Stories from Tuesday, December 29, 2015

CLEVELAND -- A grand jury Monday declined to indict a white rookie police officer in the killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, a black youngster shot while playing with what turned out to be a pellet gun. In explaining the decision, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, prosecutor Tim McGinty said it was "indisputable" the boy was drawing the pistol from his waistband when he was shot. ...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A federal judge on Monday blocked the state of Missouri from revoking the abortion license of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Columbia, saying the state had treated the clinic more harshly than similar institutions and had moved to withdraw the license because of political pressure from some state lawmakers...

GARLAND, Texas -- Jacqui Gordon spent Monday sifting through the debris that had been her home, searching for old family photographs -- especially of her father, who died two years ago. She and nine others were enjoying a holiday gathering when winds began to rattle her home in suburban Dallas. They all dashed into closets and suffered only bumps and bruises, but Gordon's roof was torn away and her house destroyed...

Missouri's death toll from floodwaters fueled by days of downpours has climbed to 10 and appeared likely to grow, Gov. Jay Nixon warned Monday as some communities braced for expected record river crests in coming days. Meanwhile, the number of highways closed across the state because of flooding neared 300, including dozens in Southeast Missouri...

Chaffee, Bell City, Kelly and Oran each advanced to the consolation semifinals of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament.

In a tournament that's largely played out according to seeding, the opener of Tuesday's evening session was no different. Top-seeded Jackson looked like a team poised to go deep in the bracket, and No. 8 Woodland looked like a side down a key starter, as the Indians broke things open with a 17-3 run in the second quarter and left the Cardinals behind, 69-45, in a championship quarterfinal of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament at the Show Me Center...

The second-seeded Tigers advance to a semifinal against third-seeded Notre Dame with the 63-48 victory over the Rams.

Notre Dame boys basketball may have lost some key pieces from last year, but, for at least one more day, it will keep its chances of defending its Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament title alive. The 2014 champs and No. 3 seed grabbed momentum after halftime and broke down No. 6 Scott County Central for a 75-63 victory Monday night in a championship quarterfinal at the Show Me Center...

The fourth-seeded Bluejays overcame a five-point deficit with 3 minutes remaining and defeated the fifth-seeded Hornets 72-68.

Some residents of Allenville packed up belongings and began evacuating Monday as floodwaters threatened the small Cape Girardeau County town. The county's emergency management agency, in conjunction with the Cape Girardeau County Commission and the sheriff's department, issued a voluntary evacuation order, advising residents in Allenville and low-lying areas near the rain-swollen Diversion Channel to leave before flooding closes area roads...

Today is Tuesday, Dec. 29, the 363rd day of 2015. There are two days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Dec. 29, 1975, a bomb exploded in the main terminal of New York's LaGuardia Airport, killing 11 people (it's never been determined who was responsible)...

My primary effort is to save our children and grandchildren from being enslaved to the debts by the current generation of Legislators and Citizens. All levels of government are spending Federal money; the fire board, school board, city council, county commission and the state legislature. All levels of government are responsible for forcing our offspring to work daily to pay for the out-of-control spending of today...

"All of my experiences have brought me to this exciting day. I am certainly prepared to join together with other community leaders and move my city to the next level." Brenda Newbern's enthusiasm makes us pleased to welcome her as the new executive director for the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau. She will be responsible for economic growth through tourism...

PADUCAH, Ky. -- Ruby Marie Watson, 80, of Villa Ridge, Illinois, passed away at 3:15 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 27, 2015, at Baptist Health Hospital in Paducah. Marie was born June 30, 1935, at Pulaski, Illinois, the daughter of the late Willis Richards and Wilma (Edwards) Richards...

Son to Daniel Joseph and Cassie Jean Siebert of Jackson, Saint Francis Medical Center, 8:18 a.m. Friday, Dec. 18, 2015. Name, Jeb Joseph. Weight, 8 pounds, 7 ounces. Second son. Mrs. Siebert is the former Cassie Ludwig, daughter of Lynn and Susan Ludwig of Jackson. She is employed by Photography by Carrie. Siebert is the son of Francis and Deborah Siebert of Chaffee, Missouri. He is employed by Buzzi Unicem...

