Stories from Monday, December 31, 2007

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Two people are dead after an early morning house fire in suburban St. Louis. The names of the victims were not immediately released, but officials say the victims were a middle-aged man and elderly woman. The fire broke out about 3 a.m. near the Maryland Heights suburb in St. Louis County Firefighters from the Monarch Fire Protection District responded...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Top presidential candidates have spent about $3 million in Missouri based on their most recent campaign reports, with a Kansas City business and a legislative leader among those reaping the funds. In Missouri, Air Charter Team, which lines up aircraft to shuttle many of the presidential hopefuls around the country, has been paid more than $2 million so far, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Monday...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The billboard industry wants the state to move instead of demolish old billboards when the eventual reconstruction of interstates 70 and 40 begins. Most of the billboards along the interstates were put up before the Legislature and numerous Missouri cities imposed stricter limits on their size and placement. That means the state would have to buy many of the billboards for a hefty price and tear them down when transportation officials make changes to the interstates...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- After nearly a year of work, University of Missouri curators were visibly excited when they gathered on campus just before Christmas to announce their selection of a new president. There was just one problem: Gary Forsee's hiring was old news...

While most people were counting down the days of December waiting for Christmas on the 25th, Colleen Riordan, 32, was going to bed early waiting on Dec. 21 -- the day she regained custody of her four children. After spending half her life hooked on heroin in Philadelphia, Riordan is now sober, living in Cape Girardeau and playing mom to her three sons. Her daughter stayed in Pennsylvania with Riordan's mother to finish high school...

Mike Bennett and his wife will have a different vantage point watching Tuesday's AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic game than they did in 1970 -- the last time the University of Missouri Tigers played in a bowl game on New Year's Day. On Tuesday, the Cape Gir-ardeau couple will watch the game from the stands at Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas as 7th-ranked Mizzou takes on No. 25 Arkansas. Their seats are near the end zone, Bennett said...

The rising cost of health insurance hits home with businesses and families this time every year because many plans have a Jan. 1 renewal date. I'll be looking in depth at what's happening in the market over the coming days and will report back later on what I find...

The Southeast Missourian will not publish on Tuesday. Newspaper offices will be closed all day Tuesday and reopen at 8 a.m. Wednesday ...

The final Christmas tour at the Glenn House is 1 to 4 p.m. New Year's Day. The home, on the National Register of Historic Places, was designed in 1883 by architect Edwin Branch Deane for his daughter, Lulu and her husband, David A. Glenn, a Cape Girardeau merchant and banker. The family lived here until 1915...

Mysterious murders were finally solved and new familial murders were committed, falls from grace contrasted with the courage of a little girl fighting a disease with a big name, and crops and airline flights dried up. These stories dominated the headlines in 2007...

The regional business scene was a mixed bag in 2007, as national slumps in housing and automobile sales made their presence felt while local achievements, including the opening of the National Asset Recovery Services Inc., or NARS, call center with its 400 new jobs, helped offset other job losses...

To the editor:It is hard to believe Missouri officials want to spend time, money and effort to get Timothy Krajcir, the killer, here to charge him with still more murders. All they are doing is seeing to it he gets chauffeured around at taxpayer expense. For what? He's already convicted elsewhere and deserves to see nothing more than the four walls of that prison until the day he dies. What are our officials going to accomplish beyond getting their picture made with the killer?...

Parents of students; Costly taxi service; Air service decision; Good column; It takes a man; One way for taxes

He is probably far better known nationally among university marching band leaders than he is in his own city. You might have already seen Barry Bernhardt's work on national television this week. Bernhardt has had his hands on the marching band performances of eight bowl games this year, including the Champs Sports Bowl and the Gator Bowl, which he will direct. The others he helped choreograph by using computer software where he can orchestrate movements of up to 2,000 performers...

As the 1982 year ends, Cape Girardeau County residents line up to pay their tax bills by the New Year's Eve deadline; the county collector's offices in Cape Girardeau and Jackson remain open until 4:30 p.m. for the convenience of last-minute taxpayers...

NEW YORK -- Messages and wishes for the new year from people around the world will float down on the New Year's Eve revelers in Times Square when the confetti is dropped. For the first time, anyone can get a message printed on a piece of the multicolored confetti by visiting the Times Square Information Center or by using the Internet to type a message on a "Wishing Wall Online" -- tinyurl.com/2c5efd...

