Stories from Sunday, February 17, 2008

Hundreds of people are entering day six without power today, although hundreds more saw a return of electricity Saturday. While five companies made significant gains, the Southern Illinois Electric Cooperative, based in Dongola, Ill., struggled the most. As of 4 p.m. Saturday, 1,100 people remained in the dark, down only 100 from the previous evening...

Cape Bible Chapel jumped with activity Saturday while two competitive jump-rope teams learned, taught and practiced competition double-Dutch speed, double-Dutch freestyle, the Chinese wheel, synchronized routines and individual tricks. The Alpha Omega Jumpers, a Cape Girardeau competitive jump-rope team, hosted the Comet Skippers of Ohio at a jump skills workshop from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday at the Cape Bible Chapel gym...

ANNA, Ill. -- Billie Henderson, who was defeated in the Feb. 5 Democratic primary for Union County circuit clerk, was cited for improper lane usage following a traffic accident at 10:10 a.m. Saturday on Old U.S. 51 just north of Kaolin Road. According to the Illinois State Police, Henderson, 48, of Cobden, Ill., was driving a 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche when it crossed the center line, hitting a 2001 Dodge Ram driven by Patricia Elkins, 43, of Jonesboro, Ill...

Patriot Guard motorcycles led the funeral procession for Staff Sgt. Bradley Skelton down Route Z in Gordonville, under an archway made by Cape Girardeau and Jackson fire department ladder trucks Saturday. The procession was about four miles long, according to Christi Guilliams of McCombs Funeral Home. Many of the procession participants parked along Highway 25 in Gordonville and were then taken by bus to the cemetery. Five hundred to 600 people attended the funeral. Skelton, 40, of Gordonville was killed Feb. 6 by a roadside explosion in Baghdad while on his second tour in Iraq.

Roger and Christine Schlichting of Frohna, Mo., announce the engagement of their daughter, Sarah Lynn Schlichting, to Ryan Scott McQuay of Jackson. He is the son of Scott and Brenda McQuay of Cape Girardeau. Schlichting is a 2004 graduate of Perryville High School, and expects to graduate in May from Southeast Missouri State University...

DENALI NATIONAL PARK, Alaska -- It was near the end of a six-hour bus tour of Denali National Park that we got a good, long look at a bear eating his way through a field of berries. Elsewhere in Alaska, my husband, two sons and I had watched whales spouting near Juneau, eagles along the Chilkat River, and waterways in Ketchikan and Skagway so full of salmon they could barely move...

CHICAGO -- The popular Oceanarium marine mammal exhibit at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium will be closed for several months starting in September to allow construction crews to update and renovate existing exhibits and create new ones. Shedd spokesman Roger Germann said there are some animals living in the 170,000-square-foot facility that will be moved to other institutions while the Oceanarium is undergoing renovations...

Marble Hill help; Prospering business; Chainsaws and muscle; Cleared campus; Thanks to everyone; Good indicators; Driving around; Pay it forward; You're appreciated; Season opener; Being prepared; Hot-cocoa thanks; Chaffee workers; Jackson workers; Power restored; Paper delivered; A great job

Kenny and Tammy Roberts of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Kristen Roberts, to Matthew Pinson, both of Chaffee, Mo. He is the son of John and Terry VanDeWeghe of Leopold, Mo. Roberts is a 2004 graduate of Jackson High School. She is a health information analyst at Saint Francis Medical Center...

To the editor:While the last two winter storms wreaked havoc on our city, Cape Girardeau's road crews did an outstanding job keeping the streets cleared and as safe as possible. Their hard work and long hours were much appreciated, especially with the ice storm where they had to deal with the broken limbs and downed wires as well...

Bonnie Brown of Morehouse, Mo., and Robert and Odean Brown of Jackson announce the engagement of their daughter, Michelle L. Taylor of Jackson, to Jason E. Nance of Cape Girardeau. He is the son of the late Eddie and Linda Nance of St. Louis. Taylor is a graduate of Delta High School. She is office manager at Cheekwood Studio...

For several years the Family Resource Center on South Sprigg Street has provided an extra boost to youngsters taking part in a variety of programs. Currently, about 15 students a week participate in an after-school program designed to help them with reading skills. The center also offers programs for adults...

WASHINGTON -- The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History is delaying its reopening from this summer to the fall. Museum Director Brent Glass said the museum has received inquiries from visitors making travel plans, and wanted to provide them with a more realistic time frame for the reopening. An exact date has not been set...

