Stories from Wednesday, May 3, 2006

Someone once told me how the owner of the San Francisco Giants was duped into building a stadium on Candlestick Point. Developers waited for an unusually sunny day to give the guy a tour of the site. Being from New York, he couldn't believe the bargain he was getting for such beautiful real estate...

The Cape Girardeau County collector's office hopes residents will be able to renew and register their license plates online within a few months after a glitch in its computer software is resolved. Since January 2002, Missouri residents have been able to register and renew their license plates online through Department of Revenue's Missouri Online Registration Exchange program...

State Rep. Nathan Cooper in February repaid $53,715 he lent to his 2004 campaign by raising large sums from Republican committees in the St. Louis and Kansas City regions. The repayment, reported last month to the Missouri Ethics Commission, does not include 8 percent interest on the loans. That interest, totalling about $9,400, was not reported on Cooper's disclosure report but will be included in an amended report that will be filed soon, said campaign treasurer Victor Gunn...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- With less than two weeks remaining in the legislative session, Gov. Blunt is pushing for passage of four priorities, including an ethanol requirement for gasoline, tougher sentences for child sex offenders and restrictions on the use of eminent domain...

Police officers spend more time filling out paperwork than eating doughnuts and coffee, a group of Jackson schoolchildren learned Tuesday. As part of the nationwide Optimist Club's Respect for Law Week, 15 sixth-graders from Jackson Middle School, Immaculate Conception Catholic School and St. Paul Lutheran School spent the day with police officers. The group was selected out of more than 100 children who wrote essays explaining why they wanted to spend the day with an officer...

A Cape Girardeau man was charged Tuesday with misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child for failing to tell police who arrested him that his 2-year-old daughter was home alone. Robert B. Stemmerick, of 509 Bellevue St., was arrested around 11:30 p.m. April 13 by the Missouri State Highway Patrol on a Pennsylvania warrant for a driving violation, according to Cape Girardeau police spokesman Jason Selzer...

On Friday about 250 students from several area schools will converge on Jackson for a day of music, culminating in a mass choir performance at 6 p.m. This is the ninth year of the Festival of the Arts, an event that seeks to connect fourth- through sixth-graders from various districts under the umbrella of artistic performance...

Weather permitting, Missouri Department of Transportation crews will begin work on the northbound lane on and off ramps at Interstate 55 and Route K in Cape Girardeau at 9 a.m. today, finishing at 3 p.m. The ramps will remain open, but delays are expected...

Cape Girardeau Mayor Jay Knudtson will deliver the commencement address at Southeast Missouri State University on May 13 and receive an award from the school. The school will honor the mayor with the Vandiver Show Me State Award, which recognizes contributions to the institution, region and the state by individuals or corporate entities...

ST. LOUIS -- If not for Junior Spivey's poor spring training, Hector Luna would likely be in the minor leagues trying to fight his way back to the St. Louis Cardinals. Instead, he was one of the first-month surprises for a team off to another good start. Luna has shaken off a spring performance that was nearly as bad as Spivey's, impressing with his overall skills and versatility...

CINCINNATI -- Javier Valentin watched the ball leave his bat and fly right toward second baseman Aaron Miles, giving the pinch-hitter a momentary fright. The way the Cincinnati Reds are playing, he should have known better. Valentin's liner cleared the drawn-in infield and drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday, sending the Reds to a 3-2 victory and a two-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Typical of how he plays, John Daly holds nothing back in his new book. There are stories of how he lost 60 pounds in college by drinking a fifth of whiskey and smoking three packs of cigarettes a day. Clearly, this isn't the stock variety of PGA Tour player autobiographies. "John Daly: My Life In and Out of the Rough" will be in bookstores Monday, and no one will mistake it for Ben Hogan's book on the fundamentals of golf...

ST. LOUIS -- If only the 3,000-year-old mummy mask at the Saint Louis Art Museum could talk. Maybe then the mystery of its rightful owner could be laid to rest, much like it was in an ancient Egyptian pyramid so many ages ago. The Supreme Council of Antiquities for Egypt has given the Saint Louis Art Museum a May 15 deadline to turn over the burial mask of Ka Nefer Nefer, which they believe left the country illegally...

Dwyane Wade scored 28 points -- 15 after returning from Miami's training room -- and the Heat beat the visiting Chicago 92-78 Tuesday to take a 3-2 lead in the series. Antoine Walker scored 17 points and Shaquille O'Neal added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat...

WASHINGTON -- Social Security and Medicare trustees say the financial condition of the government's two biggest benefit programs deteriorated slightly over the past year. That assessment on Monday prompted Democrats and Republicans to hurl familiar charges at each other in a repeat of last year's pitched battle over what to do about Social Security...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- For nearly 20 years, three trainers have compiled an incredible record of not only competing in, but winning the Kentucky Derby. Two are in racing's Hall of Fame: D. Wayne Lukas with four Derby wins and Nick Zito with two Derby winners...

Lindenwood University and Missouri Baptist University took their rivalry two hours south this week and made Dalhousie Golf Club the site of a deciding fifth duel between the two NAIA schools. The two schools, who had split in four previous encounters this season, were the overwhelming favorites to claim the automatic bid for the national tournament that went to the champion of the NAIA Regional V tournament, which was a 54-hole, two-day event among nine teams at Dalhousie...

The Redhawks track and field team had four first-place finishers at the SIUE Twilight Open on Saturday at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. Walter Washington won the 400 in 48.03 seconds and Kirk Nesbit won the 1,500 in 4 minutes, 1.45 seconds. Heather Jenkins won the discus for Southeast with a throw of 159 feet, 9 inches. Nyisha Porter won the 200 in 25.57 seconds...

A few years ago, five artists at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival were asked what the greatest writer in the English language would be doing if alive today. They surmised he might be a tattooed hip-hop singer or a filmmaker challenging the status quo. Above all, he would be popular -- he had to fill houses -- but not necessarily with the people who make the rules...

Central senior Ty Craft put on a show at the plate and ace Brad LaBruyere was dominant enough on the mound to lead the Tigers baseball team to their first SEMO Conference Tournament crown Tuesday with an 8-4 win over Sikeston at Central. The Tigers (17-4), 8-1 against conference opponents in the regular season, outscored their three tournament opponents 24-8 in cruising to the title as the top seed...

Notre Dame golfers Brandon Holzum and Brett Slaten broke the top 10 at the Class 3 District 1 tournament at Eagle Lake Golf Course in Farmington, Mo., on Tuesday to earn individual berths in the state tournament. Dexter's Andrew Stuever shot a 1-under-par 71 to earn medalist and lead the Bearcats to the Class 3 District 1 title...

Student comes close to drowning at mill A 19-year-old nearly drowned Tuesday afternoon when she leapt into a river near the Bollinger Mill State Historic Site. Millersville Fire and Rescue responded to the Burfordville mill around 4:30 p.m., according to fire chief Jerry Aufdenberg. ...

NEW ORLEANS -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency is closing its long-term recovery office in New Orleans, claiming local officials failed to meet their planning obligations after Hurricane Katrina. The office is responsible for helping the city devise a blueprint to rebuild houses, schools and neighborhoods...

The Buffalo Sabres dominated from the first faceoff and earned a 7-1 win on Tuesday night that put them in the Eastern Conference semifinals for the first time in five years and extended the Flyers' Stanley Cup drought to 30 seasons. Chris Drury scored twice and Ryan Miller had 21 saves for the Sabres, who won the best-of-seven series in six games and will play Ottawa in the second round...

For many of us, a fondness for nut butters predates any informed choice of vegetarian options. It goes back to our earliest days and that all-American staple, the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, the flavor of childhood. Moving to the present, this recipe for pasta dressed up with a spicy pesto suggests using almond butter as an ingredient -- but that's negotiable. ...

What's for dinner tonight? Let's sit down to something that is hearty, bursting with flavor, but low in fat. Quick and easy would be nice, too. If you think that description's a tough goal to meet, be of good cheer. Here's an answer: a recipe for grilled beef tenderloin steaks with a chili boost, from the May issue of Cooking Light magazine. It's part of a feature suggesting several ways of using easy spice rubs to punch up flavor on the grill...

HOUSTON -- Kenneth Lay wrapped up six days of testimony at his federal fraud and conspiracy trial Tuesday by proclaiming his love for Enron Corp., the energy firm that he founded, and the people who worked there before it went bankrupt. "I loved Enron very much," Lay said in a brief response to the final question from his attorney, George Secrest. ...

Cape Girardeau County FCE; Good Shepherd Ladies Guild; St. Mary CCW

Roark...

Jeff Henry, 41, of Jackson died Tuesday, May 2, 2006, at his home. Friends may call at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday. The funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday at the funeral home.

