Stories from Tuesday, September 9, 2003

A lone terrorist sucker-punched Cape Girardeau twice Saturday -- first with a bombed oil pipeline that sent hundreds of gallons of crude spewing into the Mississippi River and later with the detonation of a so-called "dirty bomb" on a docked barge that injured three river workers and exposed them to dangerous levels of radiation...

At least 12 Marines diagnosed with malaria WASHINGTON -- Twelve U.S. Marines who were in Liberia last month have been diagnosed with malaria and 21 other U.S. troops have symptoms of the disease, defense officials said Monday. A Defense Department spokesman said the Marines, members of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., were in Liberia in mid-August as part of a U.S. ...

CHICAGO -- Indiana Gov. Frank O'Bannon suffered a massive stroke in his Chicago hotel room Monday, and his chances of recovery were uncertain, the neurosurgeon who operated on him said. "The next 24 to 48 hours is going to be critical," Dr. Wesley Yapor said. "We're hoping he's going to recover function. How much, we don't know."...

BOSTON -- In the summer of 1999, AAA got a call about a young woman whose car had broken down in a parking lot on Cape Cod. The auto club told the woman's stepfather it would send help. Melissa Gosule never made it home that night. Her body was found in a shallow grave eight days later. She had been raped and stabbed to death...

PARIS -- A scathing French government report Monday blamed hospital understaffing during summer holidays, chronic bureaucratic snags and a dearth of elderly care for the 11,400-plus death toll in this summer's brutal heat wave. Also Monday, the Dutch Central Bureau for Statistics estimated 1,000 to 1,400 people died in the Netherlands from the heat that gripped Europe this summer -- higher than an earlier projection of 500 to 1,000...

MONROVIA, Liberia -- West African peacekeepers Monday postponed what would have been their first major deployment into Liberia's countryside, saying they wanted to investigate new government claims of new rebel attacks. State radio reported fighting Sunday at Todee, about 40 miles northeast of Monrovia, saying rebels had injured a number of government fighters and captured one. Rebels denied the claim...

VIENNA, Austria -- The U.N. nuclear agency's chief pressed Iran on Monday to come clean with "full transparency" about uranium enrichment and other evidence that could point to a covert atomic weapons program. In a statement to the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei said Iran has been showing increased cooperation, but that his experts still don't have enough information to determine the nature of Tehran's nuclear activities...

NEW DELHI, India -- Ariel Sharon began a landmark visit to India on Monday, intent on cementing defense deals and fortifying his country's friendship with a longtime Palestinian ally during the first visit here by an Israeli prime minister. Pakistan, India's neighbor and chief rival, immediately warned of the "dangerous consequences" of a military alliance between Israel and India, knowing Sharon hopes to seal the $1 billion sale of an advanced airborne radar package...

BEIJING -- China is calling for a renewed "fight until the end" against the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement, which it accuses of a litany of offenses -- including trying to block the government's efforts to fight SARS. "We should be fully aware that the fight will be long, arduous and complicated," authorities said in a lengthy commentary carried by the official Xinhua News Agency. "We must be vigilant against the Falun Gong cult and should in no way relax our efforts."...

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Nominated to take over as Palestinian prime minister, Ahmed Qureia said Monday that Israel must comply with its obligations under the "road map" peace plan -- or he will face the same impossible situation that felled outgoing Mahmoud Abbas...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Nearly two years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Pakistani troops have begun moving -- gingerly -- into a remote tribal belt where Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaida fugitives might be hiding. But officials say they have no evidence the terrorist mastermind is there, and a brief military foray last week came up empty-handed. Bin Laden, they say, has melted into the mountains...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- When the picture of a jetliner slicing into the World Trade Center flashed on the television in Rabia Ibrahim's Baghdad apartment, his friend exclaimed "God is great!" -- a superpower had been humbled. At the same time, Daniel Salas sat in shock as the news reached him at a Texas high school on Sept. 11, 2001. The room buzzed with talk of war. A television was wheeled in, playing the horrible images over and over...

