Stories from Wednesday, July 9, 2008

ST. LOUIS -- Anheuser-Busch claims Belgian brewer InBev's unsolicited takeover bid isn't just bad for the bottom line, but is an "illegal scheme" that threatens to defraud Anheuser-Busch shareholders if a federal judge doesn't step in. Anheuser-Busch Cos. ...

I have been a little short on reader mail lately, but this week makes up for the slow weeks. I say "good job" to those that sent in recipes to pass along. Keep the mail coming. Rita Burk of Cape Girardeau sent me several recipes she wanted to pass along to readers of this column. She added her comments on each recipe, and they are helpful...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- With a decision on Bombardier Aerospace's new aircraft assembly plant possibly days away, Canadian machinists are trying to counter Missouri's offer of tax incentives with labor concessions. Over the weekend union members approved a tentative contract that would offer Bombardier significant cost savings and increased flexibility if the company agrees to build its proposed C series jetliners in Montreal, The Kansas City Star reported on its Web site Tuesday...

If Southeast Missouri State's high-profile athletic teams are able to turn the corner soon, they will owe a debt of gratitude to the students. The athletic department's spending increases are being helped along by a five-year escalation in student fees endorsed by the student government in 2005. The fee increases included funds for the aquatics center and other areas as well athletics...

"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things." St. Paul doesn't mention in his famous letter to the Corinthians whether he quit eating like a child when he entered manhood, but these days when it comes to chocolate, that's what lots of people are aiming to do. Thus, dark chocolate seems to be all the rage, even among those, which includes most of us, who grew up on milk chocolate...

Road crews from the Missouri Department of Transportation will reduce Route P in Bollinger and Wayne counties to one lane Wednesday and Thursday as they seal pavement. The road will be reduced from one lane between Highway 51 in Bollinger County and Route E in Wayne County. Road work will take place on the 16-mile stretch of Route P Wednesday and Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Signs will mark the work zone for motorists...

CARDWELL, Mo. — An accident on Highway 412 between Senath and Cardwell proved fatal for one driver. At about 2:35 p.m. Thursday, authorities responded to a head-on collision on Highway 412 two miles north of Cardwell. According to the report filed by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Elizabeth Lawrence, 62, of Paragould, Ark., was traveling westbound in her 2004 Chrysler minivan when she crossed the center line and collided with an eastbound 1996 Ford Explorer driven by Patsy Dowdy, 73, also of Paragould.. ...

A Jackson teenager made a poor choice June 17 when he backed into the concrete wall of Wib's Drive-in and didn't report the accident. He said he didn't think he had caused any damage. The restaurant's owners were left with what they said was roughly $25,000 worth of repairs...

BAGHDAD -- Iraqi officials stepped up pressure on the United States on Tuesday to agree to a specific timeline to withdraw American forces, a sign of the government's growing confidence as violence falls. The tough words come as the Bush administration is running out of time to reach a needed troop deal before the U.S. election in November and the president's last months in office. Some type of agreement is required to keep American troops in Iraq after a U.N. mandate expires Dec. 31...

CHOLET, France -- Stefan Schumacher of Germany took the yellow jersey at the Tour de France, and now says everything else is a bonus. He knows his early lead won't last. "Everybody dreams of this jersey," Schumacher said Tuesday. "It's incredible. The moment on the podium, you see it a thousand times on television, and to be there for yourself -- you can't imagine."...

To the editor: You ought to be happy if you have clean water to drink, food to eat, clothes to wear and a house to live in. There are thousands of people who live on the streets. It is a sad fate. A lot of these people are on the streets because if they do get Social Security benefits, it does not cover all their needs. A lot of these people were thrown out of their homes because they were condemned...

Work to replace a damaged bridge on Route W is expected to get underway July 9. Spring floods damaged a section of Route W between Oran and Perkins, forcing the closing of the bridge since March. Missouri Department of Transporation officials said the bridge replacement is expected to be finished by the end of August. The section of the road will remain closed until the project is complete...

William "Don" Crader, 74, of Delta died Monday, July 7, 2008, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Aug. 26,1933, at Allenville, son of William L. and Lenora Drennan Crader. Crader was a retired heavy equipment operator with Local 513 in Cape Girardeau...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Monday: n At 8:52 p.m., power line down at 334 S. Kingshighway. n At 8:56 p.m., emergency medical service in the 300 block of North Sprigg Street. n At 10:49 p.m., emergency medical service in the 1700 block of Greenbrier Drive...

