Stories from Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Calendar Today n Diabetes self-management support group: 1 to 2 p.m. at HealthPoint Plaza in Cape Girardeau. The session will expose participants to the benefits of yoga for the mind and body. To register or for more information, call the Diabetes Center at 339-0121...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Linda Ruessler, 52, of Perryville died Monday, Aug. 11, 2008, at her home. She was born July 2, 1956, at Perryville, daughter of Herbert and Estelle Connley Smith. She and Daniel Ruessler were married Nov. 5, 1992. Ruessler was a member of Mission of Christ Church...

Edna W. Kiplinger McCulley, 75, of Scott City died Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born June 7, 1933, at Portageville, Mo., daughter of Joe and Jeffie Gaines Robinson. She and Mitchell Garland Kiplinger were married Oct. 21, 1949. He died Dec. 26, 1973. She then married Nealy James McCulley Nov. 1, 1975. He died Jan. 21, 1997...

Ernest Hemingway's "For Whom The Bell Tolls" wasn't written about getting children ready to go back to school, but it's that time again ... and the bell is tolling for students and parents. Keeping a child healthy, happy and focused on schoolwork isn't easy. However, there are a few tricks to back to school...

Olivia Garard played in her first AJGA junior-am Monday, and she assured herself of leaving Cape Girardeau with some hardware this year. Garard, from Denver, teamed with Elliot Levin of St. Louis and Dalhousie Golf Club members Deanna Estes, Tom Matheny and Beverly Matheny to win the junior-am for the American Junior Golf Association's second annual Dalhousie Junior Championship. ...

Pressure? Jack Schultz doesn't feel any pressure heading into today's first round in the American Junior Golf Association's Dalhousie Junior Championship event. The top-ranked player in the field according to the AJGA's Polo Golf Rankings, at No. 123, said his status probably wasn't something a lot of players were talking about...

Competing in the Olympics has always been a goal for Natalie Purcell. Suffice to say the former Southeast Missouri State women's basketball player is currently living out a dream. Purcell, who played at Southeast during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons, is participating in the Beijing Games for her native New Zealand. She is believed to be the first Southeast product to compete in an Olympics...

The Southeast Missouri State women's soccer team is favored to repeat as Ohio Valley Conference champion. Monday's announcement of the OVC preseason poll saw the Redhawks dominate with 16 first-place votes and 128 points. Murray State received the other two first-place nods and 104 points based on voting by the league's head coaches and sports information directors...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Hotels book up months before the annual Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo. As rodeo week arrives, longer-than-usual lines form outside of local eateries and retailers get a boost from the event that draws old and new fans to the area. "We, as a community, are very grateful the Jaycees put on the rodeo each year. ...

UNITED NATIONS -- Georgia brought another last-ditch appeal Monday to the United Nations Security Council to stop Russia's advancing army, which U.N. officials confirmed has driven beyond Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The officials, B. ...

LONGMONT, Colo. -- A man claiming to be a police detective tried to get an adult novelty shop to give him free X-rated videos, saying he wanted to make sure the performers weren't underage, authorities said. He made three tries within nine days last month and was turned down each time. The store manager called police after the third try...

MONTREAL -- Montreal's mayor on Monday promised a swift inquiry into the shooting death of a Honduran teenager by police after the incident prompted violent clashes between angry youth and authorities in a heavily Haitian neighborhood. A police officer was shot in the leg late Sunday, cars were set ablaze, stores were looted and firefighters were pelted with beer bottles in Montreal North, a multiethnic area referred to by local police as the Bronx of Montreal for its poverty and crime...

The attorney representing the Cape Girardeau County Commission in an open meetings lawsuit filed by commissioner Jay Purcell is angry that Purcell and his attorney would release documents filed in the case to the media. The consulting attorney for the county, Tom Ludwig, said he was outraged the documents were released to the media, an act he called "bad form" before he could review them for his client...

