Stories from Saturday, July 29, 2006

ADVANCE, Mo. -- An 80-year-old Advance woman was found stabbed to death in her home Friday. Her 50-year-old son, who police say has a history of mental problems, is being held on suspicion of the crime. Just before 11 a.m., police responded to a call at 806 W. Masters St., Apt. 15, and found the victim, Nada G. VanGennip, dead of multiple stab wounds, said Stoddard County Sheriff Carl Hefner...

Since the passage of a local sales tax that increased officer salaries, the Cape Girardeau Police Department has seen far better retention rates. Between July 2003 and July 2004, the turnover rate for Cape Girardeau police officers was about 30 percent, according to assistant chief Randy Roddy. "It was a serious problem," he said...

A Dexter, Mo.-based political action committee that gave Gov. Matt Blunt's re-election campaign the legal maximum in September 2005 used the Stoddard County Republican Central Committee to give another $6,000 in June. Bootheel Leadership, formed in May 2005, has reported raising $33,901 since its inception. Contributors include individuals from Stoddard County as well as companies and lobbying groups with extensive interests in the actions of state government...

THEBES, Ill. -- For two students and a professor from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, opening up a dusty attic was nothing short of a glimpse back in time. The attic of the Thebes Courthouse had likely not been opened since 1995, when rain and wind damage from the Mississippi River flood made repairs necessary. The courthouse itself, completed in 1848, was only reopened to the public full time this spring...

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon's decision to increase U.S. forces in Iraq will push troop levels there to roughly 135,000, dashing Bush administration hopes of dropping the figure by tens of thousands by the fall congressional campaigns. As of Friday, there were 16 Army and Marine brigades in Iraq, two more than the number several months ago. ...

After more than a week of work in the St. Louis area, the 1140th Engineer Battalion of the Missouri National Guard will return home to Cape Girardeau this morning. About 220 soldiers from the battalion, based in Cape Girardeau, were called on July 20 to assist with cleanup and recovery efforts in the St. Louis area. Large storms swept through that city on July 19, leaving an estimated 700,000 residents without power...

BAIDOA, Somalia -- A Cabinet member was assassinated Friday as he left a mosque, enraging hundreds of Somalis who rioted in the streets screaming, "We want a government that can restore law and order!" It was the second shooting of a lawmaker this week and the latest blow to an administration that has watched helplessly as Islamic militants with alleged links to al-Qaida took control of the capital and much of southern Somalia...

WASHINGTON -- Bank regulators have halted for six months any new approvals of the sort of industrial banks that Wal-Mart, Home Depot and 12 other companies are seeking to establish. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. imposed the moratorium on approving the industrial loan corporations, or ILCs. Nearly 100 members of Congress from both parties recently asked the FDIC to give lawmakers a chance to consider legislation that would block commercial companies from owning the corporations...

Cape Girardeau...

DENVER -- Robert Charles Browne told investigators he used ether to knock out one woman he was trying to seduce, then "used an ice pick on her." He said he used ant killer to subdue another woman and stabbed her nearly 30 times with a screwdriver...

The pillory and stocks were commonly found in the town squares of colonial America. Public scorn was heaped on petty offenders and miscreants alike out of a belief in the positive effects of shame. This form of public humiliation all but disappeared after the concept of cruel and unusual punishment was introduced...

"But they will not change; they do not fear God." Psalms 55:19 "All sex that leads to hell is unsafe." That roadside sign in Swaziland got mine. Maybe Swazis and South Africans are like Americans and tend to ignore road signs, because one cemetery in Durban, South Africa, that used to bury 60 people a month now buries 600 people each month. ...

When it comes to his religious beliefs, author Frank Turek doesn't rely solely on faith. Turek is the author of the book, "I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist." "The focus of the book is giving evidence that indeed truth exists," Turek said. "You can know it, and the Bible is true."...

Today; Sunday; Monday

Too much caroling; Not a good idea; Funeral procession; Garage-sale map; Some agree; Pain of war; Leave the rats; Outside shoppers; Will need more money; Road repairs

Geneva Marjorie Nance, 81, of Whitewater died Thursday, July 27, 2006, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born April 24, 1925, at Whitewater, daughter of Roby and Carrie Ann Young Brown. She and Richard E. Nance were married Dec. 24, 1942, in Jackson. He died Aug. 19, 1993...

Ralph Rumfelt, 74, of Jackson passed away Thursday, July 27, 2006, in Jackson. He was born Aug. 31, 1931, in Detroit, Mich., son of Robert E. and Agnes Hatley Rumfelt. He and Joyce Barbee Chuhran were married April 8, 1966, in Wayne County, Missouri. She passed away Feb. 7, 2006...

THEBES, Ill. -- Melvin Raymond Wehmeyer, 81, of Thebes died Thursday, July 27, 2006, at his home. He was born Oct. 7, 1924, in Thebes, the third child of Frederick John and Pearl Van Dyck Wehmeyer. Melvin and JoAnn Sickler were married Dec. 20, 1952, in Piggott, Ark. She survives...

Dallas E. Niswonger, 77, of Jackson passed away Thursday, July 27, 2006, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Oct. 4, 1928, in Jackson, son of Harlan W. and Marie Turner Niswonger. He and Juanita Criddle were married July 2, 1951, in Oak Ridge. She survives...

CHESTER, Ill. -- Kathy L. Marler, 41, of Chester died Wednesday, July 26, 2006, at her home. She was born July 27, 1964, in Chester, daughter of Charles S. and Mary C. Gibson Marler Sr. Marler was a member of First Baptist Church. Survivors include two daughters, Kaitlin Nordmeyer of Chester, Miranda Weinkein of Ste. ...

