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Gas prices dip to lowest in years
(National News ~ 12/24/01)
CAMARILLO, Calif. -- Gasoline prices fell an average of 3 cents a gallon nationwide in the last two weeks to their lowest level in nearly three years. Motorists shouldn't expect the trend to last much longer. Pump prices could bottom out as early as January, as retailers try to halt sliding profits...
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Secret Santa hits KC streets
(State News ~ 12/24/01)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- After spending three days handing out $25,000 in New York, Secret Santa hit streets in the Kansas City area again, spreading yuletide cheer and holiday cash for those in need. The Jackson County businessman, who wishes to remain anonymous, has been handing out hundred-dollar bills for more than 20 years as his way of paying back the owner of a Mississippi diner who helped him when he was homeless...
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Rams loving life on the road
(Professional Sports ~ 12/24/01)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Don't tell the St. Louis Rams they are perfect on the road this season. As far as they're concerned, there's at least one more road victory left to get. The Rams moved to 8-0 on the road with Sunday's 38-32 victory over the Carolina Panthers, becoming just the sixth team since 1970 to finish the regular season perfect away from home...
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Illinois exposes more Mizzou weaknesses
(Professional Sports ~ 12/24/01)
ST. LOUIS -- Missouri coach Quin Snyder decided to challenge Kareem Rush, assigning him to guard Illinois' Frank Williams in Saturday night's annual "Braggin' Rights" game. It backfired on Rush, who suffered through his second straight sub-par game, and on Missouri, which lost its second straight game after a 9-0 start. Just like Iowa a week earlier, No. 9 Illinois exposed weaknesses in the eighth-ranked Tigers' game in a 72-61 victory Saturday night...
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Celtics on the rebound under their calm, consistent coach
(Professional Sports ~ 12/24/01)
BOSTON -- The coach of the Boston Celtics paced silently in front of the bench, his hands dangling at his sides, his eyes watching when Antoine Walker missed a shot. The coach didn't yell and the player didn't look nervously in his direction, like a wayward child awaiting a scolding...
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Raiders' offense in major slump
(Professional Sports ~ 12/24/01)
ALAMEDA, Calif. -- It was the worst day of Sebastian Janikowski's football career. At any level. Still, Oakland Raiders coach Jon Gruden won't put the blame for his team's sudden offensive woes on his kicker's left foot. "Here's a professional kicker at the top of his game and the height of his career and he just missed," Gruden said Sunday. ...
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Neuheisel insists he won't coach Irish
(Professional Sports ~ 12/24/01)
SAN DIEGO -- Rick Neuheisel insisted Sunday he is not a candidate to become the football coach at Notre Dame, adding, "I'm happy as I can be at Washington." He said he is not negotiating with Notre Dame, which is looking for a new coach after George O'Leary abruptly resigned. But Neuheisel, whose team plays Texas in Friday's Holiday Bowl, refused to say whether Notre Dame had contacted him...
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Affordable housing crunch persists for poorest people
(National News ~ 12/24/01)
WASHINGTON -- The average janitor earns enough to rent a one-bedroom apartment and pay for life's other necessities in just six of the nation's 60 largest cities. A retail salesperson can make ends meet in half that many locations. Both can forget about buying a home...
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Amazing Bears use trick play to upend Redskins
(Professional Sports ~ 12/24/01)
LANDOVER, Md. -- The Chicago Bears are still finding amazing ways to win games. This time, they let their star linebacker catch a touchdown pass. Brad Maynard, the holder on a fake field goal, threw a 27-yard pass to linebacker Brian Urlacher for the winning touchdown with 9:55 left Sunday as the Chicago Bears eliminated the Washington Redskins from the playoff race with a 20-15 victory...
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Stimulus bill depends on economy in new year
(National News ~ 12/24/01)
WASHINGTON -- A Senate Democrat who supported the Republican economic stimulus plan said Sunday that the future of the legislation depends on the state of the economy when Congress reconvenes in late January. "If we're still in a recession, we still have high unemployment, people without health insurance, without unemployment compensation, I think the move and the drive to pass something will still be as prevalent as it is today," Sen. John Breaux, D-La., said on "Fox News Sunday."...
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Principal moved out of ICU
(Local News ~ 12/24/01)
Jefferson Elementary School principal Mark Cook was moved out of the intensive care unit at Southeast Missouri Hospital Sunday, after suffering a heart attack early Thursday morning, a hospital official said. Cook has been with the Cape Girardeau School District for 22 years...
