Stories from Sunday, April 3, 2011

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A Missouri House Democrat has proposed an alternative to a congressional redistricting map offered by a Republican leader. The new plan by Ron Casey, of Jefferson County, would consolidate the two St. Louis city districts into one -- as also suggested by Republican John Diehl, head of the House redistricting committee...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is calling on the state Senate to pass legislation allowing hundreds of millions of federal dollars to go to unemployed workers and public schools. Several Republican senators have stalled votes on bills authorizing the use of an estimated $105 million of federal money for extended unemployment benefits, and $189 million of federal stimulus money for schools. ...

A Bollinger County sheriff's deputy has resigned after a domestic violence call ended with the fatal shooting of a pet Chihuahua.

Now in its fourth year, the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival continues to grow and attract visitors from across the country. Weaving together comedy, music and history, the nationally recognized storytellers at this year's festival, Friday to April 10, will entertain hundreds of people coming from Southeast Missouri and 15 states...

The runners are on their marks. They're ready. They bounce nervously back and forth shifting their weight from one foot to the other as they wait for the shotgun start. Now, they're off. Propelled by determination, they barrel down the track toward the finish line...

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- Authorities believe they have found the remains of a single-engine Wisconsin-bound plane that crashed in Southeast Missouri. Lt. Col. David Miller of the Civil Air Patrol said in a news release that the plane discovered Friday night about eight miles southeast of Ironton is the aircraft that authorities have been searching for since it went missing March 27 after leaving Arkansas. He said there were no survivors...

Chris Nicastro is engaged in a battle against mediocrity. Missouri's commissioner of education gives the Show Me State's academic performance a solid C. "Performance in Missouri matches our geography: We're in the middle," Nicastro told more than 100 Cape Girardeau area civic leaders, educators, administrators, businesspeople and members of the religious community Thursday at Drury Lodge. ...

Southeast international students from India cheering for their home team to win the ICC Cricket World Cup Championship!

Southeast international students from Sri Lanka cheer for their home team to win the ICC Cricket World Cup Championship!

A Cape Girardeau woman and her three children were not injured, but their home sustained considerable damage in a fire Saturday. Denise Smith, 33, and her six-month-old daughter were inside sleeping when her sister pulled into the driveway shortly after 4 p.m. and saw flames on the porch of her home at 817 S. Pacific St. Her sons, age 15 and age 7, were not home at the time, Smith said...

Music, testimonies and prayers were the main events at the Teen Challenge International of Mid-America Banquet held Saturday night at the Show Me Center. Executive director James Bolin said the banquet is the main event Teen Challenge hosts. "It is a night that we hear testimony from students and alumni graduates of the success of the Teen Challenge ministry," he said...

If Cape Girardeau County Clerk Kara Clark Summers' prediction bears out, more city voters will take to the polls Tuesday for an April election than since 1999, when they were lured to the ballot box by statewide propositions on carrying concealed weapons and establishing a sales tax on cellphones to fund 911 services...

A pretty scene outside of Gordonville. The fields are filled with purple "flowers" creating a visually beautiful effect. I had to stop and take a photo as I drove past.

On Friday and Saturday March 18 and 19, a Fairy Tale Crop to benefit Melaina's Magical Playland was held at Anna-Camille Scrapbook Boutique in Cape Girardeau. We are happy to announce that the Playland is now $1,450.00 closer to reality! Thanks to all the scrapbookers who supported this event, as well as our Premiere Sponsors: Beginning Concepts, Heartland Gymnastics, Olson Pediatrics, Dr. ...

City and county officials are taking preliminary steps that could culminate in joint ownership of the former federal building that would serve as both a new Cape Girardeau City Hall as well as space to relocate certain county offices currently housed at the Common Pleas Courthouse.

Southeast Missouri State University kicks off its new bachelor of science cybersecurity degree program Tuesday, and one of the foremost international technology security experts will be the featured speaker. James Andrew Lewis, director and senior fellow with the Technology and Public Policy Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., will address attendees of the event, which begins at 2 p.m. ...

