Stories from Friday, March 22, 2002

10 PERCENT TRIM By Marc Powers ~ Southeast Missourian JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- As lawmakers work to cut the state budget, those wielding the axes aren't sparing even themselves...

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Pedro Martinez had his third straight tough outing for Boston, allowing four runs in five innings, but the Red Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals 9-6 Thursday. Martinez, coming back from a shoulder injury, was dominant at times, and struck out eight. But he was hit hard in the third and fifth innings. In the third, Kerry Robinson led off with a single, Placido Polanco walked, and J.D. Drew hit a two-run double...

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Players from both teams wore heart-shaped stickers on the backs of their helmets that bore Brittanie Cecil's initials. The flags outside the arena were at half-staff. Before the puck dropped Thursday night for Columbus' game against Detroit, there was a moment of silence for Brittanie, the 13-year-old girl who died after being hit by a puck during the Blue Jackets' previous home game...

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Tony Stewart walked gingerly Thursday, careful not to strain his tender back. With a race at his favorite track looming, he could take no chances. "I'm pretty sore," Stewart said. "The doctor ordered rest, but there's not a lot of time for that."...

CHICAGO -- U.S. Rep. Rod Blagojevich and Attorney General Jim Ryan flew across the state Thursday, thanking volunteers and giving voters a peek at their strategy in the fall campaign for governor. Blagojevich began the day in Chicago beside the two men he defeated in the Democratic primary, former Chicago schools chief Paul Vallas and former state Attorney General Roland Burris. Both pledged to do whatever it takes to help Blagojevich win Nov. 5...

Associated Press/Kelley McCall Rep. Barbara Wall Fraser, D-St. Louis, urged House colleagues to extend a children's health insurance program on Thursday. By David A. Lieb ~ The Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- About 77,000 children could continue receiving state health insurance after July 1 under a bill given first-round House approval Thursday...

VATICAN CITY -- Breaking his silence, Pope John Paul II denounced the "grave scandal" of priests implicated in sex-abuse cases rocking the Roman Catholic Church, saying they had betrayed their vows and succumbed to evil. In an annual pre-Easter message to priests released Thursday by the Vatican, the pope used some of his strongest language to address an issue that has seriously embarrassed the church in the United States and elsewhere...

MAZAR-E-SHARIF, Afghanistan -- Interim Prime Minister Hamid Karzai joined leaders of Afghanistan's different ethnic groups in a celebration of the Persian New Year Thursday at which they renewed calls for peace. Tens of thousands of people from across northern Afghanistan flooded the streets of Mazar-e-Sharif to celebrate a holiday that was banned as un-Islamic under the Taliban...

GENEVA -- The World Health Organization has produced a list of companies making safe AIDS drugs, a move that could bring down the price of treatment in poor countries. But the organization representing big international drug companies said Thursday the move could reduce the quality of treatment and lead to widespread drug resistance...

WASHINGTON -- Workers saving for retirement could be encouraged, possibly even required, to diversify investments in their company 401(k) accounts when Congress finishes writing new pension laws aimed at avoiding the big losses Enron employees suffered...

WASHINGTON -- Kenneth Starr, the former Whitewater independent counsel, will lead the court challenge seeking to overturn large parts of the campaign finance bill passed by Congress. Sen. Mitch McConnell, expected to be the lead plaintiff in the case, said Thursday that his legal team would be led by Starr, who gained national prominence in his pursuit of former President Clinton over the Whitewater land deal and the Monica Lewinsky case, and by First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams...

Cape Girardeau Friday, March 22 ArrestsRaymond Fender III, 17, of Dyersburg, Tenn., and Lonnie Murray, 17, of Nashville, Tenn., were arrested for tampering, failure to yield to an emergency vehicle, red light violation and no operator's license. Murray was also arrested for resisting arrest...

Cape Girardeau Friday, March 22 Firefighters responded to the following calls Wednesday:At 2:41 a.m., a medical assist at 2674 Hopper. At 3:03 a.m., a box alarm at 650 S. Sprigg. At 5:59 a.m., a medical assist at 508 Clark. At 8:18 a.m., a medical assist at 1716 Independence...