KIRKUK, Iraq -- Saboteurs struck a critical oil pipeline in northern Iraq on Monday, the latest in a series of attacks that have halted the country's oil deliveries to Turkey at an estimated cost of $7 million a day. Adel al-Qazzaz, director general of the Northern Oil Co., said the line attacked Monday had carried 35,000 barrels a day from the Jabour oil field 20 miles southeast of Kirkuk to the main pipeline that originates in the northeastern Iraqi city...

Britain dispatches 1,200 more troops to Iraq LONDON -- Britain is sending two additional battalions to Iraq, adding 1,200 troops to its forces on the ground, the Ministry of Defense said Monday. Britain now has 11,000 troops in the country and British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon indicated that more troops were likely to be required...

WEST PLAINS, Mo. -- A southwest Missouri woman's garden has yielded something more valuable than beans and mustard greens. Olene Lee found the wedding ring she lost 10 years ago -- a loss that was particularly difficult because her husband had died of emphysema a few months earlier...

SINGAPORE -- A man in Singapore has tested positive for SARS, the first reported new case of the disease in four months. The announcement Monday, came after health officials had warned the flu-like illness could return. The man, an ethnic Chinese Singapore citizen, tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome when he tried to enter Singapore General Hospital, Ministry of Health spokeswoman Bey Mui Leng said. Bey said testing would be repeated to make sure the man had SARS...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri lawmakers convened in special session for the second time in four months Monday to consider Gov. Bob Holden's scaled back tax plan for education. But few, if any, expect the plan to receiver serious debate, much less pass...

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- An Independence man was sentenced Monday to seven years in prison for burglarizing several churches in Jackson County. Jeffrey A. Richardson, 47, pleaded guilty in July to five counts of second-degree burglary and one count of second-degree arson...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- President Bush, back on the political money trail, highlighted his education agenda Monday and urged states to embrace an accountability program intended to identify poorly performing schools and provide help for poor students. Bush was boosting his re-election campaign fund with a $2,000-a-person fund-raiser. ...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Of all the ways attempted to free up space in Florida's crowded classrooms, this one could be a dream come true for high schoolers in a hurry: a diploma without a senior year. Supporters of a law granting a high school diploma in just three years said it will help curb crowding in Florida's schools. Critics fear it will deprive early graduates of extracurricular activities and senior-year milestones...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- The Democrat drawing wary glances from the crowded presidential field and forcing some party stalwarts to hedge their bets on endorsements isn't even a candidate yet. Wesley Clark, the retired Army general with four-star military credentials, is poised to shake up the primary race if he chooses to seek the presidency. Clark has promised to reveal his plans before a major speech in Iowa on Sept. 19...

State officials have called it the 800-pound gorilla that can't be ignored. Educators say it's as useful as putting a Band-Aid on a headache. Whatever the case, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 packs a punch unlike any other education reform ever handed down by the federal government, and its demands are likely to hit local schools right in the gut...

WASHINGTON -- Weapons hunters in Iraq have found what they interpret as evidence of Iraqi preparations to secretly produce chemical and biological weapons, some Pentagon officials say. But as the postwar weapons hunt enters its sixth month, it remains unclear whether they have found -- or ever will -- any evidence that Iraq had actually made such weapons or whether it simply was prepared to do so...

ST. LOUIS -- One week into the season, the Rams have a quarterback controversy. Kurt Warner's comeback got off to a rocky start when he played through a concussion in the season-opening loss to the New York Giants. Healthy or not, he won't start Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, Marc Bulger will...

NEW YORK -- His hair spiked and jeans ripped, Andy Roddick strode through Times Square with pop star girlfriend Mandy Moore on Monday. Passers-by slapped Roddick on the shoulder (he smiled). Or asked him to stop and pose for a photo (he obliged). Or offered congratulations (MTV's Carson Daly rode by, lowered his car's tinted window and shouted: "Way to go, Andy!")...

