Stories from Thursday, January 3, 2008

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- A booming whitetail deer population in Missouri could mean longer hunting seasons to give hunters more opportunities to take deer. State officials will be in Springfield Tuesday to host the first of 16 meetings statewide to get input from hunters on possible changes that could boost the number of deer killed. Current estimates put the state's deer population at around 1 million...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A Missouri appeals court panel has ruled that public defenders in the state do not have official immunity from legal action by former clients. In the ruling issued Wednesday, the Western District of the Missouri Court of Appeals overturned a Boone County judge's decision to dismiss a Missouri prisoner's lawsuit. The decision marked the first time that the court had addressed the immunity issue...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A capital city bridge damaged in a tanker truck crash has been torn down, redesigned, rebuilt and reopened in just five weeks. A Nov. 27 accident on U.S. 54 resulted in a fiery explosion that killed the truck driver and badly damaged the nearby Jefferson Street overpass...

Worker are dismantling the marquee of the unused Esquire Theater at 824 Broadway nearly three months after a truck collision with the sign forced owner Phil Brinson to barricade the sidewalk. City officials had been pressing Brinson, who also owns Buckner Brewing Co., to deal with the sign's damage for many weeks, said Tim Morgan, head of the city's inspections department."The time period stretched out," Morgan said Thursday afternoon. ...

BENTON, Mo. -- Authorities are being tight-lipped about the events that led to the death of Stanley Frank Hagan of Scott City. Police and prosecutors are only releasing information contained in the murder and armed criminal action indictments against 18-year-old Marcus A. Bowers of Scott City that were handed down this morning by a grand jury...

Jan. 3, 2008 Dear Julie, A few years ago George Strait recorded a song that always makes my mother cry. The title itself, "Merry Christmas Wherever You Are," could do it alone. But the song's beauty was in its melodic longing for someone not present...

BENTON, Mo. -- Two Scott City men were arrested Monday, suspected of forcing their way into an elderly veteran's home Sunday and stealing money and other items from him. Scott County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Boyd has charged the two men -- 24-year-old Logan Scott Hays and 38-year-old Ricky Lee Menz, both of 515 E. ...

A broken thermometer elicited a serious response from Missouri's Department of Natural Resources and the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday. Both agencies descended on a Southeast Missouri State University classroom to check the air quality...

River Campus officials landed a performance of "The Producers" without much effort. In fact, all Robert Cerchio, assistant director of the Holland School of Visual and Performing Arts, had to do was answer the phone. Managers of the show contacted him after a hole in the tour schedule developed...

The last big decision for Cape Girardeau's parking task force is whether to recommend creating residential parking districts. City planner Martha Brown said the districts being discussed would limit on-street parking around Southeast Missouri State University. The parking permits would be issued by the city...

Jackson High School assistant principal Vince Powell will be principal next school year, the school board decided unanimously last month. The district expects to have a new assistant principal named in the next six weeks. Principal Rick McClard will leave at the end of the school year. ...

Took too long; Winning in Iraq; Get in right lane; Raising fees; Great court plan; Wasted dollars; Mind our own business

NEW YORK -- Just because you're in the hospital doesn't mean you'll quickly get treated if your heart stops beating. About one-third of patients don't get a potentially life-saving shock within the recommended two minutes, a new study found. Those who don't get prompt defibrillation are more likely to die or end up brain damaged or disabled, the study showed. For every minute of delay, the chances of survival worsens, researchers reported in today's New England Journal of Medicine...

To the editor:My family and I decided to treat ourselves to a really nice meal at a restaurant that we as a family had never been to. Like most young families we can only afford meals at a restaurant like that maybe twice a month. sometimes three. This was a Christmas present to ourselves...

To the editor:I appreciate David Limbaugh's discussion of Lee Strobel's reassuring work, "The Case for the Real Jesus." But a scholarly search is not always necessary. In 1977 a fellow teacher told me Jesus Christ was who he claimed and my self-serving lifestyle was an affront to him, the God who had created me. I inexplicably responded like the Jerusalem crowd at the first Christian sermon about A.D. 37. I also was "pierced to the heart" and said, "What shall I do?"...

To the editor:Recent news reports have big-box stores and large chain retailers lamenting their lackluster sales and crying because they weren't going to make their sales totals and huge profits they had hoped for this Christmas season. Sure, some other factors (job losses, high fuel prices, weak dollar) probably played a role, but these retail giants need to look at other factors...