Kathy Swan, owner of Cape Girardeau-based communications company JCS/Tel-Link, was appointed by Gov. Bob Holden to the 40-member Missouri Business Education Roundtable to study and recommend solutions for critical issues facing Missouri's public schools, including a statewide teacher shortage...

The U.S. State Department allows the following categories of travelers to go to Cuba: U.S. and foreign government officials traveling on official business. Journalists and supporting broadcasting or technical personnel regularly employed by a news organization...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Dennis Cornelius of Perryville owes the Dallas Cowboys' quarterbacks a pat on the back of their shirts. An avid Dallas football fan, he used the numbers of five Cowboy quarterbacks for his SHOW ME 5 picks, and it paid off. Cornelius' 10, 11, 12, 17 and 18 won him a $100,000 payoff. Cornelius, a barrel shipper for the Perryville Stave Mill, is one of two big lottery winners...

WASHINGTON -- With another fight simmering over travel to Cuba and trade with the communist nation, two Missouri lawmakers remain key players on opposite sides of the debate. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., joined lawmakers from both parties Thursday in announcing a new "House Cuba Working Group" that will push for private financing for sales of rice and other farm commodities to the island, as well as lifting the ban on travel to Cuba...

EL PASO, Texas -- President Bush said Thursday "two-bit terrorists" who exploded a bomb near the U.S. Embassy in Peru would not stop him from going there as part of a Latin American trip. Bush said "we might have an idea" who set off the bomb. "They've been around before," he said. ...

WASHINGTON -- States already laden with ballooning Medicaid budgets are pushing Congress to step in with a plan to ease the costs of long-term care for the elderly, now often shifted into the Medicaid program. "The demand for long-term care services under Medicaid will bankrupt state budgets unless another form of financing is found," said Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton, who serves as vice chairman of the National Governors Association...

BEIJING -- This time there was no immediate deportation, no Northwest flight to Detroit, no goodwill gesture to massage fragile China-U.S. relations. On Thursday, after the guilty verdict, the defendant was sent straight back to a Chinese jail. Fong Fuming, a naturalized U.S. ...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The United States and other foreign governments rebuilding war-battered Afghanistan have provided Afghan children with new schools, uniforms, textbooks and knapsacks for the start of the school year on Saturday. But they haven't been able to give back lost time to Afghanistan's schoolgirls, who were banned by the Taliban from getting an education and are only now returning to the lessons they abandoned five years ago...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- After much searching, the Missouri Republican Party has found a candidate it hopes will unseat state Auditor Claire McCaskill, a Democrat. Jay L. Kanzler of the St. Louis suburb of Ballwin, Mo., acknowledged Thursday he will seek the office on the GOP ticket...

The Associated PressCAIRO, Egypt -- Israel would "pay the consequences" if it refused to allow Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to return from an Arab summit next week, the head of the Arab League warned Thursday in an exclusive interview...

Retired salesman cops plea to stealing drugs KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A retired drug salesman pleaded guilty Thursday to providing stolen drugs to pharmacist Robert R. Courtney, who has admitted he watered down cancer drugs for profit. An FBI spokesman said Courtney bought $200,000 worth of drugs from Aram C. Paraghamian that were stolen from a Denver area hospital...

LOS ANGELES -- A woman whose two huge dogs mauled a neighbor to death in their San Francisco apartment building was convicted Thursday of murder, a charge almost never leveled in an animal attack. Her husband was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter...

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Unsafe levels of the toxin PCB recently discovered in freshwater clams and crawfish were caused by electrical debris dumped in the Columbia River, a new report confirmed. The report was released Wednesday by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers...

LAS VEGAS -- Lawyers can serve legal documents via e-mail, a federal appeals court decided in a groundbreaking ruling. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that a Las Vegas hotel-casino could e-mail legal documents to an offshore company with no physical address...

