Stories from Wednesday, January 27, 2016

As men's basketball teams within the Ohio Valley Conference have reached or are nearing the midpoint of OVC regular-season action, most coaches have come to the general consensus that the East Division is superior, Belmont is the team to beat and there's still plenty of time left to see what happens...

Dashuan Blissett’s soccer skills will pay off next year when he enrolls for classes at Missouri Baptist University on a soccer scholarship! Dashuan received many awards throughout his four years at Cape Central including multiple 1st Team All Conference Honors, multiple 1st Team All District Honors, two 1st Team All Region, All State Honorable Mention and 1st Team All State...

The SoutheastHEALTH Auxiliary has donated $60,000 to the SoutheastHEALTH Foundation. The Auxiliary presented the check to Southeast officials at a luncheon held recently at the Hospital. The funds will benefit the Employee and Patient Assistance Funds maintained through the Foundation...

On Oct. 31, 2015, Leet EyeCare hosted its First 5K/Fun Run benefiting Optometry Giving Sight. Optometry Giving Sight is the only global fundraising initiative that specifically targets the prevention of blindness and impaired vision due to uncorrected refractive error. ...

Great athlete, man with ballerina feet, leader, gentle giant and lifelong friend who always could be counted on to lend a hand to those in need -- just some of the words former teammates of Paul Ebaugh III used to describe the former two-sport standout at Southeast Missouri State and the 1962 Lou Muegge Award winner at Cape Central High School...

Less than half of Cape Girardeau's retail businesses would experience a gross-receipts tax cut if voters approve a use tax on the April ballot, city officials say. Those businesses that pay the bulk of the gross-receipts tax won't see any decrease in their tax bills, officials acknowledge...

The city of Cape Girardeau received four proposals Tuesday to build a new police station at the site of the Naval Reserve Center in Arena Park -- including several that came in at or under the city's $11 million budget. FGM Architects submitted the original needs assessment for the new police station, and it is part of a team with Penzel Construction of Jackson and Holland construction of Swansea, Illinois. ...

Sinkhole activity on South Sprigg Street in Cape Girardeau has caused headaches for the city and local businesses for several years. A section of the street has been closed since 2013 after a large sinkhole collapsed part of the nearby street, and another sinkhole formed near the base of the bridge, rendering it impassable...

Letting go is hard to do. It's especially difficult when people become attached to a place where decades of stamping feet and ringing buzzers electrified the air. But those sounds are almost a thing of the past for the smaller, older gymnasium at Cape Girardeau Central Junior High School, which is scheduled to be replaced by new administrative offices and other features sometime in March. ...

Today in History Today is Wednesday, Jan. 27, the 27th day of 2016. There are 339 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Jan. 27, 1945, during World War II, Soviet troops liberated the Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland...

There was once a time when politicians courted newspapers in search of an editorial endorsement of their candidacy. Long before technology overwhelmed society with a minute-by-minute news cycle, the public would often rely on newspapers to give them an inside view of issues and candidates to help guide their votes...

Since 1978, local entrepreneurs, ministers, judges and others have been honored with the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce's R.A. Fulenwider Award. The award is presented at the chamber's annual banquet to a person who has "dedicated their life to the advancement of Jackson and the area," according to a chamber promotional video...

Ashland Land Development Corp. has purchased 153 acres just outside the Cape Girardeau city limits and plans residential and commercial development; the L-shaped property is adjacent to the White Oaks Subdivision; it fronts both Bloomfield Road and Highway 74...

The Jackson Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests n Bryan D. McDowell, 34, of Cape Girardeau was arrested on a Jackson warrant for failure to appear in court for a show-cause order. Assault n An assault was reported in the 1600 block of West Independence Street...

The Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to the following calls Monday: n Medical assists at 8:21 a.m. on South Benton Street; 10:26 a.m. on Jefferson Avenue; 11:12 a.m. on South Benton Street; 12:01 p.m. on William Street; and 8:24 p.m. on North Silver Springs Road...

The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests n Jerome L. Bridges, 30, 1128 S. Kingshighway, was arrested on a Franklin County, Illinois, warrant for forgery and a Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri, warrant for driving with a suspended license...

PUXICO, Mo. -- Maria Elena Smith, 59, of Puxico died Monday, Jan. 25, 2016, at Puxico Nursing and Rehab in Puxico. She was born Dec. 14, 1956, in Benton, Illinois, to Randall Madison and Ida Santina Tedeschi Mosley. She and Steven P. Smith were married Jan. 25, 1997, at Cape Girardeau...

William Showers, 90, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, at Saint Francis Medical Center. There will be no local services. Crain Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau is in charge of arrangements.

ORAN, Mo. -- Berniece Bonneda Pobst, 92, of Oran passed away Friday, Jan. 22, 2016, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 2, 1923, in Advance, Missouri to the late Charley Herman and Lottie Florence Wolf Gluckhertz. Berniece married Harold Stephen Pobst on Sept. 27, 1941, and he preceded her in death June 14, 2015...