ST. LOUIS -- No one in the National League works harder for his victories than Woody Williams. The Cardinals are confident they're not pushing the 37-year-old right-hander, who leads the NL with 111 pitches per start and has struggled in the second half of the season, too hard...

Southeast Missourian Southeast Missouri State University football coach Tim Billings says he doesn't care who starts at quarterback -- he's simply looking for somebody to move the Indians' floundering offense. Jeromy McDowell appeared to do that the best during Saturday's 28-7 loss against Southern Illinois -- so the junior will start when Southeast (0-2) visits Division I-A Arkansas State (1-1) Saturday night...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Legislators will seek to fix a recently discovered flaw in a new nursing home reform law that inadvertently would have barred people with minor criminal offenses on their records from working as in-home care providers. Gov. Bob Holden added the issue to the agenda of a special legislative session that began Monday. ...

A private funeral will be held today in Bethesda, Md., for Sylvia Hermann, the mother of U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau. The Bethesda resident died Sunday at age 89. Hermann had been active in Republican Party politics since she was a little girl, said Lloyd Smith, an aide to Emerson. Her husband, Abe, was the chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1960. He preceded her in death in the 1980s...

Shawn East began having the panic attacks in 1995, the year her father was killed by a train. That same year, her paternal grandfather committed suicide, her maternal grandmother died and East herself was diagnosed with cervical cancer. She also discovered she had a grown half-sister, the product of an affair her now-deceased father had kept hidden...

The day explorers Lewis and Clark stopped in Cape Girardeau on their way west will be commemorated in a series of bicentennial events the weekend of Nov. 21-23. Many of the plans leading up to the event are starting to become reality. The Red House Interpretive Center being built in downtown Cape Girardeau now has a roof. The center is scheduled to be dedicated Nov. 8...

A $7 million cut to state test funds has left Missouri school districts with the option of not taking annual assessments or paying for the tests with district money. Although state officials continue to emphasize the importance of the tests in tracking student achievement and in the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, only around half of the state's 524 districts have volunteered to fork over the money...

By Michael Devaney and William Weber Most products are private goods. I pay 100 percent of the cost of a steak dinner because I receive 100 percent of the benefits from its consumption. Services such as national defense and police protection are public goods because the benefits accrue to society at large...

Dixie Chicks enjoy calm return to Europe STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- The last time the Dixie Chicks were in Europe, their politics got them in trouble with radio stations back in the United States. But at the start of their European concert tour in Stockholm, the Texas trio said their focus would be on the music...

TULIA, Texas -- Hog farmer Joe Moore was wrongly convicted of selling cocaine and sentenced to serve 90 years in prison. He forfeited more than his freedom. Moore said he lost his livelihood and his reputation. He also lost his health, as his diabetes worsened while he was behind bars...

FRESNO, Calif. -- Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante's strategy of "No on Recall, yes on Bustamante" appeared to shift toward "Yes on Bustamante" as voters began casting the first absentee ballots Monday in the election to recall Gov. Gray Davis. "I need your vote for governor," Bustamante repeatedly reminded a crowd of about 2,500 people during a rally here Sunday in his hometown. ...

SPACE CENTER, Houston -- NASA said Monday that when shuttle launches resume sometime next year, the first mission will essentially be a test flight, with astronauts inspecting their ship and practicing repair techniques to guard against another Columbia-type disaster...

SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. -- Disgusted by what they see as the extinction of the all-male Southern military college, some graduates want to build one of their own, based on the way The Citadel and Virginia Military Institute used to be. That is, they say, before those schools started admitting women, before they stopped saying mealtime prayers, and before the winds of political correctness swept aside many of the reminders of the Confederacy...

