Stories from Friday, September 3, 2010

Cape Girardeau County commissioners voted Thursday to forward the 2010 surplus from the land tax sale to the county treasurer. The surplus was $7,895.09, and Treasurer Roger Hudson said the money will be put into the school fund for three years before being released to the schools. During that time the owners have the right to claim any surplus.

MINER, Mo. -- Police are searching for three suspects involved in an armed robbery early Thursday at a hotel in Miner. According to Miner Police Chief Chris Griggs, about 2 a.m., three Hispanic males entered the Comfort Inn on Matthews Lane in Miner and approached the hotel clerk, the Sikeston Standard Democrat reported...

VAN BUREN, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is kicking off the fall tourism season with a float trip down the Current River. The governor planned to give a brief speech about the state's outdoor beauty before putting in Friday afternoon at The Landing in the Southeast Missouri town of Van Buren...

Southeast Missouri Food Bank is part of a national movement to raise awareness and take action to fight hunger in America. Southeast Missouri Food Bank is focusing their awareness effort on child hunger in Southeast Missouri. Many children who receive free or reduced priced school meals are left without adequate nutrition on the weekends. ...

Completion of nearly $8 million in work to repair the Mississippi River floodwall in Cape Girardeau has been pushed back at least until the spring and high river stages this summer are partially to blame, officials said Thursday.

Images of a 2-year-old Elizabeth Ann Gill and the story behind her disappearance in 1965 may soon be seen by viewers of two of the most watched news programs in the country. Camera crews from "The Today Show," airing on NBC weekday mornings, and "Inside Edition," a syndicated 30-minute news program, have been in Cape Girardeau this week shooting interviews with Gill's mother, siblings and local law enforcement...

Firefighters from several departments battled a blaze for several hours on a mobile home in Cape Girardeau (approx 150 E St. Cape Girardeau, MO 63701). No one was injured.

For many years, Paul King has had a knack for vocal impersonations. "I like to mess around with voices, and it's always been something I do," he said. "When I watch a movie or something and I hear someone with an interesting accent I like to imitate it."...

The Division I-AA Redhawks made Division I-A Ball State sweat before the host Cardinals pulled away from a 7-7 halftime tie to win 27-10.

In 2007, the Community Counseling Center in Cape Girardeau developed the concept of its Gallery of Inspiration. The gallery showcases artwork produced by the people who are receiving treatment for mental illness at the center. Until now, the gallery has been confined to the first level of the Community Counseling Center facility in Cape Girardeau. That gallery remains, but the opening of a downtown gallery provides more opportunity for the public to see the art...

Arts and entertainment briefs

Tunes at Twilight will accent the First Friday openings today. The weekly outdoor concert will send out the sounds of Stacey Earle and Mark Stuart from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. today at the Common Pleas Courthouse gazebo. The duo is rolling around the country in their 1999 Chevrolet Suburban for their "Drive Her 'Til She Drops" tour. ...

The River View Room The upstairs banquet hall will host tattoo art from the body artists at Fleshhound Tattoo Studio. They will have art hung and tattoo portfolios on display. 123 N. Main St.; 334-4677 Black Door Gallery The artwork of Southeast Missouri artist Robert Grable will be displayed with a reception from 5 to 9 p.m...

Cape Girardeau is among many cities across the country that provides public access to council meetings through live video on cable-TV systems and other electronic access. And Cape Girardeau isn't the first city to deal with grandstanding members of the public who like to be on TV to discuss items that aren't on the council's agenda...

THE government makes it easy for welfare mothers with food stamps and medical care. There is no gamble there. We took a gamble on our jobs so we could pay our bills, feed our children and pay our medical expenses. With the few dollars we have left, we gamble. If we lose, there is always welfare waiting for us...

Protect all who travel on this long holiday weekend, O God, and keep them safe. Amen.

It has been half a century plus a decade since I went to Shady Nook School in the Ozarks over yonder for the first grade. I have so many good memories about Shady Nook and my first year of school, which started, as I recall, shortly after the Fourth of July and let out eight months later with time off for Christmas and, of course, deer season...

CHICAGO -- Calling the Chicago police chief's ultimatum to stop resorting to violence a waste of time, current and former members of some of the city's street gangs held a news conference Thursday to send their own message to police: You're not playing fair...

BUXTON, N.C. -- The last ferry left for the mainland and coastal residents hunkered down at home as Hurricane Earl closed in with 115 mph winds Thursday on North Carolina's dangerously exposed Outer Banks, the first and potentially most destructive stop on the storm's projected journey up the Eastern Seaboard...

