Stories from Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Northbound Interstate 55 will be reduced to one lane between mile marker 100 and 103 from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday. The work is taking place in the area of the new East Main Street/LaSalle Avenue interchange ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Democratic attorney general candidate Margaret Donnelly says she has sued the state Ethics Commission to force open some of its hearings. At stake are the closed hearings the commission may hold to determine whether individual candidates should be granted an exception to refunding their over-the-limit contributions...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Power is returning to thousands of Missourians as freezing rainfall dwindles across the western part of the state. But forecasters warn the dropping temperatures could still cause problems as roadways freeze over. In hard-hit northwest Missouri, about 59,000 customers remained without power late Tuesday, according to Raytown, Mo.-based Aquila, Inc. ...

In the hours before her husband went on a shooting spree, killing his daughter and stepson and taking his own life, Katherine Moshiri did not fear for her safety or that of her children as she planned how she was going to leave him. The 35-year-old Jackson woman described calls to made to local shelters Dec. 3 as "gathering information," with the goal of obtaining temporary custody of her two daughters, and they provided her with a list of options, she said in a phone interview Wednesday...

Serial killer Timothy Krajcir was an apt student of law enforcement. At the age of 30, freshly released from prison on rape charges, Krajcir enrolled in college in the late 1970s to study psychology and the criminal justice system. At the same time, authorities said, Krajcir murdered six women in two states, hiding his crimes from dozens of investigators by using the tactics he learned in school...

The memorial service for Madison Moshiri, 4, and Michael Jeffers, 16, will focus on healing for the community, according to Christi Guilliams, funeral director of McCombs Funeral Home. The service will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday at New McKendree United Methodist Church in Jackson. The Rev. John Rice will officiate. There is no visitation...

Bankers in Southeast Missouri don't expect a rush of depositors looking for better yields as a result of another cut in interest rates, and they don't expect a rush of applicants for new loans, either. The Federal Reserve dropped its most important interest rate to a nearly two-year low Tuesday and left the door open to additional cuts to prevent a housing and credit meltdown from pushing the economy into a recession. ...

HARTLEPOOL, England -- A woman accused of taking part in an insurance scam by falsely claiming her husband had died asked her sons to forgive her on Tuesday and to visit her in jail. "She has had no contact with the family so far," attorney Nicola Finnerty said on behalf of her jailed client, Anne Darwin, 55. "She's so sorry for any stress she may have caused. The most upsetting aspect of this whole thing has been the effect this has had on her sons."...

Violent crimes; Religious teaching; We'll foot the bill; Environmental lapse; East Cape speed limits; Ban smoking

To the editor:As we enter this holiday season we hear of public-rampage shootings on nearly a daily basis. These terrible crimes cannot be predicted or stopped. However, there are ways to slow down and deter criminal actions. My wife and I have been paying more attention to the notices on doors of retailers. Most retailers prohibit concealed firearms...

It will take a long time to turn around the fortunes of Cairo, Ill. But dreams can't come true unless someone does the dreaming. And that's exactly what's happening right now. Cairo is being considered as the location for biodiesel and coal-gasification plants, both of which would provide a huge economic boost...

A letter from Lynn Casteel Harper, published Sunday, was sent to reporter Bridget DiCosmo as a personal message. Here is the letter that was sent for publication. To the editor: The recent shootings in Jackson tragically turn our attention to the plague of domestic violence. ...

Main Street, in downtown Cape, disappears in the distance after the town woke up under a blanket of fog on Tuesday, December 11, 2007.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Expect cheers among hard-core online game enthusiasts when they learn Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year. Or, more accurately, expect them to "w00t." "W00t," a hybrid of letters and numbers used by gamers as an exclamation of happiness or triumph, topped all other terms in the Springfield-based dictionary publisher's online poll for the word that best sums up 2007...

Those wishing to contribute to individual profiles already published should indicate the recipient's name, or cash and check donations should be made payable to Toybox, P.O. Box 4, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63702. The address is the same for Christmas for the Elderly, just change the "payable to" line...

LUTESVILLE, Mo. -- Woodland school students will hopefully be back in class tomorrow; volunteers have been working long hours at the Bollinger County school since it was inundated during a flash flood Dec. 3; mud and debris have been shoveled out, and the buildings hosed down and mopped up...

