Stories from Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Content: Dear Sam: I have been struggling with my résumé for a few months and have been out of work for 6 months. I have tried to look at other résumés and somehow use them to form my own; therefore, I have 5 or 6 versions using bits and pieces from each. ...

Raymond A. Dannenmueller, 96, of Jackson died Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Nov. 6, 1911, in Oran, Mo., son of Louis and Louise Gosche Dannenmueller. He and Lucille Bertha Schrum were married Nov. 17, 1936...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Southeast Missouri residents continued their cleanup efforts today after the remnants of Hurricane Ike swept across the Bootheel on Sunday morning. The storm toppled trees, damaged property and left thousands without power. Electrical crews were continuing their efforts to restore power for Southeast Missouri residents...

Decorative painter Sunny Goode's goal has always been to get more people painting. Her just-published second book, "Paint Can! Children's Rooms" (Sterling Publishing, $24.95), empowers parents to take up glazing, color washing and stenciling to create a special environment for their child...

Cathy Spahn, with World Bird Sanctuary from St. Louis, shows the audience a Raven named Mischief at the University Center at Southeast Missouri State University Tuesday. The World Bird Sanctuary showed ten birds to teach the community about conservation...

There are several reasons why fall is the most favorable time of the year to seed cool season lawns. The soils are warm so that seed, if supplied with sufficient moisture, jumps out of the ground. The speed of seed germination is determined by soil temperature...

Southeast Missouri State senior quarterback Houston Lillard receives plenty of publicity for his on-field performances. This week Lillard received the type of publicity he wasn't looking for. Lillard was arrested Monday on a warrant for failure to appear on a charge of indecent exposure...

Due to circumstances beyond his control, Kris Cottner's rookie college football season did not go as he envisioned. Cottner is determined to make up for it. Cottner, a Southeast Missouri State freshman cornerback from Perryville, suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during the fourth quarter of the Sept. 6 game at Missouri...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Perhaps lost in the offensive fireworks from No. 5 Missouri's 69-17 romp over Nevada on Saturday, the defense also made strides. Nevada entered averaging 540 yards in total offense, and Marko Mitchell's 42-yard touchdown catch at the end of the first half cut the deficit to 38-17. In the second half, the Wolf Pack were scoreless and held to 125 yards...

Melanie Lacey went 2-for-4 with a triple and double to help lead the Scott City softball team to a 6-4 home victory over Saxony Lutheran on Tuesday. Jenna Cummins went 3-for-3, while Stacey Heisserer and Lindsey Hadley both went 2-for-3 for the Rams (3-9)...

An early morning fire has destroyed a home in Sikeston, Mo. The Sikeston Fire Department responded to a call around 1 a.m. today. No further information is available at this time. Look for more information later in the day at semissourian.com...

BEIJING -- China's latest product safety scandal -- tainted milk formula blamed for killing two Chinese babies and sickening 1,200 -- expanded to include more foods Tuesday, with state media reporting some formula produced by companies involved was exported...

This is not the first time I have addressed the issue of Gov. Matt Blunt's e-mails. I can only hope it's the last. By way of background, there is a legal battle underway concerning the refusal by the Blunt administration to release e-mails from his office. There are ample questions in the legal realm, but primarily the issue is a potential violation of Missouri's Open Records Law...

NEW YORK -- The Federal Reserve forged an extraordinary $85 billion rescue Tuesday night of insurance giant American International Group Inc., offering a respite from two days of chaos in the American financial system. The move came hours after the Fed resisted a cut in interest rates to buoy Wall Street, which staged a slight rebound anyway from Monday's biggest point drop in the Dow Jones industrials since the 2001 terrorist attacks...

Court Appointed Special Advocates that serve children in the 32nd judicial circuit including Cape Girardeau, Perry and Bollinger counties volunteer time to form relationships with children who have allegedly been abused and neglected. The also work with other adults in the children's lives to help judges offer the best possible plan for their placement...

By Cathy Young From The Wall Street Journal Left-wing feminists have a hard time dealing with strong, successful conservative women in politics such as Margaret Thatcher. Sarah Palin seems to have truly unhinged more than a few, eliciting a stream of vicious, often misogynist invective...

Sikeston, Mo., native Neal E. Boyd will make an appearance as one of the final 10 contestants on NBC’s "America’s Got Talent." Boyd discovered Thursday he was one of the final 10 out of a field of 20. The tenor last performed live on "America’s Got Talent" on Sept. ...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Margarette Jones, 79, of Advance died Monday, Sept. 15, 2008, at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center in Charleston, Ill. Visitation will be from 9:30 a.m. to service time Thursday at Morgan Funeral Home in Advance. The funeral will be at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at the funeral home...

