Stories from Sunday, July 6, 2008

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Erin Therese Cook and Matthew John Carlton were married Nov. 3, 2007, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Imperial, Mo. The Rev. Edward Goldian performed the ceremony. Vocalists were Richard Carlton of St. Louis, father of the groom, and Cheryl Tilley of Hillsboro, Mo...

Veronica A. Benoit and H. Matthew Dodds were married Feb. 29, 2008, at Minor's Harley-Davidson in Scott City. Eric Hodge performed the ceremony. Vocalist was Amy Hodges of Cape Girardeau, cousin of the groom. Darrell and Ruth Anne Morrison of Whitewater are parents of the bride. The groom is the son of Herald and Karen Dodds of Cape Girardeau...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Megan Elizabeth Halstead and Aaron Lee Purcell were united in marriage March 29, 2008, at the Beloved Wedding Chapel in Old Hickory, Tenn. The bride is the daughter of H.E. "Pete" and Charlene Halstead of Linton, Ind., and formerly of Southern Illinois. The groom is the son of Randy and Susan Purcell of Carlisle, Ind...

Delwin and Theresa Elfrink of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Stacey Ann Elfrink of St. Louis, to Jay Edward Kamps of Denver, Colo. He is the son of Gerald and Rosemary Kamps of Combined Locks, Wis. Elfrink is a senior director of finance and acquisitions at Charter Communications in St. Louis...

Fred and Bonita VanGennip of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Jennifer Lynn VanGennip, to Matthew Thomas Pobst. He is the son of Mark and Becky Pobst of Cape Girardeau. VanGennip is a 2002 graduate of Notre Dame Regional High School. She received a bachelor of science degree in mass communication from Southeast Missouri State University in 2006. She is marketing coordinator with Big River Telephone Co...

Erika Jo Kamp and Eric Matthew Simmons exchanged vows Feb. 9, 2008, at Sedgewickville United Methodist Church. The Rev. Anthony Stewart performed the ceremony. Pianist was Patsy Johnson of Advance, Mo. The bride is the daughter of Kurt and Patti Kamp of Patton, Mo. The groom is the son of Ruth Simmons of Oak Ridge and David and Beverly Simmons of Cape Girardeau...

Dan and Joyce Emmendorfer of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Angie Nicole Emmendorfer, to Benjamin Ryan McKuin. He is the son of Gary and Leveda Scates and the late Richard McKuin of Dexter, Mo. Emmendorfer is a graduate of Missouri State University. She is manager of The Buckle in Carbondale, Ill...

Sidney and Helen Colwell of Fort Scott, Kan., announce the engagement of their daughter, Alissa Anne Colwell of Jackson, to James Bradley Thompson. He is the son of Brad and Paula Thompson of Jackson. Colwell is a 2004 graduate of Fort Scott High School, and attended Fort Scott Community College. She is employed by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Missouri...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Valerie Lynn Duvall and Brandon Kyle Petzoldt exchanged vows Oct. 20, 2007, at Christ the Savior Church in Brewer, Mo. The Rev. Bill Rhinehart performed the ceremony. Reader was Gail Duvall of Perryville, aunt of the bride. Musicians were the Kinnison family of Perryville...

Larry and Barbara Spiers of St. Clair, Mo., announce the engagement of their daughter, Rebekah Spiers, to Michael Friesen of Lake St. Louis, Mo. He is the son of Rick and Madelyn Friesen of Wichita, Kan. Spiers is a 2000 graduate of St. Clair High School. ...

Wayne and Marilyn Fronabarger of Oak Ridge announce the engagement of their daughter, Kelly Nicole Fronabarger, to Jonathan James Tucker, both of Jackson. He is the son of Roger and Mira Tucker of Perryville, Mo. Fronabarger is a 1995 graduate of Jackson High School. ...

Pauline Chance GLENALLEN, Mo. -- Pauline Chance, 84, of Glenallen died Friday, July 4, 2008, at Chateau Girardeau in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 8, 1923, in Brownwood, Mo., daughter of Roy Franklin and Emma Rosetta Long Harris. She and Edward Reginald "Bill" Chance Sr. were married Jan. 25, 1985...

