, son of Marvin J. and Annie K. Long Kirkpatrick. He and Margie P. Cook were married Aug. 25, 1956. She died Feb. 11, 2001...

THEBES, Ill. -- Agatha "Dean" Parker, 72, of Thebes, formerly of Cairo, Ill., died Friday, Aug. 31, 2007, at her home. She was born July 15, 1935, at East Prairie, Mo., daughter of James Ruben and Alice Rose Evans Parker. Parker was a member of the Salvation Army in Cape Girardeau...

Are there any foreclosures or distress properties in your town or neighborhood? If you answered "no," you probably aren't paying close attention to the local real estate market. Good times or bad, these situations always occur. Even during the peak years of 2004 and 2005 for home sales, there were still mortgage lender foreclosures and distress property sales. ...

Dear Bob: I've read your articles for years and find them incredibly helpful. But I'm wondering about mortgage refinance junk fees. I know we consumers have the right to avoid these fees, but my experience has been these lender fees usually come at the end of the refinance process after the mortgage is finally approved. How should borrowers distinguish between "real" fees and unnecessary junk fees? Will we ever find a mortgage without junk fees?...

Dear Dr. Dobson: If age is such a poor factor to use in determining the start of the first grade, why is it applied so universally in our country? Dear Reader: Because it is so convenient. Parents can plan for the definite beginning of school when their child turns 6. ...

The dog days of August have drawn to a close. This is the calm before the gathering political storm. On Sept. 15, the far-left group ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) will descend on the nation's capital to demand what they've been demanding for the last six years in the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks: immediate withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan, immediate closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and immediate release of every last suspected al-Qaida operative in American custody, immediate impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney and immediate capitulation to our enemies at home and abroad.. ...

Dear Tom and Ray: Hey, guys! I need your help doing the unthinkable: proving my father wrong. I drive a 2003 Chevy Tahoe. I live in Atlanta and go to Georgia Tech, so most of my driving is city driving. With the constant stop and go, bumpy pavement and having to drive around people who are in the "big city" for the first time, my tires have worn out. ...

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Britain's version of Elvis week reached its crescendo Friday with a memorial service marking the 10th anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. The woman famously described by Diana as the "third person" in her marriage didn't attend. Discretion and the queen convinced Camilla that her presence would distract from the occasion...

The bitter but unmistakable truth about Iraq is this: From the vaunted "Petraeus Report" onward, U.S. policy will have one overriding purpose, deflecting blame for the ongoing catastrophe everywhere but where it belongs -- on President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Bush remains incapable of accepting responsibility, Cheney of admitting error. All the rest is misdirection. Anybody who imagines differently hasn't been paying attention...

LONDON -- Having trouble persuading your child to eat broccoli or spinach? You may have only yourself to blame. According to a study of twins, neophobia -- or the fear of new foods -- is mostly in the genes. "Children could actually blame their mothers for this," said Jane Wardle, director of the Health Behavior Unit at University College London, one of the authors of the study in this month's American Journal of Clinical Nutrition...

ST. LOUIS -- Rick Ankiel had another big day, raising his average to .354. No one would believe he used to be a pitcher. Ankiel drove in three runs a day after hitting his first career grand slam, and Yadier Molina had three RBIs and homered for the second straight game in the St. Louis Cardinals' 11-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday night...

ST. LOUIS -- As a pitcher, Rick Ankiel crumbled under pressure. Reborn as a power-hitting outfielder, he appears to thrive on it. Ankiel's first career grand slam, the go-ahead blow in the St. Louis Cardinals' 8-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds, was the latest chapter in this wildly improbable, feel-good comeback story...

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Juan Encarnacion will miss the remainder of the season and his career is in jeopardy after sustaining multiple fractures of his left eye socket when struck by a foul ball Friday night. It was the latest blow in a star-crossed season for the defending World Series champions, who somehow were 21/2 games out of first place in the National League Central entering Saturday night's game...

St. Vincent defeated Bell City in three Saturday afternoon to win its second straight championship in the Notre Dame VolleyballFest. The Indians won a battle between a Class 2 district champion and a Class 1 final four team from a year ago. In other tournament games, Perryville beat Central in the third-place match in two sets...

The Jackson softball team did not leave St. Louis with their undefeated record intact. But the Indians did leave with a lot of confidence after a 1-0 victory over Cor Jesu on Saturday in the fifth-place game of the Cor Jesu Haberstroh Tournament at Kirkwood Athletic Association...

The Southeast Missouri State volleyball team lost Weber State 3-0 and Texas-San Antonio 3-1 on Saturday in the North Florida Labor Day Classic, according to the university's Web site. Brenna Schlader had nine kills against Weber State, while Alyssa Allison Aston turned in career highs in kills and digs with four apiece. In the second match, freshman Kendra Rowland's had 22 kills and 19 digs...

Notre Dame's seniors and Jackson's juniors came out as the only local teams to win their divisions at the Jackson Invitational on Saturday. The annual opener for many cross country teams in the area covers a 2.5-mile course instead of the usual 3.1 miles and has teams divided by grade in school instead of the top seven runners...

When Lauren Reinagel pitched for the Notre Dame junior varsity team last fall as a freshman she said she had about four other teammates sharing time with her on the mound. But now a sophmore, Reinagel is the varsity's ace and she has been called upon to pitch five of her team's first six games. Two of those games came Saturday, including a 9-0 victory over Kelly to help her host team win the Notre Dame Softballfest tournament...

Unlike most teams that wait until a playoff victory to pour the Gatorade cooler over the coach, Jackson did it just a week into its season after knocking off last year's Class 2 state champ, Notre Dame. The Indians pulled off a 1-0 upset of the Bulldogs on Saturday night to win the 2007 Notre Dame Soccerfest tournament...

Unlike most teams that wait until a playoff victory to pour the Gatorade cooler over the coach, Jackson did it just a week into its season after knocking off last year's Class 2 state champ, Notre Dame. The Indians pulled off a 1-0 upset of the Bulldogs on Saturday night to win the 2007 Notre Dame Soccerfest tournament...

CHESTERFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- School counselors are on hand to help grieving students at a Chesterfield elementary school, after a kindergartner was struck and killed crossing the street with his mother in St. Louis. Police are investigating, after reports that the driver may have run the stop sign on Friday. The boy's mother was not hurt...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A federal team detailed dozens of problems with Missouri schools in a report last month, both minor infractions and major concerns about underperforming schools. The U.S. Department of Education said Missouri should review every school and district that has not met standardized testing benchmarks more than two years in a row. That is about 200 schools and 167 districts, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch...

SMITHVILLE, Mo. (AP) -- A Kansas City man is dead after a failed attempt to help two girls who got into trouble while swimming in Smithville Lake. The Missouri State Water Patrol says 20-year-old Jorge Hernandez-Garcia drowned late Monday afternoon after going into the lake to help the girls who had stepped into water over their heads. Officers said Hernandez-Garcia went underwater and did not resurface...

While Southeast Missouri suffered through drought conditions in late August, states in the northern Midwest were hit by torrents of rain that caused flooding and the loss of homes, businesses and lives in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio. The American Red Cross of Southeast Missouri sent volunteers to help with the aftermath of the storms. Two Cape Girardeau County residents and a Stoddard County couple expect to return next week from their volunteer disaster deployment in Wisconsin...

Jackson police have issued a new directive ordering that turn-only lanes be used as they were intended: for turning. According to police, drivers rely on center turn lanes such as those on East Jackson Boulevard as merge lanes for those turning left off a side street or entrance. Such practice is illegal and unsafe, police said...

A little more than a month ago, I featured two women with big plans and what seemed to be a solid friendship in a story about their new little restaurant on Broadway called Nehemiah's. Several alert readers have noticed the quick demise of the restaurant and asked what happened...

Missouri passed new legislation intended to ensure that victims of domestic violence, rape, stalking or sexual assault won't be living in fear of retaliation for reporting such crimes or constantly looking over their shoulders for their assailants...

Felix Lewis spent the night of Aug. 29, 2005, sleeping in water up to his chest. So did his mother, Lillie Mae Harris, and his then-17-year-old son Felix. Hurricane Katrina had filled his Ninth Ward house with greasy dark water. The next day her grandson, a lifeguard, helped Harris leave to look for help. "We walked that water," she recalled. "It reminded me of the Bible." Eventually they made it to hell -- the sweltering Superdome, where only chaos was in charge...

Unsafe for cyclists; Relentless attacks; Talented children; Too much spending; A large thorn; Where's the barbecue?; Climate changes; Same corn prices; Rebuilding New Orleans; Planted chemicals?; Immoral minority; School supplies; They were dogs; Trash raider

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras -- Planes shuttled tourists from island resorts in a desperate airlift Monday as Hurricane Felix bore down on Honduras and Belize. But thousands of Miskito Indians were stranded in a swampy jungle where the Category 4 storm was expected to make landfall...

ST. JAMES, Mo. -- A combination of the Easter freeze and increased losses of fruit to birds has left Missouri's wineries predicting a tiny harvest this year and big economic losses. Vineyards across the state are reporting 85 to 100 percent losses of certain types of grapes, while the overall loss is estimated to be around 60 percent...

UNION STAR, Mo. -- A teenager was killed when the Cessna airplane he was piloting crashed into the backyard of a home in northwest Missouri. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said student pilot Waylon Kirtley, 17, of Union Star, was killed when the single-engine plane crashed about 3 p.m. Sunday about two miles south of Union Star. The 1974 Cessna 172M Skyhawk had no passengers and no one in the home was injured, said patrol Cpl. Corey Root...

Southeast Missourian Chabresha R. Egson, 19, of Cape Girardeau, was arrested and charged last week with U.S. millitary desertion. Egson attended Central High School, and graduated in 2006. She completed basic combat training at Fort Jackson in Columbia, S.C., in March...

BAGHDAD -- Iraq's prime minister said Monday he expects the U.S. ambassador and military commander to give his government favorable marks when they report to Congress next week and predicted passage of a law soon that could return more Sunnis to government jobs...

AL-ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq -- President Bush, briefed by U.S. military commanders and Iraqi leaders, said Monday some American forces could be sent home if security across Iraq improves as it has in Anbar province, a former hotbed of Sunni insurgency. But the president, flanked by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, did not say how many troops could be withdrawn or how soon...

Francis E. "Bud" Street, 92, of Cape Girardeau, formerly of Sikeston, Mo., died Sunday, Sept. 2, 2007, at 4:30 a.m. at the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Gir­ar­deau. He was born July 11, 1915, in Commerce, Mo., to the late John Edward and Emma Isabel Reagan Street. ...

Shirley Ann Nabe Wadlow, 65, of Cape Girardeau died Sun­day, Sept. 2, 2007, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born May 5, 1942, in Telluride, Colo., to Earl Gus and Erma Clara Exler Nabe. Wadlow graduated College High School in 1960, where she was an officer in the National Honor Society, and attended Southeast Missouri State University for two years. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She married I. Clyde Wadlow Jan 1, 1971, in Cape Gir­ar­deau...

The Missouri Ethics Commission has been given a task it never wanted: to decide what should happen to campaign contributions given earlier this year before the state's new law that removed caps was struck down by the Missouri Supreme Court. The commission plans to tackle this issue, perhaps before its next regularly scheduled meeting Oct. 4...

VALLEJO, Calif. -- A serial crank caller using a donated cell phone has plagued 911 with nearly 2,000 fake emergency calls over the past six months, tying up dispatchers and sending police and firefighters on wild goose chases, authorities said. A man identifying himself as Nomar has reported himself the victim of everything from a drug overdose and a possible heart attack to robbery and attempted suicide. ...

Sarah Alice Rusher, 76, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Sept. 2, 2007, at her home. She was born Feb. 4, 1931, in Forman, Ill., to William Tell and Inez Anna Carpenter Wood. She married Jack Dale Rusher Sept. 7, 1955, in Oak Lawn, Ill. He died May 18, 1991...

Claude L. Deckard, 75, of Perryville, Mo., died Saturday, Sept. 1, 2007, at Jackson Manor Nursing Home. He was born Nov. 19, 1931, in Belleville, Ill., son of Claud and Susan Schaller Deckard. He and Alice F. Maxin were married Sept. 18, 1954. Deckard worked for the Illinois Department of Corrections at Menard Correctional Facility in Chester, Ill. ...

An area chemical solvent distributor has applied to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for a hazardous waste storage permit which would allow the company to store nearly 400 55-gallon drums of used chemical solvent; Southern Chemical Reclaiming Inc. would construct a storage facility two miles northwest of Scott City on Nash Road...

Anna W. "Billie" Elias, 89, of Cairo, Ill., died Monday, Sept. 3, 2007, at Daystar Care Center in Cairo. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Barkett Funeral Home of Cairo.

Nellie Fox, 101, of Buncombe, Ill., died at 10 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 2, 2007, at City Care Center in Anna, Ill. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Crain Funeral Home in Anna.

n At 7 p.m., emergency medical service in the 500 block of South Frederick Street. n At 7:36 p.m., a grass fire at 842 Karau St. n At 8:46 p.m., an emergency medical service in the 200 block of South Hanover Street. n At 9:23 p.m., a vehicle fire at the 92 mile marker of Interstate 55 north...

Cape Girardeau: Arrests; Thefts; Jackson: Property damage

WASHINGTON -- Science is confirming what most women know: When given the choice for a mate, men go for good looks. And guys won't be surprised to learn that women are much choosier about partners than they are. "Just because people say they're looking for a particular set of characteristics in a mate, someone like themselves, doesn't mean that is what they'll end up choosing," Peter M. Todd, of the cognitive science program at Indiana University, Bloomington, said in a telephone interview...

WASHINGTON -- Government secrecy by almost any measure is expanding and little is being done to stop it, according to a coalition of 67 organizations favoring greater openness. From classified information to the president's use of the state secrets privilege, the lack of disclosure should be a growing concern to the public and the Congress, said Patrice McDermott, director of OpenTheGovernment.org, which compiled a report using mostly the government's own figures...

AUSTIN, Texas -- Millions of inventions pass quietly through the U.S. patent office each year. Patent No. 7,033,406 did, too, until energy insiders spotted six words in the filing that sounded like a death knell for the internal combustion engine. An Austin-based startup called EEStor promised "technologies for replacement of electrochemical batteries," meaning a motorist could plug in a car for five minutes and drive 500 miles roundtrip between Dallas and Houston without gasoline...

Employers can boast about how much they do for their workers, touting amenities and benefits they say keep employees happy. But to know whether the words have substance or are just a snow job, the best people to ask are the workers themselves. And at Cape Girardeau's newest big employer, it seems there's substance to the sales pitch...