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- Michelle Wie shot a 2-under 70 to begin the LPGA sectional qualifying tournament Tuesday, then declined to talk to reporters about the round that put her in solid position in the 164-player field. The 18-year-old Wie made her debut in the qualifying process with five birdies and three bogeys on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club, where she has finished in the top 10 in three of her four starts in the Kraft Nabisco Championship...

ST. LOUIS -- As cleanup continued Tuesday from a weekend of storms, rivers around Missouri spilled over their banks, shutting down roads, overtopping levees and saturating tens of thousands of acres of farmland. By Tuesday morning, about 10,000 customers of AmerenUE were still without power after the remnants of Hurricane Ike caused several inches of rain and wind gusts of up to 60 mph Saturday and Sunday...

Two lawsuits challenging Proposition A, the casino measure on the Nov. 4 ballot that would raise casino taxes and limit the number of casino licenses, have been joined into one. Cole County Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce agreed to combine the two cases then removed herself from the lawsuit in response to a request from Charles R. Buckley of Independence, Mo., the lead attorney representing Cape Girardeau businessman David Knight and state Rep. Raymond Salva, D-Independence...

25 years ago: Sept. 17, 1983 Six Southeast Missourians passed the Missouri Bar Examination in July; they were Elvis Mooney of Bloomfield, Peter Myers Jr., of Matthews, Herbert Preyer of Malden, Michael Hoehn of Perryville, Michael Jackson of Fredericktown and Kenny Hulshof of Bertrand...

What about the Cape Central Marching Band? In its first competition for this year in Murphysboro, Ill., it placed first in its division. The music and technical execution of the show was nearly perfect, which gave the band the top overall score at the competition. It is quite exciting and such a joy to see the band students who have worked so hard come out on top and be so happy about their accomplishments. I will keep you posted with their progress as the season progresses...

The parking lot behind Jackson City Hall will be closed for cleaning through 8 a.m. today, and again from 6 p.m. today to 8 a.m. Monday, according to a news release from the City of Jackson. Parking will be allowed in the lot between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday. The Jackson City Park Walking Trail will also be closed for maintenance from 8 a.m. Sept. 25 through 8 a.m. Sept. 28...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Doris N. Middleton, 91, of Cobden died Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008, at her home. She was born Oct. 30, 1916, in Charleston, Mo., daughter of John Meade and Minnie Frances Potter Bibb. She and Glenn E. Middleton were married Nov. 15, 1931, in Charleston. He died Nov. 20, 1995...

Cookie dough isn't just for ice cream anymore. In this revision of apple crisp, prepared sugar cookie dough is used to create a chewy, crispy, sweet and all-but instant topping for the classic autumn dessert. Sugar Cookie Apple Crisp 2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Terry Ray Legate Sr., 53, of Marble Hill died Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008, at his home. He was born Dec. 3, 1954, in Granite City, Ill., son of John Elbert and Pauline Self Legate. Legate was a saw operator with B&B Lumber Co. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army...

LAS VEGAS -- A key witness in the O.J. Simpson robbery trial was confronted with contradictions in his testimony Tuesday, including his claim that he didn't try to profit from the casino hotel room confrontation that led to charges against the former football star...

Cape Girardeau public works crews have collected more than 50 truckloads of storm debris totaling 75 tons since the remnants of Hurricane Ike blew through Southeast Missouri. Two crews with two teams of workers assigned to each crew are moving methodically through the city from South to North with front-end loaders, trucks and chainsaws, said Robert Kutak, traffic operations manger for the department...

Sections of Interstate 55 in Cape Girardeau County and Highway 51 in Bollinger County will be reduced to one lane today as Missouri Department of Transportation crews work. MoDOT crews will perform pavement repairs on I-55 from the Fruitland/U.S. 61 exit to the Old Appleton exit. Work will take place from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and Thursday...

WASHINGTON -- The House moved toward a vote Tuesday to end the longtime ban on oil drilling in Atlantic and Pacific waters. Republicans called it a Democratic ruse that would leave most untapped offshore oil out of bounds. The Democrats' bill would allow drilling in waters 50 miles from shore almost everywhere from New England to Washington state as long as a state agrees to go along with energy development off its coast line. Beyond 100 miles, no state approval would be required...

Cape Girardeau police continue to look for a woman charged with murder and the person or persons who set fire to a house on William Street that resulted in a man's death. These and other crimes remain unsolved because vital information is unavailable or missing. Without that information, police are stymied in their efforts to bring the responsible individuals to justice...

