Stories from Wednesday, October 22, 2003

Airline passengers will have to wake up a little earlier to catch the first flight out of Cape Girardeau beginning Nov. 1. The first departure will be at 6 a.m. Monday through Saturday rather than 7:07 a.m. That could be good for business travelers, said Bruce Loy, Cape Girardeau Regional Airport manager...

Danielle Greable isn't the kind of girl to wrinkle her brow, fold her arms and complain that life isn't fair. Cerebral palsy has made the blonde-haired, blue-eyed 7-year-old fall down plenty of times. It has made her walk awkwardly on her toes, different than the rest of the boys and girls at Meadow Heights Elementary School in Patton, Mo...

Southeast Missouri University Foundation raised over $4.7 million in private donations in the fiscal year that ended in June, up 57 percent over the previous fiscal year, foundation officials said. The total included $1 million for the River Campus School of Visual and Performing Arts, Southeast Missouri State University's highest capital fund-raising priority...

Angela M. Coffel's status as the only woman ever declared a sexually violent predator in Missouri is in the hands of the state Supreme Court. Her case was one of three the court considered Tuesday challenging the constitutionality of the state law that allows for the indefinite confinement of convicted sex offenders who have completed their prison terms but are deemed likely to commit new crimes if released...

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- A policeman spoke to sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad just a half-hour after the shooting for which he is on trial, but let him go as the officer tried to deal with angry, panicked drivers trying to leave the scene, a jury at Muhammad's murder trial was told Tuesday...

NEWYORK -- The average cost of tuition and fees at the nation's four-year colleges and universities is more than 40 percent higher now than it was 10 years ago, a new study says. The College Board, which owns the SAT, released its annual Trends in College Pricing report Tuesday, documenting cost increases that have been particularly steep in recent years because of big cuts in state funding...

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran agreed Tuesday to suspend uranium enrichment and give inspectors unrestricted access to its nuclear facilities as demanded by the U.N. watchdog agency, a step that could ease the standoff over fears Iran is seeking to build nuclear weapons...

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- It was America's first encounter with the suicide bomb -- initially its embassy, then its Marine barracks, blasted to shreds by a truckload of explosives that killed 241 servicemen and launched a new era in the Middle East. The reverberations are still being felt...

NAIVASHA, Kenya -- Secretary of State Colin Powell pressed Sudan's warring parties Tuesday to move rapidly toward a comprehensive peace agreement, holding out a promise that the United States would review its sanctions against Africa's largest nation if there is an end to fighting...

ST. LOUIS -- One of three St. Louis-area grocery store chains affected by a labor dispute now in its third week resumed taking grocery orders online Tuesday, pitching the service to consumers unwilling to cross picket lines. But the union for more than 10,000 workers affected by the strike and lockout involving 96 stores insisted the Schnuck Markets Inc.'s "Express Connection" program would produce meager results...

Obesity among Americans is a two-pronged problem: Approximately a third of the nation's population falls into the obese category, and many of these obese individuals are on diets that don't work. Two stories on the same day last week reported on these two problems. ...

When Midamerica Hotels announced several months ago that it planned to raze the existing Holiday Inn on William Street near Interstate 55, there were reactions from people who have enjoyed the hotel's hospitality over the years, attended a meeting there or regularly ate at the hotel's restaurant...

LET'S DO the SEMO budget math. The budget shortfall is $2.4 million. Intercollegiate athletics costs some $3.5 million and brings in just $1 million from boosters. Eliminating intercollegiate athletics would lead to a budget surplus. As a local booster has said about SEMO threatening academic programs first, the university's approach to budget problems is like "eating your children to save grocery money."...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Glenda Faye Hahn, 62, of Chaffee passed away peacefully at home Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2003. She was born June 6, 1941, in Chaffee, daughter of Lawrence Joseph and Jessie Rozina Bailey Glency. She married Jerry Lee Hahn Feb. 15, 1958. Glenda was very active in trail riding and showed horses many years. She worked at Sports Specialty Shoe Co. before she worked at Thorngate Ltd. in Chaffee 30 years, retiring in February 1996...

Pearl Mae Turner, 84, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born April 3, 1919, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Lester and Ruth Mae Seabaugh Loberg. She first married Louis Brune in 1938 in Cape Girardeau. He died in 1966. She later married Robert Turner, who also preceded her in death...