BOONVILLE, Mo. -- Care to consume some barbecued ribs in the old Drunk Tank? How about a homemade brownie in the Hanging Barn? History enthusiasts are raising money this weekend for the restoration of the old Cooper County Jail by serving catered meals behind bars...

Missouri's Republican-dominated legislature has a good chance to override Gov. Bob Holden's veto of a right-to-carry concealed weapons bill, two local lawmakers said Monday. "This is not the same bill that was narrowly defeated by the voters in 1999," said Rod Jetton, the House speaker pro tem...

Megan McDonald struck out 14 batters and had a run-scoring double to lead Central's softball team to a 4-0 shutout of rival Jackson Monday at Central. McDonald allowed only two hits and walked three batters as the Tigers improved to 5-4. "Megan throws well," Central coach Amy Blattel said. "She's a gamer. She wants the big games."...

The Southeast Missouri State University Athletic Hall of Fame will induct its second class on Saturday, Oct. 25. Three teams and 12 individuals will be inducted. Teams selected are the 1937 and 1955 football squads that were both unbeaten and the 1991 gymnastics team that won the USGF national title and finished fourth in the NCAA Division I Regional...

When the game is tight and Bob Stoops is on the other sideline, Big 12 coaches had better beware. A fake punt call in the third quarter of Oklahoma's 20-13 win over Alabama again reminded everyone in the conference why the Sooners' head man is so tough to plan against...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri quarterback Brad Smith should be fully recovered from a mild concussion in time to play Saturday in the Tigers' game against Eastern Illinois, the team's physician said. Smith was held out of the second half of Saturday's 35-7 victory over Ball State with a mild concussion. Before his injury, Smith went 11-of-17 for 112 yards and had 117 yards on 13 carries...

Nice sea legs, Capt. Rodman Don't know if tequila was involved, but reports suggest there was a Worm in the bottle last week. Police suspect that former NBA bad boy Dennis Rodman was driving his boat while intoxicated in Newport Harbor, near Long Beach, Calif...

To the editor: As the anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, approaches, it is important that we never forget the 3,000 innocent souls who perished at the hands of terrorists. It is also important that arguments made by the anti-war minority be supported by fact...

To the editor: I remember the old soldier on the pedestal of the Common Pleas Courthouse fountain well. I splashed in the water of the fountain when I was a child. It was not supposed to be done, but we did it, and no one objected. The only problem was getting out. Someone had to be around. I'm glad there will be a new old soldier...

To the editor: Bush's reticence to cede full political and economic control in Iraq to the United Nations contradicts the stated goal of building democracy. It has also cost the lives of military personnel and billions in tax dollars. Due to our previous support of Saddam Hussein, our leaving the Shiite uprising in the lurch after the first Gulf War, and our push for brutal sanctions throughout the 1990s, the United States is viewed with considerable skepticism by most Iraqis...

Afraid of school HOW ARE our schools protecting and teaching our children? I will tell you how one school is doing it. I have a child who is in the eighth grade. School has been in session now for two weeks, and she has only been there four days. Why? Because other students make fun of her and call her names. ...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Francis "Bernie" Nation, 86, of Perryville died Sunday, Sept. 7, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Sept. 29, 1916, at Silver Lake, Mo., son of Joseph A. and Anna Robinson Nations. He and Doris B. Bangert were married Dec. 31, 1945. She died Dec. 13, 1985...

Dwight Dean Shackelford, 46, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Sept. 5, 2003, from a heart attack at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born in Anderson County, S.C., son of William "Fred" and Mary Davis Shackelford. Shackelford was an associate professor in the English Department at Southeast Missouri State University. He had also taught at the University of South Carolina and Benedict College in Columbia, S.C., and Concord College in Princeton, W.Va...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Ruby Geraldine Ellis, 83, of Chaffee died Sunday, Sept. 7, 2003, at Crystal Oak Care Center in Crystal City, Mo. She was born Jan. 31, 1920, at Fornfelt, Mo., daughter of Buford Harrison and Iva Crites Fowler. She and Howard William Hopper were married in 1936. He died in 1938. She and James Parwin Ellis were married in 1948. He died in 1956...

