Stories from Tuesday, January 20, 2004

MADRID, Spain -- One ran a photocopy shop in a drab Madrid suburb, quietly churning out literature preaching jihad. Another directed real estate companies and is now accused of laundering money that went to al-Qaida. Their purported boss was a balding used-car salesman who spoke to them in code, recruited in mosques, drove like a spy under surveillance and allegedly helped prepare the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks...

BEIJING -- China has approved human trials of an experimental SARS vaccine, and 30 people have volunteered, state media reported Monday. Researchers cautioned that the government's approval of what it called the first phase of human trials doesn't mean the vaccine can be produced for widespread use anytime soon, China Central Television said...

BEIJING -- They're crowding planes, trains and buses, unfazed by SARS and price gougers. As the Lunar New Year arrives, hundreds of millions of Chinese are bound for home or holiday -- a mass movement of humanity that dwarfs the Muslim hajj. Even in a country that contains more people than any other, the numbers are startling: The government estimates some 1.89 billion journeys will be made during the Spring Festival travel season, all pegged to Thursday, the start of the new year...

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- A U.S. air raid in southern Afghanistan killed 11 villagers, including four children, Afghan officials said Monday. The U.S. military said it killed five militants in the weekend raid in insurgency-plagued Uruzgan province. Sunday's incident came as American commanders and Afghan officials hunt for Taliban and al-Qaida suspects and try to improve security in the lawless south and east ahead of planned summer elections...

ALGIERS, Algeria -- An explosion ripped through an Algerian refinery Monday, killing at least 13 workers and injuring 74, officials said. The blast at state-run Sonatrach's refinery touched off a major fire that raged into the night in Skikda, a port on the gas-rich nation's eastern Mediterranean coast. ...

OSLO, Norway -- A large freighter with 30 people aboard capsized near the western Norwegian port of Bergen on Monday, with rescuers working into the bitterly cold night to free some of them by cutting a hole through the overturned hull. Two people were killed. ...

BERLIN -- Europe's Mars Express orbiter has sent back its first high-resolution pictures of the planet's surface, capturing in detail part of a huge Martian canyon, the European Space Agency said Monday. Mars Express went into orbit around the Red Planet on Christmas Day on the first European Mars mission. ...

VIENNA, Austria -- The United States and the U.N. atomic agency agreed Monday to work together in examining, cataloging and scrapping Libya's nuclear weapons program, ending weeks of squabbling over who has the authority to do so. The deal was reached by International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei, senior British arms expert William Ehrman, and U.S. ...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Tens of thousands of Shiite Muslims marched in Baghdad on Monday to demand early elections, the biggest public display of Shiite political power here since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime. The protest aimed to send a message to the United Nations and the White House that Shiites will not accept a U.S. formula for transferring power by July 1 to a legislature selected in regional caucuses instead of by a direct vote as the Shiite clergy demands...

JERUSALEM -- Addressing two of Israel's thorniest issues, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told lawmakers Monday that peace with Syria would require a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights and ordered a review of the contentious West Bank separation barrier...

UNITED NATIONS -- U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan promised U.S. and Iraqi leaders Monday he would weigh their request to send a U.N. team to study if Iraq could have quick, direct elections for a new legislature. A decision by U.N. experts would help resolve a growing dispute between the United States and a top Shiite cleric over the best way to transfer power before a June 30 deadline...

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Hezbollah militants attacked an Israeli bulldozer at the Israeli-Lebanese border on Monday. Israel's military said one soldier was killed and two were wounded, one seriously. In a broadcast by its Al Manar Television, the Islamic militant group said the bulldozer had crossed the border into Lebanon, but the Israeli army disputed that. Israel also blamed the attack on Syria, which is widely believed to support Hezbollah...

