Stories from Saturday, November 25, 2006

Southeast Missouri State's first home victory under Scott Edgar certainly did not come easily. But when you take over a program that won just seven games all last season, style points probably aren't necessary -- at least not right now. So Edgar and the Redhawks were more than happy to savor a 78-75 triumph over California-Riverside in their home opener witnessed by 2,843 fans at the Show Me Center Friday night...

The shopping wasn't what brought Norm and Peggy Brooks of Scott City to downtown Cape Girardeau Friday afternoon. Instead, they wanted to introduce the next generation of their family to a local Christmas tradition. With their 2-year-old granddaughter, Elise Kendrick, they made a trip to Hutson's Fine Furniture to see the store's locally famous and much-anticipated Christmas window display...

The politically sensitive question of how much to pay lawmakers, judges and statewide elected officials will be up for discussion Monday in Cape Girardeau at a public hearing of the Citizens Commission on Compensation for Elected Officials. The 22-member panel, revitalized by overwhelming voter approval of Amendment 7 on Nov. 7, must decide by Friday if it wants to recommend any changes in salaries for those officials, who have not received a raise for six years...

By Robert Sherrill I had the honor to take care of a fine young man this year. His name was Josh Oehl, and he was a 12-year-old fellow. I believe you ran an article about Josh. His teacher gave him an assignment, and I'd like for you to read what he wrote...

In a Nov. 13 ceremony in Washington, D.C., Lt. Gen. James Conway was promoted to Gen. James Conway and became the 34th commandant of the Marine Corps. That's a long way from graduating from Southeast Missouri State University in 1969 and presidency of the Sigma Epsilon fraternity...

John A. Baker and Ben Capshaw are the latest to file for the Cape Girardeau City Council, bringing the number of candidates for the seven-member charter council to 11. In an effort to curb mid-year graduation, the Jackson R-2 Board of Education has agreed to raise graduation requirements, beginning in the 1982-83 school year; the board agreed to raise the number of credits needed for graduation by one-half unit for the 1982-83 school year and another half unit in the 1983-84 school year...

Gift suggestion; Helpful angels; Crackdown on drugs; Eating at work; Holiday concert; Ticket consequences; Paving fairness; No to banning guns; Guns and safety; Go, Gang; Too much business?; High octane; No barrier; Draft focus; Victory in Iraq; Election mandates; Feeling safer; Chaffee winners

KIEV, Ukraine -- If a black flag waved in the air above a Ukrainian village in 1933, Ukrainians knew that every single resident was dead and their emaciated bodies were waiting to be collected. Today, this former Soviet republic marks the 73rd anniversary of the Great Famine -- a tragedy orchestrated by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin that continues to haunt and divide the nation of 47 million. ...

ALBANY, Mo. -- The town's largest employer still expects to close, but business hasn't slowed. In fact, the workers are at their busiest and some are getting overtime. Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls Inc. said in June that it will close the 220-employee York Engineered Systems plant next year and move production to Mexico. But layoffs planned for October have not come. Instead, the company has a full work force and has even rehired some of its laid-off workers...

EAST PEORIA, Ill. -- Central Illinois winters can be so frightful that one of the state's largest holiday light festivals is moving indoors, hoping turnout might be even more delightful this year. Organizers say bringing events in from the cold could boost attendance -- already around 120,000 -- by up to 25 percent at the annual East Peoria Festival of Lights, which kicks off a monthlong run today with a parade of lighted floats...

CHICAGO -- The family of a 22-year-old female hostage said Friday that they were upset and confused with police's actions during a 23-hour Thanksgiving Day standoff that ended with a gunman killing the hostage and himself. "We're angry," said India Cooks, 30, whose cousin Tasha Cooks was killed. "This is about, 'Did you do the best job you could to save a life?'"...

ST. LOUIS -- Nearly a year after the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri announced plans to arm north St. Louis residents with video cameras to record interactions with police, the program still has not begun. The ACLU originally planned to provide the video cameras to residents by summer after a series of incidents raised concern over potential police brutality. ...

ST. LOUIS -- Two young men in St. Louis were killed when a vehicle pulled alongside theirs and began shooting, then chased them to another site and shot again, police said Friday. Jerome Robinson, 21, died soon after the shooting Thursday night. Tyrone Cartwright Jr., 17, died later at a hospital. Cartwright's sister, Tijana, was in the back seat of the car but was unhurt...

SEATTLE -- A series of snowstorms that blanketed the Cascade Range lightened up Friday, drawing skiers to the slopes earlier than usual and prompting the state to briefly close a mountain highway because of avalanche concerns. Depending on the location, anywhere from one to two feet of snow had fallen in the Cascades from early Thursday through Friday afternoon, said Gary Schneider, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service's Seattle office...

