Stories from Monday, February 5, 2007

LEWISTOWN, Mo. (AP) -- Concerns that a leaking propane tank is a potential fire hazard led authorities to evacuate about 580 residents from this northeast Missouri town. The 15,000-gallon Heetco tank is near the center of town. Residents may be out of their homes for two or three days, said David Keith, Lewis County director of emergency management...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Ameren Corp. told federal regulators it wants to rebuild the Taum Sauk reservoir, but the company first must settle legal troubles from state agencies resulting from the reservoir's collapse. The utility filed plans Monday with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to start construction on the reservoir this year. The mountaintop basin, which powers a hydroelectric plant, should be up and running by 2009, according to the plan...

Assessments of existing home values in Cape Girardeau County are likely to rise 6 to 7 percent this year as a result of reassessment, which will mean either higher tax payments this fall or a cut in tax rates, depending on how values of commercial and farm property fare...

Three rural fire protection districts in Scott County are considering consolidating into one in a move proponents say would provide the districts with more political and purchasing power. Officials with the county's three northernmost rural fire districts -- the Oran Fire Protection District, the Scott County Rural Fire Protection District and the New Hamburg-Benton-Commerce (NBC) Fire Protection District -- have begun discussion the idea in public meetings in the past few weeks...

Construction of a city-owned baseball field in Jackson's Brookside Park will likely be a reality in the near future. Officials announced last week that the Missouri Army National Guard approved a request to complete engineering and dirt work for a baseball field similar to the American Legion Field in City Park...

Randy Jordan, 11-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Welker of Cape Girardeau, takes an icy dip in the Capaha Park lagoon, when he chases his skidding lunch box out onto the ice and falls through; he is rescued by Edward J. Propst and another man, who formed a human chain to pull the boy to safety...

To the editor:We are responding to recent stories, letters and Speak Out comments regarding state Rep. Scott Lipke's losing his position as committee chairman. We both served on the Crime Prevention and Public Safety Committee with him and were able to see firsthand his knowledge and expertise as the leader of this committee...

To the editor:Voting to kill the DeMint amendment was a vote for the status quo and against transparency and accountability. The meaning of earmarks in the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2007 covers only about 5 percent of projects. ...

People all over the world love Flat Stanley. Who's Flat Stanley? He's a cartoon character who in Jeff Brown's 1964 book got flattened by a bulletin board and now can go on all kinds of adventures thanks to his flatness. Soon he's flying like a kite and catching art thieves by pretending to be a painting on a wall...

Vaccine choice; Not the worst of times; Grant gone awry; Following the family; Chicken soup; More on cheerleaders; Heavy homework; Paid trips; Problem parents; Changing audits; Wisdom and talent; Teaching the test; Late decision; School cancellation; Bad reputation; Model schools; Right questions; Put money back; Street lights; Pit bull bashing; Streets not cleaned; Single parents; Great start; No seconds

For some area residents, Sunday was a national holiday. "Super Bowl is one of my favorite holidays," said Sherri Voerg. She gathered with a group of friends at the Rude Dog Pub in downtown Cape Girardeau Sunday afternoon to watch the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts compete in Super Bowl XLI...

GRASSY, Mo. -- Eleven miles west of Marble Hill, off of Route H, is the 50-acre homeland of the AhNiYvWiYa (Ah-ni-yu-wi-ya) tribe of American Indians. Their name translates to English as "the human people," and that theirs is a peaceful, humane community is not in doubt. They practice and speak an ancient language and uphold centuries-old traditions. Tribal members say they want little more of the outside world than to be left in peace and granted 501c(3) status as a not-for-profit group...

401 Independence St. 7 p.m. today Study session, 5 p.m. Public hearing n A public hearing to consider vacating the city's interest in a right of way easement at tract 24 on Mount Auburn Road. Consent ordinances n An ordinance approving the record plat of Lynwood Hills Second South Subdivision...

William "Bill" Sheldon Stratman Sr., 56, of Grassy, Mo., died Saturday, Feb. 3, 2007, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born July 9, 1950, in East St. Louis, Ill., son of Sheldon Stratman Jr. and Bernadine Stratman. Stratman worked as a mail sorter for the U.S. ...

John Lee Kennedy, 78, of Whitewater, died Friday, Feb. 2, 2007, at his residence. He was born April 5, 1928, in Perkins, Mo., son of Henry Lee and Rosa Lee Simmons Kennedy. He and Patsy L. Taylor were married March 4, 1951. She died May 24, 2005. Kennedy was an Army veteran and served during World War II. He was a member of the First Baptist Church in Delta and a member of the VFW Post 3838...