To the editor: We would like to thank Bruce Watkins at the Jackson Parks Department for making an Eagle Scout project possible for our son, Andrew. Without the parks department's aid and help from local nurseries, this would not have been possible...

Keys earns third trip to nationals Jackson's Tyler Keys earned his third consecutive trip to the 2008 Teen Masters high school national bowling tournament by winning the qualifying tournament. Keys is one of 10 from Missouri to qualify, and he earned his trip at the qualifying tournament in Fort Smith, Ark...

CHICAGO -- Pressured by desperate parents, government researchers are pushing to test an unproven treatment on autistic children, a move some scientists see as an unethical experiment in voodoo medicine. The treatment removes heavy metals from the body and is based on the fringe theory that mercury in vaccines triggers autism -- a theory never proved and rejected by mainstream science. Mercury hasn't been in childhood vaccines since 2001, except for certain flue shots...

Two weeks ago, Chaffee, Mo., farmer Charles Hinkebein noticed unwelcome guests in his 800-acre cornfield. A pesky group of armyworms had helped themselves to foliage of the corn. So Hinkebein and his employees sprayed Warrior insecticide to rid his field of the pests...

WUFU, China -- Angry parents whose children were crushed to death in schools that collapsed in China's mighty earthquake are no longer being allowed to march, wave banners and vent their rage in public. Officials are now using a variety of tactics -- threats, money, promises of justice, police muscle -- to intimidate, appease or hush up the grieving mothers and fathers who believe that nearly 7,000 classrooms crumbled so easily because corrupt and incompetent officials didn't build them properly.. ...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Missouri State Highway Patrol's Troop E attributed no deaths to motor vehicle accidents between 6 p.m. Thursday and midnight Sunday. That, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol's safety officer, Sgt. Dale Moreland, is a record to be proud of...

Residents of Annwood Estates in Jackson are being ordered to boil their water following a water main break Monday night. The precautionary order is in effect until 10 a.m. Thursday. According to a city of Jackson news release, a water main near the intersection of East Jackson Boulevard and Brittany Drive broke about 11 p.m. Repairs were completed Tuesday morning...

Road crews from the Missouri Department of Transportation will reduce Route P in Bollinger and Wayne counties to one lane today and Thursday as they seal pavement. The road will be reduced from one lane between Highway 51 in Bollinger County and Route E in Wayne County. Road work will take place on the 16-mile stretch of Route P from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday. Signs will mark the work zone for motorists...

Positive assets ACCORDING TO the 40 Developmental Assets framework, character education should take place at home, at school, in the religious communities, in the neighborhoods and in youth and sports programs. The more developmental assets that are being built for youths, the more likely that the youths will become healthy, caring and responsible adults. How can more of a positive thing be bad for our children? Our community needs to get on the same page when it comes to caring about children...

ST. LOUIS -- Duffels of police riot gear. Thousands of pens. Toys, water heaters and even doghouses. As floodwaters retreat across the Midwest, remnants of washed-out households are turning up in the muddy ooze miles from the families who lost them...

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Mourners who gathered to remember former North Carolina senator Jesse Helms on Tuesday celebrated both sides of his conflicting persona: the cantankerous conservative who reveled in political confrontation and the Southern gentleman who would do anything to lend a hand...

Whitaker Daughter to James A. and Sarah A. Whitaker of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 9:48 a.m. Sunday, June 29, 2008. Name, Sarah Mackenzie. Weight, 7 pounds, 1 ounce. Second child, first daughter. Mrs. Whitaker is the former Sarah Young, daughter of Jay and Sandy Young of Nampa, Idaho. Mr. and Mrs. Whitaker are students at Southeast Missouri State University. He is the son of Mary Lou Whitaker of Nampa and Donald Whitaker of Idaho Falls, Idaho...

The Jackson School Board meeting lasted less than 20 minutes Tuesday as members breezed through an agenda that included only one action item. Members approved the acceptance of Amandine Toffaloni, a 17-year-old foreign exchange student from Villerupt, France. She is participating in Rotary Youth Exchange and will study at Jackson High School during the 2008-2009 school year...

CHICAGO -- One day after the Milwaukee Brewers landed an ace, the Chicago Cubs answered. Intent on ending their 100-year drought without a World Series title, the NL Central leaders acquired talented right-hander Rich Harden in a six-player deal with the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Almost half the coral reef ecosystems in United States territory are in poor or fair condition, mostly because of rising ocean temperatures, according to a government report released Monday. The reefs discussed in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report serve as breeding grounds for many of the world's seafood species and act as indicators of overall ocean health...

