Stories from Saturday, January 5, 2002

An armed robbery at Westfield Shoppingtown West Park turned into a carjacking Friday evening on Bloomfield Road when a fleeing suspect wrecked his car, then shoved a woman out of her four-wheel-drive vehicle, witnesses said. The suspect led police on a high-speed chase through town, which ended after the stolen car was broadsided by a Kelley Transportation van on Sprigg Street...

By Joseph White ~ The Associated Press WASHINGTON -- Unable to hit a shot and worn out by a sinus infection, Michael Jordan somehow summoned the energy to put an exclamation point on a victory against his old team. It wasn't a layup or dunk, but it was truly spectacular...

WASHINGTON -- A U.S. Army Special Forces soldier was killed Friday by small-arms fire during an ambush in eastern Afghanistan, the first American military death from enemy fire in the war against terrorism. A CIA officer was wounded but was expected to survive...

WASHINGTON -- To hear Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle tell it, President Bush's 2001 tax cuts worsened the recession and closed out a short, happy era of budget surpluses. Republicans claim that's Democratic doublespeak for wanting to raise taxes...

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear a case about police power to search passengers on public transportation, a case the Bush administration says applies to the war on terrorism. The court said it will decide if police who want to look for drugs or evidence of other crimes must first inform public transportation passengers of their legal rights. The ruling could clarify what police may and may not do as they approach and search a passenger...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, Jan. 5 ArrestsColin Alexander Moore, 18, Olive Branch, Ill., was arrested Thursday for stealing and property damage. Christopher Jay Miller, 19, Olive Branch, Ill., was arrested Thursday for stealing and property damage. Jeremy Wayne Britt, 18, Olive Branch, Ill., was arrested Thursday for stealing and property damage...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, Jan. 5 Firefighters responded to the following calls Thursday:At 7:16 p.m., an emergency medical service at 3439 William. Firefighters responded to the following calls Friday:At 3:13 a.m., an emergency medical service at 2841 Themis...

When newshounds think back to the health stories of 2001, some of the most amazing ones may not immediately come to mind. It was the negative side of health reporting that dominated the news: the anthrax scare that killed five persons, forced many more onto antibiotics and scared a nation unfamiliar with the devastating bacteria. ...

While there were so many positive discoveries in the health field in 2001, some researchers received lessons they probably didn't want as a result of the anthrax scare. Consider the problems getting U.S. Senate majority leader Tom Daschle and 49 other senators back into their offices in the anthrax-infected Hart Senate Office Building in Washington...

Repression of women by Afghanistan's toppled Taliban drew worldwide attention to the varied views within Islam. Christianity, too, has internal differences, especially about the milder matter of whether to allow women clergy. Among U.S. Protestants, discussion occurs largely among the Bible-based conservative evangelicals. There are two sides on what the Bible says about women, typified by two organizations, both founded in 1987...

The Baptist Student Center at Southeast Missouri State University will offer an evening course, "Introduction to the Old Testament," from 7-9 p.m. beginning Jan. 14. The class will be offered each week through the spring semester. Students can enroll at the first class session...

Today Gospel singing at 7 p.m. at Shiloh Baptist Church in Villa Ridge, Ill., featuring Potter's Clay of Mayfield, Ky., and The Gloryland Travelers of Mounds, Ill. Tuesday Community noon worship at Freedom Rock Youth Center hosted by Fred Poston, pastor of New Plymouth Community Church. The informal service will conclude by 1 p.m...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- As a Christian missionary in the Islamic nation of Mauritania in North Africa, Sister Claire Rheaume was free to share her religion with others. Still, she was careful in her 15 years there to discuss her faith only with close friends, and she never signed the cross before meals at restaurants...

Katlyn Kelley, a senior at Notre Dame High School, was offered scholarships at several schools, but has decided to walk on and play softball at Southeast Missouri State University. Kelley set four school records last year in Notre Dame's record-breaking 25-4 season...

