Stories from Saturday, May 27, 2006

@Summary Statement:By TJ GREANEY While her husband was serving in Iraq, Paula Grass called the armory in Cape Girardeau with one simple question: She wanted to know where she could find a doctor. Unfortunately, she said, the question happened to be one no one there could answer...

Southeast Missouri State University and Missouri Southern State University in Joplin are forming a partnership to train more dental hygienists. A program that hopes to attract 10 to 12 students will begin in the fall of 2007 if Missouri lawmakers and the Coordinating Board for Higher Education approve, said Dr. Tia Strait, dean of the School of Technology at Missouri Southern...

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers this week approved its latest plan for closing the levee gap at New Madrid with floodgates, a step that could generate more legal wrangling than construction activity. The $85 million project, a source of constant battles between environmental groups, the corps and area landowners, would prevent the Mississippi River from spilling onto land near New Madrid...

Memorial Day celebrations are set to begin across the region. Cape Girardeau will hold its annual program at the Osage Centre Monday at 11 a.m. The event will include a combined color guard from the Marine Corps League, American Legion Post 63, and VFW Post 3838...

PADUCAH, Ky. -- Southeast Missouri State avoided elimination once Friday, but later the Redhawks met a virtually inevitable fate as their season came to a close. The Redhawks did not let their campaign end without some serious resistance. Southeast bounced back from Thursday's loss to top-seeded Samford in a winners bracket semifinal of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament by beating fifth-seeded Austin Peay 10-9...

The magic distance for the Southeast track team on Friday was 400 meters. Senior hurdler Alonzo Nelson and junior sprinting standout Miles Smith qualified for the finals of their events at the NCAA Mideast Regional in Knoxville, Tenn. Nelson ran the day's second-best time in the 400 hurdles, while Smith won his heat in the open 400...

Juniors Rachel Kahle of Jackson and Nicole Jackson of Central have taken their seasonlong sprinting battle to Jefferson City, Mo. Both qualified for today's finals of the 100- and 200-meter sprints in the Class 4 girls state track and field meet by passing through the preliminaries Friday...

SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego Padres could have used a game like this against St. Louis in October. Mike Piazza, Dave Roberts and Adrian Gonzalez homered, and Clay Hensley threw eight strong innings to lead the Padres to a 7-1 victory over the NL Central-leading Cardinals on Friday night...

The Southeast Missourian newspaper is seeking nominations for the 2006 Spirit of America Award, which honors a community member who personifies the character and ideals of America. Any organization -- civic clubs, church groups, veterans organizations, Scout troops, sports leagues, school groups, auxiliaries and others -- can nominate someone for the award. The organization that nominates the winner will receive $1,000 to be used for its good works...

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Goaltender Martin Gerber put the Carolina Hurricanes back on track and the banged-up Buffalo Sabres on their heels in the Eastern Conference finals. Gerber, making his first start in a month, stopped 22 shots to register his first postseason shutout and victory in a 4-0 win Friday night that helped the Hurricanes tie the series at 2¼-2...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- As losses pile up and anguish deepens, the Kansas City Royals are learning to hate the word "pace." Just eight weeks into the season, people are poking fun at the 11-35 Royals and calculating that they are on pace to eclipse the 1962 New York Mets as baseball's worst-ever team...

Peter Jacobsen shot a 3-under-par 68 to move past Oak Tree member Gil Morgan on Friday for a one-stroke lead after the second round of the Senior PGA Championship in Edmond, Okla. Brad Bryant shot a 4-under 67 to tie Morgan (70) for second. Morgan, who led by one stroke after the first round, had six birdies for the second straight day but this time had four bogeys to finish at 6-under after two rounds...

WASHINGTON -- The Senate confirmed R. David Paulison as chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Friday, ending uncertainty over whether the beleaguered disaster relief agency would have a permanent director by the start of hurricane season...

WASHINGTON -- Military investigators probing the deaths last November of about two dozen Iraqi civilians have evidence that points toward unprovoked murders by Marines, a senior defense official said Friday. The Marine Corps initially reported 15 deaths and said they were caused by a roadside bomb and an ensuing firefight with insurgents. A separate investigation is aimed at determining if Marines lied to cover up the events, which included the deaths of women and children...

A file photo of Capaha Municipal Pool was inadvertently run in Friday's Southeast Missourian. The pool was not open Thursday or Friday; it opens for the summer season at 1 p.m. today. The Southeast Missourian regrets the error.

Cape Girardeau...

WASHINGTON -- Gen. Michael Hayden won confirmation to be the 20th CIA director Friday in a lopsided Senate vote, placing a career Air Force officer in charge of the civilian spy agency that is grappling with intelligence reform at home as well as al-Qaida and other international threats...

DALLAS -- See, these really are a new breed of Dallas Mavericks. They truly can play defense. After being run over by Phoenix in the opener of the Western Conference finals, Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks clamped down in Game 2, throttling the Suns early and late to pull out a 105-98 victory Friday night that evens the series at one game apiece...

KATMANDU, Nepal -- The story, an open secret in the crowded nylon city of Mount Everest base camp, trickled out from the high Himalayas: a British mountaineer desperate for oxygen had collapsed along a well-traveled route to the summit. Dozens of people walked right past him, unwilling to risk their own ascents...

CHICAGO -- It was just a movie set, but in a moment it showed Chris Gardner where he'd been -- and how far he'd come. There with actor Will Smith -- who was playing Gardner, a former homeless man turned millionaire -- Gardner stood in what looked like the train station bathroom where he once slept a quarter century ago...

VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia -- The Beslan school siege trial ended Friday much as it began, with grief-crazed mothers venting their anger at the sole known surviving attacker and at a government they say lied about the tragedy. The regional Supreme Court convicted Nur-Pashi Kulayev in the deaths of 331 people -- more than half of them children -- and sentenced him to life in prison. ...

