Stories from Saturday, October 27, 2001

WICHITA, Kan. -- Consumers should find lower prices at their meat counters the rest of this year in the wake of a slowing economy that has created a glut in the nation's cattle markets, analysts said. The same public uncertainty that has reduced air travel and tourism is also driving down demand for beef at hotels, restaurants and resorts. ...

A federal rule change that allows Cape Girardeau Regional Airport to resume use of its parking lot will save visitors some walking and taxpayers some money. The rule that required unauthorized vehicles to park at least 300 feet from airport terminals was lifted this week for small airports like Cape Girardeau's, airport manager Bruce Loy said. Large airports still must comply, he said...

ST. LOUIS -- Jeff Wilkins, who hasn't missed a field goal or extra point in more than a season, is the St. Louis Rams' Mr. Automatic. Coach Mike Martz has a one-word nickname for Wilkins: Money. "I just love him," Martz said. "He just has the greatest attitude."...

Local law enforcement personnel turned out at a blood drive Friday to help fill a coming void in the nation's emergency blood supply. With the shelf life of blood only 42 days, the American Red Cross was recently forced to destroy more than 10,000 units of blood donated in the days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks...

PINE MOUNTAIN, Ga. -- Davis Love III was inspired by a star-spangled gallery. With thousands of soldiers from nearby Fort Benning cheering him on, Love shot a 10-under-par 62 Friday to seize the lead midway through the Buick Challenge. The 10-birdie round pushed him to 14-under 130, tying the 36-hole record on the Mountain View course at Callaway Gardens. He was one stroke ahead of first round co-leader Vijay Singh and Chris DiMarco...

When Missouri Baptists gather for their annual convention meeting in Cape Girardeau, discussion on ministry work overseas, in Wyoming and across the state could get lost in a political power struggle. The Missouri Baptist Convention has been in the midst of a decade-long struggle between conservatives and moderates who want to control the state association of churches, some of which are Southern Baptist...

PHOENIX -- Baseball is abuzz about two of its teams -- but not the ones in the World Series. The talk has been about "contraction," a term the sport's owners use when referring to getting rid of financially struggling teams. Owners, who meet next Nov. 6, may discuss folding franchises. If so, the Montreal Expos are a sure goner. And because the baseball schedule requires an even number of teams to be in each league, other teams are vulnerable, including Florida, Tampa Bay and Minnesota...

GORDONVILLE, Mo. -- A suspicious fire that destroyed an abandoned rural house off County Road 324 late Thursday remains under investigation, said Gordonville fire chief Gary Matlock. When fire personnel were called to the scene about 9:30 p.m., the house was engulfed. No one was injured...

PHOENIX -- Kevin Brown couldn't beat them. Greg Maddux and Al Leiter couldn't do it, either. All top aces, yet all of them wound up on the losing side when they faced the New York Yankees in World Series openers. Now pitching, Curt Schilling. The Arizona Diamondbacks' best chance to end the Yankees' run of three straight championships could come Saturday on a hot night in the desert when Schilling opposes Mike Mussina...

FRUITLAND, Mo. -- Fire Friday destroyed the home of Fruitland assistant fire chief "Shane" Johnston. Firefighters from Fruitland and East County fire districts battled in vain to save the double-wide mobile home along County Road 601. "This is the second time in 17 years," Johnston said of the fire at his residence...

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Casey Atwood is learning his lessons well. The rookie, driving for the first-year team of Ray Evernham, came up with his best effort of the season Friday, winning the pole for the Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush signed an anti-terrorism bill Friday that gives police unprecedented ability to search, seize, detain or eavesdrop in their pursuit of possible terrorists. "This government will enforce this law with all the urgency of a nation at war," he said...

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon chose Lockheed Martin Corp. over Boeing Co. on Friday to build its high-tech, next-generation fighter jet, a contract that will be worth at least $200 billion, the largest in Defense Department history. Air Force Secretary James G. Roche announced Lockheed was the winner of an $18.9 billion engineering and manufacturing development contract that eventually is expected to lead to the go-ahead to build 3,000 supersonic F-35 jets with radar-evading capabilities...

WASHINGTON -- Outside his flower shop, smoking a cigarette that may be worse for him than anything in the mail, Joseph Filosa wonders whether the new way of life in America will be different from the old one. "Instead of being very la-la, like you were before, you're more alert, more aware," he said. But when it comes to vigilance over the long haul, he said, "I think the government will take care of it."...

SALT LAKE CITY -- Houston, New York, San Francisco and Washington made the cut Friday as the U.S. Olympic Committee narrowed down the list of American cities competing to stage the 2012 Summer Olympics. Dropped from contention were Dallas, Los Angeles, Cincinnati and Tampa, Fla...