CHIRWON, South Korea -- A South Korean prisoner of war who returned home last month after being held 50 years in North Korea was formally discharged from the army Monday as a military brass band played on a snowy parade ground outside Seoul. "I am overwhelmed by emotion," said 72-year-old Jun Yong-il, dressed in a crisp new uniform, as 350 current members of his unit, the Blue Star 6th Army Division, stood at attention and presented arms. ...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Arsonists broke into the main library in Springfield on Monday and set fires in three different areas, police said. Jeanne Duffey, a spokeswoman for the Springfield-Greene County Library, said the Library Center was damaged early Monday, when it was closed for the Martin Luther King holiday. Fire crews and the library's sprinkler quickly put out the blazes...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Although he is defending Missouri's new concealed weapons law in court, Attorney General Jay Nixon has some personal concerns about the implications should his legal team win. In arguments Thursday before the state Supreme Court, Nixon's staff plans to defend the constitutionality of the law allowing most adults to carry concealed guns in their coats, purses, cars and other secret places...

OTTAWA -- The case of a small-time farmer from the remote Saskatchewan plains, now before Canada's highest court, may represent the best chance yet for foes of the global biotech revolution to get the law on their side. Agribusiness giant Monsanto Co. sued the farmer, Percy Schmeiser, after its agents found biotech canola growing in his fields in 1997. It contends he replanted seeds from those plants without paying a technology fee of about $12 an acre...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The National Center for Supercomputing Applications will spend a year analyzing Social Security Administration data to create a computer model aimed at helping disabled people return to the work force. The University of Illinois' Disability Research Institute is funneling about $930,000 to the NCSA to examine the Ticket to Work program, an initiative designed to reduce the number of people who are dependent upon the Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income programs.. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Thanks to some robust autumn fund-raising, Democratic Gov. Bob Holden has twice as much campaign cash as his political rivals to begin the 2004 election season. Holden's re-election campaign reported raising more than $1.1 million from October through December, with more than $3.1 million on hand at the end of last year, according to campaign finance reports filed last week with the Missouri Ethics Commission...

ATLANTA -- Americans observed Martin Luther King Day on Monday with some activists charging that the war in Iraq and other Bush administration policies run counter to what the civil rights leader stood for. "We have to be concerned not just about us. We have to be concerned about all our brothers and sisters throughout our nation and world," King's son Martin Luther King III said in a service at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where his father preached until he was assassinated in 1968...

BOSTON -- University endowments earned an average of 3 percent on their investments last year, reversing declines seen in 2001 and 2002. When inflation and spending from endowments were taken into account, schools were probably worse off on average in the year ending June 30 than a year earlier, according to figures released Tuesday by the National Association of College and University Business Officers...

PLANO, Texas -- Conservative Episcopalians opposed to a gay bishop's consecration and other liberal trends opened a two-day meeting Monday to establish a "church within a church" -- a move that could pose a serious threat to the denomination. The closed-door meeting of the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes involves conservative bishops, clergy and lay delegates from 12 dioceses with 235,000 members, or a 10th of the nation's Episcopalians...

Concerns about Cape Girardeau schools' financial situation have led a group of residents to seek a state audit of the district. A dozen district patrons assembled Monday night at a Cape Girardeau meeting hall to discuss the process, which requires 1,502 people to sign a petition asking for Missouri State Auditor Claire McCaskill's office to perform an audit...

Scott City residents remain divided over a plan to extend a residential street to an Interstate 55 on-ramp for the purpose of alleviating traffic congestion at the interchange. The city council heard from both sides at a public hearing Monday night at city hall. More than 35 people crowded into the council chambers, including officials with the Missouri Department of Transportation in Sikeston...

Awards cap city's Martin Luther King celebration By Laura Johnston and Mike Wells ~ Southeast Missourian Five Cape Girardeau residents and a peace group were honored Monday for building on the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King. The awards were bestowed at three different observances in the city of the slain civil rights leader's birthday...

Today is the final day to file for the 2004 school board elections, and several local districts are still lacking enough candidates to fill vacancies. Southeast Missouri districts all have two terms of three years each open for election this year. Voting will take place Tuesday, April 6...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder's campaign war chest was nearly $150,000 heavier at the end of last year than that of Cape Girardeau's other candidate for lieutenant governor, former secretary of state Bekki Cook. Kinder, a Republican, had $290,234 in his campaign account as of Dec. 31, according to campaign finance disclosure reports filed last week with the Missouri Ethics Commission...

