Stories from Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Cub Scouts are scarce in Scott City this year. Only four students in grades one through five have signed up, about one-fifth the usual number. Dave Remley, chairman of the Shawnee District of Boy Scouts, blamed the low numbers on the Scott City School Board's decision not to allow the Scouts to recruit in the classroom during the school day. At last week's school board meeting, representatives from the Scouts asked the school board to reconsider its policy...

Investigators ruled out manufacturing and electrical causes for a fire that consumed hundreds of tons of compressed cardboard at a recycling center, fire officials said Tuesday. They determined that the fire was of a suspicious origin and are investigating reports that children were seen playing in the area around the time the fire was reported. ...

A man suspected of forging titles to eight cars and collecting nearly $10,000 will face trial on felony forgery charges, a judge ruled on Tuesday. Edward B. Pierce, 50, of Cape Girardeau, was a contracted purchaser for three months at Heartland Auto Plaza when he sold eight cars cars to JP's Auto Sales between July 18 and Sept. 26. Pierce's contract stated that he could not collect money on sales and that only the owner's father was authorized to sign the titles...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The American military death toll in the Iraq war reached 2,000 Tuesday with the announcements of three more deaths, including an Army sergeant who died of wounds at a military hospital in Texas and a Marine and a sailor killed last week in fighting west of Baghdad...

Unchecked, the world's growing population will only add to poverty, climate change, hunger and environmental problems, population expert Werner Fornos says. Fornos, president of the Population Institute of Washington, D.C., advocates family planning efforts to put the brakes on population growth...

Gov. Matt Blunt announced Tuesday that all flags at state facilities in Missouri will be flown at half-staff to honor the memory of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks. Flags will remain at half-staff until dusk on the evening of the funeral. Parks sparked a revolution nearly 50 years ago when she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Ala., bus. She died Monday at age 92...

Southeast Missouri State University will present five Distinguished Service awards during Saturday's homecoming celebration. Award winners are Ron Aarns of St. Louis, director for Integration, Analysis and Business Excellence at Boeing Co.; Harryette Campbell of Sikeston, Mo., an area landowner with farming interests; R. ...

Ongoing vandalism at Cape Girardeau's oldest cemetery reached a new level over the weekend when 69 tombstones were toppled in the Old Lorimier Cemetery. A line of broken headstones greets visitors entering through the cemetery's south gate. The damaged grave markers, some dating back to the early 1800s, include several that show the signs of past vandalism...

By Richard Cohen A very long time ago, I had a friend who had a girlfriend who became pregnant and did not want the child. By then my friend had disappeared and the young woman was alone -- she was in fact from Germany -- and asked me to arrange an abortion for her. With little thought, I did so. She went home to Germany and I never saw her again...

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Cindy Sheehan, who has become the face of anti-war sentiment, urged foes of the war to thwart Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's political aspirations unless the New York Democrat opposes the conflict. "I believe that any candidate who supports the war should not receive our support," Sheehan said Tuesday. "It doesn't matter if they're Senator Clinton or whoever."...

NEW YORK -- The outlook for the holiday shopping season darkened Tuesday as the latest consumer confidence reading showed Americans even more pessimistic about the economy during October. Hurricanes, surging gasoline prices and worries about the job market took a further toll on consumer psyches...

UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations is launching a campaign to combat the rising threat of AIDS against children, nearly 1,800 of whom are infected with HIV every day. According to a new report from UNICEF and UNAIDS, children under 15 account for 1 in 6 global AIDS-related deaths. An estimated 15 million children have lost one or both parents to AIDS, but less than 10 percent receive public support...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraq's election commission declared Tuesday that final results from the Oct. 15 referendum show the new constitution was ratified by a huge margin, paving the way for elections. Sunni Arab leaders raised doubts that it would be embraced by those at the heart of the insurgency...

JOPLIN, Mo. -- City officials have agreed to pay about $16,000 to the family of a boy who was handcuffed and arrested last year at his elementary school. The parents of the boy, Jamie and Jane Karns of Joplin, claimed the arrest violated their son's civil rights. The settlement, approved Tuesday, admits no wrongdoing and effectively closes the door on possible future litigation regarding the incident...

BARTONVILLE, Ill. -- As soon as the motor revved, the sky came alive. Asian carp littered the air behind Chris Brackett's boat, offering numerous point-blank shots. Finally Brackett let loose his bowstring, sending fluorescent line through the evening air and an arrow through the gut of an acrobatic silver carp...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Storming the field and tearing down football goal posts after a big Missouri win is a tradition school officials are looking to end. After the arrest of 20 fans on trespassing charges following Saturday's 41-24 win over Nebraska, Missouri athletics officials said Monday they're forming an internal task force to discuss ways to stem fan rowdiness...

