Stories from Saturday, September 1, 2001

Well-kept, quiet, unassuming -- a good description for this Lexington Place home. A good description that is as long as the view is coming while driving by. Step out and take a better look, however, and prepare to be dazzled. From the well manicured front lawn to the rear garden, loving hours spent toward landscaping are evident...

BOSTON -- Roger Clemens extended his winning streak to 14 when Jorge Posada hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning Friday night to give the New York Yankees a 3-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees increased their AL East lead over Boston to seven games, sending the Red Sox to their sixth straight loss. The teams began a stretch in which they play each other seven times in 11 days...

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- A 66-year-old orthodontist has been unjustly jailed by federal authorities who are investigating Medicaid fraud, the orthodontist's wife said Friday. Surgius Rinaldi is in a Chicago jail for not giving his office's patient sign-in sheets to investigators, his wife said. But Rosemary Rinaldi contends her husband was truthful when he told U.S. District Judge Joe Billy McDade that he does not know where the sheets are located...

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- Little League pitcher Danny Almonte is no longer perfect -- because he's no longer 12. The boy who dominated the Little League World Series with his 70 mph fastballs was ruled ineligible Friday after government records experts determined he actually is 14, and that birth certificates showing he was two years younger were false...

CANTON, Mo. -- When ambulance sirens sound on U.S. Highway 61 near this quiet northeast Missouri town, the community braces itself, fearing the worst. "When we hear the sirens, the whole town freezes. You start counting people," said college sophomore Lindsay Gaither, 19...

ST. LOUIS -- With an exchange of gifts and kisses, an 11-year-old girl on Friday met the stranger who donated part of her liver to help save the child's life. Appearing at a news conference at St. Louis Children's Hospital in their pajamas and "Donate Life" T-shirts, Lindsay Carter and donor Ruth Parker encouraged others to consider organ donation...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri has the economic potential to support three more ethanol plants to produce fuel from corn, according to a study released Friday. Backed by several farm organizations including the Missouri Corn Growers Association, the study said ethanol production in Missouri could increase substantially based on corn supply and other market forces...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Eli Lilly and Co. says it did not suspect pharmacist Robert Courtney might be diluting chemotherapy drugs until May of this year. Several lawsuits against the company, including three filed on Friday, claim the Indianapolis-based company knew about the dilutions in early 2000, but did nothing...

ST. LOUIS -- House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt's political organization raised $230,000 in large unregulated contributions -- mostly from out-of-state donors -- to fund his Missouri redistricting battle, according to a newspaper report. Gephardt, the Democratic congressman from St. Louis County, collected the money through a special committee that redistricting experts consider unusual but not unique, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Friday...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- While Western diplomats appeal daily on behalf of eight foreign aid workers arrested for preaching Christianity, the families of Afghans of the same group hear nothing of their jailed relatives and fear the worst. Armed members of the radical Islamic Taliban militia, meanwhile, closed the offices of two more Christian aid organizations Friday, making no arrests but ordering some 50 mostly American expatriate employees to leave Afghanistan within 72 hours...

XIAMEN, China -- He invited them in, and each became a tentacle of his empire -- a deputy mayor, a customs chief, sundry civil servants who liked their liquor and their women 20 years old. When Lai Changxing made it worth their while, authorities say, Xiamen's leaders fell in line...

TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Bible has a black cover and is worn, like a lot of them kept in families for several generations. Family births and deaths are recorded on the inside front cover, too. The first inscriptions -- like the text -- are in Arabic, made by Lebanese immigrants to the Kansas City area. As the family remained longer in the region, the inscriptions became English...

MIAMI -- Wrapping up a summer on the road in Florida, Janet Reno is expected to reach a decision next week on whether to run for governor -- a move that could pit her against the president's brother. The former attorney general's decisive lead in the polls over other potential Democratic candidates -- plus the bad blood from the election fiasco last year -- could make a matchup with Gov. Jeb Bush the most-watched political contest of 2002...

