Stories from Thursday, March 27, 2003

Generosity can lead to wonderful things. A recent example is the Jackson Soccer Park Association, a private organization that is building a much needed soccer park using money collected from generous businesses, service clubs and individuals. Construction of the 18-field soccer park will make life easier on the organizers and 900 youngsters who have been sharing five Jackson fields. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Bob Holden is not asking lawmakers to renew the bulk of the state's financial commitment to the River Campus project. "Quite simply, we don't have the money to afford it," said Linda Luebbering, the state budget director...

NORFOLK, Va. -- The mutilated body of a nun was found Wednesday in a parking lot here Wednesday, three days after she and another nun were abducted in Georgia by a man suspected of slaying his father, authorities said. The second nun was located in a motel Tuesday, shaken but unharmed, Norfolk police said...

Scott and Neal Essner of Kelso, Mo., are more driven on sunny days thanks to the University of Missouri-Rolla solar car. Powered by 800 solar cells, the three-wheeled, low-to-the-ground car can travel along at an average speed of 40 mph and top out at about twice that speed...

Seth Hudson, Chris Conrad and Mitch Craft combined for six hits, six RBIs and three stolen bases as Central rolled to a 10-2 win over Chaffee in the Tigers' home baseball opener Wednesday. The Tigers (2-0) jumped ahead 2-0 after the first inning but gave up two unearned runs in the top of the second to let the Red Devils back in the game. The Tigers responded in the bottom half of the second with three runs and went on to add five more the next two innings...

WASHINGTON -- The Senate delivered a wartime rebuff to President Bush's domestic plans on Wednesday, approving a $2.2 trillion budget that provides less than half the $726 billion in tax cuts he wants to rally the listless economy. The Republican-controlled chamber used a mostly party-line 56-44 roll call to approve the fiscal blueprint, which endorses just $350 billion of the president's planned tax cuts through 2013. ...

By Kenneth Bender A friend gave the following passage to me. In light of the current war in Iraq, it seems very fitting. I want you to close your eyes and picture in your mind the soldier at Valley Forge as he holds his musket in his bloody hands. ...

By Claire J. Karnes This had to be the most beautiful evening I have ever seen. The sky was clear and starlit and the full moon lit up our yard like the noonday sun. As I looked around, I could hear snap, crackle, pop -- the unmistakable sounds of spring. It was the crackling of the new flowers climbing up through the ground and the pop of the new buds on the trees. The crickets or frogs chirping gave me an overwhelming sense of peace...

WASHINGTON -- Houston police arrested two gay men after bursting in on a bedroom scene that would have been legal for a heterosexual couple, setting in motion an emotional debate over gay rights that landed at the Supreme Court on Wednesday. The court appeared deeply divided over a Texas law against "deviate sexual intercourse with another individual of the same sex." Justices framed the argument in moral and historical terms as a clash over equality, privacy and government's role in upholding traditional values.. ...

Russell Crowe cheers Kidman's Oscar win SYDNEY, Australia -- Russell Crowe cheered fellow Australian Nicole Kidman's Oscar win for "The Hours," saying her "dedication, brilliance, resilience and generosity has been lauded, applauded and finally handsomely rewarded."...

The Associated Press NEW DELHI, India -- Tensions between India and Pakistan worsened Wednesday when each conducted tit-for-tat missile tests and New Delhi linked Islamabad to the massacre of 24 Hindus by unidentified gunmen. Hours after India fired a short-range missile capable of carrying a nuclear weapon, Pakistan announced it had tested a similar missile. Each missile was capable of reaching cities in the other country...

PANMUNJOM, Korea -- North Korea on Wednesday cut off the sole regular military contact with the U.S.-led U.N. Command that monitors the Korean War armistice, saying it was "meaningless" to sit with the Americans. The move will further isolate the North amid heightened tension over its suspected nuclear weapons programs...

