Local News

Police collect thousands of license plate numbers every month (12/09/13)

2
A technology tool used by the Cape Girardeau Police Department has taken about 18,000 pictures of license plates per month over a year of use. This has resulted in 50 warrant arrests and the recovery of stolen vehicles and license plates and has helped police investigate some major crimes...

Program aims to help students' behavior (12/09/13)
For educators, there's nothing quite as valuable as time spent teaching students in the classroom, but sometimes disruptive students make that difficult. In recent years, local school districts have adopted a program called Positive Behavior Intervention Support to help add those minutes back into the day -- and it works, officials say...

Happy Slapowitz Toy Bash returns to Cape (12/09/13)

1
A night of food and music is planned for several downtown venues that are taking part Thursday in the annual Happy Slapowitz Toy Bash. The event, now in its 12th year, will feature nine bands at eight venues in an effort to provide new Christmas toys for children through the Marine Corps League's Toys For Tots program...

Delivery drivers on the job despite snow (12/09/13)

5
If the combination of snowy, freezing weather this weekend had you reaching for the phone instead of the oven mitts, you weren't alone. Chances are, you were dialing up one of the local pizza joints or other places that bring goodies to your door. Both Cape Girardeau Domino's pizza stores raked in the dough this weekend, despite only being available for pickup Friday. Deliveries started about 5 p.m. that day...

Local schools closed today because of weather (12/09/13)
Public schools in Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Scott City and Oak Ridge will be closed today because of continued wintry weather conditions, according to school officials, news releases and websites. However, as of late Sunday afternoon, classes were still on for today at Southeast Missouri State University, News Bureau director Ann Hayes said...

Snow is over, but it will stick around (12/08/13)

1
The ice and snow deposited by the winter-storm system that slammed into Southeast Missouri on Thursday and Friday won't leave anytime soon, a meteorologist said. "It could be that we'll keep having below-freezing temperatures until Thursday or Friday," said Deanna Lindstrom, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky...

Road crews take advantage of sunshine (12/08/13)
The road crews that worked to clear snow and ice from city streets and major highways today counted on an ally in Mother Nature. "We want to take advantage of the sun," Tim Gramling, Cape Girardeau public works director, said. "I think we can make some progress today."...

Feed My Starving Children requesting volunteers (12/08/13)
Anyone with free time who would like to help feed starving children across the globe is being asked to volunteer at the Osage Centre today and Sunday. Volunteers are being requested to help pack and label boxes with dry food ingredients that will be shipped and delivered to children by the Feed My Starving Children organization...

Cape trash, recycling resumes today (12/07/13)
Cape Girardeau trash and recycling pickups that were postponed Friday will resume today, according to an email from the city.

Road crews struggle to keep up with snow (12/07/13)
The phrase "spinning their wheels" may hit a little too close to home in this weather, but that's essentially what road crews have been doing since the snow started falling early this morning. "Occasionally, we've started to catch up and make some progress, and then it started snowing again," said Tim Gramling, Cape Girardeau public works director...

Firefighters urge caution with onset of winter (12/07/13)
On an icy December evening, many of us may relish the prospect of curling up under an electric blanket, sipping a mug of homemade cocoa and listening to the fireplace crackle as the lights twinkle on the Christmas tree. But local firefighters advise taking a few precautions to make sure that cozy scene doesn't turn into an expensive and dangerous disaster...

Winter weather brings accidents, cancellations (12/07/13)

9
Icy roads kept first responders busy handling accidents Thursday across Southeast Missouri. Authorities temporarily closed the northbound lanes of Interstate 55 on Thursday afternoon after a passenger vehicle collided with a tractor-trailer just south of mile marker 101...

Afternoon weather update: Snow falling one inch per hour; 10 inches reported in some areas (12/07/13)

6
Weather conditions continued to deteriorate into the afternoon as up to 10 inches of snow fell on top of communities trying to chisel out from under the ice and sleet that accumulated overnight. The National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky., reported about a quarter-inch of sleet and freezing rain fell overnight in Cape Girardeau...

Noon travel update: Side roads treacherous as crews focus on main arteries (12/07/13)

4
Officials are recommending that no one travel this morning in the weather conditions unless they must. Conditions at 6 a.m. were severe. Roads such as East Jackson Boulevard and Kingshighway were covered with ice and packed snow. Weather conditions are expected to worsen throughout the day...

