Stories from Saturday, January 4, 2003

Political unity advances, religious rifts persist By Brian Murphy ~ The Associated Press TROYAN, Bulgaria -- The Bulgarian Orthodox monks on the edge of town keep candles burning around their main treasure: the icon of the Virgin with Three Hands...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A Greene County social worker who said she is being made a scapegoat in the death of 2-year-old Dominic James has resigned. Kristy Hardy resigned Thursday from her job as Greene County supervisor for the state Division of Family Services. She is the first Greene County official to resign in a statewide shakeup of the Department of Social Services...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- State employees who normally help private sector workers cope with layoffs will instead be counseling fellow government employees in an unusual twist caused by state budget cuts. The state Department of Economic Development said Friday that it was sending a "rapid response team" to help more than 40 state employees losing their jobs because of the closure of the Show-Me Challenge camp for troubled youths...

A small earthquake shook far southeastern Illinois on Friday. The earthquake measuring 2.9 in magnitude was centered about 25 miles north of Harrisburg in Saline County, said Kevin Smith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky...

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- It's almost like a midseason game between division rivals. Almost. Not since the 1969 Super Bowl have the Colts and Jets met in a game as important as today's first-round AFC matchup at the Meadowlands. It seems fitting that the longtime division rivals from the AFC East would collide in the playoffs of their first season apart...

LOS ANGELES -- Sid Gillman, the Hall of Fame football coach who was one of the masterminds behind the West Coast offense used by several of the NFL's best teams, died early Friday. He was 91. Gillman died at home in his sleep, said his wife, Esther...

WASHINGTON -- House Democrats and their new leader, Nancy Pelosi, said Friday they will propose new benefits and job opportunities for the unemployed next week, putting them at odds with President Bush and assuring a quick and heated battle in the new Congress...

WASHINGTON -- The Navy is loading everything from bombs to junk food onto ships on the East Coast. Helicopter pilots are getting their personal affairs in order in Mississippi. Some infantrymen have already packed their rucksacks in Georgia. Across the country, thousands of soldiers, sailors and airmen are readying for possible war with Iraq under an array of orders to mobilize, to deploy, to prepare to deploy and so on...

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has dropped the government's monthly report on mass layoffs, which also had been eliminated when President Bush's father was in office. The report by the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics recorded layoffs of 50 or more workers regardless of duration...

Millions of travelers arriving and departing the United States will have to submit detailed personal information this year under rules proposed by the federal government Friday as part of the war on terrorism. The rules proposed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, once they are finalized, seek more information from travelers than under current law and for the first time extend the requirements to U.S. citizens and others previously exempted...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, Jan. 4 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI A person was placed in custody Friday pending the filing of formal charges for driving while intoxicated, failure to yield and driving with a revoked license...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, Jan. 4 Firefighters responded Thursday to the following calls: At 5:39 p.m., medical assist at 40 S. Sprigg. At 8:50 p.m., smell of gas at 8121 Grant St. At 9:05 p.m., medical assist at 2849 Bloomfield Road. Firefighters responded Friday to the following calls:...

That day last September was undeniably exciting. Supporters sat elbow-to-elbow in the shade of a circus tent enjoying barbecue and cotton candy. An Elvis impersonator with an uncanny resemblance to the real thing wowed the crowd and even kissed a couple of women...

The Missouri Supreme Court showed good judgment in reversing its earlier decision to close juror lists to the public. The court's committee on criminal procedure drafted a rule that would have kept jurors' names secret. The case that started it all was the overturned murder conviction of Ellen Reasonover. ...

Conservative Judaism may be about to reopen discussion of the denomination's ban on same-sex unions and ordaining homosexuals -- a move critics say could fracture the centrist branch of U.S. Jewry. Judy Yudof, lay president of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, wants the movement's lawmaking body to decide whether its condemnation of gay sex still holds under current interpretations of religious law. ...