The news about the grounding of Big Sky Airlines at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport have many second-guessing city leadership. The airline began passenger services Nov. 18. One month later, the airline announced it would shut down all service in the eastern half of the country, citing heavy losses and bad weather that interrupted its schedule and caused numerous delays...

EAST CAPE GIRARDEAU, Ill. -- On New Year's Eve, more than 200 customers filled The Pony strip club. That number dwindled to just one on New Year's Day. General manager Michael Cox saw the same thing happen at other clubs in Rhode Island, Louisville and New York when smoking bans went into effect...

FESTUS, Mo. -- A police chaplain shot and wounded his brother-in-law after the man faked a break-in at the chaplain's home in Festus. Festus police chief Tim Lewis said the chaplain thought a burglar was breaking into his home last night, so he grabbed a gun and shot the intruder...

DEXTER, Mo. -- If imitation is the greatest form of flattery, then Sgt. Scott Rawson of the Missouri State Highway Patrol is flattered indeed. His son, 21-year-old Levi Rawson, is about to begin a walk in his father's footsteps. The senior Rawson, a 15-year veteran of the patrol, serves Troop E as a criminal investigator and polygraph examiner. ...

'State of City' presented at First Friday Coffee The monthly First Friday Coffee for January, sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce will focus on the city as a whole. Mayor Jay Knudtson and chamber president and chief executive officer John Mehner will make a presentation on the "State of the City" during the monthly networking event for business owners and leaders. ...

NORWICH, Conn. -- Reggie Damone just wanted to jot down a phone number when he picked up what he thought was litter on a sidewalk this week. But what he found was an envelope containing a $185,000 check. Damone, who receives food stamps and works at McDonald's, said he didn't think twice about trying to cash it. Instead, the 47-year-old took a bus Monday from his Jewett City home to a bank and returned the check to the niece of the landlord to whom the check was written...

Cape Girardeau County's newly elected officials are sworn into office by County Clerk Rodney Miller; except for Prosecuting Attorney Larry H. Ferrell, the ceremony is nothing new for county officials, who voters re-elected last November. The Jackson Board of Aldermen grants the request of the county chapter of the American Cancer Society to conduct a door-to-door fund drive in April; approval comes over the objection of Alderwoman Sharon Brammer, who maintains that the society should conduct its fund drive in association with the annual, fall Community Chest fund drive.. ...

ST. LOUIS -- Traffic jams were few and delays were short Wednesday morning when the Missouri Department of Transportation shut down Interstate 64 and began the largest construction project in the agency's history, director Pete Rahn said. "We are extremely pleased with the first rush hour," Rahn told reporters during a morning news conference...

WASHINGTON -- Two of Missouri's top Republicans are spending time in Iowa this week to stump for candidates ahead of the first-in-the nation presidential caucuses. Sen. Kit Bond made four stops across Iowa on Wednesday to speak at rallies, greet volunteers and visit a phone bank as he campaigns for former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani...

DES MOINES, Iowa -- John Edwards willed himself through a 36-hour marathon, Barack Obama dispatched canvassers onto frigid streets and Hillary Rodham Clinton hand-carried bagels and coffee to volunteers Wednesday, vying for victory in the Iowa caucuses and priceless momentum in the race for the White House. Leading Republicans exchanged routine unpleasantries on a final day of campaigning...

WASHINGTON -- There's more to the recent dramatic and alarming thawing of the Arctic region than can be explained by man-made global warming alone, a new study found. Nature is pushing the Arctic to the edge, too. There's a natural cause that may account for much of the Arctic warming, which has melted sea ice, ice sheets and glaciers, according to a study published today in the journal Nature. ...

WASHINGTON -- Drivers talking on cell phones are probably making commutes even longer, concludes a new study. Motorists yakking away, even with hands-free devices, crawl about 2 mph slower on commuter-clogged roads than people not on the phone, and they just don't keep up with the flow of traffic, said study author David Strayer, a psychology professor at the University of Utah...

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department opened a full criminal investigation Wednesday into the destruction of CIA interrogation videotapes, putting the politically charged probe in the hands of a mob-busting public corruption prosecutor with a reputation for being independent...