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Southeast also offers religious care
(Local News ~ 12/24/01)
Southeast Missouri Hospital also provides pastoral services. According to the Rev. William Matzat, Southeast's director of pastoral care, the hospital offers daily chapel, in-room devotionals for patients on closed-circuit television, confidential prayer ministry and digital hymnals...
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Cape police report 12/24
(Police/Fire Report ~ 12/24/01)
Cape Girardeau Monday, Dec. 24 ArrestsMichael Bruce Kies, 50, 1323 Perryville, was arrested Saturday for driving while intoxicated. Corey Terrell Wilson, 24, 1205 Jefferson, was arrested Saturday on a Cooper County warrant for failure to appear. Charles Anthony Gregory, 23, 36 N. Pindwood, was arrested Saturday on a Stoddard County warrant for probation violation...
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Couple makes a living releasing art from wood
(State News ~ 12/24/01)
COLE CAMP, Mo. -- With fingers as sure as a surgeon's and a touch as delicate as a watchmaker's, Jim Maxwell spends his days turning blocks of wood into intricate works of art. A visit to his shop in Cole Camp, the Buzzard's Roost, will usually find him standing at a work table, carving his latest project; his wife, Margie, sitting behind a showcase counter painting colors to finish a piece; and their old dog, Blondie, snoozing in a corner as tunes from 1950s albums fill the air...
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Afghanistan has goodwill but little else
(International News ~ 12/24/01)
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghanistan's new leaders have a lot of goodwill -- but little else. They didn't even have desks or chairs until the United Nations chipped in $600,000 for basic necessities ahead of their first Cabinet meeting Sunday. The start-up kit included computers, stationery, even paper clips, as well as one vehicle, evidently to be shared by the 29 ministers...
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Passenger charged with assault
(National News ~ 12/24/01)
BOSTON -- Preliminary FBI tests found explosives in the sneakers that a passenger tried to ignite aboard a Boeing 767 jetliner, and the man was charged Sunday with the federal crime of assaulting a flight crew. His identity remained unclear. He was listed in court papers Sunday as Richard C. Reid, the name on his British passport. French authorities identified him as a Sri Lankan named Tariq Raja. In London, Scotland Yard said they believed the suspect was a British national...
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Spending tempered in holiday's final stretch
(National News ~ 12/24/01)
NEW YORK -- On what was supposed to be the biggest shopping weekend of the holiday season, consumers flocked to the nation's stores but remained frugal, despite heavy discounting and advertising blitzes. The restrained spending in the final stretch before Christmas cast a further pall on the shopping season, already expected to be the worst in at least a decade...
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Time magazine taps Giuliani as Person of 2001
(National News ~ 12/24/01)
NEW YORK -- Heralded for his steadfast response to a grief-torn city after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has been named Time magazine's Person of the Year. "I was stunned, a little," Giuliani said at a news conference Sunday. "It was really strange. It's hard to think of yourself that way."...
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Families cut costly holiday gifts to donate to charities
(National News ~ 12/24/01)
Omar Aqeel is no 12-year-old spendthrift. Despite his cushioned upbringing in affluent Pebble Beach, Calif., he washes cars and delivers newspapers to earn his own money. He saves the fruits of his youthful entrepreneurship. One night this month he offered to donate his cash to an orphanage in Kabul, Afghanistan...
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'Fellowship' lords over the box office
(Entertainment ~ 12/24/01)
LOS ANGELES -- Hobbits were lords of the box office as the opening chapter of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy took in $45.3 million Friday to Sunday for an easy No. 1 debut. "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" -- which opened Wednesday -- also grossed nearly $28 million in its first two days. The film's five-day total was $73.1 million in the United States and Canada, according to studio estimates Sunday...
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Jordanian troops head to Afghanistan
(International News ~ 12/24/01)
AMMAN, Jordan -- Jordanian troops left Sunday for Afghanistan to set up a field hospital in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, officials said. The undisclosed number of troops include special forces who will protect the 50-bed field hospital, which will be equipped to accommodate up to 400 patients. The military said more Jordanian forces will follow in the coming days...
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Argentina swears in new president, has old economic woes
(International News ~ 12/24/01)
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Adolfo Rodriguez Saa, a populist provincial governor, was sworn in as Argentina's interim president Sunday, saying he will suspend payment of a crushing foreign debt and risking the biggest sovereign default in history. The announcement by the 54-year-old leader, who was sworn in days after deadly riots drove predecessor Fernando de la Rua from power, prompted a rousing ovation from Congress. ...