Cape Girardeau Police Officers Association members completed an independent background check of three out-of-town police chief candidates and made their recommendation to the city manager. But they're keeping mum on who it is until a chief is chosen...

SEATTLE -- If David Heerensperger isn't feeling well, he calls Dr. Howard Maron on the physician's personal cell phone, whether it's 3 a.m. on a weekday or noon on a weekend. And Maron will happily make a house call to the 65-year-old executive or send a nurse to his patient's office for tests. And he'll guarantee same-day results...

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Rams might have found a new backup quarterback, and the replacement referee finally found the on-off switch for his microphone. Third-stringer Marc Bulger played the last three quarters after Joe Germaine struggled again, and the Rams' defense scored two second-half touchdowns on miscues by Bubby Brister in a 21-17 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Friday night. The Chiefs blew a 17-0 third-quarter lead...

MILWAUKEE -- Vinny Castilla hit a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give the Houston Astros a 3-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night. Jamey Wright (9-9), who struck out a career-high 12, took a five-hitter and a 2-1 lead into the ninth inning...

NEW YORK -- Martina Hingis and Iva Majoli slugged it out for 2 1/2 hours in sweltering heat Friday in the U.S. Open, and when they finished it was difficult to tell the winner from the loser. The two players met at the net, grinned and embraced, just glad to still be standing...

Not everyone can preach like the apostle Paul or will devote their life to foreign mission service, but members of St. Andrew Lutheran Church learned great lessons about giving, sacrifice and faith during a Mission India campaign this summer. Mission India is a parachurch ministry that provides literacy training and materials to the Indian people. The organization, based in Grand Rapids, Mich., also plants Christian churches in the primarily Hindu nation...

How God appeared in a dream: "Perfect teeth. Nice smell. A class act all the way." The family religion: "You know, the one with all the well-meaning rules that don't work in real life. Uh, Christianity." Church signboard slogan: "God Welcomes His Victims."...

Cape Girardeau's city manager, Michael Miller, has decided the public doesn't need to know who the final three out-of-town candidates for police chief are. This is ironic on so many levels, beginning with a review of the history of how the position came to be open...

In a society where falling standards make finding role models nearly impossible -- particularly among teen-agers -- Monroe Hicks is someone to imitate. The Central High School junior had no reason to succeed. A one-time foster child who saw his older brother drop out and his peers fall victim to drugs and violence, he was headed down the same path...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, Sept. 1 On Thursday, firefighters responded to the following calls:At 5:19 p.m., an emergency medical service at 2601 Independence. On Friday, firefighters responded to the following calls:At 10:18 a.m., emergency medical service at motor vehicle accident on Interstate 55...

Cape Girardeau Friday, Aug. 31 ArrestsTracy Leigh Sorrels, 37, of Clearwater, Fla., was arrested Thursday for stealing. Jacky Wayne Gray Jr., 33, of Scott City was arrested Thursday on a warrant service. SummonsKenyette Shereise Jordan, 20, of 6 Village Drive was issued a summons Thursday for leaving the scene of an accident...

Cape Girardeau County Saturday, Sept. 1 ArrestsShannon R. Hunsperger, 23, of Cape Girardeau was arrested Aug. 24 for parole violation. Original charge was possession of marijuana. Robert J. Owen, 32, of Perryville was arrested Aug. 26 on a warrant for criminal non-support...

CAIRO, Ill. -- A foam factory set to close Oct. 1 does not plan to give its workers severance pay or any other parting benefit, an employee said Friday. Burkart Foam Inc., expected to distribute work done at the Cairo plant among its other nine factories nationwide, told its 30 workers Friday that they will get nothing when it shuts down, said Gwen Agnew, who has work-ed at the plant for 30 years...

The Mentoring Mom program through Young Life is seeking Christian mothers to participate in the coming year. The program matches teen-age mothers with Christian women in a mentoring relationship. Each participant is asked for a one-year commitment and willingness to develop the relationship. Mentors and their matches meet for monthly meetings...

