Stories from Wednesday, March 31, 2010

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- Autopsies were scheduled for today in the deaths of two New Madrid men who died during a fire at their home Tuesday morning, the Sikeston Standard Democrat reported. Raymond Patterson, 82, and his son, Phillip Patterson, 45, died as a result of a blaze at their home at 376 W. State Highway U, in New Madrid, according to New Madrid County Sheriff Terry Stevens...

MATTHEWS, Mo. -- A man suspected of stabbing another man Tuesday morning at a Matthews truck stop has been released, while the investigation into the incident continues, the Sikeston Standard Democrat reported. Around 8 a.m. Tuesday, the New Madrid County Sheriff's Department received a call regarding a stabbing at Love's Travel Stop, just off Interstate 55 in Matthews. ...

BENTON, Mo. -- The heated debate on County Road 353 has been brought to a close: the road will remain open. Scott County Commissioners voted to not vacate the road after hearing a final rehash of arguments from both sides during their Tuesday meeting, the Sikeston Standard Democrat reported...

Paintings by Barbara Ross, Sikeston, MO will be the featured artist at the Aartful Rose Gallery on First Friday. An accomplished watercolorist, Barbara Ashley Ross began her lifelong love of art as a child. "I used to be captivated by the wonderful scent and colors in a box of crayolas. ...

I took this pic at my sister's house looking through her weeping willow tree.

Took this pic the night before Palm Sunday. It was almost a full moon!

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Butler County Circuit Court Judge Robert L. Smith sentenced a Cape Girardeau man Tuesday for burglary and attempting to manufacture methamphetamine for trying to cook the controlled substance in a Cape Girardeau Sonic Drive-In restaurant in December.

"Madison and Lenny are quite happy in "their" chair. That is when they are not on their "couch". They are two really spoiled beagles!

Associate Cape Girardeau County Commissioner Jay Purcell joined the last-minute filers Tuesday when he decided to seek the top job on the commission.

The Bollinger County Optimist Soccer League spring season is in action. Pictured are Damian Lutes, Madison Cover, and Tyler Massa.

The Spring season of Bollinger County Soccer is in action in Marble Hill. Pictured is Tara Belcher making her way downfield with Britni Zajicek defending.

Cape Girardeau, MO--The Encore Music Club recently selected their 2010 Apple Award recipient. The Apple Award goes to a local school music teacher in recognition of his or her hard work in promoting music education. This year's selection was Rebecca Gentry, music educator at Alma Schrader Elementary School in Cape Girardeau. ...

START SMART BASEBALL The Cape Girardeau Parks & Recreation Department is currently taking registrations for Start Smart Baseball. Start Smart Baseball is a developmentally appropriate introductory baseball program for children ages 3-5 years old. The program prepares children for organized baseball in a fun, non-threatening environment. ...

Despite losing a longtime incumbent, the Scott City School Board is seeing some familiar faces. In the largest school board race in the area, seven people have filed for the board. Board president Debbi Miller will step down after 14 years on the board, including 11 as board president. Two candidates will be elected to three-year terms Tuesday...

Eight members of Scott City FCCLA recently competed at the state level in FCCLA STAR Events. Missy Thomas and Ashley Kennedy earned gold medals for their projects while Brooke Dohogne, Chelsea Phillips, Morgan Brendel, Jenna Cummins, Courtney Bles and Becky Burger earned silver medals...

Your Public Works Department is working hard and they need your help! If you're available any time this week between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. and willing/able to help assemble information packets for the new automated trash system, please call Jennifer Berry at 339-6351 or email her at jberry@cityofcapegirardeau.org...

Late Winter at the General Watkins Conservation Area, Morley Mo

Jackson Jr High School Girls Track Team is RED HOT!! Jackson Jr High 8th Grader, Sarah Little beat Cape Central Jr High Girls in the 100, 200 & 400 meter race. Sarah Little finished first in all 3 races this afternoon at Cape Central Jr High School Track meet. Way to go JACKSON INDIANS!!!!...

Cape Girardeau voters will get a flurry of campaign fliers in their mailboxes in the next week as candidates for mayor and promoters of a $40 million bond issue make their final pitches. Finance reports filed Monday, eight days before Tuesday's election, showed strong fundraising by Yes Cape Schools to support the bond issue. In the mayor's race, retired businessman Harry Rediger retained his cash advantage over former councilman Matt Hopkins...