DETROIT -- Joey Harrington might have a future in the NFL. It probably won't be in Detroit. The Lions invested the third overall draft pick and requisite millions in Harrington, hoping he would be the franchise quarterback they've lacked for decades. Three-plus years and 49 starts later, the Harrington era seems over in the Motor City...

NEW YORK -- Wellington Mara of the New York Giants, one of the NFL's most influential owners for more than a half century and the last of the league's founding generation, died Tuesday. He was 89. Mara, who was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997, died of cancer at his home in Rye, the team said...

HOUSTON -- Joe Morgan worries about the face of baseball. Watching the World Series, the Hall of Famer is troubled by what he sees. His old team, the Houston Astros, is down 2-0 to the Chicago White Sox, but it's not their lineup that concerns Morgan. It's their makeup...

HOUSTON -- Major League Baseball pulled the roof out from over the Houston Astros' heads. Over the objections of the Astros, the commissioner's office ordered the roof open at Minute Maid Field for Game 3 of the World Series on Tuesday night and said all games in Houston this week are likely to be played outdoors...

WASHINGTON -- Ben Bernanke may bring more openness to the secretive Federal Reserve by spelling out what the central bank thinks is an acceptable range of inflation. And that could help consumers and investors better understand where interest-rate policy is heading...

AMMAN, Jordan -- As Israel and Jordan marked the 11th anniversary of a historic peace accord, the Jewish state hailed its Arab neighbor Tuesday as its "strategic partner" in Mideast peacemaking. "Israel considers Jordan a strategic partner and an important element in efforts to attain peace with neighboring states," the Israeli Embassy said in a statement marking the accord that was signed on Oct. 26, 1994...

To eat healthfully, Hillari Dowdle, editor of Natural Health magazine, suggests that you can keep up a sensible eating plan, day in and day out, by sprucing up your meals throughout the week. Among fast, easy and tasty suggestions she gives are: Sprinkle 1/2 cup of blackberries or other berries on your morning cereal...

It isn't difficult to prepare seasonal, hearty, wholesome food for hikes or tailgating -- or even for just sitting on the porch watching the foliage change color. The following recipe is a vitamin-rich stew that's light on calories and fat and will not keep you in the kitchen all day -- 10 minutes to prep, an hour to cook...

Pension cuts; Source of suffering; Hold that smoke; Generality blindness; Health hazard; Dangerous smoke; Antiques, not boxing

To the editor: Regarding the Ashland Court Subdivision article: this should have every homeowner in Cape Girardeau concerned. Anyone can file for a rezoning of your neighborhood for a mere $50 filing fee and if turned down can reapply within 15 days. You may never know it is occurring until it is too late. Not one homeowner in the Ashland Court Subdivision got a written notice...

To the editor: I was recently looking through the archives of Fact or Fiction? questions people have written to the Southeast Missourian. The answer to the question about the mysterious Tower Club was quite enlightening to its true nature. I found myself wondering why women aren't allowed in this organization of business professionals. ...

On a night to honor the 10 seniors on the Notre Dame boys soccer team, it was junior Jack Wedemeier who stole the spotlight in the Bulldogs' 3-0 victory against visiting Poplar Bluff on Tuesday. Wedemeier scored twice for Notre Dame, which ended its regular season at 16-3-3...

To the editor: In 2003 I filled out an application for MC+ for our children because we could not afford health insurance. I was surprised when I received cards not just for our children, but for my husband and myself for Missouri Medicaid. I figured that he and I would just go without insurance, because we were healthy. ...

Baseball...

Parking restricted for homecoming parade Parking in certain areas of Cape Girardeau will be restricted due to the Southeast Missouri State Homecoming Parade scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Saturday. Beginning at 2 a.m. on Saturday, parking will be prohibited on both sides of Broadway from West End Boulevard to Main Street, Main Street from Park Drive to William Street, West End Boulevard from Broadway to Parkview Drive, the east side of Perry Avenue from Broadway to Parkview Drive, both sides of Houck Stadium and both sides of Houck Place. ...

Fifty years ago, culture and entertainment were rare commodities in Cape Girardeau. The Jaycee Follies and concerts by the community singing group called the Choraliers were the high points of every season. A dramatic evolution has occurred since then...

