Stories from Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Two dogs and a slew of electronics were among items stolen from a Cape Girardeau home Monday afternoon. According to officer Darin Hickey, spokesman for the Cape Girardeau Police Department, a woman entered her home at 803 S. Ellis St. at about 6:30 p.m. to discover it had been burglarized...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- An Advance woman was arrested and charged last week with assaulting her elderly landlord as he tried to serve her with an eviction notice. Patricia Ann Page, 58, was arrested Nov. 14 and charged with second-degree elderly abuse, a felony...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Acting on behalf of Brian Becker, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Monday against the city of Poplar Bluff, challenging the constitutionality of its handbill distribution ordinance. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court...

The trial of a Perryville, Mo., man accused of molesting four children and showing them pornographic movies has been reset to May. According to Jason A. Tilley, attorney for Keith Allen Heaps, the case expected to be heard Tuesday at the Cape Girardeau Common Pleas Courthouse will be tried in May after both sides agreed to the postponement...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The remains of American Indian tribe members discovered in the Birds Point-New Madrid floodway in Missouri will be respectfully preserved under an agreement signed Tuesday. Leaders of the Quapaw Tribe and the Delaware Nation joined Col. ...

The Marine Corps Reserve Toys For Tots program is asking the community to participate in this year's Parade of Lights. The Parade theme is "All I Want For Christmas", and the Marines are asking parade-goers to bring a toy with them to the parade route on Sunday night. ...

UNION, Mo. -- A Jackson man charged with murder in a fatal downtown Cape Girardeau stabbing pleaded guilty to a reduced manslaughter charge Tuesday. Ryan Harkey pleaded guilty to second-degree involuntary manslaughter in a Franklin County courtroom, where the case was transferred on a change of venue. Harkey was charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the December stabbing death of Jerry Conrad outside Rumors bar on Spanish Street. With the plea, those charges are dropped...

First State Community Bank has agreed to purchase nine Bank of America locations including those in Cape Girardeau and Jackson. Pending regulatory approval, the transaction will be completed in the second quarter of 2013, according to a news release from First State Community Bank, headquartered in Farmington, Mo...

CAIRO -- Israel and the Hamas militant group reached a cease-fire agreement Wednesday to end eight days of the fiercest fighting in nearly four years, promising to halt attacks on each other and ease an Israeli blockade constricting the Gaza Strip....

CHICAGO -- Feeling the pinch of the sluggish economic recovery, many Americans setting out on the nation's annual Thanksgiving migration had to sacrifice summer vacations, rely on relatives for airfare or scour the Web for travel deals to ensure they made it home....

Art Ginsburg, the delightfully dorky television chef known as Mr. Food, died Wednesday at his home in Weston, Fla., after a struggle with pancreatic cancer. He was 81. Ginsburg -- who enticed viewers for decades with a can-do focus on easy weeknight cooking and the tagline "Ooh! It's so good!" -- was diagnosed just more than a year ago. The cancer had gone into remission following early treatments and surgery, but returned earlier this month...

Freshmen help spark Saxony Lutheran to 65-26 rout of Sikeston in season opener

Diabetes is a chronic syndrome that affects a large number of people in the world. It is more common among the elderly and rare among children and adults. In diabetes patients cannot make use of insulin for metabolizing glucose obtained from food. When we consume food, it is digested and the nutrients in it are absorbed by the blood which mainly contains glucose. ...

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. -- Deployed Missouri National Guard engineers should receive a little something extra in their stockings this year. The Missouri National Guard's 35th Engineer Brigade Family Readiness Group recently put together and mailed 83 boxes filled with donated goodies, like chips, crackers, popcorn, beef jerky, Ramen noodles, batteries and assorted toiletries, which should reach all currently deployed Missouri Guard engineers about a week before Christmas...

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 21, the 326th day of 2012. There are 40 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Nov. 21, 1942, the Alaska Highway, also known as the Alcan Highway, was formally opened at Soldier's Summit in the Yukon Territory...

BENTON, Mo. -- Betty Sue Pettigrew, 70, of Benton died Monday, Nov. 19, 2012, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Nov. 18, 1942, at Dorena, Mo., to Raymond Wayne and Edith Mattie Johnson Hannah. She and Harry Quertermous were married June 16, 1962, in Charleston, Mo...

Taylor Jacob Arnzen, 21, of Cape Girardeau, formerly of Leopold, Mo., passed away Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012, at University of Missouri Medical Center in Columbia, Mo., as the result of an accident. He was born Dec. 10, 1990, in Perryville, Mo., son of Leo Augustine and Tamra Jean Thele Arnzen. He and Kate Roggow were married May 26, 2012, at Leopold...

CAIRO, Ill. — John Frey Jr., 76, of Cairo died Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012, at his home. Arrangements are incomplete at Crain Funeral Home in Ullin, Ill.

FROHNA, Mo. -- Connie L. Roth, 39, of Frohna died Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Friends may call at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna from 4 to 9 p.m. Friday, and from 6:30 a.m. until time of service Saturday...

Alice June "Nunie" Landgraf, 83, of Jackson died Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012, at her home. Visitation will be Friday from 4 to 8 p.m. at McCombs Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Jackson, and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. until time of service at Zion Lutheran Church in Pocahontas...

CAIRO, Ill. -- George A. "Happy" Mattingly, 82, of Cairo, died Monday, Nov. 19, 2012, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He served in the United States Navy. Visitation is at the Barkett Funeral Home in Cairo, where friends may call from 11 a.m. ...

