Cape extends strip club's license

Sikeston police arrest 28 for variety of offenses

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Twenty-eight people were arrested Thursday morning in Sikeston as part of a raid police had been planning for about three months. Sikeston director of public safety Drew Juden said charges included assault, drug violations and failure to pay back fines. Bonds ranged from $100 to $100,000. Officers had a list of 60 people to serve with warrants but were unable to find everyone. Five were already in custody outside of Sikeston. "The general goal is to bat .500, get 50 percent," Juden said. "Sometimes we make that goal, and sometimes we don't."

Transformer on bridge blows, cutting lights

A transformer has blown on the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge in Cape Girardeau, which has caused the bridge's aesthetic lighting to go out, according to the Missouri Department of Transportatrion. MoDOT said it has ordered new parts and that the lighting should be turned back on within a month.

Sikeston restaurateur sentenced on tax fraud

ST. LOUIS -- Sikeston, Mo., restaurant owner Haralambos "Bobby" Katsantonis, 49, was sentenced Thursday in federal court to six months of home confinement and two years of probation for filing false tax returns. Katsantonis, owner of Jay's Crispy Fried Chicken, pleaded guilty March 29 to depositing cash from the business into his personal account so it would not be included in the restaurant's gross receipts. In 1998 and 1999, the unreported amounts totaled more than $70,000 each year. Katsantonis will also pay a $20,000 fine and be required to settle his tax liabilities with the IRS.

'Dr. Feelgood' prescribed 16 months in prison

ST. LOUIS -- A doctor whom prosecutors deemed "Dr. Feelgood" was sentenced to 16 months in prison Thursday and fined $75,000 for attempting to dispense more than 2.5 million illegal doses of prescription drugs. Dr. Harry Meyer Katz, 79, of Dittmer, Mo., near St. Louis, was convicted in March of 176 felony counts of illegal distribution of prescription controlled substances. A judge also placed Katz on probation for two years and ordered him to pay $17,600 in court costs. Federal proseuctor James Martin said Katz intentionally fed the drug habits of patients. From June 1999 through May 2003, Katz illegally wrote prescriptions for $40 each for Vicodin, Darvocet, Xanax and Valium, Martin said. Authorities have said Katz dispensed drugs seven days a week, often seeing as many as 500 patients a week. During his trial, he denied wrongdoing, saying he prescribed low doses of drugs that were not addictive.

-- From staff, wire reports