Miller Daughter to Stuart Lee and Charlyn Ranette Miller of Scott City, St. Francis Medical Center, 10:07 a.m. Monday, Sept. 1, 2003. Name, Loveta Ann. Weight, 7 pounds 14 ounces. Fourth daughter. Mrs. Miller is the former Charlyn Curles, daughter of Loveta Gleason of Lakeland, Fla. Miller is the son of Barbara Miller of Cape Girardeau. He is a truck driver with Liberty Concrete...

Hal Franklin Robertson, 80, formerly of Sikeston, Mo., died Sunday, Sept. 7, 2003, at Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau. Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date by Ford and Sons Funeral Home.

10 years ago: Sept. 9, 1993 Despite annual increases in city's crime rate, there has been no corresponding rise in number of police officers, concerned Cape Girardeau Regional Fraternal Order of Police wants rectified; representatives of group have asked that city council boost local police force from 59 to 66 officers...

The judges spit out more wine than they swallowed Monday at the SEMO District Fair. It would have been tough to swallow even a sip of wine 83 times, they said. The three judges sampled wines in nine categories -- everything from red and white wines to fruit wines and even a rhubarb wine...

There are more flattering ways to make the cover of a national magazine. Never a runner before the death of her husband, Jennifer McCollum is training for a marathon in the memory of the Marine who died when his KC-130R, the fixed-wing aircraft he was co-piloting, crashed in Afghanistan. Perhaps Jennifer, whose husband was a gifted athlete, could have one day made the cover of a running magazine...

When America embarked on its get-tough-on-crime campaign several years ago, there seemed to be an urgent need for law-abiding citizens -- and the police, prosecutors and judges who are responsible for maintaining order -- to get the upper hand over criminals. Crime statistics at the time were skyrocketing, and there appeared to be no end in sight...

Essner earns doctorate from Ohio University Richard L. Essner, Jr., recently graduated with a doctorate in biological sciences from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Richard L. Essner Sr. of Perryville, Mo. While at Ohio University, he researched biomechanics through grants from the National Science Foundation, Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology and the American Society of Mammalogists...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. After a full day of classes at high school, junior Jasmine Buckhannon comes home and sits down in front of a computer to do a little English and chemistry. It's not homework -- at least not in the traditional sense. It's the entire course...

WASHINGTON -- The old wives' tale holds that people start to look like their pets. Turns out it's the other way around: America's pets are starting to look like Americans -- overweight. Whether it's round hounds or corpulent cats, as many as one-fourth of cats and dogs in the Western world are overweight, according to the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academies...

WASHINGTON -- What's the best way to throw away leftover, expired medicines? Once the answer was "flush 'em," to ensure children and animals couldn't stumble on the drugs and be poisoned. Now scientists are increasingly warning not to flush drugs. Antibiotics, hormones and other medicines are being found in waterways -- raising worrisome questions about potential health and environmental effects...

WASHINGTON -- A modified form of bacteria normally present in the vagina may one day be used to protect women from AIDS, according to new research. The engineered bacteria showed promise in laboratory testing, and researchers now plan to try them out in animals, said John A. Lewicki of Osel Inc., in Santa Clara, Calif...

Kevin Harvick was fined $35,000 and put on probation Monday, and two of his crew members were suspended for one race for their roles in the melee at Richmond International Raceway. In all, NASCAR penalized Harvick and five members of his team, along with Pat Tryson, Ricky Rudd's crew chief, for "actions detrimental to stock car racing."...

