Stories from Saturday, August 16, 2003

Push a stone up a hill long enough, and sooner or later it might even stay put. That's how we feel watching the sudden spate of media and Democratic Party interest in the scandal known as "gerrymandering," or politically rigged redistricting. This is one of our hobby horses going back 20 years, and it's nice finally to have some company. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A mountain lion killed in a mid-Missouri vehicle crash likely came from the west, according to a preliminary finding of a team of state Conservation Department biologists. "Our examination found nothing that indicates the mountain lion had been in captivity," said Conservation Department biologist Dave Hamilton. "It had no tags, tattoos or wear on its claws and pads that is typical of animals that have been kept in concrete-floored enclosures...

HANNIBAL, Mo. -- The trial in Heartland Christian Academy's lawsuit against two juvenile officers and a county sheriff is on hold for about a month. U.S. District E. Judge Richard Webber on Thursday ordered the recess until Sept. 15, citing scheduling conflicts -- he presides over another trial that starts next week. Webber had hoped that the trial, which began July 21 at the federal courthouse in Hannibal, would be wrap up this week...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A 6-year-old Putnam County girl has been confirmed to have Missouri's first probable case of West Nile virus this year, the state health department said Friday. The girl's symptoms of muscle aches, fever and a severe headache had been reported in July as either West Nile virus or St. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Three Kansas City area school districts sued the state Friday, claiming Gov. Bob Holden violated the Missouri Constitution by withholding $190 million that had been appropriated for public schools this year. The Fort Osage, Lee's Summit and Liberty districts are asking a Cole County judge to reverse the governor's action and order the money to be distributed to schools. ...

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were so eager to break training camp Friday that the whole team sprinted off the field together. The defending Super Bowl champions were on a bus to Tampa less than an hour after the morning workout ended. It was the end of the Bucs' 28-day stay at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex...

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration will keep a U.S. diplomatic and economic squeeze on Libya despite the country's acceptance of responsibility for the bombing of a Pan Am jetliner over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988. Libya officially accepted responsibility in a letter delivered Friday to the Syrian ambassador to the United Nations, Mikhail Wehbe. ...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A Poplar Bluff man may face federal drug charges after he received a package of marijuana in the mail this week. Members of the Poplar Bluff Police Department, SEMO Drug Task Force and U.S. Postal Service executed a search warrant at about 3 p.m. Wednesday on Daniel Dean and Sarah Polansky's residence...

A Jackson man is accused of molesting three toddlers, with charges filed after the boys' parents reported behavior changes in their children to the Network Against Sexual Violence. Cape Girardeau police arrested James Lee Littleton, 34, of 282 Tavy in Jackson on Friday. Littleton is charged with six counts of statutory sodomy stemming from an Aug. 8 gathering with Littleton, the boys and their parents in Cape Girardeau...

Tuesday 6:30 p.m. -- Mayor Paul Sander and Jackson Muny Band welcome. 7:30 p.m. -- Homecomers Talent Show, vocal solo or group, ages 13 to 21 10 p.m. -- American Legion Post, attendance prizes ...

Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department Saturday, Aug. 16 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI Ronald G. Inman Jr., 36, of Scott City was arrested Aug. 9 on suspicion of driving while intoxicated...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, Aug. 16 Firefighters responded to the following calls Thursday: At 8:08 p.m., a medical assist at 203 Franks Lane. At 9:52 p.m., smoke in an apartment at 535 N. Sprigg St. Firefighters responded to the following calls Friday:...

The sight of bright yellow buses lumbering down the street was almost startling Wednesday, but they served as giant reminders that summer vacation is over after what seemed like only a few short weeks. While it may have been tough for children to return to classes or for parents to let their little ones go for the first time, the beginning of school wasn't tough on school district officials in Cape Girardeau or Jackson, the two largest districts in Southeast Missouri...

MOUNTAIN GROVE, Mo. -- Two people died Thursday when their vehicle was hit by a train at a crossing in south-central Missouri's Wright County, west of Mountain Grove. Terra Miller, 32, and Burdette Garrett, 79, both of Mountain Grove, were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident...

