SHOCKERS HALT
LOSING STREAK
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2008
Alex Funcheon
served in the U.S.
Army as a cavalry
scout. Alex was killed
in Iraq in April
2007 by a roadside
bomb. Two other
soldiers and an Iraqi
interpreter also died
in the blast that hit
the lead Humvee
of his 1st Platoon
patrol. One soldier
in the Humvee
survived the blast.
Jeff Tuttle/
The Wichita Eagle
LIFE AFTER
ALEX’S DEATH
Family and
friends find
solace at
Alex’s grave
BY ROY WENZL
The Wichita Eagle
I
n the 20 months since
Alex Funcheon rode
down the road to his
death, the war that killed
him took more lives,
though the killing
tapered off.
Generals serving President
Bush said the troop surge
worked.
In September 2007, five
months after Alex died, his pla-
toon commander, Lt. Jon Bland,
was again
riding in the
second vehi-
cle of 1st
Platoon’s con-
voy when a
bomb blew
up the lead
Humvee, an
explosion so
big that sol-
diers in the
rear thought
both the lead
Humvee and
Bland’s
Humvee had
PART SEVEN
disintegrated. OF SEVEN
But this
time, because the Iraqi trigger
man fired the bomb too late, the
copper shrapnel ripped through
the lead truck’s cargo bay and
missed the soldiers.
First Platoon was supposed to
come home in October, six
months after Alex died, but the
Army extended many combat
tours. Exhausted and grieving,
1st Platoon fought an extra
three months.
By then, Bland, a 25-year-old
Please see ALEX, Page 8A
TWO NORTH HIGH STUDENTS CHARGED
Robbery victim USDA to spot-check food for melamine
dismayed at crime
BY TIM POTTER
The Wichita Eagle
She has lived in Wichita for 35
years and in the same North
Riverside home for the past 20.
During all those years, she
locked her door only at night.
But that’s all changed, the 55-
year-old woman says, since rob-
bers came to her home near 16th
and Salina about 8:15 p.m. a
© 2008 The Wichita Eagle and
Beacon Publishing Co., P.O.
Box 820, Wichita, KS 67201.
SPORTS, 1D
Down this road
That i walk
So many turns
So much thought
Where are we going?
Where is the end?
Where are you now?
Why is it dark
once again?
I can hear your voice
calling out to me
God shine your light!
so that i can see
Fragment of a poem by
Alex Funcheon, undated
Fernando Salazar/The Wichita Eagle
Bob and Karen Funcheon visit the grave of their son, Alex Funcheon, in a cemetery
north of Wichita.
AT KANSAS.COM/FORALEX
„ Watch video interviews with Alex Funcheon’s parents, Bob and Karen Funcheon
„ Read earlier installments in the series
„ Read and sign Alex Funcheon’s memorial guest book
„ Read e-mails Alex Funcheon exchanged with his parents during his overseas tour
„ Read an account about the Funcheons touring Air Force One
„ View family photos and images from Alex Funcheon’s platoon in Iraq
„ Read journal entries written by Gloria Funcheon, Alex’s sister
„ Learn the story behind the series with Roy Wenzl
„ Watch a YouTube clip of Alex practicing his German language skills
INCLUDED: HOT DOGS, CHICKEN NUGGETS, PIZZA SNACKS
BY SUSAN KELLEHER
ON THE WEB Seattle Times
SEATTLE — Processed meat
and poultry products — includ-
week ago Friday. They beat her ing some of kids’ favorite foods
and her boyfriend with a wooden — will be pulled from grocery
baseball bat, leaving him with shelves nationwide for limited,
severe head injuries. random tests for melamine, an
“Having to lock my door now, I industrial chemical that
feel like the one confined,” she said spawned a worldwide food
during an interview at her home. scandal after more than 50,000
She had nine staples and stitch- children in China became sick
es in her head. Her 53-year-old from drinking tainted milk pro-
boyfriend suffered several skull duced by China’s dairy indus-
try.
Please see VICTIM, Page 3A The U.S. Department of
Business 6B Comics 4F-5F
DAILY
Classified 1G Crossword 5F
IMMIGRATION FRAUD CASE
Kaweah
leader gets
five years
BY ROXANA HEGEMAN
Associated Press
The leader of a group that
claims to be an American
Indian tribe
was sentenced
Friday to five
years in prison
in an immi-
gration fraud
case that
ensnared
about 12,000
people who
believed his
Webber
false claims that tribal member-
ship gave them U.S. citizenship.
Malcolm Webber, also known
HUNDREDS OF OTHER BUSINESSES AFFECTED
The problems facing the U.S. auto industry reach far beyond
factories and dealerships: The economy could lose billions.
Detroit’s woes
touch all parts
of economy
BY LISA ZAGAROLI
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — At Nelle
Belle’s Diner in Claycomo, Mo.,
north of Kansas City, there’s
already been a glimpse of what
a downturn in the auto indus-
try can do to business.
When the nearby Ford plant,
which produces the F-150 pick-
up, offered buyouts and retire-
ment packages a year ago, the
39-seat diner saw fewer
autoworkers — once its primary
customers — coming in to eat
breakfast and lunch or taking
food to go. Business still hasn’t
completely bounced back.
To read the USDA testing
notice, including a list of prod-
uct categories, go to:
http://tinyurl.com/6agrg4
Agriculture this week ordered
spot checks on such perennial
kid favorites as breaded chick-
en nuggets, hot dogs, packaged
meatballs, pizza snacks and
other processed foods that con-
tain milk-based ingredients.
The testing notice, which also
Faith & Values 1F Local & State
Home & Garden 1C Obituaries
50 CENTS
as Grand Chief Thunderbird IV,
must also serve three years of
probation after release from
federal prison and forfeit more
than $377,000 seized last year
by agents who raided the
Kaweah Indian Nation offices
in Wichita.
Webber, 70, of Bel Aire, was
convicted in August on six
felony charges arising from the
sale of memberships. The jury
acquitted him on a conspiracy
count. Webber, who is now liv-
ing in a halfway house, will be
allowed to voluntarily surrender
to begin serving his prison time.
Please see KAWEAH, Page 3A
Associated Press
“A lot of them who are not
sure of their job, they’re in here
just once a day now,” says Hedi
Orr, who’s worked at the diner
for five years. “We (worry),
they do, everybody does.
“Look at how many jobs are
affected by it. And it’s not just
the Ford workers, a lot of
industry depends on them. The
Allied drivers, their jobs
depend on Ford. The company
that makes the seats for the
cars, their jobs depend on it.
Tons of places.”
At GM’s Fairfax Assembly
Plant in Kansas City, Kan., the
Please see DETROIT, Page 6A
covers baby food containing
“significant” amounts of meat
or poultry, does not specify a
brand or make any distinction
between domestic or imported
products.
The USDA will randomly test
45 samples a week from retail
stores throughout the country,
according to a notice issued by
the USDA’s Food Safety
Inspection Service. Testing is
expected to begin in about two
weeks, and will last for 12
weeks.
Please see USDA, Page 4A
1B Opinion 9A
2B Sports 1D