WASHINGTON -- After months of speculation that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld would order the military to get smaller, it now appears he will look elsewhere for savings to pay for missile defense and other investments aimed at remaking the military for the 21st century...

WASHINGTON -- Environmentalists said Friday the Missouri River's managers are choosing business interests over protecting wildlife by backing away from plans to alter the flow of the waterway. The Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees the federal Endangered Species Act, says that switching to a seasonal ebb and flow is the only way to save the pallid sturgeon, least tern and piping plover. Barge and farm interests argue the change would shut down a vital shipping artery...

WASHINGTON -- Social Security paid $31 million through the end of last year to deceased beneficiaries who were listed as dead in the agency's own electronic files, auditors estimate. One woman who died in November 1993 was still receiving benefit checks in May 2000, and auditors said more than $100,000 in benefits had been paid after her death. Authorities stopped the payments last November and now are trying now to determine who cashed her checks...

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department on Friday urged the Supreme Court to reject an appeal by Microsoft, saying there should be no further delay in imposing punishment on the computer software giant for monopolistic practices. The software manufacturer argues that the case is ripe for the high court's review, "but Microsoft offers no satisfactory explanation of why that is so," states the Justice Department filing...

Point Given, the strapping chestnut colt who became America's Horse, will not race again because of a leg injury. "It's a big blow," trainer Bob Baffert said Friday at Del Mar in announcing Point Given's retirement because of a strain to a tendon in his left foreleg...

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Orla Dowd is a lady of rare generosity. As the Dubliner walks down O'Connell Street she habitually gives a pound coin to each of the charities shaking collection cans and buckets outside the General Post Office. "They're all good causes and it keeps my purse light," says Dowd, who expects soon to be offering the charities her spare euro coins, once the new European common currency becomes the legal tender of Ireland in January...

TOKYO -- An explosion and fire tore through a gambling parlor in a bustling Tokyo nightclub district early Saturday, killing at least 44 people and injuring dozens more, police and news reports said. Firefighters were checking to see if any people were still in the building, Public broadcaster NHK television said. The fire was on the third and fourth floors and appeared to be extinguished...

What better place to become a big winner than in a Las Vegas casino? Eight area residents did just that, but they were not playing games of chance at the Riviera Hotel & Casino. Instead, they were playing a game of skill -- pool. The group of eight, known as Huly's Hooligans, placed first in the 2001 Camel 8-Ball National Team Championships-Open Division, held Aug. 20-25...

Courteous mowers I AM a frequent visitor to both the Cape LaCroix Trail and the Jackson City Park. I would like to thank the considerate park employees who mow the Cape trail area. They always shut down the mowers when people pass them on the trail. I wish the park employees who mow the Jackson park would be as courteous...

PULASKI, Ill. -- Funeral for Starling Smith of Pulaski will be held at noon today at St. John Praise and Worship Center. The Rev. Larry Barnett will officiate. Burial will be in Westside Cemetery at Ullin, Ill. Friends may call at the church from 10 a.m. until time of service...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Funeral for Haywood Jones of Cairo will be held at noon today at Klondike Holy Trinity Church. Elder McNeir will officiate. Burial will be in Spencer Heights Cemetery. Heavenly Gates Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Jones, 46, died Saturday, Aug. 25, 2001, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau...

ANNA, Ill. -- A memorial service for Glorine St. Germain of Anna will be held at 6 p.m. today at Crain Funeral Home in Anna. The Rev. Kim Capel will officiate. A reception will follow. St. Germain, 66, died Friday, Aug. 31, 2001, at her home. She was born Nov. 10, 1934, in Burlington, Vt., daughter of Earline and Bill Wood. She married Robert St. Germain 47 years ago...

Otis Phillips, 88, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Aug. 30, 2001, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Sept. 1, 1912, in Stoddard County, Mo., son of Albert and Anna Bell Moore Phillips. He and Carrie L. O'Daniell were married April 1, 1944, in Piggott, Ark...