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Arafat to defy order to bar him from Bethlehem
(International News ~ 12/24/01)
JERUSALEM -- Yasser Arafat vowed Sunday to defy an Israeli order barring him from Christmas Eve celebrations in Bethlehem, declaring to make annual pilgrimage to Jesus' birthplace even if he has to walk to the stone plaza in Manger Square. Arafat and the Israelis appeared headed for a showdown tonight that seemed to capture the convoluted nature of the conflict: the Jewish state banned Arafat, a Muslim, from attending a Christian religious service in a town under Arafat's control...
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Leaders dismiss talk of proposal for peace
(International News ~ 12/24/01)
JERUSALEM -- Israeli newspapers reported Sunday that Israel and the Palestinians had drafted a potential peace plan that would recognize a Palestinian state within two months and work out the final details later. Israeli and Palestinian leaders promptly dismissed the reports...
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Afghan Cabinet meets to begin rebuilding country
(International News ~ 12/24/01)
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghanistan's new Cabinet met for the first time Sunday, hoping to begin the rebuilding of a land shattered by decades of war and reclaimed from international terrorists. Premier Hamid Karzai said foreign forces -- including those of the United States -- should stay "for as long as it takes."...
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Prison holding Taliban fighters overcrowded
(International News ~ 12/24/01)
SHIBERGAN, Afghanistan -- Hafiz Ihsan Saeed pointed to the untreated, infected shrapnel wound in his chest, his bare feet on the freezing concrete and his empty stomach and pleaded Sunday for help on behalf of all the Taliban inmates at Shibergan prison...
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Brazil to allow Yule lights despite energy rationing
(International News ~ 12/24/01)
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Things are looking brighter in Brazil, where the government relaxed its rationing of electricity so people can turn on their Christmas lights. "That should help improve people's humor," said Euclides Scalco, head of the company that runs huge Itaipu hydroelectric dam...
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Cape fire report 12/24
(Police/Fire Report ~ 12/24/01)
Cape Girardeau Monday, Dec. 24 Firefighters responded to these calls Sunday:At 4:44 a.m., a medical assist at 1449 Whitener. At 4:48 a.m., a medical assist at 1105 Linden. At 12:32 p.m., a medical assist at 429 N. Frederick. At 1:07 p.m., a small fire at 606 S. Silver Springs Road...
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Arkansans suspected in teen-ager's death
(Police/Fire Report ~ 12/24/01)
A 22-year-old Blytheville, Ark., woman has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of a Blytheville teen-age boy whose body was dumped in a ditch in Dunklin County in Missouri. Dunklin County authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Issac Bernard King, 25, of Blytheville, for his part in bringing the dead body of Jonathan D. ...
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Business memo 12/24/01
(Business ~ 12/24/01)
Heartland Realty merges with Ashland Realty Heartland in Jackson, Mo., is merging with Century 21 Ashland Realty. "This will improve our services in the Jackson area," said Gerald W. McElrath, broker and owner of Heartland. "We hope to provide greater home and business selections and faster times in selling properties."...
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David Briggs
(Obituary ~ 12/24/01)
David Jared Briggs, 79, of Cape Girardeau, formerly of the Taylorville, Ill., area, died Friday, Dec. 21, 2001, at the Missouri Veteran's Home. He was born July 13, 1922, in Stonington, Ill., son of Ralph and Myrtle Linstrum Briggs. He and Arlene Eckert Ely were married July 7, 1970...
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Rose Dasovich
(Obituary ~ 12/24/01)
Rose Ella Dasovich, 93, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Dec. 23, 2001, at Ratliff Care Center. She was born Oct. 18, 1908, at Ardiola, Mo., daughter of William A. and Arra Agnes Ashabrenner Allen. She and the late Matthew Joseph Dasovich were married Oct. 23, 1931, at Detroit, Mich. He died April 3, 1946...
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Out of the past 12/24/01
(Out of the Past ~ 12/24/01)
10 years ago: Dec. 24, 1991 Patton - Fire alarm switch had been turned off prior to Dec. 17 fire at Patton home for mentally handicapped people that claimed life of one of its residents; fire officials are still looking into why alarm at Mary's Ranch, privately-run facility, didn't function...