In early November, at Jackson High School, approximately 400 of Southeast Missouri's finest high school and middle school musicians gathered to compete for positions in the Southeast Missouri All- District High School Band and All-District Middle School Band...

In early November, at Jackson High School, approximately 400 of Southeast Missouri's finest high school and middle school musicians gathered to compete for positions in the Southeast Missouri All-District High School Band and All-District Middle School Band...

A group of downtown Cape Girardeau business owners and residents are looking into forming a new taxing district to fund area improvements. A steering committee is now meeting regularly to determine boundaries for a community improvement district, public services needed in the area and ways to pay for them...

Tracker, mascot for the Southeast Missourian Jr., let the Walking School Bus on it's way to Alma Schrader Elementary School. Approximately 60 kids participated in the Walking School Bus program this morning.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Oliver Perez isn't concerned about a rough outing in his last spring training game. The New York Mets, however, will be keeping a close eye on him as the season starts next week. The St. Louis Cardinals ripped three home runs off Perez in Tuesday's 9-4 win over the Mets, and the left-hander lasted 2 1-3 innings...

Notre Dame's batters were salivating at the chance to take their hacks with a stiff wind blowing out to left field Tuesday. "A couple times I caught myself actually trying to swing for the fence when I probably shouldn't have been," Notre Dame senior Wes Glaus said. "When the wind's blowing, you start thinking about a few more things than just base hits."...

Two big innings by Sikeston and a lack of timely hitting by Scott City doomed the Rams. The visiting Bulldogs defeated Scott City 13-0 in five innings Tuesday afternoon. The Rams tallied five hits but spread them around, while Sikeston exploded for five runs in the second and six runs in the fifth...

MOSCOW -- The old Vladimir Putin is back, confronting a terrorist attack in Moscow by using the same kind of coarse and colorful language that helped him win the presidency a decade ago. A day after twin suicide bombings in the subway that killed 39 people, the prime minister told Russians he is certain the masterminds of the attacks would be found. The security services have blamed extremists from the North Caucasus, a predominantly Muslim region in southern Russia that includes Chechnya...

GENEVA -- The world's largest atom smasher conducted its first experiments at conditions nearing those after the Big Bang, breaking its own record for high-energy collisions with proton beams crashing into each other Tuesday with three times more force than ever before...

SHANGHAI -- China's newest university has no football field or fancy library. For inspiration, it looks not to Confucius, but to Ronald McDonald. But Shanghai's Hamburger University aspires to be a leader in higher learning for ambitious Chinese managers...

All the area high school events reported Tuesday to the Southeast Missourian.

VATICAN CITY -- Dragged deeper than ever into the clerical sex abuse scandal, the Vatican is launching a legal defense that the church hopes will shield the pope from a lawsuit in Kentucky seeking to have him deposed. Court documents obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press show that Vatican lawyers plan to argue that the pope has immunity as head of state, that American bishops who oversaw abusive priests weren't employees of the Vatican, and that a 1962 document is not the "smoking gun" that provides proof of a cover-up.. ...

Federal air-quality standards have, over several decades, resulted in less smog in the nation's urban areas. Now rural areas in many states, including Missouri, face tough federal regulations because they are being designated as "nonattainment" areas based largely on tests that indicate there is too much ozone in the air...

IT'S too early to tell how much taxpayer money will be wasted on frivolous lawsuits challenging health care reform. LAWS prohibiting the use of illicit drugs are bad laws. They can't be enforced. Thirty-five million Americans use illegal drugs. Just think: If it were legalized and taxed, how much we could put toward the deficit?...

For the last 16 years Cape Girardeau has had the benefit of a strong city council led by mayors Al Spradling III and Jay Knudtson. A good mayor helps make Cape Girardeau a better city. We in the news media would always prefer to write or broadcast about good things rather than bad. It is our obligation to report on both but not with satisfaction when we have to deal with the negative...

MIAMI -- Two women dangled 50 feet sideways above the ground aboard a stalled fair ride but came down unharmed about an hour later Tuesday, laughing it off and eager to get in line for their next thrill. "It all of a sudden stopped," said stranded rider 18-year-old Shankia Tinsley. "I just think, immediately, 'Oh great, we're stuck."'...

BOSTON -- A gay teenager in New York wins $50,000 from a school district that failed to stop taunts about his sexual orientation. The Justice Department investigates complaints that administrators ignored racial bullying in a Philadelphia school...

