Stories from Tuesday, January 17, 2006

St. Vincent de Paul School principal Nancy Heberlie recently announced her resignation after nearly seven years in that position. Heberlie's resignation coincides with the Vincentian order's decision to remove itself from the St. Vincent's parish. ...

SHELBYVILLE, Mo. -- Hog farmer Chuck Wood is no stranger to stink. Around here, they say, manure is the smell of money. Some neighbors of northern Missouri's numerous factory-size livestock operations are less effusive. They call the pervasive odors a public health threat, leading to respiratory illnesses and mood disorders, not to mention plummeting property values...

On Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, the Rev. Bobby Dean said the example of the civil rights movement is that justice delayed is justice denied. "They were forever being told to wait," he said. "Wait to integrate schools, wait before you can sit at lunch counters, wait to be called a man."...

ST. LOUIS -- Success has not spoiled Albert Pujols, who feels it's his responsibility to represent the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. The NL MVP was honored Monday with teammate Chris Carpenter, the NL Cy Young Award winner, at the annual dinner held by the St. Louis chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America. He said weighing commitment to his country against missing time in spring training was no decision at all...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The day Memphis introduced John Calipari as the Tigers' new basketball coach, local radio and television stations carried his news conference live to fans and boosters eager to anoint him the program's savior. Now in his sixth season, Calipari is finally living up to expectations. The Tigers are ranked No. 4 and, at 15-2 are off to the school's best start since 1985-86...

NEW YORK -- Retail sales are projected to increase a modest 4.7 percent this year, much less than the 6.1 percent gain in 2005 as higher energy prices, a still-shaky labor market and a slowdown in the housing market dampen spending, the National Retail Federation said Monday...

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- The cowboy romance "Brokeback Mountain" led the Golden Globes on Monday with four prizes, including best dramatic film and the directing honor for Ang Lee. Along with the victories for "Brokeback Mountain," acting honors went to Felicity Huffman in a gender-bending role as a man preparing for sex-change surgery in "Transamerica" and Philip Seymour Hoffman as gay author Truman Capote in "Capote."...

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- Former President Ford was undergoing treatment for pneumonia Monday at the same facility where he was briefly hospitalized a month ago, his chief of staff said. He was said to be doing well. Ford, 92, was admitted Saturday to Eisenhower Medical Center near his home in Rancho Mirage in Southern California, Penny Circle said...

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Pakistan's ruling party on Monday demanded an apology for an alleged CIA airstrike that killed at least 17 people, but the country's prime minister said his trip to the United States this week would go ahead as planned. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and his ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q on Monday condemned the alleged U.S. airstrike on a village near the Afghan border, which intelligence officials have said targeted al-Qaida's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri...

NEW YORK -- It may sound arcane, but a planned overhaul of the way companies keep their books on pensions and retiree health-care plans could come at a very real cost to workers counting on those benefits. The changes -- likely to begin by year's end -- come as a growing number of companies freeze pensions and cut retiree health benefits, shifting risks and costs to workers. ...

PITTSBURGH -- They overcame a bungled call and a fumbled ball, and now the Pittsburgh Steelers are headed to their sixth and least-anticipated trip to the AFC championship game in a dozen years under coach Bill Cowher. The difference this time is the road they're taking, a route they've never traveled in their 73-year history but one that is bringing out the best in a team that in recent years has played its worst in mid-January...

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Top-ranked Roger Federer dispatched wild card entry Denis Istomin in the first round of the Australian Open on Tuesday, cruising to a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 victory. Federer was broken once, when he was serving for the second set, and faced only three break points in the 83-minute match...

Childish issue; Eagles hand out gifts; Cutting and adding; No movie glamor; David versus Goliaths; Classic piece; Clean highway; Small-town character; Oran's police

NEW YORK -- Alex Rodriguez was missing from the initial United States roster for the World Baseball Classic on Monday night, and the two-time MVP had one day left to decide whether to participate. As expected, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Derek Jeter and Ken Griffey Jr. were the biggest names among the 42 players picked by Team USA on Monday...

Ervin H. Vogelsang, 85, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, Jan. 14, 2006, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born May 20, 1920, at Gordonville, son of Ervin and Emily Frank Vogelsang. He and Margaret Cracraft Vogelsang were married in 1943 in Cape Girardeau. She died Dec. 4, 1983...

EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. -- After more than 20 years and a couple hundred thousand pounds of catfish, the James Bayou Cookers are calling it quits. The award-winning and nationally renowned Cookers served their last meal Friday at Bootheel Tractor Parts in East Prairie. The business was celebrating the one-year anniversary of its service department with an open house for customers, according to B.J. Shankle, office manager...

To the editor: As the owner of Bi-State Southern Oil Co., there are special events that come up from time to time that allow me the opportunity to experience things that would normally not be extended. Such was the case when my convenience store on South Sprigg Street was chosen for a scene in the movie "Killshot." All of us enjoyed watching the scene and were amazed by all that went into the shooting...

To the editor: Was it Socrates who said, "The unexamined life is not worth living"? My students (when I had students) would quote this piously and examine life and find it not worth living. I prefer to quote the late Julia Childs, who said, "I hope you have never eaten anything because someone told you it was good for you." In my youth I was surrounded by "experts" who told me that all of the signs had been fulfilled and that the world was doomed. ...

To the editor: In response to the editorial "Leaderless Cairo": Your editorial is accurate in explaining the utter chaos in Cairo, Ill. I am a former Cairoite and graduated from Cairo High School in 1960. I have watched with disbelief, sorrow and now shame the demise of a beautiful, vibrant, historic and wonderful town. The saddest part is that people who say they love Cairo are destroying it and taking the taxpayers' money along for the sad ride. I hope they wake up before it is too late...

To the editor: I was raised here in Cape Girardeau, so no one told me it was "Girardeau." They let me go on saying it the wrong way: Girard-UH. Only when I lived in Ohio did the college kids teach me the right way. I often wonder why they never corrected me in Cape Girardeau. Can you say it right?...

Basketball; Football

HERRIN, Ill. -- Shirley Ann Bonds, 63, of Herrin, formerly of Kankakee, Ill., died Sunday, Jan. 15, 2006, at Southern Illinois Healthcare. She was born April 4, 1942, at Malden, Mo., son of the late Lonnie Russell and Nellie Idola Vaughn Kincade. She married Billie L. Bonds March 18, 1960...

When the Missouri Legislature passed workers' compensation reforms last year, the changes were widely hailed as fairer to employers who too frequently saw their premiums skyrocket when employees were awarded damages for, among other things, injuries that had nothing to do with their jobs...

Merle R. Hilgendorf, 79, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Jan. 15, 2006, at the Lutheran Home. He was born March 28, 1926, in Geneseo, Ill., son of the Rev. Carl and Elsie Steinmann Hilgendorf. He and Helen Badgett were married Oct. 16, 1948, in Geneseo...

PATTON, Mo. -- Stella "Clodine" Statler, 69, of Patton died Sunday, Jan. 15, 2006, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born July 30, 1936, in Bollinger County, Mo., daughter of Elvin and Frieda Cook Long. She and Hobert Statler were married Feb. 16, 1957, in Bollinger County...

HONOLULU -- David Toms isn't worried about his heart, which is ticking fine. Trouble is, the clock is ticking, too. A late bloomer who didn't capture his first PGA Tour victory until he was 30, Toms is starting to see the window of opportunity closing. He turned 39 the day before the season-opening Mercedes Championships began on Maui, which makes him wonder how many years remain of his best golf...

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- The pastor of the Wichita church where Dennis Rader was a longtime leader believes a "demonic force" drove Rader to become a serial killer. The Rev. Michael Clark, pastor of Christ Lutheran Church in Wichita, talked about his experiences with Rader during an appearance Sunday at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Overland Park...

PEORIA, Ill. -- The sheriff of Peoria County and a central Illinois school superintendent remained hospitalized Monday after being hit by a car while jogging together over the weekend, officials said. Sheriff Mike McCoy and Elmwood superintendent Tom Kahn were both in fair condition at Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, hospital officials said...

ST. LOUIS -- A St. Louis alderman is pushing a measure that could lower the penalties in the city for some instances of public urination, which currently is classified as lewd and lascivious conduct. Ken Ortmann, an alderman who also owns a local tavern, hopes to get the bill passed into law before the annual Mardi Gras Parade on Feb. 25...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Luella Hazel Kempfer, 55, of Marble Hill died Sunday, Jan. 15, 2006, at her home. She was born April 19, 1950, in Black Duck, Minn., daughter of Walter and Darlene Linder Wagner. She and Charles Kempfer were married March 15, 1975, in Ontario, Calif...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Troy S. Welker, 91, of Marble Hill died Sunday, Jan. 15, 2006, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born April 28, 1914, at Shrum, Mo., son of Louis and Fannie Aldrich Welker. He and Veda McCray were married Oct. 14, 1939. She died Sept. 24, 2002...

