Region/state digest 05/18/05

Board to vote on Cape historic site nominees

A state historic preservation board will consider nominations to the National Register of Historic Places when it meets Thursday and Friday in Cape Girardeau. Thirty-five nominations will be considered, including five structures in Cape Girardeau: Kage School, Old Lorimier Cemetery, Esquire Theater, William Henry and Lilla Luce Harrison House and St. Vincent's Seminary building. The Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation will hold its quarterly meeting at 5:15 p.m. Thursday in the University Center. National Register nominations will be considered Friday at Port Cape Girardeau restaurant, which is housed in a historic building at 19 N. Water St. The Friday session begins at 9 a.m. Both meetings are open to the public. Approved nominations will be forwarded to the National Register office in Washington, D.C., for final approval.

Ministry holding women's conference this week

New Image Evangelistic Ministries will hold a Bootheel area interdenominational women's conference Thursday through Saturday at Rhema Word Ministries in Cape Girardeau. The conference theme is "A unified front" and includes evangelist Janet Green as host. Services are nightly at 7:30 p.m. A Saturday workshop for women will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and a "Pamper yourself" session begins at 2 p.m. Guest speakers include Green, Yulonda Zeigler-Lewis and Deneice Senter. Workshop presenters include LaVonda Dunnavant, Naomi Blackwood, Davita Wesley-Vaughn and Faye Wells. Registration is still open for the Saturday workshops. For more information, call 332-1333.

Hammer attack puts Piedmont man in hospital

GREENVILLE, Mo. -- A Piedmont, Mo., man remained in a St. Louis hospital Tuesday with an apparent head injury while the man accused of attacking him with a claw hammer is being held without bond in the Wayne County Jail. Matthew Andrews, 19, was taken to a St. Louis hospital after he was allegedly attacked Sunday afternoon on County Road 332 in Piedmont, according to Wayne County Sheriff Phillip Burton. Joseph William Brinkley, 18, was charged Monday with the class A felony of first-degree assault. Brinkley is expected to be arraigned Thursday. Police said a motive had not yet been determined.

Seven injured in New Madrid crane accident

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- Medical helicopters and ambulances sped seven workers away from Cargill Inc. Monday afternoon after an accident at a construction site. The men were injured at approximately 2:30 p.m. while working on construction of a new grain storage bin. According to New Madrid County Sheriff Terry Stevens, a truck with a crane was moving a beam that was to serve as a support for the roofing across the construction site. He said the beam became "overbalanced," causing it to knock down scaffolding. The truck then turned on its side. The sheriff said injuries ranged from minor cuts to broken limbs and that none was life-threatening. David Feider, communications director for Cargill AgHorizons, said Tuesday four of the workers were taken to Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau and a fifth was air-lifted to a Memphis, Tenn., hospital. He added two of the injured were released Monday and another two of the workers were to be released Tuesday.

Former KC funeral home director sentenced

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A former funeral home director who admitted collecting more than $410,000 in false insurance claims for people who weren't dead was sentenced Tuesday to two years and nine months in federal prison. Roger Dean Newman, 44, of Springfield, formerly the owner and director of Newman Funeral Home in Unionville, was also ordered to pay back the money to three insurance companies. Newman pleaded guilty in December to five counts of mail fraud and wire fraud. He admitted defrauding the companies out of funeral expense payments for 59 people. Newman filed claims with three insurance companies in Indiana, Missouri and Iowa, then deposited checks in his business account.

-- From staff, wire reports