Rachel Kahle couldn't have imagined a better place to continue her athletic and academic careers than at the university just down the road from her hometown. "It's been the perfect school for me," the Southeast Missouri State senior from Jackson said...

Stefanie Leighanne Tatum and Barry Dewayne Dennison were married May 29, 2010, at First Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau. The Rev. Eugene Poole performed the ceremony. The bride is the daughter of Roger and Mary Ann Tatum of Scott City. The groom is the son of Teresa Dennison and Terry Dennison of Portageville, Mo...

Doyle and Jane Oehl of Jackson announce the engagement of their daughter, Maria Renee Oehl, to Brock Kenneth Allen of St. Louis. He is the son of Brian and Beth Allen of Linn Creek, Mo. Oehl is a 2004 graduate of Jackson High School. She received a bachelor's degree in elementary education in 2008, and a master's degree in curriculum, instruction and assessment in 2009, both from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is a teacher with Jackson School District...

Mark and Ann Fowler of St. Louis, formerly of Cape Girardeau, announce the engagement of their daughter, Katherine Elizabeth Fowler, to Alex Thomas Immer. He is the son of William J. and Linda Immer of St. Louis. Fowler is a 2006 graduate of Oakville High School. She received an associate degree in applied science from St. Louis Community College, and is pursuing a degree in nursing. She is employed at Red Lobster...

Andy and Amy Hancock, owners of The Gordonville Grill, donated 10 percent of all profits from a recent "Tuesday Night Community Night" to Boy Scout Troop 210 of Jackson. Troop 210 was able to raise almost $300 for camperships for the scouts and adult leader training...

The pied-billed grebe looks like a duck, but it is not. For starters, it doesn't quack. It has lobed toes rather than a duck's webbed feet, and it is known to spend more time in or on water than most ducks. A pied-billed grebe's diet consists of living things it finds below the surface of water such as small fish, crayfish, frogs and aquatic insects...

The Bank of Advance donated $10,000 to the Southeast Missouri Food Bank. The Bank of Advance's donation will fund the BackPacks for Friday program and provide 10 mobile food pantries to the area. To donate food, time or money to the Southeast Missouri Food Bank call 651-0400...

Several Girl Scout troops, the Otahki Council and Postal Planet of Jackson all recently participated in the Adopt-A-Hero program. Through donations of Girl Scout cookies, they were able to send 13 cartons, about 98 boxes, of cookies to men and women serving in Afghanistan...

DEXTER, Mo. -- For 60 years, an old unpaid debt has been bothering Bob Brown. Now 81, the Dexter man has been haunted over the years knowing he owed $5 to a hospital in Flint, Mich., for the birth of one of his sons. "I'd be debt-free," he's often told his sons, "if I only had that hospital bill paid."...

PARMA, Ohio -- The Girl Scouts were selling their cookies the old-fashioned way, pulling a creaky-wheeled red wagon laden with Thin Mints and Samoas down a suburban street. But the affair took a decidedly 21st-century twist when, with a polite smile, one of the girls pulled out a smartphone and inquired: "Would you like to pay with a credit card?"...

We live in a time of acronyms. Life has become so complex, so busy, that consciously and with deliberation we abbreviate our language by using strewn-together letters to communicate ideas rather than speak individual words. We are the poorer for this development, but there is, I suspect, no turning back...

Tom Tipton, president of Tipton Linen & Uniform Services, donated $10,000 to Lutheran Family and Children's Services of Missouri's southeast office. The funds will support LFCS services in crisis pregnancy counseling, senior counseling, domestic and international adoption, emergency assistance and more. LFCS is a not-for-profit organization that provides social services to the community...

Pet name: Trevor Owners: Joyce and Paul Favorite Activity: Playing in the snow and eating it. ...

For weeks we've been gripped by the coverage of Japan's magnitude-9.0 earthquake. But for 56 Japanese students attending Southeast Missouri State University, the devastation has been even more troubling. Soon after the quake hit, several Japanese students on the Southeast campus approached Lyman Pitman, director of the Missouri Office of the Japan-America Academic Center, seeking ways in which they could help. ...

