Stories from Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Step aside, orange. It's yellow's turn to shine. The last few years have seen greens and oranges in the home decor spotlight, but that's about to change, as the primary colors blue and yellow muscle back into the forefront. "Orange has started to run its course," said Jack Bredenfoerder, president of Color Marketing Group, an international association of color design professionals...

Sophia Elizabeth Brandes, 94, of Jackson died Monday, Aug. 18, 2008, at Monticello House. She was born Jan. 17, 1914, in Kurreville, daughter of Gus and Leonora Fulbright Kurre. She and Otto Oscar "Sam" Brandes were married April 28, 1948, in Piggott, Ark. He died Nov. 10, 1996...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Bernice H. Meyer, 91, of Perryville died Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008, at Perry County Memorial Hospital. She was born Oct. 20, 1916, at Egypt Mills, Mo., daughter of the Rev. A.M. and Hulda C. Kipping Lohmann. She and Elmer A. Meyer were married Nov. 9, 1941. He died Nov. 29, 1981...

I know spring is several months away, but I would like to suggest a cultural practice that, if you perform it now, will make your late winter chores much easier. Each spring, gardeners ask how they can get rid of chickweed and henbet in their asparagus patch or landscape bed. ...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — With construction work going on all along the 50-mile U.S. 67 corridor north of Poplar Bluff, area residents can see how the $180 million widening project is taking shape in many areas. About 200 workers are currently involved in the project...

McALLEN, Texas -- Flooding receded Tuesday in southern Texas and main highways reopened after a deluge of as much as 13 inches of rain, as the drenching weather shifted to the northern end of the state and Oklahoma. Torrential rain flooded an estimated 750 homes Monday in Starr County and at least 243 people evacuated, said Natividad Gonzalez of the county sheriff's department. He was not aware of any injuries...

ST. LOUIS -- Seven-time Pro Bowl receiver Torry Holt said Tuesday he is observing the St. Louis Rams' Steven Jackson holdout situation closely. "I always watch how business is run," Holt said before practice at Rams Park. "It's my profession. I watch how things are run across the National Football League."...

Winning tactic CAPE GIRARDEAU County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said 1st District Commissioner Jay Purcell is trying his beef with the county commission in the court of public opinion. Swingle is correct. Though he might not admit it, he also knows that by doing so Purcell is winning...

A group of adults encouraged the youth of South Cape to get involved in a state competition in Jefferson City, "The Hershey's Track and Field Games," after finishing first place in the local Hershey's Track and Field games in May at Central Junior High School...

Why do I think Hillary Clinton -- aided and abetted by her husband -- has a plot in mind for the Democratic National Convention next week in Denver? Could it be because of the Clintons' record of saying one thing and doing another that made the eight years of Bill and Hillary in the White House so interesting?...

Editor's note: This was written before Jerry Buck Inman pleaded guilty Tuesday to robbery, kidnapping, rape and murder. By all accounts, 20-year-old Tiffany Marie Souers of Ladue, Mo., was a bright, sweet kid. Two years ago, the St. Louis coed had enrolled for summer classes at Clemson University in South Carolina to advance toward her engineering degree. She lived in an off-campus apartment near the Clemson campus...

Almost any water -- from your bathtub to an ocean -- can be dangerous. The Southeast Missourian frequently -- too frequently, really -- reports about mishaps in area ponds, lakes and rivers. Some of these water-related accidents result in the deaths of the individuals involved. ...

Rule No. 1 of hosting a party -- let yourself enjoy it. As obvious as this may seem, it's an easy thing to forget. If you're not careful, by the time you finish the planning, the cooking, the decorating, the greeting and the serving, your guests are leaving and you're exhausted...

Karl F. Lueker, 100, died Sunday, Aug. 17, 2008, at the Lutheran Home, where he had resided five years. He was born Aug. 23, 1907, in Hamel, Ill., son of Adolph and Wilhelmine Kroeger Lueker. He and Alma Koenig were married Oct. 1, 1948, in Logan, Ohio...

