Stories from Tuesday, April 18, 2006

A Southeast Missouri State University fraternity house became at least the third to be vandalized this school year, officials said Monday. The Sigma Phi Epsilon home, 1403 N. Sprigg St., was broken into and vandalized Saturday afternoon, according to university spokeswoman Ann Hayes...

A trial date was set Monday for the man accused of killing a 17-year-old Cape Girardeau teenager behind Du-Shell's Furniture in January. Circuit Court Judge William Syler set the jury trial for Bernard Richards, 19, of an unknown address, for Aug. 22. Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said he expected the trial to last about two days...

Clown college paid off for Tom Dougherty, as the actor-turned-clown from New York attended clown college in 1978 and today stars in the world-famous Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Approximately 3,000 people attended the one-ring circus at the Show Me Center on opening night Monday. Fans were treated to an all-access show an hour before the main performance...

Television violence struck home last week -- our home. It started innocently enough. Bailey was home sick from school. She was resting on the living room floor, calmly watching TV. Then disaster struck. She apparently pushed her feet against the bottom of the 32-inch television set, causing the set to topple onto her legs...

St. Louis business executive Barry Cooper's love for accounting as a college student propelled him to a successful career in the corporate world. "The accounting bug bit me with the first class I took. I like following the cash," said Cooper, a 1981 Southeast Missouri State University graduate and now chief financial officer of Laclede Gas Co...

PITTSBURGH -- Albert Pujols is so good and home runs come so naturally to him, he isn't even aware of the history he's making. Pujols tied a major-league record by homering in his fourth consecutive at-bat to account for the St. Louis Cardinals' only runs in a 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night...

DURHAM, N.C. -- A grand jury issued sealed indictments Monday against two members of the Duke University lacrosse team in connection with allegations that a stripper was raped last month at a team party, a defense attorney said. "Today, two young men have been charged with crimes they did not commit," attorney Robert Ekstrand said in a statement. "This is a tragedy. For the two young men, an ordeal lies ahead. ... They are both innocent."...

Temperatures are starting to heat up in Southeast Missouri, which should lead to improved performances Saturday at the annual Cape Relays at the Abe Stuber Track Complex. Early forecasts call for a high of 77 degrees on Saturday, a change of pace from the cool temperatures which have greeted earl-season track meets...

The Kenyan national anthem got its annual airplay in the Back Bay on Monday after another Boston Marathon sweep. It was the Americans, though, who were boasting of a breakthrough. Robert Cheruiyot finished in 2 hours, 7 minutes, 14 seconds to nip the course record by a single second, and Rita Jeptoo won the women's race for Kenya's fourth sweep since 2000. ...

PALM HARBOR, Fla. -- Like so many 13-year-olds, Dakoda Dowd has big plans. She wants to live in a New York apartment when she heads to college in five years. She'll be a bass guitar player by then. Maybe even a champion figure skater, too. Barring a miracle, her cancer-ridden mother won't be around to see her daughter -- one of the country's top golfers her age -- realize any of those dreams. But mother and daughter will get to share another one real soon...

To the editor: I almost died recently. I had a diabetic low. If it weren't for the Lord being with me for the two hours it took me to come back, I wouldn't be here today. I feel so urgently that people need to know their diabetics number. I hope you will print this and tell people they can't do this by themselves. They need someone to keep an eye on them...

To the editor: When people are convicted of killing children, they are not sentenced to probation and community service spent in a day-care facility. So why would a judge think placing a cat killer in the midst of needy animals is a bright idea? I think Eric Ford and helpless animals everywhere would be better served by giving him jail time. It's unfortunate that those with the power to make that decision have opted to trivialize this crime...

STORRS, Conn. -- Connecticut forward Rudy Gay said Monday he will forgo his final two years of eligibility and enter the NBA draft. The 6-foot-9 Gay averaged a team-best 15.2 points a game this past season, and is projected to be a lottery pick. He also averaged 6.4 rebounds and had a team-high 56 steals for the Huskies (30-4)...

When Cape Girardeau got its first roundabout a few years ago, many motorists expressed their concerns. City engineers soon conceded that the design of the roundabout, at Gordonville Road and Silver Springs Road, needed to be tweaked, and changes were made. After that, most of the carping about the roundabout died down -- until, that is, a couple of weeks ago when city crews again started making changes in the roundabout...

WASHINGTON -- Police closed off entries and exits at the Senate's Dirksen Office Building for several hours Monday after something set off an alarm for the presence of nerve agents. Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, a Capitol Police spokeswoman, said an alarm went off about 4:50 p.m. indicating a suspicious substance near a basement post office facility. An all-clear was declared about 8:15 p.m., after tests proved negative...

Fuel from beets; Freedom is not free; Finding yard sales; Account for proceeds; Get it right; Obey the law; Roosevelt conservatives; Veterans' viewpoints; Saving mountain lions; Putting on our masks; East Cape concerns

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Joseph P. "Joe" Kreitler, 17, of Perryville died Sunday, April 16, 2006, at his home. He was born Nov. 3, 1988, at Fort Campbell, Ky., son of Dale and Laurie Clemens Kreitler. Kreitler was a junior at Perryville High School. He was a running back for the Perryville Pirates football team, and was a member of the track team where he participated in the triple jump and the high jump...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Thomas D. Burns, 85, of Atlanta, Ga., formerly of Cairo, died Thursday, April 13, 2006, at St. Joseph's Hospital in Atlanta. He was born Feb. 1, 1921, in Cairo, son of Thomas B. and Geraldine Doud Burns. He married Eleanor Stephens, who preceded him in death...

Kenneth Edward Aldrich, 84, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, April 16, 2006, at the Lutheran Home. He was born Nov. 29, 1921, in Sioux City, Iowa, son of Oliver and Flo Wood Aldrich. He and Loraine S. Osgood were married Nov. 22, 1945, in Haverhill, Mass. She passed away Sept. 3, 2005...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- W. Ray Clubb, 64, of Perryville died Sunday, April 16, 2006, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Feb. 7, 1942, at Zalma, Mo., son of Willard R. and Eva E. Rea Clubb. He and Verna J. Denman were married Jan. 18, 1985, at Marquand, Mo...

OLMSTED, Ill. -- Helen Anna Casey, 86, of Olmsted died Sunday, April 16, 2006, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 5, 1919, in St. Louis, daughter of John and Anna Traum Frisch Jr. She married Oliver Casey, who died in 1971...

Joseph Eugene "Joe" Mitchell, 66, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, April 16, 2006, at Saint Francis Medical Center. He was born March 25, 1940, in Harrisburg, Ill., son of the late Liston and Iva Corrine Hutcheson Mitchell. He was a pipeliner 46 years. He was currently working for H.C. Price and Co. He was a member of Lynwood Baptist Church, Teamsters and Operators Union, and was an organ donor...

ANNA, Ill. -- J.W. Holder, 72, of Anna died Saturday, April 15, 2006, at Heartland Regional Medical Center in Marion, Ill. He was born Nov. 14, 1933, in Tennessee, son of Hiram Lloyd and Fannie Emma Comer Holder. Survivors include two sisters, Ruby Postada of Marion, Shirley Rowe of Ziegler, Ill.; two brothers, Joe Holder of Cape Coral, Fla., and Jesse Holder of Lancaster, Calif...

25 years ago: April 18, 1981 Cape Girardeau's recently elected Charter Commission will hold its first official meeting Monday night, at which time its members will organize themselves into various committees and outline the steps that must be performed in order to draft the city's governing charter; members of the commission are Narvol A. ...

A man who prosecutors said nearly ran over an undercover officer while fleeing from police following a drug deal was sentenced Monday to 120 days in prison. Circuit Judge William Syler sentenced Theon Mackins, 21, of 1451 Rose St., to five years in prison on a suspended execution of sentence. Following 120 days in prison, during which Mackins was to undergo drug treatment, Syler may place Mackins on probation...

A Cape Girardeau mother accused of burning her 8-month-old daughter with a curling iron was charged with child abuse. Amy L. Siebert, 25, of 126 S. Louisiana Ave., was charged Friday with the class C felony. She is accused of using a curling iron against her daughter for "possible discipline purposes," according to police Sgt. Barry Hovis...

scholarships; Area students earn college scholarships; Area students earn college scholarships; Saxony students win art contest; Sutherlin lands academic top 100 spot; Christensen receives writing award; Awards given to area students in math contest; Palmer receives national scholar recognition; Kraemer distinguished alumni

Cape Girardeau County Transit Authority officials said Monday they will begin operating a deviated fixed bus route inside the Cape Girardeau city limits by July 1. A deviated route would allow a bus to travel a quarter mile outside a proposed route to pick up riders with medical conditions, transit authority director Jeff Brune said...

The body of a missing Ste. Genevieve, Mo., teen and his car were found Monday at the bottom of a lake in what investigators believe to be an accident. Wade Lurk, 17, had been missing since April 1 when he was last seen at a party with about 40 other teenagers in the Goose Creek Lake development, on the border of Ste. Genevieve and St. Francois counties...

Today Heart Smart screenings: Southeast Missouri Hospital's HealthPoint Plaza, 8 to 10 a.m. Lipid profile screening: First Baptist Church, Oak Ridge, sponsored by Southeast Missouri Hospital's Generations Family Resource Center, 8 to 10:30 a.m. Arthritis and fibromyalgia: support group, Saint Francis Health and Wellness Center Fitness Plus, 1:30 to 4 p.m...

Cape Girardeau citizens and businesses are being asked to fly flags at half-staff in memory of former mayor Howard C. Tooke, who died Sunday. Tooke served as mayor of Cape Girardeau from April 1970 to April 1978 and from April 1981 to April 1986. He also served as a city councilman from December 1968 to April 1986...

A woman was reportedly raped over the weekend in her Southeast Missouri State University dorm room. The student reported the rape to Southeast Department of Public Safety officials around 5:35 a.m. Saturday, according to university spokeswoman Ann Hayes...

Discussion of the sign ordinance again dominated Cape Girardeau city council proceedings Monday night. But despite objections from representatives of Horizon Screen Printing and Promotional Products, the council unanimously approved the ordinance with previous amendments...

