Stories from Wednesday, January 2, 2002

WASHINGTON -- A majority of Americans believe the country is headed in the right direction and that their own finances will get better, an Associated Press poll says. But they also fear more terrorist attacks are likely in 2002. Seven in 10 Americans believe there will be another terrorist attack in the near future, although their worry is less intense than it was a few months ago, according to the AP poll...

PARIS -- From bakeries in Paris to newsstands in Vienna to cafes in Rome, Europeans tried out their new currency Tuesday. But many shops were closed for New Year's, and most customers wound up relying on their old familiar money for at least another day...

CHICAGO -- Scientists at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory have stumbled across a discrepancy in theories of subatomic particles. Researchers measured fewer neutrinos -- tiny particles that pass through most ordinary objects -- resulting from atomic collisions than physicists have long predicted...

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Inside Curtiss Peterson's no-frills conservation lab lies a jumble of plastic dishpans strewn out on tables like hastily placed hospital stretchers. Thin wires run from electrical transformers and then plunge into the chemical bath contained within each, pumping the encrusted iron artifacts inside with low-voltage life support...

At least eight people were reported killed in traffic accidents on Missouri roads during the long holiday weekend. Thomas Smith, 15, of St. Joseph, Mo., died Tuesday after the car he was in ran off a Buchanan County road and overturned about 2 a.m., the Missouri State Highway Patrol said...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- State workers spending lavishly on lunches and dinners. Transportation employees testing their heavy machinery skills in state-funded contests. The state Water Patrol with more boats and vehicles than employees. Those are just some of the targets of Democratic State Auditor Claire McCaskill, who has been highlighting what she considers government waste and abuse since taking office in January 1999...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A planned three-year study should help assess whether compulsive gamblers are getting counseling under Missouri's pioneering self-banning program -- and how many problem gamblers still manage to get back into casinos. The $375,000 study could provide a window into the complexities of pathological gambling, including the severity of the problems and the effectiveness of self-exclusion, said Keith Whyte, the National Council on Problem Gambling's executive director...

Age: 48. BORN JULY 24, 1953. Hometown: HOUSTON, MO. Political career: ELECTED STATE AUDITOR, 1998; ELECTED JACKSON COUNTY PROSECUTOR, 1992; ELECTED TO MISSOURI HOUSE, 1982. Education: BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN POLITICAL SCIENCE AND LAW DEGREE, BOTH FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT COLUMBIA...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Tarzan raised Desi Arnaz' rat. You can say that again -- backward. OK, so the first sentence isn't true. Hey, we're not sure Desi Arnaz even had a rat. But it is a palindrome. And that's important, especially in 2002, the Year of the Palindrome...

OAK LAWN, Ill. -- A 76-year-old man fatally shot his 74-year-old wife in her hospital room before shooting himself, authorities said.

BELLEVILLE, Ill. -- Pranksters who throw soap or dye into the Veterans Memorial Fountain next summer may find themselves on candid camera. They won't be taped for an episode of "America's Funniest Home Videos;" it will be more like "Belleville's Most Wanted."...

CHICAGO -- Training to climb Mount Everest in Chicago makes about as much sense as getting ready to swim the English Channel in Death Valley. Yet there is Al Hanna in this flattest of cities trudging up and down little more than a molehill to prepare himself to scale the tallest mountain on the planet...

WASHINGTON -- The poisonous gas pumped into the Hart Senate Office Building last weekend appears to have killed any remaining anthrax spores, Environmental Protection Agency officials said Tuesday. The agency must await lab tests to confirm the preliminary results, but monitoring equipment suggested the fumigation worked on the second try. An earlier attempt failed when officials could not create the necessary levels of humidity...

Associated Press/Walter Astrada Leftist demonstrators threw stones at supporters of Sen. Eduardo Duhalde outside the Congress in Buenos Aires on Tuesday. Argentina entered the New Year with an economy near exhaustion, an angry public, a new caretaker president and feuding lawmakers working to pick a fifth leader in two weeks...