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- A roadside bomb killed a NATO soldier and wounded four others in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, while a Taliban ambush left eight Afghan security personnel dead, officials said. The NATO soldiers were patrolling in the country's volatile south when an explosion ripped through their vehicle, NATO said in a statement...

ST. LOUIS -- It hardly seems a subject for nostalgia, but for those who commute on Interstate 64 in St. Louis, now is the time for one last look before a stretch of the roadway from Ballas Road to Interstate 170 closes for about a year starting Wednesday...

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- More than a dozen counties in Southern Illinois have no National Board Certified teachers, even though more teachers than ever earned that voluntary professional certification in the state this year. It's tougher to recruit teachers in rural areas to go through the certification process because there are fewer peers around to mentor them, said Vicki Hensley of the Illinois Board of Professional Teaching Standards...

Larry William Mantz, 64, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, Dec. 29, 2007, at his home. He was born Oct. 14, 1943, in Jackson, son of Bill and Hilda Koechig Mantz. He and Deloris Price were married Nov. 20, 1970, in Jackson. He attended Jackson High School. Mantz was a truck driver for 28 years for Mid-South Steel...

Mary Ellen Ueleke, 89, of Cape Girardeau, died Sunday, Dec. 30, 2007, at her home. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home.

Cape GirardeauThe following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI n A subject was in custody pending filing of formal charges of driving while intoxicated and endangering the welfare of a child...

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to the following calls: n At 10:17 p.m., an emergency medical service in the unit block of South West End Boulevard. n At 10:56 p.m., a still alarm at 1334 West Hill Drive. n At 11:58 p.m., an emergency medical service in the 1100 block of Big Bend Road...

BOSTON -- The loss or theft of personal data such as credit card and Social Security numbers soared to unprecedented levels in 2007, and the trend isn't expected to turn around anytime soon as hackers stay a step ahead of security and laptops disappear with sensitive information...

RICHMOND, Va. -- Animal advocates around the nation hope that public outrage over dogfighting and puppy mill scandals in Virginia will force state and federal lawmakers to pass tougher animal abuse laws. Some sportsmen, however, warn that the emotionally charged debate could result in laws affecting legitimate owners, especially of hunting dogs, along with the intended targets...

NEW YORK -- The Times Square New Year's Eve ball is celebrating its centennial by going green. The star of the world-famous holiday extravaganza was revamped this year with 9,576 energy-efficient bulbs that use about the same amount of electricity as 10 toasters...

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- As more details emerged about the chaos during a tiger's attack of three young men at the San Francisco Zoo, family and friends mourned the teenager who was killed. About 100 people gathered Saturday outside the San Jose home of Carlos Sousa Jr.'s grandmother for a vigil. Many held candles in cups and were silent as Sousa's father stood on the doorstep in front of two enlarged photos of him and his son...

ATLANTA -- Rain fell in the city for a fourth consecutive day Sunday, assuring that 2007 would not go down as the driest year on record for the drought-stricken Atlanta area. The most arid year ever recorded for Atlanta was 1954, when only 31.80 inches of rain fell...

NEW YORK -- Netscape Navigator, the world's first commercial Web browser and the launch pad of the Internet boom, will be pulled off life support Feb. 1 after a 13-year run. Its current caretakers, Time Warner Inc.'s AOL, decided to kill further development and technical support to focus on growing the company as an advertising business. ...

Classes offered for small businesses The Missouri Small Business Development Center of the Cape Girardeau County office of the University of Missouri service will offer several classes for small businesses in coming weeks. The classes will cover topics ranging from customer service to general information about the types of help available through the center. Anyone interested in the courses should contact the center at 243-3581...

King completes online assistance course Sheila King of Realty Executives of Cape County recently completed the Realtor e-Pro course to earn certification in providing online customer assistance from the National Association of Realtors. The course is designed to keep Realtors abreast of changing technology and identify and implement new Internet business models...

MADISONVILLE, Ky. -- A western Kentucky coal mine is being brought back into service, opening jobs for as many as 900 miners. St. Louis-based Armstrong Coal Co. plans to begin operation at the Big Run Mine in April. David Cobb, Armstrong Coal's vice president of business development, said when the Ohio County mine is running at full production, the company will employ 900 miners at it and other company operations...

