Stories from Saturday, August 10, 2002

New FDNY chaplain follows his late friend and mentor. By Larry McShane ~ The Associated Press NEW YORK -- The Rev. Chris Keenan walked into a Manhattan firehouse 10 months ago to find his sad premonition proven true: His friend of 38 years, Fire Department chaplain Mychal Judge, was killed at the World Trade Center...

TODAY'S ENSHRINEES Players Division I-AJon Arnett hb 1954-56 So. California Kevin Butler pk 1981-84 Georgia Anthony Carter wr 1979-82 Michigan Tim Green dt 1982-85 Syracuse Ralph Guglielmi qb 1951-54 Notre Dame John Hicks ot 1970-73 Ohio State...

Briefly Baseball The Chicago Cubs on Friday waived second-baseman Delino DeShields and purchased the contract of right-handed reliever Will Cunnane from AAA-Iowa. DeShields, 33, the Cubs' Opening Day starter at second base, batted .192 with three homers, 10 RBI and 10 steals in 67 games. He batted .276 in 68 games for the Cubs last year after being signed as a free-agent at midseason...

Southeast soccer opens Canada tour with loss Southeast Missouri State University's women's soccer team lost 3-1 to the Australian Under-19 National Team Thursday in the first game of the Otahkians' 11-day tour of Canada. Lisa Schweppe scored the Otahkians' only goal, with an assist from Michelle Frossard...

LANCASTER, Calif. -- Izabella Sahakian had her 4-year-old daughter fingerprinted by police this week, just in case. She also has tried to scare her two girls for their own good. "I tell them that if they are alone, they'll take you and kill you," said Sahakian, a receptionist in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendale who also is the mother of an 8-year-old...

ATLANTA -- When people see Phyllis Warr, a short, stout woman who tips the scales at more than 250 pounds, they assume she's out of shape -- until she starts getting down on the dance floor. Cathy Davis Pannone weighs more than 300 pounds, but in the swimming pool she glides along with a grace that justifies her nickname -- "cat."...

SANTA ANA, Calif. -- The man accused of kidnapping and killing 5-year-old Samantha Runnion pleaded innocent Friday as prosecutors investigated additional claims against him in a separate case. Alejandro Avila, 27, was arraigned in Orange County Superior Court on charges that he raped and killed Samantha after kidnapping her from her Stanton home July 15. A pretrial hearing was set for Sept. 16...

NEW YORK -- The city said Friday it will try to ban smoking in all bars and restaurants by focusing on the potential health threat to workers. Mayor Michael Bloomberg will ask the city council next week to outlaw smoking in the roughly 13,000 establishments not covered by the current law, which permits smoking in bars and in restaurants with fewer than 35 seats...

Abducted girl identifies accused kidnappers PHILADELPHIA -- A 7-year-old girl who escaped kidnappers last month by gnawing through duct tape took the stand Friday to identify the two men charged with her abduction. Under heavy prodding from attorneys and after twice refusing to identify the men, Erica Pratt told a judge that Edward Johnson, 23, snatched her outside her grandmother's home, and that James Burns, 29, drove the getaway car...

RADNOR, Pa. -- The Bachelor apparently will stay that way a little longer. Alex Michel chose Amanda Marsh from among 25 contestants on ABC's reality dating show "The Bachelor" last spring, but Marsh said Michel hasn't exactly been courting her. On more than one occasion, "he told me to get a cab to meet him at events," Marsh, 23, told TV Guide for its Aug. 17 issue...

ONITSHA, Nigeria -- Men in bandanas and dark sunglasses lean from a speeding van in this southeastern Nigerian city, blasting sawed-off shotguns in the air. Traders pushing loaded carts scurry. Mothers carrying babies dart out of the way. "We have received information of an attack by armed robbers," says Austin Ugo as he fires his shotgun. His cohorts smash machetes against slow-moving cars. "God has sent us to this job to dispense justice."...

JERUSALEM -- On the eve of the Palestinian security minister's talks with the CIA director, a Palestinian official said Friday his side was "exerting every possible effort" to achieve peace. Violence continued with Israeli troops killing a 40-year-old Palestinian man and arresting another they accuse of planning bomb attacks...

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico -- Rescuers Friday recovered the body of an eighth American serviceman killed when a U.S. Air Force special operations plane slammed into a Puerto Rico mountainside earlier this week. The body was found far down the mountainside where the MC-130H transport plane crashed Wednesday night on the outskirts of Caguas, 20 miles south of San Juan...

