Stories from Wednesday, February 1, 2006

Movie lovers will soon get the chance to see some of the Oscar nominated pictures that haven't yet been screened locally. Cape West 14 Cine will be showing "Brokeback Mountain" starting Friday with three shows daily on weekdays and four on weekends...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A Scott City woman accused of leading her daughter under a train that severed the girl's arm will remain free until trial, a Butler County judge ruled Tuesday. Scott County assistant prosecutor Dana Weis had sought to return Glenda Ross, 35, to jail for violating the conditions set when she was released in December. In Tuesday's hearing, Weis withdrew the request, and Circuit Judge Mark Richardson ordered Ross to have no unsupervised contact with children...

The accused killer of a 17-year-old Cape Girardeau boy was ordered to proceed to trial in an unrelated drug case Tuesday. Following the preliminary hearing for Bernard Richards, 19, Associate Circuit Judge Gary Kamp found sufficient evidence against the defendant to continue the case...

A Jackson police officer responding to a call of a dog nuisance testified he forced his way into a woman's home and Tasered her because of threats she had made and her erratic behavior. During a preliminary hearing for Tracy Mayfield, 37, of 611 W. Washington St. in Jackson, police officer Ed Moore testified that the defendant was shouting obscenities from her apartment and threatened him with her own Taser...

The word has been out on Cape Girardeau's 2006 United We Read books for months, now it's time for the discussions to begin. Thursday will kick off two months of discussions about this year's selections -- Morley Swingle's "The Gold of Cape Girardeau" and Robert Hicks' "The Widow of the South."...

Cape Girardeau has touched the lives of millions. That's what Buz Sutherland told a group of community members at a breakfast Tuesday where the civic group, Vision 2020 Community Relations Council, honored the volunteer efforts of six organizations and individuals...

Representatives from CLAIM, a Missouri Medicare and Insurance Counseling Program, will be available from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday at Southeast Missouri Hospital to help people sign up for a Medicare Part D plan. CLAIM provides free, confidential and unbiased health insurance counseling to Medicare recipients. Counseling sessions, which will be in Southeast's Harrison Room, are by appointment only and may be made by calling Southeast's Generations Family Resource Center at 651-5825...

My father says that when you're 60 years old you get the face you deserved when you were 20. Some may call that fate -- or maybe it's genetics -- either way it's a kind of cosmic irony. I got to thinking about fate and faces when my parents and I went to see the Rolling Stones play in St. ...

Notre Dame's girls basketball team has had to fight to get back to the .500 mark for much of the past month, but with a win over rival Central on Tuesday at the Show Me Center the Bulldogs finally made the mark. The Bulldogs defeated Central 67-28 to improve to 10-10...

ST. LOUIS -- No offense to the Carolina Hurricanes, but just a few hours after joining them in a trade former St. Louis Blues forward Doug Weight was plotting how he might boomerang back to his old team by next season. Right now, the fire sale is in full swing for the Blues, formerly a model of consistency with 25 consecutive playoff appearances but presently saddled with the NHL's worst record. ...

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- The cowboy love story "Brokeback Mountain" led the Academy Awards field Tuesday with eight nominations, among them best picture and honors for actor Heath Ledger and director Ang Lee. Also nominated for best picture were the Truman Capote story "Capote"; the ensemble drama "Crash"; the Edward R. Murrow chronicle "Good Night, and Good Luck"; and the assassination thriller "Munich."...

MADISON, Wis. -- Dee Brown and Rich McBride scored 16 points each and No. 6 Illinois beat Wisconsin 66-51 Tuesday night. It was Illinois' fourth straight victory over the Badgers -- including two victories at the Kohl Center, where Illinois is the only Big Ten team to beat the Badgers in five years under coach Bo Ryan...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- The hoopla has died down a bit. The state can breathe easy. Mitch Mustain decided to stay home for school. Mustain, one of the nation's top high school quarterbacks, plans to attend Arkansas. Now, of course, comes the hard part for the Razorbacks' would-be savior -- handling the pressure from thousands of success-starved fans...

AUSTIN, Texas -- A national championship pays huge dividends in recruiting, right? Well, the Texas Longhorns will have to wait and see. While recruits officially sign with colleges today, coach Mack Brown already had non-binding oral commitments from nearly every player he expects to sign long before Texas beat Southern California in the Rose Bowl...

TOKYO -- Japan will begin withdrawing its troops from Iraq in March and complete the pullout by May, ending its largest military mission since the end of World War II, a news report said Tuesday. Japan, which extended its noncombat mission to the southern Iraqi city of Samawah for another year in December, will pull its 600 troops out at about the same time that British and Australian forces leave the area, Kyodo News agency said...

