Stories from Wednesday, October 31, 2012

LAURA SIMON ~ lsimon@semissourian.com Alma Schrader kindergarten students Blake Pardon and Aimee Caldwell pass by fellow kindergarten students Owen Gardner, right, Jazzlyn Fullenwider, center, and Jaedyn Hethcote Wednesday ...

The Missouri Secretary of State's Office is predicting a high voter turnout in next week's general election. Secretary of State Robin Carnahan's office issued a news release Tuesday with a voter turnout prediction of 72 percent statewide. The estimate comes from a compilation of local turnout predictions submitted to the secretary of state's office by 116 local election authorities in the state...

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team could not separate itself from Ouachita Baptist for much of Tuesday night's exhibition opener. Junior forward Tyler Stone's dunk with just under 13 minutes left in the second half seemed to ignite the Redhawks and the announced Show Me Center crowd of 1,227...

On Thursday, Nov. 15, the Special Therapeutic Activities in Recreation (S.T.A.R.) Program will be hosting a Barnyard Dance from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the 4-H Exhibit Hall. Boots and cowboy hats are proper attire for this fun event designed for those with special needs. This is an event for all ages and a chance to enjoy country tunes, dancing and fun in an enjoyable environment...

Our Community is very blessed with lots of folks willing to help others and volunteer their time. However we have in our community one women who always gives her family and to others, her neighbors,the Church she attends, Cape Public Schools the blind, and lots of hours to the Salvation Army, cooking, answering phone, processing Christmas applications, and anything else that needs doing....Thanks Mrs Robin for all you do for others...

The smile on Jami Carter's face couldn't have been bigger as she pressed a button to set a screen spinning that put the first slot machine in play at the Isle Casino Cape Girardeau on Tuesday morning. Carter, of Chaffee, Mo., won the opportunity to play the first slot in the casino's Facebook contest. She and hundreds of others poured onto the gaming floor after an opening ceremony and ribbon cutting...

One candidate has the pedigree, coming from a family with a long history of political involvement in Scott County. The other has the professional experience, having spent time as a campaign staffer and a lobbyist. The race for the redrawn 148th House District seat presents a stark contrast for voters. ...

Of course he was relieved, Bruce Orman said Tuesday, that a Missouri appeals court upheld the conviction of the man who murdered his son. But that should not be misconstrued into the incorrect notion that he believes justice has been served in the brutal shootings of Orman's pregnant ex-wife and their teenage son...

Jack Litzelfelner III(14) of Jackson won his second straight Gateway Junior Golf Tour tournament. A week after winning the Gateway Junior event at Tapawingo CC,in Sunset Hills, Litzelfelner followed up his victory with a first place finish at Annbriar CC in Waterloo IL. Litzelfelner shot a 75 to post a 4 shot victory. This was his 5th first place finish this year...

Small mountain stream in Acadia National Park, Maine, during a cloudy day with light rain.

the vulture is sitting in a dead tree by our pond

Register your team now for the 2013 Men's Basketball League, hosted by the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department. Team registration continues through Friday, Dec. 7. Games will be played at the A. C. Brase Arena, Osage Centre and Shawnee Park Center on Monday through Thursday evenings, some Saturdays and Sunday afternoons, beginning Wednesday, Jan. ...

More than 120 people packed a standing-room-only meeting that overflowed into a hallway to learn more about plans to add a small cave-dwelling fish found only in Perry County to the federal Endangered Species List. After a lengthy presentation by the U.S. ...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- One week before a close election, superstorm Sandy has confounded the presidential race, halted early voting in many areas and led some to ponder whether the election might even be postponed. It could take days to restore electricity to more than 8 million homes and businesses that lost power when the storm pummeled the East Coast. ...

MINER, Mo. -- A Springfield, Mo., man wanted by Cape Girardeau police was arrested by Miner Police. Christopher P. Amsden, 38, is charged with one felony count of unlawful use of drug paraphernalia-amphetamine/methamphetamine; one felony count of distributing a controlled substance; misdemeanor receiving stolen property; and misdemeanor operating a vehicle without a valid license, according to online court records...

NEW YORK -- Civilization came roaring back Tuesday in the form of emergency response, recharged cellphones and the reassurance brought by daylight. It came after superstorm Sandy's howling winds and record tidal surges late Monday shoved water over seaside barriers into low-lying areas...

Some with Southeast Missouri ties found themselves caught in the middle of a storm for the ages this week. While others from Southeast Missouri are heading into the storm to assist in relief efforts. Superstorm Sandy lost its hurricane-status Monday night before it smacked into the New Jersey coastline. But with an 85 mph wind and a tidal force strong enough to produce a surges of over 13 feet of seawater, people living in its path have fled their homes and have taken shelter in distant locales...