ALGIERS, Algeria -- A suicide bomber drove a car full of explosives into a line of applicants at an Algerian police academy Tuesday, killing at least 43 people in the deadliest terror attack to jolt this energy-rich U.S. ally since the 1990s. Witnesses said the blast in the town of Les Issers, some 35 miles east of Algiers, tore a 3-foot-deep crater in the road, ripped off parts of the police academy's roof and damaged much of its facade and nearby buildings...

ST. LOUIS -- Ian Snell drew inspiration from watching a pitcher from another team. One night after watching Milwaukee's CC Sabathia's latest overpowering start, Snell was dominant in leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 4-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night...

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Cardinals say reliever Jason Isringhausen could miss the rest of the season with an elbow injury. St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said Tuesday night he doesn't think the injury is career-ending. The Cardinals say an MRI exam revealed right elbow tendinitis and a partially torn tendon, although no ligament damage was found. Rest was prescribed, with no timetable for a return to throwing...

NAPLES, Fla. -- Tropical Storm Fay rolled ashore in southwestern Florida on Tuesday without much fanfare, but stubbornly hung around like an unwelcome houseguest, gaining power and threatening -- once again -- to become a hurricane. The storm first hit the Florida Keys, veered out to sea and then traversed east across the state on a path that would curve it toward to the Florida-Georgia border. ...

The demise of touch-screen voting has produced a graveyard of expensive corpses: Warehouses stacked with thousands of carefully wrapped voting machines that have been shelved because of doubts about vanishing votes and vulnerability to hackers. What to do with this high-tech junkyard is a multimillion-dollar question. ...

GREEN COUNTY, Ark. -- A Kennett, Mo., man charged in 2007 with the first-degree murder and rape of his ex-wife and kidnapping of their son has recently pleaded guilty to both charges and asked the victim's family to forgive him for his actions. Kristopher Parker, 34, appeared before Green County Circuit Court Judge, David Laser, on Wednesday in connection with a case that began just a little over one year ago...

DeWitt claims handicap tournament at Dalhousie Betty DeWitt won a ladies handicap tournament Saturday at Dalhousie Golf Club. DeWitt had a net total of 69 to finish three shots ahead of Mary Jane Eftink. Eileen Owens and Nancy Settles tied for third, five shots behind DeWitt...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's social services agency has failed to publish a list of employers who have significant numbers of workers on Medicaid -- a violation of both a state law and a gubernatorial order. The department acknowledged that its first report on Medicaid in the workplace falls short of the law's requirements. But a spokeswoman said that because of the way it gathered its data, the agency would have violated a federal regulation had it named specific employers...

BEIJING -- Shawn Johnson's smile was a thousand times wider than the balance beam she had just conquered. Finally, it was a golden grin. The world champion made a habit of collecting silver at the Beijing Games, and she never stopped smiling. But it wasn't exactly what she came to China for. She ended her runner-up streak with a beam routine Tuesday night that blew away the field, including all-around champ Nastia Liukin, behind whom Johnson got one of her three silvers...

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- NATO pulled its punches against Russia on Tuesday, suspending formal contacts as punishment for the Georgia invasion but bucking U.S. pressure for more severe penalties. The Russian ambassador to NATO played down the result of the emergency meeting of the Western alliance...

Cornelius Twin daughters to Esley D. and Aretha L. Cornelius of Paducah, Ky., Saint Francis Medical Center, Wednesday, July 23, 2008. Jada was born at 5:51 p.m. and weighed 4 pounds, 3 ounces. Jade was born at 5:52 p.m. and weighed 4 pounds, 8 ounces. ...

SUROBI, Afghanistan -- Insurgents ambushed a group of elite French soldiers as they climbed a mountain pass, killing 10 troops in a militant stronghold outside the capital. In a separate coordinated attack, a team of suicide bombers tried unsuccessfully to storm a U.S. base near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border...

PHOENIX -- Rescue crews have located a handful of hikers who were missing after floods tore through a remote part of the Grand Canyon, authorities said Tuesday. The 11 people from two families were tracked down in the canyon Monday, Coconino County Sheriff's Department spokesman Gerry Blair said. They were the last to be accounted for after creeks overflowing with runoff from severe thunderstorms washed away trails during the weekend, stranding dozens of tourists...

The Maple United Methodist Church will hold an all-you-can-eat fish dinner from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday, in the church fellowship hall at 2441 Jean Ann Drive.