To the editor: In a matter of days the U.S. House of Representatives will be considering some changes in Medicaid that could hurt many people here in Missouri. If five years ago you helped your family by paying for a grandchild's first year of college or your daughter's down payment for a house, you could be denied needed long-term care. ...

Danny R. Kight of Jackson entered heaven Monday, Jan. 30, 2006, following a lengthy illness. Dan was born Oct. 27, 1947, in Delta, son of the late John and Pauline Croy Kight. He was the fifth of eight boys. He and Karen Crawford Kight were married Aug. 9, 1969...

Janie M. VanGennip, 78, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2006, at Saint Francis Medical Center. She was born July 26, 1927, at Glennon, Mo., daughter of Joseph and Mary Laurentius. Janie was married to Martin F. "Junior" VanGennip Feb. 23, 1952. He survives...

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve, in the last major piece of business for retiring chairman Alan Greenspan, pushed borrowing costs to the highest point in nearly five years Tuesday and hinted that another rate increase was possible. Shortly after the Fed's rate announcement, the Senate -- showing broad bipartisan support -- approved on a voice vote Ben Bernanke's nomination to be the 14th chairman of the central bank. ...

Marilynn Ruth Hails, 82, of Jackson entered the gates of heaven Monday, Jan. 30, 2006, at the Lutheran Home. She was born April 30, 1923, in Elvins, Mo. daughter of Joseph R. and Tennessee O. Politte Bayless. Mrs. Hails attended Elvins High School and Flat River Junior College...

Blame high wages; No cable choice; Hanging from a tree?; Better use of money; Keep it quiet; Who would be hurt?

After 174 years, the Congregation of the Mission, a Roman Catholic order better known as the Vincentians in honor of founder St. Vincent de Paul, is leaving Cape Girardeau. By summer, the Rev. Charlie Prost and associate pastor the Rev. Derek Swanson at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church on Ritter Drive in Cape Girardeau will depart for new assignments. The Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau will begin administering the parish and will assign replacement priests...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Terry G. Robinson, 57, of Tamms died Monday, Jan. 30, 2006, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. He was born March 11, 1948, in Cape Girardeau, son of Gilbert and Betty Farrow Robinson. He and Janie Hazelwood were married July 15, 1978, in Cape Girardeau...

Maxine Hahn, 82, of Jackson died Monday, Jan. 30, 2006, at Fountainbleau Lodge in Cape Girardeau. She was born April 19, 1923, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Roy Clark and Georgia Marie Lanpher Welker. She and Arthur Hahn were married June 8, 1968, in Jackson...

Colleges; Golf

To the editor: I was under the impression that the money provided for the Missouri student-loan agency was taxpayer money. It seems that the money from the sale should first be returned to the taxpayers. It seems that everyone has a way to spend the money instead of returning it...

To the editor: I was pleased to read about Missouri House Speaker Rod Jetton's bill to supplement food-assistance programs. Our country has been blessed with great wealth and financial resources. As Christians, we have an obligation to meet the fundamental needs of the most vulnerable members of our society. Mr. Jetton's bill is a step in the right direction by providing food to the elderly and encouraging donations to local food pantries...

To the editor: Crime does pay. That's the opposite of what we're all supposed to think, but the reality of that should strike home when a young woman who embezzled $48,000 from her physician employer and called in more than 60 illegal prescriptions for herself was only sentenced to probation by Judge Ben Lewis. ...

Esther Harter, 92, of Thornton, Colo., formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2006, at her home. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

25 years ago: Feb. 1, 1981 A Lutheran minister who is director of Lutheran Family and Children's Services has become the fourth individual to file for one of two seats on the Cape Girardeau Board of Education; Dr. Erwin Brese has been director of Lutheran Family and Children's Services since 1975...

Alpha Mu Master; St. Mary CCW

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Marcella Sissom, 78, of Olive Branch died Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2006, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 8, 1927, in St. Mary, Mo., daughter of Robert and Ethel Mansfield Pearman. She and John D. Sissom Jr. were married Nov. 28, 1945. He died Feb. 5, 2001...

ANNA, Ill. -- Harlan Leon Fuller, 62, of Orlando, Fla., died Sunday, Jan. 29, 2006, at his home. He was born April 21, 1943, in Anna, son of Duane and Glenna Marietta Bragg Fuller. Fuller worked with his father in the masonry business many years. He moved to Florida and retired from Florida Department of Corrections. He was a member of Anna Heights Baptist Church...

To the editor: It appears that Cape Girardeau is going to use the police power of government to take away the property of one of its citizens. Let there be no mistake about it, there is much more at stake than a 2,160-square-foot gravel lot. At stake is the right of individual citizens to be secure in their private property. ...

Last week I asked for recipes that you might be serving at your Super Bowl gathering. A few recipes did come in, and all of them sound really good. In planning your menu, maybe these recipes will help. When we think of a Super Bowl party, snacks, finger foods, dips and chips come to mind. However, in addition to those, the area's Soup Queen thinks of a pot of soup simmering on the stove for guests to help themselves. She sent in this recipe for you to try...