WASHINGTON -- The victims' families and the nation still grieve, but the once-charred and jagged western flank of the Pentagon no longer looks much like the scene of an American tragedy. Except for flags waving from two 140-foot-tall cranes, there is little indication that the 400,000 square-foot chunk now missing from the building is anything other than an ordinary construction project...

Cape Girardeau Wednesday, Jan. 2 On Sunday, firefighters responded to the following calls:At 6:52 p.m., a report of a gas odor at 2592 Saddlegate. On Monday, firefighters responded to the following calls:At 5:11 p.m., an electric box malfunction in the 300 block of South Mount Auburn Road...

LIMA, Peru -- Exploding rockets streaked through the Lima sky early Tuesday as Peruvians rang in the new year with fireworks despite a weekend blaze sparked by a firecracker that ravaged the capital's downtown and killed 290 people. President Alejandro Toledo had asked Peruvians not to light fireworks to celebrate New Year's out of respect for the victims of Saturday's fire, Peru's deadliest on record...

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Congress named a Peronist party leader as Argentina's the fifth president in two weeks Tuesday as the country reeled from its most serious political and economic crisis in decades. The Peronist-controlled Congress overwhelmingly confirmed old-style populist Eduardo Duhalde as head of state...

WASHINGTON -- About 200 U.S. Marines searched a former Taliban and al-Qaida compound in southern Afghanistan Tuesday as the hunt for Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar continued. The Marines left their base in the southern city of Kandahar late Monday night in a convoy of vehicles, headed for the compound in Helmand province, said Maj. ...

$$$Start Although the popularity of houseplants has waned in the last few years, as compared to 15 years ago, they still play a very important role in home and office decor. They provide luxuriant colors that contrast or complement the colors of furniture, walls, and wall accents...

$$$Start smcclanahan Although Christmas Day has come and gone, we are still in the season of Christmastide according to our church calendar. Epiphany will be celebrated Jan. 6, which is 12 days after Christmas Day. So for our family, we are still celebrating Christmas. ...

I spent New Year's Eve 2001 at home playing board games and watching Dick Clark with The Other Half and five friends. I mentally named the event "Party of Lame." During our annual reflection on New Year's Eves past, Mr. Half and I had no recollection of last year's observance, which is a bad thing no matter how you look at it: Either we had alcohol-induced blackouts or it wasn't even worth committing to memory...

BOSTON -- The popular pain reliever ibuprofen blocks the heart-protecting effects of aspirin, according to a study that sounds a warning for people who take both medicines. "It would not do you a lot of good to take one medication only to have another wipe out its effects," said Dr. Muredach Reilly, a University of Pennsylvania cardiologist who took part in the 30-patient study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine...

'Survivor' puts farmer's face on shirts Life in rural Smyth County, Va., hasn't been the same since goat farmer "Big" Tom Buchanan made his television debut this fall on CBS's "Survivor: Africa." Buchanan, 46, finished taping the show months ago, but even his son swears that he doesn't know if his father will win the show's top prize. The network bans Buchanan from talking about "Survivor: Africa" until he is eliminated...

LOS ANGELES -- Massive icebergs and an unprecedented amount of sea ice have nearly isolated one of Antarctica's largest populations of Adelie penguins, jeopardizing attempts by the birds to breed, scientists report. Each year at this time, the penguins flock from their feeding grounds at sea to Ross Island, where they breed and lay their eggs in shallow nests lined with pebbles...

GRAYSON, Ky. -- It could have been mistaken for a beautification project: workers gluing thin sheets of a carbon fiber material to the girders of the 10-year-old Grayson bridge over Little Sandy River. The goal is to make it stronger, long enough to last another 50 years...

NEW YORK -- Billionaire businessman Michael Bloomberg was sworn in as mayor of New York City on Tuesday and issued a call for shared sacrifice to tackle the city's problems. "To meet the challenges facing our city, we must work together to draw upon the energy, entrepreneurship and talent of all New Yorkers," Bloomberg said in a New Year's Day inaugural address. "We are the toughest, most resilient and most determined people on the planet...

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- An early morning apartment fire Tuesday killed four people who had fallen asleep after a New Year's Eve party, authorities said. Two others who escaped the burning apartment were treated for smoke inhalation, said Clarksville Fire Marshall Ray Williams...

