Stories from Saturday, February 9, 2002

CAUSE UNCLEAR By Andrea L. Buchanan ~ Southeast Missourian JACKSON, Mo. -- A day after she was buried, Jackson police were still investigating a four-car crash on Sunday that killed an 8-year-old Cape Girardeau girl...

HONOLULU -- For the second straight week, Rams quarterback Kurt Warner will be on the opposite sideline from New England counterpart Tom Brady. But there's no way that Warner, the NFL's regular-season MVP, will be able to make up for last week's Super Bowl loss during today's Pro Bowl...

SALT LAKE CITY -- Under a layer of fresh snow and a blanket of unprecedented security, America welcomed home the Winter Olympics with an emotional opening tribute to its heroes, from the pioneers of the West to the thousands who perished on Sept. 11...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- White-knuckle racing during the Daytona 500 is probably a thing of the past. After a pair of multi-car crashes in two restrictor-plate races last year, that's a good thing, right? Maybe not. NASCAR got its first real look at the new rules package for the season-opening Daytona 500 on Friday with two Winston Cup practice sessions. As expected, a flurry of complaints followed, ranging from predictions of a boring race to the Fords claiming they are at a disadvantage...

WASHINGTON -- Former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay could testify at a Senate hearing Tuesday, a week after pulling out of two scheduled appearances when some in Congress suggested he had engaged in criminal activity. Lay's spokeswoman said Friday he hadn't decided what to do about his scheduled testimony, but Sen. Byron Dorgan sounded optimistic that Lay would answer questions...

WASHINGTON -- Hybrid cars powered by fuel cells or batteries. Utilities that squeeze electricity from coal with less pollution. Buildings that use less energy. Poultry, pig and cattle producers. All would get tax breaks under multibillion-dollar legislation taking shape in the Senate...

Cape Girardeau police are investigating an alleged armed robbery reported Friday afternoon. The robbery apparently happened about 4:30 p.m. near the intersection of South Middle and Good Hope streets when three friends sitting in a parked car were held up...

The Southeast Missouri School Band Association will hold a concert today at Southeast Missouri State University. The concert will begin at 9 a.m. in Academic Auditorium. It will feature trumpet, flute and clarinet trios, trombone and saxophone quartets, a brass quintet, as well as clarinet, vibraphone and snare-drum solos and a flute choir...

KARNAK, Ill. -- Geraldine Thomas, 83, of Karnak died Friday, Feb. 8, 2002, at Western Baptist Hospital in Paducah, Ky. Arrangements are incomplete at Wilson Funeral Home in Karnak.

PERKS, Ill. -- Bertha Lentz Betts, 94, of Perks died Thursday, Feb. 7, 2002, at the City Care Center in Anna, Ill. She was born Nov. 27, 1907, at Perks, daughter of Charles and Ida Frauli Wilkerson. She and Harvey Lentz were married May 28, 1927. He died March 21, 1968. She later married Clyde Betts on April 2, 1975. He died July 12, 1981...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, Feb. 9 ArrestsAdrienne Lynne Proffer, 18, of 1806 William was arrested Thursday for stealing. William Justin Johnson, 17, of 901 William was arrested Thursday for trafficking. Natasha E. Dixson, 17, of 921 William was arrested Thursday for trafficking...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, Feb. 9 Firefighters responded to the following call Thursday:At 9:07 p.m., a car fire at 247 Siemers. Firefighters responded to the following calls Friday:At 9:45 a.m., a motor vehicle accident at Interstate 55 and N. Kingshighway...

The residents of Park Avenue in Cape Girardeau discovered last week they could get results at city hall. Residents along the stretch of Park Avenue closest to last year's New Madrid Street improvements could barely get up and down their little block because of the abundance of Southeast Missouri State University students using the street for free parking...

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra has been getting increased attention after its music director, Hans Vonk, fell ill recently. Ticket sales were higher than expected for a show scheduled for Friday night in New York. The orchestra was to be without Vonk, suffering a relapse of Guillain-Barre syndrome. The orchestra landed on its feet when it got David Robertson as a last-minute substitute...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Federal disaster chief Joe Allbaugh spent several hours Friday touring fire- and tree-damaged spots in Missouri and Kansas, where hundreds of thousands of residents lost power in the middle of winter. The thousands of utility customers in Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan., still without power Friday after last week's ice storm should have electricity by today, the mayors of those cities said. ...