Wanda Hope, 82, of Cape Gir-ardeau, formerly of Jackson, passed away Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2008, at the Lutheran Home. She was born Aug. 2, 1925, in Sedgewickville, daughter of the late Ernest and Grace Bollinger Killian. She and Harold Hope were married Aug. 9, 1947. He passed away Dec. 31, 1998...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Alfred McCain, 84, of Tamms died Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008, at Ratliff Care Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born March 14, 1923, at Neelys Landing, Mo., son of Robert and Bertha J. Hargraves McCain. He and Johanna Slack were married Sept. 23, 1950, in Cape Girardeau. She preceded him in death April 22, 2003...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Tuesday: n At 7:44 p.m., emergency medical service in the 100 block of South Lorimier Street. n At 11:48 p.m., emergency med-ical service at 45 S. West End Blvd. Firefighters responded to the following call Wednesday:...

ORAN, Mo. -- David Allen Nelson, 41, died at his home in Oran Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2007, as a result of a very serious scuba diving accident that he suffered in October 1993. David was born in Millington, Tenn., Jan 17, 1966, to Fred and Pat Nelson. He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Fred Sr. and Marianne Nelson, and H.F. "Jim" and Hazel Clare, and aunts, Virginia Clare and Diane Gustafson...

Bobby Paul Bruce, 67, of Scott City died Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2008, at Life Care Center in Cape Gir-ardeau. He was born April 22, 1940, in Dunklin County, Mo., son of Joseph Wheeler and Mattie Lou Brake Bruce. Bruce worked in the janitor and shipping departments at Blair Industries...

McCLURE, Ill. -- The Rev. Robert Lewis Burchyett, 91, of West Memphis, Ark., formerly of Cairo and McClure, Ill., died Monday, Dec. 31, 2007, at Broadway Health Center in West Memphis. A celebration of life service will be held at noon today at Cairo Pentecostal Church. Bobby McCool will officiate, assisted by Charles McKinnies, Dan McKinnies, Bob McCool Sr. and Stephen Smith. Burial will be in Lindsey Cemetery near McClure...

PATTON, Mo. -- Paul James Hill, 62, of Patton died Monday, Dec. 31, 2007, at his home. He was born Feb. 25, 1945, in Poplar Bluff, Mo., son of Emery and Geraldine Burkhart Hill. He and Thelma Horrell were married Dec. 10, 1972. Hill worked as a welder in a boat factory until he became disabled...

BENTON, Mo. -- Mary Ada Hopper, 87, of Benton died Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2008, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born Aug. 1, 1920, at Morley, Mo., daughter of William A. and Mary M. Capps Beggs. She and Joe Willard "Bill" Hopper were married in 1939...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Flora M. Weibrecht, 97, of Perryville, formerly of Crosstown, Mo., died Sunday, Dec. 30, 2007, at Perry County Nursing Home. She was born Oct. 1, 1910, at Crosstown, daughter of Bruno and Marie Fritsche. She and William P. Weibrecht were married April 26, 1941. He died June 11, 1996...

Cecil J. Kilbreath, 81, of Millersville died Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born July 3, 1926, in Parma, Mo., son of Ira and Dona Brown Kilbreath. He and Naomi Hamilton were married Oct. 30, 1947, at Bernie, Mo...

BIEHLE, Mo. -- Clarence R. "Bobby" Meyer, 66, of Biehle died Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2008, at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. He was born Aug. 6, 1941, in Perry County, son of Elmer and Mathilda Wibbenmeyer Meyer. He and Janet A. Turnbough were married Dec. 28, 1963...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Georgia Marie Spain, 72, of Marble Hill died Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2008, at her home. She was born Nov. 27, 1935, in Fredericktown, Mo., daughter of George and Pearl Brown Lincoln. She and Frank D. Spain were married Nov. 15, 1951. He died Nov. 15, 1984...

Richard Lee Horn, 81, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, Dec. 31, 2007, at Saint Francis Medical Center. He was born May 3, 1926, in Lilbourn, Mo., son of Emerson B. and Edna R. Hammell Horn. He married Dorothy Lea Lane. She preceded him in death. Horn served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II with he 3rd Marine Division in the Pacific Theater...

Rebecca Jo Parrow, 54, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2008, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born March 2, 1953, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Robert Winder and Lyda Smith. She and Gene Parrow were married Feb. 22, 2002, in Cape Girardeau...

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests n Morgan Rae Starkey, 40, 201 Central Ave., Marble Hill, Mo., was arrested on suspicion of domestic assault and assault...

The Visiting Nurse Association of Southeast Missouri recently held an awards banquet honoring the accomplishments of key staff members, volunteers and employees. VNA is a private, not-for-profit home health service provider, licensed by the state of Missouri and certified by Medicare and Medicaid...

