Stories from Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Shannon Schorn PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Shannon L. Schorn, 30, of Campbell Hill, Ill., died Saturday, April 12, 2008, at Pinckneyville Community Hospital in Pinckneyville, Ill. She was born Sept. 7, 1977, in Perryville, daughter of Carolyn Rollet. She and Kent Schorn were married Sept. 6, 2006, in Las Vegas...

Louise McCain Louise McCain, 91, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, April 13, 2008, at the Lutheran Home. She was born Feb. 18, 1917, at Neelys Landing, daughter of William "Ben" and Bertha E. Farrow Meyer. She and L. Howard McCain were married Dec. 30, 1941, in St. Charles, Mo. He died April 12, 1999...

Kathy Rogers CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Kathy J. Rogers, 58, of Chaffee died Sunday, April 13, 2008, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born March 31, 1950, in Sikeston, Mo., daughter of Cubie and Thelma Lois Finney Heffington. Survivors include a son, Terry Lockhart of Sullivan, Mo.; a daughter, Joyce Worley of Chaffee; five brothers, Tommy Heffington of Benton, Mo., Buddy Heffington of Hartford, Mich., Donny and Gene Heffington of Dowagiac, Mich., Bob Heffington of Florida; a sister, Lois Doberstein of Dowagiac; and four grandchildren.. ...

Cory Brunkhorst DE SOTO, Ill. -- Cory Gene Brunkhorst, 45, of De Soto died Saturday, April 12, 2008, at his home. He was born March 10, 1963, in Cape Girardeau, son of Gene Roland and Betty Lou Basler Brunkhorst. Brunkhorst was a graduate of Central High School and received a bachelor of science degree in science from Southeast Missouri State University...

GLENALLEN, Mo. -- The wind had a biting chill Monday morning when Kevin McKinnon knocked on the door of Daphne Allen's rented mobile home. McKinnon had met Allen before. He's a Federal Emergency Management Agency community relations representative. She's a wife and mother living in a rented mobile home...

NEW YORK -- Steve Tarpin can bake a graham cracker crust in his sleep, but explaining why the price for his Key lime pies went from $20 to $25 required mastering a thornier topic: global economics. He recently wrote a letter to his customers and posted it near the cash register listing the factors -- dairy prices driven higher by conglomerates buying up milk supplies, heat waves in Europe and California, demand from emerging markets and the weak dollar...

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team will try to end a four-game losing streak and recapture some momentum today. Southern Illinois University is in the same boat. Both squads could use a victory during their 3 p.m. contest in Carbondale, Ill...

Leopold junior Dustin Thiele made his season debut Monday and quickly made up for lost time. Thiele hit a pair of grand slams in a 15-run third inning in Leopold's 31-4, five-inning victory over Richland in the Wildcats' home opener. The at-bats were the first of the season for Thiele, who entered the game in center field as a substitution...

With FEMA money assured, mounds of branches and other storm debris alongside Jackson streets are being removed. The city's public works department crews had cleared some of the mess, collecting 627 cubic yards of debris from nearly 174 blocks in seven weeks. ...

MANHATTAN, Kan. -- After putting together one of the best freshman seasons ever, Michael Beasley is headed to the NBA. Kansas State's All-American freshman announced Monday that he will skip his final three seasons to enter the June 26 NBA draft, where he could be the No. 1 overall pick...

The terrible effects of addiction to methamphetamine are well-known to those who use the deadly substance, as well as to family and friends who see the torment and suffering. Jack Bridges watched his son, Shawn Bridges, die at age 35 from the effects of meth. Before he died, Shawn participated in the making of a documentary showing how meth affects users both physically and mentally. It is a sobering story, one that Jack Bridges hopes young people can see before they think about trying meth...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Voters would be asked to change how the state's judges are picked under a proposed constitutional amendment given preliminary approval by the House on Monday. Several, mostly Republican, critics of the state's court selection plan have grown increasingly vocal in recent years. They argue the current selection method is secretive and unaccountable to the public...

