Stories from Friday, November 16, 2001

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Materials left behind in a compound used by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network -- including a booklet offering advice on how to survive a nuclear explosion -- suggest the terrorist group may have been trying to develop chemical arms and other unconventional weapons...

WASHINGTON -- Airport screeners would become federal employees, air marshals would be increased and cockpit doors would be fortified under an aviation security bill Congress plans to rush to passage to help rebuild Americans' confidence in flying. After weeks of impasse, House and Senate leaders said Thursday they planned to vote on the legislation today, sending it to President Bush for his signature in time for the Thanksgiving holiday, one of the year's busiest flying times...

WASHINGTON -- The high school graduation rate for young Americans rose slightly to a record 86.5 percent last year, the Education Department reported Thursday. Hispanic, black and low-income students lagged behind whites and the well-to-do. Education Secretary Rod Paige said rates had not risen in proportion to the billions of dollars spent on schools since the 1970s. ...

SALT LAKE CITY -- The two-year-old bribery case that tainted Salt Lake City's upcoming Winter Olympics was thrown out Thursday by a federal court judge. U.S. District Judge David Sam's ruling dismissed the remaining 10 fraud counts and one conspiracy charge federal prosecutors filed against Salt Lake City bid leaders Tom Welch and Dave Johnson...

Cape Girardeau Friday, Nov. 16 Firefighters responded to the following calls Tuesday:At 11:16 p.m., an emergency medical service at 1105 Linden. Firefighters responded to the following calls Wednesday:At 2:40 p.m., an emergency medical service at 221 N. Fountain...

Cape Girardeau Friday, Nov. 16 ArrestsTravis Sintell Turner, 20, of 156 E St., was arrested Wednesday for assault and property damage. Donald Preston Bowman, 46, was arrested Wednesday for trespassing. James Earl Dixon, 42, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., was arrested Wednesday for trespassing...

Even if the Missouri Department of Transportation can justify its claim that it needs $1 billion a year of new revenue to do all the roadwork the state needs, it still faces a tough time with legislators. That was apparent when MoDOT presented its audit report to a legislative oversight committee this week...

The news from Afghanistan has been riveting this week. With well-aimed airstrikes plus a revitalized opposition force and special-ops teams on the ground, the Taliban forces are falling apart. At times, U.S.-led gains have occurred at such a rapid pace that not even around-the-clock television coverage could keep up...

Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team figures to face quite a challenge during today's season opener. The Otahkians will take on a strong Montana squad in the opening round of the four-team Texas-Pan American Tournament. The tipoff in Edinburg, Texas, is set for 5 p.m...

JACKSON, Mo. -- The Cape Girardeau County Transit Authority plans to steer the operations of a tax-funded van service when the new year rolls around. The authority is taking over the operation of the private, not-for-profit Cape County Transit Inc. on Jan. 1. A written agreement on the merger is expected to be signed next week, ending months of negotiations...

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- David Boyden scored 15 points, and Chris Marcus added 13 points and 10 rebounds as Western Kentucky stunned No. 4 Kentucky 64-52 Thursday night in the first round of the NABC Classic. The win was the Hilltoppers' first over their intrastate rivals since a 107-83 victory knocked the Wildcats (0-1) out of the 1971 NCAA Tournament...

LUBBOCK, Texas -- Bob Knight is about to start finding out if his way works at Texas Tech. His players are about to see if the patience the Hall of Fame coach has shown in practice carries over into the regular season. "The things I do, and that we'll do and try to do with these kids are things I've found to be successful and good, where kids have been responsive in the past," Knight said...

For a basketball team in transition, the Birmingham Southern College Panthers are doing quite well. The Panthers, one of the nation's best NAIA squads in the 1990s, have joined many other lower-level programs around the country in making the jump to NCAA Division I...

To the editor: I have read many comments lately regarding the Cape Girardeau Fire Department. My husband is a firefighter. Firefighters not only put fires out, they help anyone who calls 911 with a medical need. They also keep all of the equipment in good working order. They clean the tools and the trucks. They spend many hours in training and preparing for an emergency. They also teach the public, mostly schoolchildren, about fire safety...

WASHINGTON -- American and allied forces are closing in on leaders of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network with more focused airstrikes, more timely intelligence and a more active hunt by U.S. special operations troops in southern Afghanistan, senior Pentagon officials said Thursday...