HAYDEN, Idaho -- The people of Hayden can't seem to rid themselves of neo-Nazi Richard Butler. The founder of the Aryan Nations lost his compound outside of town to bankruptcy several years ago, but moved into a Hayden house bought by a supporter. Now Butler is running for mayor of this town of 9,000, linking Hayden in the public mind once more with his anti-Semitic, white separatist views...

MIAMI (AP) -- For the longest time, this had all the makings of another heartbreaker for Mike Mussina. Down early. Hardly any run support. A rainy, messy night. And yet somehow, the ace who could never quite win these games won Game 3 of the World Series. Mussina outpitched young ace Josh Beckett and the New York Yankees broke it open late, beating the Florida Marlins 6-1 Tuesday night for a 2-1 edge...

WASHINGTON -- The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee called on Tuesday for the temporary reassignment of a Pentagon official who made church speeches casting the war on terrorism in religious terms. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., said Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin should step aside during a Pentagon investigation of Boykin's comments. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Tuesday announced an inspector general's inquiry, saying Boykin requested one...

MIAMI -- South Florida's favorite team is in the World Series. It's just not clear whether that team is the Marlins or the New York Yankees. There are a lot of transplanted New Yorkers around here rooting for the Bronx Bombers. There is also a lot of affection for the Yankee pinstripes because of all the years the team held spring training in nearby Fort Lauderdale...

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) -- Jamal Mayers scored the go-ahead goal in the second period and the St. Louis Blues rallied from a three-goal deficit to beat the Edmonton Oilers 6-4 Tuesday night. Mayers gave the Blues a 4-3 lead with his first goal of the season 5:26 into the period, deflecting in Murray Baron's point shot after a weak clearing attempt by the Oilers...

By Jeremy Joffray ~ Southeast Missourian A lot of things have to go right to have an undefeated season. A team has to stay healthy and have a few bounces go its way. A little luck can't hurt. At 18-0, Central's boys soccer team is four games away from an undefeated regular season. The Tigers take their next step today when they face rival Notre Dame at 7 p.m. at Shawnee Park Sports Complex...

Scott City's volleyball team won two tight games from host Central on Tuesday night, prevailing 25-22, 26-24 to improve to 17-10-2. Kacie Cartwright had seven kills and 15 digs to lead the Rams. Ashton Phillips had eight digs and Amanda Raines added seven assists...

With some teams having already played half their league schedules, there is little separation in the race for the Ohio Valley Conference championship. But only a very little, with seven of the OVC's nine squads having either one or two losses and no club undefeated...

Southeast Missouri State University's volleyball team had been waiting for a match like this. The Otahkians, who have struggled much of the season, finally put it all together Tuesday night, handing Ohio Valley Conference leader Murray State its first league loss with a surprising three-game sweep...

WASHINGTON -- The Senate on Tuesday voted to ban the practice that critics call partial-birth abortion, sending President Bush a measure that supporters and foes alike said could alter the future of U.S. abortion rights. A court challenge is certain...

The Southeast Missourian will receive two awards from the Inland Press Association at a ceremony Monday in Chicago. Education writer Callie Clark took first place in investigative reporting for "Jefferson's Challenge," which was published in November 2002 and addressed the increasing racial imbalance at Jefferson Elementary School in Cape Girardeau. ...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- The jury trial for a man charged with burning 14 fellow party guests is set to begin today in Perryville. Jerry L. Self Jr., 23, of Millersville, faces 14 felony second-degree assault charges, stemming from a Jan. 17 explosion created by a gasoline container thrown into a bonfire at a party at 3901 Cape Girardeau County Road 621. The case was moved to Perry County from Cape Girardeau County on a change of venue...

By Avelina (Belen) Lichtenegger As a math teacher, I constantly research the best ways to deliver math concepts. The Oct. 17 article, "Newer new math," a concept aimed at making students "lifelong mathematical thinkers," is one of those that interests me...

BEIJING -- He's the most famous 8-year-old in all of China. Just an ordinary third-grader a week ago, Yang Ningkang now plays a key role in the campaign to make his father, astronaut Yang Liwei, into China's new role model. More than five days after returning from orbit, the elder Yang has yet to appear in public even as the state media lionizes him. ...

