Stories from Saturday, April 21, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) -- The worst appears to be over. Gasoline prices are going down. After a four-month surge pushed gasoline to nearly $4 per gallon in early April, drivers, politicians and economists worried that prices might soar past all-time highs, denting wallets, angering voters and dragging down an economy that is struggling to grow...

Today is Saturday, April 21, the 112th day of 2012. There are 254 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On April 21, 1962, the Century 21 Exposition, also known as the Seattle World's Fair, opened. President John F. Kennedy spoke briefly to the event by telephone from Palm Springs, Fla., where he tapped a gold telegraph key to signal the official start of the six-month fair...

After 42 years, a World War II trainer plane flew again for the first time yesterday at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport; the PT-19 was restored by a group of 12 pilots, mechanics and airplane enthusiasts who worked two years on the open-cockpit plane; J.G. "Pete" Malone, a crop duster from Sikeston, Mo., and a member of the restoration crew, was honored as the first pilot...

PUXICO, Mo. -- William Eli Pogue Jr., 77, of Puxico passed away Thursday, April 19, 2012, at the home of a daughter in Cape Girardeau. He was born June 24, 1934, in Osceola, Ark., son of William Eli and Wilma Sweat Pogue Sr. He and Jannette Campbell were married Sept. 21, 1956, in Elk, Mo...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Cynthia L. Ray, 64, of Olive Branch passed away Wednesday, April 18, 2012, at Southeast Hospital. She was born Jan. 6, 1948, in Fort Dix, N.J., to the late Daniel and Lillian Bleau Armstrong. She and Herman L. Ray were married Oct. 31, 1972, in Hollister, Calif...

Ben H. Roberts, 90, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, April 18, 2012, at Chateau Girardeau Health Center, after a brief illness. He was born Nov. 6, 1921, in Wildersville, Tenn., to Mr. and Mrs. Herman Roberts, at the home of his grandmother. He lived in Macon, Ga., until he was a teenager. He moved to Cape Girardeau in 1935 where he attended Central High School and Southeast Missouri State University...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Charles "Bud" Crader, 73, of Marble Hill passed away unexpectedly Thursday, April 19, 2012, while working alongside his wife on the farm. He was born Jan. 27, 1939, in Marble Hill, son of Charles E. and Fern M. James Crader. He and Klodean Mills were married Dec. 14, 1957...

Carolyn L. O'Howell, 72, of Scott City died Friday, April 20, 2012, at Chaffee Nursing Center, in Chaffee, Mo. She was born Nov. 6, 1939, at Fornfelt, daughter of John A. and Ruby J. Smith Rogers Sr. She married Ray W. O'Howell Sr. on Feb. 11, 1961, at Des Plaines, Ill. He preceded her in death March 13, 1984...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Charles E. Bain Sr., 82, of Marble Hill passed away Thursday, April 19, 2012, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Graveside service will be at 2 p.m. Monday at Williams Cemetery in Perkins, Mo. Morgan Funeral Home in Advance, Mo., is in charge of arrangements...