Region briefs 8/19/04

Fiber optic cables cut; long-distance calls limited

A cut in fiber optic cables in southern Illinois early Wednesday morning resulted in many area callers having limited access to long-distance lines for much of the business day. According to Meredith White with Big River Telephone in Cape Girardeau, a line on the MCI network was severed in a swamp area between Elkville, Ill., and Cobden, Ill., early Wednesday. As a result, the long distance calls that usually traffic these lines had to be rerouted, causing a bottleneck of calls between this area and St. Louis. That meant many callers using providers on that network, such as Big River, were unable to make long distance calls. White said that most local long distance carriers use the MCI-owned cable. Lauren Kallens, spokesperson for MCI Inc., said that most area service was restored by 4:05 p.m., after some 3,500 feet of cable was dropped to mend the breach. She said her company is still investigating the cause of the cut.

Rockview residents wary of being railroaded

BENTON, Mo. -- Union Pacific Railroad officials will revise their plans to add a connection curve in Rockview in response to concerns voiced by the town's residents. Rockview residents are refusing to sell any land for the new track's right-of-way until their concerns are addressed, with drainage concerns being the foremost. The railroad will only need to purchase about 10 acres, including one home in which the septic tank and well are in the proposed right-of-way. One Rockview resident said in addition to the railroad track's berms creating "islands," railroad officials need to consider that "we have a tremendous amount of vibration that's getting even worse." He attributed the problems to the "clay-gumbo" soil and lack of a rock base. "There ain't no bottom to that land," he said. Presiding Commissioner Martin Priggel said once Rockview residents are satisfied, commissioners will sign off on the county's land needed for the project.

Man pleads guilty to Poplar Bluff murder

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A Poplar Bluff man will spend the rest of his life in prison after he pleaded guilty Tuesday afternoon to murdering a woman whose body was found in an abandoned Frisco Railroad tunnel last summer. Brian Todd Hemphill's life sentence was handed down by Presiding Circuit Judge Mark Richardson after the 21-year-old pleaded guilty as charged to the Class A felony of first-degree murder. Hemphill also had been charged with the felonies of forcible rape and armed criminal action in connection with the death of Cheryl Hesselrode, 45. In exchange for his guilty plea the state waived the death penalty, leaving life without parole as the only punishment available.

-- From staff, wire reports

Ex-teacher bound over for trial on assault charges

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A former Poplar Bluff High School science teacher will stand trial for allegedly sexually assaulting one of his students. After reviewing the evidence he heard at Charles "Sonny" Rickman's preliminary hearing earlier this week, Associate Circuit Judge John Bloodworth found probable cause to bind the 50-year-old over to stand trial. Rickman is to appear on Aug. 31 before Presiding Circuit Judge Mark Richardson for arraignment on seven Class C felonies of second-degree statutory sodomy. During Monday's preliminary hearing, the 16-year-old victim reportedly testified about multiple incidents of alleged sexual contact she had with Rickman beginning in August 2003 and ending April 18.

KC photographer threatened by Iraqi police

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A photographer for The Kansas City Star was physically assaulted and threatened with death by an Iraqi police officer after she took pictures of officers beating a suspected pickpocket, the newspaper reported Wednesday. Allison Long, 31, on rotation in Iraq for Knight Ridder newspapers, was walking inside a police cordon near the Baghdad Convention Center, where more than 1,000 Iraqi delegates met to pick a national assembly this week. She and two Iraqi colleagues saw Iraqi policemen, guns drawn, running after a man. Long said the police beat the man in the head with the butts of their rifles. When one of the officers noticed Long taking picture, he began screaming at her. Within seconds, Long said, she and her two Iraqi colleagues, Omar Jassim and Ali Jassim, were surrounded by police and bystanders.

-- From staff, wire reports