MONTPELIER, Vt. -- It's every math teacher's mantra: Check your work. Apparently, Standard & Poor's didn't. The financial services giant, which analyzed data for U.S. News & World Report's inaugural ranking of America's top 100 schools, made a mistake in calculating the score for Montpelier High School and erroneously ranked it the nation's fifth-best public high school...

Teen arrested on charges of sexual molestation BENTON, Mo. -- An 18-year-old Scott City man was arrested Tuesday by the Scott County Sheriff's Department on charges that he sexually molested a 14-year-old Scott County girl. The sheriff's department sent out a news release Tuesday afternoon saying Marcus A. ...

Jackson pastor to sign new book Sunday Barry E. Winders, pastor of the Wesley United Methodist Church in Jackson, will appear from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday at Barnes and Noble in Cape Girardeau to sign copies of his new book, "Finding the Missional Path." The book focuses on churches and their congregations engaging their local communities outside the church setting...

Jackson schools audit finds no areas of concern An audit of finances for the Jackson School District found no areas of concern, the school board learned at its regular meeting Tuesday. The audit, completed by Larson Allen, LLP, identified the district as "low-risk," and stated there were no audit findings related to "internal control, compliance, questioned costs, or fraud that related to federal awards for the year ended June 30," and that there are no areas of noncompliance in relation to financial statements.. ...

Jackson's board of aldermen will hold a public hearing Monday on the city's 2008 budget. According to Jim Roach, the city's administrator, next year's bills will total $31.88 million. The city has conservatively estimated $28.41 million in revenue, he said. The $3.47 million difference does not means city is in the red, he said...

A Cape Girardeau clergyman facing stealing charges in Arkansas won't appear in court there until February. The Rev. Cecil Thomas Jr., pastor of the Second Missionary Baptist Church in Cape Girar-deau, was originally scheduled for a jury trial to have begun Tuesday...

CHICAGO -- The same city that put out the welcome mat for bees and fought to protect goose livers is poised to send a different message to residents: We don't want your clucking chickens. The city council will vote Wednesday on a proposal to ban chickens, a former barnyard denizen that is pecking its way into cities across the country as part of a growing organic food trend among young professionals and other urban dwellers...

Area workers who lost their jobs as a result of the Dana Corp. closure in Cape Girar-deau will have new avenues for help finding new employment or training, according to announcements from U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson and U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill. Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, and McCaskill, D-Mo., both sent out news releases on the National Emergency Grant funding. ...

WICHITA, Kan. -- The boy sitting a few rows back from the board, the one in the gray sweat shirt, is impatient. He's not interested in how to earn a few bucks of interest every month, he said. "I want to double my money." His buddy said there's a way to do it, the boy tells Marquis Murphy. Why can't this class learn it, too?...

DES MOINES, Iowa -- A thick glaze of ice brought down power lines and cut electricity to close to a million homes and businesses, closed schools and canceled flights Tuesday as a major storm blasted the nation's midsection. At least 23 deaths had been blamed on the storm system since the waves of sleet and freezing rain started during the weekend...

NEW YORK -- Wall Street plunged Tuesday after the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by a quarter point, disappointing investors who hoped the central bank would move more aggressively to help the economy overcome the credit and mortgage crisis. The Dow Jones industrial average skidded more than 290 points...

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The man who killed four people at a church and missionary training center shot himself in the head and died after being hit by shots from a church security officer, police said Tuesday. Matthew Murray, 24, was struck multiple times by a security officer at New Life Church Sunday, but his death was ruled a suicide, the El Paso County Coroner's Office concluded after an autopsy...

Christy Forney gazed out the window of her office in the northwest Missouri town of Maryville and didn't mince words. "We're a mess," Forney, Nodaway County's emergency management director, said Tuesday. Much of northern Missouri could be described the same way as another round of freezing rain battered the Show Me State for a fourth straight day...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Hundreds of thousands of holiday cards and letters thanking wounded American troops for their sacrifice and wishing them well never reach their destination. They are returned to sender or thrown away unopened. Since the Sept. 11 attacks and the anthrax scare, the Pentagon and the Postal Service have refused to deliver mail addressed to "Any Wounded Soldier" for fear terrorists or opponents of the war might send toxic substances or demoralizing messages...

