Stories from Wednesday, April 3, 2002

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Voters overwhelmingly approved a home-rule system of government here Tuesday, turning Sikeston into the 37th charter city in Missouri. They also decided to elect their own mayor to a three-year term rather than have city council members appoint one of their own members to serve for a year...

The Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A teen-ager when he killed an eastern Missouri woman, Christopher Simmons now is scheduled to be executed a few days after his 26th birthday. The state Supreme Court on Tuesday set a May 1 execution for Simmons, convicted of the Sept. 9, 1993, killing of Shirley Crook...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Enrollment is open for a new state-run prescription drug program for older Missourians. The Missouri SenioRx Program is expected to provide prescription coverage to about 55,000 Missourians over 65.

A 25-year-old law requiring a nickel deposit on beverage containers was narrowly being dumped by Columbia, Mo., voters in early unofficial returns Tuesday. Meanwhile, citizens across Missouri settled tax questions and selected local and school officeholders...

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Within hours after Rep. Robert Ehrlich announced he was running for governor, faxes began arriving at Maryland news organizations skewering his votes on abortion, gun control and the environment. The aim was clear -- to portray the 44-year-old Republican congressman as a right-wing extremist in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-to-1 and where Ehrlich's chief opponent could be a Kennedy...

MONTREAL -- Orlando Cabrera and many of his Montreal Expos teammates walked over one by one during batting practice and exchanged hugs with Florida's coaches. It was a most unusual reunion at an odd opener to what probably will be the Expos' final season in Montreal...

Jack Nicklaus, the most dominant player at Augusta National with six green jackets won over 23 years, withdrew Tuesday from the Masters because of lingering back problems. It will be only the second time since 1959 that Nicklaus has missed the Masters. He also skipped in 1999 when he was recovering from hip replacement surgery...

ST. LOUIS -- It's back to have glove, will travel for Albert Pujols. Not that it seems to bother the reigning NL rookie of the year. Last season, Pujols is believed to be the first player in major league history to start more than 30 games at four positions -- third, first base, left field and right field. Before spring training began this year, St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa told Pujols he'd be his everyday third baseman...

BellSouth Classic Site: DULUTH, GA. N SCHEDULE: Thursday-Sunday. Course: TPC AT SUGARLOAF (7,259 YARDS, PAR 72). N PURSE: $3.8 million. Winner's share: $684,000...

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. -- Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Serena Williams are on the rise as tennis makes the springtime switch to clay. Agassi showed he may be poised for a big year on clay by grinding out victories over Federer, Nicolas Lapentti and Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson en route to winning the Nasdaq-100, his fifth title on the Key Biscayne hardcourts...

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- The Bears have agreed to terms on a two-year contract with veteran fullback Daimon Shelton, the team announced Tuesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Shelton, who started nine games with the Bears last season, was suspended for the divisional playoff against Philadelphia. It was the first game of a four-game suspension for violating the NFL's policy on anabolic steroids and related substances...

MONTREAL -- The Expos made their fans forget about extinction and feel some excitement. Down to their last out in what might've been their final season opener, the Expos rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning and beat the Marlins on Orlando Cabrera's single...

Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Greg Vaughn's two-out single broke an eighth-inning tie and the young Tampa Bay Devil Rays went on to beat the Detroit Tigers 9-5 Tuesday night before a season-opening crowd of 38,142 at Tropicana Field. Vaughn broke a 5-5 tie after loser Juan Acevedo walked Steve Cox intentionally to get to the Devil Rays' cleanup hitter...

Boxing Mills Lane, who has refereed some of boxing's biggest fights, was hospitalized in intensive care after suffering a stroke. Friends said the 64-year-old Lane was found unconscious in his home Monday morning and was taken to St. Mary's Regional Medical Center. Lane suffered speech loss and weakness in his right side and was listed in stable condition...

