Stories from Thursday, September 27, 2007

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Missouri Auditor Susan Montee's office says it will complete an audit of St. Louis' finances, after more than 7,000 residents signed petitions seeking one. Montee spokeswoman Samantha Brewer says the total scope of the audit is not yet clear, but it could cost city taxpayers one million dollars...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Three people died and seven were injured in a catastrophic crash in south St. Louis late Wednesday night. Witnesses said a speeding station wagon collided with a tractor-trailer, pushing the truck into an SUV stopped at an intersection...

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has granted a permit to Ethanex at Semo to construct a 138.6 million gallon per year ethanol plant at 261 River Road, the same address as the offices of SEMO Milling, a corn milling company that was in partnership to build the plant with Ethanex...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A double-decker truck carrying 62 young bulls overturned on a bridge ramp, killing 17 of the creatures and setting off a search for a missing bull roaming the city. Animal rescue crews said the bulls were headed from Kentucky to a feed lot in Colorado when the load shifted and the truck overturned late Wednesday on a Poplar Street Bridge ramp. The crash occurred just before midnight near the grounds of the St. Louis Gateway Arch...

Sept. 27. 2007 Dear Pat, As my friend Don and I left the stadium after the baseball game between the Cardinals and Cubs, a sax man out on the street played Coltrane's version of "My Favorite Things." Baseball is one of them. Though the Cardinals lost, it was a fine day...

The only way Jackson's East Main Street will look remotely like Cape Girardeau's LaSalle Avenue is if each city knows what the other is planning. That's one reason for Wednesday's joint meeting between the cities' planning and zoning boards. The two main arteries leading to the new I-55 interchange are developing at different paces. ...

Dr. Ken Dobbins will remain president of Southeast Missouri State University through 2012 under a contract approved by the board of regents Wednesday. His salary was increased from $165,000 to $174,109 and his annuity from $20,000 to $25,000. The average compensation of presidents at similar Missouri public universities is about $214,000, according to a university news release...

If all three ethanol plants proposed for sites along Nash Road are built, it will be the most concentrated location in the United States for production of the corn-based fuel, a state air-pollution advisory board was told Wednesday. Two of those plants now have permits to begin construction. ...

Downtown business owners have tentatively agreed to lend financial support for additional security in downtown Cape Girardeau. The agreement came after an offer by the Southeast Missourian of a $5,000 challenge grant designed to provide encouragement to other businesses to become part of the solution, according to Old Town Cape executive director Marla Mills...

The "Jackson Indian" figure carved into the trunk of an old tree at the Jackson Chamber of Commerce building was cut down this morning because of extensive rot. The carving, by August Birk of Cape Girardeau from a template drawn by then-Jackson High School student Megan Thiele in 2000, was too badly damaged to save, chamber executive assistant Cheryl Merkler said...

LIVE MUSIC Sultans of Swing The boys from the Southeast Missouri State University music faculty perform as a jazz combo. When: 9 p.m. tonight Where: Buckner Brewing Co. Ivas John Band Ivas and company return for their bi-weekly Thursday Port Cape gig...

By Douglas K. Leslie There has been some recent news concerning the status and plans for the floodwall system in downtown Cape Girar-deau. We do not dispute the information that was in the articles, but we would like to provide some additional insight to this significant asset protecting our community...

Over the next few days, one famous musical member of the baby boom generation after another will play venues in St. Louis and Paducah, Ky. The string of boomer nostalgia shows starts Sunday, when real-life guitar hero Peter Frampton visits The Pageant, on St. Louis' Delmar Loop. The band Down the Line will open, and the show begins at 8 p.m...

1. "You've Been Warned" by James Patterson, Howard Roughan 2. "Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World" by Bill Clinton 3. "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne 4. "The Collectors" by David Baldacci 5. "74 Seaside Avenue" by Debbie Macomber

PARIS -- Everybody knows the photo of the sailor sweeping a nurse into his arms in Times Square, two strangers sealing the end of World War II with a kiss. Their embrace may be the most emblematic image of love and war. But what about the private mementos and photos, tucked into pockets and treasured in the trenches and battlefields? Soldiers -- both German and French -- sculpted delicate engagement rings out of melted shrapnel. ...

