Stories from Thursday, June 9, 2005

Stephen Williams drives the streets in an unmarked city car, the shabby castaway of a police detective who didn't care much about maintaining it. Cape Girardeau's planning services office gets the leftovers, Williams says, but he doesn't seem to mind. He has bigger things to think about as he pauses at a stop sign on Good Hope Street, gazing at several houses with crisp new siding and sparkling windows...

Cape board moves new subdivision issue to start of meeting; upset neighbors miss out on decision. It was a small group of neighbors, but one that intended to have its say at a planning and zoning commission meeting Wednesday night about concerns over a 41-lot subdivision in northeast Cape Girardeau...

METROPOLIS, Ill. -- When comic book creators used the name Metropolis for Superman's home city, they probably didn't know there was a real Metropolis in Illinois. Of course, the real Metropolis is a city of about 7,000 people, whereas the fictional version is something more akin to New York City...

Anti-trash campaign organizers make plans to keep cleanliness after mayors' deadline. Cape Girardeau County and Scott City are on track to be cleaned up by next month, but participants in a widespread anti-litter campaign are working on a plan for the future as well...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A recent Kansas Supreme Court ruling declaring insufficient the Kansas Legislature's efforts to improve public school funding could offer some indications as to how a similar Missouri case will unfold, according to the attorney for a group of Missouri school districts...

The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools has given an initial five-year accreditation to Southeast Missouri Hospital's College of Nursing and Health Sciences. "We are pleased that this respected regional accrediting body has validated the quality of our college as an institution of higher learning," said college president Tonya Buttry, Ph.D., RN. ...

June 9, 2005 Dear Patty, A few years ago, while talking with my old English professor about a book of poetry he'd written, the subject turned toward a love poem. I confessed to being confounded by all the different kinds of love that seem to exist in the world: romantic love, platonic love, self-love, brotherly love, and on and on. He looked at me with the eye of a teacher concerned that he'd loosed on the world a student lacking an elemental understanding about the universe...

I can remember when I was in grade school, possibly third grade, sitting in the car with my dad at a stoplight. We were listening to the Cardinal game and he said, "You could become an announcer one day. I think you would be good at it." As a kid, I would announce hockey and baseball games that were on TV. My friends and I always announced the games while playing Sega. We had a lot of fun with it...

Detroit's Brown and San Antonio's Popovich worked together the last two summers. SAN ANTONIO -- Rasheed Wallace gained a full realization of the depth of the friendship between coaches Larry Brown and Gregg Popovich when the Detroit Pistons were trying to come up with a strategy to stop a specific opponent...

The Southeast sophomore posted the fourth-fastest time among 26 competitors. SACRAMENTO, Calif. --Southeast Missouri State sophomore Miles Smith comfortably advanced to the 400-meter dash semifinal round at the NCAA track and field championships. Smith, who entered the meet with the nation's fifth-fastest time this year, posted the fourth-fastest time among the 26 competitors in Wednesday night's first round of the 400...

One of every seven people in the United States is Hispanic, a record number that probably will keep rising because of immigration and a birth rate outstripping non-Hispanic blacks and whites. The country's largest minority group accounted for one-half of the overall population growth of 2.9 million between July 2003 and July 2004, according to a Census Bureau report being released today...

New Zealand's 19-and-under national team is part of the 14-team field. One of the major highlights of the area fast-pitch softball season will take place this weekend in Kelso, Mo. The 21st annual Kelso Klassic, a 14-team event featuring squads from three states along with an entry from New Zealand will be Friday through Sunday on two fields at the Kelso City Park...

Personnel files of presidents, famous writers, pro athletes will be available for the first time. OVERLAND, Mo. -- When Elvis Presley entered the Army, the public started writing. Presley's military personnel file -- with a "current address" of Graceland -- contains a 1958 letter from a couple in Sacramento, Calif., to first lady Mamie Eisenhower. ...