METROPOLIS, Ill. -- A factory where workers paint hunting decoys caught fire Tuesday afternoon, causing people who live near the building in this far southern Illinois town to evacuate their homes, officials said. No one was injured, and the fire at the Higdon Decoys factory was out by evening, Metropolis Fire Chief Mike Childress said...

WASHINGTON -- The State Department, citing a "deteriorating security situation," urged Americans who live in Jerusalem to leave the city on Tuesday and encouraged dependents of American diplomats to return to the U.S. In a new and more pointed travel warning, the department again told Americans to defer travel to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, This time, it also said U.S. citizens residing in Jerusalem as well as the territories should consider moving to safer locations...

WASHINGTON -- After receiving 86 million tax rebate checks worth almost $40 billion in the past year, Americans still have doubts about who gains, an Associated Press poll says. In fact, four in five think cuts generally benefit someone else. Respondents also favored congressional candidates who support a balanced budget over those who prefer tax cuts, according to the poll conducted for the AP by ICR of Media, Pa., a few weeks before the annual mid-April deadline for filing taxes...

WASHINGTON -- Overweight Americans now have a new pocketbook reason to shed some pounds. Recognizing obesity as a disease, the IRS says it will begin allowing taxpayers to claim weight loss expenses as a medical deduction. "It really opens the gate for everybody to be at a healthier weight. America really needs to wake up," said Linda Webb Carilli, a spokeswoman for Weight Watchers International Inc...

NEWARK, N.J. -- In New Jersey, researchers used radar guns and cameras to examine whether blacks speed more than whites. In North Carolina, they got into moving vehicles and looked out the windows at speeders. In Florida, students stood on corners and counted cars...

JERUSALEM -- Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, responding to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's offer of permanent exile, said Tuesday he would rather die than leave the West Bank. Confined to his office in Ramallah since last Friday, Arafat scoffed at Sharon's suggestion that European diplomats could fly Arafat out of the Palestinian territories, never to return...

The 2002 version of the Cape Girardeau City Council will take on a slightly more feminine look after Tuesday's overwhelming election of Evelyn Boardman and Marcia K. Ritter. The women, who each handily beat their male opponents, will be the first female council members since Mary Wulfers left the council in 1994...

BENTON, Mo. -- Students in Scott County's Kelly School District aren't going to be leaving their portable classrooms anytime soon. With a Scott County vote of 493 in favor to 409 against, the measure fell 23 votes short A supermajority of four-sevenths was needed to pass the $3 million bond issue, which would have increased the tax levy from $3.17 to $3.36 per $100 assessed valuation...

WHITEWATER, Mo. -- Voters narrowly approved a 10-cent tax hike for the Whitewater Fire Protection District that will pump more money into the volunteer department. The measure passed Tuesday by five votes, 86 to 81. Fire chief Garry Moore was elated over victory even while conceding the closeness of the vote...

JACKSON SCHOOLS By Heather Kronmueller ~ Southeast Missourian JACKSON, Mo. -- A dentist, a self-employed construction worker and a businesswoman will serve on the Jackson school board for the next three years...

Motorists passing the "Welcome to Cape Girardeau" signs will notice something new this week -- giant orange and blue ribbons. "The ribbons are a tribute to volunteers," said Al Sprad-ling, Cape Girardeau's outgoing mayor. "Without volunteers, the city couldn't function."...

OAK RIDGE, Mo. -- The town of Oak Ridge will get a sewer system after voters on Tuesday approved a $900,000 bond issue to help finance the project. The issue passed 37 for to 24 against, garnering 60.6 percent approval. The issue needed just over 57 percent of the vote to pass...

CHICAGO -- Gov. George Ryan's campaign committee and two former top aides were charged Tuesday with racketeering in the biggest indictment to come out of a four-year federal investigation into a licenses-for-bribes scheme when he was secretary of state...