ST. LOUIS -- Soaring food and fuel costs could have an effect in school cafeterias this school year. A nutrition expert at Washington University in St. Louis says districts will have to get creative to continue providing nutritional food as they battle rising costs...

WICHITA, Kan. -- The Plaza Tire Capahas gave the Havasu (Ariz.) Heat a much tougher game this time. But for the second straight year the Heat -- the 2007 National Baseball Congress World Series champions -- defeated the Capahas at the prestigious tournament...

To the editor: Why is it that the government of this country can get involved from everything from seat-belt usage to smoking, but when two oil companies set earnings records for a quarter during an alleged gasoline crunch I hear no screaming from Congress about how that came about. What is it? Are they waiting for oil-company executives to start using steroids or HGH before they get involved?...

WASHINGTON -- NASA is not properly emphasizing safety in its design of a new spaceship and its return-to-the-moon program faces money, morale and leadership problems, an agency safety panel found Monday. The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel cited "surprising anxiety among NASA employees" about the Constellation moon program and said the project "lacks clear direction." Its 143-page annual report specifically faulted the agency's design of the Orion crew capsule for not putting safety features first.. ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Up to 30 sets of cremated ashes have been seized from the central Missouri funeral home under state investigation for allegedly mishandling bodies. The Warren Funeral Chapel last week turned over between 20 and 30 containers of cremated ashes -- some dating as far back as 1992 -- to the Boone County medical examiner's office for identification, the Columbia Daily Tribune reported...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A suicide bomber rammed his car into a NATO convoy in Kabul on Monday, killing three civilians and wounding at least a dozen people, including some soldiers, officials said. Clashes and an airstrike in the south killed 25 militants and eight civilians held hostage by insurgents...

LAS VEGAS -- India's military pilots are expected to participate for the first time in Air Force training exercises above the Nevada desert, marking another step in steadily improving U.S. relations with the Asian subcontinent nation since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- One man died and another one was seriously injured when two all-terrain vehicles collided at 1 a.m. Saturday in western Butler County. David L. Campbell, 46, of Poplar Bluff, was pronounced dead at the scene by Butler County Deputy Coroner Joe Chapman...

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. — A body found in the Mississippi River has been identified as that of a missing boater. The Missouri State Water Patrol said Sunday the victim is 46-year-old Arthur Barton of Farmington, Mo. The body was found Friday. The search continues for the second man in the boat, 52-year-old Harold Smith of Farmington. ...

WASHINGTON -- More banks are tightening lending standards on home mortgages and other consumer and business loans as a deepening credit crisis exerts a heavier toll on the economy. The Federal Reserve said Monday the percentage of banks reporting tighter lending standards rose across various loan types in its July survey. In April, the central bank had found that the percentage of banks reporting tighter lending standards was already near historic highs...

Goode Son to Mark Edward and Jennifer Annette Goode of Fort Campbell, Ky., Blanchfield Army Community Hospital at Fort Campbell, 9:14 p.m. Saturday, July 26, 2008. Name, Nicolas Andrew. Weight, 7 pounds, 1 ounce. Fifth child, third son. Mrs. Goode is the former Jennifer Rice, daughter of John and Pat Rice of Jackson. Goode is the son of Sherri Deaton of Shelbyville, Ind., and the late Danny Goode. He is stationed with the U.S. Army at Fort Campbell...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Jackie D. "Jack" Evans, 67, of Cobden died Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008, at his home. He was born Jan. 6, 1941, in Golconda, Ill., son of Marshall Rufus and Alice Lorraine Thompson Evans. He and Ethel Jackson were married Oct. 7, 1967, in Carbondale, Ill. She died July 8, 1978. He and Patsy D. Johns were married June 1, 1980, in Anna, Ill...

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania -- Mauritania's military junta freed the prime minister from house arrest under international pressure after a coup that prompted the U.S. to cut off more than $20 million in aid. Hours after his release, Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed Waqef told a rally of several thousand people that the country would not accept last week's ouster of President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, who remained under arrest...