In college, Chris Wubbena was asked to leave a painting class because he wanted to paint with tar on wood. When Benjie Heu's wife, Kim, found one of his grade-school spelling books decorated with some of his earliest drawings she pointed out that his work hadn't changed all that much. "Even as a kid I was drawing these creepy little things," Heu said...

If you're reading this, you're probably someone interested in the local arts and entertainment community. And if that statement applies to you, you probably also read about the death of Lou Hobbs last week. Not that his death was really a surprise. Seems like everyone who knew the man knew he had struggled with Parkinson's disease for several years. From what I hear, he fought the disease tooth and nail, but there's really nothing you can do in the face of Parkinson's...

Is Viggo Mortensen the best male actor working today? I don't want to start any arguments, but seeing Mortensen inhabit the character of a Russian mafia hit man in "Eastern Promises" was like seeing Robert DeNiro come into his own in the late '70s and early '80s...

Top selling CDs at P-Mac Music, Sept. 17-23 1. "Meanest of Times" by Dropkick Murphys 2. "One-X" by Three Days Grace 3. "Adrenaline Rush" by Twista 4. "Graduation" by Kanye West 5. "Curtis" by 50 Cent

"Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace" shares much in common with the previous five Foo Fighters albums released by frontman Dave Grohl and Co. For one thing, it's good. The man can write catchy foot-tapping rock songs all day long, tagging on anthemic choruses like afterthoughts...

CULVER CITY, Calif. -- will.i.am has a lot on his mind, and it shows. Sitting on the patio at his manager's house, the 32-year-old producer and Black Eyed Peas frontman changes subjects without warning, breaks into spontaneous song, imitates various accents and checks his BlackBerry constantly...

As a producer-for-hire, the Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am has managed to earn some respect from his music industry peers despite the hokey pop for which his group is known. His discography includes tracks for a wide range of artists such as Too Short, Common, Justin Timberlake and Sergio Mendes. However, he's best known for producing at least two of the most awful but unavoidable songs in recent history -- bandmate Fergie's "Fergalicious" and the Peas's "My Humps."...

With more than 300 doctors, nearly 1,200 registered nurses and hundreds of other medical professionals, Cape Girardeau's health-care industry is a driving force in the local economy. The two major hospitals, Saint Francis Medical Center and Southeast Missouri Hospital, have annual payrolls of more than $170 million...

CHS soccer issues; Jackson grading; Same treatment; Great photograph; Extra pickup; Tough competition; Sports attire; Loaded with pork; No Mizzou football; Grand old Broadway; Government control; Great fair in Altenburg

Vice President George Bush will visit Cape Girardeau on Thursday, the special guest at a fund-raising luncheon for U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson; the vice president's airplane, Air Force Two, cannot land at the municipal airport because of weight limitation; instead, Bush will land at Blytheville Air Force Base, Ark., and will take a helicopter from there to the Cape Girardeau airport...

To the editor:"Nobody cares for South Cape" is the oft-heard anguish. This is a point of debate, but there are signs that demonstrable change is at hand. I want to thank the Rose Bed Inn owners (Eldon Nattier and James Coley) and staff for taking a huge step toward raising awareness of the needs and the goodness of the South Cape neighborhood. ...

Dexter Public School administrators credit excellent investigative work by local law enforcement agencies in the arrest early Wednesday afternoon of two 13-year-old boys who now face charges of calling in a false bomb threat to Dexter's T.S. Hill Middle School. The two were taken into custody at the middle school shortly after noon Wednesday...

A story in Wednesday's paper about changes to Southeast Missouri State University health insurance policies should have included that there will be an increase in cafeteria plan funding for the catastrophic plan. Funding will be $1,486. Deductibles are staying the same for both plans, but there will be higher upfront costs in paying toward the deductible, which is why the cafeteria plan funding is increasing. ...

As students file into the cafeteria before school, a group of teachers and administrators file into the counselor's office. "Who's first?" asks North Elementary principal David Gross. A teacher names a student and shuffles her referral papers. "Dad is real concerned that his son is behind," she says. "His tests are awful. I can't get him to focus for more than a minute. He's not going to make it through the year. I even had his hearing tested because I was like, 'Can he hear me?'"...

