Stories from August 2008

SIKESTON, Mo. -- You might find an empty peach stand at Dogwood Orchard. Not because there aren't any growing, like last year, but because co-owner Mike Leible can't keep them coming quickly enough. "Demand has been high. We've been selling out every afternoon," he said...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Gary Capps, Stoddard County Industrial Development Authority director, succumbed to pancreatic cancer around 2 a.m. Thursday morning. A skilled luthier, Capps was known for his fondness and talent at building stringed instruments. ...

Oak Ridge coach Jason Niswonger said members of his cross country team will have no right to complain when he sends them on 5-mile practice runs this upcoming season. Niswonger already has completed a 31-mile ultra marathon and covered 50 1/2 miles in a timed 10-hour nighttime ultra marathon this summer. And on Saturday, the Oak Ridge coach will be setting out on his greatest challenge yet -- a 100-mile ultra run that must be completed in 30 hours...

RICHMOND, Va. -- Political T-shirts -- particularly those supporting presumed Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama -- are emerging in a big way this season, transformed from the uniform of campaign workers to a definitive statement of youthful, progressive cool...

Ray Underdown, 60, of Cape Girardeau passed away Wednesday, July 30, 2008, at Southeast Missouri Hospital He was born Oct. 14, 1947, in Cincinnati to Charles "Ed" and Aileen Brummett Underdown. He and Linda Rodgers Mireles were married March 20, 1998, in Cincinnati...

DELTA — Marilyn Sue Anglin, 67, of Delta died Wednesday, July 30, 2008, at her home. She was born April 17, 1941, in Jackson, daughter of Albert and Oma Mary Herzog Goehman. She and Clyde Anglin were married Oct. 14, 1963. Anglin had been a machine operator at Columbia Sportswear in Chaffee, Mo. She was a member of Christian Mission Church in Benton, Mo...

TAMMS, Ill. — Dorothy "Dot" LaForest, 79, of Tamms died Tuesday, July 29, 2008, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 29, 1929, in Gardner, Tenn., to William and Vergie Reynolds Montgomery. She and Lester E. "Frenchie" LaForest were married April 18, 1967. He died Nov. 11, 1998...

PERRYVILLE — The Perryville Post 133 offense didn't struggle getting on base Thursday against Eureka Post 177 in the Zone 4 American Legion baseball tournament. Perryville out hit Eureka 9-7, drew three walks, had one batter hit by a pitch and had its leadoff man reach base to begin four different innings...

The Southeast Missourian has launched a new Web page to put all the information we have about Tuesday's primary elections in one place. The page includes links to current and past stories about candidates and the issues. The new Web offering also includes responses to questionnaires specific to each county and election contest in our coverage area of Cape Girardeau, Scott, Perry and Bollinger counties and the three Republican candidates vying for the 158th District state representative...

Cape Girardeau County officials are asking for financial records from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. On Monday the county commissioners instructed Stan Murray of the county highway department to make the request. Murray had informed the commission of a letter from the corps asking for a $27,000 check for the cost of a Hubble Creek bank stabilization project completed in 2005...

Being young and Catholic isn't always seen as cool, Catherine Meyer acknowledges. But for a week this summer she was surrounded by people with the same beliefs and values, even if they didn't speak the same language. She and her sister, Tara, attended World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia. The event attracts hundreds of thousands of Catholics from around the globe...

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic had his first skirmishes with the U.N. war crimes tribunal Thursday: He was cut short by the judge when he tried to protest his arrest, and put on notice that the prosecution will object to his demand to represent himself...

SCHOLARSHIPS n Susannah Green of Whitewater, Aaron Hammontree of Cape Girardeau and Kimberlie Hester of Chaffee, Mo., were awarded a Southeast Missouri State University Dual Enrollment Scholarship to attend Southeast for the 2008-2009 school year. Hester also received a MAP Scholarship from Southeast...

BOSTON -- Scientists working to help astronauts regain balance after extended flights in zero gravity say they've found a way to use the research to help elderly people avoid catastrophic falls. An "iShoe" insole contains sensors that read how well a person is balancing. The point is to gather information for doctors and to get people to a specialist -- before they fall...

ADVANCE, Mo. — Carolyn Rainwater, 57, of Advance died Wednesday, July 30, 2008, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born July 3, 1951, at New Madrid, Mo., daughter of Charles Lee and Thelma L. Colvin Stanfield. She and Gary Rainwater were married Oct. 25, 1969, at Bloomfield, Mo...

The Themis Street floodgate will be closed at 9 a.m. today, according to Stacey Beasley, storm-water supervisor with the Cape Girardeau Public Works Department. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has predicted the Mississippi River level to be at 34.1 feet today. Flood stage is 32 feet...

WASHINGTON -- Congress approved legislation Thursday that will allow the State Department to settle all remaining lawsuits against Libya by U.S. terrorism victims. The bill paves the way for healing the last rifts between the U.S. and Libya, but only after the country fully compensates Americans harmed in Libyan-sponsored attacks, including the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, and the 1986 bombing of the La Belle discotheque in Berlin...

A Cape Girardeau bicycle safety club met Wednesday in city hall to discuss the design and implementation of bicycle signs that say "share the road" and the release of bicycle safety information. The club is expecting to begin the installation of signs by the beginning of October, said Cape Girardeau assistant city manager Heather Brooks...

FRIDAY n New movies "Long Way Down" Not Rated; running time 2 hours 5 mins @ Town Plaza Cinema "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" Rated PG-13; running time 1 hour 54 mins @ Cape West 14 Cine...

ST. LOUIS -- The Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum in Hannibal, Mo., hoped throngs of summer tourists would spread the word about its urgent efforts to save the Becky Thatcher House. It's the childhood residence of the real-life girl who lived near young Samuel Clemens and inspired one of his beloved characters when he later wrote as Twain...

OWATONNA, Minn. -- A small jet crashed in strong thunderstorms Thursday while preparing to land at a regional airport in Minnesota, killing at least eight people, including several casino and construction executives. Sheriff Gary Ringhofer said there were at most nine people aboard the Raytheon Hawker 800, which went down at a regional airport about 60 miles south of the Twin Cities. He said investigators were looking into whether there was a passenger who is unaccounted for...

BAGHDAD -- The monthly U.S. toll in Iraq fell to its lowest point since the war began, with 11 American deaths as July drew to a close Thursday after the departure of the last surge brigade. Iraqis also are dying in dramatically lower numbers with the war in its sixth year. July saw the lowest civilian toll since December 2005, though a series of suicide bombings this week and rising ethnic tensions in northern Iraq reflect the fragility of the security successes...

Annabelle Hartle, 98, of Millersville died Thursday, July 31, 2008, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Visitation will be Sunday from 4 to 8 p.m. at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Monday at the funeral home...

The National Weather Service reported multiple homes in Jackson were struck by lightning when a severe thunderstorm moved through the area between 8 and 8:30 p.m. Wednesday night. Lightning strikes from the storm, part of the remnants of Hurricane Dolly, took out power to about one-third of the city, the weather service reported on its Paducah, Ky., office Web site...

Anyone who wonders what effect pricing has on consumers can see the impact at just about every retail outlet. And as sales go down, so does sales tax revenue, which is a percentage of each dollar spent on taxable items. When it comes to motor fuel, the equation changes. ...

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- A suburban Kansas City man was found guilty Thursday of the videotaped sexual torture and slaying of a 41-year-old woman. Richard D. Davis, 44, of Independence, was found guilty of 25 counts, including first-degree murder, kidnapping, rape, sodomy and assault in attacks on Marsha Spicer, of Independence, and Michelle Huff-Ricci, 36. The murder charge was for Spicer's May 2006 death...

The "consensus" on man-made global warming may have received a mortal wound. Physics & Society, the journal of the 46,000-member American Physical Society, just published "Climate Sensitivity Revisited" by Viscount Christopher Monckton, an avowed man-made warming skeptic and former science adviser to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher...

Magic finish second at world series The SEMO Magic 18-U softball team placed second at the 18-U 40-foot World Series in Panama City Beach, Fla. The team enjoyed a six-game winning streak at the tournament before falling to the Georgia Mustangs 4-1 in the title game. The Magic finished the tournament 10-2-1...

WASHINGTON -- Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens pleaded not guilty to corruption charges Thursday and received an unusually speedy trial date, which he hopes will clear his name before voters consider re-electing him in November. Stevens said the tentative Sept. 24 trial date set by U.S. District Judge Emmt G. Sullivan "should allow ample time for a decision before the general election" in November...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is laying off as many as 22,000 state employees. New York's governor is raising the possibility of selling -- or more accurately, leasing -- the Brooklyn Bridge. Nevada is burning through its rainy-day fund like a gambler on a losing streak. And Maryland is pinning its hopes on slot machines...

BLACKWOOD, N.J. -- A 44-pound cat found lumbering around New Jersey was abandoned by a woman who said her home was foreclosed, an animal shelter official said Thursday. The porky white cat found Saturday became a local media sensation and was dubbed "Princess Chunk." But the animal is really a male whose name is Powder...

MEQUON, Wis. -- Two months ago, Torry Holt made waves about finishing his career close to home with the Carolina Panthers. But at the St. Louis Rams' training camp, one of only four remaining holdovers from the franchise's Super Bowl run from 1999 to 2001 has opted for unity...

Newly licensed 16-year-old Julie Langenfeld and her father, Mark, traveled to 48 states month of July in a 1968 Mercedes-Benz. Julie shared some of her thoughts from the trip. Seeing the country in one big snapshot was so neat. I have a sense now of how big and diverse our country is. ...

Harrell Son to Shannon and Tiffany Harrell of Goodhue, Minn., Fairview Red Wing Hospital in Red Wing, Minn., 9:20 p.m. Tuesday, July 8, 2008. Name, Brady Lee. Weight, 6 pounds, 1 ounce. First child. Mrs. Harrell is the daughter of Dale and Char Holm of Goodhue. She is office manager at Menards in Red Wing. Harrell is the son of Fred and Pam Harrell of Jackson. He is e-commerce sales manager at River Valley Power and Sport in Rochester, Minn...

Thanks to our atmosphere, the climate on Earth is (on average) a balmy 59 degrees Fahrenheit. Compared to other planets in our solar system, our atmosphere is the most likely to support life (at least life as we know it). Our nearest neighbor, Mars, is closest in temperature but has an atmosphere less than 1 percent as dense and thus ranges from a chilly minus-112 to plus-23 degrees. Without our own treasured atmosphere, we'd be shivering at 5 to 22 degrees. More likely, we'd simply not exist...

GUATEMALA CITY -- For 14 months, Ana Escobar studied the tiny fingers of every passing baby, searching for a girl with pinkies that curved gracefully outward, just like those of her missing daughter. Then one day she saw her, in the arms of a foster mother helping process her adoption by an Indiana couple: A straight-haired toddler who appeared to be a stranger, except for her unmistakable fingers...

JERUSALEM -- Hard-line opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu called Thursday for national elections in the wake of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's decision to step down in September under a cloud of corruption charges. While Olmert's Kadima Party hoped to settle the leadership crisis internally in a matter of weeks, Netanyahu's demand raised the prospect of a monthslong campaign that would stall peace talks with the Palestinians...

WASHINGTON -- The prospects for a quick economic recovery dimmed Thursday, with new data showing the economy grew at a slower-than-expected rate this spring despite some oomph from tax rebate checks -- and actually shrank late last year. Democrats called for a second economic stimulus package, while the Bush administration said the growth was proof the checks helped...

25 years ago: Aug. 1, 1983 Cape Girardeau County Court agrees to vacate the Benton Hill Road near the former Mount Tabor Park; the park, just off Bloomfield Road west of Cape Girardeau, reverted to private ownership earlier this year after the Cape Special Road District said it no longer wanted to maintain the park...

Ramona Joyce Dunn, 50, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, July 31, 2008, at Saint Francis Medical Center. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

SIKESTON, Mo. — Helen I. Hooe, 90, of Sikeston died Wednesday, July 30, 2008, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born Dec. 18, 1917, in Kennett, Mo., daughter of George A. and Martha Isabelle McGuffy Long. She and Herman Hooe were married June 24, 1939. He died Dec. 9, 1979...

PASADENA, Calif. -- At least one of many large, lakelike features on Saturn's moon Titan studied by the international Cassini spacecraft contains liquid hydrocarbons, making it the only body in the solar system besides Earth known to have liquid on its surface, NASA said Wednesday...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Thursday: n At 1:12 a.m., emergency medical service in the 500 block of Louis Street. n At 4:53 a.m., emergency medical service in the 100 block of North Henderson Avenue. n At 8:05 a.m., emergency medical service in the 3000 block of Aspen Drive...

ATLANTA -- The hometown guy helped the Atlanta Braves snap a five-game losing streak. No, it wasn't Brian McCann or Jeff Francoeur. Rookie catcher Clint Sammons homered and drove in three runs Thursday night to lead Atlanta past the St. Louis Cardinals 9-4, a much-needed boost for a team that was having a terrible week...

NEW YORK -- Oil prices pulled back Thursday, wiping out some gains from the previous day's $4 a barrel rally, as traders bet that a cooling U.S. economy will continue to eat into U.S. demand for fuel. At the pump, easing prices underscored Americans' waning consumption of gasoline. The average price of a gallon of regular slipped 1.7 cents to $3.909, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express...

Larry Miller's cattle farm used to be surrounded by trees. Now the trees are disappearing, Dog Creek runs cloudy, and every rain brings muddy runoff onto his land. On dry days, the valley fills with dust, Miller said. He blames Neelys Landing Quarry, operating near Miller's farm in the northeast corner of Cape Girardeau County. The quarry, in operation since the early 1900s, was bought by Jackson-based MMD Stone in 2002...

Need housecleaning CAPE GIRARDEAU County Auditor David Ludwig should be forced to resign immediately and not collect his big salary. Why should the county pay him to waste time and taxpayer money and insult the women he works with? County government needs a good housecleaning...

Canadian bus passenger decapitates seat mate PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Manitoba — A traveler aboard a Greyhound bus repeatedly stabbed and then decapitated his seat mate, pausing during the attack in central Canada to display the head to passengers who had fled in horror, witnesses said Thursday. ...

Using a few things from around the house and some help from an adult you can create your own fire extinguisher. Materials n Vinegar n Baking soda n Glass bowl n Match Instructions STEP 1: Place 3 tablespoons of baking soda into the bottom of the glass bowl...

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI n Brian K. Wahlers, 41, of Jackson was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident. Arrests...

What is the test? Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, Missouri students must meet targets on the Missouri Assessment Program tests given in the spring. Who is tested? Third- through eighth-graders are tested in math and communication arts (CA). Sophomores are tested in math, and juniors are tested in communication arts. Science was a required tested subject this year but does not count toward adequate yearly progress...

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The story of deer attacking pedestrians on the Southern Illinois University campus in Carbondale is drawing national attention. SIU wildlife researcher Clay Nielsen is set to appear Sunday night on an hourlong Discovery Channel program called "When Animals Strike."...

ST. LOUIS -- James Raulerson, owner of Raulerson Farms in Pemiscot County, Mo., pleaded guilty Thursday to violations of the Clean Water Act for dumping waste from a biodiesel plant into the local water supply, according to a press release from federal prosecutor Catherine Hanaway's office...

State Sen. Chris Koster declined Thursday to criticize his former wife for financing a television ad questioning his fundraising and ethics as the race for Democratic nomination for Missouri attorney general enters its final days. Koster, a first-term state Senator and former Cass County prosecuting attorney, said during a Cape Girardeau campaign stop that he would not comment on his relationship with former spouse Rebecca Bowman Nassikas. ...

Manny's on the move. Junior, too. With more than 1,100 homers between them, two of baseball's greatest sluggers switched leagues just before the trade deadline Thursday to play prominent roles for playoff contenders. Unhappy in Boston, Manny Ramirez got his wish when he was shipped to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a blockbuster, three-team deal that sent outfielder Jason Bay from Pittsburgh to the Red Sox...

There's nothing quite like a marching band. I've seen a few of them over the years, particularly when our older son was in his high school's marching band. That high school band was a great source of community pride. It competed several times a year and always did well. My wife and I spent quite a few hours each year sitting on hard bleachers watching bands show off their latest routines and their musical ability. What fun it was...

Missouri can use state funds more effectively to promote small business, state Sen. Brad Lager said Thursday during a visit to Cape Girardeau promoting his campaign for state treasurer. Lager, R-Maryville, is unopposed in Tuesday's primary election. ...

Sady is a beautiful, sweet tempered 4.5 month-old Labrador/Rottweiler mix. She is available for adoption at The Humane Society of Southeast Missouri, 573-334-5837, Mon-Sat. 11am-5pm, Sun. 1-4pm. See more pets available at www.semopets.org.

State Sen. Chris Koster, locked in a fierce four-way battle for the Democratic nomination for Missouri attorney general, is looking everywhere he can for votes. Koster came to Cape Girardeau, not usually a stronghold for Democrats, on Thursday for what his campaign billed as a "Roundtable Discussion with First Responders and Workers Regarding the Important Partnership between Local Communities and the Attorney General's Office." He drew three people, all Cape Girardeau firefighters, including two of the leaders of Local 1084 of the International Association of Firefighters, to the event at VFW Post 3838.. ...

Twenty out of 46 Southeast Missouri schools failed to make progress on state tests in either communication arts or math this year. The mixed bag of results, released today by the state education department, show more schools than ever are struggling to keep up with increasing standards imposed through the No Child Left Behind Act...

Temperatures will top out in the mid-90s this afternoon and combine with high humidity to push the heat index over 100 degrees across Southeast Missouri and the surrounding region, according to National Weather Service forecast information.And the excessive heat will return next week.The weather service expects the heat index — a "feels-like" measure of heat and humidity's combined effects — to peak between 100 and 105 degrees today and stay above 100 degrees until after 7 p.m. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — In a 10-candidate field for Missouri’s second-ranking executive, two men are running ahead of the pack, as if they already are their party’s nominees. Republican Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder and one of his many Democratic challengers, state Rep. Sam Page, have been campaigning against each other in the final days before Tuesday’s party primary elections — even though they are on different ballots...