Singles support group to meet Jan. 11; Wildlife photography on display at Nature Center; St. Augustine School holds trivia night

n Toddler time will be held for ages 18 to 35 months (with a caregiver) at 10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 14 and 28. Books, songs, finger plays, flannelboards and activities are part of this program. n Storytime for ages 3 through 5 will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 15, 22 and 29. Books, songs, finger plays, flannelboard stories, and a take home activity are part of this program; at 3:30 p.m., Tuesday only, "Art Starts! Andy Warhol" will be held for ages 4 to 7...

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- You don't have to see Tom Bowlin's wood sculptures to believe he likes working with his hands:~ Tom Bowlin has carved himself a community out of oak, cedar and maple. His two missing fingers tell you that. Bowlin, a 10th Street resident in Blue Springs, is as modest as you can get when it comes to his interest, which is plainly seen throughout both his yard and in his home...

To be fair, a review of the new Tom Hanks film, "Charlie Wilson's War," should consist of two parts -- a criticism of its political statement on the bureaucratic mess that was Washington D.C. in the lead up to the fall of communism, and the appraisal of a really good film...

GENEVA -- Aviation is becoming safer every year and 2007 saw the lowest number of crashes in 44 years, an independent watchdog group said Wednesday. But the Geneva-based Aircraft Crashes Record Office said some countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia and Colombia, were slower to improve airline safety...

ALGIERS, Algeria -- A car bomb exploded near a police station in a town east of the Algerian capital Wednesday, killing at least four officers and ripping off the building's facade, witnesses said. An Arab broadcaster reported that an al-Qaida branch claimed responsibility for the suicide attack...

LAUREL, Md. -- An inmate who escaped from a hospital Wednesday, briefly taking a worker hostage and stealing two getaway cars, was captured and killed by police hours later in a cemetery, authorities said. Kelvin Poke, 45, overpowered guards at Laurel Regional Hospital and fired several shots before fleeing, authorities said. Once outside, he shot out the window of a car and drove away, dumping the driver, said Maryland State Police spokesman Greg Shipley...

VICTORIA, Texas -- A chartered bus coming from Mexico veered off a highway early Wednesday and overturned, killing one passenger and injuring dozens of others, at least six of them critically, authorities said. Some of the passengers crawled out an emergency exit on the roof...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The federal Minerals Management Service gave final approval Wednesday to oil and natural gas development off Alaska's northwest shore, drawing condemnation from environmental groups concerned with the effects on marine mammals...

BAGHDAD -- A suicide bombing north of Baghdad on Wednesday and a string of attacks against members of a burgeoning Sunni tribal movement have demonstrated al-Qaida in Iraq's concern over the alliance between the U.S. military and the grassroots groups...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- President Pervez Musharraf said Wednesday he had asked for British help to investigate the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, as authorities pushed back crucial elections to Feb. 18, citing the unrest caused by her killing. Opponents condemned the postponement but said they would still participate in the vote, which is seen as a key step in Pakistan's transition to democracy after years of military rule...

NAIROBI, Kenya -- Sixteen-year-old Dan Mugambi stands guard at a bridge in his Nairobi slum, one skinny hand on his machete, ashes caught in his hair. Behind him, hundreds of angry young men -- armed with knives, machetes, saws and shovels -- scream as they watch homes burn. These men belong to Kenya's dominant Kikuyu tribe...

RAFAH, Gaza Strip -- Egypt allowed more than 2,000 Palestinian pilgrims to enter the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, drawing a fierce rebuke from Israel, which had tried to prevent top members of the militant Hamas from returning home. Egypt's decision to open its border deepened a crisis in relations with Israel, which has accused Cairo of not doing enough to stop Palestinian smuggling of weapons and contraband into Gaza through tunnels under the border...

NEW YORK -- With oil at the once unfathomable price of $100 a barrel, consumers can expect the cost of filling their gas tanks, heating their homes -- in fact, the price of most everything -- to also keep rising. Still, analysts don't expect record-high prices by themselves to send the economy into recession, simply because expensive as oil is, energy doesn't consume as big a chunk of Americans' budget as it did decades ago...

NEW YORK -- Diane Keaton said she planned to wait until she was in a "strong and substantive" relationship before becoming a mother -- but that never happened for her. "Motherhood was not an urge I couldn't resist, it was more like a thought I'd been thinking for a very long time," said Keaton, who celebrates her 62nd birthday Saturday. "So I plunged in."...