NORWALK, Conn. -- Two jurors were selected Tuesday in the murder case against Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel, accused of bludgeoning a neighbor girl to death 27 years ago when they were both 15. Skakel arrived at the courthouse shortly after 9:30 a.m. and did not speak to reporters as jury selection began Tuesday. Lawyers said it could take over a month to seat all 12 jurors and four alternates, while the rest of the trial may take up to two months...

LOS ANGELES -- Hair, blood and semen gathered in as many as 6,000 unsolved rape and murder cases in Los Angeles County are missing and presumably destroyed, said a county forensic specialist. "Every one of these cases we can't solve now means a violent perpetrator remains on the street," said Lisa Kahn, the deputy district attorney in charge of the forensic science section...

Pilot error, snow blamed in plane crash JACKSON, Wyo. -- Pilot error and blizzard conditions are to blame for the 2000 crash-landing of a plane at Jackson Hole Airport containing actress Sandra Bullock, who was slightly injured. The National Transportation Safety Board's determination of the probable cause was available Monday on the agency's Web site...

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- Feeling the pressure of punitive U.S. sanctions, Serbian government officials said Tuesday the first arrests and extraditions of top war crimes suspects sought by the U.N. tribunal for Kosovo might come within the next 48 hours...

MARSEILLE, France -- A pavilion in a Jewish cemetery was burned to the ground in a new attack on a Jewish target, even as hundreds of families held Passover prayers Tuesday at a charred synagogue here attacked over the weekend. After the Sunday arson attack on Marseille's Or Aviv synagogue, Prime Minister Lionel Jospin pleaded Tuesday that the violence in the Middle East not be allowed to bleed over into France...

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- As thousands of war veterans looked on, President Eduardo Duhalde insisted Tuesday that Argentina would one day reclaim the Falkland Islands through diplomacy -- not by waging war. "They're ours and we're going to recover them," he said at a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the war Argentina lost to Britain for control of the South Atlantic archipelago...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Police raided more suspected al-Qaida hide-outs, arresting 16 people in an ongoing crackdown against Osama bin Laden's terror network in Pakistan, officials said Tuesday. Meanwhile, the country's major Islamic parties called on the government to end military cooperation with the United States in the war on terrorism and announced plans for nationwide protests against Israel's military offensive against the Palestinians -- a move the clerics sought to link to U.S. ...

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Israeli jets fired rockets on suspected Hezbollah positions Tuesday after the Lebanese guerrillas fired mortars and rockets at Israeli posts in a disputed stretch of farmland, Lebanese security officials said. Two Israeli jets fired at least three rockets on targets south of Kfar Chouba village on the Lebanese side of the border, but heavy fog prevented seeing what was hit, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The president of Pakistan came to Afghanistan for the first time Tuesday and pledged "brotherly" support for a war-ravaged neighbor. His Afghan counterpart promised to consider freeing young Pakistanis who rushed to the defense of the old Taliban regime...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Six hardline Islamic parties demanded the government order American troops out of Pakistan and announced Tuesday that they would hold nationwide rallies to condemn Israeli military moves against the Palestinians. The leader of the six-party United Action Committee, Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani, said the presence of the U.S. military forces in Pakistan undermines the country's independence and represents "a threat to our religion and culture."...

The Associated Press WASHINGTON -- Poor women are less likely to be diagnosed and treated for breast cancer, and more likely to die from it, according to a study that searched for reasons why fewer black women survive the disease than whites. Other studies have shown that black women are more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer at a late disease stage and to have a shorter survival time than white women...

Helping people make healthy eating choices and developing good habits is part of the goal of National Nutrition Month, an annual campaign sponsored by the American Dietetic Association. A group of graduate students at Southeast Missouri State University spent a week giving grocery store tours at Schnucks, talking to customers about healthy cooking and food safety and showing people how even simple changes in eating styles can decrease the risk of various diseases...

Sikeston man sentenced for crack charges A Sikeston, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court in Cape Giraardau to 5 years and three months in prison for a felony count of possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute. Mario J. Baker, 20, received the sentence Monday...