MAZAR-E-SHARIF, Afghan-istan -- In a major development in the continuing search for fugitive leaders of the former Taliban leadership and al-Qaida terrorist network, the Taliban foreign minister has turned himself in to Afghan officials, U.S. officials in Washington said...

CUTTING $1 MILLION On the Net www6.semo.edu/busfin/budget By Mark Bliss ~ Southeast Missourian Southeast Missouri State University plans to eliminate $1 million in spending over the next five months and extend a hiring freeze as it deals with expected cuts in state funding for fiscal 2003, which begins July 1...

When Julia Burrows heard that 8-year-old Kaelyn McGill had died in a car accident Sunday afternoon, she knew exactly what to do. The Alma Schrader Elementary School counselor called on other counselors from neighboring Blanchard and Clippard schools to help her talk to the students about the tragedy Monday morning...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Bootheel lawmakers are worried state budget cuts could have a devastating impact on the region's ability to attract and retain companies at a time when economic growth is needed most. Under Gov. Bob Holden's proposed budget for the upcoming state fiscal year, the Department of Economic Development would close its seven regional field offices, including one in Dexter...

Permanent no-parking signs would replace the unstable barriers around Cape Girardeau's federal building under a federal plan to protect it from terrorists. Police chief Steve Strong and others affected by the lack of parking question the necessity of the current parking ban. They wonder how much of a deterrent the current orange-and-white barriers or proposed no-parking signs would be if someone was determined to damage to the building...

MORLEY, Mo. -- A reconstruction report of a fatal crash involving a Scott County deputy was released this week, indicating that the drivers involved may not have seen each other until it was too late. The Missouri State Highway Patrol's major crash investigation team used interviews, photographs, maps and a host of mathematical and scientific data to compile the report...

MIAMI -- An airline passenger who was subdued with an ax after he kicked in the bottom of a cockpit door and tried to wriggle through said later that he had "wanted to destroy everything," according to the FBI. Pablo Moreira Mosca, a 29-year-old bank employee from Uruguay, was arrested after the incident Thursday on a United Airlines flight bound from Miami to Buenos Aires with 157 people aboard...

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- AARP? Never heard of it, said the retired Mexican-American woman. "Is that from the union?" asked Mary De La O, a former cannery worker, as she visited with friends recently at the Hank Lopez Community Center. "I don't know what that is." Her perplexed expression was reflected in the faces of other Hispanic seniors around the table...

GARY, Ind. -- Deion Sanders has made the transition from football to baseball to CBS sports analyst. Now, "Prime Time" moves into prime time as host of the Miss USA pageant. Pageants officials said Thursday that the flamboyant and outspoken Sanders will be the host of the March 1 show. CBS will broadcast the event from Gary's Genesis Convention Center...

Cheney's pacemaker passes hospital check WASHINGTON -- Doctors found in a routine check of Vice President Dick Cheney's pacemaker Friday that the device has not yet been needed to correct any irregular heartbeat, a spokeswoman said. "After his routine checkup, the vice president was told by his doctor that all the news was very good. In particular, the doctor noted that the vice president's ICD neither detected nor treated any arrhythmia," said Mary Matalin, White House counselor to Cheney...

MEXICO CITY -- An adult movie theater sits on the remains of North America's first convent, where construction workers regularly turn up piles of ancient bones. Fast-food restaurants snuggle in centuries-old buildings and outdoor vendors hawk computer chips from wooden tables in a 16th century alleyway...

UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations announced Friday that after 4 1/2 years it was abandoning negotiations with Cambodia to establish a court to try Khmer Rouge leaders for genocide because there was no guarantee the tribunal would be independent and impartial...

KARACHI, Pakistan -- Police charged three men in the kidnapping of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, officials said Friday, and Pakistan's president said he hoped the journalist would be freed soon. The three suspects, one of whom is a member of the police special branch, were arrested last weekend after e-mails claiming responsibility for Pearl's kidnapping were traced to them, police Inspector Kamal Shah said...

The Cape Girardeau City Council was right to put the brakes -- at least for now -- on a cell-phone tower on Broadway. Yes, there's one already there, and Sprint wanted merely to add height. A representative said the company needs the tower to be taller so it can support the cellular-service antenna and pick up an unexpected overabundance of calls...

