Local News

At age 6, Caleb Craft, now 17 and a junior at Jackson High School, made his first donation to the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau. With his birthday just over a month after the Christmas holiday, Caleb explained his parents sat him down and asked him whether there was something else he could do to give back to the community in honor of his birthday, rather than asking for more gifts...

A project to improve stormwater drainage will force the closure of the Hopper Road and Kingshighway intersection for several months this summer, Cape Girardeau city public works director Stan Polivick said. Construction won’t begin until after school ends, he said, explaining the timetable is designed to avoid the extra traffic on Hopper Road at Clippard Elementary School...

Uptown Jackson Revitalization Organization will have its first ever executive director, the organization announced Monday. Local filmmaker Steve Turner will assume the new role April 1, said UJRO board president Tyler Wolfsberger. “We’re excited to have a point person to be the main point of contact for the organization, excited to have an office to use at the [Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce] building, and to be available to merchants, other businesses and organizations in the community,” Wolfsberger said. ...

Advance, Missouri, School Board candidates have voiced concerns about school safety, technology and funding. The three candidates — David Kennedy, Adam Cato and Chase Robins — are competing for a one-year term on the board in the April 2 election...

As a senior in high school, Southeast Missouri State University sophomore Michael Smith suffered a stroke that nearly ended his life. He blacked-out at school and when he woke up, he could not move the left side of his body and was 90 percent blind...

Jackson resident Kevin Pruitt came home from a family vacation in Cancun, Mexico, to find he’d won $77,777 in the Missouri Lottery. “We got home from Cancun on Thursday, and I bought the ticket on Friday,” Pruitt said in a news release. “My wife works next door to a mini-mart, and I stop in a few times a week to buy a ticket while I’m visiting her.”...

Cape County Route F closed for drainage work Route F in Cape Girardeau County will be closed between County Road 340 and Route OO as Missouri Department of Transportation crews replace a pipe under the road. A MoDOT news release says the work will take place April 3 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m...

Combat veteran of the Marine Corps and president of the National Rifle Association Oliver North emphasized the importance of maintaining freedom by defending the Second Amendment during the 50th annual Lincoln Day celebration Saturday at the Osage Centre in Cape Girardeau...

Local girls now have the opportunity to join Scouts BSA, the scouting program formerly known as Boy Scouts. Sign-ups for a girls-only troop, sponsored by Grace United Methodist Church in Cape Girardeau, will be from 6 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the Central Junior High School cafeteria...

In Perry County, Missouri, a 6-percent tax on hotel stays would mean more dollars to promote and grow tourism, said Trish Erzfeld, director and sole employee of Perry County Heritage Tourism. Erzfeld’s office serves as the convention and visitors bureau for the county, and, she said, people are beginning to realize this tax is needed...

Two candidates are seeking election for Delta city collector, a position some city leaders want to make an appointed post. Teresa Lesch Byram and Carla Perry are competing to fill a one-year, unexpired term as collector in the April 2 election. Byram discussed her candidacy in emailed responses to a Southeast Missourian questionnaire. Perry, reached by phone, declined to answer questions...

Approval of minutes n Minutes for the March 18 meeting Communications/reports -- other elected officials n None at this time Public comments n Items listed on the agenda Routine business...

The Cape Girardeau School District could look like a huge construction zone if voters approve a $12 million bond issue in April. And most of the money would not be used for a new pool, school and community leaders said. All of the improvements would be made without a tax increase, school officials and community leaders said. The debt-service levy would remain unchanged at $0.68 per $100 assessed valuation...

The third time could be a charm for a Jackson use-tax measure. The city has tried twice before unsuccessfully to pass a use-tax measure, but Jackson Mayor Dwain Hahs said he thinks this time could be different. Hahs said last time Jackson leaders put a use-tax measure on the ballot, initial priorities weren’t discussed...

The 67th annual Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo set for Aug. 7 through 10 will feature rodeo chutes, bullfighting and performances by country-music artists Morgan Wallen, Sammy Kershaw, Collin Raye, Aaron Tippin, Jake Owen and Midland. ...

Construction is complete and Dexter Bar-B-Que’s sixth location quietly opened with the sweet aroma of barbecue Friday morning in Jackson. Owner Bruce Vancil said a grand opening date will be announced soon. “We just want to get our feet wet first,” he said Friday. “We pretty much have got it together.”...

usted Miner, Missouri, police chief Christopher Griggs is going to court in an effort to get his job back. Griggs’ attorney, James McClellan of Sikeston, Missouri, filed a petition for judicial review in Scott County Circuit Court on Friday. The petition seeks to have a judge set aside recent impeachment proceedings and the termination of Griggs. It asks he be reinstated and receive pay retroactive to March 15, the date he was terminated by the city’s board of aldermen...