MOUND CITY, Ill. -- Loretta B. Roberson, 65, of Mound City died Saturday, Oct. 22, 2005, at her home. Friends may call at Heavenly Gates Funeral Home in Cairo, Ill., from 5 to 8 p.m. today. The funeral will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home, with the Rev. Albert Ingram officiating...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Cona Jean Pennington, 79, of Cobden, formerly of McClure, Ill., died Sunday, Oct. 23, 2005, at her home. She was born June 10, 1926, in Randolph County, Mo., daughter of Oral Lee and Estelle Odom Hays. She and Lloyd Pennington were married Nov. 7, 1943, at Malden, Mo. He died June 4, 1996...

PATTON, Mo. -- Frank B. Kalal, 64, of Patton died Monday, Oct. 24, 2005, at Bellview Valley Nursing Center near Farmington, Mo. Liley Funeral Home at Patton is in charge of arrangements.

ST. MARY, Mo. -- Melvin H. Sandler, 88, of St. Mary died Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2005, at his home. He was born March 24, 1917, in Perry County, son of Gottlieb and Lena Dippold Sandler. He and Hazel Jean Sachse were married Oct. 1, 1950. Sandler was a pilot and flight instructor. He was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Pearl M. Forbey, 82, of Charleston died Monday, Oct. 24, 2005, at Bertrand Nursing Facility. She was born Nov. 13, 1922, at Benton, daughter of John Ross and Beulah Minter Ervin. She and Archie Forbey were married Oct. 2, 1943. He died Feb. 4, 1995...

Good Shepherd Ladies Guild; Church Women United; Capaha Scottish Rite Women

25 years ago: Oct. 26, 1980 Dr. Webster W. Davault, whose six decades in the practice of medicine began with a horse and buggy on the back roads of rural Cape Girardeau County and who brought health care to countless county residents, dies at Cape LaCroix Manor, where he was a resident; he was 91 years old...

Haines; Worley; Goodman

Our children are in full swing with the cooler temperatures. Last week they were out of school for a brief vacation, and I think they spent every daylight moment outside playing. At one time we had a yard full of children all wanting to play something different, but somehow it always seems to work out. ...

SIKESTON -- Malissa Carr was quite content when she thought her Powerball winnings were enough to purchase a container of salt to finish cooking supper last Thursday. Little did the Sikeston resident know instead of matching three numbers worth $7, her ticket matched five -- worth $853,492...

Calling it a crowning achievement, Saint Francis Medical Center announced Tuesday that it has formed an alliance with the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, one of the nation's highest-rated cancer treatment and research facilities. The new partnership -- one of six such partnerships with M.D. ...

THOMSON, Ga. -- During his 18 years in the Georgia National Guard, James Kinlow settled into a peaceful, small-town life focused more on being a citizen than a soldier. Kinlow had married his high-school sweetheart and rarely missed the Lincoln County Red Devils' home football games. He worked in a lumber yard and drove a freight truck. The citizen-soldiers he trained with every month included family friends and former teachers; he cracked them up with his imitations of the officers. He worked in a lumber yard and drove a freight truck. The citizen-soldiers he trained with every month included family friends and former teachers; he cracked them up with his imitations of the officers. Then, late last year, he got the news: He was going to war...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- John "Leo" Keith, 78, of Marble Hill died Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2005, at Elder Care of Marble Hill. He was born May 26, 1927, in Black, Mo., son of Andrew Jackson and Margaret Bernettie Nelson Keith. He and Irene Sutton were married June 7, 1947, at Ironton, Mo...

Cape Girardeau...

Cape Girardeau...

Two men get six years for crack distribution Two Cape Girardeau men were sentenced on Monday to nearly six years in federal prison for distribution of crack cocaine. Both appeared before U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber. Adrian M. Brown, 22, was sentenced to 70 months on one felony count of distribution of cocaine base. ...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Greene County residents will be asked in November to approve a tax increase that would provide funds to support a regional crime laboratory based in Springfield. Supporters of the tax say the state's current crime labs are overwhelmed with evidence, causing long delays in trying criminal cases. The quarter-cent sales tax, which will be on county ballots Nov. 8, would generate an estimated $10 million. About $600,000 would be earmarked for the regional crime lab...

S.C. man dies driving to brother's funeral FLORENCE, S.C. -- Crystal Chockley thought something was wrong when her brother-in-law didn't show up for her husband's funeral. Hours after burying Perry Chockley, she found out why. Larry Chockley died in a car wreck on his way to the funeral Saturday. ...