FENTON, Mo. (AP) -- Cleanup is under way at the Chrysler north plant in Fenton. The plant is still shut down after Thursday night's train derailment inside the facility. St. Louis County police say that around 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, two to three cars loaded with sheet metal derailed at the loading dock in the newest part of the Dodge truck plant...

PEVELY, Mo. (AP) -- Police are following a new lead in the case of a pregnant Pevely woman who disappeared almost three years ago. Amanda Jones disappeared after a scheduled meeting with the man she said fathered her baby boy. Now there's new interest in the case as a mysterious letter is stirring interest for police...

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. (AP) -- The search continues for two boaters who went missing after their 16-foot john boat capsized in the Mississippi River near Ste. Genevieve. The Missouri Water Patrol says the 16-foot aluminum fishing boat capsized Wednesday, about a half mile downstream from a ferry crossing in Ste. Genevieve...

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) — A 97-year-old woman says her cat's early morning yowling saved her from a house fire. Grace George, of Independence, said her cat Boo Boo's yowling from an open bedroom window early Wednesday woke her up from a sound sleep...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- St. Louis city and county leaders say passage of a half-cent sales tax in the county this fall is vital to the future of public transit in the region. At a forum Thursday to mark the 15th anniversary of Metrolink, the region's light rail system, Metro officials said service cuts or fare hikes will be likely next year if more funding isn't found...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Missouri's middle schoolers are on an educational upswing, improving both their math and reading scores in the state's public schools according to standardized test data released Friday. Other findings from the Missouri Assessment Program data were mixed. More districts and schools did not meet "adequate yearly progress" goals, though state education officials said that was due to more stringent requirements under federal law...

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Charges have been filed against two Illinois men who allegedly beat up a suburban Milwaukee man after a Brewers' loss to the Chicago Cubs at Miller Park. The Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office says 25-year-old Adam Miechle (MEE' chall) and 26-year-old Jerry Emert were charged Friday with substantial battery. Both men are from Downers Grove (Illinois)...

The Cape Girardeau County and Scott County clerks' offices will be open special Saturday hours to make it easier for voters to turn in or cast absentee ballots in advance of Tuesday's primary election, Cape Girardeau County Clerk Kara Clark and Scott County Clerk Rita Milam said...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Missouri attorney general's office reaches a $100,000 settlement with a Michigan company accused of aggressive telemarketing. The settlement resolves complaints that Associated Community Services contacted Missourians registered with the state's No-Call list. The attorney general's office says consumer complaints go back more than two years...

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) -- A suburban Kansas City man convicted of murder in the videotaped sex slaying of a 41-year-old woman is a rapist whose crimes have spanned two decades and become more intense over time, prosecutors told jurors on Friday. In urging the jury to recommend the death penalty for Richard Davis, prosecutors said that the 44-year-old Independence man raped a woman in 1987 and assaulted a 5-year-old girl while on the run from authorities in 2006...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- One of the 20 space capsules created for the United States' first human space flight has been installed at the McDonnell Planetarium in St. Louis. The Mercury capsules were manufactured in St. Louis by what was then the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation. The vessel that will be displayed in St. Louis is known as Capsule 19. It never flew, but was used as a training device for Project Mercury...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The company hired to overhaul Missouri's driver's license and motor vehicle records system is challenging a state law capping fees for those records. The lawsuit was filed by Virginia-based BearingPoint Inc. after lawmakers voted to limit the charge for driver's license and motor vehicle records to one-half cent per record. ...

PUXICO, Mo. — A Puxico man, 85-year-old Audrey Walk, died this week of injuries sustained in a wreck on July 24 that claimed the life of his 81-year-old wife, Ruth Walk. The accident occurred as Audrey Walk was driving on U.S. 60 and attempted to take the Route T ramp and apparently lost control of the vehicle, becoming airborne. The vehicle came to rest near the outer road in an upright position...

Havco Wood Products announced today that it will reduced the workforce at its Cape Girardeau plant by 60 full-time and 11 temporary employees. The move is effectively immediately. In a news release, Havco President and Chief Executive Officer Bruce Bader said the housing market was partly to blame for the decision...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The secretary of state's office estimates that less than one-third of Missouri's registered voters will go to the polls during Tuesday's primary elections. If the estimate holds, about 1.2 million of the 4 million registered to vote in Missouri will cast ballots. The estimate is based on data calculated by local election officials...

Virginia Conner Zimmer, 94, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, July 31, 2008, at Saint Francis Medical Center. She was born March 24, 1914, in Portsmouth, Ohio, daughter of Hiram and Ada Beckleham Hazlett. She and Chester M. Conner were married Nov. 16, 1935, in Vanceburg, Ky. He died in 1971. She was married to Al Zimmer June 14, 1975, in Houston. He died in 1983...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Alma Z. Kahmke, 97, of Florissant, Mo., formerly of Perryville, died Thursday, July 31, 2008, at Northgate Park Nursing Home in Florissant. She was born May 24, 1911, in Perryville, daughter of John and Emma Gerstacker Moldenhauer. She and Frederick C. Kahmke were married July 1, 1930. He died July 6, 1987...

Anna Lee Howard, 75, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Aug. 1, 2008, at her home. She was born Feb. 15, 1933, at Leemon, Mo., daughter of Lee Burton and Virginia Abernathy Seabaugh. She and Richard Howard were married June 10, 1959. He died Sept. 8, 1966...

Vacation Bible school sessions scheduled for coming week n "Veggie Tales; Pirates That Don't Do Anything" is the theme for vacation Bible school at First General Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau. Classes for children age 3 through sixth grade will be from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Snacks will be served. Call the church at 334-2234 if transportation is needed...

I am a list person. The first item on my to-do list is "create list." My fellow compulsives and listers will agree that checking off each item as the day goes on feels great. Posted on my refrigerator is a list with some of the most important building blocks of life: Crayons, glue sticks, markers and the ever-popular box of tissues. It's the latest school supply list...

I never gave much thought to the reasons people take trips. Aside from business, visits, emergencies, pleasure or to get away from it all, what other excuses did people use for getting away? What rewards did excursions provide? In a movie I recently watched, a young man named Luke went on a journey to find answers to his life's dilemma. ...

The Bible says "Sing unto the Lord a new song." A group from Cape First Assembly of God Church is singing a CD of new of praise that will be released nationwide in mid-September. The CD comes with an accompanying DVD and set of chord charts and lyrics...

BOONE COUNTY, Mo. — After two days of testimony and several hours of deliberation, a Boone County jury convicted Vincent Keith Minner for the murder of 49-year-old Michael Terry of Sikeston, Mo., today. Evidence and testimony showed that on Dec. 5, 2006, Minner, 43, of New Madrid, Mo., shot and stabbed Terry in his home at 819 Davis Blvd. in Sikeston. Terry's wife also suffered injuries in the attack...

SIKESTON, Mo. — A parade and day full of events will kick off the 56th annual Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo today. The rodeo parade begins at 10 a.m. today. Lineup will be at 9 a.m. at the Sikeston Area Chamber of Commerce. "I think we're on schedule, and everything will be fine," said Rodeo parade chairman Ben Wrather about getting ready the event...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Despite setbacks for this year's German Days celebration in Chaffee, people working for the city are going to keep the tradition running strong. It might hurt attendance that two of last year's big attractions -- carnival rides and a softball game -- will not be present at the celebration this year, said Tom Cunningham, a Chaffee Elks lodge member. The lodge helps to organize the event...

Missouri Commission on Human Rights defines sexual harassment as "a form of sex discrimination based on sexually explicit behavior." According to guidelines posted on the state's Web site for the commission, there are several degrees of harassment:...

Albert W. "Bud" Job, 85, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, July 31, 2008, at Saint Francis Medical Center. Visitation will be 4 to 8 p.m. at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home. Funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church...

To the editor: Earmarks are the way Congress works. Legislators propose a bill that is necessary and well-publicized. Legislators add their individual requests for money that goes back to their districts. Earmarks usually have nothing to do with the big bill. ...

The Downtown Revitalization and Economic Assistance for Missouri Initiative and improvements to recreation facilities were among the project updates by four city leaders at the monthly First Friday Coffee in Cape Girardeau. "We are determined to exceed the expectations of the community," parks and recreation advisory board chairman Danny Essner told about 170 business leaders inside the Show Me Center. "Our staff has their ducks in a row."...

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers sped for the exits Friday as Congress was to begin a five-week recess. As its last major act, the House passed by a 409-4 vote its first spending bill, a $72.7 billion measure awarding increases to veterans programs and military base construction projects...

ST. LOUIS -- A consultant to minority-owned businesses who was part of a 1999 protest blocking morning rush hour on Interstate -70 in St. Louis pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns. Federal prosecutor Catherine Hanaway says the false tax returns involved money 61-year-old Eddie Hasan of St. Louis received as a consultant to minority-owned businesses. His group, MOKAN, also monitored minority participation in construction contracts in St. Louis...

To the editor: This letter is in response to the July 29 article regarding Cape Girardeau County Auditor David Ludwig's return to office. Who is Virgie Koeppel trying to kid? She has never hesitated in the past to speak up to or against her boss. If Mr. Ludwig showed her an offensive collage, why did she not simply move away and report it then? How could either of the deputies see what was on his computer screen when his desk faces away from theirs?...

HANNIBAL -- Mark Twain Lake is beginning to slowly decline, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers isn't breathing easy yet, saying another big storm could subject the area to more flooding. The man-made lake in northeast Missouri had risen to record levels this week...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Vanda Ann Cannon, 65, of Chaffee died Monday, July 28, 2008, at Chaffee Nursing Center. She was born Sept. 13, 1942, in DuQuoin, Ill., daughter of Vandy and Hilda Sanders Byrd. Survivors include two sons, Tim and Terry Cannon of Chaffee; a daughter, Debbie Jones of Chaffee; and five grandchildren...

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrest n Christina Lynn Brumbaugh, 30, 681 E. Jefferson St. in Jackson, was arrested on suspicion of stealing. n Nieko Dujuan Kuykendoll, 17, 923 Good Hope St., was arrested on suspicion of assault, armed criminal action and robbery...

A story in Tuesday's edition should have reported that Kenneth Waldron, Republican candidate for District 1 commissioner, is exempt from filing a campaign finance report because he is not raising or spending more than $1,000 for his campaign.

Barbara Ann Hudgins Hammock, 67, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, July 31, 2008, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Thursday: n At 7:10 p.m., a boat rescue on the Mississippi River. n At 8:46 p.m., emergency medical service in the 2400 block of Camel Back Road. Firefighters responded to the following calls Friday:...

Wilver W. Wessell, 89, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, July 31, 2008, at Saint Francis Medical Center. Visitation will be from noon to service time Sunday at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home. The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home...

Havco Wood Products announced Friday that it will reduce the work force at its Cape Girardeau plant by 60 full-time and 11 temporary employees. The move went into effect immediately. In a news release, Havco president and chief executive officer Bruce Bader said the housing market was partly to blame for the decision...

NEW YORK -- Exclusive photos of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's newborn twins fetched $14 million, a person involved in the negotiations told The Associated Press, giving People magazine and a British tabloid joint rights to publish the most expensive celebrity pictures ever sold...

KENNETT, Mo. — After a weeklong investigation, the Dunklin County Sheriff's Office has arrested a Kennett resident and a Conway, Ark. resident for theft of irrigation pivot parts and copper wire. Jimmy Lee Linley, 26, of Conway, and Frankie Wayne Pitts, 36, of Kennett, were charged with theft of $500 or more or less than $25,000 for taking copper wire and pivot parts without the consent of the owners...

XI'AN, China -- Finally, China had an act of nature it could celebrate. After an Olympic year of freakish natural disasters, crowds of Chinese watched a total solar eclipse along the country's ancient Silk Road on Friday, one week before the start of the Summer Games in Beijing...

LOS ANGELES -- One man got stabbed. Another got shot in the chest. A 6-year-old boy was temporarily blinded when he was spray-painted in the face. And they were the lucky ones among those who have had run-ins with graffiti "crews," or gangs. Over the past 2 1/2 years in Southern California, three people have been killed after trying to stop graffiti vandals in the act. A fourth died after being shot while watching a confrontation between crews in a park...

MINNEAPOLIS -- Buddhist monks chanted, American Indians pounded drums, and Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Greek Orthodox and Catholic leaders offered prayers and scripture Friday, reflecting the religious backgrounds of those who died a year ago when the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed during the evening rush hour...

WASHINGTON -- Federal agents were closing in, and Bruce Ivins knew it. The Army microbiologist who was working on a vaccine for anthrax poisoning was now being grilled as a suspect in the 2001 letter attacks that killed five people and sickened 17. FBI agents were staking out his house...

To the editor: When do children become throwaways? In the late 1800s, the juvenile justice system was created because the public conscience was outraged by the unspeakable atrocities children faced when placed in adult prisons and jails. Then they were returned to society as hardened criminals. As the system developed, it became clear that housing young offenders and adult prisoners together was self-destructive and self-defeating...

The Cape Girardeau Police Department is investigating a theft that took place Friday at Ryan's Steakhouse involving a man who claimed he was mute. Around 12:30 p.m. near the Pear Tree Inn, officers arrested a man who Ryan's personnel said had been taking tip money off tables at the restaurant, said Sgt. Barry Hovis, spokesman for the Cape Girardeau Police Department...

WASHINGTON -- Stores, factories and other businesses large and small showed workers the door last month, sending unemployment to its highest rate in four years and adding to the evidence an economic recovery remains far off. Employers clamped down on hiring and cut 51,000 jobs in July, the Labor Department said Friday. The economy has shed jobs each month this year -- 463,000 in all...

BAGHDAD -- Just months after Americans repaired a sewage treatment plant in southern Baghdad, insurgents attacked the facility and killed the manager. Looters took care of the rest. Nearly three years later, the plant remains an abandoned shell. Raw sewage is still flowing freely through giant pipes into the Tigris River, ending up in some of the capital's drinking water. And those pipes are hardly the only source of contamination...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Diana Lynn Eldridge, 45, of Advance died Friday, Aug. 1, 2008, at her home. She was born Aug. 28, 1962, in Crain, Texas, daughter of George and Veta Carver Martin. She retired from Horizons in Advance. She was a member of the Advance Eagles...

MOUND CITY, Ill. -- Barbara Jane Eatmon, 68, of Mound City died Wednesday, July 30, 2008, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Feb. 15, 1940, at Smithland, Ky., daughter of Roy Leon and Glenna Sauvage Lemon. Eatmon was a member of the First Baptist Church in Mound City and a retired manager of a convenience store...

WASHINGTON -- A divided Federal Communications Commission has ruled that Comcast Corp. violated federal policy when it blocked Internet traffic for some subscribers and has ordered the cable giant to change the way it manages its network. In a precedent-setting move, the FCC by a 3-2 vote on Friday enforced a policy that guarantees customers open access to the Internet...

Positive change IT TAKES huge amounts of revenue to run a city, and a casino brings in great amounts of revenue. Good or bad, the other alternative is higher taxes. We can't have it both ways. It's time to open our eyes and accept change as a positive thing...

Reading: static/regressing. Math: getting better. That's the summary report of Cape Girardeau students' performance on state tests. Missouri Assessment Program results were released this week. With a few exceptions, district reading scores were either stagnant or lower, some as much as 20 percent. But, nearly across the board, math scores rose significantly. Out of 14 instances where growth was displayed in a grade level, 11 were in math...

SIKESTON, Mo. — A 45-minute police standoff Thursday ended with the arrest of a Sikeston man wanted on a misdemeanor warrant. Around 12:20 p.m. Thursday, Sikeston Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers were called to 210 Jackson St. for a disturbance between a father and son who were arguing in front of their home when officers arrived, according to a news release from DPS. ...

The Cape Girardeau County clerk's office will be open special hours today to make it easier for voters to turn in or cast absentee ballots in advance of Tuesday's primary election, County Clerk Kara Clark said. The clerk's main office on the third floor of the County Administration Building, 1 Barton Square in Jackson, will be open from 8 a.m. ...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Roadside bombs killed five NATO soldiers and a civilian in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, while a coalition of aid groups warned that violence is spreading to once-stable regions and forcing them to scale back humanitarian work...

PUXICO, Mo. — A Puxico man, 85-year-old Audrey Walk, died Tuesday of injuries sustained in a wreck on July 24 that claimed the life of his 81-year-old wife, Ruth Walk. The accident occurred as Audrey Walk was driving on U.S. 60 and attempted to take the Route T ramp and apparently lost control of the vehicle, becoming airborne. The vehicle came to rest near the outer road in an upright position...

The two women working as deputy auditors for Cape Girardeau County say they have been told they must forgive their boss for using the Internet to repeatedly view and print images of half-naked women and forget that it happened. According to deputy auditors Virgie Koeppel and Beth Biri, they were instructed to "forgive, forget and move on for the good of the county" Thursday by the county's prosecuting attorney, Morley Swingle, and the attorney for County Auditor David Ludwig, Al Lowes...

Police arrested a Cape Girardeau man and woman after finding them in possession of $1,400 worth of heroin in an M&Ms wrapper, according to a news release from the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Benjamin R. Gates, 28, and Emily B. Brown, 29, were arrested in the 1600 block of North Kingshighway and each charged with single counts of possession of heroin with intent to distribute, said Sgt. Barry Hovis, spokesman for the Cape Girardeau Police Department...

by Mark Langenfeld July 24, 2008 We are well into our trip now, and while the nature of this type of travel never gets into a routine we do find ourselves into a certain rhythm of the journey. We don't know in the morning how many miles we'll cover or where we'll stop for the night or what we'll do during the day or what we'll discover. ...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Kathryn Nichole Nolen and Kyle Quincy Proffitt were married Sept. 29, 2007, at First Baptist Church in Chaffee. The Rev. Cliff Day performed the ceremony. Pianist was Becky Hanlon of Chaffee. The bride is the daughter of David and Jennifer Nolen of Chaffee. The groom is the son of Keith and Nancy Proffitt of Camden, Mo...