MIAMI -- A cartoonist carrying a gun and dressed in camouflage surrendered to police at The Miami Herald's building Friday, more than two hours after arriving and demanding to see an editor of the newspaper's Spanish-language sister paper, police said...

DANVERS, Mass. -- Teams searched for hazardous materials Friday in a neighborhood damaged by a massive chemical plant explosion, as investigators prepared to look into what caused the blast. Meanwhile, residents waited to see if they would be allowed to permanently return to their houses for the first time since Wednesday's blast, which left a massive pile of rubble and woke people sleeping miles away...

CHICAGO -- Authorities are reviewing the conviction of a man imprisoned for a 1992 rape after he was cleared by DNA tests that the original lab analyst refused to conduct. Marlon Pendleton's lawyers received the results of the new tests Wednesday and filed a motion seeking to vacate his conviction. Prosecutors were reviewing the case and Pendleton's conviction in another rape, said John Gorman, spokesman for State's Attorney Richard Devine...

RED LAKE, Minn. -- Dozens of trained searchers were taking to woods, lakes and air Friday to hunt for two young brothers who disappeared from an American Indian reservation two days earlier. The FBI offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of Tristan Anthony White, 4, and Avery Lee Stately, 2...

CALIPATRIA, Calif. -- A small white gull with an ordinary name had bird watchers flocking to the Salton Sea for what they call a "mega-rarity." The Salton Sea, a 35-mile-long lake stretching across the Imperial and Riverside county line, is a popular stop for birds heading south, and Guy McCaskie, co-author of "Birds of Salton Sea," believed he spotted a Ross' gull there a week ago...

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- Belfast's most infamous militant stormed into the Northern Ireland Assembly headquarters Friday with a bagful of pipe bombs, forcing an evacuation that overshadowed the politicians' failure to meet a deadline for forming a new Catholic-Protestant administration...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Revenge-seeking militiamen seized six Sunnis as they left Friday prayers and burned them alive with kerosene in a savage new twist to the brutality shaking the Iraqi capital a day after suspected Sunni insurgents killed 215 people in Baghdad's main Shiite district...

LONDON -- A rare radioactive substance killed an ex-KGB spy turned Kremlin critic, the British government said Friday. In a dramatic statement written before he died, the man called Russian President Vladimir Putin "barbaric and ruthless" and blamed him personally for the poisoning...

ATLANTA -- A civil rights activist representing the family of an elderly woman killed in a gunfight with police is calling for a federal investigation into her death. The Rev. Markel Hutchins will go to Washington on Monday to deliver a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales requesting that the Department of Justice and FBI review the shootout, Hutchins said in a news release Thursday...

WASHINGTON -- When Congress targeted Nevada as the nation's nuclear waste dumping ground, the state didn't have the political power to say no. Twenty years later, the most ardent foe of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump is about to become Senate majority leader. Nevada Democratic Sen. Harry Reid's new job, which gives him control over what legislation reaches the Senate floor, could deal a crippling blow to the already stumbling project...

Forget Thanksgiving. Instead of spending the holiday with family, friends and a massive holiday feast Thursday, Sean Ivory opted to spend 13 chilly overnight hours in a lawn chair outside the front doors of Best Buy. "I know it sounds crazy, but a bargain's a bargain," said Ivory, who was first in line at the Cape Girardeau retailer after waiting in line since 4 p.m. ...

Bobby Williams ANNA, Ill. -- Bobby J. Williams, 70, of Anna died Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2006, at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Marion. He was born June 29, 1936 in Cypress, Ill., son of G. Lowell and Verna V. Bear Williams. He and Lillah Karraker were married July 16, 1971, at Alto Pass, Ill....

ST. LOUIS -- Bradford Roy Bond, 46, of St. Louis died Saturday, Nov. 18, 2006, in a motorcycle accident. He was born July 16, 1970, son of Lt. Col. (retired) Roy F. Bond and Evelyn L. Bond. Survivors include a sister, Cindy Crull of Dallas, Texas; a brother, Jack Stevens of Cold Springs, Texas; an uncle, Bill Hartle; an aunt, Geneva McKinnis and cousins of Cape Girardeau...

Gary E. Miller, 64, of Jackson died Thursday, Nov. 23, 2006, at his home. He was born March 2, 1942, in Pontiac, Ill., the son of James Lee and Sarah Jane Eads Miller. He and Sue Ellyn Pirtle were married on September 18, 1992, at Jackson. He was employed by the Missouri State Board of Probation and Parole as a supervisor for over 30 years. ...