Partly because of Eastern Kentucky's deliberate style, Southeast Missouri State wasn't able to display its normal explosiveness. But when Wednesday night's game got down to crunch time, the Redhawks' fast and furious style ultimately won out. The Redhawks blitzed EKU with a 9-0 run in just under two minutes to break away from a second-half tie on their way to a 66-55 win...

Brandon Foust said Southeast basketball coach Scott Edgar took to calling the senior forward Charles Barkley lately. Foust took the nickname to a new level during the Redhawks' 66-55 Ohio Valley Conference victory against Eastern Kentucky on Wednesday at the Show Me Center...

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Rich who? The West Virginia Mountaineers didn't need coach Rich Rodriguez. They had Pat White, and their elusive quarterback led them to a surprising 48-28 romp over No. 3 Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl on Wednesday night. White ran for 150 yards and threw for 176 and two touchdowns for the 11th-ranked Mountaineers, who rushed for 349 yards, most allowed by Oklahoma in a bowl game...

ST. LOUIS -- Wanting to put a 3-13 season behind him, St. Louis Rams coach Scott Linehan is moving forward, preparing for a meeting with team president John Shaw. With an 11-21 record in two seasons, Linehan said Wednesday he will meet with Shaw next week in Los Angeles to discuss the state of the team. Everything will be on the table during the meeting to turn the Rams around...

ST. LOUIS -- Dustin Penner was in the right place at the right time for the Edmonton Oilers. Penner's second goal of the game, a power-play goal with 17.8 seconds to play in overtime helped the Oilers snap a six-game losing skid with a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night...

"Resident Evil: Extinction" Genetically enhanced zombie slayer Milla Jovovich gets some new allies in her fight to rid Earth of those pesky undead cadavers with a hankering for human flesh. The third chapter in the action franchise based on the video game sends Jovovich and old pals Oded Fehr and Mike Epps into the Nevada desert, where their new crew of zombie fighters includes Ali Larter and Ashanti...

The last year saw some big news in local entertainment, with the opening of the River Campus and its sold out shows and the 20th anniversary of the Show Me Center. In 2008 the River Campus continues its season, and events are already booked at Southeast Missouri's biggest arena. Here are some of them...

Laura Ingalls Wilder was 66 when the first volume in her beloved "Little House" series, "Little House in the Big Woods," was published. But Wilder had been an established writer for more than two decades by that point, writing a biweekly column about women and country life for the Missouri Ruralist...

Mitch Albom hit the big-time with his memoir "Tuesdays with Morrie," getting a little help from Oprah Winfrey, a woman who single-handedly creates successful authors, and landing on the New York Times best-seller list. Winfrey even produced an Emmy-winning TV movie adaptation of the book...

NEW YORK -- Dressed in drag and standing in front of a meat locker, Johnny Depp smiles into the camera and cheerfully declares, "Tim's a swell guy." In its genuine warmth and weirdness, this moment, played out between scenes during the filming of 1994's "Ed Wood," encapsulates the ongoing collaboration between Depp and director Tim Burton...

Chuck McGinty of Mid-Life Crisis gives some of his favorites from his youth. 1. "How Much is that Doggy in the Window" This is just a happy song. 2. "Puffin' Billy," Captain Kangaroo theme song by Edward G. White One of the highlights of my childhood was getting to watch Captain Kangaroo...

ARTS First Friday Galleries all over town open their doors for First Friday receptions. Where: River Campus Art Gallery, Crisp Museum, Garden Gallery, Black Door Gallery, Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, Gallery 1.2.5, Edward Bernard Gallery, Westray studio, The Artist Studio...

Friday ARTS First Friday gallery receptions @ various locations LIVE MUSIC Classic Country Band @ Jackson American Legion Hall Country Touch Band @ Jackson Elks Lodge Live piano by Jennifer Jolls @ Royal N[']Orleans The Dock Ellis Band @ Broussard[']s...

1. "Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia" by Elizabeth Gilbert 2. "The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town" by John Grisham 3. "I Am America (And So Can You!)" by Stephen Colbert 4. "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett...

Wildlife imaging on the Cache River ; Southeast student, faculty to perform in Kennett; Not-for-profit hosts art as business seminar; Saint Louis art museum begins film series; -- From staff reports

Those who frequent downtown have already heard the news, I'm sure. Just take a walk by the former home of River Nick's and you'll see the sign, literally. There it is on the window, future home of the arts council. No doubt this building -- right on the corner of a busy downtown intersection, right next to more-than-adequate parking for events hosted by the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, more spacious than the council's current location -- would be a prime spot for any arts organization or business.. ...

