Stories from Saturday, August 2, 2008

Virginia Conner Zimmer, 94, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, July 31, 2008, at Saint Francis Medical Center. She was born March 24, 1914, in Portsmouth, Ohio, daughter of Hiram and Ada Beckleham Hazlett. She and Chester M. Conner were married Nov. 16, 1935, in Vanceburg, Ky. He died in 1971. She was married to Al Zimmer June 14, 1975, in Houston. He died in 1983...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Alma Z. Kahmke, 97, of Florissant, Mo., formerly of Perryville, died Thursday, July 31, 2008, at Northgate Park Nursing Home in Florissant. She was born May 24, 1911, in Perryville, daughter of John and Emma Gerstacker Moldenhauer. She and Frederick C. Kahmke were married July 1, 1930. He died July 6, 1987...

Anna Lee Howard, 75, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Aug. 1, 2008, at her home. She was born Feb. 15, 1933, at Leemon, Mo., daughter of Lee Burton and Virginia Abernathy Seabaugh. She and Richard Howard were married June 10, 1959. He died Sept. 8, 1966...

Vacation Bible school sessions scheduled for coming week n "Veggie Tales; Pirates That Don't Do Anything" is the theme for vacation Bible school at First General Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau. Classes for children age 3 through sixth grade will be from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Snacks will be served. Call the church at 334-2234 if transportation is needed...

I am a list person. The first item on my to-do list is "create list." My fellow compulsives and listers will agree that checking off each item as the day goes on feels great. Posted on my refrigerator is a list with some of the most important building blocks of life: Crayons, glue sticks, markers and the ever-popular box of tissues. It's the latest school supply list...

I never gave much thought to the reasons people take trips. Aside from business, visits, emergencies, pleasure or to get away from it all, what other excuses did people use for getting away? What rewards did excursions provide? In a movie I recently watched, a young man named Luke went on a journey to find answers to his life's dilemma. ...

The Bible says "Sing unto the Lord a new song." A group from Cape First Assembly of God Church is singing a CD of new of praise that will be released nationwide in mid-September. The CD comes with an accompanying DVD and set of chord charts and lyrics...

BOONE COUNTY, Mo. — After two days of testimony and several hours of deliberation, a Boone County jury convicted Vincent Keith Minner for the murder of 49-year-old Michael Terry of Sikeston, Mo., today. Evidence and testimony showed that on Dec. 5, 2006, Minner, 43, of New Madrid, Mo., shot and stabbed Terry in his home at 819 Davis Blvd. in Sikeston. Terry's wife also suffered injuries in the attack...

SIKESTON, Mo. — A parade and day full of events will kick off the 56th annual Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo today. The rodeo parade begins at 10 a.m. today. Lineup will be at 9 a.m. at the Sikeston Area Chamber of Commerce. "I think we're on schedule, and everything will be fine," said Rodeo parade chairman Ben Wrather about getting ready the event...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Despite setbacks for this year's German Days celebration in Chaffee, people working for the city are going to keep the tradition running strong. It might hurt attendance that two of last year's big attractions -- carnival rides and a softball game -- will not be present at the celebration this year, said Tom Cunningham, a Chaffee Elks lodge member. The lodge helps to organize the event...

Missouri Commission on Human Rights defines sexual harassment as "a form of sex discrimination based on sexually explicit behavior." According to guidelines posted on the state's Web site for the commission, there are several degrees of harassment:...

Albert W. "Bud" Job, 85, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, July 31, 2008, at Saint Francis Medical Center. Visitation will be 4 to 8 p.m. at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home. Funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church...

To the editor: Earmarks are the way Congress works. Legislators propose a bill that is necessary and well-publicized. Legislators add their individual requests for money that goes back to their districts. Earmarks usually have nothing to do with the big bill. ...

The Downtown Revitalization and Economic Assistance for Missouri Initiative and improvements to recreation facilities were among the project updates by four city leaders at the monthly First Friday Coffee in Cape Girardeau. "We are determined to exceed the expectations of the community," parks and recreation advisory board chairman Danny Essner told about 170 business leaders inside the Show Me Center. "Our staff has their ducks in a row."...

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers sped for the exits Friday as Congress was to begin a five-week recess. As its last major act, the House passed by a 409-4 vote its first spending bill, a $72.7 billion measure awarding increases to veterans programs and military base construction projects...