Almost a quarter of people working in private households in the United States are illegal immigrants, as are about half the country's farmworkers and 9 percent of its restaurant employees, a report says. The analysis by the nonpartisan Pew Hispanic Center offers a detailed look at the nation's illegal immigrants, estimated at almost 8 million people, and demonstrates how much certain industries rely on the country's approximately 5.3 million undocumented workers...

NEW YORK -- A compilation of articles by Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter abducted and killed in Pakistan, will come out in book form this summer. Pearl's widow, Mariane, will write the foreword; his colleagues will contribute personal anecdotes...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- In terms of the state budget, it's still a rainy day, but the storm has somewhat abated. In order to balance about a $19 billion state budget for fiscal year 2003, the House Budget Committee still calls for raiding the state's Rainy Day Fund. However, it proposes taking slightly less than half the amount from Missouri's savings as originally proposed by Gov. Bob Holden...

The trend of traveling teachers is increasing By Heather Kronmueller ~ Southeast Missourian JACKSON, Mo. -- It's 12:20 p.m. Tiffany Marquart is supposed to be teaching an art class at North Elementary in Fruitland, Mo., in 20 minutes, but she's stuck behind a tractor on Highway 25 near Gordonville, Mo., and knows she's not going to make it on time...

KARACHI, Pakistan -- The chief prosecutor in the case of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl said he would file charges today against the alleged mastermind and three others accused in the journalist's kidnapping and murder. The indictment will charge Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and three accomplices with murder, kidnapping, and terrorism in the death of Pearl, the newspaper's 38-year-old South Asia correspondent, Chief Prosecutor Raja Quereshi said Thursday...

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Heavy fighting near the Venezuelan border killed at least 38 soldiers and leftist guerrillas, Colombia's military said Thursday. The army said retreating rebels took refuge in the neighboring South American country. Elsewhere, guerrillas have occupied a pumping station at a reservoir in Colombia's southern Andes, cutting the water supply to more than 500,000 people, authorities said...

JERUSALEM -- A Palestinian blew himself up in an oft-targeted shopping area in the heart of Jerusalem on Thursday in the second suicide bombing in two days, killing three Israelis and derailing a round of U.S.-brokered truce talks. Moments after the late afternoon blast, the dead and injured lay on a blood-splattered pavement on King George Street, amid glass shards and twisted awnings from a hat boutique, a shoe store and a candy shop...

LIMA, Peru -- Peru's president vowed Thursday to use a "heavy hand" to put down terrorism in his country after a car bomb blast outside the U.S. Embassy killed nine people and raised fears of a comeback by the deadly Shining Path guerrilla movement...

MONTERREY, Mexico -- Saying poverty fuels terrorism, dozens of world leaders launched a U.N. summit Thursday by promising to do more to help the world's neediest and end the cycle of economic chaos that plagues the developing world. With the summit in northern Mexico, the gateway to Latin America, the reality of both financial crisis and terrorism hit close to home...

AP Business WriterNEW YORK (AP) -- A profit warning from McDonald's pulled stock prices lower Friday while investors were still smarting from fears of rising interest rates. Investors took profits from blue chips for the third straight session, giving the Dow Jones industrials their first weekly decline since Feb. 8...

NOT ALL ON BOARD By Scott Moyers ~ Southeast Missourian There are pro-union buttons being circulated by some nurses at St. Francis Medical Center, but there are anti-union sentiments popping up at the Cape Girardeau hospital as well...

Seventeen people have been subpoenaed to testify today at a coroner's inquest being held to determine whether the shooting death of Winford S. Griffith March 15 in Cape Girardeau was justifiable or a homicide. The 64-year-old Cape Girardeau man was shot by Cleo Johns in a morning confrontation at Ed's Bar on Good Hope Street. Griffith, who witnesses say also was armed with a handgun, died later at Southeast Missouri Hospital...

Five area students took home individual awards and one area school took home a team award Thursday at the 2002 Southeast Missouri Chemistry Bowl. Luke Van Cleve, Sonia Tikoo and Bonan Wang, all students at Central High School in Cape Girardeau, placed first, second and fourth, respectively, among large school student winners...