LAHORE, Pakistan -- Thousands of Shiite Muslims, thumping their chests and crying, mourned Thursday at funeral prayers for victims of a triple bombing that heaped more tragedy on Pakistan, which is already struggling to cope with devastating floods...

CANBERRA, Australia -- Prime Minister Julia Gillard edged closer to retaining power in Australia on Thursday when an independent lawmaker said he would support her center-left Labor Party to form Australia's first minority government in almost seven decades...

JOHANNESBURG -- A few pennies' increase in the price of a loaf of bread can mean the difference between getting by and going hungry -- and erupting in anger -- in the world's poorest countries. A spike in food prices has triggered deadly riots in Mozambique this week, and experts worry other countries that saw such unrest during the last global food crisis in 2008 could be hit again. Over the last two months alone, food prices worldwide have risen 5 percent...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that while the fight against corruption must be led by Afghans, the U.S. is working on new ways to prevent millions of American dollars flowing into the nation from underwriting bribery and graft...

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- Even after death, there are options. Jimmy and Carissa Benson consider that a blessing and a curse. When arranging for her mother's funeral, Ms. Benson said she was overwhelmed by the process but found comfort in picking out a little something special, just for her and her brother -- a memorial cremation bench...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- In spring 2009, Drury University students agreed to pay $20 a year for efforts to make the campus more environmentally friendly. Now, the fee, which netted $32,000 the first year, is offering students a bike loan program. Through the program, Drury students can check out a two-wheeler for a semester to pedal around campus and around town instead of driving a car, burning fossil fuel and spewing greenhouse gases into the air...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Philip Coleman pulled a framed print out of a stack of artwork, revealing a portrait of Pablo Picasso created by Salvador Dali. A number in the corner revealed that the print was the 189th of 200 of its kind. "It's significant," he said, returning the piece to its spot in storage in the basement of Tower Hall on the Stephens College campus...

According to an outgoing message left on its answering machine, the Public Water Supply District No. 4 has a boil-water advisory remains in effect for the residents of Leirer Street in Gordonville. The district is making repairs to the water main in the area. No indication was given as to when the advisory would be lifted. All previous boil water advisories issued for areas other than Leirer Street have been canceled...

A brief outage knocked out power to almost 2,300 customers of AmerenUE in the Cape Girardeau area Thursday morning. By 1 p.m., the utility's website reported power restored to all but 20 of those customers. At 11:50 a.m., the AmerenUE website showed 2,277 customers without power in the 63701 ZIP code...

Prior to retirement, my last duty station with the Missouri State Highway Patrol was as an officer with the Missouri Gaming Division. I was aboard the casino located at Caruthersville for over two years. A casino's main source of income is from the small betting patron who visits the casino for entertainment and not for the delusion of breaking the house or striking it rich...

BETHEL, Ohio -- For a second time, an Ohio woman has given birth to a baby who couldn't wait and arrived on the drive to the hospital. Christina Schuler's 8-pound, 11-ounce son was born Tuesday in the front seat of the family's pickup truck. Her husband pulled over less than a mile from their hospital in southwest Ohio's Clermont County...

NEW ORLEANS -- An oil platform exploded and burned off the Louisiana coast Thursday, the second such disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in less than five months. This time, the Coast Guard said there was no leak, and no one was killed. The Coast Guard initially reported that an oil sheen a mile long and 100 feet wide had begun to spread from the site of the blast, about 200 miles west of the source of BP's massive spill. ...

NEW ORLEANS -- Engineers removed a temporary cap Thursday that stopped oil from gushing into the Gulf of Mexico from BP's blown-out well in mid-July. No more oil was expected to leak into the sea, but crews were standing by with collection vessels just in case...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The state's budget director remains optimistic that the state's revenue collections are turning around with a modest rise in the August revenue collections. Figures released by Linda Luebbering's office show August revenue collections up 0.8 percent compared to last August. For the year, overall revenue figures are still running behind last fiscal year by 1.4 percent...

Firefighters responded to the following calls Wednesday:...

Patricia J. Schreiner, 71, of Jackson died Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are pending at McCombs Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Jackson.

Grace Virginia Shaner, 98, of Jackson passed away Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010, at Monticello House. She was born June 24, 1912, in Cape Girardeau County, daughter of Alvin and Mary Francis Minton. She and Howard Shaner were married in 1950. He passed away in 1982...

James L. Wolfenkoehler, 61, of Jackson died Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010, at his home. Arrangements are incomplete at Cracraft-Miller Funeral Home.

Cape Girardeau public schools open for the new school year; first-day enrollment totals 4,066 children. The Cape Girardeau City Council gives city manager Gary Eide the go-ahead to erect 13 signs pointing the way to Southeast Missouri State University; the signs are expected to alleviate many of the difficulties students, parents and people attending sporting events have in finding the campus...