The Associated Press ST. LOUIS -- David Wells threw eight innings of four-hit ball and the Boston Red Sox got big hits from David Ortiz and Jason Varitek in a 4-0 rain-delayed victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night. The Red Sox avoided a three-game sweep in the World Series rematch, looking more like the team that swept the Cardinals last fall than the one that lost the first two games by a combined score of 16-3...

The Wall Street Journal It's good to see that Amnesty International has had to backtrack from its comparison of Guantanamo Bay to the Soviet "gulag." Less than two weeks after making that analogy, Amnesty's U.S. boss issued what amounted to a full retraction on "Fox News Sunday" this weekend...

Around the country, Indian tribes are frustrated by what they say are inadequate federal funding and long delays in replacing aging buildings at the 184 schools supported by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. The federal government not only takes a long time to replace schools, but also fails to maintain them, said Jacqueline Johnson, executive director of the National Congress of American Indians. ...

ORANJESTAD, Aruba -- A judge ruled Wednesday there was sufficient cause to keep holding two former hotel security guards in connection with the disappearance of an Alabama high school student. The decision means authorities may hold Nick John, 30, and Abraham Jones, 28, for nearly four months while prosecutors investigate possible murder and kidnapping charges in the disappearance of 18-year-old Natalee Holloway, defense attorneys said. Neither man has been formally charged...

Afghan rebels kill two Americans, wound more KABUL, Afghanistan -- Rebel rockets struck U.S. troops unloading supplies from a helicopter in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing two and wounding eight in one of the bloodiest assaults on American forces since insurgent violence picked up in March. ...

Editors at about one in four newspapers who responded to a survey say they never allow reporters to quote anonymous sources, and most others have policies designed to limit the practice. One editor said his paper's rules are so strict they would have disqualified Deep Throat as a source...

They match map points with locations in anything from police blotters to real estate listings. SAN FRANCISCO -- Tracking sexual predators in Florida. Guiding travelers to the cheapest gas nationwide. Pinpointing $1,500 studio apartments for rent in Manhattan...

SAN MARCOS, Mexico -- The Volcano of Fire has rumbled back to life with its strongest eruptions in 20 years, spewing lava and ash clouds that had some residents who remained in their homes Wednesday casting nervous glances at the peak. The volcano, which straddles the line between Colima and Jalisco states 430 miles west of Mexico City, has had six spectacular eruptions in the past three weeks...

Powered by a freshman's home run, Michigan became the first team east of the Mississippi River to win a softball national championship. OKLAHOMA CITY -- Freshman Samantha Findlay powered Michigan to its first NCAA softball title, hitting a three-run homer in the 10th inning to give the Wolverines a 4-1 victory against UCLA on Wednesday night...

HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. -- A dozen or so fans chased after a cart that whisked Annika Sorenstam away from the 18th green at Bulle Rock on a steamy Tuesday, thrusting flags and caps for her sign. She is the center of attention wherever she goes, even if it might take her awhile to figure out where she is...

Reports show U.S. troops are dying at a rate of two a day in Iraq. WASHINGTON -- The Army appears likely to fall short of its full-year recruiting goal for the first time since 1999, raising longer-term questions about a military embroiled in its first protracted wars since switching from the draft to a volunteer force 32 years ago...

WASHINGTON -- The Senate on Wednesday confirmed California Judge Janice Rogers Brown for the federal appeals court, ending a two-year battle filled with accusations of racism and sexism and shadowed by a dispute over Democratic blocking tactics. Senators quickly followed by ending another long-term filibuster, clearing the way for a vote today on former Alabama attorney general William Pryor as outlined in an agreement last month that averted a showdown that could have brought Senate action to a halt.. ...

The Rams parted ways with their controversial offensive tackle. ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Rams offensive tackle Kyle Turley, who missed last season with a back injury and then clashed with coach Mike Martz in the offseason, has been released after failing a physical...