The meeting of the Town and Country FCE Club met at the home of Sue Jones on March 14. The evening began with an international dinner of foods from South Korea prepared by the members of the club. Mary Klaproth, Judy Niswonger and Jones were on the committee. ...

An anonymous donor has pledged $1.5 million in matching funds toward construction of an indoor aquatic center, two former Cape Girardeau mayors announced Thursday. Former mayors Harry Rediger and Jay Knudtson revealed the private donation at a breezy, outdoor news conference at the Shawnee Park Center attended by city, school and community leaders...

Organizers are hoping to raise $14,000 in this year's Walk MS on April 13 at Capaha Park in Cape Girardeau. Local advocate Mary Meyer, who has organized the walk each year for the past 30 years, said she was diagnosed in the 1980s with relapsing MS, which means the symptoms can vary in intensity from one day to the next...

Candidates for the Kelly school board have brought up everything from finances to school safety and hiring of teachers in advance of the April 2 election. School board incumbents John Felter and Paul Ruff face three challengers for the two seats on the board...

An empty building with a stark face of glass and concrete stands at 40 S. Sprigg St. in Cape Girardeau, opposite Fire Station No. 1, near apartment buildings, a church and a grocery store. Since March 2018, when the police department moved from the building constructed in 1976 to a new facility at 2530 Maria Louise Lane, the former station has been vacant...

More than 12 years after voters approved a sales tax to, in part, pave more than 300 miles of county roads in Cape Girardeau County, more than 100 miles are paved, but funding issues and maintenance of roads paved early on mean paving pace has slowed considerably...

Perryville, Missouri, has a housing shortage. Both Ward 2 Alderman Douglas K. Martin and challenger Sharon M. Unterreiner agree on that issue. The two candidates in the April 2 municipal election discussed the issue in emailed responses to a candidate questionnaire from the Southeast Missourian...

A 1-year-old girl and a 50-year-old woman were killed in a traffic crash on Monday. Neither were wearing seatbelts. The crash involved two vehicles in Alexander County on Route 3 in Thebes, according to a news release issued Wednesday by the Illinois State Police...

Former Scott City administrator Ron Eskew, who took the city and former Mayor Ron Cummins to court over his forced resignation, received a $40,000 settlement in exchange for dropping his lawsuit. The Southeast Missourian obtained a copy of the six-page agreement from the city after filing a Sunshine Law request...

Work resumes on Route Y in Stoddard, Scott counties Route Y in Stoddard and Scott counties will be reduced with an 11-foot width restriction as contractor crews resurface the roadway. This section of road is from 2.5 miles east of Highway 25 to U.S. 61 in Sikeston, Missouri, according to a Missouri Department of Transportation news release...

Humane Society of Southeast Missouri is teaming up with a local hockey group, Cape Area Hockey, for its first sports-themed fundraiser and sheltered pet adoption event, Pucks 4 Paws. The event kicks off at 11 a.m. Sunday at the Arena Building in Cape Girardeau...

North Fountain Street between Broadway and Bellevue Street in Cape Girardeau will close from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday and from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday while Boulder Construction performs construction on the Marquette Building, according to a city news release. Detours will be available for motorists...

The 20-member congregation at The Church of God in Cape Girardeau has created its first 24-hour community outreach program with the addition of a self-serve "take what you need, leave what you can" food pantry. The church's main food pantry in the basement of 209 E. Cape Rock Drive has hit capacity, according to church staff. The next step was to open God's Little Pantry...

Four educators are heading to the Dominican Republic this summer as part of a program from Cenet, the Cultural Exchange Network, in Cape Girardeau. Culture in the Classroom is a program Cenet has provided since 2011, bringing international visitors to area classrooms to provide authentic, cultural education, at no cost to the districts...

Bullying, safety and students getting overlooked in terms of academics or extracurricular activities are among the biggest challenges facing the Scott City public school system, according to candidates running for the school board. Voters will decide among five candidates in the April 2 election for two, three-year terms on the Scott City School Board...

A judge has dismissed the Scott County Sheriff's Department as a defendant in a discrimination lawsuit brought by a deputy, but the county government in general still must defend itself against the plaintiff's claims. Judge Benjamin Lewis sustained the defense motion to drop the department from the civil suit after hearing arguments on the issue in Scott County Circuit Court in Benton, Missouri, on Friday...

