Stories from Thursday, July 24, 2008

Dorothy Lee Shuffit, 74, of Scott City died Wednesday, July 23, 2008, at her home. She was born April 16, 1934, at Commerce, Mo., daughter of John Franklin and Stella May Brummett Hale. She and James Paul Shuffit were married Feb. 24, 1951, in Piggott, Ark. He died Nov. 13, 1982...

Beverly A. Klinkhardt, 78, of Jackson died Monday, July 21, 2008, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Oct. 14, 1929, in St. Louis, daughter of Earl and Hazel Enloe Adler. Klinkhardt had worked at Southwestern Bell and L.J. Schultz School in Cape Girardeau, Federal Reserve Bank in St. Louis, and did modeling in the St. Louis area. She volunteered for Birthright and attended Cape First Church...

SIKESTON, Mo. — Batman is back. As far as Brett Williams, 40, of Sikeston is concerned, he never left. "Most people know me as 'Batman;' they don't know my real name," Williams said. "That's my moniker, my nickname." Williams said has been a fan of the Caped Crusader "since I was about 3 years old."...

MILWAUKEE -- Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. managed to turn a profit in the most recent quarter -- despite fears that rising costs for ingredients and fuel would cut into The King Of Beers' bottom line. But the St. Louis-based brewer, the nation's largest, said Wednesday that it has to raise prices to stay ahead of the higher costs. So drinkers of brews such as Budweiser and Bud Light will pay from 3 percent to 5 percent more beginning in September...

With cries of "Oyez! Oyez!" from understudy town crier James Baughn, the Cape Girardeau city government celebrated 200 years of incorporation Wednesday at a ceremony at the Red House Interpretive Center. Roughly 50 residents and city officials attended the 10 a.m. ceremony. Guest speaker Kent Bratton, former city planner for Cape Girardeau, outlined the process of the platting and the incorporation of the city...

Over the shrieks of children on amusement rides, church choirs belted out gospel tunes Wednesday at Jackson Homecomers. This year was the first in recent memory for a religious aspect to be added to the festival, coinciding with an expanded schedule marking the 100th anniversary for Homecomers...

Workers mowing an overgrown lot near the floodwall just north of downtown Cape Girardeau discovered the decomposing body of a man Wednesday morning. Cape Girardeau County Coroner John Clifton later identified the man as 59-year-old Lester Laman Jeffrey Jr...

Just six months after uniting behind Mary Kasten to keep the 158th District Missouri House seat in a special election, Cape Girardeau Republicans will go to the polls Aug. 5 to select a nominee for a full term in office. The three choices offer contrasts in style and substance ---- an eager young Naval reserve officer with a taste for politics, a family man who hopes to parlay political experience with former U.S. ...

JACKSON -- Trenton Moses was a little surprised Wednesday when he arrived at the ballpark and found out he was Scott County Post 369's starting pitcher. "The last time I pitched was against these guys [Cape Girardeau Post 63] last year in districts," Moses said. "I threw about 15 pitches in the bullpen the other day, and that's the most I've thrown since."...

The Southeast Missouri State softball team has announced the signing of seven players to letters of intent, including recent Cape Girardeau Central graduate Sirena Watkins, which raises the total to 11 new faces for the 2009 season. In addition to Watkins, high school players signed were Stefanie Barnes (James Logan H.S., Union City, Calif.), Kristie Lutz (Geneseo H.S., Geneseo, Ill.), Kristie Scudder (Brashear H.S., Kirksville, Mo.), Tiffany Blanco (Paloma Valley H.S., Canyon Lake, Calif.) and Hollie Clark (Thomas Downey H.S., Modesto, Calif.). ...

NEW YORK -- Hannah Montana may be the most potent phenomenon in Hollywood right now -- bigger than Batman, bigger than Brangelina. Yet these days, the girl who truly fascinates is not Hannah, but Miley Cyrus. The 15-year-old face of the billion-dollar Disney franchise is no longer a star for just the tween set: She's intriguing people who turn the pages of Seventeen magazine, as well as Us Weekly and Vanity Fair. ...