Ever since Sept. 11, rebel groups, separatist organizations and militant political movements in various parts of the world have taken pains to distance themselves from anything resembling terrorism. The Irish Republican Army has begun to turn over its arms, Chechen rebels are starting peace talks with Russia and Yasser Arafat ordered Palestinian groups to halt suicide attacks...

ASHFIELD, Mass. -- The slick brown goo that Tom Leue concocts in his backyard chemistry lab isn't as appetizing as the french fries it once cooked, but Leue gets plenty of mileage out of the used restaurant oil. With a dash of wood alcohol and a sprinkle of lye, Leue brews the grease trap sludge into biodiesel, an environmentally friendly fuel that powers diesel engines and heats homes...

Postal workers demanded the closing of an anthrax-contaminated sorting center in New York and the shutdown of other postal installations for precautionary testing Friday, threatening to sue if necessary. "If it's possible to close down Congress and test there for bacteria, they should close down this building, too," said William Smith, a union local president in New York City, where anthrax was found on four machines at a major sorting center. ...

JERUSALEM -- Under intense American pressure, Israel said Friday it would start withdrawing its forces today from Palestinian towns -- beginning with the biblical town of Bethlehem and nearby Beit Jalla. Israel had sent troops into six Palestinian towns last week in a hunt for the assassins of its ultranationalist tourism minister Rehavam Zeevi. The radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed it carried out the Oct. 17 assassination...

AIROLO, Switzerland -- An icy wind blasted through charred metal in Europe's longest Alpine highway tunnel Friday as salvage workers penetrated the "red zone" -- the heart of the disaster that killed at least 11 people. Officials have expected the toll from the fire to rise, but they were encouraged that the occupants of the first vehicles they reached Friday apparently had been able to escape...

LONDON -- U.S. regulators have granted Lloyd's of London several months to fully fund claims relating to the attacks on New York's World Trade Center, easing financial strain on the world's best-known insurance market, Lloyd's said Friday. The claims, worth $5.36 billion, include property losses on the twin towers and the cost of the hijacked aircraft. The claims are the biggest liability for Lloyd's since Hurricane Hugo in 1989...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- In a stunning blow to U.S.-backed efforts to undermine the Taliban, the ruling Islamic militia Friday captured and executed a former guerrilla leader who slipped into Afghanistan to try to lure tribal leaders away from the regime...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A lawsuit alleging that Sprint Corp. officials pursued a merger deal with WorldCom for their own financial gain will be allowed to go forward. Jackson County Circuit Judge Charles Atwell refused Thursday to dismiss the shareholder action brought by Amalgamated Bank of New York, although he expressed misgivings about its merits. Amalgamated is the trustee of labor-related trust and pension funds that own a small fraction of Sprint's outstanding stock...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A St. Louis area school bus drivers strike has spilled over into Columbia. Thousands of students in the mid-Missouri town had to find another way to school Friday after a union representing school bus drivers from Francis Howell and Fort Zumwalt school districts in St. Charles County set up pickets at First Student transportation company offices in Columbia...

ST. LOUIS -- A day after calling him a threat to national security, the U.S. government has agreed to the release of an Egyptian taken into custody at Lambert Airport after last month's terrorist attacks. "I feel like a dream, like a good dream," Ibrahim Bayoumi, 27, said Thursday after being freed from Immigration and Naturalization Service detention...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A suspicious envelope sent to an Internal Revenue Service processing center contained no traces of anthrax, the FBI said. The envelope, containing a blank tax form and a brown, powdery substance, was opened on Tuesday. About 20 workers were instructed to give themselves thorough soap-and-water cleanings...

ST. LOUIS -- A man who pulled an anthrax prank on a co-worker isn't finding many things funny about it these days. Mark Emory was charged Wednesday with misdeameanor assault and harassment after a scrawled reference to anthrax -- meant to tease an understanding co-worker -- was pulled from trash miles away and reported to police...

ROCKAWAY BEACH, Mo. -- Chuck Walters has big dreams of this tiny southwest Missouri river town one day having a gambling boat filled with people playing slot machines, roulette and cards. It was that dream -- which he shares with city alderman Denny Howard -- that led to a non-binding referendum being put on the Nov. ...

VIENNA, Ill. -- A prison warden charged with reckless and drunken driving testified Friday he was the passenger -- not the driver -- when a state-owned car crashed into a tree, killing the other occupant. Former Shawnee Correctional Center warden William Barham has maintained for a year he wasn't the driver of the 2000 Chevy Impala that crashed into a tree in the early hours of Oct. 15, 2000, on Illinois 147, about a half-mile north of Simpson...

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court building was ordered shut down for anthrax testing Friday, the latest symbol of American majesty and might to fall victim to a bioterrorism threat that sent fresh shudders through the nation's 227-year-old mail service...