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve will issue new rules next week aimed at protecting future homebuyers from dubious lending practices, its most sweeping response to a housing crisis that has propelled foreclosures to record highs. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke spoke of the much-awaited rules in a broader speech Tuesday about the challenges confronting policymakers in trying to stabilize a shaky U.S. ...

BIG SUR, Calif. -- Firefighters pushed back a blaze threatening this small coastal community just enough to allow hundreds of people to check on their homes Tuesday as a separate fire 300 miles north forced residents of another town to evacuate. Fire crews have been straining to cover 330 active California wildfires, many of which were ignited by a lightning storm more than two weeks ago. ...

A section of Highway 72 in Cape Girardeau County has been reduced to one lane until 5 p.m. today, weather permitting. The closed roadway is located between County Road 469 and County Road 346. Missouri Department of Transportation officials reported that a crew from their office began trimming trees at 8 a.m. today next to the roadway in the eastbound and westbound lanes of the closed section. MoDOT officials urged motorists to use extreme caution while traveling in the area...

NEW YORK -- The daughter of a woman who died unnoticed on the floor of a hospital psychiatric unit called Tuesday for criminal prosecution of the workers who did nothing to help her. "What I want is justice," Tecia Harrison said, hours after her family notified the hospital, the city and the city's Health and Hospitals Corporation that they intend to file a $25 million lawsuit. "Whoever committed a criminal act should be held responsible."...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Sikeston Department of Public Safety has established a litter hot line. "It is up and operational as we speak," department director Drew Juden said during the regular city council meeting Monday. The number, 573-475-3737, rings into the department's 24-hour communication center, according to Juden. In the event dispatchers are busy, the call is routed to voice mail...

RICHMOND, Va. -- Imprisoned quarterback Michael Vick filed for bankruptcy protection while serving time for federal dogfighting charges, saying he owes between $10 million and $50 million to creditors. Vick filed Chapter 11 papers in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newport News on Monday. The seven largest creditors listed in the court papers are owed a total of about $12.8 million...

25 years ago: July 9, 1983 A change in personal plans means James V. Parker will return Aug. 1 to Southeast Missouri State University as director of the University Museum, a post he held from 1976 until May of this year; Parker had planned to move back to Arizona...

TOYAKO, Japan -- World leaders embraced for the first time on Tuesday an ambitious but nonbinding goal of slashing greenhouse-gas emissions in half by midcentury to stave off global warming. Unimpressed environmentalists called the effort too slow and too uncertain...

PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- The United States and leaders of the Czech Republic agreed Tuesday to place a radar system in this former Soviet satellite that would warn of long-range missiles coming to Europe from the Middle East. But Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice turned old Cold War rhetoric away from Moscow and toward Tehran as she signed the first solid treaty in what have been difficult negotiations...

ST. LOUIS -- Missouri faces stiff competition for jobs and needs to commit to training the work force and creating a climate attractive to business, Republican gubernatorial candidate Kenny Hulshof said Tuesday. Hulshof was in St. Louis to outline his economic and jobs plans. ...

For the past year, most of the minutes of the East County Fire Protection District Board meetings were marked by the words "no resolution," particularly the issue of filling a vacancy on the board open since April 2007. Tuesday night was different...

Anna Nees, 84, of Scott City died Monday, July 7, 2008, at her home. She was born Feb. 12, 1924, in Judsonia, Ark., daughter of James A. and Pauline Hudson Rackley. She and Welton C. Nees were married Oct. 9, 1944, at Bonne Terre, Mo. He died March 23, 1993...

William "Bill" McKinnis, 82, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, July 7, 2008, at his home. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Friday at the funeral home.

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Dennis Warren, 49, of Houston, Texas, died Wednesday, July 2, 2008, in Houston. He was born Aug. 28, 1959, in Advance, son of Harold and Tressa Mae Wells Warren. Survivors include his father of New Madrid, Mo.; three brothers, Elvis Warren of Houston, Rodney Warren of Morley, Mo., Donnie Warren of Sikeston, Mo.; two sisters, Charlotte Mooneyhan of Sikeston and Karen Odle of Jackson...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Martha Louise Allstun, 78, of Dexter died Monday, July 7, 2008, at Missouri Southern Healthcare Center. She was born Sept. 12, 1929, in Parma, Mo., daughter of Clarence Wilson and Velossie Dale Lawson. She and Walter Ray Allstun were married Sept. 13, 1947, in Piggott, Ark...