Kansas City among those in the hunt, although the impact of the shrine is not yet known. CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- With Charlotte's civic leaders setting the pace for enthusiasm, five cities made it through qualifying in the race to build a NASCAR Hall of Fame...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Sales of a stretchy toy called the "yo-yo waterball" will soon end in Illinois after Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed a bill Wednesday banning sales of the popular drugstore item. The toy is a liquid-filled rubber ball attached to a rubbery, sticky cord. Some consumer safety groups and parents say the cord is a suffocation hazard for children. The ban will go into effect Jan. 1, 2006...

SHIPPINGSPORT, Ill. -- Bernard Strozewski, 84, straightens up his jeans and walks down the hillside on his riverside retirement property near the Illinois River so he can show a greenhorn the difference between tough, bitter dandelion greens and dandelion greens suited for a salad...

To the editor: According to a recent Associated Press article and another article on cell phones on the front page of the Southeast Missourian, the FBI and other official keepers of violent crime statistics report that murders and other violent crimes have decreased significantly since 1999, while car wrecks among teens using cell phones have increased...

Nine-year-old Killian Owen was the first child to try an experimental leukemia treatment that was showing promise in adults -- but the chance came too late. Yet the youngster left a precious legacy: Scientists are using his preserved cells to help create stronger drugs for other children desperate for new options...

The Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center has announced a contract with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Heart Disease and Stroke Program to promote the existence of an auto-external defibrillator registry for the fiscal year 2005. ...

From 500 B.C to 1500 A.D., caravans carrying goods and information between Europe and China traveled a 4,000-mile network of paths that came to be known as the Silk Road. Over 2,000 years, the trade along this route was as responsible as anything for how Europe and Asia developed...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Wednesday: * At 12:32 a.m., emergency medical service at 3200 William St. * At 4:30 a.m., an alarm sounding at 717 N. Sprigg St. * At 11:38 a.m., emergency medical service in the 1500 block of Hill Street...

The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items Wednesday. Arrests do not imply guilt....

LILBOURN, Mo. -- Gloria Dean Tillman Pratcher, 52, of Lilbourn died Tuesday, May 31, 2005, at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. She was born June 6, 1952, in Jaywye, Mo., daughter of Tom and Mattie Johnson. She and Hubert Pratcher were married June 8, 2003...

Virginia A. Seabaugh, 94, formerly of Jackson, passed away Saturday, June 4, 2005, at the Lutheran Home. She was born Feb. 18, 1911, at Fisk, Mo., daughter of Fred and Bertha Sides Abernathy. She and Burton Seabaugh were married Feb. 8, 1930, in Cape Girardeau. He passed away April 8, 1989...

PATTON, Mo. -- Wendell M. "Jack" Whitener, 88, of Patton passed away Tuesday, June 7, 2005, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born May 3, 1917, at Bernie, Mo., son of William and Nancy Schell Whitener. He and Wilma Wallis were married Oct. 12, 1940, at Liberty Congregational Methodist Church...

Memorable history; A powerful tool; Personal freedoms; Cell-phone safety; Cell-phone study; It's a holy book; Best speech ever; Sidewalks are safer

To the editor: Characterizing the argument over the possible removal of the bridge at Boonville, Mo., as development versus preservation oversimplifies the issue, since the removal of the bridge could threaten the future of the Katy Trail itself, and the trail provides economic benefits for the communities along it as well as for the state generally...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Norma Jean Mitchem, 58, of Sikeston died Tuesday, June 7, 2005, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born Dec. 15, 1946, in Burdette, Ark., daughter of Oscar and Lillie Irene Bowers Watkins. She and Richard Mitchem were married Dec. 23, 1964, at Bell City, Mo...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Mary Alice Springs, 82, of Sikeston died Tuesday, June 7, 2005, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born Nov. 25, 1922, in Stoddard County, Mo., daughter of Henry F. and Christine York Stanley. After the death of her parents, she was raised by Homer and Bertha York. She and Harold "Hot Shot" Springs were married Nov. 1, 1941, at Charleston, Mo...