ST. LOUIS -- A consultant to minority-owned businesses who was part of a 1999 protest blocking morning rush hour on Interstate -70 in St. Louis pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns. Federal prosecutor Catherine Hanaway says the false tax returns involved money 61-year-old Eddie Hasan of St. Louis received as a consultant to minority-owned businesses. His group, MOKAN, also monitored minority participation in construction contracts in St. Louis...

To the editor: This letter is in response to the July 29 article regarding Cape Girardeau County Auditor David Ludwig's return to office. Who is Virgie Koeppel trying to kid? She has never hesitated in the past to speak up to or against her boss. If Mr. Ludwig showed her an offensive collage, why did she not simply move away and report it then? How could either of the deputies see what was on his computer screen when his desk faces away from theirs?...

HANNIBAL -- Mark Twain Lake is beginning to slowly decline, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers isn't breathing easy yet, saying another big storm could subject the area to more flooding. The man-made lake in northeast Missouri had risen to record levels this week...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Vanda Ann Cannon, 65, of Chaffee died Monday, July 28, 2008, at Chaffee Nursing Center. She was born Sept. 13, 1942, in DuQuoin, Ill., daughter of Vandy and Hilda Sanders Byrd. Survivors include two sons, Tim and Terry Cannon of Chaffee; a daughter, Debbie Jones of Chaffee; and five grandchildren...

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrest n Christina Lynn Brumbaugh, 30, 681 E. Jefferson St. in Jackson, was arrested on suspicion of stealing. n Nieko Dujuan Kuykendoll, 17, 923 Good Hope St., was arrested on suspicion of assault, armed criminal action and robbery...

Barbara Ann Hudgins Hammock, 67, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, July 31, 2008, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

A story in Tuesday's edition should have reported that Kenneth Waldron, Republican candidate for District 1 commissioner, is exempt from filing a campaign finance report because he is not raising or spending more than $1,000 for his campaign.

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Thursday: n At 7:10 p.m., a boat rescue on the Mississippi River. n At 8:46 p.m., emergency medical service in the 2400 block of Camel Back Road. Firefighters responded to the following calls Friday:...

Wilver W. Wessell, 89, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, July 31, 2008, at Saint Francis Medical Center. Visitation will be from noon to service time Sunday at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home. The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home...

Havco Wood Products announced Friday that it will reduce the work force at its Cape Girardeau plant by 60 full-time and 11 temporary employees. The move went into effect immediately. In a news release, Havco president and chief executive officer Bruce Bader said the housing market was partly to blame for the decision...

NEW YORK -- Exclusive photos of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's newborn twins fetched $14 million, a person involved in the negotiations told The Associated Press, giving People magazine and a British tabloid joint rights to publish the most expensive celebrity pictures ever sold...

XI'AN, China -- Finally, China had an act of nature it could celebrate. After an Olympic year of freakish natural disasters, crowds of Chinese watched a total solar eclipse along the country's ancient Silk Road on Friday, one week before the start of the Summer Games in Beijing...

KENNETT, Mo. — After a weeklong investigation, the Dunklin County Sheriff's Office has arrested a Kennett resident and a Conway, Ark. resident for theft of irrigation pivot parts and copper wire. Jimmy Lee Linley, 26, of Conway, and Frankie Wayne Pitts, 36, of Kennett, were charged with theft of $500 or more or less than $25,000 for taking copper wire and pivot parts without the consent of the owners...

LOS ANGELES -- One man got stabbed. Another got shot in the chest. A 6-year-old boy was temporarily blinded when he was spray-painted in the face. And they were the lucky ones among those who have had run-ins with graffiti "crews," or gangs. Over the past 2 1/2 years in Southern California, three people have been killed after trying to stop graffiti vandals in the act. A fourth died after being shot while watching a confrontation between crews in a park...

MINNEAPOLIS -- Buddhist monks chanted, American Indians pounded drums, and Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Greek Orthodox and Catholic leaders offered prayers and scripture Friday, reflecting the religious backgrounds of those who died a year ago when the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed during the evening rush hour...

WASHINGTON -- Federal agents were closing in, and Bruce Ivins knew it. The Army microbiologist who was working on a vaccine for anthrax poisoning was now being grilled as a suspect in the 2001 letter attacks that killed five people and sickened 17. FBI agents were staking out his house...

To the editor: When do children become throwaways? In the late 1800s, the juvenile justice system was created because the public conscience was outraged by the unspeakable atrocities children faced when placed in adult prisons and jails. Then they were returned to society as hardened criminals. As the system developed, it became clear that housing young offenders and adult prisoners together was self-destructive and self-defeating...