Joanie Collins Kluesner, 57, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, in Cape Girardeau. She was born Oct. 10, 1958, in Cape Girardeau to William Greenley and Mary Josephine Collins. Joanie was passionate about caring for others as was reflected by her many years of working as a registered nurse at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau...

Jan H. Kinsey, 60, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016, at the Lutheran Home. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Lynwood Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Friday at the church. Burial will be at Cape County Memorial Park in Cape Girardeau...

Paul Leroy Hitt, 81, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016, at Chateau Gardens in Cape Girardeau. He was born Sept. 27, 1934, in Morley, Missouri, the son of Grover Benjamin Leander and Esther Ellen Snider Hitt. In 1939, the family moved to Commerce, Missouri. ...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Lawrence E. "Larry" Farrar, 85, passed away Monday, Jan. 18, 2016, at his home in Sikeston, with his son and brother by his side. Larry was born Nov. 24, 1930, in Tupelo, Mississippi, to the late Gracie Jackson. He grew up in East Tupelo with a childhood friend, Elvis Presley. He graduated from Tupelo High School in 1948. He worked his entire career as an engineer for John Manville Co. in New Jersey,...

Betty JoAnn Emmons, 82, of Cape Girardeau passed away Friday, Jan. 22, 2016, at her home. She was born May 7, 1933, in Cape Girardeau, the daughter of Alvin and Bertha Siebert Hoffmeister. JoAnn was a member of the last class to graduate from the Central High School when it was in the old Schultz school building...

Ora "Bart" Eaton, 87, of Jackson passed away Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born March 15, 1928, in Cutler, Illinois, the son of Barton and Lue King Eaton. He and Ruth Vaughn were married Dec. 7, 1952. Bart was a member of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus in Jackson. He served in the U.S. Army from 1950 to 1952 during the Korean conflict. Bart was a member of American Legion Post 158 in Jackson...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Barbara L. Dunlap, 76, of Perryville died Monday, Jan. 25, 2016, at her home. She was born Jan. 2, 1940, in Perryville, the daughter of Carl Emil and Lena Ann Mouser Sutterer. She and Paul William Dunlap were married Sept. 12, 1959. He preceded her in death Nov. 15, 2013...

Melanie Ruth Brickhaus, 54, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, Jan. 25, 2016, at Southeast Hospital. Visitation will be from 9 to 11 a.m. Thursday at Hanover Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at the church, with the Rev. Tony Kobak officiating. Burial will be at Hanover Lutheran Church Cemetery in Cape Girardeau...

Roy Lee Aldrich Jr., 81, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, Jan. 25, 2016, at his home. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

ST. LOUIS -- Health insurer Centene Corp. said it is missing half a dozen hard drives that contain the personal and health information of roughly 950,000 clients. The St. Louis-based company said Monday the hard drives do not include financial or payment details. But the missing information does include the names, addresses, birth dates, Social Security numbers, member identification numbers and health information of patients who received laboratory services between 2009 and 2015...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A bill capping municipal courts fines for ordinance violations has won initial approval in the Missouri Senate. Senators debated the measure for more than two hours Tuesday before finalizing its language. It still needs a final vote before going to the House...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri would become one of a few of states that outlaw abortions based on prenatal screening if a proposal before the Senate becomes law. A Senate committee heard testimony Tuesday on a bill that would prohibit doctors from performing an abortion on a woman motivated "solely" by a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- As the Missouri House on Tuesday advanced more legislation to change the state's loose ethics laws, some lawmakers raised doubts about whether the proposals go far enough. House members gave initial approval to a ban on gifts from lobbyists to lawmakers and other elected officials, who now can receive unlimited meals, sports tickets and other presents...

The FBI on Tuesday arrested the leaders of an armed group that had occupied a national wildlife refuge in Oregon for the past three weeks, conducting a traffic stop that prompted gunfire -- and one death -- along a highway through the frozen high country...

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa -- Republican Donald Trump on Tuesday bowed out of the final Republican presidential debate before the leadoff Iowa caucuses, saying Fox News moderator Megyn Kelly is "a lightweight." With 48 hours before the faceoff, campaign manager Corey Lewandowski confirmed Trump's decision Tuesday evening after a news conference in which Trump lashed out at Kelly and said she'd been "toying" with him...

HOUSTON -- A grand jury's decision to indict two anti-abortion activists who made undercover videos about Planned Parenthood might be less about sending someone to jail than about expressing disapproval for how the pair conducted their investigation, legal experts said Tuesday...

SEBRING, Ohio -- A water-treatment plant manager denied the state's environmental agency's allegations he falsified reports about high levels of lead and copper being detected in some homes last summer. The state Environmental Protection Agency said the operator of the small water system near Youngstown failed to notify the public for months unsafe levels of lead had been found and submitted "misleading, inaccurate or false reports."...

