Stories from Friday, February 27, 2009

FRIDAY n New movies "Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert" Rated G @ Cape West 14 Cine and Town Plaza Cinema n KGMO Sports Show @ Show Me Center, 5 to 9 p.m. n "Sweet Charity" @Bedell Performance Hall, 7:30 p.m. n Open mic @Broadway Books & Roasting Co., 7:30 p.m...

The Meadow Heights offense has rounded into shape just in time for the postseason. The Panthers connected on 10 3-pointers in their 89-65 victory over Zalma on Thursday. Meadow Heights is shooting 56 percent from behind the arc in its last four games. It's made 31 treys in that span...

Did you know you can create a unique sound by using a string and a spoon? Materials n Spoon n String Instructions STEP 1: Using a piece of string about 3 feet long, tie the metal spoon to the center of the string. STEP 2: Using your index fingers, hold each end of the string to your ears...

n Central sophomore Blake Ozbun was incorrectly identified in a photo cutline on Page 1B of Thursday's newspaper. n It was incorrectly reported in the high school roundup on Page 3B of Wednesday's newspaper that Adam Welker was the leading scorer in Meadow Heights' boys basketball game Tuesday. Tyler Welker was the team's leading scorer in the game. The Southeast Missourian regrets the errors...

CHICAGO -- The fortunes of more than 200 factory workers who came to symbolize the plight of laid-off labor last year when they staged a sit-in at a shuttered Chicago factory are looking up -- even amid waves of layoffs elsewhere. Excitement is building among the former Republic Windows & Doors employees after a green-oriented windows maker in California said Thursday it had purchased Republic's assets and hopes to reopen the plant soon with the same workers...

More than two dozen friends and family members of Michael Strong filled a St. Louis County courtroom Thursday to watch a judge sentence Lisa A. Barlow to 20 years in prison. Barlow pleaded guilty last month to Strong's murder, admitting to shooting and killing her boyfriend at his Scopus, Mo., home in summer of 2007...

PHOENIX -- The U.S. State Department and universities around the country are warning college students headed for Mexico for some spring-break partying of a surge in drug-related murder and mayhem south of the border. "We're not necessarily telling students not to go, but we're going to certainly alert them," said Tom Dougan, vice president for student affairs at the University of Rhode Island. ...

The body of a 47-year-old man was discovered Thursday morning along the banks of the Mississippi River in downtown Cape Girardeau. Thomas Turner, who is believed to have been a resident at a local care facility, was reported missing Wednesday night, according to Cape Girardeau County Coroner John Clifton...

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- Staff at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium in California say the trickster who flooded their offices with sea water was armed. Eight-armed, to be exact. They blame the soaking they discovered Tuesday morning on the aquarium's resident two-spotted octopus, a tiny female known for being curious and gregarious with visitors. The octopus apparently tugged on a valve and that allowed hundreds of gallons of water to overflow its tank...

Chris Hutson remembers when Old Town Cape began July 1, 1999, but lacked an office for its director. Ten years later, the organization has moved into its current space at 418 Broadway and brought the DREAM initiative to the city, where downtown economic development efforts have been infused with more than $2.6 million...

PARIS -- Geologists, biologists and other scientists convened Thursday in Paris to discuss how to stop the spread of fungus stains that threaten France's prehistoric Lascaux cave drawings. Black stains have spread across the cave's prehistoric murals of bulls, felines and other images, and scientists have been hard-pressed to halt the fungal creep...

AMSTERDAM -- Engine trouble may have caused the Turkish Airlines crash that killed nine people in the Netherlands, the head of the agency investigating the accident said Thursday. Separately, officials said those killed were five Turks and four Americans...

MARANA, Ariz. -- Just about everything went according to plan for Tiger Woods in his celebrated return to golf. Except he didn't plan on leaving this early. Woods had no complaints with his game or his knee, but he had no answer Thursday for Tim Clark of South Africa, who played 16 holes without a bogey and knocked the world's No. 1 player out of the Accenture Match Play Championship...

DALLAS -- Chris Mason was good -- and had some luck on his side, too. Mason made 41 saves for St. Louis, Dallas players hit four posts and a crossbar with shots, and the Blues beat the Stars 3-1 on Thursday night. Mason withstood a 14-shot first period and has allowed four goals in his last four games to improve to 10-3-4 in his past 17 games...