Raymond S. Owens, 89, of Lebanon, Tenn., formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Sunday, April 30, 2006, at Southern Manor Living Center in Lebanon. He was born March 22, 1917, in Cape Girardeau, son of Steve and Martha Schaffer Owens. He and Grace Reynolds were married Dec. 7, 1940, in Cape Girardeau. She died April 14, 1994...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Grace Archer Marcum, 80, of Marble Hill died Monday, May 1, 2006, at her home. She was born Sept. 10, 1925, in Camden, N.J., daughter of Frank W. and Clara Fuller Keen. She and Jesse Archer were married Nov. 22, 1943. He died in 1983. She then married John Marcum Jan. 28, 1987. He died in 1996...

Michele Jett and Anthony Maupin have distinguished themselves in the athletic arena for Southeast Missouri State over the past several years. They also took just as much, if not more, pride in their classroom work. That pursuit of academic excellence was recognized Tuesday night as Jett and Maupin earned the top individual honors during Southeast's annual All Sports Year End Celebration at the Show Me Center. The event was sponsored by Southeast Missouri Hospital...

To the editor: I am a student at Southeast Missouri State University. I wish to address the anger and confusion that was stirred up on campus over the past week. From April 25 to 28 our campus was visited by a hellfire-and-brimstone preacher named Jed Smock. ...

Another campus; Great concert; Enlightening youths; Attracting students; Oil suggestions; Cut gas taxes; Government work; Good decision; Working for less; Don't like stadium; Troop timetable; Public stripping; Taking a stand; Wealth goes overseas; Flawed designs; Making a distinction; Florida's oil

Betty Lou Franck Schweer, 70, of Cape Girardeau, died Monday, May 1, 2006, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born June 9,1935, in Cape Girardeau County, daughter of the late Ervin and Alma Schaefer Franck. She and Gary Schweer were married March 5, 1960, in Cape Girardeau...

Russell Claude Crader, 88, went to be with his Heavenly Father Monday, May 1, 2006. He left this earth peacefully, surrounded by his family, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Oct. 1, 1917, in Burfordville, son of Alva and Florence Crader. He and Delthia Viola Eakins were married Sept. 5, 1942, at Whitewater...

Ruth A. Campbell, 90, of Jackson passed away Tuesday, May 2, 2006, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born July 16, 1915, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of John and Adella Koehrer Haman. She and Charles William Campbell were married Nov. 16, 1940, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau. He survives...

To the editor: How should Missouri respond to illegal methamphetamine use? During the crack epidemic of the 1980s, New York City chose the zero-tolerance approach, opting to arrest and prosecute as many users as possible. Meanwhile, Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry was smoking crack, and America's capital had the highest per-capita murder rate in the country. ...

To the editor: The April 22 story "Lawmakers vote to repeal tax on business' assets, property" offers the worn out argument that Missouri's taxes on businesses discourage economic development in Missouri. Critics claim that the franchise tax is part of a confusing and excessive tax code. If the franchise tax is confusing, then simplify it. But the current tax code is not excessive in the amount of taxes collected...

25 years ago: May 3, 1981 Tom Boudinot of Red Star Baptist Church has been appointed as a courier for Southwest Baptist College; couriers serve as a bond between the church and the college, assisting in guiding young people into Christian education...

Helen Fern Baltz, 85, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, May 1, 2006, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Dec. 1, 1920, at Bunker, Mo., daughter of Everett and Bernice Collins Light. She and John Baltz were married Nov. 11, 1944, in Salem, Ark. He died May 25, 1995...

Rob Weeks of Cape has been a regular in Recipe Swap over the past several years. Rob is a wonderful cook and likes coming up with new and unusual recipes. He writes in this week about his favorite uncle, Jim "Smooth" Stewart from Wichita, Kan. Rob's Uncle Jim has been to New Orleans many times and has perfected some of their oyster appetizer recipes. ...

An Internet police sting this week netted another arrest of a man accused of soliciting a young girl online for sex. Edward M. Murphy, 43, of Farmington, was arrested by the Bollinger County Sheriff's Department for arranging to have sex with a child he believed to be a 13-year-old girl, who was actually an undercover sheriff's officer, according to a probable cause statement...

Southeast Missourian To honor individuals who have shown patriotism through the service of their country, the Southeast Missourian is seeking nominations for its fourth annual Spirit of America Award. The Southeast Missourian invites area civic organizations to nominate individuals for the award. The organization that nominates the Spirit of America winner will receive $1,000 to be used toward a charitable activity...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Sikeston police arrested a man this week suspected of being the "Notorious North End Burglar." Turriel L. Williams, 19, of Sikeston, was charged with four counts of felony first-degree burglary and four counts of felony first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle...

