THE SOUTHEAST MISSOURIAN'S TOP NEWSMAKERS: LOOKING BACK AT 2000; A LOOK BACK AT OUR REGION'S BIGGEST STORIES OF 2000

Everyone will carry cherished, personal memories of the year 2000 into decades to come, but some events of the last 12 months touched Southeast Missouri residents as a whole.

The staff of the Southeast Missourian worked to bring the most vital of these moments to you over the past year in an accurate, thorough, and memorable manner.

Our newsroom employees voted on the 10 stories they believe best highlight what happened in our region this year.

They involve tragedies and triumphs, beginnings and endings. Together, they reveal how we lived and what we valued in 2000.

1. Southeast heads to 'The Dance'

The Southeast Missouri State University men's basketball team avenged one of its most painful moments in the program's history by reaching new heights.

The Indians, who saw their 1998-99 season end on an off-balance, buzzer-beating shot by Murray State's Aubrey Reese in the OVC Tournament championship game, finally passed the rival Racers in 1999-2000.

The Indians defeated the conference co-champion Racers 67-56 in the OVC Tournament title game. The victory, accompanied by the OVC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Tournament, allowed Southeast to make its first appearance in the field of 64.

In March, Southeast, playing under third-year coach Gary Garner, was awarded the 13th seed in the West regional and faced the tall task of playing fourth-seeded Louisiana State University in a first-round game in Salt Lake City, Utah. Some basketball observers had picked the talented Tigers of LSU to reach the Final Four, rolling over the likes of Southeast along the way.

The Indians led most of the second half and had LSU on the ropes until the last minute. LSU's Brian Beshara ultimately hit the game-winner when he sank a 3-point basket to break a 61-61 tie with about 20 seconds left. The Indians' Roderick Johnson picked up a loose ball at the top of the key and saw his desperation 3-point attempt rattle out at the buzzer.

Final score: LSU 64, Southeast 61.

2. A bar in turmoil

The Taste Restaurant and Lounge has been a source for battles throughout the year, whether it involved fights between patrons or owner Michael Pryor's struggle to stay open.

The lounge made the news again and again as months passed. An FBI report made available in February found no wrongdoing committed by Cape Girardeau Police during a June 1999 altercation outside the bar involving police and an angry crowd.

The incident garnered late-coming national attention when Time magazine visited in April to conduct a public forum on the value of community policing. The magazine's Chicago bureau chief said the June 1999 melee drew his attention to Cape Girardeau.

Citing continued assaults, noise and loitering around the Taste, Police Chief Rick Hetzel asked the city council in March to revoke the bar's liquor license. Pryor said his bar was being attacked unfairly.

The City Council granted the Taste a six-month probationary license in June and extended the temporary license through March at a meeting this month.

3. A resounding No'on planning and zoning

The Cape Girardeau County Commission's efforts to usher in planning and zoning in rural parts of Cape Girardeau County prompted a firestorm of opposition in 2000. The commission initially put the issue on the April 4 ballot only to reschedule it for the November election. Commissioners said the delay would allow more time to educate voters about the issue and meet legal requirements.

Organized and vocal opponents, led by Doug Flannery of Whitewater, Mo., turned out at every meeting. "Vote no" yard signs could be found in cities and on farms throughout the county. Opponents even filed a lawsuit against county commissioners, accusing them of violating state law by spending tax dollars to develop planning and zoning regulations before voters approved the issue.

Commissioners said they spent the money properly.

Planning and zoning supporters argued that regulations were needed for orderly growth in the county's unincorporated areas, but opponents saw it as unwanted government intrusion into their lives.

On Nov. 7, Cape Girardeau County voters overwhelmingly rejected the ballot measure. The vote was 8,670 for the measure to 19,212 against.

4. Cape man executedfor slaying family

In mid-July, the Missouri Department of Corrections set Aug. 30 as the execution date for Gary Roll of Cape Girardeau. He was the first man in 37 years to be put to death for a crime committed in Southeast Missouri.

On Aug. 30, 1993, a jury convicted Roll for the 1992 murders of Sherry Scheper and her sons, Curtis and Randy. Along with two accomplices, Roll, shot, stabbed and pistol-whipped the three before stealing marijuana and $215 in cash.

Roll filed a clemency request prior to the execution that cited a long addiction to painkillers following botched oral surgery in 1973 contributed to his mental state at the time of the crime. The clemency request and a stay from the governor were denied.

Roll died at 12:01 a.m. Aug. 30, 1999, after a lethal injection.

