Stories from Saturday, April 15, 2006

Rainfall well above normal has helped large parts of Illinois and Missouri recover from drought conditions experienced since last spring. During March Cape Girardeau received 8.02 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky. That is nearly 3.5 inches above the normal 4.57 inches, making the month the fifth wettest March on record...

Sixteen graduates of Southeast Missouri State University will return to campus Monday to tell students about their careers in an event billed as Alumni Monday. The goal of Alumni Monday is to provide students an opportunity to learn from successful Southeast graduates, school officials said...

Methamphetamine incidents throughout Missouri have decreased since state legislation limiting meth-producing products took effect last year. The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported that since Gov. Matt Blunt's anti-meth bill took effect mid-July, meth-related incidents have reduced an average of 45 percent, a release from the governor's office stated...

BENTON, Mo. -- The Kelly Hawks knew going in that Clearwater, undefeated and ranked fifth in Class 2, would be a formidable opponent even without their help. But the Hawks were their own worst enemy, yielding eight unearned runs in a 10-5 loss to the Tigers on Friday...

ST. LOUIS -- Aaron Harang was close to perfect on the mound, and just good enough at the plate. Harang stymied the St. Louis Cardinals for seven innings and was an unlikely source for the game's lone RBI in the Cincinnati Reds' 1-0 victory on Friday night. His bloop single in the fifth that fell just in front of Jim Edmonds, only the fourth RBI of his career, was the difference...

Southeast Missouri State shook off the disappointment of a controversial Game 1 loss -- and the ejection of its head coach following the contest -- to salvage a doubleheader split against visiting Samford on Friday. The Redhawks dropped the nine-inning opener 6-5 and captured the seven-inning nightcap 7-4...

The Wall Street Journal We wonder how many Americans got the same eerie chill that we did reading the partial transcript yesterday of the final 31 minutes of United Airlines Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001. Especially in this holy season of Easter and Passover, it was disturbing to read the hijackers swear fanatic allegiance to another great religion as they squeezed the life out of pleading flight attendants and pointed the jet down to smash in a Pennsylvania field...

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Across the country, states are experimenting with strategies to provide health care to millions of people who don't have health insurance: But while other states are trying to create systems that protect more of their uninsured, Missouri lawmakers simply have taken a bone saw to the Medicaid rolls. ...

MEXICO CITY -- "Nothing gringo," warns the rallying cry of Mexican activists calling for a boycott of all U.S. businesses south of the border on May 1. The campaign, aimed at pressuring Congress to legalize undocumented migrants, was timed to coincide with "The Great American Boycott," in which activists are urging migrants in the United States to skip work and avoid spending money to demonstrate their importance to the U.S. economy...

Chad's president broke off relations with neighboring Sudan, threatened to expel 200,000 refugees from Darfur and paraded more than 250 captured rebels through the streets of the capital N'Djamena on Friday after a violent attempt to overthrow him...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Attorney General Jay Nixon said Friday he opposes a ballot proposal that would raise taxes on cigarettes and devote money to health-care providers and anti-smoking efforts. The measure would raise the tax on cigarettes by 80 cents a pack and by 20 percent on other tobacco products. Supporters are gathering signatures in an attempt to put the proposed constitutional amendment before voters in November...

BELVIDERE, Ill. -- Decorated eggs aren't just for Easter anymore. As Donna Thomas of Belvidere and Julia Smith of Beloit, Wis., set out their "eggery" one early spring morning, they were preparing not for the holiday, but for the 13th annual Rockford Egg Show and Sale, which featured the works of eggshell artists from eight states...

WASHINGTON -- Pulling rank, President Bush on Friday rebuffed recommendations from a growing number of retired generals that he replace Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. "He has my full support," said the commander in chief. Bush said Rumsfeld's stewardship at the Pentagon was crucial for the United States...

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- A couple who falsely claimed to be the parents of critically ill sextuplets were charged Friday with stealing cash and other gifts from people taken in by the ruse. Kris and Sarah Everson, of Grain Valley, had collected donations for the six babies the couple claimed were born in March. They later admitted to police and reporters that they had lied...

RIDGELY, Tenn. -- Fain Storm Shelters in Jackson usually sells about 10 steel-reinforced concrete shelters in an average week. But it was no average week when a string of tornadoes ravaged Tennessee earlier this month, ripping up thousands of homes and killing 36 people in four counties...