MOSCOW -- Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov backed a proposal by some lawmakers to postpone approval of a key U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control treaty, as he accused the United States on Wednesday of trying to destroy Iraq. Ivanov said he supported delaying authorization of the treaty because the U.S.-led strike could fuel unfair criticism of the pact...

THAYER, Mo. -- A prisoner doing roadside maintenance near the Missouri-Arkansas border walked away Wednesday and is now missing, officials said. Bill B. Bonebrake, 40, was working with a group of prisoners from the South Central Correctional Center in Licking, picking up trash and doing other maintenance work...

During wartime, being left behind can be emotionally overwhelming for those with loved ones serving overseas in the U.S. military. But there are several ways to get through the stress and to support the troops at the same time. The following is a list of local and national suggestions:SUPPORT GROUPS...

The baseball-sized brain tumor that threatened David Bailey's life seven years ago could return at any time. "The knowledge of that keeps me very alert," he says with a wry smile. Bailey could be a poster boy for aggressive cancer therapy. He was diagnosed on July 4, 1996, and wasn't expected to live to the next Christmas. ...

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Chris Osgood is averaging one shutout per week for the Blues. Osgood stopped 31 shots and Cory Stillman scored the game's only goal as the Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 1-0 Wednesday night. It was the second shutout for Osgood since he was traded to St. Louis from the New York Islanders on March 11...

JUPITER, Fla. -- Tom Glavine looked ready for opening day, allowing one hit in four scoreless innings as the New York Mets beat the Cardinals 11-0 Wednesday. Glavine, signed as a free agent in December from Atlanta, will start the opener for the Mets next Monday against the Chicago Cubs...

Mike Kahle, an artist of sorts, is preparing to craft and mold a retirement community. The self-employed businessman who creates artificial animals for museum displays, plans to break ground next week on a 24-unit senior subdivision called Village of Boulder Creek, located on U.S. Highway 34 outside of Jackson, a quarter-mile from the 34/72 intersection...

Casey Bauer spent time as a youth watching skating shows with her family at The Ice at Cape Girardeau's Plaza Galleria. When she was 9 she decided there had been enough watching, and it was her time to shine. "I started when I was 5, but it wasn't serious. My sister, Holly, and I both did it because we wanted to," Bauer, 17, said. "It didn't last long."...

With the April 8 elections less than two weeks away, more than half of the races for city officials and school board members in Cape Girardeau County are unopposed or lacking enough candidates to fill vacancies. Elections for the Cape Girardeau School Board, all Jackson city officials, mayor and Ward 1 alderman of Delta and the board of trustees in Oak Ridge are all unopposed...

Southern Illinois' nationally ranked softball team flexed its muscles at Southeast Missouri State University Wednesday and rolled to a doubleheader sweep, winning 5-1 and 9-3 over the host Otahkians. The Salukis, rated 30th in the most recent national poll, improved to 18-4. The Otahkians fell to 4-14...

On Support Our Troops Day at Capaha Field, it was fitting that Southeast Missouri State University pulled out its big artillery to sweep a one-sided doubleheader. The Indians banged out 27 hits -- including eight for extra bases -- and routed Division II Lincoln 17-0 and 7-2 Wednesday in front of more than 1,100 fans, many of whom donated almost two truckloads of supplies to support U.S. troops overseas...

MINNEAPOLIS -- No need for the Wisconsin Badgers to board a plane. They just jumped on the bus for a four-hour trip to the Metrodome, a cramped but relaxing ride featuring non-stop chatter. "We got here a different way and we had a chance to bond on the bus ride up," Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said Wednesday. "Ever watch 6-foot-10, 6-foot-11 guys sit in one of those seats on a bus? Interesting."...

UMM QASR, Iraq -- As U.S. and British troops consolidate their control of oil wells and facilities in southern Iraq, crude oil shipments from the country's Persian Gulf export terminal could resume within a few weeks, analysts said Wednesday. However, an international consensus about who should manage the funds generated from renewed sales of Iraqi oil appears to be a more elusive goal...

