St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, MO) articles from December 2002

St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, MO) archives from December 2002

St. Louis County, Mo., Medical Group to Open New Cardiac Center.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Judith VandeWater Dec. 1--St. Anthony's Medical Center wants the Metro Heart Group and other cardiologists to sink deep roots in south St. Louis County. The hospital is weeks away from opening a sun-drenched medical-office...

It's no mystery; offense is dragging Rams down.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Bernie Miklasz PHILADELPHIA _ Let's begin today's column with a moment of silence in honor of the Rams offense. The Greatest Show On Earth, 1999-2001: RIP. It was fun while it lasted. The Rams averaged 32.7 points a game...

Sloppy play sinks Rams' playoff hopes.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Jim Thomas PHILADELPHIA _ Fifteen months ago, the road to Super Bowl XXXIV started here, with a gritty, hard-fought overtime victory by the Rams over Philadelphia. But on Sunday, the road to the playoffs hit a dead end....

Blues pick up a point the hard way.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Derrick Goold ST. LOUIS _ Eleven previous times the Blues had fallen behind on the first goal of the game, and nine times they've stormed back to win, doing so Friday. Five times they've plunged into overtime, fished out three wins...

Homeless woman who rescued burning victim to be national spokesperson.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Heather Ratcliffe ST. LOUIS _ Mary Whitehead never figured she'd have to face her fear of flying. Until now. "I didn't think I would ever do anything important enough that I'd have to get on a plane," said Whitehead, who was...

HEADLINE HERE.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Nick Wishart EAGLES 10, RAMS 3 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Rams quarterback Kurt Warner (left) is sacked by Philadelphia's Hugh Douglas in the second quarter on Sunday. The porous St. Louis offensive line allowed Warner to be...

As Fed cuts interest rates, borrowers grin while seniors chagrined.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Chern Yeh Kwok ST. LOUIS, Mo. _ Interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve in the past two years have been a boon for many consumers, but not Mary Dickerman. Dickerman, 79, of Affton, Mo., has seen her savings account dwindle...

St. Louis Couple Buys, Rehabilitates Architectural Gems.
December 1, 2002

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Travel Notes Column.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Tom Uhlenbrock Dec. 2--ART GETAWAY: Now is a great time to visit Louisville, Ky., and get a little culture with your trip. The Speed Art Museum in Louisville, in conjunction with the Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow,...

California's Sequoia Parks Present Sights of Gigantic Dimensions.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Ron Cobb Dec. 2--Paul Jones, a Brit who has come all the way from London to see the giant sequoias of Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks, is trying to do something that would ordinarily be simple. He is taking the...

Naturalist Says California's Kings Canyon Park Is 'Underappreciated Gem'.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Ron Cobb Dec. 2--Sequoias have been a part of William C. Tweed's life for virtually all of his 53 years. The chief naturalist for Sequoia National Park grew up about 35 miles from the park, in the small town of Visalia, Calif. He...

Missouri Lawmakers to Try Again to Update 911 for Cell Phones.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Michael D. Sorkin Dec. 2--Missouri officials plan to try again to update the state's 911 systems so that cell phone users can receive aid in emergencies. Because voters already have rejected two statewide referendums, the new plan...

North St. Louis County, Mo., Enjoys Development Rejuvenation.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Chern Yeh Kwok Dec. 2--For decades, developers have followed the growth in population westward from St. Louis. But now, north St. Louis County, once snubbed by many developers, increasingly is drawing their attention. Housing...

Federal Reserve's Rate Cuts Hit Retirees on Fixed Incomes.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Chern Yeh Kwok Dec. 2--Interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve in the past two years have been a boon for many consumers, but not Mary Dickerman. Dickerman, 79, of Affton, has seen her savings account dwindle as costs for...

Historic St. Louis Hotel Comes Back to Life.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Charlene Prost Dec. 2--The celebrities, the fancy wedding parties and the white-glove events were long gone by the time the Coronado Hotel on Lindell Boulevard closed 16 years ago. And by the time Amrit and Amy Gill got there...

St. Louis Airport Reports Few Delays for Holiday Travelers.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Jodi Genshaft Dec. 2--On one of the nation's busiest days to travel -- the Sunday after Thanksgiving -- travelers experienced bustle but few delays at Lambert Field. And in Missouri, fewer people died on the area's interstates...

Walgreens Refuses to Budge from Plan for Clayton, Mo., Site.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Phil Sutin Dec. 2--Clayton's Plan Commission and Architectural Review Board is scheduled today to consider a plan for a Walgreens at Big Bend Boulevard and Clayton Road. The plan is unchanged from the one Clayton administrators...

