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Monday, May 21, 2012

Local News

Unlocked homes and cars hit by thieves in Jackson (05/21/12)
Jackson residents who left their cars and homes unlocked were robbed May 14, and the chief of police is encouraging people to properly secure their property. Chief James Humphreys said there was a string of "opportunist crimes" in the Indian Hills and Warren Place neighborhoods. Small valuables were removed from several cars, and two homes believed to have been unlocked, as there were no signs of forced entry...
Heavy use of air conditioners in spring can cause smoke, sometimes fires (05/21/12)
Jackson firefighters responding to a smoke alarm at a business late Wednesday morning found a restaurant with a dining room filled with a light smoke. "I knew right away it was the air conditioner," said Jackson Fire Department assistant chief Randy Davis. "Smoke was blowing out the air conditioner ducts. The air conditioner was seizing up and the smoke was blowing down into the building."...
Cape man hospitalized after being stabbed (05/21/12)
One man was hospitalized Sunday with multiple stab wounds after an incident in south Cape Girardeau early Sunday afternoon. About 1 p.m., police responded to a report of a stabbing in the 600 block of South Henderson Avenue where they found a 20-year-old man lying in the street with wounds to his back and a leg, officials said...
Woman found guilty of child endangerment (05/21/12) 1
BENTON, Mo. --A woman has been found guilty of causing second- and third-degree burns to her young stepson by submerging him in hot water. Laura Hernandez, 25, was convicted of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child after a two-day jury trial, which ended Tuesday. Scott County Circuit Judge David Dolan set sentencing for June 28...
Two Sikeston residents facing drug charges (05/21/12)
SIKESTON, Mo. -- Two Sikeston residents were arrested following an investigation into suspected drug activity. Nyisha R. Owens, 29, and Darenick O. Washington, 22, were charged Friday with felony possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia...
Tennessee man dies in accident near Caruthersville (05/21/12)
CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo. -- A Tennessee man died after being trapped beneath his vehicle in an accident Friday. James C. Moody, 26, of Ripley, Tenn., was driving westbound on the Levee Road, east of Shipyard Road, just west of Caruthersville at about 8:31 a.m. when his vehicle ran off the north side of the levee...
Hunting or trapping? Cape council to give direction on deer management (05/21/12)
The Cape Girardeau City Council is being asked to make its choice on how best to thin the herd -- allowing urban deer hunting within the city limits or creating a program that calls for trapping and euthanizing the animals that are being blamed for increased car wrecks and tattered landscapes...
Group to open bar and grill in Cape to help support veterans (05/21/12) 1
A local veterans organization will open a new bar and grill in an effort to raise money to help other veterans. USA Veterans has purchased a building at 519 Good Hope St. and is working to transform it into a veterans club that is also open to the public...
Artists help raise money for Glenn House (05/21/12)
The Glenn House in downtown Cape Girardeau presented a Weekend of Art with plein air artists and a FANtastic fundraising event over the weekend. Local and regional artists donated their talent, time and weekend to raise funds during the Plein Air Art Show to help maintain the Glenn House. Spotty rain had some artists scrambling to protect their work, but it did not dampen their enthusiasm or spirits...
Cape Girardeau City Council agenda (05/21/12)
401 Independence St. Study session, 5 p.m. today Meeting, 7 p.m. today Items for discussion...
Two Arizona men dead after apparent murder-suicide in Cape Girardeau (05/20/12) 30
Numerous residents of Cape Girardeau's Landgraf Drive awoke early Friday morning to the sound of gunshots when an apparent murder-suicide left two men dead. Several units from the Cape Girardeau Police Department responded to a residence at 1129 Landgraf Drive shortly after 3 a.m. Friday and found the two men lying in the driveway of the home, both dead from gunshot wounds...
Labor from endangered Tamms prison helping with courthouse work in Thebes (05/20/12)
THEBES, Ill. -- It was unusually hot early in May when eight orange-clad men labored in the late-morning sun on the hillside below the historic Thebes Courthouse. The men, minimum-security inmates from the Tamms Correctional Center, have been cutting down trees, removing the weeds and cutting the grass...
Koster urges Supreme Court to set execution dates for Bucklew, others (05/20/12) 7
Russell Bucklew has sat on death row for 15 years awaiting his sentence for what local law enforcement officials describe as one of the worst Cape Girardeau County crimes of the past few decades. Now, if Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster gets his way, Bucklew's wait is about to end...
