Stories from Saturday, June 27, 2009

Parishioners at St. Mary Cathedral have been saying the same prayer every day for two years, asking for aid with the fundraising, safety and mission of the parish's new construction project, said the Rev. Thomas Kiefer. After five years of planning and several months of fundraising, the church will break ground on a $1.9 million addition to its school Sunday. The school on William Street serves about 250 students in kindergarten through eighth grade...

This is a farther away pic of the other pic I sent in yesterday. It looks like a mutated manfish, lol!!! As Melba stated in her pic, this was an unusual sunset cloud in the east after the sun had set.

Liam Davis, 6, of Jackson caught these fish at the Conservation Nature Center's kid's fishing pond in Cape Girardeau with his grandfather, Danny Hale.

The Southeast Missouri State University Autism Center for Diagnosis and Treatment, expected to open in December, is getting mixed reactions from parents of children with autism. While the parents are excited that new services are coming to the region, some are wary of expecting too much from the new center...

Southeast Missouri State University could expand its offerings for students of forensic science if a spending item U.S. Sen. Kit Bond inserted into the federal budget survives Congressional scrutiny. Bond announced Thursday that he won approval for $700,000 to build and equip a "state-of-the-art teaching and research laboratory for forensic education." The item, included in the appropriations for commerce, justice and science programs, must win full Senate approval and undergo review in the U.S. ...

When Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed $105 million in spending in the state budget Thursday, he halted funding to a business project at Southeast Missouri State University. His actions also vetoed or delayed about $107 million in stimulus funding to capital improvement projects at state universities. The vetoes included $16.5 million in money for University of Missouri agricultural research centers around the state...

Eight people have been charged with possession of false Social Security cards they used to work at a Cape Girardeau restaurant. According to a news release from Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle, six employees were arrested Friday morning at Casa Mexicana, 1832 N. ...

Crystal Ritter of Cape Girardeau, center, cheers as her mouse J-Born wins the third race of Cheese Hill Downs Mouse Racing Friday at Dockside in Cape Girardeau. The proceeds from the event go to research and program services for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Gateway Area Chapter ...

For years Immanuel Lutheran Church of New Wells has held an Independence Day celebration leading up the Fourth of July holiday, but recently the church invited the community to "tie the appreciation of the veterans to the appreciation of our country's independence."...

WASHINGTON -- Households pushed their savings rate to the highest level in more than 15 years in May as a big boost in incomes from the government's stimulus program was devoted more to nest eggs than to increased spending. The higher savings rate is healthy in the long term, economists said. But without vigorous consumer spending, the government may have to do more to revive the economy, possibly through further tax breaks and spending...

Iranian protesters wondering what to do next are being encouraged to consult a source that helped drive a decade of nonviolent revolutions in Eastern Europe: a how-to guide to toppling dictatorships written by a retired American scholar who is little known outside of activist circles...

GUATEMALA CITY -- Jean Anleu was so fed up with corruption in his country that he decided to vent on the Internet, sending a 96-character message on the social-networking site Twitter. That message has now earned him a potential five-year prison sentence and the distinction of becoming one of the first people in the world to be arrested for a tweet...

SEOUL, South Korea -- It's best known as the place to tell millions what you had for breakfast. But dispatches from North Korea's state news agency have begun popping up on Twitter. A feed under the name "kcna--dprk" -- acronyms of Pyongyang's state Korean Central News Agency and the country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea -- provides links to hundreds of the agency's English-language stories. ...

Editor's note: Iranian authorities have barred journalists for international news organizations from reporting on the streets and ordered them to stay in their offices. This report is based on the accounts of witnesses reached in Iran and official statements carried on Iranian media....

BEIJING -- China's planning agency is likely to reject a Chinese company's bid to acquire General Motors Corp.'s Hummer unit, in part because its gas-guzzling vehicles conflict with Beijing's conservation goals, state radio reported. The National Development and Reform Commission is also likely to say Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Corp., a maker of construction machinery, lacks the expertise to run Hummer, China National Radio said late Thursday. It cited no source...

DUEBENDORF AIRFIELD, Switzerland -- It has the wingspan of a Boeing 747 but weighs less than a small car. And it is powered entirely by the sun. Adventurer Bertrand Piccard on Friday unveiled the Solar Impulse, which, with its sleek white wings and pink trimming, aims to make history as the prototype for a solar-powered flight around the world...

WASHINGTON -- The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that taxpayers will lose about $159 billion from the government's bailouts of the financial and auto industries. While a massive figure, the CBO put the total cost of the bailouts at $356 billion in March. ...