WASHINGTON -- Want government help to get out of a bad subprime mortgage? Don't look for Congress to come to your rescue anytime soon. Lawmakers have lots of ideas and plans -- as well as hearings to share their concerns and assess blame -- but there's no consensus on how to stop the foreclosures. The only thing everyone has agreed on is that something must be done...

Gardner named member of Cape law firm; Edward Jones promotes Bagwell to administrator; CASA gets new executive director; Kneer receives new title, duties at newspaper

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- "In some ways it's a loose term, but, yes, I think I am," former NFL running back Tiki Barber says about his new label -- journalist. "I think a journalist is someone who tells stories, and I do it in my own way and with my own voice. It's a different kind of challenge than what I've faced my entire life being an athlete."...

Court Appointed Special Advocates, an organization that works in Cape Girardeau, Bollinger and Perry counties to represent the best interests of children in court, is looking to train new members this month. CASA volunteers act as officers of the court, trying to empower children one at a time...

Elementary student raises money for Sahara An Oak Ridge fifth-grade student, Brittany Amschler, held a cookie sale during recess to help collect money for the Sahara Aldridge Slam-Dunk Cancer Fund during the 2006-2007 school year. She was able to collect more than $250. For more information about Sahara Aldridge, visit www.saharaaldridge.com....

The Friends of the Cape Girardeau Public Library Foundation will hold its annual book sale from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday. Members of the organization may attend the 5 to 6 p.m. preview Friday. Anyone may join the group at the door for a minimum of $15. Hardcover books, paperbacks and books on tape are available. Proceeds will benefit special library projects sponsored by the Friends Foundation...

Jackson High School is the site of a major construction project, but for students, life goes on as normal. As the bell rings, students flood into the main corridor, seemingly unaware of the construction workers on the roof of their new arts complex or of the incomplete steel beams above their heads. The beams will eventually connect most of the six buildings on campus under one roof...

ST. LOUIS -- The last two times Ian Snell has beaten the Cardinals on the road, he's knocked them back to .500. This time, it really had to hurt for St. Louis. Snell threw seven scoreless innings to end a six-game road losing streak since winning in St. Louis on April 16, and the Pittsburgh Pirates halted a five-game losing streak, routing the Cardinals and starting pitcher Kip Wells 11-0 on Monday...

Kiefner places first in weekly golf outing Luanne Kiefner took first place in the Cape Girardeau Country Club's weekly women's golf outing. Helen Ruth Towns finished second while Kathy Morris was third and the medalist. Rust wins men's golf association tournament...

Facing a team from the Big East Conference failed to faze Southeast Missouri State quarterback Victor Anderson. Anderson, a junior, was one of the few bright spots for the Redhawks in their 59-3 loss to the University of Cincinnati on Thursday. He was rewarded for his effort by being named the Ohio Valley Conference newcomer of the week for the first week of action...

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Rams placed offensive lineman Todd Steussie on injured reserve Saturday, two days after he broke his left foot in the team's final preseason game. The move was made after team medical personnel revised their estimate for Steussie's recovery, which had initially been six to eight weeks. The Rams now believe he'll be out at least eight weeks...

ST. LOUIS -- The damage a foul ball did to Juan Encarnacion's left eye was the worst the St. Louis Cardinals' medical director has ever seen to a baseball player. Dr. George Paletta was not optimistic Sunday that the outfielder will regain full vision after his frightening injury and resume his career...

ST. LOUIS -- After an encouraging preseason showing, Jim Haslett is expecting better things from the St. Louis Rams defense after a disappointing 2006. The Rams are coming off an 8-8 season in which the defense ranked 23rd overall and next-to-last against the run, allowing 145.4 yards rushing per game...

NORTON, Mass. -- Phil Mickelson is back on his game, and it was good enough to take down Tiger Woods. Going head-to-head with Woods for the first time in 18 months, Mickelson buried the world's No. 1 player on the front nine and held him off down the stretch Monday to close with a 5-under 66 and win the Deutsche Bank Championship by two shots...

NEW YORK -- James Blake certainly had his chances to avoid another fifth-set disappointment. Seven times, he was two points away from victory Monday at the U.S. Open. Three times, he was a single point away. Blake failed to convert all three of those match points, then played about as poorly as he did all day in the final-set tiebreaker and lost 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-0, 7-6 (4) to No. 10 Tommy Haas in the fourth round...

n A photo caption on Page 5B in Sunday's edition of the Southeast Missourian identified Notre Dame soccer player Ryan Willen only by number and not by name. n In Saturday's edition of the Southeast Missourian, an interception by Malden's Derek Earnhart against Scott City was incorrectly recorded to have taken place in the end zone. Earnhart made his interception of Caleb Estes' pass on the 2-yard line. The Southeast Missourian regrets the error...

CINCINNATI -- Pedro Martinez's comeback was vintage -- a victory and a little history, too. Back on the mound for the first time in almost a year, the right-hander got his 3,000th career strikeout Monday and led the resurgent New York Mets to a 10-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds...

ST. LOUIS -- Mark Mulder will rejoin the St. Louis Cardinals' rotation for the first time in more than a year Wednesday, just in time for the stretch drive. Manager Tony La Russa said Sunday he's not sure what to expect from the left-hander, who had rotator cuff surgery in September 2006. But he thought it was worth taking a shot with a man who had been the winningest pitcher this decade before being injured...

Sherri Steinhauer held off a late charge by Christina Kim on Sunday for a one-stroke victory in the LPGA State Farm Classic. The 44-year-old Steinhauer, who led after every round, finished at 17-under 271 for the four-day tournament at Panther Creek Country Club in Springfield, Ill...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The championship race is so tight and so tense, tempers are boiling. Car owners have nearly come to blows. Accusations of dirty driving abound. This, however, is the IndyCar Series, its final month full of bickering and blocking. All of which is a tremendous buildup for Sunday's season finale in Chicago, where Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti will attempt to hold off Scott Dixon and teammate Tony Kanaan for the title...

LAS VEGAS -- LeBron James put a record finish on the Americans' dominance in the desert. James scored a team-record 31 points, and the United States beat Argentina 118-81 on Sunday to win the FIBA Americas championship. Dwight Howard made all seven of his shots and scored 20 points, and Carmelo Anthony added 16 points for the Americans, who were never challenged while winning 10 games in 12 days and will head to Beijing next summer as one of the gold medal favorites...

ST. LOUIS -- Rick Ankiel homered for the second time in three days to snap a sixth-inning tie, capping a huge weekend series by the former pitcher in the St. Louis Cardinals' 3-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday. Braden Looper allowed four hits in seven scoreless innings and Aaron Miles added an RBI double in the sixth as the Cardinals finally broke through against Bronson Arroyo. Looper (12-10) is 7-1 with an NL-best 1.74 ERA in day games and 4-9 with a 6.52 ERA at night...

Central posted a 1-0 overtime win against Sikeston to win the consolation bracket in the Notre Dame SoccerFest on Saturday. Brooks Osburn scored the goal on an assist from Jesse Lawrence two minutes into overtime. Central (2-1) plays Hazelwood West today at the Anheuser-Busch Center in Fenton...

What happens when you mix vinegar with baking soda? It creates a chemical reaction that produces carbon dioxide gas that can create a fun explosion. Ingredients 1/2 cup of vinegar 1/4 cup of warm water 1 1/2 tablespoons of baking soda Zip-top plastic sandwich bag...

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) -- The Federal Highway Administration has approved an $88-million plan to replace the 70-year-old Amelia Earhart Bridge with a new four-lane overpass. The aging bridge on U.S. 59, which crosses the Missouri River between Buchanan County and Atchison, Kan., was similar in design to the collapsed Minnesota bridge and one of the worst rated in Kansas...

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. (AP) -- An eastern Missouri man accused of molesting children at a family-run day care center faces arraignment in October after waiving his preliminary hearing Wednesday. William Huck Sr., 60, is accused of molesting eight children at the home-based day care center operated by his wife in Ste. Genevieve, about 50 miles south of St. Louis. But police say Huck has confessed to molesting 40 children over the past three decades...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- A judge in the Missouri Bootheel grants a change of venue in the case of a 14-year-old boy accused of first-degree murder. Stoddard County Circuit Judge Stephen Sharp granted the venue change for Owen Welty of rural Bloomfield. The Missouri Supreme Court will determine the site for the trial...

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) -- Gov. Matt Blunt signed legislation Wednesday that supporters say will allow the state to fix more than 800 bridges within five years. Under the plan, called the Safe and Sound Bridge Program, Missouri will drastically speed the repairs of its bridges by awarding a single 30-year contract to fix and maintain 802 of its worst bridges...

A Labor Day spent answering phones instead of grilling burgers yielded big results for the Muscular Dystrophy Association's Twin Rivers Chapter, which services Southeast Missouri and parts of Illinois and Kentucky. The 27th annual local Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, which aired Monday from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., raised $606,354...

The SEMO Network Against Sexual Violence opened a $100,000 birthday present recently. The Missouri Foundation for Health announced Tuesday it had awarded the grant to NASV, which celebrates its 10th year of existence Sept. 22. Six organizations in Southeast Missouri received grants, including NASV and Saint Francis Medical Center...

After about a dozen of emotional testimonies Tuesday night, the Cape Girardeau City Council unanimously rejected a proposed change to the city code reducing the distance places that sell liquor have to be from churches and schools. Any business with a liquor license will still be at least 200 feet from such buildings...

One of the concrete monoliths in the Cape Girardeau floodwall will be replaced as part of a $9 million rehabilitation project that could begin around the first of the year. The city plans to use the opportunity to create a new pedestrian opening in the wall at that point near the intersection of Water and Independence streets...

So we all know August is a slow month in the arts and entertainment world of Southeast Missouri. Sure, there are the regular musical events at the local wineries, and there's the return of the students to Southeast Missouri State University. Other than that, things are pretty much dead...

To the editor:My husband and I were recently scammed by a woman who has a lengthy record of rental evictions. Our home was listed with a local real estate agent who had persuaded us to let a preapproved buyer move in a few weeks early, which we reluctantly did. We soon learned that she didn't have a preapproved loan, and the agent's idea of a background check was "if she has a clean car, she is a good person." He never checked her out like he had assured us...

To the editor:The Federal Communications Commission is poised to ruin rural wireless service with a proposed rule that would reduce funding to the companies that have been the providers of these services in outstate Missouri. As telephone consumers, wireless and landline, we pay a United Service Fund charge on every bill. ...

Police authority; Bailing us out; Deadly souvenir; Not a mistake; Downtown needs help; Not a good idea; A good month; Rude parking; Drive-through litter

Dr. Don Hartman assumes his duties as the new pastor of St. John's United Church of Christ on Jackson Route 1 and St. James United Church of Christ on Jackson Route 2; his wife is the former Sue Kuehle of Cape Girardeau. Among major construction projects in Cape Girardeau is the new critical care building at Saint Francis Medical Center, which is about 30 percent completed; the two-level structure will have floor space of about 38,000 square feet...

By William Jud By creating the Big River Watershed Group last month, the people of St. Francois County who live in Big River's watershed have presented themselves as living proof of their claim that environmental lead in mining waste damages neural function and causes extreme stupidity...

WEBBERS FALLS, Okla. -- Paul Gould is a pilot in a career that could be flying into the sunset. His dad was a crop-duster; he didn't want the same for his son. But Paul loved the work too much. Still does, but worries at 49 who will take over when his heart gets weak or eyesight fuzzy...

The first name of Chaffee High School football player Nathan Cicardi was incorrect in Friday's story about the opening of the high school football season. The Southeast Missourian regrets the error.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Businesses looking to expand in Missouri gained access to tens of millions of dollars of tax credits Tuesday as Gov. Matt Blunt signed into law an economic development bill passed in a special legislative session. Two parts of the bill took effect immediately, authorizing new tax credits for certain business investors and expanding the Quality Jobs tax breaks for businesses that add jobs with average wages and health benefits...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A Jackson County judge on Tuesday pushed back the trial of a suspected serial killer after defense attorneys claimed Kansas City police were slow to turn over key evidence in the case. Circuit Court Judge John R. O'Malley said Terry Blair will go on trial in March, instead of on Oct. 1...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- State lawmakers say it's obvious they'll need a lot more money to address structural problems of more than 2,400 Illinois bridges, but it's far from clear when they'll agree to provide the extra cash. Illinois spends millions of dollars each year to repair and replace bridges with the most critical needs. But with not enough money to pay for all the repairs, many bridges wait year after year for attention...

NEW YORK -- Just before U.S. financial markets were roiled by a global credit squeeze this summer, an equally dramatic financial crisis threatened "Second Life," the much-hyped online world. On July 25, the company controlling "Second Life," a computer-simulated online world in which users are free to create whatever life they want, announced that it would no longer allow gambling. Economic activity was cut by nearly half as gambling halls shut down...

Early figures indicate a bright enrollment trend at Southeast Missouri State University. This year's freshman class is more than 20 percent larger than last year's -- an increase that is not reflected at all nearby universities. University officials are attributing the enrollment jump to several factors, one being the attraction to students of the new River Campus for the arts. ...

For one month during the Great Flood of 1993, the Main Street Levee District in Cape Girardeau had to rent a powerful generator to keep pumping groundwater into the Mississippi River and prevent flooding inside the floodwall. The cost was $40,000. The lack of any provision for providing electricity if AmerenUE has a power failure is the flaw levee district president Andy Juden Jr. sees in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' plan to make improvements in the city's flood-control system...

William Jennings Askew, 81, of Cape Girardeau passed away peacefully Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2007, at his home surrounded by his family, following a three-year battle with cancer. Bill was born Nov. 5, 1925, in Cape Girardeau, son of Jack and Zora Anderson Askew of Cape Gir­ardeau...

Shirley Ann Nabe Wadlow, 65, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Sept. 2, 2007, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born May 5, 1942, in Telluride, Colo., daughter of Earl Gus and Erma Clara Exler Nabe. She and I. Clyde Wadlow were married Jan. 1, 1974, in Cape Girardeau...

John F. Bowlin, 85, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2007, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Dec. 7, 1921, in Symsonia, Ky., son of the late Joseph and Verda Farmer Bowlin. He and Wilma Mescher were married Dec. 22, 1946, in Metropolis, Ill...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Wilma Pauline Benton, 89, of Chaffee died Saturday, Sept. 1, 2007, at Monticello House in Jackson. She was born June 26, 1918, at Tanner, Mo., daughter of Charles Emmit and Tillie Emeline Harmon Romine. She and Wilfred Louis Anselm were married Jan. 28, 1937. He died June 17, 1953. She and William Lee Benton were married Sept. 26, 1957. He died July 2, 1970...