Kathryn Lee McCormack, 46, of Jackson died Monday, Oct. 20, 2003, at St. John's Mercy Hospital in St. Louis. She was born June 3, 1957, in Kirkwood, Mo., daughter of Ivan and Alice Johnson Myers. McCormack was a 1975 graduate of Meadow Heights High School at Patton, Mo. She received a bachelor of science degree in nursing from Southeast Missouri State University...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Orman "Junior" Winn Jr., 70, of Olive Branch died Sunday, Oct. 19, 2003, at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale in Carbondale, Ill. He was born Nov. 17, 1932, in Marion, Ill., son of Orman and Sibyl Chamness Winn. He and Norma Isom were married April 2, 1955...

Cape Girardeau Wednesday, Oct. 22 Firefighters responded to the following items Monday: At 6:56 p.m., a motor vehicle accident at mile marker 102 on Interstate 55. At 7:38 p.m., still alarm at 2408 Albert Rasche Drive. At 10:46 p.m., medical assist at 105 S. Spanish...

Cape Girardeau Wednesday, Oct. 22 The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Eric N. MacKinnon, 37, of 430 S. Ellis, Cape Girardeau, was arrested Monday on suspicion of stealing. Nathan M. Wallace, 23, of 124 N. Henderson, Apt. 1, Cape Girardeau, was arrested Monday on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia...

WASHINGTON -- A third of the nation's workers without health insurance are employed by large companies, a study says. Thirty-two percent of all uninsured workers in 2001 were employed by big companies, up from 25 percent in 1987, according to the report released Tuesday by The Commonwealth Fund...

BANGKOK, Thailand -- China emerged from the Asia-Pacific summit with fresh prominence as Asia's powerhouse and perhaps as a partner in a more cooperative relationship with the United States. During the meeting of 21 leaders, Chinese President Hu Jintao resisted President Bush's pressure to ease controls on his nation's currency, and took on a big new mediator's role in both North Korea and Myanmar. Hu did, however, show support for stronger action on terrorism...

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- A high-stakes plan for breaking a yearlong deadlock in Northern Ireland peacemaking started to fall apart Tuesday as Protestants rejected a new Irish Republican Army disarmament move as too vague. Britain launched a day of diplomatic drama by confirming that an election for Northern Ireland's legislature -- the intended bedrock of the 1998 peace accord here -- would proceed Nov. ...

Gas region rejects new president's export plans LA PAZ, Bolivia -- Bolivia's new president, who came to power following violent protests to the former leader's plan to export natural gas, faced a new challenge Tuesday from supporters of the project...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Invoking a law rushed through the legislature only an hour earlier, Gov. Jeb Bush ordered a feeding tube reinserted Tuesday into a brain-damaged woman at the center of one of the nation's longest and most bitter right-to-die battles...

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. -- Volunteers stacked sandbags on levees Tuesday as the Skagit River rose toward an expected major flood crest following the second torrential rainstorm in the Pacific Northwest in less than a week. Flood warnings were posted along 11 rivers in western Washington. ...

As Burton Anderson, writing in "Treasures of the Italian Table" has observed, "If Naples had managed to patent the pizza it would now be among Italy's wealthiest cities instead of one of its poorest." He is doubtless correct. You can now find pizza anywhere in the world. ...

smcclanahan A couple of weekends ago, we visited the Fall Festival at the Saxon Lutheran Memorial in Frohna, Mo. Hidden in a small little town north of Cape Girardeau, this memorial was the site for a fabulous variety of crafting and workings of days gone by. Blacksmithing, broom making, butchering, butter churning, corn shucking and shelling, picket fence weaving, soap making and many other events were all taking place as we made our way around the grounds...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Angela M. Coffel's status as the only woman ever declared a sexually violent predator in Missouri is in the hands of the state Supreme Court. Her case was one of three -- including one involving a Scott County man -- the court considered Tuesday challenging the constitutionality of the state law that allows for the indefinite confinement of convicted sex offenders who have completed their prison terms but are deemed likely to commit new crimes if released. ...