Man cleared of running terrorist-training Web site LONDON -- A chef who promoted "The Ultimate Jihad Challenge" on an Internet site, inviting people to take weapons training in the United States, was found innocent of terrorism charges Friday. A jury at London's Old Bailey criminal court found Sulayman Balal Zainulabidin, 44, innocent of violating the Terrorism Act...

TAXILA, Pakistan -- Assailants hurled grenades at worshippers leaving church Friday, killing three Pakistani women and reinforcing fears that Islamic militants are targeting Christians and Westerners in Pakistan in retaliation for the government's support for the U.S.-led war on terrorism...

JALALABAD, Afghanistan -- A thunderous explosion at a construction company rocked Jalalabad Friday, devastating the surrounding neighborhood and blacking out power to the Afghan city. Up to 25 people were reported killed and 90 injured. A military commander blamed a car bomb, but the province's deputy governor said it may have been an accidental detonation of stored explosives. The cause was under investigation...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Keith Jackson never played for a passing team at Oklahoma. That didn't stop him from becoming one of college football's greatest tight ends. Jackson used his 6-foot-2, 250-pound frame and big-play ability to make himself into a can't-miss target, becoming a two-time All-America and three-time All-Big Eight selection. He helped the Sooners win the national championship in 1985...

Laura Byrne Byrne, a track and cross country athlete from 1986-1989, won four NCAA Division II individual titles during the 1988-89 school year when she won the cross country national championship, the indoor 1,500 and 3,000-meters and the outdoor 5,000-meters...

WICHITA, Kan. -- A Cape Girardeau couple are in stable condition at a Kansas hospital after their motorcycle vacation was cut short by a head-on collision with a van last week. Dr. Christopher Jung and his wife, Myra, were traveling on the second morning of their planned weeklong road trip when a van crossed a highway center line and struck the couple on their Honda Goldwing motorcycle, according to Myra Jung's brother, Owen Brady. ...

On the Net: Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod www.lcms.org Lutheran Hour Ministries www.lhm.org By Jim Suhr ~ The Associated Press ST. LOUIS -- Twelve days after terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center, the Rev. David Benke, a Lutheran minister, joined with clergy from other faiths in a New York City prayer service for the victims...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A proposal to more than quadruple Missouri's cigarette tax failed to get enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot, Secretary of State Matt Blunt said Friday. The ballot proposal would have asked voters to add 55 cents to the state's current tax of 17 cents per pack of cigarettes. Taxes on other tobacco products would have risen by 20 percent...

WASHINGTON - In talks with the six leading Iraqi opposition groups, the Bush administration Friday stepped up its efforts to outline a new political future for Iraq after the ouster of President Saddam Hussein and pledged to "enhance" its work with the opposition...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- The Southeast Correctional Center needs dirt for bullets. Prison officials are asking Mississippi County commissioners for help to construct firing ranges for target practice on prison grounds. The proposed addition, consisting of three 100-foot long ranges, would be built outside the walls of the year-old maximum security prison, said John Fougere, a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Corrections...

As hard as it is to believe, beating the Mississippi River -- something that Slovenian professional marathon swimmer Martin Strel has been working to do since Independence Day -- is not about physical endurance. For him, it's about forgetting. Forgetting that he still has more than half the distance to go to be the first man to ever swim the entire 2,340 miles of the longest river in North America, only stopping to eat and sleep. ...

Fourteen former athletes and coaches and three national championship teams will make up the first class of inductees for a Southeast Missouri State University Athletic Hall of Fame that will become a reality on Nov. 2. The school released plans Friday for the Hall of Fame that athletic director Don Kaverman said has been a long time coming...

CINCINNATI -- Aaron Boone hit three homers off Brett Tomko, two of them during Cincinnati's nine-run first inning, and the Reds held on for a 12-10 victory Friday night over the San Diego Padres. Boone hit a pair of two-run shots off Tomko (5-8) during the biggest first inning ever allowed by the Padres. He added a solo shot in the fourth, matching his career high with five RBIs...

There was bad news and good news for Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball program Friday. First, the bad news. Junior-college recruit Dainmon Gonner, who averaged 18 points and seven rebounds at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College last year, has failed to meet NCAA eligibility requirements and will not play for the Indians during the 2002-2003 season...

ST. LOUIS -- Al Leiter allowed one run in seven innings, winning for the first time in four starts, and Mo Vaughn homered as the New York Mets silenced the slumping St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 Friday night. The NL Central-leading Cardinals have lost eight of nine and totaled one run in five of the last six games. The exception was a 5-3 victory over Montreal on Thursday that ended their season-worst seven-game losing streak...

LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Lakers play-by-play announcer Chick Hearn was eulogized Friday as a broadcaster who loved his team and listeners, and whose legacy is a unifying enthusiasm among fans in an extremely diverse city. Basketball stars present and past filled St. Martin of Tours Roman Catholic Church in Brentwood for a funeral Mass celebrated by Cardinal Roger Mahony. Among them were Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Phil Jackson, John Wooden and No. 1 fan Jack Nicholson...

ST. LOUIS -- Eighteen years after he was fired at Missouri, Warren Powers is returning to the sidelines. Powers, now 60, will be introduced Monday as head coach of the Show Me Believers, a National Indoor Football League team that plays its games at the Family Arena in St. Charles, about 20 miles west of St. Louis. A news conference was scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday...

GRAND BLANC, Mich. -- Even coming off his best round of the year, Tiger Woods isn't ready to count the Buick Open as his 33rd victory on the PGA Tour and fourth this year. "You just have to continue to make birdies," he said. "You can't go out there and sit around and shoot a couple of 70s out there and know that the tournament is over."...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Titans are ready. They know that every team they play this year will throw the ball early and all over the field testing their defense. So why not kick off the preseason with the NFC champion St. Louis Rams, aka the Greatest Show on Turf?...

CARDINALS DELAY STEPHENSON'S RETURN Cardinals pitcher Garrett Stephenson was scratched from his scheduled start today due to a minor shoulder problem. Stephenson, on the 60-day disabled list since May 29, instead will pitch at Triple-A Memphis. His velocity has been lower in two previous rehabilitation starts and he thinks his right shoulder is the cause...

NEW YORK -- Baseball players are likely to set a strike date for later this month or early September when their executive board meets Monday in Chicago, two lawyers familiar with the union's deliberations said. "If we don't make a deal by Monday, then we will probably be forced to act, but it's not inevitable," Arizona player representative Craig Counsell said Friday...

TOKYO -- Former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka resigned from parliament on Friday in a surprise announcement that came two weeks after she gave testimony over allegations of misuse of public money. Tanaka, Japan's first woman foreign minister, had once been the most popular member of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Cabinet, when he swept to office promising economic and political reforms. She lost her minister's post in January amid bureaucratic infighting...

Caruthersville man drowns in pond near Hayti CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo. -- A Caruthersville man drowned Thursday in a boating mishap. Pemiscot County Sheriff Tommy Greenwell identified the victim as Mitchell Wooden Sr. Wooden was pronounced dead at the scene by Pemiscot County Coroner Jim Brimhall...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- People who are fed up with getting sales calls at dinner time can get relief under a new state law -- although not enough relief, according to Gov. George Ryan. With "some disappointment," Ryan signed legislation Friday that lets people sign up for a "no call" list if they don't want to be contacted by telemarketers...

To the editor: A bat seemingly tried to attack a woman in Bollinger County during the day. The woman killed the bat. The bat was submitted to a state laboratory and was found to have rabies. The spokesperson for the lab reported the results to the submitting veterinarian but, when told that no one had been exposed, said the lab would not have performed the test had it been aware of that fact. ...

Socialism for the rich THE MOVEMENT of federal tax subsidies from poor to rich areas is not a victory for conservatism. Republican Dick Armey's snide comment, "To the victor belongs the spoils," is simply a statement celebrating the triumph of socialism for the rich. Even the Southeast Missourian, once a principled organ of conservatism, has succumbed to the temptation of seeking taxpayer support for projects beneficial to barons, dukes and plutocratic princes...

Faye McLaird, 75, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Aug. 9, 2002, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born Nov. 7, 1926, in Jackson, Mo., daughter of Ben and Fern Abernathy Reid. She and George McLaird were married April 10, 1946, in Jackson. Mrs. Mc-Laird was a graduate of Jackson High School. ...

Marjorie J. Williams, 84, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Aug. 8, 2002, at her home. She was born Aug. 13, 1917, in Newton, Mass., daughter of Nelson A. and Margaret McGarvey McGrath. She and James H. Williams were married Feb. 15, 1944, in San Antonio, Texas. He died May 16, 1994...

Mary Margaret "Boots" Staley, 83, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Aug. 9, 2002, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born Sept. 28, 1918, at Caruthersville, Mo., daughter of Scott and Mary Coleman Ferrell. She and George I. Staley were married Oct. 16, 1937, in Perryville, Mo. He died Aug. 10, 1990...