Runners organize impromptu marathon (12/07/13)

4
By Saturday afternoon, a group of intrepid Cape Girardeau athletes will be able to tell their future grandchildren they ran 26.2 miles in the snow. Kim Kelpe, co-owner of Missouri Running Co., said some of her store's customers had planned to participate in the St. Jude Memphis Marathon on Saturday, but icy roads forced them to cancel their plans...

Updated cancellations and postponements: LFCS Home Tour latest #semostorm casualty (12/06/13)

10
Because of the weather forecast, some community organizations are canceling or postponing events. The Brazeau Christmas Walk has been postponed from Saturday until 3 to 8 p.m. on Dec. 14. The Lutheran Family and Children's Services Holiday Home Tour has been postponed from Saturday until Dec. 14...

Mid-day power update: 3,100 without power in Bootheel counties (12/06/13)
Around 3,100 Ameren Missouri customers in Southeast Missouri's Bootheel counties were without power as of 11:35 a.m. Friday, the company reported on its website. Dunklin and New Madrid counties each had about 1,800 customers with no electricity, while Pemiscot County had 286...

Group files petition for a taxing district downtown (12/06/13)

17
In an effort more than three years in the making, representatives of a proposed Downtown Cape Girardeau Community Improvement District on Thursday morning filed a petition with the city clerk requesting the city council form a Community Improvement District in the areas of Broadway, Water, Main and Spanish and portions of adjoining streets...

Rock fans ride the storm out with Styx, REO Speedwagon (12/06/13)

30
If you love rock 'n' roll, the weather doesn't matter. It was like that for the estimated 4,500 people who braved an ice storm to attend a Thursday night concert by 1970s-'80s rock bands REO Speedwagon and Styx at the Show Me Center. Taking the stage first at 7:37 p.m., Styx kept much of the audience on their feet as they powered through familiar hits...

City facilities to close at 4 (12/05/13)
City hall, the Arena Building, Osage Centre and Shawnee Park Center in Cape Girardeau will close at 4 p.m. today, according the Cape Girardeau's public information office. The facilities are scheduled to open at their normal time Friday. Pertinent addresses:...

Jackson designates snow routes (12/05/13)
Jackson city officials are advising residents to move their cars out of snow routes by 3 a.m. Friday. Vehicles left along designated snow routes after that time may be ticketed or towed to make way for snow plows, public works director Rodney Bollinger announced in a news release Thursday afternoon...

Southeast closing Cape campus (12/05/13)

9
Southeast Missouri State University will close its main campus in Cape Girardeau at 1:45 p.m. today because of winter weather. Classes scheduled for the rest of the afternoon and evening are canceled, according to a university spokesperson. The university's satellite campuses in Sikeston, Malden and Kennett are also closing at 2 p.m. today...

Region prepares for looming winter storm (12/05/13)

3
A looming winter storm kept local road crews busy with preparations Wednesday while several community events were canceled or postponed because of the threat of ice and snow. As of Wednesday afternoon, National Weather Service forecast maps showed an area north of a line extending from Poplar Bluff, Mo., through Cape Girardeau as likely to receive four or more inches of sleet and snow during a winter storm expected to begin Thursday night and last into Friday. ...

Furniture-truck driver faces another lawsuit (12/05/13)

11
The driver in a fatal box-truck crash faces more legal troubles in connection with the accident. Bobby Joe Abernathy, 34, of Jackson was driving a Slumberland Furniture truck west on Missouri 34 when the truck crossed the centerline and collided with an eastbound sport-utility vehicle driven by Erin Cordell, then 18, of Marble Hill, Mo...

Volunteers to pack 700,000 meals for starving children (12/05/13)

4
Starting Friday, thousands will gather at Osage Centre with one goal in mind: to help feed starving children across the globe. Volunteers will pack and label boxes with dry food ingredients that will be shipped and delivered to children by the Feed My Starving Children Organization...

Teen suspected in vandalism, defecation case (12/05/13)

6
Police on Wednesday arrested a teenager suspected of breaking into several apartment buildings, defecating in hallways and stealing money from coin machines in laundry rooms. Darin Hickey, public information officer for the Cape Girardeau Police Department, said someone identified the suspect from surveillance images...

McCaskill to speak at SEMO commencement (12/05/13)

42
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) -- Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill will deliver the winter commencement address when 740 students graduate at Southeast Missouri State University on Dec. 21. Plans for the commencement were announced by the university on Tuesday. Degree recipients will include 574 undergraduate students, along with graduate, specialist and doctoral students. Ten undergraduate students will be honored for perfect 4.0 grade point averages...