WASHINGTON -- CIA director Michael Hayden's explanation Tuesday of how videotapes of terror suspect interrogations were made, then destroyed, left many questions unanswered, said Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Jay Rockefeller. The West Virginia Democrat called his panel's 90-minute closed-door session with Hayden "a useful and not yet complete hearing" and vowed the committee would get to the bottom of the matter. ...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush granted pardons Tuesday to carjackers, drug dealers, a moonshiner and an election-laws violator but not to I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, his vice president's former top aide who was convicted in the case of the leaked identity of a CIA operative...

TOLEDO, Ohio -- A lawyer and former city councilwoman was getting treatment after admitting she fabricated her tale of being kidnapped at gunpoint last week, her husband said Tuesday. Police said she probably will be charged with filing a false report...

BALI, Indonesia -- A second wave of Americans has landed on this tropical island, envoys of state and local governments who have come to tell the U.N. climate conference that not all U.S. leaders oppose mandatory cuts in global warming gases. "We are laying the groundwork for what we feel will soon be a national policy," said California's environmental protection secretary, Linda Adams, whose state has led the way with legislation paring down emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for rising temperatures.. ...

ALGIERS, Algeria -- Two truck bombs set off in quick succession sheared off the fronts of U.N. offices and a government building in Algeria's capital Tuesday, killing at least 26 people and wounding nearly 200 in an attack claimed by an affiliate of al-Qaida...

LIMA, Peru -- Former president Alberto Fujimori was convicted of abuse of authority and sentenced to six years in prison Tuesday at the end of the first in a series of trials on charges that include murder, kidnapping and corruption. Supreme Court Justice Pedro Guillermo Urbina declared Fujimori guilty of abusing his power for ordering an illegal search as his government imploded in scandal seven years ago. He also fined Fujimori the equivalent of $134,900...

A joint memorial service for Madison Lynne Moshiri and Michael Reed Jeffers, both of Jackson, will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 17, 2007, at New McKendree United Methodist Church in Jackson. The Rev. John Rice will officiate and will be assisted by other clergy and family friends. Seating will begin at 5:45 p.m...

MEXICO CITY -- A murder suspect dubbed "The Cannibal" was found dead in his prison cell of an apparent suicide Tuesday, two months after police found cooked and seasoned bits of his girlfriend's corpse on a fork and plate in his apartment. Jose Luis Calva, a self-proclaimed poet and dramatist suspected in at least three murders, was found hanging from his belt in his Mexico City jail cell Tuesday morning, the city department of corrections said in a statement...

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- Olga strengthened and became a tropical storm Tuesday as it drenched the Dominican Republic, forcing the evacuation of low-lying communities ahead of the rare December cyclone. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph Tuesday evening, and forecasters warned it could trigger dangerous floods by dumping as much as 10 inches of rain in some parts of the Dominican Republic and neighboring Haiti...

GUATEMALA CITY -- Guatemalan legislators approved a new law Tuesday to tighten adoptions, while allowing pending adoptions -- mostly to U.S. couples -- to go through without meeting the stricter requirements. The legislation had upset thousands of would-be parents who had invested their savings to adopt a child from Guatemala, which is second only to China in sending adoptive children to the United States. Many feared thousands of children would be left in limbo...

BAGHDAD -- A suicide car bomber struck in one of the capital's most heavily guarded neighborhoods Tuesday, killing two guards at a checkpoint near the home and offices of two prominent politicians, including the first prime minister after Saddam Hussein...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Clyde D. Elfrank of Chaffee died Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007, in Johnston City, Ill. He was born April 4, 1911, in Perkins, Mo., the son of Ben and Lottie St. Cin Elfrank. He and Mary Brewer were married Dec. 23, 1948, in Piggott, Ark. She died May 21, 2001...

DESOTO, Mo. -- Odetta Mae Trousdale, 81, of Desoto and formerly of Glenallen, Mo., died Monday, Dec. 10, 2007, at Villas Nursing Home in Desoto. Odetta was born June 25, 1926, in Glenallen, daughter of Tony Clark and Dora Lee Meyers Greer. She worked for several years at the CPI Photography Co. in St. Louis as a darkroom technician...

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. -- Barbara A. Hankins, 63, of Ste. Genevieve died Monday, Dec. 10, 2007, at Ste. Genevieve County Memorial Hospital in Ste. Genevieve. She was born March 11, 1944, at St. Louis, to William E. and Helen Seitz Wentzelman. She and Michael P. Hankins were married April 18, 1958...