ORAN, Mo. -- The funeral for Clinton Andrew Taylor of Oran will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at Morley Baptist Church in Morley, Mo. The Rev. Dennis Cebulak will officiate. Friends may call at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Oran after 4:30 p.m. today. Taylor, 51, died Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2002, in an automobile accident on Interstate 55 near Imperial, Mo...

Jessie Louise Koeppel, 75, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Aug. 8, 2002, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born Dec. 6, 1926, in Boston, Mass., daughter of James Wallace and Helen Clementine Calley Cook. She and Robert E. Koeppel were married June 3, 1948, in Baltimore, Md...

ELCO, Ill. -- The funeral for Mildred Pierce of Hernando, Fla., will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Elco Methodist Church. The Rev. John Clark will officiate. Burial will be in St. John's Cemetery. Friends may call after 10 a.m. Monday at the church...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- John Louis McClain, 75, of Chaffee died Friday, Aug. 9, 2002, at his home. He was born Sept. 13, 1926, at Hartzell, Mo., son of William Monroe and Floy Mae Devore. He and Dortha Mae Gremar were married Jan. 1, 1949. McClain retired from construction work at Wilhelmi Brothers Construction in Joliet, Ill., and was employed 20 years as a machine operator at Sports Specialty Shoe Co. in Chaffee. He was a member of United Pentecostal Church in Advance, Mo...

Riggins Son to Kevin Lee and Rachael Teresa Riggins of Sikeston, Mo., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 2:37 p.m. Tuesday, June 11, 2002. Name, Keaton Scout. Weight, 8 pounds 8 ounces. Third child, second son. Mrs. Riggins is the former Rachael Jackson, daughter of Joe and Kathy Jackson of Sikeston. She is a senior at Southeast Missouri State University. Riggins is the son of James and Edith Riggins of Sikeston. He is a courier with Federal Express...

10 years ago: Aug. 10, 1992 Cape Girardeau woman and her two sons were slain Saturday night or early Sunday at their home at 31 N. Henderson; killed were Sherry Scheper, 47, and her sons, Curtis Scheper, 22, and Randy Scheper, 17; it is first three-victim homicide recorded in Cape Girardeau; last multiple homicide was in August 1977, when Mary and Brenda Parsh were shot to death in Mary Parsh's home...

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- Senate candidate Jim Talent on Friday wrapped up a two-day, seven-county tour aimed at spreading the word about his Missouri First Jobs Initiative. He released the six-point plan on Thursday at the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority in Scott City. The key components are:...

At least one horse in Cape Girardeau County has contracted the West Nile Virus, according to county health department administrator Charlotte Craig. A veterinarian phoned Craig today with the confirmation, she said. Blood was drawn from the horse last week and was sent off for testing. The results were not unexpected...

The Associated Press NEW ORLEANS -- The death toll from the worst outbreak of West Nile virus in U.S. history climbed to seven Friday as state health officials said two more victims had died in parishes north of New Orleans. The latest victims were identified as a 76-year-old woman in St. Tammany Parish and a 94-year-old woman in Tangipahoa Parish. Both parishes are across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans and are where many earlier cases occurred...

By Rod Jetton MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- This week opponents in Missouri soundly defeated Proposition B with 73 percent of the vote. Proposition B was a $511 million tax plan that was put on the ballot by the state legislature. It included a half-cent sales tax and a 4-cent gas tax...

To the editor: On the comments concerning the United States' reputation: Should we have taken Iraq's side by helping Saddam Hussein take the oil fields in United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia? Allowed communism to spread unchecked throughout the world? Prevented Israel from taking measures to protect itself from terrorists within its own borders?...

Kelso card party comes to St. Augustine gym A card party is planned from 1 to 4 p.m. Aug. 14 at St. Augustine school gym in Kelso, Mo. The cost is $3 per person. Church to hold kettle beef supper Zion Lutheran Church in Gordonville, Mo., will hold a kettle-cooked beef and chicken and dumplings supper Aug. 25. Serving will be from 3:30 to 7 p.m. at the church. Tickets are $6.50 for adults and $3.50 for children 6 to 12...