Alexia Katelyn Michelle Salinas, daughter of Michael and Tiffany Adams Salinas, died at birth Sunday, Aug. 29, 2010, in Norfolk, Va. She is survived by her parents of Norfolk; a brother, Aaron Michael Salinas Jr. of Norfolk; maternal grandparents, Jerry and Melissa Adams of Thebes, Ill., Nigel King (Brian Jones) of Cape Girardeau; maternal great-grandparents, Clifford and Delores Adams of Thebes, and Donna and Willis "Sonny" Wagner of Cape Girardeau...

WASHINGTON -- The number of people requesting unemployment benefits declined for the second straight week, suggesting that the slowing economy isn't prompting widespread job cuts. New claims for unemployment aid fell last week by 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 472,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists had expected a slight increase, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters...

The Jackson Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Miscellaneous Firefighters responded to the following call Wednesday:...

The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests...

FENTON, Mo. -- St. Louis County is in discussions with a consortium of business developers interested in the former Chrysler plant in Fenton. St. Louis County Economic Council CEO Denny Coleman said Wednesday that the potential buyers have submitted an offer to buy the sprawling property along Interstate 44. He made the comments during the council's annual meeting, which included about 850 business and civic leaders...

NEW YORK -- Baby carrot farmers are launching a campaign that pitches the little crunchy snacks as daring, fun and naughty -- just like junk food. A group of 50 producers hopes the "Eat 'Em Like Junk Food" effort starting next week will double the $1 billion market in two or three years...

WASHINGTON -- Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke told a panel investigating the financial crisis that regulators must be ready to shutter the largest institutions if they threaten to bring down the financial system. "If the crisis has a single lesson, it is that the too-big-to-fail problem must be solved," Bernanke said Thursday while testifying before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- It's been three years since Scott Eckersley was fired after pointing out that his then-boss, former governor Matt Blunt, and others in Blunt's administration should not be deleting certain e-mails because they belonged to the public record...

St. Louis finished 3-1 with a 27-21 victory against the Ravens

Last week: Parkway South 40, Fox 30; Jackson 50, O'Fallon Christian 36 Last year: Parkway South 27, Jackson 3 Outlook: Jackson accomplished in Week 1 what it could not accomplish until the final week of the 2009 season -- record a win. The Indians accomplished the feat against a Class 2 school playing its first varsity football game...

All the scores from Thursday that were reported to the Southeast Missourian.

I'll get this out of the way right now: My favorite part of the SEMO District Fair is the fried Snickers. I get one a year, and I thoroughly enjoy it. You know you do, too. But the fair has come a long way to get to fried candy bars and Heartland Idol. The first fair in the area was held in 1855. It survived a few name changes and a brief pause in action during the Civil War...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Gary W. Kielhofner, 61, of Chicago, formerly of Chaffee, died Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010, at Mercy Hospital in Chicago. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee is in charge of arrangements.

PHOENIX -- The Justice Department sued the nation's self-proclaimed "toughest sheriff" Thursday, calling Joe Arpaio's defiance of an investigation into his office's alleged discrimination against Hispanics "unprecedented." It's the first time in decades a lawman has refused to cooperate in one of the agency's probes, the department said...

NEW YORK -- The developers planning to build a $100 million Islamic center near the World Trade Center site still have financial hurdles to clear: They haven't finished buying all the property they want for the project and are nearly a quarter-million dollars behind on real estate taxes and late fees...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- To relaunch Middle East peace talks on Thursday, the Israeli and Palestinian leaders and their American mediators quietly agreed to push aside the question of Hamas -- the Islamic militant group that controls one of the two Palestinian territories and rejects negotiations...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Perry County will soon have 400 new jobs based at the Perryville airport. Gov. Jay Nixon will join Perryville city leaders and Perry County economic development officials at 11 a.m. today at the airport to announce details on an expansion project at Sabreliner Corp.

Southeast Missouri State lamented its failed opportunity to take a lead over Ball State late in the first half of Thursday night's season opener.

With a little less than two months until Jackson residents vote on a new sales tax to fund operations at the current and proposed satellite fire stations, the city's fire chief said his department's response times have increased throughout the past five years...

Jerry Ford is tacking another title onto his list of professions: author. Ford -- a well-known local musician, former Missouri state legislator and funeral director -- recently released a book covering his experiences as all three. He said the book, titled "The Gordonville Grove: Stories of Tombstones, Tambourines & Tammany Hall," is a comedic, behind-the-scenes look at funerals, music performances, the workings of the Missouri Legislature and his campaign in 1980 for Congress...