ST. LOUIS -- Outfielder Colby Rasmus, one of the St. Louis Cardinals' top prospects, will not participate with Team USA in the upcoming Olympic Games because of a sprained left knee. The team said in a release Wednesday that Rasmus, who plays at Class AAA Memphis, likely would be sidelined a month. An MRI exam revealed what the team termed a Grade I, or minor, sprain...

PITTSBURGH -- The head of a prominent cancer research institute issued an unprecedented warning to his faculty and staff Wednesday: Limit cell phone use because of the possible risk of cancer. The warning from Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, is contrary to numerous studies that don't find a link between cancer and cell phone use, and a public lack of worry by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Darrell Wayne Thomas Sr., 56, of Cairo died Friday, July 18, 2008, at St. Louis University Hospital. He was born Dec. 7, 1951, in Cairo, son of Ralph Bell Sr. and Rose Mary Harmon Thomas. Thomas was a graduate of Cairo High School, and attended Egyptian adult Vocational School...

Among the dance recitals and Broadway plays, local promoter Tony Smee hopes to schedule a few big name bluegrass acts to play at the River Campus this fall and into next year. The first act, scheduled for Aug. 3, doesn't conform to the usual depiction of old-time bluegrass music of a family from Kentucky, Oklahoma or Arkansas, plucking string instruments and singing harmony together...

To the editor: Democrat state Rep. Paul LeVota attempted to deceive your readers, and his July 20 letter requires a correction. LeVota, like Attorney General Jay Nixon, continues to make assertions about the Sunshine Law and Gov. Matt Blunt's office that are not true and are politically motivated...

Meryl Streep is quite possibly the greatest actress of her generation. She can literally do everything — from the dramatic pathos of "The Hours" to the black comedy of "Death Becomes Her," she's an actress of incredible range and talent. And in "Mamma Mia!" she is able to shine yet again...

WASHINGTON -- Rescue legislation sailed through the House on Wednesday aimed at helping 400,000 strapped homeowners avoid foreclosure and preventing the collapse of troubled mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The 272-152 vote reflected a congressional push to send election-year help to struggling borrowers and to reassure jittery financial markets about the health of two pillars of the mortgage market...

CALIENTE, Calif. -- A woman walking her two dogs in a rural area of Southern California was attacked and severely injured by a bear, but managed to escape and drive herself to a nearby fire station. The woman suffered severe lacerations to her face and head in Tuesday's attack and was airlifted to UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, said county fire spokesman Sean Collins. Her condition was not known...

Crocker Son to Jason Paul and Rachel Lynn Crocker of Chandler, Ariz., Banner Desert Medical Center in Phoenix, 8:41 a.m. Saturday, April 26, 2008. Name, Jack Reagan, Weight, 9 pounds, 1 ounce. Second child, first son. Mrs. Crocker is the former Rachel Record, daughter of Roger and Constance Record of Benton, Mo. She is a registered nurse/certified nurse midwife. Crocker is the son of Robert and Sue Crocker of Roseburg, Ore. He is a compliance analyst with Wells Fargo Financial...

VIENNA, Austria -- Pakistan has warned a deal leading to increased Indian access to nuclear fuel could accelerate the atomic arms race between the rivals, according to a letter obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press. The letter was given to the AP a day after India's government won a confidence vote that paved the way for a landmark deal on nuclear energy cooperation with the United States. ...

TOPEKA, Kan. -- A national group alleged Wednesday that Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., is forcing soldiers to participate in a weekly religious event, a program that has been mentioned in a federal lawsuit in Kansas. Americans United for Separation of Church and State sent a letter to the Department of Defense's inspector general, asking for an investigation into the Sunday evening event, whose name was recently changed from "Free Day Away" to "Tabernacle Baptist Church Retreat Program." The Tabernacle Baptist Church in Lebanon, Mo., has hosted the event for soldiers from the Missouri post since 1971.. ...

n Beginner line dance lessons are at 6 p.m.; dance from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays, Aug. 6, 13, 20, 27 at Eagles Aerie 3775, 321 N. Spring Ave. in Cape Girardeau. The event is open to the public. There is an admission cost. n Meet at 3:30 p.m. Aug. 8 in front of the courthouse steps to attend the Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo in Sikeston, Mo., featuring Country singer Gary Allen, whose songs include "Learning How to Bend" and "Best I Ever Had."...