5. Two school bond votes

Cape Girardeau school officials could have given lessons on passing a bond issue this year, while it took Jackson School District voters three elections before barely passing one.

The $18 million bond issue to build a new high school in Cape Girardeau was approved by an overwhelming 74.9 percent of the 4,552 voters who went to the polls in April. School board members called it a mandate for their agenda.

The bond required no tax increase.

But Jackson schools asked for a tax increase of 15 cents per $100 for its $11 million bond issue in April. It was intended to support construction of a new elementary school, an addition and renovations to R.O. Hawkins Junior High, and some technology upgrades. It failed.

In August, Jackson schools tried again with a a $6 million bond proposal. Although it received majority approval, it fell about 300 votes short of the four-sevenths supermajority required.

Undaunted, Jackson school officials put it on the November ballot. Results from the final precinct were reported at about 10:30 p.m. on Nov. 7, and the measure was approved with a vote of 6,718, or 57.3 percent yes to 5,006 no.

The version passed last month will fund construction of an 18-classroom addition, new gymnasium, and expanded kitchen and library areas.

6. VIP in Perryville

After 24 years of operating a sheltered workshop in Perryville, Mo., VIP Industries lost its contract with Perry County after workshop supervisors quit to protest of labor conditions.

The four supervisors cited a "sweatshop" atmosphere created for the mentally and physically disabled workers by VIP's upper management.

The accusations led to the reorganization of Perry County's Senate Bill 40 board, which oversees distribution of more than $200,000 in county tax money for services to the disabled, all of which had previously gone to the workshop.

With the leadership of former workshop manager Bill Tweedy and others, a new, county-based organization took over operations of the workshop in July.

7. Perryville homicide rate

Little Perryville earned a dark distinction this year -- with five murders occurring out of 7,900 residents, it weighed in at 11 times last year's national murder rate.

Before 2000, there hadn't been a murder in the city since 1994.

Every Perryville resident seemed to know somebody related to the five killings -- which reportedly resulted from a botched drug deal, a bungled burglary, and two murder-suicides.

Capt. Chris Ricks of the Mo. Highway Patrol said Patrol statisticians will keep an eye on the sleepy community on Interstate 55 to see if this is an anomaly or the beginning of a trend.

Perryville police officials and residents insist it is the former.

8. Radioactive spill

Radioactive contamination of Southeast Missouri State University's Magill Hall led to a major cleanup effort in the science building this year that attracted the attention of both the public and federal regulators.

Following a federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspection in February, the university found radioactive material, americium-241, had leaked from a vial in a safe inside a basement storage room in the science building. The leak occurred several years earlier.

In late June, the university hired an environmental contractor and spent $1.1 million to clean up the building and test more than 40 people for possible exposure to the radioactive material. The tests found no health problems. The cleanup contractor hauled off 30 tons of contaminated materials during the fall semester, including cabinets and seismograph sensors.

Following several days of testing, NRC inspectors on Nov. 29 gave a clean bill of health to Magill Hall.

9. Grandmother killed

In May, firefighters responded to a house fire in rural Cape Girardeau County to find a 57-year-old woman had been shot in the head and burned over the lower half of her body.

The finding uncovered a bizarre sequence of events that some investigators described as the most disturbing crime they had seen.

Joshua Wolf, 16, is accused of killing his grandmother, Carolyn Lindley, after an argument about buying an all-terrain vehicle and getting a satellite dish hooked up to his television.

In a confession Wolf gave to police, he said that he had shot Lindley with a rifle as she sat in their living room on May 5. Later, he said he had intercourse with her corpse.

By May 9, Wolf told police he had concocted a scheme to burn their house by pouring gasoline throughout and on the body of his grandmother.

Wolf, who has undergone mental evaluations, awaits his trial in Boone County this Spring.

10. Philanthropist bilked

After donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to educational pursuits, 90-year-old B.W. Harrison received the requests of Bradley McIntyre for money to study engineering in his usual manner: generously.

But McIntyre, 40, never used personal checks that Harrison's accountant estimates at $531,419 to study engineering as he had said.

Instead, McIntyre purchased, traded or gave away 14 cars worth more than $275,000. He bought $2,000 diamond rings for women who later spurned him. He also threw thousands of dollars on the tables of riverside gambling boats on any given weekend over his 18-month acquaintance with Harrison.

McIntyre pleaded guilty in July to stealing $60,000 by deceit and is serving a three-year prison sentence.

Harrison said he has not recovered any of his money.

Staff writers Tony Hall, Laura Johnston, Chris Howard, Mark Bliss Jeff Breer contributed to this report.