THOSE who are bothered by Cape Girardeau's downtown music should receive taxpayer subsidized earplugs. FIFTY percent of children diagnosed with autism actually have another developmental disorder. Devices that look at the brain can specifically detect the nature of the brain disorder, and many times that can lead to treatment which will resolve the problem and liberate children, allowing them to lead normal lives instead of being entrapped by a misdiagnosis based solely on behavioral observations.. ...

By Dr. Eric. G. Morton There has been much discussion about whether government-run health care in the U.S. is going to be of benefit to patients. My opinion is that a government-run system will be nothing but a disaster. A few years ago when digital mammography came into vogue, General Electric, the manufacturer of the machines, approached two U.S. ...

College basketball and football coaches not only get paid for their coaching abilities but also their related win/loss records, post season games, and the ability to create an economic money machine. Thus the background for the following excerpt from an article by Chris Bahn in the Arkansas Business Weekly about the firing of Arkansas basketball coach John Pelphrey (and their opening of the door for hiring Missouri Tiger coach Mike Anderson)...

We rejoice, Lord God, in your wondrous love and forgiveness. Amen.

Norman W. Copeland announces his intention to seek the Republican nomination for Cape Girardeau County sheriff when the county Republican Central Committee convenes April 9; Copeland is serving as interim sheriff since the resignation of Dwight Thomas on March 27...

The Young Americans 4-H Club was called to order by Tori Schweer on March 17 at Grace United Methodist Church in Cape Girardeau. The pledges were led by Haley Ehlers and Alex Eftink. Roll call was answered by showing your green for St Patrick's Day. March birthdays were recognized and the club sang "Happy Birthday" to Clayton Kirchdoerfer. Kirchdoerfer and Ehlers led the club in singing "I've got the joy in my heart."...

Cape Girardeau's Texas Roadhouse is having a dinner fundraiser to raise money for the Hope for Haiti organization from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Texas Roadhouse. The restaurant will donate 10 percent of all sales to purchase soccer balls for Hope for Haiti...

Cape Girardeau Elementary MONDAY--Chicken bites or ham & cheese on bun, broccoli with cheese sauce, mixed fruit cup, Krispy Kreme wafer cookie. TUESDAY--Crispito with nacho sauce or turkey & cheese on bun, corn, pears. WEDNESDAY--Rotini with chicken alfredo sauce or ham & cheese on bun, green beans, french bread, cinnamon applesauce...

Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Gene August of Scott City celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary by renewing their vows March 11, 2011, at Eisleben Lutheran Church, with Rick Foss performing the ceremony. Mrs. August was escorted by grandsons, Nick and Mitchell August, and the groom was escorted by son Trent August...

Danny Wills of Fruitland and Debbie Cook of Whitewater announce the engagement of their daughter, Sidney Lynn Harris, to Kevin Ray Held, both of Cape Girardeau. He is the son of Jerry L. and Mildred Held of Olive Branch, Ill. Harris is attending the licensed practical nursing program at Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center...

The Rev. Barry L. Pfanstiel has served a Good Shepherd Lutheran Chapel, 1904 W. Cape Rock Drive, for 17 years. Pfanstiel said he was a junior in high school when began thinking seriously about the pastoral ministry. "My mother and godmother both had been praying for that to happen, so I guess I didn't have a chance to say no," he said. Now though, Pfanstiel said he can't imagine doing anything else...

Heroes are men and women who seem to be larger than life, accomplishing greatness and inspiring the same in others. Heroes emerge from a range of backgrounds. Some break from lives of privilege while others rise from poverty. Heroes raise the bar and forge their own paths...

Amy Woodall of Whitewater, a mother of four children, has an addiction. She regularly goes into peoples' homes to talk to them about her addiction and to share her story in hopes that others can learn from her experience. Woodall isn't an alcoholic, nor a substance abuser. Her addiction is coupons, and she's out to get others hooked on couponing, too...

Sarah Jane Guebert, 50, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, April 1, 2011, at Saint Francis Medical Center. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Monday at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Chapel. Funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Good Shepherd Lutheran Chapel in Cape Girardeau, with the Rev. Barry L. Pfanstiel officiating...