Leighton, Deneke win Homecomer 5K Roy Leighton and Sidney Deneke were the top overall winners in the Jackson Homecomer 5K race. Leighton, who ran cross country at Cape Girardeau Central, finished the course in 17 minutes, 14 seconds to finish first among male participants, while, Tori Parry, who also runs cross country and will be a senior at Jackson High School, won the female division in 22:04...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama plans to open 23 campaign offices this weekend in rural areas across Missouri. Obama's campaign said the offices will be in such cities as Hannibal, Warrenton, Poplar Bluff, Bolivar, West Plains, Farmington, Marshfield, Rolla, Union and Louisiana. The campaign did not have a full list available Wednesday...

In the past, rock 'n' roll has never been mistaken for music you might hear in church, but a musician is coming to Jackson that might change that. National recording artist Caleb Rowden — a native of Columbia, Mo. — will perform Aug. 1 at CrossRoads Fellowship in Jackson. Taking his message of love for Jesus Christ across the Midwest, Rowden is in the midst of his four-month "Lead Me To The Cross" tour...

Pottery classes start Aug. 4 at local studio Jars of Clay Pottery Studio fall pottery classes start Aug. 4, with a hand building class. Stevie Longwith will teach the classes from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. each Monday for three weeks. Jars of Clay Pottery is in the basement of Garden Gallery. Another three-week hand building class starts in October. Wheel-thrown classes will be offered in September and again in November...

1. "Tribute" by Nora Roberts 2. "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer 3. "New Moon" by Stephenie Meyer 4. "The Shack" by William P. Young 5. "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer

25 years ago: July 24, 1983 A fellowship reception is held for the Rev. Erwin Brese in the morning at St. Andrew Lutheran Church; Brese, the former director of Lutheran Family and Children's Services in Cape Girardeau, is leaving to become pastor of a Lutheran congregation in Niagara Falls, N.Y...

The body of a 19-year-old Oran, Mo., man who had been missing for three days was found Wednesday underneath his overturned vehicle on a rural Scott County road. Kerrington B. "Blaik" Moss was last seen Sunday by family members, Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter said...

On Friday, local artist Craig Thomas and seven area youths put the finishing touches on a mural they painted in the West Park Mall. The aspiring artists worked under the instruction of Thomas every afternoon last week to reinvent the mural on the wall across from Pasta House Co...

Rick Procter, 74, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, July 20, 2008, at the Lutheran Home. He was born May 24, 1934, in Amarillo, Texas, son of Joseph and Margaret Trice Procter. Procter was a former art professor at Southeast Missouri State University. He served in the U.S. Army...

ST. LOUIS -- With the 2009 All-Star Game in St. Louis less than a year away, the Cardinals on Wednesday announced a revised plan for Ballpark Village, a complex of office space, retailers and restaurants that will eventually replace the muddy, vacant ground left when the old Busch Stadium was torn down...

People come back to Jackson in the summer like birds flying south for the winter. Every summer people from the small town return to meet, greet and eat at the Jackson Homecomers Festival. Susan Hutteger grew up in a house so close to the courthouse square that her family used to walk up to the yearly town reunion several times a day. After marriage, she moved away, but she still managed to come home a few of those years...

Kathryn Kembel, 83, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, July 23, 2008, at Ratliff Care Center. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Comic books used to be everywhere. Tarzan, Swamp Thing, Superman and Batman comics lined the shelves at local grocery stores. On a trip to the pharmacy you could pick up the latest from DC and Marvel. Then comic books disappeared from stores. They have reappeared, though, in the cinema...

