Stories from Saturday, June 8, 2002

LYNCHBURG, Va. -- A Web site that pokes fun at the Rev. Jerry Falwell and uses his name without his consent will be allowed to continue, an international arbiter of Internet domain names has ruled. The World Intellectual Property Organization denied Falwell's complaint against Gary Cohn, owner of www.jerryfalwell.com, in a decision distributed Thursday...

Philippine army commandos tracked Muslim guerrillas through a jungle rain Friday afternoon to find the kidnappers resting under a tree near their three hostages, including a Kansas missionary couple with ties to Southeast Missouri. The army Scout Rangers moved to within 30 yards of the group on the southern island of Mindanao before spotting the couple -- Martin and Gracia Burnham, captives for more than a year. The soldiers started shooting...

Label hed: Fraud trial By Mike Robinson ~ The Associated Press CHICAGO -- The former manager of an insurance firm testified Friday that he and two other men used thousands of dollars from suburban Cicero's insurance fund to pay for trips to Russia and Kazakstan...

Label hed: Posted bond By Don Babwin ~ The Associated Press CHICAGO -- Grammy winner R. Kelly, freshly released from a Florida jail, was booked by Chicago police Friday on child pornography charges stemming from a videotape that authorities say shows him having sex with an underage girl...

The Associated Press CHATSWORTH, Ill. -- A Livingston County sheriff's deputy was placed on paid leave Friday after shooting a 38-year-old woman to death. Livingston County Lt. Robert McCarty said the Illinois State Police were investigating the incident. He declined to name the deputy or provide any additional details about the case...

From his childhood near rural Waynesville, Mo., to his recent adult life in suburban St. Louis, what stands out about Richard Williams is not so much what acquaintances remember about him, but what they don't. By many accounts, the man charged last week with killing 10 patients at a Columbia veterans hospital 1992 had done very little to draw people's attention...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Gov. George Ryan on Friday called the Legislature into special session to deal with a newly minted budget that he says is $724 million in the hole. The General Assembly will report to the Capitol at 2 p.m. Monday to consider reductions Ryan will make to bring spending in line with revenues. There could be as many as 100 vetoes of individual budget items, Senate Appropriations Committee chairman Steve Rauschenberger, R-Elgin, said Friday...

LONG POND, Pa. -- Sterling Marlin got his first pole of the season without turning a wheel when ground water that accumulated over the last week caused cancellation of Friday's qualifying for the Pocono 500. The 43-car field was set on the basis of Winston Cup points...

SEOUL, South Korea -- At the border, the United States and South Korea are allies. When it comes to sports these days, the relationship is tense, adding even more intrigue to their upcoming World Cup game. Trouble began Feb. 20, when Kim Dong-sung was first across the line in the 1,500-meter short-track speedskating final at the Salt Lake City Olympics. ...

PARIS -- More than a decade ago in Compton, Calif., two sisters swatted strokes from opposite sides of a net, pretending the asphalt was the grass of Wimbledon, the hardcourts of the U.S. Open or the clay of the French Open. When Venus and Serena Williams practiced Friday at Roland Garros, they were preparing to play each other for a Grand Slam title for the second time in nine months...

WILMINGTON, Del. -- Beth Daniel topped a short list of survivors Friday at the LPGA Championship, making a birdie on her final hole to escape with a 1-under 70 and a two-stroke lead over Karrie Webb. Daniel, the only player to break par in both rounds at punishing DuPont Country Club, was at 137 and had the 36-hole lead at a major championship for the first time in 10 years...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Tino Martinez homered and had a season-high four hits as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Kansas City Royals 12-6 Friday night. Albert Pujols doubled three times and drove in three runs for the Cardinals, whose 12 runs were a season high...

LOS ANGELES -- Shaq 2, Nets 0. In another display of his massive superiority, Shaquille O'Neal had such a great game that even his free throw shooting was stunning. Scoring 40 points, making several pretty passes and doing just about nothing wrong, O'Neal led the Los Angeles Lakers to a 106-83 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Friday night...

NEW YORK -- The Kentucky Derby and Preakness were relatively easy for War Emblem. The Belmont Stakes, however, is called "The Test of the Champion" for a reason. War Emblem makes his run for immortality today, taking on 10 challengers in trying to become thoroughbred racing's 12th Triple Crown champion, and first to sweep the Derby, Preakness and Belmont in 24 years...