Although this space today probably should be used to convey some thoughts on Thanksgiving, I'm in no mood to tell anyone for what they should be thankful. The truth is, giving thanks -- and I mean the sincere and heartfelt "Dear God" thanks -- is far too personal to put into some generic category...

Highway 51 from North Main Street to County Road 917 in Perry County will be reduced to one lane with a 12-foot restriction as Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform pavement repairs. Weather permitting, the work will be done from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily Monday through Dec. 14...

The Missouri Department of Transportation will serve chili Dec. 6 to raise funds for its Christmas Angel program. Chili is $4 and is prepared, packed and delivered by MoDOT employees and volunteers. Funds go to families who would not be able to purchase gifts. ...

WASHINGTON -- No prescription or doctor's exam needed: The nation's largest group of obstetricians and gynecologists says birth control pills should be sold over the counter, like condoms. Tuesday's surprise opinion from these gatekeepers of contraception could boost longtime efforts by women's advocates to make the pill more accessible...

WASHINGTON -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday urged Congress and the Obama administration to strike a budget deal to avert tax increases and spending cuts that could trigger a recession next year. Without a deal, the measures known as the "fiscal cliff" will take effect in January...

Maj. Garrett Knowlan was a driven individual. He was an avid soccer player growing up, and it was during a family trip to Colorado for a tournament that the Jackson native found his professional calling in the U.S. Air Force. Last month Knowlan died while participating in an Air Force training exercise in Pensacola, Fla. After landing in the water as part of the drill, he was hit by a military vessel. Knowlan was 32...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- While Twinkies may yet survive, troubles plaguing Hostess Brands already have led to an outlet store in Poplar Bluff being shuttered and its employees being sent packing.

CORONADO, Calif. -- The United States and Mexico on Tuesday signed a pact for new rules on sharing water from the Colorado River, The far-reaching agreement gives Mexico badly needed water storage capacity in Lake Mead, which stretches across Nevada and Arizona...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A southwest Missouri man accused of plotting to open fire inside a theater during the "Twilight" movie underwent a mental evaluation in 2009 after following around a Walmart store clerk. An arrest report released Tuesday says Blaec Lammers brought a knife to the store in Bolivar looking for an "easy victim" after watching the horror film "Halloween."...

JERUSALEM -- Israel and the Hamas militant group edged closer to a cease-fire Tuesday to end a weeklong Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, but after a day of furious diplomatic efforts involving the U.S. secretary of state, U.N. chief and Egypt's president, a deal remained elusive, and fighting raged on both sides of the border...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A highly touted plan by Ameren Missouri and Westinghouse to design and build a series of next-generation nuclear reactors at the utility's Callaway County plant lost out Tuesday to a similar plan in Tennessee, dashing the hopes of state political leaders who envisioned an atomic energy revival in Missouri...

Redhawks find items stolen from locker room after 59-56 loss to Troy

The Redhawks claimed the freshman and defensive player of the year awards in football

NEW YORK -- Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash resigned from "Sesame Street" on Tuesday amid allegations he sexually abused underage boys, bringing an end to a 28-year career in which he turned the furry red monster into one of the most beloved -- and lucrative -- characters on TV and in toy stores...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Three players from the Major League Soccer team Sporting Kansas City will help light up the Country Club Plaza on Thanksgiving night. Matt Besler, Kei Kamara and Jimmy Nielsen will flip the switch that turns on more than 250,000 lights outlining buildings in Kansas City, Mo.'s upscale shopping and dining district. The festivities also will include fireworks and musical performances...

LOS ANGELES -- Three California men excited at the prospect of training in Afghanistan to become terrorists prepared, authorities say, by simulating combat with paintball rifles, wiping their Facebook profiles of any Islamic references and concocting cover stories...

Firefighters responded to the following calls Monday:...

The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Summonses Burglaries Thefts Property damage Miscellaneous...

Congressman Bill Emerson is skeptical as to whether a $76 billion federal deficit reduction pact will achieve "real" budget savings; White House and congressional officials hammered out the plan for a two-year package of reduction late last week after 20 days of closed-door bargaining...

O Lord God, our provider, may we count our blessings every day. Amen.

RICHMOND, Va. -- The Civil War Trust has teamed up with the state to complete a $3.2 million campaign protecting 285 acres at Gaines' Mill, where Gen. Robert E. Lee had his first major victory as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia. The preservation expands the number of protected acres at Gaines' Mill, the bloodiest chapter in the Seven Days' Battles, making it a "monumental achievement" in the trust's history, president James Lighthizer said...

MANCHESTER, Vt. (AP) -- Abe Lincoln was born in a log cabin but his son built himself a mansion. Robert Todd Lincoln, the president's only child to survive to adulthood, built the Georgian Revival home, called Hildene, as a seasonal dream home for his wife Mary Harlan Lincoln and their children...

Editor's note: This brief has been corrected to reflect the correct date of the open house. Old Town Cape is holding its annual Downtown Open House from 5 to 9 p.m., Dec. 7. Attractions will include shopping and in-store specials, caroling, wagon rides and more. There also will be free pictures with Santa and children's activities in Santa's workshop at 116 N. Main St. Participants can register for a $1,500 shopping spree. For more information, go online to www.oldtowncape.org or call 334-8085...

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

It's unlikely that the below-average number of deer taken during this year's opening weekend of Missouri's firearms season translated into the region's hunters missing their shot at bagging a kill, Cape Girardeau County's head conservation agent said Tuesday, the final day of the season...

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