Help with license I WAS in the license bureau the other day. I am handicapped and have to use a walker. When I got inside, I had to sit down to rest. One of the women working there saw me and asked me if she could help me. I told her I had to rest because it was hard for me to walk that far. ...

PLATTE CITY, Mo. -- Ferrellgas Inc. has filed a lawsuit against a former employee, accusing him of embezzling at least $3 million from the propane gas company. Scott J. Beeson, a former manager of Ferrellgas' fleet department at its office in Liberty, Mo., is accused in the civil lawsuit of creating fake invoices and pocketing about $3 million. Beeson, who was fired in March, had worked for the company for more than 10 years...

25 years ago: April 15, 1983 The Mississippi River begins to lazily recede in the Cape Girardeau area; the river at Cape Girardeau stands at 42.1 feet, a drop from yesterday's crest of 42.2 feet. A longtime friend of Southeast Missouri Hospital, Robert D. Harrison was honored at the hospital's annual dinner meeting for its association last night, when it was revealed Southeast's new wing will be named for him...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Soaring commodity prices. Rising fuel costs. A growing world population. Weather-related disasters. Competition from biofuels. The lowest level of grain stocks in decades. All of these factors are now coming together to create what those who feed the world's most impoverished regions are calling a "perfect storm" of circumstances...

By Peter C. Myers, Sr. I read with great interest Walter Wildman's sincere article about Sikeston's attempt to "steal" the I-66 route. Mayor Mike Marshall of Sikeston is not trying to steal the I-66 project. He's just making it more feasible and beneficial for more of the area's and nation's citizens. Times and conditions have changed since 1991...

David Clardy WEST FRANKFORT, Ill. -- David Joel Clardy, 40, of West Frankfort, formerly of Anna, Ill., died Saturday, April 12, 2008. He was born May 2, 1967, in Tupelo, Miss., son of Elbert Jr. and Shirley Ann Hinkle Clardy. Clardy was a trim specialist with Bombardier Motor Corporation in Benton, Ill...

There are two FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers operating in the area to help victims of the March 18 to 19 storms and subsequent flooding. The hours and locations are: n 502 W. Main St., Suite E, in Jackson. Hours are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily except Sunday...

ROME -- Media billionaire Silvio Berlusconi won a decisive victory Monday in Italy's parliamentary election, setting the colorful conservative and staunch U.S. ally on course to his third stint as prime minister. The victory in voting Sunday and Monday by parties supporting the 71-year-old Berlusconi avenged his loss two years ago to a center-left coalition...

JACKSON, Mich. -- A Navy medic is being reimbursed for a $60 towing bill he received while he was helping perform CPR on a heart attack victim. Jackson County Undersheriff Tom Finco said the department was paying back Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Tim Moore as "a goodwill gesture"...

Diabetes center awarded national recognition Southeast Missouri Hospital's Diabetes Center received national certification from the American Diabetes Association. The ADA awarded the Diabetes Center with three-year recognition certification based on the high level of knowledge of the staff and education for patients with diabetes...

HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Zimbabwe's High Court rejected an appeal Monday for the immediate release of presidential election results, dashing hopes for an end to a paralyzing political crisis and prompting the opposition to call a nationwide strike. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai says he won the March 29 election outright and has accused President Robert Mugabe of holding back the results to try to maintain his 28-year grip in power. ...

BAGHDAD -- Iraqi troops freed a kidnapped British journalist for CBS News on Monday after finding him hooded and bound in a house during a raid in a Shiite militia stronghold in Basra. Richard Butler's rescue after two months in captivity was a welcome success story for the Iraqi military, which has been strongly criticized for its effort to impose order on Iraq's second-largest city...

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI n Christopher C. Brotherton, 19, 2030 Kevin Drive, was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, leaving the scene and failure to maintain a single lane....

