Stories from Wednesday, September 22, 2010

SIKESTON, Mo. (AP) -- The son of a 71-year-old Southeast Missouri woman killed by a train is suing the nursing home he says failed to adequately tend to his mother. KFVS-TV of Cape Girardeau reports that Keith Kinder's lawsuit filed Monday in Scott County names Hunter Acres Caring Center in Sikeston and a dozen other defendants, six months after Nancy Kinder's death...

LILBOURN, Mo. (AP) -- An autopsy is planned on a rural Southeast Missouri mayor who died two days after being shot in the head by a councilman who later killed himself. New Madrid County Sheriff Terry Stevens tells KFVS-TV of Cape Girardeau that 56-year-old Lilbourn Mayor Leonard Thomas died Tuesday after being taken off life support at a Memphis hospital...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- One of these days, Pat Cox would like to sit and watch the parade go by, but it won't be this year. Cox is again heading up Concordia Lutheran Church's entry into the Oct. 2 Cotton Carnival Parade. With the parade just weeks away she is busy working out the details to their float...

As the League of Women Voters of Southeast Missouri celebrated the 90th anniversary of a woman's right to vote, chapter president Sue Brockett said the role of women in local government and politics has advanced considerably since 1920, but there is room for more growth...

Wayne Smith, a former vice president at Saint Francis Medical Center, will join Southeast Missouri Hospital in a similar role Oct. 18. Southeast Missouri Hospital President and CEO Debbie Linnes announced Tuesday that Smith has been appointed vice president for human resources and development.

October is nationally recognized as Down Syndrome Awareness Month. Over 400,000 people are living with Down syndrome in the United States, and many others' lives are touched by this relatively common genetic disorder. Yet, many myths, misunderstandings, and much misinformation still exist, which may contribute to unfortunate stereotyping. ...

Semo Fair 2010 10-12 month baby girl contest 1st place winner. Makenna Nixon daughter of Chad & Rachel Nixon of Chaffee, MO.

At a panel discussion Tuesday held to launch her own juvenile justice reform organization, it was hard for Jackson mother and longtime advocate Tracy McClard not to get emotional. Still, McClard held nothing back and told bits of her son Jonathan's story, demonstrating why youths shouldn't be locked up in adult prison. Her son committed suicide in an adult facility in January 2008 at age 17...

Pirate, the very best, truly best dog in Missouri

Here is a letter I sent this morning to Shelley Keeney, Jo Ann Emerson, Tommy Sowers, and the White House. Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2010 11:57 AM To: mskeeney@hotmail.com Subject: poverty line I am a Bollinger County resident and I need to share with you the state of economy in our county. ...

Nick Sakarelos was awakened in the middle of the night Monday with the call that no small business-owner ever wants to get. His restaurant, the Grecian Steak House, had caught fire. A total loss, he was told. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage, he learned later...

Corrie & Abbie Reece help to make dumplings for Hanover Lutheran Church's Chicken & Dumpling Fundraiser Dinner to be held Sunday, Sept 26th from 11-2pm at the church.

Cape Central Middle School Fifth Grade Students of the Month for September are (front row from left) Hannah Jackson, Kennedy Givens and Savannah Lively; (second row) Zachary Sample, Kelsey Kirleis and Maia Coleman; (third row) Maggie Boxdorfer, Ernest Ayieko, September Knupp and Cierra McKinley. Southeast Missouri Hospital recognizes these students in its role as Central Middle School's Partner in Education...

Cape Central Middle School Sixth Grade Students of the Month for September are (front row) Emma Eudy, Mackenzie Moore, Jamonte Rush and Ashtin Smith; (second row) Levi Strickland and Kimberly Jones; (third row) Paige Rosen, Alex Miller, Sabrina Sander and Bryndan Reid. Southeast Missouri Hospital recognizes these students in its role as Central Middle School's Partner in Education...

Bucking national decade-long declines in Catholic school enrollment, Notre Dame Regional High School boasts a rising student census marked by a record number of freshmen. "We are bursting at the seams," said Notre Dame principal Brother David Migliorino...

Caitlyn Limbaugh of Cape Girardeau, daughter of David and Lisa Limbaugh is Awarded for her outstanding performance and dedication in class. Her hard work is recognized by becoming Student of the Month for August. Pictured is Master Ivie Awarding Miss Limbaugh her student of the month certificate. For more info visit www.peakperformancema.com or call (573)651-KICK...

The Jackson Indians' defense was dominant. The offense took care of the rest as the host Indians knocked off district rival Central 3-1 on Tuesday night. Jackson's (6-1) defense only has allowed two goals this season, one to Marion, Ill., and one against Central...