WASHINGTON -- Federal securities regulators on Thursday accused three small companies of exploiting fears over anthrax, ordering them to stop making allegedly fraudulent claims that they had technologies to fight it. The companies agreed to comply with the orders without admitting to or denying the allegations, the Securities and Exchange Commission said. No fines were imposed...

NEW YORK -- With his record sixth Cy Young Award en route to his crowded trophy room, Roger Clemens turned his attention to the Hall of Fame. "I'm still leaning on wearing the Yankee cap in," the Rocket revealed Thursday after earning the American League's top pitching honor yet again...

LONDONDERRY, Northern Ireland -- Queen Elizabeth II visited Northern Ireland's second-largest city Thursday for the first time in 48 years, amid cheering crowds. The queen, accompanied by her husband, Prince Philip, began her daylong tour of the province with a stop at the Maydown Ebrington Center, a just-opened arts, recreation and education complex...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- In a dramatic nighttime evacuation, six aid workers set fire to their all-encompassing burqas so U.S. special forces pilots could find them on an Afghan field. Along with two men, they were whisked to safety early Thursday after three months of Taliban captivity...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Taking their cue from the U.S. Supreme Court, some state lawmakers are backing proposed legislation that would allow public school districts to require 60 seconds of silence before classes begin each day. The U.S. Supreme Court last month turned away a challenge to Virginia's mandatory minute of silence in schools, which prompted Rep. Phil Willoughby, D-Gladstone, to craft the Missouri proposal...

ST. LOUIS -- It might look like a small red patch on your tongue, or a gray spot underneath. Either way, you're not likely to notice it. "One of the problems with oral cancer is that it's mostly painless and progresses very slowly, but the mortality rate is very high," said Dr. Doug Miley, a professor at St. Louis University's Center for Advanced Dental Education. "Patients might notice it themselves, but normally that's not the case."...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Bob Holden and top state officials will meet today with federal Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge and members of Missouri's congressional delegation to discuss security issues. The trip to Washington is an attempt to open up lines of discussion between federal agencies and state and local governments in preparation for a potential terrorist attack, Holden said...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Jim Ryan faces months of uncertainty as he battles cancer for a third time, and so do the people watching his campaign for governor. His opponents must decide whether to raise the issue of health and, if so, how to do it without being insensitive. Voters must decide how to weigh a candidate's health when casting their ballots...

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Southern Illinois University researchers say they have taken a major step toward making soybeans resistant to the two diseases that threaten them most. Researchers recently received a patent for an inexpensive laboratory test that detects genes in the plant that are resistant to Sudden Death Syndrome and soybean cyst nematode, a killer worm, said David Lightfoot, professor of plant and soil sciences at SIU...

HANNIBAL, Mo. -- When children at a northeast Missouri school were removed and taken into protective custody, it was necessary to withdraw them from a potentially damaging environment, a juvenile officer testified Thursday in federal court. However, a child psychiatrist evaluating the children for the Heartland Christian Academy said, during the second day of testimony, that he believed it was the removal itself that traumatized children...

VERSAILLES, Mo. -- Mid-Missouri authorities have widened their investigation to identify more victims and possible suspects in the case of a Gravois Mills man who allegedly videotaped sexual acts he had with unconscious young men. The Lake Ozark Major Case Squad was activated Thursday to investigate the case, said Dan Cable, squad spokesman. ...

ST. LOUIS -- Kurt Warner fielded more questions about his sprained right thumb on Thursday, and he's getting tired of the subject. The St. Louis Rams' quarterback offered a weak smile at the notion he had the "most-talked-about thumb in America."...

MINNEAPOLIS -- A judge delayed his decision Thursday on whether to extend a court order that prevents the Minnesota Twins from being eliminated. In a lawsuit that could block the decision by baseball owners to get rid of two teams before next season, the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission obtained a temporary restraining order last week against the team and major league baseball requiring the Twins to play at the Metrodome in 2002, the final year of their lease...

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Rams' defense keeps climbing the charts. The overhauled unit, which surrendered 29 points per game last year, is nearly on an equal footing with the NFL's best offense. The Rams defense is ranked fourth after stifling the Carolina Panthers, holding them without a first down for 2 1-2 quarters, in last week's 48-14 victory. Seven of Carolina's points came on a kickoff return...