ANNA, Ill. -- Eugene A. Russell, 83, of Anna died Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2007, at Illinois Veterans Home in Anna. He was born Sept. 18, 1923, in Saline County, son of Earl and Ida Mae Crowder Russell. He and Lillian Alberta Sitter were married Dec. 1, 1945, in Eldorado, Ill. She died Aug. 19, 2001...

Louise Elizabeth Hulshof, 94, of Gordonville died Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2007, at Heartland Care Rehab Center in Cape Gir­ardeau. She was born Feb. 12, 1913, at Lutesville, Mo., daughter of John J. and Bernandine Brauer Brands. She and Bernard W. Hulshof were married Oct. 15, 1935. He died Dec. 30, 2001...

Hester May Bollinger, 90, of Festus, Mo., died Monday, Sept. 3, 2007, at her home. She was born Oct. 10, 1916, at Fredericktown, Mo., daughter of Willis and Elsie Carty Myers. She married Dewey Otto Bollinger, who died Aug. 23, 2005. Bollinger was a member of Faith Baptist Church in Festus, Order of Eastern Star 325 and White Shrine of Jerusalem...

Arrests; Arrests

n At 6:09 p.m., an electrical fire in the 2500 block of Lynnwood Drive. n At 6:43 p.m., emergency medical service in the 1400 block of North West End Boulevard. n At 6:56 p.m., an electrical problem in the 2500 block of Lynnwood Drive. n At 9:26 p.m., an illegal burn in the 500 block of Bellevue Street...

Maxwell; Kinder; Hellmann; Strohmeyer; Gage; Gilmore; Harris

For those of you who have children, you know it is a family-changing experience going back to school. The notes and papers roll in and begin to collect as we go through them each week, notes from school to be filled out and signed come home on a regular basis, picture packets need to be selected, lunch money deposited, and homework and music practice need to be taken care of. ...

A new -- or, if you prefer, old -- trend is allowing homeowners to create indoor spaces that allow the outdoors to be enjoyed year-round. Borrowing an idea from the glass houses traditionally used in England as horticultural buildings to grow delicate plants, some high-end homeowners are adding conservatories and orangeries to their residences to combine the comfort of being indoors with the splendor of the great outdoors...

It's crunch time for America's apple growers as they rush their ripening fruit to market. But what once was as simple for consumers as choosing between red and green has become a maze of choice. Some 2,500 named apple varieties are grown in the United States with more than 7,500 produced worldwide, according to the U.S. Apple Association...

MINDEN, Nev. -- Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett, who has cheated death time and again in his successful pursuit of aviation records, was missing Tuesday after taking off in a single-engine plane the day before to scout locations for a land-speed record, officials said...

PHILADELPHIA -- Cutting the grueling work hours of doctors-in-training had little effect on reducing patient deaths, according to two large studies. Death rates dropped in one group of patients in veterans' hospitals but not in three other groups, the researchers reported...

CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico -- Felix walloped Central America's remote Miskito coastline and Henriette slammed into resorts on the tip of Baja California as a record-setting hurricane season got even wilder Tuesday with twin storms making landfall on the same day...

BOISE, Idaho -- Sen. Larry Craig is reconsidering his decision to resign after his arrest in a Minnesota airport sex sting and may still fight for his Senate seat, his spokesman said Tuesday evening. "It's not such a foregone conclusion anymore, that the only thing he could do was resign," said Sidney Smith, Craig's spokesman in Idaho's capital...

Though most conservatories are found in European homes, U.S. homeowners in this country have been incorporating the designs into renovation and addition projects since the 1970s, which is about the same time that innovations in insulated glass entered the market and made construction more widely accepted, Marston said...

NEW YORK -- So much for the sedate alternative to Rosie O'Donnell on "The View." Whoopi Goldberg used her first day on the daytime chat show Tuesday to defend football star Michael Vick in his dogfighting case. Goldberg said that "from where he comes from" in the South, dogfighting isn't that unusual...

VENICE, Italy -- Nobody worry about me, says Bill Murray. He was just dropping off people after a party when he was stopped in downtown Stockholm driving a golf cart. The police "asked me to come over and they assumed that I was drunk and I explained to them that I was a golfer," Murray told reporters Monday at the Venice Film Festival, where he appeared before the premiere of his new film "The Darjeeling Limited."...

Kelly's Londyn Backfisch says she is a typical leadoff hitter, using her speed to get on base and score runs. Throughout her softball career, the 5-foot-3 sophomore had never previously hit a home run that cleared the outfield fence, except during practice...

The score of Thursday's season opener at Cincinnati indicated that Southeast Missouri State was simply no match for the Bearcats. And while the 59-3 loss to the Division I-A team was certainly decisive, Southeast coach Tony Samuel came away with several positive impressions about his squad...

ST. LOUIS -- Receiver Drew Bennett did not practice Tuesday for the St. Louis Rams but the free-agent signee said he expects to play in the season opener against the Carolina Panthers. Bennett has a strained quad muscle and was held out of practice at Rams Park. However, Bennett believes he will be ready Sunday to make his St. Louis debut against the visiting Panthers...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Sure, Larry Johnson had just three meaningless carries and quarterback Damon Huard hardly played at all. And yes, everyone knows head coach Herm Edwards is partial to defense, the side of the ball he played on during his younger days...

Leopold remained undefeated in high school girls volleyball Tuesday night, defeating Meadow Heights 25-16, 25-12. Leopold, winners of the recent Woodland tournament, improved to 3-0. Cassi Jansen, Casey Bucher and Maddy Hastings each had seven kills for the Wildcats. Cassie Seiler had 20 assists...

NEW YORK -- A sullen Serena Williams exited the locker room, her racket bag slung across two shoulders, her U.S. Open over after a third consecutive Grand Slam loss to Justine Henin. While Williams waited for a courtesy car at the player exit, her mother, who also is her coach, put an arm around her neck for a quick, consoling hug. Mom whispered something, and Williams looked straight ahead, apparently still not in any mood to dissect the defeat an hour after it ended...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- It's not every junior college transfer who plays like Cornelius "Pig" Brown. Brown came to Missouri last year from a community college in California with two years of eligibility remaining. He took over the starting spot at strong safety this season, and had his best game ever in Missouri's 40-34 season-opening win against Illinois Saturday...

Eastern Illinois was apparently not flustered by playing in the earliest Ohio Valley Conference opener since 1999. The two-time defending OVC champion Panthers rallied from an early 10-7 deficit Thursday to roll past visiting Tennessee Tech 45-24 Thursday night...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Millions of college football fans are shocked at Appalachian State's monumental upset of Michigan, but Mack Brown is not one of them. Neither are Dennis Franchione nor Gene Chizik, nor any other Big 12 head coach. For years, they have been talking about the parity creeping into their sport. ...

Early in the final-round telecast, NBC used a shot of the classic tabletop game "Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots" to set up an anticipated slugfest between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Nothing tells you a first-class sporting event is about to unfold better than watching TV people rely on puppets to make a point...

ST. LOUIS -- Joel Pineiro may have found himself a home in the St. Louis Cardinals rotation. Pineiro, stuck in the Boston Red Sox bullpen before his trade to St. Louis on July 30, won for the fourth time in six starts as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-2 on Tuesday night...

COMMUNITY EVERY WEDNESDAY Cape Alternative Farmers Market: The farmers market is open every Wednesday through Oct. 3 from 8 a.m. to noon in the parking lot north of the Red House Interpretive Center downtown. The market features Missouri-grown strawberries; farm-raised and pastured chickens, eggs and pork; gourmet lettuce and fresh-cut herbs; breads, cakes and pies; gourmet canned items; goat milk soap; plants; fruits and vegetables (watermelons, squash, sweet corn and peppers); and all-natural pork and beef. ...

ARTS THROUGH AUG. 31 The Sikeston Depot Museum will host two photography exhibitions by Teresa Gemeinhardt at its 116 W. Malone Ave., location. For more information visit www.sikestondepot.org. THROUGH AUG. 31 The Arts Council of Southeast Missouri will feature the work of Paducah Printmaker Char Downs and Chaffee, Mo., native Michael Landeros. For more information call 334-9233...

Love him or hate him Bob Camp has been a fixture on the local music scene for years. With the River City Music Festival (formerly City of Roses) on the horizon, Camp (one of the event's founders) aired his provocative views on the state of the festival today to Banned Promotions' Randy Mallet...

Two years ago one of Cape's best-loved party bands called it quits -- the immortal Tone Def All-Stars. To this day you can still see their name on stickers at Breakaways -- "I Sure Do Miss the Tone Def All-Stars". Some of the band members have moved away, some have just gotten older, making it harder to imbibe shot after shot of Jagermeister on a regular basis. ...

Janet Woods-Jackson didn't know anything about coffee a few years ago. "I used to not know how to order coffee when I went out," she says. "Then my daughter took me to Italy for my fiftieth birthday and I tasted good espresso for the first time." When she came back to Cape Girardeau, she realized how hard it was to find freshly roasted coffee in the area...

Southeast Missouri State University isn't alone among regional higher education institutions in reporting a surge in this semester's freshman class. Southern Illinois University in Carbondale reported a 12 percent increase in freshman enrollment, while overall on-campus enrollment at SIU increased by 303 students. ...

When Notre Dame softball coach Jeff Graviett learned his star leadoff hitter, Paris Burger, would miss this season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus, he had the difficult task of finding someone who could replace the junior's consistent ability to get on base and score runs...

ST. CHARLES, Mo. (AP) -- Workers at the three largest grocery store chains in the St. Louis area have approved a new three-year contract. The vote Wednesday among workers from Schnuck Markets Inc., Shop 'n Save and Dierbergs Markets Inc. was 2,289-511 in favor of the contract, avoiding a strike like one in 2003 when workers walked off the job for more than three weeks...

TUSCUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- State highway officials have barred large trucks from a mid-Missouri bridge over the Osage River after an inspection prompted by the fatal Minnesota bridge collapse revealed a badly deteriorating steel beam. The Missouri 17 bridge near Tuscumbia originally was built in 1932. It's part of the route for the Tour of Missouri bicycle race, which is to start Sept. 11 in Kansas City and is scheduled to pass over the bridge Sept. 14...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Gun shop owners and salespeople in the St. Louis area say business is up at least 20 percent since a new law became effective Aug. 28 eliminating a time-consuming permit process for purchasing handguns. The new law also eliminates a $10 fee...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- St. Louis officials will retest firefighter applicants at a later date after more than two-thirds of them could not answer basic math and reading questions on an entrance exam, the city's personnel chief told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in Thursday's edition...

Cape Girardeau's small Libertarian Party contingent this week nominated the first candidate in the race to replace former Rep. Nathan Cooper in the Feb. 5 special election. George Webster, who received 2.7 percent of the vote against Cooper, a Republican, in the 2006 election, will again seek the 158th District Missouri House seat. Webster was nominated Tuesday evening by the Libertarian Party 158th District Legislative Committee...

Sept. 6, 2007 Dear Julie, I think it was the musical philosopher Carole King who asked, "Doesn't anybody stay in one place anymore?" Some people do. My great-aunt Lelia grew up in McLeansboro, Ill., current population 3,000, and as far as I know left only for vacations in sandy places...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- A Stoddard County judge ruled Wednesday that a 14-year-old boy standing trial for first-degree murder will get a change of venue. Circuit Judge Stephen R. Sharp granted a request by Owen Welty's attorney for a change of venue, sending the case to the Missouri Supreme Court for assignment of a new venue and a new judge...

Last weekend, police caught a convicted sex offender driving around Cape Girardeau with a loaded gun, an extra magazine of ammunition and a stun gun, and promptly took him into custody. On Monday, they had to let him go. Under Missouri law, the man had done nothing wrong...

A fireworks display Friday evening will be the capping moment of a grand opening celebration for National Asset Recovery Services Inc., or NARS, the call center that has hired 400 people since opening. The company first settled into temporary quarters at the Drury Southwest building while the former Sears building on William Street was renovated for the company's use. NARS employees take calls from customers of Charter Communications for telephone service as well as other clients...

A big weekend is in store for area leisure buffs. Entertainment opportunities abound this weekend in Cape Girardeau -- events expected to draw thousands will take place starting Friday and continue into next week, including the River City Music Festival, the SEMO District Fair, the monthly First Friday art walk and a folk music showcase at the Red House Interpretive Center...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Well, you think you've seen everything on TV. Then along comes HBO with "Tell Me You Love Me" to open your eyes. On this spare-no-feelings drama about human relationships, brace yourself to see plenty -- including yourself, reflected in ways that may feel painfully familiar and register more forcefully than you bargained for. My response after watching the full 10-episode season in just three sittings: "I am SO busted."...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Watching video online in small, fuzzy boxes is heading the way of rabbit ears. Some highly anticipated Web sites are being modeled on making the experience of watching video online more like watching television. These sites rely on software that enlarges the interface so that it fills your computer screen -- from edge to edge...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Even if you could say Abazab or Eefoof without snickering, would you want to do business with them? Would you feel OK owning Wakoopa shares in your 401(k)? Telling potential in-laws you met on Frengo? Relying on Ooma to call Grandma?...

When Missourians go to polls next Feb. 5 for the state's presidential primary, voters in three House districts will also be filling vacancies, including the one left by the recent resignation of Nathan Cooper of Cape Girardeau from the 158th District...

No comparison; Progress in Iraq; Outdated phrase; Lights won't change; All about money; Abolish the IRS

Labor Day. A longtime member of the Southeast Missouri State University faculty and a woman whose family connection with the university extended over 60 years, Lilly Brucher Gehrs, dies at Cape La-Croix Manor; Gehrs, 91, was a member of the university home economic faculty since 1939...

As Southeast Missouri State University sororities and fraternities wrap up their recruitment weeks and look forward to signing new members, school officials will try to prevent a repeat of last semester, when three members of Zeta Phi Beta sorority were convicted of third-degree assault and hazing...

Due to incorrect information provided by a source, a story about rehabilitation work planned for Cape Girardeau's floodwall contained an inaccuracy. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will require the city to assume sponsorship of the levee districts before the project can proceed, not afterward as reported...

The three defendants charged in connection with a bombing hoax designed to rob a Cape Girardeau bank had their second appearance in federal court last week. The government filed motions to detain Keith D. Moon, Darnell W. Moon and Lance L. Lewis on the grounds that they pose flight risks and dangers to the community...

The monthly First Friday coffee will feature a retrospective on the Show Me Center in honor of its 20th anniversary. Shannon Buford, marketing director at the center, will present a slide show featuring highlights of the center, which has been the home of Southeast Missouri State University basketball since it opened in August 1987. ...