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Dennis Green was forced out Friday as coach of the Minnesota Vikings with one game left in a dismal season that has the team out of the playoffs for the first time since 1995. Green, whose 10-year tenure ties him with Pittsburgh's Bill Cowher for longest in the league, accepted a buyout of the last two years of his contract...

$$$Start From The Wall Street Journal There are certain facts of life so long obvious they would seem beyond dispute. One of these -- that there is a liberal tilt in the media that shapes news coverage and dictates, all too often, what can and can't be said on the air or in print -- continues to provoke hot denials and even rage. ...

NEW YORK -- Before the Grammy nominations were announced, pundits had already determined what the big story would be -- a certain soulful female singer with a critically acclaimed debut would score multiple nominations, including record, song and album of the year...

AUSTIN, Texas -- A tear or two spilled down President Bush's cheek Friday as he saw his portrait unveiled in the Texas state Capitol and reflected on his "joyous six years" as governor. "I'm going to take that can-do Texas spirit to Washington, for however long I'm there, and remind people that results are what matters," the president said...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The Afghan foreign minister said Mullah Mohammad Omar was surrounded by anti-Taliban forces near the central city of Baghran, as U.S. troops and warplanes on Friday went after al-Qaida fighters in eastern Afghanistan. The American operations near the city of Khost brought the first death of a member of the U.S. military by enemy fire in the three-month-old Afghan campaign...

ALTO PASS, Ill. -- Police have found the truck of an Alto Pass, Ill., man who has been missing for nearly a month. Walter Gibbs Sr., 73, was last seen Dec. 11 while driving to Thebes to visit friends. Friday, his truck was discovered in an area of Mississippi County called Thompson Bin, a northeastern part of the county near the river, said a spokesman for the Mississippi County sheriff...

JERUSALEM -- Israeli naval commandos commandeered a cargo ship in the Red Sea hundreds of miles from Israel's shores, finding 50 tons of Iranian-made weapons meant for the Palestinian Authority on board, the Israeli army chief said Friday. Israel said the cache proves Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has not abandoned violence, even as U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni tried Friday to nudge the Israeli and Palestinian leaders toward a formal truce...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- In an attempt to defuse tensions with India, Pakistani security agents have detained more than 130 Islamic militants, including leaders of two groups India blames for a suicide attack on its Parliament. The arrests announced Friday are the most serious effort by Pakistan's military government to curb Islamic militant groups, which India accuses of waging a guerrilla war in disputed Kashmir...

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- It looked like any other test: fill in the blanks, multiple choice, short essays. But the graded exams found at an al-Qaida camp had deadly implications -- one question asked how best to shoot down an aircraft, and three terrorists-in-training got the answer right...

The city of Cape Girardeau has completed a system-wide changeover to provide Internet access to city employees through the city's internal network, an upgrade that also has made the city's Web page easier to find and use, city officials say. The first change is a new address for the city's Web site, said assistant city manager Walter Denton, also the city's Webmaster. The new Web site is at www.cityofcape girardeau.org. The site will look exactly as it did before, Denton said...

LIBERTY, Mo. -- A Kansas City man found shot to death in his car feared for his life and specifically named his ex-wife's father as a threat, according to court documents. Prosecutors think Thadd E. Mize's fears were well-founded; his former in-laws are now charged with killing him...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Unless it receives an influx of money, the state transportation department plans to issue no more than half of the highway bonds it originally had proposed for next year. Transportation officials will submit a $500 million bonding plan to lawmakers for the fiscal year starting in July, but under current circumstances they expect to actually issue between $100 million and $250 million in bonds...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Jackson Board of Education president Gerald Adams is among the four-candidate Republican field in the race to succeed state Rep. David Schwab. Adams, 49, said his knowledge of education issues, past experience as a family farmer and long history with service groups make him a strong candidate...

NEW YORK In his brown Franciscan robe or white firefighter's helmet, Mychal Judge always seemed larger than life. Four months after becoming victim No. 00001 of the World Trade Center attack, Father Mike appears larger than death, too. The white-haired Fire Department chaplain has emerged from the twisted steel of the crumpled twin towers as a multipurpose icon, claimed as one of their own by constituents across the city where he once walked in leather sandals...