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Federal prosecutors in Kentucky say a cigarette smuggling case that brought a 30-month prison sentence is one of the largest contraband tobacco cases in the region. Authorities say Howard Mui of Chicago admitted he bought 9 million cigarettes in Kentucky and resold them in Chicago and New York City, which have much higher cigarette taxes...

WASHINGTON -- The House voted late Tuesday to open waters off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to oil and gas drilling but only 50 or more miles out to sea and only if a state agrees to energy development off its shore. Democratic leaders called it a step toward energy independence, but Republicans labeled it a "sham" because most of the estimated 18 billion barrels of oil believed to lie below off-limits coastal waters are within 50 miles of land and will remain out of bounds...

CHICAGO — Katherine Graden doesn't really like shoot-'em-up video games. She prefers games on her Wii system that test her fitness and agility — the ones her guy friends tease are her "sissy games." "I'm like, 'Fine! Go play your violent games. I'll stick with mine,'" the high school freshman from Chicago said, chuckling...

Teen MOPS, a faith-based program for teen "Mothers of Preschoolers," meets at 6 p.m. the first and third Thursday monthly at Crossroads Fellowship in Jackson. The program, a chartered group of MOPS International, is led by women past their teen years. ...

WASHINGTON -- In a bid to save financial markets and the economy from further turmoil, the U.S. government agreed Tuesday to provide an $85 billion emergency loan to rescue the huge insurer AIG. The Federal Reserve said in a statement it determined that a disorderly failure of AIG could hurt the already delicate financial markets and the economy...

LOS ANGELES -- Investigators say the commuter train engineer in Friday's deadly rail collision in Los Angeles did not hit the brakes before crashing into a freight train. The National Transportation and Safety Board also announced that both engineers had only four to five seconds to react to the sight of other train coming around the bend...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Marlene J. Schultz, 70, of Cairo died Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008, at Daystar Care Center. Friends may call from 10 a.m. to service time Friday at Massie Funeral Home in Mounds, Ill. The funeral will be at noon Friday at the funeral home. Burial will be at 11:30 a.m. Monday at Mound City National Cemetery...

NEW YORK -- Start the countdown clock on MTV's countdown era: "Total Request Live" will soon shut down after 10 years on the air. The music video show will conclude in a two-hour special on a Saturday afternoon in November, Dave Sirulnick, executive producer of "TRL," said Monday. He stressed that the show wasn't ending for good, but felt now was the right time to give it a break after an unprecedented run on the cable music channel...

All power has been restored to AmerenUE customers in Cape Girardeau and Scott Counties, with 156 customers statewide still in the dark as of 6:10 a.m. today. The remnants of Hurricane Ike passed through Cape Girardeau Sunday morning, knocking on power to 6,300 customers in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties at its peak time around 9:45 a.m. About 400 AmerenUE crews were restoring power on Tuesday in Cape Girardeau...

To the editor: This is a letter to all members of Congress. I can't make myself be quiet any longer. We voters need to hear and see you publicly criticize such management and high salaries as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have had. You people in Congress should immediately pass some laws to stop taxpayers from being fraudulently cheated by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and all heads of government agencies. ...

The Themis Street floodgate closed Tuesday afternoon as the Mississippi River levels squeaked past the 32-foot flood stage to 32.67 feet. The river has risen nearly five feet since Monday, part of a post-Hurricane Ike surge. The river is expected to crest Saturday at 42 feet...

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests n Maximillan E. Smith, 21, 1523 N. Spanish St., was arrested on a Cape Girardeau County warrant for second-degree domestic assault...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Monday: n At 5:03 p.m., emergency medical service in the 1500 block of Briarcliff Drive. n At 6:32 p.m., emergency medical service in the 3100 block of Independence Street. n At 8:57 p.m., emergency medical service in the unit block of South Kingshighway...

KELSO, Mo. -- Linda Marie Payne, 48, of Petal, Miss., died Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008, at her home. She was born April 8, 1960, at Kelso, daughter of Charles and Caroline Glueck. She married Jack Payne. Payne was a manager with Catron Oil. Survivors include her husband; a son, Ryan Jensen of Petal; a daughter, Amy DeRosett of Cape Girardeau; her parents of Kelso; two brothers, Bernard and James Glueck of Kelso; and three grandchildren...

Leslie D. "Les" Carlton, 61, of Gordonville died Monday, Sept. 15, 2008, at his home. Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson. Parish prayers will be at 6:30, followed by the Knights of Columbus rosary at 7. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church...