PADUCAH, Ky. -- Paducah's Four Rivers Corvette Club will host its sixth annual Corvettes on the River car show Saturday in downtown Paducah. Registration begins at 8 a.m., with trophies awarded at 3 p.m. Proceeds go to benefit the St. Nicholas Family Clinic in Paducah. For more information, call (270) 442-3211 or (270) 554-8145...

A boil water order in Scott City was lifted Wednesday morning after the city spent the holiday weekend and the beginning of the week providing water on its reserve system. Scott City Public Works director Jack Rasnic said a 12-inch pipe at the city's water treatment plant in the Scott City industrial park broke Saturday, requiring the city to switch from that water supply to its reserve supply. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A man convicted of a 1994 triple murder at a Columbia convenience store wants the state Supreme Court to overturn his sentence for a third time because of claims he is mentally retarded. Whether the Supreme Court grants his request could depend on whether the judges decide it was Earnest Lee Johnson's burden to prove he was retarded or whether it was the prosecutors' burden to prove he was not...

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. -- An eastern Missouri man accused of molesting children at a family-run day care center waived his preliminary hearing Wednesday, pushing his case one step closer to trial with an arraignment set in October. William Huck Sr., 60, is accused of molesting eight children at the home-based day-care center operated by his wife in Ste. Genevieve. But police say Huck has confessed to molesting 40 children over the past three decades...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Matt Blunt watched with an impressed smile Wednesday as a gigantic mechanical claw ripped into the former administration building at the old Missouri State Penitentiary, clearing the way for a new federal courthouse. Until it closed three years ago, the penitentiary a few blocks east of the Capitol was the oldest continuously operated prison west of the Mississippi River. It opened in 1836...

By Kimberly Kagan From The Wall Street Journal The initial concept of the "surge" strategy in Iraq was to secure Baghdad and its immediate environs, which is why its proper name was the "Baghdad Security Plan." But as President Bush pointed out during his surprise trip to Iraq, operations and events on the ground are already showing successes well beyond Baghdad in Anbar, Diyala and Salahaddin provinces -- formerly al-Qaida strongholds and hotbeds of the Sunni insurgency...

Pauline B. Shepherd was born to Nancy Elizabeth and Martin Luther Barnes Sept. 15, 1917, in Clarkton, Mo. She was a small child, so she had to be scrappy to survive. And she survived in an extraordinary way with her chin and head held high and her heart and arms open -- not only to her family, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, but to First Baptist Church and organizations in Malden, Mo., to which she belonged almost 30 years; to countless people in Southeast Missouri; and to several generations of children in the Malden School System who began their education journey on a secure footing in her first-grade class.. ...

Gladys Alene Ham, 89, of Bourbon, Mo., formerly of St. Clair, Mo., died Monday, Aug. 27, 2007, at Redwood Manor in Bourbon. She was born March 30, 1918, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Silas Pearl and Ora Olive McLaughlin Neal. She and Charles Edward Logan Ham were married Nov. 5, 1935, in Ware, Ill...

Cecil R. Mansker, 85, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2007, at the Lutheran Home. He was born July 14, 1922, at Lutesville, Mo., son of Jasper R. and Virginia Grace Brown Mansker. He and Inatha Geraldine Bitterman were married Sept. 12, 1946, in Piggott, Ark...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Ted F. Walton, 87, of Chaffee died Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2007, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Gir­ardeau. He was born July 11, 1920, at Nash, Mo., son of B. and Laura Bell Ross Walton. He and Edna Le Smith were married July 6, 1960. She died April 8, 2001...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Larry J. Warren, 53, of Perryville died Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2007, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born May 19, 1954, in Perryville, son of Roy and Effie Cornehlsen Warren. He and Shelly Pease were married June 4, 1977...

Debra Ellen Wolfenkoehler, 54, of Jackson died Monday, Sept. 3, 2007, at her home. She was born Aug. 7, 1953, in St. Louis, daughter of David and Dot Cooper Becker. She and Robert Wolfenkoehler were married July 12, 1975, in Cape Girardeau. Wolfenkoehler was a 1975 graduate of Southeast Missouri State University. ...

Miller; Gage; Reeves; Armstrong; Bourbon; Bolen; Morgan; Statler

MIAMI -- The Rev. D. James Kennedy, a pioneering Christian broadcaster and megachurch pastor whose fiercely conservative worldview helped fuel the rise of the religious right in American politics, died Wednesday. He was 76. Kennedy died at his home in Fort Lauderdale from complications of a heart attack he suffered Dec. ...

** Jackson ** Firefighters responded to the following calls Tuesday: n An illegal fire on Parkwood Circle. n A canceled call on Washington Street. ** Firefighters responded to the following call Wednesday: n An illegal burn on West Mary Street.

Arrests; Burglary

Guardian Angel to hold all-you-can-eat dinner An all-you-can-eat dinner sponsored by Guardian Angel Home and School Association will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 16 at the Oran Knights of Columbus Hall on Highway 77 in Oran, Mo. The menu includes fried chicken, kettle beef and gravy, chicken and dumplings and all the trimmings. Children 5 and younger eat free...

More than 150 cars and trucks, some from as far away as St. Louis and Memphis, Tenn., will be showing off at the River City Rodders Car Club 30th annual car show Sept. 16. The show, also sponsored by Old Town Cape, has changed its venue from Capaha Park to the downtown parking lot across from Hutson's Fine Furniture on South Main Street to take advantage of the development and activity offered downtown...

The Show Me Healthy Women program offers free breast and cervical cancer screenings for women in Cape, Scott, Perry Bollinger and outlying counties for women who qualify. To qualify, single women must have a household income of no more than $20,420. ...

The Pre-Teen America Scholarship and Recognition Program has selected Makayla Price as a semifinalist in the event held Sept. 1 to 3 at Capitol Plaza at Jefferson City, Mo. Pre-Teen Missouri is a by-invitation only scholarship and recognition event involving 7- to 12-year-old young women, who, based on school academic records, awards and honors and participation in outside activities, are selected for participation in the program...

CASA now accepting applications for fall; Riverside Regional Library offers art class

Alexis C. Bogenpohl, a 16-year-old Jackson High School senior, placed in the top 15 out of 100 contestants at the National American Miss Missouri Pageant recently. She is the daughter of Shelly Kaiser and Darin Bogenpohl. Alexis is active in FBLA, Spanish Club, A Honor Roll, High Step and Jackson Marching Chiefs Band. Other activities include reading, church youth group, volunteering at the March of Dimes, cheerleading and participating in local pageants...

WASHINGTON -- To the dismay of fellow Republicans, Sen. Larry Craig launched a determined drive to save his seat Wednesday, vowing to stay in office if allowed to withdraw his guilty plea in a men's room sex sting. Craig's campaign suffered an instant setback, however, when the ethics committee refused to set aside a complaint lodged against him. "Pending Sen. Craig's resignation, the committee will continue to review this matter," the committee's senior senators wrote...

OMAHA, Neb. -- Four of the nation's biggest microwave popcorn makers are working to remove a flavoring chemical from their products linked to a lung ailment in popcorn plant workers while reassuring consumers about the safety of the snack. Several of the companies discussed their plans Wednesday, a day after a leading lung research hospital warned that consumers also could be in danger from the buttery flavoring diacetyl...

WASHINGTON -- A B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear warheads and flown for more than three hours across several states last week, prompting an Air Force investigation and the firing of one commander, Pentagon officials said Wednesday. The incident was so serious that President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were quickly informed and Gates has asked for daily briefings on the Air Force probe, said Defense Department press secretary Geoff Morrell. ...

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Fred Thompson -- veteran actor and former Republican senator -- launched his bid for the presidency Hollywood style. "I'm running for president of the United States," Thompson told Jay Leno in a taped appearance on NBC's "Tonight Show" that aired Wednesday...

MINDEN, Nev. -- Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett vanished somewhere across a landscape of soaring peaks and sagebrush desert notorious for winds so powerful and tricky they can swirl an airplane like a leaf and even shear off a wing. As the search for Fossett dragged into a second day Wednesday with some false leads but no sign of the 63-year-old aviator or his plane, some veteran pilots speculated he may have fallen victim to the treacherous and sometimes deadly Sierra Nevada winds that squeeze through the narrow canyons.. ...

ROME -- Luciano Pavarotti's health has deteriorated and he's in serious condition, the Italian news agencies ANSA and AGI reported Wednesday. Citing medical sources, ANSA said the 71-year-old tenor, who has pancreatic cancer, was believed to have lost consciousness for brief moments in recent days. The singer has been at home in Modena, under doctors' care...

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The Belgian-based International Polar Foundation unveiled Wednesday what it claimed to be the world's first zero-emissions polar science station in Antarctica to conduct research on climate change. The Princess Elisabeth station will be a totally energy self-sufficient research base that will allow scientists to study the impact of climate change in one of the world's most inhospitable environments without leaving a big polluting mark, scientists said...

BERLIN -- Three militants from an Islamic group linked to al-Qaida were planning "imminent" bomb attacks against Americans in Germany when an elite anti-terrorist unit raided their small-town hideout after months of intense surveillance, officials said Wednesday...

BEIJING -- From the German chancellery to the Pentagon, government computer networks have been targeted by cyber spies that media reports say were directed by China's military. China denies backing such attacks, and foreign governments have declined to openly accuse Beijing. Yet, after the spectacular test of a Chinese anti-satellite weapon this year, the reports are shining a new light on China's pursuit of ways to confront a stronger foe with unconventional strategies...

The average human brain weighs 3.5 pounds and is 80 percent water. The world's largest brain weighs 1,100 pounds and is mostly air. It's also color-coded and will be floating over Cape Girardeau sometime this month. The Brain Balloon, a hot-air balloon shaped like the brain, stands more than 10 stories tall...

Sunday St. Lawrence Catholic Church in New Hamburg, Mo., from 8 a.m. to noon. Monday Lowes Home Improvement Warehouse in Cape Girardeau, from 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday Oran High School, Oran, Mo., from 3 to 7 p.m.

Editor's note: The Southeast Missourian has added a new feature to better serve our readers. Inside your paper today you will find the first edition of SE Live, a weekly installment full of arts and entertainment news and calendars to help you plan your weekend. You'll find it every Thursday in the Southeast Missourian starting today...

Brittany Licare had 21 digs to lead the Scott City volleyball team to a victory over Notre Dame on Wednesday. Jordan McFall had two aces and eight assists as the Rams (2-0) earned the 25-19, 25-22 victory. Brooke Simpson added four aces, 18 digs, nine kills and two kill blocks for Scott City...

Myers shoots hole in one Bill Myers used a 6-iron to score his second career hole in one on the 145-yard hole No. 13 at Dalhousie Golf Club on Sunday. Harriette Myers witnessed the shot. Mungle shoots 133 to win championship flight Mark Mungle shot a 67-66--133 to win the championship flight in the 2007 Senior Club Championship at Kimbeland Country Club...

Barry Zito thinks more deeply about most things than the average major leaguer. At $18 million a year, he also makes more money than most of the guys who play the game for a living. The combination, along with a terrible start with his new team this season, makes Zito uniquely qualified to talk about the pressures of performing for pay...

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Cardinals will begin selling playoff tickets Sept. 24, but only to those who qualify through an online drawing, the team said Wednesday. The defending champions, two games out of first place in the NL Central, will sell tickets for potential National League Division Series and Championship Series games on that date. World Series tickets would be sold at a later date...

ST. LOUIS -- Struggling Kip Wells' role on the St. Louis Cardinals' pitching staff remained in limbo Wednesday. Cardinals manager Tony La Russa postponed a decision on the makeup of a six-man rotation for the final month of the season. Wells is 6-16, tied for the major league lead in losses, with a 5.75 ERA. He lasted only 3 1/3 innings in an 11-0 loss to the Pirates on Monday and has a 10.80 ERA in his last three appearances...

ST. LOUIS -- Now, the pressure is really on Tye Hill. It's tough enough that the St. Louis Rams' second-year cornerback has to face a three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver in the season opener. Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers also has a chip on his shoulder from comments supposedly made by Hill said after last year's game...

NEW YORK -- So expressionless and serious-minded all night, Venus Williams waited to crack a smile until her victory was complete. That's when Williams simply could not help but grin -- as she walked to the net for a handshake, as she waved to the crowd, as she spoke about reaching her first U.S. Open semifinal since 2002...

INDIANAPOLIS -- Peyton Manning grew up in New Orleans, the favorite son in a city where his father, Archie, was considered royalty. Drew Brees grew up in Texas, an overlooked high school recruit who eventually resurrected Purdue's image as Quarterback U...

LEMONT, Ill. -- The third straight week of this FedEx Cup finale is starting to yield more evidence that the PGA Tour Playoffs aren't like the postseason in other sports. Instead of being desperate to keep playing, some golfers can't wait to go home...

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. -- Joe Gibbs Racing spent 16 seasons jockeying for position in the crowded General Motors camp, where three championships in five seasons wasn't enough to move the organization to the front of the pack. JGR won't have that problem in 2008. The three-car organization will move to Toyotas next season in a switch that will make it the premier team for the Japanese automaker...

Today Asthma: It's Not a Disease, Is It?: From 6:30 to 8 p.m. in Southeast Missouri Hospital's Harrison Room. Discussion about asthma, a chronic lung condition that makes breathing difficult. Asthma has no known cause or cure, but can be managed. To register, call Generations at 651-5825 or go to www.southeastmissourihospital.com...

SATURDAY 8:30 a.m.: Antique Tractor Pull, Grandstand 9 a.m.: Southeast Missouri Hospital's women's distance run 9 a.m. to noon: Open Class Entries (except livestock), Arena Building 11 a.m.: Boer Goat show, Livestock Arena...

Duos are a country music tradition. Brooks & Dunn and Montgomery Gentry are the current kings of that hill, but the heritage stretches back to the supremacy of The Judds, further back to Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn, back to Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash and further...

Carrington to play Show Me Center Country singer and raunchy comedian Rodney Carrington has been booked as the first act to play the Show Me Center in its 20th anniversary season. Carrington's performance is scheduled for 8 p.m. Oct. 20, and tickets are on sale now. The performers is touring in support of his latest CD, "King of the Mountains."...

As he prepares to open up the 2007 River City Music Festival, our esteemed mayor Jay Knudtson gave us his playlist for the inaugural edition of SE Live, in no particular order. No. 1 "Old Man," Neil Young I was first introduced to 'Neil' in High School and became a huge fan. I've since learned that Neil and I are very different politically, but it didn't seem to matter back then...

Pamela Kugel-Rolls lives along the West Fork of the Black River in Reynolds County. The river informs the life of her family. It encircles front of their house like a moat. A bluff sequesters their back side. When the river floods they have to climb up the back hill...

Compiled by USA Today 1. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling 2. "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer 3. "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne 4. "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen (Algonquin) (F-P) 5. "Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia" by Elizabeth Gilbert...