Less than two hours Carson Center, Paducah, Ky. The Carson Center will host a performance by country music star Vince Gill at 7 p.m. Saturday to benefit the charity Terra's Angels. Gill has a long relationship with the Terra's Angels charity, which supports families with children who have life-threatening cancer. ...

NEW YORK -- When Jeremy Sisto got his first glimpse of the updated "Law & Order" opening, there he was, in a courthouse setting alongside his castmates, just like so many who had come before him. Sisto hums a few bars of the "Law & Order" theme, and recalls with a laugh: "There I am, walking with the others. And I thought, 'What's HE doing there?!'"...

PHILADELPHIA -- The Piano Man will make his Philadelphia Orchestra debut this month. Billy Joel will perform with the orchestra Jan. 26 to celebrate the 151st anniversary of the Academy of Music, it was announced last week. The program, led by music director Christoph Eschenbach, will also include the Blue Man Group, soprano Disella Larusdottir and pianist Conrad Tao...

Even in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday, Wib's Drive-In in Jackson is packed. The small restaurant's two and four-person booths are nearly full, and a steady flow of customers keeps the pick-up area on the restaurant's east side busy. Teenagers on Christmas break, multiple generations of family and workers grabbing a quick lunch make up the crowd. A large stack of Wib's barbecue sandwiches goes quickly in the kitchen as the orders are filled...

The best-selling CDs at PMac Music for the week of Dec. 24-30. 1. Buckcherry, "15" 2. Craig Morgan, "Little Bit of Life" 3. "Wicked" soundtrack 4. Puddle of Mudd, "Famous" 5. Three Days Grace, "One-X"

Put a jeweler, a surgeon, a gastroenterologist, two band directors, an electrician, a personnel director, an insurance saleswoman, an office supply owner and a lawyer in a room together and one thing is bound to happen: People are going to dance. The Motown and classic rock tunes Mid-Life Crisis plays induce enormous crowds to do just that at the Southeast Showcase, the cancer gala and at Buckner's in downtown Cape Girardeau...

DALLAS -- Missouri finished its season by routing Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl. The Tigers will soon learn whether the victory in their first Jan. 1 bowl appearance since 1970 helps as much as their lopsided loss in the Big 12 championship game hurt...

WASHINGTON -- U.S. officials expressed skepticism Wednesday that North Korea would fulfill a pledge to provide a complete list of its nuclear programs as American diplomats prepared to visit Asia for talks. North Korea failed to meet a year-end deadline on the nuclear declaration under an aid-for-disarmament deal, and White House press secretary Dana Perino said "it is only appropriate that we would be skeptical. ...

The host Delta Bobcats were among the first-day winners in the Delta New Year's girls basketball tournament. St. Vincent, Meadow Heights and Woodland also won their openers. St. Vincent beat Risco 71-22 in the first game behind 19 points from Courtney Besand. Lacey Siegmund and Jessica Welker both added 14 points...

State lawmakers seeking to step into the attorney general's office are using the last week before the Missouri Legislature convenes to hit the road in search of support. Senate President Pro Tem Mike Gibbons, R-Kirkwood, and state Rep. Margaret Donnelly, D-St. Louis, made separate visits to the Southeast Missourian to explain their programs while on their way to other appointments...

"The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep," set in wartime Scotland around 1942, centers around Angus MacMorrow, a solemn little guy (Alex Etel). Angus lives near a loch (Scottish for lake), in a sprawling stone house with his housekeeper mother (Emily Watson) and sister Kirstie (Priyanka Xi). ...

Thursday, Jan. 3 Healthy Bites Luncheon -- How to go into fifth gear with exercise in '08: Saint Francis Medical Center's Health and Wellness Center, 12:10 to 12:40 p.m. College Night: Muddy Waters, Egypt Mills, 7 p.m. Open-mic and Jam Session: The Camp at Main Street Bar, 9:30 p.m...

Shanel Wilkerson of Cape Girardeau held her new daughter, Azhyda, on Wednesday at Southeast Missouri Hospital.

BENTON, Mo. -- A Scott County grand jury this morning indicted a Scott City man for murder in an incident that happened over three months ago. According to the indictment sent to the Southeast Missourian, 18-year-old Marcus Bowers of Scott City is being charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of Stanley Frank Hagan. ...