Annual event to be held today at Cape Central. By Bob Miller ~ Southeast Missourian Cape Girardeau Central will host its seventh annual Tiger Shootout today starting at 1 p.m. at the Tiger Fieldhouse. The event features four of the area's boys basketball teams against four teams from the St. Louis area...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Leota Caby Lotz, 76, of Pevely, Mo., died Thursday, Jan. 3, 2002, at her home. She was born Aug. 30, 1925, near Scopus, Mo., daughter of Elmer and Alma Baker Schrock. She first married Clyde Huston Caby, who died Oct. 29, 1987. She later married George Donnell Lotz...

Kenneth Eugene Eaton, 62, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Jan. 4, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born May 14, 1939, at Piedmont, Mo., son of Davis Wingate and Alice Bell Vanpool Eaton. Eaton was an overseas oil transport captain many years. He served in the U.S. Navy...

ANNA, Ill. -- Funeral for Vernell Kesler of Anna will be held at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Crain Funeral Home in Dongola, Ill. The Rev. Willard Murrie will officiate. Burial will be in Meisenheimer Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 4-6 p.m. today...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Susie (Sissom) Modglin Trammell, 51, of Paragould, Ark., formerly of Olive Branch, Ill., died Friday, Jan. 4, 2002, at the Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro, Ark. Visitation will be after 4 p.m. today at the Jones Funeral Home in Tamms, Ill...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Robert Sylvester Summers, 72, of Marble Hill died Thursday, Jan. 3, 2002, at his home. He was born Feb. 14, 1929, at Richwood, Mo., son of Robert S. and Naomi G. Meyers Summers. He and Therese L. Clovis were married Nov. 1, 1947. She died Nov. 1, 1975. He later married Shannon M. Newell Feb. 14, 1999...

Norman H. "Pete" Kinder, 94, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Jan. 4, 2002, at St. Francis Medical Center. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Susie Sissom Modglin, 51, of Paragould, Ark., died Friday, Jan. 4, 2002, at Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro, Ark. She was formerly of Olive Branch. Friends may call at Jones Funeral Home in Tamms, Ill., after 4 p.m. today...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Otto Wayman Pratt, 81, of Sikeston died Thursday, Jan. 3, 2002, at Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born July 20, 1920, at Sikeston, son of Harry O. and Addie Barnes Pratt Sr. He and Dorothy Arlene Ziegenhorn were married April 12, 1941. She died April 27, 1999...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Donald DeLine, 89, of Charleston, died Friday, Jan. 4, 2002, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Born Aug. 1, 1912, in Charleston, he was the son of Charles Ludwig and Lilly Elizabeth Millard DeLine. On May 25, 1941, in Caruthersville, Mo., he married Anita May Babb. She died June 7, 2000...

Grojean Daughter to Joe and Heather Grojean of Tulsa, Okla., Southcrest Hospital in Tulsa, 7:05 p.m. Friday, Dec. 21, 2001. Name, Maya Cora Rhea. Weight, 4 pounds 15 ounces. First child. Mrs. Grojean is the former Heather Oxley, daughter of Evelyn Oxley of Jackson, Mo., and the late Terry Oxley. She is employed at Moody's Jewelry. Grojean is the son of Faye Powell of Little Rock, Ark., and Dale Fort of Paragould, Ark. He is manager of Dickinson Theaters...

The Cape Girardeau County Chapter of AARP 4041 will meet at 1:30 p.m. Monday at Grace United Methodist Church. Jan Smith of the APPLE Project will present a program about prescription assistance. There will be a "mystery member of the month" and a drawing for door prizes...

10 years ago: Jan. 5, 1992 Missouri Highway and Transportation Commissioner John Oliver says that passage of 6-cent state gasoline tax would be "bonanza" for Southeast Missouri; Cape Girardeau lawyer says Missouri will best be able to take advantage of new federal highway bill if voters approve 6-cent increase...

ELCO, Ill. -- Funeral for Pat RedCloud of Elco will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday at First Baptist Church in Ullin, Ill. The Revs. Richard Martin and Clint Nale will officiate. Burial will be in Mount Pisgah Cemetery. Friends may call at Crain Funeral Home in Ullin from 5-8 p.m. Monday...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Willie Gray McMillen, 85, of Charleston died Friday, Jan. 4, 2002, at his home. He was born Jan. 8, 1916, in Murray, Ky., son of Maxie Thomas and Maggie Stagner McMillen. He and Mahala Christine Hill were married Dec. 13, 1941. McMillen served in the U.S. Army during World War II...