Ruby J. Dykes, 86, of Delta died Saturday, Feb. 3, 2007, at her residence. She was born Dec. 12, 1920, in Logan County, Ark., the daughter of Dewey Lee and Nettie Brown Eskew. She and Ira B. Dykes were married Nov. 14, 1942. Dykes was a member of The Church of God of Prophecy in Delta...

Barbara Sides Lunceford, 49, of Cape Girardeau, died Saturday, Feb. 3, 2007, at her home. She was born Nov. 5, 1957, in Cape Girardeau, the daughter of Roy Francis and Hilda Lydia (Rubel) Sides. She first married Frank L. Snider Jr. He proceeded her in death on May 5, 1999. Later, she married Gary Lee Lunceford on Dec. 9, 2000, in Cape Girardeau. He proceeded her in death on Jan. 7, 2006...

Toshiye K. Suzuki, 95, of Cape Girardeau, died Sunday, Feb. 4, 2007, at the Lutehran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 7, 1912, in San Gabriel, Calif., the daughter of Seiichi and Suye Kobayashi. She and Yoshimichi Jafe "Y.J." Suzuki were married on Dec. 16, 1933, in Norwalk, Calif. He proceeded her in death on May 1, 1979...

Kathleen Alfreda Green, 81, of Scott City died Sunday, Feb. 4, 2007, at the Perry Oaks Manor in Perryville, Mo. She was born Feb. 15, 1925, in Ancell, Mo., daughter of Otto Frederick Walter and Anna Agatha Sander. She and Harry Leon Green were married Nov. 15, 1941. He died July 1, 1983...

Ronald Zane Wissman, 61, of Oak Ridge died Sunday, Feb. 4, 2007, at his residence in Oak Ridge. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home.

Arrests; Summons; Assault; Theft; Miscellaneous; Property damage; Miscellaneous

n At 8:39 p.m., vehicle fire at Capaha Park. n At 5:15 a.m., medical assist in the 1000 block of Oak Ridge Court. n At 12:12 p.m., public assist in the 1500 block of Scott Street. n At 1:02 p.m., emergency medical service in the 2500 block of Boutin Drive...

Since 2000, the Hispanic population of Cape Girardeau County has grown by about 200 people. Grade schools in the Cape Girardeau area have seen increases in the enrollment of Hispanic students. The percentage of Hispanic students at Clippard Elementary rose from 1.5 percent in 2002 to 6.2 percent in 2006. Blanchard, Franklin and Alma Schrader elementary schools have also seen increases in Hispanic enrollment...

The Southeast Missouri State tennis team opened its season with a 7-0 loss at Evansville on Saturday night at the Tri-State Athletic Club. The match was the first for the Redhawks under coach Mark Elliott. Southeast lost two doubles matches to yield the doubles point to the Purple Aces (3-0). ...

MIAMI -- Tony Dungy, beaming and sporting an NFL champions cap, waded through the mob on the soggy field until he found his quarterback, Peyton Manning. And there they stood in the rain, the winning Super Bowl coach and the MVP, finally savoring a moment that was a long time coming...

Hospital CEO earns management credential ; Noah's Ark sails into Cape Girardeau; Edward Jones rep gets specialist designation; Jackson beautician goes to training in Las Vegas

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- U.S. astronaut Sunita Williams has now spent more time spacewalking than any other woman, setting the record on Sunday as she and a crew mate upgraded the international space station's cooling system. Williams broke the previous female spacewalking record of more than 21 hours when she and Michael Lopez-Alegria completed the second of what could be a precedent-setting three spacewalks in nine days. The new record is 22 hours and 27 minutes...

FAIR PLAY, Mo. -- Dewey Rumfelt doesn't want to hear the details about what happened to his little sister on the day she was killed nearly 30 years ago. But he does want her killer to be executed -- and he wants to be there when it happens. On Friday, police in St. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- When walking into the main entrance of the Governor's Mansion, most people are struck by the beauty of the furniture, paintings, the amazing height of the 17-foot ceilings and the feeling of home. But behind the scenes, the mansion is in need of help...

ST. LOUIS -- Many of today's zoo animals reach a ripe old age compared with their companions in the wild. While that's a point of pride for zoo keepers, it's also a challenge. The St. Louis Zoo has more older animals on its hands than in the past. That's good news for the animals -- such as the aged chimps, bears and lemurs -- but it also means they suffer many of the same health problems of human senior citizens, from achy joints to failing livers...

