Stories from Saturday, November 13, 2004

Unable to make bond and lease payments this month, struggling Renaissance Aircraft has abandoned plans to build airplanes at Cape Girardeau, ending a three-year business venture that was plagued by litigation and a lack of investors. The company's attorney, Eric Rowe of Washington, D.C., said company president John Dearden planned to remove all of the company's equipment from the city-owned hangar within 30 days...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Police say a man bit an officer and his dog Friday after trying to stiff a cab driver on a fare. Mark A. McClarty, 28, of Kansas City, Kan., was charged Friday with assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest and stealing. Capt. ...

From staff and wire reports With the harvest nearing completion, agricultural statisticians are raising their record predictions for most of Missouri's leading crops, including corn and soybeans. Soybeans, the state's top cash crop, are forecast at a record 227 million bushels based on Nov. 1 conditions, up 5 percent from last month's forecast and 22 percent above the previous record production in 2001, the Missouri Agricultural Statistics Service said Friday...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri coach Gary Pinkel says the coaching staff emphasizes playing well in the fourth quarter. But something isn't working. Pinkel, speaking during the Big 12 coaches' teleconference this week, said coaches are taking the blame for the second-half collapses that have proven so costly for Missouri (4-5, 2-4 Big 12) this season...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Paige Sports Arena redefines Columbia's skyline, a big steel turtle shell rising next to the mausoleum-like Hearnes Center, ancestral mansion for University of Missouri basketball. With its skylighted roof arch, concourses like boulevards, 24-hour practice gym and private suites with catered food and drinks, Paige Sports Arena is promoted as the nation's finest on-campus basketball venue...

WASHINGTON -- The government ordered U.S. airlines Friday to turn over personal information about passengers so it can test a system for identifying potential terrorists. The move brought protests from civil libertarians worried about invasions of privacy...

Trial of Florida man moved to December The trial of a Royal Palm Beach, Fla., man accused luring a Cape Girardeau boy to Kansas for sex has been delayed to December. Archillis Boglosa, 35, was originally scheduled to appear before a jury next week. He is to appear for a pretrial hearing Dec. ...

Education secretary to leave job, official says WASHINGTON -- Rod Paige, who rose from racial segregation to become the nation's first black education secretary, intends to leave his Cabinet position, an administration official said Friday. "The secretary has been looking at leaving, and he's been in discussion with the White House about the right time to do so," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. ...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following on Thursday: At 3:23 p.m., emergency medical service at Broadway and Lacey Street. At 6:44 p.m., emergency medical service in the 1100 block of Giboney Avenue. Firefighters responded to the following items on Friday:...

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Yasser Arafat was buried Friday in the place where he spent his last years as a virtual prisoner, seen off in a huge and chaotic outpouring of grief for the man who embodied the Palestinian people's dream of statehood. Police firing in the air failed to restore order as the tens of thousands of mourners rushed toward the coffin, struggling to be close to their leader -- hailed as a Nobel Peace laureate and branded a terrorist -- for one final time...

SEATTLE -- Get ready for a lot of sore thumbs. Nintendo Co. is set to launch Nintendo DS, the latest of its wallet-sized game systems designed to slip easily into your backpack and encourage procrastination wherever you may roam. The Japanese company has already built up a following with its popular handheld Game Boy systems, but those appealed mainly to children. Now, Nintendo is hoping the new gadget's sleeker design, more adult games and risque ad campaign will draw teens and young men...

Is the Anglican Communion headed toward an eventual crackup? The situation doesn't look particularly hopeful, based on reaction to the work of an emergency commission whose goal is preserving the worldwide body of 77 million Christians. Anglicans are sharply divided over Christianity's teaching against gay sex and, underlying that, the interpretation and authority of the Bible. The Lambeth Commission's report said it regrets five incidents that created a crisis over the issue:...

An arrest warrant was issued for a former Central High School basketball player this week after he missed a court appearance. Scott Chestnutt was charged Sept. 13 with unlawful use of a weapon. The warrant, which remains outstanding, was issued Monday. His $2,500 bond was forfeited, and a $5,000 cash-only bond was set. Chestnutt is scheduled for a bond forfeiture hearing Jan. 13...

PIEDMONT, Mo. -- At first glance, the photo is a bit bizarre. Curious. A man in tan overalls and a khaki hat is holding up an orange stick, presumably to gauge depth. In front of him is a huge hole, a moon crater on Earth, big enough to swallow a car...

