Stories from Wednesday, June 20, 2007

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- After a year of delays, the American Civil Liberties Union chapter in St. Louis is launching a program that will put video cameras in the hands of St. Louis residents so they can monitor police activity in their neighborhoods. The ACLU of Eastern Missouri announced the program last year after television crews videotaped police punching and kicking a suspect after a car chase. ...

A 10-wheel tractor-trailer carrying three chemicals used for blasting overturned Wednesday on Highway 72 in Bollinger County. The driver sustained minor injuries and was taken to Southeast Missouri Hospital by ambulance. Bollinger County chief deputy Leo McElrath said the accident occurred around 4 p.m. ...

Court should be in session at the new federal courthouse by early August, and there's a chance a local judge could sit there permanently once it opens. Cape Girardeau resident Stephen Limbaugh Jr., currently serving on the Missouri Supreme Court, is a candidate for the open federal judgeship created when Judge Donald J. Stohr assumed senior judge status. The vacancy in the U.S. District Court's Eastern Division of Missouri will be filled in the coming months...

Southeast Missouri State University may turn three of its five fraternity and sorority residence halls into freshmen housing and construct a new complex for the Greek-letter organizations. The five-building, 300-bed "Greek Village" would feature buildings resembling townhouses rather than traditional residence halls, said Dr. Dennis Holt, vice president of administration and enrollment management...

Cape Girardeau police say the daily influx of commuters, not racial profiling, is the reason black drivers are 74 percent more likely to be pulled over in the city than white drivers. Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon released the 2006 annual racial profiling report on traffic stops last month. ...

Clippings in street; Hard-earned money; Choosing to pay; Legal entry; City bargaining; Room for burials; Blog grammar; Civic investment; City spending; Securing votes

To the editor:"When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which connect them with another ... ." We recognize these words as the beginning of our Declaration of Independence. It later continues, "Whenever any form of Government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it." Is the form of government currently being practiced by political leaders of both parties the same as our Founding Fathers envisioned when they signed their declaration?. ...

To the editor:I am writing this letter in support of who I hope is our next president, Fred Thompson. Thompson will give this country something it has sorely missed over the past 16 years. He will give it true conservative leadership. We will not see an increase in size of government as we have seen in the past two administrations. As Thompson has been away from Washington for a while, he can give us a fresh perspective on how the country should and should not be run...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- The United States announced the transfer Tuesday of six Guantanamo Bay prisoners back to their home countries, including one who, according to his lawyers, now may face abuse in Tunisia for nonviolent political activities. With the transfer of four men to Yemen and two to Tunisia, the U.S. military says it now holds about 375 men at its base in southeast Cuba on suspicion of terrorism or links to al-Qaida or the Taliban...

The Southeast Missouri Climate Protection Initiative is working to help the environment; the Family Resource Center in Cape Girardeau is doing the same with area children. Tuesday the two collaborated to teach children about helping the environment through planting tomatoes...

DENVER -- Air tankers took to the sky Tuesday to help ground crews battling three wildfires that charred more than 1,300 acres in western Colorado and forced the evacuation of 30 homes west of Glenwood Springs. No injuries or property damage were reported...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Legislation allowing midwives to deliver babies at home in Missouri will likely be challenged in court by doctors' groups. The measure was approved by lawmakers in May as part of larger health insurance bill signed June 1 by Gov. Matt Blunt. Most of the bill won't take effect until January, but the section on midwifery becomes effective in late August...

A former Cape Girardeau resident wanted on Scott County charges of having sex with a child was arrested Monday in Jackson after allegedly fleeing from police. Derek K. Kinder, 20, of Marquand, Mo., was speeding on Old Cape Road when he was stopped by Jackson police officer Anthony Henson, police said...

The Cape Girardeau school board plans to fill the vacant school board position from among four finalists at a special board meeting July 2. Board members scheduled the meeting after interviewing the four finalists late Monday afternoon before the start of the regular board meeting...

A Scott City man faces sexual assault charges for an ongoing sexual relationship with a 44-year-old woman with mental disabilities. Dennis E. Blankenship, 59, of 1214 E. Maple St., was arrested Monday after admitting the relationship during an interview with Scott City police officer Gina Cook. In a sworn statement filed with the complaint, Cook wrote that she received a report of the relationship Sunday...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- The Rev. C.E. Fleshman of Cape Girardeau has accepted the pastorate of the First Freewill Baptist Church here; he has pastored churches in Cape Girardeau for 15 years. Two Greenville, S.C., women escape injury in the morning when the landing gear on the small plane they are flying breaks off upon landing at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport; the pilot decides to land her plane here after the aircraft develops electrical problems...