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Police Deparmtne released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests n Bobby J. Hastings, 23, 537 N. Sprigg St., Apt. A, was arrested on a Cape Girardeau County warrant for burglary. n Tonya B. Jones, 25, of Sikeston, Mo., was arrested on suspicion of stealing and fraudulent use of a credit device...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri is among the national leaders in maintaining its transportation system and system value, according to a report issued by the Reason Foundation. Missouri jumped to a national rank of 13th in 2006 after ranking 17th in 2005 and 28th in 2004...

The Delta Queen steamboat, which usually makes a brief stop in Cape Girardeau as it cruises the upper Mississippi River, will be docked along the downtown waterfront through Wednesday afternoon. The historic boat arrived Monday morning on its way to St. ...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A Poplar Bluff man is in satisfactory condition at a Cape Girardeau hospital after he was badly beaten by what authorities describe as "cowardly thugs" during a strong-arm robbery. Kenneth E. Gilbreath, 53, suffered severe injuries to his face and head during the attack, including multiple fractures of his forehead, facial bones and sinuses, Poplar Bluff Police Detective Greg Brainard said in his report...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A state judge will decide in October on a lawsuit seeking to block $21 million from going to the Life Sciences Research Board. Stem-cell research critics want a temporary order preventing the money transfer while the Life Sciences Research Board is asking that the lawsuit be tossed out. A Cole County Judge last month denied a request for a temporary injunction blocking any state money from going to the board for 15 days...

It is well known that baby boomers are changing the world. At least that is what we were so convinced of back in the day. Now that we are more concerned with the price of Depends than the spiritual quotient of the universe, perhaps our day has come and gone...

A Whitewater woman and a Millersville man were severely injured Saturday during a car accident on Highway 72, three miles west of Jackson, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol's crash reports Web page. Katheryn F. Carsten, 22, of Whitewater and Joshua Patterson, 23, of Millersville were injured when a car driven by Carsten in which Patterson was a passenger struck another car, driven by a 16-year-old Jackson boy. ...

CAIRO, Egypt -- Tourists have long been awed by Egypt's famed Giza Pyramids and irritated by having to fend off peddlers relentlessly offering camel rides and trinkets. But the hustlers were gone Monday as Egypt started an elaborate project to modernize the area and make it friendlier to tourists. Security is also improving, with a 12-mile chain-link fence featuring cameras, alarms and motion detectors...

SALT LAKE CITY -- A Utah man accused of failing to report that his cousin produced and possessed the deadly poison ricin pleaded guilty Monday to the felony charge. Thomas Tholen, 54, pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony -- knowing about a crime but failing to report it. Federal prosecutors agreed to recommend that he receive probation rather than prison time at sentencing, set for October...

To potential international students, Zahir Ahmed describes Southeast Missouri State University as "the middle of America," safer and with fewer distractions than other cities. In April, he traveled to India, Nepal and the United Arab Emirates to advertise Southeast...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A state audit released Monday identified several problems with the computer system security of the Missouri Department of Transportation. Auditors warned that MoDOT's computer system is "susceptible to threats and vulnerabilities including unauthorized use and disclosure of data." The audit also found that the transportation department has not implemented a disaster recovery plan for its network, which auditors warn means that there is no way to guarantee that MoDOT's computers could be quickly restored.. ...

DEXTER, Mo. -- An innovative device has become more common on school campuses across Stoddard County and promises ready assistance for a staff member, student, or visitor who may suffer a heart attack on school grounds. The device itself, a defibrillator, has been around for decades, but became available in recent years in the form of a compact, user-friendly tool. ...