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Stanley Cup has visited the top of a 14,000-foot peak and the bottom of Mario Lemieux's swimming pool during its eventful 109-year existence. The most recognizable sports trophy in North America, it has been touched by tens of thousands, coveted by millions and won by a mere handful...

NEW YORK -- Mike Mussina kept Barry Bonds and San Francisco at bay, pitching the New York Yankees past the Giants 2-1 Friday night in the renewal of one of baseball's most storied rivalries. The Yankees began interleague play by ending the Giants' four-game winning streak. The teams last played meaningful games against each other in the 1962 World Series...

NEW YORK -- Baseball players and owners focused on secondary items, including steroid use, during labor negotiations Friday, failing to discuss the most important economic issues. Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos and Chicago Cubs president Andy MacPhail attended the session, as did two San Francisco Giants players, Rich Aurilia and Jeff Kent...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Bob Holden has signed into law a bill allowing Missouri to issue bonds against its share of the national tobacco settlement to help shore up a weak budget. Under the law, which takes effect immediately, Missouri could sell a maximum of 30 percent of the $4.5 billion in tobacco payments it expects to receive over the next 25 years...

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador -- A senior officer accused of taking part in a brief coup in Venezuela arrived to asylum in El Salvador on Friday as three other officers announced they were seeking shelter in the United States. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was deposed April 12 by military generals after 17 people died and hundreds were wounded when an opposition march collided with government supporters...

SALT LAKE CITY -- More than 48 hours after she disappeared, police on Friday said they are no closer to finding out what happened to 14-year-old girl reportedly taken at gunpoint from her home. "I don't believe we've gotten any leads that we could call really solid, any at all," said Police Capt. Scott Atkinson said. He said police were still optimistic but "the longer we go without finding her, it becomes problematic."...

KENDALL, Wash. -- Peaceful Valley, a hamlet in the misty foothills of the northern Cascades, might have faded away years ago if the Russians hadn't started coming. Now, the community has a higher concentration of people of Russian descent than anywhere else in America, according to the 2000 census. Nearly a quarter of Peaceful Valley's 2,579 residents reported Russian ancestry...

ADRIAN, Mich. -- Life is short. Eternity isn't. That's the message a congregation of nuns is preaching through a major Internet, TV, billboard and mail campaign. The four-month effort, the most far-reaching in the history of the Adrian Dominican Sisters -- and possibly the most extensive of any order's -- is designed to attract potential recruits and increase public awareness of the order at a time when the number of nuns across the country is declining dramatically...

REDDING, Calif. -- A nearly forgotten American Indian tribe from northern California hopes a new museum exhibit will help raise awareness of its history and boost its bid for federal recognition. For more than a century, baskets, a deerskin quiver, feather cape and other cherished items of the McCloud River Wintu were tucked away in the Smithsonian Institution's vast storage warehouses. Last week, they returned home...

GREEN VALLEY, Calif. -- Thousands of firefighters set controlled burns and dropped water from the air Friday to contain a 23,500-acre wildfire that forced 1,500 people to flee and destroyed seven homes. Clouds of dark smoke blew through the rural towns north of Los Angeles as the fire sparked by welders' tools crackled through thick, old brush. ...

BISMARCK, N.D. -- North Dakota will take a leading role Tuesday in the debate over financial privacy when its voters become the first in the nation to decide whether banks must get written permission to sell customer information. "North Dakota really has an opportunity to strike a major gain for privacy for all Americans here," said Evan Hendricks, who publishes the Washington newsletter Privacy Times. "It would put the wind at the back of the privacy movement."...

Officials say men's deaths murder-suicide POLK, Mo. -- Two men were shot to death early Friday near this small Southwest Missouri town, and authorities are investigating the killings as a murder-suicide. The Polk County sheriff's office said the shootings happened at the home of one of the dead men. His age was given as 47, but his name was not released...

NORWALK, Conn. -- Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel was convicted Friday of beating Greenwich neighbor Martha Moxley to death in 1975 when they were 15 -- a crime that went unsolved for nearly a generation and raised suspicions his family connections had protected him...

Endeavour delivers new crew to space station CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Endeavour delivered a new crew to the international space station Friday to relieve the three men who have been living aboard the orbiting outpost for the past six months...

U.N. food agencies issue new call for assistance JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Two U.N. food agencies warned Friday that southern Africa will experience a severe food crisis without immediate international assistance. Nearly 13 million people in six southern African countries are at risk of starvation, the World Food Program and the Food and Agriculture Organization said in a statement...