Cape Girardeau's next superintendent could make $36,000 more than Mark Bowles currently receives, an increase that school board members say is necessary to attract a qualified candidate but some teachers say is unfair. Under the suggestion of the Missouri School Boards' Association -- the organization conducting the district's superintendent search -- Cape Girardeau School Board members made the superintendent's salary range $125,000 to $140,000 per year. ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- After finding Cecil Barriner guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, a jury on Friday spared his life by handing down two sentences of life in prison. Although he will spend the rest of his days behind bars without chance for parole, the jury's sentencing decision was a victory for Barriner, who twice before had been sent to Missouri's death row for the brutal stabbing deaths of two New Madrid County women. The Missouri Supreme Court overturned both convictions...

If you want to catch Trans Siberian Orchestra's "Christmas Eve and Other Tales," act fast. There are only a few hundred tickets left for the Wednesday performance at the Show Me Center. According to the Show Me Center's director David Ross, since Nov. 2, an average of 150 Trans Siberian Orchestra tickets a day have been sold...

PRINCETON, N.J. -- What seems like unnatural acts in Texas -- dropping into academic conferences, reading The New York Times -- are part of normality here. So on Friday, Oct. 22, an otherwise unimportant day because it was after the playoffs yet before the World Series, I heard and read blasts from the past but saw that they are no longer going uncontested...

The Wall Street Journal President Bush offered the first indication of what his second term will look like Wednesday by nominating Alberto Gonzales -- his close friend and current White House counsel -- to succeed John Ashcroft as attorney general. The message would seem to be policy continuity, with a kinder, gentler public face...

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -- A jury convicted Scott Peterson on Friday of murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, and now will decide whether the philandering husband whose lurid trial became a TV and tabloid sensation should pay with his life. Peterson, 32, was convicted of one count of first-degree murder for killing his wife and one count of second-degree murder in the death of the son she was carrying -- crimes that prosecutors said were part of a cold-blooded plot to escape marriage and fatherhood...

Cape Girardeau The following items were released Friday by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Alfred L. Jasper, 30, 86 E. Haven St., Caruthersville, Mo., was arrested on city warrants for contempt of court for failure to pay traffic fines...

Mary Blue was a lady. She sparkled when greeting people. She loved gardening and cooking and, maybe most of all, being the wife of John Blue, the longtime Southeast Missourian editor who preceded her in death three years ago. He adored her too. Her weekly gardening column, "Ladybug Says," appeared in the newspaper for 35 years, and she was the food editor for 20 years...

No leniency for Hinckley I JUST heard on the news where John Hinckley's attorney tried to get longer visitation rights for his client with his parents. I find it appalling as a U.S. citizen that a man who tried to murder the president of the United States is let go at any point. ...

McCLURE, Ill. -- Myrtle B. Barrett of McClure died Friday, Nov. 12, 2004, at Saint Francis Medical Center. She was born April, 19, 1933, at McClure, daughter of Elzie and Bessie Presley Brown. She and Dewey M. Barrett were married Nov. 17, 1956, at Corinth, Miss...

Stephen W. Ayers, 53, of St. Louis died Thursday, Nov. 11, 2004, at his home. He was born April 23, 1951, in Sikeston, Mo., son of Glenn and Drucille Pixley Ayers. Survivors include a companion, Martha Cavin of St. Louis; a son, Jason (Susan) Ayers of Cape Girardeau; a daughter, Rachel Ayers of Covington, Ky.; his mother of Cape Girardeau; two sisters, Helen (Phil) Taylor and Linda Ayers of Cape Girardeau; four brothers, Philip (Loretta) Ayers of St. ...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Bess McFerron, 89, of Park Hills, Mo., passed away Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2004, at St. Joe Manor in Bonne Terre, Mo. She was born Nov. 25, 1914, in Advance, daughter of Harry and Ada Dixon McKinley. She married Paul Raymond McFerron. Bess was a longtime member of Esther Baptist Church...

Jean McDowell, 83, of Jackson passed away Friday, Nov. 12, 2004, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 11, 1920, at Fruitland, daughter of William and Nannie Hansel Anderson. She and J. Ed McDowell were married June 17, 1938, in Blytheville, Ark. He passed away Nov. 20, 1992...