Sunday Evangelical United Church of God in Cape Girardeau will mark its 108th anniversary during morning worship services. Monday Women's Abundant Life, an interdenominational prayer group, meets at 9 a.m. at Christ Church of the Heartland. Speaker is Vicki Johnston of Cape Girardeau. Anyone can attend...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The men gathered around Ed Sloamer to say goodbye. They tousled what little hair remained on his head and patted him gently on the cheek. There were hugs, too, and words of encouragement. Sloamer suffers from Alzheimer's disease, and the progressive, irreversible neurological disorder was requiring his move to a facility better able to take care of him...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Bob Holden has chosen a St. Louis area lawyer as his new chief legal counsel. Jane Dueker, 36, of Chesterfield would be the first woman to serve as the top attorney for a Missouri governor, Holden said Friday while announcing her hiring. Dueker said she expects to start work in the next couple of weeks...

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis election officials are hopeful they can still avert a voting rights lawsuit from the Justice Department over lingering concerns that first stemmed from the November 2000 election. A report in Friday's St. Louis Post-Dispatch indicated the lawsuit would be filed by Friday. But officials with both the Justice Department and the St. Louis Election Board said negotiations were continuing and a lawsuit was not imminent...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- The Illinois Supreme Court is getting involved in the obstruction of justice case against Union County's public defender. The high court postponed a hearing scheduled for Friday for Patrick Cox in Union County Circuit Court, where he faces charges of obstruction of justice, eavesdropping and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, until justices can consider a motion in the case...

CARTHAGE, Mo. -- The annual Marian Days celebration draws up to 50,000 or more people to Carthage, and this year Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law will be among them as he returns to the state he served earlier in his career. The event for Vietnamese Catholics began in 1977 and honors Mary, the mother of Jesus. A 33-foot statue of the Blessed Mother is a focal point of the various ceremonies which began Thursday night and continue through Sunday...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Democratic Gov. Bob Holden mistakenly signed into law two bills he planned to veto last month but was able to undo the deed with a little help from Republican Secretary of State Matt Blunt, state officials said Friday. On July 10, Blunt's office received two signed bills, one relaxing standards for out-of-state physical therapists and another dealing with effective dates for bills vetoed by the governor and overridden by the legislature...

WASHINGTON -- Moving to widen its hunt for terrorists and cut off their weapons routes at sea, the Bush administration is negotiating agreements with nations for new powers to police the world's waters, defense officials said. The plan being developed, which hasn't yet been approved by the Pentagon, builds on the months-old ship interdiction operation started largely to capture al-Qaida members fleeing Afghanistan across international waters, four officials said on condition of anonymity...

WASHINGTON -- A group of parents sexually molested and photographed their own children and swapped pictures over the Internet, forming what one man called "the club," said U.S. Customs Service officials who announced charges Friday against 10 Americans and 10 Europeans...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Two men were arrested and charged Aug. 2 on suspicion of operating a methamphetamine lab in a Perryville apartment. Deke A. Rivers, 25, and Billy G. Daniels, 25, both of Perryville, were charged with possession of precursor chemicals with intent to manufacture methamphetamine, manufacturing and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia. Both are in custody in lieu of $20,000 bond...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, Aug. 10 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI Clayton L. Cox Jr., 21, of Belleview, Mo., was arrested Friday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Arrests...

The federal Transportation Security Administration determined that an extra interior glass wall will make air travel safer at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. What the wall will do, officials say, is separate those who have been screened from those who have not, making the final waiting area a "sterile" zone...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, Aug. 10 Firefighters responded Thursday to the following calls: At 5:56 p.m., medical assist at 205 Caruthers. At 8:27 p.m., electrical fire on light pole at 1 N. Main. At 10:40 p.m., medical assist at 712 S. Ellis. Firefighters responded Friday to the following calls:...

Cape Girardeau County Saturday, Aug. 10 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI Tyler S. Bollinger, 19, of Jackson, Mo., was arrested Aug. 3 on suspicion of driving while intoxicated...

The Cape Girardeau School District has a solid history of being prudent with taxpayers' money. In fact, it was the community's confidence that prompted a string of supportive votes to finance major renovations and three new schools over just the last few years: Blanchard Elementary School, Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center and, finally, Central High School...

The way students and teachers tell it, the hallways at R.O. Hawkins Junior High in Jackson, Mo., last year were more like the running of the bulls than an institution of learning. Students report being stepped on and shoved against lockers as they went to class in the crowded building with narrow hallways...

To the editor: Aug. 6 was a great day for Missouri. Despite all of the Missouri Department of Transportation scare tactics and guilt trips, voters said no to Proposition B. MoDOT officials asked for our trust. They wanted us to forgive them for the failure of the 15-year plan and promised that, if Missourians passed Proposition B, they would make improvements. MoDOT just doesn't get it...