St. Louis Post-Dispatch At-Work Column.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Elizabeth Freeman Dec. 2--Name: Alpheus "A.C." Robinson Age: 49 Job: Heavy equipment operator for the City of St. Louis Street Department, 1900 Hampton Avenue. Robinson has been on the job for almost 16 years. Duties:...

Fans must wonder if Warner has been brave or bullheaded.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Bryan Burwell In the gladiator environment where pro football players dwell, courage is a commodity easily mistaken for foolishness. Consider the man who staggers off the field woozy as a skid-row bum, his arm dangling like it's an...

Rams line undergoes major changes.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Nick Wishart ST. LOUIS _ St. Louis Rams left tackle Orlando Pace will likely be out two to three weeks because of the strained hamstring he suffered Sunday against the Eagles. That, coupled with the fact that rookie Andy King...

Tkachuck strives to regain scoring touch after injury.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Tom Timmermann ST. LOUIS _ Winger Keith Tkachuk has been back in the St. Louis Blues' lineup for four games since he was out for a month with a fractured foot, and so far he's batting .500: Two good games, two not-so-good ones. ...

Giant sequoias of Sequoia, Kings Canyon national parks an eyeful.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Ron Cobb Paul Jones, a Brit who has come all the way from London to see the giant sequoias of Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks, is trying to do something that would ordinarily be simple. He is taking the obligatory "I...

Missouri, Illinois Face Partly Cloudy Future for Solar Energy.
December 3, 2002... Byline: Repps Hudson Dec. 3--The future of solar energy in Missouri and Illinois is partly cloudy, with prospects a bit brighter if fossil fuel prices increase sharply and stay there. In Missouri, the new demonstration of photovoltaics...

Low-Paid State Workers in Missouri Feel Pinch of Rising Insurance Costs.
December 3, 2002... Byline: Bill Bell Jr. Dec. 3--JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.--The complaints sound familiar to many workers across America: stagnant salaries and soaring health insurance costs. Hardest hit are the working poor, including those who work for the...

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Linda Tucci Column.
December 3, 2002... Byline: Linda Tucci Dec. 3--Two years after upgrading its 479 modern rooms, the Hyatt Regency at Union Station will spend $1.2 million to renovate the hotel's 66 historic rooms. Work should begin in February, says General Manager Joe...

Hall of Fame field again makes for debate, questions.
December 3, 2002... Byline: Dan O'Neill Voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America are receiving their 2003 Hall of Fame ballots this week. Eddie Murray, Lee Smith, Ryne Sandberg and Fernando Valenzuela are among 17 names on the list for...

As Iraq war looms, Missouri school for biological, chemical attacks gets attention.
December 3, 2002... Byline: Harry Levins FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. _ If weapons of mass destruction greet any invasion of Iraq, the Americans who must cope with them will rely on the know-how they picked up at this Army post in Missouri's Ozarks. That makes...

Bulger reports progress in effort to get back in action.
December 3, 2002... Byline: Nick Wishart ST. LOUIS _ When the St. Louis Rams woke up Tuesday, they had only one quarterback on their entire 53-man roster who could throw a football without pain. By day's end, that had changed with the re-signing of Scott...

As the pinkie turns: Rams QB situation becomes soap opera.
December 3, 2002... Byline: Jim Thomas ST. LOUIS _ It's no longer a mere St. Louis Rams quarterback controversy. It has now evolved into a full-fledged Rams quarterback soap opera. And on Tuesday, a new character was introduced into the drama _ Kurt Warner's...

Ducking for cover.
December 3, 2002... The following editorial appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch onWednesday, Dec. 4: X X X The archdiocese of Boston is considering filing for bankruptcy to protect itself from hundreds of sexual-abuse lawsuits, according to the...

Terror's war on children.
December 3, 2002... The following editorial appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Sunday, Dec. 1: X X X The deadly attack Thursday on an Israeli resort in Kenya is part of a murderous month of assaults on Israelis that has included the murder of...

Two Plead Guilty in Wal-Mart Gift-Card Scam.
December 3, 2002

Clayton, Mo., Panel Approves New Walgreen Store.
December 3, 2002

Insurance Company Drops Coffee Shop on Missouri Military Base.
December 4, 2002... Byline: Jamie Riley Dec. 4--Ed and Sylvia Harvey said their insurance company, Safeco, told them that it considered the facilities at Scott to be at an increased risk of terrorism. Ed Harvey called Safeco's assertion ludicrous. "I...