ST. LOUIS -- A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday is scheduled to hear oral arguments in former Kansas City pharmacist Robert Courtney's appeal of his 30-year sentence for diluting cancer drugs. Courtney, 50, pleaded guilty last year to 20 counts of misbranding, tampering with and adulterating cancer drugs he prepared and dispensed from his Research Medical Tower Pharmacy in Kansas City...

ST. LOUIS -- Missouri airports will receive $26 million in federal grants, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said Monday. Those airports receiving grants include: $2.5 million to help construct a new runway at the Kennett airport in Southeast Missouri...

CHICAGO -- A study found that nearly a third of white teenage girls in the United States have used tanning booths at least three times, suggesting an alarming number of teens are ignoring the dangers of skin cancer for the sake of sporting a good tan...

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis' cash-strapped city schools rang in a new school year under tight security Monday as demonstrators, some carrying children in fake coffins, called for a student boycott over a move to shutter 16 schools. Despite the parading protesters and a visit from Democratic presidential candidate Al Sharpton, the district reported the best opening-day attendance rate in at least five years, with 76.4 percent of enrolled students in class Monday. ...

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court was told Monday that Congress overstepped its bounds in passing legislation imposing complicated new rules intended to clean up election campaign finances. The law "intrudes deeply into the political life of the nation" and "in a word, goes too far," said Kenneth Starr, the former independent counsel who investigated President Clinton, who now is serving as an attorney for challengers to the law...

WASHINGTON -- Both Republicans and Democrats predicted Monday that Congress will approve the $87 billion President Bush wants for Iraq and Afghanistan, but they said approval won't be as speedy as last spring and lawmakers will demand details. With relentless American casualties, a paucity of allied support and a realization that the administration underestimated the operation's price tag, lawmakers seem emboldened to play a stronger role in shaping the measure than they did when they quickly approved an initial $79 billion package in April.. ...

You'd like to say you haven't, but it's impossible. We've all taken a bad picture in our lives. Every time my column comes out, the first thing I always see is my picture. In my old photo, I looked like a pregnant man who just ran 5 miles through the desert. The new photo might be a better picture...

There are realistic racing games and there are cartoon racing games. Then, there's "Freaky Flyers." There are versions of this wild new title from Midway for PS2, Xbox and GameCube. I played the PS2 version, and had a fine time doing it. "Freaky Flyers," as you may have figured from the available clues, is a hilarious air racing game. It features a collection of rickety planes that appear to have been stolen from a moth-eaten crop-dusting operation...

Cape Girardeau Tuesday, Sept. 9 Firefighters responded to the following call Sunday: At 9:57 p.m., an alarm sounding at 2831 Whitener. Firefighters responded to the following calls Monday: At 8:45 a.m., an alarm sounding at 266 Siemers Drive. At 9:13 p.m., an alarm sounding at 211 St. Francis Drive...

Cape Girardeau Tuesday, Sept. 9 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Steve Carter, 35, of 921 Linden, Cape Girardeau, was arrested Sunday by the Pemiscot County Sheriff's Department on a Cape Girardeau warrant for failure to appear in court...

The Cape Girardeau County Commission set the 2003 tax rate Monday at .2369 per $100 assessed valuation for the county's road and bridge fund. The rate is the same as it was last year. The tax rate is determined by dividing the amount of revenue the county says it needs by the current assessed valuation. The result is multiplied by 100 so the tax rate is expressed in cents per $100 valuation...

WASHINGTON -- The music industry's largest trade group filed 261 copyright lawsuits across the country Monday against Internet users who trade songs online, an aggressive campaign to discourage piracy through fears of expensive civil penalties or settlements...

WASHINGTON -- The cost of rent and utilities for a typical two-bedroom apartment has increased more than a third since 1999, making such housing unaffordable for anyone earning minimum wage, according to a study by an advocacy group for low-income housing...