Husband-and-wife journalists Bob Miller and Callie Clark Miller use this space to offer their views on everyday issues. HE SAID: Old Man Winter has turned my cute and pregnant wife in to Old Woman Miller. Like an old granny and a Boy Scout, I have to escort Callie everywhere she goes. The Old Woman takes tiny baby steps, shuffling her feet as to not fall and break a hip...

By Keith W. Kimmel Who is conservative, and who is liberal? Recently, David Limbaugh had a column in the Southeast Missourian demeaning John McCain on his being too liberal to be calling himself a Ronald Reagan conservative. All Republicans seem to want to classify Reagan as the very icon of conservatism and all the virtues related thereto. I am left to ponder just what this classification means and how it compares with "liberal" and how Reagan measure up in both categories...

ORAN, Mo. -- Kristin Nicole Hobbs and Aaron Paul Kinder were married Oct. 20, 2007, at Guardian Angel Catholic Church. The Rev. John Harth performed the ceremony. Organist was Dana Lynch of Oran, and soloist was Jessica Dock of Benton, Mo. Readers were Mark and Janet Kluesner of Oran...

The Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning Commission, a body which for years has held closed-door votes, may be forced to move its decision-making process into the open as the result of a citizen's complaint; Mayor Howard C. Tooke says he will seek an opinion from City Attorney Fred Boeckmann on whether the zoning commission must abide by Missouri's open meetings law...

THE PROPOSAL Trae proposed to me Dec. 21, 2006, at my house. We were getting ready to go to Outback Steakhouse for dinner for my birthday, which wasn't until the next day, when he pulled a little box out of his coat pocket and got down on one knee. I had the suspicion he might be proposing to me some time around the holidays, but I didn't know when and I definitely wasn't expecting it before my birthday or Christmas...

CAMERON, Mo. -- A lifetime of pent-up pain, fear and anger surged through the young man. In that instant of irrationality, he pulled the trigger. Thirteen years later, the gunfire Christopher Bowers unleashed still haunts him -- as do the words a detective spoke after his arrest:...

NEW ORLEANS -- While the Federal Emergency Management Agency rushes to move thousands of Gulf Coast storm victims out of government-issued trailers, scientists are tearing the units apart to learn why many have exposed occupants to dangerous levels of formaldehyde fumes...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A state lawmaker wants voters in November to consider a 300-word change to the Missouri constitution that he says will emphasize their right to pray in public. Critics of the bill being sponsored by Rep. Mike McGhee, R-Odessa, said the extra wording is unnecessary and likely is being offered to drive more conservative voters to the polls for the presidential election...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A Jackson County grand jury has declined to file charges in a shooting at a store parking lot that injured two people, prosecutors announced Saturday. The shooting happened Jan. 26 outside a Target in Independence, Mo. According to police, the gunman fired several shots at two other men as they got into their sport utility vehicle...

WASHINGTON -- While arguing in court that states are free to enact tougher mercury controls from power plants, the Bush administration pressured dozens of states to accept a scheme that would let some plants evade cleaning up their pollution, government documents show...

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania -- President Bush is betting Congress will hear him better from the heart of Africa than it does from down the street in Washington. Foreign aid programs that Bush sees as crowning achievements -- and which he holds dear -- are having their spending levels questioned on Capitol Hill. By visiting Africa for six days to showcase their results, Bush aims to change that in the short term and secure the programs' future beyond his presidency...

CORSICANA, Texas -- A driver who apparently took her work rules seriously abandoned a bus full of former prisoners along a highway because her hours for the day were over, police said. The 40 passengers had been paroled or released from the state prison in Huntsville, Texas. Some wore ankle bracelet monitors...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- A suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into a crowd following a rally for a candidate allied with the opposition, killing 37 people and heightening fears of Islamic militant violence during Monday's crucial parliamentary elections...

America's top minivan just got better. The 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan is a restyled, fifth-generation model with the most amenities ever in a minivan, including seats that swivel, an onboard table, stain- and odor-resistant seat fabric and a 20-gigabyte computer hard drive...

ACCOKEEK, Md. -- A car plowed into a group of street-racing fans obscured by a cloud of tire smoke on a highway Saturday, killing eight people and scattering bodies in the early morning darkness. At least five others were injured in the wreck along a flat, isolated stretch of highway about 20 miles south of Washington known for illegal races...