Note: This schedule only lists bands performing on festival featured stages. For bands playing in bars refer to www.semissourian.com. Friday Broadway stage 7:30 p.m. -- Atomic Age 8:15 p.m. -- Groove Conspiracy 9:15 p.m. -- Mid Life Crisis 10:15 p.m. -- Dissonance...

VENICE, Italy -- Richard Gere and Charlize Theron added their voices to a chorus of stars taking swipes at the Bush administration at the Venice Film Festival. "How did we elect Bush twice?" Gere asked rhetorically while promoting his new film, "The Hunting Party."...

Less than 1 hour away @SL_graphic_body:Chester, Ill. Everybody knows Chester is the hometown of Popeye, right? The famous cartoon character was inspired by a young man from Chester, created by Chester-native Elzie Segar in 1929. Every year the town celebrates its Popeye heritage with the Annual Popeye Picnic. The festival includes tours of the Popeye Museum carnival rides, dances, sports and more. Event runs Friday through Sunday. For more information visit www.popeyepicnic.com...

First Fridays in Cape Girardeau are great, but for art lovers who can't get enough, the Saint Louis Art Fair is the place to be. The event takes place Friday through Sunday in Clayton. The best part may be that this fair is free, which might also be a big part of why so many people attend. This year an estimated 150,000 people are expected to take part in the three-day festival...

LONDON -- Living fast and dying young has long been part of rock 'n' roll lore. And now there are statistics that affirm the image, according to a study released Tuesday. Researchers at Liverpool John Moores University, whose report appeared in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, studied a sample of North American and British rock and pop stars and concluded they are more than twice as likely to die a premature death as ordinary citizens of the same age...

NEW YORK -- While it's hard to think of positives to come out a severe brain injury, here's one: it just helped ABC News' Bob Woodruff score a scoop. South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson turned to Woodruff for a "Nightline" report on his recovery and return to public life this week following a brain hemorrhage. The Democrat probably figured no other reporter would better understand what he went through...

NEW YORK -- Kelly Clarkson, who scrapped an earlier tour this summer due to slow sales, is heading back on the road this fall. The Grammy-winning singer announced Tuesday she would kick off a theater tour Oct. 14 at New York City's Beacon Theater, winding down in Nashville on Dec. 4 at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium...

NEW YORK -- After a particularly anemic year that saw double-digit declines in album sales and no true blockbuster CDs, the recording industry is looking to its fall releases to deliver some much needed multiplatinum magic. There's reason for some hope, as the acts expected to release CDs before year's end have in the past delivered more sales phenomenons than flops: Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood and even Britney Spears. ...

Let me guess, you have no idea what you're looking at right now. That's an understandable reaction, because if you're reading this, then you're obviously checking out a publication unlike any the Southeast Missourian has ever provided to you, good reader...

Ask Brenda Glueck to sum up the idea behind her down-home diner, Brenda's Place, and you'll get a succinct answer. "It's all about home cooking, honey." With a relaxed atmosphere and food that comes strictly from the made-from-scratch, home-cooking tradition, Glueck said her restaurant is a place where customers, and employees, are made to feel right at home...

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- Gov. Matt Blunt signed legislation Wednesday that supporters say will allow the state to fix more than 800 bridges within five years. Under the plan, called the Safe and Sound Bridge Program, Missouri will drastically speed the repairs of its bridges by awarding a single 30-year contract to fix and maintain 802 of its worst bridges...

FRIDAY ARTS First Friday artwalk, downtown and other Cape Girardeau locations BANDS River City Music Festival, downtown Cape Girardeau Peter Karp, Tunes at Twilight, Common Pleas Courthouse gazebo Tone Def All Stars, Breakaways Open mic, Cup 'N' Cork...

So a few friends and I are taking in the afternoon sun in downtown Cape Girardeau when the topic of the new "Halloween" film comes up. We don't enter the obsessive "Star Trek" or "Star Wars" territory -- thank goodness -- but for horror fans, I come to find, John Carpenter's original "Halloween" is considered one of the top 10 horror films of all time. ...

PUERTO CABEZAS, Nicaragua -- Doctors threw together a makeshift clinic Wednesday to tend to the injured after powerful Hurricane Felix flooded their hospital and wrecked villages on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast. Remnants of the storm drenched Central America in rain and the death toll rose to nine, with at least 11 people missing...

CD review Manu Chao, "La Radiolina" (Nacional/Because) It's been six years since the globe-trotting anti-globalist Manu Chao's last studio album. What emerges on "La Radiolina" is a sound that is familiar to fans of his past albums, but more urgent and complicated...

The Artist Studio, 38 N. Main St., Cape Girardeau -- Watercolors by workshop participants Robin Hankinson and Judy Robinson, necklaces by Judy Barks-Westrich, 5-9 p.m. n The Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, 32 N. Main St., Cape Girardeau -- "River Rhythms" by Pamela Kugel-Rolls, photography by Teresa Gemeinhardt, new work by the Visual Arts Cooperative, 5-9 p.m...

NEW YORK -- Four actors from "Grey's Anatomy," the ABC hit where Isaiah Washington was fired for anti-gay slurs, are featured in a new ad campaign preaching tolerance for gays and lesbians. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation on Tuesday released 25 new public service ads that it will encourage TV networks to air. The ads feature celebrities talking about either the power of anti-gay words or the importance of accepting a gay or lesbian family member...

Cape Girardeau has become a familiar place for solo artist -- and bassist for classic rock band Boston -- Kimberley Dahme. Each of the last two years the Dahme wagon has rolled into town for Tunes at Twilight and drawn some of the concert series' largest crowds...

PORTLAND, Maine -- Long John Silver of "Treasure Island" fame, hobbling along on a peg leg with a talking parrot on his shoulder, set the mold for Hollywood's image of a pirate. Then came Captain Hook, thirsting for revenge against Peter Pan for cutting off his right hand and forcing him to wear an iron hook. ...

SPRING HOUSE, Pa. -- Posing for a picture with life-size replicas of the Three Stooges, Gary Lassin smiled but didn't say "cheese." "Woob-woob-woob-woob-woob!" he trilled in a Curly-like falsetto before breaking into a grin. The statues of Larry, Moe and Curly are near the entrance to the Stoogeum, home of Lassin's large and priceless collection of Stooges memorabilia...

NEW YORK -- While writing songs for her new album, Patti Scialfa was inspired by a wide range of women: Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, doomed poet Sylvia Plath, renowned author Joan Didion, and, shifting gears, drag racer Shirley "Cha Cha" Muldowney...

'3:10 to Yuma' Starring Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Peter Fonda, Gretchen Mol and Ben Foster. Outlaw Ben Wade terrorizes 1800s Arizona, especially the Southern Railroad, until he is finally captured.

LIVE MUSIC Doug Rees and Kimberley Dahme Get a taste of the River City Music Festival a day in advance when Kimberley Dahme joins Doug Rees to work on their chops before their festival performances. n When: 7 p.m. tonight n Where: Stooges, Jackson Moodminder and The Sorries...

ST. LOUIS -- Mark Mulder's first start in more than a year had the profile of a pitcher reining in his repertoire during spring training. Too bad the St. Louis Cardinals need him to win now. And Mulder was no savior, getting roughed up by Pittsburgh in an 8-2 Pirates victory Wednesday night...

As is the trend with epic quests, the path can be unclear and muddied with possible clues and red herrings. Unfortunately, medicine can be the same way. The advice and information I found about hypertension had as much fog and mystery as the English countryside. As the day went on, though, some of the fog lifted and I better understood the issues of hypertension...

CLEVER, Mo. (AP) -- A weak tornado damaged a bank roof and some trees Thursday in this small southwest Missouri town, but no injuries were reported. The National Weather Service said the early morning twister was rated an F0, the least destructive possible, with winds between 65 and 85 miles per hour...

PLATTE CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A former municipal judge was sentenced to 60 days in jail Thursday for possession of drug paraphernalia when he crashed his car last year. Charles M. McKeon, who was a judge in the Kansas City suburb of Riverside, was sentenced after pleading guilty in Platte County Circuit Court...

Jonathon D. McClard of Jackson, the 16-year-old accused of shooting and wounding another teen three times in a love-triangle dispute at the Shawnee Square Car Wash in Jackson, will be tried as an adult for the crime. Circuit Judge Scott Thomsen this morning certified McClard as an adult for allegedly shooting Jeremy D. Voshage, 17, also of Jackson...

Songs getting the most airtime on local radio Week ending Sept. 5 Country -- K103 FM No. 1: Carrie Underwood, "So Small" No. 2: Tim McGraw, "If You're Reading This" No. 3. Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson, "Because of You" No. 4. Kenny Chesney, "Don't Blink" No. 5: Rascal Flatts, "Take Me There"...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Noncustodial parents have to pay child support for their children in college only until they turn 21, after a new law dropped the maximum age by a year. Last week's change could cut off child support for 3,200 current college students over age 21. The new law allows a parent to stop paying after a child turns 21 or fails at least half of his or her courses in a college semester. A parent still can stop paying at 18 if the child does not pursue a higher education...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A coalition of conservative groups claims Governor Matt Blunt intends to appoint appeals court Judge Patricia Breckenridge to the Missouri Supreme Court. But the governor's office insists no decision has been made. A joint memo from the Family Research Council, the Free Congress Foundation and the Coalition for a Fair Judiciary claims Blunt has told campaign donors and Republican Party leaders that he has decided to appoint Breckenridge...

Forecast for more rain Friday evening squelched the River City Music Festival, Mayor Jay Knudtson said. The sound technicians in charge of setting up the event said there was a 100 percent chance of rain in the forecast, so festival organizer Mary Ramsey decided to call off the outdoor festivities, Knudtson said...

It's a bit strange that I would be thinking of music and terrorism at the same time. That's what happens when a music festival opens near the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Not that there's any connection between our music festival and terrorists. None whatsoever...

Police arrested two men they say were trying to shoot deer from a car on a Cape Girardeau city street. They were each charged with taking wildlife in violation of Missouri Department of Conservation guidelines. Cape Girardeau police responded to calls around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday alerting them that someone was trying to shoot deer at the intersection of Bertling and Sprigg streets. The deer were on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University...

Southeast Missouri got more rain in six hours Thursday than in all of August. The morning and midday rains dropped 1.65 inches on Cape Girardeau, with more showers occurring later in the day. "It looks like for the next week there's a pretty good chance of rain," said Dave Purdy, meteorological technician with the National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky. "I don't know if that will be enough to make up the deficit as far as the drought goes."...

The 16-year-old from Jackson accused of shooting and wounding another teen three times in a love-triangle dispute will be tried as an adult for the crime. Circuit Judge Scott Thomsen certified Jonathan D. McClard as an adult Thursday morning. McClard is accused of shooting Jeremy D. Voshage, 17, also of Jackson, in July at the Shawnee Square Car Wash in Jackson...

The first person up for the Democratic Party was the last one standing. Mike Keefe, former Cape Gir­ardeau postmaster and chairman of the Cape Girardeau Parks Advisory Board, won the nomination Thursday evening as candidate for the 158th District Missouri House seat left open by the resignation of Nathan Cooper...

Cape Girardeau's annual downtown music festival -- in its 11th year -- has a new name (River City Music Festival), an earlier-in-the-year time frame, scaled-back hours and more business and community support. The festival kicks off tonight and continues through Saturday night with more than 40 bands and performers in the lineup...

When Cape Girardeau native Chris Buehrle first considered his hometown as a location for one of his call-center operations, he wasn't sure the community could meet the demand for hundreds of employees. Cooperatively, the Cape Gir­ardeau Area Chamber of Commerce, Cape Girardeau Area MAGNET, Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center, Mineral Area College, Southeast Missouri State University and state economic development agencies put together the resources to provide National Asset Recovery Services with what it needed, including a job fair where 900 prospective employees showed up. ...

Secular society; Water problems; Driving offense; Extra supplies; Thanks for water; Not a priority; Productive workers; Utility-bill increase; Don't blame restaurants; Vial of justification; Need intervention; Center-lane safety; Poor farmers; Hem and haw

People who sign up and stand up filled the First Midwest Bank parking lot in Jackson on Thursday. First among them were 30 World War II veterans being given a send-off on the second Honor Tour to Washington, D.C. They will spend today through Sunday seeing Washington memorials, with a special emphasis on the National World War II Memorial...

A petition drive seeking to place on the November ballot a proposition to repeal the "Blue Law" Sunday sales ban in Cape Girardeau has already collected about 5,000 signatures, although election officials say some of them are invalid. Although he calls it "one of the most useless things we've ever done," Cape Girardeau Mayor Howard C. Tooke casts the deciding vote to approve the first reading of a long-debated ordinance aimed at regulating abortions here...

Highway 34/72 in Jackson officially reopens today, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 9:30 a.m. More than two miles of road were widened and repaved, starting one mile west of Highway 25. Jackson Mayor Barbara Lohr will be among those speaking. ...

In the past few days Arena Park has undergone a remarkable transformation. Where before there was only green grass and asphalt, rows of white camper-trailers, mobile food carts, carnival rides and tractor-trailers sporting the images of the Budweiser Clydesdales now sit...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- More than one-third of college freshmen at Missouri's public schools had to take remedial courses last year to catch up with the basic concepts they should have learned in high school. The percentage of students in remedial courses is up significantly compared with a decade ago...

WASHINGTON -- Worker productivity rebounded, growing at the fastest pace in nearly two years, while wage pressures eased sharply in the spring -- developments that should reduce inflation worries. The Labor Department reported Thursday that productivity, the amount of output per hour of work, jumped to an annual growth rate of 2.6 percent in the April-June quarter, even better than the 1.8 percent increase that was originally reported...

O'FALLON, Mo. -- PINs and signed receipts? Forget about it. MasterCard Worldwide announced that Central Bancompany will become the first bank of its kind to offer "PayPass" debit cards that don't need to be swiped to make a purchase. The technology is already widely used in credit cards and national banks, but Central Bancompany is the first community bank holding company to offer the product...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A new college scholarship for Missouri students in financial need has attracted more participants than expected, meaning some students will get less money than originally planned. The Access Missouri scholarship was created by lawmakers this year to replace two separate financial-needs-based scholarships. The state began sending out the first scholarship checks under the new program within the past week...

TRENTON, N.J. -- In a major legal victory for Merck & Co. in its massive Vioxx litigation, New Jersey's Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a potential class-action lawsuit that could have cost the drugmaker up to $18 billion. New Jersey's highest court, reversing two lower-court decisions, ruled a nationwide class was not appropriate. ...