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Street protests escalated in violence Friday as police struggled to separate battling supporters and opponents of President Hugo Chavez. At least two people were shot to death and 78 others injured in a melee that spread through the Venezuelan capital...

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast -- President Laurent Gbagbo pledged Friday to cease hostilities and send home foreign mercenaries fighting with loyalist troops in Ivory Coast. "We will abstain from all acts of war on all fronts," Gbagbo told reporters after meeting French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin. "We will immobilize our helicopters and keep our men in the positions they are holding, because in the end we want peace."...

LIMA, Peru -- A Peruvian court struck down anti-terror laws Friday that had been used to quash rebel movements in the 1990s, a decision that could bring new trials for many people imprisoned on terror charges. The Constitutional Tribunal's ruling followed an examination of four decrees approved by former President Alberto Fujimori...

Two men were arrested and charged Friday in connection with the burglary of a vacant house, said Sgt. Rick Schmidt of the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Officers responded shortly before 11 a.m. to 403 S. Hanover Street, where two men had been seen inside the home by a witness. When police arrived, the men had already left. However, a witness provided a description and named of one of the men seen in the home, Schmidt said...

The Mehlville School District has offered its superintendent job to one of the district's assistant superintendents. Dr. Tim Ricker was one of a group of three finalists for the job that included Jackson superintendent Dr. Ron Anderson. Patrick Wallace, the district's spokesman, said the district's board of trustees will meet today to receive Ricker's acceptance or counteroffer. He hoped a hiring announcement could be made Monday...

Buckeyes end Miami's 34-game winning streak to claim national title. By Richard Rosenblatt ~ The Associated Press TEMPE, Ariz. -- Perfectly shocking! Perfectly thrilling! Ohio State worked two overtimes to rip the national championship from the confident 'Canes...

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Atlanta Falcons punt returner Allen Rossum never wanted to leave Green Bay. The Packers really wish he'd never gotten away, and not just because they have to face him tonight in a first-round NFC playoff game at Lambeau Field. Green Bay has been unable to replace Rossum, who signed a three-year, $3 million contract with the Falcons last winter...

The Missouri Department of Conservation is ready to build a $4.7 million nature center in Cape Girardeau County Park North, but the agency is still looking for outside funding for other improvements at the site in order to develop a conservation campus, its director said Friday...

ATLANTA -- Lefty Driesell is stepping down as Georgia State's basketball coach after 786 victories at four schools. The 71-year-old Driesell is stepping down immediately. Assistant coach Michael Perry will replace him on an interim basis beginning with tonight's home game against Gardner-Webb...

To ward off nearly a million feathery noisemakers, the city will use some sound effects of its own. For weeks, blackbirds have been zeroing in nightly on a tree-lined Cape Girardeau neighborhood, and their ominous screeching and noxious-smelling calling cards have residents asking the city for help...

Mechanic allegedly damages passenger plane DENVER -- A Frontier Airlines mechanic was arrested after he allegedly threw a wheel block into the running engine of a plane preparing for takeoff. According to an arrest affidavit, Corydon Van Dyke Cochran had wanted to prevent the plane from departing because he feared it was unsafe after being hit by lightning on an earlier flight...

SPRING HILL, Fla. -- David Jose Orama, the father of the first baby born in Florida's Hernando County in 2003, told the St. Petersburg Times the birth "was a big surprise." He got another surprise Thursday -- when deputies who saw the story arrested him on probation violation charges...

Associated Press Writer ST. PAUL -- Gov. Jesse Ventura's final tangle with the Minnesota media ended with a veiled threat that his next pursuit will bring vindication. "As of Monday, you will fear me," he warned reporters during his final news conference as Minnesota governor...

SAN DIEGO -- The man who kidnapped and murdered 7-year-old neighbor Danielle van Dam was sentenced to death Friday after the little girl's sobbing mother branded him a "monster" deserving of no mercy. David Westerfield showed no emotion as a judge imposed the sentence a jury had recommended in September. The 50-year-old engineer declined to make a statement, turning aside the mother's plea for an apology...