Annual festival brings local songwriters to Morley, Mo. (05/20/12)
MORLEY, Mo. -- Morley hosted the second annual Songwriters Music Festival featuring local musicians performing all original works Saturday at the Morley Community Building. The free, family-oriented event is the brainchild of Karl Ketchum, a local musician, who works with the Citizens for a Better Community Committee in Morley...
Bollinger County Museum of Natural History hosts Civil War exhibit (05/20/12) 1
MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- The contents of a Civil War soldier's rucksack fit on half a table Saturday at the Bollinger County Museum of Natural History. "They traveled a lot lighter than people may think," said Michael Comer of the Department of Natural Resources, who spent Saturday at the museum with displays of items the soldiers carried in the field and fired his musket in hourly demonstrations before presenting a lecture...
Police: Charleston man dies of gunshot wound (05/20/12)
CHARLESTON, Mo. -- A 34-year-old man is dead after a shooting in Charleston on Friday. At 3:30 p.m. the Charleston Department of Public Safety received a report of gunshots in the area of Vine and Finney streets. Officers arrived at the scene to find George O. Moore Jr. of Charleston on the ground with an apparent gunshot wound, according to a news release from the department. He was pronounced dead at the scene...
Rep. Wallingford kicks off campaign for state Senate (05/20/12) 1
About 100 people came out Saturday to help Rep. Wayne Wallingford, R-Cape Girardeau, kick off his campaign for the Republican nomination for the Missouri Senate's 27th District seat. Wallingford, who provided attendees with bumper stickers and yard signs at his new campaign office, said he was encouraged by the turnout and feeling good about the race ahead...
Clay Waller to make court appearance on murder charge June 4 (05/20/12)
Clay Waller will make his initial court appearance next month on charges that he murdered his wife and tampered with evidence. Waller is set to appear in a Jackson courtroom on June 4. At this initial appearance, the court will establish whether Waller has counsel or needs a public defender...
Cape Girardeau County sheriff's employees honored (05/20/12) 2
The Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department honored four employees Friday during the annual presentation of the Timothy J. Ruopp Award and the Copeland Excellence Awards. Sheriff John Jordan presided over the ceremony, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of National Law Enforcement Week...
MoDOT conducts online land auction (05/20/12)
SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Missouri Department of Transportation is conducting an online land auction for four parcels in Butler, Stoddard, Howell and Shannon counties. Anyone interested can visit the online auction at www.modot.org/southeast through 10 a.m. May 30...
2012 Hope Epidemic held Saturday in Sikeston, Mo. (05/20/12)
Loading boxes Saturday morning at the Sikeston Food Bank are, from left, Bob Boyer, Tony Poole (partially hidden), Roger Jespersen and Jake Myres. The men were taking part in the 2012 Hope Epidemic, which had volunteers performing acts of hope throughout Southeast Missouri. (Standard Democrat)...
Arbor Day Foundation names Cape as Tree City USA (05/20/12)
Cape Girardeau was recently named a Tree City USA community by The Arbor Day Foundation for the 14th year due to its commitment to urban forestry. Cape Girardeau continues to meet the four standards to become a Tree City USA community by having a tree board or department, a tree-care ordinance, a community forestry program and an Arbor Day observance and proclamation...
Club news 5/20/12 (05/20/12)
The American Legion Auxiliary Unit 63 met May 9 with 24 members in attendance. A luncheon was held with Pat Boren, Juanita Cook, Charlene VanDeven and Mildred Varvell serving as hostesses. Barbara Yallaly, president, was awarded the 50/50. ...
East Cape, McClure under boil water order (05/18/12)
Portions of the McClure East Cape Girardeau Water District will be without water Saturday from approximately 9 a.m. to noon as crews work to repair a hydrant. The entire district has been under a boil water order since Thursday, said Heather McKinnie, water district clerk...
Cape mail processing center will stay open until at least 2014 (05/18/12) 1
Cape Girardeau's Richard G. Wilson Mail Processing and Distribution Facility will remain open at least through February 2014. The facility was not among the 140 set to close this summer as part of a modified plan to consolidate its mail processing centers announced today by the U.S. Postal Service...
Cape Girardeau County Commission candidates talk issues at GOP forum (05/18/12) 5
The three Republican rivals for one Cape Girardeau County seat faced off for the first time publicly Thursday night, answering questions on a new courthouse, ways to boost the economy and how they would apply their GOP principles to county government if elected in the Aug. 7 primary...