The most wonderful retired couple sat in the coffee shop Tuesday morning. They each had a cup of coffee and a pastry and sat on the same side of the table instead of facing each other. There wasn't so much as a newspaper to entertain them. They sat there in almost complete silence, sipping coffee and studying passersby. Their arms lightly touched. One time in half an hour, she looked over at him and whispered something, and he shook his head and smiled...

To the editor: Did I read an editorial in the Southeast Missourian correctly? In "Free trade requires fairness on both sides," the editorial states, "The reason why a free-trade administration would use tariffs as a trade weapon is simple. Free trade requires that trading partners play fair. Items sold abroad must be sold at a fair market price that represents the cost of production, marketing and shipping."...

Park for skateboarders IF CAPE'S city government got its priorities in order, it would push to the top of the list the pressing need to provide a park for skateboarders. It's something we need. No facts, please I AM a Republican and extremely set and satisfied in my thinking. Please, don't confuse me with all those facts...

Homer E. Cooper, 89, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, March 30, 2002, at The Arbors. He was born Feb. 5, 1913, at Kennett, Mo., son of Milton Madison and Emmalou Pry Cooper. He and Verda Dunivan were married Sept. 4, 1933, in Jonesboro, Ill. Mr. Cooper was a salesman at Montgomery Ward many years, operated Cooper's Vending, owned and operated a clothing store on William Street, and was an auditor for Missouri Department of Revenue in the 1960s...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Catherine M. Willis, 71, of Sikeston died Tuesday, April 2, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born June 4, 1930, at Rolla, Mo., daughter of James R. and Alice Collier Tyler Sr. She and Judson "Jud" Willis Jr. were married April 3, 1947, at Rolla...

Maidie M. Snyder, 83, died Monday, April 1, 2002, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born Feb. 21, 1919, in LaSalle, Ill., daughter of Tony and Edith Baronia Liberta. She and Gerald E. Snyder were married Nov. 11, 1944. He died Jan. 9, 1996. Snyder worked at the West Clock Co. in Peru, Ill. She was a member of St. Edward's Catholic Church in Chillicothe, Ill...

Funeral for Juanita G. Snider of Cape Girardeau will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday at Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel. Pastor Paul Short will officiate. Burial will be in Cape County Memorial Park. Friends may call at the chapel Thursday from 10 a.m. until time of service. An Eastern Star service will be held at 12:30 p.m...

Erna Howell Lynn, 94, of Bradenton, Fla., died Thursday, March 21, 2002, at Freedom Village Nursing Center in Bradenton. She was born April 12, 1907, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Al and Anna Brinkhoff. Lynn was a former funeral director. She was a member of Centenary United Methodist Church, past grand matron of Eastern Star, and Aslo Theater Angel...

Phillips Daughter to Patrick and Julie Phillips of Fenton, Mo., formerly of Jackson, Mo., St. Joseph's Hospital in Kirkwood, Mo., 12:55 p.m. Wednesday, March 20, 2002. Name, Grace Makenna. Weight, 6 pounds 14 ounces. Second daughter. Mrs. Phillips is the daughter of Don and Pat Schreiner of Jackson. Phillips is the son of Dallas and Sue Phillips of Manchester, Mo...

10 years ago: April 3, 1992 Construction on next phase of $3 million Lexington avenue arterial project in Cape Girardeau is well under way; City Engineer J. Kinsey Russell says that if weather continues to cooperate, street should be completed from Kingshighway east to Perryville Road by middle of summer...

Paul Simon will speak on "Youth for Global Change" today at Southeast Missouri State University. The former U.S. senator from Illinois will speak at noon during the Common Hour in Dempster Hall's Glenn Auditorium. The presentation is open to the public...

AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- Worries that rising tensions in the Middle East could quash the economic recovery drove stock prices sharply lower Wednesday, with the Dow industrials dropping more than 100 points in their fourth straight losing session...