Verna "Hazel" Goehman, 79, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Aug. 31, 2001, at the Lutheran Home. She was born Feb. 10, 1922, at Summerville, Mo., daughter of Earnest and Ollie Brown Duncan. She and Oscar LeRoy Goehman were married Nov. 4, 1938. He died Dec. 12, 1994...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Henry M. Broeker, 83, of Perryville died Thursday, Aug. 30, 2001, at his home. He was born Feb. 16, 1918, at Yount, Mo., son of Herman F. and Zelpha LaRose Broeker. He and Ida Mae Favier were married Feb. 16, 1939, at Claryville, Mo...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Thelma Alberta Smith Hodges, 89, of Heber Springs, Ark., died Thursday, Aug. 30, 2001, at Lakeland Lodge in Heber Springs. She was born Feb. 11, 1912, in St. Louis, daughter of Algha Carl and Ethel Claire McCoy Lodwick. Hodges was a member of the United Church of God in Jacksonville, Ark...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Melvin Preston Lackey, 70, of Sikeston died Friday, Aug. 31, 2001, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Sept. 10, 1930, in Little Rock, Ark., son of Charles A. and Lela Johnson Lackey Sr. He married Everstine Scheland...

ANNA, Ill.-- Hazel Sadler, 81, of Anna died Friday, Aug. 31, 2001, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Crain Funeral Home in Anna.

Goode Daughter to Mark and Jennifer Goode of Gelnhausen, Germany, Main-Kinzig-Kliniken Kreiskrankenhaus in Gelnhausen, 3:08 p.m. Saturday, July 28, 2001. Name, Emma Dannielle JoAnne. Weight, 6 pounds 9 ounces. Third child, first daughter. Mrs. Goode is the former Jennifer Rice, daughter of the Rev. John and Pat Rice of Jackson, Mo. Goode is the son of Sherri and Dennis Deaton of Shelbyville, Ind., and the late Danny Goode. He is serving with the U.S. Army in Hanau, Germany...

The Heartland Advanced Practice Nursing Network will hold its third annual primary care conference from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 8 at Southeast Missouri State University. For information or to register, call Cheri Huckstep Reed at 335-2229. The date of the conference was omitted from Thursday's edition. The Southeast Missourian regrets the error...

10 years ago: Sept. 1, 1991 First Christian Church of Cape Girardeau will be starting new program this fall, Logos Youth Club; club will be midweek program for children in kindergarten through high school, and will focus on theology and practice of Christian relationships...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- It's been nine months since Gary Pinkel, the latest in a line of coaches to take over the moribund Missouri football program, has started work on campus. The whole time, he couldn't escape thoughts about tonight and his first game-time moments on the field with his new team...

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. Ashley Martin's knees were knocking as she ran on the football field. A swarm of butterflies fluttered in her stomach. "I tried not to think about a bunch of people being there," Martin said. She even recited a prayer. With a brown ponytail showing from her helmet, Martin made a point-after kick for Jacksonville State on Thursday to become the first woman to play -- and score -- in a Division I football game...

Even though they compete in different divisions, there are plenty of similarities between the football teams at Southeast Missouri State University and Eastern Michigan, who square off in today's season opener in Ypsilanti, Mich. For starters, each squad went 3-8 last year under new head coaches who are both trying to perform major rebuilding jobs. ...

CLEVELAND, N.M. -- At 93, Adelia Trujillo still got around without a cane. She was spunky and strong-willed, stubbornly insisting on staying in her small adobe house with its tin pitched roof. But she was no match for the animal that broke into her kitchen...

The way Hollywood sometimes portrays it, college is about drunken parties at fraternity houses and sex-crazed students looking to hook up any way possible. Take the box-office hit "American Pie 2," which updates the adventures of students who in high school raced to lose their virginity by prom night. They're in college now, and their personal goals haven't changed much...

PHILADELPHIA -- You were more likely to spot a UFO than run into a woman at the first World Science Fiction convention six decades ago. But women were everywhere as the 59th convention opened its doors to 5,000 fans this week. Men still outnumber women on the list of convention presenters, award nominees and panelists -- but not by much. With a huge number of female authors and publishers on hand, the genre finally appears to be exploring its feminine side...