ULLIN, Ill. -- Shawnee Community College received a funding boost last week for a 52-room dorm, the first for the college. The dorm is expected to change the landscape of the Ullin campus. The college received a $1.85 million loan from Illinois USDA Rural Development, which also guaranteed a loan for $1 million with a bank in Tamms, Ill. Blended, the loans have an interest rate of 5.25 percent...

Stephanie Marie Keister, 14, of Jackson, died Dec. 8, 2007, at St. Louis Children's Hospital in St. Louis. She was born June 27, 1993, in Poplar Bluff, Mo., daughter of Mark Stephen and Billie Sue McAllister Keister, who survive and reside in Jackson...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Melvin A. Hoehn, 88, of Perryville died Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007, at Perry County Nursing Home in Perryville. He was born Aug. 23, 1919, in Perryville, son of Albert and Emma Bergman Hoehn. He and Meta A. Weber were married Oct. 23, 1948. She died Feb. 24, 2007...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Evelyn Swan, 93, of O'Fallon, Mo., formerly of Perryville, died Monday, Dec. 10, 2007, at Garden View Care Center in O'Fallon. She was born June 25, 1914, in Perry County, daughter of Herman C. and Bernice Zahner Kiefer. She and Raymond L. Swan were married April 14, 1932. He died March 11, 1974...

Martin Thomas Halter, 90, of Cape Girardeau and formerly of Charleston, Mo., died Monday, Dec. 10, 2007, at Auburn Creek Care Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born March 5, 1917, in Charleston, son of Michael H. and Mary E. Carlisle Halter. He and Regina H. "Jean" Chambers were married June 2, 1940. She died Jan. 17, 1995...

CAIRO, Ill. -- LaDonna Newell-McClyde, 43, of Cairo died Thursday, Dec. 6, 2007, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Friends may call from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Shiloh Full Gospel Church in Future City, Ill. The funeral will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at the church, with Fred Johnson officiating...

Melba Seabaugh, 85, died Tuesday, Dec, 11, 2007, at her home in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at McCombs Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

Opal Arlene Limbaugh, 87, died Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007, at the Jackson Manor. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home.

"Well any old time/ that you ride by/ you better stop and say, "Hi," man/ we'll pick and sing. Drink mightyfine wine/ that old screw top kind/ ... Cause I can get by/ on nickels and dimes." "Nickels and Dimes" by Mayhem String Band It's the time of year when you want to give gifts and have parties...

SAN FRANCISCO -- In the mood for a bit of bubbly this season? You may want to join the blush rush. "Definitely, people are drinking more rose champagne than before," said Herve Rousseau, owner of Flute, a champagne bar with two locations in New York and a third coming in Paris...

HOME Q. We burn package logs from the grocery store in the fireplace of our weekend home for more heat in addition to our electric wall heaters. Are these man-made logs safe for the fireplace -- will they cause a buildup? A. The popular brand of man-made logs is safe, though they do contain a lot of wax that could accumulate in the chimney over time. ...

n At 4:18 p.m., an alarm at 2102 William St. n At 5:17 p.m., a house fire at the 300 block of North Fountain Street. n At 6:41 p.m., a medical assist in the 500 block of Cape Meadows Circle. n At 6:46, p.m., a garage fire in the 400 block of Fitzgerald Drive...

Arrests

NEW YORK -- Playing against its formulaic TV rivals, the FX network is claiming "no box" can confine its programs' creativity. The heart of the cable network's branding push -- its first ever -- is the tagline "There is No Box." The campaign will be introduced in spots aired during "Nip/Tuck" next Tuesday, according to FX president John Landgraf...

Most of today's recipes are from one of my favorite sources: Southern Living magazine. These recipes are from 1998 but still remain some of my favorites for the Christmas season. The pecan pie cake is a lot of work but definitely worth it. Enjoy a warm slice of it with the hot cider nog for a different twist on an old favorite...

PATTON, Mo. -- Meadow Heights' Tyler Wagner knows that the big inside players on his team are battling injuries in the early stages of this year. The 6-foot-5 Wagner himself broke his foot playing softball this summer. He said he's felt discomfort in the first couple of games...

The most recent award earned by Cape Girardeau's Dalhousie Golf Club is about more than just golf. It represents the wider vision that managing member Cord Dombrowski has for the Dalhousie complex. Golfweek, in conjunction with The Wall Street Journal, recently listed the 100 best residential golf courses in the United States and another 21 courses of distinction. Dalhousie was among those on the courses of distinction and the only one in Missouri honored in either list...