Lawyer filing a motion for Mattress Guys owner The Mattress Guys owner Dennis McDonald, who was sentenced to five days' shock time Monday by Judge Gary Kamp for repeated violations of Cape Girardeau sign ordinances, had a motion filed by his attorney, Scott Reynolds, that may get him released from jail. Reynolds filed a motion to set aside shock time Tuesday with Judge Kamp. According to his office, Judge Kamp did not receive the motion Tuesday and will be in Perryville for court today...

When a local veterans organization unveiled the monument honoring Vietnam soldiers at Common Pleas Courthouse Park last year they didn't expect it to draw so much attention. "It's a place where every once in a while you'll see grown men crying," said Rodger Brown, president of the Trail of Tears chapter of VietNow in Cape Girardeau...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Authorities were hunting Tuesday for a man who posed as a police officer to assault two women a few miles outside West Plains in a mainly rural county in south-central Missouri. Howell County Sheriff Robbie Crites said the man used a red-and-blue flashing light in his unmarked car and was wearing a blue uniform when he stopped women drivers after dark and attacked them in two incidents earlier this month. The area is about 80 miles southeast of Springfield...

PINCKNEYVILLE, Ill. -- Perry County officials voted unanimously Tuesday to back plans for a sprawling resort complex rivaling Branson, Mo., saying the economically struggling area has "nothing to lose." The Board of Commissioners also dismissed environmentalists' concerns over a land swap proposed by the developer, Glen Carbon-based Toney Watkins Co. ...

The owner of The Mattress Guys was incorrectly identified in Tuesday's Southeast Missourian. His name is Dennis McDonald. The headline on the story about the Southeast Missouri State University budget in Tuesday's Southeast Missourian was incorrect. The regents approved a $91.2 million operating budget...

William "Billy" Glasscock Jr., 41, of Cape Girardeau suddenly entered into rest Wednesday, June 13, 2007, at Saint Francis Medical Center. He was born Jan. 8, 1966, in Okinowa, Japan, son of William and Setsu Glasscock Sr. Glasscock was an orthotic technician 26 years at Cape Prosthetics-Orthotics Inc. He was a member of Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie 3775...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Cynthia Afton Stewart, 83, of Olive Branch died Saturday, June 16, 2007, at her home. She was born May 8, 1924, in Perks, Ill., daughter of James F. and Martha M. Volner Stewart. Stewart was postmaster 30 years at the U.S. post office in Olive Branch...

Rex Allen Johnson, 36, of McClure, Ill., died Friday, June 15, 2007, in Scott City. He was born Oct. 25, 1970, in Memphis, Tenn., son of Stephen Clay and Regina Morene Moore Johnson. He and Angela Schildt were married Feb. 17, 1995, in Cairo, Ill. Johnson had worked as a mechanic, most recently with Delta Express...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Anna L. Sells, 96, of Wichita, Kan., died Saturday, June 16, 2007, at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita. She was born Feb. 23, 1911, in Cairo, daughter of Lawrence H. and Annastacia Aydt Paul. She married Milton L. Sells, who preceded her in death...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Hermine R. Hurst, 97, of Perryville died Tuesday, June 19, 2007, at Perry County Memorial Hospital. She was born March 24, 1910, in St. Louis, daughter of John C. and Christine Neider Reiser. She and Charles F. Hurst were married Nov. 13, 1935, at Lemay, Mo. He died Oct. 4, 1984...

Themm; Edwards; Tatum; Statler; Alton; Bigham

Arrests; DWI

n At 8:03 p.m., emergency medical service in the 600 block of Locust Street. n At 8:28 p.m., emergency medical service in the 400 block of North Frederick Street. n At 10:19 p.m., emergency medical service in the 300 block of North Frederick Street...

Here in the midsection of the country the immigration issue President Bush and Congress are struggling with can seem removed. We don't see infrared pictures of illegal immigrants streaming across our borders in the night. Of course, illegal immigrants do cross our borders and are living among us. In April, illegal immigrant Juan Vargas drove a car into a tree. The crash killed 22-year-old Robert Garcia-Lopez, who was Vargas' best friend. The other two passengers were injured...

MOUNT VERNON, Mo. -- Tell Elmer Lewis to go take a flying leap, and he'll gladly oblige -- as long as it's from an airplane. Despite an approaching storm, Lewis made his sixth parachute jump Friday -- at the age of 90 -- and couldn't wait to take another leap of faith...