Fall is the time for planting cool season grasses, mums and trees. But from the conversations I am having with gardeners, there is also a lot of interest in planting or digging bulbs. Unfortunately, there seems to be a lot of confusion as to when to plant what and when to dig up what. So I will try to give you a simple bulb timetable...

Coffee drinkers in much of the world take for granted the fact that the water used to make the coffee is pure and safe to consume. That's not the case everywhere, especially in many Third World countries where water for drinking comes from a variety of unsanitary sources. For more than a quarter of a century, Rotary International has supported and funded clean-water projects. Now there is a direct Cape Girardeau connection to this worldwide effort...

It is amazing to see how quickly various entities grabbed for the carrot the casino is dangling. The promise of a $125 million expenditure and the creation of 400 jobs is exciting. With much less fanfare Sabreliner announced the creation of 400 jobs with only a $6.7 million outlay...

There are two routes to understanding the world:One route involves examining evidence that reality provides and drawing conclusions based on informed evaluation of what that evidence suggests. According to this approach, what the data and reality reveal guides our opinions...

SOMEONE commented that when George Bush was president, gas was $2 a gallon. Under President Obama it's jumped up to $4 and is now well more than $2 a gallon. And you consider that a sign that Obama is doing a good job? The instability in price is a negative. ...

We praise you, O God, that Your promises are yes and amen. Amen.

Perry County on Tuesday became one of 37 Missouri counties eligible for disaster assistance money to recoup costs associated with summer storms, according to Gov. Jay Nixon's office. Perry County joins 36 other Missouri counties that were declared eligible last month to seek federal funding for recovery expenses related to severe storms and excessive rain in June and July...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A controversial decision to close a Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland service center in Dexter, Mo., will be put on hold until a property committee can further discuss the matter, according to a Board of Directors vote Friday, the Daily American Republic reported...

Cape Girardeau's Ben Cantrell is tied for ninth after the opening round of the Missouri Senior Amateur Championship, which is being played at Dalhousie Golf Club. Cantrell is seven shots behind co-leaders B.J. Curry and Gerald Siemons, who both shot a 4-under-par 68...

The Hawks improved to 12-5 with their road victory at Poplar Bluff

HERRIMAN, Utah -- The National Guard joined forces with firefighters again Tuesday to battle a fast-moving, wind-driven blaze that the guard ignited during a machine-gun training exercise. Utah Army Guard Gen. Brian Tarbet said Monday he was "deeply sorry" about what he called a "systematic failure" at Camp Williams, about 30 miles south of Salt Lake City...

NEW YORK -- A new way to cause mischief quickly spread through short-messaging service Twitter on Tuesday morning before the site could fix the problem, as mysterious "tweets" of blocked-out text propagated themselves and caused pop-up windows to open...

BAIROIL, Wyo. -- Humans aren't the only ones who can use an indoor place to exercise during Wyoming's harsh winters. The town of Bairoil has an 80- by 120-foot barn where people can give their horses a workout in bad weather. The Rawlins Daily Times reports the barn has no heat and no seating, but it does have electric lights so it can be used after dark...

WASHINGTON -- Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked an effort by Democrats and the White House to lift the ban on gays from serving openly in the military, voting unanimously against advancing a major defense policy bill that included the provision...

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- Marcela Martinez McNett knew the adjustment to a new city would be hard, but what she didn't expect was the difficulty her son would experience at school. When she learned that he was being bullied and harassed by other students because of his skin color, she approached the principal with an idea to expand students' understandings of cultural differences...

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

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Esther D. Bachmann, 83, of Perryville died Monday, Sept. 20, 2010, at Independence Care Center of Perry County. She was born Nov. 1, 1926, at Farrar, Mo., daughter of the late Ernst H. and Bertha Katherine Luehrs Mueller. She and Orville Bachmann were married May 21, 1949...

Firefighters responded to the following calls Sunday:...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Donald Ray Myers, 54, of Perryville died Monday, Sept. 20, 2010, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Feb. 26, 1956, in Perryville, son of the late Allen and Margaret Biri Myers. He and Sony McGowan were married July 11, 1983...

Joel Harold Harris, 85, of Jackson died Monday, Sept. 20, 2010, at his home. He was born Feb. 11, 1925, in Millersville, to Maurice Edward and Georgia Ann Wilkinson Harris. He and Edna Irene Brugger were married April 27, 1946, at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Jackson...

Pat A. Bierschwal, 78, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2010, at the Lutheran Home. She was born April 26, 1932, in Ste. Genevieve, Mo., to Wilbert and Lena G. Meyer Wilson. She and Gene B. Bierschwal were married Dec. 19, 1951, at Marble Hill, Mo...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Rosalie Basham, 78, of Mounds passed away Monday, Sept. 20, 2010, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Nov. 20, 1931, in Karnak, Ill., daughter of Thomas and Ollie Holtzclaw McDonough. Rosalie was a member of the United Methodist Church in Mounds, member and past president of Pulaski County Republican's Women's Club, was past chairman of Pulaski County American Heart Association, and had been a volunteer with Villa Ridge 4-H many years...