To the editor: An unfortunate job of newspapers is reporting about the tragic crashes that occur on Missouri's highways. Many times newspapers also note that drivers or passengers killed in traffic accidents were not wearing their safety belts. This fact makes deaths on our highways even more tragic. On numerous occasions, those deaths could have been prevented...

To the editor: I read the May 22 headlines and saw that the Bell City School District would have to repay to the state $19,000 it illegally obtained. As a grandfather, a former school board member and past president of the Bell City Improvement Corp., I find it necessary to ask for the resignations of six of the seven school board members along with the superintendent and any others who conspired to obtain education funds illegally...

To the editor: Congratulations on your article on flight training through the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center and to those who established this program. It reminded me of 60 years ago. I was a high school boy who luckily got a job at the local airport/flying school. I pushed planes in and out of the hangar, washed them, pumped gas, checked oil and inspected the planes each day. The pay was $18 a week plus one hour of flying time with an instructor...

Kiefner aces No. 2 at Cape Country Club Luanne Kiefner recorded a hole in one Tuesday on the second hole at Cape Girardeau Country Club. Witnesses were Judi Brey and Marlena Jones. Kathy Morris was the medalist this week for women's league action at the Cape Giardeau Country Club...

25 years ago: May 27, 1981 Union employees of the Florsheim Shoe Co. plant, Highway 74 and South West End Boulevard, stage what they call a wildcat strike, saying it is in protest of several workers being suspended as a result of their actions following a bomb threat hoax at the plant Friday...

Balsman...

Sybil Mae Loos, 86, died Friday, May 26, 2006, at Jackson Manor. McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson is in charge of arrangements.

A better life; Full-time politicos; Campaign money; Moonlighting officials; Transporting ethanol; Consulting ethics; Stopping drug deals; Ride the school bus; Not a rock star; Smelly deal

PAID FLAG HERRIN, Ill. -- Kenneth Irl Beltz, 70, of Herrin passed away Friday, May 26, 2006, at his residence. Mr. Beltz was a retired truck driver, having worked for Southern Express in Cape Girardeau, Saturn in Carroll Stream, Ill., Womack and the city of Herrin...

Colleges; Hockey

MAUMEE, Ohio -- The pews have been replaced by upholstered chairs at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Maumee. The altar is now an expansive stage that accommodates drummers, guitarists and keyboard players. The most popular seats in the building are the two leather couches that make the church's entryway feel like a hip coffee shop...

The Thebes Courthouse is a historic gem in our midst. Abraham Lincoln practiced law in the court's circuit. Dred Scott, the slave whose suit for freedom helped precipitate the Civil War, spent time in the jail there. Built more than a decade before the Civil War, the courthouse is on the National Register of Historic Places and has a commanding view of the Mississippi River. ...

Cape Girardeau...

Gladys E. Davis, 75, of Jackson died Thursday, May 25, 2006, at her home, following a lengthy illness. Friends may call from 4:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.

SIKESTON, Mo. -- In a meeting where the mood fluctuated between heavy tension and diplomacy, Sikeston city officials and residents made their thoughts known directly to MoDOT on the issue of the Union Pacific Railroad track swap proposal Friday. Over 20 people attended the meeting at MoDOT's regional headquarters in Sikeston. ...

WASHINGTON -- Treasury Secretary John Snow, a loyal lieutenant on the White House economic team, has signaled he is ready to resign once President Bush picks a successor, administration officials and people close to Snow say. ...

BRAN CASTLE, Romania -- A Transylvanian castle famous for its connections to the 15th century medieval ruler who inspired "Dracula" was returned Friday to a Romanian royal heir, more than a half-century after it was seized by the country's communist regime...

INDIANAPOLIS -- Andretti. Unser. Penske. Rahal. Indeed, the names look the same as they did back when the Indianapolis 500 was the main event of Memorial Day weekend. There is, however, still a lot of work to do. Ten years after the chasm in open-wheel racing was split open, the Indy 500 retains its prominent spot on the sports calendar...

The Cape Girardeau American Legion junior team won the first two games of its season en route to a 2-0 start in pool play at the Jackson tournament. Cape Girardeau beat Jackson 11-9 on Friday after beating Sikeston 11-10 in eight innings on Thursday night...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- The Oran baseball team's hitting offset a mediocre starting pitching performance earlier this week in the sectional round of the Class 1 state playoffs. On Friday in the Class 1 quarterfinal, the Eagles scored the only run they needed against Saxony Lutheran in the first inning, as junior left-hander Chase Seyer shut the Crusaders down in a 9-0 rout at the Perryville City Park...

As sons of a Baptist minister, Christian messages were instilled in Tim, Scott and Todd Mills throughout their childhood. Now, the brothers incorporate those themes into the music of their country/gospel group, the Southern Brothers. The brothers will bring their blend of country and gospel music to Cape Girardeau on Sunday night. The group will record a live album and film the performance for a music DVD at 6 p.m. at La Croix United Methodist Church...

A hand waved backward in the air as I offered the greeting "Hi, I'm Ellen. What is your name?" Then, "Are you related to Bobbie's wife?" "Oh no, I'm not closely related to the family at all," a young man ventured as he attempted to shove my question aside with his hand gesture "You don't want to know me because I'm just A NOBODY here." Then he positioned himself beside the coffee pot in the basement of the funeral home -- assigning himself the job of chief coffee maker...

For the past two months I have been teaching in Japan, and last week Kaye and I traveled to Hiroshima, where I presented a lecture on "William Faulkner and Southern Culture" at Hiroshima University and we visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and its adjacent park...