Al Sullivan attended Old St. Vincent's Church as a child and remembers listening to the organ. Now, more than 50 years later, he's helping with the installation project for a new instrument at the nearly 150-year-old cathedral. A new Schantz pipe organ was installed last week at the downtown church and is one of several pipe organs in the community. The organ at Eisleben Lutheran Church in Scott City, Mo., has been removed for restoration at a St. Louis company and should be returned in March...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- B.W. Hoehner, 66, of Dongola died Thursday, Feb. 7, 2002, at Union County Hospital in Anna, Ill. He was born Jan. 10, 1936, at Belleville, Ill., son of Burrell Walter Hoehner Sr. and Margarete Irene Lachtrup Hoehner. He and Sally Weiss were married June 29, 1954...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- C. Christian "Chris" Wuyster, 84, of Dongola and Laurel, Md., died Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2002, at Laurel Regional Hospital in Laurel. He was born Oct. 9, 1918, in Baltimore, Md., son of Cornelius C. and Mary Verstege Wuyster. He and Jeanette Dillow were married Dec. 23, 1943...

ANNA, Ill. -- Gladys Choate, 93, of Anna died Thursday, Feb. 7, 2002, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born March 20, 1908, in Union County, daughter of Sylvester and Lonella Clutts Cerney. She and Leonard Choate were married Aug. 9, 1930. He died March 23, 1999...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Fred W. Bodenschatz Jr., 77, of Perryville died Thursday, Feb. 7, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born July 23, 1924, at Wittenberg, Mo., son of Fredrick W. and Lydia Verseman Bodenschatz. He and Hazel Moll were married April 24, 1948...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Funeral for James Francis Claxton of Bolivar, Mo., will be at 11 a.m. today at Butler Funeral Home in Bolivar. The Rev. Jerry Cooney will officiate. Burial will be in Lindley Prairie Cemetery near Bear Creek in Cedar County, Mo. Claxton, 75, died Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2002, at Citizens Memorial Hospital in Bolivar, following a brief illness...

Funeral for Bettie M. Niswonger of Cape Girardeau will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at First Free Will Baptist Church. The Rev. Howard Anderson will officiate. Burial will be in Lorimier Cemetery. Friends may call at McCombs Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau from 4 to 8 p.m. today and 8:30 a.m. to noon Sunday, and then at the church after 1 p.m...

Robert P. Hopen, 46, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Feb. 8, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- Funeral for Sara Idell Albrecht of Scott City will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at Eisleben Lutheran Church. The Rev. Robert Azinger will officiate. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Friends may call at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City from 5 to 8 p.m. today...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Funeral for Ruben Earl "Doc" Stacy of Cairo will be at noon Tuesday at 12th Missionary Baptist Church. The Rev. S.W. Oliver will officiate. Burial will be in Spencer Heights Cemetery. Friends may call at the church Tuesday from 10 a.m. until time of service...

Darlage Son to Anthony Dale and Denise Marie Darlage of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 7:26 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2002. Name, Wyatt Anthony. Weight, 9 pounds 5 ounces. Second child, first son. Mrs. Darlage is the former Denise Besse, daughter of Wanda and Carl Nordman of Chesterfield, Mo., and Dennis Besse of Belleville, Ill. She is a fiber optic tester at Major Custom Cable. Darlage is the son of Charlie and Cindy Chapman of Seymour, Ind. He is employed at Custom Express Inc...

10 years ago: Feb. 9, 1992 Congregation of Lake Country Baptist Church, which has been holding services at 1000 Big Bend Road, holds dedication service in morning; dinner and reception follow worship service; pastor is the Rev. Bernard Gebara. Millersville - Small Millersville First Baptist Church has big plans; nine members of church are leaving Tuesday on trip to Equador, where they will help construct church building for congregation's new sister church there...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- David Barklage's 20-year friendship with Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder helped him land a $70,000-a-year job as Kinder's chief of staff. But the friendship has yielded something more. A political services company Barklage owns took in more than $117,000 last year from a campaign fund that Kinder largely controls...

ORAN, Mo. -- Noel Orr, 82, formerly of Oran, died Friday, Feb. 8, 2002, at Mt. Mary Nursing Home in Eureka, Mo. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Oran is in charge of arrangements.