Dr. Paula Raye King, 65, of Cape Girardeau died peacefully on Monday, March 28, 2011, at Southeast Hospital. She was born Paula Raye Smith on April 18, 1945, at Neosho, Mo., to David and Marjorie Trefftzs Smith. Throughout her life she had a passion for education and the arts, combined with a love of people and animals...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Alvin J. Mattingly, 80, of Perryville died April 1, 2011, at Independence Care Center in Perryville. He was born Jan. 18, 1931, at Perryville, the son of Matthew Mattingly and Zita Mary Zahner Mattingly. On Feb. 23, 1952, he married Eileen Marie Wood, who survives...

Donald "Don" R. McCullough, 76, of Jackson passed away Thursday, March 31, 2011, at the Missouri Veterans Home, where he had lived since April 2007. He was born Aug. 21, 1934, in Greenbrier, Mo., son of "Dudley" Hugh and Ida "Fern" Miller McCullough. He was raised on Castor River in Greenbrier. He and Sharon Bishop were married March 30, 1957, at New Bethel Baptist Church...

Son to Rusty Allen and Janice Michelle Wainscott of Jackson, Saint Francis Medical Center, 11:07 p.m. Monday, March 21, 2011. Name, Brady Allen. Weight, 8 pounds, 5 ounces. Second son. Mrs. Wainscott is the former Janice Rooney, daughter of Jeanne Rooney of Kirkwood, Mo., and the late Tom Rooney. Wainscott is the son of Nancy Wainscott of McKenzie, Tenn., and the late Larry Wainscott. He is employed at Ward Hyundai...

Christopher Chung, the man charged with marketing Missouri to new businesses, spoke about the mission of his organization, the Missouri Partnership, during the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce First Friday Coffee at the Show Me Center. Missouri Partnership, a not-for-profit economic development organization, is contracted by the Missouri Department of Economic Development to be the marketing and job recruitment arm of the state...

PHOENIX -- Flight attendants had just begun to take drink orders when the explosion rocked the cabin. Aboard Southwest Flight 812, Shawna Malvini Redden covered her ears, then felt a brisk wind rush by. Oxygen masks fell, the cabin lost pressure, and Redden, now suddenly lightheaded, fumbled to maneuver the mask in place...

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ST. LOUIS -- Down two stars, the St. Louis Cardinals lost big-time. Clayton Richard had two RBIs to match his career high without getting the ball out of the infield and pitched six solid innings in the San Diego Padres' 11-3 victory Saturday. Albert Pujols homered on the 10th anniversary of his major league debut and Allen Craig, subbing for ailing Matt Holliday, had a two-run single for the Cardinals. ...

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Cardinals decided not to put Matt Holliday on the disabled list Saturday, opting to wait a few days to see if the slugger can make a speedy return from an appendectomy. The left fielder had the surgery Friday, but the team believes the condition was caught early and he could be back before the end of a 15-day DL stint...

The team of Alice Temm, Carol Largent, Terri Parmly and Eileen Owens shot a 70 to win the Ladies Opening Coffee scramble Saturday at Dalhousie Golf Club. The team of Harriette Myers, Robin Davis and Phyllis Seabaugh carded a 72 for second, and the team of Ann Dombrowski, Deanna Estes, Bev Metheny and Sarah Cochrane shot a 74 for third place...

Baseball Golf Miscellaneous Running Softball Submit items by mail, fax or e-mail to be included in the calendar as space permits....

The Rams dropped their third straight game to fall to 1-3-1

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

All the weekend news from the world of Southeast Missouri State athletics.

The Notre Dame baseball team defeated Kennett 4-0 on Friday.

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

The Southeast Missouri State softball team defeated Austin Peay in both Ohio Valley Conference games Saturday.

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team defeated Eastern Kentucky in both games of a doubleheader Saturday.

No team scores were kept, but the Southeast Missouri State track and field program fared well during Saturday's 30th annual Joey Haines Invitational, the Redhawks' only outdoor home meet. Southeast captured five titles and claimed five more runner-up finishes at the Abe Stuber Complex. Memphis, SIU-Carbondale, Arkansas State, Murray State and Rend Lake (Ill.) Junior College also competed at the meet...