JERUSALEM -- Israel agreed Friday to withdraw from four more West Bank towns, ending weeks of deadlock with the Palestinians over security issues and putting a troubled U.S.-backed peace plan back on track. Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and Palestinian security chief Mohammed Dahlan reached the deal at a time when the "road map" peace plan and a Mideast truce seemed in serious jeopardy because of renewed violence that included two Palestinian suicide bombings this week...

PHILADELPHIA -- Jim Thome showed Scott Rolen how to respond to a curtain call at Veterans Stadium. Thome and Ricky Ledee homered, leading the Philadelphia Phillies to a 7-4 victory over the Cardinals on Friday night. Albert Pujols singled, doubled and tripled, extending his hitting streak to 29 games, and Jim Edmonds hit his 30th homer for the Cardinals, who had won five of six...

ST. LOUIS -- Kurt Warner absorbed his first hard hit in the Rams' opening preseason game, and now he's looking forward to his first success. Warner was limited to two series in a 7-6 loss to the Oakland Raiders last week. He's been told he could play most if not all of the first half of Monday night's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, although he's not counting on it...

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Move over, Ben Curtis. Shaun Micheel, the latest surprise in a major, made four birdies in his final five holes Friday in the PGA Championship to take a two-stroke lead into the weekend at Oak Hill. He still has two rounds left on the toughest PGA Championship course in 23 years. And he still has plenty of players within range -- but none named Tiger Woods...

For those with a sweet tooth, Jackson resident and Homecomers veteran Gail Heimbach says the Masons have really good homemade ice cream. The children will come for the carnival rides and the adults will come for the entertainment. There's always a little something for everybody at the annual Homecomers celebration in Jackson...

The Cape Girardeau City Council plans to choose five finalists for city manager as early as Monday night with a goal of having a new administrator hired by Sept. 15. The city has received 61 applications for the job including one from interim city manager Doug Leslie...

Kentucky team takes control in national event CHAFFEE, Mo. -- The Plantation Athletic Club of Louisiana will take a 4-0 pool-play record into today's elimination round of the Babe Ruth National Invitational for 14-and-under softball teams. In Friday's games, Plantation Athletic Club won twice, 7-0 over Heartland American and 11-3 over Shelby Co., Ky., which dropped to 3-1...

The new high-tech wheelchair that climbs stairs and raises users to standing height isn't going to have much effect on the lives of people with disabilities until the $29,000 price dramatically lowers, say local wheelchair users and disability advocates...

Sheldon Geison is used to winning contests for such things as best plate of sweet corn and best grain bundle at the Illinois State Fair. But the farmer's prizes were on the light side this year: only $20 for the corn and $5 for the grain. "It's not a lot to some people, but it's gas money" to the fair and back, said Geison, who would have won $54 and $10 for the same titles last year...

NEWARK, N.J. -- The only U.S. citizen arrested in a suspected arms smuggling plot is eligible for release on $10 million bail, a judge ruled Friday. Yehuda Abraham, 76, a Manhattan diamond dealer, will remain in federal custody until court officials interview at least 10 friends and relatives willing to post his bond...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Three people were shot to death outside convenience stores in less than a week, and authorities said Friday that a single shooter could be responsible. A man and a woman were fatally shot late Thursday at different stores near Charleston. Another man was killed outside a third store on the city's west side on Sunday...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- It was a dream that led Kenneth Bollermann to join thousands of other Elvis Presley fans Friday for an anniversary visit to his grave. Presley died at 42 on Aug. 16, 1977, and is buried in a small garden beside Graceland, his Memphis residence. To cap a week of parties, concerts and fan get-togethers staged each year for the anniversary, fans holding lighted candles line up to walk past his grave...

MONROVIA, Liberia -- Embracing loved ones and gulping down whatever food they could find, tens of thousands of hungry Liberians on Friday broke through the front lines that had divided the capital for 10 weeks of deadly siege. U.S. Marines and West African peacekeepers stood guard as the first aid ship docked...

Cape Girardeau Saturday, Aug. 16 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWIs Vivian M. Barlow, 46, of 1126 N. Sprigg, Cape Girardeau, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated and failure to stop...

The Missouri State Fair wraps up in Sedalia on Sunday, so this is the last weekend to catch all the magic and excitement. State fairs are full of interesting things. There are displays, lots of entertainers and competitions on everything from goats to floriculture. Information on everything there is at www.mostatefair.com...