Solutia to Sell Specialty Chemicals Division to Belgian Company.
December 4, 2002... Byline: Rachel Melcer Dec. 4--Solutia Inc. -- short on cash, long on debt and facing continued legal woes -- is selling off part of its specialty chemicals business for $510 million. The company couldn't afford the capital outlay to...

Work at Washington University Finds Most Mouse Genes Have Counterpart.
December 4, 2002... Byline: Tina Hesman Dec. 4--Compare a man to a mouse and you're likely to get a sock in the nose. But when scientists measure mankind's genetic makeup against that of mice, what they get is new insight into evolution, development and...

Survey Shows Job Openings in St. Louis Metro Area Fell during Past Year.
December 4, 2002... Byline: Jerri Stroud Dec. 4--New survey results confirm what job-seekers have known for some time: Jobs are a lot harder to come by than they were a year ago. The number of job openings in the St. Louis metro area fell 44 percent from...

St. Louis Post-Dispatch David Nicklaus Column.
December 4, 2002... Byline: David Nicklaus Dec. 4--After nearly three years of hard times, the information-technology industry is home to two kinds of companies: the battered and the broken. St. Louis has plenty of both. More than a dozen Internet-related...

OPINION: Missouri's Obsolete Tax System Dribbles Cash, Cries Out for Revision.
December 4, 2002... Byline: Don Phares Dec. 4--Next month, Missouri's General Assembly will tackle what is arguably the worst financial condition for the state in more than 50 years. It is not alone. Virtually all states are reeling from actual or projected...

Rawlings Sporting Goods Shareholder Bids $8 a Share.
December 4, 2002... Byline: Cynthia Wilson Dec. 4--Daniel Gilbert, the largest shareholder in Rawlings Sporting Goods Co., has offered to buy the company's remaining outstanding stock at $8 a share. Gilbert, chairman and chief executive of online mortgage...

St. Louis-Based Developer Brothers Honored for Neighborhood Revitalization.
December 4, 2002... Byline: Charlene Prost Dec. 4--It's been 20 years since Michael Roberts and Steven Roberts bought the empty old Sears building on North Kingshighway, intending to revive it as an anchor for a declining neighborhood. As things turned...

St. Louis-Based Toymaker Sells Assets to California Competitor.
December 4, 2002... Byline: Chern Yeh Kwok Dec. 4-- Trendmasters Inc., the privately held toymaker that had, in effect, shut down nearly a month ago, has sold its product lines and some related assets to Jakks Pacific Inc., a competitor based in Malibu,...

`Ethical Ambition: Living a Life of Meaning and Worth' by Derrick Bell; Bloomsbury ($19.95).
December 4, 2002... Byline: Robert Joiner In a period when ethically challenged CEOs are undermining public confidence in corporate America, Derrick Bell shows us how to prevent the lures of power and money from becoming nooses that strangle our core values....

Fish and Wildlife Service, Corps squabble over Missouri River levels.
December 4, 2002... Byline: Bill Lambrecht WASHINGTON _ In a reversal that threatens the Missouri River barge industry, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants the Army Corps of Engineers to drop river levels this summer to protect endangered fish and birds....

Fairy fashion: You can't buy it, but you can see it in a "catalog" of tiny togs.
December 4, 2002... Byline: Lisa Jones Townsel Who's dictating fashion trends this season? Fairies, that's who. Those bashful beauties who flutter through the woods with winged charm finally have a clothing line that's tiny and eclectic enough to call their...

In this Rams' saga, finger of blame points in many directions.
December 4, 2002... Byline: Bernie Miklasz ST. LOUIS _ OK, space is tight, and time is short, because I need to go have my right hand X-rayed. I am concerned because my typing skills have been worse than usual. So let's bypass the preliminaries. Here's my...

Warner says wife's comments shouldn't be treated as "big deal".
December 4, 2002... Byline: Nick Wishart ST. LOUIS _ Questions about the cracked bone in his hand were acceptable. So was anything regarding his future, and his desire to get back on the field. But on Wednesday, after the media mob made a few attempts to get...

Henry Kissinger is the wrong man.
December 4, 2002... The following editorial appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Thursday, Dec. 5: X X X Henry Kissinger spent much of his public life hiding sensitive information about embarrassing government missteps. Now, Kissinger is head of...

One wedding, please, and hold the fries.
December 4, 2002... Byline: Tom Uhlenbrock LAS VEGAS _ Manager Sheri Jacobs was the calm at the eye of an international storm brewing inside A Special Memory Wedding Chapel. A Japanese couple was in the midst of being married before friends and relatives...