Avid cyclist and hiker Joe Quatrochi never thought he would hear those three dreadful words -- "you have cancer." Diagnosed with testicular cancer in April 2000, Quatrochi was cured of the disease shortly after his third course of chemotherapy. "When I look back at what I went through, life lessons come to mind, one being self-responsibility," said Quatrochi, a professor of human performance and sport at Metropolitan State College of Denver. ...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Rock and country music lovers are in for a treat. The music group Exile, best known for the song "Kiss You All Over," is set to perform in town Friday. "Everyone is talking about it," said Danny Bridger, owner of Danny's Place in Sikeston, which is sponsoring the event...

The Biester-Phillipps family reunion is planned for Sunday at VFW Lakes. The date was incorrect in Sunday's edition. The Southeast Missourian regrets the error.

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis-area mass transit agency's lack of financial controls helped lead to spiraling costs for an 8-mile expansion of the MetroLink light rail line, costs that could weigh down the agency for years to come, Missouri State Auditor Susan Montee said Tuesday...

CINCINNATI — After winning 14 games in both 2005 and 2006, Bronson Arroyo naturally wanted to do better. It took him a season longer than he expected, but the Reds right-hander did it Tuesday night with two starts to spare. Arroyo improved to 5-0 in his last six starts and Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run double to lift the Cincinnati Reds to a 7-2 win over the reeling St. Louis Cardinals...

Ward Daughter to Weston Brent and Amber Lynn Ward of Weatherford, Texas, Baylor Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, 8:22 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008. Name, Jenna Kate. Weight, 7 pounds, 11 ounces. First child. Mrs. Ward is the former Amber Pool, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Terry Pool of El Paso, Texas, and formerly of Cape Girardeau. She is a high-school guidance counselor. Ward is the son of Paula Ward of El Paso, and the late Ronald Ward. He is a science teacher and graduate student...

CLEVELAND — Indians pitcher Anthony Reyes is done for the year because of a tender right elbow. "We're going to shut him down for this season because there is no sense in pushing it," Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said Tuesday. "We're going to do everything we can to make sure he's ready to go for spring training."...

SEATTLE -- A pair of embarrassing losses. Six injuries at one position -- including one during pregame warmups. Their first 0-2 start in six years. This is how the Seahawks are sending out their coach, getting him angry by mid-September? Imagine what they'd do to a guy they didn't like...

Thorngate Ltd. will eliminate its entire sewing department, said a local industrial development director. The layoffs will affect about 250 workers at the facility, which manufactures high-end men's clothing at 1507 Independence St. The fate of its cutting department is unknown at this time...

GOP future WE'LL NEVER know but I'll bet Jon Rust is kicking himself in the behind for writing a gushing pice about Sarah Palin being the future of the GOP prior to her meltdown on the ABC interview. If she's the future of the Republican Party, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that the party is dead...

WASHINGTON -- With scientists at odds over the safety of a chemical found in plastic baby bottles, metal cans and other food packaging, consumers got minimal guidance Tuesday about how to protect themselves. At a scientific hearing, the Food and Drug Administration defended its assessment that bisphenol A-- or BPA--is safe, even as the first major study of health effects in people linked it with possible risks for heart disease and diabetes. The debate could drag on for years...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- A Springfield man faces murder charges in the death of a hospital security guard who was kicked in the head last month. Prosecutors on Tuesday filed upgraded charges of second-degree murder and felony murder against 41-year-old Jeffrey Bolden. Prosecutors say Bolden kicked 62-year-old Monte Ruby as the guard tried to restrain him at Cox North Hospital Aug. 2...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan's military has ordered its forces to open fire if U.S. troops launch another air or ground raid across the Afghan border, an army spokesman said Tuesday. The orders, which come in response to a Sept. 3 ground attack by U.S. commandos, are certain to heighten tensions between Washington and a key ally against terrorism. Although the ground attack was rare, there have been repeated reports of U.S. drone aircraft striking militant targets, most recently on Sept. 12...

GOLDEN, Colo. -- Economic fears are suddenly dominating the presidential campaign, shoving aside every other issue. Republican John McCain called for a crisis commission Tuesday, while Democrat Barack Obama laughed that off as "the oldest Washington stunt in the book."...

WASHINGTON -- The House took up NRA-backed legislation Tuesday to eliminate most of the gun restrictions in the nation's capital, including a ban on semiautomatic weapons. The House action comes three months after the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 vote, struck down the District of Columbia's ban on handgun possession, ruling that what had been one of the nation's toughest gun control laws violated the Second Amendment right to bear arms...

Guns drawn, more than a dozen police searched a Cape Girardeau apartment complex Tuesday looking for a robbery suspect, only to discover the reported robbery did not occur. Cpl. Jason Selzer, spokesman for the Cape Girardeau Police Department, said a call was received about an attempted robbery at the Dollar General Store on Broadway. The caller was not identified. When police arrived, workers said no robbery had occurred, Selzer said...