NEW YORK -- Foreign correspondency on the fake news of "The Daily Show" usually amounts to someone standing in front of a video screen on the New York set, a few steps away from Jon Stewart's desk. But to coincide with the Olympics, the show's Rob Riggle went to China. Really. His skewed travelogue unfolds this week on the Comedy Central hit...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Three Perryville men were arrested last week and charged with two counts each of stealing a motor vehicle in connection with several missing all-terrain vehicles stolen from in and near Perry County. Patrick M. Sanders, 40, Joseph C. Sumpter, 23, and Andrew L. Fullington, 19, were arrested Aug. 6 on theft charges following an investigation by the Perry County Sheriff's Department...

If the juniors in the AJGA junior-ams are the headliners, Jackson's Tanner Werner has reached the big time. Werner was paired with a foursome that included his father, Randy, during Monday's junior-am for the Dalhousie Junior Championship. He became the first golfer from the immediate area to play as an AJGA tournament participant in the junior-am...

LULA, Ga. -- A suspect was shot to death and a sheriff's deputy injured after an hour-long standoff Monday near an elementary school in north Georgia, authorities said. Lula Elementary was locked down after someone saw a man with a handgun behind the school. The man pointed a gun at an off-duty officer who went to the scene after hearing shots, then ran away, Hall County Sgt. Kiley Sargent said...

MIAMI -- Yadier Molina went more than two months without a home run. He picked a good time to end the drought. Molina hit a two-run homer, Joel Pineiro pitched seven strong innings and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Florida Marlins 4-2 on Monday night in a matchup of surprising playoff contenders...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The retrial of a former Columbia police officer convicted of killing a male college student with whom he had an affair has been postponed until December. A new trial was scheduled to begin Monday. But special prosecutor Morley Swingle of Cape Girardeau has asked for more time to prepare for expert witnesses expected to testify for the defense...

MANILA, Philippines -- Philippine troops regained control of two southern villages from Muslim rebels Monday as the number of Filipinos displaced in the fighting grew to 130,000, officials said. Government troops pressed ahead with a massive assault to clear 13 other villages. At least one soldier and seven Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerrillas have been killed since nearly 3,000 troops and police launched the attacks on Sunday...

MIAMI -- St. Louis pitcher Chris Carpenter will return to St. Louis today to have his strained right triceps evaluated. Carpenter was hopeful Monday of remaining on track for his next start, a day after he was removed from a game in Chicago. The team said in its medical report that Dr. George Paletta would evaluate the injury...

DAMASCUS, Md. -- Mercedes Clemens is certified to massage humans, but she claims the state of Maryland is keeping her from her first love: Massaging horses. She shut down her equine massage practice in a Washington suburb after state officials told her state law only allows veterinarians to perform such services...

Construction on new single-family homes in Jackson is down through the mid-year point, but city leaders are optimistic that the situation will improve before the end of 2008. Through June 30, construction on single-family homes stands at 27, compared to 49 during the first six months of 2007, according to the city of Jackson's mid-year permit report...

Fourteen years is a long time for a prison convict to maintain his innocence, but there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of inmates around the country who insist they didn't commit the crime that sent them to prison. So why is the case of Joshua Kezer, who was convicted for the 1992 murder near Benton, Mo., of Angela Mischelle Lawless, different?...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Two area residents were charged Friday with distributing crack cocaine to a confidential informant within 1,000 feet of public or government housing in south Poplar Bluff. Alvin Moses Hightower, 25, of Cape Girardeau and Tanisha Evon Richie, 23, of the 800 block of Valley Avenue were charged with distribution of a controlled substance by Butler County Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Barbour...

ZUGDIDI, Georgia -- Russian tanks roared deep into Georgia on Monday, launching a new western front in the conflict, and Russian planes staged air raids that sent people screaming and fleeing for cover in some towns. The escalating warfare brought sharp words from President Bush, who pressed Moscow to accept an immediate cease-fire and pull its troops out to avert a "dramatic and brutal escalation" of violence in the former Soviet republic...

ANNA, Ill. -- Joy Bostian, 78, of Anna died Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Crain Funeral Home in Anna. The funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the funeral home.