Theresa Ponder PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Theresa E. Ponder, 77, of Perryville died Friday, July 4, 2008. She was born March 4, 1931, in Biehle, Mo., daughter of August and Caroline Bohnert Renner. She and Anton "Tony" Ponder were married May 4, 1947, in Biehle...

James Moore MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- James R. Moore, 92, of Marble Hill died Friday, July 4, 2008, at Saint Francis Medical Center. He was born Nov. 23, 1915, in Glenallen, Mo., son of Clellie and Eulalie Robertson Moore. He and Hazel L. Sitze were married July 29, 1935, in St. Louis...

The Rev. Paul Wood The Rev. Paul E. Wood, 92, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, July 5, 2008, at Eldercare in Marble Hill, Mo. He was born Sept. 4, 1915, in Cape Girardeau, son of Edwin Thomas and Dona Evans Wood. He and Pauline Virginia Counts were married June 12, 1938...

Jessie Fulbright MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Jessie Lee Fulbright, 87, of Marble Hill died Saturday, July 5, 2008, in his home. He was born March 17, 1921, in Hurricane, Mo., son of William Amos and Mary E. Causey Fulbright. He and Opal A. Long were married March 29, 1952, in Piggott, Ark...

A brown 1982 pickup has sat abandoned for three years at Justin Eddleman's family farm. After the 18-year-old's father died, the Chevrolet truck was passed on to him. Eddleman occasionally would use the truck on the farm but could never take it out on the roads. After six attempts, he had not passed the written test required to get his driver's permit...

Patti Wibbenmeyer said the Common Pleas Courthouse needs more of three things: accessibility for the disabled, visitor space and storage space. Wibbenmeyer, who has worked in the circuit clerk's office in the Common Pleas Courthouse since 1991, was startled after reading in a June 20 Southeast Missourian article that Cape Girardeau County Commission candidates were against the idea of the courthouse moving into the 41-year-old federal building on Broadway...

The Plaza Tire Capahas routinely have beat up on the Pine Bluff (Ark.) Braves during the National Baseball Congress Mid-South Regional. That mattered little to Plaza Tire manager Jess Bolen, who anticipated a tough game in Saturday's winners bracket final...

Ryan Modglin said the Scott City baseball team realized about halfway through the regular season that it had a legitimate chance of winning the Class 2 state title "We all kind of talked about it and joked about it," he said. "But once we saw we were beating 3A schools 8-0, 9-0 and we beat a couple 4A schools and held them to no runs, we thought we could do it."...

Wonderworkers FCE Club The Wonderworkers FCE Club met June 12 at the home of Margie E. Reisenbichler. Thank-you notes were read from several individuals for money that the club donated to them. Dorothy Lichtenegger, president, reported on the council meeting...

Gary Geiser Gary Lynn Geiser, 70, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, July 4, 2008, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Aug. 23, 1937, in Cape Girardeau, son of Emanuel and Anita Freeman Geiser. He worked for Kelley Construction as a diesel mechanic and later worked at Procter & Gamble as a janitor...

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran indicated Saturday that it has no plans to meet a key Western demand that it stop enriching uranium, a day after Tehran sent the European Union a response to an international offer of incentives for halting enrichment. The content of that response has not been made public and European officials declined to comment on it Saturday, but there was caution about the prospects of progress...

Donald McGill Donald McGill, 70, of Jackson died Saturday, July 5, 2008, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. Monday at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home. The funeral will be at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home...

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Military intelligence agents posing as aid workers and a film crew flew to the jungle aboard a white helicopter, staging a mock humanitarian mission that rebels were told would ferry their hostages to another camp for talks on a prisoner swap...

The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program -- a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium -- reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation that included a two-week airlift from Baghdad and a ship voyage crossing two oceans...

Troxel 46th at Olympic Trials Jackson High School graduate Steffan Troxel finished 46th among 74 competitors Saturday in the preliminaries of the men's 1,500-meter freestyle at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials in Omaha, Neb. Troxel, who swims collegiately at the University of Indiana, had a time of 15 minutes, 51.15 seconds...

Cape Girardeau officials have announced that the project to widen Independence Street will begin Monday. Work on side streets will start first to ensure access to affected properties on the south side of Independence Street. Work will begin at Pacific Street and proceed west to Minnesota Avenue, at which point the contractor, Fronabarger Concreters, will begin at Kingshighway and proceed east toward Minnesota Avenue. ...