At a preliminary hearing Tuesday, Associate Circuit Judge Gary A. Kamp upheld charges against a man charged with throwing a chemical substance in another man's face. Marzell Davis, 49, of Cape Girardeau faces charges of first-degree assault after allegedly tossing the contents of a blue cup into the face of James J. Dennis at a Cape Girardeau residence in September...

WASHINGTON -- A space-age version of the rusty springs under old pickup trucks will help NASA fix the most pressing technical problem with its high-tech new rocket to send astronauts back to the moon. NASA is going to use 17 large shock absorbers in its not-yet-built rocket to keep the top from shaking too much for astronauts, agency officials said in a Tuesday news conference...

Omer S. Elfrink, 79, of Gordonville died Monday, Aug. 18, 2008, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson. Funeral Mass will be at 9 a.m. Saturday at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Jackson...

During Monday's law docket, two convicted sex offenders received prison sentences after previously pleading guilty. Zechariah L. James, 30, of Cape Girardeau received a sentence of seven years after pleading guilty to statutory rape. James admitted raping a 12-year-old girl June 27. James also pleaded guilty to an unrelated case of domestic violence and received a five-year sentence to run concurrently with the rape conviction...

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright said Tuesday he's ready to come off the 15-day disabled list, saying simply: "It's time." The question: In what capacity? The Cardinals had been preparing the right-hander, out with a tendon injury in his right middle finger since early June, to return as the closer. ...

It is a good thing when it is Friday and also payday, but it is great when you get home Friday and there is a new cookbook in the mail. Last Friday I went home and there was the "Down Home Cooking" cookbook from St. Anthony's PCCW group in Glennon, Mo. Kathleen Peters from Marble Hill, Mo., attends this church, and she sent me a copy of their cookbook. It was so fun to get my pajamas on early, turn on the Olympics and read my new cookbook...

School will be a job, paying $7 an hour, for a handful of Cape Girardeau dropouts this year. The unprecedented Scholars at Work program, run by MERS/Goodwill, will pay seven to 10 students to attend GED and employability skills classes. Many dropouts "want to go back, but they're juggling adult responsibilities. ...

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuela's government seized control of a cement company owned by Mexico's Cemex SAB Monday night after failing to reach a deal on terms for its nationalization. Backed by National Guard troops, government officials and flag-waving workers occupied at least two Cemex plants...

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama won't concede rural Missouri voters to U.S. Sen. John McCain in the November presidential election. Obama's campaign team on Tuesday sent State Auditor Susan Montee to Cape Girardeau to hammer themes that she said should give voters pause to consider the Illinois Democrat. ...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A report issued Tuesday says Missouri's obesity rate is rising and without increased government funding and community involvement, there's a fat chance that trend will change anytime soon. A study by Trust for America's Health lists Missouri as the 13th most obese state in the nation, with 27.4 percent of its adult population obese and 63.3 percent either obese or overweight...

25 years ago: Aug. 20, 1983 Sears Roebuck and Co. has signed an agreement extending its lease on its retail store in the Town Plaza Shopping Center for another five years. Fifteen buildings on the Southeast Missouri State University campus, including three residence halls, have been found to contain potentially hazardous asbestos materials; students who have signed contracts to live in Dearmont Quadrangle, Towers Complex or Group Housing have been told they can seek release from their housing agreements.. ...

PINEHURST, N.C. -- Robbie Fillmore, who never touched a club during two years away from golf, shot 5-under 65 on Tuesday to win the stroke-play portion of the U.S. Amateur. The lowest score in two days of qualifying came on the No. 4 course at Pinehurst and followed Fillmore's opening 69 on Pinehurst No. 2, giving him a total of 6-under 134...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Monday: n At 3:47 p.m., emergency medical service in the 600 block of Jefferson Avenue. n At 5:21 p.m., box alarm at 839 N. Main St. n At 5:52 p.m., box alarm at 2545 Lynnwood Drive. n At 7:02 p.m., emergency medical service in the 1000 block of Big Bend Road...

NEW YORK -- Scientists say they've found an efficient way to make red blood cells from human embryonic stem cells, a possible step toward making transfusion supplies in the laboratory. The promise of a virtually limitless supply is tantalizing because of blood donor shortages and disappointments in creating blood substitutes...