Associated Press Writer BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) -- Israeli tanks rolled into Nablus on Wednesday and battled Palestinian gunmen at street barricades, taking Israel's offensive into the West Bank's largest city. In Bethlehem, troops encircled scores of Palestinians inside one of Christianity's holiest shrines -- the Church of the Nativity...

AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday he was open to the idea of meeting with Israeli and Arab leaders during his trip to Europe next week. "My mind is open," Powell told reporters at the State Department. "We are examining all possibilities"...

AP Diplomatic WriterWASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House renewed its public support of Israel's right to self-defense Wednesday and offered no hint of criticism of the expanded battle with Palestinian gunmen on the West Bank. Arab leaders are demanding President Bush force Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to withdraw Israeli troops from Palestinian-held areas where they are fighting fierce battles in Bethlehem and pushing into other cities...

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Basketball fans upset by Indiana's loss in the NCAA championship torched couches, toppled street signs and threw beer bottles at officers, while Maryland fans set bonfires and shot off fireworks in celebration. In Bloomington, officers broke up the crowd with tear gas, sending hundreds of students and fans from an intersection near the edge of the Indiana University campus at about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Southeast Missouri State pitchers stranded 15 Missouri baserunners as the Indians defeated the Tigers 8-5 Tuesday night at Taylor Stadium. Missouri established a game-long trend in the first inning when it took a 1-0 lead, but stranded the bases loaded against Indians starter Tim Alvarez, who walked three batters in the inning. The Tigers' run was forced in by one of the walks...

To the editor: The bush bloomed before daffodils and tulips and continued after they had faded, a lovely peach-like blossom which brought lots of comments at the Easter dinner table. One year the mystery bush produced a mystery fruit, an apple-like concoction that grew quickly but never ripened. It was, of course, a quince. But it remained mysterious even after it had been named...

Since U.S. Sen. Joseph Leiberman has announced that his committee will explore the political connection of Enron Corp. with both political parties, and since the media has tried hard to tie Enron to President Bush ... I feel the following letter (which I received by e-mail) is timely...

Since March 4, schoolchildren in Cape Girardeau and Jackson, Mo., have been working with Tracker, the Southeast Missourian Jr. mascot, to raise $9,000 for a new police dog for the Cape Girardeau police. Cheryl Ellis, editor of the Southeast Missourian Jr., said fund raising hasn't been easy. Almost a month into Tracker's Pay for the Pup campaign, not even half of the money has been raised...

ST. LOUIS -- By going on the lam to avoid sentencing for felony and misdemeanor convictions, a Cape Girar-deau man waived his right to appeal, a court ruled Tuessday. Charles Selvy was convicted in Cape Girardeau County on Feb. 5, 1999, of possession of a controlled substance, a felony, and attempted evidence tampering, a misdemeanor. Judge William L. Syler freed Selvy on bond pending scheduled sentencing the following month...

CAPE GIRARDEAU COUNTYCape Girardeau mayor 4Jay Knudtson 2,886 Melvin R. Gateley 1,900Cape Girardeau Ward 1 Frank Stoffregen 127 4Evelyn Boardman 330Cape Girardeau Ward 6 4Marcia K. Ritter 698 Walter Wildman 283Oak Ridge School Board 4Jacqueline L. Ludwig 176...

Only 7,153 of Cape Girardeau County's 48,921 registered voters went to the polls Tuesday, less than 15 percent. Turnout was slightly higher in the city of Cape Girardeau -- 18.4 percent -- where there was a mayor's race. The totals don't include those who voted absentee...

Cape Girardeau Wednesday, April 3 ArrestsTrisie Ann Egson, 46, 136 S. Lorimier, was arrested Monday for stealing. A 16-year-old male was arrested on an outstanding warrant and cited into juvenile court. William Andreas Cortez, 45, 525 S. Sprigg, was arrested Monday for failure to appear...