Help-Portrait volunteers seek to help 500 people with free photos (12/05/13)
Help-Portrait is a charitable event all about photos, fellowship and smiles. The international event is held in more than 2,000 locations across 62 countries. This is the fourth year local photographers will come together in Cape Girardeau to provide free professional photos to those who might not otherwise be able to afford them...

Highways commission awards contracts for Southeast District projects (12/05/13)

1
SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission awarded several contracts for Southeast District projects during a special session Tuesday, including two in the region, according to a Missouri Department of Transportation news release...

Winter storm watch for Thursday, Friday (12/04/13)

1
The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch for Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois and Western Kentucky ahead of an arctic cold front, and forecast freezing rain, sleet and snow for the area Thursday and Friday. The watch advisory, issued Tuesday afternoon, advised the storm's main effect will be accumulating ice, sleet and snow, which could make for dangerous road conditions and cause some power outages, especially if an area receives freezing rain. ...

Veteran, longtime Advance mayor Harnes dies (12/04/13)

1
During his lifetime, James Harnes Sr. of Advance, Mo., was many things to his country and his community. He was a highly-decorated Army veteran, civic leader, a mayor for 17 years and a businessman. Harnes died Tuesday at the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau. He was 94...

Order from secretary of state accuses insurance agent of fraud (12/04/13)

4
A Cape Girardeau insurance agent is the target of a cease-and-desist order accusing him of losing more than $241,000 of a Jackson woman's money in a fraudulent investment scheme after promising to make her "rich" so she could "retire in two years." Manzur Ahmed Mazumder is accused of persuading a colleague at a Cape Girardeau insurance agency to let him set up trading accounts in her name and make investments for her using more than $300,000 she pulled from her individual retirement accounts, credit cards, a home equity line of credit and her bank account, according to a cease-and-desist order filed Nov. ...

Perryville aldermen approve protocols for handling harassment complaints (12/04/13)
PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- The Perryville board of aldermen on Tuesday unanimously approved an ordinance establishing protocols for handling city employee complaints of harassment by elected officials. Under the new policy, employees must submit grievances in writing to the city's personnel clerk, who will forward them to the city attorney to present to the board of aldermen in closed session, shielding the complainant's identity as far as possible...

'Many Moods of Christmas' at the River Campus (12/04/13)

ADAM VOGLER ~ avogler@semissourian.com ABOVE: Sara Edgerton conducts the Southeast Missouri State University Symphony Orchestra as it performs selections from Pyotr Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite" as part of "Many Moods of Christmas" on Tuesday at the Bedell Performance Hall on the River Campus. ...

Cape man admits to three robberies (12/04/13)

3
A 23-year-old Cape Girardeau man admitted he was responsible for three Monday robberies, including one at a local Walgreens, according to a probable-cause statement filed Tuesday in Cape Girardeau County Circuit Court. Bryan D. Ward is in custody on $250,000 bond in connection with an armed robbery at Walgreens, 1 S. Kingshighway, and a pair of early morning armed robberies at convenience stores in Dexter, Mo., court records show...

Area children get a chance to Shop with a Hero (12/04/13)

LAURA SIMON ~ lsimon@semissourian.com Cape Girardeau Police Department spokesman Darin Hickey helps Lennon Shoemaker pick out toys, Tuesday, Dec. ...

Ribbon cutting set for Highway 34 (12/04/13)

1
SIKESTON, Mo. -- Work to improve Highway 34 in Bollinger County to add shoulders and curve corrections is nearing completion, according to a Missouri Department of Transportation news release. A ribbon cutting to celebrate safety improvements in this area will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 17 at Woodland School...

Man charged with growing hallucinogenic mushrooms (12/04/13)
A Cape Girardeau man is in jail on $100,000 bond on charges he was running a hallucinogenic mushroom-growing operation near an elementary school on Themis Street. Christopher J. Campbell, 35, faces charges of attempt to produce a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute and unlawful possession of a firearm...

No one injured in Perryville nursing home fire (12/04/13)
PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- No injuries were reported Tuesday night after a fire broke out at a Perryville nursing home. Details were sketchy Tuesday night, but the Perryville Fire Department reported a worker at Perry Oaks Nursing and Rehab, 430 N. West St., used a fire extinguisher to put out the fire, which started about 8:30 p.m...