Route ZZ in Bollinger County will be reduced to one 10-foot lane today to accommodate bridge repair. The bridge is a half-mile north of Highway 34. The work zone will be marked with signs. The Missouri Department of Transportation issued a statement asking drivers to use extreme caution in the construction area...

The U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed Gregory A. Sparkman's conviction Wednesday for charges related to a scheme to defraud his business's insurer by burning an office building and two cars, federal prosecutor Larry Ferrell said. On Dec. 12, 2000, the office of West Park Motors, the used car dealership co-owned by Sparkman, was destroyed in a fire...

MILAN, Italy -- Hundreds of people gathered Thursday night in Modena's main piazza to pay final respects to Luciano Pavarotti, whose vibrant high C's and ebullient showmanship made him the most beloved and celebrated tenor since Enrico Caruso. The crowd applauded in a sign of respect as pallbearers carried the casket into Modena's cathedral, where a funeral is scheduled for Saturday. The tenor died early Thursday at the age of 71 after a yearlong battle with pancreatic cancer...

Alma E. Palisch Bodenschatz, 86, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2007, at Fountainbleau Lodge. She was born Jan. 17, 1921, in Altenburg, Mo., daughter of Adolph C. and Freida M. Jungclauss Palisch. She and Raymond O. Bodenschatz were married June 18, 1944, in Altenburg. He died May 23, 1992...

Edward T. Adams, 76, formerly of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Aug. 23, 2007, in Winter Haven, Fla. He was born Jan. 7, 1931, in Springfield, Tenn., son of Jesse Reed and Ruth Dean Adams. He married Katy Adams, who died in December 2006. Adams received a bachelor's degree in music from Murray State University in Murray, Ky. He served four years in the U.S. Army, and then worked with dance bands for a year...

Clyde Marvin Russell, 66, of Scott City died Thursday, Sept. 6, 2007, at Heartland Care Rehab Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Dec. 6, 1940, in Tupelo, Miss., son of William and Johnnie Lou Ivey Russell. Russell owned Russell Construction. He was a member of Eagles Aerie 3775 in Cape Girardeau, American Legion Post 369 in Benton, Mo., and Southeast Missouri Horseshoe Association...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Velma M. Treece, 91, of Jonesboro died Thursday, Sept. 6, 2007, at Jonesboro Rehab and Healthcare Center. She was born Sept. 12, 1915, in Wolf Lake, Ill., daughter of William and Ada Crowell Bright. She and Curtis L. Treece were married Dec. 22, 1932, in Jonesboro. He died Aug. 15, 1983...

Arrests; Thefts

n At 6:49 p.m., emergency medical service in the unit block of South Ellis Street. n At 7:38 p.m., an illegal burn at 2100 William St. n At 8:22 p.m., assist police department at 100 N. Sprigg St. n At 11:15 p.m., emergency medical service at Ripley Street and West End Boulevard...

WASHINGTON -- U.S. forces in Iraq should be reduced significantly, according to a new study on Iraq's security forces that inflamed debate in Congress on how quickly that can happen without hurling the country into chaos. The report, authored by a 20-member panel made up mostly of retired senior military and police officers, said the massive deployment of U.S. ...

LAREDO, Texas -- Dozens of truckers protested at border crossings in Texas and California on Thursday, denouncing as dangerous and unfair a pilot program allowing up to 100 Mexican trucking companies to transport cargo anywhere in the United States...

CAMDEN, N.J. -- An anonymous jury will hear the case of six men accused of plotting to attack soldiers at Fort Dix, a federal judge ruled Thursday. U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler agreed with prosecutors' concerns that jurors could be intimidated because of the nature of the charges and the possibility the media would pursue jurors if their names were released. He rejected defense complaints that such a jury would be biased...

NEW YORK -- A federal judge struck down parts of the revised USA Patriot Act on Thursday, saying investigators must have a court's approval before they can order Internet providers to turn over records without telling customers. U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero said the government orders must be subject to meaningful judicial review and that the recently rewritten Patriot Act "offends the fundamental constitutional principles of checks and balances and separation of powers."...

WASHINGTON -- Scientific sleuths have a new suspect for a mysterious affliction that has killed off honeybees by the billions: a virus previously unknown in the United States. The scientists report using a novel genetic technique and old-fashioned statistics to identify Israeli acute paralysis virus as the latest potential culprit in the widespread deaths of worker bees, a phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder...

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Three high-ranking Marines were given censures, the military's most severe administrative punishment, for their roles in investigating the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha, the Marine Corps said. Maj. Gen. Richard A. ...

SEATTLE -- A woman who faced up to 90 days in jail for registering her dog to vote has agreed to a deal that could remove the charge from her record. Jane Balogh, 66, won't be prosecuted on the charge of making a false or misleading statement to a public servant if she does 10 hours of community service, pays a $250 fine and avoids violating the law for the next year, District Judge Mariane Spearman said Wednesday...

MILAN, Italy -- Prosecutors call it terrorism on the cheap. Every few weeks, the Tunisians would stop at a bank or Western Union office and wire funds to a city in Europe or the Middle East. No one took much notice. The sums were small -- sometimes only a few hundred dollars -- and thousands of other people were doing the same thing across Italy, many of them immigrant workers sending money home...

TOKYO -- Heavy rain and strong winds lashed Tokyo today as a typhoon neared the capital after killing one person, injuring at least 35 and cutting power to tens of thousands of homes. Typhoon Fitow made landfall in Odawara in Kanagawa prefecture just south of Tokyo early today, public broadcaster NHK said. It was packing winds of up to 78 mph on Thursday evening, according to the Meteorological Agency...

PUERTO CABEZAS, Nicaragua -- U.S., Honduran and Nicaraguan soldiers searched remote jungle beaches and the open sea Thursday looking for survivors and the dead from Hurricane Felix's rampage. Villagers in canoes helped, paddling through waters thick with fallen trees...

SYDNEY, Australia -- President Bush today urged Asia-Pacific nations to lead the way toward a worldwide trade agreement and a plan to combat global warming while also banding together against terrorism. In a speech to business leaders, Bush prodded Russia and China to honor democratic principles and allow more freedoms. He appealed for international pressure against the military government in Myanmar to stop its crackdown on pro-democracy activists in the Southeast Asian nation...

CAIRO, Egypt -- Osama bin Laden plans a new video to be released in the coming days ahead of the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in what would be the first new images of the terror mastermind in nearly three years, al-Qaida's media arm announced Thursday...

BAGHDAD -- U.S. and Iraqi troops backed by attack aircraft clashed with suspected Shiite militiamen before dawn Thursday in Baghdad, bombing houses and battling more than a dozen snipers on rooftops. Residents and police said at least 14 people were killed...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Israeli troops backed by tanks and bulldozers crossed into southern Gaza to strike at Palestinian militants Thursday, killing 10, a day after Israeli leaders ruled out a large-scale offensive to stop daily rocket salvos from Gaza...

NEW YORK -- Britney Spears will be the opening act at this year's MTV Video Music Awards. The 25-year-old singer will perform "Gimme More" -- the first single from her upcoming album -- at Sunday's event in Las Vegas, MTV announced Thursday. Spears, whose late-night partying and erratic behavior have made her a tabloid fixture, is a veteran of the VMAs: She performed "I'm A Slave 4 U" with a 7-foot albino python around her neck in 2001. ...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Comeback kid Rick Ankiel of the St. Louis Cardinals received a year's supply of human growth hormone in 2004, the Daily News reported Friday. The pitcher-turned-outfielder is the latest athlete to be linked to the Florida pharmacy at the center of an investigation by the Albany County (N.Y.) district attorney's office into the illegal Internet distribution of performance-enhancing drugs...

ST. LOUIS -- Rick Ankiel isn't just hitting, he's turning into a force. Ankiel homered twice and had a career-high seven RBIs, leading the St. Louis Cardinals over the Pittsburgh Pirates 16-4 on Thursday in a game shortened to eight innings because of rain...

The Jackson defense recorded a shutout in its season opener last week against a talented Francis Howell Central offense, but coach Carl Gross said he will receive a better picture of how strong the group is tonight. The defensive strategy focused much of its energy on stopping one talented Howell Central receiver last week. But this week, the coaching staff has dissected the entire Parkway North offense, which posted 56 points against Central in Week 1...

Robert Haberkorn realizes a lifelong dream tonight. He'll get the opportunity to take the football field as a Notre Dame football player, in full pads and sporting the legendary gold helmet. Haberkorn, a dentist in Cape Girardeau, will play for Notre Dame in tonight's Fantasy Bowl I, and he couldn't be more proud. ...

The six senior members of the St. Vincent volleyball team have been playing together since they were in the sixth grade. They say they have formed a connection on the floor and know the plays one another will make because they have been together for so long...

Parkway North (1-0) at Jackson (1-0) Last year's meeting: Parkway North 29, Jackson 25 Notes: Jackson's defense was extremely strong last week, holding Francis Howell Central, the top-scoring team in the Gateway Athletic Conference in 2006, to one first down. ...

Peterman takesfirst in A-flight Deanna Peterman took first place Tuesday in the A-flight at the weekly Cape Chip-A-Ways golf outing. Jean Graham and Evelyn Riley tied for first place in the B-flight. Lil Angle and Carolyn Blechle tied for the low putts and Bea Mashek had the play of the day...

NEW YORK -- To Andy Roddick's credit, he played nearly flawlessly against Roger Federer, serving brilliantly, returning well, too, and giving tennis' top player a tough time. To Roddick's dismay, it all added up to yet another loss. In a match as tight as could be for 2 1/2 sets, Federer was barely better on the most important points and emerged to edge Roddick 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4), 6-2 in Wednesday's quarterfinals, moving two victories away from a fourth consecutive U.S. Open title...

INDIANAPOLIS -- It took the Indianapolis Colts one half to shake off their post-Super Bowl hangover. Then Peyton Manning and friends came alive to beat New Orleans 41-10 on Thursday night in the NFL's opener, running away in the final 30 minutes with a championship caliber performance...

Taylor Kirn recorded seven kills to lead the Central volleyball team to a victory over Oak Ridge on Thursday. Katie Scholl finished with 10 assists to help the Tigers to the 25-14, 25-19 victory. Central improved to 3-4-1 with the road victory over the Blue Jays...

LEMONT, Ill. -- Jonathan Byrd forgot what it was like to play in one of those PGA Tour boondoggles that have no cut and guaranteed money even for last place. But the BMW Championship is no place for him to relax, even if Cog Hill had the atmosphere of a library Thursday...

WASHINGTON -- Bids topped $10,000 on Thursday on an Internet auction site for what an animal rights group says are notes from football star Michael Vick's speech apologizing for a dogfighting scandal. The Humane Society of the United States is selling on eBay the single-page, six-point outline of the speech Vick gave at an Aug. 27 news conference in Richmond after pleading guilty in his dogfighting case...

A rainy forecast caused the River City Music Festival to cancel its outdoor events Friday evening, but some last-minute wrangling kept the event from becoming a wash. Most of the bands scheduled to perform were relocated to Garden Gallery and Port Cape Girardeau Restaurant and Lounge...

Most burglars take TVs, DVD players and iPods. Cape Girardeau police say Anthony L. Wilkins broke into the site of a marijuana raid Thursday night hoping to find leftovers after reading about the bust in the Southeast Missourian. The article, which was published Aug. ...

John Wesemann is spending this weekend drilling at the U.S. Navy Reserve Center in Cape Girardeau for the last time. On Sunday, the U.S. flag will be lowered at 4 p.m., marking the closure of the 91-year-old center at 2530 Maria Louise Lane. "It's going to be a sad weekend," Wesemann said. ...

The traffic light at Independence and Pacific streets in Cape Girardeau is working just fine, according to a city official. True, it went from green-yellow-red to a constant flashing pattern five weeks ago, according to Geoff Dial, special projects coordinator for Cape Girardeau's Public Works Department. But that isn't a cause for concern...

ST. FRANCISVILLE, La. -- The owners of a nursing home where 35 patients died after Hurricane Katrina were acquitted Friday of negligent homicide and cruelty charges for not evacuating the facility as the storm approached. The jury took about four hours to acquit Sal and Mabel Mangano, the husband-and-wife owners of St. Rita's Nursing Home in St. Bernard Parish, just outside of New Orleans...

NORFOLK, Va. -- The pilot of a civilian World War II stunt plane died Friday after the plane crashed while practicing just hours before an air show, officials said. Jan Wildbergh, the flight leader with the Skytypers Air Show Team, died following the crash at the Oceana Naval Air Station, team sponsor GEICO Insurance said in a statement...

TORONTO -- Toronto's turn playing host to movie stars and fresh-faced directors includes little of the giddy excitement so rampant earlier in the year during Utah's Sundance Film Festival. It doesn't have the glitz of Cannes, nor the scenery of Telluride. There are no welcome banners lining the clean city streets...

MODENA, Italy -- Thousands of mourners filed past the open white casket of Luciano Pavarotti in his hometown cathedral Friday to pay their last respects to the tenor whose charisma and voice were celebrated around the world. More than 10,000 people have viewed the body of the city's most famous son since Thursday evening, when the public was allowed in just hours after his death from pancreatic cancer at age 71...

CAIRO, Egypt -- Osama bin Laden appeared for the first time in three years in a video released Friday, ahead of the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, telling Americans they should convert to Islam if they want the war in Iraq to end...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Noncustodial parents have to pay child support for their children in college only until they turn 21, after a new law dropped the maximum age by a year. Last week's change could cut off child support for 3,200 current college students older than 21. The new law allows a parent to stop paying after a child turns 21 or fails at least half of his or her courses in a college semester. A parent still can stop paying at 18 if the child does not pursue a higher education...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A proposal to outlaw a form of stem-cell research narrowly endorsed by voters last year has drawn the ire of the University of Missouri's interim president. The constitutional amendment proposed by the group Cures Without Cloning "assaults Missouri" and could "permanently destroy the future of research" at state universities and private labs, system leader Gordon Lamb said in a written statement released Friday...

NEVADA, Mo. -- Gov. Matt Blunt on Friday appointed appeals court judge Patricia Breckenridge to fill a vacancy on the Missouri Supreme Court. Blunt announced Breckenridge's appointment in her hometown of Nevada at the Vernon County Courthouse, where she began her career as a state judge more than 25 years ago...

WASHINGTON -- For the first time in four years, employers have cut jobs, raising new fears that a deep housing slump and a painful credit crunch could push the economy into a recession. Pressure is building on the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. Many economists predict the deteriorating employment climate will lead to a rate cut Sept. 18...

WASHINGTON -- The Senate voted Friday to increase college financial aid by cutting roughly $20 billion in government subsidies to banks and giving it to students. The bill would boost the maximum Pell grant, which goes to the poorest college students, from $4,310 to $5,400 by 2012...