BIG SUR, Calif. -- Cool, damp weather early Saturday helped crews gain ground on the huge wildfire that wiped out this coastal retreat's holiday tourist trade, allowing some personnel and gear to be shifted to a growing blaze farther south Nearly 2,000 firefighters were trying to stem the advance of the two-week-old blaze in Big Sur that has blackened more than 107 square miles in the northern end of the Los Padres National Forest and destroyed 20 homes...

Sport: Bowling Age: 12 School: Jackson Middle School Nickname: B.J. Most fun part about bowling: Hanging out with friend and having fun bowling Most frustrating part of bowling: When you're not bowling good If you could trade places with any athlete, who would it be: Walter Ray Williams Jr. because I think he's the best bowler in the PBA and he's won a lot of awards...

Jackson Son to Nicole Shante Jackson and Zachary Ricks of Cape Girardeau, Saint Francis Medical Center, 7:54 a.m. Saturday, June 28, 2008. Name, Zachary. Weight, 7 pounds, 2 ounces. Second child, first son. Ms. Jackson is the daughter of Joey William of Cape Girardeau, and the late Cheryl Jackson. She is employed at Pear Tree Inn. Ricks is the son of Linda Spain of Caruthersville, Mo., and Drake Love of Chicago. He is employed at Hardee's...

ST. LOUIS -- Barack Obama found a receptive audience Saturday at the African Methodist Episcopal Church convention, where he reinforced his message of service, sacrifice and active faith. The crowd of thousands of delegates and leaders of the oldest predominantly black denomination in North America welcomed Obama as their own political son, who understands their language of God and church...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- The Bollinger County veterans memorial, planned by Sonny Freeman of Marble Hill, will be built on a lot in Marble Hill in front of the Presbyterian Church, according to Freeman. Freeman said Lloyd and Debi Ivey of Marble Hill donated the land, which he said will be a perfect spot to create a parklike atmosphere for the memorial with picnic tables and trees for the community to enjoy as they remember friends and family members who served in the armed forces...

WASHINGTON -- The problems do not get any easier as President Bush attends his final summit with leaders of industrialized democracies. Disputes over global warming, worries about soaring oil prices and uncertainty about Iran and North Korea's nuclear ambitions pose daunting challenges for Bush when he sits down with presidents and prime min- isters Monday...

Longer days JACKSON SCHOOLS are adding 20 to 30 minutes to each school day for grad prep and character training. When I was in school, it was the counselor's place to prepare each student for graduation. As far as character training, the school district needs to leave that to the parents of the students. ...

It's not easy raising money these days. And it's hard to find fun things for families to do together. But a group of Marble Hill people were able to, for one day anyway, defeat the economy, the heat and the video-game culture by hosting ice races at Pellegrino Park...

The value-priced, practical Hyundai Santa Fe doesn't get a lot of headlines. But it made news this year when it beat out the Honda Pilot as the top midsize sport utility vehicle chosen by Consumer Reports magazine for 2008. What put the Santa Fe amid the magazine's overall Top 10 Picks? A long list of standard safety equipment, roomy interior, decent ride, good reliability record, exemplary crash-test results and the fact buyers get a lot for the money...

Baseball n Southeast Missouri State camps: The Southeast Missouri State baseball program will host two-day camps under the direction of assistant coach Chris Cafalone. A hitting camp for boys and girls ages 8 to 12 will be conducted Wednesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. ...

Dear Dr. Dobson: Everyone talks about how rebellious teens are today. I don't believe my parents went through this kind of anxiety when my sisters and I were young. We were all relatively happy and none of us rebelled. Am I right in assuming that good family life was easier to achieve in those days?...

DES MOINES, Iowa -- A Fourth of July fireworks shell misfired in a northern Iowa town, sending a fireball skidding down a street into a crowd of spectators and injuring 37 people, officials said Saturday. Most of the people treated after the Friday night accident in Charles City suffered minor injuries, city fire department spokesman Eric Whipple said...

The co-owner of JCS Tel-Link has formally objected to Cape Girardeau County Commission's decision to pursue a 911 upgrade with St. Louis-based Warner Communication. No contract has been signed, but the county's 911 Advisory Board is due to begin negotiating details of Warner's proposal...