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team picked up its first Ohio Valley Conference win of the season despite missing its top two scorers and rebounders. As the Redhawks gear up for their first OVC road trip of the year, their roster should be a bit more replenished...

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Bryan Mullins scored 24 points and Southern Illinois spoiled Saint Mary's first game as a ranked team in 18 years with a 71-56 victory over the 24th-ranked Gaels on Tuesday night. The point total was a season low for Saint Mary's (7-1), which was last ranked in March 1989...

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- No one came close to matching Tiger Woods on the PGA Tour, which is becoming as predictable as Woods being voted the PGA Tour player of the year. With seven victories and another major championship, Woods won the award Tuesday for the third straight season and the ninth time in his 11 years since he turned pro. The only questions now are whether he's playing his best golf, and how much better he can get...

ATLANTA -- Michael Vick knows where he'll be spending most of the next two years, locked away in a federal prison, doing his time for dogfighting. Once he's a free man -- probably in the summer of 2009, assuming he gets time off for good behavior -- what comes next?...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Facing what could be his worst season in 19 years as president and general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs, Carl Peterson says neither he nor his head coach is in danger of losing his job. The Chiefs (4-9) have lost six in a row and looked horrible last weekend in a 41-7 loss to Denver. They haven't won a playoff game since the 1993 season and appear to be facing a huge rebuilding job...

ST. LOUIS -- Shawn Horcoff had a goal and an assist and scored the only goal in three rounds of a shootout to help the Edmonton Oilers beat the St. Louis Blues 5-4 on Tuesday night. Fernando Pisani's first goal of the season tied it at 4 with 4:08 to go for the Oilers, who are 2-10-3 in St. Louis since the 1999-2000 season and snapped a three-game losing streak. Pisani, a 14-goal scorer last season, missed the first 26 games because of colitis...

NEW YORK -- When it comes to being an All-American, Darren McFadden doesn't have to settle for second. The Arkansas running back and two-time Heisman Trophy runner-up was one of four players voted to The Associated Press All-America team for the second consecutive season...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A group representing state parks supporters sued Tuesday to stop the reconstruction of the Taum Sauk reservoir, two years after its collapse devastated a popular park. The lawsuit by the Missouri Parks Association claims the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission failed to adequately study the environmental effect of reopening the hydroelectric plant or alternatives to rebuilding it...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Attorneys for a woman facing the death penalty for killing a pregnant woman and cutting the baby from her womb have filed what promises to be the first of many appeals. The defense is seeking the acquittal of 39-year-old Lisa Montgomery, a new trial or a new penalty phase...

Residents and business owners in northwest Missouri will likely be without power for days after an ice storm left entire towns in the frigid dark. President Bush declared a state of emergency in Missouri Wednesday and mobilized the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assist local authorities. A FEMA spokeswoman did not immediately return a message so it's unclear what resources FEMA will send...

Four years ago, DNA evidence collected from the 1982 homicides of Mildred Wallace and Margie Call was tested to see if police could shed any light on the cases that had remained a mystery for more than two decades. To the disappointment and frustration of police and family members of the victims, the tests, which compared the evidence taken from semen samples to three suspects, did not contain enough genetic material to secure a definite match...

After having a perfect regular season last year, the Delta Bobcats came into Saturday's championship game at Chaffee's Red Devil Invitational girls basketball tournament in the unfamiliar position of underdog. But with players like Sara Blattel taking on bigger roles this season to replace the standouts who graduated, the Bobcats look to be in good shape...

Junior Austin Greer made his season debut after returning from a back injury and scored 20 points to lead the Notre Dame boys basketball team past visiting New Madrid County Central 62-57 Tuesday night. "He looked pretty good. He gave us some scoring inside," said Notre Dame coach Paul Hale, whose squad has been without the 6-foot-1 Greer and 6-8 Division I recruit Bryce Willen since the start of the season...

With a suspect charged in connection with five of Cape Girardeau's unsolved murders, that leaves only one homicide in the city languishing without police any closer to an arrest than they were in 1979. On Sept. 16, 1979, the bruised, nude body of Deborah L. Martin, 24, was found on the first floor of her business, the Mother Earth Plant store, at 605 Broadway...