Jackson Wednesday, April 3 ArrestEricus Adams, 25, of 1119 S. Sprigg St. in Cape Girardeau was arrested Thursday on a Jackson warrant for failure to pay fine and failure to register a motor vehicle. SummonsJeremy R. Lindgren, 20, was issued a summons March 26 for third-degree assault, careless and imprudent driving and resisting arrest...

Any child wishing to enroll in kindergarten for the 2002-03 school year must be at least 5-years-old before Aug. 1. The following are enrollment dates for April: Trinity Lutheran TRINITY LUTHERAN SCHOOL at 55 N. Pacific in Cape Girardeau currently is enrolling pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students for the 2002-2003 school year...

If a new or remodeled kitchen is in your future, be prepared for myriad choices to show off your personal style. Abandon any rules you think "must" be followed in kitchen planning. The sky's the limit. Can't decide between the wood look and white cabinets? These days it's OK to have both. Wall cabinets in one finish and base cabinets in another provide visual interest...

Congratulations, University of Maryland Terrapins, for an incredible college basketball season capped by winning the national championship. No, not everyone was cheering for Maryland, but certainly any team that emerged victorious from that rough-and-tumble, edge-of-your-seat event we call the NCAA tournament deserves our admiration and praise...

A Missouri House Budget Committee member managed in a single stroke to set in motion a series of events that could put the future of liquor-law enforcement at risk in this state. State Rep. Chuck Graham of Columbia apparently is unhappy with the way Liquor Control Division agents do their job in his district. ...

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- Scott City and Perryville kept hope for their first win alive to the final at-bat Tuesday in a brisk north wind. A bobbled ball off the bat of cleanup hitter Andrew Estes with the bases loaded allowed the winning run to score in the bottom of the seventh inning and hand Scott City (1-1) the 4-3 victory...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Brent Thomason hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning to help propel Chaffee to an 8-4 SEMO Conference victory over Jackson Tuesday at Jackson City Park. Chaffee (2-2), which scored three runs in the top of the first, led from start to finish but never had a comfortable lead until Thomason's two-out homer gave the Red Devils an 8-3 lead...

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Wearing a net from Maryland's first-ever NCAA title around his neck, Juan Dixon had a hard time containing himself as he spoke to 5,000 cheering fans. "You guys are going to make me be all emotional," the Final Four MVP told the crowd said before returning to his seat and burying his face in his hands...

KENT, Ohio -- Jim Christian, a top assistant under departed coach Stan Heath this season when the Golden Flashes advanced to the NCAA tournament's round of eight, was named Kent State's 21st coach -- and third in three years -- on Tuesday. Christian takes over for Heath, who in his first season led the Golden Flashes to a 30-6 record, the Mid-American Conference title and victories over Oklahoma State, Alabama and Pittsburgh in this year's NCAA tourney, before taking the job at Arkansas...

smcclanahan Play ball! I love baseball season. With the opening of the season Monday, it was like having another national holiday for me. Just coming off of what my husband refers to as the most wonderful time of the year -- March Madness and the NCAA national basketball tournament -- I feel like our house has been like Sports Central. ...

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Indiana Hoosiers, looking glum and weary, returned from their surprising Final Four run on Tuesday to hear a simple message from their fans: Thanks. Once inside Assembly Hall, the team returned the message. "We're all pretty tired, but we appreciate everything you guys do for us," said Jarrad Odle, one of two IU seniors. "We want to say thanks for supporting us. We really appreciate it."...

jkoch By Dr. John Koch Question: I have a Pekinese that I take on walks around the neighborhood with me. The other day I stopped to talk with someone who moved in down the street, and she cautioned me that I might want to rethink using a collar on our walks. ...

Jay Knudtson's often-voiced concern that he couldn't overcome mayoral opponent Melvin Gateley's name recognition garnered from serving eight years on the Cape Girardeau City Council and more as a school principal proved unfounded Tuesday. He soundly defeated Gateley, taking 60 percent of the vote after a hard-fought campaign. Knudtson beat Gateley 2,886 to 1,900...