When he was 5 years old, Roland Smith's parents gave him a manual typewriter for Christmas. He's been pounding away at letters ever since, in between animal rescues and trips around the world. On Tuesday, the award-winning children's author from Portland, Ore., passed along a different writing tool to hundreds of local students gathered in Cape Girardeau. He hopes his advice inspires them to consider a career in writing or at least encourages them to read...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Two men died early Wednesday after fire broke out in the apartment building where they lived. Names of the victims were not released. Another person in the building was injured, but details of the injury were not immediately available. The cause of the fire was under investigation...

In the garden Things to do this week: In the kitchen Apple insights The 2003 U.S. apple harvest is under way, and the U.S. Apple Association estimates the total crop will be about 216.2 million bushels. That's about 94 apples for every man, woman and child in the United States, they say...

CAIRO, Ill. -- LaVona Myers, 94, of Cairo died Monday, Oct. 20, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 19, 1909, in Berkley, Ky., daughter of George and Melissa Dycus Blackburn. She married Barney F. Myers, who died in 1983...

ANNA, Ill. -- Gary L. Bittle, 52, of Anna died Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Oct. 6, 1951, in Anna, son of Howard and Pauline Frick Bittle. Bittle attended Shawnee Community College and Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. He was a mental health technician at Clyde L. Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center. He was a member of First Baptist Church...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Christine Bost, 76, of Jonesboro died Sunday, Oct. 19, 2003, at Union County Hospital in Anna, Ill. She was born June 16, 1927, in Jonesboro, daughter of Clarence A. and Virgie Bass Tweedy. She and Elmer R. Adams were married Aug. 26, 1946. He preceded her in death...

TAMMS, Ill. -- William Gray Jr., 71, of Tamms died Monday, Oct. 20, 2003, at his home. Heavenly Gates Funeral Home in Cairo, Ill., is in charge of arrangements.

Stephen Jon Hileman, 53, of Murray, Ky., died Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2003, at his home. He was formerly of Cape Girardeau. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Fritzie Faye Jenkins, 79, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2003, at Life Care Center. She was born Feb. 8, 1924, in Fond du Lac, Wis., daughter of John F. and Ruth E. Lyneis Touchette. She and Lt. Col. Carey B. Jenkins were married July 7, 1946, at Fort Francis E. Warren, Wyo. He died Jan. 23, 1964...

Tucker Jones, 19, of Jackson died Thursday, Oct. 16, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, from injuries received in a motorcycle accident in Jackson. His sister, Krystal Jones, also died in the accident. He was born July 30, 1984, in Creston, Iowa, son of Harold and Victoria Skinner Jones...

Krystal Jones, 16, of Jackson died Thursday, Oct. 16, 2003, in a motorcycle accident in Jackson. Her brother, Tucker Jones, also died in the accident. She was born Dec. 25, 1986, in Smithville, Mo., daughter of Harold and Victoria Skinner Jones. Jones was a student at Jackson High School, was an all-star cheerleader and competed in track, basketball and softball. She was formerly of Elgin, Okla...

Pauline Charlotte Evans, 76, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2003, at her home. She was born Aug. 3, 1927, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Luther Eugene and Edna Mae Tucker Allen. She and Monroe Evans Jr. were married Oct. 8, 1945, at Morley, Mo. He died Aug. 6, 1975...

10 years ago: Oct. 22, 1993 Three hundred fifty-one Cape Girardeau County residents have applied for federal flood disaster assistance, ranking county 20th statewide in number of applicants for aid, say Federal Emergency Management Agency officials; FEMA officials say that 199 Cape Girardeau County applicants were eligible for temporary housing assistance because of flooding, with 99 percent having received such aid; 28 homes in county remain inaccessible...

Cape council member files for re-election Cape Girardeau City Councilman Jay Purcell filed for re-election on Tuesday, the first day candidates could file for the April municipal election. The Ward 3 alderman was elected in 1998 to fill an unexpired term. He was elected to a four-year term in 2000...

Roberts Homemakers The Roberts Homemakers Club met at Riverside Regional Library for their October meeting and Halloween party. Following the carry-in meal, president Judy Bryant conducted a brief business meeting, where it was voted to donate $30 to the Ministerial Alliance Food Pantry...

As I round the bend toward 34, I'm conscious that it will be my last year inside that desirable 18-to-34 demographic, a.k.a. The Holy Grail of Marketing. It seems I ought to be enjoying this time by dressing younger, acting younger, doing younger things. You know, enjoying the carefree impulsiveness of youth while it's still an option...