CHICAGO -- Too much vitamin A may increase the risk of hip fractures in older women, according to a new study that researchers say suggests the need to re-evaluate the levels in supplements and fortified food. Vitamin A is important for such things as healthy skin and hair and bone growth. ...

TAMPA, Fla. -- Sephie, a young heroine who must save her planet from economic and environmental devastation. Ethan, a traveling prince who seeks peace and justice. Simon Archard, the world's greatest detective in Victorian England, whose foil is a baroness who controls a criminal empire...

LOS ANGELES -- For Hollywood, 2001 was another year of record revenue, a time for the birth and rebirth of big film franchises and a period of soul-searching over violent action films after the Sept. 11 attacks. Movie-ticket sales for 2001 will total an estimated $8.35 billion by the end of New Year's Eve, up from last year's record of $7.7 billion, according to box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations...

NEW DELHI, India -- In a cooling down of the war rhetoric between the South Asian rivals, Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said Tuesday that his country was open to dialogue with Pakistan if it sheds its "anti-India mentality." Despite the buildup of tensions over the past weeks, India and Pakistan upheld their New Year's tradition of exchanging lists of their civilian nuclear facilities, traded every year to prevent attack on the installations. ...

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Colombian guerrillas waged scattered attacks over the New Year holiday, leaving 13 people dead on the eve of peace talks, officials said Tuesday. Among those killed were eight soldiers who died when they stumbled on a mine field...

Cape Girardeau Wednesday, Jan. 2 DWIA person was taken into custody on Sunday pending the filing of formal charges of driving while intoxicated. ArrestsSterling Ray Hall, 21, of St. Louis was arrested Tuesday at 40 S. Sprigg for failure to appear on a warrant and for a probation violation warrant...

QUESTION: My wife and I got a young Schnauzer for Christmas. We are debating whether or not to have its ears cropped. Could you give a little information on the operation? ANSWER: Today, ear cropping is done strictly for cosmetic reasons and is controversial. ...

10 years ago: Jan. 2, 1992 Preliminary construction associated with $89 million Cape Girardeau Mississippi Bridge and cross-city highway project is scheduled to begin late this year; work on highway will start where Highway 74 is to be located to form interchange with I-55...

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The dazzling Ducks of Oregon made their case for a share of the national championship -- and then some. Now as far as they're concerned, it's "Go Nebraska!" In an impressive end to his college career, Joey Harrington threw for 350 yards and four touchdowns as No. 2 Oregon routed No. 3 Colorado 38-16 on Tuesday in the Fiesta Bowl...

LOS ANGELES -- The biggest player in the Rose Bowl figures if Colorado was able to run it up on Nebraska, so can No. 1 Miami. Bryant McKinnie, the Hurricanes' 6-foot-9, 336-pound left tackle, wasn't bashful in assessing the Huskers' humiliating 62-36 loss to the Buffaloes on Nov. 23...

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Sergei Brylin and Patrik Elias scored as the New Jersey Devils beat the St. Louis Blues 2-1 Tuesday night. The Devils have won two straight for the first time since Dec. 5-8. Doug Weight scored for the Blues, 2-7-3-2 on the road since the start of November...

With gifts ranging from infant T-shirts to teddy bears, Cape Girardeau's two hospitals readied to ring in the new year with the area's first New Year's babies. But by 8:30 p.m., the guest of honor hadn't shown up at either hospital, with no births and little for obstetric nurses to celebrate...

It was a good year for construction in Cape Girardeau, possibly the second-best ever despite a sagging nationwide economy in 2001. Permit totals passed the $48.6 million mark, but officials won't know where the year ranks in city history until December information is complete. It certainly won't beat the city's busiest construction year on record: 1999, when $64.5 million in permits were granted...

Edgar Mosley expressed what might be called the theme song of many standing in lines at the Cape Girardeau County collector's offices in Cape Girardeau and Jackson, Mo., Monday, the final day to pay property taxes without a penalty. "You hold onto it as long as you can," the Cape Girardeau man said...

