Local News

Lts. Matthew and Virginia DeGonia are settling in as the Salvation Army of Cape Girardeau's new directors. The couple replaced previous directors Ronnie and Bridgette Amick on June 28. Matthew and Virginia are from Granite City, Illinois, and Owensville, Missouri, respectively, and said they are eager to continue the Salvation Army's ministry in Cape Girardeau...

Lorimier, Ramsay, Houck and Juden are names synonymous with Cape Girardeau's early history, and those are names Carl Armstrong focused on in his latest book, "Briarwood's Window on Cape Girardeau's Regional History." Armstrong has written other books, including "Elmwood's 1,000 Year Dalhousie Castle Legacy," and this book is an extension of that work in a sense, he said...

A Chaffee, Missouri, police officer was jailed, then fired over a charge he violated a protection order for a Chaffee councilwoman who is his wife and is divorcing him. The Chaffee City Council voted to immediately terminate Timothy Warner last week upon the recommendation of the town’s police board...

The East Missouri Action Agency still has air-conditioning units available for Ameren Missouri customers in need of help staying cool this summer, according to Shanna Yount, program coordinator with EMAA. For more information, call (573) 431-5191 or a local outreach office.

CHARLESTON, Mo. — For as long as Betty Cooper Hearnes can remember, music has been a part of her life. When she was 5 years old, her family moved to Charleston, where her father took over as the pastor of First Baptist Church. Hearnes often would sing, and her sister, Velna, would play the piano at funerals and weddings...

Route NN in Cape Girardeau County from Route N to Highway 25 will be closed as Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform pavement repairs. The road will be open to local traffic only. The work will take place from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily Monday and Tuesday, according to a MoDOT news release...

The Town and Country FCE Club met on July 13 for the club's family picnic with family members as guests. Due to the extreme hot weather the location of the picnic was changed from the Cape Girardeau County Park to the University of Missouri Extension Center in Jackson. Darlene McCain, Alene Hamilton and Joyce King were in charge of arrangements. After enjoying the picnic dinner members played bingo...

The Veterans Memorial Drive project has been completed, ending months of frustration for Cape Girardeau city officials over the slow pace of work by the contractor. The contractor still faces fines for not finishing the project on time, city engineer Casey Brunke said...

The Perryville, Missouri, Police Department released more details regarding an incident of misconduct for which two Perryville officers have been disciplined. "In an effort to clarify rumor, conjecture and gossip, we have determined we can release the following information," the department said in a statement issued Thursday...

RIPLEY COUNTY, Mo. -- Four former students testified Tuesday a Naylor, Missouri, science teacher and assistant principal touched them inappropriately. The testimony was presented to Butler County, Missouri, Presiding Circuit Judge Michael Pritchett in support of a motion filed by Ripley County assistant prosecuting attorney Kacey Proctor...

Police have identified Lavell Durden Jr., 49, of Cape Girardeau as the victim in an apparent homicide Wednesday, according to a news release from the Cape Girardeau Police Department. The Cape Girardeau/Bollinger County Major Case Squad was activated Wednesday after police were called to an apartment at 203 S. Lorimier St. The coroner pronounced Durden dead at the scene...

Quinn Poythress with ASA Asphalt Inc. operates a power brush Thursday on a section of the Cape LaCroix Recreation Trail near Arena Park in Cape Girardeau. The trail is being widened from 8 feet to 10 feet from East Rodney Drive to Hopper Road. Revenue from the city's parks and recreation and stormwater sales tax and the casino fund will pay for the more than $255,000 project.

A 49-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene of an apparent homicide Wednesday in Cape Girardeau, police said. The victim, whom police have not yet identified, was a Cape Girardeau resident found shortly after 12:30 p.m. in the 200 block of South Lorimier Street, according to a news release issued by Cape Girardeau Police Department...

Former Sikeston, Missouri, Department of Public Safety director Drew Juden on Wednesday denied all knowledge of allegations made against a detective accused of threatening a witness the day before David Robinson stood trial for the 2000 murder of Sheila Box...

At least one Perryville police officer has been disciplined for unspecified misconduct, a statement from the police department stated. A news release from the Perryville Police Department contained almost no details about the incident in question, but a former Perryville police chief said it involved two officers "covering [an] incident up."...

Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens vowed Wednesday his administration and law enforcement at all levels will work together to tackle the opioid epidemic and take drug traffickers off the streets. Speaking before hundreds of federal, state and local law-enforcement officers standing in the hot sun on the tarmac of the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, Greitens said, "For too long in Missouri, we lacked a strong, coordinated effort across the state to stop these traffickers before they hit Missouri towns.". ...

