Stories from Friday, February 8, 2008

KIRKWOOD, Mo. (AP) -- Ten days after losing a free-speech lawsuit against this St. Louis suburb, a gunman stormed a council meeting, yelled "Shoot the mayor!" and opened fire, critically wounding the mayor, killing two police officers and three city officials...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- House speakers in Kansas and Missouri are touting a bill that would lower taxes for Kansans who work in Missouri. Missouri House Speaker Rod Jetton and Kansas House Speaker Melvin Neufeld said the bill is a critical step that will help the two states move forward with other collaborations...

Visitors to central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks will be able to get state-of-the-art emergency alerts on their cell phones after Camden County's sheriff became one of the first rural agencies nationwide to install a text message and e-mail warning system...

Despite early reports that the Family Resource Center would temporarily close its doors Friday morning, the organization's board of directors decided to keep the facility open. The board held an emergency meeting Thursday following the identification of potential fire hazards by a state fire marshal on Tuesday at the Family Resource Center's 1202 S. Sprigg St. location...

Earlier this week the first annual and regular national convention of TIRED (ThisIsReallyEconomicallyDumb.gov.us) was held in our fair city. Delegates took up most of two tables at the coffee shop. It was during the course of the half-morning convention that some of the visiting delegates pointed out the obvious. Cape Girardeau has figured out something the rest of the nation has yet to learn. And we didn't even realize it. That's why it's always good to have outsiders come to town...

While the fate of three men charged with dogfighting felonies in October remains uncertain, most of the pit bulls seized in the bust may have secured a brighter future. The Humane Society of Missouri said Thursday it has received permanent custody of 22 pit bulls and one beagle seized Oct. ...

Chaffee's mayor resigned Thursday morning. By 1 p.m., family and friends changed her mind, she said. "I'm hoping that the council will see, since I'm refusing to resign, that I'm earnest to be the mayor," Loretta Mohorc said. She's also earnest about reining in what she's called city police officers' "overexuberance" in making traffic stops. It led to a closed session with the city council and police chief, and her resignation...

In the end, the Cape Girardeau School Board decided to hire a local. Dr. Jim Welker, the assistant superintendent of finance in Jackson, beat two other finalists to be named Cape Girardeau's new superintendent Thursday. His three-year contract will begin July 1...

Bradley Skelton had already served one dangerous tour in Iraq in 2004 and part of 2005, then retired from the Missouri Army National Guard after a 23-year career. But last year he volunteered to go again because he thought someone with more to lose might be better off staying home...

David Townsend remembers a time in Chaffee when the police chief would simply chauffeur an impaired driver home rather than issue a ticket. Townsend was Chaffee's police chief from 1975 to 1977. Times are different, but not that different for Chaffee's 3,200 residents, he said, sitting at a table just inside the No Name Cafe. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri House passed a $46 million spending plan for new medical buildings at two University of Missouri campuses. Not a single lawmaker dissented as the House voted Thursday to appropriate $31 million for a cancer hospital at the Columbia campus and $15 million for a pharmacy and nursing complex at the Kansas City campus...

We pay for profits; Full-time teaching; Good program; Better carnival; No more money; Universal care; Not that much; Great street crew; Feeding students; Supply and demand; Hard-hearted; Just getting by; Politicians wrong; Laying the groundwork; Pay for performance

Q. How do you know if the time and energy you have devoted to your community all your life has been worth the effort? Good answer: When you receive the Rush H. Limbaugh Award for community service at the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce annual dinner...

Southeast Missouri State gymnast Sandra Blake earned her second straight Midwest Independent Conference gymnast of the week award. Blake, a junior from Tri-Cities, Wash., won her second straight floor exercise title with a career-best 9.850, and her first vault title of the season with a career-best 9.875. Her vault performance placed her second all-time at Southeast...

The city of Jackson will operate on a $7.3 million budget this year, up substantially over last year's $5.7 million budget; the board of aldermen approved the budget last night. Jackson Chamber of Commerce and city officials are planning to file a complaint with the Public Service Commission seeking to force the Missouri Pacific Railroad to repair flood-damaged tracks and restore rail service to Jackson; the branch line, which runs between Delta and Jackson, has been out of service about two months.. ...