To the editor: The weekend of April 4 brought to Cape Girardeau several accomplished storytellers to kick off our storytelling festival. The foresight of Chuck Martin and Joel Rhodes to find first-rate talent to invest in the first-ever storytelling festival certainly paid dividends. Thanks to the many sponsors and volunteers that it takes to make one of these events successful...

AUGUSTA, Ga. — They were together in the Butler Cabin, then on the putting green for the trophy presentation, both times Zach Johnson helping Trevor Immelman get his arms into a green jacket at the Masters. They now belong to an exclusive club...

NAIROBI, Kenya -- A notorious criminal gang exchanged gunfire with police and put up blazing roadblocks Monday, threatening to spread violence nationwide unless authorities free their leader in an unsettling new danger for Kenya's bloody postelection crisis...

Fourteen volunteers are using First Baptist Church of Delta as a base of operations for Samaritan's Purse, a faith-based ministry that spent two weeks helping Piedmont, Mo., residents rebound from the floods. Lloyd Blackwell, Samaritan's Purse program manager, said the volunteers are helping homeowners from Allentown to Cape Girardeau clean up flood damage and haul debris to curb and roadsides for pick up...

@graphic_body_indent_bold leadin:Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Sunday: n At 5:19 p.m., emergency medical service in the 300 block of North Sprigg Street. n At 5:45 p.m., emergency medical service in the 1400 block of William Street...

ATLANTA -- Delta Air Lines has reached an agreement with Northwest Airlines to take over Northwest and create the world's biggest carrier. The boards of both companies gave the deal the go-ahead Monday. Delta said the combined airline will have an enterprise value of $17.7 billion. It will be based in Atlanta, and Delta chief executive officer Richard Anderson will head the combined company...

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Red Cross criticized the way the U.S. handles prisoners at the highly secretive Bagram military base, urging reforms Monday that would allow detainees to introduce testimony in their defense. The criticism of the prison, which few outsiders have seen, goes to the heart of the system the Bush administration uses to justify holding detainees outside the U.S...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Summer camps just for children with chronic diseases are booming -- places where they can learn about epilepsy or finally meet someone else with Tourette's tics or slice open a cow's heart to see what's wrong with their own. Now fledgling research suggests such special camps may offer more than a rite of passage these children otherwise would miss: They just might have a lasting therapeutic value...

WASHINGTON -- Tax season became a little more taxing this year, with the average person spending more than a day and more than $200 collecting, calculating and compiling those numbers for the tax man, according to a report based on Internal Revenue Service figures...

The Reynolds House won't become a coffee shop, antique store or office building — yet. After about two hours of discussion, members of the Historical Association of Greater Cape Girardeau's board of directors ended a meeting Monday to decide the building's future. No decision was made...

CHICAGO -- Graffiti scrawled in a St. Xavier University bathroom reading "Be prepared to die on 4/14" resulted in empty campuses Monday not only at the college, but at four nearby elementary and high schools. Chicago's Malcolm X College evacuated students and canceled daytime classes after a similar threat was found in a campus bathroom. And Michigan's Oakland University also was closed because of threatening graffiti mentioning April 14...

Editor's note: In the beginning of 2006, Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter reopened a case resolved by Missouri courts in 1994. Unconvinced the right man was sent to prison for the murder of a Benton, Mo., college student named Angela Mischelle Lawless, Walter has been investigating old evidence. In less than two months, a judge will determine whether there is enough evidence to retry the case. This is the last of three stories detailing old and new aspects of the case...

WASHINGTON -- Iraq's financial free ride may be over. After five years, Republicans and Democrats seem to have found common ground on at least one aspect of the war. From the fiercest foes of the war to the most steadfast Bush supporters, they are looking at Iraq's surging oil income and saying Baghdad should start picking up more of the tab, particularly for rebuilding hospitals, roads, power lines and the rest of the country...

Steelman lends her campaign $500,000 JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Republican Treasurer Sarah Steelman has lent her gubernatorial campaign $500,000. Steelman's campaign said Monday that she has more than $1.4 million on hand heading into her August gubernatorial primary against U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof. Candidates are required to file quarterly finance reports with the Missouri Ethics Commission by the end of business today...

