Region/state digest 06/08/05

Cape band begins concert series today

The Cape Girardeau Municipal Band will begin its summer series "Concert in the Park" at 8 p.m. today in the Capaha Park Band Shell. The concert is free, and guests can bring lawn chairs or blankets to sit on while watching the show. Ronald Nall is the conductor for the band, but Cape Girardeau Mayor Jay Knudtson will be the celebrity guest director for part of the night. Music for the concert will include "The Billboard March," "Toccata for Band," "Samba for Flutes," "The Gallant Seventh March," "Tribute to Count Basie," "A Beguine Festival," "Syncopated Clock" and selections from "Brigadoon."

Bob Holden will teach at Webster University

ST. LOUIS -- Former Missouri governor Bob Holden will begin teaching at Webster University this fall to both undergraduate and graduate classes, the university said. Holden will be a scholar-in-residence and visiting professor in the university's School of Business and Technology. He'll teach three classes a year, with the possibility that one of them would be at a Webster campus abroad. The classes -- not yet specified -- will deal with government, business and contemporary issues, said Neil J. George, Webster's vice president for academic affairs.

Radio talk show host accused of murder

ST. LOUIS -- An AM radio talk show host has been charged with murder after he allegedly bit, slashed and beat a woman to death. Leonardo Drisdel confessed to his wife on Sunday that he killed an acquaintance, 28-year-old Cassandra Kovack, his wife said Tuesday. An obviously distraught Janene Drisdel said she called police after her husband confessed, thinking perhaps the victim could be helped if she were still alive. Leonardo Drisdel, 46, of St. Louis, was charged with murder Monday and held without bond. He hosted "The Human Factor" talk show on Thursday afternoons at WGNU, a privately owned St. Louis station. St. Louis police told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Drisdel was celebrating his birthday, which was Sunday. They said he met Kovack, an acquaintance, and went to her home Saturday to smoke crack cocaine. When he came home Sunday, Drisdel confessed to his wife that a voice told him to kill Kovack, police said.

Man shot by KC police loses $2 million judgment

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A federal appeals court has tossed out a $2 million judgment a jury awarded to a man who was shot by Kansas City police during a 1998 drug raid. In its ruling Monday, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis said police had a right to raid David Doran's southern Kansas City home in August 1998 without knocking or announcing themselves. Police were looking for a methamphetamine lab and shot Doran twice after he came out of his bedroom with a gun. The appeals court did not side with Doran's claim that he was shot as he tried to surrender. He said he was asleep when the raid began and he responded to the commotion. His attorney, David Smith, said he plans to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. In the 2002 verdict, police said Doran was shot only after he did not comply with two orders to "Get down!" Doran spent 16 days in the hospital and eventually lost his only functioning kidney before he sued the department.

-- From staff, wire reports