MIAMI -- The latest turn of Steve Spurrier's quarterback carousel might be the most curious of all. Spurrier said Tuesday he was pulling Heisman Trophy runner-up Rex Grossman from the starting lineup for the Orange Bowl against Maryland because Grossman missed curfew on the team's second night in Miami...

After having not played a game for more than three weeks, Southeast Missouri State University women's coach Ed Arnzen figures a meeting with Missouri Baptist tonight will serve as a nice tuneup for Saturday's start of Ohio Valley Conference action...

Back on Dec. 1, Western Illinois came to the Show Me Center and spanked Southeast Missouri State University 71-58. The Indians would like nothing better than to return the favor tonight when the non-conference squads square off in a rematch on the Leathernecks' home court in Macomb, Ill...

AP Business WriterNEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street investors began the new year cautiously Wednesday, putting off buying until the last hour of trading but still giving stocks a respectable advance. While tech stocks traded higher for much of the day, blue chips suffered profit taking following weeks of gains. Part of investors' careful approach came from uncertainty over precisely when in 2002 business conditions will improve, analysts said...

Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON (AP) -- The Defense Department said Wednesday that it doubts negotiations under way for the surrender of Taliban forces include their leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar. An estimated 1,000 to 1,500 Taliban fighters who have been holding out near the city of Baghran were negotiating with anti-Taliban forces, said Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem...

NEW YORK (AP) -- The bodies of 10 firefighters and three civilians were pulled from the rubble of the World Trade Center as excavation crews opened up the lobby of one of the collapsed towers, a firefighters union spokesman said Wednesday. "Those lower floors are now 30 feet below ground," said Tom Da Parma of the Uniformed Firefighters Association. He said the building's steel beams collapsed in such a way that pockets were created, and that is where many of the bodies have been found...

Associated Press WriterISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- In a nationwide crackdown in the last few days, Pakistan has arrested about 50 followers of two militant Islamic groups that India accuses of orchestrating an attack in its Parliament last month, group officials said Wednesday...

Associated Press WriterKATMANDU, Nepal (AP) -- Breaking weeks of tension, the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan shook hands and smiled on Wednesday, hinting that diplomatic talks could ease the disharmony that has pushed troops toward their shared frontier...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- When he learned three weeks ago that Notre Dame had hired George O'Leary as its football coach, Tyrone Willingham told Irish athletic director Kevin White he had made a mistake. "Kevin, you're hiring the wrong guy," White recalled Willingham had told him. "You need to hire me. You know you have to hire me."...

Scott Son to Aaron Maurice and Jennifer Lynn Scott of Charleston, Mo., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 1:56 a.m. Friday, Dec. 21, 2001. Name, Landyn Maurice. Weight, 7 pounds 12 ounces. Second child, first son. Mrs. Scott is the former Jennifer Byrd, daughter of Leetis and Wanda Byrd of Bertrand, Mo. She is employed at Scheffer Printing. Scott is the son of Bobby Scott and Gloria Scott of Bertrand. He is employed at DeLine Farms...

Parents have a responsibility to consider carefully the educational needs of their children and decide where those needs best will be met. Fortunately for mothers and fathers in Southeast Missouri, the choices are many. In addition to public school districts with excellent reviews by teams from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, there are top-rate parochial schools as well...

The Arts Council of Southeast Missouri's recent announcement that it is looking for a new executive director gives the community an opportunity to think about the organization and all the fine things it does. Founded in 1962 as the Christian Arts Council by Otto F. Dingeldein and other Cape Girardeau residents, the council has evolved from an all-volunteer organization to one with a paid staff and national juried exhibitions. The Arts Council is the oldest community arts council in Missouri...

Scary interview THERE WAS a very scary interview on TV. The gentleman being interviewed said creative accounting was very prevalent in the financial statements of many of the companies on the stock exchange and that the accounting deceptions used by Enron were very prevalent in the energy and movie industries. ...

Robert D. Gladish departed this world peacefully Dec. 26, 2001. He is survived by his wife of 45 years, two children, five grandchildren and a sister of Kennett, Mo. Bob was a dedicated Boy Scout volunteer for over 25 years, having served in many capacities including scoutmaster, junior leader training staff member, and Shawnee District member at large. ...