AIRPORT CITY, Israel -- Former president Jimmy Carter defended his plan to meet with the top leader of the violently anti-Israel Hamas movement, saying Monday he hopes to become a conduit between the Islamic militant group and Washington and Israel...

Mosley Son to Joshua Edward Mosley and Alison Cara Copeland of Chaffee, Mo., Saint Francis Medical Center, 8:06 p.m. Friday, April 4, 2008. Name, Dillan Edward. Weight, 7 pounds, 9 ounces. First child. Ms. Copeland is the daughter of Wayne Copeland and Gloria Copeland of Ellsinore, Mo. She is employed at Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse. Mosley is the son of Jimmy Mosley and Debbie Mosley of Chaffee. He is employed at Havco Wood Products...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- For the first seven races this season, a car not owned by Hendrick Motorsports went to Victory Lane. All seven times, people wondered what was wrong with NASCAR's best team. In the eighth race, Jimmie Johnson shut up everybody. With a gutsy call from crew chief Chad Knaus to not stop for gas when the rest of the leaders were too scared to stretch their fuel to the finish, the two-time defending series champion finally gave Hendrick its first win of the season Saturday night at Phoenix International Raceway. ...

Etson Eves Etson C. Eves Jr., 96, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, April 13, 2008, at his home. He was born Feb. 2, 1912, son of Etson H. and May Belle Cruse Eves. He and Clara Steel were married Jan. 21, 1940, in Cape Girardeau. She died March 1, 1984...

PITTSBURGH -- Democratic Sen. Barack Obama on Monday questioned rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's opposition to free trade agreements that some voters contend have eliminated thousands of U.S. jobs and mocked her weekend visit to an Indiana bar as pandering to the working class...

Medical doctor and best-selling author John La Puma ("The Real Age Diet") is fond of quoting Yogi Berra (who isn't?): "When you see a fork in the road, take it." This Yogism has special meaning for the good doctor. He not only took a different direction when he found his fork in the road (from traditional medical practice and research), he picked up that fork and realized all of the health and medicinal benefits of food. ...

WASHINGTON -- Federal health officials on Monday proposed adding dangerous blood clots in the leg and eight other conditions to the list of complications that Medicare won't pay to treat if they were acquired at the hospital. Medicare set a new precedent last year by saying it would no longer pay hospitals for treating certain "never events" -- conditions that occur as a result of hospital error. ...

NEW YORK -- J.K. Rowling testified Monday before a packed courtroom in a lawsuit to block publication of a Harry Potter lexicon, telling a judge that the book amounts to a "wholesale theft" of nearly 20 years of her hard work. "We all know I've made enough money. That's absolutely not why I'm here," Rowling said in court...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's top gubernatorial contenders appealed to county officials Monday with promises of more money for housing state prisoners and fewer unfunded mandates from the state. Democratic Attorney General Jay Nixon, Republican Treasurer Sarah Steelman and Republican U.S. ...

SLIDELL, La. -- When the news broke last month that a janitor had been arrested and accused of raping boys in the bathroom at an elementary school, the issue of justice and retribution became the talk around dinner tables and baseball fields. Castrate him, some said. No, let the other inmates deal with him. No, execute him...

SAN ANGELO, Texas -- Texas officials who took 416 children from a polygamist retreat into state custody sent many of their mothers away Monday, as a judge and lawyers struggled with a legal and logistical morass in one of the biggest child-custody cases in U.S. history...

MUSCAT, Oman (AP) — Thousands cheered and some danced with traditional daggers along the Olympic torch's path through Oman's capital Monday, a festive greeting that contrasted with disrupting protests elsewhere on the flame's global journey...

