Stories from Monday, January 29, 2007

CHESTERFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- A lucky ticketholder is going to be a whole lot richer: $254 million richer. Someone has come forward to claim the winning prize from last Wednesday's drawing and that claim has been validated, Missouri lottery spokeswoman, Susan Goedde, said...

A beloved and valued program designed to prevent and address child sexual abuse is no longer available to children in Southeast Missouri. The Green Bear Club, offered through the Southeast Missouri Network Against Sexual Violence, has been discontinued effective immediately in the middle of a school year due to a lack of funds, said SEMO-NASV executive director Tammy Gwaltney...

Missouri's State Board of Education may replace the current Missouri Assessment Program tests in high school with at least four end-of-course exams. The state board could approve a plan as early as next month that would require public high school students to take standardized, state exams in algebra, English, biology and government starting in 2009, state education officials said last week. Scores from the new tests could be used in determining students' final grades, officials said...

The crowd for Sara Evans' Sunday night concert at the Show Me Center wasn't a large one, but it was a lively one, and Missouri native Evans fed off the energy. Sunday night's Cape Girardeau date was part of her first tour after 10 years as a major label recording artist. Singer-songwriter Radney Foster is opening for Evans on the tour...

A new local business has offered the Cape Girardeau School District the opportunity to establish a preschool in the business's leased building, formerly occupied by the Sears store at the Town Plaza Shopping Center. National Asset Recovery Service Inc. ...

A spurt of interest has been shown in a one-year unexpired term on the Cape Girardeau Board of Education; Carolyn Kelley files for the one-year unexpired term of Mary Kasten, who has announced she will step down from the board April 6; Catherine C. Otto and Mary Lou King have also filed for the one-year term...

The long hours Trevor Camp spent chiseling, sanding and waxing a piece of Missouri limestone paid off Sunday. The Central High School senior was awarded best of show honors and a $1,500 Southeast Missouri State University art scholarship during the opening of the 29th annual High School Art Symposium for his stone sculpture...

Scott City's government has publicly criticized Union Pacific Railroad frequent in recent years, but one issue is not a bone of contention between the two parties -- quiet zones. Many cities along railroad tracks have instituted "quiet zones" in which trains cannot sound their horns at crossings during certain times of the day. ...

9 a.m. today County Administration Building 1 Barton Square, Jackson Routine business n Letter from 911 Board regarding county repeater system n Public officials bond on Collector Diane Diebold Action items n Reappointment of R.J. McKinney to County Park Board...

n At 4:56 p.m., emergency medical service in the 600 block of Napa Circle. n At 5:02 p.m., emergency medical service in the unit block of North Fountain Street. n At 12:57 a.m., still alarm at 230 Good Hope St. n At 2:30 a.m., emergency medical service in the 600 block of North Henderson Street...

Esther Edna Aufdenberg, 92, of Cape Girardeau, died Sunday, Jan. 28, 2007, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born May 17, 1914, in Wittenberg, Mo., the daughter of Martin and Emma Richter Grebing. She and Arnold H. Aufdenberg were married on Feb. 7, 1937, in Cape Girardeau. He preceded her in death on Feb. 4, 1980...

Sandra K. Coan, 66, of St. Louis, died Saturday, Jan. 27, 2007, in St. Louis. She was fortified with the Sacraments of Holy Mother Church. Beloved wife of Jim Coan; dear mother and mother-in-law of Barbara (John) Creely of Jackson, Lisa (fianc Kelly Williams) Haller, Terry (Paul) Disper, Dianne (Danny) Worden; dear grandmother of 10, great-grandmother of one, sister, sister-in-law, aunt, cousin, niece and friend to many...

Mary Ellen Emmons, 66, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Jan. 28, 2007, at her home. Arrangements are incomplete with Fords and Sons Funeral Home.

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Rodney William Hanners, 51, of Marble Hill, died Sunday, Jan. 28, 2007, at his residence. He was born June 13, 1955, in Cape Girardeau, son of George William and Gearldean Cook Hanners. He and Peggy Dockins were married Oct. 22, 2005...

The owners and management of the newest restaurant at 1000 N. Sprigg St. hope their mix of patriotism, a laid-back atmosphere and down-home Southern cooking can defeat the curse that has befallen other restaurants that once occupied the building. Ethnic-style restaurants like the Bavarian and Phoenicia have come and gone. But general manager John Tucker knows the new 8 Seconds restaurant has something the others didn't -- down-home American dishes...