* A story on government Web sites quoted Eric McGowen, Cape Girardeau County's information services director, but misspelled his name. The Southeast Missourian regrets the error.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri pollution regulators want to expand the state's oversight of agricultural odors to more farms. The Missouri Air Conservation Commission is proposing that concentrated animal feeding operations with more than 3,000 pigs, chickens, turkeys, cattle and dairy cows face odor standards. The current rules only apply to livestock operations with more than 7,000 animals...

Jackson firefighters responded to a report of a structure fire on North Farmington Road early Thursday. The fire was reported by someone who saw the smoke from across the street, said Capt. Steve Grant of the Jackson Fire Department. When firefighters arrived, they saw smoke and fire blowing out of the structure. Initial reports said the house was occupied, but responding officers were able to confirm it was empty because it was being remodeled...

With dry humor and occasionally surprising honesty, Sandra Dallas talked Thursday to students and community members about her book "Tallgrass" at Central High School in Cape Girardeau. Dallas' book, selected for the citywide reading program United We Read, tells the story of a rural Colorado town divided when a Japanese internment camp opens during World War II...

KIRKWOOD, Mo. -- A gunman stormed a city council meeting Thursday night, killing two police officers and three other people before law enforcers fatally shot him, authorities said. The man's gunfire injured the mayor, a newspaper reported. The victims at the meeting in suburban St. Louis were killed after the gunman rushed the council chambers and began firing as he yelled "Shoot the mayor," according to St. Louis County Police spokeswoman Tracy Panus...

ST. LOUIS -- Mayor Francis Slay has spent much of his tenure in City Hall helping push along a resurgence in the downtown economy. And he promised Thursday that Macy's Inc.'s decision to lay off 850 employees here would not slow the city's progress...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, one of three Republicans running for governor, outlined a more than $30 million plan Thursday to provide more state aid to military veterans. Kinder called for creation of a scholarship program for children and spouses of Missouri National Guard members or military reservists who are killed or seriously injured in the line duty. ...

People planning spring and summer getaways might try one of 12 unusual places such as Ste. Genevieve, Mo., which "has the most significant collection of French colonial architecture in the U.S," according to a preservation group. Each year starting in 2000, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has named a "Dozen Distinctive Destinations" appealing to tourists' taste for historic places. ...

Sgt. Brad Skelton's military awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. He has been posthumously promoted to staff sergeant. Skelton is the fourth local soldier to fall in fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. ...

Lucille Ogborn, 86, of Jackson, formerly of McClure, Ill., died Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Oct. 24, 1921, to John and Kate Cuzzort Garrett. She married Luther P. Ogborn Feb. 10, 1948. He preceded her in death Aug. 12, 2002...

Lillian Maude Godwin, 88, formerly of Jackson, died Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008, at The Heritage at Lake Forrest in Sanford, Fla. She was born Sept. 23, 1919, in Millersville, daughter of Thomas A. and Flossie V. Statler Propst. She and John Elwood Godwin were married May 5, 1946, in Jackson. He died May 13, 2003...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Norma Louise Horrell, 53, of Marble Hill died Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008, at Southeast Missouri Residential Facility in Sikeston, Mo. She was born July 5, 1954, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Robert Henry and Martha Mary Landewee Horrell...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Kenneth Ray Tidwell, 71, of Advance died Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Aug. 31, 1936, at Brownwood, Mo., son of Leonard and Myrtle Hill Tidwell. He and Earlene Phelps were married March 5, 1967. She died Jan. 25, 2008...

Maxine Breezeel, 79, of Cape Girardeau, formerly of Advance, Mo., died Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008, at Monticello House in Jackson. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Cheryl Pruett, 50, of Chaffee died Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee is in charge of arrangements.

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests n Deborah A. Spears, 45, of 631 Themis St. No. 3, was arrested on a Festus, Mo., warrant for failure to appear...

DeWitt; Cork; Williams; Dunning

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Wednesday: n At 6:34 p.m., a carbon monoxide alarm at 3018 Beavercreek Drive. n At 11:09 p.m., emergency medical service in the 2300 block of Cheetah Lane. Firefighters responded to the following calls Thursday:...