NEW YORK -- An experimental anti-poverty program that pays the poor for maintaining good habits -- $25 to $150 for things such as going to the dentist, staying on the job or opening a bank account -- has not exactly been life-changing...

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Three individuals have been identified so far among six heads and numerous other human body parts found in a truck at a Kansas medical waste facility, including at least one man who was to have been cremated, a coroner said Tuesday...

CRANSTON, R.I. -- A record-shattering rainstorm hammered the Northeast on Tuesday, delivering widespread flooding for the second time this month in Rhode Island, a tiny coastal state already beleaguered by a slow economy and high unemployment rate...

NEW YORK -- Patrick Stewart will star in David Mamet's next Broadway production, a revival of "A Life in the Theatre," opening this fall. Producer Jeffrey Richards announced Tuesday that rehearsals will begin Aug. 23 for the play, first seen in Chicago in 1977 and then off-Broadway...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Senate voted Tuesday to shield more than one-quarter of Missouri's public school districts from a midyear funding shortfall. Declining state revenue led Gov. Jay Nixon to conclude earlier this year Missouri wouldn't have enough money to make midyear payments to districts totaling $43 million...

WASHINGTON -- A former Food and Drug Administration scientist said Tuesday his job was eliminated after he raised concerns about the risks of radiation exposure from high-grade medical scanning. Dr. Julian Nicholas said at a public hearing that he and other FDA staffers "were pressured to change their scientific opinion," after they opposed the approval of a CT scanner for routine colon cancer screening. ...

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis is losing a state gambling license when the President Casino closes for good by this summer, but the city is already trying to get the license back. Missouri has a cap of 13 casino licenses. Earlier this month, President owner Pinnacle Entertainment announced it would shut down the aging President no later than July 1, leaving that license up for grabs...

WASHINGTON -- The Postal Service may have provided a clue why it is losing money when it asked regulators -- by e-mail -- for an opinion on dropping Saturday delivery service. Plagued by loss of mail business to the Internet, the post office was required to send its request to the independent Postal Regulatory Commission electronically...

The St. Vincent Indians have a new role this year. After capturing the school's first state title in girls soccer last spring, the Indians are no longer the underdog -- they're the target. "I think all eyes are on us," senior midfielder Rachel Sutterer said. "We have a target on our back. Everybody is trying to beat us. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to push each other. We have expectations, and obviously we're going to want to be there [state] again."...

Southeast Missouri State is the recipient of the Ohio Valley Conference Team Sportsmanship Award for women's basketball for the 2009-10 season, the league announced Tuesday. Voted on by the student-athletes and coaches of the respective sports, the team awards are bestowed upon the OVC squads deemed to have best exhibited the standards of sportsmanship and ethical behavior as outlined by the OVC and NCAA...

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI Arrests Summonses Assault Thefts Burglary Miscellaneous Jackson The Jackson Police Department released the following items. Arrests do...

BELLEVILLE, Ill. -- Charles J. Barenkamp, 81, of Belleville passed away Monday, March 29, 2010, at Memorial Hospital in Belleville. He was born Sept. 25, 1928, in Cape Girardeau, son of Aloysius and Lucy Wulfers Barenkamp. Mr. Barenkamp served in the Marines and Air Force...

Robin B. Bremermann, 59, of Lacey, Wash., formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Thursday, March 25, 2010. He was born Aug. 26, 1950, in Cape Girardeau. He graduated from Poplar Bluff, Mo., High School, and attended Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff...

SYCAMORE HILLS, Mo. -- Elizabeth Louise Kaatmann, 70, of Sycamore Hills was baptized into the hope of Christ's resurrection Sunday, March 28, 2010, at her home with her family by her side. Beloved wife of Theodore E. Kaatmann; dear mother of David and Steven Kaatmann, and Carrie Hailey, all of St. ...

John LeRoy "Jack" Hess Jr., 94, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, March 28, 2010, at Landmark Hospital. He was born June 1, 1915, in Red Rock, Okla., son of LeRoy and Mabel Opal Domeny Hess. He and Annie Dell Gaston were married March 21, 1945, in New Orleans...

Bishop W.T. Handy Jr., presiding bishop of the Missouri Area of the United Methodist Church, delivers the dedication sermon and participates in special ceremonies at Centenary United Methodist Church; the church is celebrating payment of all its debt...