JERUSALEM -- Furious over the killing of two Israelis hiking in the West Bank, Israel's prime minister said Sunday that no peace will come until Palestinians crack down on militants, a declaration that clouds a coming visit by President Bush. To clear the way for Bush to push for progress, the two sides had just agreed to paper over another spat: Israel's plan to build 307 new apartments in a Jewish neighborhood in east Jerusalem, the section claimed by the Palestinians...

NAUDERO, Pakistan -- Benazir Bhutto's 19-year-old son -- a student with no political experience -- was named symbolic leader of her party Sunday, while her husband took effective control, extending Pakistan's most enduring political dynasty. The major parties appeared to agree that the elections should take place as scheduled Jan. 8 despite street violence and political turmoil triggered by the assassination of Bhutto. The Election Commission is to discuss the timing of the polls today...

WASHINGTON -- The dispute over Indiana's voter identification law that is headed to the Supreme Court next week is as much a partisan political drama as a legal tussle. The mainly Republican backers of the law, including the Bush administration, say state-produced photo identification is a prudent measure to cut down on vote fraud -- even though Indiana has never had a prosecution of the kind of fraud the law is supposed to prevent...

STEELE, N.D. -- Paul Smokov doesn't need radar or other high-tech equipment to forecast a major snowstorm on the prairie. He consults pig spleens. "It looks like a normal year with no major storms," said the 84-year-old Smokov, peering at two of the brown, glistening, foot-long organs on his kitchen counter like a Gypsy gazing into a crystal ball. "That's what the spleens tell me."...

TAMPA, Fla. -- The clown walked into church like he owned the place. KoKoMo stood proudly in the sanctuary of Carrollwood Baptist, his huge white shoes planted firmly, his head-to-toe sequins glimmering, his nose and wig as red as a Christmas bow. It was no joke. KoKoMo was decked out for God...

DUNBAR, W.Va. -- Sometimes you need a police officer; sometimes you need a tissue. Confuse the two, and it could cost you. A woman in this Charleston suburb was charged with battery on a police officer after the officer said she wiped her nose on the back of his shirt...

BAGHDAD -- The second half of 2007 saw violence drop dramatically in Iraq, but the progress came at a high price: The year was the deadliest for the U.S. military since the 2003 invasion, with 899 troops killed. American commanders and diplomats, however, say the battlefield gains against insurgents such as al-Qaida in Iraq offer only a partial picture of where the country stands as the war moves toward its five-year mark in March...

SCHARWOUDE, Netherlands -- If you've ever blistered your bare feet on a hot road you know how asphalt absorbs the sun's rays. Now, a Dutch company is siphoning the heat from roads and parking lots to heat homes and offices. As climate change rises on the international agenda, the system built by the civil engineering firm, Ooms Avenhorn Holding BV doesn't look as wacky as it might have 10 years ago when it was first conceived...

NEW YORK -- In a career that has included drunk pirates and a scissor-handed recluse, Johnny Depp says the strangest scene he's ever filmed is a simple flashback in "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street." The movie is the sixth collaboration for Depp and director Tim Burton -- and one of their riskiest. It's based on Stephen Sondheim's bloody Broadway musical about a murderous barber, and Depp had scant singing experience...

NARFE chapter to meet Jan. 8 in Perryville PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- The National Association of Retired and Current Federal Employees (NARFE) Chapter 1237 will meet at noon Jan. 8 at Ponderosa Steakhouse in Perryville. Current and retired federal employees in Perry, Ste. Genevieve and Cape Girardeau counties are encouraged to attend. There will be a 50/50 drawing. The speaker for the meeting will be a representative from Blue Cross/Blue Shield. For more information, call 573-547-4249...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Richard Bowie isn't exactly one of the Wright brothers, but he does build his own airplanes. He may not go down in history like Amelia Earhart, either, but he has gotten lost in the sky before. Bowie is a local legend because he has a 2,000-foot landing strip in his yard on U.S. 60 between Poplar Bluff and Dexter, Mo...