WASHINGTON -- An attorney for the bioterrorism expert identified as a "person of interest" in the investigation of the 2001 anthrax attacks lashed out at the FBI Friday for its round-the-clock surveillance of his client. The scientist, Dr. Steven J. Hatfill, appeared at a traffic court hearing to contest a $5 ticket stemming from an accident involving a federal agent who was tailing him. Hatfill lost the case and will have to pay the fine...

SKOKIE, Ill. -- Three teenagers were sentenced to community service Friday for their roles in a violent high school hazing incident that was caught on videotape. The three were each found guilty of two counts of battery, said Tom Stanton, a spokesman for the Cook County prosecutor's office...

PHILADELPHIA -- Days after a pregnant woman was found naked, strangled and coated in peanut butter, police blamed her death on a man who later committed suicide by jumping into the Schuylkill River. Police said Friday that Linwood Burley, 35, killed the woman in a drug-related dispute. They believe Burley may have covered Susan Brennan's body with peanut butter to attract rodents to gnaw away at the evidence...

VIENNA, Austria -- They're light but lethal -- and capable of bringing down a commercial jetliner within seconds. Shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missiles similar to the ones involved in a sting operation this week are relatively inexpensive and chillingly easy to buy, said Jonathan Stevenson, an arms control analyst with the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies...

When people think of history in Cape Girardeau County, many things come to mind. Lewis and Clark; the Trail of Tears; the Missouri state flag's local origin, ... But the Revolutionary War? Steve Pledger, the military archive whiz at the county's archive center, is in the process of typing out Revolutionary War pension applications found last month, including a handwritten request by a war veteran to the county court, known today as the county commission...

PHILADELPHIA -- Cardinals right-hander Matt Morris sprained his left ankle in a hotel fall early Friday and is expected to be out at least two more weeks. Morris broke his right hand July 22. He had expected to come off the disabled list Sunday against the Philadelphia Phillies...

Randy Holbrook won't join Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball program after all. Holbrook, a 6-foot-10, 240-pound former top-100 national high school recruit who spent two seasons playing in junior college, failed to meet NCAA eligibility requirements, Southeast coach Gary Garner said Friday...

On a Southeast Missouri State University football team loaded with apparent strengths, a casual observer might label wide receiver as a big question mark. The Indians' wide outs can understand that line of thinking -- not that they agree with it. "Everybody expects us to be down," junior Chris NesSmith said, "but I think we'll be as good as last year."...

CLARKSTON, Mich. -- A high wattage rock band and a venue named after a power company couldn't make the show go on during the blackout that hit the state. Iggy Pop & the Stooges had finished a sound check Thursday at DTE Energy Music Theatre and were headed back to their Auburn Hills hotel when the power went out, the Detroit Free Press reported on its Web site...

ST. LOUIS -- A massive power outage could happen in Missouri, but it's unlikely because power generators are closer to the demand here, officials with the state's largest electric company said Friday. Unlike Missouri, much of the East has to import its power long distances, said Tom Voss, senior vice president of energy delivery for AmerenUE...

NEW YORK -- TV networks successfully scrambled to keep programs on the air, while newspapers affected by the power outage managed to hit the streets Friday morning with smaller editions focused on the blackout. At ABC News, concerns that backup power was insufficient at the "Good Morning America" studio in Times Square sent the broadcast uptown to Peter Jennings' "World News Tonight" set, where Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson anchored a five-hour version of their morning show...

Bouncing back from the largest blackout in U.S. history, cities from the Midwest to Manhattan restored power Friday to millions of people -- only to confront a second series of woes created in the aftermath of the enormous outage. Electricity flowed in Cleveland on day two of the blackout, but water moved at a trickle. ...

Oldham Son to Charles A. Oldham and Emily E. Wipfler of Florissant, Mo., St. John's Mercy Hospital in St. Louis, 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, July 23, 2003. Name, Gavin Thomas. Weight, 7 pounds 12 ounces. Ms. Wipfler is the daughter of Charles and Susie Wipfler of Scott City. She is a server at Cracker Barrel. Oldham is the son of Jimmy and Verla Oldham of Oak Ridge. He is a cement mason...