TALLINN, Estonia -- The risk of war between India and Pakistan remains high, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Friday as he prepared to visit the nuclear-armed rivals. "There is nothing that has changed the situation to any degree favorably," Rumsfeld told reporters accompanying him to this Baltic capital after two days of NATO meetings in Belgium...

NEW DELHI, India -- Pakistani jets shot down an unmanned Indian spy plane late Friday, Pakistan's military said, shortly after a U.S. envoy declared tensions between the two nations had eased but not enough to eliminate the threat of war. An air force statement released in Islamabad, Pakistan, said the plane was shot down about 11 p.m. and crashed near the town of Raja Jang south of Lahore, Pakistan's second largest city...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Their journey ends in a walled-in garden where they sit in tents or squat in the shade sipping tea and waiting for their place in the loya jirga to be confirmed. More than 1,000 delegates had arrived by helicopter or plane from Afghanistan's furthest-flung provinces by Friday. Others rode to the capital crammed into the back of pickup trucks. Some came from neighboring Iran and Pakistan, others from as far away as the United States...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Islamic militants fighting Indian rule in Kashmir insisted Friday that Pakistan already has closed their training camps -- a key demand of India before it moves to defuse tensions over the disputed region. "We were asked to vacate camps in the Pakistan part of Kashmir in January and the process has already been completed," a senior commander of the Islamic militant Lashkar-e-Tayyaba told The Associated Press...

PARIS -- Fierce thunderstorms swept across Europe on Friday, killing eight people and leaving a trail of flooded roads, collapsed houses and downed bridges from France to Poland. Regional officials in northeastern Italy declared a state of emergency, while the Austrian military was deployed to deal with the flooding aftermath...

ERFURT, Germany -- Survivors of the deadly shooting spree at Columbine High School shared their grief and sympathy Friday with this eastern German city, praying on the steps of a school where an expelled student gunned down 16 others and himself. The 12-member group from Colorado also placed a wreath of bright flowers on the steps of the Johann Gutenberg Gymnasium high school. The ribbon read in German: "With love from Littleton, Colorado. We know your pain."...

WASHINGTON -- Both Democrats and Republicans pledged Friday to move quickly toward creating the new Department of Homeland Security sought by President Bush, but challenges were emerging from employee unions and from lawmakers reluctant to give up clout...

WASHINGTON -- The nation's unemployment rate unexpectedly fell in May for the first time in three months, to 5.8 percent. Economists cautioned the improvement probably would be temporary and new jobs still hard to find. The Labor Department also reported Friday that companies added 41,000 new jobs last month after a revised level of 6,000 in April. That's the first time payrolls have increased in two consecutive months since March 2001, when last year's recession started...

Southeast Missouri State University has hired a new professor in the department of philosophy and religion who will provide a link between the worlds of religion and business. Dr. Harold Oh will begin teaching courses in the fall semester, primarily in the realm of business ethics. Oh is the first full-time, tenure-track professor to be hired in the department in at least two years...

Richie Phillips hadn't pitched in a game since last August. But the right-hander looked to be in mid-season form Friday night as the Craftsman Union Capahas opened their season with a 12-7 win over the visiting Southern Illinois Merchants. Phillips, who starred for Southeast Missouri State University in the early 1990s, is the veteran of the Capahas' pitching staff...

AREA JACKSON WINS; CHAFFEE, CAPE LOSE IN TOURNAMENT The Cape Girardeau American Legion baseball team gave up three runs in the eighth inning in a 6-3 loss Friday to the Memphis (Tenn.) Tigers in the Pepsi One Classic at Jonesboro, Ark. The Legion team is 1-1 in its pool and will play at 6 p.m. today...

Bikers on the road THIS IS in reply to the person complaining about bicyclists on Route W. If one of my cycling friends or I was the cyclist that would not move over, you have my apologies. We have the right to use this public highway. The highway is there for whoever wishes to use it within the rules and laws of the state. ...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Brandy Marie Vandeven, 26, of Marble Hill died Thursday, June 6, 2002, at her home, following a lengthy illness. She was born June 2, 1976, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Anthony and Judy Ridings Carroll. She and Randal Vandeven were married Oct. 17, 1998...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Bessie M. Connell, 77, of Godfrey, Ill., formerly of Mounds, died Thursday, June 6, 2002, at St. Anthony's Hospital in Alton, Ill. She was born July 10, 1924, in Mounds, daughter of Paul and Ella Murphy Coleman. She married William V. Connell, who died in 1985...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Mildred A. Dirden, 97, of Jackson died Thursday, June 6, 2002, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born June 28, 1904, in Jackson, the daughter of Henry A. and Mary Clingingsmith Steinhoff. She and James W. Dirden were married June 17, 1923. He died Dec. 12, 1987...