Jeff Glenn Date of birth: Dec. 25, 1969 Place of birth: Sikeston, Mo. Spouse: Tracey Children: Zac, 9, and Josh, 6 Occupation: Sales executive Employer: Delta Companies Inc. Businesses owned, all or in part: None...

July 24, 2008 Dear Pat, At what age does the feeling we will live forever evaporate? When younger people start turning up in the obituaries? Maybe it's when contemporaries once charged with life fall ill and after many treatments and hospitalizations breathe no more. Sometimes dying is all that's left...

SAN ANGELO, Texas -- Texas authorities on Wednesday began looking for five indicted members of a polygamist sect, in a child sex-abuse case that the group's spokesman alleged was a face-saving move by officials who lost a court battle over their seizure of hundreds of children from a sect-owned ranch...

Just a couple of short years ago, leaders in Cape Girardeau and surrounding communities got fired up about a problem that seemed to be obvious everywhere you looked: litter. Streets, sidewalks, parks and highways were uglified by fast-food wrappers, foam cups, cigarette butts and other trash, most of it tossed by uncaring motorists...

MAPLEWOOD, Mo. -- The St. Louis County medical examiner on Wednesday identified remains at the scene of an ambush at a suburban St. Louis home as those of the homeowner, 52-year-old Mark Knobbe. Dr. Mary Case, who performed the autopsy, said Knobbe committed suicide by shooting himself. She said the identification was made through dental records...

To the editor: From July 11 to 13 the classes of Central High School from 1950 to 1959 held their Still Rockin' and Rollin' Reunion. The event is held every five years, and this year was the biggest turnout ever. There were 650 classmates and spouses who attended. They came from all over, and everyone had a great time...

LOS ANGELES -- "The Dark Knight," the crime saga about vigilante Batman and his wealthy alter ego Wayne, debuted with a record $158.4 million, according to final weekend numbers Monday. That was up $3.1 million from studio estimates of $155.3 million a day earlier...

Highway 91 in Bollinger County will be reduced to one lane 12 feet wide next week as crews from the Missouri Department of Transportation perform routine bridge maintenance and patch the bridge deck for any potholes. Roadwork will take place on a stretch of road between County Road 652 and a point two miles south of Route T. MoDOT said the work would be done from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday and July 31, depending on the weather...

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Conan O'Brien will take over the "Tonight" show next June -- and what happens to deposed host Jay Leno after that is anybody's guess. Leno's last show will be May 29, and O'Brien will start the following Monday, June 1, NBC executives told a Television Critics Association meeting Monday...

ST. LOUIS — An exhibition of 40 colorful and vibrant mosaic sculptures and paintings of French artist Niki de Saint Phalle have landed in St. Louis, making it the third U.S. city to ever display her work. "She is the Andy Warhol of France," said Lynn Kerkemeyer, special exhibits manager at the Missouri Botanical Garden, where the work is being displayed...

KENNETT, Mo. -- According to the Dunklin County Sheriff's Department, a man who escaped from custody Tuesday morning has been apprehended. At about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dunklin County Sheriff Bob Holder took Wilburn Monroe Holliman Jr., 29, back into custody...

BEIJING -- China will allow a modicum of dissent at the Olympics, setting up special protest zones far from the main sports venues, in a shift that supporters and detractors said Wednesday is meant to safely channel criticism and avoid disrupting the games...

ALPE D'HUEZ, France -- Carlos Sastre of Spain won the 17th stage of the Tour de France, taking the overall lead Wednesday from CSC teammate Frank Schleck on the hardest ride up three huge Alpine climbs. Sastre took the yellow jersey by speeding ahead of the main title contenders in the final ascent of the 130.8-mile ride from Embrun to L'Alpe d'Huez...

Can Dalhousie Golf Club and Cape Girardeau host a big-time event like a PGA Tour stop? "One, we would have to want that to happen; or two, they would want us," Dalhousie managing member Cord Dombrowski said Wednesday in a news conference to announce some details of the AJGA Dalhousie Junior Championship...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Carl W. "Big Wind" Meeks, 83, of Mounds died Tuesday, July 22, 2008, at his home, following an extended illness. He was born Nov. 18, 1924, son of Everett and Grace Meeks. Meeks had worked for Illinois Highway Department and retired from Illinois Department of Corrections...