Cora Alice Wise, 92, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Nov. 12, 2004, at Fountainbleau Lodge. She was born April 8, 1912, at Blodgett, Mo., daughter of George A. and Gertrude Peel Johnson. She and Lee Bell Wise were married at Benton. He preceded her in death...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Albert C. Armes, 84, died Friday, Nov. 12, 2004, at the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born Aug. 4,1920 in Essex, Mo., son of George and Agnes Atherton Armes. He was a member of the Pollock, Mo., Church of Christ and had served as an elder for the Bloomfield and Fredericktown Church of Christ. He retired in 1982 from the USDA Soil Conservation Service. He was a veteran of the U.S. Navy and served in World War II...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Robert Eugene "Bob" Wyman, 82, of Highland Springs, Va., died Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2004, at Memorial Regional Hospital in Richmond, Va. He was born Oct. 2, 1922, in Richmond, son of Floyd L. and Anna Wagner Wyman. He and Mildred Ida Gohn were married Oct. 2, 1944, in Corning, Ark...

To the editor: In a recent issue of the Southeast Missourian, your writer indicated that the residents of Jackson defeated the school bond issue submitted to voters Nov. 2. This is incorrect information. Perhaps the writer should have checked the total votes by precinct first...

To the editor: Closing down all senior centers, as suggested by Robert Krone's letter, is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Seniors have paid taxes and supported schools and everything else during their long lives, so why should they be penalized? Who will see that senior shut-ins will get at least one hot meal a day and will have a place go to socialize with people their own age and similar interests...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Hunters will find plenty of deer for the November portion of Missouri's firearms deer season, which begins today and ends Nov. 23, but they will need to look sharp to find widely scattered deer. The state's deer population remains around 1 million, the same as last year. ...

Children can begin 'Adventures at Abbey Road' at First Christian Church this Sunday First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) will begin a new children's program Sunday, called "Adventures at Abbey Road." The program includes storytelling, crafts and other activities suited for children. ...

Today Fairview General Baptist Church near Advance, Mo., will present the Men of Westminster gospel quartet at 7 p.m. Sunday The Rev. George Wayne Smith, bishop of Missouri, will visit Christ Episcopal Church. He will teach at 9 a.m. from his book "Admirable Simplicity" and will be the celebrant at the 10:15 a.m. service of consecration and communion. A reception will be held after services...

The New Salem Baptist Academy boys basketball team defeated Mississippi Valley Christian School 47-27 on Friday in its final pool play game for a tournament in Roxana, Ill. New Salem (4-2) improved to 2-2 in the tourney and will play today in an eight-team bracket...

Tennessee Tech needs some help to gain at least a share of its first Ohio Valley Conference championship since 1975. But wait just a minute, said Tech coach Mike Hennigan. If the Eagles (6-3, 3-2) don't beat Southeast Missouri State University (2-7, 2-4) in today's 1 p.m. game at Houck Stadium, then everything else will be moot...

Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team figures to receive a much stiffer test in its final exhibition game tonight. After destroying hapless NAIA program Harris-Stowe 90-41 in its exhibition opener last Saturday, Southeast faces a solid Division II squad tonight when Harding (Ark.) University visits the Show Me Center for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff...

The Southeast Missouri State women won't get any style points for its final exhibition game, but at least the team was able to finish its preseason schedule undefeated. Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville -- a Division II squad that was just 11-17 last year -- proved to be a much tougher opponent than expected Friday, as Southeast prevailed 69-63 in front of more than 500 fans at the Show Me Center...

Not too long ago, Southeast Missouri State University's volleyball team would have been playing for an Ohio Valley Conference regular season title or positioning for a top seed in the conference tournament the last weekend of the season. From 1991 to 2000, Southeast won or shared the OVC regular season title eight times. Southeast won five OVC tournament titles during that span but has not won the OVC tournament since 2000...

Southeast Missouri State's baseball program landed two more players in the early signing period. Southeast nabbed junior college player Phillip Riley and high school senior Daniel Schuh on Thursday. Riley is a third baseman/pitcher from Jackson State Community College in Tennessee. Schuh is an outfielder from Jacksonville, Fla...

25 years ago: Nov. 13, 1979 While Iranian students at many university campuses in the United States have been the target for anti-Iranian protests in light of the hostage situation in Tehran, Iranian students at Southeast Missouri State University report their relationships with American students have, for the most part, remained normal...