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- A Sikeston, Missouri, man is heading to prison for the shooting death of a friend. Tiarrius Gant, 19, was sentenced by Judge Fred Copeland on Tuesday to five years in the Department of Corrections on a charge of voluntary manslaughter and 15 years for unlawful use of a weapon with the sentences to run consecutively totaling 20 years...

They're colorful, hand-painted and hidden, but they're not Easter eggs -- they're rocks, all over town for people to find. SEMO Rocks, a Facebook group started in March by Lisa Rose and her fiance, Mark McEachern, has "just exploded," McEachern said...

Ameren Missouri engineers Ray Perez, left, and Ken Kietzer release a weather balloon Wednesday from Ameren's operations center in Cape Girardeau. It was a test launch in partnership with St. Louis University before the Aug. 21 total solar eclipse. On that day, four instrumentation balloons will be launched to measure real-time data including temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure and wind speed during the eclipse...

Ameren Missouri is pledging $50,000 to assistance agencies in Missouri to help families stay cool during summer's high temperatures. East Missouri Action Agency is the local contact for the Ameren program, said Shanna Yount, program coordinator with EMAA...

The Dr. Gwinn M. Lovel Memorial Scholarship has been established through the Southeast Missouri University Foundation. Ralph and Mary Kay Belter of Seadrift, Texas, made a $15,000 gift to the foundation to establish the award in memory of Lovel, Mary Kay's brother...

Recordings of interviews in the Sheila Box murder case are missing from the Attorney General's Office. The recordings are evidence in an ongoing case that will go before the Missouri Supreme Court in August. They are records required for permanent safekeeping because they involve a Class A felony conviction, according to the Secretary of State's policies...

The Cape Girardeau Regional Airport would have flight service to Chicago if the city's airport board has its way. The board unanimously recommended Tuesday the Cape Girardeau City Council choose the proposal of Utah-based SkyWest Airlines, which would provide two round-trip flights weekdays to Chicago...

Area law-enforcement agencies have teamed with Buffalo Wild Wings in Cape Girardeau for a fundraiser today to help a Cape Girardeau police officer who was diagnosed with cancer last week. "It started about one week ago; one of our fellow officers was diagnosed with cancer, so our Fraternal Order of Police chapter, Lodge 51, is having a fundraiser," said Shaun Alsdorf, Lodge 51 president and a Cape Girardeau police officer. ...

A recent compliance check resulted in citations for four local bars, police said. During the June 1 check, Port Cape Girardeau, The Library and D'Ladiums served alcohol to a minor, while Independence Place was cited for allowing a person younger than 21 into the bar, Cape Girardeau police Lt. Brad Smith said Tuesday...

Interview summaries, evidence reports and an unknown quantity of other documents involving Romanze Mosby, who was a suspect in the 2000 murder of Sheila Box, are missing, lost or being withheld by the Sikeston, Missouri, Department of Public Safety...

The first step of Codefi's coding camp was for campers to name their robots. The bots themselves were little white shells on wheels, called Finches, specially designed for classroom use, and the third- through sixth-grade students named them creatively...

Calling it "a modern plague," Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens implemented a prescription drug monitoring program by executive order Monday, bypassing the legislative process. The order aims to help address the opioid epidemic that killed more than 900 Missourians last year...

Route A in Cape County reduced for pavement work Route A in Cape Girardeau County, from Highway 25 to Route U, will be reduced with a 12-foot width restriction as Missouri Department of Transportation crews make pavement repairs. A MoDOT news release indicates the work will take place today and Wednesday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 a.m...

Cape Girardeau city staff continue to systematically check water, sewer and trash billing accounts in response to a computer-software glitch. City officials announced last week some customers had been overcharged by hundreds of dollars as a result of a recent conversion to a new billing system...

three witnesses in the Sheila Box murder case — including the two who testified against Robinson — over the years have made accusations of police corruption. Another victim in a related crime involving Mosby told the Southeast Missourian in an interview the investigation into that crime was “crooked.” The accusations are inflammatory, made by individuals with criminal records and dubious credibility, but two of the accusations come from the same people who put Robinson in prison, people the state trusts to hold together Robinson’s conviction.

Sculptor Nathan Pierce wants to fashion art from old trolley rails that were a part of downtown Cape Girardeau's history. The local artist said he came up with the idea after seeing the rusted steel, which construction crews dug up and removed as part of recent Main Street improvements...

Fruitland's planned sewer system is moving right along and may begin construction by early 2018, the village's water district president said. Fruitland, an unincorporated community near Jackson, doesn't have a central sewer system to serve its population...