KELSO, Mo. -- Bertha Clara Scherer, 92, of Kelso died Sunday, Dec. 30, 2001, in Advance, Mo. She was born Aug. 12, 1909, at Chaffee, Mo., daughter of Anton and Regina Heuring Glastetter. She and Joseph Otto Scherer were married Oct. 20,1932, at New Hamburg, Mo. He died April 17, 1969...

KELSO, Mo. -- Rosalia Mary Enderle, 96, of Kelso, died Monday, Dec. 31, 2001, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 12, 1905, in Kelso to Joseph and Caroline Heisserer Schaefer. She married Benjamin Frank Enderle on Nov. 6, 1928, in Kelso, and he died July 27, 2000...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Funeral for Emma Pearl Cathey of Dexter was held Monday at Rainey Funeral Home. The Rev. Clifford Wary officiated. Burial was in Hagy Cemetery. Cathey, 95, died Saturday, Dec. 29, 2001, at Cypress Point Healthcare. She was born Aug. 7, 1906, at Portageville, Mo., daughter of Albert and Maude Funkhouse Adams. She and Fred Monroe Cathey were married Nov. 21, 1925, at New Madrid, Mo. He died Feb. 6, 1991...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Funeral for Sylvia L. McCall Stovall of Jackson will be held at 2 p.m. today at Hutchings Funeral Chapel in Marble Hill, Mo. Stovall, 79, died Saturday, Dec. 29, 2001, in Cape Girardeau. She was born July 8, 1922, at Clarkton, Mo., daughter of Ira and Lavada Killian Dockins. She first married John M. Stovall. She later married Edward Ben McCall...

BURFORDVILLE, Mo. -- Velma G. Mabrey, 86, of Overland, Mo., died Monday, Dec. 31, 2001, at St. John's Place in St. Louis. She was born Aug. 25, 1915, at Burfordville, daughter of William and Barbara Huffman Ross. She and Clarence E. Mabrey were married Nov. 21, 1935...

ANNA, Ill. -- Vada Maxine York, 74, of Anna died Sunday, Dec. 30, 2001, at Memorial Hospital in Carbondale, Ill. She was born June 29, 1927, in West Frankfort, Ill., daughter of Marion and Sara Mae Frazier Dunning. She and Gilbert York were married Nov. 18, 1945, in Marion, Ill. He died Oct. 28, 1981...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Minnie J. Parcell, 85, of Jonesboro died Sunday, Dec. 30, 2001, at Jonesboro Healthcare Center. She was born July 8, 1916, in Jonesboro, daughter of Jefferson H. and Clara Weiss Slicker. She and Charles F. (Chuck) Parcell were married Sept. 14, 1934. He died Sept. 6, 1989...

Funeral for Cleta May Rayburn of Cape Girardeau will be held at 2 p.m. today at Ford and Sons Sprigg Street Funeral Home. The Rev. Jim Cooper will officiate. Burial will be in Fairmount Cemetery. Rayburn, 87, died Sunday, Dec. 30, 2001, at Southeast Missouri Hospital...

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- Melton Lee "Jack" Haney, 74, of Scott City died Sunday, Dec. 30, 2001, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born March 1, 1927, in Plant City, Fla., son of Virgil Lee and Elvirdia Ditto Haney. He and Muriel Charlotte Hirte were married Nov. 13, 1943, at Jackson, Mo...

ANNA, Ill. -- William Frank Tripp, 89, of Anna died on Monday, Dec. 31, 2001, at the Union County Hospital in Anna. He was born on June 19, 1912, at Anna, the son of Dugan and Agnes Highland Tripp. He married Eva Leona Fox on Feb. 21, 1931 in Union County. She died on Jan. 22, 1995...

KELSO, Mo. -- Cornetta R. Seyer, 91, died Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2002, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City, Mo.

AP Business WriterNEW YORK (AP) -- Manufacturing activity shrank for the 17th consecutive month in December but beat expectations, raising the prospect of a slow rebound, an industry group reported Wednesday. The Tempe, Ariz.-based Institute of Supply Management said its index of business activity rose to 48.2 in December from 44.5 in November. Analysts had been expecting a reading of 46...