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio -- Demonstrations on the town square show how divided people are over the school board's decision to fire a science teacher accused of preaching his Christian beliefs in the classroom and burning crosses on students' arms. John Freshwater, 52, was fired last month after an outside consulting firm released a report concluding that he taught creationism and was insubordinate in failing to remove a Bible and other religious materials from his classroom at Mount Vernon Middle School.. ...

MOUNT SHASTA, Calif. -- Global warming is shrinking glaciers all over the world, but the seven tongues of ice creeping down Mount Shasta's flanks are a rare exception: They are the only long-established glaciers in the lower 48 states that are growing...

QUACK RESEARCH? The government wants to test chelation, a treatment for lead poisoning, on children with autism -- even though there's no evidence it leads to improvements. WHY? Proof that chelation doesn't work might dissuade many parents from trying it, the government theorizes. Other scientists decry it as quack medicine...

Responding to calls for better marketing and communication, officials at Southeast Missouri State University have increased budgets for both departments. The board of regents approved a $96.66 million budget Tuesday that funds new university advancement positions, additional advertising and more resources for admissions recruitment...

WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama says John McCain's plan to balance the budget doesn't add up. Easy for him to say: It's not a goal he's even trying to reach. Not only does Obama say he won't eliminate the deficit in his first term, as McCain aims to do, he frankly says he's not sure he'd bring it down at all in four years, considering his own spending plans...

FORT WORTH, Texas -- A teenager is suspected of delivering baskets of drug-laced treats to about a dozen police departments in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, according to police who charged him Tuesday with LSD possession. At least three officers have gotten sick...

LOS ANGELES -- Sobriety won't change some things about Steve-O -- the daredevil prankster says he could still perform many of the radical stunts that made him famous. "I can do what I've done in the past," the 34-year-old said after appearing in a Los Angeles criminal courtroom for a Tuesday hearing, where his attorney gave a progress report on Steve-O's recovery from drug and alcohol addiction...

PHILADELPHIA — Joel Pineiro snapped a long winless drought by making a key pitch every time he needed one. Pineiro and three relievers combined on a six-hitter, Rick Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick hit solo homers and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 2-0 on Tuesday night...

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests n Regina A. Davis, 35, of Hayti, Mo., was arrested on four Cape Girardeau warrants for failure to appear. n Anthony R. Brown, 20, 905 S. Sprigg St., was arrested on Cape Girardeau warrants for contempt of court, prohibited acts, suspended license and insurance...

LONDON -- The times they aren't a changing. Not at Buckingham Palace, at least. Tea with the queen Tuesday looked much the same as it would have 140 years ago when Queen Victoria started the tradition: men in tails and top hats, women in floral dresses and elaborate hats. It resembled a scene from a 19th-century painting...

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- John Y. Simon, one of the nation's foremost scholars on President Grant and the Civil War, died Tuesday, Southern Illinois University officials said. He was 75. Simon died at a Carbondale hospital, said a Huffman-Harker Funeral Home spokesman...

I've been thinking about the issue of diversity lately. Actually, there is a reason for this muddled thought process. Serving on yet another community committee, we have been told to stress the issue of diversity to better grasp our issues and to get a more well-rounded and wider scope of thoughts and solutions...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Sultan al-Mazeen recently stopped at a gas station to fill up his sport utility vehicle, paying 45 cents a gallon -- about one-tenth what Americans pay these days. But the Saudi technician says Americans shouldn't be jealous. Inflation that has hit 30-year highs on everything else in the kingdom is making Saudis feel poorer despite the flush of oil money...

BLODGETT, Mo. — Three trees were reported down on Route H near Blodgett  at 3:45 p.m Tuesday after severe weather passed through Southeast Missouri, according to the National Weather Service. Three trees were also reported uprooted at 3 p.m. Tuesday in Bloomfield, Mo...

Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder signed a bill into law Tuesday morning in Cape Girardeau that will benefit certain service-disabled veteran business owners. It was the second signing of the bill. The official signing occurred June 13, when Kinder signed the bill at the American Legion Kenady-Hanks Post in Dexter, Mo., as acting governor while Gov. Matt Blunt was out of the state. The ceremonial signing Tuesday was held because of Kinder's Cape Girardeau roots...

CHICAGO -- A prostate cancer study that could change how doctors treat some patients found that widely used hormone-blocking drugs did not improve survival chances for older men whose disease hadn't spread. In fact, men given the drugs alone were slightly more likely to die of prostate cancer during the next six years than men who'd gotten medical monitoring but no or delayed treatment, another common treatment approach...

The Whitewater Fire Protection District took delivery of a 2008 Crimson Fire International pumper from Towers Fire Apparatus on Monday. The truck was purchased using $199,500 from the 2007 FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program and a 5 percent match from Whitewater for the $218,000 total cost. ...