Franklin Wilbert Elliott, 74, of Scott City passed away Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2015, at his residence. He was born Sept. 12, 1941, in Kennett, Missouri, the son of Benjamin Wilbert and Viola Mae Harsh Elliott. He and LaVonna Ann Swim were married Jan. 1, 1979, in Murphy, Missouri...

Gloria Mae Willis, 59, of Cape Girardeau passed away Sunday, Dec. 27, 2015, in Cape Girardeau. She was born May 9, 1956, in Steele, Missouri, to Robert Parnell and Vinia (Holloman) Willis. Gloria was of the Baptist faith. She enjoyed dancing, going to the casino and spending time with her family...

Cassandra A. Breece, daughter of the late Arzie and Bertie Barnett Baldwin, was born in Charter Oak, Missouri, on May 7, 1943, and passed away at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau on Thursday, Dec. 24, 2015, at the age of 72 years, 7 months and 7 days...

NEW YORK -- It was a merry Christmas for fitness-tracking device maker Fitbit. The company's app was the most downloaded on Apple's app store Christmas Day, a sign many people couldn't wait to set up their Fitbit trackers after unwrapping them. It also suggests Fitbit trackers were a hot seller during the holidays, despite increasing competition from Apple's smartwatch and other wearable devices...

Damp, dreary weather doesn't deter several hundred Cape Girardeau County residents from paying their taxes at the county collector's offices in Cape Girardeau and Jackson in the morning. The heaviest turnout is at the collector's office in the county's administration building. At one point, the line of taxpayers stretches down the hall...

ST. LOUIS -- Advocates are gathering petitions for more proposed ballot issues than ever before in Missouri, and voters could see a record number of ballot proposals next year, which may be an indication of the public's deep dissatisfaction with political leaders, one expert said...

CLAYTON, Mo. -- A 21-year-old man is the latest suspect to be accused of assisting in the looting that followed last year's grand jury decision not to indict a Ferguson police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported St. Louis County prosecutors have charged Donovan Doan of St. Peters with second-degree burglary and misdemeanor stealing...

WASHINGTON -- 'Tis the season -- no, not THAT season. It's that point in the presidential election cycle when speculation starts swirling the primaries won't produce a clear winner, and one of the parties' big nominating conventions will dissolve in chaos...

NEW YORK -- Actors Sacha Baron Cohen and his wife, Isla Fisher, are donating $1 million to Save the Children and the International Rescue Committee to support victims of the conflict in Syria. Save the Children has announced one-half of the sum will fund a program vaccinating more than 250,000 children against a potential measles outbreak in northern Syria...

VIENNA -- Iran has moved closer to next month's expected implementation of a landmark nuclear deal with six world powers by allowing Moscow to transfer most of its enriched uranium to Russia, a senior Russian diplomat said Monday. As part of the July 14 deal, Iran must ship out all except 660 pounds of the nearly nine tons of low-enriched uranium it has stockpiled. Low-enriched uranium is suited to power generation but can be enriched to arm nuclear warheads...

BAGHDAD -- Iraqi forces backed by U.S.-led airstrikes drove Islamic State militants out of the center of Ramadi on Monday and seized the main government complex there, according to military officials, who said insurgents still are dug into pockets of the city west of Baghdad...

A local radio pioneer has been chosen as a 2016 posthumous inductee to the Missouri Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame. Jerome Zimmer, founder of Zimmer Broadcasting, will be inducted along with longtime St. Louis Cardinals radio broadcaster Mike Shannon and Ken and Jane Meyer, founders of Meyer Communications in southwest Missouri...

A Cape Girardeau man is accused of threatening to burn down Frederick Street Manor on Christmas using the gas can from which he was drinking and huffing while walking along the street. Avery Centil Whitney, 24, of Cape Girardeau was arrested Dec. 26 and charged with making a terroristic threat, a felony...

A Cape Girardeau woman faced several arrest warrants, but she picked up another charge after being accused of kicking a Cape Girardeau police officer three times in the shoulder and neck while in a patrol vehicle. Allison Renee Lanpher, 38, of Cape Girardeau was arrested shortly after midnight Monday on warrants for probation violation, peace disturbance and failure to appear in court on a charge of theft. Lanpher also was charged with felony assault on a law-enforcement officer...

A Cape Girardeau woman said she shot at an intruder Sunday in her home at the 2800 block of Lynwood Hills Drive, but she missed, and the suspect escaped. Cape Girardeau Police Department public information officer Adam Glueck said police received the call at 5:50 p.m. Sunday, and the victim said she heard someone in her home and retrieved her gun...