CHICAGO -- AT&T Inc. on Tuesday launched what it said is the first service letting callers share live video between cell phones. The new AT&T Video Share service won't apply to the iPhone, which uses an older network. AT&T has an exclusive deal to offer service for the much-anticipated Apple Inc. device...

n The plan: The Toney Watkins Co. is considering building an entertainment resort community similar to Missouri's Branson near the Southern Illinois town of Pinckneyville. The project could involve the company swapping 2,000 acres of land for an identically-sized chunk of the roughly 20,000-acre Pyramid State Recreation Area...

I celebrated a birthday last week and my brother gave me a fabulous new cookbook. It is a reprint of the 1934 edition of the Zion United Methodist Church cookbook from Gordonville. Of course being a United Methodist myself, it has extra special meaning. The book includes advertisements, and they are wonderful. What an incredible difference from today's advertising...

Mowing the lawn can be dangerous for children, even with parents present. That reminder, for parents who may think of letting their children help with lawn mowing this summer, comes from a group of concerned physicians, along with their tips on safety precautions...

It can shadow a sunny day if your dog keeps getting into trouble in the yard, tipping over his bowl or tangling his chain. Solutions are easy. First, to keep bowls from tipping over outdoors, use angel-food cake pans, putting the raised center hole over a stake in the ground. ...

New McKendree UMW The New McKendree United Methodist Women met June 5 in the church fellowship hall with 26 members present. Betty Henry, secretary, presided. The minutes of the May meeting were read and approved. Amy Cook, treasurer, distributed and explained her report. It was accepted as written...

If hot dogs and hamburgers don't inspire you to hit the hiking trail and pitch a tent, how about sausage jambalaya bubbling over the campfire followed by hot berry cobbler? It's possible, it's easy and it's fast. Thanks to improvements in camping cooking gear and a bounty of easy-prep and in-store ingredients, the days of settling for the utilitarian campfire cooking of yesteryear are gone...

WASHINGTON -- The Army is considering whether it will have to extend the combat tours of troops in Iraq if President Bush opts to maintain the recent buildup of forces through spring 2008. Acting Army Secretary Pete Geren testified Tuesday that the service is reviewing other options, including relying more heavily on Army reservists or Navy and Air Force personnel, so as not to put more pressure on an already thinly stretched active-duty force...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sided emphatically Tuesday with a weakened Mahmoud Abbas, hoping extra money and warm words would give the moderate leader primacy over the Islamic militant Hamas in the newly divided Palestinian territories...

WASHINGTON -- White House budget director Rob Portman announced his resignation Tuesday, joining a lengthening list of senior officials heading for the exits in the final 1 1/2 years of President Bush's administration. Bush chose former Iowa Rep. Jim Nussle, one-time chairman of the House Budget Committee, as Portman's successor...

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Fire swept through a furniture warehouse, collapsing its roof and killing nine firefighters inside -- the nation's deadliest single disaster for firefighters since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. "Nine brave, heroic, courageous firefighters of the city of Charleston have perished fighting fire in a most courageous and fearless manner, carrying out their duties," Charleston Mayor Joseph P. ...

BIG SANDY, Texas -- Barry Cooper sells a DVD on how to stash pot in your car without getting caught. This fall he will release a second one on how to keep police from raiding your home for marijuana. Now for the kicker: Cooper is a former narcotics officer once considered among the top cops in Texas, where more marijuana is seized each year than in any other state...

HOUSTON -- The space shuttle Atlantis undocked from the international space station Tuesday for its trip back to Earth, concluding a nearly 10-day stay that included construction work and a computer meltdown. Continuing a tradition, space station commander Fyodor Yurchikhin rang a bell and said "Atlantis departing."...

CHICAGO -- A deadly gene's path can hide in a family tree when a woman has few aunts and older sisters, making it appear that her breast cancer struck out of nowhere when it really came from Dad. A new study suggests thousands of young women with breast cancer -- an estimated 8,000 a year in the United States -- aren't offered testing to identify faulty genes and clarify their medical decisions...

POTSDAM, Germany -- The United States and Brazil disagreed Tuesday over how far the United States should cut farm subsidies as part of a global trade pact, officials said, as the World Trade Organization's four most powerful members began five days of crunch trade talks...

EREZ CROSSING, Gaza Strip -- Trapped by Israeli tanks and Hamas gunmen, hundreds of terrified Palestinians holed up in a stench-filled concrete tunnel at a border crossing Tuesday, desperate to flee the Islamic militants now ruling the Gaza Strip. Israel took in two people hit by Hamas gunfire, 24 hours after they were wounded in an assault on the tunnel, but officials remained steadfast in rejecting pleas to throw open the border. ...

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ordered Tuesday to return from exile to face charges that he concealed his ownership of a company from the Thai stock exchange. Police instructed Thaksin to turn himself in a day after state prosecutors said they would seek to have him and his wife tried for a suspicious land deal and after an anti-graft panel ordered more of his assets frozen. ...