Leona L. Mangels, 78, of Jackson died Monday, Jan. 16, 2006, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson is in charge of arrangements.

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Leroy B. Wucher, 70, of Perryville died Sunday, Jan. 15, 2006, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Oct. 16, 1935, at Longtown, Mo., son of Barney William and Justine Christine Meyer Wucher. He and Mary Ann LaRose were married April 12, 1958...

KIRKLAND, Wash. -- A smiling Shaun Alexander said Monday he expects to play in Sunday's NFC championship game against the Carolina Panthers after Seattle's playoff win over Washington with a concussion. "We've got to wait and see," Alexander said after seeing doctors and passing more tests Monday. "But it looks pretty good...

25 years ago: Jan. 17, 1981 Michael L. Richey, who this spring will complete his first term on the Cape Girardeau Board of Education, says he won't seek re-election to the post; Richey, an attorney, says he hopes to devote more time to his family and business...

Atkins; Hardeman; Crawford; Blankenship; Gilliland; Schoen

Local students named to TRCC dean's list; graduations; Haley graduates from Indiana college; scholarships; Buttry gets scholarship to University of Mobile

A bioscience firm has committed to establishing facilities in Cape Girardeau -- now it just needs to strike a strategic deal with a biopharmaceutical firm. St. Louis-based Chlorogen Inc. has been exploring options of building a manufacturing and research facility in Southeast Missouri State University's new research and technology park since last summer. ...

When Bruce and Susan Bundy decided to build their dream home, they wanted something different -- a house that made a statement. At first, they said, they thought long and hard about a log cabin. Instead, they chose a timber frame construction that will give the dwelling a rustic feel while retaining the more refined aspects of a modern house...

ATLANTA -- With the widow of Martin Luther King Jr. absent for the first time in nearly four decades, preachers and politicians urged people Monday to continue the slain leader's lifelong pursuit of civil rights and nonviolence. On the holiday marking King's birth, some speakers used the pulpit of Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church to criticize the Iraq war, saying money being used by the military overseas could be better spent domestically on projects such as education, especially for blacks...

Scott City voters will have the chance to vote on a new municipal telecommunications license tax on this April's ballot. The Scott City Council voted 5 to 1 Monday night to put a 5 percent tax on gross receipts from telecommunications services to a public vote. The tax would apply to telephone as well as cellular phone services...

Jackson Board of Aldermen Agenda City Hall, 101 Court Action Items Power and Light Committee Street Committee...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Illinois state police will get 500 new patrol cars by summer, the first major upgrade in five years for an aging fleet that is prone to breakdowns and costs the state millions of dollars annually in repairs, Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced Monday...

Cape Girardeau...

Cape Girardeau...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A judge Monday ordered a psychological examination for one of two teens arrested in the fatal beating of a homeless man and a second beating that was videotaped by a surveillance camera. Family members and their attorneys negotiated the Sunday surrender of Brian Hooks, 18, and Thomas S. ...

MONROVIA, Liberia -- U.S. warships appeared off the coast of Liberia in 2003 to help calm a vicious civil war. On Monday, they were back on the horizon again -- this time in a show of support for Africa's first elected female president. Standing before a lone, one-starred flag, 67-year-old Ellen Johnson Sirleaf took office as Liberia's new leader, promising to uphold her country's fragile peace. ...

LONDON -- Moscow and Beijing joined the U.S. and its European allies in demanding Monday that Iran fully suspend its nuclear program, while Vladimir Putin held out hope for a compromise, saying Tehran might agree to move its uranium enrichment program to Russia...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Spectators were cheering the final moments of a wrestling match at a holiday fair when a motorbike weaved into the crowd -- and exploded in a searing fireball. "It was like doomsday," said Abdul Samad, who was in the crowd Monday at the border town of Spinboldak. "The motorcycle went up into the air in flames."...

Vice president Dick Cheney arrives in Cairo; Reports: Sharon opens eyes at grandson's voice; Dock workers protest EU parliament proposal; Rwandan gets 15 years for killing tourists in Uganda

NEW YORK -- The NFL said the referee made a mistake: Troy Polamalu caught the ball. The league acknowledged Monday that referee Pete Morelli erred when he overturned on replay Polamalu's interception of a Peyton Manning pass Sunday in the playoff game between Pittsburgh and Indianapolis...