ALTENBURG, Mo. -- Violet F. Roth, 77, of Altenburg died Friday, June 7, 2002, in Altenburg. She was born Dec. 15, 1924, in Altenburg, daughter of Edwin O. and Amanda R. Schilling Engert. She and Arnold L. Roth were married Sept. 2, 1945. He died May 4, 2002...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Gaines A. Hogue, 94, of Detroit, Mich., formerly of Mounds, died Tuesday, June 4, 2002, at his home. Graveside service will be held at 1 p.m. Monday at Thistlewood Cemetery in Mounds, with the Rev. Ronnie S. Mack officiating. Massie Funeral Home in Cairo, Ill., is in charge of arrangements...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Mabel M. Friese, 96, of Jackson died Friday, June 7, 2002, at Jackson Manor. She was born March 14, 1906, at Daisy, Mo., daughter of Peter and Cora Linebarger Hahs. She and Tony E. Friese were married Aug. 8, 1929. He died July 9, 1989...

Funeral for Betty Jean Compas will be held at 11 a.m. today at St. Matthew's Catholic Church in Alton, Ill. The Rev. Dave Schmidt will officiate. Burial will be in Rose Lawn Memory Gardens in Bethalto, Ill. Friends may call today from 9:30-10:30 a.m. at Elias Smith Funeral Home in Alton...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Claudie Mae Williams, 65, of Sikeston died Thursday, June 6, 2002, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born Aug. 16, 1936, in Grenada, Miss., daughter of Frank and Mary Mitchell Williamson Sr. She married Lester Williams Sr. Williams was a member of Freewill Missionary Baptist Church...

10 years ago: June 8, 1992 Thousands of youngsters will take part in summer camps at Southeast Missouri State University this year; camps involve everything from chemistry for kids to rock climbing, and basketball to music; music, cheerleading and athletic camps annually are big attractions, say university personnel; each of camps lasts week at most...

Daily American Republic POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A Poplar Bluff man appeared in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau this week after he was indicted on a drug possession charge. Steven Phillip Smith, 44, made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Lewis Blanton, according to Abbie Crites-Leoni, special assistant U.S. attorney...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- It's nothing personal -- the feds just pay more. Mississippi County commissioners and Don Chance, administrator for the county's detention center, confirmed during this week's meeting that the relationship between Mississippi and Scott counties remains in good standing, but Mississippi County just does not have room for Scott County prisoners any more...

Good thing it's not an election year. Patrick Naeger, Missouri's only known racing state representative (R-Perryville), had his first career pure stock division win overturned last Saturday after his car failed the post-race inspection at Auto Tire and Parts Racepark near Benton, Mo...

Today Dedication service at 1 p.m. at Church of Jesus Christ in Jackson, Mo. Revival service with George McCrig of Dyersburg, Tenn., will be at 6 p.m. Sunday Homecoming service at 11 a.m. at Pleasant Ridge Missionary Baptist Church in Cobden, Ill. Speaking will be Doug Bridgeman. A potluck dinner will be at noon. The Gloryroad Travelers will perform at 1:30 p.m...

Church of Jesus Christ has building dedication JACKSON, Mo. -- The Church of Jesus Christ in Jackson will dedicate its new building at 1 p.m. today at 721 County Road 316. The church had been meeting at 120 N. Oklahoma St. Worship services are at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday...

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration plans to require the nation's 15,000 chemical, water and waste-treatment plants to assess how vulnerable they are to terrorists and then fix any problems, The Associated Press has learned. The terrorism assessments would be similar to risk management plans the Environmental Protection Agency already requires from the same facilities for accidental releases of toxins, a senior EPA official said Friday...

WASHINGTON -- The nation of immigrants is again reshaping its identity. While Hispanic immigration surged in the 1990s, new census figures show a decline in the number of people identifying themselves as Irish, German and other European ancestries. More people are simply calling themselves "American."...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush praised what he called a new Arab understanding of the need to fight Middle East terrorism and welcomed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to Camp David expecting to hear a firm appeal for a timetable on a Palestinian state...