Standard Democrat SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Sikeston School District expects to $5,000 to $6,000 as its share of legal expenses for a lawsuit against the state. "That's a drop in the bucket compared to what we could potentially benefit from this in the long run, if indeed it is successful," said superintendent Steve Borgsmiller. "This is a great investment for our school."...

To the editor: I live in a town of 6,000 people. It is amazing to me that, out of 6,000, it's a group of about 100 who make the difference in this town: garden club, women's club, Kiwanis, historical preservation. And please don't fault me if I didn't mention you...

To the editor: In response to Jack Stapleton's recent column "Everybody loves a winner -- maybe not": Stapleton seems to be saying that the administration's policy may be wrong, but it is rather hard to oppose it. He gives all the reasons why the alleged transfer of democracy to Iraq is like a ghostly figment of the imagination...

To the editor: I would like to thank the Missouri Department of Conservation and Cape Girardeau for the Cape LaCroix Trail. I think it is a very nice trail that gives people a safe place to walk, run or bike. However, since we seem to be on a kick about how to get people to visit our wonderful town, why not think about adding a mountain-bike trail at one of the parks. ...

To the editor: I want to compliment the Cape Girardeau Police Department for monitoring the former Regina's House of Dolls on Enterprise Drive. The city council was forced to allow the strip joint to open in spite of citizens' complaints in January 1995. Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle could only offer state regulations against nudity. But the women would have G-strings on...

Need mile markers IT'S TIME for the runners and walkers in Cape Girardeau to start practicing for the City of Roses half-marathon at the end of September. It's also time for the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department to paint the mile markers on the Cape LaCroix Trail. There are very good mile markers at mile one and mile two, but there's nothing at miles three, four and five...

ZALMA, Mo. -- Carl Charlie Corbin, 91, of Zalma died Friday, Aug. 15, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Feb. 12, 1912, at Zalma, son of Forrest and Cora Cullins Corbin. He and Odetta Rose were married May 17, 1937, in Pontiac, Mich. She died March 22, 1999...

Selma Wild, 86, of Fort Pierce, Fla., died Sunday, Aug. 10, 2003, at her home. She was born Nov. 24, 1916, at Shawneetown, daughter of Adolph R. and Pauline Ladreiter Rudert. She and Carl Wild were married in 1947 in Fort Pierce. Wild was a member of Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church in Port St. Lucie, and was one of the founders of Trinity Lutheran Church at Fort Pierce in 1952...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Lewis Jones, 86, of Cairo died Thursday, Aug. 14, 2003, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, Mo. He was born Aug. 7, 1917, near Coffeeville, Miss., son of Fred and Stella Jones. He and Eloise Blocker were married March 24, 1946, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. They moved to Cairo shortly after their marriage...

Aredah Catherine Gockel, 75, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Aug. 15, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born May 15, 1928, in Olive Branch, Ill., daughter of Lloyd and Edna Lee Holmes Harvell. She and Joseph Edmond Gockel were married Aug. 13, 1943, in Jackson. He died Nov. 22, 1997...

Iva E. Matthews, 94, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Aug. 15, 2003, at the Lutheran Home. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Mildred E. Allison, 85, of Pekin, Ill., died Friday, Aug. 15, 2003, at Pekin Manor. She was born Feb. 28,1918, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Abner D. and Rosa Milfelt Parker. She and Hugh L. Allison were married in Springfield. He died Jan. 29, 1987...

10 years ago: Aug. 16, 1993 Cape Girardeau County Commission votes to lift curfew, which prohibited nonresidents from entering flooded areas of Cape Girardeau without permit; curfew, which commission ordered effective July 10, will be lifted at 6 p.m. tomorrow; Presiding Commissioner Gene Huckstep admits curfew was controversial, but believes it was successful at protecting property owners from looting, vandalism and sightseers...

A breakdown of the Northeast blackout: NEW YORK: Power to New York City was fully restored at 9:03 p.m., Consolidated Edison announced, and virtually all the rest of the state had regained electricity as well. The City Council estimated the city lost up to $750 million in revenue, up to $40 million in tax revenue and up to $10 million in overtime pay for the first 24 hours after the blackout started. ...