Ashlei Jo East and John Douglas Sterling were married July 5, 2008, at the Bridge Church in Cape Girardeau. Winston Wiliford performed the ceremony. Soloist was Pam Wiliford. The bride is the daughter of Rick East and Donna Sanders of Cape Girardeau. The groom is the son of Steve Sterling of Illinois and Donna Jenkins of Arkansas...

Mr. and Mrs. James Seyer of Dutchtown celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a dinner and dance June 22, 2008, at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Scott City. Hosts were their sons, Herb and Jim Seyer of Cape Girardeau, Mike Seyer of Dutchtown, Ken Seyer of Perryville, Mo., and Jeff Seyer of Fruitland...

Dorothy Carmer of Columbus, Ind., announces the engagement of her daughter, Cynthia Louise Essick, to Anthony Chance Neal, both of Jackson. He is the son of Cynthia Bartlett and the late Billy Neal of Huntsville, Ala. Essick is also the daughter of the late Marshall Carmer...

Richard Urhahn of Cape Girardeau and Brenda Martens of Scott City announce the engagement of their daughter, Casie Nicole Urhahn, to Ryan Stephen McGill, both of Cape Girardeau. He is the son of Donna Laurentius of Cape Girardeau, and the late Gregory McGill...

Amanda Marie Frost and Jared Walter Ronald Keller were married May 24, 2008, at Francine's Gardens. The Rev. Douglas Breite performed the ceremony. The bride is the daughter of Peter Frost and Anne Laffoon of Washington, D.C., and Margaret Lucero and Robert Allen of Corpus Christi, Texas. The groom is the son of Ron and Vicki Keller of Cape Girardeau, and the late Vicky Lou Keller...

Varonnica Patrice Murphy and Christopher John Kirn were united in marriage May 17, 2008, at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church. The Revs. Rahab Isidor and Augustine Alilonu performed the ceremony. Eucharistic ministers were Donna Sadler of Chaffee, Mo., godmother of the groom; Shirley Hrabar of Jackson, grandmother of the bride; and Ann Broehl of East Brunswick, N.J., aunt of the bride...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Jon and Tonyua Townsend of Chaffee announce the engagement of their daughter, Natalie Marie Townsend, to Joshua Joseph Govreau of Cape Girardeau. He is the son of Joe and Joey Govreau of Viburnum, Mo. Townsend is a 2004 graduate of Chaffee High School. She received a bachelor of science degree in human environmental studies from Southeast Missouri State University in 2008. She is a science teacher at Bell City High School in Bell City, Mo...

NEW HAMBURG, Mo. -- Doug and Cheryl Johnson of New Hamburg announce the engagement of their daughter, Allison Ann Johnson, to Chad Matthew Fodge. He is the son of Mike and Jeannie Fodge of Benton, Mo. Johnson is a graduate of Kelly High School. She is a medical assistant with Southeast Missouri ENT Consultants...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Robert and Joan Dean of Perryville announce the engagement of their daughter, Rebecca Ann Dean, to Timothy Andrew Bass, both of O'Fallon, Mo. He is the son of Laura Rice of Canyon Lake, Texas, and Richard Blackthorn of Columbia, Mo...

SEDGEWICKVILLE, Mo. -- Kevin and Elaine Shoemake of Sedgewickville announce the engagement of their daughter, Brittany Dawn Shoemake, to Andrew Seth Abernathy, son of Stephen and Carole Abernathy of Sedgewickville. Shoemake is a 2004 graduate of Meadow Heights High School at Patton, Mo. She expects to receive a bachelor of science degree in housing and interior design from Southeast Missouri State University in August. She is employed at Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse in Cape Girardeau...

Dana Katherine Rambo and Anthony Clyde Lawrence exchanged vows June 7, 2008, at Cape County Park South. Michelle Gary performed the ceremony. The bride is the daughter of Mary Gillen of Jackson. The groom is the son of Melvin and Rose Lawrence of Tamms, Ill...

Melba Steinbach of Cape Girardeau announces the engagement of her daughter, Pamela Jean McQuay, to David Phillip Grimes, both of Cape Girardeau. He is the son of the late Alfred Grimes of Chicago, the late Laverne Grimes of Crystal Lake, Ill., and the late Marilouise Grimes of Denver, Colo. McQuay is also the daughter of the late Donald M. McQuay of Friedheim, Mo...

David E. and Sherry Powers of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Ashley S. Powers, to Bradley S. Martin. He is the son of Donald and Marilyn Martin of Tamms, Ill., and Barbara Franklin of Wickliffe, Ky. Powers is a 2001 graduate of Jackson High School. She received an associate degree of applied science from Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center in 2007. She is a registered respiratory therapist at Southeast Missouri Hospital...

CHAFFEE, Mo. --For more than 20 years the German Days celebration in Chaffee has attracted people looking to catch up with old friends as well as to create new memories. "Every year it's the same thing, but it's great," said Linda Lee, who for the past 20 years has been working at the lemon shake-up stand...

Anna Lee Howard Anna Lee Howard, 75, of Cape Girardeau passed away Friday, Aug. 1, 2008, at her home. She was born Feb. 15, 1933, in Leemon, Mo., to Burton and Virginia Abernathy Seabaugh. She and Richard Howard were married June 10, 1959. He passed away Sept. 8, 1966...

Lois Beaudean Lois V. "Ginger" Beaudean, 88, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, July 31, 2008, at The Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 20, 1920, in Salem, Ill., daughter of Guy Ezert and Lettie Ina (Minton) Smead. Her family soon moved to Cape Girardeau, where Lois attended Cape Girardeau Central High School and graduated in 1937. ...

Albert Job Albert W. "Bud" Job, 85, of Cape Girardeau, died Thursday, July 31, 2008, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born June 7, 1923, in Cape Girardeau, son of Arthur and Ella Louise Schwab Job. He and Edna Ida Heisserer were married June 26, 1948, at St. Augustine Church in Kelso, Mo...

Joyce Dunn R. Joyce Dunn, 50, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, July 31, 2008, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born March 19, 1958, in St. Louis, daughter of Mona Pulliam. She and Steve Dunn were married Aug. 26, 1989, in Cape Girardeau...

Plaza Tire Capahas manager Jess Bolen believes this could be among the better teams he has taken to the National Baseball Congress World Series. That's saying something, considering Bolen has directed the Capahas the past 42 years and the tradition-rich squad has made 27 consecutive NBC World Series appearances...

Chaffee High School recently hired a new girls basketball coach to replace Chance White, who resigned in July after four seasons. Courtney Urhahn has accepted her first high school coaching position. She will lead the Red Devils varsity, junior varsity, and the seventh- and eighth-grade teams...

In just their fourth year of existence, the Charleston Fighting Squirrels have advanced to the Senior Babe Ruth World Series for the first time in the program history. The Squirrels won the Midwest Plains Regional tournament, which they hosted last week at Hillhouse Park, and will begin play later this week in Newark, Ohio...

The Jackson Soccer Park and other amenities are nearby, but this home allows plenty of privacy. Located in the Jackson School District, this subdivision is similar to properties on a golf course with its manicured yards and space between homes. Neighboring homes are not separated by fences...

Robert Bradbury Robert E. Bradbury, 55, of Sikeston, Mo., died Friday, Aug. 1, 2008, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Barkett Funeral Home in Cairo, Ill.

All week conservative leaders have been celebrating the 20th anniversary of Cape Girardeau native Rush Limbaugh's nationally syndicated radio show by calling in comments of praise. Rush initiated the first three-hour talk program on basically dead-at-the-time AM radio. Since then, others have followed, but no liberal radio program has been successful...

To the editor: My co-worker and I were going to jobs in Illinois. My co-worker, since the age of 16, has worn his seat belt every day. Four months ago I got a seat-belt ticket in Illinois and have worn mine ever since. We weren't in Illinois long when an Alexander County sheriff's deputy pulled us over...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri attorney general's office announced Friday that it has reached a $100,000 settlement with a company accused of aggressive telemarketing. The settlement, filed in St. Louis, resolves complaints that Associated Community Services in Michigan contacted Missourians registered with the state's No-Call List...

HAIKU, Hawaii -- Cheryl Gowadia couldn't figure out why FBI agents in riot gear, guns drawn, were storming her home on Maui's tranquil North Shore. At first, she thought they might be after the man building a pond in her backyard. Instead, she was stunned to learn they wanted to question her husband, a former B-2 stealth bomber engineer...

To the editor: I am writing in reference to the Speak Out comment "Thanks for mowing: We want to thank the Cape Girardeau County Highway Department for the mowing it recently did on Route W in the Boutin Drive area. Everyone who drives in this area is thankful."...

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Rescue workers called off the search for survivors in the debris of a girls dormitory that collapsed in central Turkey after pulling out the body of the 18th victim, an official said Saturday. The three-story building crumbled with a pre-dawn explosion in central Konya province Friday, trapping dozens inside...

CHARLESTON, Mo. — Bolstered by support from the Mississippi County Commission and a local state representative, a group seeking commemoration for a historic sharecropper protest will present their case to the Missouri Legislature this week. Following a program conducted in front of the county war memorial outside the courthouse, the commemoration's proponents met with county commissioners during their regular meeting Thursday...

IRONTON, Mo. -- A Humane Society rescue ranch is caring for a horse officials say was dragged behind a four-wheeler last week in Iron County. The Humane Society said Friday a horse was dragged more than 200 feet on gravel and pavement near Ironton. The 2-year-old male horse was treated by a veterinarian for exposed tissue, muscle and bone injuries on his side. ...

SUTTON ISLAND, Maine -- The Postal Service has ended a long tradition in which mail delivered to Maine's small offshore Sutton Island by a private ferry service was left in a specially marked trash can on the island's dock. Postal Service higher-ups got wind of the practice that served residents of about 25 seasonal homes on Sutton Island. They decided it had to be halted because it provides no security for the mail...

Husband-and-wife journalists Bob Miller and Callie Clark Miller use this space to offer their views on everyday issues. A recent e-mail exchange between husband and wife: On 7/14/08 9:42 AM, "Callie Clark Miller" wrote: Dear Bob, Every Wednesday night at 8 p.m. for the next 14 weeks, your wife shall be otherwise engaged. You will need to make plans to care for Dawson between 8 and 9 p.m. on those dates...

WARSAW, Poland -- They are two silver-haired ladies with a special bond forged in the Holocaust. One is the daughter of Jews who perished under the Nazis, the other her Roman Catholic rescuer. Today Janina Pietrasiak, 74, and Maria Lopuszanska, 79, live like sisters around the corner from each other in a Warsaw neighborhood shaded by chestnut trees...

Murray Son to Torrance LeEdward Murray and Christen Michelle Wheeler of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 3:49 p.m. Wednesday, July 16, 2008. Name, Torrance LeEdward. Weight, 7 pounds, 7 ounces. Second child, first son. Ms. Wheeler is the daughter of Doris Wheeler and Steve Wheeler of Charleston, Mo. She is a graduate student. Murray is the son of Jessica Murray and DeRandy Jennings of Charleston. He is employed at DW Tool Inc...

25 years ago: Aug. 3, 1983 SIKESTON, Mo. -- Scott County Coroner Tom Nunnelee warns residents, particularly the elderly, to take precautions during this heat wave; the warning comes after the heat-related death of 65-year-old Clarence Robinson, who died of cardiac arrest Monday; it is the second heat-related death here within a week...

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Cardinals conceded the Matt Clement signing was a failed gamble on Saturday, releasing a right-hander who has struggled to return from shoulder surgery in 2006. The Cardinals also announced that outfielder Chris Duncan would undergo surgery to repair a ruptured disc in his neck on Monday, a procedure that is likely to end a star-crossed season. ...

Butterfly magnet TO THE person who has noticed a shortage of bees, butterflies and hummingbirds: I suggest you get a butterfly bush. They will flock to it. We have an abundance. Police are responding AT LEAST the Jackson police are responding to and taking care of crime on the corner of Shawnee Avenue and East Main Street in Jackson. What would really be aggravating is if they weren't...

In all the years since Missouri legislators first enacted the Sunshine Law, the state's open meeting and open records law, public officials, appointed and elected, have used ignorance of the law as an excuse for not complying with its many provisions...

NEW YORK -- A 12-year-old girl just wanted to show her cousin the view from her family's Manhattan rooftop. Instead, she fell into a chimney and plummeted down the flue for 14 stories, emerging nearly unscathed to tell her story after landing in a pile of furnace soot...

WASHINGTON -- Answers to one of the nation's highest- profile unsolved mysteries are in documents that could be released as early as this week -- and help explain how the government chased the wrong suspect for years. Prosecutors were mulling this weekend whether to close the anthrax poisoning investigation this week, possibly as early as Monday or Tuesday. ...

BEIJING -- The short, catchy film commissioned by the Chinese government was designed to plant a new, positive image of China in foreigners' minds for the Beijing Olympics. But instead of airing worldwide more than two months ago as planned, the 30-second TV spot is only now about to reach viewers, having been delayed repeatedly by Tibetan riots, a devastating earthquake and foreign criticism buffeting the games...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Abundant spring rainfall and the highest temperatures of the summer are combining to create potentially life-threatening conditions in Missouri and Kansas, the National Weather service said Saturday. Temperatures were approaching the mid-90s in Kansas City on Saturday afternoon and expected to get close to 100 by the end of the weekend. But it's the humidity that is making things dangerous, the weather service said...

Democratic candidates facing off for the office of Scott County sheriff have each raised thousands in campaign contributions. What incumbent Rick Walter and challenger Bobby Sullivan plan to do about a half-cent sales tax may have more power to sway voters...

On April 17, Cape Girardeau County commissioners privately confronted County Auditor David Ludwig for using his county computer to view and print images of half-naked women. In the moments before Ludwig was called into the room, Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones asked the county's prosecuting attorney, Morley Swingle, if what Ludwig did could be considered sexual harassment. Here is the audio of his question and Swingle's answer...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A Virginia company hired to overhaul the computer system for Missouri's driver's license and motor vehicle records has filed a lawsuit challenging a new state law capping fees for buying those records. The suit filed by BearingPoint Inc. is another round in the wrangling that has followed the Missouri Department of Revenue's decision to charge $7 per driver's license or motor vehicle record...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Hamas forces battled Fatah-linked fighters with mortars and machine guns in a crowded Gaza neighborhood Saturday, leaving at least four dead in the worst Palestinian infighting in nine months. About 80 people were injured, 12 of them children, hospital officials said...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Friday: n At 7:52 p.m., an alarm at 1000 Towers Circle. n At 9:42 p.m., emergency medical service at Merriwether Street and South Henderson Avenue. n At 8:19 p.m., an alarm at 1389 Southern Expressway...

To the editor: With one homeless person already being found dead in Cape Girardeau, many of us are wondering what city officials are doing about the rest of them. While fishing at Capaha Park with my grandchildren, I realized that there are no fewer than four homeless people using the park as their base of operation. ...

When the contest for District 1 commissioner for Cape Girardeau County began, the candidates talked about roads. Specifically, they each sought to portray themselves as having qualifications that make them the best person to oversee and improve the county's paving program...

Monika Lidia Piskorz and Charles Travis Keen were married April 19, 2008, at Emanuel United Church of Christ in Jackson. The Rev. Samuel Roethemeyer performed the ceremony. Soloist was Ashley Reed of Jackson. The bride is the daughter of Krystyna Piskorz of Koszalin, Poland, and the late Witold Piskorz. The groom is the son of Bonnie and Mike Bollinger and Mike and Carol Keen, all of Jackson...

Julie and Mark Langenfeld are happy to be back in their Cape Girardeau home. But their trip across the continental United States is a reflection of how much they love to travel. From July 1 to 27, Julie Langenfeld and her father, Mark, set out on a trip to traverse 48 states. Julie, who just turned 16, got to test her new driving skills in their 1968 Mercedes-Benz. Julie is the third generation of Langenfeld's to drive the car...

Annabelle Hartle Annabelle Hartle, 98, of Millersville died Thursday, July 31, 2008, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born March 2, 1910, in Morehouse, Mo., daughter of Charlie and Leona Proffer Wofford. She and Harry R. Hartle were married March 20, 1931. He died Dec. 22, 1983...

ST. LOUIS -- Albert Pujols was one of five St. Louis Cardinals who took a called third strike against Joe Blanton. It was a solid indicator that the Phillies' right-hander was on his game. Blanton won for the first time since joining Philadelphia in a mid-July trade with the Athletics, riding home runs from Ryan Howard and Greg Dobbs to a 2-1 victory on Saturday night...

Cape Girardeau County Clerk Kara Clark is preparing for a primary election turnout Tuesday that could rival the record numbers that voted in February's presidential primary. As of midafternoon Friday, more than 350 absentee ballots had been returned for the election and another 130 were in the hands of voters with two additional days of absentee voting before the primary...

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Assaults n Third-degree assault and theft were reported at Ryan's Family Steak House. n First-degree assault was reported. Thefts n A license plate was reported stolen at 2802 Independence St...

ATLANTA -- The number of Americans infected by the AIDS virus each year is much higher than the government has been estimating, U.S. health officials reported, acknowledging that their numbers have understated the level of the epidemic. The country had roughly 56,300 new HIV infections in 2006 -- a dramatic increase from the 40,000 annual estimate used for the past dozen years. ...