Riot police clash with students in Rome ROME -- A student protest in Rome turned bloody as police in riot gear charged demonstrators Tuesday in the streets near Premier Silvio Berlusconi's office. The students, who sent up clouds of red smoke and chanted slogans, were protesting university reforms sponsored by Berlusconi's conservative government. ...

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration and the U.S. military are looking for victory against a stubborn insurgency, two and a half years after the first bombs fell on Baghdad. Yet ever more members of Congress and the American public are looking for a way out...

HOUSTON -- Jason Lane's two-out double in the eighth inning off Dustin Hermanson pulled the Houston Astros into a 5-all tie with the Chicago White Sox after nine innings in Game 3 of the World Series on Tuesday night. Chicago's Orlando Hernandez pitched his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the ninth, sending the game to extra innings...

HOUSTON -- Ten, 11, 12, 13 innings. No one could break through. Not the White Sox, who waited 46 years to get back to the World Series. Not the Astros, who've never been here before. Finally, in the 14th inning, Geoff Blum won the longest game in World Series history with a tiebreaking, two-out solo homer, and Chicago beat Houston 7-5 this morning to move within a win of a Series sweep and its first title since 1917...

A(

Braves win title of SEMO baseball league The Braves were in an enviable position Saturday afternoon in the SEMO Fall Baseball League. As one of three teams in a three-way tie on the final day of play, the Braves took care of their business -- barely -- with a sweep of the Red Sox and then watched the other two teams split a doubleheader...

First assaulted with spray paint. Then kidnapped and returned. Now evicted. The last week has not been kind to Sharon, the Sigma Chi goat. It's a felony to steal an animal. But it's also against Cape Girardeau's ordinance to keep barnyard animals within the city limits. As a result, Sharon is no longer welcome...

For the third straight year Bell City and Advance met in the championship of the Class 1 District 2 volleyball tournament. The rivals again played a back and forth match, and once again Bell City came out on top. The Cubs knocked off Advance for the third straight year with a 25-23, 25-21 win at Bell City on Tuesday...

Southeast Missouri State's longest winning streak in volleyball since 2003 came to a halt at the hands of the university's biggest nonconference rival. Southern Illinois had been struggling, but the Salukis looked solid Tuesday night in handing the host Redhawks a five-game loss...

Scott City's first-year volleyball coach Carl Ritter Jr. had last coached in 1992, when his Zalma squad made its third of three straight state final four appearances. Postseason success has once again found Ritter, as Scott City claimed its second straight district title with a 25-17, 25-16 victory over Class 2 District 2 host Bloomfield on Tuesday...

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama quarterback Brodie Croyle wondered aloud before the season, "Why not us?" Why can't the Crimson Tide be 2005's version of Auburn? He meant coming out of nowhere for an undefeated season, like last year's Tigers, not getting shut out of the national championship picture -- like last year's Tigers...

Other than Southeast Missouri State, no team was probably more disappointed by the Redhawks' last-second loss at Eastern Kentucky on Saturday than Jacksonville State. Another defeat for the Colonels would have cleared the way for the Gamecocks to totally control their own destiny regarding the Ohio Valley Conference's automatic Division I-AA playoff berth...

Matt Leinart picked up the phone the other day and gave a shout out to Vince Young. The two weren't trading team secrets, just pleasantries. Things figure to be a little more serious when they meet in person. They'll likely spend some time together in Manhattan in December, where they give away a certain bronze statue every year...

WESTON, Fla. -- Floridians lined up for water, gas, ice and generators Tuesday outside the few stores that were open after Hurricane Wilma cut a costly, deadly swath across the peninsula. The storm slammed across the state in about seven hours Monday, causing billions in insured damage and leaving 5.9 million people, or a little less than 3 million homes and businesses, without electricity. ...

CANCUN, Mexico -- Tens of thousands of haggard tourists, fed up after five days in hot and dirty emergency shelters, battled for airline and bus seats out of Mexico's hurricane-battered Caribbean resorts on Tuesday. Officials said they still had no solid estimate of the damage caused by Hurricane Wilma, which lashed the coastline Friday and Saturday and wiped out the heart of Mexico's $11 billion foreign tourism industry, even washing away Cancun's famed white beaches...

Though we never had cable or satellite when I was a child, I'm nevertheless part of the MTV generation É that group of consumers that followed trends and fads with the speed of a 56K processor and laptops the size of a small car. We watched music rather than just listening to it and ushered in the talentless glut of pop music found in the late 1990s...