NEW YORK -- The Rev. Al Sharpton announced Friday that he will form a presidential exploratory committee, saying he is probably more qualified than any other Democrat seeking the White House. "I am running for president to finally put the issues concerning most Americans onto the front burner," the 48-year-old civil rights activist said in a statement...

FORT HOOD, Texas -- Fired-up soldiers cheered President Bush Friday as he told them they may be called into combat "to secure our country and to keep the peace." Privately, they showed more anxiety about the prospect of being sent to fight Iraq. If it comes to war, "this generation of Americans is ready," Bush said. "We accept the burden of leadership. We act in the cause of peace and freedom. And in that cause we will prevail."...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- A protest billed by Islamic hard-liners as a nationwide strike against a possible U.S. war on Iraq turned into a series of relatively small marches Friday, with demonstrators burning an effigy of President Bush and calling for the ouster of Pakistan's leader...

Today Gospel singing at 7 p.m. at Shiloh Baptist Church in Villa Ridge, Ill., featuring the Peacemakers and Gloryroad Travelers. Tuesday United Methodist Women of Centenary Church meet for general session at noon, with a lunch in the lobby of the Family Life Center at the church. ...

Presbyterian church welcomes new pastor The Rev. Joel Hebert will become the fifth pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church as the congregation welcomes him on Sunday. Hebert is an ordained minister and received a master's of divinity degree from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. He also is a graduate of Sterling College...

NEW ORLEANS -- About 28 percent of New Orleans public school teachers played hooky Friday, a slight improvement over the 31 percent who skipped on Thursday. Both days were make-up days for classes canceled in late September and early October, when Tropical Storm Isidore and Hurricane Lili swamped the city. Half of the city's public school students skipped on Thursday, and 52 percent skipped on Friday, the school board said...

ANKARA, Turkey -- President Bush is right to send ground forces to the Persian Gulf to pressure Iraq into disarming, but Turkey is wary about hosting a large number of U.S. troops, the foreign minister said Friday. Turkey is a leading U.S. ally in the Middle East but its people overwhelmingly oppose war in Iraq. The government has repeatedly balked at U.S. requests to deploy thousands of U.S. troops in Turkey for a possible invasion of neighboring Iraq...

LONDON -- "Lord of the Rings" fans worldwide celebrated what would have been the 111th birthday of J.R.R. Tolkien on Friday by raising a glass to the author. The milestone holds special significance for devotees of the fantasy trilogy -- Tolkien referred to it as an "eleventyfirst birthday ... a rather curious number and a very respectable age for a hobbit."...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Authorities charged two men Friday with hijacking the helicopter that was used to spirit five convicts out of a Puerto Rican prison. Angel Rivera Marcano and Jesus Rojas Tapia were cited for armed aircraft piracy and carrying a weapon on an aircraft. Authorities said they pointed guns at the chartered helicopter's pilot and ordered him to fly to the prison in the southern city of Ponce...

VATICAN CITY -- The pope has accepted the resignation of Bishop William Houck of the Jackson, Miss., diocese, for reasons of age, the Vatican said Friday. Houck will be 77 in June. The Vatican requires bishops to offer their resignation when they turn 75, and it is up to Pope John Paul II to accept or ask the bishop to stay on...

NEW YORK -- City and federal health officials plan to interview up to 200,000 people to determine whether exposure to smoke, dust and debris from the World Trade Center collapse can be linked to major health problems. The $20 million survey funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency will be the largest of its kind in the United States, officials said Friday...

MIDDLETOWN, Pa. -- The brother of a man accused of sexually molesting his daughters was ordered held without bail on murder charges Friday in the shooting deaths of the two girls and their mother. Police said Scott Wholaver told them he drove his brother, Ernest, nearly halfway across the state from Cambria County to the house in Middletown, near Harrisburg, where the victims lived...