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Wood sellers waiting for cold weather
(Local News ~ 12/24/01)
The first day of winter has come and gone, but few area residents are roasting chestnuts on an open fire -- or even building a fire. An unseasonably warm start of winter has confused blooming plants, sent Christmas shoppers out in shirt sleeves and cut down on the sale of firewood...
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Last-minute shoppers finding bargains at stores
(Local News ~ 12/24/01)
Erin McClune zipped through the clothing aisles at Kmart Sunday, quickly scanning the items on the clothes racks and running her fingers across a few of the shirts. She was on a last-minute mission, looking for a flannel shirt to give to her father-in-law on Christmas...
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Keeping the connection
(Local News ~ 12/24/01)
In room 1514, Father John recites the Lord's Prayer and administers the sacrament of the sick to an 83-year-old Catholic woman who is about to undergo surgery to place pins in her recently broken hip. A little while later, Sister Jane holds hands and chats with a 79-year-old Baptist who has just suffered her second stroke...
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Priest, nun say visiting the sick is the Lord's work
(Local News ~ 12/24/01)
An elderly woman clutches a rosary. A man with his arm in a bright red sling and a cane genuflects with some difficulty before taking a seat. A young woman sits in the front row holding her Bible. On this day, it's the second week of Advent and the Rev. John Cantore is about to say his daily 11 a.m. Mass. This is one of his duties as the priest at St. Francis Medical Center...
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Officials balk at new taxes in upcoming election year
(State News ~ 12/24/01)
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Even as he announced another round of state budget cuts and predicted further economic gloom and doom in the months ahead, Gov. Bob Holden was loath to utter the dreaded T- word. When asked if raising taxes to preserve existing programs might be put on the table for discussion, Holden, a Democrat, talked around the topic...
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Legislators want economic recovery for Christmas
(State News ~ 12/24/01)
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Whether Missouri leaders deserve to be on Santa's "nice" list rather than his "naughty" list, is largely a matter of individual political opinion. But state officials are confident they have been good little boys and girls this year and are hoping for what from a policy standpoint amounts to shiny new toys instead of lumps of dirty coal...
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Market ends pre-Christmas session flat
(National News ~ 12/24/01)
AP Business WriterNEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street held steady Monday, helped by buying in oil stocks on anticipation OPEC would cut its output and oil prices would stabilize. Worries about security after a reported bombing attempt aboard a U.S. passenger plane hurt some airline stocks, but failed to send the broader market lower...
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European airports tighten security
(International News ~ 12/24/01)
Associated Press WriterPARIS (AP) -- Airports around Europe tightened security Monday, some requiring passengers to send their shoes through X-ray machines, after a passenger allegedly tried to ignite explosives hidden in his sneakers on a flight from Paris to Miami...
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Israel ot Arafat - Arrest assassins or stay home for Christmas
(International News ~ 12/24/01)
Associated Press WriterBETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) -- Despite European and U.S. intervention, Israel said Monday it would not let Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat attend Christmas Mass in Bethlehem unless he arrests the assassins of an Israeli Cabinet minister...
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Bernice Weinkein
(Obituary ~ 12/24/01)
PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Bernice Weinkein, 93, of Perryville died Sunday, Dec. 23, 2001, at Perry County Nursing Home. She was born March 15, 1908, in Perryville, daughter of Frank and Mary Kirn Meister. She was married to Dan Weinkein. He died Aug. 4, 1979...
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Lorene Landers
(Obituary ~ 12/24/01)
DEXTER, Mo. -- Lorene D. Landers, 74, of Dexter died Saturday, Dec. 22, 2001, at her home. She was born Aug. 23, 1927, at Hope, Ark., daughter of the late John Delbert and Lola Alexander George. She and Elvin E. Landers were married Dec. 17, 1965, at Arcata, Calif...
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Business personnel 12/24/01
(Business ~ 12/24/01)
Bureau honors farmer with plaque William Nitsch of Sedgewickville, Mo., has been recognized for service on the Missouri Farm Bureau's Promotion and Education Committee. Nitsch was honored during the annual Farm Bureau meeting, held earlier this month at Lake of the Ozarks...
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Pete Poe retiring as Drury Lodge general manager
(Business ~ 12/24/01)
Pete Poe, general manager of the Drury Lodge in Cape Girardeau, will leave the company after 28 years with Drury Inns as manager of the Drury Lodge, Cedar Street Restaurant and Pear Tree by Drury. Poe, who also serves on the boards of the American Red Cross, the SEMO District Fair and the Southeast Missouri Hospital Foundation, will leave his position Dec. 31...