Today is Wednesday, Oct. 31, the 305th day of 2012. There are 61 days left in the year. This is Halloween. Today's Highlight in History: On Oct. 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Palace church, marking the start of the Protestant Reformation in Germany...

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Don Steinberg, who helped Ohio State win its first national championship in 1942, has died. He was 90. In a release, the university said Steinberg was in hospice and died of congestive heart failure in Perry Township on Monday...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Betty Anne Ward McCaskill, mother of Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill and a political trailblazer in her own right, died Monday at her home in St. Louis after a long struggle with heart and kidney problems, the senator said...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- The Rev. Carl Schulte, 92, of Perryville entered into eternal life Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. He was born and raised in East Moline, Ill. Schulte entered the Vincentian novitate at St. Mary's of the Barrens in 1940. He was ordained in Assumption Church May 30, 1948. His 64 years of priestly service included teaching in seminaries, serving in and supporting ministries in foreign missions, and preaching in parish missions...

Jessica Lynn Randolph, 18, of Jackson tragically passed away Friday, Oct. 19, 2012, in Stanton, Iowa. She was born April 18, 1994, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Tom and Michelle Schoelhamer Randolph. Jessica attended Jackson schools, and was a senior at Red Oak High School in Red Oak, Iowa. She had been an active member of Connection Point Church in Jackson and Fusion Youth Group of the church. She enjoyed the youth group and loved her church family...

Tribout Son to John August and Brandi Ranee Tribout of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Hospital, 11:57 p.m. Friday, Oct. 19, 2012. Name, Zane August. Weight, 6 pounds, 13 ounces. Second child, first son. Mrs. Tribout is the former Brandi Shreve, daughter of Shiela Taylor of Scott City and Walter Shreve of Thebes, Ill. Tribout is the son of August Tribout and Vicky Tribout of Tamms, Ill. He is employed by Ingram Barge Co...

SENDAI, Japan -- About one-quarter of the $148 billion budget for reconstruction after Japan's March 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster has been spent on unrelated projects, including subsidies for a contact lens factory and research whaling. The findings of a government audit buttress complaints over shortcomings and delays in the reconstruction effort. ...

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- The sleek, white superyacht glistens under a gray autumnal sky, a posthumous testament to the design aesthetic of Steve Jobs. Just over a year after the Apple founder died, the luxury motor yacht he commissioned and helped French product designer Philippe Starck make finally slipped into an anonymous Dutch backwater...

There is value in work, and not just monetarily. There's a feeling of accomplishment, and an even stronger desire to care for the fruits of your labor. Three local children have learned this through an entrepreneurial venture. Two summers ago, Kayleigh, Lizzie and Jeffrey Turk were excited to check out Cape Splash, Cape Girardeau's new water park. The children, according to their mother, Suzanna Long, were hoping to get summer passes...

Q: What do you see as the No. 1 priority for the governor in Jan. 2013? Higgins: The No. 1 priority for the governor is to clean up the lobbyist problem. The best way to do that is to reduce the size and scope of state government through reduced spending. ...

ST. LOUIS -- Former Anheuser-Busch CEO August Busch IV will pay $1.75 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed over his ex-girlfriend's accidental drug overdose death under an agreement approved Tuesday. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the money will go to the relatives of Adrienne Martin, who was 27 in 2010 when she died at Busch's mansion near St. Louis. An autopsy concluded she overdosed on oxycodone and had a significant amount of cocaine in her system...

WENTZVILLE, Mo. -- With polls showing their race tightening and Election Day a week away, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon and Republican challenger Dave Spence focused on the economy during Tuesday campaign stops, with starkly different takes. Nixon, a Democrat, told autoworkers at a Wentzville diner that Missouri auto plants have added 3,200 jobs during his four years in office, including about 1,200 at the GM plant in Wentzville, about 40 miles west of St. ...

LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. -- Shunned by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin turned Tuesday to former presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich to help draw money and attention to his quest to oust Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill...

Semifinal (4) Central (4-6) at (1) Sikeston (9-1) First round: Central 31, Festus 6; Sikeston 71, Perryville 7 Other semifinal: (3) North County (7-3) at (2) Hillsboro (8-2) Outlook: This district semifinal is a rematch of a Week 7 meeting won by Sikeston, which rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit to win 25-21...

The Show Me Center was truly a nuthouse Tuesday night. That's nut as in Nutt. Dickey Nutt, Southeast Missouri State's fourth-year men's basketball coach, is used to patrolling the Show Me Center sidelines. His counterpart Tuesday just happened to be his brother Dennis, the second-year coach at Division II Ouachita Baptist in Arkadelphia, Ark...

Senior midfielder Nick Barnes broke a scoreless deadlock 13 minutes into the first overtime to lift Central into the championship game of the Class 2 District 1 tournament with a 1-0 victory over Sikeston on Tuesday in Farmington, Mo. Barnes took a pass from Chandler Bagley and fired a shot from the top of the 18-yard box...