If the heavy rain that caused serious street flooding that stranded cars in July was the mother of summer storms, then Friday's storm was her squalling child. While July 19 brought nearly 6 inches of rain to Cape Girardeau, only about a half inch was measured Friday at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. But National Weather Service radar estimates showed up to an inch and a half of rain pelted some places in a short time...

SANTACLARA, Calif. -- A man killed a deputy and shot more than 150 rounds at federal agents trying to serve a search warrant Friday, then apparently died as his home burned to the ground. Investigators began examining the house's charred ruins in the afternoon, but believe the body of James Beck is inside, Los Angeles Sheriff's Lt. Ray Peavy said...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Roger Flowers has spent the past few weeks removing asbestos from the Senate chamber. Now he hopes lawmakers will remove the need for him to pay state taxes on his federal tax refund. Flowers, who has been working on Senate chamber renovations, said he would prefer to keep all of his $300 refund check, instead of paying a portion of it in state taxes...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Republicans are accusing House Speaker Jim Kreider of stacking a special committee with urban lawmakers who may be less knowledgeable about a state livestock pricing law. Kreider, D-Nixa, has appointed a special committee to consider repealing or changing the 1999 law during a special session that begins Wednesday...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Bob Holden on Friday nominated the first three members of the new State Board of Senior Services. The seven-member board will advise the director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services on aging issues. Selected were Lillian Metzger of Troy, who currently serves on the Governor's Advisory Council for Aging; Marie Nowak of St. Louis, who has been active in the AARP; and Jeffrey Kerr of Rolla, a physician specializing in geriatric medicine...

ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- Senior Marcus Klund made his presence felt in his Cape Central debut Friday night, scoring two fourth-quarter touchdowns as the Tigers opened the 2001 campaign with 21-7 victory over St. Charles West. Klund, who rushed for 1,421 yards as a junior at Scott City last year, broke a 7-7 tie with 9:12 left in the game, hauling in a 24-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Mitch Craft. Chris Jones added the extra point for a 14-7 lead...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Jackson showed many faces Friday night. The Indians played razzle-dazzle football. They played smash-mouth football. They played sloppy football. But in the end, they played winning football. Jackson, though clearly not in its top form, knocked off Sikeston 34-7 Friday night at Public Schools Stadium...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Top-seed Leopold outlasted second-seed Bell City in three sets to claim the championship of the Woodland Tournament. The Lady Wildcats took the first game 15-6 , fell 12-15 and then rallied from a 9-13 deficit in the third set. "I'm proud of the girls for the way they came back to win," said Leopold coach Leanne Huffman. "It's a great way to start the season."...

FRUITLAND LIVESTOCK FRUITLAND, Mo. -- Fruitland Livestock Auction, Wednesday receipts, 558; last week, 374; last year, 406. Compared to last week feeder steers and heifers sold steady to 1.00 higher. ...

BEAUMONT, Texas -- Southeast Missouri State University's volleyball team extended Wichita St. to five sets before losing its season opener at the Hilton Cardinal Classic Tournament at Lamar University. In the best of five format, Southeast dropped the opening set 24-30, but battled back to take the next two, 30-26, 30-24...

Southeast Missouri State University's women's soccer team scored three second-half goals to down Belmont 3-0 Friday night in the season-opening SEMO Tournament. Erika Todd netted the first score at the 68-minute mark, then Nichole Thiele and Erin Slattery scored the final two, 30 seconds apart, with about three minutes to go...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Two Cape Girardeau County residents remain wary of Kinder Morgan's plan to build a power plant near their rural homes even after visiting the company's Fort Lupton, Colo., plant. Sharon Hanning and Cheryl Kieffer, who live near the Route U site of the proposed plant in southwest Cape Girardeau County, joined the Cape Girardeau County Commission and industrial recruiter Mitch Robinson in touring the plant near Denver Thursday. ...