CHICAGO -- Reliever Dave Veres and the Chicago Cubs agreed Friday to a $2 million, one-year contract. Veres, brought in to bolster a bullpen that has already added Rod Beck and Mike Remlinger, pitched the last three seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals...

P Southeast takes 6-4 record into conference opener. By Marty Mishow ~ Southeast Missourian B.J. Smith, Southeast Missouri State University's first-year women's basketball coach, has insisted since he took the job that he expects the Otahkians to challenge for the Ohio Valley Conference championship...

Prestwick Plantation developers have made a $13 million offer to the Cape Girardeau school district By Bob Miller Southeast Missourian Cape Girardeau school district officials and developers of a proposed 900-acre residential subdivision near a golf course are getting closer to a compromise that would allow the developers to move forward with the tax-increment financing process...

SEOUL, South Korea -- The newly elected South Korean president plans a dramatic diplomatic opening to cool the nuclear standoff on the peninsula -- placing himself as mediator between his key ally, the United States, and his erstwhile enemy, North Korea...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The preacher at Friday prayers told a story of how God led ancient Arab soldiers to victory over a stronger infidel army, but his message failed to hearten the faithful who fear war with a modern foe -- America. "I'm afraid of war and worried about my sons," said Um Satar, a mother of five boys...

After an up and down seMissourian Christmas Tournament that saw the Indians finish sixth with a 2-2 record, Jackson started the new year on the right foot with a 74-61 win over visiting Doniphan Friday night. Both teams started off slow from the field. Jackson (6-4) struggled to handle the Dons' press, while Doniphan (2-5) simply forced too many passes on offense...

Indians face difficult task of stopping Panthers' Domercant. By Marty Mishow ~ Southeast Missourian Southeast Missouri State University men's basketball coach Gary Garner doesn't want to put too much pressure on his team regarding tonight's Ohio Valley Conference opener...

ST. LOUIS -- Deane Hanley was born into a family of modest means in St. Louis County during the Great Depression, so her parents couldn't afford to buy her a doll. "Every bit of our money went to food," said Hanley, 73. "We had oatmeal three times a day. To this day, I can't stand oatmeal."...

NORMAL, Ill. -- Takeaways are a football statistic, but Illinois State basketball coach Tom Richardson hopes they can revive his struggling 1-8 Redbirds. Richardson has taken away the team's locker room and stripped his three captains of their titles in an effort to turn around a slow start that included ISU's worst-ever loss at Redbird Arena last Sunday...

Swope Son to John Todd and Kelli Swope of Coppell, Texas, Trinity Medical Center in Carrollton, Texas, 5:19 a.m. Friday, Dec. 27, 2002. Name, John Michael. Weight, 9 pounds 7 ounces. Third son. Mrs. Swope is the former Kelli Whitwell, daughter of Leslie Cox of Lubbock, Texas. Swope is the son of Joe and Jacque Aden of East Cape Girardeau, Ill., and John Swope of London, England. He is employed by Network Associates...

MIAMI -- Carson Palmer and Pete Carroll sat side by side, basking in the big finish to a season of resurgence for Southern California. The subject turned to the future. "You want to come back?" Carroll asked Palmer. "I'd love to," the senior replied...

To the editor: I would like to apologize to the cheerleaders for what I said to reporter Sam Blackwell in the story, "Tournament full of holiday cheers." I did not mean to say what I said. I think the cheerleaders are great. It takes a lot of guts to get up and cheer in front of the crowds. I know cheerleaders practice and train a lot and I know that takes a lot of time. I watch them help get the crowds going, and it is fun to watch...

Offended smoker I FIND it offensive that nonsmokers want to talk about smokers like they are the devil. I don't think nonsmokers are as perfect as they claim either. So maybe those who complain about their smoking co-workers need to start smoking or get a different job where everyone is perfect...