SOUTHAVEN, Miss. -- Survivors of a casino bus crash in Mississippi described the frightening feeling of the vehicle sliding sideways down a wet highway before it rolled over in a tangle of twisted seats, luggage and injured passengers. Three South Carolina women died in the Sunday wreck and dozens of the passengers were hospitalized. Six people remained hospitalized Monday, one in critical condition...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Gov. Matt Blunt is asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to declare 67 Missouri counties natural disaster areas. Blunt sent a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer on Monday asking him to declare the 67 counties as natural disaster areas for agricultural losses due to excessive moisture and flooding related damages. ...

Do-it-yourself statue I THINK there should be a Rush Limbaugh statue in downtown Cape Girardeau. Love him or hate him, Limbaugh exemplifies the vast majority of the people in our community more than any other person. However, to be true to Limbaugh's views, the statue should not be funded by the taxpayers. If there is a true need for it, private interests will fund it. Perhaps Limbaugh could pay for it himself. He's got the money, and he enjoys self-promotion...

To the editor: As I read the recent letter from Chad Craft, it reminded me of the outcry from the left when the Iraqi Parliament announced its two-month vacation last year. Rarely, do I agree with the left, but I did on that issue. However our elected leaders are now guilty of the same kind of neglect and indifference to their country and their constituents. ...

CHICAGO -- You can look great in a swimsuit and still be a heart attack waiting to happen. And you can also be overweight and otherwise healthy. A new study suggests that a surprising number of overweight people -- about half -- have normal blood pressure and cholesterol levels, while an equally startling number of trim people suffer from some of the ills associated with obesity...

EUGENE, Ore. -- Scott Charlson became a firefighter to earn college money and become a sports journalist. At his memorial service Monday, six days after the 25-year-old died in a helicopter crash during a forest fire in Northern California, his best friend recalled his competitive streak...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Marvin Vernon Lagrand, 79, of Chaffee, Mo., died Monday, Aug. 11, 2008, at Landmark Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Friends may call from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee. Services will at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the chapel...

25 years ago: Aug. 12, 1983 Missouri's Lt. Gov. Kenneth Rothman, sounding what may be the theme of his campaign for governor in 1984, deplores the "government by crises" he claims is operating in the state; Rothman, a Democrat, is in Cape Girardeau for one of a series of meetings he is holding around the state with potential political supporters...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Sunday. n At 6:46 p.m., emergency medical service in the 100 block of Farrar Drive. n At 11:20 p.m., emergency medical service in the 600 block of South Sprigg Street. Firefighters responded to the following calls Monday...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Van Hugh Lingle, 94, of Dongola died Monday, Aug. 11, 2008, at Union County Hospital Nursing Home in Anna, Ill. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Crain Funeral Home in Dongola. The funeral will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home...

BEIJING -- No drama from Michael Phelps this time. Just another gold medal, another world record and another rung up the chart of Olympic greatness. Phelps won the 200-meter freestyle in 1:42.96, the fastest-ever time by nearly a full second, giving him three golds and three world records thus far in Beijing. This also was his ninth career gold medal, tying Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis and two others for the biggest stash of Olympic gold...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. - In today's changing economy, Three Rivers Community College graduates learn more, earn more, and in turn contribute more to the workplace and to the region. "Today's economy means that employers are looking for workers who have more training, who can work smarter and are up-to-speed with new technology and trends," said Bud Joyner, Dean of Career Education and Workforce Development. ...

William "Eddie" O’Neal’s legs hurt when he walked. "I couldn’t walk 50 feet without having to stop and rest," the 65-year-old Dexter, Mo., man recalls. "My legs would tighten up and start hurting." As a night manager at the Super Town & Country supermarket in Dexter, Eddie spends a lot of time walking through the store to supervise employees and make sure the shelves are stocked...

This approximately six inch long flying Praying Mantas was photographed in the Cape Girardeau K mart parking lot on the hood of car.