The Southeast Missouri State women's tennis team ended the regular season with its fourth straight victory, rolling past visiting Eastern Illinois 6-1 Friday afternoon. Southeast, posting its first winning regular-season record since 1997, improved to 12-11 overall and 4-6 in Ohio Valley Conference play...

RICHMOND, Ky. -- The Southeast Missouri State softball team won a tight opener and lost a lopsided nightcap during Friday's doubleheader at Eastern Kentucky. After the Redhawks posted a 3-1 victory, the Colonels romped 15-1 in a game stopped after the top of the fifth inning by the mercy rule...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Four Missouri State women's tennis players are suing the school for cutting their program as part of a reduction in university athletics, alleging the move violates federal Title IX rules that require equal treatment of male and female student athletes...

Colleges; Tennis

25 years ago: April 15, 1981 Representatives of the Missouri State Teachers Association are meeting with Cape Girardeau Superintendent of Schools Arthur H. Turner and Community Teachers Association officials to pore over figures that teachers hope will result in a higher salary increase next year; the meetings will likely continue throughout most of the day...

Clover; Simpson; Blundy; Sacha; Freeman; Smith

Early ACT testing; Haven't earned it; Police coverage; Not slowing down; Take tough action; Proper channels; Preserve America; March in Mexico; Job security; Not a problem; Lockstep voting; A fine line; Honorable action; Blessings for troops; Not credible

Daphne A. "Bobbie" Gregory, 88, formerly of Malden and Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, April 11, 2006, at Bertrand Nursing Facility. She was born July 10, 1917, at Parma, Mo., daughter of Orville and Madge Powers Andrews. She and Ross Gregory were married in 1939. He died in June 1991...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Floyd F. Boxdorfer, 79, of Perryville died Thursday, April 13, 2006, at his home. He was born Aug. 30, 1926, at Menfro, Mo., son of Fred W. and Edna Klobe Boxdorfer. He and Alice Kirn were married May 24, 1952, at Perryville. Boxdorfer was a mechanic and truck driver. He was a member of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, Holy Name Society, VFW Post 4282, and American Legion Post 133...

Leroy Reinagel, 80, of Cape Girardeau, formerly of Kelso, Mo., died Friday, April 14, 2006, at Saint Francis Medical Center. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City is in charge of arrangements.

BREWER, Mo. -- Robert J. Oswald, 40, of Brewer died Wednesday, April 12, 2006, in St. Louis. He was born Sept. 7, 1965, in Perryville, Mo., son of Herman L. and Carol Shaiper Oswald. Oswald was a tuck pointer in St. Louis. Survivors include a son, Brandon Oswald of St. Louis; his father of Perryville; his mother of St. Louis; a sister, Laura Vessell of St. Louis; two brothers, Lee Vick of state of California, and David Oswald of state of New Mexico...

EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. -- R.D. Hammontree, 74, of East Prairie died Thursday, April 13, 2006, at Monticello House in Jackson. He was born April 10, 1932, in Guin, Ala., son of Lester and Frances Green Hammontree. Hammontree lived in East Prairie most of his life, where he owned Hammontree Plumbing. He was a member of First Church of God in East Prairie, and was a Mason...

Veta Haynes, 89, of Overland, Mo., died Friday, April 14, 2006, at Bentley Extended Care in Overland. She was born Aug. 28, 1916, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of James and Della Martin Wright. She married Richard Haynes, who preceded her in death. Survivors include three sisters, Madge Sample and Shirley Thomas of Cape Girardeau, Phyllis Conyers of Overland; and two brothers, Bob and Bill Wright of Cape Girardeau...

"I know little about you; do you have a family?" I found myself asking a familiar waitress in a local restaurant. I was unprepared for her answer, for she always possessed a caring smile and an interested demeanor. "Yes, I have a family," Abby replied. "And I just lost a son to cancer about six months ago."...

Concert for NASV; Seminar at Trinity; Spring rally April 23; Friday; Saturday, April 22

Nazi concentration-camp survivor Maria Szapszewicz will speak at Southeast Missouri State University on April 26 as part of Holocaust Remembrance Day. A survivor of the Auschwitz and Bergen-Belson concentration camps, she will speak at noon in the University Center Ballroom...