The Greater St. Louis Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America recently added four new members to the executive board representing Southeast Missouri. They are Stan Crader, president of Crader Distributing of Marble Hill; Mike Smythe, vice president and general manager of KFVS12; John Thompson, president of the Bank of Missouri; and Kenneth A. Witbrodt Jr., chief executive officer of Montgomery Bank of Sikeston...

The St. Lawrence Parish center in New Hamburg, Mo., will hold a breakfast from 7 to 11:30 a.m. Sunday. The menu includes homemade sausage, biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs and pancakes. Children 5 and under eat free. The event is sponsored by the St. Joseph Sodality...

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Arizona Cardinals put an end to nine consecutive losing seasons. The team would rather call it a beginning. Larry Fitzgerald caught 11 passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns, and Arizona routed the St. Louis Rams 48-19 on Sunday, the Cardinals' highest-scoring output in 30 years...

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Barry Stewart set career highs of 24 points and seven assists and started a game-winning rally with a 3-pointer as Mississippi State beat Missouri 87-75 Sunday. The Bulldogs (8-5) lost a 12-point lead early in the second half but recovered late after Stewart hit the 3 and Jamont Gordon tipped in a missed shot on consecutive possessions in the final four minutes...

DALLAS -- Last Jan. 1, Missouri players were on their couches gorging on the action and recovering from a last-second Sun Bowl loss a few days earlier. Linebacker Sean Weatherspoon recalls spending the day channel-surfing at a friend's house in Jasper, Texas. He also recalls oversleeping the early-starting Cotton Bowl, set for 10:40 a.m...

INDIANAPOLIS -- Kerry Collins waited all season to prove his value in Tennessee. The Titans wouldn't have been celebrating Sunday night without him. Collins rescued his teammates in the most precarious circumstances, leading them to three straight second-half field goals in relief of injured Vince Young and helping Tennessee rally for a 16-10 win at Indianapolis that drew cheers from Nashville and moans from Cleveland...

LANDOVER, Md. -- The Washington Redskins will enter the playoffs as the hottest team in the NFC. And with the hottest quarterback in the conference. And maybe the hottest running back. And with a defense coming off a game in which it allowed exactly 1 yard rushing...

Pass time; FM fans; Unfair advantage

Dr. Bruce Domazlicky has been teaching economics at Southeast Missouri State University since 1986. Before joining the faculty at Southeast, he taught at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Ill. In addition to teaching, he is the adviser for Omicron Delta Epsilon, an international honor society of economics, also one of the world's largest academic honor societies. ...

By Rudi Keller Business Today Strong retail sales helped offset slumping auto sales and a sluggish housing market in Southeast Missouri in 2007, with consumers putting off big-ticket purchases amid rising gas prices and uncertain interest rates. The outlook for 2008 is clouded, an economist and business leaders said. But they added that elements of the local economy that shield the region from the major swings felt in other regions should help cushion any serious shocks...

By Linda Redeffer Business today Employment in Southeast Missouri seems to be holding its own -- improving in some areas and hanging on in others. "We have had some plant closures and business layoffs in the past 24 months in the Bootheel region," commented Buz Sutherland, director of the Southeast Missouri Economic Development Alliance at the Delta Center in Portageville, Mo...

Making a chain Mike Hanners, who sells just about everything from ATVs to pavestones at his Hanners Wholesale on Highway 25 south of Jackson, is forging the second link in Cape Girardeau. The new store at 67 Plaza Drive in the Town Plaza Shopping Center will focus on motorcycles, ATVs and accessories as a showroom to highlight some of his better-selling items, Hanners said. He plans to open for business this week...

Door technicians are certified Henry Nichols, Donald Fodge, and Tony Worley of Garage Door Co. of Sikeston were recently certified as commercial sectional door technicians by the Institute of Door Dealer Education and Accreditation. To be certified, each individual must be sanctioned to have a minimum two years' experience in the field and pass a test for basic knowledge in the areas of codes and standards, materials and finishes, product components, methods of operation, and safety. ...

restaurants Phoenicia returns The Phoenicia Restaurant at 1000 N. Sprigg St. is reborn. Emad Salamy, one of the Salamy Twins Inc., is bringing back the restaurant he ran successfully for years. Salamy closed the restaurant and moved to Ottawa, Ontario, to be close to his family. ...