Jackson Board of Aldermen City hall 101 Court St. Regular meeting, 6 p.m. today Public Hearings n Hearing to consider amendments to Chapter 65 (Zoning) of the City Code regarding off-site directional signage. n Approval of Minutes n Minutes of Regular Meeting of 07/03/2017...

One year of planning by 150 people brought the Jackson School District a comprehensive strategic plan last year, and updates to it were reviewed at Tuesday's board meeting. Superintendent John Link said the review and planning processes were the best way for him, as an incoming superintendent in July 2015, to hear directly from employees, parents and residents exactly what the district's focus needs to be...

An extensive examination of public records relating to the investigation of a 2000 Sikeston, Missouri, murder has revealed potential perjury by a detective; missing evidence from state prosecutors' files; missing investigative documents from police archives; and a police department's nonexistent investigation into a suspect who later confessed to the murder of Sheila Box...

On Aug. 3, families are invited to Saint Francis Medical Center for a free health and safety fair. From 4 to 7 p.m. that day at Fitness Plus at Saint Francis Medical Center, 150 S. Mount Auburn Road in Cape Girardeau, entrance 8, snacks and beverages will be served...

Isle Casino Cape Girardeau will host a career fair Wednesday featuring more than 10 local employers representing a variety of opportunities. Isle Casino human-resources director Mark Hanko said the event, which will run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., was inspired after several years of hosting casino-only career fairs...

KENNETT, Mo. — Authorities in Kennett are investigating an apparent homicide. About 11:30 p.m. Friday, a Kennett police officer was flagged down by a resident who said there was a dead person on his couch in the 400 block of Shady Lane. The officer entered the residence through an open front door and saw a body lying on the couch. The person later was identified as Akeem D. Nelson, 20, who was pronounced dead at the scene by Dunklin County Coroner James Powell...

Management contract bids for the Marble Hill License Office in Marble Hill, Missouri, are being accepted by the Missouri Office of Administration. Interested individuals and groups must submit bids by Aug. 3. A list of bid opportunities and response instructions are at www.missouribuys.mo.gov/bidboard.html...

The village of Dutchtown has some decisions to make. Floods in recent years have prompted many residents to move, some taking a buyout from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. The population, which was about 94 in 2010, stands at about 50...

Cape Girardeau Mayor Harry Rediger wasn’t going to miss the bus. Neither were several other city officials and civic leaders, who climbed aboard the new Downtown Trolley for an inaugural ride Thursday. The 12-passenger minibus, wrapped on the outside to resemble an old-fashioned trolley, was unveiled at a 3:30 p.m. ceremony on Middle Street near Broadway. More than 30 people turned out for the ceremony...

Clarence Smith pulls a side of ribs off the smoker for a customer Thursday in Cape Girardeau. Smith was helping with a fundraiser for the young-adult ministry at True Vine Ministries. The young-adult ministry is part of the church's community-matters organization. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Department of Agriculture has lifted a temporary halt to the use and sales of products labeled for agricultural use that contain the herbicide dicamba, saying it's satisfied by new safeguards involving the chemical...

A computer software glitch led to some Cape Girardeau customers being overcharged by hundreds of dollars for sewer service, city officials said Wednesday. During the city's recent conversion to a new billing system, some sewer-usage data transferred incorrectly, causing overcharges, city spokeswoman Nicolette Brennan said...

Shipping containers could be used as building materials in most commercial and all manufacturing districts in Cape Girardeau as well as the airport with special-use permits, the city's planning and zoning commission recommended Wednesday. But their use as homes would be barred except in the neighborhood commercial district, which provides for a mixture of business and residential uses, said city planner Ryan Shrimplin...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A Poplar Bluff man was shot and killed Tuesday evening after allegedly brandishing a weapon at a sheriff's deputy who had responded to a domestic-dispute call. Butler County Coroner Andy Moore identified the dead man as Steve Scott, 48...

Colby Lowery, 7, jumps out of the way as his friend Elijah Edwards, 4, zips down the sidewalk on his bicycle in front of his grandmother's house Wednesday morning in Cape Girardeau. Edwards learned how to ride his bicycle without training wheels Tuesday night...

The fourth annual “All Write Now!” writers’ conference is coming Saturday at the University Center on Southeast Missouri State University, allowing local writers a chance to network and get feedback on their work from literary agents, editors and publishers...

Two confirmed cases of canine distemper prompted the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri’s shelter to close temporarily last weekend, according to a news release. At the advice of veterinarians, the shelter is monitoring the intake and adoption of all dogs as the population is observed for signs of distemper, according to the release...