KENNETT, Mo. -- Cape Girardeau Central's boys basketball team used a pair of late 3-pointers to dramatically force overtime here Friday night. But the Tigers could not pull out a victory as Kennett outscored Central 13-6 in the extra period to prevail 48-41...

Notre Dame opens large lead early in improving to 8-4. By Bob Miller ~ Southeast Missourian The way Kelly coach Nick Lanpher put it, the Hawks didn't stand much of a chance. "Notre Dame has more depth than we do," he said. "We don't get to rest our boys as much."...

Southeast Missouri State University's Indians would no doubt like to wipe out from their memory banks the non-conference portion of their season that saw them go 2-9 -- and both of the wins were against Division II teams. Well, tonight the Indians can at least begin to ease the pain of their non-league struggles when they open Ohio Valley Conference play against host Eastern Illinois...

Southeast Missouri State University women's basketball coach Ed Arnzen has been around the game too long to take anybody lightly -- particularly when it comes to all-important league play. That's why Arnzen knows the Otahkians better be plenty prepared today when they visit Eastern Illinois in the Ohio Valley Conference opener for both squads...

Tigers try to restore confidence after snapping three-game losing streak. By R.B. Fallstrom ~ The Associated Press COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri coach Quin Snyder is ready for the Big 12 season to begin, even if his players might not be...

PASADENA, Calif. -- Ten years after the Miami Hurricanes last ruled the college football world and a year after being frozen out of the title game, they are No. 1 again. Miami left no doubt at the Rose Bowl, opening a 34-point lead in the first half against Nebraska on the way to a 37-14 victory Thursday night...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida coach Steve Spurrier resigned Friday to pursue an NFL job, leaving the Gators after 12 years in which he turned them from losers into Fun 'N Gun winners. Under Spurrier, the Gators won the 1996 national championship and six Southeastern Conference titles. Florida finished this season ranked No. 3 with a 10-2 record and a 56-23 victory over Maryland in the Orange Bowl on Wednesday night...

To the editor: I hear a lot of bashing regarding the police officers of Cape Girardeau. Don't let one bad experience bring judgment on an entire force. I remember a K-9 unit officer who helped me out of a potentially dangerous situation on an icy stretch of I-55 last year. ...

To the editor: Recently I read a letter from Patricia Parmer, and I could not believe it. It was like the thoughts and feelings jumped right out of me. I too graduated from Metro Business College and got placed in a temporary job that was supposed to lead to something more. Right before my 90-day probation period was up, I was let go. I know exactly how Parmer feels and what she is going through...

People's forum SOMEONE WANTS to make the Southeast Missourian the most boring paper in the state, huh? They want to get rid of Speak Out and replace it with calls about lost items? I think that's what the "Lost and Found" classified section is for. Speak Out is a people's forum, and I'd like to praise the Southeast Missourian for providing this anonymous forum. If you don't want privacy, write a letter to the editor and sign your name...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Ola Bernice Hastings, 86, of Jackson died Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2002, at Monticello House. She was born April 27, 1915, in Jerusalem, Ark., daughter of Lee Andrew and Emma Mae Taylor Roper. Hastings lived at Sikeston, Mo., many years, moving to Jackson in September 2001. She was a member of the Church of Christ in Sikeston...

LILBOURN, Mo. -- Betty Jewell Truelove, 69, of Lilbourn died Thursday, Jan. 3, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born June 20, 1932, at LaForge, Mo., daughter of Ernest and Louella Boyett Lee. Survivors include a son, Larry Truelove of Lilbourn; a daughter, Debbie Baldwin of Lilbourn; a brother, Elmer Lee of Sikeston, Mo.; two sisters, Mary Brown and Maxine Hicks of Sikeston; three grandchildren; and a great-grandchild...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Two good Samaritans helped a paraplegic man from a burning home but were injured when an oxygen tank apparently exploded and blew them off the back porch. The home's resident, Marlon Landhuis, 64, was in serious condition at University Hospital. Rescuer James Hall was treated and released, and Terry Womack was in fair condition, a hospital spokesman said...