New storage business Mark Rademaker, owner of the 5 Pines Mobile Home Park (formerly Lamplighter Mobile Home Park) said he's ready to begin building the first phase of what will be a 340-unit storage business on Boutin Road adjacent to the mobile home park. The blueprints are at city hall in Cape Girardeau, he said, and construction will begin as soon as he obtains the necessary approvals...

As the community grows, local health care providers make tireless efforts to expand with the region by offering the latest in medical care and technology. Recently, OBGYN Specialists moved to a new location to supply such resources and acquired a new name: Women First. ...

Edwards joins staff of Orthopaedic Associates Orthopaedic Associates of Southeast Missouri has announced that Dr. James M. Edwards, M.D., has joined the medical staff. Edwards attended Southeast Missouri State University and received his medical degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine. He was previously in practice in Terre Haute, Ind...

By Rudi Keller Business Today Entertaining business clients and prospective executives took on a new look this year in Southeast Missouri. The region already had award-winning wineries, as well as locally owned restaurants offering a range of choices from authentic barbecue and ethnic foods to fine dining in elegant surroundings...

For anyone considering starting his own business, remember the three Ps of new business startups: Planning. Planning. Planning. A good business plan is more than just a good idea -- it's essential, said Richard Proffer, business development specialist for the University of Missouri Extension Service, and Bill Vickery of the Small Business Development Center at Southeast Missouri State University...

Every community wants a big box store, a major manufacturer, a shopping mall, a popular restaurant chain -- something to bring people into the community and provide jobs for its residents. Communities in Southeast Missouri are proud not only of the major businesses located there, but are equally proud of the diversity of local and national businesses that keep them strong...

By jay knudtson Special to B usiness Today Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones first coined the phrase "love-fest" when ground was broken for the new Interstate 55 interchange that will connect East Main Street to Jackson and LaSalle Avenue to Cape Girardeau. He is affectionately referring to this as a "love-fest" because of the unprecedented relationship that was established between Jackson, Cape Girardeau, Cape Girardeau County, Southeast Missouri State University and MoDOT...

Bankruptcies Bankruptcies filed through November for the Southeastern Division of the Eastern District of Missouri's U.S. Bankruptcy Court are listed below with their corresponding case number. The Southeast Division includes the counties of Bollinger, Butler, Cape Girardeau, Carter, Dunklin, Madison, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Perry, Reynolds, Ripley, Scott, Shannon, Stoddard and Wayne. Court is held in Cape Girardeau...

Bankruptcies Bankruptcies filed through November for the Southeastern Division of the Eastern District of Missouri's U.S. Bankruptcy Court are listed below with their corresponding case number. The Southeast Division includes the counties of Bollinger, Butler, Cape Girardeau, Carter, Dunklin, Madison, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Perry, Reynolds, Ripley, Scott, Shannon, Stoddard and Wayne. Court is held in Cape Girardeau...

BENTON, Mo. -- When the Scott County Commission returns to work after the New Year they'll have a large challenge awaiting them -- drawing up a budget for 2008 with $400,000 less law enforcement dollars. Scott County's budget must be approved by Jan. 31 under state rules governing the budget process for third-class counties. Friday was the deadline for department heads to turn in their proposed 2008 budget to County Clerk Rita Milam, the county's chief budget officer...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Bruce Price scored 17 points to lead Tennessee State to a 60-58 upset road win against Illinois on Sunday. Jerrell Houston added 12 points for Tennessee State (4-7), which last played Dec. 22 in an 83-74 loss to No. 15 Vanderbilt...

Southeast Missouri State's Jaycen Herring received his first start in his Redhawks career Sunday. The 6-foot-5 junior forward, who transferred from Palm Beach Community College, said he experienced no nerves before the contest. Nor did he become flustered when his team fell behind by nine points to Central Methodist -- an NAIA school with a 5-7 record -- midway through the first half and when the Redhawks and Eagles were tied four minutes into the second half...

Jan. 9 is the last day to register to vote in Missouri's Feb. 5 presidential preference primary. Also on the Feb. 5 ballot are contenders for replacing former state representative Nathan Cooper. The candidates are former state representative Mary Kasten, a Republican and a former state representative; Mike Keefe, a Democrat and former Cape Girardeau postmaster; and Steve Kinder, a Libertarian and a pharmacist...