Report: Colts' James to miss rest of season INDIANAPOLIS -- Indianapolis Colts running back Edgerrin James will miss the rest of the season because of a left knee injury that will require surgery, ESPN.com reported Thursday. ESPN.com, citing unidentified sources, said James sought a second opinion from orthopedic surgeon John Uribe, who determined surgery is necessary to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament...

To the editor: U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia has proposed the Education Empowerment Tax Credit Act, which would amend the current Internal Revenue Code and allow a tax credit of $1,000 a child a year for educational expenses incurred.. This bill would be open to all parents whose children who are either home schooled or attend public as well as private schools...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri government could face a shortfall of more than $100 million because of slumping tax revenues partly blamed on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the state budget chief said Friday. State income tax withholdings, while still growing compared to last year, are about 25 percent lower than projections; state sales tax collections also are slightly below forecasts, said Brian Long, the budget director for Gov. Bob Holden...

Just when you think you can't be more amazed by something you read in the newspaper, it happens again. Consider this headline:Study finds beauty affects male brain like food, drugs Wow! Did you know that? Of course you did. This is a so-called revelation that has been common knowledge since creation...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Bill Reynolds says he wants to write himself a bigger check as Cape Girardeau County treasurer, but fellow elected officials won't let him. The Cape Girardeau County Commission and eight other elected county officials, meeting as the salary commission, refused Thursday to hike Reynolds' salary to bring it in line with many other elected positions...

Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON (AP) -- The most far-reaching aviation security bill in decades cleared Congress Friday and moved to the White House for President Bush's signature. The compromise legislation, which adds new layers of protection at airports and on airplanes, passed the House by a 410-9 vote just hours after it was endorsed by the Senate on a voice vote...

Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday ordered airlines to immediately inspect the tail assemblies of their Airbus A300-600 and A310 planes. The tail of an Airbus A300-600 sheared off before an American Airlines plane crashed in New York Monday...

ATLANTA (AP) -- Authorities halted departing flights at Atlanta's airport and evacuated people from the concourses Friday after a man ran through a security checkpoint and jumped on a terminal train. The Federal Aviation Administration stopped all departures at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport and planes in other cities going to Atlanta were told to remain on the ground, FAA spokesman Christopher White said...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar has agreed to leave his headquarters at Kandahar and turn over the southern Afghan city to two local Pashtun leaders, the Afghan Islamic Press said Friday. The Pakistan-based agency said Omar agreed to leave Kandahar within 24 hours and head for the mountains following discussions with "close friends and army commanders."...

AP Business WriterNEW YORK (AP) -- Investors opted for safety in lethargic stock trading Friday, locking in some recent profits and leaving prices barely changed. Analysts had expected some selling after a three-day rally in which the Dow Jones industrials climbed 318 points...

Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. special forces have been involved in ground combat in Afghanistan but no American troops have been killed, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Friday. "They are armed and they're participating," the Pentagon chief said, describing the ongoing battle to erase the al-Qaida terrorist network and the Taliban militia that supports them...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Mohammed Atef, a top deputy of Osama bin Laden, is believed to have been killed by a U.S. airstrike in the last two days, a U.S. official said Friday. "This guy was bin Laden's military specialist since the early 1990s, widely thought to be bin Laden's successor in the event of his death," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity...

Associated Press WriterBERLIN (AP) -- Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder won a vote of confidence in the lower house of parliament Friday, securing a narrow majority that both bolsters his coalition government and approves a German deployment in the U.S.-led war on terrorism...

Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON (AP) -- Industrial productivity plunged in October for the 13th month in a row, the longest string of declines in manufacturing activity since the Great Depression. The Federal Reserve reported Friday that output at the nation's factories, utilities and mines plummeted by 1.1 percent last month, on top of a big 1 percent decline in September...

Associated Press WriterKABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- U.S. warplanes struck positions near the Taliban's two principal remaining strongholds -- Kandahar in the south and Kunduz in the north -- on Friday, the first day of Ramadan. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said U.S. special forces have been engaged in ground combat...