Son to Justin David and Alana Renee Borgfield of Daisy, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 2:03 a.m. Thursday, March 18, 2010. Name, Tristen Keith. Weight, 6 pounds. Second son. Mrs. Borgfield is the former Alana Hobeck, daughter of John and Diane Bolen of Oak Ridge and Randy and Tricia Hobeck of Friedheim. ...

ANNA, Ill. -- Ruth Lorene "Suzy" Dillow, 92, of Effingham, Ill., formerly of Anna, died Sunday, March 28, 2010, at St. Anthony's Hospital in Effingham. Friends may call from 11:30 a.m. to service time Thursday at Rendleman and Hileman Funeral Home in Anna...

Leo R. "Mickey" Garrett, 77, of Scott City left his earthly home to be with the Lord on Saturday, March 27, 2010. He was born Aug. 2, 1932, in Hamilton, Mont., to Leo Alfred and Viola Isabelle Bacon Garrett. He and Deborah Lea Chasse were married May 8, 1984, in Biddeford, Maine. She died July 8, 2003...

ANNA, Ill. -- Donald E. Fisher, 73, of Anna, formerly of Olive Branch and Unity, Ill., died Monday, March 29, 2010, at Union County Hospital. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. today at Rendleman and Hileman Funeral Home in Jonesboro, Ill., and from 10 a.m. to service time Thursday at Gospel Assembly Church in Anna...

*** Jewell Herzinger Jewell D. Herzinger, 82, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, March 30, 2010, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

POLICE Jackson The Jackson Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Assault Burglary Property damage Miscellaneous FIRE Jackson Firefighters responded to the following call Monday: ...

The Jackson Police Department has issued a warrant for 42-year-old Julie S. Burns, of the Cape Girardeau and Jackson area, who is suspected of robbing Comfort Suites on Thursday.

Highway 34 in Bollinger County will be reduced to one lane while Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform pavement repairs. This section of road is between Highway 51 and Route B. Weather permitting, the work will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. today and Thursday...

Highway 51 in Bollinger County will be reduced to one lane whole the Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform routine bridge repairs. The section of road is between County Road 358 and County Road 376. The work, which began Tuesday, will continue from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. today and Thursday...

State and local disaster management experts will be on hand today to talk about the potential for a major earthquake to strike the region and how to prepare. Southeast Missouri State University and the city of Cape Girardeau will host an earthquake preparedness seminar at the River Campus...

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues needed someone to move to the first line after Paul Kariya was hurt late in the first period. Alex Steen was the obvious choice. Steen had two goals and an assist and scored the go-ahead goal early in the third, helping the Blues keep alive faint playoff hopes and hand the slumping Chicago Blackhawks their seventh loss in nine games with a 4-2 victory Tuesday night...

Improving traffic flow in uptown Jackson and economic development throughout the city are among the issues candidates in one Jackson Board of Aldermen race feel are among the most important to the community.

Give us grace, O God, to withstand our suffering with the promise of your glory. Amen.

DEXTER, Mo. -- A 21-year-old Dexter man was in the Stoddard County Jail on Tuesday morning under a $15,000 cash-only bond.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Abortion clinics would be required to tell prosecutors about teenagers seeking abortions under legislation passed Tuesday by the Missouri House that supporters hope could provide leads on potential rapists. The legislation also would create a new crime of coercing a woman to have an abortion and expand the information that a physician must provide to a woman at least 24 hours before performing an abortion...

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com A towboat slowly moves up the Mississippi River past flooded restrooms and a pavilion Tuesday afternoon at the Red Star Boat Access in Cape Girardeau. ...

While thinking about what to write about for Easter, I had two inquiries about the resurrection cookie recipe I have used the past couple of years. Both parents who called me wanted to use it as a teachable moment with their children but had misplaced the recipe. ...

When I was growing up, plants were planted in the ground. The only time pots were used was in the greenhouse when growers were trying to get seedlings large enough to take outside so they could be transplanted. Things are a little different today. You can buy a geranium in a 12-inch pot and grow it in that same pot all summer long. I've grown tomatoes in 30-gallon pots. The tomato roots never touched a native soil...

Unless you're cooking for a crowd, baking up an Easter ham may not be worth the time, effort and expense. If not, you'll do better to stick with ham steaks, a more economical cut that can have the same flavor. Ham steaks also are easily adapted to the number of people you need to serve...

The past week's headlines were dominated by the ongoing debate over the health care overhaul and the upheaval that followed. President Obama and his posse hit the stump to play cheerleader for the health care bill and denounce the fiery rhetoric that followed its passage. A dozen or more lawmakers reported threats directed toward them for their health care vote...