Kaci Menz of Delta scored 19 points in Saturday's Scott-Mississippi championship game. Jodi Menz scored four points. The Southeast Missourian regrets the error.

Gov. Matt Blunt called for civil or criminal charges to be filed against AmerenUE following an investigation into the Taum Sauk reservoir accident. Based on findings from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources' investigation into the accident, Blunt said in a statement Monday that he wants Attorney General Jay Nixon to file "appropriate civil or criminal litigation against Ameren."...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- An emotional, come-from-behind win over archrival Kansas couldn't have come at a better time for Quin Snyder. Thomas Gardner scored a career-best 40 points Monday, hit the 3-pointer that sent the game into overtime and made the free throws that put Missouri ahead for good in an 89-86 win...

GULFPORT, Miss. -- Nicki Henderson has had plenty of reasons to be angry since Hurricane Katrina destroyed her Biloxi home, but it was a simple news item about dislocated dolphins that really made her blood boil. Henderson lost her temper when she logged on to her computer and spotted this headline: "New Orleans Dolphins Find New Home." She knew the dolphins actually came from a hurricane-ravaged marine park in Gulfport, not New Orleans...

The Friday the 13th jinx came three days late for the Jackson girls basketball team. The Indians, who actually won a big game on the 13th over Doniphan, fell for the first time in the 2005-06 season Monday in their attempt to win for the 13th time. Jackson fell to Webster Groves 62-55 in the first game of the Martin Luther King Classic at Maryville University in St. Louis County...

The Notre Dame girls basketball team couldn't hold off Poplar Bluff as the Mules edged the visiting Bulldogs 45-43 in overtime Monday. The Bulldogs (6-9) trailed by 12 at halftime but held Poplar Bluff to seven second-half points. Notre Dame shot just seven free throws, while the Mules totaled 31 free throws...

INDIANAPOLIS -- Before Mike Shanahan arrived as Denver's coach, John Elway was just another terrific quarterback with no rings. Lots of individual stats and memorable plays, but no championships. Since Bill Cowher arrived as Pittsburgh's coach in 1992, the Steelers have made it to six AFC title games, including next Sunday at Denver. They got to the Super Bowl once, in January 1996, losing to Dallas...

Let us open the door of our public school and take a look at the glamourous world of the school principal. In every building these fine people are expected to be an educational leader, school manager, head cheerleader, transportation engineer, maitre d', custodial engineer, referee, bodyguard, fashion consultant, policeman, friend, attorney general and fire marshal. ...

JACKSON -- While an established business is relocating to Meier Industrial Site, a 30-acre business park owned by Jackson Industrial Development Co., the 30 merchants of the Uptown Historic District Committee anticipate federal historical district status that will facilitate improvements to businesses...

It was the year of $3 a gallon gas, but home prices shot skyward. Auto sales took a hit, but the stock market finished higher. New bankruptcy laws took effect -- and that's either good or bad, depending on whether you're a creditor or a debtor. In the greater Cape Girardeau area, there was a bustle of business activity the past 12 months. And the next 12 months look good to Chamber of Commerce president John Mehner...

Entries by two Southeast Missourian photographers won prizes in the recent Associated Press Missouri Kansas Photo Graphics Awards. Don Frazier won first prize in the feature category with a photograph titled "Bubble Boy." Photo director Diane Wilson received a third-place award in the portrait/photo illustration and photo story category for a photograph titled "Gadget Man."...

Two Cape Girardeau hospital administrators and a physician who advises the county's medical society say 2005 was a year of significant changes in health care -- some good, some bad -- and it's too soon for a full prognosis of 2006. In Missouri, the most significant issue of last year was the reduction in Medicaid coverage for 98,000 of the state's elderly, disabled and working adults through legislation passed by the General Assembly, say the two hospital executives, Steven Bjelich, president and CEO at Saint Francis Medical Center, and James Wente, president and CEO at Southeast Missouri Hospital.. ...

Hospitals and other medical facilities across the nation report a shortage of nurses, but locally vacancy rates are low. Officials at hospitals and nursing homes in the Cape Girardeau area say that while it's not always easy to find qualified nurses, in this area nurses are attracted to the benefits and professionalism available at local facilities...