Another hot issue I'VE DEFINITELY gotten quite a bit of a feel for how the Southeast Missourian's readership feels about issues such as homosexuality and abortion. I'm curious what you think about Attorney General John Ashcroft's attempts to do away with assisted suicide. Seeing that this is an area with a relatively large elderly population, I'm curious what everyone's take is on this issue...

Central Junior High students think smoking is a drag. Yet an average of 3,000 young people start smoking every day in America. To mark the national Great American Smokeout day on Thursday, students at Central Junior High School tied orange ribbons to their name badges and voiced their opinions to show they aren't a part of that group...

The late Jake Wells had a talent for teaching and for conveying the history and beauty of this region in paint. Wells' historical murals at Kent Library and on the building at 405 Broadway and his collection of watercolors titled "Missouri Mills" are only bigger and better known than the numerous Jake Wells paintings to be found in homes and offices across the region...

The Marquette Hotel may gain a place on the National Register of Historic Places, but the designation would prove largely symbolic to those who want to hang a do-not-disturb sign on the 73-year-old building. Federal and state historical officials say the building is sure to make the register, but it would provide little protection from city officials, who want to make sure the area around the building is safe, even if it means demolition...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Alice Vinson Sales, 67, died Thursday, Nov. 15, 2001, at Perry County Memorial Hospital. She was born Feb. 19, 1934, in Ste. Genevieve County, daughter of Ted C. and Lena L. Adams Bloom Sr. She and George R. Vinson were married June 6, 1953, in St. Louis. He died Feb. 6, 1976...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Funeral Mass for Pauline E. Stricker, formerly of Gordonville, Mo., will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. Msgr. Edward Eftink will officiate. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery at Charleston, Mo. Friends may call at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson from 4-8 p.m. today. Parish prayers will be at 7:30 p.m...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Funeral for Danielle Latrese Davis of Cairo will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church. The Rev. Christopher Barnes will officiate. Burial will be in Spencer Heights Memorial Park in Mounds, Ill. Friends may call at the church Saturday from 11 a.m. until time of service...

Former Cape Girardeau County Sheriff Norman W. Copeland, 73, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2001, at St. Francis Medical Center. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Clyde A. Stewart, 80, of Olive Branch died Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2001, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Feb. 22, 1921, in Perks, Ill., son of James F. and Martha M. Volner Stewart. Stewart was a graduate of West Frankfort High School in West Frankfort, Ill. He was a station agent for C. & E.I. Railroad 40 years. He was a member of a Masonic lodge...

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- Elberta Mae "Bertie" Simmons, 97, of Scott City died Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2001, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born May 9, 1904, at Millcreek, Ill., daughter of Green Perry and Dakota Cruse Watkins. She and Otis Simmons were married Sept. 5, 1942. He died May 8, 1987...

Burton R. Rasche, 74, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2001, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Jan. 27, 1927, at Gordonville, Mo., son of Alfred H. and Emma Deneke Rasche. He and Dolores Carbonara were married April 14, 1956, in Chicago...

Ron and Jen Wahlers have adopted two daughters from Russia in March of last year. The girls Ana, left, and Ale are both 6 years old and have adjusted well to life in America. Gertrude Wachter of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Nov. 15, 2001, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau...

Two local exotic animal dealers are charged with buying four tigers and bringing them to Cape Girardeau to be killed and sold for meat and pelts. Todd and Vicki Lantz, of Cape Girardeau, are among five defendants indicted in a case that involved killing and selling at least 11 federally protected leopards and tigers after an undercover investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A Jackson, Mo., man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to assaulting two Jackson police officers, punching one in the eye and trying to break the other's thumb. Randall W. Gills, 42, pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated, resisting arrest and assaulting the two police officers...

Norman W. Copeland, whom a judge once described as "a Norman Rockwell-type patrolman," died Wednesday at St. Francis Medical Center. He was 73. Copeland served eight years as Cape Girardeau County sheriff, retiring in 1994. Before that he spent 29 years with the Missouri State Highway Patrol, earning in both jobs a reputation as a no-nonsense cop and adept criminal investigator...

Daily American Republic POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Within the past six months, the Poplar Bluff Railroad Museum has been vandalized four times. "It's just vandalism," said Joe Falvey, museum volunteer. "It's just a shame." Falvey said that sometime Tuesday night someone threw the flower pots that were in front of the museum through the telegraph office windows and the front door window. The wood on the door was also damaged...