Police called for two fights at Main Street bar Police responded to a fight outside the Main Street Bar and Grill at 701 Main St. around 12:30 a.m. Friday. The fight involved two women quarreling over a man, said Cpl. Ike Hammonds of the Cape Girardeau Police Department. ...

Statutory rape charges filed against Cape man Charges of statutory rape and statutory sodomy have been filed against James M. Harris, 33, of 1122 Ranney Ave. The charges allege that Harris had oral and sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old on five occasions, according to public information officer Cpl. Ike Hammonds of the Cape Girardeau Police Department. The case is still under investigation...

n At 12:31 a.m., emergency medical service at 700 N. Main St. n At 12:42 a.m., an alarm sounding at 900 Normal Ave. n At 1:01 a.m., emergency medical service at 700 N. Main St. n At 1:25 a.m., emergency medical service at Broadway and North Main Street...

Cape Girardeau: Arrests; Thefts; Assaults; Miscellaneous; Jackson: Summonses; Theft; Assault; Property damage; Miscellaneous

Dorothyleen N. "Dot" Drewel, 78, of Springfield, Mo., died Friday, Sept. 7, 2007, in Springfield. She was born March 24, 1929, in Bland, Mo., daughter of Fred and Amy Shockley Branson. She and Calvin H. Drewel were married May 8, 1948, in Bland. Drewel was a member of First Presbyterian Church in Rolla, Mo., and Eastern Star in Bland...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Joe John Owens, 84, of Advance died Friday, Sept. 6, 2007, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Feb. 4, 1923, in Truman, Ark., son of David and Jannie Blue Owens. Owens was a retired farmer and welder. He was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II...

Betty Edwards, 77, of Aransas Pass, Texas, died Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2007. She was born in Modoc, Ill. She married Charles Edwards, who preceded her in death. Edwards had been a resident of the Rockport/Aransas Pass area the past 14 years. Survivors include four daughters, Sharon Crowden of Rockview, Mo., Cindy Canady of Morley, Mo., Joyce Dunker of Phoenix, Kasey Geary of Aransas Pass; two brothers, Lowell Jones of Collinsville, Ill., Doyle Jones of Evansville, Ill.; six sisters, Lola Ruroede and Artann Fries of Ellis Grove, Ill., Alfreda Reed of Fenton, Mo., Vivian Favier of Modoc, Donna Harrison of Baldwin, Ill., Debbie Jones of Hickman, Ky.; 10 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.. ...

Ramona Jane Rockwell, 70, of Imperial, Mo., died Thursday, Sept. 6, 2007, at St. Anthony's Medical Center in St. Louis. She was born in Advance, Mo., daughter of William L. and Dora Crites Ladd. She was raised in the Advance/Cape Gir­ar­deau area. She married Herbert S. Rockwell...

Shipman; Engleby; Hendrix; Massa; Frazier; Hoff; Strohmeyer; Crisler; Bryant

I am told that the best part of being a parent is having grandchildren. Some grandparents insist that if they had known how much fun grandkids are, they would have had them first. In September 1979 President Jimmy Cartersigned an official declaration of Grandparents Day. ...

At the founding of America, most of the population in the fledgling United States hailed from the British Isles. The most populated part of the British Isles then, as now, was England. The dominant church in England then, as now, was the Anglican Church, brought into being when King Henry VIII was unable to procure a papal blessing to divorce his wife, Catherine. ...

Briefly Autism awareness event scheduled for Sunday An Autism Awareness Sunday celebration starts with a contemporary worship service at 9:15 a.m. Sunday in the sanctuary of St. Andrew Lutheran Church, where there will be contemporary music and a video presentation and prayers regarding autism. ...

Southwest Baptist University coach Keith Allen knows his team will be a heavy underdog against Southeast Missouri State tonight. But when you're directing a squad that went 1-10 and was outscored 477-260 last year, that's the norm. "We told our kids we'll be an underdog in every game," Allen said. "We were picked last in our conference."...

SCOTT CITY -- Scott City had to scratch and claw to win its season opener at Malden last week. The Rams had a much easier time Friday night in their 2007 home debut. Scott City rode a second straight dominant defensive performance to a 32-0 shutout of outmanned Portageville...

Cape Girardeau Central ran back the opening kickoff of Friday night's game for a touchdown, but the remainder of the game belonged to host New Madrid County Central, as the Eagles claimed a 61-16 victory. Thanks to an 84-yard kickoff return by Cantrell Andrews and a 27-yard field goal by Tyler McNab on the Tigers' first two possessions of the game, Central led 10-0 after the first quarter. But New Madrid answered with two touchdowns in the second quarter for a 12-10 halftime lead...

Southeast Missouri State's volleyball team jumped out to a quick start Friday night. The Redhawks defeated Saint Louis University in the first game, but couldn't maintain the momentum as the Billikens won the next three in their Santo Bento Volleyball Invitational. Saint Louis won the match 25-30, 30-25, 30-18, 30-28...

JACKSON -- Jackson's Tyler Martin positioned himself in his usual defensive stance with a lot of thoughts running through his mind with a little over four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter Friday. Martin, a three-year starter for the Indians, said he was not only thinking about stopping the Parkway North offense, which was attempting to convert a two-point conversion that would have tied the score 14-14. ...

PHOENIX -- Brandon Webb was good enough, and his bullpen was better. Webb outpitched Adam Wainwright to earn his 15th victory, and the Arizona relievers blanked the Cardinals in the final three innings in the Diamondbacks' 4-2 victory Friday night...

NAME: Patricia Breckenridge AGE: 53. Born Oct. 14, 1953, in Nevada, Mo. EXPERIENCE: private law practice, 1978-1980; assistant municipal judge for city of Nevada, 1979-1982; associate circuit judge in Vernon County, 1982-1990; judge on the Western District of the Missouri Court of Appeals, 1990-present; chief judge of the district appeals court, 1998-2000; appointed to the Missouri Supreme Court on Friday...

Thank goodness the fair's here. We really needed the rain. The Southeast Missouri District Fair starts today. Traditionally the annual event brings a few days of wet weather. It also means several days of fun. Grandstand activities include a hot-rod truck and tractor pull tonight, a horse show Sunday afternoon, a dual demolition derby Tuesday night, the Heartland Idol finals Wednesday, a Blake Shelton concert Thursday, an REO Speedwagon concert Friday and a Pat Green concert Saturday...

On the service end, the local United Way of Southeast Missouri has vowed to attack the root of the area's problems, not just the symptoms. That means it will focus on helping people at the family level, a more proactive approach than the United Way has taken in the past...

Great opening; Taxi concerns; Cowardly hit-and-run; Feel-good donations; Local experts; Quiet chimes; We're not thugs; Unsafe buses; Special workers; Milk prices; Running stop signs; County Web suggestions; Purchasing grades; Using the center lane; Lying about rape

An eight-month search for a new Cape Girardeau city attorney ended last night when the city council voted to hire Fred Boeckmann, a St. Louis lawyer, as the head of the city's legal department; Boeckmann, 35, replaces Robert C. Fick. The Cape Girardeau City Council last night agreed to draft a letter supporting the current Corps of Engineers' flood-control project here; however, the council balked at a request that the letter contain an indication the city is willing to participate in the construction of the project.. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The state's student loan authority voted Friday to go ahead with a planned payment toward Gov. Matt Blunt's college building initiative, though a judge has set a Tuesday hearing in a lawsuit seeking to stop it. Under a new law backed by Blunt, the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority is to pay $350 million over several years to the state to finance dozens of college construction projects and various entrepreneurial investments...

The congregation of La Croix United Methodist Church is ready to begin a purposeful 40 days. Starting this evening with a kickoff tailgate gathering on the church parking lot, La Croix will begin its 40 Days of Community, a potluck picnic and worship service meant to prepare participants for what they're about to encounter...

Barry Bernhardt is enthusiastic when it comes to music, which is probably what got him into teaching the art. But ask the director of Southeast Missouri State University's bands about this year's Golden Eagles Marching Band and be prepared to listen to him gush...

Kelsey Bradshaw finished with 23 digs to lead Notre Dame to two victories Friday on the opening day of the B.A. Promotions Volleyball Classic tournament. The Bulldogs defeated Oak Ridge 25-11, 25-8 and knocked off Kennett 25-13, 25-7. Paige Schumer recorded eight aces against Kennett. She had 16 service points and nine assists...

In April, U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson cast a lonely vote of "present" on an Iraq war funding bill, siding neither with the Democrats pushing the bill or the almost solid Republican opposition. The vote, she explained at the time, was a protest against making funding the troops a political issue. The measure had no chance of becoming law and became instead a test of fealty to President Bush for Republicans and of Democratic solidarity in opposition...

Ranging in age from 9 to 93, 10 fiddlers competed at the SEMO District Fair's fiddlers contest Saturday. More than 75 people showed up to watch the performance despite the threatening weather. Each contestant played a waltz, a hoe down and a fiddler's choice tune, with execution time limited to seven to eight minutes for all three. ...

Since World War II, the Civil Air Patrol's mission has changed from spotting enemy German submarines and U-boats along the U.S. coast to being a search-and-rescue operation. CAP members from Nevada squadrons are searching for famed aviator Steve Fossett, who disappeared after taking off from a Nevada airstrip Monday...

PHOENIX -- Brandon Webb earned his 15th victory and the Arizona Diamondbacks kept the St. Louis Cardinals from moving into a first-place tie in the NL Central with a 4-2 victory on Friday night. Webb (15-10), who had lost his last two after winning six in a row, gave up two runs, including Jim Edmonds' solo homer, on four hits in six innings. He fanned five and walked four...

There has been so much talk -- and so little meaningful action -- regarding the continuing inflow of illegal workers to the United States from Mexico that a recent crackdown by Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt came as something of a surprise. Blunt ordered the Missouri State Highway Patrol to check the immigration status of everyone incarcerated by the patrol. ...

To the editor:We would like to take this opportunity to thank the many people from all over Scott County for your prayers and concern while our son, Marine Lance Cpl. Trent Walter, was deployed to Iraq. We are thrilled to say he has just returned from his combat tour to his base in Twentynine Palms, Calif. He will be home in Scott County this weekend for his post-deployment leave...

To the editor:On Wednesday Fred Thompson entered the presidential race, and for the first time I am finally excited about the 2008 election. Now there will actually be a true conservative leader to cheer for and work for. Rudy Guiliani, Mitt Romney and all the other wannabe conservatives don't even make most Republicans happy, so how could they ever hope to win over swing voters? However, Thompson will change all that. ...

To the editor:The Sikeston Department of Public Safety wishes to thank the citizens of Sikeston and the surrounding area for helping to make this year's Muscular Dystrophy Fill the Boot campaign so successful. This is the fourth year that the DPS has led the area's fire departments in collections. This year's total was $14,350.42...

Friendly police; All about winning; Taxi service; Food in stores; Paying for experts; Level-headed approach; Jackson traffic; Scary stuff; We can't afford it

Renee Nicole Compass and David Ray Ervin Jr. were married June 30, 2007, at Francine's Gardens in Cape Girardeau. The Rev. Randall Morse performed the ceremony. The bride is the daughter of Greg and Leslie Compass of Scott City. The groom is the son of Teresa Ervin of Benton, Mo., and the late David Ervin...

Lauren Patricia Mosley and Christopher Marc Snider were married April 14, 2007, at First United Methodist Church in Sikeston, Mo. The Rev. Geoff Posegate and Dr. Jim Davis performed the ceremony. Organist was Judy Nickell of Sikeston. Parents of the bride are Peggy Matthews of Sikeston and Steve and Viney Mosley of Cape Girardeau. The groom is the son of Donna and Mick Hughes of St. Louis and Mark and Sherry Snider of Dexter, Mo...

Tina Plaskie and Jeffrey Rosanswank exchanged vows Aug. 1, 2007, on the beach in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mrs. Rosanswank is owner of Drop Zone Restaurant and Lounge at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. The groom is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law. He is a self-employed attorney...

St. Vincent de Paul Church was the setting April 28, 2007, for the wedding of Cecilia Marie Kuntz and Andrew Albert Colburn. The Rev. David Hulshof performed the ceremony. Reader was Caryn Larson of Genoa City, Wis., sister of the groom. Parents of the couple are Edwin and Gabriela Kuntz of Cape Girardeau, and Scott and Kathleen Colburn of Spring Grove, Ill...

Emilee Alison Atchley and Matthew Ian Godsey exchanged vows June 9, 2007, in Cape Girardeau. Tommy Miller performed the ceremony. Parents of the couple are James and Freda Atchley and John and Rhonda Godsey, all of Cape Girardeau. Maid of honor was Ashley Godsey of Cape Girardeau, sister of the groom...

Rachel Amy Hirsch and Cory Lee Knapp were married May 26, 2007, at First Presbyterian Church. The Rev. Paul Kabo Jr. performed the ceremony. Parents of the bride are John and Jeanne Hirsch of Cape Girardeau. The groom is the son of Tim and Pam Mahoney of McClure, Ill...

Thomas and Linda Loomas of East Prairie, Mo., announce the engagement of their daughter, Scarlett Brittany Loomas, to Shaun Darrell Hanschen. He is the son of Darrell and Cheryl Hanschen of Jackson. Loomas received a bachelor of arts degree from Wellesley College in 2006, and is attending Southeast Missouri State University...

BENTON, Mo. -- Donald and Barbara Bollinger of Benton announce the engagement of their daughter, Katherine R. Bollinger, to Nicholas A. Tuschhoff. He is the son of Terry and Cheryl Tuschhoff of Jackson. Bollinger is a 2002 graduate of Kelly High School. She is employed at Orthopaedic Associates...

Gary and Sandy Helwege of Cape Girardeau and Randy Ulrich of Jackson announce the engagement of their daughter, Whitney Brooke Ulrich, to Danny Ray Ivie II. He is the son of Danny Ivie and Karen Ivie of Portageville, Mo. Ulrich is a graduate of Jackson High School, and attended Southeast Missouri State University. She is employed at Gymboree...

Myron and Lynda Carter of Scott City announce the engagement of their daughter, Ruth Ellen Carter, to Jeremiah T. Harris of Cape Girardeau. He is the son of Cindy Pruitt of Memphis, Tenn. Carter is a 2002 graduate of Scott City High School. Harris is employed at Havco Wood Products Inc...

Kurt and Diane Lindsay of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Heather Kirsten Lindsay, to Brock Edward Weimer. He is the son of Jerry and Sharon Weimer of Salisbury, Mo. Lindsay is a 2005 graduate of Central High School. She is a specialist and is employed full time in the Missouri Army National Guard...