VENTURA, Calif. -- A 15-year-old boy who was shot at his junior high school died of head wounds, an autopsy showed Friday. Lawrence King was taken off life support and had some of his organs harvested, said Armando Chavez, a senior deputy medical examiner with Ventura County...

DEKALB, Ill. -- Steven Kazmierczak had the look of a boyish graduate student -- except for the disturbing tattoos that covered his arms. Professors and students knew him as a bright, helpful scholar, but his past included a stint in a mental health center...

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- A vase of red roses sat in front of the church altar Saturday, flanked by portraits of Truitt Byers and a blue baseball cap with the logo for Dixie Crystals -- the brand of sugar produced by a refinery where the 54-year-old was killed in an explosion...

The Jerry Ford Orchestra will perform a benefit concert March 16 to fund improvements to the Central Junior High auditorium. The auditorium needs new drapes and sound equipment, according to Tammy Samuel, executive director of the Cape Girardeau Public School Foundation...

One of the biggest construction projects in the history of Cape Girardeau will commence this spring when Saint Francis Medical Center begins work on an $84 million center for cancer and heart disease. The 180,000-square-foot facility will provide focused care for the two biggest killers of Missourians, hospital officials said. ...

BAGHDAD -- The United Nations refugee chief said Saturday he is sending a representative to Baghdad to help millions of displaced Iraqis return home, showing a strengthened U.N. commitment to deal with the crisis and confidence in recent security gains...

PRISTINA, Serbia -- Tiny Kosovo -- poor, mostly Muslim but feverishly pro-Western -- braced itself Saturday for a historic declaration of independence from Serbia, a decade after a war that killed 10,000 people and years of limbo under U.N. rule. The province's bold bid for statehood, expected today, and its quest for international recognition set up an ominous showdown with Serbia and Russia. Moscow contends the move will set a dangerous precedent for secessionist groups worldwide...

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Three couples got the Valentine's Day wedding they craved on Thursday, marrying at a White Castle in the restaurant chain's home city. The morning ceremony at the burger joint, which features the slogan "What You Crave," involved a flower girl who threw salt and pepper packets instead of rice, and employee name tags on the grooms' lapels...

Capaha Car Club swap meet to be held today The Capaha Car Club will hold a swap meet from 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. today in the Arena Building in Cape Girardeau. There will also be a handful of antique cars in different stages of restoration for sale...

The season started with a thump for the Southeast Missouri State tennis team. The Redhawks got swept by the host University of Missouri on Saturday in Southeast's season opener. The Tigers improved to 6-1. Southeast's Bryce Kristal put the biggest fight at No. 1 singles, falling 6-3, 6-3 to Jessica Giuggioli...

COLUMBIA -- Jackson junior wrestler Blake Peiffer could afford to think a little about next year after capturing the fifth-place match at the MSHSAA wrestling championships. Justin Miller had to be consoled with thinking about how far he had come since last year...

Matt Lang scored 17 points, while Marcus Harris, Jake Leet and Hunter Grantham added 15 apiece as the Jackson boys basketball team won its tuneup for district play Saturday. Jackson earned the 80-57 victory over Kelly. The Hawks stuck with Jackson through the first quarter, but the Indians (18-7) managed to shake Kelly in the second quarter, opening a 10-point lead at halftime...

MARTIN, Tenn. -- It has long been a given that winning on the road in college basketball is difficult. The Southeast Missouri State women don't subscribe to that theory. Southeast completed the first perfect Ohio Valley Conference road record in program history with Saturday's 53-43 victory at Tennessee-Martin...

Cathy Willen found a checklist last summer that her son, Notre Dame 6-foot-8 senior Ryan Willen, made before his sophomore year of high school. The list, which she found inside his closet and has since placed in a scrapbook for him, included four goals that he wanted to prove to his family that he could accomplish. ...

MARTIN, Tenn. -- The Tennessee-Martin men's basketball team continued its dreamlike season. At the same time, Southeast Missouri State's nightmare of a finish just kept getting worse. UT-Martin, picked to repeat its last-place Ohio Valley Conference showing from a year ago, notched its fifth straight win Saturday night, 98-85 over visiting Southeast...

Scott City High School student-athletes caught possessing or consuming alcohol for the first time are punished with a two-week suspension, preventing them from participating in games. Still, two Rams athletes, who play both football and basketball and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor alcohol charges in between the fall and winter sports seasons, were able to continue participating without having to miss a single contest...