BEIJING -- Must be pretty discouraging to race Usain Bolt. Not only are you likely to lose -- he'll beat you without even trying. Look, for example, at the way Bolt won his 200-meter semifinal Tuesday night at the Beijing Games, the latest step in a bid to become the first man since Carl Lewis in 1984 to sweep the Olympic sprint titles...

The biggest election battle of 2008 in Cape Girardeau County could be brewing as top Republicans line up against their party's nominee for District 2 county commissioner. Rock Finch, an insurance broker and consultant, will be on the ballot as an independent candidate, challenging incumbent Republican Jay Purcell, who was unopposed in the GOP primary. No candidate filed in the Democratic or Libertarian parties, the other two recognized parties in Missouri...

ST. LOUIS -- The Bush administration is pushing a new approach toward funding transportation projects, one that Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said will make it easier to improve the nation's highways, including Interstate 70 in Missouri. Peters spoke Tuesday from the roof of a parking garage at Express Scripts that overlooks I-70 in northwest St. ...

ANNA, Ill. -- LaRue H. Blackwell, 87, of Anna died Monday, Aug. 18, 2008, at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale, Ill. He was born June 12, 1921, in Tylertown, Miss., son of Ora and Mary Ann Luvesta Pittman Blackwell. He and Lora L. Grammer were married Dec. 23, 1948...

MILWAUKEE -- The changes keep coming for CC Sabathia. He's facing a new league after winning the AL Cy Young Award last season, his third child is due in the postseason and the spoils of free agency loom shortly after that. Yet, the 6-foot-7 lefty hasn't wavered since coming to the Milwaukee Brewers in a trade from Cleveland last month. ...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- A group of children rocking out to kiddie tracks at a kindergarten disco party were told to turn down the tunes or face a shut down of their party by noise control officials who raided the soiree. The raid -- called "absurd" by one teacher -- happened Friday night at One Tree Hill Kindergarten in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city...

POINT MARION, Pa. -- An 85-year-old woman boldly went for her gun and busted a would-be burglar inside her home, then forced him to call police while she kept him in her sights, police said. "I just walked right on past him to the bedroom and got my gun," Leda Smith said...

ATLANTA -- Turns out Bigfoot was just a rubber suit. Two researchers on a quest to prove the existence of Bigfoot say that the carcass encased in a block of ice -- handed over to them for an undisclosed sum by two men who claimed to have found it -- was slowly thawed out, and discovered to be a rubber gorilla outfit...

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests n Danielle L.A. Barks, 21, 45 S. West End Blvd., No. 311, was arrested on a Cape Girardeau warrant for failure to appear for stealing...

A quiet invasion makes for troubled waters on the area's big rivers and some related backwater slough lakes. The lower Ohio, Tennessee, Cumberland and Mississippi rivers nowadays teem with a pair of carp species that aren't native to American waterways. Indeed, bighead carp and silver carp are Asian in origin. Arkansas fish farmers imported the fish as pond cleaners in the 1970s. But the Asians escaped their commercial surroundings when floodwaters came calling to lowland ponds in 1993...

WASHINGTON -- Wholesale inflation soared in July, leaving prices rising at the fastest pace in nearly three decades. While recent declines in oil and other commodity prices raise hopes inflation may have peaked, some economists worry about the widespread nature of the July price surge and caution it will take more time for that pressure to ease on Wall Street and Main Street...

Southeast Missouri State University is planning an "America's Got Talent" watch party for Tuesday, when NBC's popular competition show returns to television following the Olympics. Southeast alumnus Neal E. Boyd is one of the finalists on the show, competing for $1 million and a shot at his own Las Vegas show. ...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- A St. Louis man faces 10 felony charges related to a sexual assault that occurred at a Perryville apartment complex. James E. Mueller, 25, is being held on an $800,000 cash-only bond for two counts of forcible rape, two counts of forcible sodomy, one attempted forcible sodomy charge and five counts of armed criminal action...

Drivers in Jackson will get their first real taste of the delays caused by work on the intersection of highways 34 and 72 in Jackson starting today, according to a MoDOT news release.Starting today work on the 34/72 corridor is moving into the driving lanes, causing lane reductions at the intersection of the two highways. ...