Helen M. Meyer, 85, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Nov. 24, 2006, at her home. She was born May 30, 1921, at Black Oak, Ark., daughter of Jean and Lilly May Nicholas Giroir. She and Thomas L. Meyer were married May 8, 1941, at Cape Girardeau. Meyer was a member of St. Mary's Cathedral, a Girl and Boy Scouts leader and a member of the Friends of Saint Francis Medical Center...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Frances Louise Slinkard, 75, of Chaffee, died Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2006, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born June 27, 1931, at Dexter, Mo., daughter of William Sherman and Florene Evelyn Goodman Davenport. She and Norman Leo Curd were married Dec. 22, 1951. He preceded her in death. She and Billy Ray Slinkard were married Dec. 14, 1963. He died Feb. 26, 1980...

Lou Vera L. Daugherty Wilferth, 91, of Cape Girardeau, formerly of Jackson, died Friday, Nov. 24, 2006, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. Friends may call at McCombs Funeral Home from 10 to 11 a.m. Dec. 2. A memorial service will begin at 11 a.m. Dec. 2 at the funeral home...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Edna Louise James, 92, of Marble Hill, died Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2006, at Elder Care in Marble Hill. She was born Dec. 10, 1913, in St. Louis, the daughter of Beda and Theresa Sagadin Kerlongo Jud. She and Warren James were married Aug. 11, 1958. He died June 29, 1991...

Dense fog didn't stop shoppers in Michigan from climbing into their minivans and sport utility vehicles and heading to stores and malls in search of bargains. No way -- not on the day when thousands of other deal-seekers around the nation stormed electronics retailers and discounters in the pre-dawn chill, even as leftover turkey and stuffing cooled in refrigerators...

JEBALIYA, Gaza Strip -- The Palestinian prime minister said Friday that militants were prepared to stop firing rockets at Israel if it would halt all military action in Palestinian territories. Israel rejected the offer, saying it would respond positively only to a total truce.Similar proposals in the past have failed to curb fighting, and a spokesman for the ruling Hamas group quickly stepped back from the cease-fire talk, which came as fighting between militants and Israeli troops in Gaza claimed the lives of a 10-year-old Palestinian boy and a militant filming the clashes. ...

NEW YORK -- High traffic disrupted Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Web site for much of Friday, one of the year's busiest shopping days. The Walt Disney Co. also had problems handling the rush of online activity Friday, while Amazon.com Inc.'s site had brief disruptions a day earlier due to a Thanksgiving Day sale on Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 video game machines. ...

NEW YORK -- Investors get back to work next week and will be looking to see whether stocks can hold or perhaps extend their gains in the five remaining weeks of the year. With the all-important holiday shopping season having begun in earnest, investors will be looking to retailers for signs of how consumer spending is registering. Consumers account for about two-thirds of economic activity and therefore can hold considerable sway over corporate profits...

The Bell City boys basketball team lost its season-opening contest, falling to Memphis (Tenn.) Central 72-38 on Friday afternoon in the Riverbend Classic at New Madrid County Central. The Cubs, who were runners-up in Class 1 last season, had problems against the Warriors' pressure defense and committed 23 turnovers...

Claire Keaton of St. Louis signed a letter of intent to play volleyball at Southeast Missouri State beginning in 2007. Keaton recently completed her volleyball career at Incarnate Word Academy, where she was a three-year starter and played for state championship teams in 2004 and 2005...

The following information was released by the office of federal prosecutor Catherine Hanaway for defendants appearing in federal court before U.S. District Judge Catherine D. Perry. Sentenced Age: 25 Residence: Butler County, Mo...

Arrests; Thefts; Burglary

n An illegal burn at Donna Drive and Old Cape Road. n Emergency medical service on Lakewoods Drive. n Emergency medical service on Hillview Lane. n Emergency medical service on South Shawnee...

Thanksgiving turned around is "giving thanks." The Thanksgiving holiday that most celebrate focuses on food, fun and family gatherings. We forget it needs to be about being thankful for what we have. "Give thanks to the Lord; for he is good: his mercy endures for ever." Psalms 118:1...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Matt Blunt is concerned about the loss of tax revenue if the Kansas City Chiefs and the St. Louis Rams play regular-season home games outside the United States, as announced recently by the NFL, The Kansas City Star reported Friday...

In this season of giving and caring, people collect toys for children who would otherwise have none. Some gather food and feed the hungry. Others help to make the season meaningful for residents of nursing and veterans homes. But a group of Cape Girardeau churches have an unusual ministry, dedicated to serving a group of individuals who are sometimes overlooked...

DETROIT -- Martin Rucinsky and Doug Weight scored in the shootout to give the St. Louis Blues a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night. St. Louis goalie Manny Legace stopped Jason Williams on his attempt and Pavel Datsyuk hit the goal post...