WASHINGTON -- Based on handwriting analysis and sophisticated profiling, investigators suspect one person wrote the three letters contaminated with anthrax but have drawn no conclusions about who is behind the attacks, government officials said Friday...

WASHINGTON -- American Red Cross President Bernadine Healy, one of the few medical doctors to lead the influential and popular charity, is resigning her post at year's end after two years on the job. Saying her decision was difficult, Healy said she would retire effective Dec. 31...

RANDLES, Mo. -- Truman D. Slinkard, 67, of Cahokia, Ill., died Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2001, at his home. He was born Dec. 26, 1933, at Randles, son of Orville and Edna Brightwell Slinkard. Slinkard retired as a mechanic from Missouri Machinery and Engineering Co. in St. Louis...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Graveside service for Almeta Sides of Bloomfield will be held at 11 a.m. today at Essex Cemetery in Essex, Mo. The Rev. Walter Spencer will officiate. Friends may call at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Dexter, Mo., from 9-10:30 a.m...

EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. -- Clyde G. Copeland, 93, of East Prairie died Friday, Oct. 26, 2001, at East Prairie Nursing Center. He was born Feb. 25, 1908, at Union, Mo., son of John and Clara Huber Copeland. He and Ruth Davis were married in 1960 in East St. Louis, Ill. She died March 9, 1994...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Geraldine Bartley, 79, of Sikeston died Friday, Oct. 26, 2001, at Clearview Nursing Center. She was born Dec. 22, 1921, in Baxter Springs, Kan., daughter of William Edwin and Virginia Leone Sayler Hiatt. She and Elbridge W. Bartley Jr. were married Aug. 5, 1943, at Camp Lejeune, N.C...

DEXTER, Mo. -- A memorial service for Nondes D. Busby of Dexter will be held at 2 p.m. today at First United Methodist Church. Rainey Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Busby, 85, died Thursday, Oct. 25, 2001, at Beverly Health Rehabilitation Center in Dexter...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Mildred G. Koeller, 84, formerly of Perryville, died Friday, Oct. 26, 2001 in Parkland Health Center in Farmington, Mo. Born Oct. 12, 1917 in Perry County, she was the daughter of Herman and Lona Moore Schumer. On May 22, 1934, she was married to Aloysius A. Koeller. He died May 1, 1993...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Raymond Gaines Jr., 64, of Dexter died Thursday, Oct. 25, 2001, at Missouri Southern Healthcare. He was born March 15, 1937, at Dexter, son of Raymond W. and Vergie Rhema Lane Gaines. Gaines was a former employee at IXL Manufacturing Co. in Bernie, Mo...

Emil A. Probst, 81, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2001, at his home. He was born Aug. 15, 1920, at Jackson, Mo., son of William and Clara Hager Probst. Probst farmed all his life in the Cape Girardeau and Jackson area. He was a member of Evangelical United Church of Christ and Elks Lodge 639. He was a former president of West Side Senior Citizens...

URBANDALE, Ill. -- Marie McAllister, 87, of Urbandale, died Thursday Oct. 25, 2001 at St. Francis Medical Center. Born Feb. 9, 1914, in Birds Point, Mo., she was the daughter of the late Albert and Martha Etherton Chapman. She was a member of he Urbandale Community Chapel...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Nannie Elizabeth Floyd, 85, of Jonesboro, Ill., formerly of Mound City, died Friday, Oct. 26, 2001, at Union County Hospital in Anna, Ill. Born March 8, 1916, in Mound City, she was the daughter of the late Genie and Mattie Oliver Patterson...

Huffman Son to Edward Allen Huffman and Christy Lynne Eudy of Oak Ridge, Mo., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 1:33 p.m. Monday, Oct. 1, 2001. Name, Logan Allen. Weight, 7 pounds 13 ounces. Second son. Ms. Eudy is the daughter of Stan Eudy of St. Charles, Mo., and Kaye Hathhorn of Cape Girardeau. Huffman is the son of Paul Huffman of Oak Ridge and Lila Jackson of Jackson, Mo. He is a car dealer...

10 years ago: Oct. 27, 1991 Mt. Auburn Christian Church holds open house in new educational wing in afternoon; wing includes six new classrooms for children ages 2 years through sixth grade, secretary's office and minister's study. Rain keeps crowds small at Southeast Missouri State University open house; event, sponsored by Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's University Relations Committee, is attended by about 125 people...

ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- The Jackson Indians remained undefeated and set up a Class 5A, District 1 showdown with rival Poplar Bluff with its fifth shutout of the season Friday night. Using four touchdowns from Mario Whitney, sixth-ranked Jackson rolled to a 36-0 victory over Francis Howell to improve to 9-0 overall and 2-0 in district play...