Jackson Board of Aldermen action Public hearings Action items Power and Light Committee Street committee...

Rape reported at Southeast campus A woman was reportedly raped over the weekend in her Southeast Missouri State University dorm room. The student reported the rape to Southeast Department of Public Safety officials around 5:35 a.m. Saturday, according to university spokeswoman Ann Hayes. ...

Cape Girardeau City Council action Consent ordinances New ordinances Resolutions Appointments Liquor license Other...

Cape Girardeau...

CHICAGO -- Former Gov. George Ryan was convicted of racketeering, fraud and other counts Monday in a corruption scandal that ended his political career in 2003 even as he was winning international praise for commuting the sentences of everyone on Illinois' death row...

Mayor requests flags to be flown at half-staff Cape Girardeau citizens and businesses are being asked to fly flags at half-staff in memory of former mayor Howard C. Tooke, who died Sunday. Tooke served as mayor of Cape Girardeau from April 1970 to April 1978 and from April 1981 to April 1986. He also served as a city councilman from December 1968 to April 1986. Mayor Jay Knudtson has asked that flags stay at half-staff from Wednesday morning to dusk Thursday...

Shake-up of Bush senior advisers may be coming; 'March' wins Pulitzer Prize for fiction

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's president has thrown a new wrinkle into the nuclear debate by claiming his country is testing a centrifuge that could be used to more speedily create fuel for power plants or atomic weapons. But some analysts familiar with the country's technology said Monday that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could be deliberately exaggerating Iran's capabilities, either to boost his own political support or to persuade the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency to back off...

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- His code name was Maximus, and he held secret meetings in a shabby room at the Banana City Hotel on the outskirts of Sarajevo. Bosnian police put him under surveillance, and in a raid last fall on his apartment on Poligonska Street, authorities seized explosives, a suicide bomber belt and a videotape of masked men begging Allah's forgiveness for what they were about to do...

TEL AVIV, Israel -- A Palestinian suicide bomber struck a packed fast-food restaurant during Passover on Monday, killing nine people and wounding dozens in the deadliest bombing in more than a year. In a sharp departure from the previous Palestinian government's condemnations of bombings, the Hamas-led administration defended the attack as a legitimate response to Israeli "aggression."...

Karzai calls for restraint by coalition troops; Mexican bus plunges into ravine, killing 67; Qatar pledges to give $50 million to Palestine; Colombian leader attacks press over scandal; Saddam challenges writing experts' findings

Missouri's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education excluded test scores of 385 students, most of them minorities, in 19 Southeast Missouri school districts in the 2003-2004 academic year in determining whether those schools made adequate yearly progress under the federal No Child Left Behind Act...

States are helping public schools escape potential penalties by skirting the No Child Left Behind law's requirement that students of all races must show annual academic progress. With the federal government's permission, schools aren't counting the test scores of nearly 2 million students when they report progress by racial groups, an Associated Press computer analysis found...

ST. LOUIS -- The highlight of Juan Encarnacion's first week and a half with his new team is something that nearly happened. The St. Louis Cardinals' top free-agent pickup in the offseason got a three-year, $15 million contract to take over for the retired Larry Walker in right field. So far, his play has led to grumbling that he's "Tino 2," referring to the recent, unsatisfying and mostly unproductive two-year stint of Tino Martinez...

Advance hurler David VanGennip secured a win in his pitching debut Monday, as he allowed just one hit and struck out seven to shut out visiting Zalma 13-0. Cory Roper led the Hornets (5-2) with three hits, and Rusty Hendricks and Trenton Moses had two apiece...

Missy Whitney cemented her legacy at Three Rivers with another All-American selection. Whitney was named a third-team All-American last week, joining Paul Corder as only the second player in Lady Raiders history to receive the honor twice. "She's been the centerpiece of our program the past two years," Three Rivers coach Jack Childress said of Whitney. ...

The federal disaster area in Southeast Missouri expanded to include six more counties effected by recent tornadoes. Victims in Andrew, Butler, Dunklin, Pettis, St. Francois and Stoddard Counties now qualify for the Federal Emergency Management Agency Individual Assistant programs, according to a news release from the office of U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo...

WASHINGTON -- Oil prices settled at a record high above $70 a barrel on Monday, rising more than $1 on concerns about supply disruptions in Nigeria and diplomatic tensions between the West and Iran over Tehran's nuclear ambitions. So long as these geopolitical issues are hovering over the market, analysts said it will be difficult for prices to fall too far -- unless there is a significant drop-off in demand, which they aren't yet seeing...

No, mixing it with soda will not cause your stomach to explode. In 1983, rumors of the exploding-stomach potential caused Pop Rocks to be taken off the market. Even 50 years after the carbonated candy was invented, that myth occasionally pops up, but Pop Rocks is still going strong...

When I first began writing this "humor" column two years ago as a senior in high school, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. How was I going to come up with something every week? Was I going to be any good? But most importantly, was I going to get paid? I had to have some way to pay for my abusive Taco Bell habit...