Missouri added 11,000 jobs in August, placing its employment growth in the top five nationally. By DAVID A. LIEB The Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's unemployment rate rose by a larger amount than any other state last month, even though its job growth also ranked near the top...

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Professionals working on the front lines of child abuse cases met Wednesday to learn ways to improve their investigations and better safeguard children. The Protect Our Children conference, which runs through Friday, drew more than 400 participants, including attorneys, police officers, counselors and clergy...

ST. LOUIS -- Plans for a six-block, $450 million hotel, condominium and shopping development for downtown St. Louis were announced Wednesday, marking the second time in four days a major project for downtown has been unveiled. St. Louis-based Pyramid Cos. and Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc. are teaming on the new Mercantile Exchange project that will include several buildings, all but one of them owned by Pyramid and its partner, Spinnaker Real Estate Partners LLC of Connecticut...

ST. LOUIS -- Seven horses that survived a horrific trailer accident on Interstate 44 a year ago have been adopted, and 13 others are ready for new homes, the Humane Society of Missouri said Wednesday. All of them recuperated from their injuries at the Humane Society's Longmeadow Rescue Ranch in Union, Mo...

NEW YORK -- Starting in October, hundreds of Americans will be getting "Dear Taxpayer" letters telling them they've been selected for a special audit by the Internal Revenue Service. The 13,000 chosen at random this year -- and similar numbers in subsequent years -- are part of the tax agency's National Research Program, which is designed to give the IRS a better understanding of how accurately income and deductions are reported and to reduce the so-called tax gap...

ST. LOUIS -- The Hardee's and Carl's Jr. fast-food chains will begin purchasing eggs and pork from suppliers who do not keep animals in cages or crates, spokesmen for Hardee's and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said Wednesday. Both chains are owned by Carpinteria, Calif.-based CKE Restaurants. Hardee's is based in St. Louis, while Carl's Jr. headquarters are in Carpinteria...

Douglas Murray Massey, 67, of Vernal, Utah, departed this life Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007, at his home, surrounded by his loving family. He was born Dec. 4, 1939, in Vernal. Douglas lived in Cape Gir-ardeau many years. He retired from Southeast Missouri State University...

Lillian Sanders, 84, of Scott City died Monday, Sept. 24, 2007, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born July 5, 1923, near McClure, Ill., daughter of Leo Kerley and Ida Virginia Miller. She was married to Joseph C. Sanders Feb. 4, 1949...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Lorna Gremaud, 85, of Perryville died Monday, Sept. 24, 2007, at Jackson Manor in Jackson. She was born May 29, 1922, at Beaufort, Mo., daughter of Charles and Elda Noecker Staden. She married Leslie Gremaud, who died Aug. 5, 2003...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Treva L. Vines, 83, of Cairo, formerly of Mound City, Ill., died Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007. She was born May 31, 1924, in Dearborn, Mich., daughter of Samuel and Pearl Painter Salmon. She married Wayne T. Vines, who died in 1999. Vines retired as a bookkeeper from the former Rolwing Insurance Agency in Cairo. She was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Mound City...

Liebherr; Williams; May; Robbins; Price; Neubert; Hobeck; Todd; Tidwell; Corcoran; Skaggs; O'Neill-Smith

n At 11:29 p.m., emergency medical service at 300 W. Lorimier St. n At 8:34 a.m., a still alarm at 405 S. Ellis St. n At 9:46 a.m., emergency medical service at Doctor's Park. n At 1:39 p.m., emergency medical service in the 3000 block of William Street...

Arrests; Southeast Missouri State University: Jackson: Property damage

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Six Catholic nuns have been excommunicated for heresy after refusing to give up membership in a Canadian sect whose founder claims to be possessed by the Virgin Mary, the Diocese of Little Rock announced Wednesday. The Rev. J. Gaston Hebert, the diocese administrator, said he notified the nuns of the decision Tuesday night after they refused to recant the teachings of the Community of the Lady of All Nations, also known as the Army of Mary...