Efforts to create Cape Girardeau's first residential historic district have been underway for months. Residents in the proposed district have discussed the plan, circulated petitions and met with city officials. The Historic Preservation Commission approved one plan and is considering a revised plan that resulted from changes recommended by the Planning and Zoning Commission. ...

Parents can feel safer knowing that Big Tobacco will no longer be able to prey on children with despicable and manipulative marketing practices, thanks to recent actions taken by the president and Congress. Fifty years after tobacco smoke was found to be hazardous to health, a rogue industry will finally be subject to strong regulation. ...

By Paul Keener Since the digital transition was completed June 12, we've been communicating with viewers one on one through our special DTV help line and by e-mail. We know there are some viewers well within range of our digital signal who are not able to watch, and we share their frustration...

Bushes hide sign; More spending; Great writing; News priorities; Future health care; No liberal slant; Balanced news

For those in need of healing, in body or mind, we pray to you, O God. Amen.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A state judge Friday struck down a proposed constitutional amendment limiting affirmative action programs in Missouri, and supporters may have to start from scratch to get it on the 2010 ballot. Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan said Secretary of State Robin Carnahan should have rejected the proposal because of a technical flaw in its wording. The judge also said the ballot summary approved by Carnahan was inadequate and unfair...

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- It was a routine state Cabinet meeting, one with reports on declining tax revenue, the number of children on Medicaid and an update on a drunken driving campaign. Routine, except for the 20-plus television cameras and reporters scrunched into a tiny room in a building next to the state's Capitol. ...

SULLIVANS ISLAND, S.C. -- South Carolina first lady Jenny Sanford sat in her oceanfront living room Friday, recalling how her husband repeatedly asked permission to visit his lover in the months after she discovered his affair. "I said absolutely not. It's one thing to forgive adultery; it's another thing to condone it," Jenny Sanford said during a 20-minute interview at the coastal home where she sought refuge with their four sons. They were her first extended comments on the affair...

PANAMA CITY, Fla. -- Miles offshore, a fight is raging between angry anglers armed with guns and bombs and bottlenose dolphins, the marine mammals popularized in movies and TV shows like "Flipper." Boat captains say dolphins, known for their toothy grins and playfulness, are growing increasingly aggressive in their quest for food, with some taking fish right off the hook -- something that rarely happened just a few years ago...

WASHINGTON -- President Obama's criticism of Iran escalated Friday into an unusually personal war of words. To Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's demand he apologize for meddling, Obama shot back that the regime should "think carefully" about answers owed to protesters it has arrested, bludgeoned and killed...

NEW YORK -- Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff should receive a 150-year sentence for orchestrating perhaps the largest financial swindle in history, federal prosecutors said in court papers Friday. "The sheer scale of the fraud calls for severe punishment," the prosecutors wrote in response to a defense motion seeking lighter punishment...

WASHINGTON -- In a triumph for President Obama, the Democratic-controlled House narrowly passed legislation Friday that calls for the nation's first limits on pollution linked to global warming and aims to usher in a new era of cleaner, yet more costly energy...

Cape Girardeau: Arrests; Summonses; Thefts; Burglaries; Property damage; Miscellaneous; Jackson: Arrest; Thefts; Property damage; Miscellaneous; Cape Girardeau County: DWI; Arrests

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Thursday: Firefighters responded to the following calls Friday: Jackson Firefighters responded to the following calls Thursday: Firefighters responded to the following calls Friday:...

Lindell "Randy" Randolph, 79, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, June 25, 2009, at Saint Francis Medical Center. He was born May 11, 1930, in St. Louis to Arvel and Ruby Clark Randolph. He and Sarah Yates were married June 26, 1954, in Corinth, Miss. Lindell was of the Protestant faith. He was a veteran of the Korean conflict...

PATTON, Mo. -- Orvel James Hays, 85, of Patton died Thursday, June 25, 2009, at his home. Visitation will be from 4 to 9 p.m. today at Hutchings Funeral Chapel in Marble Hill, Mo. The funeral will be at 4 p.m. Sunday at Little Whitewater Baptist Church near Patton, with the Rev. Donald Slaten officiating. Burial will be in Patton Methodist Cemetery with military honors...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Roger T. Craft, 67, died Friday, June 26, 2009, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Blanchard Funeral Chapel in Sikeston. Funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Monday at Concordia Lutheran Church in Sikeston, with the Rev. A.J. Wollenburg officiating. Graveside rites will be at 3 p.m. Monday at Bethel Cemetery in Belmont, Ill...