DEXTER, Mo. -- Floyd E. Grissom, 84, of Dexter died Thursday, Feb. 7, 2002, at Missouri Southern Healthcare. He was born Aug. 4, 1917, in Mount Pleasant, Ark., son of William Silas and Ollie Wolford Grissom. He and Clara Mabel McGuire were married Jan. 31, 1941, in Melbourne, Ark...

Funeral Mass for the Rev. Canon Ellsworth B. Stone of Cape Girardeau will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Church of the Redeemer in Cairo, Ill. The Rev. Canon Arnold Hoffman and the Rt. Rev. Peter H. Beckwith will officiate. Burial will be in Winthrop Cemetery in Winthrop, Mass...

Dotty Behring of Cape Girardeau: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord...

Today Mission celebration for United Methodist Women at New McKendree Church in Jackson, Mo., at 5 p.m. Special speaker will be Jeannette Bragg of Koshkonong, Mo. She is the membership, nurture and outreach coordinator for the Missouri Eastern Conference of the Methodist Church...

Cape Girardeau native to be ordained Sunday Daniel E. Doss, a Cape Girardeau native and former minister of music and youth at First Baptist Church, will be ordained at 7 p.m. Sunday at First Baptist Church in Martin, Tenn. Doss is serving as youth and music minister at Long Heights Baptist Church in McKenzie, Tenn. ...

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- Peggy Brooks spends much of her summer days watering plants and flowers and tending to the grounds outside Eisleben Lutheran Church in Scott City. But the winter months don't give her a break from duties with the church's grounds and decoration committees. Brooks still finds projects to keep her busy...

BOSTON -- Cardinal Bernard Law said Friday records that have already led to allegations of child sex abuse against 80 priests would be "combed and combed" in upholding the Boston Archdiocese's promise to uncover past accusations. Speaking at Logan Airport after returning from the Vatican, Law said he was saddened that some priests who should have previously removed have remained active. There are 930 priests in the archdiocese...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Dereke Tipler scored 23 points to lead New Madrid County Central (19-3, 6-1) to a 78-54 SEMO Conference boys' basketball win Friday over Jackson. Tyler McNeely led Jackson (14-10, 3-5) with 22 and Nathan Brown added 11. Ronland Ranson scored 18 points and Derrell Minner had 11 for NMCC...

The T-shirts worn by Cape Girardeau Central fans looked a little prophetic Friday night. The shirts, emblazoned with "I was at the Tiger Fieldhouse when the lights went out," were to honor the Tigers' final game at their gymnasium. They weren't printed for the lights-out first-half shooting display by Sikeston senior Justin Freeman...

Hannah Stuckenschneider has her sport, her academics and her life running smoothly. A middle-distance runner at Southeast Missouri State University, Stuckenschneider has a first, a second and a third-place in the 400 meters and a first in the 600 meters in the Otahkians' first four indoor meets. She has also anchored the 1,600 relay team to two wins, a second and a fifth-place finish...

RICHMOND, Ky. -- Southeast Missouri State University's women have lost four straight games -- and finding a wing certainly won't get any easier for the Otahkians today. In fact, it could be a lot tougher as they battle Eastern Kentucky, one of the Ohio Valley Conference's hottest teams...

RICHMOND, Ky. -- The eighth and final spot in the Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament won't necessarily be decided tonight. But if Southeast Missouri State University wants to have a realistic chance of qualifying for the league postseason event, it needs to beat Eastern Kentucky in a game that begins at 6:30 p.m. at McBrayer Arena...

To the editor: I support President Bush's budget. No, it's not perfect. But it's better than the budgets we've had for a long time. Whether it's for my own family or for the federal government, budget priorities have to be set. And President Bush's budget restrains government spending by funding priorities while holding government accountable...

BELL CITY, Mo. -- Dorothy Ann Henley, 91, of St. Louis died Thursday, Feb. 7, 2002, in St. Louis. She was born Sept. 9, 1910, at Bell City, daughter of George and Myrtie Garner Dunlap. She and William Franklin Henley were married July 5, 1929. He died June 8, 1988...

That evil Praxis GEORGE BUSH has his evil axis: Iran, Iraq and North Korea. Thanks to the Southeast Missourian, we are now more aware that there is also an evil Praxis: a teacher test. A well-cut outfit HIS DISCLAIMERS aside, David Limbaugh is a Christian theocrat in conservative clothing...