Too much stress A POLICE officer stopped me last week and told me that my license tags had expired. My tags are due in October. Please educate the policemen so they won't stop people unnecessarily and cause stress. Frightening media THE TV media tell us not to panic or fear, but then they tell us all about smallpox and show pictures of people afflicted with it. ...

To the editor: Your newspaper quotes former Sen. Bob Dole as saying, "In a single, terrible day, we lost more Americans than died in the Civil War" or died on the beaches of Normandy. Since there were about 2,000 American casualties on D-Day, Dole may be correct...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, Oct. 27 On Thursday, firefighters responded to the following calls:At 4:24 p.m., illegal burning at 823 Bellevue. At 8:32 p.m., emergency medical service at 77 Centenial. On Friday, firefighters responded to the following calls:At 7:51 a.m., emergency medical service at 1812 Delwin...

Fruitland LivestockFRUITLAND -- Fruitland Livestock Auction Tuesday. Receipts, 596; last week, 523; last year, 996. Compared to last week feeder steers and heifers 1.00-3.00 lower. Slaughter cows and bulls sold steady; Demand and supply light. The quality of the feeders was still below adverage of past sales. ...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, Oct. 27 ArrestsJames Earl Webb, 46, 415 S. Sprigg, was arrested Thursday for assault and unlawful use of a weapon. Joshua Demont Whril, 19, 109 S. Henderson, was arrested Thursday for assault. Lynette Tramaine Tarver, 21, McKinney, Texas, was arrested Thursday for failure to appear...

The Census Bureau made the right decision to permit allocation of $185 billion in federal funds based only on raw numbers, not statistically adjusted numbers. Democrats have argued such distributions should be made based on adjustments because minorities, the poor and children historically are underrepresented in the census. Therefore, they claim, basing the allocation on adjustments means more money for Medicaid and a host of other programs goes into cities where it is needed most...

Candidates were quick out of the starting gate this week when filing for Cape Girardeau city offices opened. First in line was mayoral hopeful Jay Knudtson, who already had drawn attention to himself Oct. 20 by passing out gum while in-line skating down the homecoming parade route. Two days later, the Bank of America executive vice president spent Monday night at outside City Hall, catching up on his reading and watching movies so he could be the first to file...

With images of a burning World Trade Center and firefighters raising an American flag in the midst of rubble in Manhattan, religious tracts are using current events as an opportunity to answer questions about the Gospel. Five new tracts are being offered to businesses in Cape Girardeau by the Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship. The tracts are printed by the American Tract Society, which is the nation's largest tract publisher and has been publishing Christian literature for 176 years...

BETHESDA, Md. -- One day back in 1979, Qaseem A. Uqdah was in the mess hall line at the Parris Island boot camp when a cook slapped a piece of ham onto his outstretched tray. A convert to Islam, Uqdah refused to take the pork, which the religion forbids. A Marine drill sergeant noticed and wasn't happy. He chewed out Uqdah until a Roman Catholic chaplain stepped in and persuaded the sergeant to lay off...

Several area high school volleyball teams will look to navigate the final road toward the state tournament today when they take part in sectional competitions at various sites. The sectionals will all include four squads. Semifinal winners advance to the finals and those survivors move on to next weekend's state final four in Warrensburg, Mo...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- The Cape Central Tigers scored 48 points for the first time in four years Friday night, ripping Perryville 48-14 to remain perfect in Class 4A, District 1 competition. With Farmington's 37-31 win over Sikeston, the stage is set for a Central-Farmington district championship game Thursday at Houck Stadium...

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- The Southeast Missouri State University volleyball team, the defending OVC champion, suffered its fifth conference loss Friday night. The Otahkians fell in straight sets 11-30, 29-31, 30-17, dropping to 11-11 overall and 7-5 in OVC play. Morehead improved to 17-7 and 10-2 in the conference...

When Southeast Missouri State University football coach Tim Billings looks at Tennessee Tech, he sees a typical Golden Eagles squad -- but perhaps with just a bit of a twist. According to Billings, while the 2001 Eagles feature their customary stout defense, their offense appears to have a bit more firepower than in recent years...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- With four games to go and his team still in the hunt for a major bowl bid, Texas coach Mack Brown isn't overlooking Missouri. "This is a dangerous week," Brown said as his No. 7 Longhorns (6-1, 3-1 Big 12) prepared to play Missouri today at Faurot Field. "Missouri is good."...

UCLA is poised to end the Pacific-10 Conference's national championship drought. So is Washington State. The fourth-ranked Bruins and 14th-ranked Cougars are undefeated entering today's games, but both have formidable roads ahead in trying to reach the national title game at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 3...

GENEVA -- More than 20 years after smallpox was officially eradicated, the World Health Organization said Friday it was preparing for possible new outbreaks of the disease as a direct result of terrorism. "Should an outbreak of smallpox be detected in any country, this should be considered an international emergency," said WHO Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland...