Stories from Friday, June 12, 2015

Bootheel residents may have felt a little shaky as they were getting ready for work Thursday morning. The U.S. Geological Survey reports a magnitude-2.5 earthquake occurred at 7:51 a.m. Thursday about two miles south-southwest of New Madrid, Missouri. The depth was listed as approximately 3.19 miles...

Gary Johnson, associate dean of the Donald L. Harrison College of Business and professor of accounting at Southeast Missouri State University, has been named interim dean, the university announced Thursday. Johnson, who has been associate dean of the Harrison College since 2006, assumed his new role June 1. He will serve as interim dean through Dec. 31, according to a Southeast news release...

Plans have been delayed on a Scott City Main Street construction project. At the first Scott City council meeting in May, city administrator Ron Eskew said construction would begin June 1 on Main Street from Crites Street to Chester Avenue and continue through Sept. 1...

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- The man accused of killing a store clerk during a robbery will face the death penalty. New Madrid Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Lawson filed notice with the Circuit Court on Wednesday he will seek the death penalty for Deion D. Martin of Parma, Missouri...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- It cost $19,334 for the city of Poplar Bluff to terminate the employment of former city manager Heath Kaplan. A settlement agreement was released by the city Thursday. The agreement states the city chose to end Kaplan's employment effective May 12, and both parties "voluntarily agreed" to resolve all disputes with the document...

The upcoming move to a new facility at 2137 Rust Ave. also represents new opportunities for Cape Girardeau County's Juvenile Department. Once the department settles in and begins to adjust to its new surroundings, so will its community service and restitution project, "Operation Payback."...

Cash Davidson, 3, of Sikeston, Missouri, uses a pool noodle to shoot water Thursday while cooling off in Lake Boutin with his grandmother and other family members at Trail of Tears State Park.

Classes are out of session, but Kenn Stilson and his students have been putting in more hours than usual producing "Seussical" the musical, which Stilson describes as "a big box of Crayola crayons." The show will be the featured performance of Southeast Missouri State University's second annual River Campus Summer Arts Festival. Stilson said the hours they're putting in are comparable to what would be considered a typical River Campus show, but concentrated to a few short weeks...

From engineering to entrepreneurship to pottery to product design, Southeast Missouri State University's Horizons Summer Youth Enrichment program has several options for area youths. The camps, offered to children ages 5 to 14, explore numerous career paths. Each course uses a hands-on approach to learning that incorporates laboratory experiments or physical activity, a Southeast news release stated...

Two people have been charged in connection with a shooting Wednesday in Perry County, Missouri. Perry County Prosecuting Attorney Thomas Hoeh has charged Dylan Taylor, 19, of Perryville, with one count of first-degree robbery, three counts of armed criminal action, three counts of first-degree assault and theft of a firearm, according to an email from the Perry County Sheriff's Department. All charges are felonies...

Teachers and staff at the Scott City School District will see an average 3.5 percent increase in salaries with the start of the 2015-2016 school year. The Scott City School Board this week also approved adding $900 to the teacher base salary, increasing the amount from $29,800 to $30,700 for first-year teachers with a bachelor's degree...

ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- The family of a Poplar Bluff, Missouri, woman seriously injured when her car was struck by a suspected drunken driver leaving Brick's Off Road Park has been told her spinal cord was not severed, as doctors originally thought. Lori S. Garner underwent surgery early Tuesday morning at Saint Louis University Hospital and information about the outcome came later in the day, said Cindy McIver, who, like Garner, works for the Poplar Bluff School District...

Only one selection show remains until the Semoball Awards on July 11 at the Southeast Missouri State River Campus.

The Red House Interpretive Committee invites the public to attend its 2015 speaker/workshop series, held on Saturdays this summer. Each event in the series, held at the Red House on South Main Street in Cape Girardeau, is free. They begin at 11 a.m. and last approximately one hour, all highlighting different aspects of pioneer history in the Southeast Missouri region. All ages are welcome, and participants are encouraged to bring a lawn chair...

Innsbrook, MO - June 11, 2015 the Gateway PGA held the one and only opportunity for Missouri junior golfers to qualify for the IMG Junior World Qualifier to be held in July at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, California. In the boys 15-17 division the competition was fierce. ...

Cape Girardeau Roller Girls Hit the Track Saturday, June 20 in Cape Girardeau! By: Jennifer Flesner Saturday, June 20th, come check out live roller derby action as the Cape Girardeau Roller Girls hit the track to take on the Prairieland Punishers from Central Illinois! Count on an exciting game full of hard hits and fast action as these two teams fight for the win. ...

"The Wicked Witch of the Midwest" jams for the Cape Girardeau Roller Girls, taking down a wall of opposing blockers as she does it!

Weather reporter Bob Clubbs visited the Cape Girardeau Roller Girls at their practice on June 10th, and he even got his own derby name: 100% Chance of Pain. Check out CGRG on June 20th as they take on the Prairieland Punishers. www.capegirardeaurollergirls.com...

On Wednesday, the Three Rivers College Board of Trustees approved a nearly $39 million buget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Of that amount, $12 million is designated for capital improvement projects, including a $9.6 million for a new athletic complex...

Today is Friday, June 12, the 163rd day of 2015. There are 202 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On June 12, 1965, the British government announced that The Beatles would each be made an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace later in the year; the selection sparked criticism, with some MBEs returning their medals in protest...

That pretty much outlines my retirement philosophy. When folks asked me, before I retired, what I planned to do with all my "extra time," I would answer, "Whatever I want." For the most part, that's exactly how it has worked for almost five years. Of course, there are some things I do that I didn't exactly plan, but so far nothing has seriously interfered with my retirement mission: Enjoy life...

Imagine for a moment if police in Ferguson, Missouri, or Baltimore, Maryland, had made a concerted effort over the years to build more positive relationships with constituents. Would such extensive rioting have occurred after the tragic deaths of Michael Brown and Freddie Gray? Would the damage have been as widespread? Would the anguish have been as pervasive?...

DANNEMORA, N.Y. -- Investigators believe a female prison employee had agreed to be the getaway driver in last weekend's escape by two killers but never showed up, a person close to the case said Thursday. The manhunt, meanwhile, dragged into a sixth day with a renewed burst of activity by searchers in the woods close to the prison after bloodhounds were said to have picked up the convicts' scent. ...

PHILADELPHIA -- A former madam who performed illegal "body sculpting" was sentenced Thursday to 10 to 20 years in prison for the death of a dancer whose heart stopped after nearly half a gallon of silicone was injected into her buttocks. During her spring murder trial, Padge-Victoria Windslowe told jurors clients call her "the Michelangelo of buttocks injections." But prosecutors say she had no medical training and used deadly products on vulnerable women, including fellow members of the transgender community who wanted curves.. ...

PARIS -- The co-pilot who crashed a Germanwings jet into the Alps feared he was losing his eyesight, and some of the many doctors he consulted felt he was unfit to fly, a French prosecutor said Thursday. The doctors didn't report their concerns to Andreas Lubitz's employers, however, because of German patient privacy laws, Marseille Prosecutor Brice Robin told reporters in Paris...

NAPLES, Italy -- The Pentagon's top general said Thursday the U.S. military's reach could extend even further into Iraq if the anti-Islamic State campaign gains momentum, and he held out the possibility of eventually recommending to President Barack Obama that U.S. troops take on the riskier role of calling in airstrikes...

WASHINGTON -- Union-backed Democrats launched a last-ditch effort Thursday to scuttle President Barack Obama's trade agenda by sacrificing a favored program of their own that retrains workers displaced by international trade. The retraining program was linked to the Democrats' real target: legislation to help Obama advance multi-nation trade agreements...

VATICAN CITY -- Anxiety has so gripped American conservatives over Pope Francis' upcoming encyclical on the environment, one might think a pope never before had blamed fossil fuels for global warming, accused energy companies of hoarding the Earth's resources at the expense of the poor or urged the rich to consume less and share more...

A faulty transfer pump is being blamed for a fire Monday that heavily damaged a storage building owned by Rose City Oil Co. at 740 S. Fountain St. The fire caused authorities to evacuate houses temporarily on the west side of the 700 block of South Fountain Street because of a danger that 55-gallon barrels of petroleum stored inside the building might explode. None of the barrels exploded, however...

I know what Dennis Hastert did was wrong, but I think the person that was basically extorting money out of Dennis Hastert should face jail time too, or penalties. He probably knew that Dennis Hastert didn't have that kind of money. Where did he think that kind of money was coming from? I mean, just because you know something about someone doesn't mean you have to extort money from them...

The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. n Robert J. Haynes, 22, of Sikeston, Missouri, was arrested on a Cape Girardeau warrant for failure to appear for contempt of court for failure to pay fines...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Dorothy Mae Weakley, 89, of Marble Hill died Thursday, June 11, 2015, at Woodland Hills Nursing Center. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. until service time Saturday at Hutchings Funeral Chapel in Marble Hill. The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home, with the Rev. Elijah Allen officiating. Burial will be in McGee Chapel Cemetery near Glenallen, Missouri...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Paul Donald Unterreiner, 61, of Perryville died Wednesday, June 10, 2015, at his home. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday and from 6:30 to 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Young and Sons Funeral Home. A parish wake will be at 4:30 p.m. Friday, and the rosary at 8:30 a.m. Saturday...

Jewell L. Martin, 97, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, June 10, 2015, at the Lutheran Home. She was born March 25, 1918, at Whitewater to Elijah Bevin and Etta Mae Huffman Lear. She and James W. Martin were married in 1951 in Memphis, Tennessee. Jewell spent much of her life in Tennessee and worked at Union Carbide in Oak Ridge. She moved back to Cape Girardeau in the early 1980s and lived here until her death...

Howard Andrew Marberry, 94, of Jackson died Wednesday, June 10, 2015, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Nov. 23, 1920, in Clarkton, Missouri, to Andrew Jackson and Effie Belver Marberry. He and Vera Mae Hensley were married Oct. 21, 1939. Together they raised a family in Cape Girardeau...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Thelma Hasty, 89, of Sikeston died Wednesday, June 10, 2015, at York Place in Bertrand, Missouri. She was born Feb. 27, 1926, in Ardeola, Missouri, to Samuel Harvey and Gertie Lea Summers Mason. She and Herb Hasty were married Oct. 30, 1954, in Bell City, Missouri. He preceded her in death June 6, 2010...

David Valentine Hajduk, 81, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, June 11, 2015, at Saint Francis Medical Center. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home.

Catherine Chambers, 94, formerly of St. Louis, died Tuesday, June 9, 2015, at Monticello House in Jackson. Visitation will be from 3 to 6:30 p.m. Monday at Apostolic Pentecostal Church, 901 Barracksview Road in St. Louis. A service will be at 7 p.m. Monday at the church...

DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Richard Stanton "Dick" Brumitt, 88, longtime resident of Doniphan and father of Dr. Tom Brumitt of Cape Girardeau, died Wednesday, June 3, 2015, at home, surrounded by family. He leaves behind his wife, Barbara, to whom he was married 62 years; five children; many grandchildren and great-grandchildren...

KELSO, Mo. -- Shirley Ann Boham, 79, of Kelso died Thursday, June 11, 2015, at Life Care Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born July 18, 1935, in Kelso to Walter Leo and Augusta Regina Dumey Dohogne. Shirley worked at G&M Trailers. She was a member of St. Augustine Catholic Church in Kelso, Ladies Sodality of the church and Senior Citizens of Kelso...

Next Saturday night's all right for an Elton John tribute concert, when Bennie and the Jets play at Isle Casino Cape Girardeau on June 20. Greg Ransom, band leader and Elton John impersonator, brings not only the iconic piano-rock songs John made famous, but also the iconic panache...

Kimberly McRoy of Bloomfield, Missouri, submitted this photo of her tattoo -- drawn by Joshua Turrentine -- by Tattoo Spot in Cape Girardeau. "My brother drew this for me," McRoy said or her tattoo. "I wanted something to symbolized mine and my husband's marriage, but with no names. And I've always seen deer in the shape of a heart, but never ducks, and he duck hunts, so this was perfect."...

The Cape Girardeau garden tour, visiting six private residential gardens, will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Tickets, at $10, are available at Sunny Hill Garden Center, Plants Plus, from garden club members and at the homes the day of the tours. ...

Animal sanctuary surprised by birth of 2 lion cubs SADDLEBROOKE, Mo. -- The birth of two lion cubs was a surprise for an animal sanctuary in southwest Missouri after their suspected father underwent a vasectomy. The male cubs weighed about two pounds each when they were born in March at the National Tiger Sanctuary in Saddlebrooke. ...

LOS ANGELES -- When he wasn't busy scribbling out the theory of relativity, Albert Einstein seems to have spent a fair amount of time writing letters involving topics such as God, his son's geometry studies, even a little toy steam engine an uncle gave him when he was a boy...

The 31st edition of the fastpitch softball tournament begins today.

Veteran Kenny Britt is the eldest in the group at age 26.

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

The title "Nature's Housekeeper" might bring to mind images of Smokey The Bear. In reality, the book is about the quantum shift in the life of a Missouri man. In it, after a college professor stumbles into the woods for an unplanned solo hike, he becomes a devout nature hater and vows never to venture into the wilderness again...

Saturday will pass like any other for most people, but one local family likely will spend the day preoccupied with thoughts of their long-missing loved one. At age 2 1/2, Elizabeth Ann Gill went missing June 13, 1965 -- and the search continues. Headlines through the decades express the public's frustration with the fruitless investigations and mark the passage of time: "Another Lead Discarded as Hunt for Gill Goes On." "Betsy Gill Missing Now For 3 Weeks." "Betsy Gill Gone 13 Months, But Hunt Persists." "Betsy will be 21: Where Is She?". ...