Wilver Wessel Wilver W. Wessel, 89, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, July 31, 2008, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born May 14, 1919, in Cape Girardeau to August and Emma Suedekum Wessel. He and Dolores Holland were married on Aug. 21, 1942, in Cape Girardeau. She died May 8, 2003...

Cape Girardeau's County commissioners don't see eye to eye on many issues these days. But none of them wanted Auditor David Ludwig to come back. When an employee for the second time filed a complaint against Ludwig for printing pictures of scantily clad women where female subordinates found them, the commissioners called for his resignation. Ludwig refused...

WASHINGTON -- The different paths John McCain and Barack Obama have taken to support expanded offshore drilling for oil demonstrate how each would govern as president, their supporters said Sunday. McCain surrogates contended on the Sunday news programs that the Arizona Republican's turn toward drilling, which he had once opposed, showed how McCain would respond decisively to a crisis. ...

SAN FRANCISCO -- When Abbott Laboratories Inc. raised the price of a popular AIDS drug by 400 percent in 2003, executives prepared for the inevitable public relations hit, but assured themselves the backlash would be brief. Nearly five years later, the accusations against Abbott are still flying...

Limbaugh joins St. Louis law firm as senior counsel Stephen N. Limbaugh Sr., former United States District Court judge for the Eastern District of Missouri, has joined Armstrong Teasdale LLP law firm as senior counsel. Limbaugh will be a member of the firm's litigation practice in St. ...

Lindle O. Crites, 84, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, Aug. 2, 2008, at Saint Francis Medical Center. He was born May 29, 1924, in Cape Girardeau County, son of Kergious and Ella Seabaugh Crites. He and Juanita (Holshouser) Crites were married June 5, 1948, in Cape Girardeau County...

Dorothy Henson Young, 84, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Aug. 3, 2008, in Cape Girardeau. She was born Oct. 31, 1923, in Portageville, Mo., to Benjamin and Myrtle Mae Crites Henson. She and Cletis Baldwin Young were married Oct. 15, 1946, in Portageville. He died March 16, 1979...

ADVANCE, Mo — William "Bill" Holland, 79, of Advance was born Feb. 14, 1929, in Mississippi, son of Romie and Edna Holland. He passed away Aug. 2, 2008, at his home. Bill was a retired maintenance worker for McDonalds. He was also a firefighter and an avid guitar player. He played with The McAtee's and Harold and the Boys...

Memories of my first evening as a resident of Cape Girardeau will forever be associated with Drury Hotels and Suites. Instead of spending the night in a near-empty apartment, my wife and I opted for one of their hotels with the comforts of home. While there are other fine hotels in Cape Girardeau and the surrounding area, I was impressed with Drury's rooms, free amenities and service. Apparently, I'm not alone...

Under a federal mandate, Missouri's Department of Natural Resources has been monitoring ozone pollution around the state. It must report to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by next March which counties should be designated as "nonattainment" counties, meeting they have exceeded federal pollution standards. ...

ST. LOUIS -- Rick Ankiel missed his eighth straight start with an abdominal strain Sunday night, and wasn't sure when he'd be ready to return to the Cardinals lineup. Batting .281 with 22 home runs and 59 RBIs, Ankiel has been limited to pinch-hit appearances since he was injured. ...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Saturday: n At 6:11 p.m., emergency medical service at 13 Doctors Park. n At 7:26 p.m., emergency medical service in the 1000 block of Caufield Drive. n At 9:35 p.m., emergency medical service in the 1600 block of North Spanish Street...

Cape County AARP chapter meets today The Cape Girardeau County chapter of AARP will meet at 1:30 p.m. today at Grace United Methodist Church in Cape Girardeau. The program, presented by Bollinger County librarian and historian Eva Dunn, will be "Bollinger County Museum Artifacts and History." There will be a door prize...

NEW ORLEANS -- Tropical Storm Edouard churned west in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday night and was expected to strengthen to a near-hurricane before making landfall Tueadsy somewhere in Texas. The National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch for the coasts of western Louisiana and eastern Texas late Sunday, meaning hurricane conditions were possible the next 24 hours from Intracoastal City to Port O'Connor, Texas...

25 years ago: Aug. 4, 1983 The Cape Girardeau City Council yesterday gave initial approval to an ordinance establishing a downtown special business district, a move that Main Street merchants and Chamber of Commerce officials say will aid downtown redevelopment...

Dickey Son to Justin Levi Dickey and Token R. Bierschwal of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 10:35 p.m. Wednesday, July 23, 2008. Name, Gauge Michael. Weight, 7 pounds, 9 ounces. Second child, first son. Ms. Bierschwal is the daughter of Jan Bierschwal and Rocky Bierschwal of Cape Girardeau. Dickey is the son of Michael Dickey and Linda Dickey of Cape Girardeau. He is employed at Cheekwood Studio...

A recent article in the Baltimore Sun had some flattering words for Southeast Missouri State product Edgar Jones, who is in his second season as a linebacker with the Baltimore Ravens. Jones saw limited action as an NFL rookie last season after he made the Ravens as an undrafted free agent, but he has been getting plenty of front-line work so far in training camp as Pro Bowler Terrell Suggs will likely sit out the preseason because of his franchise-player designation...

WASHINGTON -- Alaska is young. Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia have growing populations and many black voters. Montana has seen recent Democratic inroads, and North Dakota has sent only Democrats to Congress since 1986. Indiana borders Barack Obama's home state...

WINFIELD, Mo. -- More than a month after the Mississippi River inundated this northeast Missouri town, volunteers have begun removing the hundreds of thousands of sandbags used to keep the floodwaters at bay. Residents and others frantically built a 4-foot tall sandbag wall between the river and the city of about 750 five weeks ago. In total, the half-mile wall contained about 500,000 sandbags...

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- It was 6:15 on a Monday evening as Karen Foley took the stage. The auditorium at the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art was filled to capacity with people standing outside the door and along the walls. "Who ever heard of announcing an event and never sending out invitations?" Foley asked the group...

AKRON, Ohio -- Vijay Singh raised both hands over his head when he saw his 3-foot par putt swirl into the cup for a one-shot victory, a familiar sight for someone who has won 32 times on the PGA Tour. This was more relief than celebration at the Bridgestone Invitational...

Jerry Waddle is a recognized name in the education field in Southeast Missouri. Over the last four decades, Waddle has been a teacher, a principal and the superintendent of the Delta, Kelly and Dexter school districts; worked for the state education department; taught educational leadership at Southeast Missouri State University and been director of the Regional Professional Development Center...

FANCY FARM, Ky. -- First there was the obligatory handshake between Sen. Mitch McConnell and Democratic challenger Bruce Lunsford, followed by the coin toss for their speaking order. As it turned out, that was the last time the Senate minority leader acknowledged his opponent in their showdown at the annual Fancy Farm Picnic on Saturday, signaling the start of the fall campaign...

TAMMS, Ill. — Perry Arnold, 64, of Booneville, Mo., died Saturday, Aug. 2, 2008, at University Hospital in Columbia, Mo. Visitation will be today from 5 to 8 p.m. at Crain Funeral Home in Tamms. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the funeral home. Interment will be in the Olive Branch Cemetery...

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI n Craig A. Stevens, 41, 401 Lou Ann Drive, Herrin, Ill., was issued a summons for driving while intoxicated and speeding....

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Voters take your pick: health care or welfare? One sounds like something everyone should have. The other sounds like something demeaning to need. Missouri's 2008 general elections figure to be a linguistic battleground as politicians describe efforts to cut, restore and expand Missouri's Medicaid program...

Swingle, Shupert among junior tennis champs Veronica Swingle defeated Susanna Hayward 8-4 in all-Cape Girardeau final for the 14-and-under girls division Saturday at the Jammin' Juniors Outdoor Tennis Tournament. The tournament was played at Central High School's tennis courts...

As part of a continuing effort to make the Riverside Regional Library more accessible to the families in Southeast Missouri, the library board of trustees unanimously approved eliminating the annual user fee required of certain residents. Anyone who lives in Cape Girardeau, Perry or Scott counties, or any adjacent Missouri county, may get a Riverside Regional Library card at no charge. ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Pam Fleenor paints pictures and makes music. One feeds her soul; the other satiates her thirst for fellowship. The 39-year-old, who once considered a career in medicine, can't imagine a better life "The financial security is something I think about from time to time," Fleenor said. "But I don't think" a career in medicine "would have been right for me."...

WASHINGTON — DNA taken from the bodies of people killed in the 2001 anthrax attacks helped lead investigators to Bruce Ivins, who oversaw the highly specific type of germ in an Army lab, a government scientist said Sunday. Using new genome technology to identify the type of Ames strain anthrax used in the attacks, the FBI began to focus on Ivins as its top suspect more than a year ago, according to the scientist who is close to the investigation...

NEW DELHI -- Thousands of panicked pilgrims stampeded Sunday at a remote mountaintop temple in northern India during celebrations to honor a Hindu goddess, sending dozens of people plummeting to their deaths and trampling scores more. Police said 145 people were killed...

Savor the heat DO YOU remember last winter when we had all that ice and no heat? Everybody is griping about this summer heat. I'd rather have heat than freeze to death. You can always find someplace to get cool, but when you're cold, you're cold...

MARSHALL, Mo. — As the last person born in the historic black enclave of Pennytown, Virginia Huston has spent much of her life working to preserve the history of a community founded in 1871 by a freed slave. Time is running out for the 63-year-old Huston, a retired bank teller recently diagnosed with renal failure and in need of a kidney transplant. She hopes to pass the torch to the next generation of Penny¿town descendants, who came of age amid integration, not segregation...

ST. LOUIS -- Brad Lidge looked nothing like an untouchable closer. Somehow, he got the job done. Shane Victorino's three-run home run capped a four-run eighth inning against a vulnerable St. Louis Cardinals bullpen, and Lidge survived a shaky ninth and preserved the Philadelphia Phillies' 5-4 victory on Sunday night...

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday refused to grant West Bank asylum to forces who fled weekend faction fighting in Hamas-ruled Gaza, despite fears for their safety. Abbas ordered nearly 200 fighters back to Gaza from Israel, insisting a Fatah presence must be retained in the territory, which has been controlled by Hamas since a violent takeover in June 2007. ...

EDITOR'S NOTE — Nine years ago, the world learned of a hidden chapter of the Korean War — the killing of refugees at a place called No Gun Ri. Now investigators are shedding light on what one calls 215 "other No Gun Ris." ...

MEQUON, Wis. -- Given a day off and an opportunity to frolic in Lake Michigan, Rams receiver Torry Holt wasn't willing to search for the light at the end of the training camp tunnel. "There is drudgery all the way through camp," Holt said. "Camp is camp. We will not be over that drudgery until we move on to the regular season."...

LONG POND, Pa. -- Carl Edwards won Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Pocono Raceway, gambling with a pit strategy that he thought would cost him the victory. Edwards pitted from the lead just before a rain shower that caused a 41-minute red flag and had the driver arguing with crew chief Bob Osborne over the decision. But the plan worked perfectly as the race wound up going to completion. Edwards stretched his last tank of fuel to earn his fourth victory of the season...

SIKESTON, Mo. — Robert E. "Pie" Bradbury, 55, of Sikeston died Friday, Aug. 1, 2008, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born March 21, 1953, in Sullivan, Ind., to Fay and Roseland Dauksch Bradbury. He is survived by three sons, Jason Bradbury of Paducah, Ky., Eric Bradbury of Russellville, Ark., and Robert Bradbury Jr. ...

ST. LOUIS -- Fewer clothes and lots of skin have made a political point in a public park in St. Louis. Hundreds of mostly nude bicyclists joined curious spectators in the city's Tower Grove Park on Saturday night for a 10-mile "World Naked Bike Ride."...

CAIRO, Egypt -- Al-Qaida confirmed in a Web statement Sunday the death of a senior commander known as a top explosives and poisons expert, who is believed to have been killed in a U.S. airstrike in Pakistan last week. The statement said Abu Khabab al-Masri and three other commanders were killed. It did not give details on when or how they were killed, but Pakistani authorities have said they believe al-Masri died in an American airstrike July 28 on a compound near the Afghan border...

Veronica Ann Rutledge died Friday, Aug. 1, 2008, at St. John's Mercy Medical Center in Washington, Mo. She was born Aug. 1, 2008, and lived for 27 minutes. She was the daughter of Joseph A. and Amy S. Wilson Rutledge. Survivors include her parents; a brother, Christian Bollinger of Union, Mo.; a sister, Lorraine Rutledge of Booneville, Miss.; a paternal grandmother, Gayle Akin of Houston; a paternal grandfather, Buddy Rutledge of Westville, Okla.; and a maternal grandmother, Marian A. ...

NEW YORK -- Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, struggling to hold together the troubled world Anglican family, urged church leaders gathered Sunday in England not to consecrate another gay bishop, saying the fellowship will be in "grave peril" without a moratorium...

A kickoff ceremony held recently at the Little Country Store, near Procter & Gamble at 7742 Highway 177 in Jackson, made Can-Power '08 an official food drive site that will collect any nonperishable food goods from now until Dec. 31. A goal of 15,000 cans has been set. There is also a collection box at the sponsor's location, Cape Manpower Branch Office, 909 Beavercreek Drive, Cape Girardeau, off Mount Auburn Road...

BAGHDAD -- Despite intense U.S. pressure, Iraqi leaders failed Sunday to resolve differences over how to govern the oil-rich city of Kirkuk -- a dispute that is blocking provincial elections and stoking tension in the volatile north. Parliament had called a special session Sunday to try to reach agreement on a bill authorizing elections in all 18 Iraqi provinces -- a move the United States considers essential to reconciling Iraq's rival ethnic and religious communities...

BEIJING -- Like everything else done for the Olympics, China's quest to clear up notoriously polluted skies in time for opening ceremonies this week has been marked by gargantuan effort. In what scientists are calling the single largest attempt ever made to improve air quality, scores of heavily polluting factories were shut down and some 2 million vehicles were pulled off roads across Beijing and a huge swath of northern China -- an area roughly the size of Alaska. ...

For those who have any spare time this evening, it's a good chance to visit city hall. Cape Girardeau's city council meets for a study session at 5 p.m.; Jackson's board of aldermen meets at 7:30 p.m.; the Scott City council meets at 7 p.m. Scott City councilman Norman Brant said he'll be talking about a proposal to reopen a quarry near Rock Levee Road...

PRINCETON, Ky. -- Volunteers armed with paintbrushes have transformed the heart of a small western Kentucky town once littered with vacant buildings. A city official's simple idea to revitalize Princeton's long-dead downtown has attracted new business and accolades from the state...

The Cape Girardeau area River Heritage Quilters Guild, founded in 1989 and 125 members strong, has been selected as a semifinalist in the upcoming international American Quilter's Society Quilt Expo and contest at Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Tenn. The event is Aug. 20 to 23 and usually attracts 25,000 people each year...

Cape Girardeau's Habitat for Humanity volunteers hope to achieve in five years what previously took 25 years to do. Their mission may seem impossible, but Cape Area Habitat for Humanity believes a goal of building 25 homes in Cape Girardeau and other nearby communities by 2011 is achievable. Before 2007, the organization had built an average of one house per year...

David Fiedler, son of Leonard and Janet Lorberg Fiedler of Shawneetown, will present a lecture on his first book, "The Enemy Among Us: POWS in Missouri During World War II" at 7 p.m. Aug. 13 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. Fiedler has written for the Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times Syndicate...

DEXTER, Mo. — A Dexter man was severely injured Friday when a lawn tractor he was driving pulled into the path of a pickup truck on Route AD near Dexter, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.The driver of the tractor, 34-year-old Michael L. ...

For nearly 20 years, Cape Girardeau County's recorder of deeds, Janet Robert, hesitated to take a vacation. She said she couldn't find a state law that explained how much, if any, time off was appropriate for elected county officials. Robert, now in her 31st year on the job, said she has in recent years used her best judgment. More likely than not, she's at her office in the county administration building...

The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory this morning for all of Southeast Missouri and the surrounding region.The advisory is in effect until 6 p.m. today, as temperatures in the mid- to high 90s will combine with high humidity to push the heat index, a measurement of what the temperature feels like outside, near or over 105 degrees in most areas.Tuesday's conditions will be similar, which might lead to another heat advisory.At 10:53 a.m., the temperature at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport was 85 degrees, with a heat index of 90, according to National Weather Service measurements. ...

Tickets are now on sale for national recording artist Rick Springfield's solo acoustic benefit concert Oct. 4 at Buckner Brewing Company in Cape Girardeau. All proceeds from the event will go to Mississippi Valley Therapeutic Horsemanship, an organization providing horse-related opportunities for people with disabilities in Southeast Missouri...

Cape Girardeau County's deputy auditors are in a position to file a lawsuit against their employer. But the women, Virgie Koeppel and Beth Biri, say they won't file one. During the Cape Girardeau County Commission meeting Monday morning Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle and a consulting attorney, Diane Howard -- considered a specialist in sexual harassment cases -- told commissioners that the women could have a valid complaint...

PERRY COUNTY, Mo. — Missouri Department of Transportation crews will conduct routine inspection on the Highway 51 bridge from Missouri to Chester, Ill., resulting in one-lane traffic for motorists through most of August. Crews will work 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Aug. 29...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Two Missouri Lotto players will share a jackpot worth $4.9 million. The Missouri Lottery says one ticket was sold at Apple Market in Kansas City, the other at Amvets 48, in De Soto. Neither prize has been claimed. The tickets were for Saturday's jackpot...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pentagon officials say a soldier from Steelville, Mo., has died in Iraq. Killed Saturday was 21-year-old Specialist Kevin R. Dickson. He was with the Army's 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) out of Fort Carson, Colo. The Army is investigating the incident, which occurred in Balad, Iraq...