Southeast Missouri State turned in by far its worst performance of the Ohio Valley Conference season Saturday night as visiting Murray State trounced the Redhawks 85-67. But at least the Redhawks don't have to wait long to try and get that sour taste out of their mouths...

Southeast Missouri State's women still find it somewhat difficult to believe just how much they were dominated during the second half of a Jan. 13 game in Clarksville, Tenn. Austin Peay outscored the Redhawks by 25 points in the final period as the Governors rolled to a 75-60 win, one of just three Ohio Valley Conference losses for Southeast...

Should an ongoing NCAA investigation into Southeast Missouri State's women's basketball program allow the university to withhold documents requested by the Southeast Missourian or any member of the public? "If it's a violation of the state's public records law, no," said Stacey Osburn, the NCAA's associate director for public and media relations. "It depends what the case is in that state. Public records laws vary by state."...

SAN DIEGO -- Tiger Woods resumed his improbable pursuit of Byron Nelson with a result that was all too predictable. Woods caught up to the pack with an eagle, buried the hopes of his final challenger with a birdie and closed with a 6-under 66 on Sunday to win the Buick Invitational for his seventh consecutive PGA Tour victory, the second-longest streak in history...

Library costs; Library baby-sitters; He botched it; Renewable fuels; Preschool is good; Following the polls; Parents are involved; Trail graffiti; Low ratings; Free at last; CEOs don't care; Early education; Our future

LOS ANGELES -- Helen Mirren of "The Queen" and Forest Whitaker of "The Last King of Scotland" won Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday as best lead players, their latest prizes on the road to the Academy Awards. The road-trip romp "Little Miss Sunshine" won the prize for best film ensemble, the guild's equivalent of a best-picture award...

PHILADELPHIA -- Prince Charles and his wife Camilla waved to adoring fans Sunday as they walked to a private church service before they were to depart for New York and continue their whirlwind American weekend. On an overcast and chilly day, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall strolled about a block from their downtown hotel to the Arch Street Presbyterian Church. An overflow crowd awaited them, cheering their arrival and craning to catch a glimpse of the royal couple...

NEW ORLEANS -- Bundled up against the chill wind, people began lining up at 2 a.m. Sunday to see the doctors and dentists offering free care to poor and uninsured people in the New Orleans area. By the time the first 50 had been called into the registration tent, there were hundreds more behind them...

A detective has reopened the investigation of the unsolved 1970 shooting deaths in Southeast Missouri of a former Illinoisan and his teenage girlfriend, hoping DNA testing on evidence kept by police for nearly four decades finally cracks the case. Walter Dearing, chief of a major case squad in Dunklin County, believes the original suspect's bloody clothing -- found recently still in a Missouri State Highway Patrol evidence locker -- may now be key in finding who killed Alan Brian Bradford, 20, and Mary Seutter, 17.. ...

WASHINGTON -- The nation's chief telecommunications regulator stands accused of misrepresenting the facts while pushing through rules that will make it easier for big phone companies to get into cable television. The policy change won approval by the Federal Communications Commission on a 3-2 vote Dec. ...

WASHINGTON -- Actor Tom Cavanagh's newest gig is taking him behind the scenes at the Smithsonian's museums. Best known as the star of television's "Ed," Cavanagh will host a series of 30-minute shows for the Smithsonian Institution's joint TV unit with Showtime Networks Inc., slated to launch in April...

BETHLEHEM, N.Y. -- Panda is everything you would want in a pet and guide animal for the blind -- protective, alert, house-trained, plus she loves to play fetch. And at 29 inches tall and 120 pounds, she's a darn small horse. Panda, named for her black-and-white coat, is a miniature guide horse that has helped 58-year-old Ann Edie navigate the world of city streets and country lanes since 2003...

A patient arrives at an emergency department suffering from a serious illness. His initial contact, a triage nurse, must quickly determine a number of things:~ There can be dire consequences when patients and health care providers don't speak the same language...

TOPEKA, Kan. -- Most of the Kansans who've made a mark on national politics have been Republicans, like Dwight Eisenhower and Bob Dole. Another, Sen. Sam Brownback, is running for president. But now a Kansas Democrat, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, is generating some buzz with her 58 percent re-election margin, glowing write-ups in national magazines and political chatter about her place on short lists for Cabinet posts should Democrats recapture the White House next year...

SAN DIEGO -- The Navy called off a search Saturday for three missing crew members of a helicopter that crashed in the ocean about 50 miles off California's southern coast. Friday's crash during a training mission left one sailor dead, and the Navy had searched for the remaining crew through the night and into Saturday afternoon...