LONDON -- No single error led to the capture of 15 sailors and marines by Iran in March, Britain's defense chief said Tuesday, but he acknowledged the Defense Ministry was wrong to let them sell their stories to the media after their release. There was no case for disciplinary action as a result of the seizure, said Defense Secretary Des Browne...

BAGHDAD -- A truck bomber attacked a revered Shiite shrine in the heart of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 78 people and wounding more than 200 in a resumption of Iraq's relentless sectarian slaughter. The mosque's turquoise dome survived, but the blast buried some worshippers and badly burned others...

VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican issued a "Ten Commandments" for motorists on Tuesday to keep them on the road to salvation, warning drivers against the sins of road rage, abuse of alcohol or even simple rudeness. The unusual document from the Vatican's office for migrants and itinerant people also warned that automobiles can be "an occasion of sin" -- particularly when used to make a dangerous passing maneuver or when used by prostitutes and their clients...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Organizers of a campaign to get an Elvis Presley specialty license plate may be rallying for the King, but they're taking a cue from the Beatles' "With a Little Help From My Friends." Elvis Presley Enterprises and the Regional Medical Center at Memphis will launch a media blitz to attract the 1,000 purchasers they need for the state to begin production of the Elvis plate...

None of the three local golfers competing in the American Junior Golf Association's Dalhousie Junior Championship was particularly pleased with his or her opening-round performance. But Jackson's T.J. Smith, Cape Girardeau's Jack Connell Jr., and Cape Girardeau's Emily Matthews all said they thoroughly enjoyed competing against some of the nation's top young golfers ages 12 through 18...

The American Junior Golf Association doesn't sell tickets, and it doesn't measure tournament success by having fans three-deep around the greens. That's probably a good thing. A person could get lonely on parts of Dalhousie Golf Club with the first AJGA Dalhousie Junior Championship in town this week...

Proud father's aren't too hard to find this week at the AJGA Dalhousie Junior Classic. Follow Ginger Howard around Dalhousie Golf Club and you're sure to find one. Robert Howard, whose daughter carded an opening 79 on Tuesday, is more than your typical pictures-in-the-wallet kind of father...

ST. LOUIS -- Short notice brought out Brad Thompson's best. The first-year starter worked seven strong innings a day ahead of schedule and three days after a two-inning relief stint, leading the pitching-starved St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday...

BALTIMORE -- Joe Girardi was interviewed Tuesday by Baltimore Orioles executives, a day after the team fired manager Sam Perlozzo. The interview took place in Chicago, a baseball official familiar with the talks said, speaking on condition of anonymity because no public statements were authorized...

OMAHA, Neb. -- That team with a funny nickname is serious about winning a national championship. The UC Irvine Anteaters won in their final at-bat for the third time in four games Tuesday night, knocking off Arizona State 8-7 in 10 innings in an elimination game at the College World Series...

MIAMI -- Glen "Big Baby" Davis knows what NBA teams will ponder when considering him on draft night. "Everyone knows I can play. Everybody knows I have skill," Davis said. "It's just, 'Is he going to eat himself out of the league?'" With Davis, it's certainly a valid question...

ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Troy Vincent recalls going back to the huddle and forgetting to look at the sideline for the play, even though it was his job to relay the signal. He mentions the days after one concussion when he couldn't remember phone numbers and kept thinking his car was running. When he sees clips of himself knocked unconscious, he cringes...

ST. LOUIS -- Tomo Ohka signed a minor league contract with the pitching-strapped St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday, one day after being released by the Toronto Blue Jays. The 31-year-old right-hander was 2-5 with a 5.79 ERA in 10 starts with the Blue Jays, who designated him for assignment June 7. He signed a $1.5 million, one-year deal during the offseason with Toronto...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- The Plaza Tire Capahas posted their 12th win of the season Tuesday night as they rolled past the host Charleston Riverdogs 14-1. The game, scheduled for nine innings, was stopped after seven innings because of the 10-run mercy rule...

The message was clear:~ Three players shot 70s in the opening round to share the lead. You don't have to travel the country to find the top of the leaderboard at the AJGA Dalhousie Junior Championship. That was undeniable after the first round Tuesday at Dalhousie Golf Club...

The Cape Girardeau Public Library leased temporary quarters this week, a move that will help speed the renovation and expansion project approved by voters in February. Library operations will move to 301 S. Broadview St. in October, library director Betty Martin said Tuesday. The library's governing board approved the lease Monday, $150,000 for 16 months in the 15,538-square-foot building that formerly housed Carrington House Factory Direct Furniture...