HANNIBAL, Mo. (AP) -- Boaters will soon be returning to Mark Twain Lake. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it plans to reopen the lake to boaters Monday afternoon with some restrictions. For example, boating will be restricted to daylight hours and prohibited within 1,000 feet of the front of Clarence Cannon Dam...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — At cattle yards and courthouses, Republican gubernatorial candidates Sarah Steelman and Kenny Hulshof sprang from the southwest corner across the rest of the state in a final push toward Tuesday’s primary election...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Republican gubernatorial candidates Kenny Hulshof and Sarah Steelman both are springing from southwest Missouri in their final campaign push. Steelman and Hulshof both were beginning Monday with events in Springfield before heading over to the Joplin area...

WARRENTON, Mo. (AP) — For the second time in two days, a worker at an exotic animal facility in Missouri is injured in a tiger attack. The latest incident happened Monday at Predator World in Branson West. Stone County Sheriff Richard Hill says the attack happened after the 16-year-old worker entered a cage to take a photo for a customer and was attacked by three tigers. The teen is in critical condition...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A St. Louis man is dead and a teenager is in custody after a shooting over a cheeseburger. The victim is 26-year-old Carl Sharp. The name of the 16-year-old suspect has not been released. Police say Sharp returned home around 12:30 a.m. Sunday after purchasing three cheeseburgers at a Rally's restaurant. The suspect apparently became angry because he had requested two burgers, not three, and an argument began...

CAMPBELL, Mo. -- Authorities continue to investigate a two-vehicle collision that shut down Highway 53 for seven hours Thursday evening. The crash happened about 5:30 p.m. on Highway 53, about four miles north of Campbell, when Jonathon Bartholomew, 22, of Kennett, Mo., and his estranged wife, Crystal Bartholomew, 22, were southbound on Highway 53, said Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Dale Moreland...

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- A central Missouri funeral home accused of mishandling bodies has a recent history of financial trouble that includes an attempt to declare bankruptcy. Court records show that the Warren Funeral Home filed for federal bankruptcy protection in 2006 before the case was voluntarily dismissed one year later...

Rockland D. Gleason, 60, of Whitewater, faces a charge of first-degree statutory sodomy after allegedly molesting a girl under the age of 14. The sexual assault was reported by the victim's parents on Friday, after the child told another family member about the incident involving Gleason, according to a probable cause statement signed by detective Jamie Malugen of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department...

The formula is pretty familiar by now in these Judd Apatow-produced comedies. A couple of buddies get into trouble, and as they try to bumble their way out of it, their friendship only grows stronger. Some clever linguistics guru somewhere even came up with a word for this pop-culture phenomenon: the "Bromance."...

REPUBLIC, Mo. (AP) -- Police are investigating the fatal shooting of a former Republic alderman at a city park. Police Chief Mark F. Lowe says 28-year-old Joshua Morris died in a Springfield hospital Sunday after suffering a single gunshot wound at J.R. Martin Park in Republic...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A Cole County judge has decided to hear testimony from witnesses in the case of Joshua C. Kezer, a man serving a 60-year sentence for the second-degree murder of Angela Mischelle Lawless. Cole County Circuit Judge Richard G. Callahan granted an evidentiary hearing, essentially a court trial, in the habeus motion Kezer's attorneys filed in April alleging that Kezer, 33, was wrongly convicted, Charles Weiss, attorney for Kezer, said Monday...

WARRENTON, Mo. (AP) -- An investigation continues after a tiger attacked a volunteer at a Missouri exotic animal farm. The incident happened Sunday at the Wesa-A-Geh-Ya (WAY'-suh ah GEE'-yah) farm in Warren County. Authorities believe the 800-pound tiger jumped a fence before it mauled a volunteer. The 26-year-old victim had surgery on his lower leg and is expected to recover...

Her life came down to a choice: Die or change. For the last six years, Susan Smithhad left her job as a cosmetologist each night, gone to her dope man and handed over $200 to $300 to feed the monster. That beast threatening to consume her life, the one she thought she'd vanquished 18 years earlier. Change of circumstances, one small temptation, and the monster had reared more powerful, and cast its massive shadow over her life...

CHICAGO -- Cartoons about the psychiatrist's couch were recently the subject of a museum exhibition. Now, the couch itself may be headed for a museum. A new study finds a significant decline in psychotherapy practiced by U.S. psychiatrists. The expanded use of pills and insurance policies that favor short office visits are among the reasons, said lead author Dr. Rain Mojtabai of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore...

Yulia Ihglitskaya came to America from Belarus to begin her education, but she had already learned about the kindness in others thanks to Southeast Missouri Hospital nurse Brenda Parkhurst. In 1993, the Missouri Baptist Convention began a "link-up" program with Baptist churches in Belarus — a landlocked country in Eastern Europe that borders Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. ...

The Southeast Missouri State football team technically held the first of its allotted fall camp workouts Monday with a series of conditioning tests. But practice for the upcoming season officially begins at 8 a.m. today. In just 23 days, the Redhawks play their 2008 opener at home against Division II Southwest Baptist on Aug. 28...

Houston Lillard has firmly established himself as Southeast Missouri State's starting quarterback. Barring something unforeseen, Lillard will begin his senior season behind center when the Redhawks open the 2008 campaign Aug. 28 against Division II Southwest Baptist...

WICHITA, Kan. -- An early four-run deficit didn't faze the Plaza Tire Capahas. The Capahas stormed back to knock off the El Dorado (Kan.) Broncos 10-6 on Monday morning in their opening game at the National Baseball Congress World Series. Plaza Tire (28-5) advanced to the winner's bracket round of 16 in the 42-team, double-elimination event...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Quarterback Chase Daniel said it was one of the hottest practices he'd ever participated in. Strong safety William Moore called it "crazy hot." The encore for Missouri's historic 12-win season began with the first workout Monday afternoon, held in sweltering heat. ...

Calendar Today n Preparation for childbirth class: 5:30 to 9 p.m. at Saint Francis Medical Center. Comprehensive guide to expected bodily changes, labor signs and stages, pain control techniques and basic infant care. Tips on relaxing, positioning and breathing will also be discussed. Refreshments will be provided. Bring the "Pregnancy, Childbirth and Parenting Kit" provided by your physician's office. Call 877-231-2229 to register...

Dorothy Henson Young, 84, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Aug. 3, 2008, in Cape Girardeau. She was born Oct. 31, 1923, in Portage¿ville, Mo., to Benjamin and Myrtle Mae Crites Henson. She and Cletis Baldwin Young were married Oct. 15, 1946, in Portageville. He died March 16, 1979...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. — Glenda "Lindy" Green Killoren, 83, of Perryville died Sunday, Aug. 3, 2008, at Barnes Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis. She was born March 7, 1925, at Sedgewickville, Mo., daughter of Dennis and Doshia Statler Niswonger. She and Robert A. Green were married in August 1944. He died in May 2001. She and Robert A. Killoren were married in August 2004...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. — Howard W. "Butch" Hagan, 89, of Perryville died Sunday, Aug. 3, 2008, at Jefferson Memorial Hospital in Crystal City, Mo. He was born Sept. 8, 1918, in Claryville, Mo., son of Robert and Cora Roman Hagan. He first married June H. Derue. He and Verna Schamburg were married July 19, 1969. She died Sept. 7, 2005...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. — Mildred Ann Blechle, 87, of Perryville died Sunday, Aug. 3, 2008, at Independence Care Center of Perry County. She was born March 11, 1921, in Perry County, daughter of Rudolph and Josephine Hotop Pingel. She and Valentine "Wally" Blechle were married Sept. 2, 1944. He died Sept. 7, 1986...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. — Terry Allen Arnold, 64, of Boonville, Mo., formerly of Olive Branch, died Saturday, Aug. 2, 2008, at University Hospital in Columbia, Mo. He was born Dec. 14, 1943, in St. Louis to James and Vernice Cooper Arnold. He married Dianna Michelle Sumner Dec. 21, 1991...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. — Velda R. Wilson, 78, of Perryville died Monday, Aug. 4, 2008, at her home. She was born Oct. 20, 1929, in Perry County, daughter of William J. and Alma Whistler Zahner. She and Roy Grover Wilson were married Aug. 25, 1951. He died Jan. 29, 2004...

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba -- A jury is deliberating the verdict for Osama bin Laden's former driver at the first Guantanamo war crimes trial. Four of the six military officers in the jury must agree for a conviction of Salim Hamdan on charges of conspiracy and supporting terrorism...

CHICAGO -- Conservative political commentator Robert Novak announced his immediate retirement Monday because of his diagnosis of a malignant brain tumor. Novak told the editor and publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times that he plans to focus on his treatment and recovery, said Sun-Times spokeswoman Tammy Chase...

The next time ice knocks out power in the city of Cape Girardeau, a few more lights will stay on. On Monday, the city council unanimously approved an agreement to pay $117,000 to Cotner Electric Co. to install a generator at city hall and a second one at Osage Community Centre, one of the city's designated emergency shelters...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Blinded by the glare off the snow and ice, attempting a perilous descent down K2 to save his life, the Dutch mountaineer came upon three Korean climbers. One sat dazed in the snow. Another held a rope. The third was suspended at the other end, hanging upside down...

Optimism runs rampant at every college football team's media day, when the won-lost records still are unblemished. Even here at Southeast Missouri State, which finished one-half game out of the Ohio Valley Conference basement last year and lost to the team that finished behind it...

Jackson School District school enrollment and open house dates: n Class lists will be posted at each elementary building Monday. Classes begin Aug. 18. n Enrollment for new elementary students (kindergarten through fifth grade): 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday...

NEW YORK -- Oil prices plunged to a three-month low Monday, briefly tumbling below $120 a barrel in another huge sell-off after Tropical Storm Edouard seemed less likely to disrupt oil and natural gas output in the Gulf of Mexico. Crude's steep drop -- prices fell more than $5 at one point during the day -- dragged down other commodities from corn to copper and mimicked the big nosedives of the past three weeks, adding to growing beliefs that the oil bubble is at least temporarily deflating...

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- There was no parade, no motorcade, and no photo opportunity -- hardly the way you'd expect Brett Favre to return to the Green Bay Packers after spending most of the past month as the league's longest-running daytime drama. If Favre did report to the Packers as expected Monday, none of the fans and media members staking out several entrances to Lambeau Field managed to catch a glimpse of him...

ST. LOUIS -- The National League's best road record has made the St. Louis Cardinals a surprise contender. Mediocre results at home keep dragging them down. The Cardinals have dropped six of seven at 3-year-old Busch Stadium heading into a three-game series starting tonight against a Los Angeles Dodgers team fortified for a playoff run. The Cardinals are 31-27 at home and 31-25 on the road after coughing up an eighth-inning lead in Sunday's 5-4 loss to the Phillies...

PERRY COUNTY, Mo. — Missouri Department of Transportation crews will conduct routine inspection on the Highway 51 bridge from Missouri to Chester, Ill., resulting in one-lane traffic for motorists through most of August. Crews will work 8 a.m. ...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. — Emma Lee Allen, 80, of Marble Hill died Friday, Aug. 1, 2008, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Feb. 14, 1928, in Asheville, N.C. She married Harry Milo Allen Sr. Allen was a supervisor at AT&T in St. Louis several years...

NEW YORK -- The popular urban street pastime called double dutch, in which competitors jump between two ropes twirled eggbeater-style, is getting more recognition, becoming an officially sanctioned sport in New York City high schools. School officials say adding double dutch to the calendar should get hundreds of students participating in an enjoyable aerobic activity...

To the editor: In regard to the Aug. 1 story on "How schools scored": I want to say how proud I am of the Scott City High School students for their success on meeting the adequate yearly progress. The students met all requirements in communication arts, math, graduation rate and attendance rate. I am extremely proud of all of you. I am thankful and honored to have been your high school principal for the past five years...

Deckard Daughter to Jason Charles and Amanda Lynn Deckard of Allenville, Saint Francis Medical Center, 12:42 p.m. Thursday, July 10, 2008. Name, Lynnea Marie. Weight, 5 pounds, 11 ounces. Second child, first daughter. Mrs. Deckard is the former Amanda Thompson, daughter of Phil Thompson and Darlene Thompson of Allenville. She is a billing specialist with Physicians Alliance Surgery Center. Deckard is the son of Gala Deckard of Advance, and the late Jon Deckard. He is self-employed...

BIG SUR, Calif. -- A tourist is nursing only cuts and bruises after sliding 250 feet down a cliff Sunday on California's coast. Jost Ben, 20, of Wilnsdorf, Germany, climbed over the edge of a traffic pullout perched 400 feet above the Pacific to retrieve a football...

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI n Gerald L. Taylor, 62, 318 N. Middle St., was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, driving while revoked, failure to comply with ignition interlock and unlicensed vehicle. ...

To the editor: It seems to me that Cape Girardeau County residents need to rethink our government officials. County government computers and Web sites are no place for the viewing of lewd pictures or the promotion of books for personal gain. To the citizens: It's time to give these good old boys term limits and vote them out at the next election. It is time for some integrity within our county government...

GALVESTON, Texas -- Beth Bronson said Monday she's determined not to have her trip ruined as the second severe storm in two weeks approached a Texas Gulf Coast vacation hot spot at the height of tourist season. Tropical Storm Edouard was expected to come ashore this morning anywhere from western Louisiana to Port O'Connor, Texas. ...

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli couple going on a European vacation remembered to take their duty-free shopping and their 18 suitcases, but forgot their 3-year-old daughter at the airport, police said Monday. The couple and their five children were late for a charter flight to Paris on Sunday and made a mad dash to the gate. In the confusion, their daughter got lost...

BEIJING -- In a deadly attack just days ahead of the Beijing Olympics, two men from a mainly Muslim ethnic group rammed a truck into and hurled explosives at jogging policemen in China's restive far west Monday, killing 16. The attack in a city near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border brought an immediate response from China's Olympic organizers, who pronounced security precautions ready to ensure safety in Beijing and other Olympic venues when the games open Friday...

WASHINGTON -- Healthy kids' meals at top restaurant chains are slim pickings, according to a report by a not-for-profit public health group. Nearly every possible combination of the children's meals at Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell, Sonic, Jack in the Box, and Chick-fil-A are too high in calories, the report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest said...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush signed legislation Monday that allows the State Department to settle all remaining lawsuits against Libya by U.S. terrorism victims and paves the way for complete rapprochement between Washington and Tripoli. The last rifts between the U.S. ...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush's agenda in Asia this week is front-loaded with trouble on the continent: nuclear worries, political repression, recovery from natural disaster. Then comes plenty of sports. Bush embarked Monday on his last venture as president to the Far East, a trip built around the Olympic Games in Beijing. ...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Hamas claimed Monday to have "uprooted" the last major pocket of armed resistance to its 14-month rule in the Gaza Strip, saying it seized mortars, grenade launchers and other weapons from a once-powerful clan allied with the rival Fatah movement...

Route 77 in Scott County will be reduced to one lane while Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform shoulder repairs in the southbound lane between County Road 250 and 264. Work will occur from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, weather permitting. Motorists are urged to use extreme caution while traveling in the area. For more information, contact the MoDOT customer service center at 888-275-6636...

WASHINGTON -- His decades-long obsession with a college sorority may link a former Army biowarfare scientist to four anthrax-laced letters dropped off at a New Jersey mailbox in 2001, authorities said Monday in the latest twist of one of the most bizarre unsolved crimes in FBI history...

Cape Girardeau County Auditor David Ludwig returned to work Monday afternoon. Reached by phone at his desk, he declined to comment about the controversy surrounding his April 17 exit from the county administration building, his 76-day absence or how, after acknowledging in a private meeting with county commissioners that his on-the-job computer use put the county at risk for a sexual harassment lawsuit, he will regain the confidence of county employees, elected officials and taxpayers...

Eleven Southeast Missouri companies have been awarded funding to train employees from the Missouri Job Development Fund through the Missouri Customized Training Program. The companies, which include businesses in Jackson, Cape Girardeau, Scotty City, Perryville and Sikeston will receive a combined $245,000 to train 851 new and current employees...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- At cattle yards and courthouses, Republican gubernatorial candidates Sarah Steelman and Kenny Hulshof sprang from the southwest corner across the rest of the state in a final push toward today's primary election. Hulshof, a congressman, and Steelman, the state treasurer, both began Monday by campaigning in Springfield, the largest population center in Missouri's most predominantly Republican area. ...

CHICAGO -- Keri Rainsberger isn't rich. She works in the not-for-profit world for a relatively low-profit salary. Yet, as many Americans are scrimping for every penny, she hardly feels the pinch. She still tithes 10 percent of her income to her church, even as other members have cut back. She rarely worries about rising gas and food prices. And she never bothers to balance her checkbook, because she doesn't come close to spending what she has...

25 years ago: Aug. 5, 1983 The lights are back on at the former KFMP radio tower north of Cape Girardeau; the station's signal has been acquired by radio station KZYM here. Between 2,000 and 3,000 bidders and another 2,000 spectators are expected to be in Cape Girardeau tomorrow for the auction of the private automobile collection of the late Charles N. ...

NEW YORK -- Federal investigators want to question Mary-Kate Olsen about how Heath Ledger got two powerful painkillers that contributed to his accidental overdose death, but she's refusing to talk without immunity, a law enforcement official said Monday...

JACKSON, Miss. -- Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman was hospitalized in serious condition Monday after the car he was driving left a rural road in the Mississippi Delta and flipped several times. Freeman, 71, was airlifted to the Regional Medical Center in Memphis, Tenn., about 90 miles north of the accident in rural Tallahatchie County...

Checks and balances I DON'T care how much the presidential candidates promise to make us vote for either one of them. They can't do a thing without the consent of the Congress. That's why we have three checks and balances in our government: the executive, legislative and judicial branches. No one system can control our government without the approval of the others. That's what makes our Constitution and government so great. Vote for the people who can work together to get something done...

To the editor: The vitriolic diatribe by Michelle Malkin, aimed at the Obama family including the children and paid for and printed in the Aug. 3 edition of the Southeast Missourian, was far below the standards I would expect from this, my hometown newspaper. ...