NEW YORK -- As the popularity of stomach surgery has skyrocketed among obese adults, a growing number of doctors are asking, "Why not children, too?" For decades, the number of children trying weight-loss surgery has been tiny. The operations themselves were risky, with a death rate of about 1 in 50. ...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush will send Congress a $2.9 trillion spending request today that seeks billions of dollars more to fight the Iraq war and tries to restrain the spiraling cost of the government's big health care programs. Responding to the new political realities of a Democratic-controlled Congress, Bush will propose balancing the budget in five years, matching a goal put forward by Democratic leaders. ...

WASHINGTON -- A revolt against a national driver's license, begun in Maine last month, is quickly spreading to other states. The Maine Legislature on Jan. 26 overwhelmingly passed a resolution objecting to the Real ID Act of 2005. The federal law sets a national standard for driver's licenses and requires states to link their record-keeping systems to national databases...

WASHINGTON -- Federal regulators working on rules to secure the calling records and other private information of telephone customers are running into resistance from phone companies and law enforcement agencies. The rules, an effort by the Federal Communications Commission to combat "pretexting," are circulating among the commissioners for comment and may be voted on this month...

TOKYO -- Mitsutoshi Fukatsu has been with his wife for three decades, but their lives have grown apart. As a busy stationmaster in central Japan, he has usually come home only to eat, bathe and sleep. Now with retirement looming, the 56-year-old wants to get to know his wife better. He calls her by her name, Setsuko, instead of just grunting. And he says he recently learned a new phrase: "I love you."...

NEW YORK -- The scenario is all too common on the crowded streets of New York: A car crashes into another, confusion ensues and a slew of people at the site call 911 to offer the same or similar information. Now the city wants to broaden the 911 system to accept digital photos and video clips of accidents and crimes. But the expansion of the massive 911 system, which already handles roughly 11 million calls a year, raises questions about what to do with all that data...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Hamas gunmen attacked bases of Fatah-allied troops with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades early Sunday, part of a four-day campaign by the Islamic militants to weaken the security forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Gen. Dan McNeill, the highest ranking U.S. general to lead troops in Afghanistan, took command of 35,500 NATO-led soldiers Sunday, putting an American face on the international mission after nine months of British command. The transition comes after a year of sharply increased violence following the alliance's push into the Taliban's southern heartland, and military officials said privately they expect McNeill to take a harder line with militants than his predecessor, Gen. ...

LADY LAKE, Fla. -- President Bush designated four central Florida counties as disaster areas, releasing millions of dollars in aid as residents began recovering from tornados that ripped through the region, leaving at least 20 people dead. National Guard troops, neighbors and residents cleaned up in the rain Saturday, pulling blue tarps over houses that still had walls...

NEW YORK -- Along with the trademark Clydesdales, talking animals and high-end computer graphics, there was a new entry this year in the annual showdown of advertisers in the Super Bowl: amateurs. Starting in the first quarter, a goofy spot for Doritos showing a hapless driver distracted by a pretty woman passing by marked the first time a purely amateur-created ad aired during the Super Bowl. ...

Mine explosion leaves 32 dead in Colombia SARDINATA, Colombia -- An explosion tore through a makeshift coal mine in remote northeast Colombia on Saturday, killing 32 miners, a civil defense official said. Rescue crews had located the bodies buried more than 1,300 feet below ground but were unable to safely remove them, said Yesid Arias, who was helping to coordinate the operation. ...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Leaving the congestion and sky-high housing prices of the San Francisco Bay area for a quiet retirement near the state capital seemed like a no-lose idea to Achilles Melendres. So he bought a two-story home in a rapidly growing neighborhood north of downtown Sacramento last year. He's now wondering if he made the right decision...

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Boats ferried supplies to desperate residents of Indonesia's flood-stricken capital on Sunday as rivers burst their banks following days of rain. At least 20 people have been killed and almost 340,000 forced from their homes....

TOKYO -- Japan's ruling bloc lost a key local election on Sunday, a possible bellwether of public support after a Cabinet minister caused an uproar by calling women "birth-giving machines." The setback compounds the problems for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration, which has also lost a minister and a top adviser in separate scandals...

Seeking peace, Arab diplomat returns defeated CAIRO, Egypt -- The Arab League sent Mokhtar Lamani to Iraq to persuade its bitterly divided Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish leaders to make peace. He failed, and has now resigned, disillusioned and nearly drained of hope...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The U.S. command has ordered changes in flight operations after four helicopters were shot down in the last two weeks, the chief military spokesman said Sunday, acknowledging for the first time that the aircraft were lost to hostile fire...