CENTRAL IRAQ -- A monster sandstorm trapped coalition troops Wednesday in a howling, burnt-sienna world of smacking winds and blistering sand, which penetrated goggles, biochemical suits, boots and even underwear. Nervous and miserable, soldiers mistook desert shrubbery for Iraqi vehicles. Approaching tank at 3 o'clock, sir, a soldier tells his superior, crouched in a grounded helicopter unit in the Iraqi desert...

UMM QASR, Iraq -- The first sizable relief convoy rolled into Iraq on Wednesday bringing water, tuna, crackers and other food to Iraqis, some of whom cheered as they swarmed allied troops handing out supplies. "Eat, eat!" shouted an Iraqi boy of about 10, pointing to his mouth as the trucks lumbered past...

Army airborne forces parachuted into northern Iraq on Wednesday, seizing an airfield for a new front against Saddam Hussein. U.S. and British warplanes bombed an enemy convoy fleeing the besieged city of Basra in the south. One week into the war, the possibility of a major battle loomed within 100 miles of Baghdad as another convoy -- this one made up of elite Republican Guard forces -- moved in the direction of American troops aiming for Saddam's seat of power...

A man suspected of trying to lure a Cape Girardeau Middle School girl into his car on March 12 was arrested and charged Tuesday for failing to register as a sex offender. Timothy T. Glas, 35, of Cape Girardeau, was named as the suspect in court documents filed by Cape Girar-deau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle in seeking an arrest warrant for Glas for failing to register...

ST. LOUIS -- Westwood One Inc. and affiliate Metro Networks Communications Inc. will pay $150,000 to settle a race-discrimination lawsuit on behalf of a former radio news and traffic reporter, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Wednesday...

This year, the impressive run of area high school basketball teams, as well as college teams of interest to Southeast Missouri fans, has been thrilling to watch. But that's the case every year. Watching our local teams or the Mizzou men in the NCAA tournament was perhaps more meaningful this year because it allowed us to briefly divert our worried eyes from images of war...

WASHINGTON -- Former Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a New York City shoeshine boy who became an iconoclastic scholar-politician and served four terms in the Senate, died Wednesday. He was 76. Moynihan's death was announced on the Senate floor by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who two years ago was elected to the Senate seat Moynihan had held for 24 years...

Briefly Baseball The Padres released right-hander Francisco Cordova on Wednesday and added lefty Mike Matthews to their battered bullpen, claiming him off waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers. The Padres also placed left-hander Kevin Walker and right-handers Jay Witasick and Kevin Jarvis on the 15-day disabled list. ...

Tradition at risk CHEROKEE PARK is changing its name. Snake Hill will be less snaky. What has happened to the tradition this community values? This must cease lest the next thing on the list be the razing of the Southeast Missourian building. Avoiding drudgery...

Chad Ryan Birk, 22 years and 5 months, of Jackson was called to his heavenly home Tuesday, March 25, 2003. He died peacefully at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, surrounded by family and friends. He fought courageously through the end. Friends may call Friday, March 28, from 4 to 8 p.m. at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson, and Saturday, March 29, after 10 a.m. at Zion United Methodist Church in Gordonville...

Walter Roth, 90, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, March 26, 2003, at his home. He was born Dec. 14, 1912, in Cape Girardeau, son of Martin and Magdalena Walter Roth. He and Louise Bender were married April 14, 1950, in Cape Girardeau. Walter graduated from Central High School, received A.B. ...