If there's one thing known regarding the next step in the sale of the train tracks running from Gordonville to Delta, it's that nothing is known, said Sam Drusch, one of the owners of the tracks. On July 24, members of both the St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern Railway and the track corporation gathered to discuss the sale of the tracks. Since 1990, the track corporation has owned the tracks on which the train rides...

The best way to win a battle is to know how strong your enemy is. In the battle against litter in Southeast Missouri, the scope of the problem is measured by taking regular litter surveys. There was good news last week as the latest survey indicated there is less litter along the roads in rural Cape Girardeau County than the last survey in 2006...

Rockland D. Gleason, 60, of Whitewater faces a charge of first-degree statutory sodomy after allegedly molesting a girl younger than 14. The sexual assault was reported by the victim's parents Friday, after the child told another family member about the incident involving Gleason, according to a probable-cause statement signed by detective Jamie Malugen of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department...

Ordinances, second and third readings n Accepted fee simple interest from Six-Thirty Inc. for property adjacent to the Public Works Facility. Second and third readings. n Authorized the mayor to execute a quitclaim deed to the Southeast Missouri State University Foundation for excess right-of-way for LaSalle Avenue...

SANTOKHGARH, India -- Mukesh Chabba lit the funeral pyre on which seven of his relatives -- including his wife and daughter -- were cremated Monday, the day after a stampede at a remote mountaintop Hindu temple killed 145 people. Chabba and 11 other family members had been visiting the temple to celebrate the recent birth of his son. Only five of them survived...

Barbara Ann Hammock, 67, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, July 31, 2008, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Nov. 4, 1940, in Burlington, N.C., daughter of Charlie and Mary Ellen Fogleman Hudgins. She and Richard H. Hammock were married May 14, 1965, in Spring Hill, Tenn...

After the loss of their 13-year-old daughter to cancer, Shannon and Amy Aldridge were devastated. To combat their sorrow, they have dedicated their free time to helping a therapeutic organization that benefited Sahara, enlisting the help of recording artist Rick Springfield...

For state Rep. Jeff Harris, part of getting past today's primary for attorney general is convincing enough Democrats that he has the best chance of keeping the office in the hands of his party. Harris, of Columbia, met with about a dozen Democrats Monday at Cup 'N' Cork, explaining how he believes his strategy of a beefed-up focus on Internet advertising has paid off in fundraising, allowing him to build up his advertising in other media. ...

Developer Chad Hartle is now the owner of the Schultz School, according to a news release sent out this morning by real estate broker Tom Meyer. The Cape Girardeau schools transferred the title to Chad Hartle's Schultz Senior Apartments LP. The school is located at 101 S. Pacific St...

Exactly 14 years after Joshua C. Kezer served the first day of a 60-year prison sentence for the 1992 murder of Angela Mischelle Lawless, a Cole County judge decided he deserves another day in court. On Monday, Cole County Circuit Judge Richard G. Callahan granted Kezer an evidentiary hearing, to function as a bench trial, set for Dec. 2 and Dec. 3 in Jefferson City, said Charles Weiss, Kezer's attorney...

The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for Southeast Missouri and the surrounding region today for the second straight day as temperatures are forecast to reach the upper 90s.The advisory is in effect from 1 to 7 p.m. ...

Local hard rock band DRIvIN' RAIN enters the Guitar Center's Make Rock History Contest. For a chance to tour with Motley Crue in 2009, also cash, gear, record and management deals. We need you to help DRIvIN' RAIN to open for Motley Crue. Go to the website watch the video of DRIvIN' RAIN live in Texas and Vote for them To Make Rock History. Support your local talent and vote online today!...

Today is primary election day in Missouri.Polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. throughout the state.Statewide voters will pick party nominees for governor, lieutenant governor, treasurer, secretary of state and attorney general.Locally there are also several important races, including contested primaries for 158th district state representative; 1st District Cape Girardeau County Commissioner; 2nd District Scott County Commissioner; and Scott County and Perry County sheriffs.For more information on the candidates and issues in this election, including a link to find polling places in Cape Girardeau County, visit our election section at semissourian.com/election.For information on voting specifics in your county, call your county clerk's office. . ...

CLARKSVILLE, Mo. (AP) -- With floodwaters finally receded, the sandbags are going down in Clarksville. Volunteers joined with merchants on Monday to remove some of the thousands of sandbags that made up the makeshift levee that saved the small town's downtown area during the summer flooding along the Mississippi River. Temperatures near 100 degrees failed to slow the effort...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The 26-year-old victim of a tiger attack in eastern Missouri loses part of his leg. Warren County Sheriff Kevin Harrison says Tuesday that Jacob Barr had part of one leg below the knee surgically removed after he was attacked by a tiger Sunday at the Wesa-A-Geh-Ya (WAY'-suh ah GEE'-yah) animal facility. A spokeswoman for Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis says Barr is in satisfactory condition...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Sikeston may join those cities taking a stand against sagging. City Council members discussed during their regular meeting Monday the possibility of amending city code to further define indecent exposure and public indecency to include sagging pants...

GREENVIEW, Mo. (AP) -- A suburban Chicago woman's grandchildren saved her from drowning at the Lake of the Ozarks by pulling her to shore. The Missouri State Water Patrol says 79-year-old Patricia Fitzgerald of Oak Lawn was swimming with the help of a flotation device Monday. But the device fell off and she began to struggle in the water...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Arnold Mayor Mark Powell has jumped out to an early leader in a four-way Democratic state treasurer primary. Powell, the Democrats' treasurer candidate in 2004, had claimed about one-third of the votes cast with about 15 percent of the state's voting precincts reporting...

Cape Girardeau police continue to search for the suspect in an armed robbery that occurred around 7:15 p.m. Tuesday night in the 500 block of South Benton Street. A man walked into the police station and said his wallet was lifted at gunpoint, Sgt. Barry Hovis, spokesman for the police department, said...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Attorney General Jay Nixon easily won the Democratic nomination for governor Tuesday and awaited the results of a more closely contested Republican primary to learn his next opponent. In the Republican primary, Congressman Kenny Hulshof was putting forward a portfolio of Republican establishment support against the populist appeals of Treasurer Sarah Steelman...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- State Sen. Chris Koster held a narrow lead Tuesday in the Democratic attorney general primary. With about 14 percent of the state's voting precincts reporting, Koster claimed about one-third of the votes cast. He was about 4,000 votes ahead of state Rep. Margaret Donnelly, of St. Louis, with state Rep. Jeff Harris, of Columbia, trailing in third...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Congressman Kenny Hulshof defeated state Treasurer Sarah Steelman on Tuesday in a Missouri Republican gubernatorial primary that had seemed unthinkable just a few months ago. Attorney General Jay Nixon easily won the Democratic nomination for governor...

We found this video on YouTube of Neal E. Boyd playing with a friend's child. Some insight into the tenor's personality. . ...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- State Rep. Sam Page won a six-way Democratic primary Tuesday for the right to take on Republican Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder in November. Page more than doubled the vote total of his nearest Democratic competitor while Kinder easily turned back a couple of Republican primary challengers...

The world's many Neal E. Boyd fans got a chance to see plenty of their hero Tuesday night, when NBC's "America's Got Talent" moved on to its first round in Las Vegas. As expected, Boyd was a large part of the program, taking up plenty of airtime performing and giving a tearful thanks for being passed on through to the next cut...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Democratic attorney general primary narrowed Tuesday as Sen. Chris Koster and Rep. Margaret Donnelly pulled away the rest of the field. Koster's lead narrowed considerably as votes from Donnelly's home St. Louis County and the city of St. Louis were reported. About 80 percent of the state's precincts have reported...

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. (AP) -- Search crews are still looking for two eastern Missouri men missing since their boat capsized on July 30 on the Mississippi River. The Missouri State Water Patrol says 52-year-old Harold Smith and 46-year-old Arthur Barton are both presumed drowned. Both are from Farmington...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Missourians in November will be asked to vote on two initiative petitions. One would repeal the state's cap on gambling losses, bar construction of new casinos and increase the tax rate casinos pay from 20 percent to 21 percent. The other ballot measure would allow home health care providers to form unions...

TIFF CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A 39-year-old woman from Oklahoma is dead after drowning in the Elk River in Missouri. The Missouri State Water Patrol says Victoria Ross of Grove, Okla., was drifting on the river in McDonald County just before 11 p.m. Sunday when she called out for help. People with her could not see her because of darkness...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri's new fiscal year is off to a good start. The governor's Office of Administration said Tuesday that the state took in $507.2 million in July, the first month of the fiscal year. That's a 5.2 percent increase over $482.4 million during the same period last year...

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (AP) -- A popular high school girls softball and basketball coach faces sexual misconduct charges following a grand jury indictment. Warrensburg High School coach Russell Hough is accused of sexual contact with two students, ages 15 and 16, on school property. A Johnson County grand jury issued an indictment on Friday...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Kansas City firefighters are investigating a two-alarm blaze that destroyed a bar and grill that had been closed but was being renovated. The Kansas City Star reported on its Web site that the fire at the old Sideline Bar & Grill was first reported about 4 a.m. Tuesday. Witnesses reported seeing flames from several blocks away. Smoke filled the area...

CHICAGO (AP) -- Crews began cleaning up downed trees and restoring power across Northern Illinois Tuesday after a line of powerful storms swept through the area, spawning at least two tornadoes. The National Weather Service confirmed that tornadoes touched down in the Chicago suburbs of Bloomingdale and Bolingbrook. A third tornado touched down in Griffith, Ind...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Republican Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder turned back a couple of primary challengers Tuesday as state Rep. Sam Page led a field of six Democrats for the right to take him on in November. Page had about 35 percent of the vote -- nearly double his closest competitor -- with about one-fourth of precincts reporting results...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Work is beginning at the Ballpark Village site near Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Early stages of the project will involve excavation and draining the large pool of water in the vacant land left behind by the demolition of old Busch Stadium...

There were several automobile accidents in the area over the weekend which resulted in two fatalities and several who received minor and moderate injuries. A Marston man was killed Friday when his motorcycle ran off the roadway. ...

Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter scored a resounding victory tonight in the Democratic primary, defeating challenger Bobby Sullivan 2,894 to 1,752. Sullivan, a detective with the Sikeston Department of Public Safety, began campaigning with large signs place around the county several months before the primary, but was unable to overcome the incumbent Walter.Walter will now face Republican Wes Drury, who ran unopposed for his party's nomination, in November.Chaffee, Mo., auto mechanic Donnie Kiefer took the Democratic primary for Scott County's District 2 Commissioner, defeating Shelby "Skip" Steger. ...

BIEHLE, Mo. -- Wilfred N. Ernst, 92, of Biehle died Monday, Aug. 4, 2008, at Independence Care Center of Perry County. He was born July 15, 1916, at Biehle, son of Joseph and Catherine Wingerter Ernst. He and Anita Pingel were married Nov. 20, 1943...

Our son is in his second week of marching band camp. The marching band students and directors are a highly dedicated group of hard-working people who strive for perfection, working 10 or more hours a day in hot and humid conditions. Nothing will do but to put together a perfect show to achieve the best results at the competitions. ...

WASHINGTON -- Confronted by problems at every turn -- rising unemployment, shaky growth, credit troubles and creeping inflation -- the Federal Reserve left an important interest rate unchanged, taking a gamble that for now the best move was no move at all...

At 6 foot 7 and a muscular 240 pounds -- to go along with impressive speed, quickness and agility -- Ashton Farmer looks the part of a football player. Over the next few weeks, Southeast Missouri State coaches will try to learn if Farmer fits the part...

Developer Chad Hartle is now the owner of the Schultz School building, according to real estate broker Thomas M. Meyer. The Cape Girardeau School District transferred the title Monday afternoon to Hartle's Schultz Senior Apartments LP. Meyer, who represented the school district, announced the deal Tuesday. The sale was estimated at $1.7 million, including agent and closing fees...

SHANGHAI, China -- They couldn't shoot and occasionally didn't defend. Definitely a performance the Americans should be relieved came before they got to Beijing. Undefeated, but no longer unchallenged, the U.S. Olympic basketball team wrapped up its exhibition schedule with its toughest test, pulling away to beat Australia 87-76 on Tuesday night...

NOTE: Results are for contested races only. Wayne Wallingford 1,215 Jeff Glenn 957Clinton Tracy 1,560...

Two incumbent sheriffs and a chief deputy defeated their primary challengers Tuesday. In Scott County, Sheriff Rick Walter defeated Bobby Sullivan 2,894 to 1,752 in the Democratic primary. Sullivan, a detective with the Sikeston Department of Public Safety, began campaigning with large signs placed around the county several months before the primary but was unable to overcome the incumbent Walter...

Cape Girardeau police continue to search for the suspect in an armed robbery that occurred around 7:15 p.m. Tuesday night in the 500 block of South Benton Street. A man walked into the police station and said his wallet was lifted at gunpoint, Sgt. Barry Hovis, spokesman for the police department, said...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Florissant state Rep. Clint Zweifel emerged from a crowded four-way race to win the Democratic primary for state treasurer. Zweifel knocked off his party's 2004 nominee for state treasurer. In November, Zweifel will face state Sen. Brad Lager, of Savannah, who was uncontested in the Republican primary...

Several automobile accidents in the area over the weekend resulted in two fatalities and several minor and moderate injuries. A Marston, Mo., man was killed Friday when his motorcycle ran off the road. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Brian K. Bivens, 30, was traveling south on Route D, three-tenths of a mile north of County Road 524 in Pemiscot County, when his vehicle ran off the right side of the roadway, overturned into a pond and ejected him...

After two hours and hundreds of eliminations, Sikeston, Mo., opera singer Neal Boyd pushed through to the next round of NBC's "America's Got Talent" Tuesday night. After separating the contestants into four groups, the judges eliminated an entire chunk of talent in the first 20 minutes of the show. ...

MEQUON, Wis. -- Steven Jackson's holdout is headed for the two-week mark, and it appears little or no progress is being made. The St. Louis Rams running back was absent for Tuesday's morning practice, the 16th workout he's missed in training camp and the 12th day of camp for which he has not been present...

It may not be as big as 7-7-7, but thousands of couples are heading down the aisle Friday, hoping the date Aug. 8, 2008, brings them luck and an easy-to-remember anniversary date. The number eight has long been considered fortuitous in China, where people pay extra to have it in phone numbers and license plates -- and the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympic Games falls on Aug. 8...

PHILADELPHIA -- A gun-control activist who championed the cause for more than a decade and served on the boards of two anti-violence groups is suspected of working as a paid spy for the National Rifle Association, and now those organizations are expelling her and sweeping their offices for bugs...

CINCINNATI -- Milwaukee first baseman Prince Fielder apologized Tuesday for pushing a teammate in the dugout during a loss, saying he should have done a better job of handling frustration due in part to the Brewers' losing streak. Fielder exchanged words and twice shoved Manny Parra after the pitcher was removed for a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning of a 6-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night. ...

The Missouri Arts Council awarded four grants in Southeast Missouri as part of the distribution of $6.6 million in grants statewide, Gov. Matt Blunt announced. The Arts Council of Southeast Missouri received the largest local award, $26,355 for community arts programs. ...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Sikeston may join those cities taking a stand against sagging. Sikeston City Council members discussed during their regular meeting Monday the possibility of amending city code to further define indecent exposure and public indecency to include sagging pants...

Cape Girardeau police are investigating two incidents of vandalism early Tuesday morning on Broadway. A patrol officer driving past 821-D Broadway, a campaign office for Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, noticed an inflammatory racial message spray painted on the wall, and the spray paint was still wet, said Sgt. ...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Monday: n At 2:08 p.m., a medical assist in the 300 block of South Mount Auburn Road. n At 3:07 p.m., a medical assist in the 3400 block of William Street. n At 7:17 p.m., an alarm at 1458 N. Kingshighway...

GovernorRepublicansScott Long 250Sarah Steelman 2,680Kenny Hulshof 6,789Jen Sievers 214DemocratsJay Nixon 1,623Daniel Carroll 288LibertarianAndrew W. ...

25 years ago: Aug. 6, 1983 The 153 cars that make up the late Charles N. Harris' antique automobile collection are auctioned off by Dean Kruse of Kruse International of Auburn, Ind.; the cars bring a total of $1,582,000; the top seller is a restored 1937 Bentley Drophead; it goes to Cape Girardeau physician Dr. Charles Bahn for $41,000...

For the third time in a row, Cape Girardeau Republicans nominated the youngest man running in an open contest for the 158th District Missouri House seat. Clint Tracy, a Naval Reserve officer and partner in Timberline International Forest Products Inc., took the nomination over retired Air Force officer Wayne Wallingford and Jeff Glenn, a former aide to Sen. Jim Talent...

ST. LOUIS — Ryan Ludwick hit a two-run home run in the 11th inning off Jason Johnson, a starter called into duty, to give the St. Louis Cardinals a 6-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night. Ludwick' 28th homer, his fifth in four games, allowed the Cardinals to recover after the bullpen blew a four-run ninth-inning lead for its major league-leading 27th blown save...

In Bollinger County, 1,939 Republicans and 418 Democrats voted in the primary. On the nonpartisan ticket, 375 people voted. For District 1 commissioner, Republican Larry P. VanGennip narrowly beat Terry Wiseman, by a margin of 442 votes to 401 votes...

Shaffar Son to Kyle and Jamie Shaffar of Jackson, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 29, 2008. Name, Eli K. Weight, 7 pounds, 13 ounces. Third child, first son. Mrs. Shaffar is the former Jamie Glastetter, daughter of Danny and Connie Glastetter of New Hamburg, Mo. Shaffar is the son of Mike and Linda Shaffar of Jackson. He is a software architect at MedAssets...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- A Wappapello, Mo., man was sentenced to nine years in prison Monday for his role in a 2007 crash that claimed the lives of a Bonne Terre, Mo., couple. Jason Merrill, 21, plead guilty to the class B felony of first-degree manslaughter due to intoxication. The crime, normally a class C felony, was raised to a class B because of his status as a prior and persistent offender...