Emerging from closed session, the Chaffee City Council accepted the resignations of police chief Larry Corn and Sgt. David Ivester without comment Monday night. Corn turned in his resignation Jan. 9, and Ivester resigned Wednesday. The resignation letter provided no reasons for leaving the force...

The Cape Girardeau Fire Department will conduct pre-planned visits to local businesses beginning as early as this week. "These pre-planned visits are not to be confused with a formal fire inspection," said fire marshal Mike Morgan. "These are designed to allow the fire department personnel the opportunity to conduct a visual walk-through of the business and note items that will assist them in responding to a fire, medical or natural disaster emergency to that particular agency."...

January is a strange month and not just because it's my birthday month. Amid the hangover of all that holiday cheer, we Americans still want to celebrate. The Super Bowl is still a few weeks away, so we make do with other observances. We pride ourselves on having a national celebration for everything, even penguins...

POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- The first wave of returning 82nd Airborne Division soldiers arrived home Monday after nearly a year in Iraq, where they battled during the war and then worked to maintain order in its aftermath. Spc. Keith Benoit and about 210 other members of the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment stepped off a trio of C-5 transport jets onto the landing strip at the air base adjoining Fort Bragg, the 82nd Airborne's home...

NEW YORK -- Martha Stewart, the creative force behind what was once a $1 billion empire of domestic "good things," is due in court today to face trial on charges she lied about a well-timed stock sale that saved her $51,000. In a judge's private robing room, potential jurors will face Stewart and answer questions from attorneys trying to pick a jury. Opening arguments will begin once 12 jurors are seated -- possibly as early as this week...

The tourists who fill the indoor wave pool at the Cape Codder Resort & Spa each summer and vie for tables at the Hearth n' Kettle restaurants won't arrive for months. But Bill Catania, whose family owns the Massachusetts businesses, has already begun filling out forms to secure 90 temporary workers from Jamaica and Nepal needed to wash dishes and clean rooms once the weather warms...

BALTIMORE -- Even with a troubled economy and government budget cuts, nearly two-thirds of nonprofit organizations in a new survey said they boosted revenue last year and almost half added new programs. Still, 86 percent of the 236 groups surveyed said they worried about finances on some level, with 51 percent describing their worries as "very severe" or "severe." Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies conducted the survey with seven umbrella groups for nonprofit organizations. ...

PASADENA, Calif. -- The Spirit rover took a weekend spin on Mars that doubled the distance on the six-wheeled vehicle's odometer, NASA said Monday. The slow, nearly 10-foot drive took Spirit 30 minutes, including repeated pauses to allow the rover to snap pictures. ...

BALTIMORE -- It was nearly "nevermore" for French cognac Monday in an annual tribute at the grave of Edgar Allan Poe. For 56 years, someone has marked the writer's birthday by slinking into the small cemetery where Poe is buried to place French cognac and three roses on his grave in the middle of the night. ...

PIERRE, S.D. -- Whether they loved him or hated him -- and few seemed neutral -- South Dakotans will notice when Rep. Bill Janklow leaves the political stage he has dominated for nearly three decades. Janklow's resignation from Congress takes effect today, six weeks after the former four-term Republican governor was convicted of manslaughter, speeding and running a stop sign in an Aug. ...

DENVER -- Organic. Natural. No added hormones. No antibiotics. Grass-fed. Free-range. An often-confusing array at a higher cost awaits consumers interested in alternatives to mass-produced beef after mad cow disease was found last month in a Washington dairy cow...

BUCKEYE, Ariz. -- Negotiators tried to talk two inmates into freeing a pair of prison guards held hostage in an observation tower Monday for a second day. The guards sent word that they were not seriously hurt. But authorities would not say whether the inmates had made any demands or threats, and would not disclose whether they were armed or why they were in prison...

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Youngsters are getting the message that obesity is bad for their health, but they are making choices that aren't always healthy, new research suggests. Fifty-nine percent of children who took part in the anonymous poll said they had tried to shed some pounds, and some had tried dieting even though they thought their weight was OK. ...

