Stories from Friday, December 14, 2007

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- The search has ended for a toddler who was sleeping inside an idling car when it was stolen. The 3-year-old had been missing about two hours when he knocked on the door of a Springfield apartment around 1 Friday morning. Springfield police said the boy was not hurt but was cold from having been outside as temperatures dipped to 28 degrees...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay says more must be done to fix a racial divide in the city's fire department. Slay says leadership in the department must work together. The Firefighters Union Local 73 has white leadership. Another group, the Firefighters Institute for Racial Equality, was founded by black firefighters in 1968...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Circuit Court Judge Joseph Dandurand has been appointed to the Missouri Court of Appeals. Governor Matt Blunt picked Dandurand from among three finalists nominated to replace Western District appellate judge Robert Ulrich...

EUREKA, Mo. (AP) -- A high school sophomore and his father filed a federal lawsuit against suburban St. Louis school officials after the student was disciplined for taking photos of his teacher and posting them online. The case highlights the emerging dilemma that the Internet poses for schools, with questions about how, or if, their disciplinary practices extend beyond schoolhouse walls...

When the story about chimpanzees beating humans in a memory test flashed on the TV the other night, Miss Kitty was curled up in my lap doing what cats do best: dozing. But something about this story intrigued Miss Kitty. I could tell because she opened her eyes...

Scott County and Sikeston, Mo., government officials have said all along they never wanted to be in the cemetery business. Now, after months of waiting, they're out of the profession. Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon's office announced Thursday that a deal had been struck for the purchase of three Southeast Missouri cemeteries in Scott and New Madrid counties that have been under the care of local governments since March. ...

The lead organizer of Cape Girardeau's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Citywide Celebration events wants people to know that this year's events are about humanitarian action, not just listening to speakers. "We're making all programs center around the service act, where we're not just coming to hear the message ... ...

An apparent slowdown in the rush to construct ethanol plants may have implications for area projects. While he has no direct comments from representatives of companies proposing ethanol plants in the Cape Girardeau area, Cape Area Magnet director Mitch Robinson said reports about a downward trend in the ethanol industry are likely having an effect on timelines for local projects...

While Cape Girardeau police are re-examining rapes, robberies and home invasions for links to alleged serial killer Timothy Krajcir, two other jurisdictions have said he may be responsible for two more murders. Krajcir was linked with the 1979 homicide of Myrtle Rupp, 51, in South Temple, Pa., and the 1978 killing of Virginia Lee Witte of Marion, Ill...

Bad behavior; Pure propaganda; Bring back old movies; Restore old buildings; Leaf-collection equality; Great job with lights; Depends who's stacking; Percents, degrees; Divine activity; Booster-seat safety; Support questioned; Sentencing issues; Pertinent quote; Where's the support?

Perhaps we are parochially biased, but Missouri Supreme Court Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. appears to be eminently qualified to serve as a U.S. district court judge. Limbaugh has had an outstanding legal career: third-generation lawyer, legal scholar, Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney, circuit judge and, since 1992, Missouri Supreme Court judge, including a stint as chief justice...

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. Pregnant single mom needs help Nancy, a single mom who is pregnant with her third child, is not receiving support from her children's father. ...

Garden club designs fence for Red House The Red House Interpretive Center has a new entrance thanks to the Rose Hills Garden Club. The club has spent the past two years planning and designing a fence around the garden on the north side of the museum. The Rose Hills Garden Club spent $1,500 of a grant to build a fence true to the Lewis and Clark period...

Members of the Cape Girardeau City Council, meeting at a special session last night, spent nearly an hour and a half debating the pros and cons of a single issue -- whether to limit debate; specifically, several councilmen suggested that a time limit be set for those who speak before the council...

Comelous G. "C.G." Cox, 83, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2007, at Saint Francis Medical Center. C.G. was born Nov. 2, 1924, near Advance, Mo., in Cape Girardeau County, son of Comelous and Althea Winfred Zimmerman Cox. He and Mildred Mae Eakins were married Nov. 19, 1943. She survives...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Mildred A. Newlon, 100, of Cairo died Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007, at Daystar Care Center. Barkett Funeral Home in Cairo is in charge of arrangements.

ANNA, Ill. -- Dorothy "Dot" Easton, 75, of Jackson, Tenn., formerly of Anna, died Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2007, at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital in Jackson. Crain Funeral Home in Anna is in charge of arrangements.