The Three Stooges might be Larry, Curly and Moe, but Jackson's Stooges are Ted, Ron and Judy. The three own Stooges in Jackson, a smoke-free, family restaurant complete with weekly music and daily Three Stooges movies on the television. Ted Clark and his wife, Judy, chose the theme because they are huge fans of the Stooges. Ted and Judy Clark share ownership with Ron Cook...

Up until Tuesday, the most experience I'd had with clay was two oddly shaped, barely discernable fish about which my family still teases me. Now I have two unmistakable bowls, complete with patterns and stamps on my potters resume. I went to the first bowl-making marathon at Jars of Clay in the Garden Gallery on Tuesday. ...

BAGHDAD -- Iraq's presidential council on Wednesday rejected a draft provincial elections law and sent it back to parliament for reworking -- a major blow to U.S. hopes that the vote can be held this year. The decision was likely to delay the elections until next year because there would not be sufficient time to make the necessary preparations. U.S. officials have pushed hard for the polls, which had been due by Oct. 1, as a key step toward repairing Iraq's sectarian divisions...

TEXARKANA, Ark. -- A man who escaped the Miller County Jail and was arrested nearly two weeks later in Fayetteville, Ark., said he broke out to go visit his grandmother. Bennie Johnson said his grandmother, who raised him, was recovering from a heart attack in Fort Smith, the Texarkana Gazette reported Wednesday. He said he visited her daily in the hospital while on the lam...

ST. LOUIS -- The Archdiocese of St. Louis and several parishioners sued St. Stanislaus Kostka parish Wednesday, seeking to regain control of the Polish-heritage parish. The lawsuit seeks to have the parish revert to its 1891 bylaws, which would give the Roman Catholic bishop authority to name the pastor and the parish corporation's board...

Sport: Bowling Age: 12 Nickname: Shortie Best part about bowling: When I score well. Three people you'd like to invite for dinner: Rihanna, Jordin Sparks and I don't know a third one. They're my favorite singers...

Live music Doug Rees House musician with special guests Nick Hines and Casey Benefield. Where: Stooges, Jackson When: 7 to 11 p.m. today Ivas John Band Ivas crosses the river to bring the blues to Cape Girardeau...

Nature Center to hold nature-themed concert The Cape Girardeau Conservation Campus Nature Center will feature Carter and Connelley in concert from 7 to 8 p.m. Friday. "Everybody needs a river" is the theme of the concert. For more information or to register, contact the Nature Center at 290-5218...

The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI n Jason F. Rollins, 31, of St. Louis was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Arrests n Robert L. Henry, 22, 909 Hackberry St., No. 204, was arrested on a Cape Girardeau County warrant for distribution of a controlled substance...

"21" Kevin Spacey offers a lesson to academics everywhere on how to beat the high cost of living. Spacey plays a brilliant, greedy Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who leads a team of math-whiz students (Kate Bosworth and Jim Sturgess among them), the gang developing a card-counting scheme to take Vegas casinos to the cleaners at the blackjack table...

Watch out, candidates I LIKE to sleep in during the summertime. If I receive another robo-call from an aspiring politician before 2 p.m., I'm calling Michael Myers, Freddie Krueger, Jason Vorhees, Hannibal Lecter, The Transformers, The Joker and Leatherface...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — Hurricane Dolly barreled into South Texas on Wednesday, lashing the coast with winds up to 100 mph and dumping heavy rain that flooded some low-lying areas but spared levees along the heavily populated Rio Grande Valley. Authorities had feared the first hurricane to hit the U.S. ...

Nothing seems to be a given under the current economic conditions, especially when it comes to landing sponsors for a sports event or team. The Dalhousie Junior Championship last year was able to clear $25,000, an amount that was split between the American Junior Golf Association's grants program and local charities, which were primarily Southeast Missouri's high school golf teams...