Black lawyers, doctors and people with nice children are largely ignored on television news, CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien told Southeast Missouri State University students Tuesday night. Instead, blacks are disproportionately the focus of crime stories, an issue O'Brien said became painfully clear during research for the special "Black in America."...

Meet Joe! He is a 2 year old, short hair, black and white tuxedo cat. He's good with kids and would love to claim your windowsill as his own. He is available for adoption at The Humane Society of SEMO 573-334-5837, Mon.-Sat. 11am-5pm, Sun. 1-4pm.

More paper has been added to a legal battle over an April 17 Cape Girardeau County Commission meeting. Second District Commissioner Jay Purcell sued the commission May 14, asking county officials -- Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones, 1st District Commissioner Larry Bock and Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle, who is also the commission's legal counsel -- to acknowledge that the state's open meetings and records act, nicknamed the Sunshine Law, was broken by the commissioners' closed meeting April 17.. ...

It looks like our airport survived the "Ike Attack" with just some light sheet metal damage to a couple of our buildings and a day or so without power. Most of the airplanes were tucked away in their hangars, and the one we had tied down outside rode out the wild winds without any trauma...

Mary Russell and her beautiful Oil Painting of the A-4 Skyhawk at our airport entrance. It's on display in our office at Cape Aviation, with raffle tickets available there also. The drawing will be held on October 11th.

ROLLA, Mo. (AP) -- A former police dispatcher has become the first female to be named commander of a Missouri State Highway Patrol headquarters. Capt. Lee Ann H. Kenley, 46, took over earlier this month as the head of Troop I in Rolla. The 23-year Highway Patrol veteran previously was stationed at the Troop C headquarters in St. Louis...

Sikeston, Mo., native Neal E. ...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- As residents on Monday picked up the pieces left by the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, agriculture officials were left wondering what effect Sunday's strong winds had on the local crops. Anthony Ohmes, agronomy specialist for the Mississippi County University of Missouri Extension, said damage varied throughout the county. Parts of fields were hit real hard and others didn't look like much had happened, he said about his observation of the county's crops...

Route E in Perry County will be closed until further notice because of rising floodwaters from the Mississippi River. The Missouri Department of Transportation reported at 8:45 a.m. today that one foot of water is over the closed section of roadway from County Road 322 to County Road 354...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A Kansas City attorney is facing possible federal contempt charges after contacting jurors who ruled against his client in a civil rights case. Federal court records indicate James Ensz sent a questionnaire to jurors last week. Ensz represented Richard McKinley in a lawsuit accusing the Lee's Summit police officer of conspiring to put Theodore W. White Jr. in prison on false child molestation charges...

LOUISIANA, Mo. (AP) -- Police are searching for a "person of interest" in the beating death of a northeast Missouri man. Louisiana, Mo., officers responded Monday night to a report of a fight in an alley and discovered 42-year-old Richard Marshall. He was pronounced dead at a hospital...

The Broadway floodgate in Cape Girardeau will close at noon today, according to Stacey Beasley, storm-water supervisor with the Cape Girardeau Public Works Department. The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers predicts the Mississippi River level to be at 42 feet on Saturday. Typically, when the river reaches 39 feet, the Broadway gate closes...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Two St. Louis television stations plan to combine their newsrooms and share news services. The agreement between the Fox affiliate, KTVI-TV, and KPLR-TV, which is part of the CW network, was announced Tuesday by the parent companies. Local TV Holdings LLC owns KTVI; Tribune Co. owns KPLR...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — Six area residents were charged Monday with drug-related felonies by Butler County Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Barbour. Nelta Ann Francis, 59, of the 1500 block of Cross St., her 38-year-old son, Danny Lee Killian of the 800 block of N. 12th St., and her boyfriend, Gary A. Webb, 64, of the 200 block of Rugby Lane, were each charged with the Class B felony of distribution of a controlled substance...

Columbia Daily Tribune JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Deep inside the protective custody unit of the state's maximum security prison, Michael Wayne Ford Sr. prays for his release. Other inmates yearn for freedom, but Ford's case is unique. He remains behind bars despite the fact that a judge recently ruled in his favor, despite a governor's commutation of his sentence, and despite the fact that another man convicted in the same murder case was set free 15 years ago...

ST. LOUIS (AP) — With flood crests now expected to be below earlier projections, several Missouri communities are breathing easier. The National Weather Service on Tuesday lowered predicted crests at St. Louis and other communities by about 2 feet. Still, significant flooding is happening along parts of the Missouri, Mississippi and other rivers in the state...