MIAMI -- A tropical depression put parts of Mexico's Gulf Coast under a storm watch Wednesday, while Tropical Storm Karen strengthened to near hurricane status in the open Atlantic Ocean. The 13th depression of the season could strengthen into a named storm over the next day in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, according to forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami...

LOS ANGELES -- A mistrial was declared Wednesday in the murder case against Phil Spector when the jury reported that it was deadlocked 10-2 in favor of convicting the music producer of killing actress Lana Clarkson more than four years ago. The prosecutor's office announced it would seek to retry Spector, and the family of the actress also pledged to press on...

YANGON, Myanmar -- Thousands of Buddhist monks and pro-democracy activists marched toward the center of Yangon on Wednesday in defiance of the military government's ban on public assembly. The march followed a tense confrontation at the city's famed Shwedagon Pagoda between the protesters and riot police who fired warning shots, beat some monks and dragged others away into waiting trucks...

UNITED NATIONS -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki warned the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday that the continued flow of weapons, suicide bombers and terrorism funding into his country would result in "disastrous consequences" for the region and the world...

WASHINGTON -- Outlining for the first time his concern about private contractors in Iraq, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Congress on Wednesday that he sent a fact-finding team to Baghdad and has reminded U.S. commanders that they have the authority to discipline contractors...

BAGHDAD -- A wave of bombings and shootings swept Iraq on Wednesday, killing at least 50 people and raising fears that al-Qaida had launched a promised new offensive. The U.S. military acknowledged that violence was on the upswing and blamed it on the terror movement...

LOS ANGELES -- The number of gay characters depicted on TV is falling on network series but rising on cable, a study by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation found. In the 2007-08 TV season, broadcast series will feature seven regularly seen characters who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, down from nine characters in 2006 and 10 the season before, GLAAD said. Most are on one network -- ABC...

Juli Koenegstein ended the spring track season in style, setting school and conference records in the steeplechase while qualifying for regionals. Koenegstein has picked up where she left off. The Chester, Ill., native is off to a sizzling start for the Southeast Missouri State cross country team, with a first-place finish and two runner-up performances...

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team will have two nationally televised games this season. Southeast's contest at Murray State on Jan. 26 will be televised on ESPN2, with a 2 p.m. tipoff. The Redhawks' home game with Austin Peay on Jan. 29 will be televised on ESPNU, with a 6 p.m. tipoff at the Show Me Center...

Church Women United held an annual awareness day recently at Gordonville United Methodist Church. CWU is made up of more than 30 churches of different denominations with a current four-year commitment, until 2008, of working together toward strengthening families worldwide in the 21st century...

Nature Center celebrates archaeology month; Commerce Floodfest starts Saturday; Children's Art in the Park to be held Saturday; Reischman/Kluesner reunion set for Sunday; Trinity Lutheran festival winners announced; Harvest day at Jackson celebrates 40 years; Jackson barbecue cook-off scheduled; St. Joseph to hold annual dinner auction; Annual missions auction to be held Oct. 13; Black Forest Village sets dates for Octoberfest; Central High School gathers online

The Scott City First Assembly of God will hold an all-you-can-eat fish fry from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at 312 Dearborn St. in Scott City. The menu is fried fish, cole slaw, baked beans, potatoes, hush puppies, tea and coffee. ...

MILWAUKEE -- Time is running out on the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers wasted a chance to cut their NL Central deficit to one game, giving up a first-inning home run to Albert Pujols in a testy 7-3 loss Wednesday night to the St. Louis Cardinals that saw two more hit batters and a pair of ejections...

MILWAUKEE -- Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols hit a solo home run in the first inning of St. Louis' game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night, giving him 100 RBIs for the seventh straight season. Pujols, who now has 32 homers, is the first player in history to hit at least 30 homers and drive in 100 runs in his first seven seasons...

"Interred With Their Bones", by Jennifer Lee Carrell With an obvious nod to "The Da Vinci Code," Jennifer Lee Carrell has written a two-tiered academic action yarn in which the murder mystery rests on a literary question: Who was William Shakespeare?...

