Region digest 11/13/02

Jackson woman killed in accident on Route CC

A 33-year-old Jackson woman was killed Tuesday evening in a single-vehicle accident near Shawneetown.

Ruth E. Schabbing was pronounced dead at the scene after the 5:40 p.m. accident. It occurred on Route CC, seven-tenths of a mile east of U.S. 61.

According to the Missouri Highway Patrol, Schabbing's eastbound vehicle failed to negotiate a curve and, after a number of overcorrections, traveled down a ditch and struck an embankment, ejecting her. She was not wearing a seat belt, authorities said.

Breastfeeding support group begins new series

La Leche League of Cape Girardeau will begin a new fall series at 7 p.m. Thursday. The topic of the four meetings is the advantages of breastfeeding to mother and baby.

La Leche League is a support group for breastfeeding mothers. Call Mary at 794-2577 or Susan at 243-7769 for directions to the location. Nursing babies are welcome.

Police investigating robbery of gas station

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Poplar Bluff and Arkansas authorities are investigating an alleged armed robbery that took place Monday morning at the Huck's Food and Fuel on Westwood Boulevard.

According to police reports, a man entered the store, displayed a knife and demanded money. He left with $600 in cash and an unopened safe, police said.

An hour later, a suspicious person was spotted in the area of another convenience store driving a vehicle similar to one described by witnesses at the scene of the robbery. The clerk at the second store got the license plate number of the vehicle, police said.

The car was registered to an Arkansas resident, police said, and Arkansas investigators are assisting in the case.

Four die in separate double-fatality accidents

FREDERICKTOWN, Mo. -- A collision on U.S. 67 in southeast Missouri killed two people late Monday, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.

The patrol identified the victims as Jason Hood, 21, of Affton, Mo., the driver of one of the vehicles involved in the crash, and Elizabeth Townsend, 5, of Piedmont, Mo., daughter of the driver of a second vehicle.

According to the patrol, the accident occurred about 15 miles south of Fredericktown when Hood's northbound sport utility vehicle went off the road, returned to the pavement and collided head-on with a southbound van driven by Elizabeth Townsend's mother. A third car, also southbound, then hit the van, the patrol said.

In north central Missouri, two men were killed Monday night when their car went off a county road in Howard County, hit a fence and two trees and overturned.

The patrol said the victims -- driver Jimmie Stephenson, 28, of Macon, and passenger Ervin Wells, 22, of Fayette -- were both thrown from the car.

Drought brings about lower corn yieldsJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The hot, dry summer experienced in parts of Missouri has led to significantly lower yields for corn growers this year.

Corn yields are forecast at an average of 100 bushels per acre this year, down about 25 percent from last year and still well below the previous five years' average of nearly 121 bushels an acre, the Missouri Agricultural Statistics Service said Tuesday.

Nearly all of Missouri's corn crop has been harvested. Corn is Missouri's second-leading crop behind soybeans.

--From staff, wire reports