WASHINGTON -- A politically weakened President Bush declared Tuesday night that America must break its long dependence on Mideast oil and rebuked critics of his stay-the-course strategy for the war in Iraq. "America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world," Bush said as he sought to drive the election-year agenda in his annual State of the Union address...

A Southeast Missouri State University basketball starter was arrested at the Show Me Center Tuesday morning for a Kansas rape that allegedly occurred more than two years ago. A $100,000 arrest warrant was issued for Andrais Thorton on felony charges of rape and sexual battery for the 2003 rape in Colby, Kan...

Approximaely 150 residents living in the area west of Dearmore Court off of Hopper Road have been issued a "boil water order" which will go into effect at 8:30 a.m. today. The precautionary order is expected to last until 3 p.m. Thursday. Water service will be interrupted during the morning and early afternoon while workers seek to repair a gasket failure...

Cape Girardeau residents mourned the passing of Coretta Scott King Tuesday. "Now that she is gone I can only be saddened. Tears have come to my eyes very often today," said Debra Mitchell-Braxton, founder of the city's annual King memorial breakfast...

A Cape Girardeau man accused of killing a cat faces an April trial on felony animal abuse charges. Eric L. Ford, 45, appeared Thursday before New Madrid County Circuit Judge Fred Copeland, who ordered a one-day trial on April 13. Ford withdrew a guilty plea in October after Circuit Judge David Dolan rejected probation in the case and said he would impose prison time for the Aug. 14, 2004, incident...

Cape Girardeau...

Cape Girardeau...

The Charleston boys basketball team got it going early and the Jackson Indians never got untracked in a SEMO Conference matchup Tuesday at Charleston, Mo. Charleston (15-5) played a near-perfect first quarter on both ends of the court to set up a 64-46 thumping of the Indians...

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Sooner state will be the New Orleans Hornets' home away from home for another season. The Hornets will play most of their home games next season in Oklahoma City, with plans to return to New Orleans full-time in the 2007-08 season...

The University of Illinois on Tuesday chastised the NCAA for being "arbitrary and capricious" when it created a policy requiring that the university drop its Chief Illiniwek mascot and logo before it could be host to future postseason competition...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The board of Missouri's college loan authority voted Tuesday to sell about half of its roughly $5 billion in loan assets to generate money for Gov. Matt Blunt's college construction and endowment plan. Blunt quickly embraced the new plan, which would keep intact the nonprofit Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority, or MOHELA, while generating slightly more than Blunt's original proposal to sell MOHELA outright for a projected $425 million...

In school after school across the nation, boys lag behind girls in academic success. For many boys, school is an uphill climb. Too often they are hanging from the academic ledge, in danger of dropping out of school entirely. The statistics are staggering...

PITTSBURGH -- They wore knee-length skirts, bobby sox and hard hats, and they couldn't fraternize with the players. Their pay? One ticket per game. The Steelerettes were the first females of the football field, long before Seattle's Sea Gals, Oakland's Raiderettes and the Buffalo Jills. And get this: Pittsburgh had guy cheerleaders, too -- the Ingots...

Notre Dame's pressure defense forced one turnover after another in a rout of Central at the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament. The Central boys made the necessary adjustments in the rematch Tuesday at the Show Me Center, going nearly turnover free...

Murray State got a major monkey off its back -- and in the process took over sole possession of first place in the Ohio Valley Conference. The perennial powerhouse Racers, who had not defeated Samford since the Bulldogs joined the OVC, rolled to a 59-38 victory Monday night in Murray, Ky...

The missing opponent on Southeast Missouri State's schedule was filled in Tuesday morning when the entire field for the ESPN BracketBusters series was announced. And it will involve considerable travel for the Redhawks -- not that coach Gary Garner minds...

WASHINGTON -- Samuel Alito took his place on the Supreme Court Tuesday after winning Senate confirmation, a personal triumph for the son of an Italian immigrant and a political milestone in President Bush's campaign to give the judiciary a more conservative cast...

One of the most excruciating images of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks is the sight of a man who was trapped in one of the World Trade Center towers. Stripped of his suit jacket and tie and hanging on to what appears to be his office curtains, he is seen trying to lower himself outside a window to the floor immediately below. Frantically kicking his legs in an effort to find a purchase, he loses his grip, and falls...

The 10th Annual Junior High String Orchestral Festival will take place at Academic Hall Auditorium on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University at 4 p.m. Thursday. The festival will include more than 160 participants from Cape Central Junior High School, Sikeston, Fort Zumwalt and Parkway schools...