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Yo-yo at the top of the list for all-time toys
(Business ~ 12/24/01)
They say walking the dog is easy. It's nearly impossible for me. It's simple, yo-yo enthusiasts say. You throw a fast spinner, gently lower the yo-yo to the floor, or ground, and allow it to walk a short distance in front of you. Give a little slack and the yo-yo returns to your hand...
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Rejuvenating telecom sector won't be easy
(Business ~ 12/24/01)
NEW YORK -- A year ago, analysts were touting 2001 as a big year for telecommunications. Most consumers were supposed to get high-speed home Internet access and reliable cell phones with snappy Net access and e-mail. Then the lines went dead. The Nasdaq Telecommunications Index, which tracks stocks of 317 telecom companies, plunged 40 percent in 2001. Tens of thousands of telecoms workers lost jobs. Tens of billions of dollars in market capitalization evaporated...
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Firms say they're shaking up stodgy video technology
(Business ~ 12/24/01)
The lesson on Paul Revere's ride had gone over well, Ana Holland thought, when a little boy in the corner of the room raised his hand. "Yes, Sam, what was your question?" Holland asked. The 25 students fell silent, momentarily stunned. The students could see Holland, whose life-size image seemed to float in the air of their room on South Padre Island...
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Gracious gifts - Tipping considered obligation, not reward
(Business ~ 12/24/01)
Tipping is no longer a reward, it's expected. Today, more than 35 professions expect tips and the practice has become a $25 billion-plus industry in the United States. Americans tip everyone from the person who carries their bags into the hotel room to the dog groomer...
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Farmers fear hay shortage
(Local News ~ 12/24/01)
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Army worms and ongoing dry weather have combined to restrict Missouri's hay supply and drive up its price. "This is as tight as the supply's been in a long time," said Clyde Jones, who grows alfalfa hay and orchard grass near Marionville. "I've had to quit selling to customers who are not my old, longtime customers."...
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Garner hopeful for rest of year
(College Sports ~ 12/24/01)
Southeast Missouri State University's Indians could not put a halt to the program's worst start since the 1950-51 season, but Saturday's performance at Southern Illinois at least gave coach Gary Garner and his squad some optimism for the rest of the campaign...
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Speak Out A 12/26/01
(Speak Out ~ 12/24/01)
They supply jobs THE DEMOCRATS fought a stimulus package on the excuse that the big tax breaks went to corporations and businesses. Who in the world employs people? It's sure not poor folks or welfare recipients or unions. It's business. These are the people Democrats say are mean and hateful and want to starve you. When will some wake up to the fact when business prospers and grows, so does the employees and our country?...
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Speak Out A 12/24/01
(Speak Out ~ 12/24/01)
Holiday break THIS IS Christmas season, and it's time you stopped Speak Out. There is so much hatred in it. I think it's time to change your ideas on it. It used to be nice, but there's too much hatred in it these days between the Democrats and the Republicans. I wish you'd stop printing Speak Out. It would improve the tone of your paper...
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Bonnie Moxey
(Obituary ~ 12/24/01)
Bonnie Geraldine Moxey, 73, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, Dec. 22, 2001, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born Jan. 1, 1928, at St. Louis, daughter of Floyd E. and Clara Jane Laney Patton. She and Ken Moxey were married Dec. 25, 1946, at St. Louis...
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James Patridge
(Obituary ~ 12/24/01)
ARCOLA, Ill. -- James Hunter Patridge, 68, of Arcola died Saturday, Dec. 22, 2001, at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center in Coles County. He was born Aug. 16, 1933, at Arcola, son of Raymond C. and Gladys Ramsey Patridge. He and Brandy Barclay were married Dec. 26, 1978, in Las Vegas, Nev...
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Nigerian Justice Minister shot to death in raid on his home
(International News ~ 12/24/01)
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) -- Nigeria's justice minister was shot and killed by one of several unidentified attackers who broke into his home in the southeastern city of Ibadan, government officials and family members said Monday. Bola Ige died around 10 p.m. on Sunday evening after being shot once in the chest, according to Bose Ehindero, a relative of Ige who answered the phone at Ige's residence Monday morning...
Stories from Monday, December 24, 2001
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