Former Southeast Missouri Democratic congressman Bill Burlison died Sunday at his home in Wardell, Missouri, in Pemiscot County at the age of 88. A former Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney, Burlison served six terms in the then-10th Congressional District of Southeast Missouri, from 1969 to 1981...

With cellphone-related crashes on the rise, a Cape Girardeau lawmaker wants to ban motorists from texting while driving in Missouri. State Sen. Wayne Wallingford, R-Cape Girardeau, calls it a safety issue, citing data on traffic crashes. He has introduced legislation to impose such a ban and is optimistic it will pass when lawmakers get back to work after this week’s spring break...

Pedestrians who use the alleyway between C.P. McGinty Jewelers and Threadz on Main Street in Cape Girardeau have something new to look at along the walkway. The alleyway now features the artwork of local artist Malcolm McCrae as well as overhead lights to illuminate the path at night...

Filmmaker Steve Turner’s documentary “The Past is Never Dead” on the exoneration of David Robinson for the 2001 murder of Sheila Box will premiere on Amazon Prime on May 17, Turner announced Monday. Robinson was convicted in 2001 of the Sikeston, Missouri, murder of Box on the word of two jailhouse informants who later recanted...

City officials heard concerns from residents of Indian Hills subdivision at Jackson's regular Board of Aldermen meeting Monday. In the study session, resident Janice Unger said she'd contacted the police and fire departments to express her concern emergency vehicles might not be able to navigate Highland Drive between Shawnee Boulevard and Nancy Drive when vehicles are parked on both sides of the street. ...

SIKESTON, Mo. — A Sikeston woman has been arrested and charged for allegedly setting her own business on fire. Monica Mays, 50, is charged with first-degree arson through Scott County Court, according to Sikeston Department of Public Safety assistant chief Jim McMillen. ...

With nearly 140 contestants and a goal of more than $20,000, this year’s Howard Aslinger Endurance Run is on track for being the biggest yet. Between 7 p.m. Friday and 7 p.m. Saturday in Arena Park in Cape Girardeau, runners and walkers from all over were voluntarily inconveniencing themselves for a good cause, according to co-organizer Bryan Kelpe...

The Missouri Department of Conservation is bringing nature into the digital age, with smartphone apps and websites geared toward bringing people closer to nature, and so far, the outlook is great, said MDC digital communications manager Chris Cloyd...

Blackbird Monogram & Gift’s entryway is dominated by a dazzling chandelier, framed against a flat-black industrial ceiling. Gray walls and warm flooring pull together the look of a chic boutique with customizable accessories, décor items and gifts. Owner Nikki Burton said she opened in February after a short remodeling stint. She’s returned to the area after living in Columbia, Missouri, with husband Cole for a few years...

MINER, Mo. — Miner police chief Christopher Griggs was released from his duties Friday after an impeachment hearing March 11. But the fight is not over. “We believe it is outrageous,” Griggs’ attorney Jim McClellan said. “The result doesn’t surprise us because the investigation was a sham.”...

Study session Presentations Communications/ reports n City Council n Staff Items for discussion n Planning and Zoning Commission report n Appearances regarding items not listed on the agenda...

Approval of minutes n Minutes of regular meeting of 3/4/2019 Financial affairs n City collector's report (action) n City clerk's and treasurer's reports (action) Action items n Power and Light Committee...

Approval of minutes n Minutes for the March 14 meeting Communications/reports -- other elected officials n None at this time Public comments n Items listed on the agenda Routine business...

BENTON, Mo. — Scott County government and Sheriff Wes Drury have dropped efforts to have a discrimination lawsuit brought by a deputy dismissed. As a result, deputy Tina Kolwyck’s suit will proceed in circuit court. Still at issue is whether the Scott County Sheriff’s Department should be dropped from the suit...

Millersville Elementary School and North Elementary School principal Lance McClard’s distinct approach to fostering education for faculty beyond the 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. threshold has earned him the honor of being selected as Missouri’s National Distinguished Principal by the Missouri Association of Elementary School Principals...

Cape Girardeau civic leaders, led by two former mayors, plan to establish a committee to secure private investments and partnerships to help construct and operate an indoor aquatic center. The facility would include a 50-meter competition pool, according to a news release issued Friday...

New York-style furnishings, imported décor and multicolored water features have transformed what used to be Denny’s restaurant in Cape Girardeau into the new Shogun Japanese Hibachi & Sushi. The space at 161 West Drive opened March 1, according to owner Gong “Thomas” Lin...