Helen Eichhorn, 81, of Inverness, Fla., died Wednesday, June 1, 2005, in Inverness. She was born Dec. 6, 1923, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Lawrence and Hattie Hooker. She married Elmer Eichhorn, who died Feb. 24, 1990. Eichhorn lived in Cape Girardeau 30 years. She moved to Inverness in 1962 from Clearwater, Fla. She was a member of First Assembly of God Church in Inverness...

ANNA, Ill. -- Adonis Watson, 86, formerly of Anna, died Tuesday, June 7, 2005, at Memorial Medical Center in Springfield, Ill. She was born Sept. 9, 1918, in Anna, daughter of Dee and Vica Young Brimm. She and Paul Watson were married Aug. 19, 1939. He died Sept. 18, 1998...

Kiefer; Ostendorf; Heeb; Hayman; Lintner; Hensley

25 years ago: June 9, 1980 The county court, in discussing the county sheriff's department, says it will consider holding former sheriff James J. Below responsible for damages prisoners have caused in the 1-year-old jail; the court has also decided against asking state highway patrol Sgt. Norman Copeland to assume the duties of sheriff through the end of the year because his patrol benefits might be in jeopardy should he take a temporary leave of absence...

Jeffrey Duane Brown, 47, of Jackson died Tuesday, May 30, 2005, while on vacation in Nassau, Bahamas. He was born April 11, 1958, in Cairo, Ill., son of Bert and Gertrude Brown. He and Susan Kell were married May 7, 1996, in Jackson. Brown was a graduate of Shawnee High School at Wolf Lake, Ill., and Shawnee Community High School at Ullin, Ill. He had worked at Rapco in Jackson and at Dana Corp. in Cape Girardeau. He had owned and operated Brown's Guns and Ammo in Jackson the past four years...

LA PAZ, Bolivia -- On one side were riot police guarding the Government Palace with tear gas launchers. On the other were the peasants, students and labor activists who brought down Bolivia's government this week. In the middle, deep in prayer, was Rosalia Hualata, an evangelical missionary sitting on a park bench with a blue parasol to shield her from the sun that burns through the thin mountain air...

Vendors and musicians sought for Floodfest The Commerce Community Tourism group has set aside Sept. 23-25 for the ninth annual Floodfest. This family-oriented event will feature games, rides, horse shoe tournaments, lawn mower racing, pageants, mule jumping, food and musical entertainment including a karaoke contest. ...

Plaza Tire Capahas manager Jess Bolen has had plenty of players drafted over the years -- and that list grew a bit longer Wednesday. Dusty Renfrow, a first-year Capahas pitcher, was taken in the 39th round by the Arizona Diamondbacks as baseball's two-day, 50-round draft came to a close...

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis reliever Cal Eldred, on the disabled list since early April because of a viral inflammation of his heart lining, threw two shutout innings for Class AA Springfield on Tuesday in his second rehab outing. Eldred, who allowed one hit, is scheduled to pitch for Springfield again today and could join St. Louis for a nine-day trip starting Saturday if all goes well. He said he threw fewer than 30 pitches Tuesday...

Cape Girardeau will be represented by four players in the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association All-Star Series on Saturday at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in St. Charles. In addition to the two Central players in the Class 4 game reported in Monday's edition, Notre Dame will have two players in the Class 3 game...

The Cape Girardeau American Legion team bounced back from a 6-3 loss in the opener of a doubleheader with Twin Rivers to take the second game 9-5 Wednesday night at Capaha Field. Ford and Sons improved to 4-4, as Anthony Wulfers picked up the win with five innings of work. Sean Bard had four hits to lead Cape's offense. Ty Craft and Lance Young had two hits apiece...

Seven Indians players named fo first team. Jackson was represented by seven players on the 2005 all-SEMO Conference girls soccer team. Forward Molly Hartmann and defender Amber Tenholder were the only Jackson seniors on the first team, which also included four juniors-- goalkeeper Kylie Werner, defenders Lucy Hartmann and Leslie Gordon and midfielder Hannah Kohm -- and sophomore midfielder Randi Kraust...