WASHINGTON -- About 2 million Americans get a raise today as the federal minimum wage rises 70 cents. The bad news: Higher gas and food prices are swallowing it up, and some small businesses will pass the cost of the wage increase to consumers. The increase, from $5.85 to $6.55 per hour, is the second of three annual increases required by a 2007 law. Next year's boost will bring the federal minimum to $7.25 an hour...

A $7,703 Library Services and Technology grant and a 25 percent match by the Cape Girardeau Public Library enabled the purchase of nine new public access computer stations and two printers at the library. The equipment will increase speed and reliability for library users at computer stations...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's Republican gubernatorial candidates defended past cuts to the state Medicaid program Tuesday while trying to distinguish themselves as the most ethical and frugal candidates in the race. U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof and Treasurer Sarah Steelman are trying to persuade Aug. 5 primary voters that each would be the best Republican to go up against Democratic Attorney General Jay Nixon in the November general election...

Ground was broken Wednesday on a project that will nearly triple the size of Saint Francis Medical Center's Gene E. Huckstep Emergency Center and Level III Trauma Center. The hospital's goal is to better accommodate patients with urgent medical needs. The trauma center's square footage will go from 11,000 square feet to 30,000 square feet...

Zion Lutheran Church, south of Gordonville on Highway 25, will serve kettle beef and chicken and dumplings from 3:30 to 7 p.m. Aug. 17. — From staff reports

ORAN, Mo. -- Blaik Moss, 19, of Oran died Wednesday, July 23, 2008 as a result of a motor vehicle accident near Chaffee, Mo. Arrangements are incomplete with Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City.

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Rams defensive end Claude Wroten was suspended without pay for the season Wednesday for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. Wroten, entering his third season with the Rams, was suspended for four games last season. His draft stock fell in 2006 when he was stopped for speeding and police discovered marijuana in the vehicle...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Tuesday: n At 2:05 p.m., emergency medical service at 606 S. Silver Springs Road. n At 5:38 p.m., low lines at Perry Avenue and Perryville Road. n At 8:34 p.m., emergency medical service in the 1200 block of North Spanish Street...

Southbound Interstate 55 will be reduced to one lane Monday as crews from MoDOT perform routine bridge maintenance inspections. Roadwork will take place on a section of the highway between the Ramsey Creek bridge and a point one-half mile south of the U.S. 61 overpass. MoDOT said it would plan to work from 8 a.m. to noon Monday, depending on the weather....

ST. LOUIS — Throwing a complete game is a big deal these days. Unless you're CC Sabathia feasting on a new league. The 6-foot-7, 290-pound left-hander went nine innings for the third straight time for his new team, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0 on Wednesday night...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas -- Hurricane Dolly slammed into the South Texas coast Wednesday with punishing rain and 100 mph winds, blowing down signs, peeling off roofs and knocking out power to thousands before weakening over land. Local officials' greatest fear -- that the levees holding back the Rio Grande would fail and cause massive flooding -- eased when Dolly meandered 35 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border just before coming ashore on South Padre Island as a Category 2 storm. ...

Fred Stoverink's Midwestern accent is what landed him the position as voice actor on the nationally syndicated car and motorcycle show "Steel Dreams," aired on WPSD (channel 6) at 4:30 a.m. Sunday or at 3 a.m. Monday. "I hammed up my accent and auditioned over the phone and they asked me to do the job," said Stoverink, a 1991 Jackson High School graduate. ...

On a sunny Sunday this past June, the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport served as refueling stop for 10 Black Hawk Helicopters (2 flights of 5), crewed by members of the New York and Missouri National Guard. They were taking part in a joint training mission before their deployment to Iraq. I didn't get a complete count, but was told that the second flight of 5 Black Hawks was crewed by about 22 men and women, so it probably came out to about 40 something or so, total...

The Scott City Chamber of Commerce is urging people who have not yet registered for the annual Citywide Yard Sale to do so by July 31. In its fifth year, the sale allows Scott City's residents, as well as those who live outside the city limits, to sale everything from antique furniture to clothing...