Allgier Daughter to John Riley and Leslie Ann Allgier of East Prairie, Mo., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 5:04 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2001. Name, Laurann Aletha Grace. Weight, 7 pounds 8 1/2 ounces. First child. Mrs. Allgier is the former Leslie Arington, daughter of Mr. ...

10 years ago: Nov. 16, 1991 New mail-processing center opens in Cape Girardeau, putting its mark on more automated way of doing business; postal center is housed in 37,604-square-foot building in Cape West Industrial Park, leased from Drury Development Corp...

Cruise, Kidman reach settlement divorce LOS ANGELES -- Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman have settled their financial differences and custody battle over their two children. The former Hollywood power couple, who divorced in August after nearly 10 years of marriage, reached an agreement Wednesday...

After seven years of tax cuts, a few states are now reluctantly looking to raise them as state economies worsen and money for government services becomes scarce. So far, North Carolina is the only state to pass a significant tax hike. But leaders in Ohio and Indiana are talking about it, and cuts passed or promised last year are now looking shakier in Virginia, Massachusetts, New York and elsewhere...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Rev. Billy Graham said Thursday he will move his ministry's headquarters to his hometown of Charlotte from Minneapolis, where it has been based for more than 50 years. The Minneapolis operation employs about 400 of the 632 staffers of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. The workers will be offered a chance to relocate in three to five years, when a new office complex is built in Charlotte on a parkway named for the preacher...

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Yahoo! Inc. will cut 400 jobs, or more than 12 percent of its work force, as it reorganizes itself in search of "sustainable, profitable growth," the Internet company told analysts Thursday. It is the second round of layoffs at Yahoo this year. In April, the company cut 420 jobs, 12 percent of its work force at the time...

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- U.S. Forest Service, state and volunteer crews worked Thursday to contain a 520-acre wildfire that has left a smoky haze over mountain resort communities. An air tanker dropped fire retardant along the rocky, steep hillside as 130 firefighters worked on the ground to contain the fire. Some firefighters were sent from Western states, and about 40 more were on their way...

CRAWFORD, Texas -- President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to resolve their dispute over U.S. missile shield plans Thursday but pledged on a harmonious final day of summitry to fight terrorism and deepen U.S.-Russian ties. "Our differences will not divide us," Bush told hundreds of students and townspeople in a steamy high school gym...

LOS ANGELES -- All films not named "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," please raise your hands so audiences will know you'll be in theaters this holiday season. Not since "Star Wars" returned with "The Phantom Menace" have moviegoers been so eager for a single movie...

The Associated Press BOGOTA, Colombia -- The government resumed fumigating peasant's drug plots in the world's largest cocaine producing region, saying Thursday that it was punishing farmers for planting new crops The spraying in southern Putumayo province, part of a $1.3 billion aid plan from Washington, could spark angry reactions from family farmers who scratch out a living by growing coca, the plant used to make cocaine...

BEIJING -- The heroin trail snakes up from China's borders, into its towns and cities and through the veins of its addicts. But it stops at the Beijing Police Compulsory Drug Detoxification Center. Here, behind brick walls emblazoned with slogans like "Love Life," the state makes inmates in striped blue and white pajamas say no to drugs...

LONDON -- Using ultrasound to look for the nose bone in early pregnancy could help to identify Down syndrome babies sooner, new research suggests. Some experts say the test, described for the first time this week in The Lancet medical journal, could be a major step forward, bringing the detection rate of Down syndrome screening up from about 65 percent today to about 98 percent, and allowing diagnosis in the first trimester rather than in the second, when the condition is normally confirmed...

QUETTA, Pakistan -- Pakistan has moved in tanks and additional soldiers to tighten security along its border with Afghanistan and to prevent Osama bin Laden or his fighters from coming in, officials said Thursday. Reports of fighting in southern Afghanistan have raised concerns that civilians as well as Taliban fighters may seek to escape by crossing the normally porous Pakistan border...

It is exciting to get another season of Southeast basketball underway tonight. We are going into the game shorthanded because of a combination of injuries and short-term ineligibilities, but I know our young men will compete hard against a very good Birmingham-Southern team...