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Brazil's health minister said the country is sending 220,000 troops to battle a mosquito blamed for spreading a virus suspected of causing birth defects, but he said the war already is being lost. Marcelo Castro said nearly 220,000 members of Brazil's Armed Forces would go door-to-door to help in mosquito-eradication efforts before the country's Carnival celebrations. Agency spokesman Nivaldo Coelho said Tuesday details of the deployment still are being worked out...

RALEIGH, N.C. -- A federal appeals court will consider whether county commissioners in North Carolina violated the Constitution by delivering Christian prayers at their meetings and inviting audience members to join. The case marks the first time a federal appeals court has considered how local councils conduct prayers since a 2014 U.S. Supreme Court ruling upheld a New York town's use of predominantly Christian invocations at its meetings...

FLINT, Mich. -- In a city long stereotyped for despair, some began seeing reasons for hope: a smattering of just-opened restaurants, students filling new college classrooms, fields of green growing where abandoned houses once stood. The red-brick streets of downtown Flint became lined with once-unlikely businesses such as a crepe shop and wine bar, and nearby, hundreds did the previously unthinkable: moving into new apartments at the city's core...

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues want local governments to renovate their city-owned downtown arena as part of a project that also will upgrade the city's convention center and former home of its recently departed NFL team. Blues officials and the regional St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission met with city and St. Louis County leaders last week to discuss a $100 million renovation of the 21-year-old Scottrade Center, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Tuesday...

BURBANK, Calif. -- Fox is gearing up to give Broadway a serious dose of the Hollywood treatment. "Grease: Live," airing at 6 p.m. Sunday, goes beyond other made-for-TV live musicals such as "The Sound of Music" and "The Wiz" -- both of which were huge hits for NBC...

BEIRUT -- Bombings struck a government-run checkpoint in the central Syrian city of Homs on Tuesday, killing at least 20 people and wounding over 100 amid political jockeying ahead of U.N.-backed peace talks scheduled to begin Friday in Geneva. The office of the U.N. envoy for Syria said it sent invitations for the talks, but with three days to go, the opposition is undecided whether it will attend. One opposition official suggested the Saudi-backed opposition delegation may boycott the talks...

KENNETT, Mo. — What is it like and what does it take to be a participant on a national game show such as the “The Price is Right”? Just ask Clara Harris of Kennett. She had a chance, took it and won. Harris, her husband, Ron, and family members and friends gathered at the her home Monday to watch her win the game show’s Showcase Showdown — a 55-inch television, a trip to Miami and a 2016 Volkswagen Beetle...

Area residents who suffered flood damage between Dec. 23 and Jan. 9 may seek federal grants and loans to put their lives back together. The first step in seeking such assistance is to register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Deanna Frazier — a spokeswoman for FEMA’s disaster assistance efforts in Cape Girardeau, Scott, Ste. Francois and Ste. Genevieve counties — said flood victims may register by calling (800) 621-3362 or going online to www.disasterassistance.gov...

ST. LOUIS -- Missouri fell hard from the top of the SEC East in Gary Pinkel's final season, dropping to 5-7 and going through a player boycott that threatened a game. Quarterback Maty Mauk's third suspension in four months shows that the turmoil has not subsided for successor Barry Odom...

All scores were reported to the Southeast Missourian on Tuesday.

NEW YORK -- Character actor Abe Vigoda, whose leathery, sad-eyed face made him ideal for playing the over-the-hill detective Phil Fish in the 1970s TV series "Barney Miller" and the doomed Mafia soldier in "The Godfather," died Tuesday at age 94. Vigoda's daughter, Carol Vigoda Fuchs, said Vigoda died Tuesday morning in his sleep at Fuchs' home in Woodland Park, New Jersey. The cause of death was old age...

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis held talks Tuesday with Iran's president at the Vatican, calling on Tehran to play a key role in stopping the spread of terrorism as Iran tries to improve its image in the global arena after an agreement on its nuclear program...

SAN DIEGO -- Authorities found no gunman or signs of a shooting Tuesday after receiving a report from a Department of Defense employee that shots had been heard at one of the nation's largest Naval medical facilities. The report of a shooting grabbed attention across the country and led to the lockdown of Naval Medical Center San Diego in Balboa Park, near the San Diego Zoo, and three nearby schools. ...

HOLLAND, Mich. -- A book was returned to a library -- 49 years later. The borrower told the library he was a college student in 1967 when he checked out the book, which was stored in a trunk that hadn't been opened until recently. He provided a donation with his letter. Library director Diane Kooiker declined to identify the book, the man's name or the amount of money given. In his letter, the man described it as a "modest donation" to cover what could be a "tremendous fine."...

O God, may we be anxious for nothing, instead putting our trust in you. Amen.

A Cape Girardeau man is accused of trying to pawn costume jewelry he stole, but when the pawn shop low-balled him on the price, he left the rings in the bathroom of a Jackson gas station.