Baxter is an 8 month-old male cat. He is very friendly and enjoys being around children. Baxter is available for adoption at The Humane Society of SEMO, 573-334-5837. See more pets available at www.semopets.org

Southeast Missouri State University students and faculty begin their second year at the River Campus enthused about the opportunities the school and its performance venues have offered them so far, and they say attendance at River Campus events during the past year suggests the Bedell Performance Hall, the Rust Flexible Theatre and the Shuck Recital Hall filled a gap in the community's cultural life...

Nationally known historic speaker and participant of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Re-enactment, Bryant Boswell, who portrayed Meriwether Lewis in the Bicentennial Re-enactment, will be the featured speaker at the Red House Interpretive Center of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, dinner and fundraiser at the River Campus on September 20. ...

Spend the evening with Meriwether Lewis on September 20 at the Southeast Missouri State University River Campus in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, for a Red House Interpretive Center fundraising dinner and program! In 1803 Captain Meriwether Lewis and Captain William Clark commanded the Corps of Discovery - a group of individuals who explored the Louisiana Purchase for President Thomas Jefferson. ...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A Roman Catholic diocese has tentatively agreed to pay $10 million to settle 47 pending sexual abuse claims against the diocese and its priests. In a letter sent to priests with the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese late Tuesday night, Bishop Robert W. Finn said the deal is subject to his approval after he consults with two diocese boards...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A fleet of hydrogen-powered vehicles stopped in Missouri to promote the alternative fuel at one of the nation's few fueling stations to power the cars. The Hydrogen Road Tour stopped in Rolla on Tuesday at the first hydrogen refueling station in the Midwest, one of 31 stops the tour in 18 states, The Kansas City Star reported Wednesday. The U.S. Department of Transportation has been showing vehicles from BMW, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Toyota and others on the tour...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The federal General Services Administration will make a second attempt at finding a developer for a $500 million nuclear weapons plant in Kansas City after the first round of proposals were deemed too expensive. Brad Scott, the agency's regional administrator, said the National Nuclear Security Administration has given its permission for a modified proposal that officials hope will avoid a "bid bust" like the one last month...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Pieces from the official home of Missouri's governors are going up for sale on eBay. Bidders on the Internet auction site will get roof tiles from the 137-year-old Governor's Mansion. The dark gray slate tiles up for sale aren't relics from before the Civil War but from the mid-20th century, installed onto the home in 1969. The tiles will be marked on the back to certify that had been on the roof of the residence for Missouri's chief executives...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The Army Corps of Engineers has completed emergency dredging operations on the upper Mississippi River north of Winfield, Missouri. The Corps says dredging began Saturday near Hamburg, Illinois, and river traffic needed to move more slowly while work was done to maintain a safe navigation channel...

Just in time for back-to-school comes "The House Bunny," which won't teach you anything new or useful, but it will prepare you for sorority rush. Well, its depiction of Greek life isn't all that accurate either, but that's beside the point. ...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A proposed Kansas City ordinance would bar the family members of City Hall employees from volunteering in their same department where their relatives work. The ordinance would regulate all volunteers at City Hall. But it was partly a response to a lawsuit against the city, Mayor Mark Funkhouser and his wife, Gloria Squitiro, who has a full-time, unpaid position in Funkhouser's office...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- Springfield may follow the lead of another Missouri city and impose a fee for having pregnant dogs or cats. City Councilwoman Mary Collette, a strong advocate for responsible animal ownership, said Tuesday she will ask a council committee to review St. Joseph's pet ordinances...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- RiseUp has stopped publishing for two months while the newspaper insert about race and ethnicity prepares to nearly double its circulation. Publisher Janice Ellis says the Kansas City-based publication will review reader responses and prepare to increase its circulation to more than 7 million. The break runs from Aug. 3 to late September...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- More than 140 people who earlier this month voted on the wrong ballot in a mid-Missouri county commission race will get a do-over. The revote will decide who wins a primary election that was separated by just seven votes. A Cole County judge on Tuesday approved the planned Sept. 9 revote for just the 144 people who cast the wrong ballots. Absentee ballots will also be accepted beginning Aug. 28...