DES MOINES, Iowa -- John Kerry and John Edwards rode 11th-hour surges to a one-two finish in Iowa's kickoff presidential caucuses Monday, dealing a stunning blow to favorite Howard Dean. Kerry's comeback blew the nomination fight wide open, setting the stage for a free-for-all in New Hampshire's follow-up primary...

I was watching MTV this evening and it made me realize how boring and tame my life is. Somewhere in between watching Boy George showing me his golden tub and finding out that J. Lo makes approximately $50 billion off her clothing line, I looked around me and started to cry...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Frederick Michael Siebert, 86, of Chaffee died Monday, Jan. 19, 2004, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born Jan. 30, 1917, in Ste. Genevieve, Mo., son of Anton P. and Margareth M. Simon Siebert. He and Hilda M. Schilli were married Aug. 7, 1948. She preceded him in death June 15, 2003...

Dorothy Hadler, 65, of Bismarck, Mo., died Friday, Jan. 16, 2004, at her home. She was born March 21, 1938, at New Wells, daughter of Rudolf and Clara Tiedemann. She married Willis Hadler. Hadler was raised in Jackson and was a graduate of Jackson High School. She was a member of St. John Lutheran Church in Bismarck...

THEBES, Ill. -- Janet Clutts, 58, of Thebes died Sunday, Jan. 18, 2004, at her home. She was born Aug. 13, 1945, in New York City, the daughter of Richard and Thelma Farris Clutts. She is survived by her father, Richard Clutts of Thebes; and a brother, John Clutts of Thebes...

Goldie M. Smith, 83, of Tamms, Ill., died Jan. 19, 2004 at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Funeral arrangements are incomplete with Jones Funeral Home in Tamms.

Norman "Casey" Fisher, 72, of Olive Branch, Ill., died Sunday, Jan. 18, 2004, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Crain Funeral Home in Tamms, Ill. Funeral service will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home with the Rev. Jerome Fortenberry officiating...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Helen D. Newell, 89, of St. Louis died Sunday, Jan. 18, 2004, at Delmar Gardens in St. Louis. She was born Feb. 19, 1914, in Chicago Heights, Ill., daughter of Arthur and Matilda Meyer Daniels. She and Hughie Newell were married near Lutesville, Mo. He died Sept. 27, 1991...

BENTON, Mo. -- Ruby Pearl Varnon, 90, of Benton died Monday, Jan. 19, 2004, at Chaffee Nursing Center in Chaffee, Mo. She was born Dec. 27, 1913, at Commerce, Mo., daughter of Arthur Newton and Zelma Mae O'Guinn Wright. She and Sam Jarrett Varnon were married Sept. 12, 1934, at Benton. He died Jan. 11, 1978...

Billie Kiehnau, 85, of Oklahoma City, Okla., died Sunday, Jan. 18, 2004, at her home. She was born Oct. 25,1918, at Oak Ridge, daughter of George and Mayme Williams Jenkins. She married Don Kiehnau. Survivors include her husband; a son, Larry Keltner of Mississippi; a daughter, Tina Majors of Oklahoma City; a sister, Dorothy C. Illers of Jackson; and four grandchildren...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Richard C. Talbert, 44, of Perryville died Sunday, Jan. 18, 2004, in Windsor, N.C. He was born Aug. 18, 1959, in Natchez, Miss., son of Ruben and Dirse Talbert. He and Deanna Wibbenmeyer were married Sept. 8, 1990. Talbert was owner/operator of Talbert Construction. He was a member of Elks Lodge 2701 and River Hills Eagles Aerie 4034...

THEBES, Ill. -- Alvie "Curly" Tinsley, 88, of Thebes died Sunday, Jan. 18, 2004, at Jonesboro Health Care Center in Jonesboro, Ill. He was born Jan. 17, 1916, in Gale, Ill., son of Alva and Maude Smith Tinsley. He and Barbara Merritt were married May 30, 1959. She died April 5, 1998...