"Knocked Up" Writer-director Judd Apatow ("The 40-Year-Old Virgin") strikes again with one of the summer's funniest and smartest comedies. Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl star in the story of a slacker forced to grow up and become a man after his drunken one-night stand with a career-minded woman leaves her pregnant. ...

Friday LIVE MUSIC Voce Festiva, Port Cape Girardeau Classic Country Band, American Legion Hall, Jackson The Melroys, Broussard's The Intention, Club Moxy The Level, Rude Dog Pub FAMILY Cape River Heritage Museum tours SPORTS Southeast Missouri State University volleyball vs. Morehead State, Houck Field House...

This calendar was compiled Tuesday, Sept. 25. Some events are subject to change. Thursday, Sept. 27 Newborn Massage -- Learn the Technique: Southeast Missouri Hospital's Generations Family Resource Center, 10 to 11 a.m. Sibling class: Saint Francis Medical Center Registration Center, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m...

Less than 2 hours away Missouri Mines State Historic Site, Park Hills Want to know what life was like in the glory days of Missouri's Old Lead Belt? On Saturday ,the Missouri Mines State Historic Site in Park Hills will open its doors from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. ...

The Jackson-based, country-infused singer/songwriter gives you his fave picks. 1. "I'll Take You There" by The Staple Singers 2. "Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground" by Willie Nelson 3. "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye 4. "Lipstick Sunset" by John Hiatt...

It might seem that few acts in today's image-obsessed, pop-fueled world of country music have truly "paid their dues." Not so with Cross Canadian Ragweed. But then again, are they even a country band? For 13 years the boys of CCR (yes, they know who Creedence was) have been traveling the country non-stop, playing their own style of music that lives somewhere on the border between country and good old rock 'n' roll. ...

Jackson's Jessica Tuschhoff threw all six innings and struck out four in a rain-shortened 6-0 victory over Central in softball action Wednesday. Brittany Feeney added two RBIs and Hana Bolen went 2-for-3 for the Indians (15-9). WP -- Jessica Tuschhoff (9-4). LP -- Amanda Nichols. 3B -- Brittany Feeney (J). Multiple hits -- Jackson, Hana Bolen 2-3. Record -- Jackson 15-9...

Aubrey Dondlinger has been strong on the front line for the Southeast Missouri State volleyball team since the season started. It took Karleigh DeLong a bit longer to get her season started because of an injury, but she has also been stout up front since returning...

LOS ANGELES -- A mercury-based preservative once used in many vaccines does not raise the risk of neurological problems in children, concludes a large federal study that researchers say should reassure parents about the safety of shots their children received a decade or more ago...

Unlike most restaurant owners Diana Abernathy, registered nurse and owner of the Pie Bird Cafe, never wanted to own a restaurant. In fact she never even worked in a restaurant until she opened her own uniquely named cafe almost two years ago in Fruitland. (Abernathy says she could never get hired as a server. She was told that it was because she didn't have any experience.)...

'Feast of Love'; 'In the Valley of Elah'; 'The Kingdom'; '3:10 to Yuma'; 'Balls of Fury'; 'Bourne Ultimatum'; 'The Brave One'; 'Dragon Wars'; 'Eastern Promises'; 'The Game Plan'; 'Good Luck Chuck'; 'Halloween'; 'Mr. Bean's Holiday'; 'Mr. Woodcock'; 'Rush Hour 3'; 'Superbad'; 'Sydney White'; 'Underdog'

Central junior Veronica Schabbing might have already achieved everything most high school runners only dream about by earning all-state honors by her sophomore year. Still, she just keeps improving and helping her Tigers' team, which has won eight consecutive district titles, build a stronger resume...

Kevin P. Bohnert, 48, former athletic director of Jackson High School, was found guilty Thursday of driving while intoxicated and failure to drive on the right half of the roadway, but not guilty on marijuana and drug paraphernalia possession charges...

David Cronenberg once said: "Most Hollywood filmmaking these days is the cinema of comfort. I'm not looking to make comfortable cinema, there's enough of that around and that's the easiest and safest stuff to do. Somebody's got to do the other stuff."...