MACON, Miss. -- The U.S. Justice Department is turning the 1965 Voting Rights Act around. For the first time, the Justice Department is using the law to allege racial discrimination against whites. The law was written to protect racial minorities in the 1960s when Mississippi and other Southern states strictly enforced segregation...

NEW ORLEANS -- Mayor Ray Nagin unveiled a new evacuation strategy for New Orleans on Tuesday that relies more on buses and trains and eliminates the Superdome and Convention Center as shelters. "There will be no shelter of last resort in the event of a major hurricane coming our way," Nagin declared...

Judge: Lawmakers should avoid right-to-die cases PHILADELPHIA -- The Florida judge who presided over the Terri Schiavo case and ruled her feeding tube should be removed told a bioethics symposium that lawmakers are ill-equipped to make right-to-die decisions. ...

Cape Girardeau...

Cape Girardeau...

Business group says little effect seen from boycott MEXICO CITY -- It's hard to measure the impact of the boycott of U.S. businesses in Mexico, called "A Day Without a Gringo," because commerce is normally reduced in Mexico on the May Day holiday. ...

SASABE, Mexico -- Wearing tight jeans and a glittery "bebe" T-shirt, the 17-year-old scrambled out of a packed van as the temperature edged toward 90 degrees in this barren stretch of the U.S.-Mexican border. Carrying no hat or sunscreen, the teenager who called herself Adriana Brenda said the longest hike she'd taken was through a shopping mall. But here she was, ready for a three-day trek across the desert...

TEHRAN, Iran -- A Revolutionary Guards commander said Tuesday that Israel would be Iran's first retaliatory target in response to any U.S. attack, a provocative threat that reinforced the Iranian president's past call for Israel to be "wiped off the map."...

Central's Nicole Jackson and Jackson's Rachel Kahle are two of the top sprinters in the state. The two juniors will put their skills on display Friday at the SEMO North Conference track and field meet at Central Junior High. The four-team meet -- Sikeston and Poplar Bluff are also included -- will begin at 4 p.m...

Results from Sunday's event in Cape Girardeau: Overall male: 1. Delbert Marriott 1:14:39.23, 2. Patrice Lhommeau 1:24:59.43, 3. Andrew Beckman 1:25:04.05 Overall female: 1. Kristin Moore 1:25:33.43, 2. Jennifer Meyer 1:27:39.57, 3. Kirsten Winkler 1:29:36.92...

CHICAGO -- The English are known by stereotypes that suggest poor health, including downing pints in pubs and eating greasy fish and chips. Well, so much for stereotypes. Startling new research shows that white, middle-aged Americans -- even those who are rich -- are far less healthy than their peers in England, a finding that flummoxed some experts...

New Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Scott Edgar said early this week that the university is getting close to officially announcing his first coaching staff with the Redhawks. But there is no secret as to who Edgar's three assistants will be...

GRAPEVINE, Texas -- California Gov. Arnold Schwar-zenegger said Tuesday he wants the NFL to return to the Los Angeles area -- with two teams. After meeting with a group of NFL owners, Schwarzenegger said he was there to make sure "we're getting not only one NFL team to the Los Angeles area, Southern California, but to actually get two teams. That's why I came. Why limit it?"...

The first of Southeast Missouri State's numerous tough losses this year took place more than two months ago, when host Arkansas State nipped the Redhawks 4-3 in their season opener on Feb. 15. Southeast and Arkansas State will have a rematch at 6:30 p.m. tonight at Capaha Field, as both squads take a break from what has so far been disappointing conference seasons...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Five weeks ago, University of Missouri-Columbia athletics director Mike Alden emerged with his job barely intact after a closed meeting of university curators. Now it's again time for Alden to face the curators for the University of Missouri's four-campus system -- and this time he will have some company...

To tomato lovers, it doesn't matter. I have asked a lot of people if they are planting a vegetable garden this year. The response is usually, "I sure am." "What are you planting?" I ask. "I'm planting tomatoes." It seems that many gardeners in Southeast Missouri have equated planting a vegetable garden with planting tomatoes. I've found that if nothing else is planted, most gardeners still plant a tomato or two...

Shortly after Vicki Moldenhauer joined the Cape Girardeau fire department, she realized something wasn't working. It had nothing to do with her treatment as the only woman on staff -- she said that was always fine. This was an equipment problem. It seemed her mask had been designed for a man...