Region digest 11/14/04

Shots fired at Cape residence Saturday

The Cape Girardeau Police Department received a call on gunshots that were fired at a residence in the 600 block of Sycamore Circle at 1:13 p.m. Saturday. No one was injured. Police said they have identified a suspect who is still at large. A warrant for her arrest was issued on charges of unlawful use of a weapon, endangering a child and first-degree domestic assault.

Rescued animals taken to Human Society ranch

BENTON, Mo. -- Fifty-seven animals rescued from a two-acre location near Benton are now at the Longmeadow Ranch in Union, Mo., a division of the Humane Society of Missouri. Earlene Cole, director of the ranch, said that the owner of the animals, Gregory McElroy, released the animals after investigators received a tip about dead animals on the property. Investigators were notified Friday afternoon, and seized the animals around 5 p.m. Rescued were two emus, five chickens, a pony, two hinnies, a donkey, a mini cow, four sheep, 14 goats, 17 ducks, two fallow deer, and a pot-bellied pig with three piglets. The animals are in fair condition, Cole said. "They all need groceries," she said. "We're really concerned about the emus and the pig is very thin. The cow has problems. We fed them; they were very interested in eating." A veterinarian will evaluate the animals and once they're healthy enough, they will be made available for adoption, Cole said.

'Seven Laurels' author to appear on KRCU show

Author Linda Busby Parker will be the featured guest today on KRCU's "Going Public" radio show. She will be interviewed about her novel, "Seven Laurels," and the writing process. The show will be broadcast at 3 p.m. on 90.9 FM, the region's Public Radio affiliate station.

Man accused of raiding credit cards at airport

ST. LOUIS -- A man who acquired air travelers' credit-card numbers through computerized records at Lambert Airport raided about $200,000 from the accounts, federal authorities allege. An indictment unsealed last week did not elaborate on the Airport Terminal Services "computerized passenger records" from which Dominique Bourne, 22, supposedly obtained the credit-card numbers. It was not immediately clear why St. Louis-based Airport Terminal Services, a provider of aircraft-maintenance services at Lambert, had such passenger data. An ATS spokesman told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch only that Bourne, arrested Monday by the FBI and St. Louis County police, was not an employee. According to the indictment, Bourne and unidentified co-conspirators carried out the fraud from October 2002 through May 2003.

-- From staff, wire reports