ORAN, Mo. -- Coletta Ann Eftink, 72, of Oran died Tuesday, March 25, 2003, at her home. She was born Nov. 12, 1930, at Oran, daughter of Henry and Caroline Arnzen Jansen. She and Charles B. Eftink were married Feb. 16, 1943. Eftink was a member of Guardian Angel Catholic Church and its St. Ann's Sodality at Oran, and VFW Auxiliary 5368 at Morley, Mo...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Ivan Samuel Calvin, 75, of Dongola died Tuesday, March 25, 2003, at his son's home in Marine, Ill. He was born Dec. 28, 1927, in Granite City, the son of William and Rosie Pettet Calvin. He married Lois Mae Goines on July 6, 1949. He was retired from the Norfolk & Southern Railroad. He was a member of the Wetaug Church of Christ...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Emelie R. Sterling, 94, of St. Charles, Mo., formerly of Perryville, died Wednesday, March 26, 2003, at Blanchette Place in St. Charles. She was born Dec. 14,1908, at Claryville, Mo., daughter of Capt. Ben and Corine Picou Rozier...

FROHNA, Mo. -- Edward Vernon Vogel, 83, of Pomona, Calif., died Saturday, March 15, 2003, at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center. He was born July 26, 1919, at Frohna, son of Carl and Emma Bergt Vogel. Vogel was a plumber 30 years with Anderson Plumbing Services. He was a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church, American Legion Post 30, and VFW Post 2018, all in Pomona...

Homer H. Spradling, 83, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, March 26, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Dec. 26, 1919, in Heber Springs, Ark., son of Jan and Letha Haney Gay Spradling. He and Maggie R. Spalding were married July 30, 1942, in Cape Girardeau...

Terry Stephen Ledure, 49, of Scott City died Tuesday, March 25, 2003, at his home. He was born Sept. 19, 1953, in Cape Girardeau, son of Elmer Theon and Shirley E. Blattel Ledure. He and Gale A. Diebold were married May 12, 1979, at Kelso, Mo. Ledure was a self-employed carpenter and custom cabinet maker. He was a member of St. Augustine Catholic Church in Kelso, and Knights of Columbus Council 6420 in Scott City...

10 years ago: March 27, 1993 Proposed Jackson Middle School will cost about $5.4 million to build; but it won't cost taxpayers any additional money, say school officials; bond issue approval on April 6 would change current operating levy of $2.85 per $100 assessed valuation; district can accomplish this feat because it didn't allow its bonded indebtedness to drop to zero...

Pacheco Twin son and daughter to Salvador Pacheco and Jacqueline Lynn Wyatt of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, Thursday, March 6, 2003. Christian Allen was born at 7:22 a.m. and weighed 4 pounds 4 ounces. Jade Elizabeth was born at 7:24 a.m. and weighed 5 pounds 1 ounce. The couple has another son and daughter. Ms. Wyatt is the daughter of Jacqueline Lowe of Cape Girardeau. She is employed at El Torero...

March 27, 2003 Dear Patty, South Lorimier Street is a yellow road of crocuses now. You wonder if dogs are deafened by the sound of buds bursting up and down the street. We have grown accustomed to living on South Lorimier Street. For years, parents and friends wondered when we would move. We wondered too...

To the editor: I would like to respond to the person who objected in Speak Out to a picture in the Southeast Missourian of a woman in a bar folding her hands in prayer for our nation in this war situation. I want to compliment the editor for including this picture in the paper...

CHICAGO -- A review of the nation's trauma centers found improvements in how serious injuries and mass casualties are handled, though rural care continues to lag. The report, published in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association, found that the number of U.S. ...

WASHINGTON -- A Bush administration plan to shift dollars away from improving locks and dams on the nation's rivers could leave waterways vulnerable to terrorist attacks, a Republican lawmaker said. House members quizzed top officials of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as Appropriations Committee hearings began Wednesday on the agency's budget for next year...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The employees of a Sikeston industry received bad news Tuesday: Nearly a third are losing their jobs. The remaining workers will see cuts continue until August, when production could end. Officials with Superior Essex plant, located 1620 Malone Ave., informed the 28 salaried and 183 hourly employees Tuesday that "due to economic conditions, primarily low product demand and competitive pricing, we are forced to curtail production capacity," said Melanie Hall, vice president of corporate communications for Superior Essex's corporate office in Fort Wayne, Ind.. ...