A Cape Girardeau man was arrested Wednesday and charged with second-degree domestic assault, a felony. The wife of David James Preston said he was physically aggressive during a verbal altercation in the 1100 block of South Kingshighway, Cape Girardeau police officer Jacob Carter wrote in a probable-cause statement...

The Perry County Emergency Operations Center was activated Monday in response to the rising Mississippi River along the Bois Brule Levee District. As of late Monday afternoon, the National Weather Service was projecting the river to crest Thursday at 49.9 feet, which would be a record at Chester, Illinois, according to a news release from the Perry County Commission...

With voluntary evacuations already underway in Allenville and floodwaters expected to increase all week, the Red Cross is making sure it's ready for the possible need for emergency shelters. Sara Gerau, executive director of the Southeast Missouri chapter of the Red Cross, said the organization maintains a high level of preparedness but has made sure to keep lines of communication open in light of the coming flood event...

Recent flooding has forced the Missouri Department of Transportation to close some roads in Southeast Missouri. Motorists are urged to use extreme caution and plan alternate routes. According to a MoDOT news release, the roads that are closed include:...

Scott County had not had an official evacuation by Monday morning, but there was one road closure. Route E from County Road 342 to Washington Street in Commerce was closed by the Missouri Department of Transportation. Sections of Route HH and Ingram Road near Sikeston were covered with water but still passable, Scott County Emergency Services Director Tom Beardsley said...

ST. LOUIS -- A century-old door to a confessional booth has been returned after it was stolen from a St. Louis Catholic church last week. The Rev. Canon Andrew Todd, a vicar at St. Francis de Sales Oratory, said the door was dropped off at the church about 6 p.m. Sunday...

LECANTO, Fla. -- A woman is accused of taking methamphetamine and driving a motorized shopping cart through a Wal-Mart while drinking wine and eating sushi and cinnamon rolls. According to a Citrus County Sheriff's Office arrest report, a security officer observed Josseleen E. Lopez, 25, consuming $32.36 worth of food and wine inside the store. Lopez told authorities she was homeless and hungry and had just injected herself with methamphetamine...

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Meadowlark Lemon, the "clown prince" of basketball's barnstorming Harlem Globetrotters whose blend of hook shots and humor brought joy to millions of fans around the world, has died. He was 83. Lemon's wife and daughter confirmed to the team he died Sunday in Scottsdale, Arizona, Globetrotters spokesman Brett Meister said Monday. Meister did not know the cause of death...

SEOUL, South Korea -- An apology from Japan's prime minister and a pledge of $8.3 million sealed a breakthrough deal Monday in a decades-long impasse with South Korea over Korean women forced into Japanese military-run brothels during World War II. The accord, which aims to resolve the emotional core of South Korea's grievances with its former colonial overlord, could begin to reverse decades of animosity and mistrust between the two thriving democracies, trade partners and U.S. ...

Michele McCarter, 68, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, Dec. 26, 2015, at her home. Her body was donated to the Genesis Program at the Medical Education and Research Institute in Memphis, Tennessee. Crain Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau is in charge of arrangements...

Betty O'Kelly, 79, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Dec. 25, 2015, at Riverways Manor in Van Buren, Missouri. A memorial service will be hosted by the family at a later date. Crain Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau is in charge of arrangements...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Leeman R. Head, 86, of Perryville died Sunday, Dec. 27, 2015, at Independence Care Center of Perry County in Perryville. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday and from 6:30 to 9 a.m. Thursday at Young and Sons Funeral Home in Perryville...

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests n Blade Savage Henson, 19, 1527 N. Water St., was arrested on suspicion of being a minor in possession of alcohol. n Clayton Alexander Smith, 23, 772 W. Rodney St., Cape Girardeau, was arrested on suspicion of resisting arrest, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and failure to stop at a stop sign...

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to the following calls Sunday: n Medical assists were made at 3:32 a.m. on North West End Boulevard; 8:45 a.m. on South Pacific Street; 1:56 p.m. on Delwin Street; 6:14 p.m. on South Park Avenue; 6:55 p.m. on North Street; and 9:16 p.m. on Georgia Street...