Gerald F. Grojean, 78, of Medina, N.Y., died Friday, July 14, 2006, at Medina Memorial Hospital, following a brief illness. He was born Sept. 22, 1927, at Dutchtown, son of Gregory and Josephine Meyer Grojean. Grojean was a graduate of the former St. ...

25 years ago: July 29, 1981 Voters in Jackson School District will go to the polls in a special election Tuesday to decide the fate of a $1.5 million bond issue for construction of classroom additions and expansion of the high school gymnasium; school officials say the improvements are needed to alleviate overcrowding...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Every Monday evening, Osmeldo Morales strolls from the barn where he tends race horses to a chapel where he prays, reflects and listens to readings from the Bible. Morales, who walks and grooms horses at the Churchill Downs racetrack, is far away from his wife and three children in Guatemala. Among other things, he worries about being injured on the job, and attending church helps him be at peace...

When Jackson High School students head back to school on Aug. 17, the campus won't look much different from how they left it in May. The only noticeable change may be a Quonset building -- used for maintenance -- is gone. The school district tore it down a couple weeks ago to make room for construction...

Shere Khan, a percussion ensemble at Cape Girardeau Middle School, will perform this fall at a national music conference in Omaha, Neb. The group of 45 fifth and sixth-graders is scheduled to perform a noontime concert on Nov. 10 at the Quest Center in downtown Omaha. The students perform on recorders, drums and African xylophones...

NEW YORK -- Two men were indicted on charges of operating a multimillion-dollar money laundering scheme from their apartments, sometimes charging six figures per transaction, prosecutors said. Arthur Budovsky, 32, and Vladimir Kats, 33, illegally transmitted at least $30 million by letting customers deposit money with limited documentation, then using the cash to buy E-Gold -- digital currency backed up by gold bullion, authorities said. ...

City of Cape Girardeau Public Works crews will begin modifications at the Kingshighway and Independence Street intersection Tuesday. The work will take place from 9 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. for about two weeks. Traffic will still move in all directions, but motorists are asked to use extreme caution. The city is improving the medians, islands and traffic signals in the area...

TYRE, Lebanon -- Hezbollah launched a new kind of rocket Friday that made its deepest strike into Israel yet, rattling Israelis as their warplanes and artillery blasted apartment buildings and roads gunning for guerrillas. Lebanese officials said about 12 civilians died in the day's fighting; Israel said it killed 26 militants, raising to about 230 the total number killed in the campaign...

Anthony Wulfers pitched a complete-game four-hitter Friday to lift the Cape Girardeau Pepsi Mid America Senior Babe Ruth team past Hastings, Neb., 10-3 in the opening round of the regional tournament, being played in Bonne Terre, Mo. Wulfers allowed three runs in the first inning to the visitors, but then shut out Hastings the rest of the way. He struck out 10 batters in seven innings...

There were several unfamiliar faces at Tuesday's Ohio Valley Conference football media day in Nashville, Tenn. That's what happens when four of the league's nine teams have new head coaches, although Murray State's Matt Griffin simply switched schools within the league after leaving Tennessee-Martin...

EAST HADDAM, Conn. -- Archaeologists have begun digging up the 200-year-old graves of a slave family in hopes of separating fact from fiction in the legend of "the black Paul Bunyan." The dig has the blessing of more than a dozen descendants of Venture Smith who believe science can finally lend credence to the tales they have heard all their lives about the fabulous feats of strength that helped the lumberjack slave win his freedom...

Sharon Kay Mullins, 59, of Scott City died Friday, July 28, 2006, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born March 24, 1947, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Reece H. and Marie Smith Venable. She and Tim L. Mullins were married June 2, 2001, in Cape Girardeau...

By John Jordan On Aug. 8, the citizens of Cape Girardeau County will have an opportunity to help make roads and law enforcement in the county better through a property-tax rollback initiative referred to as Proposition 1. This is the first time in almost a quarter of a century that county government has asked its citizens for any type of tax increase. Think about it for a moment. This is almost unprecedented in the world of government...

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs traded for Juan Pierre with the hope he would score runs, not drive them in. They certainly weren't complaining Friday. Pierre's bases-loaded triple highlighted a six-run fourth inning, and the Cubs capitalized on an error by St. Louis third baseman Scott Rolen to beat the Cardinals 6-5 in front of a loud, bipartisan crowd at Wrigley Field...

ST. LOUIS -- Together, St. Louis Rams offensive linemen Adam Timmerman and Andy McCollum have 25 seasons in the NFL, along with the wear and tear that goes with it. The combination of experience mixed with the liability of age and tossed further by a coaching change has put them on notice that their time may be winding down. ...

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- Thirty-three years after his career appeared to be over before it barely had begun, Bruce Sutter will receive the ultimate tribute -- induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. When he's enshrined Sunday, Sutter will become the first honoree whose name never appeared on a starting lineup card. And, as implausible as it might seem, the former ace reliever can thank an injury to his pitching arm for his good fortune...

ELLISVILLE, Mo. -- With five runs in the top of the first inning, Scott County Post 369 could not have asked for a better start to Friday's elimination game against Anheuser-Busch at the Zone 4 American Legion baseball tournament. But five walks and a hit batsman in the second helped Anheuser-Busch Post 299 answer with seven runs of its own, and Scott County could not recover in a 10-8 loss at the Ellisville Athletic Association Sports Complex...

The Associated Press INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- A judge declared a mistrial Friday after a Jackson County Circuit Court jury said it was unable to reach a verdict in the case of a man accused of shoving a cell phone into his former girlfriend's throat. Judge Michael W. Manners accepted the jury's conclusion it could not reach a verdict in the case of Marlon Brando Gill, 24, and declared the mistrial...