A smart layout, decorated by tasteful touches, leaves visitors to this home, plan DD-2096 by the Homestore Plans and Publications Designers' Network, with a memorable first impression. The floor plan covers 2,088 square feet of living space. The entry is flanked by a quiet study and a formal dining room. Just ahead lies the expansive great room, featuring a corner fireplace and three large windows overlooking a large covered patio...

VIENNA, Austria -- The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed Tuesday to hold crude production steady, and its president said Iran had pledged not to withhold any oil because of its standoff with the West over its nuclear program. OPEC President Edmund Daukoru of Nigeria said Iran, one of the cartel's founders, had assured him and other members that it would not curtail its oil production. ...

The Ragin' Cajun James Carville (you might know him from "Old School") is coming to SIU in Carbondale this month. Carville is a widely-known political consultant and commentator who used to get his kicks fighting with Tucker Carlson on CNN's "Crossfire." Carlson is the guy Jon Stewart called an a--hole on live TV, by the way...

The dysfunctoinal nature of families makes for some good comic material in the River City Players' newest production, "It Runs in the Family," showing Feb. 10, 11, 16, 17 and 18 at Port Cape's River City Yacht Club. Co-director and constant RCP'er Bart Elfrink tells OFF "It Runs in the Family" is a comedy, by a British guy, Ray Cooney, that uses a lot of slapstick. If you like the BBC, you'll dig it...

Ah, Valentine's Day. A time to show affection for the one you love because you have to. One day out of the year when we are pelted with red and pink hearts, and puns such as "Bee mine" (with a picture of a bee, get it?). Fact: Valentine's is the tackiest of all holidays, beating out GREEN St. Patty's Day and the Bedazzler of holidays, New Year's Eve...

Often in art, it is as though the abstract holds its hand over our eyes to hide the real. In her paintings, Megan Thrower forces open its fingers, giving us a peek of where the two are joined. "I'm into mechanical stuff," Thrower said. "I'm interested in how things are made, how things work. I draw diagrams in my pieces and use them to show how we interact with each other and how that translates."...

There's a good chance you've seen the members of Rock Solid around before. Maybe not when they were performing with Rock Solid, but maybe with one of the three other bands who have a Rock Solid player -- and sometimes several -- as a part of its cast.  ...

For three years the Grace Cafe has enjoyed its roomy digs at 835 Broadway. But now the coffee/tea/lunch/free wi-fi shop is ditching that location for something a bit more cozy. Starting this month Grace has set up shop just down the road at 818 Broadway, the former home of the Weber TV and appliance store...

Crack open a PBR and put on your sleeveless shirt -- the Monster Truck Winternationals are coming! On Feb. 10 and 11 the Show Me Center will be abuzz with good ole boys whooping it up for their favorite Monster make. Show Me Center marketing director Brad Gentry said the annual tradition is one of the venue's most popular events. Last year both nights of the show sold out and more seats had to be brought in to accommodate the overflow...

This year my resolution was to NOT date just anybody. I happen to get lonely so I am susceptible to settling for someone who shows a little interest. Since most girls lose interest in me after two or three weeks, I decided a change was in order. I resolved to limit myself to a woman who has to be a lot, and I do mean a lot, like me...

As if there aren't enough holidays already, here's one for the people losing out on the love on Valentine's Day. It's called Satisfied Staying Single Day, it takes place on Feb. 11, and as the same implies it's a day to celebrate being single. If this message applies to you, it's likely you'll be at home watching "Sex and the City" in syndication on V-Day, but that's okay. You can buy yourself some chocolate, right?...

In Southeast Missouri, Christianity is king. But most rockers shuns the piety for hard partying and hedonism. OFF Magazine found that's not always the case. A vibrant community of Christian rock musicians live and play in the area, delivering a spiritual message through song. We took four of them and asked them to open up for a quick interview...

OFF Magazine asked some of those involved with the filming of "Killshot" in Cape Girardeau to submit their memories and photos. Here's what we got...

Saxony Lutheran gave visiting Meadow Heights a taste of its own medicine in the first 3 minutes of the boys basketball grudge match Thursday night. Unfortunately for the Crusaders, the magic from beyond the arc didn't last long as the visiting Panthers pulled out a 63-62 victory that avenged a loss to Saxony on Feb. 4 in the Mississippi Valley Conference Tournament championship game...

Sonya Daugherty played the role of unexpected star Thursday night as Southeast Missouri State set a school record for consecutive wins on the Division I level. Daugherty, a little-used freshman guard, kick-started Southeast's stagnant offense with 13 first-half points as the Redhawks beat visiting Eastern Illinois 84-76...

Other than being hit with a loss, Southeast Missouri State baseball coach Mark Hogan found little fault with his team's effort and performance during Wednesday's season opener at Arkansas State. The inexperienced Redhawks played errorless ball and received strong starting pitching, but the host Indians rallied with three eighth-inning runs to win 4-3...