One poor inning doomed the Cape Girardeau Ford and Sons American Legion baseball team Wednesday night, as new district opponent Twin Rivers used a four-run sixth to win 6-3 in the opener of a doubleheader at Capaha Field. This was the first district game for Twin Rivers, which joined the district this season. Ford and Sons fell to 1-1 in district play. In the seven-inning, nondistrict nightcap, Cape Girardeau won 9-5 (see Page 5B)...

In 1990 in Washington, Mo., John Linde Jr. scored the winning touchdown and two-point conversion to beat longtime arch-rival Barge. Thirteen years later, after serving 10 years in the First Recon Unit of the Marine Corps, Linde was killed by a terrorist bomber in Gaza while protecting American diplomats...

Do married people really live longer? Or, as the old joke goes, does it just seem that way? As it turns out, marriage does seem to expand our talent for hanging around on this earthly plane a bit longer. The health perks of marriage are well documented. After conducting a huge study on the married species, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that "married persons were healthier for nearly every measure of health."...

Because I am a big Ryan Adams fan, I was initially concerned about writing a review of his newest double CD Cold Roses. I didn't want to be biased about the album, but the fact of the matter is I like everything he does. My girlfriend finally helped me put it all into perspective by telling me that a review is an opinion so just write what you think and don't worry about it so much! Thanks for giving me a kick in the pants when I need it hon!...

You are fooling no one. You know who you are. You are impressing no one, and it is time you learned the truth: Nobody thinks you're smart because you sit through the closing credits at the end of movies. You do this all the time (and particularly at the end of Miramax films). ...

Family fun, a full line-up of music and spectacular fireworks on the Mississippi River will be showcased at the annual Fourth of July celebration on the riverfront of Old Town Cape in downtown Cape Girardeau. "Each year, Libertyfest specifically selects venues and entertainment that will appeal to all ages and people in the region," says Marsha Toll, chair of Libertyfest 2005. "Our focus is on providing a patriotic, old-fashioned family event," she added...

As a title, Better Than Ezra's, Before The Robots is a sly commentary on today's retro-obsessed rock scene. But as an album, Robots isn't stuck in one time period or with one staid genre. While the record maintains Kevin Griffin's knack of mixing storytelling elements with memorable pop melodies, the band's musical range has increased dramatically...

Events Through June The Lorimier Gallery and Gallery 100 presents AARP "Good Vintage Show" and Jean A. Chapman Gallery - Visual Arts Cooperative. Contact the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri at 573-334-9233 for more information. June 16 Nature Journaling You don't have to be a great artist to enjoy nature journaling. ...

>River City Players Community Theatre will produce two shows during the months of June and July. Life, with its glories, indiginities, hopes and quiet dreams, is the subject of The River City Players Community Theatre's next production. The World Goes 'Round: The Songs of Kander & Ebb fills the audience with humor, romance, drama, nonstop melody and brassy, insightful lyrics, celebrating life and the fighting spirit that keeps us all going. ...

People often complain about the lack of culture in Cape Girardeau, while other chose to do something about it. Such a group of people, Integrated Counterbalance, a local art collective currently consisting of six members, presented a collection of paintings and other artwork on the weekend of June...

With Teeth, the first Nine Inch Nails album since 1999, heralds the return of pop genius Trent Reznor. For a decade and a half, Reznor has carefully crafted music that has not only progressed on its own, but has evolved with the industry and influenced the way music is made...

It's Thursday night at The Camp, and the band Sweettooth takes the stage. The fifteen or so people in the crowd look on as the bass player announces that for tonight, it's just him and the guitar player. "We're going to play anyway," he says. They begin to play, and after two minutes a drummer climbs behind the drum set already set up on the small stage that has hardly any room for anything else. ...