There are lots of reasons why this year's contest for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Jean Carnahan is so important. Jim Talent, former U.S. representative/candidate for governor, is challenging Carnahan, who was appointed after her husband was elected posthumously in November 2000...

Wendy and I spent a week in Cuba earlier this month as part of a group of Inland Press Association editors and publishers. Previously, I gave an account of some of our first impressions and a bit of history as well as review of the Cuban missile crisis. I also started a recap of our itinerary. In this segment, I'll continue my account of our busy itinerary during the trip. ...

Daily Dunklin Democrat KENNETT, Mo. -- "We're going to see how many kites we can get into the air," Will Mobley said about the second annual Community Kite Flying Event that he's having in his front yard. The Kennett Chamber of Commerce Quality of Life committee will sponsor this year's event from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday...

Reception planned to welcome sheriff home BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- He's home from the the Middle East and ready to assume the helm of the county's law enforcement agency again. Stoddard County Sheriff Steve Fish returned this week from service with the Missouri Air National Guard in Kuwait as a part of military action following terrorist attacks on America...

10 years ago: March 22, 1992 First Baptist Church of Cape Girardeau honors Bob Cook as deacon emeritus during morning worship service; Cook is presented plaque in recognition of his 35 years of service to church; in addition to serving as deacon, he taught seventh grade boys Sunday School class and was Royal Ambassadors leader for more than 30 years...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- David LeRoy Lukefahr, 48, of Perryville died Thursday, March 21, 2002, at his home. He was born Sept. 29, 1953, in Cape Girardeau, son of LeRoy and Patsy Oehl Lukefahr. He and Karen D. Conrad were married Aug. 22, 1987. Lukefahr was a fleet manager at Buchheit Trucking, and a farmer. He was a member of Crossroads United Methodist Church...

Garnett R. Sanders, 78, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, March 18, 2002, at Berea Hospital in Berea, Ky. He was born Jan. 6, 1924, at Commerce, Mo., son of Jesse Richman and Alice Loftin Sanders. He and June E. Cotner were married March 18, 1944, at Scott City, Mo...

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- Lila Pauline Rubel, 84, of Scott City died Wednesday, March 20, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born on May 16, 1917, at Rienzi, Miss., the daughter of Clarence H. and Minta Jane Michael. She married Claude Ervin Rubel on Aug. 24, 1971, at Benton, Mo. He died Dec. 21, 1995...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Sadie Sarah Abernathy Trentham of Marble Hill died Tuesday, March 19, 2002, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, at the age of 86 years, two months and 22 days. She was born Dec. 25, 1915, in Bollinger County, Mo., daughter of Noah and Mary Kirn Abernathy. She and William E. Trentham were married Aug. 7, 1932...

These are the 10 songs Ken VanWinkle of Cape Girardeau wouldn't want to live without: 1. "Enter Sandman" -- Metallica A timeless ballad of metal mayhem. The first album I ever had. 2. "Under The Bridge" -- Red Hot Chili Peppers...

Before Kaos opened in Cape Girardeau, 19-year-olds looking for a party on Friday and Saturday nights say they either had to drive to St. Louis, Memphis, Tenn., or Illinois to find a night club where they could get in without being legal drinking age....

Associated Press WriterMONTERREY, Mexico (AP) -- President Bush urged world leaders to demand political reform from poor countries in exchange for increased aid and warned Friday that unchecked poverty can foster terrorism. "We fight poverty because hope is an answer to terror," Bush said in a speech before representatives from 171 nations taking part in the U.N. International Conference on Financing for Development...

AP Diplomatic WriterWASHINGTON (AP) -- The State Department on Friday ordered dependents and non-essential workers at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, and three consulates to leave the country because of concerns for their safety. Secretary of State Colin Powell informed President Pervez Musharraf of the decision to scale down the staff by telephone from Monterrey, Mexico, where Powell was accompanying President Bush on a visit...