WASHINGTON -- Two decades after former President Reagan fired striking air traffic controllers, President Bush quietly signed an executive order stripping their successors of guaranteed government jobs. Bush has proposed studying whether to hire a private company to take over the air traffic control system, now run by the Federal Aviation Administration...

Missouri's budget troubles dominated the last legislative session, state Rep. Jason Crowell told Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce members and guests, and a new financial reality will mean wholesale changes in the budgeting process. Crowell, a Cape Girardeau Republican, was invited to the chamber's First Friday Coffee at the Show Me Center to recap actions in the Legislature this year. ...

Every journey begins with a single step. Friday night the Safe House for Women celebrated those first steps taken 10 years ago when the idea of a shelter for battered and abused women and their children was a novel one. "This night is really all about celebration and recognizing that we could not have done what we did without the help of some very important people," explained Cheryl Robb-Welch, director of the Safe House for Women...

Much like guests await the bride's entrance at a wedding, people packed into the pews at St. Mary's Cathedral in Cape Girardeau eagerly waited to see Patrick Nwokoye and nearly 45 priests and deacons enter the room Friday night...

State highway commissioners are eager to promote passage of a tax plan on the Aug. 6 ballot that could raise anywhere from $483 million to $511 million a year for road and other transportation improvements. Without added revenue, there will be little money for new construction, they said during a meeting of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission in Cape Girardeau on Friday...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, June 8 ArrestsCharles Daniel Demolle, 17, was arrested for stealing Wednesday at 3439 William St. Jimmy Eugene Yarbro, 19, of 803 Independence was arrested for trespassing Thursday in the 400 block of Frederick Street. Robin Regina Sides, 23, of 114 S. Ellis St. was arrested Thursday on a Cape Girardeau warrant for failure to appear in court on charges of property damage and harassment...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, June 8 Firefighters responded to these calls Friday:At 7:08 a.m., an extrication on Interstate 55. At 8:21 a.m., a medical assist at 2524 S. Sprigg. At 10:04 a.m., a medical assist at 357 Siemers Drive. At 10:42 a.m., a medical assist at 801 William...

Cape Girardeau's two hospitals continue to find ways to offer bigger and better ways to provide first-rate health care for the region. St. Francis Medical Center made two major announcements earlier this year. In January, it announced its new partnership with doctors in Poplar Bluff, Mo., to build a medical campus that eventually is expected to include a 50-bed hospital. ...

What could be better than a new, wider, earthquake-proof bridge over the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau? The same bridge, plus attractive lighting to make it stand out as a nighttime landmark. That's why some Cape Girardeau residents are taking the lead to ensure that the new Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge shines brightly at night when it opens -- in late 2003, according to the current estimate...

Whether it is in art, play or their faith, Lisa Bishop knows that children are expressive by nature. And she's been trying to teach them more about expressions of faith during her 10 years working with youth and children at First Presbyterian Church in Cape Girardeau...

Aftershocks from past gatherings of the Southern Baptist Convention -- where splits opened between conservatives and moderates -- will likely reverberate next week in St. Louis when the denomination holds its annual meeting. Two years ago, the convention revised the Baptist Faith and Message, the group's doctrinal statement, to forbid women to serve as pastors and assert that the Bible teaches wives should "submit graciously" to their husbands. ...

Spiritual faith and education should never be in competition. The two should work together to benefit students. That's what the Rev. Dr. Andy Pratt hopes has happened during his 14-year tenure at the Baptist Student Center. Pratt, director of the Baptist Student Center at Southeast Missouri State University, will be leaving later this month to take a position as vice president and chaplain for William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo. He is a graduate of the school...

The pick is easy. Lennox Lewis, quickly. In 91 seconds. There's something poetic about 91 seconds. It would match Mike Tyson's most dramatic victory, in 91 seconds over Michael Spinks. That was 14 years ago to this month. That's when he dumped Kevin Rooney as his trainer under the influence of Robin Givens, his then wife...

Abernathy Daughter to Gerald N. and Khristine Louise Abernathy of Jackson, Mo., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 1:23 p.m. Monday, May 27, 2002. Name, Claire Elizabeth. Weight, 7 pounds 15 ounces. Mrs. Abernathy is the former Khristine Hobbs, daughter of Lou and Nancy Hobbs of Jackson. She is a pharmacist at John's Pharmacy. Abernathy is the son of Buck and Judi Abernathy of Jackson. He is a biomedical engineer at Eye Care Specialists...