CARACAS, Venezuela -- His ambitious social programs are built on Venezuela's petroleum wealth, but President Hugo Chavez is increasingly talking up environmental causes and urging the world to cut back on oil use to fight global warming. He wants to use some oil revenue in a venture to manufacture solar panels and has begun doling out millions of energy-saving fluorescent light bulbs to homes nationwide...

ST. LOUIS -- A wedding dress was found on a conference table at City Museum. A half slip and high heels turned up at America's Center. A child's tooth in a baggie -- including money from the Tooth Fairy -- was left behind at the St. Louis Zoo. Welcome to the world of lost and found, where everyone has been a finder, keeper, loser or weeper...

Mardi Gras brunch at Cairo manor CAIRO, Ill. -- Two seatings at the annual Mardi Gras brunch, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 1 to 3 p.m. Feb. 18, will be available at the historic Magnolia Manor, 2700 Washington Ave. The event will feature food, a champagne fountain and a live band. The manor will be festively decorated and beads will be given to all attending. Proceeds will benefit the maintenance of the manor. For more information or reservations, call (618) 734-0201...

Thorngate employee reunion slated Feb. 19 The employees of the former Thorngate Ltd. plant in Chaffee, Mo., will gather at 5 p.m. Feb. 19 at Ryan's Steak House in Cape Girardeau for their 11th annual reunion. All former employees are invited to attend...

Area man completes Navy training Seaman recruit Trevor C. Milam recently completed his Navy basic training and graduated from the Navy Recruit Training Command Center in Great Lakes, Ill. He will remain in Great Lakes for the next several months for training as a medical corpsman. Milam is a 2004 graduate of Central High School, Cape Girardeau. He is the son of Kristie Milam of Kelso, Mo., and Donnie Milam of Cape Girardeau...

The Habitat for Humanity-Cape Area Inc. volunteers were busy raising the walls of Habitat partner Dustin Runnels' home during the last weekend in January. It is the 26th home Habitat has built in Cape Girardeau. Located at 748 S. West End Blvd., a crew of about 30 Southeast Missouri State University volunteers from Alpha Phi Omega and Zeta Phi Beta, Runnels' friends, Habitat partner family member Lori Fann (who will soon be a Habitat for Humanity homeowner) and crew chief Steve Barry (also a Habitat partner family member) worked in wintry weather to get the job done.. ...

MIAMI -- Peyton Manning finally has an answer for that perpetual question. Yes, he can win the big game -- and yes, he can do it in a big way, too. His career-long quest for a championship ended Sunday in Miami with an efficient performance against the Chicago Bears that added a Super Bowl MVP award to his long list of achievements...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- A year ago, this story seemed like a fairy tale. Mitch Mustain was headed to Arkansas along with three of his high school teammates -- and their coach had been hired as the Razorbacks' offensive coordinator. Mustain was the quarterback of the future, Gus Malzahn the offensive innovator moving up to the college level...

Aaron Baddeley had already conquered the pressure of leading down the stretch on the PGA Tour. Jeff Quinney still hasn't. Baddeley birdied three of the final four holes and took advantage of Quinney's late collapse Sunday for a one-stroke victory in the FBR Open in Scottsdale, Ariz., the Australian's second win on the tour...

Winery to introduce champagne house Crown Valley Winery of Ste. Genevieve, Mo., will introduce the first champagne house in the Midwest with a grand opening Feb. 17. The state-of-the-art facility in Farmington, Mo., will produce Crown Valley's sparkling wine using two fermentation processes and will feature tours, a gift shop and a deli...

Jared Van Slyke, the son of former St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Andy Van Slyke, is headed to Southeast Missouri State to play football. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch featured Van Slyke in Saturday's edition. The Southeast Missourian had previously published a report of Van Slyke's intentions in October, following an appearance on a St. Louis radio station by his father...

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) -- Additional charges will be filed Monday against kidnapping suspect Michael Devlin, already accused of abducting two boys, one of them by gunpoint, St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch said in a statement. More details are expected at a news conference at 3 p.m. at the St. Louis County Justice Center...

NEW YORK -- Wanted: M. fund w/ top 25 percent rank. Given the scads of mutual funds out there, investors might be tempted to turn to the want ads rather than sort through heaps of funds in hopes of finding a good match. More often, befuddled investors depend on fund rankings to bring a cool empirical eye to their search. But those who invest solely based on rankings risk disappointment...

MIAMI -- Isaac Daniel calls the tiny Global Positioning System chip he's embedded into a line of sneakers "peace of mind." He wished his 8-year-old son had been wearing them when he got a call from his school in 2002 saying the boy was missing. The worried father hopped a flight to Atlanta from New York where he had been on business to find it had been a miscommunication and his son was safe...