Associated Press WriterST. LOUIS, Mo. (AP) -- Federal laws aimed primarily at racketeering were used Friday to sue three dioceses and an ex-bishop on behalf of an alleged child abuse victim. The suit was filed in Hannibal, Mo., site of St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary. It names Bishop Anthony O'Connell, a longtime rector at St. Thomas, along with the dioceses where he worked: Jefferson City, Mo.; Knoxville, Tenn.; and West Palm Beach, Fla...

Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. government issued duties Friday averaging 29 percent on a popular type of Canadian lumber to protect American jobs and retaliate for what it says are unfair trade practices. Critics say the move could add $1,500 to the price of a new U.S. home and devastate the Canadian lumber industry, which already has suffered mill closings and job losses from U.S. tariffs imposed last year...

When I looked in the mailbag this week, I saw it was piled up with two messages. And then I got an e-mail Thursday morning, making a grand total of three. Obviously, I need to respond to these folks before my mail gets out of hand. Here goes: --- Dear Mr. Sullivan: You're always writing about Kelo Valley. Is that like Lake Woebegone? Does Kelo Valley really exist? If it does, tell me how to get there. Roy....

It happens a few times a night, winter and summer, in just about every rink or ballpark with a grandstand big enough to charge admission. The warning is always there, on the back of every ticket, in small print. A slap shot with some steam on it gets deflected or a better-than-average fastball is fouled off too high or too wide for the protective backstop enclosing the game. ...

LOS ANGELES After 40 years in various Los Angeles venues, the Academy Awards return Sunday to Hollywood itself, to a glittering new theater -- Oscar's first permanent home. The Kodak Theatre sits on Hollywood Boulevard a mere block from the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, where the first Oscars were presented in a 15-minute ceremony in 1929...

HHH 1/2 "Monster's Ball" is a gritty, spare movie about a corrections officer (Billy Bob Thornton) and the wife (Halle Berry) of a prisoner (Sean Combs) the officer helps execute. I have rarely seen a film in which there is so little love and so much need...

HUMESTON, Iowa -- Anne Norris, 57, of Humeston and formerly of Mounds, Ill., died Sunday, March 17, 2002, at her home. She was born Oct. 18, 1944, in Cairo, Ill., the daughter of Tim and Wanda Essex Campbell. They survive. She married Marty Norris on June 15, 1968. He survives...

ALPENA, Mich. -- Erna Leona Wittke, 95, of Alpena and formerly of Pocahontas, Mo., died Wednesday, March 20, 2002, at the Greenview Tendercare Nursing Home. She was born Sept. 10, 1906, in Pocahontas, the daughter of Emmanuel and Maria Haberfellner Schoen. She married the Rev. Gastav Wittke at St. John Lutheran Church in Pocahontas on June 21, 1931. He was pastor at the church, and she was the organist...

To the editor: My flag is the perfect flag. It is all my country stands for. It stands for times of sorrow and when we are not promised tomorrow. It stands in times of tears and times of fears. It stands for love, affection and honor. That is what my country stands for...

Bass fishing league makes stop at Kentucky Lake As many as 400 anglers from around the region are expected for the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League event Saturday at Kentucky Lake near Gilbertsville, Ky. The $7 million series will offer awards of up to $5,000 in the boater division and $2,500 in the co-angler division at the tournament weigh-in, which will be at the Kentucky Dam Village State Resort Park at 3 p.m...

AREA SOUTHEAST GOLF TEAM 9TH AT NEW ORLEANS EVENT Southeast Missouri State University's golf team finished ninth out of 14 squads this week in the Bob Brown Classic hosted by the University of New Orleans...

The AssociatedPress LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Duke won't go back-to-back again. Indiana is back, plain and simple. And Jason Williams' college career ends on a sour note. With a never-give-up rally and a wild ending, Indiana produced an upset as stunning as any in the Hoosiers' hoops history...

Jaret Willi has already had a memorable career. Now he hopes an adjustment in technique will lead to even better things during his final outdoor season as a member of the Southeast Missouri State University track and field team. "I scooted the start of my run back a couple of strides after the indoor season," said Willi, whose team will begin the outdoor schedule Saturday at the Alabama Invitational. ...