Hazel Marie Beccue, 87, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, June 25, 2009, at Saint Francis Medical Center. She was born Aug. 18, 1921, in Portageville, Mo., daughter of Robert Lee and Myrtle Mae Dockery Carson. She and Fredrick E. Beccue were married Jan. 30, 1971, in Dalton, Ill...

25 years ago: June 27, 1984 Plans are being made for a mass outing of senior citizens to Trail of Tears State Park, the first annual Senior Fun Fest, for which about 1,000 people are expected; the event is scheduled for July 28. A bid well below an engineering firm's estimate to build an access road to the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority site should enable paving of the road, which was not anticipated initially; the lowest of four bids on the road was $627,000 by Potashnick Construction Inc. ...

JONESBORO, Ill. — William H. Casey, 75, of Jonesboro died Wednesday, June 24, 2009, at his home. Service and burial in Alto Pass Cemetery is private. Rendleman and Hileman Funeral Home in Anna, Ill., is in charge of arrangements.

Kathy Ann Radica, 47, of Scott City died Thursday, June 25, 2009, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Visitation is from 9 a.m. to service time Monday at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City. The service is at 11 a.m. Monday at the chapel, with the Rev. Oliver Clavin as celebrant...

W. Leo Miller, 87, formerly of Jackson, died Friday, June 26, 2009, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. Friends may call Sunday from 11 a.m. to service time at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home. The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home. Burial will be in Cape County Memorial Park...

LAS VEGAS -- Twenty-one pieces of Michael Jackson memorabilia have sold for a total of $205,000 at an auction held in Las Vegas just a day after his death. A crystal beaded shirt worn by the performer during his 1984 Victory tour was the top-selling item in the collection, at $52,500. Prices include a 25 percent auction commission...

DE SOTO, Mo. -- Missouri regulators are investigating at Spring Lake, where residents and swimmers have received serious, even fatal, electrical shocks. The Missouri Public Service Commission is looking into the cause of electric voltage that shocked a resident over Memorial Day weekend. The lake has been closed...

BRANSON, Mo. -- Five swine flu cases have been confirmed at a Kanakuk Kamp in southwest Missouri. State health officials said Friday the children had attended a Stone County camp near Lampe between June 13 and 24. The children are from Texas, Arkansas, Florida and Oklahoma...

Christian music and comedy Entertainer and minister Barry McGee will present a music and comedy family time and Bible character dramatization at Christ Church of the Heartland. When: 7 p.m. today, 9 a.m. Sunday Where: 720 Bertling St., Cape Girardeau...

Summer has arrived with a vengeance, and refreshment is on our minds. The need for refreshment is not from the heat alone. Halfway through the year, many across our nation are in need of refreshment. Unemployment, overwork and worry over continued employment can consume us. ...

At our church's vacation Bible school this week, we had a character in the daily opening session named Professor Wordsmart. Just the name made me think of a quote attributed to Mark Twain: "The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug."...

Former Southeast Missouri State All-American Miles Smith is faring well on a national stage. Smith, who completed his Southeast eligibility in 2008, advanced to today's 400-meter finals at the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Ore...

The Plaza Tire Capahas will host one of the nation's elite amateur teams for the second year in a row. Manager Jess Bolen hopes his Capahas can repeat the type of success they had against the Crestwood (Ill.) Panthers in 2008. Crestwood, a Chicago suburb, will be in town for a three-game weekend series. There will be a 5 p.m. doubleheader today and a single contest Sunday at a time to be determined...

Bell City places two on all-conference list Bell City's Josh Overbey and Melvin Johnson both were named to the SCAA all-conference baseball team. Woodland's Neil Johnson and Advance's Jacob Bond also made the team. SCAA all-conference team -- Jake Welch, Bernie; John Smith, Puxico; Melvin Johnson, Bell City; Neil Johnson, Woodland; Quinton Stevens, Bernie; Jacob McNeil, Bloomfield; Jake Owens, Bernie; Jacob Bond, Advance; Travis Stuart, Puxico; Josh Overbey, Bell City...

Jackson Babe Ruth sweeps pair The Jackson Senior Babe Ruth baseball team swept Woodland by identical scores of 12-1 in a doubleheader Friday. Jackson collected 14 hits on its way to victory in the opener. Garrett Fritsche smacked five hits, while Chris Roth and Ryan Bass each had two...