The Area Wide United Way will celebrate its role and impact on the community at its annual meeting 11:30 a.m. Friday at the Drury Lodge in Cape Girardeau. New Officers and board members will be introduced and final 2002 campaign contributions will be announced...

CASA to hold vigil April 3 at courthouse At 6:30 p.m. April 3 a candlelight vigil will be held at the Cape Girardeau Common Pleas Courthouse in observance of April as the month for promoting child abuse awareness. This event is sponsored by Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Southeast Missouri and the Social Work Club of Southeast Missouri State University...

Submitted photo Natalie Ruesler of Jackson shook hands with Missouri Farm Bureau president Charlie Kruse Dec. 8 at the bureau's 88th annual meeting in Osage Beach, Mo. Ruesler was one of 37 contestants competing for the role of Missouri Farm Bureau Ambassador.Southeast Missourian...

Doughnut sale for Octagon Club Saturday Krispy Kreme doughnut sales will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday, at Jackson Wal-Mart. Profits will be used for the Jackson Optimist Club to attend an upcoming national convention in Kansas City, Mo. Cape church to hold ham supper April 6...

Submitted photo Cape Girardeau County Farm Bureau members who participated in the Missouri Farm Bureau annual meeting were, front row from left, Amy Haertling, baby Allison Haertling, Terra Aufdenberg, Tom Sachse, county board president, Shirley Aufdenberg, county board secretary. Back row, from left, are Chris Haertling, county board vice-president, Roger Aufdenberg, Cheryl Sachse and Robert Aufdenberg.Southeast Missourian...

Past national president Glenneta Vogelsang and national director Judy Thrower, both of Cape Girardeau and members of Clippard, Wilson, Taylor Auxiliary No. 3838, joined other key leaders of the Ladies Auxiliary to the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States at its 2003 national mid-year conference in Port Canaveral, Fla., recently...

Three members of a Marble Hill, Mo., church charged with sexually assaulting a mentally retarded woman were bound over for trial March 14. After hearing final testimony in March 14's preliminary hearing, Bollinger County Associate Circuit Judge Scott Thomsen determined there was probable cause for the charges of first-degree sexual assault and deviant sexual assault against Frank Burgess, 43, a part-time teacher at the Marble Hill Chapel; Sunday school teacher Bruce Johnson, 44; and song leader Hurley Dixon, 67. ...

Daily American Republic DONIPHAN, Mo. -- A former Poplar Bluff, Mo., teacher is free on bond Wednesday after being charged with sexually assaulting a student. Timothy Slayton, 32, of Fairdealing, Mo., resigned his teaching duties in January following allegations of misconduct with a student...

Cape Girardeau Thursday, March 27 Firefighters responded Tuesday to the following items: At 6:28 p.m., emergency medical service at 1400 Carter. At 8:03 p.m., emergency medical service at 1110 S. Sprigg. At 9:13 p.m., motor vehicle accident at Main and Themis...

Cape Girardeau Thursday, March 27 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Timothy D. Dickison, 23, of 630 N. Fountain, Cape Girardeau, was arrested Tuesday on a Cape Girardeau warrant for failure to appear and a Cape Girardeau County warrant for probation violation...

Today Lipid and glucose screening will be offered from 9 to 11 a.m. at First Baptist Church in Delta, sponsored by the Generations Center at Southeast Missouri Hospital. For information, call 651-5825. Newborn massage class has been scheduled from 10 to 11 a.m. at Generations Center at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Class is for newborns up to six weeks old. Call 651-5825 for registration information...

For older exercisers, effort counts. At least that's what a large Harvard study of heart disease in older men showed. It found that those who thought their workouts were hard had a lower risk of coronary heart disease, even though the amount of energy they burned was below minimum federal guidelines...