You've seen Will Ferrell's "Landlady." You know what Hulu is. But that much hyped 21st century invention called the Web series remains largely unknown to you. Fear not. A host of websites can direct you to the best series online, including Tilzy.tv and Tubefilter.tv -- both good blogs that feature knowledgeable seekers of worthy Web series...

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team gets another chance to take down a program from a major conference this weekend. Purdue visits Capaha Field for a four-game series beginning with today's 1 p.m. doubleheader. One game originally was scheduled for today, at 2 p.m., but because of anticipated bad weather Saturday -- when a noon doubleheader was slated -- the series schedule has been revamped...

SIKESTON -- The Dexter boys basketball team switched to a man-to-man defense against Notre Dame to begin the second half after trailing by as many as 17 points during the first half Thursday. Dexter's defense held Notre Dame scoreless during the first three and a half minutes of the third quarter and cut the deficit to nine points...

Lester Murris Chapman, 81, of Scott City died Monday, Feb. 16, 2009, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born April 5, 1927, in Sarasota, Fla., son of Nathan Russell and Agnes Goff Chapman. He and Marjorie Gail Landon were married July 12, 1954. She died Oct. 15, 1993. He and Susie Wells Scott were married May 6, 1995...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Norma D. Davis, 83, of Marble Hill died Thursday, Feb. 26, 2009, at Eldercare in Marble Hill. She was born July 3, 1925, in Buffalo, N.Y., daughter of Howard and Estelle Dedo Mallion. She and Arthur L. Davis were married June 28, 1952. He died Sept. 18, 2005...

It's hard not to be impressed by the striking presence of all 50 cast members on stage during the curtain call of the new Southeast Missouri State University's musical, "Sweet Charity." The Department of Theatre and Dance has once again presented an ambitious and demanding musical, and it has once again done a wonderful job...

WASHINGTON -- Trillion is the new billion. No longer is it a billion here and a billion there that add up to real money. Swap a "tr" for the "b" if you want a measure of what's at stake under President Obama's first spending plan, unveiled Thursday...

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team put up a strong effort, but could not avoid its 18th straight defeat Thursday. Host Tennessee State extended the nation's longest current losing streak with an 87-82 win in Nashville, Tenn. Southeast fell to 3-26 overall and 0-17 in Ohio Valley Conference play entering Saturday's final game of the season at Austin Peay...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The death of a man that police and a medical examiner had said was the result of natural causes has been ruled a homicide after a funeral home found three bullet holes in his body. The Kansas City Star reported Thursday that the wounds -- two of them in Anthony Crockett's head -- were noticed by funeral home workers after the man's body was embalmed Friday. ...

Seven teens at Jackson Junior High School stopped eating at 7 a.m. Thursday. They only drank water or juice when they felt hungry and they plan on fasting until 1 p.m. today. Micayla Gray convinced her friends to join her in the 30-hour fast to raise money for and awareness of world hunger. She said she got the idea last year when she found a brochure from World Vision at her church. The money they raise will be sent to World Vision, which helps people sponsor children in impoverished countries...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- A rural Sikeston man was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the 2007 murder of a Morehouse, Mo., man. Lee Roy "Chuck" King II was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison for voluntary manslaughter and 15 years for armed criminal action. The sentences are to run consecutively. He appeared before Butler County Judge Mark Lee Richardson...

Southeast Missouri State took home three of the six Ohio Valley Conference indoor track and field postseason awards announced Thursday. Josh Uchtman was named male field athlete of the year, Shemeika Brewer was named female freshman of the year and Nate Shipley shared male freshman of the year. Voting was done by the league's coaches...

NEW YORK -- Like many recent high school grads, 18-year-old Nathan Wolford wants his own place and his own car, so he's doing what many parents would tell him to do: looking for a job. But even for a teen who is willing to work almost anywhere enthusiastically, finding a job in these tough economic times isn't easy. Retailers and restaurants aren't hiring as much, and a rising unemployment rate means stiff competition from laid-off workers with more experience...

WASHINGTON -- The Senate voted Wednesday to bar federal regulators from reimposing a policy, abandoned two decades ago, that required balanced coverage of issues on public airwaves. The pre-emptive strike against the so-called Fairness Doctrine has been actively pushed by conservative radio talk show hosts who have warned that Democrats would seek to revive the policy to ensure that liberal opinions get equal time...