WASHINGTON -- An estimated 50 million Americans suffer from persistent pain, yet most medical students have no courses focused on treating pain, according to the American Academy of Pain Medicine. "Untreated pain, tragically, is an epidemic in the United States," Dr. Louis Sullivan, former Health and Human Services secretary, said Monday as he announced an initiative to promote education on pain management at the country's medical schools...

by Tom Edwards Perhaps no other professional sport elicits more pathological behavior from its fans, and players for that matter, than the NFL. There is a fine line between the good-natured fan and the full-fledged fanatic. Here are a few talking points for discerning whether your loved one is embarking on a long descent into the abyss of NFL lunacy...

by Alexandra R. Yaremko Crushes are a part of life. Why do they happen? We'll assume a biological component. How do they happen? Who knows. A crush by definition has to be on someone you don't know. If you know them you either like them or you don't. If you know them and like them, and also find yourself crushing on them, it may be more...

Colorful birth numbers Our birth date describes who we are, what we are good at and what our inborn abilities are. It also points to what we have to learn and the challenges we are facing. To figure out your Birth Number, add all the numbers in the birth date together like in the example until there is only one digit. ...

These are just a few of the submissions that we received. We know you can do better (or worse)! Highschool Clash Shattered world of hurt and pain A battlefield fought on but no bloodstain Swords of mind and bullets of hate A torn and mangled body suffers a horrid fate...

'Hairspray', 'Chicago', 'A Chorus Line', and 'Phantom of Opera' are just a few of the musical productions that will come to life in'THE BEST OF BROADWAY-PAST AND PRESENT', a musical revue of past and present Broadway shows, presented by the Sikeston Little Theatre on Friday and Saturday, September 12 & 13 at 7pm-, then again on Sunday afternoon, September 14 at 2pm at the Albritton -Mayer Center for the Arts, 506 S. Kingshighway in Sikeston, Mo...

by Jason Parker Hi I'm a 25 year-old retired radio personality. "Retired" has a certain ring to it doesn't it? I did it 40 years early. Retired that is. I bought myself a hat at a gas station. It has a cartoonish golf green and a ball bouncing into the hole and it reads RETIRED. ...

by Leroy Grey Insider here, and I'm taking a break from the usual gossip to turn the lens inward. Cape's City of Roses Festival is this month, and with it, the chance for Cape's local bands to let their freak flags fly! To commemorate, we're turning attention to the Zone's weekly festival for local music, "The Indie Zone" (Sundays, 10pm)...

by Greg Levrault I'm in the red light district of Cape, a virgin screwdriver in one hand, a pen and pad at my other, a Supersonic sugar stick in my mouth, and I'm ready for my next article to show up... anytime. I should have known better. I'm supposed to write something to coincide with this year's City of Roses Music Festival. ...

09/10/03 - Gale Foehner; Frederick's Music Lounge 09/10/03 - Essex Green; Rocket Bar 09/10/03 - Acoustic Alchemy; The Pageant 09/11/03 - Groovatron; Cicero's 09/11/03 - The Station; Cicero's 09/12/03 - Breather Resist; Creepy Crawl 09/12/03 - Five Story Fall; Creepy Crawl...

They say necessity is the mother of invention. Other ideas are born of spite. You might say the opening of Cape's Visions of Pride community center sprang from both. Founder and executive director Denise Eaker saw a need for a local gay and lesbian center and support group after her own brush with hate...

OFF! recommends you stop by the store and pick up a box of Q-Tips. Then take them home and (product warning be damned) clean out your ears. September marks the eighth annual City of Roses Music Festival, and we don't want you missing out due to icky wax buildup...

I've never been a good redneck. I've never owned a pickup truck. I've never liked country music. I've never worn a belt buckle larger than a standard business card. I've never really been much of a hunter. ("Why go out and kill your food", I always thought, "when there's an IGA right down the street?"). ...

Good morning kids, it's that time for your monthly dose of confessional stylings by yours truly. It has been a long month and it has taken a short time to get there. It's almost September as I sit and write this and I'm struck with an odd sense of time disruption. ...