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran said Sunday it needs time to review a plan proposed by the head of the U.N nuclear watchdog agency that calls for holding off on imposing U.N. Security Council sanctions if Tehran suspends uranium enrichment. The International Atomic Energy Agency chief, Mohamed ElBaradei, proposed the simultaneous time-out plan during the World Economic Forum in Switzerland in an effort to end the standoff between the West and Iran over the Islamic Republic's suspect nuclear program...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraq's deputy prime minister Sunday said Iran and the United States were using Iraq as a "zone of conflict and competition" and jeopardizing efforts to stabilize the country. Barham Saleh, a Kurd who has ties with both Tehran and Washington, accused the two countries of stepping on Iraq's sovereignty as they jockeyed for advantage...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- U.S.-backed Iraqi troops Sunday attacked insurgents allegedly plotting to kill pilgrims at a major Shiite Muslim religious festival, and Iraqi officials estimated some 250 militants died in the daylong battle near Najaf. A U.S. helicopter crashed during the fight, killing two American soldiers...

JERUSALEM -- The Israeli government overwhelmingly approved the appointment of the country's first Muslim Cabinet minister Sunday, billing it as an important step for a long-suffering minority. But the appointment of Raleb Majadele, mired for weeks in political infighting and charges of racism, drew renewed criticism from hard-liners who said the move was little more than political expediency. ...

KARACHI, Pakistan -- Dozens of people sitting on the roof of a crowded passenger train were by hit by an overhead power line in southern Pakistan on Sunday. As many as 11 people were killed and scores injured. Those killed and injured were either electrocuted or tossed from the moving train after they hit the high voltage line, said Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Pakistan's railway minister...

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Sinn Fein members overwhelmingly voted Sunday to begin cooperating with the Northern Ireland police, a long-unthinkable commitment that could spur the return of a Catholic-Protestant administration for the British territory. The result -- confirmed by a sea of raised hands but no formally recorded vote -- meant Sinn Fein, once a hard-left party committed to a socialist revolution, has abandoned its decades-old hostility to law and order...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- No clear winner is emerging from the deadly fighting in Gaza between the Hamas and Fatah movements, a sign that neither is strong enough to knock the other out. The bitter rivals have been buying, smuggling and building weapons for months trying to gain an edge, but they have held back from all-out battle and find themselves in a stalemate...

MOGADISHU, Somalia -- Gunmen attacked police in northern Mogadishu Sunday, leading to an hourlong battle that left two dead and further demonstrated the U.S.-backed government's feeble grip on power here, witnesses said. A Somali government spokesman Sunday warned that Islamic fighters from the deposed Council of Islamic Courts were regrouping as Ethiopia prepares to withdraw, and the U.S.-backed transitional government lacked troops, training and weapons to deal with the threat...

Five individuals and two organizations were honored for their service and contribution to the growth of Cape Girardeau at a recent awards ceremony held by Southeast Missouri Hospital. Recipients were presented with the "Melvin Gateley Award of Excellence," for excellence in volunteer work, positive leadership and proven track record of success...

Lavada Schlegel of Kelso, Mo., identified three individuals in the eighth-grade graduation photo published Thursday. The date of the photo was May 16, 1930, and the school, no longer standing, was in Scott City. The late Bertha Peetz, bottom right, was Schlegel's mother. ...

Tax help available at East Missouri Action Agency The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program, sponsored through the IRS, offers free tax help to people whose incomes are $38,000 or less. This program can provide fast electronic tax filing and fast refunds. Call East Missouri Action Agency in Cape Girardeau at 334-5533 or toll free at (800) 430-2978 for help with your tax return...

All-you-can-eat homemade whole hog sausage, ham, eggs, biscuits, gravy and drinks will be served from 7:30 to 11 a.m. Feb. 11 at the St. Denis Parish Center in Benton, Mo. Children 5 and under eat free. -- From staff reports...

LOS ANGELES -- The comedy spoof "Epic Movie" debuted atop the box office as Oscar contenders got a bump in the first weekend since the Academy Award nominations were announced, according to studio and industry estimates Sunday. "Epic Movie," which lampoons dozens of films, a few MTV shows and Paris Hilton, raked in $19.2 million. It was a cost-effective release for 20th Century Fox, which enjoyed a similar turnstile bonanza a year ago with the spoof "Date Movie."...

