Stories from Wednesday, August 30, 2006

A motorcyclist was killed in an accident with a commercial vehicle just outside Cape Girardeau city limits Wednesday afternoon. Emergency personnel responded to the accident in the 3000 block of Boutin Drive, fire battalion chief Steve Niswonger said...

MORLEY, Mo. -- For Morley couple Mark and Marsha Centanni, two weeks of anxiety and lack of sleep finally ended Monday when word came that Fox News journalist Steve Centanni was released from captivity in Gaza. The Centannis have a special connection to the now-freed journalist -- he's Mark's brother. For the two weeks that Steve was held captive, Marsha said she and her husband were on a steady diet of cable news and e-mail alerts -- their best source for information about his ordeal...

Cape Girardeau County Commissioner Jay Purcell wants the public's help to block fellow Commissioner Larry Bock's bid for a seat on a new county road board. In a statement issued Tuesday, Purcell said Bock was using underhanded tactics to win the seat. During a discussion of the County Road and Bridge Advisory Board on Monday, Bock said Purcell and Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones hold private meetings to discuss county business without informing Bock or the public...

A little more than a month ago I wrote in this space about my friend Mohammed from East Africa, who was accepted to attend Law School at Saint Louis University. Well, since then, fate and the Department of Homeland Security have smiled on him. He finally arrived in St. Louis last week...

A fire at a vacant Cape Girardeau home appears suspicious in origin, officials said Tuesday. The fire department responded to the 500 block of South Ellis Street at 9:45 p.m. Monday for a house fire, chief Rick Ennis said. Within minutes, the blaze at the one-story home was brought under control, he said. ...

MIAMI -- Tropical Storm Ernesto sloshed rather than slammed ashore -- surprising forecasters by failing to strengthen Tuesday as it approached Florida and providing relief to hurricane-weary residents. Briefly a hurricane Sunday, Ernesto lost much of its punch crossing mountainous eastern Cuba. The storm crossed the Florida Straits with top sustained winds of 45 mph and was expected to move through Florida overnight as a weak tropical storm...

"Killshot" producers pumped more than $700,000 into the Cape Girardeau economy when a portion of the movie was filmed here in January, which multiplies into a total economic impact of more than $2 million, state officials said Monday. Meanwhile, the release date for the movie -- based on an Elmore Leonard book that was partially set in Cape Girardeau -- has been postponed from Oct. 20 to a more vague category of fall 2006...

Missouri lawmakers this year gave Cape Girardeau County officials another chance to put most elected officeholders on an equal pay scale. A new law that took effect Monday contains several provisions dealing with county government issues specific to one county or another. For Cape Girardeau County, the issue is whether the county treasurer and the public administrator are worth as much as the recorder of deeds and the auditor...

Electric rates could rise -- or fall -- up to four times a year under proposed Missouri Public Service Commission rules changing the way utility companies charge customers. The new rules, which would take effect this fall if approved, are the commission's response to a bill passed last year by the Missouri Legislature. Under the rules, electric customers would be subject to fluctuating prices similar to the changes seen in natural gas rates...

Melissa Seabaugh and her neighbors get nervous when it rains. Typically after every rain shower, puddles of mud and debris gather in front of their Cape Girardeau homes on Nottingham Drive. The runoff comes from a subdivision development up the street on Ferndale Drive...

JERUSALEM -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called Israel's air and sea blockade of Lebanon a "humiliation" Tuesday and demanded it be lifted. But Israel said it first needed assurances that forces deployed on the border can stop weapons shipments to Hezbollah...

LAS VEGAS -- The charismatic leader of a polygamous sect was captured during a traffic stop three months after being put on the FBI's Most Wanted List and faces charges he arranged marriages between underage girls and older men. Warren Steed Jeffs, 50, was arrested without incident just outside Las Vegas late Monday after more than a year on the run, the FBI said. ...

The Scott City volleyball team opened its season by sweeping Advance 25-19, 25-15 at home Tuesday night. The Rams, who have won back-to-back district titles, were led by Kacie Ritter, who finished with five assists. Jenni Heisserer had three kills, and freshman Brooke Simpson added two blocks...

Quarterback is arguably the highest-profile position on any football team, with fans and media seeming to focus on that spot more than any other. Regarding that position around the Ohio Valley Conference, Tuesday's initial coaches teleconference revealed a mixed bag of veterans and first-time starters entering this week's season openers...

To the editor: In September 2003, the Missouri Legislature overrode then-governor Bob Holden's veto of the concealed-carry bill. Three years later, there are only two states that do not have some type of concealed-carry provision and deny their citizens the God-given right to self-defense...

To the editor: It is with compassion that I respond to the Aug. 24 article "In the open." I precede my remarks with some Web sites for balance: www.narth.com (National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality); www.couragerc.net; www.bridges-across.org/ba/memphis/nicolosi.htm; www.ccli.org (Couple-to-Couple League-Natural Family Planning); www.theologyofthebody.com; www.dads.org...