An autopsy Thursday showed no trauma to the partly decomposed body of a man found Wednesday morning by the floodwall near downtown Cape Girardeau. Lester L. Jeffrey, Jr., 59, of Cape Girardeau, was reported missing on Monday. Some city workers discovered his body around 10 a.m. Wendesday while mowing down a grassy lot just north of Broadway St...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A former consultant for Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis faces a federal indictment for allegedly stealing from the nation's largest brewer. Jack Walter Barrett faces 24 counts of interstate transportation of stolen property and one count of wire fraud. The charges against the 35-year-old suspect were announced late Wednesday by U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway...

Authorities are searching for two men they believe robbed Sonic Drive In employees at gunpoint early Wednesday morning. At about 1:05 a.m., two female employees exited the South Westwood Boulevard restaurant after locking up for the night and were standing outside talking, Poplar Bluff Police Patrolman Bryce Colvin said in his report...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Formal charges are being sought for three subjects in connection with an apparent attempted burglary early Wednesday. According to a news release from Department of Public Safety Sgt. Jim McMillen, public information officer for the Sikeston Department of Public Safety, a call was received around 4:10 a.m. Wednesday to report a stabbing. Officers responded to the 200 block of South Scott Street to find a 17-year-old subject with a severe cut to his right wrist...

GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. (AP) -- One man is dead and another is jailed after a fight outside a suburban Kansas City night club ended in gunfire. Grain Valley police say two men were fighting outside Whiskey Tango shortly after 3 a.m. Thursday when one of them pulled a gun and fired three rounds into the other man. Officers said when they arrived they found the victim dead next to a pickup truck...

BRANSON, Mo. (AP) -- Branson is known as an entertainment mecca, where tourists from far and wide come to see name acts perform, do touristy things, shop, and relax. But a huge attraction in Branson is the Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery, Missouri's largest trout producer. It welcomed its 6 millionth visitor on Sunday and consistently draws 250,000 visitors a year...

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- Former Missouri basketball player Jason Horton will wait until at least September for his trial on assault charges for a midseason fight outside a downtown nightclub. Horton was scheduled to be in court Wednesday. But Boone County Circuit Court records show that hearing was postponed until Sept. 5...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Victims of recent storm and flood damage in the Midwest could get some tax relief under a new bill pending in Congress. The nearly $4 billion measure would let disaster victims take money out of retirement plans without facing tax penalties. It also would give tax breaks to businesses that suffered losses and encourage more donations to charities...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Police in Jennings are asking the Major Case Squad to help investigate a shooting that left one person dead and another badly wounded. It happened around midnight Thursday at a home. Both victims are male. Police say they were shot during an attack on the residence...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Sunset community will receive a facelift over the next year, due in part to a $350,000 Community Development Block Grant. "It is specifically targeting the old Compress building," said Trey Hardy, Sikeston's Community Redevelopment coordinator. ...

The makers of the new "X-Files" movie have done themselves a disservice in coming up with the elongated title, "The X-Files: I Want to Believe." Really, it just invites a whole bunch of bad jokes which, unfortunately, are justified. It's easy to imagine how they might go: I want to believe another "X-Files" movie is necessary, 10 years after the first one came out and six years after the pioneering sci-fi series went off the air. ...

ROCK PORT, Mo. (AP) -- Vehicles in this northwest Missouri farm community are likely to be pickup trucks, and "green" is the color of a John Deere tractor. But when it comes to alternative energy, little Rock Port -- population about 1,400 -- is a pioneer: it's the site of a wind farm that's projected to generate more electricity than the town uses in a year...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Inmates, families, clergy and legislators claimed in a new lawsuit that Missouri's method of lethal injection violates state law. Meanwhile, a doctor who once performed executions in Missouri apparently has resurfaced in Arizona. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Cole County, said the Missouri Department of Corrections and director Larry Crawford did not comply with state requirements to provide public notice and invite comments on new execution procedures, or advise a legislative rules committee. ...