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration is reversing an 18-year ban on news coverage of the return of war dead, allowing photographs of flag-covered caskets when families of the fallen troops agree, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday. "My conclusion was we should not presume to make the decision for the families," Gates said in announcing results of a quick review of a ban that had stood through Republican and Democratic administrations...

Renovation of the Walthers building on Broadway in Cape Girardeau is going a bit slower than Martha Brown, president of the Southeast Missouri Children's Museum board, would like. But the Discovery Playhouse, an interactive, hands-on museum for children, is still expected to open sometime this spring. That effort got a boost this week with a $10,000 donation from the Bank of Missouri...

LONDON -- British prosecutors said Thursday they would not bring charges against a London man accused of hacking into U.S. military computers. The decision is a blow to Gary McKinnon's attempts to avoid extradition to the United States. U.S. prosecutors allege McKinnon, 42, broke into 97 computers belonging to NASA, the Department of Defense and several branches of the military soon after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. McKinnon says he was looking for evidence of UFOs...

25 years ago: Feb. 27, 1984 Winter weather returns to Cape Girardeau and the area with a vengeance in the morning, dumping 6 inches of wet snow here and whipping it with 30 mph winds; all schools in the area are closed, including Southeast Missouri State University; the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport is also shut down; snow is expected to continue falling throughout the day...

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- U.N. judges Thursday acquitted former Serbian president Milan Milutinovic of ordering a deadly campaign of terror against Kosovo Albanians, saying he had no role in what they ruled was a criminal plot to drive ethnic Albanians out of Kosovo...

Could you please print this poem from my favorite poet in honor of Black History Month? It rings true and is especially poignant given the events of our times. God bless America! Dr. ANTHONY P. KNOX, Cape Girardeau Let America Be America Again...

Juanita E. Lowes, 91, of Jackson died Thursday, Feb. 26, 2009, at Jackson Manor. Visitation will be from 9 a.m. to service time Monday at Cracraft-Miller Funeral Home. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Monday at the funeral home.

Mary Ellen Wasem Sullenger, 97, of Cape Girardeau, formerly of Charleston, Mo., died Thursday, Feb. 26, 2009, at the Lutheran Home. She was born Feb. 24, 1912, in Wickliffe, Ky., daughter of Marshall Henry and Lillie Virginia Riley Rollins. She grew up in Wickliffe and was a member of First Baptist Church. She attended Wickliffe High School where she was a star basketball player and had the nickname "Babe." She moved to Cape Girardeau and attended Cape Girardeau School of Beauty Culture...

SCHOLARSHIPS n Jacob Azinger of Scott City, Nicole Gaither of Cape Girardeau, Victoria L. Pfau and Jessica K. Groves, both of Jackson, all received the Regents' Scholarship to attend Southeast Missouri State University for the 2009-2010 academic year...

The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team received the help it was looking for. But the Redhawks failed to take advantage, meaning they are likely to be on the road for Tuesday's first round of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament. Thursday's 70-54 loss to Tennessee State in Nashville, Tenn., kept the Redhawks tied for fourth place with Morehead State. The top four finishers earn opening-round OVC tournament home games...

Southeast Missouri is mourning and celebrating. It is mourning the deaths of three individuals while celebrating their many contributions that have brightened and improved the lives of so many others. n Mildred Wallhausen: Millie ran the weekly newspaper in Charleston, Mo., the Enterprise-Courier, for 40 years after the death of her husband, Art Wallhausen Sr. ...

On Jan. 1, the minimum wage in Missouri increased to $7.05 an hour. That raise, $16 a week for a full-time worker, also did something else -- it made a family of four with both parents working full time ineligible to live in taxpayer-supported housing designated for low-income people...

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests n A subject was in custody pending formal charges for unlawful use of a weapon. n Charles Johnson, 40, 1111 Cape Hills Drive, Apt. 2, was arrested on a Cape Girardeau warrant for probation violation for driving while intoxicated...

Though Paul Koeper, Cape Girardeau County's 1st District commissioner, only recently completed a series of town hall meetings with county residents, he's ready to do it again. This time Koeper will be talking specifically about setting speed limits on county roads...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — One day after playing the Florida Marlins to a tie in their exhibition opener, the St. Louis Cardinals were dealt an 11-3 loss by the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday. St. Louis starter Kyle Lohse started off strong, but then faltered. He retired the side in order in the first, then gave up two-run homers to former Southeast Missouri State standout Justin Christian and Nolan Reimold in the second...