THEBES, Ill. -- Richard Clutts, 89, of Thebes died Monday, Aug. 28, 2006, at his home. He was born May 7, 1917, in Thebes, son of Harry Vernell and Clara Murphy Clutts. He and Thelma Farris were married April 27, 1940. She died March 20, 1996. Mr. Clutts was a chief engineer with a tow boat company. He was also a cattle farmer and loved to garden...

PARMA, Mo. -- Doyle G. Crow, 82, of Parma, died Monday, Aug. 28, 2006, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born June 19, 1924, in Scotland, Ark., son of Monroe and Velma Underwood Crow. He and Alice Buttrey were married Nov. 23, 1950, at Parma...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Catherine Yuvonne Hale, 81, of Jonesboro died at 2:15 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2006, at Union County Hospital. She was born Oct. 7, 1924, in Effingham, Ill., daughter of William Alva and Gladys Irene Hummel Cain. She married Leland F. "Jake" Hale June 25, 1945, in Anna. He preceded her in death May 3, 1998...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Carl Gene Strobel Sr., 69, of Advance died Monday, Aug. 28, 2006, at his home. He was born Nov. 14, 1936, in Advance, son of Henry and Hazel White Strobel. He and Lula Belle Robinson were married in 1952 in Tunica, Miss. Strobel was a self-employed farmer. He was a member of First United Methodist Church of Advance and Eagles Aerie of Advance...

Robert Joe Hawn, 70, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2006, at his home. He was born Feb. 29, 1936, in East St. Louis, Ill., son of Pete and June Cruse Hawn. He and Diane M. Talley were married Nov. 26, 1959, in Cape Girardeau. Hawn was a grocer 25 years for Mayhew Grocery and Kroger. He also worked for Wetterau Inc. in Scott City and Fleming Co. (formerly Malone and Hyde) in Sikeston, Mo. He retired in 1998...

ANNA, Ill. -- Evelyn Boomer, 90, of Anna died Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2006, at Union County Hospital in Anna. Arrangements were incomplete at Crain Funeral Home in Anna.

Sylvia Violet Seib, 93, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2006, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. She was born July 4, 1913, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of John and Mary "Mae" Hopper Caraker. She and Austin Henry Seib were married Oct. 10, 1932, in Cape Girardeau. He died Jan. 25, 1982...

Oak Ridge FCE; St. Mary CCW; Tilsit 4-H; Capaha Scottish Rite Women's Club

25 years ago: Aug. 30, 1981 The congregation of Westminster Presbyterian Church installs its new minister, the Rev. George B. Jewell, during evening services; Dr. Andrew Jumper of the Central Presbyterian Church in Clayton, Mo., preaches the installation sermon...

To the editor: Once again the Oran police chief is in the paper bringing up the way the town was run before he arrived. How many times is he going to beat that horse? How many times has the former chief been in the paper criticizing this new method? None, and he has had the chance. Chief Marc Tragesser was not here when my grandpa was working and does not know anything about what he did on a regular basis, so how can he compare their two methods of law enforcement?...

A three-man committee has been asked by two Cape Girardeau County commissioners to look at the potential of moving county offices from the Common Pleas Courthouse up the street into the soon-to-be-vacated federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau. The county is considering acquiring the federal courthouse on Broadway after the new federal courthouse on Independence Street is completed at the end of the year...

ST. LOUIS -- Mark Mulder staggering down the comeback trail was no match for the streaking Florida Marlins. Dan Uggla homered and drove in four runs and Hanley Ramirez was a home run shy of the cycle for the Florida Marlins, who won their ninth straight by beating up Mulder and the St. Louis Cardinals 9-1 Tuesday night...

ST. LOUIS -- Ryan Fitzpatrick and Dave Ragone are down to their last opportunities to make favorable impressions in the battle for the No. 3 quarterback job for the St. Louis Rams. The Rams (1-2) travel to Miami (1-2) on Thursday for their final preseason game...

Curtis Martin will miss at least the first six weeks of the season. It could be the end of the 33-year-old running back's career. The NFL's No. 4 career rusher, who underwent knee surgery last December, was placed by the New York Jets on the regular-season physically unable to perform list on Tuesday. That means he will miss the first six weeks and the Jets will have 21 days to decide whether to activate him...

NEW YORK -- Amelie Mauresmo wiped raindrops from her face and Lleyton Hewitt nearly skidded into a split as bad weather played havoc with the U.S. Open on a stop-and-go Tuesday. All 64 matches on the schedule were pushed back to today, as was a remembrance of Hurricane Katrina on the one-year anniversary. The forecast called for morning showers...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Don't call him Cornelius. His name is Pig. Pig Brown, a junior college transfer in his first season at Missouri, has made a name for himself -- so to speak -- as a Tiger with intensity on the field that resembles a wild boar. Pig joins a Missouri defense with some equally distinct nicknames -- Charles "Big House" Gaines, Jamar "Tank" Smith and "Ziggy" Hood. Those guys describe Pig as a fast and relentless competitor...