Paul Edward Daniels, 65, of Scott City died Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2010, at Southern Hills Hospital in Nashville, Tenn. He was born Sept. 5, 1945, in Cape Girardeau, to Joe Daniels and Lucille Porchie Daniels Warner. Daniels was a truck driver with Hall Worldwide in Charleston, Mo...

Son to Terrance Maurice and Lorrie Ann Sterling of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 10:36 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 16, 2010. Name, Owen Samuel. Weight, 8 pounds. Fifth child, third son. Mrs. Sterling is the former Lorrie Anderson. She is a registered nurse at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Sterling is a personal trainer at Anytime Fitness...

Ken Martin and Jeannie Hink are preparing to open the Little Ole Opry around the middle of October at 272 E. Main St. in Jackson; the facility will be a place where musicians can bring and play their instruments in a family-type atmosphere. Beginning Sept. 29, the 8:30 a.m. Sunday Mass at St. Mary's Cathedral will be aired live over the new KZIM frequency, 960 AM; originally a project of the Knights of Columbus, the Mass has been heard over KEWI-AM for about 14 years...

All of Tuesday's news from the world of Southeast Missouri State athletics

Shooting Soccer Submit items by mail, fax or e-mail to be included in the calendar as space permits....

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Pirates wish they'd played and pitched this way all season. The St. Louis Cardinals wish they were pitching and playing now the way they did most of the season. Paul Maholm became the latest slumping pitcher to shut down the fast-fading Cardinals, pitching effectively over seven innings, and the Pirates won their season-high fourth in a row 5-2 on Tuesday night...

The Jackson Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Thefts...

ATLANTA -- Offering big bonuses to teachers failed to raise students' test scores in a three-year study released Tuesday that calls into question the Obama administration's push for merit pay to improve education. The study, conducted in the metropolitan Nashville school system by Vanderbilt University's National Center on Performance Incentives, was described by the researchers as the nation's first scientifically rigorous look at merit pay for teachers...

NEW YORK -- Stocks got a brief bump following word that the Federal Reserve is ready to do more to help the economy, but ended mostly lower Tuesday after the central bank disappointed some investors by not taking any bold new actions. Treasury prices rallied as investors saw the Fed's announcement as a signal that more bond purchases were on the way...

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

The SEMO District Fair has folded up and moved out and we have to say goodbye to all of the delicious fair food. We made our way around enjoying bites from each others food. We especially enjoyed the 4-H rib eye and pork burger sandwiches, the Grace Methodist fish and the marinated pork kebabs. ...

It's kind of like "Name That Tune" -- with food. Imagine high school contestants on a stage hunched over a box of unknown food, claiming they can eat whatever is contained within in, say, five bites. If they can't, they lose the game. That's the idea behind Notre Dame Regional High School's "Eat That Food," part of Tuesday afternoon's raucous assembly in another action-packed -- and at times zany -- Notre Dame Activity Week...

I like my coffee. I like my Pepsi. And as a result, I apparently have a mental disorder. Well, perhaps some background is appropriate. A Kentucky man goes on trial this week for strangling his wife. His defense strategy is that he suffered temporary insanity because of excessive consumption of caffeine...

Route D between highways 153 and 25 in Stoddard County will be reduced to one lane today and Thursday while Missouri Department of Transportation crews overlay the road. Weather permitting, the work will take place from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. The work zone will be marked with signs. For additional information, contact the MoDOT Customer Service Center at 888-275-6636...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Highway 114 and U.S. 62 (Malone Avenue) in Sikeston will be reduced to one lane next week while Missouri Department of Transportation crews install wireless vehicle detection pucks on all approaches at the traffic signals. Intersections that will be affected are Malone and Selma Street, Malone and Ingram Road, Malone and Pine Street, Malone and Kingshighway, and Malone and New Madrid Street. ...

Republican State Sen. Jason Crowell spoke to the Leadership Jackson graduating class Wednesday about the importance of not only hearing, but answering the call to lead. "I believe we are called to leadership. Often we are too busy and are tone deaf and don't hear the music, the calling. What you are doing here at Leadership Jackson is broadening your musics, what you hear," Crowell said...

BENTON, Mo. -- State and local officials are teaming up for a bill which would allow certain state prisoners to be placed on house arrest using electronic monitoring shackles. The Sikeston Standard Democrat reported State Rep. Ellen Brandom, 160th district, met with Scott County officials during the regular county commission meeting Tuesday to discuss the bill she intends to file...