Since the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce started sponsoring the Leadership Cape program in 1985, nearly 400 business people have graduated from the seven-month introduction to the workings of the community. Insurance agents, teachers, health professionals, golf course employees, bankers, newspaper reporters and sundry small-business owners are among the alumni...

For some people, fitness is not something they tackle at the new year. It's a year around endeavor. Local businesses support their employees' efforts at wellness, and members of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce have banded together to participate in Shape Up Cape. This year will be the fifth year for Shape Up Cape, a contest where teams compete to see who can earn the most fitness points and win prizes. The big winners, however, are the people who improve their fitness...

It's three weeks into the new year. You may have made a resolution to improve your health and fitness, but have found that it isn't easy to fit in a workout around your work schedule and family activities. It would be easy to let your resolution slide, but this year you say it will be different. Various local fitness experts agree that this year can be different. You can fit a workout schedule into your busy day...

Landmark Hospital, a 30-bed long-term care facility under construction at 3255 Independence St., just west of Mount Auburn Road, expects to open its doors to its first patients Feb. 22. Construction on the acute-care facility is about 80 percent finished, said Debbie Taylor, assistant administrator...

Saint Francis Medical Center and Southeast Missouri Hospital are in the midst of long-term, high capital expansions of facilities and services. At Southeast Missouri Hospital, the new 75,000-square-foot, $15 million Southeast Medical Plaza will have its first occupants in mid-February, said president and CEO James Wente. Move-ins will continue through early spring as physicians relocate their practices to the new facility...

When companies look for a health plan to offer as part of their employees' benefit package, they go shopping. Human resources offices in small companies shop around for the best coverage and accept the lowest and best bid from the insurance companies who submit them...

So many medical innovations are available to patients, yet it is often difficult to get enough information about a healthcare provider to make an informed decision. Call the Cape Girardeau County Area Medical Society and they'll send you a list of local physicians, but will not make any referrals, said a spokesman...

n Sixty-four percent of surveyed major employers who already have wellness programs say cutting health care costs was the main factor of installing the wellness program. n Published reports suggests 70 to 75 cents of every dollar spent on health care in the U.S. ...

As the cost of providing health-care insurance for employees has skyrocketed in recent years, employers have sought -- sometimes in vain -- ways to manage those costs. Some employers, faced with expenses beyond the reach of company resources and employee pocketbooks, have dropped health-care plans entirely...

Sometime during the holiday season my stepfather's clone from Opposite Planet crashed his spacecraft in our backyard, killed my real stepfather, studied our culture for a few days, and realized that he'd better begin the violent tradition known as Christmas shopping if he wanted to blend in with the rest of us...

Bankruptcies filed through December for the Southeastern Division of the Eastern District of Missouri's U.S. Bankruptcy Court are listed below with their corresponding case number. The Southeastern Division includes the counties of Bollinger, Butler, Cape Girardeau, Carter, Dunklin, Madison, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Perry, Reynolds, Ripley, Scott, Shannon, Stoddard and Wayne. Court is held in Cape Girardeau...

Tax liens and lien discharges recorded at the office of Janet Robert, Cape Girardeau County recorder of deeds, during the month of December are filed by the Missouri Department of Revenue except as indicated by IRS designation. For information concerning the dollar amount of the liens, contact the recorder's office at 243-8123...

Commercial building permits recorded at the Cape Girardeau Division of Inspection Services Office during December. Collin McClanahan, 1421 West End Blvd., Erb Industrial Equipment Co., new building, $40,000 Saint Francis Medical Center, 150 Saint Francis Medical Center Road, Saint Francis Medical Center, remodel, $150,000...

Tri-Dot Services, 3342 Highway PP, Jackson Auto Doctor, 1300 Water St., Cape Girardeau El Durango, 115 Westfield Mall, Cape Girardeau Hair Studio, 227 S. Plaza Way, Cape Girardeau Panera LLC, 6710 Clayton Road, Richmond Heights, Mo. Different Twist Pretzel Co., 167 Westfield Mall, Cape Girardeau...

The American Academy of Family Physicians reports that nationally 17 percent of family doctors no longer take new Medicare patients. The reason is Medicare reimbursements don't cover the actual costs of treating those eligible for the government program, according to the academy...

The yellowed parchment lies between armed guards in Washington's National Archives, in a palatial room with marble columns, oil paintings and polished floors -- a room dubbed "the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom." "We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union . . ." it begins...