Wallingford to host campaign kickoff event Saturday (05/18/12) 1
State Rep. Wayne Wallingford will host a kickoff event for his state Senate campaign in Cape Girardeau on Saturday. Wallingford, a Republican seeking the 27th Senate District seat, will officially kick off his campaign at 2 p.m. at 518 Helena Ave. in Cape Girardeau, just behind the Broadway McDonald's...
Two men charged for leaving child in car while drinking in bar (05/18/12) 5
PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Authorities have charged two men with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child after they allegedly left a 2-year-old girl in a car while they were in a Perryville bar Wednesday night. Witnesses told investigators Joshua Jason Loucks, 18, of Frohna, Mo., and James Harrison Waller, 26, of Perryville, left the child in a green Mazda passenger car about 10:30 p.m. ...
Cape to host auction at Arena Park on Saturday (05/18/12) 1
In the market for a concrete cigarette urn? How about a 1966 half-dollar? An upcoming Cape Girardeau public auction will offer attendees the chance to bid on an eclectic array of items that come from every municipal department, from office equipment and lawn mowers to golf carts and basketball goals...
Man confronts juveniles breaking into car outside Cape home (05/18/12) 3
No one was injured when a man confronted two juveniles breaking into his ex-wife's car on Good Hope Street late Saturday evening. The unidentified man was returning his daughter to his ex-wife's home in the 1900 block of Good Hope about 10 p.m., and saw two boys breaking into the car, police said. He confronted them and found that one had a fake gun in one hand. The boy did not point the "replica revolver" at the victim, said Cape Girardeau Sgt. Jason Selzer...
Jackson sanitation department closed May 28 (05/18/12)
Jackson's sanitation department will not be operating May 28, in observance of Memorial Day. Customers along the Monday route will have their trash picked up Tuesday. The recycling center will also be closed May 28. For more information, contact the sanitation department at 243-2333 or the public works department at 243-2300...
Bloomfield post office reopens (05/18/12)
BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- The Bloomfield post office is open for business folowing its closure in April due to the finding of asbestos. The information came in an email from the city of Bloomfield on Thursday morning. A post on the city's website Wednesday afternoon announced that the city had been contacted by the U.S. Postal Service in regard to the closure...
Mo. lawmakers approve vehicle sales tax measure (05/18/12)
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Lawmakers have given final approval to a measure designed to allow Missouri communities to continue levying taxes on car sales. Missouri residents have long paid sales taxes on vehicle purchases in their home communities during registration. ...
SoutheastHEALTH names new chief medical officer (05/18/12) 2
Dr. Dennis E. Means will begin work as SoutheastHEALTH's new chief medical officer in mid-June. Dr. Robert Sarama has served as interim chief medical officer while a national search was conducted for a permanent chief medical officer. Means previously worked at the Carilion Clinic, New River Valley Campus, in Christiansburg, Va., serving as vice president of medical affairs since 2007. ...
Officer injured after interrupting theft (05/18/12)
NEELYVILLE, Mo. -- A Butler County sheriff's deputy patrolling in Neelyville interrupted a would-be fuel thief, who allegedly resisted arrest, injuring both himself and the deputy. Cpl. Brandon Lowe was on patrol when he saw a passenger car sitting on the parking lot of the closed JB's Store, at the intersection of Highway 67 and Highway 142, and two subjects standing next to the fuel pumps, explained Lt. Brian Evans...
Police seek man who reportedly burned car (05/18/12)
Cape Girardeau police were searching Thursday for the man who set fire to an acquaintance's vehicle after they'd been involved in an altercation. The victim and the unidentified neighbor had fought about midnight Wednesday and gone their separate ways, police said. ...
Tilley critical of Spence gifts to lawmakers (05/18/12) 1
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Missouri House Speaker Steven Tilley is accusing fellow Republican Dave Spence of hypocrisy for his habit of doling out sports tickets to lawmakers in his bid to become governor. Spence is seeking the GOP nomination to run against incumbent Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon in November. Though a political novice, Spence is a successful businessman who sold his container business for more than $200 million...
Emerson takes on FEMA over flood plain map (05/18/12)
WASHINGTON -- Eighth District Rep. Jo Ann Emerson won acceptance for an amendment to the fiscal year 2013 Homeland Security Appropriations bill, which provides funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, regarding changes to flood hazard maps. The House Appropriations Committee considered the bill Wednesday...