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The white banner in front of the scorer's table at every NCAA tournament site lists each team in bright red letters. At the regional semifinals at the Carrier Dome, one name jumps out -- way out -- Southern Illinois. "People are saying, 'What are they doing there?'" Salukis center Rolan Roberts said...

Southeast Missouri State University's resurgent offense could get a rugged test this weekend when the Indians host Southwest Missouri State in a three-game series. There will be single games today, Saturday and Sunday, all beginning at 1 p.m. at Capaha Field...

Missouri lawmakers decided in the late 1980s that consumers of health-care services needed protection from a glut of hospitals, nursing homes and surgery centers. This was at a time when several trends were converging, including an aging population, managed health care and new high-tech medical equipment with multimillion-dollar price tags...

To the editor: I read your March 17 story about the pedestrian bridge over Highway 74. I noticed you only got comments from people who live on the north side of Ellis Street. I live on the south side of Ellis. The house my family lives in is right up against the fence...

Up to the court I'M CALLING in reference to the comment that said the police should do something about the people speeding on Broadway and impose a higher fine or community service. The police don't do that. The municipal courts do that. Argument for weapons...

Lena E. Guard, 91, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, March 21, 2002, at Ratliff Care Center. She was born Dec. 26, 1910, at Harviell, Mo., daughter of George W. and Cora Richardson Myrant. She and Paul H. Guard were married June 13, 1931, in Corning, Ark. He died Aug. 8, 1970. She and Fred Smith were married Dec. 4, 1976. He died Oct. 16, 1993...

Funeral for Nell Avery of Cape Girardeau will be held at 2 p.m. today at Ford and Sons Sprigg Street Funeral Home. The Rev. Howard Anderson will officiate. Burial will be in Fairmount Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from noon until time of service...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Shirley Jean Sadegh Withrow, 62, of Sikeston died Thursday, March 21, 2002, at her home. She was born Sept. 14, 1939, in Sikeston, daughter of James Richard and Myra Aliene Adcock Hill. She and Ted Withrow were married July 1, 2000...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Loretto "Sis" Brey, 94, of Cairo died Wednesday, March 20, 2002, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 12, 1907, in Cairo, daughter of George and Dora Fitzgerald Brankel. She married William Milton "Pots" Brey, who died in 1961...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Mollie J. Hayden, 92, of Perryville died Wednesday, March 20, 2002, at her home. She was born Sept. 13, 1909, in Perry County, daughter of James Baxter and Chloe Bell Rhyne Sides. She and Elmer Joseph Hayden were married April 8, 1939. He died June 21, 1975...

BUNCOMBE, Ill. -- Jane E. Roberts, 63, of Buncombe died Wednesday, March 20, 2002, at Memorial Hospital in Marion, Ill. She was born July 23, 1938, in Anna, Ill., daughter of John and Ethel Norris Sanders. Roberts operated a tavern and was an antique dealer. She was a member of Ladies Auxiliary to VFW Post 3455...

Willard M. Bechel, 81, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, March 21, 2002, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Jan. 15, 1921, in Cape Girardeau, son of Albert Joseph and Ethel E. Rhodes Bechel. He and Rosely L. Kistner were married Jan. 7, 1937, at Poplar Bluff, Mo...

Lee Vaccaro Sciortino Fuist died Saturday, March 16, 2002, at Fountainbleau Lodge. Mrs. Fuist was the widow of Edward Fuist; dear mother of Jan Rigdon (Denis) of Cape Girardeau, Ben Sciortino (Mary) of Wichita, Kan., and the late David Fuist; mother-in-law of Linda Fuist of St. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A $172 million supplemental spending bill passed the Senate on Thursday, but it leaves the state about $30 million short of balancing its budget in the current fiscal year. The Senate approved the measure, intended to cover the state's expenses through June 30, on a vote of 31-1. The House has already passed a $160 million version, and a compromise will likely have to be negotiated when lawmakers return April 2 from a weeklong break...