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Rams say running back Steven Jackson is not available in a trade. Rams coach Jeff Fisher did his best to quash persistent rumors, saying Tuesday that the Rams aren't shopping Jackson and have not been getting calls about him, either...

LOS ANGELES -- A decade after George Lucas said "Star Wars" was finished on the big screen, a new trilogy is destined for theaters as The Walt Disney Co. announced Tuesday that it was buying Lucasfilm Ltd. for $4.05 billion. The seventh movie, with a working title of "Episode 7," is set for release in 2015. ...

In observance of the Veterans Day holiday, Jackson's sanitation department will not operate Nov. 12, according to a news release from Jackson Public Works sent Tuesday. Trash scheduled for Nov. 12 pickup will be collected Nov. 13. The Jackson Recycling Center also will be closed Nov. 12, For more information, contact the Jackson Sanitation Department at 243-2333 or the Jackson Public Works Department at 243-2300...

The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt...

CAIRO -- A suspected Israeli airstrike against a weapons factory in Khartoum last week points to a possible escalation in a hidden front of the rivalry between Israel and Iran: The arms pipeline through Sudan to Islamic militants on Israel's borders...

PARIS -- First there was Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who allegedly referred to women as "material," then catcalls in the French Parliament because a female government minister had worn a floral dress. But this month when the French agriculture minister -- in an interview about promoting gender equality -- suggested that women couldn't get their heads around technical jobs, that was too much...

Firefighters responded to the following calls Monday:...

The Jackson Police Department released the following incidents. Arrests do not imply guilt...

Highway 25 in Stoddard County, from Stoddard Street to Business Route 60, will be reduced to one lane as Missouri Department of Transportation crews make drainage repairs. Weather permitting, the work will take place from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday...

West- and eastbound U.S. 60 in Scott, New Madrid and Stoddard counties will be reduced to one lane with a 16-foot width restriction as Missouri Department of Transportation crews make pavement repairs. This section of highway is from Highway 114 to Interstate 55. Weather permitting, work will begin at 7:30 a.m. Nov. 12 and will continue through 3 p.m. Nov. 16...

Southbound Interstate 57 in Scott County, from Route CC to Interstate 55 at Sikeston, will be reduced to one lane with a 16-foot width restriction as Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform pavement repairs. Weather permitting, work will begin 7:30 a.m. Nov. 12 and will continue to 3 p.m., on Nov. 14...

U.S. 60 in Stoddard County, between Route TT and Route F, will be reduced to one lane with a 20-foot width restriction as Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform bridge maintenance. Weather permitting, the work will be done from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday. The work zone will be marked with signs...

Several area businesses will be collecting items for a Soldier Stocking Drive, Thursday through Nov. 24, according to a news release sent Tuesday. Organizers hope to collect items to fill 100 stockings for the 1138th Engineer Company deployed in Afghanistan. ...

Hershel W. Campbell, 73, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012, at Kindred Hospital in St. Louis. He was born Sept. 1, 1939, in Meridian, Miss., to the late Sam and Georgia M. Murray Campbell. He and Lena Brock were married in 1962. She preceded him in death Feb. 27, 2012...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Frankie E. Elkins, 85, of Jonesboro died Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, at his home in Jonesboro. Friends may call from 4 to 7 p.m. today at Rendleman and Hileman Funeral Home in Jonesboro. The funeral will be at 1 p.m. ...

Gertrude E. Mirly, 99, of Cape Girardeau, formerly of Shawneetown, died Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, at the Lutheran Home. Arrangements are incomplete at McCombs Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Jackson.

After 27 years in operation, the Federal Aviation Administration's flight service station closes in the evening; control of all aviation radio transmitters and telephone circuits are turned over to a new automated flight service facility at Spirit of St. Louis Airport near St. Louis...

On Oct. 22 President Obama and Gov. Romney engaged in the third and final presidential debate of the election calendar. This debate focused on the critical issues of American foreign policy; issues that are increasingly important in an era of American global supremacy...

O Lord God, may our attitudes toward others reflect your love and mercy. Amen.

NAME: Chris Koster AGE: 48 PLACE OF BIRTH: St. Louis, Missouri SPOUSE, CHILDREN'S NAMES: Single. EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree in liberal arts, University of Missouri-Columbia; law degree, University of Missouri-Columbia; master's degree in business administration, Washington University...

The Southeast Missourian misidentified a political candidate on the front page and on page 5A of Wednesday's edition. Candidate Bart Ziegenhorn was mistakenly identified as Dennis Ziegenhorn, who is his father, on the front page and under his photo on page 5A. The Southeast Missourian strives for accuracy in reporting, and regrets this error...