ST. LOUIS -- A federal inspection at a southwest Missouri animal attraction where tigers attacked a worker this week points to previous safety problems there. The 2007 inspection at Predator World notes three instances of animals getting out of their pens: two wolves that escaped into the community; a grizzly bear that remained on the property but was able to kill a tiger; and a fox that was hit by a car...

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests n Christopher R. Munoz, 27, 2762 Chrysler Ave., was arrested on suspicion of domestic assault and property damage. n A subject is in custody pending charges for stealing...

SANTA ANA, Calif. -- Wanted: Illegal immigrants with clean records who have ignored court orders to leave the country. Immigration officials are standing by to help you leave the country. No jail. No joke. That invitation drew hardly any takers Tuesday on the first day of a new federal "self-deportation" program that offered 457,000 eligible illegal immigrants the chance to turn themselves in, get their affairs in order and leave the country without being detained...

SAN FRANCISCO -- A giant vulnerability in the Internet's design is allowing criminals to silently redirect traffic to Web sites under their control. The problem is being fixed, but its extent remains unknown and many people are still at risk. The gaping security hole enables a scam that targets ordinary people typing in a legitimate Web address. ...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- State Rep. Sam Page won a six-way Democratic primary Tuesday for the right to take on Republican Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder in November. Page more than doubled the vote total of his nearest competitor while Kinder turned back a couple of Republican primary challengers, receiving 78 percent of the vote...

Virtually every source of news these days, print or electronic, is heavy on economic news, and most of it is bad. One reason: When prosperity -- measured in rising wages, strong sales, increased production, rising stock markets, more construction -- extends over several years, it is easy to be lulled into the notion of unending boom times. ...

Delta voters approved a $2.6 million bond issue Tuesday that will fund a new elementary school. Superintendent Nate Crowden said construction could start in October. In the final count, 391 people voted in favor of the school; 266 did not. "I was a little concerned about the economy being the way it is right now, but patrons in our district want to provide a quality education for our kids," Crowden said...

Vote for school safety I HAVE worked for the Delta School District for nearly 30 years. It is important to get a new, safe school free of asbestos. Asbestos was always a problem for anything that could puncture the ceiling, whether it be a pencil or a flag staff. If observed by the teacher, the teacher could report it and the area could be repainted. If not, nothing would be done. Please, everyone vote yes for this issue for the health of our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren...

JACKSON, Miss. -- Morgan Freeman is doing well after surgery to reconnect nerves and repair damage to his left arm and hand following a car wreck Sunday night, his publicist said. The surgery Monday night "lasted approximately four and a half hours including recovery and he is in good spirits and was visiting with family members this morning," Donna Lee, Freeman's publicist, said in a statement Tuesday...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The Democratic attorney general primary narrowed Tuesday as Sen. Chris Koster and Rep. Margaret Donnelly pulled away the rest of the field. Koster's lead narrowed as votes from Donnelly's home, St. Louis County, and the city of St. Louis were reported. About 80 percent of the state's precincts were reported by press time...

The front page of today's newspaper blares of election results that have soaked our attention for months now. So at long last, the first stage of the political process is behind us, and we can turn our attention to the general elections in November when the stakes are even higher...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Congressman Kenny Hulshof defeated state Treasurer Sarah Steelman on Tuesday in a Missouri Republican gubernatorial primary that had seemed unthinkable a few months ago. Attorney General Jay Nixon easily won the Democratic nomination for governor with 85 percent of the vote...

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The bond between Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers appears to be broken beyond repair. Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Tuesday evening that after approximately six hours of what he called "brutally honest" conversations with Favre over the past two days, the three-time MVP just isn't in the right mind-set to be part of the team...

Calling the race a team effort, auto mechanic Donnie Kiefer of Chaffee, Mo., captured nearly 84 percent of the vote in Tuesday's Democratic primary for commissioner of Scott County's 2nd District. Kiefer defeated challenger Shelby "Skip" Steger of Chaffee, 2,457 to 509 votes...

CHICAGO -- Gov. Rod Blagojevich once was compared to a dictator for using his authority to change legislation. Now one state senator says the governor is playing king with a new plan to rewrite bills sent to him by lawmakers. The Democratic governor will use his amendatory veto to rewrite bills he contends he can make better, and plans to announce some revisions today -- launching what he's calling his "Rewrite to Do Right" campaign...

McCLURE, Ill. -- Lurabell Sronce, 88, of Niceville, Fla., formerly of McClure, died Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 25, 1919, in Fayville, Ill., daughter of James Monroe and Gertrude Hoops Hutchison. She and Cletus Sronce were married Nov. 7, 1936, in Tamms, Ill. He died March 12, 1999...

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- A man convicted of murder in the videotaped sex slaying of an Independence woman has been sentenced to death. A Jackson County jury deliberated for less than two hours Tuesday before giving the death sentence to 44-year-old Richard D. Davis of Independence...

Another clutch long ball from Ryan Ludwick allowed the St. Louis Cardinals to shake off more troubles in the bullpen. Ludwick hit a two-run homer in the 11th inning, Albert Pujols also went deep and St. Louis beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-4 on Tuesday night...

SEOUL, South Korea -- Booger is back. An American woman received five puppies Tuesday that were cloned from her beloved late pit bull, becoming the inaugural customer of a South Korean company that says it is the world's first successful commercial canine cloning service...

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will bring the largest diesel-power towboat ever built in the U.S. to Cape Girardeau on Aug. 16 for visitor tours. The M/V Mississippi, 241 feet long and 58 feet tall with three 2,100-horsepower engines, will dock at the downtown riverfront and open from 9 a.m. ...

BEIJING — The leader of the IOC's medical commission said seven Russian female track and field athletes, accused of tampering with their urine samples, appeared to be involved in a case of "systematic doping." Seven Russian women were provisionally suspended last week by the International Association of Athletics Federations. ...

ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright threw 35 pitches in a simulated game Tuesday and will begin what he hopes is a short rehab stint later this week. Wainwright, the opening day starter, has been out nearly two months with a tendon injury in his right middle finger. He'll pitch again Saturday for a minor league affiliate and could rejoin the rotation next week, although he conceded he was a bit rusty and his delivery was out of sync...

Tim Brewer won the Republican vote for District 1 Perry County commissioner in the primary, defeating John Edwards 1,030 to 621. Neither candidate had run for public office before, but both boasted experience in owning and managing businesses. Brewer said his experience in running a business gave him leadership skills he intends to use in serving Perry County taxpayers...

These are the lazy days of summer. So it's no coincidence that this is also the prime season for cobbler. A cobbler, after all, in the words of Nicole Weston on her Baking Bites blog, is just a pie for lazy people. As she explains, it gives you the all the character of a pie but without the hassle...

Dear Sam: After working 27 years in a technical sales and marketing rep firm, my husband needs to make a change. He has an electrical engineering degree from Purdue and an abundance of U.S. and international marketing and sales experience. ...

Paul Koeper, a civil engineer who focused his campaign on the condition of county roads, won a resounding victory Tuesday in the Republican primary for District 1 commissioner in Cape Girardeau County. Koeper more than doubled the vote total of his closest challenger, Jackson Alderman Joe Bob Baker, in the 10-way race...

Coby is a beautiful black cat. He is neutered and declawed. Coby is 2yrs. old. His original owner passed away and now he needs a new home! Contact The Humane Society of Southeast Missouri 573-334-5837. See more pets available at www.semopets.org

Another suspicious fire broke out in Cape Girardeau County early this morning. Firefighters received a call around 1 a.m. of a shelter on fire at Cape Girardeau County Park South, and arrived to find the structure fully engulfed by the blaze, Battalion chief Brian Shaffer said...

Carol Steiner, a resident of Jackson only since April, knew she wanted to help homebound elderly people with consistent five minute phone calls at least during the week, as a way of letting them know they were not alone. She had provided this volunteer service at Holy Spirit Church in Memphis, Tenn. for about three years before moving to Jackson. Steiner just began her newly created volunteer assignment and will later determine if the service will be provided on the weekend...

Parents of Jefferson Elementary School students will have until Tuesday evening to request their child be transferred to a better-performing school. Because students failed to meet targets under No Child Left Behind this year, school choice is an option...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The U.S. Attorney's Office says the four operators of a group of child care centers in southern Missouri have been indicted on federal conspiracy charges. The defendants are accused of altering meal and daycare records and receiving nearly $123,000 in reimbursements from false child care claims...

Cape Girardeau police continue to investigate a shooting incident that occurred early morning hours today in the 100 block of Clark Avenue that left one man injured. The victim, a 22-year-old man, called the police department around 4 a.m. to report he'd just been shot, said Sgt. Barry Hovis, spokesman for the police department...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Fewer than one in five registered voters actually cast a ballot in Missouri's primary elections. Voter turnout Tuesday was around 19 percent, according to unofficial calculations. That's far shy of the 31 percent turnout that had been projected by election officials...

For the third time this summer, a group of residents is upset about a quarry. Residents of a Scott City neighborhood are organizing to stop the renewal of a permit for nearby defunct quarry. According to Glenda Cassout, whose Lakeview Drive home sits next to the old quarry, owned by a Dexter, Mo.-based company Seminole Agriculture and Lime, letters were sent to residents two weeks ago telling them the permit process with Missouri Department of Natural Resources had begun...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Tuesday's primary proved a good time to be an incumbent, with wins for all but one of the 134 current lawmakers seeking re-election. Freshman House member Tony George, of Florissant, lost by just 88 votes of 3,120 cast in a Democratic primary for the 74th House district. There is no Republican in that race, so winner Steve Webb, of Florissant, likely faces no opposition in November...

BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. (AP) -- Blue Springs police are investigating a triple shooting that left two men dead and a 14-year-old boy severely wounded. The teenage victim is being treated at a Kansas City hospital. Police say they were called to a domestic disturbance at a duplex shortly after 10:30 p.m. Tuesday and found the victims...

JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) -- A 29-year-old Joplin man has been charged with second-degree murder in his father's beating death. Police believe Dustin Fanning struck his 78-year-old father, Harold Fanning multiple times with his fists. Harold Fanning was found Monday in his home with blunt trauma to the head...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A lawmaker is indicted in connection with a sexual assault on a teenage girl, according to a report from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The newspaper reports that Scott Muschany, a Republican from St. Louis, was indicted by a grand jury in the Capitol's home of Cole County in connection with a sexual assault of the 14-year-old daughter of a state employee...

HANNIBAL, Mo. (AP) -- The city of Hannibal is exploring a buyout of homes affected by this summer's flood. The Hannibal City Council on Tuesday agreed to develop a draft program that would be brought back to the council for review. City Manager Jeff LaGarce said some homeowners have expressed interest in such a program...

CHILLICOTHE, Mo. (AP) -- A new women's prison nearing completion in Chillicothe will help accommodate a growing number of female offenders. Corrections Director Larry Crawford and Gov. Matt Blunt were overseeing a ribbon-cutting at the facility on Wednesday...

Now is the perfect time to view hummingbirds. Late July and August are prime time for hummingbird migration in the area as ruby-throated hummingbirds gear up for their journey south. Ruby-throated hummingbirds are intensely inquisitive and easily attracted to feeders, where males in particular typically display aggressive behavior toward rivals, other birds and insects. ...

Cape Girardeau's U.S. Post Office, 320 N. Frederick St., reported finding a gun in one of their post office boxes today, said Sgt. Barry Hovis, spokesman for the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Police are investigating the delivery and will run a trace on the gun to see if its been reported stolen, Hovis said...

Senior Timmy Holloman is Southeast Missouri State's main man in the backfield. Not only is Holloman one of the top rushers in Southeast history, he also is considered among the premier running backs in the Ohio Valley Conference right now. Just one problem: Holloman is ineligible for the first five games of the 2008 season under NCAA guidelines. He'll miss just one OVC contest...

Will Bogan's basketball career at Southeast Missouri State is over after just one season. Shawnee (Ill.) Community College coach John Sparks said Wednesday that Bogan recently signed a letter of intent with the Saints. "Will Bogan is a Shawnee Saint," Sparks said...

BIEHLE, Mo. -- Wilfred N. Ernst, 92, of Biehle died Monday, Aug. 4, 2008, at Independence Care Center of Perry County. He was born July 15, 1916, at Biehle, son of Joseph and Catherine Wingerter Ernst. He and Anita Pingel were married Nov. 20, 1943...

Shaking can be felt from the basement. Pounding becomes audible in the hallway. From the moment the door opens, energetic yelling can be heard throughout the Family Resource Center. It's 9 a.m., or "harambee" time. Thirty day camp students gather in an old sanctuary, clapping, jumping and spinning. ...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Tuesday: n At 6:34 p.m., a still alarm at 1008 N. Kingshighway. n At 9:38 p.m., emergency medical service in the 300 block of Park Drive. n At 10:37 p.m., emergency medical service in the 300 block of North Sprigg Street...

Winston Son to Jonathan Blake and Heather Renee Winston of Cape Girardeau, Saint Francis Medical Center, 10:48 p.m. Thursday, July 31, 2008. Name, Jace Maddix. Weight, 8 pounds, 1 ounce. Third child, second son. Mrs. Winston is the former Heather Alsup, daughter of Debbie Alsup and Dennis Bales of DeSoto, Mo., and Rick Alsup of Sikeston, Mo. ...

RICHMOND, Va. -- Cici confesses on her Web page that she likes to greet everyone by licking their feet. Dolce admits to being a mamma's boy. And Jake and Tycho posted a video that chronicles their adventures of rolling around on their backs. It's not on Facebook or MySpace, but the canine equivalent -- Doggyspace.com...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Coaches and seasons change. Tension whenever the Tennessee Titans and St. Louis Rams get together doesn't. These teams had some feisty joint practices back in 2000, months after St. Louis beat the Titans in the Super Bowl. It didn't take long for tempers to flare up again Wednesday as the teams gathered for a joint practice, as Rams receiver Reche Caldwell grabbed Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan in a bear hug and took him to the ground...

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Green Bay Packers have reached an agreement to trade quarterback Brett Favre to the New York Jets, the team announced late Wednesday night. Terms of the trade weren't immediately available. The Packers had been talking with the Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers since deciding earlier this week that the team and the three-time MVP couldn't co-exist. The Packers decided to move forward with Aaron Rodgers as their starter after Favre announced his retirement in March...

For the third time this summer, a group of residents is upset about a quarry. Jay and Glenda Cassout's Lakeview Drive home sits next to a defunct Scott County quarry, owned by Dexter, Mo.-based company Seminole Ag-Lime. Jay Cassout, 61, said he recalls swimming in the quarry when he was 14 years old...

Cape Girardeau firefighters responded to a house fire at 802 William St. shortly before noon Wednesday. The fire was reported by the residents of the single-family home when the structure began filling with smoke, Cape Girardeau fire chief Rick Ennis said at the scene. Firefighters found a blaze in the basement of the home and quickly extinguished it, he said...

LOS ANGELES -- In comedy, Hollywood has learned that raunch sells. Studios prefer their funny flicks in the benign PG-13 mold, a rating that keeps the audience broad to fill as many seats as possible. More and more, however, they are taking chances on R-rated comedies that ratchet up the rawness, allowing the "Sex and the City" gal pals to strut their stuff, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly to expose body parts in "Step Brothers," or Tom Cruise to swear like a sailor...

With the completion of the primary election, the Nov. 4 ballot is fixed with only a few possible exceptions. Here is the list of candidates Southeast Missouri voters will see in November: (i) Denotes incumbent Petitions submitted, under review possible recount...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Armed with money and election momentum, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jay Nixon sought Wednesday to frame Republican rival Kenny Hulshof as a Washington insider bent on continuing Gov. Matt Blunt's "failed policies." Hulshof, meanwhile, headed straight to Nixon's home of Jefferson County on Day 1 of the general election campaign -- a symbolic gesture indicating he is ready to take on Nixon after surviving a tough Republican primary...

WASHINGTON -- Army scientist Bruce Ivins "was the only person responsible" for anthrax attacks in 2001 that killed five and rattled the nation, the Justice Department said Wednesday, backing the claim with dozens of documents all pointing to his guilt...

25 years ago: Aug. 7, 1983 Hutson Enterprises Inc. has announced expansion plans for its Furniture Fair store at the northeast corner of Main and Independence streets; the new area, adjacent to the current store space, will occupy about 12,000 square feet on the ground floor of the old J.C. Penney Co. building...

RALEIGH, N.C. -- A vintage World War II landing craft was hauled across a coastal North Carolina town Wednesday and is set to be restored and preserved -- one of only about a dozen of its kind believed to be left. The North Carolina Maritime Museum moved the rare Higgins boat to its Watercraft Center in Beaufort, where restoration work is to begin today...

Annual arts festival saddles up in Sikeston @SL_body_copy_ragged:SIKESTON, Mo. — The annual "Cowboy Up!" Arts Festival in Sikeston will feature art, food vendors, pony rides, jewelry-makers and craftsmen. Yodeler/trick roper Randy Erwin headlines the entertainment. ...

Baseball n Jackson fall registration: The Jackson boys baseball league will hold fall registration Aug. 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Aug. 17 from noon to 4 p.m. at Westpark Mall's center court. The season will begin around the first week of September, and is open to players that were 8 years old before April 30, 2008. Info: 275-5227....

HANNIBAL, Mo. — The city of Hannibal is exploring a buyout of homes affected by this summer's flood. The Hannibal City Council on Tuesday agreed to develop a draft program that would be brought back to the council for review. City Manager Jeff LaGarce said some homeowners have expressed interest in such a program...

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI n Veronica L. Schearf, 25, 1400 S. West End Blvd., Apt. 30, was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, no proof of insurance and failure to obey signal...