Cape public schools receive ‘What Parents Want' award (05/18/12)
Cape Girardeau public schools are among 29 school systems in Missouri that will receive an award based on a nationwide survey of parents conducted this year. The 2012 "What Parents Want Award" comes from SchoolMatch, an independent school selection consulting firm which provides information to corporations, real estate firms and economic development offices to help families find schools for their children, according to a news release issued Wednesday by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.. ...
Cape County agrees to sponsor tax credit program for foster home (05/18/12)
The Cape Girardeau County Commission agreed Thursday to serve as the governmental sponsor for a Missouri Department of Economic Development Neighborhood Assistance Program project to benefit Jackson's Hope Children's Home. Hope Children's Home, a long-term and emergency foster home that serves Cape Girardeau, Perry and Bollinger counties, is applying to receive about $200,000 in tax credit vouchers that can be exchanged for community donations. ...
Hope Epidemic event set for Saturday in Sikeston (05/18/12)
SIKESTON, Mo. -- Chris Sullivan volunteered during last year's Hope Epidemic to make a difference in others lives. In the process, the Sikeston man said his life changed, too. "Last year really opened my eyes on how people should be and made me see things in a different light," Sullivan said. "I see people for who they are and not how they're dressed, what they look like, where they come from or the color of their skin."...
Route FF to be closed for railroad repairs (05/18/12)
SIKESTON, Mo. -- Route FF in Stoddard County will be closed Monday as crews remove the railroad crossing. This section of road is between Clay and Hux streets in Essex, Mo. Weather permitting, the work will be done from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The work zone will be marked with signs...
Roadside mowing operations underway (05/18/12)
SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Missouri Department of Transportation's roadside mowing operations are underway. The first mowing cycle began on major routes earlier this month and will be completed before Memorial Day. Additional mowing cycles will be completed on four-lane highways and interstates in mid-July and mid-September. ...
Highway 34 reduced for pavement repairs (05/18/12)
SIKESTON, Mo. -- Crews with the Missouri Department of Transportation will reduce Highway 34 in Wayne County to one lane Monday and Tuesday while repairs are made to the pavement. This section of road is between routes HH and B. Weather permitting, the work will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. The work zone will be marked with signs. For more information, contact MoDOT's Customer Service Center at 888-275-6636 or visit www.modot.org/southeast...
Bridge work reduces Route U in Scott County (05/18/12)
SIKESTON, Mo. -- Route U in Scott County will be reduced to one lane Monday and Tuesday as Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform bridge repairs. This is the bridge over St. John's Ditch and is between Walnut Street in Haywood City and County Road 425. ...
Read to Succeed to expand in Cape schools this fall (05/18/12)
One way or the other, a volunteer-run reading improvement program will expand to more of Cape Girardeau's elementary schools this fall, according to coordinators. Read to Succeed has helped kindergarten and first-grade students at Blanchard and Alma Schrader elementary schools raise their grade-level reading skills by using one-on-one sessions four times per week with volunteer tutors. ...
Road work on West Jackson Boulevard to begin next week (05/18/12)
Jackson city crews will begin widening the entrance to Jackson Football Park beginning as early as Monday, with lane closures anticipated to begin May 28. During work hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., one of the eastbound lanes of West Jackson Boulevard will be closed between West Main Street and Maple Street and eastbound traffic will be reduced to one lane. Both lanes will open in the evening with travel restricted by barricades adjacent to the construction zone...
Cape Girardeau County will wait to appoint disabilities board members (05/18/12) 1
The Cape Girardeau County Board of Developmental Disabilities has functioned since July with just five members and last week recommended an applicant to fill one of its four openings, but the county won't make any appointments until ongoing legal issues are resolved...
County Commissioner candidate forum is tonight (05/17/12)
The SEMO Pachyderm Club will host a public forum for Cape Girardeau County Commission candidates at 7 p.m. tonight. The event takes place at Dexter Bar-B-Que, 236 S. Broadview St., in Cape Girardeau. The three Republican candidates pursuing the seat -- Moe Sandfort, Charlie Herbst and incumbent Jay Purcell -- will each take part, and incumbent 1st District Commissioner Paul Koeper will also be in attendance, though he is unopposed in the upcoming election, according to a Pachyderm Club news release.. ...
Broadway businesses share ideas about corridor project (05/17/12) 5
Old Town Cape executive director Marla Mills gave business owners fair warning Wednesday -- the $4.5 million Broadway corridor project is not always going to be easy or convenient. "No pain, no gain," she said. "It's going to hurt a little bit."...
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