HBO movie has the bombs falling on Baghdad again.
December 4, 2002... Byline: Gail Pennington In the summer of 1990, CNN was "a 24-hour news network looking for a 24-hour story." Then Iraqi tanks rolled into Kuwait, and _ as producer Robert Wiener put it _ that story "fell out of the sky." Six months...

Uncertain Times Fuel Growth in Deposits at St. Louis-Area Banks.
December 5, 2002... Byline: Patrick L. Thimangu Dec. 5--U.S. Bank Vice Chairman Joseph E. Hasten first noticed the signs late last year: As corporate scandals and a weak economy alarmed investors on Wall Street, deposits at U.S. Bank branches in the St. Louis...

St. Charles, Mo., City Council Hears Plans for 497 New Homes.
December 5, 2002... Byline: Mark Schlinkmann Dec. 5--A plan to build 497 homes of various types and sizes on both sides of Friedens Road northwest of South River Road is pending before the St. Charles City Council. The 106-acre development, which got...

St. Louis-Based Medical Supplier to Manufacture First Commercial Device.
December 5, 2002... Byline: Rachel Melcer Dec. 5--Zassi Medical Evolutions Inc. is preparing to do something its founders had never intended -- manufacture and market its first commercial medical device. The company, with offices in Fernandina Beach,...

Battle Brews Anew over Missouri River Water Levels.
December 5, 2002... Byline: Bill Lambrecht Dec. 5--WASHINGTON--In a reversal that threatens the Missouri River barge industry, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants the Army Corps of Engineers to drop river levels this summer to protect endangered fish and...

Fenton, Mo.-Based Firm Is Top Suspect in Bid for Sporting Goods Maker Rawlings.
December 5, 2002... Byline: Gregory Cancelada Dec. 5--Who would be interested in buying a 115-year-old baseball equipment manufacturer? The question has perplexed analysts and industry watchers since Rawlings Sporting Goods Co. announced it might be acquired....

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Linda Tucci Column.
December 5, 2002... Byline: Linda Tucci Dec. 5--An ambitious effort, quietly launched in 2000 to bring a federal agricultural research institute to St. Louis, is alive and inching forward. "We've been doing our homework," said Donn Rubin, executive...

`Long Goodbye: The Deaths of Nancy Cruzan' by William H. Colby; Hay House ($27.95).
December 5, 2002... Byline: Dale Singer In the spring of 1987, a partner in the prestigious Kansas City firm of Shook, Hardy & Bacon asked one of its young lawyers to take on a pro bono case _ one that big firms do for free. "It may not amount to much," Bill...

Fire the three little pigs.
December 5, 2002... The following editorial appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Friday, Dec. 6: X X X Let's ban the three little pigs from elementary school. After all, the story line is pretty tough on the porkers. It could be seen as pig abuse....

Give inspections a chance.
December 5, 2002... The following editorial appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Friday, Dec. 6: X X X President Bush should chill his war rhetoric and give U.N. weapons inspectors the time and support they need to do their job. By prematurely...

Hospitals recycle medical devices to help contain costs.
December 5, 2002... Byline: Judith VandeWater ST. LOUIS _ Medical devices, made to be used once and thrown away, are being reprocessed for reuse by a small but growing number of American hospitals. The equipment includes shavers to trim cartilage, biopsy...

Educators try to help teens build positive relationships by discouraging gossip.
December 5, 2002... Byline: Lorraine Kee ST. LOUIS _ Teenage girls have been the focus in such recently released books as "Odd Girl Out," "Queen Bees and Wannabes" and "Fast Girls." But the subject of girls and their maturation isn't new to educators and...

Here's the dirt ... on gossip.
December 5, 2002... Byline: Lorraine Kee Gossip. Not everyone does it. But almost everybody does. At least that's what I've heard. "Deep Throat" did it. So did Henny Penny. Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper were famous for it. So was Walter Winchell,...

Candy Company Opens New Facility in Greenville, Mo.
December 5, 2002

Federal Pension Program Seeks Control of National Steel Workers' Plans.
December 6, 2002... Byline: Gregory Cancelada Dec. 6--The federal government's pension-insurance program is asking to take over the pension plans for workers and retirees of National Steel Corp., saying that the plans are underfunded by $1.5 billion, and the...

Walgreen May Appeal Conditions Imposed on Clayton, Mo., Site.
December 6, 2002... Byline: Phil Sutin Dec. 6--About two hours of haggling, mainly about driveways, walls and landscaping, preceded the Clayton Plan Commission's granting Walgreen permission to build a store on the northeast corner of Big Bend Boulevard and...