Mattie Mae Sims, 77, of Gordonville died Saturday, Jan. 17, 2004, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 15, 1926, at Concord, Mo., daughter of Richard Robert and Avery Ellen Summers Mullins. She and L.C. Sims were married Oct. 28, 1948, in Piggott, Ark. He died April 25, 1990...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Morris Jones, 79, of Sikeston died Saturday, Jan. 17, 2004, at his home. He was born March 22, 1925, in Sikeston, son of Harry and Opal Griggs Jones. He and Della M. Eskew were married Jan. 7, 1951, in Piggott, Ark. She died Feb. 6, 1994...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Helen E. Koetting, 67, of Perryville died Saturday, Jan. 17, 2004, at Perry Oaks Manor. She was born March 23, 1936, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Earl and Opal Withers Leslie. She and Hubert C. Koetting were married June 8, 1968. He died Dec. 22, 2002...

Dorothy H. Dudley, 81, died Monday, Jan. 19, 2004, at Monticello House in Jackson. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

10 years ago: Jan. 20, 1994 Southeast Missouri State University provost Charles Kupchella wants to eliminate across-the-board pay raises for faculty and move strictly to merit-pay system. Frigid weather that set consecutive record-low temperatures in Cape Girardeau is moving eastward, allowing warmup to begin; forecasters say weekend's highs could reach into 40s and mid-50s after sinking to minus 10 degrees Tuesday and minus 11 degrees Wednesday...

We already know I love gin (the game, not the beverage). So is it a surprise to anyone I love drinking songs as well? I have no idea why, but I have a feeling it has something to do with my upbringing. Recently CMT did homage to the 40 greatest drinking songs of all time, and I was surprised at how many of the songs I knew every word to. Those were just country songs; it didn't include songs like "Margaritaville," which is one of my all-time favorites...

Even ardent football fans would have trouble naming more than five players between the two Super Bowl teams. Which makes several points about the New England Patriots and the Carolina Panthers, as well as about the NFL and America's biggest day for drinking beer and munching chips...

WEATHERFORD, Texas -- Charleen Kay Doberenz, 50, of Weatherford died Saturday, Jan. 17, 2004, in Fort Worth, Texas. She was born Dec. 14, 1953, in Jacksonville, Fla., daughter of Joseph and Lorraine Gass. She married Marvin E. Doberenz 30 years ago...

Inappropriate movie HOW IS it possible that two teachers can take a group of students in grades nine through 12 to see the R-rated movie "Bad Santa"? Have you read the reviews? It is not appropriate for ninth- and 10th-graders. Eleventh- and 12th-graders do not need to see it either...

Mike Nelke expected to be Southeast Missouri State University's starting point guard this season. But when that didn't happen right away, he never got down in the dumps. "No, I wasn't really disappointed," Nelke said. "I waited a year, I figured I could wait another month."...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- If word came out four weeks before the NFL's first game that the league was radically changing the structure of its season and playoffs, but hadn't nailed down all the specifics, most sports fans would think it was a joke. In NASCAR, however, that precise scenario is unfolding...

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Pavol Demitra never hesitated on his breakaway in overtime. Demitra beat Roberto Luongo with a wrist shot low to the stick side to give the St. Louis Blues a 2-1 victory over the Florida Panthers on Monday. "I've got only two moves," said Demitra, who also scored in the first period to tie the score at 1. ...

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Rams have hired Larry Marmie to replace Lovie Smith as defensive coordinator. "I worked with and for Larry for seven years," coach Mike Martz told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for a story Monday. "He probably has had more of an impact on me professionally than anybody. I'm thrilled and excited that we have an opportunity to bring Larry to St. Louis."...

NEW YORK -- Chicago Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee agreed to a $6.9 million, one-year contract Monday as 10 players settled with their teams a day before the annual exchange of salary arbitration figures. In other baseball news, Mariners closer Kazuhiro Sasaki told the team Monday he will not pitch for Seattle in 2004, deciding to forfeit the final year of his contract and remain with his family in Japan. ...

WASHINGTON -- The government has now located 23 of the 81 head of Canadian cattle that included the Holstein discovered in the United States with mad cow disease, the Agriculture Department said Monday. Four animals were recently located in Washington state, three at a facility in Tenino and one in Connell. ...