Henry "Hank" Scheu Jr., 88, of Springfield, Ill., died Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2007, at Memorial Medical Center. He was born Aug. 4, 1919, in St. Louis, son of Henry J. and Frances Mueller Scheu Sr. He married Rita L. O'Rourke July 31, 1943. She died in 2000...

ZALMA, Mo. -- Zane H. Corbin, 72, of Zalma died Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2007, at Eldercare in Marble Hill, Mo. He was born Nov. 10, 1935, at Zalma, son of Ail H. and Opal Slinkard Corbin. Corbin was a truck driver. He was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force serving in the Korean War...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Cynthia Lois White, 82, of Clinton, Ill., formerly of Dongola, died Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007. She was born Nov. 6, 1925, in Sikeston, Mo., daughter of Theodore and Hazel Windings Goins. She and Robert E. White were married Dec. 13, 1945. He died April 29, 1985...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Wednesday: n At 4:20 p.m., emergency medical service in the 1200 block of Linden Street. n At 5:04 p.m., a motor vehicle accident at Lexington Avenue and Cape LaCroix Road. n At 7:30 p.m., emergency medical service in the 2800 block of Whitener Street...

ST. LOUIS -- The clubs where Ike Turner's band played here in the 1950s and '60s have long since closed, but his St. Louis musical legacy never faded. In those days, mixed-race overflow audiences paid 50 cents to hear his band, the Kings of Rhythm, and later, the Ike and Tina Turner Revue, at Club Imperial and other blues bars and jazz clubs here and in neighboring East St. Louis, Ill...

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests n Crystal L. Dobbs, 30, 1101 Bloomfield St., was arrested on four Cape Girardeau warrants for contempt of court...

Nicholson; Fullington; Spies; Moore; Smith; Rogers; Loenneke

WASHINGTON -- The Senate passed a trimmed-back energy bill Thursday that would bring higher-gas mileage cars and sport utility vehicles into showrooms in the coming decade and fill their tanks with ethanol. The measure was approved with strong bipartisan support 86-8 after Democrats abandoned efforts to impose billions of dollars in new taxes on the biggest oil companies, unable by one vote to overcome a Republican filibuster against the new taxes...

Here's an experiment that uses this newspaper to show you the wowing properties of air pressure. Ingredients n Newspaper n Table n Ruler Instructions n STEP 1: Place the ruler on the table allowing about 3 inches of the ruler to hang over the edge...

ACHIEVEMENTS n John Shetley of Cape Girardeau completed a building maintenance mechanic program at Vatterott College in Sunset Hills, Mo. n Amia Warren of Cape Girardeau; Katie Francis of Cape Girardeau, Valerie Brown of Jackson and Tempest Southall of Cape Girardeau have been awarded a Missouri Assessment Program Scholarship to attend Southeast Missouri State University...

BALI, Indonesia -- European nations threatened Thursday to boycott U.S.-sponsored climate talks next month unless the Bush administration compromises and agrees to a "road map" for reducing greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. With the U.N. climate conference in its final hours, Nobel laureate Al Gore said the United States was "principally responsible" for blocking progress here toward an agreement on launching negotiations to replace the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012...

GAUHATI, India -- A bomb tore through a moving train in India's remote northeast Thursday, killing five passengers and wounding four others, officials said. A little-known militant group claimed responsibility for the attack. The New Delhi-bound high-speed Rajdhani Express had started from the eastern town of Dibrugarh in Assam state and had just crossed a station near Chungajan when the bomb exploded, said T. Rabha, an Indian Railway spokesman...

ALGIERS, Algeria -- Rescuers in a shaken city on Wednesday extracted the living and the dead from the crumpled remains of U.N. offices in Algiers that were bombed by an al-Qaida affiliate. Victims included U.N. staff from around the world, police officers and law students...

The Cape Girardeau Central High School boys basketball team saw its losing streak reach four. But none of the defeats during that stretch was tougher to take than Thursday night's 43-42 setback to Farmington in the Tigers' home opener. Undermanned Central gave second-year coach Drew Church the type of all-out effort he looks for...

JACKSON -- Ashten Howard said Jackson coach Sam Sides employs a simple philosophy on when to take shots. "He's a real good believer in that if you're open, to keep shooting, especially when you're on," Howard said. "Keep shooting and it will fall."...

High school sports fans will have plenty of top-notch options to choose from this weekend. For wrestling fanatics, Central hosts the Tiger Classic today and Saturday at the Central Junior High. For boys basketball fans, the Heartland Hoopfest tournament at the Perry Park Center in Perryville runs all day Saturday...

ST. LOUIS -- The Mitchell Report was notable for the St. Louis Cardinals from the standpoint of the players who were not implicated. Former home run king Mark McGwire is mentioned extensively in the 409-page report released Thursday, but mainly as a historical reference point. McGwire's reputation has been stained by his refusal to answer questions at a Congressional hearing on steroid abuse in 2005, raising suspicion that could keep him out of the Hall of Fame...

DEKALB, Ill. -- Northern Illinois has hired Jerry Kill as its new football coach, less than a week after he led Southern Illinois to the FCS semifinals. NIU introduced Kill, 46, on Thursday as the successor to Joe Novak, who retired last month after 12 seasons with the Huskies...

Wow. That's what New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan had to say after seeing the names in the Mitchell Report on doping in baseball. The ramifications stretched far beyond baseball Thursday, sending reverberations through the other leagues and all the way to the White House, where President Bush's spokeswoman expressed hope this "marks the beginning of the end of steroid abuse."...

LESTERVILLE, Mo. -- Two years after it collapsed, the Taum Sauk reservoir is a busy pit of construction vehicles, work crews and cement plants. St. Louis-based Ameren Corp. is rebuilding the facility now that it has paid nearly $180 million to settle all state claims over the collapse, which happened in the pre-dawn hours of Dec. 14, 2005. For residents of surrounding rural Reynolds County, the reservoir's rebirth means the promise of steady tax payments for decades to come...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Matt Blunt wants child rapists to be executed. Missouri's governor Thursday proposed legislation allowing the death sentence for people convicted of forcibly raping or sodomizing a child younger than 12. "When somebody rapes a very young child, they should have to pay the ultimate penalty for that terrible crime," Blunt said. "This is not a crime that ever goes away -- it leaves permanent scars."...

NEW YORK -- Seven MVPs and 31 All-Stars -- one for every position -- and that still wasn't the worst of it for the long-awaited Mitchell Report. That infamy belonged to Roger Clemens, the greatest pitcher of his era. The steroids era. Seven-time Cy Young Award winner, eighth on the all-time list with 354 victories, an MVP and All-Star himself and once a lock for the Hall of Fame, Clemens now has another distinction: the biggest name linked by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell to illegal use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs.. ...

ST. LOUIS -- Florida goalie Tomas Vokoun maintained his mastery over the St. Louis Blues. Vokoun stopped 33 shots and recorded his 24th career shutout, helping the Panthers earn a 1-0 victory over the Blues on Thursday night. Vokoun, who has three shutouts this season, improved to 7-0 against the Blues since the 2004-05 lockout...

Notre Dame took first place in all 11 events as it rolled at the St. Vincent three team girls swimming meet Thursday. Brittany Menz and Lauren Castleman led the Bulldogs by aiding in the victories by the 200 medley relay, the 200 freestyle relay and the 400 freestyle relay. Castleman also won the 50 freestyle and Menz won the 100 freestyle...

Christmas break waits just around the corner. About one more week of school and then students will be sleeping late instead of studying late -- but first you have to make it through that one week. Area high schools are beefing up tutoring staff and providing students additional library hours for the extra effort exam time requires...

HOUSTON -- Mario Williams, last year's No. 1 pick, had a career-high 3 1/2 sacks to lead the Houston Texans to a 31-13 victory over the Denver Broncos on Thursday night. Houston (7-7) tied its franchise record for victories. Williams' performance made him Houston's career sack leader with 17 1/2. He has sacks in a team-record five straight games, 13 sacks for the season and nine in the last five games...

Two house fires Monday left seven people looking for temporary living arrangements. Cape Girardeau fire chief Rick Ennis said the six most common fire hazards are easily preventable. The holidays are a good excuse for stocking up on safety gear, such as fire extinguishers, smoke alarms or flashlights, he said...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- More than 51,000 customers in Missouri were still without power Friday as utility crews hurried to repair connections ahead of a possible weekend snowstorm. Five days after the first of several waves of ice storms crossed Missouri, power outages were still reported mainly in western Missouri. At the peak of the ice damage Tuesday, more than 165,000 customers lost power in southwestern, northwestern and central Missouri...

FOX News, the NBC "Today" Show and The Wall Street Journal have all, in recent weeks, taken an interest in the case of Debbie Shank of Jackson, the former Wal-Mart employee injured in a collision with a tractor-trailer in 2000. In 2005, Wal-Mart's employee health insurance plan sued for, and eventually won, a judgment in federal court that the money in a trust fund for her care should be turned over to the company to help repay the $469,000 in medical bills she rang up after the accident...