The Southeast Missouri State football program received a commitment last week from an Oakland quarterback who became the second player from northern California to indicate he would attend the school. The Oakland Tribune reported in its Friday edition that Laron Johnson, who directed McClymonds High School to a 20-3-1 record in two years as quarterback, committed to Southeast...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Bobby Knight believes Mike Anderson is on the right track. Missouri topped its victory total from last season with 10 regular-season games plus the Big 12 tournament to go in Saturday's 71-58 victory over Texas Tech. After facing Anderson for the first time, Knight had only compliments for the Tigers' full-court attack...

These have been bad days for Barbaro. The Kentucky Derby winner suffered another significant setback over the weekend, and his fight for survival may have reached a critical point. After Barbaro developed a deep abscess in his right hind foot, surgery was performed Saturday to insert two steel pins in a bone, one that was shattered but now healthy, to eliminate all weight bearing on the ailing foot...

WELCOME, N.C. -- A sponsorship dispute is pitting one of NASCAR's most respected team owners against one of its biggest revenue sources, leaving officials hustling to work out a compromise two weeks before the start of the season. Richard Childress' No. 31 car, which is driven by Jeff Burton, is sponsored by cell phone service provider Cingular. But that company has been bought by AT&T, which is phasing out the Cingular brand name...

MIAMI -- Coach Lovie Smith thumbed through the Indianapolis Colts press guide on a three-hour flight that delivered the Bears from the cold of Chicago to the warm comfort of Florida -- a trip that landed them back at the Super Bowl. "I looked at 18 pages of Peyton Manning," Smith said Sunday night, about two hours after the Bears touched down at Miami International Airport...

Fred Funk had the most-lopsided victory ever in a 54-hole Champions Tour event, shooting his second straight 8-under 64 on Sunday for an 11-stroke win in the Turtle Bay Championship in Kahuku, Hawaii. The 50-year-old Funk, still a regular on the PGA Tour, ended the suspense early with six birdies in a front-nine 30 and finished with a tournament record 23-under 193 total in the tour's first full-field event of the year...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Republican Gov. Matt Blunt proclaims Missouri is "strong, prosperous and vibrant." Among his key evidence: Missouri gained more than 53,000 jobs since he became governor in January 2005. But Blunt's figure lacks context and does not reveal the full story...

NEW YORK -- Last October, Altria Group Inc. triggered one of the busiest trading sessions of its shares in the past year just by announcing it planned to disclose a timeline for the divestment of its majority stake in Kraft Foods. This week, investors are expecting to learn details of the plan that created that late October burst of trading activity and that analysts say could break the food and tobacco company into as many as three parts...

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Roger Federer held back the tears this time. He didn't hold back much else at the Australian Open. Federer underlined his 10th Grand Slam singles title by winning 21 straight sets, saving a set point in Sunday's final before finishing off Fernando Gonzalez 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4...

Winery launches line of chocolates Chaumette Vineyards and Winery in Ste. Genevieve, Mo., has launched a line of chocolates called Chaumette's Classic Companions. The chocolates are wrapped in gold tins with wine pairing suggestions on the labels. The winery decided to create the line of chocolate due to growing consumer interest in pairing wine with chocolate...

Gina Reno's friends don't expect much eye contact from her when they get together. More often then not, she'll be staring at her cell phone, tapping away feverishly with calloused hands, communicating with people she's never once met in person. "My friends would get so mad at me because I'm constantly with my phone in my hand," the lifelong Chicagoan said of her tendency to log in to a service called Hookt on her Boost Mobile handset whenever she's got a free moment. ...

Cape Girardeau: Arrests; Assault; Theft; Property damage; Miscellaneous; Jackson: Arrests; Assault; Theft; Property damage; Miscellaneous

The railroad has always been a part of life in Scott City, as it has always been a part of life for Jane Hart. Hart grew up in the Scott City area near the tracks. Her grandfather, father, two brothers and an uncle all worked on the rails, and Hart remembers riding to St. Louis and Arkansas on the passenger trains that used to stop in the city...

NEW YORK -- Many people feel great when they're buying piles of gifts for relatives and friends at Christmas, but they can be overwhelmed when that blizzard of credit card bills arrives in the new year. Credit counselors call it the "debt hangover."...

Country music fans can look forward to another country concert at the Show Me Center in the coming weeks. Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert will perform at the Show Me Center March 9. Radio personalities Bobbi Ann Mason and Katie Carson of K103 FM made the announcement Sunday night before the Sara Evans and Radney Foster concert at the Show Me Center. The concert date had not yet been added to Bentley's Web site Sunday night...