WASHINGTON -- Stores, factories and other businesses large and small showed workers the door last month, sending unemployment to its highest rate in four years and adding to the evidence an economic recovery remains far off. Employers clamped down on hiring and cut 51,000 jobs in July, the Labor Department said Friday. The economy has shed jobs each month this year -- 463,000 in all...

The Cape Girardeau Police Department is investigating a theft that took place Friday at Ryan's Steakhouse involving a man who claimed he was mute. Around 12:30 p.m. near the Pear Tree Inn, officers arrested a man who Ryan's personnel said had been taking tip money off tables at the restaurant, said Sgt. Barry Hovis, spokesman for the Cape Girardeau Police Department...

BAGHDAD -- Just months after Americans repaired a sewage treatment plant in southern Baghdad, insurgents attacked the facility and killed the manager. Looters took care of the rest. Nearly three years later, the plant remains an abandoned shell. Raw sewage is still flowing freely through giant pipes into the Tigris River, ending up in some of the capital's drinking water. And those pipes are hardly the only source of contamination...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Diana Lynn Eldridge, 45, of Advance died Friday, Aug. 1, 2008, at her home. She was born Aug. 28, 1962, in Crain, Texas, daughter of George and Veta Carver Martin. She retired from Horizons in Advance. She was a member of the Advance Eagles...

MOUND CITY, Ill. -- Barbara Jane Eatmon, 68, of Mound City died Wednesday, July 30, 2008, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Feb. 15, 1940, at Smithland, Ky., daughter of Roy Leon and Glenna Sauvage Lemon. Eatmon was a member of the First Baptist Church in Mound City and a retired manager of a convenience store...

WASHINGTON -- A divided Federal Communications Commission has ruled that Comcast Corp. violated federal policy when it blocked Internet traffic for some subscribers and has ordered the cable giant to change the way it manages its network. In a precedent-setting move, the FCC by a 3-2 vote on Friday enforced a policy that guarantees customers open access to the Internet...

Positive change IT TAKES huge amounts of revenue to run a city, and a casino brings in great amounts of revenue. Good or bad, the other alternative is higher taxes. We can't have it both ways. It's time to open our eyes and accept change as a positive thing...

Reading: static/regressing. Math: getting better. That's the summary report of Cape Girardeau students' performance on state tests. Missouri Assessment Program results were released this week. With a few exceptions, district reading scores were either stagnant or lower, some as much as 20 percent. But, nearly across the board, math scores rose significantly. Out of 14 instances where growth was displayed in a grade level, 11 were in math...

The Cape Girardeau County clerk's office will be open special hours today to make it easier for voters to turn in or cast absentee ballots in advance of Tuesday's primary election, County Clerk Kara Clark said. The clerk's main office on the third floor of the County Administration Building, 1 Barton Square in Jackson, will be open from 8 a.m. ...

SIKESTON, Mo. — A 45-minute police standoff Thursday ended with the arrest of a Sikeston man wanted on a misdemeanor warrant. Around 12:20 p.m. Thursday, Sikeston Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers were called to 210 Jackson St. for a disturbance between a father and son who were arguing in front of their home when officers arrived, according to a news release from DPS. ...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Roadside bombs killed five NATO soldiers and a civilian in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, while a coalition of aid groups warned that violence is spreading to once-stable regions and forcing them to scale back humanitarian work...

PUXICO, Mo. — A Puxico man, 85-year-old Audrey Walk, died Tuesday of injuries sustained in a wreck on July 24 that claimed the life of his 81-year-old wife, Ruth Walk. The accident occurred as Audrey Walk was driving on U.S. 60 and attempted to take the Route T ramp and apparently lost control of the vehicle, becoming airborne. The vehicle came to rest near the outer road in an upright position...

The two women working as deputy auditors for Cape Girardeau County say they have been told they must forgive their boss for using the Internet to repeatedly view and print images of half-naked women and forget that it happened. According to deputy auditors Virgie Koeppel and Beth Biri, they were instructed to "forgive, forget and move on for the good of the county" Thursday by the county's prosecuting attorney, Morley Swingle, and the attorney for County Auditor David Ludwig, Al Lowes...

Police arrested a Cape Girardeau man and woman after finding them in possession of $1,400 worth of heroin in an M&Ms wrapper, according to a news release from the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Benjamin R. Gates, 28, and Emily B. Brown, 29, were arrested in the 1600 block of North Kingshighway and each charged with single counts of possession of heroin with intent to distribute, said Sgt. Barry Hovis, spokesman for the Cape Girardeau Police Department...