NEW YORK -- The Gambinos were once a ruthless crime family whose empire stretched across the city and whose boss was a bona fide local celebrity, strutting around town in $2,000 suits and beating case after case. Although their mystique faded over the years amid a series of convictions and damaging testimony from turncoat mobsters, they still maintained an intimidating presence in the underworld...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- After two months of delay, shuttle Atlantis blasted into orbit Thursday with Europe's gift to the international space station, a $2 billion science lab named Columbus that spent years waiting to set sail. Atlantis and its seven-man crew safely roared away from their seaside launch pad at 2:45 p.m., overcoming fuel gauge problems that thwarted back-to-back launch attempts in December...

WASHINGTON -- John McCain effectively sealed the Republican presidential nomination Thursday as chief rival Mitt Romney suspended his faltering campaign. "I must now stand aside, for our party and our country," Romney told conservatives. "If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. ...

WASHINGTON -- Congress, facing the prospect of an election-year recession, passed an emergency plan Thursday that rushes rebates of $600 to $1,200 to most taxpayers and $300 checks to disabled veterans, the elderly and other low-income people. President Bush indicated he would sign the measure...

NEW ORLEANS -- Democrat Barack Obama has raised $7.2 million and rival Hillary Rodham Clinton has collected $6.4 million since Super Tuesday, as he continued to resist a Clinton campaign clamoring for attention-getting debates. The remarkable outpouring of contributions recorded since Tuesday's contests in 22 states comes on the heels of $32 million raised by Obama in January and the record-shattering $100 million each Obama and Clinton raised in 2007 in their neck-and-neck race for the Democratic presidential nomination.. ...

NEW YORK -- The nation's retailers delivered more evidence of a stumbling economy Thursday, as merchants reported their weakest January performance in nearly four decades, extending a malaise that has deepened since the holiday shopping season. The sales figures made it clear that consumers wrestling with high gas and food prices, a slumping housing market, an escalating credit crisis and a weakening job market retrenched further, buying mostly necessities even when redeeming their holiday gift cards. ...

WASHINGTON -- The widespread use of ethanol from corn could result in nearly twice the greenhouse gas emissions as the gasoline it would replace because of expected land-use changes, researchers concluded Thursday. The study challenges the rush to biofuels as a response to global warming...

VIENNA, Austria -- Iran's nuclear project has developed its own version of an advanced centrifuge to churn out enriched uranium much faster than its previous machines, diplomats and experts said Thursday. They said that few of the IR-2 centrifuges were operating and that testing appeared to be in an early phase, with the new machines rotating without processing any uranium gas...

CASTALIAN SPRINGS, Tenn. -- The muddy field was littered with debris after a wave of violent storms: Living room couches, strollers, children's toys. So when two rescuers came upon a baby, they thought he was a doll. Then he moved. "We grabbed hold of his neck [to take a pulse] and he took a breath of air and started crying," said David Harmon, a firefighter from a nearby county who was combing the field for tornado victims...

FINDLAY, Ohio -- Homeowners trudged through frigid, waist-deep water Thursday to begin assessing damage after the Blanchard River burst its banks, flooding basements for the second time in five months. The flooding, which began Wednesday, wasn't as bad flooding in August -- the city's worst since 1913 -- but some residents said they'd had enough...

The following students graduated with honors from the University of Missouri-Columbia in December:Benton: Michelle Felter, bachelor of journalism, magna cum laude. Cape Girardeau: Andrew Arnzen, bachelor of science in accountancy and master of accountancy, magna cum laude; Ryan Bandermann, bachelor of health science and master of physical therapy, summa cum laude; Sarah Gosche, bachelor of health science, cum laude; Whitney Pingelm, bachelor of science in education, summa cum laude; Sarah Unterreiner, bachelor of science in education, summa cum laude.. ...

Here's a science experiment that your sweetheart will love! Ingredients n Red pipe cleaners n Thread n Water n Borax n Ruler n A container Instructions STEP 1: Twist a red pipe cleaner into the shape of a heart. STEP 2: Using the thread, tie your pipe cleaner heart to the ruler. Place the ruler on the top of the container to check that the heart floats freely inside the container...