BEND, Ore. -- A 48-year-old gas station owner flew a lawn chair rigged with helium-filled balloons more than 200 miles across the Oregon desert Saturday, landing in a field in Idaho. Kent Couch created a sensation in the tiny farming community of Cambridge, Idaho, where he touched down safely in a pasture and was soon greeted by dozens of people who gave him drinks of water, local plumber Mark Hetz said...

For much of the past two years, the Cape Girardeau County Commission has tossed around the idea of taking over the 41-year-old federal courthouse on Broadway in Cape Girardeau as a replacement for the Common Pleas Courthouse. The building was attractive because it's newer, with potentially lower maintenance costs and is already set up to comply with disability access standards and better security were the attractions. ...

CLEVELAND -- The Emmy-winning daughter of the late "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin is getting her own doll. The 10-inch Bindi Irwin doll sports khakis, puffy pigtails and hiking boots. It comes with binoculars, a camera and other outback gear, as well as a cockatoo, wombat and python...

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests n A 14-year-old was taken into custody for a fireworks violation in the 1100 block of Ranney Avenue. n A 16-year-old boy was taken into custody for a fireworks violation in the 1100 block of Ranney Avenue...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Thursday: n At 5:36 p.m., an illegal burn at 2323 Perryville Road. n At 6:44 p.m., a gas leak at 2106 Bloomfield St. n At 8:11 p.m., a motor vehicle accident in 2100 block of William Street...

A circular blacktop drive leads to the four-columned front entrance of this stately four-bedroom, three-bathroom home. The driveway extends to the rear of the home, where there is a two-car detached garage and heated kennel for five dogs. A bathing area with its own hot-water heater and closets is inside the kennel. Five gated kennel runs are attached at the outside...

Despite being the Mid-South Regional runner-up the past two years, the Pine Bluff (Ark.) Braves really haven't been close to beating the Plaza Tire Capahas. But after a 5-1 decision Saturday in which the Braves made the Capahas sweat a little, the Braves were drawing comparisons to another previously one-sided rivalry...

WASHINGTON -- The government on Saturday increased the number of people reported being sickened in a record salmonella outbreak in which tomatoes are the leading suspect, although investigators are testing other types of fresh produce. There have been 943 reported cases nationwide, with at least 130 hospitalizations since mid-April after the first salmonella illnesses appeared, the Food and Drug Administration said Saturday. ...

Rosa Carter LICK CREEK, Ill. -- Rosa H. Carter, 96, of Lick Creek died Saturday, July 5, 2008, at her daughter's home in Lick Creek. She was born June 6, 1912, in Saratoga, Ill., daughter of Charles and Mary Hartley Brasel. She and Vern Carter were married Dec. 29, 1934, in Golconda, Ill. He died Oct. 31, 1995...

WINFIELD, Mo. -- A week after the Mississippi River broke through the Pin Oak levee and began inundating this northeast Missouri town, signs that worst is over were everywhere. Except in a few spots, the Mississippi is no longer overtopping the remnants of the levee as the water flows slowly back to its original river bed, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Saturday based on a tour of the town...

Last week in Jefferson City a most remarkable nonpartisan event was attended by 600 people. Over $500,000 was raised and was (to my knowledge) only reported in the Jefferson City daily newspaper in any significant manner (though it was also press released)...

Callie and I like to think of ourselves as Word People. We ponder, we type, we edit. We craft, we polish, we publish. We like our kind of work, that which is spent in mostly air-conditioned spaces. This Knee Deep series was Callie's idea, an opportunity to get out, use our muscles and our hands, and then bring our experiences to the public as an expression of our appreciation for the good people who make our world work...

Smashing someone else's lunch in the refrigerator to make way for your own. Leaving your dishes in the sink. Letting your lunch bubble over in the microwave. While it may be OK to do these things in your house, it's bad form in the workplace, etiquette experts say. After all, the office kitchen is a communal space...

JEFFERSON CITY -- Missouri farmers have a new tool available to help monitor and manage disease in their soybean fields this growing season. The Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council (MSMC) and the soybean checkoff have set up a toll-free hotline for the state's soybean growers to call for the latest information on soybean rust. The hotline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-866-587-1206...