Blunt, Smith cite concern over controlled burns (12/04/13)

3
ST. LOUIS -- Sen. Roy Blunt and U.S. Rep. Jason Smith raised concerns Tuesday that controlled burns in the Mark Twain National Forest are destroying trees that could be used for Missouri's timber industry. Blunt and Smith, both Republicans, met Monday to express their concerns with Kathleen Atkinson, the eastern regional forester for the U.S. ...

Missouri Boeing incentives could total $1.7B (12/04/13)

14
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri senators hoping to land production of a new Boeing airplane were set to begin debate today on a package of incentives valued at up to $1.7 billion over two decades. The proposed incentives -- which are dependent on the creation of thousands of new jobs -- cleared their first test Tuesday evening by flying through a Senate committee that heard testimony from a large contingent of St. Louis area officials backing the plan...

Obama tries to move past health care website woes (12/03/13)

12
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Seeking to move past its website woes, the Obama administration is launching a two-pronged health care strategy this month aimed at avoiding enrollment snafus come January while also trying to refocus the public's attention on broader benefits of the sweeping law...

New Central High School and Junior High orchestra director is the first new face in 22 years (12/03/13)
Michael Hanf is the new man holding the baton, leading the Central High School and Central Junior High orchestras. Moving here in June, Hanf replaced longtime orchestra leader Steve Schaffner, who retired last spring after 22 years in the spot. A Springfield, Mo., native Hanf taught three years in Rogers, Ark., and five years in St. ...

NWS: Winter weather on the way (12/03/13)

6
All of Southeast Missouri and the surrounding region could be in for a winter weather event late this week if forecast models being examined Monday by the National Weather Service hold true in the coming days. Forecasters are not yet sure what type or how much precipitation will fall Thursday and Friday when a winter storm is expected to move through the area, but Dan Spaeth, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky., said he is fairly confident there will be some accumulation.. ...

Jackson aldermen choose narrow-network insurance plan for city employees (12/03/13)

7
The Jackson Board of Aldermen on Monday unanimously passed an ordinance authorizing a contractual agreement with United Healthcare to provide health insurance for the close to 130 city of Jackson employees. Jim Roach, Jackson city administrator, said Monday the board chose to switch health insurance providers from Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield to United Healthcare of Maryland Heights, Mo., and in turn, switch to a narrower network...

Cape council voices concerns about new police station cost, location (12/03/13)

13
Cape Girardeau city officials have many ideas regarding a possible new police station, but Monday came to one conclusion: There is still much to consider as planning moves forward. The city council's discussion during its study session of recently presented options for a new or renovated station saw officials recognize that a needs study conducted by a hired architecture firm made a justifiable case for the current and future city police force's needs, but all the council members want to see more exploration.. ...

Poplar Bluff man gets 15 years for fatal shooting (12/03/13)
A judge sentenced a Poplar Bluff, Mo., man to 15 years in prison Monday for the 2011 shooting death of 29-year-old Marcus McFarland. Paris Thomas originally faced charges of first-degree murder, armed criminal action and unlawful possession of a firearm, but in September, prosecutors reduced the charges to voluntary manslaughter and unlawful possession of a firearm in exchange for Thomas' guilty plea...

Armed intruders enter two homes in Cape (12/03/13)

6
Police are investigating two cases involving armed intruders forcing their way into Cape Girardeau homes over the weekend. In the first case, two men came to the Cape Girardeau Police Department on Saturday morning to report that about midnight the previous night, they had been inside their home in the 600 block of South Henderson Avenue when they heard a knock at the door, public information officer Darin Hickey said...

In the red at Southeast's greenhouse (12/03/13)

LAURA SIMON ~ lsmon@semissourian.com ABOVE: Ronald Davis, a horticulture student at Southeast Missouri State University, checks over a poinsettia for an order he and his classmate, Michael Wyrsch, are filling for the Jackson Optimists on Monday at the university's greenhouse. ...

Police seek vandal who defecated in buildings (12/03/13)

5
Cape Girardeau police are looking for a vandal they say has broken into common areas of several apartment buildings, defecated in hallways and stolen money from coin machines in laundry rooms. Cape Girardeau police public information officer Darin Hickey said the vandalism has occurred at apartment buildings on Watkins Drive, North Frederick Street and another location...

Last week's most read stories