Robin Lynn Gross, 41, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born Feb. 3, 1961, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Bob C. and Verna Kelpe Gross. Robin was a 1979 graduate of Central High School. She was a certified nurse aide at Chateau Girardeau 21 years...

HICKMAN, Ky. -- David Moses, 53, of Hickman, formerly of Mounds, Ill., died Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2002, at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Union City, Tenn. He was born Aug. 22, 1949, in Cairo, Ill., to Sam and Judy Wilburn Moses. He married Rebecca Newton...

Mary A. Middeke Fehr, 67, of Jackson passed away Thursday, Jan. 2, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 19, 1935, in St. Charles, Mo., daughter of Henry H. and Herma G. Hoffman Middeke. She and Ralph Fehr were married Sept. 29, 1951. This past September they celebrated 51 years together...

ALTENBURG, Mo. -- Marilyn V. Haertling, 68, of Altenburg died Thursday, Jan. 2, 2003, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born June 11, 1934, in Altenburg, daughter of Alfred and Natalie Koenig Kasten. She and Milton Haertling were married Feb. 24, 1957...

The funeral for Crittie Merle Thorpe of Cape Girardeau will be at 11:30 a.m. Monday at Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel. The Rev. Jim Sanderson will officiate. Burial will be in Cape County Memorial Park. Friends may call at the chapel after 9 a.m. Monday...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Alferd L. Magee, 67, of Greenfield, Ind., died Thursday, Jan. 2, 2003, at Hancock Memorial Hospital in Greenfield. He was born Feb. 17, 1935, in Frog Jump, Tenn., son of Elisha and Bunav Williams Magee. He married Gloretta Davis. Survivors include his wife; a son, Larry Magee of Greenfield; two daughters, Gloria Griffith of Greenfield, Louise Hatfield of Morristown, Ind.; two brothers, Edward Magee of Sikeston, Clarence Magee of Jonesboro, Ill.; five sisters, Betty Crawford of Sikeston, Virginia Casey of Jonesboro, Mary Hutchason, Barbara Duckworth and Geraldine Llewellyn, all of Anna, Ill.. ...

Bill D. James, 69, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Jan. 2, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born March 30, 1933, at Scopus, Mo., son of Jessie J. and Dessa Viola Crites James. He and Florence Amy Ross were married May 26, 1956, in Cape Girardeau...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Elizabeth Catherine Hawkins, 39, of Sikeston died Thursday, Jan. 2, 2003, at St. Louis University Hospital, following an extended illness. She was born Aug. 28, 1963, in Alton, Ill., daughter of Ernest E. "Pat" and Shirley Emerson Stidham Sr. She and Jerry D. Hawkins were married Aug. 4, 1989, in Sikeston...

The funeral for Sister Georgetta Higdon of Ursuline Sisters of Mount St. Joseph in Maple Mount, Ky., was held Dec. 23 at Mount St. Joseph Chapel. Burial was in the convent cemetery. Glenn Funeral Home in Owensboro, Ky., was in charge of arrangements...

10 years ago: Jan. 4, 1993 Rare mayoral race between 11-term Mayor Carlton Meyer and Ward 1 Alderman Paul Sander will likely highlight this spring's Jackson municipal election; Sander, who is completing his third term as alderman, will announce Tuesday whether he will seek seat held by Meyer for 22 years...

Man charged in Faulkner theft waives hearing The Arkansas man charged with stealing six William Faulkner letters from Southeast Missouri State University waived his preliminary hearing Friday in Cape Girardeau County Associate Circuit Court. With his case now bound over to the circuit court, Robert Hardin Smith, 43, of Jacksonville, Ark., will next appear in court Jan. 13...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Members of the city's statehouse delegation are making another attempt to change the name of Southwest Missouri State University by dropping the regional designation. Rep. Mark Wright said Friday he has filed legislation to change the name of the Springfield school to Missouri State University...