Postman shot while walking route in St. Louis ST. LOUIS -- Police are investigating the shooting of a postal worker in south St. Louis. KMOV-TV reports that 44-year-old postman Terry Marcrum was shot in the shoulder and back of the head while delivering mail just before 2 p.m. Neighbors said Marcrum is a veteran mail carrier who is well known in the neighborhood. He was driving a personal vehicle Monday while he delivered mail...

WASHINGTON -- After days on the campaign defensive, Democrat Barack Obama accused rival Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday of leveling criticism straight from the Republican playbook and said even so, he will win the White House over John McCain and an "out of touch" GOP...

Officer uses stun gun on middle school student MAPLEWOOD, Mo. -- A school resource officer in suburban St. Louis was suspended with pay after allegedly using a stun gun on a middle school student. The president of the Maplewood-Richmond Heights school board told KMOV-TV that the incident happened April 3 at Maplewood Middle School. ...

LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) -- The superintendent of Liberty schools has resigned amid allegations that he and other top administrators abused district credit cards. Superintendent Phil Wright and the others are accused of not providing receipts for purchases with district cards, including for alcoholic beverages at hotels, restaurants and retail stores...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- An Independence man is $1 million richer, thanks to the Missouri Lottery's 4 Million Dollar Cash Bonanza Scratchers game. Lottery officials said Tuesday that Charles Purl's ticket is the third $1 million winner in the game, and the second from the Kansas City area...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Missouri Supreme Court has rejected class-action certification for a lawsuit claiming consumers were mislead about the sweeteners used in some Diet Coke products. The lawsuit contends that many consumers would not have bought the fountain version of Diet Coke if they had known it contained the sweetener saccharin along with aspartame. Bottled Diet Coke is sweetened exclusively with aspartame...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The House approves legislation that would ask Missourians to raise their taxes for veterans services. The proposed constitutional amendment would create a one-eighth cent sales tax to boost funding for the state Veterans Commission. It would be used to build more long-term-care facilities and for one-stop service centers where veterans could receive care and learn about programs...

KENNETT, Mo. — A man who briefly escaped custody in the early morning hours of Friday, only to later turn himself into authorities Friday afternoon, has been charged by Dunklin County prosecutors with escape or attempted escape from custody while under arrest for a felony offense...

MAPLEWOOD, Mo. (AP) -- A new police officer is working at two Maplewood-Richmond Heights schools, after the previous resource officer used a stun gun on a 13-year-old girl. A police inquiry did not find Officer Darryl Overall did anything wrong. The officer has not been disciplined, but the middle school asked him not to return...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The President Casino in downtown St. Louis is reopen after Mississippi River floodwaters receded. President Casino officials say the river rose to the point that operations had to be temporarily suspended on Saturday, but said clean-up was minor. The casino reopened Tuesday...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Democratic Attorney General Jay Nixon says he raised nearly $1.5 million for his gubernatorial campaign in the past three months. Nixon's campaign claims that is more than any candidate for Missouri governor has ever raised in the first quarter of an election year. Nixon now has $2.7 million on hand...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The state Republican Party has hired Tina Hervey as its new spokeswoman. She started working last week. The 32-year-old from St. Louis has spent 10 years working in Washington, most recently as the deputy director of educational services for the U.S. Department of Education...

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- You can save money in New Madrid just by being the right age. New Madrid senior citizens can lower their monthly utility bills by signing up for a new program available through the city. An ordinance approved earlier this year cuts the utility bill of a resident age 62 or over by $11...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- St. Louis police said Tuesday that they were questioning a suspect in the shooting of a mail carrier, but spokeswoman Schron Jackson did not immediately have additional information to disclose. Terry Marcrum, 44, was shot in the shoulder and the back of his head while on his mail rounds Monday afternoon. ...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- American Airlines pilots plan two demonstrations in St. Louis today as part of a nationwide effort to draw attention to the airline's safety practices. The pilots will protest outside American's check-in area at Lambert Airport and outside the Anheuser-Busch headquarters. Pilots say the picketing at Busch is because the brewer is a major customer of the airline...