A Honor Roll 7th grade: Andrew Hovis, Evan Hovis, Nikkita Phillips, Katelynn Wheetley. 8th grade: Emily Davis, Mikayla Marler, Dillan Vandeven. 9th grade: Kaitlin Northern. 10th grade: Kelsey Whitehead. 11th grade: Angela Dickinson, Michael Holman, Stephen Simmers, Stefanie Slemmer, Justin Stotts...

Filing closed Tuesday for federal, state and county offices on the Aug. 3 primary and Nov. 2 general election ballots. The following candidates filed for offices that will be on the ballot in Cape Girardeau, Perry, Bollinger and Scott counties:...

A Honor Roll 7th grade: Payton Ayers, Maggie Bohnert, Courtney Buck, Lydia Cameron, Mackenzie Cannon, Jacqueline Crawford, Miles Dean, Amanda Evans, Bailey Gentil, Alexander Gentle, Betsy Gonzalez, Robvae Grant, Elizabeth Green, Maggie Groshong, Matthew Gutwein, Chase Hagerty, Emily Holman, Melissa Hopkins, Moriah Johnston, Joshua Jones, Maya Kelch, Heaven Ketcherside, Luke Kinder, Sarah Kitchen, Caroline Kurtz, Katie Laramore, Lexie McClanahan, Madeleine McDonald, Paige Madison Moore, Morgan Murphy, Madeline Poole, Christian Retter, Erica Scott, Noah Smentkowski, Alexis Summers, Abigail Sundstrom, Brittany Thiele, Tessa Valleroy, Amanda Webb, Haley White, Anissa Wiant, Peyton Young.. ...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A former member of the Hickman Mills school board and a Kansas City city employee has pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography. Prosecutors say 55-year-old David R. Buie admitted Wednesday that he possessed the pornography in March 2008...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Missouri Senate voted Tuesday to shield more than one-quarter of Missouri's public school districts from a midyear funding shortfall. Declining state revenue led Gov. Jay Nixon to conclude earlier this year that Missouri wouldn't have enough money to make midyear payments to districts totaling $43 million...

BENTON, Mo. -- A Benton woman is facing seven possible felony convictions after being charged Monday with three counts of statutory sodomy and four counts of child molestation for allegedly inappropriately touching a boy younger than 12 and a 10-year-old girl...

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- Two people were killed in a fire early Tuesday morning. At 6:11 a.m. a driver on Route U, one mile west of U.S. 61, noticed a house on fire.

A Honor Roll 4th grade: Drew Beussink, Cassandra Caragine, Dawson Dohogne, Drew Eudy, Taylor Higgins, Grayson Mueller, Samantha Saba, Brandon Pappas, Kristen Alvey, Nikki Wrape, Dawson Gershuny, Reid James, Alaina Baumgart, Hogan Coad, Cy Young, Madison Arpin, Hattie-Lou Burdin, Troy Carman, Elise Bruenderman, Sophia Wojdylo, Collyn Rouggly, John Paul Schuchardt, Rachel Stovall, Alexis Welter, Kendall McGarr, Noah Merideth, Hannah Landewe, Victor Lanzotti, Chase LaValle, Garrett Hesselrode, Leanne Alpers, Meghan Arpin, Bethany Bomar, Tyler Bruns.. ...

12th grade: Hannah Barr, Andy Below, Derrick Carpenter, Aftan Cato, Austin Hawkins, Sara Mace, Miranda Middleton, Jessica Nenninger, Taylor Roper, Michael Simmers. 11th grade: Jonathan Beal, Grant Gray, John Middleton, Kyndel Page. 10th grade: Paige Clark, Dustin James, Miles Jones, Kayla McCabe, Jenny Rodgers, Haley Seger, Lindsey Sullinger...

Superintendent's Honor Roll 12th grade: Mark Bayliss, Rachel Bright, Elizabeth Brotherton, Nathan Davis, Nicholas Farrow, Whitney Green, Ethan Hanners, Trever Hotop, Elizabeth Jones, Melissa Leonard, Brock Long, Nor Maglone, Bethany Payne, Shelby Reed, Brooke Sander, Lindsey Smith, Casey Walka, Bridget Welker, Adam Williams...

Jackson scored three goals over the final 2 minutes, 22 seconds of the opening period on its way to a 7-0 victory over Cape Central.