Patrolman Mike Kidd keeps pictures of his 6-year-old son, Cash, and himself making silly faces in his squad car to remind him of what he gets to go home to. The training sessions held Tuesday at Cape Girardeau Central High School prepared him for the danger that could keep him from coming home at all...

DEXTER, Mo. -- It's not just make believe: be the top bidder this weekend and you can hit the road in Conway Twitty's car. Or, if you prefer, put your foot on the accelerator pedal formerly pushed by Carl Perkins' blue suede shoes. Twitty's 1956 Ford Thunderbird and Perkins' 1986 Chevrolet El Camino are just two of a couple of hundred collector cars that will be shown and put up on the auction block for Smith's Classic Car Auction at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau...

A bullet hole was found Tuesday in the Division I courtroom through the southeast window on the upper floor of the Common Pleas Courthouse. Patrolman Brian Blanner of the Cape Girardeau Police Department responded to a call from the courthouse at 2:10 p.m. ...

The Cape Girardeau County Commission could decide Thursday whether to sell a strip of Cape County Park North to Mid-America Hotels. The issue, on the agenda for discussion and possible action at 9:30 a.m., is one of two major items before the commission. The other is a decision on whether to spend $250,000 for a 911 upgrade for the Cape Girardeau central dispatch system...

Mississippi River levels continues their rapid decline across the Midwest, and at Cape Girardeau, the National Weather Service predicts the river will drop under 37 feet by Monday morning.At 7 a.m. today, the river at Cape Girardeau stood at 39.7 feet, dropping one foot in 24 hours prior, according to National Weather Service forecast data. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Gov. Matt Blunt vetoed legislation Wednesday that could have given a student the right to vote on the University of Missouri Board of Curators. Blunt said the legislation was "riddled with problems" and would have given one segment of the university -- the students -- a stakeholder interest on a board whose non-student members currently are supposed to consider the best interests of the university as a whole...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Republican gubernatorial candidates Kenny Hulshof and Sarah Steelman sparred over the state ethanol mandate and their fiscally conservative attributes in a radio debate Wednesday. A state law that took effect in January requires gas stations to sell a 10 percent ethanol blend whenever it is not more expensive than traditional gasoline. Steelman, who is state treasurer, recently withdrew her support for the ethanol mandate...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- A 38-year-old Bloomfield man sits in the Stoddard County Jail under a $50,000 cash bond today on a charge of having made a terrorist threat. According to the Stoddard County Sheriff's Department, Andrew Forrister was arrested yesterday upon his release from a psychiatric facility, where he had undergone evaluation following the alleged threat that was made several weeks ago...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Gov. Matt Blunt is vetoing legislation that could have given a student the right to vote on the University of Missouri Board of Curators. Blunt confirmed his veto intentions in an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press...

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. is asking its shareholders to reject a proposal from Belgian brewer InBev to replace Anheuser-Busch’s board of directors. On Wednesday, Anheuser-Busch filed a consent solicitation with the Securities and Exchange Commission that outlines why shareholders should reject InBev’s proposal...

LOS ANGELES — Hollywood's modern man of a thousand faces, Ron Perlman, never minded hiding behind rubber masks and mounds of makeup early in his career. Perlman, who reprises his title role as a wisecracking demon turned superhero in "Hellboy II: The Golden Army," says he was able to put more into his acting when he was disguised as a caveman, a hunchbacked monk or the homely half of TV's "Beauty and the Beast."...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A St. Louis-area Roman Catholic priest pleads not guilty to a felony charge of second-degree assault while driving drunk in May. Prosecutors allege that John Brockland crashed his car into another vehicle, after running through a flashing red light, in suburban St. Louis...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Barack Obama's campaign plans to triple its paid workers in Missouri to 150, making it one of the largest Democratic campaign efforts in the state's history. The 150 workers will be placed in 30 field offices across the state, which has been a key swing state in presidential elections for years...

VAN BUREN, Mo. — Lance Shockley may have to wait a while longer to stand trial for the murder of a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper the state alleges he committed in 2005.On Wednesday, Judge David Evans granted a motion by Shockley's public defenders to withdraw from the case, meaning Shockley will now have to be assigned a new defense team, a process which will likely lengthen the amount of time before the case goes to trial.Shockley is charged in the shooting death of Sgt. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Gov. Matt Blunt plans to veto legislation that could have given a student the right to vote on the University of Missouri Board of Curators. Blunt confirmed his veto intentions in an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press...