The Big Short If you consider yourself a good resident, you have a moral obligation to see The Big Short. Laughs aside, the movie should make you so angry that you toughen your resolve to help see that something this tawdry never again occurs. I'm referring to the financial collapse in the U.S. and the resulting global economic meltdown...

O Heavenly Father, give us wisdom and direction in all we do. Amen.

All scores were reported to the Southeast Missourian on Monday.

Bell City (58) -- Cole Nichols 37, Kolten Siebert 5, Logan Yates 5, Peyton Maddox 1, Bobby Wright 10. FG 20, FT 9-16, F 19 (3-pointers: Nichols 6, Wright 2, Siebert. Fouled out: None.) ORAN (64) -- Cole Priggel 9, Jacob Shoemaker 14, Max Priggel 20, Preston Hahn 5, Layne Johnson 11, Garrison Mangels 5. FG 24, FT 12-19, F16 (3-pointers: M. Priggel 3, Johnson. Fouled out: None.)...

CHAFFEE (45) -- Landon Tenkhoff 17, Alec Bogenpohl 13, Jordan Wilburn 8, Gabe Henson 4, Austin Copeland 3. FG 12, FT 19-24, F 13. (3-pointers: Bogenpohl 1, Copeland 1. Fouled out: Bogenpohl.) KELLY (38) -- Levi Alsup 11, Skylar Lemons 9, Jake McClain 6, Isai Campos 5, Ty Householder 4, Cayden Williams 3. FG 15, FT 6-13, F 20. (3-pointers: Williams 1, Campos 1. Fouled out: None.)...

ADVANCE (73) -- Armani Vermillion 21, Brendan Crader 1, Dakota Welty 3, Preston Wuebker 19, Brian Whitson 10, Austin Ladd 9, Dawson Mayo 10. FG 23, FT 18-23, F 12. (3-pointers: Wuebker 5, Whitson 3, Welty. Fouled out: None.) WOODLAND (53) -- Jake Long 9, Cole Schlief 5, Connor Goodwin 2, Tyler Womack 19, Paul Duncan 4, Michael McCormick 14. FG 19, FT 11-16 F 15. (3-pointers: McCormick 2, Womack 2. Fouled out: None.)...

SCC (75) -- Brody Ditto 9, Eric Smith 3, Deven Blackmon 7, Deantrall Beard 29, Gerald Sanders 1, Jeffery Porter 26. FG 27, FT 19-27, F 15. (3-pointers: Smith, Porter. Fouled out: None.) SCOTT CITY (72) -- Dylan Keller 27, Trent Pobst 12, Ty Wilthong 4, Isiah Berry 5, Jordan Kluesner 9, Braden Cox 15. FG 26, FT 11-14, F 21. (3-pointers: Keller 7, Berry, Kluesner. Fouled out: None.)...

CHARLESTON (62) -- Dontarius Sharp 5, Kelvondre Moore 4, Demarcus Sharp 17, Mardareyon Clark 11, Jeremy Tucker 14, Tenerrious Ewing 11. FG 25, FT 8-12, F 22. (3-pointers: Dem. Sharp 2, Ewing, Don. Sharp. Fouled out: Dem. Sharp, Ewing.) JACKSON (69) -- Desmond Morris 3, Jacob Friess 12, Garrett Walker 12, Jacob Smith 22, Pete Lake 7, Stephen Irons 2, Cameron Hester 11. FG 19, FT 25-30, F 16. (3-pointers: Walker 2, Smith 2, Morris, Lake. Fouled out: Smith.)...

NOTRE DAME (50) -- Andrew LeGrand 3, Blake Bauwens 15, Ross Essner 12, Tanner Robert 2, Dane 1, Dawson Dohogne 10, Carson Ketcher 7. FG 16, FT 14-21, F 21. (3-pointers: Bauwens 2, Essner 2. Fouled out: Dohogne.) CAPE CENTERAL (68) -- Zyshon Mallory 12, Al Young 31, Tevyn Wright-Hunt 5, Aubrey Carter 2, Jawone Newell 9, Austin Parker 5, Blake Harris 4. FG 23, FT 20-25, F 18. (3-pointers: Young, Wright-Hunt. Fouled out: Garrett Jackson.)...

The Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department has announced two area road closures. Highway 74 at Dutchtown was closed early Tuesday morning. In addition, Highway 25 at Dutchtown is closed as of this afternoon. Pertinent address: Dutchtown, MO