Cape Girardeau...

Cape Girardeau...

Levi Bentley's face and body were severely burned when he was a newborn in China. He was wrapped in a funeral blanket and left in a field with 10 yuan to pay for his safe passage into the afterlife. In Sunday's Southeast Missourian, Scott Moyers' powerful story and Diane L. Wilson's moving photographs told the story of Levi's miraculous survival, his adoption by American missionaries John and Lisa Bentley and their quest to help this 4-year-old with the buoyant spirit grow up...

The Way of the Cross knows no demographics. There were the young and the old. Some with strollers, some with canes. Hispanic families, white families, black families. Episcopalions, Catholics, Methodists, Baptists. All gathered in downtown Cape Girardeau on Friday to celebrate Jesus Christ's sacrifice...

No cases of a fungal infection of the eye that can cause blindness have been reported in Missouri, but eye-care professionals urged caution for users of a contact lens cleaner pulled from the market. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control are investigating more than 100 cases of Fusarium keratitis in 17 states. ...

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has decided to stop selling guns in about a third of its U.S. stores in what it calls a marketing decision based on lack of demand in some places, a company spokeswoman said Friday. The world's largest retailer decided last month to remove firearms from about 1,000 stores in favor of stocking other sporting goods, in line with a "Store of the Community" strategy for boosting sales by paying closer attention to local differences in demand. ...

ROME -- Pope Benedict XVI reflected on the suffering of Christ and that of humanity throughout the ages as he led thousands of pilgrims and tourists in a torch-lit Way of the Cross procession at the Colosseum in Rome to mark Good Friday. Opening the late-night procession with a prayer, Benedict said Jesus' suffering "is the whole of human history, a history where the good are humiliated, the meek assaulted, the honest crushed, and the pure of heart roundly mocked."...

The Central baseball team split two games Friday at the Charger Invitational in Southaven, Miss., and qualified for the semifinal round. Central clobbered state-ranked Oxford, Miss., 15-2 in five innings behind Brad LaBruyere's complete game and then lost a 5-3 decision to host Southaven...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The hand-fishing season that was limited to certain days and waterways last summer would be expanded under a bill the Senate passed Thursday. Sponsoring Sen. John Cauthorn said enthusiasts were not satisfied with the limited hand-fishing season. Noodlers, as they're called, use their bare hands to wrestle underwater with huge fish baring sharp teeth -- and sometimes grab snakes or snapping turtles by mistake...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Some lawmakers want to make it harder for voters to change state hunting, fishing and forestry laws. The House gave first-round approval by a 95-59 vote Wednesday to a proposed constitutional amendment that would require approval from two-thirds of voters on ballot items involving wildlife management. Current law requires only a simple majority vote to enact most ballot measures...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Matt Blunt wants Ameren Corp. to give the state a mountain and let it use an old railroad as compensation for the Taum Sauk reservoir failure. Ameren already is paying to clean up Johnson Shut-Ins State Park, which was washed out when the reservoir break sent more than 1 billion gallons of water flowing down a mountain on Dec. 14...

When it comes to talking about his guitar playing, 18-year-old Jackson student Zach Priester doesn't use many words. He prefers to let his hands do the talking. They have a lot to say, speaking the legacy of great players of different styles -- Jimmy Page's blues-rock intensity, Django Reinhardt's gypsy-jazz virtuosity, Steve Vai's sonic theatrics...

The second question of Scott Edgar's public forum last week was asked by Fred Burgard, a local pastor who identified himself as the chaplain for the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team for eight years under previous coach Gary Garner. The question was simple and straightforward: "What's your religious background?"...

Jim Furyk added his own touch to Harbour Town's famous 18th hole Friday, rolling in a 56-foot birdie putt for a two-shot lead in the Verizon Heritage hours after Aaron Baddeley's unlikely eagle there. Putting from the back fringe, Furyk had simply hoped for a good lag and an easy par on the final hole. ...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Even if Giants slugger Barry Bonds is charged with lying to a grand jury, it will be hard to convict him, former federal prosecutors and other lawyers said. "It is a lot tougher to make a perjury case than most people think because it takes more than just proving that the person made a statement that was untrue," said Adam Hoffinger, a criminal defense lawyer in Washington D.C. ...