SCHOLARSHIPS n Caitlyn Cowley of Cape Girardeau, Ashley Deprow of Chaffee, Mo., and Josh Hubbard of Cape Girardeau have been awarded a Missouri Assessment Program Scholarship to attend Southeast Missouri State University next year. n Kacie Broemmelsick of Cape Girardeau has been awarded a Regents' Scholarship and a Missouri Assessment Program Scholarship to attend Southeast Missouri State University next year...

LONDON -- Amy Winehouse will not attend this year's Grammy Awards because her request for a visa has been turned down by the U.S. Embassy, her representatives said Thursday. The Outside Organization, Winehouse's media agency, said in an e-mail that Winehouse was disappointed but had been treated well by Embassy staff...

FRIDAY New movies: "Fool's Gold" PG-13, run time 110 minutes at Town Plaza Cinema "Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show" R, run time 110 minutes at Cape West Cine "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins" PG-13, run time 114 minutes at Cape West Cine 20th Annual Show Me Center Rodeo: Show Me Center, 8 p.m...

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- With his team reeling, Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Scott Edgar made a significant change to the Redhawks' starting lineup. For the first time all season, sophomore point guard Roderick Pearson began a game on the bench, with junior college transfer Hank Harris getting his first Southeast start...

PERRYVILLE -- Central junior Annie Wolpers had a lofty goal entering the Show Me Conference meet Thursday evening, although she was not sure how realistic she was being. "My goal was to get the [meet] MVP," Wolpers said. "But I wasn't full out, 'I know I'm going to get it' or anything."...

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team does whatever is necessary to win games. What was necessary for the Redhawks on Thursday was to get by without their leading scorer, rebounder and shot-blocker. Mission accomplished...

Nick Niemczyk hit five 3-pointers and tallied 35 points before fouling out late in the game as Bell City fended off a furious Clarkton comeback for an 81-78 victory in boys basketball Thursday. The Cubs (20-2) led by 16 points at the half, but Clarkton outscored Bell City 52-39 in the second half to close the gap...

Perryville hired a familiar face as its new head football coach. Chaffee assistant coach James H. May III, a former assistant at Perryville, replaces Rick Chastain, who stepped down in December. "I was looking for an opportunity to be a head coach, and that opportunity came open," May said. "I didn't think there would be a better opportunity out there for me than that one."...

WASHINGTON -- Roger Clemens spent Thursday going door to door on Capitol Hill, lobbying congressmen investigating whether he used drugs. His accuser, Brian McNamee, gave a seven-hour deposition behind closed doors, and the trainer's attorneys presented photographs of evidence they said prove the star pitcher was injected with steroids...

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- The celebrity watch at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am took place everywhere but the top of the leaderboard Thursday. Kent Jones birdied the two most famous par 3s at Pebble Beach and kept bogeys off his card for a 6-under 66 and a one-shot lead, an encouraging start for someone who has played 270 tournaments on the PGA Tour without finishing in the top five...

PHOENIX -- Shaquille O'Neal had strong words for those who doubt he can fit in with the Phoenix Suns. "I'm very upset," he said Thursday at a news conference to introduce him as a member of his new team. "You just don't really want to get me upset. When I'm upset, I'm known to do certain things -- like win championships."...

JERUSALEM -- Israeli forces Thursday killed seven Palestinians, including a schoolteacher, in its campaign to stop daily rocket barrages from the Gaza Strip, and added a new economic pressure -- cutting electricity by a symbolic 1 percent. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak vowed even harsher military action if Gaza militants persist with their rocket fire at southern Israel...

Here's to you, Super High School Sports Fan. No matter what the day or who the team plays that night, you're there: in the bleachers, spilling onto the court. With face paint, funky hair, maybe even a penguin suit, you yell and cheer your team to victory...

The Family Resource Center closed its doors today following the identification of potential fire hazards by a state fire marshal on Tuesday. The center's after-school program, which serves about 15 children daily, has been suspended as staff and board members seek legal counsel, said Denise Lincoln, the center's director. Board members met Thursday evening...