WASHINGTON -- An interrogator begins questioning an al-Qaida prisoner who may know of a pending attack. The captive turns to his attorney, who tells him that he can remain silent. The suspect clams up. The scenario is the Bush administration's legal nightmare, but there is significant concern that it could come true. The Supreme Court will decide this year whether U.S.-designated "enemy combatants" -- U.S. citizens and foreigners -- can be detained indefinitely without attorneys and hearings...

WASHINGTON -- Dagoberto Rodriguez, Cuba's top diplomat in Washington, spends his days looking for hints about what the Bush administration has in mind for his country. He doesn't like what he sees. Is "regime change" in the cards in this election year, he wonders. That possibility can't be ruled out, he says, because the administration "has proved a tendency in the past to solve problems through violent means."...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush put the finishing touches Monday on a State of the Union speech that calls for modest expansions of voter-friendly programs while telling Congress to curb spending in the face of record-breaking budget deficits. Between rehearsals for the Tuesday evening address, he told reporters: "I'm almost finished, in case you're interested."...

Today, 7:30 p.m. City hall Public Hearings Hearing to receive public comments relative to possible one-way traffic flow and parking modifications on South High Street. Hearing to consider the rezoning of Lots 10A and 10B of Kimbeland Subdivision, from R-2 (single family residential) district to R-3 (general residential) district, as submitted by Stan Williams.Action items...

Cape Girardeau The following items were released by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Arrests do not imply guilt. Summonses Patricia Curry, 42, of 135 S. Spanish, No. 2, Cape Girardeau, receieved a summons Sunday for prohibited acts. Stephen Langston of 510 W. Highland Drive, Cape Girardeau, received a summons Monday for a prohibited act of a barking dog...

Today, 7 p.m. City Hall, 401 Independence Study session at 5 p.m. Public Hearing A public hearing to receive input from the public regarding changes to ordinances relating to nuisance abatement and animal control.Consent Ordinances (Second and third readings)...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded Monday to the following items: At 7:18 a.m., emergency medical service at 619 N. Spanish. At 7:23 a.m., alarm at 30 Doctors Park. At 7:44 a.m., alarm at 30 Doctors Park. At 12:21 p.m., emergency medical service at 1709 Forestview...

In the early morning hours, a muffled bellowing can be heard from the Missouri Street parking lot at Jackson High School. Follow the noise to a one-story brick building. A sign above one set of doors reads "MUSIC". Inside, standing atop a round wooden platform, Scott Vangilder flails his arms, taps his foot and shouts out phrases like "de-de-de-dink-de-dum" that mean nothing outside the world of music...

Southeast awards Regents' scholarships Southeast Missouri State University has awarded Regents' scholarships to Hanah Swann, Theodore Yates and Chad Burton, all of Cape Girardeau, Jessi Glueck of Scott City and Kelsey Shearon of Jackson for the 2004-2005 academic year. ...

The Sikeston (Mo.) Standard Democrat An Indiana man is threatening to sue his cable company because the man says he's addicted to television, his wife is overweight and his kids are lazy channel-surfers. And you thought it couldn't get any sillier?...

It was bad enough that Pentagon auditors fingered Halliburton, a huge defense contractor once run by Vice President Dick Cheney, for overcharging the Army $61 million for gasoline in Iraq. Now Pentagon auditors themselves are being accused of cooking their own books...

Jackson's girls basketball team jumped out to a 20-4 lead early in the second quarter and held to beat Visitation 43-36 Monday at the Martin Luther King Classic at Maryville University in St. Louis. The Indians (12-2) held Michigan-recruit Katie Dierdorf to eight first-half points and climbed out to a 23-14 halftime lead. Dierdorf scored all 14 of Visitation's third-quarter points, but Jackson did not give up the lead...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- His house and lawn were covered in toilet paper and congratulatory banners when Carolina coach John Fox returned home from the NFC championship game early Monday morning. The drive home from the stadium took longer than usual because of the extra time it took to push through the thousands of fans who turned out to greet the Panthers following their 14-3 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles...