Stories from Saturday, August 9, 2008

The Associated Press LOS ANGELES -- The Walt Disney Co. is closing down all three McDonald's outlets at its Disneyland resort in Anaheim, Calif., on Sept. 2 as part of a planned refurbishment, the company said. Disney said the move is not related to its push, announced in 2006, to promote healthier eating choices for children at restaurants at its parks...

WASHINGTON -- Whole Foods Market is recalling fresh ground beef sold between June 2 through Aug. 6 in 23 states, including Illinois, because the beef might be contaminated with E. coli bacteria. The company has received reports that seven people in Massachusetts and two people in Pennsylvania who shopped at Whole Foods Market became ill, said spokeswoman Libba Letton...

NEW YORK -- Despite a tough U.S. economy, McDonald's Corp. posted an 8 percent gain in July same-store sales Friday as hungry consumers worldwide lined up for breakfast items and the Big Mac sandwich. Many consumers have cut back on eating out amid economic weakness and rising gasoline prices, but business at the Golden Arches held up well in July, especially in the U.S...

I always wanted to be an Olympic athlete. There was just one problem: Desire never encountered discipline. Reaching the caliber of competition necessary to be a part of the Olympics demands strict discipline. Each competitor meticulously monitors what they eat. ...

"The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle." -- the Olympic Creed Friday night, many of us watched the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Games. More than 200 countries have sent athletes to China. Watching them parade behind their national colors is always a treat for me...

Christian Women's Club to hold luncheon at Elks Lodge Christian Women's Club will have a luncheon, inspirational speaker and music from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday at the Elks Lodge at 639 Elks Lane in Cape Girardeau. The event is open to the public...

Robert Greable MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Robert Wayne Greable, 60, of Marble Hill died Friday, Aug. 8, 2008, at his home. He was born March 4, 1948, at Cape Girardeau, son of Charles and Viola Helderman Greable. He and Kimberly Koehler were married March 4, 1989, at Cape Girardeau...

Arnetha Barnett SANDUSKY, Ill. -- Arnetha Barnett, 55, of Sandusky died Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born April 30, 1953, in Chicago, daughter of Robert Phillips and Claudetter Steele. She and Larry G. Barnett were married in September 1973...

DZHAVA, Georgia -- Russia dispatched an armored column into the breakaway enclave of South Ossetia on Friday after Georgia, a staunch U.S. ally, launched a surprise offensive to crush separatists. Witnesses said hundreds of civilians were killed. Fighting reportedly raged well into the night with Georgia's interior ministry saying early Saturday that warplanes attacked three Georgian military bases and key facilities for shipping oil to the West...

John Moore John Moore, 53, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Aug. 8, 2008, at his home. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Cape Electrical Supply has acquired Electrical Sales Engineering, a utility products distributor based in Bowling Green, Ky. The deal allows the company, headquartered at 489 Kell Farm Drive in Cape Girardeau, to expand into Indiana and additional rural markets, said Bob Garrett, vice president of sales. Founded in 1953, Cape Electrical Supply is a distributor of commercial, industrial, residential, utility and communication products...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's gubernatorial candidates diverged on higher education policies while uniting behind ethanol incentives as they appealed Friday to a politically active rural crowd. Fresh off primary election victories, Republican U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof and Democratic Attorney General Jay Nixon both emphasized pro-agriculture policies as they spoke back-to-back to about 175 members of the Missouri Farm Bureau's political action committees...

25 years ago: Aug. 9, 1983 POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- About 50 families are returning to their homes after they were forced to leave overnight when a valve on a 500-gallon liquid propane tank broke and the highly flammable gas began spewing into the atmosphere; no injuries are reported...

CLAYTON, Mo. -- The St. Louis County prosecuting attorney said a man who fatally shot five people during a rampage at Kirkwood City Hall wanted to kill the entire city council and other officials. Prosecutor Robert McCulloch said Friday that evidence unearthed during an investigation showed that Charles "Cookie" Thornton, 52, would have killed more people during the meeting Feb. 7 if he had not been shot and killed himself...

Inefficient government Our federal government is doing it again. Not only did it leave a perfectly good federal building on Broadway, it wasted millions of dollars on a new courthouse. Now the Social Security office is building a separate building. No wonder Social Security is broke. This is the same efficient government that many want to run our health-care system...

A proposal to encourage states to keep juvenile offenders separate from adult prisoners is waiting for the U.S. Senate when members return from their summer recess. The bill, which also includes provisions increasing federal funding for prevention, intervention and treatment programs to reduce juvenile crime, was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Attention voters in Kirksville, Hannibal and the rest of Missouri's largely rural 9th Congressional District: The open seat created by Kenny Hulshof's bid for governor has the attention of the Washington crowd. Columbia resident Judy Baker's resounding primary win Tuesday has the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee targeting the district -- which elected the Republican Hulshof to office six times since 1996 -- as ripe for a takeover...

State Sen. Mike Gibbons isn't quite sure who his opponent will be in the November election for Missouri attorney general, but he said Friday that he's not going to slow down and wait for the answer. Gibbons, of Kirkwood, was unopposed in Tuesday's Republican primary. His likely fall opponent, state Sen. Chris Koster of Harrisonville, Mo., leads state Rep. Margaret Donnelly of St. Louis in complete, unofficial tallies by 786 votes. Donnelly has not decided whether she will ask for a recount...

At times his fingers fluttered across the keys, others they gently glided. Wheelchair on stage, his body would occasionally sway toward the piano and he would slowly turn his head, moving with the music. He played intricate pieces completely by feel and routine. Patrick Henry Hughes could not see the keys...

Miller Daughter to Derek Paul and Katie Diane Miller of Cape Girardeau, Saint Francis Medical Center, 8:23 a.m. Saturday, June 28, 2008. Name, Danica Paige. Weight, 4 pounds, 13 ounces. Mrs. Miller is the former Katie Mohundro, daughter of Larry and Mary Ellen Mohundro of Cape Girardeau. Miller is the son of Lisa and Brian Burger of Jackson, and the late Douglas Miller of Scott City. He is employed by Ole Hickory Pits...

Van Miller Jr. MOUNDS, Ill. -- Van Miller Jr., 54, of Mounds died Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008, at Daystar Care Center in Cairo, Ill. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at Massie Funeral Home in Mounds.

With the votes from Tuesday's primary elections counted, the races for the general election begin in earnest. Some candidates who were unopposed in the primary now have opponents for the general election. And some candidates who had primary opposition now face likely victory in the general election...

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests n Dustin J. Wondrick, 20, 501 Louis St., was arrested on a Cape Girardeau County warrant for contempt of court and burglary. n Two subjects were placed in custody pending charges of receiving stolen property...

Side-imaging sonar and drag equipment helped authorities from five state and local agencies spend most of Friday's daylight scour the Mississippi River near Cape Girardeau for signs of a local fisherman lost in a boating accident. By the time the search wrapped up for the day, they were no closer to recovering the body of 39-year-old Chaffee native Gregory Jobe...

DE SOTO, Mo. -- An Army veteran from De Soto and his wife are in the money. The couple won half of the $4.9 million Lotto jackpot for the Aug. 2 drawing. The other winning ticket was sold in Kansas City, Mo., but that ticket has not yet been claimed...

The Association of Flight Attendants became the second union group to endorse Democratic candidate Joe Allen in Missouri's 8th Congressional District contest. The union, which represents 55,000 members working for 20 airlines, endorsed Allen, a lawyer from Forsyth, Mo., this week, according to release from Allen's campaign. ...

WASHINGTON -- Former presidential candidate John Edwards, who won nationwide praise and sympathy as he campaigned side by side with his cancer-stricken wife, Elizabeth, admitted Friday he had had an affair with a woman who produced videos as he prepared to launch his campaign...

BEIJING -- Once-reclusive China commandeered the world stage Friday, celebrating its first-time role as Olympic host with a stunning display of pyrotechnics and pageantry -- topped by the unworldly sight of a flying gymnast, traversing the heights of the stadium to light the flame and begin the Summer Games...

The Former Cardinals star hit two home runs in Chicago's 3-2 victory Friday. By RICK GANO The Associated Press CHICAGO -- Jim Edmonds has experienced both sides of the Cardinals-Cubs matchup, one of baseball's most spirited and emotional rivalries...

RIO VISTA, Calif. -- On one side of the gravel road are hundreds of acres of corn. On the other is a different crop that scientists hope will enable farmers to rebuild sinking islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, combat global warming and make a profit at the same time...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Wednesday: n At 5:59 p.m., emergency medical service at 611 S. West End Blvd. n At 7:10 p.m., emergency medical service at 817 S. Ellis St. n At 9:56 p.m., alarm at 2114 William St. n At 10:20 p.m., emergency medical service at 2550 Masters Drive...

The Cape Girardeau division of Job Corps will hold its first Day at the Park today. The event will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Arena Park shelter No. 10 and will feature games, lunch and testimonies from participants in the job placement program. "We are trying to increase the awareness of the program because recruitment here is low," said career transition specialist Shalawnda Manuel. ...

Officers from Cape Girardeau County arrested Kerry L. Taylor, 39, of Jackson on Friday in connection with a sexual assault investigation, according to a news release from the sheriff's department. Taylor allegedly raped a 14-year-old girl, the release said...

Competition from the Red House Interpretive Center has challenged the Cape River Heritage Museum to increase its public attractions. Marjorie Thompson, the director of the River Heritage Museum, said the museum has been around since 1982, but the public only seems to hear about the Red House...

Cape Girardeau County officers arrested two men believed to have been involved in a series of burglaries in the Hillcrest subdivision of Cape Girardeau County. Cody Gustin, 18, of 709 Albert St., and Martin Aide, 20, of 3216 Lakewood Drive, were arrested Thursday and both charged with theft-related offenses...

To the editor: The far left must be frustrated. The surge strategy was brilliant and continues to meet our strategic goals even though leftists scoffed at and mocked the plan. Our troops continue to succeed thanks, in part, to funding allocated by a Democrat-controlled Congress whose 2006 pre-election promise was to cut off funding and end the war...

NEW ORLEANS -- Kevin Molony was listening to a version of the old spiritual "I Shall Not Be Moved," when it struck him as the perfect anthem for New Orleans residents still struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina. The song, which served as a battle cry for the union movement in the 1930s and the civil rights movement in the 1950s and '60s, seemed particularly relevant for those clinging fiercely to lives wrecked by the deadly storm almost three years ago...

SHERMAN, Texas -- An unlicensed charter bus carrying a Vietnamese-American Catholic group on a pilgrimage to a religious festival blew an illegally treaded tire and skidded off a highway early Friday, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens, authorities said...

WICHITA, Kan. -- Not much went right for the Plaza Tire Capahas on Friday against one of the nation's premier amateur baseball teams. The result was a 12-5 loss to the Santa Barbara (Calif.) Foresters in the winners bracket round of 16 at the National Baseball Congress World Series...

Another man charged in connection with last October's dogfighting raid at a Dudley, Mo., property has had his case set for trial. The case against Jessey Short, 30 of Cape Girardeau has been set for trial beginning Nov. 21 with a hearing on a motion to suppress evidence scheduled for Sept. 22...

Tennessee Walking Horse foals, mares and stallions will be featured at the Midwest Futurity and Jubilee Horse Show Aug. 16 at Flickerwood Arena in Jackson. The futurity will begin at 1 p.m., while the Jubilee, geared for the open showing of gaited horses with many classes designated for "youth only" showing in their class, will be held at 5 p.m. Proceeds from the event will benefit Southeast Missouri Hospital youth diabetes programs. For more information, call 579-6149...

ST. LOUIS -- A modest, one-story red-brick house that rock and roll legend Chuck Berry bought in 1950 will be considered for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Experts on St. Louis landmarks say Berry and his family lived in the home in the city's Ville neighborhood during his most productive early songwriting period...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A Poplar Bluff man was ordered to stand trial Thursday for the July shooting death of another man, who was killed over what authorities believe was an apparent drug debt. Calvin Lee "CC" Smith Jr., 32 appeared Thursday afternoon before Associate Circuit Judge John Bloodworth for a preliminary hearing...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- While some teenagers might work on their tans over the summer, a group from the Perryville-based Vincentian Marian Youth were hard at work on their souls. In late June, 63 teens, young adults, adults and children representing 17 Catholic parishes in Missouri and Alabama gathered at Walkerton, Ind., to help serve the poor and homeless in that area...

The Cape Girardeau Fire Department may have found the body of a Chaffee, Mo., man who disappeared after a boating accident on the Mississippi River Wednesday night.Around 9:20 a.m., a water search team with the fire department found what may be the remains of 39-year-old Gregory Jobe washed up on the shore of the Mississippi River, just south of the location of Buzzi Unicem, fire department personnel reported.The body was found during a surface scan of the waters in the area where Jobe disappeared Wednesday night. ...