Douglas and Tamara Simminger of Gordonville announce the engagement of their daughter, Lena Renee Simminger, to Bradley James Clark. He is the son of Gregory and Vonda Clark of Jackson. Simminger is a 2005 graduate of Jackson High School. She is employed at Cape Girardeau Surgical Clinic...

MARQUAND, Mo. -- Bob and Wanda Tankersley celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a reception July 28, 2007. Hosts were their children, Jeannie and David Groves of Perryville, Mo., Tina Carter of Cape Girardeau, Robert and Celinda Tankersley of Marble Hill, and Scott and Beth Tankersley of Glenallen, Mo...

Leaking gas fumes from a nearby service station are being blamed for triggering a fire alarm at the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse in Jackson; the Jackson Fire Department responds, but finds no fire. A special panel has recommended to Gov. Kit Bond three nominees to fill a vacancy on the Missouri Supreme Court; they are William H. Billings, formerly a circuit judge in Stoddard and Dunklin counties; Byron Kinder, formerly of Charleston, Mo., and Jim Ruddy of St. Louis County...

Obesity is one of America's largest problems, and it affects more than your waistline, your wallet or your health. It's also affecting your pet. Diet food, exercise programs and even a doggy diet pill have popped up in the last year to curb the problem. Area veterinarians said many of the pets they see are overweight and the owners usually don't even know it...

Even the world's billionaires have to stand in line and wait their turn this year and next. The reason? Rolls-Royce is only building 200 of its new, Phantom Drophead Coupe ultimate glamour convertibles a year and is sold out for the next 18 months...

JAMESTOWN, N.D. -- Earlier this summer, Betty Kratzke noticed that something was disturbing the ground near the flowers that line her driveway. Solving the mystery this week proved to be a snap -- when baby snapping turtles started crawling around her yard...

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. -- James Campbell seemed to relish being a firefighter, showing up in uniform at the World Trade Center, train wrecks, wildfires and the aftermaths of hurricanes including Katrina. He even posed for his driver's license photo in a Los Angeles County firefighter's uniform...

HOUSTON -- President Bush has "sucker punched" American workers and threatened national security by opening the nation's southern border to Mexican truckers, Teamsters president James Hoffa said Saturday. Speaking to the union's annual women's conference, Hoffa said the Bush administration's new pilot program, which took effect Thursday, shows a lack of concern for homeland security...

BAGHDAD -- A suicide car bomber detonated his explosives-packed Mercedes near a row of stores in the Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City on Saturday, killing at least 15 people, police and hospital officials said. The attack in the eastern Baghdad enclave came as at least 36 other people were killed or found dead in Iraq, including four who died in a bombing of an outdoor market in the Shiite holy city of Kufa...

MODENA, Italy -- Luciano Pavarotti received a final, tearful standing ovation at his somber funeral Saturday after a recording of the Italian tenor and his father singing "Panis Angelicus" filled his hometown cathedral. Many of the mourners cried as Pavarotti's unmistakable voice filled the cathedral, a poignant reminder of the talent lost with his death Thursday at age 71 after a yearlong battle with cancer...

MINDEN, Nev. -- Pilots brushed off a series of false sightings and scoured Nevada's high desert Saturday as the massive aerial search for Steve Fossett grew more urgent nearly a week after the adventurer's disappearance. Maj. Cynthia Ryan of the Nevada Civil Air Patrol said the search could continue for weeks. But concerns about the 63-year-old aviator's ability to survive in the harsh landscape were growing, and there were no solid clues about where his plane might have gone down...

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Gabrielle became a tropical storm Saturday as it swirled toward the East Coast, where coastal residents in the Carolinas were preparing for rain and the possibility of minor flooding. "It's going to get a little gnarly," said 51-year-old Sharon Peele Kennedy, a lifetime resident of the Outer Banks who works at the Hatteras Harbor Marina in Hatteras, N.C...

WASHINGTON -- At her lowest moments during more than three months in solitary confinement in Iran's most notorious prison, Haleh Esfandiari wondered if anyone remembered her or if she had been swallowed without the world noticing. But the Iranian-American academic, accused of trying to foment an overthrow of Iran's hardline government, pushed those fears out of her mind, instead filling her days with exercise in her small cell, reading, and the conviction that her family and colleagues would not let her case fade.. ...

VENTURA, Calif. -- Since his release from a state mental hospital, convicted rapist Ross Wollschlager has bounced from one Ventura County hotel to another. After being evicted seven times whenever a landlord learned of his identity, Wollschlager started living out of a tent in the Ventura River bottom. Liberty Healthcare Corp., a San Diego company hired by the state to help Wollschlager, gave him the tent and arranged for a taxpayer-funded security guard to stay in a nearby vehicle...

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The swashbuckling sea captain who helped found America's first permanent English settlement lost his right arm in battle nearly two decades earlier -- but you wouldn't know it to look at the two-armed statue on the campus of the university named for him...

AURORA, Ill. -- A repossession crew got a surprise when a 4-year-old boy leapt out of the sport utility vehicle they were towing away. Fashawn Parker, of Naperville, Ill., was in the back seat of a parked Ford Excursion Thursday when the crew approached, hooked the car to a tow truck and began driving, Aurora police spokesman Dan Ferrelli said...

Osama bin Laden's latest message is a hodgepodge of anti-capitalist vitriol, impassioned Islamic evangelism and what can best be described as a twisted attempt at reconciliation: Join us, or we'll kill you. Analysts say the video that came out days before the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks is more about timing than substance, an attempt by history's most wanted fugitive to thumb his nose at the forces arrayed against him and remind the world that he hasn't been caught...

OULU, Finland -- A Japanese man out-"played" challengers to win the Air Guitar World Championship for the second consecutive year at a contest in northern Finland. Ochi Yosuke received the highest score from a panel of judges in the final late Friday at the Teatria rock club in Oulu, near the Arctic Circle...

APEC leaders forge deal on climate change SYDNEY, Australia -- Pacific Rim leaders agreed Saturday to curb global warming by im­proving energy use and expanding forests, laying out a plan they hope will influence future climate change talks. President Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin, China's Hu Jintao and leaders of other Asia-Pacific economies adopted the program at an annual summit...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A proposal to change the University of Missouri-Columbia name by dropping the Columbia designation has upset faculty at the three other campuses in the University of Missouri system. The proposals from Columbia include naming that campus the University of Missouri, or even capitalizing it to The University of Missouri. The idea is to avoid confusion with Missouri State University in Springfield, said Frank Schmidt, president of the MU Faculty Council...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A court hearing has been set for Tuesday on a lawsuit attempting to stop Missouri's student loan agency from transferring money to the state for college building projects. The lawsuit by student borrowers seeks a preliminary injunction barring the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority from transferring $350 million to the state for college and business development projects over several years, as stipulated in a law signed earlier this year by Gov. Matt Blunt...

WEBB CITY, Mo. -- Rylea Barlett was born blind six years ago. Her optic nerves did not develop. She was diagnosed when she was a few months old. Doctor after doctor gave her no hope of ever seeing. On July 4, the girl received the first of five stem-cell transplants. ...

ST. LOUIS -- About 200 leaders in science, academia and medicine are gathering in St. Louis this week for the TransMed Partnership forum to discuss the challenges of marketing medical innovations. "When people start talking and sparking with each other, light bulbs go off," said Marcia Mellitz, president of St. ...

WASHINGTON -- First lady Laura Bush underwent surgery Saturday to relieve pain from pinched nerves in her neck. The White House said the procedure was successful. The problem kept her from joining President Bush on a trip to Australia this week for the annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Sydney...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush's top two military and political advisers on Iraq will warn Congress on Monday that making any significant changes to the current war strategy will jeopardize the limited security and political progress made so far, The Associated Press has learned...

Scattered showers may have slowed down some of the crowds on what was slated to be a jam-packed weekend for fun seekers in Cape Girardeau, but all of the events managed to stay afloat, with a few minor adjustments. The River City Music Festival got underway an hour later than its scheduled 3 p.m. start, and had to relocate the seven bands playing on the Broadway stage to Buckner Brewing...

Nearly two dozen members of the Civil Air Patrol's Trail of Tears Composite Squadron will march in Monday's SEMO District Fair parade. It's one way of letting residents know about the U.S. Air Force auxiliary and recruit new members, according to Sara Bohnert, the senior cadet commander...

Arrests; Jackson: Arrests

n At 3:06 p.m., emergency medical service in the 2300 block of Kingsway Drive. n At 8:58 p.m., service in the 2800 block of Cape La Croix Road. n At 9:42 p.m., an alarm sounding at 127 N. Main St. n At 2:45 a.m., emergency medical service at Bellevue and North Ellis streets...

Tempa D. Greene, 54, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, Sept. 8, 2007, at her residence in Cape Girardeau, after a lengthy illness. She was born Sept. 14, 1952, in Illmo, Mo., daughter of Robert and Joyce (Skinner) Hamil. She and Dan Greene were married Aug. 20, 1987, in Cape Girardeau...

Edna Ford, 94, of Jackson died Saturday, Sept. 8, 2007, at her home. Arrangements are incomplete at Cracraft-Miller Funeral Home.

MESA, Ariz. -- Linda A. Warren Browning, 64, formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2007, at Banner Baywood Medical Center, Mesa. Survivors include her husband, Bob, of Livingston, Texas; two sons, Kevin of McAlester, Okla., and Andrew of Newton, Ill.; two sisters, Ina L. Moore of Cape Girardeau, Myrna Ball of Mesa; a brother, Douglas Warren; nine grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren...

CYPRESS, Texas -- Robert Frederic Ludwig, 77, of Cypress, formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2007, at North Cypress Medical Center in Cypress. He was born Nov. 25, 1929, in Bloomington, Neb., son of the Rev. Paul W. and Thekla Friedrich Ludwig. He and Edna Marie Schade were married Aug. 1, 1952, in Houston. She died Feb. 2, 1978...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- James K. Wehmeyer, 71, of Perryville died Friday, Sept. 7, 2007, at Missouri Baptist Hospital in St. Louis. He was born Sept. 5, 1936, at Ste. Genevieve, Mo., son of Edward and Myrtle Herzog Wehmeyer. He and Marjorie Schwent were married Nov. 9, 1957...

DITTMER, Mo. -- Carl E. "Eddie" Duvall, 67, formerly of Perryville, Mo., died Friday, Sept. 7, 2007 at his home in Dittmer. He was born Oct. 3, 1939, at Kit Carson, Colo., son of Carl E. and Elizabeth Beascoon Duvall. Duvall worked in the janitorial department for a grocery supply warehouse...

For a college football program that hasn't been much of anything to speak of from a success standpoint in recent years, it's impressive that three Southeast Missouri State products made season-opening NFL rosters. As people who follow the Redhawks probably know, linebacker Edgar Jones is with Baltimore, offensive lineman Eugene Amano is with Tennessee and cornerback Dimitri Patterson is with Kansas City...

It had been a rough start to the season for Southeast Missouri State's leading rusher the past two years. But Timmy Holloman finally got going in the second half Saturday night to help the Redhawks post their first win. Holloman, a junior tailback, rambled for 203 yards and three touchdowns -- all from at least 20 yards out -- as Southeast held off Division II Southwest Baptist 38-17...

The final score says that Southeast Missouri State had a relatively easy time in its home opener Saturday night. But don't be fooled by the Redhawks' 38-17 victory over Division II Southwest Baptist University. The heavy underdog Bearcats gave Southeast plenty of trouble, holding a third-quarter lead and trailing by just six points with under 10 minutes left...

Sams captures first in 5K race Adela Sams took first place in the Southeast Missouri Hospital 2007 Women's Distance Festival 5-kilometer race Saturday at the SEMO District Fairgrounds. She covered the course in 21 minutes, 12 seconds. Sarah Mittrucker took first in the 1-mile run, finishing in 8:31...

Go Red Devils; Give me Rams; Royals love; Overconfidence stinks

Leopold placed second in the B.A. Sports high school volleyball tournament at the Show Me Center on Saturday, its best finish since 1989 when assistant coach Sandy Davis was wearing the blue and white Wildcats uniform. "The last time we got in the championship game was my senior year," Davis said, laughing. ...

If Southeast could be happy with its first-half performance Aug. 30 at Division I-A Cincinnati, then Division II Southwest Baptist had reason to be ecstatic through the first 35 minutes Saturday night at Houck Stadium. Sure, the final scoreboard said Southeast Missouri State 38, Southwest Baptist 17, but the Redhawks had to sweat a lot more than that...

The Notre Dame boys cross country team captured fifth place Saturday in the Forest Park Festival with an overall score of 215. Logan Davis led the Bulldogs with a 31st place finish in a time of 17 minutes, 6 seconds. Jackson's Greg Gibson was the top local finisher on the boys side, finishing in 16:54 for 22nd. The Indians finished 18th as a team...

PHOENIX -- Stephen Drew helped the Arizona Diamondbacks hang on and double their lead in the NL West. Drew homered to help the Diamondbacks overcome a horrendous third inning and beat the St. Louis Cardinals 9-8 on Saturday night for a two-game lead over San Diego...

SUGAR CREEK, Mo. (AP) -- Police looking for two children who have been missing since June 2004 found a shallow grave containing human bones Sunday but would not confirm that the remains were those of the children. The children's mother, Tina Porter, told The Kansas City Star that police had notified her Sunday morning that the remains of Sam and Lindsey Porter had been found...

Educator Pete Frazier won't seek the open Missouri House seat from Cape Girardeau. The Central High School assistant principal, who sought the seat in the 2004 Republican primary, announced his decision late Sunday evening in an e-mail to the Southeast Missourian...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A gynecologist says new regulations that the state is proposing for abortion clinics are not medically necessary and would not insure the safety of women. Dr. Paul Blumenthal from Stanford University testified for Planned Parenthood on Monday in a federal hearing on the group's lawsuit opposing the standards...

POTOSI, Mo. (AP) -- A change of venue hearing in Washington County for the man accused of kidnapping Shawn Hornbeck had been delayed until Oct. 1. Ethan Corlija, an attorney for Michael Devlin, said he sought a continuance of the hearing, which was originally scheduled for Monday morning...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Missouri Army National Guard is getting two new battalions that should increase its total force by almost 900 soldiers. The National Guard said Monday that a new 810-soldier infantry battalion will be headquartered in Kansas City, with regional rifle companies located in Boonville, Carrollton, St. Louis and Perryville...

Rainy weather diminished this year's SEMO District Fair opening weekend crowd by about 8 percent, roughly 4,000 people, compared to last year's, but organizers say those numbers are a positive considering the effect the rains could have had. "Saturday the crowds didn't start to build until just before show time with the tractor pull," said fair spokesman Pete Poe. "Yesterday, they were in and out all day. We're real happy attendance has been as strong as it's been."...