ST. LOUIS -- Jim Edmonds was out of the St. Louis Cardinals' lineup again on Tuesday, giving him one start in two weeks while battling post-concussion syndrome, and he doesn't know when he'll be ready to play again. Edmonds underwent a battery of medical tests in mid-August after leaving a game with blurred vision and dizziness. He said another trip to the doctor on Monday, a day off for the team, provided no answers...

WASHINGTON -- Four years into an economic recovery, the number of people living in poverty has finally stopped climbing. Household incomes edged up slightly in 2005, but 37 million people were still living below the poverty line, about the same as the year before, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday...

LONDON -- British anti-terrorist police charged three more people late Tuesday with conspiring to commit murder in the alleged plot to blow up U.S.-bound airliners. The three -- Mohammed Yasar Gulzar, Mohammed Shamin Uddin and Nabeel Hussain -- were also charged with preparing to commit terrorism by helping in an alleged plan to smuggle explosives aboard the planes, police said...

After 11 years as a head college baseball coach, Chris Cafalone is giving up running his own program to become an assistant. And he couldn't be happier -- which is also the way Southeast Missouri State head coach Mark Hogan feels. Hogan announced Tuesday that Cafalone has joined the Redhawks' staff as an assistant. He replaces Scott Southard, who resigned this summer after seven seasons at Southeast to enter private business...

I have a new friend, Brenda Hargrave, and I knew we were going to hit it off when she immediately shared a recipe with me, after knowing her for only a very short time. If you have not used this recipe before, you must give it a try and have fun with it. The first time I used it we had a good time too...

Cape man sentenced in molestation case A judge handed down a 15-year prison sentence this week for a Cape Girardeau man who admitted to fondling a young relative. Daniel R. Kreiter, 43, of 137 S. Spanish St., pleaded guilty in July to felony child molestation. ...

SAITAMA, Japan -- As the United States was rolling through play in the world championships, Dwyane Wade couldn't help but notice that something seemed missing. "No booing," he said. The absence of those ugly sounds was a welcome change for Wade, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, who listened to them on a nightly basis while playing for an unpopular U.S. Olympic team two years ago...

Saxony Lutheran has the top returning Class 1 cross country runner, three returning all-state runners, four runners returning from last year's state championship team and back-to-back state championships. The question heading into this season is not whether they can win again, but "can anyone stop them?"...

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday challenged President Bush to a televised debate, a proposal the White House immediately dismissed as a "diversion." The challenge came during a freewheeling, 2 1/2-hour news conference and only two days before a U.N. Security Council ultimatum demanding Iran roll back its suspect nuclear program...

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico's leftist presidential hopeful rejected a court decision to uphold his rival's slim lead and urged his supporters not to recognize a government that will likely be led by the ruling party candidate. President Vicente Fox's spokesman said Tuesday that the call by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had "no validity."...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Aiming to help voters decide whether to retain certain judges this November, The Missouri Bar issued a report Tuesday summarizing evaluations of the jurists by lawyers and, in some instances, by jurors as well. Judges on the state Supreme Court, the three-district Court of Appeals and five circuit courts in the St. ...

Does he carpool? MISSOURI DEPARTMENT of Natural Resources director Doyle Childers told us to carpool. I wonder how he gets to work. I MUST take issue with TJ Greaney's column on "Life, liberty and the burning of yard debris." I am most happy not to live near the person who loves to burn yard waste. ...

NEW ORLEANS -- The first anniversary of the biggest calamity to befall this city was marked Tuesday with a moment of silence, wreath-layings, the tolling of church bells and, in true New Orleans fashion, a wailing jazz funeral through the potholed streets for the victims of Hurricane Katrina...

From staff and wire reports The ever-growing waistlines of Americans expanded a little bit more in 2005 as 31 states registered an increase in obesity among adults. Missouri ranked 16th in the United States in highest rate of adult obesity at 23.9 percent...

I've ruined enough laundry in my life to outfit a graduating class. And, unfortunately, it's not only been my laundry. I've left fabric softener stains on my roommate's favorite dress. I've accidentally dyed a boyfriend's only dress shirt red (the day of a big interview). I've even tie-dyed my father's briefs in the most far-out of mistakes...

Scott Edgar has started to get the first real look at what he'll have to work with during his initial season as the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach. So far he likes what he's seen -- particularly with the work ratio of the Redhawks. Edgar says his players have not shied away from his rugged conditioning regimen that he has dubbed "Hoop Camp."...