Central Park jogger _ learning the lesson.
December 6, 2002... The following editorial appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Monday, Dec. 9: X X X For a decade, five young black and Latino men have been ridiculed as animals by an entire nation for committing one of the most heinous crimes in...

More chefs means more dining options.
December 6, 2002... Byline: Tom Uhlenbrock LAS VEGAS _ Wayne Newton and Siegfried and Roy used to be the big names in town. Now it's Emeril Lagasse and Wolfgang Puck. Las Vegas megaresorts are collecting celebrity chefs Lagasse's New Orleans Fish...

Timing is everything in booking a hotel room.
December 6, 2002... Byline: Tom Uhlenbrock LAS VEGAS _ You can find a place to stay in Las Vegas for $26 a night, or $799. The choices are as varied as the people who go there. But let's rule out the dives and the chain motels that you'd find in any major...

A visit to Madame Tussaud's can be a hands-on experience.
December 6, 2002... Byline: Tom Uhlenbrock LAS VEGAS _ Want to nuzzle Marilyn... take a few swipes at Muhammad... give some pointed advice to George W? That's part of the fun in a visit to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in Las Vegas, the fifth location of...

O'Neill bails out.
December 6, 2002

Problem priests: For whom the statute tolls.
December 6, 2002... The following editorial appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Sunday, Dec. 8: X X X Roman Catholic bishops in California may soon face hundreds of new lawsuits stemming from old allegations of sexual abuse by priests. The...

Leave no school system behind.
December 6, 2002... The following editorial appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Monday, Dec. 9: X X X In some days, the Bush administration seems to make the rules on the fly as it tries to get the No Child Left Behind law up and running. Some...

O'Neill's firing may herald few changes.
December 7, 2002

It's a shame Vermeil and Martz aren't still together.
December 7, 2002... Byline: Bernie Miklasz KANSAS CITY_The Rams peaked in 1999. Those were the good old days. And Dick Vermeil and Mike Martz were primarily responsible for the success, the happiness, the memories. For sure, others played a role. Team...

Focus of Augusta debate should be on club's discrimination.
December 7, 2002... Byline: Brian Burwell The longer this Augusta National squabble festers, the more and more we must strain to remember what it is exactly that this Masters controversy is really all about. It is not about Tiger Woods or his...

Blues shake off ailments to net win in Philly.
December 7, 2002... Byline: Derrick Goold PHILADELPHIA_As if losing Doug Weight halfway through the game or entering the game without their best defenseman of the past two weeks wasn't enough, the Blues had a whole new challenge pop up Saturday. Chicken...

No. 2 man at Justice Dept. takes on corporate crooks, terrorism.
December 7, 2002... Byline: Karen Branch-Brioso WASHINGTON _ More than a decade ago, then-President George Bush sought a No. 3 man for the Justice Department and offered the job to Larry Thompson, a former federal prosecutor at a prestigious law firm in...

Upcoming events loom large in U.S. efforts against Iraq.
December 7, 2002... Byline: Jon Sawyer WASHINGTON _ The past weekend's detailed declaration on weapons programs by Iraq, once viewed as a possible trigger for war, now looks to be just one more gambit in the increasingly complicated chess game between the...

St. Louis Post-Dispatch David Nicklaus Column.
December 7, 2002

Fighting fat may be war on instinct.
December 8, 2002... Byline: Tina Hesman ST. LOUIS _ What's beating us in the battle against our bulges? Television, video games, fast food restaurants and giant portions have all been blamed. But scientists say the real enemy may come from within....

`Bad news' of tattoo removal fails to sway most unhappily decorated people.
December 9, 2002... Byline: Joe Holleman Getting a tattoo removed is a pure case of "good news/bad news." That's how Dr. William Goldstein describes tattoo removal to prospective patients during an initial consultation. "The good news is `Yes, we can...

Out, damned spots! Owners of tattoos becoming their harshest critics.
December 9, 2002... Byline: Joe Holleman ST. LOUIS, Mo. _ "What was I thinking?" That seems to be the question millions of Americans who have surrendered recently to the tattoo fad are asking, only to find the absolute newest fad is tattoo REMOVAL. ...

Beyond Poinsettias: Houseplants warm heart and home.
December 9, 2002... Byline: Becky Homan ST. LOUIS _ Give a gift that keeps on living, at holiday time and throughout the new year. Houseplants _ most of them from tropical and subtropical climates _ make for great little host and hostess presents. ...

Voluntary non-compliance on prescription drugs.
December 9, 2002... The following editorial appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Tuesday, Dec. 10: X X X Prescription drug ads have more small print than a vision test. All that dull disclosure and eye-straining equivocation lends a reassuring air,...