BRANSON, Mo. (AP) -- A new Veterans Administration mental health clinic is opening next month in Branson. Sen. Kit Bond and Congressman Roy Blunt announced that the facility will be open by the end of September. The VA expects the clinic to serve 900 existing patients and 3,900 new patients...

BOLLINGER COUNTY, Mo. -- Highway 34 near Glenallen, Mo., will be reduced to one lane Wednesday while Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform routine drainage repairs alongside the road. The section of the roadway located from Highway 51 and Route ZZ will be closed from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m...

TOWN AND COUNTRY, Mo. (AP) -- The St. Louis suburb of Town and Country strikes down a plan that would have banned the use of cell phones while driving unless a handsfree device is being used. The city council voted against the proposal Monday night...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Many colleges advocate learning by experience. Starting this fall, students at Culver-Stockton College will have a chance to do it every semester, getting out of the classroom and into the real world. The college in northeast Missouri is revamping its academic year to give every student three-week windows for intensive study with more emphasis on field trips, study abroad and internships...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Agents from the FBI and IRS raid a towing company at the center of the scandal that led to the retirement of St. Louis Police Chief Joe Mokwa. Agents on Tuesday raided the offices of St. Louis Metropolitan Towing. The FBI would not say why...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Several religious leaders are asking Gov. Matt Blunt to grant clemency for a man scheduled to be executed later this month. Dennis Skillicorn is scheduled to be executed Aug. 27, in Missouri's first execution since 2005. Skillicorn was convicted of killing Richard Drummond in Lafayette County in 1994...

KENNETT, Mo. — Following a recent city council meeting, citizens have become concerned with the use of motorized bicycles, manual or powered wheelchairs, and all-terrain vehicles within the city of Kennett. In response to the residents’ questions and concerns, Mayor Roger Wheeler went on the record Monday to clear things up and specify what vehicles do or do not apply to his recent request of the Kennett Police Department concerning issuing warnings and citations to those who do not comply with current ordinances or state laws regarding the use of such vehicles.. ...

Marcus Bowers pleaded guilty Monday to a reduced charge of second-degree involuntary manslaughter in the 2007 death of Stan Hagan. Bowers, 19, of Scott City, originally faced charges of first-degree murder and armed criminal action, plus a count of child molestation stemming from a separate, unrelated incident, but the charges were reduced in exchange for the plea...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- St. Louis police are still searching for a stolen taxi after the assailant robbed the driver and forced him to strip before taking his cab. The incident happened about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday. Police say the Yellow Cab driver picked up the customer, who robbed the driver of money, then forced him out of the vehicle and told him to disrobe, leaving the man wearing only his underwear...

Old Town Cape's Tunes at Twilight summer concert series will start the second half of its season Friday with a performance by Idgy Vaughn, according to an Old Town Cape news release.The free concert takes place at 6:30 p.m. ...

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The economy may be struggling, but Missouri's casino gambling industry isn't. The latest figures from the Missouri Gaming Commission shows that overall casino gambling revenue rose 7 percent in July to nearly $147 million. The Lumiere Place casino in St. Louis had revenue of $14.3 million. The downtown casino opened in December...

NOTE: Copy of NCAA letter has been added. The NCAA again is investigating the Southeast Missouri State University athletics program, this time following up on new information relating to the men's basketball program...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The Humane Society of Missouri calls it the largest rescue in the organization's history. The Humane Society says Tuesday it is removing 315 animals from an 80-acre property near Pleasant Hope in southwest Missouri, saying the animals lived in filthy conditions without adequate food, water and shelter. Several dead animals were found...

LOS ANGELES -- "Tropic Thunder" is pushing the boundaries of good taste too far for groups representing the mentally disabled. Dozens of people from organizations such as the Special Olympics and the American Association of People with Disabilities protested the movie-industry spoof across the street from the film's Los Angeles premiere at Mann's Bruin Theatre on Monday. ...