The main purpose of a marching band is to provide visual entertainment for football audiences. I've seen them make stars, faces, words, spirals and random shapes and patterns. They add horn flashes, flag tosses and new uniforms to enhance the visual effects...

ANNA, Ill. -- Abbie A. Lacy Treese Snider, 103, of Anna died Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2008, at the home of her granddaughter. She was born May 3, 1905, in Makanda, Ill., daughter of William R. and Rosabelle Tippy Lacy. She and Horace L. Treese were married June 3, 1923. He died Jan. 27, 1953. She later married Otho Snider Sept. 17, 1956. He died Dec. 7, 1963...

Patrick Henry Hughes was born with a rare genetic disorder that left him without eyes and a tightening of the joints that made him unable to fully extend his arms or legs. Despite being unable to see or walk, he never let his disorder prevent him from living his life to its fullest potential...

Southeast volleyball hires assistant coach Southeast Missouri State volleyball coach Renata Nowacki announced the hiring of Randi Raff as an assistant for the 2008 season. Raff spent the past two years as a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach at Purdue, where she served as the primary trainer for the Boilermakers volleyball, diving and women's golf teams...

MOUND CITY, Ill. -- Betty Rucker, 65, of Mound City died Thursday, July 31, 2008, at her home. Friends may call from 11 a.m. to noon Friday at the Zion Traveler Missionary Baptist Church in Mound City. Funeral will be at noon Friday at the church, with the Rev. Carlton Berry officiating. Burial will be in Spencer Heights Memorial Park in Mounds...

TORONTO -- Greyhound has scrapped an ad campaign that extolled the relaxing upside of bus travel after one of its passengers was accused of beheading and cannibalizing another traveler. The ad's tag line was "There's a reason you've never heard of 'bus rage.'"...

Mayumi Rampley, 56, of Jackson died Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008, at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson is in charge of arrangements.

ST. LOUIS -- After the bullpen's latest struggles, the St. Louis Cardinals have decided to go to a closer by committee. Closer Jason Isringhausen, who has a 1-5 record, 6.28 ERA and seven blown saves in 19 chances, remained a member of the bullpen although the role was not clear...

Cape Girardeau police continue to investigate a shooting incident that occurred early Wednesday morning in the 100 block of Clark Avenue that left one man injured. The victim, a 22-year-old man, called the police department around 4 a.m. to report he'd just been shot, said Sgt. Barry Hovis, spokesman for the police department...

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Riot police used tear gas Wednesday to block hundreds of Venezuelans protesting the latest moves by President Hugo Chavez to concentrate his power. The demonstrators said a blacklist of opposition candidates and a series of socialist decrees are destroying what's left of their democracy...

CAIRO, Egypt -- Egyptian scientists are carrying out DNA tests on two mummified fetuses found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun to determine whether they are the young pharaoh's offspring, the antiquities authority said Wednesday. The two tiny female fetuses, between five to seven months in gestational age, were found in King Tut's tomb in Luxor when it was discovered in 1922...

"Nim's Island" Past child star Jodie Foster and Hollywood's current go-to girl Abigail Breslin team up for this sturdy family adventure adapted from Wendy Orr's novel. Breslin stars as the title character, a fearless young girl left alone on an island after her scientist dad (Gerard Butler) vanishes. ...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Eight firefighters and a pilot are presumed dead in the crash of a helicopter that had just picked up workers battling a blaze in a Northern California forest, officials said Wednesday. The helicopter had lifted off from a clearing in a remote, rugged region of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, said Jennifer Rabuck, spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service...

Closing the barn door FIRST OF all, I can't believe Cape Girardeau County officials haven't had sexual harassment training before now. It sounds like Morley Swingle, prosecuting attorney, should be in the first row of the class when they have it. How are these two women supposed to work with the county auditor after all this? This sounds like closing the barn door after the horse ran away...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Mildred Bell, 90, of Chaffee died Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 12, 1917, at Chaffee, daughter of James Lafayette and Delpha Cecilia Good Dennis. She married Roy F. Bell Sept. 26, 1937. He preceded her in death May 18, 2005...

Click on the links to read coverage of the primary election and see vote tallies for local and state races. ...

BAGHDAD -- Iraqi lawmakers adjourned for the month Wednesday after failing to agree on a provincial election law, casting doubt on whether U.S.-backed balloting can be held in the country's 18 provinces this year. The development is a setback to U.S. hopes for reconciliation among rival communities despite the decline in violence and comes after days of intense negotiations and heavy pressure from U.S. and U.N. officials...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- More than 250 people bought gas Tuesday afternoon at Rhodes 101 for $2.69 a gallon. Poplar Bluff police directed traffic for the two-hour event, with an average of one person filling up every 30 seconds. This first-time promotion from Big River Telephone appears to have struck a chord with the public, with southbound traffic on Westwood Boulevard at the Wal-Mart turnoff backed up for more than a half-mile during much of the event...

Wilbert H. Habeck, 89, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008, at Fountainbleau Lodge. He was born Nov. 5, 1918, in Cape Girardeau, son of Henry and Julia Heuer Habeck. Habeck farmed all his life in Cape Girardeau County. He was a member of Christ Episcopal Church...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Tuesday's primary proved a good one for incumbents, with all but one of the 134 Missouri House and Senate members seeking re-election advancing to November's general election. Freshman Rep. Tony George, D-Florissant, fell to challenger Steve Webb by just 88 of the 3,120 votes cast in the 74th House District. No Republican entered the race in the suburban St. Louis district, so Webb appears to have an unobstructed path to the House...

Democratic voters in Tuesday's primary voted out the Cape Girardeau County Democratic chairwoman. But it doesn't indicate rejection of Brenda Woemmel's leadership -- she was campaigning for her opponent, Ellen Dillon. The August primary every two years is when party voters select people to represent their voting precinct on the basic organizational unit of every political party -- the county central committee. ...

ST. LOUIS — A legislator from Warren County where a man was attacked by a tiger earlier this week says he'll again try to strengthen state law related to exotic animals. Republican State Rep. Mike Sutherland has sought changes to a state exotic animal law since 2004. He expects he'll seek reforms again in the next legislative session...

I was not looking forward to seeing "Swing Vote" this weekend. Who wants to see a movie with Kevin Costner that doesn't have anything to do with baseball, dancing with wolves or a world made completely of water? Not me. So it was with an open mind that I sat down and watched "Swing Vote." I say this a lot, I know, but I really liked it. It turned out to be a movie with a message that every American needs to hear, especially with our presidential election coming up...

1. "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer 2. "New Moon" by Stephenie Meyer 3. "The Shack" by William P. Young 4. "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer 5. "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch, Jeffrey Zaslow

NEW YORK -- Lisa Marie Presley is expecting twins, her spokeswoman, Cindy Guagenti, said Wednesday. The babies are expected to arrive in the fall. Presley -- daughter of Elvis Presley and actress Priscilla Presley -- announced her pregnancy on her MySpace page in March, saying she was forced to go public with the news after photos of her looking heavier were ridiculed in the media...

Women in Agriculture to meet tonight BENTON, Mo. — Scott County Women in Agriculture will meet at 7 p.m. today at the USDA office on Highway 77. Alexia Whitten, who works with cancer patients and people who want to always have their makeup in place, will be the guest speaker on the topic of permanent makeup. ...

Aug. 7, 2008 Dear Pat, Should news of my untimely accidental demise reach you, please suggest the authorities investigate a more unnatural cause of death. I think my wife might be trying to kill me. My suspicions arose after my return in the spring from a road trip to California and Canada. ...

PULASKI, Ill. -- Vertie Johnson, 78, of rural Pulaski died Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008, at her home. She was the state supervisor of the Southern Illinois Jurisdiction Church of God in Christ of rural Pulaski. Visitation will be from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday at the Bibleway Church of God in Christ in Pulaski. Local services will be at 7 p.m. Friday at the church, with Rob Johnson officiating...

NEW YORK -- Freddie Mac on Wednesday posted a second-quarter loss that was more than three times larger than Wall Street expected as a huge number of borrowers with good credit fell behind on their exotic and risky mortgages. Stunned investors sent Freddie's stock down more than 19 percent to $6.49...

ST. LOUIS — Ryan Ludwick said he simply followed Albert Pujols' lead. Ludwick tied a franchise record with a homer in his fifth straight game, only four pitches after Pujols' grand slam, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-6 on Wednesday...

A depressed primary turnout helped create some election surprises Tuesday, and the numbers for some candidates could be a predictor of electoral difficulties when voters go to the polls again in November. Overall 24 percent of Cape Girardeau County voters, 12,173 out of 50,648 on the registration rolls, went to the polls. ...

Parents of Jefferson Elementary School students will have until Tuesday evening to request their child be transferred to a better-performing school. Because students failed to meet targets under No Child Left Behind this year, school choice is an option...

A special meeting of the Chaffee City Council tonight will focus on personnel. Though city officials technically could close the meeting, Mayor Loretta Mohorc said there's "no way" she wants that to happen. In February, she was confronted in a closed meeting during which several members of the council tried but failed to impeach her...

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba -- A jury of six U.S. military officers convicted Osama bin Laden's former driver of supporting terrorism Wednesday, but cleared him of conspiracy charges in the first war crimes trial at Guantanamo Bay. The Pentagon-selected jury deliberated for about eight hours over three days before returning the verdict against Salim Hamdan, who held his head in his hands and wept when a Navy captain on the jury read the decision...

PADUCAH, Ky. — Car racing fans are some of the most knowledgeable and dedicated in sports, but a community of people looking for entertainment is at the heart of it all. On Friday, the Paducah International Raceway in Paducah, Ky., will hold one of its regular Friday races with six competing divisions...

SAN DIEGO -- Come November, more Americans might cast their ballots on paper than in any other election in U.S. history. That wasn't supposed to happen. If everything had gone according to the government's $3 billion plan to upgrade voting technology after the hanging-chad fiasco in Florida in 2000, that sentence would read "electronic machines" instead of paper...

To the editor: I was saddened by the passing of Bud Job (I always pronounced it "Yobe"). Like so many of his generation he was, in my estimation, a quiet man of great stature. I met Bud for the first time around 1982. He was a volunteer on the SEMO District Fair Board. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Attorney general candidate Chris Koster got a double-dose of good news Wednesday as ethics complaints against him were dismissed and his narrow primary election lead stabilized as straggling votes in St. Louis County were counted...

Power plants that don't burn fossil fuels to generate electricity abound. In the northwestern U.S., hydroelectric plants produce much of the power consumed in that part of the country. Wind-power production is growing quickly, even in northern Missouri where the mostly rural terrain is dotted with huge towers of wind generators...

Rick Springfield is a busy man these days. After releasing a new album, "Venus in Overdrive," Springfield has been on morning shows, at radio stations and in interviews with local entertainment journalists nonstop for weeks now. However, his sunny disposition and caring manner has not disappeared. ...

Whether it's a beautiful, sunny day or a dark, stormy night, Imo's Pizza is a restaurant people can enjoy year-round. Located across from the Henderson Avenue and Broadway intersection, Imo's has been serving the original St. Louis-style pizza to the Cape Girardeau area since 1991...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — More than 250 people bought gas Tuesday afternoon at Rhodes 101 for $2.69 a gallon. Poplar Bluff police directed traffic for the two-hour event, with an average of one person filling up every 30 seconds. This first-time promotion from Big River Telephone appears to have struck a chord with the public, with southbound traffic on Westwood Boulevard at the Wal-Mart turnoff backed up for more than a half-mile during much of the event...

This is a picture of my Mom and Dad's front window. The signs are in support of the US Olympic Team and especially the US Olympic Men's Soccer Team which my cousin Dax McCarty is a member. They won their opening game this morning against Japan 1-0...

Another suspicious fire broke out in Cape Girardeau County early Wednesday. Cape Girardeau firefighters received a call around 1 a.m. of a shelter on fire at Cape Girardeau County Park South and arrived to find the structure engulfed by the blaze, battalion chief Brian Shaffer said...

Emergency crews are scouring the Mississippi River this morning for a man involved in a boating accident that occurred near the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge last last night. According to Captain John Ryan of the Cape Girardeau Fire Department, both marine rescue units have been deployed for the search, and the U.S. Coast Guard has been notified...

SIKESTON, Mo. — For the first time in about two decades, Southern/classic rock music will be part of the Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo entertainment — and it has generated a lot of buzz. Tonight, .38 Special will perform following the rodeo events. The group, together for more than 30 years, is known for hit songs such as "Hold On Loosely," "If I'd Been the One" and "Rockin' into the Night."...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A 23-year-old man is shot to death after being flagged down to presumably help others. St. Louis police identify the victim as 23-year-old James Fitch. The incident happened Tuesday night. Fitch and a passenger were flagged down by a group of men. Police spokeswoman Schron Jackson says two of the men approached the passenger side of Fitch's car and started talking. One of the men pulled out a gun and shot Fitch as he tried to drive off...

It was long, it was stressful. On the Aug. 7 special elimination show of "America's Got Talent," the producers again waited until the end to show Neal E. Boyd, and to let his fans (and his detractors) know his fate. Would Boyd move on to the live semifinals in Los Angeles? In the end, the answer was yes...

CHICAGO (AP) -- Speeders on Illinois highways may be caught on camera if a new proposal gets through the Legislature. Governor Rod Blagojevich announced Thursday a plan to put speed enforcement cameras along interstate highways to crack down on reckless drivers...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Attorney general candidate Margaret Donnelly is likely to ask for a re-count in her Democratic primary against Chris Koster. Koster declared himself the winner of Tuesday's election. He has a 786-vote lead over Donnelly out of more than 346,000 votes cast. But the official results may not be certified until Aug. 26...

Only 40 remain, and Neal E. Boyd is one of them. If you were watching "America's Got Talent" on Aug. 7, and you're one of the many around here (and probably across the country) pulling for Boyd, you couldn't help but feel a little nervous and impatient as the 90-minute program drug on...

OZARK, Mo. (AP) -- Officials in Christian County are asking for a state investigation after Ozark police officers repeatedly used Tasers on an injured Branson teen last month. A police report says the officers found 17-year-old Mace Hutchinson lying on the shoulder of U.S. 65 early on the morning of July 19 after apparently falling from a nearby overpass...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- An assistant prosecutor is appointed to a judgeship in Clay County. Gov. Matt Blunt has picked Shane Alexander to take over for Clay County Circuit Judge Michael Maloney, who retired. Alexander, of Smithville, is the chief assistant prosecuting attorney in Clay County and also serves as municipal judge in Excelsior Springs...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A Poplar Bluff man, facing charges of manufacturing and distributing methamphetamine, is being held in the Butler County jail on $1 million bond...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Republican Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder is calling for the resignation of a St. Louis lawmaker who has been indicted on charges of sexual assault. Kinder on Thursday also called on fellow Republicans to urge Republican House member Scott Muschany to resign...

Neal E. Boyd has 39 other acts to go up against when "America's Got Talent" goes to Las Vegas after the Olympic Games. Here are some of them. . ...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Three Florida men associated with the online gambling firm BetOnSports face sentencing in October after pleading guilty to federal charges. William Hernan Lenis, his son, Will Lenis, and nephew Manny Lenis entered the pleas Wednesday in St. Louis...

Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo Riding and roping by cowboys and cowgirls, then music and rocking by .38 Special, Gary Allan and Jason Aldean. Where: Rodeo grounds, Sikeston, Mo. When: Rodeo at 7 p.m., music about 9:30 p.m. today, Friday, Saturday LIVE MUSIC...

After three days off, the Plaza Tire Capahas are ready to resume action at the National Baseball Congress World Series. The Capahas will play the Santa Barbara (Calif.) Foresters at 1 p.m. today in Wichita, Kan. That contest is in the winners bracket round of 16 in the 42-team, double-elimination event...

The Southeast Missouri State gymnastics team has two primary goals every year. The Redhawks took care of the first one in April by qualifying for the NCAA South Central Regional. Southeast nailed down the second one Thursday by repeating as Academic National Champions, according to the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women...

Paul Lohmann PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Paul W. Lohmann, 36, of Perryville died Thursday, Aug. 7, 2008, near Perryville. He was born Aug. 13, 1971, in Cape Girardeau, son of Willis and Margie Petzoldt Lohmann of Perryville. He and Krystal Hayes were married Aug. 21, 1999...

Two people with Southeast Missouri State ties will be a part of the 2008 Summer Olympics that are under way in Beijing, China. Former Southeast women's basketball player Natalie Purcell will participate in that sport for her native New Zealand. She is believed to be the first Southeast product to compete in an Olympics...

Faulty test Oh, yes, let's blame the discrepancy between our students A's and B's on report cards and their barely passing MAP scores on the teachers. How ridiculous. Maybe this discrepancy points to a faulty test, not a faulty school district. Good odds...

Using a powerful magnet you can pull the iron out of Total cereal. Materials n Total cereal n Neodymium magnet n Ziploc bag n Water Instructions STEP 1: Place 1/2 cup of Total cereal into the Ziploc bag. STEP 2: Using your hands, crush the cereal into small pieces...

Henry Dunker Jr. CAIRO, Ill. -- Henry William "Bill" Dunker Jr., 81, of Cairo died Thursday, Aug. 7, 2008, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Oct. 8, 1926, in Cairo, son of Henry William and May Lee Dunker. Dunker was a graduate of Cairo High School, received an associate degree in elementary education from Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo., received a bachelor of science degree in education from Murray State University in Murray, Ky., and studied voice at Asbury School of Music in Wilmore, Ky.. ...

WASHINGTON -- What took so long? Army scientist Bruce Ivins had a history of paranoia, obsession and delusional thinking. And newly unsealed court documents show he didn't keep them to himself. Therapists knew. Doctors knew. Co-workers suspected. One complained he was a "manic basket case." Another recalled him openly weeping at his desk inside one of the military's top biological warfare facilities...