ADVANCE -- Josh Dowdy decided at halftime that it was time for his Advance boys basketball team to apply some defensive pressure at half court. The Hornets' second-half defensive alignment gave Leopold just enough trouble that Advance pulled out a 52-49 victory Thursday...

Clubbs Daughter to Bobby Lynn and Brooke Clubbs of Jackson, Saint Francis Medical Center, 1:54 p.m. Friday, Feb. 20, 2009. Name, Lily Hope. Weight, 9 pounds, 12 ounces. Third child, second daughter. Mrs. Clubbs is the former Brooke Hildebrand, daughter of Jim and Susanne Hildebrand of Jackson. She is employed at Southeast Missouri State University. Clubbs is the son of Robert and Judy Clubbs of Malden, Mo. He is employed at Jackson High School...

Thanks, Sheriff CONGRATULATIONS to Sheriff Rick Walter. Thank goodness for him. Everybody else had given up on the case where Joshua Kezer was imprisoned wrongly. I want to thank Walter for the job he did. Off to the White House I will be the first to admit that I was skeptical when Joe Sullivan began writing columns about serious economic matters. ...

Shelby Denise Lewis, 51, of Washington, D.C., died Sunday, Dec. 21, 2008, at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. She was born Nov. 14, 1957, in Chicago, daughter of John Henry and Mary Sue Campbell McCline. Lewis was a nurse. Survivors include her mother and stepfather, Mary and Harry Wilson; a brother, Tony McCline; and a sister, Alice McCline, all of Cape Girardeau...

Bless, O God, the leaders of all nations. Help them to make righteous choices. Amen.

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Wednesday: n At 3:19 p.m., an alarm sounding in the 2600 block of Ranchito Drive. n At 4:46 p.m., a citizen assist in the 2800 block of Independence Street. n At 7:20 p.m., emergency medical service in the 1500 block of Kingsway Drive...

Police are still investigating what could have driven a Perryville, Mo., man to shoot and injure two AmerenUE linemen Friday morning in Jackson, before taking his own life. Aaron C. Hemingway, 32, of Perryville is believed to have pulled off of Interstate 55 and gotten out of his truck at an AmerenUE substation at center junction, where Kingshighway becomes Jackson Boulevard, around 9:50 a.m. Friday...

Jackson police are searching for a motive in the shooting of two Ameren utility workers this morning, said Jackson Police Chief James Humphreys. The shooting occurred around 10 a.m., at the Ameren substation near center junction in Jackson, where Interstate 55 intersects Jackson Boulevard...

Jackson police are searching for a motive in the shooting of two Ameren utility workers this morning, said chief James Humphreys.The shooting occurred around 10 a.m., at the Ameren substation near Center Junction in Jackson, where Interstate 55 intersects Jackson Boulevard.The shooter opened fire on Ameren employees working at the substation, then fled the scene in a small maroon Chevrolet truck, Humpreys said.Two Ameren employees were injured in the shooting and transported to a nearby hospital, Humphreys said.Police believe some Jackson sanitation workers spotted the truck and alerted police of its location, allowing them to stop the vehicle at Ridge Road.Before police could make an arrest, the suspected shooter took his own life with what is believed to be the same 12-gauge shotgun used in the shooting, Humpreys said.Not much is known at this time about the deceased shooter, but he appeared to be in his mid-20s, Humphreys said.Look for more on this story later on semissourian.com and in Saturday's edition of the Southeast Missourian.. ...

Habitat for Humanity leaders will break ground Saturday for a home that will be built mostly by Southeast Missouri State University students on its campus, all within a two-week time frame. Construction is expected to begin on the parking lot near 920 Broadway on March 7 and end March 21 when the entire house is loaded on a trailer enroute to its new address at 1640 Main St. Ground breaking will take place at 11:30 a.m...

Businesses that missed state deadlines for some tax payments due to the late January ice storm will not be penalized, the director of the Missouri Department of Revenue said today. During the ice storm, some areas of Southeast Missouri were without power for two weeks or longer, shutting down businesses and leaving important tax information locked in computers that could not be accessed, said Karen Mitchell, director of the state tax agency...

Jackson police are searching for a motive in the shooting of two Ameren utility workers this morning, said chief James Humphreys. The shooting occurred around 10 a.m., at the Ameren substation near Center Junction in Jackson, where Interstate 55 intersects Jackson Boulevard...